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ARCHIVES : AUGUST

Thursday Evening : August 29, 2002
> I have always known that I would one day own a really cool cuckoo clock. Its something that I've just had in the back of my mind, but never really talked about. I guess because, I knew that I would have to be older and have more money in order to afford a really cool one. Sunday, we were at the local knick-knack antique store and I found a tiny cheap souvenir-ish one for $15. The clock mechanism works ( I have the key to wind it up ) and it has a water-paddle-wheel beside the house part that moves with each tick. Frankly, the thing is too annoying to run because of the loud tick tock. My bedroom is clearly not the best place for it. In any case, its tiny and intricate and I just love it.

Wednesday Evening : August 28, 2002
> At last! The hand-carved alphabet is HERE ! The image here is the first time I actually tried to form a word after having all of the letters carved. Its primitive. I like it. Next, I just need to buy the Versamark pad and I'll be on my way to embossing heaven. Versamark is a clearish pad of ink that you can use to create a watermark effect or use it with the powders to emboss.

Sunday Evening : August 25, 2002
> This image was scanned in from the user's manual of my sewing machine. Evidently, I need to invest in a pair of slippers in order to be a proper seamstress.
> Saw BECK perform at Westlake High School Auditorium Thursday evening. It was my evening to be cool; tickets were scarce and we were lucky to buy a pair before they were sold out. The show was really mellow, as it was just him and a guitar singing mostly new stuff and music from Mutations ("Smokey" offered some musical assistance). Saw Luke Wilson there.
> Saw GINGER ALTOIDS today...but got distracted before I could toss them in my shopping basket.
> Working on carving the rubber stamp alphabet. At last count, I was halfway there. Hand carving = rubber stamp happiness. I mean, why buy premade stamps and waste perfectly good natural drawing abilities? it would be a shame.

Saturday : August 24, 2002
> I have discovered sweet tea at the local Bill Miller. My friend bought me this giant refillable mug. I go to the drive-thru with texas-sized tea mug and say "Sweet tea refill, please". It's a great treat for 50 cents.

Wednesday Evening : August 21, 2002
> I found yet another illustrator today. Juliette Borda. I discovered her from the links on uglygreenchair.com.
> Came home from work to a stunning dinner made by my boyfriend: salad topped with home grown tomatoes (not this home), steamed artichokes stuffed with garlic and grilled lemon pepper shark with roasted hatch chiles, served up with chilled Grenache (bleck). Nice. Homecooked food is tasty.
> I was excited to hear today about a Seinfeld movie coming out this fall. Wow, an actual movie to look forward to. The stuff that's coming out these days is sad.

Sunday : August 18, 2002
> Today's image is a birthday cake stamp that I carved and used blue ink to stamp onto a craft colored paper. It came out nice and masculine which is perfect for the two birthdays coming up. I'd like to carve the entire alphabet so that I could stamp 'happy birthday' and make the cards personalized. That could take some time, but would be super neat, and I would have them to use forever. I'm currently brainstorming framable-sized images to carve and print for family members for Christmas. Then, of course, I could do multiple copies. The biggest problem is choosing suitable content for imagery.
> Movie Night is when all the friends get together and gather at the house of the guy with the giant screen television. This happens every other thursday evening. It started a while back with the WILLEM DAFOE FEST (or Da Foe Fest, as it was often called). I didn't make it to any of those showings. Well, now it has turned into an evening of watching terrible movies while we all sit around and crack jokes. The host picks someone who is "the most enthusiastic movie viewer" and that person gets to pick the two movies for the next time. The only rule is that the movie you pick for #1 HAS to contain something in common with movie #1 of the last movie. Usually, there is a common actor/actress. Movie #2 is usually just whatever. Its good solid fun times.

Thursday : August 15, 2002
> Today's image is that of some plastic-animal-punch-out-and-assemble-your-animal things that I found for 49 cents at Whole Foods. The size of the card is about 2" x 4". The animals that I have include a lion, a penguin, a flamingo, an elephant and an eagle. They are way fun. I have no idea who makes these.
> Mark Ryden. I really, truly enjoy this illustrator's work. I rediscovered his site the other day. What I like about it? The content is dark; the look is creamy; its other-worldly. The bio and artist statement are a worthwhile read.

Sunday Morning : August 11, 2002
> Months ago, I bought a small slab of rubber for making my own stamps. Yesterday, I finally put it all into action. Here are some of the results (actual size). The rubber is super easy to carve, like butter. I am planning on using these stamps to make thank you cards and that sort of thing. The ink pad I bought is a dye ink, whick soaks in to the paper. I think next time I will try the pigment ones and compare the difference. The pads are kind of expensive and last night i just went for whatever was cheap so that i could try it out.
> I remade the seed bead necklace. I strung them randomly, since I just couldn't stomach counting them for a third time. The random effect came out well.

Thursday Night : August 8, 2002
> I was just making a necklace out of seed beads (the tiny ones) accented with a slightly larger bead. After almost completely finishing the necklace, I decided that I didn't really like the larger bead. Reluctantly, I dumped them off the strand and started over. Bead by bead by bead. 7 clear blues, 2 solid blues, 4 shiny blues, 2 solid blues, etc. I was really liking the new design and I was trying it on to see how I liked the length, since I hadn't made a choker before...and when I was done measuring, I dropped one end and they all spilt onto the floor. Sigh. And here I am. I got too tired and just messed it all up. I just don't know if I'm going to have the energy to make it AGAIN. I'm sure that when I'm reading this tomorrow, I'm going to find this story really boring. Oh well.
> My trip to Virginia was super nice. I was even fortunate enough to visit the beach and dip my feet in the sand and surf. Other highlights include: crabcakes, visiting the swimming pool of childhood, my baby neice, tangerine ALTOID Sours, apple pie, cupcakes, sweet tea..
>I'm sleepy. I was feeling guilty for not getting back here this week. Is guilt a normal part of this? I really need to start the archiving thing. An entry without a picture seems sad. Good Night.
> The other week I saw a Pringles chip holder for kids lunch boxes. Its shaped just like the chips. I can't find a picture just now. I'll keep looking.
> HOT TOPIC at the mall, has lots of cool AfroKen stuff.