Mark Your Calendars

My life has been permanently altered by my association with BlogHer. I've been open about that in the past and I'll remain committed to their passions and ideals in the future. This year, the big BlogHer Con will be held in San Francisco July 18-20th. I hope you consider making your way out here to join us. Last years con in Chicago was days of total energy and love.

However, if you're living of the Mississippi and just don't believe that you'll be able to make it, there is still hope. The BlogHer Road Show will be hitting the streets in October, making 6 stops from Boston to New Orleans. Surely one of these places is close enough for you to consider coming by and saying hi!

From Kristy Sammis:

BlogHer's Reach Out Tour Dates Announced

In October of 2008, BlogHer is launching its first-ever road show! For those members of our community who can't make it to the annual event (and for those who can but simply want MORE), this year BlogHer will be bringing the conference to cities down the Eastern Seaboard and into the South.

Each city stop will include a full-day conference and cocktail party. Programming will vary slightly from city to city, and you're welcome to come to as many cities as you like!

Registration will open in March, but for now we ask you to mark your calendars:

Boston - Saturday, October 11
DC - Monday, October 13
Nashville - Thursday, October 16
Greensboro - Saturday, October 18
Atlanta - Tuesday, October 21
New Orleans - Saturday, October 25

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

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Big Things

Proof of life: The spouser and Katy (where's Jake) during our walk at Pt. Pinole on Saturday. (hey, someone had to take the picture.. and that someone would be me!)

Yesterday I claimed to be busy with several things that have distracted me from blogging. Yet I know you can't know if those big things are staring mindlessly into space and picking ticks off the dogs or something more enterprising.

So I'm going to give you a tiny glimpse of some of the big things (without actually telling you about the big things..)

Big Thing #1. Is a project I have mentioned before I want to undertake. It will involve a number of artists and crafters and require about 25 hours work a month on my part (unless I can farm some of it out). So I need to do the research so this sound so pretty that someone will be willing to pay for it. Does it sound pretty yet?

Big Thing #2: Is a talk and/or article. Has an audience. Needs research and a wiki. I'm about 2 hours into what will probably be about 20-40 hours work.

Big Thing #3: One friend describes this project as the meaning of life. Another calls in a revolution. I think it's quite Buddhist in nature.. though I'm not a Buddhist (hmm.. should I be? could I be?). I hope to get it live in about a week or so (really wanted it before Valentine's Day, but I don't think that's realistic anymore). Will take time to set up and then most of it should be fairly automatic. It's the setting up part (which is way outside my comfort zone).

Plus person life stuff like taxes and annual doctor visits that suck life outta a day.

Really, doesn't sound like I'm living a great life with wild possibilities in the future? I can't wait until I can share more with ya.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

I'm Fine, Really...

It has been pointed out to me that my normal amount of bloggarhea has been greatly curtailed as late. And a query if my health (mental or physical) was causing it made me decide that I must make a more concerted effort to update y'all on my life.

I'm busy. So I sometimes forget to blog. Sorry.

Let me use today as an example:

• I woke up too early: 6 am. Came downstairs, got coffee, checked email and websites, made a couple comments, fed the dogs, took a bath. It was then almost 9 am.
• Grocery shopped.
• Walked the dogs.
• Hung a load of clothes on the line to dry.
• Went to the gym at 11 am. Worked out. Left said gym at 1 pm.
• Drove to San Francisco to see my friend Sarah who gave me an old Mac! (Yes, you read that correctly, she gave me a Mac!). Over the Bay Bridge, down 101 and 280 and out near the Ocean.
• Walked from her apartment down to the beach to look at the magnificence that is the Pacific Ocean.
• Walked back up the hill to her house. (remember there was earlier this 1.5 hour workout). It has phased me not at all, as I am a lean, mean, kick-ass fit woman!
• Drove home through Presidio Park, over the Golden Gate bridge, through Marin to the San Rafael Bridge to Richmond and home. A perfectly pretty round trip!
• And now I'm home checking email, checking websites, commenting on a few, remembering to blog.
  
• Next: dinner, a soak in the tub and most likely a early night to bed.

Tomorrow is bringing a roofer, a workout, and a night with friends. Who knows what else??

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Concentration

intention for the day: Avoid distractions. Fine-tune Focus.

