Pushing Forward with a Painting Career
In my effort to make painting into a “real” business, I have been exploring a lot of avenues. I was happy to speak with an art consultant about my work and how I can build it. I joined several arts organizations. I started art class again. I inventoried my paintings and am creating a catalog. Scott helped by measuring everything and taking tons of photos. I filled out a grant application and have another one cooking. I’m proud that I’ve been able to do this much, but I feel like I’m just scratching the surface. I guess that’s not too bad for someone whose energy level couldn’t light a 40-watt appliance bulb.

I also finished another “poem painting.” Meanwhile, I will be showing some work at August House Studio in May. Here’s the scoop:

15th Annual Waterworks Exhibition

This year will be the 15th Annual Waterworks exhibition – Aqua-media works on paper by students of the Ed Hinkley Classes. The exhibit will be held at the  August House Gallery, 2113 W. Roscoe from May 5 – 19.

Exhibit Dates: May 5 – May 19, 2013
An opening reception will be held Sunday May 5, from 1 to 5 pm.

Gallery hours through the exhibit will be
Thursday through Saturday May 9, 10, 11, and May 16, 17, 18, from 1 to 5 pm.

A closing reception will take place on Sunday May 19, 1-5 pm

Tell Us How You Really Feel
Just like spring, health is dragging. I’m on a week of ATRA every month until November, which seems SO FAR AWAY. It seems to have a cumulative effect, but I don’t want to know for sure, or I might feel worse. Better not to think about it. I was hoping I’d be feeling better by now because I start another round on Monday, but I’m still pretty sleepy, achy and shaky. (Sounds like names of a few of the seven dwarfs.) Another side effect is rashes. The weird thing is that they start on my back and work their way down my body throughout the month. So right now, my calves are all scaly. The roughness produces little sores. Nice, huh. Well, it’s an opportunity to go through all the lotion we have around here.

I am happy to have another doctor appointment with excellent blood levels on all fronts. Plus, my doctor said he’d spare me from having another bone marrow biopsy and just use a high-end analyzer to see where we stand next month. He’s saving the last bone marrow biopsy for the end of the year. Fine with me. Those things are painful!

Hair or Lack Thereof…
I went for a haircut a couple weeks ago and oh my…it’s now way too short. At least I won’t need another cut for awhile.

Spring, please.
It seems it is taking FOREVER to warm up, but I keep reminding myself that we had some 50-degree days last December, so it makes sense that things are dragging. Also, June always has a 90-degree week which is so not my favorite weather, so I should just shut up and live in the moment. Ommmmm.

Credits: http://www.lecho.be – Estimez-vous que les noms des fraudeurs potentiels doivent être publiés?

Et vous, vous êtes de quel avis?

Pour les curieux

• Le journal L’Echo: http://www.lecho.be
• Le parti pirate belge: http://www.pirateparty.be
• “Offshore leaks”: toujours le flou en Belgique : http://www.lecho.be/actualite/economie_politique_belgique/Offshore_leaks_toujours_le_flou_en_Belgique.9325372-3154.art

So to cheer you guys up (especially if you are stuck on the same mission I am… grr!) check out this video from Paz, enjoying the hilarious bug in Hitman which allows you to create the biggest assassinated body dogpile you’ve seen. After all, it’s got to be better than getting killed for the 400th time on that one mission you can’t do… no of course I don’t hold a grudge or get game rage *fumes* 

Don’t forget to check out Paz’s Youtube Channel here! My personal fave is the GTA shenanigans. Such a brilliant word. 

Me: I don’t know. I think it’s building though.

You: I don’t understand why anyone would go on a rant like you do. I don’t even know why you’re so upset. It didn’t happen to you.

Me: Maybe not. But we’ve all been there. At some time or another, with some company or another, we’ve all been there.

You: Probably, but just ranting about it doesn’t solve anything. If you want to change something, you have to act on it.

Me: That’s not true. Every piece of social change starts with people just talking about it. If people don’t talk about it first, then most don’t even realize there’s a problem.

You: Fine. Go ahead.

Me: I’ll start with a brief description of my friend’s problem: I’ll make everything anonymous, because the actual companies involved aren’t important. This sort of thing happens all the time, and scandals have been discovered where presumably reputable companies rip-off their own customers. Take American Express and Bank of America for example. 

