FAWM is February Album Writing Month.  This was my first try at FAWM and it was tons of fun.  I really had not written a song before and it has been years since I played music... but I jumped in with both feet and completed 22 songs!!  I got some really supportive comments - and I guess I am ready for non FAWM folks to hear some of my stuff - if your interested.  Here it is...  I did improve quite a bit as the month went on - the first few are quite shakey.  Not bad for a non-musician I think.

I did a little TV spot last night - live on the local news to promote green building and my upcoming class on straw bale construction and eco friendly construction. 



Here is a link to the spot.  It will be available for a little while.

Been doing some crafts in the cold winter months - its snowing pretty good so I did some kanzashi - a Japanese flower making thing to use as hair ornaments for myself and my girls when we dress in kimono... which we were going to do today and head out for a sushi diner - but thanks to snow that is canceled... oh well I guess I will make sushi at home tonight. 

I have also been hand sewing some kimono shaped quilting blocks.  Here is a photo of the blocks so far (the one on the left is in construction) as well as the kanzashi flowers... my first attempt - really fun - pretty tricky.



And here is a detail of the two better kanzashi.  Do you recognize the fabric ninomit_arol ?  I also sewed a barbie kimono with the fabric to match the flowers (from ninomit_arol -- thanks!)

I welcomed 2009 with a finished tattoo.  Yea.

With my artist Kaz at Brooklyn Adorned

  

Now I shall plan for the other side of my back piece... perhaps in a year.

I went out in kimono tonight - nice sushi diner at Kampai.
Here is my holiday photo.



I wish you all a lovely holiday!

I have very odd kids - but in a good way.

This morning my eldest ran downstairs before 7am to meditate with me.
Pretty weird for an 8 year old - but so cool.  I am filled with glee.

Well I am back from NYC for part three - done on my tattoo.   It was supposed to be the last sitting - but Kaz (Kazuhisa Matsumoto) wanted one more. After the tattoo appointment I had a chance to visit my siste (and her man)and crash at her place.  Nice to avoid hotel prices in the city.  We had a great diner at a very busy Italian restaurant and great conversation.  I was really tired from the day so it was nice to have a relaxing evening.  The next day I did some shopping then headed home on the bus (sitting oddly to one side).  My back is a bit sore today - but not as much as when I had the shading done.

I thought I would share the results of part two. Here is the photo of the completed black and gray shading.



I don't have pictures of part three - but here is the artist Kaz  and me after the session.



Work done at the Brooklyn Adorned shop.

My newest orchid... here it is - the full size Dendrobium Monoliforme Var. Shiraaya (from Japan).  It will have small white flowers.



It is from J& L Orchids.
I got it at the local Orchid society meeting over the weekend. 
There was a fantastic presentation on Miniature Orchids - I was smitten!

Ok - I love Orchids... you can not like orchids, people always fall in love and get a bit obsessed with orchids.

Mostly I like Oncidium, Dendrobium and lately Vanda type - but at a recent meeting of our local orchid society I was seduced by the Pahiopedilum (lady's slipper).  I just could not resist the sherbert colored beauty (last photo).  It has more flowers coming.

Here are some successes this year.

July  - Dendrobium.   


August - Oncidium.
   

November - Pahiopedilum


I have another Oncidium "in spike" (sending up a flower stalk).  Should be blooming in December... Yea.

Just got back from NYC - part two of my (half) back piece is done - the shading in b & w - mostly rock forms. 
Yes it hurts - but it is looking really great.

Photo of Kaz working on my piece:

www.nyadorned.com/home.htm

Ok - so this past weekend I went "Brain Tanning" 
(no not opening your skull and sitting under a sun lamp) - it is tanning a hide by using the brains of the animal...

( Cut for messy stuff you may not want to see... )

It was a beautiful weekend - we went out to a place called 'Wolf Crest' a large and lovely property owned by a friend who also teaches us wilderness skills.  We showed my parents, my sister & her man around the place.  Walked in the wonderfully colored woods and had an awesome day.  Since my sister is now living in NYC it was a real treat for them to be in "Nature".

My parents are visiting from Canada - and will be going home in a few days - so it was really nice for me to have a relaxed (non-working) day out with them.  They were treated to a few cool demonstrations including primitive fire making (with a bow drill) as well as herb tea (picked fresh - two kinds: mint & spice bush).  We visited our shelter - an emergency sleeping shelter for one that we made in the summer (and my husband actually slept in one night).  As always the girls had a great time - they are very comfortable at 'Wolf Crest' and play run all over.

The weather was so fantastic - the best day of fall (and I love fall)!



