Y'all know I am nothing if not crafty, but lately I have seen a few things that go beyond craft and down a road not only less-traveled, but perhaps the road to crazy craft town. Do you know what I'm talking about? I don't mean the things your wonderful child brings home from school that's made with love (and glitter and popcicle sticks and macaroni) that you can in no way figure out what it's supposed to be. Is it an ashtray? Is it a trivet? Do I hear coaster? NO, I'm referring to the crafts that no one needs.
I'm thinking you need a visual.
When I saw this photo of the First Lady at Westminster Abbey, I thought, "interesting. I have that ric rac and trim in my scrapbook bag." For realz. Poor Michelle looks like she fell into one of my scrapbooking bags and came out with a skirt. And she's wearing two cardigans. Two. Now, I read that the tunic is designer. And just when I was going to call Mrs. O and tell her to put down the glue gun. Yeah, it's by Australian designer Richard Nicoll. That reminds me, I'm launching my new clothing line this fall. It will be very earth-friendly, as all clothing will be made from recycling embellishments from my scrapbook stuff. I will also feature a line of monogrammed cardigans with all the letters I have left after spelling titles. The cardigans will be a big hit with those of you with names that start with Q, V, W, and Z.
Speaking of recycling, I never know what to do with all my leftover felt and I'm always thinking of practical gifts for friends, but never did I think the two would meet. Lo and behold, my latest Etsy find: Owl Pasties! No, I'm not kidding. They're called "Check Out My Hooters" and here's the description: Bedroom Beauties pasties are a hoot as bachelorette party gifts (trust
me), and guys love them (trust me). Bring out your inner burlesque
beauty and show off those girls!
Wait a damn minute. Guys love them? There are men who get all hot and bothered by owls? Oh hell no. Now I have a new reason to count my blessings everyday — that I didn't marry a man with an owl fetish.
I may be going out on a limb here, but hell, if I don't say it who will? It's time to stop with the trophy heads. Now, I've never been a fan of the taxidermy trophy head hanging in a den or an office — I think it's creep city. My father-in-law had alligator heads in their old house and decorated the deer heads for Christmas and I just can't go along with that. Plus the alligator heads were freaky — they were upstairs and sat at the doorway of his office, so when I saw them I'd think, "oh crap, alligators! oh crap, how did they climb the stairs?!"
Anytaxidermy, I've noticed something of a phenomenon lately called Modern Trophies. They may be made of felt or other fabrics or in this case, resin and paper. The big boy to our right may be the best yet — a moose made with Amy Butler paper (I know, I have the scrapbook paper). I'm so confused and torn. I can't decide if it's a horrible craft gone wrong or a really awesome way to hang my handbags in my bedroom. Sure, it goes against every fiber of belief I have that animal heads do not belong on walls, but I'm kinda loving the moose. And I'm not against hunting, I'm just against hanging the dead things inside. I would have to put some big fake eyelashes on the moose if I bought it. Oh well.
I'm ending this post with the find that inspired it. I found it on Craftgossip.com and when I saw the photo I must have stared at it, mouth agape, for 10 minutes. There were several reasons for the staring —
there are some crazy ass people in this world.
seriously, wtf?
never have I thought, "oh, that would make a great finger puppet!"
so, this is what you would wear for special occasions?
EDIT: If you saw the blog earlier, there were videos I had lovingly captioned for you, but I couldn't figure out why they were playing automatically. I'm sorry, I don't know what the problem was, so I took them off and put in the regular vids. I'm beyond bummed that you can't see the fun captions, but I couldn't have the vids annoying you. If I figure it out I'll put them back up.
