Bodacious Bloggers

It's about time for another one of those bloggy hiatus posts,  wouldn't you say? Poor little Mimsy patiently waits to hear from me, but I'm too busy painting and neglecting her to notice. You all know the story, right?

I've been working on painting three puppy portraits for a couple weeks now. I'd have had them finished a long time ago, were I not employed full time. Le sigh. I'm also plotting/sketching characters for the children's book I've been asked to illustrate, about which I'm still totally stoked and already mentioned here. Then there's The Sketchbook Project I mentioned a while back. Haven't touched that yet. Oh! And the lovely Ari and I are planning on entering a sidewalk art stroll next month, so I've got to be getting work together for that as well. I need more time. So much to do, so many places to be.

What about all you bodacious bloggers?* Have y'all been so busy with summer shenanigans that you didn't mind a few less posts to read? I hope so. I know you hang on every sarcastic word around here...

Speaking of around here...my house looks like it was ransacked. Mr. T (That's the husband person, for any new readers out there.) (HI, NEW READERS! <3) and I just got home from a camping/rafting trip in North Carolina, and are beyond beat. My face and shoulders are ever so slightly crisped, and, now that I've showered, I'm ready to sleep 'til Tuesday.

I miss your blogs, people. I'm sure I'll be catching up soon, as well as posting pics of paintings, doodles and camping trips. *mwah*

* Yeah, I said "bodacious bloggers". What of it? I like alliteration, and I'm too sleepy to be cool. Just go with it

Whoa Nelly!

June is kicking my butt, bloggers. Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I think I might be losing it.

See? It's in the eyes, I think. And please note that I'm wearing a sundress. There has been much nakey talk about this photo. NOT NAKED.

Besides being an incredibly busy month, as discussed here, it has also been pretty harsh. Saturday night, while enjoying dinner with friends at a little Italian joint, my husband's truck was broken into. The culprits stole my purse, and my makeup bag. *cries*

I loved that big green Target purse, and Etsy Russian nesting doll makeup bag. Something I loved even more than them? All the stuff I keep in them, including my driver's license, social security card, and the keys to my home, office and vehicle! Yeah. Awesome.


I'm still in the process of getting things replaced, warding off credit fraud, identity theft and coping with the loss of the things that I'll never get back again. I kind of feel like I'm missing a limb, so please excuse my lack of posting/reading your loverly blogs. The Busy and The Blah are something I have to work through, but I'll catch up soon. My birthday is this Sunday, and I'm hoping to have worked through a lot of this mess by then.


*mwah*

Moderately Coherent

One can only hope I'm moderately coherent at this time of night. It's after one in the morning, and I can't sleep. Might have something to do with the fact that I didn't wake up until after noon yesterday, which is still today because I have yet to sleep, but not really.

My failure to doze might also be a direct result of my obsession with Comedy Central. What began as a quick search for a specific Tosh.0 clip (Yes, that's his wiki, cause I'm still meeting people who don't know who he is, and they need to know. YOU need to know.) turned into an all nighter.

I'll leave you with yet another Scottish man that makes me happy, and I'm going to attempt to get some sleep.

Jokes.com
Danny Bhoy - Scottish Breakfast
comedians.comedycentral.com
Futurama New Episodes Ugly Americans Funny TV Comedy Blog

Future's So Bright...

Here we have photo documentation of the joyous occasion that was meeting Shannon and Megan. Strolling around the very charming streets of downtown Asheville, NC we snapped a shot or two, talked about all manner of things and my husband (Mr. T for Todd) and I decided we needed to take them home with us. Alas, they have lives and bright futures of their own, so we can't steal them. Le sigh.

How many of us twenty-somethings posted about community in our swappy little guest posts (however briefly due to sleep deprivation) this past week? We're all talking about community in the blogosphere all the time, aren't we? I guest posted about that very thing, but I wasn't really feeling it.

You see, it's really easy for me to feel like I'm only here for others. I get so wrapped up in keeping up with everyone else, commenting, and being supportive and caring, that I just let blogging become a one-sided thing. I become drained, disconnected and discouraged, and totally forget what communication is all about.

