MAKING ME PROUD TO BRAG!

My best friend, Jan Demetralis, is just astoundingly talented. I'm not SAYING that BECAUSE she's my best friend but because it's true. Look at her latest sketches. Jan had serious eye surgery a short time ago & sadly, it was NOT successful. Still, she is so creative and so determined. I admire her tremendously & I asked her if I could share these wonderful pieces she just did. She always thinks her art is somehow 'less' because it doesn't conform. HA! I think she is a genius BECAUSE her art is HERS. I love it! She did at least one of these with a graphite pencil which I've TRIED using. All I got for my efforts was a smudged MESS. LOL! At any rate, check out the great job SHE did!

Doesn't this little girl look sweet and innocent? I LOVE her! And this one has a very pensive look as tho' she may be considering sharing a secret! Can you tell how impressed I am? I WISH I could draw!

While I'm bragging on people, let me tell you that my friend Lucia will have a new book on the stands as of April 27th! I'm EXTREMELY excited because not only is Lucia my friend, she is my LONG TIME favorite author! You all KNOW what a reader I am, and believe me when I tell you that NO ONE writes like Lucia St. Clair Robson. Lucia is the BEST when it comes not only to writing the story but to RESEARCHING it first. I should know because she is the ONLY person to EVER accurately write an account of the history of my Comanche people. My people adore her, and rightfully so! Hope EVERYONE will check out LAST TRAIN TO CUERNAVACA in late April and, for that matter, ALL of her wonderful novels!
Information about the story, as well as an excerpt, are posted here: http://luciastclairrobson.com/Coming.htm

Sometimes it's just GOOD to brag on our friends when they deserve being bragged on! I'm HAPPY I DID! And don't any of the REST of you be too surprised if you see YOURSELVES being bragged on here pretty soon because you ALL deserve it!

ALL SORTS OF IMPROVEMENTS

Did you think I'd jumped ship? Naaaaaaw! NEVER! I just had ISSUES. Broken computer issues. Too much work issues. Issues, issues, issues. All cleared up now! And I have DEFINITELY been creating, but once again, cannot SHOW my creations because they are all February birthday gifts and/or Valentines! I mailed everything yesterday morning. So when I know for SURE things made it to their destinations, I'll show you! How's that? I do have something to show you, tho'. I FINALLY got a couple of extra bookshelves to alleviate the book overload in my small guest room. O-M-G! This old girl has a LOT of unread books. And the truth is, I still have at LEAST another 2 large bookshelves worth stored away until I can figure out where to 'squeeeeeeze' in yet MORE SHELVING! Also, take a look at photo #1. Now, out in the garage I have two LARGE boxes packed solidly with already-read books, waiting to go live with my sweet lil' play-daughter Courtney. Notice this top photo! It's ANOTHER stack - a TALL one - of RECENTLY read books. Told you I'm a reader, huh? I need to find another big box for them!
Here's a shelf of adult literature that has vastly improved since I bought those extra 2 shelves!

And one of the two new shelves, ready to finish filling.
Ooooooh! Doesn't this young adult collection look better now that the books are not double-shelved?
Some added shelves in the craft room worked wonders, too! The shelves themselves are nothing to write home about, but they certainly serve the purpose - which is to get things OFF the floor so I can move around easily without breaking my fool neck! This one hold various & sundry craft stuff I had here & there, all formerly in my WAY! Talk about EASY to get to my yarn now! Ahhhhhh! Check out THIS shelf filled with yarn bins! NOT all my yarn, by the way.
Last, but SO not LEAST, my new computer! I have it on the floor in the guest room till Sunday when I plan to set it up in my office area! I bought a very inexpensive eMachines brand. Why? Well, in 2004, before I EVER had a computer, my poor old word processor croaked & I could no longer get parts for or repairs on it. I NEEDED it for editing. A friend of mine said she would give me her old computer. Now, I was TERRIFIED. Just the WORD 'computer' struck terror in my Comanche heart! Technology? Me? I think not. But I really didn't have a choice. Kristy - my friend - brought over her 11 year old, never defragged or disk-cleaned, never privvy to ANY anti-virus computer, set it up, and said, "NOW USE IT." It literally took me TWO WEEKS to TOUCH it. I was certain the minute I did, it would shatter into pieces. LOL! Finally, I DID use it, of course. AND got internet! But Kristy and her husband Randy had 11 years of their stuff on it and I had zero idea back then how to get rid of it. Didn't even know I NEEDED to in order to free up space. So my stuff, their stuff, etc. mounted up. Still, it worked great for almost 4 more years before it finally started giving me trouble. Now I realize I most likely could have saved it by deleting a half dozen or more programs & a BUNCH of old photos & music. That computer was amazing & hardworking. It was an eMachine brand. This time, I WANTED a Mac. I cannot afford a Mac. I have a Compaq & have hated it since Day One! It crashed on me - even though I babied the daylights out of it - and it's been a royal pain forever. So I decided to go with the eMachine. See it below, patiently waiting for me to remove it from its box & hook it up. I WILL Sunday when my housemate is at mass & I can do it without interruption. If I like THIS computer as much as I liked my trusty OLD eMachine computer, I'm going to be a VERY happy Kai. Right now, I'm already pretty doggone happy. My craft room is organized in a way which is perfect for MY needs, my books are no longer double-shelved, and I have a new computer! Life is goooood!