I'm sure a few of y'all were wondering when I'd get around to Simple Minds. Please. Like there was a doubt I'd get to my boys from Scotland. Simple Minds are best known for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" from The Breakfast Club, but they have quite the history and music catalog. The guys started out as a punk band named Johnny and The Self-Abusers in 1977 before changing their name and putting out a rock album, then settling into the "New Romantic" side of New Wave. In 1985, The Breakfast Club launched Simple Minds into overnight American success and they had their only #1 U.S. hit. To capitalize on their new fame, the band released Once Upon a Time which included the hits "Alive and Kicking," "Sanctify Yourself," and my fave "All the Things She Said." I usually don't offer video commentary, but we have to talk about the videos today. I put actual work into this post, which you can't see now. "Sanctify Yourself" and "All the Things She Said" are so good I had to caption them myself. People, 80's videos get no better than "All the Things She Said." I forgot the degree of awesomeness it achieved and and actually said "shut the eff up" when I watched it earlier — yes, it's that good. Enjoy the videos.
This just in: the movie of my life is coming to a theater near you.
Hell yeah!
*saw the movie poster on Planet Fabulon, but grabbed the image from a movie poster site. I'm not linking to PF because Planet Fabulon is most likely not safe for work, unless you work in the arts (and work naked around other naked people from time to time).
It's been a busy week. The munchkins started swimming lessons and the sun and I are frenemies, so as you can imagine, it was just wonderful. It's very tiring and the sun gives me headaches, so excuse the sporadic postings this week. Hopefully I'll do better next week — the second week of swimming lessons (but I'm hoping to get the hubs to take the munchkins some, ha). So, I thought I'd throw in a miscellaneous post to simply amuse myself. This post is FaceBook inspired, from my status update earlier — I thought I'd replicate it with one-sentence statements, mostly things I've done — with no explanation provided. Just fun.
— I once cleaned my car out with a leaf blower. — for no reason I know all the lyrics to "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off (to Have a Good Time)." — the style name of the shoes I bought for my wedding was "Kerry." — my high school substitute American history teacher called me "Melissa" for two months. — I've had potato salad once in my life. — in college I vacuumed up the cord of a pair of VERY expensive headphones, breaking both the headphones and vacuum. — when I'm elderly I hope to resemble the fabulous Endora from Bewitched. — I have no control over my reactive facial expressions when talking to people. — I find things inappropriately funny. — I'm a piler, not a filer. — before a party, I've been known to take the piles I've created of books, cds, magazines, etc and put them out of sight in my car. — I'm teaching the 3-year old the Barenaked Ladies song "If I Had $1,000,000." — there are dishes in my sink, laundry in the dryer, and there is a typewriter on my kitchen island right now and I don't care. — I'm going to name my next dog Sadie from The Beatles song. — I used to be more of a cat person. — I like to say "sweetie dahling" like Patsy and Edina in the best Britcom ever, Absolutely Fabulous. — today I read that donkeys are the new owls. — next they will say chinchillas are the new penguins. — seeing the video of Martha Stewart getting attacked by a sugar glider is perhaps the funniest thing I've ever seen. — I hate the font Comic Sans and wish people would stop using it. — being social is, for me, sometimes worse than torture. — I remember dates like a walking calendar and conversations practically word for word going back over two decades, but don't know the math facts everyone else memorized as kids. — my high school counselor told me I'd have to change my attitude if I wanted to amount to anything. — there is no amount of money one could offer me to ride a roller coaster. — or bungee jump. — I was such a word nerd that when I learned to spell "encyclopedia" in second grade, I wrote it on a tree at recess. — I'm a BIG gift-giver, but would much rather receive a handwritten card on my birthdays than anything else. — the worst sunburn I've ever had was on day two of our honeymoon. — around 9 pm if any children appear at the top of the stairs I start to talk to them like Bill Cosby. — not only does someone close to me quote Dr. Phil frequently, they also once began a conversation with, "I do believe we go somewhere when we die," while watching Oprah. — my parents would not let me get my drivers license until I was 18, but cosigned for a car for my sister after she blew out ALL of the tires of my mother's car on Youree Dr in Shreveport. — I love the song "Cannonball" by the Breeders for summer listening. — hearing Richard Marks makes me want to punch someone in the face. — I will watch the movie Mommie Dearest every time I see that's it's on television. — I think you need to watch the cheesetastic video of "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off (to Have a Good Time)" by Jermaine Stewart right now because we can dance and party all night and drink some cherry wine, uh huh.
