Thursday, August 19, 2010

Night Gardens With Bengals and Horses....

First and coolest news tonight is that the Night Garden Shop is now open and up! This is a shop full of all the sorts of things we'd like to find in a Night Garden, based on art created by people, lots of people, for the Night Garden Website.

Lots of Fiends contributed, and indeed, the site is ongoing. We'd love to see anyone's idea about what your Night Garden would look like. Any medium, no rules. No write or wrong, as long as your heart is there. We made it up, we dreamed about it, and now it IS.

The second coolest thing about the Night Garden Shop is the 100% of the proceeds go to Great Lakes Bengal Rescue, to help save Bengals in need, the cause that is nearest and dearest to my Heart.

The first coolest thing about this shop is that a group of Fiends got together and did it all on their own, donating time, space, work and art. They made it happen. I knew nothing.

I want to live in this Garden. And I want them all with me.

There will be Bengals too, that have homes, because of the Night Garden. That LIVE because of the Night Garden.

And that makes a difference.

Thank you, Fiends. I love you.

I think I should write on something else before I start getting all teary. This is Romy. Dim and I are parting ways. He's not the horse for me, he will make someone a wonderful horse, but he's not going where I am. (Got a GREAT deal on a 6 year old Arab gelding, if you're looking)

I want to study Dressage. After only about six weeks, I suspect that it is something I could spend the rest of my life learning. I love it. It's like Yoga when it's perfect, or music when it, well, musics right. it's the most perfect union between horse and rider that can BE.

Caveat here: For me. There are any number of OTHER types of riding where one can achieve the same feeling, like FIT, it's all about works for you. My friend Horsetrainer Mel gets it. It's what speaks to you, what moves you, and how you hear music and poetry, what Dreams you dream, in your secret heart. Different things call to every person. Listen.

Romy isn't mine, but She Who Owns It All, my trainer, who is teaching me, is letting me ride her while I learn. Having Dim was good, because it led me to finding what I really wanted, the kind of riding I want to do. (Not to mention the Friends I have now, thru having Dim, the reconnecting with horses, and for figuring stuff OUT) and doing the dressage, and Studying with She Who Owns It All (I really need a shorter name for her) has opened up the door for the FIT thing, can't be out of shape and DO this. And the FIT thing is making me stronger, more determined, less stressed, and is trickling down into every bit of my life. And is going to give me everything I ever wanted.

It's about Growing, changing, and reaching. Being Alive, if that isn't getting too sappy.

So, I'm, literally, working my ass (and a nice one it is, thank you) off.

Paths are strange, they can twist at any moment, but if you are paying attention, they will lead you where you need to go.

Find yours.

There will be a Night Garden there.

Love and Gardens,
Lorraine

180 Comments:

At 20:21 Blogger Fluffy said...

Dressage is classy and amazingly athletic (for both parties.) And tres cool-looking. Sounds like a good FIT.

At 20:21 Blogger Poindextra said...

Lorraine,

Your ideas are wonderful, and your love of bengals (as well as all animals, I'm sure) is amazing.

I wish I could adopt Dim, I really do, but I'm too far away and I'm in university. I hope he goes to a good home.

You're a wonderful person.

At 20:33 Blogger Dragonsally said...

You let us make The Night Garden happen Lorraine, bu giving us this place to meet and become Fiends.

Romy is absolutely gorgeous!

I love watching Dressage, poetry in motion.

At 20:36 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

I would love to contribute something more to the Night Garden. I offered a poem and a photo a while ago and I guess, since those were from way back when when I was, you know, a wee Fiendling of fifteen ...

Hey Quiche, you look amazing, you sound amazing, you are amazing, and we love you too.

At 20:40 Blogger One Sock Short said...

I need to read this one over. And over. And...

At 20:44 Blogger DataGoddess said...

I know so little of horses and horsey things, but it sounds like Dressage will be a good fit for you. Dim will find his person, you will find your right horse!

I love the Night Garden, I wish I was creative enough in the right ways to participate.

Hey, Fluffy, are the tea cozy patterns you use on the web somewhere, or can you tell me the source? :-)

At 20:44 Blogger Siri said...

"Paths are strange, they can twist at any moment, but if you are paying attention, they will lead you where you need to go."

I read that as "Pants are strange, they can twist at any moment..."etc.

Lovely mental picture.

I love words, and my slight dyslexia.

At 20:49 Blogger Siri said...

And I have a Fluffy Tea Cozy, and my tea pot has never been cozier.

At 20:50 Blogger Phiala said...

Sometimes it takes a while, and some trial and error, to find the right path. But it's always there somewhere.

I think you all need this zombie anthology. Okay, actually I'm kind of scared of this anthology.

At 20:54 Blogger Fluffy said...

Toni, I bought one years ago and decided to make more when I couldn't find another in the stores. I have instructions, I think - did I send them to you, Sally? I'll go look.

At 21:01 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Yes, I've got the pattern - of course I've been slack and not made one yet despite best intentions

At 21:02 Blogger Jess said...

Emily, I want you in there. Send me stuff!

I want everyone in the Night Garden. I say "I", rather selfishly, because this project has become such a personal thing for me to see through. When I volunteered, yonks ago, to be the Backup Fairy, I didn't count on it becoming such a huge undertaking, or know how it would come to shape what I believe about art, who it's for, and why it's important. I'm really proud to be a part of it, and I'm proud of everyone involved. I think we proved that you don't have to be special, or particularly talented, to make something that means something. You just do what's in you, the best way you know how. And it can make a difference.

