whaddya gonna do

This morning I:

And then waved to the fellas on the roof next door. They were tearin' it up. Making quick work of it, too. Sun came out, I uncovered the babies so they wouldn't poach underneath that plastic, said hi to all the people in the garden. Scooted out the window, opened the door, set myself up on the deck and sprayed out some stencils. Oldies but goodies. Beefing up my stock.

(did I mention that there is a plexiglass sheet in front of the deck door now? for the winter, so the rain doesn't leak down into the living room, yeah)

Nice bike ride, post office, saw this on the way home, hee hee link it on over to flickr. Good thing whoever did this wasn't in the area when that police car came cruising around the corner!





Made some yummy greens for din-din, downloaded more software for my computer since it's still barfing and freezing even though it was a good girl alllllllll day long. Turned it back on tonight and she choked. Heimlich! Heimlich!

I found some Vasque Gore-tex low hiker boots today. I saw them three days ago by the bike path. They're beat up and stuff, but nobody claimed them -- not even a homeless person, which surprised me. Saw 'em while riding back home, stuffed them in my pannier. They are exactly my size. Coooooool! WAY sturdy eyelets, holy mackerel, they just don't make 'em like that anymore. New pair of garden and kickaround shoes, sweet.

Then I did this. To help myself learn to be a better volumizer, texturer, and overall good drawler :)



Hey, I'm no Franzetta but I care naught.

**late-breaking news**

After downloading all those updates, I went to my favorite cartoon/illustration blog, Drawn!, and couldn't view any videos. Same at YouTube. Oh so what else is new, right? Off to the forums I go, seeking sagacity and thank god there are geeks out there who are generous with their experience and wisdom. I tried a few things, downloaded Perian ('the swiss army knife for Quicktime') and BINGO!

I'm back in the groove again.

And I didn't even lose my cool.

Also.......the phantom poltergeist has left the building. The reason my room smelled like skunk was because the gloves I use when I spray were off-gassing. Not shittin' ya. Came upstairs this afternoon and there it was again. And for some reason, I looked at my gloves, lying on the table. And shore nuff. Out onto the deck they went.

go to bed already, Victoria.

jammin'

Haddock sent me a mail art jam - his is in the upper/right, I drew that thing at the bottom. I know not who the other artists are.

Well now, that was fun!



Maybe alls mah computer needed was some software updates. I loaded iTunes and 3/4 of the way through a set of Deerhoof, everything froze up again. Restarted, downloaded the newest version/update and sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo far, no hiccups.

We'll get 'er shipshape, we will.

bareback

I just ate the most phenomenal apple-pear-cobbler ever. Hot out of the oven. Good lord.

'Twas a strange day, it was. Woke up pretty late since I was out until all hours. Still smelled like the skunkiest in here. I tried airing the place out. I was a bit worried that my clothes would begin to smell. Tonight I talked with the landlady and she said they have nothing. No smokey-smokey. Neither did their guests.

What do you call an olfactory hallucination?? I mean what the HELL?!

There's a pot-smoking poltergeist living in the walls then.

So last night Jacque showed me how to make these really cool little dudes. You cover them with scraps of cloth. Hers really kick ass. I'm still learning, but it's very fun and I followed her idea/suggestion of making a mask and using the yarn for dreadlocks. Heigh ho!! I finished up this morning:



I also updated my browser and my OS and soooooooooooo far, no more crashes or freezes. Huh. Sure, okay, I'll go with that. I put off doing the updates for months and MONTHS and months because in the past, something always goes haywire when I do updates. I figured, couldn't be any worse really. So far, it's better.

I really love The Books/Lemon of Pink. Thanks Clark, for burning me this CD giving me your backup copy!

and then

This morning, a very happy girl was I. Sun shining in through windows nonstop. Another bonus day, and on my weekend too! Sa-weeeeeeeeeeet. So I drew.




Och. Me brain and me eyes and me drawing hand were not in too much communication one with another. You can see I have squashed my face from top into bottom and from side into side. I look like a pumpkin head who has eaten too many crumpets.

Oh well!

So then I drew this guy, and tried for a very long time to draw arms and finally I says to fuck it all and drew another dude without any arms and solved that problem. I solved the other problem, that of the noggin, by drawing my own version of a creature-ish head. So there ya go.



