not dead

December has been an extraordinarily busy month for me. It was my biggest month on Etsy, and that combined with the overhaul that is retail leading up to christmas, I've been to busy to update! I don't have much to update on, however. My parents were able to come up for a few days around christmas, but unfortunately I was sick the whole time (and still am. I think at this point, the first cold has morphed into a second one). On christmas day, we went to a screening of a handful of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes, and it was honestly one of the best christmases in memory! They had free chinese food too, but I didn't get up fast enough before some of the other people got seconds... and fourths. Oh well, it was super fun anyway. I will leave you over the new year with the finest film we we watched, MITCHELL (1975), for your viewing pleasure .

Thanks!

Over the past three days I've had a big upswing in orders on etsy, and I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who supports my etsy shop!  I've had a large growth over the past year in sales, and while I may not have huge numbers, to me every order is big! It's very exciting and rewarding to know that people like the things that I make enough to spend money on them. So, thanks again to everyone who supports my crafts and encourages me! Sometimes I'm not very good at accepting compliments, but I really do take them to heart, and appreciate everything anyone says.

Thanksgiving Sale!

In celebration of this, let's be honest, super shitty time of year, I'm running a 25% off sale on everything in my etsy shop through December 6th! Use coupon code HISTORYHOL for the discount!

An assortment of things available in the shop!

Also remember the custom stuffie option!

I spent the day eating lukewarm mashed potatoes I made yesterday to the musical stylings of rapper T.I in my room. So there's that.

I Quit That Bitch

Today I quit my second job at JC Penney.
It was the worst job I've ever had and wore me into the ground in a shorter amount of time as I have ever been burned out.

I suppose I am not meant for retail, but then again,  I could have told you that years ago.  I am not meant for forcing people to sign up for credit cards they don't need. I am not meant for being screamed at by angry customers for things that are way out of my control. I am not meant for not being allowed to take my lawful lunch. I am not meant for wishy washy company policies that allow customers to rob the store blind by returning merchandise from years ago, that isn't carried in the store any more, or is from another store completely.

I am most certainly not meant for working 33 hours between my two jobs over a 48 hour period on black friday.

Perhaps I am all the things they made me feel I was: lazy, selfish for wanting one day off a week.  But then I think about my other job at the bookstore.  A wonderful work environment, very good pay, actual benefits that I, as a part time employee, have access to. A set schedule, timely and thorough training. Union backing. A holiday bonus. I have never cried in the back room at the bookstore. I have had difficult customers, but I don't dwell on them. I, as an employee, are made to feel important. I am a human being that contributes to the company and has a life outside clocking in and out, not a pack mule that is used up until they can't get anything more out of me and send me to the glue factory.

I very much need a second job. The one fault with the bookstore is I don't get enough hours. I need a second job, but I don't need one that will give me an emotional breakdown, which is exactly what JC Penney gave me.

So, I now have to hold off on moving. I have to way cut back on my spending. But I know it was the right thing for me to do. I will be able to focus on finding a second job that is better for me, which I've been trying to do for a few weeks, but it's very hard when you can't get any days off. I know now to try and stay away from mall department stores. They are just not the right kind of job for me. If people can do that work and have it not affect them, more power to them. I wish I could as well, but I just cannot.

Making the decision to leave, even though it casts me into a period of unknown, has been very difficult for me, but I am very glad to have made that decision. I know I will find another job, and for now I just feel


                             

square dance bowls why

One of the things I've become very interested in over the past few months via several friends at work is getting a space in a resale shop. Two of my friends have awesome spaces at two different shops, and it's something I really want to get into! I don't have a backlog of stuff to sell, and would want to do about 50/50 handmade and found items anyway, but I've been studying and learning a lot from my coworkers. Nearly everyone at the store has a really good eye for finding great treasures, and I love being able to tag along with them and see how they do it.

