Lace, Lace, Lace, Lace, Lace, Lace and more lace....

You guys remember the old Monty Python "Spam" sketch?

Replace "spam" with "lace" and you have my crafting life lately :-D

Well, we've got a lace scarf...

lace snowflakes,

lace doilies,

lace coinpurses,

and so on and so forth.

First of all, I've finished the "Liesl" purse!

I'm happy with how this one turned out, but there are a few things that I think make this a 1.0 version:

1. The lace eyelets I put between the ribbons are WAY too busy...next version is going to be straight stockinette (save for the riibbon holes, of course)

2. The ribbon I used was a smidge too big. My local fabric shop only had this size of lavender ribbon, but I think I should be able to make a Jo-Ann's run and get a smaller ribbon size, and

3. While I am currently OBSESSED with taupe, the taupe and lavender color combo makes the pouch look a bit too antiquated. Next version is going to be all lavender.

So other than the "Liesl" pouch, I've also got a MOUNTAIN of lace going.

My work is putting on a "Holiday Craft Sale", and I've been given the honor of being vendor number seven! For this sale, I'm making lace snowflake christmas ornaments and doilies. My apartment looks like a victorian lace....something. Can't think of a good analogy...but every concievable flat surface either has a doily starching or a snowflake pinned or is covered in yarn scraps. Pictures will be posted soon!! 



Thoughts on Beauty and Modesty and Dooms Day Prophets

It's fair to say that I have a love/hate relationship with my body.

Growing up, I was ugly. Now, before you all start jumping in (I'm talking to YOU, Mother!), hear me out.

I looked like Groucho Marx in a wig. I had chunky legs and thighs, huge catterpillar eyebrows, and frizzy brown hair that no matter HOW much I begged, my mom forbade me from straightening until I was in high school. I was U-G-L-Y I ain't had no allabi UGLY.

Not to worry readers, this is NOT going to be a "Wah Wah Wah! I never felt pretty!" post. While I was indeed a late bloomer, so to speak, some of my most significant moments of personal growth came from dealing with the fact that I didn't look like all the other girls in my class. It was painful and hard, of course, (and to be fair, anyone who says that they didn't struggle with their self image growing up is LYING,) but I seemed to learn by default that true beauty came from within, since I didn't have much outer beauty to begin with at the time. It was through this struggle that I developed my quirky sense of humor, my love of knitting/crochet ("So what if nobody wanted to slow dance with me at Tolo? I CAN KNIT A SOCK, I WIN!") and my love of all things musical, and helped me to focus on my flute and singing. ("So what if my crush just called me hideous? I'M FIRST CHAIR AND KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE PICCOLO, BITCHES!")

Fast forward about ten years later. I had grown out of the seemingly never ending "awkward phase" with a copy of vogue magazine, a flat iron, and a lot of support from my family, friends and faith. God bless Fr. Derek Lappee, while I was cantoring at St. Thomas Aquinas parish (I was still unbelievebly and irrationally afraid of the congregation thinking I was ugly), he had trained the alter servers to tell me, "Jackie, you look fine, quit fussing," if they had caught me frantically primping in the mirror.

My freshman year of college was...I don't want to say difficult, but just...kind of a "stank" year when it came to my self image and self respect. I went into college, thinking that I could reinvent myself as a fasion forward young lady, but came out of it forty pounds heavier with a terrible excuse for a bob haircut that I tried to dye blonde but came out Ronald McDonald red.

Luckily for me, I was able to make it through all of this, get a better fasion sense and maintain my love of all things quirky to boot.

As I've gotten older and a bit more professional, I can't help but notice how very EASY it is to be modest (you rarely find receptionists/admin assistants with bare midriffs or skin tight pants). But even so, it seems like I'm not exactly up to par with some people's definition.

Recently, I've been humiliated/taunted by a group of doomsday prophets/"evangelists" due to my choice of makeup. Readers, I have bright red lips. I LOVE wearing bright red lipstick, having that vintage 1940's/1920's  look (which, ironically, I started so that I could DRESS A BIT MORE MODEST.) However, this made me a "lustful whore who is going to BURN BURN BURN unless I SEE THE LIGHT," as one of the followers kindly pointed out. Also, apparently there was a problem with the fact that I was wearing pants...yeah.

A similar thing happened a couple years back, when I was still working at Pikes' Place Market. I think it may have been the same church group; only that time I was wearing earrings that were too gaudy for their liking (at the time, I was wearing a pair of blue jeans and my Piroshky Piroshky t-shirt). I decided to get snarky and asked if the guy wanted a hug. He accused me of looking at him with lust. I shot back with reminding him that if HIS eyes cause him to sin, then HE SHOULD PLUCK THEM OUT. Your problem, not mine, you effin bigot. He called me a slut and walked away.

