Friday, December 13, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
monstrous moonshine
tonight i left the house. it took me a day and a half to work up to leaving, but whining cats who were sick to death of scrambled eggs finally forced me to find my car keys. and boy howdy, i am glad for that tricky car ride. after mad cat and trader joe's (lots of pre-prepared microwavable meals--don't judge), i headed home. the npr show was about neighbors, and the first segment was about jeffrey dahmer's childhood neighbor. the guy was kind of an asshole. so i was only half way listening. thennnn....
first off, the noises: shhhhwish, dumm, dumm, dop...shhhwish, dumm, dumm, dop. shhhwish, shhhwish, hissssss. i make noises. when i am doing something rhythmic, i like to accompany the movements with appropriate sounds. (you probably do this too, but you are just too embarrassed to admit it.) the sounds drew me in.
the book is about the washed-up mathematical genius living on tinned mackerel and ramen in the basement of his own home. (he rents out the upper house part of the house.) the author just happened to move into the house. later he found out that his landlord was the brilliant math guy, simon p. norton. who? right?
here's what matters: the guy wrote about MONSTROUS MOONSHINE! how's that for some math genius?
according to wikipedia:
(feel free to skip this explanation unless you want a headache.)
In mathematics, monstrous moonshine, or moonshine theory, is a term devised by John Conway and Simon P. Norton in 1979, used to describe the unexpected connection between the monster group M and modular functions, in particular, the j function. It is now known that lying behind monstrous moonshine is a certain conformal field theory having the Monster group as symmetries. The conjectures made by Conway and Norton were proved by Richard Borcherds in 1992 using the no-ghost theorem from string theory and the theory of vertex operator algebras and generalized Kac–Moody algebras.
huh? well anyway, i did find out that it is called monstrous moonshine because " blah blah blah, that's moonshine" and if you can figure out "blah, blah, blah, i'll give you a bottle of jack daniels". read more about it on wikipedia--and donate while you are there.
and read the book by alexander masters called simon--the genius in my basement. when you are finished, give me a call and we can chat over whisky and discuss string theory and knitting and such.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Arkansas, a snow storm, and home again
back at the end of october, we did a show in ann arbor--the anniversary of my first show, as a matter a fact. i was ill-prepared. it came in the middle of a roller coaster loop-de-loop, and yarn dyeing just kept getting pushed to the back burner. the next show on our line up was the arkansas fiber extravaganza in hot springs. hot springs is a long long way from home. i was ridiculously prepared and excited about this show. sally melville was the headliner! my mom and dad were going to meet us there with no-no and jc! it was going to be warmer than wisconsin! last year this show was so much fun! okay, enough with the exclamation points.
anyway...i was prepared--even called in the troop--ravven. i had a ton of yarn, and 90% of it was already labeled. (one of my biggest issues is getting the labeling done.) all the yarn was reskeined. i didn't eat a pint of ice cream every day the week before we left, so i could button my pants. of course, we were late leaving, but that's par for the course.
after driving all night--literally--we got to arkansas only to find out that a ice storm was moving in. it had been raining most of the day, and the temperature was going to drop. well, great news, huh? that meant that my mom and dad didn't come. who in their right mind would risk it? it also meant that it was not warmer in arkansas. it also meant attendance was down. and did i mention that it was cold?
and the kicker--we left the odds and ends box at home. this is my favorite box. it holds business cards, the camera charger, scissors, band aides, gum, tape, glue, extra labels, stress balls...all the things that you need to make shows go more easily. so no business cards and no labels and poor attendance and tow headed kiddos and nothing open in hot springs. blah. not a great weekend.
luckily, it only took us 19 hours to get home.
anyway...i was prepared--even called in the troop--ravven. i had a ton of yarn, and 90% of it was already labeled. (one of my biggest issues is getting the labeling done.) all the yarn was reskeined. i didn't eat a pint of ice cream every day the week before we left, so i could button my pants. of course, we were late leaving, but that's par for the course.
after driving all night--literally--we got to arkansas only to find out that a ice storm was moving in. it had been raining most of the day, and the temperature was going to drop. well, great news, huh? that meant that my mom and dad didn't come. who in their right mind would risk it? it also meant that it was not warmer in arkansas. it also meant attendance was down. and did i mention that it was cold?
and the kicker--we left the odds and ends box at home. this is my favorite box. it holds business cards, the camera charger, scissors, band aides, gum, tape, glue, extra labels, stress balls...all the things that you need to make shows go more easily. so no business cards and no labels and poor attendance and tow headed kiddos and nothing open in hot springs. blah. not a great weekend.
luckily, it only took us 19 hours to get home.
Friday, November 8, 2013
biscotti-ba-boom
if any of y'all are yarnies, you may know that magic and moonshine (me mainly with a bit of lee and deon thrown in) does a cookies and cake club every year. this year it's inspired by jitterbug perfume by tom robbins. (shout out to cathy ellsworth, senior humanities teacher who gave me the book and incited by lifelong love for tom robbins.) the club is called sexy yarns and sinful treats this go-round.
so, the first month--october--was seattle and the beet. (read the book if you don't get it. it's totally worth it.) so, of course, seattle called for chocolate cherry biscotti. or actually because i go for overkill: triple chocolate cherry biscotti. so i know how to make biscotti--probably made several dozen batches of biscotti a week for a couple of years. it's super easy. and it's not supposed to look pretty, so it's even easier. right?
well, sort of. it would be easy if i wasn't the me who wants to fancy everything up a little bit AND who is a procrastinating perfectionist. i had to get this biscotti made on saturday so that i could get the already late club orders out that afternoon. i made lee run to the grocery store as soon as he woke up so that the eggs would be room temp by the time i stumbled out of bed. yay, lee!
then i realized that i should wait to mail until monday--damn the lateness, fresher biscotti. i mean who wants their biscotti to sit in the p.o. all weekend. so, i put off biscotti til sunday. no problem. biscotti is easy. but...the first batch. i didn't chop up my chocolate well nor did i add enough liquid and i added extra cherries. so baking the requisite amount of time left me with burnt biscotti. problem is that with dark chocolate and dutch processed cocoa, it's hard to tell that they are burnt. but much later, i decided they were--chocolate is weird about burnt--it can almost mask it, especially if it's extra dark chocolate. but i know that burnt was there.
so, batch number too. still made the same recipe mistakes. confession: i was using ghiradelli bittersweet chips so i didn't bother to chop--even though the chips were big enough to be elf hats. i was also using rum to soak the cherries, and i didn't want to use rum, so i didn't add that liquid. also, i was low on vanilla--and that makes me very very sad. but, in spite of my shortcomings, batch number two was alright. so, i wanted to make it better. DIP IT IN CHOCOLATE!!! well, i had my chocolate warmed and ready to drizzle. then i thought it would be a great idea to add cold milk--skim. where was my brain? guess what. chocolate seized. now here is where backing away, admitting defeat, would have been the logical option. but that isn't what i did. logic is not the only option. i added an insane amount of butter to the chocolate and dipped those 'scotti in it. yep. i did. guess what? it was a ridiculous mess. kinda like frosting the biscotti with canned chocolate frosting. crap. 2 a.m.
new plan. run to the store as soon as i get up monday morning for a stick of butter, a container of milk, and a loaf of bread. or at least, eggs, vanilla, chocolate, cherries. and some toilet paper.
well, sort of. it would be easy if i wasn't the me who wants to fancy everything up a little bit AND who is a procrastinating perfectionist. i had to get this biscotti made on saturday so that i could get the already late club orders out that afternoon. i made lee run to the grocery store as soon as he woke up so that the eggs would be room temp by the time i stumbled out of bed. yay, lee!
