Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
yarn porn and a few interesting links
i've bought yarn for this.
at my local yarn & bra shop.
as one does.
i got extraordinarily sweet and helpful service.
this photo doesn't do the yarn justice.
it's still a bit too dark outside.
but i'm impatient.
i got extraordinarily sweet and helpful service.
this photo doesn't do the yarn justice.
it's still a bit too dark outside.
but i'm impatient.
* * *
in light of recent intrigues events in the peyton place little town where i live, i thought that to comfort myself, i'd make a little list of the things i understand about danish culture after 15 years of living in the midst of it:
~
well, that was a short list. odd that one can become more bewildered as the years pass rather than more enlightened. actually, the problem isn't that i don't understand the danes, it's that i understand them very well and reject some of the tribe-like aspects of their cultural behavior. but that's something quite different. and it apparently provokes the hell out of them.
* * *
i adore the oatmeal. this is a seriously well-done sponsor post.
* * *
the stern report got it wrong. it's way worse.
* * *
rather disturbing insight into hitler's life through his own home movies.
i'm not sure what i make of it - i'm intrigued by the story of the search for them and the finding of them,
but disturbed by the idyllic scenes of the movies themselves.
it does make one understand hannah arendt's banality of evil all the more.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
pondering pinterest
my favorite sunday morning activity is to sit in bed with a cup of tea and my laptop and peruse pinterest. i love the way it leads me off in new directions. one minute, i'm pinning web design tips and the next, drooling over garter stitch blankets and thinking, "i could do that." the brilliant newish feature that shows you another board something is pinned to after you pin it yourself has led me to discover all kinds of goodness i'd never have found otherwise.
the more i use it, the more i think that pinterest isn't just a way of
i'm planning an event next weekend and i've got three boards devoted to it. it's been a great way to let the others who are involved in on what i am thinking about with regard to activities and decorations. it has both saved time in explaining and given a visual to some of the more, shall we say...fun-challenged...members of the group. pictures really are worth a thousand words.
pinterest has helped me spot trends in my own thinking. looking through my own boards, i recently realized there are a lot of circles, so i gathered them on one board, to see if there's something there to pursue. i don't know yet, but can see that it has something to do with stitching.
you also learn from those things you find that you've pinned multiple times. they must really be something you like. and sometimes you get déja pin while you're pinning, thinking, "i've pinned this before." but you can't find it.
it's an invaluable tool when you're remodeling. husband just asked the other evening to have a look at the kitchen board, as he's beginning to think about the construction of the kitchen island. he's asked me to look for and pin specific ideas with regard to the placement of sink and stovetop in kitchen islands, to help him solve the issue for ours. so even tho' husband doesn't pin himself, he recognizes it's a great tool.
i've begun to see some interesting uses of pinterest as a business tool. as a photography portfolio, by an agency who represents the photographers. for a contest by a company that makes cake decorating supplies (and which i sadly cannot find again to link it). i think it's only the beginning of that type of use. i don't find anthropologie's pinning of all of their products themselves to be that clever a use, but it's a use nonetheless. i'm sure others will be much more clever.
if you're not already using it, get over there and sign up. you'll never need web browser bookmarks again.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
the blue light of winter
i do love our blue winter light. it was nearly dark and it started to snow.
but i'll admit i've had enough winter now.
and cold.
unless it means skating tomorrow at last.
on our lake.
* * *
first they complain that you don't loop them in. then they complain when you do. there's no pleasing people when it comes down to it. but then, there are those who are only happy when it rains. or when they have something about which to complain. and i shall be happy to oblige (insert evil laugh here). #silverlining
* * *
an unexamined life really isn't worth living.
collecting stones
Friday, January 25, 2013
happy 12th birthday, pooka!
