Illustration Friday - Wind

there was something in the wind that the vampire didn't like...perhaps Van Helsing was close again and threatening to destroy his carefully crafted empire....he'd have to be careful on his way back to the castle

Happy Halloween everybody!!

check out Illustration Friday for more cool drawings, illustrations and stuff!!

things I've learned this weekend

1. I should wear my glasses ALL of the time
2. those huge ziploc bags that you vacuum all the air out of ...are the BEST!
3. we have too many pairs of shoes
4. I have a ridiculous number of vintage lighters
5. office furniture is heavy
6. our crazy dog - Scout - seems to be figuring out she can climb
7. less really is more
8. electric blankets are expensive
9. going to Walmart doesn't always have to be painful
10. with cable ties and duct tape all things are possible

okay I already knew some of those, but reminders never hurt!

Photo Hunt - Safe

what better place to be..than safe at home - watching old horror flicks and drawing vampires?
especially on a cold, rainy night in late October........

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

I now have 4 bags

of this...
for some reason I can never remember if I have some or not and buy more....better get to cooking something....like the tacos on the stove now...

Stuff Portrait Friday - for the girls

it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month (for another few days anyway) and Kristine is all about boobs...(everybody go check her's out if you haven't already)....

1. the potholders - boring rubber kind that will withstand a million degrees...I will say I have tested this to an extent and so far no burns...just don't ask ;)

2. melons or pumpkins...I have neither at this point, but as always I have GOURDS.....just a few small ornamentals I'm drying as an experiment

3. something pink...one of my few pairs of non solid, neutral colored socks...they're some of my favorites...


who played???

after a long conversation last night

it is clear to me, that I can no longer put off clearing out the guest room and office...after 3 years and with the houseguest coming in about 8 weeks, J is insisting I take the task of getting ready seriously...

this is going to involve getting rid of furniture, getting new furniture, lots of heavy lifting and any number of assorted things I'm sure I'm not going to like...I better get rewarded for all my hard work

so today I did a little looking at furniture and came up with some ideas to share when I get home tonite....my first impulse was to suggest concrete blocks and 1"x8" planks but I don't think that would be appropriate...these aren't realistic either, but fun to look at...

Bulldozer Bed

Pirate Bed

Mini Cooper Computer Desk

maybe I should take all day Saturday to do yard work??

not a morning person

and I won't even pretend that I've ever been a morning person....bad things happen to me and (occassionally others) on mornings when I haven't had the proper time to decompress and wake up...

normally J gets up at 4:30 because she leaves for work at 5:15.....when she first started this routine I tried to be the supportive partner and would get up with her (at 4:30)....a little bit of time passed and instead of getting up when she did, I'd get up when she left....a little more time passed and I'd get up when she called to say she was at work....recently, I've been falling back asleep and getting up around 6:30-ish....

THIS morning...I didn't wake back up until 7:30...which left me approximately 30 minutes to feed the animals, shower, make my lunch, get dressed and out the door...amazingly enough I was only a few minutes late to work, but I've been disoriented all day...

mornings should be quiet times that involve coffee and slow movements, preparing you for the day ahead....I'm in total denial about the fact I should start getting up earlier again in order to maintain those holy morning rituals that keep us all safe...

damn.

guest artist

a co-worker's little boy did this drawing for me yesterday...kid art is the best and microscope's are the coolest!

I must be living right this weekend

'cause earlier this afternoon, we just happed to click across the Grand Ole Opry that had Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings playing together....

OMG.

a few weeks ago...

when we were in the mountains...we lucked up and found a roadside place that had tons of gourds..the guy said he buys them from a local farmer they call, "gourd head"...I'm not sure exactly what each of these may turn into...I know I'll use the neck from one of those two in the middle as a handle for a pitcher, but other than that, it's hard to say....

which reminds me, I have to pick up our stuff at the fair tomorrow....

