The Beahive

Spotlight

My sophmore year at college, I attended a trip to the Mass MoCA with the Art Dept.  The showcased exhibit was Gregory Crewdson's Twilight photographs.  I had never heard of him before, and certainly wouldn't have called myself too much a fan of contemporary art.  But, with him, I was enthralled!

His photos are of suburban American life, but are very surreal: creepy.  I actually hadn't realized they were photographs until after the third or fourth one; I assumed they were realistic paintings - they couldn't have been photographs, they were too involved to have been staged on an ordinary street (I thought).  They are large-scale staged photographs.  And, they're often called 'production stills' because he approaches them much like a director to a film set.  The lighting in each one is probably the most stunning part, but it's the scenes that make them stand out.

Above:

Untitled, Winter 2005

Digital C-print

(Vanity from Beneath the Roses)

And

Detail

Untitled, Winter 2005

(Vanity from Beneath the Roses)

64.25" x 94.25"

Below:

Untitled, 2001

Digital C-print

(Ophelia from Twilight)

48" x 60"

Letting me eat cake

In Stop&Shop tonight, I spotted a Marie Antoinette DVD.  I couldn't resist.  I had been dying to see it, but never had.  I just watched it.  Interesting.  Beautiful, for sure.  But lackluster.

Mona and I are doing great.  I love her!  She makes my life better.  She is, sadly, not housetrained.  But, she is having intestinal problems which makes her harder to housetrain - more unpredictible bathroom breaks, and more frequent pottying.  She is on a "bland diet" (boiled chicken and rice) and a perscription medication for the next 10 days.  Oh well, it's only been three weeks.  We've been to the vet twice, with another appt. in 3 weeks for a Lyme vaccine booster.  She's all rabied-up and rarin' to go.  We've registered for an obedience class series at the RISPCA beginning on Monday; I can't wait until I can get her to behave on leash.

Tomorrow, she meets Reilly, my parent's dog.  Also, perhaps less importantly, she meets my parents and siblings.  I keep asking her if she's as excited as I am for her to meet Reilly, but she just cocks her head and wags her tail.  I will probably take lots of photos of the two of them - a big old Chocolate Lab, and a little young mutt.  I say "little," but she's doubled in size since I brought her home.  29lbs tuesday as opposed to 15 lbs when I got her!  Some of the ladies at the vet's office speculated she might have Great Dane in her!!  Oh my goodness. 

I plan on making her a cotton leash after we return from "Easter in Brooklyn 2007."  Maybe it will turn out so well, and I'll make bunches, and I'll sell them, and they will become the proverbial 'hotcakes', and I will be the new it Etsy Queen.

Nah.

Joyous Noel

In anticipation, I've already ordered, and just today received. a few packages of supercute Christmas cards from Kate's Paperie (.com).  They're made by Egg Press and I couldn't resisit the tartan.  Although, they'll be sent out to a rather exclusionary group of receipients, though: their price was rather prohibitive.  The tartan drew me in, yes, but further, I wanted to get something at least a little religious - avoiding any "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" ambiguity.

I was having some trouble with Kate's customization option, so I ordered a custom rubber stamp with green ink from staples.com.  Just a generic, but thoughtful greeting for the card's blank insides.  I'm glad I did, since now I can use it for more projects.  I think I will send them out this weekend.  Or, no... is it too early?  I may be getting a little overzealous.

Thanksgiving

Oh, who doesn't love Thanksgiving.  I had the most wonderful time.  My mom hosted, and we had guests from both my mother's and father's sides of the family over to celebrate. 

Has anyone ever played Scene It? You know, those board games that come with a DVD.  My sister bought the music and Disney versions to play on thanksgiving.  They're horrible.  For instance, the directions would be "answer the question that follows this clip," a clip would follow, and they would ask "how many members of the Bangles were wearing skirts in this video?"  Not to mention, you get something like 30 seconds to answer the questions, which, when playing a yell-out-the-answer-first-and-win trivia game, can seem like ages.

But, I digress.  I have made little to no headway on my Ghost of Christmas Present Lion Ornaments.  They just aren't adding up to what I had pictured.  Perhaps I will go with a cardinal or dove ornament - easier.  I also haven't recieved any yet, which makes me think I'm not the only one having production troubles.

Eureka!

I've got it.  I know just what I will make for the Holiday Ornament Swap.  A Christmas Lion.  I suppose he is sort of my version of Dickens's ghost of Christmas Present.  I will show off later (when he stops being a prototype).

Ornament Swap

I'm an official swapper in cake+pie and freshly{blended}'s Holiday Ornament Swap '06.  I'm very excited, but i still don't have any idea of what I'm going to make.  I even get to send to/get from a swapper in the Netherlands, and Brooklyn - where I was born!  I just wish I knew what I was going to send to them...