Who Are You Again?

Hi!  Welcome back!  To me, mostly.  I've been deep in the throes of starting my new career over these past two months, to the point where I actually took about a month off from the 365 project just to stay functional.  But today is the day I get back to it, and to celebrate that, I wanted to share what I did from 04/22/18-05/19/18 (which is when I accepted things would need to be put on hiatus).  I took pictures of pages rather than individual pieces, in an attempt to actually get this whole thing done today, so commentary will be shorter than usual (although, obviously, the entirety of the post will be somewhat longer).

Greenbreathing.

I spent several days trying to capture the way that being in the woods brings me peace.  There's a poem in the left image, and here's how it goes:

Steps slow and burdened/Searching for the way I’ve lost/I pace the leaf floor

Following the path/Dark and light and dark again/Deep into the wild

The weight of sorrow/Pressing on my lungs: exhaled/Gathered up by Them

The Ancient Ones, still/Breathing with me in silence/Lifting my burden

From poison to life/In the space between heartbeats/They transmute my pain

Out and in and out/The one becomes the other/The other the one

My balance restored/Light and dark and light again/I find my way home

Sweet Things

I'm super into The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.  You should be, too.  And then I found a pretty pittie who had wandered away from her home, and she was so sweet I called her Dulcinea.  Happy ending: she was reunited with her family after I took her to the Humane Society.  Also Happy Ending: I painted her without drawing first.  Progress!

Unfinished Business

I love what I've got going here, with my maenad and her satyrs, but I spent several days on it and it refused to progress.  I'll probably come back to it, someday.

Blue

I finished the first sketchbook on the last day of April.  I'd been reading a book that dealt with whales (Deep Wizardry) and it inspired my doodling that day (and I quoted it up there in the upper right corner).  (The lyrics in the lower left corner are from a song by Young Summer called "Waves That Rolled You Under", and I highly recommend you go listen to it right now.)

X Factor

Just a little green study of Madame X, because I was still working on painting without drawing first.

Jackalope Got Me Down will be the name of my first album.

More paintings without drawing, with limited success.  The Jackalope thing is because for some reason TLG took it into his head that anytime he fell down it was appropriate to say, "Jackalope got me down!" We have no idea where he picked that up from, but obviously we find the idea of blaming things on random jackalope attacks hilarious.

Damn good appetizer

Not much to say about these, except that I put a million layers into that cherry tomato and I think it looks awesome.  Also, the quote "He's my Wade and I'm keeping him!" is from the last time I played DnD (waaaay too long ago, now), and my character Severan sort of accidentally picked up an NPC squire and basically he's the Podrick to her Brienne now.  I'll hear no arguments.

Rainspheres (as opposed to bows) over the Grand Canyon, and also some Geese.

Red lips and purple ties.

Feet silhouetted in the pool at night, Super Professional Face.

These are all from my trip to Tempe at the beginning of May, where I had maybe five minutes each night to sketch something out before I dropped into bed, exhausted.

Love Undying

This last one, you'll notice, has a whole lot of dates next to it, and no color whatsoever.  That's because after nearly a week of making incremental progress, and feeling super stressed out about it, I realized that I needed to give myself a break.  So I did.  Which brings us to today, and this blog entry.  And once I finish this blog entry,  I'll start laying in some colors.  So stay tuned, Gentle Readers, and thanks for sticking with me for this long.

Poison Ivy, Pt II

One of the reasons I love Poison Ivy so much is, obviously, her hair (there are other reasons, such as being a stone cold bitch who does what needs doing to get the job done, and being a freaking brilliant lady scientist who takes no crap, but yeah I could probably do without the ecoterrorism but we all have areas of improvement right) and so when I was dreaming up this doodle I knew I wanted to bring in kind of a leaf-like texture to her hair.  Which I did!

So Color.  Much Wow.

Of course, now I want to go back in with more linework to really make things pop, but my Old Lady Alarm has already gone off for the evening, and I must obey.

