Arrr.

I have so much to say but…oh…ARRRR….matey. It’s talk like a pirate day you know so here…have some pirate girls. Better yet, stop by the etsy store to check them out.



Also, slightly sad lunch. Cottage cheese, sweet potato, carrots and radishes. Saved from being totally sad because I actually like all the items involved and chose them. Not a very well matched lunch though, gotta work on that part.

Preparations have begun for FELT CLUB ’08. I’ll be there as a Tired Girl, but you don’t have to be tired to attend. It’s a fun way to get some holiday shopping done. Consider it, won’t you?




I am also considering switching over to the new blogger template thingy...yesh I am a terrible holdout but only because it took me forever to make this page the way I wanted because I know NOTHING about this CSS/HTML thing and it was really all about tinkering until I got what I wanted. Now, if I want to change it and have those nice little gadgety, widgety things made easy, I have to start all over again. Oh, who am I kidding. I don't have time for that right now! There are cards to be made, things to be...thunged...I don't know. It's a little goofy in here right now. Sorry. Carry on.

Fleshy.

From the Candy Blog, one of the more horrifying sentences I have read today:

"The squares are surprisingly light, not dense and gelatinous, more soft and fleshy like Mochi can be."

I do not want to imply that her writing is horrifying, it’s not, and I love her blog. It’s also not inaccurate, in fact, that’s is exactly what caught my attention, how very accurate the word “fleshy” is to describe the texture of mochi, for me anyway. I keep rereading that sentence and shuddering. You, of course, may enjoy mochi and that is certainly your prerogative…personally, I don’t enjoy it. But that is by turns the most horrifying and correct sentence I have read for quite a while. (For the record, she is describing Turkish Delight, another item which I have not developed a taste for, and if Edmund hadn’t it would be a very different story now, wouldn’t it?)

What I’ve been reading: Well, some time ago, Captain Blogger suggested that I read Midnight’s Children, and I did start it, and then I put it in a tote bag and forgot all about it. Yeah. I do that a lot. Still not sure where I put that Michael Pollan book either. But, I did find Midnight’s Children and it is now back in line. Currently I am reading My Name is Will: A Novel of Sex, Drugs and Shakespeare by Jess Winfield, who was a former co-worker of my husband. I’m not very far into it though because…

What I’ve been watching: …I’ve been watching some TV. Some of it has been catch-up stuff, some of it has been curiosity and some of it…well…I have no excuses. So there are the old favorites, Mad Men, Weeds, Burn Notice (not caught up, do not spoil). The things I watch with the husband but kind of don’t always enjoy like Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and Entourage. The cooking shows I love like, Jamie at Home and Mexico: One Plate at a Time. The new shows I am watching out of curiosity like Gavin and Stacy and True Blood. And the things I can’t really explain, the mind rotting candy of Primeval which I think is supposed to fill the void left in my heart by Doctor Who but doesn’t because it’s really not good but I can’t stop watching poor Douglas Henshall looking surprised every time a dodo appears. And then there are the occasional forays into dvd collections like Jeeves and Wooster and The Thin Man movies. Not all at once mind you, and really not much at a time at all. It is kind of amazing how much time you save with a dvr.

What I’ve been cooking: There have been some cupcakes and there will be some more. I’ve got a package of chocolate cream Newman O’s that need to be used up so I am thinking vanilla cupcake, vanilla frosting, crushed up cookies. And lest you think all we eat here is cupcakes and brownies, there has been much fruit and veggie cooking around here. Plenty of red chard in olive oil and garlic, braised bok choi, baked peaches, grilled peaches, peaches with yogurt (oh how I love peaches), figs with yogurt, roasted brussel sprouts, roasted asparagus with chili sauce, salads, steamed corn and who knows what else. I do love summer veggies and I’ll be sad when it’s back to cabbage and beets and apples. Although I like those too. And there are various forms of meat to go with the veg, but you know I don’t care so much about those.

What I’ve been drawing: Christmas cards, Christmas cards, Christmas cards. Ugh. But I am pleased as punch with the things I’ve got in the works, so I am hoping they do well. I do have plans for a few more Hanukkah cards and some new notecards too. If you are into that stuff, keep an eye out. I try to remember to post here when A.C. puts new stuff in the store but I am forgetful. Just go here and look around, see if anything catches your fancy. Some of the newest stuff includes cupcake pendants and happy hungry monsters, robots and some rather unpleasant food.

Who I am crushing on:
(The one on the left.)

Rock.

There’s one final pinup for you coming after all this type-ity stuff. I’d be hard pressed to say which pinup was my favorite to draw but this one is my favorite joke (if you don’t know why it’s funny, don’t worry, it won’t matter anyway) but this is also the pinup that went through the most revisions. She started out just as kind of rock chick and eventually became a kind of rockin’ Uhura. Mostly I just wanted to have something that said “Rock out with your Spock out.” And now I do. So here she is before and as you can see, no hands, one sock, no shoes. She’s a bit of an urchin here. But I still like her with the pink hair and all and I suspect she’ll make a return appearance…somewhere…sometime.



