Hi ho, hi ho, it's back out-West I go...

Even though I was sick for most of it, it's been a good visit home, and I'm going to miss my family and friends. 

Tuesday is travel day!

Been drawing a little now that I'm gaining some energy...

~

Sick days

Well, here's what's been going on.

First of all, I've been sick. Sick, sick, sick! I haven't felt much like doing a darn thing. Everything hurt, nothing could breathe properly (nose, lungs), and I could hardly function without lots of medicine, which usually made me sleepy and led to naps that came in the middle of things like, oh, say... conversations! My oldest sister convinced me to go to the Urgent Care center in town and late in the evening I was diagnosed with ear infection and strep throat. Not to mention the congestion and cold-like symptoms that were tagging along just for kicks.

Yesterday I was NOT feeling up to having people over, but it's not as if I had a choice! It was Thanksgiving, after all, and no one can post pone that. I woke up from a painful nap on the couch after watching the parade to my little niece and nephew shrieking happily and running through my mom's house. I looked down at myself and realized it was nearly 2:30 pm, and I was still in my fleece pants and hoodie. So I got up quickly, decided to take a shower, and tried hard to convince myself to fake feeling well.

By the time my whole family arrived, I was faking it like a pro, re-medicated, still feeling like yuck, but dealing as best as I could. I put a flower in the hair of every lady in the house (good thing I had made so many!) and it was a sight to see. I wish I had take a snapshot of all of my aunts and sisters and mom and nieces with those silly flower headbands!

Here is the table in preparation for "The Feast." Sorry it's such an odd-angled photo. I'm still learning how to take photographs, and I'm usually not very good!

I somehow made it through the evening, feeling somewhat better nearing the time most people were leaving. My 14-year-old niece decided to curl my hair in beachy, loose waves because she's THE PRO at it. She also taught me how to do it on my own, and I practiced today! This is what it turned out like:

Sorry for the bad lighting... these were taken with my web camera!

Anyway, said 14-year-old niece wanted to experience black Friday shopping, so she somehow convinced my mom and sister and I to go this morning. I didn't know why we had to get up at 4:30, but we did. And we DEFINITELY experienced black Friday shopping.  We stood in several long lines and saw the craziest of crazy lady shoppers. But surprisingly, everyone was VERY polite and friendly and charming. I can remember complimenting some woman on her antlers headband at around 6:30 am and she genuinely thanked me. We even somehow managed to encounter friendly, cooperative drivers in parking lots.

By the end of today, I felt much better. I'm still feeling run down, hoarse, and a bit sore, but not nearly as bad as before. I hope I keep getting better!

Because of my yucky health, I have only been taking cat pictures. Forgive me, please, for my craziness. I don't have much else to show for recent icky sicky days. As you can imagine, I have been feeling far from photogenic.

It's so funny for me to look at these pictures. My cat, Pants, looks so very annoyed! But I swear I think she's just always sleepy.

