The Glass Slipper | Lampwork by Sarah Hornik | A blog about glass, beads and everything in between
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The Glass Slipper

Things That Piss Me Off, Vol. #459,872


Because sometimes things are so unbelievably surreal that you find yourself sitting in your living room hours later, staring at the ceiling, wondering if it actually happened, or if it was just a bad dream.


I just got back from England yesterday morning. Today, I go to the bank to deposit £695 in cash. I get there at 6pm. The bank is open till 6:30 on Wednesdays.

I approach the woman who deals with foreign currencies, and politely ask if I can make a deposit. Kind of a rhetorical question, you know.

"Oh, I'm sorry", she says. "I was just locking up the safe."

The "safe" is a small metal box with a key, which she is turning as she is speaking to me.
"Uh, okay, maybe you could reopen it then?"

She smiles an idiotic smile. "But I really need to get home."

"I see, but opening hours are till 6:30, and it's 6 o' clock right now."

She sighs, mutters "okay" - and then, starts talking on the phone with someone. I sit there for five minutes, waiting patiently (living in Israel and all, you learn to expect this sort of thing), holding my cash and rolling my eyes. "What do you want to deposit?" she finally asks, when she has nothing better to do.

I hand her the money. "695 British Pounds".

She takes the pile of notes in two fingers and makes a face, as if I just handed her a pile of dead cockroaches. "What is this?" she asks. "We don't accept this."

"What do you mean you don't accept this? Those are British Pounds. You know, British Pounds? One of the major currencies of the world?"

"Let me make a call and ask", she says.

Are you freaking kidding me? This is not a new bank employee; I've been a customer of this bank for many years and I've seen her there many times before. She dials a number which is busy, so I have to sit there waiting another five minutes. When someone finally answers the phone, she says something like "do we accept... uh... British Pounds? Uh, I don't know what they are, they're these grimy little bills." She giggles.

"Grimy little bills? What are you talking about? Why are you saying that?" I start to get really annoyed. "Is there some problem with my money?"

She ignores me. My dear readers, let me assure you that my bills were completely average bills, not particularly "grimy" or anything like that. Just like the normal bills you have in your wallet. WTF?

When she gets off the phone, she tells me she will have to send the bills to the bank's main office to see if they can accept them, and that they will give me an answer in a few days.

Uh, I don't think so. "What is the problem?" I try to understand, again. "These are British Pounds. I don't see what the problem is. Why would you not accept them?"

"They're ripped", she says.

I notice that one of the 5-Pound notes has a small rip in it, maybe a centimeter long. "Fine, I will take that one back and you can deposit the rest."

"But they're all like that", she says.

"No, they aren't. It's just that one."

"Can't you just take them somewhere else?" She groans.

At this point, I truly cannot believe what I am hearing. "I am here, trying to deposit my money in your bank, and you are seriously asking me to take it somewhere else?"

She stares at me blankly. "Well, I have to ask the manager what to do." She takes my cash and starts walking to the manager's office. I decide to follow her, because this is getting to be the most ridiculous thing that has ever happened at any bank, anywhere.

She shows my cash to the manager. "Can we accept this currency?"

I interrupt the conversation. "Excuse me", I ask the manager, "does this bank have some kind of problem with British Pounds?"

"No, why would there be a problem?" He looks surprised.

"They're ripped", says the woman.

"I told you I would take the ripped one back and you can deposit the rest."

The manager takes one glance at the bills. "There is no problem", he says. The woman groans again as I follow her back to her desk. 

She begins counting the money. "Did you take the ripped one back?" she asks me.

"No, you still have it."

She can't find it in the pile. "You took it back."

"No, it was in your hands the whole time."

"No, you took it back."

This goes on for a while, until she finally finds it underneath everything and hands it back to me - no, no apology.

My money finally gets deposited, as if the bank is doing me a huge favor.
I think it is time to switch to a different bank. Or write a complaint letter, or something. Seriously, WTF?
Coming home to Israel, after spending some time in a country where people are civilized, is always so much fun.


My trip to the UK was fantastic, by the way. I will tell you about that soon, in a different post.


