Discriminating Weirdos

An English teacher's nightmare

My sister sent me an e-mail yesterday along with some pictures of a box of wine.  She said that the wine is popular with the students in Costa Rica.  Apparently, however, it's not very popular with English speaking folks, because the translations on the box are, well... really off the mark.

I bought a German-made set of Tiddly-Winks about 15 years ago that we still laugh at.  Step one in the playing instructions was one of the most bizarre things I had ever seen:

STEP 1: Place winks on dick rag.

We never did did play the game, because we were fresh out of dick rags.

(ADAM)

A B C and Vegetable Goop

Kids these days.... with their hair and their clothes.....

Turns out that jumping rope went out with playground time. 

I've been asking my students about it, and none of them seem to have any experience at all with jumping rope. 

No good.  As they say back in Grand Marais.

jumprope photo available from NewOrleansphotos on etsy

It came to me recently that double rope jumping would be a perfect way to teach rhythm to younger kids, and a fantastic way to teach the rather complicated concept of rubato to the older ones. 

(Quick aside: I promise not to make this blog about music education.  But in short, "rubato" is when you slow down and speed up the music to make it expressive.) 

I'm getting ready for my spring recital with my students.  This means that in a few weeks, we'll be having group lessons.  I think this year, this will involve jumping rope. 

I guess I'm not only going to have to provide the ropes, but I'm also going to have to teach them how! 

I found these beautiful jump ropes on Etsy today.  I've asked to see if I can get them longer, for double use! (EMILY)

handmade jumpropes available from jump4joy on etsy

Shopping for film

It seems like only the day before yesterday that I was here writing about how I was going to finish a bunch of ties.  Well, call me a liar, but I didn't make a single stitch that night.  Sometimes you just feel like playing with the Wii machine.

I offer no excuse for my lax attitude and slack jaw, but my guilt has prompted me to write about someone other than myself today.  Namely, I want to make everyone aware of a cool DIY film project that is currently is post-production and is slated for a 2009 release.

Faythe Levine started the documentary Handmade Nation in 2006, traveling 19,000 miles to capture artists, shops, fairs, and other quirks on video.  The result was over 80 hours of footage which she and her partners are currently editing into a feature-length film about the rise of crafting culture in the United States.

Watch a recent trailer for the movie HERE.  If you pay close attention about 46 seconds into the piece, you may recognize someone you know (I'm the bearded fellow in the loud shirt doing the embroidery).  You can also check out the official blog for the project HERE.  I suggest you also take the time to look at all of the photos, which are sweeter than sweet, sweet candy.

Finally, anyone who has ever made a film knows that it is a labor of love that takes an awful lot of money to pull off.  It's a bit like jumping on the bus and heading for Hollywood to be discovered -- in order to make the thing financially successful, every star in the known universe has to line up perfectly.  But because it's a film about a cause I REALLY believe in, I want you to be aware of how you might send some financial support Faythe's way.

There is information on the blog of course, but there is also an Etsy shop that gives its proceeds to support the project.  The stock is really great, and the money helps to make this film a reality without forcing the director and crew to shack up in a dumpster somewhere.

It'll be nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the occasional ketchup packet from Wendy's, but at least they'll have a roof over their heads. (ADAM)

Lists!!! Glorious Lists!!!!!

I can't say that, as a whole, I'm a great deal neater than Adam is, but I am definitely a great deal more organized.  I tend to categorize, and subcategorize, and then alphabetize.  I make lists.  Lots of lists.  I do actually keep tabs on them (most of the time). 

Today, -I- don't have the energy and time to go rooting about for objects that I love and adore, for this morning, I realized that our first craft show of the spring is coming up in less than a month.  EEEEEE. 

Adam's waaaaay more on top of this problem than I am.  He's already got a few lists going.  (I taught him the value of lists, just like I taught him the value of not wearing multi-color acrylic sweaters and piping.)