Mom and I watched "17 Again" a little while ago, and I restored my mini crush on Zac Efron. As embarrassed as I am to say it, I am completely serious. He's a hottie worth "crushing on." (Gag, I can't believe I just typed that sentence!)

~~~

So, that's my sick leave from here in a nut shell! I will try to keep improving in health and in posts. Have a great rest of your weekend!

Tis the season of thankfulness

1. I am grateful for my sweet little super kitty who lives with my mother now and who
2. still remembers me when I come home to visit. Her name is Pants.
3. She just did a 360 on the fleece blanket I have wrapped around me.
4. She also has been extra snuggly since I became couch-ridden due to whatever bug I have captured inside of my body. Like a good kitty should.
5. I am grateful for my mom deciding on a quote for her Christmas card, and the ideas that have followed since she made up her mind. I've been drawing winter animals today in preparation. (My favorite is the bear!)

6. I am grateful for getting ahold of my middle older sister yesterday. She's so hard to reach, and she picked up the phone when I called her! This is pretty rare.
7. I am grateful for beautiful jewel tones. You know I love 'em!
8. I am grateful for people still wishing I lived here.
9. I am grateful for glue guns
10. I am grateful for fun music that cheers me up and makes me wanna dance!
11. I am grateful for waking up to hear the giant thunderstorm that happened in the middle of the night last night. I hardly ever hear rain any more, so when I was awake for it (albeit feeling not so wonderful), I texted M and shared the moment.
12. I am grateful for the Christmas spirit that is beginning to show up more and more as the days press toward December.
13. I am grateful for being able to seek out knowledge on my own and for the wealth of information that the internet has given me. It's a pretty awesome thing, the interwebs is. :)
14. I am grateful for tall boots and jeans, especially when I am cold.
15. I am grateful for my sketchbook and my pencils and pens.
16. I am grateful for having friends who can pick right back up where we left off, no matter how long it's been since the last time I've seen them.
17. I am grateful for left over soup.
18. I am grateful for my mom bringing me tea with honey this morning. It's nice to be sick at home. It's not as good as being at home and not being sick. But everyone wants their mom to take care of them when they're not feeling well, and as bittersweet as it is, I'm grateful for being sick at home.

Ugh

I don't feel well.

Expensive trend made cheap and easy

Today was busy!

This morning I went to the late service at my old church, which is quite the drive away from my mom's house where I am staying for now. I got stuck behind a verrrrry slow driver and ended up late to the service, walking into the building mid-prayer, with everyone in the congregation facing the entrance to where I came in. So there was no mistaking that I was arriving late. There was no mistaking that it was mid-prayer. There was no mistake that everyone saw me. Ugh. But the service was awesome, as usual. The music was fantastic. A terrific friend with an amazing (American Idol-esque) voice was leading the cantering. I got to listen to her sing, and sit beside another great friend during the service. Afterwards we all three went to lunch, where I almost ate a giant pickle, but decided not to. It was really fun! After the lunch, we went to an accessories store called Charming Charlie, and I fell in love with everything there. The big trend seen everywhere I turn is the embellished headband, and this store had sooo many cute ones.

Later, after my friends and I parted ways for the afternoon, I decided I was going to try to make some headbands of my own. They couldn't be that difficult, right? I made it my mission to try at least one.

Well, a bunch of flowers, felt, ribbon, and hot glue later, this is what I came up with:

white

purple

and multi red

How do you think I did?

Total cost: under $10, with materials to spare for future bands.

Considering that most embellished headbands found at the stores cost between $5 and $9, I think I did alright!

Back in the country

So I've made it back to my mom's house for a holiday stay that started early. By the time I got my rental car going, it was past midnight, and I arrived home after 1 am. I was exhausted from travel, but happy to be back in my hometown state. Since arriving, I've tried to settle myself into the groove of life back here, remembering the open spaces of plowed fields after a fall harvest, the humidity of a lower altitude in this midwest world, and the quietness that is a simple and beautiful part of living in the country.

