Just passing by...

This is one of those cheezy "I'm posting just so I can say I posted" posts, as cooking dinner took longer than I expected and now it's almost time for gaming.

Not too much to post about anyway, as I spent most of the day running errands and playing video games. I did pick up the latest issue of Beadwork, but I haven't had time to read it yet.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

This is my full report on the Tahoe Mountain Bead Retreat, sans pictures because I don't feel like tearing my suitcase apart to find the USB cord for my camera. I'm going to break it down into The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, as stated above, and I'm going to be perfectly honest, which may not win me some friends, but I think that the bad is just as important as the good, because people should be informed of what to expect if they're in the market to go to a retreat.

The Good

-All of our teachers and classes were great. I already knew that Beki Haley was a good teacher, as I'd taken a class from her at the Vegas Retreat and used several of her on-line tutorials. I also expected to enjoy Sherry Serafini's class, because she's one of my bead idols and the book that she co-authored with Heidi Kumli really helped me become proficient with bead embroidery. I was less familiar with Marcia deCoster, but I found that she was a great, fun teacher as well. I made decent progress on all three of my projects and am looking forward to finishing them.

-Sherry gets extra props because she gave everyone a Halloween goodie bag with mini candy bars, silly rubber toys (I got a spider ring!), crystals and cabs. We teased the other teachers about it all week. "Well, SHERRI gave us chocolate!" I don't think they appreciated that much ;)

-The free classes on Thursday were fun, although far less challenging. I enjoyed the opportunity to play with some new techniques and materials, and everyone who was teaching or helping did a good job.

-Laura Timmons was just plain awesome. Fun, friendly, generous, and quick with a compliment.

-The hospitality suite was well-stocked with tea, soda, cookies, fresh fruit, and other refreshments that I'm less familiar with because I didn't partake of them.

-The other hospitality suite was a full-service Out on a Whim bead booth, stocked with all sorts of wonderful goodies for sale throughout the retreat. You could either purchase things right away, or have a tray that you threw things into until you were ready to check out.

-When lunch ran crazy-late one day, the Bead Unique staff delivered our afternoon fresh-baked cookies directly to our class rooms, so we didn't have to stop beading to run downstairs to the hospitality suite.

-Bead Unique editor Pamela Hawkins sat with various members of my group several times to discuss what we did and didn't like about the retreat and what we might like to see at future retreats.

-Food in the Village was mostly delcious, service was friendly at all restaurants, and the little shops were cute and also well-staffed by smiling, helpful people.

-The swag bags and raffles were full of great stuff.

-Beki made sure that all of us wild and crazy gals from my home bead forum were together in the same class, and that everyone else in our class could handle us when we got raunchy. It was so great to spend 3-4 days with old and new friends.

-Rooming with my friend Maia, who I've known for almost 10 years but only met in person twice before now, was perfect. We both had the same low tolerance for cold, love tea, and were happy to spend our evenings talking with each other or calling/IMing home.

-The room was pretty good, other than the over-zealous heating. We had a full-sized kitchen, a super-deep tub and high pressure shower, a fireplace, and my couch bed was very comfy. The view from the balcony was great, though I didn't spend more than a few minutes on it due to the temperature.

-Dancing for friends and strangers, in a mostly spur-of-the-moment way, in a costume cobbled out of things I'd brought, with a borrowed stereo, and not losing my lunch due to stage fright.

-Generous beaders gave me rides to and from the airport, so I didn't have to pay for an expensive shuttle.

-Sherry and I were on the same flight out of Reno, and my new friend Jamie was leaving at the same time on a different carrier, so we all shared a fun farewell lunch at the airport. It was so much nicer than eating by myself!

The Bad

-After being asked repeatedly what we needed to bring, Bead Unique told us that we didn't need to bring anything, everything we needed would be provided in our kits, we just needed scissors for Thursday's class. While everything we needed was in fact provided for the free Thursday classes, we arrived at Sherri's class Friday to be told that of course she didn't provide needles and thread, because everyone had their own preference. Marcia told us the same thing on Saturday. Beki was the only one who included needles and thread. I was lucky to be in a class full of beadweavers wiser than me, who had packed their own needles and thread and generously shared with me. I hope the other classes were equally lucky!

