Anyway, you can click on any picture to see it enlarged (please do ... they look way better that way). The prints were made using color intaglio and newspaper collage.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Newest prints.
These pictures of my newest prints kind of suck. The prints are all somewhat obscured by my shadow, and of course the colors aren't nearly as bright and lovely as they are in real life. But what can you do? Actually, something I could do is scan the damn things instead of take crappy pictures on my digital camera, but I'm far too lazy for that.
Anyway, you can click on any picture to see it enlarged (please do ... they look way better that way). The prints were made using color intaglio and newspaper collage.
Anyway, you can click on any picture to see it enlarged (please do ... they look way better that way). The prints were made using color intaglio and newspaper collage.
Cardigans.
Kudos to Michelle Obama for bringing back cardigans, because ... I LOVE cardigans. Where did the cardigans go before Michelle brought them back? I don't know. Annaghmakerrig, maybe. I know that I was still wearing them when they were "gone." Now they're back, and in celebration, I got a new one. This one is from the Gap. I got it when I was looking for skirts, but GAP HAS NO SKIRTS.
I'm serious, though. Last weekend I went to not one, but two Gaps. The first Gap had no new skirts, that is, none in the new "spring" collection (what's up with that, Gap? In January?! I can see sending out your spring catalogue in January but for God's sake keep the sweaters in stock a little longer). There were a couple from the winter stuff on sale, but they were all size XXXXL or what-have-you. I briefly considered buying them and having them altered to fit me, but figured it'd probably be easier to make a skirt from scratch, which I don't know how to do, which is the point.
Then I went to the second Gap, which had some of the same XXXXL skirts, and they were actually really cute, so I was like URW#%(*#%!!! Look, Gap, obviously you should have clothing in all sizes, because people come in all sizes, but OBVIOUSLY you are not making enough of the sizes that fit me, and this is a problem. Oh, and they also had some new skirts for spring, but they sucked. So I bought a cardigan. The end.
The rest of the outfit: the tights are from Target, the skirt is from Gap back when they made good skirts, the shirt is from AA, and the boots are from L.L. Bean. They have mooses on them. God I love the Bean. The Consumerist just had an article on how great the Bean is. I don't feel like finding it, but you could find it pretty easily yourself if you wanted to. And in case you want to know what the article says but don't feel like finding and/or reading it, it says that Bean is the best. The end.
I'm serious, though. Last weekend I went to not one, but two Gaps. The first Gap had no new skirts, that is, none in the new "spring" collection (what's up with that, Gap? In January?! I can see sending out your spring catalogue in January but for God's sake keep the sweaters in stock a little longer). There were a couple from the winter stuff on sale, but they were all size XXXXL or what-have-you. I briefly considered buying them and having them altered to fit me, but figured it'd probably be easier to make a skirt from scratch, which I don't know how to do, which is the point.
Then I went to the second Gap, which had some of the same XXXXL skirts, and they were actually really cute, so I was like URW#%(*#%!!! Look, Gap, obviously you should have clothing in all sizes, because people come in all sizes, but OBVIOUSLY you are not making enough of the sizes that fit me, and this is a problem. Oh, and they also had some new skirts for spring, but they sucked. So I bought a cardigan. The end.
The rest of the outfit: the tights are from Target, the skirt is from Gap back when they made good skirts, the shirt is from AA, and the boots are from L.L. Bean. They have mooses on them. God I love the Bean. The Consumerist just had an article on how great the Bean is. I don't feel like finding it, but you could find it pretty easily yourself if you wanted to. And in case you want to know what the article says but don't feel like finding and/or reading it, it says that Bean is the best. The end.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Me and My Girl.
I spent this morning with my girl. I loves her.
(I am suffering from Monster Hand Syndrome in that last picture.)
Fun facts about Miss Teto:
-She has gray parts and white parts. Most of her gray and white is continuous but there is one tiny white spot on her shoulder in the middle of all the gray.
-She has long whiskers.
-She has whiskers on her legs. Seriously.
-She's approximately seven years old.
-Her breath smells like dead fishes.
