elma – kelly hogaboom

“Once they were men. Now they are land crabs.”

March 22, 2013

by kellyhogaboom dailies

I finished this a while back, but I’ve always had trouble getting good pictures of embroidery. Nevertheless, it is HIGH TIME I unleashed this on the world, perfect pictures or no. To wit: my embroidery sampler from the 1957 Corman classic, Attack of the Crab Monsters!

I think in the lower-left figure you’ll agree I captured the essence of the film’s villain, a downright devilish decapod:

Now, if you don’t think Attack of the Crab Monsters is awesome, we will probably never be CLOSE friends. For one it has the Professor in it, potraying a character a little rogue, a little lonely – and a wee bit sleazy (but not as sleazy as he was in say, Space Children). For another there is this huge papier-mache crab. They paid for it, so they’re gonna show it. They seemed to have spent a bit more time and detail on a separate claw prop, which they also showcase more than once:

Then there’s the funny-looking old radio, which is plot-central to the point (so of course, said radio is included in my sampler!):

And of course – the creatures from the opening credit design – just beautiful. The film is in black and white, so I tried to imagine these critters in color:

My favorite thing about the film, though, is one of the salient plot points: radiation-enlarged crabs have consumed scientists, absorbed the knowledge of these scientists, and can telepathically communicate at will the voices and personalities of their victims.

And finally – perhaps my favorite thing ever in the film, is just how cavalier “Jim” is before he is despatched by the crafty crustaceans:

[sc_embed_player fileurl=”https://kelly.hogaboom.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/crabmonsters1.mp3″]

That was my ringtone for quite a while and I would LOLOL every time I heard it.

***

The second bit of embroidery – finished just yesterday – is Phoenix’s “Two Dragons”. I plan to have this framed in a way complimentary to her previous embroidered piece, “Mutant Horse”.

I haven’t figured what, if anything, to add to the piece; I want to keep the simplicity of her line drawings intact. I hope to embroider and frame her pieces now and then so she has a nice little collection, if she wants it, for posterity.

In somewhat, less-exciting craftivism, I made an ironing board cover from sale fabric purchased at Elma Variety. I am a huge fan of Elma Variety; and while they may not have the fabric for garments I need – favoring a very large selection of quiliting cottons instead – they have so much great stuff in the way of notions, yarn and knitting/crotchet supplies, and general craftiness.

Happy krafting!

TODAY IN ELMA

October 16, 2011

by kellyhogaboom dailies

Pumpkin patch with friends, then to Saginaw’s for lunch (FRENCH DIP OF CHAMPIONS), then Wolf Cafe at the Elma Timberland Library (where my kids cracked me up with their high degree of participation, joy, and nature-knowledge), then to the park for a loooong time where afterwards we caught this horrible huge grasshopper thing (which was wrapped up in a coat and later fed to the leopard gecko), then jumped over ditches and walked through neighborhoods so very very Grays Harbor, and finally got an impromptu tour of the hitherto-unknown-to-me Elma Theatre by a rather eccentric character and I think our kids were almost smashed by unsecured debris at least once.

Or I could just show you some of it.

(pssst, check out Phoenix when she was a very wee lass, in a similar contraption!)

a date, a walk, a bonfire

August 14, 2011

by kellyhogaboom dailies

Saginaws with Ralph, after visiting a very interesting recording studio and sprawling Mormon home. Where, big news for me, I got to pet a Maine Coon kitty. After this appointment Ralph took me out to eat (my mom had hosted the kids at the Fair, that’s right, they got to go twice this year!) and it was just a wonderful meal for he and I. I told him, “I feel so fortunate. I’ve had a lovely day so far, this was great food and I like being with you. And we get to see our friends later.”

A nature walk on or at least near our friends’ property, I don’t know, I was a bit lost:

I want to one day take a trip, just the kids and I. Or maybe even just me. I want to be away from a few things. Just for a little while. I select the kids as possible attendants because when it’s them and I in nature or in the quiet somewhere, things are just so damned simple and wonderful.