-Though the restaurants did their best to handle over 60 hungry beaders in a timely fashion, our lunch hours usually ended up running late. This was especially true when we had Saturday's lunch at Twenty-Two Bistro, which had opened especially for us (they were closed for the off-season). While it seems like a nice idea in concept, in reality, the kitchen staff seemed pretty overwhelmed and it took forever to get our food. One person at my table had been served, finished eating, and left the restaurant long before my lunch arrived.

-Snow. Ok, yes, it was pretty. Yes, everyone was right, the cold temperatures feel warmer at a high altitude than they do in Tucson. But it was still cold, I still wasn't quite appropriately dressed, and I still slipped down icy stairs, banged my knee, and sent my luggage flying everywhere.

-Thursday's Meet the Teachers Dessert Social. Yes, you could in fact briefly meet your teachers as you purchased your kits for the week's classes, but if you wanted to say more than five words to them, you'd be holding up the line of the other 50 beaders behind you who also wanted to buy kits. Then by the time you got out of line, your seat had been stolen.

-Did I mention the over-zealous heater? The hotel had awesome heating provided by hot-water pipes under the floor. This meant that you could step out of the shower onto toasty warm tiles. But despite the fact that we had the thermostat set to 70, it never shut off on Wednesday. I woke up at 5am and found the bathroom floor was almost too hot to walk on, and I was drenched in sweat, so I turned the heat off completely. When Maia got up at 8, she went to turn it off because it was still swelteringly hot in the room! We had to leave the balcony door open all day to let the heat out. For the rest of our stay, we had the heater off, but even the ambient heat of the building was sometimes too much. Oh yes, and all of my chocolate melted on that first day :(

-There was a huge discrepency in the quality of raffle prizes. Some were crazy-nice (worth $100 or more), some were very nice ($50 range), some were pretty nice ($10-20) and some were meh ($1-5). Some people won multiple very nice prizes and others won no prizes at all. One friend of mine who doesn't string won a small package of crimp tubes. Twice. I think it would have been better if it worked life past raffles I'd been in, where you could pick your prize. Maybe the big-ticket prizes could have been raffled seperately, and then all other winners could have their choice of the smaller prizes. Then no one would get a book they already had, or something they couldn't use, wouldn't consume, whatever. Alternatively, really small prizes could have been bundled together into goodie bags.

-We were told that there would be sparkling cider for the non-drinkers at the farewell champagne toast. Now, I think this is relatively important. There are people like me who don't drink because they don't like the taste. There are people who don't drink for moral/religious reasons. And there are people who can't drink for medical reasons. When I asked if there was sparkling cider, I was given a weird look and eventually handed a glass of apple juice from a can, as were the other non-drinkers. Someone else said that it seemed like there was *supposed* to be cider and someone dropped the ball on getting it... but even if that is the case, the correct response is "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't have any. Would you like apple juice instead?" (in which case I would have asked for water, because goodness do I hate plain apple juice) not a strange look.

-Did I mention the snow?

The Ugly

As I mentioned before, Cthuhlu took voter's choice for the "I Don't Think So" Ugly category in the Ugly Contest. After the contest was over, a couple of people tried to take their items, and were told that they weren't done with them yet. Everyone seemed to assume they would get them back at the end of the retreat.

On Sunday, they went around announcing when the farewell toast would be. They also said that they would be photographing the Uglies and getting them back to us. I took that to mean that they were photographing them that afternoon and we could retrieve them after the toast.

After the toast, I was returning to my room to get my evaluation form so I could turn it in, and I realized that they hadn't given Cthulhu back to me, nor had I seen anyone else getting their projects back. When I got back with my form minutes later, everyone had cleared out of the hospitality suite and the Bead Unique/All American Crafts staff were getting ready to tear things down. I could see the box full of uglies sitting right there.

I asked if I could take mine back, and I was told no, they still needed to photograph them. I said... when? Could I get him tomorrow before I left? I was then told that Pamela was taking them back with her and she was going to sleep for the first two days she was home (not that I can blame her on that count, I did far less work than her and I'm wiped out). I pointed out that I had spent *two months* working on mine, it was a major project, and I was not happy with their cavalier attitude as to when he would be returned to me. No one seemed to care.

My anger built up as I walked over to the Pub where a bunch of my friends were gathering for one last dinner together. I told them what happened, and I got a strong chorus of support and people telling me that I did not have to let them take Cthulhu. One friend confided in me that I had every right to feel uncomfortable about it, as they'd had one piece of hers for one year and another for two. So I said OK, I'm going back to get him! My friend Nikki came to be my moral support -- or maybe to make sure I didn't hit anyone ;)

When I got back, Pam was back, and I said "I'm taking my ugly." She said that they were going to take them home and photograph them and eventually mail them back. I pointed out that once again, this was 2 months of my life, my most major project ever, and furthermore, I had not signed anything giving them any rights to take him. I pulled him out of the box and left. She just stared at me and didn't respond.

