It's so wonderful candy!

I don't travel much these days. But I have wanderlust deep, deep in my bones. Nothing to do but every so often go to the foreign grocery stores in the area. I don't go to them because I actually know what I am doing: I go to them precisely because I don't know what I am doing. These are sweets from Marukai, a Japanese market. I give extra points to the products with helpful pictographs ("Oh! Super candy!") and ones for which the cultural connections are simply too foreign for me to ever understand. I don't want to figure them out. I just like that they're there and so very foreign (is that a female sumo wrestler duck? I don't have anything with a female sumo wrestler duck. Must buy.). Gotta love these bottles, the glass ones with the little marble that rolls around at the neck? Oh! Super bottle!

If life gives you limes, make lime butter

It is pointless to complain about the traffic in Southern California. I mean, if you're complaining about the traffic, you are in the traffic. You are the traffic. There's that principle in Bhuddism. Anyway, that said, there was an extraordinary amount of traffic down to San Diego this weekend. I averaged 18 mpg in my small German vehicle: That ain't right. (The Yin to this traffic Yang came immediately, as our hotel upgraded us to a suite. Suite? Sweet! While Jack was experiencing life at sea, hey, Anna and I had a girl's night out! Fancy restaurant, gummi bears, movie and, oh yeah, jumping on the hotel bed and the couch in the suite!). Well, it turns out that the traffic was the byproduct of the convergence in San Diego (in addition to my son's overnight adventure on the Midway Museum aircraft carrier) of two events: The Comicon and the American Idol auditions. I mean, the Comicon, the world's largest comic book and popular arts convention and and the American Idol auditions, the world's largest comical and popular arts debacle? In one place? At the same time?! Not quite the Olympics of people watching, which I suppose might be the Olympics, but this certainly qualifies the regional finals.

Well, I'll need to find a place to caffinate near the convention center to people watch, which means the Gaslamp District. Now, the Historic Gaslamp Quarter is a high-concept redevelopment area, full of high-concept restaurants and high-maintenance stores catering to the fanny pack and big white rabbit feet tennis shoe crowd. I avoid high-concept, especially high-concept restaurants, as the risk of the wait staff singing "Happy Birthday", likely their own copyrighted, brand-reinforcing version of the ditty, to some poor fool is just too great. But I'm not going to miss out on assorted flocks of InuYasha's toting their 6-ft. cardboard and duct tape Tessaigas (yeah, I know this stuff. Should I admit this?), gaggles of Boba Fetts, and The Next Whitney Houston trying to out-Mariah-Carey The Next Celine Dione, even if I must resort to Starbuc--Wait! What is that? What are those? Those look like giant organic galactic pod-shaped baskets in which you can sit and watch the show! Do I want to sit in a giant organic galactic breakfast pod (acutally an "aeons-old Australian Aboriginal fish trap"--also good) to watch the Storm Troopers go by? Um, yeah!

Bondi is the high-concept restaurant/bar/café named for the beach in Australia (pronounced "bond-EYE", right, my mate Cree?). Sort of a flagship store for Bondi beer, I suppose, to wean unsuspecting conventioneers from Miller Lite. A high-concept restaurant/bar/café, for sure, but with aeons-old Australian Aboriginal fish traps! Okay, I'm in! In the fish trap! The food, as you can imagine, was cuisine. (Thank you, Anna, for the bunny ears behind my macchiato!). Served very prettily, but, taste, eh, whatever. Except the lime butter on the pancakes! Lime butter. That will be my focus word for meditation: It's that close to spiritual enlightenment. I will repeat "lime butter" slowly as I navigate SoCal traffic. I must attempt the alchemy of lime butter. I will keep you posted.

Serge is not my hairdresser, it is a type of stitching

My Watch List on eBay is top to bottom overlock machines. I've been lurking around serger auctions for, gosh, it must be months now. I can't commit to a serger. I've been sewing sans serge and have been finishing my edges with zigzag (I know, I know: War in Iraq, Global Warming, edges finished in zigzag. What is the world coming to?).

Despite my status sans serger, I just had to dig into these knits. Had to. But you know what? Sans serge works. Even for knits. I'm good with it. Just don't turn these clothes inside out: The world is in a precarious state as it is.

FYI: Pattern Farbenmix QUIARA (form and fit just dreamy!)

From a sister to a brother ...

Will it fly?

Princess Tomato called yesterday. Again, we scratched our heads and wondered how, how, how to make a few ideas a reality. We kept coming up with entry barriers. But for each traditional way of doing business, there seems to be a digital detour around that entry barrier.