Anyway, my friend recently bought a new cell phone online direct from one of the major cell companies. Somehow the Carrier screwed up and charged her debit card twice totaling over $500. As a result one of her checks for under $50 to a local grocery store bounced. She should have had plenty of money in her checking account, but due to the error, the bank is going to charge her $35, the grocery store is going to charge her $25 and post her “bad” check on their wall of shame. Now she’s being charged for fees greater than the value of the check. Of course, to add insult to egregious injury, she had to spend over an hour on the phone arguing with the carrier about whether or not she was charged twice. When they finally admitted their mistake, all she got was an apology and a promise that the money would be refunded to her account within a couple of weeks. Weeks to get her money back!

You: It’s egregious.

Me: Don’t be patronizing. My friend, along with two-thirds of this country lives paycheck-to-paycheck. Just because you may be one of the persons in three who doesn’t have to worry about it, doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.

You: True, but it’s not the problem you’re currently ranting about.

Me: Fair enough. What I’m really ranting about is the lack of protections people have against these sociopathic corporations.

You: Did you watch “The Corporation” recently? (Aside: YouTube Link)

Me: I haven’t seen that in years. Like any documentary, it’s a bit agenda oriented, but it does make some fair points. Now stop interrupting! You’re screwing up my chi!

You: Sorry.

Me: As I was saying, I think consumers should hold corporations accountable for their actions. I think their customers should respond in kind, tit-for-tat.

You: How so?

Me: Whenever you open a bank account, sign a cell phone contract, TV cable contract, all those types of corporate contracts where you are forced to agree to their policies, extra fees, etc. I think someone, presumably a lawyer, needs to draw up a contract where the company has to sign to get you as a customer. A contract that will hold the company liable for their mistakes and dare I say, punish them for when they screw a customer over.

You: You speak as if your friend is without recourse.

Me: She has options. Mostly, she’ll have to go to the store and the bank and explain things and HOPEFULLY, they’ll understand and not charge her the extra fees, but they are under no legal obligation as far as I know. Maybe they are, but I doubt it. If she is forced to pay the fees, and the carrier won’t readily give her the money to cover the fees, her only option is to sue the national carrier in small claims court. She’ll win, but how much time and effort is that going to take? What recourse does she have for her time?

We have Customer Agreements, why is it the customer doesn’t have a Vendor Agreement available to them? A document stating the company is responsible for their mistakes and requires them to make good on those mistakes, posthaste, lest they start paying extra fees.

You: You’re dreaming.

Me: I may be dreaming now, but if people are going to demand a minimal level of social responsibility to protect the little guy/gal, it has to start somewhere. Someone has to start the conversation.

See below the next part in the hunt! And click the link to see Paz’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRationalSound

Of course, I will make them look at one another in Vue. As I said, I will split it in Vue. Just needed to create a proper pose first.

The next step is starting Vue, set the image to 4800×1500 pixels which is the proper scale for my two monitors. I will have to re-size it later on to 3840×1200 to make it fit perfectly, but the larger resolution will also allow me to cut out part of the image as separate images. But size won’t be enough. I need to pick a proper atmosphere, the flow of the landscape, the trees and grass I want and of course I want to add water since that big monster would look nice with his body partially reflected. It also means adding some small splashes and ripples.

So, the atmosphere first. It should be sunny and a bit cloudy, but no real visible clouds. A nice sunset would look great. So I start with this:

Next, I need to decide where I want the models and have decided to place Raevin on the left, so the prey is on the right. The sunlight from behind will make his shape a bit darker, thus more menacing. The same will be true for Raevin, but I will add a second light on Raevin so she becomes more clear in the image.

But before adding the models, I need to decide on the landscape. I want a few mountains in the background. I also want the animal standing in a lake, so I need water on the right side. But Raevin needs to be on dry land, preferably grassy. So, let’s add some terrain, grass and trees for in the distance.

It’s still far from perfect but it has a lot of potential  But you will also notice that I have water on the complete foreground, but I want to keep Raevin on dry ground. That makes it a bit complex, but it’s still easily solved. Also, I want to have the animal on top of some rock too, even though that rock would be submerged. It just adds more realism. So, I need to import both now, split them and make some adjustments while placing both on flat rocks. So, let’s first show Raevin in this environment.

