"No longer a slave to ambition, I laugh at the world and its shams - I sit here in my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams!"
from a real song taught by Ivar Haglund to Pete Seger (or the other way around) referring to life on Puget Sound.


Which is a good thing. At my dr's appt today I found out something I didn't know - given the amount of iron in clams, you should be able to harvest them just by dragging a magnet along the beach.

As it is - that figure out at Alki in the fog, with the bucket and a clam gun over the shoulder? That's me, getting breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. And the occasional snack.

If you haven't googled today, do so.

The art show just closed. Some sales, both prints and originals, so not bad - but also not the best show I've had here. I rec'd some nice compliments on the growing group of penguins - and the latest penguin watercolor, "Professor Fishmort and His Pinniped Repelling Ray Gun (With His Assistant Muffy)" was one of the ones that sold.

The panels this year have been better than sometimes, both the ones I was one and the ones that I went to see. Two stand out; The Evil Temptress and Concept Art. I particularly liked the second; it was useful to hear from working artists what employers in that field are looking for.

I also spent some time looking at everything in the art show. It's a really good show this year. Irene Gallo, art director at Tor, who's a special guest this year, had a row of panels where she curated a show of covers she has commissioned. It's a really impressive set of work. Johnna Klukas, the woodworker displayed a marvelous wall piece based on one of the most beautiful slices of burled wood I've seen. Mary Kay Kare displayed a colorful necklace of fish beads of all kinds with fish vertebrae used as the spacer beads - alas, not for sale.

It's been really cold here; I was out once on Friday to walk a block or so, and well, I'd forgotten how really cold it could get. I will be glad to get home, to climate instead of weather.

After a not exciting plane flight (a little mild turbulence when landing), I grabbed a cab with the people I was sharing a room with and headed out for the hotel. It was much easier than usual, as I'd shipped the trunk.

The hotel is still very nice, it now has a bar/restaurant in addition to the dining room, and it has the cutest little leaf shaped soaps.

That's the good news.

The bad news?

I left a painting (a big one) at home. My glasses broke (metal fatigue, of all things, in an ear piece), and I snagged and ran my favorite tights. The hotel is charging me an obscene amount of money - as in as much as it cost to ship it - just to accept shipment on the trunk ($60 if you're interested).

Things need to start getting better fast.

(Oh, there was one other good thing. The hotel shop was selling lovely shawls for $10.00 each. I have two, now. Faded purple to lavendar, and a burgundy one.)

And I will have three new paintings (as in never shown anywhere) in the art show, and all but one of them will be new to this convention.

Back to work now.

Other people get purebred puppies with names longer than their tales; our pets wander in from the alley, or are the finest of barn kittens.

Our new pet is no different - over the last few weeks, we've acquired a feral traffic cone. It's been hiding out by the garbage cans ever since the big snow we had in December. We don't see any name on it, so we don't know who it belongs too.

It's been suggested that we take it into the Seattle DOT and see if it's been chipped, but I called them and they said in our neighborhood, it was likely dumped, and not really worth getting a carrier for it, etc.

It's a pity - it's a friendly little thing with a bright orange coat and two bands of reflecting tape - quite charming actually. I wonder if it was the orange coat that caused it to be dumped? We were over in Bellevue last weekend and the fashion there seems to be for light gray traffic cones. That just isn't right. People shouldn't expect their pets to be fashion accessories.

It also seems pretty smart. I expect I could teach it tricks with no effort at all.

So one of my errands tomorrow will be to the pet store for a traveling container, a harness and leash, and two real pet bowls to replace the cottage cheese containers. I wonder if they have Purina Traffic Cone Chow?

We went to the Puyallup yesterday. This is different than just going to Puyallup; the Puyallup is local shorthand for the Washington State Fair. Among other things, we saw Dexter cattle - a very small, easy-keeping breed from Ireland, and some American Cream Draft horses - as my husband put it, a breed with a bad sense of timing, as they originated in the 1930s. Really good looking however. I wouldn't mind having one of them around for moving things, and maybe breeding heavyweight saddle horses.

