I'm too old for all nighters!

I'm going to spend my monthly whiney blog allowance. Last week, I turned 29. I showed up to an event at a friends, 30 minutes late and 1 day early, and she said, "Lib, you're too young for this type of mixup." Lovingly, she said it. You know what I mean. Now, I've just spent the entire night at work. And since I am now 29, I've turned into a raving hypochondriac. When I was a kid of 21, I could type all night with no ill effects. Now, I feel that I have a rather acute case of mouse finger and keyboard wrist, along with an unpleasant feeling in my stomach. I am not sure if this is a result of the 10 cups of coffee, vitamin water, and 4 krispy creme doughnuts that I deemed necessary to survive the night, or if it's caused by me overanalyzing how much fat I just consumed and how it's probably coating my undeniably adult arteries as I sit here. And oh boy, do I want to sleep. Back in the day it was different. I could cram for days for final exams and then I got to go home and sleep for days....but alas, no, no sleep for the weary...it's um, monday. Now how did I get myself into this mess of an all nighter, well, I don't want to point any fingers, but this is a result of me responding to job ads that say things like 'thrives in a deadline driven environment'.....hmmm....red flag!! It should read, enjoys pressure and stress and doesn't need a pat on the back for a job well done ever. Extremely good at all nighters. Wears business casual all the time, so is ready for dress code on Monday morning...ooops. Hey, I have a toothbrush and toothpaste in my desk, anything more than that, and I think somebody needs to have a talk about what's a realistic expectation and what's just plain delusional. OK back to annotating. You don't want to know. It's not fun. Really.

Fun with Macro Lenses

It's a stormy evening, so Kali, our pit bull (we like to say 'Pit Boolah', it sounds more distinguished) is pacing about. My mind is racing about. My day job this week has become my day and night job, so that leaves me very little time to write and work on Gallant Fox. On a brighter note, my supplies to fix the Santo Vida arrived from NA graphics today, so I am finally set to print. Once things calm down at work, I'll have time to finish up my designs and get some plates made by Boxcar. On Thursday, I'll be turning 29, and it seems strange how quickly time is flying past. I want to stop and reflect, but things just keep zooming by. Anyhow, I've less time to come up with any wit and whimsy for you, so tonight I thought I would share some photos. Libby likes photos.

I like how you can pick up tiny dew drops and the fuzz on a bee. You see things from an entirely different perspective. So I guess this rainy night is all about perspective. To some lightening storms are beautiful, to the the pit boolah, it is some scary business.

Oh, Foxy Logo

Today I have a draft of the Gallant Fox Gallery Logo.  I've got one on the website already, but I took this little guy out of the first design for my whimsy collection.  It'll be the first card I print, so once I get some feedback from my crew of mentors and get it in perfect shape,  I'll be ready to order the photopolymer plate.  I think his little legs are off, but in 'real life', he was stepping onto a tea cup saucer so it looked right.  I do like the look of him though.  What do you think?

Typography, Mate! and other things near and dear to my heart

Last night as Hub and I were waiting for our 10:15 Dark Knight movie time, we went over to Borders and I picked up Computer Arts Projects, a creative trade journal published in the UK.  This issue was about typography, which is an entire creative entity all by itself.  It features the work of some famous type designers, including Marian Bantjes from Canada.  Her work is incredible and edgy.  She created a design for Saks Fifth Avenue's Want It campaign that featured calligraphy-inspired type and background filled with swirls that gave the feeling of echoes of the type.  As an added bonus, the magazine comes with a cd full of fonts and some other goodies.  Now, I once tried calligraphy, and I am not going to lie to you....it did not go well.  It was one of those do-it-yourself bride adventures, where I planned to write each guests name on a card that I would hang from a tree.  In the end, my poor little momma had to write out all the names!  But I did make all my bridesmaids their own jewlery, so my do-it-yourself adventure wasn't a total bust.  Anyway, Marian Bantjes work has inspired me to give calligraphy and typography a shot.  It can only improve my designs.  I've added her to my blog list...she has a ton of amazing projects on there.

