I love you, truly...truly dear

As far as my fish chronicles are concerned, I know I made a post awhile back about my little goldfish Truly Scrumptious and Caracticus Potts...However, they've grown a lot and they no longer live in the little 10 gallon tank I have, but my big 55 gallon tank.  So here's the little buggers.  I got them in January 2009 and named them for the main characters in my favorite childhood movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Truly is a red cap oranda goldfish.  Orandas are known for their wens, the large hood over their face and around their eyes.  The wen gets larger as they get older.

Characticus Potts is a black moor (telescope eye) goldfish.  Black moors are known for their large protruding eyes, which are misleading in that their vision is more limited than other varieties of goldfish.  As they get older, they gradually change color starting with the underbelly.

These two varieties of goldfish are personal favorites of mine.  Truly is my second oranda and Characticus is my third black moor.

Hitchcock

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of Alfred Hitchcock's films (courtesy of Wiki).  The highlighted ones are those I've seen.  It's been sort of a long-term goal of mine for awhile to find and watch as many of them as I can.

1925- The Pleasure Garden
1927- The Lodger
1927- The Ring
1927- Downhill
1928- Champagne
1928- The Farmer's Wife
1929- The Manxman
1929- Blackmail
1930- Juno and the Paycock
1930- Murder!
1930- Elstree Calling
1931- The Skin Game
1931- Mary (German version of Murder!)
1931- Rich and Strange
1932- Number Seventeen
1933- Waltzes from Vienna (aka Strauss' Great Waltz)
1934- The Man Who Knew Too Much
1935- The 39 Steps
1936- Secret Agent
1936- Sabotage

1937- Young and Innocent

1938- The Lady Vanishes

1939- Jamaica Inn
1940- Rebecca
1940- Foreign Correspondent
1941- Mr. and Mrs. Smith

1941- Suspicion

1942- Saboteur
1943- Shadow of a Doubt

1944- Lifeboat

1944- Aventure Malgache
1944- Bon Voyage

1945- Spellbound

1946- Notorious

1947- The Paradine Case

1948- Rope

1949- Under Capricorn
1950- Stage Fright
1951- Strangers on a Train
1953- I Confess

1954- Dial M for Murder

1954- Rear Window
1955- To Catch a Thief
1955- The Trouble with Harry
1956- The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956- The Wrong Man

1958- Vertigo

1959- North by Northwest

1960- Psycho

1963- The Birds

1964- Marnie
1966- Torn Curtain
1969- Topaz
1972- Frenzy
1976- Family Plot

Old Movies

Last night I watched "Holiday Inn".  It makes me wish I had more old movies around...They're so hard to find online.  Maybe I should try checking them out at the public library.  I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock.  But I also love Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, James Stewart, Bing Crosby, and Danny Kaye.

So I've decided, I'm going to have to make a trip to the library (besides to return the 2 books I have out) to check out some old movies...but for now, I gotta feed the Z-man.

Button-Bandit

That's what you call me.

I went over to my aunt Jen's last night to watch movies and look at her MASSIVE collection of buttons.  She let me take a TON.  And I barely made a dent on the masses.

Pictures to come...

Darkness

I've recently been sucked into this series of books (thanks mom!).
This is my checklist of the ones I've read, which I will update as I read more of them.

Dark Series by Christine Feehan

#1: DARK PRINCE

#2: DARK DESIRE
#3: DARK GOLD
#4: DARK MAGIC
#5: DARK CHALLENGE
#6: DARK FIRE

#7: DARK DREAM

#8: DARK LEGEND
#9: DARK GUARDIAN
#10: DARK SYMPHONY
#11: DARK DESCENT

#12: DARK MELODY

#13: DARK DESTINY
#14: DARK HUNGER
#15: DARK SECRET
#16: DARK DEMON
#17: DARK CELEBRATION
#18: DARK POSSESSION
#19: DARK CURSE
#20: DARK SLAYER
#21: DARK PERIL

Website

I fixed my website today...please enjoy:  http://www.iamaseaman.com/

LAJ

This song came up too...it's one of my favs.  Given the right setting, I just cry.
I always dedicate it to the one who did not come to be.

This is the Future by Owl City

Mmm, Pandora...

...it's rocking my socks off right now.  I heard the best version of this song and I can't seem to get enough of it lately.

Rock my F-ing Socks Off!!!

Art Opening Tonight...

And I'm part of the show!  Yep, I've been meaning to mention it, but I entered some work into a show.

The opening reception is tonight from 5:30-7:30 at the Eastbank Art Gallery at 8th and Railroad here in Sioux Falls.
http://eastbankartgallery.com/

It's a postcard-sized art show.  Apparently there's like a hundred artists in the show, but who cares?  I'm part of an art opening!  Whoop whoop!!!  I submitted 5 4"x6" gouache works on paper.  The colors seem to be a bit off on these scans but I'm going to post them anyways.  I can probably color correct them but that's a long and boring process for me...whatever, here goes:

 

Baby-Filled Friday

I've been watching my beautiful niece Ella and my handsome nephew Zidane all day today.  I've snapped some pretty awesome pics of their shenanigans.  Now, Ella's daddy doesn't want any pictures of her up on facebook but I figure since no one really reads this much anyways, I can sneak a few up on here...

