okay, quick update:

new things.

1. new niece: jada reese white born 13th november 2008

2. new apartment: this time without flatmates!!! yay!!!

3. new (redacted): i can't talk about this one yet...but if i decide to keep it, i'll update you later. promise.

4. new studio space: albeit in my new apartment. design studio space on opposite end of living room. photo studio space on opposite end of bedroom. and enough room to hula hoop in!

5. new year...not right this minute, but very soon. i think we're already off to a good start.


happy holidays all.

*s.

as some of you know, i am on holiday from the 9-5 jobby-job this week and next. this first week, has been filled with oh-my-goodness greatness, oh-my-goodness busy-ness, and oh-my-goodness-gracious calamity...but it all has a happy ending and i shall be off to bed soon to have warm-fuzzy-happy-ending sweet dreams.

well, great and wonderful dj reborn had a gig that was canceled last friday (why rain, why?), but rescheduled for this friday - tonight. i thought this was perfect! i'd be off work and actually have time to make something new to wear (which i've been itching to do all summer, plus i'd never been to the studio museum in harlem before and i wanted to feel extra special). so i embarked on the making of a new dress. BUT i also promised to donate some artwork for a silent auction at a big obama fund-raiser being held on saturday. i had to hand in my artwork by thursday, so that had to take precedence...poo! well, not poo, exactly, but you know what i mean. i worked myself into a tither trying to figure out what to do for the artwork...finally, on thursday (in the wee hours), i decided to get some photos printed and mounted and use that. of course, i also had to put labels and ad my artist bio (i hate writing about myself...it feels like writing my own obituary). so i really only had thursday night and friday daytime to whip up this dress i wanted out of some west african fabric given to me by the ever-lovely and fabulous miss cristina. SO, i got to work!

then, before it got too late, i decided to make myself a little something to eat...and inadvertently stabbed myself in the left hand. nearly two inches long and pretty deep. past the fatty tissue. lots of bleeding. of course, i'm pretty clumsy and a veteran of self-induced injury, so i wasn't panicked at all. but after the bleeding slowed 15 minutes later and i was all wrapped up (and i'd eaten), it occurred to me that i had very limited sensation in my smallest (and favorite) finger. i looked online with my one good hand, and decided i should probably take my uninsured self to the emergency room to be on the safe side. i spent WAY too much money on art school to lose the use of a hand at this stage in the game...

three stitches and several hours later, i returned home, did a little work on the dress, and poured myself into bed around 6am. woke up at 11:30am and got back to work on the dress. i only had a 2nd muslin for the bodice done. i checked the fit on that, made pattern corrections and cut it in fabric. i didn't do a pattern for the skirt at all. just measured, cut and sewed. time was getting really close. i was supposed to meet cristina at the studio museum at 7. i texted her i'd be there by 7:30pm. i finished the dress in such a manner that it looked presentable (as long as you don't get too, too close or turn it inside out or anything), and got on the train at 7:20pm. got to the studio museum at 8:30pm. cristina was wonderfully un-upset by my tardiness. dj reborn was AMAZING on the turntables (no surprise there). and apart from the pain and disappointment i felt from the shoes i'd picked up the week before to go with the dress i'd made, i had a phenomenal time!

the moral of the story: new dresses, good friends, and ass-shaking make everything better.

goodnight my lovelies...warm-fuzzy sweet dreams to you all.

boys and girls, it has been a crazy, hectic, mad-busy, ridiculously fun, surprising, eye-opening, creative, and inspiring summer so far...and it's only july! i have gotten to catch up with people i haven't seen all year. i have gotten to meet new people that i want to catch up with again soon (which is unusual for me because you know how i feel about people). i've gotten to try some new things and go back to trying some things that were so old it felt new again. this is the most fun i've had in a good, long while, i think. i feel like a big, dopey bag full of giggles.

hope you're all enjoying this as much as i am!

*s.

ahhhh...the first week of june brought some surprises...some good, some not so good, some shaping up to be maybe not so bad after all. let's avoid the details of the last couple of weeks so may and skip to the good part. 1st june: out with the old and in with the new. my old flatmate moves out (well, that was the prevailing theory, but i won't go into detail), and my new flatmate stops by with $$$ for the landlords and a little hang out time. 3rd june: cristina got us tix to the 'true colors' tour at radio city music hall. cyndi lauper. regina spektor. the b-52's. the cliks...and surprise guests: MARGARET CHO & JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL!!!! i heart hedwig! good times. regina spektor is so phenomenal live. quirky and funny and delightful. such a good night. 5th june: got to hang out with a friend that i haven't seen in ages but always have such a good time with. warm-fuzzies. 6th june: thought i might catch up on some sleep. i was wrong. so very, very wrong. 7th june: temperatures in the mid-90's and what seemed like 1000% humidity...and the wundertwins came over to do my hair (i just heart them they're so sweet and nice and good...and they can work it out on some purple braids.). it looks great (like that was ever a doubt in your mind) and they finished in record time. we chit-chatted about life, work, and the getting of tattoos. i have one in mind but need the time to go to my original guy to get it done (and hope he lets me in without making an appointment 2 years in advance - it was so much easier in yokohama). j-twin says she wants a big piece (maybe a sleeve) but doesn't know what yet. a-twin says she wants something pretty kick-ass (i won't divulge exactly what) but she needs to find the right person. i respect that.

then i cleaned up and went out into the blistering heat to run errands and came home to play with the new flatmate's kitten (so cute!). and here i sit...chillin'.

it's not a bad start to the summer, really...

enjoy yours!

so, my birthday, april 7th. i tend to observe the holiday all month long, right up until 7th may. i love my birthday. it is truly the best time of the year. just before my birthday, usually beginning some time in march, but sometimes as early as late february, i enter my time of power. this sounds silly, but trust me it's real. it can only be explained as the confluence of universal energies whereby somehow, almost as if by magic, i begin to get everything i want...or at least things start to really go my way. happens every year. honest. and this year has been just grand! i got some really hot new shoes...for 50% off. i made some new jeans that look fabulous! i got to see tons of people that i nearly never get to see. people phoned me from all over the globe to let me know how my birthday was celebrated in their time zones. lovely. just lovely.

i wanted to have my hair done, and the girl who used to do my hair would totally come out to handle me, BUT she now lives in new jersey, and i would feel too guilty to drag her out to my house to handle my purple braidiness. so i contacted the Wonder Twins. the Wonder Twins had come to do my hair on one other occasion, and i was VERY pleased with the results. snag in the plan: the wonder twins were still with their family in hamburg, germany!!! BUT, in accordance with prophecy, i get a message saying that their visa situation was finally cleared up, and they would arrive in new york on 24th march, and would be delighted to come and get me all braided up nice for my birthday the very next weekend. i do love them so. they're adorable. i just want to keep them in my pocket! not completely like the mothra twins...mmmm....mothra twins...

and on top of all that love, i had a theme birthday: Rockabilly Bowling. basically, everyone had to get dressed up rockabilly style and come out for bowling and drinks. a good time was had by all. and just a couple of weeks later, the family i work with decided to take a semi-impromptu trip to take the baby visiting family in paris, so i had a whole week off of work! paid. nice...

and now i'm back at work and the baby has finally mastered the art o the the two-hour nap. love this kid.

okay, gotta go "work".

hope you all enjoyed my time of power as much as i have!!!