fanciful devices: WIP

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.

10/15/10

WIP

Massive PMS today...

Sorry about the atrocious night-photography-colors. Making jewelry is the only thing I don't have to force myself to do, not even w/I'm PMSing. Do I seem to get it every 2 weeks? Do I have a seriously sped up cycle? I've never kept track and only now that I'm blogging do I realize how often I PMS blog. I dunno about you but when its happening, it takes over.

I apologize to any men who may have wandered on to this blog hoping for some techniques or deep thoughts about the universe. I promise after my period I'll... do some manly posts. About manly techniques and manly thoughts about the universe. Yeah.

Anybody know how to set a default format on blogger so that everything will stay justified/aligned on the left margin? Drives me crazy. But then I just jumped down my poor husband's throat for saying 'what time you get home' while yawning so that it sounded like 'wha-uu-a-uu-ah.' Grrr. I feel like shit and I wanna knife someone. So the meeting w/my psycho boss tomorrow oughtta be awesome.

Can y'all even tell what these pictures are of? These are sorta pins. Trying to do something interesting w/all these keys I have. They're semi-romantic after the success of my romantic rose bottle necklace. I guess by that I mean girly. Well, so much for the manliness.

I think these could make cute earrings since they're the exact same colors. That's supposed to be the little Injun's mouth there under his eye. Not an out-of-control boil.

Oh, and my in-laws are arriving tomorrow night. So I'll be a ray of sunshine for them. Good thing they're sweet and un-demanding. Like, we don't have to take them out and about or anything... Just being in Chicago is sorta overwhelming for them so I think they prefer to stay mostly home. Maybe walk Bingo. They're nuts about the dog. They're sure to bring him a toy and play with him until he's exhausted and is just lying there, staring at my father-in-law while f-i-l crawls around the couch on all fours trying to entice Bingo to keep playing. That's how I found them at one point last time they came to visit.

Anywhoo, so as not to break with tradition:

3 comments:

Penelope said...: Are you writing in rich text mode or html? If you're in rich text you shouldn't need to adjust anything. When you're in the new post section, it should say in a tab on the right of the top field 'edit html' and 'compose'- if you're in the compose section everything should stay where you ask it to be.

But GASP! Where did you get those amaaaaazing glass daggers on the earrings?; 10/15/10, 3:30 AM
Spirited Earth said...: love all these..
good luck with the boss..
got meds?
your husbands parents sound interesting..it's nice they just want to visit with you and not expect to be shown the town.; 10/15/10, 10:19 AM
stregata said...: Geesh, your PMS really ensures gorgeous jewelry. Can it be induced? (just kidding)
I guess it is just the lighting in the first photo, but that purple shine really looks cool. Or is it really purple - with a turmaline bead necklace? Anyway, I think it is gorgeous.
Have a great weekend!; 10/15/10, 10:27 AM