Now this is DIFFERENT

I just stumbled across a new artist that i have a crush on. It is a little strange. But I LOVE it. take a look.....

This is called "Balloon Boy" by artist Mark Ryden. Here's another one....

This is "Nurse Sue". Kinda strange, huh? Now take a look at this.....

"Cloven Bunny". I love the way the little girl's eyes are glazed over, staring out at nothing in particular. And look at her hand doodling absentmindedly in the blood of the cloven bunny... like this sorta thing- broken and bleeding stuffed animal bunnies- is a regular occurrence and, frankly, quite boring at this point.
Ok. now look at this........

"Fetal Trapping in Northern California"
So. Yep. Thats another precious little girl intently studying a miniature Abe Lincoln as he extracts a fetus from the "belly" of a tree. And I love it. Mark Ryden uses Abe Lincoln often in his art, as well as stuffed bunnies, bees, and meat.... heres a cool quote from his website in which he talks about his art, inspiration, and process:

I believe to get ideas you have to nourish the spirit. I stuff myself full of the things I like: pictures of bugs, paintings by Bouguereau and David, books about Pheneous T. Barnum, films by Ray Harryhausen, old photographs of strange people, children’s books about space and science, medical illustrations, music by Frank Sinatra and Debussy, magazines, T.V., Jung and Freud, Ren and Stimpy, Joseph Campbell and Nostradamus, Ken and Barbie, Alchemy, Freemasonary, Buddhism. At night my head is so full of ideas I can’t sleep. I mix it all together and create my own doctrine of life and the universe. To me, certain things seem to fit together. There are certain parallels and clues all over the place. There may be a little part of Alice in Wonderland that fits in. Charles Darwin, and Colonel Sanders provide pieces. To me the world is full of awe and wonder. This is what I put in my paintings.

Click on this link and visit his website for a larger collection of his work if you so desire..... do you think i'm wierd for liking this stuf? I haven't completely pinpointed it, but I'm drawn in by his use of nature, the color palette for sure, his sense of humor, and especially by the adorable children and their innocent responses to totally bizzare situations. I'll leave you with a few more of my favorites....

Walnut Tree Nymph

Dead Characters

The Ecstasy of Celia

Tears

GAH. when is she gonna stop talking about her DOG?

Hmmmmmmm. long time no write. What have I been doing, you ask? Well. It goes a little something like this....

5:30 wake up!
5:45 take Hazel for a walk to wear her little puppy bootie out.
6:30 shower and stuff
7:30 go to work
12:30 home to give Hazel a wee wee break and a quick smootchie
1:30 back to work
5:00 home to play with Hazel and wear her out again before...
7:00 class!
8:15 back home for some dinner and maybe see the hubs (but maybe not cause he's working on a movie this month)
9:30 finally sleeping.
(3:30am possibly waking up for a midnight wee wee break with Hazel- tiny puppy bladders! aaaagggghhh!)

so thats my life. heres the stuff i don't do since Hazel came into our lives...

1. grocery shopping- not that i did that before Hazel got here, no, that was Clarke's job. But since he started work on this film (which i haven't really even written about and will do so in the near future) he doesn't even have time to brush his teeth. So thats become my job. (not the teeth brushing- the grocery shopping) So we have been eating alot of takeout and fast food. you can't go to the grocery store with a puppy. and you can't leave a puppy at home unattended. we crate her during the work day, but once i get home she is ready to play! so, no, i don't go to the grocery store.
2. run various errands - like going to the bank, buying stamps, clothes shopping, hair cutting.... nope. those don't get done either. not enough time in the day. I do go to PetSmart and PetCo and PetWorld to purchase a new chewie toy at least once a week, because, of course, i can take Hazel there. So my dog and my cats do still eat good food and have sufficient toys on which to chew or claw or bat about. Clarke and i however stick to crap food and have no new toys on which to chew or claw or bat about.
3. visit my friends- I'm not sure i have friends anymore. Except for Hazel.
4. sleep- i don't sleep that much due to mid night wee breaks and early mornig walk-abouts. But that part is getting better. As she gets older her bladder has to get bigger, right? And I know she can't maintain this level of energy for the rest of her life, right? Ye GADS, I hope I'm right.

I'm being a little dramatic (as usual). I do still have a few friends and I did find time to grocery shop last tuesday. And I have to say that I am seriously enjoying my walks with Hazel- shes just so darn cute and smart and sweet- she brings out the best in everyone she meets- how do dogs do that? Having a dog has changed my life for the better. And this puppy stage doesn't last forever. (right?) So I am enjoying every moment with my sweet Hazel. And as soon as Clarke wraps on this shoot, we can have fresh veggies again on a regular basis :)

Side note: I'm doing something creative this weekend! I've got 2 cans of saddle brown spray paint, and 1 can of sunshine yellow paint and I have been ITCHING to get messy! Expect to see a few Fabulous pictures later next week....

I know, I know, I should change the name of my blog to "A Fabulous Animal"

Here I am, blogging about ANOTHER of my furry friends! When will I ever regain my focus and start talking about design again? As soon as I stop acquiring and losing and acquiring animals.... I am still missing my sweet Hampton- and no, this is NOT a replacement- but we do have a new member of our little family....

