Cowardly

I previously posted about doing my own take on the Wizard of Oz characters. First character was Scarecrow. Now I've (more or less) finished the Cowardly Lion. You've seen it here first folks! One day I will be famous!


Still playing around with the Toto, not sure if I need to make him look more robotic to fit in with the whole "steampunk" thing?

Memories

My dad sends me lots of pictures. He likes to take pictures, always has, and I occasionally post a couple here and there. Over the past week or so he's been sending me a lot, but they are not of the beach or the grandkids. He has been scanning in a bunch of old photos dating back from the 30's through the 80's, of family and friends. I love seeing these old pictures, even if they are of relatives, and other people, I never met. I really love this one of my Great-Aunt Neva ("Nene") and my grandmother (middle and right) with an unknown friend of theirs. Looks like it dates to the 30's sometime, judging by the clothes. I love the hats!



He also sent me these of himself and my mom that I think date around the time they got married, it looks like. My dad looks like he's got that James Dean cool thing down, and my mom was so cute!



Then he sends pictures like this.



Can you tell I was a little shy as a kid? That's my grandmother again, my dad's mom, Marion.
Thanks, dad!

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And now for something completely different... I got my first bloggy award!




From Pastor Sharon. She rocks walks Dances with God! She is one cool pastor and I would totally go to her church if only she would move here and start one!

This award was apparently started by Bookin' With Bingo. What a great way to share some of your favorite blogs! Pastor Sharon got one and is passing it along in true blogger fashion. I will pass it on as well, and maybe introduce one or two of you to some new and different blogs. I am so lame, I rarely take time to comment on their blogs, but I do read them, and about 473 (well, okay, maybe not quite) others, nearly every day.

B for Beautiful: I give this one to Beth Niquette who does wonderful, fanciful drawings and cloud "paintings", and truly has a gift for seeing fabulously unique things in our ordinary world!

I for Informative: I give to Michel at Facts Are Strictly Optional, because I learn something from her everyday. Things like how wonderful Little Debbie products are, or that there is such a thing as Bacon flavored vodka! Sometimes (frequently) I become informed just by reading the comments other people leave. Most important, though, I've learned that I do not, under any circumstances, ever want to work for the Government and live in Sudan. Thanks, Michel!

N for Neighborly: I give this one to Janie at Midlife Slices. She was one of the very first people in the blog-o-sphere to truly befriend me. Janie, seriously, you are welcome at my house for margaritas any time!

G for Gorgeous: goes to Jason at The Jason Show. He has wonderful stories of family life, great pictures, funny stuff, sad stuff. He knows how to make fun of himself while providing valuable lessons of tolerance in a not-so-tolerant world.

O for Outstanding: goes to Eileen at Sane Without Drugs. She is crazy and makes me laugh, but also makes me think about stuff. I love her photos of her flowers and cats (and everything else). Just one thing...will someone please rescue poor Fluffy?!

Now go check 'em out! I love you guys!

Another Day In My Life at 911

I often sometimes get frustrated by people who call 911 to have the police come out to tell their roommates/boyfriends/sisters (whatever) to let them get their stuff out of the apartment they've just been kicked out of. I often sometimes get frustrated by people who call 911 because their neighbor parks in front of their house. I frequently sometimes get frustrated by people who call 911 to have the police come discipline their kids.

I have to laugh, though, at people who call 911 for stupid dumbass silly reasons.
Like the following: (Once again, I am NOT making this up!)

911: What is your emergency?
Caller: There's a suspicious guy walking down my street.
911: What's he doing?
Caller: Walking down the street.
911: So...how is that suspicious?
Caller: He doesn't live on this street.
911: Does he have any weapons?
Caller: No.
911: Is he hassling people?
Caller: No.
911: Does he seem intoxicated or on drugs?
Caller: No.
911: So why is he suspicious?
Caller: Because he doesn't belong in this neighborhood!
911: ...sigh...


911: What is your emergency?
Caller: There's, like, 30 people over in the park on the baseball diamond.
911: Okay. What are they doing?
Caller: Playing baseball.
911: ...(?) And that's a problem because...
Caller: The parks and recreation guy said the field is only for people under 16 years old.
911: ...sigh...


911: What is your emergency?
Caller: There is a suspicious guy at the gas station.
911: What's he doing that's suspicious?
Caller: He's parked at the gas pump.
911: Um, is he getting gas?
Caller: I don't know, but the gas station's closed.
911: Is it one of those pumps you can pay by card after the station is closed?
Caller: I don't know. You just need to get someone out there.
911: It's not against the law for him to buy gas after dark...
Caller: He shouldn't be there! You just need to get a cop out there!
911: So other than him being there after dark, what else is suspicious about it?
Caller: He's black.
911: Really? You think he's suspicious because he's black? (Yes, I actually asked him that.)
Caller: Yes! Are you sending a f*ing cop or what?!
911: ...sigh...

I think I have a permanent dent in my forehead from banging it against my desk.

