One Crazy Summer

The Cigar Box art, etc. show was last night and despite it being incredibly hot and stuffy upstairs, it was a lot of fun. Anthony and Laura read, and the Hank Lazard crew did a live recording of the podcast. Unfortunately it became a leave or die situation due to the heat, so I missed Rev. Jack Ladybird and Hightower's performance.

John and I headed out to my new fave bar and other folks followed after the CBHL show was over. I hafta say, the place pretty much rules. I'm glad I'm having some fun this summer before I say goodbye to Birmingham for a while. My art history MA is a joint program with Tuscaloosa, so I've decided to move and take the rest of my classes there. It's not too far from Bham and I have a few friends there already. I'll miss my peeps here, but I won't miss worrying about who I might run into or being regularly reminded of recent unpleasantness. I'm hoping it will be somewhat of a fresh start without having to wipe the slate completely clean. I suppose you could say that I'm running away, but in this case I think that's just fine. Maybe I'll find my way back to Birmingham one day, or maybe I won't. We'll just have to see.

current music: Alone with His Guitar - Hank Williams

Now My House Is Full

Excellent party on Friday, though a couple of key players, like Rodney, were absent. Much fun and an interesting group of people now that all the borders have mostly independent social circles. Not independent enough to be completely drama-free, but as close as I can imagine getting for a while. We picked up a temporary roommate, Dustin, as the party as well. He's crashing on our couch and doing some work for John's dad before resuming his travels, either here in Bham, or elsewhere.

I had to make some tough, sad decisions last week. I did my best and I think everything's ok, but it wasn't much fun. I've had a lot of amazing awesomeness going on, too, though. I'm dead tired and overstimulated, but happy and confident. I'm going back up to Greensboro at the end of the month to see Tim. I'll be driving up from ATL with Faith, and then flying back after a few days. Also, I just realized that I'm supposed to have some pieces in a CBHL art show this weekend, so I'm going to go work on that.

Game on.

Uploading in Order to Free Space on My Mental Flashdrive

Hectic,hectic,lazy,lazy,lazy. I'm coping by making too many plans and offering favors to other people that I don't always have time for. Schoolwise I'm a wreck until Monday, and personally I have a million and one things to do before I leave for Maine on Thursday, which I'm totally impatient for anyway.

Greg and I are talking every morning, making plans for the day, helping each other out. He's going to visit after I get back from Maine, and come to the last day of my class at the Shambhala Center. Ty is supposed to be coming through town around then, too, which is great, since I always tell him he's my personal bodhisattva. Also, Jasper is going to give Evan, Greg, and me a private yoga lesson. Yay! I'm always so happy when someone starts doing yoga, or even does a couple of classes, because it's so totally awesome for mind and body, but it takes actually doing it to realize how great it is.

I'm going up to North Carolina at the end of the month, too, for a good visit with my college friends and my fam. It seems like a lot of people have been having a rough time lately (to say the least, in some cases), but I'm so glad that Guilford left us with an amazing, loving support system. When I was there it often felt too small, especially since we were young and prone to making many mistakes, but in the end I guess the drama left us all closer and wiser.

I've renewed my efforts to be mindful (read: present) in the last couple of weeks, which has in turn made me think a lot (is that irony?) about the very fine point that is the gap between opposing forces. In a lot of aspects of my life, my goal is to exist in that gap, but it's difficult to find. How do you locate prudence between unneccessary risk and overworrying, the point of being between ignoring and clinging, or forgiveness between anger and exposure to more emotional harm? Its like the gap you look for in meditation, where your inner dialogue stops for just a moment, and that doesn't happen very often for me. I guess right now I'm just glad that I'm looking for it, and that I've become honest enough with myself that I sometimes get close.

