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It’s already Sunday night, what happened to my weekend? I’ll tell you…. we spent most of Saturday fixing our washing machine. It takes both of us because it’s approximately 42 tons and the hoses are difficult to reach. But fix it we did…. and then of course there was the afternoon football game, a veritable stand-off in this house- I busy myself with sewing and cleaning and wondering how on earth I arrived at a point in my life where sports are on – in my house – with an apparent sports fan shouting at the television.
We also managed to figure out our Halloween costumes…. this is a big deal for me because I’m kind of like the Scrooge of Halloween. Sometimes I think it’s because I grew up in Detroit, home of Devil’s Night. Halloween was a HUGE deal in my hometown, bigger than anything except Christmas, and I do remember loving the treating part. But it was also a holiday of major tricking and mischief and getting in trouble was not really my scene (not to mention the news coverage the next day of burning buildings). I LOVE horror movies and the spooky-season programming on TV, but costumes and stuff are just too much trouble. I’ll pass out candy if I’m home, but I’m not really one to dress up or take it to a really theatric level. [Note to self: maybe I'm not really a scrooge, maybe I'm just lazy?] My nephews and niece always think up their own costume concepts and they picked some winners this year: Fin will be Abe Lincoln (I made his bow tie because Jules could only find clip-on bow ties, totally not period-appropriate!), Milo is going as Andy Warhol, and the Little Darling will be a cowgirl- complete with red boots that I’m sure Julie will not be able to remove for another 3 or 4 months…. Julie is psyched because each one is a manageable concept without me there to help her (no store-bought costumes allowed for this family), as opposed to last year when Milo was a blue jay. That’s right… a homemade blue jay.
Nothing like an entire afternoon of Flickr outtage to snap your priorities into shape. I realize those of you in the Eastern Hemisphere may have slept through it, but let me tell you: it was scary. I felt so isolated and alone…. cut off…. from both my ’stuff’ and other peoples’ ’stuff’. Hold me.
The changing seasons means every morning as I quietly sip my tea and watch the news (sigh)… I am greeted by the sun. It comes up over the Zakim Bridge, and tentatively fills my loft in an orange glow. I’m looking at you western Europe!
I am asking… I really need to know… when you are running on fumes, or blue, or down and out, where do you find your inspiration? Is it a poem, or a phrase? Is it something simple or is it something complex, like religion? What steels you to carry on when nothing is making sense?
Me, I’ve always loved humor and laughter. I laugh a lot. But not too much is funny right now, and I need to get my mojo back. So spill it, leave me comment and tell something (a phrase, a book, a poem, a story) that gives you strength and inspiration. I thank you already!
I’m a sucker for packaging, I can’t help myself. This little cup of goodness in the plain black and white label stood out in the sea of Stonyfield cups. I had to try it. It doesn’t really taste like vanilla, though I see little flecks of vanilla bean. And it is TART- like…. puckering, eye-watering tart. I added a bit of honey to it, and decided it’s yummy. The texture is like the cream top of cream-top yogurt, which is my favorite kind.
I didn’t mean to go missing – but it’s been a crazy week. Again. Lol.
Martha’s Vineyard was lovley, and seeing family was lovely. The island was nice, I’d never been before. Oak Bluffs was cute-cute-cute, but man was it CROWDED. Since I’m not a fan of crowds, I’ve made a mental note to never return in the summer. MP’s cousin has a very large farm on the island, and they’ve invited us back Off Season. Yes!
The pattern is still coming along, I’m trying to write it in a new software program and I’m frustrated with the limitations. Guess I may have to pony up for Creative Suite afterall. More on that tomorrow!
