Valium in a tank

I have shown you my cat and our birds, talked about the dog and there is another cat but besides all that my wife has fish, lots of fish. She has a 55 gallon tank in the front room and a smaller, 10? gallon tank in the kitchen and a couple of small bowls here and there, adding up to how many fish I don't know. We also have an outdoor pond which is still fishless from the winter and went without last year but was occupied in the past. The outdoor pond is the only thing I object to as it means work for me. I was up to it the first few years but back, leg pain and lazyness maybe are putting it out of reach. We have had help a few years getting it ready but last year we kept them inside.

Other then that she does all the work, cleaning the tanks ( which is a job), feeding etc. I reap the benifits though. Benifits of fish? You have to have them to understand probably. Just sitting there watching them swim back and forth is very relaxing somehow, can't explain why but it is. That explaining my valium reference. Valium might be more fun in the short run but fish are better for you and don't knock you out. I don't know how to classify them, not really pets since you can't actually pet them or take them out and play with them. Well, you could but not for very long and I don't think it would be very satisfying for you or the fish. Thier more then decorations, somewhere inbetween I guess but if you don't have any I suggest them as something you might want to start out with.

What , Bird's Again?

Well Yeah, what can I say. First I like them and second I see them every day outside the window where I sit. So they are on my mind a lot and that transfers to what I draw. I try to make them a little different each time. I could try a Cardinal now and then or a Blue Jay because we get those once in a while. The other birds don't like the Blue Jays of course, I understand they like to raid nests and eat eggs of the other smaller birds. Mostly though its sparrows which I think are cool even if they are common. I never knew how many different kinds there are until I started trying to find out what we have here. There are lots and lots of different sparrows even in this area. I still want to know who coined that phrase when they say someone " eats like a bird." meaning I guess that they don't eat much. We buy a 20# bag and are lucky if it lasts a week. I fill two feeders and one is all empty and the other mostly within two hours. Of course a lot of it is on the ground as they are choosy, looking for what they want and flipping the rest all over the place. When it's empty they will go to the ground and eat so it's a matter of preference, not that they wont eat it all.

This is a detail of a bigger drawing done in the usual watercolor pencil and inks.

Life returns

There isn't much these days you can count on it seems, economy, politics, world peace, you name it everything seems all chaos and turmoil, nothing solid and reliable. Of course those are all things that count on us to keep in order and I suppose we have messed a few things up, hopefully not beyond repair but if history proves anything we will get through it all.

There's one thing that always stays the same though, no matter how long winter might seem or how depressed it might make me sooner or later that seed that fell in the fall will germinate and push its way up though the soil searching for the sun and it will break through and find it.

Those somewhat corny thoughts are what I had in mind when I made this drawing, a small 5X7 mostly watercolor pencil with some ink. I did it from my head as hard as I looked I couldn't find anything similar outside today but it was cool and I didn't look too hard, soon though.

Sunflowers

I was looking a pics on PBase the other day and saw some nice ones of sunflowers which started me thinking about them. The rough sketch here is a result of that.

I think it was two years ago now we had near the bird feeders two way large sunflowers, like twenty one feet high large. I checked to see and it was like two or three feet short of the record although that's just from the book, sure there are larger all the time but those were the tallest I had ever seen. The wierd part was that they were grown all by nature, seeds fell from the feeders and sprouted all on thier own, never watered by us or shown any care at all, just luck they were in a spot where I missed them with the mower when they were small.

Every year we grow flowers, sunflowers included, nurture them, get the right soil and water them, pull the weeds that get close and most come up ok but never anything like these were. Just goes to show that mother nature does it best.

Last night my wifes dog got skunked. They live under the neighbors shed we think and the mutt is so dumb that this is like the fifth or sixth time he's been sprayed. I pound on the door before I let him out at night and wait a bit but if you've ever seen skunks move they aren't the fastest things. They just aren't afraid of anything, so non-chalant it's funny.

Anyway this dog when he gets sprayed always comes in the house, heads straight for the bathroom and hops in the tub without being told, can't say I blame him. Usually we have some shampoo for those occasions but last night we found out we were out. My wife gave him a shower, did the best she could but he still was rank. He sleeps in the hall right outside my room and I woke up like six times gagging from it, nothing like that odor. I can't figure why he keeps chasing the things, even a dumb dog should have learned by now.

