I've been putting some of my designs and paintings on Zazzle.com products and offering them for sale through here. Check them out, buy a card or sticker or something. I get a small cut from each thing sold. I'll be adding new stuff periodically (I could add more if I had a scanner to scan my art with-- taking photos of it doesn't work for some things).
If there is a design or painting I've put on a product but you'd like to buy it on another product (for instance, you like my painting that is on the mousepad but you'd rather have that on a mug), let me know and I can create that custom product in my store for you.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Chairs
The following was written by me sometime in 2001. The original was written with a teal glitter pen.
Chairs amuse me. They look like humans. What if humans sat like chairs do and chairs stood like humans do? Would the chairs sit on the humans? Why are lawn chairs stackable? They look like they are humping. Sometimes, people report cases in which chairs scoot across the floor by themselves. Perhaps chairs do have human-like brains. Perhaps chairs used to be humans. Lazy humans. And they were so lazy they evolved into inanimate objects. Or maybe, in millions of years, we will evolve into chairs. We are chairs' ancestors and they've traveled back in time to observe us.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Things remembered during insomnia, 7 July 2011, 1:34 am
I cannot sleep, and my mind has been wandering to the strangest places. I figure I'll share these random thoughts with the internet.*
*Actually, I'm typing them down so I can reference this entry in the future if I ever want to elaborate on one of these subjects.
- Sometime around 5th or 6th grade I became good friends with a girl who moved away at the end of the school year. Just before she moved she told me that she really appreciated my friendship and that if, in the future, she ever had a daughter she would name her after me. Seeing as how many people my age are beginning to or already have children I wonder if she has had a daughter and, if so, did she name her after me? (Do people these days still name their daughters "Heather?")
- I once wrote a story (or maybe it was a play or a musical) based upon characters from Greco-Roman mythology with a twist: The background for the story wasn't ancient times, it was hip-hop culture! I recall it being fantastically hilarious... But I was 13 when I wrote it, so it was probably just hilariously awful. I hope that it is still tucked away in a dark corner of my former closet at my parents' house.
- Speaking of writing, around age 15 I wrote a weird piece on chairs. I remember detailing the mating habits of plastic lawn furniture. I need to find the notebook I wrote it in so that I can type it up here. It's worth sharing just for the fact that I recall it being ridiculous because of the serious tone I wrote it in.
- My first serious boyfriend was obsessed with one of his ex-girlfriends. Come to find out she wasn't ever his girlfriend; she was just some girl who he had never met in person and would just talk to on the internet. Even still, he would constantly talk of her, have dreams of her, and compare my reactions to what he thought her reactions would be in a similar situation. During all of this he built her up to be some kind of wonderful, yet tragically flawed, mythical creature (at least this is what she became in my head after hearing all of his stories). One of her virtues was being very good with words, written and spoken. Over the years I fell in love with this mythizied version of her. One day, while my boyfriend was out at class or work, I did an internet search for this girl. The only thing I could find about her was a college newspaper article in which her opinion on a certain subject was quoted. I cannot remember what she said or even what the article was about, but I do remember being very disappointed in her response-- she was no better with words than most people I knew! I had been lied to! I believe this was the moment I fell out of love with her.
- I used to have frequent reoccurring dreams involving a desolate landscape at night and a rotary light beacon in the distance (such as one from a lighthouse or airport control tower). I haven't had one of these dreams in several years, but the imagery stays with me. I feel I should do something with that imagery. I lament the fact that I have no musical talent because I feel this would be best expressed in a soundscape.
- I can't remember how to fall asleep.
*Actually, I'm typing them down so I can reference this entry in the future if I ever want to elaborate on one of these subjects.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Cold: NB 183 @ 3:42 am
Somber. Alone. Hopeless. That's how I felt on the drive I would take every morning-- earlier and earlier each day-- north on Highway 183. Just thinking of that dark stretch of road brings back the same horrible feelings. I told myself that all of this was for my own good. It was my sense of duty they kept me going. Duty towards something that did not make me happy, something I didn't believe in. If I worked along enough, hard enough, I truly believed that it would finally pay off.
