11.24.2009

A Delightful Apple Gone Wrong

It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a gray day outside. "Time for an apple," I think. A small bruised spot on its surface persuades me to make a v-shaped cut. Oh joy, it looks like a heart!


After a few bites, I notice a rather dark, "earthy" flavor. But hey, I like mushrooms and other pungently flavored foods, so I carry on and nibble my way to the core. Until I accidentally bite into the core and notice its unusually dark appearance. Because I am curious and investigative by nature, I slice clear through what's left of the apple and find this:


...delightful... well, at least it wasn't a worm.

11.17.2009

Winterness Finished Design


Hooray, the Winterness design is finished! See the actual cards (or better yet, buy them) at etsy or supermarket.

11.15.2009

Winterness Stamp


Here's my newest notecard design for the holidays. Despite my reluctance to embrace the winter season, I feel like nothing says 'Christmas' 'Hanukkah' 'Winter Solstice' quite like a dusting of fresh snow. Bring on the flakes, Mother Nature.

11.12.2009

Xmas Gift Tags


Hooray! It's the most wonderful time of the year... oh wait, this means I have to seriously ponder what gifts to give... and procure them... and wrap them nicely... and give them. Well, at least the gift tags are taken care of (phew).

11.11.2009

Name All the Animals

Name All the Animals
by Alison Smith

I'd been wanting to read this for quite some time as I'd heard solid reviews from various sources. When I finally had it in my hands, I seriously had a hard time putting it down (and was basically reading for two days straight).

Alison Smith's memoir takes place in her teenage years, growing up in a Catholic family and dealing with the life-altering event of death, the loss of faith, and an unexpected sexual awakening. More than anything, I was drawn to the relationships in this book. Alison's relationship with her mother and father, her brother, her classmates, her relationship with God, even her relationship with food. All of them unique, all of them believable, all of them in some way totally relatable. Smith does an amazing job of pulling you in, to see the world through the eyes of a 15 year old girl, and to make her experiences seem like your own narrative. And of course, I love that it takes place in Rochester, New York.

Beautifully written with a quiet observation in every detail, has definitely become one of my favorite memoirs.

11.09.2009

Creature Discomfort

see the posting at Arting Through Limbo

11.05.2009

Stuck

Stuck: Why We Can't (or Won't) Move On by Anneli Rufus

I loved this book. But I sort of picked it up off the book shelf out of curiosity, so I really had no expectations one way or the other.
I don't know if it was the way it was written, or the observations themselves, but I ended up agreeing with the author on 95% of the issues she covers. She talks about everything from the pathologizing of America to the problems with our capitalist lifestyle, to our obsession with other peoples' traumas. It's possible that liking this book makes me un-American, but oh well, I can live with that. Also, I appreciated Rufus' self-deprecation, not only telling us what's wrong with society on the whole, but also detailing her own faults and 'stuckness'. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone interested in sociological observations and writings... or anyone fond of the idea of escaping the rat race to go live in a hut somewhere.

11.03.2009

3 Exciting Things

I hate Tuesdays. To me, they represent the badness that comes BEFORE the badness of Wednesdays. So in an effort to rid myself of that icky Tuesday feeling, my roommate Brian and I headed over to a little cafe down the street from our apartment, called The Flower Flat Cafe. I read a newspaper. I finished another 2 chapters in my library book. I ingested an entire pot of COFFEEEEE. I ate a croissant. It was great. The ladies at The Flower Flat are really nice and the environment is totally the kind of place you'd want to be if you had to write a paper or sketch out ideas for a few hours. Next time I go back I'll have to order a sandwich, because they looked really tasty. Also? Totally reasonably priced! Your own little french press (which was not so little), a croissant, and a cup of soup for $7 and change. That's my kind of spendin'!

Upon returning home, I had the strange uncontrollable urge to get out my oboe. So I did. Now, let me stress the fact that I really do not play oboe anymore. Once I got to college it just became something that I never really made time for. I promised myself I wouldn't totally give it up, but days became weeks, weeks turned to months (you know how the rest of this goes) and before I knew it, I hadn't played in 5 years. It sometimes haunts me a little. I'll be sitting on the el and I'll realize that I'm absent-mindedly practicing scales with my fingers. Or I'll catch a sneaky couple of measures running through my head from a piece I once played long ago. I do wish I still played. I do wish I was still good. My embouchure has really deteriorated, my breath support sucks, I can't remember fingerings for some of the high notes, but all in all, it didn't sound too bad. Who knows, maybe I'll magically gain some determination and start practicing again. That would be something, wouldn't it?

The third (SUPER) exciting thing is that my metal smithing tools have arrived!!!!!!! GAAAAH!!! (Do you sense the excitement I'm feeling)?? I haven't even opened the box yet, I was so ecstatic I had to write about it. So yeah, that awesome bf of mine bought me tools as a belated birthday present. Under normal circumstances, I would dissuade you fellows out there from buying your ladies something as unromantic as a drill press (and I might still dissuade you if your lady has no interest in drilling holes in things), but I've been pretty obnoxious lately with my whining about a lack of jewelry making equipment in my life. So weeeeeeeeeee, expect to see lots of new things with little holes drilled out of them sometime soon!

11.02.2009

Arting Through Limbo

So let's discuss a rather touchy subject, shall we?

I am currently (dun dun dunnnn) unemployed. Ugh it sounds like such a dirty word, on the same level as "contagious" or "moist" or "meaty". But it's true nonetheless. And it has been for quite some time now. So why is it that I still feel a sense of shame regarding the matter? Like maybe I should be good enough, smart enough, and gosh-darn-it have people like me enough to get through this little hiccup. But then I have to remind myself that there are greater things at work here. I cannot simply be talented and qualified and **poof** suddenly have an awesome job sitting in my lap, heck a CRAPPY job sitting in my lap.

So in the meantime, my sister and I are starting an art blog. It will have a few purposes: 1. To provide a supportive, therapeutic environment for those suffering from the symptoms associated with unemployment. 2. To encourage the consistent production of creative work (and therefore, to prevent our minds from getting too gooey). 3. To expose our FREAKIN' AWESOME TALENT TO THE WORLD!!!!! 4. Possible world-domination.

So yeah, read it: Arting Through Limbo