When I first moved down here from North Carolina, I left my kitty Nehai with my dear friend Heatherkalonklaxon for a month while I got settled in.

When I finally brought him down here, he wasn't acting quite like the same kitty. He was more aggressive and rambunctious, more skittish and destructive. I thought he just needed to adjust, but the behaviours persisted. He would randomly start dashing around the apartment like he'd seen something which frightened him, and claw at the carpet. He would attack my feet at random, without provocation. He started trying to get into whatever food I was cooking or eating more and more aggressively, nothing would dissuade him. I couldn't sit down to draw, print or do anything without him trying to swipe the utensil out of my hand. I couldn't leave any small items out on a counter, table, dresser without him coming along and knocking them off to the floor.

I... came to believe that he simply wasn't happy here, that he was lonely and bored. I'd be at work about 9 hours a day, and sometimes would go out in the evening. Because of his behaviour, I frequently had to close him in my room or bathroom so I could get work done on personal projects.

And so, I asked Heather if she would be willing to give him a home permanently. He'd lived with her before, so he knew the territory. Also, Heather has two roommates, and two other cats, so Nehai would get a lot more attention and have a lot more company than he had here with me.

I feel guilty about this though, because it was at least partly selfish; I was relieving myself of a relationship that was becoming a burden. But, I love my little kitty, and I want what's best for him. It is my very true hope that he will be happier at Heather's, and that I've done the right thing.

This past weekend, Heather and SJshinychocoholic and I arranged a hotel room in Atlanta, and met there to stay for a night, and exchange Nehai. He's back in North Carolina now, getting lots of lovins and probably bullying Niff around. Ok, starting to tear up now. I don't want to write about this anymore.

Farewell little one. I love your tiny Fuzziness. I miss you!



These are from Atlanta.


-P.

Let me tell you about spiders. Specifically, let me tell you about one spider. A very large spider. He would have fed a family of four. For a week. *shudder*

Last week while talking to one Heathersmithkalonklaxon on the phone about our upcoming trip to Atlanta (see next post), I sauntered up to the foyer of my apartment and noticed a large dark thing by the baseboard. My first thought was, oh, I must have tracked a leaf in, until I took a closer look. HOLY FUCK GODDAMN BIG ASS EVIL SPIDER HERE TO RAPE BABIES AND DEVOUR SOULS!!!

I don't like spiders. At all. My first impulse was to kill the goddamn thing, but I decided, no. I'm not going to kill you, Spider. I'm going to master this fear, and give you an honest chance to get the hell out of my apartment. So I backed away, and took some breaths. About five minutes later I walked back to the foyer, but the spider was gone... Now, this didn't help me feel any better, precisely because I didn't know where the hell it'd gone! It could have gone back outside... or it could be in my bed, waiting to kill me in my sleep.

Fast forward to the next day. I got home from work, dropped my stuff and grabbed my bike to go check the mail. As I rolled it around the kitchen table, I noticed something move along the baseboard by the laundry room. I look down, sure enough, there's that fucking huge ass spider again. (Just a quick note, my skin is crawling as I write this.) And so, with a sigh I said aloud, "Alright, listen asshole. I saw you in here once, and didn't kill you. I gave you an honest chance to get out of here safely. You chose to say. And now, you're going to die."

I went to get some ant spray I had. I wasn't sure it'd kill it, but figured it was worth a try. As I got the spray, the spider crawled under the laundry room door. I opened it, and quickly found him there in the corner, and sprayed. I got him, but he scurried away. I looked over the top of the dryer and saw him there on the floor, still alive.

I went and got my BB gun.

Yes, I realize that's a little crazy.

By the time I got back and ready to fire, the spider was gone, presumably scurried under the dryer. I cursed under my breath, put the gun away, and went to check the mail.

When I came back, Nehai was acting a little funny, like he was hunting/playing with something. Sure enough, the spider had crawled out and Nehai was playing with him, batting him around, picking him up and dropping him, like a good little Killer Kitty :)

I let Nehai do some damage before I pulled him away--mostly because I didn't want him to eat the spider while he was covered with ant poison. At that point, the spider was mortally wounded. I swept the spider outside, where I took about 6 shots at him with my BB gun (and embarassingly missed every time).

YYYYYYYUUUCCK!!! Gads, I hate spiders. To give you more idea of how big this thing was, you could see his curled up corpse as a noticeable black lump from more than 30 feet away.

