READING INSTEAD OF WATCHING

Feeling like I'm watching a bit too much TV lately, I decided to read the Sookie Stackhouse books before watching season 1 of True Blood.

One of my favorite movie quotes is from Igby Goes Down
Sookie: What kind of name is 'Igby'?
Igby: The kind of name that someone named 'Sookie'
is in no position to question.

My boy likes to paraphrase Igby's response whenever
I talk about someone having a weird name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I joined a book club + as a welcoming gesture
they went with my selection;
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

CONFESSIONS OF A FRENCH LIDDED JAR JUNKIE

With the exception of the 80's periwinkle country crap duck set of French lidded jars I found at The Goodwill yesterday, I generally buy every clear glass jar I come across. I've had to find more because my order from Mountain Rose Herbs will arrive soon + I need jars to store the herbs in. Luckily our kitchen has ample cabinet space, but the above photo does not include all the jars in the refrigerator.

This one is my favorite. I love the font so much AND it's the only jar for which the contents match the label.

WEEKLY + YEARLY RITUALS

~~~WEEKLY RITUAL~~~
Every weekend I take time to prepare some food for the week, usually hummus + lately baba ganoush. Along with some fresh bread, it makes grabbing lunch or a snack easy + nutritious (as opposed to the bag of TJ's blue corn chips we could devour every day). This weekend I roasted an acorn squash from the garden, YAY! first item eaten from this year's garden. With the exception of my hummus, I just throw a bunch of stuff together + don't use a recipe. I'm not good with recipes, much better with experimental cooking.

~~~YEARLY RITUAL~~~
Actually, our yearly meet-up with friends for Thai + an evening at our town's annual bluegrass festival was canceled because my boy is feeling icky + part of our group has to go to a funeral, but I still had to visit the lady who makes wonderful goat's milk soap. This morning I engaged in my yearly ritual of digging through her 5 gal. buckets of seconds, which she sells for .50 a bar. They are not pretty, but who cares, no packaging to throw out + she's happy to lighten her load.

THERE'S NOTHING I HATE MORE THAN NOTHING*

There truly is nothing going on 'round here, which is why I have not posted in over a week. I had to take a break from working on my La Llorona carving because my hand cramped up, so in the mean time I'm still trying to beat the humidity and...

I am watching a lot of movies + TV shows...

• Public Enemies: this movie has several problems, but Johnny Depp is not one of them
• King Corn: you can only use Liberty pesticides on Liberty corn? WTF?
  
• The Foot Fist Way: supa-funny
• The Uninvited: derivative
  
• The Devil Wears Prada (where to begin?) + Fever Pitch (not the good one with Colin Firth, the crap remake): both free on In-Demand, what can I say?
• Season 2 of The Wire: still loving it (Sherri, keep watching!)
• Clean House (the Niecy Nash episodes), I'm so addicted!

AND I have just started reading...

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by: Dave Eggers. I have heard mixed reviews from friends, but I thought I'd find out for myself

*actually this is not true, I just wanted to bring a little Edie Brickell back into my life.

WHAT THE #*%@ AM I GETTING MYSELF INTO?

Long ago I vowed never to carve a text heavy linocut again, but lately I've been a bit bored + searching for ideas for a piece I could really sink my teeth into. Enter the legend of La Llorona, which is a story I have been wanting to work on for quite some time. If my hands make it through this carving without shriveling up + falling off, I will also have some new prints about Lizzie Borden + El Chupacabra in the near future.

GARDEN VIEW

Mariss @ Vanillabean Knits asked for a wider picture of my garden, so I must oblige (please click on image for larger view).
We are in the midst of building a temporary fence. My boy has plans for a nice wooden one, which will still give a feeling of openess, but for now the quick fix is designed to prevent people from walking through our back yard, using it as a cut-through, which is a problem.

Lots of green things growing in the raised beds,
so far 2 squash plants* are producing.

* acorn + crookneck early golden

SPENDING TIME IN MID-CENTURY SUBURBIA

It's not the heat, it's the humidity that's zapping my energy. Lately I'm spending a little more time inside, with a cold beverage, watching
TV shows + movies.

