living & dyeing

the producers

we watched the 2005 version of The Producers over the weekend. The one with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. So funny.


Rode the bike in lunch hour traffic up Thatcher and to 171 for a bit on Monday. I did well and wasn't too scared. I turned left at an unprotected green light that turned red as I was turning. I rode for probably 10 miles total. Gotta scout out some different routes. But it's almost too cold to ride anymore anyway. I'll do that over the winter so that when spring comes I'll be ready.

socks for Anabel

My girls liked their socks from last spring so well that I'm making each of them another pair. I let them choose the yarn. Ana chose this green Lorna's Laces and I'm making the Waving Lace Socks (which I've made before--very fun pattern!) The first sock is finished already...

 

The colors are very accurate in the above photo. I took other pics under a lamp and the colors look different, more yellowish:

 

Anyway, I've started on the second sock so hopefully by the end of this week, she'll have another pair to wear and I can start on Lydia's pair. Wait until you see the yarn SHE chose.

truffles

so the kids and the husband surprised me yesterday with birthday truffles! one of my girls found a recipe for these in a kids' craft book (of all places!).... see how yummy they look (and oh, they tasted even better than they look, if that's possible)

 

 

 

The husband also took me out to dinner for sushi AND I went for a ride on the Albatros (which is how I think of my red Magna, like the red plane Richthofen flew. Not Fokker, since that was the one that was shot down)! Gosh I think it was one of the best birthdays I've had in awhile!

"You live like this,

sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book… or you take a trip… and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken."
-- Anais Nin

The Lopi sweater!!

 

 

This is the "Britt" sweater from The Best of Lopi book. I made the size medium and it fits great. The sleeves could be longer since I have longish limbs (heh) but all in all, a really nice sweater, perfect for the cold weather. I love Lopi. Even though it does tend to be a bit scratchy. You definitely need something cottony soft underneath.

...and this is freakin amazing

2007. Eddie Van Halen. One of the most awesome guitarists. Ever. And he looks absolutely hot too. I guess that's it for Van Halen week. I rode the bike again on Tuesday and yesterday! I'm expanding my route a bit but still haven't gone out of the neighborhood. Lots of traffic makes me nervous. But nervous isn't good either. Just need more practice. The weekend is supposed to be beautiful!

why can't this be love?

DREAMS

In an interview, David Lee Roth was asked
"Which lyric are you most proud to have written?"
His answer? "I don’t remember the exact rhyme, but it said the only adventures that I regret are the ones I didn’t go on."

JUMP (who doesn't like this one?)

Eddie is so cute!
Guess what else? We interrupt this Van Halen week to bring you news that I took my bike out for the first time yesterday! Just went around the block four times. But it was amazing fun!!!!! I'm getting a feel for the clutch and I can maneuver it around the driveway much better than I could at first. It doesn't feel as heavy anymore and I think it's the perfect size for me. happy, happy!!

Van Halen week

C'mon, you know you love Van Halen! I heard this song on the radio last week and it all came back to me. So I bought a few on itunes and couldn't stop dancing to them in the kitchen. Remember this one?

and then you sense a change
nothing feels the same
all your dreams are strange

is it weird

that I re-use my tea bags like four times?

Know what else is weird? I got tons of different kinds of candy to pass out for Halloween and I let the kids choose their own. Well, the single most popular choice was.... (you'll never believe it) DOUBLE BUBBLE bubble gum. ???? I'm totally serious.

halloween

yesterday the kids had their school Halloween parties. We've got two witches and a Darth Vader. Funny, being a witch as a fourth-grade girl is THE thing to be. I think every single one of their friends were also witches.

 

and I finally bought pumpkins. We'll carve them later today.

finally!

socks are done. yay. they're for my Uncle Dan. So off they go, to Ohio!

