rabbit holes

In the deep dark winter months in Ontario I experience the painful aches of cabin fever. One thing that helps me get through is my dear friend the internet. I love knowledge. I love finding it, acquiring it, appreciating it, debating it, talking about it, all of it. That is what I missed so much when I graduated from university, being in an academic surrounding; the forum for the exchange of ideas. Now, thank goodness, we have the internet, our own learning ground, our own classroom, an endless resource to knowledge.

I often refer to falling down a rabbit hole. Alice in Wonderland reference, anyone? To me it refers to something I have recently found or discovered that has suddenly become all-consuming. It can refer to a new website, a theory, a concept, an artform, an author, a musician, a book, a person, a blog, an artist, a religion, an historical event, a culture or a geographic region. It can be ANY Thing. I never know what will trigger a new rabbit hole. I love that. I love the feel of discovering something new, seeing sometihng out of the corner of my eye come into focus all of a sudden spurning a new obession on learning about it and merging the new info with all my legacy data.

Onward.

So, here is what is going to happen. Rewind and fast forward all at once. Back to the original intent for this blog. The rabbit holes. The creative rabbit holes that I fall down into need an outlet for all to roam around in. Where would I be without the great blogs I follow, religiously? I dont have any intention of being a great blogger, but I do think I can share with you what I find exciting in my virtual travels. Like it says in the little textbox up & over there --> share!

I have fallen into a couple of rabbit holes as of late, stumbled upon things that were going on that I had no idea were going on, which once found led to confusion and wonder as to how one survived without the knowledge said thing ever existed. (Please feel free to send me a better sentence to replace that last one. It is making me nuts too. Words are hard, yo.)

My point? I present to you my latest Rabbit Holes:

Saving Grace. The tv show. I know. Have you seen it? Heard of it? Been a Holly Hunter fan since Raising Arizona and Broadcast News? Me too. Yet I hadn't ever really heard about Saving Grace until the Golden Globe nominations this year when she was nominated for her role as Grace Anna Darko (which she also executive produces as well). Amazing show. It finished its 3rd season in August, and I am currently finishing the 2nd season. If you like True Blood then take that style writing, exchange Sookie Stackhouse for Homicide Detective Grace Anna Darko, exchange Bill Compton for a Last Chance Guardian Angel named Earl, substitute vampires and voodoo for cops and faith and you pretty much have Saving Grace. I love the story lines of each episode, the casting and writing is very honest, and the underlying theme of faith love and life in the world today have kept me hooked. Plus, Anna Darko is one kick ass character that i would love to hang out with for a day in Oklahoma City. Do you watch it (online)? Whatta you think?

Rabbits. I know. You may think I planned it like this. You give me too much credit if you think I did. Nope. This is just the way things go around here. So back to Cabin Fever. It is the beginning of February and I am stuck inside. No gardening (yet). No seeds to start inside (yet). So I have been googling something to make. Something that does not involve refinishing furniture. My husband, for some strange reason, refuses to let me spray paint in my studio. He maintains that while indeed it is a studio for me, it is still a 3rd bedroom on our 2nd floor, 10 feet from where he lays his head at night to sleep. Fumes will not be tolerated. I can accept that. I get that. BUT, now that the Quilts are finished and handed over I am finding myself increasingly bored and wanting to get onto another project to share. I want to sew more. Not sew clothing or anything like that, just sewing little things. Something quick to do while I watch Anna Darko kick some ass, you know. Enter Google. I had seen something on Martha Stewarts website, some free projects for making stuffed animals out of old gloves or socks if I remember correctly. I checked out some other patterns online and decided to alter them a bit to make a little guy for myself. I went by the local dollar store and found a cute white fuzzy pair of gloves for a buck, came home and got going. It really is very easy to make, as the downloadable free pdf on the Martha site illustrates in a few simple steps. It takes about 2 hours from start to finish, but most of that time I use to make the head, sew on the little nose with embroidery thread, sew on the beady little eyes. Needless to say, I loved this little project, hence the post. I have found myself travelling back to the dollar store for more fuzzy gloves, and an entire herd of cuteness has erupted. Even my husband cant help but smile when I presented them (yes THEM, the herd) to him. Cute alone is one thing, Cute en mass is another. See? I see them making political statements soon enough; holding protest signs. Giving society the finger. Spreading love and joy. You know, regular rabbit stuff. Any ideas for little t-shirts for them? Themes? The possibilities are endless!! See!

So, those are my rabbit holes. For now.

Some other blog posts to come may include such topics as:

• You Too Can Bake Bread - Overcoming my Fear of Yeast;
• Valentine PaperCraft - Killing Time;
• Meatshock - one year worth of local, organic meat. And it is ALL in my basement;
• Read It 2010 - 52 Books in 52 weeks. I am on schedule and getting ready to post what I thought of the 5 I have read so far. 1/2 of the 6th is in progress! I am loving it. Send your recommendations on over!

♥ leel