I would listen to up-beat music while on this drive in hopes that it would cheer me up. It never worked; in fact, it only served to make me feel more alone. These musicians probably never dreamed that their albums would be played before sunrise in the car of a lonely 20-something woman driving towards ten to sixteen hours of duty, returning home after the sunset with just enough time to shove a microwave meal down her throat before heading to bed and doing all of this again for six days out of the week. No, these musicians had hoped that these albums would be played by ecstatic drunks at frat parties, or by wannabe rockstars on their way to their own gigs, or by swooning 14-year-old high school girls in their rooms, discussing with their BFFs their school girl crushes on the band members.
I learned that there are very few cars on the highway at that time of morning. Those few cars I did pass help me confirm that, yes, there were other people still alive. I often wondered what these others were doing out at this time. He's driving way too fast, especially for an older man! What's he in a rush to? Perhaps in a hurry to get to the hospital where one of his loved ones was just admitted. This guy looks to bed in good shape... Was he coming home from a night stocker job? She looks very tired and her hair is a mess... Did she stay out at the club until last call, sobering up in her car for a half hour before finally heading home? (I should probably keep a safe distance from her!)
Passing Burnet Road, I would approach a used car lot. Every morning I could see a bight red and blue "OPEN" sign glowing from the window. The first time I saw this I felt a sense of comradeship: There was someone besides me up at this time while everyone else in this town is fast asleep in their beds! Someone else who is not up this early because they want to be, but because they feel they need to be (perhaps even thinking-- as I did-- that if they kept it up long enough that they would eventually truly want to do what it was they were doing)! But as I passed the used car lot it became clear that, despite the sign, the establishment was not actually. As I passed by again and again, morning after morning, I wondered why the sign was on: Did they always leave it on, thinking "What's the harm?" Was it a strange marketing ploy that I was too daft to understand? Or perhaps one morning they forget to turn the sign on yet remembered top turn it of at closing time (thus actually turning it on), beginning an endless cycle of turning the sign off when they open and then turning it on when they close for the day. Someone should really tell them...
Nearing my exit I would pass a church that always had a white banner hanging outside with a nonsensical or goofy statement written on it in black type containing words such as "sweet" and "epic." Ah, trying to target the teens and young adults... Now this type of advertising I understood, but I wasn't convinced that it actually worked. Was there really anyone driving by, disenchanted by religion until they saw the church with the "sweet sign" hanging outside, at which time they though "Ah, they are silly and use slang... Jesus gets me! I'll be checking out that church this Sunday!"? I couldn't imagine that there was anyone who decided to attend that church solely based on such a banner, but what did I know?
Exiting the highway, I would pass a bank. As with most other banks this one had a marquee announcing the time and the temperature. "3:53 am," "37°F"... Nothing that I didn't already know: It was too early in the morning, and it was cold. One morning a different message was scrolling at a seemingly show pace across that marquee. In bright red letters, it seemed to mock me: "WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?"
Images began to flash through my mind: The metal rose I bought at the festival for the person I love. The smile of my crotchety old drawing professor at my answer to one of his questions. The barista behind the counter. The rockstar on stage, wailing on his guitar. The bullfrog I found in the hall in high school which my art teacher had helped me hide in a jar until the day was over and I could take him home. The arrowheads and artifacts on the table at the state college visit my dad took me to. The box of New Wave and Art Rock records that my sophomore English teacher gifted to me at the end of the school year. The eyes of my friend in junior high after I returned from an extended and unexplained absence.
I continued on the drive to my destination, continued the motions of what had become my life, but I still haven't been able to shake those images...
I would listen to up-beat music while on this drive in hopes that it would cheer me up. It never worked; in fact, it only served to make me feel more alone. These musicians probably never dreamed that their albums would be played before sunrise in the car of a lonely 20-something woman driving towards ten to sixteen hours of duty, returning home after the sunset with just enough time to shove a microwave meal down her throat before heading to bed and doing all of this again for six days out of the week. No, these musicians had hoped that these albums would be played by ecstatic drunks at frat parties, or by wannabe rockstars on their way to their own gigs, or by swooning 14-year-old high school girls in their rooms, discussing with their BFFs their school girl crushes on the band members.
I learned that there are very few cars on the highway at that time of morning. Those few cars I did pass help me confirm that, yes, there were other people still alive. I often wondered what these others were doing out at this time. He's driving way too fast, especially for an older man! What's he in a rush to? Perhaps in a hurry to get to the hospital where one of his loved ones was just admitted. This guy looks to bed in good shape... Was he coming home from a night stocker job? She looks very tired and her hair is a mess... Did she stay out at the club until last call, sobering up in her car for a half hour before finally heading home? (I should probably keep a safe distance from her!)