I want to give a shout-out to Rubius, too, wherever she is. I went back to that original thread when I was writing up the About page on the website, and it really struck me how so much of what the project became started with her-- all those stories she had to tell, and that wild mind of hers. Everything we've done, in a way, has its roots in those stories she told us-- and I love how the whole thing has come to honor that idea of one idea, one work of art, and one story growing out of another, yet sharing the same roots deep down. Something like that.

We did good. That's my point. Yes, I've had a bit to drink this evening. It's my anniversary. I'm allowed. :P

/soap box

At 21:03 Blogger Chantrelle said...

This is a post full of YAY! Yay Night Garden, YAY fit, YAY horsies!

I just read a great quote from the lovely Ms. Zoe Keating in an article on NPR: as Keating put it, for a lot of women the only way to move forward is to make your own path, get out your machete and cut your way through.

Now back to my gazpacho. Funny, I just checked my foodporn traffic...odd how i get a spike in visits when I actually post new content...hmmm ;-)

At 21:05 Blogger Fluffy said...

Love you, Jess! Have another on me! Should I make nighttime tea cozies?

Toni, I have the instructions in Pages, if you haz a Mac. If you have a PC I can .pdf it and email to you.

At 21:06 Blogger Jane said...

Mom moved to rehab today - may be in there 3 weeks. She's all about making rehab work for her - when I'm at age 81, I hope I can be as upbeat.

I have a good friend who did dressage (until his horse aged out and died) and it seems like the most subtle and elegant of exercises. I've watched him and the observer (esp the somewhat ignorant observer) can't even see all the communication going on between rider and horse. V subtle.

Yay Night Garden!

At 21:07 Blogger Jess said...

Hahaha! Pants are strange, they can twist at any moment. Heheheh.

DG, did you not hear a word I just rambled? It ain't about "being talented" or "creative enough". There is no "right way". It's about taking an idea and running with it, doing whatever it is that you know how to do best.

You better believe I will kick anyone's butt who says they wish they could, but can't. Nuh uh, girlfriends. That ain't gonna fly.

/tipsy rant

At 21:09 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Happy Anniversary to Jess and Mr Jess.

Sharon - give your mum healing thoughts from me.

At 21:13 Blogger DataGoddess said...

Fluffy, .pdf please - I has a PC.

Jane, yay for mom moving to rehab! Hope she steadily improves.

Jess, okay, okay, I hear you. And it didn't occur to me to knit something until I saw Jane's contribution :-)

At 21:15 Blogger Phiala said...

Okay, I know you're all doing it to torture me, but somebody look at my link please! Like, say, under "G" in the contributors. :)

At 21:16 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Sarah!! That's awesome! I didn't realize you were a necropheliac! ;-)

At 21:17 Blogger Jane said...

Toni - knitting IS creative! Can't wait to see what you do.

Sally, I'll pass on your kind words to Mom.

Jess, loving your tipsy rants :-)

Find Rubius on FB as Stacy Hurt.

At 21:17 Blogger Jess said...

Dude, we've got a whole Fiber Arts section, and barely anything in it. Yes! Go go go! Knit one purl two knit one purl two!

/wouldn't know a purl if it but me on the bum

Cheers, Sally!

At 21:18 Blogger Jess said...

"But" me? BIT. I mean bit.

/authorial intent

At 21:19 Blogger Phiala said...

Robyn - :)

Jess, I have plans for fiber arts, but absolutely no time.

And why does firefox think I spelled fiber wrong???

At 21:19 Blogger ravyn said...

i love dressage. i want to get training for myself and my 6-year-old PMU mare. She is still pretty green so it may be a while (and other things need to be sorted out too), but she has the most graceful movement, i can't wait :-)

At 21:20 Blogger DataGoddess said...

Gee, Phiala, why would you want someone to look at that link....

*grin*

Excellent!! Congratulations for writing, um, zombie erotica...

At 21:23 Blogger Jane said...

Whoops - just talked to Stacy Hurt on FB and she is NOT Rubius. My error. However, it is Stacey's artwork all over the NG.

At 21:23 Blogger Phiala said...

I mentioned it before, but the publisher page just appeared tonight. With cover art and all, just like a real book. *grin*

I wrote the story in the car on the way back from Connecticut with my mother (she was driving), and wouldn't tell her what it was about. :)

At 21:25 Blogger Jess said...

YAY Phiala! \o/

As for time: we got rolling deadlines. It's not like you'll never have a chance. And I know you've got a lot on your plate.

The website would never have happened without Phiala and Robyn, guys. I think I should mention that again. They rock.

At 21:26 Blogger Jess said...

Yes. Stacy too! She's been very generous with her sketchbook, and saved my butt many times over in the graphics stakes. :)

At 21:26 Blogger Jane said...

Sarah - love your bio - mad scientist, indeed!

Nora - didn't know you were thinking of dressage for you and your horse - sorry we didn't get to meet her :-(

At 21:28 Blogger Fluffy said...

Toni, I sent it to the Looney Bin email address I had in my address book.

I'm glad other people were able to think of better descriptions for dressage than I did. "Classy" is one of those words that contradict their meaning. Is that an oxymoron? Or is that just me?

At 21:29 Blogger Fluffy said...

And Rubius is Grace, right?

At 21:34 Blogger Jess said...

Rubius is Kristina. She hasn't posted in a while. Stopped by here to say hi a few weeks ago, then vanished again. Wish she'd come back! :(

At 21:34 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

LOTS to be proud of, all of us.

I have to say tho Mistress, WAY to go!!!!!!!! I wish to own this anthology!!!!!

At 21:41 Blogger Ali Trotta said...

Dressage is so much fun. Very artful and kind of Zen. I like Dressage and jumping best. And trail riding.