then i realized that i should wait to mail until monday--damn the lateness, fresher biscotti. i mean who wants their biscotti to sit in the p.o. all weekend. so, i put off biscotti til sunday. no problem. biscotti is easy. but...the first batch. i didn't chop up my chocolate well nor did i add enough liquid and i added extra cherries. so baking the requisite amount of time left me with burnt biscotti. problem is that with dark chocolate and dutch processed cocoa, it's hard to tell that they are burnt. but much later, i decided they were--chocolate is weird about burnt--it can almost mask it, especially if it's extra dark chocolate. but i know that burnt was there.
so, batch number too. still made the same recipe mistakes. confession: i was using ghiradelli bittersweet chips so i didn't bother to chop--even though the chips were big enough to be elf hats. i was also using rum to soak the cherries, and i didn't want to use rum, so i didn't add that liquid. also, i was low on vanilla--and that makes me very very sad. but, in spite of my shortcomings, batch number two was alright. so, i wanted to make it better. DIP IT IN CHOCOLATE!!! well, i had my chocolate warmed and ready to drizzle. then i thought it would be a great idea to add cold milk--skim. where was my brain? guess what. chocolate seized. now here is where backing away, admitting defeat, would have been the logical option. but that isn't what i did. logic is not the only option. i added an insane amount of butter to the chocolate and dipped those 'scotti in it. yep. i did. guess what? it was a ridiculous mess. kinda like frosting the biscotti with canned chocolate frosting. crap. 2 a.m.
new plan. run to the store as soon as i get up monday morning for a stick of butter, a container of milk, and a loaf of bread. or at least, eggs, vanilla, chocolate, cherries. and some toilet paper.
i did that. i used port to soak my cherries, and chopped my chocolate. i made the best damn triple chocolate cherry biscotti. and then i ate 6 pieces, mailed the rest off, and went back to sleep.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
a droopy post
so i wrote a post earlier today, and i just wandered back around to it. it was the droopiest thing i have written on the blog--and on top of that, it wasn't funny or interesting. it was just sad trombone boring. it was a poor little me post. so i deleted it. or something.
since writing on this blog (in this blog?) was on my to do list today, i am trying to redo it so i won't feel guilty tomorrow and have to add it to tomorrow's already mile long to do. mile long to do lists are my thing. maybe that's my problem. I LOVE MAKING LISTS!!! i keep random lists of everything. e.g. what my 5 female cats' names would be if they were male. ftr, lulii would be frank; kk would be roy; rose would be bob; pi would be sam; and chica would be chico. also lists of colors i would like to use on my walls should i ever repaint, and these lists are accompanied by paint chips (which i collect because in addition to my lists, i like to collect weird things). lists of things i want to write about or read about or research or watch--normal lists, right? except i rarely actually write about or read about or research or watch or listen to anything on my lists. apparently, it is enough to have the lists. i have notebooks full of lists. i love a bullet point.
for my daily lists, i subdivide into what i call a "higgdy". this stands for "how it's gonna go down, yo." following the guidance of whoever wrote getting things done, i break things down into lists of 5. so like 7 groups of 5 mini to do lists. each sub-list starts with "read", so i really only have 4 action items on the list. items are crossed off when they are done, and if i drank a full glass of water while i was working my way down the list, i get to put a check mark across the list.
i am super awesome in the early day (for me the day starts around 11 am, so i don't have a lot of early day to work with). i plow through the first mini lists full of energy. (each one takes about an hour.) the problem is that when i hit that third mini, i have had to add things to the list that must get done, but that i really don't want to do. the first couple will mainly be the basics--clean the kitchen, take a shower, go get diet cokes, write, sweep the bedroom, hang the laundry, etc...then i have to get to the nitty gritty. so at this point, i slow down. way down. and i waste more time sitting outside staring at the tree or counting the number of zinnias i still have left.
so now, each list starts taking an extra half hour. so i manage to get through 5 mini lists, and then it's six o'clock, and the final bell rings in my head. the rest of the world quits work around 5 or 6, so i do too. except that the rest of the world starts before 11...
crud monkeys. i wonder if i can sell lists instead of yarn.
since writing on this blog (in this blog?) was on my to do list today, i am trying to redo it so i won't feel guilty tomorrow and have to add it to tomorrow's already mile long to do. mile long to do lists are my thing. maybe that's my problem. I LOVE MAKING LISTS!!! i keep random lists of everything. e.g. what my 5 female cats' names would be if they were male. ftr, lulii would be frank; kk would be roy; rose would be bob; pi would be sam; and chica would be chico. also lists of colors i would like to use on my walls should i ever repaint, and these lists are accompanied by paint chips (which i collect because in addition to my lists, i like to collect weird things). lists of things i want to write about or read about or research or watch--normal lists, right? except i rarely actually write about or read about or research or watch or listen to anything on my lists. apparently, it is enough to have the lists. i have notebooks full of lists. i love a bullet point.
for my daily lists, i subdivide into what i call a "higgdy". this stands for "how it's gonna go down, yo." following the guidance of whoever wrote getting things done, i break things down into lists of 5. so like 7 groups of 5 mini to do lists. each sub-list starts with "read", so i really only have 4 action items on the list. items are crossed off when they are done, and if i drank a full glass of water while i was working my way down the list, i get to put a check mark across the list.
i am super awesome in the early day (for me the day starts around 11 am, so i don't have a lot of early day to work with). i plow through the first mini lists full of energy. (each one takes about an hour.) the problem is that when i hit that third mini, i have had to add things to the list that must get done, but that i really don't want to do. the first couple will mainly be the basics--clean the kitchen, take a shower, go get diet cokes, write, sweep the bedroom, hang the laundry, etc...then i have to get to the nitty gritty. so at this point, i slow down. way down. and i waste more time sitting outside staring at the tree or counting the number of zinnias i still have left.
so now, each list starts taking an extra half hour. so i manage to get through 5 mini lists, and then it's six o'clock, and the final bell rings in my head. the rest of the world quits work around 5 or 6, so i do too. except that the rest of the world starts before 11...
crud monkeys. i wonder if i can sell lists instead of yarn.
Monday, September 9, 2013
time to make the do-nuts
dude! we finished the space minus three things: the drawers under the tv console, the major lights lee wants to put in, and something else that i can't remember right now. some pics:
a general overview complete with a couple of cats. this is my pretty pink basement where i am going to dye my yarn and order my supplies and knit and snuggle kitties. and where i am going to do the insanity workout--for serious, i'm gonna do it.
here is my dye table (really a door on saw horses, but whatever). see my dyes and my jars and my dye solutions. underneath is a little whackety shelf that deon and i built holding various and sundry tools of the trade. i also have a lazy susan. don't know exactly the point yet, but it spins! i hope my pretty new room encourages me to be less messy and careless in my dyeing process. also, see the fish on the wall made out of mississippi license plates? paul made it for julie who gave it to me.
this is a shelf of yarn with a little bit of fabric thrown in. also, in the corner you can see an old poster from the hoka. it's from oj ekemode and the nigerian all stars--a great band. and p.s. if anyone has any info on them i would love to hear it. they have vanished off the face of the earth. the poster says "if you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing." tru dat. also on the wall? a welcome, y'all sign. and the best part? "y'all" is spelled right! amazing how many people misspell it. it's a contraction for "you all", yo. get it right. (and while we are talking grammar and stuff, "i" is not in the objective case." just because newspapers and editors and authors seem to have forgotten grammar, doesn't mean you have to forget to. were you raised by wolves?
a chair to sit in when i want to sit in a chair on that side of the room.
