A Pleasant Peeve
Elaine Richards
Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
a couple of fine cities in Europe.
Now, this past summer, whenever I went on a SoCal weekend, I would
pack a small under-seat bag, sit near the front door, and be in
the parking lot when the rest of the folks on the plane were still
waiting at the luggage carousel. This will not happen this time.
This time, it will be cold. What does this mean? I will need to
wear a lot of Warm Things. Ah, yes, I do recall the trip to Old
Blighty in January. While I did have a nice time and managed to
stay warm, I had to wear 4 layers of clothing to do so. No, I am
not asking for the resident peevers who are well-insulated in
blubber to pound their chubby hands on their burly chests and crow
in mock superiority. I am also not inviting commentary about my
weight, distribution of body fat, or my gender. These are not "problems"
to be solved or characteristics over which on particularly needs to,
once again, crow in mock superiority. Skinny people who are pear
shaped and female, so science tells us, tend to live longer. That's
my story and I am sticking to it.
The solution, Polartec, is a lightweight, durable, washable fabric,
which seems to be half randomplasticfluff and half air. This means
volume. This means big luggage. Fine. I can deal with that. I can
carry a lot of weight around. It's the volume that drives me nuts.
(!Peeve: I got to pick the meet-the-deadline goodie that we're getting
after we, well, meet the deadline. It is composed of this miraculous
stuff.)
There is also the problem of my seriously Bad Habit. Many of us
have a monkey on our backs. Some folks enjoy way too much liquor for
their own good, some folks smoke like chimneys, some folks have lots
of old computers in their garages, and others spend all their time
poring over netnews postings in hope of finding a typo or grammatical
error over which they may pound their chubby hands on their burly
chests in mock superiority. I have an Art Habit. It isn't enough to
go to a cafe and sit with a pencil and a little sketchbook. No. I
need to bring the 35MM camera, six rolls of film, the watercolor kit,
watercolor paper, the favorite drawing pencils, the 8 X 12 sketchbook,
pencil sharpeners, and so on.
This year, I feel the Fear. I have about 500 pastels (new Bad Art Habit)
and they call me from that green backpack, "Take us tooooooo." This
also involves pastel paper (different than sketch paper or watercolor
paper) and flammable fixative, which I don't want to carry on a plane.
Oh, yeah, there's the new portable easel, which comes in handy, and the
two foldable stools, as well.
That's the Going There part. The Return part is fraught with Peril.
The rate of exchange is good for us YanquiPigDogs. The top brand
Dutch paint I have my eyes on is suddenly affordable if I buy it
in Amsterdam. There is also that store on the Left Bank in Paris
that has an entire floor dedicated to paper.
And then - OK, now you can rag on me about my gender - there is
the shoe store in Paris. The same brand of very chic and comfy
shoes all my middle aged Berkeley friends are wearing (Campers) go
for half in Paris what they do here. The analogy of jumping off a cliff
does not apply. Shoes are not feats of derring do. They are derring do
for the feets. (Spot the grammatical/spelling error and feel free
to chest pound.)
Of course, I could just pack a weekend bag, solving half the
luggage problem, and buy a suitcase and all the other stuff
while there. Hmmmmmm......
SummaryPeeve: I will need a larger suitcase - with wheels. Maybe two.
Summary!Peeve: Vacation. Belgian chocolate.
ER
Ayse Sercan
>Of course, I could just pack a weekend bag, solving half the
>luggage problem, and buy a suitcase and all the other stuff
>while there. Hmmmmmm......
>
>SummaryPeeve: I will need a larger suitcase - with wheels. Maybe two.
Make extra room in the suitcase on the return trip by shipping some of
your dirty clothes home. Or do as I'm planning and bring less than you
need and do laundry sometime (or more than once) during the trip. You
meet the most interesting people in the laundromat.
Not to mention that it's damned pleasant to carry only a couple days of
clothing for a 12-day trip, especially one with a lot of traipsing
involved.
--
ay...@idiom.com
"Anyone who willingly engages in a battle of wits
with a fish is at best evenly matched." -- Pete Young
Elaine Richards
Alan Gore <ag...@uswest.net> wrote:
>
>e...@idiom.com (Elaine Richards) wrote:
[luggage fever]
>
>You're going to need a really big roller, one as large as you canm
>handle. But before you buy, make sure it passes the European Train
>Test. Bring a tall folding stepladder and a small child, say
>kindergarten size, to the luggage store. When you chance upon a likely
>suitcase, zip Junior into it and make sure you can heft the case and
>contents up to the top of the stepladder all by yourself. For an added
>touch of realism, you might want to bring three or four Frenchmen to
>jostle and mutter about the "touriste americaine" as you heave the bag
>up the ladder.
>
Hm. Maybe a simulation using Ayse as the small child and the
Device Which Is Exploding as the rude Frenchman.
Good suggestion in any event. I have travelled before without
rollers on the luggage and could probably put a Sherpa to shame -
until the next day when my arm feels like it wants to fall off.
ER
Anton Sherwood
...
: The rate of exchange is good for us YanquiPigDogs. The top brand
: Dutch paint I have my eyes on is suddenly affordable if I buy it
: in Amsterdam. There is also that store on the Left Bank in Paris
: that has an entire floor dedicated to paper.
Is there a strong reason for this loot to be on the same flight as you?
--
Anton Sherwood -- br0...@p0b0x.com -- http://ogre.nu/
Anton Sherwood
: ... bring less
: than you need and do laundry sometime (or more than once) during
: the trip. You meet the most interesting people in the laundromat.
Looking for a laundromat in Northumberland (1989) was an adventure.
"There used to be one in Foodale" (nine miles away) "but I think
it closed."
