Work station, engage. Make it so. etc.

Regard and regale the evolution of my work station. Twas once this:



It had character, yes, but was it extremely uncomfortable and annoying also? Yes.

The state of things now:



So clean, so efficient (I hope!).

Why it dang well inspired me to take a plunge and finally list a few items in my etsy store. I have several more to list in the upcoming days as I'm trying to meter it out a little. It's all new to me, I'm learning as I go along how to get exposure and junk and stuff. Wish me luck on that. (Please!)

Wedding fishizzle-ictures

Wedding was fantastic and perfect. Now bed. photos later.

Donuts, rain, sleep deprivation and a wedding

Getting married today. Crazy! I hope I remember some of it and stay awake. I don't travel so good. Sooooo tired. It rains today, today it rains. I will buy an umbrella from the vintage store across the street (there's one of those, every five feet) and go get married, that's my plan for today.

Here's yesterday:

Right out of your mouth. With a wooden spoon.

4:20 AM. That's when our alarm went off this morning. Dressing in the dark, bleary-eyed, moving through the house like a grape through jell-o. Why is air so much thicker when you are tired.

Right now it's 7:45 pm pacific time. We are in the coolest room I've ever been in at the Bluebird Guesthouse. It's old-timey. Art-deco. I'm sitting still but the room is spinning from plane dizziness and exhaustion but I'm happy as hell anyway.

Let me return to early in the morning hours. Driving in the cab through town before sunrise, with the streets dead, was cinematic. I started missing my cat (who's for real name now is Trillby) about 20 seconds after leaving. Little fuzzball.

We breezed through customs and our flight to Dallas was uneventful. Yes, that's right, we took the very efficient route of flying to Dallas before getting to Portland. Sigh. Anyway. I have been wanting to visit Texas for a long time. Somehow though, I don't think eating a pasty vegetable wrap in an airport terminal, watching planes being refueled is the best way to see Texas. Or is it?

I wrote this next part in real-time on the plane so I'll switch temporal modes now:
So I'm flying out of Texas now, above Utah or Arkansas or Poland or whatever the hell is between Dallas and Portland. There are 3 manly men in the seats across the aisle from us. 2 are from Texas and 1 is from Boston. The Texans were mocking the Bostonian: "How come you say 'Ore-re-gone'? It's Orr-gun. Orr-gun."

When the second Texan came to his seat, the first Texan said to him: "Watch out now. This guy is from Boston. I saw his Red Sox shirt and thought, oh now, this won't work, I'm a Yankee...but he's in the military and I got to respect that...."

None of these chaps knew each other, but soon became the best of friends, bonding over talk of guns and sports and how short their mothers are.

"My mom is 4'11."
"My mom is 4'9."
"My mom is 4'2."
The other two in unison: "Really?"

"Yeah but she's tough."
"Oh my mom too. She'll beat the piss right out of your mouth with a wooden spoon."

Will he put that in her obituary I wonder?

This plane is a lot smaller and hotter than the first one. There's a pilot sitting kitty corner from me. I scrutinized his face during take off for signs of concern. He was too busy reading his Harry Potter book to be reliable though.

I guess flying has become a little less scary for me, but no less uncomfortable. It's a long haul. I'm sure it will all seem worth it when I get there.

Back to real-time again, here in Portland, I can say already, it was worth it. I'm already pretty sure I need to live here. In a few short blocks around our Inn, we've seen streets and houses and restaurants that look like our brains designed and built them specifically for us. Hopefully the photos will do it some justice. I'm pretty out of it this evening and maybe not at my writing or photographing best. I am feeling full of good food and soon, I will be full of gravol and sleeping like a northwestern log, hopefully.

Portland day 1. Success.

bitchin' hitchin'

Alright then, T and I might as well go get married this week eh? Ayep. We will be eating our way through Portland for 4 days. Wish us luck.
Have a donut in our honor on friday after 2pm why don't ya?

terry jan

We found this photograph that someone left here, stuck way back in a little closet in our place. Written on the back is: "terry jan". I felt like drawing it today. My favourite is the dad in the background with the killer eyebrows. I didn't draw it well enough to be seen, but in the photograph, he's making a fist so tight it's white knuckled. I can't tell if it's Terry or Jan's dad for certain, but I'm guessing it's Terry's. Terry looks pretty comfortable there all spread out. Jan's looking a little more demure than him. She's got that "in the in-laws home" demeanour about her. Also, I can't tell, is dinner done? or just started? There's salad and that's about it. Hmmm.

