Let's make happy
Archive for July, 2007
WEBoggle Addict
Jul 8th
If you haven’t checked out WEBoggle, the online version of the popular Hasbro game lately (or at all), then now is a good time to do so. Evan Simpson, the creator and administrator of WEBoggle, has recently added a second board to keep it from breaking. Yay!
He’s also now blogging here, where can tell him how much you are addicted to his game and why you think “poo” should be an acceptable word. Also, he is now accepting donations to keep the site running. We should all give him money.
Admit it – just the sight of this board makes your heart rate speed up a little. One of the great advantages of WEBoggle over regular Boggle is that you can enter as many guesses as you like, and you won’t get punished for guessing words that aren’t really words (like “poo”). This makes the game a bit more of a frenzied affair than the physical version. And unlike the physical version, there are no noisy letter dice to rattle around in a plastic container, only to have them all land on their edges and in need of extra adjustment before you begin playing.
By the way, my WEBoggle name is “silly bean.” (Anyone else brave enough to share their secret WEBoggle addict name?)
Happy Anniversary
Jul 5th
Sunday will be my first wedding anniversary with John. It’s been an incredible year of discovery and fun, and I can’t wait to have many many more with him.
Since this is more or less a knitting blog, I thought I’d share how my knitting-nerdiness expressed itself last year on our wedding day:
All of the flowers – bouquets, boutonnieres, and center pieces – were knitted. I made over 200 of them, based on a pattern for a flower brooch from a 2004 issue of Knit.1. I think the months of obsessive knitting took my mind off the other stressful planning details (with which we also got a lot of help from family and friends).
In any case, the wedding was a hit, and I’m thrilled to say that so is the marriage!
Squirrel-infested Tree
Jul 4th
This little tree has a big squirrel problem.
He’s got nothing against squirrels per se – in fact, some of his best friends are squirrels. Thing is, these particular squirrels are obsessed with the gym. They’re constantly talking about their spinning class, day in and day out, while the tree would rather discuss politics.
It’s not like they’re even that fit – they eat tons of nuts that go right to their squirrelly little thighs.
The finished piece is about 6 inches tall, and each full squirrel is about 1 inch long.
Now as seen on the Craft blog – thanks, Nat!
Marcus Oakley
Jul 2nd
Here’s another great artist participating in the upcoming show I mentioned last week.
Marcus Oakley makes inviting pictures of ’70s musicians, talking animals, and still life. In addition to showing his artwork in our gallery, we represent him commercially at CWC-i. He’s worked with lots of awesome people over the years, including Paul Smith.
One of Marcus’s biggest influences is the music of the Beach Boys, as he discussed in this interview with Mary Jo Matsumoto. Lyrics from their songs often find their way into Marcus’s artwork, and he had their music played in the background during his last solo exhibition.
I admire the way that Marcus’s style is folksy, but not so cutesy, which makes it stand out among much of the nature-centric art that is everywhere these days.
Marcus actually has his own solo show going on right now in London (details here), so if you’re in the area, please check it out!
The World’s Biggest Stash?
Jul 1st
While we’re on the topic of my lovely mother-in-law, and while we happen to be visiting my in-laws for the 4th of July holiday, let’s take a peek at her awesomely huge yarn stash:
Viewing this stash is like walking into a gothic cathedral: it inspires those in its presence to renew their belief in God (or knitting, as it were).
The room itself is sort of separate from the rest of the house, and may be the quietest place I’ve ever been. Thanks to the yarn, it has recording studio-worthy soundproofing, so it’s just you, the yarn, and that unsettling sound of the blood rushing through your head.
Bonney has been collecting this yarn for years, bravely taking in stride her family’s varied remarks about it. Personally, I can’t help but feel honored to be in the presence of all this fiber. At the same time, I like the lived-in quality of the stash room – it reflects the way that Bonney actively uses her stash as a resource and inspiration, instead of an untouchable Museum of Yarn.
Though if she wanted to, I think she could start charging admission.
I feel obligated to say that this isn’t all of Bonney’s yarn. The living culture that is her yarn stash has long since spread down the stairs, and into several other rooms, where it’s started growing baby yarn colonies.
It’s easy to make fun of someone who has such an obscenely large collection of yarn, but really, aren’t you just deeply jealous? Not me, because I get free yarn!