 

owner of a lonely heart--Yes

Move yourself
You always live your life
Never thinking of the future
Prove yourself
You are the move you make
Take your chances win or loser

See yourself
You are the steps you take
You and you - and that's the only way

Shake - shake yourself
You're every move you make
So the story goes

Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than - a
Owner of a broken heart

Say - you don't want to chance it
You've been hurt so before
Watch it now
The eagle in the sky
How he dancin' one and only
You - lose yourself
No not for pity's sake
There's no real reason to be lonely
Be yourself
Give your free will a chance
You've got to want to succeed

Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than - a

Owner of a broken heart

After my own decision
They confused me so
My love said never question your will at all
In the end you've got to go
Look before you leap
And don't you hesitate at all - no no

Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than - a
Owner of a broken heart

Sooner or later each conclusion
Will decide the lonely heart
It will excite it will delight
It will give a better start

Don't deceive your free will at all
Just receive it

transfer prints

 

 

 

 

I don't really like this last one that much. But these are all the ones I did on Saturday. (or was it Friday? I don't remember now) For some reason, I love the refrigerator one. They all amuse me. I want to do more!

leaves on Sunday

it was a pretty day so the kids helped rake.

 

 

We had my mom's dog for the weekend. She was going to stay all week, but the plans changed. She's a cutie.

songs in my head

the other day I woke up with these two songs in my head (how do you have two songs in your head simultaneously, especially when they're completely unrelated?): the first is Swingin Party by the Replacements (Paul Westerberg) from their album Tim and this video was the best I could find and it's still awful. he doesn't even start singing until about a minute in. But anyway.

Bring your own lampshade, somewhere there's a party
Here it's never endin', can't remember when it started
Pass around the lampshade, there'll be plenty enough room in jail
If bein' wrong's a crime, I'm serving forever
If bein' strong's your kind, then I need help here with this feather
If bein' afraid is a crime, we hang side by side
At the swingin' party down the line

then I had Purple Rain by Prince in my head also but Prince is such a... well I won't say it. A JERK, he had to block all his songs cause he doesn't want them on youtube. Give me a break. But anyway. That was the other song. Random I know.

first emulsion transfer print

using the Fuji film. I did several unsuccessfully before I figured out that with Fuji film you have to be in the dark while the photo is processing for those 20 seconds (which is NOT the case with the old Polaroid film). It doesn't need to be complete darkness like in a photographic darkroom. Since our kitchen has no windows and is in the center of the house, I simply turned off all the lights in the kitchen and got a decent result. There goes one entire PACK of film (10 exposures). *sigh* At least I bought a bunch. Here's the photo I took on top (the one I allowed to develop on the photo paper) and the emulsion transfer (the one I pressed onto the watercolor paper to develop instead) on bottom. You can see the paint-like quality of the emulsion transfer. These transfers with Fuji film require dry paper rather than wet (with Polaroid transfers, you use wet paper). I do like the result but more experimenting is necessary. Not at all sure I like the Fuji film!! Mad at Polaroid for discontinuing their line.... grrrr. And this paper is too grainy.

 

I did, however, do more yesterday and haven't taken any photos of them yet. They're much more to my liking! Stay tuned for photos later this week.

sewing and sock

the fabric arrived for my sewing project. I'm making a holiday skirt. we'll see how it turns out...

 

and when this second sock is finished, I'll be making more socks for my girls who are loving the ones I knit them in the spring! I can't wait until this pair is finished. I'm so bored and they're taking forever.

I finally saw Juno

yes, I'm a little bit behind on my movie watching. haha

I liked it. Very cute and funny! Here's the final scene/song:

guess what arrived?

my Polaroid peel-apart pack film! whoo hoo! Thank you B&H! I loaded the camera so it's ready to go. Stay tuned for some possible emulsion transfer prints.

DMV

so I went to the dmv on Monday for my license, title, registration and plates for the motorcycle. I was standing there waiting for the guy behind the counter to type in my information (lah lah lah) and I overheard the guy next to me asking if he could downgrade his license plate (which was due for renewal) from vanity to regular. here was the conversation:

Woman behind counter: You'll need to renew the vanity plate first for $92 and then pay an additional $25 for a regular plate.

Man: I need to renew the vanity plate first?

