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August 30, 2005

i heart huckakussman

i got to leave work early yesterday to go to the dentist. the building is onna the ones with big brass doors on montgomery street.
i couldn't get an elevator shot cuz there were two other folks, and their conversation distracted me. the doors opened on my floor,

then you take a left

then you take a right

take another right

then another left

then a final left

and then you're there!

i don't think this leaves any of us wondering why i feel so connected to albert markovski....

Posted by Meagen at 04:55 AM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2005

weekends are the best, even if you don't really do anything

nothing too exciting about this weekend....well, nothing after friday night, that is. i mostly hung out somewhat close to home.


this is what my desk looks like on any given saturday or sunday morning(pre-10am; when i feel i need to be wearing headphones cuz i like my neighbors, and just cuz i get up at 7am doesn't mean they want to)

saturday morning i realized i'd bought the wrong ink at pearl on friday after work. since it was such a beautiful day,

i decided to walk up to mendel's and get the right ink. i knew they'd have it(albeit about a dollar more), and then i could work in some exercise while avoidind downtown on a weekend. STOKEDNESS! i saw these wicked rad dog statues en route:

when i got my stuff(i wound up getting an inking plate too; i guess i figured i might as well, since this is soooo how i'm doing this year's holiday cards) i headed off home for the folding portion of the day.

the fact that i don't have cable t.v. can make for interesting program viewing at times.

saturday night i watched a 2 hour biography-thing on fleetwood mac(i guess i missed the first half hour though). i've decided i kinda understand the tv thing. i got hooked again from when i was on crutches, which was the second time really, but in conjunction with that is that i'm still traumatized by the loss of my cd collection a couple of years ago. i just haven't really listened to music in the same way/amount since. i wish i could get over it, cuz music is better for my mind...


sunday was another beautiful day,

i took a little walk after doing breakfast with sean at flippers. at one point i was doing 2 stairwalks a month, with other assorted activities that required some minor exercise. lately i've been more sedentary/pajamas oriented, and it's really showing, not only in my appearance, but in my perspective. i feel so pressed for time that it seems difficult to fathom that taking a walk would be just as important as another coupla inches on whatever sweater/bracelet, but it is, and i gotta keep that in the forefront of my mind.
my perspective on sunday was decent

AND i did everything i could get done on the cover for WORD.

later on in the afternoon, i also thought about how i kinda miss the snow



i did manage to sneak in a couple of crafty projects.
i'd made up this bracelet a while ago. i got the green beads when i went to the bead show here in sf, back about a month or so. originally i made it up with the same toggle, but with smaller jonquil beads.

after wearing it a couple of times, i decided it didn't really pop. i re-made it using two tones of blue druk beads. it's a little closer, but it still seems like it's missing something. i'll wear it a bit and see if something speaks to me...


i made this stretch band bracelet, which will be in the store(i swear, once all this fecalface anniversary stuff is over, it's the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY ON MY LIST!! next to sox) soon.

and for whatever reasons, i also busted out a pair of earrings. whenever i think about making earrings, it makes me wish i had more time to devote to learning about silversmithing (in terms of making jewelry).



NEW SOX MONDAY
these are the usual lace pattern i use(basically, all my sox are made using the book reilly got me for my birthday like 3 years ago), using the cotton/wool blend lana grossa...

i read rachel's blog the other day(yarn-a-gogo link on right), where she said she uses her blog as a reminder list, and i thought ooohhhh! nifty idea!. so i made a sox album in the photo area. not the next pair, but one pair real soon just has to be argyle. i can't seem to pinpoint the exact color combo i want...red, white, and black maybe...














psssst, anthony! it's stan shunpike from when harry's getting picked up by the nightbus...

Posted by Meagen at 04:56 AM | Comments (2)

August 27, 2005

we went to the far reaches of the SF galaxy

yes, we went out to the avenues. aaaaaaaaalllllllllll the way out to 22nd + geary. it was quite an adventure, although made much more accessible to me b/c ert drove us there in her magic car! the original plan for the evening was to go hang with isaac+lisa, smoke, snack, and watch RED DWARF, but then ert got us on board, and i thought, i'm down, especially b/c of the company
after a bit of searching we found a parking spot and made our way to the skate-shop-cum-gallery. there were mega-folks there:

dude, they had sushi!

there were lots of great decks hanging up, and you can check'em all in the skate or die photo-album-thingie to the right. i only have shots of one of my two favorites. with all due apologies to PATRICK JILBERT, i could not get a shot of his deck. too many people around it to get a clear shot, and then i got swept outside and was too overwhelmed to go back in except to get some sushi later on when i was worried i might throw my own fingers in my mouth to chomp on them cuz i was so hungry...there's something about me and friday night where a proper dinner is never involved, even if i stay in...what's up with that?!?!?
the other favorite was, bien sur, POROUS WALKER. what an amazingly creative soul he is! gotta get his link up on the right, but for now you should go check www.porouswalker.com...SERIOUSLY.

i was completely stoked i got to hang out and swap words with Sir Masher of San Franpsyco

he was telling me all about his new position at work, and then all the personal stuff he's been doing post LEFT HANDED STORIES. dude, i'm so impressed with what he's been getting done and with his time management...damn! i got no right to be complaining about my dumb-shit job and how it's making me mental...gotta pull it together....
Lady Masher was there as well. she's also got a new job, and it sounds challenging and rewarding, which is a wonderful thing. i love eva's energy, to the point where i feel my own cells charging somewhat, just from being around her.

