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Friday, March 31, 2006

bucketsfull

It's your typical spring day around here. Sunny this morning (shall I just leave the raincoat at home? oh wait no way, it's Oregon, it's Spring), raining sheets down at half-past noon. Then it's all shifty the rest of the day. I like it. Even after a full winter's worth of rain, and yes we got more than our fair share this year. Flooding, the whole bit. So I did a 30-second sketch (ok, maybe it took 45 seconds...all right! a minute tops, with the watercolor wash!) like I like to but this time I used the Illustration Friday's suggestion. Oh yes, the theme is Spring. Lots of nifty artists doing their spring flinging all over the place.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

the sound and the fury

On into the wee-ish hours I dashed, and did this:



to make this:



for an ATC swap over at the forum. I like the 'artistic license' approach. I get so intent on rendering an image too exactly, and then something happens like the purple bleeds into the tail feathers and I go, why not? that's purty! and pretty soon...

...you've got a whole new breed of bird.

This one's based on the Northern Bald Ibis. Ibis is as ibis does. Whatever that means.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

time well spent

I figured out what to do with some of my morning, awrighty. You can check it out next door. I like it.

One of the reasons I like art-ing, besides being an absolute glutton for being absorbed in something I love is that when I am foucused and involved in a creative process, my monkey brain doesn't have time to care that I have, for example, orange-peel thighs or baggy skin around my knees, or that I feel dumb and five years old sometimes. In fact, the more I do art, the more I feel happy, inspired and carefree five years old - and that feeling sticks. It's so cool.

the morning after

I'm still here. A little green 'round the gills, but on the whole, kickin' purty good. Woke up this morning feeling foggy, thinking...'was that all a dream?' I wonder if doing art for many hours on end especially during my weekend alters my state. Of course it does. I just felt exceptionally otherworldly this morning. It wasn't totally uncool, I'm used to coming unhinged. It's what happens when you lose your religion. I've found a new one, don't worry, no need to indoctrinate me into yours.

I keep meaning to post this nifty picture by Anne. She gave it to Jax who forwarded it on to me.



Isn't it weird and cool? Those college kids, they're always being crazy...isn't that who left those there (on purpose?)? A bit of guerilla art? Nice job on capturing such a sight, Anne.

Also Issi sent me another darling crow!



I feel so....juiced. I've got a great CD mix on the stereo, I think I am finally getting the hang of this and finding new music I really dig. Dot Allison is an old favorite but I haven't listened to her for quite awhile. Now I've discovered Frou Frou and Jem. Some kinda pop, but with an edge.

What to do first/next?!? I've got just under four hours before work. I hope I don't spend a freakin' hour just dithering around trying to decide how to best allot my time.

adieu, y'all, have a dandy

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

skippeddy doo dah

Did I mention something about 'pre-spring' in a recent previous post? It is officially Spring! I've been noticing it's going on but it didn't fully register. Happy Sproinging everybody!

The lady downstairs is puffing away like a chimney



and this is how I feel about it



She doesn't understand - it doesn't phase her - that my apartment, as a result, smells like her ashtray. Somehow, it seeps up through the cabinet under the kitchen sink. And for some reason, tonight is worse. Last night I couldn't smell her or hear her at all (and I began to worry even as I relished the reprieve). We've got the television volume thing figured out but I need to go and ask her what the hell she's doing different tonight...if anything. Maybe she went and bought more smokes at the Cash King across the street, and last night, she had none.

joy.

Hey. I used to smoke but commerical cigs are WAY stinkier than the stuff you buy in smoke shops, the good stuff sans all the chemicals. Tonight I'm developing a headache. I've got to go say hello to dear Eva. Don't go anywhere.