(That being said, I picked up a metallic green lipstick this evening, during my Mother/Son date, on the off chance that I'm able to unearth the Poison Ivy costume in time for this weekend... and that it still fits...)

Poison Ivy, Pt I

There is a friendly neighborhood comic convention coming up this weekend, and I have a pass for it (sort of my last Hurrah before disappearing into a Study Vortex for the next twelve weeks).  I also have a vague desire to cosplay, but not enough time/energy/talent to get really Amazing about it, so I was thinking I might fall back on an old costume of mine, if I can find it in my Costume Trunk (which I may or may not be able to do- it's been over a decade and at least three moves since I wore it last...).

That Girl is Poison

Anyway, even if I can't dig it up, thinking about Poison Ivy makes me want to draw Poison Ivy, so here we are.  Colors tomorrow.

Baby's First Indie Comic

There are a few people in my life who know how to throw one hell of a party.  This is nice for someone like me, who enjoys attending amazing parties, but generally only throws casual get-togethers.  One such amazing-party-thrower is my friend Jenni Bost, who actually has an entire awesome blog about it (the appropriately named A Well Crafted Party).  Go check it out: I'll wait.

... ... ...


Welcome back!  I'm assuming it's a few hours later, because you've felt compelled to do a bunch of super-cool crafts and mix up a bunch of delicious drinks.  It's cool.  I've been there.

In fact I was literally there tonight!  Jenni threw her annual Halloween Party, and this year's theme was Comic Books.  I mentioned the other day that I decided to do more of a concept costume, and here's the result:

Embiggen for an extra joke on Neeps's shirt.

(The photo is B&W, just like our low-budget mini-comic.)

You got to read the first draft of the script the other day, so I thought you might like to check out the Final Product today:

Extremely limited run.

Yes, I misspelled pseudonym and had to hand-correct each issue.

Neeps used my copic brush pen for his subtle-yet-nuanced inking.

SPLASH PAGE!

Oh look, did someone accidentally leave AN ENTIRE FREAKING WORD BALLOON OUT and then have to go in and hand-write it in ten freaking times??

Look at that, they totally did.

We brought a handful to the party and gave them out (Nathan said that if we really wanted to sell the costumes, we should have brought a folding table and sat behind it, staring at people hungrily) and people seemed to enjoy it. I know we enjoyed making it, even if I did have to all-but-hog-tie Nathan to get him to just produce something quick rather than slaving over something "perfect".  After all, it was just a prop.

...for now...

Amber Avian Draft

We are going to a Comic Book themed Halloween party on Saturday.  Normally I'd have gone to the nines on our costumes, but since I'd already put quite a bit of effort into costumes that are not comic-book-related (stay tuned), I decide to be clever conceptually, and dress us up as Artist, Writer, and Inker.  And, of course, to complete the costumes I decided we'd make a tiny comic book.  Tonight I (the writer) wrote the rough draft of that comic:

Cover:  Amber Avian Adventures!

Page One:

Amber Avian Adventures, Issue One

Story by: Jenny O

Pictures by: Nathan

Ink by: Neeps

Cast: (just a little head shot of each character)

Duck: a mild-mannered duckling who stays in line- except when the weak need protecting: then he dons his secret identity of...

The Amber Avian: that fairest of fowls, sworn to stand against the naughty forces of the world, like…

Bad Pig: she just can’t seem to help herself- she’s always making trouble!  Especially for…

Wee Flipperling: Duck’s best friend, a seal who idolizes the heroic Amber Avian without realizing the two are one and the same!

Page Two: (little vignettes of a crying baby duck in a half shell; Duck releasing a fish from a hook; and the fish looking magical as sparkles form around Duck)

Abandoned at birth to fend for himself, Duck knows how hard the world can be for the small and defenseless.  When a magical fish granted him a wish in return for him saving her life, Duck knew just what to wish for- the power to defend all those who cannot defend themselves!  And so the fish transformed Duck into…

Page Three/Four: (two-page splash of Amber Avian fighting Bad Pig)

THE AMBER AVIAN!

Page Five:

(AA has BP in custody and is scolding her as WF looks on, stars in his eyes.)

AA: Bad Pig!  How could you steal those kids’ food?!

BP: It smelled too delicious!  I had to have it!

AA: It doesn’t matter how delicious it smelled- it’s wrong to steal!

BP: But... I was sooo hungry!

AA: Then you should have asked for some food, not just taken it!  Now, you’re going to make these kids a new meal to replace what you stole!

Page Six:

(BP looks panicked, AA looks thoughtful, WF looks helpful.)

BP: But… but I don’t know how to cook!  That’s why I was hungry!

AA: I see- that is a problem… but one we can fix!  Wee Flipperling?

WF: Yes, Amber Avian?

AA: Can you teach Bad Pig how to cook?

WF: Anything for you, Amber Avian!  In fact, my best friend, Duck, is a really great cook!  I’m sure he’ll help, too!

(AA looks rueful, BP looks sulky, and WF looks delighted)

AA: Er, uh… great idea, friend!  What could go wrong?

Will Duck be able to keep his secret identity a secret when the heat gets turned up in the kitchen?  Tune in next time for more AMBER AVIAN ADVENTURES!

Back Cover:

Creators: (headshot of each of us)

Writer: Jenny O is a chronic story-teller

Artist: Nathan is an early-onset curmudgeon

Inker: Neeps is most certainly a pseudonym

Half Grown Dog Love

After letting Isis outside this morning she and I had a playful romp around the kitchen, including a highly satisfying game of Tug- after which I fed her, and then she followed me around while I made my own breakfast.  She was being so cute, and I found myself so incredibly full of love for this little creature we've taken into our lives that I knelt down in front of her, took her beautiful puppy face in my hands, gazed deeply into her expressive little eyes, and told her how much I love her.  And did she sweetly lick my chin in response?  No, no she did not.

True Story.

Yeah.

Doing the Best You Can With What's Been Broken

I think it is fairly well established that, in the Buffyverse, Willow is my favorite.  We have stuff in common.

Yesterday the new Willow miniseries hit shelves, and of course I scooped it up.  Thus today we have doodles like this:

(She's levitating, not just standing weird.)

The Sickly Yellows

More Real Conversations with my husband:

Depression: Now in Sickly Yellow!

I'm not the only one who gets the sickly yellows, right?

My Unexciting Day

I woke up around 0430 this morning.  Not because I wanted to.

True Story.

Some jackass was failing to start his car.  Over, and over, and over again.  And I feel like, maybe, if you car is making noises like that when you try to start it, maybe you shouldn't try to start it, because maybe it is prying open a portal to hell.

I woke up again at 0600, when my alarm went off.  And I spent four minutes moaning to myself that I didn't want to get up, before the stronger part of my will won out.  (The stronger part of my will, by the by, seems to be directly tied to my inner Miser; the argument that actually got me out of bed was that if I didn't get out of bed and go running I'd have wasted the money I just spent on new running shoes.)

So.  Out of bed, did my yoga, released the dog from her cage because I figured hey- dogs like to run!

But not my dog.  Not this morning.  Normally she is all about some running-really-fast-faster-than-her-humans-can, but this morning she kept it to a very slow trot.  Behind me.  With lots of stops for sniffing.  I'm not sure if it was her earache (currently being medicated) or just that she didn't want to be up so early, either.

I had Nathan drive me to work because I was meeting up with KB afterwards to practice lead climbing, and my rope is too heavy and bulky for me to haul it on my bike for so far.  Which meant that after work I hauled it on my back for less far.

Which, as it turned out, was all for naught, because KB totally spaced.  Ah well.  I got in plenty of bouldering, and practiced clipping in and out until it felt like my arms might fall off.  Also I got the admiration of a newer climber, which was flattering but also embarrassing, because I'm not really that good, and I feel like a fraud when I say thank you (but it feels dickish to say, "Oh I'm not that good- you just really suck right now.")

