Magazines

The Artful Quilters ring owner recently asked us this question, "What magazines do you subscribe to, and why?"

Well, without launching into a long-winded diatribe about the delivery of magazines to Hawaii via the US Postal Service, let's just suffice it to say that it takes forever for magazines to get here. Actually, I think they swim them over on the backs of dolphins, or possibly send them by outrigger canoe, it takes so long. The same applies for mail order catalogs: nothing like getting "order by Dec. 20 for Christmas delivery" when the catalog arrives on Valentine's day.

That being said, I subscribe to a grand total of one magazine: Quilting Arts. I love it and subscribed because when they started you couldn't buy it here. Then Borders started bringing it in, but in small quantities, so you might sometimes miss out. They now bring in more stock, so I will most likely let my subscription lapse and just pick it up here when it comes out. Thankfully, Borders flies it in.

Other magazines I pick up occasionally:

• Cloth, Paper, Scissors: I had a charter subscription to this one and liked it, but didn't renew because I needed to focus on quilting. I didn't need any other projects and goodies and wanted to try everything I read.
  
• Bon Appetit: Love this one too. My SIL gave me a subscription for Christmas one year and I continue to buy it locally (see subscription lament above).
• Gourmet or Food & Wine: Once in awhile, when I'm feeling fancy.
  
• Runners World: Loved this one when I was running and plan to start picking it up when I get back to it.
• Quilters Newsletter: Once in awhile, particularly if the cover appeals to me.
• Other quilting magazines: rarely. I still buy American Patchwork & Quilting's Quilt Sampler when it comes out.
• I also pick up "O", Vanity Fair, and various other magazines when I want to read about something or someone featured.

Where are the quilts??

September 13, 2005 - Maui Gas Price today: $3.99 for regular.

Where are the quilts, you ask. Well, between starting the new job, a few visitors, a new kitten and general chaos in our work-in-progress house, I haven't had more than one moment to work on anything remotely related to fabric.

Did I mention our remodel fell through? Thanks to the county, who changed the zoning in our neighborhood in 1997 unbeknownst to us, our addition would have been within the new 15ft setbacks. So, no expanded living area and no sewing studio. Ergggh. As a result, all of my fabric and sewing gadgetry is stacked in the laundry room and garage, waiting for the day when we can figure out a solution to our space issue. Thankfully, I can still access it when I need to.

I have 4 projects in motion right now, begging to be finished: a chemo quilt for another family member stricken with cancer, a quilt for the Quilts, Inc. project (www.quilts.com), my self-portrait for Quilting Arts magazine, which must be postmarked by Thursday, and my guild's mystery challenge which is due at the October 4th meeting.

Last month, my new friend Barbara Murak (www.barbaramurak.com) came to visit and did a presentation for our guild. She left me with a beautiful piece of hand painted fabric and one of her Solvy creations to wash out. I can't wait to play with that, either.

Lastly, I have my newest quilt drafted and ready to go. My friend Joan let me use her overhead projector back in July to enlarge and trace it onto pattern paper. It's about 6'x5'. Once I find a place to pin it up, I'll post a pic.

So, for now, be patient with me. I'll have new quilt stuff posted soon!

Some People's Taste...

I realized the other day, as I was perusing my Amazon wish list, that I have very unusual taste in music. Right there, in the middle of a bunch of Alternative Rock, was the new Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers DVD set - which appeals to my appreciation of show tunes, which I probably developed watching old movies and the Lawrence Welk Show with my grandma.

I grew up listening to good Classic Rock: Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, CCR, Aerosmith, Kansas, Queen, Eagles, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. I had a tiny AM transistor radio and a tape recorder with a microphone so I could record my favorite songs off the radio, disk jockey interruptions and all. In high school, my taste expanded to New Wave (Oingo Boingo, Wall of Voodoo, Flock of Seagulls, Devo, Thompson Twins) and some punk, while still sticking to my love of rock (Ozzy, The Cars, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi) further enhanced by my then boyfriend, who was a drummer in a local rock band.

Shortly after high school, I met my husband, who grew up in Laguna Beach, California. As appropriate for the surf set he enjoyed listening to Rock, but would most likely be listening to Reggae. This was new to me and it took awhile to slow down and appreciate the easy rhythms of the music. I'm partial to Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers "Play the Game Right," which is probably the first Reggae tape I listened to, and which we no longer have in our collection, but the Bob Marley classic "Legend" in my car CD player right now.

But now, my taste is turning back to hard rock and alternative, and I love Seether, Audioslave (and Soundgarden), Weezer, Cake, Beck, Stained, Nickelback, and even Nine Inch Nails. Add a little Fiona Apple, Garbage, Tori Amos, and Hole to the mix and I'm happy.

My husband, who doesn't share my appreciation for some of the harder stuff, just rolls his eyes and smiles. I just say, "There's no accountin' for some people's taste!"

Never Say Never!

I have a new job. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be working in a place surrounded by kids, but here I am, the new accounting and HR manager for Boys & Girls Club of Maui. And it's great!

For those of you who don't know know, we have a "child-free" household. I often thought that kids really annoyed me, but I'm coming to realize that it's not so much the kids, but their bad behavior and/or lack of parental guidance. I love my nieces and nephew dearly and am happy to be the "Auntie," but having children of my own appeals to me less and less the older I get.

I went through one period of baby lust in my early 20's, when all of my peers were having kids. It all seemed so sweet and romantic when they came to visit. Then you hear about the horrors: fevers, earaches, crankiness, temper tantrums, lack of babysitters, lack of free "me-time," unhappy husbands, lack of "we-time," rotten teenagers and more, then the shine sort of wears off. I know of a few women my age (late 30's) with children of various ages who, despite the fact that they love their kids, appear to be suffering from something I call "baby regret." They bought into the family program and are surprised that they got much more than they bargained for. Call me spoiled or selfish, but I can't imagine giving up or sharing the time I have with my husband, our family and friends, our pets, or my creative time - my schedule is full.

But back to the job...

The kids here at the club are friendly and well-mannered. They are here to have a good time, learn, and share experiences with their friends. I am fairly well sequestered in my office dealing with the day-to-day accounting and staff HR issues, but the interactions I have with the kids are always positive (so far, and I hope it stays that way!). The adults are warm and caring and are great to have as co-workers. I feel like I am in an environment with people I can relate to who are on my level and it's nice.

Even with the ruckus in the club held to a dull roar by the steel door of my office, the warm and friendly atmosphere of 100+ kids having a good time is palpable, and I like it!