In the meantime, one more minor pisser-offer:
A photo of one of my focal beads from 2007 is in a big and glossy album of Israeli fashion, recently published: http://bit.ly/9X5E8x 
Would be pretty cool, besides the fact that the accompanying text reads "A colorful 3-D texture that was made of a creative combination of colors and beads in a brooch". Sigh.

E-BOOK SALE! 30% OFF!!!


This week only: All my E-books are 30% off!

You can find them on Etsy or on their individual web pages:

Prices are marked down. Sale ends Saturday, July 10, 2010.



In other news:

I'm preparing for Art in Action, working my ass off, totally stressing myself out and not having much time to breathe, let alone blog. So I'll tell you about that some other time.

But, in the midst of it all, I have some new beads to show you. I've been playing around with Double Helix 'Clio' this week, with some great results so far (and some not so great, but I'm not going to show you those). This collection of focals is now on eBay. Enjoy!




See you soon...


A New Class: Glass and Color!


I've got a new class on the menu! I've been planning a class about color in my head for a while, and I'm happy to finally get it out on the road.

Glass and Color is a two-day class, and I'll be teaching it for the first time at Diana East's Studio in Leicester next month. The dates are July 20-21. Please contact Diana for more info and registration. I hope to see you there!

(A couple of other possible locations are in the works for later in the year... stay tuned.)



NEW WORKSHOP:
Glass and Color


Level: Intermediate to Advanced


We all love color. We've all heard of color theory. But being glass artists, working in a miniature format like beads, we all know that things aren't always so simple. The different quirks of glass, such as its transparencies and reactive qualities, add a whole new and challenging dimension to the color wheel.
In this 2-day class, we will discuss the classic color wheel, check how it can translate into glass color and explore various methods of applying traditional color theory to our beads. We'll learn about various types of color combinations, color contrast and color harmony. What works well? What doesn't? And most importantly, why?



Since color is such a subjective thing, it's not all science. We will also explore different aspects of color, such as color association and symbolism. We'll use glass color as a means of personal expression, to create a unique miniature atmosphere in a bead. Fun and challenging exercises will expand your mind and your artist's palette, and hopefully inspire you to play around with new colors schemes you never thought of before.

Various techniques will be demonstrated throughout the class, such as color blending and layering, encasing, stringer control, raking and more. We'll learn to create some of my most recent styles – ribbon beads, “butterfly” beads and freestyle focals. Students' requests are welcome!




Wordless Wednesday: Birds I Met in Canberra



Galahs



Magpie



Galah



Crimson Rosella



A Family of Swans



Cockatoo



Cockatoo



Galah



Cockatoos at Tidbinbilla



Emus at Tidbinbilla



Pelicans at Tidbinbilla



Crimson Rosella



Black Swans in Canberra



Sunset over Canberra



Red-rumped Parrots



Robin at Tidbinbilla



Black Swans in Canberra


More Short Stories




Angelic


Looking Up


Where To Begin


Rising Tide


Journey Into Night



The Placebo Effect


> > > > > > > > One more day for my weekend SALE on Etsy! < < < < < < <
Buy any 2 items, get one FREE! E-books included!

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It's strange how two rock concerts - one that happened, and one that didn't - can have such a profound effect on you. I feel like I'm seeing myself and the world a bit differently. It's hard to put a finger on what it is. It's just there.

On one hand, it feels kind of silly. It's not like rock concerts matter that much in the grand scheme of things.
But then again, neither do beads, really.

On the other hand, art is important. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't important. I'm feeling inspired, and it's good to feel inspired, for whatever reason.

Anyway. Enough meaningless babble for today.

I can't remember if it was in Australia or in New Zealand, but at some point I was telling a couple of students about how my mood can affect my style and color choices, and I said something along the lines of "if I'm making organics, it means that I'm bored".

I don't know why I said that. It was a dumb thing to say.

Sure, sometimes when I'm feeling bored and uninspired I'll just sit at the torch swirling random stuff together and hoping for the best. It's hard to go wrong with organics. But sometimes my organics come from a different place. I hadn't been much into organics in a long time - before I left for Australia I was even saying things like "I've come to the conclusion that organics are just not me and I don't think I want to make them anymore".

