Frances in New York has tagged me to reveal what is in my handbag. Even I wasn't sure what lurked at the bottom of the Big Aubergine.
Zippered side pockets first:
Pocket #1, A little round tin of
Rendez Vous Lemon drops, a lipstick, a car wash receipt, and a slip of paper with email addresses (to send art students photos of our still life of the day), and a receipt from the video store (rented Jane Campion's "Bright Star", which was beautiful).
Pocket #2, a scrap of paper with a phone number written as small as the Tailor of Gloucester's "no more twist", a fine liner pen, a notebook and a sample menu from a local restaurant where I recently lunched with author friend
Alison Baird.
Pocket #3, spare glasses, cough drops, a pocket-package of kleenex tissues, another fine liner pen (so that's where they have been going), and a church bulletin with "Mothering Sunday" and "Simnel Cake" underscored in fine liner ink.
Pocket #4, keys and cell phone.Now diving into the main holding area: Wallet, cheque book, address book, 2010 pocket diary, a spiral notebook, an envelope with a nice supply of my printed bookmarks that double as business cards, yet another fine liner pen, a hairbrush, another lipstick, a bill, a hair grip, a 5 page print-out of "Sanctuary Servers Duties" and some post-it notes with relevant scribblings (eg, "
candles out at lst verse Recessional", I haven't been a server long enough to have it down pat yet) and, last but not least, a white Crayola crayon that I had been looking for in my art-class bag. Wax crayon is an effective resist for textured whites in watercolour and I will use it in an upcoming class.
And that is everything.
Looking at an article on
AccessoryWeb I read that the above is fairly typical, representative of a normal woman, and has at least a couple of points in common with Eleanor Roosevelt!
I have enjoyed this first year of blogging and the friends it has brought, highly creative individuals of generous spirit. I wonder if some of them would like to share the handbag reveal?
Middle of NowhereAcornmoonOasis Writing Link
My trip home was derailed (well, deplaned, but that seems to mean "getting off the plane" rather than the plane trip home turning into a little expedition to hades) by an extreme snowfall in Minneapolis. So the trip home took 36 hours and left me a bit out of sorts. Still, this was waiting for me when I finally got home -- snowdrops in the snow. A small perfect thing.
There's a reason why I made the magical flower in Stardust a snowdrop, after all.
My first snowdrop resolutions -- I need to get back into shape (eat sensibly; find a new trainer; go for longer, more energetic walks with dog; do some nice stretchy yoga even). This last trip left me aching all over, and I've moved up a tub in jeans sizes (long term readers of this blog may remember that there are five tubs of jeans of different sizes in my closet. If ever I have to wear the ones in the tub at the far right -- mostly bought by accident or in fits of optimism -- I'll know I've got some kind of eating disorder or wasting disease, and when I only fit into the ones at the far left I know I've been not-moving for too long. And I've moved one tub to the left. It's time to slim down a little, but mostly it's just time to get fit again after a very, very long winter.
...
I sent Newly-Stoker-Award-Winning Author Joe Hill The Graveyard Book when I finished it, because he has small sons, and I was hoping he would read to them.
(He did. They liked it. He said, "It's a great one for reading aloud. You should really hear me call for help in NightGaunt sometime," and then when I said I would like to, he e-mailed me a sound file. I was impressed.)
And he talks about the book a little on his blog -- http://joehillfiction.com/?p=163 in terms that I would use as a blurb if I hadn't said nice things about Heart Shaped Box, and would fear accusations of log-rolling.
...
My assistant Lorraine just passed this on from the conference organisers in Melbourne --
Hi Lorraine,
It's good to see all the details of Neil's trip up on the website -
now I can finally believe it's happening! I wonder if you could
arrange for there to be a link to the conference website
http://www.iceaustralia.com/cbca2008/ on the Sunday date when Neil's
keynote is open to the general public so that people will find it easy to book.
Thanks, Sian
So there's the link, and we'll put another up at WHERE'S NEIL. Come and see me talk. Come and see Shaun Tan, who is nominated for a Hugo for The Arrival, a book I tend to force people to read. (This is a link to pages from The Arrival and an essay about it on Shaun's site.)
If I hadn't been on the road I would have remembered to post something about pre-selling tickets at MIT to the first Julie Schwartz Memorial Lecture, but it looks like the pre-sold tickets are now sold, and it's now going to be tickets on the day for people in the Boston area.
New York Times bestselling author, screenwriter and comics luminary Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Beowulf, Stardust) is scheduled to present the first Julius Schwartz Lecture in Kresge Auditorium at 7PM on May 23rd, 2008. Doors will open at 6PM.
Pre-Ticket Sales will occur on March 31st and April 1st in Lobby 10 from 9AM until 4PM. Tickets are $8 apiece, no limit. CASH ONLY, GENERAL ADMISSION, NO RESERVATIONS. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the event
This is an image from the comic story I mentioned earlier - Troll on the Rooftop. It was published a few weeks ago (you can find a link on my webpage) before which I had a running teaser on my blog.
For some reason I think this image is more glamorous than the one with the entire wedding ceremony in it. But fairies are glamour.
This was my Illustration Friday entry as well as a part of the "Troll on the Rooftop" comic teaser on my blog, which is updated daily until the 16th. The comments I have received for these images suggest that I've succeeded in conveying the kind of exhilaration I needed for this scene in the comic and that makes me very happy! I hope the rest is up to the same standard.
Hi Frances, I have to confess I was more interested in trying to see what was on your bookcase...I"m not going to be any good for this I'm afraid, as I don't have a handbag (obviously not a *normal* woman!) or anything like it, just a rucksack for when I go walking, which is empty when not in use. But thank you for thinking of me and sharing your interesting contents!
Hello, and thank you for revealing your aubergine contents. I'm glad that you have found those fine liner pens! All the contents seem to point to the variety of your interests.
I am so sorry to hear about the roof. This past month's snow and rain has probably revealed roofing repair needs in many homes. Hoping that there are lots of skilled roofers around to help, and that the weather won't be too soggy for a while.
Best wishes! xo
Well now, I am sure the contents of the bag I call "handbag" will be of no interest to anybody but I will play along soon so thanks for thinking of me.
I love the idea of having a bookmark as a giveaway business card, that is such a good idea I might have to steal it! Yours are lovely and are bound to be kept and used in a way business cards are not.
I do hope that Jenny wren helps to mend your leaking roof. I read somewhere that house leeks can do the trick also.