Aren't they awesome?

Color Themed Betta

In the Spring of 2009, I got three Betta fish named Purple Haze (like the song), Red Dawn (like the movie), and Midnight.  I had one older Betta named Craig that I'd had for a year already when I got the new three.

Purple Haze

 Red Dawn

Midnight

 

All four on my desk.  Left to Right: Red Dawn, Craig, Midnight, Purple Haze.

What's missing?

So someone asked me yesterday if I'm glad to be back in Sioux Falls.  That is a really tough question to answer.

First off, if things hadn't gone awry for me financially in the fall of last year, I would not even be here.  But if I'm going to think about what might have been, I might mention that I should have a 2-3 month old baby right now.  Things obviously don't always end up like they're supposed to.


Secondly, of course I'm glad to be back.  The worst part about living in Chicago was being away from my family.  We're super tight, my fam and I.  However, there are many things I've come to miss about life in Chicago.
Off the top of my head, five specific things:
1. Living with Holly:  I miss my best friend all the time.  Chicago was great with Holly around but we could live together anywhere and it'd be awesome.  She's my hetero-lifemate, to borrow a phrase.  I dream distant dreams of moving out to California with her and Kelly and us being the 3 Musketeers again.
2. Commuting:  as long as I was on time, I usually liked traveling via the CTA.  I would rock my iPod the whole trek and either read a book or draw.  I can't multitask when in transit here, though I can sing along to the iPod as loudly as I want.
3.  John's Pizzeria:  it was so close to my apartment and so much more delicious than most any other pizza in Chi.  Of course everyone craves different pizza places and I will admit I ordered Dominos more than the average person the last year or so I lived there.  But John's will always be in my top five favorite pizzas of all time.
---Just an aside, I have not watched it as of late but I think it's pretty apparent the affinity I have with John Cusack's character and his 'top 5 lists' in High Fidelity.
4.  The architecture:  Chicago has amazing architecture.   The birthplace of the skyscraper.  I'm proud to say that I've lived in a place so rich with interesting history, despite all the conflicts and trials.  It just shows how resourceful humankind is when faced with extreme obstacles.  I could go on and on...
5.  My artist community:  I miss being surrounded by artists of all sorts at all times.  While I do have a few people here sort of creating a smaller version, it's difficult to force myself into the art world without the people I grew to rely on in Chicago.  I feel like I might have taken a few people for granted in not keeping up with them after I moved back home.  I do think of them often even though I don't communicate it.  I've never been good at keeping up.

I guess what's prompted this nostalgic post is that when I went out this morning for groceries I decided that I rather like what my life has become here in Sioux Falls, despite the constant stress of money.  It made me actually stop and remember that towards the end of my time in Chicago that I had become somewhat of a hermit, never going anywhere.  I feel like that's changed here and that while I am quite ready for someone special to come into my life, it doesn't have to happen right now.
So I guess the answer to the tough question is yes.  yes, but...

Papasan

I want one.  I want one right now.

Something like this one:
http://www.pier1.com/Catalog/Furniture/Furniture/tabid/519/CategoryID/158/List/0/catpageindex/2/Level/a/ProductID/567/ProductName/Papasan-Chair-Stool-Frames--Brown/Default.aspx

More Paint

This is an entirely different palette; one completely calculated and planned before even one stroke hits the page.  I use this method primarily with gouache (and occasionally egg tempera).  I basically create an entire color family and then use various combinations to make a series.

This particular palette is from Fall 2008.  The series was a group of 'paintings' that were gouache on layers of vinyl.  I have yet to decide the best way to document the actual paintings but I thought it necessary to take photos of the palette all laid out.  This is the biggest premixed palette I've made to date at a whopping 120 shades, tints, and tones.

This kinda thing drives normal people nuts but is just one of my many productive compulsions.

Paint

Paint is interesting even when it's not busy composing a painting.

This is one from the archives.  The date on this picture is 2/17/2007.

It is a partially cleaned palette, one from before I began using paper palettes for the convenience and the ease of keeping them for future reference.

Denver

Aside from a layover or two, I've only really been to Denver, CO once.  It was on my roadtrip with Holly from LA to Chicago in May 2009.  We had left Los Angeles around 9 pm and had been driving for about 21 hours straight upon our arrival to Denver.  Holly's friend Dennis lived there and was going to put us up for the night.  Though totally exhausted beyond just sleep deprivation, we ended up going out to a nice little bar downtown for a few drinks after dinner.  We walked down the road to a bridge across the river.  I took these few pictures from the bridge.

