The Cup of Fortunes: Week 27 (June 29-July 5)

It's been a weird week. There are lots of things I could write about today and get angry about and spiral, but instead, I'm going to talk about Michael Madsen. I love Michael Madsen. I remember the first time I saw Reservoir Dogs and being absolutely mesmerized by him. Yes, Mr. Blonde was a psychopath, but man, Michael Madsen was just so great to watch. The smirk. The eye crinkles. The wink. Madsen represented the second set of actors I had a crush on in my teen years. The first group consisted of Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Andrew McCarthy, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Christian Slater. The second group: Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Rory Cochrane, and Steve Zahn. I don't know what any of this says about me, but whatever. 

Madsen passed away suddenly on July 3. I was thinking about him recently; my friend is binge watching the new version of Hawaii 5-0 and I guess he was on the show. We were texting about him two weekends ago and I ended up re-watching Reservoir Dogs for the first time since 2016. I know it was 2016 because I wrote this blog post on my old blog about Tarantino movie soundtracks. Watching him in that movie after so many years was like watching it for the first time. One of the best lines in the movie is from Harvey Keitel's Mr. White: "I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan aren't you?" And Mr. Blonde just smiles at him. It's so freaking perfect. I stand by what I wrote in 2016: these guys were just cool because they were. Watching that movie in the mid-1990s, when most movies directed at my age group featured dudes with greasy hair who drank coffee and tried to be mysterious but were really just terrible people, changed the way I looked at men and what I find attractive and interesting. I can connect watching Reservoir Dogs in 1993 to my love of dark romance today. There is a direct line from Mr. Blonde to the Ruinous Love Trilogy. 

Anyway, instead of celebrating whatever it is we're celebrating this weekend, I'm going to watch Michael Madsen movies if I can find ones that are streaming or in my limited DVD collection. I'm hoping Mulholland Falls and Donnie Brasco are streaming somewhere. I'm also going to listen to "Stuck in the Middle with You" and the rest of the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack later today.  

This week was a two fortune week. Here are this week's fortunes and lucky numbers. The second set of lucky numbers closed out the border around the fortunes. I have 42 more sets of lucky numbers to embroider, so I'm going to do a second row on each side of the border. I hope this works. 

June 29

June 30

July 1

July 2

July 3

July 4

July 5

Weeks 1-27

WIPs, the Travel Case, and Other Small Joys

She's done! I finally finished my vintage travel case makeover. I'm very pleased with the final piece; it's not perfect but it's still fantastic. I'm not sure I'll do this again, but it was a fun project to do. Here she is on her first day in use.

I may still add a removable pocket to one of the side panels, but for now, she's done! A lot of supplies can fit in the case so it's going to be great, particularly if I want to travel with embroidery or other small projects. 

I finished another kit from the Savage Stitcher last week as well. I love DMC Diamant thread as much as one can love a metallic thread, but leaf stitch is a challenge with it. It turned out well and it's a nice addition to my collection. 

I did another page in the mixed media art journal. This one was burlap. I was thinking I'd embroider on it once I finished the painting, but I'm not sure if I'm going to do that. What do we think?

This is the paper I had under the burlap. I'm going to use it for another page in the art journal.

To embroider or not to embroider?

I'm not sure if the plant distribution system is a thing, but if it is, I was definitely part of it last weekend. I went to the plant/garden store by my house to get my dad a birthday present, and ended up with a new trio of succulents for myself. The cat planter - maybe that's why this feels like the cat distribution center.

Meet the Power Puff Girls - Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.

The #summerreadingclubofdeath is back on Instagram if anyone wants to join along. This was something I participated in last year, and read a book about cemeteries. I'm reading a book about a cemetery right now, so the timing is perfect. Apparently, I read books about cemeteries in the summer. 

I love this picture I took to share with the summer reading club of death. It's one of my favorite photos I've taken recently.