the octo-mom

I did this silly illustration as an iron-on for a shirt and apron for my mom. It's sort of the Calamari Kid's mother. I call her the Octo-mom.

My Friend, Stephen King

On Facebook, there is a column on the right side of the page that sometimes shows suggested friends. Usually they suggest people who have some of the same friends as me.

Today they suggested Stephen King.

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. We don't have any mutual friends. The picture sure looked like him. But I know you can use any picture for your avatar.

His page didn't give away any information. I know famous people have to guard their privacy.

Most of my Facebook friends are artists, especially cartoonists and people in the animation industry. But I am such a fan of Stephen King that I went ahead and clicked on "add as friend". I added a brief message that I hope didn't gush too much. As soon as I clicked on the button to send him the request, I got a message from Facebook.

It said, "Sorry, this user already has too many friends".

So why the heck did they suggest him?

seven olympic events you've probably never heard about

As you may know, I have written several Squidoo "lenses" (that's what Squidoo calls its web pages). One of them is called,"SEVEN OLYMPIC EVENTS YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD ABOUT".

My family has a set of Encyclopedia Britannica. They bought them in the late sixties when I was in junior high school. I think they call it middle school now. There are twenty-three volumes, plus an index and several supplemental volumes.

I always loved those books. They had EVERYTHING in them. Of course, technology has advanced far past these volumes. One of the supplemental volumes tells about the moon landing, for instance. The set is frozen in time as of 1968.

During the recent Olympic games in Canada, I remembered an article I read long ago in the encyclopedia about events were once part of the Olympics that you wouldn't think of as Olympic at all. Things like art and architecture.

I thought it might be fun to look up some of the other obscure events. I wrote this lens to share these fun facts with anyone who might find them interesting.

The encyclopedias take up a lot of space and some of the information is out of date, but I still love those books. <3

the truth about avatars

This cartoon was inspired by a post by one of my Facebook friends. He complained that the girls he met never seem to look like their online avatars.

rubik cube solved at last!

I made this cartoon for my Facebook friend, Chuck Harrison. He needed guest cartoons for his blog.

When they first came out with the Rubik's cube, I was eager to try it. I like puzzles. It's an ego boost when I can figure them out.

When I finally got one, I was afraid to turn it too much. If I just turned it a little, I could always put it back the way it was.

At the time, I was married to someone who turned it beyond the point of no return.

I struggled with that cube for months and so did my husband. We had to admit that we had no idea how to solve the Rubik cube.

One day, I came home from work and somehow the puzzle was magically solved. I couldn't imagine how my then-husband could have figured it out. I was pretty sure I was smarter than he was, although I was afraid to say so.

Finally, he confessed what he had done. The colors were actually little stickers. He had peeled them off and rearranged them.

The Paul Frank Art Attack!

Most of my Facebook friends are cartoonists. One of my favorites told me about an online art contest. Anyone can vote for the art and give each piece from one to five monkey heads. They look like sock monkey heads.

One problem I see is that it looks like some of the best pieces have been given low marks. I have to wonder if some of the artists are doing that to knock down the competition. I gave them my five monkey heads to buoy them the best I can.

If you can find it in your heart to vote for me, click here.

Also, vote for my friend who told me about this.

This contest has some really good art and also some really unfortunate pieces. You might enjoy browsing through it.

Have you read the whole story?

I have concocted a story about an octopus and his friends, complete with illustrations. The whole story takes up five "lenses" (web pages). There are links from each episode to the next one in the series.

Alas, I'm afraid that too many of my readers get lost and do not get the whole story.

When I have a dozen hits on part one, some of the later episodes get one or two. Maybe the beginning is not interesting enough. You don't even get to meet Penny the Bipolar Mermaid until episode three. She's one of my favorite characters.

Is the story too corny? Should I bother to do another story?
I'd appreciate comments. The links are right here.

The Calamari Kid
The Calamari Kid (part 2)
The Calamari Kid (part 3)
The Calamari Kid (part 4)
The Calamari Kid (part 5)

Thank you,
Carolyn

Here's another calendar girl. I made this design into a wall clock in my home. I had a large plastic wall clock with no crystal. I made the clock face on Photoshop and printed it out on adhesive paper. It was so big I had to print it on more than one sheet and piece it together.

Today clocks with this design are available at my Cafepress store.

