Friends

Alway hard to get anything done over the holidays. Cookin, clean up from cooking, birding and sheet exhaustion always makes it hard to buckle down and work. But here's some recent stuff for the upcoming FC art show and other projects.

I love winter as an art theme. So many of the colours, animals and symbols of winter just really speak to me. Snow makes my muse happy:)

A Breath of Winter" 16 x 12 watercolour on illustratin board. For FC art show.

The rest are under a cut though there's only one adult pic. Do not open at work. Just trying to save uploading time!
( Read more... )

I managed to see both today.

Avatar - LOVED. IT. Would see again. Fast paced, SF, mecha, aliens as good guys, big aerial fights, flyers!!, big eco theme, nekkid blue ppl!, CGI so smooth you can't tell the real from the not, mind transferance as science.......this part of the story puts me in mind of a story I once read in either Analog or Asimov's something like twenty to thirty years ago (or longer?) where this guy is stationed on Jupiter and he 'goes outside' using this other body, of one of the natives, and then one day decides to just not go back....so anyone who thinks this hasn't been done before is NEW. Still, I'd watch this again in a heartbeat. Must own.

Sherlock Holmes - Love the relationship between Holmes and Watson, it was perfect. Right down to the jealous girlfriend. London is very dark and quite gritty. Lots of fist fights and Very Dangerous Moments. Lots of Splodey!boom moments. Lots of extremely quick camera cuts. Would watch again.

Both movies have their violent moments, folk die in both on camera. Avatar plays up the drama of this, Sherlock does not. Avatar has one pseudo sex scene (I say pseudo cuz you don't get to see anything), Sherlock has one bondage moment where nothing happens. I'd let my 14 year old son see either, but would not take my 7 year old daughter. For Avatar this is mostly because it's 160 minutes long, and that's much too long for her to sit through.

Last night I suddenly realized I had not brought in the Christmas stockings...so I jammed on my boots, grabbed a flashlight, and out I went. I made it out the door, down the walk, and between the truck and the car before I saw him. In fact, I was less than three feet from him and I realized he was there. I went 'AAK!!' and he flinched. I leaned forward to get a better look at him, and he just froze there in the snow and ice. Rain and ice dripped down on both of us. I ran back in to tell Jim and then ran back out. Still right where I'd left him, frozen. Jim came with camera and snapped the below shot. What you can't tell in the photo is his size. He's huge!!!! I've had smaller housecats in my day. Jim then vanished to get him a bit of bird from the fridge. While waiting I chatted with the opossum. Ok, I talked, he just stood there. I did lean over enough to see that his mouth was agape, just waiting for me to be stupid enough to put a hand down so he could rip it off. Jim reappeared again, and dropped the meat just inches from that pink nose. He then backed off, and I ran off to the garage on my errand. I saw him sniff and then accept the meat offering before I turned away. On coming back out I saw his prints go under the truck, and then out the other side where he crossed in front of our house. Unlike the woodchucks or the coons, we have no quarrel with the 'possum folk, but we do respect the teeth.

( Christmas Opossum )

\it's our tradtional Christmas eve. We've stuffed ourselves on lobster, shrimp, crab legs and escargot, followed by pumpkin pie for Marg and Grant, raspberries and cream for me. the kitchen is coated in a fine layer of melted butter which I will eventually hose down before getting the turkey into it's brine. How the Grinch stole Christmas is playing on the tv (original cartoon not the horribley Jim Carry abomination. Whatever your family tradtions, I hope you are enoying the eve. Whatever version of the holidays you choose to celebrate, I wish you all the best of the season.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Mist-netting for bats (in the Sutter Buttes and then in the Pantanal in Brazil).

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No comment.

3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
Hiking in Yosemite National Park.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Blue, the last of my first pair of pet rats.

5. What countries did you visit?
USA, UK, Brazil.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A tail.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 18th, watching giant otters in Brazil.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not getting fired in yet another round of company lay-offs.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Failing to lose weight.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Massive numbers of mosquito bites in Brazil.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Canon 7D digital SLR.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Rent. But the biggest single payment was for my vacation in Brazil.

13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
"The Last Amazing Grays" by Sonata Arctica.

