Sewing Paralysis and Axl Rose

Well, after the triumph of my Zebra in the Jungle blouse, I was all fired up to do some more sewing for myself. I got out another blouse pattern, looked at it and decided it was too much of a hassle for that particular day. Got out a dress pattern, cut out all the tissue pieces, and changed my mind about that, too. Don’t get me wrong, I do like these patterns, and I will make them sooner rather than later. I just have to be in the right mood for it. Some days I enjoy the more technical aspects of sewing and other days I just want to churn something out. The Jungle blouse satisfied the latter criteria and, apparently I had an appetite for more (Appetite for Construction, haha! Yes, I’m lame), but no fabric for it. Alas. Feeling the desire to sew, I pulled out other patterns, other fabric, and yet, I wasn’t really feeling it. What happens then is a state of paralysis. I can’t move; I can’t move forward; I stare out the window; nothing gets done.

Now, I actually did accomplish something crafty last week, but I can’t talk about it yet, because it is a surprise for the recipient. Once I know she has received it, then I’ll post about it. I have also been crocheting on Granota’s Cuddle Muffin jumper, but it’s not worth posting pictures of just yet.

I have to admit that the majority of my time this week was spent extensively researching Axl Rose. No, I am not a crazy stalker. Axl’s not going to have to worry about me showing up at his house and hiding in the bushes. See, there’s this thing about me that my mom described as “intense phases of interest” in a letter to my grandma when I was in high school. That was twenty years ago (holy cow!) and things really haven’t changed. When something catches my interest, I develop a ravenous hunger to absorb every bit of information I can unearth through any medium available to me. It is intense until I reach the point where I feel that I’ve learned everything I possibly can or I finally get bored of the subject. Past topics have included nutrition (that lasted for 2 years), the Trojan War, the French Revolution, the Three Musketeers series, Phantom of the Opera, and there have been plenty of “smaller” topics along the way that don’t take as long to satiate me. This voracious drive to learn is the reason I speak French today.

Once Granota started sporting her bandana à la Axl, my interest was piqued and once that happens, everything else comes to a halt. I nearly feel qualified to write a biography on the man after all of this research. Since that’s really not the point of this blog, I’m not going to write about everything that I learned pertaining to Axl Rose, but I will say that my impression and understanding of him have radically changed to the point where I don’t think he is nearly the villain that he has always been portrayed to be. If you have questions, I’ll be happy to answer since I think Mr. Gren is probably about fed up with the daily oral reports I’ve been giving him. And you’ll be happy to know that, while I’m not done with Axl, I do feel like I’ve quenched that initial hunger to where I’ll actually be able to focus on something else this week. I’ve got a dress cut out on my sewing table, so hopefully something on that for Wednesday! In the meanwhile, you can watch this video of what I think is Axl’s most powerful song, “Estranged.” The depth of emotion he conveys sends chills down my spine.

And, on the severely minuscule chance that Axl ever stumbles across my puny blog:
Axl, I get you. Most people don’t, but most people haven’t taken the time. I know you like art; take me to Paris and I can give you some great tours. My husband’s a pastor; I think he’d make an excellent chaplain and a loyal friend. But in all seriousness, I pray that someday you find the peace and love you’ve been searching for your whole life. I’ll give you a hint: all those crucifixes you collect will show you the way.