I received a Halloween card this week from my best friend's mom.
It said "Happy Halloween!" and "No more tricks at your house!", referencing the recent theft of my tires & wheel rims off my very old little pickup truck.
I agree, but I have to admit - but if this is as bad as it gets...I'm doing pretty well.
Halloween Treats:
"What Just Scared this Cat"courtesy of CuteOveload.com and here's a picture of Oscar the office cat in his Halloween duds.
(By the way, this is the last of Oscar's holiday outfits to be posted on the blog unless I figure out how to add more pieces to his wardrobe.)
Happy Halloween.
May you have many treats and no tricks this All Hallows Eve.
As noted in that blog, the DH and I purchased new tires for my little Izuzu Pickup truck because it was time (and because I'd pretty much driven out of one of the tires...).
I drove the Izuzu to work on Saturday two weeks ago to check for fallout on a major install and I remember thinking the tires still looked "new" even though we'd had them on the truck for 8 months.
Apparently someone else thought so too.
The Monday following...our neighbors rang the doorbell not long after sunrise to ask if we were aware that the tires and wheel rims on the little truck were gone.
Yep, gone.
The little truck was sitting on top of two jacks and it's bare, naked wheels and brake pads.
It appears the jack under the front of the truck fell over while the {insert applicable derogatory term here} were stealing the tires.
The driveway has some chips gouged out of it from the collapse and the truck shifted to the right significantly.
They left most of the lug nuts and the two jacks and took the 8-month old tires on the original, small, very plain, 20+ year old stock rims that had come with the truck.
{sigh}
The 911 operator said the tire/rim theft issue is Very common now-a-days. As is syphoning gas.
{SIGH}
The police officer who came to document the theft was very kind and helped me put the little truck up on bricks so he could take the jacks as evidence.
When he drove away, I looked at my little truck - wheel-less, a bit more beat up, and up on bricks in my driveway and I thought...there's probably a "You might be a redneck" joke in this somewhere.
Some of the neighbors stopped by to commiserate. One told me someone had stolen the bumper off her truck years before. (Who steals bumpers?!? Jeez. Ok, probably the same schmoes that steal the wheels off an ancient little truck).
I'm generally creeped out and feeling less safe in my home and pondering what it would take in my life for me to find it acceptable to steal the tires and wheels off someone's car?
We couldn't find used plain rims like the ones stolen off the truck (I guess I'm a bit glad I didn't buy my own rims back from somewhere). But basic, functional rims were hard to find . Seems tire "bling" is more prevalent than I realized. Rims had to be ordered.
So - just in very basic tires and the plainest rims we could find, we've spent more on the little truck this year than it is technically worth.
{Sigh times 3}
We picked up the new tires and rims yesterday and put them on the little truck and she rolls well on them but now something is funny with the break pressure so we have to look into that.
Don't get me wrong, I love my little 4-banger, standard transmission Pickup truck.
The rims are nice, but it makes me think of "Lipstick on a Pig" to have these semi-plain but shiny-new rims on my little "beater" truck:
(**Disclaimer - life and work pondering is today's blog content. Craft & Kitty blogging will appear in a future blog.)
I believe I've mentioned before - I am a recovering work-aholic.
Ok, I have not done much "recovering" of late.
I just came off a jag of working nearly 4 weeks straight with only 1.75 days off and many (many) over 10-hour days. The last few weeks were preceded by several months of projects/prep/planning/regulation releases...very "exciting" and time consuming. Granted I'm not just living at work for fun...we were dealing with some major installs required by the regulators of our industry. Pretty much everyone in our industry that I've talked to in the last few weeks is exhausted. Which means I'm in good company.
But I'm also questioning my current vocation.
And last week, coming off weeks of non-stop work...we were told there is a possibility that our part of the company will be closing it's doors or that the system/programming code we write/maintain will be sold. Whether or not we, the employees, will be part of the deal or if moving to another state is a requirement of continuing employment remains to be seen.
It's happened a few times in the last 20+ years I've worked with this system.
