Blibber Blabber

No rhyme, no reason

 

I haven't been doing anything but digitally coloring and making a pendant (for the second time; I got an order in, did the pendant, but didn't like the way it was wrapped, so... Startover City).  I have two forms on my table covered in spackle; one's legs still need to be sanded.  Just too much pain going on, so I've given myself a break on them til tomorrow... maybe Friday.

I think I'll be done with my Day of the Dead show stuff a full three weeks before opening night.  Score!

I'm not going to do another out of town show unless it's with a gallery that has an established artists' rep with a good reputation.  I'm not afraid to say I'm pissed as hell with the owner of the gallery I'm dealing with now (although I won't say the name here...).  Out of half a dozen emails and one phone call, I've only gotten one response via email.  I don't care how fucking busy you are: if you're dealing with other people's stuff, you have a responsibility.  Good God, I'm afraid for my art now and when I'll get it back; or if I sell and when I might get paid.  It's just turned out to be not a pleasant experience, and one I won't revisit.

Thank goodness I finally found my UPS tracking number, or I wouldn't have even known my stuff had arrived!!

Oh, maybe I'll sand today.

Can you tell I don't want to get  up?

posted by: athenawj at 08:24 | link | comments (1) |
art

Laughing it Up?

I really don't have time for this, but hell, weekends are for taking time off, right?  So, I've started watching the first season of Hell's Kitchen UK- the only season that Gordon Ramsay hosted.  It's got... well, I'm not up on British celebrities, but I guess they're B- or C-listers.  And Belinda Carlisle.  Pretty good.  Definitely different from our version, because Ramsay's not amping it up per FOX's request.

I came across this link- you get to see a lot of Ramsay cracking up* with laughter, which is quite enjoyable to me.  I hope it works: here goes.

*Nearly every time I use the phrase "cracking up", I think of my beloved eighth grade English teacher, who had no idea what that meant.  And she wasn't even "old"...  you know, what a thirteen-year-old considers old.

posted by: athenawj at 09:50 | link | comments (1) |

I was spackle-fied last night.  Mr. Calm even found spackle in my hair.  I'm working on a jack o' lantern with legs and a Dia de Los Muertos lady, and I wanted to get them all covered yesterday.  I'm dreading adding the legs and feet to the pumpkin-- I tried that before and couldn't get the damn thing to stand up.  Maybe with bigger feet it'll work.

And the lady... I found a flimsy brimmed hat that will fit her head perfectly.  Can't wait to cover it with big, colorful flowers I have around here and glue it on her.  It'll go great with the shimmery purple dress I want to paint on.

After they're done, it's back to drawing. 

Watched the premiere of "Kitchen Nightmares" the other night.  I'd really been looking forward to it, as I've been a fan of the UK version for years.  It was pretty good, but not as good as the original (of course).  Gone is Ramsay's narration, always an added bonus- especially when he would first taste the food of the restaurant he was about to help ("Oh, dear.")  There's a LOT less focus on the food- very strange.  The original really focussed on that: making sure the chefs could actually cook, taking off menu items that didn't work and introducing items that were fresh, simple and in-season.  If their talents weren't up to par, Ramsay took the time to make sure they could handle the new menus.  Nobody on the old show got a new kitchen handed to them, but that's probably FOX's deep pockets-- there was one chef on the old show who had an "A-1 Chef" vanity plate.  Ramsay made him try to sell it (and the penis mobile he was driving) to pay off some of his debts.  He would also revamp the dining room and staff if needed.

Also, and this made me laugh every time, not an episode passed where Ramsay did not appear shirtless.  A quick scene where he changed from his street shirt to his chef's whites and talked about what was to come.  Gratuitous, hilarious, but not unwelcome.  Hell, he may look a bit like a shar pei (sp?), but the man's charismatic to the gills.  And in shape.

This one was so much more into Peter, the... co-owner of a restaurant.  I've never seen such a stereotypical stereotypical Italian Goodfella-wannabe.  My dad's half-Italian-- his mother's family is from northern Italy.  I think my great-grandfather, who didn't have very  nice things to say about his southern Italian brethren, would have popped a gasket, were he alive to see this blowhard.  Peter was infuriating; yes, he made good television (a little too good- made me wonder if he just wanted to be on t.v.), but this episode really lowered the... class of the original.

