mizarchivist

(C&P from Facebook with several additions and edits)
Some of you may find this relevant to your own posting experience. Some of you may find this educational. I hope to spark thoughtful debate. OK, here we go:

If I post a picture of something that I have made with my own hands, particularly if I call out the degree of "I made this from scratch," please take extra care before you hit the comment button.

• Is your comment relevant to the obvious reason for posting?


• Are you someone who is familiar with what goes into this activity?


• Are we super-duper close friends where you have a good idea that your jokey comment will be heard in the way you meant it?


• Are you following Wheaton's Law?

... I realize I could have just started with the final ticky box and it sort of covers it all, but bear with me.

The context to this is that there has been a trend where one or more of those ticky box answers was "no" within my comment stream to my posts in Facebook. And given how much energy I've expended just today thinking about this, I felt it worth saying using my Out Loud Voice.
Historical context about why I'd go on about this... ( Read more... )Hey, look... this turned into a conversation about consent! Yaaai!
Very specific not-on FB context: ( Read more... )
Anyway. TL;DR: Please show some etiquette. I'm rewriting my default. I will not sit idly by if there's a lot of static on future posts. I will try to do so with thoughtfulness, which is all I want out of this in the first place.

I looked back and realize that my last post was me heading to the Occupy Boston rally last Thursday, which feels like yesterday and a million years ago already. It was a fantastic experience. I'm glad I went. Everyone was polite and peaceful. The police were watchful but very hands off. I got to meet the head cheese of the New England Carpenter's (etc)., as well as one of QE's primary mentors, the head of the apprentices program (Tom). Crime Fighter was a camera magnet. I didn't see anyone quite so young in attendance. I happened to run into my UU, also from Ohio, friend Ethan, which was lovely.

We got to be the focus of a trolling on FB with the themes of unplanned pregnancy, poorness, and child endangerment. Never mind the bits where all 3 points of contention were 100% false. It was gratifying to have everyone else in the thread jump to our defense. The more important part to take away from it is getting to go down there with him, as it's for Crime Fighter and his generation. We have a hard time now, but without a fight, his future will be dramatically harder.

 quiet_elegance and a crew of apprentices drove down in time to participate in the AFL-CIO rally. I could not have been more proud to see him all kitted out in hard hat with all its stickers on it. And I was able to see him in his element, with his guys and his mentor and while Crime Fighter is too young to remember, we'll have photographic evidence to show him later:


Our Christmas card picture? Probably.

I have the notion of taking Dad down there when he's here next/following week.  We are the 99%. 

Right. So, my dad will be here from 10/24-11/4. Why? Seemed a good notion, as Matt will be in Vegas for training until the 5th- that's about 2 weeks. I don't recall if I've mentioned this already, or a few times, but this is really important. The ultimate goal is to get QE to full time instructor asap. Lots of good reasons to get this rolling. Specifically:( Exposition )
It does mean a year+ of leading a very complicated life. I don't love the idea of him traveling so much, but it will be worth it. And with that... I think I may have convinced myself. How about you?

Less than a week now until Stitches Needles n' Guns. I spent most of my last craft days working on skull & crossbones medallions that can be finished to magnets, pins, or pendants. Some homework on Derby team colors may have some positive returns. Also, I remembered, oh yeah. Valentine's Day, so did 2 more (total of 3 now) heart shapes that once held Mrs. Fields chocolates (oh, like 4 total?)-- if anyone has access to those in the days to come, let me know.  I used up most of what I had for this show. Also, the Altoids Smalls are new enough I have very few of them to begin with.
I had enough forethought to dedicate any free time today to actual show prep- pulling everything up, packaging, labeling. I had forgotten how frickin' cute my little winged dust-catchers are. I'm basically bringing everything and hoping for the best. Not that I'm putting everything out at once, I don't think. Clutter = bad. It would be really cool if I could go to one more craft fair and yet manage not to do any new product for the hypothetical future one. I ... have a LOT of stuff.  I have plans to have a sale/clearance bin that may entice. The medallions at least are Etsy-worthy. Once this is over, I'll put up listings.
I'm just afraid that after all this work, I won't sell much at all. I don't think I have a concrete goal or anything. The only reasonable one I have at the second is to give away all my cards at least (I need to get new ones made that list my Facebook page). The Arisia success could be an indicator, or just false hope generator.
And just like me, I've already picked out my outfit for vending. I will definitely do my best to take some pictures for posterity.

Don't suppose anyone's planning on going to the show? It wouldn't suck to see a familiar face or two.

I landed back in Boston mid-afternoon, right before the snow started. purple_terror had already decided to make pot roast and aligot, which really is the only antidote for snow coming a full month early. My new slippers from LL Bean arrived, so I'm making sure they work. They mostly do except for the too big part. This is correctable what with a local store nearby.

So, the weekend. I need to stay with Dale more on future visits, as it was really quite lovely to see him and geek with both him and Lou over food and cider.  D. took me to Coventry on the way back to Mom's- a stop at Passport to Peru yielded a nifty hat and some incense, but more importantly, a great moment with the owners. The short version is, they are interested in my clay/tins. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but if it works out, they'd buy some from me directly. Iknowright? Totally awesome.

Mom was keen on seeing Where the Wild Things Are, so we went on Friday evening. It was quite amazing, although I'm still thinking about it and deciding exactly how much I liked it. The monsters were a blank slate when in book form, so the personalities they took on for the film were... well, not what I was expecting, I guess. Still- I didn't feel like they ruined another bit of my youth. The 'rents and I had Brennan's fish, which was followed by a visit to Amy's to see my nieces and hang out. I hadn't seen them much over the past few years, so a needful visit.

