Friday Unrelated Information

1. I'll miss a post Monday, since I will be on a farm. With not a lot of internet. On the prairie. Toby and Mr. Isbell will have to be bachelors together.

2. Remember the cat veranda I was debating about getting? I got it. My dad (Toby's "grandpa") installed it in an ingenious fashion last night. The verdict? Best. Purchase. Ever. He's in it right now getting the morning sun and here he was right after the installation:

More Fun With Religion

Continuing my unable-to-not-read-it exploration of fanaticism (I don't know why this is so fascinating to me right now; I turned into an apostate a long time ago), I found a Rolling Stone article online about born again Christian Zionism--that is, evangelicals who believe the end times are near and a holy war with the Middle East is imminent (and necessary for God's plan). It's not unbiased, of course, but it's funny and it's thought provoking and so very scary. The quote of the day from it:

"It occurred to me that over the past decades, any number of our prominent political leaders (from Jimmy Carter to Chuck Colson to W himself) had boasted publicly of their born-again experiences, broadcasting to Middle America an understanding of their personal relationships with God. But whereas once these conversions were humble things...the modern version might very easily be this completely batshit holy-vomitus/demon-exorcism deal. The thought that any politician could claim this kind of experience and not be immediately disqualified from public service seemed utterly terrifying."

Wednesday Project Roundup: Dresses For The Prairie Edition

I was able to finish the both dresses I wanted to make and wear to the family reunion this weekend--yay for days off prior to camping trips!

The plaid dress is for the airplane and has handy big pockets. (It was inspired by this version from A.P.C. for $120.)

And the beige linen check dress was inspired by meandering poetically through the pasture land, avoiding cow pies and thistles:
I used my new initial labels on it, too. Because it's important to have a monogrammed linen muumuu in which to wander the prairie. Just ask the pioneers.

Tuesday Camping Roundup

We made it back from camping but I was too busy getting the campfire smell out of all the gear yesterday to post these.

Thankfully, it was only like this the first afternoon:

But the clouds didn't keep us from going up on Topaz Mountain and looking for topaz--there are some in that bag. (The beer was a way of keeping warm. As was the gin and the whiskey later.)

There was even a good sunny photo op:

But I was glad to be back home with Toby, who couldn't stop smelling our shoes.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. As I mentioned, I read Under the Banner of Heaven this week, and just...wow. So depressing and creepy and, like a train wreck, oddly fascinating. (And if I had read something about life under Taliban rule, or the early Christian church, I would be saying the same thing. As I said, I hate Illinois Nazis--I mean, religious fanatics.)

2. The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association National Conference is going on NOW at the South Towne Expo Center. This is how I met alpacas a few years ago--the show is all weekend, there are vendors and exhibits, and there are a bunch of furry camelids inside a convention center. Do you need more reason than that?

3. Despite those compelling reasons I'll have to miss the show this year, because I will be camping. In the rain. And 34 degree nighttime lows. I told my friend Sean about my plans, and he said, "I'd rather be at the Rainbow Room." Wouldn't we all, Sean.

Of Books That Make You Wonder, "Why Is That A Classic?"

I finished Of Human Bondage yesterday. I enjoyed it, but I also would have equally enjoyed not reading it. It's engrossing, but the language never made me stop and say, "Wow!"; and there was just too much introspection from the main character about the meaning of life for my taste.

It also seemed almost comically existential to me: Philip's conclusions about the futility of life only reminded me of "The Jean-Paul Sartre Cookbook" (worth a click). For example, he visits his old school:

He thought bitterly how much he had wanted to do and how little done. It seemed to him that all those years, vanished beyond recall, had been utterly wasted. The boys, fresh and buoyant, were doing the same things that he had done, it seemed that not a day had passed since he left the school, and yet in that place where at least by name he had known everybody now he knew not a soul. In a few years these too, others taking their place, would stand alien as he stood; but the reflection brought him no solace; it merely impressed upon him the futility of human existence.

Dude, easy there. He also falls in love--a happy thing, right? Not really:

He had thought of love as a rapture which seized one so that all the world seemed spring-like, he had looked forward to an ecstatic happiness; but this was not happiness; it was a hunger of the soul, it was a painful yearning, it was a bitter anguish, he had never known before...When she left him it was wretchedness, and when she came to him again it was despair.