I'm going to spend my blog time today sharing with you my list for getting ready for

THE ST PAUL CRAFTSTRAVAGANZA ---- April 26 ---- St Paul, Minnesota

(this is the first of likely many shameless plugs.  be ready)

1.  Finish hats. 
    That's pretty obvious.  I have several that are very close, and several more that aren't. 

2.  Get more straws (so I can make more hats).
    I better quick call my buddy Raymond who recently took over the management of ManHatCo and get me some more straws.  Late April is definitely a time when people are looking for more sun hats.  And these vintage onion skin straws from Judith M are pretty great too. 

3.  Procure housing.
    I'm already on my way on that one.  I emailed my good friend Sarah this morning to see if we can crash at her place again.  Doing the St Paul show is a grand excuse to go back to Minnesota to see her and her husband Brad.  Looking forward to another dinner maybe at La Cucaracha....yummy.

4.  Find packaging. 
    I've been on a quest for a reliable source for hat boxes for a while.  I'm thinking I'd better wait on that for the moment, and just go with bags and loads of tissue.  Thoughts?  Should I take the plunge and buy these boxes from Presentable Packaing?  If I'm going to, I'd better do it soon. 

5. Work on display.    
    Likely this one's not going to happen until about the week before.  But I'm thinking I'm going to adjust my hat racks, and instead of using rubber balls, use upturned melted record bowls.  A bit like this, which Adam made me from the mid-section of our Sit and Spin.  I'm thinking that somehow, with the right washer, these upturned record bowls could be affixed to my existing galvanized pipe "three handled family gredunza" concept.

6.  MoeSewCo signage. 
    Hmmm.  I'd like to find a way to get the logo more prominently displayed at the booth.  Anybody have any ideas? 

That about covers it for now.  Lots to do!

------------------------------------

Also, I've been extremely errant in my duties toward blog tagging.  The Main Chelsea of eighty8 words tagged me on March 20.  And I am only now getting to it.  I've been walking around with a tag on my back for weeks now.  How embarrassing. 

Fortunately, there's a list I can follow to get the dang thing off and pass it around like a virus.

(aside:  I've lately come to be utterly enchanted with Cockney Rhyming Slang.  One of my personal faves:  virus, Billy Ray (Cyrus).  So let me write the above sentence again!

Fortunately, there's a list I can follow to get the dang thing off and pass it around like Billy Ray. Or Miley.

The rules of tagging are as follows:

1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six random things about me:

1. I'm afraid of bananas.
    I'm not the only one.  Honest.  I've met others.  I won't name names because I know how much of a problem public knowledge of this fear can be.
2. I can roll my tummy in waves. 
    Adam can too, actually.  We're the only two people we've ever met who can do this, and we both discovered it at precisely the same moment: sometime in elementary school, long before we ever met, while watching Real People.
3. When I was small, I thought I was a bat. 
    I watched television by the hour upside down, and couldn't sleep, so I thought I was nocturnal.
4. I love to break the ice that accumulates on puddles with the little air bubbles below it. 
5. When I was a teenager, my best friend Lisa and I used to get together on Wednesday evenings to bake a massive amount of something (cookies, cakes, whatever).  We'd go up to the local college and give it all away.  We had a route, and anybody on the floor of the various dorms we went through got cookies. 
6. I have a higher gravitational force around my head.
    It's true.  Any flying object launched in my general direction will definitely hit my head.  It's happened since I was little.  No flying object sports for me! 

Watch out!  And now for the Billy Ray!  You're tagged!

1. Snicker-Snack

2. Cold Antler Farm

3. Kim Bagwill

4. Something's Hiding in Here

5. Clearwater Outfitters

6. Flutter

(Emily)

Finishing time again

I'm not an extremely organized person.  I know that some makers like to keep everything in nice, neat stacks and folders.  They separate items that require numerous steps to complete into neatly labeled piles.  They track their sales on special computer spreadsheets.

I'm not like that, though.  I just sit in my recliner and stitch.  And stitch.  Then I take a nap, eat something, and stitch some more.  When I get a tie or a patch to the finishing stage, I generally just toss it on a pile in my closet / office desk and move on to my next idea.

