I'm a bad blogger!

I have not posted in a while, but I have an excuse! I have been quite the busy lady. School started on Thursday and I've been running around trying to get organized and wrap up a few projects before I get too busy. Here's a Deity that I finished up a few days ago.

All hail Cthulhu!

Who knows when I'll get to finish something next. It looks like this semester will be quite a busy one. I'm taking Literary Analysis and Interpretation, Animal Communication, General Linguistics, Trama in Romantic Literature, and Music in American Culture. Whew! I definitely will not be bored.

It really gets to me the way that the upper level education is set up so similarly to primary school; it is designed to get people through, not to really teach them anything. I took all the intro level classes in biology, chemistry, calculus, etc in high school and chose not to study them in college. So, why am I forced to take the same course over at the college level, wasting my time and money on something I am going to simply get through in order to obtain my degree? The whole system can be completely asinine sometimes.

Oh, goodness, how will I ever survive?

Chelle Lynn

Flying Spaghetti Monster

I just finished the second of my Deity paintings, the Flying Spaghetti Monster. He is the creator and we are His children.

If you are unaware of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster's doctrine, here's a site you should read. Very informative.

I really am oddly into Project Runway, and I really do dig fashion...even if I don't look it. There, I said it...I am a girl and I like clothes. Chicks are like raccoons, we are attracted to things that are shiny.

Two dollar pint night at The Fox. And, we're off!

Chelle Lynn

Good Golly, Miss Molly

School starts up again this week. Bah! I do not feel emotionally prepared for this. My "areas" (ie my desk, my bookshelves) are constantly in a state of semi-disarray, so today is dedicated mostly to getting things organized so that I do not have a total mental breakdown this semester. Also, I bought my mister a truck load of books for his birthday and thus have been obligated to clear out some of my bookshelf space for him. Result = two full shelves free and a clean desk top!



And the crazy cat lady strikes again!



Dinner last night at The Keg. What lovely lady friends I have!



My husband is a fabulous cook. Look what he did!





I want my picket fence to be made of metal and glass.

What a picture-filled post. Who needs words anyway? Happy Monday to all.

Chelle Lynn

Forget cats...

...get me one of these.



Pekingese FTW.

Chelle Lynn

All Hail Brain Worms

I totally finished Brain Worms yesterday. I am awesome.





These pictures suck because my camera and apartment lighting are poopy, but as you can tell, I clearly kicked Brain Worm butt. This is really my element, a really illustrative style with painstaking line work and attention to color combinations. I spent many many hours on this piece and loved every second. I need to start doing more of this stuff.

In other news, my cats are adorable.





I was a terrible bride, I put almost no effort into my wedding. It was, however, the best wedding of all time.

Happy weekend to all!

Chelle Lynn

FOODFOODFOODFOOD

It is truly amazing how much time I have spent thinking about sustenance. I have found that I am much more visual than textual (is that the right word? I don't learn by reading.) So, I'm typing up recipes I want to try, then when I make them I will take a picture and add the recipe + picture to a recipe book. So far the list includes Beef Tenderloin with Peppercorn Sauce, Chicken and Black Bean Burritos, Chicken Kiev, Florentine Shells, Lemon Baked Chicken, Lemon-Mustard Chicken, Beef Stroganoff, and Coq Au Vin. Tonight we are trying the Lemon-Mustard Chicken! Wish me luck! And, if anyone has a recipe that I should add to my list, pleasepleaseplease let me know!

I should finish up Brain Worms today. After I clean out the fridge...ugh. The worst part of produce is produce gone bad.

Lots of love in today's comics!



Corban proposed in Fairview Park, while we were sitting on "Our Bench." It could not have been more romantic.



Corban and I met during a production of Cinderella put on by our local theater company. Oh, that fateful day!

Laters.

Chelle Lynn

Great Success!

I finally, finally, finally finished my latest custom pieces. And they look pretty good, if I do say so myself.



