Antsy for Springtime

It'll be a while yet, but we're all antsy to GO OUTSIDE & PLAY!

Valentina shucked her Santa dress and is showing off her new dress, (which may or may not have been lifted off a broken doll at the store, I couldn't possibly say).

(River commented on how nice the clothes are on some of the dolls I've been sorting. Fortunately for those dolls, mostly their clothes are  glued on their bodies, cheaply manufactured as they are, which is likely why they still have them.)

Doll Care

Linda Sue at Lady Margaret's Curlers posted today about cultural appropriation . . .

"the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that doesn't respect their original meaning, give credit to their source, or that reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression."

Like, when Urban Outfitters sold panties in "Navajo-inspired" patterns (article).

Personally, I relate to how icky it feels when  your work gets ripped off.

Remember when I did all this work to get the store entered into the Best Thrift Store contest last year, BC (Before Covid)?
And we won?
And the managers still wouldn't give me a raise afterward?

Well, this New Year's, a manager boasted online about the store's win. He didn't tell me he did it, and he didn't credit me.
That's appropriation: someone with higher rank obliquely took credit for my work.
That rankles.

Fake-Native-American trinkets like this doll (one of the batch of dolls I've been sorting at the store) are in that category.

The original dolls of this type were designed by Mary Dwyer McAboy (1876-1961), a non-Native woman. (Wikipedia)
It seems she meant no disrespect.
She called the dolls Skookums. According to an article "Misrepresentation & Misuse of Native American Imagery" on the website of Wenatchi Wear,  "Skookum is Chinook jargon, meaning strong and brave."

I don't know--maybe McAboy collaborated with Indigenous friends and shared profits or something. I'm not pointing my finger at her, per se, but the dolls do represent a sort of rip off that is ripe and rampant.

Every so often at thrift stores, stuff gets donated that is not blatantly racist (like Mammy salt-shakers are) but that you know is a rip off.
Example: dream catchers made in China.

What do you do with this stuff?
All three thrift stores I've worked at put iffy racial stuff out for sale (or even some pretty blatant stuff), mostly with no discussion at all.

This doll exists and has come into my care, and I like her little face.
What to do with her?

I see dolls differently than other objects. I feel I should honor the life force in a doll. They are not just inert things. Whatever their origins, they are loved and played with until they come alive.

Complicating factor: she's in bad shape. Such bad shape my coworkers would throw her out without hesitation.

I was wondering if I might be able to repair this doll a little... Maybe  just fill in the missing paint on her eye and lips.
I think I'll give that a try, and then go from there. Lots of Native people come to the store--maybe someone would like the doll?

I don't know.

Meanwhile, I'll look around for some more people who have thought deeply about rip offs, in terms of dolls, and not just dismissed it with an "Oh, they meant no harm".
If harm was done, and it surely was––meaning no harm is NOT THE POINT.
Care should be taken.

Gerard DuBois, Illustrator

I discovered this illustrator today--Gerard DuBois (France/Montreal) (www.gdubois.com)

 

I recognize myself in his children and toys
...and this blogger?  "You'd better post something NOW!"

The toys I know love this, to switch parts:

 

I am both the child and the adult here:

IG Colors

Once again my IG posts for the store create pleasing color palettes.

 

Doll Meet

 The dolls are meeting each other at my work desk.

 

Polka Dot was handmade in Poland, maybe in the fifties?
Articulated robot doll was made in China, like yesterday.

 

BELOW: Purple doll is from Russia. Drum Major is from Italy. 

 

Skating with Chair

Skating rink at evening, at the lake near my place.

Pigeons over the Post Office

The K-Mart in my old neighborhood closed after being looted in the uprisings after the police murdered George Floyd.
The post office that was burned at the same time moved into the store, temporarily.

Staying in an airbnb in that neighborhood last week, I was happy to see the store's huge parking lot is still home to flocks of pigeons--now circling over post office trucks.

Dolls

Yesterday I spent an hour on the floor at work, photographing  donated dolls. Most are dirty & damaged, one way or another.

I'm relieved that I'm generally undamaged myself, though out of shape. Gym-guy Ben had asked me on Monday if I spend much time on the floor, and I'd said no. He'd given me "lift-yourself-off-the-floor" exercises anyway--
like, sit on floor with legs to one side, and lift your rump up.
My glutes were sore the next day!

I never cared about dolls until the Little Reds came. Now I see how alive dolls can be.
Lots of people told me these dolls are creepy. I can see that, but I feel the opposite--to me, they appeal.

(His arms ^ are on wires.)

