http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bar/832024693.html

Do it!!

Say, "Every time a bell rings, some fresh-baked bread gets its wings" in a Jimmy Stewart voice.











Maybe you had to be there.

I just watched Metropolis for the first time.

Humanity will never make a more perfect film.

Seriously.

So I decided to stop dicking around and teach myself to draw. I've always wanted to get really good at art, but to be honest I've always been kind of intimidated by it. I mean, my dad and my grandpa were both freaking incredible artists and I've always felt like I shouldn't even try to measure up to that.

But I've been awfully depressed lately, so I thought a good way to get myself feeling happy and excited again would be to give some art a whirl. I've done cartoony stuff before, and random doodling, but I've never seriously attempted to replicate something real-looking before in my life. This is my first sketch ever. It's a pika. Pikas rock. (lol, a pun.)

Click this to see ye olde pika.

It's got some problems, and I'm still trying to figure out how to use pencils, but I think it's really not bad at all for a first-ever attempt at sketching. I mean, it looks like a pika. That's a good thing, right?

Maybe I'm not totally devoid of all talent after all.

Critiques from knowledgeable artist-types are welcome! I'd love to learn how to improve my new-found skills.

Speed Racer.

Like looking upon the face of God, it was beautiful and terrible, enlightening and confounding, comforting and fearful. And like looking upon the face of God, it ultimately answered no questions. The mysteries have only deepened, yet I now understand both the insignificance and the unbearable importance of all things.

I am left feeling empty; bereft.

There was a veritable cavalcade of umlauts in the credits. The Germans have created either a weapon or an instrument of peace. Only time will tell.

Pray, my friends. Pray for understanding. Pray for mercy.

Robert Downey Jr. blowing shit up = TEH SEX.

It's a barn owl cake! Will is the best husband EVER!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I go to a small gym, attached to the local community center. It's way cheaper than a big supergym, and nobody tries to sell me supplements. Anyway, this evening I arrived before the usual post-work rush and started working out on the stairclimber. I'd been on it for two minutes when this guy and girl walked in. The girl got on the only other available stair machine, and the guy moped around lifting weights in a totally lame way. He approached me, made a big show of peering at the screen of my stair machine, and walked away before I could ask him if he needed help with anything. I went on with what I was doing.

A few minutes later, he approached me again and motioned for me to take my earphones off. "Yeah?" I said, in a friendly way, still thinking he needed help of some kind.

"Are you aware that there's a 30-minute limit on the machines?"

"Of course. I've been on for about eight minutes."

"Well, I already saw that your machine said 28 minutes a while ago. You're obviously lying."

OH NO HE DIDN'T.

Before I could give him a snappy retort, he walked off to mope some more. I rolled my eyes and kept going. Before too long, he was back again, staring up at me rudely. I ripped the earphones out of my ears and said, "WHAT?" This time I was not being friendly.

He said, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"EXCUSE ME?"

"I asked you, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Here's what I have to say for myself. This machine counts backwards. When you saw that it said '28,' that meant I'd been on it for two minutes, not twenty-eight minutes. I still have twenty minutes left to go, so you're going to have to wait like everybody else."

He shook his head as if denying that I could possibly be right, then wandered out of the gym and into the front area, probably looking for a staff person so he could tell on me real good! I hoped he would find one, because I'd get to smirk at him while the staff told him that indeed the machines here count backwards, which is obvious if you do more than just glance at them. What a prick.

Anyway, apparently he couldn't find any convenient source for his tattling, so he returned and lurked around opposite me, across the gym, giving me serious stink-eye whenever I made eye contact with him, which was frequently, let me assure you. A few times, he made a big show of looking at his watch and then glaring disapprovingly at me, to which I mouthed, "BACKWARDS!" and kept going.

At last my 30 minutes were up. I wiped down the equipment, and then turned to him where he was leaning against his girlfriend's machine and said, "It's all yours."

"Oh, how generous of you."

As he got onto the machine, I said to him, "Hey, just so you know. Once you actually start using this machine and you realize that it counts backwards, you're going to feel like a real dick for calling me a liar. I just want you to know I forgive you for being an ass to me."