Also in the news. I've finished my first commission. A woman from Voodoo donuts offered her services of photographing our wedding in trade for me making a bag for her out of an old David Bowie t-shirt. I should have taken a picture of the t-shirt to show the before and after, but now I know to do it next time. It was in rough shape. The whole top had been cut off. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out in the end, especially the shiny gold lining. Hopefully, she will like it too.

Feeling like Merv.

These bags are getting more kick-ass. I am especially exited about linings. You know when Rick Moranis does Merv Griffin, all bent over, showing off his big but and saying to Dave Thomas as Liberace: "Ooooh. Show us your (suit jacket) lining. Ooooh." I feel just like Merv.

Right on to winter effing off for another year.

Dare I commit to writing that Spring seems to be here? Even if it's just the very tippy-toe of Spring. The last two mornings I've noticed the light looks different through the curtains. More Springy.

The days are longer and the temperature is above zero! I thought it would never happen again. Piles and piles of snow are drooping and turning slushy on top and I heard a bird in Montreal in the middle of the day. I don't know what kind of bird it was, but it seems ages since I've seen or heard one. Soon, the red-winged blackbird that always lives on our roof will be singing right outside my window and waking me up at dawn, like it has the past two years. Grass is gonna poke through the ground, rain will fall instead of snow, the tulips and irises will grow in my flower garden and I'll wear shoes again. What's it even like not to wear boots? I can't remember.

The soundtrack to the arrival of spring seems to be Skylarking by XTC. Every time I notice Spring-ness, I get the urge to throw it on.

I've had a cold the past couple days and have been confined to the couch so I picked up the knitting needles to keep my hands from becoming tools of the devil, what with their idleness and all...it's a bit late in the season for it but I'm pleased with my new hat.

Right on to Spring.

I'm sooooo boring!!!!

New bag finally. It's reversible! Been knitting. Finished this damn sweater that looks less than flattering but is completed at least. Plus, some slippers to boot.

Hamburger helper: Antidote to productive creation

I had a dream (here's where everyone rolls their eyes and goes to google news instead) that I was at a concert in New York city, in what appeared to be the early 80's and John Lennon was in the audience( circa 1980's new york John Lennon with the army coat, shorter hair, big burns... It made me sad, seeing him and knowing his fate so soon to arrive). It was the end of the "performance" and the men on stage, in army camouflage, opened fake but realistic machine-gun fire on the audience as a "statement" of being pro-might-is-right or something. I looked and saw John Lennon shouting in outrage, along with the rest of the audience.

The venue turned into a House of Pancakes, family-type restaurant (lots of booths). One of the performers had his family there with him: a wife and 3 children. They were all "poorly socialized", to put it euphemistically. Nerds. The daughter, a chubby, greasy-haired 15 year-old, feeling rebellious, stood up and questioned her own parents on their part in the machine-gun performance. "Why didn't you choose productive creation?, she asked.

Her mom's response to that was: "I'm no sophisticated city lady. I use Hamburger Helper all the time!" At the mention of Hamburger Helper, her daughter and 2 younger sons began to shake and quiver like babies do when they are happy, squirming and pumping their legs or like people with palsy who shake their heads and wave their arms.

The mom knew conjuring Hamburger Helper visions would distract her children from high-falutin' thoughts of productive creation.

The lesson is?

Frauwerks

So I think I'm nearly at the point of opening my Etsy shop. I've come up with the name. Thanks to my parents for about a billion good suggestions. You guys should maybe forget retirement and start an agency. I riffed off one of their suggestions - Volkstaschen which would translate to: the people's bags, if I got that right, mom? So after some playing around with words and listening to Kraftwerk I came up with Frauwerks. Women's work. I wanted to keep it a little looser in meaning since I would like to eventually do more than just bags. Anyway Frauwerks. Big runner up to some of the religiously irreverent names I almost went with, again from my parent's suggestions: Sack remnants and my riff, Sack-re-licious. Seriously, they had tons more. If you need something named, go to my parents.

