So, so troublesome.
Lessons all given, reports and homework sent. Still here at the office, my fingertips are freezing. the sensation on my eyelids say so.
So! What business do I still have here on a blog I so rarely update?
Er... To be honest, I don't know. It feels alien to me now, writing about my own life apart from my hobbies. I'm not entirely sure how I can fit all the events that have come and gone into a single post without my Friends list calling down fire and brimstone on me. (How terrible! they're not so mean, Jonette. Shame on you.)
Well...
Work has been... so-so. Work feels like an obscure floating island that I bleakly know about, but on which my day-to-day survival depends. It feels like the vague metaphor that you don't really understand but sounds like it's It and Now, and what a shame it'll be if you don't start using it, so use it, you sucker.
I don't know... work has been good to me and all, yes. For some reason, it now feels... irrelevant. It's something I just got to do day-in and day-out to ensure I'll have enough to keep the house running smoothly and take care of my health and sanity -- in that order. Get to Eastwood, get it over and done with, have some food to get it through, come home and prove you're human.
It's the lean season now, what with most my learners heading off on long vacations, and it's a time for belt-tightening and creative thinking. (I'd also count the entire week I had to stay at home because the doctor said I was a suspect for Swine flu, but well.) when you realize that you have a hungry man in the house on weekends, you're too sleepy or too naked to get out and buy food, and you have a sparse pantry and refridgerator to make do with, that's when you get creative. It's actually fun, really. We now call them Recession Nights. :D You whip up glorified instant pancit canton that actually tastes better than you imagined, or have cheeseburger pasta or picadillo for dinner, that sort of thing. Haha, last Saturday, I even went to the lengths of cooking a pound of cream dory tempura -- all in one go! I finally got to use the tempura mix that had been sitting in my pantry for the longest time. (Don't cry, little one. Won't you fry my fish tonight?) half of that was served as lunch-dinner, and the other half went into the fridge to be rationed as packed lunch for the remainder of days before payday. When you don't have much of the other, you do what you can with what plenty you have at the moment. See?
I'm not poor. I'm a survivor.
at the moment, what does get me excited now are knitting patterns. tons and tons of knittng patterns online. I have to discipline myself not to Save As each page or download each pdf for fear of choking my work desktop space. (Er, the monitor at home is pretty much dead, so there. ) I like looking at all the pretty, sumptuous colors and the textures of the patterns... What thrills me the most, though, is the idea that with enough study and patience, I too can make them. Makes me want to just reach in and scrunch my fingers through the sensation.
Sewing? Oh it's there.
...
In a way, I'm a bit afraid of sewing for now. It's not because it's frustrating, but more because it' so consuming. I mean, once I get into it, and I mean really get into it, I just work and work and work and the rest of the world is dead to me. I forget I need sleep, I have work tomorrow, and I could get fired if don't put down that hemming right now. Then I sit and get sulky about it, then the next you know it, I'm back again with hardly enough sleep, whirring away with the sewing machine the next afternoon, pinning the pieces onto the dress form, snapping away with my camera and barely making it through the office door on time. And damn, it feels so good.
Really, Jonette. This has got to be kept under control.
I think this is what fuels my foolish fantasy of resigning from my day job to concentrate on sewing and live off it forever and ever, amen. but at the prices I charge(which I suck at, really), I'm not gonna make it past the bills. so, I need to discipline myself (which is yet another thing I've never been good at, but dammit I've got to try if I want to live.)
Again, Time Management, just like what your mother told you. Ages ago.
So troublesome.
***
On the other side of things, I seem to now be gradually getting orders from all walks of my online life. After seeing what I could do with a petticoat (and here too), my client's friend wants me to make her one too. eclair's knitted scarves are just about done (one finished and the other a few inches shy of 5 feet), and the first of her two skirts is almost done. (What's taking you so long, woman? Goodness.)