Passing Burnet Road, I would approach a used car lot. Every morning I could see a bight red and blue "OPEN" sign glowing from the window. The first time I saw this I felt a sense of comradeship: There was someone besides me up at this time while everyone else in this town is fast asleep in their beds! Someone else who is not up this early because they want to be, but because they feel they need to be (perhaps even thinking-- as I did-- that if they kept it up long enough that they would eventually truly want to do what it was they were doing)! But as I passed the used car lot it became clear that, despite the sign, the establishment was not actually. As I passed by again and again, morning after morning, I wondered why the sign was on: Did they always leave it on, thinking "What's the harm?" Was it a strange marketing ploy that I was too daft to understand? Or perhaps one morning they forget to turn the sign on yet remembered top turn it of at closing time (thus actually turning it on), beginning an endless cycle of turning the sign off when they open and then turning it on when they close for the day. Someone should really tell them...
Nearing my exit I would pass a church that always had a white banner hanging outside with a nonsensical or goofy statement written on it in black type containing words such as "sweet" and "epic." Ah, trying to target the teens and young adults... Now this type of advertising I understood, but I wasn't convinced that it actually worked. Was there really anyone driving by, disenchanted by religion until they saw the church with the "sweet sign" hanging outside, at which time they though "Ah, they are silly and use slang... Jesus gets me! I'll be checking out that church this Sunday!"? I couldn't imagine that there was anyone who decided to attend that church solely based on such a banner, but what did I know?
Exiting the highway, I would pass a bank. As with most other banks this one had a marquee announcing the time and the temperature. "3:53 am," "37°F"... Nothing that I didn't already know: It was too early in the morning, and it was cold. One morning a different message was scrolling at a seemingly show pace across that marquee. In bright red letters, it seemed to mock me: "WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?"
Images began to flash through my mind: The metal rose I bought at the festival for the person I love. The smile of my crotchety old drawing professor at my answer to one of his questions. The barista behind the counter. The rockstar on stage, wailing on his guitar. The bullfrog I found in the hall in high school which my art teacher had helped me hide in a jar until the day was over and I could take him home. The arrowheads and artifacts on the table at the state college visit my dad took me to. The box of New Wave and Art Rock records that my sophomore English teacher gifted to me at the end of the school year. The eyes of my friend in junior high after I returned from an extended and unexplained absence.
I continued on the drive to my destination, continued the motions of what had become my life, but I still haven't been able to shake those images...
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Telling yourself that you want something isn't the same as actually wanting it
I just realized I haven't blogged in over a year... Perhaps it has something to do with the last year or so being so mentally, emotionally, and physically draining.
Several things came to a head about four weeks ago and I realized that I needed to make some changes to my life or everything would keep going downhill. Those changes are in the process of happening now. It's all a bit frightening, but it is what needs to be done.
Several things came to a head about four weeks ago and I realized that I needed to make some changes to my life or everything would keep going downhill. Those changes are in the process of happening now. It's all a bit frightening, but it is what needs to be done.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Forgetting Doorknobs
I really enjoy forgetting. When I first come to a place, I notice all the little details: I notice the way the sky looks... The color of white paper... The way people walk... Doorknobs... Everything. Then I get used to the place and I don't notice those things anymore. So only by forgetting can I see the place again as it really is.
-Narrator, True Stories
But what if when you return to the place they have changed the doorknobs? Because you have forgotten, you will not know that they have been changed. Will you believe that you are seeing the same doorknobs that you saw-- and forgot about-- when you first came to that place?
Or, perhaps, you will see these new doorknobs and a strange feeling will come over you. You are not aware that the doorknobs have changed, but you just feel funny. You see, somewhere-- hidden deep away in some small part of your brain-- is the memory of the original doorknobs, but your consciousness can't grasp onto that memory.
The odd feeling stays with you for a day or two before fading away.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Happ Record Store Day!
In honor of Record Store Day, I am posting about music I own. Again. This time it will be several lists. Yay!
The "things I own that people say are worth a lot, but I refuse to believe that because I bought them for dirt cheap" list:
Spoon - The 'Nefarious' EP
Released in 1994, this 7" was the first official Spoon release. I got it for $7. According to auctions I've seen on eBay, people are willing to spend $100 on this. I enjoy it, and the sleeve makes me happy, so I don't want to sell it even though I'd be making a $93 profit.
