the stirling news

Change of Plans

2012-01-25T23:52:00.012-05:00

A frog living in our toilet. Made it kinda hard to poop. It just didn't feel right, you know?

A tree full of fruit bats that Jamie saw while on a scooter outing. Amazing!

Here is Walker taking a bucket bath. He pretends he doesn't like it, and he screams bloody murder, but then he asks for more. He had me throwing buckets of water at him the other day...over and over while he screamed in delight. The showers in India are in the same room as the toilet and sink, with no curtain or door in between. This works out just fine.

We have changed plans. Initially we were going to stay here at the beach for 6 days, make our way to Varanasi, the Holy city on Mama Ganga, and then head North to glimpse the Himalaya. After hearing there was about 3 feet of snow in the North, after watching Walker run around freely, after being tired from long train rides, and after experiencing the chill of Goa...we decided to stay at the beach for 13 days. We were able to change our flight to Varanasi with only a $60 penalty. So now...we will be here at Agonda Beach until 2 Feb, then Varanasi 2-5 Feb, then Delhi 5-9 Feb. Then home! We are finding this is very common for travelers to do because moving around is very tiring. On my last 2 trips to India, I did the very same thing as well.

Walker has been pretty challenging the past few days. Screaming like a monster at people, throwing sand, hitting, and being pretty needy. He also has not been listening. This is exhausting. We realize it would be the same at home. But at home, we would each have a break and we would not be in public so much. Here we each have to deal with the stress of this wild behavior all day long. We are working on ways of dealing with it so we can each get a break. In addition, he does not like the beach. He says the noise of the waves scares him. He is not afraid of water when we are at the lake, but here he is afraid of the small crabs, the noise, and a small variety of other things. I had imagined him playing in the sand, making sand castles, running in the surf...but alas, this is not the way it is.

The guys in the restaurant (each hotel has its own beach side covered restaurant) where we hang out are so lovely. They work here during the season, then go home or go travel in the off season. One guy is clearly very intelligent: his name is Sam and he is from Nepal. He said after the season he will travel in India and go to Hampi, a great historical site in Southern India. The other guy Ravi will go home to his 3 year old daughter and his wife. Ravi has a delightful and genuine smile. They are so sweet to Walker and have managed to make friends with him. (Even though Walker has said several times that he "doesn't like these brown people." Imagine my reaction to that utterance! He got a good talking to last time he said that. I am sure he says this because so many people try to pinch his face and get in his space.)

Walker's birthday is in 2 days. Yesterday we ordered him a chocolate cake with pink writing from the German Bakery right down the road. Jamie picked up a few small toys and a bag of chips for his gifts. We shall have a little party here at the restaurant and get people to sing with us!

We took a day trip the other day down to Palolem beach where I have twice stayed in the past. It was hugely depressing. The beach is now overcrowded and dirty. I would never stay there now, as it is party central. Apparently they have "silent parties" where everyone gets headphones and techno/trance music is pumped into the headphones. People do a bunch of drugs and mill around with headphones on. They can take them off to chat with each other when they feel like it. How bizarre.

I have seen many things change here in the past 5 years. India is growing like mad and changing rapidly. It is truly amazing to see and recognize these changes. In the past, young women wore Salwaar Kameez on a daily basis. These have now been replaced with blue jeans. It is very sad. The Salwaar Kameez are beautiful 2 piece clothing sets that women wear, along with a large scarf that matches. They are super comfy and come in many colors and styles. Now women wear them mostly for special occasions. I also have noticed a lack of bangles. Before, everyone had sets of glass bangles or Lac bangles of some kind. Now...almost nothing. Maybe one or two instead of 10 or 20. And the prices have risen dramatically, which has messed with our budget somewhat. The food at the beach was previously about 50-100 rupees ($1-2) per person per meal. Now it is about 150-250 rupees ($3-5) per person per meal. Even though that is still way less than at home, it is more than I had bargained for. I could go on and on about the changes in India, culturally and politically, but I think I will save that for another time.

On the other hand, when we told the owner of our Guest House we were staying longer, he reduced the price of our stay by half, even retroactively. I was super surprised. And then I got wary, wondering what the catch was. That day there was no electricity and I thought perhaps he was reducing the rate because the electricity was never going to come back on! But it has. So we will let it be and hope for the best. I hate that I distrust things such as that, but there is a reason and that reason is experience.

Jamie took a cooking class yesterday. I am super proud of him for going and learning how to make some Indian food.He has some experience with it from cooking at home, but he said he learned a lot anyway. He had a good time and came back with a little homemade cookbook. Walker and I chilled out and played in the sand and read while Pa was gone. We are enjoying the food and the kinds of food available. From a simple shrimp sandwich with the crusts cut off to a delightful seafood salad with yummy veggies to masala omelettes to tandoori chicken....I am eating myself into a very fat stomach. But! But! It is so delicious and fun to eat!

We are thinking about taking a day trip to a spice plantation and elephant home. It is kinda far away (3 hours each way) but I really want to go. We'll see how that pans out. We need to do a little more research on it 1st.

So....that's what's happening here, folks. Drop us a line and let us know what is happening with you!

Goa (written by Jamie)

2012-01-23T06:47:00.005-05:00

Here we are in Goa! It's the kind of chill beach that makes you want to put your bathing suit on and not take it off for a week. On our way here, we flew from Jodhpur to Mumbai to Goa. In the car at the beginning of the 1 1/2 hr drive, Walker puked all over Jo, himself, and the back seat of the car. We cleaned it up as best as we could under the circumstances, then tipped the driver extra for the mess. Walker was complaining his tummy hurt for several hours prior to this. He seemed to feel fine in the morning. As you can see from the pic above, Walker is covering his face. This is because so many Indians have tried to take his picture; he is sick of it. Now at the sight of a camera pointed at him, he acts like he is in the witness protection program or a wanted fugitive and covers his face. Indians have also been trying to touch his face, and pinch his cheeks. I'm proud that he asserts himself, and screams NO!

Here is our shack by the beach. It costs $30 USD a night. Not bad. It has no T.V., mosquito net over the bed, and only a cold shower. No Problem! We are on a west facing beach on the Arabian sea, great for watching the sun set every night. Romantic even with a 3yr old along! I'm excited by the fact that I could walk into the jungle and maybe see a cobra or a 18' long python. But I don't go looking for rattle snakes at home, so I'm sure as hell not gonna hunt cobras in India.
At the end of the beach where we are staying there is a group of overland travelers who are camping. They have come from all over, in all sorts of vehicles. Some of these folks have traveled trough Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to get here. Impressive! One family we met there has been on the road for 12 years with their 4 kids traveling in a car from the 1920's with wooden wheels. They started in Argentina, came through the Americas, came across Europe, and so on. They have written a book about their travels, and their web site is www.sparkyourdream.net. Their 1st son was born in Greensboro, NC! They are truly interesting people.

More later.

The Flip Side

2012-01-19T23:56:00.015-05:00

We ended our time in Jaisalmer by going to see the lake. It was nice and peaceful with interesting buildings. We saw some wild pigs; their snouts are very long and funny!

Then we took a 6 hour train to Jodhpur. The trip was a bit harrowing, as we were tired and Walker was being wild. We arrived with our increasingly heavy bags, to find our pick-up guy not there. But he arrived within 5 minutes in a CAR, and we were extremely grateful as we were freezing on the train. He brought us to the Niralhi Dhani Hotel, 7 KM outside of town. We chose this hotel because the pictures on the internet showed it has a grassy field and a pool and the room looked awesome. Well, it IS very nice-the room is super comfy and it even has a heater-but the grass is dirt and it is too cold to swim. Nevertheless, the service here is over the top. I mean, we are afraid to ask for something because we not only get what we ask for, but 10X more! For breakfast they have an Indian breakfast buffet. So yesterday, they offered us fruit as well, knowing we were not used to Indian Breakfasts. Then today, they brought us fresh fruit, Poori (Puffy round bread), AND boiled vegetables. This is in addition to the Porridge & cereal we already had. We felt obliged to eat what they brought...and now we are STUFFED!

The best part is that we have all been sleeping great....and there is room for this child to run!

Yesterday we went to the fort here in Jodhpur and it was amazing. I mean, it is HUGE. I cannot see how it could ever be penetrated, even today. The walls are super high and thick. It is beautiful also; from the top, you can look down at Jodhpur, the blue city. Gorgeous! We enjoyed ourselves at the fort.

Then we went to the Clock tower, where there was a bustling, colorful market. It was a bit overwhelming...but we also saw some gorgeous colorful stalls. Then back to the hotel for a huge delicious Indian meal and early bed.

I think it is time to talk about what is hard about traveling with Walker. I don't want you all to think I am covering up the hard stuff. It is not all laughs and snuggles. Jamie and I have been talking about what frustrates us being with him here and why we lose patience sometimes with him. We have concluded that all the negative things come back to him being 3 years old (well, next week).

1. His hands are always dirty, dirty, dirty. Then he puts them in his mouth. Then he cries and refuses to let me clean his hands. Then he puts them in his mouth. Then he runs them along a dirty wall, while wet from being in his mouth. This drives me crazy.

2. He only will let certain people change his clothes, change his diapers, kiss him, put on his socks, hold his hand, carry him. Usually this is me, but sometimes it is Pa. This can involve lots of baggage exchange between me and Pa...not enough personal time for the one required to do the task for Walker, and annoyance on our part overall.

3. We never stop watching him. I can't relax in that regard, even when we are inside...unless he is watching a movie or sleeping. Just a few minutes ago, he went through my purse....AND Jamie's bag where he ended up messing with Pa's prescription sunglasses. And he ate 2 mints from my bag and he found his secret present Pa was saving for later. In Jaisalmer, there were lots of high places with no railings. This made me anxious as soon as I saw the opportunities he would have available to him. Eeks!

4. He is heavy. In busy traffic or when he doesn't feel like walking, we have to carry him. My aching thighs! 2ce I have run up stairs while holding Walker, my 50 pound backpack, and 2 other bags. Talk about being out of shape! Jesus! We are really good about switching carrying him...IF HE LETS US. Then when he lets us put him down, he runs off. Sigh.

5. He says he wants food, then when it arrives, he refuses to eat it. The only saving grace to this is that at the most we have spent $2 on wasted meals, per time. I try to think ahead and make sure we have snacks he will eat, and I am learning to jump on opportunities for healthy snacks as we go. Yesterday he ate fresh raisins, cashews, and oranges for lunch. I felt happy about this. Then for dinner, he refused the noodles he asked for and ate only some fruit. So we got a doggy bag for the noodles, which now will go uneaten.

6. He SCREAMS in the shower, as if he is being tortured. No baths here. The whole time he screams, hating it. Then he screams when he gets out, because he wants to get back in. Then he screams because the towel is not the way he likes it. Then he screams when it is time to get dressed.

7. He screams like a monster. All the time. We are sick of it. We threaten him with no movie when he screams and this works.

8. He gets in our space. Sometimes he wants to only sit ON OUR LAP and then we can't do anything but have him on our lap. Sometimes he wants to sit where Pa is sitting and then Pa is uncomfortable. Sometimes he wants to put his face right next to our faces, and it is annoying.

However, I want to reiterate that I am only telling you this so you know both sides of the story. Jamie and I have said over and over how happy we are to have him with us and how lucky we are to have this time together as a family. Despite these things, we are having such a great time. We are aware that these things would be happening at home, too....these behaviors are not related to our trip...they are related to Walker being the age he is. And Oh! How we love him!

Tomorrow we go to Agonda, Goa. We are so excited to go to the beach, as we have been chilly since we got to India. Back atcha later! Hope everyone is doing well.

Camel

2012-01-18T01:05:00.012-05:00

This is my darling friend Hema. Hema will be my co-author on the Indian jewelry book. We went over to her house in Delhi on Sunday for brunch. it was a traditional Rajasthani meal that her mother made for us, because her family is from the desert area on the border of Pakistan. It was delicious! We are so lucky that we got to have a real home cooked Indian meal. It was super fun to see Hema's beautiful home...she has recently redecorated it, and she has fabulous taste! She lives there with her brother, a dentist, and her father (general medicine doctor) and her mother. It was beautiful, and her family was lovely.

Yesterday we walked around the fort here in Jaisalmer, bought a couple of t-shirts and some weird decorated goat skull & a ganesh (elephant god). We had lunch up on the roof of our hotel…a most delicious Rajasthani Thali (meal with several small dishes). I must say that I ate the best Chapati (round flat bread) I have had yet. Soft and tasty, warm….mmmmm!

Walker has found a small stuffed horse that is supposed to be decoration at the rooftop restaurant, but he is riding it around while we eat. The owner and his guys all live here at the hotel, and they are SO nice. The nicest hotel folks yet. I really do feel like I am “at home” here, and they do not get all in our business or anything. But I can walk up to the restaurant in my PJ’s without feeling like they are ogling my breasts. (Not that they are really showing or anything, but sometimes these Indian guys are so lewd!)

We went camel riding yesterday and it was a great experience. We took a jeep along with a couple from Canada out to the desert and stopped sevral times along the way for sightseeing. One time at a village hut, then at a spot where there were some fossils, then at a watering hole for the village.

Then we arrived at the camel spot, climbed on and went on our way! Walker liked it at 1^st, then started saying he hated camels. He renamed our camel ”Mister Darth Vader” but his real name was Mula. Mula kept eating the bushes so I had to keep kicking his sides. Walker complained and complained, then when we got off someone asked him how he liked his camel ride and he said “Pretty good!” I swear he is such a rascal!

He played around in the sand dunes, we drank a beer, then got back in the jeep for a very fast and BUMPY ride back to the hotel. It was nice to snuggle with him on the camel, and also have him ride in m lap so I could hug him all the way home. He is very good at being warm and snuggly, and I truly love that about him. I feel so lucky that we are having so many of these great snuggling opportunities on our trip.

One thing I haven’t really discussed yet is money. One thing that is wearing about traveling is always having to spend cash. At home, we spend lots of money, but ususally not cash. And usually not all day long. We pay for our various utilities and food only once a month or once a week. While traveling you pay out cash ALL DAY LONG and it gets exhausting. In addition, when you are spending 10 rupees here and 500 rupees there, you feel like you are spending a ton of money. We have to remind ourselves that 10 rupees is only 20 cents! 500 rupees is only 10 dollars! But again, people are always asking for money, we spend money on water, on food, on transportation, everything we do costs money. The good thing is that things here cost a lot less money than they do at home. Our hotel in Jaisalmer costs Rs 650. This is 13 US dollars.

A few more things about Indian money: If a bill is old and wrinkled or has a hole in it, no one will take it. They will give you an old bill, but certainly won’t take one! The other thing is that Indians hate to give out change. They will say they don’t have change, but really they do. This could be for several reasons: they want you to spend more money with them…or they just don’t want large bills. I wonder if there is a country-wide shortage of smaller bills or what! It is very frustrating. Also…don’t buy anything at the 1^st of the day, because they are sure to not have any change then.

Beggars: We have seen so many beggars, of course. Our policy is to give money when we feel like it. I do think we have seen less begging this time than I have seen in the past. And the people we see begging look terrible. All kinds of deformations and whatnot. It makes you wonder what their life has been like, what happened to their parents, where they sleep…When you think about giving them 10 rupees, you feel you must give, as it is only 20 cents. We will be donating to an organization in South India that helps rescue women from sexual slavery and teaches them skills to start a life of their own. But we also will be giving money to beggars when we feel like it. It is not our job to fix the poverty problem here in India, but we can give out a banana or some change.

Tonight we leave for a 3 hour train ride to Jodhpur, the blue city. More on that later.

Today's post is written by Jamie

2012-01-17T00:48:00.017-05:00

We left Delhi the day before yesterday. I was ready to get out of the city. We were there for a week, and between all the traffic and constant noise, my nerves were a little rattled. Although we had fun exploring the city, eating great food, and shopping. I was surprised the first couple days that several locals recognized Joanna from previous trips. One of the things that we made a priority there was to find places for Walker to run and be on the loose. I'm sure he got tired of holding our hands and being carried every where we went due to traffic and crowds.

We took an overnight train to the desert city of Jaisalmer. I have never traveled by train before, and had fun kicking back and watching the world go by. We got tickets in sleeper class, and got dibs on top bunks across from across from each other so we could talk and watch each other's stuff. It's a no frills experience, but any overnight travel where you can be horizontal is o.k. by me.
Now we are in Jaisalmer, which is a friendly city of about 20,000. It's about 40 miles from the Pakistan boarder, and several times a day, fighter jets fly over. Apparently they fly right up to Pakistani air space and turn around. Some sort of muscle flexing I guess. We have also seen lots of tanks and artillery pieces.
We are lucky enough to be staying in a massive fort built 800 years ago. It would rival any castle in Europe and looks like it has grown out of the desert as if they were one in the same. Think about the most kick ass sand castle you can imagine & multiply it by 10! There is a wonderful restaurant on the roof with great city/desert views where we have been hanging out with the friendly staff. We toured the fort and have had fun exploring the narrow winding streets and alleys of this cool city. This afternoon we are going on a jeep trip and camel ride in the desert to visit some local villages and see the sights. Tomorrow, onto the blue city of Jodhpor.