Elaine Richards
Anton Sherwood <bro...@pobox.spam.com> wrote:
>
>at 18 Oct 2000 17:27:56 -0700, Elaine Richards<e...@idiom.com> writes
> ...
>: The rate of exchange is good for us YanquiPigDogs. The top brand
>: Dutch paint I have my eyes on is suddenly affordable if I buy it
>: in Amsterdam. There is also that store on the Left Bank in Paris
>: that has an entire floor dedicated to paper.
> ...
>
>Is there a strong reason for this loot to be on the same flight as you?
>
Yeah, my desire for immediate gratification.
ER
Alan Gore
>This year, I feel the Fear. I have about 500 pastels (new Bad Art Habit)
>and they call me from that green backpack, "Take us tooooooo." This
>also involves pastel paper (different than sketch paper or watercolor
>paper) and flammable fixative, which I don't want to carry on a plane.
>Oh, yeah, there's the new portable easel, which comes in handy, and the
>two foldable stools, as well.
You're going to need a really big roller, one as large as you canm
AB
>Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
>a couple of fine cities in Europe.
>
>Now, this past summer, whenever I went on a SoCal weekend, I would
>pack a small under-seat bag, sit near the front door, and be in
>the parking lot when the rest of the folks on the plane were still
>waiting at the luggage carousel. This will not happen this time.
>
>This time, it will be cold. What does this mean? I will need to
>Skinny people who are pear shaped and female, so science tells us, tend
>to live longer. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
And I shan't attempt to parse "skinny people who are pear-shaped".
ObNeener: Skinny and generally immune to mere Earth weather.
>I need to bring the 35MM camera, six rolls of film, the watercolor kit,
>watercolor paper, the favorite drawing pencils, the 8 X 12 sketchbook,
>pencil sharpeners, and so on.
>
>This year, I feel the Fear. I have about 500 pastels (new Bad Art Habit)
>and they call me from that green backpack, "Take us tooooooo." This
>also involves pastel paper (different than sketch paper or watercolor
>paper) and flammable fixative, which I don't want to carry on a plane.
>Oh, yeah, there's the new portable easel, which comes in handy, and the
>two foldable stools, as well.
Sounds like you'll be wanting to locate a Utrecht store at your first
destination so you can get the cheap, bulky stuff and the fixatif. You'll
regret leaving those particular pastels at home; the ones you get at
Utrecht having changed your mind on the flight just won't be the same.
They won't have the right pencil sharpener, either.
You'll find the coolest portable weasel in Paris and be glad you didn't
drag your other one along.
>Shoes are not feats of derring do. They are derring do for the feets.
>(Spot the grammatical/spelling error and feel free to chest pound.)
"Hangin's too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and
quoted." As both Discordian Pope and Shaolin Monk, I grant thee
Absolution. Oh, I'm out. Will Stoli do?
>Of course, I could just pack a weekend bag, solving half the luggage
>problem, and buy a suitcase and all the other stuff while there.
Where will you find that horrid American luggage that's designed to haul
all that stuff? And you have to bring your pencils and camera, at least.
>Summary!Peeve: Vacation. Belgian chocolate.
Damn you. I just passed up a $400 Seattle-Narita RT ticket in order to
bail out a friend. Hell-- if I lived with the bums for a week, at least
they'd be JAPANESE bums.
A "Furui Igiriisu Happyaku" B
--
drop ego to email me
Pete Young
>The solution, Polartec, is a lightweight, durable, washable fabric,
>which seems to be half randomplasticfluff and half air. This means
>volume. This means big luggage. Fine. I can deal with that. I can
>carry a lot of weight around. It's the volume that drives me nuts.
!Peeve: Stuffsacks. Available at a camping store near you. Works
a treat on polartec, just don't leave anything sharp or metallic
in the pockets.
Pete
--
____________________________________________________________________
Pete Young pe...@antipope.org
"Just another crouton, floating on the bouillabaisse of life"
Elaine Richards
Pete Young <pe...@antipope.org> wrote:
>!Peeve: Stuffsacks. Available at a camping store near you. Works
>a treat on polartec, just don't leave anything sharp or metallic
>in the pockets.
'Zis one of those little goretex things that turns a down
sleeping bag into a ball of matter so dense that it attracts
other small objects?
ER
Feorag NicBhride
<ay...@idiom.com> wrote:
>your dirty clothes home. Or do as I'm planning and bring less than you
>need and do laundry sometime (or more than once) during the trip. You
I'll be taking the Magic Bar O' Stuff, which is soap, shampoo and clothes
wash all in one, so I can wash stuff as I go. As the exchange rate between
Sterling and the Euro (to which Dutch money is tied) is very nice indeed
right now, I'll be taking a larger case to fill with neck corsets and
whatever other delights I find.
bb
Feorag
Feorag NicBhride
<e...@idiom.com> wrote:
>'Zis one of those little goretex things that turns a down
>sleeping bag into a ball of matter so dense that it attracts
>other small objects?
That's the jobbie. I have a sleeping bag which fits into one of these, and
which then fits into the bottom of the venerable pink bag. It's good
fun on those long delivery runs where we have to sleep in the van. David
hasn't got used to it. He'll have put his huge tent of a bag in the back
of the van, and I'll turn up with the pink bag. "You got your sleeping
bag?" "Yes, it's in here with the pillow, the lantern, spare knickers and
T-shirt."
And every evening, he's impressed by what comes out of the bag, and every
morning he looks in amazement as I get it back in there.
bb
Feorag
Pete Young
>'Zis one of those little goretex things that turns a down
>sleeping bag into a ball of matter so dense that it attracts
>other small objects?
That's right. I should probably have said 'compression sack'.
Charlie Stross
as <e...@idiom.com> declared:
>The solution, Polartec, is a lightweight, durable, washable fabric,
>which seems to be half randomplasticfluff and half air. This means
>volume. This means big luggage. Fine. I can deal with that. I can
>carry a lot of weight around. It's the volume that drives me nuts.
