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

Review: Snag Tights "Shorties" Chub Rub Shorts

It's halfway through the month (what?!) and time for an episode of Shelbee and Nancy's Good Buy/Good Bye Book. The theme this month is Shorts.

I offer you these Bad Buy Chub Rub Shorties from Snag tights.

    Why are they a bad buy?
    Reason 1:
    They are not what I expected!

Basically, they are the short version of tights. I purchased them to wear under dresses in the summer heat. These purported to be wicking and cool but they're not! They run hot! Like tights!

Road testing under an outfit to an art opening.
Fail.

Reason 2:
The bad return policy of Snag Tights 

Snag Tights' corporate headquarters is in England.
Despite the fact that my order came from a distribution center in Texas, if I want to return my extra two pairs of shorties [yes, I was overly optimistic and trying to reduce the shipping cost, as one does] I have to return them to England. And pay for the postage. That's $20! I checked at the post office. Yikes!

BAD BUY!

I am offering my two unopened pairs on Poshmark, Size F (2X, I think) if you are at all interested.
Which I doubt, after reading my rant - haha.

Linking up with
Rena at Fine-Whatever

Shelbee's On the Edge

May I? 10 on the 10th

Answering 10 questions! This is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.
Link to Marsha's answers for this month.

1. Can you whistle?

Yes! One of those ear-piercing NYC Taxi hailing whistles!
My pal Shawn (a native of NYC) taught me in 9th grade.

2. Can you touch your toes flat to the ground?

Yes, I just tried. I had to bend my knees a teeny tiny bit.

[Ha! can't post the video because Blogger thinks it's obscene!]

3. Can you remember all of your teachers from Kindergarten to graduation?

No. 1st through 4th grade are lost to the mists of time.
I only remember my Kindergarten teacher because there's a photo:

4. Can you ride a motorcycle?

Conceivably yes, as a passenger, but I'd rather not.
My cousins were very much into motorbikes as young teens. I only rode with them a couple of times.

5. Can you groom a dog?

Maybe, again, I'd rather not. I can groom a cat!

6. Can you remember the first vacation you ever went on?

Do family trips to summer lodgings count? The first house I remember (I was five?) I later randomly revisited when I was fourteen with friends that lived on the farm. It was an eerie experience!

7. Can you create things from scratch (knit, paint, weld, etc.)?

Oh, yes! Perhaps my most ambitious thing is the shoes I made!

8. Can you wire an outlet?

Maybe? There's a YouTube for that!

9. Can you remember your first job?

Unforgettable! I delivered pizza for Skip Perry's Pizza in Goleta, CA. I got to know the greater Santa Barbara area really well. Delivering to UCSB students was the worst.

"Ham, Pepperoni, Bell Pepper Pizza" Lithograph, 1975

10. Can you upholster a chair?
I upholstered a chair and an ottoman once with canvas that I silkscreened.
[Can't find photos]

Lately, I've been visibly mending the couch. Some parts are surviving Mr Lou the Antimender better than others
(that is carpeting on arm on left which Lou has turned into a yeti).

Linking up with...

Marsha's 10 by 10

Shelbee's On the Edge
Rena's Fine Whatever

In the Pink with the Pink Shawl

 It's halfway through the month (what?!) and time for an episode of Shelbee and Nancy's Good Buy/Good Bye Book. The theme this month is Barbiecore™ and/or Pink. I submitted a sweater that was a Bad Buy and you can see that here.

Today, I'm celebrating a pink shawl that I bought in Brooklyn 10(!) years ago:

In the Pink

[Edit] I found my original post about it on IG:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray)

I wore it EIGHT times from January - March 2012!

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday -
Something Old, Something New

52 Pick-me-up: Cyclamen

52 Pick-me-up: Closet Orphans | Ending 2013 at the Beach

CMYK Day

Pink Power!

And for the grand Finale, from today:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray)

Linking up with
Shelbee's On the Edge
Rena's Fine-Whatever

Mosaics in Philadelphia

Mosaics in the South Street neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Created by Isaiah Zagar

View of the exterior of the museum, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens,

dedicated to one immersive space that he created.

We took a quickie east coast ramble at the end of October and Philadelphia was one of our stops.
See more pics of the trip here.

Rena's Fine Whatever linkup

Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

"Hello, Goodbye" and Songful Style Linkup

 Songful Style, a fun way to explore your closet, inspired by music.

