And Her Name Is...

Myrtle!! But she prefers Myrt. My muse, that is. Yes, I finally came up with a name. And a different picture. This one is closer to the actual idea I had in mind. Dame Edna is fabulous, but this gal is closer to the kind of art I enjoy. Recycled/altered art. Although I draw the line at wearing a colander on my head…

Anyway, Myrt did what I talked about in my blog 2 weeks ago. She took hold of me and basically took over the project I was working on. It’s actually 2 projects for 2 people, but they live at the same address, so it doesn’t matter which one I finish first. It’s just that I had the one project already done in my mind and intended to get that one taken care of first. But noooooo. Myrt had other ideas…..

I had mentioned that the second one was going in a different direction entirely, and that was the one that Myrt focused on the last couple of weeks. I could NOT even think of the first project…it HAD to be the second one that filled my thoughts. I pondered. I worked. I pondered some more. I ended up scrapping everything I had intended to do on this particular project in the beginning. I’ve never done one quite like this before and I finished it yesterday. I’m quite chuffed with the results, too. It’s ready to mail whenever I get the FIRST one done now. And so far, Myrt seems content to let that one ride as already planned.

So it’s Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, off to the art mines for me….

August 2012 Book Report

“Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard

Excellent history book! This should be required reading in middle schools. The writing is so engaging that you don’t even realize you are reading history.

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“High on Arrival” by Mackenzie Phillips

Sad autobiography. I found it hard to believe this woman did the amount of drugs she claims. I wouldn’t think the human body could survive it. She has a true iron constitution if this was a factual account. Well written, but ultimately a sad story.

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“The Preschooler’s Busy Book” by Trish Kuffner

When I was looking on the Internet for a home-made finger paint recipe, I found a blog by a woman who got the recipe from this book. She couldn’t say enough about this book, so I decided to get it myself. I like coming up with new things to amuse Lia when I’m visiting. It’s a little outdated for some of the activities, and some are either too young or too old for her, but that’s OK. She’ll master the ones for the older child soon enough, and the younger stuff can either be amended or ignored. There is a TON of neat stuff to keep a kid busy. Some of the ideas are truly amazing.

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“A Touch of Love” by Barbara Cartland

OK. I admit it. I enjoy sappy Regency Romances….(head hanging in shame). One of the best things about the Cartland books is that there is NO sex. Not before marriage anyway. And even then, if it’s a marriage of convenience, the couple doesn’t “get together” until they have truly fallen in LOVE. If your brain hurts, this is the kind of book to read.    

Smacked Upside The Head

I've written before about my muse getting a stranglehold of me at odd times. Sometimes taking over whatever project I’m working on. Lately she has been noticeably absent. I’ve had a couple of projects that I really need to get started on and have had ZERO inspiration.

Then I got a nudge.

Then a shove.

Then a smack upside the head.

She was back!!!

Now one of the projects is almost done in my imagination. I’ve done some of the prep work and have just started to amass the materials I will need. Naturally, it’s also the weekend that Sarah and Lia are here. I also started getting an idea for the second project that is completely different from what I had first planned.

Ms. Muse does that….

In getting the house ready for Sarah and Lia, I had to put my project stuff in a box and set it aside for next week. So I started really thinking about my muse. What does she look like? I had never really thought about it much before, but she seems to want visibility, at least in my mind.

I started getting a nebulous picture, but couldn’t think of how to make it manifest. My other artistic “talents” aside, I can’t draw worth beans. I could probably get Sarah to draw something for me, but it wouldn’t be done in time for my blog post. So I turned to the Internet. I googled a lot of different images without finding anything I could use. Then out of the blue, Dame Edna Everage came to mind. I’d always found the character that Barry Humphries had portrayed to be a real hoot. It’s been years since I’ve seen Dame Edna on TV, so I looked up images of her…

THAT’S what my muse looks like! Dame Edna!! I tried to find an image of Dame Edna in a toga, like a muse would wear, but this is the closest I came. Now I know the basics of the image in my mind and can make it my own.

At least I know what my muse looks like now when she smacks me. And I don’t really mind when she does that. It’s when she takes over a project and sends it in a different direction that she gets mildly annoying. But I can handle her. I have to come up with a different name for her, though. Any suggestions? 

PS—Look up Dame Edna on youtube and have yourself a laugh! J

I wish I was Seinfeld

Man, I got NOTHING today! Been running around doing errands, trying to get the house somewhat cleared so we can have friends over for dinner, pay bills…..yadda yadda yadda.

Thought I might write about my Fresno trip, but really didn’t feel like it…

Did have some fun going down the “Back To School” aisle at Walmart and looking at all the pretty folders, binders, pens, cases etc. 

Saw THE MOST FUN THING: a chandelier for your locker! 

How cool is that? It attaches to the top of your locker with magnets. I so totally would’ve wanted one of those!

I stood there looking at them and trying VERY hard to think of how on earth I could use one of these at home…nada. 