The Oklahoma Indian Paintbrush and Texas Bluebonnet. Good, simple country flowers. Just like the staff here at Shertown Studios.

I made a fruit pie for the first time yesterday (apple, to be exact)! I wish I had photographed it. The pie was, how you say...delicious.

Got to go dismantle a keyboard, then load it into my car in a way that it will still work after an hour long drive. I'm off to the homestead for the day!



Babies, though precious miracles, are sticky.



In addition to my personal inability to keep living things...well, living, squirrels were burying their nuts in my potted plants. Then coming to retrieve them six months later. I found that peppering the plants effectively kept the squirrels away...but wasn't so great for the plant. Oh, that I should have such a fate!

I'm going to be taking very limited custom orders starting next week, so if you're wanting something, let me know soon. Last semester, last semester, last semester.

Well, I'm off to Shertown to see the familia. Have a good one!

Chelle Lynn

Watching Paint Dry

Literally. Waiting for a canvas to dry so that I can continue. I totally messed up Jessica's Indian Paintbrush, so I'm having to paint over and start over. Alas.

Restaurant week is going on right now and we went out with some great friends for low cost, high class fancy dinner. Al Biernat's was a lot of fun, and great food, but not the best I've had. I wouldn't want to go back for regular price (which I realize makes me a tight wad, but who cares.) The presentation was not fabulous, but the drinks were strong, so I have no reason to complain.



Isn't my man a hottie po-tottie?



I have about a mile walk from my car to my building at school every day, and it can be really pleasant...it can also be a freaking drag. Again with the Texas weather.



I seriously have a black thumb. The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books as a kid, and the only thing I wanted when I grew up was a secret garden of my own. This is a problem because I can't even make cacti grow. They all die. Every year. It is a like a potted plant holocaust.

The paint is dry! Let the artery commence!

Chelle Lynn

Movies and Mayhem

Movie:
Has anyone seen District 9?



It. Was. Intense. As soon as the movie was over, the only thing I could think of was how utterly disturbing it was, but in a very good way. I rarely think about a movie for more than an hour or so after seeing it ("Oh, that was good, really makes you think, huh? ... Who wants to go bowling!?) but it haunted me all day. It is definitely not a mindless alien movie. I'm not going to give anything away, but it brings to light the realities of discrimination and poverty, and asks the audience to really emotionally and mentally put themselves in the position of people who are living in slums, oppressed by those in power. It rocked my comfortable middle class world. Also, the goriest film I have seen in a long, long time.

Mayhem:
Corban's birthday was a great success (except for the part where he had to go into the office)! I suppose he's an old man now. Next thing you know I'll be buying pudding cups and tennis balls for his walker.

I went rock climbing for the first time ever yesterday! It was much, much, much more difficult than I thought it would be. Muscles are sore that I didn't even know I had. Also, I got over my fear of heights. Emotional growth! We will definitely be going again.



Did you know that 98% of all rock climbing accidents are due to distractions caused by fabulous behinds? These are true facts, people.



My 22nd was an interesting birthday. We had a party that weekend, and no one let my upper respiratory infection get in the way of a good time.



I have very simple needs, usually involving large hunks of fruit.

One day I will complete another painting. One Day. I got into a slump with my state flowers, so I'm working on Brain Worms to clear my head. Maybe I will finish it tomorrow? ... I'm Ron Burgundy?

Time for a fabulous dinner with some fabulous people. Don't you wish you could be as fabulous as us? Fabulous.

Chelle Lynn

Bah

I have to go take my final and lab practical to wrap up my biology class today. After a night of celebratory drinks with a bachelor party comprised completely of boisterous Polish gentlemen. I love Europeans because they pronounce my name the French way...Mi-chelle.

Since I was a slacker yesterday, here's a couple comics to make up.



