***BE THE CHANGE***

Friday, August 22, 2008

Burning Man 2008: Drunk


Burning Man 2008: Drunk
Originally uploaded by Sanctuary-Studio

Won't remember posting this this tomorrow. Having an amazing time!!!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Burning Man 2008: The Mother Ship Has Landed


Burning Man 2008: The Mother Ship Has Landed
Originally uploaded by Sanctuary-Studio

Big Lucy pulled into Gerlach around 4am this morning. The drive was smooth sailing. The Sani-Hut pictured here is where we'll be pulling six hour collating shifts over the next couple of days. It's currently 7:32am...resting up before work. Collating starts at 10am. Then off to secure land for Homeslice.

We were advised at the gate that the days have been HOT. And a couple of days ago a 70mph dust storm kicked up which lasted 7 hours. There's been a steady wind ever since.

All I know for sure is that it's nice to be back home...

Burning Man: $4.89/Gallon Near Mono Lake


Burning Man: $4.89/Gallon Near Mono Lake
Originally uploaded by Sanctuary-Studio

12:32am...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Etsy: New Black Spats!















I love my red spats so much that I decided to splurge last minute and grab a new pair of black spats for my upcoming Playa adventure. I can't rave enough about Prost over at StraightRazorSlasher! This Lady has Mad Talent! Prost was able to whip up my custom order and get them off in the mail in no-time-flat! So incredibly grateful! I'll definitely be back for more!

Music: Architecture In Helsinki - Like It Or Not



I spy embroidered fire-hoop spinning monkeys!

Like it!

Running: You See What I Mean?

This is what I see when I upload my daily running stats to the Nike+ site:

Nike+ Running Stats for 8.14.08

With stats:
Nike+ Running Stats for 8.14.08

Yet when I copy and paste the code here this is what you see:



While my running stats are the same across each graph that damn squiggly line is totally annoying me. Mind you neither of these representations are completely correct. During my run I gradually increase my speed so in a perfect world the graph would reflect a steady incline in the little green line.

I'm hoping to get into the gym for one more run tomorrow morning. With Boot Camp on Saturday (at the Santa Monica Stairs if anyone cares to join) followed by my multi-hour hair appointment with Kelly (my Playa Braid Magician) it's doubtful that I'll be able to squeeze any more training into my nutty schedule before blast off! Yeow! Too few days and counting...

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Friends: Happy Birthday Commander!

aDSC_0040

Happy Birthday Commander!
I hope you're having a splendid BirthWEEK!
Can't wait to celebrate with you tomorrow night!

Okay, break time is over....back to BM prep!!!

Love,
Moi

Olympics: Opening Ceremony In 60 Seconds

Running: Post-Running Euphoria Achieved



Okay that graph looks nothing like the one that came up on the Nike+ site but I honestly couldn't care less right now. I had a great run and I'm currently basking in some MAJOR post-running euphoria. Everything is taking a little longer to get done this morning because I feel like J-e-l-l-o! THIS, my friends, is why I run....good stuff!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Humor: But Now It's Happenin' Now!

Friends: Happy Birthday Special Ops'!

For those who couldn't make it to the celebration last weekend here's a recap:

Friends: Happy B-Day Special Ops!!!

'Nough said!

Love you, Lady! Can't wait to head off on our Playa adventure VERY soon!

Running: No Fresh Prince Today!



Yes, you read that right...they didn't have the Fresh Prince on any of the ten screens within eyesight of my treadmill this AM. Not happy! There's no better way to start your day than by watching Carlton dance.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Art: Hand Stitched Note Cards

I recently started hand stitching my own note cards. I did some cross stitching when I was quite a bit younger but aside from that I have no real experience with this sort of thing...hence the simplicity of the designs.

If you're interested these are pretty easy to make. First I sketched out the design then copied it onto the card with some transfer paper. I'm pretty certain that the type of stitch I use is called a back stitch (or a variation thereof). I essentially used the trial and error method which has lead me to fairly successful results, thus far.

Ly's Baby Shower Card:

DIY: Hand Stitched Baby Shower Card

B's B-Day Card:
Burning Man: Hand Stitched Birthday Card

Special Ops'(aka Ranger Hooper) B-Day Card:
Burning Man: Hand Stitched Birthday Card (II)

And just because I love her so much, here's a shot of what the Monster was doing while I was making Ops' card last weekend. Clearly she's all monster'd out.

Burning Man: Hand Stitched Birthday Card (II)

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Life: Twilight Dance Series- Santa Monica

Life: Twilight Dance Series- Santa Monica

Humor: Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate

photo.jpg

On my way into the Village this afternoon (to check out the new Scramble Crosswalk) I peeped this Gossip Girl ad. I'm quite amused with the way the CW marketing team has used the Parents Television Council's own criticism of GG to help sell the show! In case it's not that clear there are two teens laying in bed together with the quote "Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate"- Parents Television Council.

