Lisa's Day

New Year's Eve

12/31/07 9:10 am I may have overslept. Last night I flipped past The Sound of Music, so I watched it (it was still near the beginning). I went to bed at 11. Steve got up at 6:30. I got up to go down the hall, then went back to bed.

12/31/07 1:37 pm Okay. Drawing on canvas is a BUST. I tried on the other smaller canvas - the same size as the one good drg I did. It was awful. And the gesso-over paint surface is inconsistent.

12/31/07 It may have been a good surface to draw on once, but it's not the same on this canvas. I couldn't get the same shading effects. Not good. It was so bad. I didn't even take a digital pic of it.

12/31/07 I got out my Pink Pearl eraser to make dark lines in the pencil, and that totally ruined it and made it look awful. I gessoed over it, so it's gone. No pencil drg on canvas.

12/31/07 2007 seemed to be the year to discover what did not work. Red Woman ptg. is the only good thing I did all year. Everything else was a dead end. Wrong turns I then could not duplicate.

12/31/07 A few nice pencil drgs that were TOO UPTIGHT. Not enough painting the way I want to paint. Blah! I better continue to tear down paper. I only have two j. pieces left.

12/31/07 2:20 pm I made a note last week, while reading over 99 j. pieces - I forgot to write about it. I had so many cravings and food obsessions. And when you read about dieting crap, there seems to be so much emphasis on making it your fault.

12/31/07 Like you're an emotional wreck, you are emotionally unstable because you have all these cravings. And it has nothing to do with my mental or emotional state. It was eating too many carbs! Carbs cause cravings. Carbs make me hungrier.

12/31/07 It wasn't me, it was simple carbs. Well, this is the year I lose weight, or else. Mom was right after all:  "Watch those carbos!"

12/31/07 5:11 pm Yesterday I put all the Christmas stuff away. I also got Steve to move several of my bins off the floor or into my closet. The apt. doesn't look quite so cluttered now. I've been doing shredding, but the machine overheated so it shut off.

12/31/07 And I only had two more things to shred. I tore down a bunch of j. paper today. Read through Nov 07 and Dec 07. But I don't want to do a Year in Review. Nothing worked! There's my Year in Review. A few notes:  Doug's check finally cleared. After 3 months. [I sent my nephew a check for $75 in September because he and his girlfriend had a baby. It never cleared, never cleared. Finally, I emailed him, and he answered that it was in a stack of stuff and got forgotten, but it was now in his wallet to be deposited. It still didn't clear for a month - it cleared late last week. Note to Self:  Cash is NOT a good gift.]

12/31/07 When we were at Susan & Steve's Christmas, we were telling them about the Gettysburg trip. Guess what? It's against the law to take beer across the state line into PA! Who knew? Did I mention the Robocop Enforcement Droids?

12/31/07 I forgot to say that Steve got me Robocop as a Hanukkah gift. And Steve asked if I knew about the Enforcement Droids in the legal disclaimer:  I did not. When I talked to Jami last week, I told her about it.

12/31/07 She thought it was funny. But both of us couldn't believe we missed that given the number of times we went to see that movie. That was the summer we moved into the rental house with our friend Christine. BEEG MEESTAKE.

12/31/07 We'd come home and Christine and her friends would be sitting on our couches watching movies on our t.v. and vcr. We escaped to the movies, and the only thing out was Robocop. We moved out after a couple months. We moved way out to Marietta.

12/31/07 At the end of the credits, it says:  ...unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution by enforcement droids.

12/31/07 Steve wins the Golden Eye Award once again! He was the one who spotted Mr. Hankey in the Southpark opening credits way back in first season (among other things he has spotted).

12/31/07 Did I mention Steve is closing? So I'm home alone this evening. I'm going to open the bottle of red wine from G'burg. 5:42 pm Yay - the shredder recovered, so that's done and put away.

12/31/07 I also poured myself a glass of the Adams Cty. "Three Ships to the Wind" red wine. It's nice and light, not dry. I've been watching Project Runway all day. 5:52 pm I'm having trouble with carb cravings! I've been snacking!

12/31/07 On chips! It will be easier when I go back to my Shit Office Job. I can only eat what I take with me. 6:00 pm I should probably stop at one glass of wine so I don't screw up my sleep.

