How Julia Met the Mayor and Other April Hijinks

April has been one amazing month, let me tell you.

First, there was a lot of rain, which I was none-too-thrilled about. The cherry blossoms were blooming and I made a point of going to see them with my toddler (who spent 5 minutes eating and 20 running around like crazy) at Shiogama Shrine on Monday, the 6th. After this, I kept on writing and preparing for the Steampunk Hanami event my friends and I had been planning for a bit. Finally, on the 19th, we got to go out, all in fancy dress, and fully enjoy ourselves. It was fantastic. The photos will be edited and put together in a story-book later.

The day previous had also been fantastic. After teaching and fixing rips in my couch with vinyl, glue, and suede, I received my daughter from my in-laws, brought her to another hanami with friends in Sendai, and hang out with them for Starbucks. At 7:15, we met one of our Shiogama friends at HonShiogama Station and went to a sweets-making event. It turned out to be an event aimed more at children than adults, but we still enjoyed making our tiny sweets and devouring them…and then the mayor of the city showed up. My friend greeted him well and told me who he was, as I of course don’t really know any Japanese politicians. Then my toddler ran around for a bit and the mayor caught her looking at some fairly expensive phone straps. I was warning her not to touch them when the man picked one up and said in Japanese that he would buy it for her.

I know in Japanese this is at least a 5 part conversation, as follows:

Mayor: “I will buy this for your daughter.”

Mother: “No, no. That’s not necessary. Please don’t.”

Mayor: “Nope. I’m going to do it.”

Mother: “Oh, okay. If you must. You’re too generous.”

Mayor: “Here you are.”

The only problem is I don’t know how to say almost any of this in keigo, the super-formal language form you should definitely use with the Mayor. So I sat there making sounds of protest with my mouth that were not words in any language. Then I attempted to stand and instead slammed into a supporting beam of the tea-house, shaking the room less than an earthquake but more than noticeably. All of this was ignored by all of the patrons as the Mayor returned with the $10 phone charm for the baby. I bowed and thanked him as profusely as I knew how.

And that’s how Julia not only met the mayor but also received a present from him.

March 2015! GISHWHES Announced! Awesome times begin!

March! Yay!

Soon-ish there will be cherry blossoms and temperatures that don't make me shudder! Woot woot!

In addition, the Hina Matsuri Doll collection my in-laws set up in my house (as is custom) is finally back in storage, meaning I can spend a little more of my time being a person and not a toddler chasing madwoman. Putting a very expensive set of dolls so close to tiny, prying, destructive hands is just such a bad idea.
But it's custom.
So it is.


In other awesome news, GISHWHES dates have been announced. This year, the registration is going to be open for 18 weeks instead of the measly 4 last year. This year is going to rock. Here's why:

1. I have been gathering teammates from the splendid people I already know, giving them the information they need to make an informed decision and know not only what they are getting into but what is expected from them.
2. My team is already starting to talk to each other. We have an actual team name! Last year, it was a last-ditch sort of affair and I named my tiny, 5 person team "42" because it was the shortest name I could think of and a good Douglas Adams reference. Partial teams gets joined together with "loves" between the team names. For instance, team "Pudding" and team "Wombats" would become Team PuddingLovesWombats. If you add more teams, you get longer things. Our team had four loves in it last year. I am aiming to not repeat this.
3. If everyone who I have in the facebook group joins, I will already have 2/3 of a team that I know and trust. That is just so cool.
4. Having all this time means tons of time to think, plot, save, and prepare. Many plans are already in place. Also, I've already made a Dinomite (the 2015 mascot-- half Dinosaur, half mite).

I also have a cunning plan. For each of these 18 weeks, I will do one GISH related activity in preparation. Last week, I created a replica of the mascot. This weekend, I have AMOK (Annual Melee of Kindness, a weekend long kind-a-thon from Random Acts) during which I will write postcards to anyone I can, shouting kindness across the seas, spreading it to the global community. 

Next week, I may film a series of weird stuffed-animal battles (including the Dinomite) as part of an English lesson with a very interesting 9 year old boy, soon-to-be 10.

And after that? Who knows!
Options I have come up with include:

• Making a Youtube video about GISHWHES
• Making more Dinomites for my teammates
• Making a new mascot costume for my daughter
• Finishing accessories to a steampunk ensemble for an upcoming Steampunk and Cherry Blossoms picnic (oh heck yeah!)

Any suggestions? Let me know!

For more information on GISHWHES, please visit this site or ask me.
For information on the Dinomite, watch this video:

Arm Warmers! I've still got 'em!

Arm Warmers

I'm still selling arm-warmers to help my mom fix the exceedingly cheap used car she bought. Help her not get stranded on the side of the road!
I still have these styles left and enough to make more of most of them if you're interested.

I'm asking for $10 per pair, which includes shipping from Japan. 

If that's too steep, email me at j.elaine.fleming@gmail.com or message me on facebook to negotiate.

I am really interested in getting these to people who can use them before the weather warms up too much.

Take care, all!

Super light weight rock-star type. Good for places where you want sweater sleeves on you forearms. Not bad for Texas.

Thick as two layers of broadcloth. Lightweight with ancient, illegible kanji.

Short. 1 layer of textures pink fleece. Fun and funky!

Dragons on white fleece. Smokey and fun.

Dark, inky dragons on gray fleece. Warm and stretchy.

Sakura on pink fleece. Cute, warm and fuzzy.

New Years Goals, Arm Warmers, and Progress

Hello universe. Welcome to near the end of the first week of February. Having a good one? I hope so.
Sorry for the weird color choice today. Something has gone strange in the coding and this was the only way I could think of to get the text to show up.

I have not posted a new list of funk-fighting techniques as I have not had time to finish performing the acts on the previous list here. Also, it is slowly warming up and my funk is slowly lifting. One awesome thing about being in Japan is knowing that the cherry blossoms are coming just as soon as it stops freezing.

Things out here are good. Specifically, my attempts to save the day with arm warmers and work toward publishing this year are moving in a good direction. I have only sold a few arm warmers. Here are the remaining ones. I have the fabric remaining to make new/bigger/smaller versions of any of these (excluding the pink textured fleece) if they catch your fancy.

Again, if you're interested in any of these, the cost is $10 (free shipping!) and all proceeds go to my mom's car fund for college. 

In related news, my mother had acquired a very cheap and fairly-reliable car. Hopefully it will continue to work but there is no telling what will happen when you get one so cheap. I am still running this fundraiser to help her get to the finish line.

Now, on the New Years Goal.

One of my goals for the last few years had been to get back into publishing my work and actually pursue this writing thing I have been claiming to have been doing for so long. So this year I am going to do it. I am going to make it happen. here's how:

Every month I will submit my work to contests and publications. The number of submissions must match or be greater than the number of the month. For instance, last month I submitted one piece to a travel writing contest. This month I must submit 2 pieces to some kind of publications and/or contests. Next month, 3. etc. The type of publication or size of the prize are of no consequence save for the fact that until I win something that pays I have not allowed myself to enter anything with an entry or reading fee. I don't know that I could afford to lose until I win some of the free options. Once I win one, I can use part or all of my winnings to enter the next one. Until then, it has to be free.

I've already got one down for this month, and I am allowing myself to work ahead. If I continue on this trend for the whole year, I will have submitted 73 pieces by the end of December and will average around 6 submissions per month. So if I feel up to submitting a bunch this month, I might not have to work as hard in November or December, when I already have so many other things going on.

That's my goal. What's yours?

I don't do New Years resolutions because they are easy to break and feel bad about. "I will not have a coke this year." might be quite beneficial to both my waistline and general health, but I'd rather focus on objectives I can win over things to avoid. So eating healthier? Great goal, and it can happen at any point over the course of the year.

This year, my goals are as follows:

• 1.     Potty train my daughter, who is actively entertained by her potty, so this should be in motion soon.
• 2.   Get published again (as many times as possible). If I make it to 2016 with 73 rejections and no more publishing credits than I have to my name right now, I will still feel that I have given it my best shot. Not a reason to give up, mind you, but definitely not a reason to feel defeated, either.
• 3.    Get rid of the excess. Mostly this refers to my clothing  and cloth stash. I need to use up the cloth and other vcrafting bits I tend to hoard and simultaneously transform the wardrobe of things I almost never wear for whatever reason into something wearable, usable, or invisable. If that means I give it to charity, sell it to a second hand store, or turn it into a throw rug. So be it. The things need to be done.
• 4.    Get into the habit of cleaning properly and frequently. I recently spend 3 days taking down lace curtains, bleaching the crap out of them, washing them, drying them, and hanging them back up. This could be avoided with regular condensation removal. Being so close to the ocean and in a country known for deep humidity, the struggles of keeping a home clean have been pretty foreign to me, a woman from nice, hot, dry Texas. Not to mention the fact that I am lazy and have natural hoarding tendencies anyway.

So there's my list. 4 things I want to accomplish by the end of the year. Let's go!

Fight Your Funk!!

Winter depression is a thing, and I know it kicks me right where it hurts. How about you?

Well for anyone out there looking for some zaniness or a good challenge to keep motivation up and spirits high, I suggest Fighting Your Funk. By that I mean a GISHWHES inspired short list of a few weird but fun challenges. Do one a week. Do one a day. Do one and see how it makes you feel.

There are no prizes for this other than the achievement of pulling yourself out of your funk.

For me, that's already a pretty big prize, so let's get going.

Here are 15 challenges of varying levels of difficulty. The only one responsible for laws you break or damage you incur is yourself, so choose carefully. You need not do all or any of the tasks. This is for entertainment purposes only.
When you complete a task, upload the pics or video to imgur/youtube and share them on twitter with the tag #FightyrFunk so we can all share in their awesomeness.