They are just SO CUTE! All Walmart had were the black and white ones, but they also come in pink and blue. I would’ve chosen the blue…natch.

So there ya go. Nothing. 

Sorry, Gladys. I’ll try harder next week….

The Natural Resources of Ravenskye City

A couple of times when there was a lag between quests in Ravenskye, I would idly see how many different types of snagvine there were. I toyed with the idea of cataloging them and coming up with uses for them. About the time I would start seriously thinking of this, the quests would start again. Well, now there are NO quests in the foreseeable future, and I find myself waiting to redo my city until I’ve finished getting the last of my collections and can clear the whole place and start over. SO….out came my list again and this time I will finish it.

When Cornelius and the gang landed in Ravenskye City, they had to forage for awhile until they got a better camp set up and rebuilt the city. The many types of snagvine available provided them with tools, medicine and food.

The city itself had 16 different snagvines, the peak had two, and the interior had two.

Reefroot (interior) The oily root could be crushed and boiled down to make a waterproof coating.

Seastalk (int) Bitter leaves, but could be used as a source of vitamins in a salad.

Hybrid bamboo (peak) Used as you would bamboo.

Mountain blush (peak) The flowers would brew into a very flavorful tea.

Chokeroot and Thornychoke were both medicinal for coughs and colds. Use the root of chokeroot and the thorns of the other, pulverizing them and boiling down into a thick syrup. Leaves of both could be brewed into a soothing tea.

Madrash – very toxic. Stay away from it! But the root from Noxroot, crushed and steeped in hot water, would soothe almost any skin irritation.

Clumpvine, Flattop and Wildstalk weren’t of much use except for animal feed.

Fireroot. Spicy leaves for salads. Dry and grind up the root for seasoning that tasted like cayenne.

Tearoot. The leaves made a good tea, but the dried and ground root had more caffeine.

Thickroot. Leaves not good for anything, but the root was good roasted, like a potato.

Twistroot. Leaves could be brewed for a spicy tea and the root ground up and used like ginger.

Spiney and Tangleweed. The spines were very strong and could be used as needles. The tangleweed was difficult to work with, but when soaked and straightened, the core of the vines contained tough fibers that could be separated and used as thread.

Spyrevine. Stalks were very strong and came to a point. After hardening in fire, could be used as a digging tool or as a weapon.

Towerweed was good for fencing.

Watchweed got the name because when burned, it “ticked” like a watch, because of the sap in the plant. Later, it was found the sap could be used as a natural insect repellant.

Even though most of the rocks and vines were eventually eliminated, the usefulness of some of the vines prompted Barley to keep some of the seeds on hand, and Iris and Monty to cultivate some of them in their greenhouses. 

And so ends my little foray into total geekdome....

Book Report July 2012

Holy smokes! I haven’t done a book report since January! I won’t report on all the ones I’ve read since then, at least in this one posting. Just a few for now and more to come later…

Heartstones by Ruth Rendell

I read this many years ago and gave it to Sarah. One of the last times I was at her house, I saw it in her bookcase and decided to read it again. I had not remembered the ending. It was a surprise all over again. I love that kind of thing! The young girl Elvira was just as creepy as when I first read this story. The teenage years suck!! This poor girl needs some good counseling and meds. As does this entire dysfunctional family. I’ve read a lot of Ruth Rendell’s books, and she is very good when it comes to atmosphere and tension. Can’t say much more without ruining it.

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The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

Awesome first book in a series!! I LOVED this book! Mr. Ali retires from a government position in India, and to stave off boredom, opens a marriage bureau from his home. Just a great little slice of life there. You really come to care about the main people. There’s great heartfelt concern and humor.

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Some Girls: My Life in a Harem by Jillian Lauren

True story about how a prostitute becomes part of the Prince of Brunei’s harem. Ms. Lauren writes very well, and I was captivated from the first word to the last. One thing I was grateful about was that fact that there is no graphic sex. You know it’s there, but the spotlight wasn’t on that aspect of her life in the harem.

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The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

A real rip-snorter of a book! I’ve read all the Sherlock Holmes stories by Mr. Doyle, but had never read any of his ‘science-fiction’ and this was a good one. A plateau in South American is the home of dinosaurs and ape-men. The explorers of this strange land are tested to the maximum.

Chocolate Skulls!!!

Forget about tasty brains….why not the entire skull??

Made of chocolate, of course. The BEST chocolate. They weigh about 5 pounds and come in 3 flavors: the blended white and milk chocolate called “bone”, dark chocolate, and semi-sweet.

They are hand cast individually to order and are anatomically correct. If that makes a difference. Don’t want no shoddy, crooked skulls on MY plate, thankyouverymuch.

It takes 3 weeks to make one of these charmers AND will ONLY set you back $375.00!!!

Plus shipping.

What a bargain!

Gotta admit…if someone gave me one of these…I’d eat it!

Cogito, Ergo, NOM!!!!