Things That Please Me: Cephalopods

This probably won't be shocking, given the propensity of a certain kind of person - that is, the Ectomo-devoted, Victorian-ephemera-appreciating, underground-art-loving kind - to also have an affinity for creatures of the tentacled variety.

In fact, it might even be a bit trite. Witness the ubiquity of the Octo on Etsy. I don't know what it is, really... A much tamer interpretation of the terribly-not-safe-for-work Hokusai woodcut Dream of the Fisherman's Wife? Some sort of Jules-Verne-ian deep-sea-monster fixation?

All I know is that I'm helpless to resist all things tentacled.

Exhibit One: A gift from the much-beloved Stache - vintage dictionary illustration of an octopus, made into a striking pendant on vintage velvet ribbon, by Found & Made Designs.

Exhibit Two: This miraculous thing from UnCorked - all good things rolled into one: Octopus! Mini clipboard! Test Tube! Two keystrokes and it was mine.

Exhibit Three: On the wish list - together at last... tentacles and little Victorian girls.

It's a Moleskine journal etched with a print by Dan Hillier. Brilliant. And Modofly has these with covers by dozens of my favorite artists.

Exhibit Four: Just discovered breathtaking art by Tucson artist Chiara Bautista, also known as Milk.


I could go on, but... I'll save some tentacles for another post. I know I'm not alone on this fixation.

Finely Crafted Pop

I have to admit that I have a huge appreciation for finely crafted pop, of the Belle and Sebastian or The Shins variety. And this weekend Skyeboy and I had a little album-shopping spree at the last independent record store in our town.

Largely inspired by David Byrne's play-list for the month, we struck gold on almost all our purchases, but I just want to gush over two of them.

First, the glory that is Seattle's Fleet Foxes.


At first glance, I thought the cover was a Bosch painting, but it's actually a painting called Netherlandish Proverbs by an artist named Pieter the Elder.

Self-described as "baroque harmonic pop jams" ~ all I know is it makes me want to frolic through a beautiful renaissance forest. I'm such a pushover for beautiful harmonies. How can I not love this album?

And then, of Montreal. Strange and operatic synth-pop, with nonsensical quirky lyrics and infectious melodies - and just enough of a dose of silliness to make me happy.


I can see how this album would either make one swoon or drive one batty, depending on mood. I was definitely in need of a new music infusion, and I adored it. Forgive me if I'm a latecomer to either of these parties, but both records have gone into overdrive on my iPod, so I'm sharing.

Adornments In the Flesh

The Steampunk Convention already seems so far away. But as promised, here are a few reflections from the trenches.

The best part, no contest, was meeting some of my fellow members of the Etsy Steam Team in person. I was thrilled to see Industrial Fairytale again, and to meet Emily of Theriaca Fina and Kathleen from Figments for the first time, among others. We were all floored by Fyriel of Orpheus Alchemy - who spent the whole weekend in the most amazingly beautiful arcane bird-creature costume I've ever seen. More on Fyriel here.

I had trimmed out my table with small indulgences, causing more than one person to laugh at my predilection towards excess and lushness - going down the row - feather plumes, silk garters, and dark chocolate... musts for any well-stocked boudoir, I say.

My stripey black-and-silver corset by Louise Black finally had its debut, and I had a beautiful vacuum tube necklace by Libby of Exoskeleton Cabaret hand-delivered to me by the dashing Nathaniel of Abney Park, as he is a dear friend and neighbor of Libby's. It all came together for my Victorian Gilded Bat costume.

I did miss the Abney Park show in order to dash home for my own, where Baby Seal Club opened for Mutaytor, and then proceeded to dance our hearts out until 3am.

Back to the convention Sunday morning, bedraggled but in good spirits. I had the pleasure of meeting some lovely people - like amazing artist Suzanne Forbes, and fellow Steampunk burner Miranda V, who has promised future adventures and debauchery.

The exposure was well worth it, and the Steam Team had a moment of fame last week when the Make Blog posted about us, complete with shop links and a picture!

All in all, a splendid time, if a wee bit exhausting.

