Anthology Progress

"Ok, I've added Adobe [on his end] and it'll take up to an hour to get to you."
-David from the Tech Office

In the process of trying to do this anthology, it’s been funny to see what kind of problems have popped up. For one, the printer prefers PDF documents, and until today, I had no way of making any. Then I called Tech help and, with minimal trouble, got him to upload/download/whatever-the-hell Adobe onto my computer via the network from his computer. Wow, mouthful. So, now I have PDF capabilities. Then, I got to do cut ‘n’ pasting for a while, then spend some time making formats consistent, then E-mail Katherine to find out which schools the 2005 TCs (Teacher Consultants/i.e. Institute Participants) are affiliated with.

The fun part is that I brought my spiffy new digital camera along today and just spent a good forty minutes wandering around campus in the wind, regretting that I didn’t have some kind of hair restraint device, and taking pictures. I took two kinds of pictures: textures and images. I’m thinking a two-layer cover design where one of my texture pictures will go from the front to back cover, and the front will be highlighted with a piece of artwork I photographed. The University likes artwork, so I got to get some mosaic pictures and one of a giant (10 ft. or more tall) paper airplane sculpture. The sculpture makes me excited, because paper airplanes fit in with writing! Hey, it’s a notebook paper airplane, so it’s even lined. The trick will be if it works. I’m not sure because there’s a lot of background to it, even if I crop. I guess I’ll just have to try it and see. Cross your fingers. I'll put up some pictures once I get them downloaded.

Another highlight of the day was realizing that the price quote I got from Fidlar Doubleday is now a moot point because I used a page count that included the 2005 essays, but not the 2006. So, we go from approx. 105 pages to 165. Whups. Still, I don’t imagine the price will be that much different (I’m really hoping not).

Special bonus: my cold is fading, a bit. I’m no longer the walking plague, though I still sound horrible. Less mucus, though, which is always good.

Purple Net

Sometime ago, maybe a year already, Beadbox went out of business. During their clearance, I ordered some square-ish purple swirly beads. Then I tried to figure out what to do with them. Over Christmas break, I found myself sitting in front of the TV working on bead projects. Since I had a lot of time to kill, I focused on necklaces that were a little more labor intensive than straight forward stringing. This necklace started out as a daisy chain, then, when that didn't take long enough, I added a few layers of net and finished the last off with the purple beads I'd been trying to do something with for a while. Viola!

When I was trying to get good pictures of my jewelry, I tried using a piece of tan flannel as my back drop. While I like the texture, I don't care for the color. Ah well, I'll just have to keep trying.

What SCWP is About

"The best teachers of teachers are other teachers.
The best teachers of writing are writers themselves."
-Writing Project Saying

I realized that, while I make mention of the SCWP (Southern Colorado Writing Project) here and there, I have never actually said what it was. Oops. The jist: The Writing Project got started in Berkeley in the 70's. It emphasizes that learning any subject will be helped by writing. The idea is to gather together local K-16 teachers to get them writing and thinking about how to use writing in their classes. It's a neat idea, and I believe it really works - and I've seen some evidence, too. The SCWP is a relatively new pranch of the National Writing Project. If you're still curious, here's the website http://www.scwponline.org

My part in it is as Katherine's assistant. The particulars of my job vary quite a bit, but focus on peripherals - like making copies, creating lists and documents, or sending out mailings. The real fun/challenge comes from the anthologies. SCWP does two types of anthology: an essay anthology which comes out of writing produced during the Institute, and a Writing Marathon anthology which comes out of writing produced by Marathon participants. So far I've done editing work on both types of anthology, and now I'm working on publishing the 2006 essay anthology. It's scary, because I'm more or less doing it all: formatting, design, layout, etc.

The bonus of being the SCWP assistant is that I get to pick up a lot via osmosis. Transcribing feedback sheets tells me about what's going on in teachers' heads. Copying hand outs gives me an idea of general discussions. Going to meetings gives me gossip on local school politics. The list goes on. The osmosis has been helpful for me in terms of thinking on how I ought to run my own class - assuming I'm accepted for a TA this coming fall.

Kids, Publishing, and Chocolate

“You rock, Ali!”
-Katherine

The past couple of days have been fairly eventful for me. Eventful enough so that I’m very much looking forward to Friday, when I’ll have a day off.

Saturday: Okay, mostly positive. When I saw the schedule, I knew it was too good to be true. Me, the first one in on a Saturday (and thus, the first to go home)? Right. The minute I got to the bar on Saturday, Dave told me that Rebecca called in sick, so it was just me all night. No problem, I thought, it’s been dead for over a month. Ha! Saturday was not so dead. In fact, I set a new personal sales record $908. A hectic night, but ultimately a profitable one. Next month’s car payment, here I come!

