art review: a polar explosion resulting in evil bunnies and a giant bear with a door for a tummy

The entire gallery looked like the North Pole exploded and some of the animals went rabid. And not just the walls, but the floors, the ceiling, everywhere you look there were animals and sparkly winter wonderland. There was never a place for the eye to rest.

Vicki Lynn Wilson  Love in the Wild @ Blackfish Gallery
420 NW 9th, through April 1

I know I probably shouldn't have taken this photo all on-the-sly with my camera phone. But I wanted it to be my cell wallpaper because I was truely enchanted. Honest! So here, up front, is all the artist and gallery information to ease the guilty pinch a little.

What I did not realize was that there was a whole performance art aspect to this show that I missed when I arrived late on opening night many weeks back. I remember being worried that I wasn't dressed nice enough with my sneaks and messy hair because the gallery was in the Pearl. Instead I was greeted by an entirely empty gallery and the artist dismantling her costume and makeup. She seemed honestly upset that I had missed the performance. Performance art not being my thing, I wasn't really all that upset. But now I wonder what I missed based on the enthusiasm of the artist. The Mercury didn't write anything up on this show until this week, not mentioning the performance art piece either. Curiosity builds.

 The Mercury review called it "amateurish". But I call a giant polar bear with a door for a tummy that easily out-sizes the average home refrigerator, simply just "delightful". (Granted, the bear was bowing under its own immense weight - with out a doubt testing the limits of plaster and wire.) Another corner reveals a grouping of white deer with a dotting of red eyes staring back at you. It is enchanting and creepy all at the same time - one of my favorite combinations - and nary a goth black item to be found. Check it out while you still can.

You can read the Mercury review here.

So I am going to be on TV... hello insomnia!

So I got the call today that I have been picked to do a craft segment on the HGTV cable show called That's Clever! 

I am very excited, but memories of how difficult high school speech class was keep coming to mind. Thankfully I am fully committed to letting go of old fears. But there is no way I will be able to sleep until it is all over and I will prepare in the way that only a complete control freak can so that on the day of the shoot I can just chill.

Curiously enough last weekend I also found myself on the end of a camera, sans makeup with serious morning hair, to film a segment for a clip that should appear sometime online. It gave me a chance to see what it is that I do when you stick a camera in my face:

I babble
I nod A LOT, seemingly agreeing with everyone and everything
I glance at the camera
I become the person who compulsively winks at the cameraman
I added the host's name at the end of sentences with a hard syllable. "Thank you, LIZ."

And this is all for a bit that lasted maybe 60 seconds. But it was eye opening and I have some work ahead of me. The segment people will be around to film for five to six hours!

I worry:

That I will start talking and never stop from beginning to end
That somehow I will do something so horrible and so cheesy that it will be played back in my head like a doofus home movie clip forever more
I will mispronounce a word, or even worse, use it incorrectly over and over again
I will become supremely southern like I do when I drink too much or talk with lower state customer service reps
That suddently I will become bad-madonna british. This is something that has never happened, but what if it could happen. 
What if I fall and get a head injury? 
I can't think of anything to say at all
I say something completely wierd (this is not out of character for me
I say something that horrifies my mother
I wear something my mother dislikes so much she mentions it every five seconds any time the TV show is brought up forever
Something about my craft goes crazy like the time Martha Stewart's Berry Wreaths kept exploding all over the front doors of homes across america whenever it got too hot

I will keep everyone posted as the hilarity unfolds!

rummage this weekend:

I came across this adorable little ewok in the coffee shop.

 

The trees have popped all over the city.

This hat was a distraction from the old lady furs I not-so-secretly
coveted and modeled in the mirror like Lindsay Lohan.

But the hat's off to the bazaar cobra in a bottle of liquor. Drink that.

Sadly I had to walk away from a perfect condition fur cape and a fur shawl combo that included the most-amazing-muff-in-the-whole-wide-world-with-a-little-pocket. But I did come out with a few things; the highlights being a lucious burgandy eel skin clutch, a dainty ceramic dish with a sleeping pig on the top, a ceramic owl for my collection, and a tiny painting of a ship.

what's more odd than being the new kid?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt and a pink flashdance sweatshirt?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt and a pink flashdance sweatshirt in the garden state?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt and a pink flashdance sweatshirt in the garden state surrounded by izods?

Answer:
Being an adult doing your day-to-day and realizing you are standing next to somebody you recognize from their blog and who do not know who you are. Or that you know who they are. And you feel like you are violating their invisible chalk circle of anonymity.

