So Much for Sleep

Fluffiness covers a multitude of sins, but really, this is pushing the limit. My terrible, horrible kitten has discovered that she can push my bedroom door open with her nose. When I tried to kick her out for the fifth time in as many minutes, she bit me. Now she's sprawled at the foot of the bed, nibbling my toes.

Stress-Induced Doodling

End of term, yay. Three significant projects/papers/presentations due in the next three days, not yay. It's doodle time!

Tired of translating? Take this guy's advice, have a dance-off!

Sorry this is sideways; I fail at pictures. This is from the front of my english folder. I drew an eye, and the rest of the face just followed. Except for the other eye.

A highlighter-and-dry-erase-marker flapper doodled on an old envelope: this is what happens when writing utensils and flat, wood-pulp-based surfaces are left within my reach.

You know what would be great?
--if there was an animated Japanese children's show featuring three kids, an inept professor who dressed like Disco never died, and a really weirdass robot? And they all lived together in a flying house that travelled through time to various Bible stories?

I couldn't make this stuff up.

Does anyone else remember this show? Because I was beginning to think I'd just imagined it. Seriously, you have no idea how happy this makes me.

What is wrong with this Picture?

I am sitting in my dorm room, on my dorm-issue desk chair, and eating leftover couscous off my dorm-issue desk. I have a napkin in my lap, and the fork I'm using has ornate scrollwork on both sides of the handle. This seems oddly incongruous.

In other news, my camera is out of batteries, so no more picture updates until I get around to buying some more AA's. I have a few things in the works, including an odd little comic that may or may not make it up here.

The Magic of Charcoal

"Take this arm. I do not want it."

Seriously, I don't know what the crap this is supposed to be. I can't even figure out if it's a man or a woman who's disgruntledly shoving a giant arm at the viewer. But aren't charcoals fun? I can just scribble some random stuff, smudge it a bit, and suddenly it looks all cool and artsy! So yeah, I'll probably be messing around with it some more. I've mastered the most important step, which is to wash my hands before reaching up to adjust my glasses. Black smudges do nothing for my complexion.

I decide to go shoe-shopping. At Goodwill.

I know what I'm looking for: leather, minimal heel, dressy enough to wear with skirts, ideally tan or a similarly neutral color.

I am not here to buy clothes, but I can't resist looking around. I talk myself out of red corduroy pants, a polyester blouse, several garish sweaters, and a set of Anastasia juice glasses.

I find the shoes. There are several promising-looking pairs, which I try on. Curses. Why do old ladies have to have such small feet? I find a suitable pair in more-or-less my size. They fit. I mentally class them as irredeemably old-ladyish.

I buy them anyway.

Justification: they will only look like old-lady shoes if I wear them with old-lady clothes. As long as I dress like a young, hip fashion maven (instead of the batty old cat lady trapped in the body of a college student that I actually am), people will assume that they are Vintage Footwear. No one will suspect that they are actually old-lady shoes from Goodwill! ...right?

...right?!

I did this a while back, but forgot that I hadn't posted it yet. I have no idea what it's supposed to be. In other news, I picked up two issues of Sandman and the latest Pratchett novel at the library today, so I'm pretty much set for the evening.

In other, other news, JKR outed Dumbledore and the internet exploded. I am observing from my shadowy corner of lurkdom, and I have to say my favorite reaction by far was, "Oh goody, now we can wear our Hogwarts costumes to the Pride parade!"

Friday Fluffblogging

Me: Xena, my life has no direction!
Xena: purr purr purr
Me: I am a bark adrift on a vast ocean of confuzzlement!
Xena: purr purr purr
Me: I have Teen Angst!
Xena: purr purr purr
Me: Xena, your wisdom is unparalleled--tell me, what must I do to cure this malaise?
Xena: *washes ears* purr purr purr....

