Across the internet

Well, haven't posted here in a long time. Almost all of my current online energy has been directed toward posting my art online and schmoozing with a bit of a new crowd. Recently I have become involved with the online "furry" community. I've been drawing art that fits into the furry category for much longer than I had realized, and I now have an outlet for much of that creativity and weirdness. There is definitely some stigma attached to the whole thing, which I myself have had to get over. Though there is a sexual side to it, I believe more than anything, being a furry is about being a creative person who sees the world just a little differently than others. Some furries may disagree with me on that, but that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

The furry community seems to be a really neat group of people, very supportive and caring. I think this stems from the fact that there was not a community at all before they gathered online. I have an account on one of the fandom's biggest sites, FurAffinity. I'll post a link to my account in the links section of this site. I will try from now on cross post some stuff so that everything I have online isn't quite so scattered.

From the depths...

It occurred to me that I had not posted anything on my quit forgotten little patch of the internet, so here I am. Things have changed quite a bit since I last posted. Stew is now without a job, while I have taken on a second. Butte Creek closed mid-January and Stew, like much of the rest of the country has been struggling to find new employment. I on the other hand am now doing something somewhat related to my education; working at the Museum of Anthropology here at the university. I actually get a chance to do some school tours and work on stuff for my thesis project. The Depot still snatches most of the rest of my time, but with only one of us working I have little other choice. I suppose I ought to be happy that I still have work while the rest of the country continues it's plummet into the depths of recession, if not at this point a full blown "depression" (however that happens to be defined). Things sure as heck seem difficult at this point, but I guess we need all trudge on and find a glimmer of hope or consolation amidst this mess.

Despite my melancholy words I do have things to look forward to. I am hoping the wedding this September will turn out well if we can scrounge up the funds. Also it would seem that there is real hope for me finishing both my practical experience class and implementing my thesis project this summer. Hopefully my work will be smiled upon and everything will go according to our currently tentative plans.

On a totally different note I thought I might record the two phases of pet interest I have been going through. We don't have the money to get another pet, but I have been avidly dreaming over the last month or two in order to mentally escape. At least by doing the research and planning I have an easily achievable goal to work towards, even if it doesn't ever happen. In the end I think I'm going to eventually get both of these animals, but first I was interested in leopard geckos, and more recently I have been interested in cockatiels. Stew and I even went to Paradise yesterday and held some cockatiels at Skyway Feed and Pet Supply. I loved seeing the big smile on his face when he had the little bird sit happily on his hand. Made me want one even more. Definitely an attainable goal to work towards. I know we will eventually be able to afford it, but for now, I can only just sit and over-think it.

Lament of an overtaxed, cronic worrier

I figured I should get something down on here before, as usual, this interest slips from my consciousness. Things have continued to be difficult for the last few weeks. Mom's health has not improved and she is most likely going into the hospital this weekend for treatment of what they now think is Pancreatitis. The semester is also coming to an end, threatening to take my sanity along with it as it departs. This fall has taught me that I can't be trusted to do independent study classes. I need deadlines and someone over my shoulder reminding me that I ought to turn things in at reasonable intervals. In addition, I am sensing a cold waiting to pounce at just the moment when I can't afford to spend time in bed. Even though presents are not yet in the agenda or budget, I am eagerly looking forward to Christmas, a day on which most of the world takes a moment to switch-off and I can perhaps take (if not a physical one) a much needed mental nap.

Crappy Day

To be honest I don't have much to say today besides the fact that I wanted to record that it had been an absolutely horrible day. Got to work late, customers were terrible today and yelled at mentally handicapped co-workers, got splinters in my fingers, forgot my lunch at home, forgot my book at home, co-workers tried to get in un-aggravated fights with me about Prop 8 and Sarah Palin, register computer broke in new and horrible ways, driver flicked a cigarette at my car, World of Warcraft still doesn't feel like working properly on my computer, cable box didn't feel like working, and cat ate part of a poisonous plant (don't worry, neither of them seem sick at this point). At least when I came home my Stewie had a nice big hug for me and a tissue for my tears.

Frustrated and concerned

So right now I'm completely frustrated with my computer when I should probably be instead spending my valuable time working on school work. My printer has decided to piss me off by refusing to print anything. Now, it's understandable that it doesn't want to print color documents because it is out of color ink, but to not want to print anything is a bit beyond my comprehension. Also, my new copy of Wrath of the Lich King for World of Warcraft does not want to work correctly. When I get into the actual game I am only getting about 4 frames per second which makes the game effectively unplayable. I sit and watch frustrated as Stew's computer runs the game beautifully beside me. On top of all this frustration I'm worried about getting all of my school work done before the semester is over. I have decided that independent study just doesn't work for me. I need deadlines and someone telling me each week that something is due. So, either way, stress and frustration seem to be the order of the day (month more like). I need a vacation!

To take my mind off all of this crappola I will post some of the pictures from the pressed flower workshop for all of my relatively non-existent readers to enjoy.

Pressed Flowers and Herbal Teas

Just got back from Lincoln where I helped Jane put on a workshop about pressed flowers. We also did a squash themed luncheon and an herbal tea tasting. It was definitely an interesting experience. Sun City in Lincoln is a 55+ retirement community so nice that it made me want to find a sugar daddy or get a fake ID so that I could qualify to live there. The houses there are nice and the community center and facilities made me feel most definitely like a starving 20-something. I wouldn't mind driving around one of those cool little GEM cars either. The workshop we did however was a lot of fun, and gave me an idea of what I'm getting myself into with GreenCraft Conservatory and all of Jane's schemes. Hopefully good things will come of it, but all this work has made me tired. I have some nice pictures from the workshop that I will post later, but for now I need to get some veg-out time and sleep.

Backyard Chickens and Urban Farming

Today Stew found this site and sent it to me, so I share it with you:
The Greenhorns

This second site I found the other day and thought it was a lot of fun:
The City Chicken

Finally, this is a really neat blog that I put as an RSS feed on my iGoogle because it puts up really interesting articles:
City Farmer News

These are all interesting site about urban farming, young farmers, and some of the current agricultural movement that's going on in our country. Over the last few days they got me thinking about a lot of things like farming that I could do, sustainable living, and where I fit into this whole scheme.
I think that ever since Stew and I moved back to CA we have been finding ourselves amongst the bizarre culture of 20-somethings here. Chico seems to run the gamut from ultra-new-age-hippie to uber-conservative-"screw the planet"-consumer-types. We are both interested in the urban farming movement and are currently figuring out ways to get more out of our tiny yard. At the same time however, we aren't quite ready to stop enjoying In-N-Out burgers or our occasional trips to Costco. Are there ways that we can enjoy the best of both of these worlds? I am hoping that as we as a society figure out ways to fix the sh*t we've messed up, we can also find some happy mediums. I am totally behind changing the way we treat our urban environments, but I still would kind of like to be able to get a "double double with onions" once in a while. I can only hope that with a bit of my own help, my generation will be the one to find that middle ground.

Stew and I in front of the worlds largest artichoke in Castroville, CA.
I felt this was an appropriate picture for a rant on farming.