A Video Game (30 Day Drawing Challenge)
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
The Boogeyman {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Thursday, April 25, 2013I looked up "boogeyman" (alternately spelled boogieman or bogeyman), just to clarify before I started drawing. Here's what w...
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A bogeyman (also spelled bogieman, boogeyman or boogieman) is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to terrorize children into submissive behaviour. The monster has no specific appearance, and conceptions about it can vary drastically from household to household within the same community; in many cases, he has no set appearance in the mind of an adult or child, but is simply a non-specific embodiment of terror. Parents may tell their children that if they misbehave, the bogeyman will get them. Bogeymen may target a specific mischief — for instance, a bogeyman that punishes children who suck their thumbs — or general misbehavior, depending on what purpose needs serving. In some cases, the bogeyman is a nickname for the devil.Seriously? Terrorizing children into behaving? That's abuse, IMO.
My folks didn't use fear to get me to mind (theirs was a more complex cocktail of reward, guilt and obligation), but I had fear issues anyway. My particular boogeyman appeared in recurring dreams in the form of a Boris Karloff-style Dracula. I refused to draw him because to this day I have a niggling little concern that the nightmare will return.
Yes, my closet bogeyman looks kind of like a really grouchy fish, which may have something to do with our planned trip to the big aquarium in Denver to celebrate g-baby's 2nd birthday. I have fish on the brain.
Anyway... when it comes to boogeymen, I tend to think of the following song. I didn't know it until I was an adult with children of my own, but it carried me through a number of ugly, scary, stressful situations. It still comes to mind some mornings after my hubby leaves for work in the wee hours and I have to fall back to sleep till dawn.
Enjoy.
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
A Toy {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Wednesday, April 24, 2013I'm posting this particular toy not because I had one and loved it, but because I DIDN'T have one and loved the ones my friends ...
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
I'm posting this particular toy not because I had one and loved it, but because I DIDN'T have one and loved the ones my friends had.
And guess what?
Squee!!! I'm off to the App Store to relive my childhood!
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
Me as the Opposite Sex {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Tuesday, April 23, 2013Another stumper. Physically, easy. All I'd have to do is upload a picture of my third kiddo (the only one out of FOUR who looks like me...
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Another stumper.
Physically, easy. All I'd have to do is upload a picture of my third kiddo (the only one out of FOUR who looks like me... guess who had the dominant genes in our family?).
Mentally, emotionally, spiritually? That's an entirely different animal.
As an only child, I didn't have a lot of gender pressure growing up. If anything, I disappointed my mother by leaning toward the frilly and girly and feminine all by myself. I wanted dresses and ruffles and makeup... she wanted jeans and boots and cowboy hats.
What if I'd been born a boy?
I would have been a nerd. I know it. With glasses and weird clothes and my nose in a book. Hey, come to think of it, I was pretty much like that as a girl.
And as an adult? If I were a man?
The first thing that comes to mind is what life would be like without PMS. (Heavenly!)
The second thing is that I wouldn't have that mom-connect with my four kids. Some days that's a good thing, and some days I wish I could cauterize those invisible ties. (Not worth the trade, as painful as it can be.)
The third thing? I would still feel like a fraud and a failure... one who has failed to live up to potential.
Interesting. When it comes right down to it, I'd still "feel" the same way if I were a guy.
Our other participants:
Physically, easy. All I'd have to do is upload a picture of my third kiddo (the only one out of FOUR who looks like me... guess who had the dominant genes in our family?).
Mentally, emotionally, spiritually? That's an entirely different animal.
As an only child, I didn't have a lot of gender pressure growing up. If anything, I disappointed my mother by leaning toward the frilly and girly and feminine all by myself. I wanted dresses and ruffles and makeup... she wanted jeans and boots and cowboy hats.
What if I'd been born a boy?
I would have been a nerd. I know it. With glasses and weird clothes and my nose in a book. Hey, come to think of it, I was pretty much like that as a girl.
