Me and Jeff*, all dressed up for the prom, 1984

I've also been reading a book called Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas. It's hilarious.

Here's an explanation of the project from the author, Sarah Brown's website:

The first inklings of Cringe came about back in 2001, when Sarah Brown found her old diaries at her parents’ house, and decided it would be a good idea to send the most painful excerpts to her friends in a weekly email. Two years later, she moved to Brooklyn and told roommate Liz Schroeter about this endeavor, prompting Liz to dig out some old teenage zines of her own. The first Cringe Reading Night was held April 6, 2005, at Freddy’s Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn.

And the readings are still going on there, and in other cities, too.

The book includes things from other people, and I think the best parts are the commentary or explanations about the entries. Of course everybody's embarrassed by them, but a running theme seems to be, "I haven't changed at all."

This, of course, inspired me to get out my own diary and read through it. I've always been a sporadic journal keeper. This one is no exception. I started it December 25, 1981 and the last entry is January 26, 1985. And it's just over half filled. Sometimes there are months between entries.

I wrote mostly about who we saw at the mall, what albums I bought, and which concerts I went to. There was some friend drama - I felt left out a lot. Lots of people were "babes" back then. And lots of stuff was really "bitchin'" and "ex." And apparently I spent way more time and energy than I remembered obsessing over a certain someone.

I ended most entries with something like, "Well, it's really late. I need to get to bed."

Then there's typical teenage angst:
"I wish I knew who or what I was. I mean, I'm not doing anything, I'm just kind of here, doing nothin'."

And in the "I haven't changed" category, here's something from December 31, 1982 (I'd just turned 16):
"I wish I could act naturally at school, but I just can't. Everybody probably thinks I'm stuck-up or something. Oh well, that'll be my New Year's Resolution. To act more myself at school & to make some more friends. That seems fair. Well I better jam!"

It cracks me up how I would write about how sad, hopeless, and depressed I was and then say, "Oh well. Then last week we went to see The Beast Within. Gross movie."

But this is my favorite line of all (from January 7, 1982 - I was 15):
"School sucks, but it's been going pretty good because my hair is looking slightly better."

At least I had my priorities straight.

Anyway, it's really late. Gotta jam!

*not the one I obsessed over. Although he did rock that maroon tuxedo, no?.

I'm reading When You Are Engulfed In Flames by the brilliant David Sedaris.

It's all greatness, especially "Monster Mash," where he talks about his obsession with death. This is my favorite part:

"As a young man, I saved up my dishwashing money and bought a seventy-five-dollar copy of Medicolegal Investigations of Death, a sort of bible for forensic pathologists. It shows what you might look like if you bit an extension cord while standing in a shallow pool of water, if you were crushed by a tractor, struck by lightning, strangled with a spiral or nonspiral telephone cord, hit with a claw hammer, burned, shot, drowned, stabbed, or feasted upon by wild or domestic animals. The captions read like really great poem titles, my favorite being "Extensive Mildew on the Face of a Recluse." I stared at that picture for hours on end, hoping it might inspire me, but I know nothing about poetry, and the best I came up with was pretty lame:

Behold the recluse looking pensive!
Mildew, though, is quite extensive
On his head, both aft and fore.
He maybe shoulda got out more."

And here he is on Letterman reading an essay about the stadium pal (which is also in the book):

I'm not sure why this makes me sad:



Sometimes I get excited when people remake movies but sometimes it makes me mad or sad.

This time I was mad - how could someone remake such a great movie? And seriously, Keanu Reeves*?

I was expressing my disgust and Sam was wondering what all the fuss was about, so I showed him the new trailer and then found the old trailer:



My intention was to show how awesome the original was, but I realized quickly that the old black and white, low-tech one looks really cheesy and old fashioned compared to the new one.

I did really want this geekily obscure t-shirt:
But not any more, knowing that soon everybody will get it.

So maybe that's why I get snobby about things like that - it bothers me that something that a small group of us understand and appreciate (the "It-Getters," as Stephen Colbert would say) suddenly becomes part of the mainstream. Like when your favorite indie band "sells out" by getting a record deal.

So I'm going to focus on the fact that people like me will force their kids to watch the original (superior) The Day the Earth Stood Still and know that while most of those kids will roll their eyes, a few will "get it," too.

