I have a problem connecting from my computer. The powers that be decided that my hiatus needed to be the real thing and scrambled (erased) my IP address.  Does anyone have it logged in their comments? If so, please help me out and post it in the comments here, which I'll screen. Screaming daughter in my arms, can't type more.

:(

for Rabia. I don't know what kind of setting you decided on, but maybe some of this will inspire you.

Too tired for commentary; just some sights from the great salt flat and surrounding mountains/desert.

I did promise you something beautiful, no?


( See moreCollapse )

I just got back from suspending our Internet connection, effective whenever they get to cutting it off until May 15.

I've been wanting to do this for a while now and finally got over my lazy enough to see to it. I spend too much time online, but more than that, I spend too much time indoors. I'm hoping that having to go OUTSIDE to use the net will help. So yes, I will be checking in from time to time, but not from home.

If I have time, I'll post some photos I've been meaning to get up for a friend.  Better to leave you with something beautiful to contemplate.

Be well, friends.

Here are all of my donkeys, pinned and taped up together, in chronological order from top to bottom, left to right.

I should have waited until daytime to take a pic, but I'm impatient like that.

You can click the image for a bigger picture.



Since the whole point of this challenge is to choose an illustration style for a story I wrote for Julien, he gets final say on the styles I play with from here on out. However, if anyone wants to chuck their two cents into my cap, go for it. It will be interesting to see if tastes and opinions converge.

Poll #1908623 Pin A Donkey on Miquela
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

Which donkeys would you like to see developed into full illustrations? Please check no more than four.

ETA: Just noticed the links aren't live in in the poll options. Tried to fix it, but I can no longer edit it. Sorry about that.

Yes, I'm still working on my donkeys. I've been blindsided, sideswiped, rear-ended, and run over by Fatigue, Personal Sick, and Family Sick, and so had no time or energy for art. I've been concentrating on writing since the beginning of the month, but I finally had the inspiration to do my "last" donkey.  Not last because I'm giving up but because I'm not going to experiment with other styles.*

Instead, the remaining 15 days** of my challenge will be spent developing 3-4 of my (and Julien's) favorites, so I can see how they look as more complete works. I'll also see if I enjoy the amount and type of effort involved.

But before that, I give you a donkey inspired by Madhubani (or Mithila) Indian folk art. The other day, I saw a couple of works in this style at an expo, and it reminded me that I wanted to try another folksy type donkey. I did this in sepia ink (forgot to change the settings and scanned it as a "Black & White Document"), but I haven't ruled out using color. I actually wanted to do it with illustration markers. Only I have no illustration markers and--see second sentence of this post--have not been out to buy any, despite my best intentions to the contrary.

Another snippet from what I am coming to think of as a Frankenstein chapter. I am now trying to smooth three different starts together, and I still don't have an ending. It is a bit frustrating because at one point, I felt I had leaped ahead in my ability to do characterization, at long last stepping onto a new plateau. Sadly, the point and the plateau were precarious, for no sooner I had reached them, then I tumbled to the bottom of the dratted mesa again. Such is this writer's life. :P
 

“Straight east towards the Rain Gardens,” he recited, leaving the cover of the tree. “Four intersections, turn left.”

When he made the left turn, he found the Donkey Well in the middle of a small square, as he knew he would. Still, he could not stop a silly grin at the sight of it. His model said the well was there, and there it was. Along with a stench the likes of which he had never smelled in the Royal Stables.

Today I had a list of stuff to do, you know, get-things-back-together stuff.

I wanted to clean the floors. Instead I lay on the unvacuumed rug and put puzzles together with S.
I wanted to dust. Instead I danced around the kitchen with S and watched cartoons with her.
I wanted to do some art. Instead I had fun with homemade, scented, glittery play-dough, when S would share. :P
I wanted to fold and put away all the clean clothes. Instead I pushed them to the side of the bed and took a nap.

Some times the first thing you need to do when recovering from the ick is reconnect with your kid.

I wanted to get my 750 goal for the day. That I did do.

Masses of colorful bougainvillea and the fragrance for frangipani will forever remind me of the Maldives as that is where I encountered them for the first time.

Walls of jasmine and Rangoon Creeper will always be Mayotte. Although I saw many acacias in Kenya, not until I lived in Mayotte did I learn the texture of their seed pods and fashion their shiny dark seeds into jewelry. In Mayotte, I discovered breadfruit and, strangely enough, tortilla patata. Those smells and flora and tastes are inextricably tied to A Place and A Time for me.

As will certain things bring the Sprout back to Egypt.






( Just a fewCollapse )

I've been writing when mind and stomach allow this past week. Some days that means I got the 750 goal for novel_in_90; some days I got zilch.

But what I did get is a new start to Baxente's chapter. Since I decided to rewrite a lot of my character openings in order to create a status quo before topsy-turvying their worlds,* I have been hard-pressed to determine the best scene for Baxente, one that still has the necessary parts of good (genre) fiction like a scene/character goal, conflict, and so forth.

Perhaps I have one this time!

Baxente doubted the intelligence of his plan as soon as the panel slid closed behind him. A near cripple had no business setting off alone in the middle of the night, especially not through prowl ways, the full secrets of which only he knew. Long before he neared the exit that would let him from the palace, his legs were ready to give out, abandoning him in the tight corridors. Stupid to leave the comfort of his sleeping couch. And fresh air, added his lungs, craving the deliciously cool breeze that had been ruffling the curtains of his balcony doors when he rose to go on such a misguided adventure.**

____________________

* I personally find Big Events a lot more meaningful if I care, or at least am curious about, the characters they happen to first, so, duh, this should be a component of my own stories. The "Open with a BANG" advice has never sat well with me.

** I don't know if everyone's browser displays the font (Papyrus) I use for Baxente. Does anyone else do this, use a different font for each POV? I have five POVs in this story, and I find just seeing a different font helps switch my brain from one persona to another. 

I hoped to make this post early this morning, chuckling about the run of ick that I've been facing, but the Nasty had a hold of me until well into the afternoon.

( Herein lies (WAY) Too Much Information...Collapse )

I have a couple of entries I wanted to write for people, but I hope you'll forgive me for postponing it, yet again, especially, xjenavivex, the ones concerning recipes. I just don't want to think that deeply about food right now.