JOURNAL REVOLUTION

The Longing, Part 2

It was great to read what everyone was longing for. It was especially great because it was like a real live United Colors of Benetton ad came to life and answered the questions. I mean the Benetton of the 80s and early 90s, not the Benetton of today which we found out today is less cool than it was. If you read the comments carefully and followed the links, you'd see that comments were from all types of people- gay, lesbian, black, white, belly dancing (WOW!), Jewish, Christian, a mom, a student, a teenager, scrapbookers (double wow!)...a whole WORLD of people with one thing in common. We all long for something, even if it is just ice cream, or in Neil's case- breasts. Thanks for sharing a bit of your lives with us! And, we are happy that you know you can be yourselves here. You totally can.

Last week (or was it two weeks ago?) when I was in Northern California, not too far from where we grew up, Maria and I made a late night run to Safeway. We don't have Safeway down here in So Cal. We have Vons which is the same company but smells different and has different food so it is not the same at all. The Safeway Maria and I were in smelled like the Safeway from my childhood and as we stood in the ice cream section in the middle of the night, I had a The Penny from Somewhere In Time moment when I saw a box of Mint It's-Its. I was suddenly 11 years-old again. I was standing in the hot sun with Tod and Karen as we ate our newly discovered  It's-its, the chocolate shells cracking,  the mint ice cream rolling down my arm. The sun was melting my treat faster than I could eat it, taking my troubles with it.  That was a good day.  I was longing for that day.

When I got back from my trip, I found It's-Its at the Albertsons a few miles from my house! See, wishing for stuff makes them appear! The Secret works!* The It's-Its come three to a box: one for breakfast, one for lunch, one for dinner. No prescription required.

FRANCES!!! You win a YOU MATTER print! Please email me your address.

*Uh, not really like that, tho. And it really is not a secret. Just call around for stuff and you might find it.

it's quiet in here

Yesterday was my husband's 40th birthday. I still haven't gotten him a gift because the day before my birthday he spent $400 on my car and I decided me driving around in a safe car would make him really happy. And, since he's not working for 6 weeks,  it seems like that was enough money that we didn't really have spent on stuff for one week. I think knowing that the best wife ever won't suddenly spin off the road due to faulty brakes is a great gift for a 40 year old man! I also baked some brownies for him. See, I am a great wife. Good thing I waited until the last minute to think about the gift, too, or I'd have spent a lot on a gift and on the car and then we'd have been really screwed.

So, my husband is home for about 6 weeks because most people who work on tv shows don't really work all year long. With the writers/writer's/writers' strike that just happened, most people barely worked all last season. Just as I was getting back into my routine of working from home- jetting off somewhere, jetting back, rushing to get stuff done, watching this Eddie Vedder video over and over while trying to get caught up on email and trying to get work done from what I was doing when I was in the place I jetted off to, blasting music while I painted and glued,  - all of this at home alone in my pajamas, it changes again. I am not alone now.  It is quiet in here. My husband is taking a nap.
I am now a WIFEYBLOGGER.

What do you long for?

I keep hearing the word longing. It's odd because it's not a word I used to hear often but it's one of my favorite words. It's so poetic. Suddenly it is in every song or story I am hearing. I hope it's going to be the word all the kids use to replace random. I doubt it though because it doesn't seem like anyone will suddenly say hey, longing question...
We do have a question. What are you longing for today?  We are longing for a Mint It's-It.   You never know, there could be a prize for some random commenter.

*The art is ink and charcoal on watercolor paper.

I'm not a mommyblogger, but...

That Citizen of the Month blog sure does suck.

