http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:DV-Skitz&section=today deviantART RSS for by:DV-Skitz en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:59:59 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/24890669/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/24890669/ Fri, 22 May 2009 13:15:47 PDT
Um... yeah, despite that, I have nothing of value to say. Been insanely busy. Like crazy, want to crawl under a rock so the world can't find me, busy. Potentially have some news about the house-buying situation, though I'm not going to count my chickens. Will share if/when I know more.

How have y'all been? Lots of great art from people lately.

Anyway - just wanted to post a quick update to say 'HI' to everyone, and to reassure you all that I am still here... sort of.

Some randomness:

~No More Kings: And The Flying Boombox - best album evar? Quite possibly.

~OMG why is there no one who knows who Theodore Sturgeon is? I ponder this travesty daily!

~As a Trekker of old (like, I've been to conventions. Yeah, Star Trek conventions, people), I have to say that I enjoyed the hell out of the Star Trek movie. Plus, Simon Pegg! *SQUEE*

~Which reminds me: I will watch some pretty crap movies, just because actors that I love have (usually small) roles in them. ex: Codename: The Cleaner. *Hangs head in shame* (Worst movie evar? Possibly. Right after Ghost Ship)

Oh, and since it's the friday before a Holiday weekend, I'm also slackin' off. And what better way to do that than taking random quizzes on the internet!

Gacked a quiz from

What's your score? 84 points.

If you have 00-10 ... write [I'm a goody-goody]
If you have 11-20 ... write [I'm still a goody-goody]
If you have 21-30 ... write [I'm average]
If you have 31-40 ... write [I'm a bad kid]
If you have 41-50 ... write [I'm a very bad influence]
If you have 51-60 ... write [I'm a horrible person]
If you have 61-70 ... write [I should be in jail]
If you have 71-80 ... write [I should be dead]

HAVE YOU...

[x] smoked (I'll smoke a cigar if I've been drinking.)
[x] consumed alcohol (Often)
[x] slept in the same bed with someone of the opposite sex (every night)
[x] slept in the same bed with someone of the same sex
[x] kissed someone of the same sex
[x] had sex (it's so much less 'naughty seeing that I'm married)
[x] had someone in your room other than family
[x] watched porn
[x] bought porn
[x] tried drugs (nothing 'hard')

TOTAL SO FAR: 10

[x] taken painkillers
[x] taken someone else's prescription medicine (Oh geez, I steal my Hubby's muscle relaxers all the time)
[x] lied to your parents
[x] lied to a friend
[x] snuck out of the house (many, many years ago!)
[x] done something illegal
[x] felt hurt
[x] hurt someone
[x] wished someone to die
[ ] seen someone die (I'm assuming this means, like 'actually seen' the death occur - so I can't check it. I've seen people who were dying but I don't think that counts)

TOTAL SO FAR: 19

[x] missed curfew
[x] stayed out all night
[x] eaten a carton of ice cream by yourself (NOM)
[x] been to a therapist (OMG I love my therapist!)
[x] received a ticket (1 speeding ticket)
[x] been to rehab (sort of)
[x] dyed your hair
[x] been in an accident
[x] been to a club
[x] been to a bar

TOTAL SO FAR: 29

[x] been to a wild party
[x] been to a Mardi Gras parade (not in New Orleans though - just local)
[x] drank more than three alcoholic beverages in a night (Hell, more than 3 in an hour!)
[ ] had a spring break in Florida (I've been there, just not for spring break)
[x] sniffed anything (whip-its count, don't they?)
[x] wore black nail polish
[x] wore arm bands
[x] wore t-shirts with band names
[x] listened to rap (it does not say 'liked', just listened to!)
[ ] owned a 50 Cent CD

TOTAL SO FAR: 37

[x] dressed gothic (Except back then, I don't know if it was even considered gothic...)
[x] dressed girly
[x] dressed punk
[x] dressed grunge
[x] stole something (a pair of shoes)
[x] been too drunk to remember anything
[x] blacked out
[x] fainted
[ ] had a crush on a neighbor (I didn't really have neighbors to crush on.)

TOTAL SO FAR: 46

[x] had a crush on a friend (Married the guy)
[x] been to a concert (I live next to Alpine Valley...)
[x] dry-humped someone (mmmmm... frottage)
[x] been called a slut
[x] called someone a slut
[x] installed speakers in a car (I've helped install a car stereo - it counts!)
[x] broken a mirror
[x] showered at someone of t... ]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/23431102/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/23431102/ Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:42:52 PST
1. Hotel PC's for Guest use are amusing. I like to open up IE and check the history for the last few days. It amazes me sometimes, the kinds of things people will look up on a public PC. On the plus side, I learned the location of every adult book store near & around Alexandria, MN.