Ye gods! it smells like a funk-ridden bar in here! she wanted me to come in and look at the ventless fan above her oven when I went down and talked with her. oh my god. see me turning green. break out the nag champa. if you don't hear from me in two days, send in the troops.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

open wide



This actually is funnier and looks better over here on video. If you have Macromedia FlashPlayer you will probably be able to view it..but then again, maybe not (some of you can view but no sound...it's much better with sound...). We cracked ourselves up this afternoon. I think maybe we got over-oxygenated, going for that bike ride. And then there were the mushrooms and the LSD followed by a viewing.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

zum dis zum dat

it's raining! (blink) it's sunny! (blink) wind (b) etc etc....a typical pre-spring day in Eugene, Oregon. Got a fabulous new 80s flavor CD Mix from my swap buddy from over at the swapping spot. I shall write her directly to let her know it arrived. Funny...she lives in Portland! I seem to be dressed for the mix, too..it's a kind of 80s throwback outfit today although I didn't capture the floppiness of the black velvet hat in my sketch on break at work...and the skirt is actually one of those stretchy straighter numbers.



I was on my way to use the scanner, ran into my buddy Clark and he saw the thing and said, 'Hey, it reminds me of Ms. Nelson is Missing!'. It's a James Marshall kid's picture book, in case you dunno. Totally!

Time to get busy on the art table. And later, an episode of Veronica Mars. God! I never thought I'd become addicted to this show...now at night when I put the DVD in while I'm brushing flossing and gargling (I can too multitask!) and the theme song begins I'm all grooving and happy...it's weird..I didn't think I was that susceptible or easily influenced. It's her hair cut. And her 'tude. She doesn't simper, either, that is very attractive and watchable. Buffy, she doesn't simper either but I get so tired of those shots of her in her nighty-nights in bed where she's got all this makeup on and you can plainly see her bra underneath her white slippy tanktop. I like the relationship between Veronica and her dad, too - although I winced when he stopped dating the councillor because Veronica 'wasn't ready' to see him dating.

okay enough away with me to see what kind hell I can raise elsewhere

Friday, March 24, 2006

fry day

officially, it's friday...but technically, it's my thursday.

I miss doing more mail art. Thing is, I keep signing up for these swaps over at ATCards and Nervousness. I've got to curb my appetite.

There was a young man in a wheelchair at the intersection yesterday. I was in my car, thinking of my brother and my mother, both died around this time of year. So I was already sorta primed. But this guy...he has a sweet face, he is rolling along, disabled but doing for himself, and he just looks so - uncluttered, despite all that. Simple. In a good way.

And he's just trying to get across the road.

That's all.

And I started crying.

I don't really want to pity people. Sad is okay. I had a whole mix of feelings going on. I wanted - I wanted for us all to treat each other with basic goodness, and not treat those who we think of as 'not _____ as' (smart, pretty, abled, talented, etc ad nauseum) with disdain, or peremptorily. I wanted us to treat ourselves with basic goodness too. I think I was grinding on something that day...just usual shit...wearing myself down a bit.

No great life-altering story here, folks. But I do want to at least paraphrase what the Dalai Lama says, that the way to world peace is inner disarmament.

So this afternoon, I stole a few moments at the desk to sketch a couple ditties:



Yes, I really do have other colors besides green in my wardrobe pictures! Tee hee.



This little tart...could be a man, almost, in drag - don't you think?

Going to do some stuff now.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

what the?!



After building up a full head of steam, my connection seems to be petering out...slowing down, that is (you can see I have built up my own steamed head). Yahoo especially - I attached a 2k image to a message and I waited....and waited...and waited...it's all that confounded advertisements I bet. I hope this isn't the beginning of another end. Oh, the modern day dilemmas. I am for bed. Truly. Wow is it raining buckets out there tonight! It was only sprinkling when I went for a walk...smelled sooo good...g'night y'all.

brou-ha-ha

ahhhhhh!!! I am drawing from my head with no picture in front of me! I'm so excited about this! Hey, you have your quantum leaps, and I have mine.

the left knows not what the right is doing



oh god I'm such a goofball...I aspire to first-rate dorkiness and I think I may've finally attained status (I feel so in-between in most other areas of my life...). I'm on lunch at work and I decide to do another sketch. Now class, how many of you remember a few pages back where I said that I hardly ever wear green?

