I just discovered the art of Jeremy Hush, though I feel like I’ve seen his art before…
This is a classy version of the fantasy crap you see up at a Rennaissance Faire. I loves it. Wish I could go to the gallery show he’s doing in San Francisco soon. Wish he had a book out…
I kinda love this. I think it’s the bon odori, for a good harvest, and blessings for old warriors.
.
I wish I had some traditions to latch onto. Sure would be nice to have some roots.
Tonight, I arrived at home to discover that everyone in my apartment has had an excellent 24 hours.
a work in progress
Teacher Roommate met the owner of Mendocino Farms (our new favorite place), and he gave her a free sandwich (she’s painting a jelly fish right now– see picture at right). Diminutive Roommate exchanged the Xbox her coworkers bought her for her birthday for a Wii (she’s hooking it up right now!). Boyfriend just discovered that he landed a job that will take him to London for a week. And of course, I applied to graduate school yesterday; I even got a phone call from someone in the program congratulating me on completing (and submitting) my application in full.
And Calico just got her dinner. So everyone is having a stellar day.
I found this artist, Jenny Holzer, recently. This plaque of hers really struck me.
I’ve woken up so many times feeling this way, like something’s wrong but I can’t put my finger on it, so I can’t fix it, so I can’t escape it. This must be the “silent desperation” Thoreau wrote about. I’ve pinned it on not applying to grad school all this time, so we’ll see if that changes.
Yesterday, I sent in my application to grad school. I didn’t tell anyone until later that night, when it occurred to me that it was probably worth mentioning to Boyfriend, who was more excited than I was. It’s strange; I’ve finally applied to grad school, and I feel nothing. I guess it’s just been a long time coming. I’ll be (way) more excited if I’m accepted.
holy shit where's his head?!
It’s not often my mind is BLOWN by something I’m working on Office Job. Today was an especially awesome exception.
I hope I’ve made it perfectly clear how much I love old-timey spooky stuff. I was editing a list of addresses for our mailer today when I found the following address mixed into the bunch:
### Ichabod Lane
WTF ICHABOD LANE?! So I looked it up and SLEEPY HOLLOW EXISTS, PEOPLE (in New York). Let your imaginations run wild.
I loved this story as a kid. And poor Ichabod! We all watched the disney cartoon version, but I wanted something darker out of this story, something sinister and inescapable. The Headless Horseman has some pretty neat origins in old folktales, and is the best kind of bad guy: inexplicable, invulnerable, inconceivable. There’s no explaining how he can exist, there’s no killing him, and there’s no understanding him. He just is and always will be, a specter watching every bridge, an untraceable, unstoppable, bloodthirsty ghost.
Like I said, he’s the best. I also completely love Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. I may have to watch it when I get home tonight.
Initiate countdown for when I visit Sleepy Hollow, NY!
I set up a shelf from Ikea (which didn’t come with any way to attach it to the wall, so Home Depot to the rescue), and finally set out all my little chotchkies and what’s-its.
I like to think Kakashi is reading aloud to the Beastlies, and they are just horrified. A bunch of this stuff (see bottom right portion) is odd little stuff my dad threw in my stocking this past Xmas. What a weirdo.
Let’s identify all these little items, starting at the far left.
-Calendar which, when turned toward the operator, changes number up to 31, then starts over
-Clay representation of my family made in May of 1990 (kindergarten)
-Clay tiger with a Kanji character on its side, given to me by a British photographer who took some black and white photos of me a few times
-Plastic figurine of Hatake Kakashi from Naruto. What a dreamboat.
-Beastlies! All unique.
-Bronze statuette of a bathing woman; this is a miniature reproduction of a bronze statue that I really like, and a gift from my parental units.
-Jade ball within a jade ball x3; a gift from Mom’s college professor friend from China (to find me a boyfriend, if I recall), who always encouraged my writing and poetry.
-Clay bird whistle from the Apuseni Mountains in Romania. There’s a little hole on the neck that changes the tone.
-Fox Xmas ornament, but I’ve never hung it on a tree after the first year Diminutive Roommate gave it to me.
