Lights, Camera, Action!

Last Friday my new iPhone arrived. Ain't she a beauty??


Despite the numerous ways this shiny new toy can organize my life, I am having trouble focusing on specific tasks. Like making lunches for my kids. Today they are having pasta for the umpteenth time. And whatever crafty projects I've had the gumption to start have languished in the middle phases and unceremoniously dumped on the floor of my workroom. It's become a booby trapped area of my home, riddled with thick sewing needles and C-clamps and wire cutters and light bulbs and...anything else that would seem inappropriate for little children to play with. (Gimlets and awls, anyone?)



It might be sheer coincidence, but lately the Mel Brooks classic Young Frankenstein has been airing on HBO during the day. In lieu of music, I sometimes turn on the TV for a little background noise, so the lines of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein have been filling my head.

"Love is the only thing that can save this poor creature, and I am going to convince him that he is loved even at the cost of my own life. No matter what you hear in there, no matter how cruelly I beg you, no matter how terribly I may scream, do not open this door or you will undo everything I have worked for. Do you understand? Do not open this door.


"Let me out. Let me out of here. Get me the hell out of here. What's the matter with you people? I was joking! Don't you know a joke when you hear one? HA-HA-HA-HA."

The only project that I've completed in the last few weeks is a pendant lamp made from an oatmeal tin. Since pictures won't do it justice, here is a quick video of the lamp turned on (shot with my new fancy iPhone):

The metal of the can and chains, the lightbulb, the electrical aspect...hmmm. Maybe I was influenced by  Herr Doctor Frankenstein??

Another project that is almost finished is a little sign for my husband Dave.

Dave sleepwalks. I wrote about his sleepwalking last year and how it can be a little, uh, disturbing.
To help rouse himself back to reality, Dave made  a little sign that he keeps by the bed, and sometimes it actually works. While in mid-dream, he'll pick his head up from the pillow, open his eyes, and scan the room for whatever he thinks made a noise (usually it's a spider, but do spiders make noises??). Dave will spot his sign and realize that he is just dreaming.




I decided to make him a new sign and have a little fun with it.

Again, I think that you can see the influence of Young Frankenstein here. While sketching, I heard Frederick Frankenstein shouting (while in dream mode):

"DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME! DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING THAT FOR ME!"

It seemed appropriate to include Dr. Einstein and Dr. Freud in this new jazzed up version of Dave's "It's Not Real" picture. You can almost year them saying,

"I beg of you! We are not children here, we are scientists! I assure you there is nothing to fear!"

Okay, okay, I'm done with the Young Frankenstein quotes for today.




But I'm not quite done with this picture. I'm working on the mat and frame, which will hopefully be ready before the end of this month. Cross your fingers that Young Frankenstein is on TV again.


Cheers!