Mostly, I can’t stop thinking about Gabe. It’s unbelievable how that little guy has so stolen my heart. I can’t wait for Tammy and Co. to move back down. Their life went  according to its own plan, as life tends to do, and now it looks like they’ll be coming down to take over the empty master bedroom for a while. How long? Who knows. We’ll see. But, I find it kind of funny. My biological clock’s been going off for years, and now I’m ending up in a best of both worlds kind of situation. I get to be a part of Gabe’s growing up, and yet, because of Tammy and her beau, I shan’t have to deal with quite so much of the bone-wearying work that all babies demand. And, if i want to take off to visit someone (like John or my dad), I don’t have to spend outrageous sums of money to watch the beasts.

Of course, I still need to get new transport. The Chibi-maker is going back up for sale as soon as I get the title. It is simply too damn heavy for me. Joud and I tried practicing picking it up and failed miserably. 500lbs (with gas) is officially more than I can manage. I could probably do it if it had a better/closer rear grip point. But as it stands, there’s just no way I can pull it off. I’m becoming infatuated with the 2008 Kawasaki 250r which is more than I can afford and maybe a little less power than I’d like on the highway, but it’s sooooo nice. It’s light, it’s peppy, it’s small, it gets really good gas mileage, I’m not afraid I can’t lift it…. I think it’s just about the perfect bike for me right now. I know there are “better” bikes, and I’d probably grow out of it in a few years, but right now it is so calling to me. I just have to figure out how to come up with the extra $2k (and no, I’m not interested in a pre-2008 vesion). If  I go with something used it’ll be a bit more powerful… but how much more??

No, really…. The Warchowskis have succeeded in creating an incredibly immersive world that totally captures the spirit, and feel, of the cartoon. It is beautiful, funny, and thrilling. Unfortunately the dialog in between the races is well written, but not well written for the screen. For example, at one point Pops Racer asks Speed to sit down and listen when Speed is about to leave (it’s not clear where or why) and he tells Speed that he loves him, and is proud of him, etc., etc.. It’s really well written and something you’d love to hear a father say in exactly that situation, but in the movie it just kind-of drags… Maybe it’s that we’d already had a couple serious conversations about being proud of Speed.

The races, are incredible, and totally sucked me in. The little brother had way too much screen time. And, I didn’t think I’d ever hear myself say it, but this movie could have done with some heavy editing.

Overall money well spent but some people are definitely going to feel it dragging. Kids will probably love it, but they did use the one swear word you get without forcing an R rating which felt totally out of character for Speed, although it was used where a real driver would have used it. Pops racer also said “ass” which again, felt out of character. Normally I couldn’t care less about swearing in movies, and I’m not opposed to children hearing swears because they’re going to in everyday life anyway, but I felt that, in this instance, it actually detracted from the film.

About the drawing: I wanted to draw John Goodman giving his monologue to Speed but I couldn’t find a shot of it and didn’t want to attempt without a reference image, so I drew the beautiful Christina Ricci instead. If only the drawing did her justice.

Tonight I started in on my first round of The Sketchbook Conspiracy. There’s some debate as to which characters are actually alive in the comic I’m participating in, so, we’ll have to debate tomorrow. In the meantime I can tell you this: Alan, is not going to like the news….

We’re always looking for more participants in the conspiracy, and there’s a new round about to start up, so if writing or drawing a collaborative comic sounds like fun then definitely sign up. If you look through the current round you’ll see that the quality of drawing and writing varies dramatically, but it doesn’t matter. We’re all just doing it for the fun of it.

I’ve been trying to draw Ebby lately and just failing miserably. I can give you an outline that would work just fine, but when I try and color her…. it’s the fact that her looks are so defined by where she’s turned white over the years. I feel like I’m making a cheesy velvet Elvis painting when I try white on black. There’s something here I’m  missing. Heavy Breathing was “meh”, and Contemplative came out well, but I cheated and totally reversed the colors. She actually has white highlights where I gave her gray.

I had an Ebby drawing tonight, that I’ve deleted because I was that unhappy with it. So I put together a quick sketch for you. One of the best lessons my mother used to have her students do was the 5 minute sketch. She’d spend whole classes having the students just do one five minute sketch after the other with the model changing position for each one. I think I need to do more of those. There’s a lot to learn in them. Maybe do some white on blacks and see what I can learn…

Congratulations on your first Mother’s Day Tammy-kun.

Tammy and Co. came down for the Grunt hunt this weekend, and while we placed last in this time, I still had a blast doing it. Thanks for the unexpected help Alistair, next time we’ll be near the top again.

I got to take care of Gabe over the Saturday night shift. It was… an experience. Doing this full time…damn, I have no clue how single mothers manage it and a job.

No ponderous thoughts tonight. Just a Hello from me to you.

Hello.

Side note: that odd looking dip in the line of my lips? That’s where my right fang is pushing on the inside of my lip. No joke.

I remember seeing black and white tv ads from the 50s talking about the joys of “going for a drive”. Whole families hopping into these giant boat sized cars that got like 10 mpg and just “going for a drive”. The way the ads addressed it it was as if this was a totally normal thing for families to do.

