OMG, Panic or What

On Sunday, Mollie and I agreed that homestay would be a wonderful way to stay in Buenos Aires. She wants to become fluent in conversational Spanish (and I want to learn enough to say yes--or no--when the guys ask to kiss me.) We found a place, available on the necessary dates, via one of those online booking agencies. Received a nice little email stating that "your request was successfully sent." Not that the space is confirmed or anything. And that they would confirm the request within 72 hours. Omg, three days? Don't they know I'm on a tight schedule?

So I waited. I didn't sleep well. But I waited. Nothing. So I sent an email asking them to please confirm the booking. Still nothing.

In the meantime, another friend sent me a list of potential apartments for rent. I sent an email to the one she stayed at last year and had a confirmation of booking this morning in my inbox. It is even less than the homestay option. And the best thing? It is like going home. Only a couple doors down from the guest house I stayed at last time I went to Buenos Aires.

Okay, now I'm excited!

Buenos Aires Bound

I booked my ticket! I leave on April 1st for approximately three weeks in Buenos Aires. A friend will join me for approximately two weeks in the middle section (and she'll stay for a bit longer on the other end) and OMG, I'm going to Argentina again!

Argentina ?!?

Airfares are only $700 round trip from Seattle to Buenos Aires during April ($770 from Vancouver). Time off is confirmed (omg) and now I only have to wait for a friend to figure out dates. But hey, if hers and mine don't quite coincide, I'll book the tickets and go anyway. How can I afford not to?

Wearing the Green

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone. Did everyone remember to wear green today? I had the hardest time finding any green in my closet. So I'm wearing teal. With lime green earings. Ooh yeah, that's a fashion statement.

So I have a challenge for all of you. Use green in your art work today. Green fabric, green paint, green thread. A green accent. Anything green. If you visit today and decide to do something with green, post a link so we can all see what creations are possible with the addition of a little spring.

Sahara—Or My Life in iTunes

Note, you will understand the title if you read to the very end. I deleted rule three and four as I don't believe in tagging people. But hey, you can do it if you want. My thoughts/comments appear under the song title. Cause you all really wanted to know how I reacted didn't you?

My Life in Itunes

RULES:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

6. Have Fun!


IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
Return to Patagonia--Lemon Jelly
Ha, you know Patagonia is in Argentina. Right?

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF
You was it--Spoon
Was? You mean I am no longer it?

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
The Warning--Never Ending White Lights
Um, what exactly is that supposed to mean?

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Come And Go--Turin Brakes
Ooh, I know at least one person who would have great fun with... that.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Aqualung--Jethro Tull
Like pneumonia? That's my life purpose? But I hate being sick.

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Tell You Something--Alicia Keys
This about the most secretive person on the planet?

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Stone Thrown--Turin Brakes
Nope, clueless.

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Ramblin' Man--Lemon Jelly
What, my parents thought I was a boy? That's my problem.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
The Birds and the Beats--Booka Shade
Well, half of that is right anyway.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
The New--Interpol
Sorry, sorry. Read rule 3. Wasn't me, honestly. I wouldn't pick new friends. Unless...

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
The Fitted Shirt--Spoon
Yeah, yeah I know. Loose a few pounds.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Chips & Dip--Spoon
Um. Okay.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Within Me--Lacuna Coil
For some reason that makes me think vampire thoughts.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
1975--Spoon
My hobby is a year? Not writing, not art, not tango but a year? Gee whiz.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Boy With a Coin--Iron & Wine
Hey what? I'd take a rich man. Really. Oh, maybe not.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Where Do We Go From Here--Alicia Keys
Yeah, that drifting is a real concern.

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Headlights--Snow Patrol
That is so not the right answer. All the songs shuffle could choose from and it picked this one.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Sober & Unkissed--Sia
You guys should do something about that.

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Sahara--Nightwish

Winter Hibernation

It must be winter. The sewing room is cold and productions levels have dropped to below zero. I haven't accomplished any more on the writing front either. If it hadn't been for the newest round of Exquisite Corpse, needle and thread might not have been touched until I thawed out. But dispite the cold, yesterday saw my Corpse off to the post office. Sniff, I won't see it again for months.

This time we are creating a body, starting with the head and working down. The only guideline is 1/2 an inch of exposed. . . flesh. And we all know how tantalizing that little glimpse can be. To my group (if you read this), have fun.

Today is gorgeous and sunny, the blood is moving in my veins again. Hopefully somewhere inside is a kernel of an idea. Something to stimulate the thinking processes so I can create something. Anything. Writing, art. I don't care. I'm tired of the boredom.

Plotting and Planning

It started with snow. More than a skiff. The kind that you have to shovel to find your vehicle before going to work. The kind you get stuck in--more than once.

It ended with an email from kikki: "How are you enjoying the snow?" What? Enjoying the snow? Not at all. So I started dreaming of Argentina instead. Warmth, shoes, tango. Did I mention the warmth. Or the shoes.

The decision is made. This year for sure.

Encrusted Beading

I wonder if the rules for cooking also apply to fabric art exchanges? You know the one--don't try out anything on company that you haven't first eaten yourself. I think that ensures you don't poison your guests. Or have them clamoring for a recipe you made up as you went along.

