Saturday, October 30, 2010
happy halloween!
despite a bit of culture shock when our guests began to arrive a half an hour before the appointed time, we survived the halloween party and even had a very good time. i got lots of great pix, but am not sure how cool it is to show photos of someone else's kids on my blog, so i'm afraid i'll be keeping those to myself. it was a big success - and i have to say a huge thank you to karen for the toilet paper mummy idea. it worked a treat!
best investment ever? a smoke machine. totally made the party.
tomorrow i'm on the long road to manila, so i'll catch ya on monday!
happy halloween one and all!
xox,
/j
Friday, October 29, 2010
so many causes, so little...
...caring? empathy? what is wrong with me? i just read an editorial on the plight of the roma people (that's gypsies to you and me). they're eternally persecuted because those of us who settle down and buy a house (albeit (apparently an exception to the rule - i before e except after c) one that should have come with a complementary bulldozer) don't like the nomads, you see. apparently normally upstanding countries like sweden are even kicking the roma out. so it must be bad (they, after all, gave the peace prize to some chinese dissident no one had heard of 'til they bestowed the prize upon him (oh wait that was the norwegians)...but i digress).
dang, she's sure using a lot of parentheses.
what else do i have trouble caring about? made-up company politics. the madness of the mid-term elections in the US (sorry, but i'm having trouble mustering much angst about this...perhaps because i'm not in the middle of it and well, because i simply don't get it - obama is an intelligent man with a hot, smart wife who did something about health care and is pulling troops out of iraq - what's not to like?). lene espersen (head of the danish conservative party and about as dumb as a box of rocks). the resignation of DR general director kenneth plummer (a man with both the charisma and vocabulary of a garden gnome).
there are many other things i don't care about...like what's going on with brangelina. and the whether the crown prince is drinking too much. and where wayne rooney might play football next. and which teams have gone to the world series. and whether that facebook geek zuckerman thinks that movie is unfair.
all of these things i'm being asked to care about. and i just can't do it.
you see, tomorrow, 26 4th graders are coming to my house to a halloween party and i'm worried about what to feed them and how to keep bits of my purple and black wig out of the food. and after that, i'll be figuring out how to pack 5 wind turbines into my suitcase so i can leave for manila on sunday. so i've got bigger worries on my mind.
here's to a worry-free weekend for all of us. and if you have any suggestions for how we can entertain all those kids for three whole hours, i'm all ears...because that worries me. husband only bought six half pig heads and how long will that really take?
good design wins in the end
not long after husband and i met, we had a discussion one fine day in a cafe in macedonia. it took place in a badly-designed old and rotting 70s design mistake of a square in the center of skopje. husband (who was someone else's husband at the time), began to wax philosophical about how much he would miss the hans wegner wishbone chairs he was leaving behind in his soon-to-be-dissolved marriage. it seems her parents had bought them for the couple, so he didn't feel he could take the half of them with him that he was entitled to when he left.
and being the non-design-conscious american i was at the time and sitting in that crumbling marble slab of an architectural accident, steam began to roll out of my ears. and i suggested that perhaps he should just stay with those chairs if they were so flippin' important.
i was so offended that when we bought our first chairs, they were NOT hans wegner wishbones. but then, in the home of husband's very tasteful and style-conscious swedish architect father, i experienced the wegner wishbone myself for the first time. and i was won over. completely and utterly. conversation flowed more easily and rose to hitherto unknown intellectual heights due to how well we sat in those chairs. the food even tasted better. and i suggested to that father that perhaps for husband's 40th birthday, he should have four of those marvelous chairs...preferably in soap-treated oak.
and then, a couple years later, i bought four more to go with them myself. because you can never have too many hans wegner wishbones.
life lesson #CH24: good design wins in the end.
* * *
this story was submitted to carl hansen & son's wishbone story competition.
please go and vote for me.
once you're there, click "gallery" on the left,
then find a more golden version of the photo above and click "like"
once you're there, click "gallery" on the left,
then find a more golden version of the photo above and click "like"
12 wishbone chairs are on the line.
and since we don't need 12, i will share.
seriously. if i win, i will give away two of the chairs right here on MPC.
and they come in 12 fabulous new colors (no mauve, tho').
and they come in 12 fabulous new colors (no mauve, tho').