Enough personal journey stuff, though. As soon as my last exam is over on Monday afternoon, I'm going to make a whole mess of pillow monsters and bring them to Tuscaloosa to put in a friend's shop. Then when I return to Birmingham it's t-shirt printing time like a mofo. Stay tuned for greeting and news from Portland, ME.

oh, p.s., Red Mountain Family Band and Beaux Animaux played last night with Neeta (sp??), Kirby Russell, and Important Eagle. Way fun. RMFB shows are greatly improved by a reasonable number of mics. BA ruled, per usual, and have several new fans after last night. They're patiently awaiting final cuts from their recording sesh. Gonna be so rad.

Currently reading: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
Currently recommending: A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield (a great book with a really unfortunate title and jacket design); The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh (if you want to know a little about the basics of meditation); drinking lots of water; red Civic hatchbacks; Brass Bed from Lafayette, LA; summer in Birmingham, AL; awesome friends

Pillow Monsters Are Here!

Pillow Monsters are now available in the Napoleon shop. Each one is different and sweet and special in its own way. I want to keep them all to just have a big pile of monsters to cuddle! There are some new pillows and quilts to add, too, but I haven't photographed them yet. Shooting quilts is probably the hardest thing I have to do for the shop. They'll be up as soon as I get a chance, though.

I also wanted to share oh fransson's photostream with you. Her quilts are bright, bold, and easy enough for a first project. She also has great informational studies of color using fabric, and her blog has some quilt-along tutorials with lot's of helpful photos.

Beaux Animeaux is up in northern Alabama recording this weekend. I hope all is going well. I can't wait to hear the results. I'll let you know as soon as the album is available.

Spring Comes to Birmingham

Here's a photo of the design I painted on our living room wall. I'm still planning on doing a smaller-scale bit of painting in some other parts of the room, but that may not happen any time soon. I'm really pleased with the way this came out. I just drew it free-hand on the wall and filled it in with glossy interior paint.

The splash page I designed for Cigar Box is up while we're working on the site. At the time I didn't know why I was spending so much time on it, but I'm glad I did. It looks pretty sweet, I think. And speaking of websites, Charlie and Evan are brainstorming on PR and promotions for their site launch. I'm so excited. My friend from college Bradley moved to Birmingham this week (hooray!) and I was talking to him last night about my feelings and thoughts on Birmingham. I really enjoy being involved in things here. I think this city has a lot of potential, and is definitely in need of revitalization. It seems feasible, so I'm glad to see young people making things happen here.

Something I'd really like for Birmingham in the next couple of years is the development of an artists' and crafters' community. I want to know what the young designers of the area are creating, and maybe even attend a couple of trunk shows. I find myself feeling a little jealous of communities like Portland and Savannah in that regard. It would also be awesome to have some community gardens, especially downtown. I see a lot of kitchen gardens in Southside, which is totally awesome, but what about folks who live in lofts in the business district? That area could use some greening, in my opinion. I saw a great book on community gardens of SF when we were at City Lights bookstore, but I couldn't think of anyone who'd really appreciate it, so I passed. Please someone become my gardening guru.

On a consumer note, I think we could use more places along the lines of Continental Bakery and Urban Standard. As much as I love them, those spots are a little pricey for my tastes. I would be eternally thankful if I could get up on a Sat. and go to a sweet, cheap(ish) little breakfast place for coffee and a bagel with tomato and cream cheese, or egg and bacon. Really I'm just imagining a Birmingham that's a little more like Portland, Maine, a city that I love, but which has move-preventative winter weather.

Spring is finally here which always puts me in an optimistic mood. I'm finally doing all of the studying for French that I should have been on top of all along. I've got tons more pillows in the works, having thrifted some great sweaters for the purpose. Every time I cross something off my to do list, I feel a massive sense of satisfaction. That's been happening a lot lately. Tonight, for example, I finally compiled and edited an address book with all the info I've got from gmail, my phone, and facebook, so everything is in one place. That one's been on my list forever.

