faerwear

enjoy.

i'm still on creative hiatus - but i've just about made a final decision to go spend the winter in Barcelona. Yes. Spain.

More on that some other time.  For now, check this video. For more on these guys, check out their website (but do, watch this video first - it should, hopefully, make you smile - god bless new york!)

Yes, THAT White House...  i haven't been very creative lately, and kind of forgot about this blog in the process since this blog predominantly houses all that creative stuff - knitting, etc.

I just went to New York for a couple of weeks to work on this crazy project - http://www.thewhofarm.org. It involved a crazy publicity stunt, sitting outside the Apple store in midtown Manhattan for a week. It's a noble cause, so check out that link and if you support it, do sign the petition!

Night Sky Cluster necklace

In the meantime, I sold a custom piece via Etsy, and it's the only sale I've had in ages. I'm okay with this, I have all but lost the desire to create at the moment. My life is in flux and besides, I flew into Portland last night, saw my main squeeze for a few hours, and have been unpacking my suitcase today. Simultaneously I'm REpacking to head off to this festival, Emerg'N'See, tomorrow. It's the first time I'll have been able to attend this one, as I've always been out of town or out of state since its inception. i'm excited about it, but I am also excited to have a moment to myself next week when I return to get a grip and get grounded in being here again. Happily, I seem to have returned to Portland with some work opportunities.

This is especially good as it will enable me to get through the next two months of being here and after that, I am thinking it might be time to move along - I feel at a loss for something here and I'm unsure as to what it is (besides the ability to make a decent living, that is). I'm not sure where just yet. Santa Barbara, California keeps coming up in conversation as does a potential opportunity (and purchased ticket) to go teach English in Barcelona, Spain. I can't decide which is the better option, quite frankly, as I could probably stand to sit still and establish myself in the states a little more but good god, barcelona, it sure does sound tempting, doesn't it? It's going to be another life upheaval soon, too. I'll be moving out of my house and more than likely ending things with my main squeeze, too (I'm okay with this, as the ambiguity is starting to get to me).

Carmen - Sistahsofharlem.com

Maybe I'll get creative again.  In the meantime...  While I was in New York I ended up at the Afropunk festival for a bit and had the good fortune to bump into this beautiful woman, who created the absolutely bangin' outfit she's wearing (and was so sweet and friendly i couldn't hate her, lol). Some of you crafty types might recognize her from Sistahs of Harlem - they first entered the scene with reconstructed tshirts and then

T-Shirt Makeovers: 20 Transformations for Fabulous Fashions

And tonight?  Tonight one more round with my favorite new band, NIAYH. I'm probably nuts for going out tonight when I have so much else to do tomorrow to get ready for the festival but so it goes...   I haven't actually been to a festival in a while, either. Hope I actually remember how to pack.

I am totally obsessed with this band right now (thankfully, they're in Portland).

I just think they're absolutely fantastic. You just wait. You'll be seeing a lot of them.

after all my whining and complaining, looks like i get to do some traveling again.

i am so out of here. this is a good thing, too. everything is getting on my nerves from the silly posts on etsy about lost views to the mommying i received on Ravelry this morning (yes, i was bad - it was a thread on whether nude avatars should be allowed on Ravelry, and I responded to someone with a McCain avatar that whether it was a McCain avatar or someone's member, both were dicks.  I thought I was being funny but apparently, it was a little too nasty for some and I got a nice private email saying I needed to pipe down. Man, where are the nasty knitters? I need to stick with my own kind. I love that knitting brings all types together but man, I just can't hang with th McCain supporters - not even knitting will overcome that).

Anyway, i am on my way to one of my favorite spots in the country tomorrow, a hot springs in southern oregon. there is a trailhead right at the campground that takes you on one of the most incredible hikes ever, too - I'm talking water, shooting out the sides of mountains, pouring down rock faces, etc. A truly sacred, beautiful place. i am so looking forward to this.

the economy very obviously sucks, however. i have not had a single solstice sale in my Etsy shop. i am broker than broke and once again, unable to determine how I'll manage to get the last bit of July's rent accumulated. I will continue to trust in the universe and continue to pray, and I will burn some of Summersea's amazing incense, which always does me some good.