Thursday, October 28, 2010
in the zone
iPhone photo by husband |
it's a bit like i imagine cocaine to make you feel, only without the expense and danger.
i do wish i had control of it and knew how to make it happen.
if you know what i mean, do tell me how you think it works....
Labels:
beaming life,
energy,
the zone
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
must. have. these. chairs.
photo from here |
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
going on about the philippines
the last time i was in the philippines:
~ obama was elected.
~ i bought a really big ring to celebrate.
~ i bought a 14-year-old chocolate and champagne.
~ i stayed at the manila pen.
~ there was no coup attempt. (tho' frankly, if i was going to stage one, it would be there.)
~ i spoke at a conference.
this time, i'm going to:
~ see old friends.
~ start new projects.
~ visit old haunts.
~ get a pedicure.
~ eat tapas and fried tofu and wagyu beef
~ drink in the energy it gives me to travel.
~ love every single minute of it.
~ take a zillion pictures.
~ obama was elected.
~ i bought a really big ring to celebrate.
~ i bought a 14-year-old chocolate and champagne.
~ i stayed at the manila pen.
~ there was no coup attempt. (tho' frankly, if i was going to stage one, it would be there.)
~ i spoke at a conference.
this time, i'm going to:
~ see old friends.
~ start new projects.
~ visit old haunts.
~ get a pedicure.
~ eat tapas and fried tofu and wagyu beef
~ drink in the energy it gives me to travel.
~ love every single minute of it.
~ take a zillion pictures.
Monday, October 25, 2010
life lessons
char is sharing life lessons today and it made me think about my own....
~ believe in Real Love. and wait for it.
~ never pour milk on your cornflakes and then wander away.
~ more than one will die before barnaby solves the case.
~ fly business class.
~ don't ever marry someone just so you don't have to explain what you're doing with your life.
~ time spent with a horse is time well spent.
~ you don't have to finish a bad book.
~ unreality is a condition of life.
~ you are not your job. or your house.
~ stop to take pictures.
~ live amidst colors.
~ you can never have too many cameras, iPods or apple products.
~ it's good to have a stash (fabric, yarn, pretty paper, film...i could go on).
~ surround yourself with people who make you laugh.
~ travel. see the world. eat unfamiliar food.
~ take the train.
~ if you spill the limoncello, it's ok to lick it up.
~ reality is frequently inaccurate.
~ buy the refrigerator you really want.
~ see the possibilities. even when no one else does.
~ life philosophy: what are you gonna remember?
thank you char, i think i feel quite elated now...
(and do stop by her blog to check out the other life lessons and please play along if you've got some to share. i'm SURE you've got some to share.)
~ believe in Real Love. and wait for it.
~ never pour milk on your cornflakes and then wander away.
~ more than one will die before barnaby solves the case.
~ fly business class.
~ don't ever marry someone just so you don't have to explain what you're doing with your life.
~ time spent with a horse is time well spent.
~ you don't have to finish a bad book.
~ unreality is a condition of life.
~ you are not your job. or your house.
~ stop to take pictures.
~ live amidst colors.
~ you can never have too many cameras, iPods or apple products.
~ it's good to have a stash (fabric, yarn, pretty paper, film...i could go on).
~ surround yourself with people who make you laugh.
~ travel. see the world. eat unfamiliar food.
~ take the train.
~ if you spill the limoncello, it's ok to lick it up.
~ reality is frequently inaccurate.
~ buy the refrigerator you really want.
~ see the possibilities. even when no one else does.
~ life philosophy: what are you gonna remember?
thank you char, i think i feel quite elated now...
