An Insubstantial Blog

Today has been a total waste of a day. Now, it's 1am and I am grumpy. I didn't get any cross-stitching done. I didn't get any reading done. I didn't get anything done about grad school applications. Oh and I didn't make any money. Lame.

Tomorrow, I must do better. I have spent the last two hours looking at tattoo photos. As an art history major, I love art but I love all types of art. Flipping through tattoo photos has become a late night addiction. I want another. Luckily, I have no money so I will be forced to think through it long and hard. And to spend nights surfing tattoo forums, bmezine.com, and places to get the said tattoo.

I think I'm going to go read. I am currently attempting to finish a 750 page book called London: A Biography. I've been reading that and only that for almost a month now. Considering that I was reading 1-2 books a week before, I'm a bit embarrassed to have skimped so much on reading. I don't work all that much so I should be spending more time doing productive things instead of watching TV, which I did half the day today. Normally, I don't watch TV unless I'm doing something with my hands. And today I was just a lump.

Okay, time to shut the computer down, dammit!

I know I haven't explained much about me yet. One major thing is that I like to travel. The summer before my senior year of high school, my parents saved up for me to go to Europe with some classmates (who didn't like me all that much) and some older (way older) yet more fun people. I visited France, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland all in 16 days. I saw more than I could process. My parents assumed that would be a once in a lifetime trip.

However, in my freshman year of college I fought to get into a seminar on Buddhism. Thanks to a wonderful grant, I got to spend 12 days in Kyoto, Japan with my classmates and a professor who is one of the leading scholars in Japanese forms of Buddhism. We visited well over 20 Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Nara and Kyoto. Japan was so different than anything I had ever experienced. It was culture shock to the extreme. I couldn't even find my way home there I was so disoriented. Large flashing shopping streets would have a thin little passageway leading into a quiet and peaceful shrine. I never knew where I was or where I was going. I just followed and attempted to take it all in

That summer, I put my graduation money from high school to good use. I went to France to take language classes for a month in Paris. I did not learn a whole lots. I'm really awful at languages. But I visited every museum and did almost everything Paris had to offer. I made friends from Japan, China, Taiwan, and Australia though we hardly ever spoke the same language or really knew what was going on. But we laughed and took pictures and spoke bad French to each other. I lived with a host family, which was an experience I would care to forget but such is life sometimes.

Having been scarred once, I opted away from the host family experience when I studied abroad in Denmark last year. In hindsight, living with a Danish family probably would have been a good idea. Danes are reserved and often shy. They can be hard to meet especially as I was going to a school of American and some Chinese students. Denmark was dark and a tad bit depressing. I didn't hate it but 4 months was long enough. My travel break was a breath of fresh air. Actually, I take that back. I visited Russia and breathed in the most polluted air I ever have. Russia was an insane experience. One that I loved and hope to never have again. 2 days in Vienna made me fall in love and reaffirm that Austria may be the greatest country on earth. Budapest was not all it is cracked up to be. I found it beautiful on the outside but sleazy and cold on the inside. Perhaps I need to spend more time there. Ireland was beautiful, had beautiful books and was everything that Ireland is supposed to be. North Ireland was naturally beautiful while also providing an important history lesson.

The weekend I spent in Amsterdam, it poured. Continuously. It was miserable. I also came down with a cold. Everything was against me. I need to go back because somehow, I still fell in love with it. I loved the gritty feel of downtown and how you can imagine it is still the 17th century with sailors pulling into port for tattoos and hookers. I love Van Gogh. And I will admit, I loved the coffee shop culture. I spent most of the time cursing myself for not studying abroad in Amsterdam instead.

With my parents, I traveled to Berlin. It was stressful. They don't travel much. It was cold. We stayed in a hostel which wasn't their idea of a vacation. We stayed two days. Due to bad luck, the second day we seemed to miss the opening times for everything. However, my favorite part was hopping on a bus and taking it through the center to the end of the line. The end of the line were old communist apartment complexes. Berlin, for me, is a place to visit and not to stay. My first impression was negative but Berlin gets under your skin. Every inch of the capital has so much history packed in, most of which your parents or grandparents lived through. In one second, you see a memorial to the past while the next, a new modern building rises.