Anyway, I shot a little video of Nehai playing with the spider. Enjoy.

And... speaking of Nehai...

-P.

*Sigh* Free to good home?
This has been on my mind a lot lately. It's... just not working out having Nehai down here with me. I guess he's lonely, and bored, with me gone all day, and a roommate who stays in his room all the time. For every one moment where he's a sweet and playful catten, there are ten where he's a righteous pain in my ass. He's been getting increasingly aggressive with me, scratching and biting my feet without provocation, more aggressively trying to get into whatever food I'm eating, and more disruptive when I'm working on anything. Some have suggested getting a second cat, and that may well help, but I'm not sure it's the best solution when I anticipate the next 10 years of my life to involve a hell of a lot of traveling and moving around. I need to think about it more, but... I may start looking for a new home for him soon. If you know of someone who would give him a happy, loving, permanent home, ideally with other cats, let me know. Mm. This makes me kinda sad... but that's why this came first. The rest of the entry is an upper.

The Prodigal Son RETURNS!!!!
Hey Folks! I'm gonna be coming back to North Carolina for a few days this week! I'll be in town Thursday through Sunday. I *reaaaaallly* would love to see you guys while I'm there. So who's gonna be around and would want to get together? Also, would any of you Greensboro-ites be willing to collect me from Raleigh? I realize it's an hour and some change drive, but I'm going to be flying into NC, so I won't have my car. Anyway, comment, message, or call my cell to make plans!

PARTY OUT IN THE COUNTRY!!! SKEEEEEEEYEEEWWWW!!!!
Heh, so work is throwing another one of our big shindigs SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1ST!!! It's going to last all day; we're having 12 bands in 12 hours, including several I've seen live already and they're fucking great! All folk/bluegrass/rockabilly stuff. Papa D will be there grilling up his special brand of southern home-cookin' and my friend Susan will actually be helping him, and making some vegetarian chili. I'm postin' this because if any of you want to come down and visit, check out 'Bama and see the show, this would be a great time to do it, and I'd be glad to put you up for a night or two or three :) Come on down!

-P.

Winston
Tonight I went to the opening of a buddy's show in Winston Salem. It was awesome collages and shadowboxes. It's at Urban Artware in Winston if anybody wants to go check it out. While I was there, I finally met Clark Whittington of Art-O-Mat fame. Really cool, energetic fellow. I gotta whip up some designs to print and send in.

Weekend
This weekend I am going home to Raleigh for a visit. It will be good to see the folks, recharge the batteries, get some grounded advice on what the hell I'm about to do with my life, and to print up a full run of Bray Hard shirts. If you want one, go ahead and place your order now!

A single sentence, and an action
My graduation present--Adobe Creative Suite CS3--arrived today. *DROOOOOOOOLZZZ!!!!!!*

Fluff
My roommate Angie is giving up her cat, Nemo, pictured here. This makes me sad. He is very sweet. And fluffy. Now, a little context for that picture; I was getting set up to screenprint some shirts--hence my homemade hingeclamp board. The picture was also taken just a few days after my graduation party--hence the keg and 12 of newcastle.

YEEEEEEE HAWWWW!!!
This week I am driving to Knoxville, TN to visit a letterpress print shop there called YeeHaw Industries. They do amazing work and I'm going there to apply for their internship position in person. WISH ME LUCK!!!

I have to get up early. I'm going to bed now.
Nighty,
-P.

So, in order.

Happy (late) Birthday, Jennpac! Many years of printmaking goodness to you!

So, the post I made earlier? Yeah. So, I can't have water in my room anymore unless I'm drinking it at that moment. My cat, Nehai, always tries to drink out of whatever beverage I have. Lately he's been more insistent about it; if he can't reach his head far enough into my glass to get the liquid, he'll end up knocking it over. He did so this morning, when I had about half an inch of water left in my cup. Half an inch is an important figure here, because that's exactly how much actual keyspace of my keyboard was exposed from its sliding drawer position, and which the spilled water immediately flowed into. *sigh*. I dried as much as I could, and thought things were fine, but then the keyboard started acting up. Seriously. I wish Heather had posted the conversation we had this morning, because I'm sure it would have been hillarious to see my typing get more screwed up and more illegible. Anyway, after drying for a few hours in the sun and a reboot, things seem to be ok. Oh Nehai, one day you're going to make the most comfortable pair of slippers I've ever owned. You're lucky you're so cute. *pets*