And then off I rode to Marsha and Jacque's for some fun things I will post pictures of tomorrow hopefully if I finish (a fun art project), and Jacque made a scrumptious dinner of fried rice and asparagus with vegetables. Treats for afterwards num num num. It was chocolate and I think that is why I am still awake and typing at full speed.

I must come down soon. So I can sleep. Maybe I'll get a contact high from what smells like a total bong-fest next door. Came upstairs and my whole area smells like skunk. Did they party down next door, or what? Jeeeeeeeeeez.

Must log off before computer freezes.

Silent Knife

It's what I'm listening to, after reading a review in Nylon. That's a magazine we're adding for the new year, at work. Yays, I says. The music is so far sorta techno, sorta 80s electronica, a smidge of goth....earlier it was a great good dose of King Black Acid. Bloody tasty nightcaps.

Started a doodle on lunch, wasn't sure where it was going but I was looking at a graphic novel about vampires and the painterly style of the artist is absolutely gorgeous....surely inspirin'.....Finished penciling at home tonight and started in with my current favorite ZIG pens. Messing around with textures, learning how to build it up and have fun freestylin'. Really groovy evenin' going on here.

wrap it up

I love to paint Mara.

Let's see........I thought maybe my computer woes had been fixed since I uninstalled the google toolbar, but the clickety clacking started up again tonight. Last night I noticed that certain of my special doohickeys on this browser were missing and thought oh no bigD they're gonna magically re-appear when I restart in the morning. Nope. And, almost all of my bookmarks have magically disappeared! All except the ones I care least about. And boy let me tell you, I bookmarked a ton o' good stuff.

Well, whatcha gonna do? At least my oxen aren't sick!!

The moon is so phenomenal especially this time of year. HUGE and yellow. Harvest moon, gorgeous. Awooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today on lunch I went to the third floor to draw but this guy was snoring really loudly. So as a civilian, not an employee, I went up to his chair, kicked it a few times, said, "Excuse me!" in a loud whisper until he woke up and I said, "You are snoring very loudly." He wiped the drool from his mouth and said, "Sorry......sorry." No problem.

That was kind of fun. I wasn't pissed off or anything. But I could tell that the people around him were annoyed. I mean, he was really snoring. Loud. Really.

And then I drew some stickers:






Yes, it's been a bit of the windy here.

Yay I work alone tomorrow. No negative nattering from a certain co-worker. In my present mood, I would just say, "Hey you are nattering very loudly." I am feeling very matter-of-fact and not inclined to dramatize.

Too too much.

Hey! My art is in South Africa (Johannesburg to be precise)! Sent Lazynachos some slaps and she put mine in a collab:



Here's the original upload on Lazynacho's photostream, you can see all the props there.

My ass is falling asleep from sitting in this chair for so long. Time to go read a book and zzzzzzzzz's.

fang ya very much

Vampire Clowns from Underground!

That's what I'll be for Halloween. You can shove that 'Library Gnome' suggestion crap. Damn pointy red hats and tunics. I look terrible in tunics.

Actually, I really do want to wear a big pointy red hat. And there really are plans for people to dress up as library gnomes.

How about VAMPIRE GNOMES! I must go draw one NOW!

There is a full moon out there. And a fearsome nor'western wind that chills to the marrow. Thank god for best friends who give you yeti slippers.

I always wanted fangs, too. But I want them to extend and retract. I suppose there would be a steep learning curve - learning how not to pierce my own tongue or perforate my own lip with 'em.

To the drawing board!


****

later that night..........(edit)

It's too damn cute. And by that, I mean it needs more eeeeeeevil. Quickie. Looks like Bashful or one of Santa's elves.

.......yeah, needs more evil vibes for to be a true Vampire Garden Gnome.

I'll work on it.



still later that night........

I worked on it:



My mom used to say, "She's so cute!" and even as a kid I felt really weird about it. Ick ick ick.

in a winky winker

Home is where you hang your respirator, don'tcha know.


This is not me today. This was me yesterday and I did not post because

a) it was growing late and
b) my freakin (love you love you love you) computer was freakin out on me and I gave up trying to do anything, shut it down, and went to zzzzzzzzzz.


Today there was so little drama at work I felt a little bit bereft.

But I'll take it.

I bet the real reason my jaw pops all the damn time now (the other side as well) is because I grind my teeth. Oh say it isn't so. I mean sometimes I can't really open my jaw too good. I have to open it sideways. You think maybe I oughtta get that looked at?