Still, I'll keep watching.  Kitchen Nightmares has always shown the "softer" side of Ramsay, which I knew well before Hell's Kitchen, and the man does know what he's talking about, having a degree in hotel and restaurant management, and about ten Michelin stars.  I especially like it when he spots real talent in the kitchen, usually from one of the line or sous chefs, and it's wonderful how he will encourage and nurture those people.  I hope we see that in this version.

posted by: athenawj at 06:31 | link | comments (2) |

I finished my Supplicant dolls yesterday morning, and the one I'm not keeping (meaning, the one whose hands I didn't accidentally break) is up at my shop: Supplicant Doll.  I like her.  I think she's purty.

It feels like Friday.

I saw something that did my heart good this morning.  Sometimes I get so cynical, so I'm glad I still have some empathy left in me.

Man, I really want to see "3:10 to Yuma" again.  Yes, I liked it that much.

posted by: athenawj at 07:53 | link | comments (2) |

3:10 to Yuma

Mr. Calm and I went to see 3:10 to Yuma last night.  Absolutely terrific- deserves all the kudos it's getting.  Although it goes without saying (at least to me- I've been a RC fan since Proof), Russell Crowe was fantastic. Great character.  What really made the film was his and Christian Bale's character's interactions.  Really great chemistry, and the writing for them especially was spot-on.

They must have filmed it in winter, because there was snow in a lot of the last half of the movie.  And I thought, "Oh, snow!!"  Loved it.

Go see it!

***

I hurt my foot again.  Or, I should say, my tendonitis flared up.  I'm limping around all the time now, and sometimes it feels like it's sprained badly.  But this time, I'm not letting it hold me back.  I'm just going to find other exercises, like the bike, to do at the gym.  I'm sick of this shit holding me back.

***

I'm going to work really hard to get my dollies done by tomorrow night.  I've been sort of lazy about it, but there's a drawing I want to do.  I wanted to use cheesecloth for part of her outfit, but strangely enough, it's been hard as hell to find cheesecloth.  People need to can more!!

***

I was approved for a portfolio page at Trunkt; a showcase for buyers and retailers to browse through.  You can find it here: http://www.trunkt.org/athenaworkman.

posted by: athenawj at 07:05 | link | comments (2) |
movies, dolls, bullshit

Posers

posted by: athenawj at 07:39 | link | comments (2) |
animals, state fair

Idbits

Do not, I repeat, do NOT, read a thread entitled, "The Grossest Thing You've Ever Seen at WDW" when you haven't eaten anything yet that day.

God, I almost had to run to the sink after three posts.  Enjoy being graphic, much?

I'll stick to the "Most Embarassing Moments" thread, thankyouverymuch.

Why, on a double-page spread entitled "Movers and Shakers" (of the last twenty years or so) in Entrepreneur Magazine, is there only ONE woman (Martha Stewart)?

(No, I don't normally read that magazine.  Mr. Calm has a subscription, and it's open on the bathroom floor.)

Excepting my own children and a few other fine individuals, teenagers suck.  I'll get over it, but for now, they do.

Someone I initially thought was a snot turns out to be pretty nice.  I like it when that happens.

Off to sand down my dollies.  Figured out that I may be able to skip the papier mache step and just cover my styrofoam forms with spackle right off.  We'll see after the sanding.

Somebody give me a shot of "I am Beautiful".

posted by: athenawj at 07:52 | link | comments (2) |

In the last few days...

Sunday YD wanted to come to work with me (the last two days, all we did was cut and put out pies, cakes, cookies, for sale), so I said yeah, sure... as a mom, thinking that she'd probably complain about being bored or something else that teenagers feel.  To my surprise, she LOVED being there, LOVED helping; loved going and picking out cakes to slice and sell; the selling part; helping me hand out trays of slices of a decorated cake during the cake decorating competition.

She said she wanted to work there next year.  I reminded her that it was during school, but really, it made me laugh.  What we did that day was really fun and games compared to all the setup- I'm not sure she'd like that part, heh.

A day earlier, Mr. Calm said "If you want a birthday cake, buy one from the ones left over." Heh.  So, I picked out a nice one with only a slice missing from judging, but I didn't have to pay for it.

We got our car back.  Saturn is going to "make amends".  I would  have liked it if the GM had come out and apologized while we were there.  I know they have a good reputation, but this really sours me on the company.

I started my dolls.  For some reason I can't really get the papier mache to stick to the heads, so it'll be spackle all the way, babe.