I've noticed that much of my day can be determined by my mood the instant I awake.

The days that I wake clear-headed, excited about some project, just plain happy - those are the days that unroll at least the way I envision them or better.

The days that I wake tense, tenuous, fuzzy-brained - those days I struggle to find words, find focus, be productive at all. The day struggles along in fits and starts that accomplish little.

I'm starting to recognize those days and create plans ahead of time to deal with them. If I'm lucky, I can spend those days cleaning up, winding up projects. There are times when there isn't any choice: I must do bookkeeping, writing, or some detail work. Then I break the job down into very small segments of time.

Often a period of good aerobic exercise will increase concentration times. So a long stint on the elliptical (and some weight training for focus) is in my plan this morning.



I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Tee Shirt Teaser

I know.

Don't faint.

I'm going to be writing about quilting. (but not my own).

My friend, Roberta Deluz, has written a book that will be published by C&T this month. And I'm thinking this is a book that many of you may want in your library. Why? Roberta can help you design a t-shirt quilt that doesn't look like all dull, boring t-shirt quilts we've been making low these many years. The book is called: Terrific Tees

The photo here is a detail of her first T-shirt quilt which contained a number of shirts won during years of doing the Bay to Breakers race. Yeah, Roberta is a little compulsive. She designed and appliqued all those SF scenes... and pieces all those variable flying geese. But don't let that scare you away from the book.

Take a look at the preview page from her book. Those quilts on the right hand side:

The purple one with the hearts is a fund-raiser quilt for the RELAY FOR LIFE. Roberta makes and raffles off a quilt every year during the race; this was one. There are (I think) 6 t-shirts in there, but they blend with the piecing perfectly. Don't they?

The dark blue square quilt? T-shirts from a boy's time in softball.

The black one with her "signature" "insane amount of appliqued feathers border"? Commemorates years spent at Cotton Patch's now defunct Brown Avenue Quilt Show.

Wouldn't making a quilt with design be so much nicer than simply sewing together squares of t-shirt fabric and having to tie it? The book will be available after 2/14/08. Go bug your LQS to order it. I've seen it... it's fabulous.

oh, and no.. I do not have a quilt in the book, but I am working on a quilt based upon her technique.

Image credit: C&T Publishing,

also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.
T-shirt Quilts,
RobertaDeluz
quilting
C&T Publishing

Are You Wearing Red Today??

My intention for the day: bring joy with me.

Are you wearing read today? I am. That's because today kicks off American Heart Month and so today is National Wear Red Day. It snuck up on me, or I'd warned you about it sooner. (this silly changing months on Friday! Who thinks of that?).

I am regularly upset that we women will stand up and loudly encourage and advocate for women to get their mammograms. Yes, breast cancer is prevelant and scary. Yes, if you die from it, it's painful and horrid. However, breast cancer is not even in the top 5 causes of women's death.

The #1 killer of women of heart disease. Yet do we stand as loudly and say: Get a blood test! Know your cholesterol! Know your risks!

No.

Why not?

I've said it before. When my father had his quadruple bypass surgery, I was 35. I went into my family doctor and requested a lipid profile. He thought I was too young to worry about it, but agreed that a baseline test would be a good idea. While my baseline cholesterol was high - about 265 - what concerned him most was that my HDL - the good kind of cholesterol- was lower than he had ever seen. It was 18. It should be over 35.

Diet and exercise increased it eventually to 19, but I never broke the 20s without medication. And nobody seriously thought that a pre-menopausal woman really needed medication. I argued for a while and convinced every doctor I had to keep me on something.

I currently take the lowest doseage of Lipitor. Last test was not where I would like my cholesterol to be, but I was below the danger line. More importantly, my HDLs were up to 65. That's where they went as soon as I started using meds, and they have high since then.

In my case, taking action early and being an advocate for my own health means that I did not have the heart attack that was likely awaiting me in my late 40s-early 50s. Would it have been mild and a warning or deadly? We'll never know.

Recent reports are showing an ever increasing number of young women having strokes and heart attacks. NOT young like 40.. young like 25-30. YOUNG. In many of those cases it poor diet and lack of exercise; they can reverse the damage they've done to their bodies if they start paying attention today.

How about you?