(and do stop by her blog to check out the other life lessons and please play along if you've got some to share. i'm SURE you've got some to share.)
philippine dreaming
late afternoon sun shone on my jar of shells and coral gathered over the years on various philippine beaches. my little pieces of a tropical paradise, right here in the low-ceiling-ed living room of our old farmhouse in denmark. i'm sad to say that it's been two years since i've been in the philippines. but next sunday, i will remedy that. make that monday, as it takes awhile to get there. i really need a change of scenery and manila is just the place. old friends, good food and a bit of shopping squeezed in between a few meetings here and there. i. can't. wait!
scenes from frilandsmuseet: take 2 or it's the light, silly
i found myself being especially observant of the light in all of the old farmhouses at frilandsmuseet. we're pondering quite a lot about how to redo the bits of our farmhouse that won't be torn down and windows are a big issue. we've collected a lot of old, traditional metal-framed windows, thinking we wanted to use them, but they are actually quite small and we're worried it will be quite dark inside. and in these northern latitudes, light is everything. so i looked for how the light fell at frilandsmuseet...
there were many cobblestone floors. we might experiment with that in one of the rooms of the part of our house that was once a barn. i love how some leaves had found their way in on the autumn winds.
one of the things we're generally really rubbish at is lighting, so it's really important that our coming remodel enables us to take as much advantage of natural light as possible. there's so much inspiration to be had by visiting museums, don't you think?
the right windows mean everything |
this little geranium is clearly getting enough light. |
a rather dark hearth in a house from småland in sweden. |
if only my old kitchen were THIS old - that i could live with. |
i love, love, love the idea of a step-up pantry |
an axe by the door - looks like they're ready for blog camp! ;-) |
one of the things we're generally really rubbish at is lighting, so it's really important that our coming remodel enables us to take as much advantage of natural light as possible. there's so much inspiration to be had by visiting museums, don't you think?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
make do and mend or how's that not buying stuff in 2010 going?
darning socks |
newspaper-lined shelves |
community knitting |
knitting basket |
* * *
and check out my contribution to the window project
Saturday, October 23, 2010
scenes from frilandsmuseet: take 1
every year, during the autumn holiday, we feel compelled to expose the child to some kind of cultural enrichment - small, obscure museums and historical rocks of interest. this year, we took her to the frilandsmuseet in copenhagen - in lyngby, actually, it's a collection of farmhouses from around denmark and sweden - moved from their original place, carefully labeled and reconstructed to the smallest detail. there was much inspiration to be had for people who now live in an old farmhouse themselves. we practically had to drag husband away from the woodworking and machine shops...
more photos to come (i took 298 digital and a whole roll of film)....
hope your weekend is going well!
more photos to come (i took 298 digital and a whole roll of film)....
hope your weekend is going well!
Friday, October 22, 2010
sparkling in the blogosphere
i've thought about my recent blogosphere run-ins a bit more and what i think is behind them, in both cases, is actually a message to me that i wasn't welcome in those particular bloggy circles. because there are bloggy circles out here. and while i've tried very hard to have my own bloggy circle be a wide and inclusive one, not everyone feels that way. and while i undoubtedly don't always succeed, i think that save one instance with the flickr group where someone was just downright nasty to other members, i have never intentionally excluded anyone from my little corner of the blogosphere.
there's a particular gang on flickr that i honestly tried to be part of (the wanna-be 3191s, as i think of them (note: the REAL 3191 people are not part of that group and i am most definitely not implicating them)) and i was just thoroughly and roundly rejected. the whole tumblr photo thing was with a member of that circle and it was just, at the base of it, another message to me that i wasn't part of their gang. so i've long given up. as i realized i didn't need the validation of a few stuck-up snobs in order to feel ok with myself and my photos and well, my life. there's way more validation and warmth and life to be had in my own bloggy/flickr circles.
i think the other one was signaling that i don't really belong in another of the crafty circles. my experiments in natural dyeing are sporatic at best, as are my stitching efforts. i love contemporary fabrics. i don't fit. i'm not one of them (i felt that last winter with the slow cloth group on facebook) and that's ok with me too. while i thought it was only a compliment to link to the beautiful and inspiring things that people are sharing online, apparently you should only do that if you're of them.
jenna wrote recently of being a jack of all trades and proud of it. i guess that's a bit where i'm at too...of late, my interest has been in sewing clothes for sabin. i've also been knitting a bit here and there. my cooking interests are subdued at the moment by my horrible old kitchen, but they will return as well. and i will go back to the stitching and i'm still following many inspiring blogs, but i guess i have to be content with my place in the scheme of things. and actually, i am. it is just jarring to be told outright that you don't belong.
