cows and foodies

I have a super foggy, super vague memory of meeting Elsie the cow "in-person". Anyone familiar with Elsie? She was the real-life cow mascot of Borden dairy back in the day. Apparently, she toured.

I seem to have been enamored with Elsie at a very young age, and I'm not sure if the enamoredness happened before I met her or after. So I can't say how it began, but I do know I had an Elsie the cow plush toy for a number of years - probably a souvenir from our fateful meeting. God only knows what became of that plush toy. I just remember she MOOO-ed when tipped. Cow tipping, ha!

*On a side note, cow-tipping is not a real thing. I think I blogged about my failed attempt at it previously...*

Anyway, my bff Elsie is likely the reason I stopped eating beef several years ago. This week, I finally got 'round to trying rice "milk" as a substitute for cow's milk, and by George, I can do it. Now... about that cheese...

Somewhat related, we got around to watching "The Menu" this weekend. Seen it? I enjoyed it, i.e. I didn't fall asleep.

It makes fun of prententious "foodies". I confess to enjoy watching behind-the-scenes videos of fancy pants restaurants I will likely never visit, and that interest is more from my days as a kitchen worker myself - one of the "shit shovelers" (reference from the movie), rather than a patron. "The Menu" clearly makes the we-vs.-them distinction.

I thought the movie was well done and well cast. Can Anya Taylor-Joy act badly in any role?

So, that's about it for this week's accomplishments: I scored a minor win in fighting my bovine oppression and stayed awake throughout an entire movie.

I also sketched a frog recently in an attempt to awaken my drawing slump since the end of Inktober.

Barbies and turtles

Happy October! Feels like it snuck up on us. 

October is typically one of my favorite months, weather-wise anyway. It also is the month of Inktober! 31 days, 31 ink drawings.

I've made it to the starting line at least. Today's prompt is "dream"

I always wanted one of these Barbie Dream campers, but alas, it was not to be. Maybe I'll have a real one when I'm an old(er) lady.

Speaking of starting lines and old ladies, this morning was also the first of the season for Tortoise and Hare races. It was a short and sweet 4K (2.5 miles). Big turnout because...

1. it's the first race of the season
2. it's the shortest race of the season
3. the weather was beaut

I managed to make it to the finish without succumbing to injury or death, so it was a win. I noticed another runner refer to the races as "Tortuga y Conejo", and I think I like that better. Maybe I'm getting bored with English.

knee-highs ftw

I don't think I was too much of a tortuga. I was slightly slower than my predicted pace as the algorithm is still adjusting to my post-covid self, but it was a fun time with the other weirdos. 

So a nice end to a decent week and a nice start to the month. See ya, summer.

backup's time to shine

When I first started tutoring, I lived in Colorado Springs and worked for a company based in Denver. While I was there, they broke into the New Territory of live online classes. It was oh so groundbreaking! Those were the good old days of frequent disconnections and horrible lag and people not able to connect at all, not to mention the big headsets and wobbly webcams. 

The company issued me a Wacom tablet for sketching on the online whiteboard, and when I left, my boss told me "Eh, might as well just keep the tablet", which meant he didn't have to deal with getting me a shipping label and whatnot to get it back to the office. 

So I've continued to use that tablet without guilt since breaking away and becoming my own tutor boss. It still works fine to this day. Five years ago, I figured I should get a backup since that granny tablet must certainly be ready to keel over at any time.

The backup I got is a cute Wacom Intuos, smaller and thinner than Granny. As I mentioned, however, Granny just keeps on kickin'. The cute Intuos has sat on a shelf, moved, and sat on a new shelf since 2018.

Today, I saw it sitting there and decided to let it out to play. I'd never even opened it! What would Marie Kondo say?!

She'd probably say that I never "welcomed it home" or made the tablet feel that it "belonged" or something. And yes, I'm a Marie Kondo disciple, all about the joy sparking. But I failed that tablet.

