Keebles World

stock photo from IMDB I've rambled on for years about my artist past and how the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty and Marc Davis (one of Walt's Nine Old Men, and, in my opinion, the single greatest artist of his day) has been the greatest influences of my entire life. I've been both anticipating and dreading Maleficent ever since the movie was announced. Last night was it's judgement day (so to speak)! Throughout the entire movie, I found myself as fascinated with the backgrounds and characters as I did with the original animation. It was an esthetically beautiful movie. In places, it was as true to the original storyline, even right down to the dialogue (especially most of the Christening scene) and this made me extremely happy! I'm not a fan of Angelina Jolie, but I would find myself not even noticing that it was her and felt a bit like I was watching Eleanor Audley. That was impressive in its own right. And the music was just as spellbinding as the Tchaikovs...

Another week down and another "not a whole heck of a lot done" Needle Club.

1. What news story are you following right now? The only news stories I really follow (besides the tech/HIPAA stuff I have to for work) is Disney news stories and today is the opening day to the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Coaster in New Fantasyland! Exciting stuff! 2. What's the last thing you wanted but didn't get? I always want and rarely get...but I'd have to say I've been dying for a hamburger, but diet cheat day isn't until tomorrow afternoon. 3. May 28th is National Hamburger Day...when did you last have a hamburger? Other than your own kitchen or BBQ grill, where is your favorite place to go for a hamburger? And for all you non-meat eaters out there...when you're invited to a cookout what is the one side dish you hope is on the menu? HA! I didn't even read this one before posting the last one! The ultimate favorite hamburger place is Red Robin, but we don't have one of those here (closest one is in Memphis). Sonic is the best I can ...

So, we should be back on track this week with Chapter 4 (even if the holiday threw my schedule off a bit). Chapter 4 deals with my #4 all-time favorite band, New Order. THEIR CHOICE: BLUE MONDAY While this is probably quintessentially known as the "ultimate" New Order song, I've never really cared for it. It was originally released in 1983, but was re-released in '88 when it became popular (which, incidentally, was also the year I graduated high school). During 1983, my tastes were more "New Romantic" (which New Order never was), and, in 1988, my tastes were much much darker. New Order aren't typically known as a "dark" band, but their lyrics can be quite so, even if the beat isn't. My choice was more along the darker aspects of New Order. It was never released as a single (which is why there isn't a video and I had to go with an audio only option). Granted, it was still made up of that dance-level techno, but the lyrics we...

Another week down and some progress. For most of this Needle Club, I was by myself, so that awful confetti wasn't so bad because I wasn't trying to stitch and talk (since, apparently, I'm utter crap at doing both at the same time): On the home stitch front...I was so looking forward to finishing the Disney picture DVD so I could get back to stitching on Pea, but, as I was actually creating the DVD's, I realized that I never made one for my October trip. Plus, since I now know how to use Lightroom (kind of) properly, I'm thinking I want to redo the pics from October before I do a DVD. Great...me and my stupid projects! By the time I get these done, this year's trip will be over with and the whole process will start again. Hopefully though, I can get Pea done before then because Alice and the Bouguereau's is nipping at Pea's heels as well as my subconscious. I REALLY want to start it!

I almost completely forgot! It's been a crazy day. 1. Under what circumstances do you do your best thinking? When I'm left alone. 2. Are you a risk taker? What's one big risk you've taken? No and I don't unless forced. I'd probably say the biggest risk was going to Disney World alone for the first time. 3. Some of the most common phobias according to the National Institute for Mental Health are-fear of spiders (arachnaphobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), heights (acrophobia), fear of spaces from which escape is difficult (agoraphobia), fear of thunder and lightening (astrophobia), fear of dogs (cynophobia), injections (trypanophobia), social situations, flying (pteromerhanophobia) and fear of germs and dirt (mysophobia). True phobias affect only about 10% of adults, but of those listed which would you rate as your greatest fear? I have Social Anxiety Disorder, OCD, and Aspergers...I am a walking poster child for social phobia. But I'm also comple...