Up

2012-01-13T21:32:00.003-05:00

Hello!

We are having sleeping problems. Walker woke up last night at 4:30. Even though he and I were able to go back to sleep, Jamie was not. This means Jamie will take a a nap later in the day....and then possibly not sleep through the night again. It is 8AM here, and Jamie is outside doing something while Walker and I are still in the bed. I think he is up on the roof having breakfast.

Apparently last night (Friday) they had a bonfire for the guests on the roof! Jamie said they put down a circle of bricks and then a few inches of dirt, and then set up the wood like a teepee. We missed the action, but thought it was very interesting that they just had a fire like that right on the marble floor!

I have pink eye. I have never really had it before that I remember. I got some Ayurvedic drops for it and it is feeling a bit better. I will give it a few days like this to see what happens and if it does not go away I will have to go get antibiotic drops. Ugh.

We are ready to leave Delhi. The noises and people and activity is tiring. However we still have a day and a half here so we will make the best of it! Walker has suggested going back to the park (he had fun yesterday), there is a craft "display" at Dilli Haat (this means you can purchase these....), we have some items to purchase for resale (oh! you just wait and see!), and i am vaguely interested in seeing the Bahai Lotus Temple. Plus there is food to eat, naps to be had, showers to take.

I got some mehendi yesterday. I think I picked the wrong guy, because it is pretty sloppy. Oh well. It wears off quickly and I will get some more before coming home. Walker got mad when he saw it, saying I had dirt on my hands.

Walker had a tough day yesterday, needing time inside to watch movies and he needed his mama. I read him the same l.o.n.g. book about 4 times. I bought him some bars and made him some gatoraid. Jamie hung out with him inside while I went and got the mehendi. Hopefully today he will be ready for some more things. We must make sure he is doing ok, and we are trying to be gentle with him as far as activities, food, sleep, and everything! The little prince himself just woke up next to me, so I think I will sign off.

More pics later, they take a long time to upload.

IN pictures

2012-01-12T22:07:00.014-05:00

Sitting on the bench in front of the Taj. Something funny happened to the lighting, so you have to tilt your screen to see the Taj itself in the background. Our guide, Master, took this photo. I wish I had a photo of him taking the photo, with his legs wide apart, squatting down, being VERY serious about his guide job. He was so serious, in fact, that we pretty quickly got rid of him. We had to be polite in order to not hurt his feelings, but he was very stern and told us all we needed to know about the Taj and....more. It was very crowded and hectic there. A little overwhelming. But still amzingly beautiful. For those who do not know, the Taj Mahal is a tomb for the emporerShah Jihah's 4th wife who bore him 14 sons by the age of 38. The Shah is also entombed there now, next to her. There is all kinds of crazy gemstone inlay covering the whole place. It truly is amazing and special. We changed Walker's diaper in one of the side alcoves. not many kids can say they did that!

A monster with Pa on the Train to Agra, where the Taj is located. Our train ride there was uneventful. On the way back, Walker slept, and we had a most delightful 3 hours talking to our seat mates. A group of college students from Kashmir (a Nothern Indian state) and a medical sales rep for Samsung, Deepak. Truly great guys. We learned a lot, and so did they. We also got to talk to a really friendly and kind Sikh.

A sign for the clean toilet. On the other side the sing just said "toilet" so of course I went to the clean one. Afterwards I went and checked out the other toilet, and it smelled terrible!

The dirty toilet.

The clean toilet. Pay "as you wish." I paid rs. 10....about 20 cents.

A building at the red Fort in Delhi. It is supposed to be surrounded by water, and was in the old days. Now they can't keep it full due to the expense. Still so pretty. Walker was trying to climb over the wall. He has been really interested in running. This is fairly new.

The grand entrance to the Red fort. These forts are seriously the kind of places that you try to make when you are building sand castles. The Red Fort in Delhi even has a gigantic moat! But there is no water in it anymore. It makes me yearn for pictures of what it used to be like. These people were not messing around with their forts and palaces.

Today we are going to go to the Delhi Children's Park that we found out about form Deepak. Then we are going to concentrate on shopping around Pahar Ganj, the old market (Main Bazaar) where we are staying. Believe it or not, the only thing we have bought so far is a hat for Walker. it is colder than we thought or I remember. Brr. So glad we brought THREE blankies! They are keeping us warm and make us feel homey.

I also want to get some mehendi (henna) on my hands. You know...when in Rome. And I will purchase some chappals (Indian sandals). And Walker wants a pair of Indian pajamas; we saw some in his size!

Well, it is definitely time to go, as Walker is .....um...shall I say FULL of energy at the moment and we need to go let him run.

Have a great day everybody!

Quickie

2012-01-11T20:54:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we visited the Red Fort in Old Delhi, went for an insane bicycle rickshaw ride, ate some delicious lunch where Walker sucked down a mango lassi, and then.....slept the whole rest of the day. Jet lag is bothering us.

Today we catch an 8AM train to Agra, home of the "Taj Ma Fricking Hal" as Jamie put it! 3.5 hours there and back. Walker is looking forward to the train. I hope it lives up to his expectations, and I think it just might.

Have I told you what an intrepid traveler Walker is? Have I mentioned that we are incredibly proud of him? WHAT A GREAT GUY!

More later...with pics.

Day 1: Delhi

2012-01-10T09:22:00.010-05:00

Here we are in Delhi! Back at the Anoop Hotel, where I have stayed on my previous 2 trips.
The flights here went fine. Walker did SO GOOD.

It was hard because the flights were long, and 2 times he got hyper before crashing. (Coincidentally....that is occurring right now, too.) I couldn't be prouder of this little rascal. He was a Pa's boy the whole way...

...except when the Afghani in the rear of the plane freaked out.

Let's talk about that. We were sitting on the tarmac in Amsterdam, 15 minutes late because someone checked their baggage and then never boarded. So they had to go and remove the baggage...you know, in case it was a bomb or something. Suddenly, 3 rows behind us, this person starts FREAKING OUT. Screaming in this high pitched way. I thought there was a mental patient who was losing it. There were guys restraining the person, and Jamie jumped up to help, but the steward told him to sit. The man was screaming something about Afghanistan...and everyone was looking around, feeling confused and frightened. Finally he stopped screaming, and we were told the man had been trying to get asylum in Holland but was refused, and that there were four air Marshalls with him who were returning him to Afghanistan, where he clearly did not want to go. It was sad, and interesting, scary, and confusing. Whoa! Then in the end he sat there, watching a movie quietly and we all forgot about it.

Here is the sign we saw for us upon our arrival.

This has to be the worst spelling of my name...umm...ever. Ha! Our ride into town from the airport was great.

We hung out and had a beer from the rooftop restaurant, then all went to sleep. We woke up because some kid was talking really loud in the hall around 7 am.

Then we ordered a cup of chai, Pa's 1st. He liked it! People, chai is way better in India than in the US. My friend Raina says it is because it is made with unpasteurized water buffaloe milk. When they make chai, they boil the milk and water, spices & tea, so it is Ok about the lack of pasteurization. then as Walker was still sleping, we ordered room service (no additional charge, BTW) and got the "Spanish breakfast." Which was delicious! Yum yum! I mean, YUM!

Then we figured out how to turn on the geiser, which is an individual hot water heater in he bathroom, and cleaned ourselves up, got dressed, and went for a walk to the ATM. Here are some things we saw along the way:
Back to the room for a rest, then out for lunch where we sat at a roadside restaurant, and Walker sat on my lap and drank lemon with soda, Pa and I had ginger lemon honey tea (amazing) and we watched everyone go by. Super nice. I got mixed veg curry, Pa got veg eggrolls, Walker got fries. All delicious.

Back out for a walk, then hopped into an autorickshaw over to Lodi Gardens. Kind of like the Central Park of Delhi. Awesome! I am so glad we went. There were lots of lovers lolling about in the grass. There were several tombs, including one for Mr. Lodi. OLD tombs, like from 1500AD. We saw lots of geese, parakeets, and birds. LOTS. They chirped like crazy. You can hear them in this video:

Back to the hotel for a nap. It was VERY HARD to get up from the nap due to jet lag and Walker was PISSED. We made him wake up by going out for a walk. Then dinner on the roof of Pad Thai (Indian style) and Pizza. Now, we have a very hyper child on our hands and are waiting for the crash. (We also met a very annoying Dutch hippie man who shot his insulin right in front of us without saying anything, then criticized our parenting about how we were trying to get Walker to eat dinner....umm...SEE YA!)

All I can say is that it has been a great day.

2 days

2012-01-06T18:29:00.011-05:00

Here we are, packing up to go! 2 more days until we leave. Everything feels pretty good, we are anxious to get on with it and start traveling! This post is about what we are taking. Packing for traveling with a child is not the same as packing for traveling alone....or with a 1 year old like we did last time.

This is Walker, watching "Monsters, Inc" with furrowed eyebrows. He is asking us what he can take, and when we get on the plane...then he syas he does not want to go. Oops! But we know he has NO IDEA of what is in store for him, so we just keep on keeping on!

This is my bag. Jamie has one almost just like it in black. It is just as big as they will let you have for carry on, but I do not know the exact dimensions. I wrote on the side this afternoon, just my email address. I thought I would put my mailing address, but then I thought it might be better to just put my easiest contact info. I did the same with Walker's bag, but Jamie's is black, so I guess I will use a paint marker on his.

Here is our bed full of the little bags I put inside our big bag. I like using little bags and designating each one for a specific purpose. I have my doc kit, Walker's doc kit, a bag for electronics and plug converters, a bag for powdered drinks & wipes, and a bag for underwear and
socks. We have lots of bags...clear and wet/dry and for liquids and for poopy diapers and for snacks and for collecting items....I know it is not good for the environment, but I LOVE ZIPLOCKS of all shapes and sizes.

These are the toys we are taking for Walker. He will turn 3 on January 28th on our trip while we are in Varanasi. We are bringing lots of books, because he LOVES to read. We also are bringing a 10" netbook, with pre-downloaded movies (4 of them). We are bringing a soft Woody doll, a hard plastic Buzz lightyear doll with wings, a hard plastic lion, a 3" robot, many small figures he can set up and play with, a magnetic board with "stickers," 4 crayons and a coloring book, a pad of paper, 2 different magnetic drawing toys (one that is the guy with the beard and the other is the kind you can "swipe" and erase), a small box of 4 colors of molding clay, and some surprise toys: a miniature "Mater" from the movie "Cars," a small motorcycle with rider, and best of all...a Mater pillow pet! The pillow pet was much larger than the one we ordered, but we kept it because we hope it will bring him joy and comfort when he is on the road. I hope he will be thrilled. And last but not least, we are bringing Benadryl to help him sleep when it is time. We experimented to make sure it did not have the reverse effect and make him hyper.

This is walker's stroller and Ergo (soft backpack carrier) in the carry-on bag. We outfitted the stroller with an under-carrier and a bag that hangs from the handles. His Ergo....we'll see if he gets in it. He might or he might not. We want to bring it in case he gets tired of walking and we don't have the stroller in a big city. Lots of sidewalks in Asia are not really used for walking, but for parking or sleeping or selling or hanging out, which makes it harder to "walk" on the sidewalk, especially with a stroller. But we are bringing it for the airports and for smaller & quieter towns and such. It cost us $15, so if it is a total pain in the ass and completely useless, we will give it to someone who might like it.

Here is Pa's bag, with the 1st Aid kit inside. He is carrying half of the shared stuff and so am I. He will have diapers, the Netbook, some books, the pillow pet, a blankie (we are bringing 3 couch-size down blankies), and a pack of powdered Gatorade.

Walker has his own backpack. He is carrying his clothes (half of them) and his toys. And he will carry his bottle, too and he will be technically responsible for the FOOD, but one of us will probably carry it. If we are paying full price for his ticket, he gets 2 carry-on bags, too.

These are the snacks. Because I am a jeweler, I have lots of small ziplock bags that I use when sending out my work. I brought them to the bulk section of the grocery and filled them up with a variety of snacks. They are all healthy and sugar-free due to our confined circumstances. I think this is good for the trip because I hope Walker will have some kind of snack he can't refuse because of the large number of choices! And then Ma & Pa can enjoy whatever he doesn't want. I also have a bag of "wet" food (sounds like I packed for a cat, right?) that I think the TSA might take away, which includes a yogurt drink Walker loves, juice, and also fruit puree he loves. I went to the TSA site and they said they allow an amount of food for a "baby" for the duration of the trip, including breast milk, food, and juice. Walker is not technically a "baby" but several of our items have the word "baby" written on them so I am hoping this will persuade the TSA workers to let me bring the wet food on the plane. If not, Oh well..I am prepared to be nice and not mad.

We fly into Delhi on January 9th (India time) at 11:30 PM. We are staying at the Anoop in Paharganj unless it sucks for the family and we have to upgrade.

Whoa! Back atacha when we are there, unless I am compelled to write afore time.

One more thing different from the trip...today Marthe Le Van and I signed a lease on 9 Walnut Street in downtown Asheville. It is a gorgeous 800 square foot retail space which we will use to showcase and sell my jewelry. We have tons of fun plans for the shop and business. We'll let you know the date of the opening party so you can attend! If you are not on my email list now, please write me (joanna@joannagollberg.com) or Marthe (marthe.levan@gmail.com) to get emails from us! Whoa! Life is awesome!

Namaste, Dosti!

Reorganized

2011-12-26T20:01:00.007-05:00

Well, we leave in about 2 weeks. Walker and I are busy biting our nails in anticipation. Jamie is cruising along with no nail biting, Thank Goodness!

There have been lots of changes in regard to this trip. Initially, I thought I would be able to mix work, family, and India. I was so excited about the prospect! Then I found myself waking up at night worrying about how that was going to happen. And I talked with Hema, my friend in India who will be co-authoring a book with me about Indian jewelry techniques, and she said we would only be in one city, Jaipur, to do our research and that we would need about 23 days to fully cover the techniques. Uh oh. I had booked the trip for 31 days. That meant that Jamie and Walker would be stuck in Jaipur with almost nothing to do while I was out having fun everyday doing jewelry research. That would not work!

So I told Hema that I would have to come back on a separate trip. Jamie agreed. I had already booked our tickets, so that meant we would have an extended vacation. Well, that's alright with me, except I'll be gone from work a little longer than I would like. For many reasons. But it would cost over $600 to change the tickets. So we will remain in India for 31 days having a vacation on this trip.

Then I was so excited about the USA Artist fundraising. Well....that did not work out like I expected. Mainly because I got some negative feedback about the process and I backed off on pushing it for fundraising. I heard that it seemed like I was trying to have other people fund my vacation, that people did not understand why I was fundraising when I already had a book contract, that my focus on the trip was confusing. I was shocked that anyone would think I was trying to get something for free, that anyone would think I was not earning my way. The fact that I put myself out in public in a vulnerable way to ask people for money to fund this project felt really weird to me after I got the negative feedback. So I stopped asking people to fund the site and I let the fundraising time expire. At this point, I hope that the Asheville Area Arts Council will be willing to let me keep the grant I received from them, but wait a year longer than initially expected to complete the project. I hope to apply for other grants that are not crowd-sourced, but are privately funded. I hope to put off writing and researching the book for one year. This book is something I really, really am excited about, but one that I want surrounded by positive feelings. So...I am going to wait a year before continuing with the research. Thank you to everyone who was willing to support my project on USA artists. It means so much to me!

Now, onward ho! Jamie, Walker, and I are off to India in 2 weeks! I have a full calendar planned & oragnaized. We know where we are going, and even where we are staying! I felt it necessary to plan the trip ahead of time because of Walker. I am so glad I did! I was able to book long train trips overnight, make sure we reserved cool child-friendly hotels, and now we can pack accordingly.

The main issue we have been dealing with: shots, m ainly for Walker. There was some confusion as to what he needed, and of course it all comes down to the last minute. So this week, Walker will complete his Hep A & B and also get a dead Typhoid vaccine. He will be up-to-date on everything else though he will not be covered for Varicella (Chicken Pox) at all because he would have had 2 live vaccines too close. They don't do that. I'm OK with him not getting the Varicella before we go, as Chicken Pox is not deadly. It is unlikely any of us will get any deadly disease. We are going to be on the tourist beat. We will be as careful as we can with food & water. We are bringing all kinds of wipes and anti-bacterial washes. We will sleep under mosquito nets when we can. (This is a picture of our reserved room at Agonda Beach, Goa. The Rama Resort. Nice curtains, eh?)

We will use mosquito spray when we can. Most importantly, we will rest when we are tired & we will take breaks when we are feeling worn out. We will also make sure to eat healthy foods and drink plenty of fluids. (I will be bringing packets of powdered Gatorade & Emergen-C and the pharmacies there carry re-hydration salts for children, if necessary.) If any of us get sick, we will make sure to seek out medical help.

