Vegetarianniversary!

This Halloween marked my 15th year of being a vegetarian. We celebrated with an Indian feast of Baingan Bharta and Malai Kofta, at the restaurant where we had our first real date. Then at home, we enjoyed cleaning out pumpkin guts and roasting the seeds. I found The Legend of Billy Jack on Netflix streaming video, so we decided on a hippy film, instead of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which we thought would give us nightmares.

I was so excited about Billy Jack, having seen it only once, over 10 years ago. The basic premise of the movie is there is a town in Arizona, near a reservation where there is an alternative school. People from the town are racist and distrustful of the pacifist students and director of the school. When the students go into the town, the townspeople humiliate them and treat them badly. Enter Billy Jack, who knows martial arts, is initiated in sacred Indian rites, is not a pacifist, and cares mostly about the students and preventing corruption in the town. Anyway, Billy Jack makes a mess of the place with his martial arts skills and makes everyone get along. There are two feelings the film leaves you with: (1) I wish I could go to an alternative pacifist school and learn how to weave and ride horses, and (2) I wish I could beat people up like Billy Jack.

Last week, I finished my first sock. The important thing is that it actually fits, and it's totally cute. I started the second sock right away, but have been spending more time beading instead of knitting. The sock took me about two months to finish, so maybe in another two months, I'll have a pair...hopefully sooner.


Lastly, I made a necklace for my friend, which I'm calling "peace dove." It's obviously based on my last creation "peacock." Crazily, I'm trying to think of a way to make a "cockatiel," which would be cool, but not that useful, since I never wear yellow or orange. I've been wearing grey a lot more lately though.


One of my friends has an aunt who does beading. She had made a series of bracelets to be worn together with a monarch butterfly theme. One bracelet was yellow, black, and white, for the larva. The next was all lime green, for the pupa. The next was orange, black, and white, for the butterfly. The last was blue and white, for the sky. It's a clever idea, which I would like to adapt with colors of birds in my current designs.

-吴碧芙

Peacock and a Picture Story

For a while, I've been envisioning a beading project, called "the peacock" because I wanted a mix-match of blues and greens. I wanted it to be secure, without a clasp, and without exposed metal parts. I got some pointers from MJ in CR, and 文大猊 took me to the crazy "I-didn't-know-they-had-a-bead-for-that" bead shop in SF. This is where I found the aqua-colored leaf beads, the two blue twisty beads in front, a mix of peacock colors, and the focal bead. The rest was done with four colors of seed beads, wire, and crimps.



We caught the Corn Maze on the second to last day it was open. I've never done one before, but this one covers 8 acres, and the theme this year was monarch butterflies. The maze had a butterfly shape in the center, which could be seen on the map and aerial view. It was difficult. It was muddy. We couldn't imagine participating in the "Haunted Maze" which would take place after dark that night with flashlights. We couldn't imagine taking kids there and setting them loose, since there were a few moments where we two adults were afraid that we were lost in the corn.

There is a group on Flickr that posts picture stories in 4-picture sequences. I used them in my classes in China, and I decided that a picture story would be a good way to present the maze adventure. (Click to enlarge)

Maize Maze: A Picture Story


-吴碧芙

Rainbows and Fairies

When I was little, my Grama had a prism hanging in the western window. In the afternoons, the rainbows would be projected all over the floor, and I would try to stand on them, or hold them in my hands. When I had my own apartment in Iowa City, I went downtown and bought a prism, which has been with me from IC to Phoenix, and finally to SD.

I hung my prism in my only window, southern, and I find it makes the best rainbows in the fall and winter. As I sat talking on Saturday, I realized that one was projected onto my hand, like a little light of Tinkerbell, so we tried to capture it in a picture.


Rainbows are a common theme lately. While visiting my parents, I went to a yarn shop with my mom and found a really bright and exciting sock yarn. This finally gave me the necessary motivation to actually knit a sock. I had some difficulty with the gusset, but I'm finally on the home stretch, with only half of the foot and the toe left to finish.


Finally, I finished the scarf that I had been working on since Thanksgiving. Everyone who saw me working on it at that gathering, will be happy to see the finished product. I gave it to 文大猊, who was surprised and excited to have a new scarf in personalized colors, which I picked out a few weeks after meeting him.


Be well,
-吴碧芙

Love Nest

I spent about 2 weeks in Iowa with my family. The birds got to stay with Grampa, which was fun for all three, I think.

I remember in some of my school breaks, my mom and I have done sewing projects. On Winter Break during my freshman year of college, we made a quilt with a faux fur backing, which served me well all through college and grad school and which I still have with me in my apartment.