--excerpt from an old Xanga entry

You know, I kind of miss blogging. I mean, I technically still do it, what with the doodleblog and all, but it's not the same as sitting down at the keyboard and going, "LET ME TELL YOU, INTERNETS!!1!" about whatever random crap I feel like blathering on about. The thing is, I am a very private person with a very boring life, which leaves me with nothing much to talk about besides my cats and the weather and whatever my Obsession du Jour is. All these things have the potential to be interesting for maybe thirty seconds before the reader thinks, "Gah! The boring! It melts my brain!" and goes off to check out Stuff On My Cat. And despite my misgivings and much evidence to the contrary, I like to think that the doodleblog does not fall under the category of Brainmeltingly Boring, but is, in fact, mildly interesting. So I post doodles, and keep my cat stories and rants and fannish squee to myself. But darnit, sometimes I want to talk about boring things. And it's not like I have an enormous fanbase to satisfy (*waves to readers, all three of you*). So henceforth, Friday shall be Fluff Day, and there will be catblogging and linkblogging and doubtless some shameless fangirling as well. Fiat fluff!

Some Doodleness

This is the last week before I head home for fall break, so naturally I've been spending it watching Doctor Who, writing, and doodling. Here's a page from my sketchbook that I filled during the episode with the plant-monster in Antarctica, not that it has anything to do with that.
I've got some actual comicky-type stuff in the works if I ever get around to finishing it, including--yes--the Curtain Emergency.

The Burdens of Adulthood

It was a depressing realization indeed, but I made up for it by getting a bunch of comics from the library.

A Dream of a Memory

I dream of old boarded-up rooms with high, blind windows and peeling wallpaper. The floorboards are dusty and dark but I can see the faint ivory curve of an eye-socket, and that sad pile in the corner is not dirt but the skeleton of some unfortunate, long-dead bird.

Cartooning for the Lazy

Um. So I drew a comic, but I was too lazy to ink it, so I just went over the pencil quickly in MS Paint. Consequently, it looks crappy. Also, it makes no sense. Even *I* don't get it. All you need to know is that (a) it's a conversation between my 19-year-old self and my 9-year old self and (b) that Meeps and Z-boy were cats, and that the former died of cancer when I was in third grade, and the latter of old age five years later. Make of it what you will.

I wasn't on anything, I swear!

These rather trippy doodles were created in lieu of notes in Gender, Sex, and Texts today. I have no idea what the heck they're supposed to be.

We are Made of Awesome.

So we were bored, my boyfriend and I.

Cartoony Faces (Catching Up, Part the Second)

I filled ten pages of my sketchbook with cartoon heads. I present a small sampling for your amusement.

I'm not sure, but I think this is the gentleman with the thistledown hair from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Boyfriend! I've been trying to come up with a cartoony version of Nathan, but it never comes out quite right. This one is sort of OK, although I'm still not satisfied.Another attempt, with a cartoon Kylie to the lower right.

I was practicing drawing expressions on myself, and this one is my favorite.

No head-doodling session would be complete without the Random Dude-guy!

Catching Up, Part the First

I'm finally back at school and summer is pretty much over. So I figured I'd better post now (it's Syllabus Monday) before I get busy. These two are the products of my experimentation with crayon as an artistic medium (which is a grand way of saying that I got bored and found a box of crayola stubs in the basement).


This was my first attempt, drawn in the dark while watching "Highlander". As a result, it kind of sucks, but I liked the coloring effects, so I decided to give it another try.



...Which resulted in this. I had a lot of fun drawing it, and I'm actually quite pleased with the way it came out.

There is more to come! But now I have to go to class.

Skinny Jeans

Cat Story

I don't want to hurt my cat's feelings.

This says a lot about me, but not much about the cat. Allow me to explicate: Xena-kitty is ten years old, and posessed of exactly seven teeth. Hygiene is not her strong suit, nor is brainpower. But she is cute. None can resist the Big Blue Eyes of Doom!

Right now those big blue eyes are staring at me, begging for confirmation that their owner is indeed a Mighty Huntress, whose very name strikes terror into the hearts of small rodents. She presents as evidence an old cat toy: a small stuffed fish whose tail was lost to my dog's puppy days and whose body is riddled with puncture-marks.

