The Venturous Life

I report a happy accident of the kind the Muse she loves to arrange: I searched the Thesaurus for a better word than 'unique' for Ms. Odo, and it gave me 'curious' with this string of possible synonyms. I loved them all.

Thank you for all your wit and wisdom, blessings on you and your family for joy and abundance!

Here's a quick summary of good news, for Dark of the Moon:

• My leave-of-absence has been extended until after the new year, and most of that will be with salary!! **happy dance**
• Making progress on my many late projects; hp_darkfest and severus_shorts
• Working on a few barter commissions for design work that make me feel useful, and are pleasant work. **feels like hope!**
• Going to the gym almost every day for some kind of (vigorous) workout, and I am sleeping ALOT.
• I love my critters! just sayin'
• I've applied for a job, a wonderful fun close-to-home job that is exciting, but a BIG drop in salary. Will interview in December. **crosses fingers**

Tomorrow: dog to groomers, a pedicure for me, and some art museum time, a belated birthday artist's date.

Last night we went to see Amelia. I had read a number of reviews and decided to ignore them. The New Yorker criticized it for being a bland feminist fable, a film that would have been good if it were made in the 40s. Well? sometimes that might be just the thing? Why not celebrate the Girl Hero without postmodern edginess? Why not a dramatic and beautiful movie that's inspiring and entertaining?

The movie looks terrific. Hilary Swank is amazing - she IS Amelia. I loved watching her. And the clothes are gorgeous. And the planes, yum!  And listening to Christopher Eccleston 's American accent is hilarious. I kept willing him to slip into brit-speak. I wisht there had been more of Noonan; he was an intriguing character.































But feminist? yes and no. Amelia certainly built on her Suffragette fore-mothers. (Remember her in Iron Jawed Angels? Havent seen it? put it on your list. I shocked me. Not even one hundred years have passed since....**spoilers deleted**)

But why do women's biopics always seem to revolve around marriage? I recently saw the cable biopic on Georgia O'Keefe and was wildly disappointed. That should have been called "O'Keefe & Steiglitz" -- it never told you anything about her life before and after him, and implied that she was who she was because of him. O'Keefe lived a long time after ending her marriage, and really came into her own as an artist during that later time of life.

Anyway, without ranting with spoilers, I wanted more about Amelia's childhood and her work launching the airline industry.
Still, go see it. It's beautiful, and she really is a hero. She put herself out there, she went after her dream, and risked her life in ways we can't even imagine today.

here's some picspam from today's kayak trip, and All Hallow's Eve concert and party. Plus, a few extra poodle pics.

( click for pics )

This past week I felt a real return to functionality.
One of my lost priorities has been the gym, and I am happy to report that I worked out 4 times last week and am now sore, tired and signed up with a trainer for more abuse fun.
And, hmmm, not a coincidence? My libido is back! I hadnt' really noticed it had gone missing, er, as my virtual playmates don't complain when I am distracted, at least, not often. But looking back I can see my interest in teh pr0n has been feeble for a little while here. No doubt many of you shall help me with my recovery. ;-)

I've been so preoccupied with RL, I feel like I've hardly been around my journal(s). I've been reading small fics and keeping an eye on you all, but mostly either running around to the gym or various heathcare appointments, or fretting over my resume, the seemingly endless process.

Today I finally feel like it's DONE!!! Oh, there will still be tweaks, and multiple variations and formats and postings and cover letters and and and, but I finally read it and feel like it's good.

What an amazing feeling, to be suitably impressed with my own career!  After all the effort my miserable (nearly former!) boss devoted to convincing me I'm incompetent, it feels really great to rediscover myself.

It seemed impossible to ever get ready to make this change, and I still can't see how all of it will work out, but it things are lining up, and change.

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Blessings for an Explosive Guy Fawkes Day to all!
(the odd subtitile comes from my beloved bootleg chinese V-DVD - full of chinglish hilarity!)

Hello, flist!
I am in need of a brit-picker for several short fics (@2000 words or so each) I am working on, ready this weekend or next week and due by the 15th. One is fluffy, one is darker. more details if you are interested.

thanks!!

a bit late, but, hey, let's keep the magic going. Originally written for severus_sighs Anniversery drabble fest

Title: All Hallows Eve
Author: venturous1
Pairings: Mentor!Snape and 1st year Harry; past Severus, Lily; Severus/Harry
Rating: PG
Word count: 6 x 100
Warning: flangst, tears.  slash implied after age 18
Notes: thanks to beta spidermoth for speedy work. I tinkered only a tiny bit with canon time: in HPSS Harry encounters the Mirror in mid November of his first year.


