Me...a Zombie...Sweeeet.

If you thought that was entertaining, then check this out. I may be an extra in a B movie...as a zombie. That is sooooo awesome. One of my life goals realized. Well, maybe not a life goal, but kewl none the less. The movie is called Book of the Dead.

The New Venetian Snares Release...

...is pretty awesome. I have not heard one so far that is inspiring me to make an animation, but I am sure one will come across. Not that I ever get around to such things. There is not enough time.

My list of projects keeps on growing. Right now I am working on a digital one called The Vanity of the Moon. More necrotizing flesh, but in the reflected light of the moon on the model's face. My reference is wearing these awesome leather gloves and pink iridescent stripper boots. I will probably paint on some clothes (right now she is wearing a hot pink bra and black panties). Something simple and timeless. Vanity is timeless. And not hot pink. Yeah, the boots must go. The gloves will stay. The piece is about the illusion of beauty and deception. I can see where the heavy black leather butcher gloves work within the meaning. As if she needs to be protected from touching the mirror. Anyway...yawn.

Random Weekendnesses

Yesterday I finally caught up with the family and went to see my mom's new condo. It is on the small side, but will be easier for her to manage. She is beginning to look more and more like Molly, her mom. It was especially great to see Mackenzie and Gavin. They are so absolutely adorable. He will be a year old soon, and Mackenzie is three. I played chase around the condo with Mac. She is sooooo awesome and fun.

The days have been gorgeous this weekend. I went out for a little while to enjoy it. I think i missed the insect displays at the Inniswood park. Grrrr. I really wanted to get some photography in. Perhaps I will wait a week or two and go take some fall pics. I would love to take a weekend and go hiking at Old Man's Cave, too.

I did three paintings this week, but still have a couple things I want to do if possible. I feel like I need to get organized more than anything.

VS Mutant C*nt Sniffer Video

Posted here because Senecal thinks I am sending him a video of John Tesh. And I am not.

Elegant Gore

I think I am going to write a wikipedia entry on elegant gore. A DA friend thought the phrase deserves a meme. I do as well. So, I am on to my second wikipedia contribution.

Nick!

I love Nick. He is one of my dearest friends. I just don't see enough of him, actually. I need to call him.

My favorite conversation with Nick:
Nick: [Actually, I don't remember what Nick said to threaten me, but it was funny. It was either about some erotic poem I had written and he found on the net or about seeing someone who happen to look like me on a corner looking like a whore...in thigh-high black patent-leather stilettos...Jesus that is gross.]
Me: Are you blackmailing me??
Nick: Maybe....
Me: Kick ass!!!! (In my best Cartman voice)

Nick and I use to have this thing we called Creative Club where we would meet up around town and try to be creative. It would consist of 10 minutes of ideas and then slowly dissolve into a gossip session about everyone we knew. We would invite people to come join us, but then completely forget to tell them where and when we were meeting. Then we would ask them where in the hell they were at the next day and that they were sorely missed. This was not intentional, or to be mean…we were just very unorganized and last minute.

To be in the "club" one had to add a stanza onto a poem Nick wrote back in high school. When he was asked to write and present this poem in class he was in a particularly foul mood, so it ended up like this...

Birdie, birdie in the snow,
Had a broken wing you know.
Lured him in with bits of bread,
Then I smashed his pretty head.

Gruesome, huh? Well, Nick did not go unpunished. He was immediately sent to counseling to uncover what angst caused him to write such a horrible poem (besides just being a smart-ass kid who did not feel like writing one).

I since have forgotten my stanza...I bet its on one of my work computers from sometime in the past. Some IT guy may have found it...I sure hope so.

Feel free to add a stanza. It is rather dark, so keep it dark.

