Category: BlahBlahBabble

Almost to Texarkana

Originally uploaded by bpc.

The Afterparty Bill from Saturday

Originally uploaded by bpc.

I have meant to post these for over a week now, but I had Mike take them off the memory card for me and I didn’t know where they were on the desktop computer. (Turns out that they were right where they should have been. Oops.) I put all of my renovation photos into one set on Flickr. You can check them all out here.

Speaking of Mike, his post today about the future of board games is quite amusing. Just thought I should direct you to that.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I’m wide awake at the wrong hour of night, again. For weeks, this has been going on. It has allowed me to read a lot, so that is a good thing. But I would prefer to sleep at night. Anyways, I didn’t want to read any more tonight, so I am killing time on the internet. I hear a rustling sound out in the kitchen. I assume it is Murphy (aka “Big Fat Cat”) out there, tossing around a scrap of paper or something he has found. The noise gets louder. I realize Murphy is in the corner of the living room. Chloe is in her doggie bed. Mona is perched on the arm of the couch right behind me, where she likes to sit when I am here. Mike & Jason are both in bed, sleeping like normal people.

So WHO is making that noise?

Right as I start to walk to the kitchen, a huge roach runs from one side of the room to the other. Too fast for me to even do anything about it. This roach was so huge, I might have mistaken it for a tiny mouse if I hadn’t seen it up close and way too personal. Huge. Huge. Huge. (I should add that a “roach” here in Houston is actually more of a water beetle, not a disease carrying creature. They are still gross.)

I’m surprised that Mike & Jason are not awake now. My scream was a little loud. Fortunately, they are still sleeping.

I, on the other hand, may never sleep again. I’m not afraid of bugs normally, but this was the exception. Consider how much Mike hates roaches, I’m sort of glad he slept through the whole thing. I suspect he will be calling the exterminator tomorrow.

A few months ago, Elaine sent me an e-mail about making Artist Trading Cards. We have all the paper, all the supplies, and all the creativity that we needed to make it happen. Unfortunately, we never seemed to have the time or the energy. This summer, things are changing around here, and we are both on a mission to do things that we keep saying we want to do. So yesterday, she e-mailed me that she had made her first ATCs and she was going to the meetup for the Houston area last night.

In my “make it happen” mode, I wrote her back and asked if I could join her.

About an hour before I had to leave, I decided to follow her lead and put together two cards of my own using an imperfect photograph from my photography class. I cut it down to size (2.5″ x 3.5″) and then I used Mike’s flashcards of Tibetan words to write “to be famed/renowned” on them.

… yes, Mike took Tibetan in college. It was the only elective he got to choose that wasn’t fulfilling a degree requirement for his Chemical Engineering degree from Rice. He wanted something radically different. Why take something boring like French when you can take Tibetan?

Last night we went to the ATC meetup, and it was a blast! We definitely made up a diverse mix, but with one common thread of being creative people. The conversations were interesting and diverse, and we had such a good time. It was fun looking at everyone else’s ATCs, and when I got home I couldn’t stop thinking of ideas of cards to make.

Do you make ATCs? Would you? Want to trade? Flaunt your inner artist a little. It is only the size of a playing card – you can do it!