Category: Art

  • Correction: Excerpts, I can.

    In lieu of actual content, will you accept a slice of today’s novel writing efforts?

    “I don’t know why you feel the need to shop for me as well, my dear,” Andrew complained. His arms were already draped with a variety of shirts, and now Tara was browsing a selection of men’s slacks.

    “It should be obvious, love. I simply refuse to spend my vacation with a man who looks like he should be conducting funeral services.”

    “I do not!”

    She raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

    “I’m over two thousand years old, and you think I can’t dress myself?”

    Silence, punctuated by the clacking of hangers as she made her way through the rack, was all the answer he received.

    “Fine, I can find an outfit that isn’t done entirely in black. But let me choose my own, all right?”

    A disdainful sniff greeted that request. Tara pulled a pair of slacks off the rack and held it up against the bundle of shirts Andrew carried, shook her head and replaced the unworthy selection.

    He sighed. “It’s your vacation, dear. But some day you and I are going to have a talk. You know full well how I feel about being bullied.”

    “I’m not bullying you. I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to do things exactly the way I want for the first time since I met you.”

    To that, he had no reply.

  • NaNo Rethink

    I had sort of a harebrained idea for this year’s NaNoWriMo novel, and I’ve spent weeks trying to figure out how to set up the plot points and make it all work without being unbearably cheesy.

    Day after day, night after night, no luck, no dice, no go.

    This afternoon, in the shower, it hit me. I have a better story idea, and it’s one that I worked out the plot points for almost a year ago. I’m going to wrap it in part of the discarded story idea so I can continue with the plan to work on describing locations better by setting a few scenes here in Portland. (I need to work on my descriptive abilities, and I figured this year’s NaNo would be the best venue for practice. I’ll take my laptop places and take my best shot at describing the sights, smells and sounds while not breaking the narrative flow too badly.)

    The good news is that I have much more confidence in my ability to finish the novel. The bad news is that I’m going to have to essentially write two stories at once, interweaving the two, while changing perspectives if not tenses.

    “Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a padded cell. I died there. They buried me six feet deep. The worms nibbled my brain. It drove me crazy. Crazy? I was crazy once…”

  • Snapshots Galore

    My sister Christine and her husband John are in town this week on something of a late honeymoon. Today the Kerezman household went to my Aunt Jean’s place outside of Wilsonville to a family gathering where Sis could show off her hubby. Grandma Arlene and her husband Walter arrived with Great-Grandma Penny in tow. We collectively chowed down on burgers and hot dogs and chips and later on some chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and M&M Minis sprinkled on top. Man, that was a nice cake.

    Erica got to feed goats and hold a turkey. Alex got to play on a piano. Both kids splashed around in the pool for a while.

    The adults talked a lot as adults are prone to doing, especially members of a family that isn’t exactly known for its frequent gatherings.

    A nice time was had by all, everyone praised Sis for landing herself such a nice and good-looking husband, and the awkward family moments were kept to a merciful minimum.

    For the complete set of images I snapped during the afternoon, check out the “Family Gathering, June 2003” gallery.

    I also uploaded (finally!) a few of the pics from back when one of the Sakura-Con staffers had some folks over for a housewarming. Look in “People, Places, Things” to see his super-cool, super-mini screening/gaming room.

    There are more random images strewn about, but you’ll just have to poke around in the Gallery to find them all. Happy hunting!

  • Flowers at the office, caught on film

    Getting into the habit of actually using my camera, I went into the “back yard” of our office to snap pictures of these:

    I noticed them while waiting for my lunch to heat up in the microwave. At that time it was sunny outside and the flowers were much more radiant. Lesson learned? Strike while the moment is right, don’t wait for later when the clouds may come!

    There’s a fortune cookie moment in there, somewhere…
    “Natural Beauty” Gallery

  • Massive Gallery Updates

    Dozens of pictures have made their way onto the Gallery today.

    Nine new images in the Natural Beauty gallery showcase the flowering plantlife right outside our front door. There are also three new subgalleries for Sakura-Con 2003, a few pictures from a recent pinewood derby in which Alex competed, and more pictures from around the house, including a photographic explanation of why Wendi’s van looks the way it does during early spring:

  • Sakura-Con 2003 Galleries

    It’s a start, anyway.

    Gallery: Sakura-Con 2003

    Right now there’s pics from opening ceremonies as well as a lot of people who posed in costume. Captions are few and far between, but that’ll be a work in progress for some time to come.

    Next up: The “Caption This!” gallery, which I should upload between now and bedtime…