Planet Nilknarf

Photo courtesy of Bette Jacques

February 2013

Welcome to Planet Nilknarf!!

This month we start with our cover story! Join me on my visit to Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan, a 1913 Herschell Spillman carousel. It was my first time on a Herschell-Spillman Park menagerie carousel. First of all, I am in the process of creating a NEW group page for Planet Nilknarf since I am unable to access the old one. Remember how last May I had my old Facebook Account hacked into and it was suspended. This also made it impossible to maintain several of the groups I started and had to abandon. So I had to create a whole NEW account. It has been an -ever-so-gradual process trying to find old friends and add them to my new account not to mention add pictures and archives to my new group Planet Nilknarf News which can be found HERE: https://www.facebook.com/groups/300973230022844/ Meanwhile, please bear with me as I am experiencing several technical difficulties, mainly that Facebook won't let me display several of my covers, particularly ones that were created using my scanner. I don't know why. I know it isn't fair. That's just the way it works. Even the thumbnails don't show up when I try to add them to my albums. But so far the important thing is that my pictures from the art show are all intact and you can see them here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.304070169713150&type=1 I would say come on down and see it but by the time this issue is published my show might already be over! Maybe not. I usually publish around the 25th of each month so there's probably a few days left. Looking back at all these issues has made me feel kind of nostalgic. Life has changed so much since then. I've been through so many tribulations and challenges. And I've had the pleasure and delight of creating so many wonderful things and visiting so many amazing places. I love sharing it all every month.

Carousel of the Month

Greenfield Village, Dearborn Michigan, 1913 Herschell-Spillman

The rest of these pictures were taken by Diane Radewald:

Fabulous Fibonacci Carousel Quilt

Here it is at last! I've finally finished all the squares on my Summative Project for my Fashion & Creative Expression class at school! What I like to do is show the original drawing and finished square together side by side:

I had a lot of fun doing this project and I always knew that eventually my drawings would become quilt squares one day. If they look familiar to you you have likely already seen these horses here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/73770831/December-2011 And here's that carousel in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GutZhsADYW4 That carousel sat in the kitchen for many months until I finally took it apart because I needed red pipe

cleaners for my Christmas ornaments. I still have the floor and some time during my time off I want to rebuild and make it a KISS carousel with horses from the quilt last year! Talk about opposites! Here I am having made a quilt with horses I used to build a miniature carousel last year and I want to make a carousel with horses I did for a quilt last year!! Of course my ultimate dream would be to someday build the REAL thing! And as of the evening of Thursday, January17th, the whole thing was officially completed!

I hope that more of this fabric is available at the next NCA convention! It makes for one of the BEST BORDERS EVER!!!

Beetlebomb's Book Nook

This month our selections are Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks and Makeup to Breakup by Peter Criss. When I heard Oliver Sacks being interviewed about his book Hallucinations on CBC radio one day I knew that I just HAD to read this book. After all, it's not everyday one has an intense philosophical conversation with a SPIDER!!! Oliver Sacks is a neuroscientist who has done a great deal of research on this subject. He shares his interviews with several subjects and much of his own experience relating to drugs and various levels of consciousness. Hallucinations can affect all our senses and paranormal experiences can easily be dismissed by logic when such cranial activity comes into play. People see some pretty amazing things when they are hallucinating. Even people who have been blind may be affected by conditions that cause them to see things, such as the case of one woman who kept seeing people richly dressed in colourful eastern robes continuously climbing up and down flights of stairs. Once the author himself had an experience where a group of his friends dropped by and he served them breakfast. He thought nothing out of the ordinary of this because they have done so many times before. However, this time it wasn't really them; he had only imagined that they had dropped by to visit! I could share countless other accounts and anecdotes of the bizarre things people have seen, heard and experienced but I'd rather recommend taking the time to read this book for yourself. It's really quite amazing. Makeup to Breakup by Peter Criss was the book that kept my husband and I royally entertained during the Christmas holidays. Here we read about the life of KISS' former drummer and all the things he experienced growing up in New York with his family and all the events leading up to and including his career with KISS and solo career thereafter as well as his marriages to Lydia, Deborah and now Gigi. Gene and Paul were NOT the best people to work for. Peter tells some pretty sad and shocking horror stories about the way he was treated when he was in KISS. My husband was so disgusted he went and gave away a lot of his KISS stuff when he heard this. There's some pretty graphic violence and language in this book but I must say it was a fascinating read from start to finish. Prepare to be royally entertained and fascinated!

