S T A C Y V E R B

Vermont Studio Center

Founded by artists in 1984, the Vermont Studio Center is the largest international artists' and writers' Residency Program in the United States, hosting 50 visual artists and writers each month from across the country and around the world.The Studio Center provides 4-12 week studio residencies on an historic 30-building campus along the Gihon River in Johnson, Vermont, a village in the heart of the northern Green Mountains.     

via www.vermontstudiocenter.org

This is me trying out my new "Blog It!" feature, which allows me to create a blog post with one click anytime I find a web site that interests me. It seems to be working. Cool.

I've known about the Vermont Studio Center for a long time, and have known some people who've done residencies there. I've been thinking about applying for it.

Time for a change

Yes, Stacyverb fans, things are looking different around here!  I felt like mixing things up a bit.  New color scheme and new banner photo, obviously, as well as a new layout.  The left column now holds all the media stuff--what I'm listening to, reading, etc.--while the right column contains all the stuff about the blog itself, such the post archives and my feed link.

Your feedback is welcome!  Let me know if anything looks weird, you can't read/find/see something, or whatever.

Mid-year resolutions

Recently my friend Rachel H. shared a list she called "10 Things I Would Like To Accomplish Before The Year Is Done."  I really liked this exercise, especially at this time of year.  Why should the start of a new year be the only time we think about goals we'd like to achieve, or changes we'd like to make?  Putting these ideas in words helps to focus on those goals, reminding us that they exist and that aren't going to get accomplished all by themselves.  (Plus, I just really like to make lists!)  So, here's my version of Rachel's list. 

1. Do a major purge and re-organization of closets, workspaces, cabinets, etc. in my house.
2. Re-design my blog (new banner, new color scheme, maybe new layout).
3. Do at least one writing exercise a week (not counting blogging).

4. Have a new collection of jewelry designs ready for fall.
5. Have another new collection of jewelry designs ready for winter.
6. Finish the *BLEEP* I started for *BLEEP* in, what, 2005?  (This entry has been censored because it is supposed to be a surprise for someone who reads this blog!)
7. Go to the doctor and get a real, complete physical.
8. Design and knit a sweater entirely from my own handspun fiber.
9. Teach at least two knitting lessons per month.
10. Go on--or at least have definite plans and dates for--an actual vacation, preferably to a place I've never been.

What would your list look like?

Apologies, my adoring public

It has been brought to my attention (repeatedly) that I've been slack about blogging lately.  I can't deny it, and I can't justify it, except to say that life got very "lifey" there for a few weeks and blogging did not feel like a priority.  (Isn't that a great word--"lifey?"  A customer said that to me at the shop recently and I have now adopted it.  She said she hadn't knit much in the past year because her "life had gotten very lifey" for a while.)

In the midst of the lifey-ness, life has been going on, and there were many times I thought, "Don't forget to blog this or that," but it didn't happen.  So then I had a backlog of things I wanted to blog about, and the thought of catching up on all of it was a little overwhelming, so I didn't blog at all.  Argh.

Anyway.  Let's move on.  Let's sum up the past several weeks in a few sentences and then get back to our regularly scheduled craziness, shall we? 

Christy and I saw Bruuuuuuce at Philips Arena and it was an amazing show, as usual.

Adverb and I attended Quintron & Miss Pussycat's fundraiser for the Center for Puppetry Arts and had a great time.  To understand the Q & Miss P experience, see my November post about them here.

Adverb had to have some scary medical tests, which revealed that he does NOT have a horrible disease.  We love this!

I briefly got excited about basketball, but then the Hawks went out in four against the Cavs, and now I've lost interest.

The Stacybeads summer collection is in production (meaning, I've been making it) and will be revealed on this blog within the next month.

A canine friend of ours went to doggie heaven.  RIP Tessie.  Big hugs to Tessie's human, Sue.

I accidentally went on a bit of a fabric bender and am very excited about sewing new creations for summer.

And on that note, I return to other projects.  But blogging will once again be a regular activity on my agenda.  Thanks, loyal readers, for your concern over my internet silence. :)

Technical difficulties resolved!

I'm back.  Thanks, all of you who asked if I was okay and when the hell the blog would be back.  It was nice to be missed.  I was fine, but my laptop's hard drive decided to keel over, so Dellilah (the laptop) had to spend some time at the Geek Squad hospital and get a transplant.  She's feeling MUCH better now....

Anyway.  During the blog silence I was also quite slack in taking pictures, so I have no photographic illustration of any of the stuff I've done lately.  Please see quick summary below.

"CIRCUS" ART SHOW AT THE ALCOVE: The art was exciting, the crowd was huge, the band was rocking.  Add to the mix a trapeze, cheap beer, a go-go dancer in an ape mask, and liberal use of face paint and body glitter, and you've got quite a party.

GRAND RE-OPENING OF THE SEEN GALLERY:  Yes, they've moved out of their Oakhurst space.  Check out their great new location on Church Street in Decatur, across from the MARTA station.

COFFEE AND MUSIC AT KAVARNA: I can't remember the names of the bands who played, but I liked them.  (Sorry...how's that for vague?)  A lovely spring night, good tunes, and delicious Dancing Goats coffee.  Happiness.

