I'm going to do this!

I found this little tutorial on Cheekystitch;I'm totally going to do it. If I have my facts straight, Peter went trunk-hunting for me today and found a good one for $15. We'll see what awaits me when I get home!

P.S. This project may require a trip to Paper Source, which is a reason to get started right away! God, I love that place.

Sweater Contest still in effect...

I'm just not so much in effect! All of a sudden I'm working on a million projects. I'll be back later this week with the latest and possibly greatest entrants.

Day 1: The Contenders

I'm not going to offer any commentary in an attempt to keep neutral. That said, here are the first four entrants in the Contest. Keep 'em coming!

World's Finest Sweater Contest

I know that the fugly sweater meme is pretty much played out; Leslie Hall, et al. But when I came upon these sweaters on a search for "granny style" (part of a future post theme) I couldn't help but post them. I actually like them, in a mostly unironic way, I think (it's so hard to tell anymore...thanks a lot, hipster culture!).

I'm in the mood to mix it up around here. So let's have a contest! Send me comments with links to the most remarkable sweater you can find. I'll post the submissions each day. At the end of next week, we'll vote, and I'll crown a winner, who will receive an appropriate prize.

The sweater you choose doesn't even have to be ugly; it just might have a certain irresistible power. Like Mr. Sun up there.

Let's do this!

I made a bunch of new stuff for Maker Faire, but haven't photographed any of it! My own laziness never ceases to amaze me. I did attempt this big clutch recently; it's pretty cool but could use a zipper.


I'm reorganizing my "studio" in an attempt to make the idea of working more palatable. Unfortunately, it's in that stage called "getting worse before it gets better," a fun zone where I like to leave a lot of projects. How do you power through things when you're feeling lazy?

Leisure time!

Let's start things off with a bang! Shop window, Dunsmuir, CA.

Why is there a melted Peep in the middle of the forest?

A tiny egg.

Living the dream.

Roots.

Happy.

A moth's last hurrah.

No explanation necessary.

Mt. Shasta

Fresh and delicious.

Goin' Camping

Tomorrow I'm going camping! I've never been the instigator of a camping trip before, just gone along for the ride, so it will be an adventure. So far I have a borrowed tent, sleeping bags, and those wire sticks that hold marshmallows. That ought to do it, right?

Just keeeding! I'm hitting up Big 5 after work tonight to pick up all the essentials. We'll be staying at Castle Crags State Park (which may not exist after Gov. Schwarzenegger is finished with the Cali budget...sheesh!) near Mount Shasta. I really love Northern Northern California, and I'm excited to do some hardcore chilling and possibly some river dippin'. Quick and important questions for y'all, though:

In order of importance...

1. Will a bear be able to smell my beeswax hair product from outside the tent while I am sleeping?

2. Do you have any easy camp recipes you're willing to share?

I came home from my visit to my parents' house to discover that Peter had bought me a gigantic box of craft supplies, clearly from someone's deceased grandmother. It included crochet needles of all sizes, tons of beads, felt, vintage hankies, and clothespins. So naturally, I looked up "clothespin dolls." This is the first thing I found.

How can I top this? Is there even any point? My heart is swelling with cute.

The site is all in Japanese and I can't tell if these dollies are still for sale, but check it out. Damn. I mean, damn.

Mmmm, Mamety...

I haven't read/seen all of David Mamet's plays, but the films I've seen written by him seem to follow this formula: semi-innocent guy gets mostly screwed by the hands that feed him; psychological turmoil ensues. These include last year's Redbelt, Glengarry Glen Ross, and the Spanish Prisoner, which we watched on Netflix last night. I really liked this movie and wanted Peter to see it, but I had forgotten about one thing: the overwhelmingly leaden performance by Mamet's wife, Rebecca Pidgeon.

Google searches weren't de rigeur in 1997 when I first saw this movie and was blown away by Ms. Pidgeon's bizarre acting choices, but now that I have the world's opinions at my fingertips, I decided to see what other folks had to say.

From my Google search for "Rebecca Pidgeon BAD actress," I snaked this commentary from Fametracker.com;

Most people aren't sure whether Rebecca Pidgeon, wife to David Mamet, is a good
or bad actress, because they've only seen her in Mamet films. She shows up on
cue to speak robotically like Actresstron 3000. The truth, though, is that she's
performing perfectly. Mamet, who's famously wary of actorly flourishes, wishes
that all his actors spoke that way.

