yikes!

God, wouldn't it be embarrassing to have your comment/comments deleted by SK?

I was reading his last couple of entries and in one of them he was ranting about people using the comments section in his blog for their own purposes and how he'd delete comments if they weren't about him. Made me laugh really hard...but then I had this moment of panic when I though "eek! It would be mighty fucking embarrassing to have a comment I made deleted!" And I did a mental review of the comments I'd left. I think I'm ok...but half of my comments were made in the wee morning hours, so I'm not quite sure what the hell I said all the time. (I know, it's really pathetic I would give a shit....)

It will be interesting to see if any comments suddenly disappear.... :-)

And I had just decided to give it another year too....

Looks as if I might well be dropping out of the co-op art gallery I've been a member of for the nearly four years. We currently have 17 members and have wall art, 3D art, fine craft, jewelry. But the membership is always changing as people join and drop out for various reasons.

One of our members (who has been there for three years) works in wood (mostly carving, some intarsia, some wood burning, etc.) and specialises in erotic fetish/bondage art (but does other work that is much more standard issue). This is what he joined the co-op as, he came to one of our meetings and presented samples of his art to us and discussed with us what type of work he did and what type of art he planned to put in our gallery (not his whole line by a long shot -- some of his erotic art, but not the really super graphic stuff. Also he would have some of his more "normal" work in there also.) He was accepted in to the co-op (unanimously, I think) and has been a solid, active member.

This guy makes sure he comes to the meetings, especially when we are having potential new members presenting, and always asks the prospective member if he or she has issues with nudity and erotic/bondage art which would make him or her uncomfortable with such work in the shop. None of our current members have said they would have a problem with this.

...but apparently several of them lied, because at least three to four are pitching a hissy fit over the the erotic artist's work, saying it's disgusting and should be hidden or not even in the shop in the first place. The pieces to trigger this response are three wooden paddles with images of scantily clad women (or parts thereof), some in light bondage. One has sold and I don't remember what was on it. One of the others is a rear view of a woman from the waist down. She is wearing a thong and stockings with a garter belt. The other is also viewed from the back and this woman is also wearing a thong and stockings with a garter belt, but also has high heeled shoes. She has long hair which is loose and covers much of her back to just above her waist. And her wrists are bound and apparently secured to something above her head. So a bit of bondage on the last one.

Now we all know this artist does erotic/bondage art, so I don't get what is the big fucking deal. No one said they had a problem with it, no one said they even had a problem with nudity, but now at least one of the "decency police" within our group seems to want all the nudes to be hidden from "the children" *gasp!* The woman leading the charge even suggested (not to the group at a meeting -- she's gathering her supporters one on one or in little groups) that any "offensive" art should be "put in a catalog" that people could ask for if they want to see it. She doesn't even want "Bruce" to be displayed. Now "Bruce" is your run of the mill done-in-art-class nude -- except he's (obviously!) a male (at least in this area female nudes are far more standard). And in this painting, which isn't super detailed, Bruce has it all hanging out -- and I mean everything, including quite a gut (his, um, wedding tackle, isn't nearly as impressive as his gut. sorry folks ;-) ). But "Bruce" is a basic nude, as are several other's in the shop. And apparently, these bother at least a few of our members too.

And another point to remember. The little town where this gallery is located is known as a very liberal, open, artistic, free thinking community -- the perfect place for art that is a little outside the mainstream. That's a huge part of why I wanted in the gallery in the first place, and it's what I've most liked about it. It's been a funky little shop/gallery in interesting and kind of unusual buildings/space with a wide variety of art and fine craft which you can't get just anywhere. But that has been changing lately. We moved to a different location in July. I supported it, but from a financial standpoint only (we had to pay rent and all utilities at the old spot, rent covers all utilities at this new one. and we are always tight on cash), as I actually really liked the old place we were in -- it was fun and funky. The new place is bland and pretty much featureless. I used to like going to work my days at the old place. I don't really like this one.

And now with what I consider the overly prudish attitudes of several members, the work itself taking on a far more mainstream cast. I look at the work when I come in and can't help think, "Christ! most of this stuff is boring or cutesy" (cutesy is even worse than boring).

