Your Rainbow

Is anything more
magical than flying in
to la at night?

That isn't the best haiqu ever written, but I highly recommend flying into la at night. The city looks like a jewel box scattered below.

Trimguy met me at the airport and he was a lovely sight to behold. But enough mushy stuff!

We did find an aberration ion la that we will never find at home -- a closed walmart. The horrors! Evil fionn, I tell you it was unreal!

Will post more later. We are driving to the gww site and I am writing this so I do not have to watch traffic.

I was surfing channels today and found a yoga program. It was lovely - just stretching. It felt so good I went and found my almost forgotten friend, the treadmill. It has been too long! I thought I would bottom out at half a mile, but I cut my speed and turned up the music (soundtrack to Harry Potter I) and a mile just snuck up on me. I feel very accomplished. And taller. Hope I can keep this up.

Last night Nick and I went to visit evil_fionnand Hans. She is working on painting a pre print, which is gorgeous and in the style of a manuscript I saw in person at the Morgan Library last year. Beauty and nostalgia all wrapped up in one bundle. By the way, if you ever get a chance to visit the Morgan Library, definitely go. Only, I have to warn you, you will seriously want to become a robber baron afterwards.

I got more stitching dome at Fionn's than I have all week. It was such a treat to have a friend who understands I am paying attention to her, even if my eyes are more on my stitching than on her. I actually finished a Halloween ornament. It was a relief to finish something - now I have to decide what to start next. Not that I don't have about six other projects in rotation...

I also went shopping with Nick and got a cute brown jacket. It is structured. Guess I'd better stay on that treadmill! This is going to be a new look for me, as most of my jackets are a size too big and envelope me.

Found some gold spray paint and painted by bathroom trash can gold. It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. Now I'm thinking I might paint the clock, too.

Now, off to finish folding the last 3 loads of laundry, make a passing attempt to clean the kitchen a little and then off to the office to do some preliminary moving before our big move to the new digs on Tuesday. We did a walkthrough of the new office on Friday and I am excited about a new space. I'm thinking some of the photos trimguy took in Venice would look great on the wall.

I am so spoiled.
When gong to an event I generally only have to pack my clothes. Maybe feast gear. Maybe help trimguy pack some garb while he is packing the big stuff. Sigh,  my major domo is in Trimaris this weekend and I am going to Valor.
This weekend I am packing tentage for several people. trimguy has even put the tent and tent-stuff in a pile for me. I am still flummoxed. I am sitting here at work making frantic lists of everything I have forgotten to pack. My brain hurts.
I didn't realize just how spoiled I was. And how much I liked it.
If I look lost this weekend, just pat my hand and remind me that Drx will be home Tuesday.

I have a new dress!
A while back I cut out a late period kirtle (bodies and petticoat), but from a pattern that really didn't fit me anymore. I had no leftover fabric, having used it for a tunic for trimguy . viviana_rowe took the fabric, totally re-worked it and re-cut it and fit it to me. It is wonderful and so pretty.

I'll be wearing it this weekend. And sometime this fall Vivana wanto to - gasp - measure and drape me to make another kirtle that is made to fit, as opposed to altered to fit as best as possible.

I am all excited about having pretty clothes. Just like the fabled children havingvisions of sugarplums on Christmas Eve, I am having visions of a lovely, fluffy elegant wardrobe of clothes that go with the embroidery I so love.

When I heard of Senator Kennedy's passing this morning, my first thought was how remarkable it was that, even though he was dying, he worked right up to his dying days. I felt somewhat chagrined that I am personally somewhat upset that with the economy as it is, I probably won't be able to retire at 62. Nobody would have thought any less of the Senator if he had retired to the life of a dilettante after the deaths of his brothers, yet he chose to stay in the public life and serve. I cannot think it was easy for him  - especially having to deal with the public scrutiny of his mistakes, some especially tragic, that he made with his life. But I am also heartened that he seemed to get it all together later in life. There is hope for all of us.

My local SCA group - the Shire-March of the Grimfells - decided to have an event this fall. We realized that we were sufficiently rested from Crown Tourney to do a Fall event and hopefully the date of November 7 is still open. I'll post more details when we have them.

The autocrat asked all the Laurels to sponsor a competition. This is what I'm going to sponsor:

1.       Embroidery on site. All materials will be provided.

2.       Spider or spiderweb in any form. Entrants can be creative in explaining how their embroidery fits in the theme, for example there are many stitches that can look web-like. Or an hourglass in your embroidery could be an homage to the black widow spider. Puns on names of spiders are accepted and encouraged.

