Sock Monkey Monday was supposed to actually happen on Monday this week, but then I realized that would be kind of dumb, because then I'd have to undo and redo everything, so I waited until today.
Eli and Sirus Monkey have been helping me pack up the clothes to go to Wisconsin tomorrow. It's their first flight, so they're both kind of nervous, but I assured them that we'll all be fine. Everything is always okay with sock monkeys on board.
As you can see, Sirus is looking more nervous than Eli. Eli is just kind of upset that he has to go *in* the suitcase instead of getting a seat all to himself.
Sirus was a nice monkey, and put the suitcases by the door so they wouldn't be forgotten. He may have never flown before, but he HAS traveled with me before!
Next week, Sock Monkey Monday will be late, because I'll still be in Wisconsin on Monday. However, there will be lots of photos of Eli and Sirus enjoying their trip, I'm sure!
A sock monkey entry is coming for this week... I just have a BUNCH of stuff to do before Sirus, Eli, and I leave for Wisconsin.
For now, here's a photo of my favorite monkey from the past couple weeks:
Cedrick is one of my vintage cartoon style monkeys. I'm a really, really big fan of the "pie eyes" and soon, all of the monkeys may have them (though in a much modified way).
Okay, so it's not REALLY Monday. Let's just pretend that it is, since I've proven my grasp of what day it is is pretty lame.
The weather has been gorgeous here in Monkeyville, perfect weather for hanging around outside. Eli Monkey is on summer break from university, and he insisted that Sirus monkey put down his drawings and paintbrushes, and spend sometime relaxing outdoors. Sirus was a bit reluctant, since he's not nearly as durable as Eli is, but he followed along.
Monkeyville is situated in a prime spot for summer relaxing. In fact, it was just a short ten minute or so walk for the monkeys to find the ideal spot for some outdoor water-side fun. The beach was very crowded, but the monkeys found a nice, secluded spot where they wouldn't have to worry about being stepped on.
Right here looks good!
It was a fair distance from the water's edge, so that Sirus didn't have to worry about getting wet. He doesn't do well with water.
There was a very nice view of the pond as well.
Since his finals were over, and he passed them all with flying colors, Eli had no problem relaxing.
A true artist at heart, Sirus didn't relax, so much as he sat and observed the scenery around him. He looks quite content though, so I think it did him good to get out of the house.
It really is pretty scenery too.
Unfortunately, this is about all the monkeys can afford for a vacation right now. At least until July, then they'll be traveling with me out to visit some friends in Wisconsin. Where I go, my monkeys go too.
Call me Van for short, it sounds better than Rip or Winkle. Those just sound vaguely dirty.
I worked so hard on monkeys last week that it took me a lot of this week to recover. I was also working hard on getting some custom orders done. I still have a few more to catch up on but I'm getting there. The list isn't scary anymore, it's just slightly intimidating. The Artful Phoenix has brought in a couple new custom orders and a few other Very Exciting things as well. If anyone is located in Massachusetts, near North Attleboro, I highly suggest saving postage and picking up your monkey at the Artful Phoenix. There's lots of cool things besides just sock monkeys. There's a photograph that I keep drooling over for instance. I keep saying to myself "I'm going to OWN that!" but I never happen to have any money. Blah!
Last weekend, I almost took a trip to Oz, which is why I haven't posted in so long. Well, that and I've been up to my ears in sock monkeys lately. I've made so many in the past two weeks that I've completely lost count. I made a ton not only for the Artful Phoenix and Etsy, but also for a fundraiser I was doing to benefit EDS research. If you scroll to the bottom, you can see photos from the event last Sunday.
So what does that have to do with Oz? Well, it was outdoors, on a kind of icky day, which required the acquisition of a tent. I'm not an outdoors type. I like outdoors... from behind a nice screen, or maybe through a window. I've never gone tailgating, or camping, or anything CLOSE to something that would require a tent. Therefore, when I bought a tent, I thought that the set up would really BE three easy steps.
