Pieces of Time

Book Recs

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:39:07 GMT

Just finished the YA book Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor. If you haven't read it, do! It's darkish and delicious.

I also highly recommend the author's first two books: Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer and its sequel Dreamdark: Silksinger. Not as darkish, but just as delish! :-)

This woman can write - and she has a fabulous imagination.

Enjoy! And any librarians on my flist - please check these out and consider getting them if you're able. (No, I don't know the author - I just think she's deserving.)

Can't make it to WriterCon

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:02:19 GMT

I won't be able to come to WriterCon. :-(

As some of you know, my mom is 'failing' and is under hospice care. She is having a minor procedure Saturday morning and, as her health care POA, I need to be close at hand. I gave a lot of thought to whether availability on a cell phone counted as 'close at hand' and had to admit it didn't.

Of course, I am beyond disappointed. I'm looking forward to reading all the con reports and seeing pics, but even that won't make up for not being able to see everyone and be a part of the fun.

I hope all of you who are going have a terrific weekend!

Hey, it's a piece of fan art!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:11:41 GMT

How looooong has it been??

Loved this pic of SMG - had to do something with it.

See full size here.

Contemplating Spike

Michael Jackson

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:39:31 GMT

Four times in my life I've shed tears upon learning of the death of a celebrity. I cried for Walt Disney, for Jim Hensen, for Princess Diana and tonight, for Michael Jackson. Michael's music provided some of the soundtrack of my life. We were of an age and, for the most part, his music made me happy; made me want to move and dance and sing along. His life, I thought, was in so many, many ways sad and tragic, but his talent was simply immense.

And yeah, it might sound cliche, but I'm going to say it anyway; Rest in Peace, Michael. Thank you for the songs and the dancing that gave me so much joy. Your talent impacted the worlds of music and dance and will not be forgotten.

WriterConSpuffy

Tue, 26 May 2009 01:36:58 GMT

I've been asked if there's interest in holding a Spuffy get together at WriterCon 2009 in Minneapolis.

Is there?

SMG Pregnant

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:22:23 GMT

Just read that Sarah Michelle Gellar & some hubby are expecting a baby in the fall. Congrats to them.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!

:-)

Start Your Day with a Smile

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:17:43 GMT

Hope you all haven't see this a million times already. It was new to me this morning and I had to share. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg

New Addition to My Family

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:35:35 GMT

After eight years of deliberation (didn't want to rush into anything, you know) I've made Trace, a Bernese Mountain Dog pup, a part of my family. He's 13 weeks old, I am completely smitten and we are bonding wonderfully.

There's a lot of stress in other parts of my life right now - changing database systems and web design at work, but most significantly, the admitance of my mother into hospice in early October.

Trace is proving a great stress reliever and I'm so glad to have him with me. You can a couple of other pics here: http://pics.livejournal.com/mary5958/gallery/0004rth5

I know I've been a terrible LJ'er lately, but i'd love to hear how everyone is doing. I hope you're all well.

WriterCon 2009

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:54:45 GMT

Yeah, woo-hoo and other assorted expressions of happiness and excitement. It's WriterCon 2009!!!

WRITERCON 2009
July 30 – August 2, 2009
Radisson Plaza Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The first two WriterCon's were unforgettable and I'm looking forward to adding new memories to those I gathered at each of them.

PLEASE come!

So - I've been absent...

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:54:48 GMT

It's been quite a while since I've posted. Shortly after my last post, my modem was knocked out by one of the devastating storms we experienced here in early June and it was a couple of weeks before I replaced it.

In the meantime, however, I wracked up my back and am still having a lot of trouble with it. Though I'm in therapy and doing regular exercizes to strengthen it, sitting in front of my computer - especially after a day at work - is just not do-able. It is getting better and is not nearly as painful as it was a month ago, but I'm guessing my computer time will continue to be severly limited.

I apologize for being unable to keep up with everyone and I hope everyone on my flist is doing well. I still have comments and invitations issued before all this happened to respond to and I hope to take care of those over the next few days. Thank you so much to those of you who emailed to check up on me!

And look - I actually have a manip to share! My first in quite some time. As usual, the full size is kinda big! :-) Main texture by uglybusiness. Hope you enjoy.

Untitled Buffy Manip – Full Size.

Weekend Storms and Aftermath

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:31:23 GMT

I didn't take these pictures - they were posted on MSNBC. We had tremendous storms over the weekend and are now experiencing severe and dangerous flooding. Dams are overflowing and a number are in danger of failing.

The resort town of Wisconsin Dells - about an hour from me, and where I know many, many of the resort owners because they so generously support the charity I work for - lost a lake today. (Yes, a lake, and it took several large houses with it.)

I know other parts of the midwest have been hit even harder than we have. I'm keeping you all in my thoughts.

	Sunday Storm
	A part of the Wisconsin Dells Resort area, Lake Delton emptied after a dam failed.
	One of the Lake Delton homes swept away with the water.
	Nearby farmland

My Sister's Garden

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:52:24 GMT

Pictures from my sister's small but lovely garden taken in late May, 2008. The garden relies primarily on shape, form and foliage color rather than flowers. The first five pictues are of her front garden (and you can see that her next door neighbor employs a similar style in her front garden), while the others show her main garden behind her house. The photos are in order, following the curve of the garden around a small central lawn area.

See them all here.