Photo by Lorraine Thayer

My friend Lorraine has shared with me these delightful pictures of the Snow Cupcakes she built in her yard this winter!! Lorraine and her friend Jane have a small business they have created together called the Royal Cupcake Company, which can be found on Facebook. Together they have created several plaster trinket boxes made to look like cupcakes and they have sold to several stores and will create custom cupcakes for events such as weddings. They also sell raw unpainted cupcakes for customers to decorate themselves and do parties where guests can decorate cupcakes. Lorraine will be helping me at the art gallery once again when it is time to dismantle my display and she has several new carousel horse designs for my latest quilt.

Joey's Mural

Now that my school project and fall/winter events are over I can FINALLY give Joey's project the attention it deserves! I feel terrible because this picture shown above is only the THIRD in the series and I started it way back in JUNE before Janette and I went to NORTH BAY!!! THAT LONG AGO!! But don't worry. I am BOUND AND DETERMINED to finish AT LEAST three or four new panels before Aunt Jean and Aunt Anne return from Florida so I'll have them to hand in on the day we go to make

our annual visit to the cemetery. I want to be able to feature some of these pictures on future covers just like I did with Jean's mural back when I was working on it.

New Sketch Diary!!!

On Thursday, January 24th, I celebrated the penultimate day of class by heading out to buy myself a new Sketch Diary, just like the one I bought last year at this time. You may recall how last year at this time I was inspired by a book I took out from the library called An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory. That book changed my life!!! Keeping a Sketch Diary has been an excellent way of keeping my sanity, by creating my own little world to escape to, a happy and positive place to make lists and brainstorm ideas. Best of all, when and if I ever build my own carousel horse, I want to place this book inside its hollow box construction as sort of a Time Capsule to be discovered by restoration artists in the future. Same goes for this second book. As my first book came to an end, I created a little story to make the transition from one Sketch Diary to the other:

Last year's Sketch Diary was full of many happy memories, good times and wacky adventures. It seemed only natural to end with Louella Snugglebunny and the Ewetopia sheep riding off into the sunset. And of course making an exciting entrance into the next volume! The day I bought my Sketch diary was bitterly cold out! I would have done it the day before but I ended up taking the bus straight home from school because my left calf muscle seized up on me at the bottom of the stairs near the front door! I wonder if the story would have been any different if I'd started a day earlier.

I don't see myself being able to get away for a decent vacation anytime soon so I'll have to be content with making my own fun around here. Creating colourful worlds of wonder and excitement between the pages of my Sketch Diary will be one way to do exactly that during these months ahead. Back when I was setting up my display I was debating as to whether or not I ought to leave my Sketch Diary there for people to browse through when they visit and even sign the guest pages for the time capsule but I shied away from the idea because I realize there are some places where it gets a little PG-13 to say the least. Like the use of the F-word during Paul Stanley's birthday party, and even worse a scene where a pedophile flashes at a little girl and she uses his schmeckle as a stepladder!! My hubby was horrified by that one! On the day I bought this book it was so cold out I got fed up with waiting for the bus so I went to Oz Pita Wraps and treated myself to the falofel! It was SO GOOD! By then I was so hungry! Go figure, the bus went by just as I was almost finished eating. At least I'd fueled up sufficiently to continue my journey so I made a stop at the dollar store and treated myself to some ribbon and little paper roses to decorate my carousel horses with. The only thing I'm not really happy with is the lack of availability of a good hearty black felt-tip pen that isn't too strong. The one I bought instead of a Sharpie is giving me the same issue! I want something that's not too thin but doesn't bleed through to the other side of the paper!!! Those Staedtler pens that we used in Sabrina's class were perfect but the store didn't have them. If I ever find them anywhere I'll be sure to stock up on those!

Carousel of Friendship
Not much has happened lately but I will have more to show you in next month's issue when I have taken down my art display from the Boyd gallery in Bobcaygeon. Lorraine says she has several horses from a class she taught a few years ago and she will bring them with her when she comes to help me dismantle my display on Friday, February 1st. Many of her students decorated their templates to look like their own horses and one even has BURP on one end and FART on the other as well as a pile of poo!! Should I edit that out when I embroider it? Naahhh, EVERYONE burps, farts, and poos. It's part of being REAL!!!! In the meantime there's my table with THESE horses to decorate...

My show has only a week left before next weekend!!! If you miss it, don't feel bad. I am hoping to have my quilts on display at Bobcaygeon's pioneer village in September when they have the big quilt Show there and I hope to do another display like this again at the Boyd museum in December. Besides you never know what other surprises might come up between now and then.

EXCITING NEWSFLASH!!!!
Guess what!! I just sold my first quilt!! Actually it was Quilt # 5, We Are Family!!! Lorraine phoned me this morning with the exciting news!!!