Being taunted by these guys just...makes me so angry. And depressed.  Makes me feel ugly and dirty and ashamed.

But it's more than just psychotic dooms day prophets that tell me this and cause me to feel this way.

Readers,
I know that I am loved by God, and that I should rejoice in knowing that true beauty comes from within. But when my brothers and sisters in God come to me, sneer, and tell me that "I'm leading others into sinful ways," that "I love low and dirty things, and my soul is becoming low and foul," and that I am to blame for the harassment/groping that occasionaly happens on crowded downtown busses (yes, it still happens, folks...) I just want to curl up in a ball and dissapear.

I hate, HATE that people in the church are putting women to blame for this humiliation and abuse! I HATE IT!

The more I look for it, the more I find misogyny everywhere in the church. Women are still being denied the right to be priests in Catholosism for what I can find is nothing more than a "good ole' boy" network. In Guatamala, the church had excommunicated a woman for getting an abortion for her ten year old daughter, but had NOT excommunicated the 45-year old man who had raped the girl. There are still ass-backwards "ministries" out there who tell women that they are commiting a sin for wearing PANTS.

I love the church. But there are times when it seems as if they're trying to make Lutherans of us all.

**sings** I am sixteen, going on seventeen...

Oh, how I love inspiration that seems to pop out of nowhere.

This past weekend was my significant other's birthday. After spending a nice morning together, getting breakfast pizza, putting together a drafting table (his birthday present from me!), singing at a wedding (he tagged along), and getting a kick-awesome burger, we came back to his place along with two other freinds and watched a bunch of cheesy broaway musicals.

It has been YEARS since I've seen the Sound of Music. YEARS. When I was much younger, this was one of my favorite movies in general...I had always fantasized about being able to sing like Liesl (the eldest daughter character) someday...and based on what people have told me, I have been blessed to have that wish come true.

This just made me smile...a nice, nostalgic, sweet moment. I found myself singing along to the song, "16 going on 17." My boyfriend, again in proving his amazing awesomeness and affection, took a swig of his beer, put his arm around me while Liesel and Rolf were dancing around in the rain, looked toward me and said...

"Shall we learn this dance routine?"

John, I love you so much.

I also just fell in love with Liesl's dress...a lilac, billowy chiffon thing that was just so pretty. It gave me the inspiration to start a new project (among the HUNDREDS I have going already...but this one will be a quick knit!); A lilac lace clutch is in the works! I'll post pictures of my skecthes and plans later

David Hass? Too mainstream dude...

I feel like I am going though a "three steps forward, two steps back" pattern when it comes to my own maturity, spiritually and otherwise.
I think that CS Lewis said it best in the Screwtape Letters:
　My dear Wormwood,
So you 'have great hopes that the patient's religious phase is dying away', have you? I always thought the Training College had gone to pieces since they put old Subgob at the head of it, and now I am sure. Has no one every told you about the law of Undulation?
Humans are amphibians-- half spirit and half animal. (The Enemy's determination to produce such a revolting hybrid was one of the things that determined Our Father to withdraw his support from Him.) As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for as to be in time means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation-- the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks. If you had watched your patient carefully you would have seen this undulation in every department of his life-- his interest in his work, his affection for his friends, his physical appetites, all go up and down. As long as he lives on earth periods of emotional and bodily richness and liveliness will alternate with periods of numbness and poverty. The dryness and dullness through which your patient is now going are not, as you fondly suppose, your workmanship; they are merely a natural phenomenon which will do us no good unless you make a good use of it.

I've spent a lot of time in prayer and introspection during the last couple of weeks; specifically in working towards healing old wounds that never quite closed up. I'm constantly fighting this strange phenomenon...a desire to just wish, wish, wish, wish, wish, wish and wish that I could go back ten years and do EVERYTHING over again. I guess a good word for this feeling is the "redo button" phenomenon.

My remedy for this, which can be a bit mentally taxing, is to try and visuallise a giant red STOP sign, focus on my breathing for a beat or so, and then mentally list the things I am thankful for in the present, and WHY the present is better for my overall well being than things in the past had things happened differently.
Spiritually speaking, I can't help but admit that I find things to be incredibly difficult right now.

I am a Catholic. Been Catholic all of my life; my faith has been one of the few constants in the whirlwhinds of change surrounding me. However, I can't help but feel more alienated and alone than EVER in my faith.