but that's not how i want to be and the only thing i can change is my own view on these things and know that in both instances, my intentions were good, and that's really all i can say.
a big thank you to everyone for your supportive comments and the reminder that things aren't all awry in the blogosphere. i have put up a small blogroll once again, but this time, it's a link up under my header. i will be changing it regularly and keeping it small, so if you're worried that you're not there at the moment, you just might be the next time you look.
happy weekend one and all...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
look at what's new from moo!
yesterday, in my email inbox, i got my moosletter and in it, i saw these innovative new business card holders and i thought, those are cool, i wonder if it's time for some business cards... and then, when i got home, i found the most delightful surprise in my mailbox...you guessed it! one of moo's new business card holders - especially for me! i knew i loved moo.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
blue in the blogosphere
B is for blogosphere |
it feels to me like changes are afoot in the interwebs. it's becoming a more hostile place and i wonder why. first, i got bawled out by some righteous witch on flickr for tumbling her photo, despite the fact that tumblr gives full credit to the original and provides a LINK to it for odin's sake. and despite the fact that my tumblr clearly states that i'm sharing my flickr faves. honestly, i created it because it has a dark background and i enjoyed seeing my flickr faves on a dark background. but, i've gotten downright afraid to tumble anything after that. i don't do well with the righteous ones. the way i look at it, if you put your things online to be seen, you shouldn't be surprised when people see them, nor should you object to someone giving you both full credit and directing more traffic your way.
then, yesterday, i got an email from someone whose name wasn't familiar to me, accusing me of constantly "backpacking" on her blog (her: 73 followers, me: 1249, hmm, "backpacking?" methinks not.) by creating a link to her posts which she then had to delete. i didn't even recognize the blog initially because she blogs under another name, but i later came to find out it was on my blogroll as an "inspiration." needless to say, it's not anymore. granted, she also said she was notifying me, in case i didn't know, which i didn't. i had no idea that those blogroll lists would create links elsewhere in the blogosphere. but even if i'd known, i don't think i'd have imagined that someone would be upset by it. nor did i imagine how upsetting i would find it to be on the receiving end an accusation of "backpacking" (which i think i would call piggybacking, but that's just me).
but these are strange times in the blogosphere.
it seems to me that a big part of what the blog as a medium is about is linking. linking to other bloggers, to articles of interest, to inspiring photos and art around the interwebs. but it seems it's not about that anymore. people are getting protective of themselves and their content. the spirit of sharing and crediting and sending your bloggy friends to your other bloggy friends by way of links and favorites, is fading. and it makes me sad.
and it also made me take down my blogrolls today. so, it's not that i don't still love all of you, i've just gotten a little afraid about whether that's still ok with you...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
who are the people in your neighborhood?
when i first saw this sculpture/art installation, i thought my fever had come back, but sure enough, there, by the side of the road on the edge of our little town of 3500, there is in fact a giant wooden penis sculpture sticking up out of a car. the way the tree stump sticks out of the bottom of the car (will be featuring this again, don't worry), it looks like the tree was growing there and they lowered the car down on it (would like to have seen that). husband and i can't remember if there was in fact a tree stump there before. and today, i heard that it was moved from another town, where they were asked to remove it. but our little town prides itself on featuring lots of sculpture. you know, to rest your eyes on and make you think.
what this makes me think is that the danes have a helluva sense of humor and we may not be as back of beyond as it initially appears. it's quite a statement, don't you think? a statement on masculinity and automobiles and even on recycling. it might have had even more punch had they used, say, a ferrari, but hey, they were likely working on a budget here.
i do wonder if they can drive it from place to place....
what this makes me think is that the danes have a helluva sense of humor and we may not be as back of beyond as it initially appears. it's quite a statement, don't you think? a statement on masculinity and automobiles and even on recycling. it might have had even more punch had they used, say, a ferrari, but hey, they were likely working on a budget here.
i do wonder if they can drive it from place to place....
Monday, October 18, 2010
deep thoughts from a fevered brain
tangled thoughts |
~ like how you've always had performance anxiety when it comes to ordering in mcdonald's or burger king or those places. totally tongue tied when you reach the front of the line. and if you can speak, you definitely can't remember what it was you were going to order. (you = me)
~ the weird obsession politicians seem to have at the moment with apologizing. the former leader of the danish communist party is on the latest wave. he's now apologizing for having been a communist. since he's just a socialist now. as if anyone knows the difference.
