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Christmas was pretty swell this year. Aside from not seeing my mum on christmas day- since we’ve pretty much decided that We Shall Do Festive When We Damn Well Feel Like It, and this year we decided it shall be ham on Saturday- all in all it ended up being one of the nicest holidays I’ve had in a long time.

On christmas eve day, we made a brief trip out to the mall to pick up treats for the critters, and fixings for us, and some gift cards for family. I know what you’re thinking: we must be absolutely masochistic to set foot in that retarded frenzy. Not so; I quite enjoy observing the chaos. People are completely stupid and misguided to the point of comedy. I can’t even get mad about it anymore, i just watch from the outside with my eggnog-double-plus-good-with-brandy and deeply appreciate that i can just enjoy something and not take things so goddamned seriously. (I also don’t drive a big ugly SUV and most of my gifts are handmade, so that probably helps a bit.) But what makes me really angry- and  Matt and I discussed this in the car, while waiting in traffic, after a particularly obnoxious cynical christmas parody came on the radio- I don’t understand why everybody hates on Christmas so much. Yeah, it’s super stressful, but only as stressfull as you allow it to be. I think some people just like to be a lazy farking grouch and lament endlessly how much effort it takes to be a little festive, and it’s a lame old tired joke and generally bad form. If it’s that horrible, don’t participate, and spare the rest of us from your misery. I’m not saying we all have to be disgustingly chipper, but geez, is it that difficult to just enjoy the time you have? Put a little extra booze in the ‘nog and just let it snow, people.

Anyways. We made it home in one piece and I got started on supper. What i really like about the holidays is food, and to me, feeding people has become the equivalent of giving love. So I roasted a chicken with some rosemary, made stuffing from scratch, cooked up some mashed taters, sweet green peas, roasted squash, almonds and olives, bosc pears with cracked black pepper, etc, etc. Oh, and eggnog with brandy of course. The critters each got a platter full of fruit and veggies and crackers and were absolutely beside themselves. We set up a big table in the livingroom and had our little feast together, our weird little twitchit family.

You can see Tildy sitting up at her little food dish at the corner of the table. She was totally excited about getting apples and carrots and lettuce. Ugmoe was not as impressed- he kept sniffing around for cookies.

Then we wrapped presents. Well, Matt and I wrapped presents, and Ugmoe patrolled the floor and nibbled on the corners of the packages. We put on the Charlie Brown Christmas album, which the rabbit has a weird fondness for. As soon as it starts playing he flops down contentedly and lets out a big sigh. Every time. Matilda seems to like music too.

Speaking of Matilda, here’s a behind-the-scenes video from our little christmas-critter photoshoot. Aww.  

And what did Santa Paws bring us? A trip to Miami in a couple weeks to soak up some much needed sunshine, an eight-week art class for Matty and i to do together on tuesday nights, a fuzzy rug for Ugmoe to sprawl on, some nibble sticks for Tildy, a plush jingleball for the rabbit to play with, some little watercolor paintings for me, new art supplies for Matt. And a pair of fuzzy handcuffs, bahaha. Santa is a kinky bastard.

Merry Christmas everyone! Here’s hoping Santa Paws treats you all very well.

Matt, in a fit of snark-riddled boredom, made this for me today. Nyahaha.

I’ve been spending some time trolling the “creative gigs” section of craigslist looking for a part-time or flexible supplement to my- well, let’s face it- nonexistent income. A lot of times it’s severely frustrating because either a.) there’s nothing out there worth following up on or b.) people with a perfectly adequate cash flow want an artist to be their “intern” or do work pro-bono to add to their “portfolio” just so they can save a dime. Music labels or marketing firms pose under the guise of being an upstart to get free talent, that kind of crap. Really pisses me off, because it undercuts the whole principle that artists and designers are craftspeople with skills worth paying for. I mean, you wouldn’t try to hire a plumber to fix your toilet, and then try to tell him that you can’t pay him, but the incredible experience of unclogging your shitter will look great on his resume? Would you??

If so, then you deserve to have your bathroom explode. In turn, lots of disgruntled artists post snarky replies railing against the kind of disrespect that’s going on. It’s kinda hostile out there, which adds to the already present suckage, but it’s the truth- nobody with skills, talent, and training should work for cheap or free, pretty much.

So. I’ve kinda had an emotional day, but I did come across this one ad tonight which nearly made me lose it, and for completely the opposite reason stated above. Woman in Southie (that’s South Boston to the rest of you) has a little table she’d like painted for her disabled 3-year old daughter. She doesn’t get a whole lot into what the drama with the kiddo is, but does go on about some pretty design ideas her little one might like- flowers, butterflies, teacups, the works- and offers a modest fee, or maybe barter, maybe pay for the supplies. She just wants something nice for her kid, and it’s clear they don’t have a whole lot to spare. She shouldn’t even have to suggest it, you know? But she’s still offering payment, which is at least respectful, and it would be a really nice thing for some artist to do for her.

Because this would definitely be a nice thing to do for free.

the newest member of our [increasingly] odd little family clan, Miss Matilda C. Rocketbutt. She’s tiny, and she makes little happy warbly noises! awww, the little widget.

 

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Edited to add more pictures of the little dahlin’. I named her Matilda because, a. I like that name, and b. that makes her nickname Maddy, so she’s pretty much named after Matt. Last night she snuggled on my lap while we watched TV, and after a little while i got her to calm down enough to put her head down and have a snooze, all while curled up in the cup of my hand. Loves having her ears scratched. Starts burbling and squeaking and making happy noises. She also seems to like continuous sound, I guess that’s what what she’s used to in the pet store, so in the studio today i have my downtempo/ambient electronica mix playing. She’s chilled out a bit and has scoped out her cage a little, instead of just hiding in her box, and she’s started to associate my voice with food and snuggles, so she isn’t as skittish. She’s so tiny, and so fast, like she’s got a little jetpack strapped to her tush. And this morning I offered her a little banana-blueberry smoothie off my finger, and she lapped it right up. Somebody’s got a little sweet tooth, hehe!

Me and Maddy

She has a little pink nose and a white racing stripe up to her ears.

And a little white butt, which is the only thing you can see when she’s “hiding”.

 
Checkin’ some stuff out.

She looks like a badger-face. Or an oreo-cookie-face, whichever.

Oh, and her big brother, Ugmoe? Completely nonplussed. He just wants his carrots and his butt scratched as usual.

No little sisters allowed! Grr!

You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to find a plain black knitted beanie with earflaps. As it was, i had to lop off the ridiculous pom-pom sewn on the top. It makes me look like an angry gnome. Matt thinks it is cute. Therefore i do not mind looking unfashionable, and my ears are warm so i have been wearing it it all afternoon.

That is all.