Blog du Wren

The Outback Is Now Spider Free

I've been away from home quite a bit recently. According to my Sleeping Around calendar, I've only slept at home 9 nights since Nov. 15th*. Well, has taken advantage of that time to tackle the Outback as her latest retirement-induced project.

(For those of you who don't know, the Outback is the garage/my room*. Concrete floors, lack of heat, plywood walls, and less than precise "finish carpentry" all add to the place's charm.)

With the help of the neighbor, Ma tore up the old carpet*, painted the concrete floors, and relocated all my spider friends. The place looks spic and span now (although IMHO less welcoming.*) One product of this epic cleaning is that my many piles of artifacts-of-my-life have now become fewer yet larger piles that demand to be gone through. Going through the piles is fun, but seeing them be weeded out is kind of sad. I guess that's how it goes.

The upside of pile reduction is the few blog posts that I hope it will produce. Scanned in personal crap that I at one time felt strongly enough to put in a pile under the bed instead of the garbage? What's not to look forward to?

(Oh, and it should be said that while I wasn't (and am still not really) a fan of this cleaning/reorganizing/etc. project, the ladies did a great job making the place look presentable. They say it smells much nicer too. I can't confirm that one.)

Sunday February 7 2010

File under: misc

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Handwriting Decipher Help Requested

I've recently had the [opportunity/coaxing] to go through a number of years of accumulated stuff.* Every piece of paper I pick up reminds me of something: a receipt for scooter work done while on the road to/from Vegas, a map of Chongqing China, crossword puzzles from all sorts of places, and lists galore (shopping, todo, comic ideas, addresses, work chores, etc.)

There is one thing I've come across that I can't quite figure out. I'm having trouble reading the handwriting and thought I might call on ya'll to see if you could decipher it. Highlighted in this picture is a signature. Does anyone have any ideas?

Over the next week or two, I hope to work up a few more Hey-Look-At-This-Neat-Crap-I-Saved-And-Want-To-Post-About-Before-I-Throw-Away posts. But don't worry; none of them will call for the same audience participation that this one does.

Friday February 5 2010

File under: misc

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FC 95 - If It Works For the Escalator...

I just got to thinking: how many webcomics are out there? Answer: A lot. I mean a lot. And I can see why. It is easy enough to "publish" them and the audience is huge, so someone is bound to think yours is funny*.

How do these reflections on the webcomic scene make me feel about my little month long experiment gone on way to long? It's tough to say. Sometimes, esp. after seeing a lot of other poorly drawn, not so funny comics, I feel like a metooer*. But then, when I look back through some of the previous comics, I smile and remember that at the very least, these incorrect perspective panels make me happy, and that should be enough.

Thursday February 4 2010

File under: comic

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A Well Done Wall (groan)

Back in September, I proudly posted about the wishing well that I built out at the quarry. Well, I had so much fun building it (and subsequently using it for wishes*) that I embarked on embellishing the space.

Another couple tons of rock and a goodly amount of work later, I'm proud to unveil the of the Dreams Come True Pavilion. Like with the well, all the rock for this wall was gathered on premise, it's dry stack so no concrete was used*, and all the work was done by .

I'm so pleased with how this phase of the project turned out that I foresee phase 3 getting started in no time flat. That, along with some other exciting projects on the horizon, should make for a very build-y and project-y time in the coming seasons at the quarry!

(Here's an alternate angle picture that I couldn't quite work into the text.)

Tuesday February 2 2010

File under: misc

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FC 94 - There Is Always an Upside

This week's comic was created much more quickly than last week's, which I attribute partially to having learned the new program and partially to the fact that there aren't 7 people in this one. Anyway, going from 6-8 hours on the last one to just 2 on this one is quite an improvement. *

So I got this idea (or more specifically the seed for this idea) when a friend's daughter* told me over the phone about how their dog had to wear one of those cone collars. I've been around dogs with the cone collars before and it is so sad to see them like that. Anyway, this is an attempt, maybe, at least to myself, to salvage a little dignity for those coned creatures, thinking that maybe there are some upsides.

