Steve Irwin - you will be missed

I'm still in shock here. I woke up, turned on my PC as usual and Pauletti IMed me with the sad news that Steve Irwin, a.k.a. Crocodile Hunter, has died in a freak accident from a stingray encounter.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html

Yes, he died doing what he loved, filming a documentary, but how tragic, especially for his wife and young kids, family and friends.

Stingray deaths are rare and agonizing, according to this related news article on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/04/australia.irwin.stingray.reut/index.html

I have been trying to get on the crocodile hunter web site, and it's just not connecting - probably due to being swamped with hits or maybe they're updating it.

Steve, you will be greatly missed. You were a champion for wildlife and the importance of conservation of wildlife habitat, a joy to watch in your passion for your work, and a decent human being.

Another Tom Cross Picture, just because....

"Believe"

Tom Cross Website

My favorite photo of Daisy and Anabelle

Anabelle is my daughter Jessica's 2-year-old pomeranian. Daisy is my 6-month-old pom-chi mix. I LOVE this shot.

Daisy the opportunist

Just because I don't feel like typing the whole story over again I decided to copy and paste the IM of me telling this story to my friend Gabi:

Lady Swan says (1:07 PM):

omg the funniest thing just happened with the dogs

Lady Swan says (1:07 PM):

jess and I are dying

GoingForGreatness says (1:07 PM):

do tell!

Lady Swan says (1:07 PM):

yesterday one of her friends at work gave jess a bag of all-natural dog cookies from the Bone-a-fide baker in town

Lady Swan says (1:08 PM):

so we come home, jess opens the bag, gives Daisy a teddy cookie and Anabelle a star cookie

Lady Swan says (1:08 PM):

but they hadn't gone out to pee yet

Lady Swan says (1:08 PM):

so i call them to come to me to go outside

Lady Swan says (1:09 PM):

Daisy drops her cookie, but there was NO WAY Anabelle was leaving HER cookie behind, so down the stairs she went with the star cookie in her mouth

Lady Swan says (1:09 PM):

I open the front door to let them out, anabelle spots the great danes in the yard..

GoingForGreatness says (1:09 PM):

omg annabelle weighs what... 3 pounds???

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

DROPS her cookie and goes tear-assing after them doing her high-pitched panic bark

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

you would think daisy would be right behind her barking too, right?

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

NO

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

Daisy is an opportunist

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

she GRABS UP anabelles cookie off the steps and goes RACING back into the house and up the stairs

GoingForGreatness says (1:10 PM):

omg!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lady Swan says (1:11 PM):

leaving Anabelle behind to GET EATEN BY THE GIGANTIC DOGS

GoingForGreatness says (1:11 PM):

Daisy ain't no fooo

GoingForGreatness says (1:11 PM):

LOL!!!

Lady Swan says (1:11 PM):

ANABELLE CHASED HAILEY AROUND AND UP THE STAIRS..IT WAS FUNNY AS HELL

Lady Swan says (1:11 PM):

jess just stood there laughing so hard she couldnt' breathe

Lady Swan says (1:12 PM):

I had turned around JUST in time to see Daisy pause on the landing to look back, with the star cookie in her mouth before running upstairs

Lady Swan says (1:12 PM):

omg...we stood on the steps laughing our butts off for like 5 minutes

Studio Friday Topic - Artist's Block

This week's Studio Friday topic "Artists Block" was suggested by my closest friend in the universe, Gabi.

For me, artist block is created by any kind of stress, usually stress caused by not enough quiet or alone time, which I often crave. I find when things are quiet that is when I'm in touch with my creative side.

When I finally do find the time to create I cannot just turn it on, so I find the quickest way to get over the block is to find websites of artists using the same medium as I am, and look at their photo galleries. I'm almost always inspired instantly! The same goes for books or magazines in the same medium.

My problem is that more often than not I'm inspired TOO often, but almost never at at time where I can sit down and create! The timing always seems to be off. The car, doctor's office, in the middle of my work day, etc., is when inspiration will strike. So, when the timing is finally right I need to get into creative mode quickly!

Sometimes my head will be full of ideas, and then when I finally sit down at my work bench it's all GONE right out of my head! "Now WHAT was that idea I had yesterday?"

This pattern leads me to believe that I won't truly be creating at my full potential until I'm older and retired and have lots of free time! Ahhh, such is life. :-)

Here is a link to my work area.

My night of HORROR in SC...

About a year ago I E-mailed friends and family my account of an evening with the bug from HELL when I was still relatively new to SC. They grow 'em BIG down here. Here is my story and I'm stickin' to it:

Why am I awake at 4:00 a.m.? you may be wondering as you notice the time received next to the date on this e-mail. There is a very good explanation, and lucky YOU, I will now give it to you in all it's grand length and glory, since there is NO way I can sleep now.

At 3:45 I was rudely woken from my sleep (TV was still on) by a tickling sensation under my left arm. I shot straight up into a sitting position and out of the corner of my left eye saw something dark, about the size of a mouse, go running behind me, across the width of my bed and down the side. Horror of HORRORS it was the Palmetto bug from HELL! As the blood drained from my face I FLEW out of bed, frantically kicking off the covers and one very startled cat, stumbled across the floor to the bathroom, turned on the light, grabbed a can of Raid from under the sink, and then stood in the middle of my room and waited. One by one the other cats wandered into the room, eyes blinking and squinting in the light, wondering what the heck I was doing. Tigger, my fearless hunter, saw something move under the bed and scooted under there to investigate. GOOD, I thought, and I waited. There was a scurrying sound and a thump. The other cats were now all peering under the bed. I waited with a death grip on the can, now unable to feel my fingers. As I stood there, exhausted, my eyes started to close and I was swaying a little. There was no way I was getting back into that bed until either I spotted and killed the gargantuan intruder or Tigger came out from under the bed with it. I waited. I contemplated sleeping in my car. Suddenly...MOVEMENT. How I never saw the ginormous creepy-crawly climb up the wall I have NO idea (well...maybe while my eyes were closing?), but there it was sitting on the lip between the molding and ceiling, running like a bug-out-of-hell towards the center of the room. Tigger was now standing on my bed, staring intently at it while I moved in for the kill. The other cats were clueless, still peering under the bed. I aimed and FIRED. All the cats, except Tigger, jumped and scattered at the sudden sound of the spray. The little buggy bastard immediately fell and landed upside-down on a stack of blank cassette tapes on top of my plastic organizer drawer thingy, wet wings stuck to the plastic wrapper, feet up and wiggling ...eewww. He's still there. There is no way I'm touching him. I want to make sure he's good and dead before I grab that cassette and knock him into the toilet bowl . Maybe I'll wait and show it to Peggy this weekend. Why should SHE miss out on all the fun? MUHAHAHA!

SO, here I sit, a grown woman curled up on my office chair, feet off the ground so no bug can climb up my legs, skin still crawling, while all the cats are sound asleep on the floor around me. It's irritating me that they're able to sleep and I can't. I want to wake them all up (no, I won't, but I WANT to). I want a sleeping pill. I want a bug-free home. I want my room to stop smelling like Raid. I want someone else to flush the carcass. I want chocolate. My butt is numb.

I'll probably still be sitting here, frozen in a ball on my chair, as the sun comes up. Maybe THEN I can go back to sleep, as I've only ever seen these monsters come out at night. Yeah, I'm keeping it to show Peggy.

Made the switch to Blogger Beta

Okay, I made the switch. I like the new "add elements" feature. Now I need Pauletti to test the comments to see if she can leave one while signed in, or has to do it anon. The above pic is by fantasy artist Tom Cross. I love his style.