Untitled 202

Pastel on UArt, approx. 4" x 5".

Art purchase inquiries: please email me: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com].

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Still looking for a place to live and do art. Dealing with a lot of insomnia and increased frequency of migraines.

Also now dealing with a yucky recurring plumbing problem in the house which the other day decided to reappear with a vengeance. Can no longer use the downstairs toilet at all, and it's a tricky and nasty business to take a shower (because it doesn't want to drain, and because water and gross stuff comes up from underground too). Lately I'm showering by balancing on a small pile of bricks I placed in the shower stall (which puts your head too high for the water coming out, so then you're balanced on bricks under your feet, while practicing mild contortionism trying to bend your head down below the water spout...).

Of all the kitty combinations witnessed around here, this pair is by far the most common. They are truly inseparable best friends.

I'm still worried about Rumi. It's getting close to the time (another week or two, I believe) to bring him back to the vet to reweigh him. He looks to me like he may have lost even more weight. Maybe he'll have held steady, which would of course be preferable to continuing to lose. But from the looks of him, I'd say he probably hasn't gained any weight. After reweighing him, if he has lost more weight, then I think the next step is blood tests. My best guess would be hyperthyroid, but it seems to be kind of unheard of in a young cat.

Gadjo's FHS has been noticeable but not out of control--it seems to happen maybe a couple of times a day, but each episode is fairly brief.

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In India.


More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Trip delayed, life drawing, and fire

Well. Trip has been postponed 'till the 12th or 13th. So I got one more life drawing session in tonight. Posted in reverse order tonight, just for kicks: top one was 1 hour, the one below was 20 minutes, and then the warm-up sketches. (Posted in reverse, but drawn in the normal order.) 18" x 24" paper.

It's been a harsh couple of days, as there's a big fire (7000+ acres) raging just a ten minute drive from here. They're calling it the Fourmile Fire, because it started in Fourmile Canyon. I assumed it was a wildfire--it hasn't rained for a few weeks--but supposedly a vehicle hit a propane tank.

I'm grateful we haven't had to evacuate or lose anything. When I was 16, our house burned down and it was the kind of traumatic event that never leaves you. I've had a real fire phobia since then. (Not such a terrible phobia to have, I suppose. I do have other phobias that are less useful.) The air here is terrible, full of smoke and it's "snowing" ash. Just breathing feels really uncomfortable. Not sure why my lungs are taking this harder than, say, The Husband's. I'm coughing a lot. Maybe it's because my breathing apparatus has already been partly taken down by allergies. The combination is pretty nasty.

One thing that feels odd is that a few years ago, The Husband and I almost bought a house right where the fire is now. Apparently, so far, over 90 known structures (houses and other buildings) have been destroyed. I can't help but wonder if that particular house is suddenly gone. Amazingly, no one has been injured during all this, so far as I've heard.

And now for some comic relief...

The Husband decided to try to fix the leaky pipes under the kitchen sink. It wasn't funny to me (though it's okay with me if you laugh) that we couldn't use the sink for two days and there were parts strewn everywhere and it was extremely obnoxious of The Husband not to listen to me and call an actual plumber, even when it became apparent that we really needed one and he instead made four separate trips to the hardware store...

But the gem in all this chaos was that The Husband found an Assistant Plumber, albeit a little guy, wearing his spotless white coveralls.

And a video of the plumbing action, below (remember that Rumi is deaf, so his hearing is not being hurt even though it looks bad):

$115.00 - Beth 8SEP10 (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com