Sometimes the new owners make me wonder "What the h...?" right off the bat.
Sometimes I think, "This is it, now we can grow and get the things done we need to do.".
The latest owners impressed me with their integrity and long-term planning. Except it now appears we may not have ever quite made it into the long-term plan. Not without some additional investors.
Anyway...we might be sold again in the next four months - or we might be closing the doors.
It would be inappropriate for me to be more specific about the job I do and the industry in which I work. I know that my blog is not mainstream and is quite unlikely to become mainstream. And that's OK. That's not why I blog. But I do still need to be circumspect in my work-related comments.
I also think it's polite.
I would like to think that the powers-that-be did everything they could to find us a secure position within their company. If they didn't...it wasn't because of maliciousness.
Our reputation in the industry is actually very good and I understand there are 3 interested parties looking at buying us.
My employment could continue. But do I want to continue?
I'm proud of what we've accomplished over the years and of my contributions to battles we've won, the challenges we've overcome, and I've met and worked with some amazing people. The regulatory companies of our industry know of me personally and on a regular basis they have made complimentary noises about me and my work.
But I'm very tired and I truly wouldn't mind if I never have to go through another 3 work months like the ones I've just been through.
Even in these very scary economic times - starting over with a new job in another industry sounds...rather attractive.
I'm a bit loony, huh?
If you haven't seen or heard of Pilobolus before, follow the links in this blog.
They are amazing and essentially indescribable. They remind me a bit of Moebius Knitting.
My best (and feeble) attempt at describing their dance/art would be: Mesmerizing, charming, strength, clever, graceful, phenomenal, creative, thought-provoking, perfection, inspiring...stuff lika dat.
Whilst leaving work the other day, I had two unexpected Grasshopper interactions.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, I couldn't miss the large and stocky Horse Lubber Grasshopper...walking across the parking lot entryway to toward the sidewalk. He caught my eye because he was quite large (about 3 inches long) and because he was walking. Not hopping. Just kind of ambling along.
Sorry, there's no pictures but he looked pretty much like the first gigantor Horse Lubber Grasshopper I encountered a couple of years ago, although a little smaller and of wider girth.
I became a bit alarmed for him as someone happened to drive up and turn into the parking lot before he had reached the curb/sidewalk. However, he was not inadvertently squashed by the person driving in. Since I felt guilty about hogging the driveway ogling a colorful hopper, I did move on; leaving him to continue walking out of the street towards safety. I'm still wondering why no hopping/flying was involved in his crossing.
I turned out of the parking lot, drove through the complex, and as I was waiting to pull out onto the city street, I realized I had a stow-away.
This little gent rode with me across town and then out of town to a friend's house for an evening of crafting.
He stayed right there on the passenger side window through left turns, right turns, 40 miles per hour straight-aways (with his antennae flattened against his head), a construction zone, and a short stint at 50 MPH approaching and going over the freeway. He was still with me over a cattle guard and when I checked again he had disappeared before I stopped at the entryway of my friend's neighborhood.
Yep. Nothing earth-shattering in the blog today...just observance of a mildly strange dual happenstance involving Grasshoppers.
Our Arizona Browncoats group once again put together a terrific and fun evening to benefit "Equality Now" and "Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona". I have to say the new location at the Fox Theater was excellent. I thought it to be a friendly, stylish, historical option with bit more room for the event and displays.
There were a few vendors with a variety of spiffy t-shirts, and Serenity/Firefly or steampunk-esque items for sale/viewing - and a plethora of cunning Jayne Hats all made to benefit the CSTS charities!
(You're not seeing things, the yarn colours are different.
There are a variety of yarns mixed into these 3 hats.)
I knitted/donated the 3 Jayne Hats pictured above.
A friend of mine knitted 2 full-sized and a bag o'mini-Jayne Hats. The Arizona Browncoat shop organizer who picked up the hats I donated had crocheted her own bag o'mini-Jayne Hats for the Browncoat shop!
T'was a grand and lovely evening!