*The only movie I like him in is Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. To me, he'll always be Bill. Or was it Ted?

Well, it's been a busy summer so far.

Sam starts school next week but we're going to go to Austin for a short visit tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too hot there. We got a weird but welcome reprieve from the heat with a few days of mild temperatures. It's heating back up, though, unfortunately.

Thought I'd post a few recent finds for your interwebbing pleasure:

Cake Wrecks:
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

It's Lovely! I'll Take It!
http://lovelylisting.blogspot.com/

D-Listed Decor:
http://d-listeddecor.blogspot.com/

Must See Like New!
http://www.mustseelikenew.com/

First Books:
http://www2.firstbook.org/whatbook/your_favorites.php

Everything Should Taste Like Bacon:
http://baconsalt.com/

Fan videos are usually pretty lame, but this one makes me smile:

I know it's been a long time since the last post...

Went out of town, got back, now battling the heat.

Oh, and I've been watching Dr. Horrible:

So I bought these shoes at Target yesterday. I was looking for cheap, comfortable casual shoes that would be good for walking this summer. These were on clearance and I thought they looked kinda cute.

When I put them on I immediately thought of Racer X.

Then I thought, "I'm a grown woman. I can't wear shoes that look like Racer X."

But I bought them anyway. They were only $11.48...

When Sam got home from school, I put the shoes on and asked him what they reminded him of. He said, "Racer X."

So I'm going to cut the white things off.

Confession: I've always had a crush on Racer X.

This is Betty. Isn't she just lovely?

John helped me pick her out. And my economic stimulus check allowed me to buy her.

I love her.

a page from my bicycle book

OK, it turns out that I can't keep up with the Daily Show and the Colbert Report online. I'm way behind.

I blame it on Scrabulous.

Make yourself a muxtape.

I did:
enchiladaplate.muxtape.com

Well, I survived 5th grade camp! Barely. I was chaperoning 9 boys all by myself. Yes, 9.

I figure my job was to just keep everybody alive. And not kill anybody.

Mission accomplished.

But I wish I had a dollar for every time I yelled, "Walk!"

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Thinking about voting.

I'm excited to actually be able to vote in a primary. I know I could have always voted in the primaries, but it never really mattered before. By the time the Texas primary rolled around, the nominees had been chosen.

I still hesitate to vote, though. Even though I've always voted Democratic, the thought of having a party label stamped on my voter registration card bugs me. I like to know that I have the option to change my mind at the last second and vote for anyone I want to.

I don't know if that's the way it even works, but that's the way I've always imagined it.

I'm leaning towards Obama. Sam wants me to vote for Hillary. When I ask him why, he says it's because she'll be the first "girl president." I love that.

Either way.

So I got a call today from MoveOn urging me to vote for Obama. They let me know when to vote and asked if I knew that I could vote twice. Apparently you can vote in the primary and then go back in the evening and vote in the caucus. Weird.

So I guess the saying is true: Vote early. Vote often.

I killed my television.

Well, not really. I downgraded my cable to local channels. I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but when I really thought about how freaking expensive it is, I just really can't justify it. I really only watch the local news in the morning, and then The Daily Show and the Colbert Report at night. And then occasionally a few minutes of Dave, Craig, or Conan... And then random stuff.

Except for The Office, I don't watch any prime time TV. I do like Project Runway but haven't been watching it regularly since they took a break for the holidays.

So it seemed ridiculous to pay $80 a month for about 20 hours of cable. I really wish you could pick the channels that you want to receive.

Having a DVR and access to so many TV shows on DVD and even online, I had decided that watching TV was kind of annoying, anyway. I would purposely start watching after it started so I could fast forward through the commercials. And even having to do that was annoying.

But I'm actually excited that I won't have all that distraction. Now I won't feel bad about wasting an hour of my life watching Celebrity Rehab or The World's Most Smartest Model or anything with a Brady...

Sam's another story. I didn't really let him watch all that much TV, but he's very upset. I know he'll get over it. And he can watch at my mom's and at his dad's, so it's not like he'll be completely deprived... And we do have a gazillion DVDs...

So I'm going to be watching my precious Daily Show and Colbert Report online.