Well, I don’t really want Raevin to hunt this animal. She’s cautious but she has a different target. A lot of improvements are still needed, though. For example, I want some bushes in the image too. But first, that animal… And I have to remember to put a rock beneath his feed and to add splashes because he’s walking through water.

This is promising to look very nice already. However, trees! I am going to add a third rock, place it behind Raevin and I will add trees to it, so she’s slightly hidden. No good hunter would be on open terrain where any possible prey or dangerous animal could see them…

However, I’ve noticed that the atmosphere seems to degrading with every new preview I render. It seems to be getting brighter and brighter. So I just load the atmosphere again before my next preview. And yes, this could be a bug in Vue, or maybe a problem with my graphics card. I will have to look into that one day. However, for now reloading the atmosphere works just fine, as shown in this preview:

The next step is fine-tuning the complete image. Raevin needs to be a bit more shiny, and I don’t like the way her gun looks. So I need to fix her textures, or materials. But the problem is that this image is becoming a bit slow to use, so I will use a trick to speed things up. First, I will save this scene so it’s safe. Then it’s time for a new preview. (I will also add a second light just to highlight Raevin.)

And now it’s starting to look better already. The shiny cybernetic limbs of Raevin are a bit shiny in this preview, but I don’t mind. It adds an extra dimension to the image. It’s time to render this image at its full resolution and highest quality. Considering the amount of objects and reflections in this image, I guess it will take a few hours to finish. First I need to save it and then I’ll start rendering around noon. It will probably take most of the night to finish.

And indeed, the next morning I can see the result. Raevin is really having shining cybernetic limbs, which look very interesting. Not a good thing for a hunter, though. Unfortunately, she seems to be floating a bit above the grass so I might have to adjust that. Maybe I should also change the reflectiveness of her cybernetics. The extra rock with the trees is missing some grass, so I might want to add that too. And the mountains in the background you can see lots and lots of houses. It’s really a lot. It turns the setting away from prehistoric times, which is what I like about it. The brontotherium looks great, though. See for yourself!

Update

After considering the above image, I decided that a few details had to be changed. First of all, the background just didn’t look natural enough. The sun is shining very pretty but there are too many houses. Another problem is the shininess of the cybernetic arms and legs, that are too distracting. And there’s a bald spot on the ground where grass is supposed to be.

Rendering a final image is very time-consuming and I knew it would take about a day for the render to be complete. But since I wasn’t happy with the above image, I did render it again with some different details. The scene, lighting and models are still the same, except for the textures of the land and cybernetic limbs. This should be a much better result:

Update 2

I’m still not very happy with the final result. Raevin needs to be even lower and she should be aware of the beast that’s about to charge at her. So I turned her around a bit. I also changed some of the bushes in the foreground and added additional plants on the right so the “cameraman” would be hiding behind these.

This minor adjustment resulted in the following image, which is supposed to be the last version:

If you’re interested, here’s a link to the clip from channel 5:

http://www.myabc5.com/story/21813189/baby-teddy-needs-a-transplant

And here’s a link to the clip from Channel 8:

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/Woman-donates-kidney-to-toddler/-/9357080/19438250/-/1sb2sgz/-/index.html

Like most fatties, I don’t look my age.  You can’t put a wrinkle in a bubble.  However, my hair is almost totally white and gray, and I have those squirrelly white hairs in my eyebrows too.

So do I dye my hair and “pass” for a younger woman than I am, or do I enjoy the benefits of being an old lady?

If I dye my hair, I’ll have to deal with roots.  I hate dealing with roots, and if I change my mind about dying my hair, it’ll take a good amount of time to get back to my natural hair – dying my hair lighter and lighter and then letting it grow out.  Hmmmm.  If I could dye my hair a fun color like pink or blue (or a mix) I’d do it in a heartbeat – but I still go into the law office every other week, and I don’t think they’d be thrilled.

As an old lady, people just don’t seem as anxious to give me shit.  Not that I’ve ever been subject to a ton of shit anyway, but who wants to mess with someone’s dear old “grandma”?  (Plus, you get the benefit of shocking the shit when grandma tells someone to go fuck his/her self.)