Granny

A small (5X7) drawing of a granny, not mine but she had to be someones. She's actually from an old photo I bought recently. I just loved her look, typical granny sitting outside in a favorite chair. The drawing is mostly watercolor pencil, some dry and some brushed on.k

Another warmer but wet day here in Chicagoland, went out to the store with just a light shirt jacket on but it was over quick, starting to feel the chill as I got back home and it was just starting to get a little darker so the temp drops.

Play Ball

Just a sketch, cartoon of two fellas who like myself are eager for spring. My grandson will start his third year of ball with the local park district this year, first year of non t ball although they have not hit off the "T" hardly at all even before. I think the ball is harder when they are out of the t ball phase also. I'm proud of him for playing and doing fairly well. I was always kind of worried about him when he was smaller as I thought he was a little overly "sensitive" and not a kid to get involved in sports. He has though, doing the baseball and also basketball and pretty much seems to be growing out of the mamas boy thing or maybe grandpa just worries too much.

I'm glad for anything that gets his hands off the video games and outside, he's always had a real thing for those games, something he might have gotten from my wife who also plays them. ( I don't worry about that, her ball playing days are over as are mine) He takes those games so seriously though in my nightmares I have images of him growing up to being a geek who in his teens takes a rifle to school or something. On the other hand if he has enough interest and enough smarts he may grow up designing the games and support his dear old grandpa.

Just a couple of sketches

The last couple of days I had something in mind that I was going to draw and post, kind of a self assigned drawing. It's really the first time I had thought it out, if it isn't obvious my postings here have no special ryme or reason, just whatever I happen to be doing or drawing that day. I have learned my lesson, trying to do one simple thing and make it look right was too much for me and I finally gave up. Might have something to do with why so long ago I went into law enforcement instead of trying to make a living at what I liked most. Anyway, what I have finally put on display today is a fellow leaning against a post, detail from a larger sketch I did awhile ago. The somewhat wilder looking fellow is a sketch from today, started out thinking of kind of a St. Francis man but didn't look right for that so is just what it is. It's been nicer here is Chicagoland the last few days, warmer anyway. There was a heck of a thunderstorm early this morning but I take it all as sign that spring is around the corner. Got to remember to set the clocks ahead tonight.

Untouchables

Last night I was watching "The Untouchables" on METV, one of my all time favorite shows from when I was a kid and still is now. When I was a kid of course it was my dad that chose it. Some will remember the time when there was actually only one television in the house. There was only like four channels also but it seemed like there was more to watch sometimes then there is today. Anyway I was sketching my concept of gangsters while watching it, the posts above. You could always tell a gangster when you saw one, double breasted pinstriped suits with the bulge for the shoulder holster. A rough looking face, usually ugly with the nose pushed to the side and a scar somewhere. I'm not sure where all the gangsters went, they must still be around, not like the hippies who completely went extinct. Maybe they went the same way, both of them now have become corporate bankers ?

Today of course we have "Gangstas", those being gangsters that can't spell. You can tell them kind of, like before they have a uniform but it's harder because the kid next door wants to emulate them and dress the same way. I won't try to draw them, not now anyway. A thug is a thug, but I prefer mine old style.

Salute to the Noble Nose

I wasn't going to post anything here today but as I was waiting for things to download ( I still use dial up, maybe the only person in the US left to do so) I was sketching and noted that most of my out of the head cartoon characters have one thing in common, all have tremendous honkers. I know there are folks out there who have somewhat larger then usual noses and are less then happy about it. I saw on television not long ago that plastic surgery in Iran is booming as people, ladies mostly are prone to have such characteristics and are so unhappy about it.

Speaking as someone who enjoys cartooning I think those people born with a big snoz should be happy about it. It is somehow a mark of character, something about a big protruding air intake makes me think the person wearing it has something going on. Of course I was born with a somewhat uninteresting normal size nose so not having to look in the mirror at it every day or finding dates or fitting it around that first kiss I might be speaking out of turn but I throw in my support for those that do and urge them to take pride in what they have.