new york city

last weekend i had the pleasure of joining my family and my extended family on a journey to new york to discover our family lineage. it was so much fun! fun to visit ellis island and the tenament museum. ok, fun might not be the best word. we had a fun time with each other...but those places and the stories they tell are quite somber. it was a moving experience. it was also great to see my dad and brother...who i don't get to see often enough. (portland sort of does that to people). this is a picture of kirk and i on ellis island. we were aiming for 'christmas card picture' quality...but i think mom is going to be disappointed again.

and this is the whole clan. i was so glad to find the roots of my liberal blood (kirk's height and my voting record don't match anything else in our four-person family).
and this is my dad's picture of st. patrick's cathedral. he is proud of it, so i thought i might as well post it here. kirk and i each lit a candle for grandma, how could you not?!

as promised...birthday pictures

fierce knows where to find the frosting

ooops, this isn't rotated the right way. however, that wouldn't help this picture look any better. thank goodness all the faces are obscured.

jana flies shannon. that's a good takeoff. the landing wasn't so smooth.

28. a respctable age. a respctable spelling.

i voted! i voted!

ok, ok i know the photo is blurry. however, the filled in bubble is not blurry and this vote is going to count! what i love about being an oregon voter is our vote by mail system. it means that i can sit at the kitchen table, drink some ginseng peppermint tea and vote while i listen to the dog snore and heater kick on. what could be better than that?

this was a pretty easy ballot to fill out. the only one that gave me trouble was east multnomah soil and water conservation district, director, at large 2. it doesn't help when one of the candidates isn't in the voter guide. i resorted to the weekly's description. anyhow, it's done! i will drop it off at the library tomorrow. make sure it gets tucked into that special box real careful.

i can't wait for election night! or election day for that matter! yay yay yay!

birthday thank yous

thank you friends and family for all the birthday wishes last week. it was so nice to have so many lovely e-mails and phone calls. it was a lovely birthday and i am so excited to be 28! i am convinced that 28 is going to be the best year of my life. so far, so good. i had a little birthday shindig on friday and as soon as i get the photos back (from the disposable cameras we all used) i will post some pictures (gasp, something other than dogs and chickens?). so, thank you friends near and far...you all make life worth living.

yay!

can someone explain?

i am coming down with something. by something i mean the gauze and cotton monster that has decided to crawl inside my head and nest in my sinuses. i am sure it has to do with the change of weather and the onset of rain and the slight craziness in my belly and the running around lately...but now?! come on! i am self-medicating with thai food and love actually and hopefully acupuncture. and tomorrow i am going to see the western doctor...because desperate times call for desperate measures.

i will be well by wednesday night! i will make my body cooperate. i will, i will!

we're not even in the canoe yet...

...and she's already a very unhappy dog.

bike the what?

well friends, it looks like the documentary of the bike the vote will be coming out around election time this year. let me just do my duty and ask...are you registered to vote? at your current address? if not, visit this link, this one right here! and register yourself...or else i might just bike to your house and make you vote (unless you are voting for mccain, then i'll just stay put - how nice that i don't have to be non-partisan any more).

anyhow, the trailer is back up at the bikethevotemovie.com website. click here to see what it's all about. you'll see it open with our press conference in chicago which was the largest of the trip...and the one of the grannies biking for marriage equality...and so many things that i haven't thought of in a long time. and you'll also get to see me with no hair, my favorite part of the trip. i am really, really curious to see the documentary, partly because the ride took place over four years ago and now seems really far away and partly because i am easily embarrassed.

chris is looking to schedule screenings across the country. if you are interested in hosting a screening at your local theater or school or church or whatever you got in your town...drop me a line.

check it out. if you want a good laugh and maybe a little election inspiration.
(and leave comments! jana, i'm so glad you get that!)

a love letter to garlic

i'm taking a writing class. apparently everything that i write sounds like a love letter, according to the feedback of my peers. i guess that's a reasonable thing, considering that i've been writing them for the past three months now. if i'm going to have a genre, i might as well master it, right?

in class on thursday we were each given a fresh herb as inspiration, a jumping off point for a three minute free write. here is my garlic writing (which no one from last night will remember asking me to post...i'm not sure anyone will remember anything...except joyful dancing, french fries, tattoo looking, losing $20 and hilarity.

spicy, pungent, moist.
cleaning out the stuck-ness in my lungs from these last few days. burning in my sinus cavities, i want your smell to be your taste to be my breakfast lunch and dinner. i can smell the earth on you. maybe even the rot of your next door neighbor, had she not been eaten for lunch instead of saved for february potato leek soup.
deep and powerfu, will you embrace me with your warm arms, climb up my nostrils and kiss the inside of my head, the back of my tongue? i love the way your smell lingers on my hands, stubbornly, for days after eating you.
--
(maybe i'm just waiting for wednesday)
i might start posting more of my writing here. the next one was about cumin and it made
so hungry.

back to duct taping...clearly this is procrastiblogging.

good news! good news!

oh friends, family and special people,

can i share with you the most exciting thing in the world? today i checked inside the chicken coop, partly out of procrastination and partly because i wondered if it needed a cleaning. it did need a quick clean out, those chickens sure can poop! but on further inspection...two medium, white, eggs-shaped foreign objects were nestled in to the far corner of the coop! "what are those?! who got into the chicken coop?" i asked myself. oh wait, vanessa, eggs, EGGS, those things you have been waiting for for almost five months now! the white leghorn hen, who is slightly larger than her companion [a rhode island red], had made a little nest in the straw and laid her eggs there [yea, i know, i am a bad chicken mom for not building nesting boxes for my girls, yet]. you could see the indentation where she snuggled her body in to the straw. how delightful! i am assuming she laid them in the last two days...and i hope that now she has her groove on she won't stop. and hopefully little red is on her way to egg production too.

