Donations Needed

So I can buy this:

Netbook: Yay, Nay, or Wait?

Every time I visit my parents (like I did last week) I wind up using my mom's adorable HP netbook and loving the super light portability of it, though it's slow and buggy running Firefox and a few other things.
Then I get home to my MacBook and remember how much I like OS X.

My MacBook is getting on in years, though, and I wonder if switching to a netbook running Windows 7 is a good idea. The cost would be roughly 1/3 less. It would be easier for me to haul around and use in various places.

I've been looking mostly at Acer Aspires with the AMD processor and Windows 7 Home Professional. They look like solid little machines, get good reviews and are on sale for a fairly reasonable price at Target.

I need a real keyboard as most of my computer use involves intensive typing. Tablets seem too limited to entertainment and basic communications.  And though I love Apple, I'm not sure I really need a machine quite so swanky or expensive again.

I do a lot of web browsing and reading. A fair amount of wordprocessing and large amounts of presentation making. I'd probably stick with OpenOffice. Streaming video might be fun, but isn't immensely vital.

I hesitate going back to Windows, though. I suppose a Hackintosh is possible, but would it be worth it? Or Ubuntu? I'd rather not spend huge amounts of time debugging and tweaking.

Thoughts?

Girly Fru-Fru Stuff

I got my package of wonderful soap and shampoo bar samples from Chagrin Valley Soap today. Opening our mail box sent the most wonderful minty-herbal scent wafting out. I had taken Oreo over to the big central mail box thing for the apartment complex and actually wound up using the lovely scents to keep him moving.
He's a sucker for pretty smells. Loves chamomile and baby's breath especially. No idea why.

Anyway, my acne has flared up something fierce lately and I've been getting sores on my scalp again. Not fun. I seem to be getting the acne to ease off a little, but cycling through my shampoo/conditioners and even trying some new ones hasn't helped the head much.

I had tried Chagrin Valley shampoo bars several years ago in Chicago. I had fallen in love with LUSH products, but not so much some of the ingredients or the price tag. I had chin-length hair then. Between the water and the hair, I just could not make a go of them, even waiting several weeks, vinegar rinses, etc., etc. So I used up the bars to wash the rest of me and that was that. Then I found one of those old samples stashed in one of my dresser drawers (they smell wonderful, so they serve double duty as potpourri when not in active use). Used it to wash hair and face and it turned out very nicely. Several days in and I don't have that weird grungy-greasy feeling, haven't needed to do a vinegar rinse yet, and scalp sores seem to be improving. I'm guessing the change in water and maybe in hair length helped.

Anyway, Chagrin Valley has lovely, lovely stuff and it is incredibly reasonably priced and there are samples for nearly everything. So I grabbed whatever looked fun. They also have doggie shampoo bars. Tom discovered they're easier to use on Oreo than liquid shampoo when we borrowed one at a friends place. And Oreo is also having some skin itchies, so I'm hoping this will help.

I also scored a solid lotion bar. They're made of waxes and oils that are solid at room temperature but melt when massaged on skin. My hands have become more prone to eczema over the past year, so this is part of my plan of gradually having hand lotion available all over the apartment and in my purse as that seems to be what keeps the itchy, nasty pustules away, but I am sometimes too lazy to hunt for lotion.

So this is the soap I've been making little soap holders for. My first one seems to be just the right size. The one I started last night is going to be too big and will probably need to be frogged. And no, they aren't paying me to gush about their soap on the internets. I will post further info as I try things out.

Also, I have started using Astrid as a to-do list reminder thing. I really like it so far. It's free, web based and has an Android app. Easy interface. You can add in a social component as well.

Bonus Oreo Cuteness

Today is weird

Image via WikipediaToday has been weird even for me.

I decided to browse Craigslist for possible jobs. Wow, scary.
Apparently there are some locally made "adult" films.
And there was one job posting that just said "Pregnant Lady."

Someone said something about "penny wise" and I made a crack about Pennywise from It. Then a few minutes later, the Bad Astronomer tweeted this scary ass t-shirt. Serendipity is disturbing. I'm avoiding drains for the rest of the day.

Fast forward a bit and Oreo and Brownie were sharing the couch peacefully.

Then I decided I needed a nap.