And then I came home, and made a cucumber avocado soup for dinner.  I added bacon, which made it way more delicious, but next time I make it I think I'll be making even more tweaks.  Now the dog and I are hanging out on the couch, watching a movie which I picked because I thought it would be terrible, but is actually not bad, while I write a blog entry to warmup for some more world-building.

Ta da!

On the Quality of My Melons

Let's be blunt here: when you look like I do, you get used to Unsolicited Comments Upon Your Physical Qualities.  Most of the time they do not bother me- I choose to take them in the flattering manner they are most often intended.  Wolf-whistles or appreciative stares don't get my back up- on the contrary, often times they please me.  I may not have had anything to do with my genetic makeup or the symmetry of my features, but I have plenty to do with my physical fitness, clothing, makeup, and hairstyle.  So it's nice for my efforts to be appreciated.

However.

As I was riding home from work today, a cluster of boys (I'd say they ranged in age from about 14 to 17) who were conversing in Spanish (a language which I have a tentative grasp on) deliberately switched to English long enough to comment on my "huge melons" as I zipped past.

Readers, it pissed me off.

Those are supposed to be cantaloupes, in case you were wondering.

 And I spent the rest of the ride home trying to figure out why.  Why did that particular remark make me so angry, when other incidents have not?  I mean, I understand and appreciate the culture of piropos (goes back to that whole, "studied Spanish" thing) but this- this was not that.  But why wasn't it?  Was it just the crude phrasing?  (Piropos ought to be poetic, and I'll admit there was a tinge of insult to my anger- a sort of, "Screw you, my breasts are worthy of far better compliments than that!") After much thought and furious pedaling, however, I think I figured it out.

The incident pissed me off because those boys weren't trying to show their appreciation, or make me feel beautiful or good about myself- they were expressing their power over me by intimidating me.  A group large enough that I certainly didn't feel comfortable stopping and confronting them (as I have been known to do if just one or two males are being inappropriate), deliberately switching to a language they figured was my native tongue, to make absolutely certain that I understood the rude thing they were saying about my body.

Melons, indeed.

"You Might Have to Scream at Me"

I missed Crossfit last week, so I was pretty dang stoked about going this morning.  As it turned out, my previous new-guy partner and I were the only ones there for the 0800 class, so we got to be a team again.

The warmup included double-unders (or as I like to call them, "ego-busters"), and I did not manage to get more than three consecutive.  It is seriously irritating me to the point where I'm just going to break down and buy a speed rope so I can practice at home.  It also included kettlebell swings, which I'd been doing at 20lbs for a warmup, but today I went for 25lbs.  They felt pretty good, so next time I'll try 30lbs and see how that goes.  There were pushups and squats, too, and it was one of those days where I wondered at what point the warmup would feel like a warmup instead of just a pre-workout-workout...

Today's WOD:

800m row
deadlift hold

150 situps
plank hold

50 burpees
overhead plate hold

So basically what that means is that there are three stations, and at the first station one person rows on the erg while the second person holds the weight in the deadlift position.  If/when person #2 drops the weight, they switch off so that person #2 is rowing and person #1 is holding.  At station two, one person holds plank for as long as they can while the other does situps, and when person #1 drops out of plank they switch, until 150 pushups are reached.  For the final station (as you might have guessed) one person does burpees while the other holds the plate above their head.

Now, this was one of those WODs that made me think, "Oh that's not so bad."  Yeah, one of these days I'm going to learn to fear that phrase popping up in my brain...

J wanted to discuss strategy before we got started, so we decided that to start out we'd try to hit 400m and switch off.  He volunteered to row first, and joked that if I dropped the bar he'd just have to scream at me.

And so we started.  And hot damn, that bar was friggin' heavy.  It seems so simple to just hold a bar, but it really, really isn't.

My legs are wrecked from a) rock climbing b) wiping out on my bike and c) my general klutziness...

