Off the Soapbox and Back to the Janome

Remember "Secret Message"? I spent a lot of time just looking at it and nothing was coming so I took it off the design wall and put it away. Of course, that's when notions occur in the night. I had a bit of stuff done on it and didn't like the way it was progressing so I stopped the whole process to spend an evening picking all those machine stitches out before starting on the dream path. Scales, snails, and paving stones.

LOL Debra!

You reminded me that the word DOGMA makes me laugh out loud. I always think of Kevin Smith's fabulous movie of that name and just the sound of the word makes me think of a big stupid dog biting it's own ass viciously. Better yet, a whole huge daisy chain of so-called religious leaders down on all fours biting the ass in front of them. Keep them out of trouble for a little while.

Not Quite a Rant

I've been brewing a socio-political rant but I don't even know where to begin now that the Pope has put his foot in his mouth and fuses are being lit all over the world to thrill and entertain Allah, again. How hard is it to see that every bit of misery on this planet (that's not a direct result of human greed) stems from the superstitious voodoo bullshit espoused by each and every religious group that ever claimed a prophet or climbed a pulpit. I wish they would just get on with their frigging arma-fuckin-geddon and be done with it. I'll spade their ashes into my garden and the world will go on about it's business better off without them all. Sam Harris has it right and be-frigged if I know what to do about it. Instead, I offer this - "The Heart of Life" by John Mayer" I hate to see you cry lying there in that position There's things you need to hear So turn off your tears and listen Pain throws your heart to the ground Love turns the whole thing around No it won't all go the way it should But i know the heart of life is good You know it's nothing new Bad news never had good timing But then the circle of your friends Will defend the silver lining Pain throws your heart to the ground Love turns the whole thing around No it won't all go the way it should But i know the heart of life is good Pain throws your heart to the ground Love turns the whole thing around Fear is a friend who's misunderstood But i know the heart of life is good, i know it's good, i know it's good Oh i know it's good Oh i know it's good Oh i do, i do, i do Oh i know it's good

Therapy Continues

I re-wanked my elbow again on Sunday trying to lift an angry cat. Miss Karma has been highly pissed off at me since I treated her little flea buddies to genocide. I tried to give her a lift to the sink for drink (cat owners understand) she struggled and the elbow went "click". Not quite square one but aggravating. But last night I felt good enough for some handwork so I rooted around in the studio for a UFO and found one of the smaller body parts and spent nine innings appliqueing this little Liver. The Braves polished off the Nationals smartly and do we dare hold our collective breath now that they have won two consecutive games? On Sunday they stole a game from the Marlins in the 10th inning when the Marlins outfielders suffered some sort of mass hysteria and began impersonating the Three Stooges. Braves 8, Marlins 7. I love to watch the boys have fun.

Baseball & Fiber Therapy

Painting was painless. Wringing out the fabric by hand was challenging but probably good for me. When I first discharged these two pieces, I left the goo on too long and almost all of the color left town which really wasn't all that interesting so I went back and painted on some dye, sprayed the pieces down with soda ash solution and just left them to dry outdoors. Improved somewhat but I have an awful compulsion to start hand stitching on one of these pieces. Voodoo spent some time pie-ing my back before settling in with me to watch the Braves take another beating. My sympathies to those on the DL.

setback

Ugh. Early tuesday morning I decided the trash cans weren't tidy up to the curb as I was leaving for work. I got out of the car, planted my feet and grabbed hold of one can fully intending to have it do my bidding with one pull only to discover that the can weighed more than I did (we missed the trash pickup last week) and I felt my right elbow joint and shoulder momentarily disassemble and then realign (mostly) themselves. Pain bloomed and I realized that I HAD DONE MYSELF AN INJURY! *&$!@&** *#@!* and more along those lines. Pirates woulda blushed. So I got back into the car and limped off to the office with my right fist curled into an involuntary ball. I have new wrinkles between my eyebrows from going "OW" every 30 or 40 seconds. The fingers work okay but the arm just refuses to answer the helm to varying degrees depending on what I ask of it. Brushing my hair is quite an adventure as were other personal care issues. I almost choked myself with the toothbrush. Left handed eating slows things down considerable - not bad to consider. Rest, Ice, Drugs, more ice, more drugs and it gets better each day. Thank goodness I won't have to pitch in the playoffs (sniff sniff). I can't crochet but I can paint. Tomorrow will see what happens at the sewing machine.

WIP

Summer's End?

In New York summers end was the first day you got up and smelled Fall. Summer's end is a little sneakier here in GA. I had the feeling that yesterday may have been my last pool day for the season - the temperature is supposed to drop and skies cloud over for the rest of this week. Indian Summer? Please.

Stamping? @ the L'ville Frankenstein Dyeworx

Smells like fall today as I use up the last of the 400M from Testfabric. These sponges were packing from some electronic gadget. Makes me wonder just how much dye paste made it onto the fabric. You can see in this next picture that a lot of the vibrancy of these pieces faded away as they dried. That reminds me, I'm going to go upstairs right now and "wet" one of them with acrylic medium to see if the color depth comes back.

Handworking

This piece is machine constructed and quilted, then painted with acrylics and hand quilted. I keep a glass fishbowl on my work table where I hoard exceptional scraps. Every once in a while I will dump the bowl out and puzzle the bits and pieces together. Both of these pieces, each about 10"x10" come from the bowl. My hands have been killing me lately. Of course my solution to that it work 'em harder - and take OTC drugs. Most of the trouble has been brought on by crocheting that recycled silk thread and a lot more than usual keyboarding. DragonSpeak is beginning to look like a worthwhile investment.

Sidetracked on a Sidetrip

I'm rather proud of this little departure. My son Colin makes music with the computer. That's his pseudonym, Izo - his graffiti, my computer alteration of same and the website I built for the whole thing.

An Open Letter to My Bedbugs

Please don't leak when you read this. Pepsi out the nose really smarts!

Last minute art

Jimmy will be home tomorrow for the first time since the beginning of July (he's working in NJ) and I made all sorts of wild promises of lasagna and such. I did the shopping for it this morning but I just had to take a break and make use of this gorgeous day - the first we've had in a week of dreary, rainy weather. The alginate had gotten pretty gloppy in the fridge so I loosened it up with urea water per something I read in Ann Johnston's "Color By Design". Now to keep my mitts off of these pieces until they just dry up on their own - then I'll run a wash load of jeans, heh heh heh. Email brought me good news "Passing Through" was juried into Art Quilts XI: Stages, Cycles & Fits. The snail mail produced my slides created from digital images by G. Armour Van Horn - Stellar service!