I'm also going to cancel my home phone. I've also been thinking about doing that for a while. It seems silly to pay for 2 phones that nobody calls me on!*

*No pity calls, please.

This one's for Jack.

I had lunch the other day with Amy and Stephanie and got birthday presents! Stephanie gave me a bag of thrift store goodness but it all paled in comparison to a postcard featuring the above image of "The Squirrel's Dinner Party." Stephanie actually saw it this summer at the Elizabethan House Museum in Great Yarmouth, England, her hometown.

This, of course, brings up several obvious questions.

First of all - What. The. Hell?

Did someone say, "I've got 15 dead squirrels. I think I'll get some dollhouse furniture and pose them as if they're eating dinner!"

Anyway, it's my new favorite thing.

I promised movie reviews. So I'm not really good at writing reviews but I'll try.

The Savages - Loved it. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney (who are great) play siblings who are dealing with their aging father. He was never around and they're suddenly forced to care for someone who didn't really care for them. It was real and sad and funny but not overly emotional or manipulative.

The Kite Runner - Beautiful. I really loved the book. It was beautifully written and very descriptive. They did a great job translating the book to film. It was very moving and beautifully done. They did leave out one part of the book, but it happened to be a part that I thought was a little manipulative, so it was a good thing. Beautiful opening title sequence, too (can't find it online anywhere...).

Juno - I loved it. It's quirky, funny, cute, and touching. The actors were really good and I loved all the witty banter and teen slang. Also had a great hand-drawn opening title sequence. The music was great and I can't wait to get the soundtrack.

I would recommend all of them!

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Now playing: Buffalo Tom - Postcard
via FoxyTunes

Mourning the ORG

During the year that Ze Frank was doing "The Show," his daily online video program, he created an online social network called the ORG. It was a place for his fans (with various nicknames like Sports Racers, Duckies, The Flock, or members of the League of Awesomeness) to congregate, celebrate their love for Ze, contemplate why he never blinked, show off their creative work, and collaborate with each other.

I had been contemplating writing a post for my art blog about online social networks for artists and I was going to mention the ORG. I don't see the point for most of the networks - I join them (myartspace.com, 723.com, artscuttlebutt.com, indiepublic.com, etc), post some images of my artwork, look around at other members for a while, log off, and forget about it until someone posts a comment or friend request.

But the ORG was different. It wasn't an art social network per se, but a lot of the members were very creative in some way - artists, musicians, poets, writers, photographers, filmmakers, designers, illustrators, etc. And others were scientists, engineers, students, and self-described geeks and nerds. The thing that brought everyone together was a desire to connect with other like-minded people and create something new.

ORG members could post photos, videos, writing, and links to their blogs. Members were encouraged to leave short, positive comments. You could also send messages to members via the ORG's message system. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned what I liked most about it - it looked really good. The complete opposite of MySpace, which is so full of ugly (on many levels) that I can't even begin to describe my loathing...

And it all seemed to develop and grow organically. It started very basic but as people commented on the features and functionality, new things were suggested, added and tweaked all the time. It was fun to watch it grow.

One of the collaborative aspects of the ORG were the projects. Any member could create a project and invite other members to join in. Some were based on things Ze mentioned in his show and others just came out of nowhere and got a life of their own. Often someone would post a photo or video, other people would connect with it, play off of it, post something else, and something new and wonderful would be born.

I have to admit that I wasn't as active an ORG member as some. I don't know how to do video (and quite frankly don't want to see myself on video!). I mostly posted some photos, perused the photos that people posted and commented on them. I would "quack" at people (I guess it was the ORG's version of a nudge, wink, or friend request). I would read some of the blogs and occasionally watch a video. There was one young guy from New York that posted some beautiful poetry... Oh, and I really enjoyed the Secret Santa project this Christmas...

OK, so why am I in mourning? Because when I tried to log in to the ORG on New Year's Day, I saw this:
... and it never went away. And I was sad.

It had became a real community. I felt like I had some friends there. I was a fan of many members and looked forward to their contributions - dangeramy, oldgrimy, viscousplatypus (still the best username ever), astropixie, imagine, blissee, awed job, snooge, ohkatherine (incredible photographer)... So many! A bunch of the ORG members are planning a get-together in Chicago this March, QuackerCon 2008...