Santa's Workshop - Sewing Project #2

I had another sewing project for Christmas. Now that Pat has opened her flag, I can post about it. I got this idea back in 2005, Memorial Day, when Steve and I went to visit Dad and Pat in Memphis. J. pieces are below. We still miss Dad. He passed away in 2005. : (

After we moved to Mayhemland in early 2006, I started to work on the flag, making the pattern. I tried to sew the flag with the pattern on both sides, and that was a disaster. I determined that it needed to be single-sided. But I was working a lot on my art stuff, so I put it away for awhile. This year, after the trip to Disneyworld in June, I got it out to work on it again, figuring I'd get it done for Pat's birthday in July. Didn't happen. So, I got it out again before Christmas and finally got them done. The red, white and blue parts of the flag are what I privately call "renegade applique" - it's not an official way to do applique, but it's a great shortcut. Sew two sides together completely, cut a slit in the back, turn inside out, and sew down around the edges. Those parts are just cotton fabric. The backing is white canvas, with the edges sewn under, and a hanging sleeve sewn under in the back.

I made two flags. This one is mine. It has a slight flaw - the right edge of the sleeve for the dowel sticks out just a little. I made sure that didn't happen when I sewed the sleeve for Pat's flag.

This is Pat's flag.

5/27/05 1:55 pm We just drove through our old neighborhood. Steve said, "The old buildings! The vagrants! The trash in the street! God, I miss this place!" We're listening to U of M's Jazz Station. Button's tree was gone.

5/28/05 I was surprised at how COOL it was (is) this morning. Even after the sun came up. 11:15 am We're just leaving Wild Oats. First - after Starbucks - we went to West St. Diner!

5/28/05 OHHHH - Real Red Eye Gravy at last! Steve got Country Ham & Red Eye Gravy. I had a bit. Ham was SO GOOD. I got blueberry pancakes - plain pancakes with heated pie filling!

5/28/05 Steve watched the cook - he boiled coffee in a saucepan and put some ham right into it. After Breakfast II we went to Wild Oats. Saw NOBODY we knew. We're coming back Sunday on the way out.

5/29/05 10:48 am We're about to go see STAR WARS! Steve and I ran out for the tickets last night, before dinner. We had frozen shrimp scampi (which was very good) over pasta for dinner, topped with fresh basil from the garden, and fresh lemons.

5/29/05 Then Pat & Dad got out the champagne Jason brought them from Spain, and we toasted their anniversary. Then we watched Episode II to prepare, or get us in the Mood for today. Steve & I ate cookie dough. We bought some at the store - the preformed cubes. DECADENT.

5/30/05 10:43 am Just left Home Depot. While in line: BLUE ANGELS!!!!! 6:30 ish pm Memorial Day. Let me back up to yesterday. When we walked into the theater, there was just one family there. The Dad said, "This is a private screening. Y'all come on in." [Pat and I were outside at Home Depot, in the garden section, and I heard the familiar sound of a Blue Angels plane in the air - I looked and saw a blue jet zip by. You'll see more of my Blue Angels obsession when I get to Seattle j. pieces.]

5/30/05 Then, when Steve and I headed out for snacks, and Dad gave Steve money, this other guy (more people had arrived) told Steve they had loans available. This evening Steve and I went for a walk in the neighborhood - three times around. Lots of neighbors waved at us. [Marveling at the contrast between friendly people in Tennessee vs. the glaring looks we got in Misery.]

5/30/05 In cars, in yards, walking as well. Steve said, "More people just waved at us than have in our entire time in Springfield!" Yesterday afternoon Matt & Amy & the kids came over. Both of them were downright chatty! I don't know what's going on when they're so quiet and distant.

5/30/05 But it was a very pleasant visit. Dad cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Amy brought pineapple upside down cake. I zonked out early. Ran again this morning. Six times around x .6 = 3.6 miles.

5/30/05 Cynthia and her girls are here today (Carolyn, Hailey & Danielle). Pat & I ran out this morning, to Home Depot & the grocery store. Steve & Dad got into the York Klondike bars. Dad immediately called Pat & told her to buy more. We brought home Deli fried chicken for lunch. Dad is grilling ribs.

5/31/05 9:17 am Steve and I are headed out for a day by ourselves. Dad & Pat didn't want to come to either the Zoo or Beale St. Steve came with me this morning on my walk. His brisk walk is my jogging pace. He only did 4 laps.

5/31/05 Lion.

5/31/05 Leopard. Leopard sacked out!

5/31/05 White Stork. Should have left room for his feets!

5/31/05 Pretty cougar.

5/31/05 Had to return for a quick sketch. The snow leopard was pacing. So is a cheetah. They need room to run!

