item #10: a Neil Gaiman mug

I am a mug collector. I admit it.

I also admit I am fairly picky about what vessel I use for my hot beverages.

My favorite combo is dark on the outside and light on the inside, I believe it's so i can see if the mug is dirty or not. This one fills the bill perfectly, as my other condition is that it is big enough for my required quantity of said hot liquid.

We made these up for Christmas gifts this year and I have a few left over. This is a part of my "swallowing diamonds" project, of getting one thing a day out of the treehouse. So far, so good!

If this one does well, we may add it to the Neverwear line. Click here for the link to our ebay auction.

It's a quote from Neil Gaiman's amazing University of the Arts commencement speech from May 2012, which is up on line HERE.

In his speech, he advises that no matter what happens, make art out of the situation. And in making art, when mistakes are made, all the better. He describes a moment when he misspelled "Caroline" while typing, and that's how he came up with the title of his wonderful "CORALINE" book.

In fact, I made a conscious "*mistake" on this mug, as i couldn't fit the actual quote from NG, too many letters for the printer to wrap, so had to improvise, as much as I don't like to do that, I believe it contains the essence of his brilliant message, which is to take chances and be unafraid to do so.

to quote Queen:

"...and bad mistakes, I've made a few..."

This little reminder while I drink my morning tea makes me present and accountable. ( *editor's note: mug also works really well for coffee, but I have never seen Mr. Gaiman drink the stuff. He's a British tea man, more often he drinks green tea these days)

*I will throw in some chocolate dragon coins to sweeten the deal. they come in this little golden pouch which will be nestled in your new mug:

any questions, put them to me. The Ebay auction is for world-wide shipping, sorry that it costs so much to ship outside of the US, but them's the breaks, kids. I shipped one of these mugs as a present to friends over the seas and it cost 16+ bucks!

meanwhile, SPIDERMAN auction has four hours left! lots of watchers, no bids, so go get it!

I am one of the ebay good guys. Save my seller name: Kitty9thlife as there will be glorious, amazing mistakes ahead.

meanwhile, now I am off to LAX to pick up a friend (believe me, that's a favor in this town) and when I return, I will post the OCEAN card winners, and did I ever post the Linkin Park hat winner? ayyyyyyyyyy!

and it's over here too...

The last few days were whirlwind packing and sorting at Neil's beautiful Cambridge house. I flew out to help him finalize the move out of Boston. Here is a link to Neil's blogpost on the move.

I loved handling all the beautiful books there... dreamy.

Also got to enjoy some wintertime while in the east, man, I miss the change of seasons.

Walked through snowy graveyards and found some mystery skeleton keys hidden up in a closet near Neil's office:

We were so busy that I got a little behind on posting items, so Neil offered up two of these magnificent postcards showing the British version of the OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE cover.

He signed both of them on the backs, and I am giving them away to two of you lovely readers.

How to win? Send me your favorite quote from OCEAN! email to: neverwear@gaiman.net

announcing the winner of the Sailor Jerry lighter, i loved all the tattoos, but this one was my most favorite:

a quote from GRAVEYARD BOOK, etched forever at her side, miss Ali from Kentucky. She's planning a whole literary sleeve. Ali, message me a good mailing address for your lighter and keep us posted on that sleeve--

send me some quotes to win a postcard, I'll pick my two winners and tomorrow will be something new to get out of the house.

last but not least, there are 47 minutes left on my bead lot over on ebay, I shall pack their tiny suitcases and print out their miniature boarding passes, it's time to send them out into the world!

happy to be home.

RIP Tool backpack

we got these Tool backpacks as tour swag in 2007 from the good people of Eighth Day Sound. I have NEVER had a better back pack.

not ever.

Sadly, he made his final voyage with me in a few days ago-his tombstone will read 2007-2014.

it's the second time I have replaced the zipper on one of the pockets.

BUT SO MANY POCKETS.

It is now is going off to live with my friend, Jordan. I had to give him first dibs, because of his great love for all things TOOL. (carved dragon from Mexico not included...)

that tour was one of the highlights of my road career, every night better than the last.

stay tuned for tomorrow's thing. and also i got SLAMMED w/item #6 photos, so still lighter-deciding, but will know soon.

it's busy over here packing up the boss. i did take a break to walk in a snowy graveyard though.

goodnight, all.

item #6 in the swallowing diamonds project: FREE LIGHTER

Oh, tattoos and I, we go way back.

