Loom of Sam

How have I been? Popping. This is according to the Thesaurus, as I'm feeling bored with the word 'busy'; rather, I've been bustling, energetic, full, fussy, hectic, humming, hustling, lively, restless, strenuous, tireless, tiring. I've been out of the cyber-loop as none of my recent adventures seem quite 'blogworthy'.. there's been a lot of time spent letterpressing at Community Print, making new tiny silkscreens for future experiments, designing logos for a lady skate-snow-surf company, shipping paintings to their new homes, and also my new part-time job as flyer-maker for local drinking hole The Brotherhood. I love being the flyer lady. Perhaps one of my favorite jobs that dosen't really seem like work at all; more of a play-time at Kinko's, hogging one of the dwindling b&w copiers for a good couple of hours, sizing/resizing/cutting/pasting, fending off the normals who want to xerox mountains of bills and forms.

Back at the house, we chop wood:


And just when I was getting a little bored with the whole idea of bloggggs, here comes Sam Mcpheeters to liven things up! He just launched Loom of Ruin, kicking things off with a Sam-style review of Van Halen at Staples Center in L.A.. a must read.


Sam, among other responsibilities like running Vermiform and ghost-writing lyrics for hardcore bands, makes crazy/great art. He has an online shop on Buyolympia.com, where you can purchase this little gem:


Or his new zine, 'Patrons of the Cha Cha Lounge and Their Drinks'


Speaking of art, I finished three paintings that will be magically transformed into wallets for Poketo! They're re-workings of pieces from my last show, painted to be friendly with the rectangular dimensions of a wallet..




Re-painting can be quite informative, and definitely interesting/fun. You revisit all the imperfections of the first piece and try to make them work the second time around. You get to know your characters a little better. It's like Mondrian's tree.. he spent 40 years repainting this:


Into this:

Inventrons

Things to copyright, immediately:

1. GO-GA®. The new revolution in traffic-jam exercise. Say, when you're sitting on I-5 for an hour trying to move six miles into the Portland City Center. I've not had time to completely think this out; I do envision a soothing CD, special Goga-mat® seat cover, and plenty of stretching. Namaste.

2. PLABS©. Pit-bull/Lab mixes. More on that later.

If you've spent any time with me, you've probably heard me lament on more than one occasion how my inventions are often stolen before I have any chance to bring them to fruition. The Real Arm©, Nap-Pods©, and DoggyDNA testing, to name just a few. And maybe you've heard me shout 'Eureka!' while in the middle of a daydream. The good ideas just keep coming!

Stitches

Poor Otis. He looks like a Franken-dog at the moment. Yesterday he went in for surgery to remove the big lump (which Justin affectionately named 'Herbert') that's been steadily growing on his side for a couple of years. He's woozy and sad, and I'm at home doing some doggy daycare..


I like to call Otis a Polar Burrito due to his size, shape, and coloring. Or Polar Bearrito. Hang in there, buddy. You'll be feeling better in no time.


I moved a bit of my studio back to the house and am almost done with the new paintings for Poketo wallets! I'll have three designs coming out in their new series:



And next to me is the monster To-Do list. It keeps on growing, just like Herbert. I have been able to surgically remove a few items, but projects-projects-and-more-projects are looming over me. Right now though, I'm just going to hug Otis until he feels better.

Scorpio, Inc.

'Tis the time of the Scorpio! This weekend we had a major installment of Scorp-on-Scorp bday action..


..first up, it's Justin's bday! I LOVE getting presents for people. I have often dreamed of acquiring large piles of cash, only to be spent on people I adore.


Otis also loves presents. He gets very excited when he sees items wrapped up in paper and tissue.

He must help unwrap! Otis is oddly talented at opening gifts, though one has to monitor his enthusiasm so that the actual present itself does not end up getting ripped apart in the process.


All this tearing and gift-giving really works Otis up. He channels his excess excitement into handing Rosebud a swift beat-down of his favorite style: whisker-nibbling.


Our dogs are very, very strange. Otis has eaten all of Rosebud's whiskers. She only has small whiskery nubs now, which Otis makes sure to keep very trim. I think it's his way of shaming her. Keeping her in her lower pack position. Although, being a weirdo herself, Rosebud seems to find this whisker-nibbling business very, very relaxing. Soothing. Her eyes kind-of glaze over and it's as if Otis is giving her a wonderful foot rub. Freaks.


Another Scorpio! Dave Stone, live and direct from Los Angeles. Dave is our wonderful friend. We lived in his Sun Valley home during our L.A. stint. He is on a west-coast modular synth tour, driving a P.T. Cruiser up and down I-5, imparting astrological knowledge and playing little-known venues in Bremerton, Forestville, and beyond. Hi Dave!


See you in February!

Sexy is the New Sexy

Where have I been?

What have I been doing?


Watching giant salmon flop around in Totten Inlet on their long journey through the Sound and up the Deschutes to spawn. Walking around in the woods. Tending to more dog wounds, this time a hearty slice through Otis' soft polar bear ear, inflicted by one of three suspects (Rosebud, or neighbor pups Sola and Toby?) who all seem pretty innocent. Discussing the words 'splatter' vs. 'spatter' in a forensics context. Listening to my favorite radio show, IDEAS, on cbc radio or sirius satellite radio, everyone should listen to this show, it's on every day for an hour and is always fascintating; i've learned about the history of polio, women abalone divers of korea, the steam engine's impact on industrial England, Newfoundland's icebergs, and this week there is the best lecture series ever by Alberto Manguel. I can't even really begin to explain it.. he's some sort of historian/anthropologist/genius that manages to start with the epic of Gilgamesh and weave it into mulitculturalism, dr.jekyll/mr.hyde., Tony Blair's attempt to mandate 'Britishness' upon all citizens of England, and then brings it right back to the story from which he started. TUNE IN!


And check this out: The city of S.F. is biting my style! For a good cause, so I can't really complain. But I do think it's pretty funny. Who knew that a little tshirt design I made one afternoon at a Kinko's could morph into a city-wide marketing campaign? Thanks to my pal Stefan for the heads-up.

World Music, People.

Have I ever mentioned that I am a punk rocker? To the core. But I'm finding my musical interests in recent years have taken a turn away from what's-goin-on stateside (i.e. I'm not sure I've ever heard The Arcade Fire, Feist, et al, unless through aural osmosis while walking through a record store) and toward a whole giant world full of amazing sounds.


Last night I went to Seattle to see Tinariwen play. Another type of punk band, formed in 1982 in Moammar al-Qadhafi's camps of Tuareg rebels. A group of Saharan nomads, the first Tuareg said to use electric guitars, writing songs calling for political awakening and demands of sovereignty. And, let it be said, quite simply, they JAM. It's the real deal.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of these types of head-ornaments worn by the mostly whitey audience:


Hippie tams? Guatemalan touks? Sara Lund determined the best all-encompassing term was the non-specific ETHNO-HAT©. Kind of like the one this guy is wearing:


I mean, seriously, nice outfit! What a joker!

ed. note: just realized that guy is my boyfriend. in costume at the ren-fair. whoops.

ed. note #2: also just realized that my identification of 'stateside' au currant indie bands were exclusively Canadian. double whoops.