Illo Friday "Tales & Legends"

Balance

Progress without responsibility can lead to conspicuous consumption among other things. Balancing a realistic view of limited natural resources and mankind's true needs can lead to healthy progress for all—progress and invention along sustainable lines.

Great ideas from the past can be quoted and revered, but they shouldn't have so much sanctity that they loose the flexibility of been judged by current standards. Creation for the sake of creation by unreasonable men has led to some truly wonderful things, but also to some really horrifying things. Creation with forward thinking is closer to an ideal—still not ideal, but closer.

Your thoughts?

Last Week's Illo Friday: Plain

I know, it's awesome...ahem.

Home

This Everyday Matters assignment appealed to me.

Places evoke feelings. Sometimes those feelings are brash because huge things happened there. More often, in my own experience, the feeling is subtle. The feeling doesn't belong to any of the five senses, but to a deeper part. My home is still new enough that I haven't developed that feeling yet. I don't feel uncomfortable in my home, but I don't know it yet. I still haven't seen it in the spring or at the height of summer.

When I reach the house at the end of a day of work or returning from running errands, I say the word "home" out loud as if I somehow need to convince myself it's true.

The feeling will come, it always does.

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In Honor of the Day

A great man, a great speech, but a terrible likeness...sigh.

Are we a little closer now to his dream? Would it be disappointing to him that we aren't closer to reaching it than we currently are?

The 2008 presidential race is inspired, and inspiring for more that the obvious reason than the diverse candidates on the ballot. The American public seems to be shaking off its lethargy and disinterest to step up and move the country. True, it remains to be decided where the majority of the country thinks we should be heading, but people are thinking and participating.

Dr. King used the word "dream". That word implies an ideal that must actively be sought. He could have used the word "vision" to drive home the impression that the ideals would be reached. The word "vision" would have been more hopeful and more assertive, but his ideal would have less of a chance of succeeding because "vision" suggests that the things seen will come to pass no matter what.

Hopefully, we will use the current election cycle to actively seek the dream that Dr. King and the founding fathers envisioned. It might be idealistic, but wasn't that the plan?



This was the single piece of art created during this Sketchcrawl—I was distracted by other, equally fun activities.



I read I Am the Messenger for book club, but didn't go to the discussion. I was glad to have read the book anyway, and can recommend it.

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Warning...Do NOT Try This at Home

I have a perverse sense of humor, and I've come to accept it over the years. If you're reading this even after all you've seen on this blog, you've accepted it too—thanks!

My cat, Gimli, is attempting that which he is being told not to do. He's attempting to occupy the same space my computer currently does on my lap. The computer on my lap is a cat magnet. Perhaps Gimli senses that the computer is warm and will preheat his spot. Perhaps he is jealous of my attentions to a computer. Perhaps he's just a furry nudge...yep, that's it...he's a furry nudge. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Can't Argue With This...

...but then I like walking, so I probably wouldn't argue anyway.

I didn't place the quote properly, so the whole thing got a little too close to the right-hand edge of the page.

I had a lovely walk to the train station this morning, and my evening walk home was decorated with fresh snowfall—slower going, but really pretty. It's a shame we can't switch of winter and switch on the fresh greenery of spring. Not that I'm advocating an early end to winter—don't want to upset that apple cart. Just expressing the opinion that the early spring browns and grays are really not all that wonderful. Spring is awesome, it's just that little dead zone between the end of winter and the beginning of spring that is visually repugnant. Not every season change can be the bell of the ball, and it's got to follow on the heels of one of the best decorated holiday seasons (Thanksgiving, of course...ahem). Still, you'd think the opener to spring could have a little flair.

Oh, I know, you say, "But Nan, what about the crocus?"

Sure the crocus is very nice, but come on...one tiny flower to undo that vast expanse of brown lawn you've got spread out before you!?!? That's a little David and Goliath, no? Unless you can really focus on the crocus, you don't stand a chance. I think I'll end on that little charmer.

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To hACkME Press 3

What you thought I was giving you some super secret code? HA! Not.





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New Year, New Datebook, New Game

Please pardon the date inaccuracy here. I actually went to the Nelson's for New Year's Eve to eat, drink, and play games. It was a wonderful treat, and a pleasant way to see 2007 come to an end.


This year, I'm going to attempt to do an illustration on every spread of the datebook. I'll try to find fun quotes to illustrate, or some momentous event either in my life (ha!) or history, or I'll fall back on the Everyday Matters' list of drawing assignments.


So let's hear it: Frosty and Reiner go toe-to-toe, who wins?


Tee hee. It's ok to groan.

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