Do you know your risk of heart disease? Do you know your numbers? Are you doing what you can to be heart-healthy?

And are you wearing red today?



I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions where I blogged about February's horoscopes, and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Great Expectations

Intention for 1/31/08: Be right here right now.

Expectations. They are the bugaboo of our lives, aren't they?

From the time that small children are fed the fables of Santa Claus bringing "no-string attached" gifts, to the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. Expectations of great magical things that never quite live up to all the hype.

Later there are expectations of life: satisfying work, true love, life-long friends, a long life well-lived. These are the big expectations. And the smaller ones: that people will call when they say, that things will perform the way they are promised, that someone will remember a birthday or anniversary.

Life works as promised. We just expect it.

Lately I've been noticing that when I'm having a bad day emotionally, a lot of it is triggered by expectations gone bad. It doesn't matter what the degree of the expectation, when it does not come as bright and shiny as I'd hoped for, my mood turns as dark as our weather has been lately. Storm clouds blow across my emotional landscape.

It. Has. Not. Been. Pretty.

What's wrong with expecting something positive in the future? What wrong with looking ahead with a sense of joy and adventure? Nothing. As long as I am looking ahead, but working toward that positive thing in the present. As long as I do not invest a greater sense of importance in THAT thing at the expense of THIS moment.

The problem with expectations is that they keeps me from living in the present. I don't enjoy the sunshine and light breeze today because I'm dealing with my expectations about a project I'll be working on next week.

I hold this moment hostage to the future. When that future becomes the present and it disappoints, what do I have to fall back upon? Nothing.

So I'm back to trying to concentrate on this moment. Then this moment. Then taking a breathe and concentrating on this moment. And trusting that the great shiny thing that is in my future will arrive in due time.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Today's Intention

Today's Intention: Let My Love Out Into the World

One of my goals for this year is to wake up each morning, state a positive intention for that day and remember to live by it. That's why I began this blog year with a blessing. I'll admit it, I have not always been successful at this task. But it's a new year and a new habit and if I'm getting better at it I'm happy.

Sometimes I do state an intention but I don't really feel it. It's as if I'm trying to force my heart into a space it's not ready or willing to go to yet. When I had a day fully planned of work that is exciting, a bit scary, and challenging I may whisper an intention: Bring it on. I'm ready!

But isn't this an intention I should be shouting?? I should be pumping my fist and doing some kind of "Rocky" dance. Not quietly whispering. Not fully committing to the idea.

I've decided that I will try (try is the key word here) to post a blogpost every morning as I'm sipping my first cuppa coffee. It will state my intention for the day. There should be more to the post than that.. please muse! It might be a photograph or some rambling text or even (gasp!) something creative. I will be using these posts to help establish the idea of a intention my life. You're welcome to play along.

Today's intention: Let my love out into the world was inspired by Mata's post on BlogHer: Mitakuye Oyasin - A Lakota Indian Prayer and the Spirit of Relatedness. Her words:

Take the power of love seriously. Let your love for the world out, and let it roll into action. You are not alone. What you do touches what we all do, grows, expands, heals. What you do gives me courage, gives everyone you know hope as it gives to the rest of the world. Mitakuye Oyasin

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Saturday Book Talk:The Kept Man

It has temporarily stopped raining, but if a red sky in the morning is a portent of bad weather to come, I'll enjoy these colorful clouds for their drama but know that something big is still out there.

Just finished reading Jami Attenberg's newest book The Kept Man
a novel about Jarvis, a young woman whose husband, Martin, has spent the last 6 years in a vegetative state. His life suspended and supported by machinery; her life suspended with little support at all. She cannot make the choice to end his life and begin hers again.

When her washer breaks down, it forces Jarvis out onto the streets to find a local laundrymat. There she meets four men dependent on their successful wives for their own support. These men are like both Jarvis and Martin- kept almost in suspended animation - trying to appear as if they are living a full and complete life.

The story sways to earlier times and then back to the present where Jarvis is propelled to finally begin to reclaim a life for herself. Her four new friends in part instigate this change in Jarvis and maybe in themselves.

I found the story wonderfully written with a rhythm I could sink into. It was comfortable and a bit unsettling at the same time. Jarvis is complex whole person formed through her recollections from the past and her keen observations of the world around her. A world she more observes than participates in.

