Diary of a Mad Art Teacher... and photographer...: 2016- it was good for me! Was it good for you??

I have seen SO many posts lately about 2016 being bad- I guess if one is an aging celeb or singer- you could be hoping that it ends soon without taking you down with it. But personally, it has not been as bothersome as other years have been- and I have done some more truly spectacular things. (Yes it is always about me- you should all know this by now)

I saw that Debbie Reynolds was rushed to the hospital with a possible stroke- as of this moment she is still alive****.... this is a bit more alarming as I was named- at least in part- for Debbie Reynolds. Now, it isn't like I have her posters hanging all over my bedroom or something, but I definitely enjoyed her acting in movies and on TV. Especially as Grace's mother on Will and Grace. Possibly because of the fact that I (and hundreds of other Debbies, Debs, Debis, Deborahs, Debras) am her namesake?? I have never really examined this fact before- so I am letting this roll around in my mind a bit. It mystifies me that my father wanted to name me that- 1. I never took him/them for a movie star fan type 2. I am also not sure how much input he actually had in my naming actually, but the vibe I got is that he had a big say in the matter and 3. why in the world, when there is the pretty and concise name Debra - I ended up with Deborah.... and he used to enjoy calling me Debor-ah ha..... um- what? Or maybe I have that backwards..... One of them wanted it the short way and one the long, and since my father (as told by my mother, so you never know what spin was put on it: we all spin things the way we please) was a bit domineering at times, I am sure he got his way. AND just fyi- my brother Ed was named for-----drum roll please....... (maybe you guessed it!) Eddie Fischer. Yeah, this is quite a large- well- how about that- moment. Or perhaps you just closed your browser and went on with life.... hehe

So, really this has been a pretty good year. I had an addition to the grandchildren list - little miss Ava- and the horse indeed lived to see another year! I was going to say I didn't break anything, but scratch that from the list.... Fortunately nothing serious. The fall weather was GORGEOUS and of course there were the travels! I found 2 regular kayaking buddies- one of whom I am married to. Huh, who knew. I got new camera equipment (YESSSS) and a new editing program and that has been quite gratifying. I am so thrilled with my pictures this year.

I was happy to spend time with many of my friends, and made new ones as well. AND through the event of a somewhat large numbered class reunion this past summer, I have reconnected with some of my classmates who I have not talked to in SO many years! It is really a satisfying experience! I have also found a childhood friend and was fortunate enough to have supper with her one night, and we will definitely do that again. While there have been some sad and scary things that have happened, in my particular life those have been fairly minimal and I am definitely grateful for that.

I am so sorry if this year sucked for you, but I for one won't be basing the success of the year based on the number of singers and other celebs have died....It is too bad about folks like David Bowie, Prince, Carrie Fisher, but that is definitely life. I am glad that you are reading this, that you are actually still here in this world. If you are reading what the Mad-Art teacher has to say, we are most likely in some way connected or special - and that is everything to me. So while I do think we ought to protect Betty White at all costs (lol) there is a lot more to a year than the casualty list.