$1000 worth of shoes

Writing from the comfy chair by the wood stove while avoiding freezing drizzle again.

I'm ready to unveil the frivolous project that features the kimono lady from the last post.  You see, when I need some online distraction, I either shop for airplane tickets for dream vacations or stalk the Fluevog website to check out their fabulous, expensive shoes.

And, well, Fluevog offers the occasional ad design contest.

And, well, I'm a graphic designer.

Who likes shoes.

In a moment of weakness I downloaded the design brief for their latest contest, and decided that my graphic design skills may as well come in handy for fun projects as well as work.  I could win $1000 worth of shoes if my ad is chosen, which obviously is exactly what I need.

Here's the ad I designed, to their specs and with their copy and shoe photo:

After some hesitation and fussy tweaking of details, I uploaded it (well, why not), and you can see it in their gallery of other submissions.  You can also read there about the reasons for the imagery I chose: half moon, Chinese garden moon gate, tall wooden shoes, etc.  You can vote for me if you wish (that's not a link, it's a subliminal suggestion), and if I end up in the top four, well then you can vote for me again.  If I win, I promise to post photos of me in my fabulous new boots.

Distraction

Ok, so I was supposed to be working on a newsletter, or perhaps on finishing up a painting, or something actually useful.  But it's a day that features "freezing drizzle," an Ithaca specialty, and even after having breakfast with the Happy Light (TM), I ended up in front of the wood stove in the comfy chair, working in a very desultory manner on whatever it was that I supposed to be doing.  So instead I started playing on my computer on a completely unrelated project, and then got really into the Photoshop (also TM) zone, and ended up with this lovely kimono lady.  If that Completely Unrelated Project (not TM) comes to fruition, then I will post about it more thoroughly later.

Electric Eel

New boots!!!!  Not for me, unfortunately, but for some lucky Etsy shopper perhaps.  I just finished these lovelies and posted them, and am so pleased with the colors and details and everything that I have a brag a moment and put them on my blog too.

In which I am a movie star once again

I gave an interview last fall with a couple of students from Ithaca College, who were asking about why I continue to make and sell notecards in this age of emails and text messaging.  Found the results on youtube today, and I'll share it because I don't look or sound particularly dorky.

What do you mean, you don't want to sit under the fan?

I had another amusing dream last night, this time a classic waitress stress dream.  So you know I work a night or two per week at a local pub for cash and socialization, yes?  Well, this dream outlined pretty much everything that could go wrong.

It was a slow night, with no customers, I was literally playing hangman with the bartender to pass the time.  Then a table of four came in (hurrah, something to do!), and I seated them and quickly realized that there were extra bits of paper to hand out with the menus which took an extra confusing few minutes.  When I finished that, I realized that several other tables had filled up with customers seating themselves and then looking extremely impatient when no one had brought them their menus.  The other server was all like "you're in charge of seating everyone, you figure it out, which tables are mine?"  Then we realized that there were no more menus.  Sooooo may as well bring them water while the menu issue is being sorted out, right?  Turns out that the faucet and ice machine were waaaaaay back in the suddenly labyrinthine kitchen, and one can only bring one pitcher out at a time and its going to take for-ev-er.  But in the kitchen there was someone laying on the table with a massive gross head injury being attended to by all the kitchen staff.  Avoid that, realize no food is going to be coming out any time soon.  Heading back into the restaurant, I saw that the table of ten with the reservation had arrived and were seated, and the rest of the tables were also full with increasingly-impatient customers.  No way I can get to everyone since they all arrived at once.  Then the table of ten starts complaining that they want a different table because they don't want to sit under the fan.  There are no more tables to move them too because all the other tables are full of people waiting to be served.  The manager gives me the stink eye when I say I need some help.  THEN....I realize this is a dream and I can wake up and actually not have to deal with any of it...

Things to think about:
1) Remember, tip your servers well, because if nothing else they are getting paid $5 per hour to have dreams like this.
2) How long will I last at this job if this is the kind of dreams it gives me?
3) I wonder if the fumes from priming the bathroom prior to repainting had anything to do with my dreams?
4) I recently listened to a fascinating Radio Lab podcast about lucid dreaming.  I'd like to know more about that, since I sometimes have dreams where I can realize I'm dreaming and change them or make them stop.

Florence and Pauline

There are two hens left in the coop these days, Florence and Pauline.  Anyone who thinks that blogs that mentions chickens is dull, please skip ahead.  But for anyone who has been jonesing for a livestock update, here they are basking in the sunshine yesterday in their dust bath.

 

And here are today's eggs.  The little one is unusual, and very amusing.