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.

fancy! new! house!

all right I found my camera, and the charger, and the batteries, and the USB cord. Finally! Let me show you around.

Here is the lovely, lovely living room. With the moody, moody Pipi modeling our nice green couch for you.



Here's the living room from the other end of the room.



then there's a little other room with a television in it:


the hallways all have crazy track lighting.


I should probably clean the kitchen up a little more at some point.


Upstairs, there is some more unpacking to be done. Also we need some more bookshelves.


Alyssa's room is blue, and has a balcony.


Mine doesn't have a balcony, but it is gigantic.


I need more shelves in here too.


That's all. Unless you want to look at the living room again! Oh you do? All right. Here you are. Your wish is my command.

Washington DC's a funny little town

All the important people went to Denver, so the city is full of sad, forlorn left-behinds leaning against buildings and saying halves of sentences about how they should probably go find a television and watch the convention. And sighing.

Not me though. I spend my time watching the convention trying to decide who looks like what movie star and what I would have dressed them all in if I were the Boss of All Outfits.

Also, school started. Kind of. Business Registration was eerily fast; there was no waiting in line and no fighting. Not even a surreptitious rude roll of an eye. I waltzed out to Elizabeth's car and couldn't think of anything to complain about. Not ONE. I think I'm becoming docile in my old age.

I have lots of things to read and then, I suppose, write about. Maybe I'll do that after I finish sketching designs for Halloween costumes for everyone I know.

In the works:
Venus Fly Trap (refurbished and improved)
Two-Face
Super-Skrull
something dramatic with UV pens and lights
Medusa
singing bass (or trout) (also I am not so sure about this one)

(Cecily you have to do your homework!)

(Shh! I am busy right now!) okay who needs me to make them a Halloween costume? Call me!

why I have 2,000 boxes of stuff

Mom: Hey do you need a glass cutter? Do you ever cut glass?
Me: well, no, but if I had a glass cutter I might! Yeah I'll take it.

I'm mailing two boxes to myself. Full of things I acquired during the past two weeks. I'm telling you, I can't help it!

Also, in my defense (?) I would like you to note the fact that my mother just happened to have an extra glass cutter lying around that she was trying to pawn off on someone. So (a) I'm helping! and (b) it's genetic, leave me alone!

Plus also, hey, let me know if you need any glass cut. I'm your man, for a price!

Kisses!

My friends Tom and Lindsay and Eli have a lovebird. It is a Peach Faced Lovebird. Its name is Peaches (probably because of how it is peach faced. I'm just guessing).

Anyway it likes me and while I am trying to do important things like drink wine and play Bridge it keeps interrupting me to bite my ears and give me creepy little lovebird kisses.

procrastination

I have papers and syllabi and reading lists to finish, so instead I've been making little dragons out of felt:

this one on Thursday


and this one yesterday


they aren't very big but I like them.

fancy hair

in between eating Thai food, watching the hacky-sack-ers, and staring at waterskippers was this: I spent 30 minutes twisting my hair into this exciting shape.