For the last two years, I've been attending mass at either St. Joseph's Cathedral or Christ Our Hope parish on a weekly basis. I try my best...but there are SO many times when I find that I'm just going though the motions...
"Peace Be With You,"

"The Body Of Christ, Amen."

"We Believe in One God, The Father Almighty..."

and so on and so forth.

I hate to say it, I do...but I find it SO difficult to connect and relate to my fellow parishoners. God forgive me...but I am surrounded by senior citizens.

I'm trying to find a group of like minded individuals...but there seems to be two poles when it comes to Catholic (or any Christian, for that matter) "youth groups;" that both irritate the CRAP out of me:

The "Life Teen" style of youth groups have esentially watered down the miricle of christ's life and resurecction to a never ending cheerleading routine of "WE LOVE JESUS, YES WE DO, WE LOVE JESUS, HOW ABOUT YOUUUUUUU??????" or an hour-long episode of "veggie tales" that does nothing more than insult the intelligence of the congregation present and infantalize the people that it is there to supposedly "guide" and "enlighten". (There was, no joke, a man who came to speak at a young adult meeing I attended who said, "Do you guys know that GOD SENT HIS SON FOR YOU????" and it took all of my self control not to blurt out, "WELL NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" ). We've only had our faith pounded into our heads since the time we were baptized. We are well aware of the story of Christ's life, death and rising. It seems to me that "Life Teen" is simply an exuse to turn the miracle of the mass into a giant Christian Rock concert (Which there is nothing wrong with, but I'd like to be able to concentrate on having a conversation with God without a woman's bare navel in my face.)

The other end of the spectrum is the "solemnity of the mass" crowd. When I was in high school, this was what was going down at my home parish: everything was slow, dark, solemn...and in Latin. While I can appreciate the history and the beauty of the Latin Mass and that it was a tool for EVERYONE to communicate with one another in the dark ages, I'm sorry, Latin is no longer the go-to language for educated people. I can't help but notice that there seems to be a smug, hipster esque aire to the regular congregations who regualrly do the Latin Masses; "David Haas? Too mainstream. WE only use GREGORIAN CHANT here. *puts on hipster glasses and tight pants*" The "life teeny" crowd tended to just annoy me with its childish tendencies and constant dumbing down of miracle of the Mass; the "solemn" crowd just tends to creep me out...not unlike sitting next to that one goth kid in the white makeup who is staring at you and then looking down at their tarot card deck and shaking their head.

I love my boyfriend so much...but this is one thing that we do not share. He is an atheist, and I can't go to him or get much support from him when it comes to my spirituality, which leaves me feeling so frustrated...

My friends have also been great...but I can't help but feel left out.

I'm too old for the college group. Too young for the Catholic Daughers of America. Arg.

**Edit: Yes, readers, I am cranky tonight. So, I bring you this:**

The gift of forgiveness

If a person were to ask me what my greatest fault was, the first thing that comes to my mind is that I have an issue with holding grudges. But if a person were to ask a member of my family, one of my close friends, or anyone who knew me well, they would probably say something very different. I asked someone close to me that very question, and after talking about it and thinking on it, I am starting to realize that I've been overlooking a long list of instances where I found it was easier to just let things go.

It's fair to say that God has thrown his fair share of curveballs my way. It's also fair to say that I enjoy complaining (bitching about life/work/ex boyfriends makes for an easy blog post, and can be fun to write). Even so, all things considered, I'm probably one of the luckiest people I know in regards to having what psychologists/counselors call a "social safety net"; my family, friends, pastor, and faith have always been a constant in this sea of variables we call life. No matter what happens to me, I know for a fact that love and support are only a phone call, email or short drive away. Looking back, having someone there to reassure me, guide me, and hug me when things got difficult made it very easy for me to empathize and forgive others.

High school bully made my life miserable? Eh, we all do dumb things when we are young.

Got laid off out of the blue from my work? They were just doing what they had to do in this tough economy, it was not something to take personally.

Caller screamed at me over the phone because I asked them to spell their attorney's last name? He was probably just having a bad day.

Which raises the question: Why would I instantly think "I hold grudges?" Honestly, as my friend pointed out, I should change that question to "Why can't I let that one grudge go?"

As far as grudges go, I would refer to this one as The Big One. The Queen Mother. The Great Grandaddy of Grudges. A few of you who read my blog regularly might know exactly what I'm writing about; but for those of you who don't pay enough attention and didn't catch my rambling, Riesling induced wallows of self pity before I deleted them the next day, this grudge regards my first serious relationship, during my freshman year of college and the subsequent drama and heartbreak.

