Found Object or A Little Madness for the King

Can you believe this escaped my notice? Our PO is so crazy. It's impossible to know when this arrived. It has no postmarks. I cannot even begin to tell you what they did with our mail when we were on vacation. Suffice it to say, a neighbor came by yesterday to show me the form I'd filled out requesting the PO hold our mail while we were gone. They'd mailed the form to her! That place is out of control. I have no idea what to do since they've basically gone rogue these days. I digress. I hadn't read this one before. It's perfect and wonderful even in the midst of summer. Thank you!

Flight

This one was a long time coming and I apologize. It arrived right as we were leaving on a trip and I, in my nervous haste, was too worried about ruining it and didn't want to open the sheer wrapping. Yesterday, finally, I took the plunge. Here is what I found:

I love origami. It's like visual J. S. Bach. You know, it encompasses so much: mathematics, rhythms, harmony, nature, patterns. This is beautiful. I love the colors and that paper is classic. How is your book going? I would love to see it!

Postcard of mini-painted-wonders

A postcard of miniatures.

Close-ups:

So fantastic. I wish I had a dollhouse and I would decorate every room with these. All the different styles and colors--what a fantastic house it would be. Look how detailed and tiny it all is, with a cowboy and his steed, no less. I never get tired to studying this.

Bonus Trinket!

Menacing, yet cute. With bonus trinket!

 

Button Forms!

Don't be fooled by the packaging, folks. These are merely button forms. You control the fabric that wraps around these metal forms for a completely customized button look!

As I mentioned, my Mom used these throughout the late 60s/early 70s. And so many of my pantsuits had buttons made of matching fabrics. And in those years, that matching fabric was usually very multi-colored. We're not talking muted plaids. No, zany stripes, florals and even smiley faces could make it onto these. It was completely out of control.

Someone should bring these back and just sew them all over the damn place. Everyone loves buttons. In fact, I went to a brunch yesterday in Oakland and my friend had a clear baggie of colorful buttons taped to the wall of her office/studio. I don't know why. Maybe she's doing some sewing. Anyway, it got me thinking: why not decorate with buttons? They're just so nice.

I'm working on some art. Or is it art? It's definitely up in the air. And I finally finished that Alice Neel biography. She got rich, acclaimed, and famous in the last decade of her life. It was like the elevator to the stars! Then she died. Perhaps that's the way to go. So the fame never spoils you. Anyway, she worked her butt off over the years, making trillions of portraits. She deserved every bit of fame and the some. Now I can plow through the new oral history of Led Zeppelin, who did not have to wait long for fame at all.

More mail to come. My landlord made us this crazy stone mailbox mausoleum this year and when it's hot (like it was last week, above 100 degrees every day), the mail gets VERY HOT. These buttons were ON FIRE. Made it pretty exciting.

Blueness

When I opened the envelope, I immediately noticed the jewelry and was like, how did she know?! Then I saw the glasses and I recognized them. I think you wore those way back when, right? I say how did she know because lately I've been doing my usual scheming and decided to start making necklaces out of recycled jewelry parts as a possible new vocation. It's so fun reinventing something, but not so lucrative. Or it could be I have no business sense. That's most likely. Here is that of which I write:

It was a huge adjustment coming back and I'm still adjusting. I wish we could go back there often, maybe even live there. I especially loved Bologna and Hampstead Heath. Is it unrealistic to scheme in those directions?

80s-era Journal Collage - hooray

Yay! Mail art is back. Cutting up old journals is a great idea. I tossed a ton of my journals-of-my-20s--maybe I saved a few doodles and that's it. I had made some conscious decision at some point in my mid-20s to stop writing down every angst-y feeling that popped into my head (little did I know the Internet would come along, giving everyone, including me, a platform for those feelings). Reading through those early journals was VERY embarrassing and I didn't want to subject future generations to them, so out they went. I did save journals of the 90s--they seem more "balanced" overall, and contain some story ideas.

One thing I was really surprised to rediscover on going over old journals recently (we were probably doing this in tandem a couple months ago without realizing it), was that I was very, very serious about being a writer. I had multiple short-story ideas going on for a couple years, and I was sending out a lot of completed work and making note of my rejections (some hand-written notes on them that kept me from giving up), and filing things and being very driven and organized. What happened that changed that trajectory? Was it just giving up, or deciding to try later--probably just working full-time for low pay and survival taking over I think.

Anyway, there was a part of myself I had COMPLETELY buried in my subconscious. My writing side. I stopped journaling altogether for some time, but have picked it up again, along with doing art with you (hmm--interlinked). I still write ideas in journals so I won't forget. They get used for blogging, comics and our limping-along script. Which will be completed--I predict--or at least first-drafted this summer. It must be!

So we can get going on the second script.

Also: thank you for this collage and the nice window envelope. It's weird to have something of yours from a couple decades back when I distinctly remember your work from then. I remember this brown ink, and lovely drawings and your commitment to putting it all down on paper. A huge part of you in these little collages in the mail. The P.O. made some nice stamp-age on the envelope as well. This reminds me of you back in the day very much.

This teeny handwriting--you have such skill with miniature. I love your miniature still-life broaches--I have my bowl of lemons you gave me. Much talent. Much, much, much.