A couple of cups from the imagination. 5"x7" transparent watercolor, ink. I didn't realize the one was sitting crooked thus the picture is slanted. Sorry bout that.
I wanted to get something up... anything artsy up. Lets start the year off right.
I'm focused on cleaning the apartment today. I'm also going to bake a chocolate cake (the easy way... outta a box.) The two grandkids will be over tonight and I wanted a treat for them. Something that says "gramma bought a box of cake!" (I should find me an apron next time I go thrifting. What says gramma more than an apron.)
This is an attempt to get youtuber Xelander here so I can tell him how much I am enjoying his youtube videos. He has quite a large fan base so he may not backtrack all the links, etc.
I searched for an email address but did not see one. I was going to leave a message for him on youtube, but I would have had to sign up and since I won't be posting any videos there I thought it wouldn't be right to take up space. This is my alternative attempt. And if he doesn't see it, no big deal. He's got plenty of fans.
Here is the latest video I just watched which cracked me up:
He's funny. He is also an American in England. I came across him while watching some of atree3's videos. In one of her videos she talks about getting beatup by him. (00) WTF? was my first response. I then had to track through several videos to finally understand it was all in fun.
In any event, Xelander... I am really enjoying your videos. Did I mention that already? Thanks for posting them.
Asperagus. Done a while ago and previously posted. I wanted it hung.
You may have seen this effect on other blogs. You can go here to do one yourself. (first option "museums")
I'm still stuck inside the apartment waiting for the snow and ice to melt. There is light at the end of the tunnel because its warmed up and the snow is beginning to leave. Main roads are semi clear but the side streets are still a mess... along with the sidewalks. (Now they're saying there's a gas shortage because the tankers haven't been able to deliver anything.)
Its been almost two weeks since first 'stranded' inside. If you add the previous week that my daughter borrowed my car... its three weeks of being cooped up. I've napped myself silly. I'm down to Top Ramen Noodles and/or white rice. I need to get to the store soon.
I have no 'winter gear' because its not suppose to get so 'wintery' here. (DO YOU HEAR THAT, MOTHER NATURE... NO MIDWEST SNOW STORMS HERE!!) I wear sandals and I do not want to be walking in the slushy snow in them. The old toes get cold.
If I don't make it to the store today (after I get my car back), surely by tomorrow it will happen.
Leanne, of Intricate Art, filmed a great Christmas surprise for her mother and family. (While there, if you're not familar with her art, check it out too.)
(This picture is from a previous year.) We've broken the 40 yr. record for the most snow in the month of December. 1968 use to hold the record. Now 2008 holds it. And we're headed to the next record. I just don't know what it is... most snow ever?
Now you folks who live where it really SNOWS, please hold your snickering until later, but our 1968 record was for 11.5 inches. The record was broken last night and we have continued adding snow to that amount.
We're working on the 11th day in a row of snow. (insert a weak yahoo here) And the end is not in sight... anywhere!
Update: I don't think the 11.5" is correct because I'm reading blogs saying they have 18" or more in their yards. The details I mentioned here are soft and are not to be quoted as absolutely true.
We're now having freezing rain and associated power outages and trees falling into houses in some areas. Poor travelers. Stranded.
The weather people are saying we may not get out of this mess until next weekend.
I'd post some pictures but my camera is not functioning right now.
The news stations continue to broadcast storm coverage. If you'd like to see some of the broadcast go to katu.com and look for the "live coverage" link. I tried it, but it took too long to come up (my pc works slowly sometimes), but it may work for you. They've got reporters all over and they show cam shots from various spots.
I wonder how long it will be before I start blubbering 'bu bu bububu bubububu bu bu' like Golden Hawn did in the movie Overboard.
Its been over a week of snow and its getting really boring. Cabin feverish. And today we are waiting for our big ice storm, but the weather system is a slow moving one. Ice brings down power lines, and generally sucks big time.
One of our hospitals is located on a hill (low mountain) and they have staff living there, sleeping in patient rooms, etc. Lots of staff can't make it in and staff already there are safer just staying put.
