fanciful devices: Happy Happy

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.

6/24/10

Happy Happy

I scanned this letter I received from one of my customers just because it was so gorgeous. It was just to say thanks for the item! How wonderful is that? I'm so lucky to have etsy in my life that permits me to link up so easily w/others who like the stuff I like and are even willing to pay me to play! Most of my life (especially before meds) I felt so isolated. Isolated in my mind, my point of view, my aesthetics, my emotional roller-coaster. Now, I feel so deeply involved in this world populated with little sparks of life that make their presence known through little convos and such. It's so strange, the internet is. Once I tried to use it as a metaphor for a possible afterlife or otherworldly plane to someone. 'Heaven's not like the internet!' She yelled drunkenly. What I meant to say, though, was that it was a place with no physical location made up of many nodes, which was really just people. If people's mind's have a place like that, if the barest minimum of our consciousness IS a place like that, or a conduit to connect with others.... I don't know. That would be neat, I guess.

OH! I also wanted to show y'all where I'm from, and how folks in other parts of the world freak for football / soccer / futbol.

So watch this, but turn down the volume b/c I could only find this version where someone added a lame ass song over top.

2 comments:

stregata said...: The internet is an amazing place, that allows us to connect. Marvelous, isn't it?; 6/25/10, 12:33 AM
steufel said...: I totally can relate to this! I love the internet for all its possibilities and get the feeling that we all come a little closer together. And the letter is just great.; 6/25/10, 4:11 AM