2. People who enjoy podfic, shouldn't always record their own podfic. I LOVE podfic. I'll come right out and admit that, cuz nothing makes an 8 hour trip in the car more enjoyable and less tedious. It's one of my secret little pleasures, especially when it's done well. (And ANYTHING recorded by someone called 'Zabira' is fan-fucking-tastic) However, if you've got a very strong accent and the fic you're recording is in a language other than one that is native to you - maybe it's best to just say 'no'. I was so looking forward to the new podfic I'd found... /sigh

3. If you're going to join someone for a 'night-cap' at the hotel bar (ostensibly to use up the free drink coupons burning a hole in your pocket) - especially when that someone is the Sales Manager for the company you're there to assess as a potential supplier - trying to prove yourself 'worthy' by matching them drink for drink is not always a good idea. Especially when you start running your mouth about how knowledgeable you are about certain types of alcohol. Like Scotch. Because then you have to put your money where your mouth is... (This lesson is especially important when you've gotta be up early the next morning to continue with the business meetings.)

4. Hotel elevators always smell weird.

5. If you're going to stop at a small family diner for lunch or dinner when you're on the road - stick to ordering things that are hard to fuck up. Club sandwiches, for instance, are usually hard to get wrong. Little family restaurants right off the freeway are not the place to be creative with your food choices. Breakfast, however, does not fall into this category - as even the worst choke & puke, hole-in-the-walls, are hard-pressed to screw up breakfast.

6. Get to know your rental car. At least well enough to pick it out of a very large parking lot. Yes, it honks if you hit the lock button a few times, but it just feels silly to keep making it honk in order to find it.

7. It is almost impossible to get the temperature settings in your hotel room to cooperate.
7a. Corollary to 7: If you manage to get your temperature setting close to desirable - do NOT let the cleaning staff in your room if at all possible. They will mess with your settings!

8. The quality of a hotel directly correlates to their available courtesy toiletries. I find that I usually quite like staying in places that offer Shampoo and Conditioner in separate bottles, along with body wash, and separate 'facial' soap. A slab of bar soap, and a bottle of shampoo-condition-in-one, on the other hand, is quite often indicative of a poor stay. I know this one may seem obvious - as the cheaper the hotel, the lesser the freebies - but, that rule doesn't always apply. Sometimes the more expensive places really skimp on the toiletries.

9. Rest Areas, even during the middle of the afternoon, can be scary places.

10. When packing, even if you want to pack light, always bring a few extras. Having extra socks, jeans and that sweatshirt you didn't think you'd need because the weather wasn't supposed to get that cold or snowy, really can come in handy. Especially in northern Minnesota. In February.


Well, the road is calling me ... so it's probably time to get moving. Thanks to some creative travel decisions - I'm only about 4 hours from home. I'll try to play catch-up when I get there. If you need something from me directly, though - drop me a note or an e-mail.

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/23042155/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/23042155/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:33:26 PST ... Blame all those folks - they made me do it.

"You can ask me THREE questions. No matter how crazy, inapropriate, or random they are. I will answer 100% truthfully (or as close to the truth as I can).

Now here's the dare. You must put this in your journal. See what other people will ask you."

In other news. Feeling better. Maybe at about 77%... Still on drugs. Am liking those drugs more and more everyday. I'm probably gonna need to detox from the codeine after this is all over. Either that or find a way to score more!!

Oh and I really need to update my damn avatar. Chripes I'm lazy.

DeeVers

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/22998537/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/22998537/ Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:34:43 PST
I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, though.

That's the upside of things. Downside is... STILL sick. I thought I was getting better. Made it through the whole week last week, and wasn't feeling too bad. I mean, I was worn out and achey, but I figured that I spent over a week on the couch so I was bound to be a bit weak. The other thing was that I couldn't seem to kick the nagging cough.

Well, it got worse over the weekend, to the point that I could hardly talk, or move without hacking up a damn lung. I finished my last dose of Augmentin (antibiotic) on Sat. and still didn't seem to be improving.

Cue Monday morning when I nearly passed out from a ridiculous coughing fit. I decided that a revisit to the Doctor was way more important than work. Turns out, that was a good call. My sinus-infection mess not only decided to be stubborn and not go away even after 10-days of antibiotics, it also sent out its ground troops to attack my lungs. So, I've got a full blown case of bronchitis on top of the lingering sinus infection.

