material possessions*

Missoula has a lot of fabric stores for a small town in Montana, and a lot of them are pretty good. One in particular, Selvedge Studio, is better than pretty good: it is REALLY GREAT. Dangerously great. Every time I walk in there I want to spend the next five hours touching stuff and if I had a million dollars I would buy two yards of everything and three yards of some things. Here is some of what I acquired in August:



There's only one fabric store in DC** and I don't love it. It's okay I guess. They have lots of beautiful expensive imported things for fancy people to make suits and dresses out of. And they have some other stuff too, and sometimes things are on sale. I usually can find something I want.

But it is too hard to navigate, in there. The fabric is mostly on skinny rolls, instead of bolts, and only half of them have any fiber content information. A lot of them also don't have any pricing information. And they are all mixed together, sort of vaguely categorized by price? or fiber? except not really, really there are all kinds of everything stacked together in heaps, all the colors mixed in there too, and since the rolls are stacked on top of each other you can't really even see most of the fabrics. Like so:



So my main feeling after being in there for five minutes is usually annoyed frustration***, especially if I was looking for something specific. And there have been a number of times when I was looking for something specific and relatively basic, like solid cotton quilt fabric or batting, and they didn't have it. And it's downtown! And it's crowded! And my life is very hard!

Anyway, they're moving into a different location (in Georgetown, which doesn't bode well for the convenience/crowdedness issue) and having a big crazy sale. So I bought some fancy new scissors and a bunch of ridiculous silk taffeta, with which who knows WHAT I will do. It's all shiny and double-woven so it's hard to take a picture of: either I got blurriness or inaccurate color.



Whatever, take my word for it, it is beeeyoutiful.


Okay, the moral of the story is, if you want me to make you something out of fabric, you should go buy some fabric soon while this big 50-percent-off-or-more sale holds out.



* HA HA HA ha ha ha ha ha.

**to my knowledge. There may be another one somewhere but their attempts to remain hidden have so far been successful.

***I know, crazy, right? The last combination of emotions you'd ever expect from me!

I heart technology

All my classes are independent studies this semester so I mainly do my work at home*. But every once in a while I go to school and today was one of those days. I had a meeting and then found things at the library.

I am so spoiled. And so are you, probably. Did you know people used to have to look things up in books if they wanted to learn about something? I get very annoyed if I have to actually physically move myself or any objects other than a keyboard in the pursuit of knowledge. What! It's not available online! That is the worst thing I have ever heard!

Anyway today I had to have a new kind of library researching adventure: MICROFILM. I hadn't used one of those crazy magnifier reader machines since third grade. I walked up to the desk with my little box of film and a nervous expression and before I even said anything the librarian rushed around to show me how to use all the old school technology.

It was pretty fun. Now I have a lot of things to read. Hasta.

*by which I of course mean Big Bear.

easily amused

which is funnier: a bowl of water or a fauxhawk on a baby?



answer: totally a tie.

This was way the most productive hour I've spent in MONTHS.

my Halloween activities are ramping up

more plaster mask molds.





Who's next?

whiskey in a teacup, giving blondes a bad name, etc

Phoebe came over yesterday and put plaster all over me (to make a dressmaker's dummy of myself so I can make some fancy duds) and then I put plaster all over her (to make a mold for a rubber mask for Halloween and or other purposes). Meanwhile, Elizabeth felted things and the small people took naps and the bigger people drank bourbon out of mismatched teacups.

Then Abby and Ben joined in and we all ate pizza and drank beer (>4 years of age) and juice (<) and watched the Wizard of Oz.



Here's my plan: somebody ELSE has to let me make a plaster cast of THEIR face. Then I'll make rubber masks of Phoebe and the other person. Then you guys can trade and be each other for Halloween. C'mon guys it'll be awesome and I promise not to suffocate you with the wet plaster, I am totally an old pro at this game.

strangers talk only about the weather

Apparently there's a big storm coming. Sadly, I am out of popcorn, or I could just watch movies wrapped in a quilt for the next 48 hours.

I'm really glad I live in a new fancy house though, because my fancy new house has a roof that is watertight and walls that do not rub off on your hand when it's rainy.

I have a headache and nothing else to say. Somebody bring me some popcorn!

politics is boring and stressful

but this is hilarious and awesome.

Via Kriston and unfogged.

mystery items

My refrigerator is very entertaining. Mainly because phrases that involve time-outs always make me giggle, but also because somebody left a bunch of Drug Detecting Dog All Star Trading Cards at our house last year. We asked everybody and they all denied it.



Other things appear in our house from time to time. Like a hoodie that I wear all the time, and occasionally shoes, and one time a rubber snake. Latestly* is this baseball-style Sports Team hat:



is it your hat? Speak up!

*is too a word! Shut up! I have a Master's Degree In Linguistics!

she was right; eating IS pretty exciting

Ben's out of town and it was the 4-year-old's first day of big girl school, so I went to pick the baby up from day care. We walked back to my house and sat around watching the news while we waited for Elizabeth to come get her. Also we ate some food.

Oh my goodness, this child LOVES FOOD. I have never seen someone so enthusiastic about mealtime. We had this conversation for 40 minutes:

Cecily: you want a bagel?
Baby: (running into the kitchen and laughing) YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Cecily: want some sausage?
Baby: (maniacal laughter) (signing "more") MORE! YAAAAY! MORE!
Cecily: you thirsty? want a drink?
Baby: (nodding, giggling, blowing kisses) MMMMMMMM!!!!! YAAAY!

Finally she reclined on the pillows, patted her fat 18-month-old tummy, and signed "all done". If she had fallen asleep like that I would have cried from perfection, but instead she lasted 20 seconds and then jumped up to throw more things at the cats and try to wear my cowboy boots.