Sushi Land - Redmond

Boots, post sushi binge.

my baby is growing up!

Oh, Penny. It feels like yesterday that I brought you home in a little cardboard box. <3
and look at that shell! <3 <3 <3

Chupacabra Warriors (working title)

so... I've been learning more about tarantulas, and really LOVE the patterns and colors on a lot of 'em... and stared thinking about how they'd make great superhero or luchador wrestler outfits. The more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me, so I decided to sketch up come ideas... and I loved it.

Bouncing some ideas off of Matt, we've decided this:
We want at least one hero from each continent where tarantulas are native.
We want a mix -- one born mutant, one scientifically altered, one tech genius, one genuine wrestler, maybe one blessed by an ancient god, and one who opts to organize the group... and an alien. Hear me out!

When I was 14, I designed up several races... okay, like 5, and dreamed up homeworlds, cultures, religions-- I even worked on making a functional language for one race (and wrote a children's play, in that language, during my senior year of high school... which is retrospect, is pretty amazing).

One race I came up with was a large, centauroid race of arachnids. I've sketched them occasionally over the last 11 years since their conception, but never really knew what to do with them... until now. :D
What if their technology was only a few hundred years ahead of us-- they didn't have the dark ages, or the weird-ass Pythagorean cult? and they aimed a ship in the general direction of Earth.
It would take a few generations (I'll sketch out ideas for how they may have manufactured food), but the ship would eventually get here; and there would be no way back.

anywho.
I've decided to redesign him a bit; an update, more like. It HAS been 11 years since he was designed... I'm gonna use an awesome blue jumping spider as my model/muse/inspiration/whatever
WARNING: SPIDERS!
http://mechafushigi.com/insect-morphology/jumping-spider-opo-terser/

They're a fabulous species.
Anywho. I'm famished and my wrist hurts so... I'm gonna figure out... something. to do. maybe veg with my wrist brace for a bit. le sigh.

I'll upload some pics, and plan to write up some back story for my heroes, soon. :)
...typing hurts my wrist. :c

Elf and Chewy Aww

I like my half-assed effort at two-point perspective. but then, I was sitting at a small table at the Woodinville Taco Del Mar, so whadda ya want?

yay drawing. :P

itty bitty pictures

so, it looks like the things I'm posting from my ipod are even tinier on a regular computer... I'll have to get that sorted.

Speaking of things that need sorting: I should fill out that tax form, since I see my tax consultant in about 2 hours.
...okay, she's my friend who works at H&R Block. Shush! I like to feel fancy.

The Music of The Schmoops

it's his nightly serenade; slurping and grunting as you drift into dreamland... ew.

still in a rut

I even drew you a picture about it.

Because we're friends, and friends share feelings.

this doodle was a little bit Hyperbole-and-a-Half inspired. :)

hat concept

i figured out how to attach pics on my ipod. i win at technology, now.

thoughts on exotic pets

So it's about 2am, and my brain is still chuggin' away, and I had a realization... and a silly thought.

I'm a classically trained artist, and work as a freelance illustrator and fiber sculptor; money has never been abundant, but that doesn't stop me from pursuing my hobbies-- ya just get creative!

so, I decided to make a small list of Ts best suited for broke artists, lol!
Criteria:
slow moving -- downright sedentary, even; that way you can draw them, easily.
docile -- so you can place it in a still life, if so inspired. (optional)
low maintenence -- low humidity reqs included; it needs to be a-okay if the artist ends up living in their studio for a couple days.
cheap -- I'd say a $25 USD cap (slings, most likely)

my top 3 picks would be

g rosea
g pulchripes (sling)
b albopilosum (sling - juvi)

if I had more money ($50 USD cap)

b smithi
g pulchra
GBB

if i didn't care about handling, I'd go with any number of poecilotheria (pokies) or maybe even baboons.

and if I were rich, I'd have a 2 bedroom apartment and one room would be the hot room; kept at 75F with a small space heater, and I would house my exotherms there. Then I'd buy a bunch of p metallica tarantulas (Gooty Ornamental, or Gooty Sapphire), and breed them! To help reduce the pressure on wild populations. :)

anyway. here's a picture. rejoice.

...looks like I can't attach a pic.
goodnight.

New look!

Hey kiddies!
and possibly fans. o.O

My dear man, Matt, decided to add that "buy a drawing" button I've been meaning to add to this blog for several years, now.

When he added the handy, dandy drop-down menu and "throw money at Elf" button; it scrapped my old layout. Sad panda. But! That meant I had to look at new themes, and discovered this amazing orange curly pseudo-monstrosity. I am SO in love.

Speaking of love; I miss Our Taco Del Mar. A lot.
If you guys followed the url I wrote on the last napkins I left you, and found this site; I miss you guys!
...and I miss your burritos. T-T
Matt decided not to cook, tonight, so we went to Taco Time...
the cheese was yummy, but just not the same. :c
Like... the music was good... we missed the cheesey surfer music.
anyway.
I did leave a couple drawings, but my heart just wasn't in it... until I saw a guy that TOTALLY looked like Richard Simmons. Then I had something to giggle about. I'll post those, soon.

and speaking of frustrations; we're playing Splosion Man. <3
So many deaths.
and still I love Twisted Pixel. <3 <3 <3

anywho.

Buy drawings from meeee~!
so I can visit family in Seattle... and buy a burrito at the TDM on Roosevelt. :b
...and pay rent. >_>

12th Avenue Cafe

So, yesterday I drove Waldo to the Issaquah PetCo for his annual bath and buzz (make 'im nekkid!), and needed to kill a couple hours.