They represent the perfect little filter on who's judging solely on outer layers...

a favorite quote from my sweet Dad, when he started seeing tattoos pop up on me:

I'm going to hold you by your ear and dip you in bleach.

He has since settled down, and he sees them for what they are. A means to make me happy and to protect me at the same time. How can that be a negative?

for years, in my kitten hood, i worked tattoo conventions, and so maybe I have more art than the average cat. it still cracks me up when people say things like, but what will you do when you get older? Newsflash, friends, who really cares!

I love to read the historical accounts of the ancient rituals of tattooing around the world. Only for those that can commit, my friends.

Anyway, to my point. This blog/project was meant to do two things at once. 1. get things moving out of the treehouse and into the world, to the people that may appreciate them. 2. to keep me writing a little bit every day, a discipline.

True, I will be spending quite a bit on postage, but it's an exercise and a resolution. Like I said, discipline, baby.

offered here:

a lighter that you need to add butane to, adorned with a design by Sailor Jerry, one of the premier brights in tattoo history.

i am not sure who is getting the royalty on his art, if it's still in his family, I didn't buy this lighter, it was given to me, on the Tool tour of 2007, by who, I do not recall. Thanks, person! I don't smoke, and Drew is trying to quit, so fire starters of the world, this is for you.

To take this off my hands, send me pictures of your favorite tattoo here: furrytiger@gmail.com

It doesn't have to be your tattoo, but that will be considered extra points.

No need to send me giant files, those just break the code of internet conduct. 100KB or so, that's just fine. This is open to worldwide shipping, so get busy. I will close this contest tomorrow at midnight EST.

Drew and I dreamed up all kinds of fun ways to get these things out into the world, modern geocaching. Stay tuned, and feel free to give me your ideas. I still haven't ironed out all the kinks. WORK IN PROGRESS.

ps. Adrianne Hill, who won the Linkin Park hat, you have a week to get me your address or it goes to the second runner up. you can message me: furrytiger@gmail.com

here is me getting a tattoo by the ever-accurate Craig Jackman of American Electric in LA.

good night from Boston.

ps. FYI, I will slowly be moving all the posts to the swallowing diamonds blog. Just posting a few here on furrytiger and on neverwear. Until people add me to whatever it is you add me to--

day #3 of my swallowing diamonds project, SPIDERMAN.

Oh Spidey, how we love ye.

This is a vintage style tee with mister Peter Parker, web slinging on the front, with stars on the 3/4 length sleeves- it's white, even though the photo makes it look a little pink, it's DEFINITELY not though. meh, pink. no.

Since no size is listed on the shirt, it looks to be a unisex size small-- can stretch to maybe medium, but it's fitted for certain.

man, i wish this fit me, i bought it while on tour in Canada, and it never really fit me, so sad...

Also with this shirt, I throw in one of my glass comic book magnets, where Spiderman is speculating about the mighty X-men.

I started making these tiny art pieces when I lost a bunch of comics in a flood and couldn't throw them all away. I dried them out and saved a few of my favorite panels. Now people are sending me their damaged comics, i love giving the panels new life. I am making Escape Pod Comics a batch of these magnets to sell. They are also selling at the lovely Rickert and Beagle Books in Pittsburgh. woOOOooooOOOoo!

CLICK FOR EBAY LINK HERE and tomorrow will be a free giveaway thing, hmmmm... how should i do that? tune in tomorrow, we will all find out.

Sorry to say that I am not shipping overseas on these auctions, as i can't replace the item if it goes missing in the post. Let me know if there are any questions. enjoy! Cat

Bead-crazy...

day 2 of my swallowing diamonds project:

I put myself through college by making jewelry, thank goodness I have no student loans!

The upshot is that I have LOADS of beads to get rid of, as I just don't have time to make the jewels so much these days.

From my travels, I have picked up charms and beads at flea markets, vintage shops, thrift shops, the world wide. Some pieces I can't recall where I got, but I have made a little list to describe as best as I can.