Sunday: Polymer day. I spent about four hours experimenting with canes and making beads – ended up with about five or six necklaces worth.

Monday: Started an overnight babysit, which means a nice check in my wallet.

Tuesday: Did the substitute mom thing, including waking up really early, getting a five-year-old ready for school, picking the five year old and two of her friends up for lunch and tennis (and oh-what-fun it is to wrangle two four-year-old boys with lots of energy), and going to gymnastics. Then, after Carly had her bath, I corrupted her mind because we watched Miami Ink while I combed out her hair. Okay, I’m not worried about the corruption. Miami Ink is a nifty show which emphasized artistry and personal stories vs. the “so cool” non-conservative aura of tattoos. To top it off – this gal who lives and breathes cartoons actually liked it.

Wednesday: Finished babysitting once the kids were off to school and came to the office to find a nifty e-mail. I’ve been collecting publishing price quotes for the Writing Project’s 2006 Essay anthology. Fidlar Doubleday can do the project (approx. 100 pages, 150 copies) for about $500, which is nearly a grand less than Katherine’s total budget for the project. I’m feeling kinda pleased with myself on that one. Now I just have to get the anthology ready for publishing – which is something I’ve never done. Right now the anthology is a handful of Word documents which have been proofread, but that’s about it. I have to now combine them, format them, create a contents page, etc. and then convert them to a PDF so I can send the “output ready” document to the publisher. Oh yeah, and Katherine’s given me the job of designing the cover also. So, aside from actually printing the book, I’ve kind of been delegated to being the publisher. On one hand – mundo cool. On the other – very scary and intimidating.

In other news - it's Valentine's day, so there's chocolate cake in the main office. Yay!

One for Katherine

In lieu of getting each other Christmas gifts, Keith and I took a trip to Denver where I picked up some bronzite and gold pearls. I put them together and when I wore it to the office, Katherine asked to buy it. She quite liked the bronzite - which I think is cool, it's a very unusual looking stone.

Lightly Frosted

"Wow."
-Misty

Last night as we were leaving Katherine's class, Misty and I were more than a little surprised to find pea soup fog waiting for us. Thick stuff. It was pretty impressive. On the first stretch of the drive home, through mostly deserted highway, I could hardly see beyond my headlights. Pretty unusual in Colorado. This morning was neat, though, with all the fog frozen on the plants. Here are some pictures from my back yard.

A Dog Named Jack and the Metafictional Girl

Hostess at exclusive restaurant: And when were you hoping to dine with us?

Alex: Two years from tomorrow.

Hostess: Two years from tomorrow?

Alex: Yeah.

Hostess: Two years?

Alex: From tomorrow.

-The Lake House

Movie Review: The Lake House. A lovely romance adapted from a Korean movie. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock both give good performances and I love their dog. The only problem is that the main premise - the time crossover - doesn't make sense. Obviously, these people missed their prerequisite Star Trek episodes. Moral of the story: don't fuck with quantum physics. Well, that's exactly what Bullock and Reeves do. Okay, that minor incident aside, what about the damn mailbox? Why the hell is it suddenly a time portal? I mean, as far as premises go... If they had some kind, any kind of explanation for it, I'd be willing to bite. The problem is, they don't. So, it's a nice story as long as you ignore the logic holes and lack of continuity.

Movie Review: Lady in the Water. I heard mixed things about this one. Some liked it, some didn’t, and most figured it worthwhile for the metafiction more than the story itself. Well, when the gal’s name is Story, the metafiction is pretty obvious. I liked the sweetness of it, the metafiction stuff was interesting, but come on – why does everyone go along with it so easily? If my neighbor said, “Hey, this girl is a sea nymph and you’ve got to help me fight sod monsters,” I’d probably nod, smile, and lock the door. Most interesting was the writerly stuff, very fun was the critic stuff, and kind of lame was the rest of it.

Picture

Your dad failed!
-Mom

N.O.W. & Sales

"Which one do you think Tamar would like better?"
-Chris

Last week some of David's friends from PA came to visit and Anissa talked up my jewelry, saying they shold buy something for their wives. I brought some necklaces to Eilers on Friday (where David was singing) and Chris picked out the red necklace from my first N.O.W. post, while Brent ordered one to match the necklace I made for Anissa. She picked one out, also, which she wants modified. So, three necklaces in one night. Not bad - makes me smiley.

Anissa liked this necklace, but without the pendant and with a silver toggle vs. a gold one. Okay, no problem. A quick remake and viola! Another necklace for Anissa.

