Poetry Saturday: Superheroes

I challenged my 5-year-old to write a song with me this week, but it turned out more like a story. Here it goes, as dictated to me (with some of my editorial ka-ka in the last sentence to try to tie it up neatly and quickly):

A long time ago, Superman was the superguy. The Hulk was fighting Spiderman. Spiderman wouldn't win because the Hulk could jump too high.

But Spiderman got better and better by practicing and Superman came to help. Batman came to help, too, and the Hulk had no idea. Suddenly a flash of light blasted through the island. It was Abomination, coming to help the Hulk.

After a long battle of epic proportions, Hulk and Abomination emerged victorious, for their combined strength eclipsed the speed and agility of Spiderman, Superman, and Batman.

And today I am improvising an Abomination hat for Louis, with the pointy ears. I penciled out a muslin and, if all goes well, I will have put one last project together for the monkey boy before my next trip.

Poetry Saturday: V

I like five even better than four 

I liked four better than three 

Each passing year is better and more 

But passing too fast for me

Louis hasn't even finished his pre-K school year and already I am being recruited to be the elementary school's PTA yearbook chair. Even scarier: I want to do it! Might give me the excuse I need to buy the digital SLR I have been eyeing this last year.

It's still rather shocking that this big guy I gave birth to 5 years ago is going to leave home for 7 hours a day (!!!) once Kindergarten rolls around in the fall. I'm sure he's ready. I'm not sure I'm ready.

On a sewing note, I've decided what my next two sewing projects will be, in keeping with the "summer of dresses" theme: Simplicity 3507 and Vogue 1046.

The Simplicity pattern is a "Project Runway" pattern for juniors, and appeals to me because of the simplicity (no pun intended, totally) of 4 pattern pieces and no zipper or buttons. Nearly instant sewing gratification. It may very well end up looking like a sack on me, but I will still wear it to stay cool, as we've been in 95+ degree temps for the last week and it will only get hotter from here.

The Vogue pattern is new-ish -- just came out a month or so ago -- and I have been eyeing it since, waiting for a $4 pattern sale to come up. Now I own it and need to find the right fabric. I am sure that it needs something very drape-y, a unique combination of having substantial body but not being too heavy and hot. I'm almost certain I will end up with a printed rayon of some kind, but we will see. This pattern has a lot of pieces but NO INTERFACING and no zipper or buttons. If I can find the right fabric, I might be able to sew both dresses by the end of May! Four garments in one month would be a personal record for me!

Poetry Saturday: Lovely Day

Bill Withers has one of those voices from the 70s with a forever impression on my soul. He didn't enjoy a long recording career but has created an incredible body of music over his lifetime. There's a good beat behind his tunes and his melodies are great and the lyrics to his songs are sometimes so relevant they haunt me. And his voice! Amazing.

One of his best-known songs (and for good reason) is the feel-good Lovely Day, which was famously featured in a Gap commercial in the late 90's. In fact, as I recall, this commercial was part of the campaign that made the Gap instantly hip and relevant again, and this particular commercial was infectious. A couple of weeks ago, iTunes was rolling through Bill Withers' album during dinner, and when Lovely Day came on, my 5-year-old was inspired to jump up from the table and dance around the living room. As my husband and I enjoyed the impromptu performance, I spied a stack of newly-washed fabrics behind my son. Upon closer inspection, a yellow printed cotton made itself known as "the one", and suddenly the image of a full yellow cotton skirt blowing in the breeze popped into my head, clear as day: The Lovely Day Skirt.

No pattern, just a remnant of yellow for the skirt and a remnant of white for the lining, folded creatively into somewhat equal pleats, but it's hard to know for sure when you're eyeballing it. A great song, an impromptu dance, and a spontaneous skirt zipping through the machine on a sunny spring day.

When I wake up in the morning, love,
and the sun light hurts my eyes

And something without warning, love,
bears heavy on my mind.

Then I look at you and the world's alright with me
Just one look at you and I know it's gonna be -

A lovely day

Poetry Saturday

Only this and nothing more
Shall nevermore be lifted
I remember ah distinctly in the December it was bleak
So now I stood still repeating that to the beating of my heart

Poetry Saturday

I finished my wonky version of Burda 8516 this week, and hope to get pictures and a review up today. I am also nearly done with Simplicity 4273 pants, for an upcoming work trip, and I am not sure if I will try to get a new dress done, too. Sometimes my sewing intentions are way too ambitious for my own good! In the next 3 days, while packing and keeping the boy when he has no school Monday?

For poetry... not satisfied by any turn of the widget today, the 4-year-old is not inspired (glued to Speed Racer), and I am uneducated about copyright issues in offering other authors' good poetry on my blog, so I fudge:

They beckon and taunt me, inspire and mock me
Perched in precarious limbo four feet high
Creamy sherbet and rich chocolate, overwhelming emerald and glimmery pewter
Cascading, pooling plum puddles on the floor
Clear as day I see their fates, commit my spirit to realizing this vision
Battling hands that keep pushing forward with alarming predictability

Poetry Saturday

More magic from the widget:

We who pursued with yell and blow
As a dismal sheen did send
An albatross at cross length
Nor men nor beasts of shapes

Poetry Saturday

From my Cut Up Poetry widget:

And south chased along behind
And a good south wind sprung up
And mast-high ice came floating by
And round and round it flew