Tuesday, June 12, 2001

Bones of a Life in Art
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a journal fanatic. And I don't use that term lightly, either. I read them, make them, kept one online and offline since I was a teenager. (I'm going to be 30 on June 27th. Buy me things.)

My absolute favorites, especially lately, is the art journal, which I didn't really know existed to such a great extent until this past year, when I found a ton of writers and artists playing with them online. Whether you think you have talent or whether you don't, keeping an art journal for yourself (or publically, for that matter) is really fun. Try it.

----e

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

The HBA Aisle & The Magazine Rack
It's not like I spend all day getting ready. I'm not one of those girls, you know, the ones that are always doing their hair and stuff. But I do get into certain herbals and new bath stuff. And inner beauty.

It's enough to make you anxious, though. The pressures we put on women to look a certain way or act a certain way. Personally, I'll just stay home.

I do like clothes and purses. I'll drop $50 on a necklace, but not on a pair of jeans, which I simply don't own. (Yes, you read that right. I don't own a pair of jeans. Ick.) T-shirts -- now those I've got. In abundance.

Most of my money goes for reading material. I prefer alt-lit. Self-produced zines have always proved to be more interesting and creative than any SELF or GLAMOUR ever could be.

I get them through lots of online distros, which are small individual bookstores of sorts that sell only zines. Gotta love that.

Most, I admit, come from Pander, which, imho, is the best around.

Not that it precludes me from buying elsewhere. Just that she's reliable. And takes paypal, which is a big bonus.

-----e

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

What Color is YOUR Aura?
Just in case you had a burning desire to know, mine's emerald. Supposedly, that makes me a healer flowerchild. And a gardener.

Well, one outta three ain't bad.

---e

Friday, June 8, 2001

Shopping. Ooh.
When there's money burning a hole in my pocket, and I don't want to hit the mall -- here's where I go:

BOOKS

Color of Woman, for artsy woman stuff. For artist's books, books for spirit, lesbian lit, decorating stuff, art and crafts stuff, all the clip art I can stand, and literary fiction. Mrrowr. Of course, Amazon.com gets a fair share of business, but we won't go there.

EPHEMERA AND HOME

Who can resist IKEA? Not me. What about linens and natural products. It's a money drain that never gets plugged.

Jewelry, even though I don't wear much, is just too much of a draw sometimes. And ethnic inspired items are a must.

Various things catch my attention sometimes. For seemingly no reason. It's really quite a random process for me, if truth be told.

STAMPS

I can't help it. I'm a rubber stamp freak. I should get help. I only use a few that I really love in my actual work, though. I should probably be much more selective. But I'm not.

A couple more book links.

PAPER

If I'm addicted to rubber stamps, then I'm a paper junkie. I'd rather buy paper stuff than eat. I'm quite serious, here.

More later,
----e

Thursday, June 7, 2001

Photography
Just a few photography links for the shutterbugs among us. Lots of things to look at and covet.

---e

Thursday, June 7, 2001

Art, Art, Art
Ever heard of Micronations? They're itty bitty countries and municipalities. Some are made up for fun, some for political reasons. They're kind of neat.

Then there's artistamps. Too cool for words, they're really creative and make art accessible to everyone. It's really amazing to see all the creativity and thought that goes into them.

If you do art as a business, there are resources available. Also available are some tutorials here and there on learning to draw, etc..

Galleries abound on the web for professional artists. From altered photography, to collage and poetry, to calligraphy, there's probably a gallery out there for you.

Amateurs seem to really enjoy putting their own work up as well. Some is primitive and craftsy, some is polished, intriguing, and downright inspiring. Maybe amateurs do it better.

I used to do a lot of eraser carving, but only because I didn't have the money for actual rubber stamps. If you practice at it, though, it can be an art form in itself.

Mexican folk art makes me drool.

Work beckons. More later.

---e

Thursday, June 7, 2001

World Wide Weird
There are some twisted people on the net. (Duh.) Luckily, I have some of my favorite weird people bookmarked.

There are dancing presidents, religious vibrators, and even some kiddie toy porn. You can learn to work out like a goddess, find out your true name, or commune with some fire manes.

There are games you can play.

There are even bizarre gatherings of fans for just about anything, or any activity.

File under miscellany: plenty of information about all kinds of people.

You can find out the price of tea in China, or make some money writing.

And the ever-present online journallers, of course. Some call them the soul of the web, some call them self-important egotists. I am somewhere in-between. They are nice for a time waster, though.

Blogs, of course, are self-perpetuating and carnivorous.

more to come,

---e

Thursday, June 7, 2001

Inspiration Files
I have this tendency to bookmark pages that totally inspire me on some level, and then forget all about them. I hate that. So I might as well share.

I went through a phase where webcams were really cool. By seeing other places, I didn't need to travel as much.

Nick Bantock offered these bookplates as a free printable download. And since the cost of his books are somewhat out there, this was quite a feat.

Every time I'm in Vegas, I threaten to go see Cirque du Soleil, but I end up doing other things. Like seeing Joan Osborne in concert at the House of Blues, which was worth it. Tickets were cheaper, too.

I make shrines from these tins. Seriously.

Other people's road trips are infinitely interesting, too.

Sometimes, there really IS something good on t.v. for a change. Not to mention some of the new commercials out there.

Certain people are just too damn talented. Hrmf.

While doing this, I've realized I'm way more disorganized than I meant to be. Big lists of bookmarks in teenytiny folders...no wonder Netscape is laboring.

More after some organization.

---e

Thursday, June 7, 2001

Bookmark Purge Time II: Travel
All righty....well. It's been a while, hasn't it?

I'm cleaning out my bookmarks file again, since it's grown so huge that Netscape itself is corrupting. (It's probably not a good sign when a program crashes on opening.) So, here we are.

PLACES
As most of you know, I'm obsessed with travel and road trips. I still get carshick on short trips, but have a grand ol' time if I'm on a long trip alone. Go figure. I was supposed to take a trip down Route 66 in May, but, as Murphy probably could predict, my car broke. Now I'm going in July.

As far as day trips go, Palm Springs is a great place to hang out and experience that kind of faded Hollywood chic of the 1950's. They also have the Living Desert Museum, which is one of the coolest places around here for desert hikes.

Sigh.

Cannon Beach, Oregon continues to be one of the places that I dream about once in a while. They've got a little newspaper, this great bookstore, and a really nice bed and breakfast that my ex and I could never afford. Now that I can afford it, I'm too far away. Maybe later this year....

India. I'm fascinated with this culture.

My woobie's from Korea. I've been looking a little at their language, folktales, myths, and folktales for either an artist's book (present for the in-laws) or for an issue of IQ.

And there's nothing like the joy of home sweet home. With tons of museums, galleries, and fun stuff, there's always something to do.

More soonish.

Well, sooner than the last update, at least.

Monday, February 12, 2001

brainwaves
Talk about kicking some serious ass -- this site kicks some serious ass. Flash navigation and art exchanges and a gallery...wowza.

Monday, February 12, 2001

Louise's writing links
Places to get info, places for community, places to sell your writing. It's like a one-stop writer's resource. Link it, use it, love it.

Monday, February 12, 2001

Strat's Place - French wine labels
Let's say you're making a collage, and you just -know- that a wine label would look really great. But your attempts to remove said label turn it into something more fitting for paper pulp than a collage. Just print out one of these. Great resource for collagists.