Crafty Wonderland

Yep, in my other life- the one that makes all the money- I have been working 18 hour days. Today was actually a 21 hour day (in at 6am, back home at 3am), because I had to finish up everything for the giant craft show I'll be taking part in over the weekend.
In case you wondered, jewelers have no life and get very little sleep this time of year...and since that means no time to write,of course I'm dying to crack open the computer! It's a bit like shopping-- when I have no money, I want everything in the store, but when I'm flush, nothing interests me.

So anyway, if you live in Portland or are visiting Portland, come by the Convention Center, Hall C, from 11-5 Saturday and Sunday for the CRAFTY WONDERLAND! My booth will be in the far corner. You can see me in my 'other life', and give me crap about being such a slacker on my writing ;-)

Hellion Gallery Grand Opening!

For the last couple months, hubby Matt has been showing artwork from Japanese artists, but it was all just backstock and extra pieces from older shows. Tonight, he has his first 'real' show, with a theme and everything!!
The show is called "Bridge and Bashi" and it features artwork from 8 Portland artists, collaborating with 8 Japanese artists.

Hellion Gallery is located at 323 NW 6th, near Everett Street Lofts, so if you're out and about for the First Thursday art walk, please come by and say HI!

(I'll be in the little gallery in the back, while Matt tends to the big show out front!)

Cleaning up Before the Maid Comes Over

I don't have a maid. But if I did, she would be useless, because I would clean the place spotless before she got there. I mean, do I really want her to see how dusty and doghair-y and dirty clothes-y my house really is? NO WAY. I want her to come and say, "My goodness, what a neatnik... she hardly needs me at all!"

The reason I bring this up is because this behavior of mine crosses over into many aspects of my life, including my writing. I recently was lucky enough to win a 3-chapter editing job (thank you Justine Dell and Candice!), and true to form, I am cleaning the dang house before the maid gets there. I can't help myself!!

Do you do this too? Madly editing before you're supposed to show it to someone? Or are you of the school that says, "why should I clean the house, that's what I paying for"?
(or winning contests for, as the case may be)

Just wondering.......

Come see me, why dontcha?

So, hubby Matt decided over the summer that it was time to open his own art gallery, which should be a great help to my 'Art that Makes Me Wanna Write a Book" posts! As you can probably guess, the gallery is focused solely on the Japanese artists he has developed ties with over the last several years.

If you live in Portland, come swing by and see me tonight, at the gallery! He is having a soft opening this month, with pieces from a wide range of his artists (December will be the grand opening, with a show of all new works).
So if you're out and about for the First Thursday art walk in the Pearl, come on by Hellion Gallery! We're at 323 NW 6th, between Everett and Flanders.

And no, I'm totally not getting any writing done tonight....oh well, I'm being inspired by art instead!

Contests, Winners, and Shameless Plugs

First, check out this great contest posted by Amanda over at Ramblings of a Drifting Mind! She's celebrating her 100th, 125th,and 150th followers, plus her 21st birthday to boot!

Also, Justine Dell is having an amazing contest to celebrate her 250th follower, and some of the prizes include: a query critique, a 3 chapter line edit, and a full MS copy edit!! (Seriously people, do you know how much a full MS copy edit costs? Go enter RIGHT NOW!)

Next, WINNERS! After putting your story suggestions for my scar to the test, it turned out to be a close race... but only one caused a friend I haven't seen in a while to get ginger ale up her nose. This was the scenario:
Friend,"Hey, what happened to your hand??" (takes a sip of ginger ale)
Me, "Zombie."
Friend, (snorting laugh) "Ow..."
Me, "Yah, it hurt"
Friend, "No, I totally got ginger ale up my nose-- it hurts!"

So congrats to VALERIE GEARY!
Email me and we'll figure out the prize delivery :-)


And last, I am shamelessy plugging my sister's blog, which is made of AWESOME, particularly if you love Japan.
She regularly posts about life in Japan, from festivals and tradition to raising three kids there, and she has added a couple new features that I love:
"Monday Manglish", in which she outs Japan for its bizarre and unintentionally hilarious usage of english...
and Friday Field Notes, in which she posts photos of interesting bits of nature she has seen whilst walking the kids to school. She started this feature at the request of our mother. Our family, you see, is genetically inclined to notice every plant and bird and living creature within a 50 foot radius, and then rush home to look it up in a book.

We may or may not have been guilty of nearly crashing the car over a clump of daylillies on the side of the road...

But I digress-- go check out my sister's blog and follow her for some cool insights into Japan!

I Like a Good Scar. Also, a contest!

Seriously, I do!
I know, it's weird. Maybe even a little icky. But as soon as I see an interesting scar on a person, my head is filled with scenarios to explain how it got there. It must be the writer in me, finding inspiration everywhere....

And now, I've got a lovely little piece of inspiration permanently etched onto...ME.

That's right. See the date of my last post? That was exactly one day before...gasp...the accident. Oh OK, it wasn't that dramatic. Like most scars, it was caused by the silliest, most mundane thing you can imagine, and not by an exciting encounter with a bear. I cut the holy crap out of my first finger when I was (drumroll please) washing dishes.

A word of caution now goes out to my dear readers: don't ever, ever, wash a glass by shoving your hand and the sponge down into the glass and twisting. What happens, I learned, is that a giant chunk of the glass breaks off, and your whole hand runs into the sharp edge. YUK.

The funniest thing was trying to explain to well-meaning people with vitamin E oil that I didn't really care if the cut left a scar. "But, it will make for interesting stories!" I said to blank stares. Then they would give me the oil and I'd mumble thanks. Really, the only thing I cared about was that it didn't cripple the finger, since I make my living with my hands. I discovered pretty quickly it's hard to set diamonds with that finger out of commission!

Fortunately, the finger is fine, I just missed the tendon, and all I have left now is a nice, curving scar.... which I am thinking up good stories about, because the glass thing just isn't cool enough. ;-P

For those of you with weak stomachs, look at the big picture below of our new puppy, Ebi, and think happy happy thoughts. For those of you with a high gore tolerance, scroll a little farther for a photo just after I got my 6 stitches.




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I know, yuck, right? But man do I look tough now! Yah, just ask those muggers who's tough, after I wrestled the knife away from them and-- what? Story not believable? Alright, I'll come up with another one. Or better yet, why don't you guys come up with a good story for my new scar, and the one I end up using gets a fancy little silver pendant made by my pitifully scarred hands :-)

UPDATE: I always forget these things.... I suppose I need to put an end date on the contest, huh? So how about Tuesday the 28th at 9AM. Get your stories about my scar in by then, and I'll announce the winner on Wednesday evening, after I've had a chance to try out each story!

My Favorite Summer Song

Cleaning out the basement and the garage today, and just thought I would share my favorite summer song ever. It's a Japanese 'golden oldie' from the 70's ! Miki Hirayama is the singer, and I found it thanks to my all-time favorite Japanese movie-- Adrenaline Drive. There's just nothing better than a movie about two shy young people who steal some gangsters' money, then overcome their shy natures and fall in love while on the run!

Imagine the bumbling gangsters, packed into a tiny, tiny car, chasing the couple... then they turn on the radio and start singing along to this tune.

OK, you don't have to imagine because I just found that on youtube as well.



And for those of you who thought the main 'good guy' in the back of the truck looked familiar... he is Masanobu Ando, of Battle Royale (and a lot of other movies) fame. I love that guy-- seriously the Japanese Johnny Depp.

That's it for today... sorry about the lack of writing relevance, but I thought everyone needed to enjoy my FAVORITE SUMMER SONG!