-She is adopted. I know a lot of you may not have guessed this. It's true. I adopted Miss Teto from a local animal shelter when I was 13. I was in the market for a black cat, but then as I was walking through the shelter a paw slipped out of one of the cages and hooked my sweater with its claw. The paw belonged to Miss Teto. A woman at the shelter took Miss Teto out of the cage and let me hold her, and Miss Teto immediately started purring. I knew then that she was my Teto.
-She weighs approximately 14 pounds. This is bad, but I don't know what to do about it. My dad feeds both the cats and the dog. The dog is an average weight and M'Schwat weighs only 6 pounds, so it's not due to overfeeding (otherwise everyone would be enormous). In fact, M'Schwat tends to eat more than Miss Teto does. I actually like Miss Teto's fatness and am fond of her ridiculous furry belly rolls, but I'm worried that it's not healthy for her to be this large.
-She was not always fat. When we got her she was very thin, which leads me to believe that her metabolism might have been permanently altered by starvation. I don't know whether it applies to cats, but I've read that periods of starvation cause human metabolisms to go into "famine mode" permanently. In "famine mode," the body stores more calories than usual out of anticipation for another period of famine. Poor Miss Teto.
-She likes to curl up like a sushi roll with her paws tucked together over her face, and go to sleep.
-Another favorite sleeping position: she curls up like a hen, with her paws tucked underneath her chest. Recently she's taken to doing this with her head bent down like a monk.
-She is ridiculous (if you haven't already figured that out).
-She likes to eat paper, chew computers, and lick photographs.
-She likes to wake me up early in the morning by standing on my chest with her face one inch away from mine and breathing on me.
-She likes to stretch.
-The white parts on her chest are shaped like the Americas.
-She freaks out when she hears my voice on the phone.
-She loves: chicken, anything salty, cat beds, sleeping, playing, perching on the cat trees, rolling on the ground, licking, biting, and attacking my knitting.
-She hates: my hairdryer, strangers, loud noises, sudden movements, getting her claws clipped, fruit.
(I am suffering from Monster Hand Syndrome in that last picture.)
Fun facts about Miss Teto:
-She has gray parts and white parts. Most of her gray and white is continuous but there is one tiny white spot on her shoulder in the middle of all the gray.
-She has long whiskers.
-She has whiskers on her legs. Seriously.
-She's approximately seven years old.
-Her breath smells like dead fishes.
-She is adopted. I know a lot of you may not have guessed this. It's true. I adopted Miss Teto from a local animal shelter when I was 13. I was in the market for a black cat, but then as I was walking through the shelter a paw slipped out of one of the cages and hooked my sweater with its claw. The paw belonged to Miss Teto. A woman at the shelter took Miss Teto out of the cage and let me hold her, and Miss Teto immediately started purring. I knew then that she was my Teto.
-She weighs approximately 14 pounds. This is bad, but I don't know what to do about it. My dad feeds both the cats and the dog. The dog is an average weight and M'Schwat weighs only 6 pounds, so it's not due to overfeeding (otherwise everyone would be enormous). In fact, M'Schwat tends to eat more than Miss Teto does. I actually like Miss Teto's fatness and am fond of her ridiculous furry belly rolls, but I'm worried that it's not healthy for her to be this large.
-She was not always fat. When we got her she was very thin, which leads me to believe that her metabolism might have been permanently altered by starvation. I don't know whether it applies to cats, but I've read that periods of starvation cause human metabolisms to go into "famine mode" permanently. In "famine mode," the body stores more calories than usual out of anticipation for another period of famine. Poor Miss Teto.
-She likes to curl up like a sushi roll with her paws tucked together over her face, and go to sleep.
-Another favorite sleeping position: she curls up like a hen, with her paws tucked underneath her chest. Recently she's taken to doing this with her head bent down like a monk.
-She is ridiculous (if you haven't already figured that out).
-She likes to eat paper, chew computers, and lick photographs.
-She likes to wake me up early in the morning by standing on my chest with her face one inch away from mine and breathing on me.
-She likes to stretch.
-The white parts on her chest are shaped like the Americas.
-She freaks out when she hears my voice on the phone.
-She loves: chicken, anything salty, cat beds, sleeping, playing, perching on the cat trees, rolling on the ground, licking, biting, and attacking my knitting.
-She hates: my hairdryer, strangers, loud noises, sudden movements, getting her claws clipped, fruit.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Names.