I cracked that seal today, hooked it up, dowloaded the drivers and took it for a test drive. Thankfully, it didn't seem to hold a grudge for my unwelcoming disposition. That little Intuos is so nimble, so playful, so less crotchety than Granny!

So I drew my cat

Except, now... heck if I'm gonna use it for math.

it burns

Heard about those new glass coffins?  Think they'll become popular?

Remains to be seen.  *SNORT*

Okay, sorry for the dad joke.  I think I need coffee.  Or maybe I'm just thinking destructive thoughts.  Several wildfires are now burning in Colorado as typically happens this time of year.  One of the fires is about 40 miles from us, and the smoke is thick and irritating

SOURCE

We had to deal with some smoke while on vacation in the mountains last week, but it wasn't too bad.  

Skies were relatively clear, thankfully.  And breathing wasn't a chore.  

Now, I've seen a few photos online from the bike park we visited: 

SOURCE

A new fire has cropped up near there.  Not very nice... I'm glad we missed it, but geez, sad sight.

While there, Magnum and I chatted with a woman who came from out of state with her husband to spend a month in Colorado's mountains.  She's a school teacher, and with all online school, they figured they can go anywhere (don't know what hubby does).  So they booked an Airbnb to hang out and mountain bike.

I saw that the area where they are staying was evacuated yesterday.  Bummer of a vacation.

I think the fire near us is in a pretty wild area, so difficult to fight, but also low risk for structures or inhabitants.  Still, it'd be nice to have some way to clear out the smoke.  Always something.

As we were talking with the vacationing school teacher while waiting for our guys to complete their final runs, we were hanging out at the base of the mountain that featured a "bike wash" station.  Nice idea, I took my bicycle, Lily, for a much needed shower.

Lily before.

Lily after, Aaaaaaaaaaah.

And I certainly wasn't the only one partaking.  I found it interesting to observe several rough and tumble, young "biker dudes" stopping to give loving washes to their bicycles.  I was thinking that their bachelor bathrooms likely don't look so pristine.

But then, who knows?  Maybe the TLC given their various gear spills over into other areas.  In fact, the more I thought about it, the more sense that made.  It's likely a good sign to see someone take care of their possessions - a sign of their priorities.

Any good relationship requires routine maintenance.  Agree?

I finally did a three-way

I bought something for myself a coupla weeks ago.  Something other than the usual essential things.  It might be classified as a splurge, but it was only about five bucks, so.  No.

I'll call it an "enrichment toy".  Like that time we went to the wild cat sanctuary with the overhead walkway, and the guides told us, "If you drop your hat/ camera/ phone/ child, you won't get it back.  It becomes an enrichment toy for the animals".

See, I never had one of these as a kid.  I knew others that had one, but I just found them frustrating.  It wasn't until recently that I learned that the dang things come with instructions.  INSTRUCTIONS!?

So... here... many moons later.  I bought one.  I bought myself one of those... the other day, I bought... I ordered online... for myself... I found and bought...

a Rubik's cube.

Dammit.


I couldn't get the darn things to work way back when they were first introduced in 1974 - yes, I was alive then.

They were all the rage.

I'd twist things around a few times and just when I'd get colors to line up, the other colors I had lined up were unlined up.  GAAAH!!


One day not long ago, Wolfgang was here and he had a mirror cube, which is kinda like a Rubik's cube, but harder.


It reminded me that I never mastered the Rubik's cube.  Never mind the fact that now there are 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 7x7, and maybe even bigger cubes!  I never even figured out the 3x3!  Elementary school kids can do it!

So, dammit, I got one!

And yes, the frustrating things come with INSTRUCTIONS!  Who knew?!?


So I studied.  I learned.  I got the idea.

I tried.  I failed.  I tried some more. I failed some  more.


I learned that you actually solve the thing in steps - clear and specific steps, rather than the mess-with-it-until-something-works method I'd used in my naive impetuous youth.


Even Magnum confessed  his frustrations with the thing long ago.  Asperger Magnum had struggled with the Rubik's cube!  I let him mess with mine.  Just as long as we all know...It's MINE. 



It's mine,  as in...