BELOW: This doll is made of one piece of wood, I think--she is immovable.

The Japanese dolls above ^ are worth some money. ($25 each? They are in rough shape).
Most of these dolls aren't worth much though--a couple bucks--some would say none.

I don't know if I should bring them home... What would I do with them? 
For now, I am photographing them at work.

Traveling Dolls

 A box of rather beat-up old dolls was donated to the store. I want to spend some time with them, figure out who they are.
Here are just a couple.

This doll wears a folk costume from Madeira (Portugal). There are lots of this type of souvenir doll online.
Her face is so dirty, but I love her hand-painted features.  She reminds me a bit of Linda Sue's Polish dolls, but is she slightly annoyed...?

Her hands have stitched fingers--seems like a lot of work:

Cloth nesting dolls--they tuck into each other's apron pockets. I haven't seen these before, have you? No maker's label or anything.

Three of my twenty-four girlettes have found a new home. A store customer who follows me on FB recently told me how much she and her two kids enjoy my doll photos.
I asked her if they'd like one... or three dolls.
Yes! she said.

The dolls discussed amongst themselves who would get to go, and what they would wear. Here they are on my desk this morning.

And waiting to get picked up at the cashier's area. They are excited.

Freshen Up

A near miss: bink pointed out that the one-room studio I'd applied for is facing a highway that's under construction for the next two years.
I'd thought that project was done!
But noooooo, it'll be noise & dust, dawn till dark, all the warm months of the year.

So, darn.
I told the apartment people to cancel my application. I assume I'll lose the application fee, but at least this time I didn't actually sign a lease and lose my one-month deposit (as I'd done last year with an apartment over a busy street---I could have/should have known the all-night roar of traffic would bother me.)

Today I see Ben, the gym guy, for a one-on-one session--at a distance, now gyms have reopened again.
My intention is to SLOW DOWN, move with more intention, pay attention to physical things.
To other things in general, too--don't leap before I look around, look ahead.

I'd talked with HM when I applied for the apartment.
I'd thought she'd be hurt that I was thinking of moving, but she said she understood my desire to be back in my old neighborhood.
We had a good chat about making some changes to the house, now the new windows are in.
They are fabulous! The house is quieter & snugger, yet brighter.

I want to make this place more comfortable for me, including finally painting my room a cream color--white with a slight warm yellow undertone.
My desk chair is 1970s-Orange, so it'll tilt toward citrus.

Marz is moving to a new place in a week, a shared house walking distance to her new co-op job almost 5 miles from here.
Much as I'll miss her, I'll be glad to have access to the guest room again--a room I'd painted (a sort of ochre) when I first moved in.
More private space.

Work is going better.
Now I have a respirator, I'm more comfortable. I'm back to working my usual hours (24/week). And since Ass't Man has calmed down again, the overall mood is improved.

Last week we got the December sales print-out: BOOK's had their best month ever:
around 2,000 printed materials sold (including magazines at 25¢ each; Last-Chance books at 33¢; crime, romance, & kids books at 49¢ = the total income was only around $2,000  . . . but that's a lot for our poor store).
I was pleased and proud.

Now my intention is to look for second part-time job.
I'm not ruling out a new, full-time job if I see something ideal, but the idea of sitting at the computer at home alone, all day, makes my heart sink.

We shall see.

Oh, hey, a bit of cheering news for me:
just now, 8:34 a.m. Monday, the rental company emailed that they'll refund my $55 application fee. YAY!

I cancelled my subscription to MasterClass too. It was almost $200 for a year, and from the classes I've skimmed in the past ten days, really no better than the 3,600+ TEDtalks free online. 

Those refunds will pay for my Baymax comforter cover, paint, and a couple gym classes.
In about six weeks, I turn sixty.
Fingers crossed, at this moment the future looks fresh.                            

Were you affected...?

I did my taxes today and for the first time I noticed this question:

"Were you affected by a natural disaster...?"
(I guess they always ask this.)

Yes, I bloody well was!

But wait--look at that clause--the disaster had to be declared BEFORE February 19, 2020.
But that leaves ten and a half months of 2020. I guess those don't count?

"How do I know if I was affected?"
Oh, believe me, I know.

_________

I felt like rewarding myself after doing my taxes, even though I had to pay in a little ($24––because unemployment doesn't withhold enough tax when they give it to you.
(My coworkers and I all got unemployment when Covid & uprisings closed the thrift store.)

I've been wanting a new duvet cover ever since I spilled a full glass of wine on my white one this winter. I didn't want to face crowds at IKEA, where I usually would go to buy one, so I looked online.
I was going to get some tasteful Marimekko-y one, when I saw this--
Baymax "your personal healthcare companion", from Big Hero 6.

