churro of understanding

this is a pic of the "churro of understanding" quilt when it was nearly finished. you can see the unfinished binding along part of the blanket. the left side of the pic is the back of the quilt: the right side shows part of the front with the finished binding.

one more pic: this is an in progress shot of "we can swim any day in november." there were still safety pins basting the layers together in some spots, and no binding.
and with that, i'm turning on the colbert report and picking up the "endless striped blanket" i've been knitting for SIX YEARS. honestly, if i had been knitting it more often, it would have been done long ago. i'd intended it to be a baby blanket, maybe 3' x 4'. the last time i checked it was at least 4'x 5'. ha!

i'm working a little later than expected tonight. nothing dramatic, but it made me think to update the desk posts...
changed the desktop images on my avid last night: on the left: allison (of SUPERSCHEIN) and brian standing in line outside the riviera in chicago last february during the wilco residency.
on the right: jeff tweedy during one of last year's letters to santa living room shows. that white square hanging from the mic stand is one of the printed pot-holders i made as a souvenier of the potluck & musical revue. :)
you can also see a "rampant badassery" sticker taped to the bottom of the left monitor. WORLD WIDE, YO!
both pics taken with my analog cam, by the way.

b/c it's a cool visual, here is a pic that is an overview of how i constructed the potholders:
from left to right:
1. gocco printed square (kind of lo-fi screen printing)
2. example of backing fabric
3. printed square, batting and backing during quilting process
4. a finished quilted square trimmed up
5. cloth strip to be used as binding
6. potholder with binding being turned to front & pinned
7. done! it's even got a loop at the corner.
the back row shows many of the different fabric combos i used. they're all pinned, waiting for the top stitching on the binding. i all i made 40 potholders in 16 different fabric combos. i took this pic standing on a chair in my sewing room.

for the potholders i used the same binding technique i use for my quilts. SEGUE! last night i made considerable progress sewing the binding on a kids' quilt that's been kicking around unfinished for about six years. i am THIS close to finishing it. last night i laid on the couch under it watching the colbert report. (if i've ever sewn or knit something for you, i have tried it on, or slept for a night or two with it on my bed. i just like to enjoy the finished project before sending it out in the world. note: i do NOT try on the baby stuff i make. nope.)

i've been laying pretty low the last few weeks: i was too sick to go out for awhile so i just got into the habit of spending evenings at home. all day yesterday i was thinking about going home to sew and check the blocking of roberta's scarf. tonight, i'm having to stay a little later at work, but i'm pining for the knitting needles. (say what you will.)
the only thing left to do on the aforementioned kids' quilt is to embroider a phrase, my signature, and the date on it. i like to use a phrase that is related to something going on when i finish the blanket. past phrases:
-"we can swim any day in november." from the postal service song, the district sleeps tonight. i finished the quilt right after thanksgiving. a thanksgiving i spent swimming in my friends' pool until 2am. brilliant. :) this was for nora.

-"this is the new year." from the death cab for cutie song, "the new year." i dated the quilt jan 6, 2006. it's not as obvious a choice as it sounds: jan 2005 started off with my sister in the hospital on life support. it was a statement of reclaiming the new year, dammit. i kept this quilt.

-"churro of understanding" is a reference to my friend moe's short film, "corndog of tolerance." i sent him a letter addressed to moe "churro of understanding" g. then i wrote a postcard to our mutal friends tiff & duane explaining the whole joke. this quilt went to tiff & duane for their son, barrett.

those might be the only ones...i used to just embroider them with the date and "Yvon."

totally unrelated, but truly cool: last weekend the western regional barista competition was held in l.a. (i was working, wtf?!). the top three spots were won by three of the guys who pull shots at intelligentsia. WOO! i am such a fan girl. i believe i blush when they slide those cappuccinos across the counter. *swoon* GO TEAM! last year's national championship was won by a barista at the los angeles branch of intelligentsia. (recently noticed that they've expanded their late hours to thursday! if i get out of here before 9:30p, think i'll head over. dude, it is 9pm now. there is no way i'm getting out of here in time. ahh, well: overtime, yo.)

