September 30, 2008

Monitor Annoyances

So this new monitor kicks serious ass except for one thing: I can't see really faint colors. Say I scan a pic and its background is slightly greyish, but since it looks fine to me I keep working on it. I cut and paste and move the image around a bit. Now, if I hit the "auto" button on the side of the monitor, it cycles through several settings, and for a second I suddenly can see big white lines all over the picture from where I cut things out and moved them. I haven't been able to find anything like that setting with manual adjustments, and it's driving me crazy.

(Edit: I'm calibrating as we speak. Hope this fixes it...)

September 29, 2008

YOUUUU DOG

I got all my work done today and decided to spend the evening vegetating in Best Chair under my super-soft plush blanket. The Captain, as he often does, kept walking over and laying his head on my leg and staring at me, so finally I let him jump up and watch Bullshit! with me. OOF, sixty-five pound lap-dog. In a few minutes he settled down and went to sleep with his butt in my lap and his head almost hanging over the foot-rest of Best Chair.

It was an excellent time until he had a very upsetting dream of some kind. He started twitching and woofling, and his hackles went up in a stiff mane and stayed that way for a while. Next thing I know I smell this rotten stink and look down, and sure enough my beloved sleeping puppy has pooped on me a little bit.

Fifteen minutes later, the super-soft plush blanket is in the wash, and the arm of Best Chair is soaked through with antibacterial cleaner from a merciless scrubbing.

I wonder what he could have been dreaming about that literally scared the shit out of him.

September 28, 2008

Updated Kagerou!

Click the pic for the new stuff:

Lemon Jelly Always Makes Things Better



This is like ten times more fucked up than Katamari Damacy and Frogger combined.

And, shit, this one's even better:



I'm so glad they have more videos than just Nice Weather for Ducks. Their animations do good things to my brain.

September 24, 2008

Pet Lovers, Don't Read This

A house down the street caught fire the other night. The firefighters were hosing it down for like three hours, and when Rah and I walked by it the next morning on the way to the grocery store, the entire place was gutted. You could see through the broken windows straight through to the backyard. There was a neat pile of maybe 200 water bottles. Must be a hell of a thirsty line of work.

A heap of charred something was lying in the driveway, and in the yard there was an empty wire dog crate. Nothing else had been removed from the house. Just that little empty cage.

I hoped for the best until I read on the city news website that two of the family dogs died in the fire. The humans and the other dogs got out in time, though.

Fucking hell, man. I wish there was something I could do. Hugging my dog and watching him thump his tail in confused approval seems like a good start.

September 22, 2008

Whirlwind of Sanity, Take II

I've been feeling some discomfort and agitation on the Ritalin, so I cut my morning pill in half. Magically, the symptoms decreased to a reasonable level, and I proceeded to complete almost all of my tasks. I could still feel it kicking in, but my "work mode" gear was noticeably smoother. My accomplishments for the past 10 hours are as follows:

1. Cooked breakfast.
2. Cleaned the kitchen, including scrubbing the stove and counters and de-cluttering the window bench that's been covered in jackets and grocery bags for the better part of a year.
3. Washed and unloaded the dishes.
4. Cleaned and swept my bedroom and office.
5. Processed Etsy orders, stuffed envelopes, wrote thank-you notes and double-checked to make sure everything was accounted for.
6. Gathered addresses for commissions.
7. Finished 1 icon, animated it for funsies, and started another immediately afterwards.
8. Washed two loads of laundry.
9. Read about a zillion chapters of One Piece while eating lunch.
10. Dog-proofed my garbage can.
11. Took a shower.
12. Brushed the Captain's teeth, chased him down, continued to scrub, dragged him back off the floor from his passive-resistance swoon, and brushed them some more.
13. Waited until business hours, then called my social worker, completed the follow-up papers needed for my MinnCare application, and stuck it in my outbox.
14. Called lawyer to check on paperwork and find out what I need to send in.
15. Swept and dusted the stairwell, including steps and landing.
16. Swept the living room at the bottom of the stairwell.
17. Suffered karoshi and was rewarded with an eternity of bliss at the right hand of Xenu himself.

Most of the domestic chores listed are part of my house-elf duties, which I took on in exchange for room and board. I am very happy to be doing a better job of it so that my roomies do not drown in a vat of dirty frying pans and moldy towels.