Yesterday I watched Revolutionary Road, which I have to say was a great disappointment. I really did not give a flip about either one of these people + did not care if they lived, died, moved to Paris, or divorced, but damn-it, the set designs were fantastic! I found myself picking out furniture + not paying too much attention to the Wheelers' sad + sorry lives. I can't help but wonder why Sam Mendes decided to return to misery in suburban America.

Set in the same time period, with a similar storyline (husband works in Manhattan, has a gal on the side + a miserable wife in the suburbs) is the TV show Mad Men, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Again, great set design, but this time it's definitely secondary to the great writing + plots. I must admit that I had no clue who Jon Hamm was before he played Liz Lemon's "perfect" boyfriend on 30 Rock, but he's definitely intriguing as Don Draper, painfully handsome ad man with a mysterious past.

As for The Wire, I'm officially hooked!

"NEW" COMPOST TUMBLER

Our friends delivered my new compost tumbler today, made almost entirely out of reused + reclaimed materials (the base is made of a box spring frame).

It was a trade for a canoe that needed a little seat work. Originally we put the canoe on the curb with a "for sale" sign. I had numerous people inquire about it, one guy SWORE he was going straight to the bank + would return, but he didn't. The most um...interesting inquiry was the guy who wanted to trade. For what? A hot tub (delivered) + a camcorder. Move along, fella.

Our friends happened to drive by, wanted the canoe + since I would rather see it go to friends then have one more wacko knock on my door, we proposed a non-hot tub + camcorder trade.

THIS SPACE IS...

Periodically I get e-mails asking if I will hawk a product on my blog. I realize that these go out to 100's, if not 1000's of people + that they actually work because there is controversy in the blog world about bloggers who mention a product in exchange for pay. In fact, I immediately stopped reading a blog I loved because the author wrote about her excitement over being paid to mention a product, then proceeded to "sell" that product to her readers.

To be honest, I don't know if I've ever been offered payment for a product mention because after reading the first sentence of this type of e-mail, I delete it.

This post is not intended to tout my integrity, but to ask you about the most ridiculous type of product (no names please) you have been asked to mention on your blog.

Mine was contact lenses.

I'M NOT SURE IF BRUCE TOUCHED THIS SHIRT

My co-worker's boyfriend gave me another Bruce t-shirt, given to him after working for him this past weekend at Bonnaroo. He was part of the E-street caravan, escorted by 9 state troopers (please don't you stop me), that drove the band from the airport to the stage.

We did not go to the 3-day festival this past weekend because when it came down to it, we had already seen most of the bands we wanted to see (some more than once) + we really could not justify the cost of tickets. You know I love Bruce + pretty much died when I read that he played for 3 hours + his set included Santa Clause is Coming to Town (by request) but he's just not worth a house payment. Sorry Boss.

Here's hoping he'll add Nashville or Atlanta to a second tour + somehow I have to get word to Bruce's people that Steve gives his shirts to me + I wear an XS, not an XL.

BRACE YOURSELVES FOR ANOTHER RIOT IN L.A.

A Lakers' home game win is always followed by L.A.'s unofficial song + in honor of them winning the NBA Championship tonight...

Randy Newman- I Love L.A
Uploaded by droogirico. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Thank you indulging me.

THREE

It was three years ago today that I was standing in the cubicle of my company's newly hired marketing director, chatting about crafts + craft blogs + was encouraged to start my own blog with the simple suggestion "you should do it, it's fun!" Thanks Hezza!!!
(Can you believe that was three years ago?)

Three years later I'm still having fun. I'm not going to get mushy + sentimental, but I've enjoyed getting to know so many of you out there through your blogs, e-mail + in a few cases, it real life. Thank you for all your support + encouragement.

I started this blog partly as a way to keep myself accountable. When I looked back at my first post, I realized that I have yet to complete the stiff leaf book for my photos of roadside memorials, which still remain in a box. Maybe in another three years I'll show you photos of the finished book.

THIS IS MY SHOULDER...

