again with the storage closet

the above pic is a left-over VHS tape sleeve for the "reel" i submitted as part of my grad school applications back in January, 1996. the picture on the cover is a scan of a 16mm film frame (film!). it's from my first short with sound, "Étrangé." it's not as pretentious as it sounds. i am a pitiful script writer, so to fulfill the narrative assignment, i wrote the film in remedial French. turned out to be a bit of a cult fave among my film pals. did i mention it's a musical? those are my peepers behind the slate.


this installment of Storage Closet Rummaging will feature things found in the box marked: SHOW BINDERS/PAPERWORK
--instructions for "Using the TC-D5M Crystal Sync Recorder" and "Using the Mini AC Resolver"

--my diploma from Humboldt State U.

--several scripts and writing exercises from my Dramatic Analyisis class. this included an assignment to write a, "Brechtian-Based Central Reflector" scene. (there is a reason i am not a drama-nerd)

--an essay about procratinating the writing of an essay (clever!)

--a list of books carried by the HSU library (circa 1996) relating to submarine warfare in WWII

--hand written lecture notes headed, "Systems of Analyzing Illusion (re: Narrative)" that includes a depiction of the "Stayan Model" (what?) [see inset]

--a note under "Asian films": Compare: "Fistful" to "Yojimbo": Choreography in Fistful more in camera, Yojimbo w/in mise en scene. (mise en scene!)

--a photo copied poem titled, "No, Love Is Not Dead," by Robert Desnos that may be been originally written in French

--left over, unsent, handmade HSU graduation announcements. (these are really good. if i had a scanner i'd post a pic)

--2 issues of the "Polaris" newsletter. the newsletter for the world-wide WWII Sub-Vets organization. (i was researching a documentary that my pal, suzie, and i were brewing. it never came to fruition, but i still have a keen interest in, and middling knowledge of submarine warfare in WWII.)

--this photocopy of an article in a local Chinese newspaper regarding the production of "The Water Ghost" [i'm in the lower right wearing a manly shirt]

this box had about 12 binders and notebooks in it full of the detritus from college, grad school and a little beyond.
at the back of one binder (a university of san diego binder that was a hand-me-down from one of my HSU housemates [shout out, suzanne!]) had 3 xeroxed pages in the back pocket. poems and song lyrics: the aforementioned "no, love is not dead", a page of poems that may have been written by a friend, and the lyrics to "fair warning" from todd rundgren's album "initiation" (of course).

reading through the possible-friend-source poem, i have NO idea why i carried it around. here is a sample:

As I stand
on an empty bed
I wonder if you are still
torturing...
My tears consist
of blood
My blood consists
of wine
The corners of my room
have sprouted cobwebs
of despair

you get the idea.

lord. i don't remember being that maudlin. well, not after high school.

ok. the purpose of this binder clearing was to consolidate the few things i do want to keep (more on those later) into a box with the handful of video tape evidence of work. i've got my narrow selection to clear from the piano bench. along with the re-boxed xmas decorations [that havent' been used in at least 2 years, this one included] this box is going back into the storage closet.
that big (b.i.g.) plastic container full of FILM is still in there. i think that will stay there another year.

and now it is nearly 6:30. i'm looking at either thai food, vietnamese food, armenian food, or cake. all suitable.

relics of days past or, "you want my badge and gun?"

yesterday i pulled some stuff out of my storage bin destined for the recycling bin. one box was full of paperwork from the thesis films i edited in college, some random shot logs from when i script supervised for friends and the wrap paperwork from the one feature i've edited, "Down & Dirty." this is not a good movie, but it was a blast to work with Fred Williamson. i've got some fucking awesome stories of working with The Hammer. the binder of negative pull and cut lists i turned over to the negative cutter (negative? film negative? boy howdy, this was only nine years ago.) included this cover letter:



July 5, 2000

[Negative Cutter]
Mr. X and Mr. Y,

A few notes regarding the lists:

I was unable to generate cut lists with accurate keys for shots that occur within dissolves. We've annotated the lists with the keys from the telecine tapes. Also, I've drawn charts that resemble marked workprints for all the dissolves.