Compression straps are your friend. Hie thee to a camping shop and
buy a bundle of the things -- both loose straps and compression sacs
suitable for a sleeping bag. The compression sac will keep your dirty
laundry compressed and out of contact with the clean stuff. The loose
straps come in handy for compressing fleecy outerwear, holding broken
suitcases together, outdoor bondage sessions, and/or taunting the cat.
>There is also the problem of my seriously Bad Habit. Many of us
>have a monkey on our backs.
My new resolution is to NotNotNot travel with a laptop unless it's
humanly impossible for reason of work. And, dammit, I've just finished
my *last* scheduled work for October about five minutes ago, so that
excuse goes straight out the window.
>The rate of exchange is good for us YanquiPigDogs.
And it's suddenly making me grateful that the UK didn't join the Euro
last year. Four guilders to the pound instead of three: yummy.
ObPeeve: going in the opposite direction, the pound is at a ten-year
low against the dollar. So I doubt I'll be browing the bookshelves in
Powells any time in the next few months.
-- Charlie
Charlie Stross
>You're going to need a really big roller, one as large as you canm
>handle. But before you buy, make sure it passes the European Train
>Test.
The solution is a rather interesting piece of luggage that I use. Think
of a rucksack. Think of a rucksack with a fifty litre main compartment
(read: big but not Everest-expedition big) and a fifteen litre side-
pocket on the back. Easy enough to tote along the platform, eh? The neat
bit is that the back pocket detaches and turns into a small day sack
(fifteen litres or so), while the main bag ... well, you fold the straps
out of the way, unroll a cover, zip it up, and suddenly it's a soft
suitcase suitable for going into an airliner's hold without snagging on
the other bags.
These days they even make a version with wheels and an extensible handle
that telescopes out of the rucksack frame. So you can wheel it along,
pretend it's a suitcase, or do the hiking expedition shtick, all with
one piece of luggage.
Now all I want is one with thousands of teensy-tiny legs ...
-- Charlie
Roger Lee
>at 18 Oct 2000 17:27:56 -0700, Elaine Richards<e...@idiom.com> writes
> ...
>: The rate of exchange is good for us YanquiPigDogs. The top brand
>: Dutch paint I have my eyes on is suddenly affordable if I buy it
>: in Amsterdam. There is also that store on the Left Bank in Paris
>: that has an entire floor dedicated to paper.
> ...
>
>Is there a strong reason for this loot to be on the same flight as you?
Have you priced trans-oceanic shipping charges of late? Not stiffling,
but if you can get away with not paying it...
--
The best cure for nostalgia is a quick purge.
-- Tim Mefford, in alt.peeves
Anthony Cunningham
>ObPeeve: going in the opposite direction, the pound is at a ten-year
>low against the dollar. So I doubt I'll be browing the bookshelves in
>Powells any time in the next few months.
Ob !Peeve: The pound is at a ten-year low against the dollar. My share
options are priced in dollars.
T
--
----
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
Roberta Hatch
>Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
>a couple of fine cities in Europe.
[ Like most women, she plans to bring a ton of crap along
for the ride, including... ]
>... I have an Art Habit. It isn't enough to
>go to a cafe and sit with a pencil and a little sketchbook. No. I
>need to bring the 35MM camera, six rolls of film, the watercolor kit,
>watercolor paper, the favorite drawing pencils, the 8 X 12 sketchbook,
>pencil sharpeners, and so on.
>This year, I feel the Fear. I have about 500 pastels (new Bad Art Habit)
>and they call me from that green backpack, "Take us tooooooo." ...
Wait a minute. Are you saying 500 different colors of paint?
Assuming that they're still made, wouldn't it be much easier to buy
one of those little tin kits that have about ten different colors of
paint, a small empty well for water and come complete with a brush?
Just so you know, you can mix different colors of paint and make a
differnt color. When you're finished, just take it to the nearest
drinking fountain and rinse it out. No fuss, no muss, you can keep
it your purse instead of needing a backpack to lug it around.
While I'm at it, I don't think you need more than one pencil
sharpener. You can buy a nifty little plactic one at a five and dime,
or just use a penknife like a normal person.
Peeve: People that actually listen when paint talks.
Bobbi
---
Roberta Hatch http://www.tamucc.edu/~whatley/pols2306/hatch.htm '65 Panhead
Dykes on Bikes, San Francisco, CA (This space for rent)
Jeffrey B. Zurschmeide
>
> Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
> a couple of fine cities in Europe.
Well *damn*, Elaine - shall we get together next week in London?
I'll be busy daytimes mostly, but evenings are free.
I'm at the Calcot Hotel outside Reading.
0118 941 6423
Arriving Sunday - there through Nov. 5.
Any other UKan peevers wanna get together for a pint? Call and leave
a message for me.
Elaine Richards
Charlie Stross <cha...@antipope.org> wrote:
>
>Compression straps are your friend. Hie thee to a camping shop and
>buy a bundle of the things -- both loose straps and compression sacs
>suitable for a sleeping bag. The compression sac will keep your dirty
>laundry compressed and out of contact with the clean stuff. The loose
>straps come in handy for compressing fleecy outerwear, holding broken
>suitcases together, outdoor bondage sessions, and/or taunting the cat.
The taunting the cat thing sounds like a good plan all around.
!Peeve: Berkeley is brimming with camping goods stores. I will hie
myself to REI and North Face and have a look see. Pity there aren't
good backpacks with wheels on them.
Elaine Richards
Jeffrey B. Zurschmeide <zur...@sgi.com> wrote:
>
>Elaine Richards wrote:
>>
>> Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
>> a couple of fine cities in Europe.