From my Google search for "Rebecca Pidgeon WORST actress," I got this:

The worst actor in modern film history, IMO, is David Mamet's wife, Rebecca
Pidgeon. She's hysterically bad, bad to the point that you begin to wonder if
she's kidding.

Watch the preview and see if I'm overreacting. However, aside from WeirdyMcActresson, The Spanish Prisoner is a pretty gripping mystery, especially if you love to hear about scams.

Are there any actors/actresses whose mere existence is like nails on a chalkboard to you? I'll give you a few more of my dealbreakers for inspiration: Leslie Nielsen and Charles Grodin, They aren't even bad actors, I just plain don't like 'em.

Humor and Heartbreak

Since my brush with Bedazzled yesterday, I've remembered that the mid-60's British New Wave gave us a few more similar films in the same depressed guy/fantasy vein. These are some dark, dark comedies, but I love 'em and recommend 'em highly.

First up: Billy Liar, starring Tom Courtenay and a radiant Julie Christie in her film debut. It's a about, you guessed it, a depressed young guy with a rich fantasy life.



Next, The Knack and How to Get It, starring my favorite gangly 60's heartthrob, Michael Crawford. You may know him as the dude who did Phantom of the Opera for like 40 years, but I like to remember him as the clumsy cutie in his younger days. This movie is a bit of a trippy bummer, but is worth it for Richard Lester's (A Hard Day's Night) kooky directing and sharp cinematography. Also, did I mention how cute Michael Crawford was?



All these films are funny, romantic, and genuinely unsettling. Billy Liar will make you want to punch the world in the face by the closing credits, and when you're done watching The Knack, you'll find yourself lonely and confused. Still, it's worth a trip to this strange little pocket of film history.

Bedazzled (no, not that one!)

San Luis Obispo's Sunset Drive-In has been one of my favorite places to go for most of my life. More on that later. I've seen a lot of terrible movies there, including the criminally awful Bedazzled, a 2000 film starring Brendan Fraser and Liz Hurley. And I have a very high Fraser tolerance, so you know it had to be bad.

However, I didn't know it was a remake of a trippy and awesome movie from 1967 starring the British comedy team Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. I know, I know, Dudley Moore is a big turn-off for most people, even more than B. Fraser for some, but hear me out. I caught about 3/4ths of the original Bedazzled on cable at my parents' house today, and I got hooked. It's basically a retelling of the Faust story; a doofus sells his soul to the cunning devil in return for seven wishes.

Peter Cook rocks as the Devil; you may remember him as the priest from The Princess Bride ("Mawwige. Mawwige is what brings us togetha, today."), but his performance as a joyful trickster who slowly gets outed as a malevolent douchebag is not to be missed. I'll be renting this to watch the final scenes, which I missed, but in the meantime, here's the Devil outperforming Dudley Moore with a hell-powered psychedelic superjam.



Addendum: I found an interesting article about Bedazzled's cult status and how the audience response propelled its stars in opposite directions than expected!

Highlights from Maker Faire!

I had a great time at Maker Faire this year, although it was all spent behind my booth, hawking my wares at Bazaar Bizarre! I'd never done a show of this size so I was pretty nervous to begin with; but everything ran smoothly. I made a ton of sales, met all kinds of amazing people, and learned a lot about what I'll do differently next time, which will be in a few short months at Renegade SF. Now for some pictures! I got a super-cute necktie cuff from fellow CCA grad and Oakland lady CC Star, who I hope to chill with in the near future. Mine has wee blue whales on it, but I also love this stegosaurs combo.

I traded one of my birdcage necklaces for a gorgeous ceramic cup with an otter on it made by the delighful and talented Hue Yang. Trading is one of the best things about doing shows!

I got a new Chickenpants from Absolutely Small, who is now taking up residence in my work cubicle.

Katy Kristin and I were suprised to meet the supplier of our German plastic mushrooms; I also met the designer of a polka-dot fabric used in one of my purses.

I met a new amiga, Polly Danger from LA. Aside from sharing a name, we have a lot in common and I was so happy to finally meet her! I'll be using this awesome coupon holder to keep my receipts organized.

The whole Conway family was enamored with Archicraft's product line. My mom bought a crocheted cowl for herself, the below bandana for my brother, a plastic doily, and I purchased a handful of charms and rings made from cast-off plastic architecture models.

Here's little old me surrounded by my stuffs. You can play a fun game called "Find the Giant Cup of Beer" in this picture. What a weekend!