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

It's a better day, tra-la! As you can see, I AM blogging. However, MY computer TOTALLY crashed shortly after I wrote the last post. Right now I'm using a notebook much like the one I bought awhile back & returned because it was so small and hard for me to see and manipulate with my clumsy fingers. However, a friend insisted I use this till Thursday when I DO get a new one. So here I am, happily saying hello to you! I will delay posting the participants in my Little Bitty Gifties blog challenge till I have the new computer all set up. Besides - LOL! - so far there are only 2 - & I'm ONE of them. That's cool tho' - it was just for fun. I hope everyone is having a VERY beautiful weekend wherever you are. Please, keep my best friend Jan in your thoughts as well as her hubby Ted because both are going through some health issues & I love them TREMENDOUSLY. I figure good thoughts from all of you will speed recovery for both! Also, if you get a chance & haven't already, do go peek at Viv's blog because she is a new mommy. Sorta. Heehee! I'll post a bit between now & Thursday, but once the new computer is up & running, LOOK OUT! Kai the MOTORMOUTH will have some BIG postings to do! HUGS TO EVERYONE!

TODAY I HATE COMPUTERS!!!!!

I wanted to try and let everyone know that if you do not hear from me for awhile, it's the computer. It keeps shutting down with fake virus threats (I run scans which TELL me they are fake) and who knows? I suspect I will not be able to get a Mac 'cause I just haven't saved enough $$ yet. I may have to get another PC which I don't WANT to do. At any rate, if I am absent for some time, you will know why. Big hugs to everyone!!!!!!

CHECK IT OUT!

Just wanted to let you all know I have a challenge up at my new 'giving' blog. Go to http://littlebittygifties.blogspot.com/ to see what I'm up to! I hope you will ALL take this challenge! (And NO! It has NOTHING, NIL, ZERO, ZILCH, NADA to do with losing weight! LOL!) It has to do with surprising someone! Are you intrigued yet? (C'mon - you KNOW you wanna look!)

YES! I AM A GOOFBALL!

It's nothing short of a miracle that my friends put up with me. I'm not at ALL certain I'D put up with me! But, bless you all, you DO. And thank you for that! You see, I really LOVE giving people things. And I really love celebrating your birthdays. AND I love figuring out what people like so I can somehow incorporate that into my gifts. So far so good, right? HOWEVER - and here's where the 'putting up with me' part comes in - I tend to incorporate my friends' tastes in a rather odd way most of the time. You know - give it my own - ummm - interpretation. Heehee! Below you will find two examples of that. Both are birthday gifties (already received by the bd girls so I can show you) and both are - well - goofy. The first is a gift for my best friend, Jan. Now, like ME, my Jan does things off the beaten path. The DIFFERENCE is, HER results are ALWAYS spectacular. She's AMAZING. Recently, in an email, she said that particular offbeat quality makes her feel like the old song, "I'm a Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch" (which many of you young whipporsnappers out there won't remember.) That turned on the goofball lightbulb in my round head & - VIOLA! - please, meet Petunia. She isn't the lone flower IN an onion patch, but the lone flower who is BECOMING an onion. Don't say it - I already know. LOL! Here are her oniony feeties, complete with roots.

AND her oniony hands as well.