also my tool chest and a bunch of craft books. and you probably can't see this, but there are a few of my myriad collections in the shelves--a bowl of rocks and sticks, a bunch of pretty beads, a few bones, some binder clips, and hidden behind it all are a ton of little notebooks. i can't seem to get enough little notebooks! i'm obsessed.
down below--the tv play space. room to play wi, to do yoga, and to do the aforementioned insanity workout. and also to watch a gazillion episodes of that 70s show! (for those of you who have been living in a cave, here's a link.
a general overview complete with a couple of cats. this is my pretty pink basement where i am going to dye my yarn and order my supplies and knit and snuggle kitties. and where i am going to do the insanity workout--for serious, i'm gonna do it.
here is my dye table (really a door on saw horses, but whatever). see my dyes and my jars and my dye solutions. underneath is a little whackety shelf that deon and i built holding various and sundry tools of the trade. i also have a lazy susan. don't know exactly the point yet, but it spins! i hope my pretty new room encourages me to be less messy and careless in my dyeing process. also, see the fish on the wall made out of mississippi license plates? paul made it for julie who gave it to me.
this is a shelf of yarn with a little bit of fabric thrown in. also, in the corner you can see an old poster from the hoka. it's from oj ekemode and the nigerian all stars--a great band. and p.s. if anyone has any info on them i would love to hear it. they have vanished off the face of the earth. the poster says "if you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing." tru dat. also on the wall? a welcome, y'all sign. and the best part? "y'all" is spelled right! amazing how many people misspell it. it's a contraction for "you all", yo. get it right. (and while we are talking grammar and stuff, "i" is not in the objective case." just because newspapers and editors and authors seem to have forgotten grammar, doesn't mean you have to forget to. were you raised by wolves?
 |
| my inspiration wall--me and my bro, my family, me and a couple of cousins, all sorts of quotes and pretty stuff! |
a chair to sit in when i want to sit in a chair on that side of the room.
also my tool chest and a bunch of craft books. and you probably can't see this, but there are a few of my myriad collections in the shelves--a bowl of rocks and sticks, a bunch of pretty beads, a few bones, some binder clips, and hidden behind it all are a ton of little notebooks. i can't seem to get enough little notebooks! i'm obsessed.
down below--the tv play space. room to play wi, to do yoga, and to do the aforementioned insanity workout. and also to watch a gazillion episodes of that 70s show! (for those of you who have been living in a cave, here's a link.
and now it's time to get to work!!!! festivals and yarn club and shop updates, oh my!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
MY STUDIO!!!
while i was taking a bath this morning, i was thinking of blogginess. thinking of all the things that i should tell--famous avion, missing michael stype but burning the chicken, my mom putting me in the shopping cart when i was 39, the many things i collect, my love/hate relationship with stairs...those stories will all be fun--i promise. but for today...
MY STUDIO!!! oh my. any of you who know me irl or on rav know that i have been fighting my dyeing space for as long as i have been dyeing. i started my dyeing hobby in the summer. i love the summer, and i stay outside all day everyday when it is warm outside. sometimes i even set up "office space" out there with a desk and an ice bucket for diet coke and karbrun's. i put all the stuff i like to have in little baskets and go. why go inside when, in wisco, i am stuck inside for 6 months out of the year. outside there are little dancy warm molecules caressing my skin, bright pops of zinnias, sun warmed candy tomatoes, and a garden hose. anyway...
MY STUDIO!!! then, i started swapping my hand dyed yarn on rav. then i started custom dyeing for swaps. then i decided to go for it. what the hell. then it got serious. at this point, winter was kicking the door down. she's a bitch with her wet white crap. all you romantic types probably think snow is beautiful and magic and sparkly, but i know the truth. SNOW IS NOTHING MORE THAT MESSY WAITING TO HAPPEN.
so, i had to dye inside. first i started in what i call my dining room. don't know exactly why i call it that except than the folks from whom i bought the house had a dining room table in there. we certainly don't "dine" there. we dine in bed. if there are guests involved--more than will fit in the bed--we dine in the living room on the sofa with our plates in our laps. (why walls? but that's another story for another time.) but the dining room wasn't great. i spill stuff a lot. dye is messy messy business. and i like to have my guest visible space clean-ish in case some one drops by. which never happens unless it's phoebe, and she's cool with the mess. so i put the dye stuff in the closet like an unbalanced puzzle most nights and then had to drag it all back out to work again. i really needed space to work. i needed
MY STUDIO!! (gimmicky little trick i got going on here, right?) i tried to set my basement up as studio space, but it was hospital green and orange and yellow, and i really hated being imprisoned down there. i made it work by wearing those horse blinders. not really, but that's an idea for the rest of my house. i dyed down there for two eternal winters. it was gross. i really just didn't feel like cleaning up down there often, and i couldn't get organized without doing the aforementioned precarious puzzle thing. every summer, i would haul all my dye stuff--which at this point had grown into a considerable pile--outside again. i would set up shop in the garage. but still, this wasn't a fabulous plan. the hauling and the lack of organized space set me up for continual disasters. dyeing and disasters are inevitable--and sometimes there's that silver lining. in general though, dyeing and disasters just kill grass and leave me looking like i have been beaten repeatedly. so finally, this summer, lee and i got serious about setting up
MY STUDIO!!! (last time, i promise) and i'll tell you all about it in the next few days. stay tuned. it's like being inside a happy pink cloud.
MY STUDIO!!! oh my. any of you who know me irl or on rav know that i have been fighting my dyeing space for as long as i have been dyeing. i started my dyeing hobby in the summer. i love the summer, and i stay outside all day everyday when it is warm outside. sometimes i even set up "office space" out there with a desk and an ice bucket for diet coke and karbrun's. i put all the stuff i like to have in little baskets and go. why go inside when, in wisco, i am stuck inside for 6 months out of the year. outside there are little dancy warm molecules caressing my skin, bright pops of zinnias, sun warmed candy tomatoes, and a garden hose. anyway...
MY STUDIO!!! then, i started swapping my hand dyed yarn on rav. then i started custom dyeing for swaps. then i decided to go for it. what the hell. then it got serious. at this point, winter was kicking the door down. she's a bitch with her wet white crap. all you romantic types probably think snow is beautiful and magic and sparkly, but i know the truth. SNOW IS NOTHING MORE THAT MESSY WAITING TO HAPPEN.
so, i had to dye inside. first i started in what i call my dining room. don't know exactly why i call it that except than the folks from whom i bought the house had a dining room table in there. we certainly don't "dine" there. we dine in bed. if there are guests involved--more than will fit in the bed--we dine in the living room on the sofa with our plates in our laps. (why walls? but that's another story for another time.) but the dining room wasn't great. i spill stuff a lot. dye is messy messy business. and i like to have my guest visible space clean-ish in case some one drops by. which never happens unless it's phoebe, and she's cool with the mess. so i put the dye stuff in the closet like an unbalanced puzzle most nights and then had to drag it all back out to work again. i really needed space to work. i needed
MY STUDIO!! (gimmicky little trick i got going on here, right?) i tried to set my basement up as studio space, but it was hospital green and orange and yellow, and i really hated being imprisoned down there. i made it work by wearing those horse blinders. not really, but that's an idea for the rest of my house. i dyed down there for two eternal winters. it was gross. i really just didn't feel like cleaning up down there often, and i couldn't get organized without doing the aforementioned precarious puzzle thing. every summer, i would haul all my dye stuff--which at this point had grown into a considerable pile--outside again. i would set up shop in the garage. but still, this wasn't a fabulous plan. the hauling and the lack of organized space set me up for continual disasters. dyeing and disasters are inevitable--and sometimes there's that silver lining. in general though, dyeing and disasters just kill grass and leave me looking like i have been beaten repeatedly. so finally, this summer, lee and i got serious about setting up
MY STUDIO!!! (last time, i promise) and i'll tell you all about it in the next few days. stay tuned. it's like being inside a happy pink cloud.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
out of the lower 48 plus two big sea faring mammals
this year i visited three states that i had never been to before. cool. cooler still? two thirds of the three were out of the lower 48. that's right. i went to both alaska and hawaii this year. some of you may have seen my disparaging post about the big island, hawaii. yeah, it was a bunch of rocks. but in all fairness, they were lava rocks. and i wasn't fair to the ocean. it was gorgeous. and i didn't tell you that i swam with the dolphins. what the heck was wrong with me? i was a crabapple about that trip, wasn't i? anyway, lee and i swam with the dolphins. they had party plans that day though, so we really swam after the dolphins who probably thought we were crazy.
