Blibber Blabber

No rhyme, no reason

 

State Fair, second day

Wow, my back hurts.  Ergh, it sucks not to be in your twenties anymore.

I helped out in Photography again until about eleven-thirty a.m.  Judging was last night- the judge was headed off to San Francisco, so they moved it up.  I have no idea how that went, with the log book printed wrong by the office, as well as many tickets (for instance, many "color" photographs were printed as "black and white", and we had to pay close attention and correct them as we labelled the entries).  I tell you, someone really screwed the pooch up in the office when it came time to enter all these things.  I should probably tell B. to check her book and tickets.

What was nice is that I had several conversations with L., the photography chair, and seeing all the stuff I was putting out, I got a lot of inside tips for next time I enter my own photos.  For instance:

*Black and white pictures aren't entered very much.  Color rules.
*The animal, flower, and nature categories are overwhelmed with entries.  I remember her telling me last year that it's VERY hard to place in these categories because there's so much competition.
*I don't know what the rules are for other fairs, but in ours, if you sell ONE photograph,  you're considered a professional and have to enter as such.  It doesn't even matter if you don't make a living at it.

Anyway, afterward I went to help B., and it was funny how she would searchandsearchandsearch for things, then I would go off, look through a box or two, and find them almost immediately.  I suppose that makes me a Very Good Helper.  She talks a LOT (I don't mind), and I'm slowly learning the gossip around here.  Today we'll have two more people helping to set up, and we should get a lot done.

There are a ton of old ladies here-- people they say "started the fair" (although it's over 100 years old).  M. runs the office, is about 80, but she really doesn't do anything but walk around and talk to everyone. I find them fascinating, and I like to hear about how the fair was before the barns burned down and they rebuilt them in a more industrialized look.

It makes me miss the Topsfield Fair (which I think is the oldest fair in the country).  We only went once, in 1998, the first year I ever entered in the fair (my art won second place).  It's in October, in MA, so it's cooler and the leaves are changing.  It had such a feeling of nostalgia- I felt perfectly at home.

After all the entries are in on Thursday in the baking category, I will be cutting the winning cakes and pies for display and sales, but before that I will be clerking the Pillsbury pie crust contest (the one I won last year).  Judging went on so long for that one last year that it'll be very interesting to hear what goes on behind the scenes.

It's all renewed my interest in entering the fair next year.  The only problem I may have I'm going to talk over with B. today.  See, I don't pretend I am the best cake decorator in the world-- I *am* good, but I know I ain't the best.  The problem may be that I'm creative-- I don't like to do what's expected.  Why do a simple wedding cake covered in pale fondant and studded with a few roses when you can do something completely out of the norm?  Last year, I spent a week on my cake: a farm's backyard cake, complete with henhouse, chickens and roosters, a cat, a vegetable garden, grass, a pond, hedges-- god, I had the whole fucking works on that cake.  The first year I entered here, I did a vegetable garden cake and won Best in Show.  I took it to the next level.  I don't know; boring, standard cakes may be fine for a lot of people, but it's not stretching yourself.  It's not interesting.

The judge came in and refused to award anyone points that she thought was a professional.  I saw the other cakes that actually won ribbons.  I told you, I don't think I'm the best.  But it was clear that mine deserved a ribbon.

I'm not going to enter that category until the judging's worked out, and since I'm here, maybe I can have a hand in making sure that the criteria's clear.

posted by: athenawj at 07:33 | link | comments |
state fair

I had no idea teenagers could get kidney stones.  YD's on her way home from the hospital after passing a kidney stone.  The doctor said it was common in teens, and has to do with family history; not what they eat or drink, etc.  And it's also common in this part of the country.

I feel horrible for her.  She was throwing up and in bad pain all morning and afternoon.  And she's had pains on and off through the summer.  Who would ever think a kidney stone, though?

At least it's over.  Her kidney and... whatever tube's connected to her bladder is still swollen, but the doctor said if she felt okay she could even go back to school tomorrow.

Joking here, but... Gosh.  You think teenagers are overdramatic, and then they go and pass a kidney stone just to spite you! 

Joking 'cause everything's fine now.

