WARNING: This is yet another Drama Queen/Tanty/Hissy Fit post, guaranteed not to enrich your life or weaving experience. How long can I go on in this state???
I think the universe is conspiring against me. I said that already, did I? OK, then I'm deliberately moving slowly like a five-year-old who's just been asked to pick up his room. I said that, too?
OK, today was the worst day of my life in a wee while. I'll try to be short and sharp because I supposedly quit this whining things a few days ago, but when multiple people and events unwittingly hold you back or get in your way, it doesn't lesson my paranoia, does it! I hate falling in to this defeatist place, but I'm hanging by the skin of my teeth.
Tuesday, after I finished making the reggae warp, I was exhausted I sat on the living room floor. For about seven hours. Then went to bed at 9.30.
Wednesday, Ben had a thing at the hospital, (nothing bad, just a reminder), then we had coffee and scouted Fibre Spectrum one last time. We install in 1.5 days and I haven't even bought dowels. Yip, simple straight-forward dowels with holes it's gonna be. Heck, I haven't even touched the scarves since they came off the loom. The fourth, short, error-ridden one, I decided, has to go in because it's too delicious in terms of my transition, and I've no time to fiddle with the reggae warp before Saturday.
Wednesday afternoon, I had my head down and bum... on the chair working away on the application, When I finally heard back I can have an extension, but perhaps I had already heard from someone else? Well, NO! She had computer problems. Told ya, I believe her, but I knew the permission will come just as I've gathered momentum in finishing it. It'll still save me a few dollars because I can use the regular post, but I've got to do these things when I'm on a roll. I did take a wonderful hour off and worked on the towel exchange, mustn't forget that; it was happy and uplifting! By 1AM, I was pretty happy I had a good draft for the application, too, so I went to bed.
Thursday. I was on a roll and finished the application by 9AM. Had a break, then started on the portfolio. I've never compiled nor even seen an artist's portfolio before, but I had to wing it. I was still planning to get to the copy shop in the afternoon, have these bound and sent off to the North Island.
Out of nowhere Guess Who decided to dismantle my defunct web server, in the middle of our tiny office, spreading bits and parts, including his body parts, all over. He even put something or rather on top of the nice, clean sheets I got out. He even pushed my stuff aside to make room for his, and every time I got up to go to the printer or get more paper, his stuff, including his body parts, was in my way. Well, sorry if I stepped on your toes, but you bloody well knew how much stress I've been under and how today was the last make-or-break day!! So don't give me that attitude when I move your stuff to use the printer!! And I know you're going to read this post so I hope you feel really bad about your behavior today. You're vowed to be my Number One Ally, (I only vowed to fight cleanly,) and though I know you didn't mean to, it didn't help my stress level one bit. You may think I was giving you the silent treatment, but it took all my energy not to burst into tears and try to finish this damn thing so I can mail it, even though I know I'm not gonna get it. Damn, damn, damn!!
I'm OK! Sorry. I'm back.
So it's now 5:30PM and I have compiled a portfolio, if you can call it that. It has descriptions of six of my recent works, photos, and samples I made. I'm loathed to part with my samples, (don't care about finished pieces, but samples are my babies,) and there are 12 of them, so I put my name and contact details at least twice on each of them.
Lessons learned:
1) I kept regurgitating what the nice man at the Employment office told me when we first came to Nelson; 70-80% of job vacancies are filled by the time the advert goes on the paper. I knew it's not productive to dwell on this, and yet I can't help wondering if they've already picked a recipient but need to go through the process for ethical reasons. I could make myself if I stay on this loop, so be happy at least you're finished with it.
2) I don't have decent "portfolio" pics of my work because 99% of the time I'm finishing stuff just in time or behind schedule, and my stuff gets rushed to an exhibition or packed into boxes ASAP. I need descent pics of my work, ergo, I need to finish work a tad earlier.
3) I used the word "knowledge" a lot, and started to replace it with "skills". I think it's indicative that I love to be exposed to new ideas (input), but have a hard time "learning" nd then actually applying them (output). Kind of like when you learn a new word, you have to use it to really know it?? If you don't use the word, it's only half good to you, and there are so many things I know I read up on or used to know, but don't know any more because I don't use them. Something like that.
4) I had hoped to have a couple of practicing artists and a couple of art administrators have a glance at my package before I sent them. Fate intervened this time, but think it still might be good to get constructive criticism because... I mean... the portfolio can only get better for starters.
