Alexx's Journal

Was done yesterday, at Good Faith Tattoo. The artist, Victor Kesinger, also turns out to have done the mermaid picture I liked so much.

Tattoo pics behind the cut
( Read more... )

 On my way back from Poke-hunting tonight, at half past midnight, I saw a pack of four or so critters crossing the street about a block ahead of me. Two more stragglers crossed a minute later, by which time I had gotten close enough to positively ID them as raccoons. As much as I love squirrels, it's nice to occasionally spot something bigger in the wild.

Kestrell is, at long last, starting to write up some of her vast accumulated knowledge (and opinion) about Umberto Eco's wonderful _The Name of the Rose_. Recommended to all bibliophiles. http://kestrell.dreamwidth.org/263842.html

(And there's a Patreon attached, so consider that, if you want to encourage more such writing.)

I spent most of December with a cold, and thus got very little work accomplished. I did watch a large amount of Western movies, leading to significant additional annotations for Cinema Purgatorio number seven (see earlier comments about Art never being finished, only abandoned).

January, thankfully, has been significantly more productive. Notable accomplishments since last time:
• Annotated chapters two through five of Voice of the Fire.
• Helped annotate issue 11 of Providence.

Plus a lot of miscellaneous bits here and there. Still lots more to do, and a new issue of Cinema Purgatorio is due out tomorrow. Thanks for your support!

I was at the March yesterday. I posted lots of photos on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/alexx.kay/media_set?set=a.10210486821740239.1073741848.1035714672&type=3), but it occurred to me that I should document it here as well.

I got started a little late, and only arrived downtown around 11:45. From the moment I exited the T, the crowds were impressive, and only became more so as I approached the central location. In fact, I didn’t get all THAT close to the center, as my crowd-phobia kicked in well before that point. There were so many people, I didn’t even get close enough to be able to hear the speakers. But I felt I was still participating by circling around the fringes, offering encouragement, and taking pictures of things I felt were noteworthy.

The March proper started late and was clearly going to go on for a long time, and remain packed throughout. So I didn’t technically march. When my spoons were running low (about 1:45), I headed home. I hadn’t seen anyone I knew in person; unsurprising given the scale of the event.

Surprisingly little in the way of counterprotest. Well, maybe some folks showed up but were intimidated by the crowd size and left without making a fuss. There were a few groups of “orthogonal” protesters (largely for socialist groups), but only one of these appeared to actually have any problems with the March, per se. I saw a grand total of one Trump T-shirt; the young man wearing it had it on over a chain mail tunic, was holding a medieval-style helmet in hand, and had a fake-looking sword stuffed down the back of his shirt. When I spotted him, he was already walking away.

All in all, a hopeful day.

Last night, I spent more time comforting my psychiatrist than vice versa. But then, I can pass for a member of the dominant classes; she’s a black woman with an Arabic name…

Managed to spend at least some of today following Neil Gaiman's advice for what to do when times are bad ("Make Good Art"). Buckled down and finished a first draft of annotations for Hob's Hog, the first chapter of Alan Moore's Voice of the Fire.

Being the perfectionist I am, nothing ever quite counts as "done", but I'm legit proud of what's up there. This is probably the second-hardest chapter I'll ever work on. Taking a break for social media, then back to the note mines :-)

About fifteen and a half years ago, I decided to ask a question. That remains the best decision I ever made. And a few months after that, Kestrell formally said "I do." I look forward to at least fifteen more years!

Last night, at 2:30 AM, I (semi-) woke up to go to the bathroom. Wandered down to the second floor without turning the light on, as is my habit.

Wait a minute. Is there a sound coming from the bathroom… a flapping sound? Yes, yes there is.

Okay, step one: go down and use the first floor bathroom.

Next, return to the third floor to get my glasses. Can still hear flapping as I walk by the second-floor bathroom.

When I get back to the second floor for the third time, now thoroughly awake, I no longer hear any flapping. I turn on the light and look in. Thankfully, there is no bat. There is, however, a moth that is very nearly the size of a bat.

I decide to adopt Meredith’s moth hunting technique, and return to the first floor to retrieve a broom. When I get back to the second floor, however, the moth is nowhere to be found. After some searching, I conclude that it was bothered by the light, and got out however it got in in the first place. I return the broom to the first floor and myself to bed.

It is, however, some considerable time before I can fall asleep, as I am listening intently to the darkness…

Once again, the aerie has been invaded. And yet again, I have valiantly returned the airborne intruder to its outdoor habitat. Not without considerable effort and frustration. On the other hand, eventually the fabled Portal Shorts of Bat Stunning actually worked in the way I had initially envisioned for once. I managed to get the bat tangled in them to the point where I could pick it up without getting bitten. It squeaked in an affronted manner, but that didn't stop me from bringing it to the front door and letting it go.

It's going to be a while before I can get back to sleep after that, so I thought I might as well post about it. Tomorrow afternoon, off to the clinic for rabies test. Almost certainly negative, but it's not the sort of thing to leave unchecked.