As for now, it’s all Christmas cards all the time as I gear up for a holiday craft fair. Oh, there are some Hanukkah cards too. And Chanukkah…and Hannukah. Whatever. All of them. I like to cover all my Jewish spelling bases. Oh, and hopefully, before that, there will be a few Halloween cards in the store. So, you know keep an eye out for that.

Meanwhile…you will never guess who I met last weekend…give up? I MET THE AMBITOUS HAMSTER. How cool is that? Well, very cool for me since I also work for her and this is the first time we have met face to face. We have emailed, IMed, texted, called and tweeted one another but this marks our first actual meeting. And it was grand. Hopefully she wasn’t too scared and will come back again sometime.

Sadly, there were no cupcakes for the hamster meeting, although she remarked that it would have been nice, and it would have but I was at work. Even sadder? There were many cupcakes the very next day. So many that we weren’t even able to eat them all and there were cupcakes enough for the whole weekend. And you know what…yum. I hate to say I make great food because really, that’s all just a matter of taste, right? I mean, what I like and what my husband likes are markedly different, so I can’t really assume that…anyway…I made two kinds of cupcakes and I gotta say, I done good on both. I started with “Crimson Velveteen” vegan cupcakes. Now, I am not a fan of the red velvet variety of cupcake. It tends towards oilyness and it’s not really chocolatety and holy cow it uses a whole bottle of red food dye. Yeeesh. Even this “Crimson Velveteen” recipe calls for 2 TBS of red dye but I could only bring myself to use one and then promise that I would find a more natural solution next time (I’m thinking dried beets will do the trick). But this recipe, even with the shocking amount of dye…fabulous. It bakes up so light and fluffy and not at all oily and because it calls for some chocolate extract, it actually tastes of chocolate. It’s different from a chocolate cupcake in a good way, not in an oh god what did I just eat way.

But then I started to worry that some of the people I would be with wouldn’t cotton to a red velvet cupcake, but I knew that at least one of them likes coconut, so coconut it was. And they were damn fine too. And they got better the second day when the flavor had developed even more. So sorry Hamster, I’ll make sure you get some next time.

And the final pin-up in the geeky girls set:

Daemon.

What I’ve written about lately that I haven’t posted:
My favorite comics
Why Frederic Wetham could be more important to you than you know
My first (and last) scrapbooking experience
Tempeh Chickenless Wingz
How quiet my life is when my husband goes away (the phone rang 3 times in one week…that is all. Three times.)
What I’ve been reading, watching and doing lately.

But…um…yeah. Not really done with any of those yet. There were some lemon cupcakes a few weeks ago because I found some lemons in the office kitchen. Don’t know where they came from though. I’ve read some books. I…um…watched some new tv shows…

LOOK, a pinup!


And the pinup cards are now available HERE.

So are the cupcake cards.

And some new robot cards by Ambitious Hamster.


So…there you go.

Seduction.

It's the return of the sad lunch.

It wasn’t really a sad lunch, more like a weird lunch because it was all stuff I more or less wanted to eat, but not all together. But I was feeling particularly lazy and I didn’t want to walk to the store. I guess I should have. But because I didn’t it was peach soy yoghurt with a fresh peach mixed in and some hummus and pretzel thins. It doesn’t seem very balanced does it? But it’s got a fair amount of protein and fiber I think. It was a lot of creamy stuff though, but without any cream. Kind of like a baby food lunch.

Here’s the problem. The husband left town. Usually that means a week of vegetarian goodness over here. In fact, this time it was going to mean a week of premade, delivered fresh vegan goodness. I was gonna order my meals from a fresh food delivery service, just to see what it was like. But the menu for this week was…eh (OH! next week it looks really good! Tofu Chilaquiles and Korean Chapchae! Quinoa salad! With cranberries! Darn.) And I got sidetracked and that’s how I found myself in a crowded Whole Foods last night, running into comic-con friends and searching for an appealing soup for dinner (veggie) but I neglected to look for lunch. Ah well. Maybe I will make my own Tofu Chilaquiles for dinner.

Sorry, anyway…pin-up, because I really have nothing of interest to say.


This is the second in the set and she is called Seduction of Innocent. Now, there is kind of a joke here, which, if you are not a huge nerd, may just sweep on by you. That’s ok. It was aimed at the nerds.

In 1954, this guy Frederic Wertham, a psychiatrist wrote a book titled Seduction of the Innocent, which postulated that comics were a cause of juvenile delinquency. To be fair, that’s a simplification of the whole thing, but all you need to know for this picture is that comics caused kids to do naughty things. There’s actually a lot of interesting stuff connected with both the book and with Wertham, who aside from some strange ideas on comics, was a pretty interesting guy. But the pin-up, not really meant to be any real social commentary, just a nekkid girl with comics.

What did cause a little buzz around this picture (and I mean little buzz, like three people’s worth) was the bruise on her leg. See, when I was drawing her, I was trying to go a little bit against the pin-up type. See the glasses? The sneakers? The comics? And most pin-up girls have flawless skin, right? Well, this one has a bruise…on her calf. Which some people saw as her knee. And then took to some unintended extremes. So…whatever. She’s a nerdy girl who loves the Batdude and Hellguy, what more do you need?

Zombie.