Luckily I had some ORG member emails and some ORG contacts on Twitter and Flickr, so we were able to stay in contact while we figured out what happened (in fact, I've been enjoying our Twittering these last few days...)

Some of the more industrious (and smart) ORG members are scrambling to create a new place to meet. Right now it's called PostORG. ORG members are coming together and offering their talents to help create something new.

There was discussion on the forum about trying to get the code for the ORG to bring it back up and have someone else maintain it. But I love the idea of us creating something new. And of course by "us" I mean all those smart people who know how to do that sort of thing...

So if you were a member of the ORG and want to reconnect with it, go to PostORG or send an email to explodedorg@gmail.com.

Or if you want to be part of something new and awesome, watch The Show first, and if you like what you see, then hop on board.

And if you do join, look me up. I'm enchiladaplate, of course.

I missed you!

Colleen and one of the boys - from our visit back at Thanksgiving. I finally processed those photos!

A couple of images from the Bloch Building - the recent addition to the Nelson Atikins Museum in Kansas City. Colleen and I went there back at Thanksgiving, too. Her job was to keep me from licking those walls.

Oh! That reminds me. There was an episode of Firefly - now I have to look up which one - Objects in Space - where this kind of off-balance bounty hunter sneaks onto the ship to steal the crazy girl that the government did experiments on. Anyhoo - he talks about how he appreciates the design of things. He walks out into their cargo bay and admires the way it looks. Then he licks a post!

We had a good Christmas. Went to New Mexico the day after Christmas and did some snowy stuff. Maybe I'll post those pictures before St. Patrick's Day!

Sounds like this might be movie weekend. I'm going to see The Savages with Jenna tomorrow, maybe something with Trish tomorrow night, and then maybe the Kite Runner with book group people on Sunday. Woo hoo!

Movie reviews soon...
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Now playing: Lyle Lovett & His Large Band - South Texas Girl
via FoxyTunes

The battle for Christmas rages on...

Some Shrinky Dink pins that I made for Tracey...

I'm heavily into Christmas production mode. Making lots of stuff.

I'm making books and the usual but I'm also doing some new things - jewelry, sewing, and embroidery. I know. Like I needed more hobbies!

I'm having an arts and crafts day at my studio tomorrow to socialize and help everybody get all their unfinished craft projects done.

Little wooly caterpillar at the TWU pond a couple of weeks ago... I don't think I've ever seen one of these around here before.

Yeah, long time, no blog. I won't make any excuses.

I went to Kansas over Thanksgiving to visit Larry and family and to see Colleen and family. I went back and forth over whether I should go or not. I could have gotten a lot done with Sam at his dad's, but in the end I decided to go. It was good to get away and see everybody again. Although I've been there so many times this year, I think they're all sick of me by now.

Colleen indulged my art geekiness and we went to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. I wanted to see the new addition. It's super cool (I'll post pictures one of these days). Colleen's job was to keep me from licking the walls. My job was to keep her from flicking paint off of this one super smooshy oil painting. I told her that the oil paint could possibly still be wet in the thick spots and she wanted to find out...

We also went over to the Kemper. I really like that museum. Colleen found a blinky sculpture that she wanted to lick. Or steal. I forget.

Then we had some yummy Italian food, some yummy dessert, and we hung out at her house for a while with all the boys.

I went with my mom and stepdad in the Suburban Assault Vehicle. Interesting, I always remember them calling it "Suburban..." in the movie... Weird how that happens. According to the internets, a Chevy Suburban is a Mormon Assault Vehicle!

I've been doing a little painting, making some more collage boxes, and now I'm into holiday production mode. I'm going to be making gifts again this year. Sorry, everybody.

While I was making those boxes, I listened to a bunch of my backlog podcasts - specifically This American Life. In one episode, Meet the Pros, David Rakoff talks about how he loves to make stuff and he wonders if he could love it as much if it were his job. He makes things for his friends but that it must be like having a fitness-loving friend come over and do 25 push-ups in your living room and then say, "Happy Birthday!"

I'm afraid that might be true. So, again. Sorry.

I do love it, though. I was making some stuff today and I forgot to eat lunch.

