That’s right – I’m just now recovered enough from the holidays to creep from my hidey hole, venturing back into Internet-lands to officially post, “Helllloooooo 2011!!!” There’s too much to recap since last time I posted (November was it? Or early December? Ugh…)
So let’s just have the photo collage from the last couple months speak for me! Enjoy…
A ton has happened since my last post! I flew to CO for Thanksgiving week and saw my family of friends and my friendly family in Denver and Colorado Springs. I drove back to San Francisco with my Dad, the truck, and all of my stuff that had been sitting in storage for the last 2 years and am still working at fitting it all in my SF apartment. The local high school dance department where I’ve been helping out with costumes had it’s winter concert last weekend, my roommate also performed in a dance performance last weekend, and oh yeah, I’ve been working a ton, too!
Happily, this week, I’ve finally had a chance to breath, take stock, and do important things like buy groceries, cut my hair, do my nails, and write some haikus!
Please be enjoying:
For Friends
Denver chill and scones,
Your familiar smile warm;
7-11
For Family
Thanksgiving for four -
My mother wants it perfect -
Our love is perfect.
For Girl Time
Oh, the Citadel.
Nothing has changed since high school!
Thanks for the new bras.
For Boyfriend
Between 2 places:
“Home” can be more than 1 place;
“Home” is where you are.
For Travel
4 states + my things!
How did we fit it all in?
A long desert drive.
For Dance
Hard working dancers -
Passion & inspiration -
How can I thank you?
I am grateful.
a yesterday
my first open mic
performance in SF:
Viracocha wordparty
treasures abound in this
dragon’s underground lair
friends and family
bound by poetry
and this city
rollin’ rollin’
runnin’ runnin’
by bus
by bike
searchin’ searchin’
for
balance
bizarre day, really
string of events
threads of coincidence
experimental life
lookin’
leapin’
how do I put it all together?
how do I make my ends
meet?
my spirals intertwine?
my passions unite?
not unravel?
how to be a
successful
focused
Renaissance
woman?
what’s it all mean?
cake and bass
sea cats and beer
typewriter jazz
deep breaths
laughter
talk
words
words
and
quiet
good night!
A week later, I’m finally recovered enough to do this post…
Last week, my BFF from CO and DIY/zinester counterpart, MQ, came out to San Francisco. We had a lovely time eating various forms of deliciousness in the Mission, shopping on Valencia, going to the beach (It’s a big deal to girls from Colorado!), hanging out in the Haight, and of course, assembling our zines and other materials for the 2010 SF Zine Fest.
I really think this year was our best festival ever. We featured 3 artists from CO: MQ, Adan Delagara, and Kelly of shortandqueer. From CA we had myself and KokoroKara. We had the most cohesive table display we’ve ever assembled, we sold more than ever before, and we had nothing but positive experiences and interactions with other exhibitors and attendees all weekend. Utterly fantastic. Lots of friends came to support and check out the festival. And of course, I walked away with a huge stack of zines and art that will keep me busy for many weeks.
I’m really proud of my and MQ’s new zines. I created a collection of 10 years of my poetry titled “Pop Tarts and Really Good Beer” and my first comic zine, “The Adventures of Kitty & Monkey.” Both will be on sale on my Etsy shop in the next week. MQ’s new zine, “The People We Might Be” featured 3 new essays that connect to mysterious photos from her grandmother’s collection. MQ is an amazing writer and as usual, I was moved by her essays. My favorite was definitely the one about her boyfriend and his gun collection!
What did we learn this year at the Zine Fest?
Finances: We did a lot better this year managing our finances and keeping track of our inventory (I’m happy to report that everyone got paid!) but next year I’d like to have an actual cash box that can lock. That would help soooo much – no more digging around in envelopes for change!
Pricing: I really struggle with knowing how to price my stuff. I’ve been dealing with this on Etsy, as well. MQ and I discussed this a lot – how do you balance the hours you put in both designing and creating, the materials you use, and predicting what people will actually pay for something? I think my break through moment with this was when MQ put it simply – “Is this in my budget range? Would I be able to buy this?” Instead of pricing for some phantom “rich folks,” I should just price for someone like me and make my work affordable and accessible.
Self-promo: I’m really bad at talking up my own stuff, but great at promoting my friends’! Why is this? MQ agreed – so we’d talk up each others’ work a ton AND try to be better about promoting our own stuff.
Customers: I took note of what people were drawn to on our table. Bold lines and colors are an obvious choice, but it was interesting how people automatically went for the zine with the thick, touchable, textured paper. Materials really do make a difference.
Above all, I don’t know what I’d do without MQ! A table buddy makes life so much easier. You have someone to talk to when there’s a lag or when exhaustion sets in, someone to double check the inventory while you chat up customers, someone to watch the table if you need a break, and one of you can go get coffee/lunch/walk around the festival!