Baymax is like a Moomin + Totoro + Lassie guardian–– just who you'd want to watch over you should you happen to have been affected by a natural disaster since February 19, 2020.

The cover was ridiculously expensive.
I ordered it.

 

Baymax asks, "Are you satisfied with your care?" 

Lighten Up: Books, Side-by-Side, and Pink & Green

Ass't Man has chilled out, which makes work lighter.
Yesterday he asked me to post a set of Noritake Carnation china online. I don't know that Noritake is much of a draw--we get a ton of it--but I'm happy to accept a photo challenge.

I matched it with pink & green books:

Then I set the books up as the new display. Spring is far away here in the northland, but the days are longer: it's time to LIGHTEN UP!

Now I have a respirator, I feel safer at work (if nothing else, the soft rubber seals to my face, not like air-gappy cloth). I worked a whole shift yesterday, after many weeks of working halves.

Set up a few side-by-sides:

Pencil Head!

 

 

Going back home today after work--the City has finished installing the new windows. 

Having loved staying in an Airbnb in my old neighborhood, I'm applying for an apartment in that area.
It's affordable because it's just one room, but it big, & BRIGHT --with new double-glazed (quiet!), south-facing windows––in a beautiful old brownstone built in 1901.

We shall see...

Do you feel better? I feel better.

“Sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness…”

 – Galway Kinnell, “Saint Francis and the Sow”

OMG, do I feel better after yesterday's inauguration of President Biden and Vice Pres Harris.
Do you?
I felt like I exhaled fully for the first time in FOUR+ years.

I feel re-energized to work for good things--including taking better care of myself (an ongoing thing).

We've been staying in an AirBnB over in my old neighborhood while the windows are replaced, and while I'd dreaded being back here (crowded, noisy, dirty, near some people I don't like), it turns out I'm LOVING the energy!

For instance, yesterday I went into the corner store where I always used to buy milk---to buy milk. I think the owner recognized me, even with a mask.
At any rate, when I asked him if he'd watched the inauguration, he said, "It's a shame."

I was surprised---I thought he'd be a Biden supporter.

But he continued.
"The president. He left the White House."

A-ha, I get it. He's an immigrant, I'm not sure where, but I think he comes from a culture of honor, like my Sicilian father. Trump brought dishonor on himself--not because he's guilty as hell, but because he did not do the honorable thing when he lost.

"Yes," I said. "Shameful! He acted like a child. He should have been a man--shown some grace."

That was it.
And I get it. Americans don't seem to place much value on personal honor. It's more like, if you can make a million bucks, you can do anything. Grab anything.

Though I hear the owner of Home Depot who’d always supported The Shameful One said he felt betrayed after the attack on the US Capitol, so  maybe not ANYTHING.

Anyway, being in this neighborhood makes me want to move back, but I have to get more work first. So I will!

Julia gave me a 3M respirator to wear May the thrift store. I love that I look like a pink bug! I’ll see if it’s wearable for several hours.

Meanwhile, in the interest of my health, happiness, and sanity, I'm also going to open a hard conversation with HouseMate (HM) about some better boundaries and communication styles.

Googling around about setting boundaries I found a helpful "A Guide for People Pleasers". Among its 30 steps, I especially like:

1. Prioritize the stuff that keeps you happy, healthy, and sane.

2. Say no to the stuff that doesn’t work for you, and explain why. Or, say no but respectfully affirm the other person’s desire.
Or, don’t bother offering an explanation:
You don’t need to explain yourself if you don’t want to. This is one of my favorite moves.

 

Inauguration Day: the common objects of their love

 OH THANKGOD, nothing blew up!!!

Emcee Penny Cooper was crying a little through the whole thing. 

BELOW: "That human is wearing a gold toy!"

 

BELOW: "That person rides a bike."
(True. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN)

"Here is another important grown-up person who was once a girlette."

"SPARKLES!"

BELOW: Penny Cooper takes a small break, and Spike steps in.
"Here are some grown ups."

BELOW: Penny Cooper leads the choir of "Amazing Grace"

 

BELOW: "This person is saying to be brave.
She is not much older than me!"

 

BELOW: "What will they have for lunch?"

Inauguration Day: Strength in What Remains

Is it really happening...? The Cheeto is out in the cold?

We are left torqued and tangled..

But even tattered, we hope, we believe...
It's going to be OK.