Y'all, seriously. I doubt other people experience this feeling when you hear something, often in the news, and feel as if your brain will explode from all the jokes you could make about it. Doesn't happen to you? Happens to me all the time. Usually when this happens I press my lips together as tight as possible so I don't say anything, because if I do, I will have to ask the question "did I say that outloud?" This would be a question I am quite familiar with.
Things like this have been coming up all week. Maybe it's due to my better mood, I'm not sure, but stuff is some kind of funny. Yesterday I simply could not contain myself when I read that Chastity Bono was becoming a man. Now, this is not a religious or political commentary — it makes no difference to me whether someone wants to be a man, woman, or Michael Jackson. But when I read about Chastity, I had a hundred things pop in my head — Cher standing in her wig closet wondering who she would leave all her wigs to now. And all the sailors (that I know she took home with her and hang out by her pool) from the "If I Could Turn Back Time" video — who will she leave them to? And hypothetically, if there were Chastity male impersonators, like the legions of Cher ones, what will they do now?
Then I read this morning that when her boobs are removed, legally she can change her sex to male on documents. This is just wrong people. I mean, hell, I've spent four days at the pool this week and have seen more manboobs than anyone should ever have to see. If boobs are what make a person a woman, then holy wonderbra, somebody needs to tell these dudes to sign up! And this is me saying this! I have ta-tas that could put an eye out if I'm not wearing a sports bra on the treadmill, so I know a thing or two about boobs. These dudes need to get to the Bra Genie STAT! There are children in the pool area! For the love of Double Ds, no one needs to see your hairy manboobs. Is there nothing worse than hairy manboobs? At least wax those puppies, or good grief, get some Just For Men's Manboobs and dye that gray stuff so you don't look like Grover's freakin' muppet Mammaw.
The other news item that got me this week is what is being called the Designer Vajayjay. People, if I may be so bold, wtf? At first I thought the article was going to be about the Betty dye, but oh no — it was about getting a nip and tuck Down There. Oh yeah, you can march right into the plastic surgeon's office and tell them you want a magic vajayjay and they will hook you up. By the way — Magic Vajayjay is going to be the name of my new band that I just made up. My backup singers will be the Ovarians and my horn section will be called the Totally FAB-loppian Tubes. Don't tell anyone until I get the t-shirt designs done, I want to keep it on the down low. Back to the Magic Vajayjay — seems women these days aren't content to have the one they were born with, no, they want everything all nice and shiny Down There. These women said it was ugly and wanted a Labioplasty. Now seriously, are you looking all up in there with a damn mirror, going "you know what would make this prettier? If this here were more symmetrical." Unless you're in the adult film industry, there are only a couple of people who see your vajayjay and maybe you should focus your attention on something that's, oh, I don't know — IN SIGHT. I'm not even going to mention the other sugery, 'cause damn.
I think people are just making up things to have nipped and tucked. We live in a sick society that wants everything all nice and shiny with their Magic Vajayjays, while I have to look at Chester's hairy manboobs over there. That reminds me, I need to make my yearly doctor appointment with Dr. B. and I better call my hairstylist for an appointment while I'm at it.
First of all, let me tell you what a special kind of moron your favorite redheaded blogger is — I've been working on this post for two days and have saved it as a draft many, many times — I was writing a couple of hours ago, made sure the links work, proofread the post and thought I published it. Nope, I saved as draft again! For crying out loud, I cannot have a Tunes You Need Tuesday published on a freakin' Tuesday to save my life. I wouldn't blame you if you started reading The Bloggess instead. At least you'd get to laugh about Clown Porn. And nothing has made me laugh harder than the thought of that the past couple of days. No, I haven't been watching porn, it's just a column I read that's laugh out loud funny and when I told Megs I'd send it to her she said no, because she's afraid she'd get a virus. She probably thinks she'll get an iSTD from the computer. I'm afraid most of you are reading this going "what the hell? Clown Porn? Call the prayer chain, call the psych ward, somebody, she's finally lost it." I assure you I'm alright and probably better than I've been in a few weeks, so it's about time for some serious fun. And serious fun for me is good music, what else? Did you think I was going to say Clown Porn?