The back of Petunia with her petaled head & green upper body which represents the green part of the scallion.

And - Miss Petunia, front & center. She is shedding tears because, after all, the song goes as follows:

I'm a lonely little Petunia in an onion patch.

An onion patch, an onion patch.

I'm a lonely little Petunia in an onion patch,

And I cry & cry all day.

What'd I TELL you? I think waaaaay out of the box. Sigh.
Heaven forbid I should let my darling friend, Cherie Day (known to ME as Chirp because she is such a sweet, good,cheerful lil' songbird in my life.) Chirp likes owls. Well, at least she DID until she made the mistake of telling ME she did. I daresay she may now have a huge dread of the critters - MY versions anyway. You see, in my culture we do what is known as the Eagle Dance at pow wows. I decided to try and make MY idea of a woman Owl Dancer for her. Here are her talons, made of translucent polymer clay. Here she is from the back. By the way, I made BOTH dolls. Petunia was white cotton & Owl Dancer is a specific double-textured doll body fabric which can be used on either side depending upon what effect you want. They were TINY critters & I am sorry to admit I did a great deal of grumbling and fussing as I turned the small arms & legs. This one I covered in feathers AND brown rose trim. I poked holes in the finished feet of Owl Dancer to insert the talons (had to add some glue in there, too, just to be safe.)
Finally, here is how she looks front & center. I made her mask of polymer clay & painted it to try and vaguely replicate an owl look.

Last, but not least, here is the owl I made Chirp a COUPLE of birthdays back. Poor girl. I think I'd better BUY her something next year, don't you? Yes, I AM a goofball. But I LOVE my friends. So beware, dear blogger friends, for you, too could be a recipent of my bizarre interpretations. Word of warning: Be careful - be VERRRRRRY careful about telling me what you like! HAHAHAHAHAHA ...!

ANNOUNCING STUFF!

It's 2010 (as if you weren't already AWARE of that fact) and I thought I'd make two lil' announcements. First, THANK YOU to everyone who commented on my previous post. Here's what I wanted you to know AFTER seeing that photo. Yes, of COURSE it is me at 2 and a half to 3 years old. But guess what? I had NEVER seen photos of myself at that age. I'd seen a couple of baby pictures and my school pictures (my parents never bought them but we were given the packets to take home & buy or return if not bought so I DID see them.) I bought my junior high and high school photos myself. Yet I didn't even realize any 'little girl Kai' photos existed. You see - and don't take this as a request for pity because in a minute you will understand that it's a request for you to join me in HAPPY CELEBRATION - my parents led me to believe I had a 'face that would scare other children', was 'too horrible looking to have been my mother's child', and was 'an embarrassment.' I believed it. I grew UP believing it. I hated cameras, mirrors, people seeing me. Well, for Christmas this year, my uncle gave me the best gift I ever received. Pictures. Of me. They were taken by my aunt who loved me enough to have the school send her a packet of my school pictures each year - & she faithfully bought them. She and my grandparents bought me the toys I NEVER had at home & - apparently I DID see my aunt & grandparents now & then at an early age, before being forbidden to until ages 6-10 - and my aunt took LOTS of photos of me as did my grandfather. Well, I must confess, when I saw the pictures on Christmas day, I broke down. All the remains of the things I was told about myself were released. I SAW me. And while I was indeed no kind of beauty, neither was I a monster. Everything I believed myself to be, I shed on December 25th, 2009. Guess it sounds silly to be so happy over knowing I WASN'T that horrid after all, but to me, it was amazing. It has freed me COMPLETELY to be myself. If I am a nut, I'm GLAD! If I'm overly joyful, IT'S GOOD! I am me - Kai - and I accept me. Finally. After 59 years of hating me, I accept me. My SECOND announcement ties into the first. BECAUSE I am truly so overjoyed about the gift my uncle gave ME, I decided I want to give something to all of YOU who have cared about me, supported my silliness, and given me so much joy! So I have JUST begun a second blog. I call it Little Bitty Gifties. It's in the VERY early stage and there's not a lot to see yet. But I will give you the link and hopefully you will check it periodically. Go to http://littlebittygifties.blogspot.com/ and know that I DO have lots in my round head that I want to do. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING, ALWAYS! You all have no idea how great you are! APPLAUD YOURSELVES! I'm DEFINITELY applauding you!