Gratuitous baby pictures

This is my niece Jaylee.

Ioway

I went to Iowa last weekend with my mother-in-law to see Brandi Carlile in concert. I'm not sure I would drive six hours just for a concert, regardless of the performer, but my mother-in-law is sort of a Brandi groupie.

And the concert was pretty great. If you don't know Brandi Carlile's music, check it out. Start here. She's a talented gal. Her voice is so rich and gritty, and I love the way classic country has influenced her sound.

Here I am looking like a dork while she signs my T-shirt. I couldn't think of anything to say to her, so she just starting singing "Jackson" while she signed.


If it looks like we were in an art gallery, it's because we were. The concert was at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines, a giant Victorian mansion that's been converted into a stunning theater space and art gallery. It was really neat.


On the way home from Des Moines we drove through Madison County, so we decided to veer off the interstate and see the covered bridges. I have not read the book or seen the movie, so the only appeal of the bridges was to see something historic that we don't have in Kansas.


But honestly, they're not much to look at. There are only five of the original bridges left, and they're really only famous because of the movie, which looked pretty cheesy to me. But regardless, now I can say I've seen them. And I must admit, they are kind of cute and rustic and Amish-looking and all delightfully painted red.

New on Etsy

I don't intend to post every time I list something new in the shop, but this one was a particular labor of love.

This design was inspired by the work of Orla Kiely, a London designer who uses a lot of bold, modern patterns. I think her stuff is really fun and cool, and I thought it would make a good cross stitch. I like how it turned out.

I may experiment with doing some other graphic patterns, but most likely they will not be this small and detailed because this was a little tedious, even for me.

Adventures in Larryville

I was in Lawrence last weekend and got to see the Jayhawks play in the championship game of the WNIT. We didn't win, but it was a fantastic game. It also set a Big 12 women's attendance record of 16,113. The place was rockin'.

Also, I'm famous!
Kim submitted this photo of me and Ben with Joan Baez to the paper's Friends & Neighbors section. The three of us went to the concert on St. Patrick's Day, which was a wonderful experience. I'm so glad I got to see her live. (And from the front row!)

Nothing new

The Google search that most often brings people to my blog is the phrase “Rush Limbaugh is a fucking idiot,” which was the title of a post from mid-October. But as you know, Rush Limbaugh continues to be a fucking idiot, even when there’s not an impending national election. I’m impressed that so many other people think so, too.

In business

Another new endeavor for me (besides fondling my new pens) has been my Etsy shop, Wall Work. I'm selling modern cross stitch pieces, mostly plant and animal designs, with a few word pieces thrown in (as seen at left).

I've been featured on Etsy's front page three times (here, here and here) and in Etsy's blog, The Storque, in a post called "Who's Got Talent?" I've also been featured in a couple of other blogs, including the very cool decor8. And all that attention is extremely flattering, even if it didn't result in any actual sales.

In total, I've had six sales in the past three and a half months, which I think is pretty good, considering what I sell and at what price point. My first sale was this shell piece:


I've become moderately obsessed with Etsy, visiting the site dozens of times a day, hanging around the discussion forum, following on Twitter, monitoring my shop on Google Analytics and the various other sites that track shop stats. I try to do as much of my shopping there as possible, and I have bought some really fantastic stuff. In short, I'm having a lot of fun with it.

I don't want this blog to turn into a nonstop Etsy promotion, but because it's on my mind so much, I may write about it from time to time and may even feature some of the really neat shops I discover.

In fact, here's a shop I just recently came across:

Ashley Pahl makes some beautiful note cards and other paper goods. I especially love how she combines paper and felt. Makes me want to reach out and touch them.

Not quite a feast

But at least an end to the famine. I may start off a bit slowly, though, as I climb back into the blogging saddle.

After two months, my most important news is this: I'm in pen heaven.

After months of struggling with a bunch of my own pens that weren't quite right and the office-issued ones that were dreadful, I turned to the Web. Five to nine business days later, I had a set of Staedtler triplus fineliners, maybe the best pens ever. They are extra-fine felt tips, long and thin and triangular. A joy to hold, a delight to write. True, the yellow will be utterly useless, but I can overlook its inclusion.

Right now I'm using the blue for my day planner and green for my ineffective to-do lists. I'm looking for excuses to take notes about things. This morning I let a co-worker briefly borrow one and felt substantial anxiety until she had returned it.

I would've absolutely swooned for these pens back in my diary-writing days, when colorful, smooth-writing pens were a necessity of life. These days they simply brighten my day a bit and almost make me wish this blog were a long-hand endeavor.

Punked

We awoke this morning to find this lovely message left on our fence. The police officer said this was at least the seventh report of gang graffiti over the weekend.

Alley oops

Let’s just say bowling is not my game. Ben’s mom bought him a ball for his birthday, (the Earth ball, above), and we finally got around to trying it out today. I bowled a 48, followed by a 46. Yeah. The sheer number of gutter balls was staggering. Plus, I use a neon pink kid ball with a T Rex on it. Glad I’m not easily embarrassed.

I think my dismal performance may have been due to leftover soreness from playing Wii on Thursday. Yes, I am pathetic.

Music video flashback, pt 2

I may have watched more MTV in 1989 than any other year. Highlights for me included “Like a Prayer” and “We Didn't Start the Fire,” but Prince’s “Batdance” figures heavily in my memories. Let me warn you: This is a complete piece of crap. It’s shockingly bad, even for Prince, whose sense of good taste is always in question. But watching this transports me right back to my friend Jennifer’s basement rec room, with the wood paneling and leather sectional and endless hours of MTV, back when MTV played music.