Okay, I know we covered Natalie Merchant two weeks ago, but the Maniacs deserve their own post, dammit. I can't write a Natalie post and just hope that you'll go out on your own and listen to the Maniacs or watch a couple of YouTube videos, I have to deliver. This is how dedicated to your Tuesday tunes edumacation I am. What? That's a word. Look it up in your dictionkerry.
The brief history of 10,000 Maniacs I gave you in the Natalie Merchant post won't suffice for today, so welcome to Maniacs 101. There will not be a quiz, so relax.
If I were to sum up 10,000 Maniacs, a couple words would come to mind,
but one of the most prevalent would be artsy. The band's sound and feel
is defined by Rob Buck's distinctive lead guitar, folksy
melodies, historical/political poetic lyricism, and just an all around unique and lovely sound. Many of their songs are about unsavory things and some are just reflections on various little aspects of everyday life, but the Maniacs never try to hide what they're doing. The songs speak for themselves. There isn't a song you'd hear and say, "wow, wonder what that could be about." It's all there.
There are basically three distinct periods in the band's timeline.
The first lasted from their formation in 1981 until 1986. At this point
the lineup was Steve Gustafson (bass), Robert Buck (lead guitar),
Dennis Drew (keyboards), Natalie Merchant
(vocals) and John Lombardo (guitar/vocals). They would find a permanent
drummer in 1983 in Jerome Augustyniak. The band started
out as being very eclectic, incorporating a multitude styles that
varied from reggae to punk to folk, but by the time of their major
label debut The Wishing Chair, they had become more of a concise artsy folk unit. This was powerful and original stuff. Natalie's
voice was youthful but soared with a vitality and energy that was unlike anything I've heard since those early albums. Rob's chiming guitar leads were just as up
front as Natalie's
vocals, and the combination still holds up as beautiful and invigorating. This
was John Lomabrdo's musical vision really coming together for the first
time, and The Wishing Chair is often referred to as "his baby."
In 1986, due to financial concerns and Elektra's pressuring the
band to go in a more commercial direction, Lombardo left 10,000 Maniacs.
He would later carry on The Wishing Chair sound in his duo with Mary Ramsey,
but 10,000 Maniacs continued on as a five-piece and their sound
shifted to an extent. This is what I would consider phase two. They acquired a more
pop-oriented feel, with Natalie's lyrics focusing on distinctive, often political topics. The albums In My Tribe (1987), Blind Man's Zoo(1989), Our Time In Eden(1992), and Unplugged (1994) were released during this stage while Natalie was lead singer.
Phase three began when Natalie Merchantleft in 1993, and John Lombardo returned in 1994 bringing along Mary Ramsey to replace Natalie.
With John again the prime creative force in the Maniacs he of course
took up where he left off back in 1985. The band's sound became more
folkish again. There have been other personnel changes since with the death of Buck, Lombardo leaving once again, and Ramsey in and "on again, off again" state as of now. Oskar Saville sang with the Maniacs from 2002-07, but it looks like Ramsey is back — at least that what seems to be the case. Their website hasn't been updated in some time and I could find no news of their status lately.
So far two albums have been created with Ramsey, Love Among The Ruins and the independently released The Earth Pressed Flat. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I am a Maniacs purist and a song without Natalie singing is just not a 10,000 Maniacs song. I remember driving my Corolla in Alpharetta, GA in 1997 when I first heard "More Than This," the first Natalieless Maniacs song on the radio and I yelled "that's not 10,000 Maniacs!" With all due respect to Ms. Ramsey, no one could replace Natalie's voice. And dear my mother the war — Oskar Saville singing the old songs — it's like nails on a chalkboard. I say that with love. And criticism and intollerance, mainly love.