Romy is a lovely looking horse, btw. I can't wait to see what this new journey brings you. They're all different and amazing in their own ways. :-)

Also, "Paths are strange, they can twist at any moment, but if you are paying attention, they will lead you where you need to go."

So, so, SO true. Wise words, indeed. :-)

At 22:01 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Phiala, forgot to mention the utter coolness of that anthology and YOU ROCK (anyway) for having your piece in it. So. Lorraine, I forgot to mention I was sorry to hear you were leaving Dim - and I was surprised, too. I hope he finds the right dude or dudette soon enough ...

At 22:23 Blogger Beez said...

Ha! Phiala, another book on my "must get" along with Nathalie's Ginger Marmalade one.

I...don't know what to do for night garden. I may have a wee bit of a food idea though.

I wish I could buy Dim (also have a place to keep him). Arabians were my first love, had a middle-school teacher who raised and showed them.

Dressage always looks so elegant, but Q, what exactly IS a "warmblood"?

At 23:25 Blogger Vinity said...

A warmblood is literally the hybrid between a breeding of a "hot Blooded" horse {arabs & TBs} and a "cold" blooded horse {any heavy work breed}. Bred basically for a knight to ride into battle 100s of years ago in Euro. The Hot blooded horses were too flighty and light to ride into battle with a man in full armor and the cold blooded horses were too slow to move around easily. It's all about ratio of fast and slow twitch muscle and how fast the nerve endings can fire.

Warmbloods are a performance breed so you can have horses cross registered. Divinity is my full Hanoverian mare but she's a close cousin of my Oldenberg colt. Lance's father {Freestyle standing at Dreamscape farm} is recognized by about 10 warmblood registrations. He has to pass test and specs for each of them.

Fablor~I'm glad you've found dressage. For me it's the most amazing thing ever!!

I'll have to work on something for the NG. Maybe leopard kitty mugs? I REALLY need to get into the studio!

I'll be scarce this weekend. Off to visit Lance tomorrow, {pray for light soft transitions down!} then clinic with Anne all weekend.

Y'all all have a good weekend.

At 23:35 Blogger Jenn said...

Aw, fare thee well, fair Dim. He's a beaut. He'll find the perfect person.

At 23:48 Blogger spacedlaw said...

I need to go through my Bengal pictures and see which can be donated for the Garden project.

At 00:02 Blogger Jess said...

Like I haven't left enough comments: I do want to gently remind anyone thinking of contributing to the project that it's primarily an art project with a central theme: the night garden. We do need more stuff for the shop, but don't feel compelled to make stuff we can sell in the shop. The project is not just the shop; the designs we use are based on the works people contribute. Not the other way round.

Likewise: I see no reason not to make some bengal-themed items to sell, given it's a GLBR shop in all but name. But the project itself is not bengal-themed, of Fiend-themed, or GLBR-themed. (Which doesn't mean that no bengal would enter the night garden, of course. Or a Fiend.)

So: if you haven't contributed yet and would like to do something, have a look at the guidelines first, and email me at nightgardenproject [at] verizon [dot] net with questions, ideas, all that good stuff. And yes: we want food! We want knitting. We want whatever you've got. If you want to collaborate with someone, or make something which responds to someone else's piece, that's cool, too: let me know, and I can hook you up with the artist in question.

/stop commenting Jess

At 00:13 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Why aren't you in bed anyway? Off you go, young lady.

At 00:16 Blogger Jess said...

Went out for anniversary din dins and ate far too much. And had two cups of coffee afterward. I'm totally awake. This manic insomnia thing really has to stop. :/

But hey, I get to talk to you for a change! These days I mostly miss you.

At 00:23 Blogger spacedlaw said...

I am not around much, mind.

At 00:24 Blogger Jess said...

Too true. You missed the Ass Tanka.

At 00:28 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Aaaargh. Not fair. Making ass tanka while I am away.

At 00:30 Blogger Jess said...

Don't worry. That's our next project. Asstanka.org. All bum-verse, all the time.

At 00:36 Blogger spacedlaw said...

With plenty of illustrations.
Oh yeah.

At 00:46 Blogger Jess said...

Hey, you could cover that!

At 01:12 Blogger vampi said...

little boxes on the hillside
little boxes made of ticky tacky
little boxes on the hillside
little boxes all the same.

At 02:12 Blogger Marjorie said...

Ticky box

Happy Anniversary to Jess & The Mister

Loud & prolonged cheers for Phiala

Happy bounce for the Nightgarden shop

And now I need to get out of bed, pack & drive to Sussex...

At 08:01 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Asstanka.org?????????????

Will my Ass be there??? It is getting very FIT!

I just had a note from my Trainer, She Who Owns It All and another of HER clients, who I was talking about my love of dressage with yesterday, has offered to let me ride her horse, Odette, in a lesson next week.

Excuse me, I just need to fall OVER here for a bit. If I weren't getting so FIT I would.

Blown away. This mare is the most beautiful horse I have ever seen, or one of them. I can tell you I've will have been up on anything like her before. High level dressage warmblood.

Oh yes there will be pictures.

Do you get the feeling I am loving where my path is leading just now?

Ye gads, I am giddy!!!!!!!!

At 08:19 Blogger Phiala said...

Q, that's awesome!

At 08:47 Blogger Kambriel said...

It warms my heart to hear how much you are embarking on this path to a deeper fulfillment, and not just slowly sauntering down it, but taking it on at full speed.

Everything about The Night Garden sounds *fantastic*.

Keep going where you're going Lorraine ~ it feels right for a reason!

At 08:54 Blogger Jess said...

That is way cool, Medeadly! And yep, you are flourishing. And yep: Asstanka.org will be exclusively about your ass, baby.