I also found out something I'd wondered about for nearly twenty years - I now know what The Ugliest Bird in the World was. The original UBW was a member of a mixed flock that used to live in the SW corner of Greenlake when I used to live there, and rode around the Lake before work during the summer. It looked like the result of a turkey-goose cross, not necessarily getting the good parts of either.

There was one at the fair yesterday and now I know why it wasn't in any of the bird books I consulted. They were all for wild birds, and this was a Muscovy duck. I am comforted by the fact the UBW was not the last member of an extinct species.

This morning is housekeeping; we'll have a house guest for Foolscap later this week, and the last Foolscap meeting before the con this afternoon. There will be further meetings this week, but those will be work meetings - put the program book together and such. Next Friday is F-Day, and it looks to be fun; Michael Kaluta and Esther Friesner are our GOHs this year and we have a new hotel in Redmond. I'm not in the art show, alas - we've run out of panel space as we've become more popular. But I will have a demo table Saturday, so if you're there, please stop by. I will have a few things for sale; my new book, some prints, etc.

Or a zap'em ray, or a nanotech, or a fairy godmother or something that can kill the common cold.

I didn't need this cold with its attendant bronchitis. Neither did my husband. He didn't need the sinus infection that followed, either. But we both seem to be recovering anyhow, but it's put me behind on almost everything - housekeeping, reading, exercise - and, most urgently - prep for Comic-Con and Denvention.

The book for Comic-Con arrived though! It's gorgeous, and a big thank you to scarlettina and Kaja Foglio for blurbage. My family (a tough but kindly bunch of art critics all) likes it. Whee!



If you're interested, you can order a copy here.

And I finished the order form for special orders today - so should I get any, I won't forget important information.

Next - matt cutting, framing, packing, running in circles! Oh, and a Foolscap meeting next week. Eep!

The Challenge:


Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done.
See if anybody else responds with "I've done that." If they have, you need to add another!(2.b., 2.c., etc...)
Have your friends cut & paste this into their journal to see what unique things they've done in their life.

I have:

1. Rec'd fan mail from six continents - still working on Antarctica.
2. Found an ametrine on a beach - just a small one, but all the same.
3. Been kissed by a seal. Fishy, but true.

So, Saturday, I worked on a website for a client, finished a sketchbook for ComicCon and sent it to the printer, and then went on errands with the Amazing Mr. B - bank, mail box (check, yeah!), and the local Hancock Fabrics which is going out of business for a couple of years until they get their new building built. We were hoping to find upholstery fabric for Mr. B's kneeling chair, but we waited too long. So we went down to the sale at JoAnn's and found just what we wanted, but perhaps we paid a little more. By then we were hungry so we went to Anthony's in Des Moines for salads and fresh strawberry lemonade. After that, we were tired so we went home.

Sunday we met with cyberangel and her husband for brunch at Endolyne Joes - fabulous mushroom omelette after which we all went to the Foolscap meeting. We had unfamiliar faces! We had more people than could sit around the table! That's a really good feeling - I'm happy to see that other people that I don't even know (or at least not very well) think that Foolscap is a good time investment. A lot of discussion followed, including what we should do for tenth anniversary stuff (yes, LD, you cannot escape the cake!), and new ideas for promotion. Our new volunteers had a lot of good ideas in that area. Afterwards a fair chunk of the committee went out to dinner at Atlas (very much a Chow Foods day!) and we finally got home by 10:30.

Monday was back at work and Monday evening was Silent Movie Mondays - a vast improvement over last week's movie. This week was El Gaucho - and there were parts where I didn't always know what would happen next. On the way home we stopped by B&N and I picked up a much needed black bag - this one in messenger style, with a great design in two shades of grey silk-screened on the flap.