The Freeway is NOT a Fucking Racetrack

The freeway is NOT a fucking racetrack...there I said it again. Joe just called me upset because he saw a car speeding down 71S in the slow lane and then cutting over across the freeway to pass everyone. The guy clipped someone trying to change lanes at a normal speed because they did not see his deft maneuvering. Then the guy spun out of control and hit the center wall...in front of Joe. He banked (thankfully) and then spun into the front of a semi, which clipped him or her. Uhhhh, yeah.

Venetian Snares

Success. I got the questions back from Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snares), so I that will be published in Issue 20 of OLOGY magazine. Funk is really funny and clever. Thank god the guys at OLOGY aren't an uptight bunch...
Next up...well, it is not my practice to tell, but I have a couple cool musical artists in mind.

So, I'm glad I got that one in right before Mercury goes into retrograde. That always makes for a lot of technical/communication snafus. I will probably wait about a month to begin contacting the next set. Plus I will probably research and write questions in advance in case they note me back immediately, which seems to happen when they are interested.

Death and Christmas

When I was a child, my father spent the months leading up to every Christmas making grave blankets to sell so we could make ends meet. We lived just down the street from the town's cemetery, and my dad was a good friend with the caretaker. Local families bought the grave blankets so they could cover the graves of their dead relatives with flowers and pine needles to bring them warmth for the coming winter. I am not sure I understand this custom fully, or where it originated. It is not available on Wikipedia.
I vividly remember going to some local mom & pop store to buy Styrofoam, fresh pine branches, pinecones, fake flowers, and other supplies to make the grave blankets. My mother spent hours making giant pink, red and white bows that would be the best part of the creation. I always helped Dad place the branches in the Styrofoam rectangles. Sometimes I helped arrange the flowers. I loved helping my dad with these symbolic creations. On occasion he let me make the whole thing...well, the small ones for child graves. I never thought too much at the time that what I created was to cover the grave of a small, dead child.
As a finishing touch my father sprayed the thing (except for the bow) with either smelly gold or silver metallic spray paint, or sometimes, a fake white snow. I was not allowed to stay in the cold basement for this part of the process. The fumes were a little bit too much.
I am not sure why we stopped making grave blankets, for certain. It was either because we moved to a different state, or because of a tragic death in our own family. My memories around the time of the death of my nephew fail me. All I know is there was one Christmas season before we moved and we may have made them. If we did, then I am sure that I made one for Jeff to keep him warm that Christmas.
This may be a Christmas holiday tale, but I think it will always be better suited to tell at Halloween.

So, I plan to create a digital piece of one of these grave blankets to go along with this story...And, by the way this is a true story.

:UPDATE:

A Blanket for Warmth by =peggymintun on deviantART

Blah Blah Blah Blahgger!!!

Blah Blah Blah...Randomness Rulz..No not rules as in guidelines. It rulz as in it oversees, or whatever. Just read it. Oh, eeer, so you knew what I meant.

Speaking as the Vast Overlord-ess of my Blogger...

1. NBC can kiss my big, fat ass for provoking Apple to take episodes of The Office off of iTunes...you greedy bastards.
2. So, my interview with Dredsden Doll's Amanda Palmer will be in Issue #19 of OLOGY.
3. I may have an interview with Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snars)...if he responds to my message again. I hope he does...he gives interesting responses to his interview, so I hope he is into it.
4. Recent belly dance moves have been KILLIN my left hip...but I have a class performance on the 9th. Solo. Oh, if you only had a camcorder...that would only put you in grave danger.
5. AGORA is coming up fast. Saturday, October 13th!
6. I am a little off track from my art ideas list because I have been involved in a lot of contests and challenges on DeviantArt. I have been emmersing myself in digital. I have embedded some of my better ones of late in this post. I am progressing in both digital and traditional. I think my digital work is getting better, and it is benefitting my traditional. I don't know if I will ever get to the level of my friend Senecal, as far as selling my digital work. I do plan to submit them in a calendar format for 2008.
7. Getting ready for a Halloween Bash. I decided to have it the weekend after. More of a Day of the Dead party, I guess.
8. Eight is always intentionally left blank because I forget what it is for. Consult the Violent Femmes.
9. I am feeling so goth right now (god, that sounds so fucking lame...I'm leaving it)...can't wait for dreary skies and coldness. I love the fall.
10. Read up on this chick (Erzsebet of Bothory)...she is who I will be at my Halloween party


Seven by *peggymintun on deviantART

Queen of Cups by *peggymintun on deviantART

My Brain on Vast by *peggymintun on deviantART

The World Through My Window by *peggymintun on deviantART

Insomnia!!!

