Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Swatch & Thumbnail!

I'm not very good about the leadup to a piece (as is evidenced by every work of art I've made...) so today is all leadup! I was given a Christmas gift by my grandmother - a pack of 70 colored pencils by a company I've never heard of (Nicole) - and decided I should do my due diligence and test out how they work!

The Pencils in Question

The first thing I did was take every single pencil and swatch them out. For those who do not use, follow, or know art terms, that just means that I tested them! I started from the back of the box to the front, left to right, row by row. I ended up with a messy grid that let me know what to expect on my toothy, soft sketchbook paper from these pencils, and I also ended up with that weird feeling I always get after inhaling the waxy smell from crayons for too long, so bonus? All's I know is this: I don't mind the smell, but it makes my eyelids feel heavy and gummy, so maybe that's an allergy?

Regardless, I swatched out all seventy pencils and discovered there were probably a lot of doubled colors. I don't mind this - I'll probably use up the doubled colors pretty fast (peach, brown, gray, black, etc). I also noticed that the neon colors are... very neon! It's hard to look directly at the neon yellow lol. I kinda hope I find some black paper to test them on...

And then I sketched out a little picture of Dedbert riding a slug up to some snowdrops. Why? Why not?!

The Swatch & The Thumbnail/Sketch!

I really like the way these colors work, and I hope that in the future I can use them for a better thought out project, like a faux stained glass effect or some kind of dreamy scene. For today, I just wanted to test the supplies out. I'll probably test them with the gel pens, my sharpies, and also maybe the pack of highlighters I have. I think that'd be fun to see how they all interact!

The Swatches

The grid I have is kind of misleading because Column A is actually the last row of the box and Column G is the front with Row 1 being the left hand side and Row 10 being on the right. Still, I know what I'm looking at and I suppose that's what matters? It's a very pretty set of colors. They should blend into each other nicely once I find an inexpensive blender or make one from rolled paper. It's been forever since I had one.

"Snowdrops"; colored pencil & ballpoint pen; 2021

As for Dedbert and his slug? I want to try using this scene with a few different mediums, so look forward to seeing this in gel pen, just ballpoint pen, crayon, Sharpie, and possibly more! I will be getting back to my fruit dragons at some point, too, and I hope to start reintroducing the watermelon dragon into my work!

That'll about do it for me today. I'm exhausted and I kinda just want to curl up with some more lemon tea and check out the new safety eyes that came in today for future amigurumi projects.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Today Sure was a Tuesday...

I'm a very boring person. I like being boring - it provides a minimus of stress (which I *still* don't cope with well, but let's not talk about that lol). It also means that I have a certain level of predictability to my own life.

So when I found myself holding a strange iPhone in the middle of the local Walmart while my mother complained loudly about the lack of cat food in stock I was a tad flustered.

Thankfully, it just took tapping a screen once to get someone's attention and the phone was dropped off, I picked up my yarn (I needed red and green for a project and picked up some purple because I had run out), grabbed a Dr Pepper, and tested out a gift card I hadn't used yet. It worked, thankfully, because I hate using gift cards for the first time and having them fail. There are always so many questions that I can't answer. I don't know when my relative bought this for me. I don't know where the receipt is - probably in their purse halfway across the state. Let's be real, people rarely buy cards for themselves.

So the shopping trip, aside from finding someone's iPhone on the floor near the baby aisle, was pretty short. Except there were a lot of little things that weirded me out.

• There was almost 0 cat food
• Ditto on the litter
• It's really hard to look for your shopping party when you cannot see out of your foggy, foggy glasses
• My mask works really well at filtering out scents (which bodes well for its ability to reduce germs) but for some reason my eyeballs still feel the parfum and fragrance in the air and they will tell me all about it, leading to dry, itchy eyes all day long.
• There was a dude in the parking lot who tried to walk up to the car as we tried to leave to get us to sign a petition of some sort. Just... no. If people are already in their car and about to pull up, you do not approach!!!

So that was weird. And yes, I used hand sanitizer when we got in the car, washed my hands several times when we got inside, and I'm leaving the yarn alone for a couple of days while I try to math out the patterns.

Because somewhere, something has gone... s t r a n g e.

One section (which I'm reproducing on either side of this project) is 17 stitches across.

The other section is between 12 and 16 stitches across, depending on what versions I use.

This does not math without some weird, unattractive placements.

But that's for next Fiber Monday's discussions lol.

For today, I have this to tell you:

Stardew Valley is hella fun, books are really cool, and kitty litter is HEAVY.

That's it. That's what I have to say.

Schedule:

• Thursday will be more art (possibly with new art supplies!)
• Saturday might be me blathering about video games
• If I remember to post it, I should have a Tea Blog for Sunday lol.
• Next Monday I'll talk more about my crochet math problems. Hint: it involves working from knitting patterns and also with size issues.
• Next Tuesday will be more blathering like this.

