bee listy is wicked leftist and stitchy

this blog has moved

2009-02-01T22:35:00.001-06:00

So I'm using Wordpress for so many other things these days, I've decided to move my blog over there too.

Please stop by and update your feed settings, or bookmarks. :)

Thanks!

looking for queers to write with or about who craft

2009-01-30T16:22:00.003-06:00

i'm looking for queer authors, or crafters/artists to feature over at http://queercraft.wordpress.com

if you're interested, let me know via email at aionolit at gmail dot com.

happy inauguration day!!!

2009-01-20T12:44:00.002-06:00

well folks, it's a wonderful day. Barack Hussein Obama has been inaugurated, and one of my favorite parts was watching GWB depart in the helicopter. Good riddance.

Etsy & Craftster both have inauguration day stuff up, and my portrait of Hillary & Barack is featured on Craftster!!!

I'm very excited on multiple levels. :)

also blogging over at RQN

2009-01-19T12:50:00.003-06:00

i'm also blogging over at the new radical queer news blog that my friend eBomb started. check us out.

long time, radio silence

2009-01-10T19:29:00.003-06:00

hey there... i've been quiet.

but i've been stitching, planning, updating, and other excitement.

today i added a bunch of merch to the etsy shop.

i also updated my website, thanks to my friend ethan's awesome new site graphics for me. he rules!

not much else to report. i just finished a portrait of Paul Westerberg:

I'm working on a portrait of Audrey Hepburn, and a ton of embroidered napkins for Jen I.

Billions of other ideas floating around in my head, but never enough hours in the day. :)

I'm also trying to read 100 books in 2009...

for k's mom

2008-12-16T11:25:00.001-06:00

My partner's mom is a very liberal Catholic woman who works at her parish in a number of capacities. I made this for her birthday-- and she shook with laughter-- maybe i can get a picture of her at her desk with it.

two new finished items...

2008-12-13T18:59:00.001-06:00

The first is a gift for my secret santa person at work.

The second is going up in the Etsy shop. :)

etsy linkage

2008-12-12T13:33:00.002-06:00

some favorite etsy shops:

rar rar press
boy girl party
faster than you
ursula-- thread wizard
small bird jewelry
pookeh
oh ginger
julie lake jewelry
communitea
strawberry luna
make something new (i want the bookshelf tote!!)
sugar lust
km stitchery (eco feminst friendly fashion)
radical rags
lake illustration
red paper record
sew bendy

that oughta keep you busy for awhile...

also, if you want to just browse my favorites on etsy, you can cruise through them all here.

hey

2008-11-24T14:46:00.002-06:00

I don't have much to update, but I'm working on some new projects.. i also upgraded to PC Stitch Pro, which i'm trying to figure out...

two finished pieces

2008-11-11T09:09:00.003-06:00

They are both for sale in my Etsy shop. Both stitched on 22 hardanger over this past weekend, I'm really excited to do more retro tattoo inspired stitching. I made the patterns myself.

stay true

2008-11-08T17:50:00.002-06:00

Today I worked on a new pattern for a long time, and came up with a really exciting new piece.

Here's a photo of the in progress action. :)

From Blogger Pictures

what i've been up to

2008-11-08T00:14:00.004-06:00

So it was a busy week with election results, work, and finishing this small portrait of Benazir Bhutto.

Today I stayed home from work sick and whipped this up quickly. (The canvas is more bright green than this...)

They're both for sale on my Etsy shop.

historic day, right?

2008-11-04T20:13:00.002-06:00

Today I was able to cast my vote for Barack Obama for president, and Al Franken for US Senate, and the meaningful thing about that, has been the interactions I have had with strangers this afternoon and early evening.

At the bank, I chatted with my teller, an African American man in his 20s (by my estimation) about the excitement of people feeling like part of the system who have never felt that way before. At the bus stop, I talked to an 18 year old woman who voted for the first time today--for Obama, who shares her skin color.

