sew.

Burke making her Halloween costume: the Tin Man


I thought I'd try to expand my creative side by trying to learn the rudiments of sewing. So last Friday, I spent the day with one of my best friends Burke, my colleague in unemployment, and I took a sewing lesson. Burke's mother, who ranks in the top five of "Coolest Moms I Know" is a master seamstress, along with being, oh, you know, a lawyer. She is, most significantly, an amazing, wonderful mom of four. And she is also my adopted aunt, in case you were wondering. She's the one who gave the lesson.

So first she taught me to hem a shirt I've been meaning to fix for months. It looks great (it's sort of summery but I'm just so excited it's fixed, I might have to whip it out this fall. Can't help myself.)

Second, I began the process of making a dress. Burke and I went to the fabric store and picked out material, patterns, and other necessary odds and ends. The dress (to come) will be a cranberry color made from very soft jersey material with a champagne colored satin sash around the waste. It's either going to look like a million bucks or like Jo-Ann Fabrics threw up on me. I'll be sure to post some pictures when it's done.

Burke and her mom showed me how to cut out the pattern, pin the pattern to the material, then cut out the material properly so that, when sewn, all the pieces match. The next step will be the sewing process and that will hopefully happen next week.

Yet another adventure in the life of unemployed K (and B). Not too shabby.

kids. aka where the wild things are.

In my spare time, currently in abundant supply, I've been babysitting. A lot. "It's a little gas money," one of the mothers of my employer families said. Yeah, something like that.

Here's the thing. Kids go from possessed screaming little creatures to lumps of snuggly warmth asleep in your arms in the amount of time it takes to heat a cup of tea in the microwave. It's staggering. It's sort of like Grendel's mother--one minute lovely, the next, Jesus H. Hold on to your gonads. Monster city.

Babysitting sure has taught me what kind of mother I think I want to be, not that I'm even thinking about that yet, but when the time comes there will be no tantrums lasting over 45 minutes. If there are, just commit me now.

Getting a little more poignant though, the other day I saw Where the Wild Things Are. Go see it. I don't care what excuse you've got. Take two hours and just give your brain over, especially if you've got young kids. Not that I consider myself an adult (not that I ever will) but I forget what it's like to experience "grown up" problems when your little. When mom and dad have a fight or worse, get divorced, adults forget that for kids, their world crumbles. Every thread of security that makes each day work suddenly snaps. This movie made me cry. Not necessarily a hard thing to do but it reached me on a very personal and timely level. It helped me see the world through a different set of spectacles. And it made me more sympathetic to the kids I spend time with, it awakened a different wave of excitement as I wait for my niece to be born. It reminded how precious children are. Not to get all goopy on you, but for a children's book/movie/tale, it had some big things to say.

So the moral of my story is to remember kids see things differently and sometimes maybe we should try harder to see life like they do, not take things so seriously.

Oh yeah, and LET THE WILD RUMPUS START! ROooooooooooAR!


photo courtesy of videogum.com

boo!

I got this illustration in an e-mail forward from my Mom.

God, I love Halloween.


If you're unemployed (or if you like to think outside the box) and you're in the market for a Halloween costume, obviously check out your local thrift stores. If you're like me and you already tried this with little luck, don't surrender! Thrift stores are notoriously hit or miss (though while looking for a costume, I did score two killer blazers, one from J. Crew that fits like a tailored glove, mmhm). Either try again at another time, or maybe try some different techniques:

- Buy one or two small, more expensive pieces that define your costume idea. Then, create the rest with things you already have or things that can be bought super cheap. For instance, buy a tail and a set of ears to be a cheetah, cat, whatever. Then use all black clothing and makeup to complete it. This trick works well for a lot of animal costumes. Hello, Cat Woman!

- Share with friends! My girlfriends happen to be killer Halloween costumers. In the past, some of my friends have been things like Marilyn Monroe, Tinker Bell, Brit Spears, The Little Mermaid, the list goes on. Tap into the resource and ask a friend who has a similar build as you. That way, you can save on the cost and you can still put your own spin on the costume by tweaking the details.

- Wrap yourself in aluminum foil and go as leftovers! (I think I stole that idea from the movie Casper, sorry. It's still good, right?!)


Anyone have good ideas?

songs on saturday.

Jesse, my better half, and I went to see the Sunset Rubdown on Saturday at Sonar. The Quebec group is a side project of Wolf Parade's throaty dream boat Spencer Krug (upper right in the photo).

Despite the terrible weather outside, these guys rocked the place inside, in that cerebral indie way. If you haven't heard Krug on the mic, you really need to. There's nothing like a seemingly normal-looking guy in plaid blasting his strong baritone-y voice into a space filled with admirers, as well as the unsuspecting. His speaking voice and singing voice definitely don't match.

Another friggin' awesome powerhouse in the band is Camilla Wynne Ingr. I'm really not sure what all that fancy stuff she does up there on stage is, but she's got a real nice voice, and it complements Krug's strong vocals. It's like Secret Deoderant's old sexist catch phrase: strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.

Lesson # 127: Getting out of the house when you're unemployed is EXTREMELY important. It keeps you fresh and in touch with the outside world. In my case, I got guest-listed for this show so it was free (woot!) but even so, if you don't let yourself have fun and keep on keepin' on, you're gonna be screwed and forget how to boogie.

So, lessons to take away here are as follows-- Numero Uno: Sunset Rubdown rocks, if you dig the indie movement. (Spread your wings and check them out, definitely.) And two, never ever ever stop having fun, even in the economically/mentally challenging times because that fun will bring you through. I promise.