My newest tattoo - FINISHED

5 comments

this too shall pass, at least I hope. at the very least, I haven't driven my car in days. Today I commuted all over the city on my bike, amazed at how small Portland actually is. I went from a photo shoot in north Portland to a class at the Red Cross in northeast Portland on bloodborne pathogens (required at the tattoo shop where I work once a week in return for the beautiful piece of art on my left bicep) to my Nia class downtown and then off to a friend's place back in northeast Portland to pick up the sleeping bag I'd left there, and now home, to frantically pack my camping gear for a 5am departure time.

i'll be back late monday night and then i'm here for about 10 more days before...

before i leave for new york city for a couple of weeks.

yes, i'm back to the concrete jungle (where i'm from) for a bit, because i cannot find work here in portland, and i've been offered an all-expenses-paid trip back there to help work on a really, really amazing project.

some of you folks in the sustainability groups are probably wondering why i'm sticking this seemingly-unrelated post in the group - well, i'm sworn to secrecy at the moment, but I'll be able to announce the amazingness soon. Suffice it to say it has everything to do with healthy, organic food, sustainability, awesome music, crazy brave moves, and a Guiness World Record.

Yes I'm serious. I'll keep everyone updated.

In the meantime, here are just some of the items from my shop that are currently on sale - 20% off anything through June 21st.  Obviously, I won't actually get your order until Monday night when I return, but as long as you purchase by midnight, PST on June 21st, you'll get the 20% discount. Your purchase will enable me to pay July's rent, and hopefully provide me with the ability to actually take the subway while I'm in New York.

Yep - 20% off EVERYTHING in my Etsy shop from now through June 21, 2008.

Selling off my inventory always inspires new ideas and I'm feeling like it's time for some new styles and some new ideas. I've got a few in the works, but I could sorely use the impetus to get 'em rollin'...  And, also...  I need to get rid of this stuff so I can make another silver purchase.

If you choose to purchase please wait to send payment until I've sent you a revised paypal invoice.

Enjoy!

Btw - here's some fun and inexpensive earrings I just put up in my shop - only $14.00 each, and then of course, THEY'RE ON SALE! I had these vintage lucite rings sitting in my bead stash for almost a year. I was debating selling them as destash on Etsy, but I also had all these great vintage German glass beads, and so...  now, they are three pairs of earrings never to be seen again.  The ear wires are, of course, handmade, and sterling silver.

In other news, I've been knitting a new pair of socks. This is Opal Rainforest yarn, gifted to me by a fellow Raveler. I never look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when it comes to yarn, though wasn't so sure I'd like the colorway until the pattern started to form. This still isn't my ideal selection of colors, but...  gosh this stuff is cool! I'm completely addicted to self-patterning/striping sock yarn. And I still have another skein. The greatest thing is that the man they are intended for has already expressed extreme delight in this color scheme. But he has no idea they're for him. He's on tour right now (yeah, i'm job AND man-free at the moment - thank god for the sun or I'd be really, really low) - I'm hoping to have these done and snuck into his sock drawer before he gets back from Ireland.

a new pair of socks

I was hoping to do something a little fancier with these, but whatever.  Engineered stripes are just fine, and this is happy, mindless knitting. I ride the bus into downtown and back almost every day right now and since it's straight-up knitting, oh have I been making progress.

Yes, though I am unemployed at the moment I've been using a free pass to go do NIA at the international headquarters for a couple of weeks to add some cardio to my life (incidentally, NIA is fantastic fun and is, really, exactly what I need at the moment - I enjoy experiencing the joy of movement with my aerobic exercise, though once my free pass is up I won't be able to afford it anymore). I've been it five days a week, actually, except the two days I go to pole dancing and pilates classes I've also added a round of sun salutations and an abundance meditation to my morning routine (rise, yoga, tea, email) - not only are the sun salutations really helping me tone up, but the whole process rings in a new day before any negativity sets in (and if i let it, oh does it).  Obviously, I have a lot of time on my hands. I'm trying to fill it wisely.

