Contrariwise ramblings

After having worked on an elaborate turquoise necklace, I felt the need to go minimalistic. So I put together this sweet little pendant. It's a lovely nugget of turquoise that I purchased long ago.   It's been waiting patiently in my bead box for far too long. Perhaps it can find an owner and finally feel loved.

Summer has really taken a bite out of my hours on the workbench. I used to have time in the evenings when my daughter was busy with her gymnastics, but during the summer she practices during the day when I’m at my full-time (non-jewelry making, corporate America) job. Plus my older daughter is back home from college and they both want attention from me when I get home from work.

Not only do the kids want attention, but my yard needs attention! Spring and summer is when I make my pathetic attempts at gardening. This year I’ve sworn to get the back yard in shape (I’m sure my husband is laughing as he reads this) although I doubt that I’ll be able to tackle my side yard. (Only one side of the house per year.  Neither my attention span nor my gardening abilities will allow for more!)

And, of course, there is the temptation to just enjoy the summertime. I was definitely doing some of that, this past weekend.  We have an artsy area of town and I was there checking out these  cute little shops that sell hand-crafted jewelry. And there were so many lovely pieces!

One of the shops I visited had some bezel-set pendants under the counter. There were ocean jaspers, laradorites, moonstones, and others. I thought the quality of the cabochons was pretty poor. (Not to brag, but the ones I've acquired put them to shame.)

I asked to see the pendants because I was curious about the prices.  I like to think that someday in the future I might try to market my work to some boutiques and I wanted to check out the potential competition.

Now the cabs were simply set in bezels - I like to think that I put some effort into customizing each setting to bring out the best in each cab.  Still,  when I saw the prices of the pendants I was a little disturbed. They were priced at almost half of what I would charge for my bezel-set cabs!

All were made in Indonesia.  Considering that the shop’s mark-up must be twice of what they paid for the pendants, and that the distributor was making a profit as well as the original shop, I can’t imagine how little the workers must be paid - although it's so likely that the wages they're receiving in Indonesia, although so minimal, are probably crucial to their families' well being and survival.

Right now, based on the cost of materials, equipment, and the amount I pay for taxes, I'm pretty much breaking even.  I can't imagine selling my works to a boutique/shop for 50% of what I charge on Etsy.  Nor can I imagine increasing my prices on Etsy just so that I can reasonably sell to a shop.

I guess I'll just continue to be an independent artist on Etsy for a while longer.


(Sorry for the rambling post.)



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It's cottonwood season again and the pesky seeds land in my yard and form little drifts of "snow".  Pretty, yet annoying at the same time.

However, cleaning up the mess they make is easier for some than for others:

I feel so sorry for the spider.  As soon as he rebuilds his web, it's going to fill up with cottonwood seeds again!

I was recently tagged by Freida of Deer Mountain Creations. Her blog is Deer Mountain Wood Art.

Freida said she wanted to learn more about me, Contrariwise. Thanks Freida. But remember, these facts will probably bring up more questions than answers about me. :-)

First, these are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven weird and/or random facts about Contrariwise:

1. In one of my earlier jobs, I used to take dead bodies to a hospital morgue.

2. I learned to speak English by watching television. ("Ehhh....what's up, doc.") But you'd never know if you heard me speak.

3. I've traveled to 23 countries

4. I have a master's degree in Molecular Genetics

5. I am incapable of shutting a drawer or a cabinet door. (This random fact is supplied by my husband, who follows me in the kitchen, shutting doors and drawers, as well as commenting upon my inability, as he goes along.)

6. Bruce Springsteen once sweated on me.

7. I can probably date an antique bottle from North America within 20 yrs of when it was made.

So now I'll tag the following 7 people whose blogs I follow and I would like to know 7 more things about:

Weird Bug Lady

Timothy Adam Designs

Carolyn Artist at Autumn Leaves Jewelry

Handforged by Kirsten Skiles

McFarland Designs

Lisa's Lovlies

Jan Finnell is Over the Top

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Angels and Demons Trailer

It seems almost a family tradition that we go to the movies on the day after Thanksgiving. I guess we're all sitting with a food hangover, no one wants to brave the malls on Black Friday... so why not a movie!

Well while there, I got to see the Angels & Demons trailer. This movie is based on a book by Dan Brown, who also wrote the DaVinci Code. I've read both books (who HASN'T READ the DaVinci Code) and really preferred Angels and Demons, hands down.

The story takes place in Rome, much of it in the Vatican. In the opening scene of the trailer there're a breath-taking fly-by over St Peter's. It eventually pans to a statue of an angel on the basilica - FLASH OF LIGHTENING - which turns into a demon.

Very, very cool effect. Except they made a mistake. There are no angels on St Peter's. None. I've been there and the top of St Peter's has huge statues of popes and saints.

Still, I'm looking forward to the movie.




Coming up on Contrariwise Ramblings tomorrow: new jewelry design that didn't turn out. (Hey, we all make mistakes.)

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I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a survey in the upper right hand side of this blog and I would love if everyone would participate in it

I've been blogging away for a few months now, and I thought it was time to sit back and think about the purpose of this blog.

So many people say that blogs are great promotional tools. So last year I decided to start one, thinking that I should focus primarily on my jewelry and also feature other Etsy artists.

But as you've probably noticed, I haven't exactly followed my original plan. Yes, Contrariwise Ramblings does seem to be aptly named. It seems that I just can't help peppering my blog with stuff about my kids, my dog, and anything that amuses me. (Polish postcards, anyone?)