There are many small discrepancies in the cutlists. We've marked offages of more than one frame in the margin. There are a few that are off by 5 or 6 frames.

The black space at the head of Reel 01 will be occupied by either an animation or the Po' Boy logo, or still cards. The head credits and end crawl will be done at the lab. I will get you their name and number.

The beta tapes of the reels are provided for you to make 3/4" dubs "just the way you like." There is no reel window burn on them, so you can place it on your dubs. Please return these to Golden Lion Studios (phone number here) when you've made your dubs.

You can reach me at: defunct phone number. Page me or leave a brief voice mail.

We had particular difficulty with the EDL generator on this project. Although we went through each edit to check the accuracy of the numbers, the adjustments that the cutlist generator made continue to be a mystery. I am pleased to know that your family is looking after our negative.

Thank you in advance,

[Ms. Y.],
Editor, "Down & Dirty"

that trio of actors includes: Fred Willliamson, Gary Busey and David Carridine. yep.

knit 2, purl 2, cable 2 forward...

since no one in my family reads this i can safely post pix of the gloves that i knit them for xmas.
i used the cabled handwarmer pattern from julie at little knittery in los angeles. i knit a pair of these for myself a couple years ago and love them, so i wanted to share the love.

i knit 5 pairs of these: 2 for my nieces, 1 each for my brother and sister and 1 pair for my pal, eli.
here are a slew of pix: please pardon the "hand modeling" hilarity and lack of backdrop variety















fun facts: the white mug i am holding was a wrap gift i rec'd when i worked on the show, "Cane." they were gifts to the crew from jimmy smits.
the orange and yellow gloves were knit in brown sheep worsted weight yarn.



these variagated mitts were knit using Di.Vé autunno merino wool. ooooh, sooo soft and warm.
this pair was knit in cascade alpaca. again with the fantastic:
i also knit a pair in black for my brother, but forgot to take a pic before putting them in the mail.

in the midst of knitting all these gloves i lost one of my own. looks like it's time for a new pair for me. :)

continuing with the craft stuff:

i've been working on a couple 50's style shirt dresses. the first dress is in this great michael miller colorful fish fabric. (all that remains to be done on this one are putting in the button holes, buttons, and hemming. so close!) my plan for this dress pattern was to make a few of them using the MANY fabrics in my closet of which i have at least 4 yards of each... (that was a fucking awful sentence, but you get the idea.)

anywhoo. dress 1: fish fabric
dress 2: tractor fabric! i combined the tractors with some dark sage green that i bought at a yard sale some time ago. here are some "work in progress" shots of the fabric combo:
this is part of the skirt. it will be pleated at the waist. the green will end up being a 3" band around the bottom once the hem is finished.






here i've pinned the collar to the bodice. still need to baste it then attach the facing. this bit requires some concentration and focus, so the bodice has been sitting in this state for at least two weeks.
am hoping to log in some serious long days/nights sewing over the winter break. (note to self: no wine during the complex construction)


here are some pix of the fish dress. the details are really nice. i have since re-shaped the collar and it looks MUCH better. i'd pressed it too wide.

this pattern is one modified by Shaeri at Sew-LA. she usually teaches this dress as a 6 week class, but i could never commit to anything for 6 weeks in a row and i didn't need that much detailed instruction. she and i booked 3 private classes to cover fitting and pattern modification. the pleated skirt is her pattern. the way the last pleat lines up with the bottom bodice dart is a good example of her attention to detail.






ok. all this typing about sewing while i am sitting at my desk at work (when i could be heading home) is a bit thick. i'm gonna head home and do some pinning on the patchwork quilt i've got cooking. this quilt was meant to be a good "pick up for 15 min at a time while working a nutty schedule" project and it's turning out to be just the thing.

eventful: while i was typing up this entry i got a call from my pal eli, the recipient of the orange mitts. she called to tell me she loves them and has been wearing them all day! hooray!! one often wonders what becomes of the handmade items they give away. i think of all the much-love slippers, and un-worn hats my grandma crocheted for me when i was a kid.

still to come: the story of amelita! this is really good. perhaps i can cover it while OFF FOR THE HOLIDAYS!! HELL. YES.