Today's weather was a damp 28℉(-2℃) with sticky snow flurries. Right now, it's actually 32℉ (0℃), and I don't know that it's still snowing, but with the stiff breeze we've got, it feels like 18℉(-8℃). Wind is currently 15-22mph (24-35kph). It's very, very dark out.

My cat has moved exactly twice today. Both times were to new blanket tents.

I have moved... about 15 times today, and I'll move another dozen or so before I sleep because I get restless and weird as the night goes on.

Well, I think that about covers things for today.

Thanks for hanging out and listening to me blather!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which 2021 Has Started... Sleepily

I'll be honest with you - I'd hoped 2021 would be an easier year than 2020. I had hoped I'd be a more alert person with better self control.

I just ate 2/3 of a huge Tony's Chocolonely milk chocolate, caramel and sea salt bar and I feel like I need a nap.

Which is not maybe the most professional I've ever been, considering I have a commissioned crochet piece to work on lol. I'm making a stocking for one of my niblings - snowflakes, reindeer, based off of a couple of patterns I found. I'm using a 6.5mm hook and Red Heart Super Saver - got plenty of white, blue and brown left from the Squirtle I made for my sibling's coworker.

I hope my nibling likes it. It's currently 42 stitches around.

If you crochet at all and have used a 6.5mm hook on worsted weight yarn, you're probably a bit agog at how big the toe of this stocking is. Yes. I started with the toe.

No there aren't pictures lol.

I've basically been sleepwalking since Saturday, which annoys me, because I'd like to wake up at some point lol.

That being said, I have been perusing my new amigurumi books and I've also dug out some of my older books. I might (read: if I remember to take photos) review all of my crochet books and make a project from each this year!

That might be fun, because some of them are from about 1986 and are very retro, so expect a truly hideous granny square scrap project at some point.

I wish I had more to share and show, but I've been bit by the Stardew but hard, and I've even encountered a couple of cutscenes I've never triggered before! Still haven't won an event but I rarely do in year one... (don't worry if you don't understand what I just blabbed, it's mostly for me and other Stardew Valley derps like me :) )

That'll do it from me today - I have tea to drink, stitches to plan, and a nap is calling my name.

Hearing "filthy.... fillllttthhhhyyyyyy" is a bit disconcerting, I have to admit. I should see what that nap wants...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Saturday Casual Gaming: Leaf Blower Revolution

 

In Which I Play A Game About Leaves

If you know me, you know Fall is my favorite season. I didn't find this game until November, however, so you're getting a review of Leaf Blower Revolution - Idle Game by Humble North now. In January. Because I'm lazy and I've been playing a lot of Stardew Valley.

But yeah! Leaf Blower Revolution! Available on Steam! Free to play!

A simple, leafy game

I'm a lazy player. That's why I like idle games so much - you start it up and half pay attention to it. You don't need sound. You don't need it to be flashy. This game is a relaxing time-sink, and I've really enjoyed playing around with it.

You are a dude (or lady, or Santa...) who has a bunch of leaves on his lawn. You move your mouse/touchpad around to make the leaves go off screen and get points. You spend your points on things to move the leaves faster, including lil leaf Roombas which toodle around until they stop dead, recharge, then toodle off to move more leaves.

There are multiple menus of upgrades. There's multiple currencies. There's multiple kinds of upgrades. Do you want better skins for your tiny lil pixel person? Spend red coins (which you can earn several ways, but mostly through daily play and soft resets). Do you want a better leaf blower? Spend leaves. Do you want a change of scenery? There's a currency for that!

Basically, it's a very simple game with a lot of customization and such. I'm currently dressed as Santa and hunting down Void Leaves and Apples with my army of red-nosed Leaf Roombas and armed with a frickin Lazer. Life is pretty good.

There's no heavy clicking to be done - all of the effort is put in by just moving your cursor (which is your lil avatar dude) around. You only click on menu buttons. Which is actually a problem, because if I have one complaint it's that most of the menus with scroll bars are very hard to get to cooperate. Sometimes I'll try clicking the down arrow and nothing happens. Sometimes I try to drag the scroll bar and nothing happens. Sometimes neither approach works for a few minutes.

Admittedly, this could just be a problem with my computer - my laptop is getting pretty old and I'm resisting an upgrade because I hate that new laptops don't have any dvd/cd tray :|

What can I say, I'm an internet oldie.

And yes, this game is 100% free on Steam, though you can give the developers money for DLC packs. If you really love simple games about shuffling leaves back into the forest from whence they came in all their 8-bit glory, then by all means, financially support the devs!

If you want to download this game from Steam, it's here. I'd recommend it :)

That will do it for me today!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk: Year End Birb

 

In Which I Got Art Supplies And Made An Art!

