pinkveneer

haven't checked in on communities or friends in a bit. hope to do that next week...hope all's well in your worlds :)

was able to spend all of last week in tai chi classes and learning some tuina/chinese bodywork techniques. what a luxury! tai chi and qigong have been part of my life for about 15 years. i love what it's able to do for humans. i always think if everyone knew they would give it a try. basically, it lubricates our joints, allowing us to stay flexible and juicy. it keeps the energy flowing inside our bodies and fields and keeps our organs in place as we age. there is always more to learn within it. keeps our minds clear and strong, twists all of our tissues to keep them supple, allows the whole body to work as a pump, rather than just stressing the heart...good stuff.

i am planning to get to maryland sheep and wool fest on saturday/tomorrow, so will look for all of you who are likely suspects. let the wool huffing begin :)

i posted a longish entry about weaving with fine threads here.

why is it that a cat who mostly seems to ignore you will come and sit right on the book you're reading?

lately, my brain just wants to learnlearnlearn. one question leads to 10 books which lead to 10 more. and fortunately, most are available at the library. good things will come from this!!!

and boston is springing into action with tons of good events all at once. circus freaks, great music, a play about the life of the buddha, natalie goldberg talking about her most recent book. she is so serene, so very present. fiber festivals on the horizon. all so deliciosa!!!

i was reading an article about a tribe of reindeer herders (contemporary). there was a description (by an outsider) that stuck with me. it was very cold...a woman from the tribe was sleeping on a dirt floor, and she pulled a stillborn reindeer that was in her hut into her bed with her to keep her warm. ugly beauty...that's how this batt + yarn were born.

the steam baths around here = a lil bit of heaven on a cold winter day :) must remember to go more often...

some people seem not to be here anymore, so adieu to some friends~happy travels til we meet again! (if i've made a mistake and you feel like letting me know, please do.)

thanks purlewe 

here

my brain, that is :) never underestimate just how much brainmelt can occur when trying to move things from one computer to another. i am still in contact with my old teacher who taught me about websites and he sussed out the info that even he didn't know. so we both learned. grateful for all the many kindly folks in my life, including you guys!

ha...have noticed all over flickr and elsewhere all the holiday present hats for our significant others. and me too!

i decided to design this yarn with areas of grey and black baby alpaca and have a few wilder areas so peter could have a warm + simple hat. he likes it :) it was fun, planning the yarn and envisioning what would come out where. i wanted to have all the elements in one yarn, rather than joining different ones. also, my first time working with circular needles - only took me 3 tries at getting the right size. i didn't realize that length matters!

looking thru friends posts...add me to the list of people who prolly won't catch up with the last few days :)

another shot, more, um...acrobatic here ( x )( x )

last night we went to hear golem and on the way back around midnite, decided to drive thru our old neighborhood. it's been about 3 years or so since we moved. we always hope we'll run into mother cat when we occasionally drive by there.

haven't seen her since the last day. she came in the front door and saw that everything was gone, packed up. we were so sad, because we knew that we couldn't take her to the new place. she gave us her 6 kitties to take care of, but she would only visit for meals and come in to our place when it was the worst weather. she would run in - we had to pretend we didn't see her - and she would make a beeline for a closet where i had put a cat bed for her. then she'd leave in the morning, reappearing again for most meals. she lived in various garages and other hiding places in the neighborhood. we had managed to trap her when we had the babies "fixed" and also had her fixed. i think that saved her sanity, not having to keep breeding more feral cats, and have a life for herself.

but her babies lived with us and had an indoor/outdoor life. it's the life i'd want if i was a cat. having the freedom and beauty of life outdoors and knowing that there was warmth and food at home. the two we still have, klez + martini, are above. same mom, different dads.

but last night as we rounded the corner, there she was!! i rolled down the window, and said hi, and she stopped when she heard my voice. (she runs from other humans.) we stayed in the car and talked to her for a few minutes and told her about her kitties and how much we missed her. she knew it was us, and i think the gaps were filled in. i'm sure she wondered where we went. she looked beautiful. she looks a lot like klez, the white cat above. i got a really good vibe from her. i wished she would jump in the car and come with us, but i didn't try - that was not gonna happen. she likes her wild life, i think. that was such a nice gift, to know that she was thriving on her own terms  ^.^

yum, fluffy stuff! here's some gorgeous cormo from mbernadette 's shop! and pretty crane and other generous inclusions! what great mail~maybe i will use it to make something icy, inspired by Terje Isungset  + his ice orchestra (also video only here)

and here's some of my yarn, inspired by some of cavalaxis 's writing...something about a vardo, smashing plates, loud voices, probably alcohol involved ;) ...(finger for scale.)