2012 in review - it may have been the year (so far) where she grew and changed the most (well, since that first year or so, anyway). horses figured rather heavily, tho' that may reflect my choice of photo subject matter more than actual reality. horses and girls are just made to be photographed together. these are just photos that i had included in my 2012::366 project and not necessarily the very best of the photos of sabin from the past year (i do think last year's mosaic was better). but i love making these posts on sabin's birthday. to see how she's growing up and changing and processing the world and tackling it head on and with good sense and a healthy sense of humor. it tugs a bit at my heart that she's not a little girl anymore, but at the same time, she's exactly the age she should be (looking back at last year, i felt that way too, so it must be authentic). she should be growing up, learning and forming her own ideas about the world. it would be wrong to be wistful or sad or hold her back (as if that would be possible). so let's hope 12 will be a great year!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
at least we have cake
expectations, they'll kill you in the end. humans are unpredictable and disappointing. i'm trying to learn to let go of them (the expectations, not the humans), but it's an uneven process. and some things are harder to let go of than others. matters of personal integrity, for example. and no matter how much you conduct yourself with honesty and integrity, there will always be people in your path who do not and they will view you through their own clouded glasses, assuming that you must be like them.
additionally, you can never underestimate people's need for their albanian (you know, that person they feel superior to). and if you happen to be the only one in the group who isn't a member of the tribe, you will likely, whether you deserve it or not, become that albanian. and it will royally piss you off. and by you, you might have guessed, i mean me. and you will have vivid moments where you imagine indulging your inner slayer. and you think, buffy wouldn't take this shit, she'd kick some serious ass. so you do decide to stand up for yourself. but you still can't help but feel like it's all been a case of junior high-style bullying. but this too shall pass. and there truly are bigger and better things to look forward to.
like sabin's birthday tomorrow. she'll be 12! it all goes so fast. but we spent the afternoon making cupcakes together. a sort of a rainbow theme (it's apparently what her classmates requested). i've gone easy on the presents, she doesn't have much she really needs, but of course she needs a few treats. so she will have them, along with the dinner of her choice. and the bunnies just might surprise her by having their babies tomorrow - there was a lot of nest-building going on today. and she will have another cake since she's taking all of the cupcakes to school. happily, we're allowed to do that here (i've heard there are places where homemade treats aren't allowed). so at least there's still common sense on that front and that's something.
* * *
such beautiful, inspiring work:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
almost wordless wednesday
lisa did an enigmatic wordless wednesday post today, so i had to too.
it is still wednesday, right?
*fabulousness from numinosity.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
the torso project
i need a boost of positive energy after the day i've had (tales of troglodytes and deeply unprofessional and unserious and manipulative behavior, which i will process a bit more for myself before i share), so i would like to share an amazing project i'm going to be part of at the beginning of march. it's called kvindeportrætter (women's portraits) 30 women (some artists, some not) will gather and make a plaster cast of our very own torsos. afterwards, we will decorate them as we wish - collage, paint, whatever - telling the stories of ourselves and our lives.
aside from the torso mold, which makes me a little light-headed when i think about it (there will be nowhere to hide), i can't wait! it's running in the back of my mind, the things with which i want to adorn my own torso - tickets i've been saving, interesting articles, snippets of text, something along the lines of a gift i once received from a friend, perhaps some stitching or stones or driftwood. it feels delicious with possibilities. and the sense of community of two days spent with like-minded creative women - just the thought of it gives me a sense of calm and a feeling of happiness that i was much in need of at the moment.
this torso in the photographs was made by the woman who will lead the project. she did it in the context of an art relay - where they artists were to make a piece of art, then send some piece of it on to another. they would also receive a piece of another's art and have to incorporate it into theirs. the triangle in the center was what she sent on. and the little doll hanging inside is related to what she received, as is the red color of the inside. she said there wasn't a single piece on it that isn't laden with meaning.
isn't that awesome?
i'm so happy to be finding the artistic community i was missing. i will share more once it gets underway. the results will be exhibited locally and in a real art museum. but more about that as it happens. in the meantime, here's the pinterest board where i'm saving my inspiration.
character sketches
i find the best way to get out my frustrations from meetings is through writing character sketches. i figure they'll come in handy
the tender manager: officious, arrogant, condescending, pedagogical and more than a bit self-satisfied. yet underneath, there is that insecurity that often comes from being a woman in a man's world - it leaks through in the mannish haircut, the abrupt manner, the defensiveness when legitimate questions are asked. in order to be accepted in the man's world, chooses to use archaic, anti-feminist, degrading characterizations of women to describe things - along the lines of calling them a flock of hens and such. despite being tasked to listen to the group and speak for the group (in writing), simply writes what she wants herself, bullying it through under the guise of technical and legal jargon (that upon further examination is neither technical nor legal, just not what the group thinks is important). allows her personal preoccupations to shine through, tho' the project technically belongs to others and the end product will not be used by her. furthermore, she has a strange aversion to the word "sustainability."
