So true...

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,

'If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.'

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just l ove this part):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........
Twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car...

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single 'This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation' warning light.

I love the next one!!!

7. The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9 Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off.

Gibson likes to help me do laundry.

The Sunsets Are So Pretty In Texas....

I caught my first fish!!

So on the same day we took Lucky to her new home we went fishing at Lake Whitney for Adrian's birthday (Lucky curled up in a little ball in my backseat and slept the whole way to Waco.)


I caught fish! On my very first try! I caught a crappie and two catfish. Unfortunately, none of them were big enough to bring home. Here's some pictures from our trip:


We stopped at this little roadside joint called the Czech Stop. They had the best kolaches ever. (Ok, they're the only kolaches I've ever had, but they sure were yummy!)




Not the most flattering picture, but I was so excited and it was 101 degrees out! I was sweaty and gross, but dammit I was having fun...


Adrian caught a few bass, but they were all too small.


Removing the hook.


This is Lake Whitney near Waco, Texas.

So this frog jumped into the chili pepper plant...

This is what it looks like when you give a very furry dog a haircut...

Meet Lucky...

So, there are a lot of stray dogs in the Southeastern Dallas area. Most of them are vicious looking and I want nothing to do with them. Until I met Lucky.



She wagged her tail the instant she saw me and all she wanted was love. She sat on my foot and thumped her tail and nudged my hand until I petted her.

And then she started howling. All night. Whining, barking and howling. Until I went to the back door. She stopped howling. So I sat down. She sat down, too and looked at me. I laid on the floor next to the sliding glass door for 45 minutes until she finally laid down, put her head on her paws, sighed and went to sleep.

Little did I know she was an escape artist. She managed to push open the backyard gate and Adrian found her in the middle of the street when he was coming home. He recognized her new collar, rolled down the window and asked her, "What are you doing out here?" Her tail started wagging as she recognized his voice. Adrian opened the back door of his car and she jumped right in.



The next morning, Lucky joined us on a road trip. The Austin Humane Society agreed to take her and find her a home. It was a sad day when we said goodbye to Lucky, but it was nice not hearing Bobby and Gibson barking at the sliding glass door.

Bobby vs. the Toad

My dog likes hunting frogs and toads. Everytime we go outside, both Bobby and Gibson go after the frogs to try and catch them. Of course, I don't let them get to them, but it's still hilarious to watch them try.

On Friday morning, around 6am, I opened the door to take the dogs on a walk before work. Bobby and Gibson raced out the door as soon as I opened it, but the instantly stopped. Bobby had grabbed this big fat Toad and had it in his mouth. I jerked on the leash and he dropped it. The toad, dazed, sat there for a minute while Gibson frantically tried to get him, then he hopped away. Bobby seemed okay, he was just licking his chops and shaking his head a little. I walked them down the street a little and realized Bobby seemed pretty out of it.

When we went back inside, immediately Bobby began foaming at the mouth and vomiting foam. He wouldn't respond to his name, drink water or anything. If you called him, he would look in the general direction of the sound, but not focus on anything. He was dazed and confused to say the least. I immediately woke up Adrian and he jumped online to see what we should do. I called the emergency vet and told her the situation. It was when I was on hold with the vet that Bobby lost control of his bowels and crapped on the living room floor. You could hear the smile in the vets voice when I was talking to her. Apparently, this happens quite a bit around here because of all the frogs and toads. She said that the vomiting would subside and that he pooped because he was scared. She said to watch him for the next few hours and if he didn't get better, take him to our vet. Adrian, meanwhile, was looking online and said that the vomiting would stop if we washed his mouth out with water. So there we were, at 6:30 in the morning, with Bobby in the bathtub, Adrian holding his jaws open and me pouring water in his mouth to wash it out. Fun family bonding time.

After we washed his mouth out, he was fine. The vomiting stopped, he started wagging his tail and he responded when you called him. It was at this point that we realized, our dog is tripping out. He's high as a kite. His eyes were all glassy and wide, his pupils dilated, he was staring off into space. It was hilarious. Once we knew the danger had passed, it was really funny. He had one eye open really big and one eye half closed. Adrian said we should have put on some of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" for him to listen to while he was tripping out.



I'm happy to report that Bobby is 100% back to normal. He slept most of it off and was fine a couple of hours later. He hasn't learned his lesson though. He still goes after the frogs.

The Rocketz

So my friend Andrew is the drummer for the Rocketz and the Nekromantix. He rocks. But anyways, they are trying to find an artist to do cover art for their new album, so I thought I'd give it a try. Here's a few versions. Hope you like 'em!

New Challenge at Scrap For A Cure!

Marie at Scrap For A Cure challenges you to use 5 of anything in your layout. She used 5 buttons, 5 layers on the flower and 5 beads for the center of the flower.

