Chicken Butt

Plate of shrimp

This blog is such a cool idea: Different Strokes from Different Folks

Artists submit paintings based on a photo provided. Every couple weeks there is a new photo. There is a wide range of skill represented, but I have no doubt that regular participants are improving their skills from participating.

I didn't know about this site until last week, but I own two paintings created for the challenge. I bought one of the paintings sort of on accident because I thought I had already bought it. I had both in my Favorites on Etsy and bought the less expensive one first, then sort of lost track. They are very different except for the three white pumpkins. They are different sizes, medium and composition, and I didn't realize they had a common inspiration until now. I thought it was a weird coincidence, just something in the air. Looking now I can see that both listings clearly say where the inspiration came from, I just didn't pay any attention before.

I like them both and am glad I have them:
 

(Click pics to enbiggen)

Here is the blog post. (scroll down to end to see original photo) or just look at thumbnails of all submissions including the photograph.

I like the idea of voluntary assignments. I chaffed under assignments in school, but restrictions imposed from external forces usually made my work better. When left to my own devises my work was mushy and mostly without focus. This challenge could be a good way to brush up on basic skills.

Tangentially related: I sorted through most of the papers I possess while on vacation. I found slides of my work from my Bachelor of Fine Arts senior show. There is some other work I hadn't thought of for years in there too. I've added them to my list of things to scan into digital format. When I get to it I'll post anything that doesn't mortify me. Some of it still cracks me up.

Bitter is as bitter does

I've been feeling bitchy about how hard it is to hang out with my friends who have children. Unfortunately for me this is pretty much all of my good friends. It was bad enough when most of my friends got married. I hate not being able to go see a movie I want to see because a friend wants to see it with their husband. I've seen some crappy-ass chick-flixs because the good movies were reserved for the better half. Now I hardly get to movies at all in the theater. I've seen more movies with Nephew the First in the last four years than all the other movies combined. Fuckin' kids man, they fuck everything up.

But seriously, I think my biological clock is banging away on my subconsciousness and the reality that I'm single and less than two months from 40 is converting to bitchy. I've no desire to be a single mom. I'm not even sure I would want to be a married mom. I hate feeling the option slip away. This is not a unique situation, I'm just surprised at myself.

All my high school friends have kids. All the kids I played with in my neighborhood are married with kids. I went to a memorial service for a neighbor from childhood and as we discussed how we only see the old group at funerals now I realized that I was the only unmarried kid from the group. I always intended to elope should I ever tie the knot. There is a subset of people I know who I may only see at funerals for the rest of my life. That is not a happy thought. My mom was one of the first of that generation to go, but the rate is picking up.

So, anyways...

I have a touch of crafter's block. I read skimmed the manual for my new serger the night I got it and it intimidated the excited right out of me. I sympathize with all those who never take that fucker out of the box. I hope that the "Inspirational" CDs help. Two factors have kept me from watching them:

1. They are CDs, not DVDs and are compatible with Windows 95 and higher. So I'll have to watch them on my work laptop. That last thing I want to do at home is hook up my work computer. I leave it in the car on weekdays and right by the front door all weekend.
2. Fear. If these CDs don't enlighten me I'm SOL. Sure there are all kinds of positive posts about how easy it is to thread with just a little effort in the beginning, but part of me thought I would different, that my brilliant mind would immediately grasp the mechanics and I wouldn't even need the videos. I am so full of crap.

So yep. Nothing was sewn at my home this weekend. I even felt guilty enough about it to avoid sewing two more pool towel hoodies I have materials for. I did let go of a bunch of books from my shelves and assorted piles around my home. I took two paper ream boxes of books to Goodwill on Friday after deleting them from my LibraryThing (LT) library. I can see why people have created different categories on LT for books they've read but do not possess.

Pre-Kindle it was really hard for me to delete entries on LT. It is one thing to decide I'll probably never read the book again and won't want to loan it out, but to delete a LT entry that tells the world "I own this book" is hard, especially when I've gone to the trouble of tagging it and rating it and sometimes even writing a review. The fact that most of the books I've deleted from LT have two stars or less and have tags like "lousy" has little to do with the difficulty of letting go.