Green is cropping up all over the damn place. Got a new .99 cent striped shirt at the Value Village on tuesday.

Anyway....I was puzzling out how to draw my hand holding a writing instrument and oh my god! I did it!

Now if I could just right the left and left the right.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

guh

Too tired to think. Came on suddenly. Straight to bed with me. I mean it. After I brush and floss and gargle and get in my pjs and clean up the artspace so I am not horrified upon waking and do a Goldilocks, 'who the hell has been messing in MY KITCHEN?'

Image hosting by TinyPic

I think I am totally bummed that I am so tired, but gee, it's nearly the witching hour. I feel like a little kid. "I'm not tired..." :clunk: as my forehead hits the table because I can't hold up any longer.

The mouse works great though! It's got a verrrry long tail that fits nicely into the USB port.

thrills and chills

Okay forget the bluetooth technology. My mouse and keyboard use batteries, no wires, it's called Bluetooth (why? I have not queried google yet but if anyone has any ideas, or any interesting fabrications, do let me know). I've had my iMac for almost three full months, and I've replaced the mouse batteries...1,2,3 - 4 times. That. Is. Ridiculous. It's beyond ridiculous, it's damn near sacrilegious. Unless you pray to the god of landfill waste and give tribute on a regular basis by throwing away battery after battery when a simple cord will do just fine.

Went to the mac store this afternoon. Used my rebate from the card I bought for the digicam, and got a regular ol' mouse with a tail.

Here is BlueTooth:



Voracious. Insatiable. Well no more cheese, mister! You're going back in the box! I should be able to just plug the new one in and away we go, but I am saving it for tomorrow when the 800 help line is staffed, just in case something goes haywire.

must. sleep. now.

Monday, March 20, 2006

life in the fast lane

::screeches to a halt::

Whoah! My eyes are tearing up, I'm going so fast now! Jason came over on friday and found out why my pages were loading so slow (I even made a tribute video clip over next door). (even my new oven burners heat up ultra fast! hot hot hot! she's a babe! and she's next door on video too) He was kind enough to spend a few hours with me, 'splainin stuff, and now, Le Grande Dame, she runs purrrrr like a dream so speedy too. MANY THANKS JASON!!

I just typed an 'at' symbol and I realized...it looks like an ear, at least in my browser @ sticking out from the side of a head @(

This is a going-fast-person with red hair and it could be me, god knows I have enough hair days like this one:



This afternoon I walked over to the post office (I put my contribution to Brain Cell in the post to Ryosuke in Japan! weee-oooo!) and on the way back made a pit stop at the library. I'd never used the elevator before, but since my knee's been on the out and I didn't want to risk tearing anything climbing stairs, I decided that there's no better time than the present. New experience!

Scary experience. It's rickety. And dim. It reminds me of Dark Waters (the japanese horror film...seen it? c-r-e-e-p-y..and well done):



Yeah well I drew my ear in way the hell down by my...well not in the vicinity of where my ear should be at any rate. I've been doing better just drawing from my head. Here I took a picture of me in my rain bonnet looking scared and did a sketch.



Here's a rework, even more cartoonish. Egh. I'm off tonight. Although I did a bang-up job on an ATC for a personal trade this evening. S'okay then.

I wanted to find out who initiated the Mail Art gallery that was in the Library a few months ago. Been meaning to do that. Guy by the name of Eddie Nero, as it turns out. If it wasn't for a series of fortunate events, or butterfly effect, or 6 degrees of separation or providence or WHATEVER...I would not have seen the show and who knows, I most likely wouldn't know about Mail Art still. My life has honestly changed so radically, in so many positive ways, since discovering it. I must thank Eddie Nero in the time-honored fashion, then!

Mmmmm.....home-made bread. Place smells soooo good, it's done baking. I'm becoming evermore liberal with the add-ins. I put flax, millet, and sunflower - almost a whole cup this time. Want some bread with your seeds? Sure is good though.

Off to try my hand at some b&w ATCs. I gesso'd some cards this morning, I want to use india ink and see what I can do.

toodles

Sunday, March 19, 2006

goody goody gumdrops!!