My favorite names (for potential future children or otherwise) change every year, but I've found that I tend to like names that have some sort of meaning, preferably historical, for me. I like the name Frida a lot, for obvious reasons. Today I've been looking through my Ridiculously Long List of Ancestor Names, and I like a lot of what I've found. A great portion of the names are generic British/European ones: John, James, Elizabeth, Mary, etc., but there are some unique and special names too. Like these:
Female names
-Lola (my great-grandmother, born in Canada)
-Aletta (my great-great grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Adelia (my great-great-great grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Frances (my great-great-great grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Amarilla (my greatx4 grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Jemima (my greatx5 grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Celia (my greatx5 grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Eulalia (middle name of my greatx7 grandmother, born in Germany)
-Emmina (my greatx7 grandmother, born in Germany)
-Magdalena (my greatx8 grandmother, likely born in the Netherlands)
-Rosina (middle name of my greatx8 grandmother, born in Germany)
-Madeline (my greatx9 grandmother)*
-Phillipa (my greatx10 grandmother)
-Cecily (my greatx10 grandmother, born in England)
-Millicent (my greatx10 grandmother, born in England)
-Margery (my greatx11 grandmother, born in England)
-Claudia (my greatx11 grandmother, born in France)
-Annis (my greatx11 grandmother, born in England)
-Esther (my greatx12 grandmother, born in England)
Male Names
-Gracey (middle name of my great-grandfather, born in Canada)
-Simeon (my greatx4 grandfather, born in the U.S.)
-Eason (my greatx4 and greatx5 grandfathers, born in the U.S.)
-Mordecai (my greatx5 grandfather, born in the U.S.)
-Adrian (my greatx10 grandfather, born in the Netherlands)
-Giles (my greatx11 grandfather, born in England)
A lot of the other names are interesting, but I wouldn't burden a child with them (e.g., Grizel, Ebenezer, Mehitable, Resolved, Temperance, Peleg, Recompence, Dolor, Gershom) Others are lovely, but too European-y to name an American child (Melchert, Geertje, Aeltje, Johannes, Friedeswiede, Brechie, Gerrit, Joris, Etienne). And then there's the hideous Biblical name that belonged to my poor greatx9 grandmother: Mahershallahasbaz. To make things even worse, the Mahershallahasbaz of the Bible is a dude.
I have to say that my favorite names out of the lists above are Lola, Frances, and Adelia for a girl, and Gracey and Adrian for a boy. Yes, I realize that both of those boys' names could easily be mistaken for girls' names, and that ... may or may not be a problem. I don't know. I don't think it's inherently damaging to a child to have an androgynous name. On the other hand, I'd hate to set my child up for a lifetime of teasing. I guess it's a good thing that I have plenty of time to make up my mind.
*I admit I already have somewhat of a bias towards this one.
Female names
-Lola (my great-grandmother, born in Canada)
-Aletta (my great-great grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Adelia (my great-great-great grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Frances (my great-great-great grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Amarilla (my greatx4 grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Jemima (my greatx5 grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Celia (my greatx5 grandmother, born in the U.S.)
-Eulalia (middle name of my greatx7 grandmother, born in Germany)
-Emmina (my greatx7 grandmother, born in Germany)
-Magdalena (my greatx8 grandmother, likely born in the Netherlands)
-Rosina (middle name of my greatx8 grandmother, born in Germany)
-Madeline (my greatx9 grandmother)*
-Phillipa (my greatx10 grandmother)
-Cecily (my greatx10 grandmother, born in England)
-Millicent (my greatx10 grandmother, born in England)
-Margery (my greatx11 grandmother, born in England)
-Claudia (my greatx11 grandmother, born in France)
-Annis (my greatx11 grandmother, born in England)
-Esther (my greatx12 grandmother, born in England)
Male Names
-Gracey (middle name of my great-grandfather, born in Canada)
-Simeon (my greatx4 grandfather, born in the U.S.)
-Eason (my greatx4 and greatx5 grandfathers, born in the U.S.)
-Mordecai (my greatx5 grandfather, born in the U.S.)
