Greenhouse/ craft area

     For the last few years, I've built a small but useful greenhouse under the back porch to keep potted plants over the winter. It was cramped and simple, but it did its job, and gave my gentleman somewhere covered to smoke in nasty weather.

     Unfortunately, because it was small and just closed in with 2x4s, the smoke would largely come back in the house with him when he re-entered, and then slowly seep out all the sides... including the one where the air intake for the HVAC sits.

"Once in a generation!"

   Saw a news article today about Hurricane Irma being a "once-in-a-generation" level storm. A quick google search of this phrase, however, brings up reports from (supposedly) credible weather sources about these "once-in-a-generation" hurricanes:

• Irene (2011)
• Sandy (2012)
• Harvey (August 2016)
• Irma (September 2016)

This doesn't even scratch the surface on "once in a lifetime" hurricane and flooding hits, mind you, just "once in a generation" hurricanes only.

     I realize I'm not completely up to date on generations and which ends where and what times they cover, but I'm pretty sure generations are more than 1 month, 1 year, or 4 years, respectively. This leads me to wonder what type of generations, exactly, these people are talking about. Mosquito generations? Rabbit generations? Octopi? Rats? Finches?

     Maybe, just maybe, we should stop overreacting and over-exaggerating things. 

London/Ireland Trip, part 2

(continued from previous post)

     Having successfully navigated London and Dublin, we climbed back in the car and headed out to see other parts of southern Ireland. After navigating out onto the appropriate highway, I learned two things. 1) The best way to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road is to be on an open highway for mind-numbing hours. 2) Drivers in less urban areas are rather nice, and pretty darn mature. We quickly picked up that the thing to do is to be in the left lane (slow lane) until you need to overtake someone. You move right, go around them, and then get back in the slow lane. We had zero issues with getting stuck behind some jerk going slowly in the fast lane and holding everyone up. It was quite pleasant.

Cross-promotion

     For those of you who don't keep tabs on this sort of thing, I started a business this year, making hats and bags for cosplayers (Steampunk in particular), and those of us who don't fit the "one-size-fits-most" hat sizing that women have been saddled with. As the winter's coming on, and things get colder, I discovered that my go-to hat, which is unlined, does absolutely nothing to keep my head warm when the wind comes through. So, the latest offering from the store is a fully-lined hat made from old tweed jackets that covers the tips of the ears (for those of you without thick hair to keep them warm). Go check it out!

New winter hat, the first of many!

Cleaning house

     This week is housecleaning week, which has come to also include cleaning up the computer! As such, here is a collection of random things that have caught my attention, and which I no longer feel it necessary to keep around.

A sign at a college football game:

Apparently someone had brought a marshmallow gun to a game once, and was shooting stale marshmallows at people. One managed to injure a guest so of course, rather than outlaw things like projectiles or weapon simulations, they went for marshmallows. Logical.

Did you know?

• that the biggest gardening problem in Colorado isn't the weather, but the basic (as opposed to acidic) soil?
• that gardening burns, on average, 8.5 calories per minute? Now consider that no one, generally, gardens for less than a couple hours. An afternoon spent gardening is similar, calorie-wise, to running a few miles.
• that the largest recorded temperature change in Colorado was in 1949 near Fort Collins when it fell from 50 degrees to -40 in 24 hours? The largest fluctuation in U.S. weather is only 10 degrees more than that, in Montana in 1916. 

No thanks...

• that grapes, despite being roughly 80% water, take less water to grow than many other fruits and vegetables? They are also very adaptable to different kinds of soil, but the soil will make the taste of the grape change as well.
• that elevation is not the biggest determining factor in growing season? Cold air rolling down from surrounding mountains and getting stuck in a valley will cause more issues than being at a higher elevation that isn't in an air pocket. 

Making plans

     One of the things that I have seen crop up again and again in life is a correlation between how excited I get about something new and the success or failure of achieving it. When I get super excited about, say, a new job or opportunity, I will talk it up to everyone I know, live every moment of the day with this new thing in mind, and inevitably be crushed when it doesn't come true or doesn't live up to my inflated dreams. On the other hand, if I simply acknowledge the possibility of said new potential and continue living my life as if it is simply a part of of me already, it inevitably comes true and rarely disappoints. But why the difference? Why, given things like The Secret or Oprah telling us that positive thinking makes good things happen, would the level of enthusiasm around something cause it to crash?

Problem is, the shadows are still there...

Summary of Finals weekend

     AKA: why there are no sketches today. I know, I know, it's been a couple weeks since I've actually drawn something- my fingers are going to atrophy and fall off! However, I would like to submit to you my schedule for this weekend as a valid reason why I have not been drawing. Comprehension will be facilitated by pictures, I promise!

Saturday:

• 8:00 am Wake up, bring in the paper before the neighbors steal it, lay down on the floor to read it. Fall asleep on the paper.
• 9:00 Wake up again and panic, thinking I've missed the final. Realize I have three more hours to study; try to brush up on everything at once.
• 12:00pm Have lunch in an increasingly panicked state, head to Russian final. 

How to make a stubborn person give up.

Yes, it's a long title. I have faith that you can deal with it. Moving on...

     One of my less annoying habits is that I'm pretty stubborn. I try to stay with things no matter what, sometimes even when it's neither logical nor wise to do so. However, there is one sure-fire way to make me give up on anything, and this past week has gotten me pretty close to just crawling back into bed and hibernating til Thursday. Why Thursday? Thursday is dance class, for one, which always puts me in a better mood, and, more importantly, Thursday is when I go back to the dentist to get a permanent crown put on and my last cavity filled. Remember this, it is important.

     Now, back to the giving up bit. A lot of people, if asked, would probably say the best way to make someone give up is to constantly harass and harangue them, make sure that everything goes wrong, and they can achieve nothing, right? Well, they'd be wrong. The only thing that will do for stubborn people (and admit it, if you're not a stubborn person, you at least know one, so this can be applied in everyone's life), is make them angry. The more you thwart a stubborner, the more determined they will be to find you and prove that they can overcome anything. Think about it: who triumphs in the end? The stubborn ones who don't back

Cranky day

   Today is one of those days. Not necessarily a day where nothing goes right, but rather a day where nothing feels right. You wake up in a grumpy mood, and just unconsciously decide to be contrary. Nothing is right, you don't want to do anything, everything is just slightly off. Not enough to anger, just enough to miff. Or possibly tick. Definitely something that ends with "you off".
    My day started with poor sleep and crummy dreams. In them, someone I know very well was being a jerk, and, despite there being no possible way it was their fault, I still woke up feeling very put out with them.

Weather

I know I'm no artist, but here's my take on the recent weather patterns of Colorado.



Thanks, Colorado, thanks a lot. And if you intend to make beaches for yourself with all this rain... there's a good chance you'll do it, but I kind of like the rest of the US, I'd rather not have it all under water.

Update: For those of you who haven't' been there, it rains every afternoon in Hawaii. Unlike Colorado, it is usually a light rain rather than a deluge, however. I think Colorado got a little too enthusiastic.