Early this morning a guy started across one of our bridges going the wrong way. When he swerved to miss on coming traffic he went over the side of the bridge (the part still over land) and dropped nose first about 40 feet. No injuries. Based on the fact that it happened at 3am, he was going the wrong way, and he had no injuries, I'm betting that he was drunk.
Its beginning to get boring. I might even end up doing some kind of housework just for a change the pace. Gasp. Just kidding.
I really like his watercolors... very 'active'. And I'm always surprised at how it looks when he starts out and how it looks at the end. Very wet-on-wet, for the most part. And it all starts out with a good basic sketch.
(a small rant.... expertvillage puts up GOBs and GOBs of videos so they take up 20-30 screens to get thru them... and not one of them is over 2 minutes long. Couldn't they put up videos that are a little longer in duration so it doesn't take up as much space?! Geesh.)
These candles are the extent of my holiday decorations... and even they are half gone now. Headless mother and father Christmas.
Today was a breather day as far as the weather goes. Although our weather is no where near as bad as the rest of the country, its still cold today, but it almost got to 30 degrees and the sun was out and melted a lot of the ice-snow mix. One of the weather guys was stressing that if we needed any supplies from the store we had better get in there today. A big bunch of snow (a technical weather term) is expected tomorrow morning. Twice as much as we just got... or maybe three times as much. By Sunday we should warm up a bit.
I got Candace to come over and replace the battery in the smoke alarm. It went off last night just after midnight and again at 2:30am. I was afraid if I didn't get it changed out today, by Friday it might be going off contineously. (If I was a neighbor and had to listen to it, I'd be really ticked off.) I couldn't reach the ceiling, even standing on the top step of the ladder (a large step stool with three steps), which I found quite handy as an excuse to get my daughter to deal with it.
This not-being-able-to-get-out-safely is playing havoc with Christmas shopping.
This picture is from last year. We got snow here yesterday, but not as much as what this picture shows. But you know what? Its cold as hell here!!! And the fun part is that it is suppose to last forever. Well, at least thru the WHOLE week.
Later in the week, we might get some freezing rain. YaHoo!
So... I'm stuck here in the apartment which is fine, but my smoke alarm has started going off to indicate the battery needs to be changed. And me without a battery. And I'm too short to reach the alarm on the ceiling. I'll be waiting for my American Ingenuity to kick in with some kind of solution. I'll let you know. If nothing comes to mind, I have my hammer and I'm not above smashing the hell outta the alarm to get it to stop beeping at me. If I can get it off the ceiling. How long can you keep hitting the reset button to stop it from beeping? Anyone know?
I can't believe its been a whole week since I've updated the blog, but when you don't have anything to say, I guess you just don't have anything to say. Know what I mean?
I'll be glad when its December 26. I can't seem to shake this blah feeling, no matter how often I watch Its a Wonderful Life. Sigh.
However, there is one Christmas that was the best-est ever and I don't think I got one thing. It was the first Christmas after I had been working for a year. It had been welfare prior to then. I had four kids ranging in age from about 4 to 9 or 10 yrs old. (Their father was gone and dare I say that was a real blessing too.) It was just us.
Just before Christmas I joined a credit union and applied for a $500 loan. And surprise, I got it. This was in the late 60s so $500 was a lot more then than it is now. And I spent every cent of it on the kids. Ohmygawd, can you say 'presents dripping out of her ass'... that would be me. I had so much fun getting the kids every possible thing I could. This was before electronic games so prices were cheap. Dolls, Easy-bake Ovens, play luggage, tea sets, trucks, tricycles, etc.
Christmas eve, after the kids finally went to sleep, I wrapped and I wrapped. Then I wrapped some more. I wrapped so much I finally said to hell with it and just put the rest of the gifts under the tree naked.
You should have seen the kids' faces when they walk into the room. They were overwhelmed and I just sat there with the biggest 'shit-eating' grin you ever saw. Man, that was such a charge to be able to do that. There were so many presents it was obscene. (And just to put it in perspective, previous holidays were Toy-&-Joy kinds. A teddy bear and a naked Barbi kind of gifts, not that I wasn't grateful.)