My phone rang and it was someone who had heard we moved down here wanting to know if I'd be interested in teaching in the spring.
o.O

I managed to babble something comprehensible that was not "Hells yes, woman!" but conveyed that general sentiment. After we move into the apartment I'll go actually chat about it.

Then I got up to see Tom had tweeted about D'Iberville telling the early French colonists to breed buffalo, only I thought it said "breed with the buffalo" and I was truly impressed by the ignorance of basic biology back then.

So, now I have things to figure out:
- How do I teach sitting down (this will be weird for me)?
- Better management of dry mouth while lecturing because, seriously, the croaking is not cool
- Can I wear my Vibram Five-Fingers with business casual clothing because I really, really love them.
- Which eccentric professor do I emulate?

• Doc Brown
• Professor Trelawney
• Dumbledore
• Professor Farnsworth

I imagine that at some point I should figure out what I'm teaching...

This also nixes the idea I had floating in my head of dyeing the white parts of my hair purple...

And as I get ready to post this, Oreo and Brownie are sharing the couch again and sound asleep.

Planner Planning

I have recently started trying to downsize the stuff I carry around regularly.  I bought a new sling-bag that I love.


And a folding cane in the hopes that I might be able to fold it up and stick it in my bag now and then on good days.

Unfortunately, my current day planner is a smidge too big for my new bag.  I seriously need this planner.  I have a week across 2 pages section and a month across pages section that are absolutely vital for recording appointments, work schedule, migraines, and notes.  The daily pages get notes about meds I take as needed so I can keep track of when I can take the next dose plus have an idea of my med usage over time.
I especially like having a year or 6 months worth of stuff in the planner, it makes it much easier to show patterns of symptoms or note when medication dose changes or whatever happened.

It also has all my primary doctor contact info (business cards), plain note pages, and a pocket for stowing loose paperwork.

It measures 7" x 8.5" x 1.5" - kinda big and heavy, as it's faux leather, zips shut, and is the six-ring binder style.  The interior pages themselves are about 4" x 7"  Finding a new smaller, lighter cover seems like an obvious choice, but I'm having trouble finding one that isn't over $20-40 (I'm cheap).  I'm not sure if the binder rings from the one I have or another old one could be scavenged to make an new binder myself.  If anyone has any handy links about that, do please let me know.

So, I've been exploring other options.  DIY sounds fun, but I would prefer relatively little effort or lots of tracking down of supplies.  Something that I can get soon would be really nice too.

I've considered a hipster PDA, but the lack of easy flipping back and forth and longer-term organization would be a big problem for me.  It needs to be fairly sturdy too.  And I'm not confident plain paper will work or that my printer can handle index cards.

I've also looked at the PocketMod - nifty planner folded from a single sheet of paper.  I suppose I could print lots of them and bind them somehow.

I'd really like a super easy way to just print, fold in half, and staple a bunch of regular 8.5 x 11 paper, but haven't had much luck finding that sort of thing.

I have found some fill-in date (so I can start it when I want) planners that are adorable, but I'm not sure I want to make the leap.  But they are seriously adorable, so I wanted to share.

Vintage Typewriter Style

Stick a Bird on It!

Write Every Day

Flowers!

Itty Bity Spinny Committee?

I ordered 2 new drop spindles from Spinerosity earlier this week and they arrived yesterday.  One is a full-size lace weight, the other is a mini-spindle that was just too adorable (and too reasonably priced) to pass up.

I decided to play with some Norwegian undyed top (I think it's top) on the mini-spindle and am soooo glad I did.  It was ridiculously fun to spin with and I think has really really helped me get a bit better at drafting.  For the non-fiber fanatics who read the blog drafting is pretty much pulling fiber apart enough to create a thread of desired thickness via twist from spinning the spindle without pulling too much and having the spindle drop.  If you don't pull fiber apart enough you wind up with thick, chunky yarn, if you pull too much the fiber can't sustain the weight of the spindle and breaks. 

I have a spindle I bought for my birthday last year that is a bit heavier and in the range for medium weight yarns and recommended for beginners.  While I've made some progress with it, I had big problems drafting, mostly with my yarn being waaaay thicker than I wanted.