OK...took this down for a time, but Jared convinced me not to self-censor.

Holy mother of GOD, I am wired as fuck!!! I think I have RLS, too. Only in my right leg, though. Sort of just in the back of my right leg, above and below the knee area. I feel like my muscles are thin rubber bands and someone is plucking them. Grrrrrr.

Anyways, today was weird. Actually, this year has been weird...no wait. The decade has been weird so far. Sometimes when I am wired like this I just think about people I know. I think it is weird how you are destined to meet some people. And I think about how all the people I know intersect and know one another from different sources. Maybe it is a professional industry thing. I'm not sure. Things just seem right at the moment. But at the same time I feel like there is something on the horizon that will change a lot of things. I am not sure if this is personal or having to do with work, though. I never fear change. I am a change junkie, actually.

I have lost 42 pounds so far...since July. I really need to step it up. I am at a plateau right now. I do need to follow a plan better and start exercising more. I just can't pull off 100% discipline. That fucking bores me. And I need a vice. No, I am not without sin, and I never plan to be. It is part of my humanity enrichment program.

Oh, this is 1 AM babel. I may delete it tomorrow. Like that sweet post about the Get Well Soon card pissing me off. OH yeah, who sends get well soon cards to the chronically ill who has a disease that has no known cure, and no pinpointed cause? Now that is beautiful irony. Yes, church ladies, I will get-well-soon as soon as these right-wing Christian fuckheads who so carefully (carelessly) blend the lines of church and state approve some much needed stem cell research. Until then, please divert your funds from Hallmark and USPS to the MS charities and pray for science that will help the masses and not just me.

Weird Noises and Other Stuff

So, I was thinking on the way to Tennessee that the skies look different over other places. It is just an observation:


This is what the outside of the room looked like. We were like 3 stories up and I thought the only way to get down was the elevator, and a ramp out to the back parking lot. Anyway, I thought the red bars were cool...
Oh yeah, we watched Vacancy while we were there. This movie must be watched in a hotel room to make it scary.


Ever have a movie piss you off? Just got done watching Premonition. I fucking hate how it ended. It was just messed up. I would bitch about it more, but I'd hate to give away the ending. Look...a tree:


Look...a spider. Joe was smoking on the deck and spotted him. He's so cute. I took 10 pics and they all turned out blurry. Oh well.


The mountains look awesome in the mornings...all the fog that has settled overnight. I got a few good shots on the road to home.


And this one is from day 2 back on the mountain. I showed one shot a couple days ago. This orb thing appeared in this shot, but nothing was on the lens, and the light was not hitting the camera. Paranormal activity, maybe???


So, I notice now that the noises around here are weird. The wailing of the sirens and then the wailing of the dogs mimicking the sirens. And the wind...wait there has been no wind. So, I am gearing up for Halloween. It ought to be a good year for weirdness.

Random Pictures...

Almost time to come home. Went to the Haunted Mansion today. I screamed a couple times. Oh yeah...just about fell over once. It was creepy, but only because I allowed it to be. Then I went to Ripley's Believe It or Not. Love that place. I have not been to one of those in a while. But, I am bored now, and ready to get home.

Hmmmm...Smells like ****...At least smells are free!

Let me preface this by sayin' Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! Yar, matey!!! Rock on with your bad-ass eye patches.

I think when the lights go down in this town that everyone pees in the corners and shits in the creek. It is a lovely little town nestled between the mountains, but it is a little stinky. Just a bit. Smells are free though.