March Calendar Art

This was in my Pile Girl Original Collectable Calendar (in my Cafepress store) a couple of years ago. I wanted to show one "girly" sister and one "tomboy" sister and how they tease and love each other.

Respite at Last

Those of you who know me or have read my Squidoo caregiver lenses are aware of my situation with my mother. Briefly, she has a degeneration of the cerebellum and alzheimer's. She cannot stand up or speak or feed herself or go to the bathroom without help. I take care of her 24/7.

Sometimes I can get someone else to stay with her so I can get out of the house. Usually, it's one of my sisters. A local caregiver's resource called on my birthday when I hadn't had any respite for three weeks. They said there was a grant from the government to pay for respite for those who need it most. I somehow qualified, and they sent a nurse's aid out to the house for five hours a week for two months. So I have this until the end of March.

It's strange to go outside when you haven't been out of the house for weeks. The air feels cool and fresh. The trees and flowers have bright lurid colors. The sun is too bright.

And then we went to see ALICE IN WONDERLAND in 3D.

At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to leave a stranger in the house with my helpless mother (mostly out of shame for my poor housekeeping). But this agency has bonded employees who are certified nurses' aids. And the people they sent have all been great. Two of them even did laundry! I don't even mind that they put Mom's socks in my drawer and my pajama top in Mom's closet.

A Blast From The Past!

I used to have a blog on MySpace. I'm afraid I abandoned it a few years ago.
Today is John's birthday. I'm also busy with housework and taking care of mother. So, I'm going to repost some of my old stuff. Sorry, some of my vintage stuff. This one is from April 8, 2008.

The Jeopardy Test

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I like to watch Jeopardy on TV. Some days, I know a lot of the answers and it makes me feel smart. Some days, I even know most of the answers. Other days, they have categories I know nothing about. Like Greek mythology or sports. Or the geography of Canada.

Last January, they advertised on TV that there would be a Jeopardy test online coming up. I went online and registered. The instructions said that they don’t recommend taking the test on an Apple computer. And that the faster the Internet connection, the better.

Of course, Apple computers are all I have. So I made arrangements for John to ask his boss if I could use his computer at work after hours. They have a T-One line, which I understand is pretty fast.

The test was scheduled for 8:00 PM. John got off work at six. So I met him at work and we went out to dinner and stopped at Wal-Mart for a brief shopping trip.

We were back at his office in plenty of time for the test. There was a countdown, and then it began.

The questions came fast. I had fifteen seconds to read the question, figure out the answer, and type it in. As it turns out, that is not nearly enough time. Especially since, as I later realized, I also had to make sure that the cursor was in the right place. The first two answers I typed did not even come up on the screen.

I have discovered that my mind works more slowly in my old age than it did when I was younger. I used to think that was something that happened to other people, but not to me.

What is the capital of Lybia? The capital of West Virginia? Something incomprehensible about some sport? I couldn’t even tell which sport. My confidence drained quickly away. I felt like I was taking a test in school for a class I hadn’t taken.

There were, to my relief, some questions I could answer. Now I can’t remember what they were, but I did manage to type what I think was the correct answer in the time allotted. Other times, I realized what the right answer was after it was too late.

Jeopardy does not give you a final score. They don’t tell you what the correct answer should have been. You will never hear from them again unless they call you to be a contestant. And they don’t call people who can’t even get the cursor in the right spot, or think fast enough to ace their test.

So I don’t think you will be seeing me on Jeopardy any time soon. That’s what I get for thinking I’m smart. Oh, yeah, and Tripoli and Charleston. I looked them up that night.

March 11, 2010

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

Here you will find links to my various web pages (on the right).

I have a Cafepress store, which has merchandise with my illustrations on it (tee shirts, mugs, wall clocks, cards, posters, throw pillows, and other fun stuff).

I have an eBay store, where we try to rid our cluttered home of unnecessary clutter, whenever we can agree as to what is and is not necessary.

I also have several Squidoo lenses. That's what Squidoo calls its web pages.

I have written and illustrated a story called the Calamari Kid. It's a five-page story. There are links from one page to the next. Be sure to read all five pages to get the whole story.

I take care of my elderly disabled mother 24/7. Some of my Squidoo lenses are about my adventures in caregiving.

I've even written a lens called Seven Olympic Events You've Probably Never Heard About. I once was reading our family's Encyclopedia Brittanica, and I remember seeing some rather obscure Olympic events.