All Hallows Eve

October 31, 1991 – Hogwarts

He gazed, transfixed, into the Mirror of Erised. Of all the revelations during Harry's first weeks at Hogwarts this was the most profound: his parents had been Wizards, well-loved, smart, and beautiful. Yet they were just as dead as all the times Dudley taunted him. It was baffling. He tried to feel through his confusion. They smiled at him from the hazy mirror, and he wished he could step inside and be enfolded in their arms.
( Read more... )

she whose moods flow like the weather is having a blue day. matches the deep grey wet sky, cold rain dripping of sad leaves, falling, falling. **heavy sigh**
OK, snap out of it, darlin. You need to write a federal resume. **shudder**

hugs accepted! and maybe quick cheer-u-up reccs?

Title:Into the Forbidden Forest
Fest: founders gifts on LJ
Gift for: peskywhistpaw
Author/Artist: venturous1
Characters/Pairing:Rowena/Godric
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Genres: mystery, romance

Author's/Artist's Notes: peskywhistpaw , I enjoyed your prompts because they generated all manner of stories as I mused on who and what to draw for you. But the allure of a mystery was too strong for these two to resist! Thanks to Founders Gifts mods and participants for shedding light on wonderful, essential and oft neglected HP characters.

Art created in PS3 using a highly-processed iStock photo background (see below) and original figures. This was an experiment with light effects and I'm pleased and surprised with the direction it took.

Summary: Drawn by a mysterious light, Rowena and Godric are drawn deeper into the Forbidden Forest, until they have lost their way. Will Rowena's familiar be able to resist the enchantment and help them find their way?




here's the photo I started with:

yes, you read that right. put down your coffee and

click here

Agh!! My web skills are too poor for most of the jobs I'm seeing.
Fortunately I am a quick study!

Maybe you can help cheer me on... ( Read more... )

from everyone....

The problem with LJ/IJ/DW: we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. So ask me something you want to know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away. Then post this in your journal and find out what people don't know about you.

It seems after many months of feeling trapped at work, I've had two felicitous events that combine to give me two weeks  of leave and some relief from a desperately tight budget. I can hardly believe it, but I am so relieved!!!

Late bills have been caught up, Seneca's (minor) surgery is now affordable, I can invest in some interview clothes. And, I am looking at two weeks wherein under doctor's orders I am to rest, excercise, meditate, see the therapist, and experiment with how well my medication works without the stress of dealing with my hostile boss. Two weeks ago I couldn't imagine this... I felt like a hamster on a wheel. Two weeks from now I expect I shall feel like a different person.

My first mission will be to get my arse to the gym each day. Two weeks with my dogs! Two weeks at home! Cool, quiet, and time to think. ahhhhh.

I'm participating for the second time in a little fest called founders_gifts   and my gift posted today.

The fest gives the Hogwarts Founders some time and space... characters that have left a powerful legacy, but of whom we do not know much about. Here we get to explore them a bit.

My gift is a comic, dreamlike and mysterious, that hints at matters of the heart, shows a close connection between Salazar and Rowena, and touches both the triumph and tragedy of the Founders' legacy.

go take a look!

Drabble/Drawbles from SlashRetreat

( Read more... )
pairing: ss/hp
rating:pg
warnings: none
notes: for torino10154 's prompt: lingerie beans (we ate em for dinner last night)

Harry swore he didn't realize that lingerie beans would have such an effect on Muggles. Certainly, they were a primary ingredient in many lust potions, but how would Harry know that? After all, Harry was hopeless at potions - Severus himself had repeatedly told him so. *************

Title: Enjoying the Snow
author: la_dissonance
pairing: dm/cw
rating:g
warnings: none

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hah! the obligitory event post that says "Squeee! I'm hanging out with  ,  ,  , and  ."

Picspam later. we are well fed and lazy.

Sprout, Sluggy, Lucius, Snape and friends on TV!  damn, we had a good time.

I made this Big Bold Decision to leave my job this past weekend, hired a coach, got a new Goddess spirit guide and all. So since then work has been anticlimatic, wait-and-see, and calm. **iz confused** Well, maybe not really. I have Things to Do, like a graphic design web site and a resume. So, it's one step at a time. I'm on my way. Somewhere.

Meanwhile, I am getting excited about Slash Retreat DC 2009!! Fabulous fangirls are convening from the north, south and west on the Holy Unpredictable Manor for the weekend. I am getting ready for some serious fun!

And, I stumbled upon a quirky little movie called Bruno, and no, it's not THAT one. Imagine a brilliant schoolboy who wears dresses, played most articulately by a young Alex D. Linz, Kathy Bates as the mother superior, Shirley McLain as his butch grandma (and director), and lots of other charming performances. It's all about being who you really are. **is heartwarmed** And, it has a wonderful last line!

Oh, and, I just go this nice shiny medal! **beams**

...has settled into my head for the weekend. Ugh. **sneeze** I guess I need the down-time, and the weather is cooperating: cool and grey. No chance of The Tyranny of Good Weather today!