That was my best Christmas EVER!! It can still bring a grin to my face and a smile to my heart. (We won't mention the worse.) Is there one Christmas that comes to mind for you? Please share if you feel up to it.
As I surfed I snagged this link from someone else's blog (not anyone who comes here.) I really really like her work. And not only for effect, but for interest, too, some of her mixed medias use tar. (00)
I watched Bill Moyer's Journal the other night and he interviewed Mark Johnson. He is working to increase the human community and commonality through music. He and his organization is also building music schools and centers in the poorest of countries. From Moyer's web site:
"Bill Moyers sits down with Mark Johnson, the producer of a remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music...
Johnson traveled around the globe and recorded tracks for such classics as "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" — creating a new mix in which essentially the performers are all performing together — worlds apart. Often recording with just battery-powered equipment, Johnson found musicians on street corners or in small clubs and they would in turn gather their friends and colleagues — in all, they recorded over 100 musicians from Tibet to Zimbabwe."
I was moved by his documentary (the clips of it) and I thoroughly enjoyed the music. It touched me. If you would like to experience the musical collage, as it were, go here and click on "Enter" to get to the video. (pc isn't as good as on tv, but oh well.) Even if you don't have time to listen to it all the way thru, you can get a sense of it. Johnson seems to have done an excellent job of editing.
This is a picture of my friend's Christmas Cactus and it was taken about a month ago. A little early for Christmas but pretty good timing for Thanksgiving.
She said it has never bloomed this much before and it was a surprise. My friend had an emergency surgery and was hospitalized for about a week. When she came home from the hospital this plant was just one big batch of red blooms. She took it as a good omen.
I caught part of the Oprah show yesterday. It was about selecting winners of a 'decorate it yourself' contest. I live in a different world. Not better, not worse, just different. One lady excitedly told how she found and got her woven dining room chairs. (They were cool.) And the eight of them only cost her $1200. "They were only $150 each!"
(00)
Well, for $1200 they should be cool.
Like I said... just different worlds, different priorities. I bet I don't get as stressed as she does, although I do have my moments.
The next decorating contest Oprah should have is where nothing cost over $40. Now there's a challenge.
I can't seem to get moving today. Its cold out, but the sun is shining. I should be jumping all over the place but..... sigh. Things in motion tend to stay in motion and that's my challenge for the day. To move.
Yesterday my daughter Candace came over to pick up something and she brought Darius with her. When I knew they were on their way I tossed three frozen hamburger patties in the skillet to cook. Darius is always looking for something to eat when he comes to gramma's and I didn't have anything to snack on... besides, throw it on a piece of bread and viola... lunch.
True to form, when Darius arrived he began his normal search. A glance over the counter to see what was there, then a quick look in the refrigerator. He spotted the hamburger patties sitting on a saucer. "mmmmm. I like hamburger" he said innocently.
I told him and 'mom' they could each have one if they wanted, but 'mom' would have to fix the sandwiches for them, which she did. I waited until they left before I went to fix my sandwich. Below is what was waiting for me. . . .
I wonder if he thought I might not notice a bite was missing.
This is my day after, my recup day. The day I pull myself back together after having entertained one of life's natural energy bursts... the day after watching my two grandsons for the night. Some day afters are needed more than others. This was a pretty good sleepover. The boys were nice. They were nice to me and amazingly nice to each other. Go me!
"My gramma lets us jump on the bed!! We love my gramma. Watch me. Watch how high I can jump."
"Gramma, watch. Here's a Running-Belly-Flop..." (I think its a name of a wrestling move.)
The pile of rubble after the wrestling match. They had a lot of fun and there was no permanent damage.
"…the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” –Hermann Goering, Nazi Reichsmarschall
A couple of cups from the imagination. 5"x7" transparent watercolor, ink. I didn't realize the one was sitting crooked thus the picture is slanted. Sorry bout that.
