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I have it in my calendar that is there is no pressing deadline in sight, weekends are for family and home projects. This weekend was for making cushions. I couldn't stop, I admit. But my garden loves these colors.
I blame this maniacal obsession of having to make things (anything, something, but make it!) on my mother. My sisters are afflicted too.

This question was posted after my note Yes, I Look Like an Illegal Immigrant:

"Hello, Ms. Morales, I was wondering if you knew of a children's book or young adult novel about a high school student trying to be a normal American teenager but having to hide their parents's illegal immigrant status? After graduation , they can't get a job, drive a car, or get scholarships for college. This is for a grad project I'm working on."

I know that the voice of the community is far richer than mine alone, so I posted the question in my Facebook page. And here, in this list of recommended books I got an answer for Steve and for anyone who wants to know:

Ask Me No Questions, by Marina Budhos
Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena María Viramontes
Pablo and Pimienta, by Ruth Covault
Friends from the Other Side, by Gloria Anzaldúa and Consuelo Mendez Castillo
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
La Linea, by Ann Jaramillo
Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
Reaching Out by Francisco Jimenez
We are Americans, by William Perez

Thank you so much for the recommendations to Scoot Beck, Ginger Knowlton, Oralia Garza de Cortes, and Sherry York.

I hope these help you, Steve.

When my mother came to visit a few winters ago, I gave her a list of request: no sweeping my house, no doing my dishes, no trying to pick up my mess, to cook only if she wanted, and to, please, please, write down her childhood memories.
Against my request, she did all of the above.
With the diligence of an insect my mother sat at my computer and wrote down a hundred and so pages of the things she remember about growing up. At the end of her visit, and having only recounted half of her life, she wrapped up her writing with a "to be continued" and handed me her witting.

It took me about a year to revise and proof read, format the text and design a cover in my free time, until finally by next Christmas I was able to surprise her with copies of her printed memoir.

Earlier this year I received a notice from the printing house that informed me that now anyone can find it in Amazon, making my mother the first person in my family to released a book this year.

My mother visited us for a few weeks this summer too, and I saw it with my own eyes: she is nearly done writing her second installment.

Then there is my sister, Magaly. She is the youngest of us three sisters; I am the oldest. But very early Magaly grew taller than me, developed feet larger than mine, swam faster than I could attempt, could hold her breath longer too, and when she began drawing at an early age, everybody I knew, including me, were left in the dust.

So, of course, she has not one but two books published this year:

Here is an excerpt from a review of What Can You do With A Paleta, a book written by Carmen Tafolla:

“The lyrical prose is equally beautiful in both languages. Morales uses broad, curvy brushstrokes of contrasting bright and fruity colors to capture the look of Mexican folk art. The characters’ faces are round with slightly slanted eyes and rendered in golden shades of burnt sienna...this joyful celebration of barrio life is a must-have for children’s collections.”
--School Libray Journal

Magaly's colaboration with Pat Mora resulted in her second nook this year, A Piñata In A Pine Tree.


Here are some words from Kirkus review:

"Mora blends Latino holiday traditions of her native Southwest with some from Mexico. The gifts are ethnic dishes like pastelitos, ornaments like paper lanterns-luminarias-and spinning tops-trompos-and Mexican folk-art-styled figures. Morales's acrylic paintings complement the song, showing, in the background, family members engaged in activities that are revealed on the last page along with the identity of the amiga-a new little sister."

Just like I saw my mother's, I also witnessed these books of my sister develop. While Magaly worked on her illustrations, we constantly talked and looked at what she was creating.
Ever since then, I been trying to make my feet grow, and I have also been practicing holding my breath longer, because, you see, my family is leaving me behind and I don't know what else to do...

Some of the things I might allow myself to do tomorrow:

Turn on the TV before school time

Cheer

Sing

Believe in

Believe in fairytales

Clap

Love

Forget that we are only human

Surprise myself

Cry

Improvise

I am already loving tomorrow!

I want to be a filmmaker. I want to be a filmmaker. I want to be a filmmaker…just like him.

Thanks to Maria VanLieshout for the link

Stop-motion. Love at first sight. It always amazes me with its impossible life. Especially when it comes in the shape of a film like Madame Tutli Putli, explained in this video:



Here are some seconds-long movies where artist Jason Walker shows side to side the before and after processing of adding human eyes to stop-motion puppets

And so, this is Madame Tutli Putli

Wow!

I honestly don't know if my Moleskine watercolor journal is going to make it. I'm a bit rough with it, slapping on water and paint while it heroicly endures the roughness.

I often mix colors that I don't know will work until I see them on the page - I tried at one point memorizing color mixes but got bored with that. I'd rather learn from experimentation, it's more enjoyable for me.

When I first started painting, I used oils. I LOVED oils, and feel that they were my strongest medium because I grew up with them, painting still lives. But due to chemical allergies, I had to stop using them. It's taken me ages to even start catching up with watercolors. After a few years...I'm even starting to prefer this rebellious, unpredictable water-based medium. But only just recently.