In Denmark, I climbed into stone age burial tombs, hung out with hippies and drunk Greenlanders in Christiania, and sat through some of the most mindnumbing classes ever. I spent a weekend on a remote island in the Baltic sea, rode the oldest operating roller coaster, and walked home 4 miles home at 4am mildly drunk and was never harrassed once. I discovered: Danes really do make the best butter, their bagels are also delicious but you can't buy them in a grocery store, just speak English because no one can pronounce Danish, as an American "nej tak" is the only Danish phrase you need and it can go with any situation, going green is easier when the government mandates it, and Carlsberg beer won't begin to taste good until you arrive back in the states and somehow miss Denmark even though you thought you were sick of it.

As of 10/23, Ohio was changed from a swing state to "leaning Obama" on Real Clear Politics!

::does a happy dance::

I would love to live in a blue state once again.

In other wtf news, Obama is gaining ground in....MONTANA! How the hell did that happen? Montana was currently leaning towards McCain (not in the least surprising) and has now become a swing state. Not that anyone is too worried about it's 3 electoral votes. Maybe there's more gay cowboys out there than we think.

I have just finished my 3rd cross-stitch for the Christmas gifts I have been working on. This one is actually a pattern from the Subversive Cross-Stitch Book. I used the Please Kill Me pattern. I wasn't big on the border so I chose a simple border from her "Too Bad, So Sad" pattern. Then, I made it more cutesy with pink and purple pastels. Ah, classy. I've always wanted to do the pattern but never had gotten around to it. I just love the teddy bear.

On the theme of "please kill me," I saw the movie, Nights in Rodanthe, last night. Luckily, I saw this movie for the low price of $2 and was able to drink a 40 during it. Do not under any circumstances go see this movie while sober. It is terrible. As a comedy though, it's decent.

SPOILER ALERT: In case you never saw the Notebook, never heard anything about Nicholas Sparks, or live under a rock, guess what happens? Yep, he dies. Poor Richard Gere. Not that they explain it well but he had to die sometime in order for this to be a romance. But don't worry, there's wild horses. Pukerrific!

Today, at my mind numbing job that is cashiering, I talked to a woman who turned out to be a professor at the local state university. She asked me if I had just graduated and what my major was. I told her it was art history.

The reactions to this major have been plentiful but break down into two categories. Dumb people who don't value education think I'm an idiot and can't believe I wasted my money on the degree. And what the hell will I ever do with my life?

The other half are very well educated and the overwhelming response is highly nostalgic. Oh, I wanted to major in that but I decide against it. And suddenly, I'm this amazing person who actually stuck by my useless degree just because, well, dammit, I really do like art history. This is exactly what happened with this woman who went on to get her PhD in Biology.

I can't help but think if more of these people went on to get art history degrees, the world may not be filled with an abundance of hipster New York brats running the art world and writing bullshitty articles that devalue the field. But that rant...is for another post.

But how come art history is the hidden desire of so many people, especially science people? Sure, the job prospects are dismal. The field is filled with the above stated hipsters. But there are genuine art critics and teachers out there, many whom I was thankful to have taught me.

I guess I don't have anything incredibly insightful to say. It's just I never thought of my silly little major as making middle aged women secretly want to live through me.

As for the professor I met today, she plans on taking a sabbatical to live in Florence and look at art all day. Ahh, the perks of being a tenured biology professor. Can't say I'm not jealous. I told her I was moving to London to work in a pub and look at art all day. I guess I'm not that worse off.

Want to support your favorite candidate AND be fashionable? Well, if you are a McCain fan, you may be out of luck. I searched both but McCain just doesn't seem to inspire the creative types.

However, if you love Obama, he has inspired many crafty people lately. I just bought three buttons on Etsy from RememberMeEmily. Her awesome buttons feature vintage photographs with quirky sayings like "Elitists for Obama" and "Middle Aged White Women for Obama." I bought the second one for my mom.

Etsy, if you have never been, is an online store where anyone can sell their handmade goods.