But just don't ever make me wear a cone, please. I'll be good.

(P.S. First person to say that the dog looks like a goat or sheep or anything else will be forced to wear a cone of their own. So no cute stuff.)

Thursday January 28 2010

File under: comic

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Belated Bingo Booty

I am a month remiss in delivering the prize for Transportation Bingo. In my defense, the prize was going to be a postcard from wherever I happened to be along the road*. Steve, my live-abroad-live-aboard uncle who was the first to log a bingo, isn't really in a postcardable location*. In lieu of a postcard, I put together this. I hope it makes up for the lateness factor with its coolness factor.

All About Steve is my latest crossword (see all my crosswords here) that you don't need to know anything about this Steve to solve (although it was made esp. for this occasion). Everyone who is crosswordly inclined should give it a try.

(Oh, and this one hasn't been by my editor(s) yet, so you might find a typo or two, hopefully nothing worse. As the comments come in, I will update and fix, so the link above will be to the most current and correct version.)

((Double oh, and don't forget that most browsers don't print the puzzle correctly, so be sure to click on the "prinitable version" link to get the printable version.))

Wednesday January 27 2010

File under: games

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Thoughts on Travel - A Monday Quote

This week's quote breaks the rules a little; I didn't encounter it during this past week. Instead, it was sent to me a couple of weeks ago while I was on the road (finding me at a totally perfect time). The quote is from the book "Down the River" by ????. Thanks to KK for passing it along!

Travel does not make one cheerful...Travel never makes one cheerful. But it makes one thoughtful. It washes one's eyes and clears away the dust.

Monday January 25 2010

File under: quote

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FC 93 - Check Please

First, I would like to apologize to anyone who might be offended by this for whatever reason. I'm not making a commentary on unemployment insurance, the economy, snowboarders, or anything like that.

Secondly, I have to admit that I stole this idea from somebody. He also presented it much better than me...."circus scholarship". I can't do the situation justice, but believe me, it was funny enough that I noted the phrase down for use in a future comic.

Thirdly, this was my first comic drawn completely in Gimp, the paint program on my new-ish laptop. I'm slowly starting to learn the ins and outs, and am starting to dislike it less and less. There are even a few features that I like better than my precious Paint Shop Pro 5.0. I don't know if any of it will come through in the drawings, but maybe someday. Change isn't always the worst thing in the world.

Thursday January 21 2010

File under: comic

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Sunny Days in the Grey NW Winter

During the winter, our sunny days here in the northwest are few and far between. When one rolls around, it is silly not to get out an enjoy it. I took a few pictures while out and about. Granted they are not so postcard worthy, but still.

Wednesday January 20 2010

File under: pics

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Sunday Puzzler

One of the highlights of my Sunday is lying in bed and listening to the Sunday Puzzle on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday with Liane Hansen and Will Shortz. Many of you might remember when I got to play on air many years ago. I'm now convinced, after submitting many many answer since then and not getting on again, nor hearing of any repeat players, that they don't let you play on air twice. That's okay, though. There is another way I aspire to be a part: I want to submit a puzzle.

I've submitted a couple of puzzles that I think are pretty good over the years but none have been used yet. Instead of letting them go to waste in somebody's inbox, I thought maybe I should just let them go to waste here instead. If you are the puzzling type, give these a try:

Take the name of a popular actress with three names (e.g. Sarah Jessica Parker) Her middle name is a homonym* of a verb and her last name is a homonym of a noun used to do the verb (as in a shovel is used to dig). Who is this actress?
Take the familiar name* of a popular east coast beach town in 2 syllables. Reverse the two syllables to get the familiar name of a popular Pacific coast beach town.
Take the name of a well known world publication. Add an "A" somewhere in the middle and you will get the name of a summer treat.

Feel free to share your answers in the comments. The names of all those with correct answers will be entered in a drawing to play puzzle on the air with me when/if I ever get my own nationally syndicated radio show.

Sunday January 17 2010

File under: games

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