I ordered our Disney tickets.  Unfortunately, I ordered them with money from the wrong friggin' account, and we were overdrawn hundreds of dollars.  Fortunately, Mr. Calm caught it right after it happened, after the close of business (I ordered after c.o.b., too), so we were able to transfer money and save ourselves from hundreds in overdraft charges (he'd been paying bills when it happened).  It was definitely one of my "Ugh!  YOU!  Pay ATTENTION!" moments.

Mr. Calm and I are off to the fair today for a few hours.  I plan on relaxing by playing with a few pictures- making them into art photography.  Haven't done that in a while (awhile?  Which one?).

It happened in the last month, but I am finally a normal eater again.  I got used to the braces.  It's happy time now-- not, ugh, look at the gross stuff rolling around in my mouth.

Lastly, I have a new shop: Groovin' Pop!  It's for my pop and retro magnets and jewelry.  Stop on by this week-- I'll have Halloween stuff in there!  Go to my old shop quickly- the Halloween jewelry is really selling fast, to my joy and amazement.

No, really, here's the last announcement, and it's a Proud Momma one: OD is first chair clarinet in both Wind Ensemble and Full Orchestra.  YD is first chair in Orchestra, and she just found out last night that she's second chair in Rep!

Of course, she came home and told me that she was so bad she'd been reduced to playing the triangle.  Heh.  And no offense to triangle players.

posted by: athenawj at 06:46 | link | comments (2) |
music, photography, family, kids, car , disney, state fair, dolls

I'm going to start this off with something light.

I'm totally hooked on this show, "Ninja Warrior".  They show it on G4, and I first watched it last weekend, when OD was watching one of the marathons.  I always say, "I don't have time for any more reality shows", and then BOOM!, I get sucked into another one.  This one's from Japan, and it starts off with 100 people- mostly men- trying to complete a strenuous obstacle course.  Most of them fail to go on to the next three stages.  I think it's hilarious, watching most of the people land in the water pits below the rope hang, and the host/narrator seems to be a bit of a nut ("He's like a flying squirrel!").  I heartily recommend this fun show if you have that channel.

Okay.  We all know what day it is, and I'm sure all of us are remembering what we did, how we felt that day six years ago.  I've already teared up quite a bit from reading some of the articles through MSN.  Actually, ABC News is very fresh in my mind- ABC from that morning.

I don't know if I've mentioned before, but I used to volunteer next door in the elementary school library once a week.  Often when I went, if there was something on GMA that I didn't want to miss, I'd pop a tape in the VCR to tape while I was gone.  I was volunteering that morning, and I passed through the living room to get something, and saw a strange thing on t.v.  I thought it was a graphic- my mind couldn't wrap around the thought of a plane crashing into the WTC.  I had to go, so I put a tape in and left.  Two hours later, I got home, called Mr. Calm, and learned that the WTC was gone, and the Pentagon had been hit.

I still have the tape.  I don't think it's a sense of morbidness (word?)- it just felt wrong to tape over it.  I think mostly I kept it because if the girls had questions later in their lives- at the time they were nine and eleven- I'd have that tape there.  And the other day, YD had questions, and she asked to see the tape.

She left before the second tower fell.  She couldn't stand to watch any more.  Watching the tape with her, it struck me at how chaotic things were, how little Peter Jennings and the other reporters actually knew and how much they posited.  He talked over the first tower falling, and didn't realize until it was down that it was gone.  Watching the second tower collapse was one of the most horrendous, heart-wrenching things I've ever seen.  When I stopped watching, they didn't even know about United 93.

I'm not going to think about political bullshit today, although I'm sure it'll come up on t.v. 

posted by: athenawj at 07:41 | link | comments (3) |
the seriousness of it all

Our new car broke down last night.  Died.  Kaput.  It happened while we were driving home last night from dinner, and thank God we hadn't gotten on the parkway yet.  Mr. Calm told me later that he almost couldn't steer the car off the road into a parking lot.

See, nothing was wrong with the car yesterday morning.  But Saturn is doing a voluntary recall, and asked Mr. Calm to bring in the car (a hybrid small SUV) so they could work on it, and fix the "potential" problem.  His car is the first one they're working on, and they freely admitted they're working blind.

He took in the car yesterday morning, we picked it up at 5:30 p.m., and by 7:30 we were sitting in a parking lot with a dead car, waiting for a tow truck and waiting for OD's friend's mom to pick us up.  Because you know what Saturn did?  They created the very problem they were trying to prevent/fix.