How curious - the social structure of the internet and how it works out in the real world. It is really odd if you stop and think about it.

You could be standing next to somebody you talk or read and is part of the everyday world you have constructed for yourself and not know it. Not actually have to deal in the real world. Sorta weird huh?

a trip through music past...

the early years
Ohio and California
My parents were into road trips. And Babs. And Neil Diamond. And I am one of those people who catagorically memorizes lyrics. And I was also desperate for attention so would sing REALLY REALLY LOUD. enough said. Memories was my favorite. Oh the horror. 

 

christmas 1985
Summit, New Jersey
I actually still have my wish list from this year. Eventually I will get around to scanning it so others can share. I was in the 4th grade and wanted 1) A-HA cassette tape (and i included a little illustration of a casette just in case my aging parents weren't sure what i wanted) and 2) a boom box. I got both. The boom box was pink (i think) and looked like a transformer. It was totally sweet. I remember going to LA to visit my aunt sometime later and listening to The Hooters (aka Cyndi Lauper's backup band) over and over and over again. I also remember having a hissy fit outside the Pirates of the Carribean ride.

 

1987-88
Alpharetta, Georgia
By this time I was full swing into rollerskating and also at the height of my top-40 phase. I liked to couple skate to Tiffany's "I think we're alone now" and skate super fast to Salt-n-Pepa's "Push it". I admit to purchasing a Debbie Gibson tape and going to my first concert, George Michael. Two moves which almost got me disowned by my older brothers. (Seriously, as a side, going to a concert when you are 12 where the singer is belting out ballads about sex and your friend's dad is standing next to you and some drunk girl falls on him is life alteringly.) Thankfully Dirty Dancing came out and I got distracted by oldies long enough for my brothers to retalliate by gifting me U2 and mix tapes to sway me to their side of things. They really went out on a limb by including Dinosaur Jr.'s cover of Just Like Heaven.  While I am sure they take a lot of credit for my future improvement in musical tastes, actually the credit should go to a boy I met on the bus who had a shaved head and a punk rock attitude.

1989-1990

Alpharetta, Georgia

Ah, these were the years. Before the internet finding new music was an art form. It involved detective work, bin rummaging, music label connect-the-dots and luck. Mix tapes were the alcohol of my youth. The term "Alternative" DID NOT EXIST. But MTV's 120 minutes did. I was into The Cure, The Smiths, Camper Van Beethoven, The Descendants... I will keep adding to the list because all I did was absorb music and trade with my friends. It was our Pokomon. We were obsessed.

1991-1992
Alpharetta, Georgia
Once in high school the music obsession had not subsided. I had access to people with cars, friends in bands and Atlanta 30 minutes away where I could see live music. There was not much else to do and not being one into sports or extra curriculars I was seeing a lot shows. Thankfully at that time there were a lot of venues that allowed under 18 babies like myself. I added The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugazi, The Church, and a lot of terrible punk. (OK, breathe. I did not say I was punk. And many people would say my eclectic tastes prohibited me from being punk. This is a debate in itself. I remember a few times in high school people went ape because I was wearing fishnets with birkenstocks or combat boots with a flowered dress. Like I was a dress code felon or something. I always thought it was stupid and funny. Everybody always running around trying to catagorize everybody else.)

Ok. So you are thinking, "I've heard of all these bands. They are not obscure. I could buy their album in Walmart." That's fair. During the time I am writing about these bands weren't even played on the radio. They are well known now because they were flipping out suburban kids like me. Some of them way before my time. And the rich kids at my high school thought it was cool to pretend to be a redneck, drive a truck and listen to Garth Brooks. So for me they were delightful. Enough said. (for now!)

ah, the memories. 

plush cuteness abounds

i love the site called mypapercrane.com with crafts by heidi kennedy. 

she creates some of the cutest things in the world. seriously, how can your mood not be improved by plush donuts and cupcakes? it is almost like huggable prozac. check out her store and blog by linking through her main website!

 

portland weather has bipolor disorder

It is bright and sunny at the moment, but earlier it was snowing.

It is funny to see the trees budding, the flowers blooming and it is snowing outside. I love real seasons.

when blogs collide - Urban Honking

Back in November I was walking down the street with my friend Ryan and we came upon his friend in the midst of a shoe crisis, one that was also being chronicled for her blog. You can read about it here and see a funny photo of me in the background.

She did finally retrieve her shoe. I have since figured out that she is also one of the exclusive bloggers on Urban Honking (an invitation only site for those that want to contribute) that is getting a whole lot of attention. Read the article about Urban Honking in the Willamette Week.