I've recently made a life altering (temporarily, I hope) decision that has forced me to put a lot of stuff on hold, including moving and getting a space to sell stuff, but I'm confident this decision will be better for me in the long run. Having to stay in an uncomfortable (and downright awful, sometimes) living situation is going to be a better option that the alternative for me in the long run. I'll speak about this more once I've actually gone through with said decision.

But that being said, I've still been going out to thrift stores and perusing the wares to see what is out there. Yesterday, I had planned on going to the bins (THE BINS AHH) but ended up stopping into the goodwill near my house and ran into one of my work friends! We went to a couple other goodwills and I found this:

It's so kitschy and awful.... I love it! I did some research and it was originally sold in sets of four, each dish with a different "western" theme. I wish I had found all of them! Argh!  My friend was adamant that I could make something off it, but I think it's a keeper!

etsy finds

I stayed home from work today, as I feel like all around hammered dog shit, and in celebration of me not moving from an awkward half seated, half dead body on a slab position at all today, I've curated a fine selection of things I like from etsy.

ship cup and saucer/ mollyhatch

baby sand cat/ handymaiden

     

thrift champ print/sockie

girl rowing mirror/tartx

felted cat mat/storow

The cat model for this shop is THE BEST. 

cat bed/storow

cat bed cave/ storow

He or she looks exactly as I feel at basically any given moment in the day.

Rose City Cemetery

Yesterday was my first day off in three weeks (and probably will be the last for equally that amount of time, if not more) and I went to a cemetery I've never been to.

I've never been to a cemetery that looked like this. Nearly all the headstones were made of a red marble and there is only a few variations in style, all crammed together.  It's a large space, with a huge outdoor mausoleum running about 3/4 of the length of the park.

 

Plus, there were a ton of above ground graves which I had never seen before. They're like mini mausoleums, but not... I did some research, and it turns out this cemetery is where a huge fraction of the local Roma population is buried, in those mini-mausoleums. Unfortunately, it was dark and rainy when I went, and I didn't get a very good picture of them. There are also a large number of Greek graves with neat headstones, along with a sectioned off Japanese section, with more of the style of stone I'm used to seeing. So interesting!

While walking around, I slipped on one of those long marble stone pieces that cover the length of the grave and went ass over teakettle. Damn it! Thank god no one but me and the dead are at a cemetery at 10 am on a Thursday.

AND WE'RE BACK

WITH A NEW STUFFIE LISTED

stuffie Amelia Earhart, go buy it

go go go go

new updates to follow soon

Laptop will be back soon!?!???

I just heard back from the computer repair place, and it looks like they got my computer up and running. Apparently it was a fan issue (the computer was severely overheating), and they replaced my keyboard, which has had issues since I dumped coffee on it years ago. I pick it up Monday!  Hopefully its all fine, and the blog will be back!

Velvet Raccoons

After taking my computer back in, it's looking like it is a motherboard issue. The repair place is looking at it just in case it's not that, and I will know by the end of the week, but most likely I will be looking at having to get a new laptop. I'm just hoping that my phone has no issues between now and the time I am able to have a computer again! It's been acting up ever since I accidentally updated to the new operating system. Damn it!

I have a back log of things I want to post about, but it's really hard to do so on my phone! As a peace offering, please accept this beyond amazing velvet painting I found for five dollars.

Stuffie Billie Holiday, dead computer

Quick post to say my computer is still dead, but I've listed a new stuffie! Yay!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/166779019/felty-billie-holiday?ref=cat_gallery_1

Brief Programming Note

Here's the deal: 

My computer ate it hard, and I have to take it into a repair shop. Due to the holiday weekend, I most likely won't be able to get it in until Tuesday, and I have no idea how long it will take, so I will be unable to update for I have no idea how long.  

Everything's the worst!!

I really hope they are able to repair it and that it won't be too expensive! Argh! 

Thanks Obamacare!

While many people are weirdly angry about the affordable care act going through, I couldn't be happier.  Maybe it's because I'm a  self-absorbed, lazy, no good, doesn't know the sting of a hard day's work  millennial, but for the first time in years, I am able to get heath insurance! Which means, I'm able to go to the optometrist and finally get glasses after needing them for at least five years!