And as an adult? If I were a man?
The first thing that comes to mind is what life would be like without PMS. (Heavenly!)
The second thing is that I wouldn't have that mom-connect with my four kids. Some days that's a good thing, and some days I wish I could cauterize those invisible ties. (Not worth the trade, as painful as it can be.)
The third thing? I would still feel like a fraud and a failure... one who has failed to live up to potential.
Interesting. When it comes right down to it, I'd still "feel" the same way if I were a guy.
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| Wow. I just drew a picture of my dad 25 years ago. |
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
First VHS/DVD {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Tuesday, April 23, 2013While watching a documentary about the '80s recently, hubby and I recalled the days when you went to the video store and brought home a ...
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
While watching a documentary about the '80s recently, hubby and I recalled the days when you went to the video store and brought home a suitcase-sized VCR carrier with your rented VHS tapes.
VCR = Video Cassette Recorder, right? But what does VHS mean? The abbreviation, which is now really an acronym, stands for Video Home System. For the old among us (as I was recently reminded by my Outer Space post), DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. Who knew? You can learn something new every day, no matter how antiquated you are.
I don't really remember the first VHS tape I actually owned. I remember renting Friday the 13th (the original, which was the only one, then) and watching it with one of my best friends, late on a weekend afternoon. It was approaching dusk when the movie credits started to roll and we breathed a sigh of relief. And then Jason leaped out of the lake... and my parent jumped up in the window, shrieking like banshees. We didn't sleep that night.
While I don't remember buying movies, I do remember ecstatically setting the VCR to record General Hospital (which I normally missed while I was at school); and episodes of Miami Vice and Dynasty to watch again and again, and Friday Night Videos on NBC (because we lived too far from town to have cable and Friday Night Videos were the only music videos I had access to). I was, at the time, the only person in my household who knew how to set the VCR. No joke.
One of the first movies I DO remember owning is Footloose (again, the original). Which feed did YOU want to be in that opening montage?
Our other participants:
VCR = Video Cassette Recorder, right? But what does VHS mean? The abbreviation, which is now really an acronym, stands for Video Home System. For the old among us (as I was recently reminded by my Outer Space post), DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. Who knew? You can learn something new every day, no matter how antiquated you are.
I don't really remember the first VHS tape I actually owned. I remember renting Friday the 13th (the original, which was the only one, then) and watching it with one of my best friends, late on a weekend afternoon. It was approaching dusk when the movie credits started to roll and we breathed a sigh of relief. And then Jason leaped out of the lake... and my parent jumped up in the window, shrieking like banshees. We didn't sleep that night.
While I don't remember buying movies, I do remember ecstatically setting the VCR to record General Hospital (which I normally missed while I was at school); and episodes of Miami Vice and Dynasty to watch again and again, and Friday Night Videos on NBC (because we lived too far from town to have cable and Friday Night Videos were the only music videos I had access to). I was, at the time, the only person in my household who knew how to set the VCR. No joke.
One of the first movies I DO remember owning is Footloose (again, the original). Which feed did YOU want to be in that opening montage?
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
Useless superpower {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Tuesday, April 23, 2013OK, so I've fallen behind again. This time it's because this particular challenge stumped me. How can a superpower, by definition, b...
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
OK, so I've fallen behind again. This time it's because this particular challenge stumped me. How can a superpower, by definition, be useless? Superpowers can be constructive or destructive, in my opinion, but not useless. And then I started to think about Jesus (the original superhero).
Multiplying food (loaves and fishes) is a positive, and very useful superpower, so that doesn't count.
Turning water into wine is a very useful, and positive superpower, in my opinion. I mean, who doesn't prefer wine to water? (Oh, hush.)
Healing, of course, is a wonderfully positive superpower and one that is close to my heart. I hate sickness and disease, and the destruction they wreak on bodies, lives, and families.
And then I thought about walking on water...