I purchased some raffle tickets but my numbers didn't come up. There were two prizes unclaimed when announced and I found out later another friend of mine (who was part of the Az. Browncoat Crew putting on the event) had the winning tickets for both items! (I think - a Serenity Music package and a Serenity book packet.)
I didn't think there were as many participants in the Costume Fashion Show/Contest as last year, but there were some stellar entrants - who deserved to win as they did.
I understand there was a gaming room downstairs featuring Serenity-based games, but I forgot to go explore to see what it was about. (Durn it!)
We were also treated to some additional pre-show entertainment: 2 episodes of "Voyage Trekkers" had the DH chortling plus we saw an episode of Steam-punk Stylish "Mantecoza" (spiffy!).
Then "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" was offered (already a noted favorite of mine), followed by the pre-Serenity videos/messages from Joss Whedon on the excellent point of why we were all there and why you "Can't Stop the Serenity".
The main event "Serenity" on the big screen capped our evening.
And I did something I've never done before.
I got a henna tattoo on the back of my left hand/wrist. The young lady who did the deed, Bridget, indicated she'd been doing henna adornment for quite a few years and is quite particular (Thank you!) about how she creates the henna paste she uses.
She was also dressed a la Kaylee and participated in the Fashion show - after she paused some of her natural exuberant energy to neatly decorate my hand. (Bridget contact info: bbensonatpowercdotnet. I understand she will bring her henna art to special events. She will also be at the Spring 4th Avenue Street Fair. )
She had me come back after "Dr. Horrible" when the henna was dry and she taped up my arm to allow the paste to stay put for the best possible stain.
As advised, I left it on overnight and took off my slept-in mummy-wrappings the next morning to see how my henna tattoo turned out:
Spiffy, huh?
It has darkened some over the past few days as she indicated it would:
All in all, I had a great evening and I hope to attend our Tucson "Can't Stop the Serenity" event again next year.
Grateful thanks to the Arizona Browncoats for their fun, generous and entirely Shiny efforts in putting on a stellar CSTS shindig!
Kudos are also offered to the Fox Theater for supporting and hosting this fine event.
As noted in the 1st SS11 post, I arrived in Portland Tuesday afternoon and had hoped to have enough time after checking into the hotel to visit the...
Museum of Contemporary Craft:
When I had explored the Internet to plot my course through Portland during the Sock Summit, one of the first things I found was something I HAD to do.
The Museum of Contemporary Craft was hosting a Weaving exhibit.
A weaving exhibit of some of the Museum's Artists-in-residence weaving-inspired pieces but primarily featuring a very gifted Portland Weaver, Laurie Herrick.
There is a lot of coverage of this exhibit on the Internet - articles, blogs, flicker photo streams. Interweave Press also had an article on Laurie Herrick.
So much has already been said on this exhibit.
When I search the Internet on Laurie Herrick, the first several pages are links to this exhibit (OK, better than the first 5 pages). I plan to learn more about Laurie Herrick if I can, but here are my thoughts and impressions on the exhibit:
I am a rookie weaver.
For nearly as long as I can remember, there were two crafts to which I have always been drawn.
Knitting and Weaving. Both fascinate me. Knitting has been a bit easier to pursue. It might have something to do with the ease and portability of the equipment. I am a much more accomplished knitter than I am a weaver. (I intend to do something about that...)
I rather liked the idea of a bit of weaving in the midst of my knitterly SS11 adventure.
The exhibit had been running since March 27th and was only going on until Saturday, July 30th, so I was concerned about finding time to visit the museum around the SS11 events/classes before the exhibit closed. Thusly, I had hoped to make the Museum of Contemporary Craft my first Portland visit.
And I was successful! I was able to hop on the Max, get off on the correct stop - and figure out which direction was West by the location of the sun. {wry grin}
I'm not kidding. The Google directions said head West and I was missing the "due North" symbol on my "cliff-notes" Map so I figured out "West" by the late afternoon sun.