further acquistions and analog pleasures

last week i got some pix back from the developer. pix captured on film negative. when i told one friend i was wating to get some film developed he chuckled.
analog.
i love my little film camera. i love camera negative. maybe it's related to cutting 16mm ftg on a film bench. i love holding up the negative/print and seeing the image right there. tangible.

but.

the time has come: i'd really like to have a digital camera.
nothing too sophisticated. the last time i handled a camera with detachable lenses was 1991.
so i'm looking for recommendations. (paddysat, pneyu, preferred b, marg, mogomom, whiteplains: any tutelage you can offer in the way of megapixels, resolution and design would be appreciated.)

also: i've been sniffing around the facebook koolaid. a co-worker told me today that i could set my profile to different privacy standards. this is key. there are those spooky people who one would rather see remain in the ether. *shudder*

singing me through monday morning: neko case & the sadies. fucking a.

from the desk of ms. y.

this is my desk. the padding on the wall is sound baffling. i'm not a fan of it, but it keeps the noise from the adjacent office lower.
i'll be spending a lot of time here over the next month. our schedule is ramping up to some tight delivery deadlines, so i'll be working some late nights and weekends. no complaints: the fridge here is stocked with 1/2 & 1/2.

this was the desk i used at "the cleaner." the assortment of coffee cups and cookie are a good representation. (what you can't see in the current pic is my thermal coffee mug, a coffee cup full of tangerine wedges, my thermos (now depleted of its coffee store), a cup of water, and half a banana.)

how things go...

**written jan 17, saturday. sitting in a window seat at urth cafe, santa monica. for the record: cappuccino and tortilla soup. :) *

again, the fruit of making no plans is a chance encounter. this time with dear friends not seen for too long.
whenever i have these random meet ups i think about all the decisions that could have resulted in our missing one another. tonight, it was right down to turning left, not right, after crossing the street.
there they were: emil, moe, amy, kirby and baby kate!
i've had one chance meet up with moe before: outside the arclight cinema in h'wood. when i lived on the west side, we used to live in the same neighborhood. seeing each other on the street wasn't so rare, and was always a treat.
just two weeks ago i ran into my friends sue & craig at a dave rawlings machine show @ largo. for MONTHS sue has been dilligently trying to meet me for lunch or something. (i'll be seeing them next weekend when i attend their baby shower! *crazy exciting this!*)
when i have these unexpected friend sightings, i realize i am a lucky bastard. those who know me, are familiar with my reluctance to make plans. that these people who mean so much to me just happen to be on the same street, at the same show...

these chance meetings remind me of vinnie. she's my oldest friend. whenever we were within a certain range of the other we would cross paths: bumping to each other @ the tapestry & talent fair, she & loretta driving down guadalupe expwy. when i was sitting there, on the hood of my car which was stuck in the mud, her walking across my blanket at a grateful dead show in monterey (i didn't even know she listened to the dead!)...
this doesn't happen to us anymore. i live in california, she in oklahoma. but i think about her a lot. she is on my mind. i wonder if we're doing the same "running into one another thing" but long distance, in thought.

so, i'm sick.

plan b.

about 2 hours before the end of my work day last friday, the cold that had been quietly threatening me all week finally came on full strength. meh.

i'd planned a weekend of crockpot cooking, dish washing, laundry doing, cleaning... what it has become: me on the couch. me in bed. i'm not bedridden, so i'm grateful for that. the last two days i've cleaned my apt in increments. tidy, go back to bed. do some dishes, lay on the couch.

today i left the apt for a few hours to attend a knitting group that is in it's fledgeling state. we meet on the patio at a tavern in the neighborhood. i kept looking longingly at the tall pints of german beer on the surrounding tables, then sipped my tea.

i had hoped to write about my various craft successes this weekend, maybe post a couple pix, but
just laying here, i've kind of run out of energy. i took a half dose of daytime cold medicine, usually enough to eliminate my symptoms but not make me stoned. today, it's not lasting an hour. makes me think this cold is a tough one.

if all goes well, i will edit this later to be worth reading. ha!

*snuffle*

creepiest sentence fragment heard before 9am today

"...suprising what hidden mechanical spiders can do."

sandra tsing-loh, on this morning's installment of the loh-down on science.

