fanciful devices: Peeks of the Sneaky Variety

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.

1/20/11

Peeks of the Sneaky Variety

I'll proly get a chance to fully photograph and list on Saturday.

But until then.

So the top 2 baubles on this necklace are from Uruguay, the bottom is an hors d'oeuvre pick my mom's had forever. I showed her this to see if she'd recognize it and she said- 'That's the pick whatshisface brought me from Spain 25 years ago!' Oops. But she actually liked the necklace. A rare event.

Didja know hors d'oeuvre means 'apart from the main work'? Once long ago, my mom, a doctor, was at a fancy dinner for some hospital something and this old big-shot in the hospital kept flirting with mom. He offered to get her a plate of food. Mind you, Mom's English often goes haywire. Intending to say, "No, thanks, I've already had too many hors d'oeuvres." My mother actually said, "I've already had too many ordeals."

3 comments:

Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: LOVE THIS...and the story!; 1/20/11, 6:10 PM
Penelope said...: haha! I didn't know that about Horses Doovers.

But AY! Those star earrings- why have I not thought of doing that?! It's so outside the box, I love it love it love it. Gosh you inspire me.; 1/20/11, 7:25 PM
stregata said...: I love those old dominos!
And I agree with your mom - some hors d'oeuvres can be a real ordeal...; 1/21/11, 12:13 AM