it's monday - do you know where {fill in the blank}

just a few shots from the past week. variations on a theme if you will. as i've said, when shooting something, i sometimes take a few dozen of the subject until i get a few that i like . . . i think sometimes i need to get rid of the 'out takes' but then sometimes i revisit them.

and that has me thinking about how much i visit out takes in life - the moments that didn't work so well. i do that a lot at times. you know in a movie, they're often the funniest part - but too often they're that wiffle bat to the groin from america's home video kind of funny sometimes. where it's funny while watching later but not so funny while it is happening.

i opened one of my old journals and the quote reads, 'periods of tranquality are seldom prolific of creative achievement. mankind has to be stirred up. - alfred north whitehead' and then i paused and thought if that's true? do we need irritation and chaos to be creative? i don't know if i agree with that.

the weekend was good...fairly quiet but one of those goods that are just that - good. i had the pug herd so, they are very active and adorable.

update: this is the progess on my quilting project. today our assigned task was to cut the squares and figure a layout. i made some alterations to the suggested lay out (just because i like to make things difficult for myself, right?) and cut some 2x2's in addition to 4x4's. and i have started stitching. i am liking the organic feel to this project so far with the handstitching. i'm embellishing random squares as the mood strikes me. i can definitely see me doing more of these as pillows - maybe a full size in the future if i can find a decent used machine at a good price.

new projects

tomorrow i go where i haven't gone in quite a while . . . a needle project. *nervous laugh* i have friends that quilt and have fancy sewing machines. did i confess yet that my mom's best friend 'rescued' my ninth grade home ec fashion show entry so i didn't embarrass myself? yeah. she did. i'm hopeless with sewing machines. oh yes, i was the cross stitch demon back in the day - until i burned myself out. and i needle pointed a pillow while mom was sick - haven't been able to pick it back up. and when i was very young, my grandmother taught me how to embroider on pillow cases and table runners (oh to have those back).

oops - sorry, i'm giving myself a pep talk. i'm joining modern day pioneers' quilting project tomorrow. i know dani is joining in too - any other takers?

because i don't have a machine, she has suggested that i use felt to make handstitching a bit easier. i've picked brown and two shades of blue (to go in my bedroom). keep your fingers crossed for me. i promise to document my progress as i go along.

also, i joined another project - artful penpals. this project, headed by shelagh to bring back the art of letter writing. i mailed off my letter to sara (my penpal) yesterday! shelagh also has a bright and fun etsy shop if you want to check her out.

i feel all crafty today.

what cha doin'?

it is always weird to be up early on a saturday morning, but i knew this would happen when i fell asleep watching the sex and the city movie last night. even the puppies were sleepy early.

i'm excited - i'm starting a quilting challenge on monday and i've never made a quilt before. plus, i'm handsewing the thing as i don't have a sewing machine. don't get all excited, it's just a pillow top and i'm doing it in felt. i have all these big ideas in my head, but i'm afraid it will look like a poor little charlie brown quilt. all lopsided and stuff.

oh yeah...i did promise the story about the new jersey-quese housewives next to us at dinner last week. it all seems so anti-climatic now, just like the finale of the real housewives (just was it that danielle tried to do to dina - puncture the bubbies, whack her, what?). you know it has to be good or big bad caroline would have sicced the puppy on her, right? but...i have wondered away from the subject.

one of my pet peeves is to be in a nice restaurant and the table is so obnoxious and rude that you can't enjoy your food. i mean, it's one thing if you're in a family place that is meant for that, but if i'm (well, my brother) is paying over $20 a plate - it's not mcd's. you know? there were two women, obviously wearing 'bump-its' and side ponys that they must have gotten theirs that very morning. they had nice bottles of wine (which they were loaded on) and at least six children between them. the children ranged from 10ish to 3ish...while momma sat there and complained (loudly) how horny she was. geesh - do people even use that word anymore after the 12th grade or freshman year? the children consumed piles of expensive sushi and mommas drank more wine as the conversation stumbled on to firm butts when the one told the other what her trainer said about her firm butt. then the picture taking commenced. flashes going off in our eyes as we tried to wait for our meals (of course the restaurant was slow - they had to go catch the fish theirselves, right?). not fun. just not fun. all part of my theory how the world is going to pot because no one seems to care about anyone much anymore. (not you - no....but people as a whole and in public) i mean, come on, have dignity much? uhmmmm, no.

see, much funnier when it was happening than the retelling. well, that and i suck at stories sometimes. i just checked yard sales since my thrify friends always find such good stuff. maybe since i'm up early i can check out a couple. and go to the farmer's market. i'm hungry for some fresh corn - i wonder if i could convince my brother to put on the grill for some roasted corn?