What are they gonna do, crack it, break it, and re-set it? I mean, really.

I feel so bad-ass with that respirator. Did I mention that already? Yeah, I feel a little bit of a bad-ass.

I made massive food tonight. I mean really. Does anyone want a gallon of lentil-pumpkin and everything else from the garden stew? How about a mess of stir-fried greens? The leaves from the cauliflower we harvested were SO DAMN BIG,

I cut them up and ate them.

Don't worry, it's safe. I consulted the internet. They're totally edible; but like most people and leaves of plants (like broccoli, which I adore with much adoring), they are woefully neglected.

They're really really good. I mean really.

Tonight I drew a monster from Stefan's Ink Blot at 344. I meant it to be a very quick doodly sort of exercise but then I fell into the Photoshop Black Holey-o, punctuated by fits of swearing because I thought the computer had gone udder up again (maybe it did, it's all blending together now), and the internet connection was sputtery. Oh the woes of modern living. What if my oxen were sick and I couldn't plow a row and we were to starve?! Now THAT would be something worth grinding my teeth over!

Here's the pic. I'm for bed.

Proof of sunshine

Hello!! The burning question of the day is:

Can I blog fast enough to beat the inevitable MacFreeze?!


Three times this afternoon/and evening, my computer has been up to its old shenanigans. The ol' one-two-I'm gonna goddamn it there it goes again. Hopefully I'll be back in a minute.



I must press on.

Another god blessed glorious day here in Eugene. It was so warm I was sweating, and I needed to close the shade I was blinded by the light. I love light coming through these shades though. It's so....Hemingway or something.

So yes! I sprayed! And I bought a respirator:




Okay! I'm back after another MacFreeze.

Had to blow air into the sweaty glove earlier today, to unstick it from my hand. Things went udderly downhill from there, as you can see above.....

Tonight I drew this and sprayed it out. Ekeing every last ounce of unrainy weather yes indeedy.



And tomorrow, I go back to work! For the first time ever I've spent entirely way too much time (WEEKEND TIME) grinding on bullshit at work, and I wonder what fresh hell will greet me there upon my arrival THIS week.

There is a book I think I need to re-read called......the one hundred agreements. No no really it's only about seven. But basically, in order for you to feel a certain way, you gotta agree to feel that way. Sure okay if someone pisses on my parade I'm bound to feel pissed on. But there is some merit to the premise of this book. I might be some kinda hardwired as a human to feel certain ways, and I'm no Dalai Lama, but I must agree with the whole agreement thing.

I pretty much bungled that one. I will read the book and report back with a less muddy report.

God what a gorgeous day today though.

in a harbor dovetail

I made the best-ever sweet potato pie. Bet you wish you had some. Too bad you live way over there and I'm way over here. No really, it is a shame :-)

Another golden day here. I was in shorts and a t-shirt. Three weeks into October. Finally, our little indian summer, wheeeee! Planted collards in the Mathews garden.

I think the less I garden at home, the better. Long story but basically at home, and at work, there is friction over personal space and shit. And people can't, don't want to, or don't know how OR think it's worth their time to be freakin' direct about whatever's got their knickers in a knot. Drives me up the fucking wall, actually.

So, there are all sorts of goodies planted at Mathews, which Deb (from work, who has no issues with me whatsoever) and Frank (her hubby) invited me to share with them this summer. They pretty much give me free reign to do whatever the hell I like, and they are very vocally appreciative and sincere about my presence and activities there. So, schweeeeeeeet.

This morning was devoted to (among other things), another spray session:



And this evening, I paid tribute once more to the Librans, reflecting on those who have been sweetness:



Bon soir.

hippo zebra

To all the Librans I have known and loved, happy birthdays to yous!

On balance, I realize there have been quite a number of you fine folk. I would be remiss if I did not commemorate your stellar presences on the planet before your birthday month is over.

huzzah!

live like a shpongle

Well hello there.


Whaddya know. Today, instead of pouring down wet, it's pouring down sun and warmth! A perfect day to spray!








Music is courtesy Shpongle.
Barf-bag courtesy me, they're over there in the corner, I hope you grabbed one before you started watching.

