Well, technically, there's really no such thing, BUT.. that's the conclusion I came to last night after an almost hour long internal monologue by a hopefully future me.

See, every so often, my mind likes to play the daydream game. You know the one. Where it's the future and you've managed to successfully accomplish whatever it is you are actually currently working on.

In my case, at the moment, that happens to be one of two things- a new secret project concerning my bottlecap jewelry, and the short stories I am trying to write.

Last night's daydream was an internal monologue that happened to be the introduction to a collected edition of a series of my short stories. Simple enough, really, giving little clues as to how the story differed from the "standard" of each of the genres I've mixed together.

Then it tangented off into possible reasons why more people don't do what I'm doing, and THAT in turn led to an almost professor-like lecture on how to change or create even ONE thing, you have to have an entire background structure. A good visual would be the standard iceberg- if you want to change one little thing, or make up one little thing, you can- that's the tip of the iceberg... but in order to be able to DO that, (because "magic" can only explain just so much before it becomes so unreasonable that you lose the reader entirely) you have to understand, research, and create the entire huge rest of the iceberg that is under the water, that no one is ever going to see.

That way, you can write that one sentence with confidence that you know what you are talking about, even if the rest of that iceberg never sees the light of day.

The example I used for this one of my favorite characters in my world, who happens to be a vampiric being that isn't quite like any other. And for a simple 3-4 sentence paragraph, describing how he walks through an open air market during the day, I have an entire notebook dedicated to the base type of being he is- the different kinds, where they live, what they eat, how big they are, their basic temperments, how each is regarded in various areas of the world, their entire biology of how and why they work the way they do, powers, abilities, etc. AND, another half notebook dedicated to his vampire side- their biology, physiology, psychology- how and why they work, powers, abilities, ways they can die or be killed, how they become vampires, how the vampirism is trasmitted, what biologically and psycologocially happens to various classifications of creatures once they are infected (a vampire biting a deer will have different effects than a vampire biting a human, after all)...

And then THAT spiraled off into the actual mechanics of the transmission of the vampirism in my world, which, admittedly, probably gave me as many questions as it did answers.... but still.

Then end result of all of this is the revelation back in the present that I've watched WAY too much Discovery Channel.

Yeah.

My mind works in weird ways sometimes... LOL.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Sorcerological Arts and Sciences

or

Thaumaturgical Arts and Sciences


Which do you prefer? I'm tending to lean toward the first one... but would like to hear others' opinions..

Please discuss.

So, yeah. I've been really quiet lately... Haven't gone a whole lot art wise.

I got a bunch of bottlecap pendants done before Con, so that's good. (I will try and get a decent pic of them all up soon), and delivered the three I had commissions for (one of which I DO have a pic for)..

Haven't touched the comic in a while, which I REALLY need to do... Such a shame I've only got one art desk, lol. Oh well, even if I did have a second one, I've nowhere to put it..

The one I do have is currently flat, as I have been painting figs instead of drawing comic pages. On the plus side, the Bone Griffon fleet is almost done. Well, the ships are, for the most part. I have some sails and some decks to do, and the 6 undead whales... but the ships are almost done. Once I've got them complete I may take a break and see what I can get done on the comic.

Other than that, I don't have much to report, other than it seems like ever since I decided to do jewelry with bottlecaps, I see it more and more. I don't know if that's just my luck, or if it's just that I started noticing it more, or some combination thereof... It's ALMOST a little discouraging. But, oh well. I'll keep doing what I'm doing, because I DO like them, and I haven't seen anyone else put chainmail on them (thank the gods for THAT)... And I have a few other ideas in the works for them too, as soon as I get the logistics figured out. May go out and look at stuff for that today....

Oh, and if ANYONE has worked with resin, and is willing to tell me what it's like to work with, I'd be much appreciative. I don't need to know WHAT you do with it, just what it is like to work with- easy, hard, time consuming, a pain in the ass but worth it, etc. So far I haven't had any luck fining much about real-world experience with it... the few people I've asked seem terrified I'm going to steal their ideas, despite the fact that I've already been doing the same sort of thing just as well without the resin, and in fact want the resin for making molded type stuff.

Sun's project is progressing. Perhaps not as fast as I'd like, BUT... it IS progressing. That's what I get for trying something overly ambitious, right? LOL. Ya'll will understand when it's done.

I've got some prints I'd like to color here soon too (I'm beginning to think I'm more of a colorist with my watercolors than I am anything else, but hey, we'll see. I may yet "find my voice" with the comic...)

Anywho... um.. I think that's it for now.

Think I'm going to take off to the hardware store for some ideas...

LATER.

There are, upon occasion, times when I should very much like to strangle my muse. I cannot, however, due to the fact that the times when I should most like to strangle her, are the times she gives me some of my best work.

It is just most unfortunate that she does this by allowing me no sleep, or otherwise forcibly rousting me from my bed in order to jot down whatever she has for me before she forgets.

While I am accustomed to being awake at hours that differ drastically from societal norms, and while I am immensely appreciative of the gift that is having her in my life... it does not make it any less irritating to be kept up working, as opposed to having made the choice to remain awake.

I am sure there are those that would claim that I could choose to go to bed at any time, regardless of what my "muse" might want, and for those who are blessed to have a muse that allows that to be a reality, I imagine it is a valid argument.

For myself, however, that is simply not the case, as my muse does not subscribe to the theory that I, and not she, should be in charge.

So in case you wish to make that point, please keep in mind that while I can appreciate where that point comes from, I have no more a frame of reference of what it is like to be in charge of my muse, than you likely have of what it is like to be a slave to yours.

And now that it is after 8:00 in the morning, I am left with a rather annoying headache, as my muse's attention has wandered away from the story she was giving me, and no time in which to lie down in an attempt to get it to go away, as I have to be up in about half an hour to get ready for the day's events.

So... I decided to share with you that which is going through my brain as I try to recover from the last 3 hours while I am still eloquently under the effect of my muse, even though she has moved on to whatever else it is she is doing, bouncing happily about her cage and giggling at my irritated torment.

Such is my life with my muse. Ce la Vie, no?

His movenents are smooth, elegant...
With an etherearl beauty
and a serene silence
Thet belies the deadly malicious intent
of a pari of matched silver blades.
a heart, surrounded in stone, slips through the shadowns.


there's more. a lot more... but this is all my muse has granted me with at the moment, and as it has rousted me out of bed to make sure I didn't lose it, I figured I'd share. I have a feeling this will be one of my favorites, should I ever be allowed to discover the entirety of it.

Anywho... off to attempt to get some sleep.

Again.

Night all.

(p.s. yes, I left the spelling errors there on purpose! *grin*)