I've been desperately in need of a refresher, and this wonderful little trip of ours has done just that. Meeting the two aforementioned lovely ladies has reminded me what blogging is all about. It's about people taking time to peek into one another's lives, you know, in that invited/non-creepy way. It's about communication and being human, and it's awesome.

MadShiny Goodness

It's well beyond my bed time (who am I kidding? I'm never in bed at a decent hour, but I'd like to be.), but I really wanted to share my newest water doodle with you lovely people.

It's a doodle. I watercolored it. That makes it a waterdoodle, right? Right.

Aaaand what could it be, other than a chinchilla? Humperdink is my muse. :P

I just listed said waterdoodle on my Etsy Shop, and I've got high hopes. I've yet to sell any MadShiny goodness, but I'm keeping my chin up.

Keep Calm & Oh, Never Mind

Well, bloggers...I had planned on posting about something really interesting, but I lost it. My mother would say, "Must've been a lie." Such a trusting, supportive thing to say, don't you think? Fact is, I just can't remember. For the life of me. That ever happen to you? Hmph. Maybe I'll think of it tomorrow.

In the meantime, look at what I fell in love with over at TypeTees. Look, I say!

I Think Beyonce Should Have Gotten This Award

The always lovely, Ari gave me a happy little award today, which is just sweet as pie. It's also helpful, as I am too sleepy to think of anything earth shattering to blog about, or even an interesting interpretation of my day.Alright, here's the deal.
- List ten of your happy things.
- Make at least one of them happen today.

- Tag 10 bloggers that brighten you day.
- Link back to the person that tagged you.

Happies I've Indulged In Today

1. Hugging my oh so cuddly kitty, Kimchi

2. Decorating baked goods

3. Unashamedly rocking out to good music

4. Getting my Paste magazine in the mail

5. Cranking up the heat in my Jeep, so I can ride with the windows down in cold weather

6. Making plans that keep everyone happy

7. Sipping raspberry lemonade

8. Hanging out with friends that qualify as family

9. Being blessed with so much, when I've done nothing to deserve it

10. Cozying up next to my husband and kitty in our nice, warm bed

10 Day Brightening Bloggers

Ari

Jodi

Ari

Ben

Kendall

Matt (doesn't do awards, but he still makes me smile)

Jaime

Lilu

Shannon

Jay

Happy Almost Thanksgiving, folks!

Confessions

Every now and again, it just feels good to get some things off your chest, so your heart can beat freely. They might not look like much to someone else, but these things plague me.

-I tell people what they want to hear, because I feel responsible for their happiness.

-When my Dad wasn't around, all I wanted was for him to be in my life.

-Now that my Dad is in my life, I hate when he calls drunk. It hurts so much to know how depressed he is, but I can't fix him. I can't.

-I don't want to have children. Ever. I really don't think I'm going to change my mind, and I hate how people make me feel like there's something wrong with me because of that.

-My husband used to say he never wanted kids, but every now and again he talks like he's changed his mind. I'm afraid he'll be disappointed if I don't change my mind.

-I catch people at work and church glancing at my black finger nails. It kind of makes me feel like a rebel, and I think that's ridiculous.

-I hate that I feel attached to my maiden name. I double barreled mainly because I couldn't bear to let my father's name go, though I tell people it's for other reasons.

-I have never once really felt pretty. Ever.

Inspired by the oh, so lovely Jamie. Thanks, lady. I feel better now.

Twenty Twenty Twenty-Four Hours To Go I Wanna Be Sedated

I have been so incredibly sleepy lately! It's like I've been drugged. I don't know if it's the weather or what. I'm thinking that has something to do it. When I go to leave work, and it's already dark outside, I am completely drained and can not WAIT to get to bed.

Kind of like this, only less cute.


Normally, I am such a night owl. The sun sets, and I am ready to roll. Anywhere. But all of a sudden, it's different now. The sun sets, and I'm like, "Brush your teeth, dude. Let's go to bed."

Not that I've been sleeping well. I guess that probably has something to do with it, too. I've been falling asleep really early, and then waking up at like midnight, unable to get back to sleep 'til about 3AM. Sucks like a Dyson. Seriously.

P.S. My husband person has to eat a little something with his round of antibiotics every night, and he just came in and said, "I decided to eat a little bowl of cereal." I look, and he has one of those eensy tupperware bowls. Like, the ones you could fit a serving of apple sauce in. Eensy. This is precisely why I married this adorable man. He's ridiculous and wonderful...most of the time.