>
>Well *damn*, Elaine - shall we get together next week in London?
Sweetie, I'd love that, but I will be in Amsterdam, which is over 200
miles away. Then, its off to Paris.
I think it'd be easier if next time you went to Ashland for
some Shakespeare you picked up a ticket for me and I could just
drive up.
Elaine Richards
Roberta Hatch <bha...@rahul.net> wrote:
>
>Elaine Richards <e...@idiom.com> wrote:
>
>>Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
>>a couple of fine cities in Europe.
>
> for the ride, including... ]
>
>>... I have an Art Habit. It isn't enough to
>>go to a cafe and sit with a pencil and a little sketchbook. No. I
>>need to bring the 35MM camera, six rolls of film, the watercolor kit,
>>watercolor paper, the favorite drawing pencils, the 8 X 12 sketchbook,
>>pencil sharpeners, and so on.
>
>>This year, I feel the Fear. I have about 500 pastels (new Bad Art Habit)
>>and they call me from that green backpack, "Take us tooooooo." ...
>
> Wait a minute. Are you saying 500 different colors of paint?
No, 500 pastels.
>Assuming that they're still made, wouldn't it be much easier to buy
>one of those little tin kits that have about ten different colors of
>paint, a small empty well for water and come complete with a brush?
I have several watercolor kits like that, from student grade to
professional grade.
Watercolor does not have the same feel and handling as pastel by
any means.
>Just so you know, you can mix different colors of paint and make a
>differnt color. When you're finished, just take it to the nearest
>drinking fountain and rinse it out. No fuss, no muss, you can keep
>it your purse instead of needing a backpack to lug it around.
OK, Van Einstein, where does the paper go? Watercolor paper has to
be stretched, else it buckles and the medium pools in the dips in
the paper. So, you cannot roll it up into a tube and if it is in
a sketchbook, it has to be block paper or very heavy bound paper.
Let me tell you about using watercolor in the field. You are dealing
with a pigment carried by water. First, you soak the paper surface.
Then you make sure the surface is tilted at precisely the angle you
need so as not to have all the colors run together. Then you need to
make sure the water container does not tip over, so you have to
have a surface for that. There is a need to clean the brushes, too.
Then, you have a wet painting when you are done. If there is any
ambient humidity, you are standing there or sitting there, puffing
on the painting to get it dry enough that you can stuff it in your
"purse". Of course, you could be on a park bench next to the Bishop's
castle in Wells watching the watercolors freeze in clumps to your
paint brush and refusing to go down onto the surface.
> While I'm at it, I don't think you need more than one pencil
>sharpener. You can buy a nifty little plactic one at a five and dime,
>or just use a penknife like a normal person.
No, sometimes you need a blade and sometimes you need a pencil sharpener.
They also have an annoying habit of falling down cliff faces. I've lost
two that way.
>
>Peeve: People that actually listen when paint talks.
Peeve: Greasy fingernailed red headed mechanics who think they know about
the artistic process and assume everyones taste in materials matches their
own.
ER
Steve Daniels
e...@idiom.com (Elaine Richards) said:
>!Peeve: Berkeley is brimming with camping goods stores. I will hie
>myself to REI and North Face and have a look see. Pity there aren't
>good backpacks with wheels on them.
You ought to just break down and hire Sherpas.
Steve Daniels
Roberta Hatch
>Roberta Hatch <bha...@rahul.net> wrote:
>>Elaine Richards <e...@idiom.com> wrote:
>>>Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
>>>a couple of fine cities in Europe.
>> [ Like most women, she plans to bring a ton of crap along
>> for the ride, including... ]
>>>... I have an Art Habit. It isn't enough to
>>>go to a cafe and sit with a pencil and a little sketchbook. No. I
>>>need to bring the 35MM camera, six rolls of film, the watercolor kit,
>>>watercolor paper, the favorite drawing pencils, the 8 X 12 sketchbook,
>>>pencil sharpeners, and so on.
>>>This year, I feel the Fear. I have about 500 pastels (new Bad Art Habit)
>>>and they call me from that green backpack, "Take us tooooooo." ...
>> Wait a minute. Are you saying 500 different colors of paint?
>No, 500 pastels.
Paint. Thick paint.
>>Assuming that they're still made, wouldn't it be much easier to buy
>>one of those little tin kits that have about ten different colors of
>>paint, a small empty well for water and come complete with a brush?
>I have several watercolor kits like that, from student grade to
>professional grade.
>Watercolor does not have the same feel and handling as pastel by
>any means.
>>Just so you know, you can mix different colors of paint and make a
>>differnt color. When you're finished, just take it to the nearest
>>drinking fountain and rinse it out. No fuss, no muss, you can keep
>>it your purse instead of needing a backpack to lug it around.
>OK, Van Einstein, where does the paper go?
Keep it some sort of folder. The point is you don't really
need 500 containers of paint and backpack to carry them. By the way,
I think that should be "van."
>Let me tell you about using watercolor in the field. You are dealing
>with a pigment carried by water. First, you soak the paper surface.
>Then you make sure the surface is tilted at precisely the angle you
>need so as not to have all the colors run together. Then you need to
>make sure the water container does not tip over, so you have to
>have a surface for that. There is a need to clean the brushes, too.
>Then, you have a wet painting when you are done. If there is any
>ambient humidity, you are standing there or sitting there, puffing
>on the painting to get it dry enough that you can stuff it in your
>"purse". Of course, you could be on a park bench next to the Bishop's
>castle in Wells watching the watercolors freeze in clumps to your
>>paint brush and refusing to go down onto the surface.
Let this be a lesson to everyone. Never give Elaine helpful
hints on how to travel light or you'll end seeing an essay on how to
paint with watercolors.