And then there’s the clothes I like to wear – I have always been the kind of person who dresses in what I like and fashion be damned.  Right now I like leggings or jeggings with kind of baby-doll mini dresses/tunics.  Comfy and just fucking adorable – in my humble opinion – just like me.

But do the cute outfits go with the old lady hair?

What is really bothering me is for the first time in my life, I don’t have a grip on who I am and how to express who I am in my outward appearance.  I am an old lady dammit and I like her; but like all old ladies, there is a sassy young thing living inside of me and I like her too.  And when I look at clothes or hair cuts or shoes, etc. I am thinking, “Really?  At your age?”

So, I am asking for thoughts, advice, what would you do – even WWMWD (what would Marilyn Wann do).  Well, actually, I could just ask Marilyn, and maybe I will; but I still would like to hear from y’all.

Thank you from a bitching, fat, old, lady.

 “Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force.”  Dorothy L. Sayers

It’s just a Melissa and Doug wooden crate that held wooden food with 4 casters glued to the bottom with construction glue.

His feeding pump bag goes inside it. As Teddy crawls around the house, the feeding pump trails along behind him. It’s not entirely perfect, of course. It gets caught on corners, on toys, on chairs. But it’s better than nothing!

Sorry for the blur there. Teddy moves FAST, lol.

So lesson one: Rest, rest, and rest! Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your relatives and friends everybody wants to take care of new mom. I think the best idea is to discuss all of this before hand. I asked my mom and dad to take care of all their things around the house and they knew that the first six weeks only I take care of the baby and they take care of the household activities and so their expectations were met with a reality and they didn’t get upset when they didn’t get to play with Vera the first day she was born and now they’re excitedly awaiting the day when she is six weeks old and they can finally play with her. The six-week rule is advised by many doctors nurses and just good sense. First 6 weeks are just for you and the baby to connect and rest, just sleep a lot eat and enjoy the time together. This way you’re not stressed out about all the household activities and your baby is not stressed out by overwhelming environment. A lot of research shows that time spent closely with the mother early in the development of the child helps them become more confident and self-assured in the future and actually helps them to let go of parental care.

Lesson two: Expect now that you are a newly delivered mom that everybody will want to give you advice. absolutely everybody! People with or without children, everyone will have an opinion on how often you should feed your baby, when you should sleep, how you should rest and many many many other topics will be all discussed and advised to you by many strangers. I found it helpful to explain to people very early on that their advice is appreciated, as it demonstrates their care. However I like to consult experts on every matter and therefore the advisor spot is already taken. Usually this comment is not met by aggravation, rather people catch themselves on wanting to be helpful and not really knowing how to help so they’re gladly offer me other things like grocery shopping or cleaning.

Lesson three: If you’re breast-feeding you probably already know this: the benefits of breast-feeding as long as you can and as much as you can are huge for you and the baby. emotional, physical, financial. I didn’t know it first but very quickly have discovered the fact that there is no worry in the world that my breasts cannot solve, at least according to Vera! And I advise: use them, use them, and use them:)

Part 1

Part 2

Remember to check out Paz’s Youtube Channel here!

If you are looking for information about Teddy’s auction, you can find that here on Facebook. (While you’re there, please “like” the page to follow Teddy’s journey through transplant and beyond.)

If you’re interested in our fundraising event, you may purchase tickets here, or get more information by emailing goteamteddybear@gmail.com

The event will be APRIL 20 at the Legion Hall located at 3712 2nd Ave in Des Moines. There will be live music (CW Hobbs, and maybe one other band!) and other entertainment (Ben Gran, comedian), a delicious meal, dancing (general dancing as well as swing dancing), a quick free dance lesson, and lots and lots of fun. Family friendly! Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children, and 5 and under attend free.

If you would like to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and support Teddy, the dates are April 17th at the Merle Hay location, and April 24th at the Ankeny location. Tell your server you’re there for Teddy Reid and they’ll donate part of your bill.