This means yet another round of antibiotics. This time it's something called Levaquin. And OMG talk about a case of the cure being worse than the illness... I dunno if I'm gonna survive a full 10 days of this stuff. I've been on it for 2 - and I've hardly slept, I'm constantly dizzy (well, moreso than usual) and I'm freakin' itchy! The side effects of this stuff are just... wicked. I mean, there's a warning that you should contact your physician if you start to have hallucinations!!

So, I'm gonna see how it goes. Yeah, I want to get rid of the bronchitis - cuz being this sick for 3 weeks now, has just been awful. But, I do need to be able to function. On the plus side, however - I was also prescribed cough syrup with codeine. Mmmmmmm, I loves that stuff.

Anyway - I'm around, folks - I'm just not all that 'here'. Ya know? Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes and support. I'll try to catch up on as much as I can, but if I've missed something you want me to see - please drop me a note or an e-mail.

*Hugs to all*

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/22853345/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/22853345/ Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:11:08 PST
Suckitude: DA is now blocked at work. It's probably my fault for stopping by all the time, but cripes, what a suck ass thing to happen. I did my best journaling/commenting/replying/polling/etc... from work.

So between the sickness and the suckitude, I'm like, way behind on commenting on art and journals and replying to things and thanking people for favs and all that stuff. Many apologies. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up soon.

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/22449838/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/22449838/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:34:11 PST
The Vale launch was (if you'll pardon the 80's vernacular) awesome, and we've had a ton of people join up - both new and old. The forum is bustling! YAY! I can't thank everyone enough for being so enthusiastic and making it so successful!

The cat is 100% better. To the point that I no longer feel guilty for wanting to beat him with a stick for being so damn annoying. (Seriously - the 3am yowling sessions have got to stop!) He still looks like a doof cuz of the shaved spots, but he's even bulked up a bit and is peeing like a champ.

We're getting a Wii. Through a very odd set of circumstances, my parents have a 2nd Wii - so we're going to buy the 2nd one from them. So, that's pretty cool. I'm almost afraid of getting re-addicted to Animal Crossing.

Speaking of addictions - my WOW account is temporarily uh, not active. Stupid credit card mix-up. I miss my big, gun-toting cow. With having such limited time since the WotLK release, he's not even to lvl 80 yet! (Although I did manage to get my Merrymaker achievement. Obsessive-compulsion FTW!).

Although - it's not as if I've not filled that 'WOW-les down time'. Been od'ing on Battlestar Galactica. Crammed through the first two seasons over New Years weekend. Now steadily going through S3 and need to pick up the first half of S4 to be ready for the premiere of the second half of S4 on Jan. 16th. For a show I decided to watch purely for the CKR (Callum Keith Rennie) factor - I'm pretty hooked. (Although the CKR is delicious... you so crazy Leoben!)

Drove myself a bit insane pre-Christmas hammering out a fic for the Yuletide exchange. [link] It kicked my ass. I pounded out something like 8,000 words in one day (from about 8:00am - 4:30pm) just to get it finished. But, I like it. So that's good.

Oh, also in the pre-Christmas venue: ended up baking somewhere around 80-90 dozen cookies. Almost all are gone. (I always make extra Spritzes so I get some for myself).

Christmas itself was nice this year. Good times with family and all that. Some drunken yahtzee, and Wii bowling. Stuff like that. Got mostly gift cards (which rocks) along with a very nice Santoku knife, and Wilby Wonderful on DVD. Warm fuzzies all around.

Am stopping to pick up dinner tonight from a place called Haute Taco. The name amuses me greatly. The food is fantastic. They have duck tacos. They are OMG NOM!

Um, that's about all the randomness DV has for today. I have like 18 memes I should do, but I keep slacking. Yeah. I slack... And let's not even talk art.

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21982305/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21982305/ Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:25:59 PST [link]

Is now live!

Yes. We have a website!!!

Words cannot express how proud and excited and overjoyed I am for this moment!!

It's finally here! All of our hard work and effort and knuckle-biting have finally paid off. It's been SO hard keeping quiet about this - but we wanted it to be a surprise... so 'SURPRISE'

Now - go on, get over there - check it out! It's awesome!

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21602157/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21602157/ Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:43:16 PST ETA!! See ETA Below for Pics!!

V. brief. Phenom is home!! YAY!! Phenom is in a small cage atm so he can't run or jump or do anything to pull out all of his stitches. He is not happy. He doesn't get the stitches removed for 2 weeks. He has to keep his e-collar on for 2-weeks. He must be kept confined or supervised for 2 weeks.

It's going to be a long (loud) 2 weeks!

Speaking of stitches - his new nickname is 'Frankenbutt'.

