Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

As always, I can’t be bothered to proofread, so apologies in advance for illegibility due to ignorance of the rules of spelling and grammar. Just because I like the picture, I’m going to start this entry with this picture that I took through my front door’s peephole:

Both the health of my corporeal being and my cable internet have been leaving a lot to be desired lately, so it seems quite a lot of time has passed since I last posted. That said, I’ve been a lot less active than I’d like to be, so I don’t really have that much to report in relation to the time that has passed, but I’ll give it a go because I have been making some fun stuff. I’d hoped to have a little more energy because school has started, reducing my work hours, but changing my alarm to get me up early has been draining enough to compensate for any reduced demands. I did have one day off when Nefarious went to visit her mom, which I think is the first visit they’ve had since March, so that was very eagerly looked forward to by everyone (Nefarious drew a wonderful sweet picture that happily predicted the visit — she definitely has riding in her blood, and as she ages I definitely see more and more of her mother in her — it’s remarkable how genetically predetermined our personalities are). She definitely came back aglow.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll find the right rhythm soon.

I picked up a cheap mini wood lathe (which has already broken and is getting returned) and to test it out and remember how to use it — not counting jewelry making on a little Unimat, I haven’t used a wood lathe since elementary school — I made a rough chess-piece-sort-of-thing out of unsuitable wood (very fibrous stuff that shreds itself on the lathe) and a little wooden change bowl out of a 4×4 board that I kind of like and will probably keep. I also made a couple of wooden rings for amusement, one with a BB mounted in it and the other with a piece of scrap plastic, but those were hand carved, not done on the lathe.

I also picked up five or ten pounds of silicone molding materials, as well as some candy making and soap making supplies, so this weekend I’ll probably do some experiments in that realm. I’m not really sure what though, but I imagine I’ll begin with lollipops in the form of grotesque heads or something, which I’ll make out of Sculpey and then take a mold off of. I’m quite looking forward to this. Given how crippled I feel these days, I’m happy that I still have the strength left to fill the gaps with projects — Nefarious and I finally finished off the chipmunk painting we started ages ago.

Since winter is coming up, Caitlin made me a nice hat.

Anyway… I feel like this is not a very good post, but I don’t like neglecting my blog for so long. If it wasn’t for that must-post compulsion I probably wouldn’t post at all any more. It’s really getting to be very difficult to meet the physical demands of day to day life, and it’s a steeper hill to climb every day, and it’s harder and harder to do it. I hate looking in the mirror and seeing how much my muscles have atrophied, and I hate feeling so weak, and most of all I would give almost anything to make the pain stop but that’s just not going to happen. I really want to get off this ride, I’ve had enough of it. I don’t want to do it any more. But it’s not like I have any choice in the matter, so I keep on doing the best I can, and I keep on being amazed that even through all this, moments of joy still do find a way to bubble up to the surface. The results of the genetic testing that was started back in April are finally in, so perhaps I will get some good news at month’s end when they talk to me about them.

Which reminds me — as you know from I think the entry before this one, I got about five hour of tattooing done recently. The odd thing was that during the tattooing, I didn’t bleed at all. Not a drop. No lymph, no blood, nothing. Shane might as well have been drawing on me with a marker. The healing was just as odd, because there was never a scab of any magnitude on the tattoo. Nothing at all. Nor did the tattooed skin flake off or anything. It was as if Shane teleported the ink into me. No bleeding, and instant healing. It’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen a tattoo do.

PS. What is a BUFFGOAT?

I have the munchies and Caitlin tells me that the Loblaws around the corner is open until ten, so I think I”m going to go get a cherry pie. Yum. At least that ends the post on a high note!