Bottom shelf: all random items from my Xmas stocking this past year, except for the cheetah pen next to the pink ball (which lights up when struck), which was a gift from Teacher Roommate all the way from Barcelona, Spain. She also brought back some earrings for me and Diminutive Roommate.
the syrup was warm
Yesterday was my birthday, and it was fantastic. It really started Saturday, when I woke up and made cinnamon rolls for the apartment. Friends came over to eat dinner at Asaya, then hung around to play HeroQuest (I’m the DM! So fun!). Afterward, I opened presents! Diminutive Roommate got me edible things (four packages of various flavors of ramen, some strawberry flavored Japanese chocolates, and mango and green tea flavored mochi), and Teacher Roommate gave me a card worth a custom-designed teapot! So cool! I can’t wait to figure out what I want.
Yesterday, I woke up and had the intense desire to watch Pride & Prejudice (with Judy Dench). Is that what happens to females when we hit 28? Sudden inexplicable cravings for Jane Austen?
Boyfriend took me to get blueberry ricotta pancakes at BLD for breakfast! We had to wait about a half-hour for our table, so we took a walk. Some people were moving out of their house near where we parked, so I poked through the boxes next to the trash cans on the sidewalk, and found some Goosebumps books! I burned through dozens of these around age ten. It felt like my brain literally gained sustenance from reading them. We also found, amid the neglected R. L. Stine and old trophies, a choose-your-own-adventure book (ninja theme!), which I read to Boyfriend. One of the characters was really chatty and annoying, so we decided that we should turn evil and kill her the first chance we got. And we did. The End.
classic
We headed over to Treehouse Friend’s place to play Quarriors, a simple but fun dice-building game that we haven’t played in a really long time. He and his girlfriend, Ballerina Friend, were going out on a double-date with some other friends after that, so we had to jet. Dinner was at Tagine with my folks and Sister and Boyfriend, which is where we go every year for my birthday because it’s delicious, and too expensive to do more than once per year.
Once home, it was time to depart for ice skating! We went to the Culver Ice Rink on Sawtelle, where I held Boyfriend’s hand and went backwards a bunch while Boyfriend showed enormous improvement. Then we went home and hung out with friends, and I had a margarita. Overall, an excellent birthday weekend.
that shoe looks familiar...
cat = me. villain = also me.
I just asked for the letters of recommendation I need to apply to graduate school. They said yes, and the rest of my application is done. It’s happening. I’m applying to grad school. Why didn’t I do this years ago? I really am my own worst enemy. I’m kinda just sitting at my desk, crying quietly, now. I’m so happy I’m finally moving toward a goal that I’ve been avoiding for at least three years. This is what I want: a sense of progress, to study what fascinates me, to do what I love.
I’ve been a little ashamed of myself every day since I realized I should have applied to grad school long ago. Every time I sat down and thought, “Things are pretty great right now,” there was that little voice in the back of my head that added, “…but if only I were in grad school.” Like a mist that has hidden the vivid colors my day-to-day life from view, my happiness has been overshadowed by a sense of shame; I knew I was holding myself back. There was no outside force. Sure, I didn’t have anyone I could ask for a letter of recommendation at the time, but I could have re-forged bonds with professors in the time it has taken me to get my shit together and apply.
And now it’s happening, and I am proud.
the classic
Sister and I had a book of scary stories growing up, and I’m starting to wonder why we were allowed to read them/look at the illustrations. Even now, the drawings are… just horrifying. How was this for children?! It was so thoroughly creepy that I got the feeling that it was maybe too scary even for some adults, which made me feel brave.
It was Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Stephen Gammell, and it fucked me up in the head as a kid. It took guts to open this book. I found it on sale at a Barnes & Noble a couple years ago, and bought a copy for myself, and one for Sister. Classic!
omfg RUN
OMG WTF they changed the art in the 30th anniversary edition! NOT COOL. The art is what I remember most! It was so thoroughly tweaked. SHAME.
I have a favorite pair of shoes right now that get some attention when I wear them out, because if a sherpa and a clown had a baby, these are what that baby would wear on its huge feet.
The wide toe is essential, and super comfy; I wear these all the time when I’m not at Office Job. They’re made by Big Buddha, who apparently make shoes specifically for people who refuse to wear uncomfortable shoes. Win!
Be Random, Be Clear 