There are lots of things to consider in this story, without even talking about Peter and his faith and stepping out of the boat and looking at the circumstances instead of looking at Jesus and...
First, the disciples were believers in the supernatural realm... they acknowledged the existence, the possibility, of ghosts. Just a thought.
Second, Jesus wasn't into staid, traditional stuff. He stayed up all night (much like my college-age sons) and then decided it would be entertaining and/or educational to sneak up on the disciples, who had been out on the sea of Galilee all night in the midst of a storm. Jesus as a practical joker? Maybe. There's that story about him walking through the locked door to confront Thomas, too, you know. Honestly, I can't imagine my Jesus without a really well-entrenched sense of humor.
OK, so walking on the water requires superhuman power, right? Useless superpower? Yeah, unless you're rescuing people or something, but Jesus wasn't rescuing the disciples. They were straining against a storm, but they didn't need a rescue.
It's a matter of debate. Why DID Jesus go strolling out there in the middle of a storm in the wee hours of the morning? Just to show off? (Doesn't fit the character of God.) Just to prove and/or test the faith of the disciples? (He was much too nice in the face of their cowardice and fear if it was a test.)
How about this one... what if He took off walking across the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a squall just because it was FUN. Like supernatural body surfing, dude. Fun? God doing something for FUN? Is it possible? I think so, even though I am the WORST at doing anything "just for fun." In my heart, I know it's something I have to learn to value, like rest.
So is walking on water a useless superpower? Maybe. Or maybe we need to learn the value of fun. Just a thought, peeps, just a thought.
Our other participants:
Multiplying food (loaves and fishes) is a positive, and very useful superpower, so that doesn't count.
Turning water into wine is a very useful, and positive superpower, in my opinion. I mean, who doesn't prefer wine to water? (Oh, hush.)
Healing, of course, is a wonderfully positive superpower and one that is close to my heart. I hate sickness and disease, and the destruction they wreak on bodies, lives, and families.
And then I thought about walking on water...
 |
| Don't look at the feet. Seriously. Feet are my failure. |
24 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. 25 At about four o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. 26 They were scared out of their wits. "A ghost!" they said, crying out in terror.
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
There are lots of things to consider in this story, without even talking about Peter and his faith and stepping out of the boat and looking at the circumstances instead of looking at Jesus and...
First, the disciples were believers in the supernatural realm... they acknowledged the existence, the possibility, of ghosts. Just a thought.
Second, Jesus wasn't into staid, traditional stuff. He stayed up all night (much like my college-age sons) and then decided it would be entertaining and/or educational to sneak up on the disciples, who had been out on the sea of Galilee all night in the midst of a storm. Jesus as a practical joker? Maybe. There's that story about him walking through the locked door to confront Thomas, too, you know. Honestly, I can't imagine my Jesus without a really well-entrenched sense of humor.
OK, so walking on the water requires superhuman power, right? Useless superpower? Yeah, unless you're rescuing people or something, but Jesus wasn't rescuing the disciples. They were straining against a storm, but they didn't need a rescue.
It's a matter of debate. Why DID Jesus go strolling out there in the middle of a storm in the wee hours of the morning? Just to show off? (Doesn't fit the character of God.) Just to prove and/or test the faith of the disciples? (He was much too nice in the face of their cowardice and fear if it was a test.)
How about this one... what if He took off walking across the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a squall just because it was FUN. Like supernatural body surfing, dude. Fun? God doing something for FUN? Is it possible? I think so, even though I am the WORST at doing anything "just for fun." In my heart, I know it's something I have to learn to value, like rest.
So is walking on water a useless superpower? Maybe. Or maybe we need to learn the value of fun. Just a thought, peeps, just a thought.
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
Faux Pas {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Saturday, April 20, 2013All of my extravert friends and family members are going to whine and wail about this one. A faux pas (French for "false step...
Saturday, April 20, 2013
All of my extravert friends and family members are going to whine and wail about this one.
