Do you like comic books? Are you a fan of campy sci-fi stories? Comedies? Romances? Enjoy live performances of any kind? In need of a chuckle or outright guffaw? An escape from reality? Then you need to see The Intergalactic Nemesis. I could probably sit here and think of a few hundred other reasons to go see the show, but we’d be here all night. Let’s just say I think everyone –of all ages and persuasions– should see it. It’s a delightfully fun example of an old-style radio play, only better, because the audience gets to enjoy the frantic excitement of the “behind the scenes” action and get incredible comic book graphics as well. There’s really something for everyone!^†

I first heard about The Intergalactic Nemesis a week ago, and I knew immediately I wanted to go see it. Alas, Labor Day weekend is a busy weekend, and there was no way, with shows only on Friday and Saturday, my seeing it was in the cards. I was, in fact, quite heartbroken about missing it. As fate would have it, on the day I was busily insane pulling together all the bits and pieces of my artwork and trying to write an artist’s statement, as well as a million other things, the opportunity arose to watch the dress rehearsal. It was like the universe was giving me a present. I jumped at the chance.^††

1250 excellent panes of comic book art projected on a big screen, three actors playing dozens of characters (occasionally all at the same time), one foley artist creating the environmental sounds with a table full of mad devices and objects, and one pianist (the score composer himself) playing the mood-setting tunes … all rolled together into one incredible, action-packed, fun-filled performance at one of the best venues in town.

The premise for The Intergalactic Nemesis is a period-action-scifi-horror-space-opera-adventure. The year is 1933. The Pulitzer-winning reporter Molly Sloan and her intrepid assistant Timmy Mendez have stumbled across a series of murders foiled by a mysterious librarian from Flagstaff named Ben Wilcott. Together, the three heroes trek across Europe, North Africa, and beyond to thwart world-famous mesmerist Mysterion the Magnificent and what turns out to be an invasion of sludge-monsters from the planet Zygon.

How can you not be intrigued? Watch the 30-second trailer to get a taste of the art, music, sound effects, and character voices … keeping in mind, it’s all created by five people on a stage.

Don’t believe me about only five people? Still not intrigued? Then watch this somewhat longer clip from a live performance of Episode One.

If that doesn’t stimulate your curiosity and interest, I suspect it’s possible you are a sludge-loving Zygonian or an evil mesmerist!

But seriously … the artwork by Tim Doyle is dashingly energetic, the character-acting of Shana Merlin, Mical Trejo, and Chris Gibson is emotively captivating, the foley effects of Buzz Moran are frantically (and realistically) fascinating, and the music of Graham Reynolds is the eerily enticing icing on the whole tasty cake. I promise, you will eat it up one comic book pane, character change, musical bullet point and “Zing! Ping! Pow! Snap!” at a time and love every minute of it!^†††

Also, major kudos to Jason Neulander, the producer, director, and author of the original script (i.e. the comic books, which you may have noticed I now own … autographed and everything –a fact that makes my geeky, nerdy heart fill with joy) for pulling it all together into one absolutely fabulous show. Well done! Bravo!

Here’s the information you need so you too can be amazed, thrilled, and amused by The Intergalactic Nemesis:

WHO: The Intergalactic Nemesis Presents
WHAT: Feature-Length Live-Action Graphic Novel Spectacular
WHEN: September 3 and 4 at 8 p.m.
WHERE: the Long Center for the Performing Arts (701 W. Riverside Drive, Austin, TX)
TICKETS: $14.00 to $49.00

I can’t imagine anyone regretting seeing it, and I’d even go so far as to suggest splurging on some good seats. Not too close, because the images are quite large, and you do want to see them, but not too far away that you can’t relish the performance happening on the stage. Though I don’t really think there will be a bad seat in the house for this sort of show, but you know I do like to watch performers perform up close and personal, so I’m biased toward being nearer the stage rather than farther away. Your preferences may vary!

And … support the arts … buy something. There are a number of interesting and fun Intergalactic Nemesis related things to be bought, and I’m certain you can find something you’ll want, even if it’s just a bottle of slime. Like a wicked cool electronic sound effects gadget I would have loved to have, had my inner child not been demanding the comic book set with every cell of her being. LOL!

Now I really, really have to go to bed. OMG, I am going to pay for this tomorrow while trying to get ten million things done in the shortest amount of time possible. Ugh.

1. † What? You don’t know what a radio play is? Then you definitely need to see it! [↩]
2. †† Sure, I am more tired than I have been in a long time, and I have ten million things that have to be done by Friday, but hey, some opportunities only come along once. Better grab them while I can. Life’s short, and sleep is for the weak. LOL! [↩]
3. ††† Those of you who know me KNOW I want to sit here for another hour or two and go on and on about every tiny detail, but it is after 3 am, I do have ten million things that need to be done tomorrow, and I should probably get some sleep, seeing as I am utterly fatigued. You’ll just have to go experience all the glorious details for yourself! [↩]

Oh, so you want an update, do you? Want to know what happened with my somewhat crappy last day of getting my existence together to enter some work in a juried art show?

Well, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you likely already have a mental image quite firmly in your mind of me spending my day in a state of pure panic. That wouldn’t be too far from the truth. It was a bit of a stressful day. A stressful day with road work going on in front of my house. What joy!

But … I solved all my problems and survived a crisis or two (or three), and a while ago I hit the submit button and my application was on its way. If I weren’t a lump of utterly fatigued jelly oozing out of my chair, I’d do a happy dance.^†

My thoughts on the whole thing now?

