Beyond the Asphalt Barrier

D4 Pendant

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:46:17 GMT

DSCN1688, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

detail on hardware of D4 pendant

Flaming D8

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:44:48 GMT

DSCN1689, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

pure copper around translucent/opaque swirling fire die

D20

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:42:12 GMT

DSCN1715, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Opaque white D20 in pure copper wrapping

unakite and pyritized ammonite

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:40:31 GMT

DSCN1830, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

To be finished: needs stabilizing for durability of wear.

Not for Sale

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:38:40 GMT

DSCN1829, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

The Count and A. chatting as they wait for espresso.

custom originals

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:35:34 GMT

DSCN1753, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

commissioned by a professor

Not for Sale

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:34:00 GMT

DSCN1769, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Custom 21st b-day necklace for friend who's into 'Vickipunk."

Not for Sale

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:28:45 GMT

DSCN1806, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Detail work on front of torso

Not for Sale

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:26:16 GMT

DSCN1795, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Doll of a beloved friend, originally a Barbie Fairytopia doll with tanned skin and a very gaudy bodysuit.

china doll detail

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:22:10 GMT

DSCN1652, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Death from the side, Art Nuevo interpretation.

Not for Sale

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:20:47 GMT

DSCN1651, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

My beloved hack of a china doll, to be finished.

grey D20 pendant

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:18:21 GMT

DSCN1701, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

D8 pendant, alternate view

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:17:02 GMT

DSCN1698, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

pure copper wire, copper flake enamel, and a darling D8.

pretty violet pendant

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:15:41 GMT

DSCN1697, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

decorative vase

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:13:36 GMT

DSCN1751, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Small, bottle-green vase with distressed brass finish and lime green sparkling text reading 'absinthe.'

D20 pendant

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:11:03 GMT

DSCN1725, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Here is a D20 wrapped in sterling and pure copper wire.

Some of my recent works

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:08:51 GMT

DSCN1726, originally uploaded by blackenedhatter.

Here is the first photo of stuff I will be putting up shortly on sites like Etsey,
because I am in dire need of a root canal and have no insurance.

Flickr

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:56:35 GMT

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Contemplation

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:10:47 GMT

In record time I was courted and won.

Not by a pretty face.

Not by wealth.

Not by any displays meant to impress or beguile.

But by authenticity.

And pure, simple truth.

-Ouzel-

Another fine day out...

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:30:33 GMT

Had fun at a friend's fiancee's birthday party, where many new contacts were made.

Had fun at martial arts training, even if I had to run to the washroom and sit out for the majority of the lesson because I had forgotten just how badly my skin reacts to grass.

Had fun on a long, long walk. Especially when it sprinkled.

Had even more fun when I discovered that there is frozen turkey I forgot I even had in the
big freezer in the garage. So, as I type meatballs and meatball soup are cooking.

And now I get to go to sleep to the sound of big, fat raindrops! EPIC WIN!!!!

-Ouzel-

2009-11-09 to 2009-12-09

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:26:08 GMT

How can I describe the splendor of last night/morning?

1) Having a nite out with a dear crony who I've not had the pleasure of a nite out with since becoming a FT college student. We've been friends since we met at my first non-under-the-table employment at the age of 17 in a haunted fabric store. (Yes, I'm a f*ing elder goth. And five of my coworkers (that I know of) also had personal experiences there with WTF it was that apparently ALSO worked there so it was NOT my imagination that the place was haunted).

2) Danced to the live music of no less than three bands at The Blank Club after winning free passes to The Mumlers record release party from KFJC.

3) Talking to several very attractive women who complimented me on an outfit I designed/constructed/repurposed/painted myself. Exchange on contact info.

4) Talking with an old crony about the six piercings each of us have in places not visible to the public. The same old crony who received his first piercings with me (nipples) when I received piercings at a Fakir intensive in SF. Ha! Unbeknownst to each other prior to the conversation we each have six covered-by-clothes piercings. And then a beautiful woman sat at our table and began to talk to us as we ate some f*ing amazing Mexican food at 2am. BONUS!

5) Getting to finally SEE The Mumlers live because I wasn't cramming for a test or unable to cough up the dough to go. And talk with the members. And get autographs for an out-of-town friend who's rabid with jealousy that I was at the release party.

6) Talking with and exchanging contacts with Kelley Stoltz & The Botticellis. They love how I dance to their music. =^D

7) Getting info about local boutiques friendly to independent artists from a fashion insider.

8) Discovering where I will be selling my roses next time I go downtown. Thanks to a lovely stroll with my crony.

9) Running around in an abandoned building with crony.

10) Exploring historic sites with crony after dark.

11) Seeing !YELLOW! Lightening for the first time in my life.

12) Laughing at the House Smeagol with my other housemate and guest at a nice sit-down dinner at home because he freaked out about my having a male visitor (like he does every time I have a male visitor).