Oooh what a lovely day! Galoob GALAY!! Made breakfast for Jax and I on the new ovey, and cleaned up alll the spills straightaway.

It's rather nerve-wracking, but I am willing to treat her royally, since she is fresh out of the box and all. Owning new clean shiny things is a treat, but I'm used to being able to bang the door closed (accidentally, of course...all my friends know that I really don't like banging) and not worry about denting anything.

Now you have a very rough picture of me.

Well here is another:




It's because not only is my friend in Poland feeling better and visited my bloggy today so I know she's doing better...but I have a new visitor! Welcome! Thank you for letting me know you are here and you are having fun reading and stuff. Means muchly. I will be cruising over to your spot very soon...but not when it's nigh on midnight. When I'm fresh, like, tomorrow. LATER tomorrow :-) Still feeling wiggy about the hands in the sketchy, but the left (to the viewer) looks like I wasn't so nervous. Drawing like this is such a mirror of my insides. I guess all drawing is, but this is such a quick turnaround.


OH! I have meant to post Issi's picture! She sent ME a crow, and she titled it 'wrona', which I neglected to see or ask her about, so I just Googled it:

"Polish: nickname for someone thought to resemble a crow in some way, from wrona ‘crow’."

Issi you are fabulous:



Isn't the crow so...crow-like, and it's got such character. Thank you Issi!!

Saturday, March 18, 2006

pick a good one for me

The brilliance of Jax just keeps comin' (aka 'MacGuyver')!!! Her first animation, hand drawn from scratch in Photoshop and animated through ImageReady...now...it's smooth as molasses in a browser window alone but uploaded via TinyPic Image Hosting, comes out all frosty and stuff....anyone have any ideas as to why?

Image hosting by TinyPic

(IS THIS NOT COOL?!?!)

And also....we're sitting around and I'm giving Igpay Atinlay lessons. Jax earsway assesglay (hahahahahaaaahahaha)...but if I wanted to say 'you are wearing glasses', how would I say 'are' in Pig Latin? Just 'areway'? Hmmmm.....

I shall consult Google but if anyone wants to help us out, it'd be ostmay elcomeway.

three time's a charm


I found something ELSE green to wear today! Drew this on break. (click for big picture)

Can you tell....I'm a bit on the nervous side about drawing hands. I have to take a deep breath every time. It's hit or miss, but hey, s'awright.

And my good buddy Clark drew this, a tribute to Maurice Sendak....awwww! I wuv it so!

Friday, March 17, 2006

farewell, old faithful


Got a new oven this evening. I just wanted a new burner, but since the oven was, oh...thirty years old?...the owner bought a whole new unit. I'm not complaining, I just...sniff...I kinda really do miss the old one. It was a good ol' gal. This new one is white and shiny and it'll be nice to keep something clean that is already clean and all four burners will work. It's digital. It matches the new computer...we just need some time to get to know each other, is all.

double vision

Well I think I am getting caught up on sleep...no crows (that I heard this morning) AND I woke up before the alarm clock, at 7:30 - nearly 8 hours of sleep! woo hoo! This is the only morning I need to set an alarm, it's my 'early' day at work. Schweeet, huh. Yeah I think that alarm clocks serve a purpose but living by them is utter..c.r.a.p.

I found something else green to wear today, oh all right, I'll play. So during a lull today at the window (like there's ever any real stampede) I quick sketched this out using my under-one-minute-formula. (okay well maybe this took a minute and one-half) Two days of green in a row? Hmmmm. Gotcha!

Wow. I am so jazzed about the way this turned out! I was wondering how addtaddd got his drawings to look like...like this, all spiffy white. I took advantage of the scanner at work (I don't own one, so I take pictures of my stuff with a digicam). ME LIKE!

I have to say how stoked I am, to be able to hold an image in my head of what I want to draw, and then (mostly) realize it on paper. It's a quantum leap for me, my friends. Sure I took a couple beginning art classes in college...that was over a decade ago, and there have been months and even years in between when I didn't draw or doodle at all. It's very exciting to be drawing and messing about again, and for me what is a sustained pitch and duration.