A faux pas (French for "false step") is a kind of social blunder, something rude or inconsiderate, probably done unintentionally out of ignorance or thoughtlessness.
The classic example of a faux pas is the person who drinks the water out of the finger bowl at the fancy restaurant and wonders why the soup is so bland. Of course, that example falls to the floor with a solid THUD these days, because who has ever actually eaten a meal where you were presented with a finger bowl at the table? In modern American culture the equivalent would be eating the moist towelette that (used to) come with your meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken, which would be less of a faux pas and more a cry for help.
ANYWAY. If you've ever asked a bloated lady when her baby is due, you've committed a faux pas.
My personal pet peeve of faux pas is the uninvited, unexpected, unannounced visitor/guest. Particularly total strangers, overpriced vacuum cleaner salesmen, and the religious sort. I dislike waking up in the morning to houseguests I've never seen, never met, and don't recognize. It messes with my internal compass, makes me feel all out-of-sorts, and when they leave, I want to scrub the house with bleach (shades of Nero Wolfe, here. Oh wow! There's another of my Archie crushes! Archie Goodwin!)
My husband used to be the one who brought random people home.
He called it "ministry." I called it "torture."
We eventually came to an agreement... he would ask, or at least warn me, before he brought random strangers home, and he wouldn't bring them home to keep them.
Now my boys are the ones who are bringing people home, and at all hours of the day and night. Ergh. Do I really have to explain this all AGAIN??? Obviously I do.
I used to fall prey to the "you should just be more hospitable" thing, or the "if you loved them like God does..." Yeah, well, sue me. If God wanted me to be more hospitable He would have installed that program instead of the introverted one.
Meanwhile, all you extraverts who show up unannounced, or bring people home uninvited, and all you weird people who randomly couch surf through the homes of total strangers, cop a clue... showing up unexpected, uninvited, and unannounced is rude, with a capital "R."
(Yes, I'm a wee bit perturbed today, by the commission of this very faux pas... can you tell?)
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
Favorite Holiday {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Saturday, April 20, 2013Why not Christmas? Or Halloween? Or Thanksgiving? Or Easter? Because New Year's Eve means new beginnings, a fresh start, a blank pa...
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Why not Christmas? Or Halloween? Or Thanksgiving? Or Easter?
Because New Year's Eve means new beginnings, a fresh start, a blank page, a new chapter...
I'm always up for a new day, which is why I'm glad I don't have to limit myself to an annual restart. God's mercies are new every morning.
It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
Outer space {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Saturday, April 20, 2013Space. The final frontier... (cue weird ooooweeeee music) Although I grew up watching Star Trek and Doctor Who and Star Wars, ...
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Space. The final frontier...
Our other participants:
(cue weird ooooweeeee music)
Although I grew up watching Star Trek and Doctor Who and Star Wars, and ET and Close Encounters and Alien had a huge influence on my generation, I've never spent much time thinking about outer space (which is obvious from the drawing above), except that I wouldn't want to be stranded out there...
That scene in the Star Trek movie (can't remember which one) where Spock hurtles out into the vast universe gave me the creeps.
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
First Crush {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Saturday, April 20, 2013Ugh. A flurry of stressful events this week has left me four days behind in the drawing challenge. But at least I've had time to think a...
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Ugh. A flurry of stressful events this week has left me four days behind in the drawing challenge. But at least I've had time to think about what I wanted to post...
Day 17 was "first crush."
It's a little-known fact that I was once a comic book junkie.
From the time I was about six until I was old enough to stay home alone, my parents, who had a newspaper delivery motor route, rolled me out of bed every day at 2 a.m., tucked me into the front floorboard of the truck in a sleeping bag with a pillow, and set off to deliver the papers. Mind you, this was LONG before carseats and seatbelts were mandatory.
I slept through most of it, except for one particular stop at the gas station. The lights always woke me up. The night clerk, who always visited with my parents when they came in, noticed the bleary-eyed kid in the car one day, disappeared into the building, and returned with a stack of comic books.