One thing I've really grown to love about NIA is that I complain a lot about not getting so much dance floor time in anymore - this is due to many things, really - inability to afford it, dislike of the dance side of my scene at the moment, and not so much interest in the glitch stuff that's getting played so much right now. I spent my late teens and twenties as a raver, dancing ALL the time - and really understanding the whole "joy of movement" thing. I'm getting this joy back through NIA. At least for four more days...

I figured since I have all this time in between job interviews I'd work on some holistic self improvement - I've also got some extra fat on my hips and thighs and at almost 35, it's getting much harder to get off. It's all starting to pay off already though - I'm amazed at how much stronger I am and how much more energy I have (well, usually - my day today consisted of heading to NIA and then heading to a friend's house to do yard work with him all afternoon - I've got quite the farmer's tan now - blessed sun is finally shining on Portland).  My jeans, however, have not registered anything yet (I don't weigh, I use the "jeans test" - it's not about weight loss as it is about shape change).

Oh, also - I tried Zumba this past week, too. I used to think I was a pretty good dancer. Now, I just feel like a clumsy, graceless gringa - Zumba will absolutely kick your tail.  After just a mere hour of trying to get down the steps to salsa, merengue, mambo AND reggaeton, I was sweating bullets and dragging my feet. Loved it though - nothing like a little masochism to get the endorphins flowin'...

The Road to Wonder Valley - Trailer

http://homepage.m...

A three-minute look at the artist's colony that's grown in Wonder Valley.

This really, really makes me want to move to the desert. In fact, it almost hurts to watch.

My only beef with living here - I'm curious as to how you can live sustainably in a Southern California desert. I recently read an article in the NY Times about how development has come to a near halt in Southern California because developers can't guarantee a 20-year water supply.

a TWENTY YEAR water supply - that's all you need to build a house on a piece of land there. And then what happens after TWENTY YEARS????? What happens to the people who live there after that?

The Fifth Sacred Thing

That's seriously creepy, and if you've ever read Starhawk's book The Fifth Sacred Thing this will creep you out even further.

A brief and very incomplete synopsis, simply for this post, is that this book is an account of a futuristic, sustainable society that exists around the Bay Area of California. In the southern part of the state, however, people are dying or being imprisoned for stealing water - because there isn't enough to go around.

I must say, the desert has a really strong hold on me.  Obviously, people have found ways to live there for thousands of years, but our culture today has taken such huge leaps in other directions that we rarely pay attention to how we get our food and water. We buy our food in grocery stores (another question - what do you grow and eat that's sustainable in a desert?) and we turn on a tap for our water supplies...

So...

Much as this video makes something in my gut hurt from its beauty and from the unique and creative people who live there...  I'd want to know, ahead of time, how I could do it, too, without my presence being detrimental to the environment.

yes, that's right, I have an Etsy store. Thanks for reminding me.

Here are some of the items currently in my shop. I haven't been making jewelry for a while, but new ideas are brewing.  I'm almost entirely out of silver, however - i have no wire, no sheet, and very little chain left over...  Expect some brass and copper, some leather, and some feathers...

But, for now, here's some other stuff:

it was a new five and folded really small and you know, i know it wasn't always there, and i know *I* didn't put it there. i have no idea how it got there, or when, but thank you. chances are whoever stuck it there is reading this - thank you for your assistance and for your sweet gesture that makes me feel cared for (and without bringing my embarrassed pride to the forefront).

yesterday, flying down russell street on my bike with the wind in my hair i passed a guy going the opposite direction. i was having a joyous moment, blood flowing, a brisk wind in my hair - a purely "wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!" moment that made me smile, such a present moment i ceased to forget all else. i was smiling, and that guy yelled out at me. that smile, he said, is like a ray of sunshine. thank you for smiling.

and for fuck's sake, this place could use some sunshine... i'm not helping matters carrying around my own black cloud.

also - since the nth person has now asked me if i'm potentially relocating, here's the potential answer:

i love to travel, i do, and in an attempt to become employed again i've considered a couple of travel-related opportunities that would take me elsewhere until mid-september or so. they're things i'm good at doing, and of course, it would be wild and adventurous and a provide an endless supply of stories for me to retell - which is, really, my one real contribution to the world (besides, apparently the periodic radiant smile)...