But bottom line is: He is home, he is good and he already peed once, which is awesome!!

*MANY MANY MANY HUGS AND KISSES TO EVERYONE* Thank you all for being so wonderful and supportive!

ETA! Let's see if this works:

This is Phenom a couple of weeks ago, before all of this mess started.
[link]

This is Phenom and Scully on the back of the couch. I tried to get them looking at each other - but as soon as Scully became aware of the fact that I could see her 'tolerating' Phenom, she got all pissy. Don't cha' love her expression! (Sorry for the yellow - flash wasn't on)
[link]

And this is poor, pathetic Frankenbutt, aka the Six-million-dollar-Kitty. We can't let him run, or jump or do anything that might risk his sutures tearing. They recommended a dog cage for him.
[link]

Thankfully he's got pain meds, but he's just absolutely miserable being stuck in there. I got almost ZERO sleep because he yowled almost all night on and off. OMG Exhausted!
[link]

He just so badly wants to be able to clean himself and lick at that itchy, painful spot. But the e-collar prevents it and it's driving him crazy. I dunno if we're both gonna survive 2 weeks of this!
[link]

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21516131/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21516131/ Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:17:44 PST
Phenom had surgery yesterday. It went very well. The last update we received indicated that he's doing good and he's urinating normally. Which is terrific news! We still don't quite know when he's coming home... but hopefully it will either be tonight or tomorrow morning!

Son of ETA 11-19-08 10:12pm

So, the latest update. We heard from the Vet last evening. Phenom was still catheterized and his kidney function was good and his urine was clearing up (previously it had quite a bit of blood in it). This morning at around 10:00am, they removed the catheter and were going to monitor him to make sure he could pee on his own.

We called to check on him at around 4:00pm (we were planning on picking him up to take him home at about 5:30).

He re-blocked.

Obviously this is the worst we could have hoped for. It's very clear that the slightest irritation is going to keep building up the crystals in his urine and because of his unusually narrow urethra, he'll keep getting blocked. Even anti-inflammatory drugs didn't make the difference.

I left work immediately to meet my Husband at the Vets with the intention of saying goodbye. I was quite wrecked, to be honest. I probably shouldn't have been driving. And after I got there, there was some very tearful discussion in the parking lot about what we were going to do.

We had a meeting with the Vet who's been his primary care giver and he said that even if Phenom were to get the surgery - it's very possible that his urethra doesn't start out as wide as a normal cat and the surgery (which is normally like 90-95% effective) might not keep him from getting blocked.

So, the Doctor left us alone to talk about it and ... I just couldn't let that be the end of it. Yes - the cost is insane. No, we can't afford it. But, I can't just give up - not when I know that doing this for him could change his whole life. If - after it's done - it doesn't work, then we'll have no alternative. But if he has the surgery and we're extremely careful about his diet... It's very possible he could live many more years. Thankfully my wonderful Husband agree with me.

So we called the Dr. back in and basically said 'Look, can't you give us some kind of break on this?' - We also said 'Look, there's another Vet that'll do the surgery for 1/2 price. If you can't give us a break - can you recatheterize him for the night, and we'll bring him to the other Vet's office tomorrow?'

The Doctor said that he'd talk to the surgical staff and see if he could talk to the Intern Dr. about doing the surgery. If he agrees - it cuts the cost in half or more. If he's unable to do it - I'm packing up the kitty and taking him to a different Vet.

Either way, he's going to have surgery tomorrow. I'm still a bit 'basket case' about all of it. I hope I'm making the right decision and not a selfish one based on my own needs, and not what's best for him.

But they brought him in to visit with us... and he looked so 'him'. And so happy to see us. He was almost normal acting - except that he had a cone around his head and he kept sitting up in his haunches 'meercat' style trying to look over it. He purred when I skritched his neck and he even got a little droopy-eyed when I tickled his chin. There was absolutely NO WAY I'd ever have been able to say goodbye to him, not without giving him every fighting chance.

Hell, it's only money, right? *wry grin*

Thanks to everyone who has been so terrific and supportive about this.

ETA 11-17-08 10:17am

Well, we thought we'd be able to pick him up today. Got the cat carrier in my car and everything. When the Vet called this morning it was to say that she thought he was doing okay and that he might be able to go home tonight, but that he'd pulled his catheter out - so she was going to wait for the other Vet to come in and check on him. Just to make sure.

