Titanosaurus

Yesterday we went back to the museum of natural history to check out the new Titanosaurus.
He is huge.
So huge that he does not fit inside the HUUUGE room allocated for him.

We love the titanosaurus, and I hope he is a permanent addition to the museum's dinosaur family.

               

Log

*********** I got the rats a Log. It is crunchy and edible. They are obsessed, especially Munchie, which I suppose is appropriate. He might be trying to eat the entire Log in one night.

Q-Tip was gnoshing on the Log, but he is very lazy and he stopped to take a nap. Munchie has been gnoshing on the LOG for- literally- hours.

He also photobombed the Log.

Pebbles thinks the rats are interesting and perplexing.

Featuring Furball

I was looking for some pictures for Nancy, and I came across these lovely photos of Furball.
Furball is cute and perfect.

Enveloped...

At work yesterday, I needed an envelope.
There were no envelopes in the copy room by my desk, so I went across the floor to check out the other copy room.

There were no envelopes there, either.

Instead, there were "Free Books"........

.......... on Hepatitis C.

Oh, I DEFINITELY don't want that!!

Teeth

Daya had her teeth cleaned yesterday.  She has zero cavities and 1 baby tooth left.
As always, she requires my sunglasses because she is allergic to the light.

Daya needs braces.
I have known this for a while and I have delayed the consultation...I guess because subconsciously I am scared of the cost.

How to pay for it....I don't know. I really, really don't know.
Having no help for anything, in any way, ever- really stinks.
And it is scary.

How did I end up like this?

But she has an appointment next month, so I'll have to face it.

********\
I had braces.  Twice. I hated the orthodontist...going and all the crap surrounding it.  My mother used my orthodontic expenses as a way to harass, annoy, and financially burden my father.  There were many screaming phone conversations- the arguing even extended to the receptionist at the office.

It was bad.

During those years, on occasional visits to see my father, my teeth were always a topic of conversation. How much the braces cost. They argued around me and through me. My father was so angry that once he even took me for another opinion during a visit.

The orthodontist apparently took advantage of the situation, and my braces cost three times what they should have, or something like that.

Of course my sister's teeth came in perfectly and she didn't need any orthodontic work at all.

*******
There is that small voice that tells me perhaps this is my karma for having been such a burden as a child.

But I'll never make Daya feel badly for having... needs that kids have.

Mad Beer

Carey was lamenting the dreadful Budweiser superbowl commercial.

As a joke, she suggested beer for our theme this week.

I thought it was a fine idea, so, beer.

***********

There is a beer in my fridge. Someone left it here. It has been there for more than 2 1/2 years, making it the oldest resident in my fridge. It lives on the top shelf way in the back, and for some reason that I do not know, I just leave it in there.

I do not like beer.

It tastes gross and gives me a bad headache.

So here is my tribute to the ancient beer in my fridge.

I have decided to evict the beer and leave it in the hallway on the window sill.

Someone will definitely take it.

VILE BREW

9x12

pastel (Unisons) on black mi tientes

evicted beer

Telephoto Cats

The cats go on top of my kitchen cabinets sometimes.
Isis was napping up there last night. I went to make tea and I woke her up. Furball was following me around, and she went up because if someone is up there Furball ALWAYS follows.

The photos definitely need color correction etc but I'm too lazy to do post-production.

This is my fave pic of Isis, ever

V Day

I blasted the neighbors again, and this time I didn't feel bad about it.
It's really a shame they don't like Pink Floyd.
How could anyone not like Pink Floyd??

Anyhow.

**********
Daya has a problem with her ankle.  her teachers say it's either achilles heel tendinitis or an overworked ankle.  She has to stay off it for a while. This is good timing because school and dance are out for winter break next week.

She has a performance on Feb 29th but I am sure she will be better by then.  In the meantime, the ankle has to stay wrapped, iced, and elevated. So Daya sits at her computer table with her foot resting on the table, and she says it is quite comfy.
I told her it is a good thing she is bendy.

It is V Day and we are going exactly nowhere because it is crazy-cold, even by my standards.
Temp is 1 whole degree, not accounting for the wind chill. (That's -27C.)

I got Daya some chocolates, of course.

Blast

It is Friday night.
The piano has filled my living room. I have, however, prepared.

My neighbors got blasted.
Guns N Roses
Nirvana
Eric Johnson
Robben Ford

They banged on the wall.
Oh sooooo scaaaary.

I am not continually blasting them, just when I hear the piano.  Then if they stop, I stop.
They continue, I continue.
It took several songs, but as of right now they have stopped and not restarted.

Hey, thanks Robben Ford!

***********
This kind of behavior is so........ completely different than who I am as a person. I just...don't ever do things like this.  It makes me very uncomfortable, to be honest.  Nervous, though I am not afraid. Upset. Shaken. Upset stomach.  I want to cry. And now I am. It triggers the hell out of me.

