Brothers for Christmas

I bet you didn't get a new brother for Christmas. Well, I GOT TWO. Seriously. I think I'm winning. Meet Courtney, sleek, smiling, soft spoken, a genius engineer for the navy and the only man able to tame the fiery whirling tazmanian d--arling that is my sister Amber. Good luck Courtney! She's a beautiful, glorious handful and I'm really glad you know how to cook. I see a whole lot of laughter in your future.



Meet David. Dimpled, daring, sporty, organized. Winner of the much coveted heart of my youngest sister Brooke (a.k.a. Baby Girl Storms) and works some secret government job with the navy that we aren't supposed to talk about. I hope all the guys who dreamed of marrying Brooke never find you and I see a home full of plants and good looking babies in your future.

Thanks guys, for making my beloved sisters the happiest I've ever seen them and for treating them like the queens that they are. Thank you also for both proposing in the same week so I could be there to share the excitement! I look forward to decades of holiday merriment with you, and welcome into our silly, crafty, bible thumping Storms story.

p.s. If you break their hearts I will burn your house and eat your family.

Yi-HaHaHa

Oh C'mon! You knew it was coming.

A Winter Dolly

This is why none of you received awesome presents from me this year, because I was working on a doll for my Rubygirl with unbelievably elaborate hair. I hand stitched each strand (while watching all 3 Lethal Weapon vhs), painted the face with a tiny brush and scoured the toy stores in town for an ice skating outfit of the right proportions since I ran out of time to sew one myself.

Dubbed "Wilhemina the Winter Girl" Ruby professed instant love for her, dashing to her room to change into a matching dress, and convinced me to twist her hair into the same style. They are now happily napping (the very first toy Ruby has allowed into her bed!) and have grand travel plans to see snow together in Colorado tomorrow.

I've been perusing dolls for a couple of months now, but I hate all of them! They are gap toothed, slutty, homely, un-huggable worthless monsters. All I wanted was a medium sized soft doll with a quaint dress, a pretty face, and cool hair. It doesn't exist, so I had to make one myself. This dolly will be loved to shreds and I look forward to adding to her vintage inspired wardrobe and styling her glorious yarn coif. Eat it, Toys'R'Us.

Tacks video starring...Ruby and Jesse

Here it is! Thanks John.

Family on Film

Ruby starred in her second music video in one week today. SECOND IN ONE WEEK. Should I be worried? The first was a new "Tacks" video for an old song, filmed and finished by my old friend John Donofrio (we used to work in the movies together) and the second a new video for the band "Explosions in the Sky" put together by my other old friend Annie Gunn. Oh, and I'm in the second one too, good thing they aren't using the audio, because I "act" about as well as I dance, like an octopus falling out of a tree.

More shooting tomorrow... 1950s costumes, slow-motion filming and Evan and Jungleman getting some face time as well. Watch out Hollywood! You can't have my cute family! You are the devil! I will hide them in a goat barn in Denton where you can't steal their goodness.

Snips and Snaps

1/2. reigning Queen of Blocktown
3. Ruby smile
4. I wish I had time to make myself one of these
5. Mami zone-out
6. Daddy sandwich with cute bread
7. Mami sandwich with sweet bread
8. Jesse BLUE STEEL
9. peony-my current favorite flower crush
10. snuggle pile

Tacks shirts

Chaos weekend! Tacks has a show tonight, and I have to pull dinner out of thin air for the sitter and manage to NOT look like I stayed up 'til 5am serving fancy wine to rich people at a private christmas party. At least the tshirts are finally printed! (design by me, executed on computerbox by Jeff Klein)

Nooks

I love nooks. I love filling them with crap. All the way to the ceiling. And Ruby Winehouse is pretty cool too.







"We took a look.
We saw a Nook.
On his head
he had a hook.
On his hook
he had a book.
On his book was 'How to cook.'

We saw him sit
and try to cook.
He took a look
at the book on the hook.

But a Nook can't read,
so a Nook can't cook.
SO...
what good to a Nook
is a hook cook book?"
-Dr. Seuss








(hey. shhh. this post is filler. i am in houston, partying with hot ladies and the jungleman.)

Band of the Week: Dead Confederate

How about a band recommendation? There aren't many of those on the internet! Here is a photo of Heidi and I, at work, not working. Instead we got to "rock out with our socks? out?" terrible. I'm sorry.

I like this band: Dead Confederate. I'd never heard much about them but they played DeVille during the recent festival and won me over. Their live show is quite a bit heavier than my usual taste but it was just what I wanted at that moment, they still managed to be melodic while crashy and cliff shaking. When I got home I looked them up and they are from Athens, Georgia, home of one of my other favorite bands Neutral Milk Hotel. Their recorded stuff isn't heavy in the slightest, which impressed me because it is hard to make a pretty record and even harder to make a pretty record sound super manly onstage.

Keep it up, Guys.

December Tank

Our latest fish tank installment. Every time we scrape the green gunge and siphon the um, vitamin rich sludge from the gravel-POOP (great for house plants!) we change all the greenery and blizz blazz and sometimes make a collage or cardboard portholes for the background. I collect sundry ceramics from thrift stores and thieve the occasional mastodon or zebra from Ruby's shelves. Every few months we carefully choose a new addition from the fish palace (Aquatek) and hope it doesn't pester our established scaly brethren to death.

It gives me great pleasure to have a living, moving, glowing thing of beauty in my little house and I try not to allow the frequent demise of these delicate creatures to ruin our T.Rex dance parties.
Cosmic Dancer (Remastered LP V

Through the Looking Glass Vintage

You know how boys like to divide pretty girls into two categories, The Girl Next Door a.k.a. "MaryAnn" or The Glamorous Model/Starlet a.k.a. "Ginger"? Well, they do. I hang out with a lot of boys. BOYS! BE JEALOUS. This is my girl next door:

It's Kathleen, the Fashion Queen and she's taking over Austin with her beautiful projects. She and partner in crime Maggie have just launched an online vintage store, Through the Looking Glass Vintage with fresh handpicked treasures every week and styled to perfection by the clothes mavens themselves.

So, if you have ever wished that you had a gorgeous fashion model with impeccable taste and a master's degree in psychology to personally pick your clothes, take a picture of how to accessorize them, then send them to you in the mail...well, you're welcome.

As if this weren't enough, she's the manager of one of the hippest coffee houses in town and continues to baffle the more testosterone-fueled musicians in the scene by the overnight rise to popularity of their all girl band Feathers, playing drum heavy, dreamy dance songs and rivaling Bowie in stage dress. Of course.

Sorry guys, she's taken.




*anyone recognize that fetching bone necklace? Bazow!