I’ve been meaning to show you one of my pin-ups for a while now. They were quite a treat and a revelation for me. I have always avoided drawing people because…well…they just never end up looking like people. Not to my satisfaction anyway. I sometimes will draw distorted cartoony children because hey, if their heads are too big, well who is gonna complain about that? But pin-ups are a whole other thing. And oddly, I kind of dreaded drawing them, even as I knew it was something I had wanted to do for some time now. So, here is “Dead Sexy” the first of the four pin-ups. I actually sold more prints of her than any of the others and one girl even bought one and came back the next day for another. She told me she had ended up giving hers away and wanted another. She also told me that she had shown it to a friend who was a pin-up artist who had commented that it was “demure” and not too gory or disturbing, which made me happy since that was exactly what I was going for.



In the end, I was very pleased with all the pin-ups and I discovered that I really, really enjoyed doing them. I am planning on another set of four girls and I think I am even going to try a few pin-up guys. Any requests?

Preferences.

I prefer:

Waffles to pancakes.
Cake to pie.
Comedy to drama.
Mystery to romance.
French fried to mashed.
Iced tea to iced coffee.
65 to 85.
Reggae to rap.
70’s rock to 90’s rock.
Indie to super hero.
Batman to Superman.
Mac to PC.
Compact to SUV.
Dimes to nickels.
Black to blue.
Chocolate to vanilla (except when used as icing).
Paperback to hardback.
(Mass market to trade).
Email to phone calls.
Bo to Luke.
Cats to lizards.
Soy milk to cow’s milk.
Blueberries to blackberries.
Left to right.
Ballpoint to felt tip, no matter how much I think I don’t.
Warm to cold.
Firm to soft.
Outcasts to underdogs.
CD to mp3.
Satchel to handbag.
Barefoot to shod.
Rain to snow.
Orange-flavored to oranges.
Victorian to Mid Century.
Digital to analog.
Aisle to window.
Cast iron to Teflon.
Plastic to glass.
Raised to cake.
Dark to milk.
The 9th to the 10th.

Lists.

Movies watched recently:
30 Days of Night-Eh. I liked the first half hour. The rest was…eh.
Most of Sydney White-Surprisingly cute. Something that I could show my mom and not be embarrassed by.
Brick-V. v. good. My brother told me it was and he was right. Not that I doubted him. Minimal. Very minimal. Very clever. Very good.
The Dark Knight-Good. I liked it. It was quite nerve-wracking but good. Still, and this comes from someone who only likes movies where stuff gets blown up or ears get cut off…it was slightly over the top for me. Possibly only because when you have Batman, you have kids, and I don’t think this is appropriate for any one under…let’s say…12. So, you know, be careful.
Please Don’t Eat the Daisies-I don’t know if I had ever seem all of this before but I do love me some Doris Day and David Niven.
The Namesake-Oh Kal Penn. You are so cute. But…no. I like the book quite a lot but the movie? No. Not so much. Well, to be fair...good actors, bad retelling.


Books Purchased for self:
When Twilight Burns By Colleen Gleason
Colleen has a blog here. You should read it, she is very entertaining.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer

I don’t know if Eoin Colfer has a blog. I imagine he does. I should go look….no, I don’t see one. He does have a website though. And he’s very entertaining as well. And I like the way he’s been writing lately. Well, I like the way he writes but I recently read “Half Moon Investigations” and it struck me as one of the first non Gossip Girl type books that was really using technology the way kids use technologly. Texting and video and the like. China Mieville did this too in that book he wrote…um…Un-lon-don. I like that idea. That the actual uses of video on cell phones and you tube are starting to filter into books.

All Wrapped Up! Groovy Gift Wrap of the 1960s by Kevin Akers

Kevin Akers has a website here. I don’t know Kevin Akers but I intend to email him and tell him how very much I do indeed enjoy this book. It’s lovely.

Getting it Right with Type: The Do’s and Don’ts of Typography by Victoria Squire

I haven’t read this yet. I skimmed it and I was slightly disappointed (not by you, Victoria Squire) because I think it may be more basic than I was hoping for. Typography is hard. Hard, I tell you!

Art of Modern Rock Mini #2: Poster Girls by Dennis King

I am hoping that this book will be inspiration for some more pin-up girl illos from me. We’ll see. I did discover an artist that I like but didn’t know his name. Unfortuantely, I don’t have the book with me and I still don’t know his name.

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace
Cute. Slight. Simple. It’s a nice book. Buy it for a kid.

I Completely Must Do Drawing Now and Painting and Coloring by Lauren Child
Do you know Charlie and Lola? I love Charlie and Lola. This is a Charlie and Lola book. It’s not here yet, but I am looking forward to seeing it.

Drop Dead Cute by Ivan Vartanian (postcard book)
It was cheaper than the book, so I thought I’d start small.

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher was at Comic-Con, promoting his new comic with the Dabel Brothers. I didn’t see him. Or the comic for that matter. I would have liked to see him. Not so sure about the comic.

Books Purchased for others:
Comic Book Tattoo by Tori Amos and a lot of artists (two copies)
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride by George Selden
Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse by George Selden
Dinosaur's Binkit by Sandra Boynton
Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne
A Treasury of Curious George by Margret Rey
Baby Signs by Joy Allen
Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt

I don’t think the people from whom some of these books are meant to surprise read this blog, but um…if you do…SURPRISE!


