Saturday, October 24, 2015

Many Apologies

I was supposed to show you people drawings today.

That will not happen, because I am too tired to scan and edit drawings tonight.



It's been a long week, and I'm just about peopled out, and I want to curl up and watch old Disney movies. Or Flashpoint.



But in reality, I will probably work on a few entries for the Musicals Blog Party a fellow blogger is doing. I feel bad, because I told her I was going to participate and I haven't yet. Our conversation went something like,

Her:"If I do a musicals blog party, will you join?"
Me: "YASSSS."
Her: "If I do it in October will that be good?"
Me" YAAAAAASS."
Her: *does the party*
Me: "Oh look, life."


She literally picked the one week where I spent most of my life at work, and I was too tired to draw, let alone peer at a computer screen, trying to think of something intelligent to say. (We all know, I don't do intelligent very well, or often.)

So yeah, I need to work on that.

Other than that, this post is pretty much an "I'm sorry, Picture Saturday is postponed til next week, because I was lazy and only have like four pictures to post." and I feel bad when I don't even have as many drawings as there are days in the week, you know?

I figured out the name of Tristan's other friend and I will reveal him next week.



I have spent more time listening to Il Volo and Josh Groban this week than I have Phantom, so I think the obsession with drawing from that musical might be coming to a close-- don't get your hopes up though, I'd said something about the obsession subsiding before, and look how that turned out.



So anyway, I'm going to leave you with these two songs because, A.) Josh Groban's voice speaks to me on a spiritual level, and B.) Il Volo sounds like chocolate. So, give them a listen and let me know what song you like better, or if you love them equally, or just what think of my taste in music.

 


Love you all!

Good night.






Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Man Crates + Memories

There's something about autumn that brings old memories to the surface. I don't know what it is, but there's just something in the air that makes me want to rifle through the photo albums and watch home videos, and just... reminisce.

So when I was contacted by Man Crates to do a post about what it was like to grow up as a nineties kid, I was really pleased, because now I had an excuse to talk about it.

And then after I was contacted, I did some Man Crate stalking and discovered what an awesome website it is. I mean, they have some of the coolest gifts for men for when you're stumped about what to get the men in your life, and it all comes neatly packaged in this crate.... (most of which need to be opened with a handy-dandy crowbar. A crowbar! How perfectly manly. How cool.)

source


Anyway.

It took me a little while to think of what to say for this, because let's be honest here: I didn't really grow up as a nineties kid. I've always felt that my family grew up as more... fifties kids. We didn't play video games, we didn't use the internet except for email, and not one of us had a cellphone for ages.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing! I'm grateful to have grown up playing outside and getting dirty rather than spending all the time staring at a screen of some sort.

And when I think about it, I notice that there's a lot of stuff that's changed a lot.

So, let's make a list! I like lists. Here's a list of things that I vividly remember about growing up.

1.) Walkie-talkies. Remember those bad boys? You felt like the world's most spyish spy, hiding behind stuff and talking covertly into the speaker, like, "Agent Teresa reporting to base, over. The water balloon has been thrown. Mission accomplished, over." (And they always made that delightful static sound right before you pushed the talk button: KSSHHHHT.)



2.) Polly Pockets. I know these aren't only from the nineties, but that's when they were at their climax. I'm not talking about the inch tall dolls, no, I mean the ones that were only a little bigger than your thumbnail.



We had the gypsy caravan one for a long time, even after the horse and the dog got lost, we still had the carriage, and I played with that one all the time. I wonder what happened to it.



3.) Freaking BOBBLES, man! Those things were so evil. (It didn't help my mom liked to do our hair really tight, and sometimes the bobble would escape and smack your head like a plastic mace-and-chain from hell.)



4.) You know those stories where all the neighborhood kids get together and play baseball in someone's back yard or a vacant lot? That actually happened a lot when I was growing up. We had those cheesy yellow wiffle bats, the rubber bases, and we'd set them in our yard and have a grand old time playing baseball. (Obviously with some rule changes, like the youngest kids weren't out until they at least clipped the ball. Strikeouts didn't happen when you were three and could barely lift the bat.)


And let me tell you guys, I was good. (Want to know the story of how I broke my elbow in several places, resulting in lots of pain medication and a surgery when I was eleven? I was the outfielder.)


5.) Jumanji. My dad used to watch this movie a lot, and it's been seared into my brain as the scariest movie of all time.


It got me to swear off all board games for a good six months, because those game pieces moved by themselves, and it was alarming.



6.) American Girl Dolls. Every single little girl ever wanted one of these. Or all of them. We wanted all the dolls' accessories, and we'd literally spend hours pouring over the magazine and drooling.



7.) Oh remember when cap guns were cool? When you could get them and they were metal and actually looked real rather than the stupid clear or orange plastic ones you can sometimes find now? And they came with holsters and belts and that little roll of caps that smoked a little when you shot them...Man, we used to play with those a lot. We'd have Cowboys VS Indians wars, and we'd be Indiana Jones-type people who'd rescue the orphans (AKA the youngest girls) from the evil Orphanage Lady (usually portrayed by yours truly).






I don't know. There was something special about about staying outside all day long. We live in a pretty good neighborhood, and I would be on my bike and up the street with the kids from the block as soon as I finished breakfast.

We'd build forts, and have mud pie making contests, and compare calluses, and it was so much simpler.

Kids were allowed to be kids, we were allowed to get dirty, and actually play on playgrounds. We'd play hide-and-seek and all sorts of tag, we'd see how many times we could jump over that stupid Skip-It toy...

The world was a lot more wholesome than it is now.

It was an awesome way to grow up!

And I miss it.



 So, questions!