Remember to upload your layouts into the gallery under "I'll Accept Your Challenge" at the Scarp for a Cure website. Every challenge you participate in, is another entry in the end of the month RAK! Have fun!

R.I.P. Bo Diddley

Rock pioneer Bo Diddley dies at age 79

By RON WORD, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 2, 4:03 PM ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.


Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton.

Diddley appreciated the honors he received, "but it didn't put no figures in my checkbook."

"If you ain't got no money, ain't nobody calls you honey," he quipped.

The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said in a 1999 interview.

"I don't know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name," he said, adding that he liked it so it became his stage name. Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.

His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." The B side, "I'm a Man," with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.

The company that issued his early songs was Chess-Checkers records, the storied Chicago-based labels that also recorded Chuck Berry and other stars.

Howard Kramer, assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said in 2006 that Diddley's Chess recordings "stand among the best singular recordings of the 20th century."

Diddley's other major songs included, "Say Man," "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover," "Shave and a Haircut," "Uncle John," "Who Do You Love?" and "The Mule."

Diddley's influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Buddy Holly borrowed the bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp rhythm for his song "Not Fade Away."

The Rolling Stones' bluesy remake of that Holly song gave them their first chart single in the United States, in 1964. The following year, another British band, the Yardbirds, had a Top 20 hit in the U.S. with their version of "I'm a Man."

Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself.

"He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic," E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said in 2006.

Many other artists, including the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello copied aspects of Diddley's style.

Growing up, Diddley said he had no musical idols, and he wasn't entirely pleased that others drew on his innovations.

"I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it," he said. "I don't have any idols I copied after."

"They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems to me that nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there," he said.

Despite his success, Diddley claimed he only received a small portion of the money he made during his career. Partly as a result, he continued to tour and record music until his stroke. Between tours, he made his home near Gainesville in north Florida.

"Seventy ain't nothing but a damn number," he told The Associated Press in 1999. "I'm writing and creating new stuff and putting together new different things. Trying to stay out there and roll with the punches. I ain't quit yet."

Diddley, like other artists of his generations, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances.

"I am owed. I've never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."

In the early 1950s, Diddley said, disc jockeys called his type of music, "Jungle Music." It was Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with inventing the term "rock 'n' roll."

Diddley said Freed was talking about him, when he introduced him, saying, "Here is a man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out of your seat."

Diddley won attention from a new generation in 1989 when he took part in the "Bo Knows" ad campaign for Nike, built around football and baseball star Bo Jackson. Commenting on Jackson's guitar skills, Diddley turned to the camera and said, "He don't know Diddley."

"I never could figure out what it had to do with shoes, but it worked," Diddley said. "I got into a lot of new front rooms on the tube."

Born as Ellas Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., Diddley was later adopted by his mother's cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife always called him.

When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago, where he learned the violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He learned guitar at 10 and entertained passers-by on street corners.

By his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago's Maxwell Street.

"I came out of school and made something out of myself. I am known all over the globe, all over the world. There are guys who have done a lot of things that don't have the same impact that I had," he said.

"La critique est aisée, l'Art est difficile. "
— Destouches

"Imgination rules the world"
— Napoleon Bonaparte

"Creativity is an act of defiance."
— Twyla Tharp

"Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious."
— Oscar Wilde

"Creativity takes courage. "
— Henri Matisse

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." -Pablo Picasso

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

“I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don't have any clean laundry, because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?” -Anonymous

“Believe in your dreams and they may come true; believe in yourself and they will come true”
-Anonymous

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” -Charles Kettering

“Run your fingers through my soul. For once, just once, feel exactly what I feel, believe what I believe, perceive as I perceive, look, experience, examine, and for once; just once, understand.”
- Anonymous

Add some fun to your boring letter stickers!

Learn how to add designs to plain boring letter stickers. Great idea!

I know what everyone's getting for Christmas....

Crazy Texas Lightning!

Be patient, it starts after 10 seconds. Watch the upper left corner. It really was much brighter in person. All the little flashes didn't show up. :(

My newest painting

The inspiration:

Oreo Cupcakes

Soooo.....

I made some super awesome cupcakes. We named them Oreo cupcakes because they tasted just like Oreos. The cake part was courtesy of Betty Crocker, the Triple Chocolate Fudge Super Moist Cake Mix. But the best part was the frosting HANDMADE FROM SCRATCH by yours truly. I know, I can't believe it either. Here's the recipe for you.

Oreo Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
4 crushed Oreo Cookies

1. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy.
2. Sift powdered sugar into the mixer bowl (right on top of the beaten butter). Beat to combine.
3. Add the vanilla and the milk. Beat until combined.
4. Frost cupcakes and top with crushed Oreo cookies!!