Among the Spiderman and Superman and other classics was a selection of Archie Andrews comics. Apparently this is where nature/nurture comes in... I gravitated toward them, as opposed to the superhero stories. I loved Archie and Betty and Veronica and Reggie and Jughead. The Riverdale saga may have been my introduction to romance novels, comic book style.
This is also why my dog... the first dog I ever chose for myself, on purpose, is named Archie.
Our other participants:
Day 17 was "first crush."
It's a little-known fact that I was once a comic book junkie.
From the time I was about six until I was old enough to stay home alone, my parents, who had a newspaper delivery motor route, rolled me out of bed every day at 2 a.m., tucked me into the front floorboard of the truck in a sleeping bag with a pillow, and set off to deliver the papers. Mind you, this was LONG before carseats and seatbelts were mandatory.
I slept through most of it, except for one particular stop at the gas station. The lights always woke me up. The night clerk, who always visited with my parents when they came in, noticed the bleary-eyed kid in the car one day, disappeared into the building, and returned with a stack of comic books.
Among the Spiderman and Superman and other classics was a selection of Archie Andrews comics. Apparently this is where nature/nurture comes in... I gravitated toward them, as opposed to the superhero stories. I loved Archie and Betty and Veronica and Reggie and Jughead. The Riverdale saga may have been my introduction to romance novels, comic book style.
This is also why my dog... the first dog I ever chose for myself, on purpose, is named Archie.
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
Major Accident/Pain in Life {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Tuesday, April 16, 2013I'm letting this picture be rather abstract. If you figure it out, you'll understand my reasoning. I don't have a lot o...
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
I'm letting this picture be rather abstract. If you figure it out, you'll understand my reasoning.
I don't have a lot of scars. I'm too cautious and timid physically to have very many injuries. I've only had stitches once (broken glass in the dishwater), only had one broken bone (slipped on the ice going into the house), and my only really obvious scar is the result of a transdermal piercing that went south. Most of my scars are from one source.
Are they scars? Or are they stripes?
Our other participants:
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
My favorite fish {30 Day Drawing Challenge: Day 15}
Tuesday, April 16, 2013This one was easy... my favorite fish is a goldfish. Why? Because they are the only kind of fish I've ever had any luck keeping alive....
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
This one was easy... my favorite fish is a goldfish.
Why?
Because they are the only kind of fish I've ever had any luck keeping alive.
"Bongo" lived for almost 7 years.
We're now on a new fish, one I bought for grandson Talen. "Pish" lives in my part of the house, though, for safety's sake (Pish's safety, not Talen's.)
Why?
Because they are the only kind of fish I've ever had any luck keeping alive.
"Bongo" lived for almost 7 years.
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| Luke was about 18 months old in this picture. He spent a LOT of time watching Bongo. |
Our other participants:
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
The WORST punishment {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Sunday, April 14, 2013I couldn't think of anything from my own childhood, so I resorted to what my own kids have said was the WORST punishment ever... .....
Sunday, April 14, 2013
I couldn't think of anything from my own childhood, so I resorted to what my own kids have said was the WORST punishment ever...
...the endless lecture/discussion, trapped in a room with both parents for an interminable length of time.
I guess that's the price you pay for having pastor/teacher parents who have lots and lots to say on every subject.
Our other participants:
...the endless lecture/discussion, trapped in a room with both parents for an interminable length of time.
I guess that's the price you pay for having pastor/teacher parents who have lots and lots to say on every subject.
Our other participants:
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Niki Turner
Notes From The Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat [posting on Facebook]
Favorite Mythical Creature {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Saturday, April 13, 2013This one is a tough choice... gnomes or mermaids? I went with mermaids because they are more fun to draw, IMO. This isn't the eat-y...
Saturday, April 13, 2013
This one is a tough choice... gnomes or mermaids?
I went with mermaids because they are more fun to draw, IMO.