Silly me. Silly, silly, silly me. I also thought that the HEAVY box contained everything needed. Those of you who know about tents are probably laughing at me now. I figured that I'd use the 25 pounds of cat litter/bird seed in my car to weight things down if required. Apparently that's NO WHERE NEAR enough. At one point I was physically hanging from the tent trying to hold it down. I failed and the whole thing acted like a massive parachute and I almost blew away with it. I am anything BUT light, and the thing ended up flipping over.
Clearly, I should never be allowed to do outdoor events. I ended up killing the tent and having to throw it away. But thankfully there was no chance of anyone being injured. I had very little sleep the night before, so I was just okay with everything. A bit disappointed that more people didn't show up, but it was the first event like this and the weather wasn't cooperating at all. I'm sure the next year will be better. Also, should I ever need a tent, I'm buying the super cheap one from Benny's so I won't feel nearly as bad when I break it.
The upside is that the event still raised almost their entire goal amount, and there are lots of sock monkeys at the Artful Phoenix and some that just need to get there photos taken for Etsy.
Monkey pile!!! *Hugs all of them at once*
I don't know if you can tell, but there's a bunch of different sizes there. The little white guy with the anchor on his chest is the smallest. Lots of them have Summer-y details on their tummies. There's one with a watermelon slice, one with a sun, a sailboat, a ladybug, a rainbow and the rest have hearts. There are also *two* classic cartoon style ones even though only one is shown (the one shown is already taken). There was four elephants, but two are currently traveling to Australia now. Lucky elephants!
Next up will be Christmas in July monkeys. I have a bunch of monkeys that aren't finished that I wanted to get done last year for Christmas, but I didn't have a chance. I'm going to finish them up and they'll be on sale this July, probably on Artfire, since they're having a Christmas in July event site wide. Etsy is having one also, but it's not organized.
None of the monkeys pictured above are the custom orders I've been working on. Most of those are pictured over on the Facebook page. I have to share my favorite though. This is Boris:
Boris is a special monkey. Last year for Christmas, I didn't have a lot of money with the impending loss of my day job and all, so one of the gifts I gave Ninja Muse and Imaginary Ninja were gift certificates for Monkeyville. They just had to tell me what they wanted, and I would make it. Imaginary Ninja picked a monkey like Jasper, and Ninja Muse asked for a monkey made up of leftovers (um... this was kind of recent, I didn't put off their Christmas gifts THIS long!).
This was something I was REALLY excited about, but I couldn't think of HOW to do it. Then I was working on monkeys this week, and I realized that I had a lot of socks that I either only had one of, or I had enough for just an arm or a leg, or an ear. That's how Boris came to be. I like this idea (it DID come from Ninja Muse). I think I'm going to use it in the future and call them Foundling Monkeys. They won't have button eyes and patches like Boris (well maybe, but they'll be made from felt or fleece, not regular fabric) and they'll have another special detail that Boris has.
Cutest. Monkey bum. EVER.
I think all of the Foundlings (and maybe the regular monkeys eventually) will have the tiny heart on their bums. I also happen to really like the socks that Boris's tail is made from. I only had one of them though, so a tail was about all I could do with them. No one will really care about this, but I also moved the location of the permanent tags as well. They're now mostly on the back of the monkeys leg, instead of their tails. Depending on the style.
I still have lots of things to finish, so I should really get back to work. It's been full 8 hour days here at Monkeyville, and I'm trying to get as much done as possible while I still can.
It sounds silly, but I really believe that on more than one occasion, sock monkeys have saved me. The first time, it was when I was incredibly sick and in the hospital. It's a bit of a long story, but I was so sick I couldn't *do* anything but lay there. I couldn't talk, I couldn't even breathe right on my own. For the first couple of days, before the doctors could figure out exactly how to treat me, they had me in my own room. Mostly just in case I had swine flu. I didn't have swine flu, so after um... some number of days that I don't remember at all, they moved me to a more public "room" in the geriatric area of the hospital (this is because I needed so much care, I'm not *that* old).
I'm not ashamed to admit that I was scared. I was scared I wasn't going to make it out of the hospital, that I wasn't going to be able to move on my own ever again, and because I was on morphine, I was having HORRIBLE nightmares all the time. This was bad enough when I was in the bright, sunny room of my own. Once I was moved, there were a lot of people around me. All very sick as well and requiring lots and lots of care. What I remember most though, was the woman immediately adjacent to me.