Today my mother and I went to get groceries for the big Thanksgiving feast, and it was unbearably busy. On the way home, we got stuck behind a huge grain sorting machine that was wobbling all over the road. We went 15 miles and hour for what seemed like 3 hours until finally we turned right and it turned left. I sat in the car the whole time, NOT annoyed, and smiled at the nostalgia of seeing farm machinery on the road, the slowness of the vehicle, the large and ruddy yards, the shade of the overcast sky.

I remember what makes western living such a delight in the winter: the sun. Here, the sun hides its creamy yellow brightness until it is spring again. There, the sun shines loud and proud all winter long, gleaming off of snow, making it sparkle like gemstones, even when it's absolutely freezing outside.

My cat, Pants, remembers me, seems to love me and want me to keep her warm as I sleep. I open my eyes in the morning and she is there on the top of the blanket, holding no grudges for the Mo kitty she surely smells on my luggage and clothing.

So far, it's good to be home.

My travel outfit

Anyone else get FREEZING COLD on an airplane? I get pretty cold as it is anyway, but I get thrice as cold when I'm on a plane.

In addition to this I'll be wearing a thick coat. The vest will add a little warmth, and the beanie is because I'm certain I won't be able to find it once I think I can. My watch will stay in the time zone of M and Mo and D. You know. The gang. 

Oh! Raise your little bloggin' hands if you've got a pair of Toms! I have to do a mini rave about Toms shoes. They're super, duper comfy and the best casual shoes I think I've ever worn because of the aforementioned comfort and the fact that they conform to my feet and come in nice colors. Not to mention that when you purchase a pair of Toms shoes, the Toms company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. It's pretty fantastical. I'll be sad when I wear this particular pair out, but as soon as I do, I'm getting another pair!

What do you wear when you're leaving on a jet plane?

Update!

GOOOOOOOD MORNING!!!!

I've been away for a few days from the blog... my apologies! Several people have inquired what's going on with me, new, mentioning I've not updated the blog since (gasp!) Saturday! Well, let's recap.

First of all, Pig. Pig's breakfast today includes a lovely glass of orange mango Naked juice! It's really tasty!

1. It's been a tad snowy lately. Just today and yesterday, but it's been snow-showering, mostly in the early morning when no one is particularly pleased with it. It's wet snow, too, which is pretty much rare for where I live. It's wet snow, sure, but it doesn't stick around for long, and it's sun-shiny by the afternoon. Usually.

2. I watched a cool movie at the library with M and D, and one of D's old college friends. The movie was called, "Cairo Time." It was about this American woman who goes to Egypt to visit her husband who is working there.  Her husband has a stressful job that ties him up a lot and the woman ends up spending a good deal of time with a man named Taruk, who is like her Egyptian tour guide. He shows her Egypt the way it is meant to be seen. The movie is really interesting and beautiful in its own right.

3. M totally surprised me with an unusual gift of a giant box of... makeup! Let me first say, this is very much NOT the kind of gift he would give me. But apparently he ordered it from a co-worker who was selling these awesome make up products (sorry to bore you, men) and I guess was waiting for the big box of lovely colors to come in. When they arrived, he gave me this huge gold zip up case full of beautiful eye shadow colors, blush colors, lip glosses, lipsticks, and eye pencils. I love makeup, don't get me wrong, mostly because it's like face art. But truth be told, I don't wear a ton of it. My mom and sisters tend to go for the more expensive make up, but I can't afford the kind they rant and rave about, so I've resorted to the cheap brands that I can afford. Maybe the end result is that it's just not as much fun when you're not into the good stuff. However, this kit, with all of the eye shadow colors, blush and lipstick varieties... I will be experimenting for a long time! It's not something I normally spend any kind of money on, but I don't have to worry about that now! I tried out the eye shadow (3 colors) starting today, but was shy about it... I started with the shade that was basically a nude tone. I put a little brown on the corners. Here's to future (braver!) experimentation!

4. I gocco'd cloth! I got fantastic cloth fabrics for gocco in the mail from a lovely seller in Japan who usually has a lot of gocco products in her store. My first attempt was sort of a flop, but not so much that I threw it away. I'll use the first cloth printing attempt for myself (see below the botched try), save the screen, and reprint later when I have more time so as to avoid mistakes I made the first round of printing.

