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Spill Guts Here. It's gotta go somewhere, know what I mean? Can you stand it?
purls before swine
Geek Knitting
West Indian Parade
West Indian Parade
Dog/Cat Wrestling
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12.31.2002
The shop is closed until January 8th. I will spend at least some of this time tying up loose ends, like the Hat Show, whose kind participants have been very patiently awaiting return of their knitted confections. I will not put a bra on until then, favoring tight wifebeater undershirts instead. This is extremely comfortable, but so hippychick. Have to carefully ration the times I can get away with it. hehe
Ordered the prize books this am!! Tabbetha and Ellen, Amazon informs me you will receive your books sometime in January, possibly in 2 shipments. Happy Knitting!! Really doing errands for 8 days, have 3 trade shows to attend, deep cleaning at the shop, bookkeeping, dog/cat shots at the vet, the usual barrel-o-fun. Will try to get some shopping in for myself one day. My wardrobe is pretty sad these days. I just don't have time to get new clothes. Many of my newer (last couple of years) clothes are too big. Realized it's not really that cute for a grown woman to be walking around with a huge safety pin holding up her pants. Will make more time for myself this new, wonderful year. Clean slate time. Happy New Year to You! Make resolutions you can keep. ...and Thank You to Bonne Marie for the Aortal link! The feeling's quite mutual, I assure you! 12.29.2002
My name is Staceyjoy, and I'm addicted to chandeliers. I can't help it. I won't try to control it. I will wallow in it. My latest lamp acquisition, found stripped naked of hanging crystals and bobeches and dusty in the window of a thrift shop on Flatbush:
 I had the pleasure of unwrapping the factory fresh crystals from cream tissue paper and hanging them. The lamp is old but was not used. Windexed it, unwrapped the shades from tissue, got 3 40W frosted bulbs, and plugged it in. It is the alter ego of the huge driftwood lamp in the shop. Satiated. 12.28.2002
A beautiful Love Letter to Coffee. (12/13/02)
12.27.2002
Spent the last few days, including the 25th, resting. Once I stopped, I really just came to a complete stop. Did go see "Adaptation" at BAM with Ingrid. It was ok, not spectacular. Got to walk home in an excellent snow storm. That was great.
Tried to book a flight to Riga, Latvia for a week or so after feeling like I need an adventure. Waited over 3 hours on hold with Scandinavian airlines, then decided it simply wasn't happening this year. Put pajamas back on. ;-> Not doing much of anything, just too beat. Learned what most of the buttons do on the Canon S200. Had a dream about the time when I was 19 and almost got kidnapped by a motorcycle gang in Colorado Springs, but talked my way out of it. That really happened, but that's a story for another time. Haven't thought about that for many years. Got reminded about it reading an article in the NY Times about 40-something women now getting tattooed(registration required). I DO fit squarely into that demographic. Got the first one as a 40th bday present for myself. The feeling among women my age back then was that tats really were only for biker chicks or trailer trash, not "cool" girls. If I'd caved and become a biker chick, I'd probably have a rose, butterfly or other flower on my breast or butt or ankle. Have abstract patterns on my left forearm now instead, thank you Zeus. Thinking about my life so far recently, came to some realizations: Not having an immediate family has turned out to be a strange negative in dealing with men, I never thought it would matter, but apparently it really does, especially to the guys who want to still get money and other material goods handed to them even after they become adults. I guess it's a modern type of continuing dowry. Alas, I view THAT attitude as immature. That's just me, though. Seems very widespread. I really am a wild card. Also though, I was forced to spend far too much time with extremely straight (read "conservative") people over the last 5 years, and my worldview is just now getting readjusted back to a more liberated, fun and non-conventional sense of how one can live. Oh, how I missed people in my life who just make their own rules as they go along, not subscribing religiously to some straight notion of how to do it! I got rudely cut off from all those friends, and now they're back in my life. as well as some very interesting new ones. Life just keeps circularly developing, how could anyone not find this interesting? (your own life, not mine. :->) Painful sometimes, but still..... As my life continues to equalize, this stuff will become instinctive again, and I won't be thinking about it enough to verbalize. I realized I'm still very traumatized by the bullshit farce my last relationship was, it's going to be a very long time until I can trust someone completely again. I really picked a fucked-up freak to trust, and of course he was not trustworthy at all. Work on that commences internally. NEVER will I live a double life again, for anyone or anything. Too stressfull and demoralizing. WYSIWYG. Bought red roses for the house, and 2 pale lavender handmade plates from France for my mixed up "service". Will NEVER have all matching plates, under any circumstances. Started planning Thanksgiving in January for my dear, dear associates in crime. Have just enough time to make a fried egg sangwich, then go open the shop. 12.24.2002
 Poem by Alexander Pope (English, 1688-1744) Strange graces still, and stranger flights she had, Was just not ugly, and just not mad; Yet ne'er so sure our passions to create, As when she touch'd the brink of all we hate. Poem found poking around on artist/writer/cartoonist Phoebe Gloekner's site. I never had much to say verbally, always felt better able to communicate visually, and I think visually, too. But when there are things that must be said, it's a challenge to say them and still take the high road. But they must be said, some things. No configuration of curved lines will be able to describe accurately. 12.23.2002
Oh, bad news. Joe Strummer, formerly of "The Clash", has died of an apparent heart attack at age 50.
