Actual Convo #116 - Appreciating what spouses bring to the table

*The spouse and I are cuddling and watching Survivorman after i've gotten off 2nd shift*

Les Stroud on TV: whoa, i just heard something big snap.
*Les leaps up and runs off a second later*
Bob: He seems concerned.
Me: YETI RAPE!!
Bob: *stares*
Me: *giggling madly*
Bob: See?! This is why I need you here! Because you think of these things!
Me: I was trying to think of something large that a grown man would be afraid of.
Bob: That's what I mean. I could sit in this house all day and not think of yeti rape.

Check Out This Thing I Found -2nd Artwork Edition

I'm probably really slow to the party with this, but courtesy of Tumblr I discovered this website called Colossal that deals in visual art.
Of course, being an artist, I was all up in that. It has some amazing shit.
But I was not prepared for this...
The Glass Beach at Fort Bragg, California.

And a quick picture of the awesomeness for your edification.

I am happy that this is a thing, even if it came to be out of horrible circumstances. It's proof that accidents can create beautiful things just as much as intention can.

Another story on the site talked about an artist that created works by cutting them out of leaves. It is phenomenal, in the utmost accurate sense of the word. Please behold....

There are so many more amazing works to be seen, just clicky here for the article!

People are awesome. I love when they do stuff like this.

The Little Things...

Yesterday my beloved and I were eating dinner and chatting when one of the neighbor's children sent a ball flying in to the yard. It was followed a moment later by a girl I'd never seen before, probably around 9 or 10, racing in to our yard after it. If I had to guess, she was the older sister of the overzealous ball-heaver.
As she got almost up to our porch she grabbed the ball, then stopped, cocked her head and stared at the back wall of our house. It was then that I realized she was seeing my graffiti wall for the first time, which was still graced with "EMBRACE" and 2 shiny hearts.. She looked at it for a second, grinned huge, then ran back to her yard with the ball.
And that made my day, because that is all I ever wanted to do with my art.

My Facebook Sangria Recipe

This is an amalgam of something like 6 different recipes I read online along with using what we had on hand.
(and it's called Facebook because I posted it to Facebook for friends before coming here. Seemed catchy. Go with it.)

Okay... SANGRIA RECIPE:
~one bottle red wine (we used Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet)
~2.25 cups Orangina
~3 (or possible more. *whistles*) shots of triple sec
~1 orange, sectioned
~2 limes, sectioned
~1.5 lemons, sectioned
~2.5 tablespoons of turbinado sugar, because that's all we had.

~Pour entire bottle of red wine in to pitcher. Follow up with Orangina and Triple Sec. Stir.
~squeeze sectioned orange in to pitcher, being wary of seeds. Drop rind and pulp in to mix.
~Squeeze sectioned limes in to pitcher, same deal. Drop rind and pulp in to mix.
~Squeeze lemons.... you get the idea.
~Add the sugar and give it a thorough stir with a wooden spoon so as not to cause havoc with the acidity and a metal spoon.
~Let the entire thing sit in the fridge overnight.
(A few recommendations for what to do during this time - microwave and consume bacon. Read part of House of Leaves. Watch bad 2 am porn on Cinemax. Harass a pet. Fold laundry.)
((Just kidding, don't fold laundry.))
(Go to sleep.)
~Stir again in the morning thoroughly to mix everything up and distribute the now dissolved sugar. Then, if you're proper, let it hang out until the afternoon and give it a final stir before serving over ice. If you're normal, just throw that shit over ice and start drinking.

Hope you guys enjoy it! I'm loving it! I'll have to make it again.

And of course, if that's too sour or too sweet, adjust to your liking.

Check Out This Thing I Found - Artwork Edition

Too lazy to figure out much beyond that I am sharing this with you. It is awesome. Please enjoy, internets.

2012 Yeosu EXPO HYUNDAI MOTOR GROUP - Hyper-Matrix from yangsookyun on Vimeo.

It is amazing what people can do with stuff and things, amirite??

Mono no Aware

I discovered that something that I've been feeling for hte majority of my life actually has a NAME. Like how the French have a name for everything (my favorite being l'esprit d'escalier.) except this is Japanese.
Mono no Aware.
Mono no aware (物の哀れ^?), literally "the pathos of things", and also translated as "an empathy toward things", or "a sensitivity to ephemera", is a Japanese term used to describe the awareness of impermanence (無常 mujō^?), or transience of things, and a gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at their passing.

Wikipedia has a whole entry on this stuff. I stumbled across it by accident trying to be a smart ass on Facebook about Japanese poetry forms (because I'm a haughty literate dipshit that knows there actually are multiple Japanese poetry forms.)
I think it's beautiful that this is an actual "thing", and that it happens enough that it has been given a title to describe the state. I am in this at least once a day, this small sadness for the passing of things.

In other news, I rescued a baby goldfinch from the sidewalk and took him to wildlife rehab. I got to watch him eat, and he sang to the lady who was feeding him like he sang to me. I'm so happy that he'll be okay.... I didn't mean to, but in my head I named him Oscar.

 

 He's slightly non-photogenic in that picture, but he was so sweet and so tiny... I can't describe how small. He fell asleep in my hand and I could feel his little heart beat furiously and warmly.

And now he gets to be an adult goldfinch and the world is good for a little bit longer.

Actual Convo #115 - the inevitability of Busey-crazy.

Me: *talking to the dog* When I am a full time artist, I am going to find an excuse to be at Horrorfind Weekend. I will sell paintings of horrible things and people will come up to me and tell me that I captured their inner essence. It will be ridiculous.
*dog stares intently*
Me: And then I'll get in a staring contest with Gary Busey.
Dog: *growls long and low*
Me: That is the appropriate reaction.
Bob: You do not want to get in a staring contest with Gary Busey.
Me: True. I'll do it with Jake Busey, then.
Bob: It's only a matter of time before he turns, too.