In celebration, I've been creeping around the internet, browsing frame options, and am posting some of my favorites here.

These would look terrible on me, but I think they are hilarious anyway. Also, I'd be going for the 1930s kooky secretary look, while the rest of the world only would see "HARRY POTTER AHHH", which no.

all from zennioptical.com

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These are my favorite, but at over $100, that's probably not going to happen anytime soon.

ok so maybe i'm not cloudy with a chance of meatballs ok

October is in the air, and I'm having a Halloween crisis.

I'm knee deep in my 2SPOOKY2013 outfit, but then I watch the season opener of SNL and remember that  Drunk Uncle exists???????

I don't know what my plans will be for the day, but I will probably work. And I will probably be working at the job I'm assuming has a stick up it's ass and doesn't allow dressing up. Theoretically, I could get away with wearing my 1920s outfit (mostly) to that job and stay within dress code. I could also change out of that costume and into Drunk Uncle after working there (if I open). That's what I did last year with Grumpy Cat and Vince Noir...

2SPOOKY2COSTUMES2013: IT'S HAPPENING.

Day Three of Guaranteed Seven Day Cold/Bird Flu/Rubella

    Yesterday I started on a 2SPOOKY2013 update but got sidetracked due to the amount of nyquil I had taken and raged about how awful my job is instead.   I called in sick to the bookstore (I was going to be a real american and soldier through, but after making it through only an hour and a half of the second job before hiding in the back room wheezing from what I'm assuming is SARS or the final remains of swine flu, I wussed out and called in. Isn't working while contagious the best??!?), and should have called in to the second job too, but I didn't want to deal with the drama-laden hassle.

    Anyway, I will post what I had originally intended to post yesterday right now.

    I've had a few hang ups when it comes to the fabric, as usual, every damn time. I had originally wanted the main dress to be dark blue or navy with red accents. I was worried it might look sailor-y but it looked pretty solid in my head. I went to Joann's three different times and was unable to make a decision on fabric. I finally ended up deciding on a dark blue polyester peachskin that had an ok drape and was a nice color. It was more per yard than I wanted to spend, since I'm winging it and need to buy more than I really need, that kind of put a ding in my plan.

     

   I had a coupon, but since it was already on sale for a smaller percentage off, I couldn’t use it, and since it wasn’t really what I had in mind,  I ended up not getting it and going to Fabric Depot just to see what they had. Fabric Depot, while more expensive, has everything. EVERYTHING.  Everything, except a dark blue fashion fabric. None. The one blue they had was a bright royal blue, which screeched bad packaged “Miss High Seas Hottie” costume. My next choice was black, which could work with my theme,  but I was afraid the black/red combo would end up being something I would have been really into in junior high, which is a time in my life I wish to not revisit.  The only other fabrics they had in a weight I could work with were a medium grey and a hot pink. 

    By this point, I’d been in the store waffling between the Ho of the Sea blue and My Chemical Romance approved black for an hour and a half (though a good portion of that was also spent poring over every other piece of fabric looking for an apparently mythical black on white windowpane check. IT DOES NOT EXIST).  After a hour bus ride to get there, plus the knowledge that there was a Burgerville across the street and that it was sweet potato fry season, I gave up and just got the grey.

     It’s not my original first choice, but I think it’ll be fine. I’ve had to give up on my idea of the windowpane check inset, because as previously mentioned, it is a figment of my imagination and apparently does not actually exist in reality.  However, I did manage to get some free sample drapery fabrics from my second job in some interesting deco-ish patterns on similar grey backgrounds, so I’m going to mess around with those and see if I can incorporate any of them into it to jazz it up a bit.  There is enough that I may end up making the skirt out of the pattern and leave the bodice the plain grey.  Still no idea what to do with the inset.

