The Raven's Roost

I know my brainstorms are not that brainy or stormy, but I had one anyway and I'm going to share it.

In my last post I talked about giving away my "shrine stuff." I never actually build shrines anymore, but I still find myself thinking about them, which is, I suppose, why I haven't gotten rid of this stuff yet. Part of the challenge of making them was in finding and acquiring the right objects. Once I spent two years tracking down a tiny plastic glow-in-the-dark St. Michael the Archangel. So some of the things I have are 'valuable' in the sense that a lot of searching and effort went into obtaining them.

But when I think about making a shrine, I mainly get to the point of sketching it out, and never actually get into the work of painting, gluing, and all that other stuff. And it occurred to me just now that ... I can just take pictures of the stuff I like best. I can do this digitally. Paint or draw them and then use PaintShop or After Shot to 'collage' things in. There's nothing at all stopping me from building these things as digital art projects. I've had one in mind for years now that I haven't made any headway on because I can't seem to get glass eyes anywhere any more.

So now I'm thinking before I start mailing and donating, I'm going to set up a backdrop and take photos, then just have a swipe file on my computer to work with. Then I'll feel like I can part with these items without undue agony. And this isn't obviously a wholly original idea to me - Marie Kondo recommends photographing sentimental items before discarding them.

Anyway I have a three-mile run today so I'd best go do that. I'm feeling groggy since we were up later than normal looking at the Comet Neowise, or trying to despite the best efforts of some low-hanging fuckyoulo nimbus clouds. Happily we have another week to look, and as the comet gets higher in the sky it should be easier to spot unless storms move in. The cats are also Very Upset by the fact that I moved my bed and they pester me at night. Nana has taken to waking me at around 3 each morning, then again at 4:30. Crowley meows a lot, and Feisal has even started coming in and hopping on me, walking around, then leaving, only to come back an hour or so later and do it again. Because cats.

 I really need to pin this site to my start page so I remember to update more often. I'm a slacker.

Anyway, tomorrow is my last run before Disney. I'm slated to do eight miles, then no running at all until Thursday. I registered with the tracking and timing chip website so I think as we get closer I'll be able to share a link that allows people to track my progress. Earlier this month I finally got my bib number and corral assignment, so that's all ready to go. So now it's time to PANIC! Because that's how I roll. Actually it's not too bad right now, just a low-level buzz of worry in the background going, what if I didn't train right/enough, what if I overtrained, what if I roll my ankle Wednesday, why doe my toe hurt, oh god I have a stress fracture, etc. etc.

In order to give my brain something else to focus on I'll be doing my nails Tuesday. I'm thinking navy blue (it's apparently a trend in nail colors right now) with a glitter silver accent nail. I'd hoped to find a navy blue with a metallic finish but they're all flats.

It's forecast to be seriously cold that weekend, especially for central Florida. Lows of 35? In Orlando? Dang, son. I bought myself an inexpensive men's hoodie yesterday that I won't feel bad about needing to ditch if I overheat, but I kind of don't think I'll be removing it, and I'm taking my favorite green running hoodie with me, too. One weekend it was cold and I thought I'd just push my sleeves up, but my forearms got cold and numb enough that I didn't feel the Fitbit buzzing my intervals. I also bought a bunch of those Hot Hands packs - I'm familiar with those from Christmas parade time in high school marching band. In this case I'll be tucking them in my gloves to warm my face and such - I may even pull my headband down around my nose and mouth to warm the air.

And, being me, I'm looking forward to going to Disney World ... and eating. XD Fox wants to take me to a place in Epcot that serves German food, and I'm looking at a Japanese tea house style place that serves spicy udon and green tea cheesecake. Plus there's a Wawa near the hotel so I can get my chicken cheesesteak burritos and coffee.

Right now I'm just trying to stay warm. I've lost most of  my cold tolerance so I've spent the last few days shivering.

I'm also the proud and happy new owner of a digital tablet, so once I get home I have little or no excuse not to start my comics again! I'm still at the stage of experimenting with it to get used to the controls and digital drawing in general but I think I'm picking it up pretty quickly. I have no idea where to host the comics, but if I can find a good Wordpress theme, I can just host it on our server here and not fret about traffic rules or content restrictions.

But for now, more hot coffee.