Happy early birthday to Lisamy_treehouse!!! Many years of plushie plundering!!!! (don't kill me)

Speaking of April birthdays. My 24th is friday!!! Holy crap, I'm officially in my mid-twenties. And what have I done with my life? Made a linocut of a dildo. Anyway, so, my folks are coming up tomorrow, which will be awesome. I have not seen them in much too long. There may be a trip to see the premier of Grindhouse tomorrow night or friday? If you want to go, let me know. Also, there's an all night life drawing event at Guilford college starting at 6pm running through 6am that I'm going to go to for at least part of (not sure what part). If you want to go to that, let me know. Um.... so yeah, my birthday is friday and other than the life drawing thing, got no plans, so if you want to do anything, just give me a holler. I'm thinking something out, and about, maybe outside, etc, would be awesome :)

Then Saturday night is ROMP!!! The fabled party event I missed last year, but will not be missing this year, graaaaaawwwww!!!!

Hm. In shittier news, despite the senior show being over, I'm finding that I'm still dealing with some pretty serious anxiety--with accompanying shallow breathing--and I'm not sure what's going on. It sucks. I also need to start taking better care of my health. Hopefully that will help.

In better news, I'm about about to eat really fucking yummy arroz y habichuelas.

Later.
-P.

But this still made me laugh:



xkcd is the best webcomic EVAR.

-P.

Nehai sleeping Here's my little kitten asleep on my bed. Requested by Carriesnowmentality. Jesus it's been too long since I worked from observation. Need to get back to that. Need to work with colour more, too.	Nehai sleeping sketch I actually did this sketch first. I wanted to go with this pose, but Nehai wouldn't hold still, and changed positions as soon as I got the basic figure down.

By the way, I think I have the least photogenic cat in the world. Nehai has grown up to be a really beautiful cat, but jesus christ I cannot get a single good picture of him. However, I'll post some of him soon.

-P.

A long talk and a hug, a cuddle with my kitten and a cup of yogurt later, I'm feeling much better. Exhausted, but better. Urgh. Still so much to do.

Anyway.

I'm taking Nehai to get neutered tomorrow. I feel really bad about this. It seems wrong to do; how can I take a drive away from him that's so important to me in my life. He's exclusively an indoor cat, so I'm not worried about him making little straybabies. I mainly don't want him spraying everywhere.

Sorry little guy. Daddy loves his kitty.

-P.

My holiday always happens in three main parts. I spend the 24th with my dad's side of the family, the 25th with my mom, and brother's family if they're available, and then the 26th with my mom's side of the family. It's really not christmas for me unless all that goes down :)

Yesterday my mom and I spent all day at my aunt's house, and almost half of our extended family was there (~20 people). It was a great day; I love going there ont he 26th, because I get to see some of my aunts, uncles and cousins. I have four or five cousins who are really close to me in age, and who I spent a lot of time with in that house as I was growing up, so getting to see them is always great. One of them is already married, and two are engaged, it's ridiculous, hehe. *mmmm* The food was terrific as always. Not anything fancy; it was the usual thanksgiving trimmings (turkey, stuffing, potatoes, creamed spinach, etc), but extremely good, and being around that family made it taste all the better.

I think I'm rambling, so I'm going to wrap this up. I'll leave you with this:



( One more )

Merry Christmas,
-P.

I don't know if any of you use Diamond pet foods, but if you live in the southeast and have a pet, you should read this article.

-P.

Those of you who think wearing a cat is impractical need to see something:



-P.

Thank you all very much for your input and suggestions about Nehai.

So, it's now been three days since I've taken him to the vet and he's doing MUCH better :) He's acting like a normal healthy kitten now, being silly and playful, attacking things which aren't there, etc. Hehe, he's so damned cute. He's growing some, too; he's definitely bigger than he was when I first got him, and I can't feel his ribs as clearly now.

I think he's gonna be just fine :)

-P.

KittenWar

Must... not.... spend... hours... on... this... site...




Nehai would pwn on this site.

-P.

