Sunday, October 29, 2006 A

"Who Sits in the Chair?"
7:59am

Who sits in the chair? It's been me, I got home from Saturday overtime work around 1:30pm and after looking a bit at email, I worked on the basilisk until 10:00pm. I got so tired of working on the basilisk, my shoulder is tired. I spent so long coloring in all those white specklies, I made myself sore. I'm thinking there must be a better way. I can think of the computer command for it: "Having inscribed a mask, every tonal value within that mask less than X, color with Y." I suspect it is possible in the sophisticated program Photoshop that is the industry standard. I think I'm going to upgrade from the circa 2000 fifty buck Picture Publisher that I've been using. It hasn't been just the expense that's kept me away, it's been the fear of learning a considerably more complex program. But I spent eight hours on that damn picture and that work shows so little!I think I'll take the plunge.

So this morning I decided to do something else, one of my goofy 'subconsciously' derived images:


If I do decide to color it in, this is a line drawing!
More advantages of the line drawing. It is 1474 x 1675 pixels and only 51.5 KB (52,756 bytes) big!

Sunday, October 29, 2006 B

"The Vote is In"
5:29am

I found a trial version of Photoshop online. While it downloaded, I tackled the complex job of voting. I got my 'vote by mail' paper out, and took to the web to seek out info on the candidates and propositions. I am glad that one of the propositions is to encourage everyone to vote by mail. This is so much better than the days in which I'd go to the polling place armed only with print outs from the Yuma Daily Sun and/or The Arizona Daily Star. I would be at a loss when it came to local candidates, and ended up lamely selecting them only because they were Democrats or their name sounded pleasing.

Then the Arizona Clean Election Committee started printing up a booklet with brief bios on each candidate, which helps greatly. But now I can supplement that with a web search on each candidate. I don't just vote straight Democrat. There's one Republican Corporation Commissioner that I picked because she's for increasing use of alternative energy sources such as solar and wind.

There were a bundle of propositions as well. I voted yes for Proposition 204 to prevent "CRUEL AND INHUMANE CONFINEMENT OF ANIMALS" and against Prop 107, the anti gay marriage proposition. Other propositions were more confusing, and I was glad for the online help to explain them better.

After reading the explanations, I voted to strengthen the fire and police departments, to increase the minimum wage and to increase conservation of state trust lands. But I didn't vote for either of the two smoking propositions. I didn't understand the one supported by the tobacco and liquor industries, as it seemed like it did nothing at all, and the other seemed too restrictive. The weaker one sounded as if the restaurant serves alcohol, then they must allow smoking. All the restaurants we go to serve alcohol. However, while I don't want to encounter tobacco smoke in restaurants, I don't feel I should tell people that go to bars that they can't smoke.

It took two downloads to get the Photoshop program installed, which gave me plenty of time to do the voting. (I'm not sure what happened to the first try. It got utterly lost. Once everything got installed, I began experimenting with its functions. It's confusing as each task is handled differently. I had quite a time finding the 'fill tool', until I tried the 'magic wand' and found 'fill' in the pull down menu.

I first did the background as a separate layer, then did the text and drawing in a top layer. Thus I was able to create masks for the hair, eyes and mouth. Without the layer, a mask couldn't be created because of the varigated background.

Then I tried scanning an image and making a line drawing. There is nothing that says 'convert to line drawing'. So I had to find the functions that do this.

I found under 'image', 'adjustments', then 'hue/saturation'. I increased the contrast to the max. I found I had the same freckle speckles that increasing the middle tones in Picture Publisher gives me. So I cleaned that up, and turned the picture into grayscale. Upon close examination, I found some pixals weren't perfect black, but gray, so I went to image/adjustments/brightness-contrast to darken up the last of those. Voila, a line drawing!

So the vote is in! After some more testing, I think I'll invest in this program.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

"Interpret This Thing Yourself"
7:24pm

You don't get strange drawings like these any where else. These are part of why you come here, to see what you don't see anywhere else, right? I could be all topical and Halloweeny, but no, I give you weirdness like this:

Oh, I suppose I could force an interpretation, such as the one figure is holding a bowl of Halloween candy, and the figure in front wants some. But maybe I won't do that. I'll let you interpret this thing yourself.

And no, I'm not finished with that basilisk yet... Grin!

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 A

"Distractable"
6:51am

I woke early to try and collect my thoughts. My meditation was derailed:

Needing quiet space,
I notice cricket chatter,
I hear nothing else.
It's amazing how distractable I am!

So I went and did some more work on the basilisk. Maybe before the week is over, I will get him finished?