anyway, back to alaska. alaska is beautiful--crazy beautiful. big grand beautiful. gaspingly beautiful. go there right now. and look out for the insanely big potted petunias. anchorage gets a lot of light this time a year. everything in alaska is huge. the eagles, the salmon, the mountains, the potted plants, the ocean, the glaciers. joey my bro and g-ham met a moose at the laundromat, and the moose was huge. they also saw a bear having a little salmon snack--he really wasn't that huge. oh well, can't have them all. but we went whale spotting and saw whales. whales are unfathomly (i know it's not a word.) huge. we only saw bits of the whales. their tails or a swoop of back as they dove to eat. those parts of them were ridiculous, so i cannot even imagine the entire whale. trufact: whales lose 10000 pounds while nursing. wha?
in the span of a few months--two ocean dwelling mammals. a pod of dolphins and three whales. dude. fish are eerie and otherworldly anyway, but these two species are amazing. a-freakin-mazing. dude. they live in the water and nurse their young. dolphins goof around and play and don't sleep. whales who are as big as a school bus and weigh a gazillion pounds can't eat anything but teeny tiny plankton.
what a world, right?
i'll get you some pics soon. and tell you about the water.
anyway, back to alaska. alaska is beautiful--crazy beautiful. big grand beautiful. gaspingly beautiful. go there right now. and look out for the insanely big potted petunias. anchorage gets a lot of light this time a year. everything in alaska is huge. the eagles, the salmon, the mountains, the potted plants, the ocean, the glaciers. joey my bro and g-ham met a moose at the laundromat, and the moose was huge. they also saw a bear having a little salmon snack--he really wasn't that huge. oh well, can't have them all. but we went whale spotting and saw whales. whales are unfathomly (i know it's not a word.) huge. we only saw bits of the whales. their tails or a swoop of back as they dove to eat. those parts of them were ridiculous, so i cannot even imagine the entire whale. trufact: whales lose 10000 pounds while nursing. wha?
in the span of a few months--two ocean dwelling mammals. a pod of dolphins and three whales. dude. fish are eerie and otherworldly anyway, but these two species are amazing. a-freakin-mazing. dude. they live in the water and nurse their young. dolphins goof around and play and don't sleep. whales who are as big as a school bus and weigh a gazillion pounds can't eat anything but teeny tiny plankton.
what a world, right?
i'll get you some pics soon. and tell you about the water.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
don't tell me to follow no schedule
i gotta tell you. i freakin suck at sticking to a schedule. i am a rebel in the very heart and soul of my being. i jaywalk, and i don't whisper in libraries. i am forever urging lee to "just do it". (not talking about shoplifting here. geez. more like crossing the street when the light says not to cross.) anyway, about that schedule i made for myself early in the summer.
i knew i was setting myself up. i can always put of til tomorrow what doesn't have to be done til, say, october. there are a lot of tomorrows til october, amirite? so, i haven't been following my dyeing schedule at all. i did it for about half a week, but then i just went right back to playing. don't tell me to follow no schedule. the only part about schedules i like is making the schedule.
the one time lee lied to me, afaik, was to keep me from being late to the airport. see?
anyway, since i haven't been sticking to my dyeing schedule, i have serendipitously come up with a cool way of dyeing pastels that i like. here goes:
so, i have been running around the country a ton this summer. (not teal deer.) on one of those trips, it rained a river in madison. of course, i hadn't had time before i left to clean up all my dye stuff or even to take the yarn that i had put off dyeing off the dye table. i work outside in the summer. (yeah, i wear sunscreen, monique. yes teal deer.) so it rained. and rained. and all my dye flooded out of their little buckets and ran onto the yarn. when i got home there was this gorgeous mint chocolate skein on the table. the emerald and teal flooded and mixed to a jade-y color and the brown had flooded. so there was the first "hit" on the skein of serious saturated color. then it ran and faded into nothing. it was so cool.
watercolor! rain dyeing! mother nature!
anyway, i am trying to be the rain. my reproduction isn't perfect yet, but it's fun to dye with the water hose!
this is the closest thing to a teal deer in the rain i could find that i could use. (threadless design) so, it's really a not-teal-deer walking in the clouds in the not-teal-sky. but it's a cute t-design, so like it for what it is.
i knew i was setting myself up. i can always put of til tomorrow what doesn't have to be done til, say, october. there are a lot of tomorrows til october, amirite? so, i haven't been following my dyeing schedule at all. i did it for about half a week, but then i just went right back to playing. don't tell me to follow no schedule. the only part about schedules i like is making the schedule.
the one time lee lied to me, afaik, was to keep me from being late to the airport. see?
anyway, since i haven't been sticking to my dyeing schedule, i have serendipitously come up with a cool way of dyeing pastels that i like. here goes:
so, i have been running around the country a ton this summer. (not teal deer.) on one of those trips, it rained a river in madison. of course, i hadn't had time before i left to clean up all my dye stuff or even to take the yarn that i had put off dyeing off the dye table. i work outside in the summer. (yeah, i wear sunscreen, monique. yes teal deer.) so it rained. and rained. and all my dye flooded out of their little buckets and ran onto the yarn. when i got home there was this gorgeous mint chocolate skein on the table. the emerald and teal flooded and mixed to a jade-y color and the brown had flooded. so there was the first "hit" on the skein of serious saturated color. then it ran and faded into nothing. it was so cool.
watercolor! rain dyeing! mother nature!
anyway, i am trying to be the rain. my reproduction isn't perfect yet, but it's fun to dye with the water hose!
this is the closest thing to a teal deer in the rain i could find that i could use. (threadless design) so, it's really a not-teal-deer walking in the clouds in the not-teal-sky. but it's a cute t-design, so like it for what it is.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
i love puppies.
when i am walking down the street, i am always on the lookout for a pup to pet. i am surely an annoyance to owners who want to get back to whatever zombie tv series they are watching. but i just can't help myself. sometimes i even kiss pictures of puppies. just ask my friend dave whose cell phone was recently kissed.
i can't have a doglet though. i have 5 cats who can barely contain themselves as it is. a dog would be absolutely miserable in my house. i have seen my cats chase dogs down the street. i baby sat a poor little beagle that got treed (on the sofa) by my cats. nope, no pups for me. unless it was a pocket pup. but i much prefer big ole dogs. big ole goofy lolly gagging dogs. i just want to snuggle up to them and love love love.
please forgive me if i pet your dog too long on the street.
anyway...my rav friend grittyknits (http://www.grittyknits.com/) volunteers for treat em right rescue in texas. it's a rescue for so called bully breeds. if you are so inclined, check out this ravelry post for the deets and give a little bit for sugar and the other sweet baby dogs there.
i can't have a doglet though. i have 5 cats who can barely contain themselves as it is. a dog would be absolutely miserable in my house. i have seen my cats chase dogs down the street. i baby sat a poor little beagle that got treed (on the sofa) by my cats. nope, no pups for me. unless it was a pocket pup. but i much prefer big ole dogs. big ole goofy lolly gagging dogs. i just want to snuggle up to them and love love love.
please forgive me if i pet your dog too long on the street.
anyway...my rav friend grittyknits (http://www.grittyknits.com/) volunteers for treat em right rescue in texas. it's a rescue for so called bully breeds. if you are so inclined, check out this ravelry post for the deets and give a little bit for sugar and the other sweet baby dogs there.
