HGTV Hideous

Only HGTV could promote a room as totally hideous as this! Am I the only one who notices that the HGTV Emperor has no taste? Look at this photo in an email newsletter they sent me, it was the Feature Article!

First of all, those painted cabinets - what were they thinking? Next, the tiled back splash with the lovely white electric outlet cover design element. For crying out loud! If, and I do mean if, you have to keep cheap electric outlet plates (and they don't so there's no excuse here...) then make them part of the design element! Blue tiles set on point with crappy white rectangular electric plate covers - it doesn't work. Poor Mr. Blackwell. Must be rolling in his grave. He wouldn't ask for a glass of water in this kitchen.

What did they do right? The island has an interesting design. I'm afraid I'm old enough to remember 1970's Avacado Green so that countertop makes me want to puke, but view the photo in black and white to get past that and the design has potential.

Thanks HGTV for cracking me up!

Two Cards

"There were two cards and then there were three cards and then I bet and then someone else bet and then there was this other card and then he bet and then I raised and then he called even though he never should have and then the last card gave him the best hand even though my hand was better blahblahblah..." If you say this once a day or more you need to get a life.

Things that make me laugh

I love learning, and I seek it out in odd places. Books, classes, other people (pretty normal); internet and wikipedia (getting to be normal) and The Straight Dope. More specifically, The Straight Dope Message Boards (SDMB to those in the know). On these boards I find wisdom and facts from intellectual leaders and spam from snot nosed idiots. You gotta take the bad with the good when you're paying nothing... And there's a lot more intelligence than stupidity because the members come down on jerks (not people asking an honest question; jerks trying to be jerkish) like a ton of tarantulas.

And then there's the Pit. Ya takes ya chances when you post there, but by God, I get my best laughs there. Like this guy, kinda peeved about something, but not red-faced and squelching, as he explains in his own words "...It's not necessarily that irksome; but let's not put lipstick on a pig and call it a VP candidate, it is stupid."

I just about spit out my juice! Hehehehe. I'll be using that line as much as I can in the future :)

Not all Alaskans support Palin

I stopped telling people where I am from when traveling. I dislike discussing politics with anyone, I am one of those people who is deeply and quietly thankful to all of the souls who have given and sacrificed to create this wonderful country and I fear for it's future if it is turned over to a woman who has an utter lack of experience and morals to intelligently lead this diverse nation in the years ahead. She needs to go back to Wasilla and take care of her own family, her most important job and responsibility, which she's forsaken in her greed for the spotlight.

Best quote I've seen in a long time

"Dear God, save us from the people who believe in you." -- post-9/11 grafitti

N.E.E.T. Magazine

I love this online magazine and I am speechless with admiration for the gal that puts it all together - very well done!

No Bailout! - with Links

Read an economist (NOT politician's!) view here. Google your senator and congressional represenatative's name and send him/her an emal - NO BAILOUT!

Here's the CEO of BB&T: “This is a housing value crisis,” Allison wrote. “It does not make economic sense to purchase credit card loans, automobile loans, etc. The government should directly purchase housing assets, not real estate bonds. ...

He adds the primary beneficiaries of the proposed rescue are Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). The U.S. Treasury, he says, is “totally dominated by Wall Street investment bankers,” and “cannot be relied on to objectively assess all the implications of government policy on all financial intermediaries.”

Allison also said it is “inappropriate that the debate is largely being shaped by the financial institutions who made very poor decisions.”

From a professor at Columbia, an economist: "The administration is once again holding a gun at our head, saying, "My way or the highway." We have been bamboozled before by this tactic. We should not let it happen to us again. There are alternatives."

Guess who is paying all the Representatives and Senators that are voting FOR the bailout....you guessed right!! Wall street bankers who created this phoney crisis!

I am guessing that these same banks own a few newspapers...... Remember Chicken Little - - just because they say the sky is falling doesn't mean that it is - it only means that their sky and their golden parachutes are falling.....boo hoo for them.

Did you notice that the day after the bailout vote of NO that stocks rose half again!! What part of the sky is falling is that? How much media coverage did THAT get???

And speaking of stupid ideas that are all out insane for America......

I cry every night for what a joke this nation has become, in my lifetime. I am ashamed of us.

