I Am Art

the next second

Even though it is technically about to be the new year, we always think the new year pretty much starts the second immediately following the present moment. If the next second is good, that's even better. That we have a new book, or other new things, or that there are other changes going on are purely a coinkidink and have nothing to do with it being almost a new calendar year. And, the first second in 2010 that my hair starts looking bad, or a spider bites my other eye, or a tooth falls out, or anyone finds a lump, I will so scream OH MY BUDDHA! WE'RE BACK IN 2009!

So with that in mind, even though my boss told me to wait until January to start putting new stuff in my shop, I didn't listen to her. I put a few new prints in my shop and have restocked a few favorites from 2009.  Prices on prints will be going up in January, so stock up now to get the best rates. Also, some cupcake and coffee cup prints may be retired due to new licensing arrangements (details to come).

***There are only TWO DAYS left to save $10 on Meeting In The Ladies Room. The sale lasts only until 12/31 so you must hurry. GO HERE TO ORDER.
Orders from the US (using US $):   GREATGIFT
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CANADIAN BUYERS: use code GREATGIFT. Blurb.com only accepts those 4 currencies so select $US for your discount.

bad move, joe

Today We're FEELIN' GROOVY about:
~People watching at Disneyland. Some people go for the rides, we go to watch people.
~Nestle Abuelita! It's instant Mexican style hot chocolate. Delish!
~Reebok EasyTone shoes. I'd been searching for a shoe that was a cross between MBT's and Earth shoes. I love the MBTs for walking and the Earth for standing but the MBTs are too ugly to be worn in public and the Earth are really clunky. When you first put the Reeboks on and take a few steps, it feels like your sock is sliding down in back or that the heel part is too short or something. I can't figure out what the problem is, but it goes away after a few minutes and your sock isn't really falling down. I wore these all over San Francisco and my feet never hurt. I am not so sure about the claims that they tone your legs and butt, but they are very comfortable and really do feel like MBT and Earth had a love shoe.
~On the account of the economy and general not-in-the-moodness, fewer people sent holiday cards this year so we suffered less card guilt.
~Making business decisions with our brains instead of our ego.

Our Bêtes Noires:
~When you line up to go in Small World at Disneyland, one attraction you get to see and smell is the smoking section. You are forced to breathe second hand smoke while waiting to ride the happiest ride ever. Lung cancer isn't happy. Disneyland, you should move the smoking section far, far away.
~MERCURY IS IN RETROGRADE!
~Fathers who spend holidays they used to spend with their biological kids with their stepkids instead and then don't even bother to call their kids. Asshole fathers owe extra apologies to the spouses of the kids they diss.
~Someone smashed into my husband's car while he was at the doctor and didn't leave their info.They left a huge dent and scratches all down the side of the car, though. How generous!
~My boyfriend Joe took away the bbq shredded chicken in the tub (that was DELISH!) and replaced it with less good "pulled" bbq chicken. Bad move, Joe.
~I had no idea the movie of The Time Traveler's Wife already came out and flopped! I was waiting to see it.

***There's only a few more days  to save $10 on Meeting In The Ladies Room. The sale lasts only until 12/31 so you must hurry. GO HERE TO ORDER.
Orders from the US (using US $):   GREATGIFT
Orders from UK (using UK £):   GREATGIFT2
Orders from EU (using EU €):   GREATGIFT3
Orders from AU (using AUD $):   GREATGIFT4
CANADIAN BUYERS: use code GREATGIFT. Blurb.com only accepts those 4 currencies so select $US for your discount.

we really need to know

Has anyone started using the Snuggie their friends got them as a joke gift yet? You know, in the privacy of your own home, maybe even while you are reading this? You can confess here. We totally would. Of course, the Snuggie would backfire on us and we'd trip over it and break something important like a hip.
We like infomercial products, especially The Snackmaster. Oh! That sideways slide in paper booties exercise thing was really fun, too. Dangerous, but really fun.
Alright, fess up.