Monday, June 24, 2013
colors and colors and colors
y'all. i like colors. no, wait, i f'ing love color! i like bright strong true colors. my house is painted 76 shades of blue with a little green, yellow, orange thrown in just for fun. my yarn is rainbows and clown barf. when you see my booth at a yarn show, you will be drawn in my the seductive voice of color...but...i also like whisper-y pastels.
i feel like i should stand behind a tree when i say that so i don't get pelted with tomatoes. i am the color queen. but the palest of pales are colors too. it's really hard to dye pale colors--now when i say pale, i don't mean pastel. i mean the softest of soft. although pastels aren't that easy to dye either--at least for me. (i try occasionally, but i am overcome by my love for yellow and turquoise.)
it's been raining a lot lately. i mean a whole lot. buckets. in my laziness, i didn't take my dyes inside. (nor did i take my laundry, but that's another story.) the bowls of dye were diluted with lotsa rain water, so i thought i would give whisper dyeing another shot. might as well, right?
i wish i could say it went really well. but i am not sure. i think i got sherbet instead of whisper. i hope there are people who like sherbet.
sharing the sherbet with you!
big ups to those of you that know the song!
i feel like i should stand behind a tree when i say that so i don't get pelted with tomatoes. i am the color queen. but the palest of pales are colors too. it's really hard to dye pale colors--now when i say pale, i don't mean pastel. i mean the softest of soft. although pastels aren't that easy to dye either--at least for me. (i try occasionally, but i am overcome by my love for yellow and turquoise.)
it's been raining a lot lately. i mean a whole lot. buckets. in my laziness, i didn't take my dyes inside. (nor did i take my laundry, but that's another story.) the bowls of dye were diluted with lotsa rain water, so i thought i would give whisper dyeing another shot. might as well, right?
i wish i could say it went really well. but i am not sure. i think i got sherbet instead of whisper. i hope there are people who like sherbet.
sharing the sherbet with you!
big ups to those of you that know the song!
Monday, June 17, 2013
and away we go
i've made a lot of personal commitments in the last few days. some i mentioned--and btw, i did yoga twice last week--even went to a class. i also did all of my couch to 5k walk/jog sessions. pretty good, huh? another of my commitments was to blog twice a week. did it last week. going for week 2 by getting started on monday. even if i don't really have much to say.
lee spent yesterday dreaming about remodeling our house. for some reason, he really really really doesn't like the peak in the front. i never really noticed it. we have a pretty traditional cape cod, and it has some great features. i love the upstairs with our peaked bedroom and landing. i love the blue walls. since we put in new windows, i love the big living room with lots of light and the other room that we call the dining room--though no one has ever dined in there since we've lived here, but that's the way the previous owners had it set up--and the realty folks call the third bedroom. we have a nice sofa and a bunch of yarn in there. actually in here, cause that's where i am.
anyway, lee even started a pinterest board for his day dreaming. we have a lot of remodeling we want to do. we want to somehow open up the first floor choppiness, do something about our ridiculous kitchen layout, add solar panels/light upstairs. add a porch/deck/balcony. more windows. maybe a little more space with a front entryway or a build off the back for a bigger kitchen and bathroom. maybe both. a lot.
this got started because we were seriously considering moving to warmer climes. cold sucks. but we realized that we have at least 5 years til deon is 18. we might as well do something to make this house more what we want. so off lee went...yesterday we walked around and looked at other cape cods that have been remodeled. lee searched pinterest. he found some sight where you put down your ideas and architects compete for a prize but offering designs and hoping you choose theirs. he even found an idea on a friend's facebook page. i mainly nodded and said um, i like it, or huh?
here's to someday, right?
my blue dining room--new windows with unfinished wall. lots of bright stuff and a coconut head purse--above.
a parrot pillow and a peace plant, blue walls, blue sofa, top of starburst bag.
a lot of cds on a blue shelf, a cool pastel, a starfish and an orange candle stick. a couple of ship floater balls and another ship thing, but i can't remember what it is. a piece of driftwood and a cardboard box.
lee spent yesterday dreaming about remodeling our house. for some reason, he really really really doesn't like the peak in the front. i never really noticed it. we have a pretty traditional cape cod, and it has some great features. i love the upstairs with our peaked bedroom and landing. i love the blue walls. since we put in new windows, i love the big living room with lots of light and the other room that we call the dining room--though no one has ever dined in there since we've lived here, but that's the way the previous owners had it set up--and the realty folks call the third bedroom. we have a nice sofa and a bunch of yarn in there. actually in here, cause that's where i am.
anyway, lee even started a pinterest board for his day dreaming. we have a lot of remodeling we want to do. we want to somehow open up the first floor choppiness, do something about our ridiculous kitchen layout, add solar panels/light upstairs. add a porch/deck/balcony. more windows. maybe a little more space with a front entryway or a build off the back for a bigger kitchen and bathroom. maybe both. a lot.
here's to someday, right?
my blue dining room--new windows with unfinished wall. lots of bright stuff and a coconut head purse--above.
a parrot pillow and a peace plant, blue walls, blue sofa, top of starburst bag.
a lot of cds on a blue shelf, a cool pastel, a starfish and an orange candle stick. a couple of ship floater balls and another ship thing, but i can't remember what it is. a piece of driftwood and a cardboard box.
bye now.
Friday, June 14, 2013
are creative people naturally artistic? are artistic people naturally creative?
so i used to think that if you could draw well then you had beautiful handwriting--though maybe not the vice versa. i absolutely don't have beautiful handwriting, and i don't draw particularly well. my mom has pretty hand writing, but she doesn't draw particularly well either.
just like the difference in craft and art is ambiguous and often based solely on the type of value the object in question holds--so is the difference in artists and creatives. craft is practically valuable, say some, while art is valuable on some "higher" level. there is this idea that artists are born, but crafters are made. in fact, there is even a word for the crafter artist--the artisan.
i don't believe that (or i don't wanna believe that) --as a knitter wannabe, i have seen some knit work, that while practical and useful, is beyond gorgeous in the artistry of the knitter. sometimes this happens even when a pattern/recipe is used.
i can be pretty creative. i love decorating, and i am pretty good at figuring out how to make things work without the proper parts/tools. i can also make cool stuff sometimes--even from stuff that is originally not so cool. i like glue guns and binder clips. definitely creative. but, am i an artista? i am a whiz with color, but does that make me an artist? i "paint" on yarn, but i can't draw a pretty flower or write funky music. i can't balance a pot on a wheel, but i can hand build some cool stuff. my jewelry is pretty good because of the colors and textures used. my yarn is sometimes really gorgeous--the color palettes and the hand painting sometimes add up just right to make something magical.
but i don't really think of myself as an artist. i think of my friend phoebe as an artist even though she doesn't have my color sense nor does she like to decorate. but she has beautiful hand writing and paints and draws wonderfully. she has a good "eye". (ftr, i have a good eye too.) i think of my friend robert (actually two of my robert friends) as artists. both are talented. both have nice handwriting, though one is a potter and one is a painter. my friend all--also a painter--also beautiful handwriting. all paints these genius pop scenes that make you think. i can stare at one for hours.
so? when you think of the "artist", do you think of a more elite space than that of the crafter? a more discriminate club? i think i probably do. i mean art hangs in galleries right? or is played in beautiful concert halls--maybe with a maestro....is some transcendental beauty something or nother. my friend robert the potter does not want his pottery to ever be used in practical ways.
but i am trying not to think this way. first and foremost, i am a big believer in wabi sabi--or the beauty of the imperfection. i don't want to be so snobby. i think beautiful is beautiful whether it is crafted or drawn. we need to recognize the beauty; its value and worth--as is.
right? if anyone's out there ;), i'd love to hear what you think.
just like the difference in craft and art is ambiguous and often based solely on the type of value the object in question holds--so is the difference in artists and creatives. craft is practically valuable, say some, while art is valuable on some "higher" level. there is this idea that artists are born, but crafters are made. in fact, there is even a word for the crafter artist--the artisan.
i don't believe that (or i don't wanna believe that) --as a knitter wannabe, i have seen some knit work, that while practical and useful, is beyond gorgeous in the artistry of the knitter. sometimes this happens even when a pattern/recipe is used.
i can be pretty creative. i love decorating, and i am pretty good at figuring out how to make things work without the proper parts/tools. i can also make cool stuff sometimes--even from stuff that is originally not so cool. i like glue guns and binder clips. definitely creative. but, am i an artista? i am a whiz with color, but does that make me an artist? i "paint" on yarn, but i can't draw a pretty flower or write funky music. i can't balance a pot on a wheel, but i can hand build some cool stuff. my jewelry is pretty good because of the colors and textures used. my yarn is sometimes really gorgeous--the color palettes and the hand painting sometimes add up just right to make something magical.
but i don't really think of myself as an artist. i think of my friend phoebe as an artist even though she doesn't have my color sense nor does she like to decorate. but she has beautiful hand writing and paints and draws wonderfully. she has a good "eye". (ftr, i have a good eye too.) i think of my friend robert (actually two of my robert friends) as artists. both are talented. both have nice handwriting, though one is a potter and one is a painter. my friend all--also a painter--also beautiful handwriting. all paints these genius pop scenes that make you think. i can stare at one for hours.
so? when you think of the "artist", do you think of a more elite space than that of the crafter? a more discriminate club? i think i probably do. i mean art hangs in galleries right? or is played in beautiful concert halls--maybe with a maestro....is some transcendental beauty something or nother. my friend robert the potter does not want his pottery to ever be used in practical ways.
but i am trying not to think this way. first and foremost, i am a big believer in wabi sabi--or the beauty of the imperfection. i don't want to be so snobby. i think beautiful is beautiful whether it is crafted or drawn. we need to recognize the beauty; its value and worth--as is.
right? if anyone's out there ;), i'd love to hear what you think.
Monday, June 10, 2013
happy happy joy joy
it's finally (or i hope finally) summer! summer makes me crackle with energy--as anyone who is around me in the summer knows. as in, i might catch on fire one day.
since it's summer, i have made a list as long as i am tall. parts of the list are a little laura-whacky. for example: build a cardboard castle for the cats or finally make that rug out of paper bags. but some of it is fo real stuffs that i need to do. exercise. that's a biggy. eat more healthfully--that's a biggy. (right now, i live on frozen pizza, noodles and red sauce out of a jar, and ice cream.) and then there's work--or actually treating my yarn business like a job so that when show times come up, i am not working 23 hours a day and making gargantuan mistakes and covering my entire kitchen, wardrobe, and body in black dye. and a fun one--take an artist's date every week. (surely some of y'all have done that artist's way guide to a creative life?) that book is a bit hokey for me, but the artist's date makes sense.
so--
1. exercise--i am doing c25k and yoga
2. eat better--i got some apples and strawberries at the store today. and no ice cream.
4. yarn, for serious, yo--i wound some self striping and mailed out my sales (and made a schedule)
5. artist's date--gonna do it on thursday cause that's my fave day.
yeah, i skipped number three. it's too much trouble to go change all the numbers. i am sure i will come up with a three sooner or later, right?
i did couch to 5k today, and i took my phone so i could listen to music. a lot of people do this, so i heard. well, as it turns out, i only have two songs on my phone. lauryn hill's can't take my eyes off you and the waifs' lighthouse. so for nearly 45 minutes, i listened to these two songs over and over. then i went all into nostalgia land.
the lauryn hill cd belongs to my friend dave. dave and i spend lots of time staying up all night and drinking beer and yapping. it makes me happy to think of him. i wish he would come see me. i think i still have some beer drinking and yapping left in me.
the waifs. i met them at jake and rips when i worked there. i told them a joke and they gave me a cd. how many australian dread locked musicians come through grenada mississippi? i can tell you. not many. i was excited about it for days. and then they became kinda famous. go waifs. you deserve it!
enjoy!
since it's summer, i have made a list as long as i am tall. parts of the list are a little laura-whacky. for example: build a cardboard castle for the cats or finally make that rug out of paper bags. but some of it is fo real stuffs that i need to do. exercise. that's a biggy. eat more healthfully--that's a biggy. (right now, i live on frozen pizza, noodles and red sauce out of a jar, and ice cream.) and then there's work--or actually treating my yarn business like a job so that when show times come up, i am not working 23 hours a day and making gargantuan mistakes and covering my entire kitchen, wardrobe, and body in black dye. and a fun one--take an artist's date every week. (surely some of y'all have done that artist's way guide to a creative life?) that book is a bit hokey for me, but the artist's date makes sense.
so--
1. exercise--i am doing c25k and yoga
2. eat better--i got some apples and strawberries at the store today. and no ice cream.
4. yarn, for serious, yo--i wound some self striping and mailed out my sales (and made a schedule)
5. artist's date--gonna do it on thursday cause that's my fave day.
yeah, i skipped number three. it's too much trouble to go change all the numbers. i am sure i will come up with a three sooner or later, right?
i did couch to 5k today, and i took my phone so i could listen to music. a lot of people do this, so i heard. well, as it turns out, i only have two songs on my phone. lauryn hill's can't take my eyes off you and the waifs' lighthouse. so for nearly 45 minutes, i listened to these two songs over and over. then i went all into nostalgia land.
the lauryn hill cd belongs to my friend dave. dave and i spend lots of time staying up all night and drinking beer and yapping. it makes me happy to think of him. i wish he would come see me. i think i still have some beer drinking and yapping left in me.
the waifs. i met them at jake and rips when i worked there. i told them a joke and they gave me a cd. how many australian dread locked musicians come through grenada mississippi? i can tell you. not many. i was excited about it for days. and then they became kinda famous. go waifs. you deserve it!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
a little tiny library
last week, i took a walk--the first walk of the spring on the almost first day that it was spring. so that my walk would include a hill, i decided to go up the bike ramp over the beltline to the neighborhood over there. on the bridge across the beltline is a big safety fence, and this particular big safety fence had no fewer than a dozen locks clicked onto it. they were mostly rusty and in no pattern that i could see. makes you wonder what it means. probably it means nothing--just that one day someone snapped a lock up there, and then another day someone else did, and then, and then, and then...along came jones...if anyone has a story about the locks on the safety fence over the beltline between seminole and midvale, i sure would like to hear it.
it was nice since i've never really walked across the bridge before--new greener grass and all. lots of japanese magnolias. but then i found something that give me happy shivers: a tiny little cottage house on a post in someone's yard. the little house was filled with books--mostly kid books, but a few classics, and a couple of mysteries. books--right there--a little library--right there! in a small area that backs up to what many people say is the worst neighborhood in madison. (i can't bring myself to say that because i have many friends who live there, and i never feel unsafe there.) i just had to find out what it was all about.
this is it: http://www.littlefreelibrary.org . superfantastic, right? it looks like they are all over madison. i love madison. (but really, they are all over the world.) take a book. give a book. wash, rinse, repeat. by buying a little library, you not only get the joy of a tiny house full of books in your yard, but you are also helping to promote literacy and build more and more little free libraries in places all over the world where books aren't as easy to come by as they are in america. if you don't want a library, but would still like to help...http://www.razoo.com/story/Little-Free-Library-New-York-City . but really, who doesn't want a house filled with books?
i found out that my friend ben farrow has one at his dentist's office--monroe family dentistry. (sorry for shameless ad. ben DID NOT ask me too--in fact, he doesn't even know i did. but he is a great guy, so if you need a dentist....or a book)
there are several at the absolutely fabulous absolutely art (where you can buy local art and occasionally hear my friend phoebe play her flute). (http://www.absolutelyartllc.com/)
take a look:
it was nice since i've never really walked across the bridge before--new greener grass and all. lots of japanese magnolias. but then i found something that give me happy shivers: a tiny little cottage house on a post in someone's yard. the little house was filled with books--mostly kid books, but a few classics, and a couple of mysteries. books--right there--a little library--right there! in a small area that backs up to what many people say is the worst neighborhood in madison. (i can't bring myself to say that because i have many friends who live there, and i never feel unsafe there.) i just had to find out what it was all about.
this is it: http://www.littlefreelibrary.org . superfantastic, right? it looks like they are all over madison. i love madison. (but really, they are all over the world.) take a book. give a book. wash, rinse, repeat. by buying a little library, you not only get the joy of a tiny house full of books in your yard, but you are also helping to promote literacy and build more and more little free libraries in places all over the world where books aren't as easy to come by as they are in america. if you don't want a library, but would still like to help...http://www.razoo.com/story/Little-Free-Library-New-York-City . but really, who doesn't want a house filled with books?
i found out that my friend ben farrow has one at his dentist's office--monroe family dentistry. (sorry for shameless ad. ben DID NOT ask me too--in fact, he doesn't even know i did. but he is a great guy, so if you need a dentist....or a book)
there are several at the absolutely fabulous absolutely art (where you can buy local art and occasionally hear my friend phoebe play her flute). (http://www.absolutelyartllc.com/)
take a look:
Monday, April 29, 2013
black sand and lava
lee and i just got home from hawaii saturday. the big island--or hawa'ii--is the youngest of the chain which means that much of her lava is still front and center. the island also has a still active volcano--okay, i really don't know what this means. i mean, we didn't have to run from the lava or anything. but it's cool to think that at anytime...no, it's not. but, it has the potential to grow. lava comes in several shapes and forms--mainly a'a--which is jaggedy and hurtful. even i couldn't walk on it, and i am proud of my callouses. everywhere we looked there were big piles of a'a. not your typical beauty, but awe-inspiring just the same. it hasn't been around long enough to break down into dirt, so only the toughest of flora fight their way through. but when they do, it's amazing.
pahoehoe is another type of lava--it's kinda like molasses when you pour out a big gulp of it. pahoehoe is smooth and sort of ropey at times--think of waves coming in one after another. i heard tell that different types of pahoehoe make different sounds when you walk on them, but who would know? the birds make a lot of noise. i can't have my ear to the ground and my feet to the ground at the same time. i'm not as flexible as i used to be.
my faves? pele's hair and pele's tears. pele is a goddess and a very important goddess. she is often angry or distressed (more later). lava flow can "freeze" into hair or tears when it is popped into the air. if a bit of lava pops into the air and solidifies into a pellet, it is called tears. if the wind is blowing, and the lava bits stretch into strands, it is hair. i only saw hair at the museum, but it is fascinating. remember when we stretched the glass test tubes in mr. tharpe's chem class? that's what the hair looks like. how can it even survive long enough to be seen when there is the pell mell of volcano exploding? seriously, nature is wild and wonderful. i think i found a few tears, but i can't be sure--and i only brought home the tiny pebble stuck in my shoe because it brings bad luck to take lava away from pele.
lava bombs are bigger tears, sorta, and they look like big lava walnuts.
the thing about lava everywhere--there is lava everywhere. crazy. it looks like someone planted big fields of asphalt. but then, there is lava graffiti. i love lava graffiti. folks take coral--which is mostly everywhere too--and write on the piles of lava. joe + laney=2 people 2gether 4ever. peace, love, happiness. class of 11. shine on crazy diamond. (okay, i didn't see shine on, crazy diamond, but if i had had time to make graffiti, that's what i would have written.)
because of the lava, there are black sand beaches--which are really really hot and silky. that is why i almost stepped on the turtle. okay, i want to tell the truth here without disparaging the big island or the trip: black sand is just not as pretty as it sounds. it kinda looks like an oil spill. or maybe i have imprinted on gorgeous white sand beaches, and i am just not flexible. anyway. the water is gorgeous all the same.
and the most wow? there is also a green sand beach or two too, but we didn't get to see them. green sand happens when there is a lot of peridot in the lava flow that created the sand. i saw some samples of the sand, and how magical would it have been to walk on it. oh well, maybe next time.
pahoehoe is another type of lava--it's kinda like molasses when you pour out a big gulp of it. pahoehoe is smooth and sort of ropey at times--think of waves coming in one after another. i heard tell that different types of pahoehoe make different sounds when you walk on them, but who would know? the birds make a lot of noise. i can't have my ear to the ground and my feet to the ground at the same time. i'm not as flexible as i used to be.
my faves? pele's hair and pele's tears. pele is a goddess and a very important goddess. she is often angry or distressed (more later). lava flow can "freeze" into hair or tears when it is popped into the air. if a bit of lava pops into the air and solidifies into a pellet, it is called tears. if the wind is blowing, and the lava bits stretch into strands, it is hair. i only saw hair at the museum, but it is fascinating. remember when we stretched the glass test tubes in mr. tharpe's chem class? that's what the hair looks like. how can it even survive long enough to be seen when there is the pell mell of volcano exploding? seriously, nature is wild and wonderful. i think i found a few tears, but i can't be sure--and i only brought home the tiny pebble stuck in my shoe because it brings bad luck to take lava away from pele.
lava bombs are bigger tears, sorta, and they look like big lava walnuts.
the thing about lava everywhere--there is lava everywhere. crazy. it looks like someone planted big fields of asphalt. but then, there is lava graffiti. i love lava graffiti. folks take coral--which is mostly everywhere too--and write on the piles of lava. joe + laney=2 people 2gether 4ever. peace, love, happiness. class of 11. shine on crazy diamond. (okay, i didn't see shine on, crazy diamond, but if i had had time to make graffiti, that's what i would have written.)
because of the lava, there are black sand beaches--which are really really hot and silky. that is why i almost stepped on the turtle. okay, i want to tell the truth here without disparaging the big island or the trip: black sand is just not as pretty as it sounds. it kinda looks like an oil spill. or maybe i have imprinted on gorgeous white sand beaches, and i am just not flexible. anyway. the water is gorgeous all the same.
and the most wow? there is also a green sand beach or two too, but we didn't get to see them. green sand happens when there is a lot of peridot in the lava flow that created the sand. i saw some samples of the sand, and how magical would it have been to walk on it. oh well, maybe next time.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
depression--a happy post
i've been looking at ways to manage or lessen the blues. after a total crap day yesterday where the worst of me reigned supreme, i had a good think. this morning, i took a look at the possible reasons yesterday sucked--not enough sleep, got nothing done, sinking deep into the spiral of insecurity and drowning by doing things that feed my insecurity. then, i had a good think about what i could do to control those things.