*Actually, it doesn't. Neil twittered that he wished a mommyblogger would blog that his blog sucked. While we are not mommy bloggers, lots of conservative scrapbookers hate us so that might count for something. We like to grant wishes.

it just figures

Today We're FEELIN' GROOVY about:
~My house is still full of really good smelling flowers thanks to the nice woman in the red sandals. Damn Her! Don't you just hate nice people with pretty feet? Grrrrrr. It just figures.
~ Fiber One bars:  Tasty and they pack a punch!
~The Key Lime Pie flavored Yoplait Whips, my new addiction. Karen is the one eating the Fiber bars, oddly enough. We have switched dietary habits! I usually do not like yogurt.
~One project finished and mailed.I had to work on a project immediately following LESLEY RILEY. Talk about stressful. I have two of her pieces framed on my wall so I was thinking if I accidentally spilled gesso on the part of the art she made, I could just cut up what was on my wall and  cover up my mess. Luckily, I did not have to do that. WHEW. It's always good to have a back up plan!

Our Bêtes Noires:
~Did you think that because I hadn't mentioned a ball in my yard that they stopped being there? No such luck.
~My husband's 40th birthday is July 1st and I still have no plan. YIKES! What should I get him? He doesn't know about the collection of soccer balls I have. Maybe he'd like those.
~A lizard in my house [Karen, catch it! Maybe we could give it to Dustin for his bday!! Pets make a nice gift.]
~I have not been to Trader Joe's in over a week. No wonder I have a chronic migraine this week! It's withdrawal!
~The manager at the Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California, would not let me sign copies of Journal Revolution or Visual Chronicles because she said customers could prefer books not autographed.WTF? I am so glad that Maria was with me to witness the exchange because I really could not believe what I was hearing. The manager of the big chain book store did not want me to sign our own books which would've made them MORE VALUABLE. And they had a first edition of  Journal Revolution!  Now, had I been at a small mom and pop type shop like our big time famous brother was in in Kentucky*, ok, but this was Barnes & Noble. Their telephone number is (408) 846-5854. The manager at Borders in Santa Cruz was lovely, they got out their "autographed" stickers and handed me a pen right away! I love them. Buy your books there.

*We were so glad to see that Lee enjoyed Kentucky as much as we did. We love Kentucky. LOVE IT! I hope we get to go back there in this lifetime.

that damn time fairy

Getting caught up: The night before I left for Northern California, my husband and I went to see Lukas Rossi and Stars Down  at The Viper Room. That man can sing. Someone smuggled a camera in to the Viper Room and caught his very cool version of Here Comes The Rain Again. I love that song. I am so glad I got to meet Lukas and his lovely wife, Kendra, while my favorite men from House of Glamma were in town working their magic. What a cool couple! Both couples, that is!
Now, about the Viper Room: GROSS. Read the reviews here. I am just glad I didn't take my camera there because I would've had to boil it it to get the sweat of strangers off it. I'm still trying to get the sweat of strangers off me and it has been days.
Because I am me and that means time is never really on my side, the thing with the thing happened to be happening* while Jake and Kev were here so I had to sleep only a few hours after the Stars Down concert then make my way to No Cal for some photo shoots that didn't exactly happen as I planned but some other ones that did even better as well as some spontaneous fun in a cherry field and some serious fun with Maria and Beth, two of my favorite shooters, and an unexpected lunch date with Perfect Friend Terry and her Perfect Kids. There is never enough time to spend with them and I am grateful for each second, which is exactly the same feeling I was having last night. That damn Time Fairy has not made a deposit yet!  The Brandi Carlile concert did happen and I am still happy about that night. I am pretty sure Maria and I will be talking about that one for the rest of our lives. I could still talk about it right now but I suspect you all might be sick of it already. Maria and I aren't sick of it, yet! In fact, I am going to stop writing this right now so I can go look at my pictures again while listening to her amazing version of Creep from that night. Yes, I am still 15.
Now that we are sort of caught up on what I have been doing (ok, not really. I left out a lot of stuff because I want to watch that Creep video again), let's get to what matters. I heard from the Yummie Tummie people about products for those of us who are blessed.

We are currently making adjustments to our patterns so that our tanks and tees will comfortable fit larger bust sizes.  I have saved your information and will let you know as soon as we have a better fitting style for you.