Winners and lunch and saving money

The Fed Ex man brought me a nice big box of books today! I took the books out, wrote down all your names on the candy bar wrappers that were piling up on my desk, then tossed them in the box. These are the winners I pulled out with my eyes closed:
Diane Long and her Mac N Cheese win a signed copy of Meeting In The Ladies Room!
Thien-Kim and her multiple soups and salads win her choice of any print from my shop!
Thanks to everyone for sharing your lunch with us. This weekend we finally got to have a treat we've been longing for~ the cream cheese pretzels at Disneyland. And even better, we got to have them with The Happy Hooker, her lovely daughter, and her Mom who makes excellent spaghetti sauce. I'd like one of those pretzels dipped in the spaghetti sauce for lunch a few times a week, that's for sure.

I hate to sound like one of those people who never shuts up about about one topic (um wool, except food and Neil Diamond) but I hate to pay full price on anything and if I can save YOU money, I most certainly will. There is still time to save $10 on Meeting In The Ladies Room. The sale lasts only until 12/31 so you must hurry. GO HERE TO ORDER.
Orders from the US (using US $):   GREATGIFT
Orders from UK (using UK £):   GREATGIFT2
Orders from EU (using EU €):   GREATGIFT3
Orders from AU (using AUD $):   GREATGIFT4
CANADIAN BUYERS: use code GREATGIFT. Blurb.com only accepts those 4 currencies so select $US for your discount.

We'll be having a new contest next week with prizes from Ladies Room Book participants!

*That is me and The Happy Hooker (BellaKarma on twitter) in a bathroom made especially for tall people like us.

What's for lunch?

One downside to working at home is that during the holidays there's no steady stream of fattening "holiday" foods coming in and out of the office that I must taste to be polite. Oh geez, who am I kidding? Even when it's not the holiday season there is a stream of fattening "holiday" foods going in and out of my office that I taste so I won't hurt my boyfriend Trader Joe's feelings.
One belief that was reinforced while working on our new book, Meeting In The Ladies Room, is that food matters to women (and some men). Men think about sex every 15 seconds, and women think about food every 15 seconds. We think about food every time we want to give something away.
Please share your lunch with us for a chance to win a signed copy of Meeting In The Ladies Room. Comment here and let us know what you had for lunch by Sunday, December 20th and we'll enter your name into the drawing. Each name will be written on a small piece of paper and tossed into an empty lunch bag. Two winners will be chosen with my eyes closed.
It doesn't matter what you had for lunch, just that you tell us what it was.

One winner will receive a signed copy of Meeting In The Ladies Room!
One winner will receive his or her choice of any print in my shop.

Visit ladiesroombook.com for more information about Meeting In The Ladies Room.
Become a fan of I AM ART Books on Facebook.

not too doughy

Today We're FEELIN' GROOVY about:
~The love and support of so many women (and some men!)
~Book Number 3 is #3 on the Blurb Bestseller list. THANK YOU! Three is my lucky number.
~Chocolate chip cheesecake bars. Get the recipe here. I had to use regular chocolate chip cookie mix (see below) and I did add some cinnamon. I also used a smaller pan because my 13x9 was in the dishwasher and I was too lazy to get it out and wash it myself. These are DELISH! Not too doughy, and the perfect amount of rich and sweet.
~The Story of Anvil. If you haven't seen this documentary yet, rent it. Canadian-Jewish heavy metalers are dramatic, cry a lot, and see things in a really funny-good way. I suppose that is true of most of our People.
~It's a happy, happy Hanukkah!

