10 on the 10th: Would You Rather...

10 on the 10th is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.

This month it's ten eleven "Would you rather" questions

1. Would you rather eat deep fried Twinkies or butter?

My question is, is it possible to deep fry butter?

I asked ChatGPT:

Yes — but you can’t just toss a stick of butter into hot oil unless you want a greasy fireworks show.

People do deep fry butter (famously at state fairs), but they do it by:

1. Freezing the butter first – usually cut into small chunks or rolled into balls.

2. Coating it very well – dipped in batter or wrapped in dough/breadcrumbs so the hot oil doesn’t melt it instantly.

3. Frying quickly – just long enough to crisp the outside before the inside turns molten.

The result is basically a warm, melty butter center inside a crunchy shell.

And here's a recipe!
You're welcome.

2. Would you rather eat a hot dog cooked or uncooked?
Hot dogs were one of my specialties when I babysat my siblings.
Even I would not stoop to serving hot dogs raw, no matter how much the sibs annoyed me.

I would rather not eat a hot dog at all.

3. Would you rather dig for gold or dig for gemstones?
I'll go digging for random facts any time!

4. Would you rather plant your feet in the sand or in the snow?

Sand!

Rena's and my red toes in the sand, from 2017

5. Would you rather read a book with no chapters delineated or a book with no chapters at all?

What's the difference? I don't care, as long as it's well written.

6. Would you rather wear flip flops with tights or high heels with tube socks?

The toe thong on flip flops bothers me, I'll go with the heels.

stolen from nectarinedreams.com

7. Would you rather wear the twins Polly and Esther or their evil cousin, Latex, for a posh evening of your choice?

If you squeezed me into Latex, I'd look like Divine (Pink Flamingos), but without boobs.

Modern polyester is almost tolerable.

8. Would you rather watch a really bad movie with your bestie or a really good movie by yourself?
I'm all for streaming solo. I can watch whatever I want with no judgement.

9. Would you rather color in the lines or outside?

10. Would you rather drink warm root beer or cold “hot” chocolate?
Cold hot chocolate is the same as chocolate milk, right?

Bonus: Would you rather have taco chips or celery string stuck in your teeth?

Since I despise celery, I'll go with chips, despite the pain factor. Yes, been there, done that.

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge

10 on the 10th: June Loves

 10 on the 10th is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.

Her prompt for this edition:

Instead of just answering some questions or such, let’s try photos of ten things we really like or even love.

I'm all for the love! And not just things!

1. Must be Severo!

2. Mr Lou

3. Morning ritual: Earl Grey loose tea, Hi-Lo souvenir mug, bakelite handled spoon

4. Celebrating my birthday with Ube Macapuno cake

5. Fluevog shoes, making repeats, embroidering them
Bonus: will be creating and exhibiting a total of 50!
The show will be in Pacifica, CA (near SF) in September

6. Road trips, then making art
This is 1-10, West Texas and will soon be available in a flash sale for $100

7. Textile Arts LA group
I'm curating a TALA group show for a pop-up art fair in Torrance July 11-13!

8. Music! In this case, Nada Surf in 2024

and in 2011

9. Fragrant flowers! Check my IG to see what happened when I took this photo...

10. Russel Wright dishes.
Some pieces are from my childhood, though Mom is still holding on to one forest green serving bowl.

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge 

10 on the 10th: May Questions

10 on the 10th is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle. 

This month, she has questions!

1. Would you rather live in a tiny house in the country or on a boat on a river or lake?

I'd like to try the boat on a lake concept. Waking up to a horizon of water would be glorious!

Piseco Lake, NY available!

2. Would you rather be a character in a Shakespeare play or a Stephen King movie adaptation?

Shakespeare for sure.

3. Would you rather your kitchen was full of all black appliances or all pink appliances?

Pink! There are lots of shades of pink and it doesn't necessarily have to be Barbie pink.

Look what I found!

source

4. Would you rather be allergic to cake or chips?

Would it be a mild reaction or near death?

5. Would you rather have a five minute conversation with your past self or your future self?

Past self! This girl especially... it would take more than five minutes though!

1978

6. Would you rather be rich or famous?

Rich in friends, rich in memories

7. Would you rather drive a brand new big, big truck or a slightly used small car?

I will drive my 2009 Prius until it stops working (230,000+ miles and counting). Then I'll get another.

8. Would you rather live with your parents or your kids?

Since I'm a cat mom, I'll go with the cat kid (who's an old cat man)

9. Would you rather have an ugly tattoo where everyone could see it or a beautiful one that no one could see?

I'll put a temporary one wherever. Nothing permanent. 

10. Would you rather eat a peanut butter and Spam sandwich or a strawberry jelly and lettuce sandwich?

I think with enough tweaking of condiments, you could get an Indonesian vibe going on your PBnSpamwich.

