Eid Mubarak

Today is Eid el Adha, the sacrifice.... the timing this year should not lead others to think that this has anything to do with xmas, c'mon we are on a lunar calendar, peoples! kinda quite around here but planning to do something later. i might get some presents later. whoohoo!
insert smiley face here.

second try- mail art from tokyo, japan

Here is a lovely postcard i got from Blanc Design in Minatoku-Aoyama Tokyo, quite the art district in response for the "Vous Etes Ici" mail call. GReat stamps,...can anyone say steam and pillage time???

mail art from france

i received this beautiful photo and two great aTcs from annick serpault of france last month after i sent her three of my atcs. i lost them on the computer and couldn't figure out where they were. so here they are now- one month later.

me llamo omar- el caballito del mar

this is one of the set of postcards i've received from Galicia's Carlos Botana, in response to the postcard i sent out for his call for Clean Seas.

mail art responses

Hey i know its been a long time, but i am not the most faithful of bloggers....hmmm, i get sidetracked very easily. i do have goodies though, for anyone who has stumbled across the site....mail art responses from the world over (ok, spain, france, and japan, pretty good eh?)

i will post them out a little at a time for dramatic effect.
drum roll plzzzzzz

from the extraordinary and dedicated Sr. Carlos Botana of Galicia, featuring Omar the little seahorse.
i've lost them. i will upload them later. typique!

mail art extravaganza

been busy with cleaning, atcs, carving stamps, and mail art: here's one that is going out to valeria zunzun in florida and one to carlos botana in coruna, galicia.

hello again

after a protracted absence, i finally remembered how to get to the new post window. hmmmmm. when my site opened on the plain blog sight without the option to add a post, i was never really motivated to start a new post. so i would just go somewhere else. so, i am still waiting to see if my postcard was received on the alyonka mail art call, but colectivo 308 in brasil received my passaro preto card. if i can get mim's to link to it, i will put the link on here.

finished first Mail Art call!

Yes! i finished the first of the mail art calls that i was gonna do: here's the front and back of little alyonka. (done with bleached printed, over colored with stamp-pad and colored pencils, collaged, with little buttons added. gold leaf pens.)

what i sent to envelope collective

here is the front and back of what i sent to envelope collective

journal pages

lets see if this works- here's some stuff from my small blk/wht moleskine journal, done in blk india ink.

having trouble uploading images

ok, something went wrong trying to upload the images....i am going to try again so i can get some lovely pix up to show.

pati's atcs on mailart.org

I was perusing mail art calls on http://www.mailart.org/archives/3193 and our groups cards were up there- well, pati and lindall's were. it was very inspiring. tomm am i am going to make some color copies of little aloynka to finish up a post card for the call going out to russia.
i am plannig to put her little face on some copies of "poupee gigogne" that i found in marie claire idees.
i wll put the pix up before i send it out.
ciao!

saturday meetup day

Last nite in sF was so much fun, mimi and i went to Books Inc in Opera Plaza for the eclipse reading. Packed house, standing room only. mimi was so excited, but she didn't get to ask any questions due to the massive amounts of people present, very nicely mixed crowd. stephanie meyer was lovely, and she actually complemented mim on her beautiful eyes! after that, we browsed the bookstore, and grabbed at chai at the Peets next door. took the drive back home via the peninsula and got mim some pasta at the chili's in menlo park at 10 pm. when we got home, i finished up some atc's to take to today's meetup. i tried, (harhar) to make some scrappy type cards to trade out to the miami group. we'll see about what i get back today.

Eclipse Tonight!!

Tonite is the night that mimi and i are heading to sf to the Eclipse reading on Van Ness with author Stephanie Meyer, mim'z so excited!! she has been planning her questions for weeks and weeks. i did so much art this week, i did some really great backgrounds, cut some stamps, and finally finished the doomie astrological calendar and actually got it mailed out. also have been checking on some open mail art calls which i am going to do my best to participate in. tomm is the monthly atc meetup, and sunday i'm watching little sumaya while sarah goes to table at the farmer's market.

another busy friday

This weekend again holds the promise of activity and community: a family reunion on saturday and a meetup on sunday (fabric this time). Eclipse was released this week, a great read for all those who like stories and tales of the undead and those who lurve them. I went to SF to get tickets to the authors event in two weeks, mimi's preparing her questions for the author as i type. i feel sorry for the poor thing-mim's not very happy with the indecisiveness of the female protagonist-and she is preparing an onslaught of ??'s for the unfortunate ms.meyer. also, tuesday was fun 'cause i went to shiva's to have henna applied to my hands and feet as shown above. i placed my hand and feeties on one of my journal entries that i'd applied various color washes to earlier this week.