we can all clearly see that the beer had gone to my head at this point. WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?!?!? considering i'm the one holding the camera and taking the picture, so you'd think i'd know where i was supposed to be looking...HAH! anywho, i want to congratulate The Mashers on their official engagement. very exciting stuff! also, lygia, if'n you read this, i want you to know that eva and i toasted you and craig!!!! individually and collectively


lisa was also working on her blog while we were there



isaac was talking around, apparently with me at one point



ert was covering this show for one of her numerous endeavors (i think it was the SFist; gotta send back that interview, i'm such a friggin' slacker). at one point, me an lisa got all paparazzi on her ass:



and then, before she got all sean penn on MY ass, i got the winning shot of her glorious color combination (can i tell you how close to coveting that sweater i am?!?!?!)

i would also like to give the foonskillz a shout out on his engagement! i don't know why i didn't get a shot of him, especially cuz he was taking all these from-the-hip shots with his camera, with a beer in the other hand; i was impressed. i woulda trashed my camera, if'n that was me...
fabulous friday.

Posted by Meagen at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2005

scattered thinking

i'm not thinking too clearly this morning. for whatever reasons, i didn't sleep too well. it was onna those nights where i kept waking up like every two hours. no good. i'm super thankful that this doesn't happen real regular-like any more, but i'm still a bit on the foggy side.
there's a group of ladies at work who are into the craftsy thing, and we usually lunch on thursdays. yesterday we went to have a good luck lunch for yerdua, who's going to work as the graduate assistant over in molecular biochemical nutrition...i think i have the department name screwed up....well, they've only been around a coupla years, gimme a friggn break. LOL!

she's gonna kick major ass over there, for sure!


the glue also finished curing (i think that's what it's called) on my ladybug bracelet, and i was super stoked to wear it to work yesterday. my wrist even hit part of a sign post as i was walking past, and nothing fell off!!!

this is definately my new favorite piece of jewelry!


i have been working on the cover of WORD(which is a printed version of the writer's forum on fecalface, put out in conjunction with the fecalface arty party. it's the 5 1/2 year anniversary party next thursday night at minna. go to the fecalface link on the right to find out more!). i can't really show the whole thing, b/c i'd like it to be a suprise, but i'm really getting excited about it, so i wanna show some:

i did a little DIY article for fecalface a while ago(still not up for reasons i understand, but am not at liberty to explain) with nathalie roland (headphone link to the right) about block printing. she took the time to write out the basic steps for anyone who might be interested in block printing. after i finished the article/interview i got all excited that i wanted to try to do a block print, so i decided to do the cover for WORD that way. i'm really excited about the way the block came out, but i'm a bit nervous about the ink/printing part....i'm not exactly sure what to use, although i do understand the process enough that i'm only using one color....


i got to thinking about when i was house sitting over in fairfax, and the walks i was talking with maggie the princess dog. dude, it was a whole different norcal, i'll tell you what...

Posted by Meagen at 05:22 AM | Comments (2)

August 24, 2005

in which i learn a little bit more about sneaker culture

yesterday morning, around 6:30am, i was walking to BART, as is my habit, somewhat...i turned onto hayes street and saw

my first thought was that a homeless jamboree lay ahead, but no...it was not. when i got all on top of the line, i saw these kids

being who i am, i go up and say, "what's goin' on here?" sweet jeezuz; forget about literacy, let's get our schools to work on aliteration, huh? to begin with, only the guy in the pea jacket was able to respond. like, i was {this close} to asking them if they spoke english; so bad...i asked these guys THREE TIMES and all i could make out were the words nike dunks, and tiffany. in that they were in line outside of huf, i figured it was some kinda sneaker they were talking about, and asked if it was somebody's nike in particular(like could all these guys be waiting in line for the new tiffany bozic dunk?). the guy behind the parka blurted out, diamonds, yo. i wished them luck in their endeavor, especially since they'd decided to camp out overnight for whatever they were seeking, and continued on with my day.
dude, this was the line, made up primarily of guys, but there was a small pack of girls, who were like 7,8,9th in line...

here's the front of the line...

and the back of the line

on my way home from work, i stopped into the store to see what the hubub had been all about. one of the guys behind the counter was nice enough to fill me in. everyone had been waiting in line for a particular style of nike shoes that have been released in very limited edition. huf/hayes valley was the last store in the city to get their shipment of these shoes, which i guess was a topic on some on-line forum where they discuss such things...nike talk, maybe he said? anywho, these kids all friggin knew the poop, and got themselves in line. according to the guy i talked with, they'd sold out of the average guy sizes within a half hour. apparently when this news spread down the line (which he said was much, much longer by the time the store actually opened) folks were getting aggressive for whatever was left, and some kids actually cried when they found out everything had sold.
at that point, i hadta know what these high-demand shoes look like(nevermind my feelings about the slave labor involved with nike; i wasn't gonna convert anyone, that was wicked apparent). my source told me they were tiffany's aqua with diamond swooshes, and the color had been specially licensed from the jewelry company. he said to go to ebay, and query "Tiffany SB"(SB=skateboard), and then i could see for myself...i couldn't believe that guys were waiting in line for a tiffany's aqua colored shoe; i guess i'm wicked outta the loop. this whole sneaker culture thing is way beyond me, and this experience was somewhat akin to how i felt the first time i saw a giant line of people waiting to hear a d.j.. (D.J.?!?!?!?! they're waiting in line for a D.J.?!?!?!?!)
when i got home i went on-line to ebay and did the query just as told, and found these, listed as nike dunk low pro SB Tiffany Diamond Hat Stussy high DS, although i 'm not too sure exactly what that all means.

