fanciful devices: Stuff stuffy stuff

A Stone Is Nobody's

A man ambushed a stone. Caught it.
Made it a prisoner.
Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the rest of his life.

His mother asked why.

He said, because it's held captive, because it is captured.

Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know whether it's in a garden or not. Eternity and the stone
are mother and daughter; it is you who are getting old. The stone is only sleeping.

But I caught it, mother, it is mine by conquest, he said.

A stone is nobody's, not even its own. It is you who are conquered; you are minding the prisoner, which is yourself,
because you are afraid to go out, she said.

Yes yes, I am afraid, because you have never loved me, he said.

Which is true, because you have always been to me as the stone is to you, she said.

Russell Edson

FAQs

1. Are you a Southeast Asian dancing girl from the 1800s?

No, sorry to disappoint. My avatar and banner images are from an ancient book I found in the depths of my grandmother's cabinets. More on that here.

2. How do you make everything look so old?

First, you need a good oxidizer to brush on every bit of metal you can reach. I'll tell you all about it here.

Then there's this wax. I first mentioned it here. You'll have to scroll down a lot.

3. How can you be so productive?

I'm insanely obsessed and I have no offspring. I do nothing else- I don't have a day job, I don't clean my house or cook, I spend all day in pjs, often completely abandoning personal hygiene... I only interact with other humans when I walk my dog. And I like people! But I prefer dogs.

And I'm sloppy- but I make that sloppiness work for me.

4. Any tips you'd like to share?

No! Except for these 16 posts about techniques and this one about how to find your aesthetic.

5. Would you be offended if I took some inspiration from your designs?

Well, I'd be happier if you outright copied them.

No really, imitation is how we learn. I have enough ideas to go around. And even if I don't- please. No one's going to do this obsessively enough to threaten my business. (Probably.) I learned by copying others and I've seen others copy me as a step toward developing their own voice. So feel free. (I'd love if you tossed me a link in my comments, so I can feel like a proud momma.)

6. What do you look like?

Why, what have you heard? Really? Wow.

4/11/10

Stuff stuffy stuff

I changed the necklace from the last post b/c i wore it today and the side closure w/the adjustable length of chain hanging off weighed it down and made it completely lopsided. But other than that, it was fun to wear and quite comfy.

Here's something I just finished a couple hours ago:

I made it from a little purse I got from Uruguay. The length of faux pearls was an antique rosary of my grandmothers, the 3 ceramic beads were in my cousin's stash she gave me. The tiny nut beads on rusty chain were from a street seller's bag of absolute crap he pulled out for me. Cuz in Uruguay, as in most Latin American countries or any country that's not super rich like us, people don't throw anything away. Not a single damn scrap of paper, nothing. As long as it can still be considered a thing and not a pile of dust, they tuck it away somewhere. My relatives cupboards are stuffed w/packaging that food came in at some point. ANYWHO, the gorgeous wooden button was a gift from the lovely sparrow, as well as the 2 wood beads and the one clear glass peach one. Hmmm... the frog was Manto Fev... the no-hole pearl and bezel from Jen's Jewelry... The palm wood beads are from somewhere on etsy, as was the old leather button. The big black bead is from Michael's but I painted it. I turned 2 star shaped metal pieces w/holes in the middle into caps for it. The metal was crazy hard. The whole length of beads on knotted cord thing I stole from Lorelei. I know she didn't invent it, but before looking at her stuff I'd forgotten all about that and how good it could look.

I don't know why I thought I should list out all my sources. Oh, the heart milagro is from ebay...

I'm just not sure about this one:

I don't know if it needs a third chain. Or if I just went overboard w/the size of the links. They're huge. I was having so much fun discovering dead soft wire.

And now I'm going to go list this guy:

I intended to list it hours ago, but I wanted to watch an instant movie on Netflix. So I try to and it says you can't you need x amount of RAM and x version of Safari and x type of mac... So I actually figure out how to figure out what type of mac I have. I actually go and download a more recent safari- which i had no idea existed or was free. Then it still didn't work and i thought it was the GB of RAM. So I learn what GB and RAM means. Then realize there's all these links about freeing up more RAM. I installed a computer scanner-cleaner thing. And thus took out all the different languages available in every corner of my computer, as well as massive amounts of unused code. Then realized there were 20 or more applications that came in the computer that we have never used. So I put those in the trash and empty the trash. And now there's an echo from all the vast empty space available in my computer. So I go BACK to netflix and it STILL didn't work. And I realized I was blind-spotting this thing that said I needed an Intel-based Mac. So I look up how to find out what I had. And it was right there in a button I'd clicked several times for other stuff. And I have a Power PC. Which they don't even make since 2006. So I can't watch free anime while wasting my life away here with y'all.

Meanwhile. My 1 year old niece and 4 year old nephew were here this weekend with all their glorious cuteness and nonstop demands on one's energy time patience and sainthood. OK, breathe.

And for some reason on Thursday night to Friday early afternoon, I slept 14 hours straight. Got a touch of the ol' Cronic Fatigue Syndrome. No, really. I've been diagnosed by my doctor and everything. I should mention that my doctor is actually my mother. And this "diagnosis" was while we were both sitting on the couch and I was grouchy because I was sick AGAIN. And she goes, "you probably have that chronic fatigue syndrome." And I go, "I know I do." Since CFS just means you're tired all the time for no reasons and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

And all I want to do is make stuff day and night- quit my job and never leave the house.

2 comments:

Sunny Haralson said...: That second necklace is so so beautiful. I used to order sari fabric from manto fev-she's wonderful.; 4/11/10, 11:21 AM
fanciful devices said...: A comment by blog royalty!!! Man, thank you Rubypearl (as I firmly believe your online name should always be)!
I have some much better pictures now. Interesting you should notice that one. It has a feel (country?) to it that is sorta reminiscent of your dresses.; 4/11/10, 8:29 PM