Laptops, puffins, penguins....

Four weeks in and already exhausting my supply of user-offered penguins from Zazzle, looks like. I'll have to start trawling around for others and asking permission and stuff. Heigh-ho!

I haven't been taking many pictures lately, though there's one still on my camera (I'm terrible about leaving pictures on my camera to rot) of some awesome pink Himalayan salt that comes with a tiny little grater and the helpful instruction "Grate rocks to obtain salt."

Have a puffin instead:

Anyhow. Tablet's still working nicely, though it took a bit to get Inkscape working with it. Can't say the same for m'poor netbook. The screen's getting worse - I could peel it open and fix that up, but there are a half-dozen other little things falling apart at the same time. Looks like I'm in the market for a new computer, maybe one with a sensibly-sized screen now that I have a job to pay for it. It's going to take a while to decide which, though - goodness, so many choices!

Had some pizza and cupcakes at the Cupcake Emporium. Tomorrow I'll have to check out the Vinyl Cafe, which sits nearby, down a scary flight of steps near some exquisitely cold-looking chrome chairs.

Take one tablet before breakfast...

...And try not to wear it out by lunchtime. Stop periodically to eat, stretch legs, etc.

Lo and behold, my touchpad woes are cured. I love my tablet. I have a netbook, no external ... mouse, speakers, anything, and for Christmas I finally got me a proper drawing tablet. It's useful all around, but what I can't get over is the stupid little Corel Sketch Pad program. I ... I can draw with a pencil. ON THE COMPUTER. I know, I know, the train's not going to come off the screen and hit us. But c'mon, you have to admit it's cool that I can scribble for three hours without worrying about wasting my good pencils and paper.

I'm glad I didn't spring for a larger model (got me a little Intuos4 Small) because it's bigger than my netbook as it is. Some have mentioned the pen stand ... it's true, the pen stand is awesome. It's like having a little inkstand. The less using a computer feels like using a computer, the better, if you ask me. It'll take a while for me to determine whether it was worth the 200 bucks, and whether I really need to keep all this free software installed on my poor overburdened computer, but for now I'm having a blast. Even Inkscape is a little easier on this thing (not so much *clicking*), and I made me a raccoon:

Getting tons of replies for my Penguin Project so far - keep 'em coming, you nonexistent blog-viewers, I've still got over 300 to go!

Stalked by penguins...

I'm taking advantage of winter break and bringing home as many pretty books as I can from my wanderings through the library. Nothing non-fiction, nothing informative, just strange books and silly books and fun books and books with nice pictures. I think of it as a service to the library, freeing up some shelf space. This week, that's left me with:

The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams, obviously)

The individual volumes were all checked out, but here they are in one place! Plus it's one of those big hardcovers that stays open on a page.

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes (Neil Gaiman)

The Sandman: The Doll's House (same as above)

Love Mirrormask, never read these. Working through the second volume right now, having trouble not thinking "Rose Tyler" every time our young blonde Rose is mentioned.

The Black Book of Colors (Menena Cottin, Rosana Faria)

The picture books are in great big bins, so you just flip through till something catches your eye. The title of this one was curious; you open it up and the pages are all indeed black save a single line of white text on the left. The rest is for another sense; the words are repeated in braille, and the facing page has raised images representing the color (grass for green, strawberries for red, leaves for brown). Very fun.

A Mama for Owen (Marion Dane Bauer, John Butler)

The tortoise and the hippo. I know the story, though I haven't gotten around to the book yet - the cover illustration is just lovely, very soft and understated.

So, that should tide me over till Wednesday. If not, I've got Clash of the Titans to entertain me.

Oh, and my jewelry finally arrived! Little mix-up in the mail, resulting in the delivery of two (non-sonic) screwdrivers I didn't exactly order, but now it's here and so shiny:

Chose Engineering because, obviously, it matches my shirt.

Toodles.

It's almost over....

Christmas, New Year's, 2010 ... the whole shebang.

In case any of my two followers were wondering, my Thanksgiving meal went just fine. Pomegranate sauce needed ... tweaking, but on the whole it turned out quite prettily, if I say so myself.

Classes are finally done with (till next year), and I'm working away on my art while I can. Penguins are popular, from the looks of it, so I'm going all out with that. Shameless promotion of my two newest designs here:

Mardi Gras Penguin by Spiderwebs
See other Penguin Buttons

Fairy Princess Penguin Invitation by Spiderwebs
Make personalized invitations on Zazzle

Normally it'll put related items in that link, so apparently the tags "fairy princess penguin" don't come up together often on Zazzle?

Anyhow, I'm collecting penguins now as part of a fun little Squidoo project of mine called 365 Days of Penguins. I'm going for a new penguin every day (well, 7 per week since I'm too lazy to update daily), which given the glut of penguin designs in recent times shouldn't be impossible. There's really no point or purpose to the whole thing, but it makes me feel as if I'm doing something constructive.

I haven't any gifts for anyone yet, though two are supposed to be arriving in the mail from ThinkGeek any day now. Yes, I buy people presents from ThinkGeek. Because I like ThinkGeek. And we always buy presents for other people based on what we like.

And, that's about it. Work's good, didn't fail college yet, no major baking disasters. It's An Uneventful Life.

Until next time, then. Good night, sleep tight - a merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all.