The plane: I made sure to get tickets that had a good route & timeline for us. We fly to Atlanta, have an hour layover. Then we have an 8 hour ride to Amsterdam, a 4 hour layover, then 8 more hours to Delhi. I thought this would be better than a 16 hour trip with an 8 hour layover in New Jersey! We also are renting this child safety device for Walker on the plane. They cost $160 to purchase, but we found you can rent them on Ebay for a total of about $30 for the time we'll be gone. Pretty cool. Not only is it safer for him, but it also makes sure he hmm.hmm....stays in his seat. It comes in the mail 3 days before we leave and we have to send it back 3 days after we get home.

Other things I am bringing for Walker (who will almost be 3 years old): books. Lots of soft-back books. My ma-in-law got us these small soft books, so we will take several of those, too. I got all my books at a church sale in October and just hid them til Christmas. I got one of those hard paper board things with movable stickers. It is a city with a bus, people, etc. I got a small soft Woody doll. I ordered a 'Mater fold up pillow, it is about 1" thick and 8" at its largest. He can use this as a travel pillow. I have drawing paper. I got red firemen about 3" tall at the dollar store. I have snacks that I think the airline will let me bring aboard, and some I hope they will. Last but not least, we have a netbook (a mini computer) to which I have downloaded 4 kid movies. The battery life is 4 hours, so hopefully we will be covered by 2 movies, reading books, playing with small toys, walking down the aisles a few times, eating, and sleeping.

Next post: Itinerary & hotels. So exciting!!

Namaste!

India...We shall see you soon!

2011-10-28T16:39:00.003-04:00

Soon enough, the Stirlings will be on our way to lovely India! Jan 9-Feb 10th 2012.

We are getting ready...mentally. Deciding where to go, what to bring, thinking about what Walker will eat, hoping he is out of diapers before we go, figuring out hotels to stay in (budget or mid-range?), getting Walker a new traveling big-boy back pack. This is some fun stuff!

I have moments of fear--that Jamie will not like it or that Walker lets go of our hand and runs into traffic. That Walker get dehydrated from the poops or that Jamie gets dehydrated from the poops. That Walker will be a pain in the ass in restaurants. That Jamie won't like the food. So much to worry about, but I think it is natural to worry about not being in one's comfort zone. And that is one thing I love about traveling--not being in my comfort zone, but figuring out how to be comfortable anyway.

The one main thing I take with me that helps me feel comfortable is my blankie. My blankie is a cotton covered down blankie, made for use on the sofa. It is small, it folds up even smaller, but it is Oh-So-Warm and delightful. When sad I am away from home, I just cuddle up with my blankie! The other thing I like to have around me are delicious drinks. In India, I particularly like a mango flavored box drink called "Frooti." I hope Jamie and Walker also find these delicious. But of course, I always enjoy a cup of Chai or a sweet and salty lime fizz.

Then there's breakfast/ Breakfast in India is a special thing for me. It is a great way to get used to a new day, and one of the most enjoyable things for me while in India. I particularly like having an egg sandwich, freshly made form a street Chai Wallah. But I also love the Porridge with fruits. This is like oatmeal in the USA, but better. It is grainier, without seeming too overly "healthful" if you get my drift. I think Walker will particularly like this dish for breakfast. I will miss my morning smokes, but I am a changed woman and will not be smoking on this trip!

I am so excited to have Walker with us, as I can't wait to see how this affects our communication and interactions with people. I think he will open many doors for talking to people. Indians are pretty darn chatty as it is, so this should be amazing having Walker around! I hope he likes it!

Also this time I am thinking of bringing some nicer clothes. Nothing fancy, just not as raggy as I have been before. Not that I ever showed myself to be dirty or anything, but perhaps I will make myself up just a tad. I feel that being a mother and a bit older this is only appropriate! Maybe I'll change my mind though. We'll see.

In the meantime, please check out my new website at www.joannagollberg.com It is pretty awesome. Next week you can order online. You might even be able to order something now.

Namaste Dosti!

JOB OFFER

2011-08-09T10:23:00.001-04:00

Attention all paper artists, graphic designers, and creative types in the Asheville area:

I am looking to hire someone to make display boards for Jewelry. These boards will be used to show jewelry to potential wholesale customers.

These boards will be:

· Lightweight

· Small enough to securely stack for easy transportation

· Able to be carry-on luggage

· Professional in quality and creativity

· Representative of my jewelry business design aesthetic

· Inclusive of item numbers and prices of each piece.

· Able to stand up for easy viewing.

They must securely hold pieces of jewelry, yet also allow the jewelry to be removed over and over again without quickly wearing out.

Please email me at joanna@joannagollberg.com to discuss further. Will pay $500 for the completed project or more if the boards exceed all my wildest dreams.

last days

2010-01-29T04:20:00.008-05:00

home again! we are all happy to be home, welcoming the incoming snow storm. perfect timing, as long as the heat stays on, for us to recoup and get over jet lag. as i write it is 4:21 am and we have been up for 2 hours already. back to sleep soon, i hope!

vietnam
USA
hong kong

yesterday was walker's 1st birthday! he spent it on an airplane...or 2 or 3. but we got a pic of him in 3 different countries: vietnam, china, and the USA! happy birthday, walker!

our last few days were spent eating, hanging out, and traveling. we had some excellent food at the street cafe in hoi an.
the cooks, a long row, each had their own kitchen. this is outside, under a tented roof.

we also had some good conversations with a vietnamese lady there who told us that vietnamese babies basically eat the same food as american babies, that they start spicy food when they are 5 or 6. they also wear disposable diapers, but boys only wear them when not at home. boys do not wear them all the time, because if they do, they will be unable to have children when they grow up. i told her this is NOT true, but she just laughed at me.

spring rolls, yum!
a dish with udon, peanuts, quail egg, pork, veggies. the quail egg tasted just like a regular egg, just smaller and more condensed. i think those chips are fried pork skins, couldn't tell from the taste.

this appetiser came free, so we don't know what it was, but it seemed like some kind of breaded and deep fried vegetable or plaintain-like thing. the breading was especially delicious & the sauce was sweet and sour with some spice. served on a good-looking banana leaf.

here is a pic of the cafe, when everyone was admiring walker.

upon our return to HCMC from hoi an, we found preparations for Tet, the vietnamese new year were under way. these are a bunch of huge plastic flowers they are putting up over the streets. they are assembling these with a glue gun on the side of the road! we also saw large glittered piers being set up. it made me think of my uncle victor who passed away this summer, and how much he would have loved to see this process. i miss him tons.

on our way from hoi an to HCMC, we found that the airline had taken us off the list for our flight. it was an accident, but the lady who messed up wouldn't fess up, so after some angry discussion, we had to pay an extra $100 to get back on the flight. which means we paid 2ce for the flight and then a fee for them to accidentally cancel it. i was MAD! but we made it back to HCMC on time and safely...

THEN, when we were leaving HCMC for the US, we overheard that our flight from hong kong to San fran was delayed...by SIX hours. and when we got to the front of the line, the lady switched us to a different flight, by passing the delay, so we actually arrived in the US 5 hours EARLIER! we were delighted and figured that evened out the extra we had to pay for our last flight. i love it when things work out like that! my anger at the mean lady at Vietnam Air just disappeared.

so the flight went like this: 2 hours form HCMC to Hong Kong, 15 hours from hong kong to Chicago, 1 hour form chicago to Asheville. the 15 hour flight was very, very long. walker did so great! at times he wiggled so much it almost made me crack, but he slept a bunch and also hung out in our laps a bunch too. he cried some, but never intolerably. jamie walked with him up and down the aisles a bit, and all in all it was just a matter of being tortured by the slow passing of time.

our bags have not yet arrived, but i feel good that they will because we saw them at customs in chicago. when they get here i will take some pics of the goodies i bought so you can see!

i think i will be continuing to blog some about other travels, jewelry, and just plain old whatnot, so if you are interested, keep checking in! thanks for keeping up with us, it is comforting to know people are reading the blog! i leave you with a couple of images that i think are simply pretty...now that i have photoshop to help me a little! more images sometime soon.

2010-01-25T01:58:00.004-05:00

this is the sign from the place we have been eating. we've found it to have the best non-western food in hoi an. we had rice pancakes, which are stuffed with veggies and shrimp, then you place fresh greens (lettuce, basil, & something else) on top, then you wrap that concoction in a thin white rice paper and dip it in spicy sweet and sour sauce. yum! we also had crispy noodles, see below, and these are delightful as well, they get not crispy after you mix the sauce.

we have done some cultural things, such as viewing temples and old houses and a folklore museum. each of these huge coils of incense is placed in the temple to burn in honor of a prayer for someone. you can get little coils for little prayers, too.

our hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the historic old town, which is pretty much all that hoi an has to offer tourists, except for some nice rice paddy views. we walk down a busy street to get to the old town, where there are not supposed to be any motorbikes. people like to break this ban, unfortunately. we pass this pork place on the way, and here is the guy cutting up the whole roastedpig, right on the side of the road. whenwe came by later, it was nothing but a bare-boned carcass.

in the mornings after breakfast, we have been strolling with walker before his nap time. there is a water way here that is peaceful to walk along. we discovered this handmade boat yesterday, they even put on the eyes. apparently all fishing boats have to have eyes so they can see the fish. some kid and his parent did a great job making this boat out of some trash.

we took an hour long ride down the river to see the city from a boat. jamie got to drive! we saw some corn growing and a duck farm. there was a situation where two old people threw a netout of their very small boat, looking as if they were catching fish. then the bigger boats like ours would come up, and we would have to give them some money. but we still hada nice time and walker liked crawling around on the boat.

we have had a nice time here in hoi an, and in vietnam. however, we are getting worn down by the traffic and by the amount of attention paid to walker. it is exhausting, telling people"no" they can't hold him, no kissing on the face, trying to get around people who want us to stop so they can play with him, telling people it is ok he is not wearing a hat, et cetera. yesterday we came upon someone on the street, stood in front of the stroller so we had to stop, and reached in and grabbed him, trying to pull him out of the stroller. mama bear got MAD.
as i told jamie, one of the best things about this trip is that both of us have gotten to spend such great quality time with walker. i think each of us has developed a closer relationship with him, and i know that all 3 of us have enjoyed our time together. he is such a good baby and and a real delight for us to be with.

we are ready to come home, but 1st we go back to HCMC tomorrow for a day where we will see the currys again! i am so sick of the traffic here, and the sidewalks are taken up by motorbikes. so just a couple more days of that, and then we board the big bird for what could possibly be the most tortuous plane trip ever. we'll see. but it will all be worth it, as we have had a great trip!

more later!

2010-01-23T02:45:00.004-05:00

walker and jamie swimming in hoi an. fun to be had!

this morning we went and got fitted for some clothes ata tailor. hoi an is fullof tailors. it is kind of "the thing to do when in hoi an." jamie is having an embroideredlinen shirt made and i am havinga blue cotton dress made from a picture i tore out of vogue magazine. we'll see how they turn out. we go back for fittings in the morning.

later we will go for a boat ride and see things from the river. then hopefully we will find something yummy to eat cuz so far the food hasn't been that great. how can we beat Hieu at Pho Quoc? it was just so delicious.

we saw a handicraft workshop for handicapped people. making jewelry and embroidering. we'll probably go back and buy walker some pajamas there, to support the cause. it's a good one.

look at this neat plant, growing its roots down in the air. this grows all over hoi an.

more later.

on to hoi an

2010-01-22T09:45:00.006-05:00

The past few days at the beach were slow, so we decided to go check out the coconut tree prison. This was used during the american war and also during the war with the French. They had a small museum with some interesting re-enactment figures.

interesting communist propaganda going on here, too. Some of you might notice that this is not the 1st prison jamie and I have visited together: we also visited the eastern state penitentiary while in Philadelphia one year.

We also got to see a lot of the island on our way to the prison. A few small villages and some lovely beach scenery. Fishing shacks, too.

The next day we went into town to try and find the fish sauce factory. We smelled it, but could not find it. We saw some extreme garbage areas and really bad waterways. HCMC was so clean…phu quoc resorts are also clean, but the local village…not so much. Black, oily, trash-filled waterways. That is where these folks live.

they were drying some squid in the alley.yum.

Today we left phu quoc and two plane rides and two mini bus rides later we are in the ancient city of hoi an, very nice! Nikki was right, there is a picture opportunity around every corner. here is a little boy with his horsie balloon!

an old man relaxing on a bench near the waterway.

The battery charger is burning up right now due to the high voltage of the plug here, so I have to cut this one short. more tomorrow.

scooter

2010-01-20T18:40:00.000-05:00

just so you guys know, that pic of the 3 people on the scooter is not us! we would never take walker on a scooter ride. i put it on there so you can see how the vietnamese ride with their babies!

deep thoughts

2010-01-19T22:04:00.004-05:00

Times come during a trip when there is “nothing to do”. especially with walker. So we try to find little things to do that become the focus of the day. for example, this morning we walked down the road to deliver 2 kg of laundry to chip chip. This will cost us $2. That is for approx 1 load of laundry. Not bad. So now we are backing the room, waiting for walker’s nap time, which is about 30 minutes from now. Other such time filling events include buying bottled water, finding a cookie snack, swimming in the pool (much to walker‘s immense delight!!), having a short dip in the ocean, and going for a short walk around the compound area. The one thing that I wish were different about phu quoc was that there was a place we could stroll for long periods of time. I enjoy walking with walker and looking at things. Here, there is a dirt road out from our alley, and it is not so enjoyable to push the stroller on, as motorbikes are whizzing by and it is very dusty and gravelly. The beach is beautiful, but there is no place to go for a walk. In some areas, there is even a retaining wall, instead of wide stretches of sand leading to the shore. In addition, the sand is a very thick grain, and this makes for mushy walking. Mushy walking while carrying a 23 pound baby is not that fun.

So, we do other things…like visit the scary monkey down the alley, and look at the carrier pigeons, and checkout the incredible flora and fauna. The monkeys are in a cage. But guess what? The little one can squeeze himself through one of the chain links. He acts like he wants to climb in walker’s lap, and I saw his little sharp teeth earlier when he was chewing on a stick, so when he gets out, we run away. The plants are gorgeous. There is a pencil cactus TREE. The Devils’s Backbone is not a plant, it is a BUSH. Orchids and bromeliads are everywhere. Some other beautiful flowering trees are everywhere too. The bouganvilla are perpetually in bloom and one plant blooms both white and pink flowers. I love the papery blossomson a bouganvilla.

The past few evenings we have gone over to the bar at the moon resort, had a few beers, played some pool on the wonky pool table, and watched some amazing sunsets. Truly gorgeous.

We met a Canadian couple when we first got here. They were debating about coffee, so I nosied in and recommended the iced white coffee. Then after watching them I realized they did not want Vietnamese coffee, they wanted western style coffee. Then they complained about the hotel and the service, and changed hotels. I saw them later and they told me how much better it is where they currently stay, that they are on the 5th floor and the room is much bigger and the pool is much better, etc. I told them I was glad it worked out for them. I realized that these people are spending their time here in Vietnam, trying to make things as much like home as possible. Instead of enjoying and appreciating the differences, they wish things were like they are in Canada. I feel bad for them, for not being able to laugh at the funny differences, for not appreciating the delicious coffee made with condensed milk instead of cow’s cream. These are the type of people who end up blaming the Vietnamese for things that they Canadians themselves either misinterpret or just don’t understand.

Now I must compare the asian countries I have traveled to in recent years: India, Thailand, Vietnam. Vietnam has by far the friendliest people. Thai people were so shy and in India I mostly talk to men, who usually want to sell me something orprove how much smarter they are than me, being male and all. In Vietnam, communism planted a seed of gender equality. You see women on constrcution crews, women driving vehicles just as much as men, women working everywhere. In India, many women stay at home with the children. In Thailand the women worked as well, but were too shy to interact with us.

Here in Vietnam we have not heard much music. Every once in a while we run across some loudspeaker than has some guy yelling about something and then there will be some brief music. We imagine this to be the communist propaganda loudspeaker. In India, music is always playing…either bollywood hits or older religious songs or classical. People walk down the street singing to themselves, to the passing cows. In Thailand, I remember lots of western music.

The cloths in Vietnam are boring. Regular western cloths, with a bit of bad taste. There are two notable outfits: the traditional top with a long skirt attached that slits up to the waist on both hips. Pants are worn underneath. We have only seen this outfit worn as work clothes, not as daily wear. For daily wear, we have seen this type of pajama ensemble, which is made of a simple button blouse and simple pants of a matching material. All of these I have seen are made of light polyester and the patterns and prints are either not so good or plain old terrible. Often, the prints are right out of 1975, and not in a good way. The men all wear pants and shirts or jeans, nothing to remark on really. The clothing in India as you know is a whole other story. Colorful, flowing, sparkly, embroidered, silky, saris, salwaar kameez…some men wear traditional cotton outfits, some western pants, but there are also the tribal folks who really wear the spectacular things. We will not get to the north of Vietnam to see any tribal people. Their needlework is very similar to that of the tribal people in Thailand. Very colorful embroidery and lots of tiny quilting on clothes. So I am sorry we will miss seeing that.

