Monday, June 30, 2008

Jake:

'Intrigue! A mysterious package arrives!'

Jake here... Heck, since my writing on here is actually a regular thing, I'm just gonna put J: at the beginning of my posts from now on. : )

Alright, so, you may recall, waaaaaaay back, a little less than a month ago that we went to Toronto, and to a little store I adore called the Magic Pony. There, a few things happened, involving my favorite artist, the spiritual experience of seeing his work, and a surprise that didn't work out. For full details, see the above link.

AAAAAAAAAAAAANYWAY, today, in the mail... I got THE package from Magic Pony. Of course, it was not only a brown box. Brilliant doodles and stickers adorned each side of this box, which was enough to get me excited as it was...

So, beyond the doodles and stickers, inside this magical parcel was what is almost sure to be the shining beacon of my Designer Toy collection... A Jellyfish toy, that had been drawn on ~ for ME ~ by Nathan Jurevicius himself.

This was almost too much for me. I can't describe just how brilliant this is... SO, I'll let the picures explain. (Note, I like the third one the best. o3o )

Anne:

(Hey, Jake...there's even *green* in your *Nathan Jellyfish* pictures!! :)...

So, the other day when Jake asked, "Mom, can I draw on the walls?"...of course, I said, "Of COURSE!" And when he proceeded to draw on the walls in his bedroom, I whined, "Can't you draw on the walls out in our living area?"

Today, after he got his package from Nathan (and it was SO powerful when he opened that package and pulled out that amazing, personalized toy from his Art Hero...I was in tears!!...), he was inspired...

YES!! The wood-splitting is FINISHED for the year!!!

That's Dave's celebratory ritual... He used to hold the last one over his head and run around our house with it... But he didn't want to risk any back injuries this year...

:)

We celebrated with champagne and Sam and I invented a new game with the cork called *Plinko* (yes, *borrowed* from *The Price is Right* game). You throw it on the roof to try to get as high as you can without it going over to the other side...

. . .

I LOVE our friends at the *Pie in the Sky*!! LOOK at what they worked SO hard at growing for us...without any chemicals at all... Just the most BEAUTIFUL strawberries I have ever seen in my life...really...

All is Well.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Jake:

Anne:

We drove from Niagara Falls into Toronto, because Jake HAD to be a witness to his favorite artist's newest works, exhibited at Magic Pony (and that's what this unschooling Mom does...says *yes* to my child's requests that come from deep within his Being, even when it adds another hour onto an already long trip home, because I know that saying *yes* to life and to the open doors the Universe provides only brings amazing things, and opens the doors to infinite possibilities!).

Jake has been drawn to Nathan Jurevicius' art since he was very young. Nathan's work has influenced not only Jake's own art, but Jake's dreams and aspirations for his life as an artist.



Jake and Sam spent a long time discussing the art and the concepts/philosophies represented by the art.

Reformation revolves around weighty themes of religion and spirituality, drawing specific reference to Eastern European folktales. Stemming from his Lithuanian background and personal religious upbringing, Nathan uses Scarygirl as an alter-ego to explore the internal and external forces that manipulate, convince and challenge us. Taking the viewer through Scarygirl's introduction into and initial acceptance of organized religion, we witness the inevitable existential questioning of faith and morality.

I was telling one of the sweet and adorable girls who works at *Magic Pony* about how this was a *spiritual experience* for Jake to be there, viewing Nathan's works. I gave her some background into Nathan's influence on Jake.

She was so touched, and she asked, "Has he ever met Nathan?" Knowing how HUGE this would be to Jake, I was unable to speak, so I just shook my head, "No." She picked up on how big it would be. She smiled...walked over to the phone...dialed...and said, "Hi! Is Nathan around?"

I was having a FREAKING HEART ATTACK!!

He was in a meeting at that time...she was trying to keep it all a secret from Jake, and she told me to go walk around for a little while (we're always happy to walk around Queen Street West) and they would try to get Nathan into the store as quickly as possible.

We walked to *Urban Outfitters* and got Sam some awesome skinny jeans. I told Jake that I wanted to stop back into Magic Pony and he started suspecting something. So I told him, "They called Nathan and he might be at the store to meet you."

Jake had to brace himself, he almost fell over!

But, alas, it was not meant to be...as Nathan's meeting ran longer and it was far away...

But we STILL had such an incredible time at the art show and connecting with the *Magic Pony* people. The girl who had tried to set up the meeting asked for Jake's address and said that she would get Nathan to sign some things and send them to Jake. As always happens, we started talking about Jake and Sam's lives, and unschooling, and the girls were so fascinated by it when I was explaining it to them...and the one who was setting up the meeting asked me, "Will you be MY Mom??"

It was an incredible day...and after our 6 hour drive through severe downpours and thunderstorms, it is SOOOOOO wonderful to be home again...

And we still feel a great excitement to think that Jake *almost* met Nathan!

All is well.