 I kept having to use my thighs to lurch it back upwards so I could re-establish a good grip, but most of the time it was just sort of barely dangling off my fingertips.  Finally it got to the point where I knew I couldn't hold it much longer, and I called out,

"You might have to scream at me pretty soon..."

But no sooner had I finished my (truthful) quip than J yelled, "400!" and I was able to drop it and start rowing.

Now, I am pretty okay at rowing- I know the proper form and I know to dig deep, but even doing the best that I could, J had to switch when I still had 150m to go, which meant that I had to hold the stupid bar again- and it was much harder after I'd been rowing.  In fact I was pretty sure I was going to drop it when J yelled that he was done, and I was able to act like dropping it was totally voluntary.

On to situps, which I did first while J held plank.  He started to make, "Let's switch!" noises about 20 in, but I convinced him to hang in there until 25.  I hung in there until 50, then we switched again at 69, 90, 101, 120, and 140 (I think... I definitely know I did the last ten, but I can't be positive on the numbers between that and 69)

And then, trembling, we moved to the last station, where J valiantly volunteered to do burpees first.  I picked up the plate (which was not that heavy), got it over my head, and wailed, "This shouldn't be so hard!" which made Aubrey laugh.  But I swear, that 35lb (I think it was 35 lbs) plate felt like it weighed about 80 lbs.  We swapped off after J did 10 burpees, and the rest of it is sort of a misery blur until the end...

I actually looked at my shins for this drawing, and did my best to match up the bruises with their real-life counterparts...

 But then it was the end, and I was so, so glad.

In Which I Discuss Lady Problems

Okay boys (and some girls) here is your warning right here, right now:

I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT UNPLEASANT BODILY FUNCTIONS OF A SPECIFICALLY FEMALE NATURE.

If you are uncomfortable reading about such topics, or reading about them as they apply to me in specific, then I recommend you look at the comic and then bug out.  You've been warned, and I therefore do not want to hear any griping.

***

 The post-Crossfit shower is a wonderful thing:

Nothing quite like hot water on sore muscles.

...until it's not:

Nothing quite like hot water on freshly torn calluses, either.

***

So there's your comic.  And now here's the in-depth discussion of today's WOD (and the aftermath thereof).

WOD:

18 minutes total

100m Prowler Push (90/50#)
Back Extensions
Monkey Bars
Airdyne (Calories)
Kettlebell Hoist

AMRAP in the time it takes for the prowler push. Rotate stations each time the prowler comes back in. Keep track of total reps.

But before we did the WOD, we did our warmup, and that's when I knew I was going to be in trouble.  There are certain times when, for whatever reason, cardio makes my uterus turn into a murderous rage-beast-of-death-cramps.  And I don't mean extended or hard cardio- I mean any cardio.  I've been paying attention to it for the past few months and I think  it's only happening around ovulation, but damned if I know what the connection there is.  Anyway, after doing 200m on the erg I started to feel the rumble of warning cramps, and knew it was going to be one of those workouts where I spent half an hour rolling around on the floor afterwards trying to recover.  But I also knew I could deal with it- because I have in the past and I'm sure I will again in the future.

We were supposed to team up with a partner of the opposite gender, so I sidled up to one of the new guys.  He apologized in advance, saying he's only been doing it for a week, so he was probably going to not be the best.  I reassured him that I've been doing it for several months and I still feel that way.  Honestly I thought we were a well-matched team- anyway he didn't drag me down...

We started out on back extensions, which was great because I kick ass at those, and it gave us a chance to sort of pad ourselves for the rest of it.  By the time we got to our turn pushing the prowler I was feeling pretty damn good- in that sweaty-tired-workout way.  I took off down the parking lot with my prowler at a push-run, and thinking I was surprised at how light and easy to push it was.  But then about 25m from the end I suddenly lost it- the prowler got heavy, and I was pushing with a walk, not a run.  And then it was back onto back extensions, where I was definitely not going so fast.  Monkey bars made me feel like I was going to die, and when we climbed back onto the airdynes I was hurting so badly that I only burned three calories (I'd gotten eleven in the previous round).  As for the kettlebell hoist?  I spent much of that just clinging desperately to the rope in a doubled-over position, trying not to drop the damn thing.