Onto the songs. Let's have a little loveliness from each album, that seems the thing to do.
From The Wishing Chair, this is "My Mother the War," which is what I've always considered a very raw Maniacs song. It doesn't sound like what you're used to from the band and Natalie's voice is a young instrument.
From what is most of America's first 10,000 Maniacs experience, In My Tribe, I thought you might like "City of Angels," for its folksy sound, but as well as a song that's a good example of Natalie finding her voice. I love the song. In my Natalie Merchant post, you saw the video of the big single from this album, "Like the Weather," but there are other great songs on this album. Notably, the Cat Stephens cover of "Peace Train" and "What's the Matter Here" about child abuse. In My Tribe is full of socially aware songs, nearly each track has a message. And did I mention how much I heart the cover art? It's always been one of my faves. http://kerryfaler.typepad.com/files/10-city-of-angels.m4a
Blind Man's Zoo is the middle-ground of 10,000 Maniacs albums. It falls somewhere outside the folk band they started out as and the more pop sound of their last studio album. It's the only album I would consider "alternative" whatever that means, but nevertheless is what genre the band is called. I knew the video to "Happy Puppet" was one of the only videos that showed the whole band and thought it would be fun to see the rest of them, since they weren't Natalie's backing band, as you would think from all the other videos from that era. Plus, it's a damn good song.
Another song I love from that album is "Headstrong," which could SO be one of my theme songs. If you've know me for very long, you would probably agree. I hate that when they made the compilation album, Campf
ire Songs they left this gem off. It would really fit to shake it up a little. And I like a little angry song for a mood once in a while, don't you?
The last 10,000 Maniacs studio album with Natalie Merchant as lead singer and writing partner to Rob Buck was Our Time in Eden, and it is simply a gorgeous work. The instrumentation on it is just fabulous, with Buck using banjo, steel guitar, and sitar (which he hadn't used since In My Tribe), as well as the James Brown Horns, and Mary Ramsey on backing vocals. This album is fantastic. Everyone remembers "These Are Days" which ended up as a graduation theme song all over the country, but I loved "Candy Everybody Wants," a pop song about the crap in our media and how we eat it up! Man, it's genius. And the video features a stunning Natalie, so no wonder no one ever got it. I was sucked in, too. After seeing Natalie in her green off-the-shoulder dress, I had to have a green off-the-shoulder dress for prom. Here's the video.
I mentioned the MTV Unplugged album, but it's worth a listen. Really, you should get it. It shows what a talented band 10,000 Maniacs were back in '93. Rob Buck was a great musician, probably never getting the accolades he deserved and he delivers on this album. Also, we're treated to some great songs on Unplugged. I really like this version of "Noah's Dove" and the duet with David Byrne, "Let the Mystery Be" is just great. This album is full of little surprises and is a nice send off, being that it was the last album with Natalie. Enjoy.
Various and sundry have always been useful words when I've been using my favorite word, random, too much. More and more people are using my word and I can't have that, so various and sundry it is. For some reason I feel like I should start this post old-school-narrative-Superfriends-style, "when we last met our heroine she was having a couple of decent days…" then ominous music starts and you see that I'm tied to railroad tracks and hear the train whistle in the distance. Okay, I wasn't tied to train tracks, but I sure have felt like it.
The air conditioning went out in my house sometime Friday evening. My brain has apparently been affected by the heat and I'm not feeling a real post today, so here are various and sundry thoughts.
The wonderful Mr. Fontanille (husband of my friend, the lovely Keva) came to my rescue today, fixing the thing that makes the AC cold and making this place habitable once again.
I re-watched Swingers the other night and can't stop quoting the movie in my head.
