fanciful devices: Mail Call

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.

11/3/10

Mail Call

I'm taking the day off and already feel much better after a good night's sleep. Thanks for the well-wishes.

Some pix here b/c I love to post to me bloog! And because I'm fiddling with ps elements instead of making stuff.

Got these crazt alien beads from stillpointworks. Unlike anything I've ever seen.

These cute old buttons came in the mail today in a lovely origami box. Don't we etsians always go overboard w/packaging?

From cre8evehot, and they were a steal.

And I know, the last thing I need is more buttons. But the deals you stumble upen make you feel that not buying them would be a crime against... your stash? capitalism? etsy?

And in this beautiful little package (which was much prettier intact but I couldn't control myself) I got all these fabric buttons!

They're from blacksheepyarns. When I saw the return address on the package I thought, "What would I have possibly gotten from a yarn store?" Don't you love forgetting what you bought and then getting to open it up like a surprise gift? Cuz no one knows what you'll like the way that you yourself do!

Including this pair of faux fur mamba-jambas. Ahhh, lovely!

5 comments:

steufel said...: Wow - great stuff!; 11/3/10, 5:49 PM
~Debi said...: Very cool stuffs. Glad you feel better! :); 11/3/10, 5:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Love the fabric buttons!; 11/3/10, 9:12 PM
stregata said...: Glad you're feeling better! You got some seriously awesome buttons. Drool.; 11/4/10, 12:31 AM
Unknown said...: Isn't Still Point Works, AMAZING!?!!
Each one of her beads has it's own shrine on my work desk, I can't stop looking at them! I am really excited to see what you come up with.

(!!!!!!!unnecessary!!!!!!!); 11/13/10, 2:26 PM