OK! As soon as I get the word, YOU will get the word. Until then, I guess we will just have to be rolly poly.

*Sorry, can't talk about it yet.

Photo: Maria and I stayed in a really nice hotel for a change!

 

it captures my feelings

Every time I return to LA I get the worst headache. I think I am allergic to this place. Yes, I know I say that every time. It hasn't changed so I will keep saying it. I have been popping advil and sudafed all day and it's not helping. I am kind of wondering if I can stick those pain patches to my forehead but I am guessing not. It might be funny to try. It might also be lethal! I think my camera also has a migraine! It was very slow tonight, no matter what setting I had it on. Or maybe my camera was just telling my story. I was taking pictures of my oh-so-beloved Jake and Kev tonight and trying not to notice that my head was throbbing, but it is really hard for me to betray my camera. Even when I try, it captures my feelings. I love it when that happens.
It's so weird how the world seems like such a small place when you bump into an old friend at the grocery store, yet it seems so huge when the friends you love the most live so fucking far away. Like in Minnesota. Or England. Or Canada. Or West Hills.

I'm home and I'm falling asleep

I'm getting ready for bed after what was the busiest two weeks ever. I don't think I have really slept slept in two weeks because I have either been in transit and awake for that hell  or awake preparing to be in transit. Or, awake and thinking about what I will be doing in the place I am going to. Lots of thinking, lots of going, lots of doing.
I am so happy that I get to go and do some of the things with my dear friend,helper, and awesome photographer Maria Hammon at my side when Karen is unavailable. Maria and I had an awesome time with our cameras last night! It was good to be us! Maria and I were on deck to photograph the Brandi Carlile concert, which was a dream for us because we love her. That Maria and I got to do it together made it even better. I am fairly used to doing photo shoots with Brandi's songs playing at the same time, so this was a bit weird. This time the songs where playing but she was THERE singing them! She even walked around the stage while singing and playing the guitar! Whew, that's a lot of work for us shooters! When the night was over, we felt like we'd run 12 miles! It was great!!! She played all our favorite songs, interacted with the audience, told cute stories, said fuck occasionally, and sang some more. It could not have been better! Well, it could've been better if she'd sung every song off her first cd, but that's the only leetle thing that could've made it better. Oh, that and a churro cart would've been good. It was one of the best concerts I've been to that I got to listen to and photograph at the same time. If Brandi comes to your town, get tickets!
The best ever concert was just one small part of my trip to No Cal and I'll expand on that later. I must now get caught up on sleep as the Ambien just kicked in.

hot and sweaty

I am too hot and sweaty to try to hide my camera in a pad with or without wings right now as I get ready to go meet my beloved House of Glamma men at The Viper Room to see Stars Down. The Viper Room doesn't really allow cameras, even when you are allowed to have cameras and this is a problem that keeps happening to me. If I were the owner of the Viper Room, I'd let the entire world come in and take pictures so it would become the happiest picture place on earth instead of the place where River Phoenix dropped dead. But, hey, not everyone is as great at business.
After the concert ends tonight and I hug Jake and Kev a thousand times, I am going to rush home, sleep a few hours, then pack up all my cameras and head to northern California to see Brandi Carlile. Brandi Carlile's song Follow is one of my theme songs from the Feel The Beat project in Journal Revolution.
Three concerts in two weeks is a lot for me considering that being around a lot of dancing people makes me really nervous. I am always afraid that some long spidery arm will bonk me in the noggin and then I will be trampled to death  by drunk people. That is totally something that would happen to me.
I am not sure if I will take my laptop with me, but I will twitter and flickr from the road.

New art for sale, get 'em while they're hot!

And it is really hot here!  We're shvitzing out here in So Cal!
I just put two new pieces on canvas in my etsy shop. I also restocked the prints.  I am leaving town again on sunday so won't be shipping anything out until at least wednesday.

Thanks for looking!