Time and Relative Dimension in Space

NaGoCoMo

2009-11-09T05:51:46Z

...this comes courtesy of Tam getting me to watch Simon's Cat.

Sirs! Sirs!

Roxy. <3

Which constitutes as some of my NaGo for the last three days. Just to help me keep track and feel somewhat accomplished:

7th - Copious sketchbook doodling, and some digital stuff in Painter
8th - Big happy piano session (mostly Musicals!), and line art on the couch
9th - Digital arts, and a bit of actual decent work on a talk I have to give next week at work

BRAAAINS

2009-10-27T20:40:58Z

Zombie walk was some pretty badass fun. XD Hilights of the day:

- Blood fight in the Manor backyard!!
- Walking past the Expensive Shops near the mall (eg Tiffany's) and watching the shop owners close their doors in a hurry, and the customers stare with a mixture of amusement and horror as we threw ourselves against said doors.
- The 'non zombie' with the 'shotgun' trying desperately to gun us down, while we mimed getting hit and then just kept... coming... until he gave up trying to shoot and just turned tail and fled. XD It was a Great Zombie Moment.
- Zombie Where's Wally meeting up with Zombie Where's Wally... girl.
- Listening to the cries of 'BRAAAINS! BRAAINS!' turning into cries of 'BEEEER! BEEEEER!' when we passed a bottle-o, and the utter bewilderment of the guy at the counter.

Fiction

2009-10-26T06:01:50Z

Doubt.

It's so easy.

Doubt, despair... that sinking, smothering, drowning feeling that's so easy to get lost in. Give up, it says. Persistent, nagging, tightening its hold whenever you let your guard down. Just give up, you know they'll never accept it. And sometimes I really want to. Really, really want to just turn my back on them all and leave.

It'd be so easy.

There was a situation, back in the Wars. A hostage situation. One of hundreds, I'm sure... but this one gathered a bit of attention, which is the only reason I know anything about it. You might have even heard about it-- Jabba's infant son, ring any bells? There was a lot of politics around the kidnapping, a lot of nasty maneuvering by the Seps, but that's not what's on my mind at the moment. We're long past the point of any of that mattering anymore. What really gets to me is the position it put the Jedi in.

They say Jabba went straight to the Jedi, asking for their assistence. They were put on the spot, they were forced to make a decision; would they step in, would they help? Would they divert resources, already spread so thin for the war effort across the galaxy, to attempt to retrieve the child of a crime lord? A being who deals in murder and torture and slavery to maintain his ghastly empire, an empire he would pass on to the very child in question? Or would they turn their backs on the plea for help, accepting that Jabba's son would very likely become yet another innocent lost to the Clone Wars, one among millions? See, it doesn't really matter which way the Jedi would eventually choose to act, there would be room for anyone to look upon their choice with disdain.

They couldn't 'win'. They could never please everyone, because as good as they were, they could not do everything. Kieren told me there was so much bitterness in those days, from those worlds the Jedi could not reach, or reached too late. Cities reduced to smoking ruins before everyone could be evacuated, pounding metal feet crashing unfeeling over innocent corpses. Very difficult, then, for the grief-stricken survivor not to feel resentment when they hear of two Jedi and a whole squad of troopers sent after a single child; the child of a criminal, no less. But then, flip the credit chip. High minded beings who have yet to see the bloodshed first hand, who have yet to have their own morality tested, comfortable in their wealth and control. How very easy it would be, to see the Jedi erring on the decision, potentially willing to forsake the life of an infant... and react with nothing but utter contempt. With disgust.

The Jedi could not... could never... save everyone. All they can do is try. Even now, they still try. We might have had the better part of the galaxy turn on us, our numbers reduced to scattered handfuls in hiding, working from the shadows, branded as terrorists.

But we still try. We still do what we can, because what else is there? The council may be dead. The temple may be all but destroyed. But so long as those of us still around pass on what we can, so long as we keep helping, keep trying, maybe one day there won't be anyone left who remembers what it was like when the Republic was shattered. Maybe all the bitterness, all the contempt, will die with those who clung to it. And maybe one day, there'll be a day when the galaxy is ready to look us in the eye again.

That's why I'm still with this lot, I think. As long as... as long as there's room for me to keep trying. After all, what else is there?