5) I'm in it so deep now I can't even dig myself out. I'll go to the copy shop and the post office first thing, then Figure Drawing - I could skip it and gain a couple of hours, but I think I need it for my mental health. Then I have only tomorrow afternoon to finish the four scarves, write up a blurb, and think of which piece goes where and if I'm gonig to use two long dowels or if we're going to cut them to length. We'll probably rush to the hardware store first thing Saturday morning and arrive at Fibre Spectrum at 10AM.
Sorry about the drama. Couldn't have done without you, though you could have done without my fit. Now I'm off to clean one knee rug so that can reach Blenheim, by post, by Saturday 5PM. And Ben's not sticking his foot out any more.
2008/10/29
Festive Towel Exchange is Now On
In this day and age when we can buy inexpensive dish/tea towels in discount stores, import shops and even in the supermarkets by the bundles, why bother paying so much more for the yarns and then spending days and weeks designing, warping, weaving, and hemming such a mundane item? Because, like any other cloths, handwoven dish/tea towels is unique and special, and they happen to be far more absorbent and longer-lasting, than store-bought ones.Festive Towel Exchange is a combination of virtual exhibition and an exchange. All participants feast our eyes on the little treasures, then wait eagerly for a small parcel to arrive at their mail/post box. Links and photographs of towels will be added as they arrive, up to early December. Please revisit us to see more of our treasures.
Please follow the links to view the towels.
"Chocolate makes everything better" and "Autumn leaves"
by Geodyne, Cambridgeshire, UK
"Minty Fresh" towel and "Waffle Washes"
by Susan B, New Hampshire, USA
"Björk (Birch)" by KD, Örebro, Sweden
"Chantilly Cream" and "Devonshire Cream"
by Sonya, Christchurch, New Zealand
"Green Christmas Kitchen Towel"
by Crystal, Pennsylvania, USA
And the Not-So-Big Gallery
"A Toast to Blue Skies" and "Rejoice in Red"
by Rose Pelvin, Marlborough, New Zealand
"Festive Butterfly" by Dianne Dudfield, Tauranga, New Zealand
"Pacifica Christmas", "Flora Pacifica" and "Round the World Christmas"
by Meg Nakagawa, Nelson, New Zealand
The Big Gallery Flickr sets for this challenge has been deleted; some of the links were modified.
Towel Exchange Update
Right, Prospective Partici-Pants. (Always wanted to say that since I discovered a show I kind of liked was produced by a company called World Wide Pants; can't remember which show, though.)
No worries if you haven't gotten around to the towels, but I'm really hoping some of you can join me. Pretty please.
Rose Pelvin sent me some preliminary photos, (not for publication, she asks, but I'm just dying to show them to you!!), which got me reviewing how I did SSVE on Flickr, and I remembered something important.
With SSVE, those of you with your own blogs had the choice of posting the pics on your own blogs and sending me your url, or sending me the pics to be posted on my Flickr. So sorry I'd forgotten about that, so I amended the guidelines to include that option. Really, you name your towels, send me your url, the name/s of the towel/s, and your contact; that's all. Oh, please include the number of towel/s (which should match the number of name/s you give me) just in case I can't tell from the photos.
Ben sounds like an automatic reminder now; he's beeping me every seven or so minutes to get cracking on the application, so.... later!
No worries if you haven't gotten around to the towels, but I'm really hoping some of you can join me. Pretty please.
Rose Pelvin sent me some preliminary photos, (not for publication, she asks, but I'm just dying to show them to you!!), which got me reviewing how I did SSVE on Flickr, and I remembered something important.
With SSVE, those of you with your own blogs had the choice of posting the pics on your own blogs and sending me your url, or sending me the pics to be posted on my Flickr. So sorry I'd forgotten about that, so I amended the guidelines to include that option. Really, you name your towels, send me your url, the name/s of the towel/s, and your contact; that's all. Oh, please include the number of towel/s (which should match the number of name/s you give me) just in case I can't tell from the photos.
Ben sounds like an automatic reminder now; he's beeping me every seven or so minutes to get cracking on the application, so.... later!
2008/10/28
Gulp!
When I started thinking about this color combination, it was more theoretical than an immediate plan. I fully intended to incorporate these colors in my warp, eventually, but certainly in a intricate, subtle way. It was a dare to myself.
Then I got a bit excited with the Heian Era look of the booboo scarf yesterday, and after finding out this is the 1000th birthday of The Tale of Gengi, our first known novel, I knew I was meant to weave these regular, shocking stripes, in diamonds. I even did something I never do to make sure.
