Plagued

For the past week, I've been out of commission with the flu. It all started Sunday when I felt like I was hit by a truck. Fevers, chills, hacking cough, body aches, oh my! Everything seems to take a Herculean amount of effort. I haven't been this sick EVER. And I even got a flu shot this year. Made me really wish I had one of these contraptions:

So I've been laid up in bed, missing work (Well, I wouldn't say I've been "missing" it, Bob.), and in general being a miserable slug. The worst is the cough, or the side effects of it. My rib cage feels completely sore on the inside and the muscles around it are sore, so every cough feels like someone is punching a bruise. Oh, the BF also noticed a funny symptom of this particular strain of flu: Whining. Ok I'll admit, I'm not the easiest patient to care for... Finally had the strength yesterday to go to the doctor, who didn't really do a whole lot but prescribe cough syrup with codeine. Nite nite!

Earrings for night owls

I just made these tonight. It's almost 1 a.m., and I don't know why the hell I'm still up. But I am so I thought I'd snap some quick pix and share. I went to a bead faire (yes, with an e!) this past weekend, and since then it's been beadle mania. I got some 20-gauge gold-fill wire to experiment with. That's what makes up the main teardrop shape here. The stones are amethyst and green aventurine. I'm into this loopy wire-wrapping nowadays. If I end up doing a whole series of these, I guess that's what designers might define as a "collection." The Loopy Collection? Hmm, there's gotta be a better name out there. Anyhow, I like the overall look of it, but man does it destroy my fingers. All this is in preparation for my upcoming jewelry show in May. More on that later. Maybe when I'm not so sleepy.

DJ Buddha baby

Our friends Pieter and Catarina are expecting their first baby in a few weeks. So you know what that means: more onesies! Pieter and Cat are fun, magnetic people. They love good times, good friends, and awesome music (Pieter's a House DJ during the wee hours). And they have this whole spiritual-vibe-thing going on, too, that's really warm and welcoming. So I wanted these onesies to reflect a little bit about both of them, their passions and hobbies, and just how cool they are and will be as parents.

Turntable and Buddha onesies shown in stages: 1. Ironing on the cut-out stencils; 2. Filling it in with paint; 3. Revealing the finished product!

Spa day

Life as a GP can be tough. There's hay and pellets to eat, not to mention mounds of farmer's market veggies to munch on. And there's all the tunnels a pig needs to run through every day. And don't forget all the napping! That takes up a lot of time. And if ever the BF leaves his cookbooks lying on the floor, well, a pig has to eat them too.

With such a busy agenda, a pig deserves a little pampering once in a while, don't you think? Rusty got his first bath recently, and to top it off, he also got a mani/pedi! Sounds like a relaxing way to spend a Saturday morning, huh? Not to Russ. He complained and struggled throughout the whole ordeal. Poor boy! It ain't easy lookin' this good.

BBQ pigeon

Boris and Doris are back! I've read that pigeons, having that built-in homing device, return to the same place to make their nest, laying one to two eggs. This is the third time Boris and Doris have tried to build a nest on our balcony. They always pick the same spot--IN our gas bbq. It's actually a pretty good place in San Francisco to build a nest: it's covered so at least it is partially protected from the wind, rain and predators. The BF, on the other hand, does not think it is such a good place, as he has just filled up the propane tank and was looking forward to bbq season. Uh oh, better luck next year babe!

Unfortunately, we've never had a hatchling. Part of the problem is that Boris and Doris are really crappy at building nests. This year is another winner. As you can see from this picture, all the twigs they've gathered have fallen thru the slats. Now Boris is just sitting there on an egg with no nest. We'll see how it goes.

Boris? On the nest, you ask? Yes, being a monogamous couple (at least during mating season) Boris and Doris take turns sitting on the egg. As far as I can tell, Doris sits during the day and does her food-finding at night. There is a Changing of the Guard each day around 4pm. OK I think I've gone on long enough about pigeons and their breeding habits. See what a little observation and a lot of Internet on a slow day at work can get ya?

Photog I am not

This past weekend I fooled around a bit with the camera and tried out some different backgrounds for my jewelry pix. I really like the idea of using the map of SF and pairing it with the branch. But on the other hand, the colors and busy-ness of the map are a little distracting. Needless to say, many many many hundreds of photos were taken this weekend. Most of them dumpers. Maybe a dozen or two actually look decent. Thank god for digital. My uncle's a photographer and I always hoped that whatever artistic gene touched him also affected me. I may have an eye for some things, but lighting and shutter speed knowledge (not to mention steady hands) not so much...

Here's the latest piece I've made: cherry quartz wire-wrapped in gold-fill, about 2 inches long. This style of wire-wrapping is something new I'm trying out. This is only the second time I've done it. The wrapping is a little insane--my fingers and eyes hurt after a while! It was worth the pain though. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out actually!

So this next piece is what I'm going to refer to as the Holiday Party Necklace quite simply bc I wore it to my company holiday party. I'm deep. Faceted garnets asymmetrically lined up on gold-fill. I'm using a linen background--plain, but at least you get a good look at the necklace. I got a lot of compliments on it at the holiday party, too! But I feel compelled to mention that all my coworkers were probably sauced.

Love pigs

Wow. This is a cry for help.
Here is how my boys spent Valentine's Day. On the menu: heart-shaped "lasagna" of lettuce, tomato, and shredded carrots.
There has got to be a 12-step program out there for me!