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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.