I knew I was hungry, and knew I was close to places with nums.
Go somewhere big, cheap and corporate? Maybe. But most of those places are not super tasty, and tend to have wheat gluten EVERYWHERE.

I also realized that I needed to pee, and that it was really cold and windy.

After walking along the sidewalks for a few minutes, I saw the 12th Avenue Cafe (http://www.12thavenuecafe.com/), and decided to go for it. I like little mom & pop style places; it's always a few dollars more, but the food is almost invariably worth it.

Most of the food also contains at least one thing that I'm allergic to, but again the "food is so good; it's totally worth it" thing comes in to play. I ended up getting their Jimmy's Turkey Melt and it was AMAZING. It's like what Denny's Super Bird is trying to be, but will never quite manage it.

When the sammich came, I picked it up and said "this is going to make me so sick... so I will savor every bite, and make it worth the agony to come". and you know what?
As I suffered in the washroom at 4am, today... I said to myself, with steely resolve "no regrets".

Anyway, here's my thank-you drawing.

A Farewell to Noms

So the Taco del Mar here in Redmond, WA is closing on the 7th of March.
Which makes me beyond sad.

Here's a farewell drawing I did for them.

I'm going to miss their amazing burritos.
But! I'm glad to say that there are still several other locations owned by the same people... they're just all kinda far south. Like, Federal Way south... ew.

The Taco del Mar in Woodinville is okay, but it's just not the same.
The Redmond TdM was *our place*... Like, Matt joked about proposing to me where, when we had our real engagement rings. We'd have to get them in 6 days, to make that happen, now. Heavy sigh.

Oh, and now Phoebe and I have each had food poisoning from a Chipotle.
She got poisoned like a year ago from the one in Redmond, and I got poisoned by the one in Woodinville, last week. That was *fabulous*. and by fabulous, I mean I was so dehydrated that I couldn't even pee for over 12 hours. =_= Amanda's guacamole was very, very good... like, worth the horrible cold sores and hives. but not worth THAT much "quality time" with my washroom... I am hesitant to roll the Chipotle dice again. =_=

Anyway.

Lots of love to everybuggy~! <3

o.o fans?

Wow, so apparently writing the URL of my blog on the occasional napkin is actually an effective means to help people find my blog.
...and I guess, if you're looking for me... does that make you my fan? [gulp]

Anyway!
Finally got out to Pho Vina in Woodinville, again. I've missed the tendony goodness. <3
So, here's today's drawing... I should really upload more drawings. >_>

It's true; a friend on a forum mailed me a surprise birthday tarantula for my 25th birthday, last year!

...and I sweated BULLETS, unpacking it and transferring it to a makeshift vivarium (thoroughly rinsed pill bottle from the pharmacy). 

I kept the bottle in a drawer, on my dresser, in my closet... and found it oddly fitting that there really was a hairy little monster living in my closet. 

I still tend to sweat when I have to move my little beastie for cleaning, but I really do enjoy learning to read its body language and getting to know its subtle personality. I named it Chewbaca and refer to is as male, so I won't be too disappointed if it turns out to be so (males only live about 5 years, and females live 10-15).

anywho. 

I should get back to my knitting... a client just had to postpone payment for her hat, so I'd better hurry up and make others that can be sold in my store front. T-T

...anybody want a hat?

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElfDa 

Please? Maybe a feltie? I've got bills to pay...

Shake N Bake Mysteries

so, we couldn't afford Waldo's meds, one month... and noticed that his seizures weren't really any worse. He always had small seizures, even when fully medicated, and occasionally vocalizes loudly, medicated or not.
(That sounds like something thyroid-related, but I am not about to jump to any conclusions.)

Reading around online has told me that the cheapest way to head toward a diagnosis is a spinal tap. Yes. A spinal tap. for my cat.

...we're putting off their annual check-ups/vaccinations because we have to save up for them-- while Boots does have kitty insurance; we still have to pay up front, and then they reimburse us. :c
Since we can't afford the *basics* of kitty health care, right now, I just don't see us springing for a spinal tap or a CAT scan or MRI any time soon.

Whatever the issue is, I do know this much: his blood work always shows an elevated white blood cell count; indicative of a low-level viral infection. Every. Year.


He is a VERY anxious cat, but since learning the truth behind his "cattery", I can understand why. I think that the phenobarbital helped him to chill out by doping him up a tiny bit, which helped him relax enough to learn that the world isn't a terrifying place, 24/7. So I'm really grateful he was on these meds for the past 3 years,
but if he doesn't actually have real seizures, and therefore doesn't need epilepsy meds... I see no reason to annoy his kidneys with medications.


He still has small muscle seizures/spasms, but no longer has what we believed to be big personality changes.
What were those? I don't know. We know that stress seemed to "trigger" his seizures, which doesn't mesh with idiopathic epilepsy; maybe they were anxiety attacks? Who knows. Hopefully, one day, we'll find out.

I'm sure he misses his "gravy", though...

Never trust me with simple things

It was gonna be a simple doodle comic, and here's what I do with it.

yeah, i might start over. 

an awesome video:
http://youtu.be/SdK3YWYbVmg

can you guess what my upcoming comic is gonna be about? :P
You can thank Matt, my 4 viewers.

examples of my feltie catagories

i realized that i really need to have official titles for my different types of felties. so here are a few...

mid-level complexity: ~$20-30

Fairly simple: $10-20

Simple (simple kitty)

$5-10

Hed'yoh!

i'm alive!

Mexican Godzilla

Well, what would YOU call it?

RIP