By the way Elaine, if you use alcohol instead of water to mix
with the pigment, you won't have to wait so long for it to dry and it
won't freeze. However, since you won't have to blow on the paper to
dry it, not as many men will notice you and ask for a 'date.'
>> While I'm at it, I don't think you need more than one pencil
>>sharpener. You can buy a nifty little plactic one at a five and dime,
>>or just use a penknife like a normal person.
>No, sometimes you need a blade and sometimes you need a pencil sharpener.
>They also have an annoying habit of falling down cliff faces. I've lost
>two that way.
That's becuase, unlike a man, you aren't careful with your
tools.
>>Peeve: People that actually listen when paint talks.
>Peeve: Greasy fingernailed red headed mechanics who think they know about
>the artistic process and assume everyones taste in materials matches their
>own.
!Peeve: I've never heard paint talking.
Geoff Miller
"Jeffrey B. Zurschmeide" <zur...@sgi.com> writes:
> I'm at the Calcot Hotel outside Reading.
If *I* were at the Calcot hotel, I'd be inside at the bar.
But then, we all know how much your lifestyle has changed
since you got married.
Geoff
--
"What makes you think I am a woman?" --Elaine Richards
Elaine Richards
I have one, but he's got a limited carrying capacity before he
starts complaining.
ER
Elaine Richards
Roberta Hatch <bha...@rahul.net> wrote:
>>> [ Like most women, she plans to bring a ton of crap along
>>> for the ride, including... ]
Gee, Roberta, you don't carry a ton of crap along on the back of your
bike? What kind of woman are you?
>>> Wait a minute. Are you saying 500 different colors of paint?
>
>>No, 500 pastels.
>
> Paint. Thick paint.
What the hell are you talking about? Are you calling pastels "thick
paint"? In that case, you are wrong. Flat wrong. Are you suggesting
I carry thick paint? In that case, you have totally deflated your
argument about carrying small objects instead of large. Thick paint
requires larger and stronger brushes, by the way. Those brushes are
harder to clean, have longer handles, and need to be stowed in
separate containers.
>>OK, Van Einstein, where does the paper go?
>
> Keep it some sort of folder. The point is you don't really
>need 500 containers of paint and backpack to carry them. By the way,
>I think that should be "van."
Pastels are not paint. A folder will not fit in a purse, which pretty
much blows away your arguments about portability.
>>"purse". Of course, you could be on a park bench next to the Bishop's
>>castle in Wells watching the watercolors freeze in clumps to your
>>>paint brush and refusing to go down onto the surface.
>
> Let this be a lesson to everyone. Never give Elaine helpful
>hints on how to travel light or you'll end seeing an essay on how to
>paint with watercolors.
The lesson is - don't tell an artist what media to use. Period.
Different media have different benefits and requirements.
>
> By the way Elaine, if you use alcohol instead of water to mix
>with the pigment, you won't have to wait so long for it to dry and it
>won't freeze. However, since you won't have to blow on the paper to
>dry it, not as many men will notice you and ask for a 'date.'
>
At my age, men don't assume I am for hire. This is a !peeve.
Alcohol is flammable, cannot be carried on an international
flight (unless the FA serves it to you in Stoly form), has to
be purchased upon landing, and requires different handling than
water. It also requires much of the same procedures as water media -
careful angling of backed or thick paper, a place to balance the
container of liquid, and the required wait for the media to dry and
be stable enough to carry. Additionally, there is the minor hazard
that comes from the fact that lots of urban Europeans smoke and
carry lighted objects with them.
>>> While I'm at it, I don't think you need more than one pencil
>>>sharpener. You can buy a nifty little plactic one at a five and dime,
>>>or just use a penknife like a normal person.
>
>>No, sometimes you need a blade and sometimes you need a pencil sharpener.
>>They also have an annoying habit of falling down cliff faces. I've lost
>>two that way.
>
> That's becuase, unlike a man, you aren't careful with your
>tools.
>
Tell us all about manhood, Bobbi. I'm sure you are the expert.
You certainly know how to handle a tool, I'd wager. Or be a dull one.
>>>Peeve: People that actually listen when paint talks.
>
>>Peeve: Greasy fingernailed red headed mechanics who think they know about
>>the artistic process and assume everyones taste in materials matches their
>>own.
>
>!Peeve: I've never heard paint talking.
Neither have I and I still wonder where the hell that came from.
ER
Ayse Sercan
>Elaine Richards wrote:
>>
>> Next week, I go on a well deserved vacation, and will spend it in
>> a couple of fine cities in Europe.
>
Get your ass over to Amsterdam one day next week, and we'll talk. He Who
Cleans and I will be arriving Sunday evening.
Peeve: Men and packing.
!Peeve: we've wittled down to taking only one camera apiece (as opposed to
two), and after reading a few weather reports I decided to leave at home
the watercolour kit (a briefcase-sized wooden box that expands out to a
levelling table, which can store a block of paper, watercolour box,
brushes, and sprayer bottle) and stick with a plain sketchbook instead.
We're down to one largish suitcase for two people, leaving me the rest of
our carryon and checkthrough luggage allowance to carry back my own bad
habits (pottery and books).
--
ay...@idiom.com
"Anyone who willingly engages in a battle of wits
with a fish is at best evenly matched." -- Pete Young
Julian Macassey
Geoff Miller <geo...@netgate.net> wrote:
>
>
>"Jeffrey B. Zurschmeide" <zur...@sgi.com> writes:
>
>> I'm at the Calcot Hotel outside Reading.
>
>
>If *I* were at the Calcot hotel, I'd be inside at the bar.
>
>But then, we all know how much your lifestyle has changed
>since you got married.
They tried to change Oscar Wilde's lifestyle at Reading.
I think that was a failure.
--
"People like Julian Macassey are a big reason why I own guns."