~ the implications of the apology thing and how it indicates that politics have gone off on some strange emotional tangent. and that can't be a good place to have gone.
~ what happened in the mine stays in the mine.
~ speaking of socialists, apparently mario vargas llosa isn't one anymore and that doesn't please the swedish literary establishment. you're not sure you're that fond of the swedish literary establishment. you were just grateful you'd actually heard of this year's honoree.
~ that sally hansen complete salon manicure really stays on.
~ why is it that the kids from the most religious families are always the ones who get pregnant in high school?
~ can a fever actually melt the inside of your ears?
~ speaking of ears, can everyone hear that ringing in yours?
~ why is it that one teenager in the house can make it feel more crowded than 100 people?
~ how many episodes of hannah montana did they make? and why?
~ will it take WWII-style rationing to make us really and truly consume less?
~ can you tell i'm starting to feel better? (this time you is actually you.)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
where is dostoevsky when you need him?
this morning, while i was getting ready, i flipped on CNN. it's what i do when i'm in a hotel. this morning, it was all chilean mine rescue, all the time. i watched the third guy coming up out of the hole and being released from his little cage, which is dubbed the fenix, i guess to signify rebirth. and it was a birth of sorts, as he came up the long canal into the light of the world again, to the waiting arms of his wife. and it was a touching moment.
but the endless analysis and gushing and hype by the newscasters was simply too much. they showed a psychological "expert," who, sounding no more authoritative than a random person on the street, exclaimed in completely general terms, about how psychologically difficult it would be for them. the CNN reporter simply exclaimed along with her, not asking any deeper questions to elicit a more meaty expert response. but perhaps she knew she didn't have an expert on her hands at all. what i fear is that she didn't know that. she simply thought it was her role to play sentimental drama queen together with this woman on camera, as they breathlessly watched footage of the first three miners hugging their families. it's a pity, as i think the psychological aspects of this experience on the miners must be fascinating.
the job behind this rescue is a big one and it is an amazing story. i was a little surprised that the strongest were brought up first. i'd have thought they'd bring up the ones most in need of medical attention, but maybe it made for better television that the first men stepped out, smiling and looking surprisingly robust in their trendy sunglasses (for eye protection since they'd been away from the light for 2 long months and undoubtedly donated by oakley or ray ban or some such company).
i wonder if, thanks to the instant transmission of information and the way that news is covered completely while it's happening, rather than waiting for it to happen, we have lost our ability to know what the story actually is. if we're developing the story on the fly, as it's happening, there's nothing reflective it and no opportunity to draw deeper meaning, or get at the essence of the story.
dostoevsky developed the brothers karamazov on the fly. he published it under great duress and financial pressure, as well as time pressure, in weekly installments, plotting it as he frantically wrote. but sadly, it seems that there are few dostoevskys out there today, and so we watch stories unfold on television...
but the endless analysis and gushing and hype by the newscasters was simply too much. they showed a psychological "expert," who, sounding no more authoritative than a random person on the street, exclaimed in completely general terms, about how psychologically difficult it would be for them. the CNN reporter simply exclaimed along with her, not asking any deeper questions to elicit a more meaty expert response. but perhaps she knew she didn't have an expert on her hands at all. what i fear is that she didn't know that. she simply thought it was her role to play sentimental drama queen together with this woman on camera, as they breathlessly watched footage of the first three miners hugging their families. it's a pity, as i think the psychological aspects of this experience on the miners must be fascinating.
the job behind this rescue is a big one and it is an amazing story. i was a little surprised that the strongest were brought up first. i'd have thought they'd bring up the ones most in need of medical attention, but maybe it made for better television that the first men stepped out, smiling and looking surprisingly robust in their trendy sunglasses (for eye protection since they'd been away from the light for 2 long months and undoubtedly donated by oakley or ray ban or some such company).
i wonder if, thanks to the instant transmission of information and the way that news is covered completely while it's happening, rather than waiting for it to happen, we have lost our ability to know what the story actually is. if we're developing the story on the fly, as it's happening, there's nothing reflective it and no opportunity to draw deeper meaning, or get at the essence of the story.