Made some more kick-ass cobbler last night. Tonight, or maybe tomorrow, it's going to be the kick-off to the sweet potato pie season.

it's pouring

.......it could let up any second.....I really have to go to work now.

slewing

A few stickers today. It is raining like a huge wet raining rainer out there. Not just pitter-patter. Shyoooooo!

And I am totally charmed by Chris Chester's book, Providence of a Sparrow. There's a sad tale here.......he was to come down from Portland and give us a booktalk but was ill, and then he couldn't eat and his jaw hurt. Figured it was stress. Turns out, his jaw was full of cancer, and something busted open and bled and he died drowning, like. I remember being at work and reading the email and not being able to function for awhile.

BAM

Just like that.

Makes reading his mini opus that much more bittersweet and, truly, meaningful. He writes so beautifully, really knows how to turn a phrase and it seems so damned effortless. The book I'm reading tells how he and a house sparrow became best of friends.

If there is an afterlife, I hope he's enjoying it. I really feel his loss and I didn't even know him.

And now, on with the show:

today

Last night I



This morning I



with some stickers



Rode into town, bought some poster board and cut it up, planted some garlic at Mathews garden, rode home and listened to The Books:



And did some more



And now it is dark and cold and I need a warm shower and warm food that's all.

a stencil (or two) a day....

....keeps insanity at bay. Fo' sho'.

This morning, the sun visited us and it was warm. So I stripped and sprayed!



I brought home a big plastic centipede I bought at Goodwill or some thrift store ages ago - silly me, I'd thought to decorate my corner of the cubicle at work when I started working upstairs. No. No, that did not go over too well. My cubicle mates do not appreciate 'scary things'. So, two years later, the cubicle is being cleaned out and I find this big 'scary thing'. The legs made a great pattern for the background of this morning's stencil.

Picked up more more paint at Bi-Mart (do not confuse it with Straight-Mart, which is not nearly as much fun). Trying a different brand, since it's on sale......wow. Smooth spray! Then, on the bike for a longish ride over to Springfield and my old stomping grounds. Wanted to check on that apple tree. Nothin'! So I rode further in, along the river, and another apple tree I'd never even seen produce a single fruit was dropping them like......fruit!

So I made cobbler this evening. Natch.

Oh, is it good?

oh
my
god

Dangerous.

I did another stencil, since it's gonna start raining again very very soon, like tomorrow, and it probably won't stop until next July. Ha. ha. ha. Plus, it was still clear skies and pretty darn warm. Bonus day!!!!!!!



And I sprayed out some stickers. I'm more disturbed when I see a legion of them like this:



Kind of looks like Chris Farley, Martin Short, and David Lynch all rolled into one gibbering, maniacal, fun-loving character.

Also, ate my delicious dinner made almost entirely of garden vegetables out on the deck. The plexiglass door window is going in tonight - apparently it leaks into my living room (below deck) during the winter rains unless this extra door is slapped up in front of the regular door that goes out to the deck upstairs here. So, if in the event of a non-rainy day between now and when the door comes off again for summer, I will be crawling out the window and on to my deck to spary. Or, spray, as the kids these days say.

Sure, no problem!

I mean it!

And, if it's not severely cold, and mildly sunny, I can just open the door and it'll be a window that doesn't open. I love it.

Oh yeah, and the electricity is back up and running. John flipped a switch and said a magic word and all is well.

nine pieces!

We received more wood from the inimitable Jack. Now that our computer is up and running again, we can show you all about it.

(even though we have to run power cords from the downstairs, as the upstairs electricity spontaneously went down last night - so much for taking over the world)

read a book, dammit

In celebration of Banned Books Week (held over by popular demand).

Grubb reads Humanure - yes, an honest-to-god real title by the author as written.

Heh.

Dropped this off for Free Art Friday yesterday at Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe. Stealthy, baby, it's all about stealth.

Actually you can do most naughty/impractical/illegal/unsavory/surrpetitious acts in broad view or daylight if you act (or believe) that what you are doing is no big deal. And nobody notices.

God it's gorgeous here today. Sunny galoresville. I'm going out in it, to ride along the river. My commute is the best.

Last night, dinner with the girls (and boys). Here's a quick shot of 8 month old Maris in her Jump-Up-Johnny. Or Jane.



That girl is almost always in motion. Maybe I'll post the videos later. She is so amazingly beautiful. And I'm not just sayin' that. She was always thusly even when first born.

happy happy joy joy

My new(ish) friend Mara in Hawai'i wrote me some great news - she got a job and it involves her art!!! wwwwooooo wwwooooo! This is for you Mara, way to go!