I've heard that the best blogs are ones that are focused. So maybe I've gotten a little off track.

Lately I've been wondering if I should go back and make this a jewelry/etsy -only blog or keep it as is. (All I know is, if Contrariwise Ramblings is going to be jewelry-only, then I'll definitely be channeling my weirder side to another blog.)

So take the survey, or leave a comment, and let me know!

MAY 1 UPDATE: The survey is over. I'll be posting the results in the near future.

I was surfing on the internet yesterday and happened to find a site with quotes about dogs. After reading them, it made me want to rush home and give my dog a hug.

Here's a few of my favorites:

• The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. -Anonymous
  
  
• There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. -Ben Williams
  
  
• A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. -Josh Billings
  
  
• We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It’s the best deal man has ever made. -M. Acklam
  
  
• I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. -Rita Rudner
  
  
• The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. -Andrew A. Rooney
  
  
• He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. -Unknown
  
  
• Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies. -Gene Hill
  
  
• "The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. . . .He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. . . .When all other friends desert, he remains." - George G Vest
  
• The greatest love is a mother's; then a dog's; then a sweetheart's. - Polish Proverb
  
  
• No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich. -Louis Sabin
  
  
• Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. - Roger Caras
  
• If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them. -Phil Pastoret
  
  
• My little dog -- a heartbeat at my feet. -Edith Wharton
  
  
• A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. -Robert Benchley
  
  
• If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. - Mark Twain
  
  
• Anybody who doesn’t know what soap tastes like never washed a dog. -Franklin P. Jones
  
• If your dog is fat, you aren’t getting enough exercise. -Unknown
  
  
• My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That’s almost $21.00 in dog money. -Joe Weinstein
  
  
• Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative." - Mordecai Siegal
  
  
• Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul — chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we’re the greatest hunters on earth! -Anne Tyler
  
  
• Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein
  
  
• Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. -Groucho Marx
  
  
• If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. -Mark Twain
  
  
• Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. -Roger Caras
  
  
• My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. -Toby & Eileen Green

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Yes, we had an aftershock.

I was at work, sitting in my regulation-size cubicle, typing on my company-issue computer, when my ergonomically correct chair started rocking! Then I noticed my computer screen started swaying, which scared me because I thought this had to be non-compliant with company policies.

No one else in the office felt this earthquake because they were all standing around the a.a.'s desk chatting about how the earth moved for them earlier this morning.

I checked the internet and, yes indeed, it was a 4.6 on the scale.

...And wakes me up!

I woke up to the feel of my bed shaking, the windows, rattling, and the house creaking. At first I thought someone was playing a joke and trying to wake me up. Then I realized no one else was in the room and I thought to myself...EARTHQUAKE!!!


The clock said 5:39. It only lasted for about 15 seconds. I stayed in bed a bit to see if there was going to be more.

I ran around the house to see if anyone else heard it. My husband was downstairs and he said that the doors in the house had been moving back and forth about 6 inches. It woke my older daughter up my younger daughter was still asleep.

I turned on the TV and and immediately saw "Breaking NEWS" accross the bottom. or anything about the incident.

Then we got the info:

A 5.4 earthquake centered in West Salem, IL shook the area early Friday morning. The quake happened at 4:37 a.m.

Reports of feeling the quake are coming far east Illinois and far west and southern Missouri.

It was definitely felt here in Indiana.

Before I went to bed on Friday, I checked my blog and noted that it had almost 5000 views. Not bad for me; I was pretty pleased. On Saturday I woke up, still groggy, got on the internet and thought that my blog was up to 5160 views.

Wow, I thought, a lot of views overnight. Neatorama must have picked up on the story about 1943 hiring practices of women that I submitted to them.

Off I went to check statcounter, clicked on my account and saw a graph that went through the roof.

What gives? Is statcounter having problems? Then I realized I didn't have 5160 views on my blog, I had 15, 160 !

It turned out that my post had not only been linked by Neatorama, but then it got submitted to Reddit and National Review!

Over the weekend, there were times when I was getting a hit every second. What a riot!

Since this will never happen again, I need to document this. Take a look at the statistics for the weekend:



And here's a view from ClustrMaps of where the hits came from:

There were more, but the high number of hits overwhelmed my the account. :-)

I don't know if you noticed, but the color scheme of my blog has changed. The background color used to be white, but now it's black. Why?

It's my daughter's fault. She suggested that I would be saving energy.

Huh?

She showed me a site called Blackle. Now every one has heard of Google. But have you heard of Blackle?

In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.

How is Blackle saving energy?

Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen."

How can you help?

Set Blackle as your home page ( set ). This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. (Remember, black is the new green!) You will also be reminded about the need to save energy each time you see the Blackle page load.

Take a look at their energy saving tips page for ideas on steps you can take to save energy.
There are a lot of great web sites about saving energy and being more environmentally friendly. They are full of great tips covering the little things that we can all do to make a difference today. Try Blackling "energy saving tips" or visit treehugger.com a great blog dedicated to environmental awareness.

"Blackle.com - Saving energy one search at a time".

Ok, I'm sure I'm not alone in this, I just love Johhny Depp - especially in his pirate personna. He could come and sweep me off my feet and carry me off to his ship anytime.

His most recent movie is Sweeney Todd, a musical/slasher movie directed by Tim Burton. The only other person in my house that wanted to see it, or was old enough to see it, was my 20 year old son. So it was just him and me. (You may find this hard to believe, but he wasn't embarrassed by going to the movies with his mommy. At his age, I think I would have been aghast at going to an R rated movie with my mom, so I was pretty impressed with this .)