I Make Pointless YouTube Searches, or an Ode to the Joes I Knows

One of my favorite bands of the 90s was the Rugburns. They did weird little songs on weird little subjects. I had no idea they made any videos, much less for one of my favorites (I'd apologize for the quality, but that's not really my fault, is it?):



Oh, and Steve Poltz is dishy. I can't believe he dated Jewel...

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Yeah, I like Joss Whedon. I really liked Buffy, appreciated Angel, and freaking adored Firefly. Here's his latest, to watch for nuthin', you lucky monkey.

I'm making a pair of fingerless mitts similar to the ones worn by Penny at the beginning of Act 2. Here's the completed one:


I haven't, to my knowledge, ever done anything so overtly fangirl-ish before. It tingles.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Heat?

I'm no stranger to winter. I love to regale hapless strangers with tales of my adventures in Alaska. Like how my hair would freeze when I walked from swim class to the school bus, or how it was the only time of year when the outhouse didn't stink, or how difficult it was to get around in Vans on black ice. But I guess I'm getting old, because I'm cold, man.

That's not to say it hasn't had its moments. D and I built this little monument to the approaching solstice:



So have a happy Solstice/Yule/Hanukkah/whatever!

Motherf**ker!

There are times when eloquence fails, and this be one o' those. I have either badly sprained or broken the ring finger on my left hand (yeah, that finger). It's all bruised, mottled, and sausagey-looking. Captain ILL is right--exercise is dangerous stuff. From now on I'll let my ass grow unhindered. It's the American way, after all.

Hello, my name is IMLOT...and I'm a Spinaholic

I promised, this spinning thing has become a problem. I'm spending unreasonable amounts of time working a giant buttload of alpaca fiber a most wonderful and generous spinner (now fellow spinner, I guess) gave me--thanks Donna! As I can't afford proper carders (much less what I could really use, a drum carder), I'm left to card with slicker brushes made for dogs. They actually work really well. I guess if it's good enough for beloved pets, it's good enough for me.

It's taken a bit of time (and many a tangled up wad of fiber), but I'm finally getting an almost-handle on basic spinning. It's still really difficult to get the feed, tension, and twist right, but I'm definitely improving.

And in economic downturn news, I got a goose down pillow for five bucks today at Linens & Things. We vultures are indeed an opportunistic lot.

Realio Yarnio

I don't see this as a triumph. Wool roving is already practically yarn. I just added a little spin. Still, I'm happy with how it turned out (especially the hand-painting). Especially considering the cheap-ass roving I bought had grass, leaves, bark, and (if I'm not mistaken) a dab o' sheep poopage in it.

Turns out I make poetry, too...

Dumb Supper
by B. Burke

Where goes the love accumulated?
Where goes the dying light?
Will we gathered here together
remembering tonight

take lost loved ones by the hand
where the veil is thin?
Will candles bright and welcoming
draw them steady in?

Pull the chair out, fill the glass,
and wait with me a spell
to see if love surviving death
will here a while dwell.


Blessed Samhain, everyone!

Dia de los Muertos

Skulls for decorating...very excited (per usual) for Day of the Dead...

Good smells and bad diseases...

I made an item for a raffle to sponsor a marathon team at work. They're running to support The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's a custom velvet box stuffed with Imp's Ears (perfume samples) from the ever enigmatic and wonderful Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Most of the vials (and the full bottle) were donated by the overwhelmingly generous folks at BPAL.org (as well as a hefty handful of Lab postcards, pens, stickers, and magnets that I put in a matching velvet bag).






















Just when I think the world is crappy cakes covered in crap coulis, here comes a whole plethora of hope. You know, that stuff Obama keeps talking about...

I'm Reminded of Yarn

My first attempt at wheel spinning. A bloody mess, but I can easily imagine a new addiction.

New Spinning Wheel!!!

ashford
Here's my lovely loaner spinning wheel (thanks Dana!). She's been in storage a while so needs a little tidying and a replacement part, but she'll soon be whirring away. I imagine a little spinning will take my mind off the omnipresent sight of Sarah Palin's giant floating head...

Finally done!

My hands are a tad raw, but I'm finally finished. Hope my co-swapper enjoys it. Now back to busting my hump making cob...

Necklaces and nincompoops

I've got a keen sterling necklace in the works, but it's not yet ready to photograph (sitting in pieces, waiting for central feature to be purchased by lazy creator). I'll photograph and post as soon as it's finished.

Oh, and did anyone listen to the RNC over the past few days? Compared to the Dems (or any of Obama's speeches) it sounded like a parliament of corpses listening to it on NPR. I didn't see any television coverage, so you tell me. Were there a lot of mimes in the audience?

New windows

Over the past couple of days we've been changing out our old windows (disgusting aluminum numbers) with sweet new ones. After removing the old unit, this was my view. The color of the laundry, the fireweed seeds floating in the air...I just had to snap a pic.

And yes, those are my gigantic undies. Thanks for asking.

Boing Boing gets my bump...

I promised myself when I started this that I wouldn't be the kind of blogger to just re-post stuff from Boing Boing, but man is this funny...

I'm glad its provenance could be established. I'm kinda Antiques Roadshow about this stuff. ;)

Audacity indeed...

I'm trying, folks. I'm trying to get on the Hope Train and feel all warm and fuzzy about November. But a primordial streak of pragmatism runs in my family and it just keeps yanking me back to my dear old jaded self.

Of course this election is important and markedly different than any preceding it in the United States. But Obama's still a national politician, with a national politician's ego. I look at his legions of fans (and that's what it feels like--fans, not a populace that must, for it's own preservation, hold its politicians accountable in all things) and they make me nervous. Enjoy the show, folks. But tomorrow makes sure the man does his job.

I support Obama (and would anyway, even if the thought of John McCain in the White House didn't set off my IBS), but my support is tempered with genuine expectation. I seriously doubt he could do any worse than the current administration unless he suddenly shed his human form and started eating babies, but all the same, I want real change. And I want it in relatively short order.

In the beginning...

...there were only raw materials. Ideas gave them shape, and these shapes led to further ideas. The vicious circle was set into motion, and woe unto those that hopped this hellbound freight...

Some of my earliest memories are of making stuff. I blame my mom. When I was little, she was constantly creating--sewing, painting, nailing together bits of wood. In retrospect, it was likely a chemical imbalance that led her to sew all of my Halloween costumes by hand, or create a three-story doll house for my sister and me. I mean, it's not normal, right? Martha Stewart at least has financial incentive (not to mention a massive staff of lackeys to carry out her tyrannical whims). What thanks did my mother get? Two largely ungrateful daughters who would rather wear Garanimals than hand-made. I'm not sure how I side-stepped understanding the thanklessness of it all. I just remember at first emulating her techniques and eventually her passion.

I'd like to think it's genetic, but my sister claims to have almost no creative impulses (beyond a knack for interior design). My son is very creative, but it manifests mostly as a writing bug. So I can't be sure. My only certainty is that's it's communicable and I have it, terminally.

This blog is for others like me: craftaholics. Join me, won't you? An affliction shared is an affliction halved...or is that doubled...?

We'll start with a tour of my latest little problem.

p.s. I also plan to piss people off with various rants. So steel yourselves, gentle readers....