Stinkerpants

Nailed! Our New House Numbers

June 1, 2009 in Personal Projects • DIY and Crafts • Our Home • How To

A few months ago, I saw an awesome post from Daily Danny about artwork made with tacks.  I immediately starred it on my Google Reader and filed it in the forefront of my brain.  I needed to do this for our house numbers (well, technically, our “fence” numbers, as this is on a fence you go through to enter our apartment). A long time ago I painted the house numbers on an old tile and haphazardly tied it to the fence.  It looked terrible, and I wanted something much nicer.

I actually started this project about a month ago.  I got the “42″ done, then procrastinated.  I’m happy to say that I finished it this weekend, and I think it looks great!

The secret to getting the numbers (or letters, if that’s your bag) perfect is to find a font you like and print it out on your home printer, then tack it to the fence (or wood, or wall).

In order to get the tacks in the correct place, use needle-nose pliers and a hammer.

Then rip your paper off!  I actually had kind of a problem getting all of the paper out of my 5.  It’s going to rain this week, though–once the rain comes, the rest of the paper will disintegrate.

The 4 and the 2 actually started to rust during my procrastination phase, which looks really cool (far cooler than I expected).  I’m looking forward to seeing how it changes with time.

What do you think?

Wow. Thanks!

May 27, 2009 in Miscellaneous Ramblings

Yesterday was both sad and exciting.  I really didn’t expect the Twitter-verse to explode the way it did with all the re-tweets of my blog posts–hello to people I don’t know!  :-D  And thank you to everyone who spread the word.

There are still some free bumper stickers left, and of course, if you want to buy one for a buck & let someone else take a free one, that would be awesome too.  Just to reiterate, here are the options for the sticker and the links to get them:

1. The first 250 people who sign up for this will receive one for free.  No shipping, no nothing.  Free. Or, if you’re feeling generous, you can choose one of the next two options:
2. Because I can’t afford to spend a kagillion dollars (after all, I am pretty poor, haha), everyone after the first 250 just needs to pay for shipping and handling, which is $1.  If you want to pay $1 and let somebody else take the free option, please do!
3. OR if you’re feeling REALLY pissed off, donate as much as you want, and I will give the money to a gay rights charity that we’ll be voting on (the vote will be here on the blog–feel free to suggest your favorites in the comments section of this post!) in the next couple of days, AND send you your bumper sticker.

Last night Y and I went out to San Francisco City Hall to march with other like-minded people.  I haven’t been to many protests, but I thought it was pretty awesome.  And of course, it ended with a dance party in the middle of the Castro.

We have a fight ahead of us, but I really hope that it won’t take too long.  I am hoping that people were complacent or ignorant pre-election, and that 52% of people really aren’t that hateful.  I guess that’s hope.

 
image source

YAY!! It’s here!!!

May 26, 2009 in More Stuff • ABC Prints

I am finally getting back into the swing of things after a nice trip with my mom to Los Angeles.  Memorial Day weekend was very fun–I hope you all had a great time too!

I am VERY excited about the topic of this blog post, as it’s been a long time coming.

I finally have the Stinkerpants Alphabet Poster in my hot little hands.  And I am so pleased with the quality!

The poster features all of my personal favorites:

Award-Winning Armadillo, Bashful Bumblebee, Crafty Cactus, Daring Donkey, Endearing Elephant, Friendly Farm, Gentle Giraffe, High-Up Hippo, Insatiable Inchworm, Jolly Jackal, Kissable Kangaroo, Lyrical Lobster, Munching Marsupial, Noisy Narwhal, Optimistic Ostrich, Parachuting Penguin, Quick Queen, Radical Roadrunner, Super Seahorse, Trustworthy Tractor, Ultimate Underpants, Vegetarian Velociraptor, Wooly Walrus, X-Rayed Xylophone, Yodeling Yak and Zealous Zinnias.

The poster is printed on artist quality Epson poster paper, with a gorgeous Luster Gloss finish.  The finished poster measures 18″ by 24″ and would be the perfect addition to any room (if I do say so myself!).  It’s available in the Stinkerpants Shop or in my etsy shop.

Also available in my etsy shop are framed versions of the alphabet prints, for people who don’t want to deal with finding a frame (which is pretty much everybody, right?!  Let’s be honest here.).  The frames come in black, brown and white, and include the print.  Framed prints are $30 each.

So that’s what I’ve been up to recently!  I hope you guys like them!

Please tell everyone you know if you do–I’d really appreciate it!!

And a special thanks to Lisa + James Photography for taking the awesome product photos!

Stinkerpants is PISSED OFF! READ THIS.

May 26, 2009 in Miscellaneous Ramblings

Get a badge for your blog, or a free bumper sticker!

I can’t lie, I had a feeling this was coming.

Here’s why:

• Last year, the California Supreme Court made the decision that it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL to exclude same-sex couples from the right to marry.
• In November, 52% of this state voted to overturn that decision.  The majority (by just a tiny bit!!) was allowed to take rights away from a minority group.
• The decision made today wasn’t about whether or not it’s unconstitutional to exclude same-sex couples from marriage rights–that decision was already made a year ago, and it was in our favor.  The decision today was about whether or not the voters of California have the right to amend their own constitution.  When you consider that this decision affects all law from this day forward, it’s really no surprise that Prop 8 was upheld.

Here’s the deal, though: if California voters have the right to amend their constitution, we have the right to do it again.  I have absolutely NO DOUBT that California will follow Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa and legalize gay marriage.

I hate to say it, but the No on 8 Campaign was NOT RUN WELL.  At all.  Why weren’t they talking about civil rights?  How about the fact that African Americans didn’t have the right to marry outside of their race just FORTY TWO YEARS AGO?! And that the campaign against interracial marriage used the EXACT SAME arguments as they’re using now for gay marriage?

