Allow Me To Rant!

I just received THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY in the mail today.

 Now, I’m all for the Census, which I dutifully filled out last year.

The Census asked simple questions pertaining to how many people reside in my home which is strictly for representation in Washington. I get it. And I’m all for a complete and accurate count.

Then I get this survey and I wonder why, after just filling out the Census last year. I open it and start to read…..

The more I read the angrier I’m getting.

This survey goes BEYOND what I consider things my government needs to know about me.

It starts out innocuous enough. The usual who, how many, what ages.

 But then it stars to get, um, weird.

It wants to know how many bathrooms I have in my house!? (Information you could easily obtain elsewhere, but why do they need to know this?)

It asks my income. Wait, I think they know that already! I file my tax returns every year.

Who I work for, how much is my income, how many hours per week I work, where my work is located.

 What language do I speak in my home (Swahili, FYI). Do I have health coverage, if so with whom.

What is my education level…Does anyone in my home suffer from MENTAL ILLNESS!?

They want to know what time I LEAVE FOR WORK EVERYDAY!

Now, I’ve never been one to fight the government, but I think I’m going to have to dig my heels in here.

They threaten fines and jail time for not complying with this survey.

(So I might not be blogging for a while! LOL)

The more I think about this the more annoyed I get.

How much money do they spend on this? I think it would have been better spent to hire some of our MANY unemployed in this country to cull the information from the numerous data banks the government already has on us!

Maybe even hire IT people to program NEW data banks to cross reference this information.

And don’t think for a minute they don’t already have this information!

They’ve just become so ineffective they can’t FIND it!

So, if you don’t hear from me for a while, you’ll know why.

I’ll be sitting in some cell somewhere because I refused to tell my  FREE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT (whom I elect and pay) what time I leave for work!   (LOL?)

Meet ‘Specs’

I’ve had this little guy in my head for a while now. Just fooling around, trying out different things. I think he needs to ‘percolate’ for a while. Not sure where this is going, or what’s in store for him.

Specs, age 1

I don't like this one. Looks too much like that drinking bird that dunks it's beak into a glass of water. LOL (Although I see possibilities for a great caption with this one!)

adolescent Specs 

Specs new glasses

One Wish

As a kid I always wondered what I would wish for if I ever came across the elusive genie in a bottle. I struggled for years to come up with the perfect wish.

Now I know EXACTLY what I would wish for.

I want one more day with my parents.

I want them at a time when they were both still healthy. When my father was at the peak of his career, and my mother was most content.

I want to be a kid, still living in their home, but I want my mind as it is now, with the realization that I won’t have them forever.

 I want to laugh again at my father’s stupid puns. I want to feel my mother’s unconditional love and enjoy her cooking. I even want my annoying (at the time) older brother to be there.

I want, for just one more day, that feeling of total contentment, of belonging and security. Of knowing absolutely for sure they ‘got my back’.

Watercolor Bliss Lesson 5

Putting it all together.

Dueling Dusters

This one's for Elizabeth.

[This is what popped into my head when she said we could have a 'dust' contest! ;)]

Elements

This month’s theme over at the Sketchbook Challenge is Elements!

It’s day seven.

I got…………………. nothin’.

Not a thing.

Not one single idea.

Nada, zilch, zero, zip, bupkis.

Not even one little pun!!!!

Oh, the inhumanity! LOL

Light Bulb Moment!

I think I’ve finally solved the problem of how to corral all my loose journal pages!

I was trolling the internet and came across this YouTube video.

This would be perfect to use for my pages because it doesn’t bind them permanently! 

Perfect!

 score and fold 

 punch holes

 add brads

 mark (inside) center of cover

 glue accordion binding to cover

 slip in journal pages

Voilá!

Many thanks to Laura at Following The Paper Trail for a great idea and tutorial!

Totally Boring Post

My computer has been acting a little, shall we say, ‘twitchy’ the past few weeks.

So I thought it would behoove me to make a backup, just in case.

I’ve been loading so much of my artwork into it I didn’t want to lose any.

So I spent the day making backups and then cleaning out old programs, deleting here, uninstalling there, running antivirus software, cleaning out cookies and spyware and defragging.

It runs like a top now!

But by the end of the day my eyes felt like “two burnt holes in a blanket” as my mother used to say. (Ever wonder where these sayings come from? Because that one is definitely strange. But I digress….)

 Anyway, I thought I’d take a break and illustrate my day. 

(I love how you can take artistic license and make your self portrait look so much better than real life! LOL)

Father Was an Executive

My father was an executive, in business and in mentality. 

And he dressed the part.

Business suits, white button down shirts with French cuffs, and wing tip shoes; right down to his sock garters (we won’t go there!)

My mother once bought him a pair of Levi’s for Christmas. 

When he died (20 years later) they were still in the drawer with the tags on.

He even wore a sports coat and slacks when he mowed the lawn!

My question is….Is that classy or just anal? LOL

"Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe"

Just messin’ around, trying different styles and brushes. 

Trying to find my comfort zone within the medium.