This isn't the eat-your-face-off kind of mermaid from the last "Pirates of the Caribbean" flick, or the serial killing lure-and-drown-your-victims kind from ship's lore... this is a Darryl Hannah/Tom Hanks "Splash" movie kind of mermaid.
The Bible describes a crystal sea in heaven (Revelation 4:6). I'm hoping there are mermaids in it. Even better, that I could BE a mermaid in heaven for a while. Doesn't that sound like fun?
I went with mermaids because they are more fun to draw, IMO.
This isn't the eat-your-face-off kind of mermaid from the last "Pirates of the Caribbean" flick, or the serial killing lure-and-drown-your-victims kind from ship's lore... this is a Darryl Hannah/Tom Hanks "Splash" movie kind of mermaid.
The Bible describes a crystal sea in heaven (Revelation 4:6). I'm hoping there are mermaids in it. Even better, that I could BE a mermaid in heaven for a while. Doesn't that sound like fun?
The other participants: (Check them out!)
Day 12: What I Wanted to Be When I Grew Up {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Saturday, April 13, 2013Like most children, I went through a selection of potential career choices. I remember brief stints of thinking I wanted to be a tea...
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Like most children, I went through a selection of potential career choices. I remember brief stints of thinking I wanted to be a teacher, or a doctor, or a ballerina. (The ballerina dream died an early death at the onset of puberty. Ballerinas don't have boobs.)
But the two careers that stuck with me the longest were "detective" and "writer."
Looking back on it now, I only wanted to be a detective because I was living out my obsessive fascination with Nancy Drew, but I got a lot of enjoyment out of whisking away my family members' drinking glasses to "get" their fingerprints off with Scotch tape.
I can't remember a time I didn't want to write. Books, newspaper articles, stories, columns, more books... And yes, that's a typewriter in the picture. The old-fashioned kind I wrote my first manuscript on. We still have it somewhere around here. It belonged to a sportswriter for the Denver Post and was old when I got my hands on it. I should go find it...
The other participants: (Check them out!)
Hometown memory and last request if the world was ending {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Thursday, April 11, 2013PART ONE: Hometown Memory When I sat down today to create my "hometown memory" for yesterday's post, the first thing that...
Thursday, April 11, 2013
PART ONE: Hometown Memory
When I sat down today to create my "hometown memory" for yesterday's post, the first thing that came to mind was the smell of the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool.
Rotten eggs.
No, seriously, my hometown smells like rotten eggs. That was how you knew you were home after the three-hour drive from Denver... you smelled the pool.
It really doesn't smell that much anymore. They've added lots of chlorine and made things much more civilized, but there's still a faint whiff of sulfur on the clothes and skin of anyone who has visited the pool recently.
BUT... I couldn't draw the pool well enough to actually resemble a POOL, so I opted for my second hometown memory... "tire fires" during teenage weekend keggers at Transfer Trail and various other locales.
It's only in my adulthood that I wonder how much lung damage we incurred, standing around heaps of burning tires every weekend (and a few weeknights), guzzling illicit beverages and smoking cigarettes and trying really hard to pretend we were cool and grown-up.
We were neither.
PART TWO: Last request if the world was ending.
UGH. I don't want to think about it. (Note: The first thing I saw when we first visited the town we planted a church in was the 1950s-era radiation warning sign tacked to the side of one of the downtown buildings. It creeped me out. In retrospect, I should have paid more attention.)
My parents' generation had bomb shelters and drills at school for what to do if Russia (or whomever) decided to start nuking us.
My generation was told, "the nations of the world have enough nuclear bombs to blow up the planet 472 times." Bomb shelters were laughable. Drills were nonexistent. Our response? "Let's all move to Colorado Springs, because NORAD will probably get hit first and we can go out in the first wave."
Talk about depressing.
Since then we've weathered 9/11, a couple of wars in the Middle East, lots of global warming, SARS and H1N1 epidemics, and a plethora of other scary, potentially world-ending situations. I've panicked over more than one, and finally come to the following conclusion...
