9/11 Reflection

I'm sitting on my couch, and I can see a local police cruiser making a drive through my neighborhood. When we first moved in, seeing this made me nervous. Was my neighborhood so dangerous that it required the police to check in? Over time though, I came to a realization. While the town C and I settled on for our first home together isn't the most picturesque and has a bad crime rep, our specific neighborhood isn't so crime stricken that the police need to tame it. The police presence is just the opposite. Their drive-throughs are a reminder that they are present in a town that they swore to protect. They observe and are always ready and on the front line. 
While I know that I have a large bias because of C's involvement in law enforcement and in the military; I stand behind our troops, our police officers, firefighters, first responders, doctors, nurses, the whole lot. These are the people who keep this world going around. I don't engage in any "black lives matter" or "police brutality" topics that have plagued our media lately. This is not because I do believe that black lives or officer's lives do not matter. They each hold unmeasurable value, just as any other life matters. 
However, what is on my mind today, is the same thing that is on every other American's mind. Fourteen years ago, in 2001, I was a little girl and I tried to understand the tragedy my mother was explaining to me. However, what a monumental movement I got to see as our nation came together as one. One nation who honored heroes and saw no race, color, religion, sex, origin, age, or disability.
We saw patriotism. 
Today, on the anniversary of September 11th, 2001, I have seen endless of posts stating "never forget" and honoring the police and other heroes who stepped up and who lost their lives on September 11th. Let me disclaim that I feel the same sense of patriotism that each of these posts express. What I cannot understand is how our culture can further promote and make villains of the same heroes and their brothers who they are commemorating today.   
What I cannot understand is how we, as a society, can memorialize and idolize these heroes on this somber day, and yet make villains of them every other day. The posts of "#neverforget" are a fallacy when they are among a sea of ignorance built by each hateful thing shared by the nation who once bound together as one colorless force of Americans. 

Heroism is eternal. Think before you post.  

DIY Map Painting

I have a habit of thinking something up in my head and then feeling the world has personally offended me when I cannot find exactly that said product for sale. Such, this was the case with the artwork now hanging in our bedroom.

I wanted a simplistic world map. Just a solid color background with a solid color print of the world map. This, I though, was far less extravagant than some other ideas that is brain has cooked up. So I was shocked when I could not find it for sale anywhere! 
Finally, I decided if I could not find it - I would make it. However, the reality of me being able to freehand an outline of the world map... in a way that would look like artwork that one would actually want hanging on her bedroom wall... set in quickly and I had to put my pretty little thinking cap on. 
A stroke of genius reminded me of 'engineer prints.' These are prints that you can have done at Staples Copy and Print Center. (Or other printing companies, I'm sure.) They are intended to be blue-prints. So, that means the paper is BIG! I found a simple outline of the map and ordered it to be printed on an 24x32 inch engineer print for a whopping $4.19. The low price of this big print is probably one of my favorite parts of this entire project!
Next I went to Michael's Craft Store for the rest of my supplies. I lucked out that they were having a sale and I was able to purchase a 24x32 canvas for only $20 when they usually cost $40. But the Michael's app always has a 40% off full priced item coupon that you could use. I also picked out my paint colors, a few brushes, and an exacto-knife. 
Once home, I laid my big old print down on the kitchen table and started the process. Using the exacto-knife, I (VERY CAREFULLY) cut out the outline of the map. This left me with a giant stencil of the map. (Don't forget to have something underneath the paper to protect the surface you are cutting upon. I used a cutting board from my kitchen and it worked wonderfully.) I saved the cut out continents so that I could later retrieve bodies of water. I decided to issue creative license and did not include every tiny island, as I wanted a very simplistic look.

The Stencil as a Work-In-Progress

Next I laid out the canvas and painted 2 coats of my base color.
Once the paint was dry, I taped my giant stencil to the canvas (neatly and evenly) and began to trace in the continents. (Don't forget to add in bodies of water for accuracy!) 
After removing the stencil, it was just a matter of coloring (er, painting) in the lines! 

Then, VOILÀ - you're done and ready to hang your masterpiece.

The Finished Product!