***

Different news.  I'm exhausted after my first seven hours of working at the fair.  Spent all day checking in photography (and we're not even done yet).  187 entrants, which means around 600-800 entries.  And they wouldn't allow the photography chair (meaning, they wouldn't pay her) to take the lot tickets early and attach them to the entry forms, so we spent the rest of our time digging out everyone's tickets.  What a pain in the ass.  The photog chair is interesting, though, so that helped pass the time.  And B., the bakery chair, is a hoot-- I'm really going to enjoy working with her.

I think I'm working nine more days.  You know what that means.  Lotsa junk comin' home with me after my vacation.

:D

***

We all went to see "Superbad" Saturday night.  Friggin' funny (and very raunchy) movie.  Definitely deserves all the accolades.  I'm more and more impressed with Seth Rogan.

***

I started the forms for two new dolls, which will be Novice Dolls.  I fashioned two arms-- one left, one right-- for her out of polymer clay and sculpting wire, and baked them.  When I took them out of the oven, I looked at them and said, "Something's wrong."

Two dolls.  Two arms.  You figure out what I forgot.

:/

***

It's raining here!  It rained almost all day!  Hallelujah!!  Glorious, glorious RAIN!!

***

I'm off to wait for the "little one" to get home.

posted by: athenawj at 21:38 | link | comments (3) |
art , movies, kids, state fair, dolls

My First Dolly!

Okay, a day later than I promised, but here is the evolution of my First Dolly:

A little blurry, but I only took pix for record purposes.  I started off by creating a foam form and a dowel.  I used dowels later for the arms, too.  I used E6000 to glue the parts together and the body to the stand.

Hmm, dark.  This is my very messy drafting table.  This is Dolly covered with papier mache.  I used Crayola drawing paper to wrap her, since it's about as thick as newspaper but without the print (which I actually like the look of sometimes, but not for this doll).  I learned that next time I won't try to cover her head with long strips, because it ended up too lumpy.

I did a lot of research and learned that spackle is an excellent agent for covering papier mache sculptures.  This is Dolly after she's been sanded.  It really is a terrifically smooth finish.  Afterward, I gave her a layer of gesso to prep her for painting.

Base painted.  I mixed a little pale peach with light grey for the skin color.

Dolly painted.  I like using simple craft acrylic paints- cheaper, they do the job just as well as artists' acrylics, and they dry super fast.  For her eyes, I used the paint, a paint pen, and oil pastels (that I've had since high school!  I can't believe they survived all the moves).  She has oil pastel "freckles", too.  I finished it with fixative, and then a layer of satin varnish.

Finished Dolly!  I took a trip through the yarn section of Hobby Lobby and chose chenille yarn (half off!) for her hair.  It was pretty easy to glue it on, and she even has a part in her hair.  For the dress and shawl, OD was originally going to make a dress, but the little craft sewing machine was producing too loose of a seam.  I ended up cutting up the fabric (an old skirt of mine I haven't worn in years), and wrapping the first part a few times around her torso, gluing it in place.  Then I made the shawl, glued it in a few places, and sewed a button on to keep it shut.  I then soaked the fabric twice with fabric stiffener so it wouldn't flutter all over the place.

Here's a closer look.  She's twenty-six inches high.  I wrapped her hair in plastic wrap so it wouldn't be stiff like the dress.  I really like the way the chenille hair looks, and I've played with it several times, rearranging it over and behind her shoulders, heh.

So, that's my Dolly!  I don't even have a name for her yet, and I'm not sure if I'm going to keep her or sell her.  I'll probably fall on the side of keeping her, since she's my first.

I think I did a damn good job first time out of the gate.

posted by: athenawj at 08:00 | link | comments (2) |
art , dolls

Life so far...

It's hotter than a pig's ass here.  Yeah, that's a new one.  Imagine, a pig laying out in the sun... you get it.

103 today and tomorrow; just a hair under that yesterday.  We had one night of rain late last week, and my flowers looked so happy, but now they're back to being shrivelled, browned shells of what they should be.  My poor flowers.  When we were in WV last, we went over to OH to a huge Chesapeake flea market, and I got a gorgeous begonia for my dad, and one for me.  It has rounded leaves and crimson striations- just gorgeous.  I never got around to putting it out on my front porch, and it's still in my kitchen window.  I'm glad- poor thing would never have survived.