And so on, for quite a few pages. And then at the end he finds happiness with a different girl, and in one chapter we're told that all of his angst and unhappiness and obsessions with his other love will be cured by marriage. (If it had been about a red-haired girl and had more hijinks, that ending would have made me think I was reading Anne of Green Gables.)

So, a good book--just not to my taste. (And seriously, click through that Sartre link. My best friend and I thought it was the height of cleverness in high school.)

Sure Do Wish I Could Post A Picture Of Toby To Cheer Us Up

I sure do, because otherwise I'll complain about Blogger’s photo uploading issues, and how cold the office is, and the rain that will continue through the weekend while I'm camping, and the fact that Under the Banner of Heaven is so depressing, and that it actually ties in well with Of Human Bondage, another depressing book about unhealthy obsessions and their ultimate futility. And a protagonist with a club foot.

Blogger, we could have avoided all of this. It’s a good thing I have the real Toby to look forward to tonight.

Tuesday Project Roundup: My Photographer Is In The West Desert

I finished one of the two dresses I want to make before next weekend when I head back to the prairies for a family reunion, but it needs a modeled shot because it looks like a big beige sack on the hanger. However, Mr. Isbell is out of town and Toby, despite how smart he is, has a hard time taking pictures.
So I took a picture of him instead:

Updated: Blogger photo loading is being difficult. I guess this was meant to be photo-less today.

Velcro, Bugs Bunny, The Golden Gate Bridge...

Have you ever wondered, "Hm, what's younger than John McCain?" Well, now there's a site that tells you--www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com.

The internet is awesome. (It, too, is younger than John McCain. Or me, for that matter.)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I saw Don Giovanni this week and I'd have to say it's the best Utah Opera production I've seen since La Boheme about 10 years ago. The set is ugly and boring, but it was so well-performed. It even made me regret not playing in the pit...for a minute. I saw people I knew in there, too.

2. Also music related: Given my extreme distaste for being around pot smokers, my pre-conceived notions about the music, my most recent exposure to it from a mainstream movie, and my whiteness, would it be too awful of me to get a Bob Marley CD? I've been listening to it on the shared iTunes at work all week and, um, I really like it.

3. Thank you, weather, for being warm this weekend. Please don't snow again.

Literature In The Workplace

I'm reading Of Human Bondage and I came across this passage and thought, "Huh, just replace
'painters'with 'art directors' and it's the agency!"


They looked upon him, as painters often do writers, with contempt because he was a layman, with tolerance
because he practised an art, and with awe because he used a medium in which themselves felt ill-at-ease.

An Open Letter To The Beehive Tearoom

Dear Beehive Tearoom,

I am over you. Your signs are getting more aggressive*, your teas are now upwards of $5 a pot (!), and your wait times--perhaps because of your aggressive signage--are the longest they've been in the six years I've been visiting you.

Beehive Tearoom, I love the thought that you serve delicious teas and pastries, but if I'm full of fear and can't afford your delicacies, it's really not worth it anymore.

Also, why are you serving beer? And hipster beer, at that? Does a tearoom that's open until 6:30 really have a demand for PBR? I expected better from you. I expected tea from you.

So, Beehive Tearoom, don't expect me to be back. I just can't overlook things like this any longer.

Signed disappointedly,
Karen


*One of the many aggressive signs: "Preparing tea takes time. If you do not have the time or patience to wait, please come back when you do." (Another aggressive sign tells us that wait times are typically "15-40 minutes." For tea? Are they building a fire on which to boil the kettle?)

Tuesday Project Roundup: But I Know I Made It Edition

I've been wanting some of those personalized "Made by" labels for a while now, but I haven't bought any because they just seem so obvious: I know I made my dress. And it's not as if I sell anything I make or sew for other people who might need to know. It just seems like a clever touch--something to make it less homemade and more custom-made.

Happily, last week on a craft blog I saw a link to someone selling "brocaded alphabet ribbons" on Etsy. I immediately thought, "I could cut the ribbon apart and have little initials to use as labels!" and in fact the seller says that that's what they're used for in Italy. 2.5 meters of the initial K are are on their way. Now no one will be able to sneak away with my homemade clothes.