So now it looks as if there is going to be a big fight over the "smut" that every fucking one of us knows is displayed in the shop and every fucking one of us said we would not have a problem with. I don't think our erotic/bondage artist should be penalised because some people either outright lied or don't have the imagination to know what erotic bondage art is.

crud

Do you think people would mind completely blank christmas/holiday cards? The one's I'm using this year aren't preprinted with anything inside, and I'm drawing a complete blank. I do have the envelopes all filled out though.... :-) I thought if I did that I would think of something to write, but so far I've had no such luck.

got that Christmas spirit!

I just ordered a shitload of stuff from the Church Merch! All for me, me, me, me, me!! :-)

I guess that isn't exactly what people have in mind when they talk about getting into the Christmas spirit, but it's going to have to do this year. I'm not really in the Christmas or even general holiday mood this year and I can't believe Christmas is this weekend. And the new year is going to be here so quickly too. Where the hell did the year go?

I haven't even sent my cards out yet, and I swore I would do it this year. Well I still have a day or two to do it. Most won't make it on time, but what the hell. I have great cards this year, I need to send them.


(The shirts from the tour just went on sale there, so if you want some, it's a good time to check 'em out)

the saga of the gerbil car continues

I have the feeling 2006 may very well be the year my ratty little gerbil car (whoa! mixing my rodents here!) goes to the big junkyard in the sky....

Actually the latest couple of incidents aren't really indications of impending car death, but they did allow me plenty of time to really look the poor thing over and see just how decrepit it really is. And it's pretty damned decrepit. Cracked windshield, rusting out (enough that it sometimes leaks when it rains -- how lovely), hood doesn't latch properly (which makes it a thrill to drive on the interstate, especially when it's windy. Yee haa!), makes a whole host of wheezes, groans, whines and rattles when I drive (I cover many of those with the boombox -- which I use because the stereo is shot and to replace would cost more than the car is worth.) And I call it the gerbil car in the first place because it must have the world's smallest engine -- a former boss made the comment that it was powered by gerbils, so gerbil car stuck. Sounds like an absolute charmer, doesn't it?

But I kinda like my ratty little gerbil car. There's a certain level of coolness in driving a tiny, ratty car. Granted it's not much, but at least I'm not trying to compensate for having a tiny little penis like so many guys in their "hot" cars and stupid SUV's (of course, not being a guy I don't have a penis -- tiny or otherwise, but you get my point). Plus it's been paid off for years and is very cheap to run...both really good things.

And it always starts -- or it did...until Friday. I had an appointment at the vet with a couple of my cats, so got everyone out to the car, got in turned the key and...nothing. Didn't even turn over. But I do have one of these cool little jumpstart batteries, so I went back to the house, got it, hooked it up and started the car. Yay! Drove to the vet and did that. Got everyone back out to the car, turned the key. And yet again, nothing. Got the jumpstart battery back out, put it on again, and tried again. Nothing. Crap. So I called my brother (who had the day off, so that was handy) and he came over and gave me a jump. The vet isn't far from my house and it apparently didn't get any charge in that short drive.

We decided it would be best to have the battery checked the next morning, so we drove over to the place to check it. Got out, went in, talked to the guy, he wheeled out the battery testing machine and said "start it up for me," so I reached into my pocket for my keys....which weren't there because they were locked inside my fucking car. Fuck! I don't have a second key...not even at home...because it got misplaced in the move. So we had to wait for someone to come out and jimmy the door. And hour later and $35 poorer, we got the damned door opened and were able to check the battery (which actually turned out to be fine -- I've been sick and not driving much at all over the past two weeks so it didn't get much charge from being driven...and then it's been cold which saps batteries).

So the car actually isn't in any worse shape than it was a week ago -- I just had lots of time to look it over and count it's faults. As I noted before it has lots. So it may very well be nearing the end of the road for my ratty little gerbil car.

silver lining

One good thing about having a stomach bug...I haven't needed to wash dishes in days! :-)

I also got yet another reminder I'm not living in a rural area/small town anymore. Around 4:30 this afternoon I went out to the post office to send off a small package (international and I didn't know how much postage it required, so I needed to go to the counter). The parking lot was packed and there was a huge line. OK...this might not shock most people, especially being this close to Christmas and all, but damn! A line at the post office for me, even at Christmas, is maybe three people. And the only time the parking lot is packed is on bowling league nights (the post office was right next to a bowling alley).

Anyway, I bought a book of stamps from the vending machine (which had a line of it's own, but much shorter) and bailed out with international package still in hand. I figured it wasn't worth the long wait for one measly little package. I will be having at least one more package that needs to go out as well, so if I have to stand in line it might as well be once for both things than twice for one thing each.

slacking already

I'm such a bad blogger. I've already started slacking.