I walked toward the cubbies, where my stuff was stashed. He yelled after me, "Yeah? Well I didn't ask for your forgiveness!"

"No," I replied, smiling, "but you'll wish you had when you realize that you called me a liar when I was right. So it's all good between us."

He said something else, but I had cranked my Nabokov and said, "Sorry, can't hear you. I'm listening to something much more interesting than your pompous prattling. Have a nice day."

Then, since I've been going to that gym forever, I went and found the staff and told them that some weird old guy was harassing gym users. They were most interested to know this.

I wouldn't have attempted anything like this with a guy who was more fit and looked like he could kick my ass if I pissed him off, but this guy was at least 55, at least four inches shorter than me, and scrawny as hell. I could have broken him like a twig if he'd tried anything. He was wearing unflattering gym shorts and a SPACE JAM T-SHIRT (lol) so I doubted there were any weapons hidden on his person, and if he'd tried to follow me out to my car, I would have whipped out my phone, called the police, and screamed like bloody hell until he backed off. I try to be somewhat cautious about speaking my mind to assholes, ever since Will scared me out of flipping off drivers who piss me off. Most of the time, if I can't size them up easily and determine whether I'm relatively safe, I just roll my eyes and keep doing what I'm doing.

Still, what a fucking dickwad. Who just waltzes up to a total stranger and calls them a liar and gets all confrontational like that? He fucked with the wrong chick.

Yesterday was the first day I was ever able to handle a raptor. It was thrilling!

After the usual routine of filling up water dishes for the birds who would be outside and scrubbing mews (the indoor flight-rooms where they live off-exhibit), and the weighing routine (all the birds are weighed daily to monitor their health and flight condition), I got to take the spectacled owl out to his perch and tether him. It was uneventful, and I was a bit nervous. G, the female raptor keeper, said I did well although I moved a bit too fast. I'll need to practice moving more slowly. The spectacled owl didn't care, but some of the other birds are much more sensitive and I could have spooked them.

We finished cleaning and then it was time to cruise some birds. Cruising is the act of carrying them around on the fist, so that they can get a bit more mental stimulation and so that we can interpret for the zoo visitors (which basically just means teach them about raptors).

It was decided that I could cruise the spectacled owl! G handed him off to me and he immediately began flapping an pecking at my glove. She told me to hold still and wait until he was finished. I asked what this behavior meant, and she said, "He's copulating with your glove!"

Ha ha. The bird made sweet love to my hand. I told you guys he has a crush on me!

After that little episode was over, we cruised for a while. The weather was erratic, with some windy moments and a bit of sprinkling rain. There were a few booms of thunder, which startled the owl, but he didn't react too badly - just gave a little jump. Then, just as a few guests walked up, he decided that it was time to romance the glove again and did so vigorously. They asked what he was doing, so what the hell - I told them. "He's doing some breeding behavior with the glove," I said. They seemed a bit shocked. Hey, that's nature, my friends.

Finally, there was a nice flash of lighting and a louder peal of thunder, so it was time to bring all the birds inside. We headed back indoors, and then quickly prepared a few birds for their training flights. The flights went well, in spite of the drizzle and the stormy weather. The gyrfalcon few beautifully. She is incredible to watch. A small group of teen-agers were standing around "watching" her training flight. She dives at the lure and goes up higher than any of the trees, then stoops back into the raptor yard right over the heads of the zoo visitors. This time, she shook things up a bit, zooming right under a huge maple tree near the viewing benches. She flew at full gyrfalcon speed within a couple of feet of the teen-agers, who stood around staring at some electronic device in the hands of one of them; they didn't pay any attention to the bird as she went past so close they could have touched her. How can you ignore something like that?!

Kids today.

Best of all, I got to watch the barn owl fly. He's gorgeous. I could go on for hours about how graceful and ethereal barn owls are, especially in flight; but I won't bore you, and instead I'll work on some photos.

Sayonara!