It seems inevitable I get caught in a nostalgic vortex for some portion a trip home. The current one centered around a box of old school stuff I found on Friday night 'pon my return. It included several dozen notes- still folded into squares, for the most part, as we did. They dated from about 8th-11th grade, but mostly from 8th. Mostly from old boyfriends, but interspersed with ones from friends. Almost all of them on the topic of crush-objects, was so-n-so mad at someone else, and other Machiavellian machinations that only 13-15 year-olds can muster. It was quite a portal. I walked away from it grinning ruefully and relieved that I feel So. Much. Better now. I have grown a sense of humor, an actual functioning epidermis, and have found some zen.

Saturday- Mom and I visited with Vi (used to work for my grandparents) in her new apartment. I was glad for that, as it's not part of my normal routine. Amy came to pick me up for the reunion- a sushi dinner which was... meh? But the company always good. The actual reunion... about what you'd expect, especially considering the graduating class was over 900. about 85-95% of the people who attended were not friends or even recognizalbe. Not as many who I had hoped would be there materialized, but I was pleased with the interactions I did have.  Facebook shows evidence in the Doing Stuff album. The venue was a sports bar owned by one of our classmates (whom I don't think I saw, but his kids were sick, so he may not have even been there). I... don't go to bars to socialize. And not townie sports bars, which seem to attract idjits who just want to get smashed and resemble overgown teenagers who are living a Bruce Springsteen song. I was once again startled by too high expectation re: a classmate whom I've known for... 30 years. When describing something re: our past shared history, he referred to the event as gay. It was just so gay. He hated how gay it was and he was miserable with ... yeah. you get the idea. This from a  well-educated, but clearly not enlightened soul. My reaction besides horror: time to go home.

...which I now am. So, good visit, but after 2 weekends in a row of travel, I'm ready to be here for a while.

My garden is quite amazing. I've been a bad plant parent to this current season and not documenting with pictures hardly at all. So not surprised. If ever I have 2 kids, there probably won't be any pictures of the second. OK, maybe not. But it feels like that ;)  I'm waiting for the broccoli to start showing signs of florets, though. Hmph! But the beans are totally nuts and climbing anything that stands still long enough to get caught in their tendrils (eee!)- They've got flowers now in parts, so edibles to arrive sooner than later. My Topsy Turvey (TM) is now out along with the homemade one- a drywall mud bucket with holes in the bottom - well, the plant is getting scary big. The "official" one was just planted on Saturday outside so it hasn't taken off. What I found so cool was that it almost immediately started to grow towards the sun. Plants are bendy!  Oh, and the red leaf lettuce has loved this rain so much. And there are too many bunnies in my neighborhood. Every time I see one near my garden I yell in a grumpy mom voice, but in the exasperated I still love you way.

lifecollage  invited me over for dinner last night, which was as excellent as I expected. Holy crap, is their veggie farm share huuge. I don't think I could handle that much all in one week. Especially since I don't have a chest freezer like she does (I totally would if our *&^%$ house's electricity in the basement could withstand the juice it would require. Trust me. It can't.) I need to see if I can recount a conversation we had about interacting with those who've survived a geek childhood and have the scars to prove it- the bit in question was about why it can be so damn hard to get proactive conversations/actions from these very lovely people. Anyway- I know I'm not up to the task of the recounting and pondering at this point, but I want to so this is the bookmark for later.

I got home in time to watch week 2 of Dancing. I think last week was a bit stronger (the whole first week adrenaline), but I'm ever so pleased to see choreographers back, particularly Shane Sparks. Yay, the dancing!

So, I'm going to Wisconsin for work in a week and a few days. For one reason and another, I need to get a pedicure before I return home, and I managed to find a relatively close salon and got the appointment. I love the interwebs! Thank you Google Maps. I'm fixated on trying a gothy French manicure style: black with white tips. How very Druscilla, eh? 

This weekend's plans are going to be awesome, I think. If all goes according to plan, I'll have sushi with quiet_elegance  on Friday. Until I started going to Teppenyaki with him and sitting at the sushi bar, I thought their fare was pretty ho-hum. Now I love it. But really, it's all about spending time with q_e- getting out of the usal distractions of being in the house. /schmoop. And Saturday is going to be non-stop. As always: diner for breakfast with purple_terror  with the requisite snark given and taken from our favorite waitress, Grammy. Then the long anticipated pool party. Looking at the weather makes me a bit sad, though, as it looks to be a bit chilly and almost certainly damp. Meh. I depend on the finer weather to keep me in what is otherwise a seething horde of humanity. Dinna want to be stuck inside! Let's hope things change because I want to see the spinning. And I want to see weegoddess  and everyone else, but especially our Actual Size redhead. The end of the evening will be at the charity screening of Serenity at Coolidge Corner: Can't Stop the Serenity- all proceeds go to Equality Now. They're starting the screening this year with Dr. Horrible, so bonus. Since it's a midnight screening, I suspect I'll be doing a whole lot of nothing on
Sunday.

ETA:
Oh! And I almost forgot that I have to thank jasra  (again) for pointing me towards greasemonkey for Firefox and facebook purity. I had been spending a lot of time being irritated with otherwise lovely people who kept spamming me with their effing quiz results and application crap. So. Don't. Care. That add-on blocks all that. Thank you, internet gods for this! I'm clearly not the only one spending more time on FB (and probably Twitter, which I still only stalk via RSS) because when once not that long ago I'd have to page back quite a bit to catch up after being gone for many hours/ a day, I sort of don't have to, however I really do with FB. Well, hey. FB for the mini posts, LJ for the more thoughtful commentary. I hope!