*What was your favorite toy as a kid growing up?
*What was one game you played all the time? 
*Did you ever play with cap guns? 
*Have you checked out Man Crates yet?
*Do you like the new blog look?

Love you all!





Sunday, October 18, 2015

Picture Saturday-- Or is it?

Wherein this post should have been up yesterday.

But it was raining, and a friend came up, and we watched Sleepy Hollow.

All day.

No regrets.



So today results in a belated Picture Saturday, because as long as I get it up at some point during the weekend I feel I have accomplished something.

Also, I'm getting a bit stumped on what to say now, because I keep thinking about other stuff I should be doing.

What do I do when I have writer's block?

I MAKE LISTS!


1.) Here, have some more Phantom, because Christine's hair is super fun to draw. I GET CARRIED AWAY WITH IT! Like, "And another curl and another curl-- just... one more. Okay. Two."



2.) Here, have the really quick character sketch I did for Amy, because I'm an awesome sister and I really like Paul.




3.) Here, look at this finished header I did for Hannah's blog.



4.) Here, let's get to know one of Tristan's friends. Her name is Kate, and she's a tough cookie... and yes. She likes wearing plaid flannel. (Also, the scanner I've been using does this thing where it smooths out all my lines. Which is nice, but it's also frustrating, because a lot of these pictures are rougher that they show up as on here, and it bothers me when it doesn't look the exact same as it does on paper.)



5.) Kate also worries about people and bites her thumb nail. (And she puts her hair in a french braid ponytail because reasons.)



6.) Tristan likes to tease her because she gets very heated, and it makes him laugh. (Yes, Tristan can laugh, it's just a rare and beautiful thing lol.)



7.) I figured out what one of other guys look like! (Tristan has three friends, two guys and Kate.) His name is Max and he introduces himself as "the pretty one." and I... love him.

Oh yeah, btw, Tristan's only like... 5'8"


8.) As I've mentioned before, one of the boys is going to die. I don't know which one, whether is Max or... or... I don't know the other one's name yet..... but one of them will die, and it will hurt. And so, I sort of drew it...late at night.



9.) Sometimes Tristan Ross gets mad and yells at people. (And it's hawt.)


The problem is, Bella and Jack are hounding me to write this stupid story.

But, A.) I don't write, because I suck at it, and I get mad. B.) Even if I was inclined to write this one, I have no plot, and I can't think of a plot, except that Tristan and gang are prolly about 18-20, and they live/hide in a bunker type place, and by night, sometimes they sabotage stuff. But I don't know what kind of stuff, why they're sabotaging it, or who the bad guy is, or why he has a personal vendetta against Tristan and gang.

Do you guys even like hearing about Tristan?

Anyway....

10.) Oh look, here's a pretty girl, that Amy said looked like I was trying to genderbend Harry Potter. (I wasn't.)



11.) And... because I have a forever ongoing obsession with a certain musical that I'm sure I've driven you all to hate...



Right... question time, because I like to talk to you guys.

1.) Favorite colored?
2.) Fave black and white?
3.) Are you bored with Tristan like you got bored with Phantom?
4.) Have you seen Sleepy Hollow?

Blog renovations will prolly start this evening, so if you see weird things on here for the next few days, I'm sorry.

Love you all!





Thursday, October 8, 2015

Lifey Upate || September & October



Everyone seemed to be really happy about the idea of another lifey post, so I figured why not-- It's been a great long while, and it would be fun.

So here's what's been going on in my life lately.

1.) Chloe and Sammi moved out, which made everyone very sad, they've been here so long, they pretty much ended up being little sisters rather than nieces. Ugh, I miss them when they're not here.



2.) This happened after the tragic baseball game, when Spencer was a smug little stinker because his team won, and mine didn't. (Actually, he tried really hard not to be smug, but he couldn't help it.)



3.) Sometimes I just take pictures of my mommy because I love my mommy. (Ignore the shredded canopy in the background, we got hail, and it couldn't cope.)



4.) All my favorite shows are starting to come back on air and it just makes me so happy. WE SURVIVED HIATUS!!!


You can practically hear the fandoms waking up and being like, "Aw yiss, TIME TO TAKE OVER TUMBLR."




5.) This is what it looks like when most of the family wants to watch the Peter Hollens video too.



6.) I heard this song on Pandora a few weeks ago... and I don't know. I love it. It just.... I love it.



7.) On National Coffee Day, Amy and I did the obvious thing, and went for Starbucks, because coffee.



8.) I cracked myself up.



9.) Toinkyface draws too, and ohmygoodness, my brain shuts down at how cute it is.



10.) I helped Amy film her newest video, and we ended up in Hope Valley, because reasons.


And then I got bored and took a plethura of selfies, because that's how I do. 


And then we did the obvious thing and stood in the middle of the road, because that's what roads are for. 




11.) When Chloe and Sammi visit it's a good time. (Yes, Cooney and Tiger had to be in the picture too.)




12.) Sometimes when we come around the Lake, it's the most beautiful thing you'll ever see.


13.) So I totally dyed a rainbow stripe into my hair, because I'm Rainbow Dash.



14.) My brother-in-law is coming up for a visit on Saturday, and I'm super excited, because he's the best, and I love him. :)



15.) Il Volo has a new CD and wow they've grown up. BUT YEAH OKAY STILL SUPER ATTRACTIVE, AND WOW ONLY ITALIANS CAN SHMOOZE MUSIC SO WELL. Ugh. I hate them. *pants*
  






16.) This happened when I was playing a game....


And oops, my hand slipped.



Yep, that's it. That's what's going on with me.

What's going on with you??


Are any of your fandoms airing again? WHICH ONES?