At long last, it's the final day of the Year of the Dumpster Fire. I'm not going to get all hopeful and say that 2021 is gonna be any better, but I'm glad that this year is finally closing out. So today I made some art to celebrate the final day. Dang, if I was a more thinky person I'd have made a Majora's Mask-based image. Instead, I just bring you something I made with my brand new art supplies!

The Supplies in question!

Both metallic and glittery gel pens!

I haven't used gel pens since probably 2008? So after 12 years of not fiddling around with them, I'm pretty thrilled with what I came up with!

"Farewell to 2020"; gel pen on sketch pad; 2020

I'm pretty pleased with how that worked out! And I can't even see the worst mistake - a blob of black ink got stuck to my hand and smeared on the bottom of the banner where the first 2 of the 2021 is. That's why I included 2021 lol.

I'm really pleased with how the plaid came out, and I think I should thank DrawingWiffWaffles on YouTube for that, since she draws a lot of plaid on her awesome illustrations, and that's what gave me the courage to try it! I think it came out pretty cute, especially considering that I initially just scribbled it in with the metallic red and layered the glitter red and glitter black on top lol.

I hope to use these pens more often in the future and try out some of the cool challenges I see on the internet (though don't expect greatness from challenges, I'm still learning how to control my flabby fingers lol).

I hope that the year did not crush your spirit, that your creativity is intact no matter what your medium may be, and that over the next twelve months, you're able to create and share and sell your art. I want to read your books. I want to see your art. I want to hear your music and poetry. I want to walk into the buildings you design or decorate. I want to try your patterns and recipes. And I want you to know that whatever you created this year? It was worth the effort you put in! Even if it was just the outline of your novel or the barest sketch, I'm proud of you. Even if you were only able to think about your art for five minutes a day, I'm proud of you, because it was hard this year, and everything you tried artistically was important!

I love you all!

Happy New Year!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Wednesdaymania - 2020 Was Rough

 

In Which This Year Was Rough As Heck on Wrestling

This year... man, it just clobbered the wrestling industry. Shows were canceled. Shows that weren't canceled would sometimes become Spreader Events for COVID-19. People died. People retired without Retirement Matches. The writing sometimes sucked a lot.

So here's your year of major deaths in review:

• La Parka II
• Died Jan 11 at 54 years old. Complications from a bad dive that left him paralyzed.
• Not The La Parka we all know and love - he was the La Parka AAA used in the first La Parka's place when he moved on from Mexico
• Rocky Johnson
• Died Jan 15 at 76 years old. DVT blood clot became pulmonary embolism.
• One of the first black tag team champs with Tony Atlas
• The Rock's dad
• Black Demon
• Died April 13 at 39 years old. First wrestler to die from COVID-19. If you don't recognize his name, he was a non-mainstream masked luchador from Mexico.
• Howard Finkel
• Died April 16 at 69 years old.
• Complications from a stroke he suffered in 2019
• This one hurt a lot, I'll be honest. I loved Finkel so much and it sucks that he's gone now.
• Shad Gaspard
• Died May 17 at 39 years old
• Drowned after insisting his son's life be saved first. His son survived.
• This one sucked too because it really seemed like his acting, stunt, and mocap careers were taking off and it would have been incredible to see where he was headed!
• Hana Kimura
• Died May 23 at 22 years old
• Committed suicide
• Stop cyber-bullying people. That's all I can say. Just freaking stop it. She was barely more than a kid, and she had a brilliant career ahead of her, but people are shallow and vicious. They crushed this blossom.
• Danny Havoc
• Died May 31 at 34 years old
• There is no news on how Danny Havoc passed. He died just two months after his wife tragically passed from heart failure.
• Kamala
• Died August 9 at 70 years old
• Tested positive for COVID-19 before passing after a heart attack
• He lived a hard life, man.
• "Bullet" Bob Armstrong
• Died August 27 at 80 years old
• Road Dogg's dad and patriarch of the Armstrong family in wrestling
• Animal from The Road Warriors
• Died September 22 at 60 years old
• Natural causes while on vacation at a resort
• Tracy Smothers
• Died October 28 at 58 years old
• Lymphoma
• If you've ever wondered what "a full career" looks like, look up Tracy Smothers. The man went everywhere and did everything. Incredible.
• RJ Meyers
• Died November 16 at 44 years old
• Leukemia
• If you don't know the man's name, you probably know the people he trained, like Lio Rush. A great trainer, if Lio's any indication. Cancer sucks.
• Pat Patterson
• Died December 2 at 79 years
• Liver Failure
• Do you like the WWE Intercontinental Championship? He was the first. He was also an openly gay man throughout basically his whole career. His long-term partner (I'd consider him a husband with how long they were together, let's be real) was a part of the WWE family by all accounts. It sucks that we've lost this crazy dude. He was pretty dang cool.
• Danny Hodge
• Died December 26 at 88 years old
• Natural causes
• Danny Hodge probably single-handedly (no pun intended) maintained Kayfabe in every territory he was in. He could, and would at the drop of a hat, crush apples into pulp with one hand. If you look him up on Wikipedia there's a picture of him doing just that at the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2013. That's right, he could still do it at 80. Holy cow.
• Brodie Lee
• Died December 26 at 41 years old
• Non-COVID-related lung issues
• This one still has me reeling four days later and totally overshadowed the loss of Danny Hodge, who, let's be real, most of us didn't realize he was still alive. Brodie Lee (real name Jon Huber) was starting the climb to the pinnacle of his career. He was apparently deeply beloved by the entire wrestling community, which is not a claim most can make. Thankfully, the wrestling world at large seems to have come together in support of his wife and young children, and AEW even "signed" his 8-year-old son Brodie (yes, he named himself after his son) to a contract with a commitment to hiring him when he's 18 (if he still wants to wrestle). They even gave him a Dark Order mask and had him come out and "beat" people with a kendo stick. I'm not crying. You're crying.

