Crazed Ramblings

Okay, so it has been quite a while, but as you can understand, things have been kind of crazy around here...  Both good and bad news.
First the bad news:
I am sick.  I've got a really nasty sinus infection right now and I generally feel like Hell, which sucks.  I spent Monday night in the ER, which was "oh-so-fun". >_<
But now the good news!
1: I got great antibiotics that play nice with all sorts of over the counter stuff, which is awesome.  I've been stuck before with medicine that will treat the cause, but will not help the symptoms and can't work with other things, so I consider myself lucky.
2: Most important news.  Cheeks and Sanjuro are getting along! ^_^ Look!

For my friend stopped running today."

We lost Bun-Bun yesterday. Sometime during the night he had a stroke, so we took him to the vet that we really like. They're very nice - They normally don't take emergencies, but they are willing to when things call for it.
Dr. Dorn explained that bunnies can and frequently do bounce back from a stroke. All we would need to do is keep him hyrated, fed and clean until he snapped out of it. We were actually in the waiting room, ready to leave, when he suddenly had a seizure in the crate. The techs whisked him straight back, but there was nothing they could do. His heart stopped, and he was gone.
Strange thing is, I knew two days ago that he would be leaving soon. He and San were snuggling on the floor, and I had an incredible urge to take a picture of them. I knew that it would be that last one I would take.
I'll upload it later today, once I get it off the camera.
My friend Kim is looking for a home for her little bunny guy, and I would gladly take Murphy, but I realized that Sanjuro needs a big, sturdy guy to flop into, someone who we know can withstand her Snuffles and keep her eyes and nose clean for her, and who can protect the cat from her temper tantrums. He sounds like a sweetheart of a bun, though.
Anyone looking for a bunny near Columbus, Ohio?  Kim loves bunnies, but has realized that her life has no space for a bunny right now, so she's doing the awesome and responsible thing and looking for a home for him.  It'll be hard for her, as it would be for anyone, but I commend her for it.
Usually the shelters have bunnies who have lost a friend, so we're going to start looking there for ones, soon. Sanjuro isn't doing so well right now, so chances are we'll need to find her a friend ASAP.

UPDATE:

Luckily, Sanjuro won't have to spend tomorrow night alone.
Yes, we've already found her a friend!
She took it very hard; the worst of us all, and for good reason. So after we had calmed down a bit and had some lunch, we decided to go to the Western PA Humane Society (where we found Bentley) and see if they didn't have any bunnies who might be missing their friends. The WPAHS doesn't separate bonded pairs, but it's entirely likely that someone would have surrendered a bun who was one half of a bonded pair, or would have adopted one bunny but not the other, etc. etc...
Anyway, we went down there and we looked over the bunnies. The most sociable was a really big girl - a Californian - named Cheeks. Next to her was a big boy named Rodger, and a smaller girl named Greta. Now, not only do we sort of need a big bunny, but I know that big bunnies are hard to find homes for.
We spoke with one of the workers to see about arranging a little meet n' greet between Sanjuro and their buns tomorrow, during one of their scheduled Bunny Romps. Normally that would have been cool, but they're having a huge adoption drive tomorrow (Saturday), with the radio showing up and all sorts of giveaways and craziness happening. In other words, it would be really loud and really stressful for Sanjuro.
We decided to go home, get Sanjuro, and go right back. Oddly enough, Sanjuro hopped right into the crate. I had told her before we got the crate ready that she was going to meet a new friend. She closed her eyes and ground her teeth at this; I seriously think she knows more English than we give her credit. Especially since she HATES going into the crate, but she went without a fuss.
Once we got there, we decided to start with Cheeks. Normally San is an aggressive bun, so we were kind of worried, but it went beautifully.
San and Cheeks were in separate halves of an exercise pen, both stretched out and grooming themselves in each other's presence. Basically ignoring each other, and that's a good sign with bunnies. At one point Cheeks put her nose on the ground, trying to get San to groom her and make friends, but San got offended. Sanjuro is the Queen. She doesn't give groomings, she gets them. Luckily, Cheeks realized that she had offended San and immediately started grooming her own ears and doing all in her power to make up. Sanjuro accepted Cheeks's apology, and put her nose on the ground to receive groomings and show that no harm was done. Cheeks tried really hard to groom San's nose through the bars; it was so cute!
Things went a million times better than expected, but upon reading the sheet that came with Cheeks, I can see why. She used to have a friend, too. Her owner surrendered her because "We can't afford them." The sheet mentioned that she gets along well with cats, and other rabbits.
Sanjuro looked really sad to be coming home alone, though. I feel bad that we couldn't bring our new bun home tonight, but we really need to clean and get a new litter box and everything. We know it might take a week or so before they can be unsupervised together (we can keep Cheeks in a pen) but considering how well their first meeting went, I'm not worried.
So, tomorrow our Queen will have an attendant. They will probably gossip about our past King, and Sanjuro will show her all the things they used to do.

