Deviant Dispatches

Some of these teapots I've found are gorgeous. Some are... interesting. Some are just totally bizarre. I think I want all of them. Most of all, I like this trio, but I especially love the dragon one. Source Speaking of cool animal-shaped teapots, anyone ever seen rhinoceros teaware? Didn't think so. I am happy to oblige. Source Of course, I prefer the monkey teapot. Source The hilarity is not lost on me: if any of these critters came in contact with these items, we'd have a mess instead of teatime. Of course, none of these that I've posted so far is really that affordable for us common people . (The monkey one? Yeah, $3,500. Not my kind of teatime.) This musical teapot, however, is less than $50, elegant, and fun. Source I'm a big fan of the Republic of Tea, both their beverages and their drinkware, like this pretty red set. Source This set is on sale right now, 30 percent off the original price. (Spousa...

Some days suck for no good reason. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I was mentally tired all day, and little things kept getting to me. (In the light of a new day, they weren't that  little, and it's kind of reassuring to know they were things worth worrying over.) I struggled through the morning, and then fought my way through work. By the time I left at the end of the day, I decided that only a bottle of my favorite wine would make me feel better. So I stopped and got one, and it turned out that my favorite wine is not my favorite anymore. (Or maybe I got a bad bottle.) It made me want to throw things and break stuff and scream, but instead I just sat in bed with Spousal Unit and hated on crossword puzzles. On days when I can't figure out what set me off in the first place - days when I'm just a little down or need an extra hug and no one's around to give it - I always end up thinking of a particular poem. Reading it, while it doesn't cure anythin...

*Fair warning: Quite a bit more coarse language in this post than usual. Proceed with caution - and maybe a sharp stick.* Subversive Cross Stitch is one of my favorite things about this version of planet Earth. If there are alternate universes, where subversive cross stitch does not exist, then I deem them dry, serious places where I would not care to dwell. What exactly makes something subversive? I'd say it's three parts sarcasm...   Thanks for Sharing Kit ...and two parts ugly-ass frame. WTF? Kit I made this delightful one for a friend a few years ago - a phrase she commonly used at work when something bizarre happened. This one hangs in my kitchen - I believe I've shared it before, but now you can see it again. The Subversive Cross Stitch Flickr group has a crazy collection of awesome. There, everyone can post the happy, fun ideas they've come up with, based on commonly used phrases or lines from their favorite movies. T...

Remember that cute card I made? Here's the tutorial for how to make one of your own! First, cut out a bunch of cardstock hearts and some kind of little critter. You can use a straight edge or a pair of scissors. For the hearts, I cut out three different sizes, then traced them to make multiples. I also made some really small ones with a heart-shaped hole punch. This cute bunny is from a poster for the book Moon Rabbit - a cute story of two lonely bunnies not being so lonely anymore. Find a spare envelope in the mess that is your stash of goodies. Take a large piece of cardstock, fold it in half, then cut it to size so that it will fit in the envelope. (I love my paper cutter for these projects!) Be sure to put the card in the envelope  so that you know it will fit. There's nothing worse than getting to the end and having to make an envelope from scratch after you thought you were done. Cut a thin strip of green cardstock to size for the bottom of the card....

April is National Poetry Month . Now that the month is almost over, I ought to mention something about it. I love poetry anthologies, mostly for their element of surprise. You never know who you'll find in them, or which poem will be your new favorite (because the book isn't usually named after it). Some have themes, like love, or a certain author, or cultural tradition. Some anthologies are mostly terrible. But I believe that as long as an anthology introduces me to at least one great new poem or author, it's done its job. A Thousand Years of Vietnamese Poetry  (tr. Nguyen Ngoc Bich) is one such anthology. I discovered it at a used bookstore in downtown Eau Claire, which may or may not yet exist. The poems and poets provide an intriguing view of Vietnamese history, culture, and folklore. My favorite poem is an excerpt from "Sorrows of an Abandoned Queen" by Nguyen Gia Thieu. Speaking of her prince, the queen laments: And oh, within the screens, his awe...

I am incredibly cranky this morning, and I'm pretty much never  cranky when I wake up. Maybe it was Spousal Unit's NPR, waking me up 45 minutes before I like to get out of bed. Maybe it was the downstairs neighbor's bathroom fan, which is broken and rattles like a herd of elephants stampeding during an earthquake, and is always turned on in that morning moment when you're half awake and trying to go back to sleep. Maybe it's the low-grade headache I've had since then, which, if it doesn't go away soon, will likely get worse. Maybe it's having to work my third closing shift in this week when I only have one day off, meaning I get a total of two hours with Spousal Unit tonight before bedtime - and no dinner with him. Maybe it's knowing I have to work all weekend, too. Whatever the reason, I'm in the mood to pillage, burn, and kick flowers today. I should probably fix that before I go to work, or before 5:00 I'll be muttering about a stapler...

Yesterday was Wednesday, which, as you know, is the day I set aside the blog and work on the novel instead. I've really been plugging away at it lately, so I wanted to share some of my progress with you. Ideally, I'd share the most recent myth I wrote for it. But the novel is reaching a certain point where I don't really want to post much of this stuff on the Internets, because I don't want it to be stolen. I am also hoping to publish the myth I just wrote, and many places have strict rules against previous publishing in any format. So instead of sharing what I've written, I'll tell you about what I've been doing to get the book ready for human consumption. Adding myths. So far I have one about the world's creation, one about the end of the world, and one about a trickster/shapeshifter. Adding segments from another character's perspective. This is to help add depth to the story, and to give it more than two main characters. Edits. I'm on...