Seriously. I should not be ALLOWED to come into the office on Wednesdays.

Why? Because I am a total hot mess on Wednesdays. See, Wednesdays are usually my work at home days. But for the last couple of weeks, I've been in charge, which means no working at home. Problem is, it seems like whenever I come to the office on Wednesday, a whole bunch of stuff just goes wrong.

This morning, I had to fight with the dog to lock him in the bedroom because the workmen are FINALLY coming to paint the wall from the ceiling leak (which occurred a month ago - but we won't go there). Then, running late (see fight with dog), the lid pops off my mug and tea spills all over the car. After spending a bunch of time cleaning it up, I prepare to leave, grab my new sunglasses and the arm falls off (screw came out). I hadn't even left the freakin' garage yet! I nearly said screw it and walked back upstairs, but I have too much crap to do and meetings today.

Well, I'm here, at my desk. My sunglasses are fixed - I have a repair kit in my desk. (Hey, I work in ophthalmic products. Of course I have a repair kit.) I realized I didn't lose that much of my tea, and I am enjoying it now. And I am trying to get perspective on the fact that it's all good. I will be fine. And later I will have a good laugh about it. Well... maybe tomorrow.

Okay, okay! Here are jewelry photos... Geez, people...

The photo shoot itself was not easy. We wanted to do all the shots in natural light... but our apartment really only gets morning sun. So we had to go to Crazy and Sweet-Pea's house, since they get really great afternoon sun... only problem was, it was on-and-off cloudy all day long. It was literally: Set up shot. Get ready to take. F$#@ cloud! Wait (dodidodo). SUN'S OUT!! Take it!! Dammit! Cloud!



Considering the difficulty of it all, I think the photos came out nice. I wish we could have done more different set-ups with each of the pieces, but we literally could only get one, maybe two set-ups (in terms of the props) before we had to move on to the next piece, just to make sure we photographed everything. I designed all the shots and Turg took them all. We made a pretty good team.


We could not figure out a set-up that did this peridot necklace justice. Nothing we had brought out the color of the stones as well as they looked in real life:




This necklace is the same as the one on the red bowl above - but you can see the whole thing here. And my ghetto laser printed tag to boot.


They were excited about everything. So I hope other people will be too...

The jewelry has been delivered...

Now I hope someone will actually buy it.

Finding a craft

Apparently, today is "Talk about Crafts Day." I didn't realize this when I started writing this post.

I've always been a believer that everyone has a "craft" - you know, that "thing" (or things) that a person does to show off their creative or artistic side. (And for everyone out there who says they aren't creative or artistic, it's in there, trust me.) That thing could be anything - cooking, writing, baking, quilting, knitting, music, photography, etc. etc. etc...

For a long time, I thought my craft was singing. But in the end I didn't really make anything from that - well, except noise. But it was never my own, not the way real musicians or performers make it their own. I wrote poetry for while - and when I look at the stuff I wrote now, I feel like cringing and throwing up. Then I was just a scientist. For some it's a craft. It can be VERY creative for the brilliant. For me... well, I loved it for a while, and then it just became a job. It just wasn't satisfying after a while. And, well, it's just too nerdy. So, for a while, I was without a craft.

I was originally inspired to start the jewelry making because of some beautiful jewelry gifts, handmade by Magenta, and the availability of places nearby to buy supplies. It seemed like a good fit - working with my hands, precision, details, symmetry, balance, etc. I just never thought it would be such an outlet or that I would love it so much. I love designing pieces and having them come together. I love the gemstones. I love designing pieces for other people, for their personalities. I loved giving gifts that I made with my own two hands. And it was creative. I was outside of my Kingdom of Nerds and Geeks and being creative and making beautiful things. The first day that I sat down and started making stuff, I didn't move from my spot for hours and hours. I had found my craft. And it suited me.

And as excited as I am about my new venture, I am nervous. There's always that fear that people are not going to like what I make. Or not understand. And whether or not someone buys one of my pieces is an indictment of sorts of whether or not I'm any good or talented. But these are my own insecurities about "putting it out there," so to speak. And I have to remember that everything is a matter of taste - and that not everyone will have the same taste as I.

Okay, enough of this runimating. I'm crewing at the bit to leave here and make more jewelry. I'm hoping to bring the first pieces to the store this weekend. Wish me luck.

Testing....

Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Thanks for the link, CawfeeGuy.

The Kiang Baby Bumps

My neice and sister-in-law and soon to be baby Kiangs

When I think about it, and the idea of becoming an aunt again in about a month, particularly to Jay and Ang's first child, is absolutely exciting. So many people are convinced that the baby is going to be a boy (I'm personally hoping for a girl, but something tells me that it'll be a boy). Dad is excited about being a Grandpa again. And he's obviously hoping for a boy (conversation after picking up a card for the baby shower):

Me: What do you want the card to say?
Dad: Happy Baby Shower. Congratulations and lots of love for our new grandson.
Me: DAD! They don't know if it's a boy yet. You can't say that!
Dad: GrandCHILD. Write GrandCHILD.

About 6 weeks after I become an aunt again, I will become a GREAT-aunt for the first time to JP and Cin's little girl. That just seems absurd. I mean, in my head, JP is still twelve. Twelve. I mean he's really almost 27, but I think he's twelve. Seriously, though. I'm going to be a great-aunt. That's just nuts.

How beautiful are the two hot mamas?

Wishing Upon Stardust

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I just don't. But this New Year's, Magenta made one for me. That I would put myself out there and attempt to sell my jewelry, in some fashion.

In the past 2 years that I've been making jewelry, I've been wanting, but been too scared to sell anything. I've given a bazillion gifts, but not sold. Why? Because when you give stuff away, people generally accept graciously. When you're selling, people must choose to buy. There have been many people in my life who have been saying, what the hell are you waiting for?? Hence, the New Year's Resolution by MS above.

Well, yesterday, I showed my jewelry to a new upscale boutique in the area, and both the owner and designer agreed that they would sell my jewelry!! It will be on a consignment basis to begin with. But I'm out there. I'm so terribly excited, that I can't even put into words.

The only thing I did not have was a name for my jewelry line. Until now. So, beginning today, my jewelry line will be known as Stardust River Jewelry. Why? Stardust to give the feeling of sparkling and glimmering (and it also happens to be the name of a book and movie from Neil Gaiman, who I love). River because the literal translation of the Chinese character for my last name is "large river," a fact that I had never taken advantage of previously.

I'm soooo excited! You'll hear much more about this soon.

It's in the stars

Thanks, CawfeeGuy.

Your Inner Muse is Urania

You are most like this muse of astronomy. Your head is in the stars, and you look to the future. You give off a heavenly, mysterious vibe. And you're not too bad at predicting the future.

What Muse Are You?

Ask Dr. Tina

I went over to TC's parent's house on Christmas Eve Eve for the traditional dessert mooching. During this evening, BC (TC's sister) tells me that her 5-year old son, Nicky, wants to be a scientist. He asks all sorts of very insightful questions and "invents" things (apparently, the favorite among the family is the pogo-stick plunger - just think about that for a moment). However, as much as BC has answers for many of his questions, there are some things that she can't or simply doesn't know how to answer. When Nicky asks a question, when you respond, it is usually followed by an equally insightful counter-question, and this goes on until he is (somewhat) satisfied. Or unless he wants to take time time to think on your response.

TC and BC informed Nicky that I was, in fact, a scientist. He was facinated. He tells me that HE wants to be a scientist, too. An EVERYTHING scientist. And proceeds to ask me a ton of questions like why dirt doesn't burn, and what would happen if your buried an oxygen making machine underground to help the dirt to burn, and why the dinosaurs are extinct, and what would happen if you send an animal, like a dog, to Mars with a closed house with it's own supply of oxygen and how long it would survive.

After the flood of questions, I told BC that if there was ever a question that she couldn't answer for Nicky, then she should just email me. Actually, why not set up an email address that she and Nicky can email science questions to - Nicky could have his own personal scientist. Which is exactly what I have done.

There is now an email address and accompanying blog for Ask Dr. Tina, where I will post the question and response. There's nothing there yet, since Nicky is currently away on vacation. I'm sure there will be when he gets back later this month.

I think this will be fun and funny. I can't wait to see the kinds of questions I'll get.

Auld lang syne and some such crap

Happy New Year. I'm exhausted already. But for good reason. MS and Master Chew were here for the past few days. And except for a couple of moments, Chewie-love and Thor, Dog of Thunder got along very well. I particularly loved the moments where Chew was running circles around (and under) Thor while Thor stood looking at him with the face of, "I can't possibly go THAT fast."

TTW and Fibji came over Sunday and brought their Wii. Much hilarity ensued (MS will post said hilarity later). But I also woke up with "Wii arm" and "Wii back" the next morning, and realized how old and out of shape I actually am. We also had a wrist injury that night (Turg). I so can't wait for my Wii to arrive.

But now that all of the fun and drinking are done, it's time to get down to business. I took the rest of this week off to deal with my crap. My office is a total sty. I've dealt with some of my papers this morning, and have already filled a trash back full of stuff. And I'm not even close to done. I really need to stop making "filing piles" on the floor, because eventually (as had already happened), there will be no floor left.

I will be cleaning and tidying for the rest of this week. And I'll hopefully be able to find some organization by then.

I may even be able to find some time to relax. One can only hope.