What I had for lunch:
2 slices portobello mushroom pizza

Regrets I have:
Eating portobello mushroom pizza

…and drinking soda.

Cookies within reach that I will not eat because I ate portobello mushroom pizza:
White chocolate chip and pecan
Oatmeal chocolate chip
Gluten and egg free chocolate chip button cookies

What I am making for dinner:
Gnocci with chicken, mushrooms and swiss chard with garlic, crushed red peppers and olive oil, NO CHEESE! In the name of all that is holy! NO CHEESE!

(EDIT: There will be no gnocci with chicken, mushrooms and swiss chard for dinner. There will be only soup.)

OH OH! Christmas presents purchased:
ONE! Yay!

Oh dear. I am listening to a random opera podcast of Robert Merrill and he just started singing “Ohhhhh sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you….” that’s just made my day.


And next time I say the word “pizza” could you just punch me in the stomach? Same effect but much quicker.

Weak.

What a strange few days. Not even counting Comic-Con. I mean, that was strange but…well, let’s do that first.

Comic-Con was, as always, by turns, infuriating, fun, exhausting, exhilarating, exhausting and…exhausting. I am working at about 60 percent power right now with 75 percent of my voice. It will take me a week or so to catch up with myself but that’s to be expected. Sales were good, response was great. All was fine. I didn’t sell to a celebrity, which is always my goal, but I did meet an artist I am rather fond of, which was pleasant and I did talk to millions of people. Well, it felt like millions, I don’t know…dozens? I didn’t take a single picture, and I probably only saw about half the floor. I work two jobs at Comic-Con, so it’s not a vacation for me. And the weeks leading up to Comic-Con are equally as exhausting and frustrating what with trying to get prepared to do both jobs. So, you know, it’s this love hate thing. At the moment it’s more…eh…then either love or hate. I guess I am too tired for emotions.

Perhaps more inconvenient than con was the trip back. Ran over something on the 405 and blew a tire. Luckily, AAA showed up without much problem. I got off on the closest exit and lo and behold, there was a tire store. They hooked me up and I was back on the road in less than 40 minutes. It wasn’t a tragedy, it was a minor inconvenience, but it was indeed inconvenient.

And now, today, back at work, achy, tired and getting crankier by the minute and oops, rattle, rattle…earthquake. A long one. 5.2 on the Richter scale. Maybe not the biggest earthquake ever but big enough to scare my whole office. And when the giant glass pendant lamp above your desk starts swinging around…I think fear is the appropriate response. So, you know, it’s gonna be one of THOSE weeks. It already is.

Bye!

Goodness but I am getting twitchy about Comic-Con. It will all be (more or less) fine, I know but…aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgh! I am pretty much ready, except for packing and getting there, but it’s making my head all buzzy and my stomach all fluttery and damn it’s annoying. I should be used to this by now.

Now, I haven’t really been looking at my blog stats lately. I mean, it’s always interesting to see why people show up here and where they are from, but I am not one of those hardcore bloggers that really…cares. But I happened to look at referrals that brought people here recently. Among them was the search phrase “China Mieville is hot” and I’d just like to reiterate that fact. Hi China. You’re a good lookin’ man. And you scare me. But if you are searching for info on China Mieville, I have to be honest with you. He’s hot.

Also, one of the referrals that shows up fairly frequently is “Denny Duchette” because I think I once mentioned him. Now I rather like the actor that played him, Jeffery Dean Morgan. He’s handsome, he’s been in some shows I enjoyed for a time. But sadly, his character always dies. Poor man. Bad news if you are here for him, he’s in a film that I was not at all interested in until I found out he was in it. Yes, I am a bad nerd who is talking trash about Watchmen, but oh hey, Jeffery Dean Morgan is playing the Comedian and now…I am smitten. Like, wallpaper on my cell phone kind of smitten. I am a dork. I know. The only other people who are either not a cat or I am not related to who have graced my cell phone? Professor Snape and Doctor Who. Yep. Dork.


So, ok, if you are going to be at San Diego Comic-Con International, and you want to swing by and say HI to me, or one of the Tired Girl Collective, you can find us in the small press area at table L5. And if you are looking for me at my day job, you can find me…there. You know where that is and I hesitate to cross the streams, as it were. So, travel safely if you are traveling, sit quietly if you are sitting and be happy if you…whatever dude, see you on the flip side!

Nerves.

Well, it’s almost here. That one thing that makes me both shudder in horror and squee with glee. Well, fine, a lot of things do that to me, but this one…you know…Comic-Con is right around the corner. I leave on Wednesday and I am more or less ready. More or less. Some new stuff to show off, some old favorites. It should be good. It should also be exhausting and nerve-wracking. It’s just one of those things.

At the moment I am experiencing the weariness that goes with Comic-Con. Stayed up a little too late last night to get one last thing done, woke up a little too early this morning due to the endless construction on the building across the way. I’ll be better tomorrow I am sure. But it’s not tomorrow that I am worried about.

Right now, aside from regular life worries, I am experie….

