every angel is terrifying

Work Work Work...JOY!

2009-01-16T03:23:13Z

You guys, I have to confess to complete FAIL to come up with anything inspired to spread the JOY with all of you today; I’ve been crazycakes busy with work, preparatory to a business trip up to frigid Chicago in a couple of weeks, and as such, my brain is frequently only partially functional on anything not to do with EKGs, Adobe Flash, and endless illustrations of the heart. Not joy-making stuff!

I wanted to take the time, however, to thank all of you for bringing JOY and SQUEE to my life on a daily basis; this fandom has been and continues to be a wonderful part of my life and I’m lucky and so happy to be a part of it! I had no idea, when I started fangirling a certain Canadian actor that I would discover so many worthwhile, warm, hilarious, intelligent, eloquent and generous people and I’ve enjoyed getting to know all you, some even in person, YAY! Said Canadian actor clearly deserves heartfelt thanks for inadvertently bringing all of you into my life! (Which I may even be able to deliver in person, one of these days. ;P)

And so that the spirit of More Joy Day isn’t completely crushed by Icky Work Things of Doom, I am taking tomorrow off to spend the day cooking for a dinner party I’m throwing in honour of my good friend, C, who just finished school in Decembre and passed her nursing boards last Friday. I am so proud of her and can’t wait to lavish her with food, wine and gleeful celebrating. C is awesome and has the most excellent good sense to be completely in love with Paul Gross and Slings and Arrows, too. See? Awesome.

And now I’m off to vacuum and read some More Joy Day posts…not necessarily in that order! Cheers, everyone!

Despite recent evidence to the contrary, I do actually read more than fanfiction on occasion...

2008-06-26T05:56:06Z

I'm well behind the curve here, but I also have nothing to do right now because my completely butchered painting is too wet to butcher some more and I'm not sleepy, so...gakked from at least half my friends list:

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well, let's see.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

Two were taken out of the list because they were repetitive (Hamlet & The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen; too many times to count
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens; I should say, now, since he appears on the list several more times, that Dickens was a favourite staple of family reading time. We would read to eachother, with dictionary handy, pretty much from when I started to read. I can't remember if this or Oliver Twist came first...
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare; I've read some, but nowhere near complete
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks; really enjoyed the whole WWII trilogy...Girl at the Lion d'Or, Charlotte Gray.
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger; I hate this book, stultifying and self involved, as I recall, but it's been years.
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell; one of my favourite travel books
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald; I far prefer Tender is the Night
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens; I started this as a preteen after seeing part of a Masterpiece theatre mini on PBS but I never finished.
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy; I've read this three times, if you count my Mum and I reading it to eachother (with handy dictionary) when I was a kid.
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky; only excerpts, so far
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy; "Happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Truer words...
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis; I lived, ate, breathed and slept this, Neverending Story (in German, the first time), Anne of Green Gables and Dickens as a kid.
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
37. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
38. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden; Meh.
39. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
40. Animal Farm - George Orwell; I have a sneaking suspicion I've read this, but I don't remember it particularly?
41. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown; managed to not read it, but thanks to the family, I was forced to watch it. PURE TORTURE.
42. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
43. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving; hated Cider House Rules and several short stories, gave up on authour
44. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
45. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery; ALL OF THEM. REPEATEDLY. TIMES ELEVENTY.
46. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
47. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood; Not underlining because I far prefer Cat's Eye, and The Blind Assassin is one of my all-time favourite books.
48. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan; I loved this book even if it was gutting; in some ways similar to The Constant Gardener in that completing the journey of love can sometimes end up hopelessly in a 20/20 hindsight/ if a tree falls in the forest sort of way...and then they all die.
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel; I somehow ended up with three copies of this book and I've yet to read it...it's on the same short to-do list as Pullman's Plot Against America and Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I'm not even sure why, maybe because amazon says so?
51. Dune - Frank Herbert
52. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen; in my mind, this Austen book, more than any other, is associatevely married to E.M Forrester and two of my other all time favourite books, Howards End and Room With a View. I like to reread them as a group (and yes, I'm a big re-reader). Anyone who has ever emailed me might recognise the "honeychrch" reference.
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens; unfortunately at least four times *gnarls at La Defarge*
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley; Heh. Huxley and LSD are forever married in my mind. Wonder why?
58. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon; oft recommended, not yet gotten around to
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov; Love this book, LOVE Nabokov, went on a huge binge with him (similar to Bukowski and Faulkner episodes, on my part). My personal favourite is Ada or Ardour: A Family Chronicle...although I admit it took me over a year to finish it.
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
65. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
66. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy; I read this along with Tess. I may have been feeling a little low at the time?
67. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
68. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie; I've read Satanic Verses, but not this one. I'm saving banned Salman for the beach. Heh.
69. Moby Dick - Herman Melville; OMG, like 10 TIMES. This was one of my favourite books as a kid. Clearly this indicates psychopathy? If it makes you feel any better (and it certainly makes ME feel better) I have little interest in the white whale now.
70. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens; Yeah, I think I might have been younger than Oliver when we first read this one out loud to eachother.
71. Dracula - Bram Stoker
72.The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
73. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
74. Ulysses - James Joyce
75. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Emile Zola
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
79. Possession - AS Byatt
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. Charlotte's Web - EB White; It was nice of the parents to occasionally break from the dour in favour of a good old fashioned children's book. I love EB White...Stuart was charming but most favourite was The Trumpet of the Swan.
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; biggest book I owned as a kid...or was that Bulfinch?
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
91. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams; EEEEEE! How much do I love it when this title continues to appear on every list that goes around? I LOVE this book, I've read it a ridiculous amount of times and my very name comes from it. And it was also the first film I have an actual memory of seeing...or was that Star Wars...anyway, it made a huge impression on me.
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole; kinda bored me after a while, bit overrated, eh?
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute; I've read On The Beach and if anyone liked that one, I'd recommend The Last Ship by William Brinkley.
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
97. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl; I've never read this one or seen the movie. I really liked James and the Giant Peach, though?
98. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I didn't count, I was too busy chirpily annotating? There are some huge and glaring ommissions here, and sometimes, if the authour is there, their best work isn't. No: Twain, Lawrence, my cousin Hemingway, NO FAULKNER, OMFG!!1! (my beloved), no Russell Banks (hello, Cloudsplitter is a masterpiece, although Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter were good enough to get some attention, too), no Thomas Pynchon (I don't love him but he's a damn good writer), no Ondaatje...at least something, does't have to be English Patient, could be Skin of a Lion or Divisadero. Or Pratchett and Moore for humour?

Oh books....?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYNN! &<3

2008-06-02T06:28:07Z

I've been failing at technology lately but after replacing my histrionics-prone DVD drive I felt compelled to christen it with a first play of HCL, which of course meant taking some new screencaps. I mean one follows the other as surely as Joe+Billy= ~~fucked up~~ ~~hearts and puppies~~ ~~til death do them part~~ ~~twu wub~~...er peanutbutter and ~~jelly~~ ~~honey~~ ~~celery~~ ~~chocolate~~...~~night follows day~~ ~~day follows night~~, wait, it's like Goedel's theorem...or not, y/y?

And the wonderful thing about taking screencaps is that you really have to pay attention to every little nuance and facial expression and special dialogue moment and so it's almost like watching something again with shiny new eyes! (Which--should this be incorporated into the efficacy study you have so generously agreed to undertake ~~at great hardship~~?)

Anyway, long story short, I would have loved to be able to provide you with the opportunity to regularly apply the remedy of Hugh to your bare skin (FOR SCIENCE, understand, please to explain this to Mr. McK) but sadly I fail here too. Instead, by way of birthday gift, I dorked about with my shiny new screencaps in Photoshop and came up with some cover options for a fic of yours I adore, The Sun Will Rise From Here (for which I now notice I failed to leave feedback *headdesk*).

So without further ado...

Have a couple bonus icons while I put the covers under cut to save load time!

There are four here but I did everything in layers in Photoshop so if you want to change one thing or everything it's no problem (more clutter, less clutter, different font, different pics, I want that scene...it's ALL good)! Also, feel free to tell me to go back to square one or whatever because I really enjoy doing these...

To sum: HAPPY TWENTIETH BIRTHDAY BRYNN!!!!! I say this because while the media has lately been bandying about the concept of 40 AS THE NEW 20, fuzzy math would then make you 10. Erm, no. So we'll stick with the old formula where THIRTY IS THE NEW TWENTY, eh?

Although we first met through BSG, I was so gleeful to discover, only a little more than a year ago, another fan of Due South in my BSG bookmarks and then it snowballed from there for me with DS/C6. You've been such a great and enthusiastic friend and your fandom joy and your attitude and your squee is just so wonderfully infectious. Thank you for frequently brightening my day, more often than you know.

PS. So I know I've been saying this forever, but I really am taking 2+ weeks in August and I plan to fly into Seattle and take the train up to Vancouver. I'd love to fan squee for a day or two with you...I figure it's easiest if I fly in on a Friday night? I know you're signed on for Nos/RCW, but otherwise, how are your August weekends looking? Becky the BFF in Van is shipping her hubby and kids off to Maine for the entire summer so her schedule's pretty flexible. Anyway, let me know what works for you, I was aiming for 1 Aug or 8 Aug. Anyhoo, YAY! Vacation + Brynn!

ETA: Revised version of the cover you liked:

Painting Update...

2008-05-14T02:26:37Z

A couple people asked and I've been lazy about keeping up my " painting journal" but anyway, the painting looks like this now and is about ten hours from being "pinished"...

I changed quite a bit and I used different patterns, I adapted the Chinese luck symbol I've been using and that's an Indian lotus flower, standard issue. I'm having trouble with the clouds...what's the balance between caricature and trompe l'oeil.

I'm also having to make some technical decisions...

There's a combination of gloss and matte in the false reflected sky in the above foto. I have to decide between one texture or the other...Crap, a simple patch (covering up a mistake) leads to a conceptual crises...should that area be gloss or matte? I'm thinking gloss, just to correlate with the idea that it's supposed to be water and a reflection...or is it? Even I'm no longer sure, heh.

I wasn't so sure initially, but I have grown to love this painting and I am very happy with it. It reminds me of Indian high-camp art. I like that.

Many more evolutionary pics here in the gallery.

In other news, American Idol meta...

A little Q about Idol voting, which strangely reflects actual voting these days. Here's the thing...I've never voted (or for that matter, really watched) American Idol before and I wonder how many people like me (newbies) think strategically and contemplate voting for the underdog (in this case, Syesha, sp?)* in the hopes of squeaking in a lesser competitor in order to guarantee a win for the person that is to me the clear winner (David Cook)? This is eerily similar to what I was grappling with before voting in the SC Primary. Sheesh. Never thought I would type these words or correlate these things.

*And honestly, I think David A. (I can't remember the spelling of his last name, so I won't butcher it) would best be served with what would probably be a five star career on Broadway. When I watch him sing, there is clear talent and an amazing vocal range, but there is always this stiltedness and affectation and it was never more clear than when he attempted Chris Brown, tonight. The way he "phrased" the libretto, so to speak, the vocal cut-offs he made was just hopeless...not pop, not anything but Broadway via Disney. And I've said before this kid gives me sugar ache in my teeth, I just don't get the appeal, or any sense of personality, despite the huge talent.

Having said that and disclosed my bias, I think Syesha has a surprisingly big voice in a below the radar package and I honestly think she should be in the running over DA because she has a greater range of possibilities. And of course, COOK FTW!!!! Probably, malnpudlcan explain his virtues better than I, but I have a fairly low annoyance threshold with music and I look happily forward to his first record.