13) THUNDER AND LIGHTENING STORM IS CONTINUING AS I TYPE! WOOT!

14) Seeing original artwork!

15) BEING COMPLETELY SOBER IN A CLUB AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE!!!!!!

16) Finding an excellent all-nite Mexican resturant along an all-night VTA bus route which has a menu I CAN AFFORD IF I HAVE MORE THAN $3 IN MY WALLET!

17) Being winked at by a table of really hot Mexican lesbians.

18) Turning a friend on to a band he likes so much that he bought EVERY album they had at the show sales table.

19) Hearing that there is a professional accordian repairwoman who plays in a band named for a human-eating mythical creature in Oakland. That just f*ing rocks my world.

20) Sitting in a shopping cart basket under a half-moon reading a newspaper while simultaneously listening to two live bands play at once from clubs on the same street, watching the human scenery. F*ing amazing.

21) Having an excuse to break out the vacuum sealed cedar-smoked wild caught Alaska salmon. I love it when friends have the balls enough to brave our toothless little House Smeagol. Such things are worthy of celebration.

22) Being the first person to contact the IT and Call Centers of two community college districts with regards to phishing via email to current student body/former student body.
During my first 1/2 hour at work.

23) Knowing something *WILL* be done about it.

24) Having a coworker treat me to a Mexican frozen fruit bar.

25) Bubble bath, salt-scrub, mask treatment, hot shea-butter rubdown. Yum.

26) Not losing a single piece of jewelry during all of the gyrations and shimmies on the dance floor.

27) Finding money on the floor. (25 cents buys a palmful of that nummy
violet flavored gum I am so fond of, and that's what I did at the second club we went to).

28) Coming home utterly exhausted with a huge smile on my face, lying on a picnik blanket in the yard feeling a cool rain wash over me. Just enough of a chill in the air to make my nipples as hard as rocks and make me shiver with delight. How I love to feel the rain in the summertime.

29) Seeing good news from my extended family in my email.

SLG Zombie Crawl

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:34:40 GMT

So, I went to Slave Labor Graphics's Zombie Crawl in downtown San Jose last night. It was EPIC!!!

Had so much fun, even if I could not find a single person I was looking for.

Wore this slash-and-pouf black velvet dresscoat I'd been working on the past few weeks; a skeleton-embroidered panel skirt over black dress jeans; and 1.5' pointed-brimmed black PVC, velvet, and satin ribbon hennin (what most folks call witch hats) with about 13 of my long-stemmed condom roses decorating the crown. I also did a particularly hideous bit of makeup (irridescent lime green, grey, and violet bloated corpse with dirt brown highlights and lots of bloody smearing over my face, neck, and bosoms).

It was marvelous to see persons from out of the area I have neither seen for years nor expected would drive so far to attend. Bonus! And being among fellow costume enthusiasts is always a treat. So much to learn and see!

Curiously, I hadn't been hit on so much since I was about 40lbs underweight wearing a skin-tight stretch-velvet sheath dress at Weird Stuff Warehouse at age 19. I felt sorry for all the earnest zombies (and non-zombies), due to the whole 'very much off the market' thing. Also, disturbed that the putrefying corpse look appears to make me date bait.

Fun times, despite that. =^D

-Ouzel-

Argh!

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:48:14 GMT

My single credit card, the one I keep in the back of the hardest-to-access drawer, was totally maxed out for bereavement expenses.

After rent, bank account has a whopping $12.31 left from monthly paycheck.

And Social Services decided to cut my food stamps down to $6- for the ENTIRE month.

(Scream!)

So, looks like I'm going to be posting a lot of stuff up for auctions.

(Shrug). Well, I *do* need to declutter anyhow...

-Ouzel-

return of a sister

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:57:31 GMT

I had the pleasure of running into a dear sister-friend, as a result of deciding "No,
I do not want to go to the free outdoor movie" when work let out to opt instead for running errands via the 25 and 60 routes.

She was quite henna'd from her brother's wedding, and bareheaded for the first time (that I have seen) in public. It surprised me so much that I almost did not think it was her.

We talked about how at times it can be such a relief to blend into the crowd rather than have people make quick judgments based on appearances.

Neither of us have been able to reach certain persons we used to hang out with when we all attended the same college together, though all of us are, once again, all back in the South Bay.

She will be moving to Fremont in two weeks. She has been going through so many moves, major changes, betrayals, and hardships - yet retains such radiant warmth and hope.

It is an honor to have so many incredibly strong women as friends and family. =^D

-Ouzel-

Smeagol likes Squirrels

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:57:20 GMT

Have discovered that when someone with a voice like Smeagol from the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy baby-talks to squirrels outside of our front door it affects me much the same as nails on a chalkboard.

While simultaneously striking me as being oddly amusing.

-Ouzel-