Well, the other Vet just called (this is the Vet that first treated him and is managing his care) and, the darn cat is blocked again. *sigh* So now they're going to have to re-anesthetize him and re-catheter him. And now the Vet wants to monitor him on the catheter for at least 36 hours. If this doesn't work... there's only 1 other option, and that's a surgery to basically turn him into a female, a surgery that - a. We can't afford, b. Might not even work, and c. Could kill him (he's been iffy under anethesia).

I just don't know what to do.


Heya Folks,

I know that I've mentioned to a few people in comments and such, that my cat has... ]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21454131/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21454131/ Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:14:28 PST want to blog about pineapple.

See, I think I'm being haunted by pineapple.

Now, I realize that there are times when you think that you're seeing more of something - say, a certain type of car - but that's usually because you're unconciously 'looking' for whatever that thing is that you're so suddenly seeing more of. Like, 'damn, there sure are more blue cars around than I thought' or what have you. So even though there really aren't more blue cars than normal - it just seems that way. Y'all know what I mean, right? (Cripes - I've even had coffee and I still manage to ramble like an idiot)

Okay, if I could blame this pineapple thing on that phenomenon... phenomina(? Hmmmm... which is the right word here?) well, I would. But this? Is not that!

See, there is pineapple EVERYWHERE all of a sudden. And it's just so unexpected. It started on Monday morning. I grabbed a bag of Runts (y'all know what those are, right?) out of the candy bowl by a coworker's cube. I took my tasty little treat back to my desk and tore into the package. I first grabbed a yellow one that I thought was just a misshapen banana - and it turned out to be Pineapple!! (On another note: After finding said unexpected pineapple - I then went looking for my favorite flavor - cherry - only to find that the reddish, sort of ovoid candies were not cherry! They were freakin' MANGO! WTF!?!? They replaced Lime and Cherry with Pineapple and Mango. Isn't that insane? What kind of evil corporate bastards replace Lime and Cherry with Mango and fucking Pineapple!??!)

Okay - sorry - got carried away by the Runt-outrage. So back to the pineapple. Anyway - a few hours later I went to have lunch. I had a container of cottage cheese and a sort of TV dinner thingy (Healthy Choice fresh mixers). So I take a bite of my cottage cheese... it is sweet. I nearly gag. I read the carton - it is cottage cheese with pineapple chunks!!

So, I couldn't bring myself to finish it cuz it's just too wierd. Then I move on to my TV dinner. I should have realized that I grabbed the on that was Seasame Chicken. And yep... pineapple chunks. AUGH!

Anyway - I sort of laughed about it to the Husband later that night, and didn't think any more of it. But then yesterday morning, I went to have my normal breakfast of yogurt and a breakfast bar, and what fucking flavor was my yogurt? Pineapple upside down cake. I nearly wept.

Then, lunch. I avoided the cottage cheese this time, but still couldn't dodge the pineapple. It was in my TV dinner again! (Same brand, different flavor. Think it was Schezhuan Beef). OMG.

So, later yesterday afternoon, a coworker sends out a ubiquitous 'treats in the breakroom' e-mail. Since I've gotta fill up my water bottle anyway, I head in there and grab what I'm SURE is a mini apple pastry (sort of a mini-danish). Oh fuck no. It's pineapple. I mean, seriously?!??! What the fuck! Who buys the pineapple flavor in pastries? Apple, cherry, even blueberry I understand, but pineapple?

As if all of that weren't bad enough, when I got home last night, I found that the Hubby went to the store. Guess what he brought home with him?

Yep, a fucking Pineapple. He found it amusing. I did not laugh.

So... fine, pineapple was everywhere. I survived it. I thought it was over. And even though I was joking around about blogging about it, I thought 'nah'... that's just silly.

And then literally just after I finished typing the supposedly facetious comment "I'm off to blog about pineapple" - another co-worker wanders by my desk to briefly tell me about a pair of kittens he rescued. He also offered me a Dum Dum lollipop from a bag of them he had. I should have said no. I should have refused and sent him far away from my cube. Hell, I should have asked if I could pick the flavor myself.

But I did not. I simply said, "Sure, grab me one."

Yeah, you don't need me to tell you what flavor I got.

So...is there a pineapple conspiracy? I'll let you decide.

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21435190/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21435190/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:24:15 PST

Rules of the game:

- Choose a singer/band/group
- Answer using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group.

Can you guess the singer?

