Fishgirl Speaks

People. People Who Know People.

Now that Steelhead Studio is back in action, I knew I wanted to do a couple of holiday shows this season. The RISD Holiday Art Sale is always fun and I've participated almost every year since its inception. So that show was a given, but I was out of the circuit for any other shows. Fortunately, I know people who know people, and was put in contact with the San Jose Woman's Club, who were holding their third annual Holiday Bazaar.

I had only recently heard of the SJWC and had a chance to visit the space on a previous occasion. I had the same reaction that my friend Jack did: "Who knew this place was here?" It's a beautiful old hall that they are actively restoring. Unfortunately, the show did not get very much foot traffic. However, I did better than I expected...because I know people. And they know people.

I've lived in San Jose for over 10 years, but have mostly kept to myself. I know the neighbors on either side of me, and that's about it. About a year ago, my parents moved to the Naglee Park area (not far from me), and they are all about the neighborhood. They first relate by number: I'm on 13th, or I'm two doors down from the Dahlbergs. There are fire pits, median buddies, camping trips, and soon there will be bocce ball tournaments. So, in that year, the new San Jose residents have met way more neighbors than I have in 10 years.

The San Jose Woman's Club is also in the area - walking distance from either of our houses. I actually felt like part of the greater downtown neighborhood by participating in the show, and also spoke in terms of numbers: I live down on 9th Street. I met people new to me, but not my parents, and pretty much spent the weekend as "Linda's daughter."

I'm very lucky to have such loyal customers, even if they already are friends and family. It's not like they have to buy anything, but they do anyway, and I appreciate it greatly. They also refer their friends and family, and that's pretty much how my business has been for over 15 years. Very few customers are strangers. I remarked to Charles last night that I think it's pretty fun that there's this "club" of people in the know. The cool kids are wearing Steelhead Studio, doncha know. Hee hee.

In other neighborly news, Charles took me to Aqui's for dinner after we closed shop on Sunday, and we ran into a friend from The Choral Project, who happens to share the same birthday as me. Hi Wil!

As a San Jose woman, I may have to investigate this club further. In the meantime, if you're in the San Francisco area on December 6th, you can see me in my other holiday show at Fort Mason with the RISD Alumni. I might know some people there, too.

And then, there was FIRE!

A couple weekends ago, I had the great fortune to perform with the Star Wars: In Concert production. They hire local talent for the choir, and I know people who know people. We did a Friday evening and Saturday matinee in Sacramento, and two shows on Sunday at the HP Pavilion. What a ride!

Friday, we checked in and got our official performer's badges, met some of the other singers, and waited for our call. With this sort of venture, there's a lot of hurry up and wait. After hitting a few spots in the music, we lined up, and went on stage for our soundcheck. Lots of necks were craning, checking out the enormous set. We filed in and found our spots. Mine was right behind one of the light towers. I could barely see much of anything. Neat! The Maestro checked our entrances, and that was that. More waiting....waiting...then we lined up plenty early, and our stage manager (that's right - ours) led us on. Plenty of nervous energy filled the back of the stage where the choir awaited the drop of the curtain.

Have you ever heard the theme for 20th Century Fox live? Right after the THX theme rumbled us in our seats, the brass and percussion charged ahead to open the show with the familiar fanfare. The crowds were going bonkers already. Then the orchestra went right into the main Star Wars theme, while the audience watched all sorts of newly edited clips on the huge, specially constructed LED screen. After the theme, there were some ominous Darth Vader sounds, then jets of steam/fog at the front of the stage blasted upward, which was also our cue to stand. It was pretty motivating, I have to say. Anthony Daniels (aka C-3PO), the charming narrator, made his entrance and set the story in motion. The choir then sang their little hearts out with the third number, and sat quietly for four more numbers, enjoying the orchestra from right on stage. For the eighth number we were up again, adding texture and color to the whole sound with our dramatic, yet wordless chorus. At one point, our voices all came in on a middle C. On the same downbeat, great plumes of fire jetted from the front of the stage. Fire! Woohoo! We could easily feel the heat from the back, and could only wonder how it felt on the Maestro's podium. Then the Imperial March closed the first half.

Here are the last two numbers in the first half:

We were able to watch the second half of the concert in the audience, and were treated to lots of lasers, on top of everything else. I've always enjoyed this music, but have honestly gained a new appreciation of it from sitting behind the percussion. I could witness the complexity of the score first hand, and see all the detail and care that went into creating it. 