Woot, I just made my first short fiction sale! A short story I wrote in the last week of December titled "Fire Dance" has been accepted at Flash Me Magazine, an online literary magazine that specializes in short stories under 1,000 words. As I tend to be overly verbose (as you all know by now), this is very exciting for me, since it was an extremely difficult challenge to tell a complete story in less than 1000 words. I think the final count on Fire Dance was 980 words, so I even had a few words to spare.

It will be in the April 30th issue, just after my 28th birthday.

Rock on, Libbie! Now I just need to finish and sell that novel I've been working so hard on. ;)

So, my previous post here has been interesting. I'll tackle the first one first, I suppose. For those who aren't familiar with the model horse world, this will mean nothing to you, so please ignore or just allow your eyes to glaze over as I answer Jackie's question.

My feelings about the current state of NAMHSA, huh? That's a broad subject and I'm sure I can ramble on it, so I'm going to put this behind a cut.

( See, look. It's behind a cut. )

I can always use more writing exercises, so here be one.

Taken from the LJ of inevitableguy.

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post* about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, favorite type of underwear, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other. or not.

No, I'm not screening comments. o.o If I have to write about it, you have to ask about it where others can see. ;)

READY...GO.

First wedding of the year was this past Saturday. It went extra-swimmingly. The weather was pretty nasty (although not as bad as was forecast) and due to weather fears, the bride shuffled the schedule around quite a lot at the last minute, which didn't leave me with enough time to get some of the shots I wanted to get (such as all the girls goofing around together). However, I think the couple will be happy with the shots we did get anyhow. For the curious, you can see the slideshow here: http://www.libbiemistretta.com/robingrant/ This was a REALLY fun couple to work with! I adored them.

Volunteering with the raptors is awesome. I think it's just what I've been needing. It's nice, hard, freezing cold physical labor and plenty of fresh air, which has had the welcome effect of making me smile the whole time I'm there. I don't think I've felt quite so happy and excited about life in a long time. Not that I'm regularly unhappy, of course - it's just that getting out into a different environment, being around animals, and learning new things has really invigorated me and pepped me up. I've been feeling like writing much more - it's not something I force myself to do now, but something I look forward to - and I've been feeling like working in the studio much more as well. Apparently a change of pace, some air, and proximity to potentially dangerous birds was just what I needed to recharge my creative batteries.

One of the birds, a spectacled owl, seems to have a bit of a crush on me. He's so cute. He's badly imprinted on humans (all the birds are at the zoo because of "injuries" that make them unfit to live in the wild, whether they be physical injuries or psychological injuries like imprinting. The zoo doesn't imprint any birds, but does take in some that are already imprinted.) Today he was staring intently at me, bobbing his head, and making the cutest little hoots whenever I came near his mew. Aww. One of the keepers said that if he had had any food in his mew he would have been offering it to me. The other keeper said that when I left for lunch, he was agitated and tried to fly after me a few times. He has a crush on me!

Another of the birds, the Harris' hawk, wants to murder me. But he'll come around.

Today after cleaning and weighing I practiced jess and leash skills. It's incredibly difficult to do it correctly without waving your glove hand all over the place (which would dump your bird or make it climb up your arm if you actually had one on your fist.) And doing the complicated maneuvers with the leash with only one hand is also pretty tough. I suppose I just need more practice. The keeper I work with the most told me that we'll see how well I remembered my leash stuff next Monday - if I'm doing well, I might get to handle a bird for the first time! He said it will definitely be the spectacled owl, since he loves me. <3<3<3

I'll have to get somebody to come to the zoo with a camera when I start handling the birds in front of the public. I want a million pictures of me with the raptors. They're incredible. Each one is so fascinating and beautiful. I love the way they all have unique personalities, and how sensitive each one is. I want to hug them all, but they wouldn't appreciate that much. One of the docents whom I met today said that she's been volunteering with the raptors since 1993. She said it "gets in your blood." I can tell that already!

I think the most beautiful sight I've ever seen is the barn owl's flight. He is so graceful, and as silent and white as fog. I love watching him. The way owls lean forward and pause before they fly is the most graceful thing. I could hang out with owls all day long. Well - except for when the barn owl starts to do his "car alarm" call. Good lord, that is a horrible, piercing, repetitive shriek, and he did it all day long. I'll forgive him because he's such an amazing flyer.