Saturday Photo Hunt - Dreaming

Dreaming pigs at the fair always win the blue ribbon and never wind up as holiday dinner :)

I had a lot of trouble getting onto Blogger yesterday....sorry I'm late getting this up!

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

the Georgia babies

new pictures of the ATL bunch....the one in the pink dress shouldn't be so big yet...(she emailed us a few days ago)

A few people who could use a dose of Smarties

1. my friend who has decided he's leaving his wife because, "he loves her, but isn't in love with her"....grow up dude, if that's the bs you're feeding her, you should go ahead and leave because she deserves better anyway...

2. women that wear shirts too small for them and expose the rest of us to undesirable belly flesh...cover up ladies, don't you feel the breeze?

3. my boss who consistently mispronounces words...for example...cooperation is not the same thing as CORPORATION....Hezbo-LOTS sounds like some freaked out sci-fi menace from the 1950's, Hezbol-LAH is the Lebanese militant Shia orgnization that you're referencing...and last but not least...it's Slam DUNK not Slam DUMP....

This is what I need

forget the motorcycle, forget the tattoo, forget the camera.....

for my pending 40th birthday and soon to follow mid-life crisis (oh wait, J cancelled the mid-life crisis part) I will need this....maybe not in yellow, but definately this....the company is even from SC...

and then...

there was pie...apple specifically...I really, really love weekends like this

I love the fair

I always have...I get excited about it coming every year...when we lived in Atlanta we went to a few county fairs and the really big fair in Perry, but this fair is still my favorite...

Yesterday we went fairly early...didn't have to stand in line at the gate...enjoyed looking at the exhibits...picked out a bag of bulk candy...saw the livestock...ate just enough fair food...took about a million pictures...did some quality people watching and got some cotton candy and carmel corn to go...just a perfect day...

Perfect enough that I didn't even mind going to my family gathering this afternoon...perfect enough that I am not stressed out over seeing my crazy mother's picture in the paper...and perfect enough that I am not going to be bothered by the way my father drops major news (usually regarding his or my stepmother's health - or like today - both) in the middle of lunch...

nope it was a good, good day

Saturday Photo Hunt - Lost

He had a lost look about him...hopefully he found what he was looking for

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

SPF - Changing Seasons

Definately time for a change of weather...Kristine's going to Reno and it's all about our switch to fall...

your season changing: a big thing with the season changing is that I have to wear socks - more specifically, shoes that require socks because I hate to be cold...so I will usually stock up on multiple pairs of the same socks in neutral colors so it's easier to match them during the laundry process...my lack of sock originality has been a great source of ridicule in my relationship

the beauty of where you call home: there are lots of things I love about where I live...the thing I love (and often hate at the same time) are the trains...we have well-used train tracks all over the city...some run right through downtown and there are tracks everywhere...we live a few blocks from a big CSX depot and I've gone down there a few time just to watch the trains and take pictures...there's something incredibly beautiful about the sound of a train at night

favorite part of the weather changing: easy...grilling and sitting outside with a fire...and what makes it even better is sitting outside with a beer, watching the fire and listening to the trains...



who played? who's enjoying the weather and who's hating the fact it's going to be cold soon?

new bird

Yariguies brush-finch

I completely dig birds and bird-watching, really I do and I swear it's the only reason I always have binoculars on hand....so when new species are identified, or species that are supposed to be extinct are spotted, it's an exciting day...how many more unknown birds (or whatever) are out still out there?

on a side note, but somewhat related....we have a client that comes in every month and goes on and on about how much I remind her of Miss Hathaway...I'm strangley flattered by that

observations on Cherokee NC

well, after thinking about it for a few days here are some general things about our weekend trip....

the hotel was a little bizarre...definately seen its better days (50+ years ago most likely)...it was very family oriented and loud kids played outside, right off the back door until all hours of the night...dogs were also welcome, so we got lots of random barking too...I've never seen anything like the tub in our room...it was sunken, kind of, more like partially recessed...it would have been cool had there not been squishing noises everytime you stepped into it...(badly installed liner?)

