A Different Direction

I started messing around with this today. Kate had a look and said, "That's weird." Yeah, it is weird. I know it's weird. I still want to do it, but maybe not for the work project. It's hard to explain, but I don't think it would do anything for me there.

So I decided to do a "Diversity Banner" for work. I cut a panel of brown upholstery fabric I have, and on it I will sew many streamers of fabric in different colors. I'll embellish it. Kind of neutral, easy to understand. I have the dining room strewn with a million different fabrics. It's noon, and Joe is still sleeping. Wait until he sees this place.

Another

More

Ideas

I started messing around with ideas for the diversity art project. I was kind of sketching in photoshop. Now, I need you to understand that I was drawing with a mouse, which is not unlike drawing with a bar of soap. Awkward, to say the least. But, it's ok, I am just messing with ideas. I rarely sketch before I make a piece of art, I figure it out as I go. I did need to take a picture of myself and get it ready to print on fabric. As you can see from the sketch, I want to put my face in the middle of a flower or sun-type form. I want to have the rays or petals in different colors, patterns, or embellished in different ways to represent diversity. The working title is, "Self Portrait Showing the Effects of Diversity on Me." I posterized my face in photoshop, and I kind of like that effect. The problem with the photo I used is that I had a lot of hair around my face. I don't want that in the picture. I think I will take a different picture, or something, with my hair pulled back off my face.

This reminds me that I went to the salon last night for my usual hair thing. I was able to read junky magazines instead of a text book. This article caught my eye:

"LOSE WEIGHT WITHOUT TRYING; Your weight loss grocery list: Yes, chocolate's on it!"

Hey, kiss my ass! Chocolate is not on it! I lost a lot of weight this year, (Last year?) and now I am in the danger zone. By that I mean, it's time to gain it all back, and I HAVE gained some of it back, sorry to say. About 6 pounds. And, when I eat chocolate, or ice cream, or something like that, I see an almost immediate upward trend in the scale. It's just terrible, and I really resent these people who print this crap. This is simply designed to catch your eye and get you to buy the magazine, with the hopeless hope that somehow you can eat chocolate and lose weight. I've been around long enough to know that it just ain't happening.

I have a couple of more vacation days left, and I took tomorrow off. Yay! I will work on my diversity art quilt thing. It will be really crazy, and will stand out like a sore thumb from anything else anyone does. But, I really like the idea.

A sudden challenge

So, in the midst of shopping and decorating, I've been thinking about what kind of art I should be working on. As I mentioned, it's a little hard to get started out of nowhere. I was thinking that the UFOs I have around would be an obvious place to begin. I was even fantisizing about the related blog posts. Now all of a sudden, there comes a challenge, from work, no less!

What does DIVERSITY mean to you?

We'd like to get your unique perspective on that question – and, in the process, create a work of art that represents all of us. You are invited to share up to 3 reflections on diversity, whatever form they may take: Image Graphic Word Phrase Link Video Your ideas, together with those of your Media Services colleagues, will then be combined into a one-of-a-kind mosaic capturing diversity in its many interpretations. Feel free to include a very brief caption for each idea as well. Please submit your reply to (My Boss) by EOD  December 23.  Your participation in this project is greatly appreciated and valued.

"The true potential of all people . . . can only be achieved through the equal acceptance of all in our society. Allowing people to confidently share and express their ideas, thoughts and strengths without fear will only improve productivity on both a personal and corporate level." - Gary Guller

This is the e-mail I received today. I already have an idea of what I'd like to do. It will involve many fabrics, some unexpected... diverse. I'm not really great at working with concepts. I usually ignore quilt challenges when I see them. I can't exactly ignore this one. I will bet that every single person in my department will do something digital, except me and maybe one other person. I also bet that they are groaning right now, at being forced to make art. We'll see how it goes. I'm kind of excited about it. And, it will keep me off of ebay.

Now What?

Now I need to make the most of my free time this month. I will do some Christmas shopping on Saturday. (I haven't even thought about it) But I also need to think about some art. I have some worthy UFOs that need finishing. Maybe that is the way to go? I'll take some pictures tomorrow and see what I think.

Another Semester, Out the Door

OK, so I took 6 college courses in 2010. And I've decided that I can no longer go at this pace. I signed up for just one class, next semester, US History up until 1820. I just don't feel like killing myself any more. I want to enjoy my classes, and my life. If I graduate, then I graduate. If I don't, then I don't.