(Also you can see my nails here, though they look VERY cherry or strawberry red in this pic, and they are more... cranberry. Yes, cranberry.)

5. I painted my nails multiple times and removed the polish multiple times in a mere matter of a few days. My nails have been pewter grey, chocolate brown, bright cherry red, a hideous aqua blue, and now, after having to go to the store to fetch more polish remover, my nails are a plummy reddish hue, shiny and lacquered-looking. They are the yummiest shade so far in mixture, though I rather liked the pewter color for a time. I think I may leave them like this, though that's what I said about the other colors, too. :)

6. Projects, galore! I have been doing a little side freelance work, both for businesses and individuals, and I am feeling extremely productive in researching for future projects, too. Things that lay on the line are in full swing and I am stoked for their completion!

7. And last but not least, I am going home for Thanksgiving, and right before I leave, I'm going ICE SKATING with M and D! D is going to South America for about 5 or 6 months (I think!) and we're all going ice skating before the send off. Plus, I get to babysit his painting while he's oversees. His painting is by an awesome painter, Richard Salcido, and I'm stoked I get to take care of it while D is gone. I'll take care of it, too... it's one of my fav's!

So, what's new with YOU?

Stress and B.F.F.'s

I have been stressing out a bit today, working hard on projects that are a little unexpected and filled with high expectation, either from myself or others. It isn't bad to have these sorts of pressures upon me, but like I mentioned before... that word... "unexpected," ... that is the clincher here. I don't mind the stress when things come of it, and they will, they will. Just not right at this exact moment.

I know I'm not making a ton of sense, so I'll just stop for now before I ramble on into another cryptic rant that I later regret with a "stupid slap" to my forehead (doh!). Instead, I'll end with this: In the middle of doing projects that were very pressurized and stress-worthy, I did manage a few fun drawings. Here is a SNIPPET of a little one I did, just for the heck of it, in a moment of a break from the obligations I will no longer speak of.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Give your BFF a hug if you can.

breakfast and sketches

It's been SO COLD here lately! Especially in the mornings. We are silly beans and don't turn on our heat, usually. This is because, for one, the people below us tend to have their heat on when we don't and it rises up and warms us without us even touching the thermostat! (I know... that's kinda like stealing cable, right?) Well, it's also because if we don't NEED to turn on the heat, then we just DON'T for another reason, which is mostly because of not having a ton of money for things like trivial heating bills. Trivial. (Joking. Not really trivial. Just not always necessary!) Plus, D let us in on the BIG SECRET of the apartment complex, and that big secret is.... shhhhh.... that all the fireplaces are connected to the same gas line which is included in the home-owner's fees and do NOT affect the monthly heating bill. AMAZING! So we have our fireplace on like, ALL the time now. (And yesterday I caught Mo laying in front of the fireplace, but he'd deny it if you asked him that directly.)

I swear I looked up right as I finished typing this and caught him there again. He almost darted away, but I managed to get this (not very good) picture of him with my web cam. Talk about perfect timing!!!

Anyhoo...

Lately I've been drawing a lot of things that don't amount to much more than practice. This seems to happen quite a bit, which explains the heaps of old sketchbooks I have around, shoved into nooks and crannies. But I don't always ink my sketches. I decided to find recent un-used sketches that I have inked and take a little collage of them for you to see. I am particularly fond of the zebra.












Also, another odd thing I have been doing recently is taking pictures of my breakfast with the piggy bank that sits on our coffee table. "Pig" (as we so fondly call him) is just so colorful and fun, and his color palette cheers me up every morning. Plus, he's a pig! So it only seems appropriate to take pictures of food with him.

Here are the two I've taken so far, and I may try to keep doing this if I remember to.

Oatmeal + Hot Chocolate = FULLLLLLL!

and...

Happy Pig with Waffle

and...

Happy MO with waffle!!!

(Because I caught Mo sniffing at it, and it made me laugh.)

The waffle was too rich for me, so M ate the other half. But the reason I took the picture in the first place was because it was just... pretty. 

