Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tiny hats, possible ninja porn and thoughts of adoption.

Friends on Parade. Today's office special.

I feel like I’m insane sometimes. I guess mostly because I want to do so many things and I end up having no time to, or if I do have a bit of time, I’m too damned tired to do anything. I just want to check out from the neck-up and just watch a bunch of back-logged DVR recordings of Judge Judy and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist.


It’s hard to pretend the world doesn’t exist though, when you’ve got a vacation rental next door. It’s bad enough that the right side of our property is dominated by a tree-chopping, pot-growing doofus with unending hours of pot-business and a dog that never stops barking. But having the Larson house turn into a full-time vacation rental has been kind of a pain in our ass, and I’m being kind when I say that. We already have an issue with people who come up to our neck of the woods to vacation. People who leave their homes to go camping or to go stay in a vacation cabin don’t really perceive the area they’re occupying as anything more than a recreational venue. They give no heed to the folks who might appear to have to leave at ungodly hours in the morning for a job; a job that is where these visitors likely live, which is a hell of a commute. No, they just want to have fun.

Most of the time, the house will be rented through the management company by a single couple. They pay the base amount and head up. On the way, they get on their phone and start calling every one of their friends and say: “Hey guys, we just got a cabin up in Welches... come on up!” then they go to the slopes at Timberline, and invite the people they meet in line at the lift-ticket line too. By the time they show up after skiing, there are six or seven cars crammed into the driveway, they’re sucking on a hookah outside the front door, laughing it up in the hot tub at 2 AM and having a good ol’ time. We’ve seen sometimes as many as twenty people in a cabin that is supposed to have a maximum occupancy of 8.

The weekend before this long one, we got ninja/martial-arts photo-shoot weirdoes. They arrived in single car first, and then more arrived a bit later. Next thing you know, they’re moving all the furniture outside onto the little porch in the rain, and then took a brief moment to photos in the back of the cabin of their slick-ninja jumps and moves. They were all decked out in their martial-arts togs, from the split-toed socks, armlets and headbands. They were leaping high into the air while their friends snapped photos. As the day wore on, the number of cars increased in the driveway, and they retreated indoors where we could hear “Hyooh” ::thump:: “Hyah!” ::crash:: “HAI!” ::tumble:: “OUF!” ::boom:: all the while the tall windows facing the front of the building flashed from their photographs and glowed from their special lighting—well into night hours. I told my husband that I was becoming increasingly convinced they were shooting ninja porn in there. By 2 AM, two of the cars had left, and by 4AM, they were gone, and the furniture had been put back. Our dogs were stressed and frazzled but were finally able to settle down at 4AM. The next day, the lady who the rental management company pays to clean the place called out to my husband who was working on his bike out back: “Excuse me sir... but do you have any idea what the hell went on in here? Oh my God!” She went on to complain about how awful the task of cleaning this rental was compared to others. Apparently the management company isn’t too good and doesn’t really care if it is a party house. She told my husband that they don’t listen to her when she tells them that more people had to be there than they claimed. They don’t care. The management company is out of Portland, so I imagine they don’t get out here very much. I have fantasies of renting a giant backhoe, sticking the arm and bucket scoop out like a huge fist and punching it right through the Larson cabin. It would be so nice to not have neighbours. People can be such thoughtless jerks. Then I’d turn that backhoe towards the other neighbour and end his pot-operation once and for all too. Ahh, dreams. ::sigh::

June harkens the month of adoption/foster-care seminars. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but we’re signed up and I’ve set it up on my outlook calendar, so for a month, my Tuesday and Thursday evenings are going to be late nights home. They start on the seventh and are twice a week, every week until the end of the month. They start at 6PM and end at 9PM. It will be worth it though. I’m trying not to get too excited. It’s going to be a rough month, squeezing in these late seminars... and we have to take this on with a realistic perspective. But regardless, I can’t help but think of little dresses, murals and children’s songs. I’m such a dork.


I start small. This one needs a bit more height.

I’ve been working on some new hat designs because of the Oregon Regency Society’s first Regency Retreat which will take place in December. You can get more information about that here. I will be holding a hats and bonnets workshop, and I will be not only revamping my existing pattern (it’s time). I’ve learned a lot more since I first made that pattern and it needs to be redone. In addition to that, I’m delving into other designs as well, including a nice riding toque designed after the ’81 Pride & Prejudice hat Lizzie is wearing. I’ve started making my usual miniature mockups. I may just keep my miniature sized hat patterns and sell them for dolls. :) I’m excited about creating new patterns. The first pattern is really popular, so I’m hoping a wider variety of hats will be just as popular too. By the time the retreat comes along, I’m hoping to have at least 4 hat designs to choose from for the participants—all ‘mined’ from period adaptations. I have some great ideas and examples, including Emma’s (Beckinsdale) triangle hat/bonnet and a twisted square hat.

I now have to put together some Spongebob characters out of polymer clay for an S-II cake project. I can’t forget, I promised her these by Friday. I’ll post pics of them when I’m done.

Today's office special is just another of my random whatevers that came to me as I poised my hand to sketch. Middle monster came first, then I added the girl to join him in his cheerful march, and then I thought, hey, we need a smiling fluff-ball. We always need smiling fluff-balls bouncing along as we march. Anyway, have a lovely week (it’s a short one! YAY!)

By the way,  I am stalled at 16 pounds this week, I'm afraid.  Too much 'falling off the wagon' and too little water!

2 comments:

Misty said...

I kinda like the idea of ninja porn - it makes me laugh. Not when its rudely impacting other good people though.

Thanks for the great comments about my bullydog Roland. That's pretty much how I feel whenever I see him too. Unless he's gnawing on my ankle.

Summer said...

Ick, sorry to hear about your bad neighbor situation. I was thinking, all the good people should live together but then you end up with a Homeowner's Association :/

Good luck with the adoption seminars :) I know that excited-but-trying-not-to-hope feeling well.

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