I realized this afternoon that elements of my life that have been superimposed upon one another are lining up now. My art has more focus - and I'm giving a lot of it away to people who are really supportive and encouraging. This is a new experience for me too. I feel a sense of contentedness about my place in the world and in my own skin that I've heard other people talk about, and now I think I know, experientially, what that feels like...or maybe it's that I am revisiting this after a long hiatus. As a kid I doodled constantly. I think art, like being in a tree or in the pool/ocean, was a daily part of my life. I was so happy.

I feel happy.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

wakeywakey



Well after experiencing most of the day feeling like a chewed up and spit out prune (I don't know about you, dear reader, but after several nights of fewer than 8 hours' sleep and last night's five hour nap...that is what I felt like), I perked up this evening, dashing to and fro at the library picking up things that people habitually leave lying around (job security, we joke) (ha). I wore an awesome green belt I found at the thrift store, for a dollar, and an awesome green shirt I found at the thrift store for three dollars...I didn't realize that St. Patrick's Day was upcoming. Honest. I told my coworkers that I would just wear the same thing tomorrow, no sweat. I hardly EVER wear green.

I think I am enjoying a false sense of awakenessosity and expect that I will crash in a big way any second. So I better go brush the teeth and bid you all bon soir. But I really am enjoying these under a minute sketchings...forces me to loosen the hell up and just DO IT instead of getting lost in premeditation (which has its merits, certainly).

more to be said

The locals decided to hold conference in the courtyard early this morning and they made no bones about making themselves heard. Thus was I awakened at 6:15:

'nuff said

ohhh I've done it again. 'til well into the wee hours for this one. this is my last stop. I can manage this much:



oh but one more and HEY! addtadd's blog has a peekture of a sleepy girl too...wh-wh-what?? ha ha me love synchronicities. g.night.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

just can't stop

Well, since Blogger is being so cooperative and uploading pictures in a flash now, I'll addendum: what else have I got up to this evening?



A 20-second croakie (quick sketch). Inspired partially by something I've read about, 'self-portrait tuesday', and also a bloke in Toronto who blogs daily with his own visual poetry over this-a-way. Love his stuff. I went and put Ed Emberly's thumb book on hold at the libary after reading tonight's edition of Addtadd.



And, an ATC for the Hooters (owls! owls!) swap over at ATCards forum. Yes, yes, the owl and the pussycat! In a sweet pea-green-boat, of course! This one's done up with magic markers, gel pens, and my favorite G2 Pilot black ink pen.

Good lord I'm up into the next day again. It's past midnight, folks. Abientot!

'obby 'orsing around

well boy howdy, what a night! Along about 6:30 I read an email from Martin in Switzerland exhalting the moon's effulgence. By 8:00 she's reaching towards zenith and I can see her rising above the treeline. You can gaze upon her faces through my lens one blog/page over if you fancy.

Then I set about making a stamp for Ryosuke's Brain Cell. Well it's not really a stamp, and it's not a linocut, because it's cut from a slim slab of rubber. These four pictures represent about 2, maybe more, hours' worth of messing about.



Here, I've cut everything away. Slivers abound. Never underestimate the power and value of a sharp exacto knife, oy!



Inking it up!



Burnished with a spoon, et voila!



Come a little closer, please.

So I learned about the hobbyhorse/dada connexion (maybe, there is debate, mootable of course) from Wikipedia and was fascinated by the 'obby 'orse connotation. Decided I need to make my mark with that. I think the print is pretty good...actually, it's pretty darn exciting all the way around to do stuff like this...but I'll clean up a bit here and there. Might be too much going on around the central image.

I'm listening to Dot Allison. She is so dreamy. She makes me want to bite my lip.

Monday, March 13, 2006

dogged

...mmmm, bet you wish you had a piece of this home made bread!! Fresh outta the maker, the crust is just crusty enough and the innards are all warm and the butter is all melty.

