I did make one thing
I forgot about this, but I randomly decided to make some cards. Made one for Jeff for our anniversary, and I also made this:
Yes, I sewed the card’s border with my machine and hand-sewed the machine. The card is for my grandmother (who may in fact have had a machine like that) who turned 83 this month. I’d also like to mention, because I kept forgetting, that my grandfather turned an amazing 90 years this past May. He had a big birthday party in late June which is reported to have been a lot of fun.
My grandmother is a fearsomely talented sewer, and as you know bought the machine I used to make the card, and in general is both inspiring and intimidating, sharp-needle-wise. When I visited my grandparents last October, she was impressed with my crocheting, and I was amazed that she was impressed. I thought to myself, “Self, imagine what kind of crazy stuff you’ll be able to crank out when you’ve been doing this for another 50 years.” I aspire to actually becoming good at this stuff, until there aren’t so many aspects of sewing, crochet, etc. that avoid because I don’t know what I’m doing.
Closeup, because I can’t draw worth anything, and I drew that. With a small pointy thing. Through card stock. So what if the foot pedal is oddly shaped?
Some Stuff I Hadn’t Said Before
The last couple of weeks have proven to be too much for this blog writer’s ability to throw up prose on a screen, however lame that prose might turn out to be. Truly: I haven’t picked up a crochet hook or sat down at my machine one single time, so the blog isn’t the only sadly neglected thing around here.
In an aside, Jeff and I recently celebrated our non-wedding anniversary. We’ve been together for 9 years. We’re secretly somewhat sentimental, so every couple of years we re-enact our first date. We went to Galveston and played miniature golf and ate at Sonic. We play golf still, but usually now we skip the fast food and get something decent to eat and a nice margarita or something. This time we were afraid our old golf place was trashed (it wasn’t), because Galveston is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Ike last year. So the pictures of damage and recovery are really a tribute to the residents’resiliency in the face of disaster.
Also, in very short form, I have:
- been very irritated. It’s been so hot and so dry here, for so long, that I think my brain is frying inside my head. Some people get depressed when it’s cold and dark. I get depressed when it’s sunny and hot.
- been scared and worried. Audrey got sick again. She was in the hospital getting “doggie dialysis” for another 5 or 6 days. She is home now, and feeling muuuch better. We had a few gut-churning, exhausting days.
I have also:
- become incrementally older. I turned 34 last week. It was mostly a nonevent. My birthday involved waiting for Audrey’s test results to see if she could come home, which she did! All in all, it was a good present.
- been irritated and frustrated. The medical establishment has succeeded in stymying me on finding out more about my ongoing health issues. I have become angry with more than one doctor for not recognizing that the body is more than the sum of its parts. Specialization is all very well and good, but last time I checked, I was a fairly organic whole.
I write about this because, if you haven’t realized, this blog is really about the creative side of me, and how that works itself out in terms of mundane existence. Creativity seems to be, for me, rarely about the dramatic moments. Instead it’s about how to be creative in the midst of it all. Part of that is the dry spells. All in all, it’s been a couple of weeks that were not conducive to creative output, because when I get emotionally distressed, I retreat inside myself until I can think hard enough about it and process it. So I feel creatively ambivalent, as if my brain has been muffled. My right brain takes a holiday, and my left brain takes over and begins issuing orders like a drill sergeant about how to get stuff accomplished. It’s amusing and has its uses in getting through rough patches, but I really can’t sew like this.
I know better than to force creative activity. I know that forcing it will only turn up something painfully lame and embarrassing, and will make me throw things out of impatience. All I can summon up at the moment is some cooking, so that, at least is a small meditative outlet. As usual, when it gets painfully hot, I have started cooking spicy soup with fall squash. My instinct is always to stick out my tongue, metaphorically speaking, at whatever is irritating me!
I leave you with a rare picture of me, apparently trying to get a sunburn and a few more freckles sitting on some stairs at the Galveston Seawall. The sun only does one thing to me these days: fry me like a side of bacon.
Here’s hoping for some right brain moments! TTFN, Miriam
A Bit of Pop Culture Needlepoint for You
In my travels, I came across two examples of needlepoint that I needed (needed) to pass along, if only to retain them in my memory.
#1 – Berlin 1, 20″ x 17″ needlepoint on canvas. Yes, that’s a needlepoint representation of graffiti on the Berlin Wall by Jacquelyn Royal. There are two other graffiti works there as well. My husband didn’t believe me at first look that they were needlepoint. Look at the detail of the bricks in the blue creature, or the texture of the walls and … intense.
#2 - Buddy Christ needlepoint rendering from Dogma. I can’t find out who the artist is, if you know tell me. This was posted today as the background of Kevin Smith’s twitter page, probably today (July 16) only. No really. It’s from an art show opening today that he encouraged people to go to in LA called Crazy4Cult. The show’s theme is “100 artists pay tribute to classic cult films.” There is a list of available artwork, but this needlepoint bit of Jesus isn’t there.
UPDATE: They must’ve updated the list of artwork since yesterday, because here’s the deal from their list. Darn right it’s sold. Not to me, but still. Oh, and here she talked about it on her blog. She also did a Beastie Boys portrait.
Ellen Schinderman – “Buddy Christ Needlepoint”. Needlepoint on silk. 21 x 25 inches, framed. (Dogma)
$1,500.00 SOLD
Popping out a bit again. I’ve been cooking, but I’ve done absolutely zero crafting this week. My various needles and hooks are looking at me in disappointed loneliness. I had some, you know, payment-type work to do. Imagine that. Although if someone would like to pay me to stay here and sew and crochet for them, I’m accepting offers.
- M