Thank you for your replies…. in full disclosure, believe it or not, it is not my preference to sell the patterns. It’s more complicated for me (I’d have to research the technical side (ick!) and then pay attention to an etsy shop), and personally I think it takes me and this blog in a direction I am not exactly thrilled about. I started this little blog to keep better track of all the things I make, to work on my photography and to better document the process of making. I work full time. I’m not a seamstress- I’m an Architect working in a very irritating economy so adding ’small business’ to my plate right now is not exactly appealing. When I initially put the patterns out there, I never really thought anyone would be interested, I was just sharing as a preemptive strike on the “is there a pattern for that” questions. But it snowballed and spread into something I didn’t foresee. A learning curve for me, certainly, and a wonderful journey to meeting new people virtually and for that I am very grateful.
I do this out of fun, but 100% of the people in my life think I am NUTS for not charging some type of small fee for the patterns, and it seems nowadays everyone is happy to offer their opinion without understanding the context. I’ve been hearing it since the day I uploaded the kimono, and it hasn’t let up. In fact, if I had a nickel for everyone who called me stupid for not selling the patterns, I’d be rich and wouldn’t have to consider selling the patterns, lol! So I apologize for continually bringing up this subject. I guess I tend towards naive, and I just do not have that killer-business spirit. My interest lies with inspiring people to sew for themselves with the most simple/distilled designs I can create. It is a fun process for me, figuring out how to extremely-simplify conventional techniques. I want people to make their own patterns, their own designs, not take mine for profit.
Enough has happened in this last 18 months to make me realize people will take advantage of you, regardless . I’ve seen everything from “look at this great pattern I made” (when it is MY pattern on someone else’s blog) to a full-on shop selling items made from my patterns (and it is painfully clear that they are my patterns- I know, I designed it!). It’s distressing on one hand and makes me want to shut it all down and start over, but then I get an email from someone telling me they’ve been intimidated by sewing their whole life and one of my patterns was their first try and they are so proud of the result. Those emails inspire me to keep going, and keep sharing. However, it strikes me that someone is always ready to profit from someone else’s hard work, intentional or not. I question what I can do to make the person profiting from my efforts ME, but keep the open spirit of sharing and free tutorials. It makes me feel like I need to push this idea into another place, perhaps one that straddles some patterns for sale and some for free, to keep from feeling used. With each pattern (and I have 4 sitting here to share) this keeps coming up and I need to make a decision and stick with it instead of agonizing over it. I need to celebrate it and share it.
Incidentally… Lottie does stuff like this all the time. Funny little things to make me laugh, especially if she senses I’m sad or stressed. She’s outstanding. Ps…. it’s summer! I just want to be outside with her running around!
So much up and down. Left, right. Just when I think I’m catching up, getting my emotions in check, and heading in the right direction, the phone rings and it begins again. A piece of news that sends my mind back into a world parallel with my reality, a world where time slows down and maybe even goes backwards so that I can make sense of the here and now. The reality that time is fleeting and all those little moments you let slip by in your past sparkle with regret. I struggle tremendously against my will to shut down, close myself off and stop sharing. So the next few months may dabble a bit in the macabre or the depressing, or maybe even the silly to lighten my mood. But I am first and foremost going to stretch myself to find the words that having meaning for what I’m feeling.
The B-52’s have always been a favorite of mine…. when we were little this was one of the songs Julie and I would sing along to and try to match our voices to Cindy and Kate. Our Dad was fairly patient with this type of thing on road trips. We were pretty young, junior high, when we were obsessed. So this footage is a bit ahead of my time, but how amazing it must have been to see these guys live in a sleepy college town in Georgia when they were just starting out. I’ve seen them many times in concert, but by the time I saw them they were performing in arenas- already hugely popular with songs like Love Shack. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I would’ve loved to see them in a little club in Athens when they were still cultivating their sound. I truly think there’s no band like them, they were from another time. Both futuristic and retro, certainly ground breaking.
more about "The B-52’s – Atlanta – 52 girls 1978", posted with vodpod
more about “B-52’s Hero Worship“, posted with vodpod
I’m sorry I’ve gone missing. I just don’t seem to have any words these last few weeks. Well… I do, but I don’t know where to begin. Nor do I know that I have the right words or the fortitude to talk about things lately. But, I’m getting there.
