Why you should not eat nachos under the backboard and other peculiarities......

This little dog has absolutely nothing to do with the nachos....more the peculiarities part. Her name is Chou-Chou and she is supposed to be a Dalmation, but if you ask her, she will insist that she is a Lhasa apso. I don't see the resemblance.....I think she just likes saying Lhasa apso.




She now lives with my good friend Gayle, who is a kind and patient soul....so maybe she won't mind her peculiarities......not Gayle's peculiarities, Chou-Chou's. Gayle has no peculiarities that I know of....other than having a Dalmation that thinks it's a Lhaso apso.....but hey, we can't all be normal.

And speaking of normal.......on to "Why you should not eat nachos under the backboard"...

......that's what my 11 year-old daughter found out today with 2 of her friends at choir. After they had practiced, they were sent to the gym for snacks.

Nachos and lemonade. Good eats!

I was across the gym from them with my youngest daughter....she opted for just the lemonade. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the 3 girls plunk down right underneath the backboard of the basketball hoop. I sat there in disbelief. Most of the other kids had chosen the sidelines or TABLES. Why right under the basketball hoop?

Did I mention that some boys were playing basketball? Boys with not very good aim?

Well, you know where I'm going with this.......in the blink of an eye, one of the boys goes in for the winning basket (in his mind) and shoots......and misses by a mile. Not quite misses. His ball landed with an amazing bit of speed and precision right smack dab in the middle of the nachos.....and lemonade.

Man, I wish I had had a camera!

Chips went flying, lemonade became airborne in only the way lemonade can when a projectile weapon has been thrown at it. It was amazing! Actually, a camera would not have done the scene justice. The "moment" definitely needed to be caught with a camera capable of capturing the sound of 3 eleven year-old girls "squeeeeeeing" and giggling as they were covered in chips, cheese and lemonade.

The young man at fault, being a gentleman, came over to assure them that he hadn't aimed at them.....but he did look mighty pleased with himself.....which considering the cinematic effect he caused by his lack of aim and problems with manual dexterity.....isn't at all peculiar.

I've been tagged!!!! Twice no less!!!

LOL! Scarlatti and Ute....two of you.....bad girls! LOL!

Here are the rules:

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

7 Random Facts about me:

1. I have a overactive imagination. Some might call it neurosis....I prefer to think of it as "a colorful way of seeing the world!"

2. I played with Barbies till I was 16. I always then add that I actually just made clothes for my dolls till I was 16 and went away to college. You say "potato", I say "pahtahto".

3. I thought the Backstreet Boys were kinda cool. (see Random Fact 1.)

4. I thought (and still sort of do) that Girl Scout THIN MINT cookies tasted heavenly with a bit of Grey Poupon mustard.

5. In 7th grade for a speech contest, I chose ANNABEL LEE by Edgar Allen Poe. My brother, who was in 3rd grade also was going to deliver a poem. He was so nervous that no matter what he did, he simply could not remember it. I tried to help him, by saying it with him to help him practice. When the fateful day of the contest came instead of reciting ANNABEL LEE as I was supposed to....I got in front of the entire school and gave his poem! I don't think I have ever had soooooo many people laugh at me....and not realize why!

6. I love Japanese anime.

7. I love Science fiction.....(again Random thought 1!) STARGATE SG-1 is my favorite.....Micheal Shanks, who plays Daniel Jackson, is cute enough to have been a Backstreet Boy!!!LOL

I hate to do this......

If you know me personally, you know that I am just about one of the nicest people on the planet! (Those of you out there snickering......I know where you live!)

Anyway.....where was I?....oh, yes!....I'm a regular sweetheart.

I hate to brag, but I'm just an all around nice chick! And because of that, I hate to make waves. But when a gross injustice has been portioned out, well I just have to speak out!

Below you will see a WANTED poster for a CROC thief!

Sure, she looks nice and all, but let me tell you she is a bundle of danger! If I had all day, oh, the stories I could tell you! But, I'm not like that! Suffice it to say, this woman is in possession of PURPLE CROCS that are rightfully mine.....I did not buy them, but I am talking about on a cosmic level here people.

So if you see her, take the shoes, return them to me and there will be a reward involved.

If you need proof of her guilt:

Click here

Like I said, I hate to do this, but we all have to suffer for fashion every now and then.....

Since my camera died......

I have been working on bears all week....and just as I was about to take some pictures of them I discovered that my camera died.

"If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all....Gloom, despair and agony on me!"

LOL!

Okay, things aren't THAT bad....I just like that song from HEE HAW! (If you are saying,"WHAT?".....you're probably
too young to remember that show or spent your formative years in more productive ventures than in front of the
television!)

Anyhoo....since I have no pictures!!!!....here is a cool site that will, tantalize, inform and give you insight into one of the greater mysteries of this computer age.

Have you ever wondered how the small arrow in the screen of the computer work when we move the mouse?

Now, through the miracle of the high technology, we can see how it is done.

With the aid of a screen magnifying lens the mechanism becomes apparent.

Click on the link below-it will take a few seconds to load. Then run your mouse over the circle. If you stop, watch what happens. Also look what happens when you click on the circle.....

http://tinyurl.com/ytxcr3

The tall one in back......