I took Philosophy this time, and I really enjoyed that. I would recommend this to anyone. Philosophy is basically thinking very deeply about a variety of subjects. The most difficult subject I had to think about was what is being? Different philosophers had different takes on the subject, and many were genuinely hard to wrap your head around. Good brain exercise, that's for sure.

But enough of that crap, it's Christmas time!!! I've already bid like a fool on vintage ornaments on ebay until my husband started looking askance and using unkind words to describe my interest, such as "obsession." The nerve of that guy.

The entire time I was going to school, work was really busy. Like a miracle, that has suddenly let up. That is why I am posting today, because I can! I really feel happy right as this moment. Now I think I will create the return mail address labels for this years christmas cards. It kind of looks like I am working when I do something like that. But first, I will look at what everyone else has posted. Oh, what fun!

One half Century: That went quick!

OK, so I am 50 years old today. For some reason, I feel great! My husband threw a party for me over the weekend. Last night I went to a woman in town and got a henna tattoo up my arm. It's major league cool. Here, have a look:

I'm in school again, taking Public relations and Philosophy. Whoa, that philosophy is dense stuff. Or, maybe it's me who is dense. I can read an entire paragraph in a text by Descartes, and realize that I did not understand it at all. I start again, and try really hard to concentrate, and next thing you know, I'm thinking about what to have for dinner. It's tough. It's a lot of re-reading.

I sold something on Etsy a couple of weeks ago. That seems to strike when I least expect it. I almost forgot how to complete a transaction.

On Sunday I went to a quilt show run by the local guild, The Courthouse Quilters. They have the show in a historic mill, which is cool. I was kind of disappointed. I try not to be too judgemental, but, I have these ongoing gripes about modern quilting. There were many really nice quilts, but, I can't be impressed if you made it from a kit, or you just bought a line of fabric that is all coordinated. To me, it is very exciting to find my own fabric. Quilts made from coordinating fabric have a slickness that I find unappealing. My next big gripe is that 95% of the quilts were not quilted by the person who made the top, and were quilted by the same 5 people. OK, so you don't pick your own fabric, and you don't quilt it yourself, am I supposed to be impressed? Our great grandmothers used to make really cool quilts using whatever they could get their hands on. I know we are past using scraps, but there just does not seem to be any soul in it anymore. What do you think?

Printing on Fabric and Other Stuff

Cathie over at This Girl's Art asked me how I print on fabric. It's a piece-O-cake! Of course, you need an ink jet printer. I have included a link, with instructions that recommend treating the fabric. I have to admit, I've started skipping that step. I guess you can't wash it. I warn people not to wash my art quilts anyway. I think that gets me off the hook. If anyone has any compelling reason why I should treat my fabric with Bubble Jet Set before printing, I would like to hear it.

The main thing you need to do is stabilize the fabric so it can get through the printer. I use a 8.5"x11" sheet of sticker paper. I peel off the back, stick it onto the fabric, and then I trim the fabric to the edge of the paper. I have access to this kind of paper cheap. I've also heard about ironing on freezer paper, but I have not tried it. One thing I would recommend, before printing on your prepared sheet, print on a regular piece of paper to make sure things are centered the way you want them, or not too close to the edge. Just set that weird fabric that you've created paper in the print tray and print. I'm amazed at how well it works.

Out of several awful pictures of me, this was the least awful

So summer is almost over. Damn it! I love summer and it always goes so fast. Last weekend I went to Cape May to hang with friends that rent a house every year. It's really nice of them to invite us, and we always have a great time. At Cape May, one of the hot spots is a bar called the Brown Room at Congress Hall. Congress Hall is a large, old-fashioned hotel that was amazing in it's heyday, then hit the skids, then was bought by investors and restored. All the hippest ($$$) people stay there. So anyway, I like hanging out at the Brown Room. Drinks are expensive, but you get some superior people watching. There was a wedding taking place at the hotel, (there almost always is) and that makes it double fun. Sometimes when it is very crowded, we go outside and drink on the veranda.There is plenty to see out there, too. I really love to wear dresses, and I was wearing the nice one my husband bought for me this year. I keep buying more dresses. I just bought one today from a vendor that was at work! It was only $15. I was powerless to resist. There are just endless pretty dresses, I wish I could somehow discretely take pictures of the dresses I saw others wearing. Then I could "collect" dresses. Really, it's high time that I started making art quilts about dresses. That reminds me, I just registered for Fall classes. I begin on Sept 20. I'll be all jacked up until Dec 11. I took Public Relations and Intro to Western Philosophy. I've always wanted to take a philosophy course.