I worked steadily for about three months toward the goal of having five works done to enter in a juried show (my first, BTW). I more than accomplished my goal, as many works were made, but three stood out from the rest, and so I entered only those three. I feel good about that decision … as good as I feel about the three pieces, which is pretty darn good. On October 15, I’ll be getting an email informing me of the official outcome of decision to embark on this mission.

Nothing to do but wait, and to be honest, both of the potential outcomes –having any/all of my works selected for the show and having all of them rejected– will undoubtedly lead to many hours of soul-searching contemplation and likely provide prime opportunities for stress of some sort. LOL!

For me personally, the outcome doesn’t matter as much as it did when I started on this mission. Not that I wouldn’t LOVE to have a piece in the show, because I would, but … I gained so much, learned so much over the course of the last few months –about myself and my art and so much more– I already won the best prize of all. I’m sure I’ll be telling you about some of it at (too much) length in the future. I know you just can’t wait!

So it’s over. Done. Finished. FINALLY.

Next up I get to enjoy the road work being directly in front of my house tomorrow, going to see the dress rehearsal for The Intergalactic Nemesis at the Long Center Thursday, and leaving for Chicago on Friday (I think) … and somewhere in there we have to pack, get the house and cats ready for us to be away, and get the truck ready for a long drive. I’m sure there are a million other things that need to be done that I am forgetting too. Oh, and then about 8 days in the Chicago area! Hopefully, we all get to sleep a little at some point. Sleep would be nice.

Can’t wait for the stupid laundry to finish so I can go be horizontal and unconscious in the dark. I am totally fatigued and completely relaxed. As soon as the jeans are in the dryer and the shirts are hung up, I am taking a break from wakefulness.

And if there are any spelling or grammatical errors, oops … sorry. What can I say? I’m brain-fried.

1. † I’m saving what strength I have to finish the laundry I haven’t done since a week ago Sunday. I meant to start it earlier, and do it while I did my arty stuff, but I am glad I didn’t. Today was hectic and crazy enough as it was without laundry being added to the mix too. Seriously, my house was a house of madness today. [↩]

My camera is freaking completely out. I’m hoping it’s because the batteries are low, but it’s never acted like this before. For example, it’s recording a sound clip every time I take a photo, is having trouble focusing even at a distance, and the colors are off. WTF?!

And on top of it all, I can’t get out of the driveway to get more batteries and likely won’t be able to until the construction crew either takes lunch (which they didn’t do yesterday) or leaves for the day (and who knows when that’ll be – could be as late as 4 pm). ARGH!

Also … the cats are being super bratty today, and I may have to kill the whole lot of them. Cat stew for dinner! LOL!

Here I thought my lack of an appropriately weighty artist vitae and not having yet written my artist statement were going to be the biggest of my worries today. Photographing my artwork was not even on my list of possible crises.

Must be time for more coffee, and then I guess I’ll actually finish the last piece that needs finishing, write my artist statement, and then continue panicking about my camera.

Why can’t things go really well all the way through an entire project just ONCE. JUST ONCE!

I started filling out my application for the juried show last night. Well, it’s due in by tonight, you know. No sense waiting until the last minute, right? LOL!

Naturally, this has caused a measure of panic. Why? I need to put together an artist vitae (resume’ and artist statement. Oh, I can pull together an artist statement, and I have been needing to do it for a while (or rather, update the one I have), but the vitae? There’s nothing to put on it. I took a great many art classes in college, but it wasn’t the focus of my studies. I was never shooting for an art degree. Other than those classes, the only other training I have received as an artist came from my parents (from the age of birth until the age of 18) and what I have taught myself over the years. Additionally, I have no exhibitions, awards, grants, publications, or any other thing to crow about. None. Zip. Zilch. As you can imagine, this makes it a little difficult to put together anything resembling a resume’.

This is depressing me. I look like a non-artist on paper … or a naive newbie. Neither of those things is true, but just like in the corporate world, a resume’ is important, and a lot of people place a lot of importance on the words on that piece of paper to judge the worth of the artist. It’s a hard and cruel fact. My blank page makes me look (and feel) a little worthless as an artist. Like I said … depressing, isn’t it?

I suppose I will have to find some creative way to say I learned at my father’s knee until the age of 18, took an abundance of art classes in college without earning an art degree, and have spent my life making art without ever once being noticed by anyone whatsoever. I have no idea how I am going to pull that off.

Then there’s the artist statement. You’d think someone who can write thousands of words on a blog on any subject at all would be able to write a few measly paragraphs about their art and art methods without batting an eyelash. Well, not so much. Though I did read through a bunch of old blog posts in my Creativity category (as well as some private posts I made on the subject), and I’m sure I’ll come up with something brilliant at the last minute. It’ll have to be brilliant to make up for the fact I have nothing at all to put on my resume’.

Ugh.

Well, sun’s up, and I have a new staple-gun to go put to use. Have to get everything put together so it can be photographed, because today is the day it all has to come together and be amazing. Wish me luck. I’m not feeling especially amazing today.

I am just old enough to remember growing up in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, and there was an aftermath. It’s not like the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, equality was achieved, and everything was hunky-dory. Institutional –as well as personal– racism doesn’t die that easily or quickly. The immense amount of hatred of “the other” took time to cool down. Time to be hidden away, though never entirely wiped out. Throughout my life, I have seen racism, bigotry, and hatred beginning to give up its grip on this country, slowly. We’re far from perfect, but things have been generally proceeding in the right direction.

Until now.