01. Are you male or female?
Just Like a Woman

02. Describe yourself.
Lilac Wine

03. What do people feel when they're around you?
Grace

04. How would you describe your previous relationship?
Last Goodbye

05. Describe your current relationship.
Hallelujah

06. Where would you want to be now?
New Year’s Prayer

07. How do you feel about love?
Lover, You should have Come Over

08. What's your life like?
Nightmares by the Sea

09. What would you ask for if you had only one wish?
Eternal Life

10. Say something wise.
The Sky is a Landfill

11. What do you want to do/be in the future?
So Real

12. Describe your home life.
I Woke up in a Strange Place

13. What would your last words be?
Satisfied Mind

14. Describe your car.
Everybody Here Wants You

15. Describe your style.
Strange Fruit

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21299671/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/21299671/ Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:35:29 PST
It is Nov. 3rd and it is like 70deg. outside today. WTF?!?! Not that I'm complaining - I'm just puzzled. I love Wisconsin's wacky weather.

Nothing exciting happened for Halloween. Went over to the In-laws for their neighborhood Trick-or-treat, and made rude jokes about a spider getting it on with a bench. (It was an animatronic spider that was sort of broken, so instead of crawling, it just sort up wiggled up and down... and yeah - it looked pornographic. I calls it like I sees it.)

Was in Vermont twice in the past month or so... Loved that. Vermont is gorgeous.

Um, for any of you folks who're into it - Yuletide is startin' up soon, and I, for one, am freakin' excited. (For those not in the know - Yuletide is this massively huge, semi-rare-fandom, fic exchange. Google it, seriously, it's awesome). I'm just having trouble paring down my 4 fandom selections.

So I has a story for you. See, once upon a time, I used to work with this crazy bitch. Well, 'work with' in the sense that she was one of those mindless peons that I sort of occasionally had to deal with, but mostly kind of ignored. And crazy bitch was, as you can guess, crazy. Complete and total bitch queen of the melodramallamas. I mean - this crazy bitch would freak out over EVERYTHING. God forbid you had the same brand of yogurt in the fridge that she did - cuz she'd lose her SHIT over it. You were 'infringing on her uniqueness' and crap like that if you so much as considered eating the same damn brand of yogurt (HEY - it was on sale for $69 a carton!) she did. The only reason crazy bitch stuck around for as long as she did - considering everyone hated her brand of crazy - is cuz she was totally having it off with the boss. (Which we found out after the boss got let go). And she totally manipulated him - and tried to get him to do shit that she wanted.

Well, crazy bitch got fired many moons ago... and except for the occasional 'Hey, remember when crazy bitch was crazy?' comment (cuz honestly? Some of her shit was hysterical... and when we need a really good, feel-it-in-the-gut kinda laugh, we pull out the crazy-bitch-guns), we've all kind of forgotten about crazy bitch. Hell, I don't think we've even done the point and laugh at crazy bitch in... ages.

Except that apparently crazy bitch hasn't forgotten about us... She's totally, 100% apeshit convinced that we're like, stalking her. See, there's someone who knows someone who knows her outside of work (has the misfortune to live in the same neighborhood) who ran into her recently and apparently she went on this total rant, about how we were like, trying to sabotage her life. Shyeah, right... cuz we have nothing better to do that worry about you, crazy bitch?

It's like: "C'mon crazy bitch, wake up and smell the reality. Nobody gives a crap about you and your crazy anymore. You are old news and yesterday's garbage." But I don't think she can. I think that by convincing herself that any of us actually 'care' enough to want to 'stalk' her, she somehow still feels important. I think she's got nothing else in her life but the crazy... and so that's all she can really focus on, and it's kind of sad and lonely and pathetic. To us, she's a memory (okay, a memory we laugh at and mock on occasion, but still a memory) but she CAN NOT move on. Poor, poor crazy bitch.

Anyway, that's my story. There's no real point to it except to say that sometimes, I think that people just need to get the fuck over themeselves. And if crazy bitch ever tries to bring her shit up into my face... I will laugh my fucking ass off at her.

That's all from me on this fine, fall day!

(Heh... Yeeaaayyyyuuuuuhhhh, D.V. does not do subtle.)

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/19273915/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/19273915/ Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:57:32 PDT
So yeah. More of the same goin' on. Work is keeping me pretty busy (audit coming up at the end of the month). The previous holiday weekend was quite packed full of fun. Cookouts, fireworks, alcohol, a parade, a carnival, more fireworks, lots of cooking and cleaning too. Just chock full of holiday goodness.

I did some work on a picture last night. Yeah, I know. I nearly fainted too. It's not done (and after a post I just made at the Vale, I might be rethinking the pic just a bit ((Sirraz inspired me *grin*)) - but hey, it's progress. I think I'm just getting too hung up on the background. Typical.

And for some reason, I'm suddenly finding line art easier too do. Which is odd. But good.

