Because Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

As a crafter, I spend a lot of time alone at home working on my items. I don't know about you, but I can't work in silence for hours on end, just me and my thoughts, so I watch A LOT of tv to keep me entertained. As a big movie buff, I've got all the usual sources - cable, Netflix, DVDs, etc. - and one of my favorite selections from these are documentaries. In the same vain that I love to read biographies, I love to watch documentaries.

There are the well-known ones like Supersize Me, March of the Penguins, Inconvenient Truth or anything by Michael Moore, or even the classic ones like Endless Summer, but I've also seen everything from documentaries about drinking water, to surfing, to porn, and even one about a gay British mobster. I don't have an official top ten list or anything, but I thought it might be fun to list the ones I find myself watching and recommending over and over.

1) Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father


Such an amazing, unbelievable, and tragic story. I originally saw this at a free screening my local theater was having along with a q&a by the filmmaker. I cry every time I see it and if you're not moved by it, you might be literally missing a heart.

2) The Business of Being Born


I admit, this film totally feeds my west-coast hippie-dippy side. As a teen I imagined that when the time finally came for me to pop out a kid, I would want the process to be as quick and painless as possible. Knock me out, cut me up, ta-dah! This movie made me think twice and genuinely research more about what I want my "birthing experience" to be like someday. See? How hippie-dippy is that? Be ye forewarned: lots of graphic birthing scenes. It's the miracle of life, folks! Comes with the territory.

3) Crazy Love


The title says it all. This story couldn't be written, it's so unbelievable. A tribute to the power of love. Or psychosis. Special note: fantastic soundtrack.

4) Beer Wars


I am not a beer drinker for when I imbibe, I like flavor. And sweetness. And maybe a little umbrella or cherry or both. However, this movie is so informative and engaging it gets tacked right up there with all the reasons I love to hate "The Man". As a direct result of this film, The Doomed, who is a huge beer drinker, no longer buys any beer from or distributed by any of the big three American breweries. Succesfully brainwashed!

5) Mad Hot Ballroom

Just a feel good movie. 'Cause I like watching kids dance. And I like kids with New York accents. Super enjoyable - saw it in theaters and leave it on everytime I catch it on cable.

Do you guys have any documentaries you like? I'm always on the look out for the next great thing to see!

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Crafting Rut

I've a confession to make. I've barely picked up the knitting needles this week.

What?! I know! It's so unlike me but I really just haven't been motivated. I haven't picked up any other crafting utensil or material either. I had a couple ideas and started working on them, but they just weren't turning out the way I hoped. So I stopped. I gave up. Temporarily.

You ever feel completely uninspired? Like everything you make sucks, nothing's original, someone else could do a better job, you have no talent. The beauty of crafting, I think, is that you don't have to be talented, per sé. You just have to like to make things, make them to best of your ability, and hope someone else likes them, too. I certainly don't consider myself talented. Or an artist. I just like to make. Right now, though, I feel like everything I do is bleh.

I'm not a woe-is-me kind of gal. I'm perky! And peppy! Glass is always half full! But sometimes, like anyone, I have an off week. And there's nothing I'd like better than to throw a temper tantrum big enough to put a toddler's to shame. But it's not cute in kid and sure as hell isn't cute in a grown woman. Also, it wouldn't make me feel good anyway.

So, what to do? I think it's time I make something completely unassociated with the shop or me. I have a neighbor who's pregnant with her first child and I've been wanting to make a little something for the occasion. I think now's the perfect time! Who doesn't love adorable baby somethings! And maybe it'll make the muses come flying back to me.

Since I have nothing new to show you, how 'bout a picture of my always adorable pooch? He got a haircut this week. Have a great weekend, y'all!



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To Instant or Not to Instant

This I my Diana+ camera. It's mint green and lightweight and vintage looking and I love it. I bought it a couple years ago, along with the record player it sits upon, imagining I'd finally have time to really get into photography. However, having no steady place at which to develop the film, I don't use it as often as I'd like and I find myself relying much more on the lomographic settings of my iPhone's various camera apps.

When I learned Lomography had created an instant back that attaches to all their Diana+ cameras I was sold!....until I learned the price.



Making my camera capable of producing polaroid shots is an awesome concept and I would use it everywhere if I had it, but I just can't bring myself to plunk down nearly $80 for it quite yet. I know that, relatively speaking, it's not an exorbitant amount of money but, hey, that's more than the camera itself cost me. I think. I don't remember anymore.