So I couldn't wait to upload photos. I'm sure my huge following of fans can't wait either, so I've posted them on this page of My Screaming Memes.

oh! oh wait! it's uploading!

...god, what a bottleneck we've got going on. Is it uploading time in Tokyo, or something? Let's see if we can pinch off another one....I'm fairly obsessed. I should be lying on Le Couch watching Veronica Mars, but no, I'm sitting here like a Pavlovian experiment. I haven't actually started Veronica Mars, and I don't expect too much out of it but still...there's a chance it could be nerdycool and intelligently written...couldn't it? huh, huh?

I feel another blog coming on. Can one be too greedy with blogs, I wonder? In uploading these few ATCs, I'm realizing that it'd be much less cumbersome for a reader to just access the ATC page...hmmmm...more fun fiddling.

And now. Without further ado:



Second in a series of I don't yet know how many...pastels, and then cold-laminated with freebies from work. Above is Sirius' Sister; below is Symbiosis II. These two abstracts look much better in person.



Here we have 3 ATCs for a swap themed on Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, all hail! :







yes there really are such things as corpse flowers...they can grow up to 11 feet tall and weight a massive amount, over 110 kilos easy. They've a lovely fetid smell, to attract the dung beetles and suchlike that help pollinate them. The inside of them is a deep purple color, that of bruised flesh.

Here are a couple finished for an Asian themed ATC swap:





Now this happy go lucky dragon was a very involved little project. I think I was drawing and coloring, cutting and pasting for over two hours on the lil' guy tonight. The background has a watercolor wash, with salt sprinkled on it while it was still wet, then dried for the marbled effect. The dragon is drawn, colored, cut out and pasted atop for a nice 3D effect.

Now really. I must away. Adieu!

burning the midnight oil

Ohhhh mygodohmygod, it's getting really late again already!! Nearly elevensies now. Advantages of staying up late(r): traffic decreases dramatically, I can enjoy a little peace and quiet (not like it's New York City or anything but I live on one of the main arteries that hooks up Springfield and Eugene). Oh that's just one advantage. Ummmm. I like the nightdark even as I love the daylight - and when the neighbor across the courtyard turns on the light on his back porch, it throws perfect bamboo-leaf shadow patterns upon my bathroom window, which is one of those faux-frosted-glass numbers. We've got pine trees, holly, and bamboo in the courtyard. Quite the tete-a-tete, don't you think? It is absolutely beautiful, and I've tried unsuccessfully to photograph it. It's insanely picaresque. Maybe with a tripod and manual mode. Someday.

Here's what I've been getting up to:

ohhhhkay, Blogger isn't uploading pictures right now. Guess we'll have to wait for tomorrow then, and hope. Just pulled some bread outta the 'maker (saves my wrists from certain death). Mmmmm...whole wheat/white/rye studded with millet, flax, and sunflower seeds. YUM.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

coming of age

Most folks here in the US would consider turning 21 and drinking themselves silly or sick a time-honored rite of passage that they eager await and engage in. I never really felt like any of that quite fit (doesn't mean I didn't try it on). Now that I'm on the other side of 35, I think I have finally experienced a rite-of-passage that makes sense to me and I'm thrilled to my everloving gills about:

I got a BrainCell from Ryosuke Cohen!!!



It was waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home. I'm beside myself with excitement. I can't wait to participate. He's been doing this for, what, over 20 years now. He's even on Wikipedia for god's sake. He asks us to send 150 stickers or a rubber stamp, and then he collages a bunch of images together and sends it out to the people who participated in that particular cell. I have an idea brewing. Not stickers, not this time. A stamp, made-to-order.

Couple days ago I got another fantastic surprise from artistamp maven (are males allowed to be mavens? I think they should be, if they're not already) Toast! Can't wait to respond to that either - another project to dive into. Check it out, it's fabulous:



hahahaaaa, see which stamp got postmarked by the USPS???





My many thanks, Toast! Be assured that when Bezoar County Proper's post office is up and running, we'll send along something for you.