Does anyone else get this? I always have what feel like great melodies running through my dreams, or I'm reciting poems, or I can speak other languages. I wonder if my brain is actually coming up with those things, or if it is only thinking that it is. The subconscious is a weird, weird thing.



Corban thinks it's really funny when I do this for some reason. I put on my big, clunky headphones (which are, sadly, broken now), attach the iPod to them, and walk around doing my thing. Why not? It's like a concert in my head...while I fold laundry.



Teen angst was always a good time.



The Dallas Comicon was a little lame, but cool. Mainly just lots of action figures and t-shirts. There was actually a storm trooper/skirt combination, which was weird. Maybe it was a kilt? We did meet Scott Kurtz, who gave me a deal on a Skull plushie. Also, he likened Corban, who was wearing his glasses that day, to Harry Potter, which was awkward. My husband is not what one would call a Harry Potter fan.

Buh.

Chelle Lynn

Why does hold music always suck?

After being on hold for the UNT FinAid center for what feels like an eternity, I have found that their website (which told me that my payment was overdue) just sucks and that I do not need to worry my pretty little head (hah...hahhahha...hah! me, not worry! what a lark.) The bummer is that since I'm not actually going to be in school spring semester, I don't get the other half of that fabulous loan. I should have gotten married way earlier, married people get the best loans. Alas! I will console myself with strawberries.



Man, that Texas weather is crazy.

Chelle Lynn

New Life, Old Books, and More Recipes!

Last night (ish, not sure what time) my cousin, Shaina's little girl was born.



That is a beautiful baby. Welcome to Texas, Noraleigh. I think you will fit right in.

I just finish my last lab for my stupid biology class and am wanting to get rid of my pristinely preserved lab book. If anyone is taking INET BIOL1 1408 at DCCCD, the manual is yours for $15 vs $45 that you'll pay at the bookstore. Let me know if you want it.

After I'm done a-typing away, I'm going to go make some burritos to freeze for later. Yum! I got the recipe from my great friend Ashley, who is an amazing cook. I'm excited to have something quick that I can throw in the microwave that isn't a frozen pizza. Yuck. Hopefully these will turn out better than my sirloin steaks with kale, which were an utter disaster. Live and learn, and ruin saute pans by forgetting you're heating oil on them, I guess.

I'm tired of looking at these old comic, so I'm thinking I'll try to do a M-F update until we're caught up. Who cares what I did last year? Nobody.



I have this weird mental block against drawing cars. It's totally bizarre. Guess I'll have to forget that career with the Fast and Furious franchise.

I'm getting caught up with my painting orders, so if you'd like something done in the next month or so, get your butt to the store before the fall semester starts and spiral into a vortex of doom and psychosis.

Laters.

Chelle Lynn

Produce is Fun!

I bought kale for the first time today! I've never even seen it before, so I just kind of wandered around the produce section of the Prestonwood Tom Thumb, looking lost, until someone offered to help me. Turns out, it kind of looks like lettuce. Who knew? Anyway, I'm going to make sirloin steaks with mustard and kale sauce tonight for dinner. Hopefully it will turn out amazingly. I know you're jealous. It's ok. Seriously, though, I am a hopeless carnivore, and I'm wondering if it's entirely healthy. Mentally, I mean. There is nothing in this world that I love more (except maybe my husband) than a perfectly seasoned medium rare steak (mmmm, blood) with just a little bit of garlic butter on top. Butter and cow flesh. Ironically, I detest the taste of swine. Except for bacon, of course. It barely counts as pig anyway.

In less disgusting-to-vegetarians news, my last summer class finishes up this week, for which I am incredibly grateful. I'm making a B, and I'm fairly confident that I can sustain it until the bitter end. Then I get a couple weeks off until the fall semester starts and the real fun begins. I swear to god, if one more person asks me what I'm going to do with my English literature degree, I might actually go insane. Nothing, people. Absolutely nothing. What else could one do with a lit degree? Except maybe sitting around being superior. But, I feel that I do that anyway.