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.Matt 6:34 NIV
Jesus said that. I figure since He's God, that's good advice.
My "spirit" animal {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Tuesday, April 09, 2013I don't know much about "spirit animals," but every time this subject comes up, I have to laugh. Years ago, Christia...
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Years ago, Christian counselor Gary Smalley released a personality type based on four animals: lion, otter, beaver, and golden retriever. (You can take the test HERE.) Each animal corresponds to one of the four major personality types used in various other tests (choleric, sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic.)
My test, like all my tests, came out about as completely bipolar as it's possible to be. I was a lion/beaver. Or a beaver/lion (depends on the day.) My husband laughed, and suggested, "You're not a beaver or a lion, you're a badger... kind of like a beaver with TEETH." At the time, I was mildly offended. I've since learned to wear my badger badge with pride. As the saying goes, if the shoe fits...
All shelter underground, living in burrows called setts, which may be very extensive...
I've always wanted to live underground. My fifth-grade science project was a model of an underground, solar-powered home. I was green before it was cool. I want a camera I can lower into an anthill, a rabbit warren, or (now that I know what it's called) a badger sett! I will probably be disappointed when I don't find little armchairs and bookshelves...
Some are solitary, while others are known to form clans called cetes. Cete size is variable from two to fifteen.
So THAT'S what we call our little blended household. It's not a commune, it's a cete!
Badgers can run at 16–19 mph for short periods of time.
Short legs = short distance. I resemble that remark.
Badgers are known to sleep for 29-hour stretches during the winter months.
Considering my disgust with Colorado's typical April weather, I could go for that.
Badgers can be fierce animals and will protect themselves and their young at all costs, and are capable of fighting off much larger animals.
In other words, do not mess with my kids, my family, or my friends. I will eat you. Or at least seriously mangle your shins.
The other participants: (Check them out!)
Amusement park ride? {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Monday, April 08, 2013I love the amusement park, which seems odd considering I don't ride any of the "fun" rides. (We'll see if that changes as ...
Monday, April 08, 2013
I love the amusement park, which seems odd considering I don't ride any of the "fun" rides. (We'll see if that changes as the grandbabies get older.)
I have two rides I frequent... The Ferris wheel and the carousel. Some of my favorite memories from childhood revolve (literally) around the century-old carousel at Elitch Gardens in Denver on my birthday.
(Please excuse the weird formatting. I'm trying out Blogger on my phone.)
The other participants: (Check them out!)
Don Hillson - Expatriatism
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Notes From the Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat (Facebook)
Kimmy Haines (Facebook)
I have two rides I frequent... The Ferris wheel and the carousel. Some of my favorite memories from childhood revolve (literally) around the century-old carousel at Elitch Gardens in Denver on my birthday.
(Please excuse the weird formatting. I'm trying out Blogger on my phone.)
The other participants: (Check them out!)
Don Hillson - Expatriatism
Niki Nowell
Bill Davis
GirlyGeeky
Free2B2Much
Notes From the Backseat
Zoe Nowell
Marilyn Quinsaat (Facebook)
Kimmy Haines (Facebook)
Doubling up. Day 6 & 7... {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Sunday, April 07, 2013Favorite Drink and Favorite Bird... if that's not a stretch, I don't know what is. "Favorite Drink" was hard. I mean, if...
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Favorite Drink and Favorite Bird... if that's not a stretch, I don't know what is.
"Favorite Drink" was hard. I mean, if you think about it, everyone's favorite drink is WATER, no matter how you flavor it. Without water, there is no other "drink."
My favorite drink is dependent upon time of day, temperature, attitude, atmosphere, availability... If it's cold outside, I like hot cocoa. If I've been working in the heat of the day in the garden, a cold beer is refreshing. In the morning, it's hot tea or hot coffee. In the evening, it's a toddy or a nice glass of wine. Wine seems to be the go-to drink of late (and it's easy to draw, so...)