I OWN it.





How are you wasting spending your time?
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Linking up with MamaKat this week for the prompt:
6. Share your favorite October purchases!

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toyz!

I've been looking into getting my teaching license.  I've thrown the idea of getting a license around before, but have wavered.  But I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt. I just think I've topped out as much as I care to in the unlicensed tutor world and need to decide what to be when I grow up.

So in the midst of all this fun, I've been chatting up current and former bosses and colleagues for references and such.  Yesterday, I was up at the school, so THAT means, another episode of What's in Crossing Guard Abby's Mailbox?

In a word:  Christmas!   OH wait, this is a public entity.  Try again.  In a word:  Holidays!

Nothing ridonculous, just a cute bag with some candies and a doodle pad and fancy pen.  

I was also talking with a former boss at the place where I occasionally taught classes online.  This was based out of Denver, so when I left there, he told me he would send packaging for me to ship my tablet and webcam back to him.  

I dutifully stashed the tablet and webcam so no one would screw around with them behind my back they'd be out of harm's way and waited for the packaging to arrive.  It never did, the toys stayed stashed.  

So as I'm talking with him, I mentioned that I still had the goods.  How to get them back to him?  He says, "They're long forgotten, feel free to keep or donate them".  

The Wacom Bamboo tablet makes for a nice memento, I must say.  And they're great for digital artwork.  I still prefer the feel of the pencil/pen/brush on paper/canvas, but no sooner had I mentioned the release of the tablet from its quarantine that Wolfgang had the thing hooked into his computer.  

Bamboo in action with someone who is neither me nor Wolfgang

I really don't have a use for the webcam, so am thinking of giving it away.

Anyone out there want a Shia Labeouf webcam?
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going through the change

I sold some stuff. 

Remember my recent big buy-out of clutter?  I threw away about half of it.  I donated about half of it.  One tote I kept for myself.  I bought it, it was mine to do with what I wanted.  It was high-end toy train stuff.

We got the first starter set for Wolfgang's 2nd birthday, and the set grew from there.  A few more cars here, some extra track there.  Eventually, fancy things like turntables, roundhouses, moving bridges,  and loading cranes joined in.  I couldn't just put it on the thrift store truck.  No, for that, I preferred an open adoption.

I took out an ad, and a nice grandmotherly type came by to purchase it.  So YAY, I made back some of my bribe money.  All in quarters and dimes.

Magnum came home and wanted to know about all the coins on the dresser. 

"I sold my trains", I told him.  "A grandma paid me all in coins".

"OOooh", he says - he's into metals these days.  "Did you go through it to look for silver quarters?"

"Uh... no", (like I'm really going to go through that pile of quarters to look for silver ones)

"I'll go through it", he says.  "One silver quarter is worth six bucks".

------------

Okay, so I went through it.  I found a bunch!

... of quarters that are worth 25 cents.


What would you put in the extra effort for? Money? Fame? Accolades? {... fill in the (PG-13 optional) blank ...}?
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toy

Welcome to another installment of Illustration Friday on Saturday!

One thing I really like about this Illustration Friday business is that it often gets me to do things that I wouldn't just choose to do on my own. When I saw that this week's prompt was "toy", nothing came to mind right away.

I sat here pondering and then bounced it off Wolfgang who was here in the room with me. "Hmm... what should I draw for 'toy'?"

I half expected him to join me in my puzzlement, at least for a while. Instead, however, seemingly without even taking a breath, he answered, "Optimus Prime". Yes, he's quite a fan of the whole Transformers conglomeration and has done his part to contribute to Michael Bay's bank account. Recall that he has his own Optimus Prime rendition, prestigously placed on our own Wall O' Muscle.

Anyways, Optimus Prime? Well, I wouldn't just sit down and decide to make a drawing of Optimus Prime, but why the heck not? And so I began.

I got to know good old Optimus more than I ever thought I would. He's certainly not one to be messed with.

I spent a gooder part of the day with Optimus, in fact. In the end, it was all quite fun.

And that's what toys are for, right?