just a quick

hello.
i've been working my buns off.
its nice to feel like i am worth something.
i'm very tired.
the sleeping has been intermittent and weird.
my right hand is swollen.
i wish i had time to cook
the buttons are selling!
i drove home a haggle of hippies last night. nice hippies.
Taylor tonight! one night only! standing room only!
love.
isabel
the exhausted

duh! duh duh dun dun dun DUUUUUUUHN!

that was the triumphant fanfare that accompanies the excellent news that i am again gainfully employed! which is to say, starting tomorrow, i have 12 shifts that will carry me through to the 8th.
and these are not just crummy pity shifts. these are some seriously long days, some of them which run overnight (Yay! Time And A Half!)!

i also set a display of my buttons up at the cafe and a bunch have sold! and yesterday while i was in there, someone came up to me wearing 3 (!!!) and asked if i would do a custom order of 50 or 100 (he wasnt clear, i'm waiting for email.. ) and there you have it. i have 3 potentially paying button gigs. and 2 weeks of very hard work.

and taylor is dropping by on the 31st! from japan! i will be exhausted by then!

i need to buy a couple tools. well, three, if you include a pair of gloves. Union gigs. i'm a little scared but i know i know how to do this work. it will be fine. i should secure some black polos that don't have a rhino on them. hurr.

Umm. that is all. actually, its not. i also said yes to, but havent heard a confirmation regarding, my first couch surfer. he's a well-referenced musician from maine. Everyone who has taken him in has been blown away by his dazzling conversation and musicianship. i get the feeling this one will be fruitless. but you never know.
did you know there are 6,000 or so people in Amsterdam who have advertised couches for people to sleep on?? when you expand the listing to all of Holland, there is simply no reason i can think of to not travel. thats just one (particularly friendly) country. share and be shared with. i'm stoked.

here to help

two things that have been said to me when i'm feeling down:

"You are a starfish, a beautiful, broken starfish. You are strong and you will make it. Grow back your missing arms and be whole."

"You're not lame. say it again and you will be though. Picture anne frank as a slut and smile a hate filled doom frown!"

thanks, everyone.

it has been a week of not enough Work at Gainful Employment
but plenty of work that results in products. like muffins. and clean houses and goood meals and buttons!!!
so there that is.
i'm getting set up to take in couch surfers to help pay rent. i got a really nice couch from the side of the road (just internalize that criticism. its a nice couch. good for what i need, firstly that it cost me nothing but the effort of carrying it down the street. )
and nesting for my own happiness.
and.
doing laundry.
i have 3 friends getting married this year. so far. busy busy.
more later, perhaps much later.

silence

i've been widely unavailable to the world and its going to stay that way. there is work and cooking and stuff.

i had a successful culinary adventure yesterday: i made Paneer and Pita Bread and chicken tikka masala. and they were all Wonderful with a capital There Are No Leftovers. oops. heh.

i got a bunch of spices at the Co Op because they sell in bulk so i got 10 for 10 dollars basically. one of the indian spices called for to make something i havent made yet, is Asafoetida. if you say it out loud, that is pretty much totally descriptive of what it smells like.

wikipedia tells me it is also called Hing and that when i heat it in butter it will smell like garlic and onions. which is convenient because indian cooking often rejects onions and garlic because they grow in dirt and poo and also because they make you acidic and smelly. and as those ingredients are considered grounding, and can impede levitation.. in case your levitation isnt working.

it is also used to protect babies from evil spirits and can be used to curse if you practice Hoodoo. and it aides digestion and reduces flatulence. and it is a scent bait for wolves and catfish.

so there we go. it doess smell bad, to be sure. i need to get it a nice airight jar ( i used all the jars i have already) so it doesnt infect the other spices. but it will help me achieve levitation! and i'm very happy with the way my kitchen is looking, all these fancy pretty spices lined up over the stove.
um.
i'll post pictures soon.