Little Fish

I started a swim class this semester. I took the class on a whim, expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. The first day I swam a measly (& tiring!!) 15 laps. My arms, my legs, my sides were stiffening while I was still in the pool. On the bike ride home, I could barely lift my arms to flip off the couple laughing at my windblown hair from atop their obnoxiously large truck. It was daunting and intimidating knowing just how out of shape I really was.

It should be said that I am not a physical person. I have never played on a sports team nor have I ever taken a dance class or fitness class (aside from the forced Phys Ed in high school). Moving with conviction and force have never been a part of my natural body language, to be honest, I'm just plain clumsy!

I've attempted jogging/running and did it for a good couple months, but the strain seems tough on my body. It didn't seem natural and I was definitely not very good at it. Hell, I could barely run a mile, and that's not even taking into account the huffing, puffing and general red-faced struggling! I have no endurance and no motivation. If I'm tired, I'm tired, end of story. Thus, the running didn't last long and it certainly didn't kick my butt into shape.

The swimming, though, is a different story. I started out with an excruciating 15 laps that left my body in sheer agony for the rest of the week. Now, a little less than two months later, I'm just shy of 40 laps! I feel fit and more toned and, most of all, happier.

I push myself (which is unheard of for me!) and feel good about earning an extra lap or two each day. It's something I can be proud of that is totally different from anything I've done.

It's stress relieving, calming, fun. Am I starting to sound like an advertisement for swim?

The sights of people's undersides drifting in clear chlorinated water is fascinating and down right funny sometimes. And I bet I'm a sight to laugh at too! I wear goggles AND a swim cap. Hahaha.

I didn't mean for this entry to become a reflection on swimming, but I suppose it was subconscious. I've got water on the brain.

This does; however, lead me to my real reason for this post. I feel like my next few crafts/projects will involve swimming, water, oceans, pools, etc. It's starting to affect me to the point where it seems necessary to link it to something else, like crafts, in my life.

...I've still got some craft ideas that need to be followed through on before I can start, but mark my words, I will.

Letter F

Finally! I finished Forster's novel, A Passage to India. It took about three months which is long for me. I read some other reviews on the book and it seemed to have a generally positive response.

I just couldn't get into it though. The subject matter was interesting, a clash between English and Indian, but beyond that I found no redeeming factors. The story felt flat, unchanging, even during the (semi) climactic courtroom scene. And for whatever reason I got a very pretentious attitude from the narrator.

Overall, I didn't enjoy this book, but could see the reasons it became a classic.

Now, on to Letter G!

Tits&Ass,
LadyD

Updatin'

My biggest news of the week: I'm getting a new tattoo! Yippee-kai-yay! I plan on getting this paper heart on a smaller scale:


I will probably make changes, but this is it for the most part. Now, on to other ventures!

I learned how to make my first rivet! It's a cold connection, thus, requires no heat.



I finished my second piece for the bracelet and am starting to look forward to it more. The top piece is the newest addition and came out better than I thought.


That's all for now! Enjoy!

A to Z

A while back I started an A to Z reading list. I go through the alphabet picking from authors last name, one fiction book per letter of an author I've never read. Some letters (the common ones) I will read twice, to skip letters like "Z".

I'm about to finish my "F " book by E.M. Forster. And I decided I should keep a catalog of pictures, so at the end I can have 26 pictures of my journey.

I say journey because this is meant to expand my horizon as a reader. We all create niches of genres/authors that we lean towards and sometimes this narrows our literature eye to a very small corner of books. By choosing authors I've never read before, it offers new writing styles, voices, themes, etc. Here are the books I've read so far:

The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster was quite an illusion for me. I both enjoyed and hated it. You can see all the notes and tabs I added to it, but reading it wasn't the best of experiences. It still held may gems of wisdom and intellect, but was off kilter just enough to make me wonder why I liked it.
My "B" book is T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain. I'd been told by my brother-in-law to read this book many times before I actually decided to read it. He insisted it was a good read and while I had no doubts about his opinion, I just never got around to it. I figured my list was a perfect time to dive in. I really enjoyed the sharp contrast between the two story lines. In one, we see the struggle of an illegal couple bearing the pain and suffering of dreaming of bigger and better things; while in the other, we see an almost laughable white couple endure what seem to be much smaller grievances. Overall, it was wonderful.