All of this was accomplished with a lazy ease that I very seldom feel. It's a bit like having those rare moments, every few weeks or months, where the clouds part and I feel like I can power through any task set before me, available on demand.

So yeah, it's safe to say that I had a lot of processing power locked up in day-to-day functioning and now I am making it work for me. Just like motherfucking Rock Lee when he takes off the ankle weights, except not as sexy.

September 20, 2008

Oprah Meets Pedobear's >9000 Penises



Oh no. Oh, noooo. Oh, Oprah...

Anonymous, w/u mry me? Y/N plz circle 1.

<3 <3 <3,
Luka

Orbiting Planet Conventia

To avoid a repeat of last year's incident wherein the spot I had reserved was yanked and given to someone who paid earlier but from further back in the line, I sent out money for an alley table and pre-registration to Anime Detour early this time. Should be good to go, and no turning back and chickening out now that it's done.

Depending on how things go, I may or may not stay in Minneapolis for the weekend. It's about a 45 minute drive each way, which isn't terrible, but it is inconvenient and costly. I guess it will come down to seeing whether the cost of gas is lower than the cost of lodging (alone or with a roomie) in the convention hotel.

I am also planning to register for Anime Central, though that will require a road trip and thus way more planning. Hope gas prices drop by them; I have sort of started missing cons, and I think if I can get my act together I might even be able to make an honest living at it.

More than anything else, I dread another Kumoricon happening. This year it was like I blinked, just once, and went from "plenty of time left to reserve a table" to "Kumoricon was last weekend, where were you?" Argh, and that was the one con I was not, absolutely not, going to miss. I can only blame the negative influences of engrams caused by psychiatry. That or I just flaked as usual.

So yeah. Looking ahead and thinking thoughts. Pray for me, y'all, now and in the hour of getting my ass kicked.

September 18, 2008

Eating Disorders, WOO!

I think I have finally pinpointed one of the things that bother me so much about the way America treats the skinny end of the eating disorder stick. I have made a mess of trying to express my sentiments in the past due to my love for twenty-paragraph rants, so I'll keep it short this time and spare you all the trouble:


MEDIA:
Be skinny! Become a human coat hanger and mere sex object open to the commentary of anyone who sees your body or you are worthless. Also disappear as much as you can so you won't take up space! Pictures of fat people with no heads!
PARENTS: *Dysfunction'd*
CULTURE IN GENERAL: *Suuuuuck*
YOUNG PEOPLE: Argh must find something to control! Must be perfect! Must disappear!
MEDIA: More! More! Oh god, yes, MORE! You're all so naturally gazelle-like!
ANOREXIC PEOPLE: *faint*
REGULAR PUBLIC: Holy shit this is so fucked up. Somebody do something!
MEDIA: *Glamorizes disease even more with anti-anorexia awareness ads showing images of helpless, gorgeous models swooning virtuously before disgusting evil fat monster reflection in various mirrors*
ANOREXIC PEOPLE: Wow, we look SWEET when we're dying.
LJ: Come share this pro-ana on our site. Competitive dieting will lead to recovery or various other results!
MEDIA: No, no, don't be proud of the only accomplishment you feel you can call your own! We can barely stop romanticizing your plight for five seconds, but trust us, we actually want you to get well!
ANOREXICS: LOL.
CULTURE: *Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck*

Am I crazy, or is this actually still going on? This perverse envy of the noble sufferer business that was such a problem a hundred years ago. We openly admire and encourage pain, and recast sickness as virtue even as we pretend to speak out against it, then wonder why nothing seems to be helping. Way to treat the symptoms with a bigger dose of the disease, y'all.

Canadian Geese All Up In My Sky

The only thing I know about this election so far is that Obama's volunteers work truly ass hours up there in the local headquarters, and that if I never hear the word maverick again it'll be too fucking soon. I've been watching McCain campaign ads with the sound turned off, but it hasn't helped.

Palin's a milf, though. I'd sure like to make her pretend to birth MY secret teen sex baby, if you know what I mean. *Eyebrow wiggle.*

Got all the icons done! Am now taking ten more. It's a bunch at one time, but I'd like to see what RitalAIDS will do to a new commission. Hopefully it'll help keep on top of things as well as letting me finish the old ones.

I'm working on some other projects, including that huge overdue comic from waybackwhen. Kagerou is kicking me in the face yelling WORK ON ME LUKA WORK ON MEEE and crying when I tell it "wait your turn, cookie-pants."