I don't remember much, but I do remember when she was awake, she was yelling, throwing things, and when medication time came around (which it did frequently in that ward), she would scream. The nurses were all EXTREMELY patient with her, and did the a pretty exceptional job of trying to calm her down. Every time this happened though, I would be roused from my morphine induced nightmares into reality that was even more confusing. I was TERRIFIED, but next to me were Eli and Sirus, my sock monkeys. I'd cuddle Eli and while I would still be scared, it wouldn't be quite so bad.
It's hard to explain how something made of a pair of socks, a bit of stuffing, and some thread can make everything seem not so bad... but whatever it was, Eli monkey was there for me to snuggle just when I needed that most. It's harder to be scared when there's a cute, smiling face looking at you.
Every day I'd ask when I could go home, and every day the nurses would tell me "well get you out of here tomorrow." It was almost a week's worth of tomorrows before I could go home, but I did get out of the hospital. I wasn't back to normal, that took several months*. For a while, everything was a mess, then a friend (the wonderful Ninja Muse) asked me to do a photo project with her. I agreed, but not being a photographer, I just took photos of Eli and Sirus as they had different adventures. This was in December, so when Christmas rolled around, I knew I had to do something big. Something cool. Something with more than just two sock monkeys and whatever other stuffed animals I had around the house.
I needed MORE MONKEYS!!!
To me, this is when I really started to get better. My body had been... not normal, but acceptable for months, but my life was broken and I didn't have a clue how to fix it. I have my Ninja Muse and George (as well as Eli and Sirus) to thank for that. It took me about three months before I was willing to let one of my monkeys out into the world. Mostly because when I first started making them, I didn't know how to sew. I started with a sad little $20 sewing machine because I didn't think it was something I COULD do.
I'm stubborn though, so I kept at it. I kept thinking "Grannies have been making these for decades. I'm going to figure this out damn it!" Eventually, Ninja Monkey (the very first Ninja Monkey) was released into the wild. Well, he was sent to live in the care of Imaginary Ninja, who needed a muse because hers just wasn't working. Sock monkeys make very, very good muses, when THE Ninja Muse isn't available that is!
Now, I'm very much better. I'm healthy enough that I can do the things that I want to. My life still isn't perfect, but it's good enough. It's not BAD by any means, just tough sometimes. Thankfully, it's now the normal, I can deal with this type of difficult. I still have the sock monkeys to get me through the hard times. Now, I'm sending out monkeys on a regular basis to help put smiles on other people's faces. I make a lot of monkeys to be auctioned off at charity events. I wish I could give a monkey to every kid who really needs a pal to bring along to the scary places. I still bring Eli and Sirus with me when I have to go into the hospital for things. When I was in the recovery room after having surgery, one of the nurses said "OH! the sock monkeys-- over that way," when one of my family members was coming to see me.
Being a sock monkey maker wasn't in my life plan, but even with the bad things that had to happen to spark that to happen, I'm glad it did. I don't generally think about how sick I was back then, or how worried I was when I started getting dozens of calls from collection agencies on the bills**, that stuff is all in the past. In fact, the place where I was working closed down (not because of me, it was a big corporation decision thing). I miss the people I used to work with, but now, I can focus on just making monkeys to make people happy.
Best of all, now I get to do things like make monkeys to help other people, I can do fundraisers, and things like that and know that Monkeyville is doing the same thing for other people that it did for me. I have the word "phoenix" tattooed on my arm in Chinese because even though I crash and burn, I always seem to make it through. I think someday I'm going to have to get a monkey tattooed on the other arm.
I was thinking about this because in the past few months, I've made a lot of monkeys (and other sock animals) for different charities, but also because when people meet me in person, they're usually very surprised to find out that I don't have a background in art at all, but biotechnology. When people ask how I ended up making sock monkeys of all things, I usually tell them about Eli and Sirus being there for me when I was sick.
I've never actually considered the monkeys art-- they're toys, and even the fanciest monkeys I make are still toys. They're still good at cuddling, still good at being brave in the face of doctors with needles and scary tests to be done. Yep, even the zombies and skeletons I make are cuddly. If they're art at all, then they're art that's meant to be cuddled, not just collected.