dostoevsky developed the brothers karamazov on the fly. he published it under great duress and financial pressure, as well as time pressure, in weekly installments, plotting it as he frantically wrote. but sadly, it seems that there are few dostoevskys out there today, and so we watch stories unfold on television...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
sew challenging
i'm a sucker for a display in a fabric store. they totally work on me. friday night was no exception. sabin and i went to a fabric store and saw a cute outfit all sewn up on a mannequin. we didn't buy exactly the same fabrics, but we bought all three patterns they were selling - for leggings, top and a vest. as you can see, i got the leggings and top done this weekend, but not the vest. i accidentally bought the wrong size in that, so i need to go back and exchange it.
the fabric store is called stof & stil and the patterns are their own line. the styles are cute, but as i found out, the instructions are completely opaque. there are few illustrations - only the pattern layout on two of the patterns. and the rest of the instructions are a numbered list full of insider terminology and confusing directions. they assume a very experienced seamstress. and it's only partially that the instructions are in danish (i turned to the norwegian and swedish when i got stuck and they were no better). steps are left out...steps that a beginner wouldn't know or someone who's not sewn with a pattern for awhile wouldn't remember.
if i'd followed exactly what was written in making the leggings, rather than using the knowledge i already had from making pants previously, they would have fit sabin very strangely indeed. they skipped the part about how you have to tuck one leg inside of the other before you sew the crotch together. if i'd never sewn anything before, i would have been frustrated and bewildered indeed.
the top, with the insets at the top and the gathered sleeves was a series of frustrations. i got so frustrated with the opaque directions last evening that i had to put it completely aside and come back to it this morning. i've been doing that for years with complicated patterns, going away and letting my brain process it in my sleep and then being able to finish when i wake up. there is still one spot (thankfully on the inside) where it's not quite right, but it went together in the end, so i left it, as i couldn't bring myself to rip out another seam.
it is a classic case of instructions written by someone very experienced. you see it a lot with technical instructions of all kinds. engineers who are totally into their topic write for their peers and completely forget their audience and the level they might be on. in this case, a very experienced seamstress wrote down a few instructions, but didn't include everything an inexperienced seamstress would need to know. terminology wasn't explained, much was assumed.
stof & stil could take a lesson from lego. lego instructions are excellent and they don't need to be provided in multiple languages because they're entirely visual. the japanese sewing pattern books do this very well too. i've got several of those and haven't had trouble sewing the patterns because the instructions are all based on illustrations, so i'm not missing out on anything by not being able to read japanese.
but, in the end, i got there. i bought fabric to make one more blouse for sabin in another color, and i should do it soon before i forget how the pattern actually worked.
lesson in this...any pattern writers out there, please remember your audience when you're writing!!
one more note, on the subject of japanese...sabin and i picked up sushi in yutaka in herning on friday evening. if you'd only ever had grocery store sushi, this would have made you long for that. and if you've had real sushi from someone who actually knows how to make it, you would have been sorely and sadly disappointed. we ordered a set of rolls and a few salmon and scallop nigiri. they took pre-made rolls out of a refrigerator - nothing was fresh. the salmon for the nigiri was at least cut before my eyes, but even the little rice balls it was placed on were premade. that meant they were dry and lifeless. the rolls were uninteresting and filled with miracle-whip style mayonnaise (which has no place anywhere near sushi in my opinion). on top of it, the woman behind the counter was snotty when i asked if they had a children's box - most places have one aimed at kids - with salmon nigiri and a cucumber roll - but she snottily told me that children should eat what the adults eat. it was, in short, a BIG disappointment and we will not be going back. if you're in herning, steer clear of yutaka.
the fabric store is called stof & stil and the patterns are their own line. the styles are cute, but as i found out, the instructions are completely opaque. there are few illustrations - only the pattern layout on two of the patterns. and the rest of the instructions are a numbered list full of insider terminology and confusing directions. they assume a very experienced seamstress. and it's only partially that the instructions are in danish (i turned to the norwegian and swedish when i got stuck and they were no better). steps are left out...steps that a beginner wouldn't know or someone who's not sewn with a pattern for awhile wouldn't remember.