About that low annoyance threshold...I recently remembered that I had forgotten that I've got an XM subscription and I've decided this was a sucky time to remember because across my preferred 12 some channels, throughout the day?...the playlists SUCK HUGE, with a preponderance of Nirvana. For fuck's suck, you've heard one Nirvana, you've...or on the classics channels Bryan Adams or else Def Leppard, Hysteria...which is a nice respite from Bryan Adams but hey, I've heard it 20 times this week, how bout some Journey? Steve Perry can sing, eh?

FWELARSEHOLEKWJRKEQN XM! Please to translate that as my displeasure and sincere hope that your June playlist improves.

Lastly, here's your weekly whippet:

Miss Lia Bella is auditioning for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. She's wet and it's hot out. If I were the editor, I'd choose her. Wouldn't you? It's all in the eyes!

Once upon a time I had this very nice pair of diamond stud earrings that I screwed into my ears and never gave a second thought to. Then I was attacked by parrot fish while diving. My dive instructor (the venerable and superhero-like Wayan) and I were confused as to what had initiated the sudden frenzy of tropical fish around my head but we forgot about it and I didn't notice the fact that I was missing a diamond stud until some days later.

So I had a remaining diamond and I was beginning to work with metals and so I made a ring and went ahead and brought it to heat. I figured diamonds are impervious. Well no, I fired at 1650 for half an hour. Diamonds cook after 1100 or so. So this is my brushed silver and diamond ring.

It's not the best pic, but notice how the diamond looks like something rolled around in soot. I like to call this ring "Patience" or, alternately, "I got my ass kicked by stupidity, capriciousness and failure to research". I wear it as a reminder and I actually get quite a few compliments on it (until I mention the diamond at which point people look at me funny and seem to want to mourn. Sheesh.)

Tonight's BSG: The Good, The Bad and Oh, BTW, Skiffy SUX

2008-04-26T04:57:44Z

OK, first off, Skiffy are WANKERS! Every Friday week they've had a noon "Preview" viewing of the new BSG ep. This week they only showed the first two acts. WTF? This wouldn't have been nearly so frustrating if it had been announced beforehand...I wouldn't have made extra time or shifted plans. Arseholes! They suck at communication, they suck at tech, they suck at frakking podcasts for crying out loud.

Because some of y'all on my flist won't have seen it yet, I'll cut for spoilers. Also, pardon my rambling, this is partially off notes during viewing.

Since I'm the kind of girl who likes to eat my veggies first and save my steak for last, I'll start with...

The Bad...

Pacing...let's slap some lipstick on this pig and get 'er done! We began this season with two episodes of a frantic Starbuck screaming about Earth and then fzzzzzt! It feels like everyone's just ignoring the elephant in the room while we get Lee settled into his new job of agitator for the righteous and moral and play around with all the other puzzle pieces. Except the puzzle pieces we're dealing with aren't part of the picture on the box. What about plot holes, you ask? I've lost track and so I choose to ignore them.

I'm starting to get really cranky about how the storytelling time is being broken up and used so far--Did Lee really need two going away scenes? Yes we get it, Tory is embracing teh ev0l and making rather icky whoopie with Baltar! Oh, Noes! Cally is very difficult! And curious! Now let's kill her!--I think it's pretty inexcusable to give the Demetrius crew WHO ARE LOOKING FOR EARTH HELLO! two real scenes over the last two episodes. Meanwhile, Roslin is debating ethics and nary a word is spoken about the actual Fleet's continued search for Earth other than to point out that the press is naturally curious about where the shit ship really went, which is also a convenient way to reintroduce the long-neglected Quorum.

Going back to the puzzle pieces, I get there are plot elements they need to move around and get into play but breaking things up the way they did feels clunky and lopsided. Spending as much time as they did on Baltar (no matter how significant this development may end up being) is difficult for me to stomach because while I may enjoy him in small doses or as the occasional comic relief, I also feel a tremendous amount of distaste towards his character (though certainly not James Callis' portrayal of him...in fact he's done too good a job). Also, it feels sloppy to go from the intensity of Starbuck--questions of what she is and the demi-trust certain other characters seem to have placed in her and her seemingly impossible claim that she knows the way to Earth--to just shunting it to the back burner. If every scene is a vignet in a larger story couldn't they have mixed the sequence a little better?

Of course this is my personal feeling and shows where my interest lies in the story right now. It also apparently shows that I was once a great fan of Moby Dick and Melville.

The Good...

I will say I enjoyed this episode as an ideal actor's and director's showcase. EJO's hand is very obvious because he always manages to balance intense material with a hint of quirk and I think he has a sense of what makes for almost play-like intimacy, as an actor behind the lens. A good example of this is giving us the visual of Baltar being physically dragged back up to a standing position by Invisible-to-Everyone-but-Him-Head!Six. Some of the fade out shots and framing, particularly in the bar sequence were very nicely done, too (and I like how they played a strain of the Watchtower music zooming out from Tyrol at the bar). His deft and subtle touch might have imbued some of the more abysmal stand-alone episodes of season three with desperately needed life. (ETA: Oh wait! He did direct one. The Episode Which Shall Not Be Named aka Cheers Part Deux.)

Acting was pretty awesome all around, but I thought Aaron was the best I've ever seen him in the tense Joe's Bar scene. That was just utterly painful to watch, I mean like HURTS IN YOUR GUT. He wins for the night. Wins for being hateful, in pain, inflicting pain on others, alone and completely and utterly confused. Chief is so far out to sea he's invisible. Aaron really blew me away.

EJO and MM were great in their scenes together. I also really enjoyed the interplay between Tigh/Caprica/Ellen. It was a nice bit of ambiguitiy playing out there where it seemed like Caprica cottoned onto Tigh a couple times, but really didn't. I enjoyed the weaving of the narrative at the end between Baltar's resistance, beating and sermon and how this applied to Caprica and Tigh. Plus, I <3 Michael Hogan so I'm always excited for a little extra time for Tigh. I thought I saw Starbuck for a second there, but apparently no one wanted to wake her from her nap for the episode, especially not her precarioulsy situated Cylon husband.

Maybe I'm just cranky in general or maybe my expectations are too high. I don't know. I want to be head over heels with my show but instead I find myself thinking...well, next week will be better. Clearly I found plenty to enjoy in tonight's episode, even if it wasn't quite what I was hoping for in terms of story pacing, but I can't help but continue to wish that forward movement would be coming fast and hard at this point because there just isn't that much time left and there are still SO MANY QUESTIONS! Questions I was hoping wouldn't be answered in the form of what feels a little like Ron's juniour year poly-sci thesis. (Which is an odd thing for me to say, as one of the few who agreed with Helo's decision in Measure of Salvation.)

Next week's preview...

This may well prove to be the next week I've been hoping for and I have a feeling I'll be enjoying it quite a bit more because it looks like someone remembered Earth, Cylon civil war, the ~~Pequod~~ S(hit) S(hip) Demetrius and oh...what promises to be at least a full second or two of Callum Rennie in whatever capacity they choose to use him. While I'm not hugely excited to see he's once again adopted one of his less flattering fashion choices (hazard vest), I feel greatly encouraged that he appears to be alive, however briefly, with ~~Ahab~~ Starbuck around.

Well that's all, except that the Lily painting is continuing to frustrate the hell out of me and so, taking an afternoon break, I spent an embarrassing amount of time reading this wickedly cracked out gossip story.* I think I need to make a Team Steven icon. Hee.

*the site is a little unstable and may crash!

Things what are true and things that be false...

2008-04-19T19:43:00Z

It's fessin' up time for the Eight Truths and Two Lies Meme.

meresy, brynnmckand callumvixeneach spotted one of my lies, but the tricky thing here is that everything is in fact true...

1. I once had sex in a Peugot with a Gendarme. There's just something about the uniform...

True. I did indeed have sex in a Peugot with a Gendarme. The Gendarme was my boyfriend and the Peugot was his. Funny adjunct to this story is that we were parked at the top of an embankment and the parking brake was accidentally released at some point during the assignation. Neither of us noticed that we had rolled some 30 metres down the hill until we actually stepped out of the car. Austrian Gendarmes are apparently not burdened by Fraser-like ethics as he did not issue himself a ticket, despite copious ribbing from friends and witnesses. I would have been far more embarassed were it not nighttime as well as quite cold out (steamed up windows) and so it was impossible to actually see into (or out of) the car.

2. One sunny and pleasant spring morning, on the way to kindergarten, my foot was run over by a Bell Telephone truck.

Also true.j_s_cavalcante helpfully pointed out that it would have been rather grotesque if my foot was off to kindergarten all on its lonesome, nevermind getting run over by a large and heavy service truck. Hee. My poor foot, which was thankfully attached to my body, was run over at the intersection of State and Elm in Chicago. The poor driver was so wracked with apprehension and guilt that he immediately drove us to the nearest casualty centre and stayed with us the whole time. I think the man must have had visions of his life slipping away before his very eyes. My foot was fine, no breaks, no cuts, not even a bruise.

3. There is an outstanding warrant for my arrest in Milwaukee, WI. The warrant was issued when I failed to appear in court on a jaywalking ticket.

A LIE...sort of. This was a popular choice, and I'm wondering if it's because people don't think I would leave a warrant outstanding (in this case, I would) or if they just can't believe one would even be issued for such a ridiculous violation. The truth is this really happened and the warrant does still stand to this day (as far as we know). The person caught jaywalking was my best friend and she had no choice in missing the court date as she was leaving to resume college at Evergreen State within a couple days. She got understandably annoyed and snippy with the asshole cop issuing the citation and so he made the ticket "appearance only" as opposed to pay fine by mail. When she explained to him that her appearance would be impossible he ominously informed her that a warrant would be issued in such case. Neither of us has ever been back to Milwaukee.

4. When I was a child, I was detained at the border on suspicion of espionage while attempting to cross into a communist country.

100% TRUE. I was seven or eight years old, travelling to visit Budapest with my mother, her best friend, Mary and my cousin. Mary and I both had US passports while my mother and cousin had Austrian passports. We were detained at the Hangarian border for almost six hours while our luggage, car and personal effects were searched several times. I was asked some very bizarre questions and our books and camera equipment seemed to be particular interest to them (our film was all confiscated).

Once we arrived in Budapest we found it impossible to get a hotel room. The hotel we had reservations with was suddenly "full" after seeing the US passports and this played out again and again over the next few hours. We were all exhausted and it was nearly midnight when we sat down for some juice at a hotel bar that was still open and a man who had overheard the hotel clerk refusing us a room offered to take us to his mother's house so that we could stay in her spare room. We were understandably apprehensive about trusting him but the alternative would have been to sleep in the car and likely get arrested. His mother turned out to be a fabulously sweet little old lady who spoke not a word of either Englisch or German but welcomed us into her home with open arms and refused to take money (we hid some in the room anyway).

Communism and the Cold War. Fun times. It was shortly after this that I got my Austrian passport.

5. I have seen Tom Cruise in person twice, several years apart, at the exact same location, which also happens to be where my foot was run over by a Bell Telephone truck.

100% Trufax. Returning to the corner of State and Elm, I saw Tom Cruise the first time while he was filming the scene from Risky Business in which he goes to Lana's apartment. If memory serves correct, the awning from Chicagoblooms is visible in the outside shot, this was less than a half block from the Gold Coast apartment I grew up in (hi Stella!). Lana's apartment was located in my piano teacher's building.

The second time I saw the Crazy Scientologist was several years later. I had to do a double take because his hair was standing on end, a look I'd never seen on him before. My double take was noticeable as we walked by each other and so he grinned and nodded his head, but I still wasn't positive until a couple days later when there was an article in the Trib about TC and which area pool halls were being used to film The Colour of Money.

As this was still well before the Scientology and the Crazy took hold, it was a little swoonworthy, especially since Risky Business was about the hottest thing I'd seen as a grade schooler.

6. I have set foot in 20 different countries. The farthest north I’ve ever been is Iceland.

And....TRUE. My original writing of this sentence was a little misleading in that it implied I had actually spent quality time in 20 different countries so I changed it to " set foot in" to account for the 6 which were only airport and vicinity layovers. A couple days spent in Reykjavik, Iceland is indeed the farthest north I've ever travelled (with close seconds being Anchorage, Alaska and Kobnhaven, Denmark. The breakdown is:

Airport:

Luxembourg, UK, Denmark, Japan, China, Taiwan ROC

Actual time spent:

Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Brussels, France, Italy, Hungary, Yugoslavia (Slovenija), Indonesia, Singapore, Iceland, US, Mexico. And CRAP! I just realised I left off The Netherlands! OK, so it's 21 countries.

Notice how none of these is Canada? This needs to be rectified post haste!

7. I was a very nervous teenage driver. During my first year of driving I ran more than 20 red lights, had four significant fender benders and was taught how to parallel park by my best friend. She had never driven a car.

Here's the other LIE. This is again my best friend, who was, self-admittedly, the biggest flake in the history of teenage drivers! She went through so many red lights and stop signs, with such regularity, that I eventually became inured to it, generally just clapping a hand over my eyes and bracing myself for impact without comment. She never received a ticket for this particular poor habit. It was always amusing when we had a new friend in the car and they'd be shrieking up a storm and asking me how I could just calmly sit there.

I'm the one who taught her how to parallel park and in return, several years later, she taught me how to drive. It went a little like this: I bought my first car when I turned 20. She took me around the Old Orchard parking lot a couple times late at night. Another friend drove me to my driving test, which I took in my own car, which I had only driven three times at that point. Then the BFF and I set off for Maine (where I was working oversummer) in my car. She drove all but one and a half of the 25+ straight hours it took us to get there, often in driving rain and zero visibility. Once in Maine, my boyfriend took over driving duties. I didn't actually start driving my car until it was winter and we were back in Chicago. Needless to say, driving in severe winter weather teaches you how to control your vehicle pretty quickly and it wasn't long before I became the cursing and wily daredevil and speed demon I now am. :)

8. At 14 months of age, I could swim the width of a swimming pool but not the length.

True! I was born in Santa Barbara and we had a swimming pool. It was the 70's and very popular to throw your infant in the pool (the theory being babies naturally swim due to remembering the womb), so I was toodling and flapping around the pool, sans flotation, from a very young age. I think this has shaped my life-long affinity for being in water and is probably one of the reasons I have such deep love for scuba-diving.

9. While working on a fish boat in Alaska, I nearly died. The coroner's report would have included the phrase "gummy fish".

Very true. I worked salmon season in Bristol Bay between my freshman and sophomore years of college, despite tremendous trepidation on the part of my parents. While the entire enterprise can be dangerous, salmon season is far less hazardous than any of the three crabbing seasons, so I won them over in the end. We had around 10 severe injuries on our boat, several of which required air-lifting out. I managed to get through the entire six weeks unscathed (save for the same requisite tendonitis and carpal tunnel that everyone suffered) and didn't get into trouble until the last hour on the boat. We received word that we were leaving literally an hour and half before we left and so there was a mad insane scramble to get belongings together and say goodbyes. I had just finished packing, and stuffed the last of the sour gummy fish my mother had sent in a care package into my mouth when a bunkmate startled me and the gob of fish lodged in my throat. I required the Heimlich and thankfully survived, because THAT would have been an embarassing end to the adventure, eh?

10. The only time I have ever been sacked from a job was by a Canadian company.

Sadly very true. Toronto Dominion/TD Securities you FAIL. I think it's rather humourous that I've been fired by Canadians without actually having set foot in Canada.

Every job I've ever had was left voluntarily to move onwards or upwards until I was let go by Toronto Dominion (along with many others) in the wake of 9/11. I had at that point worked on the CBOE trading floor for nearly eight years, starting out as a runner and making my way up to Broker (as in stands in the pit with the fugly jacket and badge shrieking and hollering). The marketplace was already in the process of changing (privatisation, automation) when 9/11 occurred, but the ensuing thrashing the market took, both financially and in volume caused waves of lay-offs everywhere. I would have likely been easily snapped up by another firm because my reputation on the floor was very good, and I have been asked by old colleagues why I never got in touch or pursued this option, but I chose to see it as the opportunity to make a clean split and move in a new direction. So now I work from home and have far more flexibility to pursue things I love...painting, golf and travelling! It took some time for me to break from the habit of having CNBC on constantly in the background though.

So there you have it. There were several things that didn't make it into the final ten, but I guess I'll save those for the next time this thing makes the rounds!

True Lies...

2008-04-17T16:51:57Z

This meme brought to you courtesy of nos4a2no9 ...

You know the drill...spot the lies. I'll post answers by Saturday morning.

1. I once had sex in a Peugot with a Gendarme. There's just something about the uniform...

2. One sunny and pleasant spring morning, on the way to kindergarten, my foot was run over by a Bell Telephone truck.

3. There is an outstanding warrant for my arrest in Milwaukee, WI. The warrant was issued when I failed to appear in court on a jaywalking ticket.

4. When I was a child, I was detained at the border on suspicion of espionage while attempting to cross into a communist country.

5. I have seen Tom Cruise in person twice, several years apart, at the exact same location, which also happens to be where my foot was run over by a Bell Telephone truck.

6. I have set foot in 20 different countries. The farthest north I’ve ever been is Iceland.

8. At 14 months of age, I could swim the width of a swimming pool but not the length.

9. While working on a fish boat in Alaska, I nearly died. The coroner's report would have included the phrase "gummy fish".

10. The only time I have ever been sacked from a job was by a Canadian company.

Happy guessing!

Lee Adama and the Catch 22..

2008-04-12T20:26:51Z

In which I mentally work through my reaction to recent developements with the character of Lee Adama and so I am cutting to save the eyes of possibly still virgin viewers...

I confess to being initially a bit skeptical about this new direction for Lee and here's why...

In a real world sense, I have some issues with a terrifically skilled pilot, tactician and seniour military leader leaving in the middle of a war to go debate policy and ethics (something any number of other people in the fleet could do who don't also possess his particular skill set and experience), simply because he feels it's the time to follow his personal destiny.

On a characterisation level, it's true Lee was ready to muster out before the war started, and it's also true he's indicated dreams of doing something other than fighting. What war movie doesn't have its characters wistfully discussing what they'd be doing if they weren't in the trenches? Dreaming of a different future is necessary to stave off the insanity of war itself.

Also true is that since as far back as S1, Lee has been the character to take a stand and act as a moral conscience, a bellwether. This has been an inherent element of his personality since the get-go and he's been moving more and more in this direction. On this level, I can certainly see him feeling compelled to act and serve in this capacity, follow this destiny. I just see it as something he would do when the fighting is done, because above all, Lee Adama is a moral man and must surely recognise where he is most desperately needed—that he in particular, as an individual, has much to offer to the fight. This isn't a far away war on foreign shores or colonies with tours of duty; this is a post-apocalyptic day-in-day-out fight for the very survival of humanity as a species. Big stakes here. Stakes which aren’t really best served by faffing about in politics.

A young and able-bodied soldier leaving the dire fight to run for office under these circumstances might not be looked upon too favourably by his potential constituents (I wouldn’t personally feel inclined to vote for him).

In a real world sense, Lee Adama belongs in the cockpit and the tactical room, where his skills and intellect are most useful.

But therein lies the Catch 22 and also the reason I’m going with the handwave…

This isn’t the real world, this a television drama nearing its expiry date. Leaving your young male lead, Lee Adama, in the role of a sort intrepid and un-ironic Yossarian--while Kara goes off to prove the truth in her destiny (and possibly lead humanity unto salvation), while Roslin and Adama continue as the stalwart watchdog and shepherd of humanity--really doesn’t give him much to do, does it? It would be an egregious waste of a character who’s already been short-changed on occasion in the past.

There would be no dramatic juxtaposition of having the wretchedly doomed star-crossed lovers once again separated, this time to follow their conscience and their respective perceived destinies. There would be no poignant farewell party or salute. There certainly wouldn’t be as many opportunities for character growth, interplay or the sort of thought-provoking indictment/monologue we got at the close of S3. Moving Lee into this new position should set up nicely for new and different interactions with both Adama and Roslin (something many have been craving more of since the mini).

I do honestly feel that Lee’s reasons for resigning are a little flimsy, but this is courtesy of writers who are walking a tightrope by stretching the concept of “in character” just enough to ask us to believe that Lee would indeed resign in the middle of a war (was that even an option at Ardennes?) to pursue duty in a way he feels is even more valuable than his current contribution. I may not love this. I may even cry “Oy, there! Clunky!” But it is what it is, and I am accepting it because, like Lee, I think it’s for the greater good (and ultimately, better TV). Sometimes you just have to handwave.

Some things I loved about the episode:

-- For some reason, I never look forward to the Baltar scenes and yet they always end up taking me by surprise and last night was no exception. Head!Baltar conversing with real Baltar was cracktastic joy.

--The very bizarre and awkward Tory/Baltar sexing was on the other hand really bizarre and awkward. And ew. Wtf was up with opening the scene with her twitching foot?

--Helo has gotten some guff for not being a good friend to Starbuck (huh?), but I really loved that little head-nod at the end of the episode between he and Adama. I took it as a sort of I promise to take care of our girl, Sir nod.

--I wasn’t a huge fan of the rather draggy World of the Cylon: The Disco Years arc we were gifted last season (aside from Bear’s piano concerto) but I loved the start of the Cylon ~~War of Cavil Aggression~~ Civil War. Cranky and snarky Dean Stockwell is always a win in my book, I like the Natalie Six quite a bit and of course there was my beloved Leoben! Eeeee! Also, I feel like we learned more about the Cylon last night than we did through the whole goofy disco arc.

--Did I hear that right? Phallic Inhibitor? Hee.

--And since I didn’t mention it last week…the FX from the opening battle were like the most sublime geek p0rn ever with all the looping and weaving about and shifting perspective and angles, and the cannons and sound. It was just stunningly lovely.

In other news, does anyone know how to remove gum from whippet?

Ganesh is still laughing at me...

2008-04-11T04:55:47Z

In my last post I suggested that the Gods were having a laugh at my expense. Since Ganesh is the one with the mischievous bent, I continue to suspect he is largely culpable for the fact that April Fool's Day has become April Fool's Month. Is anyone else being victimised by Ganesh this month? Should we write the boy a lettre of complaint? It's hard to get angry with him when he insists on being so adorable!

Things what are irking me...

1. ESPN YOU SUCK!!!!

I admit I was a little skeptical when I discovered the majority of golf coverage was handed over to the heretofore seemingly lo-tek perennially also-ran basic cable Golf Channel this year as part of a whatsit? 17 year deal, I think. But they swiftly won me over with their shiny brainwashing, excellent commentary (alley lynching kerfuffle aside) and sudden HI-TEK overhaul. Shiny New & Improved Golf Channel coverage, it turns out, is as like being born unto a revelation in that it is remarkably similar to playing TW Golf with all the fancy angles, zooms, aerials and swing analysis play-backs. It spoils you, nevermind ramps up the already ulcer-inducing excitement.