Until I started getting into motorcycles I’d thought that the tradition was essentially dead except for the few people who drive through Vermont when the leaves turn every year. And, while the environmentalist in me isn’t thrilled with the idea of using gas just for the hell of it, I absolutely can’t deny how wonderful it is to just pick a destination, or even a direction, and go. The fact that motorcycles typically get 40-80 Mpg doesn’t hurt either.

I feel that we’ve lost something, as a people, in loosing this tradition. Without it I think we become even more isolated and cut off from the wonderful beauty this country holds. The more cut off we become, the less of a loss it is when pieces of that beauty get cut down, or bulldozed over, and the less of a connection we have with our neighboring towns. Right now, if Wyoming was wiped from the map I’d be surprised but wouldn’t feel any personal sense of loss. It’s got some of the most beautiful National Parks, and used to be my home… but without having physically been there in so many years it has faded and become just another place “over there.” Even worse, are the states I’ve never visited. It’s like what’s happening in Rwanda… it’s so far removed from my life that I just can’t emotionally relate.

Motorcycling not only brings us back into contact with the lands that surround us, but does so in a very immersive way. You’re not sitting still in some moving box. You’re leaning and pushing your way through the twists and turns of the land with a totally unobstructed field of view. When it’s wet, you feel it, when it’s hot, you feel it. You actually experience the world you’re in in a very visceral sense.

We drive so much as a people, with individuals in vehicles that seat 5, or more, that I think it would be an environmental catastrophe if we were to revive this tradition without first addressing how we use cars as a whole. But I’m glad that my fellow riders are keeping the tradition alive, and aren’t being persecuted for doing so.

I keep attempting to capture that feeling, and I think I’ve failed miserably in this attempt. Actually, I don’t like the drawing much at all… But, there’s only so much time in an evening to work on these.

She gave everyone at the park quite the scare today… Overheated, from a toasty living room, she arose and began panting very heavily upon my arrival. It’s odd, how she goes from near silent sleeping breath, to massive lung filling pants in an instant, but this is not uncommon when she’s overheated.

Today though… today was different, more overheated than normal her breathing took on a rasping labored sound. A symptom that, for dogs, never bodes well. I got her to drink and we went to the park, hoping the cooler outside air would help. Upon hearing Ebony a new dog owner pulled her dog back to give her a wide bearth, as if the signs of old age were a contagion.  My dog walker friend made sure I had a “contingency plan”, where to take her if “the time” came… And a lady who had just recently lost one of her dogs to old age left without saying goodbye, I could see the recent loss surfacing in the lines of her face.

Yes, labored breathing really is that serious of a symptom, and we all know that ebony isn’t long for this world. But, when we arrived home and she ate, then laid down and got comfy, and ceased all scary breathing, in the process eliminating a number of potentially fatal things, like bloat.

In the end, I think she was just very overheated, and I am very glad to have her for another day.

The universe is up to something. Usually I can see the lessons it’s presenting me better. But this one…. I think I’m going to have to let it play out longer before I can see where it’s going. Part of me is a little scared. These larger lessons are usually the most unpleasant.

Another option is that it’s just working on pounding the lessons of fiscal responsibility, and the consequences of its absence into my thick skull until there’s no chance I’ll forget.

Sick of crap results from following the instructions on the side of the can of waterproofing spray the last three times I decided to spray the gloves relentlessly until it finally started to take a while to absorb repeated sprays. Screw the “do not saturate” instruction. I haven’t tried them yet, but there was a promising sign this evening. While the bricks and concrete all around my house had dried after this morning and afternoon rain the very porus bricks where I sprayed the gloves had a big blob of water just sitting on them.

Unfortunately, it was this morning and afternoon’s rain that I had re-sprayed them to better survive. I was going to ride up to Maine to visit Gabriel and family, but when the time to leave came I was filled with misgivings about the ride. I had bad vibes about riding the bike three hours up into Maine with a hurt back*, in probably constant rain, with tires I’m just not happy about. The logical side of my brain said I’d probably be fine, but over the years I have learned to trust my instincts. Something said taking the trip yesterday would be a Bad Thing (TM) so I listened to it. I feel bad about not going, and I’m sad I didn’t get to see Gabe… but I’d rather not take unnecessary chances when the universe is telling me not to.

This evening I read up on the tires that are currently on my bike, and people seem to like them, and claim that they’re good in the rain, but I’m still not thrilled, and mine are somewhat worn. While they’re probably OK (finger quotes) trusting your bike is almost as important as having a bike that is able to be trusted, and I simply don’t trust these tires that much. Tires are important on a car, but on a bike your life is utterly dependent upon that tiny little patch where the base of the carcass actually meets the road.

* Re. hurt back: Believe it or not the position I have to sit when riding is actually very comfortable on my back. I had to make a couple short rides, and was surprised to find that it actually felt better after a ride. The combination of the nice relaxed and stretched position plus the vibration seem to be a nice helper, but pushing the bike is not fun, and I’d be in a lot of hurt if it started to fall and I had to try and stop it, or I needed to do any dramatic fast movements.