This video says what needs to be said:

I really think that the campaign will be run better this time.  I also think that people will NOT be lazy.  Californians like to think of our state as being filled with liberal hippies.  I don’t think people expected Prop 8 to pass.  WE WILL NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN.

If you read my blog through a reader like Google Reader, you probably didn’t see that I’ve had a new badge in my sidebar for a few weeks.

At the suggestion of Designs by Tine, I decided to make badges for everyone.  Like it?  Take it.  PLEASE.  Put it on your blog.  Tell your friends to take it and have them put it on THEIR blogs.  Whether or not you live in California, show your support for FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED GAY MARRIAGE.  This is not a Californian issue.  This is not a “gay” issue.  This is a civil rights issue.  This is an humanity issue.  This is an issue that EVERYONE needs to care about!

For your blog posts:

For your sidebar:

 And now for the BIG KAHUNA:

I also created a bumper sticker, which I just sent to print.  Check it out!

I could only afford to have 1000 of these suckers printed, but print them I did.  I intend to give these away FOR FREE.  I’m giving people three options:

1. The first 250 people who sign up for this will receive one for free.  No shipping, no nothing.  Free. Or, if you’re feeling generous, you can choose one of the next two options:
2. Because I can’t afford to spend a kagillion dollars (after all, I am pretty poor, haha), everyone after the first 250 just needs to pay for shipping and handling, which is $1.  If you want to pay $1 and let somebody else take the free option, please do!
3. OR if you’re feeling REALLY pissed off, donate as much as you want, and I will give the money to a gay rights charity that we’ll be voting on (the vote will be here on the blog–feel free to suggest your favorites in the comments section of this post!) in the next couple of days, AND send you your bumper sticker.

I am going to be at the protest tonight at 5pm at San Francisco City Hall, and I’ll be holding a BIG FREAKIN’ SIGN.  I hope to see you there!!!
I am in support of federally recognized gay marriage rights. Are you?

Why I Will Probably Have Kids: Well, Why.

May 15, 2009 in Parenthood & Life • Pre-Baby • Miscellaneous Ramblings

After a long hiatus, I’m back with my concluding post.  Sorry it took so long!

About three years ago, I was in the midst of a quarter-life crisis.  A year earlier, I’d had to leave graduate school because of migraine headaches, and I had no idea what to do with my life.  For my birthday, Y took me to see Avenue Q.  And, as strange as it sounds, I had an A-ha moment in the middle of a puppet musical.

The story is about a kid who graduates from college and can’t figure out what to do with his life.  He becomes overwhelmed and falls into a depression.  The moral (at least to me) was that you don’t have to have everything all figured out right away.  Do what’s right for right now, and it will probably lead you down the right path.

Incidentally, that’s how I ended up being an illustrator, and overall quite happy.

Anyway, the point of that story is this: one of my not-so-great qualities is that I tend to overwhelm myself by thinking too far ahead.  I end up panicking and then becoming emotionally paralyzed when I realize that I’m not where I want to be.  I don’t own a house, I don’t have a retirement account, my business can’t support me in the lifestyle I’d like, etc.

Considering I am 26, this is ridiculous and I know it.

This is, however, how I ended up having majorly deep thoughts about bearing children when I haven’t even been married a year.  This is also why I’ve titled this series “Why I Will *Probably* Have Kids.”  I say *probably* because I’m 26 and I don’t need to make major decisions right now.  In fact, I shouldn’t make major life decisions right now, because (other than marriage) I’m not ready to make them.  And that’s okay.

For awhile, Y and I weren’t sure if we wanted to have kids at all.  Y is 32 and never had any urges to be a parent.  I never really thought about it–I just knew that I wasn’t ready.

And then.

And then my friend Karen had a child.  Look at this child:

That is Emmett.  No offense to all the babies I’ve seen, but he is by FAR the cutest baby I have ever seen in my entire life.  He also happens to be half Asian, half white.  Hmm.

Before I met little E, I’d never really held a baby before.  I’m an only child, and I was never really exposed to kids.  To be honest, I have no idea what to do with them, and up until E I had no desire to be anywhere near them.

When I saw E, though, I wanted to pick him up.  When I held E, I didn’t want to let anyone else hold him.  I’ve never had those feelings before. It was as if something switched in my brain and I suddenly wanted a baby.  I totally wanted to see what it was like to be pregnant, and I wanted to see what kind of adorable-ness a Chewish (Chinese-Jewish) baby would contain.

This went on for about three months.

And then I calmed down.  I realized that I am not ready to have a baby.  No way.  I’m not ready for my life to change. At this point, I feel like feeding a dog, four cats and seven chickens is responsibility enough!  Add a baby to the mix, and I’d have absolutely no time to work.  Stinkerpants would die.  And with it, I (and by this, I mean the ME I was talking about in my previous post) would die–because I haven’t completely matured yet.  And at 26, how many people have?!  So no, I’m not ready yet.

But.

But I am open to the possibility that at some point, I will be ready for my life to change.  At some point, my business will be stable, and I will have enough money to hire someone to help me with the kids part-time so I can get some work done.  At some point, I really do think I will want to have kids and I will be ready for them.  And I won’t lose myself in them, because *me* will be fully matured and stable.  I think people who have kids too soon or without thinking are the ones who end up living my Dominating Fear.

That being said, I know myself well enough to know the following things:

• I have the potential to will freak out and get postpartum depression, so I need to watch that.
• I will need a lot of support from my partner and my family.
• I will want my Mommy (haha).

I will need a lot of support.  But you know what?  That’s okay.  And I think knowing that will *probably* make me a very good parent one day.