These past few days I've been working on a series that I'm calling 'Short Stories', and I've been anything but bored. I'm quite proud of them, actually. I feel that each one is very expressive in its own right - I hope you can see that - and I'm kind of attached to them all.

These beads are up on eBay at the moment. This isn't the whole series - you can see more on Facebook or Flickr. I'll be posting more during the week.



Start A Fire


Breathe Underwater


Memory


Affair of the Heart


Jump Into Forever


Sound of Silence


Another Dawn


New Tomorrow


Never-Ending Why



Long Weekend SALE on Etsy!




I'm having a long weekend sale on Etsy: BUY TWO, GET ONE FREE!

The sale is for ALL ITEMS in my shop - jewelry and e-books included!

This sale is from now till Sunday, June 13 2010, at midnight (Israel time)! Don't miss your chance to stock up.


To get your freebie:

1. Choose any 3 items from my Etsy shop, add them to your cart, checkout as usual and pay through Paypal.

2. After payment is recieved, I will send you a refund through Paypal for the lesser priced item of the three. Please allow up to 12 hours for the refund (although it will probably be much sooner).

3. There are no quantity limits - if you buy 4 items, you get 2 freebies, 6 will give you 3, etc. If you buy 4 or more, I will throw in free shipping!


Enjoy!



Quickies


  • I think I've asked this before, but it was a while ago. Does anyone who reads my blog happen to be a secret millionaire who finds me charming and is waiting for the right moment to give me lots of money? 'Cause seriously, now would be the time.
  • I'm not sure if the huge-post-about-Australia-and-New-Zealand thing is going to happen. I feel really guilty about that, but things are just too depressing at the moment. I had such a great time, saw beautiful places and met some amazing people. It was great. It feels like it was a million years ago. Well, considering the time it took me to fly home, it almost was a million years ago. Anyway, here are some photos if anyone's interested.
  • Am I being boycotted because I'm from Israel? Just wondering.
  • I miss New Zealand.
  • On the bright side, a class in the UK is coming up. More info coming soon.

25 Perfectly Logical Reasons Why You Should Buy a Bead Today





1. Beads are cool.



2. Beads make you happy.



3. You really deserve a little happiness today.



4. Beads are colorful and you like color. Color is good. What would life be without color?



5. You haven't bought one in a while. (Hey, everything's relative.)



6. It's Tuesday.



7. It's summer.



8. Okay, if you're in the southern hemisphere, it's winter. Good a reason as any!



9. You like receiving packages in the mail.



10. I am very persuasive.



11. Your bead collection isn't nearly large enough.



12. Just face it, you're addicted to beads and you will never recover.



13. And why would you want to recover from such a wonderful addiction?



14. You're dying to make some new jewelry.



15. You need a new necklace to match that top.



16. Beads have holes in them. (How else could you string them?)



17. What if someone else buys all the beads in the world tomorrow? Hey, it could happen. You should really buy one today.



18. This post is making you laugh.



19. You kind of like me, even when I'm whining and moaning about stuff.



20. You want me to be able to pay my rent, so I can whine, moan, make you laugh and make more beads.



21. You're all about the Handmade Revolution.



22. You're in the mood to buy a bead.



23. You are getting sleeeeeeepy...



24. You just can't stop yourself.



25. You don't really need a reason, do you?


What's that?
You think you want to buy a bead. you say?
Oh, that's great!


An Open Letter to Placebo and The Pixies


I don't write about politics. In general, I try to avoid discussing politics as much as possible. I dislike politics. I don't like the obsessive "us and them" mentality it seems to cause. It is difficult for me to see things in black or white, as it seems most people can easily do. I can usually see both sides of a situation, and I find it hard to determine who is right and who is wrong. Just so we're clear, I'm not referring to social issues; I can see clear rights and wrongs there. Any couple who wants to get married should be able to, women should have a right to choose what to do with their bodies and marijuana should be legalized. You get the general drift of things. But when it comes to political parties and politicians, wars and borders, sometimes it seems that everyone's right but everyone's wrong. I don't want anyone to be killed, no matter what country they live in or what they believe in. I don't know if there's a way for no one to ever be killed. I'm all for "live and let live" and "why can't we all just get along?" I don't want to have to fight for anything; I just want to live my life like a normal person. I tend to think that's what most people want, basically. Why can't things just be like that?