One of the highlights of being in my old girl band was the 5 times we opened for them in Asbury Park and Cape Cod. We got to stand on the side of the stage and watch their set, for me it was like standing in a tidal wave of testosterone, just really, really sexy. My hearts a little bit broken today. I have some pictures somewhere that we took backstage, if I can find them, I'll post them. Shit. 12.22.2002
My most recently designed hat.
Oh Shit! I got my first German language mash-note spam today! I'm a very lucky woman, aren't I? Read the translation of my love letter below (courtesy of BabelFish): Hello, unfortunately you did not announce yourself on my last Mail. Since I must however constantly think of you, attempt I it now again. Perhaps my Mail did not arrive at all with you. It would be to be had simply only beautifully you with me. Since I saw you the first time, I can think of nothing other more. Unfortunately I can not estimate your feelings and do not dare you personally to respond. Therefore this way over the Mail. I have myself with a contact market announced over which you experience can who I am. There one can speak even live with one another. If you want to know who I are, come nevertheless simply times there. At the side you arrive here: http://213.76.131.85/?account=pem-10178&layout=&land=de&exename=sofort I hope I can you soon into my arms close. Yours 3727PMAm6-923rEHp6147vmIy4-356Kzqo4087taiI4-447drtX1658UtzJ8-5l58
Yesterday afternoon in the shop I was listening to Glenn Gould turned down low and wrangling rows of numerals when I heard the new guy in the apt upstairs having dramatic sex with an operaticly inclined woman. It was amazingly loud. Set a certain tone in the shop. I had to laugh.
Thank you for "A New Kind of Science"! 12.21.2002
Researching volunteer opportunities this xmas, and came across this lovely program: Heifer International. Digging a little deeper on the site, I found out you can donate all or part (still attached!) of a sheep to a family, or what they call a "Knitting Basket", male/female pairs of sheep and llamas that will breed and spread woolly goodness in their community. Suits me far better than dishing up the traditional slop for the homeless.
This is a great example of win/win. 12.20.2002
Getting my snarky New York gossip kicks here instead of doing my quarterly sales tax, which is due today.
I usually just ignore things I think are not up to snuff, but this has got to be the absolute lowest in terms of stupidity combined with marketing "chutzpah". Pathetic. I especially like the last sentence of this promotional blurb:
"Ain't nobody pullin' the wool over your eyes. " Um, yes they are. Actually really rubbing your face in it till you have a nasty, carpet grade wool rash. Please, please can the knitting/handicraft fad just start to fade soon? It can't get any dumber, can it? Well, can it? If you can come up with a more lame idea than this, let me know, and I'll turn it into a "product", then put one in the shop just for an art/research project. UPDATE: Out of curiousity I called the shop, this bit of roving comes in a few different colors, and costs $5.00!!! That's got to be the most money anyone's ever squeezed out of a pound of roving. And they're OUT OF STOCK, too! Oh Sweet Baby Heyzeus, help me. 12.19.2002
Most knitters who've been on the web for a while know about this, but for those of you who don't: KnitList Gifts Knitting Patterns. The motherlode of online knitting patterns. Will keep you occupied for quite some time. Please, before you email me for a specific pattern I definitely don't have, try looking there first! They're free.
The Science of Christmas. No elves in your house? Get some here. (scroll down) I want the one that does dishes and laundry. 12.18.2002
 Ok, imagine Pop-N-Fresh (the Pillsbury Doughboy, an iconic figure and subject to many affectionate jokes among Americans) goes hunting, what's he gonna wear on his head? Followed by some examples of the Sawtooth Striped hat series.12.16.2002
More from a current series of 5g hats. Deeply creepy (yet charming if you can look past all the death, it's not easy), especially since one of the cases has rabbits knitting a sock. Want to see a close-up of that.
12.15.2002
Absolutely gorgeous SEM pictures of mites. Does seeing this make you feel like a huge alien in a world populated by ever smaller universes coexisting and intertwined? It does me. Wonderful. Read something this am about awe being a more natural response to the world than fear. Thinking about that today.
Knitting up the last of the xmas custom hat orders interspersed with things for the shop. Shop has been extremely busy. Very tired, but flush. How nice. Plan to take 1 or 2 weeks off early january, regroup, think, animate, settle old scores, reflect, march tirelessly toward honesty and full disclosure, both to myself and everyone else. Clean the house from top to bottom. Sort of a midwinter internal and external "spring cleaning". 12.13.2002
Naked Knitters Alert! 10% goes to Breast Cancer Research, and you get a chance to vote positively for the ageless beauty of ALL women. Very nice. Beat it, Barbie!
