"And the Hits Just Keep On Coming..."

Who decides when a song played on the radio is a 'hit'? Just simple number of airings can't be it, because that's decided by the playlist programmers. Used to be DJs, when DJs did their own programming, but not any more.  Do listener requests have anything to do with it?

(Note: There is no actual beading content in this post. It's a rant, because it's my blog and I can. Venting can sometimes be good.)

For that matter, in this age of downloads, are there any verifiable 'hits' anymore? Or are they 'heroic downloads?' 

What brought this aggravation on, you ask? I woke up from my nap this afternoon to the travesty that is "Hey, Mr. Big Stuff, Who Do You Think You Are?" by Jean Knight. This, on a radio station, KRTH, that alleges to be "all hits." Not even close. That song was banal and creepy when it was new. If it got airplay enough to qualify as a hit at that time, it was because all the musicians had collectively gone insane and stopped releasing real music. Must have been, because that song is not music. It's just meaningless noise.

I've been grumpy for several days, in fact, about the tired, repetitive playlist on KRTH. It's the radio station on my alarm clock because I really like the morning drive-time team and their byplay. Formerly, I liked much of their playlist as well. But lately, not so much. 

Thursday, I was drowsing along...if I have nothing pressing I can fall right back asleep for quite a while if the music is conducive. A few extra minutes of snooze, without having to actually hit the snooze button. It's so comfortable and floaty, a fine way to wake up gradually. But along about 7:17, my ears were assaulted by, I hate to even type this, "Boogie Wonderland."  Raised me right up like I was levitating, going for the Off button before another 8 beats hit my brain.  The shot of adrenaline as my brain screamed "SAVE ME LYNN BEFORE I GO INSANE!!" didn't make for a gentle start to the day.

Now, some other mornings I have a similar reaction, particularly to awfulness like "It's a Brick, Huh, House" by the Commodores, or anything by War. And then I lie there wondering why in the world they never play any of the actual hits from those days. I never hear any good music from the day. Okay, I take that back. Just did a Google search for "hits of the 70s." Apparently there were no good songs released during that decade. 

Have to retreat to the 60s for good stuff. Moody blues. Jethro Tull. Creedence. Christopher Cross. Frank Zappa. When's the last time you heard Frank Zappa on the radio?  More Motown, dammit! Play the damn Beatles other than on Sunday. Where's the Phil Collins? Mamas & Papas? Beach Boys? James Taylor. Zombies, for cryin' out loud.

And then Friday, KRTH did the same thing, but at 7:02. Never mind any leisurely drift to the surface of waking..."Boogie Wonderland" holy crap. It's not bad enough they skip all the potential good music out there, their playlist isn't even 24 hours long! How many times do they repeat Boogie Wonderland every day? And why hasn't the lightning of the gods obliterated KRTH long before now?

That's it. I've either got to find another wakeup station or invest in an alarm clock that lets me pick my own music. KRTH morning team, I loved ya', but no more. One more run of "Boogie Wonderland" will do me in.

Oh, and for those who got an earworm of one of these awful songs, I apologize and recommend singing a few brisk measures from "Yesterday." That usually clears out the stuck songs in my head.

And if you made it this far, thank you for bearing with me. Feel free to list your own Most Despised Songs in the comments. 

Beads, or Rocks? Or Beads Rock!

My grandmother's second husband was an unassuming man named Sidney, from England. He met my grandmother when they both worked for "The Railroad" as she always put it, and you bet you could hear the capital letters. 

Anyway, Sidney lived in America for many years, and then at one point he and my grandmother decided that it was time for a visit to his former home, in a small country village. This was sometime in the late 1950s or early 60s, as they traveled on the Queen Elizabeth II, in style.

My grandmother told me that as he walked down the main street for the first time in 35 years, an old codger taking his cane for a walk looked up at her husband (a fairly tall man) and said, in a quavery voice, "Is that you, Sidney? Have you been away?"

In somewhat the same fashion, I've Been Away from my blog. Life piled up and I kept meaning to Get To It, yet never did. So, in an abrupt jump-cut familiar to movie-goers where you don't have to watch all the boring stuff between the exciting parts, I'm back! 

I'm on vacation, for the first time in nearly two years, visiting my beloved Mendocino again. Usually I take the opportunity of a trip like this to hit every bead store I can. This trip, not so much. I have a huge stash at home. Acquiring simply to acquire has lost it's luster, at least for the moment. I've gone into bead stores, and come out with next to nothing.   Well, I did buy a mini-kumihimo disk, which is great treat. I love it as it's easier and more efficient to use compared to the big disks.