Dear James

2009-10-21T04:28:40Z

<3

2009-10-20T03:40:38Z

Felucian Niii-iii-ights...

2009-10-11T08:37:57Z

A message from Ranger...

2009-10-03T09:06:47Z

Bints and Batmen

2009-10-02T09:13:01Z

Bearcat!

Anyway, I was going to fill this post with More Stuff, like the crazy badass dream I had the other night, but that will have to wait for another time when Tyrone hasn't called dibs on the computer for most of the night.

THEREFORE I will simply leave you with some of the stuff kids say while riding ponies.

"What's your favourite animal?"
"....PURPLE."

"What's the best animal you've seen today?"
"Batman."
"...really. How many batmans have you seen?"
"Oh there's only one."

After trying to get a name out of the kid for about five minutes of stubborn silence:
"BECAUSE MY FAVOURITE IS MASHED POTATOES AND SAUSAGES."

"What's your favourite animal?"
"Tigers and dinosaurs."
"Awesome! What's the best kind of dinosaur?"
"My batman shirt."

...what is it with the goddamn Batman!?

ulfruna @ 2009-09-24T06:36:00

2009-09-23T20:37:55Z

Tell-tale fingertip stains
My guilty morning pleasure
Over-the-fence mulberries

Mameshiba

2009-09-14T04:12:38Z

So, after having the trip postponed several times and having my weekends suspended in space/time for the last month or so, it looks like I am ACTUALLY FINALLY properly going to Melbourne tomorrow! Whee! I think this is the first time I'll have ever officially gone on a 'business trip', haha. Provided all goes well (and I don't see why it shouldn't, I just don't like jinxing things I guess? Silly superstitious me...) then I will return with NEWS.

I'm in a relatively okay headspace at the moment, despite the exquisite sads of my previous post. I've been dwelling on death a great deal lately, and am feeling oddly zen about the whole thing... in a very strange sort of way, I think the whole experience was somewhat theraputic for me.

Ranger's been living with us for a year now, and he continues to be the greatest little dog ever. This makes me profoundly happy.

And, as has become the norm at the moment, I fill my spare time with

These are all, ahh, 'security tape' images of some of the crap we got up to a couple of sessions ago, which were used last session. Unfortunately, some of the more epic stuff that was caught on camera was subsequently blown to pieces. Alas.

Waiting in the lobby before ROBBING THE BANK.

The Toaster gets all Iron Man in the Moff's house.

Nimeq prefers a more Storm-like approach...

Tusserk just loves to get his Jedi on.

And some dude on the street with a space-iphone caught this picture of some freaky swoop racer FIXING HIS BIKE while flying vertically down the side of a building. wtf.

We're the greatest Stormtrooper deserters of all time.

DO A BARREL ROLL

2009-08-31T00:55:12Z

BECAUSE EVERY IMAGE HERE IS ENTIRELY RELEVANT

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

THIS IS FOR YOU XIE BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT

PHYLOGENY
(Jih, ur teachin Xie wrong)

I don't know it might make sense to Xie

And this is for Tim

More for Xie

Because frozen pants is a good idea

Neat trick fail

NEEDS MOAR ENDINGS

BONUS IMAGE
I want this for my birthday.

I CAN'T STOP

2009-08-24T10:02:19Z

I've been in the zone.

Bastards.

...still bastards, but hilarious.
Seriously, who goes gambling, legs it when wrongly accused of cheating, then lobs grenades at the pursuers!?

Decidedly less hilarious. She's staring at her best bud wired into a power generator.

Ba-ba ba ba ba bup, bah, baaaaahhhh... ba-ba ba ba ba bup, bah, baaaahhhh...

Expanded some on earlier sketch. Meant to go with earlier fiction.

Tauntauns. Haha. I will so revisit this. :P

<3

2009-08-24T02:26:35Z

Because if I wasn't drawing, I'd be drowning my sorrows.

2009-08-23T10:03:37Z

Go git 'em, Betsy!

"I am NAWT your mentor!!"

Space rats, space cats, and space dogs. Star Wars has 'em all.
Sleepy-Nexu-is-sleepy brought to you by Lord Brockwell.