So, I am looking at it, examining it.

I'm not breaking any laws; it isn't even late at night. It is also not constant. They can call the police (again) but when has the NYPD *ever* cared about noise complaints?  I should know; I have put in many, many noise complaints about the courtyard behind my building. They fall on deaf ears.

There is nothing they can do about my music, the same as I cannot really do anything about their piano.

**********
It is the conflict I dislike intensely.
My life has had too much conflict and I do avoid it at all costs.
I grew up with everyone in conflict and it has left very deep marks on me.
Even now, all these decades later. I can't handle conflict.

Olga is yelling loudly next door, at who I do not know.

I hate fighting. I want peace. But I also have to stand up for myself; I am no weakling. I fight only as a very last resort. It doesn't mean I can't; it just means I don't want to until I have no other choice.

This feeling of being shaken up...how strange - but also not strange- that I should have these reactions. That it affects me so deeply. At least I know why.

It is so unpleasant.

*****
And now they have started again, and so have I.

Perfect Metaphor

Pebbles peed on my bed again. That's the second time this week.
She only pees on my bed exactly where I sleep. Then she moves over and falls asleep.
On my brand new down comforter.

I can't.
I cannot deal.
No.
I.......can't.

I mean, I REALLY cannot deal.

Contrary to Daya's belief, I really am very fond of Pebbles. This is upsetting on many levels.

I do not think Pebbles would be happy as an outdoor cat. She is way too attached to her creature comforts. She is a princess indoor cat. She loves people. She loves comfort and luxury. She loves... well, garbage cans.

Those things aside, Pebbles has already been abandoned once. She was clearly raised with people, and they dumped her when she was pregnant to die in an empty apartment.  She was literally starving to death at 4 lbs.  4 out of her 6 kittens died from failure to thrive- she didn't have the resources to nourish them. This has done something to her cat-brain, because she is always trying to take care of someone else.  Me, Daya, Furball.

The prozac was working.
We doubled the dose last week.

The other thing is that Daya is intensely attached to Pebbles. She loves all the cats, but Pebbles is her special cat.  Most nights, Pebbles sleeps with Daya. Pebbles knows this routine and when it is time for Daya to go to bed, Pebbles is right there, waiting. Then she sleeps on Daya's head all night.

*********
The situation is actually a perfect metaphor for my own life.
I have given that cat everything- rescue, love, care, food, water, entertainment, friends, medical attention, my attention, daily medication to resolve this problem- everything I know how to do.  All the right things.

And the end result is cat pee on my bed.

This is pretty much how everything in my life turns out, despite my efforts, good intentions, diligence, and hard work. And it seems like things finally are going well......

.....and again I end up with cat pee on my bed, in a figurative sense (as well as literal).

***********

The only thing I can think of to do at this point is have Pebbles live in Daya's room, because Daya has a door and I do not.

I cannot have her on my bed anymore.

**********

Everything.  I have done everything right which should give good results.

And I just end up with a puddle of cat pee.

Answer

I was asked a question in an early morning meditation.
Because I don't honestly know how much more I can take with my current themes.
More on that later.

My answer is that I would change from The Hermit to The Sun.

The Sun from

The Gilded Tarot

Nasty Horrid Neighbor

My neighbor Olga called the police on me Monday night. Because I rang the buzzer to try to talk to them AGAIN about the piano which is right up against our only shared wall.

Facts:
*Olga doesn't like me because they used to live above me and they were so horribly loud I put in noise complaints. They had 2 official adults, 2 official kids, 1 unofficial adult, and another unofficial kid (relatives imported from Russia) all living above me in a 1 bedroom apartment.  I don't know what the ever-loving fuck they were doing, but it was loud enough to skew paintings on the wall, and even take my computer out of standby. The landlord gave them a 2 bedroom apartment next door to me with no one underneath.

*The people who own the bike shop down the block lived in my apartment before me. They also had major issues with her. They called the police on Olga because of the excessive noise.  The police said, wow, that's dreadful and told them to move. They did.

I, however, and NOT moving.

*They have an end apartment.  They have one wall that is a shared wall- with me.  And this is where they put their piano. It is as loud in my living room as it is in their apartment.  I can hear it even through earplugs.

*I didn't call the police on them when they would ring my buzzer on purpose at 2am.

*I have been asking them to please move the piano.  The super asked.  The landlord asked. The landlord suggested I speak to them, so I have been trying to do that.  The daughter always answers the door.  Monday night Olga answered the door.  She started insulting me, refused to talk to me, and she called the police.

*Technically she is not required to move the piano but the police said they would ask her to move it.

