Much needed mini-vacation

My parents are coming to visit me for the first time in Oregon! They're coming tonight and staying for a week, so I'll be on hiatus until Wed., the 1st of October.

This is their first trip to the Pacific Northwest, so we're crossing our fingers for sunny days. Sean and I will be showing them around the city (Farmer's Market, Saturday Market, lots of shopping areas) and driving out to the Gorge so they can see all those great waterfalls in person. If we have time this weekend, we might take a trip out to the coast, since none of us have ever been there!

If you have any suggestions of stuff to do in Portland, please leave a comment! We won't have a car for two of the days they'll be visiting, (since Sean needs it for work and I thought we could get around on Trimet and on foot). If you know of any good, relaxing stuff to see in the SE or on a busline, please share. We have some great ideas already, but it never hurts to have extra options.

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Cicada Mania

This blog just featured my new Cicada Bottles, and I just had to share the awesomeness that is Cicada Mania! Their post just before my Cicada Bottles is about the Bottle Cicada from Australia. Who knew?

There are some seriously beautiful photos on this blog, not to mention pop culture occurrences and scientific info (including a wedding guide, in case you're worried about insect swarms ruining your big day)!

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Jesse Reno

Jesse Reno is another artist whose work is displayed at the salon where I get my hair cut. His paintings are colorful and energetic with a primitive feeling to them. Layers of paint and words and symbols make his work fascinating to stare at for hours on end. It's also complimentary to Lana's work, making their side-by-side displays somehow seem grander than the sum of their parts.

Maybe their work plays so nicely together because they both live above the salon, and they feed off each other's inspiration? I couldn't tell you. But I know that it's beautiful, and I look forward to sitting in that chair just so I can catch another glimpse into their artistic souls.

Check out Jesse's website for a cool video about his process and a little peak into his studio.

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Donnie Darko is still cool

If you haven't ever been to the Donnie Darko website, then you should check it out now. Web designers are becoming more video-savvy and sites are more interactive than ever, but this was still a monumental website when it came out, and it still is.

Turn your pop-up blockers off, your sound on, and sit back for a memorable experience. It helps if you remember details about the movie, but it'll be fun even if you're just clicking around.

http://www.donniedarkofilm.com/

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Crude Things

Since moving to Portland, I've been getting my hair cut at Do! Rad Cuts and Color. They're close to my house, have comic book heroines on their signage, and their stylists know exactly what I'm asking for in a cut. What more could a girl ask for?

Actually, having something nice on the walls to look at while sitting in the chair would be nice. They've got that too!
Multi-talented doesn't even begin to describe Lana Guerra, one of the hair stylists at Do!, whose paintings and wigs are also on display around the shop. Lana's paintings often involve candy-colored nude monster-people who never seem to have the correct number of body parts. There's glitter and fuzzy fabric arranged within her collage-style paintings, giving them a sort of deranged-little-girl's-bedroom feel. They're strange and dark and creepy, but all in a fun way!

Lana apparently spends most of her working hours making elaborate art wigs (not all of them are "Hairplanes"), which I will absolutely have to have the next time I go to Burning Man!

The talent doesn't stop there though: Ms. Guerra also performs in a circus, DJ's, plays in a band, and makes life-sized puppets, doll sculptures and plush, clothing (now I want a pair of stripey bloomers!), marionettes, and probably lots more things I don't even know about. Check out her many websites for more info!

http://www.crudethings.com
http://www.crudethings.etsy.com/
http://www.myspace.com/powercircusmusic
http://www.lanaland2.com/

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Helium vs. Sulfur Hexafluoride

How can you not love science??? Especially with guys like Adam Savage to explain everything for us.

[via Laughing Squid]

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Is it that late already?

Whoah! I just realized it's after midnight, and I haven't written anything for today yet! Oops. I was so busy today getting a much-needed haircut, and finishing up some really important copyright paperwork (which I will spend all morning printing out--there's over 25 pages!) that I completely forgot to write about some amazing Portland artists that I was meaning to feature.

The good news is that I now have my own artist's studio in the Watershed Building, which is not only close to my house, but also has some amazing views of the city, the river and Mt. Hood! I caught a glorious sunset on my way home the other night. The only thing in the space so far is a couple bags of packing peanuts, but I'm gearing up for some big supply orders that I can receive there! Hopefully, I'll have some shiny new equipment over there too, so I can make something pretty with all the supplies. ;)

If you're considering starting your own business (or finally getting around to declaring the one you have) may I recommend that you just start off as an LLC from the get-go, instead of filing as a Sole Proprietor and then having to cancel everything (including bank accounts!) and starting all over again with lots of phone calls being made, paperwork to fill out, fees to pay and many hours lost. It all made sense at the time, but since I just moved, I've already had to fill out the Sole Proprietor paperwork in two states, and now I just did it all again as an LLC! Oh well, it's been a learning experience.