Totally brilliant.

Sex sells!

Running: The Fresh Prince...



Little Know Fact: I like to get to the gym early in the AM for many reasons including the enjoyment I get out of watching re-runs of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. This morning was the episode with Queen Latifah. Mind you I still listen to my iPod while watching because they turn on the subtitles. However, subtitles or not, I'm pretty certain that I have the dialog to every episode memorized.


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Music: Son Of Dave - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Daft Punk Cover)

Running: Goal Accomplished!


While it may not be MUCH under a 7 minute mile pace it's definitely progress.  I've been pushing hard to get back in the 6+ minutes per mile range and it feels good to have achieved that goal this morning.  

Two weeks until I leave for the Playa but once the braids go in on the 16th all running is over with until I return from the Burn.  Let's see if I can hold my pace here until then!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Running: Quick Like!



Due to a key card snafu I had to keep this run short so I decided to just pound out what I could on the treadmill in the 25 minutes I had free this AM. I started at 7.0 and gradually pushed my pace up to 7.8 by mile 3. With this constant increase of speed over the course of my run I can't explain all of those valleys...WTF, Nike+? Oh well...still trying to get that pace under 7 minutes per mile. Then I'll start focusing on distance again.

Burning Man: FINISHED Tribal Stenciled Playa Boots

Burning Man : Tribal Stenciled <span class=

Last week I started this project but over the weekend I decided to add another stencil! One project down and about forty to go! I leave for the Playa (15 days)! Sizzle....

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Music: MGMT - Electric Feel (Justice Remix)

Electric Feel - MGMT

This is what the world is for...

Friends: Why ModMan's a Democrat...



"I don't need no stinkin' lapel flag pin. I got a backyard, 1000 red white and blue candles, and some wicked good friends!"- ModMan

Humor: Only In LA...


Humor: Only In LA...
Originally uploaded by Sanctuary-Studio

...will you find a Ferrari parked at Ross! Who knows, maybe they're
here in search of Burning Man stuff too!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Burning Man: Tribal Stenciled Boots

I recently found these Playa-perfect boots at my favorite GoodWill. Seeing as how they're the same color as Playa Dust I decided to get them. Which, honestly, is the only quasi-good reason I could come up with to rationalize owning yet ANOTHER pair of boots. Well that and the fact that they're flat which will make it super easy to trek, bike, and dance across the Playa in these suckas. The only downside is that they're a bit too plain for my taste so I decided to Playa-fy them a bit....

Burning Man: Boots

I Googled 'Tribal Stencils' and was immediately drawn to this design...

Burning Man: Boot Stencils

Shown above is my resized design, transfer paper (blue) and contact paper.

Burning Man: Traced Stencil For Boots

All traced out!

Time to cut...

Burning Man: Cut Stencils
It took hours...I suppose I'll get faster with more practice! And, yes, cutting circles out with an x-acto knife DOES completely suck!

And the Final Product...
Burning Man: Tribal Stenciled Boots

I'm pretty happy with the way they came out! As you can see there is a bit of over-spray but, dude, this is Burning Man!

I used Montana Gold Acrylic Spray Paint. And after researching I decided to take the top coat off of the leather with finger nail polish remover so the paint would set into the leather a little better. Acetone was actually recommended but I'm lazy like that so I went with what I had on hand. I tested the polish remover on the inner zipper area first to make sure there would be no major color shift in the leather. So far the paint seems pretty solid. No cracks or flaking at all. I washed the boots (as recommended by Commander) with soap and water to try to remove some of the remaining sticky residue and when that didn't work I rubbed them down with Olive Oil...totally worked! The paint showed no signs of rubbing off or flaking with either of these treatments.

And now that the stencil-cutting induced blister on my finger has finally healed I'll add another stencil to the toe area later today...because I apparently have nothing better to do with the 18 DAYS I have left before I leave for the Playa!!!

Green: One Fewer - What Should Ryan Do?



Vote here!

Humor: Krispy Kreme's Grass Lined Flip Flops


















Krispy Kreme Press Release:


"Krispy Kreme questioned over 1,000 UK workers and found that over half (53 per cent) of urbanites believe their stress levels are affected by a lack of contact with Mother Nature. In response to the problem Krispy Kreme has created the world’s first grass flip-flops to bring summer magic to the city – giving stressed out workers a (literal) spring in their step by creating an instant grassy park underneath their feet regardless of their urban location."