we went to the Cherokee Indian Fair on Friday and it was really, really small...no local crafts people or artisans like the promo stuff said...only one exhibit building, which was disappointing because the arts and crafts and aggie stuff is always our favorite thing to do at any fair...I kinda got hassled by a reservation cop when I was taking pictures of the tricked out cop car...oops, my mistake, public space and all...shoot me

Saturday we hung out and wandered around after a great breakfast at Peter's Pancake House (yes Lelo the backpacker pancakes were something to crow about, but J said the ham tasted too fresh - whatever the hell that means)...btw, there are at least 4 pancake houses in Cherokee....not sure what's up with that...the town was busy and loud from about 7am until 8pm...there were tons and tons of bikers, loud loud loud (loud was a subtheme if you haven't noticed)....we decided to get take-out from the Big Boy for dinner that night and during our 40 minute wait for our food, the young (evidently unsupervised) girl at the register told us a customer "had been a prick" to her - once our food finally came we were told they had run out of plastic ware and the same girl suggested we go to McDonalds if we needed a fork...I thought J was going to reach over the counter for the child...not pretty

we got up Sunday to clouds, started heading back and hit rain almost immediately....we also found a great roadside shop that happened to have gourds...lots of gourds...gourds that we'd only read about in fact...so we bought a bunch...actually we had a really good trip as far as gourds go...I'll try and post about that seperately later this week...

so, bottom line...a nice weekend...not the best choice maybe for a lesbian couple but, live and learn...next time we're just gonna go straight to Asheville

there were lots of things to see

in Cherokee...unfortnately, swinging girls weren't among them....lots more pictures here

Full Moon Ahead

we are still packing for our adventure in Cherokee this weekend...car is clean, hair is cut, last minute laundry is drying...it's supposed to be cool - at least for us and digging out long-sleeved shirts was a chore...

but we have road snacks, J has figured out the clicker to the sirius really does work in the car and I'm ready to get away for a few days...

enjoy the weekend and the full moon Saturday nite and point that witchy chick up there to SC if you see her!

thankfully today is my Friday

My desk has been Hellmouth for the last few days...a hot spot for supernatural, extra-irritating activity

I need to burn some sage

1000th Flickr image

I didn't realize until late today that I had posted my 1000th image on Flickr

I kinda got wrapped up in the idea of pimping out a horse buggy over the weekend and it resulted in this drawing (among other things) - go here to see the real horse buggy and a bizarre photoshop creation suitable for Guido the Killer Pimp (who would do such a thing to a poor, innocent buggy in the first place??)

anyway, I think the drawing is more Halloween appropriate than it is pimp-ish, but I was amazed that I've actually posted that many pictures - I sort of love the internet...

Here's another version...that I think I like the coloring on a little better

Vestal

so I'm a little psyched...results were posted earlier today and Vestal got JURIED IN at the Fair...which means she won't be stuck in a dark, lonely room with all the stuff that got juried out...btw, my good friend Erin had a couple of photos that were also juried in...(we're both juried show newbies so it's a big deal)

this picutre is really early on in her completion, sans frame and a bunch of color...I'll try to find a better one tonite...frankly, I didn't take a bunch of pictures because I was pretty sure she wasn't going to make this initial cut...

LOL, wonder if my family will appreciate the irony of me doing this picture?

not a great shot...but hopefully I'll get some good ones there....

DUH

As soon as I pulled the front door closed behind me this morning....I realized...OH SHIT...my keys are inside....I've never done that (really)

I know J's mom has a key, but seeing the MIL first thing in the morning is a total LAST RESORT

Genius...I left a window on the back of the house unlatched this weekend....so I crawled on in, crisis averted....

the short weeks are always the longest....I hope this isn't a peek as to how the next few days are gonna go

Creepy Nest

our neighborhood is right in the middle of an old pecan orchard...every year we get these huge nests in each tree...sometimes - in the early summer - you can look up in the tree and see the catepillars wiggling around trying to get out...nice way to set the stage for October and Halloween