Kambriel, coming from you, that's huge. Thank you. :)

At 09:00 Blogger dabbler said...

Tick

At 10:45 Blogger Ani said...

Drive by!
I hope everyone is well!

*waves madly and runs back to work*

At 11:12 Blogger Katy C. said...

Is there any reason why you eventually wouldn't be able to do dressage with Dim? Arabs aren't your traditional breed, but it is done. Check out this blog:
http://dressagemom.blogspot.com/

At 11:40 Blogger Fluffy said...

Andrea!!!! *wave*

At 12:04 Blogger Jess said...

Hey folks: the mugs are now available in the bigger 15 oz size. The image gets stretched a little on the bigger mug, which I'm not crazy about. So buyer beware: you buy the bigger mug, you're not getting the original image exactly to original scale. Still looks okay. Just saying: not what I would want, but waht the public demands, the public gets! \o/

At 12:12 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Asstanka.org ... aren't you lucky, Quiche ...

At 12:52 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Asstanka.org is not registered...amazing! ;-)

At 13:43 Blogger Jess said...

Not sure I want to know what else might come up on a search page for a domain name like that.

At 14:29 Blogger Fluffy said...

Busted out laughing, Jess - just glad I wasn't drinking anything (yet.)

At 15:31 Blogger vampi said...

i actually got the email today that my mug was shipped. that's pretty effing amazing service. i already bought my bigass mug.

i wonder if my posters are going to be sent together or not. it's a bit odd how they do shipping on zazzle for multiple items.

At 15:46 Blogger Cecily said...

OK Coming by to tick and say YAY Night Garden! And YAY Dressage! It is a little sad about Dim, but he played a great role in your life and hopefully he will be able to do the same for his next owner.

At 16:39 Blogger Dragonsally said...

I must remember to order the little owl poster, I loves it so much.

Today is voting day, voting day, voting day. (singing to Mary Had A Little Lamb of Course)
This means that we are nearly free of political grandstanding here. Oh yeah.

Are we going to grab asstanka domain? Link it in to TNG?

At 16:42 Blogger Jess said...

Um. No. No we are not.

At 16:46 Blogger Dragonsally said...

but Jess, think of all the added traffic we'd get mwahahahahahahaha

At 18:13 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Oh Fods. Lorraine is such a good sport. All this talk of Ass.

At 18:48 Blogger Jess said...

She did ask for it. And who are we to refuse?

At 22:05 Anonymous DallasD said...

Thank you Lorraine. It's a very sweet and welcome post.

At 02:01 Blogger ariandalen said...

In the new Fiendocracy, it will not only be couth to write ass tanka, it will be required.

At 06:21 Blogger Jess said...

In Soviet Russia, ass tanka writes you.

/obligatory

At 07:21 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Huh.

At 07:44 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I don't THINK we should have a website featuring (My no doubt HOT) ass.

Perhaps we could keep my ass private, just between us. As it were.

Melissa took Dim back yesterday. We even know who we want to have him. I'm not sad, he's in a good place with Mel, a WAY better place for him than with me.

The girl who may take him is 12, quite the rider, wants to do western riding, and loves him. She also works with Mel, who is the best trainer for him. And her Dad is a horse chiropractor.

(Her Mom is a tattoo artist, and we may simply trade, how cool is THAT?)

At 09:23 Blogger Cecily said...

If ass tanka becomes required, you will find me forming FAAAT.

Fiend
Alliance
Against
Ass
Tanka

You can make me read them but you can never make me write them! Power to the resistance!

At 09:41 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

Maybe it could be required to either read or write ass tanka.

Also, good morning and greetings from New Orleans, fiends!

At 12:11 Blogger Beez said...

12-year-old rider, horse chiropractor, tattoo artist? And you?

Convergence of AWESOME.

I need a tattoo....and a horse...and to win the Lottery I guess.

At 12:38 Blogger ariandalen said...

Cecily, nobody said ass tanka had to be good tanka. ;)

It just needed to be said. ;)

At 12:43 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Methinks I prob'ly ain't gon' be writin' no Ass Tanka.

At 13:00 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

One of my friends from FL came to my neck of the woods with his little brother on his way to moving to Cali. His little brother and I hit it off, and pretty much spent the last few days hanging out, talking, and acting like a cute little tourist couple. It was good for me, because demonstrated a good relationship for me- how it would act and feel, etc. It also brought to home how I really need to stay away from the kind of people I usually end up dating, with all their drama and craziness.

That's my sleep-deprived musing for the day. I've had 12 hours of sleep since Tuesday night.

At 13:58 Blogger ariandalen said...

Wendy...GO TO SLEEP! If you don't get more sleep, and soon, you may start having hallucinations, not to mention getting physically sick.

Go get some sleep/rest.

At 17:48 Blogger ariandalen said...

I killed it! I killed the comments!

I R Lethal Fiend!

ZZZZZZZZZZ

At 18:29 Blogger Dragonsally said...

No you didn't Ariandalen. I bet I will now.

I haz woken to the news of a hung Parliament here in Australia. I am not happy. I guess most of the country isn't happy right now.
Arghhhhh.

so - I need distractions Fiends.

At 18:39 Blogger ariandalen said...

You could always write ass tanka. Or maybe even hung tanka.
You'll be attending Worldcon, did you finish reading all the books, stories, etc.?

At 18:45 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Mostly Ariandalen - I have been interrupted by too many books I ordered from the library coming in at once.
Too tired to read - it was a very late night watching the results as they came in.

At 18:52 Blogger ariandalen said...

Know the feeling, except that I don't have the problem of books coming in from the library. I haven't read much fiction in book form for several months. Part of it is that the girls have been at home, or I've been taking them to various camps. ::sigh:: At least school starts Monday.