now, i've stood in long lines for stuff before; classes at university, darshan from ammachai, the yarn harlot...but i don't think i woulda waited in line for the tiffany dunks...HOWEVER these guys were not alone in their quest. the auction for the above shoes started at $1(the guy said he was letting the auction acheive "real market value") 3 days ago, and with three minutes to go it was at $263. i didn't stick around to see how much the pair ultimately went for.

although it's neat to see people getting enthusiastic, i still feel that this is some lack-of-perspective behavior that leads a person to spend $263 (that's 4 day's pay for me) on a pair of sneakers. ok, i know i buy yarn and beads and fabric, but then i make stuff out of it, that i either sell or give as presents. how versitile are a pair of sneakers? frig...amidst my judgement, i'm forgetting the blanket....i guess it's all kinda the same thing....

Posted by Meagen at 05:16 AM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2005

another weekend come and gone

nothing really special happened over the weekend. in fact, i spent a lot of time at home. this was very good, although, as is likely to happen with me, i did get a buncha stuff done, practically none of it was on my responsibility-oriented TO DO list....

firstly, let me start off with the one social thing i did this weekend. i went and peeped THE MOST POWERFUL SOUND at the hayes valley market gallery. it was this awesome combination of sound and visual art. in the back was a room with bottles that had different amounts of liquid in them, and you could play them like a xylophone, HOW RAD IS THAT?!?!? here gigi's giving a listen in on someone's work...(sorry, didn't take notes...)

i'm proud to say that all the other picts i took are posted in the photogallery...STOKED. like it only took me forever, huh? LOL! don't care, i'm feeling pretty spiffy about it. anywho, the order might be backwards; still working on that learning curve...

speaking of things that have been forever and a day to be "dealt with", lemme acknowledge that i've had LOTS of encouragement to deal with the store, and i'm still slacking on that. i assure you that it's not from a lack of making stuff. in fact, lemme show you what i've been doing in the midst of my paypalstorementalblock state:

i saw these on kat's blog (pinku link to the right), and then had to make them. i'd always loved the idea of wearing flipflops, but the dealie between the toes has been a big(read painful) deterrant, so i thought i'd see if these socklettes would help any.....i'll let you know. i made mine outta the cascade fixation yarn, which i love so much.

i made a couple of single strand necklaces with the beads libby gave me. i'd never strung from temp strung beads before. i guess it was helpful/easier...which i guess is the point of having them strung? i asked one of the guys at general bead about that, and i think that's what they told me(these are seed beads i'm referring to here...)

i'd like to make a band with the blue ones, and a multi-strand necklace with the brown ones, eventually, but i made these just to get a feel and gave them to gigi. she was stoked.

i made this ring as a kinda prototype...

i got involved in using fixatives, and made this bracelet. this is my first time making something like this with glue and all. i got the ladybugs at octavia's haze, which is an art gallery that features glass. (don't worry joel, i asked the guys at general bead which glue was best for the project!)

then i made this necklace, mostly to use the octopus as a focal bead. it's kinda based on some stuff i made for needles and pens. (i don't have picts of that stuff yet, but i'll be bringing it down on friday.)
and of course i did some knitting;
so, after a lot of thinking, and some major fukups, i've frogged that rebecca sweater. the chart was too confusing for me at this point in time. instead i've decided that this

is far too wonky for a great many reasons. the uneven ribbing in the front being the most obvious, but the fact that the yarn was knit with the wrong size needles (mid-project, somehow, which i think is part of the over all problem with the sleeves), is just far too much for me to bare any longer

i'm gonna make it again, and this time i'm gonna pay attention. so far, i'm 7 1/4 inches deep

and, since i've been kinda on a roll with this, IT'S NEW SOX MONDAY!



at the end of it all, all the free time that was the weekend of august 19th, 2005, i'd like to thank

red dwarf

huckabees

and the mamas and the papas, for all their support and entertainment during my creative endeavors....