Vietnamese are mostly Buddhist. Although we see many pagodas and small shrines, the religion does not seem to play the same big role as religion dopes in Thailand and india. The latter 2 countries have festivals and temples everywhere….and religion is a big obvious part of daily life. Esp in India, as Hinduism looks for any excuse possible to celebrate.

I have more to say as far as comparisons go, but I don’t want to bore you. Basically, I like India the best, then Vietnam, then Thailand. So far. Maybe once we get to hoi an I will see more and change my mind! (bearing in mind of course I have seen limited places in Thailand and Vietnam….and only a few areas of India for that matter! And of course, we are only tourists!!)

We did eat some seaweed flavored Pringles yesterday. walker loved them too. Very salty. A small “hash house” down the alley is our favorite eatery, where we dined upon meat stuffed squid and shrimp in coconut curry. The best meal yet. Those stuffed squid were so delicious…we will try to make something similar when we get home, but we already know they won’t be as tasty. Walker had some coconut curry and he enjoyed it too, just the right amount of spice. We walked through the night market last night which has many food stalls, and I saw listed “sautéed goat udders”. mmm, sounds delightful, doesn’t it?? Ha, I think tonight we will return and see if there aren’t some interesting things we actually are interested in sampling.

Jamie is off on a scooter ride, walker is napping. I have finished my 2nd book and now need to find something else to read. I’ll try to upload some pics, too. Hope everyone is well. Write us email please, we check it all the time! (we don’t really have access to face book, though.) jo: jlgjewelry@ mindspring.com and jamie: jstirling71@ yahoo.com emails keep us from feeling homesick, and we want to know what you guys are doing too!!

a few things

2010-01-16T20:46:00.003-05:00

1. there are dirty farang here. those old men who hire a hooker for the week. so disgusting of them and sad for the women. also a suspicious male pair at breakfast. adopted son? or perhaps not!

2. thank goodness for breast feeding. without it, i don't know what we would have done. now walker is a complete and total mama's boy. he cries when i get up to go to the bathroom.

3. reading lights are good.

4. the iced coffee here is fantabulous.

5. no more kissing or touching the baby on the face with your face. if it comes across as rude when we tell you this, too effing bad.

later!

finally!

2010-01-16T04:09:00.007-05:00

jamie got to play guitar hero with the curry boys. he did very well. we are so happy to get to know this family better, and we have had such a fun time with them! what special people!

we had to leave the hotel and come down the street in order to be able to sign on to blogspot! at the hotel we can get on other sites, but not his one. seems fishy to us. however, it made me realize i can post pics to flickr. so check it out!! i have posted more pics there if you are interested, but here i'll have more comment. i'll try to keep doing that, as naptime is good for this kind of thing and we get naptime 2x a day.

so before we left HCMC, we went on a boatride on the Saigon river with the currys. it was so fun! silas was not really into it, but i could tell he liked it secretly. we went on a junk, a little traditional boat. it was interesting and a little scary, but just fine. we got some great pictures of saigon at sunset from the water and we saw some super cool boats. i mean, so cool!

then we crossed the street, and i am kicking myself for not taking a video,cuz this is some serious business, crossing the road. more than in india or thailand. it is actually quite scary and involves taking a big leap of faith. thousands of motorbikes are whizzing by and there are almost no traffic lights. and the way you do it is....step into traffic and they avoid you. or so you hope. seriously folks, it is unbelievable. and when i say thousands of motorbikes, i am in no way exaggerating. whoa!

so after all 8 of us crossed the street, we went to the black cat for dinner. cnn apparently rated this one of the top 10 restaraunts, so the sign said, but this should be researched for validity. it is a hamburger joint! but a delicious one. jamie stepped out with walker and witnessed a traffic accident, and then a fight. this apparently involved two belts and a large knife. and a flying kick right into a motorscooter. he was excited!

the next day we went to see reunification palace, the president's palace where he did all negotiating etc for the american war. the interesting thing about this is that it remains as it was in 1975. decorations...everything. very weird. there were some weird artifacts, such as elephant feet and very old radio equipment. and some vintage mid-century furniture.

we got take out from a thai restaraunt for dinner and it was EXCELLENT! this is the 2nd time we ate there. here is a pic of the funny bags with sauces and chilis.

so yesterday it was off to phu quoc! the plane ride had some excellent views of the mekong delta, but i had a wiggle worm in my lap, so no pics of that. we arrived to our hotel, the kim hoa. we changed last minute from the mai spa, as we decided rustic was no good for walker. we are super glad we changed, as this is perfect for him to move about the room. AND it looks like they are gearing up for a wedding reception tonight!!! a great cultural event to witness, full of karaoke most likely. we already heard some singing which was verrrry interesting as they tested the mike! i'll let you know if it turns out to be interesting.

we walked into town today and were blown away by how cool it is. a little fishing village with a lively market! so many cool boats and curved inlets. just unbelievably pretty.

we have had some delightful meals here of vietnamese food already. we plan on venturing outside the hotel for dinner tonight. this bar we are in right n0w seems super cool, too. all open air places, very breezy and comfortable. we are using the stroller as a high chair.

walker,by the way, has settled in quite nicely. he is on a regular sleeping schedule and his mood has improved 100 fold. he loves swimming! he even spoke in his half sleep "dig dig dig" which means "hand paddle" from our swimming class. he asks to swim all day! (there is a pool at our hotel.)

the ocean has something called "sea lice" which feels like small bites. it comes and goes, so we don't think walker would like it much as we don't like it!

i think that's about it for now.

more hcmc

2010-01-13T01:06:00.004-05:00

we are still in hcmc til the 15th, when we'll depart for phu quoc. we are ready to go, the city is wearing on us a bit! but it has been good to adjust to the time difference, learn about what we need to do to make walker comfortable, and to see the curry's.

yesterday we took a short trip over to pham ngu lao, which is the back packer district. there were tons of street side restaraunts and tourists everywhere, and it made me realize that we have been pretty isolated this week. i wanted to move hotels so we could be in a place with other foreigners we could talk to. but then we talked it over and i realized we will meet people at the beach and in hoi an, so i let go of the idea and we are staying put.

then we went to ben thanh market, which is a huge indoor market. it is full of all kinds of things form clothes to pigs legs. we ate a delicious lunch of some rice noodle wrapped rolls, and some other kind of long noodles with pork and shrimp. the pork was so delicious! i also ordered a fresh mango juice which was like a frozen mango drink, sooo good, and walker learned how to drink from the straw, so he enjoyed it too!

the later we went to the Rex hotel and paid admission to use their pool. walker had a fun time playing humpty dumpty! he really likes the pool and when we say we are going swimming he says something like "dig dig", which is what he does when he paddles. we talked to a really nice australian couple there and heard about their cool adventure down the Meking, something we missed out on.

then we met the curry's for dinner at a mediterranean restaraunt, and it was really neat! the decor was awesome! we sat in a private booth surrounded by all these hanging beads! upstairs in this very old building with stairs that were not all the same height. i had lamb shank, which was like stew with a big ole piece of lamb in it and jamie has the mixed grill. we also had a delightful mint lemonade. yum.

this morning we went to Cholon, which is chinatown, and saw two amazingly detailed pagados. there was so much incense burning, it was awesome. they had tons of those large coils hanging down, every single one lit, and tons more of these gigantic sticks stuck everywhere. the last pagoda had a horse statue, and when you left you were supposed to ring the bells on his harness for luck.

we came back to the hotel and bought more french baby food for walker and jamie and i got thai take out, which was arguably the best food yet. wide noodles with vegetables and pork. the sauces and chilis came in tiny little blown up bags. i have pics but can't post cuz i am on the hotel computer! (i pulled these images from the web.)

now we are chilling in the room for a while so walker can get some exercise. jamie is reading a book about the war form a viet cong nurse's perspective. i am reading the vietnam guide book and also a novel set in india.

this afternoon we are meeting the currys to take a ride down the saigon river on a junk, which is an old boat. not sure what we are doing for dinner. i'll tell you later!

walker & stuff

2010-01-12T02:24:00.003-05:00

we realized the day before yesterday that walker is having a bit of a hard time. the main issue is...he has started walking! we are so happy and proud of him, but this causes some problems. he desperately wants indenpendence, and here we are carting him around in the ergo. and then we expect him to be calm while we eat out...3 meals a day with no high chair! he is not calm, he is a huge wiggle worm. and at times, he complains!

so we decided to do only one big thing a day while here in HCMC, and take it easy so he can have plenty of time to roam around the room, practice his walking, and play. yesterday we started trading off--jamie stayed in with walker while i went out to find some pants, as mine got a big hole in them!

in addition, the child needs to sleep. he is almost caught up with jet lag but not quite. the night before last he was wide awake at 1 am, then again at 4:30. today he made it til 4:30 so that is better! then back for a 2 hour nap around 6. furthermore, everyone here touches him. it is nuts! kisses his face, grabs his face, his hands, his feet, whatever! and asks to hold him. we figure there is nothing we can do about the touching but we say no top the holding. this morning it looked like he might be getting a cold, we hope not!

he is still the happy smiling baby you all know and love. he is having a good time laughing lots. he even has been getting special baby food, a french brand from the gourmet store down the street. carotte, anyone? or perhaps peche?

yesteday we went to the War remnants Museum, formerly known as the WAr Crimes Museum. Mostly pictures but also some US airplanes, helicopters, bullets and bombs.Also had and interesting recreation of a prison with various torture devices. the pictures were quite horrific. we knew these atrocities occurred, and then yesterday we got to see the pictures of them. jamie said he felt like a nazi walking through the holocaust museum. so, really fun. (not really)

we left there and went to see the curry's and go swimming in their delightful pool. walker had a good time flapping his arms and doing his "digging". we hung out there while the curry's had their vietnamese lessons, and stayed for take out dinner which was sandwiches and fries. a good time with their fun family!

then home to sleep...our internet connection is not working for our laptop, i am on the hotel computer, so now pictures for now. so i'll wait to tell you about the market and our delicious lunch until we have pics to share. hopefully tonight but the hour they promised is a bit ambiguous.

hope everyone is doing great!

2010-01-09T19:53:00.007-05:00

We feel like we have done so much already!

To answer a question…no bassinette. We could not get the bulkhead seats, and the floor bassinette seemed a joke. It was a basket they forced into the space at your feet. Walker would much rather lay in our arms, so he did! And in vehicles here there are no such things as car seats, so he rides in the ergo…or on the floorboard..or in a regular seat. Whatever woks. Feels racy and dangerous! But not as dangerous as the kids we see riding with their parents on motorbikes! Whoa nelly!

So far we have had some incredible food, and upon wakening this morning i immediately thought about what we might have for breakfast! Perhaps a tasty loaf of French bread with scrambled eggs? or maybe a ham sandwich with cucumbers? We ate with the Curry’s at an Anthony Bourdain recommended restaurant where they cook rice in clay pots.

Then they smash the clay pot and Throw the rice to the waiter who delivers it to your table! There were lots and lots of loud smashes! We had crab, and a Vietnamese pancake, some pork with oddly cooked whole egss, delicious ginger chicken, and some spiced tofu that was so incredibly flavorful! It is fun eating with the Curry’s and their 3 kids..it makes for a rambunctious group!

this is a dragon fruit. it tastes a little like kiwi! you scoop it out with a spoon!

Yesterday nikki & philip’s driver took us all to the Cu Chi tunnels. It was an interesting day, as we drove in the country and saw rural life. A nice relief from the city. The tour of the tunnels was interesting…good to learn a little about the war from the Vietnamese perspective. Basically, the americans came in and killed these people’s families and they were forced to fight back in any way they could. And they were PISSED. And they won. And they are proud. Jamie got to shoot a M-60 machine gun. Silas shot an AK-47. We have footage! Our guide was quirky and I enjoyed him. His father died from wounds he received in the war, but he fought in the north as a Vietnamese Liberation Freedom fighter AKA Viet Cong. The area we were in was totally saturated with agent orange, and we saw some huge bomb craters. Silas wanted to say we were from Canada, but I told our guide we were Americans and he did not seem to care.

Walker is charming everyone he sees. When they say the Vietnamese love babies, they were not exaggerating. People laugh and smile and clap their hands and run over and ask to hold him. We say no. then they grab his hands and some kiss his face, and they absolutely love him. Needless to say, he loves this attention, too, and delights everyone by waving and smiling. People are also interested in the ergo, as they do not have such baby carriers.

After the tunnels we went to a floating restaurant on the Saigon river. There was a cool breeze from the river and some fans they had on…it felt amazing! And we watched large chunks of greenery float by, saw a boat pushing a huge pallette of dirt upriver, and had an incredible meal. zeb ordered the fried grasshoppers, and most of us ate some! They were tasty, reminded us of something we had had before. Jamie said they were a little leggy. But we had some more pork, some tasty springrolls, shrimp, and some most excellent sautéed morning glory vine. I felt this was in incredibly special meal and place…I absolutely loved it.

We walked up to a huge temple after th meal and found it to be a war memorial. There were 57,000 losses on the US side and 3 million on the Vietnamese side. This temple had plaques covering the walls listing the names of the dead. Truly amazing. They had incredible pictorial tile murals, large brass swans, and a huge gong which they hit several times while we were there. The gong guy was reallllly happy to see walker!

Today we change hotels and are planning on taking it easy. Walker needs a break, and so do we. We have been strangely tired due to jet lag, but all slept well last night so hopefully we are moving towards our regular sleeping schedule! So a day of exploring Saigon is ahead, but in a casual, lazy way.

safe and sound

2010-01-07T20:58:00.002-05:00

we've arrived safe and sound!

the travel here was...well...awful. it was just SO LONG. we had 4 flights, totalling 27-28 hours on the plane. plus layovers=over 30 hours traveling. with baby on lap. thankfully walker is very easygoing!! he was such a good baby and did not excessively complain. really, i probably complained more than he did. he made lots of friends on the plane! people wanted to hold him and touch him. we had to allow the touching, but said no to the holding.

nikki and philip met us amongst the throng at the airport arrivals and i almost cried when i saw their haappy faces waving at us!!! we came back to the hotel and had a few beers and chatted, the slept almost 5 hours, waking up at 7AM vietnam time.

we had a good breakfast of scrambled eggs and mini baguette, put walker in the ergo and wentfor a stroll to check out the hood. we came across a formal gathering of about 200 people singing, waving red roses, in front of the Saigon Opera House. Pretty cool! esp at 8 AM! made me emotional as i am so happy to be here, doing this fun stuff! we strolled around and saw a local market full of interesting fruits, vegetables, and meats. and also the louis viutton store. and gucci down the way. saw someone on a motorbike with a LV seat!

nikki gave us a welcome bag with some tasty snacks. i am chomping on a sesame wafer right now, sweet and chewy. also dried fruits and seaweed wafers which walker enjoyed last night. glad to know there are immediately snacks available for walker! we still have babyfood we brought and sent, but one task for today is to figure out other things for him to eat.

then we are going over to nikki and philip's apartment to do some other scheduling, hang out by the pool, and check out their situation. then dinner with their family tonight. the food we have seen already looks DELICIOUS! we saw a guy carrying a metal tray with 4 full bowls of tasty-looking soup, on a moving motorbike. and he was driving!

pics later,
ttfn

itinerary

2010-01-03T20:25:00.008-05:00

we'll be flying to Vietnam via United Airlines. we have reserved a baby bassinet for the flight, which apparently sits on the floor at our feet. ??? the only pic i can find is of one that hangs on the wall at the bulkhead, but we won't have this exact kind. something like it? the lady on the phone couldn't tell me.

our itinerary is short. because we will be traveling with an 11 month old baby! we decided to fly from place to place-- it is much cheaper than flying around the US, and it takes a MUCH shorter time than the bus or the train. although i will miss seeing the train in Vietnam, as it has been my favorite mode of transport while traveling in india in the past!

we fly in to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) initially. My friend Nikki said she or her husband will meet us at the airport with their driver. sounds fancy, doesn't it? can't wait to see what it's like. she said her driver costs $7 a day, but her kids want to slip him some extra cash.

we are staying at the hotel Indochine in the tourist area, close to everything! no pool. got good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

so there is tons of stuff to do in Ho Chi Minh City! all kinds of tourist stuff, american war museum, the cu chi tunnels...they call the "Vietnam War" the "American War". interesting huh? and apparently, they are better than most at not keeping grudges. that is good! i am not sure what we are going to do in HCMC, but we will do lots and have fun hanging with nikki and philip and kids and seeing how they are living as expats in HCMC!

perhaps jamie and philip will travel to the Mekong Delta? we shall see.

perhaps we can afford tickets to Siem Riep in Cambodia and we will go to Angkor Wat?

on the 15th we go to Phu Quoc where we stay at Mai Spa. Lovely! i feel a little guilty going to the beach, like i am supposed to be high brow and do all educational sorts of things. oh well, i love the beach in asia! so we are at the beach for a whole week, and we know we are lucky.

then we go to Hoi An, in the middle of the country. apparently this city has been relatively untouched by US carpet bombings in the late 60's-early 70's and has all ancient architecture. we'll stay here for 5 days,

in the old city at a place called the Nhi Nhi Hotel, which also got excellent reviews. Apparently they have really great staff. they are picking us up at the airport in DaNang, for free. Sweet! There is a pool, and we are bringing the swim diapers.

