In which our heroine rambles on almost endlessly...

*note*NSFW centerfold picture way, way WAY down there. You've been warned.

In the past few days-weeks?-I've noticed a few things I thought I'd share here with you, Dear Reader. They're completely random, yes, but that's OK because it's just how my mind works and I'm feeling a bit random lately. It's the insomnia getting to me, the randomness. And it's not that I'm not sleeping at all, nono... That would be too easy. It's just taking forever for me to wind down enough after work to go to sleep before 6 a.m. And when you get up by 10 on the days you have to work the full shift, it makes for one tired Darkneuro. I wake up by noon on the days I don't have to work. Not pleasant.
Anyway (says the Queen of All Tangents!), I've noticed a few things I thought I'd share. News-i-ness-ish stuff (yes, I made that up) and just... random noticings. Ready?
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The weather is freakin' awesome lately, isn't it? It snowed in Santa Fe, NM the other day (yesterday? Day before? Something like), and it's been raining pretty steady here for about 3 days. It's keeping the pollen down and all I can hear are all the scientists screaming about severe climate changes brought about by human habitation. The VOD we have through CableMonster is filled not only with apocalyptic exhortations, but also shame-inducing scientific programs that have one goal: Make me feel guilty for being a human, with all the technology being human brings with it. They say that humans are the reason the ozone is depleting, humans are the reason the ice is melting, humans are the reason for El Nino and La Nina, and it would be better if humans just weren't here.
I feel like handing them a pistol and telling them "You go first." There's lots of theories out there, and while I embrace the fact that technology as we know it is changing as we are watching (which is just too too cool... and certainly easier to take than the switch from horse-powered to horsepower), I do not think humans are to blame for what Earth is doing right now, which only appears to be going to hell in a really big hand-basket.
Let me explain: Earth goes through cycles. CYCLES, people. And yeah, we may have had another 200 years without the polar ice melting exponentially without the Industrial Revolution, but... guys... Terra Firma is almost a living, breathing entity in her own right! If you go here, then go down to the "Major Ice Ages" area, it kinda explains it all, much neater than I can. At any rate, we're in an interglacial stage right now. Warmer, people. YES, the ice will melt. That's what it does. What the scientists haven't really stressed, though, is that it's melting a lot faster than they think it should, and it's speeding up. Quickly. My personal estimate? Well, inlanders always make jokes about what would happen if, and Albuquerque looks to be prime beachfront property in a couple hundred years. And no.... I don't think recycling and changing fuels and 'being green' will stop that in any way from happening, but I do it anyway because I do think we are using up our (limited) resources faster than ANYONE can say.
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I'm not apathetic, really. I'm just incredulous that so much is being laid upon the human race. And yeah, I've dirtied the world up a bit, but hey... I haven't bred. The line, my portion of it at least, ends here. Future guilt? Heh. You deal with it. I'll be dead.
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There's a lot of people I know breeding right now. Yes, I say breeding. Around here, you must call it breeding. It's not 'having children', that's too highbrow for the barnyard. I have to tell you, I live in Redneck Central, and right now, these people aren't thinking about having kids and then having them, they're having them and then thinking about it. Silly me, being practical and all.... How dare I even suggest that someone may want to move out of Mom's house and be on their own without having a baby first? How dare I point out the practicality of thinking about 2 a.m. feedings and not being able to go out and (ahem) 'partay' with all your friends at the Saturday Beer Blast that turns into a circus of people puking off balconies and swimming in radioactive waters?
Me? Personally? I've been asked that question a LOT lately, that lovely question to the childless: "When are YOU going to have a baby?? You should! You'd make a GREAT MOTHER!!!"
No. Never. Won't. To use a really outdated word, I shan't. And I won't make a great mother. I'd hit my children. I believe the phrase 'Spare the rod and spoil the child'. I've seen the sparing done. I've seen it done badly. I've seen it done well. And with complete honesty, I can say I'd hit my children. And I have a strange problem dealing with dirty diapers and spit-up. Makes me throw up. Profusely and at great length. Hand me a child with a dirty diaper and I will drop the child. No warning for spit-up means I know the signs of when a baby will spit up. I will leave the room.
I make a much better Aunt. I make a great Aunt. And the thing about being the Aunt is that you can hand the children back to their parents, the children's lives a bit richer for being around you (Museum? What's that, AuntyK? Gallery? Huh? Hike? What?Library?) [and no. Don't you DARE say I'm saying parents don't do this with their children. I'm a former child. I know. It is almost always made out to be a chore with parents, they have to take you, give you some culture. If an Aunt takes you, it means she wants to], the parents get a break and ...heh... You get to give back the alternately tired-bouncy-whiny-screamy child to the parents. And the expense isn't one-fivehundredth of what it would be to have a child yourself.
Besides... Should that person really have spawned? Really??? You've seen them. Should they have passed those genes on???
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Speaking of gene-passing, I was able to speak to my wonderful ConMan, my nephew extraordinaire, when I called Mom to let her know the check was in the mail for the jeans we had her get through her discount at Big Department Store...retirement still has some perks, you know, and Mom allows us to use her discount shamelessly. Con didn't have much to say, he was in the middle of Spring Break and a video game (my parents bought a Wii! MY PARENTS! Who still have this in the bedroom. Sheesh.), but what he said almost broke my heart....
The boy's voice has changed.
WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
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Repairs continue on the house across the street. Wait. I didn't tell you, did I? How about I show you instead?
Big wind caused big tree to make big hole in big house. They're repairing.
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I found the picture my grandmother used to paint the nude hanging above my mother's bed. I'm making my own interpretation of it. Here's the inspiration, I believe it's from 1973? I didn't write down where I got it from, let me check my horrendous list of bookmarks....Nope. Sorry. Standard disclaimer: If this picture is yours and you want credit, if you want me to remove it, let me know.

I believe she will make excellent pin-up practice, don't you?
And Mari's child (she, on the other hand, makes a GREAT mother, speaking as a former child), she drew me a fairy that will inspire a fairy drawing of my own.
I finally got the grass stems I love so much down into art recently. Please ignore the fairy in this picture. This drawing was all about the flora, not the fauna and I traced her out (badly). But the grass to the right? Oh.My. I like the way it turned out, especially since it's strictly from memory at this point.


Have a good Saturday, Dear Reader. I'm gonna be drawing.