Woman: yes.

Man: Well, I'm trying to save money so I guess that doesn't make any sense.

Woman: well if you let your vanity plate expire for one full year, you can apply for a regular plate and avoid renewing the vanity plate.

Man: well.... I need to drive my car.

Me: *snicker*

Woman: *just looks at him*

Man: Okay well, I guess I'll just stick with the vanity plate then.

Me: *shakes head knowingly at man*

man: *rolls his eyes*

hahaha

trouble!

Oh no, I see
A spider web is tangled up with me
And I lost my head
The thought of all the stupid things I'd said
Oh no, what's this?
A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle
So I turn to run
The thought of all the stupid things I've done
And I never meant to cause you trouble
I never meant to do you wrong
And I, well if I ever caused you trouble
And oh no, I never meant to do you harm
Oh no, I see
A spider web and it's me in the middle
So I twist and turn
Here am I in my little bubble

Heroes

I watched the Heroes episodes from this season on Hulu.com so now I'm all caught up. I especially liked the most recent one called "Acceptance". They kept talking about how life changes, we all change. And that you sometimes have to remember who you used to be before you know who you want to be. Maybe that's what spurned my sudden and inexplicable desire to do some photographic emulsion transfers (I used to do them years ago).

The other thing I liked about that episode was when Hiro kept trying to save the guy from wanting to jump off the building. Every time he would go back in time, it didn't matter, it seemed the guy was going to keep on being stupid. It's kind of like the particulars don't matter, people are going to be who they are no matter where they are or who they're with. You can try to save them, but they have their own journey and only they're the only ones who can change themselves.

PROJECTS

got a bee in my bonnet yesterday to start some projects. First, I got out my Polaroid Propack. I've had this camera since my twins were babies but it's been put away in the box for years now. Had some fun with it yesterday but the film was WAY old and didn't yield the greatest results. Still it was fun and one of my girls got into it as well. I'm ordering more film. Will try Fuji since Polaroid discontinued their peel-away 669 film. I especially like to do emulsion transfers on watercolor paper. I have an idea for a full-blown series but I'm not sharing what the theme will be just yet. hehe Here's what the camera looks like:

 

THEN I got a new sewing book in the mail that I had ordered called Sew What! Skirts.

 

So I went to fabric.com and ordered some really pretty black flocked taffeta for a holiday skirt! I need to use my sewing machine more often.

it was raining

as she turned the corner, one umbrella up and the other two tucked under her arm. She watched a mom down the street with a baby and second-grade girl walking to school. The rain came down harder and they were without an umbrella.

"Do you want one?" she handed it to the woman who smiled with a grateful expression.

"thank you! I'll drop it off on my way home!"

"Okay, no problem" she said. And as she walked away, the tears began.

goody two shoes

remember this song? my best friend in jr. high used to sing this to me. lol

With the heartbreak open
So much you can't hide
Put on a little makeup makeup
Make sure they get your good side good side
If the words unspoken
Get stuck in your throat
Send a treasure token token
Write it on a pound note pound note
goody two goody two goody goody two shoes
goody two goody two goody goody two shoes
Don't drink don't smoke--what do you do?
Don't drink don't smoke--what do you do?
subtle innuendos follow
there must be somethin inside

nice white leather gun holster, Adam. lol

Orientation / Jump, Push, Fall (Heroes)

via www.hulu.com

Watching Heroes and Grey's Anatomy via Hulu these days since we don't have tv. I love Hulu!!

fixed the typepad thing

so where was I? Oh yeah, more hiking. we hiked along a water fall which was really cool. so many birch trees in the Adirondacks. They're my favorite tree.

 

 

 

around the table later (and believe me, there was a lot of food including much too much dessert):

We're home now. It was a really fun way to spend the long Columbus Day weekend!

firepit

My aunt & uncle have a fire pit at their house so we roasted marshmallows one night. It was chilly (but no mosquitoes)!

 

I have more to add to this post, but typepad's editing tools are freaking out on me. So that's all for today until I can figure out what's going on!