This post isn't political. It's personal.


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Dear, Dear Placebo,

Thank you so much for the awesome concert last night. Thank you for not giving in to political pressure and for playing music for music's sake, and for the sake of your fans. Thanks for understanding how much it would mean to us. Thank you for getting up on stage and giving a performance I'm sure many will remember for the rest of their lives. You don't know me, but I was there in the audience, so excited to finally see you live, almost like a mindless groupie. I was stuck standing behind a guy who must be the tallest Placebo fan on the face of the planet and I'm not a very jumpy person, so you probably didn't see me. But I was so happy to be there. I really wanted you to know that.

You see, I've been a fan of your music for so long. I started listening when I was in high school and loved it. Then, for a while, I was telling myself that I needed to "outgrow" the music I used to like in high school, so I took a long break. But a few years ago, when I started making glass beads for a living, I also came to some sort of weird realization that I should just listen to whatever I wanted to listen to and not care what anyone I know, or used to know, might think, so I started listening to Placebo again. I always have my iPod on while I'm working at the torch. I'd say that about 50% of all my beads were made while I was listening to Placebo. I can't put my finger on why; it's just the music that speaks to me most, whether I'm feeling happy or sad, inspired or creatively blocked. (So, NOW do I sound like a mindless groupie?)

I have been lucky to travel to a bunch of different countries around the world over the past few years. Whenever I'm going anywhere, I always check the gig schedule on your website to see if maybe I could catch you in concert somewhere. We've never been in the same place at the same time. So, you can imagine my excitement when I learned you were finally going to give a concert right here in Tel Aviv. And you did not disappoint. It was the kind of concert that fills you with energy and inspires you to do something, something big, even if you're not sure what that something is yet. The only thing disappointing about yesterday's concert was that it had to end. When are you coming back? I want to go to another one. Do you have any plans for this Wednesday?

After the concert, for a few moments I was naive enough to think I could find a taxi home. That wasn't really happening, so I waited for the bus, but a few of those went by and there was no room on them because of all the other fans. So I thought maybe I'd walk, but it's really a bit too far to walk, so I waited for a taxi again... in short, it took me a long time to get home. I didn't mind; I had a lot to think about. One of my main thoughts was that it's too bad that The Pixies' concert was going to be in just a few days - I was sure their concert was going to be great, but there was really nothing that could top last night, not even The Pixies. I guess I'm just too emotionally invested in Placebo. Alternative rock is like that; it's emotional. It's personal. It gets deep inside you. Which brings us to my second letter.

But first, let me thank you again. Please come back soon. Okay?

Love,
Sarah the Mindless Groupie


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Dear The Pixies,

First of all, let me start by apologizing for the Israeli Facebook population. I've been following your fan page all day long, and feeling ashamed and horrified at all the stupid things people are saying. If you actually read your Facebook page, you're probably thinking to yourselves, "well, it's a good thing we cancelled our visit to THAT country, who would want to go THERE?" I hope you understand that your loyal fans - the ones who were willing to pay over $100 to see you live, even in such difficult economic times - are just extremely disappointed by your decision. We're not all like that, I swear. Some of us are just normal people who really, really wanted to see The Pixies live. If you wanted to see what an ecstatically happy and incredibly appreciative crowd of Israelis looks like, you should have come to Placebo's gig last night - they were awesome.

You don't know me either, so I'll just tell you a little bit about my love affair with you. You were another one of those bands I started listening to in high school. The first band, really. Okay, not exactly the first, but the first in a new musical journey for me. You see, when I was a teenager I used to hang out with the extreme heavy metal people - I didn't really fit in anywhere else. I liked the people a lot, but I never really liked the extreme heavy metal. It was just noise and it gave me a headache. One day, my boyfriend at the time suggested I try listening to The Pixies; he thought I might like you. I did. I loved you. You were my new thing. I'd buy your CDs whenever I could afford to. Doolittle was the first, soon to be followed by others. I still have them all, even though I don't listen to CDs anymore. I was so happy to find a kind of music I could really relate to, that was even accepted as "cool" by my heavy metal friends.

