finally some time for a little shop update. hopefully i will be able to add some more artwork after i take my superhero trick or treating tonight!

wally put together a little slideshow. amanda on seeing everyone in real life: “i can’t believe this, it’s like blogosphere coming to life!” ~ hugs all around and soon my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

some of us walking to d’egg diner. while ordering lunch i asked: “wally, are you a vegetarian?” wally: “no, i’m a hypocrite!” i ordered a double stack of blueberry pancakes and sat in the daze of being surrounded by all my blog crushes. overwhelming and wonderful. we needed more time!

harry, laura, chris, lydia, amanda, cin and myself all pouring over each other’s artwork. the day went by far too quickly. (i think this was the moment we were looking at a page about amanda’s victorian house in brooklyn, she has turret room that she uses for her studio! also saw all of cindy’s original sketches, harry’s amazing amazing-soon-be-published work, laura’s watercolors from her recent trip to france, walt’s super sketches and some gorgeous photography from chris.

hold still for onnnnnneee moooore minute…(amanda making her mark on harry)

walt giving chris some love. awww!

a photo from the past life of…drum roll puhleeze…

rocker harry hindmarsh!! toured with poison! went platinum! i kid you not.

there is a story about a navajo grandfather who once told his grandson, “two wolves live inside me. one is the bad wolf, full of greed and laziness, full of anger and jealousy and regret. the other is the good wolf, full of joy and compassion and willingness and a great love for the world. all the time, these wolves are fighting inside me.”

“but grandfather,” the boy said. “which wolf will win?”

the grandfather answered, “the one i feed.”

so which one is this? i don’t know. (he’s drawn on the back of an envelope and missing his mandible so he must be really hungry…) halloween skulls and other blind drawings at inkfinger.

“No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, for a little bit? I feel like the maid; I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for… for ten minutes?!”

i’ve been tagged twice for a twenty things meme! both meg and irene in paris want to know my jennyology~

1. previous halloween costumes i remember: witch, cheerleader, pippi longstocking, black cat, angel and a crayola crayon. (picture above: i’m the yellow, twin brother ben is orange, brother mike is red. my genius mom made us a crayola family out of felt, mom was red and dad was a giant blue one!)

2. i was a tomboy growing up with two brothers, but i enjoy being a girl now more than ever.

3. when i was twenty, i had bunionectomies on both my feet at the same time and crawled around the house for a month.

4. the doctor said he had never seen feet like mine in someone who wasn’t sixty years old, he thought i was a ballet dancer.

5. i wasn’t. but i think feet are really beautiful.

6. in the arts, i think everything is worth trying at least once. everything is enriched from the experience of new mediums.

7. i once went snorkeling in muddy waters at the florida keys with fish all around and it made me feel very nervous.

8. i went swimming in crystal clear waters in the caribbean and it made me feel exhilarated and content.

9. i’ve lived in utah, nebraska, detroit, seattle, florida and now virginia. i grew up in seattle and love it the most of all!

10. my idea of heaven is snowboarding all day long with all of my close friends with the sun shining and fresh fallen snow.

11. i like to keep christmas simple, and spending it with my whole family this year is going to be awesome!

12. i reuse herbal tea bags twice, sometimes three times before throwing them out. i feel guilty and wasteful otherwise.

13. sometimes i think about eliminating my wardrobe to all neutral colors for simplicity, but i love color too much.

14. i would do just about anything to live outside the u.s. for a year or so with my family. marcus is in agreement.

15. i’m absolutely smitten with neuroscience (how the brain and nerves work) i find anything i can read about it fascinating.

16. when i was pregnant with max, i was cooking on the stove and my sweater caught on fire! never wear chenille with a belly.

17. i totally adore the sound of an acoustic guitar. any string instrument makes me swoon. music always leaves me in such awe.

18. i wish to ban: bumper stickers, violence, strip malls, profanity, fast food, road rage, spam, cheaters, humidity, & lima beans.

19. i was on the golf team in high school. i wore hiked up argyle socks and only hung out with the german exchange student.

20. i don’t have a middle name. when i was little i liked to make some up, now i use my maiden name.

queenthings is among the top 100 sellers on etsy! yeah for a handmade happiness marketplace! also spotted is giant dwarf (how i found etsy in the first place) candlelight, monstertown, and many others…

many of you have asked me these last few months on how to purchase my art (non-craft) and i realized that i haven’t made it available in a while. so soon my darlings, soon! i will adding some blockprints, paintings and drawings that are piling up on my desk.

my reading pile and how i’ve been spending my nights instead of being plugged in. the temperature has dropped significantly and my hibernating mode has been switched on: homemade soups cooking for hours on the stove, baking comforts in the oven, ritualistic cups of hot herbal tea and turning to bed earlier underneath heavier blankets. i’ve been relying on pilates in the morning to wake me up instead of the bright sun. the days seem to blend together lately as we’ve enjoyed lots of good company and sunny friends, or maybe it’s the days are just shorter now?

the beautiful nichola sent me a wonderful package containing a handmade amy butler covington bag, wooden beaded necklace, as well as some healthy treats! thank you so much nikki ♥ i just know that this bag will last me a lifetime. and how did you know i have wanted a necklace just like this? i’ve had a thing for organic looking jewelry lately. in return, i will be creating a piece of artwork incorporating her daughter’s smiling faces. i cannot wait to get started…

cat power’s new song (is the greatest)

i cling to late nights lately. when the phase of incredible destruction in my toddler passes (soon. soon. soon.) then i will greet mornings like i embrace the midnight hour. i really am a morning bird. but it’s one or the other for me. waking up before dawn to do my thing, or ignoring my tired body and climbing out of my ritualistic tucked-in self to do something. i know. seasoned mothers are telling me not to whine too much, because this little phrase in my son’s life will be like a small echo when i see him turn the corners of the house as a teenager before i can bat an eyelash…he’ll be grown before i know what’s happening…yada yada. but i’m here right now, you know? i cannot help but feel this moment of yearning for a little delicious solitude. because for days now, there has been none to speak of. i’m not one to complain of this dreamy life being with the little one that i love and nurturing him all day. as a good friend chants, “living the dream, living the dream.” it is a dream.

i’ve always relished being alone though. i enjoy going to movies alone. really. and turning on my music, cleaning everywhere and then making piles and messes of my own, on the carpet when my desk would suffice. reading with no background noise. for hours i could be like this. but my chatterbox baby will have nothing to do with that right now. and i agree, he will be grown too quickly. so the day is cars, digging in the dirt, the same chosen movie again and again, and oh the time outs! though i don’t think she knows an iota about it to spout the opinion on her show, yes miss oprah, it is the hardest thing in the world to be a stay at home mom. but max? i choose you. over all the offerings out there. you are a dream despite your, um, Where The Wild Things Are behavior as of late. see you tomorrow for another round of daytime.