Here's the first list. Expect the second list in 2 weeks.

1. Re-enact a scene from a classic 1980s film using sock puppets. (like Amanda Palmer's LABYRINTH with SOCK PUPPETS )
2. Be Ironic. Donate blood while dressed as a vampire.
3. Make Mayhem. Literally. Sew, craft, weave, or otherwise decorate something with the word "Mayhem" in as many languages as you can. *(Bonus points for accurate kanji)
4. Tackle a problem you've been avoiding. You know which one I mean.
5. Volunteer at a soup kitchen while dressed as a superhero of your choice.
6. Dance in a public place where dancing is not normally seen (i.e. bookstore, supermarket, Wall Street). Music optional.
7. Send three postcards to people you have not seen in six months or more.
8. Write down five things you are thankful for. Every day. For a week. Take a picture of the 35 sentences all together.
9. Your bed is now a pirate ship. Dress yourself and your ship accordingly. *Extra points for a full crew.
10. Find 3-5 object in your home that are in good condition but rarely if ever used. Give them to someone who will use them. Objects need not go to the same person.
11. Learn a new skill and demonstrate it within a 24 hour period.
12. Teach someone your new skill from 11.
13. Come up with your own Random Act project to benefit people or a person in your area and fill out a form to make it come to life at this website.
14. Perform a short play comprised only of lines from an English phrasebook. A limit of one line per page of the book can appear in the play.
15. Make a geoglyph exclaiming, "I am fighting my funk!" Geoglyphs must extend at least 15 feet in one direction.

*Except there are no points here. We are all winners.

Have fun! Fight your funk!

Arm Warmers and Ways to Help (My Mom)

I've made a little progress in the way of arm warmer making. Video to be posted as soon as I can make that work. In the mean time, here is a picture of the completed pairs. All are completely available for $10 per pair! Free shipping!

1. The first from the left is a lightly quilted number depicting rabbits and sakura blossoms. Wear it and say, "Come on, Spring!"
2. The second is a set with illegible kanji, save for the big white characters that are parts of the names of famous Japanese military leaders. Wear it and say, "Yeah, you can't read it either, buddy!"
3. The third is a fleecy pair, short but stretchy. Fun and funky.
4. The fourth is a longer, stretchy silver pair. They remind me of Amanda Palmer, and putting them on makes me feel like a rock star.
5. The fifth is a larger set for larger arms, made with charcoal fleece and a black dragon print on light gray. Good for a dragon lover!
6. The sixth is a longer set with orange dragons on white with a tan knit insert. Again, good for a dragon lover!

I have 2 pairs of the kanji, which is lined in white. I also have enough fabric to make more of the dragons. If you see something you like, let me know. If you aren't sure about sizing, send me an email and I'll do my best to make sure you get something you can wear.


Other Ways to Help

As you can see, I'm working on making fundraiser items to help support my mom in her quest to complete her associate's degree in IT. In order to do this, she needs transportation. With no job, no money, and no car, things are pretty bleak. This is where you come in.

Things you can do to help my mom:

• Contribute to her campaign on this website. A credit card is required. If you have paypal, contact me or her to work something out.
• If you're in DFW, give her a ride when you can. Check in on her. See if you can help her when she needs it.
• Buy arm warmers from me! $10 for something to keep your arms warm.
• Buy a sock monkey from me! I can still make sock monkeys, especially those with specific Japanese themes. Ninja monkeys will be available from $10 starting next month. If you've got another theme in mind (geisha, samurai, etc.) contact me for more details.

Happy 2015 and Crafting for a Cause

Happy 2015 Blogverse!

This year, I will tend to you more regularly.

Also, this year, we're starting things off a bit wonky but focused.


I am still finishing off the last of the sock monkeys from my Endure for Kindness thing back in October, and once the last one is ready to be shipped I plan to dive right into my first ever Crafting for a Cause project: Arm Warmers to benefit this amazing cause.

For anyone who isn't already aware, my mother has fallen on hard times financially and the lingering, expensive death of her car was nothing easy to withstand. Now she has to make it across her city to finish her degree at the only campus of the community college she is attending to offer the classes she needs to finish this semester. Without transportation, she is helpless. Public transportation doesn't run late enough to get her home or conveniently enough to get her there.

Unfortunately, I have settled on the other side of the world and as a housewife no longer have the disposable income I would need to be able to help her. But I do have cloth. Cloth and craftiness and friends.

So I am going to be making arm warmers. For a $10 donation to my mom's cause (via the website listed above or preferably paypal), I will supply you with arm warmers to keep your forewarms happy and warm this winter. This donation includes shipping and my heartfelt thanks for helping my mom in any little bit that we can. The selection will be limited but interesting as all materials for this project as straight from right here in Japan. I'm collecting funds either in person or via paypal. For more information, email me.

This fund raiser runs from now until the end of January, so get your donation in today! First come first serve for selection and I will have pictures listed here and on my twitter account.

Thanks so much for your support!