Category: All (-ish)

I embark on the Kristen

The Kristen is the first pattern I’ve made from Burda Style.  It cost $4.00 to download and then I printed out the pattern, taped it together and now I am cutting it out.  I’m not certain why you need to see 10 pictures of me cutting out a pattern, but I took them, so you get to see them.  As a reward, at the bottom is the material I chose.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Upper right is the contrast detail, lower half is main fabric, bit in the left corner is the lining.  I found the main fabric material back in January when I was buying skirt material.  I’m only allowed one sewing project at a time and I thought this design and weight would make a beautiful Crepe Dress from Collette Patterns.  That’s the dress I plan on making for my 20-year reunion, which is the project after this one.  But the bolt was considerably slimmer on this trip and Julie (she of the excellent fabric picking skills) convinced me that I needed to get the material for THIS dress and find something else delightful for the reunion dress, as this material might not be there when I came back next time.  I’m so glad she convinced me of this.

Three sentence movie reviews: 10 Things I Hate about You

This movie is much better than it had any right to be.  Probably because a bunch of very good actors* took this usual high school romantic comedy up several notches.  Also, I think the setting is so magical, it conspires to make the movie great too.

Cost:  free from library.
Where watched:  at home.

*Joseph Gordon-Levitt!  Julia Styles!  Allison Janney!  And Heath Ledger, who, it is amazing and sad to realize, would be dead less than 10 years from when this was filmed.

Postcards from Taiwan and Germany

This is from Sonia who is a senior in high school and hopes I can come to Taiwan.  She also hopes I like the postcard.  I do!    It reminds me of the movie Hannah.  But in a good way.
 
This postcard is from Jule, who lives by the Black Sea in Germany.  She translates the front as “Life is an adventure—dare it.”
 

A lot has been happening with the block.

I haven’t taken any pictures since November 30, but things continue apace.  I really like the look of this place; it looks like it will be very grand.  Here’s the view on the approach from Interstate, heading north.
 
They’ve blocked out the place where the sign will go.
 
This is the far side of the block and I usually don’t take pictures of it.
 
Here’s the usual view.
 

fun. is fun.

It’s a sunny Wednesday afternoon.  Where am I going with a backpack?
 
The fun headboard, the painted walls, the lamps.  I must be at a McMenamins Hotel.
 
Indeed it is.  It’s the McMenamins Crystal Hotel located in downtown Portland.
 
Each room is  named after a song and I was excited to have the “Louie, Louie” room.  The very nice desk clerk told me that the song was recorded just up the street.
 
Here’s a map of the whole hotel layout.
 
 And here’s my room’s “Louie Louie” painting.
 
Why am I here on a weeknight?  Why to see fun., of course.
 
You know, FUN.  The band’s name is fun.?  It’s the worst name ever, because no one has any idea what the band’s name is.  It’s like a mini “Who’s on first” conversation every time I bring them up.  But if you have been anywhere near radio (including pop radio, alternative and adult contemporary formats) in the last year, you’ve heard fun.

Notice the ticket says “A December To Remember”?  And notice it’s March?  The show was postponed twice, I was supposed to go on December 19, but they moved it to March.  Because I decided too late I wanted to see the band, the show was sold out, so I stayed in the hotel and was able to buy a ticket.

How was fun.?  fun. was fun.  The band Family of the Year opened and they were great to watch. They said we were an “amazing” crowd.  This was very flattering, although I’m sure they say that to all the crowds.  Here’s a clip from the show.  This song was clearly their big hit as the sing-along got very loud.  I particularly enjoyed watching the bass player, whose hair and stage mannerisms were straight out of 1994.  I say that with love.

fun. was a good time.  They were apparently jet-lagged, but enjoyed us as a crowd as evidenced by this clip. I was interested to see how they would sound live as there are only three of them, and yet many more sounds on their songs than three musicians can make.  They solved this by having additional musicians on stage.  I particularly enjoyed watching Emily Moore (at least that’s what Wikipedia says her name is) who played a lot of instruments.  I learned the lead singer’s sister lives in Portland, which was an interesting fact.  And I particularly enjoyed hearing “The Gambler.”  Here’s a clip of “Carry On.“

45RPM “The Darkening of the Light” Concrete Blonde

Where I match a song to a specific memory.

Most of my music tastes in high school ran to hair metal bands, but Concrete Blonde was the one group I listened to that could be considered “college radio material.”*  I have  a lot of memories of Concrete Blonde, but for some reason, I associate this song with two girls whose names have been lost to time.  They were a year older than me.  Both of them were drama chicks, so I found them somewhat annoying in that hyper drama chick way.  But they also seemed incredibly sophisticated, girls who drank coffee in coffee shops, who had read Gurtrude Stein and possibly understood her, who had figured out how to drink at parties without getting drunk.  As seniors, they edited the high school’s literary magazine and probably went to colleges like Oberlin, or Brown.  At least they seemed as if they did.  One was somewhat tall and willowy, with long brown hair.  Once she wore a dancer’s leotard to school with a long broomstick skirt.  The leotard exposed her long, thin back almost to her waist and had me wondering if I could pull off such a style.  The other one was a similar height, with curly hair and small eyes that seemed to be narrowed as if she was constantly processing the happenings around her.  I think she must have sung this song at a talent show.  I wonder what’s become of them both?

*College radio.  It was a phrase used a lot when I was in high school, but I never hear it now. Why is that?