-Adrian (my greatx10 grandfather, born in the Netherlands)
-Giles (my greatx11 grandfather, born in England)
A lot of the other names are interesting, but I wouldn't burden a child with them (e.g., Grizel, Ebenezer, Mehitable, Resolved, Temperance, Peleg, Recompence, Dolor, Gershom) Others are lovely, but too European-y to name an American child (Melchert, Geertje, Aeltje, Johannes, Friedeswiede, Brechie, Gerrit, Joris, Etienne). And then there's the hideous Biblical name that belonged to my poor greatx9 grandmother: Mahershallahasbaz. To make things even worse, the Mahershallahasbaz of the Bible is a dude.
I have to say that my favorite names out of the lists above are Lola, Frances, and Adelia for a girl, and Gracey and Adrian for a boy. Yes, I realize that both of those boys' names could easily be mistaken for girls' names, and that ... may or may not be a problem. I don't know. I don't think it's inherently damaging to a child to have an androgynous name. On the other hand, I'd hate to set my child up for a lifetime of teasing. I guess it's a good thing that I have plenty of time to make up my mind.
*I admit I already have somewhat of a bias towards this one.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Clothes lately.
My middle school had a uniform. Every day I wore the same exact thing: a white collared shirt, a kilt (yep), and sneakers. For a year or two I wore knee socks. I loved those knee socks so ... I kept wearing them even when everybody else stopped. I also had sweaters and such - but they had to be red or blue (those were our school colors). Oh, middle school. Seeing cute little Sasha and Malia Obama - and yes, Malia, I reserve my right to call you little even though you're probably taller than me already - and the knitwear-wearing daughters of Kirsten over at Through the Loops makes me feel nostalgic for younger times ... and then I come to my senses, and remember that adolescence sucked. Dear everyone under the age of 17: adults will tell you that this is the best time of your life. That is because adults have bad memories. VERY bad memories, and the older the adult, the worse the memory of adolescence is. Just look at the facts. Adolescents and college students will tell you that adolescence sucks. Young adults will tell you that it sucked but had its moments; middle aged adults will tell you that it was the best time of their lives, and by the time you reach retirement, you have old people recounting youthful years spent running through green open fields and riding unicorns, and also there was no disease, violence, or poverty because Eve hadn't f*cked up everything yet, even though said old people grew up during World War II and the Great Depression.
Wow, that's a really roundabout way of leading up to this: I feel like I've been wearing a uniform lately. I've become more and more picky about the clothes I wear to the point where I'm down to just a few sacred items that I wear every week. It's scary. But wonderful. I love my favorite clothes. They came all the way to Arizona with me. Here I am wearing the Dress in my aunt and uncle's house:
And here's the Shirt and the Pants:
Can I say how much easier it is to take pictures of yourself while standing in front of a mirror, as opposed to having to set up the camera, put on the timer, and run to pose, hoping that it will focus by itself? The latter is the process involved in taking these photos, with the same camera:
These were taken today, when I wore the same pants again. Tomorrow I will go to the Gap in hopes of finding some cheapy things with which to bulk up my wardrobe. I hope the clothes there can live up to my very very high standards - that is: look good and be comfortable. Dark things are nice because they hide printmaking stains, but I'm not really a fan of dark colors in general. We'll see.
In other news, the scarf I'm wearing in the second set of pictures is from Etsy - one of my favorite stores, in fact: maryink. Here are some close-ups of it from earlier today, when I decided to break out the old hipster glasses and open Photobooth to pass the time.
Wow, that's a really roundabout way of leading up to this: I feel like I've been wearing a uniform lately. I've become more and more picky about the clothes I wear to the point where I'm down to just a few sacred items that I wear every week. It's scary. But wonderful. I love my favorite clothes. They came all the way to Arizona with me. Here I am wearing the Dress in my aunt and uncle's house:
And here's the Shirt and the Pants:
Can I say how much easier it is to take pictures of yourself while standing in front of a mirror, as opposed to having to set up the camera, put on the timer, and run to pose, hoping that it will focus by itself? The latter is the process involved in taking these photos, with the same camera:
These were taken today, when I wore the same pants again. Tomorrow I will go to the Gap in hopes of finding some cheapy things with which to bulk up my wardrobe. I hope the clothes there can live up to my very very high standards - that is: look good and be comfortable. Dark things are nice because they hide printmaking stains, but I'm not really a fan of dark colors in general. We'll see.