We could see the big sign for Union Station. 

I love the lines and geometry of this bridge.


But the really great part of this stop on the trip was the company:

yeeeaaa, yeeeaaa...

Two of a Kind

These dogs belong my sister Jessica and her husband Matt.  Blue is the Australian Shepherd and PeeWee is the Pomeranian.  I only post this because they refuse to let anyone post pictures of their 7 month old daughter, my little niece Ella anywhere on the net.  These two are quite the pair of pooches.  If you could see only in black and white, PeeWee looks like a miniature of Blue.  And as if that weren't enough, they're both pretty old and therefore Blue is mostly blind and PeeWee recently became toothless.  Like I said, quite the pair.

Baha'i Temple

In the Summer 2005, I was living with some family friends in the southwest suburbs of Chicago (between my 2nd and 3rd semesters at SAIC).  One random day, Jim took Mere and me on a day trip around the Chicago area.  I've long since forgotten where exactly we went for most of the day since I was still a relatively new resident of the Windy City.  We stopped for Italian Ice in Little Italy and at a church and a little shop in the Ukrainian Village (where I purchased a CD of the Ukrainian Divine Liturgy, which I still have and still love).   The one place I'm sure we visited was the Baha'i Temple in Chicago.  Now I won't claim to know much of anything about the Baha'i religion, but I find its peaceful and accepting nature comforting in an extremely judgmental society.  We were able to go inside the temple though the pics didn't turn out.  The exterior ones did though...and here they are:

If anyone (of my hundreds of readers, hah), wants more info about the temple or the religion, check out this site...http://www.bahaichicago.org/

Buttons

I probably should have been posting stuff like this as I acquired it but since I am ever the procrastinator here goes the first of many random posts about stuff.   Haha, I have to laugh about how I just phrased that but that's exactly what it is...random stuff.

I took these pics of Holly's button collection last November when we were still living together.  I forget why I decided I wanted to even see them...I think it was that I was looking for buttons for headwraps for my HatsonLamps Etsy shop (www.hatsonlamps.etsy.com).  She allowed me to look at her buttons and I was able to keep a few of the ones I liked.  I love the way they look on the back of my 'grandma quilt'.

I really love the giant buttons, but of course those were the ones I was allowed to look at but not keep.  I do love a good button collection.  I went out for lunch with (Zidane) Mom, Jess (and Ella), and Jen last Friday and Jen said she's got trillions of buttons.  That's right, Trillions.  Therefore she and I are going to have a sit-down sometime soon where we just goss and look at buttons, maybe watch a movie.  I will have to blog about it when it happens.   :-P

The Chronicalling Continues...

So did anyone else start blogging more after watching the movie Julie and Julia?  Hah, nobody's really reading anyways...but maybe someday if I'm more diligent about it or someone takes an interest...

Well, I watched that today.  I was going to try to start my post during the movie, but it's a Z day today.  My nephew Zidane is a totally awesome little guy but at nearly 7 months he's demanding more of my attention on the days I watch him.  I like that he's not crawling yet, or, bad as it sounds, rolling really.  It's not that he can't roll, it's just that he's not interested.  That makes him immobile yet, which is great.  However, he's finally started sleeping through the night which means his day naps are fewer and farther between.  I'm betting this post will take ages to finish simply because he's been refusing to go down for a nap for hours.  No matter...

In the late Spring 2009 I acquired a few fish for my 55 gallon tank.  Two of them were small bottom feeders called plecostomous.  I guess one of them was a special kind that wasn't as hearty as the other but neither of them lasted long.  At that time I had 4 goldfish and a koi in the tank and was looking for a little help with cleaning but these two suckers randomly disappeared both within a week of me getting them.  I therefore do not have any pictures of either.  I did name them though, both after the same character from Metalocalypse:  Milminiman Lanylin Swimwamley.  And I will be getting tats of them as well.  (Just little ones as part of a larger whole.)

The other two fish I came to own at that time were a pair of butterfly koi.  I named them also after Metalocalypse characters only these were after Dethklok band members Pickles and Skwisgaar Skwigelf.  The pictures I have of these two are from October 2009.  They were only about 3 inches long when I got them, but by the time these were taken they'd grown at least another inch.

Skwisgaar is the yellow koi.

 

Pickles is the orange koi.

The other fish will be formally introduced in a later post but are named as follows:

Scott Tenorman- chocolate oranda goldfish

Kyle- red ryukin goldfish (white in these pics)

Damien- black moor telescope-eye goldfish

Bradley- calico ryukin goldfish (upside-down in the corner)

Nathan Explosion- standard koi (white/black spots)

Here's a few more shots of the crew from that time.

 

Here's some of the old video footage of the scaly buggers swimming along to a tune from one of of my top 5 favorite movies of all time Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain.  It's called "La Valse d'Amélie".  It's funny because all these fish are either named after Metalocalypse and Southpark characters.