Better to be silent and thought the fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.
Mark Twain via Ted from Postcrossing
Postcard from Michigan
From Ted, who sends flowers and a Mark Twain quote. I kind of like that the post office cancelled this on the wrong side. I think it adds to the charm.
Just when I’m thinking utilitarian, I discover a story.
At the DoubleTree Hotel in Portland for a convention, my mind wanders to the utilitarian nature of the convention space. It’s kind of fascinating. The walls move, the color scheme is nice-bland and built to stand up to a lot of use. Everything about the decor says that they are just providing the backdrop, it’s up to whoever rents the room to provide the content to make it dazzle. Without what’s going on in the rooms themselves, everything is the same.
And then I noticed the flip flop.
What wild ruckus caused this to happen, destroying the uniformity and banal of the room? There’s a story here and it could be a good one.
Three sentence movie review: Thanks for Sharing
Robbins, Ruffalo and Gad play three men in different stages of their twelve-step process, their addiction of choice being sex.* All actors bring their A-games and the story is compelling due to the complications of staying clean even for people with five or fifteen year coins. It’s always nice to see Patrick Fugit, playing Robbins estranged son, but my favorite part of the movie was watching Josh Gad and Alicia Moore help each other through their early days of sobriety by becoming friends.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home
*I feel like this is the first addiction movie I’ve seen that is completely focused on the twelve-step process and the fact that they chose sex-addiction is interesting, mostly because watching someone have sex is something we do all the time in movies and it’s much more familiar than a drug or alcohol bender. Also sex addiction is tough like food addiction, in that a lot of people don’t really recognize either as an addiction. Also complete abstinence isn’t the goal.
http://www.impawards.com/2013/thanks_for_sharing.html
Three sentence movie review: The Grand Seduction
I can see why this got mixed reviews, as this is what I call a Sunday Afternoon Movie, meaning a movie where the premise is light, no new ground will be broken and you can see what’s coming a mile away; but, when it’s done well, it’s the kind of movie that’s a good bridge between the loveliness of your weekend and the harsh reality that soon you will have to shut off the TV and start prepping to go back for another five days of work. This particular Sunday Afternoon Movie does things very well, the actors all bring their A-game, and it was funny enough that I laughed out loud several times, sounding like a crazy person cackling to myself all alone in my house. Much like going to the restaurant you know you like and ordering the entree you know you love, so is this movie, peppering a well trod path with delights and enjoyment.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/canada/2014/grand_seduction.htm
(This is a terrible poster. It’s not helping.)
My sashiko journey begins here.
It all started with Collette Patterns selling sashiko embroidery kits for Christmas one year. What was this sashiko stuff that looked so pretty? It turns out it is a Japanese quilting method, where layers of cloth would be held in place by really amazing geometric and beautiful embroidery. Some examples here and here. When I heard “layers of cloth” I thought of the t-shirts I’ve been saving since high school to make into a quilt. I bought a t-quilt pattern years ago, but never started it because the first step was fusing interfacing to all the t-shirts to keep them from stretching. I hate fusing interfacing, even to a collar, and there was no way I was going to do that to 40+ t-shirts. Plus, it would make them all stiff. But what if I could use sashiko embroidery to affix the stretchy shirts to a woven backing fabric?
This idea turned around in my head for a few years. The tidying this spring was what finally got this project in motion. I’ve got an entire drawer full of t-shirt fronts ready to turn into a quilt. I’d better start making a move toward turning them into a quilt sooner rather than later. So I finished all my other at-home-movie-watching projects which meant it was time to buy supplies.
However, I decided to learn sashiko techniques by making two pillows first. Julie and I traveled to Fabric Depot and I came back with this orange fabric, a blue fabric, needles, two kinds of thimbles, sashiko thread and a new color of Clover chaco marking pen.
If the pillows go well, I can begin sashiko on the t-shirts. If it doesn’t, I can use the technique I just discovered, which involves rotating a backing t-shirt to cross grain to provide more structure. This would would be much easier, but I’m hoping the Sashiko thing works out.
Good bag. Indygo Junction #IJ805 Grids and Grommets Bag.
It has a great look while hanging.
I’m not a fan of the lion print inside, but there are inner pockets and it opens up very wide.
The straps are good sized and the pattern directions point out that you can double them up and put them over your shoulder make it a single strap to go across your chest.
Should I feel the urge to make a bag, this might be the one.
Three sentence movie review: Rudderless
I didn’t see a lot of what was coming in this movie, including the fact that that is Billy Crudup on the cover.* Both Crudup and the increasingly reliable (and intriguing) Anton Yelchin have great chemistry with Crudup playing the wasted and drifting old guy to Yelchin’s youthful enthusiasm. There are women’s names listed on the poster, but this very satisfying movie is about men and the music that brings them together.**
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home
*I mean, I could see his name right there at the top, but I thought they put some other grizzled guy on the cover.
**It also has a fabulous soundtrack.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/rudderless.html
News from Germany
Apparently there was a postal strike. I wonder how long he forgot to register this. Usually postcards between Germany and the US take 7 days.
Jan, do you recognize that postcard as one you gave me years and years ago? It sat on my bulletin board until I took down said bulletin board during all the tidying this spring.
And what has HE been doing?
From an article in People magazine about the Ben Affleck/Jennifer Garner breakup.
Weird. I don’t really understand what’s the driver behind magazines/media emphasizing how happily domestic famous women are, all while building their career and taking care of the children. There is no such emphasis or constant need to reassure people that the male half of the couple is also happily domestic while building his career and taking care of the children. Hands-on dad? So nice that men can have that as a goal, instead of what’s required of them.
*This is not to say that the reporting in this piece accurately reflects anything about the Affleck/Garner relationship. For all we really know, he could be the hands-on dad and she could be the person who builds her career and ignores her children. I think we’re all media savvy enough to realize that what we read in the magazines might not (and probably isn’t) actually what’s really going on.