I am woefully behind on the painting front. I worked the library so much last week, plus two weekends in a row, so I haven't had time for anything. This week I am getting caught up for sure!...after my final exam.



I am aware that not everyone may be interested in my specific feelings towards my reproductive organs, but I think that it deserves being said that every now and then, I really do just hate my freaking uterus. (And, yes, this one was 2008 as well...apparently it took me a while to get it.)

Everyone should officially "follow" my blog! Your picture will appear to the left and everything. It will mean that we are best friends. Also, Twitter. Yes, Twitter is lame, but...is it?

Happy Monday, all!

Chelle Lynn

Nothing Much to Report

It's a wee late in the day, but here's my post after all! I had to work all day at the Library of Doom (boo!), but then got to go out for Mexican food with the husband after, so life is good.

So, I'm almost finished with Julie and Julia; it is really a fun read, and even inspirational at times. Gives hope to little worker drones like me.

Well, there's nothing much else to say. This week has been a lot of struggling through biology homework, broken up by long boughts of laying on the couch reading. The mister gets to go out tonight whilst I find my way through the desert of Mitosis. Riveting.



As you can see, my life is filled with both adventure and intrigue. Yes, I have played Rock Band a time or two. No, I am not ashamed, nor am I crying into my Cherrios. But, hey, at least we're up to 2008! What an accomplishment, I think I'll pour myself a glass of wine!

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend. I will be at the bibliotheque...being mean to little children.

Chelle Lynn

Slowly but Surely Gettin' 'Er Done!

I feel as though I am finally making some headway on all my backed up orders. Thank you, everyone for your infinite patience! I finally finished Christy's Indian Paintbrush, and I think it is absolutely darling.



Each of these flowers definitely present all new challenges. Some of them I have not seen before, while others I have seen, and struggle to fit into the body of work as a whole. I've seen many an Indian Paintbrush before, but honestly never up close, and it was very important to me to get that vibrant color just right. My next project is another Indian Paintbrush and a Bluebonnet for Jessica. Hoorah for state pride!

For anyone who struggles with making the creative process a daily routine, this video is really uplifting. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, talks about how to deal with success, failure, and the daily process of creating as an artist. The whole TED series is actually really really great, I highly recommend checking it out.

As some of you know, I am not the most accomplished of cooks (although I am very proud of the Florintine Shells that I made a few nights ago...)



That being said, I am very excited to read to library book that came in for me last night, Julie Powell's Julie and Julia! I am such a terrible cook, but I love the idea of trying everything, and I'm really considering taking on a similar (although maybe less intense) project myself. Maybe a Paula Deen cookbook? :)

So, without further ado, here's today's comic! The last one of 2007!



I always write down funny/interesting/meaningful/beautiful quotes that I run into in my reading or moving watching. I've been doing this since high school, and it has become something of a ritual for me. Many times I will read a book that I don't particularly like, but I can always appreciate some good one-liners.

An old friend of mine from high school, Celia, is getting married to an old neighbor of mine, Jeff, in less than two weeks; a few days ago I got on her wedding blog, and it is the cutest thing! Seriously, if there's anyone out there planning a wedding, check out her blog, she has some really great DIY ideas. Linky link link. I wish I had been more creative like this with my wedding!

I hope that everyone is doing well and has a happy Hump Day! Don't forget to check out the etsy shop for all your art-related needs!

Chelle Lynn

Errand Running Bites

I've been so productive today, but I haven't gotten to paint anything, which makes me sad. :/ Grocery shopping and cleaning are no fun at all.

Not much else is going on right now, so we'll get straight to the comic!







I've really missed doing my comics. I'm definitely going to try to put a little time into it each week.

That being said, I think I'm going to see how a Monday, Wednesday, Friday update schedule will work out for me. So, I'll see you back here on Wednesday! Hope everyone's weeks are off to a great start!

Chelle Lynn