*Though some weird side effects still remain. I'm physically incapable of screaming for instance.
**It was uncertain for a little while if I was going to have to pay these or someone else. After about four months, it was decided that someone else was responsible for those. I still got the calls for a long time though.
Okay, my grasp of what day of the week isn't fantastic since I haven't managed to find a new day job. I thought yesterday was Sunday for sure, and that wasn't helped by the fact that allergies have mostly kept me in the house, itchy, sneezey, and covered in hives. Stupid pollen. This time of year always ends up in hives for me. The only time I could go out and not worry was when it was pouring. Sorta takes all the fun out of spring!
However, while I've been trapped in the house, snuggling my bottle of Benedryl, I've been observing what the monkeys have been getting up to. Poor Eli Monkey, he had finals last week*.
Can't talk. Studying.
I'm not sure if you can see, but I was nice and let him borrow my Justin Bieber notebook to make notes in. I don't have a good reason to have a notebook with a Justin Bieber sticker on it, it's for a novel I'm working on. Really.
As the week went on, the studying got pretty hard for Eli. He was up late lots of nights, there was lots of coffee involved, and dinner consisted of "whatever could be pulled from the freezer and zapped" easily.
Can't talk...ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZzZZZZZZZZZ
He kind of reminds me of myself (and everyone else who's a writer) during November** Lots of coffee, lots of papers strewn everywhere, and lots and lots of post-it notes. I've also more than once fallen asleep in front of my computer as well. It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but if I write in bed, I often wake up later cuddling my computer.
Sirus monkey helped keep Eli properly caffeinated and when things got a bit too much for Eli, Sirus made sure that Eli got some rest.
Shh!!! Eli needs his rest!
Sirus Monkey is clearly, a very sweet monkey. He tucked Eli in and let him sleep, but made sure to get him up in time for his very last final the next morning. I'm sure that Eli has made his sock primate brethren proud!
*Eli Monkey is the first sock monkey to attend college. We're quite proud of our smart monkey!
**National Novel Writing Month. Squee!
This may come as a surprise to most people, especially those that know me really well-- not ALL of my life is devoted to sock monkeys. For the most part, it is. I get up every morning* thinking about what monkeys I need to make, the cool socks I just bought the day before, what monkeys I'd like to make (but probably won't have time for...), what Eli and Sirus are up to... that's kind of all that's in my brain most days. I'm starting to think that there isn't much more than socks, stuffing, and felt in my head. I hope I'm not turning into a sock monkey!
Advantages of turning into a sock monkey:
1. Adorableness-- every one but the most evil of evil pirates will love me!
2. A tail! Think of all the swinging from things I could do! No more fumbling for keys when my arms are full of groceries, I'll just unlock the door with my tail!
3. No internal organs-- I'm already down one, why not get rid of them all? It would certainly save money on food!
4. No pressure to do things like "be responsible" and "get a REAL job".
5. No body image issues to worry about. Sock monkeys don't look in the mirror and ask "does this pattern make my butt look fat?" No, because it will always look ADORABLE!
Disadvantages of turning into a sock monkey:
1. Lack of fingers. Sure, I can work the keys with my tail, but how would I type?! I like my fingers, there one of the few body parts that haven't failed me yet in some major way.**
2. It would be perfectly acceptable for anyone, at anytime to pick me up and give me a cuddle, because I would be adorable, this would probably happen often. That could be upsetting.
3. No bacon. Now that I can actually eat it, I REALLY like bacon too!
4. Boredom. Not all monkeys are adventure seekers like Eli, who is the first sock monkey to attend University. Knowing me, I'd probably just sit with the rest of the monkeys on the couch, hanging out.
5. Perpetual nakedness. This makes the random cuddles more upsetting.
6. Acts of Dog. I've seen what even a tiny dog can do to a sock monkey-- EEK! I'm already on the fence about dogs anyway***, and to be a potential chew toy would be TERRIFYING!