Them good ol' boys

2009-08-21T11:41:30Z

Car CD player has been broken for months.
Computer currently not accepting CDs (note to self: ask the Dr how this can be rectified).
Actual CD player whose purpose in life is to do nothing but play CDs, for some hellish reason, is refusing to acknowledge CDs placed inside it.
TV currently no use as a music player because, (and fair enough,) husband wants to use it as a TV.

DAMN IT I JUST WANT SOME MUSIC IN MY LIFE. I can't believe how anxious this is making me.

(Now some MOAR fiction, because it just kind of happened.)

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”
“Definitely. But... thankyou. I just...”
“This is hard for you, isn’t it?”
It was. But he wasn’t prepared to say so.
“There’s nothing wrong with admitting you care about him. He’s a good boy.”
“He could have fooled me.”
“That’s unfair.”
“Oh, sure, his intentions might have been all well and up there, but he knew better. He knew better. And I’m not going to be responsible for bringing another...”
“Yes, yes. I know. But it wouldn’t hurt to wait here and speak with him yourself when he gets back. The poor boy is devastated, you know, though like you he’s too proud to say as much aloud.”
“He needs to do this on his own.”
“He needs your guidance.”
“I’m a wanted man. I’m not always going to be able to watch his back... or his front. And I need to know what he makes of the time ahead on his own.”
“You have very little trust in him.”
“He’s given me very little to trust.”
“Not even after everything he’s just been through, after everything he’s admitted to and accepted responsibility for..?!”
“It is exactly BECAUSE of everything he’s just been through that I can’t be too careful! These coming months will make or break him, and I can’t afford to influence his choices... look. If I were to just shrug it off and take him back tonight, he would have learned nothing. No, worse. He’d have learned that a sob and an apology would be enough to set things right. He’ll start getting cocky again...”
“Cocky!? The boy’s as meek as a day old runt nerf!”
“You haven’t seen the fire he gets in his eyes. He’s been wronged many times in his short life.”
“And you would turn your back on him. You, who he looks up to and trusts wholeheartedly.”
“Do I need to spell it out to you? He needs this. He needs to look inside himself, by himself, and recognise everything he’s done. And I need to see how he comes out the other side before I can be certain he’s the type of student I’m willing to teach.”
“And do you believe he may be?”
A pause.
“He... he gave me a little hope, when he argued his case. I was prepared to walk away from him outright, and never look back. This was his idea, you know. To stay with your people.”
“So you credit him with a little wisdom, then.”
“Help him. Teach him. But only when he asks it. Make sure all the questions he asks are his own. I can’t stress how important it is that he finds his own way.”
“Listen, I know you may be a little new to the idea of mentoring...”
“...I am NOT... his-”
“Spare me the rant! The boy hangs off your every word and takes each syllable to heart. Admit it or not, he puts enormous trust in you, and you’re going to have to take responsibility for that some time. Anyway, on my part, I think I’ve been in the business long enough to know how to handle him. I’ll look after him, Kieran.”
“Thank you. Don’t... don’t tell him I was here.”
Knowing how easily he could affect her mind, she appreciated that he nonetheless left it as her choice. "Don't be a stranger."

***

Meh. Messy, incomplete, and possibly not even 'canon'. Just words.

Fiction

2009-08-17T11:31:36Z

I should have stopped them. Why didn't I speak out? I could say I didn't want to draw attention to ourselves... but the first shot had already been fired. I could say that it happened too fast, that I was too shocked to react in time... but that would be a lie. I had time. I could say that I didn't think it would make a difference... now, that might be true. I don't know that anything I could have said would have stayed any hands.

But I should have tried.

I still have such a long way to go.

Funny how tightly they cling to the bad things. The slip-ups, the mistakes, the poor decisions... well, what they see to be a poor decision. Hah! I wasn't willing to risk the alternative, no way will I ever try to walk that line again. If I'd stuck around... tried to listen to their excuses, or even worse, their indifference... I don't know that I could have kept my temper in check. If they touched any of the bodies, if they stole from any of those poor souls who just wanted out... I wouldn't have. I had to get away.

Stupid. Mad. Reckless. Yeah, maybe it was. But if I ever find myself in the same situation, I'll do exactly the same thing. Only next time around, at least I'll have tried to stop the shooting. Maybe that will make the difference.