Aw Xena, you're kind of pathetic. But I can't tell you that.

When she came trotting downstairs, meowing urgently, I thought something was wrong. This wasn't her "Give me food! Now!" meow, nor was it her "I wandered into a closet and now I can't remember how to get out!" meow. As she came into view, all became clear: this was her "Look what I caught! I am a Mighty Huntress!" meow. Her partner-in-crime, Mercatroid, has a similar meow that he used when he caught my sister's pet mouse.* Even the late Kinda, a neurotic scaredy-cat who piddled on herself and ate cardboard, managed to catch an actual fish from our aquarium and drag it upstairs to show everybody.** And Michiko...we won't go there.*** But here is Xena, waiting expectantly for me to praise her for catching a stuffed cat toy.

Aw, Xena. You are so not a Mighty Huntress. Darnit, stop looking at me like that! ...Oh, fine. C'mere and I'll scratch your chin.

*This happened twice, to the same mouse. Miraculously, it survived both encounters and died peacefully of old age.
**The fish also survived the encounter and lived to a ripe old age.
***She wears the guise of a cute, fluffy kitten, but is almost certainly some sort of bloodthirsty demon.

Meet my Mom.

My mother is quite openminded about the popular music of my generation, as long as it's not too "weird" (she's fond of hip-hop, but the White Stripes are right out). The only problem is that she can't remember which songs go with which artists, so she depends on my sister to keep track of her musical tastes...which is what prompted the following:



Edit: dagnabitall, I've just realized I put the steering wheel on the wrong side. So just pretend we're British, okay?

...cont'd.

So here's the rest of my reciept-paper doodles.



This is from the day the president of the company was coming to "grade" our store and everyone was going nuts preparing for it. I kept wondering when he was going to walk in the door, and whether he'd be announced, and then my imagination kind of ran with it...



Dr. Stephen Maturin meets Dr. Stephen Strange. Cracktastic Marvel Comics/Patrick O'Brian crossovers are the sort of thing my mind likes to come up with to amuse itself.

Kylie and the World of Work

My last entry corresponds roughly with my getting hired at Shirt-Folding Store, which is where I've whiled away many a (paid-by-the) hour in the last month or so. For a summer job it's not at all bad and my co-workers are all super-nice, but there is a lot of time spent standing around waiting for a customer to wander in. I've accumulated a number of doodles done on reciept-paper done during these times. I was going to post all of them, but some didn't come out and in others you can see the company logo on the paper (I'm probably paranoid to be worried about this, but let's just stick with Shirt-Folding Store, okay?). So I've only put one up for now, but I will probably post the others after some retakes and tweaking.



This is one of the minor mishaps that occurred during the markdowns hoopla last week. I got to wander around with this cool zapper thingy and print out price stickers. At one point I had to replace the roll of label-tape in the printer, but I put it in wrongside-up and when I tried to make price tags it went haywire and spit out about eight feet of tape before I could fix it.

An Odd Sort of Critter

This strange beast sprang fully-formed from the tip of my ballpoint pen not thirty minutes ago. I think he may be a descentant of the creatures cavorting on the pages of the Book of Kells, but really there's no way to be sure.

Old Cat Story

This happened about ten years ago, when Mercatroid was still a kitten. I felt like doodling this afternoon, so I grabbed a pen and for some reason this scene sprang to mind.

Something New, Finally

Not only did I find my camera cable, I finished a new drawing! Wow, I feel productive!

Aaaand...you can't read it. The wording is, "I dreamt last night that I was pulling weeds. Virginia Creeper, Garlic Mustard, all the invasive species...and a fern by mistake". Yeah, exciting, I know. I am resisting the temptation to make a comprehensive list of all the stuff I see wrong with this picture.

Okay, so here's the deal:

I cannot find my camera cable. This means that I cannot upload pictures to my computer, which makes updating difficult. I've got a few Works In Progress that I hope to finish by the time I find it, so hopefully I'll be able to start updating again soon.