It's nothing new that a majour or two (The Masters, The Open, The British Open, what have you) is still under contract with other...what does one call it? vendors? Anyway, The Masters is apparently still the purview of ESPN who is running Thursday and Friday coverage from 4-7 PM before handing off to CBS for the weekend. Muddying things further, Golf Channel has Live Coverage (heh) from Noon to Four.

So here's the thing. Because of contractual bungling, Golf Channel can't actually show Live Golf in their coverage, all they can do is talk about the action and analyse the leaderboard Then, at 4PM, in swoops ESPN with some of the most embarrassingly shitty sports coverage I've encountered in...well...considering their coverage looks like this VCR recording I have of my Grandpa playing the Bob Hope Classic back in the mid-eighties? Decades behind.

I think what's happening here is that ESPN maybe threw a batshit!pusillanimous hissy at whatever deal-making conference ended up with Golf Channel winning their MEGA-contract and so ESPN has been shunned and literally has NO ACCESS to anyone's camera-towers or even the MetLife blimp which is like a fucking golf fixture of coverage wondrousness. So instead they're stuck with a bunch of totally REEEDICULOUS shots of K.J. Choi or Luke Donald (both of whom I adore) waiting around to putt. Why is Tiger always below a hill in camera sightline? Dude!

Nevermind the preposterous time-slot. Tiger teed off around 11:30 after an hour's fog delay; other majour players of note were scheduled to tee off staggered over the next couple hours. So what's a network to do? Recap or stick with the live action? Basically, by the time their coverage starts, they're forced into dead-in-the-water-boring recaps of all the faves and live action with players noone cares about. Sheesh. For love of the game, indeed.

I will say this. Golf Channel's "non-coverage" is far more amusing and informative than the cockamamy crap ESPN is offering up (poignant Drew Weaver/Virginia Tech tie-in aside). At least they've got Beat Brandel!

Anyway. It's first day at The Masters and while it's always a toss-up, it shouldn't look like a US Open, guys?

Tiger (even)
Lefty (-1)
Jeev (-1)
K.J. Choi (even)
Bendy Spider Boy (+1) (It should be noted, I can do that too, but I guess it's more interesting in a guy?)
Luuuukkkke! Donald (whom I love because he's a Northwestern boy and a VERY decent painter...and cute) (+1)
Mikey! (Mike Weir) GO TEAM CANADA! (+1)
Aaron Baddeley for the Aussies (+2)
Paddy Harrington for the Irish (+2)
Adam Scott for the makes you weak in the knees contingent (+3) With his talent, I mean. No really.
Geoff Ogilvy. (+3) Because I love his version of cool and breezy golf and because he is the perfect marriage with PUMA endorsement and because he is just really...lovely. And Ogilvy.

I tried and I managed to get some money together and then the auction got pulled. That was yesterday. Ganesh giggled.

Today, I pulled even more money together and then I was about to run over to the Publix and the car (Talyn) sputtered out after starting. Perfect time for car troubles, right? Cute. Real cute.

Btw. Who ruined the ebay auction...? Ebay etiquette is that you don't flaunt on the first day...it's like poker, you bluff until the very end?

How the hell did this auction climb by $1000 immediately? Who's the asshat? (MD, I know it's not you.) On the other hand it's all good for the point, which is helping Babz.

Last (heh), I'm working on a new painting. I have an idea what I'm doing but it really kind of changes from brush stroke to brush stroke.. here's a taste of the latest with some more depth under cut to save everyone's flist.

As usual, these are all clickable for larger images...

So first off, I added the pink today, the painting looked like this yesterday:

I'm never sure whether anyone cares about the beginning stages, but here is some background:

Prelim sketch...

Sketchpad...

Rather blurry pic of my painting workspace...

There are some more pics in the gallery for this painting.

I had a very definite idea and concept when I started this painting and it was largely based on what was going on here:

You've got your lily pads and your water but positive and negative space become arguable and negotiable in this google searched Posters-R-US photo, eh?

Also, based off this, I want to translucently impose the lily flowers over the rest of the painting, sort of a trompe l'oiel step further from the last painting.

So, ever wonder where the creative juice stems from? I think it's safe to assume Callum's a fan of Hemingway. And also Basquiat, apparently...

Look familiar? Pemo? Hee.

Close to last and BSG-related. Could someone please to reference somewhere, either writer's, producer's or actor's dialogue or whatever, where Leoben is in fact responsible for Kacey pitching down the stairs?

And finally, everyone loves to get some good dog, right?

Anyone watching the streaming BSG premiere...?

2008-04-04T16:14:12Z

Without really giving anything away, they totally nailed the visual (and sound) effects in the opening battle sequence. They haven't been this amazing or intricate in some time. Now I'm really looking forward to watching this on a big screen tonight. EEEEE!

I spent the entire day in the attic on a wild goose chase and all I got was this...

2008-04-03T05:36:55Z

Poncho? What, did you think I was going to say poncho? Erm, no. You see, I am trying to be all creative and come up with funds for this, which is not only a worthy cause but !hello! dinner with Callum (and can this be substituted for nine holes of golf with Callum is what I really want to know?!).

In which I shun dust allergies and dignity in the name of ~~fangirl extremes~~ charity...

When I checked the auction the morning of, and discovered the opening bid was at $1500 CAD, I had a little fit of despair because this is a couple hundred more than I can readily come up with ("but at least I have pretty teeth now" is not much consolation at the moment here) and while I sincerely hope this auction goes for WAY more than I can afford, because it is for a good cause, it is terrifically disappointing to feel priced out from the very get-go. In a bubble bursting, tin-hat denting sort of way, see?

It was therefore magically serendipitous when, not an hour later, my father mentioned to me that ticket stubs from Stevie Ray Vaughan's last concert could be worth as much as several hundred dollars apiece. This lit a mope-extinguishing fire under my arse, I tell you, because I was there! I have four ticket stubs! I was there that night and the night before, close to the front. I remember this very well because I had a bit of a highschool crush on Eric Clapton (shudup) and I stood on my seat and flailed my arms and he smiled and nodded his chin at me (and then security pulled me down but that's neither here nor there. /shudup)

I have the ticket stub from the first night! Pristine, too. Now if I could just remember where the four ticket stubs are from the second night...because I'm really good about keeping concert ticket stubs. And of course, had we not moved across country a little over a year ago, I could likely locate these particular stubs in less than an hour. But we did move, and I no longer have an entire room as a closet and so a great deal of my stuff is in boxes...in the attic.

This is where I climb up on the kick ladder, drag down the crazy attic-ladder-staircase contraption and become as one with the rafters, pillowy insulation, dubious flooring, dust and 40 odd boxes marked unhelpfully "Nicky: Office, Non-essential or even more obliquely, Nicky: Store Somewhere. I should add, just for flavour understand, that severe storms were raging directly overhead for the duration of my stay aloft. Ominous thunder, cavernous attic. Fun times, punctuated by copious sneezing.

I could describe my efforts in detail but I'm guessing no one wants to read about my internal dialogue on discovering a box full of decade old journals or an 11 x 14 b&w of my old bf Andy I took at the Hoover Dam (aww, Andy, best boyfriend, ever!) or several boxes of Gamma slides of my drawings and paintings from highschool (half of which I didn't even recognise, which I find hilarious). On the other hand, hanging out at Gamma was usually excellent for Cusack or Piven viewing, way back when. So I'll cut to the chase.

The net results of my search for the ticket stubs and additionally my old Nokia 6600 (best mobile phone ever! I was looking for it so I could swap it out for the PoS Razr I currently use which I hate with a mighty fucking passion) anyway, so the net result of my search was exactly ZERO.

I found ticket stubs galore, even my U2 Joshua Tree ticket stub. But there is a whole chunk of ticket stubs missing, for ince the Naked Raygun reunion show at the Metro, or Face to Face at the Fireside Bowl (oh wait, probably no stub for that one). Where can they be? And where the hell is the Nokia 6600?

Of course, because the Gods enjoy a good laugh (Ganesh, I'm looking at you) I found:

-the box for the 6600, but not the actual hand unit
-my missing passport. This is of the particularly painful ironic variety because I searched high and lo for it, even through the very box in which I found it today, yet it was as something warped into another dimension last spring, inexplicably unlocatable. Travel plans were thwarted, and far more money than should be necessary was paid out to get a replacement expediemente for reformed travel plans that fell apart. I'm just going to go with bright side here and say the picture in my new passport is much nicer and at least I now have the old one, full of travel visas, for posterity's sake.
-the final thing I found was a bunch of old polaroids I took of myself. Oi, mind out of gutter. What's a little awesome about these, which are what... does math (I'm celebrating my 31st birthday for the which time this year...?) about...a little more than a decade old, is that I have my short hair and my tattooes are so clearly in process! Aw, baby tattooes! I know callumvixenwanted to see some tattoo pictures, and these aren't exactly clear but here's a little, at least...

Here's me with short hair:

And here's me with freshly shorn hair and some very much in-process tattooes...

Sadly very blurry, but I can see I only have one sparrow on my right clavicle (there are two, mirrors of eachother and coloured)...in this pic, I still have the angel on my right shoulder and not the Foo dog my tattooist designed as a cover sleeve and it looks like my left sleeve, a koi with frangipani blossoms and black bar clouds is only 1/3 done. I was having work done pretty much every week and half then, so we alternated projects.

For tattoo comparison (although I've gotten several more small things since then) here's a couple of slightly more recent pics (two different trips, diving, quite burned, Indonesia, 04 and 05, I think)...

Also, and I've meant to post about this probably a gazillion times and I've started to and then something came up, but I finished a painting a little while back and I'm very happy with it, even if it isn't close to what I started out on.

Here's a snapshot:

Here's a gallery.

200 Things Meme (gakked from everyone)

2008-03-23T01:26:57Z

It's a just a lazy Saturday night so I figured why not...

