ARTISTIC ANGER

Happy Valentine's Day To You All!

It's hard to believe another year has gone (blinding speed) by. Yes, today is my birthday. YAY?? Yeah, I guess Yay. It's a mixed bag.....this morning I was definitely feeling another year older. However, that has been eased by all the well wishes from the wonderful people in my life. Thank you immensely! I am truly blessed to have so many caring people around me. :)
OK, enough mushy for now......LOL.

I took Monday off of work to get some things done....yeah, like that happened. Usually I take off my birthday but my boss had scheduled a doctors appointment before realizing the day. So Monday I got up bright and early....too early for a day off. Off to the tag place. Not too terribly bad. They have updated everything and are quite efficient. I was only there about 20 minutes. Nice, shinny, new, expensive little tiny sticker for my truck. One down.
Then it was off to get my license renewed. Guess who's not open on Mondays? Yeah, the DDS is closed. And apparently they are open for four hours on Saturday now. I had no idea that any of this had changed. It's been eight years - the last time I sent it through the mail. I was not a happy camper....seeing as how my license expired on Tuesday and there was no way I could go.
It all worked out though....Fortunately they are open until six. So I flew proceeded to go straight from work. :) They were packed, but they too have updated the system. So I was only there for about 30 minutes. Not bad at all. Now I am legal again. Yippee!

And now for a short stroll thru the twisted landscape that is my brain.....
I'm sure that this comes from years of being 'sweetie' or 'a valentine's baby' or 'an all hearts baby' or so many of the other things that come from having a birthday on Valentine's day. While everyone else is running around with visions of hearts and cupids racing through their brains I have tommy-guns and well dressed criminals laughing and saying 'look at those poor s-o-b's'.
I can see a lot of raised eyebrows......
Yes, my vision of St. Valentine's Day is filled with betrayal, retribution and MURDER.
Disturbed? Nah, just choosing to see the alternate to the over commercialization of a day of sharing your love with someone special. Besides, it is my birthday. I can see what I want.  LOL.
Do you know about the Valentine Day Massacre?  It happened in 1929. When men dressed as well as the ladies. And weren't afraid to stand up for what they believed in. Granted, not all of it was legitimate. But hey, nobodys perfect. :)
If you'd like to know more you can go here or here. Quite an interesting story.

 

 seven well dressed, bullet ridden gentlemen

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

 

six of the seven killed. supposedly over a 'turf' war

 

they say Al Capone was gunning for....

 George 'Bugs' Moran. Who slipped away

Now, how's that for a history lesson? Makes you wonder what the world would be like now if these 'gentlemen' were still running things. Hhhhhmmmmmmm......

On a down note....I had very little latex left to run a test on Forrest's mold. What tiny bit was still in the bottle had long since solidified. Kind of a bummer. I was looking forward to getting a glimpse of how the plaster mold turned out. Guess I've got to wait for my neoprene now. Patience is not my strong point. I can hear the crazed laughter of the people who know me......

I did manage to get some work in on my mask. It's coming along very nicely. Almost sticking to the image I have trying to get out of my head. We'll see if it remains that way. By the time my neoprene gets here this mold may be ready too. That would be nice. Then I can cast them both at one time. Fingers Crossed!

 

DragonCon mask beginnings...

I was also Duct Taped this weekend. Why? Well, I could go into a lengthy explanation but I'm sure you already have images in your head - whether you want them or not. LOL

Actually, I asked my wife to tape me up in order to create a workable manikin so that I can use it to fit my doublet. The RenFest is speeding at me like a train. I am really, really trying to stay focused on the doublet but things keep getting in the way. I find myself constantly saying 'NO, put that down. You have to complete this first'. At any rate, I got the idea from the web, where else, right? You use duct tape and then fill it with expanding foam. Simple, right? hahahahahaha

Now my wife had a good time 'tying me up'. Rude comments, raised eyebrows and all. :)

Then she tried to take all the skin off my arm. WOW did that hurt. We missed the shirt on the under side of my arm and the tape was firmly pressed in place. OWW! 

Then it came time to fill it with foam....supposedly, according to many people on the web, it should only take one can of Great Stuff expanding foam. What a freaking lie. I have put two cans of Great Stuff and an entire bottle of Super Foam 320. Which expands to 20 times it's volume. I'm only half way towards filling this thing. Now, that either means that the people doing these manikins are three feet tall and the size of a toothpick or I am somehow huge. I know I'm not 'petit' by any means...but come on. It's going to cost me a fortune to fill this thing. Which was the whole point of doing it this way. After all, a good (or even a not so good) dress manikin is easily $300. I am hoping to get this manikin finished by this weekend so I can start laying out the doublet. Wish me luck!!

 

all wrapped up and no place to go

 

less than half way filled after much foam

My wife has also decided that we should get tattoos. For my birthday, of course. We went out and looked at a couple of shops (locally). One of which I wouldn't let tattoo a grapefruit. The other one is a fairly new shop. Looks like one or two experienced artist and a 'newbie'. My wife has found a really pretty butterfly that becomes a face. She seems fairly intent of getting it. I have yet to decide on what I want. I think I want a phoenix. But of course the one I want would probably cost a small fortune. It's a fairly intricate design with a good deal of color. I may show it to them just so I can have a good laugh. We shall see!

 

this is the one i want.......

I spy, with my little eye, two new followers! YAY!

Welcome to Marijke and to Lena! Thank you for visiting! It's always a pleasure to meet new people.
You can see Marijke's latest bear (he's all white and adorable) at her blog. 
and Lena's latest is a lil' princess, tiara and all. You can see her here. Be sure and scroll down. Lena's angel's are total too cute.

Well, I do believe that's all for now.... Have a wonderful evening. I hope you can spend it with the one(s) you love. :)

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!

TTFN

p.s. this is my 100th post!! Yay me! :)