A windy Monday afternoon

I like to keep a little project going up at the counter at my shop. My workshop area is in the back, and it's visible and all, but when people are shopping I want to be sitting up at the register. That accomplishes two things: First, it avoids giving shoppers the impression that they have to interrupt my work to purchase something. Second, it puts me in a position to keep an eye on little grubby hands that might be itching to shoplift. But I don't really like to just sit there sipping coffee and staring into space, because then that gives the impression that I'm hoping they hurry so I can get away from the cash register and do something more fun. So the nice compromise is for me to always have some little simple jewelry project or whatnot to keep myself busy while still being attentive and conversational at my post.

Today's little project? Finding something useful to do with the end pieces of chain left over from the charm bracelets I made from the chain I salvaged from the handles some purses that I made three years ago but never sold. (Can't let stuff go to waste, now, can we?) The purse bodies became smaller pouches, and the handles are becoming bracelets and earrings:



(That's patent leather accenting on the pouches, and yes, those are pretty large earrings.)

So, I was sitting up at the register making earrings while some girls shopped, and one asked about consigning some things, and in the conversation she mentioned that I looked familiar. Turns out her dad was one of my old architecture professors and she spent quite a bit of time in her childhood running around the architecture building selling Girl Scout cookies and such. She's in college now, and does pottery and sews.

I kind of hope she drags her dad in to the shop at some point, because the last time I saw him it was right after I'd bailed out of architecture as a profession and had come back to Missouri and had just started waiting tables at the OG. Needless to say, I think he was a little disappointed.

The other thing I've been doing today, other than packaging and rearranging merch and hanging out at the cash register, is going on a search for some cool music. I don't know what prompted it, but I decided the other day to start building a playlist of artists who have something to do with NIN -- have opened for them, collaborated with Trent (even just once), involve current or former members of Trent's live band... Kind of a "Six Degrees of Nine Inch Nails" playlist. Yeah, it's a really long list. So I've been going through and giving these bands a listen, and I have to say some of them really super suck.

Evidently, the number one way to make a song completely unlistenable to me is get a singer with an obnoxious voice. Granted, the definition of obnoxious is open for debate.

But I am finding some stuff I really like. Like El-P. Lovin' it.

But Ilan? Thank god you got away from the godawful Lostprophets. You're so much better off with NIN.