The sketch above is of a guinea pig, which I'm working on for a customer. Whaddya think? I'm happy that I still get to work on fun projects like this, even amidst all the turmoil. Did you know that guinea pig is commonly served up for dinner in places like Peru?

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Lolcats Art Show

I saw this recently on i can has cheezburger, and just sent my submission in! There's going to be a LOLcat art show in San Francisco, opening October 23rd. The exhibit will feature 2D and 3D artwork inspired by LOLcats. My proposal is to create something etched onto a reclaimed glass vase. I still haven't decided on an image to use (or I could create my own), but I'm really excited about the idea!

Get all the info you need here, and make sure to send your proposal in by Sept. 19th!

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Trying to De-Stress

So much new stuff is happening over here at Chez Badger, I thought I'd give my readers a little insight into the more personal life of the Bread.

A couple weeks ago, I was thrilled to find out that our newest products were featured on the amazing Modish blog for Eco-Friendly Finds! Later in the morning, I discovered that our newest pint glass design (the curly mustache!) made it onto the insanely popular design*sponge blog! I knew design*sponge was a very well-known home decor/interior design blog, but I didn't quite realize how many of their readers love all things mustachioed.

Orders for mustache pint glasses came flooding in, along with hints that other popular websites and blogs (USA Today's Pop Candy, notcot.org/liqurious) had picked up the craze and linked to my site as well. I went into a bit of a panic mode, trying to make nothing but mustache glasses while I was also trying to protect my business with trademarking, filing copyrights and becoming a Limited Liability Company. I even met with my first lawyer to help me figure things out!

Two and a half weeks later, and I'm still dealing with the aftermath. I'm still filing paperwork, I just got my new LLC bank account today, and I'm signing a lease on a studio space tomorrow! I'm trying to get new equipment to allow me to sandblast large orders, which would help me expand my operations from the extremely limiting 20-glass-a-day limit I seem to be capable of now. I'm having to learn a ton of stuff about legality, business expansion, and also about my craft, all in a very short period of time.

It's all extremely exciting, and also enormously stressful. I had a lot of fun activities planned for this time of year which I'm way behind on now--stuff like learning how to make fused glass that I could add to my website for the holidays. My parents are coming to visit Oregon for the first time (ever!) in a couple weeks, and I'm hoping to be able to relax a bit and show them around when they get here.

When I get my new routine under control, I'm also thinking about ways to share my experience with others. I'd like to offer a workshop on getting press for your small business, and maybe teach people about legalizing and protecting their businesses. Part of me can't wait until I have time for those things, and another part of me hopes I stay this busy so I could possibly afford a house and some health insurance. Wish me luck! I'm certainly rooting for everyone to get to this place in their lives too!

[The photos in this post are from the first scenic trip Sean and I have taken since moving to Oregon! We drove through the Columbia River Gorge last weekend, and had an amazing time de-stressing for a day by enjoying the breathtaking views.]

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Jessica Joslin: Not quite taxidermy

Okay, so I know you're all probably sick of the dead stuff that I keep writing about. So I gave you a week off. Now, back to creepy animal sculptures!

Jessica Joslin creates the absolutely most amazing sculptures I have ever seen. She uses real animal bones, antique hardware, brass, leather, and whatever else she comes across, to make these scary-cute not-so-cuddly critters.

Her website has tons of photos of her work, including close-up shots so you can really stare her creatures in the eyes. Her creepy kitties are on my perpetual wishlist, as long as they don't give my real cat nightmares. Luckily, she has a coffeetable book available now, so you can collect her art without having to find a place to put that 3 1/2 foot tall flamingo and turtle shell sculpture.

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Internet Memes Timeline

I'm completely fascinated by, and hooked on internet memes. I'm also a big fan of Richard Dawkins, who coined the term in 1976. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the memes that have come before, so you don't have to feel left out of all the "inside jokes" on the interwebs.

This was first posted on Laughing Squid, and I spent about three days straight reading the entries and watching videos. As I'm writing this, I'm still flipping back to see what's been added since the last time I was there! It has me ROFLing every time.

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