Whimsy Wednesday: We Could Be Gypsies

I don't know what made me think of it, but suddenly this afternoon I thought about the gypsy wagon my mother and I were going to make.

We had the wagon part, sort of. It was an old truck axle with a rickety wagon thrown on top, but to my mother and me, it was the promise of something beautiful. Oh, the plans we had for it. We had the colors picked out, all kinds of little trinkets and baubles to decorate it; we could see it so clearly when we closed our eyes. This is pretty close to what we had envisioned; simple, functional, perfect.

Photo found online, no source given. If it's yours, let me know.

Sadly, nothing ever came of it. There was always something more pressing to do. So our rinky little wagon sat at the edge of the broomstraw field and rotted away until only the rusted axle remained. But we never forgot about it. It still haunts our dreams, like some great romantic beast stalking the moors of our minds. If there is one thing I do before I die, it will be to make a gypsy wagon.

Although, I think I might go a bit bigger.

Found on tumblr

Yeah, that's more like it.

I suggest looking up some pictures on tumblr or other corners of the internet, gypsy wagons seem to be a cool thing right now and there are some gorgeous examples lurking out there.

Time Out Tuesday: Just Like Childhood

I'm going to have to make this short; Blogger is sassing me and I think that by this point it is just doing this on purpose.

Anyway, I keep forgetting that the new Fantastic Spatula schedule allows me to post on days other than Tuesday, but old habits die hard. But that's ok, because I am actually taking some time off this Tuesday. That's right; I'm not going to worry about falling behind at work, or not having the time to write what I want anymore, or that I have allergies so bad that I'm actually contemplating cutting my nose off. (Ok, not really, but they are bad.)
You want to know why?

There's a storm coming. It's on the edge of town and closing in fast. And it looks like a proper storm, with thunder and lightning. I was saying to Miss Lucy the other day that I remember having a thunder storm every evening in the summer when I was little. It's been a long while since we've had a proper thunder storm and it sounds and smells like those childhood summer evening out there right now.

So, I'm going to be a bit nostaglic tonight and take some time out to relive some of my childhood; listening to storms and watching cartoons. "She-Ra" is on Netflix, and "Freakazoid" is on Youtube. I'm just going to sit back and watch these silly shows and listen to the rain and think of simpler times.

Time Out Tuesday with Lucy!

Meg Park knows how I feel in the mornings.

Good afternoon, Pineapples! :D

I've always wanted to say that. 

How's it going out there, on the internet? Y'all having a good Tuesday so far? How about a reward for making it past Monday? Here! Have some lovely, sweet links! And take a little Time Out. (Though not the kind SKemp was referring to! Yes, the fun kind of time outs!) 

Huzzah!

& Kat, pink-haired genius of Rock-n-Roll Bride, writes brilliantly about The Art of Self Confidence.

& NYLON has a fantastic write-up about the smell of tobacco scented candles. (WANT.)

& Talk about leaving behind a legacy! This man rowed across oceans, lived in the Amazon, worked with a pirate, was a mink farmer, and oh, became a professional gambler in his later years.

& "To Kill a Mockingbird" turns 50 this year. Here are some of the lessons learned on and off the set.

“[Fiction] is an exercise that hones our real-life social skills, another body of research suggests. Dr. Oatley and Dr. Mar, in collaboration with several other scientists, reported in two studies, published in 2006 and 2009, that individuals who frequently read fiction seem to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and see the world from their perspective. This relationship persisted even after the researchers accounted for the possibility that more empathetic individuals might prefer reading novels.” --Your Brain on Fiction

& Speaking of turning fifty, "A Wrinkle in Time" also has the honor of being half a century young! Here is how comic book artist Faith Erin Hicks summarizes one of her favorite books.

& How to make a Rainbow cake. In a Mason jar. (SO PRETTY!)

& Amanda Wachob is the Inkist behind the most beautiful tattoos!

Time Out Tuesday with SKemp

I remember getting "time out" in the lunch line when I was in kindergarten for kissing my friend Marcus on the forehead. I had to put my nose in the corner and think about what I did. Today, I still don't know what I did to deserve the embarrassment of time out in the lunch line. Marcus was a great friend in Kindergarten. Why shouldn't I have kissed him on the forehead if only to say, "Hey! We both still suck our thumbs. Let's rejoice and get some Jungle Juice."

Time Out Tuesday is better than this.

Thank goodness "Time Out Tuesday" at the Fantastic Spatula offers a little more than just "think about what you did". Thank goodness "Time Out Tuesday" doesn't mean I have to stick my nose in the corner all day. 

Instead, "Time Out Tuesday" is where I can share some of the neat interwebby things I've found, links to stories that have made me ponder, and images that I just want to share. Thank Lucy for a day in which to do that.

& This is a well written article form Gala Darling about feminists and high heels. I've felt this way about wearing make up and fancy clothes for a long time. It's nice to know someone else feels like I do. 

& Katharine Hepburn's Trousers. Scandals of the Silver Screen. 

& On May 8, there will be a vote to amend the NC state constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman only. I'm glad that while I'm in Montana I have some friends marching against the amendment.

& My friend Sarah Hamm introduced me to this artist: books and collages and lovely lady art. 

& My dad always sends me interesting things to read and look at through e-mail. Girls that defy gravity and old books carved into awesomeness with medical tools are just a sampling.