Having fun so far. It is very WTHB here. Just sayin'. I speak of 90% of the tourists. The locals look like they have come off a hard busy season of all things WT. They have that OMG-get-the-fuck-out-of-here attitude. A tattoo artist growled at me on the street yesterday. I was going to have her tattoo me...ok, not really I want to do that closer ro home.
Today we went to the aquarium. They searched us for guns. Poor little fishes held captive for the enjoyment of thousands of ...people. People with knives. I took pictures...





Later on we went up the mountain to take some pictures on the Outlook. It was very cool. I have vertigo. Normally I appreciate that dizzy, out-of-control feeling, but not when I think I will fall to my death...keep in mind the actual drop-off is like 50 feet away, making it impossible to fall to my death.





And I thought for a moment that I had gotten over my vertigo, but it returned full force.

Sasquatch Spotting

Better believe this...we saw a Sasquatch today. A little scary...he almost became roadkill. All right, if you don't believe me, here is proof:

20 Random Things About Me...Plus Pics of Jared and Jimbo

20 Random (painfully interesting) facts....

1. I love to write bad, angsty poetry...the kind that provokes one to snap their fingers, crave lattes, and smoke clove cigarettes in dark coffee houses.
2. I love Indian food, especially Tandoori chicken...yum.
3. I love rockin' out to Guitar Hero, and have been known to play with 95% accuracy with the guitar behind my head. OH yeah.
4. I recently got the chance (thanks to a friend on DA) to interview Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls....!!!! It'll be in an upcoming issue of OLOGY magazine!
5. My current favorite thing to do (aside from my art) is bellydancing and I have been taking classes for almost a year now.
6. I love mountains...but I get vertigo like a bitch.
7. When I was a teenager I wanted to be a disc jockey...but my dreams took a tragic turn into oblivion when I accidentally left the studio mic on while DJ-ing one night...there's a lot more to that story that I will not tell here.
8.
9. Brainchild from Omnibucket gave me nightmares and started my love and fascination with all things zombie.
10. I hate 80's styles...ruffles, pinned pants, leg warmers and big hair. Come on people, once was too freakin' much.
11. My fav coffee house drink is sugarfree hazelnut iced coffee.
12. I love books by astrophysicists, such as Michio Kaku and Stephen Hawking, but can feel my brain overloading when I read them. Wow.
13. Sometimes when I drift off to sleep and am very relaxed I see shapes and lights that play like a music player visualization, and I also, on occasion, have hypnagogic hallucinations.
14. I love making Flash animations to music, but I never have time to do it.
15. I most identify with being a Buddhist, but I appreciate other religions.
16. One of these days I want to learn to play the piano.
17. I love reading tarot cards for people, but will not do it when I am not feeling well.
18. The last three cars I have owned have been Ford Tauruses. I don't care about cars...they serve a purpose. If I had to have a luxury car it would be a Jaguar. And I would pronounce it Jag-U-wah.
19. I only like to chew cinnamon gum.
20. I can move my eyes in different directions independently.

Okay...time for pics of Jimmie and Jared....

Too Much Coffee

Is that possible?? I think I should have stopped at 3 cups...I had two this morning...2 big mugs at Bobs for lunch, and then 2 giant mugs this afternoon. TWEAK. I am fucking wired. Of course they each had artery clogging amounts of half-n-half.

So, I'm going down to Tennessee next week. Turns out that just over the mountain is a little town called Crabtree, NC. That is cool, given that Crabtree is my maiden name. Back when I was a young maiden...ha. Anyway, it is in the Blue Ridge in the Smokey Mountains just to the east of Cherokee land. I may have to pop over there just for a look around...that would also bring me very close to my Mom's family, too, and my current fav place to visit, Asheville, NC. I just love that area of the country.

