Summer Reading Approaches

Free time for reading is coming soon! What are your favorite books? Some of mine are:

"The Magus" by John Fowles

"No One Belongs Here More Than You" by Miranda July

ANYTHING Neil Gaiman (hello, favorite author!)

"Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut

"Let us Compare Mythologies" by Leonard Cohen

"The Dream Songs" by John Berryman

& though I have a huge stack of books waiting for me, I would love to know if you have any recommendations. What are you planning to read this summer? I think I will start with this odd book I found in a thrift store called "Sanctity: or there's no such thing as a naked sailor" by Dennis Selby!

If I May Veer Off Topic . . .

So I had every intention of keeping this related to my projects, but last week I had an experience that was too amazing not to share! I had the privilege of seeing Yann Tiersen live! I wanted to share one of the videos I took during the concert, but youtube gave me a fright by saying I would be infringing copyright so I decided to play it safe even thought people upload videos like that all the time.

Yann Tiersen has made so many small moments of my life so much more beautiful because of his music. When I was a few years younger and gas was less pricey, I used to love driving around the foothills (not much going on in the central valley, let me tell you!) looking for places to explore. Listening to Yann Tiersen while doing this made every sweep of the road seem so cinematic & so special.

I was listening to Yann Tiersen as I drove away from a young man's apartment & realized I had fallen in love for the first time. So yes, very special, I was so so so excited about actually seeing him play right in front of my very own nose!

It's so interesting how people who you will probably never meet can make such an impact in your life simply because they make music.

(my friend Becca snapped this on her phone! that's me nearly dying of awesome!)

What is the best show you've ever been to? Which one were most excited for?

Etsy?

Due to the magic of the internet, I have had a few inquiries of "hey, are you selling this?". To which I've basically just replied no as I just had never thought of selling anything. & because saying, "not at this time" sounds a lot more intelligent than "guhhh whaaat???"

But the reality is, in a few weeks, I will be joining the ranks of the educated & unemployed. I also don't do much with the things I make, the purpose is to create not to have, so they basically end up sitting around with no one looking at them. So I have been giving thought to setting up a shop on Etsy, but I have so many questions!

Would anybody actually buy anything?

Would people not buying anything make me feel bad?

Will anything I make end up on the giggle inducing regretsy.com?

Would I begin to base what I make on what will sell? (I certainly hope not!)

How much should I sell things for?

Will shipping things off prove to be more trouble than it's worth?

Many questions. But maybe it is worth giving a go! Definitely something to think about at least.

Preview of Book 2

During the past winter break, I compiled a bunch of things I had written over a three year period, self published through blurb.com, and ended up with "plant collectors in bolivia".

The response from my friends has been so insanely wonderful! I wasn't really expecting too many people to take an interest, but I have plenty of people asking for a copy. From those who do have one, they've been telling me what their favorite parts were which really makes me just want to fall over dead from happiness, it's such a beautiful feeling!

I've been doing a much better job of keeping track of my writings & have been working on making a second book since pretty much the moment I finished my first, starting a book on Blurb's BookSmart software, sticking in placeholder images, etc.  I plan on continuing this for much of the year, editing during my next winter break (my life is timed by an academic calendar), & having something new for you to read in 2011.

Ooooohhhh new!

Fabric is an excellent gift because not only is it pretty & usually becomes clothes (clothes!), it provides hours & hours of entertainment! I am super excited about this fantastic floral I've been given, the colors are amazing! & now that I've got new needles for my machine, I am itching to turn this into a dress.  I think I'm just going to try & do something simple so I don't have to go find a pattern for it. I really wish I didn't have school to eat up so much of my time!

Update

For much of today I wasn't feeling well so I decided to stay home & rest. I'm not really good at resting though, I was doing my laundry & homework & cleaning. & then I thought, "well I'll just sit & watch some television then".

Not being much of a television person, my first choices are one of those competition shows on Bravo, some other trash, or one of the "educational" channels (discovery, history, animal planet, etc.) & on one of those was some sea monster story. So of course I decide to make a sea monster to keep me company for the rest of the day. My monsters are never very scary though. But don't let that sweet little pink mouth fool you! It's a fake! I swear, she is vicious!!!