Yeen in Oz: Episode 1

2009-08-09T21:43:13Z

A couple of posts back said my next post would begin to chronicle the visit of the Yeener in Oz. And then I posted about cheetahs. So, NOW I actually begin putting up some of the pictures from the epic month-or-so-that-wasn't-long-enough-anyway. Starting with Bribie Island Sunrise Morning, which was neither the first nor last thing we did, but undoubtedly the prettiest. It was a really nice day.

It was such a damned pretty morning.

AND WE ARE FULL OF AWESOME

Ranger found a bone, and it was the best toy ever.
He ended up burying it in an EXCEPTIONALLY adorable manner.

STEER HARDER XIE, THIS SHIP'S GOING DOWN

Fast dog is faaaaast.

I'm not sure what we were singing? But it was obviously pretty epic.

<3

Mrrrow

2009-08-09T06:57:33Z

Took my son to see the cheetahs for his birthday.

'Cause I'm a good mum.

That's all.

Art Dump Time!

2009-08-03T10:41:17Z

One of my co-workers wished for a leopard painted somewhat like the rhinosaurus I did for the office. So, I painted lots and lots of spots.

I think I basically like it.

HERE TO SAAAAAVE THE MOTHERF*&KING DAY

Didn't your mother ever tell you not to gamble with wolfmen?

HE'S EVIL. Can't you just smell the evil. Don't be evil, James.

RAAHAHRrhr I can be a concept artist too.

Cheer up emo space lizard. So your girlfriend's dead, your team is evil and you're covered in parasitic space bugs... things could be worse. It's not like Vader killed your father...

I had two weeks off

2009-08-02T00:14:08Z

So I wasn't at work for two weeks, I had this thing called a 'holiday'. The first week we spent more time in our car than we did in bed, the second week I was SIIIIICK. So I'm not exaaaactly feeling 'refreshed and rested' as one is supposed to feel after a holiday, but nonetheless we did manage to do lots of fun stuff.

The time in the car was, more specifically, spent driving to Canberra and back. There was enormous doubt amongst everyone who is in any way familiar with my car that we'd actually make it... but WE DID. HELLS YEAH, Falafel wins at the game of driving. Oh, god so much driving. All the driving.

Anyway, photos are generally more fun than long winded explanations of what we did (also, the main purpose of this trip was visiting Tyrone's family, which probably won't be entirely apparent with the selection of photos I have to share), so yeah, lots of photos.

Nyer! I went on holiday and you didn't!

Ranger with his dashing traveling pack on. He is now a very learned dog, he has seen all the memorials along Anzac Parade.

Tyrone and his boy, walking the streets of Canberra.

Those were some pretty bitchin' horses.

Tomb of the unknown soldier. Very, very pretty.

Dingo gargoyle! Hells yeah!

The war museum was pretty kickass. I wasn't expecting it to be one of the best touristy things we did, but it was awesome.

D:

The dioramas there are amazing.

Like a good little zookeeper I tried to see as many animals as possible. Lions are quite nice in white.

Two week old baby zebra had the FUZZIEST BUTT EVER.

Eland KNOWS what you did.

We went up the Telstra tower! The view was cool but the wind tried to eat us.

Then, we made SCIENCE

Like all good kids, we didn't actually LEARN a lot of science at the science center. We just played around with things.

Our ill fated attempt to take Ranger to the snow resulted in no snow, despite driving all the way to Jindabyne. We got far enough to see a TINY BIT of snow RIGHT AT THE TOP of the mountains we couldn't get to.

We took the coastal route down, but the inland route up- and stopped at Dubbo overnight. Dubbo has a zoo.

Dawg.

Kat.

...that's one way to do a mixed species exhibit.

Hey, maned wolves interacting! Don't see that often. Shame about the trees.

We stayed in the NICEST B&B in Dubbo. Freaking fancy as hell, and Ranger was allowed in with us. He was pretty tired by this point.

We were also pretty tired.

Dubbo turned our car into a beautiful crystal snowflake.

Ranger could not wait to get home by the end of it.

Holy crap that was a lot of pictures.

