Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Thursday, Feb. 03, 2005 - 1:59 a.m.

You know I'm going to rant, right? I tried not to, but Lola came out a little. So now that I've gotten it out of my system, I will bump it further down and post a little pleasantness first, and those of you who like the president can just skip over the last part, 'kay? I will warn you when it's coming up.

So, when you are making jewelry, and you decide a big teardrop-shaped hoop of silver wire with some stuff hanging at the bottom of the hoop would be pretty, here are the things you need to know so that you don't go wasting 2' of 22 gauge sterling silver wire, which is NOT cheap.

1. WRAP THE WIRE TIGHTLY AT THE TOP OF THE TEARDROP.

Oh, did I say things? I meant thing. One thing. One very big, very important thing. Seriously, I was tearing my hair out. The second one of these damned earrings I made was the second most frustrating item of jewelry I have ever made, the first of which being this necklace, on which the frigging crimps kept going all cockeyed, and I had to keep cutting the cable and starting over again, every single time when I was within 1 - 3 beads of finishing, and sister, you do not know what aggravation and frustration are, until you've had to do *that* five times. I was cursin' up a storm that day, boy.

Tonight was almost as close. The first earring came out great. The second one, the wirewrap kept coming out like a spring, all stretched out. You could squish the little wirewrapped coils together, but as soon as you let go, they spread out again like a sprang spring. Or a spring that was sprung. Or, something. I couldn't figure out why. It's hard when you're working with 22-gauge half-hard wire, because it's thick, and, well, *hard*. Not as hard as hard, because hard is *really* hard, but it's halfway as hard, and that's fairly unweildy, if you're trying to do something new or delicate. So straight up, I had to figure out how to pinch the two wires together at the top of the loop so that both were stationery, and that was embarrassingly hard to do (my hands were shaking really hard today), and then once that was done, the actual wrapping part was a challenge for me. Because I am all remedial wirewrapping like that. But after the fourth earring had to be clipped apart and 6" of wire (oy!) disposed of, I remembered that hey, when I did the first earring, I had wrapped it rather snuggly - maybe that was the problem, and not the bend in the wire and where the wrapping was in relation to it. So I got an extra good grip and wrapped it tight, and sure enough, that was the problem...only I screwed up the top loop and had to clip that one apart and do it again, anyway. Drat. But it finally worked out, and I got 3 pairs of those and a 3" drop done (which was easy, because 26-gauge wire is sooooo much easier to use than 22-gauge HH). If'n you guys are interested (and you know, probably even if you aren't), I will post a picture or two tomorrow.

For now, here's a picture I took the other day, when I was in a "creative" frame of mind. :)

I wish the two little bits of crooked chain were nice and straight, but other than that, I think it's kinda neat... And now, Lola:

The "State of the Union" really pissed me off with how rah-rah it was over being so totally "Isn't it great we're hemmorhaging cash at an unprecedented and alarming rate?!" I thought the Shrub looked a little disgruntled that the longest standing ovation of the evening was for someone not him. I'm a little impressed myself, he's trotted out that damn Pflugerville story so many times, now - usually when he needs support - that you'd think even the Pubbies would be gettin' tired of applauding it, but I guess having the boy's parents in the house warranted extra effort. How else do you make it up to parents when their kid died for nothing, but invite them to your first big speech after getting re-elected, and then make them the center of attention for like a minute and a half. I feel for his parents, don't get me wrong. I realize I sound awfully jaded and cynical, but I've heard Bush drop that frigging story so many times now that *I* know it by heart. He never missed an opportunity to trot it out during his campaign, I believe he used it in a debate (or 2?), and I swear he's used it in more than one or two speeches since he invaded Iraq. So give the thing a rest, already. George, you have over 1300 other dead soldiers you could laud, and their parents would probably be equally appreciative of it; try picking one of them, for a change. Granted, it means you'll have to do some more memorization, and Karl will have to drill you on it in the Oval Office for several weeks - and we all know he's a busy man - but seriously. In our defense? Please learn another one. Unless maybe most families of dead soldiers are really unhappy with you, so you have to stick to the 3 or 4 who don't hate rabidly hate you and hold you responsible for the death of their loved one(s). Oh, and while we're on the subject, George? When you are reading from the damned teleprompter or spouting from rote? Please try to pronounce t-h-e as "thuh" in front of words beginning with consonants, instead of always rhyming it with "tee". "Thuh volunteers, thuh weapons, thee apple." It just makes you sound like you can actually read and are somewhat capable of actually processing the meaning of what you're saying, George. Seriously.

::sigh:: 4 more years.

Peace out,
Katie

2 comments so far

*HUGS* TOTAL! give katiedoyle more *HUGS*
Get hugs of your own

Yesterday's News - Next Stop

In which Katie shares sad news - Wednesday, Apr. 01, 2015
In which Katie returns after a very long absence - Monday, Jun. 25, 2012
In which Katie pokes her head in and brushes some of the cobwebs away - Thursday, May. 06, 2010
In which Katie asks you to write your congressman again. - Monday, Jun. 02, 2008
In which Katie asks you to please click the link and send the message to protect the rights of artists - Wednesday, May. 21, 2008