 

ms. yarnwench  tagged me for the random thing. i tag no one, unless you want to do it, because i think everyone i know has already done this.

1. my hair is 40" long (just measured)
2. i once popped a cap in my mouth. i think i was seven. weird sensation. no adverse results that i know of :)
3. i've only shaved under my arms once in my life, and my legs also once. i lost my razor after that and...oh well.
4. i got my first drivers license at 34.
5. i love getting mail.
6. i believe we humans have endless capacity for joy and this is a good thing :)

ETA: screwed this up while trying to edit and refuse to make it look right at the moment :)

two interpretations of the same thing...i like challenging myself to find something new in a motif. there is always more to see...the possibilities can never be exhausted.


had a chance to see more bellydance + music again this weekend with vadalna dance + incus. excellent evening of theatre + joy!! a nice touch at the end was being told to check under our seats, where a tarot card had been taped :) mine was 8 of swords with "trust" on one side.

thinking of getting over to the bizarre bazaar this afternoon where i know some of you might be lurking...and some good jazz later at the lilypad.

loving being able to read about obama's choices and thoughts on the LJ feed for change.gov i guess things can always be MORE transparent, so i'm interested in smart guy lessig's idea of open government. seems like government is far less abstract now, and for the first time in a long time,  feels connected to me. like it's an actual part of everyday life and not some distant entity that i hate.

attended a transition training a couple of weekends ago. i didn't know much about the specifics, but it jived with my interests in permaculture etc. i liked their question: How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march? still processing my response to all that i experienced there...

finally saw "the fall". loved those images + costumes!!!!

a few recent things i've spun...

 

well, maybe time to make a public post for a change :)

so much good music + art around lately. this always makes me feel enriched, plain and simple. the best was seeing fuzzybumblebee 's guy, paul metzger perform again. his music is so authentic and moving - a really great artist. he brings so much energy to his instruments. this was a real pleasure...and i especially liked it that p. also loves and is very moved by paul's music. hope you get to see him in your town, or check his site for videos and recordings. scrumptious!

also heard spider monkey strings on sunday. again, greatgreatgreat. saturday saw 4X4, dance to live music, good collaborations. bellydance on sunday that had a nice magic to it. today holds a film about louise bourgeois: the spider, the mistress and the tangerine, at the museum. keep it comin, world :) love to support other artists, as they also enrich my life so much.

revisited weird sisters...pix of the recent one below, and an older vision of the same theme. also in the past few weeks sometime, attended "the gathering", put on by new england handspinners. met some people i had only talked to online and some new friends. won a door prize - how unusual :) the prize was some nice spinning fiber.


dipping into: "her voice, her faith" and "anthology of sacred texts by and about women". i always gravitate toward female teachers and knowledge. these books explore many different perspectives and a wide range of beliefs. refreshing.

you may have guessed that i'm here mostly to make notes to myself and for communities. i read my friends page daily, tho, and occasionally check in with comments. but sometimes it occurs to me that you might not know i'm here, so a "hello friends! post" is sometimes a good idea, i think. so hello :)

hah! i was going to ask my f-list what their best source of info was for following obama's plans, but i just saw it. maybe you're interested too?

HIGH FIVE
congratulations president obama + mazel tov to all of us!

 
Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing
Post these instructions with your picture. 

i really want to crop that background, but is that considered editing? i am enjoying seeing all these quickie self portraits by friends. do one!

i seem to be spending a lot of time in maine lately. below is a photo of an old barn on the way to tunbridge. up early on friday to go to common ground fair. i think it's my favorite...all organic stuff and lots of sheep + fiber. it's like a real old fashioned country fair - probably put together by all the hippies who went to live a real life :)
 

back from some travels. above is a foggy morning in peters valley, n.j., where i thought way too much about bears...and then when we went to maine, how could we NOT stay in a place with this name? the showers were just fine.

 

i'll check out what's been happening around here - thanks for the well wishes prior to my travels :) hope you're all well! more photos and description to come...
 

gone fishin weaving + spinning. see you after 9.3 :) 

bottom yarn = molotov cocktail
a happy summer - lots of classes, tennis, everyday miracles :)