Over this break, I wanted to try a smaller project, having seen a bird hut on the internet. I measured and cut a pattern out of newspaper. I chose some scrap fabric. We guessed and discussed how everything would fit together. Mom did the sewing and decorative details. We put hearts on the sides, and trimmed it with excess orange bias tape.


I hung it in the cage for a few days. Generally birds are afraid of new things and bright colors, but I think since Kavi and Roscoe have each other, they are less skittish around new toys, etc. I didn't have a long enough perch, though. The perch would need to extend out of the doorway, so they would be able to climb inside.

When I finally found a perch that would extend out of the house, and got everything set up, Kavi was still unsure, but Roscoe was not at all too shy to try it out. He slept inside the whole night (I could tell from the droppings), and Kavi slept on the uncovered end of the new perch. Roscoe was nice enough to pose for a photo, but I don't think he has spent any more time inside since the first night.


So photogenic...


Besides that, I started grad school. Kavi was a good kitty, and perched on my lap while I studied tonight. I have five classes, and all five meet on Wednesday. Wednesday being the first day of class, it was like being thrown into the fire. So far, I've learned about how hard and terrible grad school is going to be.

-吴碧芙

Don't miss it, don't even be late...

I've been enjoying some much-needed time away before school visiting the great state of Iowa. Today we decided to take a family day trip to the Iowa State Fair. We visited the Varied Industries Building, where I was tempted to buy a Hawkeye cookie cutter, but decided against it on account of the price tag. I was a big nerd and got a free pair of ear plugs and my name written in Braille (color dots added for visibility).


We tried Iowa Soy Oil and Corn Cob Syrup, and I went to look at textile arts with my mom on the second level. There were amazing quilts, with the most intricate patterns. I also enjoyed looking at knitting and crochet.

The big fair food this year is "cookies in a cup." Not wanting to miss anything important from the fair, we all split a cup. The cookies were good. The cup was unremarkable. "Cookies in a cup" lived up to its name.

In the Family Food Center, we saw all of the winning entries for cake decorating, cookies, bread, and canning. A slice of each of the winning breads was placed on a plate and behind glass. I've never seen so many single pieces of different kinds of bread, but it was interesting.

Lunch included a somewhat frustrating search for cheese on a stick and a deep fried pickle on a stick. We eventually found the cheese, but we never found the elusive pickle. For the main course, my brother and I each got a veggie corn dog, and I tried deep fried macaroni and cheese (both shown below).


After checking out the dollhouse exhibit, viewing all kinds of crazy-looking chickens, goats, and cows, and seeing the "big boar" (weighing 1,117 lbs.), we headed for home.

-吴碧芙

A Scientifical Study of Giant Birds by Roscoe

I want to write about our recent findings in the field of giant birds. For about a year, I've lived with my companion Kavi, and we have a giant bird who helps us. Kavi observes the giant birds and explains his findings about their behaviour. My work focuses on gathering information about breed and coloring. From my observations it is obvious to me that our giant bird is a giant green Conure, although Kavi doesn't agree. I have seen strong evidence for my hypothesis:
Exhibit A: Brilliant green fathers


Exhibit B: Another instance of green feathers


It's hard to say why these feathers change depending on the day. That's why Kavi says we can't tell which breed it is, based on feathers that are changeable. For a long time we didn't know if it was a girl or a boy. Eventually we found out that it's a boy, because he has a mate, and they are obviously of a dimorphic breed, with the female (left) having less brilliant coloring than the male (right):


The last observation is about head and face feathers. The male's head feathers are bright, like his other feathers, but the female has cheek feathers, that match her head feathers, obviously for camoflaging her in the nest.

Good luck foraging!
Roscoe

Catching Up

This weekend was a mini-vacation, as 文大猊 and I made the trek to Eastern Iowa for the hometown celebration. Highlights included the 5k run/walk early Saturday morning, riding in the parade with my high school classmates, playing and exploring at the Farm with my cousins, my 10-yr high school reunion, and introducing 大猊 to the extended family.

The first event was the 5k. Our team was 大猊, my aunt, and myself. We each got a number and a medal.


The parade included a few entries worth mentioning: my reunion wagon, the Beastmaster with a ferret in his pouch, and the first-place entry (below).


The first place float in the parade was a giant rotating Jesus Taco, from one of the local churches.


In the afternoon, we went to the Farm, caught the kittens, played the game Pit, and explored the Farm, including the creek, the hen house, the Ancestor Room, and the small attic.

The reunion was Saturday night, and went off without a hitch. We left Sunday morning, but not without my aunts, cousins, and uncle coming to say one last goodbye to 大鲵 and two emergency haircuts--the first from my mom and the second from my aunt who is a trained professional.

-吴碧芙