I will probably spam my gallery tomorrow with pics - You are forewarned!
Crazed

    Wow. The past week was one Hell of a trip.
    First off, I hardly slept in preparation for Tekko. I bought two tables way back on October, thinking that I would have plenty of time this winter to re-stock.
    BWAHAHAHAAAA! I should know my luck better by now.
    So yeah - No sleep for me. Luckily my friend Maqqy96 came over, and was able to help me not only stay awake, but keep my sanity. Add to this the fact that Brian was desperately trying to get his armor and choreography ready for the Pittsburgh Stage Combat Society (in addition to doing that "work" thing he does) and you can imagine the mayhem.
    But we got everything pretty much ready in time, and during the wee morning hours of Friday we set out for the con, which was a fortunate 15 minutes away. We got the badges and went to Artist's Alley, hoping to be able to sign in and set up. Oddly enough, the Artist's Alley was spilt between two rooms. There was no one around when we got there.
    We poked our heads into the first AA room, which was unlocked and lit, and saw the smallest AA ever, with the worst table set-up imaginable. There was only enough space between the tables for one person to walk through, and the artists would be not so much back to back, as side to side, but facing opposite directions. There was no flow at all (you walked down one side and had three prongs to choose from) and two of the tables were pushed into corners so that whichever poor soul got stuck there had to either climb over or under their table to get behind it. I've been to some pretty small-time, rinky-dink events, but that set-up was ridiculous. If something horrible happened, like a fire, the entire back half of the room wouldn't have been able to get out.
    I also realized that although I had paid for two tables, there was only one with my name on it.
    Needless to say, we weren't happy, so we asked the con staff to call the AA head so we could see about getting it fixed. After much waiting around, the hotel and AA staff finally got the room set up in a much more reasonable fashion. I felt bad for waking up the AA lady, but it had to be fixed - She knew that it was an awful set-up, too. The Alley opened late, but at least the room now had a much better and less lethal set-up (classic table-lined walls, center table island). It was still really cramped, but at least there was flow and two people could squeeze by each other. I told the AA head that I would be glad to surrender my extra table (oddly enough she said they only had me marked for one) because they obviously needed the space, so long as I got a refund for the other table.
    So we had a rocky start, but at least we got things going. Later in the day a petition was carried around to the artists asking that the AA be kept open until after 6 on Saturday. The Dealer's Room closed at 6, and any AA vendor will tell you that they make the most money after the Dealer's Room closes. Typical closing time for AA is somewhere around 10, if it closes at all. 12 hours is a normal amount of time for any AA to be open. I signed the petition because 9 hours isn't that long a time to sell on the busiest con day, and I frankly wasn't doing so hot, money-wise. I usually pay for my tables and registration by the end of the first day, and I wasn't close.
       Near closing on Friday, a guy came into the half of AA that we were in and asked that all the non-artists leave. Once everyone was gone, he closed and locked the door. He said he was the head of income for the con, in charge of both the Dealer's Room and AA. The AA lady was there as well. The guy then proceeded to rant and bitch about how terrible we were to demand that the AA be kept open. We weren't allowed to petition, and he threatened to throw us all out minus a refund for breach of contract for asking. He went on, being demeaning, unprofessional, and threateneing as he flipped out. Poor Lindsay (The awesome female AA head who had worked so hard that morning to get everything set up well) looked shocked at his behaviour, and frankly, towards the end of his little speech, looked like she was going to cry. You can read more about the guy's rant in Maqqy96's journal if you want.  When the guy finished and went to leave, poor Lindsay mouthed "I'm sorry", and went to follow him to the other AA room.
