Blog du Wren

Punkstos Bday

Punksto, hands down the cutest child in her generation of my family, turned six years old this weekend. We made the trek down to Olympia to help her celebrate, and celebrate she did! Family , delicious , and a party at the gymnastics place, where mats for tumbling, bars for swinging, and trampolines for bouncing abounded. (It was a great place to practice the new(ish) .)

((The gymnastics place didn't let "adults" play on the equipment, which was kind of like putting a piece of pizza in front of someone on the Atkins diet, pure hell. I was ready to risk it all and make a break for the springboard into the foam pit. But I held myself back, for Punksto's sake. I guess that is my present to her: not getting her banned from the gym.))

Monday December 8 2008

File under: misc

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FC 54 - The Rebuttal

You can tell right away, dear long time reader, that this comic wasn't made by me. Not because it is inferior in artistic quality or joke caliber. Quite the opposite I would say. Any pen and paper drawing automatically gets props above any paint shop pro-ed drawing. As for the joke caliber, I genuinely LOLed.

Ms. Hannah (of HBadventure) provided this comic without so much as a paint fill bucket click by me. It is her rebuttal to my recent series (that stars a character that may or may not be loosely based on her). (If you haven't been following that series, allow me to .) Throw in a little game night inside jokery, and voila.

Inside jokes are funny. So is this comic. Thanks Hannah! (P.S. See? One panel comics can be funny!)

Thursday December 4 2008

File under: comic

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Pictionary Telephone

What happens when you mix the wonderful drawing game pictionary(tm) and that wacky whispering kids game telephone? Pictionary Telephone of course!

Here's how it works:
1. Everyone starts with a half sheet of paper. (The more vertically oriented the better. I usually split 8x11 sheets vertically.)
2. On the top of the sheet, each person writes a short common phrase (book title, catch phrase, adage, etc.
3. Here comes the crucial step: each person folds the top of their paper back so that the phrase is still visible, but upside on the backside, leaving the front of the paper empty. .
4. Once everyone has written their phrase, every passes their sheet to the left.
5. Now everyone draws a picture representing the phrase on his/her sheet of paper. It is best to keep the picture small, again aligned to the top of the page. Pictionary rules apply: no letters, numbers, or symbols.
6. Fold the paper in the same manner as before. This fold should cause the original phrase to be hidden (by being folded under) and only the picture to show (upside down on the back of the paper). . *
7. Pass the papers to the left.
8. Now everyone writes what phrase they think the picture represents (again at the top of the paper.)
9. Now pass again. This cycle of guessing the phrase from a drawing and drawing a phrase repeats until there is no more paper. After the sheets are mostly used up, unfold them and pass them around, so everyone can see the hilarity that came about.

Sometimes the drawings are so good and the phrases so memorable that they make it all the way through without being changed: , .

Sometimes things start out in the right direction and take a bit of a left turn:, , .

Sometimes it's not even close*: .

Wednesday December 3 2008

File under: games

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Handmade Hat Sale

As you know, I like to knit. The thing is, the only garment I know how to knit, more or less, is hats. I like knitting hats. Here are some hats I made. I want my friends to have them. So I am having a hat "sale". The price is $10 a piece which includes shipping. The reason it is a "sale" instead of a sale is that $10 won't even cover the cost of the wool and shipping. The reason I am charging $10 instead of just giving them away is because I want you to want the hat you receive. It is a terrible injustice when a handmade hat goes unworn, and since you know your tastes better and your current headgear needs better than me, I figured this is a way to help make sure these hats fulfill their destiny. If you want one, let me know. (And if you want any more info about a particular hat, I can provide that as well.)

size: Large color: Brown and black This is one that I wear pretty often. It is from pretty thick yarn, so makes for a warm hat. I wear it with the bottom edge folded up. A small head would swim in this hat. view 2	size: Medium (to small) color: blue with white/grey stripe This one looks funny on me in the pictures because I have a huge head and it works better on a smaller head (although a friend with a small head tried it on and it was too big for her, so medium heads might like this one best). Warmness-wise, it is not arctic wear. More for fall and spring temps. view 2
size: Large color: Shades of red In case the texture don't come through well in the photos, this uses a frilly* yarn combined with a wool yarn, so it gives an overall fuzzy texture. It is made to be a little loose, but it will still keep you plenty warm. (It would take a bold man to wear this hat, as I see it more as a woman's hat.) view 2	size: Medium color: Flecked brown with off-white bottom A tight knit hat that will keep you plenty warm. The bottom border is cotton, so doesn't made your forehead itchy*. view 2
size: Large color: Red shades Notice in the picture, the 3 ribs towards the bottom rim of the hat. That's what I call style*. This hat is made from pretty thick wool and is made to be a little loose on your head. view 2	size: Small color:Green with 3 purple stripes No picture of me wearing this hat because I just can't get it on. It is more the size of a small headed adult or a normal headed child. I think it would be a very cute hat for a child with the curl at the bottom and the little nipple at the top. Very cute. The yarn for this one isn't too thick so this hat won't overheat your little one.