if i'd followed exactly what was written in making the leggings, rather than using the knowledge i already had from making pants previously, they would have fit sabin very strangely indeed. they skipped the part about how you have to tuck one leg inside of the other before you sew the crotch together. if i'd never sewn anything before, i would have been frustrated and bewildered indeed.
the top, with the insets at the top and the gathered sleeves was a series of frustrations. i got so frustrated with the opaque directions last evening that i had to put it completely aside and come back to it this morning. i've been doing that for years with complicated patterns, going away and letting my brain process it in my sleep and then being able to finish when i wake up. there is still one spot (thankfully on the inside) where it's not quite right, but it went together in the end, so i left it, as i couldn't bring myself to rip out another seam.
it is a classic case of instructions written by someone very experienced. you see it a lot with technical instructions of all kinds. engineers who are totally into their topic write for their peers and completely forget their audience and the level they might be on. in this case, a very experienced seamstress wrote down a few instructions, but didn't include everything an inexperienced seamstress would need to know. terminology wasn't explained, much was assumed.
stof & stil could take a lesson from lego. lego instructions are excellent and they don't need to be provided in multiple languages because they're entirely visual. the japanese sewing pattern books do this very well too. i've got several of those and haven't had trouble sewing the patterns because the instructions are all based on illustrations, so i'm not missing out on anything by not being able to read japanese.
but, in the end, i got there. i bought fabric to make one more blouse for sabin in another color, and i should do it soon before i forget how the pattern actually worked.
lesson in this...any pattern writers out there, please remember your audience when you're writing!!
one more note, on the subject of japanese...sabin and i picked up sushi in yutaka in herning on friday evening. if you'd only ever had grocery store sushi, this would have made you long for that. and if you've had real sushi from someone who actually knows how to make it, you would have been sorely and sadly disappointed. we ordered a set of rolls and a few salmon and scallop nigiri. they took pre-made rolls out of a refrigerator - nothing was fresh. the salmon for the nigiri was at least cut before my eyes, but even the little rice balls it was placed on were premade. that meant they were dry and lifeless. the rolls were uninteresting and filled with miracle-whip style mayonnaise (which has no place anywhere near sushi in my opinion). on top of it, the woman behind the counter was snotty when i asked if they had a children's box - most places have one aimed at kids - with salmon nigiri and a cucumber roll - but she snottily told me that children should eat what the adults eat. it was, in short, a BIG disappointment and we will not be going back. if you're in herning, steer clear of yutaka.
Friday, October 08, 2010
expressing
how do you step outside of who you are? your perspective. your worldview. your culture. yourself. how do you express what you want to express without seeming to be all of those things...your culture, your perspective, your view. how do you get to your real self? and how can you possibly capture the words she would truly like to speak?
there is no cloud,
there is no cloud,
there is no wind,
i sit beside the pond,
the swimming fishes, light, i, flower, water.
the pureness of the cluster of life;
my mother reaps the sweet basil,
bread, sweet basil, cheese, a cloudless sky,
wet garden petunia.
salvation is at hand: within the garden flowers.
--sohrab sepehri
Thursday, October 07, 2010
into the fog
it was deliciously foggy this morning. i took at least 20 minutes extra getting to work because i couldn't stop taking pictures along the way. fog is somehow so mysterious and magical. it has a spookiness to it as well, but this morning, it wasn't the spooky kind, it was pure magic. it was warm, balmy and still as could be. it was quiet save a few audible drips from the overnight rain falling from the trees. the fog settled the magic heavily down on the landscape.
there was a hush over the countryside and even when i photographed a friendly cow that seemed to want to pose for me, i felt like i should do it quietly, not to disturb the magic in the air. i had this feeling that to make noise would be to make the fog disperse and the magic dissolve and i definitely didn't want that to happen.
fog lends a timeless quality to the landscape. i had to fight the urge to just leave the car and walk down this path into another place and time and forget all about making my way to work. in my imagination, because of the fog, the path would have led somewhere completely special and unique, somewhere not accessible on an ordinary morning. somewhere accessible only in the fog.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
breathtaking
at any given moment, there are so many options we don't choose. what if, just for a minute, you could glimpse them all?