The next day, several Bead Unique/All American Crafts staffers were also on the same flight as Sherry and I. They walked up to say Hi to us, and one of them (Russel I think) told me that I could have trusted Pam with my project. I said thank you, that's nice, but I did not want him out of my hands for any length of time, nor did I want to chance him being damaged by the USPS.

But the truth is, I was worried about a lot more than USPS damage. I was worried about not getting my project back for a year or more. Possibly never. And do you know why? Cthulhu was in the bottom of the box, under some neck displays, with no packaging. No label to say who he belonged to. He had been seperated from the bag of books I'd given for him to sit on (some trashy 1970s Lovecraft paperbacks). None of the items were labeled or wrapped up. I didn't see anyone taking any note on who he belonged to when I turned him in.

Honestly, after seeing that, I was supposed to expect that he'd arrive home undamaged and in a timely manner? I'd have been lucky to ever see him again.

Now generally, I try very hard to promote a good image to magazine editors, writers, and other staff, in case I ever wanted to submit a project or article. I like to have a good reputation within the bead industry -- and I think I've built a decent little one, through my work with BFAC and as a gem show vendor helper and that crazy girl dancing at the Swarovski party. But on Sunday night, I didn't give one whit whether Bead Unique and All American Crafts thought that I was a primadonna, a bitch, or any other appelation applied to a difficult woman. The fact of the matter is that they were the ones in the wrong, for never telling anyone that the Ugly Project entries would not be returned to their creators at the end of the show. That should have been spelled out from the very beginning.

And if anyone's made it through this entire post, I applaud your patience.

Talking about happier things

If you'd like a small update on the state of my attempts to get my domain back, you can check the comments on my previous post. I'm trying not to dwell on it too much. I don't want this blog to turn into a complete font of negativity. Not when there's cool things to talk about.

The first cool thing is TotusMel's Wunderkammer, a brand new Etsy finds blog that focuses on dark and steamy Etsy finds. No cutesy sparrows or candy-colored plushies here! No, this is a blog that features corsets and long black skirts and other things that appeal to Goths, Steampunks, and those who just like a darker aesthetic. It just started two days ago, but I'm very excited to see it grow. Of course, I'm already a fan of TotusMel's, as I own a pair of cuffs and barefoot sandals from her.

The second cool thing is that, since I was annoyed at the internet (you would not believe the trouble my e-mail has been giving me since last night), I spent most of the day off of the computer. Since I'm also caught up on housework and BFAC duties, this meant I had lots of time to bead. Yeah, beading. That thing I do. Except that I haven't been doing it much lately. It felt great to let hours slide away as I stitched one pair of beads after another, growing my unnaturally teal flower to its full size. Tomorrow: stamen and figuring out how I want to attach it to a hairstick.

The third cool thing is that I picked up the latest issue of Beadwork magazine, and as promised, there is a paragraph about Beading For A Cure on the editor's page! Thank you, awesome BW editors, for squeezing it in there at the last minute! Interweave Press really hires some great people. Which also reminds me, you should check out this week's auctions.

And in mixed news, we've been having a lot of wind here in Tucson, which has been blowing around the blinds in my beadroom, shoving everything off of my desk and onto the floor. It broke the cute bowl that I used to keep my thread in, and spilled beads and junk everywhere. This is just the kick in the butt I needed to finish moving things out of there and start pricing windows, so I can rennovate that room and actually work in it. That's another thing I'll be doing tomorrow -- well, the cleaning and moving, at least. Windows will have to wait until next month.

Because I'm a geek, that's why!

What did I spend my long weekend doing? Mostly playing Guild Wars, working on this huge multi-part quest to get a mini-pet. At this rate, I'll finish the quest right about in time for Guild Wars 2 to come out at the end of the year.

