Sharpen those pencils

I went to a weekly drawing group hosted by the uber-talented Emma Tapley recently. I've been so preoccupied with drawing silly stuff, I forgot how fun it is to draw "seriously." Six of us gathered in Emma's studio and we each took a turn posing for 20 minutes, which also meant you only had twenty minutes to draw. Gadzooks!


Gaby

This got me thinking about how much I putter around before I start writing. Breakfast dishes must be washed, bed must be made, and oh! let's rearrange those books on the third shelf so they're color coordinated, it'll only take a minute, and before I forget, I should email so-and-so and tell them such-and-such...etc., etc. Even when I finally sit down and have my play in front of me, it's not unusual for my finger or toenails to become extremely fascinating and urgently need clipping/filing/polishing. The risk that is run, of course, is that I'll be too tired to write when I'm finally able to focus. Lately I've become more aware of this weirdness and have forced myself to march like a soldier over to my computer the moment I've had my last spoonful of Cocoa Pebbles. Unsurprisingly, I get more work done this way!


Thomas

BTW, I don't eat Cocoa Pebbles every day, only sometimes. Speaking of which, did you know there's a yucky difference between Froot Loops and Apple Jacks? Froot Loops has vegetable and/or every other cooking oil you can think of, pretty much, in it. Why, Froot Loops?


Emma

This week I didn't get to go to the group because I felt lousy (dumb head cold). Next time I'm going to go no matter what, even if I have to wear a Hazmat suit.

Little Wolf

My brother has long been a cutie pie in every stage of his life, but he was an Extra Super Deluxe Cutie Pie back in the day. Case in point:



OMG! Look at him in his home-sewn-by-Mom tie in the garden, with blurry big wheels in the background. Gaaaa!!! Cute overload!!!

Today is his birthday. Happy day of birth, my brudder! May many cold, delicious Hefferveisens be hoisted in your honor.

Sssssss

P and I went to San Francisco the week before last to visit this absurdly adorable family in their equal-in-absurdity-and-adorability new home. That's Marco, Desmond, and Evany of El Cerrito in a pumpkin patch, yo!



Of course, I have already started pelting these poor souls with homemade gifts. For this visit, P came up with the idea of a snake. A snake? Yes. P has fond memories of dragging a handmade snake of his own around when he was a young lad.



As a result, P had a very specific vision for this thing. He is still disgruntled that the striped bottom isn't slimmer, because the green was supposed to go further around the circumference of the snake. It also took him a while to get him to cross over to the corduroy side in terms of fabric choices.



I was happy with the decision to put a cat toy, a mouse with a distinctive rattle, in the tail. So it rattles AND it's like the snake ate a mouse, BOTH! Here's the snake in Desmond's future crib, where he's already become friends with a snake finger puppet.

And here's a closer pic of Desi Baroz. Don't overlook those little socks with sneaker-like laces. One day he is going to be hitting one of his robot toys with his old crib snake and a fuzzy old mouse toy is going to fall out of it and his mind is going to be blown.

More Halloween kudos

Behold the amazing Vandervloed clan of Seattle, who used everything from dried pasta and a vintage mannequin head to hairspray, fake fur, and frosty lipstick to bring their vision to life. Wait, did I forget to mention the fake barbed wire made out of yarn and pipe cleaners? Read all about their self-described macaroni mad max adventure here.



Further down the coast, in L.A., Evany's bosom buddy's kids showed impressive levels of ingenuity when it came to deciding what their costumes would be. How about Obelix, the Grim Reaper, and Joan of Arc?



Some people know how to have fun! And, clearly, how to make costumes. Muscles, striped pants, red-haired braids (and moustache)...a spooky scythe wielder, a passionate, fringe-booted martyr? Challenges not for the weary. Or the sewing averse.

Rock on, you crazy kids and parents!

I also thoroughly applaud ingenious quick solutions like throwing a cereal box on your head, as this married duo did. Frank and Patrick, goddammit, you make me wish I'd been there too, as Cheerios. Or Muesli. Ha ha ha.

The eternal question and his fiery friend

Brook sailed one out of the park and into outer space again this Halloween. As we've seen in the past, this is de rigueur for this woman. (As an aside, can you believe how much these tater tots have grown since last year? I salute all the historical aunties who came before me and coined the cheek-pinching cliche, "My, how you've grown!")



As a question mark, Henry was frequently asked what the ultimate question was. He'd answer, oh so correctly in my opinion, "It's 'Who am I?'." Burgeoning young fashionista Hazy designed her devil dress herself. Look how proud and "Step off, suckas!" she is in the photo above.



The other side of Brook's impressive craftsmanship of Hazy's Mephistophelian vision. Bwah ha ha ha.



Here they are out on the town, so you can see the three-dimensionality of Henry's costume. I love that little girl in the background who looks like she's confused over whether Hazy's wearing a costume or not. "Maybe little girl devils are REAL!"