here.

The new book "The Unknown Portraits" is due to arrive today, and Munky King's limited edition resin "Uprisings" bookend will come out this month...

I went canoeing on the Concord river with Bob and Aimee yesterday! It was a bit chilly out, but we only got cold toward the end, when it got dark. Sometimes you just have to put on your long johns and deal with it, otherwise you're going to be stuck in your house from November until April.

We stopped at one of my favorite thrift stores ever, at St. Anne's Episcopal Church. It's run by a bunch of sweet old ladies who take forever to ring you up, there's two floors of awesome super cheap weird shit. I've been shopping there ever since I could drive!

We packed plenty of provisions... pumpkin spice cupcakes, hot toddies, cider, and tiny sandwiches.


Aimee serving up the hot toddies


two kinds of plaid... what of it?


climbing the observation tower at Great Meadows


Bob and I got in a cat tail fight, which is why I'm covered with white fluff...










We paddled back mostly in the dark. It was a bit brisker than we'd anticipated, but still beautiful.

What with the shootings and the people who think it's ethical to put civil rights up for a vote, I think I'm going to just eat mashed potatoes and crawl into bed.

I gained back the last 10 lbs that I lost, and I am pretty much back where was one year ago (still at a lower weight - for me - and fitting in single digit sizes). And you know? I don't think I want to be thin anymore? My body looks more filled out, less drawn and generally better at this weight than it did at my (adult) thinnest. I still don't know how to let go though, or how to eat to maintain this (I've basically put on the weight through some fairly unhealthy eating resulting from quitting smoking and, to boot, a complete and resounding lack of exercise). It could be all the Mad Men I've been watching too. You know what I'm talking about.

I am holding a gingko leaf, which comes from a tree that looks pretty much the same as it did 270 million years ago. Do read this fascinating plant's Wikipedia page.



I saw Blackheart Procession last night with Terence at the Paradise in Boston. I like a few of the songs but was in general not thrilled by the new record, Six. I liked the show. Here is our rager face:



We are raging so hard! There are less than 40 people here! This show was over by 10:30!

Work has been irritating. I probably spend more of my waking hours with my boss than with my boyfriend. This complicated, intense relationship has been forced on me when all I really wanted was exercise and a paycheck. My eye started twitching again last Friday.

This is old news, but I'm going to bitch about it anyway.

So, I'm a huge fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and when I heard that M. Knight Shyamalan was going to be doing the live-action movie, I threw up some blood and then refused to read anything more about it.

Goddamn, I fucking hate M. Knight Shyamalan.

And today, I happened across the teaser trailer, and I was somewhat lulled. The effects were decent and the Fire Navy ships were spot-on, and the kid is actually doing something like martial arts.

Then I went to look at the cast list. God, why did I ever think M. Knight wouldn't jizz FAIL all over the place? The three main characters, who are all designed as Asian or Native American, are played by white kids. As are a few of the secondaries. There's only a handful of non-whites in the movie, and you guessed it, they're mostly bad guys.

M. Knight, you're big name enough, working with a hot enough property, that you could have prevented this. Go die in a fucking fire.

A ghostly bride and Princess Cosmo... (the dog never gets a break.)
Dang, I really need to clean around the fireplace.

( the monst0r's halloween. )











.

It was fun (the weather was crappy though which cut down on the treating) and I don't want to take down our Halloween decorations but I will so that we don't become "that house."

kozy on halloween.
 

( one more sighting )

 

Although I prefer Emeril's light, eggy waffle recipe to Alton Brown's earthier version with whole wheat flour, Alton has him beat in the costume department. For those of you not familiar with the popular Food Network show Good Eats, it involves a lot of puppets, field trips, and hilarious characters such as Lactose Man, the Mad French Chef, and the inspiration for my Halloween costume this year, the Waffler. Eh... just watch the first two minutes of this:



To get sturdy waffles, I intentionally over mixed the batter, then let the waffles sit out in the hallway for a couple of days, then cut them to the shapes I wanted and sprayed with the same clear coating I use on my resin hearts. Breakfast abuse! Then I used a whole shitload of hot glue and stuck them to cardboard backings and then attached them to my costume. I spent about $40 on a mini skirt, utility belt, cheesy polyester cape and knee pads. As far as retarded looking getups go, it was pretty comfortable and even durable- I walked around in the rain on Saturday and only started shedding waffles after midnight. Truly, the most challenging thing about this costume was keeping my kitties from nibbling on it.