*shudder*

my morning jacket @ chicago theatre, dec 28, 2008

**a bit late in coming, but here is my annotated set list/review from the 12.28.08 show in chicago. this is a cut and paste of my post on another board. the smilies don't translate. if you come across a word that seems out of place, it's likely a smilie i forgot to edit.**

night two at the chicago theatre.

on the way to the show with wendy, her two nieces and allison, we listened to a few mmj songs (allison skillfully driving the ipod). we tossed out a few songs we each really wanted to hear that night. turns out we did a pretty good job at writing the set list. hot dog!

my seats were in row mm, but as it turned out, i had a terrific view! it's great to be able to see the whole stage at one time. also gave me some perspective on the lighting.
at the chicago theatre the crew included to spotlight operators who sat up in the catwalk. they concentrated on following jim and carl during the show.

due to some women in the row behind me having a friendship meltdown i ran over to hang with allison for the beginning of the show.

show!

--at dawn--this is a gorgeous way to start a show. we knew it was going to be a different set from most of the tour!
--it beats 4 u--beautiful out of the gate--stage awash in blue lights--TOM OUT!

--evil urges--at the first big drum break the tarp hanging behind the band fell to reveal the big gatefold eye-ring artwork. i missed the drop on sat night. i just looked up at one point and it was gone. (sat night allison commented that she'd visually missed half the show because she was dancing. i do it everytime. )

--i'm amazed--AHHHH!! GOLD LIGHTS! SUN! WOW!--marc's choice of lighting really struck a chord with me on this one.
--gideon--tom lays back!, jim played a new outro where it is usually carl winding down the song. melodic!!!
--wonderful man--rocking big finish

--jim greets crowd--comments on chicago being a land of opportunity...that the designers of the chicago theatre had their brains close to god. (jim commented quite a lot on the theatre interior {it is rounded, lavish and lovely}. he said that they'd been playing in a lot of modern, straight edge, black spaces.)

--golden
--i will sing you songs--!!!--ooh--this is a show stopper in the best possible way. STUNNING! it's like being in a pool, floating in space, wrapped in a heavy blanket and standing in a deep fog all at the same time. gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!

out comes the omnichord!...
--sooner!--an uptempo version. carl's guitar on this was wonderful! picking and slide. i wrote "pat" here, but i can't remember why. jim rocks the omnichord

--thank you too--the lighting was a blue-green that gave the stage an "undersea" appearance. the side spots were purple. lovely!
--anytime-- IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SET. all bets are off at this point!

--remnants!--first time i've seen them play this one--A BEAST! STROBES! to hear i will sing you songs AND remnants in the same set list is just nuts. that these men can create such ethereal, breathtaking music and then blow the roof off the place 10 minutes later.
well, damn!
--lay low--note re: nice carl spot

--highly suspicious--BIG FUN! at the top of the song the lighting was pink and gold-ahh! as the song progressed it became a lighting free for all!

--mis-cue here as someone (patrick?) started the opening drum track for lay low here. it was quickly squashed and the band launched into...
--off the record

--i think i'm going to hell--FANTASTIC! the stage drenched in red light, carl's slide. damn, damn, damn
--smokin from shootin--the band silhouetted against a gorgeous blue back light with magenta fills. i'm a sucker for the backlighting.
--touch me pt 2--as jim and bo rode out the omnichord/good intentions outro i saw tom and carl take off their guitars, and put different ones on. i turned to the woman next to me (salacious d!) and said, "the set's not over!"

--run thru--HOLY HELL OPEN--when you start a song this huge, where do you go from here: MORE HUGE. my notes say: can't dance hard enough!

------------
--look at you--jim solo--moving!
--banter: jim again commenting on the curvy-brain architecture of the chicago theatre interior

--nashville to kentucky--nashville. to kentucky. with carl playing saxophone. SUBLIME. AHHHHH!! soo beautiful! this was the song that killed me, flat out.
--steam engine--GORGEOUS! well, a girl just doesn't stand a chance with these songs back to back.

--COBRA-- ok. if there is one thing to ground you after the emotional wrenching of nashville to kentucky --> steam engine it is some quality booty shaking, head banging to cobra! during the 2nd movement here, carl was on fire!
--wordless!!--by the time we all got to singing out it felt as though the entire show had built to this. WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL!! at the climax of the song jim stood at the edge of center stage with one arm extended, palm open singing.

