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To everybody that is visiting because of Seth Godin's sweet little story he told on his blog about me today, thank you for stopping in! I hope that you like my silly world (at least a little bit). Please feel free to drop me a line or two, and please visit the Black Apple shop to see many many pictures.
Back to moving. And unplugging the computer.
xo,
emily
Dear Packing Gods,
Please take this giant cupcake as an offering of goodwill. I know I have procrastinated. I know that I might be dashing into the car at the last moment Thursday A.M. with only a handful of plastic garbage bags containing all earthly possessions, and a wild look in my eye. I know I deserve this ridiculous end. But please have mercy on this crazy little soul. And enjoy the cupcake. And don't be mad that I was painting. Again. Instead of sorting or boxing things up.
Love,
Emily
So, Saturday was one of those days that was planned in advance to be perfect, and actually was. No, really. I'm not sure if this is the case with everyone, but I know that with me if a great day is planned (especially extensively planned) with the intentions of super-mega-fun, it is almost always at least partially stressful/boring/falls through/not fun. When this failed to happen Saturday, I was so happy. We woke up a little on the early side (for a weekend, hell, for always!) and headed out to the flea market, armed with an Icee. The plan was that Clint could rummage through the many many 25 cent bins at the little comics "shop" there, and I could run around looking for vintage dresses and ceramic owls and the like. Then it siezed upon me: my wierd table-front browsing phobia. I then decided that I, too, would like to rummage through huge boxes of comics for hours in 95 degree heat, rather than face all of the denizens of the flea market alone.
After much rummaging, I think I managed the find the only 30 non-superhero comics in the place (some good finds were lots of Vertigo titles I'd never even heard of, some old Dan Clowes, a Comics Journal feat. Dan Clowes, some old Love & Rockets). I also picked up several copies of some men's adventure magazines from the early 70's, which are hilarious and wonderful. There are some naked ladies, yes, but the ads are really incredible. If this magazine was the only existing relic from 1970, future generations would believe that everyone sold carpet and shoes door-to-door as an occupation. They would also be impressed and amazed at the cool "spy" toys advertised therein.
After we were thouroughly coated in newsprint (it was really quite a sight) we went for a long drive in the country, where we saw some amazing bulls the size of hippos. Seriously! There are so many delapidated barns and houses, and I just adore the textures and feeling of that rural decay. One of my last photo series was of burned-down-houses (well, houses that had been at least partially gutted by fire). I just love those environments. Ok, I know I'm seeming scary. So let's move along... After we washed off the newsprint and flea market dust, we had sushi. That evening we decided to try to recreate this amazing mixed drink my friend Keith makes at the bar in which he bartends, called "Sex at Keith's House". I know that is hilarious...there is another one called "Sex in the Woods". They are both delicious, and so we went to the package store and loaded up on the required liquors and some pineapple juice.
Here is the recipe, they are both quite simple and have only 3 ingredients each:
Sex at Keith's House:
1.) Load up a glass with lots and lots of nice ice.
2.) Combine 2 parts pineapple juice & 1 parts each of Raspberry Liquor and Ameretto Liquor in a drink shaker. Shake. Alot.
3.) Keith claims that it's equal parts of the three ingredients, but I think he's crazy. If you are using the liquors that will be easily attainable at the package store, which are fancier flavored desert brandys, you will die from the sweetness if you use that much. Be generous with the pineapple juice, my friends. You could also throw some nice vodka in to neutralize the insane sweetness, as well.
For Sex in the Woods, just substitute a coffee liquor for the raspberry. It's very good.
Well, now that I've convinced you that I'm a dirty magazine readin', brandy swillin' crazy, I'd like to turn your attention to cupcakes, which hopefully will restore your good opinion. Hopefully, you are not like Mr. Darcy, and your "good opinion once lost" is not lost forever.
Last night, I had a wonderful Thai dinner with my friends Andy and Sara. When they came to fetch me, Sara presented me with some truly lovely, lovely going-away gifts. Or maybe they were just-because-I-like-you gifts. At any rate, I love them. She made me a sweet little pillow with pom-pom trim, and also this icredible little package of gocco'd cupcake cards! Her sensibility about pretty packaging never ceases to amaze.
