Oh, the Craftiness of Me

I just remembered I wrote this a while ago and never posted it. Retro powers activate!
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I was an arts-and-craftsy type of kid. My favorite book when I was seven was an arts and crafts book that was included in some sort of educational book set. I wouldn't have phrased it like this when I was a kid but... I didn't give a shit about the rest of the set. Eleven other themed volumes, and the only thing I can remember about them, is that one had an article about how to care for a baby bird, if you found one. I loved that arts and crafts book. Coincidentally, it was blue. (My favorite color.)

I made paper mache tortoises, pipe-cleaner horses, origami cranes, and homemade play-dough elephants. I carved whales out of soap, and furniture out of crayons. I pressed flowers, made plaster of paris footprints, and sewed clothes for my Mini Mouse. I made her some sexy tangas before they ever came into fashion in the States. (She still wears them.)

Before I went to high school, my parents sold the book set at a yard sale because I never used them. They sold my Arts & Crafts book, too, just because it was part of the set. I can't tell you how much I miss that book.

I slowly gave up arts and crafts when I got older. Occasionally I'd make a collage, or I'd dye some tissue paper and make a bouquet of flowers with straw stems in a painted Snapple bottle vase, but I used to do that kind of stuff every day.

I made a stencil yesterday. It was the first time I'd done anything in months. You wouldn't believe how happy it made me.

I want an arts and crafts book, sewing machine, and a closet full of scissors, construction paper, paste, acrylic paint, brushes, water colors, empty bottles, magazines, markers, cloth scraps, felt, pipe-cleaners, clay, plaster of paris, tissue, rubber cement, ink, stencils...

I would love that.

Yo, que pone los stencils.

I just finished this stencil two days ago, and I love it! It's a pun in Spanish. 'Al capone los discos' translates to 'Disk Jockey' so I made Al Capone as a DJ. BADA-BOOM!

Thank you, I'll be here all week.

That's One Tastey Muffin

It really was that good.

On another note, I wore street clothes to work again yesterday. I was setting up part of the 9k art project I designed a few months ago for a convention.

It's awesome to have someone spend 9k on one of your art projects, even if that art project is not of your choosing, and is very closely monitored and directed, and not an art project at all, but a booth. Still. I designed it, and someone payed 9k to make it reality. Next stop, Koozies!

Count Max Visits San Antonio

As a favor to my boyfriend's father, my boyfriend and I took a visiting French scholar to San Antonio to go sightseeing on the Riverwalk, and the Alamo. I later learned that he's a genuine French Count.

I can now cross out "explain 'sour cream' to a French Count" from my list of things to do before I die.

Sushi from Saturday

Two years ago I went to Tokyo with Nick during New Years, and we took the Shinkansen to Omagari, or Kakumagawa (I can't remember which... Somewhere in the Akita region) to visit his grandparents. They took us out to a very nice hotel for a traditional New Years meal. There were tons and tons of mini courses, and they were all gorgeous. His grandparents kept taking pictures of the food, because it was so nice, as well as us. (They say I hold my chopsticks very well). There were so many courses that towards the end, when they started to serve desserts, we would all stand up to leave, thinking we were done, and the waitress would rush come out with more.

Nick's Japanese was pretty rusty, and his grandparents didn't speak English, so it was kind of hard to communicate, but they told us about their very very old and senile cat, whose name is Mustache in Japanese, and they showed us wedding pictures of Nick's parents, with Nick's mom wearing a kimono. His grandmother cried when we left, and she hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. I was really glad we went up there for the night, even though we couldn't talk to each other very well, because his grandparents were so sweet, and happy to see us.

Austin Traffic Report

This is my alternate route home. While it may not have the 360 Bridge, that I so adore, a winding tree-covered road over creeks and hills located surprisingly in the middle of suburban Austin is a nice break from the usual highways.

PS: The side mirrors are not to be directed so as that the car behind you is visible; this is what the rearview mirror is for. Note the name. If you insist on positioning the side mirrors incorrectly, please refrain from leering at young girls who are stuck behind you in traffic as you sit in your shiny red convertible with the sun glinting off your bald pate.

PPS: Also, when driving below 40mph with a safety exceeding three car lengths, it is not necessary to continually pump your breaks. There is little or no chance of your careening into the car ahead of you at such a speed and distance.

Chop Chop

I've been too broke to get my hair cut, so I bought a razor and some dye and tried to do it myself. I got carried away and made it too short, but it'll be better in a few weeks. (I look funny with a mullet.)