Friday Cat Blogging

Finally, I was able to catch the cats being cute again. Good thing-- their public was beginning to become disgruntled. And we don't want a disgrunted public.

Here they are in their window, with a good view of the birdfeeder and garden, a group nap coming on.

List of Retailers

For your reference, here is a (growing!) list of shops that carry my work.

Arizona
Environmental Realists
336 Hwy 179, #A107
Sedona, AZ
928-282-4945

Connecticut
Given to Gauche
4 Daniel St.
Milford, CT
203-878-2625

Indiana
Basile Studio Shop, Indianapolis
Gallery by the Green, Nashville
Offerings, Vincennes

The Venue Fine Art and Gifts
114 S. Grant St.
Bloomington, IN 47408
812-339-4200

Wandering Turtle Art Gallery and Gifts
116 W. 6th St. #110
Bloomington, IN
812-330-1990

Iowa
Artswork
221 North Cody Road
LeClaire, IA 52753
563-289-3316

New Hampshire
Lara's Theme,
16 Proctor Hill Rd.
Hollis, NH
603-465-6689

New Jersey
Solaris Gallery
56A Main St.
Califon, NJ
908-832-6314

North Carolina
Light Years Jewelry
101 E. Franklin St.
Chapel Hill
919-942-9265

North Dakota
Aquablue
4955 17th Ave. South
Fargo, ND
701-281-6465

Virginia
The Artisans
Langley Shopping Center
1368 Chain Bridge Road
McLean, VA
703-506-0158

Washington
State of the Arts Gallery
500 Washington St. SE
Olympia, WA
360-705-0317

I'm in full swing with my fall pallette these days. I'm crazy about olive this year-- it blends beautifully with a surprising range of colors, and I'm mixing it with everything.

I've also got these new mosaics, using funky asymmetrical forms. I think the balance is nice-- the palette is muted and sophisticated, but the shapes are a bit daring. I'm also really into the contrast between the straight lines in the paper tiles and the organic quality of the gemstone chips.


And these earrings! They're so light and bouncy. I'm delighted with this look.


Only one week until the Carmel show! Anything I can get started today will be ready for next weekend, so I'm going into overdrive to make a few more of these in time. Right now I only have this one pair of earrings completed, and that just won't do.

Well, it's about time for another update on Project Panglossia. This week's offering (actually, it's from a couple weeks ago: I'm behind on posting as usual): Irish Gaelic.

inis dom, 'tell me'

Eist, 'listen'

By the way, if anyone notices me getting anything wrong in my translations, I'd like to know. Obviously, I don't speak all these languages-- sometimes I get translations from native speakers or second language speakers who know the language well, but mostly I use reference grammars and dictionaries to generate the forms. I do my best to get it right, and I'd like to think that if it's a well-written grammar, I will arrive at a correct result, but of course things aren't always that simple-- there's always room for error. So please tell me if you find one.

Friday Pirate Blogging

Arrr, today be 'Talk Like A Pirate Day'.

Ye know how ye can tell the difference betwixt a real pirate and the lubberly wretches what try to sound like pirates on this day each year? There be two true tests:

A) Them lubberly b*stards don't know how to tie a bowline knot and
B) They all say "Arrgh" instead of "Arrr". They be puttin a velar stop at the end of the word where no true pirate would ever put a velar. Whether there be or ain't a velarrr there is what we true pirates call the Shibboleth of our seafarin kind.

If yer lucky, ye'll be able to catch 'em up on the 'Arrr' and put the mangy curs to swabbin' the deck before they get the chance to screw things up with their lousy bowlines.

I recently joined the website wholesalecrafts.com to help me reach retailers. I'm off to a good start, I'm pleased to say! Once I get their orders in the mail to them, I'll have two new retailers to announce here.

Because of this move, though, I've had to make some adjustments to my Etsy site. I don't want to compete online with stores who are selling my work, so I've taken a few of my collections offline-- no more buying mosaics, Zowie polkadots, or alphabet pendants online from me directly, I'm afraid. I'll add a list of retailers here soon to help you find other places to access these collections. But don't worry, my Etsy shop will still carry one-of-a-kind pendants and earrings, Project Panglossia pieces, and (for now) floral pendants. Plus my ACEOS and 2D work.

I'm also brainstorming a few new lines, both for wholesale and just for my Etsy shop...stay tuned.

Another great day at the farmers' market art show here in Bloomington! The forecast called for rain, but we lucked out and it quickly became sunny and breezy-- and it was time to pack up and leave before breezy turned into outright windy. Nice! Only one more Fair of the Arts left for me this season, on October 11th.

I've added a list of my upcoming shows over to the right there. I may have a couple of more dates to add to it before the year is over with, so stay tuned!

September 11

I remember.
I remember you, pilots and passengers. Tower-toilers, rescue workers.
I remember.

But I've forgotten what September 10th felt like.

I don't know how I developed this tea obsession I have. It started when I was a teenager. I think it stared with my tendency to want to exhaustively explore variations on things, especially culinary things -- the same urge that led me to plant 11 varities of mint this year-- combined with a standard-issue sense of Anglophilia and a dollop of naive romanticism. Later, I stumbled upon an early version of the Upton Tea newsletter (in Factsheet 5, of all places), complete with their then-modest offering of quality tea, and my imagination was captured. I went to Europe when I was 21, and returned home with fond memories of the breakfast Assam I had taken to drinking in Ireland. Tracked down a decent ctc Assam at a local Indian grocery, then remembered the Upton Tea newsletter and finally placed an order. It was all downhill from there. My first apartment was lined with National Geographic maps, and I would sit and stare at them and think about the faraway places and the tea they grew and drank there. I wanted to taste it all.

I still drink Assam in the morning-- I'm pretty picky about this, I don't want Keemuns or Ceylons in the morning-- I like bold single-estate Assams, the maltier, the better. Right now it's Zaloni Estate, but my all-time favorite is Nahorhabi (followed closely by Boisahabi). In the afternoon I go for a Yunnan, when I can get it, or Spring Dragon jade oolong, or a good quality sencha. A second-flush darjeeling if I'm having a snack, first flush if I'm not. Or in the summer, iced tea (sweet, please, and this is one time I'm not too picky as long as it hasn't gone off). At night, white tea or a light jasmine or After the Snow Sprouting or Moroccan mint, or a champagne oolong. In the fall, Lapsang Souchong or a Pu-erh, or sweet, milky chai. I don't much care for Earl Grey anymore.

Right now I'm drinking some white tea to which I added a liberal pinch of my homegrown spearmint (actually, apple mint and spearmint both-- I have an abundance). Pretty tasty. Hits the spot.

When I was in my late teens/ early 20s, I worked at a used bookstore that belonged to a friend’s mom. I worked for books. I would help shelve things and organize things, and I often got first dibs on lots she got from estate sales and so on. I made a lot of excellent random discoveries. It was a good deal, working for books.

One of the books I got then was Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar. It became one of my favorites. Every few years I have to reread it. I just reread it over the last couple of days, and yeah, it's still one of my favorites. When I read something I like, I begin to write like the author, at least sentence-structure wise. It lasts a day or so, until the post-reading glow disappears. That is why I'm writing in these weird short sentences now. I just finished the book last night.

One of these days, I would like to read another of his books.