Maybe I'll get it after I get the Olympus Pen I've been drooling over. Or maybe if they offered it in the same color as my camera. I never could resist a good mint/teal colored gadget. :)


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Reliving My Youth with Save Ferris

When I was about 18, one of my friends introduced me to ska music. I'd always been partial to reggae, dancehall, and rocksteady - music I'd heard sporadically in my life - but didn't really know a lot about the style in general. Two of my friends were totally immersed in the punk and ska scene at the time and through them, I found my love for traditional and third-wave ska. I'm a sucker for a good horn section in any genre of music and both of these nailed it for me. As soon as I heard the first chords of my first Hepcat song (this one specifically, I just remembered) I knew I needed to start branching out from the radio crap and alternative music that was everywhere.



When I was about 21, I was coming home from work, blasting Save Ferris' It Means Everything album. I don't know if you've ever heard Monique Powell sing, but that woman can BELT. I can barely hold a note but Lies was one of my favorite songs and when it came on I, of course, sang along. I'd never been able to hit her notes fully because I just don't have her kind of lungs, but thought that I'd take advantage of being alone in my car to sing as loudly as I could. Maybe then I could hit her notes! So there I was, speeding down Los Feliz Blvd., singing at the top of my lungs and doing the song a modicum of justice. Then she got to the part I always cut off at - a long, intense wail of "LIIIIIIEEEEEESSSS" that ends the whole long, intense bridge of the song. I was DETERMINED to hit that note. I hollered so long and so loud I actually made myself dizzy and nearly passed out while driving. I had to stop singing just to catch my breath.

My friends and I spent our late teens/early twenties traveling up and down the California coast to watch our favorite bands perform. I can't even count the amount of times we saw Hepcat, Slow Gherkin, Pharmaceutical Bandits (now Rx Bandits), Dancehall Crashers, Mad Caddies, Codename:Rocky, Edna's Goldfish, Alkaline Trio (they are not now nor were they ever any form of ska, but we saw them play A LOT, too), and dozens of other small bands play. I even went to see the Mighty Mighty Bosstones all by myself once, my friends all being unavailable or away at college.

As it goes with indie music, most of the bands I listened to at the time no longer exist. Or they've evolved into a different sound altogether. One of the perks of living in LA since the end of the all-too-brief ska revival that spawned more popular groups like Sublime and No Doubt was getting to see Hepcat play their yearly reunion shows. We've gone every year - well, I did until I moved to Miami, anyway - and it's still an awesome experience getting to listen to the live version of music that defined so much of our youth. I can credit that time of my life for being the first time I realized there was a whole world of music I knew nothing about and that just because it didn't come from a major label or wasn't part of the regular MTV rotation (remember when they actually played music videos?) didn't mean it wasn't worth seeking out. In fact, it usually meant it was better.

"Lies" just came on my iTunes and prompted this little trip down memory lane. I'm happy to report I still can't hit that goddamned note.



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It Ain't All About Crafting

I came across a blog yesterday dedicated to pulp and vintage noir and it made me think. I've got plenty of other loves and obsessions that I rarely discuss here 'cause I figured the blog should mainly be about crafting. But, to keep things interesting, I think I'm gonna start featuring other tidbits - after all it's my blog and I can do as I wish!

So, today I thought I'd show you my office area - the place I'm usually found when not busily making items.



It's just a little desk sandwiched between two large bookshelves overflowing with books (my first and other love). My poor desk is in desperate need of refinishing since it's older than I am and is one of the few cherished possessions I nabbed away from my parents when I first left home. It's quite literally been with me forever and even though it's small and damaged and old-fashioned and totally impractical, I can't imagine parting with it.

My favorite part of my "office" is my artwork.







I have a mad fascination with pulp cover art and mid-century romance comics so I simply framed up some of my favorite postcards. They tie-in the books that surround my desk and add color to the plain wall. Cheap and easy! I often absent-mindedly stare at them as I work and I always find myself inspired by their style and bold colors.

The latest addition to my area is the little hand drawn piece that sits on my desk.



It's a piece by Mike White that The Doomed got for me at the Miami Comic Con a couple months ago. I thinks it's ADORABLE and it always makes me smile. You can check out more of Mike's great comics at amityblamity.blogspot.com.

I hope you enjoyed this little departure from crafting and already have more posts planned for other topics. For now, though, time for me to get back to the crafting!

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