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Now playing: Wilco - Hate It Here
via FoxyTunes

What a busy week I'm having. I drove to Sherman on Monday evening to do an encaustic painting demo for the Sherman Art League. It went well. I think everyone enjoyed it and they all seemed enthusiastic.

Yesterday evening I went to the Boys and Girls Club to talk to them about volunteering by teaching some art classes for the kids. I was a judge for their art competition last year and I really liked the woman who ran the place. She said that they were desperate for someone qualified to teach art, so I kind of put it in the back of my mind and finally contacted her when school started.

I think it's going to be fun. I met one little boy yesterday that I immediately fell in love with (but not in a creepy way). I think he's in 6th grade and he was telling me about his art classes at school. He looked just like Mike Sebasto, who I had a crush on in 6th grade.

I just got back from delivering some paintings to the amp gallery in Fort Worth. The opening is this Saturday. I'm excited that I'll get to see my friend Jennifer. My friend Kate is also in the show but she went and got herself a real live boyfriend and will be visiting his family instead.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Dallas to work on the collaborative piece with Allison and Brett. We're doing an altar for a Day of the Dead show. I have no idea what we're doing. I'm just going to take a bunch of stuff and hopefully it won't be ugly. It'll be fun to work with them.

Holy moly, and then Friday I'm going to go to BFE/Cedar Hill to talk to some people there about possibly doing a workshop. On the way back I'm going to try to hook up with Julie for lunch.

I scheduled a workshop for Saturday but I don't have anyone signed up, so I guess I won't be doing that. Then I guess we'll be going to Fort Worth for the reception. Sunday I rest.

I'm also doing volunteer stuff for the PTA, my part time stuff for VAST (which I've been neglecting lately and need to work on tonight), and working on proposals for teaching and for getting more shows. Oh, yeah, and I started a new series of paintings.

I finally sat down and read The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik, which apparently recently won a National Book Award. It was so good! Trish had recommended it. It's sort of a graphic novel but not really. I loved it. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is gripping and very sweet.

I also recently bought I Am America (and So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert. It's quite hilarious.


My favorite part so far - this part about mothers, in the chapter on The Family:

Females need to nurture constantly, so they hate any time alone where they are left to think, shower, or sleep. For a Mom to be happy, every moment away from her children must be filled with the soul-wrenching thought, "am I a bad mother?"

The answer to that question is a resounding "Yes." Scientists have proven, one assumes, that every flaw in a child can be traced back to a mistake made by the mother. As adults we're all imperfect, so that means all mothers are incompetent. But some mothers are worse than others. Take women who work. I don't care if it's CEO of a major corporation or three hours a week as a teacher's aide, if you work outside the home, you might as well bring coconut arsenic squares to the school bake sale.

A mother needs to be in the home even when the kids aren't A messy house sends a coded message to children: "I'm not loveable. Otherwise Mom would dust."

A good mother cooks, cleans, drives, organizes charity events so her children earn community service points for college, and expects nothing in return except love and breakfast in bed one day a year.

So, a word to all you Femin-Idi-Amins: Stop "liberating" moms by trying to make them join the workforce. They're already doing the job that God put them here to do: Everything.

He includes little notes on the side that work sort of like the bullets in his "The Word" segments. Funny footnotes, too. And stickers!

I haven't watched last night's show yet but apparently he announced that he's running for President. That's going to be awesome. I can't wait to see what kind of shenanigans he pulls.

You're right, Trish - "shenanigans" brings the funny!

That reminds me - Trish and I saw Across the Universe the other day. I thought it was good - not great. Parts of it were great. But it was about 30 minutes too long and as Trish pointed out, it seemed like they were just trying to fit in as many songs as they could. I do have an aversion to musicals, so that could have been the problem. The music was good, though...

I couldn't help comparing it to the Sgt. Pepper's movie from the 70's and how it's sort of a time capsule of the big stars of the day (Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees, Steve Martin, etc.). And I wonder if this one will seem like that in 30 years. That movie was definitely just a cheesy excuse to show as many big stars as they could singing as many Beatles songs as they could...

Check these out:
Unfortunately Placed Ads (I love the kitten/Jesus hug)

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Now playing: Lori McKenna - Confetti
via FoxyTunes