Honour Your Inner Magpie

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ArtLog: new work
"Sidhe Tigers" necklace:short, just a bit more than choker-length for a neck slightly bigger than mine; pale, pale green glass in little commas that look like claws, separated at intervals by spheres of similar but milky green, all on white metal with a celtic-patterned clasp

I didn't expect that. It jumped out of another necklace-in-progress and demanded to be what it is.

OK, I said. And so it was.

I have more tagging to do, more inventory. I am behind where I'd like to be, but am figuring to just relax, go with it, do what I can happily do, and enjoy as much as possible. (And I'm really glad Sarah M. is coming up early to help prepare.)

better dreams tonight, please
Soon to bed, for me. I hope tonight's film festival of dreaming is better than last night's was. The one with the Ku Klux Klan and the zombie bunnies was very disturbing.

No, really. It was.

Juanian commentary
Last night Juan and I saw a snippet of a documentary on caterpillars and other creatures, and there was a voiceover explaining that looking rather fearsome and brightly colored and weird was sometimes a way of telling predators, "Don't eat me, because I taste really nasty. I might even be poisonous. It would not be worth the risk for you to try, so back off."

I said this sounded like high school, and Juan said that it explained a lot about (what I think of as modern high schools, with their) brightly colored hair dye and also about goth fashions.

(You have to understand that although Juan and I are almost exactly the same age, I was raised in a time warp. Juan is the grandchild of academics, and a city boy. I was raised in a small town, went to a one-room school with a curtain down the middle of it that separated it into two rooms holding kindergarten through eighth grade; I grew up where everybody attended minstrel shows annually, and several other things that make me feel odd unstuck-in-time-and-culture feelings when talking to others of my alleged age group, peer group, et cetera. Anyhow, I liked Juan's comment a great deal, although after writing this it seems I have not been able to put into words exactly why. Maybe it was how cool the caterpillars looked. If there are Cetagandan goths, that's probably what they look like.)

ArtLog: in progress
"The Beasts of Elfland" necklace: This is almost certainly an Artists' Challenge piece. I can tell, now and then, when a piece is a real bear to work on, and in a particular way. Can't put it into words, but I think probably this is one of those. Oh, well, at least I will get to see a cool piece of art (probably literature) about it someday. Right now, though, my fingers are blistered.

It's weaving shirts from nettles around here, some days. I guess that's just how it goes. (And some days it's roses, and some days it's diamonds, and some days it's toads. C'est la... well, la art, I guess.)

hair, enchanted pebbles, magic beans, and errands
Memo to self:

* send mail to Ivy and ask who it was that did her hair, when she and the kids and Scott were in town. This stuff is longening and wild, and needs something, although I know not what.

(Hey! I just got a lapful of cat! The Roshi Malt Tenon is on my lap being a loudly purring bundle of catly luuuv. Aww. He's such a nice big sturdy guy now.)

* check list for any last-minute supplies and stop by bead store if needed

* go to grocery store, as there will be guests soon

* take new prescription in and get it filled (this is enchanted pebbles, but they will cost more magic beans than usual, alas)

* decide about the one thing versus the other thing, and let Juan know, so he can plan transportation if we're going to the one thing

* clean, as a simple expression of kindness and courtesy toward guests (yes, well, the cleaning is sort of... ah, I guess art won again. But I can still make a difference, and Juan has been helping, so it isn't totally hopeless. And I did clean major portions of the bathroom the other day, so that's good.)

* laundry!

* signage for the show, plus printing up the old guarantee (which I may post here, as I have to send it to Kylee too)

* get the stuff to Kylee for web site

Upcoming signings and author appearances in my town
If you're in Minneapolis during the next week, whether for World Fantasy or just because you're usually here anyhow, check out the author appearances at Dreamhaven.

(Full disclosure: I used to work for Dreamhaven. I still give them regular parts of my income, even though it doesn't come from them any more. They're a good bunch -- especially Elizabeth, who Knows Everything and is gratifyingly snarky sometimes. And, I might add, who does a hell of a lot of work making sure people can get books that they really, really want. Even if they don't know they want them when they come into the store.)

By the way, Dreamhaven does mail-order and on-line business, and they have a new Neil Gaiman shopping section that I need to go check out. (It's really really neat seeing all the cool things happen for Neil and his work. He's a sweet guy and an excellent artist and has worked hard for his success -- and those things don't mean that a person will necessarily get that success, so I am especially glad that in this case, the person is. Yay, Neil!)

ArtLog: show prep and materials
I have gotten some lovely skeleton-motif cards which will go on some of my displays for WFC (Bernardino Genga, "Anatomia", 1691), and Alfred Hubin, "The Ghost at the Ball", 1918), and some bath bubble stuff for soaking my arthritic frame before, during and after all that work. All that happy work....

Also I have gotten some beads and clasps, and in a minute I am going upstairs to the workbench. Woo-hoo!

ArtLog: new work
"The Beasts of Elfland" necklace: longish, works nice as a short necklace when looped four times round; a meandering rainbow-order necklace with all sorts of beads, many of which are fire-polished and other crystal (there's one or two Swarovskis in there), and a few claw-shaped beads of pale, pale glass. Celtic-motif clasp. White metal.

That was a bit of work. My fingertips are very sore.

Celebrated finishing that one by making an exuberant handful of earrings. Remembered to set out the tree display, so I can put all the wooden and carved nut earrings on one display. This is handy for two reasons: first, they're some of the lightest large earrings I make, and having them all together is good for people with sensitive-to-weight ears; second, there are some fun carved nut beads that look very like bone, and I want my "vegan beads" customers to be able to find the ones they can wear easily, and I don't want them to miss these. Especially the star-shaped ones I just made. Shall make some of the spooky black cross-shaped beads into earrings too, for that same display. And the big black crescent moons as well.

But just now, some food, I think.

Lady Pixie Moondrip? Kewl!
Three reasons to go read
Lady Pixie Moondrip's Guide to Craft Names:

Whatever else you do, you should certainly begin your craft name with "Lord" or "Lady." First of all, it's pretentious, and that's always a good way to start.[...]

and...

Along the same lines, you can always take the name of a god, a goddess, a mythological being or a legendary hero as your craft name, thus putting yourself on the same level as the powers you invoke.

Having once watched two fifteen-year-old boys get into a fist fight over which had the right to call himself "Lord Merlin," Lady Pixie has a high opinion of the possibilities of this approach. [...]

And third is the bit about "Lord Gwyrionin," which I hope a Welsh speaker will vet for me; I so very much hope it is true.

(A tip o' the hat to the lovely Liz Fish, finder of amusing stuff!)

and another reason to love Lady Pixie Moondrip....
"First of all, in an increasingly blase' and tolerant culture, it's becoming hard for white middle-class Americans to get that rush of self-righteous gratification that comes from pretending to be members of a persecuted minority; we may not be able to get burned at the stake by calling ourselves silly names, but at least we can get laughed at, and that's something."

(see previous entry for link to Lady Pixie Moondrip's cool screed)