So promptly first thing this morning, I started making a warp. Each stripe will be appxorimately half an inch wide. Shouldln't have pulled out all the thrums from the previous warp last night. Ouch!
But, but, but... doesn't it look a little too Bob Marley? Ouch! (Gosh, is it me, or is this pic super blurry? And my lovely purple looks so blue...)
Too bad/Lucky there's no time to worry, I'll just warp on. I clipped my fingernails this morning, and that's made it harder to count the warp ends.
And no more Sudoku-until-1AM just because Ben's on holiday this week. Even though it's a good way to unwind, I can't keep my eyes open.
OK, back to the warping board.
Then I got a bit excited with the Heian Era look of the booboo scarf yesterday, and after finding out this is the 1000th birthday of The Tale of Gengi, our first known novel, I knew I was meant to weave these regular, shocking stripes, in diamonds. I even did something I never do to make sure.
So promptly first thing this morning, I started making a warp. Each stripe will be appxorimately half an inch wide. Shouldln't have pulled out all the thrums from the previous warp last night. Ouch!
But, but, but... doesn't it look a little too Bob Marley? Ouch! (Gosh, is it me, or is this pic super blurry? And my lovely purple looks so blue...)Too bad/Lucky there's no time to worry, I'll just warp on. I clipped my fingernails this morning, and that's made it harder to count the warp ends.
And no more Sudoku-until-1AM just because Ben's on holiday this week. Even though it's a good way to unwind, I can't keep my eyes open.
OK, back to the warping board.
2008/10/27
Labour Day Labor
I have three and a half days to 1) weave two more scarves, 2) finish and collate my scholarship application, 3) wash, press and send off a knee rug to Blenheim for a wee guild exhibition, due Saturday, and 4) plan how we'll hang the scarves on Saturday at Fibre Spectrum and get necessary gear at the hardware store.
The fourth scarf was a no-goer. It's finished, alright, but much shorter than the others, and a few mistakes needs mending, because the metal rod I used to attach the warps to the back beam was so far forward it was pressing against Shaft 16, and not all warps lifted sufficiently. In the end I took the pirn out of the shuttle and wove with just that.
Most crucially, something must have happened to the tension while it went around the cloth beam or when I was taking it off. Maybe I was in that semi-conscious "I've got to get this done" mode and didn't see something going wrong. I was composing the exhibition blurb/artist statement in my head, trying to tie Paul Newman to ancient Japanese colors. Anyway...
It's a strange-looking piece. I would have liked to have shown it because it doesn't look like anything else I've done or have recently seen, and called it "Japan, 1008", as The Tale of Genji was supposedly written on that year, and accordingly there have been events and special publications in Japan all year. It looks so ancient to me. I suppose I should get cracking on another warp zingy warp.
The fourth scarf was a no-goer. It's finished, alright, but much shorter than the others, and a few mistakes needs mending, because the metal rod I used to attach the warps to the back beam was so far forward it was pressing against Shaft 16, and not all warps lifted sufficiently. In the end I took the pirn out of the shuttle and wove with just that.
Most crucially, something must have happened to the tension while it went around the cloth beam or when I was taking it off. Maybe I was in that semi-conscious "I've got to get this done" mode and didn't see something going wrong. I was composing the exhibition blurb/artist statement in my head, trying to tie Paul Newman to ancient Japanese colors. Anyway...
It's a strange-looking piece. I would have liked to have shown it because it doesn't look like anything else I've done or have recently seen, and called it "Japan, 1008", as The Tale of Genji was supposedly written on that year, and accordingly there have been events and special publications in Japan all year. It looks so ancient to me. I suppose I should get cracking on another warp zingy warp.
A Little Spousal Support
In Japan, I'd have to apologize profusely for promoting family members and using a quasi-public forum for personal use, and then post this post. This pic by Ben reminded me of indigo shibori cloth; very Japanese-looking to me.
Does Good Weaving Have To Hurt? Part 2: Background
When Peg suggested I was underwhelmed because my new warp didn't look like Randy's, it forced me to try to put into words what I was trying to do and/or what outcome I hoped for. In the first instance, I was indeed underwhelmed because the warp didn't look like Randy's, but not because I wanted to weave bad imitations of Randall Darwall scarves, but because I've been thinking of giving it a go for over two years, and I have been disappointed I hadn't. You bet, I think about it all the time, it's just, "not this warp, eh?" every bloody time.
