Urban Tapestry podcast interview online (plus a shameless plea)

Thanks to Jodi for alerting me to the fact that our podcast interview is up on the Balticon website. Allison, Jodi and I had a lot of fun with the charming Paul Fischer, who interviewed us for his podcast. So much fun that he managed to convince us to sing a song a capella during the show.



As part of the move to a new server and format, I’m gradually updating the Urban Tapestry song list. The first I’ve added is Library Boy, a song that we performed for Rand Bellavia as birthday surprise in 2002. We don’t tend to perform this song since I stopped being able to play guitar, and I’d be thrilled if anyone out there wanted to cover it — I’m pretty happy with how the song turned out, and it’s still being requested in open filk.

Whoever sings this song should probably :-) be female and be able to sing bluesy/torchy-like. Rand isn't mentioned specifically in the song, so it's a suitable song for anyone who appreciates libraries and/or books.

If you’re willing to give it a shot, please let me know and I’ll send you the chords/lyrics as well as hunt down a recording. Right now I think I only have a cassette tape recording, and I'll have to figure out a way to digitize it. Thanks! (with fingers crossed very hard)

100th sale on Etsy!

Woohoo, I made my 100th sale on Etsy today! Thanks to Rebecca A. for buying a set of eight Blush cards; I'm going to include something extra nice in her package.

Since a multiple item listing just counts as one sale, I'm not really sure exactly how many ITEMS I've sold in my Etsy shop so far. Thanks so much to those who have supported my art habit thus far.

I'll be adding more items in the next few weeks. Some of the little buttons with my art on them (in answer to your question, Joey), some mini-pottery, and likely another painting or two.

I'm in Buffalo right now, so any orders placed between now and the weekend will be delivered on Monday. Hope you're all having a good Wednesday...

Post-OVFF, NaNoWriMo, MacSpeech, interview and new paintings!

Be warned that this is somewhat of a rambling and fragmented post as I do some catching up after OVFF...

Reading Allison's final post on OVFF reminded me of more wonderful memories from OVFF, including:

Being the first person in North America to buy Annie's and Tim's new CD!

Hearing Amy McNally do an absolutely gorgeous instrumental rendition of "The Lady" in open filk.



Above: Allison abuses my Nerd Ninja Doll!


ChamberFilk, an instrumental ensemble put together by Phil Textor. Enjoyable performance -- impressive considering all the rehearsal was done at the convention!

Walter's gift to Allison, Jodi and me: a recording of the very first "Dr. Demento Show" where an Urban Tapestry song was aired - "Cuz He's A Guy" on April 4th, 1999. I'm in the midst of revamping the Urban Tapestry website, by the way, and will be posting more info there eventually.

Anyway, do read Allison's OVFF posts over on her LJ.

But moving on to non-OVFF news...

NaNoWriMo

I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year! As I've mentioned before, I'm dictating the whole novel via MacSpeech. I work on my NaNoWriMo novel in the mornings, then on my regular work in the afternoons. My main purpose is participating is to kickstart my sf/fantasy novel (I've had the plot, background and character outline finished for months).



Secondary purpose: to see if using voice-activated software will improve my writing productivity. I get frustrated having to take regular "arm breaks" to avoid aggravating my tendinitis, and it would be great to have longer writing sessions at a time. So far it's working well. MacSpeech's dictation capabilities are extremely accurate (much more so than iListen).

The editing functions still suck; in fact, I can't get the voice editing commands to work at ALL. However, because my tendinitis is mostly gone, I just use the keyboard for editing. So far, the process works really well for me. I'm way behind in my NaNoWriMo wordcount, but this isn't as important to me as the fact that I'm able to write more each day than I usually do (NaNoWriMo writing plus other writing) plus am able to do longer stints at a time.

If you're participating in NaNoWriMo this year, feel free to add me as a Writing Buddy! Seeing my wordcount will make you feel much better about your own, I suspect. My NaNoWriMo username is "inkygirl."

