.studio move.

Back in November, I approached my Mister about switching out studio spaces. I've been in the much larger basement space pretty much since we moved into the house - going on 7 years now - and he's been in one of the much smaller first floor spare bedrooms. 

Originally, this worked out really great for me, because all of that extra space was perfect for setting up as a dance studio, and as I was dancing more plus teaching regularly, these things all made sense.

In the last year I've been dancing a lot less, purposefully not teaching at all, and in general loathe to be in a dark cold windowless basement.  Taj on the other hand, likes dark and cold and windowless, and has turned the basement garage into a painting space anyhow, plus garage basement game nights; and the real crux of it - he's never been able to fit himself into that smaller studio anyhow.

For about a month now we've been working ont he change over - packing everything, moving one set of things, moving another set of things, removing that first set of things - we're getting closer to completion, but it's a process.

And as soon as that process is done, I'll having small perfume sample bottles back for sale in my etsy shop. But right now, it's such a mess, I'm barely aware of where all of those sample vials are.

But soon.

the monster at the bottom of the stairs. addendum

The other thing about having a dog, which I really didn't expect, is that in walking the dog you meet everyone in your neighborhood who also has a dog. And because they are dog people, they assume that in walking a dog that you too are a dog person.

And the first part of that - I've been taking walks - long walks - in my neighborhood for as long as we've lived there. And I've maybe gotten waves or nods ten times. Ever. Since I started walking Sherlock, I'm had conversations with more people than I know what to do with. And some of them more than once - because of the dog they recognize me, or at least him - and say words.
And it's unsettling. Suddenly not being faceless.

Also there's that dog person assumption - which I suppose it not totally unreasonable. Because why would you be walking a dog if you're not a dog person. But I'm not a dog person. And I'm convinced that someone, eventually, is going to figure this out.

And I don't know why I feel like there will be some kind of Dog People of Kansas City retaliation for posing as a Dog Person, but there it is.

Also, while the cat may not play with most any of the toys I buy him - at least he doesn't eat dirty Kleenex.

.the monster at the bottom of the stairs.

Meet Sherlock. The now almost 9 month old lab-hound mix puppy my Other and I adopted from Great Plains SPCA back in September. We hadn't intended on adopting a puppy - I was looking for a nice, calm, older, seasoned dog - but the Mister fell in love with this floppy face and I've brought so many cats home over the years I couldn't say no.

I refer to him as the Monster at the Bottom of the Stairs, because he's a puppy with all of that crazy puppy energy which I was totally unprepared for, and because he's not allowed up stairs for two reasons. He's still not fully potty trained, and that's where the cats lives now.

So this dog has taken over our lives.

And I've spent the last two days home with him, sick with some kind of bug that made it almost impossible to get off the couch, and it's not all bad because he's a very good nap buddy aside from peeing in his sleep sometimes. Because our new puppy is now a bed-wetter.

And our nice calm lives, which neither of us thought were very orderly, have become chaos revolving around a whirling land seal goat shark ball of chaos that eats rocks and bobby pins and wants to be friends with a cat that wants to murder him.

And we're both exhausted and nothing is getting done anymore.

So, that's fun.

.drawloween 16-31.

As I've just realized I never posted it...

The Astronaut and the Sea

The hubs and I worked on out first collaborative illustration project ever (that we ever finished I suppose) last month in order to put together super awesome pocket notebooks as holiday gifts for friends and family.

Naturally, we ordered way to many for friends and family, and so now the excess books are up for sale on my etsy site.

Despite the quantity showing on the site at any given point and time, we actually have about 150 extra of these gorgeous three packs up for adoption - unfortunately my brain can only handle so many packages to the post office on a given week so I'll be listing them in smaller batches; and I'll be sure to make a new listing with a different title when we get down to the final bunch.

Pictures below. Link above!

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

This is all very train of thought, so deal with it. or click on a different link.

I haven't posted in awhile, because of this damned dog that's taken over my life, which I've also been meaning to write a post about - but I'm all Star Wars distracted. I've been Star Wars distracted, and I'll continue to be Star Wars distracted for quite some time to come.
You see, before I knew Fandoms was a thing, Star Wars was my first fandom.

I don't think I saw Star wars until High School, and I'm pretty sure I saw a bit of it on TV, got super curious because of this thing I was going through with dealing with my issues, and we probably rented it from Blockbuster, back when that was a thing you could do. Because my mom raised me right, and she read me The Hobbit when I was in elementary school, and gave me A Wrinkle in Time in Middle School, and introduced me to Dune my freshman year of High School and where was my door in the wardrobe to Narnia?

But there was Star Wars which I had desperately avoided because of a cousin who always did the Darth Vader voice when we were playing with legos when I was a wee tot - and that voice scared the hell out of me. And I made myself watch Star Wars and it was over.

I poured through all of the books - ALL OF THE BOOKS - that were released until '99, begged for a THX copy of the VHS for my birthday, wrote fan fiction, and tried to build my own lightsaber.
But then the prequels came out, and I went to college where I had no time for anything anyhow, and I discovered others things.

And now The Force Awakens, and I love it. I love the variety of characters, I love their flaws (though Poe may not have any), I love that there's a really strong female lead who not only doens't need saving (a'la Leia) but is also our new Bassass Jedi Savior, and I love that the old cast is involved and how they're involved. I love the look and the shots and the music, and the creepy apricot face alien Maz Kanata and can I have a BB-8 of my own already?

I know that the story is not 100% original, but I don't really care; in part because it's a story I enjoy, and also the characters, and also the whole "repeating the mistakes of our elders" thing... And I get that there are old school fans who don't like this or that character for "insert here" reason, or will find this or that flaw and this or that reason to bitch about whatever and you know what?  I DO NOT CARE.
I just don't.
Because you love what you love, and you don't love what you don't love (to paraphase John Hodgeman) and it's noone's job to convince you otherwise, unless you're in it to be convinced.

So welcome to a Galaxy without Guard rails far far away where space elves teach teenagers how to move rocks, and lasers make sound in space. And yes, a third death star - because that worked so well every other time.
And also, take your gripes with you on your way out - there's a door right over there.

.drawloween, 1-15.