jkhsquonk's Xanga

Remembrance Day

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:21:58 GMT

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-Lt. Col. John McCrae (1918)

Boo!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:28:51 GMT

new fall drawing

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:16:08 GMT

Finished this drawing a couple weeks ago & it's already sold! I posted it on one of my animal email lists & a few minutes later a lady from Maryland said she wanted to buy it. 4 other people also said they were interested in it! Too bad I can't make prints, I'm afraid the drawing would smudge if I tried xeroxing it. But I am thinking of a way you make note cards or post cards of it. The drawing is pencil, pen & ink and acrylic wash on the leaves. It's 11"x14" on Bristol board, a thick paper that works for any medium. I'll be matting & framing it before sending it to the customer. If only more of my paintings had such a response. *sigh*

flu, achoo!

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:17:09 GMT

For nearly 2 weeks, I've had the flu & it won't go away. It starts to fade & then comes roaring back. The coughing is the worse, but even the congestion & sneezing remains, which is unusual. I've been taking over-the-counter meds, including a cough suppressant, but the effects are limited.Of course, if the neighbors upstairs would allow me to get some sleep, it might make a difference. I'm resisting going to the dr. because recently another HMO took over my health insurance and I was assigned a new primary care physician. When I'm feeling this awful, it doesn't really seem like the best time to start over with someone new, especially when I haven't a clue about them, not even which gender they are. But I may have to, because this doesn't seem to be going away....

winner!

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:13:39 GMT

I won an iPod nano! Yaaaayyy!!!! When I switched ISPs to Cox cable, I was automatically entered into a contest for new subscribers and surprisingly came in 2nd place, which meant a free iPod. I was shocked! And really, really thrilled! I never thought I could afford an iPod, so I'm incredibly pleased to have one. It's a sleek silver color. I'm learning how to use it, those ear buds are strange and the vlume & other controls are adjusted by the slightest finger tip pressure. I'm trying to decide which songs to download from iTunes, without getting too carried away. I know they can add up on the credit card, so I'm choosing the ones I want most.There's a way to transfer music from CDs, but I haven't figured out how yet. It's all kind of overwhelming, but in a good way.

Happy Vulture Day!

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:10:34 GMT

It's International Vulture Awareness Day!
Don't make that face, if I said it was international robin day, you'd be smiling.Vultures get a bad rap, but they perform a necessary service.I think they are kind of fascinating & like to draw them. The turkey vultures are common in Ohio, arriving every year in mid-March & leaving for warmer climes in mid-September. I see them perched on telephone poles all around the suburban neighborhood where I live. There's one ice cream stand where they perch on a high communications pole by a fire dept. & I always imagine they are eyeing my ice cream cone when I'm eating it at the picnic tables there. The turkey vultures are also called buzzards in Ohio, though they aren't really. European buzzards look like hawks. But a local radio station used to have them as a mascot back in the 1970's, calling itself "WMMS-Home of the Buzzard". The WMMS Buzzard abounded on t-shirts & bumper stickers all over town.
I like to watch vultures fly, which is riding on thermals like eagles do. Except eagles hold their wings flat & turkey vultures carry theirs with a slight V as they soar. It's beautiful! They are so big, that if they go across the sun as they fly by, there is a huge shadow. My sister was with me once when that happened & said it was scary and prehistoric. Maybe that's why I like it?
Anyways, I hope you'll join me in celebrating a strange looking and underappreciated bird today and maybe not think so badly of them in the future.

I'm baaack!

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:37:56 GMT

   September started well for me as I finally am back online at home AND with high speed internet. Yay! It's quite a change from dial-up and now I must explore all that stuff that i wasn't able to do before, such as downloading music & watching video clips, etc. I installed Google Earth,which I'd long wanted to do, haven't learned how to work it properly yet. I'm still trying to catch up on email that I missed not having a connection at home for so long.
   It took the cable guy over an hour & a half to install it, because he had to run the wire all the way to the other end of the apartment, a good part of it under the carpet. He did that by sliding the wire under the edge & then pulling it through using a powerful rolling magnet. At one point in the living room it kept getting stuck, but finally he got it to go through. The modem is a spacey looking vertical box with round lights on. It's very futuristic.
    While I wasn't connected, I tried to keep busy so I wouldn't feel so isolated, but towards the end, I was starting to get kinda depressed. I did get a lot done artwise, which was good. I'll post those pics & others once i've downloaded them from my camera. For the next few days, though, I'll be making up for lost time. It's good to be back with my cyber friends. i missed you!

adrift

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:50:33 GMT

     My computer is at the puter hospital, because it caught a malicious bug that has been slowing it down & erasing some things. I haven't been online since Monday & it will be till Tuesday at least until I have mine back. I'm using the ones at the library, but I don't always feel like going out & they are are time limits, so it's not the easiest solution.
     Since I don't use the phone & have few real life friends, the computer is my main way of socializing. I feel kinda isolated without it. I'm getting more painting done, but that's not really sociable, is it?
    Oh well, I'll muddle through. Hopefully, my computer will be back before I know it . ;)

catch up

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:15:46 GMT

   My dial-up has been very erratic since early July, so I've not been able to spend much time online, as it continually disconnects or won't allow me to get online for much of the time. I need to have the modem checked to see if I can get my DSL to work, as I don't know if it's a faulty modem or a provider problem.
    I've been sick a lot too, lots of migraines, u.colitis flare ups & some other pains. My ankle is healed enough to handle short distances, but stairs are still tricky. The people upstairs have been making more noise lately, preventing me from sleeping much with their constant vacuuming.I'm feeling down & frustrated by it all. The summer is slipping away without me getting much enjoyment out of it. I did go to an antique show with my sister a few weeks ago and will post some photos soon.
   I also finished the duck painting (yaaaayy!!) & will photograph the finished work so I can show everyone.Took my library show down last Friday. Got a lot of compliments, but nothing sold.there was a couple inquiries about a picture online, though. I'm now working on a couple small drawings to send to Florida for the Cold-Blooded Creations Show in late August.
    Dora is fine & is about twice the size she was when I got her. She's still ornery & nippy and eating hay as I type this.

Porter Library art show

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:55:04 GMT

    I put my solo art exhibit at Westlake Porter Library up on Wed.July 1st and will stay up all month till the 31st. Unlike the 2 libraries I showed at last year(Rocky River & Fairview), this one had a big enough space to take all my framed works, so I had 40 pictures, old & new, all sizes. It felt like 400 & took me 2 & 1/2 hours to put up.    With my injured ankle, I can't do steps, so I begged my sister to help me load the car the day before. I carried 2 pictures down, but she carried the rest, making numerous trips from my 2nd floor apt. I stacked them in my little station wagon, but she did all the lifting & toting. I was extremely grateful. I don't think I'd have gotten it done otherwise.
    The library had a big flatbed that I transported all my stuff in from the car. The gallery area runs down the hall & around the corner, between the meeting rooms & main part of the library. It's nice, but not a lot of people know it's there. :(
    Though I had to take a million photos to record the whole show, these are the best ones. Above is the main part, on a curvy wall and below is one of the groupings between the windows. I like the lamps. The lady in charge of the space told me that she's received a lot of compliments about the exhibit, which she says doesn't always happen. I was pleased about that.