for you, Vanessa

So I've been drawing a ton.  And making patterns, taking pictures, etc but posting nothing to this blog.  Some of the drawings were for a facebook page I did with friends in September, until I realized that facebook was really bumming me out so I deleted it from my phone and have avoided checking it...  And now I'm in the midst of a drawing project with Kristin and we have our drawings posted here for the time being.

The drawing above is from this morning for my project with Kristin, as a documentation of my LA mornings lately.  I wake up and debate going for a run immediately and then decide that instead, I will make coffee.  With my big old cup of coffee I sit at my desk, read emails, check my planner, make some to-do lists, and then sometimes play The Daily Show or something on Netflix or some music while I draw or paint or stare into space with my coffee until I realize I'm starting to get jittery and it's time to make some food to counter the caffeine.  

This morning I reheated some leftover ginger garlic tofu bok choy soup because I needed to finish it but it wasn't what I wanted- I just shoveled it in and felt uncomfortably hot from it- almost feverish which is awesome when one is already feeling on the verge of panic from a little too much coffee and the uncertainty of one's future due to her employment status...  yay!  (and that's when I decide that tomorrow, for sure, I will run first thing rather than going straight for the coffee...)

birdz

Wednesday evening pattern

A 96 degree day in Culver City left my apartment hot and stuffy when I got home.  My neighbor across the courtyard had his tv on full blast so I was selective in the windows I opened wide to let in the cooler air.  And then I pulled up an old drawing and made this, which I would print on a backpack and wear when I ride my bike, to go for a night ride to avoid the heat and clear my head...

the bottom of the ocean 1

I asked one of my favorite people for a drawing topic and she told me "Things that fall to the bottom of the ocean."  So I drew this.  This executive rabbit was a victim of downsizing, so he found an affordable sublet on the seafloor so he could branch out on his own. 

 His career fell to the bottom of the ocean. 

 But he's optimistic.  

Go get 'em, rabbit.

it holds a *lot* of critters

It's a viable solution to a common problem.  

vintage crayons

When I was in second grade my teacher gave me a box of Snoopy crayons.  I stored them in the Snoopy crayon box they came in until years later when it was almost disintegrated and I moved them to a gold and maroon cardboard box that a Seiko watch came it.  I still have that Seiko box and it's still full of crayons from the 80's- the Snoopy crayons as well as miscellaneous Crayolas, Prangs, and Goldens.  Some of them are peeled and some of them are broken and some of them show evidence of being burned in candles when I was melting them to draw with in high school.  I pull them out when Maggie comes to my apartment but otherwise they don't get a lot of use.  So this morning I drew with them for some reason.  I think mainly to see what colors I have.

bffs

So a while back Sidekick passed away.  He got sick and then died, and it took me a little while to realize why I was in a bad mood until I realized that his death sort of affected me.  I'd had him for years, after all, and he had been a trooper when the three of us (He, Thor & I) packed up and moved a thousand miles from Boulder to crazy Los Angeles.  From a simple life living on a quiet little street to a big hectic city with helicopters and sirens screaming by...  I was attached to both those little guys and maybe losing him was like losing one more connection to that simple life I'd left behind.

I felt especially bad for Thor, though.  While Sidekick was sick, Thor wouldn't leave his side.  He swam solemnly nearby and it broke my heart- I was likely anthropomorphizing, but it really felt like he was losing his best friend and it was hard to watch.

Then, soon after Sidekick died, I had to go away for a week.  Before I left I cleaned the tank well- I scrubbed the algae and changed the water and replaced the filter.

When I got back, I realized that the toothbrush that I used to scrub the inside of the glass was still in the tank.  Thor seemed a bit better and I couldn't help but think the toothbrush had somehow played a part.  They must have become friends!  I left the toothbrush in the tank, because who was I to force Thor through another devastating loss...  I imagine this is what it was like while I was away:

rabbits, lemons, crystals

animals in rows

beatle leaves

early morning beach

I got to the beach early and did a long run.  When I got back to where I started I sat in the sand and a group of nuns came and settled in close by.  They brought army-green folding chairs and lined them up in a row- sat down and opened their bibles but one of them went straight down to the water and stood facing it, so I took her picture.

Friday night snakeskin

I went bowling tonight with 2 friends, and had a great time.  They're both friends I've met since being here in LA, which is nice.  It's a giant crazy city but I still have faith that it can work for me here.  I suppose time will tell...

Wednesday pattern

An old scan of a drawing reworked...

cold winter's night

All the flora here in LA is amazing- the pods and seeds and crazy-giant leaves that grow and grow without a frost to kill them...  And I've taken photos and drawn some but not nearly like I thought I would...

These pods are from the loop I run at lunch- How funny that I moved to LA but still managed to find myself working at an office close to a really nice trail for running.  Instead of Coyotes and Bald Eagles and Prairie dogs it's Lizards and Crows and Egrets now, but reminiscent of my Colorado runs, and still restorative to leave my desk at noon and slip into a different space for part of the day.

brown widow, eh?

Brown widow venom is twice as potent as black widow venom, but is usually confined to the bite area and surrounding tissue, as opposed to the black widow's. Mere toxicity of the poison is not the only factor in dangerousness. 

That's reassuring.  This is the little guy who hangs out on the floor at the bottom of his web in my garage, and when I approach my car every morning he climbs his web to my neighbors storage box.  I have a bag of Diatomaceous Earth in my car but haven't had the heart to dust the edges of my garage with it, yet...  It would wreak havoc on the the whole spider community...  Do I really have the right to do that?  I'm just a renter, after all...