    Honestly, I was ready to laugh my ass off. I was angry, as you no doubt can tell, but I was more amused, and trying really, REALLY hard to not laugh while he ranted. I was shaking, it was that bad. I know that if he hadn't stepped to where he was obscured by a display, I would have cracked. There's something about grown people throwing a tantrum that strikes me as incredibly funny. Maybe it was because he looked like a turtle. Or maybe it's because guys with glasses who look like turtles and wear powder-blue polo shirts can't channel movie villains or drill sargeants, no matter how hard they try. Seriously, he was trying to do that low gravelly voice thing, and that "threatening slits" thing with his eyes, but he just sounded like a bad voice actor, and looked like he was wearing the wrong perscription. It was just funny and sad, like Man-Faye. I also know whenever I see that forehead vein pop out on people I feel the incredible urge to poke at it. I kept expecting him to scream "This - Is - Artist's Alley!" ala' 300, and I kept imagining the veins popping out in his neck and his forehead to spontaneously burst. Or for him to go super-sayin or something - It was that badly over-the-top.
    This is why people will say something not at all amusing to me, and I will fall over laughing because my brain took what they said and turned it into something seemingly unrelated but hilarious. At least, hilarious to me.
    But at least Captain Dramaticus said we could have the alley open until 10 on Saturday, which was awesome. And then he left. Although the icing on the cake was when the guy selling across from us flipped over his Official Tekko Press Badge and asked, "So, what did you guys think?"
    Anyway, once we were back home, we checked the AA contract. The only way we can be tossed out without an AA table refund is if we have visible porn or bootlegged stuff we didn't make. In fact, rule #7 - copypasta from the forums -
"7. Any disputes that may arise between artists must be taken to Artists’ Alley staff. Failure to treat other artists with respect may result with your removal from Artists’ Alley and depending on circumstances, Tekkoshocon VI. "
    I dunno about anyone else, but I felt pretty disrespected by that guy when he was done. I honestly thought he was joking for more than half of his rant.
    The rumor mill was running fast and furious from the start of the con, but from what I heard the reason the AA set-up was so awful was because the hotel gave them the wrong measurements for the rooms. They weren't at the Expo-Mart because of construction there, so with luck they'll be back or at a bigger venue next year. I heard that the person who presented the AA petition went over Lindsay and Captain Dramaticus' head and went straight to the top. I also heard they said something akin to, "This is a demand, and we're not going to leave the AA!" So yeah, that could have been handled better. I later heard that the reason the AA time was originally slated as so short was because they were short on staff. They have a room to "hire" minions and con volunteers right there. All they would need to do is say "Hey Artists - We'd like to give you more time but we need more staff, so if you want the room to stay open later you sould try to convince your pals to sign up as minions and watch the place for us." Problem solved.
    At least I made some cash - Enough to cover my costs and pay for my AA tables at Otakon - and we never saw Captain Dramaticus again. Last I heard there were formal complaints filed against him, which is awesome. I also went to the doll panel, and Roland got lots of attention from the ladies (both resin and non) who thought he was incredibly cute.
    Anyways, I have ranted enough. I'm off to the Tekko forum to see if anyone's complained about the crappy AA conditions.
   
    *EDIT* If anyone's been to the Tekko Feedback Forum I'm sure you know this, but I'll stick it here all the same.
Apparently Cap'n Dramaticus is named Trevor, and this will be his last Tekko. His terrible behaviour was not looked kindy upon by other head con people and as such, he has been dealth with. This is awesome, and has honestly restored my faith in Tekkoshocon. ^_^ I only that next year the con gets a venue better equipped for the huge crowds.

    Speaking of cons, I've got to mail out my Otakon table payment!

