Don't Mind If I Do...

My New Year's celebration: Sharing honey liqueur with a friend made of seashells.

 

Travels

While traveling from one place to another, we stopped off in Chicago to see the David Bowie exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was so amazing. Handwritten lyrics and notations, paintings, storyboards and visual sketches, old concert posters, rare audio and video footage, lots of obscure photos and information, and of course a complete collection of fashionable stage attire. I was especially happy to see the aqua blue suit from the Life on Mars? video, and the silver "Pierrot" costume from the Ashes to Ashes video. At the end of the visit, I bought a very dramatic lightning pin and a few guitar picks in the museum store. I was impressed to find that they go perfectly with my sweater and scarf. We stayed one night at the Congress Plaza Hotel by Grant Park. I later discovered that it is said to be haunted. No wonder I had weird dreams that I can no longer remember at all.

Also, on a recent week-long road trip through northern California, we were lucky enough to encounter this beautiful double rainbow. It was much brighter in real life. Despite my best efforts to photograph it, it didn't show up very well in the pictures at all, which I guess is appropriate for something so rare and elusive. It was pretty overwhelming. What does it mean?

It's true, it is.

"Music is the sole art that evokes nostalgia for the future." - Ned Rorem

Goodbye, Cruel World

I've been working towards this day my entire life: the day that I could wake up, stretch my weary, light-starved soul, and not have to immediately pack it away again so that I can "pass" at the day job. I really hope this lasts.

I will likely be a bit strapped for cash, but hopefully very creative and productive.

But first, I'm going to rest for just a minute. I am exhausted. And then, I'm going to get up, dust off, and make up for lost time.

And to celebrate, here's a song I love:

"...anyone that needs what they want and doesn't want what they need, I want nothing to do with..."

And in the words of my beautiful and insightful friend, KW: ..."shedding all of this fake stuff and getting real with the real."

Yup... that's what I'm talkin' about...

I've Tripped and I Can't Get Down

image source

Oh, wait... now I can. 

I Love Clara

One of the Best Songs Ever Written

Landslide by Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac, 1975)

Ghosts Arriving from Somewhere

Okay, the last few weeks have been a bit rough. I guess word has gotten out that I offer refuge to wandering ghosts, because ever since the end of November I have been inundated with visitations. They've been gaining access through the cracks in my walls and from under my front door, rattling my windows and steaming up my mirrors. I wake up from fitful dreams to find them tugging on my bedsheets, twirling and shimmering and demanding that I provide them with glass bottles. One of them even perched at the foot of my bed and shouted the phrase "I'm ready for cozytime!" repeatedly for four whole hours, interrupting itself only to hurl a few choice insults my way. It has not been easy. I have the feeling that all of this is an anomaly, possibly brought on by the cold weather. Normally, ghosts do not know what's best for them, so they don't usually house-hunt of their own accord. The sheer scope of this unexpected influx has made it impossible for me to find the time to create complex beaded necklaces. But in the interest of aiding in the crisis, I have given these ghosts simple chains or shorter beaded ornament strands for their bottles instead. I can't keep them all -- "cacophony" doesn't even begin to describe it -- so they are available from my Etsy store, Of Nowhere.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Hold 'em in Your Hand

Okay, what are these? Well, let me try to explain...

This first one is a Baby Echidna. Look at him! He looks like dough! If you had him in your clutches, it would be really hard to resist rolling him around on the kitchen counter and maybe kneading him a little bit. Not in a mean way -- just nice and gentle-like, since he's probably pretty delicate.

The second one is a Hairless G-Pig (AKA Guinea Pig). That's just crazy.

The third is a Hedgerow, obviously.

Fourth, a Batling.

Snowman on the Windowsill

I decided I could not let another winter pass without building at least one snowman. So I got home after work this evening, opened the window at the top of the stairs, and made this little guy on the windowsill overlooking my kitchen rooftop. As you can see, he's kind of small and a little rough around the edges, but he's pretty nice.

Here he is, peeking around the curtain and waving his hands in the air like he just don't care.

He was swearing like a sailor and letting the cold in, so I had to shut him outside.