If opportunity hits, I'm to next make a knitted shrug for an officemate, a black pleather cape for a Batman figure for another officemate, and a Max hoodie from Where The Wild Things Are, based on this:
I really want to learn how to make a hoodie from scratch; I think it would be fascinating to do so. I already have the separating plastic safety zipper for it, and all I'll need is nice white fleecy cloth. On the other hand, I have this other voice in my head saying Do you really know what you are asking for, woman? Choose your words wisely.
Still, it'd be nice to make a hoodie out of scratch. Just wishful thinking. Working on apre-made hoodie and adding ears and whatnots will probably have to do for now if I want to finish on time. C'mon, it's for a kid. It'd be great if it was awesome enough to make him want to wear it to the premiere, don'tcha think? ^_^*
I've tried my hand at sketching some dress ideas on one of my aunt's salvaged, xeroxed mock exams from way back when she was in college. It's one of my most dependable sketchbooks, really -- I've pretty much lost the rest, quite unintentionally, in one way or another. Three things:
1) I like getting the colors right with coloring pencils, no matter how difficult it may seem to be. Pink + orange + very careful coloring = Lush salmon pink. It's do-able.
2) I like giving my figures a curvy, womanly figure. My women will have boobs and butts and will blush very prettily when you tell them they do.
3) I cannot draw feet. I fail just as much when drawing with hands.
I let my creativity out to play (which often times means releasing the latch on its heavy metal leash and and watching it tear up the house in sheer, rabid, slobbery glee), and playtime more often than not is from whatever hour I come home to 5 or 6am. That also means I have not had a wink of sleep for the past 20 hours, and still have to cook brekkie and entertain the weekend hubby.
James gently scolds me accordingly, and lets me sleep when I need it -- both at my home and at his. On Sundays, he take me home to Project 8 so he can entertain me with other things he found and feed me so I don't have to cook. Often times, I end up nodding off, terrible wench I am, and he lets me nap. He's so wonderful. (can't think of a better word.)
***
I get by with a little help from my friends. I mean it, and I am grateful.
So! What business do I still have here on a blog I so rarely update?
Er... To be honest, I don't know. It feels alien to me now, writing about my own life apart from my hobbies. I'm not entirely sure how I can fit all the events that have come and gone into a single post without my Friends list calling down fire and brimstone on me. (How terrible! they're not so mean, Jonette. Shame on you.)
Well...
Work has been... so-so. Work feels like an obscure floating island that I bleakly know about, but on which my day-to-day survival depends. It feels like the vague metaphor that you don't really understand but sounds like it's It and Now, and what a shame it'll be if you don't start using it, so use it, you sucker.
I don't know... work has been good to me and all, yes. For some reason, it now feels... irrelevant. It's something I just got to do day-in and day-out to ensure I'll have enough to keep the house running smoothly and take care of my health and sanity -- in that order. Get to Eastwood, get it over and done with, have some food to get it through, come home and prove you're human.
It's the lean season now, what with most my learners heading off on long vacations, and it's a time for belt-tightening and creative thinking. (I'd also count the entire week I had to stay at home because the doctor said I was a suspect for Swine flu, but well.) when you realize that you have a hungry man in the house on weekends, you're too sleepy or too naked to get out and buy food, and you have a sparse pantry and refridgerator to make do with, that's when you get creative. It's actually fun, really. We now call them Recession Nights. :D You whip up glorified instant pancit canton that actually tastes better than you imagined, or have cheeseburger pasta or picadillo for dinner, that sort of thing. Haha, last Saturday, I even went to the lengths of cooking a pound of cream dory tempura -- all in one go! I finally got to use the tempura mix that had been sitting in my pantry for the longest time. (Don't cry, little one. Won't you fry my fish tonight?) half of that was served as lunch-dinner, and the other half went into the fridge to be rationed as packed lunch for the remainder of days before payday. When you don't have much of the other, you do what you can with what plenty you have at the moment. See?