SquidInkCollective features an Anti-Palin Pro-Polar Bear shirt entitled "Palin shot my paw!" How cute! Poor polar bears. :-(

And finally, for all of you science nerds who are also Obama fans, there is this shirt. Ob, also known as Barack, is the "element" of change. Harhar...

Going on Etsy is a bad idea. So many things to buy and such little money. The next time I have money, I will be splurging on some Scrabble tile pendants. They seem to be all the rage right now but I especially love the ones by HomeStudio. They are also VERY affordable!!!

Ever wonder if there is any humor in the bible? Wonder no more.
The site answers some other useful things like, "Why does smoking pot cause the munchies?"

There will be no thought provoking or interesting posts today.

I just got off of an 8 hours shift of cashiering. In that 8 hours, I feel that my IQ has dropped substantially.

It's so dull. You stand in your little box. People get pissed at you for no reason. You say, Thank you for shopping here. Hello, how are you today? 50 zillion fucking times until you want to scream.

I used to do 8 hours of this all summer when I was in high school, but times have changed. I can't take it. It honestly makes me want to off myself! And then, at the end of it all, I realize I've only made about $45.

Fuck the man...dammit.

Whether you like John McCain or Barack Obama, you must watch this hilarious video. John McCain has one too, but it's not quite as funny. McCain pokes fun at people but Obama wins at life for name dropping Facebook, Yankee Stadium, and lip stick wearing pigs.

My favorite quote? As Obama reads his "facebook profile" outloud, "My greatest strength is my humility. My greatest weakness? It's possible I'm a little too awesome."

Oh Obama, you are WAY too awesome.

Anyone watch SNL tonight? Anyone think Palin just stood there awkwardly while they tried to not let her talk? Anyone still completely freaked out that her and Tina Fey look that much alike? Anyone also freaked out that Tina Fey is a better Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin?!?

But seriously, the skit is worth watching simply for all the awesome celeb cameos.

These things are all I have to entertain me between long, excruciating shifts at my minimum wage job. Feel sorry for me...now!

Here is my second piece in the series. Pretty straight forward, this person likes to say peace out all the time.



However, I'm oh so very proud of myself. See that peace sign hand? I drew it in the software program all by myself!!! After trying to import images into the program and the program repeatedly turning them into mush, I decided to free draw it while looking at another image. I know, for many people this is not hard. I should remind you I majored in art history, not studio art, and for good reason. In fact, if you look at art history professors, it's almost laughable at how bad one can draw and still have a PhD.



I even got to use my new shiny thread for the outline! In the future, I'll use two strands instead of one as it's a bit light. It's also a lot more visible in person.

Peace out!

I missed half of the debates as I was too busy at my mind-numbing job.

It's a shame. I missed the great quote "Sarah Palin is a role model for all women." Also, now that she's had a Down's Syndrome baby who is...how old? she's now apparently an expert on all special needs children. What was that autistic comment? Does she have an autistic kid? I was just confused. Regardless, she is a not a role model for me because I'm not that stupid of a woman, thank you.

Overall, it was a fairly amusing last half. Poor John McCain. I think he's really losing steam. The split screen wasn't doing much for him either. I loved watching how calm and eloquent Obama was while McCain got more and more irritated as Obama talked. He sure can't control himself very well. So much blinking! By the time he got to answer, he was so worked up that he just blurted things out to be like HA, you're wrong! GOTCHA!

Props to Obama, yet again, for actually getting me interested in politics. Oh, and props to Sarah Palin, without which I would not feel quite so invest in Obama winning. While I always supported Obama, I wasn't nearly that dead set on him until Palin came around.

So, if anyone is out there reading. If I were to have a little drinking game on election night, what would be a McCain/Palin themes cocktail? My dad suggested something expensive and snooty for the whole Republican thing but I can't imagine we are going to sit around sipping Scotch. Yuck! My friend suggested Natty Light but McCain really isn't a redneck type of Republican so I don't know if that works either.

Nothing can get cuter than this.

And if that 16 seconds isn't enough to satisfy you. There's this adorable panda video as well.

