thelmasmith

The biggest sigh on this lovely spring day. Finally I am beginning to see tangible results. I’m beginning to feel that I can actually conquer my workroom sufficiently. I am beginning to lay out books that I want to reread.

Take a look at the used up, worn out, side of the dye board. If you click on the image you will see the warts and scars from seven years work. It has been balanced on edge on the wagon and banished to it’s alternate place. It lives, now, clamped to the quilt storage system in the garage.

The closets are tidy. Everything is sorted and labeled. I no longer have to dig through all sorts of extraneous materials to find what I have in mind.

Now comes the well, almost part. Take one step down into the sewing portion of my workroom. The ironing board has been put away. The extra card tables that come out to hold up big pieces of fabric for stitching have been put away. The well, almost, part is the sewing surface itself. As other spaces have gotten clean and tidy this space has collected things that need more thought.

The bookcase remains dizastical. My husbands word; it is a hybrid of disaster and fantastic. Work on this space has been put on hold. I need to make decisions on which books to keep. There are a lot of out of print books that have been read once and shelved. Eventually, I will list each one on the website. That too, is on hold.

The rest of the spring cleaning will wait for next week.

Photo of Cesar Chavez compliments of Google Image. Thank you!

Here’s an invitation that came to me by way of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. It highlights my favorite radio station, KXCI. You can listen to community radio any day or night if you have a high speed modem. KXCI is not a PBS station although some of their funding does come from there. They are community born, community grown, and community supported.

All sorts of programs from Ruby’s Roadhouse Texas Two Step, The Blues Review with Marty Kool, electronica, ethnic, you name your favorite sort of sound and you can find it on the KXCI playlist. I find that it’s always Democracy Now when I’m driving home between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon.

So, Friday you may like to tune in. The exploration begins at 9:00 US Mountain Standard Time.

Cesar Chavez birthday celebration,

KXCI explores the legacy of Cesar Chavez
Friday, March 30
Community Radio Station KXCI 91.3 FM Tucson explores the legacy of Cesar Chavez beginning at 9am on Friday, March 30 (the day before what would have been his 80th birthday). Feature interviews with local educators, community leaders and activists as well as historical segments from TUSD students. These spoken word spots will be interspersed through a border blend of music that will include selections from the United Farm Workers’ movement, soulful sounds of that turbulent time period and contemporary socially relevant songs. Bob Diaz, host of KXCI’s “Chicano Connections” will get the music going at 9am. Music mixer Danny Meza continues from 11 to 1. DJ Javier, host of “Sabor del Barrio” will make a special appearance from 1 to 3. Cesar Chavez was a 2nd generation American who was born and died in Arizona. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa. On Friday, March 30, KXCI will observe the legacy of the man who continues to provide inspiration to millions of people.

Here are a few more links if you want to learn more about Cesar Chavez.

www.azcesarchavezcoalition.com/index.html

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/chavez

http://clnet.ucla.edu/research/chavez/bio/

http://www.chavezfoundation.org/cesarechavez.html

Do click on the Reader Stats tab at the top of the blog.  There is a tool for zooming in to the left of the top of the map.  You can zoom(+) , choose to move your zoom north, south, east, and west.  You can also select from the map, satellite, and hybrid viewing selections.  The Xs that seem to obscure the world map will resolve themselves to your home computer as you zoom in.

Have fun! ! !

The dye board was almost clean. I was down to pressing freshly washed silk gauze and organza. Life intervened, again. A chance note on a list brought two lovely ladies to my door. Two, vintage, restored, 1955 General Electric mangles have new homes. A good, 5000º Kelvin, twin tube, fluorescent on a rolling stand, the one I kept falling over, went to a new home.

So, I continue working on my spring cleaning. I did get the silks ironed and put away until I get time to dye and paint and use them for a nuno base. Look at the silk I found in the cleaning. There should be enough to make a very classy tunic.

Then I ran across this off cut.

Good thing I got so much cleaned up. Here’s what the dye board looks like after removing all the things that were stacked on top of the mangle.

This post has been sitting for many days.  I was concerned it was too over the top as a rant.  However, I saw a bumper sticker two days ago.  “Family values is having your little brother steal the election for you.”  Hum, sums it up rather nicely.

Now we add in the politically motivated firing of eight federal judges.  It’s just too much.  I’ve decided to speak.  Below is what I had saved.
Democracy Now is one of my favorite news sources. The BBC is another I trust. Both give me information that I am unable to get from the network and cable news purveyors in the United States. You can listen to Democracy Now on the web.

Usually, I listen when I’m driving. When I’m in my workroom I’m too immersed in other things to pay attention. My curatorial work most often concerns societal commentary. This excerpt, below, from Democracy Now is from a speech delivered on March 12, 2007. Use that hotlink to listen to the speech if you have high speed; read the transcript if you ar on dial up. You will read and hear things on Democracy Now weeks before CNN notices.

It’s a shame that more people who have the same feelings do not speak up publicly. It’s time to call for impeachment.

No more sending our children to their deaths to enrich men already too rich.

“PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ: [translated] On the other side of the river, that is where that little gentleman of the North must be. . .

I am convinced that our friends in Brasilia and in Montevideo are not going to feel offended, . . We recognize that those governments have the sovereign right to invite the little gentleman of the North, if they so choose.

But Kirchner and I don’t need to plan anything to sabotage this visit, because we are witnessing the true political cadaver. The President of the United States is a political cadaver. He doesn’t even smell of sulfur anymore. He doesn’t even smell of sulfur or brimstone, if you will. No longer. What you smell from him now is the stench of political death. And not long from now, he will turn to dust and disappear.”

Don’t we all wish ! There is artwork in this speech. A dia de los muertos memorial, maybe. That would be right after the impeachment.

It was looking so good. But I had to dump the three laundry baskets that had not been touched for years. The fabrics need sorted out by kind and type, evaluated, and either kept in inventory or sent on to other good homes.

Then I dumped the baskets.

The dark mass at the left is actually a pile of what I call “rag rug silks.” These are very rough silks that are woven out of either waste and/or the broken cocoons of silk moths that have survived.

So, global warming and goofy weather being what it is, summer has come to Sonora temporarily. With it has come a stuffed up head, and all the symptoms of inhaling too much very fine dust.

The sort out is waiting.

I’ve begun using thumbnails. Much like this one that accumulated in the spring cleaning. This is the dreadful cat bat. You probably consider it a velcro lint brush. If you click on the image you will get a much larger image.

The spring cleaning continues. The closets are looking better.

The left hand closet is better but the junkyard at the top is still a concern. The Hoffman Bali Batiques have been sorted roughly by color and tidied. More and more boxes are going to Los Hijos de la Vida. I’ll be giving you a hot link for this organization another day.

The dyeboard is actually almost clean. Progress comes at a price. Tomorrow you will see the price.