Um, I finished my super-obscure, no-one-is-ever-gonna-read-it fic. So I suppose that's cool. Felt good to get it done. I do love the feeling of posting a finished piece, whether it's art or writing.

I have two massive plot bunnies nibbling on my ears (for two entirely different fandoms) but I think I shall fend them off for awhile. I'd like to get some original stuff off the ground as well, but I think I need to wait just a bit so I can really focus on that. At least RP and fanfic keeps my 'writing skillz' (and I use the phrase loosely) honed.

Blah blah blah...

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/19017264/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/19017264/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:47:06 PDT
Anywho - life's a bit up and down atm. Hence the odd little dips and sways in my visits to DA. Way too much to go into, but I'm hopeful that it will stabilize itself soon enough.

Me and 'art' have decided to see a relationship counsellor. Art is going to try to be more cooperative if I agree not to try to force it to happen. Hopefully that will mean new pictures soon.

Am writing obscure fanfic. Like way obscure. Like there was one person who requested this particular 'fandom' during Yuletide (If you don't know what Yuletide is, go here: [link]) and probably will never expect it to be fulfilled. But I had to do it.

Dunno why my brain makes me do these things.

I need a CSS. But first I need a picture to make a CSS out of... Blargh.

Random question is random: Thoughts on fanfic? Any readers/writers? Any favorites?

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/18821030/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/18821030/ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:13:25 PDT and - they made me do it!! They tied me down and did terrible things to me!

You leave a comment and I will:

a) tell you why I friended you,
b) associate you with something - fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc.,
c) tell you something I like about you,
d) tell you a memory I have of you,
e) ask something I've always wanted to know about you,
f) tell you my favorite user pic of yours,
g) in return, you must post this in your journal.

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/18802029/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/18802029/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:35:55 PDT Losmios did it ... so that means I have to do it cuz I'm a shameless hussy and want to be just like her when I grow up.


1) Full name?
Regan Elizabeth Schroeder

2) Male/Female?
Of the female persuasion

3) Were you named after anyone?
The girl in the Exorcist. (I don't care how much my dad argues that that's not true!)

4) Does your name mean anything?
I think it means 'Regal or Queenlike'.

5) Nickname(s)?
D.V., Regs, Reggie, O-Regan-o, Skitz... um yeah.

6) What do you think you look like?
Me.

7) Date of birth?
April 1st, 1975.

8) Place of birth and current location?
SE Wisconsin for both.

9) Nationality?
American (Ethnically a mutt, but predominantly German).

10) Astrology sign?
Aries

11) Chinese astrology sign?
Rabbit

12) Religion?
Agnostic

13) What's your favorite smell?
I enjoy scent too much to pick just one. I've got this fragrance oil by a company called Cobalt Blends. It's called 'Love Letters on Fire' and it smells like Vanilla and honey and smoke. It's gorgeous.

14) Political Position?
You probably don't want to know.

15) What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Depends but lately it's been STASH Earl Grey tea with sugar and milk. OMG YUM.

16) Hair + eye color?
Brunette with green eyes.

17) Do you look like anyone famous?
Don't think so.

18) What do you look like?
Me

19) Any unusual talents?
There's this thing I can do with my toes...

20) Righty, lefty, or ambidextrous?
Mostly lefty but ambidextrous in some cases.

21) Gay, straight, bi, or other?
Straight. I can appreciate pretty women, but ... just ain't 'feelin' it'.

22) What do you do for a living?
I'm in Quality and Regulatory Affairs for a Medical device manufacturers. Doesn't that sound like fun, huh folks?

23) What do you do for fun?
Read, write, draw (well, not lately) watch movies, spend time with friends/family, spend time online.. lots of stuff.

24) Materials to work with?
Pencil and paper.

25) What kind of materials would you like to work with?
I'd like to try more sculpting!

26) Have you met your grandparents?
Yes. My paternal grandparents have both passed away, but I knew them both. And my maternal Grandmother passed a couple of years ago. My grandfather has since remarried. All of my grandparents (and step-grandparent) are wonderful people.

27) Boyfriend/Girlfriend?
Hubby

28) Crush?
Yeah, why not.

29) What celebrity would you date if you could?
Nick Frost!! And Simon Pegg. Can I date both at the same time?

30) Current worries?
Getting this thing done before my meeting!

31) Favorite online guy/girl(s)?
I hate the favorites game. I love all my online friends!!

32) Favorite place to be?
At home.

33) Least favorite place to be?
At work.

34) Do you burn or tan?
Burn.

35) Nose, toe, nothing serious.
Bzuhh?

36) What is your favorite cereal?
I don't really like cereal.