I am thoroughly disgusted by the behavior of the anti-mosque, anti-Islam (and anti-immigrant) mobs. Disgusted doesn’t even begin to cover it, really. Not by a long shot. I just can’t find a word to adequately convey how I feel about so many of my fellow Americans and their thoroughly revolting and anti-American views. Yes, anti-American. Un-American. If an American doesn’t agree that our founding documents and principles are worth abiding by, then they are anti-American. There’s some percentage of Americans right now who don’t agree with our founding documents and principles –or at least with some parts of them which grant some of our most profound freedoms. I am incapable of comprehending how they balance their supposed overwhelming love of The Constitution of The United States of America, which they also champion loudly as being perfect in all ways, with their attempts to thwart the very ideals for which it stands.

Seems to me, they don’t think our founding principles of freedom and equality for all are a good idea, or maybe they simply have never read the words upon which our country was founded and don’t know, for example, about the principles of separation of church and state and freedom of religion encoded in those very founding documents. They do seem to have a firm grasp of their First Amendment right of free speech and redress of grievances, so it’s odd they can’t seem to grasp the meaning of the rest of that particular amendment. Though I am glad they do get on their soapboxes and feel free to spout their hatred and bigotry loudly in the streets for all to hear and plaster it all over the TV, internet, and radio. Informs me who to be careful of and who to avoid, as well as informing me which businesses do not deserve my business. As far as I am concerned, they are the enemies of freedom and equality. They are a threat to my nation and its founding principles … as much as any terrorist could be. Perhaps more so.

I don’t see good things on the horizon. So many people fractured into so many groups, many of them filled with nothing but hate for the others others unlike them (though all the same Americans) … and willing to show it publicly … to the point of physical confrontation and violence … well, what can we expect that to spawn? Peace, equality, and unicorns farting rainbows and pots of gold? It won’t. Hate only begets more hate. Violence only begets more violence. America is on a course now I fear we won’t be getting off until something so ugly –so horrifying– happens that no one can believe it. Something so wrong and evil that everyone is sickened by it. We’ve come close to that point before during the Civil Rights Movement (more than once to be sure). Things improved, but at a high cost. People died. We’ve come to that point before and stuffed the hatred and ugliness back down, which has lead to it bursting forth again now. This isn’t new hatred. This is old hatred reignited and allowed outside for some sunshine and fresh air. And it will keep rearing its hideous head until we as a country face our issues and agree to live by the ideals we claim to hold up as right and good.

We’d do better to educate it away peacefully, but how to do that when the ones needing the education refuse to listen? How to do that when instead of words, they want to use fists and guns to prove their points correct? How to do that when those who hate have formed a mob and are reveling in the righteousness of group-think? Something ugly and horrifying has to happen to wake them up, I guess. I’d think a crowd of anti-mosque protesters mobbing a man for no other reason than he was there and had dark skin would be ugly and horrifying enough, but it won’t be. If this nightmare of full-moon-mad hatred and anger doesn’t subside –isn’t put away for good properly and peacefully– there can only be one outcome: something ugly and horrifying that no one will believe could happen in America in the 21st Century. Something worse than an angry mob threatening a man minding his own business.

I hope I am wrong, but if it doesn’t happen now, it’ll happen the next time the angry mob finds someone new to hate or revisits an old hatred from days past. History repeats itself over and over and over, sometimes with the same actors, sometimes with new participants. No one ever learns from it, at least not enough people to make any kind of real difference. America is a powder keg. It’s been a powder keg for a long time, and it wants to explode. As far as I am concerned, there are really only two options: follow our founding principles and the laws of our land and yank the fuse out of the bomb, or go ahead and explode. I’d prefer a peaceful resolution to America’s hateful woes, but … I will fight just as angrily as they do for The Constitution of the United States of America and for the guiding principles of right and wrong our country was (and is) built upon. I would never throw the first punch –I’m not much for starting fights– but I am for finishing them once someone else starts the brawl and the side of good can be identified.

Hope for peace, prepare for war.

That’s what Americans do, isn’t it? Fight for the rights and freedoms we have been granted. Maintain our rights and freedoms for future generations of Americans. We even fight for the right of others in foreign lands to enjoy our collective freedoms as we do. I would expect the vast majority of Americans to stand beside me in this regard … in my desire to see our constitutional rights upheld and for racism, bigotry, and hatred of “the other” to be wiped from our collective American consciousness. Freedom and equality for all, no matter their skin color, gender, religion (and for that matter, choice in mates). That’s what our country was built upon, and those are the ideals we should live by, if we want to be Americans.

Other defenders of the things that make America great would have us negotiate, back down, give in, avoid confrontation, appease the haters as much as possible, merely to bring about a somewhat peaceful resolution. I say NO. I will not back down. I will not avoid confrontation. I will not give in. I will not negotiate on the rights afforded all Americans by our founding documents. I will not allow the wrong-headed, the hateful, the racist, the bigoted, or the ignorant dictate to me or anyone else what our rights are or attempt to change those rights encoded into our system in either meaning or word. To do anything less would make me less American. I may never have joined the military and never taken an oath to protect The Constitution, but in my heart, I have. I feel lucky to have been born in this great nation, and I will do what is necessary –what is asked of me– to protect her, her citizens, and their rights from all threats, both foreign and domestic.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Those are things worth fighting for and protecting. I continue to hope this ugliness and hatred resolves itself peacefully, that people eventually open their eyes, are embarrassed by their own actions and words, and learn and grow from the experience, but even in my most optimistic of hearts, I fear the fuse on this powder keg has been burning too long and too hot, and that no one can stop whatever explosion of true horror is to come. If we as a country don’t fix this peacefully, it will eventually fix itself violently. Maybe not this week, or month, or year, but at some point in the future, that fuse will ignite the explosion of mind-bogglingly stupid hatred coursing through the veins of America. It’s happened before (many times), and I don’t doubt it can happen again. We’ve come a long way, but obviously not far enough. As a nation, we continue to forget the lessons we learned in the past and fail apply them to new situations … dooming us to continue repeating the nightmares of the past. The same tired hatred brought out, dusted off, and given a new fresh face. A new round of ugliness for the new generation to endure.

We’re back-sliding all the way back to the 50’s and 60’s (and earlier), having learned nothing at all from all the pain and suffering of the Civil Rights Movement … or any other dark period in our history. Are we ignorant barbarians, or are we modern freedom-loving Americans? I suppose time will tell, but I feel something wicked this way comes, and we will all be sorry when it arrives and fully reveals itself. I just hope we wake up before there are more than just ugly words and a fist or two being thrown around. Meanwhile, we are all stuck in this hell-pit of rancid bile being spewed by those who call themselves “Real Americans” while utterly ignoring what being an American means, what we stand for, what our national values have always been or at least aspired to be.

So I am disgusted … and weeping for my country and its citizens. May we one day find the strength and moral fiber to live up to the highest expectations of our founders. I’d always imagined this would happen in my lifetime –that we would truly be the shining city on the hill, a beacon of hope and and guiding light to freedom-loving people everywhere– but today it feels further away than ever. In fact, today it feels like we’ll never really achieve the freedom and equality for all we were promised by our forefathers. I hope there are more people who agree with me that the rights granted to all Americans are worth fighting for –tooth and nail, if necessary– than there are people who believe our rights are malleable, changeable on a whim, and only applicable as they would like to them to apply and to whom they wish to apply them. These are dark days though, full of anger and hatred, and the screaming throng of loud barbarians seem to be not only at the gate but everywhere.

But it doesn’t take a hoard of barbarians to bring down a great society, and from what I can tell, 20% or more of my fellow Americans believe rather strongly that our rights are malleable and should only apply as they see fit, and that’s more than enough barbarians to make America a living hellhole of a country. We cannot allow them to have their way. Not if we want to continue calling ourselves Americans with any amount of dignity or pride. So … no, I won’t back down, give in, negotiate, or appease this mindless mob who has declared themselves the arbiters of our rights, because they are wrong. They are anti-American. They are Un-American. They are expressing ideas which are in opposition to our founding principles. I am willing to fight them to the extent they are willing to take the fight, up to and including their “Second Amendment solutions”. I didn’t start this fight, and I won’t escalate it, but I will damn sure be a part of ending it. Some things truly are worth fighting for, and two of the ones at the top of my list are freedom and equality … for ALL.

To use their own vernacular, I am locked, loaded, and ready to roll.

Bring it on.

Oh, I am lazy, lazy, lazy today. So lazy, it’s amazing I was able to press the “post” button and type all these letters.

Phew. That was a lot of work. I think it’s time for a nap. LOL!

But seriously … we are the house of lazy this weekend. Though I have started the laundry at an uncharacteristically early time, but then I have a ton of laundry to do, so I’ll probably still be doing well after sunset. I do hope to get to sleep earlier tonight than my usual Sunday night bedtime, because I have a lot of work to get done this week. I have to make my final decisions and complete the sculptural piece, and make framing decisions for the canvases/charcoals. It’s going to be a crazy busy week.

Which is why I am being as lazy as possible this weekend … to recharge my batteries and my willpower.

Anyway, it does feel like it’s time for a nap now. The cats totally agree.

Yesterday, I did something I normally wouldn’t do. I wore an armpit-baring top out in public. Why is this anything worthy of note? Well, some of you may not know, that I don’t shave at all or anywhere. OK, maybe once a year for a wedding, funeral, or very important party, but for the last few years, I haven’t even bother with doing it for those occasions. Therefore, I have armpit hair, as is normal and natural for human beings. Since this does occasionally freak some people out (or gross them out), I usually wear clothing in public which hides the fact that I can’t be bothered to scrape a sharp implement over some of the most sensitive skin on my body. But yesterday, with the temperature outside being well over 100ºF and my mood being in the vicinity of cranky, I decided I just didn’t give a damn if other people are incapable of tolerating armpit hair on a woman.

It was nice. It was nice feeling air on my skin, and I felt far less hot and bothered about having to go out into the hell-like August weather. It was nice walking into the coolness of the grocery store and immediately feeling the coolness of the grocery store. If anyone was freaked out, I didn’t notice. I wouldn’t have cared, because really … it felt nice to wear one of my favorite tops outside my own home and to not feel like I have to cover my body to protect other people’s ridiculous sensitivities on the subject of female beauty. I will be wearing more of my favorite skimpy tops out in public more often. This is Austin after all, and armpit hair on a woman shouldn’t be anything especially shocking anymore.

I will also be extending this to displaying my leg hair by wearing skirts and dresses in public as well. There is no reason at all I need to cover my body to keep other people from realizing that shaving is not actually a universal female activity anymore, and I am tired of having to wear too much clothing when it’s hot as Hades outside. So long as I and my husband agree that I am luscious just the way I am (which we do agree on), the opinion of anyone else on the matter means naught at all. Therefore, I am done giving a damn about societal expectations that human females should be as hairless as possible and done giving a damn if people get freaked out by the sight of fuzz on a woman’s body. They just need to get over it.