She will hopefully have her own Etsy shop soon! I will excitedly shout it from the rooftops when that happens.
She MADE these envelopes. Made them. She has made all of her envelopes so far, and they are just lovely and perfect. The papers she chooses are so cute, and the double-stick adhesive line just makes me feel spoiled. As Andy (her husband) "this is why she'll never be able to make any money"...he was only joking, of course, but with an uber perfectionist and thoughtful approach like this, it is hard to make any money. She probably spent at least 3 hours total making this little set for me, and I would say that's a conservative estimate. So she'd have to sell the set for $35.00 to even cover her time and materials!
The crafty business world is full of strange give-and-take, which I know many of you have experienced firsthand. Whew, and this has gotten so long winded! I guess I'm making up for those picture-only posts that made up the weekend's blogging! Happy Monday my darlings.
So, I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan. Huge, huge. Also a big Dave Mckean fan. Yesterday, I discover they are making a movie out of Coraline, one of the children's books they did together. It is so wonderful, please, please just begin to think about reading it if you have not. Your little ones will love it, and you will too! Neil Gaiman has really picked up where Roald Dahl left off, as far as darkish and funny and imaginative children's books go (and he also penned The Sandman, which is probably the most critically acclaimed and...maybe best.. comic series of all time). He also wrote The Wolves in the Walls, which is a bit more of a picture book (Coraline's a chapter book) and I absolutely adore that one. Especially the illustrations.
I am just pleased as punch...not only is there another (or maybe several more!) Neil movie on the horizon ( Mirrormask came out recently on video!), but Henry Selick is directing it! The same wonderful man that made The Nightmare Before Christmas come to life! Hooray, hooray. I'm just so happy. Even if Dakota Fanning is voicing Coraline. All I'm left to wonder is why all of the Neil-whimsical-dark-lovely movies are suddenly getting the green light? Do you think it's because of the huge success of the Lemony Snicket film? Or the even huge-er success of H. Potter? Hmmm... I'm not complaining, no way, just curious.
We went to a midnight preview of X Men III last night, and it was...a mixed bag. Overall good, I would say, but my feelings about it kept changing as it went on. Before it began, though, there was the most god-awful string of previews. I meant horrible. It made me so sad, as things like that usually do (confirming my worst fears) but then I just thought about Coraline. And Neil. And then I felt much, much better. See, Emily, things aren't so grim!
On a completely different topic, I recently bought some new sheets, and they are scratchy as all hell. Does anyone have any magical homespun remedy they know of that will comfy-ify them? I've just tried salt, which I think strangely might've worked a bit! If you have any ideas, though..send 'em. I'm packing. Or pretending to, anyway.
xoxoxo
Ok, so not "four score"...just one year. It was about a year ago that I exited from the Photography department (with, strangely, a mostly painting/mixed-media installation to show for it) of UGA. Also, curiously, my mom's camera held the only proof that said exit show ever even happened! How did I allow all other traces of this huge production dissapear? Well, for starters my slides were botched. Utterly and completely ruined. SO...when I was up at my mum's the other day, I borrowed her camera and zipped these images onto my own hard drive. So here, for the first time since last May, is my exit show.
It's funny, I'm still really proud of most of this installation, and looking at the images makes me want to make more...environments. And create lots and lots of jars filled with relics, such as this one, which was I suppose the "focus" of the wall:
It's a big ol' gigantic digital print that was mounted to gatorboard, and then hung (a big wildly) by 4 giant nails. My dear sweet Robin, our exit prof., as well as the gallery director, was a little...overwhelmed by my choice of hanging hardware, I believe. I love jars. I love them so much, and I keep thinking..."if/when I go to grad school, I'm going to do loads of installations just involving all sorts of personal and cultural relics in jars. Big mason-like jars. Pickle Jars (the economy size, of course)". My friends Keith & Corie have brought me some big, nice pickle jars recently from the cafe that they are baristas at. And I look at them longingly. And think..."I've got to put together a jar show". Ok, enough about the jars...moving right along to a bigger shot of the right side of the wall:
That's my childhood dollhouse on the right. And that's a black painted branch on the the left. And oh...that's a black apple next to the house. And please just look around forever, because it's almost like "Where's Waldo". This isn't the best image in the world, but as I said, it's one of only a few that exist, so it'll have to do.