Things I have found amusing lately:

Seth Green spoofs Chris Crocker's plea for Britney:

The Cure

OK...listening to the Cure for an hour is not a cure for depression. Truly I am only reminded of things that make me sad. I won't go into any gruesome details. I will only make a wish, put it in a box, cast a spell, and hope that things work out like I want. I know...be careful what you wish for.

Hmmmmm....what have I found interesting lately...little kitty kitty.

Senecal's Old One! Short Story

Hello. Wrote this story for Senecal's Old One! on Omnibucket just for fun. Kind of a weird science fiction out of body experience type tale of madness. Check it out and let me know what you think.

It's Sunday...Time for Random Things

First off, here is a blog from Bruce Campbell that I found this morning on mySpace. I have asked him to be my "friend". Who in the hell wouldn't? Bruce has a WIKI, as well. Who in the hell doesn't?
Here are two extended Old Spice videos:




IT...
If you have IT, you don't need IT.
If you need IT, you don't have IT.
If you have IT, you need more of IT.
If you have more of IT, you don't need less of IT.
You need IT to get IT.
And you certainly need IT to get more of IT.
But if you don't already have any of IT to begin with,
you can't get any of IT to get started,
which means you really have no idea how to get IT in the first place, do you?
You can share IT, sure.
You can even stockpile IT if you'd like.
But you can't fake IT.
Wanting IT.
Needing IT.
Wishing for IT.
The point is if you've never had any of IT, ever,
People just seem to know.

Interview...


I seem to be catching up with old friends this week. I just met up with Carmen yesterday...Monday is Julie and Isolde...Thursday is Samantha...and then Saturday is Jenn. Here's to old friends...Cheers!

I just finished writing a story to go with Senecal's Old One!. I think it turned out kind of cool. It needs to be linked up to the picture, then I will share it. Today I need to work on art. Seems that creative writing drains my energy, while art energizes me. It's the yin and yang of my creative cycle.

OK, I am off to watch a movie, or fold laundry, or paint a picture, or whatever Sunday brings.

Goth Ninja Belly Dance

I began taking belly dance lessons last November, almost one year ago, at Habeeba's School of Belly Dance Arts. I have absolutely loved it every step (ahem) of the way. I joke about it a lot and say that I am Goth Ninja...when you start school they make you wear black from head to toe because the introduction of color is too distracting to the instructors and other students. This may be true. I have never shook the black, and had my practice skirt and veil made from black chiffon. I also only wear black hip scarves...well, I do have a leopard skin one, too.

It certainly has been a challenge from time to time. We have learned how to Flutter, which is moving the diaphragm in and out until it makes the fat on your belly move in waves. Yeah, that's attractive. Another one of the more difficult moves is the Bedouin Walk. This is where you shimmy (moving the knees back and forth until your ass shakes and jiggles (again, lovely sight)and then moving forward and back with hip drops in a duck walk...got all that? Neither do I...actually, I did have a breakthrough last time. Other than those two and coordinating playing the zills (finger cymbals) at the same time, I have been quite successful at learning all the moves...the "sweet new moves", as I have pegged them for Joe.

So, here are a few of my favorite videos from the web showing this art form around the world:

Rachel Brice:
Paris Performance
Tribal Fusion
Rachel Brice Tribute

Mariah, My First Instructor

Egyptian Male Dancer

Diseases Sound Better In Japanese

Over a decade ago I was diagnosed with thyroid disease. One of my "ologists" just told me today that the condition I have is known as Hashimoto's disease. Now I can get into that...HASHIMOTO. That sounds like a cool character on a Godzilla movie, or some other Japanese coolness. So, I figure I will have all my other current and future conditions and diseases translated into Japanese...just to take the edge off and give it an air of mystery.

Artist Statements

This is something I struggle with because when I write about myself, I tend to be a complete smart ass, or too simplistic, and it comes off just weird and disjointed. So, this week one of my goals is to formulate and write an artist statement and my bio.

I found this site, which seems to be a good resource.