I also read my last issue of SteamPunk Magazine. I don't really agree with all of the viewpoints put forward in their articles, but I really enjoy the how-tos and most of the fiction -- especially the serials. I'm a sucker for serial fiction, I guess it comes from growing up with comic books. Issue #4 also had a great article on the interactions and overlapping between Gothic and Steampunk subcultures. Since I'm sort of Goth, and leaning towards Steampunk, it was very informative and thought-provoking for me. Anyway, now I'm sad because I read all the issues. Chris wants me to read some astrophysics book next. Do I have the only husband in the world who finds reading science nerd books sexy? Probably not, but I'm sure he's in a minority. A really tiny minority.

And another thing is that we finally watched The Mist. My reaction was a resounding "meh." I expected a little more tension, but I never felt suspenseful at all. I have a feeling that it functioned better as a novella (which I've never read, my Stephen King experience is pretty spotty, based on which of his books have been within reach when I've been bored and sick and had nothing else to read). I couldn't help but think, though, that the really large monster near the end moved and sounded a lot like the one in Cloverfield. Maybe they're related.

Tomorrow it's back to lots of packing and cleaning. I'm having a bit of trouble with Guild Wars on this machine, so Chris is going to give me his desktop (he does everything on his laptop now), but that means a lot of desk-rearranging and also transferring of files. Fun.

I'm home, and tired!

Well, I got home early this afternoon, but I was beat, so I mostly dozed around and then we went out for dinner, and then killed time playing video games. Now here I am, finally hitting my blog.

I did all kinds of things while I was dog-sitting. The foremost thing was taking care of the dogs, but they're pretty low-maintenance. So in between walks, feeding, and petting-time, I did some reading, beading, and photography. I finished the Faerie magazine, but only got through two issues of Steampunk. They pack those things full of articles and stories, which makes for lots of good reading. I got a lot of work done on Locked Away, so there should be a post about that tomorrow. And I played around with the macro mode on my camera, so if any of the flower pictures I took turned out, I'll be posting them throughout the week, too.

In the meantime, I'm quite tired, so I'm going to veg out for a bit and then go to sleep.

Lacking a witty title...

The above bracelet is titled "Misty Isle" and is hanging out over in my Etsy shop, waiting for a good home. This is what I was talking about when I said I was going to use the seafoam beads with something else. The tube of seafoam seed beads was sitting next to the flippy box of shadow crystal Swarovskis, and I was struck by how pretty they were together. Hopefully, someone else will agree.

I didn't end up listing anything on Etsy today, because by the time I finished all the other things I was doing, I was feeling kind of beat. I'm used to spending my Saturdays having fun and gaming, but since both of our GMs are in Phoenix for work, I stayed home and got things done. Important things, like advertising, networking on Facebook, and writing BFAC stuff.

Speaking of BFAC stuff, some of the auctions are still sitting at only 24.99. We can't have that happening! Go forth and bid, and be ready to look at next week's auctions tomorrow afternoon! As for myself, I'm not bidding because I'm saving my money for a couple of items that I love and suspect may result in bidding wars.

Last night I started reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, and that's what I'm going to do when I finish blogging over here. I've been warned that not much happens in the book, but so far I'm enjoying the writing and the weird setting. Haven't decided yet how I feel about the characters, I'm only four chapters in. I picked up the book because I saw it on a list of steampunk novels, and I'd already been considering it because I liked Mr. Mieville's short stories that I read.

I've actually been doing a lot of reading over the past two days. The latest issue of Simply Beads arrived in yesterday's mail, and it had cool interviews with Anne Choi and Green Girl Studios. I purchased the latest Bead and Button, and it has some rather neat looking projects in it, though I've found the quality of non-project articles in there to be lacking. I don't like their current trend of having non-beader freelance authors write the beadmaker interviews, because they often spend too much time telling me things I already know. And my other bit of reading material was a book on making broadcollars by Julia Pretl. This book snuck in like a little book ninja... I hadn't seen it advertised or reviewed in any magazines, and this was the first time I'd seen it on a shelf anywhere. It was hiding surreptitiously between two other beading books when my infamous eagle elf eyes spotted it. The copyright is 2007, but I suspect it probably didn't see distribution until the last couple of months. Anyway, the book has great illustrations and lots of cool-looking projects, nicely ordered by difficulty. I'm going to have to invest in a lot of bugle beads, as I've wanted to make a collar for a loooong time.

I think that's all I had to say today. Don't forget to go read my Pay it Forward post and sign up if you'd like something handmade by me!

I shouldn't be here!

It's almost 2pm, so instead of sitting at the computer, I should really be getting ready for gaming. Of course, Chris is still at HIS computer, so it's not like we'll be leaving anytime soon.