I tried to be nice about this but Olga is just a really nasty horrid person.  And I think she hits her daughter because I hear her yelling and the daughter screaming sometimes. The girl is by herself a lot and I feel bad for her. None of this is the daughter's fault.

*One day about 8 years ago when the daughter was 6 years old, Olga left to go shopping.  Left the daughter alone for a long time.  I found her wandering in the hallway, she had left her apartment and locked herself out. She went looking for her mother because she was scared of witches. I asked her when the mother would be back.  She didn't know.  I asked what is your mother's phone number.  She didn't know.

I regret not calling 911.

Instead I took the child in, and she was with me for about 45 minutes.  She could have just walked outside into the street. Olga never even thanked me, I heard her screaming so loudly at the child, and the child screaming in terror...I went back to interrupt that.....

Anyhow that's the kind of person Olga is.

*******
I really don't like to stoop so low, but if they do not move that piano, and according to the police they don't have to and can play it up to 9pm, I can also direct loud music into their apartment until 9pm.
She actually told me outright she's doing it on purpose.

Well I can do it too, then. I also have the right to be obnoxious. Sometimes people only understand if you communicate to them on their own level.  They don't understand anything else.

I'm not even asking them to stop- I am just asking them to move it to a different wall.

Basic consideration and courtesy to others goes a very long way.
Lack of this makes everyone insane.

I suppose that's why we need so many laws, because people can't seem to manage the basics.

SPECIAL THANKS TO CAREY FOR
COMPILING A 
SPECIAL NEIGHBOR PLAYLIST

Mad Space

Our theme is Space.
Space is a great theme.

Here is a little ACEO.
Unison pastels on blue colorfix primed bristol
2.5 x 3.5

Dru if you are reading this, I used my little grater! :)

Technique-wise this was a successful experiment in pulling off a speckled effect in pastel.
It's fragile as all pastel paintings are, but I am pleased with the result.
Colorfix primer has a nice toothy surface...I don't think this would work as well on a smooth surface.

Carey's mad space is here.

Again.....

.....She did it again.

Pebbles peed on my bed again.
Livid. I. Am. Livid.

I called the vet and the Prozac is doubled to 5mg.

Stupid cat.
She was just at the vet a week ago!!

Does anyone want a mentally-ill orange cat?

grrrrrrrr

Why?

Why did I think it was a Great! Idea! to do a 12x18 painting?
This is becoming the neverending painting.

Well here is another layer.
Switched from Rembrandts to Unisons, which are softer.

Lots of work still needed.

Irksome

Hay House.

Probably most people know about Hay House, Louise Hay, Denise Linn, Wayne Dyer etc.
And that's a good thing. Hay House has always been about the more.... I hate this term... new age spirituality.

I have gotten a lot of good stuff from Hay House over the years.

However, I am thinking lately that Hay House has evolved from the old-school generation of spiritual pioneers (Wayne Dyer, Denise Linn, Stuart Wilde, even Louise Hay herself).  They do, of course, still publish these materials, but it has become a massive publishing empire and they have jumped on the weight loss bandwagon.

For some reason, it really rubs me the wrong way.

I do get emails from Hay House, which I don't mind getting but recently (as in the last year or so) I have started to notice weight loss promotions from them more and more. In fact, now I get weight loss stuff from them more than anything else. It just seems... I don't know, cheap to me.

I liked Hay House better when it was a little more edgy-old-school.

I really don't need weight loss anything.  But I know it is a societal problem....and the message about cheap easy ways to lose weight are right up there with all the promotions for gluttony..... I just don't want or need another source of cheap easy weight loss stuff stuck in my face.

And from Hay House.  Really?

Ills & Cures

It is Thursday night and Daya is sick.
No fever, but she's got something.
Everything tastes bad to her.
Since Daya almost never gets sick, she always forgets what it feels like.

She has been properly slathered with Vicks and medicine, and she is out cold.

Daya HATES...absolutely detests- Vicks.  But I think breathing is important, so the Vicks is mandatory.

Daya does NOT like Vicks

Up and Running

I am running the new Tomb Raider game on the highest settings!  Yay!

It is gorgeous. Amazing detail. I'm not very far in but look, there are even sparkles on the snow! And the characters make tracks in the snow!

There are sparkles on the snow!!!! (top right)

******
Getting the new graphics card in was something of a misadventure.  It's not a difficult thing to do, and I have done it before, but for some reason all the stupid things that could happen, did.

I had the plugs in but one wasn't PERFECT even though it seemed fine so things weren't working right.
Then one of my RAM thingies got unseated.
Then the monitor wouldn't work.
Then the graphics card didn't like the power hook-up.

All of these things were easily fixed by figuring out what the heck was going on...and some trial and error.  Because when everything really is plugged in to the right places but things don't work, well it can be maddening. And it was one thing after another.

But anyhow, it's all sorted out now and Lara looks better than fantastic.