Indie on my iPod?

Christmas brings wonderful things, and this year, it brought me an iPod. Thanks mom and dad! And thanks go to my sister for helping me discover my love of indie pop. With my iPod in hand, I've been finding my new favorite bands, and the songs that they so generously offer for free download. My favorite, by far, is Galactic Heroes. I especially love their song "Coffee and Pastries", plus "Yeti" from The Monster Song Project and "George Washington". These guys are great! Check the audio section for downloads.

I've got rhythm?

One of the gifts that we got at my house was Donkey Konga for Game Cube, with an appropriate number of conga drum controllers. This was one of those games that seemed like you would catch on within a reasonable amount of time. I was wrong. We have put in a large number of hours trying to look like we know what we're doing. To look like we have rhythm. We don't. Before we started playing, I was already thinking of fun ways to make it more challenging. You know, things like, listen to one song while beating out another song in the game. We don't need challenging.

But I'm being positive...after all, my newly turned five-year-old brother P.J. is able to play along with us. And he does pretty good! He really gets into it. Earlier, he had been playing so hard he said, "Whew! I'm all poofed out!" You read that right. Poofed out.

In the meantime, while playing, I keep thinking of the Donny and Marie Osmond movie, Going Coconuts. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because that's what I'm doing...Going Coconuts!

This whole thing has potential though. My friend who teaches music is coming to visit for a few days, and we'll be testing her musical skills. And I think that a Donkey Konga party is in order. Perhaps a championship tournament at my house...

Christmas time is here again?

It came up just as fast this year as it always does...and it will pass just as quickly...

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Poodle Fitness?

Yesterday was the post about Exploding Dog, that wasn't actually a dog at all. Today I share with you dogs that make you want to explode. This is just plain disturbing. Along the lines of Yoga Kitty, this goes beyond funny to just plain strange. (via Your Creative Dollars At Work.)

Exploding Dog?

Illustration Friday has been a great chance for me to take a word or phrase and see all of the things that could go with that. Mine usually end up being pretty literal. Sam at Exploding Dog has done better. He accepts requests. Just send a title or phrase, and you might see it illustrated. Many are an abstract concept to illustrate, and he does it so well, and with a style that I love. They are all great and I don't think I could choose a favorite. Check out I wish we could talk like we used to and I was too late. By the way, so far, I haven't seen any actual exploding dogs there.(via Morgue File.)

Getting to Tokyo?

Besides the incredible amount of information to be found, one of the things I love about the internet is how you can get to websites and find that information in strange ways. Places link to places that link to places that link. And search terms can come up with results you weren't looking for, but are even better than what you were looking for.

Here's what I discovered. Someone found my blog by searching for crazy wild gingerbread house. On Yahoo, I'm the top result for that. Weird. My gingerbread house surely wasn't what they were looking for. So I did a Google search for those terms myself. I ended up finding Japanese movie reviews, one with a gingerbread house in it. Then I saw all of the other reviews of things in Tokyo on the site. Movies, anime, design, toys. And...a link to the Ghibli Museum, which I had never found before.

So if you're looking for a crazy wild gingerbread house, apparently this is the place to look. But if you want to find great Tokyo reviews, check out TokyoQ. Happy hunting!

Illustration Friday: Adoption?

Adoption

For this week's Illustration Friday theme of Adoption, I chose to illustrate my family. Well, at least the kids in my family. Each of us are adopted, except for James, who is our foster brother. Being part of an adopted family is such a blessing. It is wonderful to know that you were chosen. Chosen by your parents, and chosen by God to be part of your family. I feel doubly blessed to be adopted into God's family.

Clockwise from the top: Max (2), Anna (17), James (15 months), Me, P.J. (5), and Anders (10). Click the image for a larger, better view.

Anticipation?

Ooh! Ooh! I watched the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trailer! I think it's going to be fabulous. Of course, with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, how could it not be? It doesn't look as dark as I was expecting it to be. I thought that between Tim Burton and the book, this could be quite twisted. And it could be.

Either way, I'm so excited!

Gingerbread?

This is our gingerbread house this year. To me, it's a little too traditional. To my sister, it's way too traditional. I think she would have liked it to be a gingerbread asylum with crazy gingerbread men running around it. Oh well. It's still okay. My favorite part is this wall that my sister did. We also like the gingerbread man. The candy cane is because he has a broken leg. My brother ate it. But then, we once made an entire batch of gingerbread cookies that looked like the gingerbread man from Shrek.