Grr...argh

Alas, 'twas not meant to be.

http://whedonesque.com/comments/12385#more

Hopefully, this means he can get to work on Goners, finish it up quickly, and get on to the next project. TV, Joss, do more TV. I'd much rather have the forty-odd minutes of show every week than two hours of movie every other year.

Dope, Dogs, and Stop Animation

Matthew: "She doesn't want a relationship with someone irresponsible. And I don't want a relationship with someone who isn't Nicky."
-Craig Ferguson, Saving Grace

Movie Review: Saving Grace. Sure, the blurb on Netflix sounded good, but I wasn’t expecting to laugh so much. I got to hand it to Craig Ferguson, the man’s funny. As both co-writer and co-star of the movie, he does a good job of showcasing his talent. Though it has some sweet, emotional, and even tense moments, the movie is founded on clever lines and goof ball antics. Great performances from the cast, and wonderful, wonderful humor.

Movie Review: As Good As it Gets. Okay we have a neurotic Jack Nicholson, gay Greg Kinnear, and frustrated Helen Hunt. Should be funny, right? Yeah, it’s funny. Nicholson is good at doing crazy and the way he and Kinnear play off each other is beautiful. There’s the dog, too. Beautiful. But, then something goes terribly wrong. Somehow the film makers thought they could get me to believe that Helen Hunt would somehow be attracted to Jack Nicholson. Come on folks, he’s crazy, he’s old, he’s not very pretty, and more than a little gross. Oh hubba hubba. Give me a break. The funny is good, the lovey falls apart.

Movie Review: The Corpse Bride. Nifty stuff, really. Stop motion animation is crazy stuff, and the crew on this movie put in a lot of TLC. Add to that the talents of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, and Christopher Lee, and you get a very fun movie. At just over an hour, it’s a quick watch, but very worthwhile.

Nuggets

This is the necklace I'm wearing today. It's made up of dark dyed shell nuggets (which I thought were super nifty when I found them at the Bead Gallery in Springs), metallic seed beads, and irregularly shaped red glass. The pendant was salvaged from a necklace I had years ago.

Bar Etiquette, Part 2

A bar is a public space. Please refrain from behaviors you would not do in other public spaces, like the library. These include: yelling, throwing food, and being intimate with the person you either came with or just picked up-we really don't need to see you groping each other, thanks. Remember, there are both people who work at the bar, or who are patrons, who will be subjected to your behavior. This is a great circumstance for the golden rule: If you don’t want people at the table next to you screaming and hollering, you really shouldn’t do so either.

Keep your hands off the server. If you are trying to get their attention, saying “excuse me” works wonders. You do not need to grab, poke, or prod the server to get them to look at you. Also, please refrain from putting your arm around the server, or similar grabs. Unless we are close friends, grabbing me is intruding on my personal space, and I am not pleased. Remember, folks, three-foot bubble of personal space. If the music is incredibly loud, or the server is distracted, and “excuse me” does not work, then you may tap the server on the shoulder. However, like I said, do not grab.

Please pay attention to the person who gets your drinks. If you are sitting at a table and the server comes to check on your table, that is the ideal time to order a new drink. Five minutes later when the server is walking past your table to check on another is not. This rule also applies when you are sitting at the bar. If you are sitting at the bar and facing away from the bartender (such as being turned around to talk to someone standing away from the bar) do not be surprised when the bartender lacks the psychic insight to know when you want a new drink. When ordering a new drink, face the bar/bartender long enough for them to give you the new drink and take the money for the drink. The bartender has other customers and would rather not yell to get your attention so they can give you the drink you ordered thirty seconds ago. Bonus: if you really want to talk to your friends, move to a table. Then you can all face each other and a server can take care of you.

Please pay attention to your surroundings. This particularly applies to people who are standing because they sometimes stand in the middle of a walkway or in front of the server’s station. Key indicators that you are in the way: being repeatedly asked to step aside, or you are standing in front of a computer screen. Please realize that the only way, especially at the bar where I work, for a server to get a drink for a customer is for the server to enter that drink into the computer. Please be courteous enough to take a few steps to the side where you are not interfering with the server’s job. Ditto this for the portion of the bar-often marked with vertical rails-where the server picks up their drinks.

Run a tab where you start it. If you start a tab at the bar, please stay at the bar. If you start a tab upstairs, please stay upstairs. If you start a tab at a table, please stay at a table. The key point here is that when you run a tab, and we run your credit card to close it, one person gets the tip. This means starting a tab with a bartender, then moving to a table and adding to that same tab while a waitress serves you, means the waitress gets stiffed. Of course, a lot of co-workers will divvy the tip with cash, but it’s a hassle. Please close out your bar tab before moving to a table, or consider tipping each person cash. This means you’re acknowledging that two people, not just one, took care of you.

