This afternoon I said goodbye to Jessica and Arlo, (totally awesome) friends of Max and Sarah's from back in Washington.
They live on a small island outside Seattle, and there they run Slow Loris.
Usually I'm kinda weary of people who design t-shirts---ironic, no?---but I really love their shirts. (Check out the "Test Print Shirts" section and you'll see why.)
I'm really sad to see them go. I think they belong here in Brooklyn. And they belong at Parachute, too.
I can totally see myself hanging out with and working alongside Arlo and Jessica.
They gave me a shirt for free. HOLLER! (Pictures tomorrow maybe.)
And I modeled a shirt for them today.
Last night at this bar in Williamsburg called The Levee the bartender and I realized that we live in the same apartment complex.
He said, "This is too strange."
And then he walked away.
I didn't get to sleep til the sun was rising. I hate doing that.
I slept at Sarah and Max's. Their shitbox apartment is looking a lot better.
Also, I love how they painted their bedroom hot pink because you can take some really great photos in there.
Check it out:
And isn't that Slow Loris shirt in the second photo AMAZING?
And what Max and Sarah make is always boss.
I like my friends. =)
This morning I woke up feeling really bummed.
Seriously---I had a frown on my face that just wouldn't leave.
It was a smile turned upside down.
And it was really grey and wet outside.
And I couldn't go to museums (or go eat pizza) with Andrea G. because I had to work.
But now I'm better.
Just sorta out of it.
We got the spinning wheel (a Lendrum) at the studio this weekend. But I realized that I don't have any fiber on hand here in New York. So, I bought about 8oz last night on Etsy so that I can practice.
Apparently making yarn with a wheel is easier than using a spindle. We'll see---I'm skeptical because a spindle is pretty dang easy.
Here's the screenprinting press we got last week or so:
But it always looks so depressing in there.
I printed on a dress today:
I think it looks more babydoll, though.
Maybe I just want it to look babydoll.
You know how I love that kinderwhore look. (Seriously, I wish more girls dressed like that.)
I also came across this shirt the other day while I was shopping at Goodwill:
Of course it didn't come already appliquéd.
That's courtesy of yours truly.
P.S.
If you haven't mailed back your slide yet, let's get on that!
x
I knew that I blogged too early today...
I forgot to add this to the other post:
"P.S.
Another good thing about the Bust Spring Fling was that there were a lot of attractive people. It was frustrating for my eyes---and my brain. Especially since I'm sorta dating someone as it is.
I just really like looking at attractive people.
And I hate it, too."
In other news, I brought back an old design of mine:
It reads:
"Moi, je veux te dire que je ne te quitterai jamais. Et puis, si tu es triste, je pourrais toujours te donner un peu d'alcool pour te rechauffer le coeur."
It's something my friend (and ex-neighbor) Émilie from back home wrote me once.
It basically means this:
That she'll never leave me. And if I'm sad, she can always get me drunk to warm my heart again.
There was some other stuff in the note she wrote me, but I forget what was in there.
(I think the rest said something about how booze is the next best thing if we can't do it with our bodies.)
(Wait, was that a come on?!)
I THINK she wrote me that when I flipped out a couple years ago and didn't leave my bed for three days. (I had stopped taking my antidepressants all of a sudden and ended up calling my mother at 2 or 3AM, bawling my eyes out for no good reason. That was the eve of not leaving my bed.)
Anyway, I think I'm gaining weight again.
I feel more cushion.
Damn Andrea G.
Damn pizza.
Damn beer.
Andrea G. has been in town. She's one of my BFF's, and she lives in Portland, OR.
If she lived in the same city as me, then she'd be my best friend probably.
I think that because she's probably the one friend who's been the most patient with me.
(And believe me, I've given her lots to be patient about.)
She modeled a shirt for me on Friday (or was it Saturday?). And then we took a photo together:
We went to one called Grimaldi's, which is located under the Brooklyn Bridge.
Well... we TRIED going to it, but apparently it's way famous because there was this long line outside the door! Total bummer. I wanted to try some of this pizza. I wanted to see what all the hubbub is about.
Maybe some other time.
But really...
I can't keep spending money like this.
I haven't sold anything in about five days---my good/steady sales just stopped all of a sudden, dunno why---so it's like I'm spending like there's some sort of cash coming in. Not the case.
I think it's because I took Friday off, too. We'll see.
Maybe today will stop this streak.
Yesterday I went to the Bust Spring Fling Craftacular to support my friends Luca (of Lollibomb) and Chanel (of Junkprints).
It was all right... Not the best---but mainly because I didn't really have the $ to spend on cool things I saw.
The worst part was that it was SO CROWDED.
Jesus, you could barely walk or move. It was unbearable and it made me exhausted by the time I left.
The best part was that I got to meet Debbie Stoller, the author of the Stitch 'N' Bitch books AND the co-founder/co-owner/editor-in-chief of Bust magazine.
I walked up to her and asked, "Hi, is your name Debbie?"
(I like doing that to people I want to meet.)
She was very kind and sweet. And she said she'd check out CubistLiterature.com.
I doubt it, but it was still nice to meet her anyway.
I wouldn't have learned how to knit if it weren't for her first Stitch 'N' Bitch book.
