January 31, 2008

So I wussed out and didn't get a tattoo on my birthday (Mom, I can hear your sigh of relief FROM HERE). It's not that I'm freaked about the pain, I'm just weirded out about how old I am (just turned 37) and I'm questioning my motivation for getting another one in the first place. Sigh. Okay, so I think I have a relatively healthy idea of who I am and a reasonable amount of self respect, so I'm especially interested in the way I feel now because it's the first time I've ever been concerned about my age. I swear it's never bothered me before.

The other day I was watching Anthony Bourdain in Berlin and I thought I'd like to travel there before I die or get too old to travel. In the past when I got wanderlust, it was all about seeing something new and having fun, but it's like I woke up and realized that I'd better get my ass in gear and do the things I want to do and stop putting stuff off before...you know. Maybe I should get that tattoo after all, before my skin turns all weird and transparent like my Gran's was. Oh god, could someone please explain what the heck is happening to my neck skin??? I should take a photograph, but I'm to vain/embarassed.

January 21, 2008

Happy MLK Day! Here's a little treat courtesy of Eleanor, aged very nearly 5.

January 18, 2008

Nostalgia. It's fun!

1. I was in Banana Republic yesterday and this....

...was playing. I was spellbound (ha!) and when the magic was over, the Banana Republic soundtrack of bland, corporate pop continued on as if nothing had happened.

2. I had a vision...

January 16, 2008

I love Ikea. Forget Disneyworld/land, to me Ikea is the true "happiest place on earth", but with that said, I don't think I could live there for a whole week like this guy did. It reminds me of a Richard Peck book I read when I was a preteen called Secrets of the Shopping Mall where two kids stow away in a mall in an attempt to hide from angry gang members. Anyway, Mark Malkoff, the guy who spent a week in Ikea, is a comedian and at times he comes off as funny and other times I just want to slap him something awful, but I felt compelled to watch all those damn videos on his site. Perhaps I was waiting for an Ikea employee to slap him for me.
[via supernaturale]

January 9, 2008

Okay, this is pretty interesting. Remember that nutty Lionel Ritchie video for Hello where the blind girl makes that bust of Lionel out of clay? Check this out: The Hello Experiment.
[via craft:]

January 8, 2008

The building I teach in looks like a ghost town. They built a new building on campus and most of the teachers in my building have been moved, except for me, the journalism teacher and one health teacher. I was supposed to stay in the building because of the darkroom, but about a month ago I was informed that I'm also to move out by the end of the month (the building costs too much to air condition). So, where does that leave me and my students? High and dry without a darkroom? There were never any plans to build a new darkroom and so I'll be going totally digital in the Spring semester. I knew this was coming eventually, but I didn't think it would happen so soon and without much warning.

I told my students a while ago about the inevitability of this happening and that they should be thankful that they got to experience working in a darkrooom at all. You know, most people would think that teenagers would be giddy with the notion of going digital- it's quicker and easier (not to mention less smelly), but most of them are truly sad and upset about losing their darkroom. After I told them about the plans to switch over to digital, they wrote touching and passionate letters about how they valued the experience of working in a darkoom and that it gave them a sense of accomplishment, but it was too late, the decision had been made. We're going digital.

I have mixed feelings about this. I'm welcoming the change to digital (no more chemical mixing, yay!) but my students are right. There's a lot to be said for the darkroom experience. They understand that there's a craft to good photography. We'll be using digital SLRs and so they'll still have some control over the images they produce. They'll also have more time to focus on content and creative solutions to my assignments. However, I want them to have everything- the total photographic experience. Maybe I'm old school, I don't know. I learned a lot about photography through film cameras and working in a darkroom and I'm not sure we should dismiss the experience as obsolete. I'm sad, but then again, never again will I have to gently berate a student for dumping a tray full of fixer all over my feet when they're showing me a print.

January 6, 2008

I reopened my Etsy shop, Tyranny of the Handbag, and added some old vintage thrift scores I had hanging around the house. The purge continues! I'm sad to see some of it go, but I have so. Much. Stuff. And I had plenty of time to enjoy them- it's time to pass them on. Usually when I purge stuff from my house, it goes right back to the thrift store, but I'm very careful not to donate to thrifts where I shop. I really don't want to bump into any of my old crap.

Now I'm experimenting with selling the better stuff to see if it will indeed sell. Pat accused me of turning into a picker (Picker- one who trolls thrift stores and nabs all the good stuff to sell on ebay/"antique stores") and while the thought did cross my mind now and then, I just can't do it. The real allure of thrift store shopping is the hunt for something that appeals to me that has a bit of history to it and finding that perfect score gives me such an incredible feeling. I know I'm not the only one who feels that way. If I was a picker, I would be robbing thrift-addicts like myself of that feeling. Pickings are getting slim enough as it is.

Since my shop now has other, non-handmade stuff on it, I thought about renaming it "Joanie Loves Tchotchkies", but doing a Google search turned up this and this. Dang! Just as well, I guess. "Tchotchkies" is not the easlest word in the world to spell. And don't bother to ask what the hell "Tyranny of the Handbag" is all about, because I couldn't tell you. Something to do with Margaret Thatcher? It sounded cool? I was drunk?

Ohmigod! I feel like a teenager on the first day of school! Am I wearing the right outfit to establish my coolness for the rest of the school year? Ha! Hey man, I know I'm not the only one who did that.

Yes, you're in the right place, I got a little restless and decided to screw around the design and organization of my site. It's a new year and Poopscape is rapidly nearing its 5th birthday (wha? already?) and so I thought a make-over was in order. Do you like my birdie? I realize that the bird motif has pretty much jumped the shark, trendwise, but that didn't stop me. Still, I'm not 100% cool with my new design. It might change, I don't know. I'm having fun screwing around with it.

I've moved things around a bit too. The link to my project section is in the left sidebar and I'm still working on getting the archives in shape. 5 years worth of posts is a lot to organize.

Another little change I'm making, or planning on making this year is that I'm considering getting another tattoo as a little present to myself for my birthday this month. I should make this more fun for you and do a vote.

Here are the options...

a) pincushion in full color	b) pincushion outline
c) pincushion outline minus that strawberry thing	d) pincushion without the needle and thread

These are just rough sketches that I scanned, so some polishing would happen before I got the thing permanently inked on my person. Did you notice that the thread in the needle makes a "P" and an "E" for Pat and Eleanor? D'aww! I'm worried about the balance of the design and I think the needle/thread might throw it off a bit. Hey, I might just get the needle instead of the pincushion. Whatever I do, I'll probably get it on my shoulder and pretty small, or I might not do it at all and use the money I would have spent on another piece of furniture. Ha!