...and there are a couple shocking things I would like to point out.
A.
Prior to us moving from L.A. + perhaps the 5 years that followed, the shocking thing would have been that the sweater + shirt are not black AND that there is ruffle on the sweater.
B.
5 years ago- present, the shocking thing is that the sweater
is not some shade of green (green is my new black)
AND that there is a ruffle on the sweater.

Evidence of another attempt to get out of a clothing color rut.

GROWN UP-TYPE STUFF

I am always thinking that I can do more to produce, consume + spend less in my day-to-day life. We are told that we must spend our way out of this (depression) recession, but that does not necessarily fit within our budget being that we both work for non-profits + my boy is a full-time grad student.

We already shop at thrift stores, you all know that half our furniture was found on the street + I buy in quantity when food items are on super sale (I currently have 40 containers of soy milk in the pantry because the dollar store was selling Westsoy plain soy milk + I bought out their stock).

At Monk's last vet visit we got some excellent news, his blood work indicated that his seizure medication could be reduced in half, thus reducing our pharmacy bill in half!

Recently I turned my attention to the monthly bills, examining + questioning what we paid for + what we actually used. We were able to reduce the cable TV bill because we didn't watch all the stations we paid for. The biggest reduction was our auto insurance. I had to change providers for this, but shopping the two of us around + making companies compete for our business reduced the cost by over 50%.

Ever since working in a doctor's office + owning a house I have received a good education on some of the mysteries of insurance + finances, but mostly learning how to happily live within my means. All this stuff is not so scary anymore.

GRAB BAG POST

Yesterday I traded some cards for more handmade paper for a future (yet to be conceived) project.

And bought these candle stick holders from our booth neighbor. They are a 13-month belated 40th birthday gift for a friend in L.A. (I'll let you think about that for a second).

~WATCHED~
Last night, after yummy Thai food, we watched The Proposition (I tried to convince my boy it was the sequel to Indecent Proposal before we watched it, but he wasn't falling for it). WOW! It was great, but quite the blood bath, on par with a Sam Peckinpah movie

~WATCHING~

2 of the 3 final episodes of my beloved Pushing Daisies.

~WILL WATCH~
Diving Bell And The Butterfly. Julian Schnabel should have never picked up a paint brush + broken plates, he should have been a director to begin with!!
Season 1, disk 2 of The Wire. I'm not hooked yet, but so far the responses to this statement have been "just you wait..." and "you are in big trouble."

~READING (STILL)~
Sex, Drugs + Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. To be honest, the first essay about how every girl has a crush on John Cusack because she actually thinks he's Lloyd Dobler is one of the funniest things I've ever read (because it's true), but the rest of the book just doesn't measure up.

~WILL READ~
After being on the wait list for-ev-ah, my turn finally came for the library's copy of Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. Years ago I worked with one of her ex-husbands during their divorce + on top of everything else, I'm kind-a curious what she has to say about him.

A DAY SPENT WITH THREE GOOD FRIENDS

I spent Saturday at the crafts show in a booth shared with three good friends + in the spirit of looking at the bright side of things, it was great to spend the day with three good friends. In other words, the 2nd annual On The Beaten Path show was a bit of a bust for me.

My display within our booth. Ikea sells plate stands for .99 which are perfect for holding prints.

My friend Claudia's miniature bird houses (the roof flips open to reveal a tiny bird's nest) + children's block paper weights.

The main display in the center of the booth with all of our wares.
(photos taken during set-up. click image to view larger)

The weather was beautiful, mid-80's with a breeze, the setting was perfect + afterwords my boy took me to my favorite Thai restaurant for dinner. AND did I mention that I spent the day with three good friends?

This picture if for my dad, who can't get boiled peanuts in L.A. The concession booth did not sell all their peanuts + gave the left overs away. Being that boiled peanuts are an acquired taste, there were not many takers + I racked up.
I guess you could say I worked for peanuts.

PREP

I love preparing for a show. I'm doing my first crafts show of the year tomorrow morning + going over last minute stock issues, packaging up prints + getting food stuff together for a long day outside, under a tent, with friends. I just bought Boxer by The National + am now on my 3rd listen (I'm in love with the song Start A War).