Also in typical Spring fashion, change is afoot. I got a sweet new rocker-ish haircut that I'm enjoying. I'm wearing dresses and sporting a variety of cute jackets instead of the same old peacoat every day. Several friends are looking for new or different living arrangements, (including Devon, so there may soon be another open spot at the Rowe School.) Maybe it's because winter puts me in such a bad mood, but Spring is a really exciting season. As of last week, we've been living here a year, and I think I might be even more psyched to be here now than when we first arrived.

Good Start

Well, the week got off to a pretty good start. I painted a big flourish on the living room wall this weekend. I ordered some rad decoupage paper for a project with my new dresser and changed the handles on said dresser, immediately improving its appearance by 15%. I prepped for my Chinese painting midterm. I wrote a paper about Dangerous Liaisons in record time. I finished five new sweater pillows that are now up on Etsy, so check out my shop. And I scored some more sweaters at the thrift store as well as some things to upcycle and sell at the next rummage sale.

Speaking of the rummage sale, it went really well, so now we've got funds for some projects. I had no idea Bottletree was so bumpin' on Saturday afternoons, but apparently they get a decent amount of brunch business. A lot of my favorite clothes that I was selling went to people who looked great in them and will appreciate them, which makes me very happy. Evan and I did a few appearance appraisals, but only for people we knew. No strangers. I think I'll enjoy doing strangers a lot better, not because I won't be inhibited, but because I'll be able to look at them more objectively. I plan on offering this service at other Cigar Box events, so if you didn't make it, you haven't missed your chance.

Best of all, I got a package from Rubi at Stitch Spectacular! What a nice surprise. She sent a sweet card, a couple of wacky pacs, and a pretty handmade, lavender-filled eye pillow. I've been meaning to make one for myself for a while, so it couldn't be more perfect.

That's got me thinking about new embroidery projects, of course. I've got a lot of seeds of ideas, but nothing stands out just yet. And I have so so so many other things to work on, not the least of which is making screens and printing a bajillion t-shirts for Evan and my Etsy venture, and for the Secret Intentions. Plus the living room is to being done. Just a little more work on the painted graphics, and I'll be finished. In the meantime, here are some pics of a couple of things I've done so far. I bought these chairs without covers on sale at PBTeen, then covered them in ticking and threw together a couple of pillows. I also thrifted this sofa, side table, and rad vase, and made those blue batik pillows.
So it's a sweet week so far, and will end with us in SF! I can't wait!! I planned out all of our meals as soon as we bought the plane tickets, so I've been thinking non-stop about dim-sum and burritos, tea at Samovar, shoe shopping in the Haight. And I get to see friends who I haven't seen since I moved to the east coast. Yay for spring break!

Stay Tuned

I've created another project for myself. After six years, my $60 Ikea dresser is giving up the ghost. It fell apart when we moved, but powered through for a whole other year. There's no saving it this time. So I'm picking up this bed and dresser found on Craigslist tomorrow. My theory with furniture recently has been that if it's made of solid wood, I can do something awesome with it. I've got a couple of ideas for these pieces, but it may take me a while to execute them.

The next few days is packed full of plans, plus I'm still hoping to put the finishing touch on the living room. Silky Snowflake, Beaux Animeaux, and others are playing tonight at Greencup. My understanding is that it's an early show (Beaux Animeaux are supposed to go on around 7). Saturday is the CBHL Rummage Sale from noon to 4 at Bottletree. And on Sunday the Family Band is getting together to do a photo shoot with Breanna. We're a handsome group, so it should be rad. I hope we get some sun because I have some photos of my own to take. It's been much too dreary lately to shoot any of my recent work. Stay tuned, though. I promise it's rad.

Thriftiness

First off, I advise you not to miss the Cigar Box Home Library rummage sale at Bottletree on Saturday Feb. 28th from noon to 4 pm. Books, cds, clothes, electronics, ephemera, and consultation services for sale. Get ready to get awesome.