Goals

I've read some pretty motivational books about setting goals (Jack Canfield) and I know that it works - for me anyway. Long term, short term, daily, weekly, annually. I make lists, write on the calendar, post reminders to myself and I repeat my mantra "yes, I can get all this done. It's easy" and usually it is. I am also a procrastinator. I have a big goal coming up, for a project I've repeatedly work on and then set aside, for 10 years. I now have 113 days left and only 1/3 of the project done (in draft). Hehehehe. I like a little pressure too, that's why I procrastinate. Let's see if I cross this finish line on time.

My Dandelions are dead

Ignorant and obnoxious = toxic. I am searching for an antidote for toxic people. I was going to try and use dandelion milk but my tresspassing, small minded, poisonous neighbors infested my poor dandelions and killed them. Why are people always killing the things I love? Why?

I eat my dandelions and I feed them to my bunnies. They don't hurt a thing. When I wasn't looking these shit-for-brains neighbors came into our fenced back yard and sprayed them dead. What gall! I came within inches of bleaching their garden and I can assure you I was getting more nutritional value from my dandelions than they were from their garden growth.

Jim & Jean Lewis, Seward Alaska, are Poison people. I locked the doors in fear that they might come into the house and throw out any food in my fridge that they don't like. Assholes.

Dingbats

I wonder if I am disparaging a real animal when I call some "quilt designers" dingbats? These idiots think they can draft up a Roman Square and call it their own design. What bullshit.
and, get this, they email me to see if I'll advertise their crap. Copies of free totebag patterns being pawned off as "their pattern" complete with a price tag! Greedy, stupid cups of sour milk. Ignorant iron brains. And don't get me started on the ones who design stuff on EQ and don't even make the quilt and call it a pattern! It's not a pattern, it's clipart! What crap heads.

My week

It started on Monday, when I took a wicked hit to the face by a stump. Wednesday I developed a UTI. Did I see the DR right away? No, I'm stupid & tried all the home recipes. Friday I got to the DR but by then the pain was interesting. Saturday a dog bit me and the alternator went out on my car. Sunday got a bad toothache and I discovered a huge red swollen bug bite on my leg. I'm kind of afraid what next week will bring. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot...I'm late....

If you aren't laughing by now, you need to watch a comedy show or have someone tickle you until you do laugh.

Ok, the UTI symptons are better, the bites (dog and bug) will heal and the car is fixable. The stump is history and, after all, I am almost 50. I still do have a lot to be grateful for. I'm going to go make a list........

Mother Bear

I believe in letting kids learn. At times that means letting them get little hurts, to learn to avoid the big hurts. Every responsible parent will relate to this - it's harder on the parent watching their kids 'learn a lesson' than it is on the kid.

Someone went after my kid recently and I thought I was going to come out of my skin and rip his obnoxious freaking face off his skanky smarmy body. Oh. My. Goodness. I had to fight the tidal wave of 'protect my kid' and remember that she's a big girl and "don't interfere - she can handle it herself and she'll be stronger for it" but it was bad.

After a week I calmed down enough to write a very specific and to the point letter of complaint to the company that this man belongs to. I had damned well better receive satisfaction or all hell's gonna break loose. Stay tuned.

We both received acknowledgement of our experience, with apologies for any misunderstanding, along with some fabric. We'll give the fabrics away and move forward with a positive attitude.

Appreciation and Age

I reminded myself of how wonderful it is to be almost 50 years old. I was on an airplane, squeezing my size 14 rear end into a size 8 chair and I looked around me. I saw young mothers and mothers of teens and I said a few words of Thanks. It went like this "I am so grateful that I don't have to struggle with a baby, entertain a toddler or reign in a teenager while stuck on this miserable plane ride".

I have had to do all of those, plus put up with a grown man (I think you know what that means) so I sat back in my chair and got as comfortable as I could and went to my happy thoughts of how pleasant my trip had been, how much I looked forward to being home again, and how peaceful it is to travel alone. Time flew.

Spring Quilt Market 2008 Portland, Oregon

I have been going to Quilt Market for 9 years and I have never seen so many small pattern designers pay thousands of dollars for travel, booth expenses and more and then sit on their asses in their booths and talk to their best friends while the business people they seek just walk on by. It was disgusting.

I was not the only buyer to walk away from Market saying "if I wanted to see quilters keeping their chairs warm I would have gone to a guild meeting".

I walked, talked, photographed (with permission) and posted to my new blog "Quilt News" just about anyone who got up or was already standing and gave me or my daughter a greeting and told us about their product or service. Good luck to you gals, you were working the show and making your investment pay off.