But no real bead acquisitions. Instead, I've been visiting rock shops. Searching for unique cabochons or specimens I can incorporate in my work. Next week I'll probably drive three hours north (one way) to the biggest, best rock shop I know, south of Eureka. Oh, and I'll get to see redwoods on the way, so it's all good. 

Today is my husband's birthday. Last night we had a spectacular thunderstorm. Big booms of thunder that echoed off the cliffs in ways I hadn't heard before. Southern California is truly deficient on thunderstorms, so a good one is a treat. Flashes up in the hills, and lots of winds. So the surf we're seeing this morning in the bright sun is wonderful. Some of the larger splashes look like they're nearly as high as the 90 ft cliffs.

Earlier I looked up from my beading, with the view above, and found the window filled with pelicans drifting along the cliff thermals. About 30 of them, lying relaxed on the lift beneath their wings, cruising for seafood.

Sometimes, life is really really good. It's important to acknowledge and grasp those moments, and store them in vivid memory. 

The Value of Perseverence, or Persistence, or...

One of those "per" words.

I just startled my husband out of his chair by bellowing "I AM TRIUMPHANT!!!" after many hours of silent work at my beading.

Yesterday and today, perhaps 5 hours or more in various sessions, I've been determined that this time, tubular bead crochet would not defeat me yet again. Earlier I spoke with my dad on the phone, and at that time, I told him, "It's whipping my ass."  I've tried this, reading along with various internet tutorials, watching different YouTube videos of people making it look ridiculously easy, at least 4 times before this weekend. I failed miserably each time, giving up, putting it aside.

So what did I learn today?  Besides that I'm irretrievably stubborn?

I learned that the right size crochet hook makes it possible, instead of impossible. Too big and it's clumsy, difficult to maneuver, and you can't get the darn thing through the loops. Too small and the thread slides off wayyy too easily and you're hunting for the lost, critical loop, which happens far too often even under the best of circumstances.  Just right, and working is slick and much easier.

This time I used size 3/o heavy metal seed beads. They're nearly spherical, and slippery, and I'm not sure yet if those qualities are good or bad. I used Wildfire 6lb thread, and a 1.25mm crochet hook. Perhaps I should have used S-lon thread or something heavier, but I wanted to learn how to work the smaller thread so I can use smaller beads, eventually.

I also learned that those first two rounds are real #*(&@# buggers. Eventually I resorted to using seven different colored beads for the first round, so I could clearly delineate where round one ended and round two began. I pulled out, and re-started, the first and second rows, at least 20 times. Eventually the casting on, the connection of the seventh bead to the first, and the transition into the second row became easier.

Half the times I restarted was because my hook slipped out of the working loop and I had to chase it all the way back to the beginning. After getting the right-size hook, it was easier to capture that loop before it unravelled all the way, even if I lost a bead or two to a slip.  That was something else I learned, locating the working loop in the mass of thread inside the rope as it grew.

Early on I realized that trying to transition from round two to round three was not going to happen if the piece was flopping about loose. It was totally impossible for me to determine which bead was next when none of them lined up properly.  So I learned that after connecting the first round into a circle, the best thing to do was to shove a pencil up the middle and work around it. It held the orientation of the beads for me, and let me clearly identify The Next Bead. It still took me about 15 more tries to get past round 4.  I missed a bead here or there, noticed the gap several rows later, and had to unravel and work back over it.

I learned that Tension Matters in crochet. I knew this from previous yarn crochet experience. One time I crocheted a popcorn-stitch scarf, which due to tension problems and persistently missing stitches, had 21 popcorn bumps at one end, and 10 at the other, and yet maintained the same width the whole way. Very strange-looking item, though it was functional and warm. Just strange. Tension is even more important with beads. Once again, you strive for Just Right.

And, like many other techniques, I learned that once you're well into the piece, and you're doing it correctly, the Next Bead becomes obvious, the thread and the working bead fall into place, and once integrated, they slide into the correct orientation smoothly, verifying that you got it right.

So finally, after all those starts, mis-starts, restarts, and retreats, I have a properly built crocheted silver tube about 20 rounds long, about 2.5 inches.  It has seven gold beads on the starting end, which I suppose I could remove, if I weren't afraid to touch it.  It only took me about 12 hours in all (counting all the previous, unsuccessful learning sessions). It has been the most difficult technique I've ever tried to master. I can't wait until I try to add pattern to this whole deal. That ought to be fun.

