Catybug has a new friend, his name is Quintin. He’s a Quaker Parrot, and he needed a “Qu” name. Why? Because that’s cute, that’s why. She initially wanted to ask you guys to help her name him, but then she just started calling him Quintin, so there you have it. (The spelling of it was her call, too.) He’s a 2 month old, hand fed baby boo fluffy sweetie kissy pie head, he snuggles and purrs sorta like a kitty. Or a soothing crow, if you can imagine a crow call to be soothing.

Just 5 days remain until I need to have everything ready for exhibit. I will be around to visit everyone soon, thank you all so much for your understanding and support!

We finally got around to “upgrading” our pillows from smashed down polyfill to down and down alternative pillows this weekend. JCP was having a home sale, buy one and get another one for a buck! Who could resist? So we treated ourselves, and it was good.

We’re both sleeping great on our new pillows. Me, I’m out as soon as my head hits it. It’s so soft and squishy and I feel like I’m drifting away in a suite in some fancy hotel room. Little luxuries. I enjoy them very much.

Except for the crazy dreams. My sleep is deeper now, so my crazy dreams have returned.

Imagine being in a room on the second floor of an apartment or hotel, opening the front door to find stairs too steep to climb with kids and luggage (the stairs weren’t like that when we arrived), and the back door had a platform to leave that was about 2 feet wide and deep. No railings, just a big piece of wood that I guess we were supposed to pull around to the side and slide down on? I don’t know – but imagine then turning around to find your 5 year old in a pouncing position at the ledge just happy as a clam to jump right off and down a full story to the ground.

I love my pillows, but jeez. Do they have to scare the crap out of me every night now?

I think it was an old episode of “Friends” where Phoebe asked Joey to come up with one selfless act. Anyone see that show? I’m stumped on remembering if he ever did figure something out.

This phrase keeps running through my head (name changed to protect the innocent):

“Sarah only calls me when she wants something.”

Why does it keep running through my head? Because no one calls anyone unless they want something. If people called people when they didn’t want anything, wouldn’t there be an awful lot of dead air after “hello” was spoken? I mean, as soon as you say hello, you’re done. And even hello is selfish, because you dialed because YOU wanted to say it. That’s not selfless. And say you were to ask “how are you today?” You’d do it because YOU wanted to know.

So, the next time someone calls you? They want something. They probably want to know how you’re doing. Maybe they need a favor. But if they didn’t call? Wouldn’t that mean they don’t want anything, not even to know how you’re doing? Wouldn’t that suck way worse than them wanting something?

I think so. I think everyone ought to appreciate the people who want something from them. Just remember, if you didn’t have any impact on that person, they wouldn’t want anything at all. And if no one wanted anything from you, you’d be really lonely.

Let me clarify further – I refer to the more positive “wanters”, not “users”, people who keep in touch really when they just want to use you for stuff. To me, there’s a big difference between a wanter (ie. everyone) and a user. :winking:

While you’re pondering that one, please do throw me your two cents on the whole selfless act hing though, is there such a thing?

This is the burning question on my mind. Who did I call?

Saturday night we were in Toys “R” Us. I was making a big purchasing decision and needed help, so I called my girlfriend to ask her about accessories and things. We bought a PS2, in case you’re wondering, it’s our first game console since – I dunno – Sega Genesis? Yeah, it’s been a while.

Nowadays, though, (see how old I am?) they don’t come with everything you need. Back in the Sega days, you could get the console, it came with two controllers AND a game. Right out of the box. It bugs me that they’ve found ways to rip off the consumer in such major ways anymore. We needed an extra controller, a memory card, blah blah blah. But I wouldn’t have known this without that call to my girlfriend. We would have come home to find out that we couldn’t do anything at all with what we’d just bought.

I am one of those that never forgets a number once I memorize it. It’s taking me a little longer to memorize them, you know, that whole age thing again, but once they’re in there, they’re there to stay. So I dial her number, ask her advice, and proceed with my shopping.

Standing in checkout, I quickly dialed a number because I wanted to let her know what games we had chosen. There were a few rings and then I was greeted with the “you have reached a sprint pcs mailbox” intro. Huh? What did I dial? Obviously the wrong number, so I hung up quickly. Only that number, it was suddenly stuck in my head. I had to look at my previously dialed numbers to jog my memory on my girlfriends number. I called her, and while I was talking to her I got a call back from that wrong number but I didn’t answer it. I also didn’t receive a voicemail, so I have no idea who it was.

Now this is really bugging me. I know this number. I know it like I’ve dialed it a thousand times. I just cannot for the life of me figure out who it belongs to! I’ve already decided I’m not going to call it again, not until I can at least figure out who I’m calling.

Have you ever done this? How long did it take you to figure out who it was? Do I just need to have the doctor check me for OCD when I go in for my physical later this week?

Something about this VS model has always made my stomach do flips whenever I’ve seen her – but this swimsuit edition that just arrived? OMG. What IS that, I’d like to know – airbrushed shiny pants with a man bulge – or is she truly just a barbie with disjointed legs? That picture scares me, and I’m not sure how it got in the catalog.

To prove her awkward bendability, I’ve clipped several of her “poses”. She has to be the most strangely flexible woman on the planet. I’ve never seen anyone who could throw a hip out without throwing a hip out – and then rest their elbow on it without separating some vertebrae in the process.

Someone explain this to me, because I’m thoroughly confused about why they don’t put a natural pose on this girl. See, this, this and this? Those are girl poses. THOSE are natural. This girl? Scares me.

Oh and look! Oompa loompa pants are in this year! Go get some!

Next time you’re in a fix and you think Oreo’s are your cure, let this be a friendly reminder to you about the evil that lies within, luring you with the creamy inside and dunkability sweetness.

One full bag of Double Stuff Oreo’s:

Calories: 2,520 (2-3 days worth)

Total Fat: 126g (5 days worth)

Cholesterol: 0g (YAY!)

Sodium: 2,160mg (3 days worth)

Total Carbs: 378g (um, 8 days worth.)

Protein: 18g (less than 1/2 a days worth.)

I am not even going to explain to you why I am writing this. (Is it even necessary?)

Ugh.

The answer to yesterday’s guessing game is right here.

:lovestruck: Happy Valentine’s Day! :lovestruck:
click thumb to view the full size photo of our flowers.

Yesterday was a pretty productive day in the studio. I sketched out 7 paintings and began one of them. This is a very small sample of the painting that I started yesterday afternoon.

This is the part where you say “ooooh I wonder what that is!” and then I reply “Feel free to make a guess!”

You can find my reference photo for this painting here. If you’re bored and have a few minutes to spare, see if you can find it and throw me a guess or two.