I'm not poor. I'm a survivor.
at the moment, what does get me excited now are knitting patterns. tons and tons of knittng patterns online. I have to discipline myself not to Save As each page or download each pdf for fear of choking my work desktop space. (Er, the monitor at home is pretty much dead, so there. ) I like looking at all the pretty, sumptuous colors and the textures of the patterns... What thrills me the most, though, is the idea that with enough study and patience, I too can make them. Makes me want to just reach in and scrunch my fingers through the sensation.
Sewing? Oh it's there.
...
In a way, I'm a bit afraid of sewing for now. It's not because it's frustrating, but more because it' so consuming. I mean, once I get into it, and I mean really get into it, I just work and work and work and the rest of the world is dead to me. I forget I need sleep, I have work tomorrow, and I could get fired if don't put down that hemming right now. Then I sit and get sulky about it, then the next you know it, I'm back again with hardly enough sleep, whirring away with the sewing machine the next afternoon, pinning the pieces onto the dress form, snapping away with my camera and barely making it through the office door on time. And damn, it feels so good.
Really, Jonette. This has got to be kept under control.
I think this is what fuels my foolish fantasy of resigning from my day job to concentrate on sewing and live off it forever and ever, amen. but at the prices I charge(which I suck at, really), I'm not gonna make it past the bills. so, I need to discipline myself (which is yet another thing I've never been good at, but dammit I've got to try if I want to live.)
Again, Time Management, just like what your mother told you. Ages ago.
So troublesome.
***
On the other side of things, I seem to now be gradually getting orders from all walks of my online life. After seeing what I could do with a petticoat (and here too), my client's friend wants me to make her one too. eclair's knitted scarves are just about done (one finished and the other a few inches shy of 5 feet), and the first of her two skirts is almost done. (What's taking you so long, woman? Goodness.)
If opportunity hits, I'm to next make a knitted shrug for an officemate, a black pleather cape for a Batman figure for another officemate, and a Max hoodie from Where The Wild Things Are, based on this:
I really want to learn how to make a hoodie from scratch; I think it would be fascinating to do so. I already have the separating plastic safety zipper for it, and all I'll need is nice white fleecy cloth. On the other hand, I have this other voice in my head saying Do you really know what you are asking for, woman? Choose your words wisely.
Still, it'd be nice to make a hoodie out of scratch. Just wishful thinking. Working on apre-made hoodie and adding ears and whatnots will probably have to do for now if I want to finish on time. C'mon, it's for a kid. It'd be great if it was awesome enough to make him want to wear it to the premiere, don'tcha think? ^_^*
I've tried my hand at sketching some dress ideas on one of my aunt's salvaged, xeroxed mock exams from way back when she was in college. It's one of my most dependable sketchbooks, really -- I've pretty much lost the rest, quite unintentionally, in one way or another. Three things:
1) I like getting the colors right with coloring pencils, no matter how difficult it may seem to be. Pink + orange + very careful coloring = Lush salmon pink. It's do-able.
2) I like giving my figures a curvy, womanly figure. My women will have boobs and butts and will blush very prettily when you tell them they do.
3) I cannot draw feet. I fail just as much when drawing with hands.
I let my creativity out to play (which often times means releasing the latch on its heavy metal leash and and watching it tear up the house in sheer, rabid, slobbery glee), and playtime more often than not is from whatever hour I come home to 5 or 6am. That also means I have not had a wink of sleep for the past 20 hours, and still have to cook brekkie and entertain the weekend hubby.
James gently scolds me accordingly, and lets me sleep when I need it -- both at my home and at his. On Sundays, he take me home to Project 8 so he can entertain me with other things he found and feed me so I don't have to cook. Often times, I end up nodding off, terrible wench I am, and he lets me nap. He's so wonderful. (can't think of a better word.)
***
I get by with a little help from my friends. I mean it, and I am grateful.