Picture This

Hello all - hope everyone's summer is off to a good start. I've been working on a writing project the past 4-6 weeks that's taking up most of my free time, but I wanted to pop in and let folks know I'm still around.

I also thought I would post something fun. The company I work for has an annual barbecue to kick off summer. This year, like more than a few others, we had a torrential downpour the day of the picnic. My colleague S and I raced outside, grabbed some food (which was excellent), and then raced back inside, dodging the nearly horizontal rain the entire way.

Needless to say all of the outdoor events were cancelled because of the conditions. Fortunately one activity was able to move inside: the caricaturists. A colleague mentioned where they were, so I trekked downstairs and waited my turn.

I had a fun chat about music with the artist as he worked; it turned out we had similar taste, which made the time fly as he worked. (He joked that his wife was going to throttle him when he came home with five new albums we discussed.) 

In any case, here's the end result (which I really like, incidentally):

And for anyone who's curious, here are the other two. First, from 2018:

And from 2015:

I never cease to be amazed at how talented these folks are. Can't wait to see what the next one looks like. :c)

Hope to have more posts in the (relatively) near future. Watch this space... 

***

In keeping with the post's theme, a few picture-related songs for you.

First, a standout track from The Kinks, from their 1968 masterpiece The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - "Picture Book":

Next, a great song from the Nineties, Filter's "Take a Picture":

And last but definitely not least, one of my very favorite songs from one of my very favorite bands - "Camera," from R.E.M.'s 1984 classic Reckoning:

Such a beautiful, haunting song, which Michael Stipe wrote as a tribute to his friend Carol Levy, a photographer who was killed in a car crash.

I saw R.E.M. perform this as their first encore on the Reckoning tour that year. The crowd was in a frenzy when they came back on stage; much to the astonishment of myself and my friends, they chose to play this, one of their quietest and most somber songs. And they pulled it off; by the end of the song you could hear a pin drop in the sold-out 2300 seat theatre.

I distinctly remember talking with my friends on the way home, and how impressed we were, to a person, that they knew exactly what song to play at that moment, and how they were destined for great things. And the rest, as they say, is history...

Another New Year Flu By

Happy New Year, all. Hope you had all had a lovely holiday season.

I'm going to keep this short, for, as the title indicates, I'm battling the flu. Again. Sigh.

I had it back in November, and unfortunately it decided to pay a return visit just after Christmas.

I managed to fight it off for several days, but since Friday evening I've basically been in bed. Not necessarily sleeping, mind you; a wracking cough has been waking me up throughout the night.

I was hoping it would go away, but last night was the most unpleasant yet. It's painful to breathe at times as a result, and my ribs are sore as well. Bleah. I'm hoping it's not bronchitis (I had it in November as well), but I suspect it might be. It wouldn't be the first time I've had it multiple times in short order. Hopefully I'm wrong.

More to follow when I'm feeling up to it, including (buried lead alert) seeing my parents for the first time in nearly two years. The short version: I survived, helped in no small part by the presence of my sister and nephew. I think the result was the most I can hope for, under the circumstances.

Take care, everyone, and here's hoping 2017 is good to you all. :c)

***

Oh, and it probably goes without saying, but the photo above was not taken the past few days! :D It's from about three weeks ago. I wouldn't subject you to a shot of me now. ;-p

***

This feels like a particularly appropriate song to begin 2017. It's the leadoff track from R.E.M.'s great 1986 album Lifes Rich Pageant (sp). "Let's begin again," indeed.

Hello 2016!

Greetings and salutations, gentle readers! And Happy New Year! I hope this finds you all well. 

I've finally managed to shake off the lingering effects of my annual holiday bout with the flu. This one was particularly tenacious, managing as it did to affect all of the Big Three (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day), alas. But I survived, and am moving forward, bloodied but unbowed, into the new year. And full steam ahead too!!!

Follow along below the fold - you'll be glad you did!!!

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Vignettes: Redhead Walking

Hello, all! And Happy Easter, if that is something you celebrate. :c)

I had a funny moment yesterday I thought I would share from Saturday, while I was out for a walk.  Follow along below the jump if you are so inclined!