i did not check the coop for eggs in the last week. the girls still looked so gawky and scrawny that i decided to give them more time...to stop expecting the eggs to come...to stop pressuring them with my small sighs of disappointment. and then, hee haw! as soon as i turn my back and stop thinking about it, the eggs appear! (i love it when life works that way)

oh heavenly day!

liz and i made fried egg sandwiches. liz doesn't like yolk, so fierce and cleo got in on the action too! heirloom tomatoes from a local farm, tasty bread, mayo, salt and fresh egg. delicious! and how cute the eggs are. they are a fairly standard size. the yolk was brilliant, more orange than yellow...and so tiny and cute. the tiniest yolk i have ever seen. it was beautiful. i can't wait to see how the egg size, shell thickness, yolk size and yolk color will change. so much excitement ahead!

please enjoy these egg, chicken and dinner photos. i believe they are self explanatory. i'd be happy to answer your questions if they are not.

yay! eggs! chickens! fall! dogs! writing class! brown leaves! crisp air! apple harvest! could life be any better?
























































































































































































bye lady...we're going back to our coop!

sometimes i wonder what the chickens think. are they confused when an egg comes out for the first time? i'm sure they were confused by my cartwheels and waving and giggles and exclamations. eggs are such a miracle. maybe not for chickens. maybe they just think, oh drats, another egg. but i think: miracle! and to think...she will lay about an egg each day for us. how can i show enough gratitude to these ladies?

thank you chickens! thank you for your eggs! (and the amazing flour-less chocolate ganache birthday cake i am going to make for myself with them).

crater lake!

oh dear! just when you think you're brain can't hold on to any more beauty in this life...you run across something like crater lake. i've seen pictures of crater lake, aerial photos, but nothing compares to coming around that first curve and seeing the HUGE lake spread below you. so blue, so vast, so darn icy looking. mmm! what a fun weekend of camping, yoga, lounging, hanging with fierce, laughing, singing and being! i am quite exhausted but also pretty darn joyful!

life as i know it...

this post is in honor of darce...who is looking for this blog as we speak. darce, you may be the only person who reads this, other than me.


dogs...
i missed fierce ferociously while i was gone, some of the time. the rest of the time it felt really nice to be on vacation and not be responsible for another living being. much thanks goes out to liz for being kind enough to care for fierce while i was gone. however, i was glad to see fierce when i got home. we did some serious snuggling. then the best thing happened on our tuesday morning walk.
fierce kissed a cat.
technically, the cat kissed fierce, but it was adorable. you see, fierce has a pretty strong prey drive and she will chase anything that moves (read: cats, squirrels, motorcycles, skateboards). on our morning this adorable kitten just pranced up to fierce, rubbed up against her, kissed her on the nose and then tried to climb up her face. it was amazing! fierce just stood there, absolutely frozen. then she started to sniff a little, but was totally into the little furry beast that was checking her out. finally, hope that fierce can get along with cats. it was the cutest thing ever and i spent the next few blocks giggling and laughing out loud at the joy this world has to offer us. then this morning fierce was chill enough to hang out with two new cats while we were walking! yay. she has also become quite calm with the chickens and won't chase them if they get out in the yard. success, what more can a girl ask for.

chickens...
the chickens are getting much bigger. they are four months old now, which puts them in range of laying. they are starting to get a bit noisier, which is a good sign, but they don't look nearly filled out enough to start laying. or maybe they are just waiting for me to actually build their nesting boxes. i am a neglectful mom. and on a sad note, while i was gone tootsie (the small, sad-footed bantam) had a run in with voldemort and didn't make it. poor liz, she's always the one who has to deal with the scary chicken situations. i hope tootsie is in a better chicken place, maybe one where she has full use of both of her feet. the remaining two girls seem content, but i bet they secretly miss the little one.


picture time...i include this one because the fuzzy beast looks so wet and furry, and because it's nice to include some pictures of me looking like the worlds biggest dork (is that any different from every moment of my life?)














it's time to take some new pictures. the chickens are huge (but not huge enough to not fly from their pen) and fierce is super cuter. hmmm, i'll get around to it eventually. time to close up the coop and put something nutritious in my body...since ice cream doesn't count and my iron was too low to donate blood today.

procrastiblogging...

tonight was the best night ever. some pals and i went out for some dusk paddling in the multnomah channel. it was lovely. the air temperature was perfect, everything felt quiet and it was so much fun to snoop on all the houseboats. why have i waited this long to organize such a trip? i'm not sure, by i'm glad it finally happened, even though it is mid-august. and now the canoe and kayak live at home and i'm sure that will make me much more likely to use them. yay!

and this is procrastiblogging. it's last and i still have to finish my lab (not to mention all the reading and studying i should do too). at least i made it in front of the computer with the intention of writing my lab, but the e-mail-vanessajean check in-facebook-blogger distractions were just too powerful.

i had ice cream for dinner tonight. i biked over 15 miles to and from class. i got to go to new seasons. could like be any better?

picture of the day:














fierce is so good at lounging...i should take some pointers from her.

the drumming never stops

tonight i went to see some drumming. i've happened to have seen a lot of drumming this summer. tonight it was this neat portland group, the lions of batucada. on the fourth of july i saw one of a kind drum line in vancouver, wa with my family. then there is the group portland group that marches in all the parades, but i don't know their name. anyhow, i've found myself inspired by drumming all summer...and maybe it's just time for me to finally pick up an instrument in my life (ok, other than the two years of piano in middle school!). there is just something magical about the energy lots of drums create when they are all making noise at the same time...i just love it!