 

 

I took these photos this week, walking on East Lake St., the major thoroughfare that leads from the chain of lakes to the Mississippi River. It intersect with the street the thrift store's on and the street where the police murdered George Floyd.

 

"We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains..."

--Wordsworth, "Ode on Intimations of Immortality"
(Well, we can grieve too.)

•SOFT •NO FEAR OF WATER •INTELLECTUAL •FANCY

•SOFT •NO FEAR OF WATER •INTELLECTUAL •FANCY  ...pretty much me (except for FANCY)

“Horse Clock” Made in Taiwan

The Flounce, in history

I just posted this on FB. Will anyone read it?
I have no idea. 
(I was amazed that a lot of people commented on My First Sonnet.
Did they actually read it? Because most wrote things such as "Good job!" I really don't know.)

Anyway, I think this might be my favorite thing I've ever posted there:

Why do I love history? Because it repeats itself. 

Memorize a few sets of human behaviors, including The Flounce, and you've got it down.

Q: Which US presidential inauguration does this refer to?

"The bitterly contested campaign and the drawn-out election process,

plus whispers about the POSSIBILITY OF CIVIL WAR and the predictions of resistance to the new administration

inspired [WHO???] to use his inaugural address to unify the nation..."

A: A president who is problematic in many ways,*
Thomas Jefferson, March 1801, in his smashing first inaugural speech.
(via Monticello)

IMAGE = Mr. Darcy, King of the Flounce:

"Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time, and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness."

Who's your favorite Darcy?

FUN FACT: Jane Austen wrote Pride & Prejudice in 1797, when John Adams became second US president...

BONUS: First Presidential Inaugural Flounce:

"Outgoing President John Adams, distraught over his loss of the election as well as the death of his son Charles to alcoholism, did not attend the inauguration.

He left the President's House at 4 a.m. on the early public stagecoach. * * * This was the first time an outgoing President would not attend his successor's inauguration."
(Wikipedia)

*Re problematic: We Americans as a nation inherit Jefferson's beautiful words & great ideals of freedom, . . . as well as the ongoing fallout of his not-so-beautiful-and-great follow-through, being an actual owner of other humans.

We are a rum species.

Work Play and Classtime

I'm starting to have a little fun again with my work, now that I'm calmer.
I'd been putting pressure on myself to find a new job immediately, but there's no need. I'll keep actively looking, but I don't need to jump out of one frying pan into another.

This week I nabbed a donated letter board and used it for my Cool Old Books section:

Photographing for the store's social media can be perfunctory, which is a bore, or it can be a real artistic challenge, which is enlivening.

Clothes especially challenge me because I don't care about fashion & labels. So I have to figure out, How can I make a piece of clothing interesting, intrinsically, as an object?
No one is willing to model the clothes for me, so it can't be about the body.
That leaves... the way light on fabric picks out color and textures.

I LOVE this photo I took last week:

Here's another amazing donation--a vintage photo of a Black man. There's absolutely no information of any kind on it--no name, place, date.
Here's where I'd like to know more about fashion. By the man's hair and tie, I'd guess maybe 1920s?

Hm... or earlier? Here's African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux (Wikipedia) in similar fashion via , c. 1913:

 

Ass't Man has been leaving me alone, and that's perfect.
Last summer I'd hoped we might be able to collaborate.
Now I'm aiming for mutual toleration.

Negotiating with Eggplants

Have you been seeing ads for MasterClass offerings?
They keep popping up on my FB--probably because I've watched a couple of them.
"High-end tutorials by celebrity teachers", they look like TED talks, and if the classes were free, I'd watch some of them.
An Atlantic article calls the classes "bonbons. . . . Yet, after watching Gordon Ramsay do it, I did finally learn how to properly salt an eggplant."

It never occurred to me to pay for one though, until today I saw an ad for
a negotiation class with former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss.

Reading an article about hostage negotiation had been key to me defusing tensions with Ass't Man last summer.
SO HELPFUL!!!
"Raise their oxytocin level" the article said, by creating a social bond. You don't have to like the person for this to work.

I could have watched all of Voss's videos on youTube for free.  MasterClass has even posted a free hour-long one there.
But I decided to sign up for the yearlong pass to all their classes because honestly, lots of them do appeal to me––Voss's as an actual class––I want to study and learn more about negotiations (lots of interactions are negotiations, not just hostile encounters with management);
others, maybe more for social curiosity:
What's Neil Gaiman like when he's talking about writing?
(Bonus if it's actually helpful or inspirational to me.)

It's a long, dark winter--why not indulge in bonbons?

Also, I'd like to know, how do you properly salt an eggplant?