She had just been to the gallery and noticed that it was gone! So she asked what had happened. It was bought by a lady who lives in Acton! I don't know who she is but she knows who I am and apparently she's a big fan of my work who has bought stuff from me before. I should be getting the dishes done but I've been celebrating this victory by creating some happy artwork!

It's funny but last night Lorraine and I were on the phone with each other both feeling blue about the fact that nobody seems to get our artistic concepts. Nobody's TOUCHED the colouring pictures of horses to decorate on my art table and even though Lorraine has specifically said in her advertisements Cupcake Treasure Boxes everyone just keeps phoning her wanting to order REAL EDIBLE cupcakes! So after I got off the phone I just took a hot bath and tried to think happy thoughts in light of the Law of Attraction. Before I went to sleep I drew the picture of myself when I was a toddler, playing with a pile of balloons on the floor. Balloons were another one of my favorite things when I was a kid. I still love them! I want my sketch diary to be my Happy Place, full of Positive Things. Knowing that I've sold a quilt more than makes up for the discouragement I was feeling the night before.

HUGZ for ZUG!!!

This morning on the radio I was hearing about the situation in Windsor, Ontario. A loud humming sound has been driving the residents absolutely bonkers and they have been at their wits end, spending ridiculous amounts of money trying to figure out where it's coming from. It turns out that they may have found their source. The sound may be coming from the island of Zug!! I know it sounds like something out of a Dr. Suess book but Zug is a very real place, just off the coast of Detroit. It was named after the millionaire who bought it and was going to build himself a mansion, but felt the power of its curse as he soon found out he had desecrated an ancient aboriginal burial ground. The island of Zug became even further desecrated because it was turned over to industries who inundated the property with several factories, spewing their toxic waste and glittery dust that could only be removed with toilet bowl cleaner over residential areas. The island of Zug has sadly brought some very bad karma unto itself. The person on the radio said the best thing to do to get rid of bad karma was to invoke as much good karma t replace it. So folks, your positive energy, thoughts and prayers are requested and a Hugs for Zug campaign is in order!! Personally, I decided to design them their own special carousel horse, as carousel horses are one of the most positive things I can think of!! You could say it would be nice to see Zug's blessings come around FULL CIRCLE!!!

Dear Mom and Dad

Saturday, January 26th Dear Mom and Dad Hello! How are things up there? First of all, mom I want to wish you a happy birthday. It's a week frm Friday already. I miss you both very much. Perhaps I always will. I remember feeling kind of ticked off when SARK was grieving over the loss of her mom because it had only been about a month...maybe it was six months..who cares..and somebody visiting her website told her to get over it. Nobody really gets over it completely. It's been almost 20 years already since Janette lost her mom. Do you see her every now and then? Back when it happened it seemed like everyone was trying to rush Janette through her grief. I'm glad she was there for me when we were going through your estate. If you've been reading my newsletter so far I'm sure you're read the good news. I'm glad I had my exhibit in Bobcaygeon. It turned out to be SO WORTH IT after all!! Hopefully next year visitors will understand what I've been trying to do with my horse pictures, especially when they see the work that Lorraine's students did! I am debating as to what to do with the money because I know I promised it would be towards raising funds for the Carousel of Friendship. However, I also want to get my VISA bill paid off and I want to go on a Niagara trip with Janette in April. When you were still here you were the ones I could really talk to about this sort of thing. One thing's for sure, one thing I really want to do is send a donation to the Carousel of Happiness in Colorado for their Somewhere Else project. I have a special piece of art I would really like to share with them in your memory. School has been fun. As the program has geared down I've actually started t really enjoy it and feel like I'll miss my classmates. Go figure it would be toward the last two or three days we've actually started talking about more interesting things. I came across this old photo I think that you and my readers might enjoy seeing:

Not bad for trying to draw something from memory, eh. I knew I was holding long green and orange balloons on my head but I'd forgotten that they were the squiggly kind. Anyway, I can't really think of anything new to tell you for now. Up until I bought my new Sketch Diary and sold my quilt life has pretty much been about going back and forth to school, trying to stay warm and watching Ugly Betty reruns. That reminds me. Last night I dreamt I worked at Mode. I had just awakened in the night and I was