It has been an interesting week or so and the blog once again, while always on my mind took a back seat to the daily working of being a Scoutmaster.  As we prepared for the camp out and then went out on another winter adventure the Scouts of Troop 664 kept me busy
and looking for new ways to reach our Scouts and peak their interest.
On our way home from our camp out yesterday, I had an interesting conversation with the Senior Patrol Leader of our Troop.  We were talking about the morning and some of the challenges that we encountered.  Taking advantage of a good teaching and learning opportunity we shifted the conversation to what we could have done different.  James talked about how he could have been a better example in that he should have got packed up before the young guys allowing him to be more available to assist were needed and he could have worked better as a team with the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader and the Patrol Leaders.  I told him that he was right, a leader needs to always set the expectation by being a good example and that pretty much goes for everything.  We talked about some of the decision-making of the group this weekend and why some Scouts seem to get it and others don’t.  It comes down to decision-making and common sense.  We agreed that common sense is not as common as we would like and then talked more about decision-making.

When it comes to making decisions, especially in a cold weather camping environment, there is a simple rule in that for every action there is a positive or negative reaction.  The worst thing that a leader can do is nothing.
A Scouts skills is the knowledge base that his decisions are formulated and made from.  The Scout can choose to do the right thing, or he can choose to do nothing.  What we have seen from our Scouts is that when the make the choice to do nothing, they are cold, wet, and tired.  In short, they do not have a good time.  We have watched as Scouts that do not have fun on camp outs tend not to camp as much and lose interest in Scouting.  There are a few arguments for and against.  I have been told on one hand that it is my job to make sure that the Scouts have fun.  I have also been told to stay the course.  Now, before anyone jumps down my throat about this, let me tell you that we are not weeding kids out by camping in the snow and maintaining our Troop camping as backpackers.  Every Scout that joins our Troop knows how we camp and see the calendar so they know when, where, and how we are camping, climbing, and find adventure.  They make a choice at that time to join us or find another troop.  As long as our Patrol leaders council wants to head down that trail, we will.  We do a great job in training up our Scouts to be successful.  But we require that they make a choice.  They need to make a choice to learn or not to learn.  That is up to them.  Like I have explained over and over again, it is the jobs of the Scoutmaster and the Assistant Scoutmasters to assist Scouts in making it to First Class.  I am not to interested in Eagle Scouts, that will come with hard work, determination, and developing as a young man.  the skills learned and habits formed on the trail to First Class is the foundation of the making a man.  Camping Skills, Citizenship, Fitness, and Character are all elements of the trail to First Class.  But the first step on that trail is a choice.
So as I talked with the Senior Patrol Leader on the way home from the camp out we discussed possible reasons why the Scouts we have now are less mentally tough and unwilling to push themselves.  Why can they not take what they have learned and apply it?  Why have they not made the choice?  Is it a lack of training?  Is it a lack of want to?  Is it something that we have done or failed to do?  We could not put our finger on it.  Whats different in the Scouts we have this year opposed to the Scouts we crossed over 4 years ago or even 2 years ago?  We don’t really know.  They all come from good homes, great parents, and none of them have learning disabilities… so they all have the ability to learn and make sound choices.  So what is it?  We will find out I guess.
In the mean time, what does this mean for the Troop?  Tonight the PLC met and started getting ready for the next camp out.  Next month we will head into the woods to develop our Wilderness Survival Skills.  The plan won’t change and I am sure that some of the Scouts that have not been having a great time, well, they won’t go camping.  I asked the PLC what they thought about that.. they said that it was fine, at least they won’t have to have bad attitudes on the camp out.  I think the boys get tired of dealing with it too.  It’s that “one bad apple” thing and the majority of the Scouts really would rather camp with the guys that want to be there and have a good time.So what?  I think it is great the SPL is aware enough to have this talk.  I am encouraged by a PLC that is willing to stay the course and take a part in having a Troop that they want to belong to, that they want to lead, and that they want to share with their friends.
We will have to see where this takes us.  For now, we just get ready for the next outing and keep working with the young men that want to be there.  These last few months have been challenging for the Scouts of our Troop, some are stronger for it, some developed better leadership skills because of it, and some have made a choice not to camp in the winter.  I am ok with all of it.
What do you think?  I think that things will be just fine.  I think that the Troop will be fine and that we will continue to have great adventures in the future.  I think that while some of the Scouts choose to turn away from challenges, most boys want to be challenged and want to see just how far they push themselves.  I think this is the way boys are no matter how hard we try to be over protective and keep them in a bubble.  Some how.. some way.. boys need to be boys and Scouts gives them that outlet when we provide the program and allow them to make a choice.  That’s what I think.  I am curious to see what your thoughts are.

Have a Great Scouting Day!