14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Hiking and cycling (see #9).

15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating (see #9).

16. What was your favorite TV program?
House MD (honorable mention: FlashForward).

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.

18. What was the best book you read?
"Soon I Will Be Invincible" by Austin Grossman.

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Sonata Arctica. I knew and liked them before, but this was the first year I got to see them perform live.

20. What was your favorite film of this year?
Fantastic Mr Fox. Yes, I have seen Avatar. Humor and whimsy beats a pedestrian and predictable story, however beautiful the backdrop.

21. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went to see Spamalot, the Monty Python musical. 40-something.

22. What kept you sane?
My rats and my friends.

23. Who did you miss?
My UK relatives that I didn't get to see this year.

24. Who was the best new person you met?
Giles and Jerry.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009
An empty cage is an opportunity for new rats.

Happy birthday to He Who is eddyfate and He Who is Always rjtremor!

Homemade, gluten-free, double chocolate chocolate chip cookies waiting for me in a box when I got home.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

The following is written by a cousin of mine. The Antaram Minassian he mentions is my Great Great Grandmother. Her son, my Great Grandfather, came to the US in the late 1800's. I am not related to the Vartanians, except by marriage.

( Armenia )

(What follows is a little teaser for The Seventh Chakra, detailing some of the setting background as it relates to the book. Those of you who have read Thousand Leaves might see some familiar names in here.)

---

"The different species of this world are not as different as they may appear on the outside."
―Book of Alexandretta, Chapter One, Verse One

Founded over a thousand years ago, the Iolite League has gone from being a small, relatively insignificant religious order to being one of the most pervasive philosophical organizations in the world. Headquartered in the grandiose Fioletovy Cathedral in Novoprypiatsk, it has members all over the planet, on every continent, from every species and from all walks of life. Its core mission is a straightforward one: to help bring about true peace and harmony for the world.

Members of the Iolite League are bound together by a set of moral and metaphysical values, as dictated by their adherence to the Iolite Doctrine, a Scriptural interpretation that emphasizes the world's diverse species makeup as being the chief factor of God's creation. According to Iolite League beliefs, God chose to populate the world with dozens of different species as a way of prompting individuals to see beyond the superficial—to force people to find the commonalities they all share despite their differences, and in so doing, give the people of the world a clearer perspective on the meaning of true harmony and understanding. One species' weakness can be offset by another species' strengths, and so only by working together can the people of the world achieve their goals.

The reason for the League being named for the semiprecious stone "iolite" has been lost to common knowledge; the history of the group's origins as a mystery cult is guarded by the Iolite League's own inner circles. Whatever the reason, however, the preponderance of purple and violet in the organization's official color scheme continues even to this day, so much so that the term "Iolite League Purple" is a recognizable shade to most people. Naturally, iolite jewelry is popular with members, its cheap cost and distinct look both making it appealing as a simple display of one's belief and devotion.

The influence of the Iolite League is so great that they are often able to have a noticeable impact on international politics. Their nonviolent initiatives and dedication to finding peaceful solutions to issues has led to the League producing an inordinate number of ranking diplomats and ambassadors, and the League itself has frequently castigated world leaders and corporate entities on the international stage for incidents deemed regrettable or criminal.

(Following the national schism in the aftermath of the Butterfly Islands War, the Democratic Republic of Ridgecrescent actually made holding active membership in the Iolite League a criminal offense in response to what was perceived as the League's "meddling" exascerbating a minor conflict into a full-scale war. Given Ridgecrescent's high population, however, it is believed that thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of League members still live there, practicing in secret. The Iolite League has publically decried this legislation, along with a number of other xenophobic initiatives passed after the war.)

Estimates place current worldwide membership in the Iolite League somewhere between twenty-five and thirty million (actual numbers have not been released or published by the League itself). Organization varies from country to country, with larger churches being more popular in some areas, and smaller community parishes being more dominant elsewhere.

So one of the previews I saw Sunday was for Alice in Wonderland. Must. See.

Tonight I'm being bombarded with ads for Nine. So many pretty dancing ladies! Hm, I'm thinking I might need to see this one, too.