Obama Love! Show your support and carve an Obama pumpkin! You certainly wouldn't be the first to. Damn, some of those take talent!


My new favorite series on the internets...Pot Psychology brought to you by jezebel.com. Basically, they get stoned and answer advice questions. This one is a personal favorite. It features a guest appearance by someone from Top Model who seems to be the most stoned of anyone. Her views on anal sex are quite enlightening.


Now, I know some of you may be sick of all the talk of Palin. Unfortunately, I am not. Seriously, who can resist a good Palin bashing now and then? And for setting the women's right movement back to the 1800s, she does kind of deserve it. I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I watch this clip.


In other news, I'm trying to get an election party together in the hopes that it won't involve depressing binge drinking like the last election. Last election was my first time voting. Like everyone else on my campus, I had to wait in line for 5 hours to vote. Others had to wait as long as 10 hours. When we finally voted, it made us feel awesome. For a moment, we believed in democracy and that we were helping to change America for the better. The whole small town came to a stand still as everyone was stuck in line. However, the poll results later that night caused a massive drinking binge throughout campus as our state went red. Our small town had voted 90% blue.

Hopefully, there will be celebratory drinking this year. I want to make Bahama Mamas, which I shall rename Obama Mamas. I kind of want a McCain/Palin themed drink as well. But Republicans just aren't fun and I can't think of fun drinks.

I should also mention that my favorite holiday is Halloween but I don't know if I'll be doing anything this year for it. Since I don't want to blow money on a costume, I thought I'd wear my Texans for Palin shirt and go as a Republican. My mom also claims to have Palin-like glasses which I can borrow.

If not, I will reuse my bumblebee costume and be the fat bumblebee from Blind Melon's No Rain video.

There is something about fall that makes people obsessed with making things. My mom just started up her knitting and baking. And I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and bought much more than I originally intended.

First off, I found really cool thread for cross-stitching. It's variegated rainbow thread that's metallic. Woah! It's also really expensive at $2.20 for a thing of it. But isn't it shiny and pretty?


As I said, I wouldn't be doing any jewelry making...but I looked anyway. Then, I had to buy beads. I've always liked Blue Moon beads though I rarely ever actually used them. They just didn't fit into my designs. Well, Blue Moon has a couple whole new lines which are AMAZING. Lost and Found is my fav. Enchanted Planet is another great new line they have.
They also make jewelry making super easy with beads with findings already attached. AND they have tons of chunky chains in a variety of styles. I love the chunky chain in the picture above. I plan on turning all these items into a necklace with matching earrings, hopefully by the end of the night. The best part of the Lost and Found stuff is that they use a variety of metals like copper for an antique-y look.

Oh and I bought these. They are tiny hollow circles which are perfect for some small Swarovski crystals to be run through the middle. Don't know quite what I'll do with them yet. Maybe a bracelet?Oh, meet my cat. I disturbed him while taking pictures. He sleeps on my bed most of the day.

In case you never heard. Keith Richard once snorted his own father's ashes, mixed with cocaine.

I only wish that someone, someday, will love me so much.

My best friend claims that if I die first, and his other friend bets him a dollar to do it, he will indeed snort my ashes. I don't think there will be cocaine involved.

Could I put that in my will?

Today, I finished the first of about thirteen or fourteen new cross-stitch designs. These have all been "commissioned" by my mom. She's the boss of about 14 people and wanted to give them each a small Christmas present.

The first one "Dangit!" is for one of the people who has to work near actual clients. That means, no matter how stupid or obnoxious the person is or how much the situation warrants it, she has to restrain herself from all damns, fucks, and shits. Therefore, she has taken to saying "Dangit" about 10 times a minute.

So, for all the times it's inappropriate to voice what's really on your mind, this sampler will be there to remind you to say nice words!

I designed this is MacPro using Edwardian Script (I think). The flower pattern was adapted from one on about.com which was, in turn, pulled from a sampler from the early 20th century. Isn't it just precious?

I guess they weren't joking about the new Britney Spears video being racy. She's nekkid! Like, really naked. Not just a flesh toned thingy on a la Toxic.