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Lessons Learned

For those of you poor souls who inexplicably are *not* baseball fans ;-P, the Red Sox lost Game 3 of the World Series last night on a call - obstruction of a base runner - that had never ended a World Series game in its 109-year history.

One of the Boston sportswriters summed up the consensus here: the rule as written makes no sense, but it *is* the rule and it *was* applied correctly. (BTW, in spite of the well-earned reputation of Red Sox fans as insufferable whiners, I have yet to hear a single person argue otherwise.) 

Sports fans here in New England are drawing comparisons to another play in another sport (football - American football, for non-North Americans) that also involved a Boston team. In that case it was the New England Patriots. They wound up getting a second chance to win a playoff game against the Oakland Raiders in the 2002 AFC wild card game because the referees correctly applied what is known as the "tuck" rule. 

The details of the rule, and when it was applied, aren't really relevant for this post. What is relevant is that the rule, as written, defied common sense once you looked at it closely - but it *was* the rule. And the referees called it correctly as the rule stood then. (I think it was eliminated as a result of that game, but I could be wrong. I'm not really a football fan.)

I guess the point is, you play within the rules; sometimes, as they did for the Red Sox, they do you in. Other times, as they did for the Patriots, they give you a second life.

Before 2004, when the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 - yes, 86 - years, I would have been certain that this single call in last night's game foretold certain doom for them.

Their previous trip to the World Series, in 1986, illustrates why. 

In hindsight, it also reveals quite a bit about the person I was then.

And my belief that it means nothing more than one loss reveals a great deal about the person I am now - in part because of lessons I learned from that 1986 Red Sox team.

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Emotional Weather Report

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I wanted to write a follow-up post about how I am feeling in the wake of coming out to my parents last Sunday.

And once I ran across the Tom Waits song I used for the title of this post on my iPod, I realized I *had* to write something, just so I can spotlight such a wonderful song. :c)

Bottom line: I am feeling a bit better every day.

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Brows-Her

Here is the first of two posts I've held off on posting due to the events of the past week.

I was going to post about my dinner last Saturday with my friend M - the first time we had gotten together in eight months - first.

But after some thought, I decided to post about last Tuesday night's electrolysis session first. Rest assured, however, that both were equally painful. (Juuussstttt kidding, M! lol)

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Spare Ribs, Anyone?

So, it's Day 3 of my She Takes A (Broken) Ribbing & Keeps On Ticking campaign. How goes it, you ask?

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Begin The Begin

So, the first few posts wound up not being what I'd expected. Sort of went where the muse took me. :c) 

Funny thing is, several friends have said I should be a music critic, but it just isn't all that appealing. What gives someone the right - or the knowledge - to criticize people who actually have the talent and tenacity to create something? I'm not a big Dilbert fan, but I thought he nailed it when Dogbert decided to be a critic. When Dilbert asked him why, he replied that he wanted to be able to dismiss an artist's lifework with a witty remark. :c) Sad but true. (That said, Mikal Gilmore, David Fricke, and Brett Milano are always worth reading. Never fail to learn something after seeing their byline on something.)

Anyway, I started a blog as an extension of my journal, which I've been writing for nearly ten years. Even there, in something that no one but me would ever see, I couldn't acknowledge what I've known most of my life, but couldn't bring myself to admit: I'm a girl. 

I think I'll keep doing the journal, but I've found that it drifted from my original purpose - to be, well, a journal. Instead, it's sort of morphed into a place to work out stuff about my comic strip. Just doing a daily brain dump (and no, it doesn't take long, ha ha!), which has proved to be a good way to clear the ol' synapses, creatively speaking. 

But then I was thinking there might be other things to consider writing about. Like… well, let's see… the Mariners amazing pitching… what's for dinner… changing my gender… You know - stuff.

And thus it is so. :c)

So. I guess I'll just use this to figure out how I got here, where I'm going, and maybe a word or three about the sights and sounds I use to inspire/comfort myself along the way. Since I'm easily distracted, an entry could really be about anything. Abandon all hope, ye continuity-seekers! You have been warned, imaginary audience.

 Stay tuned!