 

You Scored as Albus Dumbledore "it is time for me to tell you what i should have told you 5 years ago Harry. Please sit down, I am going to tell you everything." Albus Dumbledore 100% Molly Weasley 83% Hermione Granger 67% Minerva McGonagall 50% Fred and George Weasley 50% Ginny Weasley 50% Ron Weasley 50% Dobby 33% The Dursleys 33% Severus Snape 33% Draco Malfoy 33% Sirius Black 33% Harry Potter 17% Rubeus Hagrid 17% Lord Voldemort 0%

I saw Harry Potter last night at midnight and I recommend it. There are parts of the book that were left out, but I was very happy that the film included a scene in the Weasley twins' magic store, which was awesome.
I have to warn you - you will have a hankering for ice cream thrown upon you. I suggest you fill your freezer with a good selection before you go to the movie. That way you won't be stuck with whatever selection Walgreens has at 3 a.m. (Thank you trimguy  for indulging my need for icecream in the middle of the night when you really just wanted to go to sleep!)

Two of my favorite characters are Luna and Professor McGongall and I really like the way they were dressed. McGongall had a new robe that is really sharp - literally. The robe is rather prickly, yet very stylish, which is in total keeping with her character. Maggie Smith can say volumes with her eyes and her brief scenes do not disappoint.

Luna is adorable. Her clothes totally rock. The actress who plays Luna is perfect and I think you should go see the movie just to see Luna. 

And don't forget the ice cream. Even if you don't leave the movie craving ice cream, it is always a good thing to have plenty of ice cream in the freezer.

I was replying to someone on an SCA list who felt she had been snubbed at a feast. I have no clue what the details were (maybe she was sitting with boobs), but I felt the urge to offer this response.

Can I offer a rebuttal from an old timer?

 

It is really possible that you weren’t being snubbed, but the person had other things going on. For example, I am in a position where I sometimes have to make a toast at feast. Until I actually make the toast, I am not very talkative because I am practicing what I will say in my head (because if I don’t, then I will totally mess up what I am planning to say! And, sad to say, I have messed up a toast more than once, so I have learned this the hard way.)

 

Also, if I have spent a large part of the day interacting with new people, I feel I start sounding like that crazy aunt that you only see every 4 years and she treats you like you were 6 years old. (Like asking a 13 year old if recess is his favorite subject…) Maybe it is entertaining to you to be asked what your favorite part of the event was or what styles of garb you thought were pretty, but I ‘m secretly afraid I’m treating you like a moron.

 

Or (and I am terrible about this), maybe they have spent the better part of the day blathering on and on (and on and on) about their new pet interest and have started to feel that they are boring everyone they talk to.  J

 

Or – maybe they are shy. I know lots of people who are really shy and by the time feast rolls around, their psychic batteries are out of juice.

 

One of the bittersweet things about being in the SCA for a long time is that you are often so busy with obligations that you don’t have time to meet new people – which is a shame because new people are a great way to recharge your batteries.

 

Heinlein has a great quote, “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” I think that applies to most SCA and real life situations, however I think the word stupidity is too harsh. I’m thinking unawareness might be a better choice.

 

Sorry if I have rattled on way too long. I try to look at both sides of every question, but I get mentally bombarded with polyhedrons.

And, I must say I just love that last sentence I wrote. I may have to take it as my mantra. One of my favorite bosses (may he rest in peace) once told me that my problem was not that I couldn't see the forest for the trees, but that I couldn't even see the trees for the leaves. (And then  he put me in a position where I could count leaves. For he was, indeed, a great manager.)

On the other hand, I do know that I drive those people who see the world as black and white crazy. I see so many shades of grey (not to mention gray) that I lose track of the black and white.

Here is a video clip that shows the project my EGA group worked on with local girl scouts:

http://www.4029tv.com/video/19951951/index.html

I saw my snail in the center of the brown tree!

( Read more... )My EGA (Embroidery Guild of America) is doing a joint project with a group of girl scouts in conjunction with an exhibit at the new Crystal Bridges Museum in Northwest Arkansas. The exhibit is the EGA traveling exhibit of embroidery. Last weekend we taught 8 embroidery stitches to the girl scouts and this week the teachers and the girls were each given thread and three pieces of fabric, upon which we are to create an embroidered design. The design is done in a leaf pattern and all the leafs will be appliqued onto banners which will hang at the museum. The EGA teachers are doing their leafs on red and yellow fabric and the girls on green fabric. I think most people are doing abstract designs, but I decided to make creatures who would be crawling on my leafs.