I think more than anything, the Act of Dog makes being a sock monkey not an option. Not that I have a dog, I'm not even allowed to have one in my building. I'm a cat person though. Kitties know how to treat a sock monkey. No chewing, no violent "make the monkey flail" episodes****. Just cuddles, purring, and occasionally pushing the monkey out of the way. Oh sure, kitties love the taste of ribbon (especially blue ribbon, for some reason, they have no care for yarn though), but I think it's far preferable to have the accessories nommed than the body!
Does this look dangerous to you?
Notice the lack of nomming, flailing, and otherwise Very Bad Things in that photo. That, sock monkeys and all, is Isis's favorite spot in the house. Boo prefers to sleep under the covers on my bed, or, when he's feeling sociable, ON Isis. Isis is very understanding about this. She usually doesn't smack him for it. Pan (yes, I have three kitties) tends to sleep on my chair when my butt isn't in it. When my butt is in it, he'll sleep on me. He's like a living, kitty stole.
This is not me. That is not a cat. But it is the same thing.
My theory is that wearing fur isn't bad if the fur in question is still attached to the animal and the animal wants to be worn. Pan is a tiny cat. Boo tried this once, and sent me face first into the laptop keyboard. Pain was involved, mostly because Boo tried to jump from the dinning room table to my shoulder and Boo is HEAVY. Sure, he doesn't look heavy, but he's twice what Pan weighs at least!
Pan, Isis, and Boo, in the only photo of the three of them actually side by side.
Sure, Boo LOOKS the same size as Pan, but Boo has no fluff, and Pan is ALL fluff (it's find the disappearing cat when he gets a bath). Boo, if he were fluffy, would be about the same size as Isis.
I live on the first floor, and while my neighbors might not know who I am, they know my cat. Everyone in the entire town knows Boo. Boo is friendly, he's bald, and he likes to go on car rides to Petco. Any time I bring him out, it's a guaranteed two hour adventure as everyone he sees has to pet, photograph, and ask about Boo.
Boo LOVES this. He LIVES for this. In fact, when we go out to Petco, he finds a girl he thinks is cute, and will proceed to make sure that he gets lots of attention from her. I swear I didn't train him to do this, he's just a natural schmoozer. Also, he loves the girl that sells Blue Buffalo food. I usually end up walking out of the store with a bag of that if she's there because Boo will get very upset if I don't get the food the pretty girl is selling. Boo is a pro at pouting if he doesn't get his way.
See? I am totally a cat person.
This past weekend was also Eurovision. For those who have never heard of this, it's when all the countries in Europe (and some that are bending the rules of geography) send a representative to preform a song in front of... well, pretty much all of Europe. There is voting, there's cheesy pop music, there's some kind of spatial distortion that allows Israel to be part of Europe, and there's LOTS of sparkly costumes.
Being in America, all I could do is watch it streaming. So far, they haven't bent geography enough that America is part of Europe, but I have a feeling that we'll be part of Eurovision eventually. Some of the acts are questionable (there was one country that sent an old guy in a plaid coat) and others that were awesome. I was totally rooting for Moldova and Ireland (in that order).
Moldova:
This was one of the best uses of that Giant Screen of Awe that I saw.
Also, the first time I heard the song, I thought it was about souvlaki. The song is actually called So Lucky.
Souvlaki:
Delicious, but not song worthy.
Ireland:
Also an excellent use of the Giant Screen of Awe, and by far the Best Use of Hair.
While, either of these two winning would have made my night, it was Azerbaijan that won. I'm not really sure why, because to me, their song was pretty much like any popstar duet that's ever been made.
*Shrug* what do I know, I live in the US.
Azerbaijan:
*For my purposes, morning is whenever I get up, not necessarily the AM hours of the day.
**I had lyme disease as a kid. This means on any given day, I can wake up and one joint (or more) will HURT. Even places that you don't think are joints. This should be another plus for being a sock monkey-- no diseases!!!
*** They give me hives. Even the ones that aren't supposed to give people hives.
**** My sister has a dog. I once gave her a monkey to chew on so she wouldn't be stressed out (the dog, not my sister, my sister can handle being away from home just fine. We crate trained her.). The first thing the tiny dog did? Grab the monkey by the middle and FLAIL! There was growling involved and everything. The dog totally forgot that my sister had taken all of the toys and the doggie bed to her car.