And on a rant-and-rave-note...what the hell happened to the gas prices?! They shot up, what, .20 overnight or something? See what happens when you go underground and get your uterus cleaned out. You come back to, and the government only becomes more corrupt. Good thing I hardly ever drive. I guess I only really spend about ten bucks a month in gas. Do you think that the inflated prices will deter people from driving, and maybe ride a bike or use public transportation instead? Hell, no. Why, just the other day I saw a 50 foot motorhome cruising down the street. Where do people get the money for that kind of lifestyle??

Must go and laminate something. I got free endspieces from our mending department at the biblio - the self-adhesive book cover leftovers. OH my god I'm positively addicted. I am making book marks for a swap, and spiffing up some of my ATCs too - they look so glam. Okay, so we all have our vices: some people drive and use petrol; I stay home and laminate and use plastic instead.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

back in the saddle again

...well, mostly. I went to work today, after what seems like eons away. Only had one bad spell where I thought I might need to grab the garbage can and yoik. Hey things is gettin' better, I'm serious! I defrosted the freezer today, maybe that is what wore me out.

So a recap: sunday was awesome despite have my uterus dilated and curettaged (ok I promise I'll stop referring to it...someday soon) and feeling upside-downsey. Jacque brought me over a home-baked cake, to make up for the one she made the previous week that I couldn't eat. As she was recounting the ingredients of the first pumpkin-ginger-surprise, she realized she put soy milk in it and we both howled and groaned and laughed our asses off (I am really allergic to soy). She also put candles on that cake in the shape of '27'. Now THERE'S a best friend for you, taking ten years off your biological age!! She cracks me up - that sounds like something I might do and I love her all the more for it. So this last sunday, not only did she make me another cake, but she made this yummery orange sauce to slather it with too. Oh. My. GOD. It was so good. You gotta understand, Jacque doesn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen. But she's always good at what she tries out (I told her that she made me sick that way, but again, I love and admire her). We went for a walk too, you can see some piccies over at hinterlandia (will I never tire of self-promotion?!).

And J did her first animation!! As soon as I/we can figure out how to get it from a .psd (photoshop) file into a .gif, I will load it up. It's awesome, J is a genius. I made ATCs while she did, so it was a really good evening of creativing and many guffaws over the animation (just wait 'til you see).

I spent monday in a state of aggravation for the first 2/3rds, mucking about with my computer and various applications, trying to get it all synched up and working again. I read TONS of literature and talked to several people and eight hours or more later I figured out most of it. In the evening, I was so relieved and happy to just pick up a hand-held tool and make art. Didn't need a technician or a three-foot-thick manual to know how to work the exacto knife or put the pencil to paper and draw a figure.

This cartoon is very timely:



(click on the pic to go larger)

Crikey, I was gonna get to bed earlier, I am so flippin' tired. I started to watch that Kate chick in Underworld last night...so far her features haven't resolved themselves into anything unique - she looks like any other gorgey kick-ass girl (I was also bleary-eyed-tired and uterus-shocked when I watched the DVD last night). But Evangeline Lilly of Lost rather looked that way to me too, when I first saw her. So Underworld is about what I expected, but it may surprise me yet. I am positively yearning for a good vampire flick. I am partial to the kind of color palette in the movie, reminiscent of Matrix of course. I'll have another go tonight before lights out.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

so tired I can't sleep

Back for more fun and games! Tried lying down for a napsie but to no avail...how can a body be so exhausted and not fall right to sleep? I've never experienced insomnia before. Feel like sludge. A muddled heap of disconsolate sludge. Maybe I'll heat up some leftovers - Jacque took me out to eat last week for birthday dinner and I chose Rose and Thistle, a local fish 'n chips joint. I saved my uneaten portion - I wonder if the chips (which look suspiciously like Ore-Ida crinkle-cut fries...) will bake up again tasty?

Last night I dug around on a piece of rubber and carved out this little number. I'm making prints, or stamps...I'm using ink, not a stamp pad, but I don't know, what do you want to call this? Jacque found the material for me at Jerry's (a home improvement center) down the plumbing aisle after I told her of my interest in finding soft things to carve that are bigger than an eraser. I guess you use these sheets of rubber for gaskets in toilets and stuff? Well, they're very easy to carve up, but still hold up for fine lines.