Another thing is finding that balance between making it personal and too-much-information. I tend to not have a filter. I'll post something, then go back and read it and change it 20 times. And then still think it's shit and go back and change it again. Then wonder if I should just delete the whole damned thing and forget about it. Or should I be one of those cool people who just say something like "My art will devour your soul and regurgitate it into a rancid, puffy cloud of smoke". You see what I mean, that's not cool. That's lame...er, when I say it. It could work for you, perhaps.

So, anyway, I'm going to get to work and see what fabulous, awe-inspiring, genius words I can string together to describe all that is me and my art and my process.

Hey, What's Up?

MoBA

Have you ever heard of MoBA, the Museum of Bad Art? I love it. It is located in Boston, MA. Their website is priceless. The descriptions of the works really make it. All the works are really just fun...I would liken it to receiving a piece of are from one of your kids, or (in my case) friends/family kids. You know, look at that it and think "at least they are trying". And then to add on some high brow art description to describe the work is awesome (and meant to be humorous...I hope!) Anyway, you should check it out. Recently I polled people on deviantArt to see what they would think about showing up in MoBA. I think I have a couple people who want to get their work in there now. Hmmmm...perhaps a contest or challenge. We are all striving to be so good at our craft, it's like a a welcome change to be allowed to screw up and be recognized (in a tongue-in-cheek way) for it, too. Kind of a right back at ya...I'm good and I'm bad...I am versatile. Okay...here's the linkage: MoBA, baby.

Omnibucket

So the folks over at Omnibucket have been working very hard to get their new site up and running. I am just going to blatantly copy and paste their About description, rather than try to formulate a description in my own words...then feel free to surf over there and check it out...maybe set up an account if you are a creative type and want to participate...

"Omnibucket is

*A creative incubator for creators, fans, and producers.

*A platform for creators to converge, collaborate, and create.

*A space for fans and consumers to learn about the creative process as it grows and happens.

*A source for creativity scouts to discover developed and production-ready projects.

Omnibucket is a creative incubator more than a traditional publishing company.
As the founders of Omnibucket we have already defined space, built up real-world experience, and have a growing network of talent and industry contacts. These assets enable us to foster creative collaborations which yield book-based projects that are ready for mainstream production.

This web space itself is a place where contributors can work directly with each other by adding their own content. Omnibucket.com has aspects of social networking sites; the difference is that this network is comprised of people involved in the creative process."

Visit Omnibucket.

Why Hello

It is a beautiful HOT day outside...I need to leave the house before it reaches 105 degrees. But not to work...I am feeling a little under the weather today...being that is in the sky.

So, I am working on a few things right now as far as writing and art. I have laid out this zombie story trying to put a weird religious spin on it. Currently cleaning up Dawn of Her Last Day (formerly Wheatwolf) in order to contribute it to Omnibucket. I am also doing many artworks. One being a drawing called Cellar Door. It is inspired by Donnie Darko. I am working on another time travel piece called The Magic of Flux Capacitors. I have a list of 30-40 projects I am working from. I have had crazy amounts of creative energy this summer. It seems as though my brain was frozen for the longest time. So, I think it will be time travel weekend. Also trying to jump into digital. Got to love the digital artists who can create such beautiful pieces. Trying to transfer my artisitic skills to that medium, without mucking things up with my history of using photoshop for graphic design is a challenge. But I am learning, and I have a great teacher.

I am also trying to get started contributing to OLOGY magazine by interviewing musicians. One of the guys who owns it asked me about it a couple times. I just looked at him and was like dude, I don't any musicians unless we are talking local/regional. Turns out that I have a pretty good chance to interview a pretty awesome, well-known one. More to come...

Cool things...

Check out this video by Venetian Snares...I think it is inspirational.

Hello!

I wanted to set up a blog that is outside of my DeviantArt world, and did not want to use my MySpace page. So, I am starting one here. Going to keep this short this time, but I hope to add much much more in the future.