5/31/05 Coming soon: Northwest Passage. They're bringing Polar Bears to this climate?! That's just mean! Hippos sleeping in the water.

5/31/05 Le Le having lunch!

5/31/05 We got Sno Cones. And sat down in front of the Elephants. One took a dump right in front of us. Then did it again.

5/31/05

5/31/05 1:33 pm Back in the car. It got hot outside. At least the indoor places are air-conditioned. I liked the Pandas best! Cat Country second. We drove through the park, but not past XXX. The studio bldg is now the Graduate Center.

5/31/05 We're at Rum Boogie Cafe. I'm sipping a Rum Blueberry or something like that (I think it's the one Rachel Ray had). The other rum drinks had OJ or pineapple in them - didn't want that. Well, after Bookstar, we drove around to find Blockbuster.

5/31/05 Right on the other side. They had a copy of the Wall, new. Someone special ordered it, but didn't pick it up. What luck! Then we came downtown. Browsed Peabody Place, which is just a mall. Then browsed Beale St. shops. Steve got a bowl of Gator Gumbo. [Pat mentioned that she had a copy of the movie Pink Floyd: The Wall, and lent it to someone who never returned it; we found a copy for her.]

5/31/05 Gator Gumbo very spicy. I found a knat in my drink. But I don't think he drank very much before he drowned. In the car again - 5:24 pm. We had fried catfish at Rum Boogie - very good. Asked for lemon to squeeze over it. [That should have been gnat.]

5/31/05 Hush puppies were great. Cole slaw good. But the fries were very greasy. We wandered a little more. Walked through the Peabody. Then walked up Union to the crest of the hill where we could see the river. (Sigh.)

5/31/05 Not the greatest view, but still a good view of the water and a slice of Mud Island. As much as Memphis drove me crazy (the low-education factor) and I hated the heat and humidity, this town has loads of CHARACTER!

5/31/05 Steve said, "And good memories." We're in Collierville. There's a Ford dealership flying a HUGE American flag. I mean HUGE. At the red light, I was watching it flutter in the breeze:  mesmerizing.

5/31/05 There's this flag outside an antique shop (we're near the Collierville Square) - it reminds me of the Love American Style Heart! It's white with this heart on it: But it's red on top (white stars) with blue & white stripes. Now I want that flag! Having seen it several times.

5/31/05 9:58 pm Dad & Pat were home when we got home. Dad went to the Dr. today, who said he was pleased with his progress - yay! We watched The Incredibles this evening. I had Squeaks and/or Yower on me most of the time. Now it's time for bed.

6/1/05 9:39 am Out & about w/Pat. The Love American Style flag pattern: on the way back maybe I can count the stripes! Got it - 5 blue stripes.

6/2/05 Yower

6/5/05 7:46 am We just left Pat & Dad's. On the road again. But first a stop at Starbucks, and a gas station. We had such a good time. We're going back under protest.

Most of these photos were taken the previous Thanksgiving, of 2004. This is Dad cooking, and Steve. Pat took most of these.

Steve and Yower. (These are all scanned, so they aren't the best quality photos.)

Us!

Us and Dad!

Us and Pat!

Us and Yower. I don't have any good photos of Squeeks or Madison. Wait - yes, I do - hang on while I scan...

Us with Madison.

Steve holding Squeeks. Pardon the bad quality of the photo and the drips - we keep these two on our fridge and they are our only copies!

And me holding Squeeks. He's a big cat.

This morning

12/29/07 8:47 am I went to bed really early. I was feeling achy and ooky. I got really chilled walking around downtown. This morning Steve opened, so he was up at 4:30. I woke up, too. I couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up after he left at 5:15.

12/29/07 I had some juice and got on the computer. But I wasn't feeling well. So I went back to bed. I couldn't get back to sleep right away. I was dozing. I was shivering. I finally sat up to put on my longsleeve t-shirt, and pink blanket.

12/29/07 Then I was dreaming I was on a Green line train. I had been sleeping, and I woke up, and had no idea how I got there. I thought I was in bed - then I was on a train. I had no idea where we were. I had no memory of how I got there.

12/29/07 Was I sleepwalking? Did I take the bus or drive? I wanted to go back home! Then I realized we were between Greenbelt and C. Park, and the train pulled into College Park, so I got off. And sat down to wait for a train back. Then I woke up in my bed.

12/29/07 And I was so happy to be back in my warm bed, under the covers. Steve called, about 7:30, I think. I didn't hear the phone, I heard the answ. machine. I got up to listen to his message, then grabbed my cell phone and went back to bed.