Posted by Meagen at 05:28 AM | Comments (2)

August 19, 2005

in the garden of the breadbox

about a month or so ago (prolly more, i'm really loose with time like that; to me everything seems like it happened a couple of weeks ago) i went to this really great show at mission 17 that consisted of about 50 dioramas. even the window was set up with cut-outs so that if you looked in from the outside, the gallery itself became a diorama. stokedness!!! through a series of incidents, i came into contact with the woman who curated the show, and one of the artists, who turn out to be housemates. last night i went up to potrero hill to hang out with them in their garden. rebecca told me that i would be going up a little hill when i got let off by the bus. i was wondering what big meant to her by the time i'd hit mariposa with a mere 4 blocks to go

then, i got to the part of the street where the house shoulda been, but it seemed to kinda just end, and i wondered about that too....

yet, low and behold, there was more street beyond that rock!

and wouldn't you know it, they live in this super cute house

the ladies told me they'd been told by the owner/sister of the owner that it was originally built as temporary housing after the 1916 earthquake, and supposedly the front part of the house is built of cardboard. what i really loved about it, but did not take picts of, is how rad the inside is. it'a a nooks and crannies house, with little rooms here and there. it is the coziest house i think i've ever been in! this was completely enhanced by the company, who handed a starving me a bowl of tofu fried rice practically the moment i stepped into the kitchen. i can't believe i even left that place!!!
now, the secondary reason i went up there was to experience the garden of the bread box. it was beautiful! even if it was a foggy evening, it was so wonderful to be outside in a personal garden.


here we see libby and ben, who also live at the house. libby is the woman who curated the diorama show. she and ben are honing their skillz with chinese throwing stars.

rebecca has a vegetable garden going in one part of the larger garden. here she's showing a mini-carrot to me, which i think is so adorable, and which i hope to be able to attempt to grow at some point in the future. i was told there had been tomatoes, lettuce, chard, and something else i'm forgetting. there were snow peas coming in, and i believe the next things to go in will be potatoes and beets.
now, as if a wonderful place to relax while surrounded by flowers and vegetable gardens and hummingbird/butterfly gardens weren't somehow enough, let me assure you that you that there's this weeping willow looking tree that you could lounge under

and you could get your fig on too!

the evening was so much fun! we talked an aweful lot about a lot of stuff. i saw some of the projects that rebecca's made, including a quilt she made for ben, that was a tribute to his truck(rip) showing all the routes it had taken accross the u.s.. the backside was made up of a bunch of different sweatshirts. now that's some love through skillz right there. of course, i didn't get a pict cuz, well, you know how i can get caught up in a thing by now, dontcha? i saw this awesome train that lily and ben had made for a movie that ben shot at their house(why would they ever leave?). we also talked about how they all met, how they got the house, the types of areas where they like to be creative, motivations in our personal lives; just good, enjoyable, and engaged conversation. it was one of those evenings where everything's so nice, it seems incredible that it just keeps getting better, but somehow it does. so. rad.
i feel like i left that house with major, major bounty... YARG! turns out libby's worked in bead stores for a while, and had this awesome case of all these beads(i'm currently using the plastic ziploc method, myself...HA!). she so hooked me up with some wonderful strands of beads, of which i will not provide pictures. i'm gonna make a couple of things over the weekened, and show them off that way. rebecca gave me the breadbox diorama she made for the show at mission 17. i didn't have time to put it where it "belongs" in my apartment last night, but i had to take a couple of picts of the garden in a breadbox when i got home. (thanks a gazillion for the ride home last night libby!)


enter the breadbox

to find the garden

and having nothing to do at all with what i've just written, but everything to do with what i was listening to when i wrote what's just been written, LES NEGRESSES VERTES. you know you gotta check'em....
VIVA FRIDAY Y'ALL!!!

Posted by Meagen at 05:03 AM | Comments (1)

August 18, 2005

the weather for today is porous walker

last night i headed down to the low gallery (14th & guerrero) to check out porous walker's show. i have been a huge fan of his stuff for a very long time!!! my total favorite was the $5 bill zine, until tonight. i was particularly excited about the prospect of his show since porous lives in napa, so i don't see him very often. in fact, i prolly haven't seen him in about 6-8 months; how sad. his work, however, made me SO HAPPY! i just felt really light and laugh-y on the inside to read/look at all that stuff he produced. i wish i'da taken a large picture, so you could see the burt reynolds poster in the background. i just got all caught up...

i don't know if you can read ^it^ or not, but it says at the top sometimes it is ok to lie, and the one guy is saying to the other, have you seen my red cell phone? i think i left it right here. LOL!

^this^ is a bad blogger pict. somehow i lopped off the head of the pegacorn frame...yuk-yuk. i still like this one of drew barrymore is a boob chin though...there were so many good ones!!!! i didn't take a pict of mine, but i will when i hang it up. it'll be a suprise like that!

i'm also going to be making some rainbow socks for porous!!! i'm wondering if i can overcome my laziness to do ones with toes for him (cuz that means weaving in all those ends). or what about toeless sox; a new take on fingerless gloves? here we are posing with the outline of his foot, which will be crucial in assisting me to knit said sox. yup-yup. i was telling nathalie(who i guess i just missed at the gallery) last weekend that i actually use the outline of her foot to make my sox, cuz we have the same size feet.
i was happy to see there were lots of other fine folks at the gallery when i got there.

isaac was outside waving his freak flag high...

lisa and ert of the-lovely-furry-orange-scarf were there, and of course the main low man, john(who looks so intense here, doesn't he?)

mr. recordcollector and dave p. (not only 2ce in one week, but 2 nites in a row!!!) here are taking full advantage of the kick-ass popcorn machine porous brought to his show. porous knows how to do up a gig right.

AND THERE WERE MINI CANS OF SODA!!!! ert was so rad to display them so nicely for my pict taking pleasure.
i went back to isaac-n-lisa's for a minute. that minute was long enough to make me HAVE TO go get rushmore immediately.


i saw, en route to the video store, that the hayes valley market gallery is having a show this saturday, august 20th, called THE MOST POWERFUL SOUND. i really like that there's a gallery in the neighborhood again, especially that it seems so co-op/diy-ish. i'm definately gonna make time to peep it.


i feel like max fisher in his barber days lately... oh brother, you so know i'm gonna go out and get the soundtrack today at lunch.

