can't live this life

bombay beach, california

I too, suffer.

Graced with Light

 Grace Cathedral is already saturated with visual gems, from the entrance doors which are a stunning golden Ghiberti replica, to a Keith Haring altarpiece inside. The Cathedral hosts EpiscoDisco and is stamped with not 1-but 2- Classical Labyrinths, one inside the other outside. My favorite small item is a stained glass cosmic window crafted by Narcissus Quagliata.
Yet, Anne Patterson's latest Installation is beyond breathtaking and a complete delight to experience in person. Striking red and blue ribbons inscribed with prayers dangle from the catacombs like veins to the heavens. I was lucky enough to be there while the boys choir practiced, and the organ pipes sent a breeze through the room which created spirit-like apparitions on the floor. A definite must-see if you are in the city anytime soon. And guess what, it's absolutely free.

Getting to know you: D.I.Y Gift Idea

This is quite possibly the easiest D.I.Y. gift idea out there. It costs very little money and requires light materials, and can be customized for many different people in your life.
The concept is sort of like the game '20 Questions' but more interactive and a great game for breaking the ice at work during team building exercises or interviews, or when having old or new friends over for dinner. It's a great way to have fun with your family and learn something about them at the same time.

 I made 4 of them for my co-workers this year, so I went with matching jars and general topics. I bought smooth mason jars from Target for only a few bucks each, but depending on the person you have in mind, you can use a recycled glass jar or colored container which are easy to find at second-hand stores.

I prefer to use clear containers and decorative paper since I think it encourages people to explore what it is. I purchased a variety of textures and colors which compliment each other, and which makes the overall look more intriguing. I picked patterns I knew my friends would enjoy, or would compliment their home. Again you can customize the jar depending on the theme by using many varieties of paper out there, or making good use of scrap-booking paper remnants you may already have.

 Once you have the paper selected, you'll want to cut small, roughly 1 inch pieces. You'll want them large enough to hold about a sentence worth of words. Then, using your imagination or, if needed, one of these websites below to help, write out a question on each piece then fold it in half. For every 3 pieces you put in, insert a blank piece. When you play the game, if someone pulls a blank paper they have to write in their own question and skip a turn. This helps extend your list of questions and build up new conversations over time.

General questions for everyone:
What if...
Random, mostly useless or fun
Life Possibilities
Getting to know you

Some ideas for co-workers or an office edition:
Starting a new business
New Hires
Ice breakers at work

Ideas for  a family-themed edition:
Home life
Exploring your Ancestors
Dinner table conversations

Idea's for a bachelorette party:
Witty and Pretty 
Engagement discussions 

New Years gift:
New Year, New You
365 Questions, one a day

Questions for the Spiritually minded friend:
Rapid Self-discovery
Improvement and growth

I hope you have fun creating these thoughtful gifts, or make one together on Christmas. It will bring much laughter and deepen the connections you have to those in your life.

Upcoming workshop

Join me for a 2-hour workshop Saturday December 7th

Create your own eco-orb using local plants and recycled glass bowls

All materials provided, you take home your design

Please register here

Girl Scouts, all grown up

Pigment, (my favorite shop in San Diego) is hosting neat little craft events that make me feel like a Girl Scout all over again. Yes, the prices are a little inflated but materials are provided and you leave with a goodie bag. The next craft camp is November 9th, book worms unite!

just because

Bhavna Mehta

 

Bhavna Mehta's work is ridiculous. Crafted by hand, elaborate, delicate and powerful. In person it is truly stunning to see what she has done with a single sheet of paper. Her art engages the weave of Woman, being a mother, student, wife, artist... 

Her cuttings share stories that are painful and playful; stories that encourage and remind us of where we have come from, and the possibility of what can be.

 More on her website here

Catzalcoatl

 Approaching the latest Y2K doomsday frenzy, I thought it appropriate to post an old blurb written on my 25th birthday, following a trip to the San Diego National History Museum to see the Pompeii exhibit.

Today I spent my quarter of a century admiring beautifully crafted, every day items like glass canisters and clay water jugs, still magnificent in their simple design after spending 1,100 years under ash. The gold jewelry fashionable and very much like bracelets today with trendy charms and heavy clasps. Pressed gold coins, weights for measure and tools, impeccably preserved and actually quite impressive for their time. 

What really made me spin was seeing the casts of these people, essentially frozen, concrete displays of death, directly before my eyes. The first, a smaller framed, lean man crouched with his knees to his chest, found alone in a corner of a gymnasium. The second, a woman laying face down with her tunic dress pulled up over her face, exposing her naked ass. She was discovered close to a boat dock where people had fled in a last minute attempt to escape. Next a man and woman together, presumably a married couple, found with the male reaching towards the woman, trying to cover her face with his handkerchief. 

A pig. 

A curled, burning dog. 

A slave found, brain exploded from the fumes, left as a useless nuisance to the fleeing families of Mount Vesuvius. Shackles still to his ankles... stretched out on the floor as if he had accepted his death with an embrace, a surrender to die in such a terrible, legendary way.

The corpses to me showed a successful tribe of people; a wellfed, progressive, fully functioning society that took pride in their lives enough to form colored glass into jewels and treasure inexpensive costume jewelry made of clay. Enough to have an "ornatrix" or an "attendant" to style their hair. blows. my. mind.

We are not far from that.