Then again I really don't have a whole lot to talk about right now unless you want to hear about my bout with a stomach bug. It was ugly. Trust me, you do not want to know any more.

Well...a day or two before I got sick I called the people who bought my house. You see they also kept two of my cats -- Toby and Clyde. These two cats never did like to come in the house...they were quite afraid in fact. So they hung out on the porch and I made nice warm spots for them. But they couldn't be outside here because they would get squashed pronto. Country cats don't do well outside in the city.

But anyway, I called to check on them and they are doing well. Clyde does his thing -- hangs out in the fields and hunts. Toby stays closer to the house and lounges. So apparently they are doing well. I'm glad, because although I would come and get them if things didn't work out, it's better this way as they would be very unhappy here. I still miss them though.

Ooooh! and I put up new artwork on the SK art site. Just finished a couple hours ago. So if you haven't looked already...go look now. Go ahead, the link is just over to the right. Go, go. You know you want to. :-)

anonymous comments

In reading through various blogs and the comments people have left I've realised that I really despise anonymous comments (which is why you can't leave them here. nah nah nah.)

I know, I know, I'm hardly forthcoming in my name here. I mean really, who the hell is eek/indraeek anyway? (well, some of you know. the rest of you can keep reading and maybe find out. or not.) But at least I put some thought and effort into it (it didn't really take much thought to come up with eek though, but indraeek was....well...not really). But at least you have something to go on. With anonymous you could be anyone (:D sorry, I just couldn't resist!).

The internet is already pretty damned anonymous as it is, so come on -- pick a name, hell even pick a letter or a number, just pick something that shows the tiniest bit of personality. ...and then I can track you down and read your blog. :)

my dad's birthday

Today would have been my dad's 79th birthday. He's been dead nearly 11 years now, but I still remember that this is his birthday. Kind of bittersweet.


Also today is the anniversary of The Who concert crush in Cincinnati. 11 people died that night. I remember hearing it on the radio, then going home to watch it on the news. And the thought popped into my head that it was my dad's birthday....


Bought a puppy on this date over 20 years ago. Rolf Haagendog. The most adorable Alaskan Malamute pup I have ever seen! He was just 5 weeks old then and utterly, devastatingly cute -- and he knew it. He was a wonderful dog that charmed everyone. The almost universal comment about Rolf his entire life was "now that's a real dog!"


And also on this date (in 1989) I put my horse Summertime down. Still makes me cry. I loved that mare. Of all the horses and ponies I've had she was my favourite. I got her when she was in her teens (and so was I). The girl that had her had MS and could no longer ride, and her sister was afraid of Summer. I can see why the sister was afraid of her. She was bitchy and cantankerous and "hot". When she started getting "up" it was hard to bring her back down. Oddly, if you could stop her completely she would stand still. And she hated dressage. She would stomp her feet and shake her head when she didn't get her way -- that always made for lovely scores. Summer was also sweet, shy (although she would give other horses very nasty looks, she would cave if any took her up on it!) and really sensitive to aids (often tooooo sensitive for what I was capable of at the time). I liked and identified with her contradictions. Plus she loved, loved, LOVED to jump! I had some of the best times of my life with that horse galloping across fields jumping stuff. And she would jump virtually anything. I had a blast, but was lucky I didn't kill myself.

SK art t-shirts...

Considering SK art t-shirts again. We have pondered it before but shelved the idea for various reasons. But it looks as if some of the issues holding us back (well the technical issues anyway) may be resolved or at least mostly resolved, so it might be time to give the idea some more thought.

a bad few weeks...

It's turning out to be a sucky few weeks in the car depatment.

First my water pump went out. Got that fixed. But in fixing it, something else got knocked out of place causing the car to run horribly. So back in it went. No charge to rectify that, but it was another day the car was in the shop.

Then last Saturday night (or early Sunday morning), some fucking moron smashed one of my windows to get a crappy boombox and power inverter I used when my car radio bought the farm. Got the window fixed yesterday.

So today I went out and bought another power inverter and boombox (I'll make sure to bring them in with me at night). I got home, got out of the car....and hear this hissing noise.... Sure enough it was coming from my driver's side front tire. It flattened within minutes. Apparently I ran over something that cut it as I drove through the ally to the back of the house. So now I have to get at least one new tire.

ah well....keeps life interesting.