Tuesday was not supposed to be busy - really it wasn't! We picked up pills at the pharmacy (twofer sale on vitamins) and then Mr. B. suggested a little dinner at Alki as it was a glorious evening. Unfortunately, everyone else in West Seattle thought that was a good idea too and there was absolutely no parking anywhere. So we retreated to the Admiral District and Blackbirds, where I had a thunderingly good sweet pea and morel rissoto and a fruit tart. The filling was wonderful, but the crust needed work - or perhaps I should say, less work - much less. The service was exquisite, and we didn't hurry at all.

When we got home - remember Saturday, when I sent the book to the printers? All the last three days, we'd been trading files back and forth, fixing errors, but there was one persistent one I could not figure out. So I sat down with Acrobat and went through the whole thing with a fine tooth comb and finally found what the problem was. I didn't get to bed very early.

So everything was going along swimmingly until this morning when I got up. I mean, I think I got up - at least my eyes opened. But my head hurt abominably, my muscles ached, and the rest of me didn't bear mentioning. I stayed home (darn - work had hit an interesting bit again) and napped most of the day ( I will not divulge the rest of my activities - you don't want to know the details, trust me). Woke up about 3:30 feeling much improved. So have I just been overdoing it? got bit by a minor bug? yearly migraine? ran into whatever herb it is that disagrees with me? who knows? But it better not happen again, 'cause I got lots more to do than just nap with the cats.

The plumber has been and gone. He didn't have to cut into the main stack; evidently he had a few more tricks up his sleeve than yesterday's plumber. He thinks the problem is that we have a bow in our drain. Whether we have to do anything about it will depend on whether we have anymore trouble with it.

Both the cats are upset but again for differant reasons. The older cat is mourning the loss of career opportunities ("I coulda been a plumber") while the younger one continues to be upset that I didn't show enough sense to hide under the bed with her ("Anything could have happened Mom!")

I'm looking forward to a normal day tomorrow.

I am now trapped, waiting for the plumbers to arrive. Trapped, with two cats trapped in the upstairs bedroom, neither of whom is happy.

Cat 1: "Let me out, let me out! I want to meet the plumbers, ride around in their truck, wear my own little tool belt, be the Amazing Plumbing Cat and have George Lucas make movies about my adventures!"

Cat2: "Hide me! Hide me! The horrible cat-eating plumber zombies are coming to get me! Me, personally! I'm getting under the bed and if you knew what was good for you, you would too!"

It's going to be a long day.

Like plumbing. Last night after a several hour computer session, I stepped out of the downstairs bedroom and into the laundry room. The floor looked funny; like it had suddenly gotten leprosy. When I went to turn the lights on, the truth became clear - the laundry was flooded.

Well, not much that I really liked/wanted/needed was damaged, and the flooding didn't spread into the carpeted rooms, remaining in the tile-on-concrete laundry. That's the last of the good news though.

bedii and I spent about 12:30 AM to 3:00 AM Sunday morning mopping the laundry room floor and moving stuff and setting wet stuff out to dry and mopping some more....

At that point we thought the washer was broken. Sunday morning I researched washers and washer problems on the web. Then I took my shower - and that's when bedii watched my shower come bubbling up through the drain in the middle of the laundry. Oops. Washing machine's OK. Drains, however, are not.

So we go to brunch with my family (we have a good sense of priorities, we do) and called a plumber when we got home. He could not get into any of the drains' access points. He could not get the snake-thingy to go down through the upstairs toilet. He and a partner and special equipment are coming back tomorrow to cut into our stack and make a new access point to our drains. The stack is cast iron, btw. Then they'll send a snake in with a camera, so we can see what's wrong with the drains.

This is getting expensive - and I'm not getting paid tomorrow cause I'll be watching plumbers. I'm beginning to appreciate the interaction of water and gravity like I never have before.

P.S. The cats just sat through the whole mopping episode, looking smug, watching us work. If they do that again, I'm going to tie them to the mop handles and see how long-haired cats work as mops.

