Loved

Stairs

I didn’t forget to take my 365 self portrait yesterday – I just didn’t have my computer. It had been getting a wee bit unstable, as these things do, so it was time to save all the data and do a “nuke & pave” – wipe the whole box clean and install a whole new Operating System.  I must say, I LOVE LINUX MINT!!  Super easy to manage, (I did the install by myself! Try doing THAT with a w1nd0ws OS!) and the price is awesome (FREE!).  My computer is now back up to date and running faster – I just have to make time to trawl through all the backed up files and see what REALLY needs keeping.

And I’m very gradually learning how to do more things in GIMP – all the layers and brush tools and so on like ph0t0sh0p, but again – FREE!!  We love that price!

Today I had a lovely shopping morning with BFF Sue – I only bought a couple of very necessary T-shirts, booooooorrrring! Oh, and a small pressie that I have to mail off tomorrow for a friend in Oregon. (Tee hee! I will show what it is once she has hers – it was so cute I had to buy one for myself, too!)

Off to the gastroenterologist this arvo.  *shudder* Hope she can at least point me in the direction of some answers – I’m really tired of stomach/abdominal pain.  Ugh.

Open the door and come in

[clicky biggy, obviously]

And finally for this post – a book recommendation.  I’m a hyuuuuuuuuuge fan of Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody mysteries, but she’s getting on (both Elizabeth and Amelia!) and I dread there being no more new books. So I was delighted to read a new (to me) archaeological/mystery heroine – not the same as Amelia, no one ever could be, but quirky, completely in her time period ( I have been known to throw books at the wall for the sin of anachronism) and with delightful detail.  Barbara Cleverly is possibly my favourite new find this year!  I stayed up finishing the first book (Tomb Of Zeus) last night and started the second over breakfast this morning.  I’m hoping this will be the start of a looooong series of Laetitia Talbot books!

(Barbara Cleverly also writes the Detective Joe Sandilands series, but I haven’t read any of those yet.)

Right, that’s about it from me, gotta go find where I’ve put the papers I need to take with me to the specialist…

Related posts:

1. CatCat (aka Miss Kit Tern) journal page
2. More Visual Journal Stuff
3. I think I’m going to stop reading the news….

An action shot today!  Yep, despite the low level migraine that’s been bothering me since early last night, I actually got some journalling done today.  (Of course, if you wanna see JOURNALLING, you must go check out Teesha Moore’s most recent posts – I am in AWE, always, of her work.)

One of the things I do when I get into a period of slump and self doubt about my art (dare I even call it that?!) is re-read two fabulous books by Peter H. Reynolds: (Who now has a blog!)

Both are wonderful stories about overcoming your fear of creating – Vashti’s teacher gets her to just make a mark in art class… and her creativity leaps from there. And Ramon’s drawings are not to his satisfaction, but his sister treasures them and says it doesn’t matter what it was supposed to look like – it looks (x) ISH!

*sigh* Love that.

I’m off to make DOTS. (Speaking of which, you might also like to see Jude at Spirit Cloth’s exploration of dots – really beautiful textiles.)

No related posts.

Although it was previously thought that there were only two types of dirt: white dirt that shows on dark things, and dark dirt that shows on white things, recent experiments with sepia images proves that there is in fact another type – SUPER WHITE dirt that shows up on sepia.

(and hey look – all those books are right – the size of one’s hand IS just about the same as the size of one’s head! Useful to know to get proportions in drawing right…)

I fell asleep during the race this arvo. *sigh* I woke up just at the end of the last lap when Mr Beloved was shaking me “You’ll want to see this!” – poor Lowndesy was pipped at the post!! Never mind, we’ve got Monza to look forward to in a couple of hours – and LEWIS is on pole!!  WOOOHOOOO!

I’m sure most of that was gibberish to most of you, never mind, I will find other things to tell you.

Ummmmmmmm…..

Not so much going on with the art of late… I really should go up and paint now, instead of hanging about down here online.  It’s just that there is there rest of an utterly DELECTABLE rice pudding upstairs, and I am weak…. if I go near it, I’m sure another bowlful will mysteriously disappear…

Nope, I will be strong.  I need to go play with paint!

No related posts.

Playing with settings on the camera.  I like sepia.

Another day where I was so exhausted and in so much pain I went back to bed at 4 pm and just stayed there til 9 pm.

Ugh.

Couldn’t even READ.

Tomorrow has to be better, if only because I want to watch the V8 supercars in the first of the enduro races…

(and a postscript: scrolling back through previous posts, I was amused by the similarity of these two images:

4 (turning 5) and 41.  Scary!

No related posts.

Yeah, it’s not going to win me any photographic awards, but I kinda like the dark foreground.  Me and Miss Kit Tern this arvo.

Also today – The Story Of The Printer.  Which Mr Beloved is writing up has written and he tells is much better than I do – I shall just say KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! And don’t buy a Kodak ESP-3 All in One multifunction printer. They suck.

For the purposes of where Mr Beloved originally sent the story, Caity is referred to as The Evil Vicar’s Wife (TEVW) and Mr Beloved is known as The Goat or as The Irreverent Mr Black.

Probably best not to ask why….

It came to pass, in those days, that TEVW did purchase a new printer for her photography and fiddly stuff, and behold, it was made by the Yellow Box Photo Stuff People. Here is its likeness.

(image: http://photography-mag.com)

It printeth not upon the square, and its rectangles were sort-of trapezoids with some curvature. Lo, its suckage was great. TEVW looketh upon the sites and forums, and crieth: “Bugger. Lots of people are having trouble with these. I shall send it back for a refund”.

She calleth upon the Children of Off-Us-Jerks. Verily, they sendeth her on telephone tag round their encampment, even unto the whole goddamn twelve tribes, until her call pitcheth forth at the tent of Tech Guy.

“Alas, O Tech Guy. My printer functioneth not as a printer, but melteth my images as if the demon Salvador Dali tormenteth it. This is a curse upon its kind, as written in the chronicles of the prophet Intarwub, and I wish to get my shekels back.”

The Tech Guy maketh the sound of the Hrumph, and reciteth he from a scroll by the phone, saying: “We refundeth not, nor giveth we credit. No, there are no exceptions to this rule, and we don’t care nyah nyah nyah. We sendeth thy piddly little piece of equipment to its makers beyond the sea and they fixeth it, for no fault attacheth to us and it is all out of our teflon-coated hands, so there.”

TEVW saith, “But surely the Fair Trading Act 1989, Section 40…”

But behold, he cutteth her off, saying that there are no exceptions to policy.

A certain Goat was close by, and heareth the woe of TEVW. He waxed, both wroth and the tips of his straggly moustache.

He strideth to the phone, and dialleth the tribe of Jerks, specifically Off-Us. His tone was as honey, and his pronunciation was as precise as an old-time ABC newsreader, for a very angry Goat must constantly remember to be polite.

“Good morrow, entry-level staffer. I am sorry, but I must speak with a manager, as our last call has been largely disappointing.” (words have been changed for archaic effect, but the tone is similar.)

And in due time, cometh the manager to the telephone.

The Goat, who was Black, recited the Litany Of Crappy Results, and brought the tidings that the tribe of ESP-3 was cursed by the peoples of Forum.

“We expected a printer”, he saith. “A distorter of images was not what we paid for.”

And lo, the Manager beginneth to read from the Scroll Of Store Policy.

Quoth the Goat: “Does the policy override Consumer Law, or is it the other way? Please remind me as I am a very forgetful Goat, and would not like to need to ask the Office Of Fair Trading which was more powerful.”

And behold, the Manager’s eyes were opened. Fucking wide.

And so it was that a refund was issued.

The moral of today’s sermon is to know your consumer rights. How the hell it is, that a store can have a “policy” which encourages staff to flout the law, and can continue to promote such a policy, is a mystery which is not to be unravelled this side of the grave.

(Note: Good service was given at the same store, and many of its staff are great help. It’s the policy that sucks donkey-spheres.)

So there you have it.  Good Triumphed over Evil and they All Lived Happily Ever After. What more could you want from a story?

No related posts.

I had zero zip nada energy today. In fact, at one point Mr Beloved brought me in a cuppa and a bikkie in the hope it would wake me up.  I woke up several hours later with a cold cuppa on the table beside me and a shortbread with one bite taken out of it in my hand…

THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!

Related posts:

1. Tired.
2. sooooooo…. tired
3. wah wah tired wah wah wah weight wah wah wah

*sigh*

Not much to say tonight, have a picture or two:

5 of 365

Tuesday morning she was woolly…

And then in the afternoon she came home looking much more svelte!  Here she is today:

and of course now it’s supposed to be only 8 overnight (C, that is!46.4 F) so we had to dig out a jumper (sweater) for her.

Connie was Not Amused.

“These are NOT MY HAPPY EARS!”

Related posts:

1. Another self-indulgent post….
2. First sighting…

Me, early-ish this morning.  I have Big Plans for today – yep, we’re going out. To the shops. To buy food.

Yay?

Related posts:

1. Pretty is ok too…

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

(This was taken in May when I was in Wagga for a visit.  Isn’t this vehicle cool? It’s a miniature version of Dad’s vintage car – a 1925 British Leyland Trojan Ute – but this one is designed to run on the little railway at the botanical gardens.)

And here’s my brother, Gordy.  His son is finishing high school this year!

Happy Father’s Day, Gordy!

And also a VERY HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO MR BELOVED, who hates being photographed, but is well loved by all the fur and feather kids!

And here’s day 2 of 365:

very attractive, non?

Related posts:

1. Happy Mother’s Day!
2. Happy Birthday, Dad!

[click through only if you're brave]

For some reason unknown to me at this stage, I am going to take a photo of myself every day for a year, starting today.

So this is what I would look like RIGHT NOW if you could see through your screen all the way to me.

Scary, huh?

I have had sleep problems again – two nights with about 3 hours sleep each, then could not MOVE today.  Symptoms of a flare up of the fibromyalgia (I now know that a full hour of Pilates class on Tuesday night was overdoing  it. DAMN!)

I have made no art for 2 days.

Also, on Thursday I went to the first Sewing Guild meeting for The Darling Gowns group.  Sue did a wonderful job getting this organised and leading the discussion about what we members wanted to do as a group.  But as usual, I talked too damn much (arrrgh!) and talked OVER people… it’s one of the worst things I do and it makes me cringe when I realise that I’ve done it.  *shudder*

And it was just exhausting – being with people is great, but draining.

And then for some STUPID reason, channel 10 decided to run the finale of So You Think You Can Dance (USA) starting at nearly 11pm!! And you know I loves e some dance, I was determined to watch but sheesh! I was thrilled when Jeanine won ( even though I was dying to know, I didn’t let myself be spoilerised on the outcome!)

Here’s a journal page for ya:

[click if you wanna read it]

And that’s it from me today, folks. One cuppa nice hot milk and bed for me!

Oh, and PS – we had a storm last night and actually recorded 25mm of rain at the airport – which tends to be dryer than where we live, but anyhow – that’s the most rain we’ve had since… ummmmm…. well since I can’t remember when! (yes, I know, given my poor memory that doesn’t mean much, but the dams are seriously low still and I think the Level 5 water restrictions are pretty much permanent.)

No related posts.