Let's recount!
Driving to AnthroCon was normal: We left at 4am after not sleeping that night, too excited and restless to stay off the road. The sunrise over eastern Colorado stretched endlessly over the flat lip of horizon. Dawn leeched the night from the vast sky and gave way to morning gradients of greens, pinks and yellow. Great mountains of thunderheads let their shape slip away as the rays of a hot orange sun melted through their smokey bodies. Surreal, still and alone, we traveled down Colorado's forgotten I-76, burned though the length of Nebraska, and at last, a left turn in Iowa brought us to Minnesota. We stayed the night at Foxfeather and Mbala's home, stole some sleep and at the crack of noon set out east. Over the Mississippi River, down Wisconsin and through the tip of Illinois, we shot past the Chicago skyline in darkness. Indiana, toll-ways, tall trees and half hearted rain, we stopped at our mid-western oasis around midnight, just to wake at dawn and put more miles behind us. Ohio I barely remember, but yellowed fields with green tractors, hundreds of vultures and travel plazas laded with coffee. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, wrong turns, rush-hour, criss-crossing over bridges and circling in on the convention center.

AnthroCon itself : The convention was a lot of fun this year. There were the usual old friends and familiar faces, lacking a few, but teeming with new acquaintances and long lost friends. There were fireworks and wine, perfect weather and no complaints. :]

The convention itself seemed to run smoother than previous years--the dealers room/artshow/artist alley were all moved to a closer hall in the Convention Center, which while slight in distance, made a huge difference as a dealer. Scheduling was better (not putting the fursuit parade during the artshow closing, for instance), sales in the live art auction were lively, staff were pleasant (never a problem at AC, I happily admit) only one escalator broke and the elevator line was well--er, long as usual. ;]

Sunday night we got some awesome news, but I will keep that under my hat for a while. >:]

After the convention: We drove back the way we came, back to Minnesota to collect our dogs and visit with foxfeather and mbala for a few days. The never-ending sleep-over continued and it was good. Fox kept cooking delicious food and Mbala kept producing beer and liquor he procured from his recent trip to Croatia. Saturday we all went up to Brer and Alopex's pad in the cities for the Sofawolf BBQ. We made a dent in the sangria and beer supply, gorged on sweet corn and brats and had an all around perfect summer shindig.
(and we had no stunt drinkers)



Ket took this photo of Wizard (whilst I was drinking my whiskola.) Somehow it symbolizes everything about the trip for me.

We stayed the night at brerandalopex 's and were off that afternoon, headed home. It was a long drive with an ever painful amount of Nebraska, but we're back and settled into the work we need to do.



The next few months will be black-tea mornings. There is much to do, much to put on paper...

The wind has blown us home from the east and the northeast, respectively. There was much fun and mayhem in between points A and B, and more to that effect when the road dust settles and the routine returns.

Here's some red-wing black-bird zen. :]

It's been a nutty couple of days. Things that should break remain rock solid and the unshakable seems to crumble like so much sand. I've given up trying to guess or even second guess. We'll see how that goes.

Aside from that--in the last week or so I commissioned a few awesome icons from two artists who were both prompt and had quick turnaround. Very good stuff, definitely would recommend them, perhaps you haven't heard of them?

First was one of two from HGLAHL on FA. I was in sore need of some kind of photography icon and I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome! :]
Now, just to find the time to go out and get some more photos...

(By HGLAHL on FA)

Second was for the scurvy spot-cat and is perfect. DarkIceWolf on FA did a great job and, amazingly, still has slots open for icon commissions. I'd say pounce them like a rabid coyote on week-old roadkill. Okay, gross imagery--like a golden lab puppy on a chew toy. ;]

(By DarkIceWolf on FA)

Other than that:
-It's been a busy week sorting out a leopard's print sale, packaging envelopes and hanging around the post office. Print sales are a nice brain-dead break from an artistically and mentally taxing couple of weeks. One plus one equals two, not purple. Nice and simple.
-Also got my new "Do Not Bend" stamp today and it rocks my world. It has helped redecorate everything within reach.
-Our cell phone has nearly given up it's feeble grip on life, and while I'm toying with the idea of an iPhone, I also like just being unreachable.
-I'll be in the shadow of the aspen giant next week, do or die. To put it succinctly: "Lost time is never found again," ~ Ben Franklin.
-Stress, like most bad things, is meaningless once you let it go.
-Good friends are the best cure for a bad day.