Then we go back to HCMC for 2 days, hang with nikki and philip some more, and then fly out to go back home! so not a very complicated trip. we expect to be warm, look at a different culture, eat some DELICIOUS food, spend some serious quality time with each other, talk to other foreigners, see some sights. take it easy and come back feeling ALIVE!

vietnam

2010-01-02T21:42:00.006-05:00

we leave in THREE days for our family trip to Vietnam! Jamie and I are getting excited, Walker is hanging out with no idea we are going anywhere! he's good like that, just goes along with the flow!

Tomorrow we have a house showing at 10:30 AM (on a sunday!) and then we will pack. i pretty much packed tonight, but i threw everything into the new bag i got; i didn't have time to organize, for that i need to spread out. which i can't do because we have a house showing in the morning!

i am taking: 2 short sleeved shirts, 1 long sleeved shirt, 1 pair light pajamas, 1 pair pants, 1 knee length skirt, 3 pair socks, 5 pair underwear, 2 bras, 1 pair flip flops, 1 converse sneakers, 1 scarf, 1 lungi. Plus my bathroom stuff, minus shampoo etc which i will buy upon arrival. Plus a journal, book, Lonely Planet travel guide, Ipod, camera, battery charger, conversion plug, safety pins, etc.

i don't know what jamie is taking.

Walker is taking 4 short sleeved onesies, 1 long sleeved onesie, 2 pair pants, 1 pair light footie pajamas, 3 pair socks, 1 pair shoes, one flannel receiving blanket, several handkeshiefs, 90 diapers, wipes, desitin, 6 jars baby food, several small toys, a blow up BALL, small books, water bottle, several kinds of finger snacks, 2 spoons, 2 tupperware containers. I sent ahead more baby food (just in case), organic bug repellent, sunscreen, and baby tylenol.

we are taking a small stroller and the Ergo carrier. Jamie and i each have one packpack and one day pack type bag. and most importantly, i am bringing my small down blankie, which has traveled with me to india 2ce, thailand once, and all over the USA. i wouldn't leave home without it.

this is my new travel pack, i got it at luggageonline.com for $70. it is the best! it has shoulder straps and a waist strap that hide in a zipper pouch, it gets HUGE and it also can be a regular sized pack. perfect for traveling and not very expensive. i highly recommend this pack. it is a Rick Stevens travel pack.

just in case you were wondering how we are doing this! more soon.

new ring!

2009-01-10T11:54:00.005-05:00

i spent soem time last week looking through my pictures from india in january 2007. i found this one, which is part of a tapestry in the Aina Mahal in Bhuj, Kutch. They used this handmade tapestry as wallpaper, and it lined the bottom half of the walls in the hallways of the palace. it is amazing to think of all the hours those women spent hand embroidering this beautiful work.

i ran across this picture of cold connected brooches somewhere, forgive me for not having the proper credits. i love the inegnious way of adding the clasp on these. fantastic design.

i made a new ring last week. i love it! an experiment in color, once again, but sparkly colors that seem to work well together.

i found out last week that Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge will be representing my work at SOFA NY 2009 in april. i am super excited about this! i will be making about 5 large pieces for the show, which fits into my schedule perfectly. jamie and i also decided that we will go up for the opening, new papoose in arms! so we'll stay a couple of days, get to see the show, see my uncle victor, and take a practice trip with the babe. i have already begun making the work, and think it's going to turn out great. i'm super grateful for the opportunity to show my work in such an incredible venue. i have to give thanks also to my studio mate, geoff giles, for recommending my work to Mobilia.

here's a toilet for you. one that burns the refuse and turns it into ash. pretty nifty, wonder why it didn't take off commercially? when i was in india at the toilet museum in delhi, they had a replica of one of these toilets, and the indian guide told me it turns the refuse into "ass". hilarious!

anyone know what happened to all the pre-fab neighborhoods that they showed in movies like E.T., Poltergeist, and The Outsiders? are they still around? what do they look like now?

hope you guys have a great weekend!
fermelenge!

shoes and such

2008-12-29T20:26:00.006-05:00

i've found a few new pairs of fun shoes! hope you like them! the second pair is my fave!

remember back when i complained about nicole richey and her new line of jewelry? well, here it is! wow! i've always loved it when people use themselves as their model. just kidding!

things on this end are growing quickly. faster than i could have imagined. less than a month to go!

we had a lovely christmas here with debby, larry, and matt. hope everyone else had a greta day too! now that it is over we are trying to figure out what to do for new year's. it will probably be a quiet night, as most of our nights are nowadays.

my friend kate had her baby, a little boy named max! one day he was inside, and the next he was outside! we were super happy to have her and max over for christmas eve dinner. welcome, max thomas!

not much jewelry going on due to the carpal tunnel issues i am experiencing with pregnancy. i am working on one thing right now, but it is a gift, so i'll post a pic later when i've given it! i must say that the cortisone shots i got a few weeks ago have been so helpful and i am sleeping normally without any hand pain or hands falling asleep at night. i think the combination of cortisone and lots of acupuncture has really helped alot.

best wishes to everyone for a most delightful, inspiring, and fruitful new year!

fermelenge!

brrrr!

2008-11-18T21:23:00.004-05:00

people, it has been a cold day! we are all huddled up inside the house, covered in blankies. steve, the cat, even has his blankie on!

penland turned out to be an intense experience. Amy and i had some great students who made fantastic work. each of the students developed their own jewelry style, which was fabulous and exciting to see. really, i was truly blessed to meet some wonderful people, and reconnect with others i already knew were great. i am glad to be home, back working some in my safe studio here in asheville, though.

now i am just filling some orders i have gotten from The Artful Home catalog. i had 2 pieces for sale in the catalog, and it is exciting to have people order my work in that manner! The artful home features all handmade work, both on the website and in the catalog, so if you are looking for some quality handmade gifts, i suggest you check it out.

i also am super excited that i have been accepted into the Klimt Community, an online exhibition space and community. I have long admired this website, and actually never thought i'd be a part of it. well, i will be shortly, as soon as i get my act together and send them all the necessary info and pics. check it out in a couple of weeks. i'll remind you.

i also discovered a new jewelry book that i am super excited about. My new friend Mary Hallam Pearse introduced me to this book, and i came home and ordered it right away. it arrived this afternoon. it is called The Fat booty of Madness, and it features many jewelry artists from all over the world. it a fantastic book for eye candy, ideas, laughs...i just love it! charon kransen sells it for $75 + shipping.

i am reading barack obama's autobiography, Dreams From My Father. I highly recommend this book, as it reads like a novel and also is so informative. Wht a great guy our newest president is! i am thrilled to learn more about his fascinating life. can you still believe it? i am so proud of us for voting him in, finally. it feels good to be proud of something our country has done when i have been embarrassed for so long.

lastly, check out this toilet. it is a tree toilet for camping. how lovely.

fermelenge

almost forgot!

2008-09-26T19:16:00.002-04:00

wow, i guess today has been overwhelming with the traveling and all because i forgot to say what happened yesterday and the day before!

wednesday afternoon i got a call from dana moore at penland school of crafts, asking if i was interested in filling in as the metals instructor for fall concentration. this is an 8 week class. i have a lot going on. i said i would be happy to help in some way but that i could not teach the whole time.

dana asked about amy tavern, my studio mate and friend, and i said, well, she's sitting right here next to me! so the 2 of them talked, then amy and i talked, and we figured out that amy would take over the first part of the class, and i will take over the 2nd part of the class. 4 weeks and 4 weeks. wow.

so yesterday we went up and met the class and talked about their expectations and introduced ourselves and whatnot...and now...this fall is set on a different course! how exciting for both amy and me, and i hope exciting for the students! amy and i are both super excited to be able to be up at penland!

i will commute some of my time there, so i can come home and be with jamie. i also have a lot of other work to get done during that time as well, for 3rd Ward Jewelry in Milwaukee and for DeNovo in Palo Alto. not to mention working on my new book!

so, in a couple of weeks i will get to be part of my 2nd fall concentration as an instructor at penland! yee-haw! penland has been such a great place for me, and i look forward to the peace it brings. i think amy and i will make a great teaching team!

boise day 1

2008-09-26T18:12:00.003-04:00

hey all,

i arrived safely in boise. had a great lunch with 2 of the ladys from my class whom i remember from being her 2 1/2 years ago. super nice people!

they dropped me off at my hotel so i could chill for the afternoon. i am super glad to have this afternoon to do nothing, as i was up at 4:45 this morning and will be up til 11 or so NC time. my normal bedtime is 10pm, so it is late for me to stay up past that, and i have to teach all day tomorrow. so this afternoon i have laid about in my kick ass motel!

i am staying in the Modern Hotel. it is an old motel that has been redone mid-century modern style. fabulous! the room is simple and luxurious, with all mid-century repro furnishings, a delightful waterfall shower that come right out of the ceiling, aveda hair products, a flat screen tv and an ipod docking station. needless to say i have already been quietly rocking out to some "Om Shanti Om." AND i get internet access from my bed! sweet!

the only negative about being here so far is that i am gonna miss the debate. dammit! but i am sure i will find out if there is anything good said. this election has gotten me riled up, people, riled up. to the point where i honestly feel that if you plan on voting for mccain and palin, you are not bothering to really think about the future of this country, and i have lost respect for you. seriously. i mean, did you even see ms. palin talk about the proximity of russia to alaska and what that means to her foreign policy experience? puh-leeese!

so, tonight i give my lecture, which is just a slide show about me and my work. then tomorrow we begin making our hinged lockets!

fermelenge!

2008-09-26T18:11:00.000-04:00

Free Counter

latest

2008-09-14T19:39:00.004-04:00

we went to the mountain state fair on friday evening. jamie had never been before. i'm never one for the rides, due to motion sickness, but we did go on the ferris wheel. we also went to the petting zoo, where we saw this camel. i got to touch his face! he was a very nice camel, unlike all the ones i have met in real life before, who were mean and liked to bite. we had a good time looking around and people watching and such.

we decided to paint one wall in the baby's room orange. looking good. jamie did a quick paint job on it this afternoon. i am not a huge fan of the baby pastel colors, so we aren't having any of that. just making the room a nice place for us to hang out and for the baby to sleep and play. should be cool when we're done!

i've been working on a group of new work which i will send to Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusets for their Mid-Century jewelry show that opens in October. here are some pieces i made last week that i really like!

i found this website that is interesting: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government. They have compiled a list of the 20 worst congressmen-- very interesting, shocking, and disappointing. i am getting worn down by the lies, the twisting of the truth, and by the general american public who is willing to believe all the lies as well. sigh.

fermelenge

and time passes still

2008-09-02T20:25:00.006-04:00

namaste!

i read this interesting article about the indian vogue today. check it. below is a pic of the photo shoot.

i ran across this most colorful picture on somebody's blog one night. i find it interesting because i, too, have been learning how to place colors next to each other. there are many ways to approach this, and it is fascinating and fun!

here's a fun shot, too...stolen from myspace. cuteness!

things in the jewelry world are moving along at a snail's pace. this is my year of rejection. i got rejected monday from an online exhibition. sigh. it makes me nervous to apply to other things and even get my hopes a little bit up. but if i stop trying, then i have no chance at all. i think my new work is really great, but i need it to DO things for me. like...get me into the smithsonian craft show again! like...make me money! compliments are great, but they sure don't pay the bills. if i could get into the smithsonian show, then i wouldn't have to do any other shows for the rest of the 2009 year and i could chill making jewelry and staying home with the baby. keep your fingers crossed for me. here's a pic of my new work, taken by stuart o'shields.

on the other side of things, i have signed another contract with lark books. this will be my 4th book with lark, and i am excited for the opportunity. the tentative title is "the jeweler's bench reference". it always changes, and i don't have much control over it. i do, however, have more control over how this book looks and how the content is presented than i have before. i am super excited to be working with my editor, marthe levan again...as well as the best art director at lark (in my opinion!!) kathy holmes. i am very, very lucky to get to work with these two women, as together we three are going to make a fabulous book! and perhaps after much time passes, we can use the royalties for a college fund for little stirling.

today we are at 19.5 weeks. almost halfway there!

that's about it for now.
fermelenge

deaths and birth

2008-07-20T21:42:00.010-04:00

i've been devouring a most excellent book called "animal's people" by indra sinha. it is a fictional account of modern day survivors of the bhopal disaster from 1984. for those of you who are unfamiliar with this disaster, it occurred in central india, in the town of bhopal, where Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) had a pesticide manufacturing plant. The people of bhopal ironically were led to believe the factory made medicines. one night in 1984, the plant malfunctioned (rumor has it that a disgruntled employee possibly began the disaster) and poisonous gas filled the city of bhopal, killing 22,000 people in their sleep. the gas burned people's eyes, lungs, throats, skin. many people simply dropped dead immediately, while others suffered months & years of painful dying. the employees simply abandoned the plant, no clean up has ever been performed, and the chemicals to this day sit in piles in the decaying factory, filling the ground water with poison and maintaining generations of physical disorders and malformities for the people of bhopal. Dow Chemical AKA Union Carbide has avoided court for over 20 years and has not been required to pay for medical care or retribution in any way, except for a measly $500 for some of the survivors.

currently, there is a fast in Delhi to protest this, hopefully to call the indian gov't to action to hold accountable the executives of dow/union carbide. the people who are protesting walked on foot over 800 miles from Bhopal to Delhi for the protest. many people have been beaten and jailed during this time.

you can sign a petition and send a fax to the indian gov't here. it only takes a sec, and why not? you can also make a donation to the survivors here.

in lighter news, i finished my cufflinks for the cufflink show at Heidi Lowe Gallery in rehoboth beach, de. these are my lime candy cufflinks.last but not least, yesterday began the 1st day of my 13th week of pregnancy! the baby is due january 24th. so far all is going great, except i feel like crap most of the time. it is getting better, but not totally better just yet. jamie and i are excited for this next new part of our lives!

fermelenge, mera dosti!

yes, it's been awhile

2008-07-01T19:59:00.005-04:00

jamie has been after me to post a blog. i don't know what the problem is, but i have just not been in the mood! but, here goes!

we went to virginia beach to do a craft show a few weeks ago. in the past i have done well and even won awards at this show. this year, it was so miserable that i will not go back again. although it is a nice venue, the people ( as you can see below) are not my customers. this year i truly felt the judges were not qualified as well. i was shocked at some of the items they picked for the substantial cash awards. i am a craft fair craft snob, but i feel this would make me an excellent juror!

i have been making some new things that go with my stone jewelry. super fun! i chopped up a bunch of quartz crystal recently and made 3 brooches from them. i also am in a bracelet show in milwaukee at 3rd Ward Jewelry...here are some bracelets for that.

this is the bracelet i made to donate to Penland School of Craft's annual auction. hope it sells!

we went camping again last weekend and again it was great. nice to be able to get in the water from your campsite. we ran into our friend brenda while we weer boating out to the campsite. she was in her kayak! what a surprise! i had fun swimming over to her promontory and chatting with her. claire and julian came out as well, and it was fun to hang with them.

jamie has been playing his guitar and learning songs. he's doing great. he's out on the porch as we speak, singing his sweet heart out.

i thought i might start adding a new feature to the blog. an intermittent toilet discussion! so, here is my 1st one. this is a hybrid toilet from india. it was in my guesthouse in Bhuj. i say hybrid, because it is designed basically like a western toilet, but with no seat. however, it has the footrests like indian squatty toilets. is a person supposed to climb up on the toilet to stand on the foot rests? or does one sit on the footrests, western style? i hovered. furthermore, to flush this toilet, you filled the little cup with water from the spigot, and threw it down the toilet. this is the typical indian way to flush. i am not sure what the large bucket is for, i used it to wash my clothes. often it would be full of water, and you could just dip your smaller bucket into it for flushing/wiping. this was a nice bathroom; i especially liked the green color of the toilet.

well, that's it for today.
hope everyone is doing great!
fermelenge!