sleep--well, problem is i can't seem to get my schedule to normal. i stay up til three or four at then sleep til noon or one. i don't like it. two reasons: one--i really want to go to church sunday morning, and i can't get up. two--since lee is at home all the time, when his "work" day ends around 6, so does mine. that leaves me with five hours to get stuff done. five would probably be enough if i didn't make my lists too long, and if i actually did stuff that was productive during that time. i am trying to correct my sleep by getting up at the same time everyday no matter what, but that certainly didn't work for me yesterday. i was miserable all day and overslept today. i'm gonna do some research on this one. in the meantime, lee bought me one of those lights which is supposed to help, and i am going to exercise more regularly.
productivity--goals goals goals. reachable goals instead of insanity goals. short term goals--dyeing x yarns daily, contacting one networking possibility, reading books and bible daily, and exercising 30 minutes daily. long term goals--5k, revamp my yarn ways, set up a studio, finishing a couple of art projects and knitting projects that have been languishing. longer goal--do spanish rosetta stone and do volunteer work in a spanish speaking country in central america.
insecurity--do shit. leave the house. work on things that i love and FINISH them. stop comparing myself to others. remember the good stuff about me. get dressed every day.
stop being so hard on myself.
all easier said than done, but gotta do something. plus, energy begets energy. doing begets doing. right?
and: counting my blessings. first and foremost: lee coleman. he's happy, and takes crazy care of me. he is a goofball and makes me laugh. he untangles my thoughts and my yarn. he works hard so that i can play with yarn and colors all day. and he doesn't care whether i clean the house or not. but he will do the laundry--even if my internet friends have to prod him sometimes :)
sleep--well, problem is i can't seem to get my schedule to normal. i stay up til three or four at then sleep til noon or one. i don't like it. two reasons: one--i really want to go to church sunday morning, and i can't get up. two--since lee is at home all the time, when his "work" day ends around 6, so does mine. that leaves me with five hours to get stuff done. five would probably be enough if i didn't make my lists too long, and if i actually did stuff that was productive during that time. i am trying to correct my sleep by getting up at the same time everyday no matter what, but that certainly didn't work for me yesterday. i was miserable all day and overslept today. i'm gonna do some research on this one. in the meantime, lee bought me one of those lights which is supposed to help, and i am going to exercise more regularly.
productivity--goals goals goals. reachable goals instead of insanity goals. short term goals--dyeing x yarns daily, contacting one networking possibility, reading books and bible daily, and exercising 30 minutes daily. long term goals--5k, revamp my yarn ways, set up a studio, finishing a couple of art projects and knitting projects that have been languishing. longer goal--do spanish rosetta stone and do volunteer work in a spanish speaking country in central america.
insecurity--do shit. leave the house. work on things that i love and FINISH them. stop comparing myself to others. remember the good stuff about me. get dressed every day.
stop being so hard on myself.
all easier said than done, but gotta do something. plus, energy begets energy. doing begets doing. right?
Thursday, January 31, 2013
winter blues
hate is a strong word. i still have to use it here. i hate winter. i understand that it's necessary, and i am thankful for the cold so that we can have good crops. i am thankful for the snow cover to blanket my bulbs. i get it. i want it to be good and cold and snowy. i want all those garden pests to have a run for their money. i love local and organic farms and am thrilled that i live in wisconsin where harsh winters (if they happen--which seems to be a toss up these days) make it possible to have a lush growing season.
like this one where my tomatoes took over and my cucumbers tried to make friends with everyone on the block. where my scare-bird was lost in the jungle. where my zinnias and calendulas and sunflowers and dahlias reached for the sun. where my
squash was so plentiful we used them for batting practice after they grew hard. where my basil and cilantro and dill and thyme and oregano grew so tall and bushy, and i had bouquets and pestos all winter long.
thank you cold weather.
but. winter. i hate it. i get depressed. depression is a shady beast. it's not like the tv ads all the time. i get up, laugh, smile, make jokes, clean the house. my husband seems no worse for the wear. so here's how mine works:
i have no motivation. i don't even want to go to sleep. i don't want to move. i certainly don't want to get stuff done or yarn dyed. i am pissed off if the sun comes out--why waste that glorious orb on crap weather? i sleep late and have no real interest in getting up. (in the summer, i can't wait to bound out of bed and greet the day.) really, it just sneaks up like a low grade blah, staying for months. nothing sparkles. i feel like i am operating under a cloud--a heavy heavy cloud. i don't know if it's the lack of sunlight or the cold. most people say it's the sunlight, but i think it's the cold. cold hurts. my muscles stay tense, every step is trudge-y, and i never get to a comfortable temperature. i really just don't want to move. i want to sit in my bed and watch reruns of svu.
in the summer, i bound. i move fast. i have the energy of a chicken. i laugh loudly. if i didn't have to go inside, i wouldn't. as soon as i get out of bed, i go outside. and then i stay outside til time for bed. i am free. i feel bountiful and joyous. literally joyous. everything feels like finding a fantastic prize in the crackerjack box. a new tomato to join the hundreds on the vine. a baby rabbit eating my kale. the stupid sharp toe pricking plants that grow to 6 feet in my yard even make my happy with their insane growth spurts. i love hanging clothes on the line. wearing shorts and t-shirts and going barefoot. playing--yes, playing--in the sprinkler.
in the summer, i feel like i can see shimmering molecules of the air bouncing off of each other. gallivanting in the glory. i feel light. thrilled to be alive. (not that i am not thrilled to be alive in the winter, but in the summer "thrilled" takes on it's real true meaning). there is magic in the air. mischief on the breeze. glee in the grass.
this bliss of summer makes me realize how hard the winter was on me. and then, it makes me forget that there were ever days of sludge and drudge. i guess that's the circle of life.
squash was so plentiful we used them for batting practice after they grew hard. where my basil and cilantro and dill and thyme and oregano grew so tall and bushy, and i had bouquets and pestos all winter long.
thank you cold weather.
but. winter. i hate it. i get depressed. depression is a shady beast. it's not like the tv ads all the time. i get up, laugh, smile, make jokes, clean the house. my husband seems no worse for the wear. so here's how mine works:
i have no motivation. i don't even want to go to sleep. i don't want to move. i certainly don't want to get stuff done or yarn dyed. i am pissed off if the sun comes out--why waste that glorious orb on crap weather? i sleep late and have no real interest in getting up. (in the summer, i can't wait to bound out of bed and greet the day.) really, it just sneaks up like a low grade blah, staying for months. nothing sparkles. i feel like i am operating under a cloud--a heavy heavy cloud. i don't know if it's the lack of sunlight or the cold. most people say it's the sunlight, but i think it's the cold. cold hurts. my muscles stay tense, every step is trudge-y, and i never get to a comfortable temperature. i really just don't want to move. i want to sit in my bed and watch reruns of svu.
in the summer, i bound. i move fast. i have the energy of a chicken. i laugh loudly. if i didn't have to go inside, i wouldn't. as soon as i get out of bed, i go outside. and then i stay outside til time for bed. i am free. i feel bountiful and joyous. literally joyous. everything feels like finding a fantastic prize in the crackerjack box. a new tomato to join the hundreds on the vine. a baby rabbit eating my kale. the stupid sharp toe pricking plants that grow to 6 feet in my yard even make my happy with their insane growth spurts. i love hanging clothes on the line. wearing shorts and t-shirts and going barefoot. playing--yes, playing--in the sprinkler.
in the summer, i feel like i can see shimmering molecules of the air bouncing off of each other. gallivanting in the glory. i feel light. thrilled to be alive. (not that i am not thrilled to be alive in the winter, but in the summer "thrilled" takes on it's real true meaning). there is magic in the air. mischief on the breeze. glee in the grass.
this bliss of summer makes me realize how hard the winter was on me. and then, it makes me forget that there were ever days of sludge and drudge. i guess that's the circle of life.
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