Humans have hair on their bodies for a reason. A couple reasons, actually. Also, it’s very nice not having to deal with razor burn, ingrown hairs, and stubble while trying to fight something my body naturally wants to do. And if you are a woman and have never felt a breeze on natural skin having a natural amount of hair, well … you are missing out on a wonderful little pleasure.

“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg.”
– Thomas Jefferson, “Notes on Virginia”

I have been collecting links and writing a post all week on the “Ground Zero Mosque” insanity, but it doesn’t even deserve that much attention. If one is an American, one must believe in the right of private property owners to do what they want on their own property within the laws of their locality, the right of people to assemble and worship (and build places of worship) as they like, and in the separation of church and state. These are fundamental rights in our country –rights which anyone who loves the constitution would fight tooth and nail to uphold. There is simply no argument to be had on this matter.

Quite frankly, I am sick to death of hearing about it. I have family members and friends who are beside themselves –completely freaked the hell out– by the fact that somewhere in a state and city they have never been and will never go, there are “terrorists” building “a radical Islamic mosque” on “Ground Zero.” I have tried explaining to them it is no more a mosque than a YMCA is a church … or, for that matter, the Pentagon (which also contains a room designated for Muslim prayer) is a mosque. I have explained the constitutional ramifications of this situation until I was blue in the face. My protestations have fallen entirely on deaf ears, because “Those people are different,” and I “just don’t understand.”

It’s just not possible to have a rational discussion on this matter. There’s only one rational position: the community center can and should be built wherever its builders can legally put it and want to build it. Any other position taken is going to be an irrational one based on fear, prejudice, racism, and ignorance (if not flat out willful stupidity). That the 24 hour “news” media continue to present the story as though there are two sides to the debate merely shows how ridiculous modern American “news” media has become. Since I lack the clout and budget of Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC –and don’t have my own talk radio program– there is no way I can possibly convince anyone holding a view in opposition of the foundational rights America was built upon that they are wrong. They either understand and believe in our constitutional rights (and that they apply equally to everyone) or they will go on watching the talking heads and believing there are two sides to this argument. I’m done being called “closed minded” and “stupid” and “too young to understand.”^†

Though I am somewhat glad this ugliness is coming out into the open. It’s been an excellent way to sift through all my friends, family, acquaintances, and work associates and decide who is or is not someone I need to have in my life. There are a number of things I do not tolerate from people in my immediate circle, and racism and willful freaking stupidity are two of them. Excessive hypocrisy is another one, and there is nothing more hypocritical than saying one stands by the correctness and awesomeness of the American Constitution while simultaneously saying someone needs to stop a community center being built in Manhattan because the people building it are Muslim. That would be a perfect example of excessive hypocrisy. So I encourage everyone to keep flapping their jaws about the “Ground Zero Mosque.” It’s definitely helping me separate the wheat from the chaff in my life … and the chaff will be tossed on the compost pile like the trash it is.

1. † This “too young” thing is getting old. At 45 years of age, there really isn’t much I am too young to understand anymore, and there hasn’t been anything I have been too young to understand for quite some time. I am a well-educated adult who has enjoyed a very full life. I understand a great many things. Anyone who thinks using my age will against me in an argument will shut me up obviously doesn’t know me very well, and it’s especially sad when people who have known me for 45 years believe the “too young” argument ender is going to end an argument with me. It won’t, and they should definitely be aware of that fact. [↩]

This week hasn’t been going as planned. If it was going as planned, I would be combining the two figures into one and nearing completion of this particular art project. Oh were that true, I would be pleased, but it’s not. I started feeling pretty crappy on Saturday night, and that has not improved. It’s only gotten worse. Damn my allergies and the pollen producing plants! My options have been to either take antihistamines and breath (and not have eyes that are nearly swollen shut) or not take them and REALLY feel like crap. Both choices leave me really incapable of focusing or thinking or concentrating on anything, so I haven’t gotten much work on the project done at all … mostly for fear of screwing something up. Yes, pills or no pills, when my allergies are trying to kill me, I am prone to accidents. I do not want to have an accident of any sort with my art project.

So I’ve been drugging myself, because breathing is better than not breathing, and having a slight headache is better than feeling like my head is going to explode. I’ve been cooking and baking and reading, catching up on some of my TV shows, and doing a bunch of sketches for future arty things. And lots of napping. Can’t really help that, as even non-drowsy antihistamines make me drowsy. Three days into the week, and I haven’t really got much of anything to show for it. I’ve been trying to be productive, but I’ve been failing miserably while being pretty miserable in general. Well, there’s always tomorrow, right?

I am feeling a little better today, so I am hoping tomorrow I feel even better. Not counting on it though, seeing as they have declared this the worst ragweed season in ages. But … I can hope! If it would rain, that would at least give me a day or two of not feeling like a sneezing, wheezing, coughing blob of snot, which would be wonderful. It’s getting cloudy now, but I bet we don’t see any actual rain. I’m keeping my fingers crossed all the same. Come on … RAIN!

On top of feeling wretched, there’s some family drama going on again. Just what I needed! End result of the combination of the two things has been me sitting around like a lump trying to get some work done but mostly just fretting and stewing and being cranky. Why couldn’t everything just keep going smoothly for two more weeks?! Then this project would be over and I could spend some time being a lump of useless snot!

Oh well, nothing to be done about it but hope I start feeling better, and whether or not I do forcing myself to get this thing done by the deadline. I’m sure I will, but I wanted to get done BEFORE the deadline to avoid the stress of it approaching. You know, so I could take a couple of days to maybe sew myself a new outfit to wear in Chicago, or clean the house really well so Vince won’t freak out when he comes to feed the cats.

