ahhhh
My day job is moving locations this week. I spent nine hours at work today trying to do my regular stuff AND pack (my normal day is six hours). Tomorrow the movers come. I think five of us are in the office to help; everyone else works from home. It's going to be another long day. Gonna bring the Han Katten water bottle and some Dr. Scholl's inserts.
quick machine sketch &c.
The killer whale was my favorite animal for most of my life. I had lots of stuffed ones and I would arrange all of them - plus stuffed dolphins, penguins, and sea lions - around my one-speaker tape player and listen to my Shamu and Friends tape, pretending they were singing all the songs.
When I was a little bit older, my grandparents ordered a kit from the Orca Adoption Program and let me choose one to adopt for my birthday. I picked a female named Jelly Roll from the L-pod; she was number L-43 and her story said she'd been orphaned as a youngster. I got updates and a newsletter all year. It was awesome.
In my nostalgic googling I came across a news item that says she and two others disappeared in September of 2006 and were presumed dead. The orcas of Puget Sound don't appear to be thriving and need all the help they can get. As of 2006, the National Marine Fisheries Services added the resident population to the endangered species list.
One year of symbolic adoption is $35. I'm having trouble picking which one I want to adopt..
wah wah, missed two days
I slept 35 out of 48 hours. I think this entitles me to some kind of prize. Actually I got a prize - Bill (who is also stuck in the throes of illness!) had to go out today, and he bought me Oreos. I haven't had those in a long time.
Today I watched an episode of NOVA about epigenetics. It was super cool, and maybe I shouldn't eat those Oreos.
oh no, I really am getting sick
THIS IS TERRIBLE!
It's enough of a cold-type-thing to make me not want to do anything, but NOT enough of an illness for me to justify it. Soldier on. Bill has it too, but I think his is worse (or he is not into soldiering on).
Made noodles and broth, and relished eating the crap out of them, and now perhaps a nap..
Thirty days
I am pretty guilty of blog/website neglect, so when someone on a board I read suggested a thirty day challenge for the month of September, I decided I would spend it making posts every day. (This, instead of something truly self-improving, such as "I'm going to exercise for thirty minutes every day!" which others have made their admirable goal! I know that I am lazy, so I shoot low..)
So now we're past the three week mark, and I've managed to keep up, which is super cool. Doing this has also been an impetus to keep my makin' stuff muscles flexed - although I had a few months' worth of images squirreled away in my subdirectories, they would not be enough to fill the whole thirty days. I've always used this space as a show-off-pictures kind of deal, not a GLURGH LISTEN WHAT I DID TODAY deal, but I'm not sure how long that separation will last (I am also a LiveJournal neglector extraordinaire). So maybe I'll just see how long I can keep this post streak going, even if it means getting a little wordy sometimes. (CAUTION: NOT A GREAT WRITER.)
Anyway, I woke up with a sore throat today which is NOT AWESOME, but here is the first day's progress on a felty project:
Body, legs, and a pink brain!
epiphany
You know at the end of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure where he wants to leave the drive-in, and Dottie's like, "Don't you want to see the rest of the movie?" and Pee-Wee is all, "I don't have to see it, Dottie.. I lived it."
That's how I feel about The Big Bang Theory.
narwhals
Pink narwhals embroidered with various threads on dyed pink fabric, cotton batting, hand dyed backing, commercial binding; hand quilted. 12x10"
One of them is sparkly.
the business
Most of my evening bouts of makin' stuff are just for my own enjoyment. I go through cycles of working on "serious" things, and then doing slightly experimental things just because I feel like it, making gifts, etc. Occasionally - about twice a year, up until now - I would get a commission from someone.
I've recently been getting enough requests from friends and acquaintances that I needed to put together some kind of work calendar. Using a wall calendar isn't enough- I have one of those, and I have a Moleskine pocket-sized planner, and my sketchbook. I write as much as possible in all three places just for memory insurance. Forgetting I have something to do and then it springing up on me the day it needs to be finished is not an experience I enjoy!
So this is seven weeks of my somewhat color-coded craft to-do list.. I might end up reusing this format (and refining it) in the future:
a spacey theme
l-r solid red, orange rocket print, blue w/ sproinky things (the brown in this will prolly nix it from the pile, though), red/white box print, yellow star print, solid turquoise, red/orange print, yellow rocket print, red squares print, blue space print, yellow hand dyed
a buggy theme
mixing prints, solids, and hand dyes
l-r: insects/magnifying glasses, hand dyed olives, snails/dots, flying insects, brown/metallic blue dots, direct-applied hand dyed goofy junk, mystery lime green, hand dyed brown (with fabulous multicolor undertones)