I've always listened to The Pixies; I don't remember ever stopping. I had no hopes of seeing you in concert at first, because you were broken up at the time, but then you got back together, so I thought maybe someday... 

Back in January, I was browsing around on Facebook when I suddenly saw an ad for your concert in Tel Aviv. I was so excited. I couldn't really afford the ticket, but I bought it two minutes later anyway. These days, I can't say there are many musicians I love with a passion, but if I see one of their names with the words "Gig in Tel Aviv!" next to it, I'm fucking going to be there. Pissing off the bank is a small price to pay; they already hate me anyway, so whatever. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. And I've been looking forward to that gig ever since. I just spent a wonderful month in Australia and New Zealand, dreading the day when that would be over, but knowing that at least I'd get to see The Pixies in concert shortly after I got home.

And then Placebo came - I learned about their concert much later - and it was awesome and I was sad that it was over. But once again, I kept reminding myself that in a few days I'd get to see The Pixies, which would be at least almost as good.

Then, this morning, I read about your decision to call off the concert. I can't say it was a huge surprise or anything - artists cancelling their visits to Israel is quite trendy these days; I don't have to tell you why. (Let me just say that this made Placebo's decision not to let us down even more exciting.) At first, I was really pissed off, sort of feeling the "well, fuck them then" attitude, like everybody else. Now, I'm just sad and frustrated. Living in the country everybody loves to hate really sucks sometimes. I didn't choose this; I don't want to be hated because of where I live. I didn't kill anyone. I don't condone anyone being killed; I'm one of those people who tends to believe there must be some better way of solving things. If cancelling your show was going to save someone's life, I'd say, go for it, of course. If it was going to have some sort of political impact, and you felt the need to have political impact, I'd begrudgingly say, go for it. I wouldn't like it, but I'd understand.

But who is really getting punished here? It's not the Israeli government - they couldn't care less, trust me. I doubt many of its members have any idea who you are, beyond "yet another band that cancelled its show here but we have more important things to worry about". You made the decision to make a political statement by punishing your fans. A bunch of alternative rock enthusiasts, no less. The people who have been listening to your music for 20 years, patiently waiting for you to show up in this country. How could you not care about us? Don't tell me not to take it personally. This IS personal. Listening to your music, or any music, for me, is personal. Like I said earlier, there is something about alternative rock that makes it even more personal. I just wanted you to know how I feel.

If you wanted to make a statement, why couldn't you make it on stage? Trust me, we would have listened. Same way we listened to many others - take Roger Waters, for instance. There are plenty of different ways to make a statement without letting your devoted fans down. You could have chosen a different way and made a real impact.

Some people are going to say, "Don't you have anything more important to worry about than a stupid band's performance? Don't you care about people getting killed, about your country's security, or lack thereof, about politics and wars and politicians and soldiers?" Yeah, I do, I do care on some level. I don't want anyone to get killed. I just want everyone to get along. I have no control over these things. I just wanted to see The Pixies.

Maybe I'll have another chance to see you, someday. It probably won't be close to home, even if things ever get calmer in this area (yeah right) - judging by people's reaction, I don't know if they'd pay for tickets again, or if you'd ever consider coming here again. I don't know if I still want to see you, really. I'm hurt. Personally. I need to think about that for a while. 

Not loving you so much at the moment - but anyway, thank you for your music and for meaning something to me in my life.

Sarah


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Now, what are the chances of any of the above actually reading my blog? Pretty slim, I guess. Today is The Glass Slipper's 4th birthday, and at this point I'm not sure if anyone reads it anymore, let alone legendary rock stars. Everyone's too busy on Facebook all the time. But anyway, I'm still here, and I'll probably be here for a while. I felt like I really needed to say something.