I read most of my Faerie magazine last night. They have a really good article on Arthur Rackham. I was already familiar with his art, from the "Fairy Art" book that I bought last year, but this article covered different ground. At one point they were talking about his work and the Art Nouveau movement. There's a picture in there of this bracelet that was designed for an actress playing Cleopatra. It's this snake, all in gold and opals and other gems, with an attached ring and all these chains, and WOW! It treads a fine line between gorgeous and gaudy, and I can't imagine wearing something like that, but it's really beautiful to look at.

Ok, Chris is actually getting ready now. I'd better go change out of my PJs and pack up some beads!

We now return to our regular scheduled programming

After a fun jaunt into the realm of movie reviewing (which is one of my numerous hobbies), I'm back to what you expect from me -- talking about beads and beading.

Today Chris and I went over to the 2-story Barnes and Noble across town. I picked up the latest Beadwork magazine, which has some great techniques in it. I'm glad that they've had more innovative beadweaving in there recently. Don't get me wrong, I love spiral rope, but there's only so many variations I can see published before I'm tired of it.

I also picked up a cool Gothy crafting book that I'll post about in more detail after I've read it. It was a total impulse buy. If I was going to buy any sort of how-to, it probably should have been "Sewing For Dummies" or that new Zulu beadwork book that I've had my eye on, but oh well. Chris talked me into buying that instead.

Chris picked up "The Deep" which is a huge coffee-table type photography book of creepy deep sea critters. He spied it back before his birthday and hinted about wanting it, but I bought him other presents instead. So today I told him he should buy it for himself (in addition to the usual science nerd books that he was picking up). He's sitting there reading it now, and telling me about the various freakish jellyfish contained therein... thus further convincing me that I should stay on the land.

I've been working on some spiral rope bracelets for the Etsy shop. Not sure what I'll put on the website tomorrow. We'll see what I feel like making when I get up.

Hey... it's cold!

The weather finally decided to cool down to acceptable November levels, so of course I'm cold. I mean, I'm happy that it's not unseasonably hot anymore... but I'm COLD! I need to dig out all of those cool-weather clothes that I've been wanting to wear. They're probably buried under the shorts and tanktops that I've been wearing.

The nice thing about cold weather is that we went out and bought hot cocoa and marshmallows today. Ah cocoa, it's been way too long! As soon as I finish blogging it up over here, I'm going to make myself a mug... oh, and one for Chris, too. After all, he did take me to JoAnn's!

Our game today was canceled due to practically everyone having other plans. A bit of a bummer, because I wanted my EarthDawn fix, but what can you do? Unlike some people who also play at our local game store, I do believe that real life comes before gaming, and I don't begrudge any of my friends who had to work, fulfill family obligations, or do homework. I just wish they didn't all have to do it on the same day!

Anyway, deprived of our usual Saturday plans, I decided to make new plans. This involved taking Chris out for a nice Greek lunch and then dragging him off to JoAnn's. The store was crowded, but not unreasonably so. I picked up some bead magazines and holiday presents and such. I wanted more 30mm ornaments for the 2007 Holiday Ornament Give-Away, but they didn't have any. I did get some cute ornaments, but I think they're only 25 or maybe even 20mm.

Bead Unique, Bead and Button, and Beadwork all look good. Lots of things I'd like to try out. Beadwork has their Gem Show 2008 preview already, which tells me that I need to line up employment and start thinking about where I'm going to shop and what I want to buy. Luckily I won't need findings, but I'll need a lot of crystals and focals! I've put quite a dent in both collections this year, and I know I'll use a lot more up before February.

Hot cocoa, here I come!

Chaos 'n' Stuff.

This week hasn't quite gone as it should so far, and it's only Tuesday. Things have been a little off-kilter. As such, I haven't even done any real beading yet. I tried to put together some earrings yesterday, but they didn't quite cooperate. I'll definitely try again tomorrow, if I don't decide that I feel like making something else.

Dragonfly Pond is up on my website now. That's the pretty green-and-brown necklace. You can see the full image there, which also includes a different view of the carved dragonfly bead. Also, I'm happy to say that Princess of Atlantis (the aqua lentil necklace) has already sold, coincidentally, it went to the lady I bought the Bali fish from. It's funny when beads go full-circle like that.

Today I picked up the latest issues of Beadwork and Bead and Button, and I've been browsing through them. There are a lot of things I'd like to try in both magazines, but it may be a while until I get to any of them. There are also some very cool articles on various artists to be read this month. I was happy to see Jeremy Sinkus -- my gem show booth neighbor for the past two years -- featured in Beadwork.

And while I'm talking about guys who make awesome pendants, I'd like to share today's Cool Thing: Electronic Ouroborus! These alchemical designs made from recycled electronic parts really appeal to me. I'd love to incorporate one into a beaded necklace. I'm especially fond of "the dis-armature patterns" which has a very eldritch look to it.

Blogging on my laptop!

Ahhh, this is the life. I'm sitting here with a nice mug of pina colada/peach rooibos tea, typing away on my laptop. The laptop is so nice to use in the winter, it's much like having a cat in my lap, except that there are no sharp claws and it doesn't bite me when I type (my cat Topher likes to attack my fingers when he thinks I should be petting him instead of doing my e-mail).

Today was a pretty good day all around, actually. The weather warmed up and Mom and I went out for lunch and shopping, which we hadn't done since well before the holidays. We hit our favorite thrift store, where I picked up a bit of clothing (some of which I can wear for gem show, yeah!), and then we were off on a quest for Bead Unique! JoAnn's didn't have it, but Mom found some fabric to make herself some nice pants. Michael's didn't have it, but we killed plenty of time browsing. And then, we hit Borders, which actually had it! Hooray!

So are you ready for the big news?!? My BFAC project is on page 66! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I really did not expect to be one of the people featured -- my necklace is nice, sure, but there is some downright phenomenal beadwork done by BFAC contributors! Of course, they also chose some of the very best items to showcase, including Jen Kuhns' beaded baby dragon and egg.

Well anyway, I also picked up an awesome album, covered in sari-style ribbon and little mirrors, and we hit the check out. I was wearing my tribal necklace with the bone crow, and the cashier complemented me on it. When I said my standard "Oh thank you, I made it myself" she seemed impressed, and then Mom did the Mom thing and said "Well, she had to come in and buy the magazine because she's in it!" So the cashier turned to the article and ooh'ed and aah'ed. It was a very nice ego-boosting moment. My real hope is that she'll remember, check the magazine out, and go bid on our auctions when they start ;)

Tonight I started a new necklace for Friday's update, something with a little "Asian Flair" as my friend Deb likes to say. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow at the game, and then Thursday I might make a couple more little things, and then I have a necklace that I need to make to go with something I bought today. Gem show demands cool clothes AND cool jewelry.

Speaking of which, gem show countdown is down to FOUR brief days!

I don't have hardly any bookmarks on the laptop, so for tonight's cool thing you are going to have to settle for the fact that I am in a magazine! Hey! I think it's cool!

Magazine shopping

Today I tried to get a copy of the Spring 2007 Bead Unique so I could read the BFAC article, but JoAnn's didn't have it yet. Instead I had to content myself with the latest Beadwork and Bead and Button magazines. Not quite as cool, but at least I got an evening of reading out of them, and there are a few projects I'll probably do. There are even a couple of chaimaille projects for Chris.

But I want my Bead Unique!!! Hopefully Barnes and Noble will come through for me.

Before it got really cold (that is to say, before the sun went down) I glued down a bunch of cabs. When I want to bead a cab, I don't want to sit around waiting for the glue to dry. It made sense to do half a dozen at once so I have a few projects ready to go. There are two projects worth for website stock and two projects worth for me. Now I've just got to thaw out enough to actually get the work done.

I know I shouldn't complain about the cold in the face of the bad storms that are happening out East, so I'm trying to keep it down. I just wish that I didn't get so sluggish in 50 degree temperatures.

The other thing that I did today was play with my Mohop shoes. I tried out a couple of different types of ribbons and experimented with different ways of tying them and discovered that yes, I can walk in high heels without breaking my ankle. I want to add some bead accents to my ties, of course. If the weather is warm enough, I plan on wearing my shoes with bright green ribbon ties to the Bead Dinner I'm organizing. Bead Dinner and show-and-tell go hand in hand, after all.

I'm going to go make myself dance, which will definitely warm me up once I actually get moving, and then I hope to finish my two spiral bracelets from Saturday. In the meantime, I'll leave you with today's Cool Thing: Table Travesties -- a webcomic by a friend of mine who happens to also be named AJ. There's only one strip up so far, but it is going to be a fantasy/gaming themed comic, and as you can see, AJ (not-me) has some awesome art.

Gem Show Countdown: 12 days!