The ladies at the front desk were entirely kind. They gave me the basic info and indicated I was able to take photographs of the exhibit.
And I did.
I have to note, if you're interested in seeing more, and admittedly much better photography, the Museum's Website features stunning photographs - and much more information about the weaving art than you'll find here.
I thought the exhibit was inspiring and imaginative; with striking aspects of clothing design and art-work. Stimulating, amazing, and clever.
Seeing such work makes me mindful of how little I know, how much there is to learn, and how little time there is for the learning.
I have to admit, I think I dashed through the exhibit a bit, being a bit too cognizant of the pending closing time and the lack of food in my traveling schedule for the day.
But, these are the photographs I took: (Please Click on the photos to enlarge. Information on the art was gleaned from the descriptions provided by the museum as part of the exhibit. Unless otherwise noted, art is by Laurie Herrick. My grateful thanks to the museum for hosting this exhibit and for enhancing my trip to Portland.)
The lady herself at her loom.
As a matter of fact, I believe this loom.
The above-left: "Drunken Plowman" also known as "Field of Grain", 1989.
"Mohair, wool and linen; Inlay. 36 x 28 inches"
The above-right: "Green Valley , c. 1960s" "Modified Basket Weave" 63.5 x 38 inches
Weaving tools - combs and a variety of shuttles.
Apologies - I missed recording the information on this weaving but it had
multiple layers and I love the painted/drawn look it has from this perspective.
The above is "Hidden Passage", 1971. "Linen, wool and fur; Inlay" 48 x 27.5 inches.
I tried to take a detail shot (above right) since the texture was so striking.
This is another piece I neglected to collect the artist/art detail, however,
I suspect it might belong to Christy Matson.
Humble apologies if I am misrepresenting this piece.
"Composition in Circles / White" and "/Black" 2011 by Christy Matson,
Mixed Media 21.5 x 21.5 each
This one was woven so fine - it seemed translucent. The picture surely does not do it justice.
"Macrogauze 119" by Peter Collingwood. 1974.
"Linen, metal rods; handwoven" 54.25 x 37 inches
"The River, 1985" Wool; inlay 44 x 28.75 inches
The weaving above was my absolute favorite. I was struck by the colors and subject - note the inspiration photograph in the picture below as well as the artist's notes on the right.
Above left: "Selection of Laurie Herrick's yarns" "Various fibers"
Above right: "Recollect 2, 2011" by Mackenzie Frere "Silk, hemp, plant dyes" 138 x 31 inches
Recollect 2 above was a lovely subtle piece and I remember studying both sides, fascinated. Too fascinated to take a better picture apparently. {sigh} However, the artist, Mackenzie Frere blogs about this weaving here.
"Diedrich Dasenbrock and Patrick O'Neill" created "Corbett View, 2007"
"Oregon black walnut and maple"
Yep, not weaving but I fell in love with this banister. The shading of the wood and smooth flow and shape pulled me away from the bright cones of yarn. (Those of you that know me will understand it is a small feat to distract me from fibre-y stuff.)
Another weaving lacking detail in my notes. But striking and intricate.
As I recall, the picture on the left shows 2 pieces; related, but in different color schemes.
The detail picture on the right gives evidence of the intricate pattern.
I loved the "floating" squares in this weaving. When I begin to consider how it would be done, and the skills involved - admiration abounds.
I have the above recorded as "Patterns Purple, 1974" "Wool; Overshot" 64 x 45 inches. However,
the name seems to belie the shades in the weaving so I question my notes.
Yet - in defense of my notes, there is another weaving by Laurie Herrick that cite "Purple..." (see below)
when the color scheme suggests other-than-purple.
"Polychrome Purple, 1975" "Wool; Summer and Winter Polychrome" 75 x 43 inches
I'm wondering if these were part of a "Purple" series. I should track that down..
This is a SAMPLE - Quarter scale. Two sides of the same weaving.