2008-05-24T21:19:00.007-04:00

mostly about some aminals, but also about some jewelry.

we saw this across the street a few weeks ago. it was a very exciting, yet friendly chase!

at the same time, we had our neighbor's cat, peaches, on our porch, as usual. we have had some very strong winds recently, very windy. the wind came and blew the cushion over onto peaches. oh well, we just left her that way. she gets our dogs too excited and we do not encourage her presence at our house anyway. i like to spray her with the hose.

we went to chapel hill last weekend because i had a class to teach for the NC Society of Goldsmiths. It was a super fun class, and my students were great! we stayed with jamie's mom and jamie got to fish all weekend in the lake behind her house. lots of catfish! i caught one too.

jamie's mom, debby, has 4 cats. she got 2 of them at the same time and named them waylon and willie. both are orange. waylon is slim with a nice long tail, and willie...well, willie is fat as shit. debby says it is because he has some disorder, that he eats the same amount as everyone else in the house. i loved his fat self, i wanted to hug him and pet him all the time we were there. watching him run was one of the most genuinely funny things i have seen in a long time. apparently this happens to orange cats the most. interesting.

these are from the work i am sending to the Shaw Gallery for the Pop Culture show. i am so excited about this work. i really spent some time making this, thinking things through, and working in a way differently than normal because i was following a theme.

"I Want To Be Just Like Her!" (look closely) "Gotta Love the Gossip!" (britney spears musical box, it plays a song when you press a button! ) "Exchangeable Husband & Wife Pendant" (you can exchange boxes in the carriage to trade out.)

i will be sending these off to sam shaw on monday! hope he likes them!

i also realized that i have a craft show coming right up. i will be in virginia beach the 2nd weekend of june, and i have been making things bigger and more expensive than i imagine people will want at the craft show, so i need to get my arse in gear and make some craft show jewelry. here is my 1st one...i tried to mix some of the stone stuff i have been doing with some production design. turned out well, i think.

that's about it for today. i'm trying to get back in the blogging mood. it comes, and it goes.

blue one

2008-05-06T08:01:00.003-04:00

i just wanted to get this up, the blue and white necklace...modeled by ms molly dingledine.

we are off to vote. i will leave you guessing who we are voting for. *sigh* i frankly am embarrassed for both of them. but the worst thing i have heard so far is the idea of repealing the gas tax for the summer. which is a MOOT ISSUE, seeing as neither of them will be president this summer. so stupid. and shouldn't we be focusing on driving less, coming up with alternative mass transportation methods instead of just saving a small amount of money?

have a great day!!!

randoms

2008-05-04T22:12:00.005-04:00

well, this weekend was spent in a large part on the computer. i've been re-doing my website....again! i am liking it. i still have a long way to go...as usual, but i think it is streamlined. i can't seem to pare down on the images, though. have a look and tell me if i am just giving too much information, or tell me if you like to see all the pics. it would be helpful to get some feedback. thanks! here is a pic of a brooch you might not have seen, but one i like very much.

in the last issue of american craft magazine, there were some handmade dresses that i loved! i thought i would repost the pics for you. these are RISD students' work...RISD turns out some creative and talented people! see more from RISD online here. (that would be Rhode Island School of Design...)

(love the zipper dress, love it, love it!)

i found this kick ass website, that gives you the color palette of different outfits, one per day. it is really neat to see how different colors look together, and just might possibly be helpful to me in mixing up the colored stones i have been using. although i must say i am pretty good at trusting my own sense of design and color, but i thought this was fun!

i also found this kinda neat japanese website that has lots of interesting ideas and pics and how-to's about craft and design. they had pics of fancy nails you can wear for your wedding or for just a fancy party. i thought they were very special. you know how i can be obsessed with fingernails...or my lack thereof.

i worked a bunch in the yard today, hauling rocks and doing more digging. i banged my finger up pretty good, and it hurts right now while i am typing. i rubbed it right away to prevent serious swelling and bruising, and it seemed to help. i heard a little "pop!" when i banged it and i was afraid i had broken something!! but i think it is ok, just a little sore. the rocks look great if i may say so myself. a lot different than before...and hopefully better. i'll post a pic later on.

i hope everyone had a fabulous weekend, and is ready for the week ahead! i know i am; my hands are itching to get back in the studio....had some more ideas for more prong jewelry this week, can't wait!

ttfn

what's doing

2008-05-01T21:47:00.005-04:00

jamie went to the rock yard today and loaded half of our new rocks and brought them home to me today. he unloaded them too! sweet. this weekend we will work on placing them in the backyard where they belong. this involves more digging. and carrying. awesome. tomorrow he will get the other half! yahoo!

i finished my red brooch. this pic isn't the best, but it is better than nothing. i love it!!! it is sterling with a large variety of stones. i am really excited about this prong stuff.

so my next prong piece is going to be a "lacy" necklace. in clears, whites, and blues with some green, too. i am gonna work on that tomorrow.

the flowers around here are still going strong. this azalea is from right next door. gorgeous!!

trudy escaped the fence tonight for the 1st time, and the woman down the street called and had her. so i just spent about 15 minutes sealing up the hole from which she escaped. no big deal, but i hope she doesn't get it in her mind to start digging.

i dreamt last night that i had a pair of testicles that someone gave me, out of the sack, to be cooked. they were rolling around on a plate in some juice and i was supposed to take care of them and take them home and cook them up to eat. nasty dream. these are sheep's testicles, all skewered for roasting, but the ones in my dream were smaller.

in niche magazine they had an article about several jewelers to watch. i really like melissa tolar's work! she does nice work on the backs of the pieces as well, which is something i really appreciate. have a look for yourself!

fermelenge!
हवे अन एक्स्सल्लेंट फ्रिदय!

on your feet

2008-04-29T20:54:00.005-04:00

well, after my last blog, i have received a few emails from debby (jamie's mom) about feet & shoes, and i also discovered a shoe blog! debby today sent me these funny pics of shoes.

i also did some shoe browsing online. i found a neat pair of shoes. they are Prada, which means they are for rich people, only. here they are. ha! those of you who know me well know that i love some shoes. especially discount shoes.i finished my 2nd moss ball necklace. love it. i sent it to quirk already. it is bad ass. you just can't beat that moss, can you?

front:
back:

my new stone carving tool is here! it arrived tonight. i will set it up tomorrow. last night as i was unable to sleep (again) i came up with some really good ideas for using the stones. i need a color wheel to work them out; the thing i don't get it...where does the white go on the color wheel? i am psyched, people, about my work...and i will share any successes when/if they occur.

just wanted to get these few pics out there. funny! fun!

fermelange, mera dosti!

bound

2008-04-26T21:02:00.006-04:00

i am reading a book called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan which my friend Kristen Query gave me. It is about a chinese girl who has had her feet bound, her relationships and life. so i looked up some images of footbinding which are shocking. and gross. i have pair of shoes for bound feet that i bought in NYC's chinatown several years go. they are weird, yet beautiful with their embroidery. it is a fun thing for me to ask people what they think the shoes are...and when i tell them what they are, people don't believe me. believe, my friends. this was one crazy & sick thing they did in china. 1 out of 10 young girls died from footbinding back in the day. it was a terrible thing. and i have heard that the cleft in the foot was used, for...umm...men's pleasure. can you freaking imagine???? (nasty, dirty men!)

this is the necklace i was telling you about. i am very excited about it, though it has some technical difficulties i have to figure out. you can't tell what they are from this picture, but i will have to deal with that on monday. i am thrilled with the possibilities of future necklaces or brooches or whatever with this design. i love the color and am excited to do more with other stones. these are peridot. natural, uncut arizona peridot, faceted peridot, and a large lab-grown peridot in the center.

i received my 500 carats of red cubic zirconia today that i ordered from ebay. it is much smaller than i imagines, and i plan on weighing it on monday on the carat scale. i like the color very much. i am excited to cut it up and start some random faceting and see how it goes. i hope to achieve some sparkle with some funky facets, but since i have never done it i will just have to experiment. my new tool hasn't even come yet!

i worked some more in the yard today. i went to reem's creek nursery and bought a peach tree, since i had to buy 2 pear trees to cross pollinate and we don't have the room or the desire to have 2 pears. plus, i like peaches better. i also planted a shit ton of seeds in addition to the plantlets on the hill out back. now i will leave it alone and see what grows. i'll show you another pic in a month and we can all see the difference. hopefully, it will be amazing and satisfying. i'm very proud of the steps i dug in!

we noticed tonight that there is a bird's nest on the light for our back porch. the nest was there last year, but no one ever came to it. this year, we have a robin family living in it, which is exciting. too bad that it is too high for us to peek in!

the last book i read was one of my top favorites in a long time. it is called The Time Traveler's Wife. I bawled my eyes out at the end of this book. the characterization was fantastic. also, it made me think about my life and the people i love in my life. i felt so deeply while reading this book. furthermore, the author made you work to understand the time sequence of the narrative, and even though i was aware the whole time that i had to work to understand, the more i read, the more it became worth the work. i highly recommend this book.

that's about it for now. i hope everyone is having a great weekend doing fun stuff.

hugs

not too muc

2008-04-24T22:20:00.006-04:00

not too much going on, but some things. i spent the day yesterday going to a nursery with my parents to buy some plants. we had a nice time together! i then came home and dug and dug and weeded and planted. jamie mowed today...the yard is gonna look good. for now, it looks a little leggy, but it will fill out. pics of that coming soon.

kate, claire, and i went shopping tonight out at the dillard's that is now the big discount shop-o-rama. then we ate at papa's and beer, a mexican joint that was delicious. i especially liked the bean dip that came with the chips. as claire, said, "i'm sure it has lard in it!" all you have to do is see my swelling stomach right now and you would think about lard! we looked at more plants over at k-mart while we waited for our table. nice to hang out with the girls!

i've been able to make a bunch of new work for Obsidian Gallery out in tucson. i didn't think i had time, but i made time,and i am super glad. i really like this work, it is different for me, and also will be good for them to have work unlike other galleries. i hope they like it too!

i also am participating in a show in northeast harbor, maine at the Shaw Gallery this summer. it is about pop culture and i have been "assigned" sex, relationships, body image, etc. here is a little preview of my "engagement ring". it measures about 1.5" in diameter. in other words, it is HUGE. but soso pretty and pink! more to come on this, as i am having a really fun time making fun of things! just wait til you see what i do with the britney spears musical key chain i got on ebay last week. whoa!

i hope tomorrow to finish a new spectacular prong set necklace. i am super psyched about it, people. it totally kicks ass, and when it is finished i will post a pic to see what you think. i certainly am having a good time working with stones. it has opened up a whole new world of structure in my work, and the colors and shapes sure are exciting and enticing!

i've been getting up really early (mostly because i have been sleeping like crap) but that has enabled me to get to the studio early and get alot done. it feels really good. i am in a serious work mode...whether it is being at home in the yard like yesterday, or in the studio like all the other days. fun stuff. i hate it when the work day is over, though i do love coming home to jamie.

fermelenge, mera dosta!

long time

2008-04-20T21:19:00.018-04:00

well, it's been awhile. i just haven't been much in the mood. but here i am, reporting on a few things that have occurred since we last spoke.

jamie and i went to san francisco a few weeks ago. it was fab. i taught a stone setting class for 2 days and had a day and a half in addition to hang out with jamie. the class was great, i think the students learned a lot, and i liked them very much. it was super fun to be around people of different cultures, as that doesn't happen much in asheville. this is suzanne pugh, the head of the metalsmithing program at city college of san fran, my friend who set this class up. suzanne rocks!
we stayed at a great hotel, the baldwin, right near china town. it cost $80 a night and was totally worth it. clean and basic, but centrally located and comfortable. you could even sneak up to the roof for a glass of wine and some views! we loved having dim sum on our 1st day there.

we went down to fisherman's wharf and did some touristy stuff. fun to see the water right there, including a view of alcatraz. there were some huge barges going by as well. they have such a presence...large ships are very odd, it is weird to think of them being out at sea in a huge storm where they might seem small.

we went to an old fashioned arcade down there at fisherman's wharf. it was free, and pretty neat-o. i liked the freakiness of the games and the oddness of them as well. we played a few, including the kissing game. please note where ours landed. you had to kiss in front of the machine and it would judge your kiss for you!

we also hung out with an old friend from warren wilson, jonathan riggs. it was good to see him, and good to see him doing well at his IT job in the video game industry.

the sea lions like to hang out down by the water. they were really fun to watch, and funny too! one old grandpa got real grumpy and loud and caused quite a commotion as he re-settled his large self in a new sleeping spot. they looked so sleek when wet, and so scruffy when dry!

i saw this cool sculpture atop a building downtown. i also noted that the top of the building looks a lot like the marriage of metal i used to make. pretty nifty!

these weird guys (1st photo) in the game arcade reminded me of this weird guy(2nd photo) i photographed in india in an old palace, the prag mahal, in bhuj. do you guys see the similarity as well? creepy! they were both encased in glass boxes, and seemed so out of place and strange.

jamie went to see the new rolling stones movie at the IMAX which he enjoyed, and he hung out with his friend and went to the haight ashbury area and did some shopping. we also ate french food, mexican food, a vietnamese sandwich, greek food...delicious!! it was a great trip!

in jewelry news, i have been featured in a magazine in taiwan, DFUN. i am not sure when it comes out, but it sure is exciting, as the layout looks so great! i am thrilled! my 1st magazine feature!
dammit, i cannot figure out how to save the color correctly since this came in pdf format. actually, there is no blue in the picture, it is a red stripe in the background and it looks killer! maybe later i can get it right but for now, here is the sample.

also, in the july issue of jewelry artist magazine, i will be featured in the up and coming jewelers article. i had an interview for this article way back when i was on my way to SNAG. i also have done a how-to project for this issue, which i turned in on friday. i am psyched about it! here is a pic of my project.

i also ordered my new lapidary tools tonight, so i can start carving and slicing stones. man, o man, am i excited about this puppy! i cannot wait to start some carving.! yee haw!
well, last but not least, i want to send out a happy birthday to my grandma, who turn 90 years old this week. can you believe it? we had a very nice party for her today, and a fun weekend with relatives in from NYC (my uncle victor) and ohio (uncle bob and aunt donna). also delightful to lay eyes on my sister in from knoxville with her brood as well. love all ya!

fermelenge!

camping again!

2008-03-30T19:25:00.009-04:00

this weekend we went camping again! it was sort of a trip for jamie's birthday which was last week. we went up to lake santeetlah, which is near robbinsville, nc. it is a beautiful lake, not very crowded at all, since over 3/4 of it is national park. we took both trudy and sadie, because we were able to secure our favorite spot, which is a small island. neither of them swim, so that way they could run free and not be tied up. it rained a little bit, bit we were the die hard campers that we are, so it didn't bother us much at all.
it mostly rained at night. jamie got his socks and boots wet when unloading our "new" boat into the lake. the boat was great! the engine did suck more gas than we expected, but we got everything back in one load.

everyone has eyes like sadie. look closely!

jamie caught some small mouth bass! 5 of them! it was exciting.

tomorrow i have to do my taxes. this sucks. last year was a complicated financial year with getting married and also incorporating my business. wish me luck. argh!

on another front, my friend lee called me today and said that national geogrpahic has done an article on india banning rickshaws from the roads. this means human-pulled rickshaws, not the motorcycle rickshaw we in the west think of. in india, they call the motorcylce rickshaw an "auto". apparently, the ban is on because bicycle rickshaws inpede the flow of traffic and make it dangerous. i found this info:
"2006: as the year starts to wind down, India is just two years short of inaugurating a network of roads that is 14,000 miles long and that will completely change the infrastructure of the country. The big cities of Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Dehli will be linked together that no one could ever have thought possible. And what’s more – on these new roads will be cars. Lots and lots of cars. An estimated 600 autos for every 1000 people. In the next 25 years it’s projected that more cars will be sold in India than in the countries entire history. By the year 2030, India will be the third largest market in the world, tucked closely behind China and the United States."
better safe than sorry, but sad to see an old traditional for of transportation come to an end. sad to know that all those people will be out of work. have any of you read The Good Earth, by Pearl S Buck? there is a lot of interesting information and good stories about the life of a man who at one point becomes a rickshaw man. (it is a good book about the hardships of life to any extent.) i imagine it is not that much different in india.

my friend billy sproul has started a blog. he is making some killer kinetic sculptures and furniture with hand poured concrete. really awesome stuff. check it out here.

fermelenge!

sending off

2008-03-27T22:01:00.006-04:00

well, i am just about ready to send off my pack of new work to de novo. i'm super psyched about this work. i love the way it looks, i loved making every bit of it. here are a few choice pics for you.

yellow glass stone (if anyone knows where i can buy more of these, please let me know), sterling silver

rutilated quartz, citrine, 18k gold, sterling silver
carnelian, diamonds, 18k gold, sterling silver
i've decided i need to learn a little more academic things about what i do, instead of just concentrating on how i feel about what i do. so i ordered a couple of books, which by the way were not cheap, much to my surprise. learning is expensive, eh? anyway, at 1st glance they look very heady. who knew that my work could be intellectual in its base nature? i guess i'll see if i still think that is so after i read these 2 books.

