Rae Nudson

the hunter: a parker novel

The beginning of The Hunter by Richard Stark (kindle here) is like nothing I’ve seen before.

Its short sentences, active voice, and powerful verbs carry you with it like a current you can’t escape. Not that you’d want to. You’re right there in the action, and you don’t know who this large, scary guy is or why he’s doing these large, scary things–but you don’t need to know. You just need to know what happens next.

(Anyone interested in action writing or short writing or plain old good writing should take a look.)

Eventually Parker–the large scary man–clues us in on his back story. At least enough to know why he’s mad at Lynn, his beautiful wife. And why he’s murderously angry at Mal, a crook who stole from a crook.

The Hunter continues to tell a sharp, fun mob story with one anti-hero Parker solely focused on revenge. Parker is a criminal, but not the organized kind. In fact, he’s picked a fight with the mob–and he’s better at fighting than them.

It never matches the urgency of its beginning, but I had fun throughout. If you’re looking for a quick crime read, you’ve found it. And it’s the first of a series, so there’s several more stories to tell. You know I love a good detective novel, and this crime series is satisfying in the same way: entertaining, a little gritty, and action packed.

project life: august

For what seemed like a busy summer, I wasn’t always good at documenting what was happening. I didn’t have very many pictures for August, but I still like how it came out. I added an insert to include my post about the Breaking Bad event I went to, and I added a lot of pictures of projects I worked on that month.

I included my Lying Cat embroidery with the tweet from Fiona Staples, the artist who draws Lying Cat. I also added my favorite outfit from the month and the cover of a book I read. I like adding the covers of books here and there to my spreads, I’ve done it in the past as well.

For the right page, I included my knitting and Breaking Bad embroidery, along with a few pictures from outings with friends. I feel like this summer I struggled with keeping up with picture taking while I was out and about. I think project life still turned out well, but this month I’ll focus more on that.

You can see my other project life updates here:

month in review: september

September is over! It’s time for sweaters and scarves and Halloween. September was another fun month with one of the most fun weekends of the year when I got to see my best friend walk down the isle. The top-viewed posts in September were:

welcome picnic and what i wore. I got a lot of wear out of my fun new pants.
baby blanket progress (a note to baby girl). A note to my niece on a very sad day.
snapshots: wedding weekend. The best weekend!
how to write short: word craft for fast times. Author Roy Peter Clark commented on my post about his book! So cool.
new outfit: casual. Some days it’s best to be casual.

This month I also completed one of my favorite projects I’ve ever done, a comic book inspired sweatshirt. I also got a haircut.

Some snapshots from the month:

i am the one who knocks (embroidery no. 15)

Well, guys. Today’s the day. The series finale of Breaking Bad. Today we’ll say goodbye–and good riddance–to The One Who Knocks. (See an embroidered version of him here.)

I have never enjoyed a TV show more than Breaking Bad, but my emotions can’t take any more of this. These last few episodes have been nonstop intensity, and the following week is nonstop discussions, and my brain is nonstop fried.

But what a ride, right? It’s been blast. I’m so excited to see the end, but I’m sad for it to be over. I am also worried for the mental health of us, as a group. Will there be a giant sigh of relief tonight? Or stunned silence?

I used green and brown to reflect the colors in the Breaking Bad credits. They are also reminiscent of the desert dirt in New Mexico. When Walt yelled at Skylar that he is the one who knocks, it was an iconic moment in television. We had a new phrase for evil, a new kind of bad guy. And I expect tonight’s episode will be a new kind of send-off–a finale that takes us to depths we haven’t seen before. I can’t wait.

I am working on a project to sew some of my favorite quotes and images from books (and TV). You can see the other quotes in my embroidery project here:

new outfit: blue stripes

We get dressed every day. It can get pretty boring after a while. Sometimes, to shake me out of a rut, I try to think of a new way to wear some of my favorite pieces.

I’ve worn all of these things before, just not all at the same time. But I love the way the teal skirt goes with the thin blue stripes on my top. And the pink heels just tops it off nicely. Shoes from Zara, skirt and top from the Loft.

superhero sweatshirt

It’s no secret that comic books are my new favorite thing. But I fell in love with some comic-book-inspired Philip Lim sweaters last year, before I read my first one. They are cheeky and cool–and just fun, right?