Who knew that the triangle part was so important to the Dark Lord's theme song?

Backstage, we had the additional treat of several visits from Anthony Daniels. He was very gracious, posing for group pictures and signing autographs.

 
Matt brought his very nice light sabers with him, and we ended up goofing off in the parking lot after Friday night's show. With the lighting conditions, we ended up with some really fun pictures. Here are a couple of my favorites:

 

While in the Sacramento area, a few of us stayed overnight at Britta's parents' place in Roseville. They treated us to a lovely nightcap of cider and scotch, homemade pumpkin cake and shortbread. I slept surprisingly well for being in a bed not my own, and woke to an equally lovely breakfast of homemade muffins and baked eggs. It was quite the Bed & Breakfast experience and we were all grateful for the hospitality to help us through the long weekend.

 

Here's Juanita, Matt, and me at the HP Pavilion, showing off our badges:

On Sunday, we had about three hours in between shows, and the gang surprised me with a little birthday celebration in front of the Pavilion. Charles lugged a banana cake over and met us there.

 

Oh, and to cap it off, we all got paid for the Star Wars gig (which put me at a personal record for five jobs at once - heh!) A big thanks to everyone who made this weekend possible!

Photos courtesy of Matt and Britta.

Back to Business

These things always take longer than I think they should. In any event, after a long stretch of neglect, I have finally updated my webpage: www.steelheadstudio.com. In fact, it's been so long that all sorts of fun new options have become available in the meantime, like Facebook pages and Etsy, on which I opened up a shop.

New studio? Check.
New webpage? Check.
Online store? Check.
Supporting my house husband in the manner to which he's become accustomed? In progress...

Back to business for me. Hooray!

Fantastically Confusing

I'm slowly getting my studio business back up and running from the move. Part of the plan includes selling on Etsy, for which I already have/will have/half have a PayPal account. Allow me to explain:

I trust my good memory, and my good memory tells me that I set up a PayPal account for Steelhead Studio a long, long time ago. Logically, I would have used what I will call email A for this purpose. This was long ago enough that my passwords were kept in strange and mysterious places to which I no longer have access, so I dutifully followed their procedures to recover said password. One process includes verifying various numbers attached to the account, like phone and address.

Well, none of them matched. 

I thought it would be very strange, but possible, that maybe they corresponded to an account that my lovely friend Britta set up for me to assist in my horrible, horrible hospital bill from March of '07 (neatly sidestepping around healthcare discussion, and...ok). Those numbers didn't add up either. I emailed for support and received a very polite, but not terribly helpful response that didn't seem to understand the part about things not matching up. Already did those steps, thanks.

I tried calling and found probably the best automated attendant I've ever dealt with. She seemed to be able to verify who I was, that I had an account, and that there was even money in it!

Still couldn't log in.

I put this on the shelf for a couple of months and moved on to things I could comprehend.

Today, feeling particularly motivated after a fun filled weekend and a three-day work week, I tried calling PayPal again. Again, the autobot worked very well and seemed to acknowledge who I was. I gave my cell number at first and she didn't recognize it. But when I gave the correct phone, she asked if I wanted to add the other number to my account, and asked what kind it was. Pretty impressive, I thought. Anyway, not wanting to be swayed by her charm, I stayed on the line and asked for an agent.

The live person I talked to was just as pleasant as the the autobot (and about as formal). He found info for email A, but instead of being connected to any of my phone numbers, it was connected to The Choral Project, with whom I used to work very closely. Um...OK. Weird. He assured me that I could create a new account using email A and that it would work. Fine. No problem. That's what I'll do.

I went through the steps to create a new account, then entered my bank account number which was already in use by another account WHAT??? I knew it. I knew it! Grr. 

Then it occurred to me to try logging in with email B. I was able to follow the steps about matching associated numbers (so nice to see familiar numbers this time) and reset my password. I have no freaking clue why I would have set up an account for studio with email B, but there it was. Oh, and to make it more confusing, the "primary" email for this account is email A. Login with B, but get contacted through A.

Does your head hurt yet?

A Lovely Weekend...More of These, Please

Charles and I spent all of Labor Day weekend playing, which is unusual for us. It felt a lot like a vacation - sleep in a little, but not so much that you'll miss anything, get breakfast together, and venture out into the world to see and do things. Aaaahh.