Last, but not least: If you get cut off, don’t throw a fit. It’s in the bartender or server’s best interest not to cut you off. The more drinks you order, the more tips we get. So, if we say you’ve had enough, please accept that. We’re saving you money, throwing up, a worse hangover, etc. Also, being cut off does not necessarily mean we want you to leave. Most of the time we’re more than happy to bring you a glass of water and let you stick around. Limiting your alcohol does not mean we don't like you, it just means you've had enough.

Bar Etiquette

I’ve been waitressing for over a year now and I’ve noticed certain situations where people lack etiquette. Maybe they’re doing it on purpose, but maybe they just don’t know better. Here are some thoughts on ways to make yourself look good when you’re out and about in a bar or restaurant.

Remember what your mother taught you - Thank You never goes out of style. When a server brings something to you-whether it be the drink you ordered or an extra napkin, it never hurts to thank them. Also, remember to request things, not demand them. “Could we get some popcorn?” is a lot more polite than, “We need some popcorn.” The occasional “Please” will score you bonus points.

Patience is key. When you’re the only customer, your server can bring your drinks right away. However, when you’re one customer of fifty and there’s only one bar tender, it may take some time. Be a little gracious. Try to refrain from demanding “Where’s my __?” and/or waving wildly at the server as if they forgot you. Your drinks are coming, really.

15% tip is standard. Servers get paid less than minimum wage. It’s hard to pay rent on $3.00 an hour. This is why we rely on customers to tip. The bonus for you is that we want to make you happy so we get a good tip. Unless service is very poor (and if this is the case, consider talking to a manager), you are expected to tip 15% of your total bill. If you don’t have the money to do so, it’s a good night to stay home. Here’s a bonus-when you’re a regular and a good tipper, you’ll get the star treatment. Feel like getting spoiled the next time you come in? Consider a 20% tip. Usually the difference is only a dollar or two, but the server will remember you.

Don’t fight over the bill. You and your friend both want to pay, so you both hold cash in front of the server. Then the server must try and figure who’s money to take without offending one or both parties. Try this instead: if you really want to pay the bill, pull the server aside when you sit down and ask that he/she give you the check at the end of the night. Or, split it with your friend. Say, “Okay, you pay the bill, I’ll pay the tip.” This way you both save face and the server doesn’t have to worry about offending you.

Last but not least: Don’t hit on the waitress. Being friendly is one thing, saying “You’re so hot” is another. Bonus tip: If you are going to hit on the server, whatever you do, don’t stiff them on the tip.

Necklace of the Week

"Yay"
-Me, on Friday

I had lunch with my mom on Friday, and when she came to the door, she came with a box marked Vanns.com. My camera! I was pretty cheezed. After lunch, I got to playing around with it and over the weekend did some experiments on how to best photograph my jewelry. While I’m still not one-hundred percent thrilled with the results, I’m quite happy with how well the details of the beads come out.

Anyhow, I started taking pictures of necklaces I think I could sell and ended up with forty-five. Neat. I also got to thinking of doing a Necklace of the Week type post. I may change the regularity, but that’s what it’ll start as. My first piece is one I made over Christmas break. I’ve worn it to campus twice and both times received a compliment on it-once from Constance and once from Katherine. It’s one of what I like to think of as my signature necklaces (when I think of what an artiste I am, in my head). I consistently get more compliments on these than most other necklaces I make. The pendant and corresponding beads are made of polymer clay which I hand-mix, meaning no batch is exactly the same. The pendants are hand-formed, and the other beads were rolled with a bead roller. (FIMO clay with silver spacers, blue goldstone, and malachite)

This week, since it’s week one, I’m going to do a bonus pic. This one was one of the first necklaces I made in this style. The gloss comes from my experiment with covering the polymer with embossing powder before I baked it. The polymer beads on this necklace were entirely hand formed/rolled. (Sculpey clay with labradorite and metallic seed beads)

The Red Button

"Delete this blog"
-blogger.com

A while back, I started a "writerly" blog, thinking it'd be my professional type blog. One I could refer people to and say, "Look how well I can talk about writing, there's my vast knowledge." The only problem, I hardly ever updated it. Now I can label. Now anyone who wants to expose themselves to my vast knowledge has it in their power to just click on the "Writing" button and immediately pluck out the relevant posts. Viola!