If you had a booth and were:

• sitting and eating
• sitting and chatting with your pal
• sitting and staring at the passing throng
• sitting and checking your email on your laptop
  
• sitting and looking at the Quilt Market Buyer's Guide

then you and your booth are NOT on my blog. I wanted to take pictures of you idiots but I didn't want to ask permission.

Several booths were doing a good business and we didn't want to interrupt them, so they are also not listed on the blog - not being listed doesn't mean you weren't doing well, but if any of the above strikes a chord, stay home and save your money. You're not a serious vendor.

Bad Quilting Videos

Some so bad all you can do is laugh! A few really, really good ones too. Just a few.

My friend Judy used to tell me that I had better change my ways or I was going to hell. I responded that I've had a reservation in hell for so long that I can't believe I haven't been sent for yet. It's true.

I found this place called Vod Pod. I don't understand what it's all about but that doesn't stop me from using it - LOL! I typed in quilting and got thousands of videos on quilting that are hosted on several sites. Neat. I've spent about 10 hours looking at them (and a few of their related websites, but that's a whole other story!) and making comments about my impression of the video.

I am opinionated and, just to clarify, I never intended for my comments to be seen by anyone except a pal of mine. When I logged in 26 people had already viewed my snide remarks. I really only intended my comments to help me learn what not to do.

My Newest Heartbreak

10 bunnies are dead. The woodshed that they burrowed under collapsed upon it's supports and crushed them. We moved out all the wood and pulled up the pallets and found them. We are heartbroken. Those rabbits are one of the few things that can make me laugh anymore and I worry so much about them. I hate that we were unprepared for this tragedy.

My rabbits.

I had 21 or more, plus the spoiled furball that lives with us, and today we counted 7. We aren't sure where the rest are. I hope they come home soon.

In the photo from a few months ago, the smokehouse is on the left, where we smoke our fish in the summer and the woodshed is on the right. The section in the back is the one that collapsed. In the center back you can see the feeder that Tom built for them, to get their food up off the ground and protect them from predators while they are eating.

Sound Advice from a Sane Individual

I was quite impressed...a few choice quotes:

....most likely you’ll need to try something you’ve never done before. If you aren’t willing to do that, you’re doomed....

... it’s almost a rule that waking up groggy and eating a crappy diet go hand in hand. Keep in mind that in the USA, the average diet is an extremely crappy diet....

As you experiment, seek improvement, not perfection....

Ringsurf's tutorial on how to lose business

It's good. Start by offering a great service, free. Lots of people jump in and are happy. Now, instead of asking them "Hey, we see that you like this....wouldja wanna pay a little for it?" I would have said "Sure". It's worth it to me to have this service. AS IT WAS.

Flickr did that. They let me upload a ton of pictures for free. I got to see pics of my granddaughter (who lives TOO far away) immediately when my daughter uploaded them. But the whole time we used the service, Flickr kept me up to date like this "We see that you are up to 25% capacity on your photos. You can keep uploading and maybe max out, but that's ok, we will still show you your newest pics.....(you get the idea) or (they said) you can upgrade to PRO and unlimited space for $$$. So, we just kept uploading, even when we maxed out our limit. And we liked it so much that I am now paying an annual fee to use it and I am happy to pay!

Hello Ringsurf!! Listen up! This is how you get money!

Here's Ringsurfs business plan: Without telling your users - re-direct all the internet traffic that you allowed them to use for free, and stick godawful ads on top of it and make it impossible to figure out how to get back off their site (I call that hijacking my computer!)

No, I won't let anyone do that to me. It took me days to find a new host (thank you Alt-webring.com), learn enough html to make things work the way I want them to, contact all my ringmembers and help them through the sign up process and keep at it for weeks - just to dump ringsurf and keep the service I've learned to love (BlogRings). It was worth it. I now know 2 things: more html (and I've been using it everywhere!) and Ringsurf isn't worth a dime.

Here's something you might want to know: I have a full tutorial HERE on how to create your own blog ring on alt-webring. Step by step, easy to follow, with screen shots and all. Join me, dump ringsurf, BE FREE!!!

Coming Soon! - NOT

I've had enough of unfinished websites. If you have taken the time to build or pay for a website for your business do it right and complete it. If you have a link that has a valid title, but the page just says "coming soon" take it down right now, today, this instant!

Let me tell you what "coming soon" means: I'm not coming back. I've clicked that link on your site several times since you "updated" your web, waiting for you to get your business together and I have come to the conclusion that you don't know what you are doing and that you are deliberately misleading me and I don't like it.