Introducing...

HAZEL!!!!

She's 9 weeks old and a total sweetie. I'm wrapped around her little paw, She's the apple of my eye, She had me at "hello". And she keeps me up all night crying and asking to get out of her kennel. So I'm a little tired, and alot in love with my new dog, Hazel.

LOST.

She has been gone since Saturday and I think I will never get over it. I miss her so much.

OMG I think I just died laughing...

I have a Betta fish named Francis Ronwell Quincy Dobbs (Quincy for short).......


And I think he is a little cold so I was online researching fish tank heaters..... and I ran across this posting on some weirdo Betta Fish Forum and , good grief, I laughed so hard I wet myself........


I got my first betta on Wednesday. I thought it might have ammonia poisoning, so I changed the water yesterday and twice today because it looked to be gasping for air. Now it's standing on its head (head down at the bottom, mouth gasping, tail at the top, fins spread out) and I have no idea what it's doing. I am a first time fish owner, and none of the websites I've found are much of a help. Please help. Thanks.

EDIT- Now he's swimming around, but his smaller fins are moving rapidly and he can't seem to stay at the top of the tank for extended periods of time. Also, he pulled the standing on his head stunt again, except the tail section started going sideways. He's gonna die, isn't he?

DOUBLE EDIT- He is not shimmying along the bottom, and along with the fact he hasn't eaten much, I don't think it's swim bladder.

TRIPLE EDIT- He just went to the top, took a breath, and seemed to literally slide downwards head first. He is still gasping for air.

4th edit- (several hours later) Now he's swimming erratically around his bowl. He'll do that for a bit than sink back to the bottom. WTH is going on?

5th edit- Never mind. He just died.

Now, I know that because I was visiting a weirdo Betta Fish Forum, because I think my fish is cold, makes me a weirdo by association. And I am prepared to accept that- whats more, I think its great cause if I hadn't been looking around for suggestions on how to warm up my fish (which by the way is accomplished with a heater or heat lamp) then I may have never run across this amazingly hilarious posting chronicling the slow demise of a Betta fish. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!

I demand an apology on behalf of all the Poodles.

I think this is dog abuse. But since I like to present both sides of every argument, please take a look at this website . And after you are finished perusing, you may feel free to agree with me: Not only do these poodles deserve an apology, but there's at least one crazy lady out there who must be stopped.

Wedding Crashers

So Clarke and I were invited to a party for a couple of friends who got married out of town. They came back to Birmingham and threw a raucous event at Vulcan Monument Park (gorgeous setting that overlooks downtown B'ham with a giant statue of the god Vulcan that you can climb to the top of Statue-of-Liberty-style) We signed our little RSVP card, I marked the date on the calendar, time passed.... and then the weekend was upon us! I put on my fancy dress and my high heels, and Clarke donned his cool tie/vest/slacks combo and away we went. The first thing I noticed were the flowers- oodles of fresh flowers on every flat surface, draped over the railings, I think even Vulcan himself was holding a bouquet aloft instead of his usual arrow. Clarke and I signed the guest book and started mingling. We didn't really know anyone there, but didn't expect to either as these were old friend's of Clarke's from WAY back in high school. I wanted to take a look at all the food, so we wound our way past the dance floor and were just about to get in line for a refreshing beverage when I spotted a couple of gents in tuxes. Now, our friend's wedding took place a few weeks prior to this party, and while I knew this was gonna be a "fancy dress" party, the invite did not say "black tie". "Hmmmm" I thought to myself, "Those guys sure are over dressed!" I leaned over to Clarke and asked, "have you seen the happy couple yet?" "Nope", he replied, "I wonder where they are?" We decided to start looking for them. As we passed the GIGANTIC wedding cake we both started feeling a little uneasy. We hung a left at the gaggle of girls in matching bridesmaid dresses and REALLY started to feel uneasy. Where are our friends? Why is everyone so dressed up and in matching outfits? Clarke suggested we climb to the top of the Vulcan monument to watch the sunset. From up there we could get a better view of the party and freely discuss the fact that we might, just might, be crashing someone else's wedding reception. So we climbed. And from atop Vulcan's perch, the sweet sounds of the motown band drifting up to meet us, we gazed at a glorious sunset.

Breathtaking, I know!
But back to issue-at-hand. Clarke and I added up what we knew so far: 1. There were dudes in tuxes and dudettes in matching dresses. 2.There was a wedding cake. 3. There was a motown band which is a staple of any good southern wedding reception. 4. There wasnt' a jew in sight- oh yeah, our friends who were throwing this party are jewish.

I think we are at the wrong party.



So do I.


And then we laughed and laughed and laughed... And then we went back down and got a drink, congratulated the happy couple (yes, we finaly found them, bride and groom, wedding dress and tux, we had NO IDEA who they were) and went on home...laughing all the way.

We are wedding (reception) crashers.

See- what had happened wuz..... I marked the wrong date on the calendar. The party we were supposed to attend had already come and gone- we were off by 2 weeks! But what a lovely event we attended. Couldn't have been better! I'd just like to say "Thank you" to the Bride and Groom for throwing such a fabulous affair. I wish you happiness and much love as you start your new life together as man and wife. And thanks for the beers too.