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, I have an interview with Chris Baty up on Inkygirl right now. Chris is the founder of NaNoWriMo.

New cartoons



I have started two temporary comic strips. My "Nanotoon" strip (about NaNoWriMo) will be posted in Inkygirl and my "Countdown to BGG.con" strip (about anticipating the BoardGameGeek convention) will be posted in the BoardGameGeek comics forum. I'm drawing both in stick figure format to save time. :-)

New paintings



I have two new paintings up for sale in my Etsy shop. The one above is called "Comes A Dragon" and is 8" x 8" on stretched canvas. The 3/4" sides are painted, so there's no need for a frame. I'll ship either painting anywhere in the world, and will include one of my Blush cards (just let me know which one).



The one above is called "Eyes." I have it priced higher than the first painting because I have this one hanging up in our house right now. Like the Zombie painting, I may eventually lower the price when I decide to replace it on the wall. Or I may just decide to take it off Etsy and keep it. :-) It was inspired by a story I'm working on.

Interview



Children's author Susan Myers has interviewed me for her blog, for those interested.

Oh, and I also finished sewing my red hat this past weekend! It's a bit too big, but I learned a great deal making it. I've started my second attempt. More on that (and pics) in another Blathering.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend....

Halloween pics and OVFF highlights (part 4)

Only 19 kids came by on Halloween night! Still, I had fun putting up decorations. I hung up a string of Mars Attacks lights that I had bought at an Interfilk auction last year, some plastic bats, a sparkly Halloween theme banner, a "Happy Halloween" sign on our front door, hung dangly skeletons from the Japanese maple, spiders on our mailbox and the wall beside our front door, stuck a scared-looking cardboard guy in the grass beside the front walk, made ghosts out of white cardboard and white tissue paper then set up a floor fan to get the tissue paper moving.



My pumpkin carving knife broke a few minutes after I started using it and a regular knife was too tough for me to cut with (I didn't want to aggravate my old tendinitis) so I cheated and drew faces on the pumpkins instead.

To see impressive pumpkins, you should check out pumpkins by Joan S., Lissa A. and the Snyders.

Thanks to my friend John for helpfully pointing out a site that explains how to properly tie an Obi in only 28 steps!

But back to OVFF highlights...



Ice cream with Andrea, Jim, Allison and Jodi at the North Market in Columbus, OH. We went to Jeni's Fresh Ice Creams, where they let you have as many tastings as you want. YUM. My favourites: Salty Caramel, Thai Chili and Cocoa Zin Gelato (with zinfandel).

Seeing Diana Huey again! Diana dropped by the convention to say hi to people.

Irish music session in the hallway on Sunday.



Finding out that Andy and Jenny Eigel have opened up a coffeeshop in Cincinnati, OH! It's called Roxx Coffeehouse and Games and sounds like an incredibly cool place.

The Pegasus Banquet. Congrats to all the Pegasus Award winners:

Best Filk Song: Uplift by Andrew Eigel
Best Classic Filk Song: Archetype Cafe by Talis Kimberley
Best Performer: Vixy & Tony
Best Writer/Composer: Seanan McGuire
Best Tragedy Song: Black Davie's Ride by Cynthia McQuillin
Best Comedy Song: Close Your Eyes by Daniel Glasser



Photo by Walter

I don't go to events like the Pegasus Awards Banquet for the food (though the food this year was good!); I go for the people -- to pay respect to and celebrate the guests, nominees and winners, to hear the speeches, and to catch up on filk-related news. I also enjoyed chatting with filkers I don't normally get much of a chance to speak with, plus it's always fun to see people decked out in their finery. :-)

Thanks so much to Walter for being my date at this event!



Photo by Allison

The Sunday jam and the Sunday filk. I know I've mentioned these before, but I had SO much fun. One reason I usually try to stay until Monday at conventions is because everything always seems so much more laid-back on Sundays. Plus there's usually more opportunity to just hang out and chat with people because there is less structured programming.