Posted by Meagen at 05:34 AM | Comments (1)

August 17, 2005

chess club

i sorta belong to this chess club. i say sorta cuz we've only met like 4 times, and i botched up a couple other meetings(apparently i organize these events). in any case, we met last night at momi toby's. i was so stoked about the meeting place, because we used to meet down in the mission, mainly cuz that's where most folks lived. it's a bit of a haul to the mission, especially since i'm really no longer riding my bike, so i'd have to leave earlyish. joel moved up my way, so i decided to try momi toby's since i figured there were no real hills coming from the mission. oh, ok. it's right down the street from my house, and i wanted to be close like that. geeez...i've gotten so LAZY.

this is joel and dave b's game. i think they played like 3 games in the same time it took for me and dave p. to finish ours. i need a lot of time to think, what can i say?

i was also happy about where we were playing b/c i know i really like the momi toby soup, so that's what i had for dinner. the guy behind the counter was super nice. he played johnny cash and the clash the whole time we were there, and sang along right out loud. who needs kareoke bars? (wish i'da taken a pict of him...shoot)

^this^ is my and dave p.'s game. i haven't played him in a wicked long time! it was a good game, but i noticed that i was having a difficult time talking and focusing on the game. with the exception of some initial rant (that i still don't know quite why i went off on), i was wicked quiet last night, which was interesting...i guess i got a lot on my mind too...

all the quiet thinking paid off, and i had my very first stalemate, where i didn't take back a single move! this is so friggin' ultimate for me. we're talking the very pinnacle of my chess career here dude!

then i played joel, and it was the loosest game i've ever played. i felt so good about the results of the previous game, and because i played well on sunday, i just played mostly without thinking. of course this led to a lot of stupid losses, and me running my king around the entire board in the end, literally, to eventually be pinned down. i lost miserably, but i enjoyed the game.

i'm realizing now, that perhaps these picts would be more interesting if there were more people in them. you can kinda see dave b. in this one of dave against dave. joel said the winner got to keep their name, and the other was kinda screwed. lucky for them they reached a stalemate too.


of course i started a new pair of sox yesterday. dude, i totally crank'em out. i'm at the toe of this fine rowan 4 ply soft lace anklet sock in just one day!!! 'course, parta that's cuz i didn't post anything yesterday morning, and knit and watched TWO TOWERS (disc 2) instead. and you thought i was being a slacker....no, i was being obsessed.



this morning i listened to a.c.newman while posting this. i really like the battle for straight time cuz it makes me think of that scene in rushmore where max fisher is getting off the elevator in the basement of the hotel, after having released the bees in bill murray's room. i don't know why, cuz the actual song they play is a who song, inninit?

Posted by Meagen at 05:15 AM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2005

i need a weekend to recover from my weekend

fast and furious is how the past 48 hours seems to me. there was a lot of ground covered, and we're gonna cover it all again, which hopefully will assist me in my own personal digestion.

friday morning started with me finding EXACTLY THE HEADBOARD I'D BEEN ENVISIONING FOR MY BEDROOM!!! and it was just leaning against the back wall of my building when i came out to go to work.

the only problem is that it was 1 inch too deep to fit into the closet with the bed. that's how it can be sometimes with the trash. you drag it in, only to find you gotta drag it back out. there are a lot of wins, too, which is why i went for it here. hopefully someone else is enjoying this now...
i don't have pictures from friday night, but i spent it with the mcgordroys. this is when i found out that the annual alamo sq. flea market was happening. i went back over to lygia's house saturday morning, and she, neil, and i went to check it all out.

you know neil's wondering how it is i managed to find two first printing hard cover harry potter books (chamber of secrets and goblet of fire) for only $4. yup-yup, that's how we do...

i also saw this box of fantagraphics comix. i either had the issues i liked, or wasn't into the title...oh well...



after the flea market, i went and met up with pete and mo at the yerba buena to see the maori exhibit of weaving, carving, and tattooing. when we got there we found there was also this filipino fair going on.


we grabbed a spot to eat, and then checked out the maori exhibit. i didn't see the weavers one of my coworkers had talked about, but i saw their results. so friggin' rad!


there were also some great carvings and pottery, as well as traditional tattooing going on in the corner. i didn't get a pict of the tat's for a couple of reasons; 1)the crowd 2)they were using modern machines. that traditional thing with the string and needle's intense, but these guys were giving traditional designs using a gun. i don't blame'em, but i didn't take a pict...






saturday night i went up to the tree house, and hung out with nathalie and damon. i was able to drop off the finished fingerless mittens, although i didn't take an "FO" pict of them...ooops... nathalie made us a kick-ass couscous! and, for the record, along with watching red dwarf, we listened in on mr.skirvin's podcast.



sunday was spent bringing an embarrassing amount of "stuff" to goodwill. then i went and played chess with joel, and played HORRIBLY. i was having difficulty concentrating. joel said it was that rudy was on tv, but it was actually...ok, rudy.... i was supposed to go over to potrero hill after that. this woman rebecca has made this garden in a bread box that she's going to give to me, and we're going to drink beers in the actual garden that the diorama's based on! how fun is that!?!?!?!! unfortunately, another situation presented itself, and my evening went in a different direction.