the project manager: ruled by the gods of the calendar. both loves and thrives on being able to prove how busy (and therefore important) she is by how many meetings are packed in, especially if they extend after normal working hours and to the weekends. may actually secretly (and even visibly if you're observing carefully) have a small orgasm right there out of the pure delight of filling her calendar with meetings, preferably months out into the future.
the secretary: a little sheepish about being secretary of the whole thing, because he is, after all, a man. the women's world of the public sector has rendered him emasculated and a bit defensive when any questions are asked of him. he is quiet and well-behaved, tamed, like a obedient dog.
there will undoubtedly be more to come...
Monday, January 21, 2013
conclusions on a weekend without facebook
i agreed with bill on friday that we would both stay off facebook for the entire weekend. i did still let my instagram posts go there and i did upload a few photos via iPhoto (out of habit), but i did not, not even once and not even when i saw that i had 60+ notifications on sunday morning, open facebook itself - not on my phone nor on my computer. i'd like to say that i felt set free. and i'd like to say that i never thought about it. but that wouldn't be true.
i should have tried to count the times when some (pithy, of course) status update crossed my mind. it was a lot. and i had to consciously suppress my desire to reach for my phone and share it. every stupid stray thought. facebook has conditioned me to share those. and it's really rather scary.
the cat woke me up around 3:30 this morning and my mind started racing with monday's to-do list. since i couldn't sleep anyway, i got up and opened the computer (i'm still here, typing this, an hour later) and i thought, "yes! i can check facebook now." and weirdly, my "home" feed was only my own posts, everyone else had disappeared, leaving me to think (realize?) that we really are talking to ourselves in there. and i wonder if it's good for us.
so the things i didn't get to share were my immediate thoughts on the lance armstrong-oprah interview, which i watched on saturday afternoon. they were the things i was cooking (vegetarian lasagne on friday night that turned out brilliantly and a slow-cooked pork roast on saturday). they were the excitement of how the hol(e)y stones were turning out. they were my usual friday evening james bond (we've reached golden eye) report. and my sorrow at coming to the end of my buffy the vampire slayer marathon and feeling a little lost without her.
facebook lets us preserve the immediacy of our thoughts. i'm not sure now what i initially thought about lance and oprah, because i've mulled it over too much now. but that's probably ok. it struck me that if his back wasn't against the wall, he'd never have admitted it, even tho' the whole world knew it - it's the nature of the sport of cycling that they're all doped to the gills and you definitely don't win 7 tour de france without it. tho' he's definitely been kicked off his pedestal, there was an underlying defiance and arrogance that was quite off-putting. and i did wonder what was up with his marriage? didn't he leave his wife and get engaged to sheryl crow for some years? it sounded like he was back with his original wife and had had a couple more kids. i wonder why she would take the arrogant bastard back? i guess you can never know how people's lives really are. and perhaps all of that is what i thought initially.
but what is this compulsion to share our every thought as we have it, without mulling it over? i blame CNN - they're the ones who started us on this path with their coverage of news events as they happen, rather than waiting for them to happen and then formulating an informed reaction. poor CNN has been a bit left in the dust these days and now we have a choice of 7 or 8 24-hour news channels (that's just here in denmark, you probably have even more) and a plethora of other outlets. like facebook.
it won't be the last facebook break i take. ultimately, it seems like it was good for me. i stitched for hours. i cooked for hours. i spent time outdoors. i played a board game with my family. and i read a good book (or two). i took back my time and i used it mostly wisely.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
hol(e)y stones
while watching the oprah + lance armstrong interview (more about that in another post), i began stitching on my hol(e)y stones. i can't decide what to call them - peephole stones or hol(e)y stones, so i'm trying out both.
they're definitely going in the direction that i had hoped.