Yes, I'm trying to make up for not being able to eat holiday food or even eat out by watching movies instead. At least they're all gluten-free, and low fat to boot!

We get our next winter storm starting Wednesday. I have off Thursday and Friday anyway. The truck has new tires. The kids are in the middle of winter break. I'm not that concerned.

Dear Really Nice Old Guy at Sam's exit: That comment you made to my daughter, asking her if she enjoyed shopping with Grandma, really hurt. See, it's thoughtless comments like that that are why I dye my hair. My white roots aren't showing that much, but I do realize I am more than old enough to be the grandmother of a seven year old. But I'm not. I started late. I had her the really old fashioned way. We had sex. Nine-ish months later, I gave birth. She is not my granddaughter. Don't assume you know the relationship of total strangers.

Oh, yeah. We saw The Hangover the other night (cuz Moose had rented it). Very funny.

So. This morning started out well enough. I had planned to go see the 11:40am showing for Fantastic Mr Fox, as it's cheapest. Problem, only theatre left that still had it was Star, way down in Fitchburg. Ok, so Jim, I, and M take the truck and head down to Fitchburg. I figured we'd have plenty of time after to hit Trader Joes, and still be home around 2ish............................................

Did not work out that way. The film was quite nice, and I don't regret seeing it, but unbeknownst to us, the truck had picked up a nail. We barely made it out of the parking lot, flat as a pancake. Jim pulled into the PDQ next door, and then promptly claimed the truck had no spare. I pointed under it's hind end. After a bit, and referring to the manual in the glove box, he figures out to take the crank from under the hood (which won't shut properly after), lower the cable the tire is on, and that the jack is under the passenger seat. The spare is ancient, but still round. I give Jim some quarters, and he goes to get air in it. Once switched we head off to Sam's.

Yep, that is where I just spent my entire afternoon. Didn't get out of there until after 5:30pm. By then, Jim was long gone, he'd had Bob come get him. M and I stayed the whole time. Since all the tires were OLD and had little tread left (traction? what's that?), I had them replace all four, and put the best on the spare's rim as the spare was even older, and had these funky dents in it from being cinched up under the body of the truck for so many years. The fellow also got the hood to shut properly again.

After all that, still stopped in at Trader Joes. Didn't get home until after 6pm. Bought some green pea crisps at Trader Joes cuz I was starving, am now waiting for dinner to finish cooking, and watching The Big Chill. Can't wait for 2009 to finish up already.

One of the astounding things about Furries is the sense of community that we have developed. When one of us is down, others will come to his aid, even if they do not know him well. It is enough to know that it is a Furry. That community spirit, an increasingly rare thing in this modern self-absorbed world, is the singular greatest strength that our Fandom has.

( And five minutes ago I was reminded of just how strong that spirit is )

Is it bad that I would totally buy this if it were real?

My day today has consisted of playing Battlestar Galactica and Bang! at work.

And getting free Krispy Kremes and free pizza for lunch.

And having a surprising few amounts of crises to deal with (er, at the office, not in Battlestar).

And tonight I get to go to the movies and tomorrow is the next session of Legacy.

Yeah, today is kinda cool.

I'm in the middle of a chat with normanparamedic, a friend of mine who's serving in Iraq at the moment, and has some great mural photos up on his site. The discussion has prompted me to post some of my thoughts here:

Terrorists are not our – the human race - current worst enemy. The media is. The media cause us to hate and anger and fear, and thus fight and blame and seek retribution and justice, rather than work together for what's possible for our world community.

The media's fundamental interest is power and money. They achieve this by keeping our attention on what they're saying, how they're spinning the world, what they're focussing our attention on. They achieve this by installing fear and anger against "others" and against our own governments. Governments that, if we could empower then rather than resisting them, could be the focal point for the sheer power of the human race.

With just a little focus, we put men on the moon... back in 1969! Imagine what we could do NOW with the technology and human resources we have. Yes, we have, all of us, done bad things in the past that we need to acknowledge and apologise for. This, however, should come secondary to creating what's possible for our future.

The media can, but has no interest in playing any part in this, and is being the worst possible detriment. The media, in its current form, needs to be shunned.