What the...? It's almost September already!?

And I am so ridiculously behind on my blogging!
I have been drawing and drawing but I seem to have little for my efforts so far. I drew a little something for The Wizard of Otin...but you'll have to wait until he posts it.

I am drawing one of Midlife Slices' sweet little granddaughters, but again, she'll have to post it first. Suffice it to say this is one fun project! Once she has it in hand I will post it here.

I am also working on some personal stuff when I get the chance.
I have long been fascinated with fairy tales and such. And even though they are not "fairy tales" per se, I love "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice In Wonderland" especially.

I started working on Oz characters some time ago. I didn't get very far. (Stuff always comes up, you notice that?) A couple weeks ago I started again, this time on the Scarecrow. I decided to do all the characters as girls, mainly because girls are easier to draw then boys, plus I thought they might actually sell better, too.
So I did this one:
Which I like okay. But then I got to wasting time doing research online and ran across some steampunk stuff, which is great because I kind of want to go that direction with some of my jewelry...and I thought to myself, "Self, what if you do your Oz stuff kind of steampunk?" Self decided that sounded like a right fine thing to do.
So here's Scarecrow #2:


Personally, I like her a lot.
She has some great detail work, like her pocket watch and her crow. I haven't printed her out yet, so I don't know how they will translate to the finished project, but they were fun to make.

Taking a break this weekend, though. We are going to see Secret Agent Man's sister and folks in the Minneapolis/St Paul area for the State Fair. Should be fun. Hopefully not as hot as it is here! (I'm so ready for fall!)

Hope you all are enjoying the last days of summer!

Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty pt 2 and 3

*** Go check out Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty. Yes, right now! All the "fan art" has been posted and it's wicked cool! There are so many talented people who responded to the call for art. What a fun, fun thing! ***

My second selection for the CNLT project was Gracie's spy girl. Again - right up my alley, no? Her dad called it "Saving the World and Looking Snazzy". Love it!

Here's Gracie's. I love that her hair is blowing in the wind and that even her gun is color coordinated!
And here's my version:
I was going to call it a day after finishing up the spy girl, but then I remembered that the deadline was today!! So I stayed up late and started/finished Isaac's monster under the bed called "Wide Awake". Finally got it done around 1 am.

I love the look on the monster's face, like "Wait a minute! I know that bed was here a minute ago!"

Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty

One of the sites I visit regularly is Pascal Campion. His artwork is fun and lovely and a great inspiration. He recently had a post that linked to a site called, you guessed it, Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty.

CNLT is a blog that is done by three kids, Isaac (10), Grace (9), and Lily (6). They draw, review books, and make their own drawings of art they like from the books they read. They have been doing this for 3 years, according to their site.

Their dad has decided, in honor of their 250 posts and 400 drawings (holy cow!), to invite artists who read their blog to do their own versions of the kids' drawings, like the kids do of their favorite artists.

I thought this sounded like a lot of fun! So I perused their site and found a drawing done by each of the kids. Drawing #1 is a Bunny Pirate Captain done by Lily.


We all know I like pirates! I couldn't resist!
Here's my version of Lily's pirate:

Over the next couple days I will be doing one for Isaac and Grace as well. It's a nice little exercise for me and a lot of fun. I encourage any of you who like to draw or doodle to join in, what a fun thing for those kids!

Fairies and fires and callers, oh my!

I had a sale! Yea!



This was for one of my favorite little fairies. I did this one completely in Corel Painter, and it's a really fun art program because you can totally make stuff look like it's hand painted. (Ok, what the hell is it with me and the word "totally"?! I totally use it way too much!) I need to play around in it some more, and probably get the newer version, because my computer doesn't like the old one very well (I think it's 3 years old now).
I also have a good start on my jewelry. It's been fun making stuff again. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post on Monday. Maybe tomorrow if I really get my butt in gear.

I am kind of frustrated I haven't posted for a while. Been working a lot. We've had some mandatory overtime because a lot of people have been sick, some on vacation and one of our gals fell off a ladder and fractured her spine. (ouch!) And then Thursday we had a HUGE storm here. Lots of thunder and lightening and grass fires. That's always fun in a 911 center. (Not!) Then right in the middle of everything we (or the ground right next to the building) got hit by lightening! Everybody yelped and jumped in their seats. Luckily our computers are well protected, but sheriff's radio lost all theirs for a bit. It was pretty nuts for a while. Thank goodness it started to rain right after so hopefully that put out all the grass fires that got started.

Ah, summer!

It's been what we call "stupid busy" around here. Domestic violence calls have doubled:


Assaults have doubled (The new thing here seems to be stabbings. Good grief!):


Our "special" callers are calling 20 times a day, some of them (seriously), and they all seem to be coming out of the woodwork:


The heat, and now the full moon, are making people ca-ray-zee! We have discussed plans to get a crop duster to spread Prozac around town. If anyone can help with that I'd appreciate a call!



Have a great weekend!