Barn owl:


Spectacled owl:
Click here to see a picture of my boyfriend. Scroll down to the Spectacled Owl shot.

Harris' hawk:


Also a Western screech owl, who I didn't talk about, but believe me: He's cute. Very cute. I'll write about him soon.

People who have seen There Will Be Blood will recognize this building:



I believe this was the home of the mustachioed milkshake drinker, yes? Anyway, this is Thornwood Castle, a very popular Seattle-area wedding location. I am sorely kicking myself for not going to the big screening party they had there. They invited a ton of area wedding vendors, including me, to come watch There Will Be Blood. Apparently milkshakes were served, or that's the rumor I've been hearing. why didn't I go? I can't for the life of me remember why. Oooh, wait. Yes I can. I had a meeting with a client that evening. Damn.

Anyway - yes. The home of the milkshake man is practically right in my back yard (sort of). I hope I get to work there some day.

(Warning: Upsetting images within. Still worth viewing for the bizarre juxtaposition with the text.)

Your Mommy Kills Animals, a "comic book" (really just a flier with a cover) aimed at kids, produced by the biggest douchebags on the face of the Earth, PETA.

Now, listen. I think it sucks to wear fur. I have no issue with fur from wild-hunted animals who were shot with guns and not caught with traps, but I think it's some messed-up shit to raise animals in teeny cages a la the fur industry. The only circumstances under which I would ever wear fur would be if I somehow ended up in an Arctic or Antarctic climate, in which case it's pretty much a death sentence - or at least a frostbite sentence - to not wear real fur.

But still, this "comic" is way over the top. As terrible as I think the fur industry is, I was snickering by the second line of text and LOLing through the rest. It reads as if it were written by a Something Awful Goon Random Text Generator.

Can't the PETA people do better than this? Come on, guys. Try harder.

By the way, I have checked and cross-checked and this is real, not a fake. It's real, folks.

Tomorrow I will be with them.



AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

Starting Monday, I get to volunteer at the raptor center at the zoo! woot!! I've been volunteering twice a week at Zoomazium, the kids' play and educational area, since January. I originally just wanted to volunteer in the Animal Unit positions, since those are basically "zookeeper's assistant" positions, but when they found out that I know some stuff about rocks and minerals, Zoomazium called dibs on me. Damn! I said yes, because I figured it would get me closer to an Animal Unit position faster, and closer to my goal of becoming a docent there some day.

It hasn't been too bad. I have had some very amusing moments at Zoomazium. But they do require a six-month commitment, so I've got to stick with them on Sundays until June. After that, I'll be shifting my focus to raptors plus the necessary training for the docent program.

Anyway, the important thing here is BIRDS. Raptors is the only unit in which volunteers have direct contact with the animals. My eventual duties will include helping to train the birds (flying exercise, simulating hunting experiences for them, stuff like that) and being part of the educational programs. After a year working with the birds, I might actually get to help lead the flight demonstrations if we're short-staffed and the keepers are away with some of the birds for school programs. Cool! I will definitely get to handle the birds and talk to the public about them. This is going to be so much fun. The perfect get-away from being at home all the time, especially during the wedding season when I'll be spending an ungodly amount of time with my ass planted in the computer chair, working on photos.

It's a minimum one-year commitment, since the birds bond with their handlers and they don't want to break any birdie hearts by separating them from their friends too soon. I don't know, though - I can see myself being there for longer than a year, if all works out well. I have always had a thing for birds of prey.

So, starting on Monday I'll be hosing out mews early in the morning, weighing birds, and then spending an hour or two per day bonding with each individual bird. The keepers who did my interview told me that two hate new people, so I don't get to handle them for a while. Apparently they can be a bit dangerous sometimes. Yikes. Adventure!

This weekend I've got to go find myself some waterproof pants to wear while I'm working there. Wielding a hose in the morning will not make for a very comfortable rest of the day.

Tonight Will and I made a really ridiculous Myspace page for our guinea pigs. (Cat Myspace to come.) Check them out to see the overwhelming cuteness, and add them...IF YOU DARE!