I'm so excited to show you what I've done with the living room, but it's not quite done yet, so you'll have to be patient a little longer (I know you're on the edge of your seat). I've been scouring Craigslist and making frequent trips to the Salvation Army to get everything perfect without spending a bunch on furniture that will probably get destroyed anyway. Recent purchases include a rad side table (now repainted), coffee table, two chairs on sale from PB Teen (to be slip covered), and a used futonesque sofa originally from Ikea. I'm still looking for fabric to cover the chairs, and some kind of excellent large piece of art to go above the sofa, but I'm stoked on my progress.

Also in news of me being cheap, it's the end of my first month using a prepaid phone instead of a monthly plan. I'm proud to report that I spent about $35 as opposed to my usual $60 (previously $70). A minor weight has been lifted knowing that I'm not paying for a cell phone I hardly use.

If you're looking for some inexpensive fun, there are a few shows coming up that I'm excited about. Beaux Animeaux is playing this Friday in Tuscaloosa with The Necronomikids, and, I think, The Dirty Lungs. They're also playing next Thursday at Greencup, but I'm not sure who with. Red Mountain Family Band (woo-hoo!) is playing an abbrieviated set followed by Corndawg this Thursday at Greencup. No excuses.

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.

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.

What a Mess

This is what my work table looks like right now. I'm alternating between quilting this giant project during the day and embroidering at night. Happy to be doing both, though, especially since they're coming out well.

The new sewing machine came, but between school, work, and outside projects like the Cigar Box website, I haven't even had a chance to test it out.

I've also been spending a lot of time trying to promote my Etsy shop. I originally intended it as a sort of back-up or a place to sell one-offs, and that's still the plan. But any kind of promotion or site traffic is good, so there's no need to treat it like a red-headed step-child. And hey, if any of you guys who know my work ever have brilliant PR ideas, send them my way. I'm pretty sure you don't have anything better to do.

Thinking about a game of Monstercards next Wed. Anyone up for it?

Denial

I haven't written because I've been in denial. For the fourth, the Rowe School had a barbecue. Dr. Jason and Evan grilled an amazing leg of lamb; Adam commissioned some Banana Bread Bacon Burgers, or Quad Bs; Laura brought awesome ribs; Rodney mashed up a batch of guac; Jessica made black bean salsa; I handled dessert. I didn't mean to go overboard, but I did. Grilled peaches, triple berry clafoutis, and two types of popsicles (cucumber-mint-chili and lemon-basil). I ate more than any person should consume and drank to excess. A wonderful time was had by all and I've got the pictures to prove it. Or I did, before I realized that my camera went missing. I've been hoping it would turn up and I would be able to show you all the amazing food and drunken hugs, but alas, I think it's been stolen. Some skater kids from down the street crashed the party for a moment and I fear that when they left, they took my camera with them. I suppose there's still a chance that one day it will turn up, having been stashed in too secret a hiding place. But I think it's best if I assume it's gone forever.

The loss of my camera also means that I can't show you what I've been working on. I've embroidered four new pillow fronts that I'm pretty happy with. I also took apart the koi quilt I've been working on for the last two years so that I could replace the batting and start the quilting again. I spent a long time embroidering the quilt top, and I'm in love with the backing fabric, but the batting I was originally using was cheap and had too high a loft. It was driving me crazy. I got pretty damn far into the hand-quilting, so it was a bummer to destroy all that hard work, not to mention a pain in the ass. But I knew if I finished it the way it was that I'd never be happy with it. Now the new batting is in, the basting is done, and I've sketched out the pattern for quilting. I also took some time last week to set up an Etsy shop (for all of the things I won't be trying to sell through stores, like one-off quilts or embroidery).