Update

Last night I made another shadowbox, you can find it in the same place as the previous one

Shadowboxes

Generally when taking a snapshot of something, I am usually disappointed with the results because it just doesn't capture what I was really thinking of at the moment. So with these shadowboxes, I am filling in with what my imagination saw using white paper cutouts. The last one was a bit like a nightmare & so I decided to make this one more of a dream.

http://uglybird.wordpress.com/miscellaneous/shadowbox/

Neighborhood

So I'm taking a beginning photo class at school this semester & have been having too much fun with our current assignment which is to create a series. Initially my thought was people & their pets because I love that relationship. I think it's so sweet & kind of funny. Some people get really weird about their pets & I love it.

But that was starting to go the "too cute" route & as I was doing it, I realized that is a project that would take me a lot longer than the time I have to do it how I would really like. We were supposed to take a good portion of the photos during spring break & in between trying to schedule people at their convenience, work on other assignments, & actually trying to relax, I couldn't always capture in my favorite kind of light.

So I think that is a project I will have to return to in the future. Maybe this summer? I definitely need to improve my directing people skills so if you've got time, let me know!

Thanks again to those of you who let me photograph you. If I haven't sent you your pictures yet, I will probably do so this weekend!

Anyway, during spring break I also started what I have been tentatively calling "neighborhood". There are a lot of brand name housing developments where I live & I've always found it a weird blend of amusing & sad. So basically for my project I have been going about taking pictures of the same models of houses in these neighborhoods. My goal is to try & make you, the viewer, feel that same amusing & sad mixture. Because for some reason we are so willing to conform & that the idea of living in these nearly identical houses is actually so appealing to some people. Seriously for some pictures, I thought I had accidentally done the same one twice! & yet even with all these limitations, people do attempt to customize, to make their house into their home. Here is a sample:



Also, I finally made an "About" section here & "Book" where you can preview 15 pages of "plant collectors in bolivia", but don't buy it, I promise I will give you a copy as soon as I can.

Sharing v. Shy(ing?)

One thing that always confuses me about making things is whether or not I actually want anyone to see the final product. Sometimes I do, other times I don't, either because I wasn't pleased with the result or felt it was somehow too personal.

My reason for making things is not recognition. In fact, recognition is probably last on my list as I have been incredibly shy my entire life. I am one of those people who really have to make an effort to be outspoken (until of course we have become friends & then the gabbing never ends).

I make things because if I don't I will probably go crazy. I have too many ideas & little idea babies who haven't decided what kind of idea they want to be just yet. And honestly, those things must leave your head if you wish to be a functional human being.

So here is where sharing becomes a great thing. When I show somebody something I've made & they actually understand it & appreciate it, I feel amazing! Very connected to the world & other people, like someone else understands my secret language. Because it is something so personal & really because I can be so shy, everything I make is something I have been dying to say, but could never manage it in words.

But sometimes sharing is a pain! I hate when people use my images without asking or for something I certainly wouldn't use it for on the internet, again, because it is such a personal thing. It can also be difficult to hear someone being critical about something you've put a lot of time into creating.

So if you are still following, what is your opinion on sharing your creations/ideas on the internet? Do you feel it is better to connect with as many people possible & just put up with the annoyances? Or do you think it is best to keep personal things personal?

Update

Hooray for tiny projects! Here is an itty bitty embroidered version of an older painting of mine (which I think I have failed to post here)

Ugly Birds & Ugly Words (in stitches)

filed under the "miscellaneous" category as embroidery in my imagination is a different thing than sewing

Update

My updates are containing fewer & fewer things, but I am basically done putting up old stuff & so now I have to wait 'til I've made something new.

So here is something new:

Fish and Bird

Also I have discovered (I need to get better at the internet) how to add links to other websites on that sidebar to the right! So while you are poking around here, you should take a look at the websites & blogs of these other lovely people I know