Drake Tungsten - Six Pence for the Sauces EP
Drake Tungsten (better known as Britt Daniel, lead singer of Spoon) only had two releases: this 7", and a cassette called Clocking Out is for Suckers. Released in 1996, Six Pence for the Sauces is not pre-Spoon, though it is pre-solo-Britt-Daniel-calling-himself-Britt-Daniel. I got it for $10. I've seen it go on eBay for $25 and more.
Spoon - 'Anticipation' white 7" with silk-screened sleeve
I really don't have much information about this. I am told there were only ever 24 of these made with silk-screened sleeves (making the sleeve, not the actual 7" the valuable thing). If that is true, the $6 I paid for this was a steal. Because I have yet to see another one, I don't know how much this actually goes for. Spoon fans are known to be obsessive hoarders, so I believe it would be more than $6.
UPDATE: Just got an e-mail from the record label that released this. "I put some of the 3rd pressing [the white vinyl] in leftover silkscreened sleeves, so yeah there is only like 24 or so on white in SS'd sleeves," he says. So, yeah... It's kinda rare, but I still don't know what anyone else would pay for it.
Voxtrot - Voxtrot CD-R
Rumor has it that Voxtrot has been around since 2003 (they released their first single in 2004, their first official EP in 2005, and their first full-length in 2006). Back in the long-forgotten year of 2003, they would play shows and burn their music on CD-Rs that were sold in local record stores. Apparently, one of these CD-Rs had the title Just Can't Wait Any Longer, and if you have $50+ to spare to can get it on eBay every now and then. This CD-R that I have (which cost me a whopping $5 at a local record store last year) has one less track than Just Can't Wait Any Longer, and has the song "Long Haul" titled as "Untitled (Demo)", which leads me (and other fans who are cooler than me) to believe it pre-dates Just Can't Wait Any Longer. I may never know the real story behind this, or what any other fan would be willing to pay for it, but I wouldn't have paid more than $10 for it.
Voxtrot - 'Raised By Wolves' 7"
This gets no love [except on eBay where people spend $60 on it]-- Voxtrot's official website doesn't admit the existence of it. (It's okay, because I don't admit the actual existence of Voxtot: they are just a figment of my imagination, just like the town of Cedar Park and the continent of Australia. In fact, Voxtot is made-up band from the made-up town of Cedar Park, which is located on the made-up continent of Australia.) Getting back to the 7": It cost me $3. I don't even known when it was released. I just know that Magic Marker Records released it, and when you buy something from them they include a really nice hand-written thank-you note on an actual page of an old children's book. That makes me happy.
The "things I own that people used to be willing to pay a lot for, but no longer are because of re-releases" list:
Spoon - Telephono (CD)
Spoon's first full-length album from 1996. I paid $8 for this CD. From 2001-ish until mid-2006, people were willing to spend $100-$200 for this CD. I thought about selling it, realized it meant too much to me (really, in 2004, I believed this album to be a reflection of my existence), and didn't. On July 25, 2006, Spoon re-released Telephono and the Soft Effects EP as a "remastered" (which just means "we turned the volume up louder") boxset, and now you can go to used record stores and get the first edition of Telephono on CD for $8 again.
Spoon - Soft Effects EP (CD)
This was released in 1997. It went out-of-print sometime, and people were paying upwards of $75 for it on eBay. I got it as a Christmas gift in high school from my parents, along with the first Kissinger CD (which means that it was 2000 or 2001), because they knew I liked "cool local bands." (I'd like to think that they called Andy Langer and asked him what they should buy for me.) I know good and well my parents didn't spend more than $7 on a CD with only five tracks.
The "things I own that other people wouldn't pay much for but I cherish dearly" list:
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (LP), signed
This makes me happy every time I look at it. I've heard a few people (online) say that Britt Daniel is a douchbag "IRL," but all of the [3? 4?] times I've talked with him in person, he has been a really cool, nice guy. The last time I talked with him in person, he (and the rest of the band) signed my Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga LP. I like how he signed it: "Heather, you rule." It's because I was dancing, and he likes it when people dance to his music.
Uh, I guess that's more of a single item than a list...