12/29/07 I called him back. He was on a break. He didn't want me to sleep too late. I think I stayed in bed another hour.

Yesterday's Trip to D.C.

Yesterday I went into D.C. by myself. Steve wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home. I wanted to see the art exhibit at the Canadian Embassy and the Hopper show at the National Gallery before they leave in January.

The show at the Canadian Embassy was very small, with only two Emily Carrs (and not major paintings). Still, I'm glad I went.

Nice tree outside the building.

This is their Bill Reid sculpture.

View from the other side.

View up the street.

I stopped in the middle of the street and waited for traffic to clear to get this shot.

[The following was written on the Mezzanine level, while in line for the Hopper show.]

12/28/07 I found the Rothenberg! One of the horses. Black and orangy-red. Loosely painted. Like I want to paint! I took a bunch of photos - close-ups of the painting. The loose, carefree brush strokes.

12/28/07 I have to get rid of all my uptightness and just paint. I have to stop worrying over the images and just paint. I have to get out of my head, stop thinking, and just paint. I have to just paint.

12/28/07 Um...Hopper was a snooze. Houses and streets. Desolate figures. I'm depressed now. And Nighthawks is a very small ptg. Maine, Maine, Maine. Snooze. I'm going to look at Susan's ptg again.

[Steve would have been bored. I was!]

I only took one shot of the whole ptg and it's blurry. Oh, well. 

Musings on Old J. Pieces

I spent the past few days (when I had time) sorting 1999 pieces to scan - again. (Since the first scans were lost when the computer fell ill.) I'm choosing different pieces to scan this time, I think. I didn't have so many the first time around. I'm including a lot of Family Crap. (You can't have family without Family Crap.) I'm also having those same worrying feelings that I did back then (as you'll see from some of the scanned pieces) - that people will read what I've written about them, and what will their reaction be? Will they be hurt? Angry? Upset? Confused? In revealing what has happened in my life, it inherently involves what happens in the lives of others. And given that the j. pieces are written as things happen, at the time the writing can be quite emotionally charged and strongly worded. Sometimes my feelings change or mellow with time. Sometimes not. I would hope that is what people would "get" about the work. Sometimes my views or my feelings can be contradictory. They are what they are (or were) at the time.

Although it's not like my family is even reading this blog. I haven't given the address to any of my siblings. A few weeks ago, one of my sisters wanted to email us all these old photos she got from Margaret (my Dad's wife). I suggested a photo-sharing site, or even a blog, rather than emailing such huge files. I mentioned that I had a Typepad blog. The email copied all my siblings. Nobody picked up on it - nobody at all. Even if I got my j. pieces published, I don't know that my siblings would buy my book (they'd probably expect a free copy from me) or even read it all the way through if they had it. They totally don't give a shit about my artwork, and even though I have described this project to all of them, if I asked them about it, I'm sure they'd all give me blank stares. Sometimes in my fantasies about getting the work published (and making enough money to quit my Shit Office Job), I don't tell my family about it. I wait till they ask about my artwork, which of course would be never.

Anyway. There it is. There was a lot of discussion about Dad's will (in the 1999 j. pieces), but none of us could do anything about it. Dad died in 2003, shortly after we moved to Misery. I was shocked that Margaret paid for my plane ticket to go to the funeral. But everything went to Margaret. It's in some Trust, and when she dies, it gets divided up between her children and Dad's children. I just got an email from her today. Happy New Year, it said. She's going to New Orleans on New Year's Eve. In January, "we go to Hawaii" - who is "we" I don't know. In February the South Carolina Coast. I didn't get a Christmas card from her. We only get these emails detailing her travels and the spending of the interest on the Trust. Have fun, Mags!

I'm getting the second half of 1999 scanned today, and hopefully posted today, or this weekend. Tomorrow Steve is off and we are going into D.C. to finally see the Hopper exhibit at the National Gallery. And I'd like to go to the Canadian Embassy to see that art show that includes Emily Carr (if it's still up). We'll take the camera. We took the camera to PA for Christmas, but didn't take any pictures.

Merry Christmas!

The final Christmas Card tally:

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Last night we drove an hour to PA to visit some family. Just got home. Ready for a lazy (and quiet) rest of the day.