We're planning on taking Andrew to see Thomas Live! Something About Some Circus Comes to Town! for his birthday next month. I'm pretty sure this will make me want to shoot myself in the face.
I've decided someone needs to take out Dora, Diego, and Kai Lan on Noggin. Damn shows are seeping into my brain making me accidentally learn Spanish and Mandarin. Ni Hao my ass, Kai Lan! And don't get me started on your best friend the koala — koalas don't live in China! Hell, do you think I'm stupid, Kai Lan?
Shampoo and body lotion placed on the hotel shower ledge makes me think it's shampoo and conditioner — it's not.
The 5 year-old asked me what the FBI is this afternoon. I'm scared.
The hubs tells me a friend of his at some big company asked him if he wants to go work in Kuwait. If he goes to Kuwait, I will start auditioning houseboys. Houseboy requirements and qualifications will be posted at a date TBD.
I love Jon Favreau. I want him to act more.
I've had a dull headache for three days.
Sometimes you have to hit the "hide" button on Facebook friend. You really don't need to use the F word on every status update. I'm just saying.
I was THAT mom today at swim lessons and was asked to stay out of sight at swimming lessons by the instructor.
Hummus would be really good right now.
Someone honked their horn at me at a red light today. Where was I supposed to go?
I got a paper cut at the hotel and touched no paper apart from the receipt I signed.
How can I tell if my bassett hound is depressed if she always looks that way?
The five year-old saw two dogs on the way into the subdivision this afternoon and exclaimed, "look Mom! that dog is giving the other dog a piggy-back ride!" I nearly spit Coke all over the dashboard.
It's been a long, hot weekend. The air conditioning is out at Casa Faler, so I'm blogging from a hotel while the kids are sleeping. I was planning a Tom Tom Club post for Sunday Rewind, but decided I'm in more of a Crowded House mood, partially because I do love me some CH, but also because I know you, dear reader, already know more about CH than Tom Tom Club and I don't need tell you any background — they're Austrailian, yadda yadda yadda. There is more to them than that, but I'll have to tell you another time, another post. I will tell you that is was more difficult than I thought to find the videos this week. Damn record companies and embedding-disabled videos, for realz, I searched for much too long for these three videos most because of my OCD for my blog, partly because I need something to keep my mind off of other things. Anyhouse, here are "Don't Dream It's Over," "Something so Strong," and "Better Be Home Soon." The last song features a line I love, "and I know I'm right for the first time in my life." Love that.
Edit: how freakin' cute is CH singer Neil Finn? If anyone needs me today, I'll be in 1986.
Edit # 2: shut the back door. I did no research for this post, since I'm a slacker and was trying to find the three vids for you — lo and behold, I discovered something just now that somehow got past me. ME! CH drummer Paul Hester was the Chef in the Wiggles "Fruit Salad" video. I few years ago, Molly was hooked on the Wiggles, so I've seen "Fruit Salad" many times and thought the chef looked familiar, but couldn't put my finger on it. This is nice news, since previous to this knowledge when I've thought of Hester, his 2005 suidide immediately comes to mind. I much prefer to think of his smiling face from the CH vids and his Chef appearance in the Wiggles. Okay, that's enough edits for one post. Sheesh.
For many reasons, I've never been one for self-portraits or seeing photos of myself. Mostly because I — like a lot of you — am highly critical of myself , my looks, my skin, my hair, my anything and everything. So, I'm usually the one behind the camera (or cameras, as the case may be). I'm quite the amateur photographer, you know. But when I'm the subject of a photograph, I see my round face and double chin, the two scars from when I had chicken pox in high school, and acne. I see the complete lack of color in my face and lips that point downward at the corners. I see eyebrows that must be dyed to be seen and barely-there eyelashes. And over the years I've noticed my freckles have faded and my nose is getting bigger at the end, which is par for the course, really, isn't it? At least I still have my sense of humor. Lord knows where I'd be without it.