Then came the prowler, and it was definitely a walk-push the entire way- but I didn't let myself stop, so at least I had that to comfort my ego.  Unfortunately I'd gotten it into my head that we were only doing two rounds (as opposed to a set time of 18 minutes) so when Jack yelled "Switch!" as my partner and I shoved our prowlers back into position I responded (out loud, sadly) "Are you freaking kidding me?".  So more miserable, trying-not-to-puke back extensions, and one last slog across the monkey bars, and then Jack finally called time, and I hobbled over to the corner to get an abmat (I've found it helps me deal with the pain if I really stretch out my abs), then collapsed.

I did, indeed, roll around for about half an hour gritting my way through the pain- Aubrey came to check on me, even, and I assured her that I would be alright eventually.  Once I could stand it, I crawled into the bathroom, where my stupid devil uterus proceeded to cough up an alarming amount of blood.  Any shame I might have been feeling about my being a "sissy" abruptly disappeared, because I had tangible evidence that the pain was 100% physical reaction, and not a psychosomatic "I don't want to push harder!" response.

I'm not sure what it is that causes my uterus to go into contractions like that (because that's what uterine cramps are, you know- ), and why it only seems to happen mid-cycle, but I would very much like for it to stop.  I've tried different things- taking pain-killers ahead of time, being super-hydrated, doing stretches- and as far as I can tell I have absolutely zero control over it.  It makes me worry, too, about the likelihood of miscarriages if I ever get pregnant.  And can I just say, if labor is worse than what I experience during this business, I don't know if I'll be able to handle labor.  Because damn.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, my partner and I made a perfectly respectable showing in spite of my body spazzing out.  Yay us!)

Commuter Adventures

I have quite a few of them- adventures on my bike, I mean.  Many of which involve me channeling Daryl.  But today's adventure was not one of rage so much as amusement and vague disquiet:

(And just so you know, I was wearing regular black work slacks, nothing spandex-y.)

In case you cannot read my chicken-scratch of a thumbnail, what happened was this:

I was grinding my way up the Big Hill near the beginning of my route, and I was putting a lot of effort into it because I had my gear set at 6 (out of 8).  It's not very dignified-looking, but I keep it that tough because I use it as a chance to give my quad a good workout.  Anyway, a middle-aged dude was walking down the hill and he said to me, "Wow, that'll give you buns of steel!" (that phrase alone would have dated him even if I couldn't have guessed his age from his face).

"I know, right?" I said with my best dashing grin.  Then I was past him and moving along, and he yelled out,

"It's working, I can see!"

"...uhhh... thanks..." I said, and tried to be more flattered than weirded out.  But c'mon, guy- you just went from awesome-commiseration-dude to vaguely-creepy-lech in thirty seconds flat.

Parents Who Are Awesome

Possibly you remember that Nathan is a photographer?  Well, it's been a long time since he's done portraits (he prefers landscapes, if we're being honest, although they don't pay as well as human beings tend to) but tonight we had the opportunity to do a newborn session- and not just a newborn session, but a pair of twins!  Yep, all the joys and hair-tearing moments of a newborn session, doubled!

No really, it was fine- the parents are friends of ours, and very laid-back people, and Nathan got some really great shots (actually not that hard with newborns- they're sort of naturally tiny and photogenic).  I'm pretty excited to see the results of him processing them... (possibly I will share a few on here... we shall see).

Anyway, afterwards we had dinner, which provided us with one of the very best moments of the evening:

Wait, baby monitors have an "off" switch?!

