thrill-a-minute

Exciting picture, I know. I'm very busy developing masteristvan.com - this picture illustrates some measuring instructions.

Measuring (and) progress

Workin on telling y'all how to measure your feet for shoes. Soon (today? tomorrow? by Monday for sure) kits will be available to order at masteristvan.com.

Make your own damn shoes! ;o)

How do you get a whale's attention with a needle?

My old boot. I suppose you could say I'm putting my foot down, here.


If the United States was a store I was visiting, with our elected officials as the staff, I would leave the store and never return.

Have you ever written Congress? They write back with all the sincerity and interest of a Walmart "associate." Action? Don't expect it. You don't set their agenda, any more than you set Walmart's.

Why are we so apathetic about politics? Because America is Walmart: crappy products and crappier customer service. The thing is just too damn big. How can you expect to get a whale's attention with a needle?


If anything, the Bush administration has only worsened this situation. Their unilateral bullying of congress and other nations, as advised by CEOs of all the American institutions that matter, tells the rest of us -implicitly-- that we simply don't count (this is literally true, too, as they often don't even count our ballots).

Why was there no outrage when we invaded Iraq? Well in fact, there was. Scores of millions of people took to the streets in early March of 2003 (I was there, I saw thousands in Lawrence KS alone), but America TM didn't listen. Hundreds of millions of letters opposing the occupation have by now been sent to Congress, and been ignored. Thousands of phone calls have been made for the same reasons, and have been similarly ignored. Try it yourself: their manners are impeccable, and you might even feel better for a minute, but ultimately you'll be ignored too. Because America TM is not about you, or even us; it's about business.

It's as if the rules have been changed on us, without us having been told. One day, we lived in a democratic republic. Now, we live in a Walmart.

the Lists

Sun on the roof. Yes, that's moss; it grows on rooftops here. It'll grow out of control if you let it, so I'll need to get up there to treat it, soon. It's on The Big List of Things To Do.

Er, on one of my two Big Lists, anyway. The other, bigger, list is of things I need to do for the business/shop. I was so happy to have launched my web site, but as soon as I did, I began to think about/remember all of the things I don't have represented there yet, like boots (!!), belts, measuring instructions, 'care and feeding' instructions, etc etc ETC. When will it end? Apparently not at the beginning, which is of course where I am right now. Duh.

I read a few news-analysis-related blogs along with the rest of the news, and the Winter Patriot caught my attention this morning with this, an excellent refutation/deconstruction of today's predominant myth. It's short, readable, fascinating, and most importantly for me, confirming. It's what I have been trying to write for six and a half years.

Big Sleep

Yeah, I'll say it: I was right. Not that I was the only one, but I know a lie when I hear one.

And if that lie wasn't dangerous enough for you, think about this: the next lie they tell could be about you.

Mt. Hood sunset

Caught this one through the car window yesterday. I was stopped (well, almost) in traffic on I-5, coming home from meeting a potential model. He wasn't the kind of guy I need for the shots I want, but I didn't mind the drive- it's been a long time since we've been able to see Mt. Hood.

kaboom!

I know this is a difficult, confusing story to follow, but I think it's going to be bigger than any American media outlet can suppress (more analysis here and here). This is beyond mere criminality, folks; this is Treason.

Oh, I hope this blows up as big as I think it should. I've been following her story for a long time now...

Nazca

Should have a link to this available later today on masteristvan.com.

Wahkeena trail

This was not yesterday. Yesterday it snowed here, so it was probably damn-near inaccessible in the Gorge, where you can find this waterfall.

I finished a new bag this morning; I'll try to have pics tomorrow.

pokey thing

I'm sewing today, until this new bag is done.

Big(foot?) print

That's my hand.


Why do we get so *bleh* about national politics? Because in truth, contrary to everything the TV would have us believe, all politics is local. We just don't feel -really feel-- that we have a horse in the race. Why bother caring, if we can't tell the difference in the end?