**note: while i am typing this up the formatting looks COMPLETELY different. how is one to achieve a nice presentation when the formatting is unpredictable. how? i ask.

this piano filled with souls

today i've got a brain full of things. i will just say this: when you've got people close to you spending a considerable amount of time in and around hospitals, working on a television medical drama is a loaded enterprise.

i have the itunes shuffle hooked up to the mixing board in the edit bay. wilco's "when you wake up feeling old" just played. not to put too fine a point on it, but i do love this song. a dozen warm memories flitted thru my head while it was on. the last was this: last year at jeff tweedy's letters to santa show at hotel s&s it was the song i requested. jeff told a funny anecdote about how they were mixing the album they strode to get the bird sounds in key with the song.

summerteeth was released in 1998, but it feels like it's been a part of things for much longer than that.

big love to charlie, mike and roberta!

a big day for things

the thanksgiving holiday weekend meant lots of time off for me. i got in some quality slacking, sewing, knitting, socializing and napping. as i went into the long weekend i had some loose plans for tackling chores/tasks that have been nagging me: dusty window sills, over crowded storage closet, stuff to go to out-of-the-closet. i got a nice little chunk of this stuff done, but knew that the larger projects that i hadn't done while i had time, might languish until spring.

this morning, just as i was gathering my backpack and coffee mug to head out for work, i got a wild hair to address a long bothersome thing: the hamper full of pillows and blankets.
this hamper had a home in my bedroom behind a door, but i've moved some furniture around leaving the basket without a home for the last two months. it's been in the middle of the living room, crowding the route to the big red chair (drag). on the long weekend, i cleaned the living room floor, and so moved the basket to my room.

now, without going into even more dull detail, let's just say that the basket was in the middle of the floor. next to ANOTHER homeless basket of stuff. and the ironing board. three days of this was enough to compel me to act.
i went to the linen closet, pulled out a foam egg-shell pad that was meant to me used with the now-defunt air mattress, ear marked it for either a homeless person in the neighborhood or the bin, and moved the pillows and blankets into the vacant spot on the top shelf of the closet.
HOO-RAY.
the basket is stamped with a recycling stamp, so i didn't have the satisfaction of putting it in the bin this morning. i'm gonna make some strategic cuts in it tonight to flatten it, then put it in the blue bin.
this accomplished, i went out to the storage space and pulled out a big bag of binders.
i'd been keeping them, but figured if i haven't used them in 4 years, i would take them to the office where i use 2/month. i emptied the contents of two of them into the recycling bin: all the paperwork from the pilot for "the unit." one page dated 3.19.05. good-bye paperwork! (office binders in current use in bg of inset. love that colored paper tape :D )

alongside the binders i put a box of rubber stamps to be mailed to a friend, and a huge piece of tie-dyed looking polar fleece to either give to someone at work, or give to o-o-t-c. (the fleece was one of three pieces left over from making some blankets for my nieces 4 years ago. the two other pieces went to petra on saturday!)
when i took the bag of binders out of that closet i saw a huge plastic container at the back full of...my student films! holy toledo. if anyone is interested in some super-8 found footage, drop me a line. ;)

in summation: the chipping away continues!

i left for work this morning with a short list in my pocket: three things i was going to accomplish today:
1. boxes to mail
2. sweatshirt
3. radio cord & battery

i've got three bundles of stuff i've been wanting to post, but didn't have boxes, so that was on the list. as for the sweatshirt, i've been trying for years to replace this plain, grey, zip up hooded sweatshirt. i've had it for many many years. the cuffs are barely attached to the sleeves.
i don't wear it to work b/c as casual as i get, it's not really office attire. (keep in mind i wear shorts and tennis shoes to work about 65% of the time).
each time i've tried to replace it, i've been faced with fleece lining, embroidered logos, or fashion tailoring. too much stuff and too much cost.
the radio cord/battery are needed to breathe life into the 6+ years old tivoli PAL radio that i have (and love in a way that some cultures would find beautiful).

when i got to work this morning i set to task. did some online research re: replacement bits for the radio, placed a phone call. *check*

then looked at least 8 different websites searching for the Grey Hooded Sweatshirt. after much consternation, i thought about a hoodie that gets a lot of wear: my kxlu sweatshirt. made by americal apparel. a quick visit to their website and a call to confirm my findings. made a plan to stop at the los feliz a.p. to try on some hoodies.

