Sunday, January 25, 2009

Screenprinting

I know everyone and their mother makes t-shirts these days, but I had a lot of fun making the Secret Intentions shirts a couple of months ago. And I've been making one-off t-shirts for a while (a tedious and annoying process). It always seems like too much trouble and expense to make a screen for just one shirt, so I make a stencil instead. But what if I just started making a bunch and sold the extra ones on Etsy? Just a thought.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Family Lore and Dirty Laundry


Over Christmas, my aunt passed on to me this family heirloom. It was a wedding present from my great-grandfather to my great-grandmother. Anne told me what she could about them in order to give me some background. I wish I'd written it down because I have a terrible memory, and it was pretty fascinating.

My sister just asked me if it was true that I had stayed at the White House when I was little. It makes me wonder what things I believe about my family that aren't, in fact, true. The following are some suspicious items from my memory. Any mistakes are equally as likely to be the result of misunderstanding as false information.

Concerning my father:
• before he met my mother, he was a gigolo
• he loved Hank Williams, which is the only thing he had in common with my grandfather
• he died by over-celebrating at a party in honor of my birth
• he robbed a bank in Italy, and was hiding out in Switzerland when he met my mom
• he was a DJ in a discotech
• my mother's wedding band is stolen property

Concerning my mother:
• she has never had a job
• in high school she used to sleep with the future producer of Beavis and Butthead
• she once assisted in stealing an entire locked narcotics cabinet from a mom and pop pharmacy

Concerning my grandparents:
• when he was young, if his family was going to have chicken for dinner, my grandfather had to go kill one with his bare hands
• he spoke Greek and Latin
• his job, when he worked for the Coca-cola company was to go to soda shops, order a Coke, and make sure they weren't watering them down
• my grandmother's father died from Tuberculosis, which he caught from handling money

Concerning my uncle J:
• he started a health food store in New Orleans called Whole Foods, which was then bought out and made into an enormous chain. The original little market was sold and has been running under the name Eve's Market since then

Concerning my uncle P:
• he used to be a fighter pilot
• he secretly bought a bunch of stock in my grandfather's oil company and when my grand-father split his shares between his sons, Uncle P became majority shareholder. He then punched my grandfather in the face and kicked him out of the company

Concerning myself:
• I once auditioned for the role of the kid in Fatal Attraction (possible vague memories included)
• before I was old enough to sit up on my own, I projectile puked all over the wall of a friend of my mother's who also happened to be a close friend of Bob Marley's
• If the other kids are mean to me, it's just because they're jealous

Monday, January 19, 2009

Things to Be Happy About

I remember a big sign in the office of my college's newspaper with what I assume from its nature was a quote from either Mark Twain or Kurt Vonnegut. It went something like, "Ending a sentence with an exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke." That sign really gave me a punctuation complex, maybe rightfully so. If it weren't for that, however, there'd be an exclamation point after every one of these bullet points, because I'm mega-happy about the following:

• I've started going to the UAB rec center. I'm starting to sort of like it.
• We're finally getting our car fixed this week.
• Evan and I bought tickets to San Francisco for spring break.
• Two friends are coming to town in a couple of weeks especially for my birthday.
• The inauguration.
• No Parents, The Spells, Den of Lions, Necronomikids, and Silky Snowflake played a totally rad show at Bottletree this past Saturday.
• I love the new song that Evan wrote for Red Mountain Family Band.
• Battlestar Galactica.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

American Things



Melissa and Evan G. took me to Target yesterday where I purchased the contents of a couple of "American" care packages for my Italian siblings, at my brother's request. Not speaking Italian terribly well, I can't be sure, but I think what he said translates to, "If I give you my address, will you send me some American things?" The task ended up being more difficult than I anticipated. I don't want to just send them a bunch of useless crap for the sake of representing America. Also, as terribly out-of-touch as it sounds, I don't really know what the kids are into these days besides smoking pot, which, apparently, my siblings have well under control. Regardless, above are the fruits of my labor, ready to be packaged and sent to Italy. The top one is my sister's stuff and my brother's is below.

Several Cigar Box bands/acts are playing in Florence, AL tonight, including Evan's own Beaux Animaux. I'm ambivalent about going, eager to support Evan, but really not stoked on driving 2.5 hours each way. The decision has been made for me, though, by our car, which we still can't take on the highway. But the Silky Snowflake, No Parents, Necronomikids, et al show at Bottletree tomorrow night should be wikkid, and will make up for any missed fun.

Finally, a request: I have so much quilting and homework to do. Please take Facebook away from me.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Bite-sized Project: Embroidered Cards


Here are some of the embroidered cards I've been making. They're a little addictive. I think the appeal lies in the instant gratification provided by such a quick project. More colors and messages coming soon. (Must give credit where credit is due. Cards inspired by the talented kiwipunch.)