Later!
Crazed

Well, Thursday night/EARLY Friday morning was a bit of Hell for me.
Bun-Bun has head tilt!  Luckily, we caught it early and the vet gave us some good meds.  Bun's improved a lot in the past few days, and I know ways to help him navigate even though to him the room is spinning.
I'm kinda happy now that I have bad vertigo.  Mine usually manifests as a sensation of everything tilting one way or the other, but I do have to deal with nasty "zomg-everything-is-spinning!" spells on occasion.  What's odd is that to me, things only look and feel like they're spinning.  If something is making sound, like the TV or my computer, the sound registers normally.  So when the room spins I just close my eyes and focus really hard on that pinpoint of sound.  If I need to, I'll reach out and touch/grab/physically interact with whatever's making the sound.  I know that in my case, like a lot of people with nasty vertigo, the problem is not an inner-ear thing, but neurological in nature.  Something in my brain is acting funny.  The wires are crossed or connected wrong...  Something.
Anyway, if I have something that I can use to "ground" myself, I can usually think my way out of a spell.  Either I look at standing water - if things were really going all tilted, the water would show it - or I listen for stationary point.  Bun's problem is due to an infection, so antibiotics are clearing that up and he's doing much better.  But, I know things are spinning because his eyes are rapidly going left and right like someone trying to focus while on a merry-go-round.  Brian says my eyes do that too, sometimes.
So to help Bun-Bun we leave a DVD or some music going; something he's very used to, actually.  Sometimes we'll put in movies with a lot of bright blues and greens so he can use his eyes and his ears to orient himself.  They both enjoy "The Emperor's New Groove", "Weekend at Bernie's" (both of them), "Atlantis", "Dogma" and "Monsters, Inc."  Although "The Emperor's New Groove" is by far their favorite of that group.  They usually come thundering into the livingroom and flop right down when they hear the opening theme music.  It's really cute.
Fun Fact: Bunnies are mostly colorblind.  They only see blues and greens.
But that's the annoying/sad/scary news.  The good news is that yesterday was my BIRTHDAY!  YAY!  I'm 26!  *checks fingers and toes* Yep, they're all there and accounted for.  Seriously, getting older does not scare me.  To me, living another year is a freaking achievement.  If you can't walk across a flat surface without a bit of wobbling about (I've a lot of people compare my gait to Cap'n Jack or Sally from Nightmare Before Xmas) you'd be happy to survive another year, too.
And not only do I have all my fingers and toes, I can still walk/dance/jump and see straight.  I also have not been arrested for anything, so that's another "Huzzah for me!"  I've got art supplies, and Brian, and a house...  I'd say I ended this year ahead.  Brian got me a membership to the House Rabbit Society for my birthday! *dance dance* Now bunnies will find homes!
Speaking of Art Stuffs, I've got a pile of rings just calling my name...

Later!
Bran

So in case you haven't heard, Gary Gygax, co-creator of D&D, has died.
He will be missed by many of us.  He is survived by his wife, six kids, and seven grandchildren.
But who knows how many he and his friend, Dave Arneson, vicariously coached into adulthood via D&D?  My guess would be in the millions.
How many games/novels/comics/movies have been inspired by D&D?  Again, "millions" seems like a probable number.
I know they inspire me, and will continue to inspire others for many more years to come.

This week we roll initiative for you, Gary.

