I finally finished the huge journal that I've been using since last year. It was a big challenge for me, because the journal was not only big (I usually like smaller journals), but it was also unlined. I had never had an unlined journal before.

I have to say, it was a liberating experience. I'm not decided if I'll go back to a lined journal or not. But I do know that I did a lot more art and collage work in this journal because I had the blank page to work with.

However, there were times when I really wanted to just write about something, and the unlined paper not only made that a challenge because I'm really anal about my handwriting and keeping things straight (to the point where I'd put lined paper underneath) but also made me hesitate sometimes and go, "Ugh, I'm too tired to do this."

I tried some new stuff with this journal. For one, I got inspired by PostSecret, and sort of did my own "postsecrets" in my journal, and I really liked those. But some are too intimate to be sharing on a comm (and some are NSFW). I also got a list of really good journaling prompts that asks you to write about random things from political beliefs to pet names. Those helped on days when I felt like I had nothing in me.

( Some pages beneath the cut. Not precisely dialup safe, but definitely work safe )

I've gotta go make dinner now!

I'm on the home stretch of my novel. Four chapters and then I am done and I can happily sink into post-novel glee/ennui. And then after that I can do this all over again.

Here are some sketches I did that I thought I might share, while I'm taking a few hours away from the novel to watch The Presidents on the History channel and do some other art related things.

( Probably dialup friendly )

I didn't get the internship. Yes, I am bummed.

But to combat being bummed, I intend to write a lot and look at goofy macros. This one in particular was a big ol' plate of rofflewaffles.

( cut because it's sorta big, but hi-larious nonetheless )

Connecticut was fabulous, as always. I picked up a couple of journals on the cheap from the Acme Surplus store in Northampton and the Christmas Tree Shop in Manchester. Christmas Tree shops are actually not that Christmas-y. They're sort of like a really high class Big Lots.

I'm retiring my old, huge black sketchbook journal because it's gotten to the point where I hate dealing with it so much that I'm completely abandoning journaling, and I don't want to do that. I have to face it, I need lines.

And now that I have new journals, my enthusiasm for journaling has returned. And I have some new stamps and pens to use.

Now, for a meme -

Comment and I will:

1 - Tell you why I friended you.
2 - Associate you with a song/film.
3 - Tell a random fact about you.
4 - Tell a first memory about you.
5 - Associate you with a character/pairing.
6 - Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
7 - Tell you my favorite user pic of yours [if it pertains].
8 - In retort, you must spread this disease in your LJ [or blog].

I'm so excited about br0ken_dolly and her boy coming for a visit. They should be here in a few hours. YAY!

Tomorrow, the Bronx Zoo. Pictures to follow. I'm debating whether to start posting pictures I took of the critters down in Hartford.

Especially since one of the critters *ate* a hole in our blanket.

( See? )

I'm doing embodiment again this year. Especially since I now have a slew of great new stuff to use in my quest for visual journaling (yay for labelmakers! yay for stamps!). I'm just pimping because I think everyone should do Embodiment 07.

I did it for all of 2006, and I have to tell you, I didn't think I'd keep up with it - but at current count I've only missed about 15 days of journaling out of the entire year. For someone who was a love 'em and leave 'em Casanova of the journal world, I've become oddly committed. It grew on me live a vine it did.

( here have some christmas pictures of me, the boy, his family, my family, florida, connecticut and various critters )

Squeee! ladyslvr sent me The City Drive! Double squeee! I've now recieved two rockin' CDs for christmas.

I feel like I should give something back. So I'm totally gonna be all about sharing the music in the coming year, but I hate to post music publicly. So anyone who wants on the music filter - leave a comment.

Note to self: I have soooooooo many thank you cards to send out. This year rocked, loot-wise.

I need a new default icon. I've had this one since like 2005 and it's about to be 2007 in a few weeks.

I suck at graphics. Which you can see from the icon itself, because that's not exactly quality workmanship or anything but the best I can do. I have almost zip artistic ability.

Could someone really good at graphics design me a great icon?