Thimbleberries; raspberries are my favorite, but these are delicious as well. Oddly a bush will have a perfectly-ripe specimen neighboring several so unripe you couldn’t even pry off the plant. When they are ready, they are so soft and juicy, a complex citrusy-sweet flavor. I’ve never done anything other than what Nels and I did today (along with several huckleberries); eat them off the bush.

Later:

A bonfire gets a little hot for the musicians, but is just the right temperature for others.

I used to talk and talk at gatherings and get all wound up. Hyper. Either angry or happy. That person is still with me but often these days I’m quiet, enough so that my husband thinks something’s wrong when nothing really is. He puts his hand in mine or rubs my shoulders and would do just about anything for me. I feel incredibly grateful for his company and that of my children and my friends. Many times, these days, it’s as simple as that.

Kids with eyes as big as dollars / Rode all the rides

August 12, 2011

by kellyhogaboom dailies

I’m laying in the bed next to my son and breathing and it seems interminable to think of riding in the car twenty minutes to the County Fair, let alone walking about. At least Friday it won’t be so crowded during the day, lots of people working. I want to be there but I’m sick – a sore throat, nothing serious. I should have taken it easy when I had the chance – but I didn’t.

So now I know the kids and the spouse will be shattered if we don’t go to the Fair today and if I don’t go with them. I practice some meditation. “Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out…” Then after a while some mindful healing (I hope): “Breathing in, I am aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile to my heart.” I continue with loving awareness afforded to many aspects of my body. I am especially kind to my throat, my eyes, and ears, as they feel pain. I practice this for a few minutes in the car while the family enjoys the sunshine blowing in through the window; halfway to Elma and I’m feeling better.

We park and then walk past the Fair gates and take the children directly in the order they requested: first, to the information booth where you might need to go to sort yourselves out if you or your grownup is lost (the kids have a phone and so do I but, in case theirs gets lost on a ride); then to see wolves, a favorite Nels had read about in our local paper a few days ago (and we note the time the wolves will be brought out for public showing) – and finally, to purchase the children bracelets that allow one to ride as many rides as many times as they like. Nels has grown six inches in the last year and is eligible for almost every ride – he feels awesome about this.

Ralph and I ride the ferris wheel with them which gets me all set to puke to see my kids in the car next to me, so high up. Then we leave the children to their cavorting; my husband and I eat and walk through the livestock barns and talk to friends and check out dairy cows (Ralph has an empty coffee cup at the ready to catch any errant milk) while the kids cavort on their own. At 3:30 we’re reserving first-row seats for the wolves – a presentation by Predators of the Heart. There are many beautiful creatures in cages but I’m struck most by two pumas – incredibly powerful-looking and beautiful but lolling about like my own cats. Until a fella jumps from behind somewhere and hands them two large hanks of meat-on-bone and the cats snarl and leap quicker than I could have imagined, the sounds were like pre-recorded cat-snarl but it really came out of their faces. Or like my friend Abi said – who wasn’t there but was nevertheless correct when I told her via IM later – “just sitting there like ladies at the opera – until they smell flesh.” A few minutes later and there was no sign of bone or skin or anything and the two were rolling about licking one another’s faces.

The show started and as predicted the animals were beautiful; and it was lovely to see so many children, little ones and older ones, exposed to the animals. I always feel conflicted about wild animals in captivity but I was relaxed and taking it easy today; nothing to fight. Nels asked if he could pet wolves and he was one of only a handful, in a crowd of about a hundred, that was permitted, much to his satisfaction. He was quite serious about the whole business.

At the conclusion of this hour-long event I had to go home. I was dizzy and felt awful. We pulled up to the house and I staggered in and pulled off socks and shoes and read then slept a while on the couch, in and out of a gentle slumber as my children played and Ralph cooked them a simple dinner. When I woke again at eight Ralph escorted a ladyfriend to a baby shower (my Purple Spooky found a home!) and when I woke I made the kids hot, fresh crumpets which were incredibly delicious and we watched a bit of nature films and I started on a new knit hat for my daughter, for the fall.

Friday.

Nels and Phoenix on the ferris wheel; his first time without a grownup by his side.