 Yep, that's  how Todd and Tara roll- awesomely.  They are that rare breed of parent who a) has a sense of humor about the whole experience (babies want to scream instead of doing cute pose?  That's life, man... and a hilarious photo op!) and b) still have interests and lives outside of their babies.  Parents (and potential parents) this is a thing I highly recommend you do.  I think it makes you a better parent if you can model this sort of behavior to your offspring- I know my mom did, and look at how well I turned out!

(Right? Right??)

Trust me- you want your kids to grow up well-rounded, independent individuals, and the only way they're going to do that is if they have good examples of adults doing the same.  (And in my case, the only way my [theoretical] children will survive to adulthood is if I have something else to focus on every once in a while...)

Onward to the Emerald City!

First of all, this:

Yeah, that's right- Princess Ozma.  (Or Tippertarius, if you prefer.)  Done in honor of the fact that I'm off to Emerald City ComiCon for a few days, which means that although I'll still be doodling, I won't be posting until I'm back.  I expect to come back with an empty wallet, but lots of pretty new art for my walls... wheee!

My Kind of Crazy

The following is an actual event from this morning. The lead-up to this exchange was Nathan getting up at 0400 to let the dog out... and then not coming back to bed. At 0750 he came in to check on me because I hadn't come downstairs, in spite of the fact that I need to be at work by 0800.  I immediately demanded a hug, and here is the conversation that followed...

Hormones, Ladies- amIright?  Let's all go eat some chocolate...

...what I didn't tell him was that I hadn't gotten out of bed because I'd worked myself into a sort of terrified paralysis about exactly what I mention in the fourth panel of this comic- and as long as I didn't go check on him, he couldn't be dead.

And so you see, Nathan does pay for the privilege of being married to this much hotness, because he is also married to this much crazy-pants. I'm not totally sure how he deals with it, I'm really not... But I'm glad someone can.

Change Their Minds... And Change the World!

Do you remember how utterly fabulous the opening song for Wonder Woman was?  I didn't, until I went and watched it to get a catchy title for this blog entry.  Fabulous, I tell you.

Fabulous like high-waisted booty-shorts.

Her arms are a bit scrawny for my personal Wonder Ideal, but hey- it was just a doodle, so I don't feel too bad.  Her thighs are appropriately meaty, anyway...

God Bless America...

...and her monsters.

Back to ballpoint- huzzay!

Yep, I've finally gotten around to reading American Vampire, and I'm enjoying it most thoroughly (even got Nathan to read 'em).  Nice to see vampires as monsters again- I do get a bit tired of the whole, "Oh woe is me, I want to drink people," shtick.  Especially in the universes where drinking doesn't have to lead to death.  But then again, I'm a flesh-eater, myself, sooo... Even more than that, however, I'm enjoying the creative evolutionary twist.  Mad props to people who make what's old, new again.

Making Awkward Music Together

My husband and I?  Prone to bursting into spontaneous song.  Which is occasionally brought to an abrupt halt by certain people who have Very High Musical Standards:

(Okay, yes, he does have a point...)

Reps

Another Saturday, another Crossfit session.  Today I officially graduated to being able to participate in the WOD, which consisted of five four-minute segments.  Each segment consisted of running 400 meters, then doing "tootsie roll-outs" for whatever time was left in the four minutes.  Once the trainer, Jack, called "time" we started all over again, no break in between segments.  But perhaps you find yourself wondering, what is a "tootsie roll-out"?  Observe:

(I can't guarantee that you'll be able to read this, even if you DO make it big.)

In case you can't read my chicken-scratch, what it comes down to is that what Jack made look smooth and effortless, I made look like gastrointestinal convulsions.  On the other hand, it was really effective at stretching out my abs, and I believe played a large part in me avoiding my typical post-cardio-uterine-cramps-of-death.

The absolute best part of the whole thing was that Nathan actually came with me, and thanks to the inhaler he recently accquired, was able to not just complete his workout, but actually felt good afterwards, something he's never really experienced.  Woo, modern medicine!  Not totally useless!  So I'm hoping this is the beginning of a new, workout-partners stage of our marriage...