Here's the latest, and an update to an older bag that need something more (I added the flowers). I am keeping the bigger blue one, for now anyway. Now I have to work on a damn logo and make some business cards and finish the Etsy site. All stuff that is waaay less fun than making the bags. Plus, I have a 3 day reception job this week. "Can you handle multiple phone lines?" "Sure I can. Yep. I sure can."(lie).

It's good, it'll get me out of the house for a few days and force me to dress myself properly.

The couch cover that kept on giving

The newest bags:

But what do I call it?

Help me name my bag endevour. The idea behind it is, I re-use old materials. Either scraps, old clothes or abandonned sad pieces of cloth that want to be happy again. Like the couch cover in the as-is section of Ikea, or a skirt from Goodwill, or my first commission, a bag made from an old David Bowie t-shirt.

So I want to open a store on Etsy but I don't know what to call the damn thing.

Ideas? Anyone? Bueller?

Stop, drop and plop

Ahh yes. Winter wars on, well past it's welcome. Last week I shovelled waist-high snow for an hour and lost the feeling in my legs. Good times. I vow not to spend another winter in this apartment.

I'm being luxurious today by having a fire going in the afternoon. Usually we wait until the evening to preserve wood. Well tough, I'm cold and I'm sick of being cold. Wah wah wah.

I went to go rent a movie from the corner store for tonight and some dude was paying for cigarettes with rolls of pennies. The problem was, they were wrapped in paper and needed to be in the plastic holders so the cashier girl and him were transferring them. After a few minutes they both finally realized that they could maybe go ahead and serve me while they finished assembling the penny monuments.

On a regular day this would have annoyed me and I would have spoke up, but today I wasn't in a hurry and frankly, I was fascinated by this slice of life in Deux Montagnes. Yes, I live in a town where people pay for cigarettes with rolls of pennies. I'm surprised he wasn't getting some beer with that. He did have a pretty rocking 80's buick, parked outside the store with the stereo blasting bad french rock, keys still in the ignition. No wonder he has to pay with pennies, his entire income must go into paying the gas for that old bastard, grandpa car.

In a rare moment of inspiration, I redid my resume today. It's about a million times better than it was. The best one I've ever done. I have no idea how I managed to accomplish that, as it's one of my most dreaded tasks, but I did, so I'm not complaining. Now I am ready to go get another stupid office job. Yay! At least it will be a new office job and not the same old one I was in. That alone is relief enough for me.

As it so happens, the bags are coming along pretty good. Production is getting slower which tends to be my pace when things start having potential. I don't know what's up my damn craw, but I always have trouble pushing through with creative endeavours that are going somewhere. I chip away at it. That's all. Better than a kick up the old arse, as far as I know.

The day sun is turning to late afternoon sun and the fire needs another log. I have to figure out what to shove into my food hole for dinner and get on with business. First though, I'm gonna take 15 minutes to just lay the hell on the couch and listen to the radio. You'd think I'd be lazing around like crazy, being home all day, but I rarely do. I tend to keep busy, even if I don't accomplish all that much. Sometimes, it's nice to stop, drop and roll...onto the couch. Plus, this pleases the cat. He'll come running from anywhere as soon as he senses there is an inactive human body to sleep on top of. Who can blame him really.

Stop, drop and ignore the clock.

NFB online. Happy happy.

Got time to kill? Want to watch Canadian documentaries and films? Sure you do! The NFB has 700 films on their site now to watch for free baby. Get in on that here at the NFB.

Bag lady

Oh my crab, I am so computer fatigued. We thought eloping would make life easier but there is still quite a bit of planning. Finding hotel rooms mainly. Being extremely picky and enjoying complicating things as much as possible, well, I've been pretty occupied trying to get it all in order and over with.

Plane tickets are bought and in the nick of time. The price went up 200 dollars the day after we bought them. So phew on that. Anyhoo anyhoo. We will get married April 17th. We'll have 2 days in Portland before and 2 after and we found someone to cat sit.

It took a long time for us to figure out the right way to go about this whole getting married thing. We feel really excellent about our choice. I'm happy about that.

On other fronts:

Why not peruse some of the bags I've finished this far. I'm learning as I go along. Getting waaay better at linings and feeling like I can add more features and detailing to the newer bags. We'll see what happens.

Oh and yes, that is the cat, perching on my back like a sphinx while I toil on the floor, hunched over a bag.