Hoping for 20s,
Crazed

First off, here's a picture of my new earrings - I love them!
I have also learned that labradorite is REALLY hard to photograph.  Yo uhonestly have no idea how long it took me to get that picture, and that's the best once I could get.  I sadly could not capture the excellent fire that exists in both of them.
Oh, well.  They're still pretty!
Anyways, on to my thoughts.  I just read the the founder of Etsy was on Martha Stewart.  Huzzah!  In my brain that means more buyers who love unique, handmade stuff, which is good for everyone.
Etsy's brave founder, Rob Kalin, mentioned that 200 years ago everything was handmade.  This is true.  What crawled into my brain was the realization that if you were rich or poor, what you owned was handmade, and that the richer you were, the less you made yourself.  I think that to an extent, this still holds true.  I have met some wealthy people, and had the things that were handmade pointed out to me.  IE Handcarved mohogany end tables, original paintings, handwoven rugs imported from across the sea, etc.  So in my brain Handmade = more valuable = more expensive = more money.  Except now instead of Rich = You Don't Have to Make Your Stuff, Rich = Lots of Handmade Stuff.  At least in the cases I have seen.
For the rest of us, it's not so.  Things are made in factories and bought at WhateverMart.  IKEA is huge, and it's gotten to the point where I can go into people's houses that I've just met and see an eerie reflection of my own living room.
Thank the Gods for Antiques and Handmade!  They set off my place nicely, and I think everyone should have them.  Honestly, our prime piece of wall art in our living room was found at the side of the road.  It's a beautiful 3D work of a woman's face emerging from what looks to be at first glance a bunch of leaves.  Sort of a NeoGreenwoman.  I think it's plaster.  The 3D face piece is mounted on an old cabinet door.  When we found it there was a small price tag hanging from the hardware - "$625"

Obviously the doing of an artist (I wonder whose face was molded for the portrait?) that was thrown to the curb, amongst other works, after a heated argument with a lover and/or a roommate.  There were also supplies and a hamper of laundry tossed there, amongst other things.  The supplies had gotten ruined in the rain, sadly, and the clothes were rather unisex in their cut and construction, and mostly vintage.  I did rifle through them because I wanted to find out whose works these were, possibly a business card or something in the pockets.  The garbage truck would be by in no less than four hours.  We had limited space in the car, so we saved the art, and kept the Greenwoman for ourselves.  We were doing flea markets on the weekends at that time, testing out maile prices and whatnot, so we sold the artwork there.  A really excited couple bought the artwork, and were just as baffled as we were when I recounted the tragic story of The Art on the Curb.  The pieces are all unsigned, and we all scoured the surface for some trace of who might have made them, but who knows?
Anonymous Art, like all the Wal-Mart T-Shirts and IKEA posters with cool designs and no names.
Some day I would LOVE to be able to walk through my home and tell a bit of the story behind who made what.  I hope that even my clothes will someday tell a story, even if all they hint is, "I Like Webcomics!"

That's it...  I'm off to sign the HandMade Pledge.  I just found the website three days ago because I live in a cave.

Later!
Crazed

Well, I made my 101 Things in 1001 Days List, and I am proud to say that I've managed to cross a few things off of it!

24. Build a semi-permanent lightbox within which to photograph my maile
    It's been built for a while, and it wasn't until just now I realized that I had finished something on my list!
45. Drink a glass of water every day for two weeks straight (again, use the planner!) [14 / 14]
    It's to the point where I feel wierd if I don't drink two, so I'm going to keep up with it.
48. Make myself a piece of precious metal maile jewelry - Any beads must be gemstones or Swarovskis
    Sterling silver maile earrings with hand-carved labradorite briolettes - That'll more than do.
60. Wear chainmaile whenever I leave the house for at least three weeks straight
    I feel naked without it.
62. Read Total Money Makeover - Again
    And chances are, I'll be reading it even more.

So, that's 5 out of 101 - I'm off to a good start! ^_^

Later!
Crazed

Wow, I'm actually DOING things I put on my list!  YAY!  And luckily, a lot of them kind of dovetail, so it hasn't been that hard to do.
Here's what I've done so far...
11. Take my vitamin every day - I can keep track of this on my planner. So far, so good.
23. Make at least one finished thing out of maile a day for a whole 30 days [12/30]
42. Learn Quickbooks 2003 Getting there...
43. Use Quickbooks for Rabbit Dance I am using the free version with X many uses.  I need cash to buy the full version, and that's when I'll cross it off the list.
45. Drink a glass of water every day for two weeks straight (again, use the planner!) [12 / 14]
67. Donate a total of $200 to Heifer. Whether it be in the form of gifts or random cash-tossing. [$30 / $200]
4. Look at my cute planner every day, even if I don't use it. I'm keeping track of vitamins, etc.
5. Actually use said planner when I need to.  Been writing things down!  WHOO!
6. Same goes for my calendar Also writing down appointments and everything. ^_^
56. Hand out random cards when I ship orders - Do this at least three times [1 / 3]

In all, I'm really pleased with myself! ^_^ I think after two months of steadily taking my vitamin - Or when I reach a time I don't need to take it anymore because it's a special pre-natal perscription kind - I can safely cross it off my list, because by then it's a set habit and my body might get mad at me if I quit them.  My chainmailling can only get better because I actually have a dedicated work space, and I've started keeping a notebook where I write down everything I work on/make/finish/do business-wise.  I don't want to not write anything down, so the whole "maile a day" thing is getting to be not as hard as I thought.
And I got a ton of tiny rings, so the dolle maille is calling to me...

Speaking of, I've got work to do!
Crazed

I saw this nifty blog entry on Vox's front page the other day, and it just kept sticking...  I would close the tab to stephanie's blog entry, then re-open it, close it again; you get the idea.  It's a blog about her recent accomplishment of getting one thing crossed off of her 101 Things in 1,001 Days list.  Apparently this is sort of a big thing on LiveJournal and whatnot, and the idea intrigues me.  It's an attainable goal.  It's not a "Thing a Day" list or anything like that.  It's 101 Things over the course of a little less than three years.
Last night I dreamt I was writing something, but I was watching myself do it.  Since I know I hate it when people read over my shoulder, I didn't do it so I couldn't see what I was writing.
Now it's close to 8:30 AM and I'm still re-reading it, so...  Fuck it, I'm gonna do it.
There are things I would like to do and things I know I need to do, whether it be for my marriage, my sanity, my personal health or my pets.  Some that are simple I know are not going to be easy.  I know myself - I'm a Pisces - I can do my quarterly sales tax report in under ten minutes, but I can lose whole hours at a time singing along with my mp3s.  I routinely don't know what day of the week it is.
You can imagine my list will start out with getting that sort of thing straightened out. ^^; Not that I'm going to stop randomly singing and/or dancing for hours on end, mind you.  That's just too much fun.

101 Things in 1,001 Days - 1/24/08 - 10/21/10

1. Keep my sink clean for two weeks straight
2. Do my morning routine for two weeks straight
3. Same for my evening routine
4. Look at my cute planner every day, even if I don't use it
5. Actually use said planner when I need to
6. Same goes for my calendar
7. Make a weekly dinner plan and stick to it for four weeks
8. Do my zone work for two weeks straight
9. Take weekly bellydance classes - At least attend 8 [0 / 8]
   
10. Practice said bellydancing! ^_^ Three days a week for 15 minutes (at least) for a whole month.
11. Take my vitamin every day - I can keep track of this on my planner.
12. Eat fruit and/or vegetables every day for a week for two days straight.
13. Buy Falik's Elvolution
14. Buy Falik's Dreams from the Machine
15. Buy Falik's Streaks and Strokes
16. Buy Falik's The Ballad of El Efe
17. Make myself a cute bento lunch, even if I'm going to be home and will be the only one who sees it.
18. Get on some sort of sleep schedule and stick to it for two weeks
19. Lose 10 pounds
    
20. Lose 10 pounds
21. Lose 10 pounds (seriously, the mesomorph needs to)
22. Weigh myself once a week for 8 weeks in a row - Plot this in the handy-dandy chart in the back of my planner. [0 / 8]
    
23. Make at least one finished thing out of maile a day for a whole 30 days [30/30]
    
24. Build a semi-permanent lightbox within which to photograph my maile
25. Photograph said maile at least twice a week for four weeks straight
    
26. Empty the camera and crop/rotate/etc. the maile photos as soon as I am finished
27. Update my store site once a week for four weeks straight [0 / 4]
    
28. Same goes for my Etsy shop [0 / 4]
    
29. Take some sort of metalworking and/or jewelry class to improve my skills
30. Make a chainmaile sculpture of some kind - Be it a flower, a business card holder, whatever.
31. Finish my scalemaile top
32. Go out to a dance club
33. Wear chainmaile to said club
34. Dance until I drop or am forced to stop (whichever comes first)
35. Play DDR once a week for four weeks straight [0 / 4]
    
36. Learn to play on Hard in Guitar Hero - I don't need to be awesome, I just need to consistantly not fail.
    
37. Get four stars on Medium playing "Through the Fire and Flames"
38. Buy at least one Dragonforce CD
39. Buy a Dragonforce CD for someone as a gift
40. Get some pictures printed and make a photo album
41. Make a photo album/portfolio for my business as well
    
42. Learn Quickbooks 2003
43. Use Quickbooks for Rabbit Dance
44. Wear copious amounts of chainmaile to a fancy-schmancy event/place/thing
45. Drink a glass of water every day for two weeks straight (again, use the planner!) [0 / 14]
    
46. Make a comprehensive list of things I will always need when doing a show/faire/con/etc.
47. Organize a bin or something with my show essentials so I can grab it and go.
    
48. Make myself a piece of precious metal maile jewelry - Any beads must be gemstones or Swarovskis
49. Make Brian a piece of precious metal maile jewelry -  Same rule for beads, and all clasps must be precious, too.
50. Draw up plans for my Faire booth
51. Get plans approved
52. Build the Faire booth
53. Go to the dentist
54. Buy a handmade gift for someone - If I can, I will include the artist's business card
55. Keep all business cards I get in my card wallet
56. Hand out random cards when I ship orders - Do this at least three times [0 / 3]
    
57. Take doll pictures downtown
58. Gleefully cultivate the image of killer dolls to at least three people who disparage my hobby [0 / 3]
    
59. Water the bonsai for Brian when he needs me to for a whole month
    
60. Wear chainmaile whenever I leave the house for at least three weeks straight
61. Read at least four new financial-type books [2 / 4]
    
62. Read Total Money Makeover - Again
    
63. Buy a Sluggy Freelance book
64. Buy another Sluggy book - It can't hurt
    
65. Buy two more webcomic books to support my favorite artists [0 / 2]
    
66. Buy ten prints/items off of DeviantArt [0 / 10]
    
67. Donate a total of $200 to Heifer.  Whether it be in the form of gifts or random cash-tossing. [$0 / $200]
    
68. Buy a piece of original artwork
    
69. Get the piece framed (or do it myself) and display it proudly!
70. Look at DA wishlists for people when shopping for gifts/etc.
    
71. Buy and display at least one thing from Ursula V.
72. Attend a large public event - Be it a race, a game, or the 4th of July downtown
73. Draw something twice a week for four weeks straight
74. Get logo stickers printed from Paper Forest
75. Paint a watercolor
76. Make at least one piece of doll maile a week for four weeks straight [0 / 4]
    
77. Plant a useful garden - It can be herbs in a pot on the deck, but plant something
78. Tend, cultivate and use said useful plants
79. Plant flowers, just because.
    
80. Celebrate the Day of the Dead in style
81. Send a letter each month - Doesn't matter to who or why, just do it
    
82. Send a postcard each month - Doesn't matter to who or why, just do it
83. Send birthday cards to my family on time
84. Try to make said cards of the handmade or otherwise artist-created variety - Even if I make them. ^_^
    
85. Gather ancestor pictures
86. Make an album of ancestors - Include as much info as I can about each one
87. Publicly dance with Brian
88. Join the House Rabbit Society
89. Write in my blog at least once a week
90. Learn to identify at least five distinct trees - Even if I have to smell them to do it [0 / 5]
    
91. Learn to identify at least five spices (plants) on sight - I can already smell and identify many [0 / 5]
    
92. Read my Latin Harry Potter book
93. Read something in Latin at least once a week
94. Visit a foreign country
95. Walk in the sea - Swim if I'm able
96. Hike at McConnell's Mill
97. Go to Letchworth State Park in NY - Show Brian my favorite spots there
98. Commit my all-powerful cookie recipie to memory
99. Make sushi
100. Sing in public - Be it karaoke or whatever.
101. Commit "The Kingdom of Is" to memory

Finished: 7 / 101

So there it is - My list of things to do by October 21, 2010.  If you're confused as to "Morning Routine", "Zone Work", shiny sink, etc. it's a neat thing I found - Flylady.net.  Rather a bit "home n' gardens cutsey" in style for me, and geared towards women with kids and a normal lifestyle, but damn if the woman doesn't make sense!  She's awesome, and understands that the reason many of us are unorganized and late all the time is not because we're scatter-brained or dumb - It's because we're creative and passionate.  We get an idea and we get so caught up in it we kinda forget that we've got food to make, laundry, etc.  So, yeah - I'm sure some of you are like that, too.  I'm going to try to do her thing so I can do even more cool stuff and that way I won't have all the little mundane things like dishes getting in the way of my list or my artwork.
There are some things I had to leave off the list, but they kinda depend on things that honestly nobody can control, so I limited my list to things that I know I can do either on my own or that require very little of other people.
This is my list.
What's yours?

Wish Me Luck!
Crazed

Some days I wander about in constant amazement.
And it's nothing terribly profound, either.  It's just simple concepts that, when I really think about them, are practially downright absurd.
A contant thing, as I pet the bunnies, is the mere concept of pets.  I mean, I know how historically they came about and it does make perfect sense, but we as a society have pretty much moved beyond the practical reasons to have animals running about our homes.  I don't know about you, but at least most people I know with cats (myself included) don't keep them around because they need them to control an active rat population.  And my rabbits are NOT for me to eat.
But seriously, just think about it for a second, especially if you do have a pet.
What you have is an animal that would otherwise be running about wild (or perhaps working to earn its keep), maybe in a group of similar individuals, hunting and scrounging for its food.  But they don't have to do that.  They are in your house, eating your food and shedding on your furniture and maybe even damaging your rugs and giving you allergies, yet you keep them around simply because you enjoy their company, and they enjoy yours.  They do not seem to want to leave, do they?  Sure, they might get curious and try to run out the door to explore or make friends with the dog across the street, but you know that chances are, they'd come back and be wanting you to feed them and love them and spend more time and money on them.  They'd be silly with happiness that you were right where they left you, and just as glad to see you as you would be to see them.
Isn't that amazing and wonderful? ^_^
I mean, I have rabbits.  As a pet they are...  Different.
For one, they are prey animals.  Most pets - cats and dogs and even lizards and ferrets - are not generally prey animals.  Rabbits are Mother Nature's "Take-Out Special" when it comes to the wild.  They are possibly the most successful prey species to ever walk the Earth.
Rabbits didn't get this way without getting smart.  They know that chances are, if it's bigger than them, it's going to try to eat them.  ESPECIALLY the large, bipedal, hairless ape things.  This information is hardwired into their brains.  Bipedal = Dangerous.  That's why wild rabbits will generally run away from you the instant they see you walking (assuming they didn't disappear already), because even if they can't smell you they can see your silhouette and know that you're one of those things.
And yet here I am, with a large rabbit stretched at my feet, and another one not two feet away, very carefully tearing the top layer of cardboard off of a box.  They are relaxed and happy, and don't flick an ear if I sneeze or make any sudden moves.  I can even drop on the floor and they'll let me scratch their ears and kiss their noses!
I have RABBITS in my HOUSE.  RABBITS!  Those quick, long-eared things what get into your garden and dig up all your turnips and carrots! 0_o They - are - in - my - home.  Not that I would want them to leave, but they won't anyway, not even if given the chance.
Not only are there two wild animals running loose in my house, I even have a known predator in here - A very large one, actually - and they totally ignore him.  Hell, they pick on him for fun.
Think about this for a moment.  Isn't it amazing?
Seriously, sometimes I'll look at them and a little voice in my head will say, "You have rabbits in your house.  Think about it!  It's INSANE."
And people wonder why at certain times I suddenly get a glazed look over my face.
Well, this is one of those reasons.  The sheer concept of some things just overwhelms me, and the fact that we even have pets is one of them.
I mean, if you really think about it, isn't it a delightful idea?

Lost in Wonder,
Crazed