Postal Woes

I have a big stack of mail on my desk that needs to go out. I always dread going to the post office. While I love the mail carrier that brings mail to my house, the post masters and mistresses at the office scare me! It occurred to me that I view them as authority figures--in part because they work for the guvvamint. They are THE MAN. They wear uniforms! And the rest of the reason they scare me is because they are just so mean and hateful--why, why, why? Honestly, it doesn't seem like such a bad job to me. Why are they so angry? I sort of have a theory that it is because people hardly ever send good mail. Just bills and bad news and the poor postal workers soak up all that negative energy from handling the mail all day. Anyway, another reason I don't like them is that they always challenge my attempts to mail things book rate. I know the book rate rules forward and backward by now, and every time (no matter what post office or what state I am in) they always hassle me about it. And they always give me this look like they don't believe me when I say what is in the package! You know, how they raise the one eyebrow and cock their heads to the side, as if to say, "Oh, really?" Do they learn that at post master school? Okay, enough. I'm going to the post office. But look what I found! Mr. McFeely Coloring Page

Look, it is Amy making cupcakes in her apartment. I love her place, even though it has Todd Oldham written all over it. Is it creepy that I imagine walking around her apartment and reading the titles of the books on her shelf or seeing what she keeps in her bathroom? Yeah. It is creepy.  

Good fucking god, ya'll.

Between this crazy heat and taking muscle relaxers for my back pain, I'm finding it hard to move much.

I have spent the day working on my webpage and messing around with things of little consequence. I scanned in all the pages of another issue of my zine and I've decided that my next zine will be done in such a way that it will be turned into a PDF before it is even printed. It loses way too much quality the way I'm doing it now and scanning in all those pages is a real drag, on top of it all. I do like being able to have it online, for free, though.

Yesterday I started making some ATCs. Just something little to do with my hands. If you don't know what they are, here is a good explanation: Art In Your Pocket. And here is one that I made:



I've been looking online for coloring pages. One of the things I like to do to relax is color! Ahh, the smell of crayons. Seriously, I have to keep my hands busy or I will die. Just like a shark has to keep swimming. So I find all kinds of ridiculous things to do. Anyway, I like these coloring pages: Bistro Sinstro Activity Pages.

And these Recipe Cards to print and cut out are cute.

This Crochet Lab site is interesting. I am looking forward to future reports.

And The Backseat Kiss is a fun website to waste time at. I like their cocktail recipes.

Plates! A few months ago I was at a thrift store and I found one of these little plates and fell in love with it. The back is not marked or anything, so my search for more like it has been futile. And then yesterday I ran across 6 smaller plates like it and two small, shallow bowls! I'm convinced now that if I just go to more thrift stores I will eventually have an entire set.  

A shawl that I mostly made in the car on the way to Hot Springs. Sure, it looks really simple, but considering the way Chris drives, you have no idea what an amazing feat this was. The pattern called for tassles along the right and left sides, which I added and then promptly removed. Just because you can make tassles and fringe with yarn doesn't mean you should. I mean, I can make a pipe out of an ordinary potato and smoke a load of pot laced with PCP in it, but I don't. Seek moderation in all areas of life, including crafts.  

The first granny squares I ever made, stitched together to form a hobo bag. Apparently people with some class prefer to call these "motifs" rather than granny squares. Eh.  

Tonight we are driving to Hot Springs to see the Fluffgirl Burlesque show. It looks like I won't be allowed to take any pictures, according to the rules of conduct. Fluffgirl Burlesque Society Apparently there is a topless barber shop in Hot Springs. I personally don't need the services of a barber, but maybe I can talk somebody else into getting a trim.  

Mother's Day...

I actually had two Mother's Days this year since Dave and James had convinced each other that last weekend was the big day. So I got gifts and treated to dinner then. Today we took a trip to the country so I could spend the day with my mother. I made her a pair of crocheted slippers--which she loved--got a new wind chime for her collection and filled up a bag with a variety of chocolate. We spent time just talking and walking through the garden. It had rained in the moring, so the garden was all wet and sparkly...beautiful. My folks have a lot of finches, doves, and pigeons and the mating season is on. I got to hold a baby dove, the first arrival. The nests are all full...many more are on the way.

Then I took my son out on some back roads for his first driving lesson. He has been anxiously awaiting this day for the last two years, so he was beyond thrilled. I was trying to be a good teacher but I couldn't stop laughing. I just couldn't get over the fact that I was riding down the road with my baby driving. We stopped here and there and walked around, breathing in all that good air and picking armloads of wildflowers. I had a lovely day.