5/6/12 to 5/13/12

Quote of the Day from The Newsroom:
Will: Yeah, I get that there are moments, small moments, infrequent moments, where I'm not the easiest guy to work with, but who the hell is?
Charlie: I am.
Will: Well, it helps that you're drunk most of the time.
Charlie: It certainly does. 

4/29/12 to 5/5/12

Quote of the day:
"Let's shag ass." --Royal from The Royal Tenenbaums

4/21/12 to 4/28/12

You may have noticed that this entry jumps forward two months from the last entry I shared. That's because I'm a time traveler. I was visiting the renaissance age. . . . It was okay―a little overrated. 

Quote of the day: 
“Discipline isn't a dirty word. Far from it. Discipline is the one thing that separates us from chaos and anarchy. Discipline implies timing. It's the precursor to good behavior, and it never comes from bad behavior. People who associate discipline with punishment are wrong: with discipline, punishment is unnecessary.” 
―Buck Brannaman, The Faraway Horses

2/1/12 to 2/3/12, 2/5/12, and 2/13/12

Quote of the day:
"There is such a place as fairyland―but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way. One bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut behind them and the age of gold is over. Henceforth they must dwell in the common light of common day. Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland."
―L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl 

1/23/12 to 1/31/12

Quote of the day from The Office:
Holly: Michael, you cried at that tagline for a movie you made up.
Michael: He had no arms or legs. He couldn't see, hear, or speak. This is how he led a nation.

1/14/12 to 1/22/12

Quote of the day:
“There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.” ―Mindy Kaling, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? 

12/31, 1/1, 1/4/12 to 1/13/12

12/9, 12/10, 12/12, 12/25, and 12/26/11

11/21, 11/22, 11/24, and 11/29/11

And so it begins. More entries. With days missing. Because I was lazy and took a lot of days off randomly.

Book recommendation: Eleanor & Park

Quote of the day: 
"I began to realize how simple life could be if one had a regular routine to follow with fixed hours, a fixed salary, and very little original thinking to do."--Roald Dahl

From the Archives: Frankie

“To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair.” 
―Tina Fey, Bossypants

From the Archives: Slips and a Door

Don't you want to know where the doors lead? They do lead somewhere, but you have to physically open them to find out . I'll give you one clue: they lead to . . . magic (but not of the unicorn or new shirt variety).

Things in my life: giant hole in my house, oranges, a pile of books, untied shoes, a mopped floor, and homemade granola.

Quote of the Day from The West Wing:
Sam: I'm just going to change my shirt.
Leo: You look bad. You're tired. You slept in the office. It's Friday. Go home.
Sam: Why?
Leo: Because I think you're putting too much faith in the magical powers of a new shirt.

From the Archives: Shining Girls

This is from my 2003 to 2005 journal and is the first piece I made inspired by The Shining (see an earlier post with another shining painting here). I stopped watching scary movies, but I think I need to make an exception and watch this one again. It has been too long. A friend also reminded me today that I need to watch Fear. What a great and classy double bill. Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, Peanut butter and jelly, The Shining and Fear. 

11/12/11 to 11/20/11

Currently reading: The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith

Currently watching: The West Wing

Currently listening to: 1999 by Prince 

Quote of the day:
"Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."
--Mark Twain

Red Balloon 3

Currently reading: 
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater


“Their very imagination was dead. When you can say that of a man he has struck bottom ... there is no lower deep for him.” 
― Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 

11/3/11 to 11/11/11

Claire: What should I write in my blog post?
Mike: That you love Mike Brown, and you don't care who knows it.
Claire: No. 

10/25/11 to 11/2/11

Sorry Ben. This entry does not include a drawing about the everlasting love story between Mike and Arrow. However, it does include a cameo from "the world's cutest dog": Boo (a.k.a Mr. big head).

Quote of the day from Army of Darkness:
Arthur: Are all men from the future loud-mouthed braggarts? 
Ash (Bruce Campbell): Nope. Just me baby... Just me.

Postcards and a pinch of Buffy

While I grew up, I collected postcards of artwork I liked from museum visits. One of my favorite postcards was of a disproportionate girl in a red dress holding a cat. In college I wanted to start making ink drawings where I made no initial sketch, so I was forced to live with all of my mistakes. I started this experiment by copying the artwork from my postcard collection. Does anyone recognize this piece? I can't remember who it is by, and I can't find the old postcard with the art information.