Alice at last?

Alice

I've finally gotten around to posting Alice to go with the other Wonderland paintings. Perhaps she should have been first. Or maybe last. At any rate, here she is. The spot on her face that looks about the place for a nose...or maybe a high mouth...is actually part of the paper. I didn't paint anything there, it just worked out that way. Now it's time to continue the series. Any suggestions on what Alice character I should paint next?

Adoption?

Last week's Illustration Friday theme was security. I had some sketches, but never got around to finishing anything. Well, I'm so excited, because this week the theme is adoption! Being part of an adopted family, this is perfect for me! My mom is thrilled, because she sees this as a great way to get a family portrait done too. I'm seeing Christmas gift...

All things Gocco?

I've had more than a few people find my blog because of my references to Riso's Print Gocco. Before I got mine, I wanted as much information as I could find. So, if you want to know, here's what I know:

I'm told that Gocco rhymes with cocoa. When you order it, don't say Go-koo, like my mom did. It's not a Dragon Ball Z character.

Before I did my first print, I was a bit nervous. But I read through the (overwhelming) instructions. Once you actually read them, they aren't confusing, and everything makes sense. It wasn't difficult at all.

My first project was a little ambitious. I printed the covers for my family's Christmas cards (it's a long story, but they will now be next year's cards). I used one screen with two colors. The sticky backed foam that they give you is very effective. At least it was for my project, where the colors weren't extremely close. It wasn't until the very end of my run that the ink started to find its way through the foam.

They tell you to be generous when applying the ink, and they are right. Having more ink makes it go easier. They also tell you that you could get 75 prints from one application. This wasn't so accurate in my case. I reapplied more often than that, but each time it was either a different area or the other color.

I don't think that a single one was perfectly solid. A few had bigger spots of white where the ink ran out. But, I LOVED THIS! I found it to be very charming. Any imperfections seemed to be because it needed more ink. The screen was fine, all the way to the end.

I made a total of 200 cards, and was very happy with how they turned out.

Plans are in the works for my next prints!

Why punish me?

To the person or persons that decided that DVDs are the perfect way to give people special features: I offer my most sincere thanks. Special features are the greatest. I could sit and watch the extras on Monster's Inc. and Big Fish for hours. And I have.

To the person or persons that decided that "interactive menus" are a special feature: You're wrong. That just doesn't excite me. Neither does the theatrical trailer. I've seen it.

To the person or persons that are trying to rip me off by releasing "Special Edition" DVDs: Stop trying to rip me off! I went out and bought the DVD when it was released. So why are you messing with me by releasing a new set with an extra disc? Meet the Parents? Pirates of the Carribean? I can't keep buying double! Just give me all of the good stuff right from the beginning! Don't punish me for buying early!

Thank you for listening.

Driving me crazy?

I can't take it anymore! I can't let another day go without posting something. Anything! I have all of these plans for things that I want to share, but I just haven't been motivated to sit down and type it all out. But it will be coming! Suddenly you won't know what to do with all of the posts that I'll be posting! In the meantime, be patient. I'll return!

Mixed metaphor?

From my four-year-old brother:

"I'm so tired, I could eat a horse!"

The thing is, I know adults that would say similar things!

Illustration Friday: Bubble?

Bubble Snowman

Here's my illustration for this week's Illustration Friday theme, Bubble. When I heard this theme one of the first things I thought of was this snowman made of bubbles and with bubble snowflakes falling around him. I did this in a bit of a hurry, so it's not exactly as I would like it. But I still think he's a little cute.

I've seen so many wonderful entries already. If you haven't yet, check out the whole list at IllustrationFriday.com

Unlimited storage?

I got a Gmail account! Woo Hoo!

Thanks Joshua!

Preparing for Christmas?

December 1st is here, and that means more pressure to prepare for the holidays. At my house we make our cards and the ornaments for our live tree. This year I'll be printing the cards on my new Gocco, which should be fun. I think I need to get that going. Our tree will have all brown craft paper ornaments. Last night I started cutting paper for garland and ornaments. Again, I think that I need to get busy!

In the midst of the craziness, my family tries not to forget what this season is all about. A baby in a manger. A baby who grew up to save the world. To help celebrate this season, I've helped my family create a blog of activities for preparing for Christmas. Check out Celebrating Advent.