This showed up on Pinterest, by the artist Caitlin Keegan (she illustrated Sister Corita Kent’s “Some Rules for Students and Teachers” and they are delightful).
This is a good bookend to the first one: The point is to keep trying. Let’s grow! (via)
Good old Lisa Congdon again.
And finally, Doc sent me this on Facebook. I feel this, deeply.
This was in the Pome newsletter last week and, while I don’t usually go for a prose poem, I like it–“A long trip of days like song.” Here’s hoping.
Better Days are Ahead
Better days are ahead. The days of the child musicians in tune with the parks. The days of the orbiting earth and other meetings like kisses. I say better days are ahead. Days with cigars and beautiful women. Days of brides like flowers. Better days will come. Days without hate or war. Days of moon and sun. The days fiery red candles will come for dinner. Happy days are coming. Seas and friends will come. The sunrays speak of the day. I mean the day of the next big star. They say better days are ahead. The dream day will come. The days of marvel are to come. Legitimate police. Days bright as fire that sound like thunder. Days of angels and guitars. Days of metal trumpets. Better days are ahead. Do not be discouraged. The days of paid debts and banquets of grapes will come. The days like circuses will come. The tamed lions and elephants and hyenas will come. The days of the peaceful jungle will come. A long trip of days like song. The vast Nile now a furrow. The days of liquid flames, of flying men, of galaxies, of women who will come as the night.
Miguel James
trans. Anne Boyer
Having a baby is for people who are far more optimistic than I, but when friends decide to do it, you can’t help but wish them well on their moonshot–and sew them tiny clothes.
These are for a friend who isn’t finding out the gender and whose parents thought the ultrasound picture she used to break the news was a loaf of bread at first. Naturally, I had to find bread-printed fabric for an outfit for the “Little Loaf”:
These are FREE patterns from Brindille & Twig, the Ringer Tee and the Bummies diaper cover.
I did the “fill-a-yard” option from Spoonflower which meant I could get two prints into a yard, so I found more carb-printed fabric and made a romper, too:
This is the One-Piece Romper, which is pretty labor intensive but SO CUTE. Ribbing on both was from Urban Kids Fabric and the snaps on the romper are from Snap Source (the only snaps I’ll use–seriously, give them a try. Life changing.).
I’m pretty sure my friend doesn’t read the blog, so I hope I’m not spoiling the surprise. Making these over the last week or so was really therapeutic–the yellow, the fabric, the smolness of everything. It’s always nice to share some optimism, especially now.
We didn’t go up into the mountains for the three months of the first wave, both because the Forest Service had asked people to stay away and because there was no way to stay six feet apart on a narrow trail.
Which means we missed all of the snow melt and leafing out and jumped right into summer:
Which means….Moley’s back in the river!
We still avoided a real trail–this is all just off the road at the upper canyon in Millcreek, which is closed to cars until July. But wow, was it nice to get out (and get in the water):
1. I stopped counting the days of lockdown since our state opened up a few weeks ago…and now we’re seeing our rona cases increase again. As Kottke put it: Jesus Christ, Just Wear A Face Mask!
2. This is allegedly written by a former police officer, but it’s unverified, so….take it with a grain of salt. But even as a thought exercise versus actual opinion, it’s powerful:
Look around you and think about the kind of world you want to live in. Is it one where an all-powerful stranger with a gun keeps you and your neighbors in line with the fear of death, or can you picture a world where, as a community, we embrace our most vulnerable, meet their needs, heal their wounds, honor their dignity, and make them family instead of desperate outsiders?
3. I need this on a shirt:
(I finally had to look up how to pronounce that, btw. Language: always evolving!)
I didn’t know the city of Bristol had a poet laureate but they do and her name is Vanessa Kisuule. She wrote a poem about the statue of Edward Colston getting removed and it’s wonderful. It’s wonderful to hear her read it, too–I forget poetry is about sound (her delightful British accent doesn’t hurt either). Give it a listen:
This was in Sunday’s paper:
As I said on Monday, what a time to be alive. (I’m saying it with a different inflection here, but still. Things are going on. I saw something on Twitter the other day along the lines of, “Future historians will have to pick which quarter of 2020 to specialize in.”)
(This has always been a place to just share stuff I’m thinking about. I’ve been thinking about the Black Lives Matter movement a lot over the last week….but, because this is me, I’ve also been thinking about what to wear and what to sew. I don’t want to make anything seem trivial by the subject changes from day to day; this is just whatever bubbles up at the top of my brain every morning. Today, it’s sewing. It is a privilege to be able to choose to think about fashion over protest, and I want to always acknowledge that.)
Anyway, it doesn’t look like we’ll be going back to working in the office any time soon, so I really need to adjust my sewing plans. Now that it’s hot out, the home office upstairs can get really stuffy in the day (full southwest exposure) and all my sleek brushed poly Brassie joggers are the last thing I want to wear.
I’ve been wearing a pair of Uniqlo wide leg knit pants with my Ogden camis and I think that’s a winning formula. We could even translate that silhouette into a JUMPSUIT and skip the whole waistband thing. So…I guess it’s going to be Big Leg Summer over here:
I have this CCP Amy Jumpsuit and some cotton gauze from JoAnn, so this could be a “free” project!
Those pants in View D look amazing (those pockets!) and the Style Sew Me pattern is currently only $5! View A and B would be fantastic for winter loungewear, too.
I think it also may have to be Bra Making Summer, finally, after thinking about the idea and making undies and swimwear. Because I’m not about to put on an underwire to work from home but I don’t love any of my ready-made wireless ones enough to buy more. I’ve had the Watson bra saved since it was released years ago:
There’s still what feels like a worldwide shortage of elastic, so the lack of supplies my stop me, but I have nothing but time and comfy clothes now.
If you’ve ever thought that, here’s some evidence to the contrary:
More at The Guardian: Minneapolis lawmakers vow to disband police department in historic move
And over in England, someone (about 10,000 people!) got the memo to protest by throwing things into the harbor:
More at Mashable, which is not the finest news source, but has a deeply satisfying take: Enjoy watching as Brits tear down a slaver’s statue and dump it in the river
What a time to be alive, truly.
1. Well, here we are. Halfway through 2020, which has not pulled ANY punches (to put it mildly). I like this, though:
As therapy has taught me, change is SO HARD and feelings are SO UNCOMFORTABLE–but it’s worth it. It’s worth it.
2. Also?
(via)
3. Surprisingly hard: Antidepressants or Tolkein?
4. Take care of yourselves, everyone. Wear a mask and, if you can, turn off the news and get some sun.