Francis A. Ney, Jr <cro...@access.digex.net>
Eric O'Connor
Elaine wrote:
>I will hie myself to REI and North Face and have a look see
North Face has an outlet near 6th and Gilman.
I did some work for The North face a half dozen years ago. The reasons
things are sent to the outlet are usually very minor, I wouldn't
hesitate to buy "imperfect" unless it was for a gift or something.
--
Eric O'Connor <kemb...@hotmail.com>
Elaine Richards
Eric O'Connor <kemb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>Elaine wrote:
>>I will hie myself to REI and North Face and have a look see
>
>North Face has an outlet near 6th and Gilman.
>
>I did some work for The North face a half dozen years ago. The reasons
>things are sent to the outlet are usually very minor, I wouldn't
>hesitate to buy "imperfect" unless it was for a gift or something.
That place is a definite !peeve. Much of their inventory is simply
overstocks. I got a polartec jacket there for 25% of retail just because
it is purple. Got Tevas for 30% of retail. Same thing.
ObServation: Why do stores in California care about winter versus
summer gear versus winter gear? You can wear Tevas in the flatlands
and drive up to the Sierras and need snow gear, like 8 months out
of the year.
ER
Anton Sherwood
: ... neck corsets ...
Inquiring minds want to know.
--
Anton Sherwood -- br0...@p0b0x.com -- http://ogre.nu/
Anton Sherwood
at 19 Oct 2000 13:48:04 -0700, Elaine Richards<e...@idiom.com> writes
: In article <8snkb3$dq3$1...@samba.rahul.net>,
: Roberta Hatch <bha...@rahul.net> wrote:
<...>
Anton Sherwood
: ObServation: Why do stores in California care about winter versus
: summer gear versus winter gear? ...
Related peeve:
My favorite summer jacket is falling apart (Mom might say it passed
the "give to the nearest bum" stage years ago). By a `summer jacket'
I mean something that keeps off that delightful ocean breeze, can be
zipped up for the occasional cold night, but breathes enough not
to be uncomfortable on what passes for a warm day in San Francisco.
This spring I went looking for one. One place I tried was the Old
Navy store on Market Street, which advertised itself as "Where the
Locals Shop" for what seemed like a year before it opened. Looked
around, couldn't find a windbreaker of any description. Asked.
"We won't have jackets until fall, [dummy]." So much for "Locals"!
Never did find anything quite right. My first-ever denim jacket
(a lovely natural off-white, not blue thank you!) is nice but
a bit too heavy.
Feorag NicBhride
<an...@localhost.localdomain> wrote:
>Inquiring minds want to know.
http://www.demask.com/ladacl1.htm
...and with an exchange rate of around 4 DFls to the pound, I'm sure I'll
spend more of my hard-earned cash there.
bb
Feorag
Feorag NicBhride
<ay...@idiom.com> wrote (to Zursch):
>Get your ass over to Amsterdam one day next week, and we'll talk. He Who
>Cleans and I will be arriving Sunday evening.
We were thinking of getting back from Amsterdam on the evening of
Tuesday 31st, having a day's rest then heading for London on the 2nd,
going to the 'Ton and arranging a 'fest before coming home on the
Saturday.
This, of course has *nothing* to do with my attempts to go on that pretty
737-73V. No, not at all. Nor has my suggestion that we do both the
traditional December 'Ton/Pigs Ear Beer Festival trip in early December,
but also the Christmas 'Ton a couple of weeks later.
It's actually a shorter distance, and a mere 40 minutes in the
aforementioned flying URL between London and Amsterdam than it is between
Edinburgh and London, so methinks I should point Mr. Z. at
http://www.easyjet.com/ and invite him to join the Europeeve mailing list
(mail me for details).
The invitation to join the list also applies to anyone who fancies a
London 'fest.
>We're down to one largish suitcase for two people, leaving me the rest of
>our carryon and checkthrough luggage allowance to carry back my own bad
>habits (pottery and books).
I'm slowly training Charlie, and he's getting the hang of packing bugger
all to leave room for books, beer, fetish gear and any other stuff we're
likely to pick up at the other end of a plane trip. All I have to do now
is show him the mystical art of packing beer and glasses in checked
luggage and not having it broken.
bb
Feorag
Jeffrey B. Zurschmeide
> We were thinking of getting back from Amsterdam on the evening of
> Tuesday 31st, having a day's rest then heading for London on the 2nd,
> going to the 'Ton and arranging a 'fest before coming home on the
> Saturday.
Let's fest in London on Saturday. A RT to Amsterdam would
take up virtually all of my discretionary money for the
trip - I'd have to sleep in the rijksmuseum or hide out
in Anne Frank's attic.
JZ
Elaine Richards
Feorag NicBhride <feorag @ nospam . antipope . org> wrote:
>
>We were thinking of getting back from Amsterdam on the evening of
>Tuesday 31st, having a day's rest then heading for London on the 2nd,
>going to the 'Ton and arranging a 'fest before coming home on the
>Saturday.
On another note, I will be in Paris from that evening until 11/4 at
noon, so any Francophiles, email now or forever hold your peas.
>I'm slowly training Charlie, and he's getting the hang of packing bugger
>all to leave room for books, beer, fetish gear and any other stuff we're
>likely to pick up at the other end of a plane trip. All I have to do now
>is show him the mystical art of packing beer and glasses in checked
>luggage and not having it broken.
While doing the laundry a couple of weeks ago, I realized that a
lot of my clothes were nearing the end of their useful life. Hence,
I will be packing the knickers and socks with shot elastic, the
holey tee shirts and so on and discarding them day by day while
there. This solves two problems - it creates more space for souvenirs
and lessens the dirty laundry situation.
ER
Elaine Richards
>take up virtually all of my discretionary money for the
>trip - I'd have to sleep in the rijksmuseum or hide out
>in Anne Frank's attic.