This is a mermaid that I finished just a bit ago.....but because of her looooong length, I've never
gotten a good picture of her. I've tried. It just doesn't work! If I manage to get all of her in the picture, there
is so much empty space on the sides......that it looks rather pathetic. So I'll have to ask you kind viewer, to sort of visualize what she would look like all together.



She's cloth with a needle sculpted face. Her features are "painted" on using colored and watercolor pencils. Notice her smile....it's because she is tall!






When I was a kid, it was my dream to be tall! I have no idea what I planned to do with all my dreamed of height, but tall I was going to be!

By 8th grade, I was well on my way to my goal. I was always the kid that had to
stand at the back of pictures so that my great height would not obscure my height-disadvantaged peers.

Poor little things!

I would proudly stand in the back....careful not to look too smug, meanwhile exchanging
knowing looks with my teacher....who, due to high heels, was quite tall herself. But it wasn't going to be high heels for me! No, all my height was going to be natural. The product of the gathering of all the tall genes in my family coming together to propel me into the company of the naturally tall and lanky.

Alas! 8th grade I was 5'4" and I haven't grown an inch since.

I'm still waiting.

I have read that some people don't experience growth spurts till odd times in their lives. So, in years to come, if you visit me in the nursing home.....I'll be the tall one...in back.

...and it makes great coffee too!

This is a doll that I finished this past week. I had come up with the pattern for her a while back. I had wanted to do a fugure that was "ample" and looked as if she were dancing! I made her out of cotton and then painted her entire body with acrylic paints. The paints took forever to dry, but I really like the way they stiffen up the fabric, making
it seem more like a canvas. She was supposed to have been an "altered doll".....complete with words and various collage elements. No matter what I tried, it just never felt right. Then last week, my daughters and I were dying coffee filters of all things. (You take Crayola or similar brand markers and color on a coffee filter. Then wet it and allow the colors to run where they will. I usually blow dry the filters so that they stiffen.) Well, we were getting such cool colors on the filters.....and really had no plans for what we were going to use them for...that I toyed around with the idea of making this dolls clothes out of layers of filters! Her clothes are all filters and ribbon. I wish it was as easy to come up with a new wardrobe for myself!


Close-up of her face and coffee filter skirts!

Bears with attitude and head xeroxes!

Before I make a bear or a doll for that matter, I usually will sketch.

These are 3 little bears that I can see so clearly in my head....but when I try...and I have tried several times....to put them on paper, they always come out looking like bears with a LOT of attitude! They stare at me from the paper with their, "yeah, just try to call me cute!" sorta look.

If I could invent anything, it would be the head xerox.

You'd get a great idea...connect yourself to your computer (this is the tricky part) and woohoo!!! Instant great idea on your screen!! It would change the world...it would radically reduce the frustrations of artists worldwide. The world would become a kinder, gentler place because artists would no longer stew in a "I-knew-I-should-have-become-an-accountant" haze when ideas go bad. Instant xeroxing would radically reduce the hours ideas stay in your head, thereby alleviating any undue rottage! Instead we as artists would take to the streets, handing out chocolate and planting flowers! It would be beautiful!!!

I can see it in my head soooo clearly......if only I could figure out that "head-computer" connection thingy.....hmmm.

Crazy people....?

I am such a people watcher! I love to just sit back and watch people interact. Especially people that are really emotive, and use a lot of gestures when they talk.

One of my favorite places is at the post office. Most people, when the line is really long, sort of zombie out. They look like they are almost in a hypnotic state.....trying to "peace out" and find that happy spot, so that they don't go "postal" while waiting for their turn at the window...their turn to talk to that government employee who is even unhappier than they are at the moment.

Occasionally, there will be one or two in this crowd that must be so sanguine that they can't hold it in. You've seen them....they are the ones that talk to anyone and everyone...and use big sweeping gestures and laugh long and hard at their own insights. They are the few, the proud...the ones you are afraid to sit next to on a plane. But standing in line at the post office they are great. They help to pass the time....sort of like a low level stand up comedian.

Today, standing in line at the post office, with my kids no less....there was one of these individuals two people ahead of us. She was so expressive...it was almost like a dance. She had my 12 year-old son enthralled. The best part of it was that she wasn't actually talking to anyone in line, even though the man in front of her kept turning around to her, just to be sure. She had long hair that hid what I hope was a headset to a phone. But part of me thinks that maybe she was just passing time....talking to someone that obviously was highly entertained by her...but that the rest of us just couldn't see.

When I was a teenager I used to get to ride the bus "downtown" on Saturdays to go to the library. And every Saturday, rain or shine, there was this woman that sat in the back all by herself, holding court with an unseen crowd. She would talk, laugh, gesticulate and once I even saw her cry. I remember telling a friend that I thought that the next Saturday I saw her I would go sit by her and talk to her. My friend told me that she was probably "crazy" and that was why she sat alone and that I would be crazy to go talk to her.

I never did get up the nerve to go and talk to her. Wish I had. I may have discovered that maybe she wasn't all that crazy. Maybe she was just having a good time....practicing for her next time in line at the post office....