no more procrastiblogging...of two write about biology. specifically blood pressure and ekgs. the exciting part about lab yesterday was that i got to be hooked up for an ekg and watch the electricity and my heart beat doing crazy stuff like resting, running up stairs, holding an inhale, holding and exhale and a fake exhale. wow. science is pretty cool.

dog picture of the day:














oh my gosh! she is actually athletic! fierce is the one lunging at the ball. she can fetch (only in competition if there are other dogs around).

the signs are all around!

oh my gosh! are you ever just so full of joy - just brimming over - that it is hard to keep it all contained? that's how i feel right now. i have this theory that the world is full of energy and we are either flowing with it or pushing against it. when we are flowing with it, that's when we are in tune, when life feels easy, like floating down a river in the middle of boise in an inner tube. and it is at precisely those times, when we are just going with the flow, that if we open our ears and our hearts and our minds that we can see the everything and the nothing that exists in the world. it's then we can see that everything, everything serves as a sign, a beacon, an omen, the dial on our compass, and when we feel that energy...there is so much we can intuit!

i love it! it's like when my dad and i have esp. or when there is just enough energy around an issue that you just know something is going to happen. and it does. and maybe it doesn't mean anything...but still something has happened. vague? yes! sometimes it just takes slowing down, floating along, opening up our hearts and feeling the world around us to know, just know.

on my bike ride home tonight (way past my bedtime, ie it was dark out) i was pondering the wonderful conversations i have had with friends (such lovely, lovely friends) in the past few days. i will admit, i have been in a slump, one of those slumps that occurs when your heart feels something icky and then your brain proceeds to nosedive into a pit of despair. anyhow, biking home i starting to feel the joy bubbling up again, and my sense of excitement and peacefulness coming back. and all of the pieces of the puzzle fitting together. and for the first time ever, biking home on the dark streets, portland felt like home. i felt like one with this city that has never quite fit right. oh the joy.

i am feeling peak gratefulness to all the wonderful people in this life who make it what it is.

chicken picture of the day:














the babes a few weeks after hatching. darn they are cutie pies. roosty roo (back left) the bantam araucana is the boy who had to leave our flock because roosters are banned in the city and he was starting to make a lot of noise. don't tell the girls, but he was the prettiest and had the best personality! and don't tell fierce that the chicks get mention and she doesn't.

bio schmio

i did not realize that taking a one-quarter, college-level principles of biology class would kick my butt so hard...and it's only day one. i think mostly i have been in a period of extreme relaxation (laziness?) and it's hard to direct my attention to the things i should be doing (like taking a biology class so i can be qualified for grad school-why didn't i take bio i college?) instead of doing the things i want to do (a two hour catch up phone chat with jessie? looking at darcy's wedding photos, visiting jason and amber's chickens?). you get the point. the next three weeks may be painful...but the upside is lots of procrastiblogging. which is good news for this blog's loyal 1.5 readers.

here's a little dog and chicken story of the day. there isn't really any background to this yet, so i will say this...fierce likes the chickens. she likes them so much that she can't take her eyes off them and if they weren't fenced in she would like to snuggle them to death. and although fierce is generally a wonderful dog, she gets pretty excited about things that squawk and meow and move quickly and she stops paying attention to anything i ask of her.

today i got home very sweaty after (finally) getting to ride my bike home. the girls were chillin' on the sofa and i let them out in the backyard. i assumed (to assume is to...) the hens were in the coop, but the coop door was open and the two big hens had hopped the fence and were unprotected from the dogs wandering around the back yard. and i realized this as the dogs were charging out the back door! cleo, the most responsive and wonderful dog headed back in the house at the commotion i made. my immediate fear was the fierce was going to charge a chicken and grab it by the neck and bad things would ensue. instead...she curiously followed them for a couple seconds (probably stunned beyond belief that they were free) and then she stopped and sat down when i asked her! she followed my instructions instead of the dog voice inside her head that was saying "get the chickens". it was glorious! the dog might have manners! she might not want to eat chickens after all! it was glorious and i felt like my dog training was victorious! so many exclamation points!

ok, so that might not be as exciting to you all, kind reading audience, but it was a victory for me. i'm just waiting for the day when i look out in the yard and there is a chicken snuggled next to fierce and they are napping in the sun. ok, a girl can dream.

dog photo for the day:














she is so sleek.

mr. obama as mr. darcy?

ok, if you didn't know that i have an undying love of pride and prejudice (not to mention anything jane austin or colin firth). i just reread and rewatched the bbc version so it's fresh in my mind. someone (aka green pants) sent me a ny times link to a maureen dowd article implying mr. obama in the role of mr darcy. it's a little bit of a stretch, but it connects all my favorite things together. read it here.