It might not be that bad. Anne Frank's attic has the cutest
Delft Dutch toilet - I kid you not.
ER
Geoff Miller
e...@idiom.com (Elaine Richards) writes:
> It might not be that bad. Anne Frank's attic has the
> cutest Delft Dutch toilet - I kid you not.
Is that the kind with the raised platform in the middle
which allows you to give your grogan a quick once-over
before flushing it to eternity? I seem to recall that
Julian has a picture of one of those.
Elaine Richards
Geoff Miller <geo...@netgate.net> wrote:
>
>e...@idiom.com (Elaine Richards) writes:
>
>> It might not be that bad. Anne Frank's attic has the
>> cutest Delft Dutch toilet - I kid you not.
>
>Is that the kind with the raised platform in the middle
>which allows you to give your grogan a quick once-over
>before flushing it to eternity? I seem to recall that
>Julian has a picture of one of those.
Yes, it did. It gave me an appreciation for the commentary that
it was a hardship to not use the plumbing during the day when
the workers were downstairs in the townhouse. Imagine a dozen
people using that toilet all day long and not being able to
flush it. There must have been a pyramid of groganic material
by quittin' time.
ER
Eddie Blaque
>Elaine Richards <e...@idiom.com> wrote:
>>Peeve: Greasy fingernailed red headed mechanics who think they know about
>>the artistic process and assume everyones taste in materials matches their
>>own.
>
>!Peeve: I've never heard paint talking.
Isn't that an old Alice Cooper song?
"It's only..only..only my paint talking."
Eddie
ObSomething.. I know the real title but the parody would have fit
here.
Anton Sherwood
: >Inquiring minds want to know.
Feorag NicBhride writes
: http://www.demask.com/ladacl1.htm
I'll be damned. It *is* what I imagined.
Is there a theorem that, if I think a piece of
fetish gear is too absurd to exist, it does?
Feorag NicBhride
<an...@localhost.localdomain> wrote:
>I'll be damned. It *is* what I imagined.
Nah, you've just been deceived by appearances. What it is is a rather
stylish collar inspired by corsetry. I'm sure it's possible to use them
for controlled erotic asphyxiation, but I simply plan to get one that
fits and wear it with the other black corsetty stuff.
bb
Feorag
Uncle Gargoyle
I didn't look up the image; is it a canvas-leather-strap-and-thingie
imitation of Queen Mary's famous diamond choker?
Those who have never seen a picture of that formidable dame fully
decked out in her protective body armor (platinum and diamonds only)
have definitely led sheltered lives.
--
Uncle Gargoyle
Keith F. Lynch
> Make extra room in the suitcase on the return trip by shipping some
> of your dirty clothes home. Or do as I'm planning and bring less
> than you need and do laundry sometime (or more than once) during
> the trip.
Or wear your rattiest clothes, ones almost ready to be thrown away,
and discard them when they get dirty.
--
Keith F. Lynch - k...@keithlynch.net - http://keithlynch.net/
I always welcome replies to my e-mail, postings, and web pages, but
unsolicited bulk e-mail sent to thousands of randomly collected
addresses is not acceptable, and I do complain to the spammer's ISP.
Anton Sherwood
: ... Queen Mary's famous diamond choker?
: Those who have never seen a picture of that formidable dame
: fully decked out in her protective body armor (platinum and
: diamonds only) have definitely led sheltered lives.
This would be Mrs George V?
Anton Sherwood
:> I'll be damned. It *is* what I imagined.
Feorag NicBhride writes
: Nah, you've just been deceived by appearances. What it is is a rather
: stylish collar inspired by corsetry. I'm sure it's possible to use them
: for controlled erotic asphyxiation,
I hadn't got as far as *that* notion. Call me bland.
: but I simply plan to get one that fits
: and wear it with the other black corsetty stuff.
--
Charlie Stross
as <zur...@sgi.com> declared:
>Let's fest in London on Saturday. A RT to Amsterdam would
>take up virtually all of my discretionary money for the
>trip - I'd have to sleep in the rijksmuseum or hide out
>in Anne Frank's attic.
You might be surprised -- EasyJet fly from Luton to Schiphol for
thirty quid each way (i.e. under US $100).
-- Charlie
Feorag NicBhride
<cha...@nospam.antipope.org> wrote:
>You might be surprised -- EasyJet fly from Luton to Schiphol for
>thirty quid each way (i.e. under US $100).
Well, it's slightly more complicated than that. It depends on when you
book and you have to add tax and subtract the online booking discount
(which between them mean you pay what it said at first!). You can get some
ludicrously cheap deals like the best 15 quid (inclusive) I spent in my
life to get between Liverpool and Luton (it was a nice day and the plane
didn't get very high). It can also be painful, like that trip to Amsterdam
we booked the day before.
But usually, it's cheap and cheerful.
bb
Feorag
Eric Kuritzky
>Good suggestion in any event. I have travelled before without
>rollers on the luggage and could probably put a Sherpa to shame -
>until the next day when my arm feels like it wants to fall off.
ObNit: "Sherpa" is a tribe, not a profession. They will hire
themselves out as guides, but they won't carry your stuff. That's a
job for poor Indians from the flatlands, some of whom are seeing snow
for the first time.
BTW, my hands aren't pudgy, and my chest, while furry, isn't burly.
--Eric "will quibble for food" Kuritzky
Uncle Gargoyle
Sherwood) wrote:
> Uncle Gargoyle <toto...@mail.pacificcoast.net> writes
> : ... Queen Mary's famous diamond choker?
> : Those who have never seen a picture of that formidable dame
> : fully decked out in her protective body armor (platinum and
> : diamonds only) have definitely led sheltered lives.
>
> This would be Mrs George V?
