Dear friends, family, comrades,
Apparently I find newsletter writing difficult in August (last year's August newsletter didn't go out until it was already September). But I am sitting at home in today's blissfully breezy, cool (in the 60s!), and dry weather with a tall glass of iced coffee, 40 minutes, and a determination to catch y'all up on the news.
Image: Three lawn chairs, two purple, one green, on the lawn of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
As they say in Boston, the end of July and beginning of August were wicked hot and humid. While nothing record-breaking for our swampy city it was still pretty exhausting. Even the cats were not impressed. Neither Hanna nor I grew up with -- or particularly like using -- air conditioning at home, but we finally decided we needed to purchase a unit for our bedroom. We wanted the a portable a/c + dehumidifier unit that just runs a vent out the window rather than being installed on a seasonal basis in a bedroom window, blocking light and air. Unfortunately, after about five different attempts with three different vendors -- including the delivery of one defective unit and the cancellation of two other orders -- we are still sans a/c! But the weather is much better and we have decided to ride the season out without purchasing one. Hopefully we can hit up some mid-winter sales and be prepared for next summer!
Image: Close-up of cross-stitching in cream Aida closs with variegated rainbow floss.
On August 1st, as some of you already know, I launched a new Persistent Stitches website and Twitter feed! The project now counts ten crafters as part of the collective and as of today we've raised $2,150.00 for the day-to-day work of resisting the Republican agenda. I know I'm something of a broken record about this, but it's been so nourishing to my soul to see this idea take off, and to have it be supported by crafters and donors this year. It's helped me get through some stretches of existential terror one stitch at a time and I am so grateful to everyone involved.
Image: "Persistent Stitches I" wall hanging. Photograph by Laura Wulf.
Also in the first week of August, I submitted all of the paperwork and images necessary to accept my place in the juried art exhibition Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism (Central Library of Rochester, New York & Monroe County, 2019). A heartfelt thanks to those of you who submitted words and images for me to include as the "flowers" (the little circular charms on the piece above). The exhibition doesn't open until August 2019, but I am looking forward to making a visit to the show and I promise pictures! There will also be an associated exhibition catalog.
I'm also looking into the possibility of joining another grassroots "craftivism" project: Postcards to Voters. Postcards volunteers write "friendly, handwritten reminders" to voters in key races across the country in an effort to swing elections in favor of Democratic candidates. If this sounds like a great way to spend a couple of hours on your weekend, be sure to check out the project and sign up!
Image: Movie poster for Byzantium (2012).
I watched a movie! I hardly ever watch feature-length films anymore, but a couple of weeks ago I watched Byzantium (2012) and loved it. It's a quiet little vampire film about two female vampires, traveling through the modern-day world as sisters. The narrative is about how they became what they are, how they have been living, and the choices they have to make about their lives moving forward. I think it's particularly powerful for having two exceptionally strong female leads who carry the story. There are male characters, to be sure, but they all serve as catalysts for female action not the other way around. Which is refreshing.
I've also been watching some LGBTQ documentaries this past week, for an article on LGBTQ history resources I will be writing for Library Journal, and so far I have particularly liked The State of Marriage (2015) about the struggle for queer family recognition in Vermont. It does an excellent job recounting all of the labor -- particularly labor by queer women -- that went into making first civil unions and then marriage possible for same-sex couples in Vermont.
Image: Cover art for Salt Magic, Skin Magic
Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch came out the first week of August, a historical paranormal romance that I have been hearing great things about AND THOSE GREAT THINGS WERE NOT WRONG. Set in 19th century England (but with magic practitioners), the romance is between an industrial magician who is hired by a friend to investigate an unhappy -- potentially cursed -- marriage, and a young gentleman being held prisoner by his father on the family's country estate. It was delicious and over too fast and I can only hope and pray that the author has more up their sleeve for this universe because it is delightful in every way.
A few other books I appreciated this month: Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys by Lucy Neville about women who create and engage with sexually explicit media involving m/m sex and relationships; How All Politics Became Reproductive Politics by Laura Briggs on carework in our neoliberal age; and Harper Fox's Scrap Metal another romance between scholar-turned-farmer Nichol and a fugitive-turned-farmhand Cameron. Some day I will have caught up on all of Harper Fox's work AND THAT WILL BE A SAD DAY.
Image: Twelve quilt blocks (four rows of three) in various patterns of blue and white.
Now I am off to finish my quilt top for the 2018 Arlington Street Auction quilt (pictures likely next newsletter!) under the cats' watchful eye and watch Stonewall Uprising as I stitch.
Be well, be kind, be loud,
Anna
P.S. Enjoy a photograph of Teazle's neatly-curled tail.
Image: A close-up of a tortoiseshell cat's back hip, neatly framed by a curl of her tail.