Lots of good stuff this week, most notably a couple calls from greatly missed L.A. people who must have sensed that I miss my city. AND speaking of which, yay Lakers! Susan + I were all ready for some Lakers vs. Cavs smack (e-mail) talk, but sadly for her home city, they did not make it to the finals (too bad because a Kobe/ LeBron match up would have been fun to watch).

I will return with photos from the crafts show.

STUDIO TIME

Amber came over on Sunday for some studio time. This was her first attempt at block carving since some horrible high school wood carving incident which causes her to drop to the floor into the fetal position when mentioned (I'm kidding...kind-a). I assured her that this would be far less painful + with only one band-aid needed, she did great! She'll print thank you cards for her business, but since she is a wedding photographer, her weekends are pretty booked in June + it may be awhile until her next visit.

YOU CAN'T G.O. HOME AGAIN

Saturday I hung out with my good friend Hezza, lunch at burrito-ville (patio photo above) + a trip to the newly re-located Goodwill outlet. Known 'round here as The G.O., it used to be my happy place, my lunch break escape from the job I commuted to in Nashville. Well, here's the thing, it just did not give me that same happy feeling. Yes, my life has changed, I'm far less stressed + no longer need an escape, but the new location is smaller, well lit + (I say this like it's a bad thing) really clean + odor-free. Hezza kept saying, "I know change is hard for you..." I love how well my friends know me.

Hezza passed on the string art owl (she said she did not like the fuzzy angora). Among my treasures, I found not ONE, but TWO identical macrame owl necklaces! One for each of us. You still have to dig, so the odds of this happening are pretty slim.

p.s. for those of you who live in Nashville + are familiar with The G.O., Cordell is still working there, has been promoted to greeter + his birthday is next week, + they have gone back to pricing items by the pound.

KINDNESS

I don't normally talk about my day job here, but for 6 years (in 2 stints) I have been a receptionist at a community mental health center. It's rarely a dull job + often quite rewarding, but some days I have to remind myself that I love my house + I want to continue receiving regular paychecks because if one more person starts a conversation with "I NEED!!!!!!!..." I will go ballistic + probably lose my job. That being said, lately my job has been a bit hard to handle, but the day can completely turn around when someone shows up for their appointment with the gift of a basil plant they nurtured from seed.

TOMATO CAGES

Our friends are replacing the funky old wire fence in their backyard with a privacy fence + instead of taking the fencing to the dump, I asked them to bring it over so I could make tomato cages.

In Tennessee there is a free quarterly publication called Local Table with a column by Farmer Jason (AKA: Jason Ringenberg of Jason and the Scorchers). In the spring issue he sang the praises of tomato cages, claiming plants have a higher yield when used.

I don't have proper wire snips + tore up my hands using incorrect tools, but I managed to make 3 cages this morning + have enough fencing to make about 10 more (after a trip to the hardware store).

WOW! I'm on a blogging roll this weekend. I guess I'm making up for those 3 weeks of illness.

MISSING LOS ANGELES

At The Getty in 1998, a couple months before we moved to Tenn.

Lately I've been really homesick. My mom reminded me that it's been a year this weekend since I've been back, an entire year without seeing friends, family + the ocean! Watching Lakers playoff games is making it worse. It's funny though, every time I go back I get so overwhelmed because our life in Tennessee is so quiet + I don't do a whole lot of driving. It always takes me a couple days to adjust + remember street names.

The next trip is planned for August, coordinating with my aunt, who lives in New York, + a cousin, who lives in Oregon. Until then I'll keep cheering on The Lakers + avoiding the song Los Angeles by X because the opening riff alone can make me weep.

JACKIE SEES ALL

Today I reprinted a piece from long ago, when I first started carving linoleum blocks. It sold like hotcakes (to an excessive number of women named Jackie) at the very first show I did + for some reason I put the block away + forgot about it.