I have never felt so excited about voting as I did this morning, except for maybe the first time (1996). This is my 4th presidential election, and I've voted for the democrat every time-- I'm just really excited that he might win.

Although, I'm still nervous. I don't trust that the republicans don't have some shenanigans up their sleeves.

Ohio friends, be strong

2008-10-24T08:09:00.002-06:00

Rachel Maddow talks about McCain trying to snap up electoral votes in the biggest battleground states--like Ohio, Pennsylvania...

Dr. Maddow says read this

2008-10-22T10:42:00.000-06:00

Dr. Rachel Maddow said this is required reading for her viewers. Get on it, folks :)

Ties!

2008-10-20T15:14:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend, i embroidered a few neckties. They're for sale in my Etsy shop.

goodness...

2008-10-13T11:12:00.002-06:00

Things are terrifying w/ the US presidential campaign.

Republican columnists are calling for McCain to control his supporters, which is also referenced in this amazing clip from the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC.

Cross-stitching isn't really keeping my mind off of the insanity in my country, but I did make a lot more progress on Oprah's dress yesterday, and also finished up Dorothy Parker.

5 friends... vote.

2008-10-01T13:31:00.001-06:00

I'm posting this because I appreciate the message... But i have a few comments.

1. They didn't have to be quite so condescending.
2. It took me the entire video to recognize Giovanni Ribisi.

Obama's speech in LaCrosse just now

2008-10-01T10:03:00.001-06:00

I just listened to Obama's speech in LaCrosse, WI and he had me in happy-hopeful tears yet again...

politics as usual...

2008-09-27T14:42:00.001-06:00

We watched the US Presidential debate last night. I was hoping for more drama, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Je t'adore, Obama!

O!

2008-09-24T21:50:00.001-06:00

What we have here is a work in progress on Oprah Winfrey.

vote...

2008-09-23T09:28:00.002-06:00

PBS is running a poll that asks if Palin is qualified to be VP. The right wing has organized a yes campaign--and the "yes" is at the moment winning. Take 1 minute and go to:
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html and vote!
Send this on.

oy.

2008-09-17T10:41:00.003-06:00

You know that things are pretty messed up when a political junkie like me is sick of the coverage of the US presidential election.

I've been inundating myself by feeding my google reader (add me on there-- aionolit at gmail dot com) addiction-- I'm subscribed to a number of different blogs, some more overtly political than others... and i'm feeling like I want to post more stuff besides stitchy stuff here.

miscellany

2008-09-17T07:14:00.003-06:00

If anyone is reading this, please stop by my Etsy shop. Any sales I get today, I will donate 30% towards Bitch Magazine's major fund drive.

also, i started Clara Bow last night. I'm excited about how quickly she's coming along!!

Tomorrow is my 31st birthday. Woo.

This weekend, I am going up to Grand Marais, MN w/ my partner & her family to enjoy nature, sit around Naniboujou stitching, and eat ourselves stupid. Last year when we went, I worked on Toni Morrison. This year, I'm going to take a few small projects.

Another one finished, another one started.

2008-09-15T14:28:00.001-06:00

Well, I finished Grace Kelly,
and started Michel Foucault.

a custom job

2008-08-31T19:21:00.003-06:00

One of the things that made this freshly-finished custom piece a success is that I remembered to go w/ 3 strands on the floss for the lettering.

Red is DMC 321 and the canvas is Charles Craft Gold Standard 14 black aida.

*

In other news, right after posting my big political rant on Friday night, I got the bad news that my grandpa is being placed in Hospice care to live out the final days of his life. He's been sick for a couple of years, but took a dramatic turn for the worse a couple of weeks ago. What looked like an episode regarding his congestive heart failure has turned out to really be metastasized cancer into the liver (was originally prostate), and his liver has shut down. I have still been stitching while I await more news, and Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. is slowly but surely coming along. Please send good thoughts for a peaceful passing to my beloved grandpa-- he is 97.5 years old and has lived a wonderful life full of love and joy, and before he got too sick to know what's going on, he told us that he's ready to go. Thanks.