Here’s a strange aside. I just answered the phone and Sponge Bob Square Pants was on the other end. Well, voice actor that plays him was on the other end. Weird. He was very nice though.

Anyway, aside from regular life worries, I am a little nervous about presenting new art. You know that it’s hard enough for me to refer to what I do as art, but then showing it to people….ewwwwww. Makes me twitchy. And that’s kind of the point for me doing things like Comic-Con. Or having a blog. It’s a challenge to myself to step outside of my comfort zone. And…well…right now I’m not totally comfortable. But, for me, that’s kind of a part of the whole process. The nerves part.

So, in an attempt to kind of get it started, here is a little sampler of some of my newest art….my first attempt at pin-up girls…nerdy pin-up girls…for nerds. I hope you like them! Um, I am just now realizing that the nerdy part doesn’t always show through with just these little bits. They are all full figures, heads, feet and everything in between. And the titles kind of reveal what makes them nerdy, so clockwise, from top left…


Dead Sexy
Rock Out with your Spock Out
Seduction of the Innocent
Mailer Daemon

That should give you some clues. And maybe, when I get back from con, if they have been well received, I will show you a bit more.


Hmmm….you know…there is a serious shortage of pin-up boys in this world…maybe…nah…not yet.

List-y.

Four things from my youth that I apparently have no nostalgia for (some of which are kind of old news since I started this a while ago and never finished it):

• Journey. Did you hear? They have a new lead singer. He sounds just like Steve Perry. Eh.


• Strawberry Shortcake. Did you know that they redesigned her? I didn't. She now appears to be something modern girls might find appealing. So? (OK, while I have absolutely no problem with the changes made to Strawberry Shortcake, I do not like the changes to Holly Hobbie…but the whole appeal of that character was that she was a “prairie girl.”)


• Star Wars. Sorry. You can take my geek card away now. I have seen it. I liked it well enough, I don’t feel the need to think about it all that often.


• Growing Pains. I don’t think I have ever seen a whole episode of this show. And you know what else? Saved by the Bell. And pretty much everything everyone my age watched after school. I don’t know what I was doing…oh, maybe marching band, drama club, indoor color guard or…something, but I didn’t watch much tv in my youth apparently.

Movies I have never seen but am quite should I would enjoy:

• The Big Lebowski


• The Bourne Identity (series)


• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (I may have seen most of this but I can’t remember.)


• The Godfather (I know! I know! I have tried to watch it but I always fall asleep.)

Pretty much anymovie where things get blown up, people get shot or young lovers sing in French. What? I never claimed to be consistent!

Have you seen Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog? Because I know people are talking about it all over the internets and that, for me, is generally the kiss of death for pretty much anything but I gotta say…utterly charming. And some very entertaining songwriting. And God bless Neil Patrick Harris. He’s a big ol’ mug of AWESOME!

Things I have recently discovered that make me a little too happy:

• Soy pudding. I tried soy pudding years ago. It wasn’t good. I tried to make my own. It was worse. But now that soy milk tastes better (or perhaps I am just used to it), I can finally be a pudding lover again. Thank you.



• The return of Burn Notice and Weeds. Possibly my two favorite shows ever. I can’t watch all those reality type shows that my parents and friends so love. They drive me crazy. I like things blowing up, drug smuggling and Bruce Campbell. Really, what more could a girl ask for? Oh, right. Jeffrey Donovan.

Movies I would very much like to see but can’t just yet:

• Hellboy II-The Golden Army. Oh yes, please! How happy am I about this movie? Very. How sad am I that I haven’t seen it yet? Very. I am shooting for Monday.


• Wall-E-It’s Pixar and I am a fan. Why would I not?


• The Dark Knight- Nevermind that Batman and Hellboy are my two most favorite comic book characters. This honestly looks really damn good.


• Mama Mia!- DON’T JUDGE ME! Look, I saw the musical and I thought it was just OK. But I do love me some ABBA, more importantly, I love me some Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård. So there.


• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor-SHUT UP. The Mummy is probably on my top twenty movies list. Definitely on my top ten movies that I can and will watch over and over again. Good looking men, Rachel Weisz and you know what? It’s just a really fun, classic adventure movie. It reminds me of 1950’s type matinee movies. And I will defend Brendan Fraser with my last breath. He is a fine actor who likes to make fun stuff. And if you aren’t sure about the “fine actor” part, please do see Gods and Monsters, he’s quite good in it. Do not, however, mistake Monkeybone for anything resembling fine. Just don’t.

Things I am successfully not panicking over…yet:
Comic-con. I am zen. For the moment. Due to the Handmade Brigade, I am more or less prepared. So much so, that I am planning on rolling out two new card sets and a set of prints! I am very excited about the prints and really hope that they do well. I’ll post some next week I think but until then, here is an image from the new card set that I “debuted” at Handmade Brigade (“debuted” makes it sound like I had a big fanfare or at at least a sign that said NEW! But I didn’t. I just mean that they had not previously been for sale…because they weren’t finished…but now they are. And they will be available (hopefully) in the shop within the next few weeks).