So, those are the thoughts that are with me when I look in the mirror or see a picture of myself. And please, I've only listed the issues I have with my face. I'd go into the rest, but frankly, I have plans later this month and I don't have that kind of time.
As I've mentioned recently, I've been in a funk. The funk has lasted for a few weeks and I'm thinking of naming it. Maybe Fred, I'm not sure. Anyanxiety, yesterday I was having a particularly bad day. We all have them, but a bad day when you're in a funk is really bad. Among other things, I ran into the garage wall WITH MY CAR, the wall I've already dented and made a nice hole in. Pretty soon it will look as though the Kool Aid guy has run through it and into the laundry room. I realized what I had done, put the car in reverse, then park, closed my eyes and told myself to breath. At that moment "You Are the Everything" by R.E.M. came on the iPod and my scalp tingled like all my hair was standing on end and I exhaled and started crying. Now, I'm not one of those I-never-cry kind of girls, don't think that — but yesterday the dam broke and what started as a tear down one cheek and smeared mascara turned into The Ugly Cry.
The Ugly Cry is best cried alone. Fortunately, the three year-old bolted from his booster seat and into the house, leaving me to drench the steering wheel in peace. Unfortunately, I am nothing if not cognizant of my surroundings, bordering on clairvoyant, and I wiped my eyes only to see in my rear-view mirror that the UPS man was standing curiously behind my van, a couple of feet from the garage. Of course, I did what anyone would do in this instance and broke out into maniacal laughter, then got out of the car and got my package from Mr. UPS.
Once in the house, I stopped in the powder room to look at myself and saw that I had cried every inch of makeup off my face, except for my Pixi lip stain in the color Love — which looks very bright pink when you're not wearing any other makeup. For the first time in never, I was okay with my naked face. Pale skin, blonde eyelashes, out-of-control hair and all. I made myself some coffee and sat down to my laptop at my kitchen table, talked to a friend on Facebook, and took a picture with the webcam. I don't know why I thought to do this, it's not like me at all — and even less like me to share a photo of myself without makeup with you. After all, I was fully made-up when I was induced with all three babies, I don't leave the house without my eyes done and lipstick, and I sure as hell don't take pictures of myself without foundation, concealer, eye makeup, blush, and touched-up eyebrows.
I didn't think anything about the picture. I continued in my funk and forgot about it. Last night I was blogging about friends and made the photo mosaic on bighugelabs.com (great site to do neat things with pics) and today went back to that site to play some more. I love David Hockeny's work and his collages he's made with polaroids and thought I'd use the "Hockneyizer" and make my own. And maybe it's Honesty Week on The Kerry Blog, but I want to share it with you. Maybe I'm coming out of the funk, maybe I've finally lost it, I'm not sure — but here I am. Naked, with lip stain.
I'm hitting the "save" button before I chicken out.
Recently I've been pondering the things that make us who we are, what shapes us into the people we become, and for better or for worse — what the end product is. Of course, we are all still still changing and developing into older, wiser, or more enlightened versions of ourselves, but what's been on my mind are the things and people who influence us.
It's like the song "In My Life" by The Beatles,
"There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall"
So, as I've thought about these events, places, people, and things in my life, I pieced together a couple of ideas and made a mosaic of photos that are pieces of me (past and present) that you will recognize are mostly parts that have been there all along. Here's a little something I made for you visual people.
Of course, my initials (do you love the typewriter key?). Then there is the writer-girl and The Beatles. I love my maryjanes — all 25 or so pair. I had to include my favorite flower — pink hydrangea. What would I be without music? I shudder to think! I'm ever-connected to my computer and have more cameras than any one person who isn't a professional photographer should own. You know girl loves a disco ball and lipstick (my lips haven't been without color since I was 11). And I'm never without a handful of pens or my coffee (my favorite mug, of course). There is the typewriter obsession — which could make me a very poor woman. And lastly, the beloved mix-tape. Isn't life one long mix-tape? I think so.