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins Well kinda? They like to follow our dive boat in Bali but they're less keen on sticking close when we're in the water...
03. Climbed a mountain Does Dachstein count? The easy tourist way?
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game Yes on all Chicago teams, but the most fun was Tiger Woods at the Western Open at Cog Hill. Aaaand he won.
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby’s diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days Every fucking deadline and business trip!
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day Erm, I'm a mess there anyway, so why not? I'm a parrot, that way. Facility for languages or whatever.
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer (I currently have five between two computers.)
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales (Worked salmon seasin Alaska one summer on a fishing boat, saw all sorts of whales, but the beluga were the coolest.)
56. Stolen a sign. Hee. My tattooist and I stole a bus-stop bench back ad for Trainspotting in Chicago at 3AM.
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip.
59. Been rock climbing About a kilometre up the hill from my uncle's house in Styria is a Kletter-garten (climbing garden) which is basically a five story rock face. My cousin and I used to go up there and climb to the top, free0climb, no equipment. Which is just stupid in hindsight, right, especially considering my vertigo. But it was so exhilarating at the time. We would climb up to the caves at the top and unpack our lunch.
60. Lied to foreign government’s official in that country to avoid notice I've yet to do this, but I suspect I will have to because of the new 30 day visa restrictions for Bali (which don't include the rest of Indonesia). There are fixers you can hire specifically for the purpose of extended stay/retirement and worse comes to worse, you have to fly to Singapore for a day and then come back to reset your visa. I don't need to worry in Europe because I have citizenship (Austrian).
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love I STILL AM, which explains why I'm still not dating, three years later.
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Bench pressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your music collection
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day I try to do this once a week.
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Gone scuba diving I am a Master Scuba Diver.
75. Got it on to “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud I'm assuming playing in the stalls on a farm in Austria counts here, eh?
78. Played in the rain Golf, even.
79. Gone to a drive-in theater My Grandpa used to take me to the drive-thru in Palm Springs when I was a little kid.
80. Done something you should regret, but don’t regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who’s not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog.
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites Besakih, Bali Indonesia
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Sword fought for the honor of a woman
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight Erm, GTA? TW GOLF?
90. Gotten engaged
91. Been in a movie Parade scene, Ferris Buehler...I can't spot me, but I know I'm there.
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn’t have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten married
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo Quite a few.
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Gotten divorced
104. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don’t remember anything
108. Taken illegal drugs
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music German choir as a child
112. Eaten shark Shark fin soup in Singapore. SHAME on me!
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live I WISH!
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off Daily
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently English, German; was once fluent in French although not anymore due to lack of use, still understand it quite well; speak and understand some Indonesian
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy Yomego, yo!
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did Fought in the American Revolution
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. …more than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery Breast reduction. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it or do it again.
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray Awesome majestic manta rays, Nusa Penida, Indonesia
145. Broken someone’s heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph 104mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol I have a Ruger Mark II semi-auto .22, but I've fired other models and calibers as well
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild Schwamel-suchen is a favourite Austrian pastime.
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery See 138.
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states I've visited more European countries than US States nevermind the rest. Lichtenstein, anyone? Hee. Iceland? Check.
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime Well, while you're in them they seem healthy enough, right?
173. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions Fired or fined? Because I testified and got one of the guys in my pit fined when I was an options broker, for doing some really heinous and completely illegal shit (after which he respected me more). Later, I also testified when my former clerk knifed me in the back along with everyone else at our trading desk (to which I'd gotten her hired) and she was eventually "let go".
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name Because everyone who has ever known me, including close relatives, has accidentally called me Michelle instead of Nicole, I sent out general notice a while back that I am heretofore Nicky. I'd like to completely rebrand, though. Does anyone have contact info for Froghammer?
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes Dude. Boulevard Diner. As often as possible.
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read This one's a no-brainer, since I went to art school.
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them
183. …and gotten 86′ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch Jewelry making, including PMC.
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating Does fishing count? Otherwise I just assisted.
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt Me and the BFF have this running litany...
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream Bali, Bali, Bali!
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair See I got this here white stripe...
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested

A Few Reasons Why Today Was Awesome...

2008-02-24T08:01:08Z

It's Accenture Match Play Week which means ALL GOLF: ALL THE TIME! Also, cooking, dinner party for best neighbours evah (because they adore Slings and Arrows) and more...even some totally vague recipes...

1. It's Accenture Match Play Week which means: GOLF...ALL DAY LONG. And not just any golf, but Match Play, which can be almost sublimely ulcer-inducing at times, especially now that we get full coverage with Golf Channel's new deal (which, also sublimely, is for like 17 years or something). I haven't been this sports psyched since I discovered Fox ~~Soccer~~ Football Network or whatever it was called, back when we had Dish in Chicago. Sadly we're too tree-bound to go with anything but Comcast down here in SC and asshole Comcast does not carry FSN, but this Golf Channel deal makes up for it. Full PGA coverage plus the girls, too (LPGA). Go Creamer.

As if Wed-Fri wasn't enough, 36 holes today AND 36 holes tomorrow. And Tiger is en fuego; he's working on his 6th win in a row and 7th win in eight tournaments (I think, or did I lose count?). So, spit, spit, cross your fingers and all that, this could be a year like 2000 again. History in the making...like MJ, like Francis Ouimet, like Bobby Jones, like Kobe/Shaq/Jackson. EEEEE!

8. GOLF ALL DAY was the perfect backdrop to cooking all day for dinner tonight with my favourite neighbours. The very same neighbours with whom we spent Thanksgiving, with whom I frequently dog-walk and to whom I mercilessly pimped Slings and Arrows...and OMG, they fell for it HARD, so hard they couldn't stop GUSHING for more than an hour, even though I'd only lent them the first season at that point.

I love Randy and Helen to pieces (and also their daughter, who is closer to my age, lives down here, is a retired ballet dancer and is going through an accelerated nursing program right now, so always with the studying and, right now, ability to start an IV...practice and neuroses). They've already pimped Slings and Arrows to everyone they know.

For all my failed attempts, it's a really good feeling when something sticks, y'know?

H. Mmmm. Yummy cooking. I made my favourite crab spread* with some toasted baguette for appetiser. For dinner I made Moroccan style lamb roast*, asparagus, a simple baby green salad and carrot/parsnip/ginger puree. Mum made roasted rosemary fingerling potatoes and Apfel Strudl for dessert (the real kind, from scratch, we rolled and knuckled the dough out on the dining room table last night because we're Austrian like that). Also some sort of chocolate souffle which I did not eat, for I don't dig teh chocolate, but it was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone else.

12Z. Dinner party, no matter how small, means I get to dress up a little, which is just really fun for me because I have about three closets full of clothes (that I've unpacked) and no occasion to ever wear any of it. I work at home and I don't know anyone here and so I never go out except to the Publix, gym or to walk the dog, so it's mostly jeans or sweats and t-shirts and rarely any makeup. So I gussied up in skinny jeans, kimono top and smoky eyes. I think the last time I wore eye-makeup was Thanksgiving, so while it wasn't a challenge to apply (after years of doing it daily) it was startlingly different when I looked in the mirror. Hey! I can be pretty and schnazzy sometimes, not just work-at home dog mum with sloppy pony-tail from gym.

$16. Miss Lia had the delight of entertaining Mister Clancy for the duration of the evening and it was an additonal delight to watch, the way they followed eachother and ran up and down the stairs and outside and in. A delight. Until the lamb roast appeared, at which point both canines indulged in ludicrously pandering acts.

After dinner (and lamb, carefully meted out, equitably) the two of them flopped down on the sofa together to look at the grandparent's Cambodia and Vietnam picture album. Actually I think they were more interested in the Animal Planet program I switched to and muted after teh GOLF, but that's between us, yeah?

Okay, wow this is discomboulated but wine and cooking and golf will do that to you. So...

*recipes.

Crab spread:

Cuisinart recommended.

Two neufchatel, or two full cream cheese or two no-fat versions, whatever. (Or wait, not two no-fat versions, cos' gross, at least one neufchatel+ whatever else you decide.)

Canned crab. When I say canned crab, I use about 2/3 or more of that big fat tin of Phillips' tinned premium fresh canned crab you can buy at Costco, but I think three cans of whatever tinned crab you can pick up at Publix will do in a pinch. Note: Don't buy the premium Phillips' mini-can at your local grocier's or Whole Foods, you'll be ripped off and crab short. If you're cash poor and must have crab, get 3-4 of the crab flake tins in the tinned seafood section at your local grocier's.

A couple large dollop of sauer cream (pref, light). Or goat cheese works too. Actually, if you're doing this in a Cuisinart, a few large dollops. When I say large dollops, I'm using my two tablespoon scoop.

Skin at least one large Navel orange for zest. If your oranges are small, skin 2 of them. All zest in, eh?

Splash some worcestershire sauce in, not a whole lot, just for accent.

You'll want some fresh chives, actually you'll want a whole bunch of fresh chives. And then you'll want to chop them and throw them in, too.

Then you can blend the whole thing in your Cuisinart.

Then you can chuck it in a bowl and sprinkle it with some more finely chopped chives and a few streaks of orange zest for colour. Serve it with crackers or toasted baguettes.

Lamb Roast...

Buy your lamb roast the day before.

In a bowl large enough to fit the lamb roast squeeze 4-5 oranges and 2-3 lemons. Take zest shavings from the oranges and add them to the bowl. Depending on how much garlic you like, crush some garlic cloves and then chop them up fine and add them to the bowl. Peel some fresh ginger, at least one large bulb, but better two and then chop them up and add to the mix. Shake some cumin in there. Do it to taste. Shake some Paprika in too, also to taste. Or if you don't feel comfortable with that...based on the above measurements...2 TBS. Cumin, 1.5 TBS. Paprika. Take an entire bunch of cilantro, wash it and while it's still bound in the twist wrap, chop it fine to that line, the twist wrap. Take all of that and add it to the marinade. Roll the lamb roast in this miasma, cover it with the juices and stuff and then put it away for a day. (Marinating, in a bowl, covered with a dish towel.)

I've been cooking on convection lately so things go quicker than I expect. A Costco lamb-roast will get to 140 in two hours. If you're cooking with a regular oven I think it takes an hour more? Anyway.

You'll want to stick the roast in at 425 for the first 25 minutes and you'll want to baste it with the remaining marinade, too. And you're probably going to have to pour some water onto the roasting pan to deglaze because it might start dripping and burning at that heat. After the primary roasting I usually turn the roast and baste the hell out of it. And I turn the oven down to 350. And then I baste every 10-15 minutes. And deglaze the pan with some water, at least, or the marinade juice, depend how much gravy you want...except not really because it' all going to caramalise and roast away anyway.

My roasting pan is slightly warped so I like to turn the roast, ob und zu. No rhyme or reason to this, I just turn the roast and then the pan every 20 minutes or so.

I can't tell you how long it takes for the roast to cook. The last couple times I've used convection (whatever that means) it was done in less than two hours (mid temp 140). Standard gas oven back in Chicago would have added at least an hour? You'll want to use a meat thermometre. It should read around 140F when you stick it in the middle of the roast for medium rare. At that point you'll want to take the roast out because it's going to continue to cook another 20 minutes with no help from the oven.

Once the roast is done, transfer it to a dish (something with a lip, it's going to bleed juices) and pour the roasting pan leavings and the rest of the marinade into a pot. Set the pot to simmer. Add the juices as the roast bleeds. Add some dry white wine and let the gravy simmer, it'll be thin and fluid.

Into a cup or bowl take out several tablespoons full of the thin simmer. Slowly sift flour into the bowl, mix frequently. This is your gravy and you don't want it to get lumpy. Keep sifting flour until the substance is thick and creamy, like pudding. Add it back in, slowly.

Repeat a couple times, continue to simmer, add another cup of white wine over the process, simmer another 10-20 minutes until thickened (heat will burn off the alcohol, in case you have teetotallers or AA people at dinner).

the difference a day...

2008-02-20T05:13:27Z

First off...and sort of a disclaimer:

Apparently my LJ is rated PG-13, per this handy little tool malnpudl posted about (and no, today the LJuser function doesn't appear to be working for me...or the embed function, for that matter). I get a PG-13 for twice usage of "suck" and once "shit". I think this is off, frankly, or else I swear like a truck driver in my head and it somehow magically doesn't convey to my typing fingers? Either way, there will henceforth be more profanity on my LJ. Just a warning...or a vow. Hee. At least until I can get that rating changed.

The other night I posted a wine and exhaustion fueled whine-fest about how much the painting I was working on SUXXORED and wouldn't fucking behave and just BE the thing in my head and WOE IS ME and so forth. When the whippet dragged me out of bed the next morning I decided to lock the post because it wasn't really constructive or pro-active in any way. After all, what's wrong with the painting is always the painter? Instead I went and stared (malevolently) at the canvas.

Then I did some fiddling...

This canvas was oringinally called Flying Fish and looked like this after first sketch:

I ~~blindly~~ bllithely proceeded:

Then I tripped and fell, conceptually.

While there are "a few" good things going on with this canvas, they are actually abysmally minute because as the swirling mess of blue wash indicates...this is a swirling compositional mess. At which point I posted my W(H)INE.

