Wow. I can’t say much more than that. Friday night, TJ & I saw Coraline, and we were also lucky enough to see it in 3D. I was skeptical about how the 3D effect would work – especially since we both wear glasses – but it took my breath away. Literally.

Everything in this stop-motion  film was hand-made, and that was the draw of it for me. At the ArcLight Theater in Hollywood, they displayed of some of the movie’s set pieces. The detail that went into each little piece was unbelievable – especially in my favorite character, Mr. Bobinsky (right). He had the tiniest corkscrew hairs on his chest & arms. And the details like his knee brace and the medal on his chest really sealed the deal on his character for me. Oh, and his love of cheese.

I can’t imagine the patience it must have taken to create such a stunning film. Every second of the film required 24 separate frames – that’s stopping & adjusting the characters & sets 24 different times for each SECOND of film. The crew of almost 400 people worked 50-hour weeks just to produce about 5 minutes of footage per month. All of this adjusting of the characters took its toll on the delicate parts of them. Artists worked nonstop for two years just making replacement hands for Coraline alone. (More info on the making of the film here.)

The characters’ clothes were another draw for me. In my attempt to make the clothes for TJ’s puppets, I learned just how hard it is to work with such tiny garments. And, after watching this video, I learned I didn’t even know the half of it.

He’s my sweet guy with the sense of humor that makes him so unique. He’s also becoming one well-known motionographer with quite the resume. Last year, he won the Adobe Cut & Paste video contest.

And this year, TJ was invited to compete in the Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournament. This is an international, 16-city competition where the best of the best duke it out for 8 hours over their keyboards to produce the best motion graphics design.

This is, like, the Super Bowl of design.

And TJ is one of the finalists! Only four motion graphics designers per city are chosen – four per city! – and he will be one of the LA-based designers competing on February 21 in Hollywood!

And, if TJ wins the LA contest…he will fly to NYC in June for the GLOBAL design tournament!

Here’s to a successful spring & summer for my favorite guy! I’ll be there to take pics and wave my homemade “TJ ROCKS” poster while wearing my “I’M MARRIED TO THAT GUY!” t-shirt and screaming at the top of my lungs, “I LOVE YOU, TEEJ!”

I swear to God, he never ceases to amaze me. I’ve come to say, “If there’s a way for it to be done, TJ will figure it out.”

Public policy can be so F-ed up, you know?

Just read.  And call your Congressman. Or Congresswoman. Please.

There’s some more info here on how this ridiculous law could impact different parts of our society.

I feel like I do my best to consume less. Opting to walk instead of drive. Buying local. Buying secondhand. Bringing my own bags to stores, or opting to put my purchases in my purse – or, (gasp!) using my magnificent eight fingers and two opposable thumbs to carry my purchases out of the store.

Last week, I went to the grocery for coffee creamer and Clif bars – five items, total. At the checkout, when asked paper or plastic, I said, “Neither. I’ll carry everything out.”

The bagger pulled out of her apron a roll of neon-orange, 4-inch circular stickers. They read Thank you for shopping at Ralph’s, and she put one on each of my five items.

“It’s a new rule. We have to sticker everything that leaves the store without a bag. To prove you paid for the stuff.”

So much for simplicity. I couldn’t help but wonder why the security guard needed bright orange stickers to see that I wasn’t shoplifting. Couldn’t he simply verify my purchase by looking at my receipt as I left the store? This wouldn’t create an enormous problem. How many items can a person really carry in their arms? Would it be that difficult to look at a receipt and check-off five or six items?

I tried to eliminate the need for a bag by carrying my goods in my arms…but instead, someone else found it necessary to have these stickers manufactured and shipped to Ralph’s stores – processes that create waste.

Two steps forward, one step back.

Oh, and if you prefer the plastic grocery bags for collecting your dog’s poo on walks, check out these 100% biodegradable poop bags at PoopBags.com. I know, it creates waste to manufacture them…true, but you’ve gotta clean up the poo with something. It might as well be biodegradable. Plus, one year’s supply comes out to just over a penny a bag. Happy pooping!

I spend a LOT of time browsing the web, looking for ideas & inspiration. A LOT. I am also part of a few online design communities where people post pics of their projects & what not.  One of my favorites is Burda Style. There, you can post & browse projects, and you can also download patterns made by users. I love, love, love it. So, imagine my surprise when I logged in today and noticed that one of my projects was featured on the front page (my creation is on the left side of the page…the yellow tank top).

I seem to post this stuff in big batches. I guess it’s easier that way. Anyhow, I’ve been busy making stuff again! I posted all the pics on my Flickr page, but here are a few anyhow.