Day 7 is "Favorite Bird."
I like pretty much all birds, from eagles to finches. I love the ones that come to my feeders, and I love the bright flashes of blue or yellow that come from our resident pairs throughout the year.
Last year we were visited by several pairs of Eurasian ring-necked doves. When they are calm, they "coo." Apparently, like coyotes and raccoons and skunks, these doves are incredibly adaptable. Their range is expanding every year.
It makes me think about being a Christian; a believer in Christ, the son of God, who came to save us and grant us (everyone who would believe) eternal life. Christians these days are about as inflexible and unadaptable as a species can possibly be. It makes me wonder... will we continue to "lose ground" and be relegated to the realm of "endangered species," or will we figure out that God's love for the world was always intended to be adaptable and flexible, a supernatural flow that rolls around and over every human obstacle, every religious monument, every demonic wall erected, to bring life and love and peace and goodness to mankind.
Somehow, I think Jesus intended his followers to be more like coyotes and pigeons than like purebred dogs at the Westminster Dog Show or rare-breed parrots in a collector's collection.
"Favorite Drink" was hard. I mean, if you think about it, everyone's favorite drink is WATER, no matter how you flavor it. Without water, there is no other "drink."
My favorite drink is dependent upon time of day, temperature, attitude, atmosphere, availability... If it's cold outside, I like hot cocoa. If I've been working in the heat of the day in the garden, a cold beer is refreshing. In the morning, it's hot tea or hot coffee. In the evening, it's a toddy or a nice glass of wine. Wine seems to be the go-to drink of late (and it's easy to draw, so...)Day 7 is "Favorite Bird."
I like pretty much all birds, from eagles to finches. I love the ones that come to my feeders, and I love the bright flashes of blue or yellow that come from our resident pairs throughout the year.
Last year we were visited by several pairs of Eurasian ring-necked doves. When they are calm, they "coo." Apparently, like coyotes and raccoons and skunks, these doves are incredibly adaptable. Their range is expanding every year.
It makes me think about being a Christian; a believer in Christ, the son of God, who came to save us and grant us (everyone who would believe) eternal life. Christians these days are about as inflexible and unadaptable as a species can possibly be. It makes me wonder... will we continue to "lose ground" and be relegated to the realm of "endangered species," or will we figure out that God's love for the world was always intended to be adaptable and flexible, a supernatural flow that rolls around and over every human obstacle, every religious monument, every demonic wall erected, to bring life and love and peace and goodness to mankind.
Somehow, I think Jesus intended his followers to be more like coyotes and pigeons than like purebred dogs at the Westminster Dog Show or rare-breed parrots in a collector's collection.
The other participants: (Check them out!)
Day 5: Favorite Movie {30 Day Drawing Challenge}
Saturday, April 06, 2013Yes, I fell behind. I couldn't decide on a favorite movie. I spent much of the night weighing different movies, different scenes, and tr...
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Yes, I fell behind. I couldn't decide on a favorite movie. I spent much of the night weighing different movies, different scenes, and trying to settle on one.
I'm not a huge fan of re-watching movies again and again. There are only a few I'll watch repeatedly (like when they pop up on cable TV). The Princess Bride, Idiocracy, most of the James Bond movies, Better Off Dead with John Cusack, the Twilight saga (I know, I know...) But the one that always, without fail, sucks me in time and again is this one...
While I love the entire movie, that particular scene gets me every time. Epic romantic moment, IMO.
I'm not a huge fan of re-watching movies again and again. There are only a few I'll watch repeatedly (like when they pop up on cable TV). The Princess Bride, Idiocracy, most of the James Bond movies, Better Off Dead with John Cusack, the Twilight saga (I know, I know...) But the one that always, without fail, sucks me in time and again is this one...
While I love the entire movie, that particular scene gets me every time. Epic romantic moment, IMO.
The other participants: (Check them out!)
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