The TV gods have been supportive: I am watching Brazil, and have forgotten how much I love this movie!! It's dystopian! It's dark yet hilarious! It's critical of our fucked-up work culture! And Tuttle has to be one of my favorite characters ever, the subversive repairman: he who can actually fix things.  And where else do you get a come-on line like: "Care for a little necophilia?"

Then there is my lovely housemate, who went to fetch me hot n sour soup. And my critters, glad to have someone to curl up with. Who needs get-up-n-go?

I hope your ductwork is all in good working order!

over and out for now
(achoo)

Here's a step by step of how I made my painting for the Snarry_Games. One of my prompts was Literary & Historical, and the Historical part is the technique I used to make the art.

Pre-sketching, I looked at paintings by Rubens and lots of St George and St Michael paintings. Fortunately I live near the National Gallery of Art! Here are links to a few of them.
The Fall of Phaeton, Peter Paul Rubens this one in particular inspired me.
St. George and the Dragon, Raphael
St. Michael defeating Satan, Raphael

Please enjoy the tutorial!

( Read more... )
And please click here and VOTE on my Games art! the 2009 Combined Games have finished posting, and Team Cauldron is still reaching for the Gold!

My art for pelespen 's fic Unlocked is now posted at the HBB archive. I didn't realize her fic has a sister fic in the Sirius Big Bang, too. And, there is a bonus fanmix that goes with it, too. Such a multimedia experience!!

Touch Me by venturous1

As most of you know, I am not much of a het shipper, but I really like the Hermione that Pelespen wrote. She's a survivor, smart and courageous, as well as a romantic and passionate woman. I can really identify with her long-held passion for someone she believes she can never have.

I've also been wanting to paint Hermione as an erotic Venus, and the sensuous finale to Pele's fic gave me just the scene I was looking for.

Go take a look, enjoy the story, have some music... and celebrate Ms. Granger's 30th birthday. She is really quite an amazing woman.

I have art in the HBB archive, going live today! The fic is called Unlocked, by Pelespen, and it's a Sirius/Hermione postwar romance. The beautiful finale to this tale gave me the scene I wanted to make a painting in the Venetian style, as inspired by the Renaissance paintings I went to see with Carpet_Diemon and Lizardspots in August.

It goes live some time today... a complete archive of Hermione love, for her 30th birthday.

Yes, I know that intense romance between the Potions Master and the Boy Who Lived is not everyone's cuppa, and so I wanted to make sure you had a chance to see some of the really good stuff from the combined 2009 Snarry Games.

Here's a selection of art and fic for you!
( Read more... ) - four potent panels of episodes from an alternate life where Severus was Harry's father

Death Shall Have No Dominion by littleblackbow (aka chibitoaster ) amazing animatic vid in her inimitable style with a mysterious tale of vampires... a Dark Shadows! crossover!!!

Love Rides a Red Horse by venturous1 -- OK, call it The Great Escape, and forget that they may have just tumbled out of bed. Whatever, shirtless!Snape is not a bad thing, and they get the bad guys!

Helping Hands by gredandfeorge - I just adore this drawing, it's simple, beautiful and filled with warmth and expression

Fantastic Voyage by miyoung_boz -- steampunk mentor!Snape timetravel art... don't miss this one, it's beautiful

Tie Your Shoe by lampblack -- Glam Rockstar Snape with a fabulous sneer, and his roadie

Poker Face by pennswoods -- Spock!Snape plays games with Harry. some innuendo

Diary of a Prince by cnary_crm_dght - marvelous discovery of Snape's moleskine notebook, wherein we learn of his meeting with the 4th Doctor!

FICTION

She Who Knows the Orphan by Dacro -- set in Egypt, drenched in the flavour of the place, it's an incredible read.

His Mother's Eyes by Nesting Hedwig -- Severus cannot stand by and witness the abuse Lily's young son is enduring. With bonus points for the best Flitwick you ever read.

The Bed You Made by Meri_oddities - wow, this is an intense and amazing story. Harry makes a life-changing mistake, and his Professor helps him learn to take responsibility.



well, that should keep you busy!!! This isn;t everything, but it's time for sleep. Please vote! Those of us on the teams cannot, so we need our freinds and neighbors to share their opinions. Please let the writers and artists know what you liked. </div>

this is the quick and painless version:

I am practising detachment at work. I endeavor to leave my baggage at the door, and use my well developed fantasy skills to pretend I have a new job and I like it.

This has made me calm and productive. AND it has revealed something important about my boss: HE IS AN ANGRY MAN. He looks for things to get and stay mad about. He ignores options to communicate and solve problems, instead choosing to dwell on past infractions, researching whom to blame.

It's kind of scary, how rageful he is. But, interesting. It explains alot.

Check out the wonderful stories and illustrations celebrating Sirius Black! I have some art in there somewhere.