Photo by Walter

Playing the concertina. I don't know the name of the fellow who was kind enough to let me try it but in case he's reading this: thank you!

Seanan McGuire with a chainsaw and monsters:



Hearing Lady Mondegreen again.

Hearing the Ropers do their Apology song. They're SO cute together. :-)

Mary Crowell's rendition of Alien Salad Abduction by Chris Conway.



Getting my copy of Pondside's new CD! Juliana had bought one of my paintings and asked for permission to use it as a cover image. I'm looking forward to listening to this CD; I love hearing this lady sing.

I mentioned the Sock Monster I made for Brooke and Sib in an earlier report. You can see Allison's photo of Brooke with her monster here; Brooke has named hers Zomg.



Hearing Vixy, Seanan and Tony perform -anything-.

Kidnapping Erin's camera when she wasn't looking so I could take photos like this one and this one and this one.

Chatting with Merav and Talis about sewing and the Halloween costume Talis was making.



Seeing Amy let loose during an instrumental in Wild Mercy's mini-concert. Wow. it's clear that Amy usually holds back when playing backup or playing with other musicians, either to purposely not outshine the singer or because she pays close attention to matching the type of music (probably both). I am SO going to nominate Amy for a Best Performer Pegasus every year until she wins. :-)

Going to Panera's (I think that was the name) with Andrea, Mary, Walter, Allison and Jodi. The place gave us a couple of freshly baked loaves of bread for free because they had accidentally made too many!



Seanan's description of people's "screensaver faces."

The con suite: perfect place for hanging out and meeting people, plus a lifesaver if you were hungry but didn't have the time for a full meal at a restaurant. I grabbed a peanut butter and jam sandwich here.

Brooke Lunderville's performance of "The Wreck of the Crash of the Easthill Mining Disaster," with highly entertaining sign props.

Mary Crowell's slippers:



In an earlier con report, I mentioned that Vixy, Jeff Bohnhoff and Maya Bohnhoff surprised me with a song about me to the tune of "Barracuda." Well, Walter has good photos of my reaction as did Michael. :-)

Many thanks to Debbie Gates for sending me a recording of "Debbie Ohi"! I had it posted on the FilkArchive, but Martin GK gently (and very correctly) reminded me that even though it's a parody, the original tune is copyrighted, so I pulled it off. Congrats to those few who managed to get it during the brief time it was online; next time you'll see it will likely be in the FilKONtario Interfilk auction.


Photo by Walter

Hearing the Three Weird Sisters do anything. Bill looks pretty good as a fourth Weird Sister, doesn't he?

And one of my favourite photos taken at the con: Brooke's photo of Mary Crowell and I battling it out while Bill Sutton calls out our match. Heh. :-D

Hanging out with Sib and the Bohnhoffs at the airport:



Running into my friends Helen and Dan at the airport in Toronto. They were in town for Cory Doctorow's wedding.



Okay, there are obviously WAY too many highlights and cool photos for me to post here. I'll be posting the occasional few in upcoming Blatherings, but considering the end of my official OVFF report.

Many thanks to the OVFF concom and guests for making this past weekend such an enjoyable event. Allison, Jodi and I had a fantastic time...you can read Allison's report and see some of her photos in her Livejournal.

Our next convention as a group: FilKONtario!

I'm going to be in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, woohoo!

I got a letter in the mail today saying that my application to participate as a Marcher in The Santa Claus Parade has been accepted. And guess what? I'm going to be a GOLDFISH! Is that cool or what?!?

And no, I have no idea what goldfish have to do with Christmas or Santa or winter. But I don't care. I've always wanted to be in The Santa Claus Parade, yay! I won't find out what my Marching Goldfish costume looks like until I arrive on the morning of the Parade, but supposedly it will fit the measurements I sent them with my application.

THANK YOU to Alison George for passing her Santa Claus application form to me!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. Thanks for all the Halloween feedback. I went out and bought some more candy. I'd love to see pics of anyone's pumpkins, decorations, etc. -- feel free to post your URL. I'll take some pics as well.