Things about Minnesota that I am thankful for and maybe someday will inspire a craft:
My family.
Freshly fallen snow that coats every little tiny twig on every tree-lined street, but only until it becomes a world of slush made gray by car exhaust.
Lakes. So many lakes.
Fireplaces that actually get used.
Summer sunsets at 9 pm.
Hotdish. Where would we be without tuna noodle casserole?
The MINNESOTA TWINS.
The North Shore. It's the Hamptons of MN.
Target. You're welcome.
Green bean casserole, preferably made with nothing but canned ingredients.
Dirt; specifically the warm kind that smells good because it is a reminder that it's summer.
I don't know how any of these could translate into a craft, but perhaps it'll be an interesting quest to embark upon, like the Native Americans discovering Grand Portage.*
*It wouldn't actually be anything like that, but I needed a MN-related simile.
November 25, 2010
November 17, 2010
Practical Layers with Impractical Shoes
It snowed the other day and I've still been able to resist getting out my long underwear. Must. Build. Tolerance.
I should be spending this afternoon off by preparing for the HandmadeMN Market this Saturday, but I'm not. I'm catching up on my stories and eating pizza rolls in an effort to distract myself from the insane, horrible, profound, soul-wrenching itchiness on my back. Eleven months of all-over skin irritation finally drove me to a patch testing clinic. A hundred and twenty-some patches were placed on Monday, followed by two excruciating days of wanting to set piranhas on myself. The patches came off today for an initial "reading," and the good news is that we might be figuring out the problem. The bad news is that I might be allergic to my clothes. So, since I'm not allowed to actually scratch the damn itch, I'm treating myself to a day in front of the television while attempting to numb 3/4 of my back with ice. This is the life(?).
November 8, 2010
Let's return to some normalcy, shall we?
Another HandmadeMN Market is coming up on November 20th! I am super behind on making new stuff, but I have done some holiday gift tags, and here is a preview:
November 3, 2010
I am so sorry about this post.
You know, I was just thinking to myself, "self, what if instead of writing a blog about the mundane goings-on of a crafter, you wrote about the mundane status of your health and various medications? On one hand, the topics are equally uninteresting to a world of people who are busy with their own crafts and have their own bodies and minds to worry about. On the other, they're both just about the nitty-gritty of life, to which everyone can relate. Plus people are super voyeuristic and will read just about anything."
And then I was all, "you know, that's all true, but the real benefit of a state-of-being blog such as we're discussing is that it will finally give the elderly motivation to join the internets!"*
And then I wondered how a post might go, and imagined this:
Dear Electronic Universe,
Well, the diverticulitis is flaring up again. At least I think that's what the pain in my side and the random diarrhea is. I don't know why in God's name I ate that popcorn last night. The chlordiazepoxide does nothing, so I'm going to take Martha's advice and ask the doctor for ciprofloxacin, which you have to take three times a day** unfortunately. That'll make 13 pills every 24 hours! Doc has to adjust my thyroid medication, too. And then add to that the antibiotic ointment he'll most likely prescribe for my eczema. Guess I'll be sleeping with socks on my hands again!
See, I made most of that up*** and it was still really cathartic. And I bet there's a heap of folks who would commiserate on any one of the many implicated ailments. If I were elderly I might not have included links, because I probably couldn't figure out how to do it,**** and let's hope I couldn't figure out how to upload pictures because there is a time and place for visuals and this would not be it, but old people often lose their sense of inhibition and do some pretty crazy - and sometimes nasty - stuff.*****
* It's not habitual for me to have discussions with myself like this.
** No idea what the dosage is, and I don't care.
*** Actually, this just a small sample of some of the medical problems plaguing my family members.
**** I feel really bad about saying that. It's just that my grandma, whom I love dearly, has a lift chair with three buttons that she cannot master. It frustrates her and everyone else, but it is what it is. Not 30 myself, I can tell my brain function is not what it used to be - *possibly* due to computer use, but that would be entirely counterproductive to point out here.
***** I feel bad about saying this, too. But that same grandmother, and her mother before her (both well past the age of 80 at their respective outbursts), has declared, "ah, bit by the trouser worm!" after learning of some relatives' pregnancy or other.
And then I was all, "you know, that's all true, but the real benefit of a state-of-being blog such as we're discussing is that it will finally give the elderly motivation to join the internets!"*
And then I wondered how a post might go, and imagined this:
Dear Electronic Universe,
Well, the diverticulitis is flaring up again. At least I think that's what the pain in my side and the random diarrhea is. I don't know why in God's name I ate that popcorn last night. The chlordiazepoxide does nothing, so I'm going to take Martha's advice and ask the doctor for ciprofloxacin, which you have to take three times a day** unfortunately. That'll make 13 pills every 24 hours! Doc has to adjust my thyroid medication, too. And then add to that the antibiotic ointment he'll most likely prescribe for my eczema. Guess I'll be sleeping with socks on my hands again!
See, I made most of that up*** and it was still really cathartic. And I bet there's a heap of folks who would commiserate on any one of the many implicated ailments. If I were elderly I might not have included links, because I probably couldn't figure out how to do it,**** and let's hope I couldn't figure out how to upload pictures because there is a time and place for visuals and this would not be it, but old people often lose their sense of inhibition and do some pretty crazy - and sometimes nasty - stuff.*****
* It's not habitual for me to have discussions with myself like this.
** No idea what the dosage is, and I don't care.
*** Actually, this just a small sample of some of the medical problems plaguing my family members.
**** I feel really bad about saying that. It's just that my grandma, whom I love dearly, has a lift chair with three buttons that she cannot master. It frustrates her and everyone else, but it is what it is. Not 30 myself, I can tell my brain function is not what it used to be - *possibly* due to computer use, but that would be entirely counterproductive to point out here.
***** I feel bad about saying this, too. But that same grandmother, and her mother before her (both well past the age of 80 at their respective outbursts), has declared, "ah, bit by the trouser worm!" after learning of some relatives' pregnancy or other.
Kids craft the darnedest things
Well, even though there has been little to no crafting going on in my house of late (*sob*), the kids have been creating all kinds of treasures and graciously gifting them to me.
For instance, this bookmark Laura made by using some fancy scissors on a bit of scrapbooking paper. It is sparkly and I love it.
And this painting Sammy did depicting a race track with race cars all around. One of the red ones (or possibly all of the red ones) is Lightening McQueen.
If you're familiar with Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages - which I put some amount of stock in - you'll understand when I say that I'm "gifts." Perhaps perceived as the shallow, materialistic love language, "gifts" people like myself are not really looking for things so much as the thought and effort behind those things. So when a six-year-old gives you something she would not use or necessarily care about but knows you'll use because she's drawing on something she knows about you (in this case, that I like to read), it's kind of perfect.
Which isn't to say that I can't appreciate gifts of sweet electronics and the like.
For instance, this bookmark Laura made by using some fancy scissors on a bit of scrapbooking paper. It is sparkly and I love it.
And this painting Sammy did depicting a race track with race cars all around. One of the red ones (or possibly all of the red ones) is Lightening McQueen.
If you're familiar with Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages - which I put some amount of stock in - you'll understand when I say that I'm "gifts." Perhaps perceived as the shallow, materialistic love language, "gifts" people like myself are not really looking for things so much as the thought and effort behind those things. So when a six-year-old gives you something she would not use or necessarily care about but knows you'll use because she's drawing on something she knows about you (in this case, that I like to read), it's kind of perfect.
Which isn't to say that I can't appreciate gifts of sweet electronics and the like.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)