If you are looking for a read with some tooth to it, consider picking up this book. I'm glad I read it. Not sure if you'd be interested in reading this book? There is a wonderful video preview of the book here on YouTube.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

ReDiscovering Deb

Who are you? What fills you passion? What makes you fulfilled? Before you answer, separate yourself from the roles you play in your life: mother, wife, lawyer, volunteer. I'm not curious about how you interact with the world. This is strictly: who are you when you are in the world?

Surround me with people and I am a happy, engaged soul who can spend hours observing the life around (I'm working on interacting with that life more). I love walking with two -or four-footed friends anywhere, singing in a choir, learning new things, taking photographs and videos, sharing food and it's preparation, working out, watching baseball. I now know I need these human interactions to give me energy and make me feel alive.

Leave me alone, and while I still have "demon days" that I try to overcome with strong connections online, I can also garden, knit, walk and eat alone in a strange city, visit a museum.

Before my year of fitness, I could not have answered this question the same way. I had lost my excitement for hobbies, I felt disconnected from the world. While outwardly I was a tired, overweight, out of shape middle-aged woman, inside I was worse. I was a dead husk. There was nothing inside to feed me or give me joy. Ask me who I was and I had no answer to give.

Then I started finding my body again in both in a physical and a spiritual sense. I was beginning to get a little stronger and gain the confidence that comes with that strength.

One day in early spring I found myself remembering goals and dreams I had once had: I used to white-water raft in West Virginia and Pennsylvania every year; quit doing that. I wanted to hike the Grand Canyon before I turned 40. Gave it up. I wanted to visit more museums and see more baseball games. Wouldn't do it if I could not convince someone to join me, and honestly believed that if I asked I would disappointed. Wanted to walk Bay to Breakers with my friend Linda in gaudy elegant "Fuck Cancer" costumes; stage 4 cancer meant she was never strong enough for us to actually design the costumes and walk 7.2 miles.

Slowly over the years I dropped my dreams, goals and wishes by the wayside and did nothing to replace them.

This spring day instead of only moving up and down my terraced garden space by the one set of steps, I didn't hesitate to use the railroad ties that formed the structure to move between levels. Stepping high, I trusted my legs and back to get me up. After I gloried in the easy movement, I began to feel these older dreams flowing back into my soul. Could I do more?

A week later I logged into the Bay-To-Breakers website and examined the race. It didn't sound hard; I'd been walking for decades, what's seven miles? I clicked the register page, filled out the information, hit send. I was officially registered for my first race ever. Over the next several weeks, I spoke to friends hoping to find someone who would walk with me. Someone to hold me accountable. Someone to keep me from canceling. That someone never materialized. This was MY walk and would have to do it alone.

Do you have demons? Voices in your head that encapsulate all the less-than-positive messages you've heard from family, authority figures or friends over the years? I do. Spring of '07 my demons were my constant companions, especially my father's spirit.

My father was a kind, nearly-unflappable man. Beat down by the world, his philosophy was always to settle for what came easily. "If you are not unhappy, don't work any harder in the hopes to become happy." I was half-way to my weight-loss goal, half-way to being accomplished. I wasn't unhappy. Nearly every moment of every day I heard him questioning why I still going to the gym and sweating, wasting money paying a trainer, throwing time and money away on this race? I am not going to win it, so why am I participating? Just stay home, say I tried, and settle.

I fought with his voice for weeks still determined to accomplish this task. When he alone was unsuccessful in beating down my determination, my mother (the Queen of Verbal Abuse) slipped her voice into my head. By the three days before the race, I had a head filled with every demon I know trying to make me miss this chance.

Still I was determined. I was emotionally shaken, feeling weak, but this one time I was going for something. I emailed a number of my friends and asked for support: please call me while I'm walking and keep me company. Even though I would be in a crowd, I was doing this alone and didn't want to feel alone.

That Sunday I made it to the race. A small victory.

As we turned onto 9th Street and headed for Hayes Street Hill, suddenly and unexpectedly, my demons disappeared. They didn't simply quiet themselves in my head, they shrank to dustless motes in the air and dropped completely away from me. They were defeated. I had won.