Maizey and I hung out with our good friends Pete & Gus on Sunday and cheered on the Steelers (poor TJ’s working night & day on a Super Bowl commercial & had to miss out). I have to admit…I don’t follow the NFL, but I do enjoy watching football with friends. Since Pete was providing lunch, I wanted to bring something for him, and flowers came to mind. But, I hate how they always die, you know? So, I made some that can last forever from leftover fabric. (I admit…the green floral wire looks pretty cheezy inside the jar with the marbles…it was all I had to work with, though.)

I love our library. Well, I love all of them…we have a lot…seems like you can find one every few miles. Every so often, the libraries hold used book sales, and this morning was the book sale at the library in our ‘hood – Mar Vista. So, I dropped TJ off at work (yep, working Saturdays in preparation for the Super Bowl spot he’s editing), and decided to go to the library instead of the beach. I’d say my efforts paid off…all of these finds for just $7. Now, to choose just one & head back to the beach…

Titles include:

The Historian by Kostova
Charmed Lives by Korda
Towns without Rivers by Parker
We Were the Mulvaneys by Oates
The Human Stain by Roth
American Pastoral by Roth
Cannery Row by Steinbeck
Atonement by McEwan
Lolita by Nabokov
My Antonia by Cather

I’m happy to report that the Russian Cabbage Borscht I blogged about yesterday turned out to be wonderful! Definitely a “keeper” recipe. If you’ve got some beets, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, celery, and onions lying around, you can most likely whip up a batch. You can get the recipe at allrecipes.com, or, right here (my changes are in red):

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced potatoes
• 1 cup thinly sliced beets
• 4 cups vegetable stock or water (I used chicken broth)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed (optional) (I didn’t use this)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 3 cups coarsely chopped red cabbage (I used green cabbage)
• black pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh dill weed (I used WAY more than this…probably a tablespoon or two)
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup tomato puree
• sour cream, for topping
• chopped tomatoes, for garnish

Directions

1. Place sliced potatoes and beets in a medium saucepan over high heat; cover with stock, and boil until vegetables are tender. Remove potatoes and beets with a slotted spoon, and reserve stock.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, caraway seeds, and salt; cook until onions become soft and translucent. Then stir in celery, carrots, and cabbage. Mix in reserved stock; cook, covered, until all vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Add potatoes and beets to the skillet. Season with black pepper and dill weed. Stir in cider vinegar, honey, and tomato puree. Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer at least 30 minutes. Serve topped with sour cream, extra dill weed, and chopped fresh tomatoes. (I also bought a sourdough demi-baguette with nuts & caraway seeds on top & dunked it in the soup.)

I haven’t written on (or even accessed) this blog in a very long time. I’ve been feeling…um…well, insignificant, to be perfectly honest. Every time I thought of this blog, a voice in my head asked, “Who cares?”

Consequently, as each day passed, I worried, “Damn, my next entry is going to have to be huge – something really thought-provoking and meaningful.” Like an ice-breaker. Or Spring. Something that kinda jump-starts things again and makes up for the lull of nothingness.

Of course, that freaked me out even more – which, in turn, increased my self-consciousness of the whole issue. It’s been a vicious cycle, I tell you.

Besides general feelings of insignificance, here are a few other possible culprits for my aversion to writing:

• Fear that I’ll never make it as a writer. I think this is probably the biggest problem-child of them all. It’s given me an outlook of, “F$%@ the whole damn idea.” I’m trying to work through this.
• The holidays. I was pretty busy making stuff the past few months. Seriously.
• A newfound interest in all things crafty. It might be from the sunny, warm weather – or the visual diversity & personality of everything out here – or just a need to domesticate…who knows? But, if it involves paper, scissors, fabric, sewing machines, crochet hooks, yarn, tape, glue – you name it, I’m game.
• Lack of creativity in the professional arena. Without going into elaborate detail, I’ll just say that creative tasks at home balance the incredibly mundane hours at work. (On an optimistic note, it’s not always like this…just a lull in the industry right now.)

But, I’m writing now. Something must have changed, right? So, what do I bring you?

Borscht.

Not just any ole’ Borscht, though. No, siree. Russian Cabbage Borscht, to be exact. Topped with sour cream and dill. With a side of crusty, olive-oily bread to dunk in this hearty beet soup…

And I’m not even going to try to masquerade this as though-provoking or meaningful. I’m blogging about the Eastern European version of vegetable soup, for crying out loud – not to mention, one whose recipe was reviewed online as a poor knock-off of the real thing. I guess there’s always a critic in the crowd, though…

So, Borscht, huh? Yep. A long-lost voice inside me finally surfaced with a tired, cynical eye-roll…Get over yourself! And that’s just what I intend to do.

I’m super-duper excited about making Borscht tonight. Just so ya know.