Further, Randy's scarves, (and many of yours; oh yeah, I click to enlarge your pics, even if I don't read your words!) stand to repeated scrutiny and the viewer can discover new things in a familiar cloth over time. I don't see that in mine; I think mine are more straight forward, and in this context, that's bad, WISIWYG scarves.
That is not to say I shall quit developing what I've vaguely come to think of as my kind of elegant, (bland in the first instance, but they are useful in the context of "outfits".) I like understated scarves, pieces that don't have to be the main event. Eventually, if I stay in this game long enough and try hard enough, I may see my two seemingly disparate directions converge and then it could be my thing. (NOTE:BY NO MEANS AM I SAYING RANDY'S ARE INELEGANT OR UNDERSTATED! But now we're talking about ME!)
Anyway, I was thinking how I've come to be such a color-coward and a lover of monotones and analogous schemes. Mom's preferences aside, I have "history" with colors.
All my life, I thought I had spunk when it came to colors. My art teachers told me I was good with them. (Little did I know they meant I sucked with shapes, proportion and composition.)
I took a correspondence course via the guild in 2000 on basic color theories, which was a hard slog. Jargon confused me, I learned I have a hard time seeing values across hues. Saturation totally threw me, and a couple of times I was told I misunderstood the instructions and asked to redo modules. Once I was told portrait orientation was wrong for the module, when I was trying to emphasize height using values. I should have contacted my course-mates, we were supplied with an email list, I didn't because I didn't know any of them.
If I stuck to using mainly blues in my assignments, I would have at least felt more comfortable and perhaps I might have understood the concepts faster, but because I was determined to try colors I normally wouldn't, (anything between orange-red to green-without-blue on the wheel,) I made life harder for myself.
I came out of the course feeling defeated and stupid. Since then when I heard weavers say they love to work with colors, I instantly dislike and envy them, and scrutinize their work to try to find something wrong. Well, not actually, but you know how I feel when I hear it. It got so bad I couldn't even stand to hear the Kiwi pronunciation of the word "color" which sounds like /kələ/ or /kʌlə/, instead of /ˈkʌlər/. (When the end of the word is shortened by not pronouncing the /r/, even the first syllable is shortened, including the consonant /k/. Trust me, this is what I did at university.) The Kiwi pronunciation lacks emphasis and makes the word short and sharp, it doesn't give sufficient weight to the big concept, and worse, it signifies the speakers' easy and happy relationship with colors and makes a mockery of my sufferings.
In 2002, I took my first design course with Alison, and it was bad enough we had to draw a lot, but in the very last module, we planned a specific piece, and had to determine the color scheme first by determining the values and then assigning hues. Well, I went out of my mind! I kind of cheated and worked forward and backward (deciding on the hues) and connected the two, like digging a tunnel from both ends.
I quit colors altogether and bought yarns I liked and did the best to mix and match. I said I needed to learn to dye, but didn't intended to get into that game any time soon. I wondered if I would ever be like playing with colors again.
I signed up for Randy Darwall's workshop in 2006 only because the name sounded vaguely familiar, having been, I was almost sure, mentioned by Brigit Howitt, a most amazing, inspiring weaver/artist in New Zealand, ever, (but who hasn't got a website,) after her 2002 Convergence trip. Little did I know his thing was colors, and the rest is history.
Last year when I minded Sue's gallery, I made an effort to enjoy colors. It was hard at first, because I didn't want to think about it, but for five hours every week, I was surrounded by her colors, and boy, she is versatile, so I let myself sit back and observe. Then I started a notebook of magazine clippings just pasting color schemes I liked. I had intended to mix paint and dyes to try to create my own schemes inspired by hers, but didn't get that far. So, all input and no output, but I started to emerge from my phobia.
When I signed up for Ronette's figure drawing course, I had thought it was all about lines and shapes and proportions, but we do use colors from time to time. Even so, I dread it, and used safe color washes or just wet my charcoal or pastel areas. Or use analogous colors. Cheat! Ronette also organized color workshops for Refinery Art Space, and because I support whatever Ronette or the Refinery does, I signed up for them, little knowing (even though it was in black and white on the web site and the blurbs!!) they were painting workshops.
Heck, there is a pattern emerging here. I don't read blurbs carefully and sign up for workshops, but somehow come out alive, even when I'm required to work with colors or, heaven forbid, paint!