Our Bêtes Noires:
~A dsl outage in my area on a day when I really need to use the internet. If you can't remember what it feels like to be impatient, try using dial-up!
~The package of Betty Crocker Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie mix I bought from Ralphs TWO DAYS AGO expired in September '09. I always forget that I have to check the expiration date on everything I buy at Ralphs.
~Little Suki is teething. I had no idea cats did that! I thought they came with teeth that just stayed stuck in and grew into scary fangs. She is chewing everything in sight.
~We feel like we can't thank people fast enough or just enough.
~Customer service reps who do nothing to help you then ask you if you are pleased with the lack of service they just gave you. Then, when you hang up an "independent agency" (always named something with the word Alliance in it) immediately stalker calls you to do a survey on the crappy service you just got. How is that good customer service?


Meeting In The Ladies Room is a great gift for any woman. Save $10 by ordering before December 31st by using these codes at checkout: Orders from the US (using US $): GREATGIFT, Orders from UK (using UK £): GREATGIFT2,Orders from EU (using EU €):   GREATGIFT3,Orders from AU (using AUD $): GREATGIFT4. If you are buying from Canada, select $US and use code GREATGIFT.
If you are ordering 3 or more books for holiday gifts, get FREE 2nd day shipping by ordering your books before December 16th. Use code BUYTHREE  at checkout.
Only one code can be used per order.

Part 3.5: The curse continues

It's really great to wake up the morning after your book comes out and feel nothing but joy. What a difference! We will be introducing you to the amazing Ladies in the book as time goes on (look at this list!), but late last night I noticed the best sign ever. While we were putting the book together, I was totally paranoid that I would forget someone's name or spell it wrong and I checked and checked and checked. And then I made other people check, and check, and check. I worked on the photos of me and Karen last just so I'd be sure everyone else's pages were perfect.
I forgot to put our names with our photo.
The curse continues. And we could not be happier. We love this type of perfect.

Don't forget to use these coupon codes to save $10 when ordering the book!
Orders from the US (using US $):   GREATGIFT
Orders from UK (using UK £):   GREATGIFT2
Orders from EU (using EU €):   GREATGIFT3
Orders from AU (using AUD $):   GREATGIFT4

CANADIAN BUYERS: use code GREATGIFT. Blurb.com only accepts those 4 currencies so select $US for your discount.

Pam has blogged her behind-the-music version of behind-the-book right here.

Part 3: I AM ART (books)

When three determined women make up their minds to do something, the cookie industry makes a lot of money. We were armed with with all the necessary tools we needed (our ideas, our skills, sugar) and we were getting out of a bad situation into a bright new one with a new publisher. We were so excited to work with a publisher who cared. Everything was going great and then they got really bad at responding to emails. And really bad at answering questions. And really good at asking us what we would do for them. And really good at telling us what to change without listening to what we thought. And then again really good at asking what we would do for them. Wait, wasn't this the same situation we just fought to get out of?
Karen and I sat on the floor in her teenage daughter Emily's room while we read the last email from the editor. The floor was covered in clothes, photographs were taped all over the walls, makeup was strewn on the top of the dresser. Emily is the same age I was when I first got out that bottle of purple hair dye. She joined us in her room and when we told her of the latest requests, she rolled her eyes in such a way that I am sure she inherited the skill from me. It reminded me of the fire I felt when I first started my career at almost her same age. I was never afraid to take risks, especially with my art. We started thinking of a response to the email~
Would it be unprofessional to respond with what the hell are you going to do for us? All you have do to is print the book and reap the rewards while we do the rest! Just let us do our thing.

And then our Nana's words replayed in my head. You should add an S and an M before the A-R-T. Would getting back in the same bad situation be smart? No. If all we needed was someone to print the book while we did the rest, did we really need a publisher who wouldn't be doing anything real anyway? What did we need? We needed a printer.
We sent a polite and professional response then made a new plan. The seesters (plus one) were doing it for themselves. We assembled our own team of editors, helpers, and proof readers and we made a book about women by women. I AM ART Books was born.

We are so excited to release our first book about women, designed by women, and for women. Women who are ART. Soooooo excited
Meeting In The Ladies Room: Reflections Of Women In A Room Of Their Own is available for purchase through Blurb.com.