trying to tell Dave about my dream as he'd just gotten home from work and he was still up. But I was too tired to talk and wanted to get back to bed. For some reason Wilhelmina Slater and I had gotten ourselves locked inside a department store after hours and I had to wear one of her dresses. We KNOW that in reality this is completely physically IMPOSSIBLE as she claims to be only a size TWO and I'm something like a 24!! I'm wearing this ridiculous slinky black thing with a huge slit down the side all the way up to my hip and we're sitting on a stack of carpets watching cartoons on the many television sets. We get back to the office and Amanda wants me to model this weird glove/mitten/muff contraption that is made for two hands. It's dark green knit with a yellow logo to promote Habitat for Humanity or something like that. Anyway I'm supposed to stand outside waving both hands together in this mitt. OUTSIDE!? In THIS COLD WEATHER? And in Wilhelmina's skimpy dress with this huge slit and I'm wearing NO UNDERWEAR??? Of course, why am I never wearing underwear in so many of my dreams? Just then I woke up anyway so it's just as well. I guess this is about the kookiest dream I've had in a long time. It's about as nutty as that one where I met the Queen and she told me Charles and the boys wanted cheese omelet for Christmas dinner. Tee-hee! Can you picture me working at Mode? Seriously though, last weekend Dave and I had to go to the drug store and he had one of his leg appointments. I couldn't keep up with him so I said I'd wait for him at the drug store. So I sat in the chair by the pharmacist's counter and I waited...and waited...and waited. While I was waiting I kept myself entertained by thinking about what it would be like if Dave and I played ourselves on an episode of Big Bang Theory. What would we be doing in LA? How would our paths cross with Sheldon, Leonard and the others? I pictured running into them at the Comic Book store. I could be looking for Archie digests. It really pisses me off that our drugstore doesn't sell those anymore. Or Penny could be our waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. Maybe Sheldon and I get into an argument because his intellect has caused him to say something insensitive. Sometimes he's so smart he's stupid. I can relate to the fact that nobody gets what he's trying to explain. I got a real kick out of the way he was playing Pictionary the other week and the word was present. Penny drew a pretty gift box with a bow. But Sheldon was trying to draw a group of stick people with the two drawing boards to show what was actually happening at the moment. Monday I have to go back to the school to pick up my grades and my assignments. Perhaps then I shall drop by Micheals to get some more embroidery thread. I need bright yellow!!! Go figure. I have TONS! BUSHELS of embroidery thread but nothing that colour!! Fabricland has gotten smart and started selling embroidery thread but just the basic primary shades and only light yellow by itself. If I want bright yellow it's only available in sets with other colours I don't need! A year or two ago there was also a shortage of decent red! The bright cherry and tomato shades I wanted were only in sets and the individual shade was only a bricky brownish red! Anyway, I guess 'll wrap things up for now. Talk to you later. Love, Margaret

Shocking Truth Opinion of the Month

NT's Need to Learn Social Skills Too!! NT, in case you're not in the loop, stands for neurotypical, a word people on the autism spectrum use to describe people who aren't. For people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome, social situations can be extremely awkward. Relating to others doesn't always come as naturally to us so we are given social stories and all kinds of other programs to teach us to get along. By that same token, those who aren't on the spectrum need to meet us halfway to understand us and be aware of our quirks and sensitivities. I am always grateful and appreciative when somebody asks permission first before they give me a hug. Especially if it's someone I don't know very well or I'm already feeling overwhelmed to begin with. NT's often tend to be very touchy-feely people, whereas

even the most affectionate person on the autism spectrum often needs a certain amount of personal space. Personal space is something some of us have trouble with. Sometimes we stand too close. Sometimes we don't understand certain situations and may emulate them at the wrong time. NT's need to set careful examples in front of us. I remember a story about a young lad who saw a guy give his girlfriend a playful pat on the rear end, so he went and did likewise to a girl he was interested in. She slapped him and accused him of sexual harassment. NT's have the astounding ability to carry on conversations in noisy rooms where many other people are carrying on conversations with each other. For people with autism this can be very difficult because all these conversations mix together in one indecipherable blur. Everything comes to us at the same volume and everybody ends up sounding like Charlie Brown's School teacher; Bla-blablabblabwo-bwaaaa!! Often we end up being excluded because we can't keep up and we become exhausted from the strain of trying to do so. I like the aboriginal idea of the Talking Stick. This idea has been used at the Story Telling Club meetings I've been at. A wooden object that looks like a small totem pole is handed to the person doing the talking and while he is holding this stick, nobody speaks but him. If anyone else wants to speak, they must wait their turn so that they can hold onto the Talking Stick. The only problem with that however, is that sometimes it's hard to wait your turn, especially if you have something you want to say really badly. In that case, it's a good idea to take notes. But I can understand the annoyance of having to lug around a notepad to write everything down. No wonder so many people have become addicted to texting. But I don't want to be one of them. NT's have to understand that our sensory issues are very real to us. We can't just snap out of it. If we're starting to feel stressed and overwhelmed they need to know when to give us space instead of trying to push us harder. Yelling at a person who is having a meltdown is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. Perhaps a course in etiquette, common courtesy and compassion would be an asset to everyone regardless of their neurological configuration so those of us on the spectrum don't have to feel singled out and everyone can learn to get along.

Ewetopia