I have to say, though, I quite liked the blog name "The Greater Conversation." Oh well. Life goes on.

Feeling A Bit Professional

Me: What's your favorite color, Midori?
Midori: [shyly] Pink.
-From earlier this morning. Picking out beads.

About a week ago, Kiera (from the bar) brought over some of her grandmother's "pearl" jewelry for me to refurbish/update. I've been hearing about this jewelry for a while now, and we'd been talking about redoing it for a few months. From what she said about the jewelry, I was expecting genuine pearls, so I was a bit disappointed when they turned out to be glass. Oh well, still interesting stuff. I mean, it’s neat to think I got to dismantle this heirloom stuff that’s older than I am.

Kiera left me with three necklaces and some notes on what to do with them. Basically, we planned to get five necklaces and a bracelet out of them. This morning she picked up most of the finished pieces. I’m still working on two necklaces for her daughter, Midori, but they won’t take long at all. I’m excited at being near to finishing the job-my first major custom project. I feel all professional or something. I’m just sad that I have no pictures to share. Oh well, after I get my camera in the mail, I think I’ll ask her if I can take some pictures.

Other nifty news: Katherine bought one of my polymer necklaces for a friend, Anisa, who liked it so much she’s going to talk to a gal she knows (who is a curator for the local arts center) about including some of my jewelry in an upcoming “Own Your Own” show, which features crafty stuff local folk have made. The show’s in February already, so the spots may all be filled. Then again, there may be some room for me-assuming, of course, that this gal likes my work. Cross your fingers for me.

Lumix

"I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it..."
-The Pointer Sisters

For a while now, I've been contemplating getting a digital camera. I've been looking around a bit, finding some things out - like optical zoom is better than digital zoom. This morning, I ordered a camera from vanns.com.

Hoorah! It should be here in about a week. I'm excited.

Catch-up news. Tonight is my first night of class for the Spring semester. I have a linguistics class which focuses on phonemes and morphemes by way of teaching ESL. It should prove useful, if not exactly fascinating. Of course, Ted Taylor's teaching it, and his enthusiasm for linguistics makes the dry material more interesting. This man is one of those people who's a walking encyclopedia. I'm not kidding. It's impressive how much obscure information he can rattle off. Nice guy, too. Should be a good class.

I'm ready for school, too. Every break I end up hitting a point where the free time catches up to me and I finally say, "Okay, I'm bored." That point was Friday night.

Thursday, Keith and I ventured up to Denver to see the aquarium. It was pretty neat, but no comparison to the one we visited in Virginia. Of course, it only stands to reason that an aquarium which is half a mile from the beach is going to be more impressive than one that's a few thousand miles from the beach. We also hit a bead shop, Bead Haven (www.beadhavendenver.com). Not the biggest bead shop I've seen, but a very dense one. Good semi-precious selection, too. I got some bronzite, which I don't see often. Nifty stuff, goes well with the gold pearls I picked up.

Speaking of My Brother...

He took Sophmore pictures at the Air Force Academy a while back, here's one of the proofs my mom e-mailed me. I have to say, he looks rather smart in his uniform.

Seeing Old Friends

"That's a hell of a Christmas Present."
-Keith, after I told him.

Got a call from my mom last night - bad news. Bear with me just a moment while I set up the relationships:
My brother, Casey, has a friend who he's known since Day Care: Jason, whose dad, Roger, works with my mom.
Casey has another friend whose sister Alisha had a baby with Jason.

My mom called to tell me what Roger told her-the baby died. Alisha fed the baby and put the baby to bed. When she checked on the baby later, the baby was blue. SIDS.

Thus, last night my brother was reunited with people he hasn't seen in a while. He spent the evening with Jason, Alisha, and the family. Mom told me how, when Alisha came to pick Casey up, she walked in, grabbed him, and didn't let go for a good five minutes.

Movie Review: The Man Who Cried. A fitting movie to talk about, given the phone call from last night. It's an artistic film with wonderful music. It skirts WWII while at the same time addressing a lot of its issues - namely racial and religious prejudice. On the DVD "production notes" is a blurb that talks about the film maker's inspiration for the movie - remembering those who lost people they loved. Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett, and John Tuturro star. Highlight: The songs which are always lovely and often haunting.

On a lighter note: I also got in touch with a friend I don't see much. Monday night I got a phone message from my friend Cassie, who I went to middle & high school with and who's now in Ft. Collins at CSU. Yesterday we had lunch, did a bit of shopping, and caught up. It was nice to see her again. Out of all the people I went to high school with, she's one of the few I've kept in touch with. The other three have extenuating circumstances. For instance, one's my brother.