The Tuesday Night Girls

Mom sent me some pictures she scanned of the "Golden Girls"/"Tuesday Girls". But she beat me to the punch in posting them! (yeah!...my mother, the supposed non-blogger!) So I'll just post my favorite. Grandma is the dark-haired one with the big hat in the center of the front row. I think we saw this wedding on the DVD...I remember that hat and dress. And I don't know if I'm a little biased because she's my grandma, but I think she stands out the most out of everyone in this picture. Probably because everyone else is wearing light-colored dresses except her!

She looks so like my mom!...or probably more accurately, Mom looks like her!

At least Mom typed up all the interesting info so I don't have to! Go check out her blog post to read it. Well, plus has more firsthand knowledge than I do and she has the whole newspaper article at home...she only sent me scans, so I don't have the whole thing. But I found this snippet about my Grandma in one of the scans...(This article was published in the Rome Observer in 1996)

Yup! That's my grandma! :)

CPSIA Article on Forbes.com

Here's another article about the CPSIA. This one is from Forbes! Isn't that a popular fancy-schmancy business magazine?

"it passed the Senate 89 to three and the House by 424 to one, with Ron Paul the lone dissenter"
I think it's kind of funny that Ron Paul was the one dissenter when this law got approved. I know my husband liked him for a reason!

Oh, and for anyone who hasn't heard, (from the Handmade Toy Alliance)...

"'Save Small Business from the CPSIA' is now one of the top ten ideas for change in America on change.org. These ideas were presented to President-elect Obama's change.gov/transition team at a press event in Washington DC this past Friday, January 16th. With 12,280 votes from supporters, our issue is now part of a campaign to increase national awareness of the lack of provisions for small business in HR4040, the CPSIA, and bring about positive changes to the law..."

It's Because I'm Black Isn't It?!

Sorry, I gotta rant for a moment...
In my blog-browing tonight...I came across this article via the Apartment Therapy blog about a supposed bias against black dogs.

"Is there a prejudice against black dogs? It's an unspoken superstition among shelter owners that black dogs are harder to place, perhaps because they're considered mean or evil. Or it could be, in this age of searching for a pet via the web, that they don't photograph as well. This week's feature story looks at this issue and showcases seven black dogs that should help put that rumour to rest. "

COME ON!!! Are they kidding??? They got to play the color card with dogs now??? I'm stuck somewhere between flat disbelief that people believe such a thing is true and thinking that if it actually is true, that it's just too ridiculous! All I have to say is that

I actually prefer dark colored animals. I've always wanted a pure black cat and a black lab. Both my dog and my parents' dog are black and they're both the sweetest things ever...and they photograph beautifully!

I must say as well that Rottweilers get a really bad rep. Darn movies and mean junkyard owners! King (my parents' dog...the big one shown) is the sweetest dog ever!

Encouragement & Issues

Sometimes I get nervous that no one will buy my work if I start an Etsy shop. But this article on Etsy's "The Storque" has encouraged me some. The only thing that intimidates me is that there are so many plush artists out there. I get paranoid that my stuff isn't unique or well made enough, and that I will get lost in the fray of the monstrous number of plushie makers out there.

I'm also trying to make myself a name & logo for my shop and I keep running into a snafoo. I have two main things that I do...sock monsters and paintings. But they tend to be on different sides of the spectrum from each other. My monsters are wacky and whimsical, but my paintings are more serious. And I'm having trouble figuring out a logo that represents them both and doesn't lean too far one way of the other.