On Friday night I went to Scurvy Dog and then Muldowney's with Jeremiah, who was dressed as Max from Where the Wild Things Are. He won $50 somehow and I got wrecked and had to spend most of Saturday watching zombie movies and eating BBQ. Then on Saturday I went to E&O until last call, then joined Chris at his friend's party, which wasn't thrilling but gets an A for the effort put into the haunted house set up in the basement. Halloween, possibly more than any other holiday, should be about DIY'ing it up.

I sold my old station wagon last weekend for $100 and immediately spent all of it at the liquor store. It made me sad to clean out all the garbage, Polaroids, fake flowers and campground maps from the Beast, but maybe it will motivate me to clean up the Volkswagen and make it my own. Does anyone know someone who will make me a giant decal shaped like the letter B?

I tried out a vegan chocolate cake recipe I got on a card at Whole Foods and made these cupcakes... a whole lotta NO. They look fine and rose okay but the flavor was nowhere and they had a weird gummy finish. It pissed me off because I could have just made a vegan version of the chocolate cake I've been making with my mom since I was 5 and it probably would have come out great. Whatever, I still got to use my Halloween sprinkles...





I let Lauren ice the rest. Julian helped. I put the cupcakes out for Chris's rehearsal, protected by this mysterious Pyrex force field I found at a yardsale...



Snuggling with Ricky


another Halloween card


I made this skirt.

Are you around the Bay Area next weekend? Do you love animals? Berkeley Humane Society is putting on an arts and crafts auction with all benefits going to the shelter. In the past lots of great local artists, including folk from Pixar, have donated art for this show. This is my piece. The info is here:

Evening Auction: November 7, 2009, 7:00-9:30pm (bidding ends at 9pm!)

Craft Fair: November 8, 2009, 12:00-4:00 pm.

Location:
1809 4th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
(next to Bette's Diner)

More info on this website.

Happy Halloween!

[p.s. Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post! I didn't reply to all of them but I've taken all your comments to heart. After talking to a few more people about raw milk I chickened out a little, so I'm just ruminating on it for now. :) ]

this fucking depresses me. seriously??? is this where people, designers, are at? they need a shitty article to tell them that real life exists? and i love how the photo example for "geogrpahy and landscape" is some horrendously shopped HDR monstrosity. that pulls as much inspiration from the actual world as a cartoon from the 1930s.

10.29.09



rumor has it the weekend will warm. not sure why i try and keep this online journal anymore. truthfully, i would rather just delete.

>>

i like my office on campus. i'm sitting alone. the room is quiet. the door is more closed than it is open and i have some privacy and finally a moment to kind of relax and think. much of el's family has flown to america for this weekend's memorial services. hard to believe her dad's dad passed away nearly the same day as my own dad two years ago... october is shaping to be the month of spending time with family. we did have a nice dinner last night... a few friends and neighbors stopped by for some salmon, baby yellow potatoes, asparagus, and a glass of wine. we were able to cook together and hang out in the kitchen together. these guys are good friends... they're great company. they're family too, i think.

ugh, so i don't do so hot at funerals. el says she doesn't either. she's stood by me through quite a few funerals of my own over the last few years. i am looking forward to spending some quality time with her... i'm happy to stand by her side through this. her papa and i are pretty close too. i'll have to miss tomorrow's honors event but my coworker has said she would lead the event in my place. we're now trying to finalize this year's performance reviews. such a drag. i really dig this year's incoming honors students though. they're really quite extraordinary and to see them open up like they have around the campfire or while on a trip is really something to behold. i can't express this overwhelming feeling of gratitude i have right now... for my life, my friends, my job... i love this shirt. very smart. i was able to find my chelsea boots. i don't know why i save most of my receipts. i still have some organizing to do. i think i might catch a ride back to the big city with my special lady this evening. my director is giving his ancient greek students their midterm today. i might swing by there to see how that is going too. got to brag about a few things for pba before i do though... putting it off. all right... back to work.

Meeehhhh! The guy on the left mings SO HARD! It's driving me INSANE. I would so HIT IT! Damn. It's been too long, I think.....

And here's a lovely broad:

im a big fan of Laura Laine's work
and am soooo delighted to be the owner of her hand-painted kokeshi piece for the Kokeshi show
that took place last month at the Japanese American National Museum.

ughagha she is so delicately crafted with fine detail. i am in love!
( ..close up.. )