~~~

Well, that's it for this morning. Hope you have a great day and be sure to stop into the store to see the new stuff put in just yesterday evening!

Etsy! Updated!

Tea print and Tea print cards are now in my etsy shop!

Also in the shop, are the new gocco cards! A Jammin' owl dude (or dudette!) with a boom box on his feathery shoulder!

Wanna see what else I've got in store?

Tea anyone?

Coming soon in the shop!

It began snowing again. Apparently it's not supposed to stop.

Some quick awesome things

1. The people at the print center gave me free prints today. Very stoked about that kindness. Thank you print center people! I hope your evening got less hectic after I left. :)

2. M has a day off tomorrow! That means no early alarm clock (except for the kitty kind, which can be louder than the kind you plug into the wall!).

3. I am getting ready to eat crinkle fries. I haven't eaten crinkle fries in sooo long, I think I might need to chew VERY slowly and savor the ridges! This will be yummy and maybe worth mentioning again in a future post!

4. A funny thing -- there was a line of teenagers at the technology/movies area in the big, un-mentionable store down the road from us (it has a "Super" in the name and the last part of it rhymes with "fart.") They were waiting for some video game release happening at midnight (which meant they had a LOT of waiting left to do!) and there was a CAKE for these people, decorated with some video game characters (or something... I'm not entirely sure. M saw the cake, and I just saw the cake box from afar because I was too embarrassed to actually approach the roped-off area where the teenagers were standing!)

5. Mo decided he wanted to get into M's pants! When M took off his work pants to change, Mo jumped onto them and snuggled into M's left over warmth. Weird, but funny! (You probably had to see it.)

6. I put my Formspring up in the sidebar of the blog... so ask me a question!

That's it for now! Buh-bye!

Cure the grumps with a happy list

I am feeling grumpy. I have a headache. And the I burnt the cookies. Again! I cannot get used to this weird oven in this new apartment. I made 3 great trays of squishy, yummy-looking cookies tonight, and then I sat down at my sketchbook on the last 2 trays. In a heap of drawing and distraction, I let them go too long.

So I'm going to do what I've been doing for years and years to focus on good things, and that is to make a happy list. I've done this as far back as I can remember-- make lists of things that I love, that make me smile and feel good. I have filled multiple blank books with mine and others' happy things. The lists need to keep going, though, because they seriously cheer me up.

So... without further ado... my November 7, 2010 Happy List!

1. Cuddling underneath M's armpit to steal his heat. It got COLD all of the sudden outside, and our place got chillllly! M has the best warmth, and he always generously shares with me. (Thank you, M!)

2. In the middle of the cuddle, Mo decided he felt left out and jumped up on the couch to join us. We were a family again.

3. The apartment smells nice and baked-in, even though the cookies were burnt.

4. D came over tonight and helped me settle a few scores with the blog. Thank you, D!!!

5. I drew a funny picture of a woman with lights wrapped in her tree-shaped hair:

6. Speaking of lights, we got the prettiest lantern and it was all M's idea! He wanted something I wanted but did not say aloud, and so we splurged a teensy bit on this candy-colored lovely that holds a scented tea light and now hangs in front of a big mirror in our living room.

7. I have plans for a few cool things for my store soon. I hope to get a couple of them finished within the next day or so!

8. I was sent the sweetest message last night that I cannot stop thinking about. The woman who sent it to me means so much to me, and we haven't even met! I can't wait until the day I actually get to meet her.

9. My pink slipper boots are hideous, but they are so, so warm!

10. I think I may do the 30 for 30 thing starting tomorrow, but un-announced. It's an exercise where you take 30 pieces of clothing from your closet and create outfits only from those pieces to wear in the next 30 days. Everything else is off-limits, and no shopping is allowed (not that I can shop... we need to be able to pay rent!)