Or this! (Google can be a wonderful thing)

5 star rating! You know you're curious...

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge

10 on the 10th on 3.14

Answering 10 questions! This is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.

To quote Marsha's prompt post:

Do you know when Pi Day is? It’s March 14 but looks better if you write it 3.14! And, that is pi to two decimals. Pi goes on to infinity which means it’s not rational. Do yourself a favor and don’t look up the definition unless you’re a math major. My daughter, who was a math major, explained that a rational number can be written as a fraction. Irrational numbers cannot. Pi is irrational because it can’t be written as a fraction! So, have at it, my friends and tell us about the ten irrational (as in not logical) things you would do! And, remember, it’s so much more fun when you give reasons for your answers!

I did some research and found 7 irrational questions from past 10 on the 10ths:

4/23

7/23

10/23

12/23

2/24

6/24

2/25

Note the trend towards CHOCOLATE!

And 2023 was a banner year for irrational questions.

Then I went to ChatGPT and asked "this or that absurd questions involving chocolate"
The Chat called it "Absurd Chocolate Dilemma":

1. Eat a chocolate bar that tastes like broccoli OR a broccoli that tastes like chocolate?
2. Swim in a pool of melted chocolate OR have it rain chocolate syrup for a week?
3. Have chocolate-flavored toothpaste OR brush your teeth with melted chocolate?
4. Wear clothes made of solid chocolate OR shoes filled with hot fudge?
5. Only be able to eat chocolate-covered vegetables OR chocolate-covered insects?
6. Have fingers that constantly ooze chocolate OR cry chocolate tears?
7. Be cursed to always have chocolate melted on your hands OR never be able to taste chocolate again?
8. Replace all the water in your house with chocolate milk OR have your furniture be made of solid chocolate?
9. Live in a house made of chocolate that melts in the sun OR a house that constantly smells like chocolate but never has any?
10. Have chocolate hair that you can snack on OR chocolate skin that melts in the sun?

Marsha, you are welcome to use any of these for your next "This or That" 🤣

Seventeen [a prime number] questions in all and if I must answer one...

Chocolate hair! Except I'd quickly become bald from nibbling on it all the time.

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge

Rena's Fine-Whatever

10 on the 10th: Valentine's Edition

Answering 10 questions! This is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.

1. Would you rather celebrate Valentine’s Day at a cozy restaurant or at home cozied up in your favorite jammies?
Leaning towards Home. Restaurants are too crowded in V-Day.

2. Would you rather eat red velvet cake or wear red velvet?
I'm happy sketching a red velvet cupcake!

Red Velvet Mini, 2011

3. Would you rather receive a heart shaped box of candy or a heart shaped piece of jewelry?
Heart candy for sure!

4. Would you rather eat Reese's Pieces or a Reese's Peanut Butter Heart?
I'll take Reese's in any shape or form (despite the fact that most non-cup Reese's look like 💩 Haha.)

Evidence of my Reese's addiction:

8 Reese's weavings, 2020

5. Would you rather watch a Valentine’s Day themed movie or an action movie?
Valentine movies are too sappy for my taste and a lot of Action movies are too much.
I'll take a twisty Whodunnit. 
Just finished streaming Snow Girl on Netflix. It gets gory in parts, but is a good mystery.

6. Would you rather give a box of chocolates to your person or a less than wonderful homemade card?
Who says my homemade cards are subpar
I'll go with the chocolates, Severo will share!

7. Would you rather go to Tahiti or Iceland for Valentine’s Day?
Would I go to Iceland to maybe catch the Northern Lights?
(I just looked up daylight hours there and was surprised to see it's around 8 hours)
Tahiti with warm sun and beaches?
Tahiti for the win!

8. Would you rather sing “At Last” by Etta James or “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith to your person?
I will PLAY Etta and not SING Etta. No one needs to hear me sing.

9. Would you rather celebrate Valentine’s Day for a week or not at all?
I am OK going without. Don't need a designated day for romance and chocolates!

10. Would you rather eat a really sour piece of candy or a single Brussels Sprout dipped in chocolate?
Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. Always dipping weird things in chocolate.
Do I dignify this one with an answer?
I like chocolate, but not on everything!

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge

Rena's Fine-Whatever

10 on the 10th: Birthdays

10 on the 10th is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.
For August, Marsha asked us to list ten things we like about birthdays.

1. Birthday cake!

2024

Severo always gets me Ube Roll with Macapuno (baby coconut) filling.

2. Birthday cake the next morning for breakfast

3. Silly birthday cards

4. Birthday parties

1958

5. Unwrapping presents

1959

6. Celebrating with friends

1960

7. The Facebook Happy Birthday posts

8. Giving gifts

Severo's birthday present this year: some rolls of gaffer tape.
He really loved it!