It's like going to a restaurant and getting comfortable in the booth, reviewing the nicely presented Menu and seeing your favorite item - just what you were hoping for - A Chocolate Shake! When the waitress comes you can hardly wait "Oooohhhh" you sigh. "I'd like one of your chocolate shakes, please" you tell her. "We don't have any shakes" she says as she takes the menu you are handing her. "Wait! It says right here" you exclaim as you snatch back the menu, flinging it open and pointing to the item. CHOCOLATE SHAKE

"Oh, sorry, we have the shake machine, we just haven't hooked it up yet" she tells you, quite clearly. "Wha wha why is it on the Menu?" you sob, heartbroken. "Oh, we printed those the day we got the shake machine a couple of months ago, we just haven't gotten around to hooking it up, that's all. Sorry."

If you say you have something, restaurant menu, web menu, I don't care which, you had better be prepared to serve it up when I ask for it or click on it. If you trick me with that "Coming Soon" crap I won't be coming back. I bet I'm not the only one.

Getting Published

Wanna be writers don't always know the 3 different types of publishing. Here they are:

• by a national (or international) publishing house
• by a Print On Demand (POD) company
  
• self publish

I am not going to get into the fine details of each nor the pro's and cons of each. If you really want to be published, do your own research and decide which process suits you best. If you are considering POD here's a blog that I thought was worthwhile reading: PODDY Mouth

Lemonade

I am reading Seth Godin's book called "The Dip". It's about quitting when you're accomplishing nothing (you find that you're traveling a road that ends in a cul-de-sac) and pushing through the dip (you have to read the book to get it) to attain your highest goals, and knowing when to either quit or push.

I read Seth daily and bought 2 of his books. His thoughts on the changing marketplace are fascinating to me, especially his view of the impact free technology is having on traditional business structure. He vilifies the record industry, but when I read his posts on the subject (try here and here) I substitute the words record/music with publisher/book. It's a dying dinosaur who's days of control are over.

Just like the artists who now sell their own MP3 downloads from their own websites, produced in their own homes with their own equipment (tolling the death knell for big corporate controlled music studios), quilt writers & designers go straight to their fans with downloadable patterns, YouTube video instructions, DVD's they made themselves and bypass the overcontrolling corporate publishing world. Cool.

My co-author wants to pursue organic fabrics and printing on recycled paper. I want to pursue downloadable patterns and instructional DVD's. Together I think we'll bypass the traditional structure and go straight to the quilters who want to see and hear what we have to offer. I'm looking forward to making some lemonade.

Angry Author

Publishers, here's how to piss your authors off forever:

• don't tell the author that they don't have an editor anymore when she leaves the company
  
• don't tell the author that the marketing gal is gone (the only employee who keeps in touch with the author!) just let the emails bounce into internet limbo she's still there (yahooo!), they just gave her a bad email address!
• don't tell the author that their book has sold out and is going into a second printing
• don't ask the author if they have any corrections before going into a second printing
• don't respond to the author's proposal for a another book

Stay tuned, I'll update you with additional big business bureaucratic stupidity. My guess is I'll be adding to this list monthly.

Time, the Internet and Music

I've already posted about how much I love blog surfing, and just a few months ago I couldn't even understand what purpose in life a blog could possibly have. I just didn't get it and I can say, quite honestly right now, that I still don't. But. I don't have to understand something to like it! Lucky me!

I like You Tube. I *love* music, but I hate the idea of stealing songs and music from an artist. I like to buy my music. But YouTube gives you a little tantalizing taste of what you're going to get when you buy (kind of like radio, with pictures) and I have to admit that it just makes me buy more, or find artists that I never knew about, and now I want to buy their music. Like "Straight No Chaser" (an a cappella group) and their rendition of "This is How We Do It" a song I love. They have 7 and a half MILLION hits to this video on YouTube, and they loaded it up to YouTube so that I could find it, hear it, love it and buy it. Smart.

I found them because I didn't know the artist's name that sings the famous version of "This is How We Do It" and I figured I could find it on YouTube.....well I still don't know it because I found Straight No Chaser. Hehehehe. Now you know how I waste my time.

No, Thank you.

After 49 years of sometimes hard and sometimes easy living, I am choosing to not accept criticism or sabotage from people who try to convince me that they are my friend. I struggle with how to end the relationship because I don't like confrontation. I love helping people and I will go thousands of miles to help someone in need. But I expect something back and that something is to not be sabotaged when I am working or creating.