Unfortunately the real deal was over my budget. Philip Lim did come out with a Target collaboration recently, but it was sold out at my Target.

So I made my own.

I started with a beautiful gray crew neck from the boys section at Target.

Then I designed my own version of ka-pow on InDesign. I printed my stencil and used it to cut out felt, which I then arranged and sewed onto my sweatshirt. I like using felt for a lot of projects because it’s sturdy and pretty–but most of all because the edges are finished and that saves a few steps for me.

I used top stitching to secure the letters. I could have hand sewn it and made it a lot more perfect, but I wanted the speed that came with my sewing machine. I’m considering my imperfect lettering as part of the comic book charm.

This whole project took me one afternoon–I felt like a crafty superhero.

project life: wedding

Since I can’t stop talking about the wedding even a week later, I was stoked to work on some project life pages over the weekend.

I used mostly pictures from the actual day of the wedding. It was easy to create a color scheme that way since there was a lot of white and black.

My favorite part of these pages is my instagram picture grid! The bride and groom had an instagram tag for their wedding, and it was a blast to check everyone’s pictures. So I printed some out and put them into a 20-coin protector page. I love it. I have a few little hearts I might put in the blank squares, but I also like it as it is.

I also caught up on August and September project life pages, which I’ll share later. You can see my other project life updates here:

the sandman (vol. 1)

Graphic novels are my new favorite things. I guess it helps that I’m starting with some of the best–maybe it’s all downhill from here.

After reading and loving Saga (a new issue came out yesterday, get on it!), I dove into Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman on numerous recommendations for it. And, surprise surprise, I’m into this one, too.

Right now it reminds me a lot of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. The Sandman himself seems a lot like Roland. I’m not sure if I like the Sandman yet, and it took me a long time to warm up to Roland, too. But both worlds are so rich, and all the character so interesting, that I’ll follow the Sandman wherever he wants to go.

And go he does. Through worlds and dreams and people’s minds, we learn more about the rich universe Gaiman created. The Sandman, or Morpheus or Dream or the other many names he goes by, has been around a long time. He’s an immortal who rules the realm of dreams. His siblings are responsible for other kingdoms, and though I’ve heard of Desire and Despair, I’ve only met Dream and Death.

(Death is pretty fun. She’s spunky and charming and I’d like to hang out with her and the rest of the siblings a little more.)

The Sandman’s story starts out when he is imprisoned by humans looking to steal his power. But Dream has all the time in the world and waits for his chance to escape. As he waits, his dream world falls apart. When he breaks out, his journey to put his realm and himself back together are just beginning.

So far we’ve met Cain and Abel in a twisted but sometimes hilarious story (please check this out just to see their baby gargoyle–it kills me when adorable things appear in comic books). Dream has dueled a demon in an escalating and awesome battle that reminds me of Roland and his ka-tet’s riddle competition with Blane the Mono. Familiar DC Comic faces like the Scarecrow appear as minor characters. There are horror stories and funny stories and human stories and demon stories. And if this is where we start, I can’t wait to see where we end up.

(A word of warning, some images are definitely not ok for children or subway riding when someone is looking over your shoulder. But the art is great, too.)

wedding present: embroidered hand towels

I spent a while looking for some cute hand towels for a wedding present for my friend Jewels who loves to cook. And then I remembered that I like embroidering things.

So I got some white hand towels and got to embroidering. I made three in different colors, so they can mix and match with their kitchen. Hopefully the new Mr. and Mrs. Panian can use these when they are eating dinner together! Congratulations, you two. I hope you share many wonderful meals.

welcome picnic and what i wore

As you guys know over the weekend I went to a wedding and had a blast. The day before the wedding, our friends hosted a welcome picnic for the guests to relax and get to know each other. It was at the venue, which was gorgeous, and the food was good and the company was even better. This is what I wore.

Pants from Banana Republic, shoes and top from Target, sweater from Uniqlo, and clutch from Kate Spade.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: