~erinightwind

Red

1. Closest red thing to you:
The old cookie tin I use to burn tea light candles in.

2. Last thing to make you angry.
Idiots on Youtube.

3. Do you have a temper:
It's very private and has very specific triggers.

4. Are you a fan of romance:
The real kind, sure. Romance books suck.

Orange

1. Closest Orange thing to you:
The orange polyester cord which is keeping a large bunch of rosemary suspended from the top of my desk.

2. Do you like to burn things:
Fire good.

3. Dress up for Halloween:
Oh yes.

4. Are you usually a warm-hearted person:
Overly so, some would say.

5. Do you have anything against redheads:
Nah.

6. Are you usually full of energy:
Nah.

Yellow

1. Closest yellow thing to you:
Some scotch broom growing in the field next to my apartment.

2. The happiest time of your life:
Ah... Only one? But there are different kinds of happiness...

3. Favorite Holiday:
Hmn. Either Samhain, Imbolc, or Lammas.

4. Are you a coward:
Unfortunately not.

5. Do you burn or tan:
Depends on the area of the body.

Green

1. Closest green thing to you:
The limes on the empty bottle of 'Captain Morgan Parrot Bay Mojito' sitting next to me.

2. Do you care about the environment:
Oh yes.

3. Are you jealous of anyone right now:
People who have money (but it's more like sadness that I don't have enough money to even pay my bills or rent - no one will hire me! Damn useless art degree! ).

4. Are you a lucky person.
In some ways.

5. Do you always want what you can't have:
Nah.

6. Do you like being outdoors:
Yes.

7. Are you Irish:
Aye.

Blue

1. Closest blue thing to you:
The blue in my moth and flame tattoo.

2.Are you good at calming people down:
Generally.

3. Do you like the sea:
Yes.

4. What was the last thing that made you cry:
Episode 22 Season 4 of Charmed.

5. Are you a logical thinker:
Very.

6. Can you sleep easily:
Sleep? What is this sleep you speak of?

Purple

1.Last purple thing you saw.
A photo of an Iris from pralinkova-princezna's gallery.

2. Like being treated to expensive things:
Expensive meals (only if it's also a good restaurant) sure. Jewelry, not so much. Jewelry making supplies, you betcha. And not expensive chocolates - my favorite are Cadbury Creme Eggs (or however the heck you spell that).

3. Do you like mysterious things:
Hah, define 'mysterious'.

4. Favorite type of chocolate:
Chocolate. White, dark, milk, dipped, dripped, coated, covered, baked, fondu, nips, butter, shampoo, lotion, dye (there really is chocolate fabric dye), scent, soap, all of it. I'm no chocoracist.

5. Ever met anyone in royalty:
Ah, my entire mother's side of the family, technically. We're descended from Eleanor of Acquitaine (got the documents and everything). But "real" royalty, nope.

6. Are you creative:
Have you seen my gallery? I'm not just creative, I'm profligate (hehehe).

Pink <--- Devil's Color

1.Closest pink thing to you:
There are a couple of pink circles on that red cookie tin I mentioned earlier.

2. Do you like sweet things:
Not particularly. I prefer salty and sour.

3. Like play-fighting:
If by "play-fighting" you mean wrestling and tickling in the nude with my husband as a prelude to more interesting activities, then yes. I also like sparring with the Shinai.

4. Are you sensitive:
When I want to be. Took me a long time to learn how to contain it.

5. Do you like music:
Oh yes.

White

1. Closest white thing to you:
The underside of the top shelf of my desk.

2. Would you say you're innocent
Pfff, hah.

3. Are you good at keeping the peace:
When it needs to be kept.

4. How do you imagine your wedding:
Happening at Marathon Park, in Olympia WA. My mother has forced me to have a ceremony instead of eloping so there are a bunch of relatives and friends around. These people are all oggling my husband and I thus, being the introverts that we are, we both cower beneath the combined vicarious stares of over 30 loving people, trying to stammer out extremely private vows in an extremely public situation. Yeah, I'd say that pretty much covers what actually happened.

5.Do you like to play in the snow:
Snow snow snow snow snow SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

6. Are you afraid of going to the doctors or dentist.
Nah.

Black

1. Closest black thing to you:
My wrist brace.

2. Ever enjoy hurting people:
Mn, on general principle, no. But if they're doing something stupid and won't listen to reason then I have no trouble with smacking 'em.

3. Are you sophisticated or silly:
Depends on who you're asking.

4. Would you like to go to space:
To infinity! AND BEYOND!

5. Do you have a lot of secrets:
Oh yes.

6. What is your favorite color:
Today? Blue. By tomorrow it may have changed. (But never pink. Pink is the devil's color.)

7. Does the color you wear affect your mood:
Nah.

And, in a fiendish addition to the original meme, I tag people!

1) Eskimimi
2) toxicangel-moon
3) Doctor-Gus
4) Shelbeeray
5) Dyrwen
6) Kamitra

Go forth and type! Then, report back here.

Yeeup, I'm officially a Mrs. now, though I go by Ms. and we're both legally changing our last names to 'Stone'. I'm also graduated, so I'm a BA holder as well. I'm going on my honeymoon starting tomorrow, so don't expect a reply back for at least a week and a half, if not two weeks.

To keep you happy, here's a photo I took this morning after brunch.

Dew Drop

Sorry I haven't been interacting much with everyone. This has been a busy quarter for me thus far and looks like it will be for the next two months at least. You'll have to excuse the informal and jumbled wording of this post, this entry is just one in a long list of to-do's that I've got for today, heh.

I'm in a full time program (16 credits) at Evergreen which is focused on intense studio work in an artists community context (Student-Originated-Studies: Visual Arts, if you want to look it up on the Evergreen website). For SOS I'm doing literally 48 hours of work a week, between the research paper, the weekly critiques, the museum visits, the traveling artist lectures, the knitting groups 4 times a week... It's hectic. My focus this quarter is on needlework techniques, particularly in relation to Crochet and Afghan (Tunisian) Crochet. I'm also learning everything I can about the history of Crochet and whatever other needlework techniques I can find books on. After futzing around a bit I've finally decided to do an installation piece discussing the (in my opinion) ridiculous notion of separating 'craft' and 'art'. On top of weekly work for the installation piece (a flock of doilies, basically) I'm learning a new Crochet technique each day and, when I get an idea, making samples or projects from those.

Unfortunately, my wrists have really started hurting lately so I'm pro'lly going to have to go get them checked at the doctors. Ugh.

In addition I'm taking a 2 credit grant writing course - not quite as bad, but still, it takes up time. So, 18 credits total this quarter.

But it doesn't end there - I'm also graduating on June 13th (which I have to do my exit interview for and rent my robe and hat for), then getting married on June 14th (which I still have to get the license and rings for - ugh!), then leaving for my honeymoon June 15th. Why so close together? Because most of the family members have to travel long ways to visit and can't always get a lot of time off from work.

Add to that trying to find a job in the next two weeks... Yeah. Hectically busy.

Nice thing though - I've found my camera, so you'll all be able to enjoy pictures of what I'm working on as and if I have time to snap pictures. I think if I get new rechargeable batteries (my old ones finally kicked the bucket) I'll be more likely to snap random pictures.

Ok, so, yes, hectic hectic hectic. But at least it's all good stuff. I'd still rather not walk in the graduation ceremony (since my school doesn't require you to) and get eloped for the wedding with a small dinner afterwords, but no, my family has to put pressure on me. Feh. At least they're the ones who paid for the wedding stuff.

I hope you all are doing well. I'll check in as often as I can.

Edit 05-08-2008

Alright, links to the crochet stuff I've got posted so far.

Starfire Doily

Brown Pinwheel

Hollow Dreamcatcher

White and Aventurine

Brown and Red Jasper

... when posting in/commenting on Artistic Nude.

Ok, so I've been looking through the comments on the artistic nudes of Deviantart and.... yyyyyyyyyeeeah. I can't believe how much of it deteriorates into flame-fests.

Mind you, this isn't just a comment against people who don't like penises/vaginas being shown bare - at least you guys are honest with yourselves and us, albeit sometimes rude (though some of you aren't and I hope you guys are breeding, or at least teaching others). This is also a comment against those who're so "open-minded" that they get to call others rude names for not being "open-minded" enough. The only time I would call someone "close-minded" is if they are actively trying to stop others from expressing their views or living their lives in a way that suits them. I'd say that calling someone 'f*ing stupid' and continually verbally attacking them with harsh language when they express their viewpoint on a penis/vagina is more "close-minded" than the person who didn't like the penis/vagina in the first place.

So! I've come up with some basic guidelines for people.

1) Naked /= Evil. Naked /= Good. Naked = Naked.

2) Penis /= Beautiful. Penis /= Ugly. Penis = Penis.

3) Vagina /= Beautiful. Vagina /= Ugly. Vagina = Vagina.

4) Not everyone goes by those three first ideas, not everyone will automatically accept your artistic nude on purely artistic and/or conceptual merit - just because they do not think the penis/vagina is aesthetically attractive doesn't mean they are bad people - they're just expressing their opinion, just as you are expressing yours by posting the photograph. By the same token, don't be shocked when the trolls and rude people come - you knew they were out there.

5) "Artistic Nude" does not always equal pornography. However, pornography does not always equal artistic nude. While I think there is a certain aesthetic beauty and intensity to human sexuality, I also believe photos posted merely to arouse in a purely physical sense need more refining.