...and it wasn't until last night that i realized i haven't watched all of arrested development in this world. oh my god! how i thought my life was complete and there was no more happiness to be had...but there is...oh how there is...oh how i love season three. i will savor each and every mole destroying a small city, every time michael gets clobbered by a puppet and anything george michael says or does. god bless america.

dog photo of the day...



















cleo has fallen in love with fierce's dungeon. it takes a lot to get them both in there.














and this is my favorite classroom picture from this year. because of the nature of a garden classroom, there are a lot of funny things written on the board and the kids ask for help spelling lots of funny words. so we end up with lots of very funny things on the board.

the joys of snoring dogs

ok, ok, i know. it's been a really long time since i have posted to this blog...and a really long time since i have even thought about it. but you know what? i think it's time to bring back some vanessa jean blogging action. and i will give you two really, really good reasons: 1) dogs and 2) chickens. i will forgo the thought that this blog even has anything to do with duct tape anymore. i think it will be all dog and all chicken all the time. get used to it and quit your whining.

no, really. tonight i sat down to update vanessajean.com because, let's face it, the fact that the index page still referred to christmas '07 was a pretty big sign of neglect. and oh what a process! i have a new hard drive and no dreamweaver...so it took a while to actually get to the point of having the software to change anything. but i got there and spent a lovely night watching charlie bartlett and editing vanessajean. it was great fun to actually look at the site and some of the old press, like this clip from wtnh news in new haven. that was so long ago and so much has changed since then! and this blog, that started about FIVE years ago...and actually used to be full of meaningful things...just to think how much has happened between then and now...and now i am here, on the dogs' sofa, enjoying the gentle snoring of two exhausted black dogs.

buy really, let's get on to the good stuff...pictures of dogs and chickens. who cares about what i have to say, it's about the animals...















fierce herbott, just relaxing















fierce, on coop installation & chicken release day, before she knew how her life would change forever.















enter...the girls. ok, there was one boy too. he lasted for about a week, until his early morning pre-pubescent crowing got so loud that i had to find him a new home. it was sad, but it seems like he has a nice life in scapoose now. the rooster was a beautiful bantam araucana...oh how i loved him! anyhow, after spending the first two months of their lives in a melon box in a classroom full of loud kids, the girls didn't know how to react to this 'natural' environment.















one big happy family...until the chickens started moving...and the dogs got excited...and we had to put up a second fence.

so the whole 'posting more regularly' thing isn't happening. but sarah did take a few more pictures of fierce (the wonder pup) recently, and they merit a new blog posting. overall, things are quite swell here. we've had two gloriously sunny weeks, the peonies are blooming, the first week of csa harvest has passed and time just keeps sneaking by. the summer feels near at hand (despite today's gloomy and drizzly weather) which means farming, traveling for reunions and weddings and adventuring in the pacific northwest (if i'm not too wiped out).

as promised, more dog pictures...
oh, it's so hard being a dog. i play and i eat and then i nap on my tennis ball.

i think it is the only tennis ball in the house that she has not destroyed yet.

i'm a sometimes homely dog.

this is what happens when we go to the dog park, and it usually involved not paying me any attention at all. at least she is sitting here.

fierce is a serious wrestling dog. her idea of playing is sparring on her hind legs with other dogs, tackling, rolling all over and anything that involves getting covered in other dogs' drool. this pictures us post tussle with the pups in the back. something she looks a little woozy after her adventures.


i would like a treat now please.

wow! it's been a long time. i'm going to re-vamp this little blog a little bit...when i get around to it.

here's the update about vanessa jean (& co)...
about two years ago i got interested (some might say passionate) about our food system, where food comes from, and growing organic, local produce. about a year ago i started a 17-month apprenticeship at sauvie island organics, where i get to learn about farming and practice (harvest, weed, seed, plant, transplant and more) every day. i'll be done at the end of september, and then who knows what's next. maybe some food policy, teaching in a school garden, or starting up a chicken operation (or poultry processing operation). we'll see.

vanessa jean is still going on the side. it's now a weekend and evening project, which is fine by me. i'm currently locked out of the website, so i can't edit anything, sad. this is the slow time of year, which is also ok with me.

the farming was light from january until now, but things are picking up and the season gets underway. yay!

the most exciting news is that the vanessa jean crew has a new addition. her name is fierce (and although she is anything but fierce, she is quite wonderful. she has kept us busy in the studio and so far keeps up busy with walking and feeding and entertainment. she's still an intern in training, and doesn't have any real responsibilities yet. sarah is also great, and ready to be done with school in june...then freedom. these are the two ladies in action...getting lots of work done around the studio.














ok, i can't resist, here's another one.




more to come when i get my act together

huge huge huge clearance sale at vanessajean.com.
click here. really, you should. it's that good.

what a great saturday. abra and i made plans to ride to sauvie island. for some reason. it was a cold and drizzly (ok, rainy) morning and by mile 15 neither of us could feel our feet. by mile 30 i was debating at what point i could call sarah for a ride and not be a complete weiner. however, 41 miles later i dropped abra off at home (with my god kitten ruby, who is now in heat) to warm up. 42 miles later i hosed my bike off in sarah's back yard and began the defrosting process. then i ate a delicious proscuitto and salami sandwich. life is sooooo good. now i go work and send out some orders...and then i go drink hot chocolate with whipped cream at chance of rain.

i know sauvie island is "about 20 miles from downtown portland" i've also driven out that way before. so i have no idea why i thought it would be about a 20 miles ride. or at least an easy ride...oh well. i'm just glad i made it! if i can stay up past 6pm, i think it's a good night to go out and enjoy myself.

occasionally...no, make that rarely, i have an idea that really means something. i had one of those ideas a few months ago, and right now i'm feeling pretty validated.

i live in portland, which is in the northwest, which is pretty much the biodiesel center of idea production in the us right now. ok, so that might be an exaggeration...but i'm guessing you'll see more "biodiesel, no war required" sticker in this area than any other. as a person who is trying to be as eco-friendly as possible, and realizes that (realistically) i can't ride my bike all the time...i've taken an interest in biofuels and thought about making the switch. there's a lot to learn, and it's very exciting. and depending on who you talk to...biofuels will save the world.

however, it didn't take me too many minutes of thinking to realize that mass-produced, mindlessly-used bio fuels are going to save the world. let me start with a basic point, and then move backwards. the only this that is actually going to help us conserve resources and reduce waste, is...well...using less resources. so i think it's funny when a bunch of folks think that by using another type of fuel...that we can save the world.