Other tidbits:

- Jello Snack Cups with Antioxidents? (tastes mildly like cough syrup)

- I'm relatively certain Evan has not finished a book since we've been together. That's not a judgement, so much as me noting an apparent condemnation of every book I've recommended.

- My life has improved by 10% since Picasa came out for Macs.

- Another program (I think it's freeware?) that I've been digging is Schoolhouse, which keeps all of your class assignments and notes organized.

- Last night I started playing a DS game called Soul Bubbles in which you are a "Soul Herder" in training. It is your duty to pick up souls (and star dust) with your protective bubbles and blow them towards their destination. Weird? Yes. Adorable? Definitely.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Why you be hating on MTG?


Somehow this escaped my eye until this morning...

(a) What does the T stand for?
(b) What is so bad about Ron Howard?
(c) You forgot the combat damage and toughness values.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Tiny Soft Things to Love


Meet Milton and Puddle. They are the cutestsweetestsoftest. This is about as big as they get–double cute, right? However, their freaking wheel is keeping the whole house up at night with its unbelievable loudness, so the goal is to find a truly silent wheel.

The Stitch Spectacular show opened on Friday! I can't wait to see pictures of all the other work. The bits and pieces I've seen so far have been amazing.

I've now had one period of each one of my classes for the semester. Pretty much what I expected. Should be about the same as last semester in terms of workload, stress, etc. Thanks to the power of the R4 card, though, I can at least pretend to study via video game by playing My French Coach on DS.

I loved the new banner so much that I actually made a papercut of the school emblem and framed it. In other news of procrastination, I've made many more embroidered cards than I will ever need/use, and I've decided to try to learn calligraphy (an effort that proved futile and boring in past attempts at ages 9, 11, and 13).

Jessica and I are attempting to create a work-out schedule for the semester. This is especially timely because I've made a bet/pact with Evan involving each of us getting more buff by the middle of April. If only one of us succeeds, it works like a normal bet in terms of winning/losing something of value. If we both fail, each of us gives up something we love for one month. If we both succeed, we treat ourselves to something we wouldn't normally spend money on. Unfortunately since the inception of this agreement on Friday night, Theresa brought home pizza for dinner, I used Taco Bell to cure a hangover, and Devon made bacon brownies (yes, that's right. Brownies with pieces of bacon in them).

Speaking of Devon, her new boy, Will, washed our dishes. I consider this a vast improvement over the one who brought over two bottles of liquor, a bottle of wine, and a twelve-pack the first time we met him. We're on the right track.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Fresh Start

  • First off, for those of you reading through an RSS reader, click through and check out the newly redesigned banner.
  • I just got another couple of bolts from Moda, including "A Day in the Life" from the Lush collection. So rad!
  • Picasa (beta) has finally been released for Mac. Thank you. I loathe iPhoto, and Aperture was too much program for me. Hopefully all my photo importing issues will be solved and it'll be smooth sailing from here on out.
  • Al Franken has officially won the Minnesota Senate race!
  • I'm sick, and so is our car. Savannah is out.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Holiday Project: Aviatrix Bunnies


Here are some of the bunnies I made as Christmas presents for the kids in Evan's family. They're so adorable it was hard to send them off to their new homes. They're handmade from the bunny pattern I won a few months ago from Wee Wonderfuls.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

The Longest Post

This no photos thing is really cramping my style. I don't like to post without an image to share, because, well, it's boring. And the whole point is supposed to be sharing antics and projects, and I can't share projects without photos. Not that I've got any projects going. I've spent all of my winter break being social and merry. After Christmas in Chapel Hill, I came home for Wedding Expo 2008 and had a hell of a good time. I met some new people, caught up with some folks I don't see too often, and made merry in style with my friends. Yes, I wound up with badly bruised legs after a run-in with a drainage ditch, but I had an absolute blast.

Jacob came into town and Evans, Melissa, Jacob, and I got ridiculous for a couple of nights. Then it was off to Pickens for the annual New Years festivities. Pork was eaten, fires were built, sparklers were lit. Daniel, et al, made an amazing flaming "labyrinth" that I could describe, but it wouldn't do it justice. Little fires glowing everywhere, though. Beautiful.

Jacob, Joy, Evan, and I (among others) broed down until the wee hours, and when I went to bed I didn't even have to sleep on the floor. When I woke up the first time, Joy provided me with much-needed advil. When I woke up the second time, she turned to me sleepily and said, "I dreamt of us."

I'm getting back into comic books, trying to catch up on the haps in the Marvel universe and reading some stuff that I never got into before. It's fun, but I can see throwing a lot of money at this form of entertainment, which I'm not all that stoked on. I've also been hand-embroidering some cards, and doing other small projects, just gearing up for the beginning of the semester. It's hard to regret not getting more done when everything's been so great.

Oh, I almost forgot! Evan got me two Chinese dwarf hamsters for Christmas, Milton and Puddle. They're pretty much the cutest things ever in the whole world. I've never been that into hamsters, but I defy you to not lovelovelove them. Pocket creatures!