Over the Mountains and Through the Woods...

Ok…not really on my way to grandmother’s house, at least not yet. But I thought I’d post some pictures I took in the past couple of months. Including some videos.



The first set are from a park Statler and I took Dad to. It was Father’s Day, and instead of watching a movie, since there weren’t any movies either one of us were interested in, we decided that a nice walk around a national park would be a far better time! I treated Dad to breakfast at a diner, and Statler made a rather untraditional picnic lunch. No, while others at the park were having hamburgers, hotdogs, and fresh made salsa (Dad watched this one Hispanic lady make a whole meal from scratch, enthralled with the way she cut the veggies up without even looking at what she was doing.)…we had some mustard chicken with flatbread, fruit salad, and some kind of grain that I can’t name at the moment. My memory fails me too often.



Either way, it was rather yummy and we had a grand time hiking, taking pictures, and eating healthily.



This here was a bug nest/burrow of sorts. Don’t know if it was a beetle, bee, or spider, but something black and fuzzy with multiple legs was crawling around there adjusting the purple fuzz! Statler might have gotten better pictures of it.



Speaking of spiders, the town I live in is swarming in them, and I think they’re getting ready to kill me. I’ve got a nest in my mailbox; I think I’ve figured out their plan. The eggs have hatched, and they’re tiny little buggers. The way I see it, they’re trying to gain entrance into my house via my mail, and once they’re all in, they’re going to swarm all about me and kill me in my sleep! Assuming the kittens don’t get to me first…



















HI DAD!







Ok, these next couple of photos I took while gazing up at the clouds out on Karper Road. Who doesn’t like a good cloud picture right?





But wait until you see the beauty I captured here on video! I’ve never seen a rainbow so big in my life, that I can remember! But what makes it more amazing to me is the time of day it was, at sunset! I texted a picture to friends and family, and got a reply from my coworker how she and her husband were looking at it to! They were generally in the same area as I, but it was still just truly amazing to see!





Oh right! So there’s this tree I like to climb on my friends’ property. One time after swinging down from the branches, I happened upon a pretty white gypsy moth that was hanging out on the trunk!



It’s not very often I want to get up early in the morning, but earlier this weekend I had decided to get up at the crack of dawn to take a looooooong walk down one farm road, to another, and to one I regularly walk back to home. Basically, think of it as a two hour walk around the block. XD It was great, because I got to get some beautiful shots that you can only get at sunrise, as well as made some new friends!



So I’m photographing these horses while they graze, admiring how the sun shines on their coats when one looks at me and decides that it’s going to come over to say hi. Well, maybe not so much as say hi as eat the flowers nearby and unload the end product from its bowels, but I decided to take it as a way of saying hi. Then the next thing I know, another horse looks at me and the other horse and is all ‘Well, I’ve got to check this out as well’. The next thing I know, most of the herd is coming over to say hi and graze nearby, all except one that decided it was content on the far side of the field. XD



I had even taken a video of the whole lot of them, but somehow…it either didn’t save or I accidently deleted it without knowing it. Sad, I thought for sure Animal and Mama Karper would have loved to see it.

























So later on, I come across a cow farm! Now, since I’ve moved from Upstate NY, I’ve refused to believe that cows exist in any other state. So I decided a good 10 years ago that these here are not cows, but pigeons that have been cleverly disguised with highly sophisticated holographic imagery! And now you’re asking why I’m so bent on believing such foolishness! Because Byrne Dairy Milk does not exist anywhere outside of NY State!



Yes. It’s already been established that I’m a nutcase. But I was raised on Byrne Dairy Milk, and one of my dad’s high school friends declared that I wasn’t lactose intolerant, but I was simply allergic to any other milk that wasn’t Byrne Dairy Milk! Of course! That makes logical sense now! Quick! Move me back to my home state so I don’t have to drink Lactaid anymore and return to my beloved Byrne Dairy Goodness!



ANYWAYS! These pigeon/cows had the same reaction to me as the horses did. One looked at me, and decided that the area I was standing in was far more interesting and tasty to graze in than where it was earlier! Though, I think with the cows, it was a general consensus that my hat was so weird that they needed to get a closer look to make sure that there was someone beneath it.



I have a Chinese straw conical hat that I wear on my walks when it’s too sunny out. The Karper’s neighbor likes it and said he kind of wished he had one. And when I wore it to the park on Father’s Day, my sister even said she wanted one, despite how weird Dad thought they were. It’s actually kind of nice, and I get a ton of weird looks from the locals because of it. ^_^

I BAKED!

I sent this picture to my sisters and friends…to which Statler immediately called me exclaiming: “YOU COOKED?!” “No…I don’t like cooking. But I like to bake!” ^_^ To which we had a long and in depth conversation about cooking and baking.

Dad told me how cooking is an art, and baking is a science…to which Statler and I agreed that baking is a science that’s easy to be creative with. We talked about the ironic differences in our chemistry grades. Baking is like chemistry, mixing stuff together-wise…and she passed chemistry but hates baking. I failed chemistry but like baking. GO FIGURE! And then she asked me how I made the cupcakes so Irish looking. XD It really wasn’t all that hard to figure out, but I had fun either way.