At 19:02 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Back from a leisurely trip to Barnes and Noble ... two hours reading Jane Eyre and then reading "Thinner" by Richard Bachma (AKA Stephen King) ...

At 19:02 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Bachman with an N.

At 19:20 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Think Ima go watch Family Guy and take the insulin I kind of forgot to take.

At 20:33 Blogger Siri said...

Psst.... Fiends..... Shhh - don't tell my neighbors.....


I'M FREE I'M FREE I'M FREE!!!!!!I'M FREEEEEEE.

Today was the last day of my presidency - townhome owners association. I don't have to deal with any of that any more. Hip Hip Hurray!!!!

At 20:34 Blogger Siri said...

Don't tell them I'm giddy with relief and excitement. They already know I'm not president any more. They were there at the meeting.

But, they don't need to know how happy I am to be shed of them.

At 20:43 Blogger Jess said...

< whisper > Congratulationsandgoodriddancemuhahaha < /whisper >

At 20:45 Blogger Siri said...

Exactly, Jess.


Now, if I could only move to a place that had the perks of an association, without being in an association.

I think that's LotteryWinnerLand. I can't live there yet.

At 20:45 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

(humongous stage whisper) Goooooooooooooooo Siri ...

At 20:48 Blogger Siri said...

Now I can read books, and not be tactful and diplomatic and not answer the phone and la la la they can't make me be nice ever again!!!!!!

Giddy I tell you, Giddy.

And I can leave town without telling anyone I'm going to be gone....hahahhahahaha.

Don't tell them, though. I don't want to hurt their feelings.

At 20:51 Blogger Dragonsally said...

And the best of it is, this means we see more of you here again! Oh Happy Day (goes off singing to herself)

At 20:54 Blogger Siri said...

There's certainly a better chance of that, DSal - I'm pretty sure I'll be more social here, since I don't have to out there.

How's the election - what's next? (Y'all do things differently than we do up here.)

At 20:58 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Anything could happen now Siri - its down to postal and absentee votes, and deals between independents and the 2 major parties.
If nothing comes out in that wash, we may have to vote again.

At 21:00 Blogger Siri said...

So you keep voting till you get it right? I like that - here, you get one chance and have to live with what you get for at least 4 years. I abhore politics!

At 21:05 Blogger Jess said...

And when you say "rid of them," Siri, you mean really and truly, yes? Because my preconceived notion of Homeowners' Associations is that they're a bit like the mob, or MI6-- i.e., there's really no such thing as "out." I will be pleased to be wrong about that. ;)

At 21:18 Blogger Siri said...

I have learned how to say the N word, which in this context means "no". I shan't be sucked back in, and they can't make me!


No, really. I mean it. I don't even want to hear the gossip anymore. Most of it was so garbled I never knew who was doing what anyway. I prefer to make up my own stories.

At 21:38 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

I feel like a moron, a compete idiot, for actually not realizing the Australian elections were coming up.

At 21:39 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

I mean, I read the NY Times and all that, but ... not all of it ...

At 21:43 Blogger Dragonsally said...

You shouldn't Li-Em, not at all.
For anyone interested in politics (especially if you can look at it coolly, the next few days here will be intriguing)

At 21:48 Blogger AletaMay said...

Oh so so behind here.

Ticky for now.

At 22:30 Blogger ariandalen said...

::Yay:: Siri!

Even with each of the lots, here, being a minimum of 2 acres, we're in a HOA. Most people don't even come to the annual meeting. We've had the same president for at least 10 years, and I know he's ready to hand it over. I also know how to avoid being an officer, even though I attended monthly meetings for over a year. I'm sure it's much harder when you can see your neighbors come and go all the time.

Glad to have you back! :)

At 23:51 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Yay for Siri cutting loose!

At 23:51 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

I splurged today and bought stationary to write letters. If you want me to write you a letter on my new, beautiful stationary, email me your address at wendylbolm (at) gmail (dot) com.

Also, congratulations, Siri. May you have many tranquil nights in the future!

At 00:00 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Also: Kitties in distress.

At 08:27 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Oh Wendy, I would love a beautiful new letter with your beautiful new stationary.

At 11:01 Blogger dabbler said...

Hey! Great music of the last two days...

Vienna Teng
http://eventful.com/performers/vienna-teng-/P0-001-000003376-0

Amazing piano and vocals, and a sweetheart!

The Harlem Jazz and Blues Bandhttp://www.circuitproductions.org/artists/music/hbjb.html

A 95 yr-old saxophone player! And the rest of the band look not far behind...but they are smoooooth and hot!

And of course, Taj Mahal, in his usual excellent form.

Makes me remember why I do this crazy thing.... Work for days, but get to sit right off the main stage? Oh, Okay!

Tonight: Malinky, the Subdudes, and a bunch more.

At 11:02 Blogger Pi R Squared said...

Congratulations Siri on escaping the presidency of your HOA (scary!!!) People bringing real work into my house is frowned upon...this is a studio apt, y'all!

I actually managed to pick up my brushes and start work on my first painting in 12 years! I did not procrastinate myself out of working on it. I managed NOT turning it into collage, or a journal piece or a poem about not painting. I blocked out the whole board and spent many pleasant moments later in contemplation. Took pics last year in the pool w/ a kid's camera and will be working on an abstract water series of shadow and reflection. Oh bleh on the art talk and Yay! on the art doing!

At 11:05 Blogger dabbler said...

oh yeah... and Richard Thompson...

At 12:39 Blogger Marjorie said...

Hurrah for making Art, Pi!