lest you think i didn't do anything this weekend, check this out. i can't even believe that i still got these things made:
i made this little bracelet/earring set for juana. she was hanging out with me at work when i got some new bracelet findings. she really liked this bracelet, and i offered to put one together for her. i was curious anyway, just cuz i'd never made one like this before...

i also made a couple of necklaces for myself, cuz just exactly what i need is more jewelry...LOL!!!!


and i finished those lana grossa pink colorway socks, which i'm stoked to wear today! there's nothing like starting the week wearing a new pair of sox!

ok, now i'm gonna go try to survive work....best of luck to you on yours!

Posted by Meagen at 05:29 AM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2005

last week at this time

i went over to isaac's house last friday night to kick it and watch some red dwarf (ok, OK, in addition to being a REALLY funny show, i think craig charles was wicked cute.) i brought a bag of bertie bott's every flavor beans with me, to see if anyone was daring enough to plunge in and give'em a try knowing there's flavors like soap, earthworm, vomit and rotten egg mixed in with rootbeer, tuttifrutti and assorted fruit flavors.

both isaac and matt d. were brave enough to give it a go...ok, they were the only folks hanging out, but i was stoked they were both down to give it a shot. here they are, making their selections:


in the end they both got a couple of fruit flavors and a dirt flavored bean...or at least that's what they thought they were tasting....i know i had an earthworm earlier, so there aren't as many of those flavors left in the bag, and the chances are now greater that you may get sardines...BEWARE ALL YE TAKERS!


can you see rimmer with lister behind him on the screen behind isaac? funny, funny stuff, i'm tellin' ya. and now that i'm like onto RDIII, i'm also seeing the episodes with kreiton on them. and of course cat...*sigh*...although, you know, you can't stop the signal


on the knitting front:

i did a lot of work on one of the christmas presents i'm making, what do you think?

i'm also just a thumb away from finishing those fingerless gloves:

well blow me over and shiver my timbers i'm also 6 1/2 inches deep on the back of that rebecca sweater:

and glory of all glories: IT'S FRIDAY!!!!

Posted by Meagen at 05:01 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

i finished a pair of the sox from the yarn i got when i went to hear the harlot. it's lana grossa self-striping yarn, which is a 45% cotton blend. i think it makes great summer sox. i don't know why i would think about needing summer anything, living in san francisco as i do. i guess it is pretty warm here in september and october...anyway, i finished them using my staple sox recipe. i like how they match, but not quite; i really embrace that part of the self striping yarns.

of course this means i went out and got new sox yarn. i was feeling so much lana grossa love, that i got another skein in the pink colorway. i even got to the gusset just from yesterday! i kicked ass on the trip home. sometimes i wanna shove my knitting in other commuters' faces and exclaim, would you look at that turned heel?!?!? PERFECTION!!! or damn, look at how that lace came out!!! did i hit the tension right on or what?!?!?!?!!!! somehow i don't think it would be too well received, especially cuz people can get weird about pointy objects in close proximity to skin.



as i mentioned monday (cuz of course you've been paying close attention to my ranting), it was juana's birthday yesterday. this is a pict of the necklace i made for her. actually, assembled would be more appropriate. she immediately wanted to know how i made the focal bead for it. of course, i didn't, which then i felt badly about, like i had misrepresented myself or my project somehow. i'da made it all myself if i had a blow torch, but i'm kinda scared to have/use one in my little apartment. i feel like folks would be real pissed at me if i burned the building down, knowhattamean?



i've really been enjoying the recent installation at the san francisco arts commission window, which is located accross the street from city hall, on the grove street side. www.sfacgallery.org

it's titled, invisible city of moon watching plants. you can't tell from this angle, but there's more to the installation on the floor of the space. you kinda get right on top of the window to see, though. it looks as though there's a reflection of a tree in the window to the left, which there is, but there's a tree outline in the way the window's been painted. i like how the shapes that are painted on the window pull away from the 2d surface, and become 3d in paper-type form. there's also this great airy music being piped out to the street. nice to see in the early morning, but i'll bet it's even better after dark, cuz there's lights inside...

Posted by Meagen at 05:14 AM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2005

personal fog bank

i think i've entered yet another personal fog bank. i'm really having difficulty focusing this past week, and being rather an undisciplined person, i seem to be giving in to it. tonight, i gotta do some friggin item off that to do list...really.

thank goodness for commuter knitting and small projects for giving me a sense of productivity. i finished one of the pair of fingerless mittens during my commute to and from work today. they are my own design! i used lionbrand microspun, cuz i like giving knitted things that can be put in the washer and dryer...

i leave you with this wonderful piece of mobile art i saw while walking to bart:

Posted by Meagen at 04:53 AM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2005

i avoid responsibility like all get-out...seriously

i didn't do any of the responsible things on my to do list.

