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how soon is never?

So, um, I'm pretty sure I'm done with this blog. Recent events have changed my opinion on everything and I'm trying [really, really] to stop being so negative. I don't think I can do that successfully without purging all of the negative vibes attached to myself, both on the internet and otherwise. I'm leaving up everything craft/art related and deleting everything else. This will also likely be the case with my facebook soon enough as I have tentative plans to delete the whole thing.

That said, you can still find me on Flickr and of course email me at chatfield.randi@gmail.com.

I also may start another blog but who knows. If I do I will of course post the details here.

Thanks so much to everyone who read this and sent along any words of encouragement when I was down. I really appreciate everything.

When I'm Sixty-Four. Plus Four more.

Today, I got so angry that I wrote a very heated letter to "The View." Why? Because Barbara Walters is a condescending, old hen.

And I'm apparently 68 years old.

Oh, and my doctor's visit went very well. I won't go very much into detail, but I have a rather large cyst in a rather odd place. But, at least it's just a cyst. I'm also on medication that is making me super sick to my stomach. Just so you know. I also found out that I have disturbingly high blood pressure. So much so, that the nurses were gossiping amongst each other about it.

Again, I'm apparently 68 years old.

If you're in the Rockford, Illinois Area, please come down to Kryptonite Bar and check out my work. I'm showing three pieces including my John Wayne piece. It will be awesome. Buy drinks, check out some awesome artwork and hang out with me. I'm not terribly interesting or awesome or anything, but if you're not there, I'll be lonely. You don't want that on you conscience now, do you?

Things are most certainly coming up Milhouse!

Well folks, it's been awhile since I've updated anything and this will be brief as I'm very close to finishing another project and wanna get back to work before I lose my drive. I'll elaborate on everything more later but I just had to share some excellent news I just received:

I have been accepted into my first ever, for real-real, not for play-play, art show!!!

It's a local show with several different artists of several different mediums and I will be showing my John Wayne portrait along with a couple of other pieces I've done. I'm just so thrilled!

I'll update with more details soon in the event that anyone else lives in northern Illinois and has some time to kill in August.

But wait, There's more!

I also discovered today, totally at random, that my Rugrats stitch made Mr. X Stitch! I find this a huuuuuuuuuuuge compliment considering the ridiculously high level of talent they showcase on an everyday basis.

So, big thanks to all of the fabulous people who operate the best damn needlework blog out there for brightening my otherwise gloomy day!

Don't Say Anything. Be Dominant.

For those of you who don't know, I am a long-time fan of the television show Freaks and Geeks. I watched it the night it premiered and fell in love with it. From that point on, I never missed an episode. In fact, I was so obsessed with the show when assigned in a middle school English class to give a speech on something we were an "expert" in, that's what I choose. I, in all seriousness, gave a ten minute speech on how awesome this show was.

To me, at age 14, it just had everything. I wanted so bad to be Lindsey Weir. I still have pictures hidden somewhere of me in my second-hand army jacket. For awhile, every time I thought about how into this show I was or mentioned it to someone who had absolutely no idea what I was talking about I would get so sad that everyone was missing out but now I watch Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and How I Met Your Mother and I realize how ahead of the times I was. I've had crushes on Jason Segel and Seth Rogan since before anyone even knew who they were.

At one point in 8th grade, my friend Amanda and I were so obsessed with Freaks and Geeks that we took stacks of Post-Its and wrote our favorite quotes from the show on each one. We then hung them in our lockers so we would could remove a Post-It each day for a new quote. As I was thinking about how absurd that was I decided it would be a neat idea to choose some favorite quotes and locate the scenes they're used in. I then do a sketch from that shot and include the quote. I plan on doing one of these for every major character and then embroidering them in great detail.

Why, you ask? I have no idea. It just sounded kinda cool. And, you know, my basic lack of life or social skills plays into that too, I'm sure.

First sketch is of Bill Haverchuck. It comes from the second episode "Beers and Weirs" where Lindsay throws a party and her younger brother Sam and his friends switch the keg of real beer out for a keg of non-alcoholic beer. The scene I choose features Bill, left alone to guard the real keg, slowly getting drunk [using a decorative plastic baseball hat as a cup] and watching his favorite show, "Dallas." 

I'm pretty excited to see how I can translate this into Needlework.

And, before I forget, I got a sewing machine! Matt's Grandma just so happened to have three machines, two of which from garage sales, and she gave me one of them. It's an old Kenmore model, I believe from the seventies. I can't wait to use it!