i want to bring hoss haley to your attention. hoss was a penland resident artist when i 1st took a jewelry and enameling class there back in 1992. he currently lives in asheville with his most wonderful wife, leslie, & new son, James. he is a super nice, down to earth guy, and his work is just incredible. i love how he makes the metal look like it was easy to work with. the forms and shapes he makes are accessible to the mind and pleasing to look at. when a person sees hoss's work, they wish they had a super cool house to put it in, as well as the money to buy it.

off for a busy weekend. more on that later.
hope everyone has a deligthful friday and weekend! back atcha soon.

neat-o

2008-03-27T09:28:00.003-04:00

g'day!

i received an email yesterday from Quirk Gallery in Richmond. remember my new moss stuff? anyway, they sent me pics of how they have the work displayed in their gallery, and it looks AWESOME! in addition, i found out they have my ring featured on their website! (look under "quirk represents" and scroll to the bottom.) yay!!!

this really bugs me, as you might imagine why.

that's about it for now, i'll have more pics later of my newest work that i am sending out to de novo.

a big one, again

2008-03-23T18:58:00.009-04:00

happy spring!
i'll begin with a pic of my cucumber seedling. it looked like it might be molding indoors in the peat moss, so i transplanted it outside. now it is covered with a table cloth so it hopefully won't freeze tonight.

i was able to go to caroline manheimer's MA grad show up at ECU this past week. caroline did a series of fiber hangings based upon her school girl uniform. this work was personally exploratory in nature, yet still held true to caroline's long time asthetic. gorgeous.

my neice came over and we did some faux mendhi. i found out the kind of "henna" i have is not really henna, and it can cause all kinds of skin reactions, so i decided to use a sharpie on berklee instead. still, it looked great and she was a very patient girl.

while jamie has had some downtime recently from work he has been making things. here he is doing some drawing, and here is a pic of the table he made using old pool table legs and pine and walnut. excellent.

jamie and i took my nephews edward and hampton camping on friday night at hot springs campground. it was much fun! a beautiful night, and a delightful experience with my nephews. i believe a good time was had by all--fishing, cooking over the fire, a slingshot.... hampton and i did some tree artwork, a gift for the next campers to come through.
i found these awesome crayon carvings by diem chau. take a look at the website, it shows some work that is super cool! miniatures, with a real quiet and elegant appeal.

diem chau also does sewing on porcelain bowls.
this reminded me of esther knobel's work in jewelry. she sews on sterling silver. there are many other people in the jewelry world who are sewing on metal right now, and i find it a very interesting mix of materials. check out iris eichenberg's work as well. the sewing is so appealing to me, it makes me want to sew as well. but it is a popular thing to do, so then again it makes me want to avoid the technique. but it is so simply beautiful, and it adds a whole different feel to jewelry.

i found this bowl, as well, you can buy it here. pretty nifty to see how people are using this technique in their own way. i like this bowl, because you are allowed to decorate it with whatever pattern you choose to really make it your own.i found another pic showing work of someone who obviously had seen one of my projects in a Lark book. i just can't get over this kind of thing! amazing!

her work:

my work:

a few cool links: www.coolhunting.com
www.designenterprise.com
www.callycreates.blogspot.com
www.margauxlange.com

fermelenge!

studio news

2008-03-15T17:27:00.006-04:00

This is where we would like to be right now....aahh. memories are good, but they aren't the same as being there. seems like so long ago.

hope y'all aren't too bored with jewelry news. i just can't help myself as of late!

the other day there was a cat in the vent in our studio, meowing. jamie was there, and he opened the grate and tried to get the cat, but it ran away. we went home. i came back the next morning and saw evidence that something had been messing around in the studio over night, and realized it was the cat. apparently this cat has been doing this for months now, but appearing randomly on Scully's video camera after hours. scully would catch the kitty and put i back outside and it would then come back in later. so we found the cat in the studio and we called the animal police. Officer sams came and we had a fun time catching the kitty. au revoir!

here is my new small series of moss jewelry. you can see it before it is put together, and after. the model is one Miss Kora Manheimer. fun stuff!

we're just hanging around the house today since it is raining. i think i'll go take a bath in a few minutes, and read more of my book. then we have a date tonight, should be fun! i went to zambra's the other night and loved it, and figured it would be good to just go back there again!

not much else to report today.
have a great one!

filling in

2008-03-13T09:38:00.004-04:00

i am waiting for the FTP server at Guild.com to show a file with my name on it. in the meantime, i thought i'd give a little update. i must say that it is harder to spend as much time on the computer now that it is daylight savings! i'd rather be outside or on the porch chatting with jamie!

Guild.com is one of my new stores. this is an online store, but it has a sister catalog called The Artful Home. perhaps some of you get this? i hope to have a pair of earrings or a necklace in the catalog, but i am not sure yet. i hope my photos are good enough! i need to get them out today so i can meet the deadline, but now i am waiting on someone else to help me out. they have been super helpful there, though, don't get me wrong, and the folks i have met have been so genuine and nice!

jamie built me this lovely coldframe last weeekend. i planted chard, spinach, and mesclun mix in it. i also planted right out i the ground as an experiment, hoping things will come up there as well, in cluding kale, cabbage, more spinach. and also a row of potatoes and some garlic.

about 2 years ago i did a bunch of enameling as part of my healing process from breaking up with a boyfriend. it was super fun, and i spent long nights in the studio working alone. i have had these enameled pieces sitting around since then, unsure of what to do with them. i saw that Lark Books put out a call for entries for 500 Enameled Objects, so yesterday i finished the necklaces and took photos of them. today i will drop my entries off at Lark, for possible inclusion in the book. can't hurt to try, now, can it? wish me luck!

At the SNAG (Society of North American Goldsmiths) conference i attended last week in Savannah, there is a meet and greet "Pin Swap". you can make pins and swap them with others and meet people at the same time. you make however many you want, and end up with a nice little collection of neat pins! these are the ones i made out of stainless steel wire.

i am really excited to be back in the studio. the price of gold hit $1000 for the 1st time, and silver is right around $20 an ounce. I am used to silver being around $6.50, so this is a huge price increase for me. But i have ordered a huge amount of material, so i have all that taken care of for awhile. and i just hope the price goes way down before i need to order material again. i am making some super fun brooches with the moss balls, can't wait to post pics of them! can't wait to go finish them as well, arg, to much computer work and paperwork this week!

well, i am outta here!
hugs to all
jo

how-dee!

2008-03-03T22:03:00.007-05:00

well, i have been real happy to settle back in and be at home and just do our thing.

jamie was doing some great plumbing work for us last week and hurt his knee crawling around on the floor. i have to say that the work was worth it, but his pain has been hard. this is not the normal bruised knee cap, but it is getting better! so our weekend was spent in front of the tv, heating and icing the knee and just spending sometime together, which was lovely and needed.

we are super glad spring is coming. thanks to george bush for upping daylight savings. it seems very weird to both of us that our ...umm...deficient...president has the power over time like this. well, we are happy to have more hours in the day whether it be for the ecomomy or for the crocuses in our front yard! i was very pleased to see the crocus that are in are yard are orange, as i love orange flowers the best! (well, next to pink and red flowers...) but it is exciting to see what is in our yard since this is our 1st spring here. we have lots of plans for planting this year, and it is very fun!

we stopped in cash converters last week while waiting for take out thai food at Noi's Kitchen. i recommend this thai food, as i have been to thailand and eaten the food there. it is on merrimon just south of wendy's. anyway, we picked up a nice converter table top set of ping pong for our dining room table! woo hoo! we have already played many games. jamie wins more than me, but i win some too. it is THE BEST! our dining room table is a little slim, but it works just fine and gives us joy.

since i made some money at my jewelry shows, i spent some of it on some new tools as a gift for myself. this is the first set of tools i bought, a new set of dapping punches and a dapping block. i am so thrilled, it was like a whole christmas opening up these tools and wiping off the excess protective oil. look at how nice my new ones are compared to my old ones...wow!

wednesday i am off to savannah for the SNAG (society of north american goldsmiths) conference. i am really excited to hang out with some people that are attending the conference! it is going to be very fun. jamie was supposed to go see Van Halen this weekend, it was his big christmas/birthday present from me, but eddie van halen has gone back into rehab today and they canceled the tour. totally sucks. big disappointment, but jamie and john are going camping instead and will try out our new boat. that should be fun too!

i found yesterday that one of my rings is featured on a jewelry blog that only has pics of rings with growing things. it is a super great blog, with awesome fun pics of rings that grow! check it out, even if you can't read it!

i'm on the 3rd book in the Outlander series, Voyager, by diana gabaldon. yee haw, these are fun books! i highly recommend all of them to those with time on their hands for reading! hot stuff! (notice the brooch on the front cover, with its traditional "thorn" clasp! awesome!)

i'm out,
love to all
jo

endings

2008-02-21T17:22:00.005-05:00

well, the time for the ending of all wholesale shows for the year (for me) has come. i am sincerely grateful for all the 13 wonderful galleries that have chosen to purchase my work. really, this has been overwhelming, and i am super excited about everything that has occurred.

the 1st notable one is de novo gallery in palo alto, ca. holy moly, am i ever excited to be a part of this gallery! when the owner came into my booth, i recognized that her beautiful brooch was made by deborah krupenia, one of my favorite marriage of metal artists. the owner, charry, and i had a nice chat and i was so pleased that she actually took time to really look at my work. this is a big deal for me, as it is really affirming that i am on the right track and am getting confirmation from someone with good taste, who is knowledgable about all kinds of jewelry. yee haw!

also i am excited to be a part of the signature shop and gallery in atlanta ga. the owner was also very, very nice and she bought several large one of a kind pieces. this is the first year anyone has bought major one of a kinds outright from me, and it feels great! i am looking forward to working with this gallery as well.

furthermore, quirk gallery in richmond, va will be carrying my work. this gallery has 2 parts. the front shop carries work of many people i know and love and also others whom i admire, including amy tavern and sarah loertscher. the rear gallery is called "Quirk Represents" and they exhibit more unusual funky work of many different artists. i am excited that the front gallery bought some of my new prong rings and the rear gallery will be showing my moss necklace and several other funky pieces i have not had the opportunity to show. click here to find out more about this neat-o gallery. yee haw again!

there are more galleries i am thrilled about, those are just a few for now...

geoff and i are staying in fell's point here in baltimore, away from downtown and the convention center. it was an accident due to priceline, but now i am really glad. this area is really cute and quaint, and nice to be in vs. the convention center area. we had some delicious tapas last night and tonight we are thinking of maybe indian food or mexican food or really i don't care what as long as it is not pizzeria uno. i am pretty much over chain restaraunts.

tomorrow starts the retail portion of this show, and i am hoping to meet my overall financial goal by the end of the weekend. it doesn't seem impossible, so that is truly thrilling. but i must say that i have a SHIT TON of work to do between now and june 1st, with all kinds of other things going on in that time period as well. phew! i can't wait to get on it!

that's about it, my focus right now is pretty darn narrow. work work work.

i do miss my delightful husband, our beasts, and my friends, too. i really, really, look forward to getting home on monday. it will be a long 10 hour drive!

fermelenge
jo

show #1

2008-02-16T20:52:00.005-05:00

well, this 1st show is going okay. not as gangbusters as i had of course hoped, but good enough. passable. i've gotten orders from 5 new galleries. i am excited to be in all of them, some i never heard of before.

one intriguing one is actually an indie-department store in nyc called arcadia. all handmade things in this store in chelsea, from soap to jewelry to candles to clothing. sounds pretty cool, and the owner was a real interesting person, very nice and down to earth.

the most exciting thing is that 2 galleries ordered my new little prong rings, featured to the right of this post! the 2nd gallery to order ordered them on spec, said they will take pretty much what i make! cool!! that makes me feel like i am on a good track with those rings, which are just waiting for me at home...waiting for me to make some more...

so i am hoping a few of the "be backs" will actually come back tomorrow and make an order. also i have a couple of people who said they are going to wait until baltimore to order from me. not sure why this is, but...i'll believe it when they order.

here is a pic of the booth...not bad if i say so, though it is not what i had hoped for either. i wanted a perfect, totally killer booth, and i feel i have my regular booth with a few changes. whatever. i am pretty much finished worrying about it for now.

i do like my new earring stands and display very much, however.

so, all day tomorrow and 10-3 on monday then i pack up and run off to baltimore for a 10am opening on tuesday. i am nervous/stressed about the move out from here, but i just have to do my best and be as fast as possible in order to avoid a $400 late arrival fee in baltimore. sounds like they are trying to rob us, doesn't it? yes, i believe so.

i had dinner tonight with natasha wozniak, a fellow jeweler whom i have featured on this blog before. we ate at penang, a restaraunt where jamie and i ate on our last trip to philly. i again had the shrimp and green beans in shrimp paste. we opened with a delightful squid and greens dish, covered in peanut gravy. YUMMY. the waiter told us not to get the squid, that he had never seen it, but it was worth it, in my opinion, as it was unusual and delicious!

i want to think for a minute on how blessed we all are. i have several friends going through super hard times with loved ones right now...way more than seems possible. so if you don't mind, let's have a moment to think good thoughts for those in trouble, and also be thankful for all the good we do have in our own lives.

om shanti

ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति

take care everyone
jo

back in philly

2008-02-13T21:34:00.005-05:00

ah, i'm here! it's been a rainy day, but a pretty good day. i'm almost all set up at the show, but will go in tomorrow around 1 to finish up. the preview opens at 4pm.

i had a busy day doing things here. unloading, settling in the hotel, setting up, running over to ikea...then back to the show, then back to the hotel. on my way back to the hotel i stopped and picked up a philly cheesesteak. man, they are so good. and they are so good, you know they are so BAD for you! but i had one, and that's enough.

but while i was eating my sandwich, i got a call from the front desk saying they had a flower delivery for me!! they brought up this beautiful arrangement, and it smells really good! i think i might bring it on up to the booth so i can see it more, and so other people can enjoy it too. jamie is so thoughtful, and makes me feel so loved.

i walked around some and drove around, too, on my way to ikea. i am staying one block from the betsy ross house. the lady who made the flag, you know. i wonder if perhaps we all think of her as some sweet rosy cheeked old lady and she could have been some nagging old biddy. her house is real cute, right here in the heart of the old city in philly. and right near it is a large bust of ben franklin, real large, and kind of weird. please notice the small angel/adult-child in the pink dress in this picture. ??? kind of like a female adult-baby jesus.

i am also near the US mint. since i don't have to go in early tomorrow, i am very tempted to go on the mint tour. i am going to let myself sleep in, and then see how i feel. sounds like it could be really interesting though!!

tomorrow i am gong to bring my camera with me so i can get some pics for you guys. i want to show you how immense this show is. unbelievable. pretty wonderful, too, to see so many people making their living from making things. pretty daunting, hough, when one considers all the competition!

i was pleased to find that i am right next to danielle miller, a jeweler friend who lives in greeneville, sc. i've known danielle for about 7 years now, as we discovered today, and she is great. when i met her 1st son, i have to say i thought he was one of the most precious little boys i have ever seen! her work is great; very well made and dynamic!

that's it for now...hope you guys are all doing well...
sleep tight!

joppa

2008-02-12T22:02:00.003-05:00

well, here i am, stuck in a best western in joppa, md. could be worse. i could still be out on I-95 in a shitty ice storm. instead i am paying for 2 hotel rooms tonight, since i couldn't make it up to philly. i just got worn out and scared of having an accident on the icy road. when i pulled over i discovered my car was covered in ice! i thought it was just wet. (this pic is an exaggeration...it is not the storm that happened here tonight, though it might as well be!)

oh well, i hope i still have time tomorrow to go to ikea and look for another display table and also get to the convention center in time to unload at my unloading time. though i guess i can call and delay it.

fong choo will be showing his work at ACC Baltimore. Fong is quite the accomplished ceramicist, making miniature teapots. he prices his work in an amusing way, such as $456.38 or $223.67. he also attended warren wilson college, but before me. i've met fong, but he wouldn't remember me. it's mostly the jewelers that i end up making buddies with.

well, ttfn. i'm off to re-adjust the heat in this room...AGAIN. damn stinky, hot hotel rooms!!

by and now

2008-02-10T19:53:00.000-05:00

i enjoyed my teaching in tucson. the class went well...the students did great on their married metal projects and we had a good time! i got excellent reviews, which made me feel good. the trip home was a bit trying..i was supposed to get home at 5:30pm, and did not arrive until 2:30 am.

here are some pics of tucson and some cacti i saw there. it was really weird being out west in the different flora and fauna. not sure i like it, but i appreciate it. i am an easterner by heart.

check out Umbra. i especially like these bookshelves! I want some!

i finished my wholesale catalog today. i'm really happy to have it finished. here is a pair of ball earrings which excite me greatly. they were part of the last group of work i had to photograph and get in the catalog. i hope galleries order alot of my new work. i really hope!