Some notes about the trip that were not covered via imagery:

- WTF is with metal seats on the public toilts in NSW? HOLY FREAKING COLDNESS, BATMAN.
- New South Wales seems to care a heck of a lot about reducing speeding. It was quite good, actually. I like being warned extensively when there are cameras around. It made for an interesting observation driving between the states; in NSW, every other billboard is about reducing your speed. Once you cross the border into QLD? DON'T GET STDI'S!!!
- The city of Ryde, in Sydney, is... um, no fun? Seriously, they have signs up around the park telling you EVERYTHING you're not allowed to do in its lovely city. Including, but not limited to: Annoying people, landing light aircraft on the oval, and drinking without permission (they did not clarify WHERE, am I to assume you need the council's permission to have a bottle of wine over dinner in your own house???).
- WHERE THE HELL ARE THE PETROL STATIONS. Now, I'm used to petrol being very easy to find the moment you pull off the highway. NOT SO IN SYDNEY. We spent, like, an HOUR crawling the streets of some random suburb looking for fuel and subsequently finding our way out after getting horribly, horribly lost.
- There's something to be said about Sydney's method of building roads. Mountains? Going OVER the mountains? Hell no, we're going to CARVE STRAIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF IT. Those roads would be a pain in the ass to widen.
- Ranger has now walked through a Canberra shopping center, been down an escalator, sat under the table in a fancy Canberra cafe, been through the tourist center at Jindabyne, and had his name called over the loudspeaker at the National War Museum.

Wow I think that's it for now.

Next photocrunk will involve the Epic But Too Short Visit of the Yeener.

<3

2009-07-23T11:00:03Z

(Then come back to Oz.)

Doggen

2009-06-13T22:12:05Z

HAAAAAAHAHAhahahaa I've been LJ slack.

But this is just a v. v. v. quick post that I should have made yesterday, the contents of which would have read:

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY RANGER <3<3

Some things

2009-05-25T11:02:08Z

1. WOW I'm getting tired of the wet-feet-at-work thing. Really, really tired of it. I was relocating sand the other day, while this miniature torrential river was flowing down the footpath, and a little gecko came past, spreadeagled over the water and just spiralling down with the flow. It was so adorable. I rescued him with my shovel and airlifted him to safety.

2. My car. My car. AUGHdahlgjfds.

3. I've just noticed that the cockatiels have been chewing on the piece of paper upon which Tyrone wrote his proposal to me. I'd be sadder, if he hadn't spilt beer on it several years ago.

4. Drunk Xie is a DIRTY DIRTY THIEF!!! >:EEEE

5. Embarrassed-and-horrified-next-day-sober Xie is adorable.

6. I've been drawing a lot this weekend, hooray! Drawing in a sketchy, relaxing, conceptual and largely geeky kind of way and it's been lovely and creative and fun. Also I'm getting more accustomed to the drawing of human figures. DUN DUN DUUUNNNN.

7. ZOMBIE SHEEP

8. How is everyone? <3

Latin help!

2009-04-15T11:48:20Z

I love that I can turn to my wonderful flist when I want to make something intellgient and latin-sounding. Thus; can anyone help me?

I want some text that would basically translate to 'Safari of the Obscure'; for a 'global safari of obscure animals'. The word 'safari' itself can remain as it is, so what I really want is the correct way to say... 'of the obscure'. Yeah. If that's even possible.

I love you guys, y'know.

(PS. Brockwell is having way too much fun playing the piano tonight. His music is all very dark and mysterious.)

"It's amazing what you can do on a pear and a salad."

2009-04-14T10:11:26Z

So, we're walking along the back perimeter track together. One of us is holding a bucket, the other is holding a rope attached to a large, friendly camel. The rain is barely a drizzle, more like a mist in the air, and when the sun pokes out between clouds and lights up the droplets, the world is beautiful.

"You know, there's an old Japanese legend that says that whenver there's a sunshower, it means a fox is getting married."
"...you really believe that?"
"You're not meant to! It's a legend. A myth. Like, a superstition. You just imagine it, and it makes the world a little bit more... magical."
"Yeah, well. Did you know that every time a... a... leaf. Falls. It means a... whale. Is... dancing."
"And isn't that just a beautiful mental picture?"
"... ...yeah."
"See?"
"I bet you believe it, still."
"What, that somewhere out there right now a little fox groom with his little fox wife are standing there, listening to the ceremony being conducted by a little fox priest..?"
"No, no, no.."
"What?"
"The priest isn't a fox. A fox wouldn't be a priest!"
"What!?"
"No, seriously. The priest is... something... the priest is an owl. An owl would be marrying the foxes."
"... ...so typical."