I also read some paper books this weekend. I read two YA books on Friday I wasn't sure I should keep or not (kept one of them). And then I read three Robert B. Parker books from the Spenser series. The Spenser books are as easy going as the kid books but with more blood. I decided to read Small Vices, the one where Spenser almost dies after the Grey Man shoots him and Susan and Hawk secretly nurse him back to health in California before he comes back and solves the case. I thought I could just read that one. It's the twenty-third in the series I think. But no, I finished that one and went right for #1 (Godswolf Manuscript). I finished #2 (God Save the Child) at midnight last night. I had to read the second one because Spenser meets Susan in it. And I'll probably go on because Hawk hasn't appeared yet and I thought #2 was about Paul, but it wasn't that comes later.)

Alright, I just lost everyone who reads CB right there didn't I? But that illustrates something important to my collection I think. There are some books that I will read again and again and there are some books I cannot recall at all even though I know I read them. Sure my collection is less complete without The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I will never read that book again. It was depressing and way too long. Sure I felt superior when Disney spun their story and happied up the ending, but I don't lose that knowledge without the paperback and I don't get points for being well-read. Plus, if do for some crazy-assed reason want to read Hogo's Hunchback again I can download it for free from multiple locations on the net and read it on my Kindle.

My collection will have less balance and no longer contain most the books I've bought since Jr High, but it is more personal and relevant this way. So far I haven't missed anything I've let go in the last couple years.

Another gadget in the house

The worst thing I can do to my bank balance is to declare I’m not buying any more stuff. I have an allergic reaction or something and shop incessantly. Yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby because I was embarrassed to go into Joann’s Fabrics again this week. I wanted to buy four cones of serger thread*. Why you ask? Well, for my brand new Brother 1034D Serger** with 22 stitch functions that arrived via FedEx today.

So now I need to learn how to thread the damned thing, which is notoriously complicated on sergers. There is an instruction DVD to help learn the process. I think it is worth it to really study this, because I wouldn’t get half the enjoyment from sewing on my regular machine if I had not taken the free lesson that came with the machine. I don’t think my mom ever changed her needle, but I change those suckers all the time. I also can set my machine up to all of its stitches with relative ease using the manual. I do not think I would have ever adjusted the tension or tried anything beyond straight and zigzag if I hadn’t had a hands-on lesson. Of course I would not have broken my overlock foot then, which was close to the tipping point that decided me on buying a serger. (Said incident also led to accelerated needle changing as it took two shattered needles until I was convinced it was broken.)

I want to try to sew some of my own clothes. I’m thinking just tops and maybe some skirts. Luckily I am currently able to find jeans and work pants just fine. I’m so tired of being stuck with what some idiot buyer decides people should be buying. I’ve seen some really cute tops that I wouldn’t be caught dead in because they have little or no sleeve. I’m sure there are plenty of plus sized women with lovely arms, but I’m not one of them and would happily spend my summers in ¾ length sleeves.

So hopefully I’ll get some solid long term use out of my new serger. I’ve got way too many gadgets and supplies that I thought would be awesome that I never really use. Of course I’ve got at least nine more years of Halloween costumes to make so I’ve got that going for me.

* Sergers use big cones of thinner thread than all purpose sewing. I usually buy Gutermann thread, but it is $5.99 for a smaller cone than some of the other brands. Four cones are needed to do a four thread stitch, for each color needed. I bought a different brand (but not no name brand) at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 at 40% off ($1.80). I'll stick with white to do my practicing on. (Bored yet? No? Really?)

** For those of you who haven't been obsessively reading sewing blogs and researching sergers a brief explaination: Sergers use multiple threads and sometimes multiple needles to sew through fabric as well as over edges. It also cuts the fabric as it goes. Chances are that every piece of sewn clothing you have on has serging in it. Check out your seams. Often there is a straight stitch and sewing on the edges. This makes pants inseams stronger and makes neat stretchy seams on your t-shirts. It also keeps fabric from unraveling. Here is a great article about sergers on Sew, Mama Sew! that pushed me over the edge to ordering it. It has pictures of the different stitchs, all of which appear to be made on the same machine I bought. People seem to either have the 1034D or really expensive brands. The cheapest serger at the store I got my sewing machine from was $999, the most expensive on display was $1900. The 1034D was $200.