well, that other type of fuel, in this case biodiesel (if you are making processed biodiesel direct from soybean or other crop) is still dependent on petroleum and isn't actually that good for the environment. why? because to make a fuel out of soybeans (for biodiesel) or corn (ethanol)...you need conventionally grown (read: petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides and farm equipment) harvests that are then dependent on petroleum or coal to get to the west coast for processing and then are put through an energy intensive processing process (use your vocabulary vanessa!), with some nasty byproducts, to make biodiesel. not entirely bad, but also not entirely good. definately not the solution to our energy needs.

this new york times article
prompted today's post. i'm glad to see the debate about biofuels is hitting the media...i don't think we should look to any one source as our new energy savior. this christian science monitor article also spurred the post. when the hustle over petroleum slows down, the hustle for arrable land heats up...as does the hustle for space, land, territory to make all these projects work.

i saw a good start would be a focus on conservation. is that so hard? i'd like to see our fine president, national and local legislators and leaders say "hey! you! yea, you! you should carpool or take transit or bike commute. i do, and it's great! we can all pitch in to conserve resources by making mindful decisions about energy use. do it, or else." who knows, it couldn't hurt.

really, the best thing to do is 1) conserve 2) diversify our fuel sources: electric, biodiesel (algea & soybeans & all), ethanol, straight veggie oil, and more.

i think from here on out i'll just post about bio fuel and alternative fuel stuff. we'll see how long that lasts.

let's promote willie nelson's biofuel. here.

someone has seriously left her position as a blogger. that person would be me. but i'm back with this post about the last few day of the holiday shopping season...and how glad i will be tomorrow when i send out the last order of the season. it's really exciting. no more sore hands, no more ripping tape, no more addressing boxes, and no more playing with the automated postal machine at the post office (although that part is my favorite). tomorrow morning, i will go to the post office, stand in a short line, and get rid off the last boxes. then i can sleep like a normal person, eat like a healthy person, ride my bike like a cold weather weirdo, and go on vacation.
i'm so glad this day has come.

some quick, great news at the end of this long day...
1. fantastic clearance section now online at vanessajean.com. click here to see first rate duct tape accessories as bargain prices.
2. new press from the portland mercury. click here.
anyone who knows me knows that i am not actually qualified to give fashion advice.
3. it's busy around here. no sleep till christmas for us. click here for last minute shipping deadlines.

that's all to report for now, back to work.

the website was down for half a day, and it was scary. i thought i had ruined something with my edits the night before, but it was just a problem with the server. thank goodness it's all back!

things are busy. 3 more wholesale orders to go out, and the private party orders are going a bit nuts. it's nice to bring in extra people to help out, and it makes for good conversation in the studio.

conversation to come...
i was taking three weekends of permaculture classes. 3 of us carpooled since it was efficient (yay!). on the trip there saturday, we (me, a kid my age, and an older-than-me-and-of-mysterious-to-me-age) were talking about our holiday plans. a was celebrating his girlfriended holiday, splitting time between his family and hers. g and his family (wife and kid) just moved to pdx and don't have any family here. i explained my trip to so cal. there was brief conversation about families...and g said, "you seem like you have a pretty normal family." now, what would make someone say something like that, and what makes a family normal?

other things...
neat jobs
what to do in the future
holiday travel
vanessa jean clearance

the website is down
please keep posted for further information
thanks for your patience.

ok, this is the first cold day of the year. i had to put on my warm jacket, the one that i save for the coldest days. in some ways, i feel not-so-strong about this because it is only 41 degrees. however, when you ride a bike in 41 degrees with an 18 mph wind, it feels a lot colder. so that makes me feel better about using the warm coat. it sort of clicked over to winter all of a sudden. and i think i need better gloves too! oh well.
it's so hard to get motivated to ride the bike in the cold weather, but we must remain tough!

back to things that people actually care about, duct tape. the new site design and collection are up and kicking, and doing great. and things on the wholesale end are going a bit bonkers with the upcoming holiday season. great!

so i don't really know why i am sitting here typing, instead of working...but i'll get there. hope everyone had a nice day of turkey. mine was wonderful and delicious and i think this is the first time i've actually had turkey in about 6 years. usually i don't like the bird. but c & a made a delicious bird, and now i have a delicious vat of turkey soup, enough to last for weeks.

things on my agenda:
new credit card processor and processing gateway.
snow chains and weather watching for the (long) drive to la for the holiday previously known as christmas (x-mas).
3 wholesale orders (plus more in the works).
staying warm.
fulfilling your orders.

cheers

what exciting new for the 1001st post to the blog!
the newly modeled website is fully up and running, so please go check it out and spread the word for the good season of gift giving. i think this is the most extensive site-restyle paired with a new collection coming out, and it was a big undertaking...there are a few holes that need to be patched, images off old stuff to re-photo and load, but it's not too bad. so...go shopping!

the really sad thing about not having spamming commenters is that now my comments are empty and it makes me sad! not the end of the world though because i've been so busy! hooray. i got all the week's orders out yesterday, all my supplies and tape orders are up to date...and i got to spend all day today focused on updating the website. it's so fantastically exciting. so, i'm about to go post the changes and test them for a bit...so cross your fingers. and by the time you read this vanessajean.com will hopefully look really different.

if you missed the show on saturday...this is what you didn't get to see. but hopefully, you'll be able to see it quite soon on the website.

