Insomnia

Some days I can't get to sleep because I can't wait for the next day or am really anxious about the next day, those days are Christmas eve, pre-flight days, day before first day at a new school or job and whatnot...

 Other days I can't get to sleep because I don't want to face the next day so soon.  Those days are tech days.  They're days that you don't want to face the fact that the entire day was spent working and the entire next day will be spent the same way.  

Sometimes I can't sleep because my brain is thinking about all of the plans I need to come up with or what I should be doing when I wake up, but I have to stay up and write it all down in a list before I can sleep or I'll forget everything.

Sometimes I can't sleep because I come up with a really good idea and want to get it started before it leaves me...

also sometimes I can't sleep when I'm super comfortable and just want to relish where I am... 

It's amazing I get any sleep at all ever. 

Hey! I made that!

Tonight 11pm, exhausted and driving back from the 24hour Longs with a fresh batch of color remover I had to suddenly pull over when I saw this at the bus stop. I ran across the street to take the picture.

I made that dress!

Or rather; I worked on that dress.

There were five variations of it (including a men's jacket).

I sewed the white guy on the front, put the lining in and I think I remember doing the hem...

 

...not sure why this was as exciting as it was.  Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, but it is the first time I've seen my work show up on a bus stop in the middle of the night.

A Quick Update

So there have been no new posts of late because I'm too busy doing things to reflect on them.  Opening one show on Thursday, temporarily relocating to Carmel to open a show there next week and already starting prep work on the next two shows... Haven't had a break since before Sacramento, haven't had two consecutive days off since... um May?  It's good to have work but it's bad when it all piles up like this.  My back has been killing me for about two weeks now.  The knots under my shoulder blades have tied themselves over two or three times, but tomorrow I've got a 50 minute massage scheduled and I can't wait... Hope I can find some WiFi in Carmel so perhaps I can blog, check email and all that electronic jazz next week. ok sleep now.  Early morning tomorrow followed by a very full day.  Wish me productivity.

In the middle of nowhere...

I am exhausted... probably too much to truly type much.  I did want to share the "warehouse" that the costumes are stored at for the theater I'll be designing at next... 

It's out in the middle of a deserted army base... 

Here's the door to go in...

Here's what it looks like inside once you've opened up the other door (the only source of light).  There is no electricity.
 

It's really freakin' spooky.

The last summer night...

Tomorrow my stay in Sacramento comes to an end and I return to the land of fog and mist. I went to the final dress of Evita (which is going to be Amazing by the way)...

and I can't help but be hyper critical of every little detail... the Dior still needs work (big sigh) and I am exhausted. Despite my heavy eye lids and tingly skin once we left the theater the Sacramento air was just delicious. The warm breeze beckoned...

with my mind a buzzing with music and costume notes I took the long way back to the hotel...
The lights and shadows were captivating...



and then I just started to play with the digital camera.




.. and now I say adieu to the warmth and return to a place that chills at night.

Smile!

Dear Random Dude on the Street,
When you tell me empirically to "Smile." it has the exact opposite effect. In fact it really pisses me off. You don't know me, you don't know what kind of day I've had... am I offending you with my face? You know what, that's too bad. This is what it looks like. I'm not crying, I'm not frowning, and I'm not smiling... but really who walks around smiling all day? Not you. You weren't smiling, you just seem to think it's ok to order a stranger to "Smile." Well F-You. I'm not going to smile. In fact I Was fine and now you've pissed me off. Mind your own buisness and if you want me to smile how about saying something clever or nice or even really freakin' weird!  How about next time I meet you I tell you to "Duck." and then swing my fist at your bossy face! Grr!

Silent Participation

At the state building in Sacramento the public is allowed to view the Senate from a gallery above the floor...

...but before you enter, you will see this sign;

Pieces of Dior

Tonight I figured out a new puzzle. The puzzle is in the form of a Christian Dior knock off. The actual jacket wasn't that hard to figure out... it's figuring out the lining, the collar, the pockets, the order they go together... without taking apart the original. The front is so extremely shaped that it took some serious creativity and math (gulp) to get the inside just right... the picture shown is only the muslin version of the jacket I worked on tonight... really a picture of a half built coat isn't nearly as exciting as realizing that all of the little bits are actually going to fit together. I'm so glad I come from a family of puzzle people who understand the excitement of the process even more than the excitement of the finished solution. I'll take photos at the next fitting... probably a complete jacket will be a little more impressive... boy I'm tired!

A first @ Starbucks...

It is shocking how many ways there are to mispell "Alexae";

Lexy,

 Alexa, Elexa,

 Elexia, Alexia, Alexis, 

Lexis, Lesus, Lexay, Lexy,Lex

 Alexy, Alexi, Alexe, Alex, Elexy, Lexia...

...and only one way to spell it correctly (obviously).  I really don't care that my name is always mispelled on my coffee cup, Valentine's cards, Birthday cards, emails... and so on and so forth. Oddly my name is spelled phonetically. Nonetheless it was shocking to recieve a cup with my name spelled correctly in the middle of a busy hour...

...truly the first time this has happened at a coffee shop to my recollection.

The Train Museum

So it looks like Sacramento isn't exactly the cultural mecca of California. There was that one museum and beyond that there are a good two dozen attractions focused on the gold rush. It's all ye-olden days, gold rush, old California politics, Sutter's fort, California's birth... eh ok then. It's not quite as exciting as Albrecht Durer to me but it's what I've got. I went to the train museum...


... just to proove that I am a costumer I spent maybe three or four shots on the trains and most of the rest on costume research...



check out the prosthetic leg

Oh and of corse they had Dishes!  What the hell is up with the fascination with dishes! Now that I've noticed how many museums have rooms dedicated to dishes, it's really starting to get irritating...
There's a balcony full of toy trains... I liked the tiny one in the briefcase.

... yep that was it.  Well laid out, nice displays.  I guess I just wasn't that interested though.  I'd rather be at a science museum or an art museum.  

Happy Birthday to Alex

Today is my one of my oldest* and most dear friend's birthday (*that is oldest in the amount of time I've known him, not his time on the Earth). Unfortunately he lives in Hamburg and I can't get away to take him out on the town tonight. I can't even think of what to send him for the occasion. I know he has a thing for new office supplies... but really he lives in Germany. All of my favorite art supplies are from there, I imagine that their pens are equally superior to ours and they probably have some equivalent to post-its that make shipping them across the Atlantic a silly idea. I could send him a book... but which one? I went to the book store and nothing I saw was exotic or exciting enough for him in my opinion. I'll probably think of the perfect something in a month or two... in the mean time;

The top 10 things I love about Alex;
1. He's insightful
2. He keeps me smiling
3. He's a perfectionist
4. He has an amazing aesthetic sense
5. He always manages to keep me balanced
6. We still can write each other full letters after ten years!
7. He loves discussing art.
8. He doesn't balk to tell me when I'm being boring.
9. I can ask him about critical artistic choices and get a real answer.
10. He has an air of beauty about him.

...wow 10 was easy! I could go on, but I shant because he is also very modest and doesn't take praise very well...

Happy Birthday Alex!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I hope you have a great time today! Wish I were there.



I love you!