Liner Notes: November - Lou Reed/TVU/Satellite of Love/Transformer

I've been listening to Lou Reed since the fourth grade. I didn't know that I was listening to Lou Reed in the fourth grade, but that's where it all started. And it was a banger of a song. 

Imagine being in the fourth grade in the late 1980s and going to your first boy/girl roller skating party. Can't imagine it? Well, you can read my reflection on this experience that I wrote a few weeks after Lou Reed died or you can read a fictionalized version I wrote for my 2015 NaNoWriMo novel, Transient Suburbia. 

"Satellite of Love" is from his second studio album Transformer and was released in 1972. David Bowie was one of the producers. He was a huge Velvet Underground fan and was a big part of Reed's initial solo albums. I wrote a little bit about this in the Curt Wild piece back in February. Curt Wild is a mix of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, and his storyline pulls from both Pop and Reed's lives, including Reed undergoing electroshock therapy as a teenager. The song "Kill Your Sons" from his 1974 album Sally Can't Dance is about this period of his life. 

Many of the songs on these early albums were written during Reed's time with TVU, or slight earlier, and some even appeared on their records. Transformer is often cited as one of the earlier glam rock albums and is probably best known for the song "Walk on the Wild Side." This was the first Lou Reed solo album I ever listened to well after fourth grade when I got more into TVU. It was a natural progression from TVU albums to his solo work. 

My favorite Lou Reed song is also on this album, "Perfect Day." It's supposed to be a love song, but it's one of the saddest ones I can think of, but then again, all love songs are a little sad. 

I've been listening to Transformer and Berlin this week while working on the Liner Notes. There's something fun but also soothing about these albums. Slow stitching to them works really well. 

Here's this week's Liner Notes:

November 8

November 9

November 10

November 11

November 12

November 13

November 14

The Liner Notes to date.

I also started working on the front cover. The fabric looks good. 

WIPs and Other Small Joys

The Peacock Garden is done! I finished last Sunday during my monthly craft meetup. Bea was, of course, incredibly helpful (more on this in a minute). I also started on the last section of panel one, Herb Garden. I haven't gotten too far, but it's coming along nicely. 

The color combination grew on me. It's a little weird but no one ever accused me of being normal, so there's that. Herb Garden is done in a single color - it's called Peyote. Sublime Stitching thread names are outstanding. 

I would have made more progress last night, but a certain very adorable cat decided to help out. And by help out, I mean commit acts of violence.

It starts off innocently enough. A little adorable face popping by to say hello or laying on the hoop stand base casually, like she's going to contribute something more than attitude to the craft circle.

And then, she's biting the hoop and trying to swat my hand every time I bring the needle up in the fabric. She's a menace. 

Since I've had experience with a cat swallowing a needle (Pumpkin lived almost 10 years after that happened), I'm very cautious about needles being left out or even within Bea's reach. When she starts the bite-y portion of her "helping," I put everything away and try again later. I don't know why this is her favorite hobby these days, but it is. Let's hope she lets me work on it while I have time off over the upcoming holiday.

Bea really enjoys my monthly craft meetup calls. She loves sitting near the computer and watching my friends who join remotely. She just wants to be part of the craft coven. 

She's a model.

This week was also the week of the cauldron pot. I started seeing people post about various cauldron shaped pots and slow cookers in the late summer. The ones I kept seeing on these posts didn't look particularly sturdy, so I put the idea in the back of my mind for later. Last Saturday, I was at a car service appointment for a million hours (slight exaggeration - it was only five) for routine maintenance and decided to buy myself the cauldron pot at Costco. I had to stop to pick up Bea's allergy meds, so why not see if my local Costco had them in stock? 

They did! I ended up buying one for myself and two as gifts. 

It's cast iron! I believe that my kitchen can be functional and whimsical and this pot proves it. I haven't used it yet, but am planning to make red beans and rice when I come back from my work trip. It's going to be amazing. 

Speaking of function and whimsy, I also got a very early Christmas present from my friend Emily this week. 

It's a sassy coffee canister! It's so much fun. What is it telling the little ghost? 

Today is my first full board meeting for the guild I belong to. I joined the Embroiderer's Guild of America (EGA) three years ago (maybe two?) and am part of the DC chapter and the Mid-Atlantic region (MAR). I haven't been as involved in my chapter as I'd like to be; I've volunteered at the Woodlawn show for the past two years, but can't always go to other events since they're usually on a weekday. Over the summer while I was on medical leave, one of the women I know from my chapter reached out about a potential opportunity to help out on the chapter's board. That ended up not working out, but our regional board also had an opening and I was elected as the secretary for the MAR board in late August. We have two full board meetings each year and today is the fall one. I'm enjoying getting to know more about the business of the organization and meeting other members. I'm planning on attending the regional seminar in June, which will bring me into the creative/stitch-y side of the guild. 

I'm in charge of getting all the reports together, meeting minutes, handbook updates, and taking attendance/establishing quorum for meetings. Send good vibes for today's meeting to go smoothly. 

Enjoy your weekend as much as Bea enjoys this gray chair and being weird.