When I received Mary Anne's corpse in the mail, I stared at it for days. In reality, more than just days. It's simplicity left me a bit clueless. Well, extremely clueless. Thoughts of what to create ran around in my head--probably thoughts closer to panic.

Staring at it, I realized a had a bag of cabochons my grandmother gave me floating around somewhere. One piece, a beautiful ebony black, looked perfect for the shape of the square I had to work on.

But Mary Anne's guidelines specified that she wanted a lighter colour in the centre. I drew out a design in my Studio Journal using the dark cabochon and added squiggly lines around it. Placing the white cabochon on the drawing netted a similar result, so off I went. To Michael's to buy beads.

This is the first time I ever did encrusted beading. Knowledge and finished result weren't even near one another, so I kind of figured it out as I went along. The photo was taken before I upgraded camera's, so unfortunately is quite blurry.


Hum, that was fun. Now I can try it out on the guests.

Not Really a Resolution

I don't do New Year's resolutions. I posted about it here and on my other blog here. Why make a promise to yourself that you will only break in the end anyway. Besides, if you think there is something that needs changing or fixing in your life, why wait until January to do something about it. Like Kevin Johansen says: "Timing is the answer to success, Do it now."



So instead of a resolutions, I picked one word to live towards for the years. This year, I want to be fearless.

Merry Christmas

This will give you some idea of my warped sense of humour:

Exquisite Corpse Round Three

I've signed up for the next round of Exquisite Corpse. I had so much fun with this one that I can hardly wait for the next one.

Our illustrious mistress is looking for more members, so if any readers are interested, shoot me a note and I'll let her know.

Deadline for sign-ups is January 15th with a start date of January 22nd.

You never know what kind of fun adventures will ensue if you partake.

One More Home

Yet another corpse is home, so here are photos of my square. I'll do a little tutorial for the silk fusion used to created the background. I used the idea on both Gail and Deirdre's square.

So here are close up photos of the square I created for Deirdre.

Nearing Completion

Slowly but surely, the corpses are finding their way home. Gail has received hers, and now so has Leslie. Yippee. Here is what I worked on for Leslie's square. The photo really changed the colour of the lame. It is closer to a royal purple than blue.

I wanted to get Deirdre's in the mail today, but spent time with my daughter and granddaughter, so won't get it mailed until Monday instead. Sigh, that is the last one to work on too.

One More Corpse Home

Gail received her corpse today, so I can reveal the section I worked on. This one only had two places left to choose from. I wish I'd done more with the figure but didn't have quite enough confidence to play too much with it on someone else's piece.


And a detail shot:

More of the Corpse

As promised, here are a few close up shots of my Exquisite Corpse. So many beautiful details. Hope everyone is as awed by the lizard as I am.

All those great comments go to everyone else that worked on this. Thanks!

Gail's:


Mary Anne's:


Leslie's:


Corryna's:


Deirdre's:



Mine:

Exquisite Corpse

Woo hoo, my corpse came home today. Very beautiful. Watch this space, I'll post pictures. Just as soon as I finish typing my 1,667 words for the day.

Update: word count for the day finished so here are pictures.

I started with a photo of a large paper poppy in my yard:

I drew the image on fabric and worked on one square:


Then sent it out into the world. Thanks to Corryna, Deirdre, Mary Anne, Leslie and Gail for creating art out of a few nebulous lines on fabric. This wouldn't have happened without you. Isn't it amazing! I'm so happy with the result.

Time Flies By

So November is almost over. Baring a miracle, I won't be able to complete the TIF challenge for this month. The irony is the topic is typography and the reason I don't have time is I'm doing NaNo again this year. Only 50,000 words in a month, but it doesn't leave extra time to put any of those letters into fibre.

Of Birthdays

My friends kidnapped me for my birthday and took me to a fancy restaurant for appies and drinks. We had a wonderful time visiting, then went to Quantum of Solace, the new Bond movie. Okay, I still can't wrap my head around a blond Bond. It just doesn't work for me. I'd planned to go to tango, but this was much more fun. Aren't friends grand?

Milongero Embrace

I recently completed a survey on tango and relationships. I find it interesting that 88 1/2% of the respondents prefer close embrace to traditional music, almost 54% prefer close embrace to nuevo music and only 28% prefer open embrace to nuevo. So why does our tango community so often dance to nuevo music?

Confusing the Telemarketers

Ha, I found a perfect way to get rid of a telemarketer. And it only worked because the telemarketer was stupid enough to tell me where she was calling from. She wanted to talk to him about a listing in a directory of some kind, so I put her on hold and said I'd see if my boss was available.

"Paul, do you want to talk to this woman from directory name?"

"Does she want to advertise?

"No. I think she wants us to advertise with them."

"Nope."

Back to the woman, I continued the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Paul isn't available, can I take a message."

"I just need him to confirm your listing for directory name."

"I can do that for you." She hesitated, reading off the business name and address, but said she had to get the fax number from him.

"I can do that for you."

"No, I need to speak with Mr. — so I can confirm the listing."

"You want us to pay for it?"

"Yes."

"Then he isn't interested," I said. "If you want us to buy advertising, he isn't interested. If you want to buy an ad in our magazine, he'd be more than happy to speak with you."

"That is presumptuous. How do you know that if you didn't talk to him."

"I already asked, he isn't interested," I said.

"Okay, now I'm confused."

Oh goody. My work here is done.