when i was in middle school, one of my parent's friends from taiwan did a quick fortune reading of me by looking at my hands, facial features, birthday, etc (i really don't know what it was based on, some chinese counting stuff). one of the things he told my mom from this "reading" was that i was good at things involving the use of my hands, which i naturally assumed he only said because my fingers looked strong from practicing piano for ~1hr every day. (other things he said were that i was not obedient enough, that i liked big open spaces and big houses, and that i should wait until i was older, at least 27-28 years old before getting married. all true, whether by subconscious self-fulfillment or not.)
what i've started to realize recently is that i really am drawn to hands-on, craftsy things. when i was young, i would use my old socks to make clothes for my barbies. i had a "junk collection", which i would use for various random arts and crafts projects. i went through a phase of making balloon animals (i was actually not bad once i got over the fear of balloon popping noises). every one of my birthday parties had to have some kind of project involving a trip to michael's. in high school, i specialized in making elaborate posters/visuals for my high-powered speech and debate expos career. in college, the craftsy urge translated into doing research and lab work and my interest in tissue engineering, or making tissues and organs from scratch, as i saw it at the time (i now see it differently). in recent years, the craftsy side of me has capitalized upon halloween, the only time that i get to make random weird costumes like a fortune cookie from brown paper bags and posterboard, a bunch of grapes from purple balloons and safety pins, or a birth control pill pack from foamboard and felt.
my latest fix has been this jewelry-making class that i've been taking this quarter at the ucsd crafts center. i've never worked with metal before, and it's really fun! we get to melt down silver coins and make whatever we like- rings, pendants, earrings, bracelets, in any design we can imagine. the people in this class have the most amazing jewelry, which they made themselves! it's really giving me a new appreciation for jewelry...and of course my fingers are happy once again. =)
the other thing keeping my fingers busy: menzies and i got a piano! it's a yamaha digital, with weighted keys, bought off of a craigslist posting. not the same as a real piano, but it actually sounds pretty good and satisfies my piano cravings. i'm a little rusty but it's coming back slowly. i've been playing canon in d. =D fun fun.
time to sleep!
7 comments:
Eeeee piano and jewelry making!!! I love doing hands-on things. That's a big reason I bought my sewing machine; I missed having a regular tactile hobby. I am going to get a dollhouse after we move, and I'm really looking forward to that too. ;) This is also why, for me, no amount of digital tech can ever replace pen, paper, pencil, books, etc.
i would love to see your jewlery sometime! :) post pictres of what you make!
oh yeah and you most definitely had elaborate visuals for your high powered expos career. lol! :) those were the days! do you still have your visuals?
hehee yes i will post pictures when i have actually completed a piece that i like. =D still learning the basics...
i think i do actually still have some of them...at home in sj stashed under my bed. what about you? whatever happened to that huge dictionary?? =D HEE!
i am pretty sure all of my visuals are still at home. in my closet or something. one of these days i'm just going to go home and go through and figure out what to keep and what to get rid of from my younger years ;)!!
Making stuff in Girl Scouts was fun too wasn't it? Making vases and cups and such.
I'd love to see your jewelry sometime. Maybe we can wear some at your wedding. =)
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