BRUNCH WITH THE GANG AT CORNER PUB: We celebrated Raphael's birthday with a yummy meal, fun conversation and, of course, presents!  By the way, if you go to Corner Pub and admire the artwork on their menu, well, my hubby drew that.  Because he's awesome.

Other than that, it's been the usual mix of going to work, teaching a class, and working on various projects.  More blog entries to come soon--I promise!

NaBloPoMo in review

Well, I made it!  When Monica first challenged me to join NaBloPoMo and post every day in the month of November, I was skeptical.  It sounded like a commitment I wouldn't be able to fulfill.  I thought I'd run out of material, or forget, or lose interest.  But I signed up anyway and now look--it's the last day of November, and my little calendar over there is full!

I won't pretend every post was riveting.  But to my surprise, I did manage to think of something to blog about every day, and without resorting to gossip or angst or anything else I feared I'd have to fall back on.  I think it was fairly entertaining, and judging by the huge increase in readership over the past month, some other people did, too.  Best of all, it did get me into the habit of writing at least a little something every day, for which I'm glad.

Having said all that...don't expect daily posting from me from now on.  I'm actually quite relieved NaBloPoMo is coming to an end, because it was a chore some days.  But most days it wasn't.  Thanks to all of you who commented, either on the blog, via email, in person or on Facebook.  Your feedback helped me stay motivated.  May this trend continue (just not every single day!).

Randomly and weirdly me

Suddenly I have been deemed taggable!  Greta tagged me for a meme that goes like this:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird.
3 Tag 7 people (if possible) at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Okay, here we go:

1. My little/pinky toe is actually longer than the toe next to it.  (But only on my left foot.)
2. I love apples, but don't like apple sauce or apple juice.
3. My hair has been orange, magenta, green, blonde, not to mention many shades of brown and red.
4. I want to learn how to play the mandolin.
5. The first "grown-up" record album I ever had was the Grease soundtrack.
6. Every year I try to grow Gerbera daisies, and every year I kill them.
7. When I see construction vehicles unattended, I have fantasies about taking them for a joy ride.

So now I'll tag:
1. Monica
2. Alannah
3. Carolyn
4. Katie
5. Rich
6. Alex
7. Rachael

I'm also retroactively tagging Greta for the meme I did yesterday! :)

8 Things

Katie tagged me for this meme.  It’s my first time being tagged for anything.  Wow, I feel like a real blogger now! :)

8 TV Shows I watch:

NFL football (go, Steelers!)
Pushing Daisies
Ugly Betty
Lost
Battlestar Galactica
Project Runway
The Today Show
History Detectives

8 Favorite Restaurants (too hard to narrow it down, so this is a random selection!)

James Joyce Pub
Provino’s
Twain’s
Los Loros
Thinking Man Tavern
Thai Bowl
Mezza
Thumbs Up (coming soon to Decatur!)

8 Favorite Singers/Bands: (again, too hard to narrow it down…)

REM
Bruce Springsteen
Emmylou Harris
The White Stripes
Amy Winehouse
Tom Waits
Prince
Bjork

8 Books I have read recently:

The Accidental
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Devil Wears Prada
Revolutionary Road
The Post-Birthday World
On Chesil Beach
Water for Elephants
Divisidero

8 Things that happened yesterday:

The landlord came over to take insurance pictures.
I helped Michele with her scarf.
Brooke and I talked about Michael Ondaatje.
I met a cute Chihuahua.
I talked to Samira about her spinning wheel.
I tried some wine that smelled like rose petals.
I finished a good book.
Adverb posted lots of his artwork on Facebook.

8 Things I am looking forward to:

Getting a haircut
Going to the Quintron show at Eyedrum
Spending Christmas in PA
Meeting my cousin’s new baby
Learning to weave
Bush no longer being president
Paying off some bills
Going to San Francisco for Alex & Melissa’s wedding

8 Things I wish for:

Good health for myself, family, friends and pets
For Obama to be a great president
More travel
A convenient place to swim on a regular basis
To get my writing mojo back
The chance to create all the projects that are in my head
Success for Sheepish
Lots of freelance work for Adverb

8 People I am tagging

Monica
Carolyn
Alex
Alannah
Rachael
Stevie
Rich
(can’t think of an 8th)

What took you so long?

…you may ask me. 
    Those of you who’ve known me long enough will remember that, back in the days of exacto knives and glue sticks, I published a zine called Box of 64.  It had an actual following in the indie press world for a while, and received actual critical acclaim.  Good times!  But by 1999 or so, operating my own one-woman publishing empire had become a chore, and the Internet had begun to make zines pretty much obsolete. Since then, I’ve thought about blogging, but always feared it would end up becoming a time-sucking obligation like the zine eventually did.  And it could.  But if it does, I can stop.  (I’m the boss of me.)
  I think having a blog will help me accomplish several things at once: get back in the habit of writing regularly; keep a record of my life in pictures (I’ve been slack about this lately); keep in touch with far-flung friends and family; document and share progress on my various projects; promote my jewelry; and connect me to new communities (although, yikes, I have a hard enough time keeping track of all the people who are already in my life).  It should be fun.
    I don’t want this blog to be too narrow, so it’s not called Stacy Beads or Stacy Travels or Stacy Wrestles A Catnip-Crazed Feline Off Of Her Keyboard, although on any given day, it might be about any of those things.  It’s about whatever’s happening: Stacy <verb>.  Woot!