giver says...

it's that time of year again, when cyberspace is abuzz with holiday gift ideas and an amazing amount of creative homemade alternatives (can you say recession?). part of me loves it because it feels so good to give, especially when the gift requires lots of thoughtfulness or careful crafting. and i'm also loving the beautiful stuff popping up on my favorite blogs:

[see relief print above by bryan nash gill. obviously, it's straight-up gorgeous, but i mostly love it because it costs $4000 and it's not on etsy, which are two of the most important defining distinctions between art and craft, neither of which is better than the other, just different.]

but this time of year can also be difficult for me due to my unresolved consumer issues. needless accumulation diminishes my faith in a human value system and clutter gives me a tic (thanks mom!), which leads to my conflicted relationship with stuff, or at least useless stuff. but i have ongoing and polygamous love affairs with art and design and music and good food, wine & beer. so, just as an experiment to raise my consumer awareness, i declared a "consumer fast" several weeks ago. mrm thought it was ridiculous b/c the holidays are coming up and blah blah blah, but as a result most of friends and family will be receiving gifts of the handmade variety from me this year-- we'll see how that goes, both the making of and the giving of.

and as for me, the only thing on my wishlist is for my sexy bf to grow a beard (well underway), and you can't buy that from any store around here-- virtual or otherwise.