Politics are getting in the way of my art. They're related.

2008-08-29T21:06:00.003-06:00

Well crap.

I had really good intentions to spend the evening stitching (still working on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), but that mostly didn't happen due to the fact that I've spent the night reading, thinking, blogging (elsewhere), discussing in forums, and smoking while I think about the Presidential election.

And while I know that only about five people even read this blog (counting my partner!), I'm going to post what I'm thinking about and writing about anyway. I'm not apologizing or disclaiming-- because it's my blog and I can do what I want-- you don't have to read it. But honestly-- the fact are in-- some of my work is political because I'm a political person. I love reading and talking about politics, and presidential elections make me wildly crazy in both good and bad ways. So I've got a lot to think about.

First, I'm going to hit you with a link about how wicked sketchy Sarah Palin is, which someone just posted in the childfree community over on livejournal. And while we're doing links, here's Paul Begala on how McCain is out of his mind.

Second, I wrote this earlier tonight. It was originally posted to facebook, then my livejournal.

To my friends who identify as republican, or lean that way. We are at a critical juncture in America, and I feel like I want to write something about it. I live in St. Paul, MN now, where the Republican National Convention will be happening next week, and it's a very strange feeling to hear so much about GOP stuff because St. Paul has a democratic mayor (as does Mpls, where I work and many of our friends live), and most of my friends are very progressive-- more to the left than the average democrat. There is no one party I can vote for and truly vote my beliefs and conscience. I am a feminist who believes fundamentally in the right of a woman to make choices about her own reproductive life. I am a queer person who believes fundamentally in the myriad of rights brought about by same sex marriage/unions. These two big identity issues put me on the democrat side of things. I also fundamentally believe in the right to possess firearms because I grew up in a household where I was taught from a young age that guns are dangerous and I wasn't to touch them until I was older and properly trained. I also believe that there are many issues that our federal government should butt out of and leave up to states, counties, and municipalities. These beliefs bring me down on a more libertarian place in the political spectrum. When I cast a vote for president in November, I plan to cast that vote for Barack Obama. I'm telling you this because I believe in the power of hearing what other people feel in the depths of their hearts, not just what the pundits on television are yelling about. I intend to cast a vote for Sen. Obama because I believe that his commitment to working families of all races is crucial for the future. I believe that together, with the Cabinet, many other advisors, and the Congress/Senate, there can be positive changes made in our society that can and will benefit people in many ways. The republican regime that is in power right now has done nothing but serve the superrich-- not even the rich have benefited as much as they were promised by Bush & Company, and in the past 8 years, we have seen nothing but the federal goverment increase in size, not decrease as traditional republicans favor, and the national debt has skyrocketed because they are spending more than $300million each day. That's $237,083 each minute-- and what do we have to show for it? Thousands of human lives, ended. Yes, Saddam Hussein is dead--but Iraq is faced with an entire set of problems now, and many of our own problems here at home are not being addressed. Veterans benefits, for one-- GWB has cut veteran's benefits, at a time when his administration is creating more veterans. That makes no sense to me. Education has been gutted around the country "thanks" to No Child Left Behind. I could go on and on about the ways I believe our country is weaker and suffering because of the past eight years. I believe that John McCain and Sarah Palin will not advance anything for most citizens of this country. McCain is so wealthy that he doesn't even know how many homes his family owns (seven), and Palin is so inflexible in her ideology surrounding reproductive choice that she believes that even survivors of rape and incest should be denied the right to an abortion if they want one. Let that sink in for a minute-- the governor of Alaska, who before being elected governor was the mayor of a town smaller than the universities I attended, believes that she has the right to tell me and the other millions of women in this country that if we are survivors of rape or incest and are impregnated by our violator, that we should not have access to abortion. You may believe that abortion is wrong-- I'll be immature and suggest that you don't have one if you believe it is wrong. Because to me, telling millions of other people what to do is wrong. Failing to educate our nation's young people about safe sex, adequate birth control, and other sexual health issues is wrong. Telling me & my partner, and the millions of other same sex couples in this country that we are second class citizens is wrong. Many people don't realize the number of rights and privileges that we are denied. Some states have made it illegal for gays and lesbians to adopt children. Because we aren't allowed to marry, we aren't guaranteed legal rights to shared property in the event one of us passes away. We can be blocked from visiting each other in the hospital if our families choose to do that, and while husbands and wives make medical decisions for each other every day, I can't do that for my partner without a legal document for medical power of attorney. Our health insurance coverage costs come out of my paycheck AFTER taxes, not before like married couples (and in order to even get domestic partner benefits at my job, I had to provide HR w/ an affidavit swearing our partnership w/ documents to back it up. Opposite sex married couples do not have to do this.) The Grand Old Party is neither grand, nor old. The Republican ideals of years past are no longer the strong interest of the ruling republican party of today. Doesn't anyone else find it strange that many democrats believe in policies that allow people to make choices for themselves and live their lives, where the republicans now believe in telling people how they can live? I don't make a ton of money, and don't want my check taxed so much that I need a second job, and I understand where many of your financial political concerns come from. But I ask you to consider in your heart of hearts, the plight of working class people, people of color, LGBT folks, women who need to have some control over their reproductive rights, ad infinitum. I'm not asking you to vote for Obama, but I am asking you to search your soul before you cast a vote for McCain/Palin. Really consider what you're asking for.

Third, as I have been reading so many articles, blog posts, forum discussions, and had chats w/ various friends tonight, I've been thinking about what really pisses me off about McCain selecting Gov. Palin as his running mate.

My mom is a more-or-less moderate person when it comes to politics. My mom is an amazing woman-- she raised me to believe that I could be anything I wanted when I grew up. She dressed me in frilly dresses and put my waist-length locks in curlers, and I looked like a doll sometimes, but she also had me doing sports and learning piano. My mom encouraged my love of reading and writing, and in the last few years, my mom has finally come to the realization that she's a smart woman. She's so open to opinions that when she reads one side, she says "oh yeah! I see what you're saying!" then she reads the opposing view and says "oh yeah! I see what you're saying too!" But she knows that ultimately, she has to make a choice when it comes to casting her ballot.

I don't know how my mom is leaning right now. Part of it is that I live 715 miles from my parents, so we can't just sit around and talk politics. Also, my mom doesn't like to fight the way that my dad and I do-- she would rather do her research on her own and come to a decision without all the gesticulating and yelling that dad and I do (out of love and passion for the argument--no real disrespect between us).

My mom is part of the demographic that John McCain is courting by selecting Sarah Palin. My mom is a white woman in her 50s who doesn't solidly belong to one party or the other. She is a spiritual seeker, and while she is pro-life, she has complex and nuanced views on other topics. She may or may not like the idea of seeing more women in high levels of government, and she probably believes in pay equality between the sexes. She is caught between her arguing husband (republican) and daughter (far-leftist who votes democrat), and has to choose.

I'm angry about Palin because I resent that McCain and his advisors think that women like my mom would rather vote for a white man who will be the eldest president inaugurated if he wins, and a white woman in her 40s w/ five kids, and very conservative views on topics like creationism, lgbt rights, and abortion rights than vote for an African-American man. (Palin is a member of Feminists for Life (ha!), an organization besides being misnamed, believes that you should not have an abortion even if you were impregnated during rape or incest.)

I belive that I have time to talk with my mom (or email, whatever) about how 4 more years of republican regime will directly impact my life as a dyke. (I prefer the word dyke, but Mom thinks it's hard and crass-- she says gay, which is fine. I'm happy that she says it at all--it was a hard journey.)

I'm angry that this is what the republican party considers the best of the best. And while I would love to see a woman VP/Prez in my lifetime, I don't want one who I view as a misogynist, and I truly believe that's what women like Palin are-- misogynists.

So I guess that's what I have to say right now. There will likely be more of this.

And so this remains x-stitch related, here you go. :)

no new update!

2008-08-28T20:23:00.000-06:00

So I've been busy having a life this week-- I started a new job, so I'm not stitching during the day, and every evening this week I've been hanging out w/ friends. It is great for my social well-being, but terrible for my stitching career. :) Of course, the new job pays me money, which means I will be able to do things like pay my bills again. It's a trade off, that's for sure. :)

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.... day two.

2008-08-24T22:04:00.005-06:00

So I spent a good part of the day working on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and I think he's looking pretty good! There are almost 2000 black stitches in this piece--the overhang and the jacket, and I spent all my stitchy time today filling in the black which I had outlined to make it easy. The 3 sections cordoned off in the jacket area should be quick, and depending on how sleepy I feel after I post this, I may do some more while I wait for my girlfriend to get home from work. I'm really pleased-- this is the same color palette (more or less) as I used to do my self-portrait and the portraits of David Sedaris and Julie Jackson's brother. It's actually a colorful palette, but when you look at it from a distance, it's a highly nuanced greyscale. Which makes me happy because I love greyscale.

I am a nerd. The sort of nerd who loves, and admits to loving, greyscale.

In other stitchy news, I'm trying to decide what to start for my big 2009 Minnesota State Fair Entry. I'm strongly considering one of these three things:

the Minnesota State Capitol Building, here in St. Paul

The Spoonbridge & Cherry sculpture by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen, which is part of the Walker Art Center's outdoor sculpture garden in Minneapolis.

My final idea is a bit silly, but pays homage to one of minnesota's most famous foods:

What do you think? Leave a comment. :)

saturday update

2008-08-23T21:18:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling good-- Dolly Parton sold today, and I got a lot done on my portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

mixtape

2008-08-21T12:42:00.001-06:00

another work in progress :)

2008-08-19T14:20:00.000-06:00

this is a quiz folks...

is this frankenstein or steve mcqueen? stay tuned for the answer.

bettie page in progress

2008-08-17T16:45:00.000-06:00

working on it... lots of hair to fill in though. it's going to be small-- 3in high by 2in wide, but it's cool. i'm going to do a bigger one of her soon. :)

thoughts on stitching on black canvas

2008-08-08T14:09:00.000-06:00

The last time I tried to do a simple yet abstract portrait on black canvas, it was of Audrey Hepburn. I did it on black 14 aida, with 4 or 5 shades of pink for the stitches.

Despite what my darling partner KC said (it's good!), I disagreed; Audrey looked like a disease.

The key that I have learned, forgotten, and learned again, is that when stitching on dark canvas of any gauge, one should use 3 strands of floss rather than two. Part of the reason that this is a good choice is that the stitches hide the tiny spots of canvas that peek through between stitches-- the overall look is cleaner, more polished, and it pops more from the canvas.

But because lately I have been stitching portraits on 22 hardanger, i have been using 2 strands. And when I started Dolly Parton, I stitched w/ 2 strands. The overall look isn't as good as Johnny Cash was.

This isn't the best picture of Johnny-- he's framed up and hanging in the Northside Chop Shop, Cincinnati's finest place for great hair (mad props to Scott Ponder!).

jolene, jolene

2008-08-08T11:45:00.000-06:00

please don't take my man.

work in progress-- dolly parton. too bad i think it looks like bea arthur & carol channing had a baby.

a new work in progress

2008-08-06T15:56:00.000-06:00

so my current plan is to do some quick, small portraits.

here is my in-progress Elliott Smith.

finally finished!

2008-08-05T17:58:00.001-06:00

It's finally finished & for sale on Etsy!

moved the blog.

2008-08-01T17:24:00.000-06:00

So I don't mean to trash talk Yahoo-- I host my site through them, but I hate their blog set-up. I can only post photos under 3mb with an entry, and that stinks-- and there's no way that I've found to embed photos into a post. If i want to host photos at photobucket and then post them to my stitchy blog, wtf? why not be able to?

So we're going to try this out.

So I've been hard at work on Hillary & Barack... here's what I've got.