Anyway, pardon the whining. I just felt the need to whine for a moment. Time to take another pill, do the dishes, and have some coffee.

My allergies are completely kicking my butt. Worst it’s been in a while, and I am having to take the antihistamines non-stop, which sucks. My level of motivation to do anything but the most menial of tasks when I am drugged is nonexistent, and I really, really need to be finishing up my art projects.

On top of feeling totally crappy physically, I am undecided on how to proceed with the big piece I have been working on. I am still not happy with the direction it is taking, but I don’t know what to do about it. I think this afternoon, once I get the headache and other allergy nastiness drugged into submission, I will run over to the other craft store and look at fabrics. Instead of doing the two figure combined piece, I want to go back to just the one, but do it in a different fabric (and correct a couple of structural problems while I am at it). It doesn’t help that my budget is running low and all I have to show for it is one still unfinished piece I am not happy with at the moment. So add a little mental despair to the list of complaints.

And I still need to stretch and frame the other pieces too. So much work to do and no energy or brain power to do them. Two weeks until the deadline. Ugh.

Notice the lack of posting? I’m working out problems with the pattern for Figure Two, and I am getting as frustrated as I was when I hit the prototyping stage of Figure One. Yesterday was a total fail, but today I made progress, and I might even pull an all-nighter tonight, because I am close to the breakthrough point where it all just falls into place. I’ll be glad when I get to that point. Once the pattern in as I want it, making the thing from the actual materials will go more quickly on this one, owing to the fact I made all the hundreds of mistakes I had to make during the first one (and learned a lot).

It’s three weeks to deadline, and I am not feeling especially stressed. I hope and plan to have Figure Two as far along as Figure One by this coming Monday. That gives me a week to combine the two figures and make the base and another week to do the detailing on that piece and pull the other four pieces I intend to submit together. All that will be left then is to photograph them all and submit my paperwork! I’m sure I’ll feel some stress the close the deadline gets, but that’ll mostly be because deadlines just freak me out … even when I am on schedule and doing fine. My mind, it does not like deadlines!

Actually, the further along I get, the better my mental state about the whole thing. I am even more firmly OK with the possibility that this grand work I have poured months into not getting into the show … or any of my works not getting into the show. Not saying that wouldn’t just make me happier than I have ever been and thrilled silly, but the most important thing to have come of all this work is that I have grown as an artist (and maybe even as a human being). I’ve always said I am an artist, starting from a really young age, but there was always a tiny little nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I wasn’t REALLY an artist … I was just a hack. That voice has been eradicated. I don’t just believe I am an artist now, I know I AM AN ARTIST! It feels wonderful to know something about yourself is a truth, and to be confident enough to not shrink from saying it.

So … I am starting to get really tired again and just want this pattern drafting stage to be over, but that’s to be expected. I’m pushing my brain pretty hard, and because that damn pattern is rumbling around in my head 24/7, I’m not sleeping so well. This too shall pass. I just have to jump the hurdle, and then it gets easy again. Before I know it, this project will be done, and I can enjoy a little “normal” life for a while before jumping into the next big project (and there is a next big project already planned). And what’s really awesome is that just after I get done with this whole thing and get my paperwork in, it looks like we’ll be taking a vacation to Chicago! What perfect timing! I am so going to need a vacation, and it’ll be totally grand to see our northern family … and to go to the art museum. Really looking forward to the art museum. LOL!

Think I better go turn the studio back into a kitchen and plan dinner. I can’t decide between making bratwurst sandwiches on rye or cooking up a bunch of chicken. Tough choice! They both sound tasty. LOL!

After my post about giving up soap and wanting to give up shampoo, one of my readers suggested I read this link and give the technique a try. Basically, it involves using only conditioners –much MUCH milder than shampoos– to wash one’s hair. I was, to say the least, skeptical, but I was also willing to give it a try. After all, if I didn’t like the results, I could always jump back in the shower and give it a good scrubbing with shampoo. All I’d waste was a little time.

My hair was already five days without shampoo. Not a conscious effort to give up shampoo, but I was trying to give my skin a break from all chemicals as I attempted to get the last few broken out and angry bits a chance to finish healing. My hair didn’t look or feel dirty to others, but it was at that point where it starts to make me crazy. I just can’t stand the way is starts feeling (like it’s way too heavy and thick). So I had to do something last night. I went through my collection of conditioners and picked out two that seemed like they would do (a light one and a heavy one), hopped in the shower, and washed my hair with conditioners.

I continued to be skeptical right up until I rinsed my hair after the second round, at which point I noticed my hair felt just as clean as it does when I am done washing it with shampoo and applying conditioner in the usual way. I blow dried it a bit (because my bangs do need some taming — can you say cow lick?), and then let it finish drying naturally. On my way to bed last night, I stopped in the bathroom to give it a good brushing and all I can say is WOW!

Hair is clean, soft, and not especially out of control. It’s even shiny! A wee bit frizzy, and the few odd waves and cow licks I have were being a little wild, but that’s just my hair being healthy. I’ve had those problems since I have had hair. A little blow dryer use and a touch of mousse will tone that down should I feel the need. My hair has a mind of it’s own, and I allow it to do what it wants mostly, and who knows, maybe when my hair is totally healthy, those things will go away or not bother me (not that they bother me so much). Why, they might even end up being things I like. Not the frizziness, but the odd waves and cow licks (a proper hair cut would probably help too).

