Posts tagged people with questions

What the… who… why?  WHAT.  WOW!

Is it suddenly anonymous confession night?  And by “confession night” I mean incredibly nice anonymous compliment night?

I just sat here for several minutes trying to come up with a response to this beautiful compliment, so that picture… pretty much sums it up.

Given that I’m sort of naturally a macabre sort of person (as I’m sure you’ve noticed and that’s why you’re asking) it’s natural to figure that I think about death a lot.  And I suppose I do; as an abstract thing.  I think about death in broad, mytholgical terms, as a sort of symbol that we deal with and deify.

Death as a reality is a difficult beast.  Rot, decay, loss, mortality, time.  These are ugly concepts that are difficult for any of us to wrap our brains around, and when we do, there is generally one gut reaction.  We feel helpless and small and either consult our higher power of choice or we feel utterly depressed in the face of oblivion.  That’s normal.  That’s healthy.  But it can get dangerous if you linger on it too long.  The world does move on when we leave; the show you watch goes on, society rolls over the deaths of the most important people in the canon of history, the natural world blooms beyond the extinction of entire species and the rending of continents.  But every single atom leaves its mark, and you darling are made of billions of these.  Some theorists believe that every particle is in fact one particle existing in every place simultaneously, sort of quivering between dimensions and time and space and being and not being all at once.  So when one of us winks out, we’re really just blinking into some other place.  We won’t know until we get there.

When you’re feeling scared or torn down by the thought of your own death, try to realize that it is our tininess that makes life worth anything at all.  If life went on forever, if tomorrow were always certain, we would have nothing to look forward to, nothing to anticipate or hope to gain before our time was up.  We wouldn’t grow or learn or have children or love others with that frenzy that comes from knowing one day it will end.  There’s a marvelous energy to be had in things that burst open and then perish; our most delicate flowers, our brightest fireworks, even the long impossible deaths of stars.  

Yes, one day you absolutely will die.  I’ll be dying right there with you.  I could walk outside and explode tomorrow morning, and with the exception of a few people who I dare say might be a little upset, the world would go on exactly the same without me.   But I can’t let that terrify me, and you mustn’t let mortality terrify you or make you feel insignificant.   Don’t spend a second worrying about what will be or won’t be when you’re gone; the lovely caveat of dying is that you’ll be gone and what’s left behind won’t matter much to you.  Worrying about it now only eats up the time you’ve got, which is not nearly so short as you might think.  

Human life does not pass on a watch; ticking and insignificant, a countdown to darkness.  Time within a human lifetime stretches and slows; one moment may last forever, and the present is all we ever have.  Every moment is simply this moment; at once our first and last. 

I have not! I’ll have to scribble it onto my “to-read” list, thank you!

YES.  Music and Death and Taxes are very closely linked, and have been since day one.  In fact I did a post not to long ago on this very subject.  It excludes most of the religious music that I also listen to while working, most notably the Missa Papae Marcelli, Allegri’s Miserere and the works of Hildegard von Bingen and  Arvo Pärt, who was influenced by that sort of sound, and is also frequently in my ears.  His Magnificat and Berliner Messe are just chilling.

The works of Vaughan Williams have been a huge influence, especially his Dona Nobis Pacem, which I played in high school if you can believe that.  It’s somewhat overblown music, but it interested me in Walt Whitman and in huge, blustery themes.  Philip Glass is also a biggie for me, notably the opening of Koyaanisqatsi (and the rest of it, of course)

I’m also a big fan of unusual sounds while I’m thinking and working - I love overtone singing and glass instruments like the water organ or crystal bachet.  Frédéric Bousquet (musician, not swimmer) has a great album of experimental music featuring some otherworldly instruments that I love.  I’ve also posted about Chirgilchin several times; I’m crazy for them. 

OH YOU.

It depends on which version of Watson and/or Holmes we’re talking about.  

The original Holmes has a great deal of natural charm about him, and quite a lot of kindness, despite his intensity.  He put a pillow behind the thumb-less engineer’s head and nearly beat the tar out of the jerk who was preying on Miss Mary Sutherland (with a riding crop, no less.)  Yeah, he’s a weirdo eccentric Bohemian opium-smoking genius who sometimes wakes Watson up by standing over his bed, but despite his antisocial nature he’s also a natural hero; quite dashing and brilliant and caring in his own way.  On top of that  there’s how well read and cultured he is; always quoting Goethe and French intellectuals and going to concerts.  There was a description of him listening Sarasate in “The Red Headed League” that just made me melt like sugar on the stove.  ”And now, Doctor, we’ve done our work, so it’s time we had some play.  A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.” I’d follow the original Sherlock Holmes around forever.  I’d ask him to sign my stockings.  Above the ankle.  