   

 A few days ago, I made up the beginning of my pattern, and it came together pretty fast. October is just around the corner, so I really need to get my ass in gear and get going on this thing.

bleh

I was originally going to post a halloween update, but I'm sick and grouchy, so allow me to bitch and moan about how, due to the ridiculous scheduling practices of my second job that completely ignore the needs of it's employees, if I can't give away some of my hours (which is not looking likely), I will be working at least a month without getting a day off.

I know everyone is saying, you wanted a second job, you should be happy to be getting any hours at all.

Well, fuck that shit.

I need a damn day off. One day out of thirty. One day.

Meanwhile, there are other people at that store, in my department, who are parents, who only have one job, ect, ect, who are only receiving the bare minimum hours (if they get any at all). I need hours. But I don't need ALL the hours. I have two jobs, I do not want to be having to work 60 hours a week, because I do not need 60 hours a week. Other people NEED those hours to survive. It makes me so angry. It is so unfair to everyone involved. I'm thankful for the hours I need, but having too many is grinding me into the ground. If that makes me ungrateful, or whiney, then I guess that's how I am.

I've applied to a couple other places, but am so tired when I get home, I have no energy. Looking for a job is in itself a full time job.  I really need to get on it though, because I do not want to be at the second place through the end of november, as it is required that every employee work a ten hour shift on black friday. I'd rather be hit by a truck than be in that level of hell for ten hours (my shift would probably be 6 AM-4PM, and I'd have to take a cab to get there, since my bus doesn't run that early) THEN go to the bookstore to close.

 I applied for a position at the bookstore that will give me four more hours a week there (that was originally rumored to be a full time position, but that turned out to be just that). THAT'S the job I want to work full time for! Not the shithole that is the other store! Argh!

I will be updating with more 2SPOOKY2013 things in the near future, but I just needed to vent about this for a while. I've had a rough few weeks, and it seems as though it will stay there for an unspecified amount of time. 

2Spooky: 1903 Edition

Me at all times

I've been scrounging around pinterest, and have found quite a few historical halloween or fancy dress costumes I thought I'd share.  I love how abstract they could be, like "electricity" and " sewing". It lends to more open ended creativity, and I wish this idea were more popular now! I also love Victorian costumes that were just a normal dress, but with imagery of the thing they were supposed to be, like "bats" or whatever. 

Champagne bottle fancy dress, 1902 From the Fashion Museum, Bath via the Huffington Post

Electric Light

This website has a wealth of information on different period Fancy Dress costumes.

Le Dirigeable

As does this blog.

Arabian Nights

The peacock is great!

Sewing

American Duchess giveaway!

American Duchess, one of my favorite historical costume bloggers, and manufacturer of AMAZING repro shoes is doing a giveaway to welcome the pre-order of the 1930s Claremont oxfords! I love them! I've got a pair of their Georgianas, and they're great, but I could get away with wearing these everyday! (I'm also crazy about the '20s 23Skidoos, and wish I could get them for halloween, and beyond! haha)

Go check them out!

caw

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THERE'LL BE MUCH FAKE STUFFED CROWS-ING

AND NERDS WILL BE SEWING WHEN HALLOWEEN NEARS

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIIIIIME OF THE YEAR

As previously mentioned, I'm in full Halloween plan mode. I went to Joann's today to casually look for a pattern, or at least several patterns to graft together, but as per usual, zip. If I wanted to go as a crushed panne-clad, slightly meth-y looking Khaleesi, or the girl from that Brave movie whose name I do not know,  we're in business, but a basic drop-waist dress is out of the question.

So, I'm back in the business of creating my own pattern. I think it'll be fairly simple, and did some pinterest trolling to get ideas from extant outfits!

Since I will probably have to wear it in a dress coded environment, it can't be too outrageous. I know I want sleeves, and that it will probably be navy blue (this goes with my secret theme, which I cannot reveal). One detail I'm 100% on is the deep-v neckline with the inset. The inset will be a patterned white fabric, which sounds awful, but will make sense when combined with the theme.

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Love the V-neckline with the inset framing details!