BUT...

there's something else that has started to become very apparent to me - i already have a massive collection of stories that need to be told and maybe i should spend more time doing that. it's also apparent that i need to choose a home base, grow some roots and develop deeper relationships with people and deeper friendships. i mean, it's been real fun hanging out at all the bars and parties but i'd like to raise the vibration a little. just putting that out there...

anyway, that five bucks of kindness set some positivity in motion and all in all it wound up being a lovely day. I did a phone interview, paid my rent, picked up a quick odd job, got taken to an afternoon hot tub, and in the end, decided breaking a sweat was more important than strengthening my core tonight so i headed to NIA instead of the pole. A few weeks ago I'd been given a bunch of free classes by a woman that was so hot as fuck and so the same age as my mother that I just, well, hell, I got sold on the NIA, despite the fact that I'd labeled it "hippie aerobics" upon sight several years ago.

this could have been another post altogether, one that involved comedy, physical dyslexia and a recount of an hour-long battle with my own ego, but briefly, because it's fresh on the mind, i'll tell you about the little demon that comes to workouts with me. She's the one that kept whispering "you are way too cool to do that stupid dance move" in NIA tonight, the one that refused to let me whoop and holler like the other grinning goofballs in the class. She's the same one that comes to pole dancing class with me, shouting "DUDE, you are SO NOT SEXY and you walk like a fucking man in those six inch stilettos." Me and that little demon, we fight a lot. This bitch is goin' DOWN by the end of the summer though... Goin' DOWN.

That is, if I can sit still long enough to kick her ass. I've figured out I can't run from her.

i got laid off this morning.

two months in, and i got laid off.

thank you george w. bush for this lovely economy you've created. i noticed this morning, too, that gas quietly crept up to over $4.00 a gallon here. while on one hand i'm actually rather pleased that it's making people take pause and think, we've got an AWFUL lot of rewiring to do before not driving so much is a possibility for everyone.

thankfully portland, oregon is a very bike-friendly city and i have a bike (though i still have to pay for it and how i'll do that now is beyond me at the moment). i'm going to be riding it a lot more. i can't afford four bucks a gallon, let alone the $8.00 and up people pay in Europe.

i definitely feel, right now, as if my existence has been one-step-forward two-steps-back since i got here. i know that in times like this, having faith is supposed to make things easier. at the moment it would be a lot easier to have some faith if someone, SOMETHING, would just give me a little hint as to "why" it's gotta be like this.

ugh.

i could really use a babysitter right now - someone to help me figure out what direction to move in. i know i gotta do this stuff myself, and oh boy am i aware of that, but still...  it sure would be nice to be able to lay out a plan and some goals and be held accountable for them. i really feel like i need some outside help for that though - i'm too mired in personal failure at the moment to get there myself.

Today at work I was instructed by my boss to not send out any more paperback, advanced copies of his book and to begin sending the final hardcover copy instead.

"Well what should I do with these," I asked him, "it's cheaper to send paperbacks."

"Donate them," he said.

It could have been as easy as flooding the local goodwill but something I'd always wanted to do was participate in a  Books to Prisoners project somewhere, so I got online and found several places I could donate our paperback copies of the book.

I sent some off to Chicago Books to Women in Prison and then discovered that Portland, Oregon's Books for Prisoners is a mere three blocks from my house.  I took a box over there and stayed to open and answer letters and pack books, and I will say this, I derived a profound sense of peace from doing it.

Yes, there is some comedy, like the guy who asked for "autobiographies: of serial killers, people who've made successes of themselves, etc.," but seems most consistent is "thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you". I realize that some people do some pretty awful things to wind up behind bars but whether or not that's the case (there are innocents in there, too), these are still human beings. Many of them want to better themselves (lots of requests for dictionaries). Many are desperate for the stimulation, education and escape that books can bring, the stimulation, education and escape that i know so well personally. I've been reading since I was two. Books were my best friends during a lonely, mostly horrible childhood.

Most people ask for dictionaries, true crime, How-to Art Books (how to draw, especially comics), Autobiographies of Success Stories (heh), Classic Lit, US/Celtic/Nordic/Germanic history, learning languages (mostly requests for "learning Spanish" books) but I had one guy specifically ask for Poppy Z. Brite and another for anything Asatru. I couldn't fulfill either of those requests.