Globalized media is a great thing on one hand, but on the other, it isolates us even more. If the only news we hear about is Britney, then we will begin to feel that Britney is the only thing worth talking about, the only thing that others want to hear about around the water cooler. Problem with that is that Britney is so far removed from us that we can't help but feel left out and insignificant. We don't know her, we won't know her; hell, most of us aren't even likely to see her if we wanted to.

Same thing goes for democracy: if the only candidates and elections we hear about are the national ones, then we are being led to believe that only national elections matter. There are two problems with that: one is that our nation is so big that our personal representatives most often don't have much of an impact individually, so we end up feeling insignificant in terms of the process; the other is that the nation's issues are so diverse that one person (the President, whose election is practically the only way we feel "involved" with our government) can't adequately represent all of our interests (or even all of the interests of all those who voted for him/her).

How could we not feel shut-out of the process? How could we feel anything other than apathy, when we are so far removed from what we're told is Important?

Anxieties

Lighthouse at Newport, Oregon, summer '07.

It's sunny here today. Cold (low 40s I guess), but sunny. I can't wait for spring.


Now who's paranoid?

It's a Go!

YES!

Of course, there's always more work to do, but yes, masteristvan.com is up and running. Check it out!

If you happen to be an owner of some of my work, and you have pictures of it, I would love to get a copy. I have exactly zero pictures of my footwear. Thanks!

Card-carrying...

Yes, we did the deed, and got these nifty cards to boot! There's personal info on the back.

We did it for legal reasons, among other reasons obviously.

Marriage is a complicated institution. Personal relationships aside, marriage itself in contemporary American society is a unique melding of church and state, in which a functionary of a church is allowed to perform the duties of a public official. This is exactly why we contemporary Americans are having such a problem with it: because the Church doesn't want to, so we don't want It to, and here the Church is the State, so the State can't do it either, even though many people think it should. Get it?

Yeah, it's complicated. We just need to realize that Contemporary Marriage is actually two things: 1) a Church-sanctioned merging of families, and 2) a State-sanctioned merging of fortunes (good or bad). Once upon a time, these could pass for the same thing, but no longer.

I probably sound cold and analytical about it, but I'm happy to have done it, and to have it done. We didn't make a big deal of it, but we celebrated, and will again when our 'official' anniversary comes around again next month. We're sentimental, but not particularly showy about it. (If you'd like to send gifts, we love all kinds of art and homemade things :D ).

Spirit Lake

I'm getting a little anxious for summer. That's Spirit Lake in the background there- this is from the Windy Ridge trail through the blast zone on Mt. St Helens. I'll be honest: it's a gruelling hike. It's a roughly 13-mile round-trip, as I recall, with difficult scrambling, and no shade at all. Worth it? I'm undecided, but Phil seems to really dig it for some reason, so I'm sure I'll get another chance to decide. I will say that I'm sure it'll be easier, now that we have a water filter we can carry. Now we can carry only half the total water we'll need, then refill at the spring which is at about the halfway point. It'll make a difference, trust me.

Worked all day yesterday on the site, and will again today. Going to try to get more pictures this weekend.

Crack that whip!

Spent all day yesterday shooting, processing, editing and reprocessing photos for the web site. Got some nice work done, but damn- all day! Today, I need to be two people: one to work on the web site, and the other to do some actual worky-work. (I actually have two fairly urgent projects waiting in the shop.... What's a shoemaker have to do these days to get a few helpful elves? Sheesh!)

Focus

This little bugger's about 1" tall in person, on the front of an auxilliary pocket for the front of a new bag.

Lasting

I said it four years ago, and I'm still saying it: Demand a paper ballot! Nothing else really counts.

Gulf of Tonkin II: the Straits of Hormuz. This one's not over yet, I'm afraid. Note the dramatic difference in the American vs Iranian versions of the story, and the accompanying rise in oil prices.

Sibel Edmonds speaks

Preview 1

Busy day today. We were out shooting for my website yesterday, here's a preview of one of my sweet new bags. Aiming to publish this week at the latest. Ugh, finally!