This is Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. I pick most of my books randomly. I'll read the back covers and pick whichever seems most interesting. This one was totally random and not the best book I've read. He seemed to have a lot of acclaim for this and other works, but it was not my cup of tea. The writing style and topic seemed too simplified. The plot could have been better, I feel. It still had its moment though, like any other book. There's never all bad...in most cases.


This Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and by far my favorite book of this list and climbing the charts for one of several favorite books of all time. It's about a circus family where the father genetically alters the embryos of his children while in the womb to create his own brood of freaks. The story travels back and forth from past to present. It was an all together amazing novel and I can't believe it was written a few decades ago!

My "E" book, Bret Easton Ellis' The Informers. I believe this was made into a movie, but a lot of his books have so I may be mistaken. It could definitely translate to a movie fairly well. It was odd and totally bizarre at the end. It made me feel like I'd missed something during the reading of it and I can't figure to take that as a sign of a good or bad book. My overall opinion of this is mediocre.

That brings us to F. Once I'm finished, I'll take a picture and give my thoughts. Hopefully, I'll have more to write on the books since I'll be doing them one at a time from here on out.

Ketchup? Catsup?

Another Art Wednesday has passed and this time, my niece and I made cookies. Valentine's ones to be exact.Love her!

This weekend I plan on making Anti Valentine's Day cookies. Special ones...if ya get my drift. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. I hope they come out delicious AND rebellious.


Now, let's travel back in time to.....Monday! I went on an exercise date to Abalone Cove. It was fun, if only slightly painful on my weak knees. The starfish were beautiful and abundant!


Tomorrow, relax. Clean out the wreckage in my car. Visit the Hammer Museum to try and get Justin's stop-motion shown at amateur night.

That's all for this late night post.

Tits&Ass,
The Lady

Finally!

Made a few new texture samples and started my actual bracelet.


One of my faves so far. A paper cut out with some hammering.

And here is my first piece. I have yet to file and patina, but it's looking pretty good. It's kind of daunting because you have to figure everything out before you do it and I'm not used to planning so damn much!


I spent about an hour (& 6 saws!!) sawing this out.

Art Wednesday

My niece gets out of school early on Wednesdays and I thought it would be fun for her to have some project to do. Our first Art Wednesday was paper mache-ing. We only did one each due to an unforeseen time constraint, but with each Wednesday the crafts should be improving as I get a better grasp on children's art.

My hands were covered in starch, so I didn't have much time to snap pictures while we worked, but here's a picture of our drying balloons.



She wanted to make a beach ball and I was working on a hot air balloon.

It was a successful first art day!

Textures

Here are a few textures I worked on for my jewelry class. These are just experiments with hammering/stamping, roller mills, and patinas. I have yet to try out the sandblaster, but you bet your ass I will come Thursday.

I haven't fallen in love with any textures yet, which means I've got a lot to work on.


My first. It was hammered on, then sent through the roller mill with a piece of lace over it. This is my favorite so far.



Hammered with stamps and texture hammers.



I like this picture just cause it shows the effects of the roller mill on the metal and on the texturizer sent through. I placed two pieces of wire mesh in a criss cross fashion over the metal. This is another fave.



The strip at the bottom was hammered and patina'd


I'll be collecting interesting textures to send through the roller mill (I think it's my favorite texurizer thus far!).

Oh and on another note, I'm starting a weekly craft date with my niece. She's 5 years old and I think an art project would be fun for her. Tomorrow we start our "Art Wednesdays!" dates. She gets out of school early and I'll pick her up and we'll make art. Our first project: Papier mache!