I'm find learning about color theories and being able to see/analyze colors totally different from producing pleasing color schemes based on theories, which again is totally different from mixing and matching what I've got and ending up with nice color schemes. I'm not saying one is better or more beneficial than the other; I'm just need all the help to I can get.
Today is Labour Day holiday in New Zealand, and windy but sunny and clear in Nelson. I must finish Scarf 4 and the application draft. I'll go labor now.
Further, Randy's scarves, (and many of yours; oh yeah, I click to enlarge your pics, even if I don't read your words!) stand to repeated scrutiny and the viewer can discover new things in a familiar cloth over time. I don't see that in mine; I think mine are more straight forward, and in this context, that's bad, WISIWYG scarves.
That is not to say I shall quit developing what I've vaguely come to think of as my kind of elegant, (bland in the first instance, but they are useful in the context of "outfits".) I like understated scarves, pieces that don't have to be the main event. Eventually, if I stay in this game long enough and try hard enough, I may see my two seemingly disparate directions converge and then it could be my thing. (NOTE:BY NO MEANS AM I SAYING RANDY'S ARE INELEGANT OR UNDERSTATED! But now we're talking about ME!)
Anyway, I was thinking how I've come to be such a color-coward and a lover of monotones and analogous schemes. Mom's preferences aside, I have "history" with colors.
All my life, I thought I had spunk when it came to colors. My art teachers told me I was good with them. (Little did I know they meant I sucked with shapes, proportion and composition.)
I took a correspondence course via the guild in 2000 on basic color theories, which was a hard slog. Jargon confused me, I learned I have a hard time seeing values across hues. Saturation totally threw me, and a couple of times I was told I misunderstood the instructions and asked to redo modules. Once I was told portrait orientation was wrong for the module, when I was trying to emphasize height using values. I should have contacted my course-mates, we were supplied with an email list, I didn't because I didn't know any of them.
If I stuck to using mainly blues in my assignments, I would have at least felt more comfortable and perhaps I might have understood the concepts faster, but because I was determined to try colors I normally wouldn't, (anything between orange-red to green-without-blue on the wheel,) I made life harder for myself.
I came out of the course feeling defeated and stupid. Since then when I heard weavers say they love to work with colors, I instantly dislike and envy them, and scrutinize their work to try to find something wrong. Well, not actually, but you know how I feel when I hear it. It got so bad I couldn't even stand to hear the Kiwi pronunciation of the word "color" which sounds like /kələ/ or /kʌlə/, instead of /ˈkʌlər/. (When the end of the word is shortened by not pronouncing the /r/, even the first syllable is shortened, including the consonant /k/. Trust me, this is what I did at university.) The Kiwi pronunciation lacks emphasis and makes the word short and sharp, it doesn't give sufficient weight to the big concept, and worse, it signifies the speakers' easy and happy relationship with colors and makes a mockery of my sufferings.
In 2002, I took my first design course with Alison, and it was bad enough we had to draw a lot, but in the very last module, we planned a specific piece, and had to determine the color scheme first by determining the values and then assigning hues. Well, I went out of my mind! I kind of cheated and worked forward and backward (deciding on the hues) and connected the two, like digging a tunnel from both ends.
I quit colors altogether and bought yarns I liked and did the best to mix and match. I said I needed to learn to dye, but didn't intended to get into that game any time soon. I wondered if I would ever be like playing with colors again.
I signed up for Randy Darwall's workshop in 2006 only because the name sounded vaguely familiar, having been, I was almost sure, mentioned by Brigit Howitt, a most amazing, inspiring weaver/artist in New Zealand, ever, (but who hasn't got a website,) after her 2002 Convergence trip. Little did I know his thing was colors, and the rest is history.
Last year when I minded Sue's gallery, I made an effort to enjoy colors. It was hard at first, because I didn't want to think about it, but for five hours every week, I was surrounded by her colors, and boy, she is versatile, so I let myself sit back and observe. Then I started a notebook of magazine clippings just pasting color schemes I liked. I had intended to mix paint and dyes to try to create my own schemes inspired by hers, but didn't get that far. So, all input and no output, but I started to emerge from my phobia.
When I signed up for Ronette's figure drawing course, I had thought it was all about lines and shapes and proportions, but we do use colors from time to time. Even so, I dread it, and used safe color washes or just wet my charcoal or pastel areas. Or use analogous colors. Cheat! Ronette also organized color workshops for Refinery Art Space, and because I support whatever Ronette or the Refinery does, I signed up for them, little knowing (even though it was in black and white on the web site and the blurbs!!) they were painting workshops.
