My Year 2023

Almost a year of the war, the last semester before a likely useless art degree in a local college. In the Spring semester, I studied Political Science, Voice and Diction, and take an unusual Landmarks of Art credit course. We went to LA and the desert among other places and had strange art making and bonding experiences with a good group. I made two clay pieces and two dozen Ukrainian dolls - biodegradable "free crazy dancers" - resembling those I did in childhood in Ukraine. Political science was thought-provoking, I debated the professor on most lectures. In the diction class, I was surrounded by awesome future actors with great vocal abilities, and went to their plays in the theater. Somehow, with my accent, I managed to hold on with a lot of work in preparations for recitals, poetry readings, singing, and studio recording. I then graduated with 4.0 GPA in 60 credit units. The college did not recognize any of my previous credits.

The heavy rains in January made pruning difficult. The orchard is recovering after a severe drought since last March. Almost all perennials survived, and the annuals are reseeding themselves.

For the Summer, I studied hip-hop dancing, a long dream of mine. I did not have luck with the teacher, but fellow students warned me about it. The 8 weeks were intense, though.

Then I was solving all teh problems I postponed because of the war and the studies. My eyes had no tears left.