i'm learning a lot about different types of wool - this one got all stretched out as i stitched it, making the holes even bigger and becoming very loose on the stone. i had to felt it again to make it tight on the stone. i like the effect it made, with uneven, wobbly holes.
this one, which molly suggested looked like a ski mask (she called it a gimp, which was a new word for me). i went with that and now it's a bit of a sugar skull.
one of the little bowls got an edging of beads i once bought in manila, plus a few little paper beads with a poem on them that i got ages ago from field & sea on etsy.
it's itty bitty and i'm quite enamored of it. and pleased to finally use some of these sweet little wooden beads gathered on my travels.
this one feels a little like a talisman of sorts now. i got the beads at some point from numinosity. i, of course, have been saving them for a good use. this seemed like it.
i loved working with these bright colors on these cold, grey-toned winter days.
the color combination on the red/orange stone is my favorite. the colors sort of jumped out of the bowl where i keep the clothespins of embroidery thread and i had to use them together. they feel warm and happy to me.
these are getting close and i'm working on more. i'll be putting some in my long-neglected shop sometime this week.
update: the first five stones are in my shop now.
Friday, January 18, 2013
the week in review
the horseshoer blew a hole in the middle of my day. he called about 4 hours before he was due to come and asked if he could come early (must have been the first horseshoer in the history of horseshoers to do so). if the vet does it next, i may faint dead away.
so i was quite concentrated on my work before he called, but afterwards, forget about it. it was pinterest and looking for what to make for dinner after that. tiger, the tailless cat also helped me put red strips of fabric on the fence so we can turn the horses out tomorrow. we have our young 2-year-old filly home now. she's a rather interesting cross - a norwegian trotter for a mother and an andalusian for a father. but she's got a super sweet temperament and i love her red roan color. she's got a friend with her - an 8-month old pony foal who adores her, because in denmark you're not allowed to let a horse be alone. it's been snowy all week and they need to get outside. they have a big stall and plenty of hay, so they've been content. summertime (that's the filly's name) is a bit thin, so i've been trying to fatten her up a bit. it's just good to have horses on the place again.
we'll have baby bunnies sometime next week. the mama bunnies are already tearing out their hair and building their nests. i hope it warms up a bit before then, tho' i imagine those mamas know how to keep them warm. it means we'll have easter bunnies to sell come the end of march. plus, we love having baby bunnies around here.
my chickens are coming into the terrace. it's been well below zero all week and they're in search of water, despite my thawing their water with the kettle twice a day. i found a cache of 5 eggs out in the big barn. they apparently like that there are horses there and want to be out there. i've not really seen them over there before. strange that as it's turned cold, i'm getting even more eggs. so we're eating custards and soufflés (when we're not eating lasagne).
it's been a good week. i spent very productive time with a creative person with whom i am totally compatible. we were all over the place on wednesday, but in the end, it was very productive and we moved forward in leaps and bounds. we're not there yet, but we have a clear picture of where we're going.
i saw a play and it made me think. you can't really ask more than that, can you?
before the play, i ate a rather danish version of borscht (light on the beets and with a horseradish creme fraiche) and talked about a community art project with really cool, inspiring people. you also can't ask more than that.
i'll tell you more about that art project soon. there is a hint in the pinterest boards below.
here's wishing you all a happy weekend. stay off facebook. it's not good for your mental state (this means you, bill.) (i'll try to take this advice myself.)
~~~
a few new pinterest boards: events/happenings. horse is a horse of course of course. pretty party. sheepish. the torso project.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
i'll surely go to hell, but first we must drink together
i went to a play this evening. a two-man show in an intimate setting, right here in my own little town. it was an adaptation of dostoevsky's short novel (it's not exactly a novella and not fully a novel) the eternal husband. the two actors were very good and although it was actually a dostoevsky i didn't know, but it had all of the elements of dostoevsky at his finest. that special politeness and humility with which half-mad characters speak to one another. glimmers of raskolnikov, the underground man, saintly but mildly insane and surely consumptive but beautiful women. clever lines, "go to hell." "i'll surely go to hell, but first we must drink together." and the undercurrents, oh my the undercurrents.