Heck, there is a pattern emerging here. I don't read blurbs carefully and sign up for workshops, but somehow come out alive, even when I'm required to work with colors or, heaven forbid, paint!
I'm find learning about color theories and being able to see/analyze colors totally different from producing pleasing color schemes based on theories, which again is totally different from mixing and matching what I've got and ending up with nice color schemes. I'm not saying one is better or more beneficial than the other; I'm just need all the help to I can get.
Today is Labour Day holiday in New Zealand, and windy but sunny and clear in Nelson. I must finish Scarf 4 and the application draft. I'll go labor now.
2008/10/26
Auto-Drive
Scarf 3 was finished late last night.
I added more supplementary warp, purple next to orange and marine blue (named Iris) next to gold, anything I could think of that I wouldn't normally do. I had fishing weights tied to every one of the 22 supplementary warps, which got tangled up. With every eight or so picks, I had to get off the bench, go to the back of the loom and tug on the particular warp that wasn't taut; if I were to weave a scarf with approximately 1800 picks, it would have been good exercise, but not efficient. So I sacrificed 12cm of warp which I couldn't afford, unwound the warp, tied supplementaries to the rod, rewound, then resleyed at 36EPI. And it's weaving in a more orderly fashion. I'm using a dark green weft. (Purple looks like navy, and some of the oranges appear pink below, but without intending to, I managed to include all of the four colors here into this warp, though in a much diluted way.)
I was struck how the purple/orange/green part looks like ancient Japanese colors. In stripes, colors combinations like these are used on traditional theater stages, on unhealthy but delicious rice crackers called Kabuki Senbei (another colorway here), for seating and background of Hina dolls, which are based on the Imperial wedding costume, which in turn is based on kimono worn around the time of The Tales of Gengi. I've been tempted to call this last one something like "Japan', but I remembered I already submitted a blub that had something to do with Paul Newman. Some creative writing required later...
I hope I have enough warp left to weave a scarf, even though it may end up a tad shorter than the rest. I'm so tired I'm on auto drive. I was hoping to get either Scarf 4 or finish the draft of the application finished today, but I ended up with about 1/6 of the scarf, and 15 too-airy chocolate cupcakes.
Good night.
EDIT: I thought it was the pic's fault, or the condition under which I took the pic, that made the outside orange supplementary warps appear hot pink, but even in real life, because they are surrounded by blue-green warps, they really look pink!
I added more supplementary warp, purple next to orange and marine blue (named Iris) next to gold, anything I could think of that I wouldn't normally do. I had fishing weights tied to every one of the 22 supplementary warps, which got tangled up. With every eight or so picks, I had to get off the bench, go to the back of the loom and tug on the particular warp that wasn't taut; if I were to weave a scarf with approximately 1800 picks, it would have been good exercise, but not efficient. So I sacrificed 12cm of warp which I couldn't afford, unwound the warp, tied supplementaries to the rod, rewound, then resleyed at 36EPI. And it's weaving in a more orderly fashion. I'm using a dark green weft. (Purple looks like navy, and some of the oranges appear pink below, but without intending to, I managed to include all of the four colors here into this warp, though in a much diluted way.)
I was struck how the purple/orange/green part looks like ancient Japanese colors. In stripes, colors combinations like these are used on traditional theater stages, on unhealthy but delicious rice crackers called Kabuki Senbei (another colorway here), for seating and background of Hina dolls, which are based on the Imperial wedding costume, which in turn is based on kimono worn around the time of The Tales of Gengi. I've been tempted to call this last one something like "Japan', but I remembered I already submitted a blub that had something to do with Paul Newman. Some creative writing required later...
I hope I have enough warp left to weave a scarf, even though it may end up a tad shorter than the rest. I'm so tired I'm on auto drive. I was hoping to get either Scarf 4 or finish the draft of the application finished today, but I ended up with about 1/6 of the scarf, and 15 too-airy chocolate cupcakes.
Good night.
EDIT: I thought it was the pic's fault, or the condition under which I took the pic, that made the outside orange supplementary warps appear hot pink, but even in real life, because they are surrounded by blue-green warps, they really look pink!
2008/10/25
On Wars and Silks
Just some tidying-up thoughts.