The smaller, lighter mini-spindle seems to have really, really helped me get the hang of drafting and general hand motion.  I'm still doing park-and-draft, but I'm getting better at it. 

I have my hood up because I've got a migraine. 

Best Sunglasses EVAR

-Just like Jack O'Neill, bitches. Bask in my nerdy radiance! Behold my geeky excellence.

(Bask looks like it's spelled wrong, but apparently is not.)

Every time we watch Stargate SG-1 and I see Jack's sunglasses I'm always like "I gotta get me some of those."  So, I did.  Thanks to the powers of eBay!

Spinning

Image via Wikipedia

It's a spindle, just not one for making yarn

I picked up my birthday spindle the other day, having abandoned it sometime around May or June because it seemed just too damn hot and humid to spin.  And then I sort of forgot about it.  Plus, I'm not very good at it.
So, I decided time to try again.  I already have Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool, but it wasn't quite enough for me.
Then I discovered that Interweave Press is having a sale on the companion video which is available as either a DVD or an mp4 for download.  Sweet!

I just finished watching it and am very pleased.  I especially like her point that you shouldn't regard your first few attempts as "waste" - you have to learn and there is no way you're going to be perfect immediately.

It's ridiculously cold here today, so I'm not sure I'll be spinning tonight, but hopefully I'll pick it back up in the next few days to practice at least a little bit.  

I also had the chance to look through a copy of Fearless Knitting Workbook: The Step-by-Step Guide to Knitting Confidence on Thursday after my endocrinology check-up and am definitely going to buy it, probably from KnitPicks as they're having a sale on books and I can get some inexpensive wool yarn to work with as well.

I'm also deeply tempted by the ball winder from KnitPicks as well as The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques, but that particular book is available at the public library, so I'm dithering. 

And, as I mentioned, it's ridiculously cold here.  I haven't been able to feel my toes properly all day.  Brrrrrrr.  Even with a blanket, my heating pad, and Oreo I'm cold.  I only did dishes earlier because the hot water feels good through the gloves and I managed to keep my fingerless gloves on under the rubber ones. 

I'm going up in Synthroid dose, starting today.  Would be nice if that helps with fatigue but, to be honest, I'm not expecting much.  I have been warned to avoid soy products as they can apparently mess with thyroid function.  Shouldn't be too much trouble as I can do dairy so I won't have to find an alternate.  If grumpy thyroid is causing my arthritis flare, though, this should help.

My glasses are awesome.  I've had waaaaaay less neck pain and as a result fewer migraines.  I sort of wish I hadn't spent so much getting them from the optometrist, but whatever.  They are awesome.  I'm contemplating ordering some non-Rx sunglasses and maybe an extra pair of reading glasses from here. 

Less neck pain has highlighted how much my right shoulder hurts all the damn time though, so I need to nag my rheumy about that in February.  And I've started getting more honest with myself about other pain too - like pokes in the ribs (including poking myself in the ribs) or even hugs sometimes *hurt!*  even wearing a bra a lot of the time.  This is not ideal.