(photographersdirect.com, clearly)

The black one has the v-insert, plus the sleeves I'm looking for. I'm not sold on the bell-shape, but have seen plenty slimmer cuts that I like, along with contrast cuffs (!?!?!?!?!).

The blue-aqua colored one bottom right has that Holy Grail insert (I really need to look up the actual name of that) plus great details AND a pleated skirt I want but probably won't have the patience to do. (couldn't find a source on this one, it's from pinterest)

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WANT ALL OF THESE FOR EVERYDAY LIFE. 

love the detailing on the skirt on the dark blue in the forefront, crazy about the neckline on the three piece suit in the bottom right. Again, would wear 365 if I could. 

Although Joann's yielded nothing in the pattern department, I did kinda sorta find a fabric that might work. I've got a load of coupons that start in a few weeks, so I've got a while to do some more research. I should try and make it out to Fabric Depot and have a look-see, but alas, I've been getting next to no time off to do such things.

(I had a tough time finding actual sources for these photos, since for some reason flickr seems to be down. All are from pinterest, ect)

Old as Balls

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Well, gentle reader(s), it's that time of year again. The time when the weather darkens, the foliage changes, Pumpkin Spice returns at Starbucks and my 3pm commutes become hell as high school kids flood the after school buses. It's the time when Goodwill becomes 'HALLOWEEN CENTRAL' and I am finally able to buy all the rubber rats I want without looking like a crazy person who might have a secret room in my basement that they'll find later and suddenly it will all be clear. In other words, Halloween is on the near horizon.

As you may or may not know, fall is my absolute favorite time, and in no small part because it contains Halloween. I Halloween hard-core. I take it way more seriously than I should. In my years of having multiple costumes that make no sense to anyone other than me, I've learned that I am one of a small minority who share this notion of Halloween. Most people don't put much thought into what costume they wear, if any. Most people don't agonize, plan, storyboard, spend lots of money they don't have. And most people certainly don't start this process in June.

Starting in 2006, I've had an historical costume every year, whether due to personal choice, or because I was working on the local Grave Matters living history event we totally didn't steal from Lone Fir Cemetery's event in Portland (which may not be happening again this year??? Am I never going to get to go?????). Last year, I took a break and went as Vince Noir from The Mighty Boosh and Grumpy Cat (at work), but this year I'm looking to get back to a historical costume.

Grumpy Cat- the cheapest,  most relevent costume of my entire life

Ever since The Great Gatsby suddenly regained popularity thanks to the movie, which I STILL haven't seen arrrrgh, I've seen a lot of the internet having Gatsby parties and talking about Gatsby themed costumes. And, as usual, while some of the Gatsby picnics and other get-together costumes are AMAZING,  my expectations fizzle out when I see how some end up. Guys, really with the low rent Chicago-style skank fringe dresses? Really? Is there an actual documented fringe dress out there from anytime in that decade, because we need to go back in time and stop it from existing.

Anyway, I've also enjoyed the general wank surrounding the film, book, what have you. People seemed to either love it or hate it (the book and the movie), and I'm still laughing at the people who went on and on about the themes of the book and how "you're not a real fan if you haven't  blah blah blah". Apparently it's 2006 and I'm still involved with the pop-punk scene , judging by the middle school bitchiness flying around the depths of the internet.

Despite not seeing the movie, and being in idiot English classes and not reading the book until after I was out of school, I wanted to ride the Brooks Brother-ed tails of this Gatsby craze to get some easy access to one of my favorite historical fashion eras for Halloween. I toyed seriously with going as one of the main themes in the book, General Disillusionment with the Jazz Age, which lead me to the idea I finally settled on. I'm keeping it a secret until the day of, but I'll be that ass who hints around and say, I've always really loved the Victorian Fancy Dress way of doing costumes, focusing on the personification of an idea, like "nighttime", versus being a thing, like a zombie or whatever.