There are still so many things to work on. It's mostly the fun kind of work, but when I run across some other quilter's blog, I'm floored by how much quilting she seems to get done, and feel a bit pathetic myself. Plus the work is so beautiful it makes me wonder why I do my work by hand. Of course the piecing and the machine stitching drives me crazy, but I'm awfully jealous of the results sometimes. Alas. Here's my todo list:
• repair quilt for Evan G.
• finalize design and find fabric for commission
• finish David's album art layout
• scan more Monstercards
• design fabric for Spoonflower
• plan a murder mystery
• quilt koi
• figure out who the final cylon is
• make a needlebook (there's a reason this is at the end of the list, but I want one so badly!!!)

New Fabric

So, these are some, but not all, of the fabrics I got in last week. I really, really love them. In fact, everything that came in looked pretty much as I expected it to. My only disappointment is that one fabric turned out to be decorator weight (which is heavier, for those of you who don't deal with fabric) and won't work for quilts, so I'll have to return it. Even that ends up okay, though, since the fabric I was going to pair it with was discontinued.

Band practice went well as did the Cigar Box meeting. I've got some work to do on cover art for David's album and Rodney, Adam, and I are getting together Thursday to talk about the design of the website (something I know nothing about, but I'll be providing the graphics, so).

I've got a lot to do in the next month or so. Everything should be finished for Napoleon by then–the website, tags, labels, and samples–and I'll have to start selling my wares. And then there are my various non-business endeavors. Sounds like my dvd watching is gonna slow down considerably, but I'm excited to start cranking things out.

Not a Complete Failure

Tomato! I grew one! Yay!!

Band practice tonight, which I'm really excited about. It feels like it's been forever, even though it's only been a week.

Also, I decided not to go to Quilt Market because the plane ticket was too expensive...you know, just in case you were wondering. But some of my fabric came in and it's all really cool. Pictures soon.

Horseshoes

A pretty low-key weekend. Melissa brought over some awesome white wine on Friday night and we hung out at the house. On Saturday Dr. Jason hosted a Kentucky Derby party, which included many games of horseshoes (check out the double full lean above), mint juleps, and a gigantic cheese ball. Today was Family Band practice. We've got most of our songs down pretty well and just need to remember how we're doing things from one practice to the next. I'm going to finish up the day by making soup and then settling in for some Veronica Mars.

Elix brought me this bread cookbook everyone's talking about, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I made my first batch of dough Friday night (I used the Light Whole Wheat recipe) and baked a loaf on Saturday morning. It's as easy as the no-knead recipe from Mark Bittman's column, takes less time, and seems to have infinite variations. There are recipes for everything from panettone to classic white bread and all of them require a minimum of effort. You bake straight on a baking stone or cookie sheet (occasionally in a loaf pan). It takes whatever shape you give it, so I can make a regular boule, pita bread, or a baguette all from the same recipe and without any special equipment. Also, with this method you make enough dough for four or eight loaves at once. The rest of the dough keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks. So, no more good intentions and failed follow-through when it comes to bread baking. Evan doesn't like it as well as the other recipe, but I think it's fine.

The Cigar Box buttons came yesterday. Even though I checked the colors with my Pantone swatches, the gold on cigar band button came out way too green. It's a little disappointing, but overall they look nice. I'll post pictures soon. Next up Red Mountain Family Band logo.

Pencils and Picks

Oh man oh man oh man! (Mama) Laura's having a story published in a fancy pants literary magazine! Hell yeah. I haven't known Laura very long, but we're all so awesomely happy for her and look forward to more great things. In fact, she's already ruling musically as the matriarch of The Red Mountain Family Band, in which I play washboard (!!!). Our first show is on June 1st at the Cigar Box fundraiser and it's gonna be freaking rad.

Yeah, I'm in a band, which I never thought I would be because I have no musical inclination. But George, who has the utmost confidence in all of his friends, convinced me to come to practice and put a washboard in my hands. It's a lot of fun, and even though I can't write a base line or even understand the phrase chord progression, I feel useful, so yay.

Anyway, I have a lot of cooking to do so stop distracting me. Jerk.