Story Time!

I'm in the mood to tell a story to all my faithful followers. All *counts on fingers* two of you (Seriously, since I quit blogging/commenting regularly my vast array of readers have given up on me.). :(

So, as I was saying...a story.

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there lived a beautiful curly haired queen. Let's call her Heather, shall we? Okay! So, Queen Heather lived in her humbler-than-most-castles castle, with her handsome king. His name was Todd. King Todd.

Well, one day Queen Heather was running late for a very important meeting with her dear friend Princess Ari! Queen Heather should have hopped on her trusty steed, and been on her way to The Land of Hunts like a fortnight ago, but the evil King made her late! He forced her to sleep in, to finish the second to last Harry Potter book, and refused to help her be on time! Forced and refused, I say!

Despite her extremely agreeable nature, the queen decided to challenge the king. Outraged at this, the king threw a sock at her head! Yes, a sock! It hit her hard, but she managed to drag her half-conscious self to the bathroom, and dispose of the sock in the water closet forthright.

This angered the king even more, and he threatened to dispose of one of the queen's most prized possessions-her flesh colored brazier! :O This frightened the fair queen something awful, so she begged the king to have mercy, and he did.

Then the king locked himself away in his study, refusing to see the queen off for her outing. He knew everything was really all his fault, but he was a stubborn king, and slow to accept due blame.

The poor mistreated queen had no choice but to leave without a proper farewell. She bid no one adieu, and parted to The Land of Hunts.

Upon arriving at her destination, the queen sent the king a telegraph. He responded promptly with an apology, and all was well again.

Queen Heather and the fair Princess Ari were then free to be jovial and celebratory, and they all lived happily ever after.

The End

I Like Bread & Butter

I've been feeling a bit stretched lately. Pulled. Smeared. Pressed. What does Bilbo say? Like butter scraped over too much bread. Well, whatever he said...that's generally my state of existence as of late.

So, I've been thinking about all these things that I'm getting myself all worked up over. Trying to plan how to finish this or that. Hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel. An end to the current chaos and stressfulness. I was making a list in my head. We all know how I fell about lists. It was a "The Day Will Come" list.

The day will come when:

- I catch up on all your wonderful posts.

- I'll finish the 5 paintings, and gazillion other projects I have going all at once.

- I don't go somewhere every single night of the week.

- I get enough sleep.

- I stop worrying about all my friends and family.

That's how it was going. That is, until I realized in making this list I was wishing my life away. Wanting the chaos to stop is essentially wanting rest. Rest is sleep. Sleep is death. I'll sleep when I'm dead. I always say that. So, I realized I like living a good bit, and until I'm ready to kick the bucket, I'm going to work on changing my outlook on things. I'm going to focus on being grateful.

So, here's my new list. The "Until Then" list.

Until Then:

- I have the luxury of my freedom, a home and even a computer.

- I'm blessed to be able to express myself via the plastic arts, and to find great joy in doing so.

- I can offer something of myself to others every night of the week, whether it be painting a mural in a nursery, or just spending quality time.

- I have a bed to sleep in, with a warm husband (and kitty) to curl up next to.

- I have friends and family to worry about.

That's a start.

Funny Business

Well, it's happened again. The dreaded bloggy hiatus. When you least expect it...WHAMMO! You have a gazillion things to do in no time flat. I don't even know what happened most of last week, and I'm too tired to think. I've still got a pretty good grasp of the past few days, though.

Let's see. There was the Flight of the Conchords' concert in Atlanta Saturday night. Totally worth the three hour exodus that Ari and I made. They were hilarious and adorable, as usual. We may or may not have screamed like silly little girls. May or may not have. All I'm saying is we waited for silence to make our audible request, and it was honored.

Easter Sunday was totally out of commission. A lovely day with family, but chalked full of disregard for all things weighing on my neurotic little mind. I did squeeze in some knitting and sewing, though. I made my nephew an ipod cozy! I really do have a creative compulsion.