I felt that proverbial huge weight lift from my body. Light and bright and filled with pure energy I continued on. Those friends who got through to talk to me didn't want to hang up. They wanted to be part of the bright happy experience that was me that day. Well, me for about a week afterward.

I do not recall that complete a feeling of relaxed joy and satisfaction every before. It gave me hope for my future.

Bouyed with the memory of that day, I made the choice for additional adventures: July's red-eye flight into in Chicago so I could catch a White Sox game before BlogHer began; BarCampBlock when I was unsure that I'd know anywhere there; volunteering to help organize She's Geeky. Each time as the experience approached, demons would return, trying to convince me to quit.

I haven't. Instead I am continuing to plan to achieve dreams I had deferred. This June, I will white water raft for the first time in 20 years. I want to book a trip near my birthday so the adventure will be a present to me.

And in the spring of 2009, I hope to hike the Grand Canyon. The key thing that may cause me to defer this trip to another time? It isn't safe to do this alone; I need at least one person hiking with me?

So what are you doing in late March, 2009?

(republished from a special post at BlogHer)
I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

The Artist's SocNet Toolbox. What should be in it?

Chris Brogan wrote a great article detailing a number of the social media tools available for us to use. He suggested that we all assemble our own toolkits based upon how we use the internet and what we wish to accomplish. I posted his list and tweaked it a bit to become my personal.

Then I realized that this list isn't necessarily that helpful for the artist/crafter. I know there are important tools that we need that did not make this list and tools on the list that are not that important to us:

pre-existing communities like those that exist in Ravelry and Craftster.

Commercial sales sites like Etsy.

Link accumulators (I suppose delicious would fit.. but is sk*rt better?

Other tools might be less helpful at the moment. Do we need mobile blogging and communications?

If you are an Artist or Crafter, what tools do you currently carry in your toolkit? Which tools are missing that you wish you had?

(early draft for an article on BlogHer)

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

KnitMap, helping the knitter on the go

(edited from a post on BlogHer)

BlogHer editor, sassymonkey, is headed to Europe soon, and like any true knitting nut, she queried her contacts on Twitter to ask: Are there any yarn stores I need to visit in Paris/Rome/Venice?

Alas, my new favorite knit-store finder only found chain stores in Paris and nothing in Italy. If you know where to find stores in these cities, will you please let Sassymonkey know? I'm hoping it's just a case of the website needing time. I mean, there MUST be great yarn shops in these cities, right? They just haven't been entered on the KnitMap.

What's that you say? What's KnitMap? It's a website that uses a Google Maps application to let you locate yarn shops anywhere. Yep, it can be that simple. Let's say you will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and want to know about shops in the area. Enter the city name, click "GO", and 2 shops pop up on the map. Click on the marker for either one will yield more information about the shop and the opportunity to get directions.

However, you can also try searching for stores with specific limiters. I entered "Oakland, CA." and asked for shops with wifi. There are three in the KnitMap database in the Bay Area!

Matt, the website developer, has also made it possible to have KnitMap on your IPhone.

If you're wondering how you missed knowing about KnitMap, the site just premiered in September and is dependent upon visitors entering shop details. Most large cities in the US seem to be well represented. Outside the US, however, results are more hit-or-miss. There are regular raffles of goodies for those who enter store data, so why not check to see if your LYS is on their list. If not, please enter it.

Especially if you know one in Paris, Rome or Venice.

What other bloggers are saying about KnitMaps:

Katewillknit used KnitMaps while planning a trip to Japan.

Crafting Morrighana is wondering Have You Seen My Yarnstore?

Crafter by Night listed the website as one of her favorite things from early January.

Kim Werker at CrochetMe thought I Must Live Under A Rock.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

I will fear the prints no longer...

Would you find this top attractive on you? I thought NOT, but in truth it was fabulously cute when I tried it on.

I am home from 4 days spent in SoCal with my friend Del and her spouse Dennis. It was a fabulous time.. relaxing and restoring and educational.

Friday night, Del and I were watching What Not To Wear, and I admitted a fear of prints. When I've tried them in the past, I lost the me behind the print. They overwhelmed them. Saturday we spent a couple hours at a Kohl's trying on a 20 tops (no I didn't buy any.. though I wanted to)... to conquer my fear of the print.

