Friday, January 30, 2009

If All Your Friends Were Jumping Off a Cliff, Would You, Too?

You've probably seen this thing going around: Someone writes down 16 (or 25 or whatever) random things about themselves, and like a chain letter, passes it along to 16 (or 25 or whatever) more people, who then write their own lists, and pass it along, including the person who sent one to them. I'm not a big fan of the "pass it along" kind of thing, but I figured I'd write one to send back, at least, even if I don't also send it to everyone I know. So don't feel obliged to make one. Really.

1. I have learned to play, and quit playing, four instruments (violin, guitar, piano, and voice).

2. The most expensive object I've ever bought by myself was my $425 spinning wheel in August. Before that it was the $350 PSP I bought my boyfriend for Christmas, and before that it was a $250 leather corset.

3. I currently own only 3 plates, 3 cups, 3 bowls, and 2 mugs.

4. I can sing the Alphabet song backwards.

5. I can't wiggle my ears, curl my tongue, raise one eyebrow, or purr. I really wish I could. Well, the last two more than the first two.

6. I used to be ticklish but I willed myself to stop. It worked.

7. If you teach me steps I'm a good dancer. Without steps I am ridiculous.

8. I have no problem disclosing personal details of my life, to friends or total strangers, as long as I don't have to disclose emotions. And I can talk about emotions I've had, past tense, no matter how revealing or private, as long as I can keep a "everything's fine" face.

9. On that note, I lost my virginity at 16 to a boy I said "no" to. I said "no," and he said "okay" and then he did and I let him.

10. I have never broken a bone. I have never been to the hospital. I've never had a cavity. I almost never get sick.

11. I'm currently printing 4x6s for invitations to my show. Then I will go home, make some more cards, ply some more yarn, and watch Battlestar Galactica.

12. I'm not in love with Starbuck, really. But I do want to break a few beds with her.

13. I have time to do everything I want to do, and I waste it, and then I complain about not having the time. I'm very bad at self-motivation. I keep a running list of things I want to do but "haven't gotten around to doing yet." It comes down to instant gratification versus delayed gratification. If I spend the evening reading The Shapes of Time, I'll be happier tomorrow. But if I spend most of the night futzing around I can trade future happiness for present --not happiness-- but comfort. And that's a trade I make all the time.

14. I like making lists. I am good at organizing and cataloging things, although I live in squalor. Seriously, it's a wreck. People say that, and then I see it, and I think "sweetheart you haven't SEEN mess yet."

15. I feel like everyone is growing up around me, but I stay the same. I feel like I still live my life like it's my first apartment, and I've just discovered that I can eat ice cream for breakfast, and that eating out of tupperware saves the time of washing a plate. I let bills accumulate forever. I lose track of what I've spent. I'm back in school, living off a combination of student loans and my dad's money and I am so embarrassed to be living off my dad but the only other option is bigger loans and my pride isn't that big. And I think sometimes that I'm just doing it so I don't have to figure out what to do with my life for a few years. I have no confidence in my ability to do a real job. So I'm back in school acquiring two more expensive degrees.

16. I'm a terrible cook.

17. I have a slight lisp. It gets more pronounced when I am very tired or drunk.

18. I have been mistaken (on more than one occasion) for a voice recording on the phone.

19. I have a stuffed walrus named George. And don't tell me that John was the walrus. I know, and don't care.

20. I have two boxes at home full of dog fur, but no dog.

21. I have a mole behind my right ear. It is enormous and gross.

22. I spent most of my child and teen years pining for contact lenses, but by the time I could get them for myself I had become attached to my glasses. I can't imagine myself without them.

23. My favorite memory is driving up the 95 to NYC for the first time, 19 years old, single, free, on a week-long spring-break road trip, playing Friday I'm In Love.

24. I currently have "I'm Crazy for You but Not That Crazy" stuck in my head.

25. I could stop biting my nails. I've done it. But I choose not to.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

changes

I lost weight. People noticed. They told me so.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

list time again

1. Design invitations for show. Due in 10 days.
2. Print syllabus and get copies made: Tomorrow.
3. Get some damn reading done, pick reading to assign. Due in 3 weeks.
4. Finish matting prints. Due in a month.
5. Sign up for SPE. Sign up for conference. Now.

Huh. It seemed way worse in my head. I was starting to panic and freeze up and feel like I couldn't handle what I needed to do so instead I'd do nothing and try not to think about it. But not only can I go back to what I was doing (spinning and watching old Project Runway episodes) but I can do it guilt-free.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

wip

autumn shawl

Sometimes things really do turn out the way you want them to.

(project details on Ravelry)

Monday, January 12, 2009

This Blog Needs More Pictures

Illustrations draw the eye along the page, and require much less effort on the part of the reader. On that note, I present my latest spinning project. It started as part of an internet spinning experiment. Everyone in the group buys the same roving (Sunshine of Your Love, from Crown Mountain Farms), spins it up however they'd like (including blending & carding before spinning), and then knits the same scarf. The project will show off all the different ways a roving might be made to look as finished yarn.

This is the roving
"Sunshine of Your Love"

I separated it into 4-6" pieces and put the pieces in piles by color, from burgundy to yellow. Then I split each pile into 3 sections, to make a 3 ply yarn. These are singles in progress. One bobbin is just finished with the burgundy and starting with orange, the other bobbin is finished with orange and ready for yellow.
in progress

Then I strung gold thread with gold seed beads, and plied it together with the singles. I have one skein finished. I was spinning as thin as I could, which in 3 ply usually gets me a sport or fingering weight, but this time I actually got lace weight, at least I think it is. It's about 20-22 wpi.


Unfortunately for the project, the yarn is already talking to me. And it says it wants to be a different pattern. I think it looks like autumn, so I'm planning on a leaf patterned shawl.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The New Year

On New Year's Day a BART police officer fatally shot an unarmed man in the back. The man was lying face down on the ground, his hands held by another officer. The man was black, the officer was white.

Last night, after a peaceful protest and memorial for the victim, a group of about 200 people broke away and began rioting in downtown Oakland, setting police cars on fire, breaking windows of local shops, smashing cars parked on the street.

From SF Gate:

Protesters smashed the storefronts of McDonald's as well as stores called Creative African Braids and Oakland Yoon's Pharmacy. Cars along 14th Street were smashed, and some were set ablaze.

A woman walked out of Creative African Braids holding a baby in her arms.

"This is our business," she shouted. "This is our shop. This is what you call a protest?"

Nia Sykes, 24, of San Francisco, a protester who was with the group, said, "I feel like the night is going great. I feel like Oakland should make some noise. This is how we need to fight back.


It doesn't sound adequate to say "I lived there." It doesn't express what it means to me, to see this neighborhood attacked. This is not where The Man lives. These people are not the enemy. How dare you destroy this place under the pretense of caring about its people? Go home.