Blurb is offering a special $10 discount to our readers until December 31st. At check out, enter the code below.

Orders from the US (using US $):   GREATGIFT
Orders from UK (using UK £):   GREATGIFT2
Orders from EU (using EU €):   GREATGIFT3
Orders from AU (using AUD $):   GREATGIFT4

Be sure to check out the book preview at blurb.com!

Did I already say we are so excited fifty-thousand times? I'd post photos of the actual book but I have to go cry.

*Note to Canadian buyers: your total is calculated at check out.

Part 2.5: never forgotten

When we first started working with a publisher on Visual Chronicles, our brother told us something I have never forgotten. Your editor will not care about your book. While she's looking at your art she is thinking about how many minutes until lunch. After lunch, while she's reading your manuscript, she's thinking about how many minutes until she can go home. The guy in the PR department who is supposed to ship books for your book signing doesn't care if the books are there or not. He's thinking about fucking your editor.
Nobody but you will care about what happens to your book once you sign that contract.
It sucks that he was right.
When Visual Chronicles and Journal Revolution came out, it was an odd time for us. While we had tremendous and overwhelming support from our readers, we had tremendously underwhelming support from our publisher. We planned our own marketing campaigns, set up our own book signing events, and responded to media requests on our own. Our publisher delighted in our best-selling status, yet they offered little help. We juggled many roles and while we loved meeting and interacting (and eating!) with our readers, we knew we needed to make some important business changes.
We needed a new publisher.
We needed to focus on what mattered.
We needed cookies while we worked.

Part 2: One thing was good

We started working on Meeting In The Ladies Room in a ladies room while were doing a press event for Journal Revolution. We gathered our friends (the secret keepers) to assist in this huge project and we got to work. A brand new adventure!
There were a million things to be done and deadlines to be met. We had photo shoots to schedule, interviews to conduct, designers to talk to, editors to please, plans to be made. People were counting on us and we were counting on people. Maria was assisting with photo shoots, Pam was doing photo shoots in Canada,  and setting up interviews and shoots (with Jake doing hair and Glamma doing makeup), and our friends and relatives were helping anywhere we needed it and everything was going along smoothly.
And then everything went all cancery.
Just as things were on a roll, the bones in Pam's foot started mysteriously breaking. She had aches and pains and an odd spot that needed to be biopsied. The doctors put her in a lovely boot as they spent several painful months testing her for what they thought might be cancer.
At the same time, Karen went in for her routine mammogram and was shocked when they didn't let her leave right away. After weeks of doctors appointments and horrendous tests, we learned that she had breast cancer. She would have surgery and daily radiation treatments.
And I was toothless. Sorry, I can't relive that without drooling on my keyboard.
Last year really sucked.
But one thing was good. We all had something to distract us, to look forward to. We all had one thing in mind: finishing what we started. We persevered. Instead of tossing our project that we were so passionate about on the back burner, we worked on it every chance we got (often in secret, when we were supposed to be resting). On cold nights with broken bones, swollen faces, and healing incisions, we sat up and plotted and planed. We photographed. We edited. We researched. We emailed. We laughed a lot. Sometimes, it took us longer to get things done than we hoped and sometimes just talking about the project was good enough to get us through a night when all else in life seemed uncertain or painful, or both. It was magical when things worked and funny when they didn't. It was art and it was healing and fun, and for a few hours a day we were focused on a project that brought us joy.
Luckily, Pam did not have cancer and her foot finally healed, Karen's cancer is now cured, and I have smile full of fake teeth. [Also, Pam was really bossy and she would not have let me not finish this book even if they'd had to amputate my head during the tooth implant thing. Bossy friends are the best.]

We are so thankful for all the support and love our friends have given us while we worked on our dream project, especially ~ Maria Hammon,  Marissa Bowers, Joey Wargachuk (They never got annoyed when we urgently needed help!)

We started it. We finished it. Nobody is dead.

There's one more major part to this story. It's coming.