In which I admit I am the worst...

At blogging EVER.

I have a horrible attention span when it comes to well-intentioned projects.

What I really need are people who are willing to bug the hell out of me when I don't do the thing that I swore I would do religiously.

For example, now DH and I are no longer in Russia. We live in sunny Southern California now, and I'm weirded out by sunshine. It's my Northern upbringing, and my Scottish skin.

Looking for work, and makin' it through.

People, seriously. If there is anyone out there who reads my stuff, please bug me when I appear to be AWOL. Because that is EXACTLY what is happening.

Even better, tell me what works for you in keeping to a blogging schedule/goals.

A Bit of Embroidery from St. Pete!

Awesome design by Corvus!

I wear this sweatshirt every. Freakin'. Day.

From Russia with Love...

St Petersburg is kind of da bomb.

Boating along the Neva River with that boy I married.

And who goes boating without their knitting I ask you!?

We are in St. Pete because the lad is now a graduate student at a Southern California university for theatre set design (so super proud of him!) The professor who runs his program grew up in St Pete, defecting to the US in the 1980s. He still runs a theatre company in St. Pete that his father started, and a required study abroad course is having the students come to Russia and assist for a semester on whatever play they are working on at the moment. The company has been working on Maxim Gorki's play "Dachniki" (usually translated to "The Summer Folk" or "Cottagers") for four years, and we have been mounting the production, and now that the show is in production, we serve as technical staff.

Me chillin' with Maxim Gorki

Gorki is a bit of a controversial figure in modern Russian theatre. His writing is very clearly pro-communist at a time when people were still warming up to communism as a concept. He was touted as the theatrical voice of the Soviet Union by Stalin, and was a very popular playwright in the USSR. However, Stalin did that thing that he had a habit of doing when he claimed to think someone other than him was the best ever: he had Gorki assassinated. Yaaaayyyy.

As a result, a lot of post-USSR theaters have really shied away from performing his plays, given the strong Pro-Stalinist Bolshevik overtones and memories. This production has been really interesting to work on, and to see even how the company reacts to the material.

The company has been amazingly warm and welcoming, helping us navigate the city, Russian drinking, and how to use the metro. In spite of limited English (and less than limited Russian for the Americans), everyone is relatively understood, and everyone gets along.

Some of the amazing things we have gotten to explore: Mushroom picking in the woods around Pavlosk Palace, exploring Peterhof (the fabulous gilded palace of Peter the Great), going to the Hermitage in the Winter Palace (for free with student IDs!) every week (or even a few times a week), going to the Russian Museum (where amazing paintings by Russian artists that Americans have never heard of are stored by the score), and several shows at the Alexandrinsky Theatre with mindblowing sets and costumes. All funded by the Russian Government.

Nothing make me want to be an artist more than being in Russia. I hear that people also feel this way going to Paris, but it smacks you in the face here. Constantly. I have seen more people who actually make their living by painting and acting here than I ever did in New York. 

On Monday (after the husband's birthday), we will be heading to Moscow to visit for a few days. Can't wait!

That's it.

I suck at blogging. But to be frank, a lot has been going on.

May: Got married.

June: Designed lights for and helped mount an off-off Broadway show.

July: Turned a quarter of a century.

August: Packed up apartment, put everything in storage, and got on a plane to Berlin. Amazing, mindblowing theatre.

September: MOVED TO RUSSIA. (until December, but still!)

So. Starting this up again.

I am terrible at this.

But I am not terrible at this:

150 yds of silk thread and a few almost-blistered fingers later, I am ready to sleep.

Sometimes I break a chain...

But I can't take pictures of what I'm embroidering! It's a belated birthday present for my sister... So once it's in the mail, and she has it in her hands can I post it.

ONLY. THEN.

In other news, Amanda, writer of Proverbial Pen and Ink, is one of the best and most thoughtful people in my life, and I am glad every day to be associated with her.

More photos, and NERDS!

It seems that Sundays are just getting to be lazy slug days, so here are some photos. I was accomplishing things, I swear!:

Sashiko and Vlogbrothers

So much love.

 

 

 So for readers who don't know, The Vlogbrothers are vloggers... Who are brothers.
They are totally amazing and smart fellows (John, the elder brother, is an awesome New York Times bestselling young adult author, and his brother Hank is an environmentalist/head of a record company/creator of VidCon, a Youtube convention that I WANT TO GO TO), who encourage their viewers to make the world a better place and think about issues complexly.

They spearheaded a movement for their viewers and the world to embrace being enthused about things and people, specifically encouraging such obsessions that will make you a smarter, more thoughtful individual. Some call it nerdy. They call it NERDFIGHTERS. (Not like fighting the nerds, but like being a freedom fighter.)

To demonstrate my love for Nerdfighteria and all that it stands for, here's a quick example:
The rallying cry of a nerdfighter is the phrase, said in many a video, "Don't Forget to be Awesome."

This has also been shortened to an initialism, which has become the name of Hank's music company, and is a good reminder for life in general. That's maybe why...

It's tattooed on my inner arm.

 Along with this, which is not a nerdfighting quote, but which I'm pretty sure that any nerdfighter will agree with:

Other inner arm. It says "I am still learning" in Italian.

Now
1: You know the things that I need to remind myself of every day

And

2: You can identify my corpse, if need be.

Now

3: I am hungry and am going to eat dinner.