busy weekend

its friday and we're getting ready for jumaah prayer in santa clara- this weekend promises to be busy, art tommorrow in emeryville with the meetup group, and babysitting for baby sumaya on sunday while sara is tabling at the farmer's market, a great film to watch (al otro lado), and decisions to be made whether or not i am to continue classes this month.... more later.

on the privilege of regular posting

after ten days, i finally am connected once again to regular internet access, a fluke, because this link showed up randomly just as quickly as the old one had disappeared. so, after ten days, my first post. hmmmm. a list of things that i did, accomplished, or thought about doing (despite my astrological sign, one of my weaknesses is incessant procrastination, usually due to my obsessive need to be perfect, achieve perfection, have perfect surroundings, before i start a project)
ahem.
went w/mimi to sacramento to see "les miserables" great singing but homely cast...more later.
took mimi to outlet malls -vacaville, where it was so hot you could watch your spit evaporated on the sidewalk (if you had an inclination to spit in the first place)
arranged storage mtwth, donations of old clothes-in a desperate, obsessive effort and mood, that has now subsided, to organize the infernal pit that we call a storage space, which was littered with my beloved's old electronic appliances, stereo equipment, sports stuff, all of which he absolutely can't live without, but hasn't seen or done anything with in years. more later.
saturday-the first annual chicken festival in san juan bautista, and papa's birthday at dona esthers-very nice time, with my tio y tias, and a nifty, cool, funky chicana art store just a few steps away. mentally making plans to go see "zootsuit" w/ tia connie and mimi, need to check the date. uncle junju asking after his illustrations that i promised him. eek!
sunday/monday- recuperate from the heat and a horrible summer cold that i seem to have attracted.

as i sit here, the birds are having an impromptu festival of their own in the huge squirrel proof feeder that we put up outside, which i filled yesterday with blk sunflower seeds, most entertaining. i debate on getting up and/or moving to get more hot tea, both of which make my head hurt. think i will wait a bit longer.

big trouble in lil fremont

i have no internet connection- those who previously had unsecured wifi have secured it after 6 months and i have to leave the house to go online. major inconvenience. arggghhh! why after so long would you lock up the system? having no capacity or inclination for these things makes it very difficult to find a solution. i hate the idea of having to pay to have someone come out and fix the way my laptop and plug in system work, but it seems i have no choice- the thought of me schlepping around a printer to print out articles or other pertinent information seems idiotic- oh well. not that anyone is reading this, but if anyone does- they might be provided a small chuckle at the thought of someone lugging around printer and computer to an internet cafe. hmmmm.
more later.

on the beauty of fog

so, yesterday as i was melting away in the city nestled against the hills, when i was struck with a moment of clarity and near genius: after asr-why not take a small trip to sf, get a chai, and sit by the beach off of hwy 1? and that is what i did. i took mehar with me, she had told me earlier that she usually needed to go to the ocean in order to cleanse energies and spirits, so i brought her along. the ocean was light grey, with only the occasional surfer, but as the east bay broiled away in near dante-esque temperatures, the sf sky was dripping, literally, with the most lovely layers of fog. thick, white, divine fog- cooling our heads, bodies, and kissing our faces with its beautiful moisture. we only stayed an hour or so, and left at what would have been (if it could have been visible) the sunset.

bellisima.

feel it hot!hot!hot!

omg! it is 11:ooam pst and already 80something degrees with no hint of breeze. when you look over to the peninsula side(west) you can see a smattering of clouds, but here, on the east side of the bay-not a one in the sky. looks like today is a perfect day to stay indoors until the sun goes down at least. obligatory vampire like habits being forced upon me once again in summer. i will let you know what went on today later on tonight.
hasta muy prontito.

independence day?

What do you claim independence from?
meaningless consumer-driven holidays?
even more meaningless techno gadgets to fill your days with endless electronically delivered drivel?
how about independence from stuff for one whole day?
could you do it?

ca y est!

je sais pas comment ca va marcher si j'ai pas de marques diacritiques. bon! on imagine que j'ai les utilises!

cinera -artista - mujer

well, tonite is the first nite of my blog....like who is really gonna read this mierda? quien? just reviewing my emails, going over whether i should try to go to ohc in san diego, is it like, all xtinized, or is it like very generic, spiritual, higher power kinda stuff? also kicking around options to go to el paso with sarah to midwifery school in autumn... so random, do i really want a job? really? or do i really just want to kick around and create art and try to give it a go. hmmm. thoughts for pondering. tommorrow gonna watch "tiger and snow" by roberto benigni (is that how you spell it? ap-o-log-ia, as he says in "love actually") stream of consciousness type of writing. writing for the sake of writing. proof of existence.
good nite.