Illustration Friday, Ninja dolls and sewing classes

I created the above comic for Illustration Friday. This week's topic: "Punchline." I've put this cartoon (minus the Illustration Friday text) on a blank greeting card in my Cafepress Card Shop. I figure it would be a good card for situations where you don't know whether to laugh or cry. :-)

Thanks to Mo Sew for featuring my Menagerie paintings from my Etsy shop in his blog, by the way.

Speaking of Etsy shops...




Woohoo, Ryan Couldrey has finally launched his Ninjadolls Etsy site! Now for sale: Infected Pink Ninja (pictured above), Sad Yellow Ninja, Baby Blue 3D Monster Movie Lover Ninja, and Grey Piratized Ninja. $25-30 plus $5 shipping.



Above: Peter, underwater.

There seems to be something going around, yikes. I had already mentioned that Tom Smith had a bad fall. I just found out that my friend Peter fell off a ladder and ended up in the hospital with a bad concussion. Fortunately it looks like he's ok.



Hey, look what I discovered about Google Maps. I have to make the time to fully explore all the cool stuff in Google one of these days. I discovered that I can view my map via Photos in addition to the other views. How cool. Photos were uploaded via Panoramio, which I had never heard of before. I'd be tempted to sign up except I really REALLY don't need another timesink in my life. I wish there was some way to hook up my Flickr photos instead, ah well.

Anyway, I'm past Buffalo in my Virtual Con Walk and am now beelining for Columbus, OH.

Had fun in my second sewing class last night...only one more to go. I sewed the bigger pieces of my altered dress together and did a fitting in front of the class. Lo and behold, the dress actually fits. Altering the pattern BEFORE I sew rather than after the piece is finished is definitely the way to go. I just hope I can do it on my own, when my instructor isn't coaching me along the way.

I'm thinking of eventually taking the Alterations course once I have more experience. The instructor says I'm definitely ready for the Intermediate course, so I may do that later this year. Anyway, I'll post a photo of the dress once I've finished it.

I'm learning a ton in this class, mainly from the little tips and shortcuts that my instructor does naturally as she answers questions and helps us. I'm sure you experienced sewing types out there know them already, but I feel like a sponge right now, soaking up as much as I can.

It's also fun being in the same room as other people who are sewing. The sound of all the sewing machines and sergers (we did SERGING last night, too!) is comforting, I find. There's music playing in the background and friendly chitchat, plus the occasional cursing (when we screw up).

If you're in the Toronto area and interested in taking sewing classes, you should definitely check out the Sew Be It Studio website. I notice that they also offer specialty courses in topics like beading applique, corset making, leatherwork (!!! tempting !!!!), bra making, coat couture, among others. I walk to and from class; it's a good 5k walk and I listen to audiobooks and podcasts en route.




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Healing vibes

Please send healing wishes to my friend and work partner Beckett Gladney, who broke her leg yesterday. :-( See her husband's blog for details. Beckett's surgery went well, but she'll probably be on crutches for 6-8 weeks.



I've almost reached Buffalo in my Virtual Con Walk, following the Niagara River. I've been listening to a lot audio during my walks, including going through the archives of Escape Pod and PodCastle.

My recent favourite: Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle. It's about 41 minutes long, and you can listen to it right on the website if you don't have an MP3 player.

I've also started borrowing audiobooks from the library. Most recent listen: Adrift on an Ice-Pan by Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell. I've always been a fan of survival stories.

Most recent print book reads:

A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer. I very much enjoyed House of the Scorpion so was intrigued when I saw this book by the same author. Very different story setting but engrossing as well as inspiring. As I mentioned before, I love survival stories!

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (re-read). It's been so long since I had read this that I had forgotten many of the details. Yes, it's somewhat depressing (one of the complaints I've heard about the book) but it's SO well-written, and I found all the historical details fascinating.



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Squirrels, painting and FilKONtario

Thanks to Sherman Dorn for pointing me to the above image in Timothy Burke's blog.

The power went off again last night. It was back on by the time we woke up this morning, but I have little doubt what caused it.



After my post about squirrels vandalizing the local power generator, Shane McEwan said that in Australia, they have possum problems instead of squirrels. "As they're nocturnal they only attack at night. Usually they content themselves with just having a party in the ceiling above your bedroom . . . all . . . bloody . . . night! Sometimes, however, they get a little boisterous and start playing on the power lines. Roasted possum hanging by their tail from power lines used to be a more common sight that those pairs of sneakers you see hanging from the power lines in front of crack houses."