I think that I should note that this is NOT the only ex boyfriend I've ever had: technically, I've had five. However, this is the only relationship I've had that I look back on with sadness, regret and anger.

I'm not going to get into specifics as I have done that MANY times already (but for those of you who don't know, see my post "Kryptonite, anyone?" from way back), so long story short, the relationship was a long, drama plagued road of ups and downs before my ex and I reached an uneasy, silent agreement not to speak, email, IM, write, or release a nuclear holocaust upon one another. It has been said before that our relationship now is not unlike that of North and South Korea.

This relationship, when looked at from the outside, seems like nothing more than a run-of-the-mill breakup. But for more than a few reasons, I have had tremendous trouble with this dude. Just hearing about him is enough to bring back old pain, old memories, unresolved feelings and leaves me feeling more than a little jealous and cynical.

We spoke some after the initial break up, and during this time my ex had gone through a powerful spiritual reawakening (which, to be honest, I commend him for). I don't want to say that he was overwhelmingly contrite, although he seemed to become more aware of how his actions affected me while we dated, which did bring me a bit of closure. However, things were still very difficult...his new revival demanded that he find forgiveness from God for his sins, and forgiveness from me...but my ex did not ask for my forgiveness. He demanded it.

My memory may be fading, but I believe his words were, "You NEED to forgive me like I forgave myself! None of that pain you went through should matter anymore, and it should no longer hurt or bother you, because GOD has forgiven me of those sins!"

While I am sure that he is set right in the eyes of the Lord, the leftover pains, both emotionally and otherwise, from our turbulent relationship still hurt to this day. I wish that I could say a prayer, click my heels three times, and press A, B, X, select and start to make the pain go away.

My pastor, God BLESS him, has constantly reminded me about the importance of actively forgiving. He helped me to remember the parable of the wicked servant:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

...hoo dear. Being tortured for the rest of eternity for not forgiving does NOT sound like a way I would like to spend my time. And, although I still feel a great deal of hurt and anger from what happened between us, I would certainly like to think that I haven't been cruel or wicked to my ex...it's fair to say that somewhere, deep down there, my heart still skips a little when we speak.

What also helped save my sanity (Thank GOD!) is being reminded by my pastor that it is OKAY to be hurting! It is OKAY to be angry! Our Lord, our Creator, has put these emotions in us for a REASON! And it is OKAY to be upset! The bible tells us, "Be angry, but do not sin!" (Eph. 4:26).

Knowing this doesn't set me off the hook, though...I still need to actively forgive him. I came across Mark Wilson's wonderful blog, Faith.Hope.Love; Mark suggests looking at the sins that my ex committed against me as a kind of debt. My choosing to forgive him is like freeing him from that debt. I can still be pissed off about it, but I will no longer hold my ex accountable for what happened during our Freshman/Sophomore years.

Mark's blog can be found here:[link]

A couple of weeks ago, I heard that my ex faced an unimaginable tragedy: his fiancee was rushed to the hospital days before they were supposed to get married. As far as I know, she is still there.

When I heard this, all that anger, jealousy and bitterness evaporated. All I could feel in my heart was an immense sadness and horror, and pity for him...and an overwhelming feeling of shame and guilt. He is potentially losing the love of his life. And I'm just here bitching and drinking Riesling.

I sent him a text message and a facebook message letting him know that he and his fiancee were in my prayers. I let my mother know what was going on and she prayed for them, too. He and I had a short conversation, essentially letting me know what happened. I asked if there was anything that I could do, and he politely told me no.

I honestly don't know how some people can ever, EVER rejoice in one of God's children losing a loved one.

My ex boyfriend has faced unspeakable pain. If I was in his place and MY sweetheart was lying there in the hospital, I would have fallen to pieces and have had a nervous breakdown. I would not wish what happened to him on anyone, EVER.

However, there was good that came out of it, at least for me. I am able to take comfort in knowing that I still have at least some tenderness for him in my heart. And knowing that, it made it much easier for me to let go of being angry and bitter.

Readers, remember that forgiveness is never easy. But it is necessary! SO necessary! Pain WILL linger. Anger WILL stay for a while. But our God gives us the capacity for pain and anger so that we will LEARN and TAKE ACTION to grow from the experience and thus grow in to better rounded and wiser human beings.

I'm honestly not very good at endings...but all I guess I can say is that I will continue to pray. For my ex, his fiancee, and for my own ability to forgive.

Time to finish what I started...

To those of you who read this; my few and silent followers...I need a favor.

I need a motivational kick in the pants.