Now, as I said, the cupcakes are not yet available in the Paperlotus store but many fine items are. Most recently I have added some less quirky, more useful cards, so maybe you’d like to check these out…

Radio.

Today started better than yesterday. The hairdryer didn’t trip the circuit breaker (twice) because someone was making toast. I didn’t have to drive around the block several times trying to get gas because I managed to do that yesterday (after circling 3x’s, finally going to another station and stupidly paying 10 cents more). I didn’t almost get in three accidents on the way to work. I also didn’t spill the jam from my English muffin because I had a Kashi bar instead. I didn’t nearly slap three friends for being morons…so far. In general it’s been a better day and it started with R.E.M., moved to a little Rolling Stones, then some New York Dolls and the real kicker, the shocker that made me think, “Hey, even if it gets bad, it started out good”? Hoodoo Gurus. On the radio. The radio! Thank you radio gods, you have made me happier.

Returned.

So, you don’t really need to know the details of where I went or what I was doing but I will tell you this. I made:

2 large lasagne with sausage
1 large pan brownies
2 pans of chicken stew topped with biscuits
2 pans of chicken and stuffing with gravy
2 pans of pasta with meatsauce and cheese
1 dozen cupcakes
1 dozen biscuits
1 dozen raisin scones
1 large roll of sugar cookie dough
16 deviled eggs
2 dozen deviled clams
2.5 large containers clam/vegetable soup

...and I am thinking there was more, but I don’t honestly remember. It was all a blur. I cooked a lot, I cleaned a bit, I slept amazingly well. And there was no internets. None. It’s a little like visiting the Flintstones. But you know, it’s do-able.

And now it’s back to this reality and there’s a lot of printing and cutting and folding and drawing and…what else? Ironing…bake and shrinking…framing…cleaning. All that stuff. This week there is the Handmade Brigade (if you are there, stop by and say HI! I’ll be the tired one.) In less than two weeks there is the comic-con. And if you are THERE please bring me a coffee (soy milk, little bit of sugar) because I will be the really tired one.

Packed.

I am preparing to take a trip, so , despite the fact that I have been very lax about posting here, I just wanted to make it clear that it is about to get even more lax. Because I suck.

And my trip comes at a very awkward time. Right before a craft fair and comic-con. Both of which require me to be prepared. Which I am sort of am. Sort of. I am always sort of prepared. And that’s kind of what is causing me just a little bit more stress at the moment. I gotta pack. I gotta pack for my trip, I gotta pack for a craft fair and I gotta pack for comic con. And I need to make sure I‘ve got everything I need. And I need a lot.

I keep telling myself that I am not going off into the wilderness. There are drugstores and grocery stores and Targets and Walmarts and…everything in all the places I am going. If I forget something, I can just pop out and get it. And my brain does know that, but I can’t help tucking in that sewing kit, just in case. Those extra books, just in case. Two sweaters…for the summer weather on the east coast. Sandals, flip flops, clogs and sneakers. Should I take a pair of dress shoes? You know, in case I have a job interview or a wedding to attend? What about soap? Do I need soap? There is soap at mom’s house. But I like my soap. And I use a different soap on my face than the one I use in the shower…should I consolidate? Mom always said always pack a dress. Do I even own a dress?

It’s not that bad. I get it done and I get it done well, but it’s always a bit of a battle between my brain and my…brain. Knowing what I need and what I might need are two different things. Although, I will say, my overpacking and planning tendencies have come in handy in the past. People mocked me for keeping an ice scraper in my car. The ice scraper I bought 15 years ago in New Jersey that still resides in my trunk in semi-sunny Los Angeles. But I always thought, well, maybe I will need to use that snow brush on ash someday. And frost isn’t UNHEARD of here, it’s just UNLIKELY. But on that cross –country trip two years ago? The one with the blizzard? A lot of people were really happy that one girl from Los Angeles, staying in that little hotel in Arizona, had an ice scraper. One person was prepared for anything. That was me.


This time I am trying to take my cue from my mother. When I was a kid she and my father traveled together a fair amount. It was to business conferences with fancy people but travel is travel, no? My mom would always map out her wardrobe. I remember the lists well. They looked kind of like this:

Monday
Morning (museum trip): Floral skirt, blue blouse, blue espadrilles, silver chunky necklace, silver earrings, woven handbag,
Afternoon (Tea): Pale blue suit, silk camisole, tan pumps, tan envelope bag, gold necklace and earrings
Evening (cocktails and theatre): brown sequined gown, evening bag, brown heels, gold wrap
Also: Swimsuit and sunhat for after tea

OK, fine, that’s not what I need to do, Mine looks more like this

Monday: black pants, grey tee, black flip flops
Tuesday: green pants, brown top, brown flip flops

And on and on.

But oh, there are 4 or 5 novels, 3 graphic novels, two sketchbooks, a computer, a pile of work, last minute designs, a yoga DVD, 3 British TV series (Sensitive Skin and Shoestring) and one documentary on medieval cooking and soap/

But I am getting there. I have a list. Lists are good.

So, as I said, going away. Back…well…eventually. See ya later, suckers!

Chocolate.

Something has just occurred to me that makes me feel pretty darn stupid. Well…stupider than usual anyway.

