Nuclear Bubble Gum

*It wasn't a bad weekend, as far as weekends go. Did some hunting down in Sandwich and came to the conclusion that I've run that well dry as far as tiki goes. I guess I could always start going after postcards and records when I'm down there. I did wind up with a couple of old medical books and a complete copy of Stratego (the same box version that I used to have as a kid!). Also found a skull that was in decent shape. It's from some type of deer, most likely, based on the size and the fact that they cut a section of the skull away to remove the antlers. It's minus the jaw, too, but the sutures and the turbinates are in good shape, and it was lacquered at least partly, so I went ahead and bought it. Plus, it was on sale. And speaking of albums, I actually found a ZZ Top and a Thomas Dolby that I bought. Also found this tiny little single cigarette green glaze Treasure Craft ashtray shaped like a fish that still had the original label inside.

*It's looking like tomorrow could be one of those non-stop kinda days. Not exactly what you hope for on your day off. At least there'll be some time in there to hang out with a friend and enjoy a beer or two.

*Apparently the off season for tourists in Hawaii is in the early part of the year. Not sure what exactly that means as far as when we're going to try to go. Still need to throw something up on the chat board to get some suggestions as to how we should approach this most likely once in a lifetime trip.

*I'm not sure at the moment if I'm going to end up liking the Prismacolor markers. There's been a couple of pieces that I've done with them that came out really well, in my opinion, but the one I'm working on currently I'm not liking at all. Might be the palatte of colors I have. Might be the substrate I'm using. Might just be that there's yet another technical learning curve to be overcome. Or it might just be that I prefer to work with colored pencils. Haven't really done much of anything with tempra lately, either. Might be better said that I haven't done much of anything with much of anything for a while. Even though there has been the seasonal shift in the studio spaces, there hasn't been much output. Wish I had something legitimate to blame that on.

*The weather guy says we might have thunderstorms Thursday. Thunderstorms. Have I mentioned the fact that it's January? In northern Illinois??

*Little more than a week till we head down to the Peoria/Pekin area to spend some time with my mom and her family. Realistically, it's my family too, but I haven't been able to quite bridge that gap yet. The intensity of emotion that mom is expressing is pretty overwhelming to me. Freaks me out. Not sure if that's going to become an issue or not. Plus, there's still the whole other side of the equation that has yet to be revealed. I doubt that there will be any discussions of any great depth or revealation on that topic durinig this trip either, as this will be the first time Sheri will be going with me, as well as the first time we'll be meeting Dave, and possibly Matt. I bet I'll get back home Sunday and just feel completely wrung out. Maybe a stop at the game store in Peoria would help.

*I really hate it when I put hours of work into something, only to find that it was all wasted time and effort because of something basic that I failed to take into consideration in my initial assessment of the project. Of course making that realization was better than trying to drill a hole through a tempered glass plate that I didn't realize was there.

*Orange is one of those colors that not everyone can wear.

*Apparently it is quite difficult to change the oil filter in my car without getting oil all over the frame. At least that was the dealer's explanation for the oil in my driveway and on the frame of my car. But, there were quite good about getting my car right in to clean it up. Plus, they always wash it, which is nice. The only problem with that is the past two times they've done it, I wind up with a big puddle of water on the passenger side floor. Makes me think that I might have a plugged drain on that side. Guess I'll just have them check that out for me.

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