At 13:29 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Awesomeness, Pi. Hey Wendy, my emails to you keep flying back to me ...

At 16:02 Blogger Fluffy said...

Way to go, Siri!

I am in the middle of a mess - my club newsletter should be out of my hands this year but the new editor is not in a hurry to take over until school starts - can't blame her - she's got three at home under age 16 and doing this thing has a fairly steep learning curve.

So I'm trying to pull together a new one with almost no input from the officers and chairs. So far I've put a corkboard background on it instead of garden pictures. Which looks pretty cool, akcherly.

And I'm waiting for the new president to send me her stuff in a file format I can read because her Mac is newer than mine.

Oh, hurrah. She's got it back to me! See y'all later.

At 17:06 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Oh man Dabbler, Taj Mahal..my brother roady-ed for Taj Mahal for a few gigs here in Melbourne in the 70's. What a blast from the past you just gave me

At 17:57 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Okay, so you know how last week my nephew had a bub....his sister had a little boy last night. 8 weeks prem, but doing ok (He was 5 or 6 pounds, my SIL can't remember which right now)
OMG I have another great nephew! Something is in the Townsville water for sure.

He is going to be a good writer too, his name is Stephen King!

At 18:55 Blogger One Sock Short said...

DS, congrats on the newphew front.

Siri, whispered congrats on your ex-presidency. Having lived in apartments most of my life, I am in what sounds like blissful ignorance of this HOA thing. Sounds like a lot of work and aggro. Glad you're looking at getting some of your own time back.

I'm pretty sure I'd try my best to get out of any kind of administrative stuff in that kind of thing, bad citizen that I am. But I do so much of that in my professional life. Just lost most of today to writing minutes for my ALA committee. They're nearly done, thankfully.

Tomorrow is my root canal. Oh boy oh boy. I have no idea what to expect. They didn't say anything about eating or drinking before I go. Anyone know if I should or shouldn't?

What else, what else? Not much to report, really. I did get some extra (and local) motivation to finally try my hand at illustrating one of Nathalie's poems. Oh, and I recently found a tatting pattern for a choker that's very Midnight Gardenish. How would that work if I could manage it Jess? Would it be auctioned off? Or just shown on the site? If the former, I'd have to contact the designer for permission, but she might go for it since it's not for profit.

Hope everyone is doing well, or will be soon.

At 19:15 Blogger Dragonsally said...

You're not having a general Anesthetic are you Linda? If its just 'the normal' no need to restrain. In fact, I'd suggest you eat and drink before hand cos you won't feel like it afterwards!

At 19:26 Blogger One Sock Short said...

No general, as far as I know. I'm assuming just local. I can walk there, but will take along cab fare if I'm not up to walking home. I felt remarkably fine after my wisdom teeth were removed. And that *was* general. At least I've got plenty of yogurt if that's all I can manage afterwards.

At 19:26 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

That's a shame, OSS.

And Sally, that's marvelous. Great name, too!

Hoping things turn out well, m'dear Fluffy ...

At 19:27 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Yeah, I've gotta say I don't look forward to the rite of wisdom-teeth removal. Adults make such a BIG DEAL out of it. And this makes me dread it.

At 19:29 Blogger Jess said...

OSS - Oh boy! Can't wait to see what you do. :)

At this point we don't really have the facility to sell individual works, so something like that would just be shown on the site, and it would be up to the artists to decide what they want to do with it from there. What Cindy Toy did with Lilitu worked out really well; she sold it through her own shop, and sent the proceeds on to Janet. If you wanted to do something like that, I'd make sure we said something about it on the site.

Figuring out a workable system for selling or auctioning ofd stuff is the next step, and if anyone has some good information on the subject, we could certainly use it. Cindy Toy and Jane/Qitou offered to help us set up an Etsy shop a little while ago, but I'm not sure how feasible it would be. Etsy doesn't really have a program for nonprofit support the way Zazzle does, so the burden of sales and income tax reporting (not to mention shipping and handling costs) would fall on us; I don't think anyone wants that. As for auctions: I haven't had a chance to look into it much. I'm sure it's doable, but again, different states have different regs for handling this sort of thing. We can't really just throw stuff up on eBay, much as we'd like to; it's a little more complicated than that.

At 19:30 Blogger Dragonsally said...

It totally depends on how your mouth teeth are Li-Em.
My mouth is crowded, and all 4 teeth were growing sideways...all 4 were taken out at once under a general and I was a chipmonk for a week. It was hell, but they had to shatter the teeth to remove them.
Other people had no problems at all!

At 19:37 Blogger Fluffy said...

Lihua, I had my wisdoms out and it went fine, although I did keep crying afterward and asking where my teeth were. Loopy from the anesthesia.

But you might not want to go out to eat soon after. The next day we had our house closing and our realtor took us out to lunch. Waste of money - the only thing "soft" I found on the menu was quiche and it happened to have huge chunks of bacon in it.

At 19:41 Blogger One Sock Short said...

What DS said, Li-Em. I had all four out at once under general anesthetic too. But mine were so easy I went back to work the next day. I didn't have it done till I was in my mid-30s, and they were all at least partially out, and not so very impacted.

We'll see how it goes, with the copious free time (hahaha), Jess. The design might even be easily photographed and printed on stuff. I've seen people do stationary with images printed from pieces of tatting. It's this design, and it looks pretty easy.

At 20:11 Blogger Phiala said...

Hi fiends. Went down to the farm for the weekend, to retrieve the puppy from camp grandma. He and the spaniel had a grand two weeks, and he's now sleeping very soundly on the floor. Grandma threatened to hide him rather than let us take Grendel back.