Thus, the bellow. I'm really glad I kept trying. It didn't, in the end, whip my ass.  Next, I learn to use my new microwave kiln. A bit scattered? Moi?

Japanese Beading Thread, Who Knew?

Click to see item for sale

Okay, why didn't I know about this before? I was looking for a small item to fill out an Amazon gift certificate, and thought, why not?

I got it and tried it out for the first time, and holy cow! No wonder Japanese beaders can make such amazing pieces, if they use this thread. It's downright obedient! Previously the only thing I've tried when I needed lighter thread than Wildfire or Fireline was Nymo. As anyone who has used it knows, Nymo frays, twists, knots, tangles and splits all over the place.

With the KO, I found I was beading much faster since I wasn't spending any time fighting the freakin' thread! I was able to use longer working lengths, since it doesn't fray. Between the nature of the thread and Thread Heaven, it also didn't knot or misbehave in other ways. Glorious!  I have to be careful because it maintains a much tighter tension than Nymo will, I can see it becoming too tight with a bit of encouragement.

I'm going to have to get many more colors of this stuff. I encourage anyone who hasn't tried it to check it out!! I wanted to share because I've spent way too long struggling with Nymo, and hope I can help someone else out.

Why I Haven't Posted Recently, or Now is the Winter of Our Discontent

Creativity is a harsh mistress, at times. Sometimes it all flows smoothly, sometimes work is barely finished before a new idea springs forth. Indeed, often there is a jostling lineup of new "ooooh, I could do this with that" in my head and ideas fall by the wayside as they're superseded by more better bigger WOW stuff pushing up inside.

Then, there are fallow periods. Periods when not only do I not have ideas, I don't particularly fret about not having them. I used to worry about these times, thinking I'd lost my creative impulse, and that I'd never have another good idea again, but I've learned that I need a resting phase every once in awhile. Then when the urges get working, I'm more energized than if I'd tried to force something to come.

But I've rarely experienced what I'm going through now. A long stretch of really really BAD ideas. They all seem great when I start, of course. "Hey, that's neat, let's do that!" Then, either after a few stitches, or more regrettably, a good way toward a finished piece, I realize it's all gone pear-shaped. (A lovely Britishism, isn't it?)

And then I realize that not only does this thing not look good, it's not ever going to look good, no matter what I do to it. The latest lipstick-on-a-pig effort was some barrel-shaped hematite beads I tried to kumihimo, thinking "what if I used larger beads than normal", interspersed with some leopard jasper rounds in a spiral pattern. I mean, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But what I ended up with is a huge grey-black lump of magnetized hematite, the general shape and size of a year-old boa constrictor, only not so attractive.

It seems like everything I start lately goes this way. I've only finished one item, a fast and easy bracelet I've listed on Etsy, but as of now, it only has two views. Two! Sigh.  And I don't even like that one so much.

I had another project underway, a very long lariat with mixed green beads intended as the base for a wonderful tagua nut iguana bead I bought several years ago. Oddly, that one has evolved away from what I originally thought I might do, to the point where I don't even think the main focal will be used on it!  Usually when I work, I go with serendipitous urges to add or modify as I work, but lately all these urges seem to go astray and make things much worse instead of better.

And so everything seems to go these days. Bad ideas mutate into even worse ones. Good ideas stagnate or mutate out of recognition. I'll work through this, I know I will. I just hope it's soon. I'm getting tired of my choices being bad ones.

I am turning out a decent ornament cover for a gift, But even that took three failed tries to get it moderately right.  Maybe it's just winter, for such values of winter as we have here in Southern California.  I need some inspiration. Maybe a picture of a sea slug will cheer us all.

BeadEnCounter Gets Ink!

We've hit the bigtime, relatively speaking. An article about the software (and me!) appears in the Winter edition of Stringing Magazine.

Sales have picked up in the last few days, and I've been wondering why. I bet this is the reason. It's so great that the email interview I gave turned out so well. I have to give the editorial staff much credit for the quality of the article. The quotes were edited really well, very true to my interview answers, and the graphic staff made my amateur pictures look professional!

I'm very very very happy about this! 

Posting to Blogger is easy!

Blogger is more flexible in email submissions than Facebook, in that
you have both post title and text you can edit before you send. The
email is easy to edit, and you can add as much text as you'd like.