boxes. the boxes/am. app. combo had me set my sights on a lunch time errand run back to my neighborhood. stopped for some fish tacos, zipped over to box bros, popped into mustard seed for an iced latte, and then over to a.p. to shop.

i am all aglow at adding to my wardrobe today this light grey hooded sweatshirt!
pix to come...just remembered i wanted to make some calls before 6pm. TCB!

note:
oddest itunes song shuffle pairing while writing this entry: saul williams "telegram" into decemberists "red right ankle."
suprise song: sinead o'connor: "mandinka"

setting things to rights

today is a big day.

without going into too sordid detail: the banks that hold my credit cards have seen fit to raise the APRs on them with no cause other than they've "revised their business model." two cards were from the same bank. APR: 27.24%

fuckers.

so. today was the day i got to pay one off completely and take the other one down to a very small amount. when i signed my name to the checks i wanted to write something pithy like, "get bent!" in the memo line, but i resisted.

i didn't expect it, but i felt such a huge relief as i walked away from the post office. felt that i'd regained control of something that had been beyond my control for so long. (i'm not one of those people who is constantly shuffling money around or switching credit cards. i just stick with what i've got. i'm just lazy that way. or was. :) )

i've been committed to paying cash for everything. the only time i use a credit card is for travel: plane tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals. anywhoo. this felt great.

after i'd signed the checks and before the post office i walked down to peet's coffee for a cup o' the great stuff (decaf sumatra). as i walked in i saw it on the shelf: the Nissan Thermos thermal coffee mug. this is the Red Rider b.b. gun of coffee mugs. i have owned 3 in my coffee drinking career. the first for 6 years. my last was nicked from the dish drainer while i was working on "The Cleaner." (i think it was someone in the U.S. of Tara production office, but i can't prove it...) since last spring i have been using my second string travel mugs: the thermal french press (hard to drink from), the "excite" mug that was MacWorld swag in 1997 or something (coffee gets cold fast){see inset}, and the Rad Thermos (can't drink from it, just for transport).

i bought a new mug. tomorrow morning my coffee will stay hot. i will be able to sip from the cup as i drive to work.

today is a big day.

also: went to lunch with the full post-prod staff today, AND did some knitting at my desk.
AND sorted all my accumulated receipts for the year to date. trying to get a little head start on the taxes, don'tchewknow.

crafting ≠ lanyards and leaf plaques

despite my crazy period of work, this has been a pretty prolific craft period. (ok, that word "craft" connotes crocheted toilet paper roll covers, découpage plaques, bedazzled sweatshirts. i'm trying to get over this) over the years i've made several pairs of the above booties for friends with babies. they are a hit b/c kids can't pull them off. they are also good gifts b/c they are about the size of kids' feet when they are 5 mos. old. good for a gift procrastinator like me. :)

i knit the above pair for my friends marsha and charlie's daughter, nora. i used two different colors of koigu. koigu is handpainted marino wool. so beautiful. the yarn came out of my koigu stash. i started another pair last night in two more colors of koigu pulled from the closet.

while taking a class at sew l.a. i spotted some terrific fabrics that inspired me to make an apron for my friend, uyen, using sew liberated's "emmeline" pattern.
(the name of this pattern had me humming jonathan richman's "emmeline" for weeks. which is a-ok.) it's reversible. the two bigger pieces of fabric were each a "side" of the apron. the floral strips hanging there were the ties.

my pics are pretty lousy b/c i took them at night using the camera on my laptop (this is comedy all its own.) also, the apron is being modeled by my less-than-shapely ironing board.
i'm hoping the recipient can hook me up with a good pic that i can post later.























here, my pal, sea, graciously agreed to model the apron so i could photograph the ties in back. she did insist on props. that whisk and spatula are working kitchen utensils. no rental props here.

of note: much of this sewing was done while listening to the new yorker's fiction podcast and an assortment of comedy records.
**please pardon the layout of this post. i didn't take the time to figure out just how to balance the lay out.**