Really rambling here.

The next day:

As you may be able to see below, I have the same picture in here 3 times. It took 3 tries yesterday to get this picture to load. Now it is there 3 times, and I can't select any of them, or any picture on this page, to delete them. I really think that Blogger is dreadful and difficult to use. I'm not going to let them reuin my blog post. I'm going to post this anyway. What's the diff, really? Are you put off?

I'm leaving work in about an hour. I work an extra hour Monday through Thursday and get a half day on Friday. It's called Summer Hours, and it is a stroke of genius. Why can't they do this all year, all over the world? Anyway, I'm going fabric shopping. A couple of weeks ago my husband went on one of his ride a motorcycle like a crazy person weekends, and I redecorated our bedroom. I want to make a new quilt. One of those quilts that are more about blocks and strips of gorgeous fabric than about any real patchwork. (In other words, easy)

I'm also going on a date tonight with my husband. Tonight is an anniversary for us. It marks when we started "going out" the first time, when we were kids. That was THIRTY SEVEN YEARS AGO!!! I might wear my new dress.

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Quiet my ass

No New Job for Me

My interview was not so great. Within 15 minutes both myself and the interviewer knew the job was not for me. I wish they had done a better job of describing the position; it could have saved all of us a lot of trouble. I sat down and looked at this job posting with my current manager, and he agreed that it would be a good fit. Then it was revealed to me that I would be doing financial forecasting and, although the job was called "Associate Production Manager" it became apparent that the position really is that of an account executive. Even if I thought I could do it, I'm not into that kind of responsibility and pressure. I apologized for wasting the person's time, he did not seem the least bit annoyed, and said I should keep the interview appointment with the next person. He called it an informational interview. That actually turned out great. The person already knew I was not suited for the job, but we spoke for an hour. She gave me good career advice and we talked a lot about the state of the company and employment in general. I felt better after that.

I did have a hard time going to work today. I am so burned out and now there is no hope in sight, for the near future, anyway. I don't even care if I make more money, I just want to do something different.

Fairy of the Woods, now on Etsy

Fairy Quilt in Progress

So here is Kate's quilt. We've got a big space to fill at the top, I believe it will be text. I think she wants the words "Fairy with Mushrooms." across the top. I said we could think on that a while. Mainly I want to think on how to go about it.

In other news, my son turns 25 today, happy birthday Drew!

Also, The nice folks at the Schweinfurth Art Center left a message on my answering machine and told me that it really was just one side of the quilt that needed to be 20", so both of my entries are eligible. I wonder if I will get in?

Fashion Diet

I read something in the NY Times that  I found  intriguing. It's about people who have taken this web challenge where you pick six items of clothing from your existing wardrobe and only wear those pieces for a month. (underwear doesn't count) Can you imagine? One of the things I liked about the article was that they showed the people they interviewed and the clothes they picked and their different combinations. I can admit to you that I have a stupid amount of clothes. I lost weight this year and I found that, rather than finding a piece of clothing that looked good and thanking my lucky stars and buying it, I now find many, many things that look good and have trouble not buying them. I am starting to get out of that famine mentality and getting more sensible. Just the same, I think I own about 7 summer dresses, 10 skirts, a million tank tops and t-shirts etc. Even when I've gone on Motorcycle trips with tiny side bags as luggage, I've managed to take more than 6 pieces of clothing. I just went shopping today, as a matter of fact. I applied for a job within the company I work for and I have 3 back-to-back interviews on Tuesday. I don''t own a suit. I hope no one expects me to wear one, because our company went casual years ago. I do have a black blazer and a black skirt. I just bought a blouse that seemed a little more  business-like. I wonder if I will get the job? I wonder if I really even want the job? Whenever I think about getting a new job, I think, "What if I really hate it?" That's just an excuse for not making a change. We'll see what happens.