there. i said it. phew. it weighs heavily on me sometimes. there are all these like, important life function things, like paying bills, housecleaning, laundry, electronic endeavors....i just couldn't deal with any of it. all i could bring myself to do over the weekend was knit...sort of...i did some beading too... i made a necklace for the workstudy student in my office, since it's her birthday on wednesday.(i'll show pictures after i've given it to her.) i also finished the hello kitty cherry necklace i made for nathalie. i was supposed to hang out with her on saturday afternoon but bailed for female woes. the waves were too high, knowhatimsayin?

i am most excited about a sweater i am knitting at the moment, but it's a christmas present and i can't get more specific than that. i'd be pretty impressed that i was making a sweater for someone for christmas if i didn't now know that sh%t knits up QUICK using size 13 needles. i'm pretty stoked about knitting this anyway because of the pattern. not to mention i got a lot done on the second sock:

i think it's all about finishing up at the moment. i busted out another christmas gift over the past week and a half, so now i'm doing clean-up with all my personal stuff to really dive into holiday knitting season... look! i finally even blocked the top to those pajamas from the summer interweave knits! hey, just because i didn't do anything responsible, i'm not saying i was being lazy b/c i did do a load of laundry in addition to everything else. although, i did also watch a lot of RED DWARF while i did all this stuff...

of course, i also STARTED a couple non-christmas things. fingerless mittens in exchange for some comics (i'll show you when i've got more than 4 rows), and this top from rebecca...only i'm gonna do the ribbing long enough to cover my buddah belly...



yesterday afternoon i treated myself to a coffee from blue bottle coffee, and drank it while watching the fog roll in by that temporary wood temple. i really need to slow life down somehow....although i don't know if blowing off paying the bills and whatnot is really the answer.

i'll try to do some responsible stuff today, while i'm at work...

Posted by Meagen at 05:13 AM | Comments (1)

August 04, 2005

store

well, i'd hoped to go "live" with the store today, but it's looking like it will be monday instead. when i got into it, i was unhappy with the way some of the picts came out, and too tired to take new ones. i think in the overall scope of things, it's best to just take some time this weekend, and really do it right. plus i have some questions for anthony about how to make these little thumbnails for items that come in multiple colors. this way might also give me time to take picts of the rings, which i have not been able to do as of yet.

i don't have anything else really to say, cuz that's all i did last night before i fell into bed around 9:ish...

i leave you with this:

yes, i now make duck booties in adult sizes...

Posted by Meagen at 05:09 AM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2005

best. night. ever.

well, if it wasn't THE best, it was pretty damn close! last night i went to STASH, on solano avenue in berkeley, and met the YARN HARLOT!!! i don't know if i could even begin to explain how completely glorious this night was....

to begin with, even though i was wearing my brand new fluevog shoes which i think are so mezmerizing and compelling, and which drew many compliments,...

...i was super cranky and threw a major self-pity party all day at work. i found out around noon that the yarn harlot was going to be at this yarn store. i knew she was coming, and i knew the name of the store she was going to be speaking at, only the way i knew it, it was all going down on august 11th. major D'oh! i didn't think i would be able to go b/c i was making up the time i missed on friday, and being able to attend this event meant i would have to leave a little early for my normal ending time. needless to say, this perception added fuel to my mope-fire. a co-worker encouraged me repeatedly to ask to go and that she would drop me off. eventually i did ask, and joy-beyond-joy IT WAS NO PROBLEM!!!! especially because it was a particularly slow day.

fortunately i'd brought the digi with me to work, as well as some knitting, (heather, a few rows of your bag were done at this event!!!!), and was even wearing a major piece of knitting i'd done, so i felt mostly prepared to go to this particular event directly from work. i got dropped off, and there were a ton of people already in the store. it didn't seem to matter, because somehow i got an end seat, and didn't have to pass over people with my giant backpack. stokedness. stephanie came out, and i was instantly happy/excited. apparently she was too, since she took our audience-as-a-group picture. i know she's been posting these on her site, and she told us that she's been using them at home to prove to her family that it's not just a bunch of imaginary friends.






stephanie's speech was incredibly funny. i thought some of it was definately part of what i would call a "stock speach" (the book excerpts she read, with appropriate/funny comments about them), but mainly that stuff was worked in around stuff that had happened to her during the past 2 days. it was a great way to not have to do some stock thing that would get so boring after 3 times that you felt like a friggin robot, and not so stressful as having to come up with major adlib every night which you damn well know would get stale real soon. she did a great job, and it was all how i pictured it in my mind. me knitting a little sumpin'-sumpin' in a sea of knitters....O.K. the store was too small for a sea, it was more like a river of knitters, all laughing as the harlot told her tale. there were question and answers after, and i noticed that rachel from yarn-a-go-go was there too! it was all how i expected, until everyone got up and stood in line to get their bookbookbook signed. (i don't think we need to harp on the fact that i didn't have the copy i'd originally bought and read a while ago, and would have to purchase it again to get the signature of the YARN HARLOT on the inside flap, especially b/c it happens to be in the same entry with the words "my brand new john fluevogs", ESPECIALLY b/c i also bought sock yarn... yeah, no need to harp...moving right along now) while waiting in line i got a chance to talk to the folks standing near me, and it was so rad!!!! we all talked about knitting, yarn, stitch tricks(i found out about the concept of the "life line" in lace knitting!), favorite knitting projects, harry potter, beading stuff, and friggin' LORD OF THE RINGS!!!!! the two women i wound up spending the most time talking to were standing behind me. initially i saw this woman, who turned out to be mary francis, wearing this beautiful necklace, with lots of czech pressed leaves, which i happen to love. considering the crowd we were in, i was fairly certain she had crafted it herself, and i just had to ask her how she'd put it together. then she told me about a few different websites for beading and which was was better for what kind of bead for the price. dude. so totally the kinda information that can take a person like me a WHILE to collect. it was just handed to me while i waited in line with my sock yarn and my bookbookbook. there was a woman who was standing next to mary francis knitting a lace sock. turns out this woman is kylie, and turns out she went to smith college which we all know is in my hometown. there was a lot more talking and then, BAM! i was up on deck with the yarn harlot.