CAUTION: These cupcakes are super-sweet and super-addicting!

Etsy Dallas

I'm officially a member of Etsy Dallas, the group of crafty people who live in the DFW area and hawk their handmade goodies on Etsy.

Etsy Dallas Mission
The mission of Etsy Dallas is to promote the handmade movement, and to create an environment to buy and sell handmade goods in the Greater Dallas area.

Goals
To promote and sell each others’ goods by selling locally in the Greater Dallas area.
To promote awareness of the handmade movement and indie lifestyle, with a focus on Etsy.
To act as a cooperative resource and support network for each others' businesses.

I can't wait to get involved!

I caught them sleeping together!

So as much as Gibson and Bobby pretend to hate each other...

Take the Pledge to Buy Handmade! (I did!!)

Info courtesy of Buyhandmade.org

Why buy handmade?

Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.

The giver of a handmade gift has avoided the parking lots and long lines of the big chain stores in favor of something more meaningful. If the giver has purchased the gift, s/he feels the satisfaction of supporting an artist or crafter directly. The recipient of the handmade gift receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and attention that can
be seen and touched. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is absent in the world of large-scale manufacturing.


Buying handmade is better for people.

The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us reconnect.


Buying handmade is better for the environment.

The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.

I'm Back!!! (And the Memory Makers Masters 2009 Contest)

Ok everyone, sorry it took so long for me to get back to blogging.

On to the good stuff...



Memory Makers Magazine is looking for it's next round of Masters for 2009. Check it out here.

Memory Makers is looking for the best of the best –
10 savvy scrapbookers!

Submit your best work today for a chance to earn the title of Memory Makers Master and become an integral part of the Memory Makers publishing staff. Ten lucky scrapbookers will be awarded more than $2,000 in cash and prizes, and will work directly with Memory Makers editors, creating layouts and projects for the magazine for an entire year, beginning August 15, 2008.

In addition, each Memory Makers Master will also receive:

* A prize package featuring great products from our Memory Makers Masters Contest sponsors

* A full line of Memory Makers 2009 products, including a magazine subscription and books.

* Exclusive opportunities to create art and to be published in Memory Makers magazines and books.

* Payment for published pages.

* During your term, special recognition each time your pages are published in Memory Makers magazine.

* Your name on the magazine masthead alongside the Memory Makers staff.

ENTRY DEADLINE: July 31, 2008

The cutest knitted eyeballs!! From Cut Out + Keep

This project comes courtesy of Mary J. Mucklestone and Cut Out + Keep- my new fave crafting community.

View the project in it's entirety here.

You Will Need

*
o 1 ½ yard black fingering weight Yarn
o 1 ½ yard iris colour fingering weight Yarn
o 2 yard white fingering weight Yarn
o 1 x set of Double Pointed Knitting Needles size 3.0 (2 USA)
o Crewel Embroidery Needle
o Wool Fleece or other stuffing
*
o PROJECT BUDGET
o Cheap

Knitted Eyeball

With black Cast On 6 stitches.
Rnd 1 Slide sts to other end of needle and knit into the first st cast on as for I cord। k to end.

Separate stitches onto 3 needles (2st on each)

Rnd 2 *k1, increase1, k1; repeat from * (9 sts)
Rnd 3 with iris color k
Rdn 4 * k1, inc 1, k1, inc1, k1; repeat from * (15 sts)
Rnd 5 knit
Rnd 6 with white k
Rnd 7 on each needle, *k1 inc1; end k1 (27 sts)
Rnd 8-10 k

Now is a good time to weave in all the pesky ends you have thus far, turn eyeball inside out while still on needles, for easy access.

Rnd 11 *k1, k2 tog, k1,k2tog, k1; repeat from * 18 sts
Rnd 12 & 13 k
Rnd 14 *k1, k2tog; repeat from *(12 sts)
Rnd 15 k
Rnd 16 k2 tog around.

Break off yarn, thread thru loops, before tying off stuff with fleece, poking it in with a spare needle, fluffing to achieve a lovely spherical eyeball shape. Pull tail-end tight and weave in end.

You might add a few red threads for some ghoulish veiny appeal.

Moving to Texas, Y'all!

Okay, so I haven't posted anything since just after Christmas and with good reason- I moved halfway across the country to Texas. So, to tide you over until I get settled enough to make things again, here's a massive dose of photos of the drive from California to Texas. Enjoy!



This was my car-mate for the ride, my boyfriend's sister Nancy. My boyfriend Adrian drove the Uhaul with his mom.





Adrian and his mom, Bertha, in Tucson, AZ.



McDonalds is expensive in New Mexico!



It was cold on the trip, but clear skies and no rain! It was 26 degrees when we left Arizona and there was frost and ice on the ground when we left Pecos, Tx.