9. Did I say birthday cake? Haha

2013, back when there was ube cake

10. Celebrating another year alive!

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge

Is This Mutton's WOW on Wednesday

10 on the 10th: School Daze

10 on the 10th is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.

For August, Marsha asked us to recount memories about school - good or bad.

I will start by saying, I grew up on school campuses, I went to school (of course), and I've taught Fashion Design at Otis College of Art and Design (in LA) on and off since 1993 or so.

1. I don't remember the days that my parents lived in the dorm at Berkshire School (in Sheffield, MA)

I'm almost 3 here

but I DO remember prowling around in them during the summer, when no boys were on campus. I also loved doing research in the library. Things took a bad turn about 5th or 6th grade when boys would hoot at me from their dorm windows. I started timing my walks across campus to when they'd be in class.

2. Speaking of 6th grade humiliations, in 5th and 6th grade I had a long 45 minute bus ride to Berkshire Country Day School, in Lenox. Maybe it's time to let go of the memory of a busload of mean kids chanting "Annie Fannie" at me. Horrible. This is why I won't let anyone call me Annie.

3. We moved to Millbrook School (Millbrook, NY) in 1969, and I loved it there. The school had a zoo! With a tapir (of all things)! Fun trivia: Robert Kennedy Jr, currently running for president, was a student there then. He was very much into falcons and hawking. 

I went to Dutchess School and there were only 10 kids in my class! I was queen of my queendom and full of myself.  I wore 15" miniskirts, fishnets, and a red bra that showed through tops.

summer 1970 but we're wearing fall clothing
alas, the photo album with all my weird ''68-70's sewing creations can't be found
so no red bra pix

4. For high school, I attended Emma Willard, a girls' boarding school in Troy, NY. I chose it because they had a very free-form curriculum (hardly any requirements!) and a great arts program. I studied Fine Art (duh), Modern Dance, Fiber Arts, Photography, A/V (such as it was in the early 70s: slides, reel-to-reel audio tape and whatnot)... the list goes on and on. Literature classes came with the expectation of 10-page papers! I think the school is embarrassed about those 4 years (or however long it went on) of "free" learning, but I thrived.

dance performance, 1974

5. College, round one: College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. Adventure awaited! Transplant a naive 18 year old onto a coed campus of 10,000 or so students, living in a half-way converted motel with no kitchen in Isla Vista (the right next to campus college village). There were surfers (did not understand their lingo). There was a nude beach (creepy older guy briefly lured me into his net). Boyfriends! Sex! Well, it was a time of discovery for me. CCS was fantastic. The dean, Marvin Mudrick, created it as "grad school for undergrads" in the arts and sciences. No grades, just scaled credits by how much effort one put into a class. My kind of place! I only lasted through Fall quarter of junior year because I fell in love and moved to NYC with a writer in the program. A story for another time!

art show invitation

6. Seven years later, I went to Otis/Parsons for their Fashion Design program. (I had moved to greater Los Angeles in the Fall of '82, too late to start until '83). I chose fashion design instead of fine art because I wanted a creative career that made money and fine art wasn't cutting it, plus I liked to sew. The Otis fashion program was (and is) Fashion Boot Camp. Very much like Project Runway (Tim Gunn was a dean at Parsons and I'm sure he modeled the show on aspects of the department's curriculum) with longer time constraints. (Our projects ran for a few months vs 24 hours). Otis was brutal and rewarding simultaneously. I learned a lot and got good jobs as a result.

I designed, draped, and tailored this red wool coat, senior year at Otis

7. My first return to Otis (93?) as an instructor in the Fashion department was a total disaster. I was to teach Sophomore Design (sophomores are the worst - they know "everything". Yeah, I remember being that way too). I was thrown to the wolves, with no experience and no one guiding me. I had to do 1:1 critiques with students and figured out that I had about 12 minutes with each for the 2-hour class. Then there was my aesthetic. I was also working at Mattel designing Barbie clothes and let's just say my design direction to the students was not based on reality! This came to a head when a second instructor was brought in and she did a class crit of everyone's designs and kept saying "Where would you wear this?" Mortifying. Those students hated me.

8. In '94 I took a class in Photoshop from Otis's Continuing Ed department. Early days with Photoshop, to be sure! A friend sat beside me, and I helped her a lot. This is when I realized digital design was my happy teaching place! Woohoo. Digital classes were also offered in the Fashion BFA department and I let the dean know that I was available. I became a TA. First there were just Photoshop classes, then Illustrator got added. Illustrator I didn't know. So I'd sit in the morning session, learn the day's lesson, and then help students with their glitches in the afternoon session. THAT's one way to learn software fast! But yeah, no design critiques, just solving technical problems. Perfect fit.