In other news, the scarf I'm wearing in the second set of pictures is from Etsy - one of my favorite stores, in fact: maryink. Here are some close-ups of it from earlier today, when I decided to break out the old hipster glasses and open Photobooth to pass the time.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Shaker mittens.
One of my Christmas presents was merino wool from Hancock Shaker Village. Early in the winter, I made a hat, and now I've made a pair of mittens using it. It's a different kind of yarn than I'm used to; it's undyed, and feels more raw and unfinished than the stuff you can get at Knit Picks. I like it. The hat and mittens I've made feel sturdy; they could survive several New England winters, particularly if I had made the mittens double thick (I still don't know how people do that).
This is the seventh knitted project I've finished over my winter break; I've also made two hats, a vest, two pairs of socks, and a pair of fingerless gloves.
This is the seventh knitted project I've finished over my winter break; I've also made two hats, a vest, two pairs of socks, and a pair of fingerless gloves.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Arizona Socks and Evangeline IV.
I've named these socks Arizona socks because the bands of color on them remind me of the red rocks at Sedona, and because I worked on them part of the time while I was in Arizona a week ago. They're quite lovely - the socks and the rocks, that is. I like how the socks don't match.
Edited to add: I didn't feel like making another post for this, so I'm adding it on. I've just finished another pair of Evangeline mittens (pattern by Michelle Szeghalmi - you can find it here if you are on Ravelry) and I thought you might like to see them. It took a freaking long time to get this picture right. I only have two hands (shocker!) so I had to hold the camera under my chin and - get this - press the button with my chin. Not surprisingly, only 1 out of the 3059384 pictures I took this way came out decent.
Edited to add: I didn't feel like making another post for this, so I'm adding it on. I've just finished another pair of Evangeline mittens (pattern by Michelle Szeghalmi - you can find it here if you are on Ravelry) and I thought you might like to see them. It took a freaking long time to get this picture right. I only have two hands (shocker!) so I had to hold the camera under my chin and - get this - press the button with my chin. Not surprisingly, only 1 out of the 3059384 pictures I took this way came out decent.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I love Boden.
Last week, Boden sent me its spring catalogue. Last night, it snowed profusely. Some people are enraged, or at least irritated, by the special irony of spring catalogues that arrive in the middle of January, but I don't mind it. I like the winter, so reminders of spring don't come as an affront. Furthermore, the way everything is set up means that all the good winter shit is already on sale, and by the time spring comes, all the good spring shit will probably be on sale, too.
Like this stuff:
Fine stripe henley, $88.
Sailor sweater, $94.
Rosette cardigan, $88.
I seem to like stripes.
Like this stuff:
Fine stripe henley, $88.
Sailor sweater, $94.
Rosette cardigan, $88.
I seem to like stripes.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Boulder House.
It's this crazy house built around ancient boulders, which were used by prehistoric Americans as a sacred site to observe the solstices and equinoxes. And I got to see it.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Montezuma Castle.
Montezuma never lived here. Name courtesy of the same brand of Anglo asshattery that brought you "Indians."
Read more about it here.
Read more about it here.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Stuff I'm into right now.
1. Tegan and Sara.
2. The new season of 24, a.k.a. Kiefer: Making Torture Sexy Since 2001;
Alternatively, Kiefer: Making Us Bleeding-Heart Liberals Feel Guilty for Finding Torture Sexy Since 2001;
And alternatively, Kiefer: Hope has a fighting chance, but only if hope doesn't try to fuck with Kiefer, in which case Kiefer may have to break hope's neck with nothing but his feet, because he did that once.
3. My cat.
2. The new season of 24, a.k.a. Kiefer: Making Torture Sexy Since 2001;
Alternatively, Kiefer: Making Us Bleeding-Heart Liberals Feel Guilty for Finding Torture Sexy Since 2001;
And alternatively, Kiefer: Hope has a fighting chance, but only if hope doesn't try to fuck with Kiefer, in which case Kiefer may have to break hope's neck with nothing but his feet, because he did that once.
3. My cat.
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