Maybe there'd be no Cubist Literature if I hadn't come across that book...
Who knows.
I live in Red Hook.
SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
4.24.08
I almost forgot it was Thursday!
Sheesh.
I think that today I am not going to be able to finish everything that's on my to-do list.
I got started too late in the day (1230PM). (Didn't leave Queens til 930AM. Then I had to go to Goodwill. And then I had to go home, eat, shower, get my laptop and stuff.)
And now I've got such a bad headache.
But I wanted to let you know that I started reading Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence. (I finished reading The Hotel New Hampshire. It was good. It was good because I enjoyed reading it. And I read it quickly.)
There are two parts that were interesting because they reminded me of myself:
1. "I suppose he was a workman who has got on," she said. "You mustn't mind people so much. They're not being disagreeable to you---it's their way. You always think people are meaning things for you. But they don't."
2. Poor Fanny was morbidly sensitive, always imagining insults.
I've been a bit neurotic lately. Too much.
And I haven't really been expressing these feelings to many people because most of the people are too chill/mellow to relate.
But I prefer that because that's better than being around a bunch of OTHER neurotic people.
I'd rather be around people who are going to keep me grounded.
Some of this book's characters are just reminding me of myself a bit, though---in regards to how I can instantly just hate somebody, even though I don't REALLY hate them. (The author writes that a lot in the book---about how they'll hate someone instantly.)
Like... someone can be around me, talking and I'll just want them gone forever.
Or they can look at me a certain way while I'm talking to them...
I don't know what my deal is.
Maybe I'm on my period.
Here, listen to this song:
The Slits are one of my favorite bands.
P.S.
I don't know what happened to my left hand's knuckles.
The hair is all poke-y (pokey? poky? sp?) like I shaved it or something. Maybe I accidentally burned it off or something while lighting something. Who knows.
It DOES sorta feel good.
P.P.S.
I'm excited about this summer because Ben J. is going to work for RuffeoHeartsLil'Snotty and I.
We're going to share him.
Ben's good with patternmaking and things like that. They'll need him for that, I think.
I need him because he's awesome. And he's my very good friend.
I'm never really proud of myself for things I do and have done.
But I've been proud of myself the past week---in regards to screenprinting, that is.
I'm finally getting the hang of it. And that makes me happy because I'm no longer afraid of it.
(Yeah, yeah, I was always afraid of it because I was afraid I'd eff something up and it'd end up costing me.)
These are the newest prints I did last night and today.
I think it's neat how I'm now able to transfer drawings and doodles and such onto clothing. I mean, I COULD before---but never as much as I wanted to. I can only do so much with appliqué. (Not that I don't love appliqué. I think it's boss.)
I always get asked to do womens clothing.
But I just don't feel comfortable doing womens clothing.
Two reasons:
1. I'm not a woman, nor do I wear womens clothing. So, I'm not familiar/comfortable with what women wear, really. (I mean, I KNOW... but I am more familiar with what guys wear. Sometimes women wear some weird things...)
2. There are already too many awesome designers that make womens clothing, especially in the DIY department. I can't really think of many cool designers out there for guys in terms of clothing. Or any...
(And I'm not saying I'm an awesome/cool designer or anything. I'm just saying.)
But maybe I just don't know anything.
I'm pretty oblivious to many things.
I sorta pick and choose what I want to know about.
But if there WERE some cool things out there for guys then I'd already know about it because I already know what's cool. (Joke.)
I'm a t-shirt and jeans kinda guy. I can't stress this enough.
I'm not fancy. I have no suit. I have no nice shoes. (And out of the shoes I do own, all of them have holes in them.)
And I only have about five t-shirts, too.
I never make anything for myself anymore. Not since C.Lit.
In other news, my trusty notebook (the one I write down all ideas and notes and memos and etc. in) has been filled up.
I wrote its lifespan (February 2008-April 20, 2008) on the front cover. Kinda like a tombstone or something.
(Forgot the date I bought it.)
I started a new one, though. This one is small (which is good) and handmade.
(Thanks, Scott!)
I gave one to Sarah J. because she needed a planner.
The one she bought got lost in the mail. =(
Bummer.
I took the weekend off sorta.
But I missed you.
The other night I had a dream that I met Kathleen Hanna (again) but this time she kept trying to give me her number. Well, she kept toying with the idea (and toying with me) of giving me her number. And it went on like that all evening.
We had gotten margaritas and Mexican food. (But I sorta wanna say that instead of a dinner table, we were just in a hot tub.)
Way tropical.
And then last night I had a dream that a couple of you IM'ed me on AIM, but I ignored you all because I was trying to fuck with something on the internet.
YOU, Ashley C., kept IM'ing me repeatedly with the question: "Hey, wanna play Photoshop?"
I don't know what that was supposed to mean.
But I was busy.
And the idea of playing Photoshop didn't sound very appealing to me.
I hate editing photos, too.
I look all scraggly and tired today:
That "Valie Export" is a shirt I made today using some fabric Ben J. gave me the other day.
I've gotten QUITE the collection of beer bottles in my little "room" at my apartment.
It's like the summer of 2006 revisited.
Here was the breakfast menu today:
SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
4.17.08
Before you print, you should tape your screen...
