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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Show and Tell: Friends and Goddesses

Show and Tell So today was another amazing day. I spent the afternoon with two of my closest friends who are in town. Subsequently they won't read this post till after they're home, so they won't know until then how much they can change my complete outlook on life in the space of a few hours. It's the beauty and majesty of true deep friendship at it's best. I can say unabashedly that I love them both to pieces. Today was special because I was sharing some of my ideas and plans for this year. Not only did I get great constructive feedback but I got that amazing support that one needs when they're planning to leap off a cliff and are hoping against all hope that someone will throw them a parachute. You know what I mean, right? Those moments where you want to plan big things (for me, this is a constant state of being- but I digress) and just want to know that someone will be there to cheer you on whether you fail or succeed. These two people have always done that for me and I know will continue to. We'll be those friends who gather when we're in our 80's and 90's and gab about the old days when we first met.
Now that we have the scene set, I have to give you some further background before I show you my pictures.

I first met CT the first day of our grade 9 Art Technology class. As she told the story at my wedding (she was my Maid of Honour), she was waiting for a friend to get to class and was saving the seat at her table. Well in walks this new girl, who scans the room for an open seat, spots her table, walks over and sits down. So much for the saving the seat! However, class was going to begin soon.

If you haven't guessed it yet (but you're all smarty pantses, so I know you have), the new girl was me. I had just moved to Victoria from Ontario where my family had lived the last two years. I was excited to be away from where I had been (a long story that would take a few blog posts to recount) but I was also nervous about being the "new" girl yet again. So I sat hestitantly at the table and said hi.

And so began a friendship that has lasted over eleven years. Eleven years that has seen some pretty crazy moments.

One such moment came from that fateful art class. We had had many assignments but one day our task was to sculpt (get this) a fertility goddess. We were given sample images and terra cotta clay and told to go at it. Sculpting, we were supposed to go outside and use things around us to give the sculptures texture and an aged look. So CT and I went outside to roll our goddesses on the sidewalk. But mine was lacking oomph I decided. Now you'll have to ask CT why I did this as truly, I can't remember, but I walked up the fire escape stairs (the art class was on the second floor) and I tossed my goddess off it.
SPLAT!
It was a completely insane thing to do. Yet, it yielded an interesting result:











So here we are so many years later and I have a shmushed my fertility goddess!! (and yes I've kept it)


Crap!


Really, I don't truly believe that this one incident so many years ago has any bearing on my difficulty to carry a baby.


But... I have a shmushed fertility goddess.


I am an artist. Perhaps it's time rectified the situation...


Don't forget to wander over to Mel's to see what the rest of the class are not throwing off fire escapes...

23 comments:

AnotherDreamer said...

LOL! Interesting story, and interesting statue.

Baby Smiling In Back Seat said...

Are both photos the same statue from different angles? They look completely different! I guess that's the smushing effect.

The Steadfast Warrior said...

Yeah, same statue- front and side views. I never said it was particularly good... ;)

..al said...

Gawd, how often are we left to wonder as to how our innocent, impulsive actions of the past may have a direct/indirect linkage in the future...or that a particular moment or act may be recalled again and again?

bunny said...

i'm so glad that you were able to have such a full visit with your friends. friendship does have the power to lift one up.

Megan said...

funny story!

Kristin said...

Love the story and it is an interesting sculpture.

'Murgdan' said...

Ahahhaa. Love it. Well...to be honest, if I had a fertility goddess right now I'd chuck her right down the stairs as well...

I think smushing it was a grand idea, and has no bearing on the current situation. :-)

Cara said...

Great friends and great stories make for an uplifing time! Glad they helped with the foggyness!

MrsSpock said...

LOL...um, that poor goddess.

Anonymous said...

If that goddess starts working for you, can I sign up to have her come visit me?

Beautiful Mess said...

I'm so glad you had an amazing weekend with your friends. It's always so uplifting to be able to visit with your sister souls mates.
*ICLW*

areyoukiddingme said...

My question is this: Who in their right mind thinks that 9th graders need fertility goddesses?

Sounds like a fantastic day with your friends. There's nothing like time spent with people who get who you are.

daega99 said...

Wow, that was really interesting!

*ICLW 66*

JuliaS said...

I laughed - people need wonderful friends like that. The smushed fertility goddess is actually quite unique looking. I kind of like her.

I probably would have thrown mine into a fire pit. :0)

Liv said...

Oh, that's so funny! What gets me is not the end result in a smushed fertility goddess. But the fact that you even thought of throwing it down two flights of a fire escape route stairs.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

There's something oddly phallic about that goddess. Fertility needs both to tango, right?

Cheers to lifelong friends.

momofonefornow said...

OK, I am one of those people that skips to the pics then goes back and gets to the post. I must admit that I originally thought the post was going to be about poo.

However, I really liked your story and now I want my own flat-faced fertility goddess.

April said...

isn't it great to have such good friends :)

lostintranslation said...

It sounds like you have great friends! And story of the fertility goddess is very funny! *ICLW#39*

the misfit said...

That is absolutely fabulous. You defaced your fertility goddess (seriously, art teachers should be told about the IF statistics and the potential for future trauma), but you HAVE one. I remember my freshman year in college, my roommate knocked a wooden carving of my name off my dresser and broke it. Darned if I didn't wonder whether the gal was compromising my identity literally as well as figuratively. But she's one of my favorite people in the world, so she can have half an A if it makes her happy.

Anyway, I think you're clearly right about the rectifying. You MADE a goddess. You have power - seize it! New goddess!

(N.B.: I'd just like to clarify here that I'm not a polytheist. I'm seeing this situation as loaded with symbolic value. If you've got it from another angle, sorry to confuse.)

*iclw*

GINA and KEV said...

I read this post for the second time today. I love that you made your own fertility goddess. I love even more that you kept it.

ICLW

Anita said...

Great story~it's good to have such good friends!

ICLW