Jackie's Glasses is based on a painting I did in college, the assignment was iconic objects. I remember one guy painted the Holy Grail + that the class was in the fall semester after Princess Diana was killed + another student painted her death car.
ANYWAY: the print is available in my Etsy shop.

p.s. While going through some old photos for my next post I found this one of "Missy," a mannequin head (with a horrible wig) that turned up in the painting studio at my college. One day, during class, I needed to stretch my legs + walked around campus, taking pictures of her.

I WON A PIE

plate by Susan Smith

My friend invited me to a vegan cooking class (some friends of hers will be teaching classes + needed test students). At the end of class they had drawings for the demo foods + I won the chocolate cream pie*.
I also learned about Blendtec blenders + really want one
(I'll have to save up).

*Cashews, silken tofu, melted chocolate + pure maple syrup.
It's really, REALLY rich.

DANG! IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

Card boxes out can only mean one thing...I have a show coming up (the 2nd annual On the Beaten Path show in 2 weeks). Had I not spoken with my friend Claudia last night I would not have realized this until I flipped the calendar to June. Now you know why I don't take commissions- I'm dreadful with dates + it turns out bad.

Luckily I have a lot of stock + I think I'll be fine. This weekend I'll re-print some OLD pieces that have not been seen in years + finish Wool 100%. The Wire season 1 is next on the queue, which gives me motivation to finish the movie + send it back.
Update on movie watching- I loved the sweater the girl kept knitting over + over + over, but her yelling was more than I could take. After about 1 hr I realized I stopped paying attention, put the DVD back in it's red envelope + off it goes.

WHILE MY BOY IS AWAY...

...visiting his brother in St. Louis + going to a Cardinals game, I've been putzing around the house + playing with the new camera.

I'm also trying to get through the movie Wool 100%. Visually + on paper (Selvedge had a great article) it looks like I would L-O-V-E it + want to own it, but for some reason I can't get into it. I will watch it + I think in the end I will have enjoyed it, but right now it's about the destination, not the journey. (7 uses of the word "it").

WISH YOU WERE HERE

New postcard set of 3 (2 blue + 1 green) available in my Etsy shop.

Well it's about friggin' time is what I have to say!
Feels grrrrreat to get back in the studio.

A "WEED" NO MORE

Some friends stopped by this afternoon + noticed that we have edible weeds growing in our back yard. This leafy green (I forget it's name) helps cleanse the kidneys.

CURRENTLY DIGGING (IN ADDITION TO DANSKO CLOGS)

Noodles (udon or soba) with miso (paste) + hot pepper flakes

Footless tights

AND our new Netflix subscription
(ooh, now I can use the word "queue")

We finally got around to watching The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford + I'm wondering what took us so long. I was so moved by the stunning imagery, color palate, pacing, use of narration + overall tone of this movie. Brad Pitt's acting was a little distracting because at times he seemed to be revising his roll as Early Grayce from Kalifornia (although not as quotable), but Casey Affleck was absolutely mesmerizing. After watching this, I think The Proposition might have be next on our queue
(Nick Cave is a common element between these two movies).

IS THERE A 12-STEP PROGRAM FOR MY DANSKO ADDICTION?

I bought 2 more pair (2 on left) at the newly re-opened ultimate source for discounted Danskos. Since I walk to work, comfort is a high priority.

~Other news~
I was supposed to teach my first yoga class today, however, between being knocked on my ass for 3 weeks + my yoga teacher's son graduating from high school, it's been pushed back 2 weeks.

~AND even more other news~
We have a new-to-us camera, a Cannon PowerShot G9 which is a big upgrade from our little PowerShot A540 (which is still a great little camera). It's not Amber's sup-a dup-a professional camera, but we'll get there one day. Now I have to figure out how to use it!

"THE RUMORS OF MY DEATH HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED"

(10 days of thunderstorms + the garden is off to a great start)

After 16 days of Bronchitis + a nasty post-Bronchitis persistent cough,
which caused me to lose my voice for 5 days,
I am 95.5% back among the living.
Needless to say I really have nothing very exciting to write about because this has been my life:

• All 4 seasons of The O.C.
• Several episodes of Action
• Session 9
• Be Kind, Rewind
• Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains
• The Filth + The Fury: A Sex Pistols Movie
• Walk Hard
• Junebug
• There Will Be Blood
  
• Lakers play-off games
  

I have got to get back to 100% because my last few posts are pretty sorry for someone who has a craft blog. Again, thank you for all your warm wishes + empathy for the whole antibiotic thing. I'm done with my 10-day round + can finally drink a beer!!!