I've always wanted an idea garage. A place to tinker with ideas--any idea: New and late models, imports and domestics, high performance and utility ideas--until they can fly on their own. Well, why not pull up the garage door on this bag idea?

See? This bag still needs some tinkering. It's not finished, just held together with pins. You see where I got the idea. I don't know if they even make interfacing stiff enough for what I am aiming for, not for this size bag. I'm also not quite certain about the exact construction. I probably need to add Heat Bond to the interfacing and secure to the outer fabric. How do I get the lining to neatly in those side seams? I should have at least tried to stitch the lining into those sides while topstitching. I'm just not sure.

Any ideas? Even, "Junk it"?

FYI: Fabrics from Heather Ross/Free Spirit.

Seit langem habe ich mir eine Idea Garage gewünscht. Ein Ort, wo frau an Ideen basteln könnte--jede Art von Idee--bis sie von alleine fliegen können. Nun, wie wäre's wenn wir die Garagentor vor dieser Taschenidee hochziehe?

Siehste? Weit entfernt von ausgereift. Diese Probetasche ist lediglich mit Stechnadeln zusammengehalten. Du siehst woher ich die idee her hab'. Ich weiss nicht mal, ob Vlies in der notwendige Stärke produziert wird, nicht für diese Grösse von Tasche. Ein paar Gedanken hätte ich zu der Konstruktion machen sollen. Ich hätte das Klebezeugs auf den Vlies auf bügeln sollen (Klebebeleg? Hier treffe ich auf die Grenzen meiner Fachbegriffkenntnisse) . Und wie hätte ich den Beleg in die Seitennähten einbinden sollen. Probieren vor dem Absteppen hätte ich probieren sollen.

Ideen? Auch "hinschmeissen"?

Zur Info: Stoffe Heather Ross/Free Spirit.

Don't you love it when ...

...when you can add a new café to your list of favorites? It's kind of like meeting a new person you really like. People watching from the bay window seats, all the orange slices the kids can eat, creaky floors, organic orange muffins, salt water-soaked surfers at the espresso machine. That's good stuff.
Orange Inn in Laguna Beach.

7 7 7

07/07/07: Three lucky sevens. A very auspicious date. As such, I will use this date to launch a new brand name for that which I do.

This isn't exactly easy. It's kind of like re-naming a child. Naming my children was no easy task. (My son Jack, for example, has three given names, none of which are Jack. My daughter Anna also has three given names, one of which is Anna, although unfortunately of which none is Aurelia, although I wish it were: Anna was already two when I saw the film Love Actually and heard the name). The question with the new name is, Will it stick? It will be a gradual change: I'll put the new name up there with the old until it sticks.

The reason for the name change is simple. I'm coming across some stumbling blocks with registering the trademark for studioTANTRUM. Maybe I can still overcome these hurdles. Nonetheless, I would like a trademark word, which isn't in use at all for anything.

studioTANTRUM has been very good to me, but I am not all that attached to it. I came up with the name just for myself and for the clothes I made for my daughter as sort of a private joke. Yes, I admit: I am using pretty clothes as a parenting tool. It is, for me, a joy and sometimes easier to parent a child in the throws of a tantrum, when she is dressed prettily. Moreover, everyday of childhood should be a celebration. It is here and gone so quickly, that I think it is important to dress for the occasion. Be that the occasion of conquering the monkey bars, mastering a two-wheeled bike, eating ice cream in bed while watching a Studio Ghibli movie or, yes, when that young child buries her warm, tear-soaked face into your neck when things aren't quite going her way. All reasons to celebrate in my book.

Anna has, for the most part, outgrown her tantrums. And I think I have grown a little bit, too. The collaboration with Farbenmix and this very, very grassroots business venture has helped me to spread my wings, test the winds and make a few nervous and occasionally successful leaps from my little perch. I'm not sure if I'm getting any smarter, but I am getting gutsier. I hope that my designs encourage others to become creatively emboldened.

As such, I have decided to go with this word right here: Fledge. There's the definition from Merriam Webster right there on the left. "Capable of flying" or "acquiring the feathers for flight or independent activity" or "to rear until ready for flight or independent activity". Other definitions include "To embellish or decorate as with feathers". I think those are allusions I would try to touch upon (lots of feather boas? Well, not exactly ...). I also like the fact that the word "edge" is contained within the word. Also, when I think of a young bird perched on a branch high above the ground below reluctantly, but instinctively preparing for that first flight, I find the word to be almost onomatopoeic: "fffffffll...EDGE!"