Then there was Monday. Oh dear sweet Monday. Normally redeemed only by Shannon's Memory Mondays, but this Monday also had the help of the mesmerizing Jason Webley. The man can play the piano/guitar/accordion/pretty much anything like a fiend. Not to mention his uncannily gorgeous barbaric yawp, as shown above. It just kills me. Just beautifully stirring. It was a total surprise to find out he was going to be in the area.

Other than that? A lot of unfinished projects have cluttered my poor little brain pan. Bouncing around in there like jacked up ping pong balls. I finished a couple of things that I'm far too burnt out on to even muster photographing them. I refuse. Refuse you hear?!

Oh, and I've officially obtained the crud. Sigh.

That's all the funny business for now. Goodnight good bloggers.

List Lust VIII

I know I'm not the only one feeling drained right about now. I have plenty I could yap about, but can't shake this blah feeling. I promise to post something worth while in the very near future, but for now you'll just have to settle for some list lust.

Some things that just can't get here soon enough:

1. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I'm seriously far too excited about this. I've read the book oh so many times. It was even my FAVORITE movie when I was little. Tim Burton is simply an evil genius, and so is his cohort, Johnny Depp. Sigh. He'll be the creepiest/most delectable Mad Hatter ever.

2. My handmade Ogling Owlie from my Swap-Bot partner in Israel, and my Howl's Moving Castle Stuffy from I can't remember where! Can not wait! Here are the swaps I sent out(you may or may not have seen these pics already-blah).

3. Michael Mann's Public Enemy. I know what you're thinking, and you can just stop it right now. I don't just want to see this because Johnny Depp's in it. It also happens to star Christian Bale. :P

4. To get some veggie sushi with Ari and the husband person. Missis Prickly Pear keeps talking about her glorious sushi, and I can't handle it anymore! ^__^

Well, that about sums her up my bloggerific friends. It is too late, and I am too tired. Sweet dreams.

List Lust VI

We all know that a list...well...it's a many slendored thing. Grocery Lists, Christmas Lists, To Do Lists. So many always helpful forms of this thing that I love.

Today, I want to share another type of list with you. Maybe the most important and helpful list out there. Some instructions. And fun ones, at that!

What's that saying? If at first you don't succeed, try reading the directions? I think that's it. Well, here ya go bloggers.

4 Easy Steps To Indie Stardom...Maybe.

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days

Third picture, no matter what, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar program to put it all together (If you don't have it, here's an online photo editor: http://www.picnik.com/).

So, what do ya think of Kagenna's first album? From The Known To The Unknown. :P

I'm not so sure I like my band name being a term derived from a word meaning "Jewish Hell," but hey. It's a neat band name, right?

Oh, and that image? Couldn't be more perfect!

Have fun, folks. I wanna see these albums a.s.a.p. ^_^

P.S.

Watchmen? Yeah. Awesome! A little much anatomy and gore for my taste, but it was only doing justice to the comic. They changed a few conversations, took a couple things out of sequence, but I think it had to be done to make the movie less than 3 and a half hours long. It had a little more closure than the book too. So, that's always nice. All in all? It thoroughly rocked!

All You Need Is Love & Possibly Some Sleep

Happy Valentine's Day, you wonderful bloggers, you!

I don't know how gloriously romantic your days have proven to be, but mine hasn't exactly been picturesque. I mean, it's been a good day. I'm not complaining. It just hasn't felt much like Valentine's.

This morning Todd and I went to church, taught our classes, lead song service and all the usual sabbath activities. After that, we spent the afternoon preparing for Jodi's little sister's wedding shower. I was in charge of banners, games and keeping the bride(Leah) sane.

There's this nice(she's not really nice) crazy(she is actually crazy) lady that keeps calling the groom Kevin. His name is Devin. She's been corrected numerous times to no avail. By the end of the evening, we all just resorted to calling him Kevin too. It was hilarious. We had a blast, but by the time we loaded the gifts into their car it was 9PM.

So, Todd not being much of a night owl, dinner and a movie just never happened. I might attempt to be disgruntled and mopey, but I'm just too darn tired. Todd and Kimchi are already asleep in their recliner, and I'm not far behind them. Our date can wait 'til tomorrow.

Coraline, here I come!

Oh, and I'm almost finished with the cake topper for the wedding next weekend! I'm still working on the groom. I've finished with Leah, but haven't taken a photo yet. Here's a picture of her as of yesterday.