verbminx

Made it to the trade show yesterday, but with only an hour to spare! We went into one room and spent the whole time there, and then, later, realized that we had missed a whole other room.

I got some fantastic things... mostly, um, for myself. The only things I really bought to use in my own work were these lampwork glass "devil cat" beads, which are ADORABLE - a tiny sculpture of a red cat with horns! I cannot decide whether to use them as fobs on a bracelet or as pendant charms on a necklace. Either way, whatever I make with them will not be cheap, because I paid almost as much for each as I usually feel comfortable charging for a bracelet. I might even keep one of the two. ( more from the trade show )

We had a very hard time getting there because I don't know Maitland very well, only half-remembered bits culled from driving around friends who have lived in the area. It turned out to be like five minutes north of an area I visit relatively frequently, the Winter Park Village area with the big movie theater and stuff, but I took a totally different route to get there, mainly because the map (from the organizers of the show) sucked.

So, after the show we went to Borders for a couple of hours and PJ Chang's China Bistro for dinner. I exchanged a book I got for Xmas at Borders (ended up not being into it), which was very dramatic because they LOST it. LOST LOST LOST. I gave it to a girl to hold behind the register when I first came into the store, and someone took it to be reshelved between then and when I checked out. So there was a big drama over me finding the book, and they never did find the book and had to look it up on the computer. The new book I got is a fantastic one on collage, called The Art and Craft of Collage by Simon Larbalestier. I think my zinester friends would really like it, as it is mainly devoted to collage effects you can get with the use of various types of copy machine. Many of the examples presented are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and it's a good-size trade paperback with lots of photos that only cost $20 (free for me cos of the exchange).

I also picked up a new feminist zine called Nervy Girl that comes from Portland. It seems good so far, reminds me of Bitch without the factors that irritate me, but has way too many P-land localized ads. Finally, I knocked a few items off my Amazon wishlist, but I owe for them (it's being deducted from the $ my mom owes me). A signed copy of City of Saints and Madmen: The Book of Ambergris by Jeff VanderMeer, a copy of Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road: Sock Patterns, which has actual patterns that the momster actually likes so I can make socks for her, and a copy of Mil Millington's Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About, which I remember reading about on Millington's website and which ought to be very funny.

Then dinner - had never been to PJ Chang's before. It was good, but nothing special or more distinguished than any other halfway-decent Chinese restaurant. I had Honey Chicken and the momster had Lo Mein with chicken. The decor of the place is nice. Was freezing when we got out and thought I was a wimp to be cold in 60 degree weather with a velvet shirt, leather jacket, and fuzzy scarf on (my neck wasn't cold), then saw on a marquee that the local temp was more like 40 F-degrees and felt much less lame.

Drove home with uncomfortably achy backs (?) and arrived to a very happy Wenzel, who was an angel while we were gone. Watched remainder of (most of?) Live From Baghdad on HBO, which I thought was pretty good and would recommend. Though I think Helena Bonham Carter's face is more flattered by her short hair, a la Marla in Fight Club, than her long hair that has grown back. Fell asleep for 12 hours, woke up and read for a while, here I am, la la. Today's plans consist of packing up unused bits of my kitchen, building a box for my stationery and stickers, attempting to arrange later-this-week hangout time with