It's sunny and warm in Seattle today - warm enough that lots of people were out at Alki, and despite local ordinances agains such folly, some of them were cruising.

The Amazing Mr. Bug and I (not cruising - we were just headed home; the long way) realized quickly that some of these people did not realize that there are vehicles in which one cannot cruise. That's all there is to it. In order to help these poor souls, here are some suggestions about appropriate transportation:

1. No mommy vans; no SUVs. It is completely impossible to cruise in one of these. Even fancy SUVs such as Escalades and Hummers don't work - those just mean that you're trying too hard.

2. Usually older vehicles are better. It's difficult to get an older vehicle that won't work. Still it's possible, so avoid these cars:

a. Pinto
b. Gremlin
c. Pacer
d. 1980s Rolls Royce
e. Aztec (there is some difference of opinion here)

3. Probably no Scandinavian cars (Volvo, Saab) and no Subarus. Just too safe and practical.

And -

4. Absolutely no Priuses. The cognitive dissonance here is appalling. Conspicously wasting gas in a vehicle whose sole reason for existence is to save it? Nope. Just doesn't work.

So, do you have any additions? Deletions?

While talking to the amazing Mr. B last night, I noticed our younger cat, K, was eating her kibble by reaching into her bowl with her paw and picking up a piece or two of kibble, which she then brought up to her mouth and ate.

Earlier this week, someone broke into the cookie container and ate half of one. We'd blamed L., the older cat, but now I'm wondering.

I suppose we should be thankful it's not L - she's smarter. Even so, the idea that we have a cat that's learned to use her 'hands' worries me.

I've checked and she doesn't have opposable thumbs, so my guess is that K is using her claws somehow.

For those who are curious, K. appears to be left-pawed.

Not to mention United Airlines & Chicago.

Started going to Lunacon last Wednesday; started coming home from Lunacon Monday, arrived late today (Tuesday), courtesy of United Airlines' inability to keep to a schedule.

But some parts were very good - especially the bit where my sales were the best they've ever been at a regional convention and the very very pretty ribbon (with streamers as long as my arm) I got for a new painting, "Casual Friday". And seeing friends I don't see often enough, and the one night stay in a cool hotel, and flying mostly easily.

:)

I have accomplished two of my annual doctor's visits today - you know the ones, after age X, you should have a Y exam annually.

Work is going pretty well. And

We have a new secretary desk!

It's custom build and folds into a tiny foot and a half and two feet and a half and is four feet tall. It unfolds into two and a half feet by 6 feet. It has movable shelves to put stuff on. It has file holders. It has a drawer with a key. It's gorgeous - and it will be all ours Sunday when we go over with some friends to pick it up. After we'll have brunch lunch with said friends.

I'm still not painting as much as I could wish. I haven't solved a sortof mathematical/geometrical problem that I know I can, involving beading a bead that doesn't require a core bead. My hip/thigh/back are much better, but three weeks of doing damn near nothing, and three weeks of not doing nearly as much as usual have left me with some decidedly weak muscles. Much walking will be done in the coming weeks.

I'm rereading my unexpurgated Arabian Nights, and I'm working on my plans for a visit to NY next month.

(The amazing Mr. Bug, alas, has a cough and sore throat.)

Saw my doctor (she's been on vacation) - I have sciatica, which appears to be a catch all phrase for "you injured this set of nerves" and I now have, in addition to new pain meds, steroids. My doctor believes I should be up and at'em Monday. Yeah!

(It has been getting better slowly - I made yesterday's doctor visit on my own, and walked a half block to the Starbucks afterwards).

No other news. Alas.

The senior cat has discovered the heating pad I'm using on my back. Perhaps if I buy her her own, I can have mine back.

I was up for 30-45 minutes this morning. Yeah me! I did exciting things like put stuff in the dryer and send an email, and do a Goldilocks number on the household chairs.