--one big holiday!!


after the show as people filtered out, mark (i've got an evil plan, babe), who i'd met at radio city last june came over to say hello. turns out the couple next to me were posters on the mmj forum. (about 3 songs into the set she commented, "can you believe they opened with "at dawn?!" i was so excited to be next to someone like that at a show! )


--of all the shows i've seen, this may be my favorite set list. so varied. and LOADED with stunners!!

allison found us still at our seats. grinning, she said to me, "you lost your shit, didn't you?" there's something to be said for being an open book.

we found wendy and her nieces and headed over to the elephant and castle for setlist review and hotwings.

man oh man. if this band must head to new zealand and japan for the next two months, i'm glad to have been around to participate in this. as ever, thanks for a fucking fantastic night, gents!

nothing but love. and radness!

this is a link to my show notes/annotated set list from my morning jacket's show at the chicago theatre, sat. dec. 27, 2008

http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=38248

this is the first installment in the "the club is not the real world" series of postings regarding my winter vacation. i'm easing into it. ;)

**photo credit: likethetwilight on the mmj forum**

lynda barry is soul sista #1

**trying something new: with any luck you'll see the cover of lynda barry's "what it is." i can't overstate how much i love this woman's writing and drawings. in trying to come up with some words to describe her work i couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound a bit cheap.

so.

if you've not read her panels or books, but are at all inclined, i encourage you to check them out. "one hundred demons" is fantastic.

i was reading this book today when i wrote this card to my friend, m. also a fan of l.b.
**

1.5.2009
it's 1:40p sunday. am sitting at a neighborhood bakery reading Lynda Barry's "What It Is." Much of the book is collage: paintings, her writing & printed text snipped from books, letters, etc. the following are some favorite snippets (snippets!) from the book:

"little ghosts come a-knocking with hands like these"

"now perhaps you'll give up this wild idea," grumbled the old stove, "and stay where you belong."

"what happens when we keep words apart? the suspended animation of things still in pieces"

that last one is reverberating in my bean as i've been wanting to write some notes on my holiday travels, but have been putting it off. alas.

much love from sunny & clear los feliz :)

**the first two appear to be from found materials, but the last was written by l. barry.**

HAPPY NEW YEAR! a return to prolificity!

i'd had the phrase "return to profligacy" in my head all day. i just looked up "profligacy" in the dictionary. a real, hard bound book. turns out i was WAY off base. the word i was looking for was "prolificity."

from webster's unabridged dictionary:

prolificity, under prolific: 4. characterized by abundant production

profligacy: 1. shameless dissoluteness, 2. reckless extravagance

whew.

**note: i'd dated this card jan 5, not 4th b/c the date on my watch isn't set correctly. especially funny when you read about my confidence about the correct date on the card. pfft.

written on a postcard featuring chicago's merchandise mart**

1.5.2009 -- A new year! how about that? 1st postcard written in the new year.
1st time date written. please note: the correct year was written without error. probably as i was conscious of the "first" quality of it.
am sitting in a sunny patch @ cafe los feliz (heart) w/a dbl decaf cappuccino & apricot cookie.
today is my first day home from a 9 day trip to chicago & new york. i never quite acclimated to the time diff, waking up at about noon everyday while there.
so today i was up @ 8:30 a. hooray!

I feel as though i might be coming down w/some end-o-long-travel cold. trying to burn it out with sun & mobility. grrr!

the end of the year is always a time to reflect on the year, take stock of things...i've been so occupied the last week+, i'm just getting down to it. Many "this time last year" sentences rolling around in my head. i'm hoping to spend considerable amount of time w/those thoughts today. tomorrow i'm back to work. such a foreign idea at this point: hallmark of a quality vacation. :)

for now: this cappuccino + this lynda barry book + this sunny spot = excellent

Happy, Happy New Year! xo-

ps. have made much progress on your scarf. knit in chicago, nyc & across the u.s. on virgin america!

**note: the scarf ref'd is something i'm knitting by request by this card recipient. :) **