Deco goes *Pop*

Sorry about the slightly-fuzzy quality of this photo. It's the last silkscreen project I tried before resigning myself to the idea that I Don't Know How to Silkscreen Well Enough Yet, to get the results I would find acceptable. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that I've even posted this picture, because I don't see it as a finished work (more of a sketch, I guess, if one can sketch in silkscreening), but I'd really like to hear some reactions to it (Phil won't say so outright, but I don't think he likes it).

Technical issues aside (and there are many), I like the composition. It was the impetus for the whole project, really. I took it directly from a photo I had taken of Phil on the trail, which I liked so much that I wanted to do more with it. I had in mind those old WPA-created National Parks posters from back in the day, which Paul Lanquist is doing such a good job of re-creating these days. My color choices were deliberate- partly the result of limited options (silk screen ink is available in six glorious colors: "red," "blue," "yellow," "green," "brown," "white" and "black", and is roughly the consistency of pudding, which makes it exceedingly difficult to get predictable results from mixing), and partly because of my Pop-Artist tendencies, which we've discussed before.

The technical issues I'm talking about are the edges, mostly. I had trouble getting each screen to register completely on the paper, so all of the prints of this are somewhat flawed. Each one is a little different because each time I printed, I would get ink flowing (er, not-flowing) to different parts of the screen. In this case, for example, you can see how the blue didn't get to the lower right corner, and the yellow didn't get to the upper right corner. You can also see (in the middle) how excess red ink made the screen stick to the paper, leaving a roundish spot of more-intense violet among the purple. Note: the blue and green border is the matte.

In the end, honestly, I love it. Flaws and all. Which leaves me in a position from which I am eager and willing to hear criticism (if I didn't like it, I wouldn't need or want to hear anyone else not-liking it). So, if you're so inclined, Fire Away with those comments and criticisms. I'm curious.

Toonland ho!

New paint! We're just getting started, too. At this rate, our house will soon look like the inside of a box of crayons. Sweet!

Susurrousness

Today's image is brought to you by the letter S! S is for sex. And ...something else, I'm sure, but I can't remember anything else right now.

That kind

Part of a photo-'essay' we're putting together for Phil's students. They're under the impression (granted, facetiously) that he hikes 30 miles every day before school, so we're giving them 'proof.' Yeah, we're that kind of adults.

Vacationing work/working vacation

We're finally getting down to redecorating the front room. Here you can see the pasty not-quite-yellow color we're replacing. We primed the walls yesterday. Today, the plan is to apply some color. We might go so far as to get fabric for new curtains, but while I have some ideas, I'm not sure how I want to do that yet. The most important thing is to make good use of Phil while he's on vacation.

Phil's vacation time kinda dictates my work schedule, for that reason (you don't really get a vacation when you work for yourself- in a sense, it's all vacation, but in another sense, it's all work). When he's off work, we can get things done around the house that I can't on my own, like painting, installing bookshelves, organizing the space in the cellar, or cleaning the gutters (hey, Hello Kitty won't help with the gutters anymore, and somebody has to hold the ladder when you're 25' off the ground!).

The Road to Sheep Canyon

One of the goals I've set for myself this year, is to hike to Sheep Canyon, on the shoulders of Mt. St. Helens. Trail guides I've read say it's a really beautiful (or interesting) place, so I wanted to check it out. I tried last year, but was thwarted by several challenges, starting with this mess in the picture.

What you're seeing is the sign (which normally stands about 7.5' tall or so) at the parking lot of the trailhead to Blue Lake (see the map at the bottom of this page). And I had to walk to get there, because so much road is washed out that you can't get any closer than Forest Road 81.

I tried twice last year: the first time, I couldn't even find a trail from here forward. The second time, it seemed that someone else had been there since I was last there, because I found preliminary trail markings (plastic markers tied to trees, or rocks marked with chalk or paint, indicating the direction to the next marker). I was able to follow these for a mile or so, until the 'path' crossed a creek that was too wide to jump (and me without my jet pack!).

So unless the park service has done a LOT of work over the winter (ha ha), I expect to find the area in about the same condition as last year. It's going to be a challenging hike, not only because of the trail-following problem, but also because it's long and probably hasn't been maintained in a few years. Should be beautiful, though, and very remote. I'm excited! Who's with me?