There is a county near here that has ordered its farmers to cease using city water to give to their herds to drink.  If they have a private source, fine; if not, they'll be fined, with the fees going up with each 'offense'.  And I wonder, how is that better than what Michael Vick did?  The horrors are different, but the outcome's the same.

Elsewhere, we're told to tell on our neighbors if we see anyone watering too much.  And we may soon be told to cut down on water inside our houses.  Uh, uh-huh.  Sure.  I'll go around stinky for you, O Gov't, if you stop shelling money into godawful city sculptures and the friggin' football stadium.

***

Elsewhere, the girls are back in school, and because metro schools also can't get it together enough to make sure all the schools have air conditioning, all the kids have had half-days this week.  No, OD's school still doesn't have a/c.  Teachers and parents, aggravated that Metro wasn't doing anything, called the news stations.  Metro's still dragging their feet.

Personally, I preferred it when the girls went back to school after Labor Day.  I keep thinking maybe it should be reversed- it's not as hot up north, yet they go back to school later in the year.

***

After a dry five weeks, I finally sold something again in my shop.  I feel better after doing some research and finding that summer is a slooooow time for sales.  I did do a couple of ebay sales for ACEOs.  Oo, I should probably go rate my customers.

Since I used pastels to color some of my sculpture's face, I have to take her outside today and apply fixative.  Then I'll seal her with varnish.  In the meantime, I'm waiting on her dress to be finished.  I may take a picture of her today and post it, though, since she looks done.  I think she turned out so much better than I could have imagined.  Go, Me!! I did a sculpture!

I'm going to start a new one today, hee.  I didn't think I'd have so much fun doing them, but I do.

posted by: athenawj at 06:38 | link | comments (5) |
art , kids, summer, bullshit

Hello, Dodo

You know, I've been meaning to rant a little here about a postal worker.  Boring post ahead.

Since I started the Etsy shop and doing a little swapping over at Swap-bot, I've learned what things are supposed to cost at the post office.  When things are about the same weight, and you only use three different types of packaging, it becomes a no-brainer, right?

Yeah, you would think.

Most of the time, I  have no problem.  What I've put down as a shipping price is exactly that when I mail them (with delivery confirmation-- I got hounded so much by one of my first customers that her magnets hadn't arrived in five days that I had to resend, and I won't send anymore without confirmation*).  But then Mr. Calm comes home one day and says, "I think you need to start charging more for shipping."

Turns out that one particular guy at our post office told him that he couldn't send First Class with confirmation, he had to send Priority, and charged Mr. Calm over double what I usually pay.  For the same friggin' size and weight I usually send!

Two days later, I'm back at the p.o.  In line.  Same size package as two days earlier.  Uh-oh- I end up at the counter of the Overcharging Postal Worker!   Ready for an argument, I ask for delivery confirmation.  BUT... he charges me the normal price I usually get.  Mr. Calm and I are flummoxed by this.

Fast forward to several days ago.  I'm at the same guy's counter, mailing an ACEO for a customer.  Mind you, I mailed the same size/weight package last week (albeit with a different worker).  I ask for D.C.  He says, "Now, I have to mail this Priority," and gives me a price in the four-dollar range.  Four dollars!!

Oh, no.  No way.  I ask, "Why?  I've mailed this before, and it was mailed first class for less than two dollars."  I also told him about other sizes I'd mailed, and their prices, and that I'd gotten confirmation for them as well.

So, Overcharging Postal Worker shrugs his shoulders and says, "Well, we can try it," and charges me the correct amount.

You know, it pisses me off.  You can't pick and choose what you're going to charge people.  The post office needs to have people up front who know exactly what they're doing, or stick 'em in the back where they won't have to bust a brain bubble figuring such things out.  Jesus.

And yes, I have thought about filing a complaint.  I've also thought, "Would they even give a damn?"