This weekend I realized that I had a lot of finishing work to do.  I could tell by the way I had to sweep unfinished ties and patches to the floor because I couldn't find my wallet, keys, hat, and computer monitor.  My whole desk was covered with finishing work, and I figured that I had better get it done.

So this weekend I didn't spend any time on Etsy looking for items to feature.  I didn't read any blogs or even keep up on my Scrabulous games (anyone out there want to play?).  Instead, I backed and cut out a whole pile of new patches.  I don't even have pictures right now because it basically took all of the making time I had yesterday to finish them off.

And I still have a stack of ties to complete.

So instead of taking new pictures of the new pictures of the new patches right now, I'm going to share a couple of pieces that have recently sold, either at a show on on Etsy, and spend some time sewing ties back together.  The patch on the right is Boid 'N' Woim, and the tie on the left is called Toot 'N' Hiss. The fact that they both have 'N' in their titles is nothing but a happy coincidence.   Feel free to click them and visit our Etsy store!  (Adam)

Spring Cleaning is not a dirty word...er... phrase

  Spring Cleaning 2:  "Out out damn spot" 
  Originally uploaded by sidewalk_story

Well, I've got a bee in my bonnet.  I've got that annual spring virus that seems to be going around.  You know, that one where perfectly reasonably clutterers seems to go on random rampages of cleanliness.  MUST DUST!  MUST DECLUTTER!  MUST WORK ON THE NEST!!!!!!       

I know I'm not the only one.  I must not be.  If I was, there wouldn't be a whole thing called "spring cleaning."  I used to think my mother was daft to spend so much time washing windows.   Who really cares if the windows in the basement store room are spot-free?  (I stand by that question)

I do live in a fairly small two-bedroom condo in the middle of the city.  Adam and I push the limits of space efficiency.  Doing this does create a fairly sizable amount of clutter.  And the terrier does create a fairly sizable amount of hair. We think she's trying to shed another dog.  Some sort of doggy experiment in cloning.

Normally, this doesn't really bother me.  I stay reasonably on top of things, by my definition.  Seems though, that for the past few years by the end of March, I just can't take it anymore.

It happened this week.  I bought a vacuum cleaner and a new mop, and made use of both very extensively today.  I went MAD!!! BWA-HA-HA!!!!!!! Watch out dust-motes! Your ass is mine!

I WASHED WINDOWS. 

Ok, so I know that the next time it rains, all of my work will be undone.  I'm all right with that. 

As I sat down to blog, I thought it might be a good idea to find all the really cool home-made cleaning products and product accessories on Etsy. 

It wasn't easy. 

It used to be that women made things for their own use.  They had needs.  Pots needed to be scrubbed, and windows needed to be washed (apparently).  So they made window cleaner out of vinegar, pot-scrub out of baking soda (also useful as toothpaste, sink scrub, and deoderant.  But only the last one in a major pinch. Still better than that hippie rock.). They crocheted kitchen cloths.  Made handy yarn holders out of common household items. 

Their craft was driven by necessity.

I find it quite odd that so little for cleaning is actually available on the website made for handmade. 

I know we've emancipated women from the tyranny of housewifery, and we're all about changing the definition of craft.  But c'mon, we still DO need to clean up after ourselves, don't we?  Not everybody gets to hire housekeepers. I mean, I know that vacuum cleaners are very very hard to make by hand.  And honestly, I really don't like using vinegar to clean my counters.  It makes my kitchen smell like pickles. 

In any case, I did find a few pretty cool things.

There's, of course, a million aprons.  This one here by momomadeit really stood out for me though. Tailored waist!  How lovely!  How hip to accentuate my hips!

Perhaps if I looked this fetching while I was cleaning, I might feel better about doing it more often.  As it is, cleaning usually involves some ripped jammy pants, a t-shirt that's one step away from becoming a rag, and a complete lack of vanity.

This washable swiffer cover by GermanPerfection is really cool. It's made of natural fibers  (Acrylics don't absorb very well)  in several layers.  A great idea. I'll definitely be picking one of these up (HA!) shortly. 

Now to dig out a stylish scarf to wrap up[my hair and keep the sweat from my brow.... (Emily)