& Felicia Day (from The Guild and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog) will host (host?) a series of awesome nerdy web blog videos. Board Games, Sci Fi Books, Music, Geek and Sundry. It will make nerds smile again. 

Meter Monday: Joanna Klink

It happens sometimes. Sometimes you walk into a book store and you can't find the book you're looking for. The store owner can order it for you, but it will get to you in a week. Or more. And you just can't wait that long. You want something right now. Sometimes, a book store will have "Staff Picks" set aside on a shelf. Staff Picks are books that the book store staff has read and think are amazing and want you to read. Sometimes, you pick up a book of poetry because it was picked by staff. This book of poetry is called Raptus. It is by Joanna Klink, a lady from Montana.

"Raptus (1) A state of rapture of furor. Also: an instance of this; a fit of intense emotion. (2) A seizure; a sudden or acute attack (as in a raptus of the blood, Impulsive Raptus, or Raptus Nervorum). (3) From rapio: A carrying-off by force. (4) A state of spiritual rapture marked by anesthesia. (5) A pathological paroxysm of activity giving vent to impulse or tension (as in an act of violence)."

Sometimes, you will open up the book of poetry to the first poem and have to buy the book and read it all the way through.

SOME FEEL RAIN

Some feel rain. Some feel the beetle startle
in its ghost-part when the bark

Joanna Klink "Raptus"

slips. Some feel musk. Asleep against
each other in the whiskey dark, scarcely there.
When it falls apart, some feel the moondark air
drop its motes to the patch-thick slopes of
snow. Tiny blinking of ice from the oak,
a boot-beet that comes and goes, the line of prayer
you can follow from the dusking wind to the snowy owl
it carries. Some feel sunlight
well up in blood-vessels below the skin
and wish there had been less to lose.
Knowing how it could have been, pale maples
drowsing like a second sleep above our temperaments.
Do I imagine there is any place so safe it can't be
snapped? Some feel the rivers shift,
blue veins through soil, as if the smokestacks were a long
dream of exhalation. The lynx lets its paws
skim the ground in snow showers.
The wildflowers scatter in warm tints until
the second they are plucked. You can wait
to scrape the ankle-burrs, you can wait until Mercury
the early star underdraws the night and its blackest
districts. And wonder. Why others feel
through coal-thick night that deeply colored garnet
star. Why sparring and pins are all you have.
Why the earth cannot make its way towards you.

Meter Monday: Mary Oliver

When I was in college there were many times that I needed something to lift my up by my bootstraps and keep me going. As I worked the reference desk in the library, I kept finding hints to read the work of Mary Oliver. I followed the breadcrumbs left by trusted travelers that went before me. And I found the pieces of nourishment I needed in several of her poems. One of them being:

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save.

Soundtrack Sunday: Electric Violins

Greetings all!

I hope your evening is treating you well. I thought I'd share some fun music I discovered this weekend. A hip hop/ballet/moon walking pixie violinist! What's not to love? Hope you enjoy!

Whimsy Wednesday

Here's wishing a very Happy Birthday to a very special Lady!

The One and Only

Mama Wiggins!

♥♥♥

Not many people are lucky enough to have someone they can count on, 

who will come running come hell or high water, 

who will make you soup when you have a fever, 

and make you laugh and snort coffee through your nose

by doing an impression of a coughing goat. 

I'm proud to say I have such a person in my life, 

and that I call her "Mom".

♥♥♥

Love you!

Things SKemp Loves Thursday

Hey, Spatulans. It's that day of the week again. Thursday (read: one day after Wednesday). Which means it's time for the Spatula Writers to make their lists of gratitude... even if it's grudgingly. Thursday from now on is going to be dedicated to TiLT (read: Things I Love Thursday) lists. Share some of the things you've been grateful to have happen. We'd love to know. & now...

I Googled "Sugar Baby" and this pic
of baby sugar gliders appeared.They
are almost as cute as baby hedgehogs.

& Crazy Scully cat chasing his food like it's alive & dinner cooked for me by my someone special just because they could & dressing up the mannequins in the shop so they are all wearing green & making photo booth style photos & Samuel R. Delany's About Writing: seven essays, four letters, and five interviews all About Writing & the bookstore owner next door, Garth, finding me The Art of Writing Advertising & blasting U2 and Bruce Springsteen over the speakers & making play lists & writing about ravens and meeting someone who actually studies ravens and has studied birds for 30 years (he gave me is email in order to answer any questions I had!) & breakfast-for-dinner parties

Sugar Baby cookbook.
I'm making these next. Om Nom.

& green lanterns... not the comic book super hero (although the green lanterns are pretty rock awesome) paper lanterns that are green in honor of St. Patrick & green peeps... dipped in chocolate... and potato chips dipped in chocolate & weather that doesn't require at least five layers of clothing to be worn in order to go outside & making sugar baby caramel hard candy & new pots for cooking popcorn ... and then making homemade kettle corn style popcorn & the episode of Dr. Who written by Neil Gaiman & Shamrock shaped cookies with green sprinkles made at the bakery across the street &

Whimsy Wednesday: Carlo's One Night Stand

I work at a very whimsical shop: a vintage clothing and costume rental. I've been testing out a few photographs
for the store. I'm trying to make them whimsical and
dreamlike. Sort of a strange fairy tale for Carlo's the
Costume store. Here is the first of such photos. 
I know where to get my costumes. Do you?