The "things I own that people say are worth a lot, but I refuse to believe that because I bought them for dirt cheap" list:
Spoon - The 'Nefarious' EP
Released in 1994, this 7" was the first official Spoon release. I got it for $7. According to auctions I've seen on eBay, people are willing to spend $100 on this. I enjoy it, and the sleeve makes me happy, so I don't want to sell it even though I'd be making a $93 profit.
Drake Tungsten - Six Pence for the Sauces EP
Drake Tungsten (better known as Britt Daniel, lead singer of Spoon) only had two releases: this 7", and a cassette called Clocking Out is for Suckers. Released in 1996, Six Pence for the Sauces is not pre-Spoon, though it is pre-solo-Britt-Daniel-calling-himself-Britt-Daniel. I got it for $10. I've seen it go on eBay for $25 and more.
Spoon - 'Anticipation' white 7" with silk-screened sleeve
I really don't have much information about this. I am told there were only ever 24 of these made with silk-screened sleeves (making the sleeve, not the actual 7" the valuable thing). If that is true, the $6 I paid for this was a steal. Because I have yet to see another one, I don't know how much this actually goes for. Spoon fans are known to be obsessive hoarders, so I believe it would be more than $6.
UPDATE: Just got an e-mail from the record label that released this. "I put some of the 3rd pressing [the white vinyl] in leftover silkscreened sleeves, so yeah there is only like 24 or so on white in SS'd sleeves," he says. So, yeah... It's kinda rare, but I still don't know what anyone else would pay for it.
Voxtrot - Voxtrot CD-R
Rumor has it that Voxtrot has been around since 2003 (they released their first single in 2004, their first official EP in 2005, and their first full-length in 2006). Back in the long-forgotten year of 2003, they would play shows and burn their music on CD-Rs that were sold in local record stores. Apparently, one of these CD-Rs had the title Just Can't Wait Any Longer, and if you have $50+ to spare to can get it on eBay every now and then. This CD-R that I have (which cost me a whopping $5 at a local record store last year) has one less track than Just Can't Wait Any Longer, and has the song "Long Haul" titled as "Untitled (Demo)", which leads me (and other fans who are cooler than me) to believe it pre-dates Just Can't Wait Any Longer. I may never know the real story behind this, or what any other fan would be willing to pay for it, but I wouldn't have paid more than $10 for it.
Voxtrot - 'Raised By Wolves' 7"
This gets no love [except on eBay where people spend $60 on it]-- Voxtrot's official website doesn't admit the existence of it. (It's okay, because I don't admit the actual existence of Voxtot: they are just a figment of my imagination, just like the town of Cedar Park and the continent of Australia. In fact, Voxtot is made-up band from the made-up town of Cedar Park, which is located on the made-up continent of Australia.) Getting back to the 7": It cost me $3. I don't even known when it was released. I just know that Magic Marker Records released it, and when you buy something from them they include a really nice hand-written thank-you note on an actual page of an old children's book. That makes me happy.
The "things I own that people used to be willing to pay a lot for, but no longer are because of re-releases" list:
Spoon - Telephono (CD)
Spoon's first full-length album from 1996. I paid $8 for this CD. From 2001-ish until mid-2006, people were willing to spend $100-$200 for this CD. I thought about selling it, realized it meant too much to me (really, in 2004, I believed this album to be a reflection of my existence), and didn't. On July 25, 2006, Spoon re-released Telephono and the Soft Effects EP as a "remastered" (which just means "we turned the volume up louder") boxset, and now you can go to used record stores and get the first edition of Telephono on CD for $8 again.
Spoon - Soft Effects EP (CD)
This was released in 1997. It went out-of-print sometime, and people were paying upwards of $75 for it on eBay. I got it as a Christmas gift in high school from my parents, along with the first Kissinger CD (which means that it was 2000 or 2001), because they knew I liked "cool local bands." (I'd like to think that they called Andy Langer and asked him what they should buy for me.) I know good and well my parents didn't spend more than $7 on a CD with only five tracks.
The "things I own that other people wouldn't pay much for but I cherish dearly" list:
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (LP), signed
This makes me happy every time I look at it. I've heard a few people (online) say that Britt Daniel is a douchbag "IRL," but all of the [3? 4?] times I've talked with him in person, he has been a really cool, nice guy. The last time I talked with him in person, he (and the rest of the band) signed my Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga LP. I like how he signed it: "Heather, you rule." It's because I was dancing, and he likes it when people dance to his music.
Uh, I guess that's more of a single item than a list...
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