In the meantime, here's a real-life Xena-kitty:

It's Kind of Sad, Really

I picked up some X-Men comics at the library today, and spent the afternoon squeeing over them. Xena-kitty wanted to sit in my lap, so I figured I might as well introduce her to the marvels of the x-universe.
...yes, I talk to my cats. They don't generally answer back. The next is a kitty-comic of sorts, in which Michiko (aka Michi aka Horrible Kitten aka Bad Bad OWW!...)

I should mention that Xena is a Jedi cat as well as a Gumbie cat*. There's no particular reason; she just is. Fortunately for the world, she mostly uses her powers for convincing people to give her food.

Oh, and check out Lackadaisy! It is a comic set in Prohibition-era St. Louis, by a lady who draws cats much better than I do.

* "She sits and sits and sits and sits/ and that's what makes a Gumbie cat." --T.S. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Doodle Retrospective, Part I

In the process of cleaning my room, I found the box with my first-grade "journals" in it. Since I have nothing else to post, I present these for your amusement:







This reads, "Me and Krissy and Snpc", by which I meant Spiderslop, a rubber snake to which I was much attached. Also, I thought that "spiderslop" was a really cool name.

My old cat Meeps, crowned and inexplicably holding plates of cat food.

Well, it saves on art supplies...

I offered up my hole-digging skills as a Mothers' Day gift, and consequently spent most of this afternoon helping my mom dig up and transplant a venerable and well-rooted azaelea. After being outside all day, I thought I'd try my hand at some more plant-dye painting. This was the rather trippy result:

I used a shrub with reddish leaves (mom told me the name, but I forgot) for the tree, dandelions for the background, and various leaves on the grass.

Cat Wars!

The Kitties are most often seen cavorting on the dry-erase board of Annex 201 these days, but they've existed in their current incarnation since I was in 7th grade. Here's a comic drawn when I was 14 or so, starring Xena, Jedi Master:

...and in belated honor of No Pants Day:

I Ate'nt Dead...

...just kind of busy. And I haven't really produced anything blog-worthy in the doodle department, but I figure I ought to put something up here, this being after all a Doodle Blog. Speaking of which, I have a question for my readership (all three of you): quality or quantity? Would you rather have sporadic, infrequent updates of fully-inked-and-maybe-colored cartoons, or bi-weekly (something like that) doodlements of varying quality and exciting-ness?

I have no idea where any of this came from. None. Let's see...we've got a sort of double rat, a gator dog, a golem, and a man who apparently contracted the chicken pox before being dumped in a peat bog. Also, it amuses me that all you can see of my notes for twentieth-century African history are "legit pharaoh", "barbarian strength", and "queen of Ethiopia".

the dread SARCASMA!

This looks better in my sketchbook, I swear... It is Geek Girl's archnemesis, the fashionable fiend Sarcasma!
Powers: Cutting remarks and razor-sharp wit
Weakness: is related to me

PS--Please don't kill me, Krissy. Look, I gave you pencil jeans!

Fear Not the Dorkness...

Here's another silly self-portrait cartoon, sketched up last night instead of doing my Latin homework. Fortunately, today's class was taken up making insulting posters for the upcoming soccer match against the Russian department. Carpamus campum!

Oh, Fridays...

I was actually pretty productive today, in that I actually took notes. Sort of. Granted, they turned into doodles twenty minutes into the class, but they are there...

This is me ripping off William Morris in the margin of my English notebook. The figure at the top right is my sad attempt at the Wife of Bath from Canterbury Tales.

This is my African History professor. It may have looked like I was really interested in today's lecture, but really I was just trying to get the shadows right on his nose. It's not a very good likeness, but it did keep me occupied for a good forty minutes.

Moving In

I finally got fed up with Xanga and decided to move somewhere with a more sensible comments policy. So here I am. The old stuff can still be found yonder.

This should be familiar to anyone who has ever played Super Smash Brothers with me. I still live by the conviction that raising the controller above my head will keep my character from falling.