i leave tuesday morning and will not return until the night of feb 25th. long time to be away from my home and sweet husband. i sincerely have my fingers crossed that all this time and energy i've put into these wholesale shows pays off. ya'll be thinking good thoughts for me! i noticed that ACC put up all the artists in the baltimore show on their site finally. check it out!

lastly, here is a pic of debra adelson's work. debra is super nice, has always been really friendly to me and very sharing. she always offers her home to me as a place to stay if i need it, and she shares her info about suppliers and such too. her work is colorful and fun.

i hope to be able to post some while i am away, but i am never sure of the internet connection at these hotels. sometimes i can make it work, but sometimes not. we'll see. i do hope to post some pics of my new booth, though. it seriously kicks ass. if you want to check in with me though, you can always email me at jlgjewelry @ mindspring.com

fermelenge!

settings

2008-01-31T09:58:00.001-05:00

we've had a busy week, it seems.

it began on saturday with kate's surprise party! she turned 40, and we all went up to barley's saturday afternoon for the party. and she had no clue it was coming! it was super fun! here is a pic of kate opening presents. woo hoo!

the other night jamie found this happening in the living room. we were very touched. trudy in the past has had great difficulty with cats, as she wants to chase them. things are working out well between her and steve now, and we are very pleased.

i am really excited about these new rings. i love making these little settings, and these tiny rings have a lot of character. they are like little treasures. i am really excited to go to the gem show in tucson on monday so i can find more little things to put in these settings.

another person i always look forward to seeing at the craft shows is lee marracinni.
lee is one of the most genuine people, and it is nice to give him a hug! he is a snappy dresser, always wearing some stylish suit. his jewelry is fabulous...classic with interesting components. check out his inlay work as well here.

tomorrow i am off to tucson. i will be teaching marriage of metal to 14 students! we are going to have a good time, as this is a very satisfying technique. it will be interesting to check out tucson a little bit, as i have never been there. i hope it is warm.

well, fermelenge!

om shanti om

2008-01-26T10:36:00.000-05:00

i have been listening to and loving the soundtrack to the bollywood hit movie "om shanti om." last night i found the myspace page for the movie and found the detailed plot description very funny.

in the film the main role is played by Om Prakash Makhija (Shahrukh Khan), a junior artist in the film industry set in the 1970's and his sidekick friend Pappu (Shreyas Talpade) who are trying to become a big hero one day. Om’s mother, Bela Makhija (Kirron Kher) who is seen inspiring and encouraging their son to become a hero. Om is seen here as a happy go lucky kind of guy and they talked with each other in a filmy way. Om’s love interest is Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone), a rising star. During the premire of a film, the pallu of Shanti’s shari got entrangled with Om’s hand; he managed to enter the hall duping the guards. One day during the shooting of film, the set caught fire in an uncontrolled manner, Shanti was trapped inside the film, it was Om who rescued her, hurting himself. After the incident, Shanti came to thank him personally, and incidentally she overheard Om’s love for her.

click here to read more, as this is only the 1st paragraph! i think my favorite is the word "entrangled". and i am wondering how she overheard his love.

now, here is our boat! nice!

in the dog world, trudy has been eating the cat shit out of the litter box again. earlier she walked in the living room with it all stuck to her nose. i love it when she does that!

these are some rings made by my friend todd reed. he is reclaiming stones from old mughal indian jewelry, having them re-cut, and setting them in these fabulous baubles. he often uses raw diamond cubes set in 18-22k gold or sterling. this is what he is known for, and he pretty much single handedly started this trend of using raw diamond cubes. todd is a friend i am always happy to see at the shows...and i'll be seeing him in a few weeks in both philadelphia and baltimore. in the next few weeks, i'll be posting pics of other friends i'll be seeing at these shows as well...

fermelenge!

check it!

2008-01-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

thanks to everyone who gave me their advice on the pics. the real ones won!

i sent off some models to the caster a few weeks ago. i have been making these oval pieces, you may have seen them. they are so labor intensive when i make each individual oval and solder them all together and also it is limiting in what i can do when there are all those solder seams. so i had some pieces cast in silver, kind of like in sheet form. it makes it WAY easier to make the balls, which are my favorite! still...i am super happy to be able to make more complicated designs with the cast pieces. these are my 1st two! I LOVE THEM!

sterling silver, citrine

sterling silver, 18k gold, red glass, diamond

i also think these pics are pretty darn good, if i may say so.

i am super tired after staying up late with my friend kristen last night. i like to get 8 full hours or else i am "RUNT". for the next few days we are just gonna take it easy.

my ad came out in American Craft Magazine. it looks ok, but i am not thrilled. the photo was not so good, and for $1300 i need to do better next time.

i got a phone call from my friend suzanne pugh the other day. she teaches jewelry and metalsmithing at the City College of San Francisco. i 1st met suzanne up at Penland when she was in charge of the metals studio. suzanne is a real special person and quite a piece of work! anyway, she asked if i would come teach a weekend workshop out there in april! hell yes! so jamie and i are going out there for a few days in the beginning of april. i will teach a class on creative stone setting. woo hoo! california, prophet on the burning shore! like an angel, standing in a shaft of light! here is a belt buckle made by ms. pugh. she chases these with hand tools and a hammer for the texture, and adds in lyrics, often from old country songs, that have relevance to the wearer. bad ass.

this is a kick ass flask of hank williams.

we got a new boat!! i'll take a pic tomorrow and post it for you then! we are excited. camping season is too far away! jamie did a great job of picking it out, from an old preacher out on rt.9. it is an oldie but a goodie, kind of like a fiberglass extra-wide john boat. it can fit 2 dogs, 2 people, a bunch of firewood and coolers and my sleeping foam mat. yee-haw!

fermelenge

photoshop

2008-01-21T22:55:00.000-05:00

can we have a vote? if you are so inclined, let me know which set of pics you prefer. and why...

set one
set 2

i have learned a lot about Photoshop this weekend, but my eyes are tired and can no longer see the truth. now, i need your opinions.

thanks!

(sukriya)
शुक्रिया

khana aur maza OR food and fun

2008-01-19T14:44:00.000-05:00

jamie made some excellent indian food the other night. he cooked up some curry chicken in the crock pot, it simmered and smelled delicious all day long. then in the evening he made up some puris, which is indian flat bread that puffs up when deep fried. they turned out perfectly!

i made my 1st cheesecake. i made it with ricotta cheese, and next time i will try the cream cheese recipe. i was pretty happy with the results, esp the graham cracker crust with real milk chocolate chips! this is not exactly the hobby i need to start as it will end up making me fatter than my plump self already is!

this is a new ring i just finished on wednesday. i found the plastic diamond at michael's, but i cut it up some and filed it all down to look the way i wanted. it is set in oxidized sterling silver. love it!

jamie and i watched a travel show the other day about rajastan, india. it was super fun to watch, as i had been to 2 out of 3 places they showed! jamie said it made him excited to go to india sometime. so here i post a pic of fri afternoon traffic in old delhi as a temptation. oh, the lovely craziness!

lark books is doing a book on fiber jewelry. this means any jewelry made out of cloth or yarn or anything fibrous. i have written many how-to projects for Lark Books in the past, and i am going to try to do a project for this new book as well. i am making a necklace out of a fulled sweater. fulling occurs when you machine wash a woolen sweater and it shrinks up and felts. i am excited about this project and it has been perfect for a saturday afternoon with the snow lightly falling outside.

have you ever noticed while eating a bowl of pistachios that the last ones in the bowl are the ones that won't open? how does this happen? it is like murphy's law or something.

have a great weekend!
fermelenge!

mindless

2008-01-14T22:13:00.000-05:00

well, my thoughts turn today, along with many others', to britters. this woman fascinates me. i know lots of people hate to hear about this and complain about it, but for now i am more interested in this than in Hillary crying or obama's feigning a snub of MLK.

just check out these pics.

we begin with our virginal britney. aw, i am so touched looking at her!

just a pic i like, it shows how much photoshopping really goes on. but also how she just doesn't take care of herself. (you can always click on these to blow them up.)

and how can you just not love this one? very revealing.

britters used to have it going on. rumors are that she has a mental illness, and frankly i am believing it. plus the poor girl is under so much scrutiny, how can she not at least be having a good old fashioned mental breakdown?

what i am hoping (thought it is unlikely) is that something will happen and the media will use this as an excuse to educate the public about mental illness. i hope they can turn her into another different kind of success story. but as they say...if wishes were horse. or, i mean, when pigs can fly...

sleep tight.

not much

2008-01-13T18:59:00.000-05:00

not much going on here. we have had a chill weekend at the house. been on the computer alot and have ignored my sweater crafts.

went out friday night to barley's and broadway's. heard that the old car dealership on merrimon has been bought to make two 10 story buildings....and guess what will be in them? condos! can't wait for such a neat thing to move on in our burg! we had fun being out though, and even saw some people we know!

i am interested in this car. a smart car. the only thing is that the gas milage is not all that great. i really want some kind of car that runs on renewable energy. do you think that i will be able to get a good one 5 years from now? that is when i think my Honda might die.

i bought some new trade show carpet. it comes in blocks you can fit together. pretty cool. i am hoping to have a bad ass booth at my trade shows that are coming up. the buyer's market of american craft is in philly feb 14-21 and the acc baltimore show runs feb 22-28. i hope the red looks classy yet funky without being overwhelming.

jamie and i made some delicious chili tonight for dinner using deer meat that our friend gave us. we cooked it all day in the crock pot and it did not taste gamey at all. yum! jamie likes it with oyster crackers, but i prefer to have some chips to scoop with. but as we have no chips, i enjoyed the oyster crackers, as well.

i received 2 books from Lark Books on friday, both of which have my work in them. 500 Wedding Rings was super fun to look through and will be a great reference. Modern Jewelry from Modular Parts was fun because my piece is on the cover! also fun because i know most of the contributors and i liked seeing us all work together in the same book. 2 of the jewelers are right in my studio, amy tavern and molly dingledine! awesome!

i am getting over my cold but have had some severe headaches due i think to sinus pressure. awful! the walk with jamie & the ladies (trudy and sadie) did make me feel really good this afternoon though, after the rain.

have a good one!

updating

2008-01-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

i have been busy again on the computer. most recently i have created my Etsy account! yay! you can see the mini version to the left of this blog, click on the "chandi" and it will take you to the real thing. "Chandi" means silver in hindi. are you surprised that is what i picked for my store name?

we went friday night to the cd release party for tyler ramsey. it was packed! he played great, the music was excellent, and everyone was super happy for him. tyler is an awesome guy, a fabulous musician, and he deserves to have tons of recognition. check him out and buy his new cd!

i am happy that now i can post these pics of things i made for people for christmas. i embroidered the pillow cases for the ladies in the family. i didn't get a pic of the ones i made for grandma, though.

i also had fun printing out images onto cloth on the laser printer and sewing them together in these little pictures. they turned out so delicate and sweet, i was very pleased with them.

i also am updating my website with some wedding ring photos. they will be on the "various" page if you guys want to see some of the fancier work i have done with gold and diamonds. love me some diamonds!

i am a little under the weather with a cold. my throat was hurting until i took some oregano oil last night and that kicked it. i swear by that stuff for sore throats, but jamie swears that after he took some of that years ago he developed acid reflux. now my problem is the congestion in my head and it is making my neck hurt and i feel generally crappy.

hope everyone else is feeling better than i am!

learning and sharing

2008-01-01T21:40:00.001-05:00

happy new year, people! best wishes to all for a delightful, fruitful, enjoyable year.

i don't know who these people are, but i thought this was pretty funny and appropriate!

i was looking through ETSY today and came upon a jewelry maker who obviously has my book. it was fascinating to me to see! when i wrote these books and designed the projects, i tried to stress that these projects were examples, that the "students" should take these ideas and then make them their own.

but here i found a pair of earrings that were a project in my book, Making Metal Jewelry, and the jewelry maker on ETSY has re-done them and has them up for sale. that is fine, but disappointing. (my photos aren't so hot, because i took them of the book pages!)

mine

hers
now, on the ring i was happy to see she changed up the rivet a little bit and kinda did her own thing.

mine

hers

also on the screen trapped objects. she did a good job of making this her own.

mine
hers

it was just so interesting to know that my book is influencing someone like this! amazing! cool to run across as well.

that's about it for today.
fermelenge

the making of things

2007-12-31T19:34:00.001-05:00

greetings,

the past few days have been full of things. full of doing nothing, of getting crafty, of getting back to work.

tonight we are going to go to jeff and rhett mcgahee's house for new year's. i went and bought a new dress for a wee $25 to wear. fun! rhett was the lead singer for Custard Pie. jeff is a landscape architect.

these are the jeans i patched for jamie. i think it will give them about 5 more wears. they are ready to bust. i had my sewing machine fixed by a guy out on weaverville hwy. i got it back and spent $117 for the repair. wow! it still doesn't work. i am pissed. so i went over to The House of Fabrics to see if they did repair and told them about my previous repair guy and they just shook their heads and said he is NOT the man. so don't go out to weaverville hwy to get your sewing machine fixed, people.

my MOO cards came today! i love love love them! they are super cool and small and fun and just killer! i should have shown you what is on the back, but i forgot. basically just my name and my phone number and my website.

so, i cannot do a zigzag stitch, but i can do a straight stitch on my machine. i went and got some more wool sweaters to felt (or technically"full") and also washed some that debby got me at goodwill as well. when you intentionally wash wool sweaters, the fibers stick together and get closer and make a denser fabric. you can cut it without it unravelling. i went to barnes and noble and used it like a library to peruse some ideas for making things, and decided i should make some purses! i am super excited about it! here i have some purses ready to be sewn and a hat i made about 2 years ago the same way. this will be my winter project, and i can't wait!

i gave jamie a rocket for christmas that he and john asbury are going to go shoot off. it should go about 1200 feet in the air! they were going to shoot it off tomorrow, but it seems the weather is not amenable. perhaps the next day or saturday? we'll let you know if you want to come watch it!

ttfn!

some things i've seen

2007-12-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

greetings.

i saw in debby's Vanity Fair magazine a brief review of Walton Ford's recent book. i was lucky enough to get into an "art" discussion with this man back when i lived in NYC. Walton is a close friend of my friend David McManus. I remember embarrassing myself in the conversation. incredible work. You can read about him from PBS here or see more of his work for sale here.

i like this measuring jigger. see it and other cool things here.

some of this is really neat. i found this artist in Dwell magazine, but her website is neater than Dwell let on.

and this purse is super cool. wish i could remember where i found it. dern it.

i now have a link to my site on the Design Directory. Excellent.

it's been a busy week socializing with family. fun, food, wine...now i am pretty exhausted! and i am looking forward to getting back in the gym for the 1st time in a year or more. ugh. something must be done!

we are looking at more of this kind of behavior soon, but fortunately our houseguests have been fabulous and there is not much to do. i just really wanted to post this fun pic of jamie "hoovering".

i'll leave you with this last one. interesting. not sure who is holding baby krisna, but it rings a christian bell to me.

sometime in the future i will be able to translate this for you after studying my new Rosetta Stone for Hindi. and in the meantime, here is a last bit of transliteration for you of "see you later" in the devanagari script.

फेर्मेलेंगे!

2007-12-28T10:17:00.000-05:00

hi there...just checking something

the times

2007-12-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

we finally hung up our candle holders we got for our wedding from CB2. they are looking awesome! we put themin the corner of the dining room, and tonight we had dinner with jamie's mom debby, his brother matt, and debby's S.O. Larry. it was our 1st time with the candles and it felt great.

this is my pot o' metal i am planning on sending to the refiners. my sale went great, but this is where the leftovers ended up. i have to wait probably about another year before i have enough to send off to make it worth my money. when you refine material such as this, you do not get full price for the metal because of the labor involved in refining it. in addition, i will pay about $100 in fees.

i went and got some acupuncture yesterday. my friend kristin query is my doc and i highly recommend her to you guys in the area. if you are having some troubles, call her up and see what she can do. 828-712-7789

jamie and i had an early christmas with my folks the other night. we had a great time being with them and getting to chat it up. this will be my 1st christmas not being with them. though in a way i am sad, i am super excited to be with jamie's family!

i just finished a book today that all of you should read if you are looking for a fun quick delightful book. it is called "twilight" by stephenie meyer. man o man, go out and get it people!

excellent

2007-12-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

i must give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out to my studio sale yesterday. it was a fabulous day! not only did i make somegreat money, but i also got to see LOTS of people i hadn't seen in a while.

here are some interesting items i found on this website called generate.concrete rings. for the couple. comes from the same mold.

candleholders. each one becomes individual with the wax "hair" that develops.

gold pills. so you can be quality on the inside.

light jewelry. love the idea.

check out this blog i found as well. design mind. i stole the link the gnr8 from this interesting blog.

fermelenge

dream

2007-12-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

i took a nap yesterday and dreampt i was a pine cone. i didn't sleep very heavily. in my dream, the only part of my body that was asleep was the tips of my little wooden branches which were touching the sheets. it was a fun dream.