Lisa

Santa's Workshop - Sewing Project #1

I can tell you about the sewing project for Jami because she's received them and opened them. When I saw these little frogs, I thought they were so cute, she'd like some to display around her house. Although mine didn't turn out quite like the frogs in the photos. Mine look more like bullfrogs when sat up. The pattern is here: http://www.purlbee.com/purl-frog/

No Fake Trees

So, I mentioned that I've been wanting to find a small artificial tree. Then I read this at Slate:

http://www.slate.com/id/2180086/

So, maybe next year we'll find a real tree. I think the problem in Misery was that the tree we got at Wal-Mart was ultra-dried out to begin with. Maybe we can find a local tree farm where they can cut down the tree for you. I'm not cutting down a tree myself.

I still need to take an updated holiday card photo. Several more arrived in the mail today. However, one had to be immediately thrown in the trash. It was COVERED in glitter! WHY do people like glitter? It is an evil, evil substance. The card was totally coated in glitter. And when I opened it, my friend's photo of her two kids was also covered in glitter. I went immediately to the trash, where the card ended up, then wiped off the envelope (to shred later) with a Kleenex, and the photo, but I couldn't get all the glitter off the photo. Oh, well. Just Say No to Glitter.

However, here is the absolute cutest card we have ever gotten. This also arrived today. I mean, have you ever seen anything cuter?! And I'm not even a dog person, especially not a small dog person.

And this arrived from one of my sisters, for the back of the car. Steve spotted this on a car in Seattle, and since then (we left Seattle in 2003) we haven't been able to find one. She found it on-line. What a riot!

Happy Holidays and Disney Lights

Here are some updated pictures of home:

Update on our Holiday Card collection.  I took this last night. And I've already added some more. But I'll take an updated photo this weekend, since some of the new additions have covered up some of the previous ones.

An updated look at the gift table. You don't notice that Steve's birthday gifts are gone because they were behind the Snoopys. But Shawn the lamb ("BAAAAA!") had to be moved up front because he was on top of that stack.

See the Disney lights up front? I have a funny story about them.

Back in Misery, we had a Holiday Party with a gift exchange. It might have been the last December I was there, 2005, I don't remember. And I don't want to dig out my Misery j. pieces to check. Anyway, the gift exchange:  we did the "stealing" thing. On the Top Chef Holiday Special, Padma called it "Dirty Santa." I'd never heard it called anything before. But one person opens a gift, and then the next one can either steal a gift already opened or open a new one. Well, at the college Party, someone brought this set of Disney lights.

One of our professors ended up with it, and she was known for loving Disney; her office was full of Disney paraphernalia. Well, it was my turn and I "stole" the Disney lights. And she made such a fuss! "Ohhh, my kids would have LOVED those! I can't believe you did that! My kids would have gotten SUCH a kick out of those!" Most of the gifts were ultra-girly crap like perfumey bath stuff or candles - ugh. Here's what I thought was really funny:  I was making my $25K shit Misery wages. Her salary was three times that. I had to do a faculty salary survey every year, so I knew how much all the professors made. I think her salary was $77K, or something very close to that. She could have gone on-line and bought her kids a dozen of these lights.

They change color every few seconds. Aren't they cute?

I really like them.  Tee hee.

Steve's Birthday

I took Tuesday off for Steve's birthday. I let him open one gift early, since Tuesday is Gaming Night at Mike's and we wouldn't be home. I got him a Japanese robe from here:  http://www.japanesegifts.com/  I got him the Kanji Symbol Yukata cotton robe. He was admiring the robes in the Department Store at the Japanese Pavilion at Epcot this past summer. He opened the rest of his gifts Tuesday morning. We had a leisurely day together, and I made chocolate-chocolate cupcakes. I only use one chocolate cake recipe - the one from the tin of Hershey's Cocoa. I have tried many many chocolate cake recipes, often disappointing, especially if melted chocolate is involved. I finally stopped and the Hershey's recipe is the only one I use. Hershey's Cocoa is also superior for baking. Once, while at my sister's in Vancouver, BC, she scoffed when I asked for Hershey's Cocoa, and brought out the "superior" Droste Cocoa. After I made the cake, I could taste the difference in that inferior cake. Only Hershey's! I wanted to frost these cupcakes with a big frosting tip and make a pretty bakery swirl. I tried this once in Misery, with only a single batch of frosting, and I ran out halfway through; it was too late to run to the store, so I scooped frosting off the frosted ones, and they all had ugly frosting. So, this time I did it right and made a double batch of frosting. Success! Look how pretty:

However, that is an awful lot of frosting!! The Guys didn't complain. Yesterday (Wednesday) Steve took a container of the cupcakes to work at Starbucks, and he said everyone LOVED them. (He didn't bring any home.)