If I come up with awesome outfits, I may post them, but that is doubtful, as I am still a bashful girl. 

~~~

And that is it for now. Sleep tight and be well.

The lingerie line

Just a quick study with the gaouche. I haven't played with them in a while and this is something I'd like to dabble in more.

Ugh-My-Gocco

After the excitement of printing successfully my first awesome round of prints, I have been totally stoked about the Gocco. Yes, it's true, I only posted about the Gocco printing process just this morning. But if you must know, I've had those pictures taken for at least a day. So again, after round one being so terribly successful, I immediately began planning for my next round of printing, hoping to make something even awesomer than before. (Yeah, I know "awesomer" isn't a word, but I'm thinking you get the idea of what I'm trying to say!)

I planned and worked all day, on getting the image squared away, on sizing and darkening the image just right, on xeroxing and planning ink colors, etc. I even got M on the venture and he was pretty excited to be involved, too, considering that he had seen what could come out of the machine on the first turn of it.

This evening I got down to pulling out the Gocco again, setting the whole thing up once more, organizing myself even better than the first time. I had a place for my cards, my drying racks, my inks. I had it all ready to go. I let M screw in the bulbs and push down the folding arm for the bulbs to flash and burn the screen. And when we removed the lamp and looked at the screen in anticipation, we found that only one bulb had gone off.

After trying a few more times, we realized that one of the bulbs was indeed faulty, and could not be used. The screen was only partially burnt, and the image was no longer aligned. Given that you get 10 bulbs in a kit and it takes 2 bulbs per go, having to throw away an unused (but bad) bulb gave me the shivers. So I decided that in efforts to not waste a screen, too, I'd just put in an extra bulb, replacing the bad one and re-burning the screen. M did the honors again after the new bulb was in place, and the bulbs flashed in glory, giving me back my hopes.

M felt as though he had saved the day, and I was thrilled to have saved the screen with the loss of only one bad bulb. However...

When we lifted the lamp and inspected the screen, it wasn't burnt very well, and from what we could tell, it looked like the middle of the image wasn't burnt at all.

Still, with my hope tucked away in my heart strings, I ink-blocked the darn thing anyway, squirted my Gocco inks on with a vengeance, and set up to print.

And after one print, then 2, then 3, we knew it was hopeless and had not burnt properly. 3 bulbs and one screen gone, I felt so terribly defeated, and still do as I type these words.

That being said, I had to stop myself from diving head first into a giant bowl fruit loops to cure the pain. Instead, I decided I needed to write about it. I said to M just minutes ago, "Part of trying new stuff is that it isn't always going to be perfect, right?" He said, "right!" And I continued, "I have to tell people that in my blog. This is part of the journey, screwing up a little bit." Or a lot. Whatever.

So keeping my composure and avoiding the kitchen, I put all the elements of my Gocco kit away neatly in its box. I tidied up the table and gave M a smooch and Mo, like most cats, picked up on my sadness and followed me into the bedroom to "fix" it with his magic feline abilities. And that is where I sit now, a cat by my arm, writing about this whole ordeal.

I feel better already. I'm still bummed out, sure. But I'm not giving up. Instead, I'm going to take a breather, finish this post, and draw in my sketchbook. "Back to the foundation" of where it all comes from, anyhow.

That's the greatest thing about a pencil and an eraser and smooth, white sketchbook paper-- it will not bring me technical difficulties. Not tonight.

O-M-Gocco! (Part 2)

Here you'll see the materials you need for your Gocco adventure.  Clockwise from top, you need the Printo Gocco, itself, drying racks, the Gocco lamp (and bulbs, in the yellow box), a Gocco screen, your image, foam ink block and scissors, something to print your image on, Gocco screen printing ink.

First I took my original image. I drew it small because I wasn't going to have a lot of space to print on, anyway. The Gocco machines only allow for a print area of about 3.5" x 5.5". It's tiny, but there are options for you to get a larger image later on. I cut down my image after it was drawn, separating the elements of the clouds and the fox.

I then Xeroxed my image and shrank it just a bit to ensure that the entire image, with all elements included, would fit into the allotted space given for Gocco printing. You Xerox the image so that you have an image that has ink printed with carbon elements. Most Gocco kits come with a pen that contains carbon so you can skip the Xeroxing step, but since my kit came used and did not include the pen, I had to Xerox my image.

This is the Xeroxed image placed on the stick pad that is inside of the Gocco machine. I have also loaded the Gocco screen onto the machine and placed the lamp and bulbs on top of the machine all together. (Sorry for not documenting those aspects very well!)

After you put your lamp with bulbs on the machine, have loaded the Gocco screen, and have your image on the sticky pad, you close the arm to the machine, and push down. The bulbs flash, and your screen is burnt! It's a little hard to believe, but as long as you see the flash, you've got a burnt screen.

After you burn your screen, you use the foam color block to separate areas on your image that you want to come out in different colors. The foam acts as a barrier for the ink so that it doesn't spread into the different-colored areas of your image.

Here you can see how I blocked my burn screen to ensure that those areas would stay only one color.

This is a really bad picture (sorry), but I was trying to show you how I inked the screen, then closed the plastic film flap to squish down over top of the ink I just put on the screen. See if you can figure out that that's what is actually in this picture! :)

After you ink your screen, you load it back into the Gocco machine (lamp removed), and place your paper that you want to print on the sticky pad (where you put your original image before.) You fold the arm to the machine down over top of your paper, lift the arm, and MIRACULOUSLY, you see your image printed in the colors you inked on your screen! 

Here is what my image looked like after I lifted the arm of the machine. You can see the smooshed globs of ink in the screen on the arm of the Gocco machine. I was so scared because I was certain the whole thing wouldn't work and I would just have globs of ink printed onto my paper. But It totally worked! And it really amazed me.

With a well-inked screen, you can print up to 50 times using the same inked screen you originally burnt. I used the drying racks after this image was taken. Additionally, once you are finished printing your image, you can clean your screen and save it to be used again at another time. You cannot, however, burn a new image onto the same screen you used. Once you burn a screen, it's burnt for good.

If you're interested in purchasing this Gocco card print, visit my etsy store!

O-M-Gocco! (Part 1)

I recently discovered a very exciting creative machine that a lot of artists are using in the independent artistry world. I know it's been around for a while-- so long, in fact, that it's already no longer in production. But the machines are out there in the modern world being used to turn every kitchen table into a miniature Andy Warhol studio, enabling artists to "mass produce" their own imagery via screen print. And it's so easy, you wouldn't even believe you've never heard of this before.

The machine I speak of is the Print Gocco machine. There are many models of the same machine, and those strange model numbers can get a little overwhelming to someone who is new to Gocco (like myself) who wants to get one, but doesn't know what kind to get, and wants to make sure that it's the proper kind for a beginner and for what you want to use it for.

I researched online as many places as I could, and found that most people seemed to be using what is called the "B-6" model, though truth be told, that letter and number combination means nothing to me. I saw artworks people were printing using that model, I watched tutorials with that model, I read about the pros and cons, learned about the struggles and joys, and decided that if I'm jumping head-first into this machine, I might as well just get the B-6. If it's wrong, oh well. I tried, right?

Tracking it down was the trickiest part, as I had to find an independent seller, since they're no longer in production to be sold through art suppliers. I eventually found one through ETSY. It had be very slightly used and was still in awesome condition. The listing showed that it came with lots of ink, bulbs, and screens. So even though it still hurt to pay (even less) for the used machine, I at least knew I was getting a semi-discount.

Yesterday was my first run with my Gocco machine and it was SO much fun. Read the next post to see my first encounter with the Gocco, documented step-by-step for you to see how it works and what kind of awesomeness it produces.

Random rant

A guy I once knew for 2 hours (that sounds skanky, but really he was just at a dinner-birthday party that I was also attending WITH M) told me that after 7 years of living something "extreme," your body starts to reject the extremity of it and turn it against you. He was trying to warn me to stop in the middle of my tracks, else I get more and more wrinkles, faster and faster, all because of my own choosing. He was referring to my vegetarianism being this "extreme" dangerous cause.

I do not call myself a good vegetarian, by any means. Not because I eat meat now and then (because I don't,) but because I'm an AWFUL cook, and diving into a giant pumpkin squash to smoosh its way somehow, magically, into a soup or a faboo vegetarian dish does NOT appeal to me. I really don't understand what a leak is. I used to think that "chalets" were small onions chopped up. I have no idea how to make my own hummus.

But I've been vegetarian for well over 7 years now, and I'm not turning back. If it's a vegetable, I usually can steam it or eat it raw and I'm content. I have tried to make things, and if I have all the ingredients and am feeling ambitious and have very detailed instructions (and lots of time on my hands), then I can make something miraculous and delicious and vegetarian, sure. But it's not without stress, and probably 3 batches prior having been burnt. Round 3 can taste ok.

I do not see myself as having any sort of negative bodily affects because of my vegetarianism. M tells me I need more protein, more food in general, but M is just being the meat-eater that M is, and wishes I could sit down some day and enjoy a hamburger (not a veggie burger) with him, happily. Where the idea of the date part of that sounds lovely, I'll just wish it was a salad and not a burger.

I am saying this because I started thinking about what that random dinner party guy had said to me. I don't know if his theory is right, if my body will say, "no! stop with the lack of meat!" sooner or later. I don't know if I'll have extra wrinkles and weaker bones and bad skin. I don't know. But what I do know is that I'm happier without meat, and I feel better, too. And I guess that's all that matters, as long as I'm being as balanced as I can while doing it.

And so there ya go.

End random rant.

WHALE T-SHIRTS ARE HERE!

I have a limited number of these left, but if you want a different size or I'm out of stock of something you want, send me a message and let me know. I can pre-order for you.

The scooped-up reject

So my mother said no, but someone else said yes! I will be mailing these out to a lucky friend very, very soon!

Good morning!

Good morning! I am feeling totally hyper and productive, and I feel the great urge to write! So it's right to the blog for me! I just had hot chocolate, too, so I'm a little sugar-buzzed at the moment. Whoops!

Let me introduce you to Mo. He's a fantastically handsome cat who decided last night that he was cold. So he snuggled up beside me in bed and hogged too much of the blankets. For fear of rolling over on top of him and smooshing him accidentally to kitty bits, I let him be. Plus, I was sleeping fairly soundly, having odd dreams, and solving creative problems subconsciously.

 Here, Mo looks out the window at the leaves that are swirling about on the patio. Or he's spotted a bug. Who knows!

Anyway, I did have odd dreams. The one I remember to be the most odd went like this:

I was back at Yellowstone with M and D, hiking in one of the memorable spots. We spotted 3 dinosaur-like monsters and were awed at how big and scary they were. Suddenly, the 3 giant monsters lifted their arms together, facing one another, let out a roar, then turned to us suddenly. We got the picture: they were going to eat us! So we ran across a wide path and deep into the forest, where they chased us. As we entered the forest, there were ALL KINDS of scary creatures that came out and started fighting with one another. By the time we got into the woods, we were all shrunken to the size of insects, but they were coming after us, still! I don't remember what happened to M and D, but I know that a large-beaked bird wearing a collared shirt and a sweater vest decided he was going to start foraging on plants. He picked me up while stuffing all kinds of other plants into his mouth quickly. I didn't want to get swallowed, so I knocked on the inside of his beak, and he stopped, mid-food-shove, and slowly opened his beak. He very slowly pulled out a stem of burgundy-colored berries and looked down at it, confused, wondering (of course) if IT was the thing that was knocking on his beak, asking him to open up. He looked at the berries suspiciously, decided promptly that they weren't talking to him after all, and he shoved them back in his mouth. I was still in his beak, and he most likely swallowed me. But the dream ended, so who's to be sure?

This is Mo "making biscuits" on the blanket. (That's when he "prepares" anything soft by kneading it with his paws, which is fine as long as it's not ON YOU. When he makes biscuits on a person, it tickles and hurts at the same time. And he doesn't really stop unless you pull him off of you!)

So.

I need to go get to work for now, but if the energy spurt continues, I may be writing more later!!!

Have a lovely, lovely day!

Hey you, pretty lady with the guitar!