Dear Gin and/or tonic, you may help with that whole malaria problem, but you're one mean the customer the day after.

Awoke to the buzzsaw of a lawnmower outside and one beast of a hangover. Bloody Mary's followed ( though washing a glass was outside my realm of function )


Catch-up of non-specific, perfectly picayune things:
Friday, we took an evening walk through a warm spring rain.
Saturday morning, woke up to the sound of churchbells.
Saturday night, put a dent in the gin.
Today: dog park; laid in the grass; tried to recount just what we drank; bemoaned the existence of juniper berries; made escape plans; ate soft serve ice cream; raw egg; reborn.
The rest of the time? I'm not sure--it keeps slipping away faster than I'd like.

Lastly, here's a shot of Porter I took a while ago, one greyscale morning.

Yesterday found us in Breckenridge for the Beer Fest. Today, I found increasingly blurry photos on the camera.

Can you really go wrong with all-you-can-drink beer?

( I think not. )




PS - Happy Easter!

"...Iowans have never waited for others to do the right thing.”

Iowa, a often-overlooked, Middle-American state, has given the country free wireless Internet at nearly every public rest area along it's interstates and highways--very progressive, indeed.

Now, it's on the forefront of bringing equal civil rights to the nation. In an unanimous ruling by the Iowa supreme court, Iowa has opened the doors to same-sex marriages. This quiet, unassuming and copiously corn-covered state has taken the first step to cut through the religious rhetoric. In the good ol' spirit of separation of church and state, Iowa's supreme court has declared that the government has no justification to deny individuals the constitutional promise of equal protection for us all, regardless of religion, race, gender or creed.

California, sorry Iowa stole your thunder, but glad it happened. ;]

"As Iowa goes, so goes the nation."

Porter is not amused by snow.

It takes the vernal equinox to come and go before we get our first serious snow of the year! I'm glad yesterday we made a ginormous pot of wild rice and chicken soup, which compliments the weather perfectly. :] It's been snowing since around 8am, starting a few minutes after we got up in the morning. There's already about 5 inches on the ground and it's still coming down! People are wandering around confused, some in t-shirts and shorts, others with umbrellas and a the lucky few who remembered Colorado's first lesson: dress in layers. ;]
We figured we'd slip on the snowboots and take the dogs for a little walk (all for the excuse to have hot chocolate when we got back.)

I took a couple not-so-exciting pictures...
( Read more... )

It'd been a long week, which was in truth the end to a very long month. We were both feeling burned out and desperate to flee, screaming, into the mountains. Yesterday morning, all of our ducks were in a row, so to speak. Some major deadlines were met, the weather was promising and there was nothing at home that couldn't wait a while. So, we ransacked the cabinets for dry goods, loaded the dogs into the truck and picked up a 12 pack of beer on our way out of town. That was the extent of our planning and we just about rolled a dice to decide whether it was "north" or "south."

( Magic 8-Ball Says )

February slipped away quietly in Colorado, with the lowest amount of snowfall in Denver for a February ever recorded. It's been a tricky, pseudo-spring, with days in the 70s, followed by chilly days at 20 something with strong winds and a scent of rain. But the skies have been deep and blue, the clouds peculiar and the sunsets quite nice, so there's nothing to complain about.

It's also been a fairly busy month. We've spent most of our days with our noses to the grindstone, but it's been reflective and focused. We did receive surprise, anonymous flowers for Valentines, which bloomed beautifully and lasted until just a few days ago. I took it upon myself to get a jump on spring cleaning, moved a bunch of accumulated boxes either to the downstairs storage or to the recycling. I also dismantled and cleaned the fridge, then made a move to empty out a cupboard we'd never had much use for, except to store old cans. We played the "higher or lower" can expiration date. Ket bet the lowest would be 2002, but the cupboard proved we had a can of chicken and mushroom soup, expired in 1998. Disturbing. So, with all that quietly swept under the rug, we turned the cabinet into a large wine rack and have been doing our best to keep it filled, then our best to empty it. It's a cyclical, never ending battle, but one I'm happy to fight.