Balance to prevent unsaneness.

Worries about cat sitting aside (AAAHHH we need a cat sitter!!), many centimeteres of snow fell yesterday. That, plus drifting had me shoveling thigh high snow just to be able to get out the front door. Exciting...for about 2 seconds and then annoying. Anyhoo.

I've designated January a "work on stuff" month. The working on stuff has manifested as a plan to make some bags with this pile of material I bought in Ikea's as-is section. A former couch cover, very durable stuff. I figure, if they turn out well, I can try to sell them for a small taste of commercial endeavor. I quite enjoy making them, but I'm noticing I still have to, sort of, saddle up to the idea each day afresh. Apparently, my psyche feels I am not allowed to work on them until I first exercise and do a bit of housework, otherwise I am ridden with the guilt of sloth and hedonism.

From my workstation, I can see the river out to where the dam is. That's the only unfrozen part of the river because the current is so fast, but it still looks damn cold. Also damn cold is the house. I made a frankenstein of a hot drink today to warm myself, composed of coffee subsitute of barley and chicory plus cocoa powder plus almond powder plus chocolate soymilk plus hot water. Sound ridiculous? Ridiculous like a fox, because Hot Frankenstein, as I've dubbed it, is very tasty.

I don't even know what day it is. January somethingth. It feels like winter will stretch endlessly but I suppose that isn't true. Come February, I will inform the temp agency that I am back in business and we'll see what comes of that. I couldn't stay home endlessly, that's for sure. I would go mental, even though I have plenty to do. Part-time work would be ideal. Just enough to keep me socially integrated and fulfill my guilt-induced pain quota to allow for pleasure as a reward. It's all about balance. Gentle, tenuous, non-nonsensical balance.

2009 Jupiter and Beyond. (SCTV. Eugene Levy as Ernest Borgnine. Sublime.)

Well Happy New Year then everyone. Whew.

Christmas was great. I was really glad to have a whole month to relax during a festive season and take time to get some bloody enjoyment out of it. I even managed not to put on the requisite ten holiday pounds. I rang the New Year in rather feebly by barely being awake at 12. I was in bed, listening to the radio and waiting for it to happen so I could go to sleep. Despite my lack of festivities about it, I was and still am feeling that now, is as good a time as any to believe in positive changes and a truly happy new year. And that wraps up the sappy sentiment.

Highlights of 2008 off the top of my head:

1. Quitting my damn job!
2. Getting the kitten (who's latest name is Little Lebowski)
3. Seeing Tennessee get his Engineering ring.
4. Pretty much everything we did in California and especially Oregon and Washington state.

Predicted highlights for 2009:

1. Getting married at Voodoo Donuts in Portland this April (finance gods, be kind to us!).
2. Figuring out what the hell I want to do for work??
3. Growing out my damn hair and getting a half decent hair cut for once...

So, doesn't seem like much but number 2 there will be taking a lot of time and energy I think.

In the meantime, with my open days, I have been shaking my booty and sewing bags and knitting a sweater and rearranging the house in a never ending search for pure efficiency and Swedish minimalism. I am soooo far from that goal in our place here. Sigh.

Actually, we've been thinking of moving. All of a sudden, upon returning home after Christmas, I realized, I was ready for something new. I'm ready to be back in the city. Albeit, in a concrete, 100% soundproof apartment but, as soon as we find that in the right place for the right rent, I'm ready to leave here. It did me good being here. It was a huge source of relief and peace. The river and the trees and the garden and the fireplace and our very own walls, shared with no one else...truly our little introvert home. Now, I find I look less out at the river, the winters are freezing, even with the fireplace, heat and wood cost a fortune, the train dictates our lives and our little house is falling apart at the seams. Cracks are breaking through on the walls and ceiling and I'm scared to step in certain spots, lest I fall right through the floor.

We are brewing the idea, we'll start looking, no hurry. When I find a place, I'll give notice and that's it. I used to have nightmares about moving from here accidentally and regretting it. As much as I loved it here, I didn't like how attached I was. I was scared I wouldn't ever be able to leave, even if I had to. Now, here I am thinking about it voluntarily. So there. Embracing the chaos.

Sometimes, riding the wave of change and chaos scares me stupid, sometimes it's exhilarating and feels like the whole point of living. I hope this year it can be more of the latter.