If you've been keeping up with me, you've noticed that I've been doing a blog series on the book Mad World by Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein from my point of view. Well, I guess I was so excited last week to do Duran Duran, that I jumped the gun a little bit. Duran were actually Chapter 3 and Gary Numan was Chapter 2. Whoopsie! So, since I'm not a big Gary Numan fan, this one will be short. THEIR CHOICE: CARS I can't disagree with this choice for a very simple reason. Here in the states, Gary Numan was a one hit wonder and Cars was it. Back in my day, to hear other music from artists, you had to buy the singles or the vinyl or the newly created cassette tape. Sometimes they tested a video on MTV, but if it didn't show well, they never played it again. If they ever did play any other Gary Numan song, I never saw it. I was coming from music with broody, romantic, and deep lyrics (yes, all you naysayers, Duran Duran can be that way) and a son...

Why is it that the Hermit and Stitch Weekends are the fastest passing weekends ever? I managed to complete my goal of finishing row one of Lilac, but I barely got started on row 2. I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but my heart wanted to be working on Disney pics and not stitching! But I stuck to my guns and stitched (all be it rather restlessly) all weekend. Here is where I started: Here's row 1 finished: And here is where I made it to last night: It's a pain enough stitching white on a white background, but three different colors of white was almost too much. I ended up using both my magnifying light and magnifying glasses just to make sure I didn't miss any holes. As if that didn't slow me down enough, the amount of confetti, especially on the left side of her hair, kind of shocked me, especially for a quick stitch. All this has me severely dreading the next row considering she has even more white in the hair plus there are the...

We moved Needle Club to Thursdays this week, which is why I have a late post. One of our tiny group of stitchers has moved on to bigger and better things (yes, my jealous little lip sneer is showing as I type this). We had Needle Club on Wednesday's because she had Belly Dancing in Memphis on Thursdays. But I really hope she has a wonderful life in her new city and state! Miss you already Kat! I debated on not posting my Needle Club progress at all since this weekend is also the Hermit And Stitch Weekend and Lilac's going home with me for that. I really need to get her finished sooner than expected because we have a colleague that just got married and we have decided to do her a project during Needle Club instead of our own projects. We've decided on a stitch (or I did) and the lettering is in the process of being designed (by me). We just need to find a way for the crochet/knitting person to contribute (and, of course, I get final approval). We can't do a pil...

I almost completely forgot about the Hodgepodge today. It's been a very stressful day and my mind has been elsewhere, but better late than never! 1. It's still May, right? When were you last in the middle of something that might be described as mayhem? Today, trying to book a rushed Disney trip. 2. When did you last feel dismayed? Today, trying to book a rushed Disney trip without any money. 3. What's a food combination you like, but other people may find strange? Cookie dough and whipped buttercream icing...it's all I have been craving since I started this diet (and have indulged in more than once). 4. "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Do you think that's true? Why or why not? Yes and no. Everything happens for a reason and if you might have been something else, something will eventually happen to push you in that direction. If not, maybe you were never meant to go that route. 5. US News and World Report listed the...

Continuing on with my version of the book Mad World by Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein, Chapter 2 deals with my all-time favorite band and the loves of my life (or so I thought at age 11), Duran Duran. THEIR CHOICE: GIRLS ON FILM Seriously? In the entire Duran Duran back catalog, they picked Girls On Film as their most influential song? Granted, it may have been their most controversial video, but, on the Duran scale, it doesn't even rank. Most people would say that Hungry Like The Wolf is what put them on the map. I would also disagree with that. When you've listened to the same music for 30+ years, there is always that one song, one of the popular ones that always gets played at the shows, or on the radio, or even on music television (on the rare occasion when they actually play videos, usually on some 80's retro show), that grates on your ever-loving last nerve. HLTW is my nerve grater (although, during a live show, I'm singing and dancing along wi...

Finally! I have my sister's memory card (via work courier between our two businesses without any personal interaction, we're such a CLOSE family). Months of begging for her 244 acceptable edits seems kind of stupid now, especially since I ended up with 5799 acceptable edits of my own, but there you go. I still have to merge them, which will edit out even more, more than likely hers...she's the better photographer, but I have the better camera, so ultimately, mine end up better. Then the real hard part comes...making the DVD's. Even more editing out, building menus, picking music and syncing it, and finally, actually burning the DVD's, which typically burns in real time (so if I end up with three two-hour DVD's, that's 6 hours of burning). Sometimes the software lets me burn copies without rebuilding the menus (which takes no time at all), sometimes it fails, but thank god for OCD and constant saving. Hopefully though, it will be finished by the end of...