Last, here is my mama and myself (wearing such a funny dress that was saved from the floor of the Habitat for Humanity thrift store):
I know...we don't even look related! But if you knew what wonderful crazies we both are, there would be no doubt in your mind. Hooray...another walk down memory lane draws to a close, and it was a nice little jaunt. Now off to be a real person, and start on that "Everything that is coming to NY must have a home" bit. Wish me luck...no, really. The mess might win, and then you'll never get to hear all of my witty, illuminating, sweet little rants ever again!
Despite my slight despair and feelings of overwhelming-ness yesterday, I did get some quiet time with some Isobels. And I watched "Election" for the first time since high school...wow is that movie swell. I'm posting these girls in the shop as we speak! And I have to go wake up somebody so we can get ourselves to the flea market!
Whew, today was shipping day. Well actually, today was International shipping day + learning to love the USPS "Robot" (the self-service machine). After being literally demoralized so often by one certain Postal Worker at the downtown Athens branch, I fled to another nearby branch. They have one of these machines, which I was initially wary of, but now think is amazing. This way, I'm not "inconveniencing" anyone besides myself. And it's 24 hours! What a great invention...
Sorry about the lack of wordy posts in the last few days...the snowballing of moving (next Thursday, people! It's almost a week away!) is starting, and I haven't made too many groundbreaking new Black Apple goodies...I do love the "Delia Dandelion" painting though. I'm proud of that little lady.
Pssst! I just posted 3 more Samplers to the shop (they'll be the last for a while, probably a month or so while I regroup!) so if you'd love some happy suprises, move your mouse over to the Black Apple Shop!
I went to my friend Jenny's art opening on Saturday night, titled "99 Bottles"...which was appropriate because there were, well, maybe not 99 bottles (maybe more, maybe less, actually! I have no idea!) in the show. There were so many different colors, sizes, shapes...it made me really happy. Add to that the unpretentious and positive vibe of the peeps at the opening, and it was a happy time.
I bought 3 bottles, two of which I got to take home today (thanks, Jenny!)
I love both of them, but they're both so different! The white one was cast from a vintage prescription bottle, I believe. It's just this great, strange, opaque white vessel. I love it.
Here is a closeup of the beautiful greenybluey one, because I see that it looks like an indecipherable mush in the above picture.
Isn't it lovely?! The bird, the faces (I think that's a bit of a vampire on the right!)...and the colors are just wonderful. It's so lucky to have artist friends, you get all manner of lovely things for tiny sums of money.
So, I'm feeling very scared about my moving right now. I am so excited, but I'm also one of those who has a hard time thinking of "what-should-be-done-first" and then applying that to the packing and the organizing. I bought lots of cute storage yesterday, because 75% of my stuff has no home. If I know what something belongs in (box, basket, etc.) it is much more likely that it will stay neat. However, the default home for my belongings is the floor, or the slightly more respectable "pile system". It's no good. Everything that doesn't have a home is either going to be A.) Tossed or B.) Stored here. That's the rule. I've made up lots of funny rules for the move (of what can come with me), but I still need to make some more.
I have a wholesale order to fix up for shipping tomorrow, and the aforementioned organization/pre-packing to do, but I'm thinking I must get in some quiet time this evening just making some Isobels. I just love those girls...they are so fun and unstressful to make.
Oh! I wanted to figure out "Self Portrait Tuesday" today, and join the ranks of lots of other smarties (including my dahling Shannon) but it appears that I am too dumb to figure out how to become official with them, and sign up, and do it right. So here's my self portrait. And it's Tuesday.
Bunnies are, without question, my favorite people.