To find out about what I have been reading check out this Chronicle blog post.

Quote of the day:
"I laugh in the face of danger! Then I ... hide until it goes away."
--Xander from season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Moonrise Kingdom still

I'm watching you . . . 
Most of the time if someone was watching me with binoculars I would be pretty creeped out; but if that someone was standing on an adorable lighthouse in a cute dress with knee high socks, I would probably just be flattered that such a pretty scene thought I was worthy of being watched. 
This is a watercolor of a still from the awesome film Moonrise Kingdom. Yay Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola!

From Moonrise Kingdom:
Sam: It's possible I may wet the bed by the way. Later, I mean. 
Suzy: Okay. 
Sam I wish I didn't have to mention it but just in case. I don't want to make you be offended. 
Suzy: Of course, I won't. 

Allen and Anne, my grandparents

I'm lucky that I got to know three out of four of my grandparents. I did not get to know my grandfather pictured here, as he died when I was too young to remember him, but I am thankful that he at least got to meet me as a baby. My middle name if his first name. I did not realize until I got older that it is not common for a girl to have a male middle name. 

10/16/11 to 10/24/11

Not much to say besides, go Giants!

Poundcake the bear unicorn

This was a commission for a friend of a bearicorn. (You know those, right? A bear mixed with a unicorn--super common.)

My favorite giants game moments from tonight:
Huff huffing home
Matt Cain wearing his nonplussed expression while Romo pitched the final inning and the crowd went wild 

10/7/11 to 10/15/11

This weekend I went to Elie and Scot's wedding. I've known Elie since third grade. Here are some of the things we have shared in the time we have known each other: acting in follies and singing such gems as "welcome to the emereld city"; the viewings of many Harry Potter movies; living together in IV; watching all seasons of Felicity; playing for the Burning skirts, where I threw her many goals at the front of the stack; a love for Pride and Prejudice. But  perhaps the most important thing we share is that we are both parents of fictional children. Stelie is Elie and Steph's lovechild, and s/he is part woman, man, and goblin. Finnegan is Mike and my awesome son and his first and only word is "MEH." They're both winners...well, at least Finnegan is. 

9/28/11 to 10/6/11

So these entries are from almost a year ago today. The weird thing is that this time last year one Molly left my work and a cardboard Johnny Depp was put in her place to help us cope with the loss. Now the other Molly has left, but thankfully Johnny is still around. Good old Johnny. 

Conversation with Mike
Mike: (singing something to me)
Me: What?
Mike: Are you ignoring me?
Me: No, I'm just doing something else, so I barely even heard you. 
Mike: Yeah, that's ignoring. 

9/19/11 to 9/27/11

Sleep rocks my world. My ideal amount of sleep is 10 to 11 hours. (I know! I'm a sleep slut.)I rarely get to sleep that much, but when I do, it makes me do a little jig inside. 

9/10/11 to 9/18/11

 Lately I have enjoyed: watching Woody Allen films; reading a lot of young adult books; eating tomato, basil, and avocado salads; drinking iced chai and black iced teas; and listening to podcasts and Nat King Cole. I guess all of those usually apply, except watching Woody Allen films.

9/1/11 to 9/9/11

In July I went to Japan and had a great time. Here are just a few of the things I enjoyed about Japan: Studio Ghibli; the waterfalls and deer on Miyajima island; the cute uniforms; feeding monkeys; the trains; meeting Tomo; seeing the all-women production of Footloose; and eating pineapples.

Glinda and 8/23/11 to 8/31/11

Glinda: Are you a good witch, or a bad witch? 
Dorothy: I'm not a witch at all. I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas.
Glinda: Oh. Well, is that the witch?
Dorothy: Who, Toto? Toto's my dog! 


Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain...only straw. 
Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? 
Scarecrow: I don't know....But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking...don't they? 
Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

Beauty Crossing and a Special Heart

Excerpt from a conversation with Mike.
Me: You have special written on your heart.
Mike: No.
Me: Why not?
Mike: Because that's weird. 
Me: If you could have any word written on your heart, what word would it be?
Mike: I don't know . . . special, I guess. 