In other news I have been quilting Kate's Fairy quilt a little every night. I used metallic thread in my sewing machine for the first time. I tried it once and it became a dreadful tangled mess on the back. At that time, my sewing machine was new and I was kind of intimidated by it. I tried the metallic thread again and it is just fine. And sparkle-y! Pictures soon, I swear.

A Very Productive Weekend

I did a ton of art work this weekend. That means I spent way too much time in the basement, where my sewing area is. There is a project going on to make the attic my new work space, but it is all contingent on my husband, and whether or not he feels like working on this project. The summer is a complete loss, he only wants to ride his motorcycle(s) and his bicycle during the summer. He lives to be outside, and he is not wasting any summer day being inside. Unfortunately, he starts getting depressed during the fall, so that also stands in the way when the summer is over. But I digress.

The fact is, I work in the basement. It's dark and damp and here is a new twist, we have CAVE CRICKETS lately. I don't think they hurt you, but they are really scarey looking. The icing on this dreadful cake is that I am a terrible slob. My space generally just gets worse and worse, until I can't take it anymore and then I clean it up. It takes hours and it is hard to spend that much time down there, even doing fun things, much less cleaning a hellish mess.

Despite everything, art was made. I wonder what I would be like if I had a lovely, well-lit space? The really good news is that I got Kate to make a quilt. It is hard to get her going, and she does not seem to be able to get it together enough to self start a project like that. I began by inviting her to make something. I pointed her to her small stash of fabric. She has some novelty prints and a few otherr fabrics that she has picked out. She also has unlimited use of my fabric. She picked out a fairy themed fabric, and she was off and running. We chose some background fabric. I usually make suggestions like, "You will need a fabric for the background. " and let her pick, then I will say, "What else do you want to put here?" She decided she wanted mushrooms with her fairy. So we went through the process of picking fabric for those, then she drew mushrooms in her sketch book, and we copied them to the back of the Wonder under and she cut them out and ironed them on. Then she decided she wanted logs with moss. I did not think it was such a great idea, but she definitely wanted it. She also angled the logs in a way that I would not have done it, but I have to let her have her own way, because otherwise, I might as well make the thing. In the end, I think it turned out great. I will do the machine quilting, but I will get her to do some hand work. She has sold three little quilts in the past on our etsy site, but hasn't sold much lately. I have no pictures right now but I will see what I can do this week.

I noticed that I have a couple of new followers on this blog (which is a miracle, since I hadn't posted for 3 months) so, for those who don't know, my daughter Kate is developmentally disabled. She is a member of the ARC and a Special Olympic athlete. She is nearly 27 years old, has a job and travels to it on public transportation. She doesn't read or write very well, but has really taken to Facebook. In some ways it is like having a young teenager in the house forever.

Garden 2010

QAQ entry

Today I am shipping a CD with images to QAQ: Quilt = Art = Quilt. I have never entered a quilt competition before. Someone at work gave me an entry form months ago, but I had until August 20 to enter. Usually I find out about these things two weeks before the deadline, and I don't have anything that meets the criteria.

So, I got my act together and prepared an entry. Right as I was about to ship, I read over the entry form once more and realized that the requirement for size, 20 inches, must mean that each side of the quilt must be at least 20 inches. At first I had imagined that at least one side must be 20 inches. Looking back, I have no idea why I thought that. I'm pretty sure that if I stopped and tried to find something else to submit, I would end up just not doing it. I wrote a letter to the judges explaining that I realize that one of the entries is not eligible and thanked them for considering the other. That's it.

Where to Begin?

I was finished with college classes on June 11, but it has taken me a long time to get "back," so to speak. I have 2 draft posts that I never finished or published.  I really jacked myself up but good this past spring. I took 2 college classes and one of them was very intense. Also, it is very busy at work that time of year. And, it's hard-core garden time, at least if you expect to enjoy flowers over the summer. So, long story short, I was busy. But, things are good. I began easing myself in by reading whatever I wanted, not text books. I had 2 Quilting Arts magazines that were still in plastic. Then I went to the library and got random, interesting-looking books. Then I started looking at my sewing machine. I started poking around in the unfinished project pile.

I went on vacation. Joe, Kate and I went to the Adirondacks and did some hiking, swimming and kayaking. We also visited good friends that live up there. We had a blast.

This is us on top of Porter, one of 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks. If you climb all 46 peaks, you are a  46-er. Joe has decided we should be 46-ers, but as of now we have climbed 2, Cascade and Porter. That took us 8 hours. We were so whipped at the end, but I am happy we did it.

