it’s raining
May 22, 2013
i’m depressed.
i’ve started something new.
it doesn’t suck.
you’ve got mail
May 20, 2013
today,
or perhaps more accurately,
tomorrow morning,
the u.s. postal service,
whom i adore,
will do its thing
and send the clockwork
back out on the open road.
or, i guess, into the big blue sky.
whatever.
you know what i mean.
after more than two years,
and i’m a long way from achieving my goal.
but i’ve got a good feeling about this leg of the journey.
here’s hoping we see a lot of the clockwork over the summer!
if you want to help,
and haven’t been added to the list,
just go ahead and leave a comment.
thanks, bitches!
clockwork revient
May 14, 2013
those of you who have stuck with me over the years may recall
that i made a clockwork, didn’t like it (on me)
and sent it on an adventure
that was over two year ago.
i cast it to the wind,
entrusting it to the kindness of knitters
to help it see all fifty u.s. states (and then some).
at some point,
its travels stalled out.
and i lost track of it,
after making appropriate sacrifices to the internets gods
and it has returned to me!
absence has certainly made the hear throw fonder
as i am now completely smitten with my little clockwork.
however,
i’d still like it to finish its journey.
so i think i’m going to send it back out into the world.
except this time, i’m going to play a bigger role in its travels.
but i need your help to do it!
so if you’d like to host the clockwork
and help me finish this project before, say 2015,
then read on!
the clockwork adventure 2.0
to be an effective clockwork host you must
1. be willing to show it a good time in your home state/province/country. nothing fancy, just take it out of it’s ziplock and into the world.
2. take a photo of the clockwork having fun and send it to me. like i said, it doesn’t have to be fancy. a photo in your shrubbery will do as well as a famous tourist sight.
3. be willing send it on to someone else. the clockwork relies on the kindness of strangers to get about.
the main goal of this adventure is for the clockwork to see all fifty states. a secondary goal is visiting all the canadian provinces. all international trips are just amazing bonuses! if you’d like to volunteer, just leave me a comment. but check out the clockwork’s page to see where it’s been and where it still needs to go, first.
help a knitter out?
*retweets and facebooking this post would be much appreciated!
happy mother’s day
May 12, 2013
to the person who’s known me longer than anyone else
and yet somehow still talks to me.
happy mother’s day, mom!
love,
steven & mo
bitches finishing their grading early?
May 3, 2013
#finalsweek
omelette
May 2, 2013
in keeping with things related to dogs that make me happy . . .
reading is fundamental
May 1, 2013
i firmly believe that all my happiness originates from the my mailbox.
recently, i’ve received a few things in the mail that have made me happy, but today’s arrival takes the proverbial cake.
this postcard art was made by jen cooney.
jen is, what i would call, a bar friend,
one of those people you see at the bar
and run into each other at all the same events
because you travel in the same, small, queer circle of people
though, for whatever reason, you’ve never really hung out
and your interactions have been largely limited to complimenting one another on the fabulosity of our outfits. believe you me,
you have not lived until you have seen jen cooney
in space face.
she put up a notice on facebook that she was doing mail art
and if anyone wanted one, to just send her their address.
i was a little reticent since, as i’ve said,
we weren’t very close back in the burgh
and i’ve been gone now for two years now.
but my love of mail prevailed and i sent my address.
best. decision. ever.
i tell you what,
this postcard makes me miss the queer community in pittsburgh.
whereas many people loathe the bubble-like insularity of such a small city, i miss those moments in the streets (or whole foods) of chance encounter throughout the city, that nod of acknowledgment that, yes,
we were both shaking a tail feather last night in the same place
and i may have been a hot mess but at least i looked fabulous.
there’s nothing like that here.
somehow, this image perfectly captures the essence of my life
and provided exactly the smile i needed to finish out finals week.
thanks jen!
up late
April 23, 2013
can’t sleep.
here’s a video.
love her.
boston
April 16, 2013
this is my fourth attempt at writing about this
because i saw an image that completely traumatized me,
that made me feel
and react
in ways
i no longer do.
my brain has learned how to protect me.
at least ninety nine percent of the time
i feel nothing, really.
this time,
i just couldn’t handle
this one image
of a man
who is now half a man
if he survives/d.
and all i know now is
i am deeply grateful to have a mom to call crying,
for the joy of friends watching drag queens on television,
for a best friend who talks to me for hours about her life,
for mo,
snoring,
oblivious
to anything
but finding the perfect spot in bed.
one sad sock
April 14, 2013
on my way to paris,
i decided to knit a sock.
sock knitting is perfect for airplanes, and
i was drawn to the colorway from the last month of last year’s sock club.
since school timing makes going to maryland sheep and wool impossible,
i decided i would treat myself to a knot hysteria retreat this summer.
and since it’s my tradition to always knit something for the harlot when i see her, the sock would be perfect.
her pattern.
tina’s yarn.
tiny feet.
perfect.
and then, the bomb drops while i’m in paris:
tina and stephanie broke up.
no more sock summits.
no more knot hysteria retreats.
frankly, i’m shocked,
and i know a lot of people are.
within 20 minutes of the post, texts were flying between knitters
asking who knew what? how did this happen?*
all i knew,
was i was knitting a sock for an event that would not happen.
never would i participate in yarn-dying melée.
never would i learn more about fiber in a day than i have in the past 3 years. never would i get the chance to spin and knit and make friends and steal my favorite soap that looks like a rock from the port ludlow resort’s maid’s cart. (and i’m on my last fucking bar!)
i made some life-long friends at my first retreat
i learned to spin, just so i could go, and now i’m a spinner.
and now it’s all over.
and there’s this sock
that has no mate, as of yet,
and i can’t seem to bring myself to cast on the next one.
it’s really pretty, and i love this pattern,
but the intension that bore it
can never be fulfilled.
so what should i do?
leave the pair unfinished, in honor of the loss of knot hysteria?
quit whining, knit the second one, and give them away?
you decide.
i can’t.
**my personal hypothesis is that knot hysteria dissolved because tina and stephanie were sick of dealing with the same whackos that showed up to every single event. i mean, there were some awesome folks who went, people that i love. but some of those regulars . . . if you saw them on the bus, you’d get off and wait for the next one to come. just sayin’.