So then I went in this direction...because I do want to use pattern, symbolism, a "cheeky" combination of both...

and then more, because really those pansy ass flowers (and teh waht was I thinking fish?) had to go...what the fuck was I thinking? (Ass...that should get me some points?)

Then I had some badass dreams ~~or were they really fucked up nightmares~~...regardless, you carry this stuff to sleep , through sleep and into waking, and so I woke up and did this...(edited to add: Or maybe I was just staring at my LJ header too long?)

Even though it's just sketch and shading, I think it fucking ROX over what came before. Also this was a convenient place to use "fucking".

So here's my work today. I should say my back kills because the canvas is so loose on the frame at this point that I had to lay it flat to do precise brushwork and so I was leaning over it for hours. Anyway, you can see here where I'm starting to execute the new ~~picture in my head~~ plan:

Full Gallery (with some detail pics) is here.

In the realm of pretend, it isn't news that CKR is my pretend Canadian actor husband. And really, the Canadian part could be removed there. Anyway, in the realm of pretend boyfriends, after much soul-searching (HEE) I decided to commit, thus the designation of "husband". But after my recent all-season binge of Oz, I can't help but remember my terrific crush on Dean Winters. Not that I'm overthrowing fidelity here, no way.

Today, while painting, I was listening to Twilight Sisters and "Bonnie Brae" came on and I remembered vividly the tremendous and startlingly violent beat-down Deano's character Johnny Gavin took from Dennis Leary's Tommy Gavin while this song sort of exploded in concert with the fight out onto the street and through a car windshield, awesome, meaty stuff (Rescue Me). I love Twilight Sisters/Greg Dulli/Afghan Whigs and I love that he wrote a song called "The Vampire Lanois" after recording at Daniel Lanois' studio in New Orleans.

I'm also really enjoying Dean as Charley Dixon on The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which is, so far, not really sucking too bad at all...in fact it seems to grow on one?

Lastly, I would like to be able to post some new whippety joy but none of my recent pics are quite worthy of the honour. I'll keep trying. Instead, have an old classic...Teh Whippet Encounters The Lake They Call Michigan For Teh First and Last Time. (That water is fucking toxic and if you think I'd let my precious Whip near it U'R smoking teh bad crack or summat shit.)

Well, I tried. And just in case LJ-cuts don't figure in? SHIT. FUCK. DAMN. Which is pretty much my internal mantra when I'm less than centred...which is most of the time.

Oh and PS, anyone considering veneers? It is a majour pain in the arse, takes weeks longer than expected and it HURTS, too. I can't wait for this ordeal to be over!

Valentine's Cheer

2008-02-15T02:56:35Z

To the wonderfully sweet person who sent me a yummy box of LJ candy, THANK YOU! <3 <3 <3

And for everyone's general amusement (Valentine's Day, Election Day or for not particular reason), here's some classic Ric Mercer: Talking to Americans. PM Jean Poutine, indeed, HEE!

I spent Valentine's with my Mum owing to the fact that I continue to be woefully single (any progress on that Callum cloning, people? before I die of waiting?) and we decided to drive over to West Ashley for some Indian food. We've both been missing Devon Ave in Chicago and its endless blocks of Indian restaurants and shops, so this seemed like the perfect day to overindulge in some classic Indian lunch buffet. Mmmmm...Makhani Chicken, Baingan Bharta and Dal, soooooo good! On the way back, we stopped at this little shop I've wanted to visit for a while called Elizabeth Stuart Design. They had some really great pieces of refreshed vintage and antique furniture, particularly a chair and ottoman set with some really sexy curves and beautiful hand-turned legs. Sadly, too large for what I've got in mind for my bedroom (and the wrong colour, and too pricey, heh, but the curves!). I did buy myself a little Valentine's gift, a turquoise and gold vermeil necklace with a Hamsa pendant by Satya. Pretty stuff on the website, here's the one I bought:

Of course my Mum was giving me the fish eye while I bought it which I easily translated to mean "You're wasting money you could make that yourself!" While true, it's nice to indulge sometimes (without doing the work), y'know?

Also, last night a cold front moved through (BRRRR!) but the sky was gorgeous:

New painting is coming along veeerrrryyy sloooooowly because I'm so far not using any mediums other than Gamsol, cold-press linseed and stand oil, so without the addition of dryers it's long intervals before I can resume working on it. This is probably a good thing since I'm still not quite sure where I'm going with it...

Wow, both of these pics are out of focus. (Chews on own foot for recently teasing teh Pater for same.)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, hope it's been a good day everywhere!

Inspiry...

2008-02-08T05:05:49Z

I'm 99% finished with the prep work for my new painting (stretched, completely sketched in, primed and ground tint laid) but I've been putting off actually starting because while I have a very clear idea in my mind of where I want this piece to end up, I find I'm having trouble deciding where to begin exactly. I think this might have something to do with the fact that while I've got such definite ideas about the concept I also traditionally like to leave room for happy accidents when I'm working and so the difficulty is in reconciling THE PLAN with CHANCE.

So I usually work around psychological blocks like this by a. going on a wild de-clutter spree and 14. immersing myself in things that inspire me, visually or otherwise.

So here are some things that I've been finding visually or conceptually intriguing lately and at the very end, some bonus drawings I did a very very long time ago that I stumbled upon while de-cluttering...

I should note I'm not going to cite individual work titles, but I will provide links to sources for these images. Also, many of them can be clicked through to see larger versions.

First we've got Ernesto Caivano, an artist I noticed through an article in one my absolute favourite magazines in the world, Elle Decor. I love his compositional use of positive and negative space, his highly developed personal visual language and well here you go...

These images come from Richard Heller Gallery where you can see much more of his work and also here.

Looking around the above mentioned Richard Heller Gallery I also found a couple of other things that I enjoyed...which is less than shocking, considering it's a gallery and there's lots of...liek art there and stuff. Hee. A couple finds...

This piece is by Jason McClean and has a wonderful chaos to it (reminds me of Basquiat, of course) but it's also visually engaging and rather fun:

I actually rather like all of McClean's work even though it's NOTHING like my own. Artistic inspiration doesn't need to be predicated on like-mindedness. Otherwise I wouldn't find wallpaper or Willem de Kooning so all-entrancing, heh.

And Daniel Clowes' On Sports just caught my eye because it's hi-larious and well...it's also not really work safe so beware enlargement...

Googling for larger Caivano images led me to discover what is now one of my new favourite things, Serigrahie CINQUNQUATRE, a printmaking studio in Montreal.

I'm not sure if they revolve their online gallery or not, but currently featured are:

Alice Jarry



Jason Cantoro



I love the pattern over pattern technique used in Jarry's work, it's very textural, almost reminiscent of batik textiles. Of course I had to choose the greyhound print as an example (hi, Miss Lia)! Cantoro's work is equally awesome and has this very Russian Constructivist sensibility to it, which explains the obvious appeal to me as this is one of my favourite movements in art and design. Looking at Cantoro's first image which I think is called Pop Ball, there's this really cool syncopation, rhythm, going on.

I am ceaselessly inspired by textile arts, for ince Japanese silk painting and prints, so I'm always googling on the subject and looking for new books. Most of my tattoos are ~~thieved from~~ based directly on Japanese prints, so this fascination is nothing new! Here are a couple of examples of what I mean from this nifty little online shop called, aptly, Oriental Furniture...

Also in textile arts, I love the tactility of Mary Taylor's batik painting. I always feel drawn to paintings that have an aged and textural quality to them (and this is something I employ in my own work), perhaps not so much from actual three dimensional build-up but from brush stroke, sanding, glazing, the sorts of things that allude to perceptual depth. I always assumed that Gustav Klimt's work was deeply impastoed because it certainly looks that way in photographs, but it is in fact illusory, very thin washes of paint.

I find Mary's batiks interesting because she is basically painting with tjantings, wax and dye, and thus taking the concept of traditonal batik (applying pattern over pattern...using a negative for retention, instead of adding) and doing something truly unique and one of a kind. Here are a couple of Mary's batiks scanned from her book:



Earlier I mentioned Elle Decor and the March issue is dedicated to the homes of people who love to collect art and it's so awesome on every page that it hasn't left my bedside since it came in the mail...



In the above vestibule is a painting by Caio Fonseca. He does have a very nice website, but it loads veeerrrryyy slooooooowwllly. I dig his artistic chili, so to speak (hi, Brynn!). I mean some say that he's formulaic and I can see that, but I think he's got an artistic process that he's into perhaps more than the finished product and I get that. I guess in visual terms maybe he might seem mass-produced but I just really get into what he's doing texturally while keeping the composition simple and lyrical. (Yes, I have synesthesia of several varieties, wot?) Here's some more of his work...

In case anyone is wondering why I adore Elle Decor so much, forget your preconceptions about the snootiness inherent in Elle. The Decor magazine loves anything eclectic so combining Louis XIV with Corbusier is fine with them. Granted this is still out of most people's price range, but the eclecticism is inspiring and shows you how, even on the barest budget, it's possible to combine unlikely parts into a really perfect whole. Leaf through this and watch a few of those wonderful canadian produced shows on HGTV and...well I'm swimming in creative soup at least?

So here are those drawings of mine I came across, rolled up in a tube from the move and yellowed with age. All are graphite and charcoal on Rives BFK.



These were part of a series of about 40 which got me an early admission scholarship to Cooper U. Which I declined. My mum likes to point this out as my biggest mistake, but I am honestly still certain that at least that decision in my life was the right one.

I went through this phase for about three months where I was drawing these crazy pattern-oriented...caricatures...until my....well let's call him "Meh" (because this was a favourite sound of his to make when he was inebriated), disabused me of any notion to follow in this direction. Funny how I'm still obsessed with pattern and "Meh" always was, too. ("Meh" was a very important teacher in my life although I won't specify CAftA or MICA because he's still actively teaching although no longer head of department). I still really like this drawing, although when I look at it, I literally can't imagine it issued forth from my brain and fingers?

And here's an open query. A few years ago I read several interviews with Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer) and he frequently mentioned an artist friend of his and so I looked the guy up and was in love with his work. He had several prints for sale that I was seriously considering going into debt for. I bookmarked the artist's website several times but since then, I've upgraded hard-drives, work more frequently on my laptop and can't find hind nor hair of him in my favourites! His name was definitely Hispanic. He did both paintings and prints that were allegorical and beautifully realistic (in an idealised way, not like Lucien Freud) and largely underwater. If anyone knows who this guy is please tell me!

I tried google searching extensively now but MJK has been a busy boy lately (oddly, and very much ooc) what with the wine and the Puscifer thing and so none of the usual interview hits come up. Oh, Maynard you cheeky mid-life crising chameleon.

I should add, I LOVE Kanye West's blog. I don't know who writes it (probably Ye, likely not most of the time), but there's such a great mix of of design, music and pop culture. Go Chi, go Ye!

So that's it. I thought I could get this post done in an hour, I pre-loaded all the pics and then some, but Bitsy (laptop) was SOOOO SLOOOOOOWWWW and I couldn't figure out why. I didn't even have much open, Outlook and several Explorer tabs, not even Illustrator. Then I checked the harddrive and discovered that I had slightly less than 2 Gigs of space left. How did that happen? I mean I off-loaded about 20 Gigs to the new THING (I've yet to come up for a name, it's a 300 GB ext hard drive) just last month. So this post took 4+ hours. Everything was molasses slow and meanwhile I offloaded a ton of stuff onto the unnamed thing. Y'know I think I'll name the thing Linus. I've always loved the aesthetic look of Wings of the Dove. Where did those Gigs go? The porn really adds up, eh? HEE!

Randomisity...

