Rock'n'Roll Ginger Wild Child!

This guy looks like he wandered out of the loins of an '80's hair band drummer...  Well, he's hangin' out at the shop now.  Take a look!

And Another One!

Buy one so I can pay my rent!

I made these dolls, so that someone might buy them.

So these guys are up for sale at my Etsy shop.  Go take a look!

Garbage Truck Costume How-To

Here are some pictures of Matt's Garbageman costume from last year. Below I've included some instructions on making it yourself. Enjoy!



Some of the things you'll need:
cardboard (big sheets are good, but if you have smaller boxes lying
around you can always duct tape pieces together)
Duct tape
masking tape
glue gun
carpet knife
2 cans of green (or whatever color your trucks are) spraypaint
2 nylon straps about 2 1/2 feet long each
some cotton batting
yardstick/straight edge
assorted craft paint or acrylics for the details
patience (and maybe some band-aids)

Click on an image to make it bigger.



Now that I'm looking at the page below again, I think you'll probably be better off scoring the 3 1/2" marks on the far right and left of the big sheet on the opposite side of the cardboard, since the folds are going to be going in the other direction. Sorry about that.






And here's Mr First Prize Garbageboy at last year's Halloween party at the Park District. You wore it well, lil' dude!

Some Thankees, And One For My "Core Audience"

Well. languagehat kindly posted a link to this neglected, junk drawer-of-a-blog in this MeFi comment, and boom, I get more hits in three hours than I usually get in two months. Now that's sway! So now I'm looking around this cluttered trainwreck, and it occurs to me that maybe I should work a little harder in the upkeep department. Having new visitors here feels kind of like having neighbors drop in when there's hair all over the sink and clumps of dog puke drying on the living room carpet... In other words, I oughta be used to it. But I'm gonna work on it anyway, I swear to gawd.

If any stray MeFites wander this way, may I suggest some worthier blogs? There's the 'hat's own imcomparable work, linked above, and a new favorite, Interrobang's A Year In Comics. Then there's Ucceliina's beautifully wriiten and thought provoking A Bird's Nest. And of course, I never stop shilling for Filboid. His latest post on Charles Dana Gibson is an absolute feast. Enjoy!

As for "my core audience", I am of course referring to the unending stream of googlers hoping to find instruction in the manly art of squirrel skinning. This is pretty damn disappointing for you, I'll bet! Yeah, I know, false advertising and bait'n'switch and all that, but the quick studies among you might glean everything they need from my cheery title graphics.* For the rest, I offer this short film, "Squirrel Melts." Bon appetit!


Yeah, I know! Where's the skinning?! There must be a complete version of this show out there somewhere, and if I ever find it I'll post it. I don't actually have a problem with eating squirrel meat and I'd like to learn how to dress game, what with peak oil and the coming end times and all. Yet, when I see that plump, pink, headless little rodent curled up in Hunter Mom's frying pan, I can't help but cringe. It's just so... fetussy. It's like a longpig Lunchable. Shiver. For authentic squirrel cookery I look to Bayou Bill, a man who can proudly state, "I do not look down my nose at any piece of squirrel including heads." Which is a good point, since brains and face meat are the fattiest (and most savory) portions of lean animals like rabbits and Nutkins. Bill's blog is really fascinating, and if you're the outdoorsy type (or the armchair variety, like me) there's a lot of great stuff here, and nicely written to boot. So that's actually TWO for the core audience. I'm a giver!

Wow, four paragraphs... Stick a fork in me, I'm exhausted. Ouch!
Let's see if I can do this again before Easter rolls around.
Good night, googlers!


*(Courtesy of the 1964 edition of "The Joy of Cooking." Aren't they great? There's a section in that edition on storing eggs in something called waterglass. I have no idea what that is, but if I ever start a Prog Rock band, I gotta name.)

Matt Is A Single Issue Voter

Matt likes to look at pictures of garbage trucks on Google's image search. He was sitting in my lap clicking away, when we landed on this entry at The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog.

The following conversation ensued:

MATT: What does it say, Mommy?

ME: Hmm... Well, this is a page from a blog critical of this guy Sam Brownback, who's going to be running for president. It says that he, uh, wants communities to use money that they'd usually spend on garbage trucks to fund the war over in-

MATT: He doesn't want garbage trucks?

ME: Well, I guess instead of-

MATT: What's he got against the garbage trucks? Who is this guy? Doesn't he know how important the garbage trucks are?! [rising fury] Why doesn't he just stay in his own neighborhood and be president over there?! He should not get to be the president of all the neighborhoods!

ME: Huh! Well, uh-

MATT: [white hot rage] His name shouldn't even be Sam Brownback! It should be Sam... Stupidback!!

[awkward silence]

ME: Well. That's quite a stance!

MATT: [sheepishly] I used the 'S' word.

ME: That's okay, honey.

Matt at my Old Grade School

I took this photo at Christmastime, when we were visiting my parents. That imposing building in the background is my old grade school. The lens of the camera was dirty, which gives this shot the dreamy, Vasoline-on-the-lens quality. Sort of reminds me of Christina's World.