I have mentioned in other posts that I work with a lot of people who are simply at their "day jobs". I work with a video game/radio voice actress (who is absolutely amazing) and a painter who has his own art gallery. I am also INCREDIBLY lucky to be working with SEVERAL people who have a great interest in the arts, and especially in opera.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate working with people whose understanding of opera comes from more than just Bugs Bunny. I've been singing classical music since I was 12, and have been singing opera since I was 15. I've got to be honest, while I do LOVE singing, I get super nervous and self concious if I'm asked to sing at my full register. In almost every other environment I've worked in (except at QFC, because QFC staff members are AWESOME!) People would ask me to sing, look at me, and ask, "Do people honestly still listen to that stuff?"

Not that I can blame my former coworkers. Opera, if not studied or understood, can be incredibly confusing and frustrating for the viewer. Most operas that are performed (at least in Seattle) are in French, German, or Italian, and if a translation is not provided, it is near impossible for opera viewers to know what the characters are doing on stage. This is why most people in Seattle don't fall all over themselves when they hear that Bizet's Carmen will be playing.

At the law firm, however, there are a few opera nuts. I was having a chat with one of the partners on my coffee break (a patent attourney who loves all things Wagner), and after I mentioned that I had studied opera at Pacific Lutheran, he aksed if I would be so kind as to sing for him. I sang one of my audition pieces, "O Mio Babbino Caro", and even though my voice isnt NEARLY as up to par as it used to be, he told me that I had one of the lovliest soprano voices he had ever heard.

The attourney sent me an email earlier this week, pointing out that the Seattle Opera would be starting its Young Adult Singers program in October. To qualify, you have to be between the ages of 22 an 32 and a Seattle resident. You submit tapes, a headshot, and if they think that you have potential, they invite you for an honest to God audition for the Seattle Opera Company.

Well...I guess that God is trying to tell me something.

....anybody know someone who can do headshots for cheap????

To veg or not to veg?

That is the question!

My boyfriend, in the past, has been a vegan. No meat, no milk, nothing that ever comes from animals. However, his love of steak brought him back to the world of the carnivores.

He has lately been going back to a more "humane" diet of sorts since we saw the movie Food Inc; he has cut all red meat (beef and pork)and poultry from his diet, and tries to not consume any dairy products that might contain trace amounts of RBST. He'll eat fish (mostly becasue his favorite food in the universe is salmon).

In addition, he's been working out more. He's been doing these nightly "push up" routines, where he will do as many as he can without taking a break. His goal is to eventually get to 100, like he was able to when he was playing football (He's at 85 now).

As a result, my boyfriend is starting to look amazing. He has been getting hit on by old ladies who make comments about his muscles while waiting in line at QFC, and my mother's freinds all refer to him as "the hunky one" when I bring him home.

I, on the other hand, have let my figure slide a little bit.

When I was younger, I did gain a significant amount of weight my freshman year of college. The freshman 15 was the freshman 40 for me. The following summer, I did the nutrisystem thing, lost 20 pounds, realized I could do the exact same thing by restricting my portion sizes, got into contact with a nutritionist, lost another 40. At my lightest, I was 128 pounds. This ended when I moved to Pullman to finish my studies; and my eating habits have been....questionable at best. (Readers, the writer of this blog is the type of woman who will pour A1 steak sauce into a wine glass, drink it, and find it delicious.)

I have gained weight, about twenty pounds over the past five years. I'm not nearly as heavy as I was my freshman year (190 pounds at my heaviest), but I still can't help but pout a bit when I try on the dress I wore that one time years ago and I find my figure looking a bit like the stay-puft man. Poor John has been on the recieving end of the dreaded, "Do I look fat to you?" question, to the point where he will kindly point out (along with a kiss on the cheek)that while I am beautiful, I can always be more careful about what I eat if my weight bothers me too much.

So, readers, I've decided to finish the food I have in my fridge (not much, some cold cuts, chicken breasts and some frozen pelmeni), and once I do, to try being a lactose-ovo vegetarian for a while. Not because I'm against eating meat, (I ADORE STEAK!!! STEEEEAAAAAKKKK!!!!), but becasue I want to fit in my size 4 dress again, dammit!

Now that I'm a permanent employee (with CONSIDERABLE health benefits), I'm going to set up a time to meet with a nutritionist. I'm also eligable for "a corporate rate" for a number of health clubs downtown, and will start actually excersizing properly (rather than just stepping on and off a wii balance board :-P), and have decided to do an early morning spin class, if one is available.

Now the question is...will little old ladies comment on MY awesome muscles???? HMMM????