So at the moment … two thumbs up on washing my hair with conditioners only! The link above is geared toward curly hair, and what this technique does for curly hair is insanely phenomenal, but it seems to be working on my just about brick straight hair too. The next test is going to be how long I can go between washings without it driving me nuts. I don’t like to wash or wet my hair every day, mostly because with so much hair it takes forever to do so (and then for it to dry). Two days between washings would be good. Three would be perfect. I also want to see how it works when I’ve actually been outside getting dirty in the yard, though I have to say, since it had been five days since I’d washed it, I can’t imagine my hair ever getting much dirtier than that unless I was rolling around in the garden beds trying to get it filthy. LOL!

And because I’m feeling vain this morning, here’s a photo to show the results. Even in the poor den lighting and taken with the web cam, the shininess is still visible! My hair looks great this morning, and I haven’t even brushed it yet!

A few days ago, Lin asked me if I had read the latest post on Amy Hadley’s blog, because he said it was interesting (as in weird, I think). Well, I had read it, because I check her blog for new posts religiously, because I still miss seeing her every morning when I turn on the local news. I didn’t find it weird at all that Amy and her husband have given up using soap. I hadn’t announced it to my husband (or anyone yet), but a couple months ago, I too gave up bathing with soap.

It probably seems insane to give up soap. I’ll admit, when I decided to stop using soap, I thought it was crazy and wasn’t going to work either, but I was at the end of my rope. I’ve been dealing with a skin condition for the last six months or so. I’m allergic to the world, so I always have some kind of skin condition, but this one was more annoying and more awful than usual. It was really bringing me down, and so I had spent some months trying all manner of cleansers and soap and other ointments and creams to make it go away … with no success. In fact, it just seemed to get worse and worse, to the point where even I –the person who hates dealing with the world of healthcare– had considered seeking medical help with it. There are few things short of immediate death that get me to see a doctor (what with not having money or health insurance).

I have a habit of splashing water on my face every time I wash my hands, because it feels good, and if I am washing my hands, there’s probably a reason … and I probably already touched my face with the hands I had determined needing washing. What I began to notice was my skin problem seemed better after just washing my face with water a few times a day. This got me thinking, so I stopped using soap on my face except when showering. That was when I noticed that no matter what soap I used on my face in the shower, the skin problem was always worse after a shower. I stopped using soap on my face at all. My skin problem started to get better.

Then I started on this major art project, and bathing became a task I had to do but felt like time wasted that could be devoted to getting some art done. I cut my shower time in half and just started jumping in the shower to rinse off when I felt the need (or was having one of those awful middle-aged hot flash moments). No soap, just water. After a couple of weeks, I noticed something amazing. The skin all over my body felt and looked better. Dry spots I have been battling for ages went away. Blotches that had been around so long I determined they were now permanent vanished. Cuts and scrapes and bug bites healed more quickly. Also, I wasn’t dirty, and I didn’t smell or feel gross, because I wasn’t gross. Soap, it would appear, is not necessary for cleanliness.

Now I suppose should I find myself being terribly grubby and filthy or having gotten into something truly disgusting I will probably use soap to clean up, but how often in our modern lives do most of us really get terribly dirty with anything more than dust and sweat, both of which wash off skin easily? Well, most of us don’t. We sit at desks or in other air conditioned environments, and the worst thing we get on ourselves is food, dust, and sweat, yet most of us hop in the shower daily and scrub down with a number of soap products to get squeaky clean. To me, that now seems like a waste of money as well as exposures to chemicals we really don’t need to expose ourselves to on a daily basis … chemicals, which in my case at least, seemed to be causing more problems than they were solving.

Sans soap during bathing, I have also given up pouring tons of moisturizer on every square inch of my skin every day. I find I don’t need them anymore. My skin isn’t dry like it used to be. Since nothing else in my life has changed, it does feel like it was the soaps –all those “moisturizing” soaps– causing my skin to be dry. So now not only am I saving some cash by not buying all those special soaps for sensitive dry skin, I’m saving money not buying gallons of pricey moisturizers as well.

My skin seems happier for all the changes to my bathing routine. Seriously, it’s looking better than it has in my entire adult life. My skin problem hasn’t completely cleared up yet, but it’s about a thousand times better, and it seems like in a couple more weeks, it will be a thing of the past. I couldn’t be more pleased, and it was such a simple change to make (though it is a little scary to give up soap, seeing as it seems like such an insane thing to do).

Like Amy, I haven’t given up shampoo yet. I would love to do so. I have friends who have, and their hair is fabulous. But they all have short hair, and the transition from shampooing to not shampooing does require a stage where your hair feels awful as the natural oils equalize and do what they are supposed to do. I have very long hair, and this transition stage is going to be a bit longer for me, and I hate the feeling of having gross hair. I have cut back to only using shampoo once a week or when my hair is really, really dirty (like after sweating in the garden out in the heat), but someday I will make a real effort to stop using shampoo. Maybe this winter when I’m not outside getting sweaty and covered in dirt. It’s going to be more difficult than giving up soap, but I think my hair and skin will be happy about the lack of those chemicals in my life too. Eventually. Once that annoying dirty-feeling hair stage passes. LOL!

So there you have it … something I have been doing I didn’t think to tell you about. I gave up soap, and I am a happier skin-owner for it. I would suggest everyone try it, especially people who have problems with their skin. Might not work for everyone, but it helped with some long-term problems I was having, and maybe you’ll be surprised that it helps your skin issues too!

