cobaltika

i am not exactly sure i want to be showing these yet (or ever). but sometimes you need to just throw things out in the world. upon clicking, there are a couple more on flickr. they are pieces in progress. recycled photos, papers, paint experiments, stamps (hey! one is a bonkers stamp!), clipped text tale, beads and etc. when they are finished, there might be stuff sticking out of the edges. they will probably have a hanging thing and become objects. sometimes i wish i could quit making small things and Just Get Big. but i am terrified. i alternate between liking these and hating them. being a libra is so difficult.

la vie en rose (la mome) was amazing. i was afraid it would be smarmy and my poet would be cranky about sitting in those uncomfortable seats at liberty hall to see it. but not, it was intense and stunning. when i told betsy she *must* see it, she said “oh i saw it in paris last summer, on the champs-elysees. without subtitles.” that girl!!!

i am so glad it is friday. and i am so glad i am going to texas next week!

today she is 19. my tiny munchkin.
and far away. even further than usual. she is in DC at a student government convention. i am really proud of her, the route she has taken has been (and still is) so difficult, but she has not backed down or turned around. it would be fine if she were to branch off into a smoother path for a while, however! we’ll see … i hope i can find her to say happy day today! and not in voice mail, please?

and yes, mine was yesterday. it kind of gets lost in the month. my sisters’ birthdays are also in september! thank you for all who sent good wishes. it was a fine day. i played hooky of course, stayed home, cleaned the kitchen a little and sewed beads on painted poems. i did not cut my hair off. there was no cake, but i made a soy pepperoni pizza with lots of garlic and a pepper from the garden. my poet gave me a zen garden, so i will have a garden for the winter. i feel sure a plastic dinosaur will manage to make his way into the sand scribbles pretty soon. or a tiny tin racecar. the double-5 number feels sobering and a bit heavy to carry for a year. but i know it is only a number and i am still the same silly, healthy and creative person. perhaps i will add it all together, come out with “1″. a starting-over year. that could be good…

and yes, i got that Diana+. wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

from my new nailpolish camera, a cheezy black plastic point&shoot gifted by traci. i couldn’t find my clear nailpolish, so used this sheer beigey stuff. got too much on. tried to remove with nailpolish remover. probably ate the plastic lens. had fun anyway. some were actually lovely.

click for more on flickr if you like.

it seems i could be liking film again! oh oh oh.
when last i went to texas, i did not realize i had loaded my xa2 with my hoarded roll of costly slide film and when i took it for developing found their slide film processor thing was broken (sad for the only *real* film place in town…) so i put it aside. it is hard to get to Image Works as i am only really out in the car one day per week and they don’t develop on saturday. so i kept it aside. other films have collected, so i decided to take them all on our monthly excursion to Target and get them done. the photoGirl shivered with fear when i asked her if she would cross process the slide film. after i explained, she said ok. and WOW. i liked the prints so much even though the colors are not as odd as i expected. there are also some of the new Bloch building at the Nelson Atkins museum in KC, with the most amazing sky, but the buildings are so backlit and dark, they are not so good, but some i might scan and post later.

then 2 rolls from my new nailpolish camera. oh oh OH. as it is working weekend, i can’t be a scanning beast, but maybe later…

and then this morning i found my wireless keyboard was dead. lucky that unused one was stashed in a cupboard in my office on campus… see me typing away? i think the old one is in warranty. apple makes a lovely computer, but their accessories really suck, i must say. and soon we are going to have Indian food for lunch.

last weekend, not only did i wander with my ordinary camera, but i also wandered with my jamcam. shocking but true. went out with a camera TWICE. i am not sure if i am loving my jamcam as much as i used to. maybe it is because i don’t take it out in nice enough light? yes, that is probably the problem. evening and early-morning-walking-to-the-office are not the jam’s favorite times. but i played around with the images a little and there are more on flickr. clickety-click.

it is working weekend already. i don’t mind that much. i have decided if i had some red boots life would be more beautiful. also some red knee-highs, because i really don’t like tights much anymore. they stick to skirts.

for my camera carrying project next month, i am trying to decide whether to just spring for some boxes of polaroid film, or purchase a vintage digital camera and disturb the lens somehow. i want the images to be consistent, so i wish to use the same camera every day. a regular film camera is out of the question, because having the film developed is so tedious. the ordinary digital would be … well … ordinary. the polaroid camera is so clunky, though. would i carry it everyday?

the experiments in painting are coming along. i have been working in layers and installments, which is a good exercise for me, as i tend to think i have to finish everything in one sitting or i will lose momentum or interest. now they have turned into little story cards. i think i want to also embellish them heavily. they are fun.

so i am making a vow. next month, besides doing artStuff for artsomofo, i am also going to Carry A Camera every single day (i’m not sure which one yet, but i think i will pick one special one. i wish i had something like a miniature polaroid, but not an iZone.) and make at least one image. i will paste it in my prepared book. yes. that’s what i will do! i have been very slackerific about carrying a camera for months. partly because i am feeling rather disenchanted by my current environment and the scenery. partly because i am always in a hurry. partly the weather. and so on. but ENOUGH.

just think. if i had been carrying a camera this morning, this would not be a dull text-laden entry. i could show a FOX. yes, a FOX! in the park on campus this very morning. a real live fox. stalking a squirrel until he felt me watching, then staring back, becoming paranoid, then running … fast.

it was so wonderful.

we watched How To Draw a Bunny last night.

it was also wonderful!