We came back on Wednesday, and everyone went back to work on Thursday, except me. I had 2 delicious days to myself! That's when I started to sew. By the weekend I had 2 new pieces to put on Etsy, plus something I finished months ago and never got around to putting up. When I posted, I got a message asking if I wanted to post directly to facebook. That must be new, right? So I did.

Now I am back at work. It is some kind of gift that this place is dead quiet. Usually, when I go on vacation I am greeted with chaos when I return. I have virtually nothing to do. OK, now here is a very cool thing. I met someone in the hall here at work that I am friends with on facebook. She saw my Etsy stuff, went to my site and bought something! I haven't sold anything since March. Today is such a good day, and it's only noon.

New Work

THE purse

Here it is, the one creative bright spot in my current life.

It was fun making this thing. I wish I could make a bunch more, but, schoolwork takes precidence right now. That's going ok, I guess. Thanks for looking at the blog!

Can it Be One Month Since I Posted Last?

I'm in the middle of  a short break between quarters. (Drexel has quarters, shorter than semesters.) I went to post the othher day, and I didn't know what to say. Weird. I still don't exactly have any kind of theme for this post. I saw that I got an A+ in one of my classes, no grade posted yet in the other. I am all signed up for Psychology 101 and Principles of Communication. That starts up again March 29. Then I am taking the summer off.

Anyone living in the Northeast is aware of the incredible weather gift we received recently. It seems like one week we were buried in snow, the next we had crocuses blooming. This is weather I'd be happy to get in May, much less in March! We did a lot of yard work, patio and porch cleaning. We bought new patio furniture. Now it will snow.

Work is weirder than ever. Now that our merger has been in place for several months, the big layoffs are immanent. Get this, I have the job of scanning and formatting electronic signatures so that they are available for the separation letters! For those not hip to corporate speak, being separated from the company means, your fired. Suppose I see my boss's name? It's such a giant drag, all of this. I was joking around about that patio furniture, saying maybe I should take it back. Then I realized, I'll need it while I'm sitting around all summer out of work! Ha Ha.

My creative life is very thin right now, but I started making a purse. I was using the random patchwork method I used for the St, Pat's bags. I have a commercial pattern I'm working with. I used all repro feedsack patterns and some other fabric that seemed to be in the same spirit. I'm pretty excited about it. I think it will be cool for spring. I guess I'll post pictures, if I get around to taking them!

One last thing, I have to do my taxes, yuk. When that's done, I will indulge myself and look at everyone elses blog!

I Have Free Time Today

I got a lovely little gift last week. The supermarket where Kate works asked that she switch her day off from Tuesday to Saturday. That means I suddenly have Saturdays FREE!! So, today I cleaned, tried on all of the clothes in a bin marked: Summer-too small (it all fit!) prepared a chicken dinner, and completed and submitted a homework assignment. (Go ahead, ask me about Abductive Reasoning.  It has nothing to do with kidnapping.)

I finished my second Irish bag that is part of a commission, and the requester has purchased them. I will ship on Monday. I used this spontaneous and random way of piecing together fabric I gathered  based on color. I don't think it is innovative, but I had not worked that way before and I really enjoyed it. I want to make a bag for myself, maybe in reds, maybe in multicolor.

Brush with Fame
Here's a good one for you, I was at a Valentine's day party in town last weekend. The author who wrote Eat, Pray, Love was there. Elizabeth Gilbert was standing by the sink when I went to wash out a wine glass, talking with 3 other people I don't know. I'm not much of a celebrity hound, plus I really didn't like the book that much, so I just said hi and that was it. I might have asked, so how's the new book selling? or something, but I could not really bring myself to do it. I've always known that she lived in Frenchtown, but I had never seen her in the almost 4 years we've lived here. Back to the party, it was really fun, and when the crowd thinned out later, we were dancing! My husband is a fab dancer. People were coming in to watch him. Well, one of our neighbors took a video with her iphone and posted it on Facebook.  Next thing, people at work are telling me they saw it! Joe was kind of pissed. He thinks you can't really do anything without someone posting it on the web. He has a point. There is virtually no privacy anymore.