What we learned. FOR ME:

• A lower neckline is a necessity. A print with a jewel neck chops off my head. (it's my low-contrast, light coloring).
• Plain banding along the neckline and across the waist help to anchor the clothes to my body and keep me from being overwhelmed.
• High contrast color only works with strong banding.
• The perfect neckline will come down to that high point along the sternum, but not down to being even with my nipples. All the tops we tried on in the Desert Hot Springs/Palm Springs area were the much lower cuts. (hello cougar!)

Photo of some the acceptable style tops. NO, none of these would be timeless fashions. These would be 1-2 year maximum styles. Still the concepts of how I can wear prints can be timeless;
Photos taken at Kohl's.

This was both a top and a dress. I really wanted to buy it, as I could layer the top over jeans, pants or a skirt, and even add a cami under it or a jacket over it. But it was not a real wrap, and was cut much too low. Cuter than cute, though.

This lower-color contrast pring worked even without a plain band at the neckline. Had it had a higher color contrast or a higher neck it wouldn't have. Came closest to buying this, but my bra still showed at the edges of the square.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Making It Count

(crossposted from BlogHer)

Caron Lage, from And Still Counting, had an idea last spring:

I can tell when I've hit upon a good idea in a couple of ways. Some ideas just won't leave me alone. They haunt me until I succumb to doing something. My favorite ideas also make me jump up and down and do a little dance. I don't realize I even do it.

This blog is going to be about is going to be about one of those jump up and down ideas that haunts me.

Not long ago, I was perusing the internet, when I came across some photos of a display at Reed College out in Portland Oregon. Flags had been placed in the lawn. A red flag for every American who has died in the war, and a white one for every six Iraqis. There were 3055 red flags, and 112,000 white flags. I was overwhelmed.

Caron decided that as a fiber artist she could create an art project that served as a visual record of these deaths. She knew it had to be quilt-like in nature (quilting being her preferred medium.. and an easy medium for people to work in). And then she clearly saw the concept:

A small quilt for each American who has died and on that quilt small french knots to represent each Iraqi. Using the numbers from the Reed display, that's 3055 little quilts with 212 french knots on each one. The quilts will be made and bound with solid color fabrics. Any color is fine, they represent the soldiers who repesent us and we are of every color and ethnicity. The 212 french knots will be made with black thread. I've been using 2 strands of embroidery floss, and starting in the center, make a spiral of french knots. Each little quilt will be connected to the next with small brass safety pins. I am putting a purple bead on the safety pin between the quilts to represent the wounded. It's no where near the actual number of wounded, nut, they need to be represented as well. .

I am going to need help.

Thus the collaborative War Memorial Quilt began.

In May, Caron posted a tutorial on making one square. And the squares began to pour in from around the world. Some collaborators were using seed beads instead of french knots; others were choosing different abstract patterns than the spiral. The project began to grow. Recnetly, another tutorial on efficiently cutting a number of blocks from 1-5/8 yard of fabric was also published.

In November, Caron shot the project SO FAR at a local park. Eight panels of 30 blocks each. With other blocks being assembled, she had a total of 300 blocks representing 300 American and 63,600 Iraqi deaths. She was also interviewed for Minnesota Public Radio.

Currently, the project is hanging at the White Bear Lake Unitarian Universalist Church. Check out this picture of this beautiful testament to war and death.

Other bloggers with bright ideas:

When Evil Mad Scientist Lenore Edman had an accident, the worst damage was to her messenger bag. The EMTs cut it off her body! She took this opportunity to repair it with a better, stronger, faster version using a seat belt buckle mechanism.

Rachael from All It Took Was Just One Stitch spins, knits, sews, and cooks. This past Saturday, she shared the instructions for sewing a Pyramid Door Stop (it's summer in Australia.. with those summer breezes...). We in the Northern hemisphere can start sewing these up in in anticipation of the soon-to-be warm spring winds.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Inspiration Makes Me Bitchy.. Please Deal.

I began today with not much emotion at all, which, I'm choosing to believe, means I was relatively happy. Not smiling like an idiot happy; but content and in need of little outside my control. Maybe content would be the better word, but I'm sticking with happy.