My sister (left) and her man - looking back & me - with Dad behind.

picture meme


1.  Take a picture of yourself right now.
2.  Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture.
3.  Post that picture with NO editing (except resizing if they are HUGE).
4.  Post these instructions with your picture.



Morning, in my office (at home).  Reading email & surfing.

Sometimes I feel so sad.

Ok - here it is:

The story:  The emergence of Amaterasu O-kami (the Japanese sun goddess) from the cave.  It is a great story - look it up.  Some of you may know why this may be significant to me.

The artwork by Kaz (Kazuhisa Matsumoto of New York Adorned), and the completed out-line work (4 Sept.2008):

   - -

Thoughts?  Remember - this is a work in progress, I have two more sessions.

Oh yea - did I mention that I took a flint-knapping workshop (as in making stone tools)...
So in case of apocalypse - we are ready, come on over  (friends only please). 

It has been a week focused on tattoos... first I went with kandinart72  to get her first tattoo - a lovely spiral galaxy on her arm.  Very cool.  Then it was my turn.  I got the outline done (the first of three sessions) on a partial back piece.  The art by Kaz (Kazuhisa Matsumoto of New York Adorned) is stunning.  It was an excellent (and productive) trip to the city and visiting my sister and her man was a bonus.  I will post the progress pictures as soon as I get some nice photos.

Another day of having fun - Japanese style - we all dressed up in our summer kimono (yukata) and had a great sushi diner.  We celebrated my youngest girl being promoted to yellow belt and my husband to blue belt in karate.  Yes we are a little Japan crazy.  Oh well - better than just crazy (ok we are a bit of that as well).


Don't you just dig the hello kitty yukata on my little girl - she is seriously into hello kitty! 
Thanks to kyotokimono for that yukata!

Today is 08 - 08 - 08 
Too cool!  Have a great day!

Well - I should not have taken it on, but I did.  The strays of clients who have been done wrong by their now fired architects and engineers.  They come in a desperate state and hope I can fix it. 

Sometimes I say yes (do I have a superhero streak?)  FEMA is kicking me out of the trailer I was given from the flood that destroyed my house and they give me 3 months to get another house to live in.  Ok - you are in a pinch - yes, and I will give you a discounted rate.  Not your fault.

Sometimes no, no, no, well ok yes (you wore me down) to the church committee doing a big addition.  The first architect took too long and designed something so ridiculous that it could not be build and was 150% more than they wanted to spend and they didn't like the design and they didn't feel confident that they could finish the project in time for permits, zoning meetings and construction to start in three months.  Can I help them?  (Really, your asking a new architect to do the whole project from scratch in 2 months and you feel confident with that? really?)  This one seemed like a huge liability issue - like I was going to get sued by the first architect.  They begged pleaded and cried in my office three times.  Yes I took it on - went on a mania and did it - really pulled it out.  Now it is built and they love it - in budget, on time and what they wanted.  Hmmn - yes superhero (well my firm is called "Secret Base Design" so it is either hero or evil genius - I prefer evil).  But it takes from me to work this way.

And sometimes no "I ripped a whole in my double wide and my daughter is bringing her new baby home and we need a new room" (true real call)... oh you mean the one that you were building without plans on the weekend so code enforcement wouldn't catch you - but somehow they did and now you are calling me on a Sunday and you need plans drawn up right now!  Double wide... hmmn = not paying me much & scoff law - no thank you very much...  "sorry Sir we have a four month waiting list".

This recent sometimes yes was a couple of guys who had their engineer tell them (after working on it - sort of - for 4 months) that he was not qualified to finish their project.  Now they are two or three months behind schedule and need to start construction before the weather gets bad.  They wanted to build an ice cream shop & pizza take out place.  Now I love to design restaurants - but they can be very difficult - kitchen layouts must really work and they are pretty technical.  But I have done two pizza places before so this is pretty familiar territory for me - lucky for them since they didn't know about the pizza side.  They knew the ice cream so they helped me with that.  Well after being hired on Tuesday night - the finished permit set of drawings was in the code office Friday morning at 8:30 AM.  Ok that blew my mind - it is the fastest full job I have ever done.  I am insane - I really hammered through it and bumped other important projects... that are now on critical!

I miss my kids.  I miss my husband.  I miss Karate class.  I miss reading, sleeping, and doing something other than sitting in my chair.

Why do I do this... crazy work all the time.  Then get super lazy and just don't do a damn thing.
I just really hate the professionals who do this to clients - I want to make it up to them... to redeem Architects.

I really do not get on well with other architects - perhaps that is obvious.