My *friends* help me. If you are putting barriers up between me and success, well, give it your best shot. I know how to crawl under, walk around and jump over barriers. And I've taken a few out when I've had to. I'm still going. Just not with you anymore.

MY Quilts

Here's the deal. I might *encourage* you to finish your quilts, or your projects, or push you to actually DO the stuff you say you're going to do, but guess what? It's because I want you to enjoy the pleasure of finishing up on something and giving your quilting a purpose. I have a clearly stated purpose for my quilts and I've been open and honest about it since I started quilting. I donate my quilts to charity (or very rarely to people I love). Me. My quilts. Mine. To do with as I please.

I don't need anyone's criticism on what they think I should do with my quilts. Every breath we take is a precious gift. Don't waste your precious gift telling me what to do with my quilts. Go quilt your own.

Quilt Top

Or, in my words, that useless pile of fabric you think is a quilt. Here's the golden rule of quilts - it's not a quilt until it's quilted. PERIOD. A pile of tops is a waste of fabric. Let that sink in.

You have 3 choices and aren't you glad I'm here to help? Quilt it yourself. No excuses. Stitch it in the ditch if you can't do anything else and even a household pet can stitch in the ditch. Just do it.

You can't? You really can't? Then hire a quilter to do it. Oh, you couldn't pay someone to quilt your precious quilt? Did you pay for the fabric? The batting? The thread? The pattern? I think you see where this is going. Pay to have it quilted. Can't afford it? See option 1.

Can't do either? Give it away and switch to a quilt-as-you-go style. At least then you'll be a quiltmaker instead of a useless-pile-of-fabric-maker.

Blog Surfing

I love the internet but even more, I'm learning to love reading blogs! I've got some great bookmarks and access to blog rings and I waste more quality time there, reading blogs and looking at pictures, than I did watching tv.

I don't watch tv much anymore, I found it a huge waste of time and I *hated* the commercials. Now I just surf blogs that I like, and on almost every one of them I learn something new!

That's always been my second favorite entertainment activity anyway (reading being #1) I love to learn new stuff. I take classes for free from HP, I learn about all kinds of stuff I don't understand from Wiki or EHow, I belong to great lists of quilters who share their experiences and now I read the blogs of doers and learn how they do stuff! Some people are happy channel surfing on tv ~ give me a computer and mouse and I'm just as happy blog surfing.

What's Your Name?

I am a 'didiot'. That's my word. I do stuff, not always right and never perfect, but at least I tried and I usually keep at it, trying to get better and learn as I keep doing. I am an idiot who tried and did - didiot.

I know a lot of 'wannabums'. "I'm gonna...." is their mantra, while they sit on their bums. "Someday I wanna....". Get off your bum and DO IT. Don't waste your time by being a wannabum, try it out, do it, even if it's not perfect, and proudly call yourself a didiot. :)

QUILT ME © ® ™ Patented Process, Registered Name, Trademarked Phrase

© ® ™ This protectionism in quilting has gotten out of hand. What started out as a reasonable effort (and don't get me started on how effective it is - look at all the people who still violate copyright protections!) to 'register and protect' artistic quilt content under United States copyright law has now become a freaking free for all on getting as many stupid symbols behind your Cutsie Pie™ name as possible.

I am sick of seeing these symbols on every single quilty thing I look at. Now™even™normal©quilting™words™and 'commonly used phrases'® have all stupid symbols beside them. GET OFF IT PEOPLE!

And you *&#^*# people who copy protected works and give it to your friends - grow up and respect the designers and their work. STOP STEALING. Then maybe designers, writers, and every other creative genius out there can Cut The Crap™ on this symbol overdose.

3/27/08 - Oh lookeee - Seth Godin agrees with me! http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/03/a-dumb-branding.html

Borders on Quilts

I hate borders! Borders are for holding people (and quilts) back! Let your quilt be free! Repeat after me..."we don't need no stinking borders!"

How 'normal' are borders? White bread. Wonder Bread. Go Rye - put a strip of fabric on 1 side and call it a border! Let the other three sides be free!

Liberate your quilt from this mindless expansion. "Oh" you say, "I only have enough blocks for a twin and I want to have a double sized quilt". Well - do you know anyone that big?

If the quilt is big enough to cover most of a person, it's perfect! Put a binding on it and give it to them and move on to a project that doesn't have borders.