Saturday
We started with quick jaunt up to San Francisco to check a martial arts supplier's latest shipment. Charles picked up a long-handled broadsword, then we headed back south towards Woodside. I had heard about Kings Mountain Art Fair for many years from my good friend Sheila, Princess of Power, but this is the first time the space-time continuum was open for my attending. We very much enjoyed strolling through the redwoods, admiring the artwork, and remembering why it would be nice to have money. I think most of you know I'm not really driven by income (why else would I have four jobs by choice, none of which make me rich?) but this was one of those times where I realized it would be really fantastic to be able to support other artists and have unique and beautiful things in our home (and then be forced to upgrade the home to support the unique and beautiful things...see how that works?). Anyway, some of the works we really enjoyed were from Susan Dorf, Jane Kiskaddon, Sharon Spencer, Curtner Art, and Dharma Works, whose work we absolutely must have in ze lobby of our kung fu school...eventually.

The free shuttle got us from our parking spot to the fair, but then we opted for the short hike back to the car when we were done. We had a light dinner at home, then headed over to Unwined to hear our favorite jazz combo, and found some other friends with equally good taste :-). I enjoyed a glass of chocolate infused port, and managed to maintain some decorum in not licking the glass clean.

Sunday
We were up and out the door early to take advantage of the Asian Art Museum's first Sunday of the month free admission. Lots of other folks had the same idea, including two tour buses. We took BART up to SF with another couple, and two steps out of the station found the incredibly long line. We were still able to get in to see the Samurai exhibit though, and maybe could've used some of the incredible armor to work our way through the crowds. The exhibit featured over 160 works from the Hosokawa family collection. Everything was in incredible condition. We took a lunch break on the patio in the perfect weather, with very reasonable food. The next hour was spent wandering through Indian, Persian, Thai, and Chinese art, by which time our brains had just about exploded. And that was only the third floor. I would love to go back and spend way more time just on the various Indian deities, maybe with a sketchbook in hand, too. All four of us seemed to move at about the same pace, and were ready to tap out about the same time, which made the whole experience even easier.

We took BART home, barely resisted naps on the way, and were careful not to spill any brains. Our friends dropped us off, and we had a micronap, then headed out with Miss J to see Ponyo, Hayao Miyazaki's latest creation. What an utterly charming and adorable movie! If you're in the mood for something beautiful and refreshing to lift you out of your daily challenges, then check it out.

Monday
Today we stayed local, walking downtown to the Tapestry Arts festival. They tried a new layout this year. I'm not sure what to think, but it definitely seemed smaller and I noticed a few regulars missing. No surprise there, times being what they are. We enjoyed our outing nonetheless, then went home to relax, run errands, and gear up for the week.

Observations From This Morning's Bicycle Commute

I pedaled past the pubs, then had to wait patiently for three separate light rail trains to amble through the intersection.

The bike lane starts after Brokaw.

Judging by the funny shaped head, the stick figure marking the bicycle lane must be wearing a helmet.

A flurry of lost business cards at the corner.

The smell of fresh mulch after Montague.

Longest.
Light.
Ever.

Am I getting tired? Or is this uphill? Or is it a headwind?

Telephones & Televisions

Last night the house phone rang at around 10:30. I almost never answer that phone anymore because it's usually a telemarketer, but when it rang again immediately after the first round, and given the hour, I picked up.

"Is this The Place?"
"No, you want..." and I gave them the correct number.

The Place is a bar in San José whose phone number is one digit off from mine. I haven't gotten one of these calls in years, but the first time I did (right after I had acquired the new number), it went something more like this:

"Is this the place?"
"The what?"
"The place."
"The place for what? It's my place."

After a couple of those, I looked them up and can now guide callers in the right direction. Do you suppose they get calls for me? I've never been. Maybe I'll make a field trip when I'm feeling adventurous.

- - - - -

This past week, we've noticed that some of our TV stations have gone missing. Flip through and it's snow. First I noticed Food Network's absence. And yesterday came the worst horror of all: No SyFy.

NOOOOOO!!!!!

Do you think Comcast heard when Charles and I were discussing having the TV on less? Could they really be that helpful?

Doubt it.

I'm thinking they'd like their cheapskate customers to suffer so we'll pony up the bucks for one of their actual packages, instead of the whopping $15 a month we pay now. That's right - $15. About 10 years ago, you could request the basic, local channels - an option not advertised, but available to San José customers because we live in a black hole for TV reception. That's my interpretation, anyway. The fact that they threw in things like Discovery, Travel Channel, FoodNetwork, and SciFi weren't MY fault.

I'm pretty sure that calling and complaining about losing channels would be met with a blank stare, could I see the face on the other end of the line. I think we've been pretty lucky, so I guess we'll just have to suffer...

...until we set up the TV to view things through the computer because everything is online now. Ha!

How's it Going?

Hey blog, what's up? Yeah, I know. I've been pretty busy. I've finally owned up to the fact that I have four jobs. And I've been trying to push the workout schedule a little more. And keeping up with friends. It's all my own doing, I know, but I seem to like that particular edge - busy enough to be exciting without dancing too far into stressed-out territory. It's taken a long time, but I'm definitely better at the not stressing so much part. Here's the latest:

Job #1: The mainstay, my "day job." Recently switched to a four day work week and loving it. Now I have a day freed up to focus on

Job #2: The jewelry and graphics biz. My oldest job, now that I think about it. Friday is now studio day, so I can take advantage of my awesome little shop out back (except when I go to the beach). I'd link you to my page but it's horribly out of date. Something I've been working on steadily, but it's been taking a long time because of

Job #3: The newest, whodathunkit venture - Ascension Martial Arts. Yep, the hubbie and I are doing our own thing. It's pretty exciting and fun when I'm not working out frustrations with my own training history. It's all the stuff I love to do - organizing, marketing, brainstorming, teaching, physical activity, and some graphic design, of course. Occasionally I have to miss a class because of

Job #4: Teaching at 3 Beads & A Button. It's a concentrated high energy focus, but I love the oohs and aahs when students are absorbing new and fun info. It's great to see people realize what they can do with a few simple tools and explanations. Mmm...shiny beads.

Lots of working out helps to keep things in check, plus it just feels great. Oh, and I've recently come across a book that has made a big difference for me. If you've seen me lately, I'm sure you've heard about it :-) For anyone remotely interested in getting more out of their food, I heartily recommend it. I had gotten to a point where I was pretty sure that food was supposed to do more for me than it was, and I needed some help. The author, a professional triathlete, is very straight forward in his presentation, and has tasty, easy recipes to follow. I'm actually excited about food for the first time in my life.

Bowling nights and movie nights have kept me in touch with lots of people, thankfully. I chose to cut back on movie nights at Britta's so I could stay focused on 1-4 above, although I did get in some really fun sessions earlier in the summer. Cold Comfort Farm has never been funnier! Bowling night is just once a month and is late enough I can still get a workout in, although last time I had an all-running workout and could only manage one game. Oof!

Still juggling cats, of course. A little yardwork here and there - freed up the bamboo behind the hot tub from 10+ years of detritus. It can now sway in the breeze as it should. The wisteria is loving the studio. I have pictures around here somewhere. So, that's what's happening.

How are you?

For the love of digital cameras

http://pictureisunrelated.com/

http://thisisphotobomb.com/

http://thereifixedit.com/

Slipperiest Cat Evar

Allie has had a touchy tummy for a long time, but has been mostly stable. When our store recently stopped carrying the kitties' food, the new stuff seemed to trigger a longer bout of upset stomach, so we took her into the vet. After the usual round of bloodwork, she was sent home with special food and two medications.

The universe finds funny ways to balance things out. To wit: Darla, although sweet, is probably the least cuddly of the brood and likes to hide in weird places. Surprisingly, it was easy to give Darla her liquid medication during her recent recovery. Allie, on the other hand, is the front line greeter when people come over and will curl up with just about anybody. Giving her medication, however, is a whole other ball game.

Several years ago during another bad tummy episode, she was sent home with some pills. I couldn't do it. Jack and I couldn't do it. I called the vet, took her in, and it took three vet techs to pill her.

Three.

Professionals.

So they made a note in her file, and dutifully sent us home with liquids this time. I tried her last night when she was mellow, but she just squirmed right out of it. Then I asked Charles to scruff her and suddenly she sprouted 7 extra limbs, pushing and twisting and heaven help you if you should catch a talon. After several rounds of where's-my-mouth, she eventually submitted long enough for me to squirt the rest in.

This cat has some serious kung fu that I will be studying closely.
For the next two weeks.
Twice a day.