Now we have no idea how long the car will be there, and if they can fix it correctly this time.  Five years ago, when Mr. Calm was having a problem with his last Saturn, the mechanics created a new problem with that car.  I'll freely say that the mechanics at Saturn suck the big one. 

You'd think we wouldn't go back to Saturn after that, but it's a hybrid, what we've wanted for a long time, and besides that one problem, Mr. Calm wouldn't have given up his last Saturn until the damn thing fell apart around him.  Besides the problem the mechanics created, it was reliable.  But what's happened now is unacceptable.

He's written Saturn already, and the NTSB.  If we'd been on the parkway we might have been hit, because the electrical system went out all at once.  And this is exactly what the recall's about.

Oh, and hey: the "Check Engine" icon came on less than two minutes after we left the Saturn garage.  Some job, Saturn!!

***

I have to work three hours today, and a couple tomorrow, then I'm done until we take it all down.  Today and tomorrow I'll be sitting as much as possible, because my knee went out again on Thursday, and it's been popping in and out since.  I'm the Limping Girl, ya'll. 

I'm getting glucosamine today (we were going to get it last night, but hey, stranded and all).  InMyLife, I've gotten three recommendations since you told me about it.  In fact, an eighty-year-old woman nearly grabbed me yesterday when I told her about it, so excited to hear that I was.  Her husband has taken it for two years and feel SO much better.  Heh.

posted by: athenawj at 07:22 | link | comments (3) |
bullshit

Woooorking

Today's drop-off day at the bakery, the hardest day of all for us.  By the end of the day I'm sure I'll be sick of sweets after cutting all those cakes and pies (and sampling a few other goodies, heh).  I'm nervous I'll make a mistake along the way, but it's not rocket science and I won't blow up the world, so I'm trying to take it in stride.

However, I work with such a friggin' lazy woman.  God, she pissed me off yesterday.  When I do work outside the house, I make damn sure I work to my fullest.  No one's paying me to stand there, pick the easiest jobs, and make sure I don't mess up my fingernails.  She's supposed to wrap every cake and pie I cut for display, and if she isn't done when I finish... I have half a mind to wander off and find something else to do.  I think maybe it's payback for the way she simply stood there while a sixty-three-year-old woman and I loaded, unloaded and set up twenty-seven tables.  Or how she ignored me when I twice said, "These need to be unpacked", because I had something else to do and she was just standing there watching her friend put tulle and flowers into the cases.  Or how she played with pinning some curtains closed for thirty minutes (curtains that were already closed) while I cleaned and set up even more tables and covered them with paper with a woman who has been through chemo (still suffering the effects) yet still works ten times harder than she does.

I mean, come ON.

I'm no longer amazed that there are people like this.  I don't think they'll stop irritating me, though.  And that's why I'll never run something like this, heh.

"YOU!  Get your thumb out of your ass and MOVE!!!"

posted by: athenawj at 05:57 | link | comments |
state fair

Ugh... a whirlwind

I'm back in a whirlwind state of mind: working at the fair while at the same time gutting my old shop, leaving all the artwork, photography, and art jewelry, and opening a new one; starting a new myspace page for that one, taking a few new photographs, making a couple new magnets, putting three magnets into the new shop.  In the coming weeks I'll fill it, and I'll also set up pages at indiepublic and we love etsy.  Get friends for ms.  More than half of this seems to be promotional stuff.  Bleh.

The nice thing was, I posted in the forums last night about the new Halloween card set I have in my first shop, and I NEVER post in the evening.  Someone saw the post, went to my shop, fell totally in love with my stuff, and bought some earrings.

I think I'll be posting in the evenings from now on! :D

***

I saw the best dancer yesterday.  We were driving over from the farmer's market to East Nashville, and stopped at a light downtown.  A guy with a shopping cart was standing on the corner with his earphones on.  His feet never moved, firmly planted on the concrete, but his body gyrated rapidly to whatever beat was pulsating in his ears.  He was terrifically good, and I watched him through the whole red light.

***

Gotta be at work at nine.  B. was very grumpy until lunchtime on Friday.  I hope she eats before she comes to work today.  I know I'm getting paid, but I volunteered, so I'd rather work with/for someone who remembers that.

posted by: athenawj at 06:36 | link | comments |
art , state fair, silly stuff