She's doing okay, though it's hard both being on her own after 40 years and having her major occupation of the past few years (taking care of David as his Alzheimer's progressed) vanish.

At 20:52 Blogger AletaMay said...

Hmmm.

When one leaves a ticky box comment it helps if one, you know, ticks the box.

At 21:43 Blogger Jess said...

It is a nice pattern, OSS, but after looking at the Creative Commons license under which she distributes it, I'm not sure it'd be admissable as a Night Garden Project piece-- unless you were to approach her about getting involved with the project first. The license she uses stipulates no commercial use and no derivative works. So while you're free to make one for personal adornment, or as a gift, it wouldn't be your pattern, and we couldn't fairly call it your original work and post it on the site as such. Nor could you take the pattern and build on it without her consent.

If you were to collaborate on an original design with her somehow, though, that would be a different matter. But either way, I think you'd need to approach her before I could admit it.

At 21:44 Blogger ariandalen said...

Li, I had all four wisdom teeth taken out when Ariane was a bit over a year old, so I was almost 41. I didn't have a problem, though I was not given a true general anesthetic; I was in what's called a "twilight" state, but I don't remember anything of the actual extractions. I had another cavity in one of my wisdom teeth so my dentist recommended I have them pulled as they are week teeth. If you, eventually, need to have your wisdom teeth extracted, just get all four done at the same time, then you only have to get it done once.

Linda, I wouldn't worry too much about your root canal. It's uncomfortable, but I've had fewer problems with root canals than I have with glue on crowns. If you need a crown placed on that tooth, I highly recommend a porcelain crown if you can afford it; not porcelain veneer, but all porcelain. Granted I have a problem with metal in my body, but I really like my porcelain crowns, and I have three.

At 22:15 Blogger One Sock Short said...

Yep, that's pretty much what I was thinking. I have things to clear off my plate first, before I even try the pattern. Then if it looks do-able, I'll think about whether it's worth pursuing with the designer. First, I need to get back into sketching, so I can try out the poem for NG.

Stupid day job, getting in the way of all the things I want to do...

Phiala, is Grendel on your lap yet?

At 01:17 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

Emily,

Your email showed up in my inbox. I do not know why it bounced back, besides the fact that I have had quite a few complaints about people not getting my emails and not getting other people's emails lately.

At 07:51 Blogger Jess said...

Hm. You lot are quiet this morning. And I actually managed to get up early for a change. Hello to the air, then, I suppose, and you can catch the reverb whenever you get here.

*wave*

At 08:24 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

Hello Jess!

Maybe if you composed a few ass tankas, the fiends would wake up and come and play!

First day of school for me! I'm so excited!

As soon as I pick up some stamps, I will start sending out some fiend pal letters.

At 08:27 Blogger Phiala said...

Hi Jess.

I was up at 6:15, but not much online. Did some housework, ate breakfast (toast and watermelon), showered etc., walked t2 miles, and am now at work drinking coffee and listening to Marian Call.

The batch job I left running over the weekend did exactly what I told it, but not at all what I wanted. I would say that I wanted a telepathic computer, except I probably really don't.

At 08:51 Blogger Jess said...

No, I imagine you really, really don't.

G'morning, you two! Happy school, happy obedient batch job.

At 09:41 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I'm up! My inbox went ballistic tho, teach me to lie low for a day!

At 09:44 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Good morning, dear!

At 10:09 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Oh good, Wendy! Thanks.

Hi Fiends. RI is looking like a dead elephant this morning.

At 10:38 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

It's the sort of day where I am going to really need me some ZUMBA by 5. I can tell. All the signs are there.

I have, however, worked out how to end my class at 6:15 and START dog school at 6:15.

Lola is going to LOVE ZUMBA class.

At 10:48 Blogger spacedlaw said...

She will. Some people say she's been a show girl in a previous life

At 10:52 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

She will LOVE the yellow feathers I am going to put in her hair.

At 11:01 Blogger spacedlaw said...

A few glitters are also called for. Does she have a rhinestone collar?

At 11:03 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Not YET....I'm working on that one. They seem to make them only for TINY dogs.

Maybe someone crafty could make me one?

I am so at work now. Have a great day, my Fiends!

At 11:31 Blogger Fluffy said...

I am so at home now, celebrating the first day of school! Got Revelle in at 6:30 so she could get her locker before practice and got my grocery shopping done by 7.

Things slowed down after that, but I drank a pot of tea (in August - third sign of the Apocralypse) and am now motivated to do...something.

At 14:04 Blogger Jess said...

Hey, kids. Vampi tells me that Zazzle's got an offer on mugs going-- 15% off when you use this here code at checkout:

BTSRULE5MUGS

So there you are.

(Hang on. How did I manage to saddle myself with a shop, again?)

At 14:05 Blogger spacedlaw said...

You reckless you

At 14:15 Blogger One Sock Short said...

Apparently the tooth fairy likes me. Never needed braces, easy wisdom tooth removal, and now an easy root canal. Well, I suppose if she *really* liked me, I wouldn't have needed the root canal. But I'll take what I can get.

At 14:21 Blogger Jess said...

Not that I'm complaining, out loud, much, but I wouldn't object if, you know, someone else wanted to volunteer to play Customer Service. Technically I was only ever supposed to be graphics monkey on the shop part.

Hurrah OSS! You'll be back on steak in no time. ;)

At 14:52 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Given how much FIT plays a part here, I wanted to show you guys this book I just found out my cousin wrote...pretty cool. It's called Weight! That's Not the Issue. I didn't even know she was writing a book! (not like we're super close or anything)...it sounds interesting though.

And i'm finally back online after our connection being down for 3 days! I had my phone but there's only so much you can do with that.