IMHO, in consideration to the great majority of the people in Asia, I think the American bases in Japan is perhaps still the best solution to a bad problem. If we militarized again, it would make Asia collectively terribly sick it would be catastrophic to the region. And a huge part of the problem is the Japanese government's refusal to state our invasions and massacres in our history textbooks. (Though truthfully, I don't believe kids don't know about these incidents just because they are not in their hisotry books.) By the same token, I wished the GIs would behave more civilly, and for the Japanese government to take stronger stands against crimes committed by the boys, and girls, I suppose.
Our Scottish friend Sheila once told us she begrudged the fact that though England got bombed just as severely as Germany and Japan, World Bank didn't help them pay to rebuild, though we perpetrators got plenty of assistance. Point taken! Oh, yeah!
However, she also blamed the cheap Japanese textiles for decimating the British textile industry. What goes around comes around, and now the Chinese textiles are killing Japanese silk. I'm a little sketchy on details, but I once read a newsletter from a Japanese silk mill that in the year 1990 or '92, there were 90 silk mills in Japan; the year the newsletter was written, '98 or'99, there were three left, with two seriously considering, or in the process of, closing down. In the same decade, inexpensive but adequate-to-superb quality silks and cashmeres from China saturated the Japanese market, and you know, the consumers were not displeased. Now anyone can wear these textiles.
Sheila's husband Tony was a member of the Kiwi contingent, part of the greater Post War Occupation Forces in Japan. He was "adopted" by one family and he speaks fondly of his years there. I never meant to say all GIs are bad, but I do wonder why in the world Tony and his group was stationed out in the boondocks, away from any city, port, or strategic point!!
Lastly, I can't fathom anyone becoming a soldier without being conscripted. Wars last for a generation or two after it's officially closed, and it appears to me, a large part of the Western world's forces offend more than defend. OK, OK, I know there's Peace Keepers and a great many Kiwis do just that. But I feel terribly uneasy about separating soldiers and their not-always collective actions, or worshiping medals and celebrate victories. I just don't get it and it is just me. I'm for commiserating with former enemies.
IMHO, in consideration to the great majority of the people in Asia, I think the American bases in Japan is perhaps still the best solution to a bad problem. If we militarized again, it would make Asia collectively terribly sick it would be catastrophic to the region. And a huge part of the problem is the Japanese government's refusal to state our invasions and massacres in our history textbooks. (Though truthfully, I don't believe kids don't know about these incidents just because they are not in their hisotry books.) By the same token, I wished the GIs would behave more civilly, and for the Japanese government to take stronger stands against crimes committed by the boys, and girls, I suppose.
Our Scottish friend Sheila once told us she begrudged the fact that though England got bombed just as severely as Germany and Japan, World Bank didn't help them pay to rebuild, though we perpetrators got plenty of assistance. Point taken! Oh, yeah!
However, she also blamed the cheap Japanese textiles for decimating the British textile industry. What goes around comes around, and now the Chinese textiles are killing Japanese silk. I'm a little sketchy on details, but I once read a newsletter from a Japanese silk mill that in the year 1990 or '92, there were 90 silk mills in Japan; the year the newsletter was written, '98 or'99, there were three left, with two seriously considering, or in the process of, closing down. In the same decade, inexpensive but adequate-to-superb quality silks and cashmeres from China saturated the Japanese market, and you know, the consumers were not displeased. Now anyone can wear these textiles.
Sheila's husband Tony was a member of the Kiwi contingent, part of the greater Post War Occupation Forces in Japan. He was "adopted" by one family and he speaks fondly of his years there. I never meant to say all GIs are bad, but I do wonder why in the world Tony and his group was stationed out in the boondocks, away from any city, port, or strategic point!!
Lastly, I can't fathom anyone becoming a soldier without being conscripted. Wars last for a generation or two after it's officially closed, and it appears to me, a large part of the Western world's forces offend more than defend. OK, OK, I know there's Peace Keepers and a great many Kiwis do just that. But I feel terribly uneasy about separating soldiers and their not-always collective actions, or worshiping medals and celebrate victories. I just don't get it and it is just me. I'm for commiserating with former enemies.
America the Still-Beautiful
WARNING: Still nothing about weaving in this post.
And still, the great majority of Japanese population loved things American, and still do. They were so shiny and colorful and happy. I don't remember much anti-American sentiments growing up, just anti-Viet Nam Police Action. I was born 13 years after the War (and that would be WWII, or the Pacific War as we know it,) officially ended, but the nation as a whole, its citizens, were very poor, and still sighing the great sigh of relief the bombings have stopped and we can get on with recreating our lives. We didn't exactly blame the Emperor or Tojo, (stoke of genius that McCarthy didn't execute the Emperor,) though we felt victimized by men who wanted to see if their male appendages were bigger than the Americans', and acts of war in general. We just wanted to move on.