Catching Up & A New Manip

Tue, 27 May 2008 04:11:09 GMT

I just got back from Montana a few days ago and have been dedicating my free time to my gardens since then. They're almost done - yeah!! I can't wait to spend some time catching up on LJ over the next few days - I owe a lot of comments and need to reply to many. It will get done. :-) I hope everyone is well.

I saw this gorgeous base last night and couldn't resist manipping it today during breaks taken from gardening to rest my back. The very talented artist is Jia Ruan, who was new to me. Hope you like!

Watchful Eyes – Full Size.

A New Spike fan

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:06:20 GMT

I had Granddaughter #1 (age 3) over the weekend. I don't usually turn on my computer when she's here, but I grabbed some time to finish a piece of fanart while she was still sleeping Sunday morning, posted it and was just about to power off when she got up. She came over to check out what I was doing and saw the Spike manip on my LJ home page.

"Oooooh, Grandma! He's handsome!" she said, tracing his face on the screen.

I think this proves she has superior genes. And is, of course, bloody brilliant.

:-)

New Buffy/Spike Manip - worksafe

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:28:21 GMT

Using one of my favorite Buffy/Spike suitable quotes.

As always, I hope you enjoy!

The Bridge – Full Size.

New Manip

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:48:22 GMT

Base by Luis Royo. Brushes by uglybusiness.

I was happy with the manip, so I spent some time playing around with it, trying to come up with a more interesting way to 'present' it. I feel I struggle a lot with composition - enhancing a manip, especially - and I really want to work on that more over the next few months.

Constructive criticism welcome. :-)

Best viewed in Full Size. Hope you enjoy!

Lethal Weapon – Full Size.

Lethal Weapon Wall – Full Size.

Lethal Weapon

Lethal Weapon Wall

Oz Manip

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:33:40 GMT

For my posting day at seasonal_spuffy, I manipped a photo of SMG & Seth Green from the recent cast reunion. While I was working with it, I kept thinking about how much I had liked Oz and missed him after he left the show.

So I did this little manip of him. The base was small and low quality (artist unknown) and the piece was done in less than 30 minutes - all unusual for me. But it's a small salute to Oz. :-)

Other Stuff:

Journey’s End, my manip of a Linda Bergkvist piece, was a runner up at the Shades of Grey Awards - a nice surprise.

And today, after having an LJ for two years, I surprised myself by actually putting up a short bio. Huh.

Dream

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:40:26 GMT

So, I had a dream last night that I met Marc Blucas at a fund-raising event. I looked at him and said "Riley" in the same tone Seinfeld says, "Newman."

He laughed.

That is all.

New Layout with Spike!

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:30:16 GMT

Yeah, I know I just changed it, but the colors were just too hard on my eyes. I'm hoping this one will be a bit easier on them.

My thanks to khaoschilde and rae_isha who gave me info on using flexible squares with the side picture. So I could use my favorite manip of Spike, of course.

I may have to make Spike a bit smaller, so there's more room for the journal. But I want to give this a try because, after all - Spike...Priorities...

Let me know if it's a real bugger for viewing. :-)

Fund-raising Software?

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:03:01 GMT

Is there anyone on my flist who uses a commercially available fund-raising software program at work and would be willing to tell me what it is and whether or not they like it?

I'm spending hours at work (and home) researching them.

Any help/input would be deeply appreciated!

New LJ Layout and Handwriting meme

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:12:55 GMT

My first non-Buffy/Spike layout. I loved the colors in this manip so decided to give it a try. Not sure how I feel about it, but it does have color, damn it! :-)

No one tagged me for the Handwriting meme, which I totally nicked from enigmaticblues. I just thought it was different and kind of fun. And, huh, I wasn't aware I wrote so 'uphill'. :-)

1. Name/username
2. Righty or lefty
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letters to write.
5. "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."
Isn't this supposed to be "The quick brown fox jumps (rather than jumped) over the lazy dog? So, um, all the letters of the alphabet are involved?
6. Tag five people.

My Handwriting

Revised Manip

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 05:08:25 GMT

Just couldn't leave it alone...

Destiny Beckons – revised. See full size here.

New Dawn Manip/Wallpaper

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 02:33:55 GMT

Destiny Beckons – see full size here.

Deathly Hallows film - and The Hobbit, too!

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:25:21 GMT

I hope splitting DH into two films means they won't have to take quite so many "liberties" with the story.

And yeah - The Hobbit! With Peter Jackson as executive producer (I believe), but not (I also believe) directing. I wonder how that will all work out - and can't wait to see! :-)

LOS ANGELES - Harry Potter was the center of seven novels, but he'll star in eight films. The final book in the wildly successful series will be made into two films, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Producers are expected to announce Thursday that J.K. Rowling's last "Potter" installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will be split into two parts on the big screen. The first film is slated for release in November 2010, with part two following in May 2011.

"It was born out of purely creative reasons," producer David Heyman told the Times. "Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book."

The two final "Potter" films will be shot concurrently, much like the blockbuster trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel "The Lord of the Rings."

Another famous Tolkien tome, "The Hobbit," is also being split into two live-action movies set for back-to-back shooting to begin next year.

New Dawn Manip

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:52:06 GMT

I've had this base on my computer for a couple of years, just longing for a new face. When I finally snagged a couple of hours for myself (I've been very occupied with family the last few weeks), I granted its wish. Hope you like! And why, yes, of course it's big!! :-)

Music Reveals the Soul – see full size here.