We are already at $500+ on Day 2 of our sketch kickstarter, which means two people will get free sketches… let’s see if we hit $600 today and get someone else a free sketch!

Meanwhile I am doing a sketch a day based on a color, which you can see on the kickstarter project blog. I’ll post them all here at the end of the project, but I encourage you to go read my chatter about the colors that accompanies the sketches.

Finally, I see from my Zazzle RSS feed that 40+ blue-footed booties projects got approved! So if you must have a blue-footed booby on something, you can start browsing the products here.

And that’s it for now!

Mirrored from MCAH Online.

to do today

• hang out waiting for the brand new washing machine to arrive
  
• wash ALL THE LAUNDRY!
  
• pick up the stairs and stuff so that the washing machine guys don't kill themselves
  
• litter box
  
• call about getting furnace looked at and cleaned
  
• more edits on cookbook
  
• BJJ randori if washing machine is delivered in time
  
• make pine nut candy and photograph it
  
• make a 'wrong door' sign
  

I seem to be in a pattern of posting every couple of days, one way or another and, sadly, I'm continuing the trend of starting far too late in the evening: I should be drifting off to sleep, not linking to photos, for goodness' sake. It's been a lovely, very low-key Memorial Day weekend. I believe the farthest I went today was the curb to collect the trash and yard waste containers. No money spent, which is always nice, and a few things accomplished around the house.

We also finished watching Season 1 of "Downton Abbey" so I'll be able to return it to the library tomorrow--hurrah! Eli has decided that there is not a single sympathetic character upstairs and close to none downstairs (I think he allows as how the cook has her troubles) but we still both enjoyed it as soap opera. I can't say that I particularly care whether a Season 3 ever comes to pass.

The bigger news today would be that Eli painted the windowbox he is constructing for the kitchen window and I got a first coat of ceiling paint on the room upstairs. Thank goodness, really, for those extension poles onto which one can screw paint rollers. It was pretty simple and only marginally back-breaking.


As promised in the previous post, the newly paved path. Gradka seems to like the addition of the stones.



The real reason I didn't go anywhere this weekend; the garden was just too lovely to leave.



Or possibly it just demanded too much attention.



This afternoon I noticed this hummingbird exhibiting what we call "fledgling behavior" which means it was fluffier than the average hummingbird, sat still but seemed twitchy, and, in Eli's not overly flattering words, just seemed sort of confused. I sat watching it for several minutes, taking a million photos. I like this one for the rare "open-mouth" look.



I've never seen a hummingbird preen before and, really, this one looked pretty absurd so you can see why they prefer to keep their toilets private.



At long last the second hummingbird arrived on the scene (look closely!). I was too excited to do more than snap one photo and then they both buzzed off.


Birds (both days combined)
Anna's hummingbirds
house finches
house sparrows
pine siskins
American goldfinches
black-capped chickadees
bushtits
robins
crows
sharp-shinned hawk
starlings
pigeons
Bewick's wrens
white-crowned sparrows
black-headed grosbeak or spotted towhee (It landed briefly at a feeder while Eli and Gradka were excitedly racing after a small ratticus that Gradka had captured and then been forced to release (by me) before it was clear (to me) what she had so I was distracted and not able to make a proper observation of the black/orange/speckled bird. Ratticus Jr. made good his escape; I tell myself--and anyone else who will listen--that he returned to his compatriots with tales of an alert and ferocious presence chez Aurora so that all vermin will avoid the area.)

Book
The Great Night finished, thank god, and back on the shelf. Final page was something like 368 maybe.
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford page 7ish.


I accidentally broke a branch off the bush/tree that is currently covered with these pink blossoms. Eli likens this arrangement to an Edwardian lady's hat.

All right, I give. I thought of a clever story reason to give that character another name. Which in no way mitigates the awkwardness of the first couple chapters, where everyone will be calling him by the old one. But hey, it's something.

This ends my obligatory daily post. Maybe tomorrow I'll find some substance.

So after one of the worst allergy attacks in my life I had an allergy pill and a five hour nap. John said "I'm glad you woke up again!" That makes two of us! I am having the post-allergy sads. And I am still itchy. Everywhere.

to do:
1) read directions on epipen again
2) finish writing will

This video has been cheering me up at difficult moments. I linked to it in comments the other day, but want to embed it for interested parties who didn't see it there.





Just listed several new eBay auctions: the chapbooks Would You?, Used Stories, Stay Awake, Crown of Thorns, and The Feast of St. Rosalie (a hardcover); also a hardcover copy of Antediluvian Tales. My blank journals and other handmade objects are also still available until Wednesday evening.

Also, Grey has listed a one-of-a-kind photograph for sale, and a very beautiful one, too. Angel that he is, he has earmarked his profit from the sale of this piece as my testosterone fund.

Nope, I never forget. Life is, shall we say, full to bursting right now.

And what better day to post a contest than my first paid holiday in five years?

Let me explain what's going on. Or I could sum up:

Once a month I will post an orphaned first line here on LJ. All my LJ posts are mirrored on Goodreads, so you can find the line there as well. In comments--either here or on Goodreads--write the first paragraph of a story or the first stanza of a poem using that line. Easy peasy.

Anyone can enter. Anyone at all, friend, foe or interested stranger, newbie or professional.

You have one (1) week to come up with your entry. I will announce the winner and repost his or her winning entry.

There is more at stake here than covering yourself in glory on my blog. Oh yes, there is an actual prize involved. The winner each month will receive one of the portable fantasy map pendants I make.

Kinda like this one. Not this exact one, but you get the idea. I'll surprise you.


And the first line for this month is:

At midnight on her ninth birthday, Alison Marie was crowned Queen of the Nightlands.

Now go forth and write. I'm always delighted to see what people come up with.

Detailed rules behind the cut for those who missed them. ( Read more... )

Have fun!

Ten days! Let’s do it!

And… less than three hours after launch, we hit our target! So for bonus incentives, I’m going to say… for every $100 over our goal, I will draw a random name from among the backers to receive a free sketch. So if you toss in a few dollars, you’ll be eligible for a possible free sketch at $400, and again at $500, etc. :)

Mirrored from MCAH Online.

Marker & colored pencil with liquid acrylic painted over some places to give a glittery/glowy effect:

I like this-is-my-messy-art-space photos, and I especially like photos of art that include the supplies that were used to make it. I also like squidmonsters and the color green and glitter. It is difficult for me to tear my eyes away from this photo, even though it really washed out the prawing. (That’s a mixed media piece with drawing and painting. As of now.)

Originally published at Calamity Cove. You can comment here or there.