Happy job hunting!

Photo courtesy of Extravaganza!

perspective.

There are people in the world that get overwhelmed easily. I'm one of them. Sometimes, as hard as I try not to, I sweat the small stuff. And unfortunately I loose sight of what's real and what's important.

One of my best friends lost someone very close to her yesterday. Since I heard the news, I've been through a series of emotions. First, shock. Followed closely by disbelief. Now, anger, which is rapidly morphing into sadness. Tragedy, aside from being heartbreaking, is unfair. It makes you question why we're here, why some things are simply not just. I'm not religious, but I can't dismiss my hope for a sweetness beyond this life. Maybe it's a selfish human need for comfort when your insides ache from sadness, but I can't let that hope go.

Right now, all I can think of is my dear, dear friend and the pain she must be feeling. She is such a strong, smart, faithful woman, but in times like these those attributes don't really matter because even the strongest break down. Even the strongest are human.

I guess I felt the need to put this on here because it has been so humbling to me, it has realigned my perspective to evaluate how precious life is. All the worry of the weight of the world is crushed by sorrow of a deeper kind when you loose someone. And you realize the insignificance of the daily battles you fight. At least you have to power to wake up and fight them.

So, in tribute to a beautiful life that was simply cut too short, may all of us wake up each morning with joy and hope and never loose it along the way.

Rest in peace, beautiful girl.

a movie i saw.

Photo from snuffboxfilms.blogspot.com

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I watched Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. I know, I'm a little late. It did come out in 2001. But, let's not dwell on the details, and really, am I ever on time for anything?

Have you seen this movie? You probably should, along with all the other Wes Anderson movies out there. He's so good. I haven't seen them all but I think they will go on my list because every time after I watch one, I am reminded of how great film can be. Without trying to review it, I just want to say a few short things about why it was important in my time as an unemployed individual to watch this movie.

1. It reinforces the importance of family.

2. It supports the fact that some very interesting people are quite strange.

3. It reminds you that love sometimes doesn't always act conventionally, and maybe that's for the best.

4. It makes you feel good, without feeling cheesy.


Put it on your list. Remember, it's a little eccentric, but aren't the best things in life?

cut the cheese, please.

"a report on Friday showed unemployment in September inched up to 9.8 percent, a 26-year high,"


said the New York Times Monday. Great.

Bad economy aside, there's no reason to get down (except if you plan to do so on the dance floor). Not to get all positive on you, but it's in times like these when you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and make yourself a grilled cheese.

See, you can't sit there and tell me the idea of melted hunks of cheddar between two slices of bread grilled to buttery, crispy perfection doesn't kick your salivary glands into action.

I've considered the vegan's argument, and honestly, I get it. And I can drink soy milk. I can eat egg substitute. But melty ooey gooey cheese. Oh good lord. This coming from the kid who used to stick a Polly-O string cheese in the microwave for afternoon snack when everyone else was peeling it to death. What is it about melted cheese that just translates into comfort?

So here's what I did. After I invited my dear friend and compatriot-in-unemployment over for lunch. I went to Shoppers and bought the following:

- English muffin bread
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Artichoke hearts
- Roasted red bell peppers

These ingredients are from a recipe in"The Best of Cooking Light," one of my mom's cookbooks. And since I'm living at home (unemployed, right.) I hijacked the book and it has some really good classics, and spins on classics, of course, like this little beauty: "Garden Grilled Cheese".

After clumsily trying to slice this loaf of very soft, delicious bread, I covered a pan with olive oil. I lathered up one slice of bread per sandwich with Dijon mustard, then sprinkled the bread with sharp cheddar, sliced artichoke hearts and the peppers. Heeding the words of my very wise mother, I let the sandwiches grill slowly so as to melt the cheese but not burn that bread. Overall, they were pretty good, I'd rate them at a solid 5 on the 1 to 10 scale of foodie standards.

We also ate a wedge salad with Parmesan cheese and some light vinaigrettey dressing (Newman's Own--I could drink that stuff, it's so good.)

Mostly, it was just nice to sit and eat with a good friend and my mom. There are really some wonderful aspects of not being employed, minus the whole not getting paid thing. You don't have to be slave to an alarm clock and you don't have to battle morning traffic, and every once in a while, you can make a meal for people you love and have a relaxing, stress-free lunch.

So here is to day # whatever of no real job. And Cheers to Cheese!

here we go....

Well, lookey here! It's a blog!

I'm Kendall. Not really sure I've anything interesting to say here. But I'm hoping this might give me some motivation to actually say something.

A little about myself. After finishing an incredibly exciting four years of college, I've discovered a lot of free time on my hands. I'm so completely unemployed that I've almost gone into shock-- aimless, boredom-filled shock. It's actually sort of hypocritical because I've just gotten what I've been asking for for years: FREEDOM, SISTER!

So here's my plan:
1) I want to eat the food I'd like to attempt to cook.
2) I want to explore the places (on this continent for now, yes) I haven't seen.
3) I want to listen to the (live) music I haven't heard.
4) I want to watch the film, theater, dance, and whatever performance I can get my hands on.

All on a budget. No job, remember?

And then, I'd like to write about it. Novel idea, right? I can hear you now: "No one's ever done that before, how original..." Oh well. Here's one more wannabe to add to your list.

I guess that should cover it for now. So here is blog numero uno. The first of the rest. This whole thing might be lame or it might be semi-interesting. So, stay tuned. Please?