Card Table Refinisher

Today I refinished a card table, and since a picture is worth a thousand words:

Unfortunately, that picture doesn't do this project any justice. It doesn't show the awful state the card table was in before I fixed it. It doesn't describe how sad I was when my mom wouldn't let me use the staple gun. Nor does it show how great the new, un-padded table is for board games and puzzles.

Which means that this picture is full of 1000 useless words.

But I love it anyway.

Spray Paint Artist

Like any good Renaissance story, this one starts in Rome.

Now, don't be confused. This isn't your normal 'American goes to Europe to be inspired to become a writer/painter/sculptor' (see: American in Paris, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Midnight in Paris). When I went to Rome I didn't want to become just any artist, I wanted to become a spray paint artist.

These people can be found all over the world, painting a national landmark against the backdrop of the planets:

Somehow, these artists have yet to come to Tucson. There is a lot of potential things people in Arizona could be throwing in front of planets -- the University of Arizona 'A', mountains, the Grand Canyon, copper mines -- endless possibilities. Not to mention, everyone talks about how beautiful Arizona sunsets are, why isn't anyone spray painting those beauties onto canvas boards?

However, after more wanderings around Europe, I realized that I couldn't limit myself to just spray paint art this summer, there were so many other random things I wanted to learn to do. For example, the more I traveled, the more holes I found in my clothes inspiring my goal to learn to darn. I also decided to become a sew-er while I was at it. While wandering my homeland I realized that I also really wanted to learn Danish. I have no idea why, but it just seemed like a good idea.

I went home and got started right away. On my way home from the airport my mom and I bought some fabric. The next day I went to the library and picked up a huge pile of books to help with my "learner of all knowledge" goal. Then I downloaded 5 learn Danish apps. I also watched a few YouTube videos about spray painting.

And then I got stuck. It turns out that spray paint art starter kits (yes, they're a thing) are expensive. And books are long and sometimes boring. Not to mention that sewing a skirt requires doing more than just sewing two sides of fabric together.

Baby steps, I reminded myself. The Renaissance didn't happen in a day, the world was at it for 300 years! If I can get in done in a summer I'm already 299.75 years ahead of them.

So tonight I finally started doing stuff. I finished my needlework art I bought in Florida. Not only is this the first needle craft I've ever actually finished, I finally learned how to do a French knot! (This has been plaguing me since my first needle craft at my Grandma's house, Utah, 2004.)

Day 1 ----> Finished Project

Tonight I also learned how to play poker in French. It's pretty much the same as English poker, except the words are in French.

I already feel so cultured. I can't wait to see what magical artistic adventures the rest of the summer brings.

Revenge of the iPhone

A while ago I wrote a very touching piece about my iPhone.

I take it all back.

Not really, but we're going through a bit of a rough patch right now.

Let's back up two months.

My mom's phone had just arrived. I was worried about telling my current iPhone that it wouldn't be joining me on my travels around Europe, but instead would be sent home.

I told it how much I was going to miss it and safe travels, then turned it off and put it in my suitcase with most of my other belongings.

And then I put my SIM card in my mom's phone.

For two weeks I traveled with that phone. It connected to wifi. It's battery lasted all day, even when I was using it. The lock button worked.

And then one day in Malta I decided to go scuba diving.

Don't worry, it's not like I brought the thing in the sea with me; it stayed in my backpack. Along with the soap I had brought to help put on the wet suits.

Out of everything in that backpack - which included my tablet, my wallet, and my passport - the only thing that got soap on it was my (mom's) phone. This soap managed to break the lock button (umm, what?) and destroy the back light. I spent the next two weeks squinting at my phone while holding it up to the sun any time I wanted to use it.

Then my sisters arrived in London. And with them came my sister's old phone. You would think that I had learned my lesson by now, but I hadn't and once again I switched the SIM card. It was like a light had been turned on, literally. I could use her phone without squinting. I could take all the screen shots I wanted. I could turn her phone off and back on again without plugging it into the wall.

Then, my sisters and I went to Munich. One day I'll tell this story in unnecessarily full detail, but for now - out of everything in my soaking wet backpack -- my tablet, my wallet, my passport, my sister's phone, her Kindle -- the only thing that got wet was my (sister's old) phone. How does this even happen? And it didn't just get wet, it got never-going-to-turn-on-again-completely-soaking-and-dead wet. This meant I was back to my mom's phone, the one without a working light.

I used that for the rest of our Europe trip, as well as the week I spent in Florida. Then I came back to Arizona, once again plugged in my real phone, and switched SIM cards. Its lock button still doesn't work. It still can't connect to wifi. Its battery still has the shortest attention span ever. But it's my phone. And I love it. Even with all of its flaws.

I just wish it could pull an Bumble Bee and upgrade itself to a better model while still staying true to itself.

Unfortunately, I'm fairly certain my phone is not a Transformer.

There's No Place Like Home

Last Monday I got on a plane to leave Florida. I watched out the window as we passed by endless lakes and trees and green stuff.

A few hours later I watched again as the plane came below the clouds to miles and miles of dirt.

I about lost it right there sitting next to two businessmen as the reality of coming home hit me. As a welcome home gift, though, Arizona did keep the temperature at 99ºF for me. My mom was there to welcome me home. I ran up and gave her a huge hug and didn't leave her side for the rest of the day.

My family has now moved on with their lives, so I've been stuck with the task of filling my own time. I've spent it wisely, though, reading about household manners, becoming a pro at online Tetris, catching up on all the TV shows I don't care about, and mourning the life I had for the past five months.

It doesn't happen often, but when it's 120ºF and everyone tells you not to leave the house, leaving Europe seems like a really bad idea.

When that happens I just try and remember my favorite things about Arizona:

Sunshine all day long and whiskers on cactus

Bright copper mining and warm days to practice

Making embrodiery with colored strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ice cream and conditioner of airs

Tan lines and lane lines and sitting in deck chairs

Children that swim with their cute water wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in sun dresses that will never be cold

Something and something else that rhymes with cold

Palm trees in winter and fun summer flings

These are a few of my favorite things

When it's too hot out

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad

It's a work in progress.