Brought to you by Suzy - the Grey Brunette, Shelbee On the Edge , Michelle - My Bijou Life, Marsha In the Middle, and me, SpyGirl.

Marsha's choice this month is "Hello, Goodbye" the Beatles song written by Lennon/McCartney in 1967.

The inspo from the video:

I have one bright satiny garment and I played with some stop motion for the monthly Reel:

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A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray)

June's song is Behind the Wall of Sleep, by The Smithereens. 
It's my selection, and I will fill you in with all the details on Wednesday, June 1st!

Let's get this party started!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Linking up with

Rena's Fine-Whatever

Crazy Legs and Torture Clogs

 It started with a call from Shelbee and Nancy for their Good Buy/Goodbye Book with the theme Easter Egg Colors (link).

This is the photo that I submitted, from 2013

original post

Here's what I wrote:

This outfit is a 50/50 split.

The bright 60's shirt and shift are definite keepers. And Great Buys -- the shirt was free, from a friend, and the shift was secondhand for $25.

The pastel tights were a disappointment (in 2013). This is my own artwork, and I used a company that required a printing of 6 pairs. They came out WAY too pastel for me. I managed to resell 4 pairs, and the remaining two I will upcycle into "yarn".

The Mary Jane clogs were a super bad buy (in 2012). I call them torture clogs, they are too small and make my feet numb after about an hour. Why do we do this to ourselves?

The clogs are now for sale on Poshmark:

buy them here [US only, must be Poshmark member]

And the tights?

Let the repurposing begin!

I'm cutting on the length grain.

Cross cutting would give me a longer strand, but it curls with the (paler) inside on the outside.

What will I do with the yarn? TBD!

Linking up with

Shelbee's On the Edge

Michelle's Potpourri

Rena's Fine-Whatever

Giveaway! Two Brown Patchwork Scarves! [CLOSED]

 It's giveaway time!

A friend gave me these two scarves.
I'm simply NOT a lace person.

They are identical, except the position of the patches is reversed.
Taupe lace, and burnout velvet. Brown crushed velvet. Multicolor brocade.

I will pick two winners randomly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

[3.31] We have winners!

Linking up with

Shelbee's Edge of the Week

Rena's Fine-Whatever

Michele's Potpourri

March Songful Style Outfit Inspo Collab: Leather and Lace

Songful Style, a fun way to explore your closet, inspired by music.

Brought to you by Suzy - the Grey Brunette, Shelbee On the Edge , Michelle - My Bijou Life, Marsha In the Middle, and me

"Songful Style gives you lyrics, music, video, and album artwork to inspire your fashion creativity. You may even find inspiration in a memory triggered by the selected song. It is all open to your own personal interpretation and just a fun way to discover new music and get a little bit more creative with your wardrobe." [lifted from Shelbee] 

This is a monthly link-up every last Monday of the month.
We will announce our song choice for the following month at the end of each Songful Style post. 

For our this month's Songful Style post, we will be sharing outfits inspired by Leather and Lace, by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. See Shelbee's post for lyrics and loads of inspiration.

The Link-up Party will be posted on March 28

April's Songful Style will be "Hi-Heeled Sneakers" by Tommy Tucker.

IN ADDITION,

I'm holding a giveaway of these two brown lace, brocade, and velvet patchwork scarves.

I think they have a Stevie vibe, don't you?

There will be two random winners chosen on March 31.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Linking up with

Rena's Fine-Whatever

Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

Who Am I? An Exploration in Self Portraits

"Who are you? What is your story? Where does your perception of yourself come from? How do you view yourself versus how do you think others see you?

We are living in an age where we curate our public persona. Whether through our profile pictures, what we post on social media and how we dress in public. How does that impact who we really are? Is it a disguise or are we taking ownership of our identity?" 

-- Kristine Schomaker, from a recent call for art

This blog could be considered a self portrait!

I started SpyGirl in 2010, as part of a Journaling Challenge.
At first, I hid behind my SpyGirl persona:

original post

Gradually, I said screw that, I want to draw fashion sketches again:

2011, for a Sketchbook Project project
(Sketched in Illustrator, painted in Photoshop. Labor intensive. See this) 

My sketching style evolved, digital, analog... I shifted as the mood struck me.

5/31/16, lunch break selfie sketches of the day's outfit

From the same sketchbook, that time I turned 60:

6/3/16

Not my first selfie nude.
That would be a painting that I no longer have. Still looking for the photo of it...

Linking up with

Michelle's Potpourri

Rena's Fine-Whatever