I love the spider - it is made out of two spiderwebs (that's the name of the stitch) and due to the color variation in the thread it has a little black spot in the middle of one of the body parts. Evil??( Read more... )
The Grasshopper, which doesn't show up very well. I'm not so thrilled with it, but it did use all the sittches, which was my goal.



And the snail - just because...

Something a friend (liamstliam , actually) said on their LJ reminded me of this. These were the two rules I had for my daughter when she was dating. I think they worked out well.


1. Don’t go out with anyone with a circle in their back pocket. Either they do dipping tobacco or they have a really old condom in their pocket. Either way, they are a health hazard.

2. Don’t date anyone who has the confederate flag on their belongings – especially their car. If they can’t get over a war we (I'm taking the liberty for speaking for all southerners here) lost 150 years ago, what are they going to do when you leave the toothpaste cap off? Knowing how to be a graceful loser is a life skill one should learn young and if a southerner can’t be a good loser, then I don’t respect their southern virtues.

When I talked to my Mother yesterday, she told me that one of my high school teachers had died last month. Given my age, that is not unusual. What was out of the ordinary was that I had been thinking about this teacher recently and just last week was thinking I should look her up and let her know how special she was. Alas, it is now too late.

Ann Kinnaird was my speech and drama teacher. She directed me in two plays and coached me on the debate team. She was well loved by her students, who usually called her "Mama K" instead of the more formal Mrs. Kinnaird. She expected excellence and usually got it.

One day we were talking about a recent movie in class and she remarked that she didn't appreciate explicit sex in the movies. We all sat in our seats, waiting for a sermon about morals or standards. Instead, after a dramatic pause (oh, yes, she could work a room), she continued by telling us that the reason she disliked the scenes was they never lived up to her imagination. Not only did she put us in our place, but she instantly earned even more cool points.

The older I get, the more I think about what she said and I have come to the conclusion that she had one heck of a brilliant mind. A little mystery can be so tantalizing - and now that I have lived more than a high school student, what I imagine can be more alluring than someone else's vision.

Thank you, Mama K, for everything you taught me. I remember the day you looked in my eyes and told me you expected more of me. I'm still trying to live up to your standards and I thank you every time I do.

I stitched again at lunch today. I finished the second O in Boo and did the frill around the owl's neck. I'm thinking I'll be done by Halloween. :)
Alas, I lost a needle somewhere - I hope none of my co-workers find it by sitting on it! I looked everywhere, but it eluded me. I finished stitching with a regular needle and tried to not be too anal about using the wrong needle, but it wasn't easy.

Today was crafting lunch at work. Basically everyone brings their current crafting project to the break room and works on it while eating. Due to various weather and staffing upheavals, this was our first crafting lunch in a few months. When I stay at work for lunch, I've gotten in the habit of just working at my desk while I eat, so it was a treat to stitch on my "at work" project. I'm working on a Halloween cross stitch design, a picture of which can be found here:

http://www.heartinhand.com/i_t_boo.html

I finished the first O in Boo today. I've already finished the haunted house and half the owl. If I keep it up, I'll have it done in time for Halloween! I love Halloween decorations.

The other crafters who were there during my lunch time were working on knitted leg warmers (with cables, even! I was impressed) and ice cream (eating it, not making it, but I'm pretty sure they needed the calcium).

Remember years ago when the Chrysler Cordoba was advertised as having "Rich, Corinthian leather" as a catchphrase to give the car an aura of luxury, specifically European-flavored luxury?
Well, last night I saw an ad for a BMW which extolled the "Dakota leather" - a European car with a very American sounding leather.
I'm happy there is so much in the world that makes me laugh, even if it isn't on purpose.

You Are Carrot Juice

You are a warm, cooperative person. You work well with others. While you have a fairly strong personality, you don't have a lot of clashes and conflicts. You are ambitious, but not ruthlessly so. You won't step on anybody's feet to get to the top. You are successful, and all your success has come while looking out for others.

Stealing a meme -

Courtesy of </a></b></a>baronnemelisend

-Describe me in one word- just one single word. Positive or negative.

-Leave your word in a comment, before looking at what words others have used.

-Copy and paste the meme to your journal to find out how people describe you when limited to one word.

Last night trimguy  and I went to see Avenue Q at the Walton Arts Center. I had heard the soundtrack, which is hysterical - but seeing the play was such a blast. Great songs, inventive actors (who give depth to puppets), fun set, commentary on modern life and even fireworks.

One unexpected benefit was seeing that this was apparently the gay date event of the year. So lovely to see couples of all kinds enjoying a night of spectacular entertainment.

trimguy  and I get season tickets for our anniversary. That way, we have several reminders throughout the year of why we are so happy to be together. It was wonderful to see so many other couples who were also happy to be together.