when it rains, it pours!
the last 4 days have been super intense in so many different ways.
1) friday and saturday and sunday night did, literally, rain and pour. it makes bike riding wet, which is always fun.
2) the ruby martini show went great on saturday, with much thanks to sarah who staffed the goods. yay!
3) my brain was flooded with permaculture info all weekend. rainwater catchment, food gardening, seed saving and storing and starting, swales, water, forest gardens, so much great stuff. worm bins, orchards. great! my list of things to do in the garden is growing and there aren't enough days in the week to take care of it all. oh well.
4) the duct tape orders are starting to (and continuing to) pour in. it's officially the season of chai tea and late nights and good music and help from friends. see you all in january when things slow down.

and speaking of seeing people...i will be in the la area for the end of december and the beginning of january. who else will be there?

how in the world do i get rid of these really annoying spammers on the comments?

my horoscope for the week. i know that the contents of this link will change every week, but i like what it is right now!

this weekend i got to see a chicken eat a mouse.
that is my second mouse filled weekend in a row.
what will happen this weekend?

(maybe i should start shooting for mousse instead of mouse?)

oh the green agony!
i just spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out which new checks to buy. being the penny-pincher that i am (and because i am not yet fully switched over to a bank that provides me with free checks, and almost out of checks from my old account...) i researched how much they would be to purchase through my bank, and then did some wonderful google work to see how much checks are elsewhere. these are the conclusions i came to...
1. my bank checks are at least $5 more expensive.
2. i can buy just one box (200 checks, w/o duplicates) of cheap checks with an over-the-top design for $9.95 including s&h.
3. i could buy environmentally friends checks at the check gallery. this third option really interested me, and i checked (no pun intended) it out. they have a special offer for new customers of $9.95 for the first box of checks, and only $.95 for the second. i got excited...but it turns out they have a two box minimum. plus $4.50 for the first box and $1.50 for additional boxes in shipping, plus $1.50 per box handling fee.
my conscience had quite a debate (can it have a debate, or can it just be challenged). here are the things i pondered.
a) recycled, soy based inks are great...i should support that.
b) i don't need two boxes of checks. it takes me about 8 years to use a box of checks, so a second box would be wasteful. what is the value of one box of conventionally produced and printed (and possibly made with recycled paper, not sure) checks versus a wasteful 2 boxes of guaranteed recycled, soy-based ink boxes. how do i even start to weight that.
c) the enviro checks required shipment through dhl, which i would consider to be more wasteful than the usps, which the conventional checks offer (for free). i love the usps.
d) yes, price $9.95 versus $19.90.
i will leave you in suspense readers...and i will return in some days with my answer.

it's getting cold here, and it's almost like there is a permanant mister hitting the city. ok, it just feels like that today, probably because i spent most of the day outside shoveling, forking and hauling chip and leveling out land, and it was great and i am tired. so all i want to do is listen to the indigo girls (sigh, i know) or watch alias and eat fudge chocolate ice cream and drink hot chocolate and curl up with a blanket and be cozy. which is fun. but first i will bike to the store and buy some pork, because i need it for this fantastic recipe i will be making for dinner. oh, that's right, it's the night when everyone goes out to celebrate halloween. my costume will be "pajama party" and i will celebrate in my living room. no body latex paint or french maid costumes or sugar candy for me...just a good night of sleep and some delicious food. and tomorrow a choir perfomance which i am quite excited to go to, and work...because i like work. and if you haven't checked out the bag of the week, you should do it now...because it's coming down tomorrow (because it already sold). ok, i should probably practice my coherence before i write anything publicly. time to turn the compost in my hot rubber boots!

oh geez! life is so exciting.
this morning i had a great meeting outside, and then i spent all day cooped up (oh how i wish i could be a mother to some urban chickens) rolling out 5 different versions of the mysterios new 'joy bag' for the upcoming fall/winter line. the design for this bag came to me in a flash of smoke and lights (ok, not really, but it did come from nowhere, instantly) and i was so excited to finish putting it together today. the shape and style is cute, and the detail work (in my own self-impressed opinion) is very cute. i'm so excited. if it's sunny tomorrow i'll take some pictures and be one step closer to having the new website completed...but no sneak peeks on the new items until the website re-launch, which should be the first week of november (just in time for the new duct tales newsletter). the new bag is just so cute, and i hope every duct tape lover in america feels that way. tomorrow i get on to prototyping the smaller pieces (joy cuff, coin catcher, new id wallet-envelope clutch and checkbook holder) i'm so excited. alright, back to work for me.

oh, and this is going to be the best week ever. (for you and for me)

does anyone have any chocolate?

there is something so wonderful about being out and about in nature, even if it's just for a day or two. i was lucky enough to spend the weekend camping in a snowshelter with this wonderful view at lake Timpanogas. ahhh, fresh air and water, it's the best.

this week will bring the finalization of the new website and the fal and winter line. also, lots of new items for the ruby martini show in two weekends. and, if my math is correct, meri will be in town which is very exciting. i also get to give blood and see sarah vowell, what could be better.

i am so excited about the pieces that will be coming up soon. one imparticular, it will have a certain girlish flair that has been missing on the site for a while.

it feels like there is so much to say, but i can't summon any of it right now. so, back to work for me. happy week!