SCRATCHED BY "THE CLAW"

One week later I broke down + am now on antibiotics (I was raised to take homeopathics). Thank you for all your warm wishes.
Sill bedridden, Sheri @ The Claw tagged me + I will point out that I edited it from 23 questions to 15.

1. What is your current obsession? The O.C. I've watched nearly 3 seasons in 1 week. A lot of it was shot in L.A., areas I knew as a kid + before we moved to TN, so I'm getting a bit nostalgic for the Hermosa + Manhattan Beach piers, Marina Del Ray + the strand that connects them.
2. Who was the last person you hugged? My boy
3. What’s your favorite dinner? Anything Indian or Thai
4. What was the last movie you saw in the theater? Pineapple Express
5. What was the last thing you bought to wear? A skirt, 1/2 price day at The Goodwill
6. What are you listening to right now? Music wise? Kris Kristofferson, or do you mean the drier?
7. Tea or Coffee? Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Hey, did someone make a fresh pot?!?!?
8. What did you want to become as a child? A food stylist (I'm not kidding).
9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Anywhere but my bed.
10. Who do you want to meet in person?
I don't have an answer to this question because I don't know what I would say. I've met a few people I admire, but basically made an ass of myself or else just shook hands + that was it.
11. Why did you start a blog? Because my friend Heather suggested it + I'd been reading them for quite some time.
12. What is your dream job? All I can think of is Rob Gordon's top 5 dream jobs at this moment.
13. If you could change professions or careers, what would you like to try? Ice cream truck driver.
14. What's your favorite brand of jeans? Levi's + Gap jeans fit me best.
15. What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own? (new or vintage) I regret getting rid of a Stephen Sprouse sweater I bought at a super price at Neimen Marcus in the 80's. It was not typical of his 80's clothes, shockingly classic. I wish I could get it back.

SICK BED

I caught whatever dreadful funk is going around my office + this has been my view for the last 3 days. This + watching more episodes of The O.C. on Hulu than anyone should admit to.

DID ANYONE LOSE A GREEN NANO IN MY BACK YARD?

I decided not to go to the Watertown town-wide yard sale today because of a need vs. want situation. I did want to go, but I really needed to mow the lawn because I think we were a week away from getting a notice from the city (very Grey Gardens) + I'm not on the look-out for anything at the moment.

In the backyard I found someone's ruined nano. No telling how long it has been out there, but in addition to being run over by the lawn mower, it's gone through many rains, including the big multi-tornado storm we had last week.

GARDENS

I won't turn this into the "hey! check out what's on T.V. this week," blog, but how can I not mention the HBO Grey Gardens movie?

We don't have HBO, but when I found out about the movie I called my #1 Grey Gardens fan/ friend Hezza, who does have the channel because she was obsessed with Flight of the Conchords, + pretty much invited myself over. So it's Indian food + Big + Little Edie for us this Saturday night.

And then there is my garden, which not grey (or gray) in the least bit. The approximtely 70 lb of donated compost was just enough to dust the straw I used for filler, but the 5 squash plants I planted last week seem to like the conditions. The tomato + eggplant should be ready to transfer within the week. I planted the carrots directly into the ground + I must be patient with "slow germinating" pepper seeds.

NO LONGER ROLLING

Since getting the 10-drawer flat files the plan has been to construct a sturdy top + make it a work area for the press. This weekend I finished the project + my press is no longer on a rolling (rolling, rolling) cart. Being that I won't move into the studio shed for another year or two, I can't think along the lines of "when I move into the new studio."

Amber spent another Saturday in my studio, but all the photos I took were shot in raw files + I need to buy a card reader to get them onto my computer. They look amazing on the little screen.
We shall see...

Here are Amber's amazing photographs of my press.