8/14/11 to 8/22/11

8/5/11 to 8/13/11

I'm back. So I recently had a zombie nightmare (I hate zombies). In the dream, I had a friend who became a zombie, but she was able to cure herself of annoying zombie traits (such as an uncontrollable hunger for brains) by drinking a lot of beer. As I was telling Mike about my terrifying dream, he laughed. I can't really blame him. And then he made up this song: "Anti-zombie drinking party. Keep drinking that beer y'all." Now when I get scared of zombies, I just sing that song . . . and I'm still scared . . . but then I'm also amused. 

7/27/11 to 8/4/11

"He had a certain air of being a handsome man--which he was not; and a certain air of being a well-bred man--which he was not. It was mere swagger and challenge; but in this particular, as in many others, blustering assertion goes for proof, half over the world." --from Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

7/18/11 to 7/26/11

So for two weeks I am trying not to consume gluten, dairy, sugar, and alcohol. My stomach hurts, but I don't know if it is because of the restricted diet or from pilates today. If you have any good recipes without any of those ingredients, let me know. Counting down the days to milkshakes, fries, and cheeseburgers. 

7/9/11 to 7/17/11

Baby it's cold outside . . . and inside. My house is freezing. Thankfully the holiday spirit is keeping me warm. Arrow sleeping at my feet is also keeping me warm. 

6/30/11 to 7/8/11

So about a week ago, I got a call from Santa telling me that he has been recieving a lot of letter requests from people asking for more blog posts from me for Christmas. Seeing as how I love Christmas (and letters), I told Santa I would be happy to start posting again. 

Birthdays and Bell Book and Candle

I am awful at remembering people's birthdays. My dad recently had a birthday--which I barely remembered--and I made him this birthday card. The image is from the film Bell Book and Candle. I have never seen the whole movie, but it features the lovely Kim Novak as a witch and James Stewart as the man she bewitches. This painting was a bit rushed, and I could not get the eyes right. Oh well. That is what I get for not giving myself enough time. At least I got to stare at Kim Novak for a bit while she stared back at me. 
"Hasn't this cat got anything better to do? Couldn't you give him something to read?"--James Stewart's character, Shepherd "Shep" Henderson

6/12 to 6/20

Things that remind me of my fairy godmother (my grandmother Anne, my father's mother):
Ladybugs
Betty Boop
Royal purple
Mystery TV shows
Gypsy cold care tea
Anne of Green Gables


Things that remind me of my grandmother Mardy (my mother's mother):
Peanut butter and jelly 
Large barrettes
Clip-on earrings
Soap
Piles

Terrarium Magic

A couple of weeks ago the lifestyle group at my work went on a field trip to Workshop, a cool DIY craft workshop in SF, where we made beer cozies and terrariums. I know everyone is going on and on about terrariums, but when you make one, you do feel the magic. Now I have my own little magical glass jar world. And did I mention the deer? There is a deer! Awesome. 
(Don't judge the magic based on my crummy photo. That's why I spend time drawing and not taking pictures.) 
So I am thinking of starting to bike to work, but I am a nervous nellie, and the idea of biking in the city terrifies me. Riding next to cars scares me; riding next to other bikers scares me; me on a bike scares me; you scare me; Anne Hathaway scares me. The only thing that doesn't scare me is terrariums--unless there is a mini zombie in the terrarium--a mini zombie in a terrarium scares me.

6/4/11 to 6/12/11

I need to have more conversations with kids. When else do you seriously get to discuss buried treasure, mermaids, and gnomes? More conversations about pirates please; less conversations about deadlines and whether a word should be capped or not. 
Things I liked to draw as a kid:
Dolphins jumping through hoops
Asian women in restaurants
Mermaids
Paper dolls
Cows hanging out in pastures
Elephants with carriages on their backs 

5/26/11 to 6/2/11

Current things that I fancy:

Fashion: This dress worn by Marion Cotillard in Midnight in Paris

Songs: Stardust sung by Nat King Cole (Stardust 4 eva) and Fantasy by Mariah Carey

Drinks: Pimm's Cup or a Chi Chi

Films: Rebecca and Midnight in Paris

Sayings: Gee wilikers

Cuteness: Socks for my chair