1 x faux amber circle charm

1 x faux amber bead bracelet

1 x carved horn pendant (India)

2 x vintage glass ball beads (1950’s)

1 x silver perfume holder charm on chain

2 x star fimo beads

1 x cameo charm

1 x metal skull charm

1 x carved bone skull bead

2 x rose quartz heart beads

1 x set of bindi stickers in round tin (India)

1 x faceted citrine bead

1 x jasper bead

1 x labrodrite bead

8 x small crystals with hole drilled in top for stringing

1 x lapis lazuli pendant (India)

2 x vintage clear glass chunky beads (Africa)

7 x letter beads

2 x handpulled red/gold glass beads (Africa?)

1 x Swarvoski blue crystal pendant (Austria)

11 x asst. Swarovski crystal beads (Austria)

9 x faceted grey smoke glass beads (Czech)

2 x carved wood pendants (China)

1 x brass anhk/star/moon charm

1 x bag of hematite grey glass beads (Japan)

1 x bag of butterfly wing iridescent glass seed beads (Japan)

1 x marcasite star pendant (I don't think this is from Tiffany's! but it came in this pouch)

12 x small goldtone apple charms

1 x bag of goldtone spacer beads

1 x bag of pearlescent white star beads

1 x fairy charm

1 x glass glob pendant

as always, the auction starts at 99 cents. sorry, no overseas shipping, as I can't replace if it gets lost in the post.

CLICK HERE FOR THE EBAY LINK!

item #1 is posted in my Swallowing Diamonds project.

It's time to clean out the treehouse, selling/giving away/re-homing one thing a day for all of 2014.

First up is a tee from the Motley Crue tour 2005 Carnival of Sins. THIS ITEM WAS NEVER AVAILABLE FOR SALE.

This tee was swag from the tour catering company, now no longer in business, Culinary Underground. It is a men's small 100% cotton American Apparel tank tee, some call 'em wife beaters, but meh, no beating, 'kay guys? The front has the company logo, and the back has the company name and the tour below. Only a small amount of these were made. Man, i wish this fit me still. Time to let it go!

Click HERE for the EBAY LINK

We had so much fun on this 2005 Carnival of Sins tour, the stories...oh my. Made some friends for life on that run. One of the best tours ever...

ps. I haven't exactly figured out best way to do this, but watch this space.

NEW KITTIES!

i know this is my tour blog, but sometimes we need to break a rule, or seven.

for years, Drew has been scouring the petfinder ads, he wanted a kitten. Not just any kitten. a Maine Coon kitten!

apparently NO ONE gives up their Maine Coons. and now I know why.

This breed is the most even-tempered affectionate cat I have ever met. and soooo beautiful.

Our friends Breck & Laura introduced us to their two super-giant cats, and gave us the information on where they got them. We drove out this week to meet Alex, and to meet our little guy, who we pre-named Jonesy, as the only cat survivor in ALIEN. Smart lady, she had ALL NINE kittens out. Of course, we went bonkers, and adopted RIPLEY to go space-exploring with Jonesy.

here is the first photo she sent of the litter of babies.

COME ON! look at those faces....

One of the conditions of adoption, is to adhere to a raw meaty bones diet, which we started with Batman & Selina Kyle. They have taken to it, completely and totally. To see them like tiny tigers, gnawing on their meat, as nature equipped them with the scissor-like back teeth.

We also got different cat litter, the pine pellets. Much cheaper and now there is a line at the cat box-- they love it!

so we finally met the kittens and here is Drew holding Jonesy:

here is their cousin Gatling, who is an 8-month old boy who is still growing. Ripley is sitting on his tail and Jonesy is lying down behind him, all pooped out from playing.

and here is the sweet girl kitten, such a loud purr machine.

we are transitioning the house and the other 2 cats for the royal twins arrival, the adventures are just beginning....

Japan, i am in love with you...

this has been the year of travel...

The year started in Boston & Minneapolis with Neil, helping out on the Calendar of Tales project. It is finished now & you can download it HERE.

it's already June (can't quite believe that!) and i have been from the shark tanks of Australia to the soccer heart of Brazil, to the SXSW, Lollapolooza & Coachella festivals, but last week I got back from my first trip to Tokyo.

It's the first time i felt a magic home in such a foreign environment.

was working the Japanese dates of Ozzfest, for Slipknot, we shared the first night with Slash. Great music in the production office! it poured rain, but we were inside, so wet gear wasn't an issue. The TOOL crew loaded in the night we played so I got to see many of my favorite tour buddies-- a roadie reunion.

here our DJ tech models one of the Japanese record needles I had the runner find:

Shopping in the Shibuya district was exciting on so many levels, everything old was new again. little happy teeth scratchers!