There was no big reason for my contented happiness. My clothes were soft and comfortable. My belly was fed. I had friends online I was in touch with. I have this idea. Life was simple and good and on a Sunday morning, that's about all I can ask of it.

Then I started thinking again.

Everywhere I look lately, people are talking about giving themselves a break, being kinder to themselves, trying to watch their negative self-talk. I blogged about his just the other day and inspired Maria Niles to wrote about it with BlogHer post: Putting Your Own Oxygen Mask on First. It's a good article. Go read it.

I have an idea to encourage folks to be kinder to themselves. And to share in a community with others. Get support and reinforcement.

It would require a website (or at first at least a new blog), a registered domain name, lots of online PR, some outlay of cash. Time. I don't have any understanding of the technical part and was feeling a bit frustrated about wanting this to happen now and not being able to do it myself. Also, I don't really feel like I can take the time learn (how?? is the big question...) without my losing passion for the idea and it passing the world by.

I don't want that to happen.

I want this happen RIGHT NOW. Not that I'm an impulsive, results-oriented control-freak person or anything! Well, I am, but I'm trying to learn about the journey...

This frustration manifested itself in me with a major case of the bitchies! Bitchies are not fun for myself or anyone around me, whether in real life or cyber life. They also don't get the work done. A hard work out at the gym didn't help either (I'm bitchier since coming home. So not what I wanted!)

However, I have a couple people are stepping in to provide some of the help I need. Now I'm not quite as stressed and bitchy as I was. I sometimes need to warn others and myself that I hold the world to high standards and am so disappointed when the world lets me down. When I let me down. When others let me down. I need to give the world a break, starting with me.

If you want to get involved, please email me and we can talk more.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Negative Inside, Nasty Out...

Last week I mentioned wearing my complaintFreeWorld bracelet, and changing part of the focus:

I'm adjusting the rules for me to add one BIG difference: when I think (instead of just say) something negative about myself, I'm switching the bracelet, too. 'Cause that negative talk has got to stop!

I was about to write a long essay about this when I remembered I can do better.



BTW, if you like this idea of quick little videos.. I have a couple invites to Seesmic that I can hand out. Simply email me. Come join the video conversation...

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

When I Believe...

I think y'all know I spent a huge amount of energy in '07 getting physically fit. I fell in love with free weights, lost 40# and made a good friend in my trainer.

The first quarter of '08, BlogHer is dedicating special posts to a Good-Health-A-Thon! Mental, physical, emotional and financial fitness are going to be tackled in the next three months. This month is all about that physical fitness, looking at both physical fitness and diet. I was thrilled when they emailed me to write two posts for this special topic. (shh.. don't tell them, I would have gone to the community blog and posted them anyway!)

The first article was published today. It's the story of my journey to physical fitness from the moment the Universe gave me what I needed through to today. It's partly a tribute to professional trainers (one in particular) but mainly the breakthrough that made the great change for me.

The article is: When I Believe, I Can.

I'm not going to republish it here or on Deb's Distractions. Just let it sit pretty where it lives today. But, please, go read it. And ignore the typos I keep finding in the piece. I swear I proofed it 5 times and have corrected typos several times since it published. I swear the html and the trickiness of Drupal are screwing my text.

The end of this month a companion piece will join it: Rediscovering Deb. More about the emotional changes that have taken place because of the physical changes.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

(edited from an article on Blogher)

Wardrobe Refashion has begun a new round. Talk about New Year's Resolutions! Refashionistas take the pledge for 2 to 6 months, with the option of renewing their pledge when the time expires.

The rules of Wardrobe Refashioning are simple:

No buying new (handmade is excepted). All clothing must be Recycled, Renovated, Preloved, Thrifted or Handmade.

There is a "Get Out of Refashionista Jail Free" card can be used for emergency cases once every 2 months.

You must post on the Refashionista blog at least once a week to stay in the community. This keeps the participants productive and helps to build a sense of community.

You MUST be honest if you fall off the Refashionista wagon.

What does this really mean, though? This means that these pledgers will be taking the clothes they already own.. perhaps a dress
that isn't in style anymore. . .and re-work it to make something that is wearable today. That dress? They may:

• remove the collar and style a new neckline
• alter the shape or length of the sleeves
• turn it into a skirt or blouse]
• change the shape or length of the skirt
  
  
• embellish it with silk screening, beading, crochet, or embroidery
• cut it apart and use the fabric in a completely new way.