At 15:15 Blogger AletaMay said...

Hey Jess I'd be happy to HELP with the store as I am somewhat familiar with Zazzle. Can't take on the responsibility of running it alone as my life is very crazy for me right now. Very happy to help though!

At 15:20 Blogger Jess said...

Aleta, I love you. Shall email.

At 16:07 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Dog School got canceled. Way too hot and humid here. No feathers for Missie Lola.

Apparently tho, it is NOT too hot for Zumba and my ASS is going to get worked out.

At 16:09 Blogger spacedlaw said...

Drink plenty of water!

At 16:12 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

I do a liter every class, not to worry.

At 16:30 Blogger Na said...

too hot and humid, what? after days of hiding indoors from wildfire smoke, we've gone out into air washed clean by overnight rain but come back indoors on account of the accompanying cold, stiff wind. may be this cool and rain is on its way to you lot out yonder.

At 21:02 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

The Fiends are scattered tonight, blown like seeds in the wind, wither I cannot say nor what shall become of them..

Personally, I'm watching Hoarders.

At 21:07 Blogger Phiala said...

Snuggling with my cat, dog at my feet, contemplating going to bed because I have to be at work at 5:45 tomorrow.

At 21:40 Blogger ariandalen said...

Watching stuff on TiVo. Waiting for the news so I can see whether the official high temp today in Waco was 107 or 108. This was day 24 of consecutive 100 or higher temps out of 26 this year. When I picked up the girls from the bus, the car thermometer read 109, and that was after sitting in the shade with the a/c running for 20 minutes.
It's supposed to cool down to 96 by Friday, which is normal.

At 21:46 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Yes, that is real heat. We had 90 today. That's way too hot for here. We are all wimps and have no A/C. Our house is hot. Usually we get a saving grace of an offshore breeze, it can come in at any time now.

At 21:47 Blogger Chantrelle said...

Oh, and ben lost another tooth!
Just now...another $1 from the tooth fairy tonight!

At 22:25 Blogger Beez said...

Out working with The Public. Full moon.
Said early on "I predict every crazy-ass special request person will call tonight".

I was right.

At 22:46 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

I was celebrating my first day of school! I'm so excited!

I was also at my writing group. My short story got torn apart. I'm excited about that, too.

At 00:25 Blogger Na said...

tried to work this evening. meh.

full moon, says Beez? mebbe why i canna concentrate.

At 00:29 Blogger Na said...

and there is a Little Red Poppet arrived today. it is at my work desk. i believe it is Hinting at Things, but i may be too dull to understand.

also fun this past week, some City of Edmonton workers digging a tunnel found dinosaur bones. the kind o' dinos with verra sharrrrp teeth.

right. sleep for me.

At 00:35 Blogger Dragonsally said...

Just popping in to say hi.

I am feeling miserable and not social - 'lactosed' myself yesterday because I am a greedy idiot, and I am paying with unbearable pain. *sigh*

At 01:06 Blogger ariandalen said...

Sally, hope your pain ends soon!

At 01:23 Anonymous Wendy Withers said...

OH MY FODS!

I just realized I have not seen my little green poppet in a very long time. I hope she made the move with me to New Orleans... :/

Also, feel better Sally!

At 06:31 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Sally, that sounds awful. Let us know when you feel better.

Going to see a movie today for the first time in a long while. I'm not a movie person unless it's based on a book or TV show I like. And I'm one of the nuts who refuse to see a movie if she hasn't read the written story.

And today's movie is one I HAVE Read.

Heh.

"Vampires Suck".

Heh.

At 07:46 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

Morninf Fiends! Ah yes, another day of fighting the Hydra here in my inbox. Been up since 6 and just done with round 1.

Riding lesson this morning, might be riding Odette, might be Romy. Very exciting either way.

At 10:54 Blogger Na said...

oooh, the Hydra Effect. that always shows up after a move when i'm unpacking boxes.

i rarely venture out to a movie theatre anymore. BUT. there's a new Nanny McPhee movie out! i love Emma Thompson, and the monsters like the first Nanny movie. and we need to get OUT of this house. but i simply don't have time to read all the stories first.

At 11:19 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

I think young William and I are going to see that together sometime soon. Actually, let's see, I can name a few movies for which I shall venture to the cinema pretty soon. One is Vampires Suck, the other is Nanny McPhee ... and then in December there's a twised Jack Black modern-day version of Gulliver's Travels ... then in 2011 there's a new version of The Three Musketeers ... oh, and of course coming this November is the new Harry Potter movie. And the final HP film next summer!

At 11:23 Blogger Chantrelle said...

I never get out to movies unless they're kid movies and i'm taking ben. We saw Despicable Me...it was cute! But when ben was at my parent's house for the weekend we went and saw Inception. I enjoyed that--didn't want to overthink it though.

Finally saw Burton's Alice too...loved it really. And am commissioning a skirt from MistressMousey inspired by Alice's red dress :D

At 12:40 Blogger LihuaEmilyP said...

Ooooh, cool. It's funny, I have trouble enjoying most kids' movies these days. Coraline, of course, was one of the best movies I've ever seen in my entire life ... not saying much for me, but STILL. Amazing.

At 12:53 Blogger Marjorie said...

I hardly ever go to the cinema. Partly it's because I feel more self conscious going by myself to the cinema than the theatre (nope, doesn't make sense to me either) and partly because the town I live in doesn't have a cinema, and mostly if I have have an impulse to go, I realise that I can't get there in time. I think Coraline was probably the last film I saw (although I did see it more than once!)

I might go see Scott Pilgrim, tho.

At 15:35 Blogger FabulousLorraine said...

And there is a new post up NOW!!!!!

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