My translator Yoshie took us to a shop called Toyku Hands, which is 7 floors w/three levels each, stocked full of EVERYTHING, one whole floor of watches, one whole floor of make-up I have never heard of or imagined. here is a shot from the fabric area:

going to the little mini-markets for breakfast, i found that they make their hard boiled eggs EXACTLY my style, a little underdone, the seven minute timer I do. Egg in a box! All the food was just what I like...

my cabbie drives past Toyko Tower:

there was a currency exchange machine in the lobby of our hotel, so i flipped some of my unused Australian dollars-- you just pop them in and out comes yen moneys. While I was there, conversion was easy, it was about one to one.

Such pretty cash, and I asked who were the people on the bills-- answer: novelists, artists, teachers...very civilized.

I have about a billion photos, but still have loads of prep to do before i push off this week to the UK, for the Castle Donington date of Download Festival, and a week in London. Cannot wait to put some pounds sterling into my wallet-- here is a shot of the shrapnel in my backpack from my trips.

the only time I will ride a tour bus this year is with my author boss, here is our tour schedule for his upcoming THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE last signing tour: CLICK FOR DATES. hope to see some of you out there!

AUSTRALIA!!

Life is moving at warp speed, I have to say, I am enjoying the mileage piling up on my frequent flier accounts. Flew alllllll the way to Australia, in support of two bands, both headed by my much-beloved boss, Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, both playing mostly different days, but on two wild occasions, playing on different stages at the same festival...a mad dash, and all done with grace under pressure. I have been working for different versions of all of MJK's bands since 2001-- never a dull moment.

We landed in Brisbane and had most of a day to ourselves before the first round, so I wandered the city and helped our production mgr Kahuna celebrate his birthday.

For the Soundwave Festival, the Australians assign a liaison to the bigger acts, we all got bag tags with BT on them, for our fantastic guide to all things Aus, Ben Turner. He runs the Enmore Theatre in Sydney which I fell in love with. (I see AFP is playing there in Sept, hope she gives Ben a big ol' kiss from me..

here's the Enmore lobby:

can you see the Sydney Opera House behind me? my runner Maria had a better time of keeping her hair out of her face in the wind.

I walked all around downtown Sydney, and took a break in the cools of the Aquarium. I am spoiled by the brilliant Baltimore aquarium, so I was slowly kicking my way through the beginning, until I got to the tunnels where you walk under sharks and stingrays and manatees and all manner of swimming creatures. I stayed transfixed for hours.

i took so many photos, but I will only post a couple, just know, it was a life-long dream to be that close to walking under the sea.

look at this crowd (behind our drummer, Mr. Friedl):

(photo by Joe Paul)

we had a night off in Sydney. Sarafina, our friend who moved from LA to Aus a few years back came and met me, and I told her I wanted to go to the world-famous AC/DC Cherry Bar. SHe agreed, with the caveat that it's a touristy place but that our laminates will get us in front of line. Before, heading to Cherry, we went to the Lucero show at the Palace, courtesy of Ali, and it was such a gorgeous bit of the Deep South down undah.

Sarah at our hotel bar!

the seats at Cherry:

It wasn't crowded at first, but then I started seeing all the security guys roll in.... the whole trip was constant roadie reunions, the band & crews of Garbage, Slayer, Tomahawk, Metallica, Blink etc all meeting up, I saw friends I hadn't seen in ages.

our TM with actual Roadies chips...

we had a ferris wheel in catering in Perth--(Joe Paul & Billy H.)

Allers and John Laff load out the Blink camp, just after I got back from seeing Ghost on the faraway stage:

Someone told me that Australia was like America 25 years ago in many things but prices (man, was it expensive) shopping in Australia, I found great magical things:

American metal in Aus!

we had a half day off in lovely Adelaide, I was sad to leave there:

flying over Perth, look at the difference:

What a trip--

I was home for a few days, before I was called to SXSW, for a quick meeting with Neil, that blog will be detailed over HERE on the Neverwear blog.

On Wednesday i fly to Brazil, and we do the rounds of Lollapolooza, which I can't spell... stay tuned!