2008-02-02T03:52:29Z

Curse you, FNL for making me bawl in my beer not once but twice tonight...and that's with entirely missing everything between minute :15 to minute :45. You broke my heart with wet-hangdog Woobie QB1 and also with Smash at the end there. Show, if it's your intention to make sure your record of total domination on the weekly crying front continues, you're now so far ahead that the mere thought of you makes me weepy. *team huddle, clear eyes and all that...*

The reason I missed the above mentioned half hour is that my BFF called and because our game of phone tag has now reached ASTRONOMIC proportions, I didn't need to think twice about hitting the mute button and picking up the call. And I'm glad I did because there was a crisis.

B is volunteering at a gallery (looks good on the Carr grad school app). The volunteership isn't going so well due to a combination of issues, but boiled down, I suspect B is having some trouble adjusting to "work life" after being her own boss and at home with her awesome three daughters for so long and also, the gallery owner/manager sounds like a really neurotic POW (piece of work). So I advised appropriately and then...as per usual, B had to go and there was no time to talk about ME.

This is a trend, in our phone conversations. She is difficult to reach (of course, with the time difference and the kids) and when we do talk, it's usually because she's in the middle of crisis. I should say it's never like this when we're together in person, we've had this awesome give and take and inspiration/adoration/creativity sparking relationship since we met in highschool (Chicago Acad. for the Arts). But the balance of our phone relationship is really trying sometimes, most acutely lately, because I've moved to a new State, and I am really lonely sometimes and it would be great if I could talk to someone who'll just let me ramble on for a while. Someone who knows me. But the only time we ever seem to talk is when she's got something going on.

To be fair, life with three daughters is ueber-busy and while I can't say I know, I can imagine how utterly absorbing that must be and I do know it's hard for her to get moments to herself, time to really talk, and so she calls, on an emotional level, to connect, because she knows I get her, maybe better than anyone she's met over the last few years since they moved to Vancouver. I don't have kids and I work at home and I listen. It's just...sometimes I really need to rant, too?

In other phone call news, I finally ended another epic phone tag I had going with my friend T...

We caught up for almost an hour this afternoon and it was awesome. I met T and her then-boyfriend-now-fiance J on a trip to Bali while diving and we totally hit it off, probably because within five minutes I discovered they were Battlestar and Firefly fans. Since then, we've met up for more diving in Bali and they visited us in Chicago shortly before our move. They were "stationed" in Jakarta for some time but were recently relocated back to hometown Houston where J finally proposed and they decided they wanted to get married in Bali.

I had to break the news that because of my teeth expenditure I can't make the wedding which was really an agonising decision on my part (and came down to the possibility of employment contract/insurance changes in the next few months). I'm still floating in happy cloud land after talking to T, though, for there are possible plans of mutual visits afoot and perhaps even a dive trip to Mexico. I'm just still heartbroken I can't be there for their wedding which will be a tiny affair at the Jimbaran Four Seasons and I just know it's going to be lovely and so perfect for them, and I'm still so excited, just in principle.

After finishing that completely unsuccessful self-portrait/ very successful painting, I haven't been painting at all, even though I've got some small canvasses to work on. I just really felt like working on something big and then the whole Decembre Biz Trip of Suck happened and I had to get ready for that and also I didn't have enough linen for larger pieces. In Chicago I cleaned out the Vogue Fabrics for linen remnants and spent WAAAAYYY to much money at the Pearl and Dick Blick on brushes I didn't even really need. And then I started cogitating. Somewhere in here, also, the BFF mentioned grad school (Carr, Vancouver) and then I was all...paralysed. Because she is the devil and I am kind of slavering at the idea. Especially the idea of us doing it together because I really miss the way we would ping off eachother creatively.

So I stretched a new canvas, drew all over it with a Sharpie (my new favourite method), primed it and that was three weeks ago. I can't seem to work on it. I had this clear idea of what I wanted to do with it when I stretched it. I even sketched it out on a post-it! Which...I have tried my hardest, throughout my artistic life, to sketch--to keep sketchbooks--I buy the things, and it lasts a week. I have a box of sketchbooks with 5 pages of sketches on them and then blank. I get these bursts where I know EXACTLY what I want to do with this painting, but then it's cold out, which means I can't paint, because the garage isn't heated or else it's warm and raining which means snakes will come in or...I can come up with far more absurd excuses and I feel like I'm poised on the cusp of something, but I just can't seem to get my ass downstairs in front of the canvas to pick up a brush.

I think maybe it's that, if I'm even going to entertain the idea of submitting a grad school app, I need to start to get together a cohesive body of work, this cohesive idea. This means commitment, idea marriage. I fail at commitment. As clearly evidenced by the fact that I only feel comfortable committing to a PRETEND boyfriend.

I swear to Ganesh, I will drag myself down in front of that canvas ~~tomorrow~~ ~~this weekend~~ this coming week and apply some paint to it. NO MATTER WHAT. Not even if there is some crazycakes tornado going on in my head.

I am thouroughly enjoying my re-viewing of Oz, so much so that I can't stop thinking about all the boys (and girls) throughout the day. I love this show (and I love Terry Kinney, whom I've seen on-stage a bunch of times). It's a testosterone soap-opera on a Shakespearean scale and it's so completely fitting that it went out with an ill-fated staging of The Scottish Play. Plus there is a lot of nudity, in case you were looking for something else to recommend it?. And Kareem Said, who is Teh Awesome. And the Beecher/Keller love mess (which is HOT). And, most importantly, Ryan O'Reily. Who is like The Lord of The Fucking Dance (He's Got Moves). Hee. My attempts to find some good Ryan O'Reily/ Dr. Gloria Nathan fic have thus far failed.

ETA: It should be noted that, as a fan of Le Bourne, I've watched this video an embarrassing number of times today. Nevermind teh Sarah. Dude, Matt is just all kinds of awesome here. This wins over my other guilty favourite (hyep, that's Jason Street, our new Rex Racer. Which...I think they should create a part for Kev Rankin...wot, I kinda have a geek crush on him).

Dogs have owners, cats have staff...unless the dog is a whippet.

2008-01-31T01:29:41Z

If you are assuming this is an idyllic example of the way in which cats and dogs can share an amicable homelife, you would be WRONG.

This whippet is displeased...

NAY...disgruntled, judging by the amount of heavy sighing. This whippet has been staring at me for more than ten minutes now, telegraphing with her eyes," Mum, this here cat is very fat...and on top of me. Make it stop, RFN?" I ignore her because I am ~~sadistic~~ researching the natural interaction between cats and dogs.

As is frequently the case with these two, they have a discussion and reach an agreement. Notice the vehemence on the face of teh whippet. Hee. I suspect there was majour kicking involved. At least this is generally the reason why the whippet in question gets 2/3 of the bed at night? That's our Miss Lia, ever the lady!

I can haz horsey teeth!

I'm unused to smiling with my mouth open...I think I look a little vampiric?

Also, that small OUCH by my brow? Is the result of a bizarre accident involving a large bowl of soup, a staircase and two cats and a whippet underfoot. I had forgotten how much head wounds bleed. Thanks, guys, with special mention to January.

It's LOST week. I feel fairly MEH about this, despite the lack of new programming (although I am curious about this Eli Stone thing tomorrow because 1.) Spy Daddy, %.) Johnny Lee Miller, and 12.) George Michael). On the other hand, it amuses me greatly that USA is using Patrick Swayze's "She's Like the Wind" for their Westminster ads this year. Heh. And also, Golf Channel's got the Dubai Classic starting tomorrow. *glee*

And because I can't bite down on anything (like say, an apple, or a sandwich) I made seafood curry soup! With shrimp and mussels! Yum! I think I'll try Vietnamese beef soup next. Soup, soup, soup. When all this bleaching crap is done and I finally have the actual veneers on, I am going to drive down to Boulevard Diner on Besse Coleman and order about a week's worth of fried green tomatoes, okra, fried oyster apple salad, smokey shrimp grits, catfish and crabcakes. And then I'll eat a pound of apples, too.

OMG Dental WOE!

2008-01-29T02:02:02Z

For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture (in short, overbrushing, grinding and soft enamel) I needed to have veneers done on my upper front six teeth. This morning I went in for the first of several sessions.

You guys, I am not a wuss, really I'm not. My tattooist used to bring me to shows because he said I "sat like a rock".
Apparently I have a SUPER-SPECIAL mouth, though. And no, ~~Linda Lovelace,~~ not in any way that's good, either. Heh.

I've been pretty lucky in the dental department, for which I am grateful, because I hear awful stories about root canals and implants and from people of an age with my parents...dental work without pain management. !SHRIEK! When I was 19, my wisdom teeth became badly impacted...otherwise, I've had one cavity, in my late 20s. Despite a lack of experience with dental procedures I probably should have suspected something was a little off with my mouth:

- During the wisdom tooth surgery, I woke up, fought my way off the chair, yanked the IV and made it bloodily and blearily out into the hall (scaring the shit out of several other patients) before being subdued. I recall thinking it was imperative I get the hell out of there before the mouth torture continued. I should say the dental surgeon and her flamboyantly gay assistant were really all kinds of awesome and I liked them very much.

-During cavity filling and repair to two areas of extreme wear, I.felt.every.little.thing. When I told the dentist I could feel him drilling, both heat and pain, he laughed and said it wasn't possible because he'd given me local (painfully), it was in my head. For anyone in Chicago, Dziac The Dental Butcher should be avoided AT ALL COSTS! Until recently, I didn't even know there was numbing gel for the gums before the shots? Because Dziac Teh Butcher didn't truck with that, apparently? He continues to give me nightmares and I'm convinced he's responsible for the fact that the extreme wear tooth he repaired later turned almost 30 degrees in my mouth because he used a totally wrong composite for the repair and it was pulling away from and cracking my poor tooth. WTF? This was a high rent State Street dental practice, too.

So it was with tremendous trepidation that I went for a consult with a new practice when we moved down here to SC. I can't say this enough but Pleasant Family Dentistry are TEH WIN. And they do this funky stuff with lasers for cavity checking and sandblasters instead of scrubbing for cleaning and it was all so nice. And then I got LE BILL. I should say LE BILL was an estimate for proposed work...telling me what I already knew...and here's where we come to the veneers.

For whatever reason (and I did think it was "acid wear", my years of rampant Diet Pepsi consumption), my tooth enamel has worn down to dentin or beyond transparent on my front upper teeth. Once they did full-mouth moulds, it became clear I was grinding and over-brushing my teeth to oblivion (and I need braces...but that's a bridge I'm just not willing to cross right now). Anyway my really pretty healthy mouth needs serious work. It's not good when you can't sleep at night because your jaw aches even if your teeth don't?

So a few weeks ago I went in for work on my right lower quadrant, the worst part I thought because it involved rebuilding the tooth that Dziac fucked up. First there was numbing gel and then lots of shots. And then I still felt the air and the drilling, so more shots, waiting and still...sensation. How is that possible? They were puzzled, too. So one more round of shots after half an hour and finally I was numb. They did this abso-fucking-fantastic job on that area (I'm now in love with the fucked up tooth) but I was balloon faced and blubber-mouthed for well into the next day.

Seriously? Is it impossible to numb my mouth? I know I'm orally fixated (hello, smoker) and sensitive, but...what? Do I have "special" nerves or something? Science paper?

SO TODAY...I couldn't sleep last night and the appointment was 9AM which is early for me. I got up at 6AM. One needs to mentally prepare for this sort of thing. Thankfully "Unsound" was still set in the alarm from the other day, good way to wake up, yes?