Had problems getting e-mail most of yesterday; turns out it was because I went over my mailbox quota. :-( Thanks to Bryan Fullerton of Samurai Hosting for the help in getting things sorted out again. I ended up losing some e-mail so if you sent me something and don't get a reply soon, please do re-send. Thanks!

Thanks for the encouragement re: my painted tank tops. I put one of the finished tops into the washer and dryer machines yesterday, and the painting came through just fine...yay!

I wore it to an Urban Tapestry get-together last night with Allison and Jodi. We're already starting to make plans for next year's FilKONtario (April 3-5, 2009 in Toronto), where we're the Filk Waifs/Toastmasters. This is our VERY FIRST Toastmaster gig and it's going to be soooooooo fun, so make sure you come.

Heather Dale will be the Guest of Honour, Gerry and Sandy Tyra will be Interfilk Guests, and author Robert Sawyer will be the Author Guest. And Urban Tapestry will be the Toastmasters/Filk Waifs, of course. :-)

For more info, please see the FilKONtario website.



Urban Tapestry performing in Rochester. Photo by Korak.



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Fence destruction photo-essay

Above: Walter in our crab apple tree.

Busy week. I have a ton of things I have to do between now and Friday morning, when I leave for Balticon, so today's post is more a photo-essay than a written post.



Between the back fence starting to collapse and our impending garden revamp, we decided to replace the fencing around our backyard. This involved talking to multiple neighbours who shared this fencing, but fortunately they were all fine with the idea.



Jeff put out the call to our friends, and asked me if I'd be willing to make lunch on the holiday Monday. I said sure; he said I'd be cooking for about 4-5 people including us.




However, I think he underestimated the generosity of our friends (as well as the appeal of being asked to destroy someone else's property :-D).



I had been planning to take more photos but was too busy panicking about what to feed all these people. I ended up making a big pot of soup from a bunch of ingredients I scrounged from our freezer, fridge and pantry: chicken, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, kidney beans, parsley, thyme, oregano, a bit of cayenne pepper, and chicken broth.



It actually tasted much better than I expected; it's been a very long time since I had tried cooking something from scratch without a recipe -- my last attempt was so demoralizing that I decided to stick to cookbooks. This successful venture has encouraged me to try experimenting in the kitchen some more.



Anyway, we did have enough food after all, yay!



Huge thanks to Scott Murray for volunteering to man the bbq; I think he could tell I was stressing out. :-)



That also gave me time to make some chocolate cupcakes slathered with a healthy slab of vanilla icing -- the original plan was ice cream for dessert, but it was too cold outside to make that idea too appealing. Though a few ice cream lovers did sample our Dibs -- has anyone else tried these? WAAAY addictive!



Anyway, the fence is now down. Our backyard feels strangely open. I like the open part, but not the lack of privacy part; I suspect our neighbours probably feel the same way. Hopefully we can get the new fence up soon.





Many thanks to Andy, Ray, Iain, John, Scott, Walter and Vartan for their help!





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Cartoonist Photonotronic Sunday

I first met Ryan Couldrey when he interviewed me for blogTO in early 2007, and I ended up writing for blogTO for a bit. Even after I quit, Ryan and I kept in touch now and again, mainly through Facebook.

I was saddened when Ryan's comic, Shuriken Diaries, was shut down. Fingers crossed that it'll come back in some form someday. Meanwhile, Ryan's gotten involved in a Toronto-focused video podcast called Dear Toronto and is just about to launch his new Ninja Dolls.

This guy has a huge amount of creative energy and talent, and I've been following his projects with great interest.

Anyway, Ryan organized an informal photo shoot yesterday afternoon at The Coffee Tree out in Bloor West village. Originally he was going to just shoot Patricia Storms (of Booklust fame) but decided to open the invitation up to some others, including me.

Others at the gathering included photographer Kate M.:



Ryan North, creator of Dinosaur Comics:



...and John Martz, creator of Drawn! The Illustration & Cartooning Blog:



It was fun watching Ryan shoot Patricia:



Especially when she was clowning around:



We got to check out Ryan's handmade Ninja Dolls, which he plans to sell on Etsy soon. More designs coming!



Patricia was especially fond of Infected Pink Ninja:



My favourite of the ones he's made so far is Baby Blue Cthulu Ninja:



And I especially enjoyed the "pseudo-conversations" between Ryan and John as they were being photographed (and even they weren't). :-D



Anyway, 'twas a fun gathering. Many thanks to Ryan for organizing it!



You can see other photos I've taken in my Flickr set. I may post a pic or two that Ryan took of me in an upcoming Blathering.




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