Random Items from the Junk Drawer of my Mind #16

I realize I just did a Junk Drawer sort of post a few days ago, but some days that's just what I need to do, so here I go, digging through my mental drawers to see what I pull out. Yikes! 1. Thank you bunches to everyone who commented yesterday. I plan to go back and respond a bit in comments too, but for those who don't want to wade through it, I'll just say a big group thank you here. Posting that poem was way more personal and scary than posting a smartass limerick or haiku (although I still LOVE writing those and you probably haven't seen the last of them. HA!). I appreciate it that people didn't say it sucked rocks or perhaps worse yet sit there saying nothing, just sort of silently squirming in their seats, giving each other uncomfortable looks out of the corners of their eyes before muttering "um, yes, well...that was, um, interesting" and scuttling off for coffee and oxygen. Since no one did that maybe I'll have the nerve to write (and post!) something else non-smartass-edy sometime. 2. Remember the quilts I exhibited in Paducah? I got them back yesterday, complete with show book and judges' comments. My quilts' pics look pretty good in the show book - better than the last time I had something in there. Yay! And the judges' comments were no worse than usual. Sometimes I wonder why I even read them. The judges' comments, that is. I know some people don't. They just toss them unread. But something in me - probably the same something that makes me pick at my cuticles until they bleed - just has to know what they said. Do you want to know too? (all together now: "Yes, Deb!") Oh good, then I'll share! Regarding Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese: Best features: Value Gradations; Unexpected bright touches in spirals. (Yep, I'd go along with that. Personally, I think my piecing kicks ass in that one too, but whatever!) Areas that need improvement: Quilting stitches. (Gee, what a shock - NOT. They always tell me that. And I get what they're saying. My stitches are definitely not all exactly the same length. They vary a bit, as if they were made by an imperfect human. Because they were. Heh. The thing is, in all these years I still haven't figured out why that's considered a Bad Thing.) Regarding Eyes of the Sun: Best features: Vibrant colors. (Ok, I agree with that. I like the design too, but yes, it's colorful.) Areas that need improvement: No visual resting place. (And I would consider that a problem if I was going for "restful", but since I was going for "hot, swirling solar energy that looks like it could expand past the boundaries of the quilt", I don't think including the visual equivalent of a nap spot would've worked for me. The line element that breaks it up in two directions is as restful as I wanted it to get! If I was going to pick a fault with this quilt, I'd point out that some of my points are perhaps not as sharp and pointy as they could be, but hey...that's me!) Moving on.... 3. Ticks. Bleah! Ticks are going to be bad this year - the price we'll pay for having just had an unusually mild winter. It's early May and I'm already finding more of them around than I'd like. If any creators-of-the-universe happen to be interested in my opinion, I think ticks were a Bad Idea. I'm just sayin'. 4. Some reminders: a. There's still a couple more days left to enter Blogging 4 Books and try to win a signed book. Your entry can be anything - fiction, non-fiction, poetry; sad, serious, quirky, funny - as long as it loosely addresses the topic of "cheating." b. There's also a few more days left to bid on a small bit of fiber art in the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative online silent auction. Check it out before it's too late! c. And Virginia has just announced that for the upcoming Fiberart For A Cause reverse auction (and pre-auction "must buy it now" sale, which begins May 15) she's gotten things set up to accept credit card payments directly to the American Cancer Society for those who would like that option instead of checks. Yay, Virginia! 5. I know this has gotten really long again - sorry! Here's today's Daily Art Thang - a shadow portrait of my husband. "Shadowland"