Robert Downey Jr.’s version of Victorian Holmes is frenetic and entirely too outrageous for me.  I’d slap him upside the head in five minutes, but he’s a lot of fun to watch, and I like what he did to change the character around.  Cumberbatch’s Holmes scares the daylights out of me.  He’s fantastic television, but I don’t find him terribly admirable (the fact that his Holmes is so dark and flawed is what I like most about his portrayal) and I think he’s two steps away from insanity himself.  I wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with him; in fact the other night I had a dream where he roofied my wine - and I allowed it.  Not a terribly healthy sort of dude, but I adore the show.

I cannot even tell you how much I adore Martin Freeman as Watson - it’s the entire reason I watched the first episode of Sherlock, having never heard of Cumberwhoobiewhatie back then.  Freeman’s Watson is just… so lovable.  So so so lovable.  And yet traumatized and damaged and strong and complex.  He’s absolutely brilliant,  and I would be his Mary Morstan any day and make him tea and listen to him roll his eyes about Sherlock all day long.

Other than the apocalypse?  (kidding)

At the present moment I’ve got a splitting headache, and I’m looking forward to about a fifteen minutes from now when my aspirin kicks in.

Beyond that - and looking slightly further ahead - hopefully I’ll be getting a full time job soon.  Hopefully.  And if that works out, hopefully I’ll be able to turn one of our bedrooms into an at-home studio and start working on more physical artwork like larger drawings and paintings.  This year promises some big changes, most of them hopefully pretty great.  I’m also perpetually excited about BebopBatch, and until I see somebody else take the part or until I get a strongly worded letter from Cumberbatch himself decrying Cowboy Bebop and asking me to please dispose of myself, I’ll continue being excited.

At home I use an Omega low speed masticating juicer (I don’t know exactly which model) which I really love.  Although it takes more prep because I have to chop everything up small enough to fit into the chute, it preserves all of the natural enzymes in the juice because there is no heat or friction, and the taste is really intense.  Cleanup is also impossibly easy since there are no sharp parts or grates.

While house sitting I’m using my friend’s incredible Breville Juice Fountain Elite, and that thing is CRAZY.  It’s like a miniature wood chipper; definitely gets the job done FAST, and it’s easy to clean.  I’ve used the standard Jack LaLanne juicers before (the ones you can get at Target and such) and the motors tend to crap out and heat the juice too much - killing the enzymes.  They’re also a pain to clean and overall they’re just inferior.  I really don’t recommend them; they might be “affordable” but you’ll definitely pay for it in the long run.

You’ll always have pulp - but it should be dry.  If you feel like there’s juice in there, the juicer is probably having issues.  There are lots of things to do with the pulp.  Fruit pulps go good in frozen fruit pops, while veggie pulps like carrot go well into meatloaf!  There are tons of suggestions and recipes online. Using the pulp for your rats sounds like a great idea!

1) Why anon?

2) … I’m a great writer?

3) Tips?  The only useful “writing advice” that actually reflects in anything I do is this: write in your own voice.  Don’t be ostentatious if you aren’t in real life - don’t look up words you don’t know in a thesaurus.  People have their own natural, unique ways of phrasing things.  Aside from avoiding too many cliches, don’t bend your voice too much.

I’m not nearly qualified enough to give out more advice, other than to say that just like drawing or any other craft, you only get good at something difficult by practicing and allowing yourself to be really bad at it first.

Answering publicly because I figure lots of people might like this tidbit! :) The best advice for juicing is to just juice whatever is fresh, in season, tasty, and looks good!  Most of the proteins from juicing are going to come from strong leafy greens, but I actually like a really strong green juice in the morning.  It will wake you up QUICK, and there are ways to mask the “veggie ness”

I love this juice - it’s my standby.  It’s GREEN, but it tastes lemony, sweet and fresh if you drink it right away.  The longer you let it sit (in the fridge, for instance) the more “veggie” it will taste.  You can adjust the ingredients to suit you and introduce more of the leafy greens as you get used to juicing.  You might not like the taste of green juice right away, but as your palate resets the veggies will definitely grow on you and you’ll start loving the complexities :)

Mean Green:

Kale, Chard, Spinach (start with a small amount and work towards adding more as you begin enjoying the taste)
Green apples (3 to 4)
Celery (1/2 bunch)
Cucumber (1 large) 
Half of one lemon (remove peel)
Ginger (approx 1.5” - to taste) 

You can also add carrots to sweeten the juice, though it will turn a slightly brownish color.

This juice blends surprisingly well with frozen pineapple or mango for a truly ugly but delicious smoothie :)  For B vitamins you could blend in a banana or avacado.

WAIT.  What.  Oh my goodness.  You… do you… I love your illustration work.

Everyone go follow this blog right now

I’ll just be in yon corner looking confused and amazed.  Thank you so much!