Will Write For Chocolate, LJ icons, and a fitness follow-up

Will Write For Chocolate has been updated. In addition to the strip, the blog has also been updated. Topic: "Miss Snark, bookmarks and revision." I'm sending out a free Will Write For Chocolate bookmark to everyone who posted a writer's resolution for the New Year in an earlier WWFC blog entry.

I've been gradually working my way through the list of people who signed up for for free LJ user icons from three years ago. Feel free to add your name to the end of the list if you'd like one and haven't had one drawn for you yet, but be warned there's no guarantee when or IF I'll ever get to your icon. I'm doing this for FREE, eh? See the linked LJ post at the beginning of this paragraph for rules and other disclaimers.

Here are a few I've drawn recently:





Thanks for all the fitness resource advice! I strongly agree with those of you who said they found that aiming for weight loss wasn't nearly as a good motivation as fitness and health reasons.




As a result of your posts, I've joined the Healthy Fen Livejournal Community (thanks for the link, mdlbear, and to Mew for starting it!) and The President's Challenge (thanks, jwordsmith). I especially like the latter because it's very straightforward...log the type, length and intensity of the physical activity, and you see your "points" accumulate.

From jwordsmith:

"You can start of with really low expectations (do something active five days a week) like me, or you can log more strenuous activities. They assign a points value to each activity and you can challenge yourself to better your last week's number, or to reach assigned levels to win 'awards'. It's making me realise that I am NOT as active as I thought I was. And, since I like filling in the little stars, I'm more likely to pop out for a walk, or onto the treadmill, or heck, dance with the kids for 15 minutes here and there, just to rack up some more activity points! There are some odd categories of activity listed (and missing) and it may be possible to add them, but I haven't found that out yet. My motivation? For the first time it's not about losing weight. I'm 34 and had my cholesterol checked. It was on the high side of normal and I reckoned now was the time to do something about it. Exercising for the good of my heart (and the people it holds) is MUCH easier to do than exercising to try to lose a small lump of lard from my hips."

Mdlbear also showed me the Gmaps Pedometer, which looks like a very cool tool for figuring out how far my regular walking/running routes are. I tend to be a pedometer destroyer so have given up trying to use one.

In addition, I'm also making more of an effort to take the stairs instead of escalators and elevators. I've been to the gym twice this week and am more diligent about doing my stretches and crunches every day (hey, I can log the time on The President's Challenge!).

Links O' The Day

Stikkit: virtual Post-It notes. (Thanks to Jeff for the link!)

Australian man puts his life for sale on eBay: !!





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Illustration Friday, lip balms, and obsessions

Today's quickie cartoon above is for Illustration Friday. This week's theme: "Superhero," and my cartoon is in honour of parents everywhere. To post a comment specifically about the cartoon in Flickr, please click on the image above.

I helped out at my sister's this past week while she was doing school presentations, and was (as always) amazed at the amount of stuff she has on her plate. In addition to having to meet her writing and illustrating work deadlines, she picks the girls up at school AND takes them to a zillion school activities before and after school AND does homework with them AND (at the same time, somehow) plans meals and does food shopping and cooks for the family and does housecleaning AND does fun stuff with them. And somewhere squeezed into this hectic schedule, she still manages to find time to work out/exercise, read, and get some quiet-time for herself. Then when Kaarel comes home after working all day, he still always summons the energy to help with household chores, clean up after dinner, help the girls do homework, etc.

*whew*

How do you parents do it? I feel incredibly lazy in comparison.



The other topic for this Blathering is one of my lifelong obsessions (other than chocolate, that is): LIP BALMS. Some women go ga-ga over shoes. My weakness is lip balms. The above photo shows my current faves. The Vanilla Spice was part of a Christmas gift from Jodi. The Savannah Bee Mint Julep was an impulse purchase at the Columbus airport just before coming home. The Acacia Blossom Lip Honey was a decadent purchase at a closing-out sale of a local toiletries shop. The Burt's Bees lip balm is the only one readily available in my neighbourhood.

SURVEY: What's YOUR weird obsession? Y'know, an item that makes most other people raise the eyebrows and wonder about your sanity?

Link O' The Day

Wohba: Fascinating and amazing stuff here, including videos. WARNING: potential time-sink! For example, check out these incredible sand sculptures! (Thanks to Jeff for the link.)





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Happy New Year!

Above: I drew this for Illustration Friday; this week's assigned topic: "Phoenix." To leave a comment about the drawing in Flickr, please click on the image above.

Happy New Year, everyone! Jeff and I went to a New Year's gathering hosted by our friends Reid and Luisa last night. Much food and good conversation, plus I got to meet Peter's and Leslie's son for the first time.



He was a bit shy at first, but warmed up to me once I started talking his language. It's amazing what one will do in order to get a small child to smile or laugh; I found myself crawling along the floor, making weird faces and goofy noises, singing silly songs...anything to get that incredibly infectious grin.



Part of the reason that grown-ups do this, I think, is because we appreciate the honesty of babies. When they smile or laugh, they aren't just doing it to be polite...they really DO think you're the funniest and most fascinating thing in the world, at least until something more interesting comes along, like a ceiling fan or an interesting bit of fluff under the coffee table.



Many thanks to Reid and Luisa for hosting a wonderful party! It was a great way to kick off the new year.



A short while ago, I mentioned that I had recorded a flute track for friend's new album. As of midnight last night, Seanan McGuire is now accepting pre-orders for Stars Fall Home. You can find more information (and hear soundclips from a previous CD) here. I play flute on her "Dorothy" track. Here's an example of one of Seanan's live concert performances (on her "Pretty Little Dead Girl" album): Sycamore Tree, with Tony Fabris and Michelle Dockrey. My favourite song on the album is Fly Little Bird, a gorgeous a capella piece.


Only a few days until I leave for GAfilk!






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