If this keeps up I'll start dreaming about it.

The local art store is now selling Rah's chibi buttons and my flower ones. No idea what the interest level will be, but it'll be fun to find out. We're also working on designs for the store's Halloween display. I'm drawing the monsters, and Rah and Jess will ink and color them and we'll all have to figure out how to hang them up in the window.

This is the most social and normal I've ever been as an adult. My conservative half chalks much of it up to my usual self having a really good couple of weeks, but it sure started abruptly, and at the exact time I caught the RitalAIDS. Unfortunately, so did my latest bout of problems with blood sugar. I can't fuck around on this medicine--when the blood sugar plunges while I'm taking it, the result is the most unpleasant headache/dizziness in the universe. So I've cut out most sweet stuff and am trying to eat regular meals and not just 'whenever I am so hungry I will eat anything that does not bite me or run away.' Not doing too well, so I may need to see a doctor.

There is one tree down the street from our house that has already gone to full-on, neon autumn colors. It's surrounded by green on all sides, and every morning when the sun starts to peek over the treetops and I always do a double-take because it looks like it's on fire. Neat.

September 15, 2008

I know something you don't know :P

What's the point of seeking me out and messaging me if all you have to say is that something major is going on with you, buuuuut since you don't think I would be sufficiently comforting, you've decided to tell someone else about it instead of me?

Sorry I wasn't around to get all intrigued and chase you down and force you to share every sordid detail, but thank you for having a major relationship discussion with my away message. It's not all that important to actually have me present for this kind of conversation anyway, since (as you said) you already know what I'm going to say and feel and are punishing me accordingly.

It's like conflict resolution, only without all the icky communication.

September 10, 2008

Hey Everybody! I'm Updating My Gay Blog!

HUGE update to my Etsy store.

Holy shit! Look at all them fuckin' buttons!

Wishful Thinking

It finally occurred to me to look on YouTube and see if there are any music videos from the Ditty Bops. And I struck gold!



OH GOD SO FUCKING ADORABLE. I want to put both of them in my pocket.

September 8, 2008

As Ever, Anonymous Delivers

Don't miss this one, guys. It's awesome.

Anonymous has met with the Fresh Prince himself, in person, and told him all about Scientology's dark side. Linksauce and pamphlets were exchanged.

Protestfags are my fucking heroes.

September 6, 2008

Emerge



Found on a tree in the front yard. Cool, huh?

Pics of same are hi-rez and will go up on DeviantArt.

Also: Aaaand I'm sick again. This has not been my summer at all, has it?

September 5, 2008

Cicada Striptease

At first I thought the thing I found in the street was just a cicada shell that had been shed, but it was heavier than it should have been, and there was something inside starting to poke out. Rah suspected it was the remains of the actual cicada.

So we dissected it.

































If you look closely, you can see Rah popping the cloudy lenses off to reveal the eyes beneath. Awesome.

September 4, 2008

Moar Moar Buttons



Another batch of nature-crafty buttons, this time 1 inch size. I think I'm getting the hang of this.

The rainbowy swirly bits are silk fiber. Jesse gave me the pick of the bowl because he wanted to see how they'd look in button form. The answer: BOSS.

A bunch of them have a small amount of that pearly shiny flash stuff, but you can't see the sparklies because of the camera lighting. BE AWED ANYWAY.

Night, y'all.

September 3, 2008

The Stones of Autumn

I made some buttons from some early Autumn leaves I found yesterday:



Also yesterday I saw the Doc again for another round of diagnostic tests. Good God.

I mean it's one thing to suspect there might be a number of things very very wrong with me. Having a psychologist read off a laundry list of diagnoses and tell me I should set up an appointment to see a psychiatrist in October because a physician would be overwhelmed trying to find the right med combination in my case? Different. Definitely an experience.

We did confirm that I'm fairly fortunate in one respect. My issues are, as a group, utterly catastrophic--but taken individually, they wouldn't be nearly as crippling. This will make treatment less of a tightrope walk, from what I gathered talking to Dr. D.

It eases my fear of going out the way Mom did, my OCD and anxiety getting worse and worse and worse until finally modern medicine can't even keep me stable during an induced coma because I'm so anxious I fight the damn ventilator no matter what magic mushroom mega mix they put in my IV.

Preventative care FTW, I reckon! (Even though I'm broke again.)