Sweetness of Home

The weekend's events were beautiful chaos, and I'll have a full report soon. In the meantime, I just wanted to share what felt like the most beautiful sight in the world when I finally got home last night from Steampowered, and three full days under florescent overhead lighting ~ this little corner of my workshop, where my love Stache had put flowers for me.

It's so very good to be home. Now I am off to sleep, since I must wake up extra early to VOTE!

Weekend Warrioress

The fast-approaching Halloween weekend is going to be madness.

First off, I'll be vending Adornments for Tarts lovelies at Steampowered, the Steampunk Convention, with my mates from the Etsy Steam Team. I'll be there all three days - October 31st, and November 1st & 2nd.

But wait! You may be wondering - doesn't Baby Seal Club open for Mutaytor at the Cirque du Sebastopol on Saturday night?

Your post-apocalyptic craftista siren is keeping impossibly busy, as ever. I'll be sneaking out of the SteamCon on Saturday night to run home and sing my heart out, and then back the next morning to keep selling my work. Sigh.

Picture from our show at the San Francisco Burning Man Decompression, courtesy of 94114photo.

Things That Please Me: Baroque Architectural Details

Yesterday I happened to be in the historic City Hall in Providence, Rhode Island. While I was supposed to be focusing on the interview at hand, all I could do was gaze at the opulent detailing around me in the 1878 building, which Google kindly informed me was in the Second Empire Baroque architectural style, popular in the late Victorian period.


I snapped a few photos surreptitiously - of the deliciously patterned walls in plaster relief...

The shamelessly decadent gilded curves on every available surface...

The ridiculously ornate lamps with frolicking plump cherubim...

Now, I'd like to think I've evolved from the Z-Gallerie fleur-de-lis wall-sconce aesthetic of my younger days, and I've sworn off Design Toscano for good - but I have to admit that cornices and crown molding still give me a thrill.

Here's the curious part. For all seven years that I lived in San Francisco, I was fortunate enough to be happily tucked into one of the more famous "Painted Ladies", reputed to be a former bordello built in the late 1890's by Francophile architect James Francis Dunn. And I just today discovered that my old house was one of the few San Francisco examples of the Second Empire Baroque style, which caused me to swoon only yesterday in Providence!

That would've been me at 19, peeking out from the second-floor balcony. You can't see the winged mermaids on the roof in this picture.

Can I help it if I'm mysteriously drawn to decadence and excess, even in architecture?

Black Cat, White Cat

I find myself melancholy, trying to write a brief tribute to my poor Nimbus, who left us for the big donut-bed in the sky over the weekend.

It's the end of a feline era. Nimbus and her sister Carolina, to whom I said goodbye last spring, were born the month I graduated high school, and kept me furry company through a parade of houses and boyfriends and jobs for, uhm, more than fifteen years.

Nimbus kindly eased our transition by keeping us up all night with her grating senile meowing for the past few months, so we were definitely ready to let her go. Didn't stop me from crying, though. My home is now kitty-less for the first time in my adult life.

Fortunately, she was forever immortalized in psychedelic cat YouTube fame in this video a few years ago, with music and imagery by the illustrious Stache.

Oh, the purr! I intend to go out and rent Emir Kusturica's Black Cat, White Cat in honor of both my dearly departeds. Perhaps a zany Balkan comedy will cheer me.

Farewell, Nimby. All the peacock feathers and pets you could wish for in heaven, my sweet!

Red Letter Day

Yesterday was an unusually lovely day for me. Not only was I recognized with an award at work, which was wonderful, but an interview with me was published on the Steam Team blog! Thanks to Hyla for letting me wax poetic about my work.

Here's me basking in my fleeting Interwebs glory. Actually, it's technically me basking in Burning Man glory, but, you know, basking is basking.

And as if that weren't enough, last night we had the pure joy overload of seeing David Byrne in concert, from the second row. Suffice to say, it was a wondrous performance, and served only to confirm to me that the man is a genius. Everyone should acquire his newest album, and soon. The only thing that could have made it better is if he had played "Burning Down the House" accompanied by the Extra Action Marching Band, which I hear he did at the San Francisco show.

And this weekend, Baby Seal Club plays at Decompression, closing out the Circus Stage. Should be brilliant, and with any luck, we'll cross paths with Fou Fou Ha and the Golden Mean again.