I simply wanted a cupcake, and since my store no longer carries the Hostess Cupcakes, I said…”Well, I’ll just make myself some cupcakes!” And then…since St. Patty’s Day was coming up, I said…”I’ll make them Irish Cupcakes!” Though, now that I think about it, I kind of wish I added some Irish Cream syrup to them…just to give them a boost of flavor. Ah well! Maybe next time around!

In other news…



I think my niece Animal has surpassed me! Just look at her picture! I wasn’t drawing like that at her age! I was still drawing stick figure animals. Stick figure animals with proper leg anatomy…but still STICK FIGURES! She’s a genius in comparison to me at her age! GENIUS! I’m so proud of her!

The Big Four Oh.

This year, 2010...the start of a new decade in itself…just so happens to be the same year that three of the women in my family start a new decade in their lives as well. The first of us is my oldest sister…who we will lovingly call Statler, again from our sister Kermit’s blog.



As I was saying, the first to reach her birthday of the three of us is Statler, and incase you haven’t figured out how old she is, then I’m guessing the title hasn’t clued you in enough. ^_~ Oh well. It doesn’t matter, because like any of us in my family, she doesn’t look her age. I think it was only a couple years ago, someone asked for her license when she was buying a pack of cigarettes for her husband. She’s a whole ten years older than me, so I can honestly say that when growing up, we weren’t quite as close as me and Kermit were. But Statler still has as much love for me as our other sister, and I can tell that she’s looking out for me.



Our dad and I will argue day in and out about my sister’s hair. For the most part, I will always remember it as being red and incredibly curly. Even if we have pictures to prove my dad’s accuracy as to when he insists that she was originally a blonde. Despite those pieces of visual evidence, I still refuse to believe him. That coloration doesn’t fit her on so many levels, most of all her personality. Statler is bright, vibrant, giddy, excited, patient and well tempered…which is a strange trait to find in our family…ambitious, and most of all, positive. The red color of her hair just radiates positive energy in my eyes!



She started out going to school for physical education, and I think the only thing that she continued to pursue down that highly active role is taking classes in Irish Step Dancing. And I imagine she’s really good at it, because she’s been really eager for me to come up to see her in a recital. Considering I haven’t received an invitation in so long…I’m wondering if I’ve missed out on the chance to see her dance. I’d really like to. Heh…I remember when Statler and Kermit came to visit me for St. Patty’s Day weekend, the equivalent to New Orleans’ Mardi Gras in the city I live in, my oldest sister was so disappointed in the various schools of Irish Step Dancing that performed during the horribly long parade. (I’m so never sitting/standing through that again.) She explained to us that there is an actual routine made specifically parades, and that dancers are never stop their steps, just because there’s a pause in the walking. Impressive…and I can envision my sister doing it with those bouncing red curls.



And though most of my family is very supportive of my art, my mother still pushing the various character pieces I like to draw, Statler probably owns some of my most ambitious endeavors…or at least offered and given financial support towards a good number of them. Back when I was printing my first comic book, eager to see the third issue complete, she offered to loan me the printing charges for it. Granted, it never happened due to my dorm room’s evil AC unit, and my dying passion for the series…but I’m sure if I could get over the depression the storyline tends to put me in whenever I try to pick it up, I’m sure the offer would still stand.



She also allowed me to paint on the walls of her first house. I never got to work on the idea we had for her dining room, but I was able to complete her guest bedroom. Yes, my mother has allowed me to do so as well with her previous house, but nothing as wonderful and exciting as being able to paint one of my favorite creatures; the dragon. This was more along the lines of the Eastern style dragon, which are as equally exciting as your Western style dragon. When she had the idea of what she wanted in the room that would display her souvenirs from her trip to Japan, she first took me to a Chinese restaurant that had these neat swirling clouds on the exterior of the building. Add those to a couple of dragons, some kanji that reflect the ideals of love, hope, friendship, and peace, along with a bonsai tree on the closet doors, and we’ve got a room sized mural that I was rather proud of. Sadly…I don’t think I can find any of the pictures from it at this moment.



However, I do have pictures of the paintings I did for her new guest bedroom. Her husband…who apparently enjoys the fact that I will freely belch at the dinner table…put his foot down at the idea of me painting on the walls of their new house. Why is beyond me, but I’m doing my best not to hold it against him…because it allowed me to come up with a set of pictures (four of which are missing because she hung them up at her office) that not only took my sister by surprise, but took me by surprise as well. The paint I used was probably not the most ideal for the paper, but it was from the whole experience of working with it on two different occasions that I learned that I absolutely hated it. Yes, it’s nice to have a watercolor like paint that won’t pick up if you dab water over it again when it dries…but it also means you’ve got to be extra careful in how much you take out of the tube. Because like acrylic paint…once it’s out, and you don’t use it up…it dries and stays that way. Ugh. I can’t stand it.



So, because of my dislike for the paint, I wasn’t too pleased with the paintings. To my surprise, it seems that whatever I dislike turns out to be something everyone adores. I never take compliments that well to begin with, but it completely amazed me how much everyone was complimenting me on the first batch of paintings, but even more so on the second batch. It just blew me away, and actually had me smiling after a while. Which leads me to believe that my sister actually brings the best out in my work. She’s always understood my tastes, never forcing me to try something I’ve constantly snubbed my nose on. And for that, I love her. Thank you.



I’ve got a great idea for a quilt to hang in her dining room…so at some point I need to discuss it with you on materials for it. But until then, Happy Birthday, big sister! I love you and I hope today you have a blast!