Yep.
I can see, having read this biography, that monarchy is a Good Thing.
With a Royal Family that regularly demonstrates that they are
completely nuts, it makes all ordinary family life seem quite
tolerable, even if one has a mad uncle locked in a cupboard under the
stairs or a retarded cousin with a fondness for little girls.
The Royals always demonstrate that (a) money doesn't buy happiness and
(b) things can, and will, get worse.
One wonders what the next surprise development in the ongoing soap
opera of the House of Windsor will be.
And remember, it's been like this for centuries now. The current
strain of rot seems to first emerge fully in Queen Victoria's going
off her nut after Prince Albert died.
--
Uncle Gargoyle
Elaine Richards
Eric Kuritzky <kuri...@math.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>ObNit: "Sherpa" is a tribe, not a profession. They will hire
>themselves out as guides, but they won't carry your stuff. That's a
>job for poor Indians from the flatlands, some of whom are seeing snow
>for the first time.
However, the word "Sherpa" is used in conversation to describe
a person who is the Swiss Army knife of travel companions.
Term of art, as the lawyers I used to work with would say.
ER
Charlie Stross
>And remember, it's been like this for centuries now. The current
>strain of rot seems to first emerge fully in Queen Victoria's going
>off her nut after Prince Albert died.
I think you're being a bit harsh on old Vicky; lots of people get
depressed when their partner of thirty years snuffs it unexpectedly,
and in addition, the drugs may have had something to do with it. (They
discovered her drugs bill from a winter stay at Holyrood in the 1890's a
couple of years ago; by modern standards she was an eeeevil junkie, with a
fairly heavy consumption of cocaine, morphine, and tincture of cannabis.)
Mind you, this isn't to exculpate her for most of the disasters of
the twentieth century. If she hadn't married off her granddaughters to
all the royals in Europe for reasons of state, those haemophilia genes
wouldn't have shown up in a certain Tsarevitch and the whole history
of the 20th century would have taken a sharp right turn around 1915 or
thereabouts. Leaving aside the excuse that Mendelian genetics weren't
understood in those days -- much less applied to royalty -- that can be
seen in hindsight as the pivotal disaster that made world war two _and_
the cold war possible.
-- Charlie
Jesper Lauridsen
>I did some work for The North face a half dozen years ago.
Is it true that North Face only sell their clothing in
pairs?
Uncle Gargoyle
(Charlie Stross) wrote:
> ...that [a hemophiliac tsarevitch] can be
> seen in hindsight as the pivotal disaster that made world war two _and_
> the cold war possible.
Charlie, you are usually a fount of knowledge, but in this case Uncle
sticks his tongue out at you and makes silly faces at you for your
grossly oversimplistic analysis of "causes of the 20th century".
WWI was a war itching to happen; for causes, look at (among others!)
Bismarck's forging of the German empire out of the prior mosaic of
tiny states and principalities that comprised Germany; side effects of
industrialization; and dozens of other contributing elements.
WWII is just WWI, act two. The Franco-Prussian war made have been
merely a curtain raiser.
If you want to spot a pivotal disaster, try the Germans' shipping of
Lenin back to Russia in a sealed car.
--
Uncle Gargoyle
Anton Sherwood
: I think you're being a bit harsh on old Vicky; lots of people get
: depressed when their partner of thirty years snuffs it unexpectedly
Nit: 21 years - they were 42 years old.
One of the less compelling time-travel stories I've read, btw,
postulates that Albert would have died a few months sooner, had
not someone gone back in time to treat him, to prevent HMG from
backing the Confederacy. Wha?
: . . . If she hadn't married off her granddaughters to
: all the royals in Europe for reasons of state, those haemophilia
: genes wouldn't have shown up in a certain Tsarevitch . . .
Was there any way of knowing, before the birth of her grandchildren,
that Victoria was a carrier?
Charlie Stross
>Was there any way of knowing, before the birth of her grandchildren,
>that Victoria was a carrier?
Not before the 1980's ...
-- Charlie
Charlie Stross
>WWI was a war itching to happen
Agreed ...
>WWII is just WWI, act two.
You missed out the Treaty of Versailles, which set up the preconditions
for WW2 by being really harsh on the losers. It was, in turn, set up
by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (clue: separate peace in the east),
in which Russia basically said "fine, whatever you want, we're out"
to the central powers. The separate peace in the east was, of course,
a key political plank in Lenin's plans -- as opposed to those of the
provisional government.
If the Tsarevitch (then aged twelve-ish) had been of good health in
February 1917, we probably wouldn't have seen the provisional government,
much less a Bolshevik putsch; instead after Nicholas' resignation was
(ahem) required, there'd have been a regency, with Archduke Michael
acting as seat-warmer for the kid. This puts a *huge* new spin on Russian
politics in 1917. Other corollaries include: no Rasputin (who in large
measure discredited the Tsarina). Indeed, there might not have been a
Russian revolution at all -- just a quiet palace coup in which one Tsar
abdicates and another takes the throne with a regent at his elbow.
>If you want to spot a pivotal disaster, try the Germans' shipping of
>Lenin back to Russia in a sealed car.
Naah, that was an opportunist gambit, not a root cause of the whole mess.
If there hadn't been a revolution in the first place, Lenin probably wouldn't
have taken the risk -- he was Not Welcome in Russia otherwise.
-- Charlie
Brian Trosko
: You missed out the Treaty of Versailles, which set up the preconditions
: for WW2 by being really harsh on the losers.
Nope. It set up the preconditions for WWII by simultaneously being harsh
enough to piss off the losers, *not* harsh enough to actually do anything
to them, and not calling for the occupation which would have driven home
the point that yes, they were in fact losers. Versalles was WWII on a
piece of paper, but not because it was too harsh. Quite the opposite.