6) If you get enough views you will get trolls, perverts, and people who believe that any nudity is evil. These people are generally only trying to be rude, antagonize you, or make the world fit a narrow viewpoint. Don't stoop to their level in a tit-for-tat flame-fest, just give them the cold shoulder they deserve, or at least remain polite and civil while you ask them to please stop being rude. At the very least this will show other reading the thread that you have a certain level of civility and human decency, and are thus more controlled than the other person in question.

7) If you get a Daily Deviation on an artistic nude may the Gods help you because people will use that as an excuse to spout their own agendas to the ruination of any civil conversation about the piece. I'd recommend that as soon as you get a DD on an artistic nude, disable comments and tell them to send you notes instead. Then you can at least filter the meanies and avoid flame-wars being attached to your art.

8) It is generally better to discuss various body parts in terms of concept rather than whether or not they are aesthetically pleasing. Ok, you think the penis/vagina isn't attractive, whatever! Your preferences are not the point of commenting, critiquing the piece in question *is*. Don't just go 'That's not pretty' and leave it at that; at the very least elaborate upon your viewpoint and tie it in to commentary on the artists' concept. This ties in with my general viewpoint on comments - either leave a useful critique or shut up.

9) Some of the rudest people you'll encounter in artistic nudes will be the ones who are "artists", who have been to museums, studied at official art schools, have been doing it most of their lives, etc. etc. etc. yada yada yada. Generally these are the people who put art on a pedestal and forget that art is not some gift from the gods nor are artists "special" - art comes from humans and humans come from everywhere. In fact, once you appreciate (note, this is not accept, it is *appreciate* - live and let live, after all) other opinions and viewpoints, I have found, your art and your enjoyment of the art of others improves dramatically.

10) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, except when it isn't. Either way it's interesting.

Thing #1 - Independent Contract: I'm weaving a tapestry out of wire, on top of researching textile techniques in wire, doing experiments with braiding, knotting, knitting, and crocheting with metal. My adviser tells me that what I'm doing is groundbreaking. Intimidating and time consuming but enjoyable.

Thing #2 - I'm participating in the annual Olympia Fine Arts and Crafts Show. Again, they've invited me to join while everyone else had to go through a jurying process. So I'm padding my stock and making a few unique pieces using the piles of enameled copper I find myself in. This is a show I've got a reputation with (I was the top and youngest seller last year) thus... intimidating and time consuming but enjoyable (are you sensing a theme, dear readers?).

Thing #3 - Clean out the work room so that my partner's mum can sleep there when she visits in ye gods 19 days..... :0 Time consuming and bland, but I like Wendy and she likes me so it'll end up well. I also have to tidy the house and clean the kitchen.

Thing #4 - Earring holder for my mum's Christmas present as commissioned by my father. I'll be doing it out of copper, just a simple thing, with a cupric nitrate patina. Mostly just a big sawing project. So, time consuming but not very intimidating. Enjoyable to the extent that I like who I'm making it for.

Thing #5 - Name tag for Ignis as par our art trade agreement (see, I haven't forgotten you darling). Simple and fun, probably the only simple thing I've got to work on right now. If only I had the time for it! I feel so bad.

Thing #6 - Finalizing my tattoo design and getting it done in the next few months while I still have the money for it. Fun and painful and thankfully something I can do while riding the bus all over town for all the other things I'm doing. That is, the designing. Not the tattoo. I think that'd end badly if done on the bus.

Thing #7 - Christmas gifts, 90% of which will need to be mailed. I plan on making most of them, but need I say more?

So, if things seem delayed, if I'm not on D'art for a while, if your usual quota of Yzzie favs isn't made every week (you talented people know who you are) now you know why.

I hope you are all doing well, toodles.

PS - I'm trying to find an icon for 'busy' on this little mood setting thing they have and I can't help being a little disappointed - they've got 22 icons under 'love'; 44 under 'joy'; 16 under 'wow'; but 35 under 'anger'; 34 under 'sadness'; and 19 under 'fear'. That's 82 for love, joy, and wow, but 87 for anger, sadness, and fear. How terrible!

So, if anyone can come up with 6 more icons to go under the love, joy, and wow sections (we have to beat anger, sadness, and fear, after all), I'll send you freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I mean that literally, I will bake you cookies, package them up in a ziplock container, and mail them to you. Unless you live in another country, in which case I'm afraid I can't help you - transport laws and what-not being what they are.

I suppose this means I have a contest now. Drat. Thing #8 then, haha. So, this contest is running until the end of this year, all icons must be submitted to me via a note. In this note you must include a link to the deviation containing the icon as well as which section (love, joy, or wow) you would want it to be submitted under. If you want to include a story about why you did that icon that'd be cool too. No more than 6 submissions per person. Deadline is January 1, 2008. The winner will be decided by a vote of whoever happens to read my journal after January 1st.

Ok, go, create!