Often while I work I listen to audio books. I am able to get through so many more books than I would if I tried to read them all. This is multitasking of the best kind. I think painting or quilting must engage a different part of my brain than listening to books, making both activites completely enjoyable at the same time. Often I like loosing myself in fiction while I work, but these books have been on my reading list for some time and each of them have been fascinating.
This is the amazing autobiography of a woman born into a family of desert nomads in Somalia. She spent her childhood moving from country to country as a political refugee. Circumcised when she was a girl, educated by Muslim imams in Kenya and Saudi Arabia and forced into an arranged marriage with a stranger from Canada, she ultimately ran away to Holland while in transit to her new husband. As a refugee there, she attended college and eventually became a member of Parliament.
Ayaan has spent her adult life trying to bring awareness to the enslavement, abuse and murder of women in Islamic society that exists even here in the west. She believes the most fanatical interpretations of Islam, create "a culture that generates more backwardness with every generation." Because of her outspokenness, she has lived with death threats for years. You may remember a few years ago when the film maker
Theo VanGogh was brutally murdered in broad daylight after making a short film with her.
Another thing that she talks about in the book is the tribal, bigoted, clan culture of the Mideast. This really makes you think about how futile the US role in Iraq is. These groups hate each other, but hate us more, it would be impossible for the US to bring peace to this area. It is naive and elitist thinking on the part of our government to think they can resolves this.
After 9/11 she said, “I found myself thinking that the Quran is not a holy document. It is a historical record, written by humans. . . . And it is a very tribal and Arab version of events. It spreads a culture that is brutal, bigoted, fixated on controlling women, and harsh in war."
I have always been fairly open minded about Islamic religion, believing that the fundamentalist thinking of the terrorists behind 9/11 and other tragic events were extremist thinking. Evidently the passionate hatred of the west reaches far beyond Al Qaida.
by Sudhir Venkatesh
This story was first mentioned in
Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is a fascinating inside look at a Chicago crack-dealing gang by, Columbia University professor Sudhir Venkatesh. As a first-year doctoral student at the University of Chicago, Venkatesh's first interaction with the Black Kings was when he was sent to the projects with a multiple-choice questionnaire on poverty. After being held hostage over night in a stairwell, Venkatesh had the guts to return to the projects a day later to talk to these young men again, without the clipboard. Eventually he was accepted by the gang leader, a college educated man who found himself unfairly passed over for promotions in the corporate world and chose to return to the
Robert Taylor projects on the south side of Chicago. Vantakesh spent 7 years getting to know the neighborhood dealers, crackheads, prostitutes, pimps, squatters, activists, police, and officials. He was able to observe the gang as they operated their crack-selling business and learned the gang's complex organizational structure comparing it to many top corporations in this country.
I took these photos yesterday evening in our neighborhood. I have been enjoying taking photos and messing around with the editing in Photoshop. There is so much to learn.
Both my kids are really good at using Photoshop and so I often consult them on how to do things.
I took this photo from our window close to sunset. I love the light quality when the sky is dark and cloudy and the sun is breaking through. Everything seems to glow.
Today the Chicago School of Fusing hung a show at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum that will coincide with an exhibit from Quilt National.
From left to right, next to me is Anne Lullie, Frieda Anderson, Laura Wasilowski, Emily Parson and Anne Fahl. The hammer came in handy, I only had to threaten them a little to let me hang my quilts with theirs.
It's a lovely exhibit. If you are in the area July 20th stop by the reception, it would be nice to say hi.
My husbands Ad "Muffin top" for Lifesavers won a Bronze Lion at Cannes! Click on the photo on the Cannes Lions website to play the clip for the ad.
I love the metallic jewel like sheen of beetles. One Christmas, I gave my little sister a gorgeous colorful beetle carapace that had been turned into a pin. I thought it was a cool and original gift. Evidently she did not have the same appreciation and was slightly repulsed, lol. I would have worn it. It just shows, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Sunday
We had buckets of rain come down a couple times today. The second time the clouds opened up while the sun was still shining in the late afternoon. When it stopped there was a great big rainbow in the dark sky right over the Sears Tower.
Today I came across a fun Aussie blog Meet Me at Mikes for crafters, lots of good stuff to see here! For long time bloggers and new bloggers there are always questions about it. Pip has written a great series of posts on blogging from creating a blog to blogging etiquette, excellent advice, check it out.
This was the back end of a truck parked in the neighborhood. Gorgeous color palette, I love the bubbly texture and layers of chipped metal.
My new blog Painted Threads Projects will be an archive for projects originally posted here on Painted Threads. It is a place to go to see step out photos with descriptions on various projects that I have done. These are blog posts that have been consolidated by project, including comments with questions and answers relating to each project originally posted here. I know how hard it can be to find things in a 4 year archive and if you are new to my blog there may be many things you have never seen. There are still a few projects left to be added, but they are almost all there. Painted Threads Projects will not be updated as often as this blog, I have set it up mostly to be like a reference book.
I am shocked and so sad that we have lost Tim Russert. Sunday mornings will never be the same. My ritual is to make a cup of tea, pull out the knitting while everyone else in the house is still asleep and watch Meet the Press.
I just saw a commercial for the "Oprah meets her neighbors" episode taped last May (2007). It is going to be shown on Wednesday.
The paper on the top left with letters is a kimwipe, the one on the right is a large black tea bag for making iced tea. The white paper below is a tea bag from hibiscus tea, the bottom two dark tea bags I left the tea dry in the bag for several days before tearing it open, I love how stained it became and kind of brittle. It really looks aged. I used a fine sharpie to draw on them.
I painted a bird only using brown paint. After it was dry I glazed paint colors over the bird and leaves. I mixed a little brown in the colors to soften them, I wanted the painting to have a vintage look. After the bird and twig was painted I mixed a diluted brown wash and painted the fabric with it.
The papers are collaged to the fabric with Golden semi-gloss gel medium.
Several of the other images are from decorative wrapping papers, and a scan I made of a page from a children's school book from the 1800's. Then I cut green rice paper leaves and collaged them to the fabric.
I quilted it with wool batting. The areas not quilted are very puffy and look like trapunto. The dark tea bag with the bee really looks leathery and old.
I am thrilled each time I see another Smart car on the road here in Chicago. I really think the American car companies need to take a look at these cool cars for some inspiration. One would hope the last 20+ years of monstrously over-sized gas guzzling vehicles are coming to an end. Gas is $4.49 in my neighborhood today and they say it is still going up until September. With options like some of these cute vehicles at the Micro Car Museum I bet more people would downsize.
When I asked if people would be interested in taking a color theory workshop, several people showed interest and asked if I would do an online class.