We declared this year’s SFZF a total success and we can’t wait for next year! MQ’s visit made me ridiculously happy and I can’t wait to see her again soon.
Right now I’m focusing on my Etsy inventory and catching up on projects. Onwards and upwards, friends!
And lastly, the tip of the iceberg…
Some favorite folks we ran into!
Some new favorites!
There were so many more… Yay Zine Fest!
My DIY counterpart, MQ, and I were featured in the SF ZineFest’s Creator Q+A blog back on August 20th!
At the time, neither one of us noticed… LOL
I finished inking my comic today. MQ will be in SF next week! The Zine Fest fast approacheth…
A REAL SF Weekend
started on
my Thursday:
ink stains
darken
my pillow flesh
my writing callous
but
late afternoon sun
illuminates red
produce glows
lights up locals
then
in the Kitchen
bike grease
darkens
my manicure
what was the point?
love being both
quiet evenings
raucous afternoons
awake at
3 AM, 5 AM, sunrise
washing day:
shrouded in chill
day of the sun:
aptly named
a blaze on my skin
Dolores
soak it up:
good food + good friends
good food + good friends
good food + good friends
Earlier this week, my friends KokoraKara, Ms. Dyer (aka SeaCats) and I planned a craft night. I elected to host and we all agreed that there MUST be tasty snacks! But what to make? KokoraKara is vegan, and she had found a recipe that claimed to replicate the ever delicious Lara Bars. This amazing recipe from Enlightened Cooking, in fact!
I set out to attempt the basic bar.
However, because I was making for 3 hungry craft ladies, I increased my proportions. This is what I ended up using and doing:
Homemade Raw/Vegan/Sweet Tasty Snacks
1 Cup roughly chopped dates
1 Cup mixed raisins & dried cranberries
1/4 Cup whole raw almonds
1/8 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
Because my kitchen doesn’t have a food processor, I used our blender. I chopped the dates up as much as I could before putting them in. Chopping the raisins+cranberries seemed too troublesome, so they just went straight in.
Ok, now I’m positive that this recipe is easy breezy with a food processor. Using a blender works, but it takes a lot of muscle and ends up being extremely messy! I had to keep packing/mixing/mashing/scooping out goop to help the blender do its thing. It worked eventually, but it’s never a good sign when your roomie comes in and pours you a sympathy beer just because he’s been hearing you curse for an hour! Much appreciated, but still…
In the end, I had some lovely brown goop that was delicious when I licked it off my fingers. Dried fruits (especially dates) truly are nature’s candy! I decided to let the blender rest and hand chopped the raw almonds as finely as I could. I added those and the cinnamon and dove back in to get my hands sticky mixing everything up. You really have to use your hands. I cannot see how a spoon would ever work with the density of the goop!
I decided that instead of bars, I would make little round treats instead. I rolled them using my hands and placed them in a ziplock bag. The amount of ingredients I used resulted in 14 mini Lara “balls” I stuck them in the fridge for about an hour.
They were extremely tasty, deemed a rousing success by the ladies, gave us energy to craft well into the night, and were worth the effort! I’m not sure when I’ll try it again, because again I say, a food processor is a must! Phew…
Yesterday morning I was looking through my roommate’s cook books looking for a good recipe to improve upon a classic I make all the time: pasta + sauce. Feeling inspired, I made an early morning bike trip to my favorite little market on Valencia & 24th to pick up a couple things. I ended up getting sweet little tomatoes and a huge bunch of basil. I realized there was no way I was going to use all the basil, so I mentioned it to my “master chef” roomie M, just in case he would have a use for it. He suggested making pesto, which I thought was pretty brilliant.
Midday, a burrito attack waylaid my desire for pasta, but I still wanted to make the pesto. I thought a little pesto and bread would be just right for late night dinner. And then M came up with another brilliant idea – “Want to learn how to make mojitos?”
WOULD I?!*
So M taught me how to pesto and mojitos and I documented the recipes and the process for posterity (which basically means I made him do all the work).
One disclaimer: Our measurements were all eye-balled and based on “what looks right” and more importantly, “what tastes right,” so they may not be completely accurate. That being said, here we go!
Rule of Thumb: The freshest, best, high quality ingredients = the best food & drinks!
Pesto:
5 cloves of garlic
1/2-3/4 cup of pine nuts (we had to improvise with raw almonds that we chopped and roasted and actually gave the pesto a really nice flavor)
3/4 bunch of basil (about 6 stems) – remove leaves from stems & toss stems
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of olive oil
* Add everything to a blender/food processor and mix until creamy. M likes his pesto with a punch (i.e. lots of garlic). If you need to mellow it out, add more cheese.
I toasted French baguette with a little butter and we spread the pesto on. We also dipped the bread in balsamic vinegar and olive oil with a little pepper and ate a lot of those little tomatoes on the side. Deliciousness!