Also, dry ice is so fun to play with. It came with the big box of dead, vaccum packed mice that we feed to Nippy the Wonder Snake. Nothing like seeing dead rodents when you go get a lean pocket.

Still, dry ice is cool. The Boy knows all sort of geek tricks to do cool things with it.

5 Things That Were Good About Today

1. Such great weather. The leaves are turning gold and orange around here

2. The Boy didn't have to work over time. Whee! He also put "monkeys" as the name on my cellphone. Because he believe monkeys should be everywhere.

3. Sugar-free Godiva chocolates from mom! How delicious!

4. Not so sugar-free candy corn that shall be saved for the new House!

5. New House. I'd like baseball better if it didn't preempt the best show on television.

6. (double bonus!) Halloweeeeeeeeeeen! I wish I could give you all candy corn or the obscenely sugar-y treat of your choice.


3 Things I Did Well

1. 1. Posted letter to Christopher Soghoian. For those who don't know, he's a university student that the FBI put the smack down on him for creating a Boarding Pass Generator with php in order to point out just how inept security really is, despite all of the government's blah blah blah.

2. Have not given up on the job hunt, despite the fact that I'm a little worried about going into November unemployed.

3. Restrained myself from diving into candy corn, despite the fact that it's been in the apartment since Sunday and how much do I love that stuff?


2 Things I Look Forward To

1. Continuing to look for a job. It's a new day and who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll find the perfect job. It's completely possible.

2. NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow! I'm so psyched about doing it this year.


( some pictures for fun, including fake book jackets for my Nano project. Warning, suggestively shaped kielbasa contained within. Not for the faint of heart. )

5 Things That Were Good About Today

1. Today is my mom's birthday
2. National Coming Out Day!
3. Had fun playing with the digital camera/scanner today
4. Talked with denoue_moi who rocks
5. The plane that ran into the building in Manhattan was *NOT* terrorist related.

3 Things I Did Well

1. Sent off mom's b-day card and package
2. Wrote a bunch
3. Got some internet housekeeping taken care of

2 Things I Look Forward To

1. The Boy feeling better
2. Doing something creative


( Pictures from around the apartment! Completely random, unimportant views into my life! Come one, come all! )


( scans from my journal for embodiment )

The Top Ten Things I Learned While Driving Up the Eastern Seaboard in A 4-Door Car

1. Never underestimate the importance of having a good playlist to drive by.

2. Those blue signs with gas, food, and hotel pictures in little boxes are very useful. Pay attention to them.

3. You can judge a state by the bathrooms in it's visitor's centers. Because South Carolina had a wonderful visitor's center and is, in fact, a rockin' state. New Jersey looked like a disaster area with lots of refuges and small, dirty children without shoes.

4. The people who work at visitor's centers are very helpful and you should take advantage of their vast knowledge of their state. And ya know, free maps. And bathrooms. Visitor's centers are a little piece of genius.

5. Pointing towards where you want the driver to turn and saying the opposite thing is an easy way to cause a multi-car pileup on the interstate.

6. Nothing will get you more than the 4 P's - Piss Poor Prior Planning.

7. Go to the bathroom at the rest stop/visitor's center/gas station even if you don't think you need to. Because South Carolina is a very big state on a full bladder.

8. Cruise control is your friend.

9. Exits with letters are not all the same thing. 14C will take you to a much different place than 14B.

10. The New Jersey Turnpike is a little piece of hell on Earth. It is made of suck. I am sure many solid marriages have been broken up on the New Jersey Turnpike. If you can survive two hours in Jersey, you can survive anything.

( What I Did On My Very Last Summer Vacation - A Pictorial Journey By Car )

So, I promised anyone who asked a doodle.

And doodles you shall have, and *then* some. I promised myself I wouldn't do running commentary on *every* picture, but I broke my own promise. So sue me.

For denoue_moi:
( two faerie kittens cuddling )

For less_than_jess:
( two strawberries having an arguement )

For flukeskywalker:
( shadow strikes back! )

For jennixen:
( Spike )

And here are some bonus sketches that are random things I've done.

( various sketches underneath the cut )