So I entered Dark Knight feeling good.  I left feeling a bit creeped out, 

honestly.  But it was a very well done movie.  I've been a Christian Bale fan since Newsies....yup, Newsies.   Haven't seen it?  I'm sorry.  That's probably because it was a Disney musical movie that I saw on a free preview when I was a kid.  It features Christian Bale as a rebellious orphan who led a strike to earn rights for the Newsies.  At the time, I didn't have a crush on Christian Bale, but I did have a slight infatuation, ok huge, with Gabriel Damon.  Not sure who he is, check him out.  This picture was in 1992, mind you.  He was Spot Conlin, the guy from Brooklyn who shot people with a slingshot and was sort of a scrappy guy.  And I wanted to take up a slingshot, put on a newsies' cap and join his gange.   If I weren't going to have a busy day filled with brunch, a friend's wedding dress fitting, and a cake decorating lesson, I would totally dig out the old VHS and have a Newsies afternoon.  I love Newsies.  I didn't love Dark Knight, but it was pretty good.  I had actually been hoping to catch Mama Mia, but I didn't particularly feel like torturing my husband on date night.  Oh yes, so back to the subject at hand, the other things near and dear....I have to put in a plug for my favorite artist, Stephen Huneck.  I have one print, "Love is Give and Take", which Hub gave me for Christmas, and every morning I drink out of the "Networking" mug.  Take a look at his work at dogmt (dot) com.  It will be worth it.  Right now he has a special edition print called "Chase Away K9 Cancer", which is a lovely fundraising print.  He has a gallery that you can bring your pets into, except that I couldn't bring McGuzzio in there, he'd probably try to "mark" one of Huneck's brilliant wood carvings.  Yikes!

Love Stories

Some of you may have heard me talk about my favorite website, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman.  Ree, the wicked cool lady who created this fabulous source of endless entertainment for me and countless others, has the entire detailed story of how she met her husband.  I literally spent a good portion of an afternoon guzzling up her tasty narrative like a thirsty kitten.  (And that's saying something,...we've got a maine coon who will spend hours at the faucet slurping up the H2O goodness...)  anyway, I decided that since I am totally inspired and a newlywed, I would share some choice stories of Tom's and my 'courtship.'  

You've already heard about the labrador peetriever.  Remember him?  Here he is again in all his glory.  Right now he has all white whiskers and one black.  Last time I was telling you about how I thought trying on an engagement ring would jinx me.  So how did that play out?  Well, the proposal was maybe a little jinxed.  Unbeknownst to me, Tom had the ring in his possession and was planning to drive out to the Outer Banks with me and his two canine accomplices.  Once there, he intended to find some secluded beach location where he would write, 'Will you marry me?' in the sand.  This was perfect, seriously, the perfect plan.  For a number of reasons, which I will now list.  First, I love the beach.  Tom is a mountain man, but I am 100% beach girl.  My body even loves the beach.  My hair curls and lightens giving me just a suggestion of being a carefree girl again.  I get freckles that I treasure.  I love swimming in the ocean.  I used to pretend that I was Ariel, the little mermaid, for hours on end in our above ground pool.  I still remember all the words to those songs.  Plus, the salty ocean makes floating easier, and there's not much that rivals a good, long float.  You can fly kites there.  Tom and I made quite a few trips out to the Outerbanks to see lighthouses early on in our relationship, so the beach reminds me of those great times together.  We have a thing for writing our names in the sand whenever we go to the beach.  Ok, so....good plan.  Little did Tom know, that I had tried the damn thing on and jinxed it all.  Oh boy, did I do a doozie on his plan.  First, he said, let's go the Outer Banks this weekend,....um, we have a housewarming party...oh, ok.  While at the housewarming, my friend's husband decided to do a little meddling and asked Tom when he was going to "finally" pop the question.  Plans-ruined Tom responded that he hadn't really thought about it.  Weeks later, the Jinx overcome, my friend confessed to me that she was totally relieved...after Tom's comment, her husband had confided that he didn't think it was happening anytime soon.  So, the next weekend, Tom ponied up and suggested that we go to the Outer Banks for the day on Saturday.  OK, see, we live really far from the Outer Banks...probably over five hours.  A day trip?  Not so much.  So I suggested a different beach.  It was a hot april day, and the beach was filled with people.  Not just filled, but people were packed on that sand like sardines.  We couldn't find any isolation at all.  Pretty hard to have an intimate moment when people are right next to you.  It didn't seem to bother the people next to us who were graphic and confusing tangle of pale white winter skin and fried chicken.  We had brought the dogs, who love to swim in the creek at Hub's parents house, and revel in chasing crabs and sticks and chomping the sucking it in like whales.  But that is a creek.  It doesn't have big, scary waves.  Yup, the pit bull and the labrador were scared of the ocean.  They got hotter, we got hotter, and I never noticed the giant, square box in the pocket of Tom's board shorts.  So we drove back inland.  I wondered the whole ride why Tom was so quiet.  He had seemed very ambivalent about leaving the beach, but when the lady and dogs are hot, and there's a strange human sculpture next to you, you do the right thing and go home.  Hours later,  I was watching iRobot in the living room, and Tom was hiding something behind Keyser Soze, our fat, siamese kitten.  He made me close my eyes and when I opened them, he was holding the jinx ring.  He didn't say anything!!  So I caught my breath and said, what for it, it's classy, "Is that for me?!!!"  That's right.  I am a classy girl.  I didn't cry, I didn't swoon, I screamed, "Is that for me?!!"

The Road To Letterpress

So, the letterpress is almost ready to make its first print.  I say almost because, um, well in the process of assembling Santo Vida, I broke something.  I'll admit it.  Those of you who know me, know that I am once clumsy girl.  Not a day goes by when I don't slam my knee into my desk at work...and in the process of assembling the letterpress, I banged my foot not once, not twice, but three times on that hunk of iron.  