9. After a few years of teaching Digital Design in Fashion and the same class in Continuing Ed, I morphed the latter into two separate classes - one for fashion and one for surface design (making repeating patterns). I LOVED teaching the Digital Surface Design class. But a wiley former student stole the class out from under me, to my continued annoyance. How dare she.

10. My tenth memory transpired in 2017, trying to teach Photoshop to Fashion sophomores (sophomores again. Cue doom music). I know Photoshop. I know MY way of using Photoshop. I DID NOT know the techniques devised for the class. Again, I was in a situation of learning during class. The students sussed that out very quickly. I didn't know how to fix their problems. ARGH! And this time, I had to grade the work. Grading took forever. Not fun. Not a positive experience!

me asking fellow instructors how to grade something

I hope you enjoyed this long trip down memory lane.

I sure did!

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge

Is This Mutton's WOW on Wednesday

10 on the 10th: Ten Summer Memories

10 on the 10th is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.
For July, Marsha asked us for ten summer memories.

1971: that summer I started painting my toenails red
I wrote about it in 2012!

1972: that summer I took a printmaking class 
Woodblock, Dry-Point Etching, Silkscreen, Lithography (with stones!) - a great class through what was then called Munson Williams Proctor Institute, in Utica, NY. It kept me busy.

1975: that summer I mended the quilt (and I'm still mending it)
The quilt origin story
Current mending saga - patch by patch

Mr Lou, the Anti-mender. He's getting ready to bite me.

1976 that summer I backpacked in the Wind Rivers for 10 days
No walk in the park! Photo will come later. Too lazy to look.

1978 that summer in a Upper West Side NYC apartment on the ground floor
and there was a fire in an upper floor and I was taking pictures out the window of "the pretty light"
No image, sorry, still lazy.

1979 that summer of the ill-fated hitchhike around nova scotia honeymoon
If only I'd known it was a harbinger of things to come...
I'll just leave you with a piece of plein air art I did then... Nope, later.

1980 or 81 the summer of Banshee Barbie
Chloe's Barbie was missing her head. So we crafted one out of tinfoil.
Oooooooh! Banshee Barbie!

1994 that summer I learned to paint in the dark in Bennington, VT
It was a week? 2 week? workshop taught by Rafael Ferrer on the campus of Bennington College.
I was super productive.

1996 that summer I lost my mind and lived in Indianapolis for 6 weeks
I turned 40. What can I say? I was thinking with parts lower than my brain!
I got some good paintings done in my basement studio though...

199? that summer I went to NYC and my hair smelled like an old tennis shoe
[Severo and I can't remember what year this occured. Have to consult my old photos].
I'll eventually go into this on my newish Substack Notes. It's a good story!

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with
Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge

10 on the 14th: Valentine's Edition

Answering 10 questions! This is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.

Page 5 of a stitched book project.
See explanation here.

This month it's all about Romance!

1. Would you rather have fruit dipped in chip dip or potato chips dipped in chocolate?
Either way, it could possibly work...

2. Would you rather publicly sing a love song or recite an original poem to your significant other?
Both!

3. Would you rather share the best meal of your life with Willie Nelson or Dolly Parton?
Dolly. She is a queen!

4. Would you rather receive a dozen perfect black roses or one rose in the color you love most?
If the roses have a scent, I'll take as many as I can get.

5. Would you rather spend an entire week of February dressed only in pink with purple hearts or red with orange hearts?
Any combo is fine with me. It's only a week.
Fun fact: Pink and Orange were the color and decor at Cakemasters, my first job when I moved to NYC in 1977.

6. Would you rather be treated to a day driving a Maserati around the Indy 500 race track or go for a carriage ride in the Scottish Highlands?
I already get the Indy 500 experience when Severo drives! I'll take a leisurely carriage ride and I'd love to see the Scottish Highlands.

7. Would you rather have your Valentine pizza delivered by Dwayne Johnson (the Rock) or Jason Statham?

Pass.

8. Would you rather sleep on red satin sheets or flannel sheets with teddy bears on them?
Flannel! I love flannel sheets, even in the summer! Anyhow, most satin sheets are polyester and gross.

9. Would you rather receive a box of chocolates with your least favorite fillings or a bouquet of flowers to which your are allergic?

I'll take the chocolates. One can always eat just the chocolate part if the filling is too nasty.

10. Would you rather go on a surprise date or have planned it yourself?

Surprises are usually good with Severo, except for our first Valentine's dinner date, when he chose going to The Cheesecake Factory without a reservation. I think the wait was going to be something like three hours! (This is a constant source of joking every February 14). The night was rescued when we changed course, went to Chinatown, and had a restaurant to ourselves!

Be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more responses!

Linking up with

Marsha's 10 on the 10th
Shelbee's On the Edge