I remember trying to peak inside the American bases when we were nearby, just to have a glimpse of front lawns and picket fences and family cars. If I was walking with Mom, we had to rush past them, looking down so as never to make eye contact with the guards with guns, or heaven forbid, with THEIR German Shepherds, but if I happened to be on a train or a taxi, she may not have noticed, I thought. The families of soldiers lived lives just like in the movies, and no matter what the weather outside the bases, it always appeared sunny and balmy inside.
When I became 13, nobody had to tell me I shouldn't even think of bases, because that's how teenage girls got pregnant. I missed being pre-teen and when I was on this one train line that ran along the edge of a small base for half a minute, I shut my eyes trying to remember the neat white houses from previous trips, trying not to peek. The temptation was so strong, it was like mini-Lent every trip. About that year, they stopped showing re-runs of Leave It to Beaver, so I was well and truly out of luck.
You can see how, when I finally convinced my parents to let me go to the US, I felt like a real winner. My entire year in 9th grade, I doodle white picket fences in all of my notebooks. And though I had to battle with the amount of homework for the first month, the rest of my high school life was dreamy. I was short and fat, but had a great head of hair, (I was once complimented by young, male wedding photographer - now if that doesn't boost the ego of a teenager!) I swung between 3.2 and 3.8 GPA, and was the periphery of the clique, (I felt that joining them would make me part of "establishment"). Nixon resigned the three days after I arrived, and Viet Nam was coming to an end. And as a Japanese, I was becoming an "insider" on things American, at only 16.
And though the country changed so drastically since I left in early '82 sometimes I've not recognized it, it's still such an amazing country.
There's no tidy conclusions to these two posts. Just me reminiscing, and remembering the times I had more spunk. And joining the prayer in the video; it's a global prayer.
And still, the great majority of Japanese population loved things American, and still do. They were so shiny and colorful and happy. I don't remember much anti-American sentiments growing up, just anti-Viet Nam Police Action. I was born 13 years after the War (and that would be WWII, or the Pacific War as we know it,) officially ended, but the nation as a whole, its citizens, were very poor, and still sighing the great sigh of relief the bombings have stopped and we can get on with recreating our lives. We didn't exactly blame the Emperor or Tojo, (stoke of genius that McCarthy didn't execute the Emperor,) though we felt victimized by men who wanted to see if their male appendages were bigger than the Americans', and acts of war in general. We just wanted to move on.
I remember trying to peak inside the American bases when we were nearby, just to have a glimpse of front lawns and picket fences and family cars. If I was walking with Mom, we had to rush past them, looking down so as never to make eye contact with the guards with guns, or heaven forbid, with THEIR German Shepherds, but if I happened to be on a train or a taxi, she may not have noticed, I thought. The families of soldiers lived lives just like in the movies, and no matter what the weather outside the bases, it always appeared sunny and balmy inside.
When I became 13, nobody had to tell me I shouldn't even think of bases, because that's how teenage girls got pregnant. I missed being pre-teen and when I was on this one train line that ran along the edge of a small base for half a minute, I shut my eyes trying to remember the neat white houses from previous trips, trying not to peek. The temptation was so strong, it was like mini-Lent every trip. About that year, they stopped showing re-runs of Leave It to Beaver, so I was well and truly out of luck.
You can see how, when I finally convinced my parents to let me go to the US, I felt like a real winner. My entire year in 9th grade, I doodle white picket fences in all of my notebooks. And though I had to battle with the amount of homework for the first month, the rest of my high school life was dreamy. I was short and fat, but had a great head of hair, (I was once complimented by young, male wedding photographer - now if that doesn't boost the ego of a teenager!) I swung between 3.2 and 3.8 GPA, and was the periphery of the clique, (I felt that joining them would make me part of "establishment"). Nixon resigned the three days after I arrived, and Viet Nam was coming to an end. And as a Japanese, I was becoming an "insider" on things American, at only 16.
And though the country changed so drastically since I left in early '82 sometimes I've not recognized it, it's still such an amazing country.
There's no tidy conclusions to these two posts. Just me reminiscing, and remembering the times I had more spunk. And joining the prayer in the video; it's a global prayer.
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