*Come to find out with that customer, she'd moved just before starting her hounding emails to me.  Tell me, why would you order something and have it sent to a place you're no longer living???  Another loud JESUS.  I chalked it up to a loss because I was just starting out, and didn't want to start out with a lousy rating from a flaky customer.  And I didn't have confirmation.

posted by: athenawj at 08:56 | link | comments (1) |
bullshit

New Site

Well, not new, exactly, but I redid my site again.  Wasn't ever entirely comfortable with the last one.  This one, though, you won't find any of the old stuff.  Having so many files to keep up with was giving me a headache, so it's mainly new stuff.  You can check it out here.  You'll also be able to see the new things I'vew been working on: they're the first two things on the first Galleries page, and also under the Christoff gallery header.

I'm also keeping a photo diary of the doll sculpture I'm working on.  I'm hoping to have it done in a week.  I'll post pix when I'm done.

posted by: athenawj at 15:05 | link | comments (3) |
art

I'm starting to go through one of those periods where I feel I have too much to do, but I'm trying to nip it in the bud before I start feeling anxious.  Part of it is getting enough sleep.  With school starting up again, I'm making myself lay down earlier-- I spent most of the summer in a lethargic funk, and I just canNOT live my life that way.  I felt much better the first half of last spring (before the shitstorm sprang up); it's time to return to that.

*Get enough sleep.
*Take my vitamins.
*Eat better.
*Get back to the gym.  I kept putting it off and putting it off because of my knee, but I'm just going to have to figure out some sort of regimen that works around it.  My body needs and craves exercise, and it's just not getting what it needs.

AFA art goes, I looked at my "schedule" (what I plan to do), and after I finish another piece of art on wood, I'm going to make things for the Dia de Los Muertos show.  I want to try different things: namely, bottle cap art, and a papier mache sculpture.  *That* freaks me out a little-- it's forming the armature that gives me problems. 

I start working at the fair in a couple of weeks.  Unlike my value menu check, which I blew part of, all of this will be put into savings for our trip.  I treated myself to a bunch of things I don't really need but wanted (and that's the fun of it, isn't it?), but now it's time to get down to business and SAVE.

It's going to be very weird working at the fair and not having any entries.  This will probably be the only year I do that.  I did have the itch to enter again-- mild, but it was there-- but then B. called and asked if I still wanted to help, and I felt obligated to say yes.  No, that's the wrong word.  I did still want to help.  Still, it'll be strange.  When I went in to fill out my W-4 (W-2?), the head of the fair said she remembered me, and every year she sees my name, she knows there's a lot of entry tags to be made. 

Me: "Yeah, I got burned out."
Fair Head: "Well, goodness, girl, you entered just about every category!  I'd get burned out, too!"

Heh.

posted by: athenawj at 06:44 | link | comments (4) |
art

0/0!!

Yeah!  0 posts and 0 comments!  Time to start over.

The Tomato Art Fest was yesterday.  Because of the horrible heat, we just went for a little while- Mr. Calm and I had planned to go the 'opening' that evening, but YD wanted to see my art (OD was at a sewing lesson).  So, we perused the stalls, then braved the ridiculous crowds in the gallery.

Mine's in the middle.  Not yet sold.  This was my entry in the "emerging fruits and vegetables" category.

Hey!  See those red stickers on my tags?  That means they SOLD!!! 

Yay.  Moolah for me.  And they have new homes.

Sorry for the weird angles.  That place was PACKED.  Oh, and good news?  Crazy Art Lady was nowhere to be found (I saw her last weekend TWICE at the art crawl.  Luckily, I was a stealthy ninja, and she saw me not.)

 

 

posted by: athenawj at 08:37 | link | comments (4) |
art

Naked!

The girls are off to TX for a week this morning- we have to take them to the airport in just over an hour.

Whatever will we do with ourselves???

Besides the obvious...

-Go see "The Bourne Ultimatum", since Mr. Calm is crazy about the series (I personally like the "viewing-Europe-without-actually-having-to-get-on-a-plane" quality).

-Do the Saturday Art Crawl.  Watch out for Crazy Art Lady.  Have a few drinks since I'll be off meds.  Try a new restaurant afterward.

-Clean the house and bask in its cleanliness uninterrupted.

-Enjoy not being a chauffeur and bank.

Mr. Calm has "threatened" to work naked for a day.  I told him he's going to stick to his chair.

posted by: athenawj at 07:28 | link | comments (5) |
family, summer, silly stuff