It's my uterus! Sans polyps! Never thought I'd be the sort to go making an icon out of my innards, and girl-innards at that, but there you have it. I may need to carve away at it some more, I dunno. If I feel like this and I still have my uterus...imagine what it might be like if it'd had to come all the way out. I hope I don't have to find that out.

sleep...sleep...why has thou leftist me??

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Post Op

Ugh and utter ugh. I actually showered this morning, and tried to put my earrings back in. I was marginally successful, one down, one to go (all the others are 'fixed' rings so instead of removing them for surgery, the nurses just taped them back to my head). I was too damn tired to fight with the left one any longer (you can see an empty spot in the picture...which may not be so obvious to you, dear viewer, but to me who is used to the earrings all in their places 24-7 I feel positively bereft). I did my hair big as compensatory ritual since I feel so awful - something's gotta have some life around here. You know, they mainline quite a cocktail for you in the O.R. My friend said, 'what you are describing sounds like withdrawal symptoms to me!' (shaky, adrenaline, exhaustion, disorientation, dizzy, nausea, uncontrollable crying jags....) ohh yeah. So if you ever undergo surgery, even minor surgery, don't expect to be bouncing off the walls and power-shopping or trucking around like your usual self in a day or two. I'm going to drink some decaffeinated tea now, and contemplate my next move.



ah hells I don't know what is up with my iPhoto, it's not importing pictures so that I can get them right side up. Well...sideways is rather apt...

You can gander a vid over at hinterlandia. An ode to Post-Op-Expressionism. I'm listening now to a recorded BBC radioshow called Breezeblock, hosted by the inimitable chanteuse Bjork: a perfect foil to my touch-and-go-infirm state (thanks to Clark my good buddy for the musical birthday gift!). She's hand-picked music that has inspired her...a great collection. Where does Clark find this stuff?!?

Thursday, March 02, 2006

home again home again jiggedy jig

Okay, I'm back home again after some minor surgery and outpatient hospital visit this morning. My girls (all the internal girl bits who reside in my nether regions are collectively known as the girls) have been very unhappy for a few years now, and it's gotten worse. So I found a good doctor and she went in and cleaned house (I still have all my parts, just minus a 'bunch of polyps' and maybe a fibroid...how much is a bunch? I guess I'll find out next week during our follow-up appointment). No pain (amazing - am I drugged and don't know it?), just really drowsy. Standing up at my art table for several minutes made me wobbly-kneed. So I moved to sit here instead and made another blog to house video clips and pictures of various personalities and sights around my neighborhood. Already it is turning into a Josie Shrine. Check it here if you are so inclined.

The doctors and nurses were all wonderful and I want to bake them cookies for all their good work - that's got to be a hard job, seeing and tending to so many people every day, who range from worried and slightly nervous at the least to total basket cases ("Drug me as soon as I get out of my car," a doctor told me one guy pleaded). My anesthesiologist hails from China, I had not the presence to inquire as to what region, but I asked how to say thank you (xia xia) and a couple other things which I've promptly forgotten.

In other news, the crew at work threw me a fabulous birthday party on saturday. All sorts of goodies - being the honorary, I wore the tiara for the day. Now who have I written to about all this? I know I must be repeating myself. But anyway, our supervisor made scrumptious date orange muffins we dolloped with sour cream - and rice crispie treats with espresso powder! Vrrrooom, baby, those were good!



(even though I'm thrilled to be the center of attention, you can see I am turning a nice royal shade of...blushing!!) OH for heaven's sake I'm too tired to dink around with this any more, to get it rotated, even though when I look at it on my desktop it's right side up. Bah for now.



And below you see my wonderful co-workers and good friends, Mo (Maureen) and Clark (the excruciatingly tall guy folding himself in half to fit in the picture frame). I love this picture. Thanks for the awesome birthday!!