Time flies and junk

Image via WikipediaI just realized it's been a week since my last post.
As expected, the NAMI walk did wear me out quite a bit. I spent most of Monday curled up in bed with Oreo and a book and even had a midday nap.
Tuesday was physical therapy which was harder than usual for me (still tired). And the trigger point injections were wearing off by then. My therapist was trying to do some range of motion and traction stuff with my neck and I just could not relax. The constant tension is a big issue for me in terms of posture and pain and migraine.
I forgot to mention last week that I had a chance to try out a recumbent tricycle last Saturday.  It was absolutely amazing.  I had a regular bicycle several years ago with the idea of using it to commute to campus.  I didn't want to admit it at the time, but I was afraid every time I rode it.  I didn't feel balanced or secure and I really wasn't comfortable turning and moving to look behind me.  So I quit riding for some time.  I thought maybe it was more the bike than me, so in 2008 Tom got a beautiful vintage Schwinn from a friend and we put rearview mirrors and wire panniers on it.  I rode it twice, terrified both times that I was falling/going to fall.  By the end of the second ride I was also in pain and exhausted.  We eventually sold it.  I occasionally look back on it with wistful regret - I love the sensation of riding, I was really hoping to get into touring (Dervla Murphy is a hero of mine) and riding used to be fun.
When I started physical therapy again, my therapist started having me warm up using their recumbent exercise bike. And it dawned on me that a recumbent bike or even better a trike might be something I could try to start riding again.
There was a sports fair nearby last weekend and a local bike store that sells adaptive bicycles had several bikes out. I tried an upright trike and it was okay, but not wonderful. I did feel much, much safer and more confident though. Then I tried the recumbent. It was amazing! Pedaling felt super efficient and wonderful and stretchy. My arms and hands were in a neutral position so there was no pain or tingling or numbness. I felt absolutely secure and far more confident of my ability to steer and be aware of things around me because I wasn't devoting so much attention to not falling or being afraid of falling. It felt a little like being in a go-cart. The only major problem was how low to the ground it was - which made it a challenge for me to get in and out of and made it a bit less visible. Nevertheless, I really fell in love with it. And there are models that are elevated a bit more to roughly the same eye level as a passenger car.
Unfortunately, they're fairly expensive, especially on our budget. But we're hoping to save up and maybe find something used or eventually squirrel away enough money. We're also hoping to go out to the bike shop one day to see if we can arrange a longer trail-ride for me to get a better idea of how I like it for longer than the 1/4 block or so I could ride at the sports fair.
I'm also planning on getting a pedal exerciser to work with while I'm on the couch or floor to build up some stamina in my legs and get some good stretching in.
In other news, the ArtFire opt-in drive got enough subscribers, including me, which means I will have an ArtFire Pro account for $5.95/month. I opt-ed in as a sort of "if it works, then I'll really buckle down and open shop." And it did. So, come November I hope to have at least a little something up and running. October is going to be entirely too busy for me to do it then - we're going to see my parents and my grandmother.
And, in less happy news, my Nana has esophageal cancer. She fortunately is not in any pain, but she is still having trouble eating despite having a stent put in to help expand the esophagus. Given her age and relative health she and her doctors have decided to forgo treatment and let nature take its course. I support her fully in this decision, and totally understand her desire to be as comfortable as possible in the time remaining rather than go through chemo or radiation and the side-effects related to them. It does mean, though, that it is just a matter of time until we say goodbye. I am, though, very grateful to have a bit of warning and the chance to prepare and say goodbye. I've been trying to talk to her at least once a week and she sounds fairly good. And, like I said, Tom and I are going to visit her mid-way through our trip out to see my parents.

New Hair for Me, New Shoes for Tom

I couldn't take it anymore and got my hair cut off again the way it was since, oh, I graduated from high school up until 2 years ago or so. Yay, less hair. Yah, more spikes. I really, really like it. It doesn't look quite as awesome as it did just after the cut since I was stupid and wandering around getting overheated, but, yay! Awesome! I think I'm just going to be one of those women who has short hair for most of her life - famous examples that come to mind are Julie Andrews and Judi Dench and, really, I could be in far, far worse company. (Also, I can I be M when I grow up?)  Hilariously, the stylist and her supervisor both commented "yeah, that looks more like it fits you" when the cut was done.

I rode the bus to the South Loop to the Paul Mitchell school (yay, cheap cut!) Unfortunately there was a bus back-up and I would up standing in the sun for about 30 or 40 minutes without sunscreen (because I'm stupid and didn't wear any and couldn't bear to keep my cardigan on), but I got there eventually. Then, like an idiot, I walked around after the cut. And very nearly passed out and/or threw up by the time I made it to a nice, air conditioned Best Buy with a nice quiet ladies room in which I rested for probably close to 30 minutes before walking a few more blocks to a shopping center so Tom could meet me with the car when he got finished with work.
One day out from therapy and I already failed this week's assignment: "DON'T OVER-DO IT!" Heh. Hopefully pointing at my head and repeating "but, pixie cuteness!!!!" will get us past that issue...

The plan was to go to REI with our member's 20% off coupon to get Tom some Vibram Five-Finger shoes that we looked at over the weekend. Alas, they were sold out of his size. Fortunately, my girly need to go to Ulta for hair gunk (and lord was that a long, confusing, aggravating process for me and my cheap ass) put us next to another shoe store that happened to have the very shoes he wanted which you can see on his adorable feet below.
To top it all off, we had a tasty, tasty dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. I may need to sleep for the next two days, but I have awesome pixie punk hair and Tom has wicked cool toe-shoes (of which I am slightly jealous).

New Sewing Machine

Kenmore Drop-In Bobbin Sewing machine 74 Stitch functions

Went out and got my new machine last night at Sears (for far less money that the Amazon link, by the way).  She's very pretty - with red accents where the green in the photo above is.  Haven't played with her yet as I think Tom gave me his cold and I'm feeling pretty out of it.  I did do a basic test out of the box last night and she seems very fast and very quiet.
Still working on a name.

It also occurs to me that between the pearls and the sewing machine, I'm turning into a latter-day, foul-mouthed June Cleaver.  Awesome!

Also thinking of picking up a good intro to sewing book.  I have a few ideas, but if any of you clever readers have suggestions, I'd love to see them.

Tea and excitement

I got a new stovetop kettle!  My old one was damaged and still useable for a while, but finally busted entirely.  This was a challenging decision.  (No, really, it was.  Stop laughing.)  I was sorely tempted to go with an electric kettle.  I am especially fond of the UtiliTEAwhich has temperature options for green or black tea.  Then I realized that I really, really need one that makes noise when it's finished heating as I tend to wander off when heating water, plus, as the cognitive testing showed my attention span isn't so great.  (Oooh, shiny!  What's that over there?)
Ahem.
There are options for whistling electric kettles online, but we decided to go to Target today for other stuff and also because I felt the need for instant gratification because I have the basic maturity of a 5 year old on a regular basis.  (A really vulgar 5 year old.)  So, we looked at the electric kettles and at the stovetop  kettles.  And then I realized there's not a handy place in the kitchen for an electric kettle.  So, I wandered back over to look at the stovetop kettles to choose one.  This was more complicated than you would expect as there was a family there a) debating what strawberries and cherries are and if they are in fact different (English was a second language) and b) their daughter was singing London Bridge Is Falling Down.  And when I say she was singing London Bridge Is Falling Down I mean she was just singing that phrase.  Over and over and over and over.
Yeah.  The options for that were a) ignore her; b) whack her with my cane; c) teach her a different song. I went with (a) because Tom wasn't around and he sings songs by the Misfits way, way better than I do. Last Caress is a particular favorite and really, a song that I think should be in every little girl's repertoire.

In any event, I wound up with a very cute little stovetop kettle like this one, only mine is bright red.

Brainssss

I just ordered a new brain - aka day planner. I had planned on being green and just buying new refill pages for my current one, but the snap closure on in broke and isn't easily fixable, the seams are getting a bit frayed, and well, while that make it more resemble my actual brain, it isn't the best thing with which to keep everything straight. Also, it's a good thing I decided to blog about it as I discovered when I went to find the Amazon link that I had accidentally ordered the wrong size. Cancelled that order and fixed it.


For an unemployed chronically ill woman with no children, I actually have a surprising amount of stuff to keep track of. I have to write down when I take OTC meds or else I forget and risk taking too much too soon. All my medical appointments. Other events. I try to keep track of basic symptoms daily, especially migraines and involuntary movement stuff.  Random bits of paper like receipts for co-pays, list of current meds, list of past meds (for the inevitable "no, really, we already tried that" conversations). Coupons. Contact info for family and friends and doctors.


Hopefully this one will hold up longer than the current planner. I ordered the same size hoping that I can transfer some of the stuff from my existing planner without having to re-do it. Hurray for ring-binding.


Other than that it's freezing, I slept too much, I pinched a nerve or muscle or both in my left arm and have been contorting trying to pop it all day, and I'm still in a funk. :P Hoping I'll be awake and feeling well enough for a trip to the library tomorrow for books about spinning and polymer clay, though.

Shopping

We went out and did some shopping today for household stuff and groceries.  Aaaaand I had a 50% off coupon from Michael's so I scored a Polymer Clay Pasta Machine for rolling out sheets of clay and combining colors and all sorts of other fun things.
This should be helpful in some upcoming projects I have in mind.

We're settling in for a quiet New Year's.  Tom has some beer and we got some sparkling lemonade to toast with.  Oreo has been busily burying his tennis ball in the Xmas tree skirt and then digging for it and has succeeded in dragging the whole skirt off the tree and across the room.
I think movies are in order eventually.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Holy crap, it's freezing

My mom left yesterday, sadly for her not in time to miss the excruciating cold (11 degrees F, with windchill it felt like -16).  I was very glad she came to visit and I think seeing me go through the basic neurology exam may have helped her understand things a bit.  She still tends to attribute a lot of my discomfort to "sitting around too much" but I can cope with that.  I wish it *was* because I sit around too much, unfortunately, regular attempts to be more active have demonstrated exactly what my limits are and what activities trigger major levels of pain.  So, I keep as active as I can up to the point where the pain and fatigue becomes too much.
Anyway, a very dear friend took us to the airport and then took me to do a bit of shopping yesterday.  I got supplies for Tom's Xmas present.  I also finally acquired some casual pants that fit properly - since last year when I gained weight I have had only two pairs of pants that aren't part of a suit that are big enough and both pair were jeans.  So, I have some corduroy pants now to, hopefully, keep me warm and stretch my wardrobe a bit.  Yay!  Also, I am definitely done in for trying on clothes for at least a month.

I've had a very couple of weeks and am thus sore and very tired.  Even though it's warmer today, the apartment feels very cold so I haven't felt up to doing much besides huddling on the couch with Oreo and the heating pad.  I'm hoping it will warm up later so I can work with polymer clay.  I have Xmas presents to make.

I'm trying not to worry too much about the somatoform thing.  We are trying to keep an open mind but Tom and I still don't think that it's a sufficient explanation for my symptoms.  There will be more discussion about this next week and I guess we'll see where that takes us.

How I Spent My Saturday Night

Shopping with a buddy at WalMart. We saw these awesome vinyl combat boots in eye-searing colors and had to try them on. I had high hopes they would work as rain-boots, but they weren't very comfy and I have trouble with forcing my feet into boots and laces now.

That would be me on the left in the skull t-shirt and stripy socks.

Stash enhancement

Michael's is having a big sale on yarn this week, including on Thick and Quick, which means that I went and scored enough in the beautiful cranberry color to make this cardigan. I also got some worsted acrylics to experiment with for some amigurumi patterns I'm thinking of attempting to write.  I also scored a brayer.  Excellent.

While looking at sweater patterns for myself, I thought it might be a good idea to start off with something smaller, so my nephew and/or niece may be winding up with sweaters for Xmas.  Unless I get too impatient to do the little ones and just start on my own.  :P

Long Weekend

So a good friend of ours from college, Joe, came to visit us this weekend - thus my failure to blog regularly.
It was very good to see him again and while I may be spending this week recovering from the visit because I still can't bring myself to slow down when I should, we had a blast.

He got in late Thursday, so we wound up having a late bite to eat at the White Palace which was not nearly as scary as I thought it had the potential to be.

The next day we walked around Hyde Park and showed him the museum and that night had a party for which I had made marinara sauce especially for Joe.  It was pretty fun!

Saturday, Joe decided he wanted to try Kuma's Corner.  Despite the 45 minute wait for a table (because the place was super popular), it was AWESOME.  They have ridiculously huge, delicious burgers and the best fried calamari I think I've ever had.  Fabulous.  We would never have discovered this place without Joe, so extra awesome.  Though I don't really drink anymore, they also have an enormous selection of beers and what appeared to be interesting possibilities for cocktails along with whisky on tap.  They also had tasty, tasty root beer.  The people watching is pretty entertaining too - hipsters, frat boys, bikers, average people, all mixed in.
After that we decided to check out the Cook County Fair at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  The "fair" was more of a way to let urban kids see farm animals and play (not that we expected much more) but the conservatory was spectacular and definitely on our list for return visits in the dead of winter.  Very fun.
After that we drove down the Mag Mile to let Joe see the touristy part of the Loop.  I haven't been down there in a few months and there are now pedi-cabs.  I didn't see anyone actually using one, but the idea is amusing.
Then we decided a trip to a used bookstore was in order and went to check out Myopic Books, which had been recommended by some other friends.  Very cool.  I scored some more sci-fi/fantasy to read.  I will be making a return trip to off-load a bunch of my no longer wanted paperbacks.