A friend of my father's is co-owner of a new microbrewery in downtown Boulder (the Draft House, where the old Red [Dead] Fish used to be). Needless to say, we were down Friday night to try the beer and the food, plus hang out with the owners. I couldn't find a beer I didn't like, though the Amber and the Kölsch were certainly on the top of my 'best there' list. The brewmaster is a nice fellow from Chicago, so he brews a typical Midwestern kind of beer with a focus on drink-ability and a good finish, and all of his beers were well rounded and very refreshing (unlike all the Colorado breweries who are making their "big beers" right now--strong beer with a complicated name). They snagged an amazing chef, who was an executive chef at the Mett in Boulder, among many other high-class $30 plate places, and let him have free run with the menu. So, it's high-class food for brewpub prices--yikes, makes me wish it was within stumbling distance. ;]  I recommend checking it out, if you're of a Boulder persuasion--slow bluegrass on Thursdays, and fast bluegrass on Saturday and good beer all the time.

Anyhow, what else? Dog's were at day care and are now limp noodles. A sneaky pair of friends got me a membership for the American Homebrewers Association *clink!*  Watched the Oscars a few weeks ago, found it amusing. Finished the first draft of a big part of a much bigger project, now editing. Learned an old friend and my old dog are moving to the great white north, forever. Ket's painting in the bedroom for a change of scenery. Nearly hopped in the car and drove to Texas, but responsibilities trapped us in a headlock. Got my first gray hair. Found a lot of new, great music I can't off my mind. And, most recently, had sushi and sake last night to celebrate, well, everything above. :]

After dog sledding for a few days, we took a day to meander back south, by way of more scenic roads. We stopped for a short hike in the Gooseberry State Park and down to the shores of Lake Superior.



( Read on, see photos... )

Last year was a pretty wild year. Amidst all the bedlam, I tried to take a moment and reflect this New Years Eve. To pick apart all I've done, to try and scrounge up some of those resolutions people are crazy about. I realized that was useless. All I can hope for is that every year be so inspired and unpredictable, not to mention filled with such great company, maybe a dash of chaos here and there.

While very little of the actual Christian holiday of Epiphany Day strikes me deep, the name has a resounding meaning. I'm all for an excuse to feast and celebrate life, revel in what is to come and the exciting new horizons that await us. May your New Years bring happiness, inspiration and a rewarding pursuit. Above all, may many a good idea strike you silly!

"Let's go dog sledding. I've never done that."
Really, that's a completely logical train of thought.




( Never Let Go of the Sled )

Oh winter, you beast. Somehow it seems I've managed to "skip" the worst of winter the last few years--spending the season in Australia, before that in Vegas, and before that in Phoenix. It had been unseasonably warm here a week or so ago (we're talking mid-60s--utter madness!) One morning however, I woke up, showered and stepped outside and my hair instantly froze (very odd feeling, I recommend you try it at least once.) Turns out it had gone from curiously warm to a record shattering cold of -18, overnight! At least it's exciting and I'm never quite sure what will be next on the Colorado forecast. It's been hovering around 20 something now, which almost feels tropical by comparison and I caught myself driving around with the window down because it felt so warm. The dogs however, being of desert decent, hardily protest to this cold weather stuff and demand prime sleeping spots next to the radiators.

We're spending a quiet, relaxed Christmas here, then taking off the day after for Epic-New-Years-Adventures. We bought a little potted pine and decorated it last week and stowed the presents from family/friends under it. I went the extra Martha-Stewart-Mile and even put the holiday cards on the fireplace mantle. Ket and I both have been running around secretly, trying to sneak Christmas stuff behind each other's backs. I also procured an obscenely expensive cut of meat from my butcher, which I plan on beating into submission Christmas Eve and turning into a beef Wellington. Ket has been busy in the kitchen making rum and Kahlua truffles and various other cookie-type edibles. On top of all of that, we've been working idly on artstuff, playing AoE3 deathmatches, enjoying the cold weather and new snowboots, making hot chocolate with Baileys and warming blankets in the dryer before bed.



( PS. Denver Zoo has three snow leopard cubs. Urrghghh, the cute. )
Happy holidays! Stay warm!