This sort of thing was three and one half hours of extreme discomfort. It was horrible. And totally not their fault. If I could describe it...liposuction with a local? Dr. Johnson was all kinds of awesome, as usual, but the first two rounds of marcaine lost effectiveness after twenty minutes each and I was shivering enough to percuss for JT and they gave me blankets and more shots, but then there's THE SOUND AND THE SMELL? (Hee.)

Especially when they did this laser reshaping of my gums, kind of like what they do with your cuticles at the salon, except there's this burning flesh smell. And then at odd times there's this drip of horrible chemical down your throat, especially when they SHOVE these little expanding minty-narcotic strings up UNDER YOUR GUMS! And then they place the moulds for the temporaries and it's this thick GOO and it oozes down your palate and you feel like you're going to asphyxiate. I jumped out of the chair at that point, with Doc J. following me, still holding the mould in my mouth...those were my teeth he was holding, at least for the next three weeks until my new ones are built.

This was an awful and horrible experience for me. And here's the wierd thing...it wasn't a painful experience, in the classic sense. Sitting for five hours at a tattoo show? Painful. Reduction mamoplasty, painful. Tonsillectomy, painful.

It's now many hours later and I still can't even drink (or smoke) properly (hee, I have to do this thing with my lower lip so I can pour the Fresca/water into my mouth). My face doesn't work, mechanically. This is very humbling. When I pull my upper lip back to look at my temporary "model" teeth, I think I like them...I think I want them bigger. For prosperity, right?

Go Large, I guesss?

Brief interruption...

2008-01-22T04:03:23Z

I was trying to put together a picspam of Bali to warm everyone up because it's cold outside everywhere it seems (even here where we had an overnight low in the lower 20's F), but I realised I had some gaping holes so I'm digging up some more pictures to fill in those blanks.

In the meantime here's a tease...

Imagine gentle South Pacific tradewinds, palm trees rustling gently, frangipani and incense in the air, exotic temples and...monkeys...

A Comedy of Errors

2008-01-19T17:02:47Z

Right. Remember when I vowed that 2008 would be the year of smooth travelling? I was partaking of teh crack when I said that for there is simply no other explanation for the craziness of this morning (and I’m not even the traveller in this story).

My parents were scheduled to leave in the wee hours this morning for a vacation to Vietnam and Cambodia. We, as a family, tend to plan these sorts of trips down to the last minute detail and nanosecond so when the phone rang at 5 AM, it was answered with Great Apprehension (as has become second nature whenever anyone in the house is travelling). Sure enough, their flight to LA (via snowbound Atlanta) was cancelled, and they were automatically booked on another itinerary which had them arriving at LAX (via Atlanta and ?New York?) at 11 PM tonight (hyep, that’s Pacific Time).

Um, NO. The plan was to drive up the coast to Santa Barbara and visit friends before getting on the 11:50 PM to Taipei tomorrow night (eeee! the same flight I always take to Bali) and thank gods they weren’t flying out tonight instead, right? Anyway, my father got on the phone to Delta and WAS ON HOLD FOR AN HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES before reaching a Human Being. WTF?

Once the flight issues were sorted (with the help of a VERY NICE Delta Human Being, who assured us everything would be fine) we headed off to the airport, where a VERY NICE policeman allowed me to sit at the curb and wait for them while they checked in. Of course the automated check-in had no record of their reservation. Also of course, my father, in the mad rush to the airport, left the barcoded e-tickets at home. Further of course, in the ten minutes it took them to establish that they would have to deal with a Human Being in order to check in, another flight was cancelled and the check-in line quadrupled in length. Finally of course, the Human Being could find no record of their amended itinerary either.

Meanwhile, another policeman came out and informed me that, since I had been sitting at the curb 9 X longer than they would normally allow, I had best begin circling. (What, is there a FORMULA? Wherefore does this 9 come from?) It was right around here that I discovered that Moya’s battery had inexplicably died. (Yes, our Honda Pilot is named Moya, and yes the GPS is named Pilot). Thankfully, this policeman turned out to be VERY NICE, too, and he zipped off to get his battery charging thingummy. In fact, it should be fairly stated that every person we dealt with, including the harried Delta employees, were all VERY NICE, without which the entire process would have been THE BLACKEST AND FOULEST OF NIGHTMARES.

It took another half an hour for the parents to finally get checked in and then we were off in search of food. This because my father ADAMANTLY REFUSES to pay EV0L AIRPORT PREMIUMS for food (my father is in the habit of driving ten extra miles to save a penny, it’s like sport to him). Because the poor thing was so completely frazzled, his efforts to get down his breakfast resembled not so much the act of eating but more an extremely animated interpretation of Cookie Monster, the likes of which hasn't been witnessed since my best friend Becky’s 97’ Salad Explosion which saw me discovering bits of lettuce and carrot in every nook and cranny of my car for many months after. I suspect I’m going to need an elephant sized vacuum to restore Moya to her former glory.

After all this, finally FINALLY, I saw them off to security and they were on their way, so I went on mine. My heart goes out to my poor parents because their nerves and energy are already shot this early in the trip and they’ve got a gruelling couple of days ahead of them, not to mention the stressful possibility that things can still go wrong in Atlanta.

By now I had consumed enough coffee to kill a racehorse and I had to pee like one, too, so it was with great exertion of willpower that I managed to squirm my way through staying on the road and not take out the half mile string of Huckabee placards lining US 17 on the way home. In hindsight, this might have been effort wasted. Heh.

When I finally walked through the door, Miss Lia, deigning to tear herself away from the documentary on Great Danes she was watching on Animal Planet, ascertained that 2/3 of the human contingent of her pack had failed to return home. Her subsequent greeting was rather desultory, thereby disabusing me of any misconceptions I might have harboured as to who comes first in her book. To the disciplinarian goes the cold shoulder?

I’m now so thouroughly fertig that I’m reconsidering the advisability of my afternoon hair appt. In light of this most overwhelming reinforcement of the principles of Murphy’s Law, the adventurous zeal with which I made the appointment has dulled considerably. Do I really want to chop off four inches and go more edgy? Isn’t this just begging for disaster? Wouldn’t it be safer to just go hide under the bed for a while?

A Tale of Two Cats...and a Whippet

2008-01-17T20:26:41Z

Malnpudl requested a picspam of whippety/kitty goodness so here goes...

This is Miss Lia Bella. She is a horrible awful dreadful whippet. She is also transparent in places, as you can see.

Miss Lia has very earnest eyes...

and very long legs...

Miss Lia is not overly fond of cold weather (owing in part to the afore-mentioned transparency) and so she was a firm adherant to the policy of layering while she still lived in Chicago. She is very pleased to now live in South Carolina, because really the boots? Were a bit cumbersome.

Even indoors, Miss Lia commandeers all pillows and blankets as her own. There is nothing more pathetic than a shivering whippet, after all.

I can haz ALL the blankets!

Hark! Is that the enemy?

My ass is WAY hotter than yours, see?

Not to give the impression that Miss Lia spends ALL her time being indolent and indulging her hedonistic tendencies, we present evidence of Miss Lia's other favourite activity...THE BEACH!

Miss Lia is of the opinion that the ocean smells WAY better than The Lake They Call Michigan.

Also, there were never any of these super ~~stinky~~ delectable horseshoe thingummies there...

It would indeed by a trial for any whippet to have to endure only the company of silly humans, but thankfully, Miss Lia has a couple of allies in the house, even if they are of the inferior feline species.

This is Booger. He is college edumacated (he majoured in laying on paint pallettes with a minour in taking baths). Booger likes teh sunshine.

While Miss Lia is herself inclined to laziness, she feels it's her duty to discourage this trait in others.

In the end, a detente is reached.

Miss Lia is on slighty less friendly terms with Miss Tiger Lily. The reasons for this will shortly become apparent...

This is Miss Lily. She would like to give you a piece of her mind. She clearly doesn't care if you're busy or say...trying to sleep.

Miss Lily knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING!

She knows, for instance, that you're an idiot.

Well, Miss Lily, while you may feel it is incumbent upon you, as a member of the feline race, to radiate supercilliousness at every opportunity, we would like to point out that you're sitting in a potted plant.

Of course, animals can be just as silly as people, really, as evidenced by this particular candid photo...

Miss Lia's cousins like to send her a Christmas card every year. They are also big fans of Meerkat Manor, in case you were wondering.

Miss Lia isn't always camera ready. She is in fact sometimes quite cranky when the camera comes out:

So that is Miss Lia and her two feline companions.

In rounding up these pics (across three harddrives), I also found a ton of great pictures from Bali, so that will be the next picspam, possibly over the weekend. As a preview, and in keeping with today's theme...

This Balinese cat demanded that I share my breakfast with him. He would not take no for an answer.

And this here? Is my Balinese boyfriend.

He's a bit of an exhibitionist.

EEEEEEE! Guess what UPS brought today!

2008-01-17T02:49:40Z

My RAWHIDE Tee!

It is A THING OF AWESOME and I love it \thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis/ much!

Now I just need to order a second one and "personalise" it with some scissors, because crewnecks and I are not normally on friendly terms.

In honour of nos4a2no9 and her photographic technical difficulties, here is my father's first attempt to take the above picture:

Da, while the argument can be made that this does count as pointing the lens somewhere in the vicinity of the subject, the t-shirt is not in fact at all visible? Just sayin. Also, I'm not sure what foul beast sat on my shoulder and encouraged me to share my dinner spaghetti with both the whippet and the cat but I suspect I'm in for a difficult night on the animal flatulence front. *headdesk*

ETA: Apparently I am retarded because no matter what I do, I can't get the ljuser function to work when I post an entry. What is the bleeding trick here, for f**ck's sake?!

Now with more Dean Winters...

2008-01-14T19:32:24Z

In an effort to combat the tv doldrums (brought on, of course, by The Bad Thing) I've been working my way through my DVD catalogue of old series. This last week, I've been mainlining Oz and among the many things worthy of love in the series, there is Ryan O'Reilly, played by Dean Winters. Whom I dig (wot's not to love about lanky and snarky). Dean has also been in several other things, notably Rescue Me and L&O: SVU (who could forget his rakishly clueless Detective Cassidy confusing fromage with frottage while testifying on the stand, HEE!) And now he's also in the Sarah Connor Chronicles (additional squee for Summer Glau).

So I was digging around imdb last night and found this awesome and hilarous little jibe at the AMPTP. Not only does it feature the adorkable Detective Cassidy (hee, with rope) but also various other Oz/Law and Order alum, and each scene is better than the last...

More Joy...except, kind of a day late!

2008-01-11T02:14:42Z

Ray Kowalski has some interesting shirts but my personal favourite by far (and I know I'm not alone), has always been the navy Rawhide t-shirt from Perfect Strangers. Combine this with holster and badge and our Detective Kowalski looks downright combustible, you see?

I've always wanted my very own Rawhide t-shirt so, in honour of More Joy Day, I decided to try to recreate the design. It's really hard to figure out exactly what the text on the shirt says, but through careful inspection and screencapping, I think I got it right? I mean "our skins will fit better than yours" would tend to fit, being as how this Rawhide is a leather outfitter? The only part missing is the very bottom line of text, which is completely illegible in any cap I've ever seen or taken, so if anyone has any ideas on that count, please let me know! (I'm assuming it refers to a location...the second part has enough letters to possibly even be Alberta...)

I loaded the image into CafePress just to see how it would look, but I've never worked with CafePress...anyone have any advice? And of course, once it's finalised, anyone who wants one can order their own, so YAY! Also, the original image was done in Illustrator, so if anyone would like a copy of the artwork, I can share that in pretty much any format (white or black).

Ok, that's what I've got, so MORE JOY, everyone!