Clothes in their own closet are not their only supplies. They can take their fabric stash (or thrifted
fabrics) and use it make every-day wardrobe items. Simple tops and
skirts are popular items here. They often call for only 1-2 yards of
fabric, can be cut and sewn in a day, and often fill a gap in therefashioner's wardrobe. (Doesn't everybody need more cute tops?? I think the answer is yes!)

Items
from a thrift shop are eligible, too. The right sweater can be
purchased, unknitted and the yarn used to knit a sweater in a size and
style that suits the refashioner. Or a colorful wool sweater can be
felted into a beaded necklace.Jeans can be purchased and embellished with a bleached stencil, embroidery, or fabric insets, then tailored to fit their new owner like a designer pair!

Some of the Refashionistas and their work:

There is a Flickr group dedicated to The Refashionistas. Look at some of the wonderful things they've made.

Penny from Sew Take a Hike fashioned a really cute fabric shopping bag that folds up small enough to slip into her purse!

LuceLu aka scarlettquilts used one a Burda-style pattern to sew a cute day dress.

Suzy from floating world view is new to the pledge.. but skilled!!

Helpful Tools for the Refashionista:

We can all download the Garment Plan (PDF) from 62cherry. This sheet allows the refashionistas to make a plan for an item, note trims, fabrics, patrns, and gives space to make any notes. I think a sheet like this would be helpful to anyone who regularly sews clothes, home dec or crafty items. I'm making it part of my studio supplies!

AlterNation is not only a blog.. it's also a book authored by Shannon Okey (knitgrrl) and Alexandra Underhill (artofxan). With the subtitle: Transform, Embellish, Customize.. it should fit right into the refashioning world.

Craftster, Craft, Sewing.org, and Threads areare all websites that will provide tips and inspiration to the WR pledgers. There is one more resource that many may use: the Burda-Style Open-Source Sewing site. I'll be telling you more about the Burda site later this week.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

Not complaining...

I ordered some of the ComplaintFreeWorld bracelets in December; and, as luck would have it, I received them on New Year's Eve. Putting my own on was an active resolution. The website makes this suggestion:

Begin to wear the bracelet, on either wrist.

When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing (it’s ok, everyone does) move the bracelet to the other arm and begin again.

If you hear someone else who is wearing a bracelet complain, you may point out their need to switch the bracelet to the other arm; BUT if you’re going to do this, you must move your bracelet first!

Stay with it. It may take many months but when you reach 21 days you will find that your entire life is happier, more loving and more enjoyable.

Note: elsewhere they say that it takes most people up to 7 months to get 21 days on the same arm!

Let me tell ya, it's really easy to keep this bracelet on one arm when you rarely interact with people. I mean, if it only counts when I SAY it... Well, OK, I talk to myself occasionally. Still it's easier when you spend a lot of time alone. I'm adjusting the rules for me to add one BIG difference: when I think (instead of just say) something negative about myself, I'm switching the bracelet, too. 'Cause that negative talk has got to stop!

Today I spent a couple hours with friends visiting. I think I switched my bracelet more times in 2 hours than I did all this week! "Comfortable" conversational styles are definitely going to be challenged over the next few months.

I ordered a bunch of these and will be offering them to all my friends as I see them. Sunday all my Monday evening Pickle-pals are getting together. I'll offer it to them. I'm thinking the ones who could use it the most are the ones who will most quickly decline the offer. (Ok.. that deserves a bracelet switch...)

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

A Blessing. For the New Year

I found this on someone's blog a couple weeks ago. It resonates with me so deeply, that I have been making it a point to read it each morning, so I share it with you for the new year.

A Blessing

May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work that you do
with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light
and renewal to those who work with you
and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of
refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in bland absences.
May the day never burden.
May dawn find you awake and alert,
approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.

John O'Donoghue

I am particularly in love with the second sentence; the idea that my secret love blesses everything I do. The additional wish that we wake ready for the day, that we end the day fulfilled and rest in calm is so very hopefully.

Most important concept for me to remember:
May you be present in what you do. May you never become lost in bland absences. Gonna have to cut down on my Twitter time...

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.