Unwind and Wind

Well, I'm back. Yes, I'm at Starbucks, there's really no other acceptable solution to the at home lack of high speed internet. So, I've downloaded my songs for today on iTunes, checked my email, and I took care of financial things yesterday.

I was also admonished for not posting any blog update recently. It was Rice (argh the two dot thing's not working!!!! sorry) of course. My lack of connection seemed insufficient excuse for not posting, at least as conveyed by her eyes. Her cold certainly doesn't blunt that tone.

Now what do I write about? Do I update the past week or two? When's the last time I posted? Do I finally admit I often (often enough) write and speak like a Vulcan from Star Trek? (That one just came to me as I typed "insufficient.)

I dunno. What I really want to do is empty my brain out a bit, possibly making some sense in the process but not especially caring whether I do or not. Because right now things are tightly wound, in my head, I'm not really sleeping too well, at least not until 2 or so in the morning, and believe me I'm trying to get to bed earlier to attack the mornings with more gusto. Hum.

After all, I'm planning to depart sometime next weekish. Haven't set a date, though right now I should be researching places to stay, but I still see the pink orange and turquoise look of semi-scorn for not blogging. So I'm here.

Here is tightly wound. I was working on the paper dolls today. I finally found a paper I like, or even a few, that dry fast and promise archival qualities. They don't smudge either. Leave it to Kodak, of course, and then there's the Office Depot brand that's good too, and Rice brought me some Strathmore paper from Portland, and I hope to try it later as I'd love to have that brand work as the Saint cards are on Strathmore Illustration Board. So it would be a nice bit of continuity, circular coolness if you will, for that to work.

What is not working now is the scale issue, because the new HP printer, on the borderless 5 x 7 printing, wants to throw things off the edge of the page, or else just mess up clothes and doll proportions. Sheesh. And that was, originally, the least of my troubles once I figured out how to scale everything with ratio/proportaions (and let me tell you, I'm really glad that bit of math has stuck in my head!).

I'll figure it out, though. I probably need some time away. In the meantime of that time, there are about 30 print outs of Darwin 665 (he's really cute and I was amusing myself terribly on some of his "accessories"). So I think I'll start a journal with the journey of these paper dolls documented in earnest, pasted on the pages and interacting with the pages. At the very least, it will help me deal with all the extra print outs, and it should be fun.

Meanwhile...I just finished having what I'm calling the Willy Wonka virus, which is difficult to explain exactly, but basically was a quick lower intestinal stomach bug that afflicted David and me, and no one knows where it came from, but it hit hard and then left. I'll spare too many details. Suffice to say this past Sunday I slept most of the day. Little to no work was done.

Alright...just took a break to explain my cool shirt to April's Mom here at Starbucks. It's an orangish floral pattern. She just told me she bought a shirt at Dunlaps with the exact pattern...a woman's blouse. I got this shirt from Dillard's when they carried the Contigo line, but long gone now. I call it the couch shirt because it looks like some 70s couches I've seen or may have known. (If you combine the pattern of a green couch with the color of an orange couch my parents had, you'd have this shirt.) I really like it. If Rice shows up tonight she better comment on it, that's for damn sure. (She did.)

Okay. Apologies that I don't have pictures to post here. I planned on doing so, taking some catch up pictures to make the update ever so interesting, but the scale issue on the paper dolls got in the way.

One of the pictures I was going to post was of the Love Gun Becky Boone made for me. It made me cry, when she gave it to me, not just because it's so cool and awesome, but because she personalized it for me. She made it with two hearts (this is a knit "gun" with a barrel that holds the hearts) anyhow two red hearts and one blue heart (for bluebird) to give away when I fall in Love. I can't tell you how meaningful that is. I have some really great people in my life right now. Odd that I'm leaving soon, but, everyone supports me, knowing I need to stretch and put myself and my art out there. I expect they'll all stay in touch with me anyhow, so, when I'm sparklingly wealthy, they can come stay at my beach house. :)

Aha. Rice has just pulled up. Now I'm going to talk about her while she's in front of me. Mwah ha.

The iPhone is carrying a couple of Rice-isms right now. The most current, that is, fresher than the latest Starbucks brew, is Dick Havers. This refers to, well, basically, men with dicks, which includes almost all of us, at least the lucky ones who have managed to keep theirs. She used this term ever so succinctly in conversations, expecting that it would just roll by and remain effective but essentially unnoticed. Well, not with me around. I had a semi-guffaw over the term, and semi-guffaws are not easily obtained from me, oh what the hell, unless David's drinking, but anyhow, I pulled out the...iphone! get your mind out of the gutter!...and recorded it.

Since I'm unloading the Rice-isms, I'll post a very beautiful quote from one night at Abuelo's, where she was heard to say "It will cheer Gabriel to know there's beauty walking loose in the world." I think it's applicable to many situations, so, I'll leave it to you the reader to applicate it. ;)

Just under that quote on the same note is "Le cacti of love," uttered on a return trip from Johnny Carino's I believe. Honestly she does not drink that much, even if it might appear so.

Well, now I have someone to talk to, so I'll edit this and post it. I note that I have received no submissions for the contest as yet. Oh well, if no more show up I'll just make the two I know exist fully realized in the realm of Hallowed Eve.

So, that's it for now. Again, sorry for no photos. I'll have some soon.