I also have a short mission statement, which I will share here:

Have fun.
Make money.
Be good.
Do good.

These four goals are not in order, they are interdependent, like Lift, Thrust, Drag and Weight.

08/08/08 will also be very auspicious for Mandarin speakers: Let's see what happens to Fledge by then.

07.07.07 Drei mal der Glückssiebener. Ein viel verheißender Datum. Von daher möchte ich zu diesem Tag zu dem was ich unternehme einen neunen Namen einführen.

Das ist nicht gerade einfach; es vergleicht sich mit dem Benennen bzw. Umbenennen der Kinder. Das nennen unserer Kinder fiel mir auch nicht gerade einfach ein (mein Sohn Jack hat drei Vornamen und keiner davon ist Jack. Anna hat auch drei, eins davon ist in der Tat Anna, doch keiner davon ist Aurelia, denn den Namen habe ich leider erst gehört als Anna schon zwei Jahre alt war). Die Frage zum neuen Namen ist, "Bleibt er hängen?" Ich führe diesen neuen Namen peu á peu ein, denn heut' auf morgen geht das wahrscheinlich nicht gerade so einfach.

Der Grund für den Namensänderung ist einfach: Ich begegne so manche Stolpersteine bei der Registierung des Markennamens. Vielleicht werden diese noch beseitigt. Ich möchte jedoch einen Namen haben, der sonst nicht registiert ist.

"studioTANTRUM" war bisher gut aber ich bin nicht sehr gebunden an den Namen. Es fing als kleiner Scherz an und sollte nur die Kleider, die ich für meine Tochter genäht hatte, beziechnen. Ich gebe es zu: Ich nutze hübsche Kleidung als Erziehungshilfe. Für mich ist es eine Freude und manchmal ist die Erziehung auch einfacher, wenn meine Kleine hübsch angezogen ist. Darüber hinaus bin ich der Ansicht, daß jeder Tag der Kindheit zu zelebrieren ist, denn die Kindheit ist hier und schon wieder weg. Von daher sollte kind entsprechend feierlich angezogen sein. Sei die Zelebration die Eroberung des Klettergerüstes sein, das Meistern des Zweirads sein, das Speiseeis Essen im Bett beim gucken von Studio Ghibli-Film sein oder auch wenn die kleine Tochter ihr warmes, mit Tränen durchnässtes Gesicht in dein Hals verstechkt, denn nicht alles ist, wie es sie möchte. Alle Gründe zum feiern, meines Erachtens.

Anna ist aus ihrer Trotzphase herausgewachsen (bzw. "fast" herausgewachsen; ganz herauswachsen wird sie--schätze ich und hoffe ich--nie). Ich bin auch ein wenig herangewachsen. Die Zusammenarbeit mit Farbenmix und dieses sehr, sehr word-of-mouth Unternehmen haben mir geholfen, meine Flügel auszubreiten, die Luftströmungen zu fühlen und nervös doch ab und zu erfolgreich über meinem kleinen Schatten zu springen. Ich weiss nicht, ob ich kluger geworden bin; ich weiss, dass ich mutiger geworden bin. Meine Hoffnung ist es, dass meine Designs anderen ermutigen, kreativ zu sein.

Von daher habe ich dieses Wort hier ausgesucht: Fledge. Die Definition steht oben links. "Bereit zum Fliegen," "Feder fürs Fliegen bzw. für unabhängige Aktivitäten zu bekommen," bzw. "Erziehen". Andere Definitionen ergeben die Bedeutung "Ausschmücken z.B. mit Federn". Das sind so die Anspeilungen, nach denen ich streben werde. Mir gefällt auch die Tatsache, wenn ich an einem jungen Vogel denke, der nervös doch instinktiv die Flügel ausstreckt und vom Ast springt, das "fledge" fast onomatopöisch ist: "ffffffllll-EDGE!"

Ich habe auch ein kleines Mission Statement, dass ich Euch gerne mitteilen möchte:

Have fun.
Make money.
Be good.
Do good.

Diese vier komponente sind nicht nach Rang geordnet: Sie sind gegenseitig abhängig, genau wie Auftrieb, Luftwiederstand, Gewicht, Schub.

Der 08.08.08 sollte auch ein viel herheißender Datum sein. Mal schauen was bis dahin passiert.