Nehai
I took Nehai to the vet Tuesday. She confirmed that he's a little boy (a very little boy, weighing in at a whopping 1.1 lbs). He had ear mites, so she gave him some ear drops. She said the diarrhea was probably being caused worms, so she gave him a de-worming pill. If it doesn't stop in two days, I should take him back to the vet. He is also unquestionably underdeveloped. The vet didn't believe that he's three months old; she thought closer to five weeks. However, Brittany's parents had him for ~three months, so... The vet said to bring him back in three weeks and if at that time he hasn't grown much, then frankly, he probably won't survive, or at least won't be a healthy, normal cat. That would be sad. He's seemed a bit better today, though; he's definitely been behaving more like a kitten. I would hardly call him painfully biting my nipples endearing, though.

I've heard some really bad things about male cats (spraying in the house, for example). Have any of you had problems with male cats? Specifically indoor male cats?

Final Design Project
A week or so ago, I posted a request for models and equipment for a video for my final design project. Although I think it's a really strong idea--which I definitely want to realize in the future--I'm going to go with a print project instead. I think the idea I had for the print project was a lot stronger, both conceptually and compositionally. I'm excited about it, and I'll post it when it's done. Thank you VERY much to the friends of mine who offered to be models, and to Matt for offering to loan me a camera.

Pictures
Remember that roll of slide film I accidentally got developed into prints? I took the negatives to the design lab today and scanned them in the film scanner to see if they were salvageable. As it turns out, the colours are inverted, but other than that, the negatives are fine, and now I can see how those pictures really turned out :) I'll post some next week when I have time.

El Pelo
I'm getting a little tired of my hair hanging down all mop-like every day, so I'm going to wear it in a ponytail in public for the first time tomorrow. My hair isn't quite long enough yet to completely stay tied back; there's still an inch wide strip of hair on both sides of my head which falls out, and has to be tucked behind my ear. What do you all think? Acceptable? Or fashion faux pas? (When did I start caring about this crap?)

Recommend An Artist/Community To Me
I'm sure a lot of you have artists on your friend lists (friends, and professionals you fanboy/girl over). So, recommend one to me. I wanna broaden my horizons.

Buenas noches,
-P.

....KITTEN!!!!



Hehe, Nehai is so tiny, you have no idea.

( Four more pictures )

Hehe, it's so cute!!! It was rescued from the auto yard where Brittany's mom works. It's so underweight/underdeveloped(?) that the vet couldn't even determine what gender it is, so for now, it's an 'it,' hehe. Brittany is taking it back to the vet over the holiday to see if they can determine if it's a runt, or if there's something else going on.

*Chuckles* This cat is lazier than Garfield. If it's in nap mode, you can pick it up (and you can hold it completely in two cupped hands), it'll fall right asleep in your hands.

Yay, kitty :)

Edit: Carly|deakestrel has another good picture of Nehai in her LJ :)

-P.

Hooooly crap!! This kitten is SO CUTE!!!! It's the runt of the litter and it is TTTIIIINNYYY!!! I'll post pictures later :)

-P.11111111111111111111

'1's provided by Nehai :)

Hm. Actually, I don't have much to say. Things are pretty quiet. The only thing is this:

It's been confirmed, I'm getting a new kitten this weekend named Nehai (pr. 'knee-high')* Eeeeee :) I can't wait :)

I leave you with this.

-P.

* - The cat's name actually is Knee-High, but I think 'Nehai' is way cooler, so I'm changing it. Owner's perogative.

Goddamnit. Neither of the art supply stores in town have blueline illustration board, nor Raphael or Windsor Newton Series 7 brushes. Do any of you other artists have problems getting the one or two items you need at supply stores?

I'm trying not to be mad at my roommate. It really could have been any of us closing that dryer without looking inside it. This particular roommate is just really careless about everything, though.

I miss my kitten.

-P.

[Edit: Speaking of carelessness, I just discovered that our oven was left on all day. Fucking christ.]

My kitten, my sweet little kitten is gone.

Tonight, one of my roommates was doing laundry. When their back was turned, my little Geneva hopped into the dryer, which she's been fascinated with as long as she's been here. We figure she was in there for about 15 to 20 minutes before another roommate noticed the dryer was making an odd noise.

She was seven months old, not even fully grown. She was so gentle and sweet. Everyone who ever held her remarked on how she just melted into your arms and purred.

Goodbye little one, your daddy will always miss you.

Love,
-P.