Well, still muddling through Disney pics (and still don't have memory card from sis yet). I get through several hundred, discover a new setting that makes the pictures pop, and then end up having to go back through all the ones I've already done and fix those too. I went through the same batch four times last night, but I still somehow managed to get to card 3. On a separate front, however, I went to Old Navy last night to buy me some new jeans (since my sister won't respond to my pleas for her hand-me-downs). I got two pairs of 16's and two of 14's (just to have something to aspire to. Well, turns out I have to take the 16's back because they are too big!!! I literally cannot believe I am sitting here now in a size 14 jean! I don't ever remember a time I wore 14's, let alone 12's (which I will buy a pair of when I replace the 16's). I knew my 18's were swallowing me, but I had no idea I actually have just skipped a size! Granted, t...

I can't believe I've been working on this project for 10 weeks and this is as far as I've gotten! I know it's only three hours a week, but I'm 19 weeks into Pea and she's two-thirds finished (and she's a full-sized project and not a quick stitch!). I still haven't finished row 1 of Angel. But anyhoo, here is Angel in Lilac for this week: On the Disney pic front, there is something about planning a Disney trip that changes my entire demeanor. I have a sense of purpose now, and although I haven't started the official planning yet, I still feel motivated in a way I haven't been in a very long time....so much so that I started working on December's Disney pictures again instead of stitching this week. Oh, by the way, did I mention I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD?!?! I can't afford it, but I've scraped, begged, and borrowed, and have found a way. To make it even better, my friend Kate is coming over to visit and is going with me!...

This one is not going to be an easy one, considering the theme, but I'll try not to be too awful and inconsiderate, but it is nice to be in a normal routine again! 1. Share something you appreciate (or something you appreciated as you were growing up) about your mother. I have a hard relationship with my Mother. She's only become a typical "good" mother after I was grown and gone. Too little too late I guess. There are some serious, deep-rooted issues between us (that I'm not quite yet willing to discuss in blog form) and I'll leave it at that. If I wanted to put a positive spin on it, my sister had a great life because I was her "test dummy" and she was protected from everything that I was exposed to, so I guess I can appreciate that she didn't have to go through what I did. I guess I should also appreciate the fact that Mother did keep a roof over my head, food in my belly, and clothes on my back. That's more than some people grow ...

I've already reviewed the book Mad World by Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein (see review here ), but I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Granted, I already keep my car radio off Sirius First Wave, but my playlist at work has definitely been altered and I've caught myself, more than once, turning the TV to the New Wave radio station instead of watching a real show! It's been a while since I've been this passionate about music and I've been reminiscing quite a lot about my favorites. As I mentioned in my review, I didn't necessarily agree with some of their choices. So, I thought I'd break down the artists featured in the book from my own point of view (and add a few of the ones I thought SHOULD have been in the book). Guess I'm missing the A to Z Challenge more than I thought I was because I seem to feel the need to serial blog (although, I can guarantee, I won't be doing this every day...maybe once a week). But anyway, I...

As with most years Challenge finish, I've been on hiatus for a few days recouping and catching up with life. I've managed to clean the house from head to toe, work on my regular stitches, spend quality time with the pups, and even get back on the diet track (after a rather wild Lab Week binge, as my adjusted weight loss ticker shows...shame on me). But how I wanted to approach the Reflections post has never been far from my mind, and I think I've decided to approach it how I do most years, with getting the whining out of the way first. I know I moan on and on about this every year, but it still really irks me how much we are asked to beg for new followers. I know I've said it a million times, but I don't do the challenge to gain followers and I pretty much steer clear of those that do. Can't we just participate in the challenge for the mere purpose of being "challenged" to complete a goal? Must we constantly "pimp" ourselves out? I t...

I'm doing this a bit early today, but I still have to write the A to Z Reflections post, so I wanted to make sure the two didn't compete. I forgot to post my Needle Club progress this week, so here it is: And I've been working on Pea a little bit this week as well. It's been a while since I've worked on it, so here is where I left off: And here's where I got to last night: Granted, not a lot of progress, but, considering I haven't done "regular" stitching in over a month, it's pretty good, and I've managed to finish another mattress layer (the busiest of the bunch). I also got my stash updated here with the stash I hadn't posted yet and new scans of the old ones. As much as I loved the challenge, it's nice to be back on a normal track again! So to celebrate, I've been dinking with my blog design again, so you might see a few new changes in the upcoming days until I'm happy with it! .