12.11.2002
Have an ongoing conversation with one of my customers, the talented Jon Keegan (I was a fan of his illustration work before I met him, he's frequently in the NY Times) regarding our common Latvian heritage. Jon also purchased the Eddie Munster for his girlfriend, so you know he's cool and has a sense of humor!
Anyway, found these inspiring, deviously knitted Latvian mittens thanks to his link sharing. How the hell can they sell these for $19.95? Is there slave labor in Latvia these days? Screw it, just knit your own! (I have this book, it's excellent)
A few pics of recent knitted objects.
12.10.2002
"I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice". -Joyce Carol Oates, writer (1938- )
Thank you for articulating that, Joyce. Unless, of course, you are "Alice in Quantumland". Knitting 5g hats in tan and black fairisle patterns, knitted sideways, quadripartite tops. Pixs tommorrow. I have no head model in the studio yet. 12.07.2002
Really finally, fucking *finally* back in knitting/work mode. I have no major distractions. This feels goood. The apt. is fine, warm, and I can cook, listen to any music and use all the lights I want. It's amazing how you appreciate those simple things when you have to do without them for just a little while.
I don't think I've been this relaxed in 5 years. I realized that this am while just doing dishes and messing around in the studio. I have finally gotten back to that place where I am completely unselfconscious in the apt. As a naturally happy person, it's been way, way too long since I could just be that. Questioning whether I ever want to live with anyone ever again. Right now, I definitely don't. I just don't care about the mindnumbing dailyness of it. I want to wait. A long time. It's time to work. Started getting into the "graphics hole", where you look up from making patterns and shapes to animate in after effects and it's 4 hours later. Alternately working on another animated movie and knitting for the shop. 12.06.2002
Wish List link has been repaired, Damn those cookies! Do I expect anyone to buy those things for me? Of course not. I like to read other people's because it's a window into the path they're on right now, with that idea in mind, I made one. Just read it, no big deal, ok? Make your own.
Totally played hookie from the shop yesterday, it did snow all day and night, so I was justified (somewhat). Got lots knitted. Love the new camera, still figuring it out. Amazingly easy to transfer into the big brain. Very happy with it. Hopefully pics from the shop later, taken and transferred into the laptop. Had an amazing walk yesterday knee deep in white flakes. QTVR of the shop. 292k. 12.05.2002
 This china client has been waiting patiently almost 5 years for a new knitted frock. She will get one before the end of January. Some new hats. It's snowing here! Heavily, and it's beautiful. I may play hookie today, struggling mightily with this. SHOULD go in, WANT TO WORK IN THE STUDIO all day. Will probably go in late as a compromise. Have to shovel snow away outside the shop anyway. I love to do that. Toasted rye bread, crunchily fried egg, salt, pepper, ketchup. More dark coffee with milk, no sugar. 12.02.2002
It's been questionable whether the elderly digital camera I've been using is going to connect to my new machine, actually it won't without a card reader. So I took the plunge today, and got myself a Canon S200. It's so tiny! And I've been seriously jonesing for one ever since I saw Ranjits. A splurge, but I'm worth it. :-> It'll connect to either the laptop at the shop, or the big brain at home. Now I can do hourly knitting updates. Should get here sometime next week, ordered it online, of course. I saw one advertised in my neighborhood in the Sunday Times for a stupid high price, but I wanted it so bad, I almost caved and ran the 3 blocks to get it, then got my composure back, and found it for $80. cheaper on the net through pricescan.com. The only thing is, it's hard to wait for it to come.
Immediate satisfaction is not overrated. 12.01.2002
If it's not enough to knit one sock on two circular needles, then why don't you just knit two socks at once on two circular needles. Got a headache yet? This certainly would eliminate the mental block that keeps many of us, myself included, from knitting the other one. Hate to repeat myself, blahblahblah.
Mined from this nice list of knitting links.
The other night a strange thing happened, I was sound asleep by myself in my bed, and I heard a mans voice say "hey" very clearly in my ear. Extremely clearly. It woke me up. I got up to go look around the apt, and found Kitty in the kitchen at the other end of the house choking on a fat, chewed open hair elastic that she had mistakenly swallowed at some point, and was now trying to regurgitate. She was clearly in distress. I had to pull it out of her throat.
I do not believe in ghosts or any type of afterlife. If there is such a thing, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. If it's proven to me while I'm still alive, I'll deal with it then. This was an unexplainable incident, but it saved Kitty's life. If there is some spirit thingie in my 100 year old apartment, he clearly likes kittens. No, I wasn't the least bit afraid. In the meantime, it might be fun to swing down to Pittsburgh and build some fightin' robots! I absolutely love this idea: Read and Release. Not my knitting or technical books, please! But the non-fiction, novels, various and sundry others, I'm all for it! Handknitting hats, which are selling well since it got cold here, and 7g sweaters, but I'm still not really back in the "knitting saddle" as they say. I fell asleep right after dinner tonight. I'm just burnt, I think, in general. What a party girl. |
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