Freedom to Read

A simple one. I really should start working on my Principles of Design assignment since I've already decided to once again skip stretch & core and aerial prac this afternoon (during which I'd planned to hold up to five seconds on my toe hang and practise my spinning straddle — but, oh well ...).

Sigh.

And Tango Makes Three

ARGH. This whole fiasco makes me SO. MAD.

I work in a library. I believe libraries should provide access to and be a repository of knowledge and information; libraries must be inclusive. What I don't believe libraries should do is "reflect existing social norms, and not to challenge or seek to change them". Hell. No.

The NLB's stance (and, I believe, the government's) to not challenge or change — to maintain status quo — should be drivel espoused by unthinking folks, not by a public institution of knowledge. Shame on you. I hope your decision and your justification for your decision are met with universal condemnation and ridicule.

#FreedomtoRead

Crimson & Clover

One of my favoritest songs ever. I love both the original by Tommy James & The Shondells and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' cover (which reminds me of the opening of one of The L Word episodes even though iirc the music used was the original and not the cover). I also have a cover by Tommy Roe and used to play all three versions over and over on loop.

Joan Jett ... So. Hawt.

'Crimson and clover' is also why I fell in love with Jarvis Cocker's 'Black Magic' on the very first listen.

There's just something addictive about this particular riff/chord pattern ... In the words of Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night:

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die. (I.i.1-3)

Hello Cruel World

Yay! I didn't nod off or waste too much time watching the telly this afternoon so I got something so show for my time! E's (Mark Oliver Everett) lyrics again. I initially thought of doing only "Hello cruel world" but decided to continue the stanza a little further. Not a good choice (also, it led to the food stain — the perils of writing on the kitchen table). Much prefer just the first three words.

Some Practice

Bought a ZIG Calligraphy II pen and I'm liking the 2mm tip. I skipped Stretch/Core and Aerial Gym to practise my handwriting ... wonder if it's even worth it. Sigh ...

Anyway, eels' lyrics today: 'A Daisy Through Concrete' and 'Somebody Loves You'. The other one — "Write now, right now" — just occurred to me.

If I'm not too lazy tomorrow, I'll want to be able to write something for a cutting.

B for Beastly

God, my Bs are hideous. Yuck.

And one practice A from last night:

But I'll take heart from Jess's words; I'll practise. Hopefully I'll get better.

Handwriting Practice

Goodness, it's almost the end of the month and I've still not finished The Little Old Lady who Broke All the Rules. It's just way too easy to stop reading the damn book — I just don't find it that engaging.

Anyway. No cutting, just doing an 'A'. I feel like I need a larger piece of paper (I guess I could write smaller too). I confused myself doing those swashes (which is why it's so scrunched up and lopsided.

Classes start next Monday. I'm a little excited, more nervous and anxious.

"Happily Ever After"

I think it might've been Emily who'd suggested offhandedly "happily ever after". And why not?

A very rough draft of what I had in mind (then went over it shakily with a pen). I still need to work on my swashes which I'm terrible at. Basically, handwriting is not my thing, but yet I find it sorta fun — quite ironically because of: swashes.

I'll prolly keep the heart shape. The H I was pleased with initially but now feel it looks out of proportion and unbalanced. There could be more I could do with the ps too. I mean, double p — a ligature maybe? And my descenders are always so shitty too. Sigh.

Papercut #2

On sick leave yesterday (food poisoning) and requested for urgent leave today because I simply don't feel like I'd be able to cope with eight and a half hours at work. Still zero appetite; subsisting on water and sweetened soy milk.

So, with today off, I pretended I made things for a living ... and realized I couldn't do it — I took too long to make something that looks too terrible.

First draft on graph paper in pencil then traced over with a pen.

Thought process: "Why not make a cutting?" So pencil on A4 drawing block, then traced over with a marker. Brain asked, "Why not add flourishes to surround the word?"

"YIKES. Word drowned in flourishes ..." =(

Do over in pencil:

Changed my mind about a small flourish ...

Traced with pen then marker. (Why? Heaven only knows ...) Commence cutting:

Done:

Conclusion: looks wonky and therefore ugly. (Plus spacing between letters is CRAP!!) But what's done is done. Dare I mount this as a gift for Hazel on Friday?

Day #14

Terms & Conditions is great. It's funny and yet has lines that have such gravitas (to me, at least) and, at times, even quite perfectly describe the ... insides. Like:

... it transpired that my happiness was nitroglycerin. Clear and stable as long as everything was utterly calm. But shake it just a bit — and it exploded.

Anyway. Another quote tonight which I thought was both discomfitingly hilarious and miserably true:

Day #13

Tonight, I sacrificed the kitties (as in not going into the park and be That Crazy Cat Lady^TM). Cuz I felt I wanted — needed — to do this:

And it continues: "If you only feed it solitude and fear, one day it will give up on you." (From my next Read of the Month, Terms & Conditions by Robert Glancy, which I started reading today.)

Day #11

Yeah, patterns ... instead I did what I've been thinking of trying out for the past week — see what I could do with hand-writing something for Hazel's cutting.

So: Shakespeare, Rumi, and Blake — all appropriate (if pedestrian) for weddings, I guess?

Hand-writing is really not something I do well at all, and I was never into calligraphy. Jess does it so well though ...

Sigh. Wish I had a clearer and executable plan for that cutting.