PLUSSSSSSSSSSSSS, since I don't know what the hell my work schedule will look like, or if my mall job will even allow dressing up (highly doubting it), by making something that's more a straight-forward outfit that just represents something, I can totally sneak by any dress code issues and still wear a costume. THIS IS WHAT LOOPHOLES WERE MADE FOR.


Consider this an ongoing post, you have been warned.

Labor Day! (Exactly Two Months To Halloween)

While you're enjoying your day off this Labor Day, take a sec to think about the Labor Movement that allowed it to happen!

Like your weekends? Thank your Union!

Like having sick time? Thank your Union! 

Like not having to work 14 hour days? Thank your Union!

 As a retail worker for both unionized and non-union companies, I have come to appreciate the union even more than I thought I did, having been brought up to have a somewhat romantic, Pete Seeger-fueled notions of the Labor Movement.  The contrasts between my union and non-union jobs are stark, and the union job is infinitely better, with no small thanks to the fact that it is organized. 

I know that it will probably never happen, due to the way our economy is set up, but I hope to one day see all retail workers be able to organize.  Despite what non-retail workers seem to think, retail jobs are difficult- they are extremely physical, they deal with the worst of society, and are always paid the least.  And, nowadays, they are the only jobs a huge majority of the population can get.  Some people seem to take the idea that people who work these meager jobs are stupid, lazy, and less-than in many other ways, despite the fact that it's been proven time and time again that a huge chunk of retail workers are adults with degrees. Retail is not just for teenagers any more. This is how people are forced to make their living, and they should be kept safe and protected from exploitation while they're doing so.

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You Haven't Lived Until Someone Shoves a Pair of Toddler Jeans in Your Face Because You Didn't See the Clearance Sticker

Or How I Learned to Hide in the Baby Formal Wear Department Like a Milford Academy Pro

Normally, at my second job, I am a member of the "Home" department team. It's still still still still  under construction, and there's not a lot going on. Even if renovations were complete ("two more days!!!!1!!," we're told every three days), it'd still be pretty mind numbing. Or at least that's what I thought until the beginning of this week, when I came strolling in only to find I'd been moved for the week into the absolute worst department that could possibly exist.



Children's -wait for it- at peak back to school time.

Nothing makes me appreciate my very, very excellent, mellow, ILWU-Local 5 break law enforcing job at the bookstore more than being thrown into and left virtually alone* in a department that I have literally zero training in, next to no product knowledge of, only to be actually yelled at by an old Russian woman because no one in the department would answer my calls for a back up cashier.


Spending the days being yelled at, having people think it is perfectly normal and acceptable to demand a ~*~price adjustment ~*~ on something you bought a year ago (fucking TLC, I swear to god, the disservice you have done to the retail industry by glamorizing being a couponing whackadoo), and watching a grown woman unload an entire 3X5 table top of boys' Angry Birds t-shirts onto the floor, then walk away while complaining about how messy the store is,  hoo-doggy, I learned my lesson quick.

After speaking with no less than four people in other areas of the store who were former kids dept people and finding out that I wasn't alone in thinking it was an actual Hellmouth, I vowed to not be the joker stuck on the register while everyone else conveniently didn't hear my paged pleas. Combining my time honed skills of  moving silently across carpet and unpacking apparel shipments like the wind,  I was able to weasel my way into working on projects that are normally reserved for "support" staff (IE THE JOB I ACTUALLY APPLIED FOR AND WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL AT AND NOT WANT TO STAB MYSELF WITH SENSOR TAGS).  Lo and behold, my miserable hours actually went by at a reasonable speed. Aside from the titular incident, I only had to wait on one other customer. I didn't notice when one of four Taylor Swift songs on rotation played every forty-five minutes. I didn't want to stab myself with sensor tags.

Thank Mastercuts Jesus, today was the last day I have to be in that department for this week. And next week. And hopefully for the rest of my life.

*I say virtually alone because there was one gal who saved me multiple times by actually recognizing that I have no idea what is going on and being super helpful and patient with my panicky ass.

After nine days in a row, I finally get a day off on Sunday and I don't know how to handle this information.