at least i am back to posting weekly, instead of every other month. here is the run down...things are getting busy in the studio for the holiday season, i can feel it coming on. business is getting busier around town too, now that i am a bit more plugged in to the scene and have a wider network of amigos. i'm very excited to put together a nice collection for the ruby martini show on november 5th (at core source from 11 to 4pm) in ne portland. leave me a message for more info. shows are a nice way of meeting people and getting the word out, showing the new line (yay) and getting rid of old pieces that seem like they are going to live in the studio forever. and, it's going to be sarah's first show. i'll be in a class all weekend, so the goods will be managed by her. it's nice to have the added (and much appreciated) teamwork around the studio. i am also so excited to keep developing the website. the new front page is up at vanessajean.com, so check it out and report back about how you like it. it should be running by the end of the week, depending on how many more orders come in (it's so hard to prioritize web design when there feels like more pressing work to do!) either way, it's a good time. also, the fall/winter line should be out in no time, just trying to pare it down to a sturdy collection instead of a few (but great) mishmashed designs. i'm going to be introducing a duct tape pin (you know, a brooch, but trendier) and the stationery is going to come back...although this time it will be much cooler.

as for me, i'm still plugging along at all the other important things in my life! i finally feel like i have a social situation here that i am incredibly happy with (saturday plans for the past two weeks!) and i am moving in the educational and professional directions i want. the benefit of having a work-for-yourself schedule is that you can volunteer on all sorts of projects, which i am trying to maximize. right now i am doing (ok, just starting) some classroom based learning for the psu FEED program, and hopefully getting to work on the farm space more too. i am also taking some permaculture courses with the portland permaculture institute which is incredibly exciting! i am also still riding my bike alot and enjoying the last few sunny days before the need to build an arc sets in here. oh well. also, i have discovered the wonders of acupuncture, and i recommend it all around. ok, back to work...

ok, now it's really been a long time. this is the effect of not having wireless internet in the house or studio, which is prohibitively expensive...and i can't get an unprotected connection in my apartment...oh well. so, here's the run down. pictures of fall prototypes online now. the home page will be redone in the next day (finally!) and then the rest of the facelift for the website will commence. so exciting! the fall/winter line is wrapping up splendidly, and it's just a matter of getting everything up on the site, and all should be superb for a holiday-time re-launch. maybe we'll celebrate with a sale! i've been awash with inspiration lately, from pins (to come) to all kinds of crazy new scissors and hole-making devices, to chinese food to throw-back pendants. it feels great to get some down time to just design. and the bag of the week goes up tomorrow too. i will give you a sneak preview of the items right here...right now...right below...

unfortunately there wasn't superb light by the time i finished them, but i think they will clean up ok, or hopefully it will be sunny tomorrow. on left...polka meri: kelly green with a case of the pink polka dots. on the left: meri sophisticate: olive with pink circles. the dots are hand punched into the duct tape, and they look fantastic.
other things we are working on..re-formating some of the pages on the site that have been a mystery until now (the item detail pages) and developing our environmental policy that will be posted on the site. we are well aware that duct tape is not good for the environment, and we do our best to make up for it with our intense waste reduction, recylcing, re-use and renewable energy policies. more to come on the website.

on the personal side, i have spent the first 4 days into my 25th year of life as a happy woman who has enjoyed a couple extra naps, a couple extra hours to sleep in, a couple extra miles on the bike each day, and a belly full of gluten free birthday treats (thanks gals!). lots more personal stuff, but we'll have to save it for another day.

oh, and vanessa jean is celebrating its 3rd birthday this november...that's a great reason to have a sale!

wow!
i can't believe it's been so long! not like you care, because you probably don't read this blog that often anyway...and my insights aren't all that insightful...so there.

about two months ago i moved to a nice little studio+ apartment in the southeast part of town. as of yet, it doesn't have internet access yet (me = cheap and lazy), so my visits to the local coffee shop for hit or miss internet service focus mainly on, well, more important things.

but i just got an e-mail from bas about the creation of this blog which made me think about blogging again.

but this post will have to be put on hold, as mom, sarah and i are going to the museum and for tea. until then...cheers.

new items!
it's been a long time since i've posted anything debuting some new duct tape stuff...and i've promised it to so many people. anyhow, enjoy these duds.


this is a new mini alice in avocado with brown trim. sure, that's cute...but it also has some amazing features. the leaf is a special addition, and it's actually on a snap fastener, which means it's removeable! the coolest part is that when the leaf is removed, there's a cool flap that flips over from the inside and snaps on there...it looks cute, and you can snap your keys in there too!


this mini maron bag, in white with traditional black velvet handles features a custom made cherry design on the front. cheers!

a rough draft of the infamous indy wallet.


one of the new messenger bags i've been messing with. not only cool new stripes (and stripe technology!) but also an adjustable nylon strap with a buckle closure (helps get it on and off easily).

ok, there's more to come! blogger doesn't want me to post any more pictures now.

i've changed from a boring blogger to a non-existent blogger...
time to change that!

lots and lots and lots has happened in the last 3 weeks, and i am going to list them here, mostly because i really like lists...