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 B

"Really Distracted"
6:57pm

Last night, after I stopped to get the snail mail, the car had difficulty starting back up. Julia was alarmed, but I thought little of it. We went on to Fry's, and got groceries without further concern. Nothing was unusual in the car's behavior this morning. That hesitency last night was the only cue until this evening when it wouldn't start at all. Not a sound at all. Fortunately, co-workers took Julia and I home, and we can battle the problem in the morning. But anything like this throws me into a tizzy. I don't cope well at all.

But we'll manage. I'll get to work some how, probably by cab. Someone from the car repair shop will come and tow the poor car away. Julia has tomorrow off, due to a dental appointment. Her dentist is within walking distance, so that's no problem.

Julia got home before me and made an eggplant and tomato dish, served over toast. It was delicious. With a full stomach and after I take a bath and have a long soak I should be almost relaxed.

Thursday, November 2, 2006 A

"Small Misfortune"
5:48am

Calmness in the rough places, and is there enough breath for that? Overseas and elsewhere, so much turmoil. And if I get jittery over one dumb stupid car (which, ya know, being inanimate can't be 'stupid'), what would I do if I had real trouble?

I am grateful for small misfortune.

Thursday, November 2, 2006 B

"Small Fortune"
8:52pm

We've got the car back. It had a dead battery, a faulty fuel filter, and gunky transmission fluid. It cost quite a bit to get it fixed, but it could have been worse.

It's amazing how my mood lifted once I'd learned the work was done and the car in Julia's possession. She ran quite a few errands, in addition to going to the library. After the last errand, she came to get me. What a relief that small ordeal is over. In the evening we had our usual Thursday restaurant visit. We chose a restaurant we hadn't been to in nearly five years. But Mi Ranchito serves various kinds of fish, so we had a feast. Julia loved her fish soup and ceviche tortilla. I have plenty left over of fish cooked in garlic butter. We'll be back, and much sooner than five years!

And I'm much closer to being finished with the basilisk. I will finish it before the week is over.

Saturday, November 4, 2006 A

"African Canids"
7:26am

Having read in TeVelde of the various possibilities for the Set animal:

"The Seth-animal has been connected with the ass, oryx antelope, greyhound, fennec, jerboa, camel, okapi, long-snouted mouse, aardvark or orycteropus, giraffe and a kind of hog or boar. A. S. Jensen 2) drew attention to the fact that it has also been regarded as a hare, jackal, tapir, long-snouted mormyr of the Nile or the _nh._ bird of the Egyptians." (page 13 of 'Seth, God of Confusion')

I remembered I'd taken a picture of the fennec fox while at the Seattle Zoo. My, but he does have HUGE EARS:


The Fennec is a small fox found in the Sahara Desert of North Africa (excluding the coast)
This smallest canid, only weighing up to 3.3 Lb (1.5 kg) is nocturnal.
(more info at Wikipedia)

Another African animal that's been suggested for the Set animal is the African Wild Dog, which I also saw at the Seattle Zoo:


"They're known for their stamina and for being clever hunters,"
according to Wikipedia

While both of these may be endangered species (data is 'deficient' on the Fennec), I fear the real Set animal was long ago made extinct, and unless there's some hiding somewhere, the real appearance may be a mystery.

Later thoughts today
6:34pm
Perhaps, though, the Set animal is an combination of various animals. They certainly did that with the Griffin, to suggest great power, combining various animal characteristics. It's a mystery.

Saturday, November 4, 2006 B

"Untitled Spontaneous Drawing"
9:03pm

I could be working on the basilisk, but took time to do another spontaneous drawing. Maybe tomorrow for that basi!

Sunday, November 5, 2006 A

"Basilisk"
12:46am


My basi is done!

(from Wikipedia)
"In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk (from the Greek βασιλισκος basiliskos, a little king, in Latin Regulus) is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power of causing death by a single glance. According to the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk is a small snake that is so venomous that it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal."

Of course this bears little relation to the real basilisks. They're not poisonous. In fact, real basilisks are nervous creatures, and do not respond well to stress. So much for that 'threatening' mythic profile. But if they do get scared, they can make a run for it as they are excellent swimmers and swift runners.

The particular basilisk I've drawn is a plumed basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons), "a species of lizard native to Latin America. Its natural range covers a swath from Mexico to Ecuador. Plumed basilisks are omnivorous and will eat insects, small mammals (such as rodents), smaller species of lizards, fruits and flowers. Their predators include raptors, opossums and snakes."

SNAKES?

'King of serpents'??? Now if the basilisks could convince the snakes of that!

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