Ship's Blog: March, 2007

Unbelievably, I forgot to post the Dove Drama Update this weekend.

On Friday, Mrs. Dove (Fiona) was making it supremely evident that she wanted those fledglings outta there. She would get in the nest so that the babies couldn't get back in. She would lean against them. She was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Her mate, Albert, came over to try to smooth her feathers, but it didn't go so well.

Fiona: I gotta get outta here! You watch them, Mr. Family Man.  Read more »

Someone from UCSF called today to give me the appointment times for my surgery and pre-op appointment (though she called the pre-op appointment the "preparing" appointment - who trains these people?).

She told me that I need to report to room such-and-such at 10 am for the needle localization. I had that done on both breasts last year - that's where the radiologist put a guide wire into each breast to guide the surgeon to the surgical location. Thing is, they use the core needle biopsy equipment for this...you know, the same equipment that the radiologist said couldn't detect my microcalcifications.  Read more »

Lola Pie North is becoming a brave girl. I took her to the vet for her re-check, and while I know she hated every minute of it, she was not quite as terrified as before. I mean, she was scared, but she was also a little curious and I think she was trying to muster up some attitude. That's fabulous! I'm not sure if the singing helped. I sang to her on the drive home, mostly any song I could think of with most of the words replaced with, "Lola." She likes them best that way.  Read more »

There is cat snot on the plasma TV. We can't have nice things.

Poor Lola continues to be sneezy, with her eye watering constantly. I think the pricey prescription eye drops have helped, though, just because she is not squinting like she did before. It still waters but I think it doesn't hurt so much. At least, I hope not!  Read more »

Kathy and I made new journals today for our classes with Kelly Kilmer. Class starts tonight, so we've been heads-down on our project.

I think Kathy's journal just ROCKS. She used my homemade templates for the binding holes and then made up her own beading design. It's awesome, and I love the images on the cover. You probably can't tell, but she has a sheen of iridescent gold glazed over the whole book. Check it out:

   Read more »

Do you know who Colonel Tigh is on Battlestar Galactica? (In the new series, not the original late-70s series.) Well, he's the ship's XO, an alcoholic, ornery officer played to perfection by Michael Hogan. Kathy and I get a big kick out of Colonel Tigh. He's just a total crankmeister, the type to snarl lines like, "Ever see a man die of dehydration? Well, let's hope you never do. It isn't pretty." Cracks me up just typing that. Who can resist someone who talks like that?

If we created a Battlestar Galatica drinking game, you'd have to take a drink every time Tigh delivered a Negative Nelly line. Here's an example of classic Col. Tigh conversation, which in our game would make you drunk:  Read more »

My computer is on its way back to me! I hope everything is fixed. I'm a little worried, but they did test it...so...I"ll cross my fingers.

Today's title is actually an instruction flashed to Lincoln Six Echo in the movie The Island. Hey, I need to report to the tranquility center, too! Where is it?

I decided that my tranquility center is located in my art studio. I haven't been spending enough time there of late. What with all recent stressors (sick kitty cat, waiting for a surgical biopsy, broken computer in repair, and more) I find myself needing to create.

I just love color, so I started out by making this very colorful art journal to use for my color studies:  Read more »

I pulled out the card that the surgeon's nurse gave me and rang her up this morning to find out what's up with the confirmation call I received for a Wednesday appointment. Now, she gave me her number when I had the almost-biopsy last Wednesday. She said to call if I had any questions.

What she neglected to say was that she was about to go on vacation...for a full month! Her voicemail let me know not to leave a message.  Read more »

I asked Kathy how it went with the Simple Secret to Better Painting. What was the one rule we needed to know?

Turns out it wasn't that simple! She said there is a lot more to it.

I am shocked. Can you believe that the title was just a marketing ploy? SHOCKING. What are we supposed to do now? Study, observe, pay attention?

Outrageous. We can't possibly have time for that. We need to make fabulous art RIGHT NOW.

As evidenced by our recent focus on color-mixing, Kathy and I have been trying to strengthen our core competencies, so to speak, in art. Along with color, we've been wanting to learn more about composition and design. We signed up for a class on composition and design in January, but it was cancelled. So, we decided we have to learn about it in other ways.

This evening Kathy showed me a composition book online. "Do we have this book?" she asked.

"No," I answered. "We have another book..."  Read more »

Two finches have started building a nest in the eaves outside our living room window, four eaves down from the dove in her nest. The young couple are energetic and excited. They've made remarkable progress in a single day, creating an admirably stylish yet structurally sound nest, even sporting colorful green grass. If you listen close, you can here the female. I think her conversation translates to something like this:  Read more »

All this surgery stuff is getting me down, so this morning I tried to lift my spirits with some color mixing. I pulled out my tubes of Azurite Hue, Indian Yellow Hue, and Alizarin Crimson Hue (Golden acrylic paints) and mixed up a color wheel. The colors were indeed lovely, and very different from the vivid, clear colors created when using Pthalo Blue (Green Shade), Hansa Yellow Medium, and Quinacridone Magenta as primaries. I can really see times when I'd like to use this alternative palette.  Read more »

A month ago, Kathy went on a business trip to Las Vegas for a few days. While she was gone, I fed her boys and gave them her treats. No big deal, the boys see me all the time anyway. Only, something happened while Kathy was gone. Dash developed a crush on me.

I'm not sure exactly what changed for Dash, but ever since the trip, he's been a bit goofy over me. He keeps coming over to me with big, coy eyes, wanting me to stroke his head and tell him I love him. He rubs against me while I cook, a task usually handled by Sous-Chef Skee. He has also become quite the jealous boy, attacking Skee after I give his brother attention. He's decided that I belong to him.  Read more »

I have a crush on one of the Dove deodorant women. No kidding, a woman on a deodorant commercial has captured my fancy! It must be Spring.

Said woman is in the commercials for Dove Clear where they have women turn their shirts inside out to show that the deodorant doesn't show on their clothes. They say her name is Kelly, but for all I know, it could be Amanda. In addition to being part of the ensemble commercial, Kelly gets her own commercial. She's so cute, I want to tickle her. I already use Dove soap and deodorant, but if I didn't, I probably buy 'em just to get work for Kelly. Ha!  Read more »

Ever wake up early in the morning - after far too little sleep - and feel like you are going to throw up? Without a hangover, that is. Well, it could just be me, but that's how I felt at 5 am today when I had to get up to get ready for my core needle biopsy. It was o'dark o'clock, as my friend Christine says, and thanks to the daylight savings time, I wouldn't see the sun for two more hours. Yeah, yeah, you're thinkin' I'm a sissy and maybe you're right. But I hadn't slept well and my body was rebelling. Thankfully, coffee helped.  Read more »

After the third family of mourning doves left our nests last September, (the ones in the eaves) I swore I would take the nests down so as not to encourage more. Skee loved the dove families, but I was worried that if we played host to too many, our dove population would explode. However, I never got around to removing the nests.

About a month ago, a young couple started checking out the nest in front of the living room window. By "checking out" I mean they would watch the nest from the fence 25 feet away, fly over and try it out, and generally assess the area for fitness. Was the nest large enough? Sheltered enough? Close enough to food?  Read more »

I was drinking coffee in bed this morning, watching the angle of light that seemed unfamiliar for the hour (thank you, daylight savings time, for confusing the heck out of my brain) when I took a moment to glance at my chest of drawers. For the first time, I noticed that I reserve my largest dresser drawer for...jim-jams.

Oh, my. What does that say about me?  I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to use the biggest drawer for pajamas.  Read more »

This morning I woke up thinking about Lola, of course. Kathy and I talked before she left for work and I said that I had a hard time believing it is cancer. However, I could believe that the allergic issues that Lola has had with her skin (eosinophilic plaque) could also affect her intestines. She's a sensitive girl. My opinion, though, doesn't matter so much. I called the vet at 8:30 am to get the blood test results but the vet was with a client, so I left a message.  Read more »

When I took Lola (with Tilly) to the vet two months ago, we talked about her chronic gastrointestinal problems. I've always had to be careful what food I give her as most food gives her diarrhea. She wants only dry food and her sister likes canned food, which would seem to work well since Tilly is on a prescription diet. However, Lola will steal Tilly's food (aurgh) even though Tilly will not do the reverse. I am sure Tilly's food upsets Lola's tummy.  Read more »

Last year, tenants from hell terrorized our neighborhood. I live in a residential neighborhood. It a secluded bit of suburban tract housing on the edge of an open space reserve, populated (predictably enough) by people who want some peace and quiet.

One house on the street, kitty-corner from mine, has been rented out for years. When we moved in, frat boys lived there. They tormented the neighbor immediately next door to them (who, like me, works from home) with their parties and shouting and what-have-you. Tired of all the disruption, the neighbor complained and had a hand in getting them moved along.

Next, a woman moved in with her two kids. I thought, well, at least they'll be more settled down than four beer-guzzling college students.  Read more »

My drawing books arrived in the mail yesterday - yay! I chose three of them:

How to Draw What You See by Rudy de Reyna - This one looked like it would provide me with the basics I need. Kathy looked at it and felt it would be useful for her, too. It starts with simple shapes and, honestly, we need that level of instruction. We have NO confidence in our drawing skills.  Read more »

Ah, finally, a day of success.

My new drive enclosure was delivered to me from Newegg this afternoon. It works like a dream. Very easy hardware install and no problems at all. I managed to backup my system drive and hookup my data drive. I still can't do everything I did on the desktop system because I either can't install the applications on the laptop or installation is complicated (like with development tools) and I haven't gotten around to it yet. But I have all my writing and know that I have not lost anything.  Read more »

UCSF is trying to drive me crazy. They are succeeding.

I have been waiting since Wednesday afternoon to find out when they want me to come in for the stereotactic core needle biopsy. After all, the surgeon said she wanted it done this week. I figured they'd call me by the end of last week, at least, but ... no call!  Read more »

Friday, I ordered a nice drive enclosure (with a fan!) that I can put an internal hard drive into while my computer is being fixed. That way, I can backup the system drive before I ship it off and I can access the data drive while the computer is being fixed. However, the enclosure won't arrive until Tuesday and I need to backup the system right away, so I bought a cheap drive enclosure this weekend as a stop-gap.

Trouble is, it doesn't work. Of course.  Read more »

My computer has been very sick for a couple of weeks and I am sad about it. I was working on the design and programming of a new site as well as a huge writing project when it crashed and burned. I had a bunch of people I was about to return messages to, people who are not in my address book, and then I lost access to Outlook.  Read more »