there was an initial misfire with the camera...

and then the "real" pict...

and, just because, the sock yarn...



together mary francis, kylie and myself caught a cab to the downtown berkeley bart, and talked a lot of LOTR along the way, mixed with some discussion about brittish comedies. in fact, i was so taken with our conversation(which also included talking about the yarn harlot and CAL, since both women have had grad school experience there) i never got a picture of them. it was just a fantastic night, and i'm so glad that i got to go! of course, i'm gonna need to go to bed around 8PM tonight, since it took me a while to unwind and fall asleep after all the stimulation...

Posted by Meagen at 05:17 AM | Comments (1)

August 02, 2005

pluggin'

sometimes i think my whole life is just about plugging away, not really knowing if i'm making any progress. i mean, maybe that's the nature of life...

i was pluggin' away at getting the whole store thing together..gigi and i took a buncha picts. here's one of the first, where i realized i needed the shot to be closer up. actually, there was a lot of stuff i hadn't initially thought of as being relevant to the evening's photo shoot, that turned out to be kinda important. i guess they call that "learning curve". (i can't even tell you how much i've been learning in the past two weeks!)

not only did lygia sit around my apartment for a few hours wearing all kinds of jewelry, while watching RED DWARF and FIREFLY, she brought me a set of TIKI GOBLETS!!!!

Posted by Meagen at 05:28 AM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2005

the weekend

sooooo....i'm not really a computer person on the weekend. i mean, sometimes i'm on it, but mostly i see this as bulk time to work on knitting or beading or sewing or cooking or whatever ... not to mention that this weekend was feeling particularly sombre to me b/c of friday morning. i haven't slept too well for the past couple of nights. i've been up since about 3:30am this morning. did all the picts and this post...life's gonna be HARD around 3:30pm today...feel for me about that time, wouldja?

friday night isaac came over. we ate some dinner, watched some firefly, and walked around the corner to see the mall. my friend adam plays drums for this band, and they are SUPER GOOD! they played a couple new songs and i liked them. i also really like the music adam makes on his own. i read that he's going to be playing that stuff out somewhere. hopefully it's on a thursday to saturday kinda night, so i can go! speaking of going, the mall was the first band to play, and then it got real crowded, which made me want to go home. nathalie and damon came over(isaac decided to go home too), and we watched one more episode of firefly. i'm telling you, it's the only thing really worth not watching lotr for...

i was supposed to do more work on setting up the store, but i kinda didn't. lygia's coming over tonight, and we're gonna get the last of the picts shot w/my digi. hopefully everything will be up by thursday...hopefully i just couldn't pull myself away from the stuff i was making. i can't show you either of the knitted items, b/c they're both gifts. i designed and knitted a thank-you to anthony for helping me out with this site and everything(which i will post later, cuz i think it came out rad), and i finished more than HALF of lygia's christmas present. and it's just august 1st today! for those of you who don't dwell in a handmade gift/knitting world, i don't really knit, bead, sew, or generally make anything for myself between august 1st and january 31st. this time is devoted to gift making. this is part of the reason i friggin love christmas. i've already been in that mindset for about 4 months before anyone else is there; of course i'm excited!

i CAN show you the beaded stuff i made this weekend. i wound up getting one of those THINGAMAJIGs last weekend, and i was really compulsive about playing with it on saturday. i do have the sterling wire, nylon hammer, and steel brick for when i've improved. seems a world away at the moment. here's the first things that came out well enough to show. the rest was just plain curled wires, many of which were wonky. apparently there's some trick to doing this and making the wires come out even. i'm still working out where to put the posts, as i had inserted them from the bottom of the jig initially and found myself thinking it all seemed so inefficient. of course, in the end, it was me... anywho, i eventually made these:


i had another new experience in beading, as well. i actually made a bracelet from one of those beading magazines, and followed a PATTERN. this is actually much more difficult than it would seem. i am proud that my finished bracelet looked alot like the one in the magazine. by that i mean, i used different color stones, and a different toggle clasp, but the formation of the beads are the way they look in the magazine picture. it was an interesting experiment!


i also worked out these two necklaces. this one is made of chinese crystals with sterling findings:



and this necklace was originally a bracelet, that i turned into a necklace. i like how the glass is a jade color. i was also moved to provide this necklace with 14k gold findings. i rarely use gold, and have very little in my stash. yet, here i was, digging it and having at....


it was a very productive, yet odd weekend. i feel like things have changed, on a very deep level, and i'm not really sure how. i'm even kinda happy to be going to work today, if only to get that comforting feeling of sameness...

Posted by Meagen at 04:44 AM | Comments (0)