Sunday November 30 2008

File under: misc

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FC 53 - Reverse Facepalm (a.k.a. Not Funny)

I "drew" this comic completely left-handedly. I hurt my right wrist kayaking last week (and I suppose attempting to help move heavy rocks and play a couple high stakes games of frisbee last weekend didn't help). Luckily, following the lead of a co-working a couple years ago, I got into the habit of periodically switching which hand I use to mouse around, so I've become somewhat mousebedextrious.

Anyhoo, as the title implies, this comic isn't necessarily supposed to be funny. I'm trying out a common comic artist/author trick of using a holiday as an excuse to write a non-funny comic and instead expressing the sentiment of the holiday. As I may have mentioned before, Thanksgiving is possibly my favorite holiday and not only for the food. All week, I've been thinking of what I'm thankful for. As with the comic version of me*, my list would spill onto the floor. Hopefully, having this comic in the archives* will remind me (and anyone else who stumbles upon it) that anytime is a good time for taking stock of those things we are thankful for.

Friday November 28 2008

File under: comic

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Panoramic Overkill

Over the past week, as I've been thinking* about what I am thankful for, I came up with a great number of things. If I was to list them all, it would take from now until next Tuesday. Instead, I thought I would just call out one thing that I am thankful for, which happens to have a fitting picture to go with it.

I'm thankful for this place which I get to call home. So taken am I with its beauty, I went a little overboard with the camera yesterday. Here was my view , , , and .

The beauty of Anacortes, Washington: just one of the many things I am thankful for.

Thursday November 27 2008

File under: holidays

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Weekend Wall Building

At one point in my life, I was a stone mason's assistant/landscaper guy*. The job mainly entailed carrying heavy rocks and shoveling gravel. As I worked my way up the not-at-all-corporate ladder, however, I got to get in on the actual building part. And while I never did a wall all by myself, I was involved in all the different parts of wall building, at least enough to get the general idea of things.

Fast forward 5 years. I got a chance to put those skills to use. My brother is now a homeowner, and as such, he is on a home improvement kick, as with most new homeowners. A layer of paint here, a new floor there, new gardens here, there, and everywhere. When he started talking about putting in a rock retaining wall/terrace, I couldn't help but give my two cents. To make a long story short, 2 cents became 2 tons over 2 days. This weekend, I went down and acted as director for the wall you see before you. Jule and Katy did the majority of the actual building (as my wrist has recently put in for its 2 weeks vacation for the year and refused to work). I stood by and imparted sage wisdom.

The results, IMHO, are spectacular. With the materials we had in the time we had, we created something pretty freaking nice. It felt good to be back out working with the rawest* of building materials, creating from . And with the way the wall turned out, I now have an even greater appreciation for those skills that I learned so many years ago, with a yoke on my shoulders, an ache in my back, but almost always a smile on my face.

Monday November 24 2008

File under: work, misc

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FC 52 - Facepalm

I had a different comic all lined up for this week. It was another multi-panel one, but not so much story based. In fact, it is one that I have been thinking about for a while and the idea held significant meaning for me recently. With the way it turned out, however, it is unlikely that anyone else would get as much enjoyment out of it. And since last week's comic got more comments* than any other one of late, I figured I'd go ahead and continue that saga.

While I will go ahead and say it for legal reasons, we pretty much all know it isn't true: resemblence of any persons in this, or any other Friday, comic is strictly coincidence. As the story evolves, however, that might become more true. Plus it is good to have out there in case wrath is incurred.

Thursday November 20 2008

File under: comic

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Solo Kayamping

I've always respected those people who can do things by themselves. I'm not talking tie their shoes by themselves or eat a whole large pizza by themselves*. I'm thinking more about those people who get out and do stuff, not letting the lack of people who are willing and/or able stop them–whether it be checking out a new restaurant, going to the movies, or travelling.

The movies and restaurants I've conquered, although it was tough at first. My travels, while often times in practice a solo event, always have some non-solo aspect to them, usually people I'm visiting or meeting up with. It works as a nice balance, but I imagine someday I will take a truly solo trip.

Anyway, with all the respect for and thoughts of true solo travel in my head, I recently set out on a mini- solo kayamping adventure. I kayaked out to Cypress Head, a 4.3 mile paddle, in calm seas and minimal wind. With my recent camping experiences in parking lot style state and national parks, arriving at Cypress Head to find no one else around was a pleasant surprise. I hiked around a bit, collecting firewood and admiring the rare of a secluded island on a gorgeous fall day in the NW. When the sun when down (at 4:30!), I started possibly one of the best fires of my firemaking career*. After 11 hours in my one man tent and a strong hike to the island's deserted airstrip in the morning, I paddled back to Anacortes.

In the grand scheme of things, this hardly ranks as a true solo adventure. But it gave me reminders of what traveling alone really means, both the good part and bad. And while I am glad to get this experience under my belt, I think for my next adventures, I will continue to seek travel partners. After all, it is so much friendlier with two.

Wednesday November 19 2008

File under: Anacortes

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Quote for Monday 5

It never hurts to be reminded that life rocks (even if it is by a defaced road sign*.)

Monday November 17 2008

File under: quote

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