It rained alll the way home and on the way home I pulled over and filled a pannier with walnuts - yesh indeed it's that time of year again. Those four trees on Lawrence and 5th gave out lots of nuts this year. Whoever planted those on the street, I remove my hat and bow to you. That is something smart - plant a tree, and one that will feed us! No one else picks them, far as I can tell.

Well it stopped raining when I rolled into the driveway - and it stayed stopped through the evening, so I was able to go out on the deck and spray out a stencil I drew last night. I played with the background - they're hops leaves. I plucked 'em right from the vine that crawled all the way up here and twined itself around the bannisters.



Kinda cool how the shape of the dude's hair and the leaves echo each other, eh? I wonder if my subconscious was doing backflips over that one. Cuz I sure had no idea what was gonna happen.

And I'm eating some more kick-ass fruit cobbler. Ohhhh my god oh my god oh my god.

mix it up

What do ya do, when you love printmaking and spraypainting?

Ya do this!



*smacks lips*

That was some good art for breakfast!!

Now, it is time to load up my bike and stop at the post office, the art store, and my friend Kendo's. Her apple tree has pretty much dropped all its fruit but there may be some on the ground that's not rotten, soft, or bruised beyond goodness. Because you KNOW I wanna make a raspberry apple cobbler tonight.....

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Hey! You with the catsuit! Come over here!

I made the most insanely good summer blackberry cobbler last night. Uh,....like I toldya last night but it bears repeating. It all started on saturday, when I attended a potluck with some workmates. Ilana finally made the plunge and made apple crisp, "Why did I wait so long??" and we all were very happy that she didn't wait a moment longer. So I found some blackberries I'd picked and froze and I'm still groaning with great good gratidudinals. I think the top button on my shorts is permanently undone. I ate third helpings at midnight. And gave some to Dexter next door. But still I've eaten my lion's share and I hope to gather apples to make apple raspberry crisp with tomorrow (I think that's the last of the razzes).

Yes, I am still wearing shorts. I will not succumb to autumn all the way quite yet. Plus, paired with yeti slippers, and a little space heater, I'm quite toasty indeed.

Today I visited the compost pile. WOW check it out!





I must retire to horizontalia. Now, go now, Victoria! NO more YouTube, Flickr, no! Go!

I mean it.

one fine day

We went from ninety-degree sunny skies to


practically overnight. But today, it's been sunny and warm again! Off with the sweaters and yeti slippers! I was spraying out the latest stencil in my shorts and sports on the upper deck today, it was so not-cold!
That's whut I come up with, yup. Being offline, I'm way way behind in posting over here, but if you care to visit the

Flickr gallery then you'll see what-all I've done over the last spell.

Today = gorgeosity. A leisurely get-up, scrumptious breakfast of homemade everythings (veggies, toast, pesto), trip to the garden and uncover all the babies, hi hi hi, lookin' good, lookin' good. Pick some figs, mmmmm dessert. Do some art, mmmmmmmmore dessert.

I rode out to where I picked figs from a grand ol' dame fig tree last year, several miles away.

The whole place has been completely remodeled.

As in, flattened. The house, the wide lane and driveway with lots of frilly filberts, the garden, the whole lot, gone. GAPE. They're putting in subdivisions. There goes the almost-last-bit of charm and quaintitude that Garden Way Drive possessed. More is the pity.

So I did an about-face, and went to Down to Earth and since the broccoli starts were looking so sad, they gave me a six-pack for free! I'll skip the ONE MORE TIME disappointing encounter at Paul's Bicycle (I am writing Paul a letter) to say that my afternoon at Mathews Garden was heavenly. Then I rode home like the devil to eat more mmmmmm food. And I toured the garden here, and many more very sweet plums had fallen to the ground, and the kale bed is overflowing so I picked a bouquet, and there are still peppers, and everyone out there looks so happy. Oh yes, and I stopped at the walnut trees while I was out earlier, and loaded up a bagful.

I am so set.

And now, I think I shall go lie myself down in the horizontal so that I can digest all of this blackberry cobbler that I just made (which was still pretty delish even after it burned).

oh alright one more


And did I mention that

Hourly Comic Day is published? G'wan, gander!