it struck me that we have no undercurrents today - everyone's letting it all hang out, spilling everything, without subtlety, not letting anything at all bubble below the surface. i think we need more undercurrents. and by that i don't mean hidden agendas (there are surely enough of those, tho' often they aren't that well-hidden); i mean real, raging emotions, boiling just below the surface. now we just get all of that out of our systems passive aggressively on facebook. and i'm beginning to think it's not good for us.
there was a point during the first act where i welled up with tears, thinking of my favorite professor from iowa who died a couple of years ago. i felt a longing to discuss what i'd seen with him that just about bowled my over. and a sorrow that that was no longer possible since he's gone. i would so love to have talked over the performance with him. he would have known how to positively direct all of the emotions and small glimpses of my own madness it brought forth in me.
my advice - get out there and see some live theatre. there's nothing like it.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
whispering voices
my absolutely exquisite brooch by cathy cullis arrived yesterday. the multiple faces just spoke to me. she calls it part of her tumbling dreamers series, but to me, it whispers of the multiple voices we all have in our heads, vying (dying?) for our attention and trying to lead us in all directions. i think i saw it first on flickr and couldn't believe my luck when it was still in her shop. it feels so much like it represents where i am right now, at this moment, it's like it was meant to be mine. i am at once disturbed and comforted by the whispers of the voices.
and i am still thinking about her post on art supplies. that and wanting some black gouache now.
~~~
crazy awesome, thought-provoking embroidery here.
it made me a little bit unable to breathe.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
giving myself a pep talk
i am working hard at not letting my actions (or inactions as the case may be) be driven by fear and worry. because i don't believe that's the recipe for success. to succeed you have to dare, you can't hold back, just because you're worried. because it closes you off and you give off big waves of desperation. and i want to be open, not closed and i most definitely do not want to be desperate. i want to soar, not stay on the ground. i want to dare, not cower on the sidelines. i want to open new doors and to do that, some must close. and stay closed. i want to walk the tightrope without a safety net. i'm coming to think it's the only way.
and we don't have to be completely without a safety net if we choose the right people to walk the rope with. they can be a safety net of sorts. and if we're lucky, we might even be able to fly.
and we don't have to be completely without a safety net if we choose the right people to walk the rope with. they can be a safety net of sorts. and if we're lucky, we might even be able to fly.
~~~
apropos worries and fears...
what *should* we be worried about? that's edge's question for 2013.
here are some answers.
what *should* we be worried about? that's edge's question for 2013.
here are some answers.
~~~
i guess we should have realized that color is the stuff of consumerism.
~~~
i love the work of nathan sawaya - he's a LEGO artist, but he doesn't drink the kool-aid work for them.
here's the interesting article where i learned of him.
~~~
here's the interesting article where i learned of him.
~~~
*these snow photos are from this morning. when the sun was on its way up. they don't really have anything to do with the post. i just liked them. they feel peaceful to me.
Monday, January 14, 2013
be kind to yourself
reading a friend's facebook feed as she reported on the golden globes made me sad. she marveled at the glamour of the dresses and makeup, but actually said outright that it made her feel horrible about herself and her appearance. she's a gorgeous woman with no reason to allow some couture-clad hollywood starlet with stylist and make-up person to make her feel anything, let alone ugly or unworthy. of course those people look awesome as they walk up the red carpet. it's their job to do so.
women. why do we do this to ourselves? we are so hard on ourselves (and on each other for that matter). envy rears its ugly head and leaves us feeling shattered and insecure. what is it that keeps us from resting in ourselves, content with who we are and where we are? and why can't we see another beautiful woman without being consumed with envy and self-loathing? honestly, people, men don't do this to themselves or one another. and it's time we stopped too.
i say we practice being a little kinder to ourselves and the women around us this week. it's about time.
happy monday!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
the view...
...from sunday night.
~ chickens can fly way better than you think.
~ weekends are too short.
~ ticket to ride is the best game we've come across in a long time. it's a real, old-fashioned board game, where you sit at the table as a family. kind of risk meets the railroads. awesome.
~ so many good books, so impossible to read them all at once.
~ it's really good to have horses on the property again.
~ a smattering of snow makes a huge difference on how light it seems outside.
~ there's a lot of violence on buffy, but most of it seems necessary. it's what happens when you live on top of a hellmouth.
~ i'm glad i don't live on top of a hellmouth.
~ it's lots of fun looking at brochures for brand new cars. neither husband nor i have ever had a brand new car. it'll be the first in our family in generations. and today, we ruled out the ford. and by we, i mean husband, because i didn't go along and didn't want to. tho' it's fun, it was way better to stay home making things together with sabin.
~ facebook can be fun at times. and really make me laugh.
~ pinterest has ruined the acronym DIY for me. (i may have mentioned this before.)
~ whenever i do an outdoor activity with husband (helping him with heavy lifting, stringing an electric fence), it makes it feel like we are really in this together. not to say that i don't otherwise feel that, but i feel it acutely in moments of manual labor. and on friday nights when we talk over our week over a bottle of good wine and a nice dinner.
here's wish you all a good week ahead. i've got that sunday evening feeling and i'm ready to face it head-on.
fabulous ice formations or those mole hills are good for something
we've had really mild temperatures so far in january, but a couple of days ago, it turned cold. it must have frozen at precisely the right pace for these amazing ice crystals to form on top of a fresh mole hill. i happened to notice it when i went out for a vitamin d walk when the sun peeked out for a few minutes the other day. i've never seen anything like them - like the water was forced up out of the ground as it contracted and froze and flash froze the water as well (you can tell i am a literature person and didn't pay attention in science class, but you can see what i mean in the photos). very grateful for my photo every day habit - it's what made me notice this at all.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
peephole stones :: work in progress
when i'm at the beach, i love to look for stones with holes in them. i also love felting stones, tho' i do always have a pang of anguish over covering up my carefully-selected stone. so last night i decided to experiment with felting a stone with peepholes, so i could have the felt and still enjoy the stone.
i ran a couple of experiments - wrapping the stones, cutting holes and then felting. that doesn't work too well. you have to wrap the stone (use lisa's great tutorial), felt it a bit, so the felt is tight around the stone, then cut your holes and continue felting.
i got a bit fancy with this one, using two colors. i felted the orange around the stone first, then added the red, felted a bit and carefully trimmed the red layer away from the orange before they got too stuck together. i loved that the stone had a little hole started and i wanted it to show.
a couple of them came off the stones and i ended up with these little felty vessels instead. i'm going to play with them some more to see what they might become.
i'm also going to add some more embellishment (stitching, beads, painting on the stone) to these, so they're still works in progress. but i just had to share them already now. i feel like they're a breakthrough in making the felted stone notion my own. and they're getting me closer to a picture that's in my head. stay tuned.
i played a bit with my new inks yesterday as well, painting a few feather stones and even a bit of driftwood (the inks bleed on it in unexpected ways). i am madly in love with the paynes grey. the sun has gone again and there's a light sprinkling of snow on the ground, so it's a perfect day to stay inside with a cup of tea and play with felt and stones and ink.
Friday, January 11, 2013
pretty inks, all in a row
what could be more happy-making than new art supplies?
some new colors of acrylic inks for painting on stones.
and some from the antique line as well - mostly because i fell a little bit in love with the packaging.
i am a sucker for the retro packaging.
and paynes grey? that dark, bluish-grey hue. yummy.
here they all are. now i'd best get to work.
happy weekend, one and all!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
what a difference a day makes
oh my, what a difference a day makes. my day started with an email from an old friend. and then an invitation from a more local friend for a spontaneous road trip. so i spent the day in århus today. the sun shined a little bit on the way there (but not long enough for me to get to photograph it). but it turns out that a simple change of scenery, an encounter with art (we picked up my artist friend's paintings from an exhibition), a trip to the most fabulous leather store and an even better art supply store (swoon) plus lunch with the best waiter i've ever encountered in denmark will really make you feel better and get you back in the zone. and get your clogged-up idea channel flowing again. and by you i mean me.
so get out there. change your scenery. you won't regret it. i promise.
~~~
ahh notes, that lovely intervention between what we read and what what we write (and if you're me, what we think). i'd love to have attended a conference on notes. and marginalia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)