In fact, a thriving economy exists to this day living on the same threshold of this dangerous mount. It is a proven fact that a disaster this size will happen again. So much so that the Italian government has spent the last 10 years offering Forty Thousand free dollars to families who are willing to remove themselves from that living area. The strange part is, only about 2,000 people a year actually do it. The locals are so dedicated to their environment, and so devoted to the danger and appeal of the volcano, they basically worship it.

Touching, tragic, grounding, to see humans on their last breath, still bejeweled, still clutching their loves, being punished, running, knees to their face in fear, backed against a wall. Nowhere to run. No one coming on any boat to save them. No avoidance. Just life, ending.

A truly fine thing to experience on a birthday.

Body Adornments by Sandi Yi

 

Crip Couture

Your opinion matters

This week I've placed three handcrafted Public Suggestion Boxes into little pockets within my surrounding neighborhood: City Heights, Kensington, and University Heights.
I am anonymously asking, and in turn, anonymously receiving answers to a few basic questions:

What are you good at doing?

What do you love about your community?

What would you like to learn?

What would you improve in your neighborhood?

 I am hoping to find a name for the common threads that connect us, and represent no organization other than my own curious self. People have a hard time with that.

I placed the first box at a location I visit often, My Little 99 Cents Store on University and 43rd. Besides being in close proximity to where I live, I have found that this little gem carries a wide array of items I usually pay much more for at Albertson's across the way. The owner is always helpful and friendly and the store is well kept and organized in a way that makes sense. He was happy to participate in hosting a box, but asked if I would accept answers in Spanish. This was one thing I considered when making them, if I should write the questions in both Spanish and English, but I didn't want to inadvertently exclude those who speak other languages. So I asked if he could translate to his customers and he laughed, agreeably. He also told me I spent too much making it, although he did not ask how much, then warned me that it will probably be stolen.

The second box was placed at the Kensington Library across El Cajon Blvd on Adams ave. Kensington feels like miles away from City Height but it is actually bordering the district line. I wanted to open the questions up to mothers and children, both of which are always saturating this location, primarily at the park connected to the Library.
The Manager there at first seemed skeptical. I was asked who I represent and explained I am a resident in City Heights but work nearby and also know the owner of the art gallery across the street.

Once I presented the box she was intrigued, and complimented the design of it by saying it looked and smelled nice. She made a little spot for it by the door and said they would participate as long as I returned in a week to retrieve it.

 The third box was embraced by the barista's at one of my favorite coffee destinations, Mystic Mocha. I passed this spot many times before finally going inside when a co-worker of mine who lives on the same street suggested we meet there one day. I've been hooked ever since. Even though they close earlier than most coffee shops, (which is disappointing when you want a late afternoon pick me up), I like this spot because everyone there always seems like they're having fun at work, even when the line is out the door which it often is. The owner here made room for it right away and asked about what I do. When I mentioned the population I work with he said "we all have a little bit of that, don't we?" which I thought was true. Again I explained it's an idea for fun, since it was already called a school project. They generously offered me to pick it up in a month, and I laughed, knowing I will see that thing at least twice in the next week.

In the future I would like to craft several more boxes. I'd like to put one in my office, at Black Cat Bar, Kensington Video and some other preferred destinations. But I'd also like to offer one to places I've never been to before. Perhaps my own feelings of isolation in my community would mirror those in another? Or better yet, encourage me to seek a new network.

If you are interested in hosting a box, or have decorative tissue box holders that you would like to donate to help me create more, then I'd love to hear from you! Leave me a message. I promise your opinion does matter.

This week in Feminist WTF's

Don't let my delayed reaction dilute the importance of what I can promise is one of few, if not the only political post I will share here. I missed the RNC showcase deliberately and only recently chose to watch (tolerable parts of it) after hearing the Obama's inspiring words. Now, I'm not even going to be catty and dissect the entire ramble, I did that in the privacy of my own home thankyouverymuch, but I will say this about Ann's, since I got that far.

First off, if you have been in a marriage for forty-something years, you should probably be referring to your mate as a Man, not a boy. I couldn't help but cringe in acknowledgement that indeed, The Rommitator is definitely in no way.shape.form a Man, but even my boyfriend noticed how often she encouraged us all to see him as little beyond a bratty rich kid.

Her attempt at humanizing their history by mentioning the decor of their first apartment and eating tuna and pasta, which in a strange moment of synchronicity I was eating while watching it (swear to god) only felt like I was being publicly patronized along with the majority of us listeners who didn't marry into a multi-million dollar deal.
Besides her gross justification of sexism, this mention of "poverty" was especially unnerving for me and ended my attempt at being a fair voter by listening to her speech in its entirely.

I can't respect someone who has top notch medical care and access to unlimited everything, someone who actually sends horses to the Olympics for fun (?!) Someone who wears a thousand dollar tee shirt to an interview; I can't trust that this kind of person knows anything about the soul of our nation, in the midst of a deep financial deficit and impending oil crisis (which has already peaked, by the way.)

What I can respect is calling it for what it is: a Class election where the boy with the biggest bribes (in my elementary experience, lollipops) gets the most votes. So, pick a side Romney's. Poor isn't something you chose to be when it convenient, any working class middle of the road citizen knows its no privilege. But for many of us, it's a starting point that is filled with our unique stories of failure and triumph. You may be able to buy what you want, but that shit, our shit, is not for sale.