1. i got medical insurance. although this might be the most mundane thing on the list, it's my most favorite, because now i am less petrified about being hit by a car, coming down with something odd, or getting pink-eye...and my insurance covers (partly) 'non-traditional' therapies (acupuncture here i come!). that is exciting. my life is about to get so much better.
2. i went to iowa for 4 days. des moines. it was really fun. i met lots of very nice people, played catch, ate chicken with a can in the butt, slept in a camper, played with guns, met the friendliest cat ever, started a campfire, and had lots of nice talks. i'm sure there is even more (like the really fun red-eye flight, someone please remind me to never do that again)that i can't think about now...but that's just because there was so much stuff that happened.
3. i went to san francisco for all of 26 hours. however, they were some of the best hours ever. it's always nice to see old friends, and meet their boyfriends as well.
4. did i mention i got health insurance. i'm going to get my ears cleaned out.
5. my real-person job got extended through the end of july. i will enjoy the friendly paychecks, computer work and co-workers, but the hours of schlepping by bike are losing excitement.
6. i won tickets to a concert (sadly not the indigo girls) during the opb pledge drive. it's on the 4th of july. yay.
7. i got to help build cob structures, my new passion in life.
8. an upcoming grantwriting class makes me excited.
9. permaculture classes and learning is in my future. yipppeeee.
10. engagements. it's started. in the last 3 weeks three of my friends have e-mailed me announcing their engagements. i knew it would start sometime, i'm just glad it's happened with a rush. much congrats and good luck to the recent engagee-s (2 of whom may still read this blog)...i'm pretty darn thrilled for you.
11. the garden is beautiful! the gardening effort started out small scale, and pretty hopeless. s and i didn't really know what we were doing out there. a few lucky things happened to make the garden look at pretty and taste as good as it does. we are lucky enough that our small plot is surrounded by the green-thumb work of some very good gardeners. so not only does their lush greenspace make ours look better, but they've also been wonderful about giving helpful hints, as well as just creating a good garden to learn from. things to harvest now and soon: green lettuce, red lettuce, bok choy, english? cabbage. we've already worked through the peas. the tomatoes are growing (the first one is already much bigger than a golf ball) and has almost 10 little brothers and sisters to match. the corn transplants continue to grow, and the seeds are coming up too. things to look forward to: chinese cabbage, carrots, arugula, some other fancy salad green, basil & dill. some long shot hopefuls include squash, muskmelon and watermelon. keep your fingers crossed about those.
12. the succulent plants are doing fantastically, and s adopted some new jade and aloe from iowa. what a little succulent garden is growing inside of doors.
13. i'm undoubtedly leaving many important things off this list, but that's ok.
i'm going to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day by cleaning my space and cooking a delicious meal! what happy times!

wahooooo!!!
would anyone in pdx like to come with me?

mornings are the best joyful quiet time ever, i love them, yay! yesterday was an uber-productive day, and those are my favorite. the one thing i didn't get to do was fix the problems going on with my sinuses. weird stuff, but no pain. it's amazing how the stuff in our bodies is connected.
things i am excited about:
visiting san francisco this weekend!!!
visitng iowa next week/end
getting rid of my darn cough
building a bike kayak trailer
creating some new duct tape accessories
finishing my long-lost quilt project
building a hanging lamp
making cute aprons with old ties and scrap fabric
tuning my own bike (by myself!)
looking to the future (work ends 7/7, what next?)
sunny days! i love sunny days!

hmmm, i should probably get ready to go to work. what a boring blogger i've turned into. oh well.

oh joyful happy day!
it is beautiful outside, and i am taking a whole weekend to just relax. what a novel idea. ok, so there is just a little bit of working in there, but no complaints. i get to drink juice in bed and read great books! i'm reading middlesex, and it feels so nice to be wrapped up and completely engaged in a book. such a treat. and gardening (chinese cabbage and corn go in the ground, carrots and dill and basil as well) and then some bike tuning and cleaning. oh phenomenally exciting things.

last week i went on a paddling adventure on the columbia river...and on the way there, noticed that the route is a bike lane. this detail (along with the story of the man who bike from the east coast to the west coast, unassisted, and pulling a canoe, gear and dog...and then paddled from the west coast to the east coast through the panama canal...) inspired me to make (hopefully) a nice bike trailer that can haul a 16.5 foot kayak so i can peddle away for weekend adventure of paddling and biking and camping. that would be the best thing ever. so, if anyone has any advice or experience making or owning a kayak trailer for a bike, please let me know.

these are the interesting links i have found so far.
paddleboy (would this woman in her tennis whites really pedal her craft to the lake?)
bikes at work
wike bike trailers (i don't think i want a seat hitch though)
tony's trailer's $$$
so, that's that. it's nice to have another project to add to the long list of projects to work on in the future/finally finish one day!

it's been so long since i've posted. oh well. does it make anyone feel any better that every day i post things to the blog in my imagination? i didn't think so.

today has been quite a sentimental family day, sort of. i called my dad tonight and we talked for a long time, which was nice. i talked about all the crazy natural building and permaculture plans i have for their new house (little do they know...enter evil child laughter here!). i was also cooking some artichoke at the same time, which i haven't done since i was a little kid. we used to boil large artichoke and dip the cooked outer leaves in mayonaise with lemon juice, and just smelling the artichokes on the stove made me think back to those fun summer nights in the harvest gold kitchen i grew up in. it's amazing how much familiarity a specific smell can drudge up from your past. then my mom called from new york (she's such the business traveler) because she met a musician who is mentioned in a raffi song...so i thought of endless raffi songs, and the time she and i spent days in new york when i was looking at colleges (you couldn't pay me enough money to go to school here...and where did i end up? geez) regardless, it made me think of the noreaster of that year, and drafting big rigs to get up a snowy freeway, and raffi songs and driving to the cabin and, yes, more artichoke. then i curled up in bed to do some work online, and i wanted to sleep, and maybe i even shut my eyes a little, even though it was still light outside (even though is was 9.10pm) and it flashed me back to the beginning-of-summer days when i was a kid, when school was almost out, but bedtime was still before 8 o'clock (could you imagine!?) it was so challenging to go to bed before the sunlight ran out...but i guess they coaxed and calmed me somehow. what a novel idea to relax enough while there are still working hours in the day! it's dark now, so i can sleep peacefully...and maybe dream about all the exciting things that i am looking forward to in this summer of long-lit days: almost-midnight gardening, bike rides for ice cream at all hours, climbing to roof, geez...endless adventures.

and now that the sun is down, it's time for me to sleep! (yes, it's 10pm, but apparently my body is on granny time, and i'm just going to go with it!)

cheers and happy summer memories.