So, all in all, a very good visit.  We kicked Joe's ass out today at the airport and he's made it home.  I think Oreo misses him - they seemed to get along very well.  :)  Yay, visiting!

Renegade Craft Fair

So, as I had hoped and planned for months, we made it out to the Renegade Craft Fair today.  At the risk of pissing people off I will give it a resounding "meh."  To be fair I was really tired and I don't like crowds and I really don't like pretentious hipsters, so those parts may have played a role in my underwhelment.  There was some cool stuff, but nothing that really grabbed me and made me exclaim "oh, awesome!!!!" with the exception of some dinner ware printed with skulls and skeletons.

The fair itself is 5 blocks long with booths back to back, so roughly a mile long loop.  Traffic flow was a little awkward as people liked standing in large groups directly in the way.  I only had one or two irritating cane incidents with people staring or being exceptionally rude, so that was a plus.
It may be that everything started to flow together near the end, but it seemed like I saw the same or nearly the same thing ever 5 booths or so.  Screen prints on clothing, mostly t-shirts, were probably the most represented item, some clever, some pretty.  I'd say that jewelry of various types came in second.  Prints and/or letterpress on paper probably third.  There were a few booths with yarn, but nothing that I reached out and grabbed me.  A few places with hand knitted or crocheted goods that were cute but I'm still in the "I'll make it myself, dammit!" phase, so while I admired, I wasn't that interested.  Some cute plush toys, but, again, nothing that really grabbed me.  A couple places with fascinators or hair baubles or whatever you want to call them.

So...meh.  Some of the proprietors/crafters/whathaveyou were very professional without being stuffy, available for questions but not pushy.   Others were camped in the back of their alloted tent with their buddies cackling, or with eyes firmly on the ground, and probably not helping their bottom line much.  :/  The usual for craft fairs, I guess.

I just expected a bit more.  I thought there would be more yarn.  I expected more hand-thrown pottery.  I didn't expect nearly so many screen-print shops.  I thought there would be more variety in terms of media and designs and motifs.  Like I said, a lot of the screen-print stuff flowed together for me and screen-printing is something I'm really interested in, so it's not like I just wasn't interested.  There seemed to be a lot of pastel on pastel stylized floral or vegetal motifs; a whole lot of basic line-art or nearly clip-art type designs like bicycles or cameras.  Most cool and well done technically but not a lot of reach out and grab you oh that's cool I must have it type stuff.  At least to me.

Anyway, it's possible it was just me.  Or maybe it was an off year given the economy and other issues.  Or maybe my expectations were all wrong.  Who knows.  It did give me ideas, though, mostly about setting up booths and what I though worked and didn't work so far as organization of space and stock goes.  And I certainly wish all the crafters who were there with their stuff well and hope they do well this weekend.

It's Curtains for You

Well, actually it's curtains for me, but the cliche movie quote was sort of irresistable.

Monday I managed to feel mostly up to going out shopping and Tom kindly took me out to the fabric stores.

I've decided to make some curtains for a plastic shelving unit we've put up in the kitchen to use as extra storage and counter space. We're using the lower shelves to store pots and pans and are planning on finding a board or piece of laminate or other object to put across the top to serve as counter space. I think the shelving unit is hideous, so I decided hiding it with curtains would be nice and that it might help keep dust and grease and things off the pots and pans when they aren't in use.

The plan is to cut and hem the blue and green striped fabric and attach a strip of hook and loop fastening to the top, the opposite strip to be glued to the upper edge of the shelving unit. Hopefully this will be as simple as I hope. It should also make it easy to pull down the curtain to wash when necessary, especially since the fabric is just basic quilting cotton.

The second photo is the fabric for the windows all through the apartment and the trim for at least some of them. We found some really nice unbleached muslin to use and a nice multi-colored braided trim. I'm planning to cut and hem and then probably use the glue gun to attach the trim. The basic unbleached muslin curtains will be in every room but I'm planning on changing up the trim. I just haven't found all the kinds I want yet. What's shown here is probably going to be going in the dining room/craft room/office.

I just have to get around to washing the fabric and setting up my sewing area and I can get down to work.