I was beginning to think that my venture was doomed, and that the foot abuse was fate's way of saying, "Hey you, you're a scientist, damn it.  Stop this creative stuff you like and get back to work."  But I am handy and a glutton for punishment, so I persevered.  I recruited my husband, a dead blow mallet, and alot of oil, and together we got the last few pieces together.  

I believe that I snapped the spring during one of these foot banging incidents.  So, now I am eagerly awaiting 4 new roller hook springs that are on their way from NA graphics in Colorado.  Fritz, a letterpress guru I am told, hooked me up.  He also told me that the Kelsey is tough, but a good way to learn.  He said my next press would be a breeze once I've mastered Santo Vida.  Ok, obviously, he didn't call it Santo Vida.....but he did say 'your next press', and so I hung up the phone beaming, raving about how nice people from the letterpress community are, and thinking "Ha, take that fate!!!  Fritz said my next press...."  my faith was instantly restored.  Then, like magic, my BoxCar Base arrived, as did my Adobe Illustrator, and I got to work.  I've worked up quite a few designs in my pony notebook that my awesome friend Professor Sarah gave me, and I am working on recreating them in illustrator...with a little creative handholding from my artist friends at work.  Once the designs are done, I'll post them.  Hopefully, the Gallant Fox Whimsy card line will be available sometime before September.  Stay tuned.  And keep your f

ingers crossed for me, I am afraid this post may have irked fate just a bit...and I am just a tad superstitious...I didn't want to try on engagement rings before my husband proposed, thinking that the violation would jinx me.  Alas, I caved to friend pressure of my wise, married-lady friend Beth, put on the dreamy ring, and t

hen proceeded to giggle to Tom that I had "done something bad," tee hee hee.  So totally lame.  Yup, I'm super cool.  Marry me.  I am a giggling tool.  Anyway, apparently I was wrong about the whole jinx thing then, but I don't want to push my luck.

This is unrelated, but here is my hunky letterpress assembler, pictures in St. Lucia, taking one for the team, so to speak.  He does not share my love of horses, especially after his horse "Macho" bolted and took off with him.  But, I do love this photo.....What can I say,...we look good in hats.

Good news or bad news?

So, the good news is that today I decided to buy Adobe Illustrator for my lovely, wonderful iMac. I think my husband is surprised that I don't actually tuck my iMac in at night. I just love it so much..... anyway, I found a really great deal on the software and I can't wait to get started with it. I've been using Lineform, which is actually a pretty good program, but there are more toys with Illustrator, and all my artist friends convinced me. It was peer pressure. Try it, you'll like it. I'm pretty sure that I will. And as a bonus, even though by day I am a medical writer and not an artist, I get to work with a group of really talented artists and graphic designers who generously answer all of my stupid "how do i do this?" questions.

The bad news, um, I've now been at my medical writing job for 10 hours. Not to complain about long hours, but when you don't absolutely love something, it's pretty hard to do it for this long, and with an empty stomach. I keep thinking about how anniversary dog, all our other fuzzy children (did I mention we have 6 pets!!! we're practically hoarders!), the hub, Santo Vida, and my iMac are all at home. I am a hardworker, but frankly, this is just uncool.

Independence Day

This independence day the hub and I headed up to Maryland to visit his folks. Nature gave us her own fireworks in the form of a pretty crazy thunderstorm on the fourth. On Saturday, we went to the inner harbor in Baltimore and had Cheesecake Factory and the National Aquarium. Does anyone else struggle choosing what to eat at Cheesecake Factory? The menu is sprial bound. I think that pretty much says it all. Too many options. The national aquarium was neat. I especially enjoyed the open pools with sharks, stingrays, and giant turtles swimming around. As you tour the aquarium, you actually descend down the side of these pools and get to experience them from different levels, which is pretty amazing. I'll post some pictures later when I get a chance.

On our first day back in Apex, Santo Vida came. My first letterpress was, as the seller promised, in excellent condition. It was in pieces in several boxes, so it requires some reassembly. It's kind of a puzzle to assemble something like a letterpress without a picture. Good thing I don't like puzzles....I LOVE them. So now Santo Vida is all put together, except that I realized that I hadn't attached the gooseneck, so she'll need to come apart a bit to get that on, and then we'll be ready to go. As part of my letterpressing goody pack, I also got some type and black rubber-based ink, and since my rollers shockingly appear to be in pretty good shape, I think I am going to get some practice in this weekend. I can't wait to see how my type runs come out. I will put up some examples as I make them.

So to the topic of my post....I guess I sort of feel like trying something new, and focusing on developing my creative business and art, makes me feel like it is my independence. It marks a new beginning. I feel so inspired, motivated, and energetic. I am so excited to see how this adventure develops. I don't think I deserve any fireworks or a song yet, but I feel a little like a firecracker.