6/26/12 - Nothing like a ripe stone fruit

An uneventful morning, other than my absolutely delicious breakfast of toast with super-ripe plum gooped all over it. I'm telling you, there is nothing like fresh ripe stone fruit. It's like butter in silk. It was so good, I had three pieces. Just squeezed those sweet plum innards all over. Mmm!

My big project for the day was to silk-screen some t-shirts so we could have some merch to sell at the show. Turned out to be a little less simple than I originally planned (but isn't that always the way?). I did a test print, which revealed some areas on the screen were in need of repair. So I touched it up with Mod Podge, and tried another test. That worked out pretty well. Keep in mind, in between this test-printing, there's a lot of rinsing and waiting for things to dry. During one of these waiting periods, I made myself a delicious salad with baby romaine, nectarine, and a homemade ginger soy dressing with a dash of sriracha.

Finally, I was ready to print. I used grocery store circulars for the only thing they're good for: protecting my floor from ink. I did come across this little gem.

The printing went...okay. I knew I had some supplies already, like the ink I had cleverly hidden from myself. Found that eventually. I guess I should really go through my closets. I also have a really sweet squeegee, made specifically for this application, except that it's too big for this screen's frame. Dang! So I found a little plastic brayer under the kitchen sink, the condition of which suggests I last used it to scrape hardened epoxy off gravel. Less than ideal. But what was I going to do, go out and buy something? It worked well enough, although the ink density was a bit variable in the prints. This could also be my fault. I'm told the right pressure is everything. The result is actually kind of cool, and gives the shirts a vintage look. Each one is totally unique!

The unique little bastards weren't done yet though. Closer inspection of the ink jar revealed that it needed to be heat set for three to five minutes on each side, which if you ask me, is just unreasonable. Of course, no one asked me, so I spent the next 45 minutes or so sweating over my ironing board, watching the minutes tick by slowly on the clock on my stove. This put me behind a bit, so I was running a teensy bit late to the show. Who even shows up to a rock show at 8? I'll give you a hint. Pretty much no one. Fortunately, as I was tuning my bass, one of the brand new strings I just put on it broke (note heavy sarcasm). There was nothing for it, but to go home and get the other one. It stressed me out for a minute, but it did give people the chance to arrive, so we didn't have to play to an empty room. I don't mind telling you, we rocked it. Even though Rickett broke a string on his guitar during the set (yes, really), things went off really well. We stuck around to listen to the Sunset Drifters, who were stellar as always, with their country songs about urban life. Ray Argyle and his other band impressed as well, although the bass player isn't as good looking and charming as the bass player in Ray's other band, Sunken Ships.

That's me, by the way. The good looking charming one. I kid, of course.

I made it through Rob Melancon's set, but by that point my old lady-ness (actually Alex's) was setting in. I regret that I missed Ted Z and the Wranglers, but sometimes it's just too darn late, ya know?

Overall, I'd say the evening was a success. We made a new fan, and we even sold a t-shirt!