I have insomnia. I have always had insomnia but from time to time, and especially around this time of year, it gets worse. I don’t sleep much at all. In some ways I am used to it, it’s been going on most of my life but tired is tired and lately, it’s been the even more evil kind of insomnia. No pills, natural or otherwise seem to help. Meditation, relaxation techniques, chamomile tea, my insomnia laughs at these. And this is, and I am speaking from experience here, a psychological issue. There is no real medical reason that is the problem. And while everyone else is complaining about the heat, I have found the nights to be the perfect sleeping temperature…if I could sleep.

So…here’s the tie in that made me realize that I am stupid. Aside from having insomnia on and off most of my life, I have also had migraines. The thing is, when I was a kid, I didn’t have the language to express what I was feeling and I could only really tell my mom or the doctor that I had a bad headache. It was put down to allergies (which are my primary trigger) and I was given meds for them that I did not like and eventually would not take (they made me dizzy and ill, the pain was better than the painkiller). As an adult, I finally had the language to explain what was going on and lo and behold, not crazy, just migraine-y. But now I know and I can combat them, stop them, or ride them out without fear of…well, whatever one fears with a headache.

So, the insomnia, I was just reading a little about magnesium and particular supplements that may help with a lot of things…one of them being difficulty sleeping. Also that magnesium, which aids in the relaxation of nerves and muscles, is depleted when one is under stress.

Um…turns out. I am stressed. Heh. Look, I know that there is stress in my life, but generally I look at it as stuff that has to be taken care of before I can relax. I don’t really think of it as stress because it’s just the stuff that needs to get done. Aaaaaaand another word for “stuff that needs to get done” is…? Oh…stressors.

Stupid. But now that I can look at the stuff that needs to get done and the effects that said stuff is having on me, I think I can finally get my head around it as “stress” and respond to it appropriately. Yes, yes, I knew there was stress, I just didn’t understand how it was actually affecting me. I knew that when the bedroom was redecorated and all the new furniture was out of the living room and the old furniture was out of the house, I would be happier but you know, it’s furniture! What’s there to get stressed about? Oh, those giant boxes blocking every pathway in my living room? That floor that needs vacuuming but the vacuum is in the closet that is blocked by the boxes? The printer that needs to be printing out cards and such for comic con that is trapped between two other giant boxes? That long trip that is going to be hard work…just before your job demands you to be cheerful, flexible and in the public eye? Right. I get it now, that’s not called life…that’s called stress.

More meditation, more magnesium, more printing and cleaning and hopefully sleep will follow, now that I get it. Dur.

Also…more chocolate. Chocolate has magnesium in it. Seriously.

Quickly.

What DID get done this past weekend the weekend before last:

Spent some time with the cat.
Chose and ordered new bedroom furniture.
Cleaned all of the bathroom.
Cleaned some of the bedroom.
Went to Goodwill.
Ate a very nice veggie taco at Hugo’s.
Made spicy chicken vegetable soup and popovers.
Did some other stuff that I can’t remember…

One notable thing this past weekend the weekend before last? We ate dinner in every night. Usually we go out at least one night on the weekend and I had fully intended to go out on Friday night but my hippie home grocery delivery arrived and we had tons of veggies so it seemed that a roasted veggie salad was in order. Then we tried to go out for BBQ on Saturday but it was too long a wait. So there were BLTAs and the most delicious organic “potato puffs.” Then Sunday it was home made spicy chicken soup. Kind of like tortilla soup but w/o tortillas. And it was all really good. But now I don’t want to cook again…but I did last night too! (Chicken sausages in the slowcooker with a nice tomato sauce with lots of spices and red wine, served over polenta and topped with sautéed fennel, spinach salad on the side). I wouldn’t say it’s been “healthy” around here, there’s been a fair amount of meat going on but you know, it’s been better than average.

Um…yeah, things have not been getting done around here as fast as they should be. My living room is filled with bedroom furniture. My “office” is over run with comic-con supplies, my car, until recently, was filled with Goodwill donations. It’s been a wee bit crazy. And instead of doing what I should be doing, I caught up on Doctor Who episodes.

But there is a lot of new, exciting art in the works. PIN UP GIRLS! CUPCAKES! And I’m having…fun. I am really enjoying drawing lately, so, you know, that’s good. Even if I am not getting everything done.

NEED.

Things I would LIKE to do this weekend:

Take a long nap.
Make granola in the slow cooker.
Make some brownies for my dad.
Finish reading that book about yoga.
Go record shopping.
Spend some time with the cat.
Watch the second season of Life on Mars.
Work on my newest “art” which I am kind of in love with.
Purchase new bedroom furniture.

Things I NEED to do this weekend:
Print up cards.
Score cards.
Cut cards.
Pack cards.
Design new cards.
Clean the bathroom.
Clean the bedroom.
Clean the office.
Clean the living room.
Make some stuff for lunches for next week.
Make some stuff for breakfasts next week.
Go to Goodwill.
Make onsies for friend.

Things that WILL get done this weekend.
Bathroom will be cleaned.
(Some) cards will be printed, scored, cut, folded and packed.
Onesies will be made.
(Some) food stuff will be made.
(Some) of bedroom and office will be cleaned.

