Adventures of Various Sorts.

The way I see it, society is fully wrong to place family in a place of entitlement in one's life. We don't choose our birth family. In a fully neutral, objective way... our existence is compelled by our parents. It's backwards for obligations to be placed on us as a result of that. When we *meet* people, they have to earn *and maintain* their place in our lives. It makes sense that family gets a shortcut past earning their way into one's life in the first place... but like everyone else they still need to maintain it.

When people do things to hurt you and refuse to listen when you say it's hurting you... that's not just failing to maintain the relationship. It's actively breaking it. And even if we grant some extra leniency to family, there's a limit. We don't owe anyone the privilege of causing us pain.

I managed to find the W@l-m@rt edition of the Pixling Supremes on eBay!

She is so stinky, though. It's hard for me to tell what it is exactly thanks to my post COVID smell issues, but there's definitely a funk on her.

I asked the seller if she was from a smoking household, and was told no, but that she recycles her packing materials.

The doll was inside the magic mirror case, so I doubt that the packing material was to blame. I'm debating about a bad feedback score.

I left her outside to air out for a few days; still stinky.

So she's in a bag with clean kitty litter now.

I've noted before that my favorite punchline on Tumblr is "hang on, gotta look something up/okay that's funny."

Let me explain why:

It is a way to say "I don't get it" without blaming the joke or the teller.

It is a tacit admission of ignorance without shame or judgement.

It assumes responsibility for acquiring the knowledge the respondent doesn't already have.

It cues other people who Don't Get It to do the look-up themselves, allowing them to get that full impact of Getting It without derailing the post with explanations.

It gives subsequent readers, whether or not THEY got the joke, a little frisson of good feelings when they realize that someone else is now In On The Joke.

FLY is a story about a boy who gets a second chance. Help his story take flight June 9th 11am EST on Kickstarter. Thank you for being the wind beneath my wings I hope this story lifts the world to a brighter place.

Instead of seeing the house as clean/not clean, it helps a lot to see cleaning as a constant upkeep of your environment. Taking care of your home, and of yourself, is a good thing!

Wig making. I promise he's in there.

Fat Horse No. 3

It’s the year of the horse and I’ve always been a horse girl at heart, so I’m finally taking advantage of the excuse to fill the world with fat little horses! These felted friends are about the size (and shape!) of an apple, and if you happen to have any apples to share I’m sure they’d help you out!

A friend requested I make this, and so here it is, and I offer it to anyone who needs it, with all the authority vested in me by whoever vests these things. Print it out if you need to.

The best art advice ever given to me—ever, ever—was “Don’t be afraid to make bad art.”

You will make a whole lot of crap in your time. Some will be truly awful and some will be merely mediocre. And that is totally normal and totally fine and for the love of little green apples, just keep going, because that’s the only way I know to get to the good stuff eventually.

Winter’s Chill - Part 3