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Great Love is....
~ staying up late
~ still sharing dreams after 12 years.
~ fighting off an overwhelming urge to kiss even tho' you're standing in a canteen full of 1500 people at work.
~ knowing which task is whose (laundry: mine, garden: his)
~ making one another laugh.
~ when your heart still skips a beat when you catch sight of him across the room.
~ horrible dreams of mangled plane wreckage when he's away.
~ ok, i have those dreams even when he's not away, and they're mostly about me, but i'm never hurt (tho' often strangely wearing rollerblades) so it's ok.
~ being one another's closest confidant.
~ him putting up with all of your whims.
~ you putting up with him putting away the dishes as if he doesn't live here (he never learns and frankly, you've got to remember to be grateful he puts them away at all).
~ late night discussions of evolution, sociology and political science.
~ funny text messages.
~ building something together (literally, out in the garden).
~ a shared history.
~ finishing one another's thoughts.
~ there still being surprises after 13 years (who knew husband took a photography class?)
~ not remembering precisely how many years it's been (12, 13, whatever).
what's Great Love in your world?
Monday, October 04, 2010
all wound up
it has recently come to my attention that i need less details than other people. if i'm going somewhere, i have no real need to know where i'll be staying or how i'll be getting there. i'm quite content to just have a general idea of what the agenda will be once i get there and a vague notion of the time things start. i can, in short, just wing it.
i am increasingly of the opinion that i'm in the minority on that one. some people (possibly even most people) have a deep need to have things confirmed and then reconfirmed again. and then to call to follow up on the confirmation. and maybe call back one more time to just reconfirm that it's confirmed and maybe to ask for one more mail confirming the confirmation.
you might imagine that all that confirming and reconfirming drives someone like me, with her vague notion of the details, completely friggin' bat shit crazy. and you would be right.
relax people, they're just details. don't get so wound up. it'll all fall into place.
monday lessons
~ getting up at the crack of insanity to see husband off to the airport: bad idea if you went to bed well after midnight.
~ staying awake after seeing husband off to the airport: also not a good idea (tho' it does give you time to blog).
~ trying to flat iron hair while it's still quite wet: bad idea.
~ starting the week with a dull headache due to lack of sleep: not fun.
~ banana cake for breakfast: awesome.
~ growing accumulation on the desk of films that need to be developed: not good.
~ days 'til husband comes home again: seven.
~ likelihood that computers at work will be functioning properly this morning: dismal.
~ probability that this is going to be a great week, despite the fact that it started too soon: very high.
happy monday one and all!
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happy monday
Sunday, October 03, 2010
we(e) the people....
big controversy here in denmark last week. what, you didn't hear it? is it a new round of objectionable mohammed cartoons, you ask? no, i'm afraid not, i'm afraid it has much more wide-reaching social implications than that - you see, a school in varde has instituted a policy wherein the boys in the school are asked to pee sitting down. in typical fashion, they had actually put the policy in place a year ago and it was only now, when it was apparently an especially slow news day, that the story came to light.
the radio program where i heard about it on tuesday had dug up an angry male sociologist, who claimed that women were taking over and imposing their will on the entire society. that danish men were emasculated and women were running the show. all because of a little pee. an issue of hygiene. in a school that was tired of cleaning up disgusting boys' bathrooms. a national scandal, i tell you.
it's true that danish men are well domesticated. but they're also pretty cute. and i don't think it really matters that much whether they pee standing up or sitting down. and i guess it's a symptom of a society with few problems that this issue made the news all week long.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
signs of berlin
because it's the weekend and i'm still hankering for my blog camp weekend in berlin of a couple of weeks ago, i thought i'd share a few of the fabulous signs i saw there...
i wanna go back to berlin. maybe i'll get husband a weekend there for christmas. as a kind of a self-present.
should have gone back to this club. it looked like a happening place. |
there were tons of bits of art here and there on light poles and such. |
this city is bought up. i do wonder what they meant by that, because to me the city seemed so authentic and wonderful and not at all like it had sold out. |
ya gotta love robots. tho' those teeth were slightly disturbing. |
you could wander the city just photographing fantastic graphics. |
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