I make no promises though.

I started a new drawing yesterday that I was so pleased with that I was giddy for the rest of the night. It’s still in the digital sketch stage but I have big plans for it. Today, however, my allergies kicked in big time. My eyes were watering while I was in the shower so I took some meds. I was doing ok until now. They are starting to make me sleepy and I really don’t feel like drawing now. Which makes me sad because last night, that was all I wanted to do! Ah well. I’ll get there. That’s my motto, actually, well, no, my motto is “It will get done, because it has to.” But you know…loose translation and all. Happy weekend!

Fire.

I don’t have a coherent post today. FINE! I don’t have a coherent post ANY day, but I have a lot of things running through my mind so, in brief…possibly. I don’t know how brief…

-I made some chocolate pumpkin muffins to eat for breakfast this week. They are indeed vegan and I adapted them a little but from here. I don’t much care for ginger, so I left that out. I added some vanilla and some flax seeds too. I had one for breakfast this morning. I had it in the car with me and the smell was killing me! I couldn’t eat until I was out of woogy traffic but the intense chocolate scent filled my car and made me a little crazy. When I finally was able to eat I thought “Oh…eh. These are ok, but a little bland.” But then, by the time I got to work I was longing for another and now I am sitting here typing and thinking “Awwww yeah, I am having a chocolate pumpkin muffin for breakfast tomorrow and it’s gonna be…sooo…..goooooood!” So…is that weird? That’s how addiction works, right? You are kind of like, oh I don’t really care and then the next thing you know you are sitting on the kitchen floor surrounded by empty muffin wrappers and you can’t remember the last twenty minutes. Anyway. I think I like these muffins but I also think that if I made them again, I’d leave out the cinnamon, add some chocolate extract and some more cocoa. But oh, they are so velvety…

-The weekend was particularly cruel to my sinuses. Apparently, whatever was in the air is what I am allergic to (well, besides the pot smoke, I mean.) and I found myself sitting at my desk on Saturday, working away, tears streaming down my face. Ugh. Sunday did not get better however. The smell of burning monkey was so overpowering that we ended up closing all the windows and turning on all the air filters. Damn monkey.

-I finally finished watching the second season of Torchwood and came to the realization that I am just watching it out of crossover duty. I will watch the next season to see how they fix what was broken at the end of last season but…really not all that into it. Love Jack, love Gwen, love Capt. John but not thrilling to the stories.

-Watched Tristram Shandy: a Cock and Bull Story, which kind of left me…confused. I confess that I have never read the book but I was intrigued by the film since it had so many actors that I like in it. But I found the story telling to be muddled and self congratulatory…which is how I think I was supposed to feel. So…well done? I don’t know.

-I ordered some local organic fruit and veg through a delivery company. The delivery was free but I did have an added carbon offset charge. Which was still cheaper than the pizza delivery charge at pretty much every place. I don’t mind paying a little extra for cleaner air, that’s fine. Look how earth friendly I am! Actually, I was thinking about this the other day. Around earth day when everyone was all “Rah-rah! Look what you can do to save the environment!” I kept quiet because I was feeling like, wow, I just don’t do enough. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, I do a fair amount but it doesn’t seem like it because I’ve always done it. Or I’ve been doing it for a long time , anyway. I have my own shopping bags and I have for many years now. I still sometimes get the clerk that tells me that they don’t know the price on these bags because there is no tag. Um…yeah. I brought those. I generally make my own cleaning supplies. Have done for quite a while now. I don’t drive a hybrid but I did pay extra so my car would be a ULEV. So, you know, that’s not too bad. Well…it’s better than nothing. So, if you need to charge me an extra buck or two for my carbon footprint then go ahead, I am trying to fill smaller shoes anyway.

Elvis.

Well! How about that? I got to see the future ex Mr. This is so silly! the other night. That’s right, you read me! ELVIS LIVES and rocks! He rocked the Hollywood Bowl anyway…and my heart. While he rocked, my inner sixteen year old girl just about freaked out. Then, when he sang “Allison” and this slender blonde dude took the stage to sing along…my inner sixteen year old girl fainted. Dude, it was Sting! STING! Of course that was because Elvis Costello and the Imposters opened for the Police. Or really, they played before the police because my man, he don’t open for no one, he headlines and then lets other bands play after him, because he is nice that way.

Yeah, so, enough. I saw Elvis Costello and the Imposters and The Police the other night. It was several shades of awesome. I did enjoy it immensely. And when Snarkydork showed up and made fun of me for not dancing, I showed her…by not dancing some more. Still, I get why people would dance at a Police show, even, to some degree, dancing to Elvis Costello, even though I don’t. I just still don’t see Crowded House as dance music, but apparently I am the odd one out.

You know what else I don’t get? The weed. Why people? Why? It hurts me. And that’s just mean when I pay a pile of money to listen to pretty men sing that you have to go and blow smoke in my face and then my throat swells and my head aches and I have a concert hangover the next day. You’re mean. Is it really that hard to make the brownies? Isn’t it more convenient anyway? You can take a brownie into the Bowl easy peasy. Or go big time and do the shrooms. I hear they are pretty good in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Just…no more smoke, ok? It hurts.