Because you all want to see it. Click here!

Too bad the song is kind of lame. Maybe it will grow on me?

All designs posted on this site are for sale! (Unless otherwise stated)

So how do I order?
Send me an email at purplehippodesigns@gmail.com. Each design is either available for immediate shipment or will be made to order. I will reply to your email with a price and approximate time for the order to be completed.

What about payment?
I am set up through paypal. I can accept online checks though they are really annoying and stupid. It will slow down your order. I suggest you use a credit card when using PayPal. Information on my Paypal account will be sent in an email when you show interest.

Wait...is this stuff expensive?
I make my designs for fun. They tend to accumulate so it's always nice to sell them off or have one commissioned. Plus, I like the thought of people showing off my stuff. It makes me feel cool. Most of my pieces will run in the $7-20 range + shipping. Cross-stitching is a time consuming process so I'm not really out to make a fortune on this.

Well, that design would be really cute if the colors weren't so ugly.
I can make anything to order. That means when you pick a design, just tell me to switch a few colors around.

But I like to cross-stitch, too! Can't I just have the pattern?
Of course you can! Any pattern can be emailed to you for $2. If you'd like a print-out shipped to you, just add $1 for shipping.

I present you with my first made up cross-stitch design. Tada!

Personally, I never ever read romance novels unless I am at work, bored, and have an audience to read aloud to. Call me immature but reading graphic cheesy sex scenes out loud is fucking hilarious.

However, I do realize that there are those who actually read such books for fun, for pleasure, for...eh. Sure, it's not *good* literature. But it *is* juicy and maybe even suspenseful. So the next time someone gives you a snotty look as you sit at the bookstore, on the bus, in your living room, show some pride in what you are reading. This lovely bookmark will show them that you are fully aware that you are reading smut and enjoying it, too.

I positioned the *smut* at the top so that, even when the book is closed, there's no question as to its content.

Process:
I pulled an image off of the internet of your basic blacked out stripper girl. Then, I loaded it into MacStitch. MacStitch is an awesome, yet expensive, cross-stitch design program. However, I downloaded the demo. You can't save or print from the program in demo mode, but you CAN take screenshots and avoid the whole problem.

This little bookmark took me way too long to finish. I did a lot of tweaking to the pattern and the blackwork takes a lifetime.

So now you know how I waste all my time.

Like it?
Send me an email at purplehippodesigns@gmail.com and this lovely piece of smut could be yours, today!

Why yes, I have unfortunately decided to start a new blog. I blame this mainly on a certain internet friend who goes by the name, substantial, because his blog is...supposedly...substantial.

Since my blog will not be serious, long, dense, or ridiculously Republican, I could only come to the conclusion that this blog would be very insubstantial. I am also incredibly uncreative when it comes to naming things. That being said, my blog should be infinitely more interesting to read. No long essays, no philosophy, and nothing that requires too much thinking. Actually, I like thinking. Just not when it comes to blogs.

About me you ask? I am a recent graduate of a hippie liberal vegan pot smoking school. Surprisingly, this has left me almost unemployed. Luckily, I have a lot of time on my hands while I procrastinate impending doom...um I mean, grad school applications.

While stuck at home, I do lots of crafty things. I've always loved cross-stitch and just recently got into designing my own things. If you've never been, please check out Subversive Cross-Stitch, who, without, I may have never realized that my obsession with cross-stitch could actually result in making cool things.

I also make jewelry. Except, right now I'm broke. Start up costs for cross stitch? Really low. For jewelry? Not so much, especially when you really like shiny, fun beads.

The other part of this blog will be about travel. I like to travel any chance I get. Since I'm practically unemployed and the economy is crashing around us, I decided to go work in a country that doesn't suck. So, soon I shall be flying off to London where I will be guaranteed full time work in a pub. Getting paid in pounds is so much better than dollars. Let's ignore the fact that our economy crashing is causing everyone else's to as well. At least I'm not going to Iceland, eh?

Anyways, wasn't that interesting? Now we shall see if anyone bothers to read it!

If you do, friend me. Or leave me comments. It will make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.