Mojitos:
3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
4 tsps of sweetener (recommended: sucanat/evaporated cane juice/raw cane sugar)
2 shots per person of rum
1 really juicy lime per person (or 2 not-so-juicy limes)
Lots o’ ice
The secret ingredient: Italian soda lemonade!
* Using a muddler (or your closest equivalent) and a shaker tin, muddle together the mint and sweetener, making sure to get all the sweetener off the sides of the tin and infused with the mint. Add the rum to the mixture. Squeeze the limes into the glasses and add lots o’ ice. Pour the sweet mint rum mix over the ice. Top off with the Italian soda lemonade. Add more mint leaves for garnish/flavor, as you like. YUUUUUM!
*Mojitos are my favorite drink EVER.
Random Things I learned:
~ If using high heat, avoid using non stick pans
Next Adventure:
Basil Mojitos?!
I didn’t quite understand this comic by my friend Amy until today.
I woke up emotional and exhausted. Lately, I’ve been having these nights where I sleep deeply, but I have these crazy dreams that are so intense I wake up feeling like I’ve run a marathon. My brain isn’t resting even when it’s supposed to! Last night was vampires + ice skating + university graduation… WTF? Less amusing, my lower back and hips have been hurting a lot again in the last week. Towards the end of the day I’ll start feeling really sore and tight and then by the time I lie down, it’s painful.
Of course, all of this whining is following a really good Monday yesterday, when I got a TON done, saw friends, got ear acupuncture, so I feel bad for complaining.
Anyway, I went to my chiropractic appointment and almost burst into tears describing my chiropractor how my back and legs were feeling. Luckily, I have the BEST CHIROPRACTOR IN THE WORLD, and he really helped me talk it out, calmed me down, adjusted my spine and my soul, and sent me back into the world feeling so much better.
He reminded me that when I started treatments with him, I was injured and overly emotional about that. I’ve been doing so much better the last couple months really allowing myself to rest, which is hard for a dancer/athlete, but I AM healing. But now I’m on the other end of the spectrum – I’m going through a lot of changes which is emotionally difficult and now my body is reacting to that, asking me to continue to take it easy and be kind to myself. Why is that always the hardest thing to do? Why do I always run myself ragged?
When I got back from my appointment, my new roomie, M, asked me if I wanted to go get a torta with him down on 24th. It was a really simple gesture, but today, it meant a lot. And it was my first torta in the Mission and it was AMAZING. I definitely want to try all the torta places near our place now! Which means I will get increasingly chubby, but it will be sooooooo worth it…
Also, I picked up some flowers for the apartment, to brighten our kitchen. I’ve been missing sunny Colorado a lot these days, and sunflowers always remind me of Bear Creek Canyon in late summer/early fall, bright against that brilliant CO sky…
Maybe the CO vibe somehow inspired my CO BFF to contact me today… a long chat with the MQ is always a life saver!
Lastly, I’m quite pleased with how a new project is turning out… more to come, but here’s a little preview pic…
Now if only I could escape to a nearby mountain for a good hike, I would feel right as rain… hopefully soon! But until then, I really am grateful for the good people I have in my life.
There are several projects I’ve completed over the last couple months that I’d like to showcase. So I’ve decided to write about one every day for the rest of the week until they’re all up. This is the last one!
At Currents, my coworker friends and I would always talk about products we wanted to make. They had or were discovering their niches. I was realizing how much I love sewing and working with fabric. I really love the big scarf look (to the extreme!) – all that fabric, texture, and color, surrounding a person. I decided I wanted to try and make fabric accessories based on that idea.
I’ve always been hesitant about making art “for sale” and wondered how professional artists balance the ideas they want to create with making art that sells.
So I chose a path I’ve naturally chosen in the path – making art a gift. My friend MB’s birthday was coming up (in April), so I decided to make my first trial fabric accessory piece for her. I made a mock up version out of muslin to kind of figure out the ins and outs of the look I wanted. I was going for full and fancy! I think of this bracelet as the mama of the ones I’ve made since. And it still holds a lot of inspiration for me. Lately, I’ve been leaning more towards simpler, and smaller, bracelets, but I think there’s still a lot of richness for me in the “full and fancy” that I should delve into.
Anyway, I’ll let the product speak for itself:
For more fabric cuff bracelets I’ve made, please check out my Etsy shop!
P.S. In making things “for sale,” I’ve been able to find an answer to my question. I realized that the only distinction for me when making art “for me” vs. “for sale” is simply a feeling that what I’m making is FOR SOMEONE – an individual. Who they are, I don’t know, but they’re out there and this is for them. And from research that I’ve done and other artists I’ve talked to, what I know now is that I should continue listening to my art, my heart, and making what I love, what calls to me, what I’m passionate about – and people will naturally be drawn to that, and want that in their lives as well. It’s useless trying to gear towards and guess what you think people will buy. If I make high quality art that I love, others will love it too.
Yes!