Now if I can just solve the twenty-hot-flashes-a-day problem, my life would even more awesome. I kid you not, hot flashes SUCK.

Let’s see if I can find something to talk about. Considering I haven’t been paying attention to the world at large and haven’t been doing much of anything but existing in the kitchen with my art supplies, there’s really not too much to talk about.

Well, there is Saturday’s flash mob event! I’m so glad I did that. It was a blast! I rarely do silly things in public, or rather, when I do silly things in public, it’s just me being a weirdo goofball and I’m doing them all on my own (and almost nobody notices). This time I got to be a weirdo goofball doing something silly in public with a whole bunch of other people. It was nice to have fun with complete strangers for a couple of minutes and not be doing something silly all by myself. This one will be followed by others, as the ultimate goal of all this is to have a world record breaking event with some thousands of people doing it at the same time to draw attention to the issue of worldwide malnutrition. I’m going to stay involved and go to as many as possible, because everyone needs some public silliness in their life, especially when it’s for a good cause.

After the event, we went to eat at the Flying Saucer, which is at The Triangle, an urban development I was somewhat opposed to having been built. Oh yes, it’s nice, and there are nice shops and restaurants there, and it’s very pretty, but I still miss the big open green field with trees that used to be there. I’ll be putting my grumpiness about the loss of green-space into reserve though, because I really like the Flying Saucer. If you like beer, they have beer. I mean the beer list is HUGE. Pages long. Now I’m not terribly crazy about beer, though I like a good one every once in a while, so this is the kind of place I like. I can try something different every time I go … for the rest of my life. Who knows, maybe I will find a beer I really, really like! Next time, I plan to splurge on a $10 pint of beer made by Trappist monks. A bit pricey, but come on … beer made by Trappist monks. I have to try it. Oh, and they also have the best hot German potato salad I have had since my grandmother died. I could taste the apple and cinnamon! So very good. As was the bratwurst and the beer and cheese soup!

Sunday Lin cut back the overgrowth in the yard, so our property looks a little more civilized. It hadn’t been completely awful until we had that week recently when it rained every day, and then the prairie grasses grew exponentially. Some of them were at least waist high! I still need to get out there and chopped down the bits that invaded the garden area, but it’s over 100º outside these days, and I just can’t bring myself to do it. Maybe one of these mornings I’ll just force myself to go do it, but I’ve not been terribly inspired to pay too much attention to my garden.

Which brings me to the topic of my garden. Last year things went poorly because of the drought and heat. This year the weather has been nicely moist and until recently not too blazingly hot, which means things like bugs and fungus have been a pain in the butt (and weeds, OMG, the weeds). We got a good number of tomatoes before it got too hot for them to set fruit, and there’s still occasionally one or two every so often. Not as many as I’d like, but there never is. I never went without basil or cucumbers or carrots, so those were all big wins. The onions, garlic, and herbs all either died or were destroyed by bugs and large-footed neighbor dogs. And though the beans grew healthy and bloomed like crazy, we did not get bean one. Not a single bean. I’m not even going to bother mentioning any of the other failures, of which there were a few.

So this year’s spring/summer garden can be summed up as … somewhat unsatisfactory, just like every garden before it. Will this stop me from gardening? Of course not, because the NEXT garden is going to rock! Such is the way of gardeners. In fact, since it’s now August, I really need to get out there and clear out all the seedy basil, pull up the last of the carrots, and start clearing things for fall planting. I have no idea what I’ll be planting. With the art project taking up so much of my time and energy, I haven’t put much thought into it. I imagine I’ll just plant whatever seeds I already have from last year and see how they do this year. I expect the end result will be somewhat unsatisfactory, but that’s gardening for you.

Speaking of the art project, I am in the middle of drafting the pattern for Figure Two, and it’s going as well as the pattern drafting for Figure One went. In other words, not well at all. But I worked out the problems with the first one in a week or so, and I’m sure I’ll work out the problems with this one too. I’m grumpy about it all, but I am feeling surprisingly stress-free. The new deadline is in a couple of weeks, but having Figure One done was the initial goal, and I can finish it up in an afternoon. If I manage to get Figure Two done or the combined Figure One and Two piece done, well that’ll just be icing on the cake. I’m going to shoot for the final combined figure, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I’ll just finish it after the deadline, because it’s going to be an awesome work of art whenever it gets finished. So all I can say about the art project is that I am still huffing away on it.

Yesterday was the cats’ birthday! I totally forgot until I opened my calendar for another reason and noticed it was already August 1. I usually make a big deal out of their birthday, even though I know they don’t especially know why they are getting new toys and treats. Though I do have to say that they were all being terribly sweet and affectionate yesterday, so maybe they DO know when their birthday is. LOL! Anyway, Ronin and Myu turned four, and Tora is now two. My kittens are all grown up, not that they act like anything other than bratty babies though. I need to sit down and make a post about the cats soon, because there’s been some upset in the hierarchy among the cats, and it’s been pretty funny. I need to go clear the kitchen floor and tables of artsy stuff now though, and if I start babbling about the cats, I’ll be here for an hour.

I guess that about sums up things around here. Like I said, I haven’t been paying much attention to anything outside my own little world. Just been working on my artwork, doting on my cats, trying to keep the house maintained, and sleeping and eating and watching a bit of TV. In the grand scheme of things, from my point of view, life is good. This likely means the world has gone to hell while I have been ignoring it, so perhaps I’ll read some news with my morning coffee tomorrow. I’m sure no good will come of it, but I don’t like being completely in the dark about current events (even though I’ve discovered that ignorance really can lead to bliss).