In short, this year has sucked a lot, but I'd like to end this blog on a positive note, so here's 5 good things that happened in wrestling this year in no particular order:

1. Sting on AEW with Schiavone howling that IT'S STIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!
2. Talkin Shop A Mania 1 and 2 were both so hilarious that I ended up with sore abs and ribs the next morning after watching them
3. Retrosexual is now signed to a WWE contract that will hopefully get him where he wants to be, both financially and career-wise! I'm very excited for him, though I miss his old gimmick and am not entirely down with his new name of "August Grey". He's got the talent to overcome any stupid crap the WWE shoves on him, I think.
4. Purowave's ode to Alundra Blayze vs Bull Nakano is incredible, so listen to that here.
5. So many wrestling babies! Mox & Renee, Becky & Rollins, the Bellas, Jason Jordan, Roman Reigns (twins!), and now... Cody & Brandi! I don't want kids, but I'm so thrilled that so many of these folks who have wanted babies are getting babies. Good for them!

So that's my wrestling news for 2020. I'm gonna go chill out and listen to more Purowave :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday - Awkward Days

 

In which I'm... off

I was supposed to wake up at 9AM today because I try to be awake earlier in the day these days, but... uh... that didn't happen. I woke up at 10AM and stayed in bed, just loafing around like a freaking teenager. You'd think that would've been awesome, but instead I'm just incredibly thrown and I have a small tension headache lol.

I'm old.

I'm so thrown-off that I still feel like it's around 11AM even through it's quarter past four.

So today is kind of just... a wash.

I wish I could say I'd stayed up super late doing something awesome, and for a small portion of the night, I was playing the newly updated Stardew Valley and chatting with friends, but... I was asleep not long after midnight, and usually that's plenty of sleep. Instead, here I am, wrapped in fluffy blankets and half-asleep, two big mugs of coffee deep in the day, and utterly wrecked. The only conclusion I can come to with my graying hair and sudden tea obsession, inability to stay awake for long periods of time, and failing memory is that I've grown old.

Thankfully "old" is not age-dependent, just as "young" isn't - they're states of being, and they can vary according to one's feelings. I just feel old today. I might feel younger tomorrow (aching fingers crossed lol), but today I feel twice my age. Maybe three times.

Anywho, it's been a very pretty day, despite the cold (around 25 to 30℉/-4 to -1℃) and brutally windy. The sun was shining and we had a lovely pastel sunset that I do kinda wish I'd been able to photograph for you all. I do regret not having gotten outside except for that brief, terrifying moment where we thought the cat had slipped out while my mother was tossing out the Christmas tree. That wasn't fun and just added to the overall "off" feeling today's maintained.

Now, you're possibly wondering what I'm doing this week for my blog, so here's my plan:

• Tomorrow: I'm probably going to actually do a Wednesdaymania post. It's hard not to, considering who we've lost this month :(
• Thursday: I got some art supplies for Christmas, so if you need something cute to look at, check back on the blog on Thursday's Art Walk!
• Saturday Casual Gaming is back for a moment with a game about... leaves.
• Survival Sunday will have a Tea-Off where I talk about the remarkable haul of leaf bags I got for Christmas!
• Next Monday should be me talking about the things I made for Christmas and what I plan to make in 2020.
• Next Tuesday will be allllll about my week up to that point lol.

So that's my plan for the next seven days - looks like I'm only taking Friday off because I'll be real, I'm not really watching movies right now. I'm just not able to spend that much time focusing on one thing :|

Regardless, I think it's going to be a productive week (today notwithstanding lol), and I look forward to showing off to y'all :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC