It's July...seems pretty unusual, even here, that we'd have a week straight of rain. But it keeps the plants healthy, without the constant need for the sprinkler, so that's good. And it gives me the chance to do indoor stuff without guilt that I should be out weeding.
I finished the little hops-vine drawing I started a couple of weeks ago; initially I had thought it might be another linocut, but the shapes were too small and detailed, so I just finished it with walnut ink. The photo doesn't show the tiny little hatchings -- I used a new crowquill pen that happens to make a very fine line -- and it's a bit distorted, but here it is.
Because of the rain, I've had lots of time to poke around in my office, and after several crazy days at work, it's been nice to just come home and draw.
I also did a sketch for Illustration Friday; I'm getting to really like the I.F. exercises. They make me think about drawing things besides skulls and bees. Not too far afield, this little drawing of flowers and a hummingbird, but I thought it might be nice for this week's word, "poem." Googled and added the Emily Dickinson lines to make it fit the theme better.
The rest of the weekend has been pleasant; drinks and dinner with friends at a new Thai restaurant on Friday evening, lunch with another friend on Saturday, and today, Sunday, we went to a matinee of Ratatouille. Nice movie -- it made me want to cook something.
And this evening, the usual Sunday routine of laundry, interspersed with the good shows on HBO (John From Cincinnati, which I'm not quite sure I can qualify as a good show yet but which I can't bring myself to give up on, and later, Flight of the Conchords, which I LOVE love love).
If for some reason, the rest of my life never offers anything else exciting, I could live with just days like today; quiet, calm...everything's pretty much in its place and as it should be. At peace.
So yes, I got a Pownce invite and signed up, because it's the new hot thing and why not? But sadly, so far I can't see much of interest to do with it. I suppose it's because I have exactly one Pownce friend. So there's me, if anyone wants to give it a try. I have a couple of invites left; let me know if you'd like one. Eyup. Pownce. Sheesh, I'll buy into anything.
In other news: I'll be teaching a class at the School of Visual Concepts next month! It's the Introduction to InDesgn class. This ought to be interesting, as I've never actually taught an actual school class before. I've done workshops at my former place of employment, though, and I answer a lot of questions at work; I enjoy it a lot, so I thought I'd give the real thing a try. I feel as if I should be more nervous than I am, but I suspect that might change as the date gets nearer.
All's well otherwise. We went for a little bike ride after work today, now that the week's worth of rain has tapered off. I'm hoping to do more of that this weekend. My bike won't shift down into first gear, though; we need to get both bikes in for a tune-up before doing any long rides.
And now, once again, I'm later than I should be. Off to bed.
In the evening, we went to see the new Harry Potter movie; not bad.
I feel like I should be reading the books, because I always feel like I'm not quite in touch with everything that's going on. I enjoy the films anyway, and the one time I tried to read the first book, I didn't get far. I think I have a prejudice against them just because they're "kids' books." So it's funny that one of the trailers before the show was for "The Dark is Rising" - it's a series of books I read and absolutely loved as a kid. Ian McShane is in it, so that too adds to the appeal. Hope it's good.
When we were renting the little vacation house in Rossbach, on vacation, the owner and I were chatting when this friendly cat came up to visit. Her name was Fresca, the owner told me. He said she loved people, and liked to come around to see guests, but Vorsicht! (Danger!) If you tried to per her, she would lash out and scratch viciously.
Of course, I figured I could make friends with any cat, so the next time she showed up, I gently, cautiously patted her head.
My hand hasn't quite healed yet.
For the rest of the trip, we refered to Fresca the Cat as the Vorsicht Katze...I was thinking about that one jet-lagged night after we got back and decided to try making a linocut print in her honor, and in memory of the lesson I learned.
