Dear Flannery

Hi there, Flannery! I hope you still remember me; we met at SAFF in Asheville, NC, a few months back. I didn’t get much of a chance to chat back then, as it was a fibre festival and there were silk fumes and all. However, despite all the Oooh Shiny around us, you made a big impression on me, and I just wanted to let you know I’ve been thinking about you ever since we met.

I didn’t even get a photo with you. HOW LAMEOID IS THAT?

Here’s a photo of me, in an attempt to set the balance of the universe right again.

I thought that since I haven’t posted in a while, it might be fun to start off the new year with a gratitude: Even though we only had a few minutes when we met, Ms. Flannery, that few moments with you made a big difference for me; my first gratitude of 2015 is therefore for a young woman named Flannery who lives somewhere in the NC area; I think you know who you are. I still smile when I think of you.

This little dudette also makes me smile. She has two chullo hats just her size. Note the ear openings…

 

You see, meeting you helped to personalize this blog thang that I do, or rather don’t do as much as I might like. Real people read these words. Some people, not knowing what happened to me after I left Interweave, have spent considerable amounts of time looking for me, and they send me delighted emails when they find this blog. And I am so sad that 2014 has largely been one big huge Writer’s Block for me. I’ve struggled with this quite a bit, as most of you know, and it’s getting to the point where I feel like part of me is missing because I am not posting.

Gotta admit that I am rather tired of that particular feeling. Plus, my trip down south introduced me to Flannery, and a few others whom I’ll introduce to you as we go along; folks who reminded me that when I let go of something that is a joy for me, I am, in a way, abandoning the friends and family around me who connect to that joy as well.

The main floor of the arena at SAFF/NC. Yes, I am taking the photo from the second story of booths. Yes, it is HUGE.

However, new year, new possibilities. I realized today that I was starting to pull back into my winter hermitage, and that was certainly no fun last year, so I’m trying something different. I’m making a calendar for myself for blog post topics, and There Will Be A New Post Once a Week. I will pick a publishing day-of-the-week, and try to stick to that as if I had my editor standing at my desk, pointing at her watch, tapping her foot, reciting “blueline, blueline” in a pseudo-patient voice. (“Blueline” is when the staff of a magazine get the proofs from the publishing house and have their absolutely last chance to get things corrected or inserted before the copy goes to press.)

We’ll see how it goes. My intentions are (gently) focused on that goal, and I really think any efforts in this direction are going to help. Better than not trying, right?

Goodbye 2014

It’s been two months solid of zoomzoom here at Chez Sandita, and here January 1, 2015, was five days ago, and I would very much like to know where the heck December 2014 went, if you don’t mind me asking.

I think I missed December. Plus, I’m getting my new purple coat all wet.

I vaguely remember doctor appointments. And the UPS folks constantly ringing our bell. Windstorms. Wearing two pairs of socks day after day, only to have yet two more pairs develop Holes in them from overuse. (I think I must have Velociraptor claws on my heels.)

I got The Flu on Dec. 23, which is a brilliant way of guaranteeing one’s Christmas will be spent on the sofa with not only one box of tissues, but a backup box under the table, as well as a bag of menthol suckie candies and approving Cat Overlords draped on top of one (“STAY, human, stay. You are finally in your proper role as Cat Mattress Heater. Never get up.”)

I was too sick to open presents. I ate a little turkey, a little homemade cranberry sauce, a little pie, then it was back to the sofa with me.

I slept for five days straight. Even now, ten days later, if I try and do much of anything, like, oh, go to church, or have lunch with someone, I end up falling asleep on the sofa again afterwards. Apparently, this flu is the Popular Flu going around this year, and the sleeping thing just goes on and on for a couple of weeks or more. (Imagine my elation upon hearing this.)

I slept through Christmas, more or less. The first time I felt conscious enough to open the gifts under the tree was New Year’s Eve, in fact. It was kind of a fun way to spend NYE, what with the dog and cats playing with the coloured paper, and TimCat and ZoëCat having to personally inspect every box-like item.

We have an adorable tree, one which ended up decorated in a “woodland/farmland animal” theme, with hedgehogs and sheep and moose and mice and bears; even the above needle-felted alpaca I bought at SAFF found herself a place on the tree.

All right, 2015, here we come. Hope you have some goodness in store for all of us this year.

Chispas

• Life too stressful? Watch this.

• Possibly the coolest evening gown ever.

• Possibly the scariest house ever.

• The Wave Organ. I truly regret not ever visiting this when I lived nearby. (People! Visit Cool Things In Your Backyard!)

• Finally, Simon the Cat’s Christmas video.