In actual sewing news, I want to try to get two more dresses made before I go on vacation at the end of this month. One's already cut out, so I think that's a reasonable goal. Check back next Tuesday.

"So I Sez To Mabel, I Sez.."

(Karma and Sergio at the ranch, being ruminants.)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I saw what can only be described as the Calico Bird of the Apocalypse this morning at the bird feeder: It was between a startling and a sparrow in size, and it looked just like a calico cat--black, brown, and white. And fluffy. I've never seen anything like it.

2. I accompanied my friend Sean--he of the Picnic watching and the not understanding the appeal of pets--to a party last night at a very posh home on Country Club Drive. The hosts had a pug puppy that had an "accident" in the course of the evening--or, as Sean put it, "That mammal just defecated in their house."

3. This is not Toby, but it could be. I just can't allow him outside, though. Who knows what bird will come to the feeder next and carry him away?

Don't You Get A Welcome Kit In The Mail Or Something?

I was watching I Am Legend with a friend this week, which uses some Bob Marley songs to nice effect, and had the following conversation:
Me: "I really like Bob Marley. I should get a CD."
[pause]
Me: "Do you have a Bob Marley CD?"
Friend: "No."
Me: "You don't? Huh."
[pause]
Me: "Does your dad have a Bob Marley CD?"
Friend: [stops watching and turns to me with a look] "What, do you think that everyone who smokes pot has to have a Bob Marley CD?"
Me: [found out, sheepish] "Yes."

Tuesday Project Roundup: Dressing Like I'm Six

I think I had a top with sleeves like this when I was little, but I can't remember. Something about the smock-y shape and those straight Jetson sleeves seem very familiar to me:

And I know I had a pair of these when I was a kid (in pink), but look: Saltwater Sandals come in adult sizes, too!

I'll wear the top and the sandals together today and maybe play My Little Pony after work. Or maybe Charmkins.

(I'm actually telling myself the top looks more sophisticated than juvenile and the sandals are just retro. Here's a detail of the yoke inset and the fabric, a really nice black tweed linen.)Nothing like dressing to feel young.

Today I Will:

1. Play with Toby, who is trying to get on the keyboard and roll around as I type this
2. Walk to breakfast
3. Water my garden (because the lettuce and radishes are coming up)
4. Fill the bird feeder
5. Plant up my strawberry pot
6. Cut out and maybe start sewing a new pencil skirt pattern
7. Eat an enchilada, for Cinco de Mayo

Because I took the day off! Freedom!

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I've known about Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" show on XM radio for a while now, but I've never heard it. So I was tickled that Vanity Fair posted an article that lists the themes, repeated artists, useful tips, history lessons, and recipes he's shared on the show. There are even some choice quotes, including, "All of our shows are for truckers, if not about truckers" and "Here’s a woman who sure doesn’t sound like she sleeps alone." Crazy Bob, I love you so.

(Also: look at the original magazine spread at the top of the article and notice how they've typeset it to look like the Milton Glaser Dylan poster from the '60s.)

2. I've had 72-hour kits on my mind lately--I think it's because I have Toby now. I was thinking out loud to Mr. Isbell that I have three cans of tuna in the cupboard we could use in an emergency and he pointed out, "That's only a meal each for you, me, and Toby." I think I need to look into putting a few things together.

3. Or maybe I'm just reacting to the climate of fear lately. Maybe it's time to re-read Fahrenheit 451.

4. And in happier world events, Oxford University is hosting the first annual Fred Astaire Conference this June, featuring "an international assembly of Astaire experts, among them writers, performers, choreographers, and historians of dance, theatre, and film." Delightful!

I Think The Druids Are Becoming Ineffective Against The Weather

Today is May 1--May Day, International Workers Day, or Beltane, depending on how you choose to celebrate it. Since I'm (usually) struck by how the weather matches the old Celtic holidays, I'll talk about Beltane:

"The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice...was Midsummer."

First day of summer, hm? I woke up to snow this morning. I think you failed us, Druids.