"Tree of Life (Quarter Scale), 1969 Sample for First Unitarian Church"
"Wool; Summer and Winter on Opposite" 44.5 x 28 inches
The photo above presents my other favorite piece from this collection. I thought all the coats were especially lovely, but my favorite is on the right - the "Laurie Coat". It is kind of a swing coat - but I loved the drape, cut and simplicity.
Whilst I was on the second floor, I got to meet the museum curator, Namita Gupta Wiggers.
She brought to my attention the copious notes displayed in the garment area - some about the "Laurie Coat" of which I'd just become enamored. The coat was woven with shaping in the design. I have done a little sewing and it was a paradigm shift for me to consider shaping built into the creation of the fabric.
Again...so much to learn.
A very art-ful dress and a several spiffy shawls.
I spoke with the curator for a bit. I'd never met a curator before, although I'd always thought it would be an interesting job. My ignorant stereotypical expectations that a curator would be a tall, elderly gent with a moustache have been quashed.
Ms. Gupta Wiggers was very engaging and most patient - especially considering that she and some other folks were in the midst of setting up the next exhibit that would be opening in just a few days. We talked a bit about blogging, weaving, the examples of the lace-work pottery I'd seen on the website for the next exhibit, and the Sock Summit. She had the ladies downstairs give me her card and I took that as a bit of a compliment.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love the idea of the Museum of Contemporary Craft and how much I enjoyed my visit. Looking at the various exhibits they've had for the past few years, I truly envy the people of Portland this treasure. I do intend to return to explore it further on my next Portland adventure.
Bonus! I also found more examples of Laurie Herrick's work featured on YouTube
I left the museum and headed toward Powells with the intent of visiting the Knit Purl store afterwards...
And here's an example of one of my frequent Oregon "Green" "Shiny" moments.
In Arizona, we have our own, milder, and sometimes spiney versions of greenery. In my Portland adventure, I couldn't help but have "ooooh-Shiny" moments in admiring the more lush and varied types of greenery in Oregon.
Reeds or miniature bamboo along a water feature.
On to Powells.
In my limited experience - this is the ultimate book store. A city block wide and three stories tall.
A near-perfect representation of Jorge Luis Borges' quote "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of Library".
{Happy sigh - Bookstore}
And I found Powells had setup a nifty display in honor of the Sock Summit:
I had a sandwich and tea from Powell's cafe and ... was cured of my vague retirement plan to move into Powells and live there. A crucial part of the plan had been the point that everything I needed was there - food and books - lots of books. (OK, I hadn't yet addressed the profound lack of yarn...). But the sandwich was, uh, well...edible but will not inspire a repeat performance.
Reality asserts itself in the form of an merely adequate meal and a fantasy dies.
However, I was in Powell's...THE bookstore...and... I, uh, lost track of the time.
Yeah, SO not a surprise.
So after I'd wandered through pretty much every part of the store (gleeful smile), I realized it was now too late to go visit Knit Purl because they had closed for the evening.
I had also collected a few books to commemorate my visit:
I had a minor Neil Gaiman fit and was tickled to pick up one of the
Emma Bull novels on my to-find list. And to purchase it at Powells seems to enhance the find somehow.
Sooooo - having missed out on my "Yarn" opportunity for the day, I walked over to investigate one of the 3 chocolate shops on my to-visit list - Cacao.
I forgot to take pictures, but it's a charming store with bars of chocolates in many many flavors, truffles, and many, many lovely temptations. They have a little seating outside and some inside as well. I purchased some bars of dark chocolate (for me) and some flavored with coffee for the DH.
My newest chocolate addiction, however, is for the Cacao Drinking Chocolate.
I had a "shot" - a small cup of warm drinking chocolate flavored with cinnamon - and it was easily the very best "hot chocolate" I've ever had in my life. I am smitten and craving it again with every remembrance. {delighted, wistful sigh}
After that lovely chocolate interlude, I returned to my hotel considering my trip to Mt. St. Helen's the next day - Wednesday.
Pre-SS11 Portland, weaving, books, and chocolate...t'was a pretty nifty day all in all.