Apparently I find newsletter writing difficult in August (last year's August newsletter didn't go out until it was already September). But I am sitting at home in today's blissfully breezy, cool (in the 60s!), and dry weather with a tall glass of iced coffee, 40 minutes, and a determination to catch y'all up on the news.
Image: Three lawn chairs, two purple, one green, on the lawn of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. As they say in Boston, the end of July and beginning of August were wicked hot and humid. While nothing record-breaking for our swampy city it was still pretty exhausting. Even the cats were not impressed. Neither Hanna nor I grew up with -- or particularly like using -- air conditioning at home, but we finally decided we needed to purchase a unit for our bedroom. We wanted the a portable a/c + dehumidifier unit that just runs a vent out the window rather than being installed on a seasonal basis in a bedroom window, blocking light and air. Unfortunately, after about five different attempts with three different vendors -- including the delivery of one defective unit and the cancellation of two other orders -- we are still sans a/c! But the weather is much better and we have decided to ride the season out without purchasing one. Hopefully we can hit up some mid-winter sales and be prepared for next summer!
Image: Close-up of cross-stitching in cream Aida closs with variegated rainbow floss.On August 1st, as some of you already know, I launched a new Persistent Stitches website and Twitter feed! The project now counts ten crafters as part of the collective and as of today we've raised $2,150.00 for the day-to-day work of resisting the Republican agenda. I know I'm something of a broken record about this, but it's been so nourishing to my soul to see this idea take off, and to have it be supported by crafters and donors this year. It's helped me get through some stretches of existential terror one stitch at a time and I am so grateful to everyone involved.
Image: "Persistent Stitches I" wall hanging. Photograph by Laura Wulf. Also in the first week of August, I submitted all of the paperwork and images necessary to accept my place in the juried art exhibition Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism (Central Library of Rochester, New York & Monroe County, 2019). A heartfelt thanks to those of you who submitted words and images for me to include as the "flowers" (the little circular charms on the piece above). The exhibition doesn't open until August 2019, but I am looking forward to making a visit to the show and I promise pictures! There will also be an associated exhibition catalog.
I'm also looking into the possibility of joining another grassroots "craftivism" project: Postcards to Voters. Postcards volunteers write "friendly, handwritten reminders" to voters in key races across the country in an effort to swing elections in favor of Democratic candidates. If this sounds like a great way to spend a couple of hours on your weekend, be sure to check out the project and sign up!
Image: Movie poster for Byzantium (2012). I watched a movie! I hardly ever watch feature-length films anymore, but a couple of weeks ago I watched Byzantium (2012) and loved it. It's a quiet little vampire film about two female vampires, traveling through the modern-day world as sisters. The narrative is about how they became what they are, how they have been living, and the choices they have to make about their lives moving forward. I think it's particularly powerful for having two exceptionally strong female leads who carry the story. There are male characters, to be sure, but they all serve as catalysts for female action not the other way around. Which is refreshing.
I've also been watching some LGBTQ documentaries this past week, for an article on LGBTQ history resources I will be writing for Library Journal, and so far I have particularly liked The State of Marriage (2015) about the struggle for queer family recognition in Vermont. It does an excellent job recounting all of the labor -- particularly labor by queer women -- that went into making first civil unions and then marriage possible for same-sex couples in Vermont.
Image: Cover art for Salt Magic, Skin MagicSalt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch came out the first week of August, a historical paranormal romance that I have been hearing great things about AND THOSE GREAT THINGS WERE NOT WRONG. Set in 19th century England (but with magic practitioners), the romance is between an industrial magician who is hired by a friend to investigate an unhappy -- potentially cursed -- marriage, and a young gentleman being held prisoner by his father on the family's country estate. It was delicious and over too fast and I can only hope and pray that the author has more up their sleeve for this universe because it is delightful in every way.
A few other books I appreciated this month: Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys by Lucy Neville about women who create and engage with sexually explicit media involving m/m sex and relationships; How All Politics Became Reproductive Politics by Laura Briggs on carework in our neoliberal age; and Harper Fox's Scrap Metal another romance between scholar-turned-farmer Nichol and a fugitive-turned-farmhand Cameron. Some day I will have caught up on all of Harper Fox's work AND THAT WILL BE A SAD DAY.
Image: Twelve quilt blocks (four rows of three) in various patterns of blue and white. Now I am off to finish my quilt top for the 2018 Arlington Street Auction quilt (pictures likely next newsletter!) under the cats' watchful eye and watch Stonewall Uprising as I stitch.
Be well, be kind, be loud,
Anna
P.S. Enjoy a photograph of Teazle's neatly-curled tail.
Image: A close-up of a tortoiseshell cat's back hip, neatly framed by a curl of her tail.