Joe has been obsessing about getting a convertible for months now, ever since he decided our future epic trips would be more comfortable in that, rather than on a motorcycle. (amen) Without going into the trials and tribulations of finding the exact right car, I will only say he picked it up yesterday.

Ain't it sweet? I love the color. He says to me, "Baby, you'll look great in this car." Funny, how he tries to make it about me. Anyway, this little cupcake is a 1999 BMW M3 with 77,000 miles on it. It looks like new. I hope it makes him happy. Now he is going to sell his Ducati.

Work has been so incredibly busy, and the one person that works for me is getting more incompetent by the second. This, with the college work added on, plus the fact that our cable TV and our internet connection (DSL) all went wacky this week, I thought I would lose it. I never have time for blogging, so I think I'm going to indulge myself and have a look at what you have all been up to.

St. Pat's Quilted bag

Two Days in a Row

Another post, can you stand it? It is just so slow at work. Already today I wrote a one page paper for a class and posted it, and I have posted to the discussion boards for both classes. I just peeked in on the blog again and I had a lot of comments. Thanks!

Yo, Mom to Fat Dogs! You crack me up! Yeah, right, that's my room!  What my husband and I liked best about the room was that it wasn't loaded up with our clutter! It was nicely decorated, right? As the innkepers put it, it is low on the doiley factor. (FYI, you accidentally posted the same comment twice. Just so you know why I rejected one of them.)

Marty, whassup? Yes, people watching, my favorite sport. Where is there good people watching where you live? (Everyone?) One of the premier places to watch people around here is any boardwalk on the Jersey Shore. I know there is some kind of TV show on right now called Jersey Shore. I hear it is loaded up with stereotypes of Italian Americans. Whatever. New Jersey gets such a bad rep. I think there are people like that running around, but where I live you rarely come across them.

Jeana Marie, I just take it day by day. What else can you do? I just paid off my credit card. I have one more year to pay off my car. My main fear in losing my job is of burning through the small nest egg I managed to accumulate.

cconz! My soul sista. Yes indeed, what about that dining room? I didn't take a picture of the part of the ceiling that had fallen down. The ceiling was also dotted with these metal things that were stablizing it. The innkeepers say that they got an estimate of $9000.00 to restore that ceiling. Ouch. The original price of that house in 1905: $20,000.00! Most people spend more on a car now.

Aside from everything else, I am working on a commission I have from Etsy. Someone bought one of my Christmas stockings, and she asked if I would make something similar for St. Patrick's day. Apparently it is a tradition of her grandmother that she wants to carry on. It seemed like such a cute idea, I said yes. What the hell was I thinking???  I did get myself down the cellar to sew this past weekend and I cranked out a stocking. Really, it is more of a patchwork sack. It was so much fun to make. Great to sew again, even though the cellar is so cold it is barely tolerable. I have the entire month to do another, so I should be OK. I'll post pictures when I can.

Damn That Punxsatawney Phil!

I don't think I can take six more weeks of winter. I say that every year. HA!

So what's up? I'm having a slowish day at work, so I can peek in and say hi. Yesterday late afternoon we got word that the director of our department got the ax. She had been here for 31 years and crawled her way up from nothing. My company merged with another in October, and we know the big layoffs are coming. We believe our department, which has nothing to do with the actual business of this company, is a target for being turned contractor. The reprographics department went down last year. This means we will stay at our desk and do the same job, but we won't work for the corporation any more. We will work for some other company. Our wages will stay the same, but the benefits suck. So, everyone is speculating by the water cooler.

Meanwhile, my online classes are going fine. It will be just my luck that when I finally decide to go back to school, I will have to work for a different company that won't pay. Can you get a student loan when you only go part time? I use every spare minute for school work. (except for right now.) I often stay after work to get things done. The on-line aspect is very convenient for me.

Joe and I had a fabulous time when we visited Hudson a couple of weeks ago. The B&B was glorious, the innkeepers were fabulous, the town was fun, we discovered a great bar, the Red Dot. We were disappointed with the antique situation. There were tons of places, but they were way too high end for us. We are used to paying NJ/PA prices, but here we saw New York City prices. Hudson is on the train line from NYC, so there were many city-looking people there. I don't know how to explain it, you can just tell. They are way hipper than you in some intangable way. It was weird because there are plenty of other people in the town that look rather unprosperous, locals I presume? I wonder if they ever clash with the city folks? I'm going to post some pictures.