37) Person you cry with?
David and Jen

38) Any sisters?
Yep. A twin.

39) Any brothers?
2. Both are older.

40) Any pets?
Currently 2 cats, a rabbit, 2 degu and some fish.

41) An illness?
I'm prone to sinus troubles.

42) A pager?
Don't have one.

43) A personal phone line?
The house phone.

44) A cell phone?
Yep.

45) A visible birthmark?
Nope.

46) A pool or hot tub?
A pool.

47) A car?
Oh yeah. I loves me my car. Her name is Winona Blackdog and she is a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GT and she's metallic black cherry.

48) Personality?
Smartass!

49) Driving?
I love driving. I just hate driving in heavy traffic. Give me back country roads any day.

50) Your clothing style?
Comfortable.

51) Room?
Need more! OMG.

52) What’s missing?
I have no idea.

53) School?
Done!

54) Bed?
It's big (king size) and it's got a new mattress that's super comfy.

55) Relationship with your parent(s)?
Pretty darn good.

56) Do you believe in yourself?
Not very much.

57) Do you believe in love at first sight?
Not particularly. Stealing from Los but, I think you can be attracted at first site, but not be in 'love'.

58) Consider yourself a good listener?
Yeah, pretty darn good. Unless I'm reading or watching TV.... ]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/18764196/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/18764196/ Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:20:49 PDT
I'm sure it seems like I fell off the face of DA, specially since I've not posted any new art in...oh... years.

Mostly I've just been lurking around and faving some amazing art and kinda been in my very own art slump.

I wish that I could say that this decision to pop back on DA was the result of a huge burst of inspiration and that there'd be a flurry of new art to follow, but no such luck. Actually, it's mainly because - for some reason - I'm able to access DA from work again (albeit stealthily).

Me and art are still not on speaking terms. I'm fighting to change that, but art is being so damn stubborn.

So :waves: 'Hi' everyone. Thanks to all who've stopped by and commented and fav'ed my stuff. I really do appreciate it. I really wish I had more to offer.

Oh - and a question to all the amazingly brilliant artists out there:

How do you do your line art? Sketch then ink? All cg? Some kind of combo? This is something I need to refine and would love to hear how others approach this 'seemingly simple' task.

And as a corollary to that; how do you get your lines smooth? Is it all in the hand-technique?

]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/9829753/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/9829753/ Wed, 23 Aug 2006 16:34:22 PDT
So, needless to say, it has taken me a bit of time to try to crawl back up from the depths. And I'm still crawling. Hell, I'm still not seeing daylight yet.

Anyway - it's 6:15pm, I'm still at work - we've got a massive audit tomorrow - I should be finalizing crap for that, but I'm mentally exhausted and need a break. Yeah *hangs head shamefully* I know that I owe about a bazillion people e-mails, and phone calls and all of that stuff, but sadly, until this audit is over - I'm self-persona not grata'd.

I had a job interview this morning. Went well. I'm good at bullshit. Cross your fingers for me!

Since I really have nothing else of substance to babble about, I'm gonna do a meme-thingy that *SeriWavelength tagged me to do a while back.

Four jobs you have had:
1. Deli Clerk (for a Grocery store)
2. Caterer (Well, and a deli-clerk for the caterer)
3. Tree farmer (Okay, I worked at a Tree farm... I don't know what to call that)
4. Quality/Regulatory Coordinator (That's what I do now. Doesn't it sound oh so cool and important? ...not)

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I'm not separating them, sorry)
2. The Thing (John Carpenter AND Kurt Russell? Fecking Genius!)
3. Labyrinth (Loves me some Goblin King!)
4. Princess Bride (As you wish...)

Four places you have lived:
1. My parents house in Eagle, WI
2. My boyfriends house in Mukwonago, WI
3. My college dorm in Whitewater, WI (sensing a theme here?)
4. My current apartment in East Troy, WI (Nope, never lived anywhere but Wisconsin. I love milk and cheese and beer)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. House, MD (OMG House/Wilson is LOVE!)
2. Lost (I just love all the lovely men on that show... Plot? There's a plot?)
3. Medium (I watch this for my Mom, so we can chat about it after)
4. Simpsons/Family Guy/Futurama (Snarky cartoons... )

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Oh geez... a 'place question' again. Um Wisconsin Dells, WI
2. Orlando, FL
3. Pheonix, AZ
4. Princeton, NJ (it was for a wedding, but what the hell, it counts)

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Unicorns of the Vale (MSN Group which owns my soul)
2. Yahoo.mail (Only the mail portion tho - the rest of Yahoo annoys me)
3. Livejournal (for the BPAL/House_Wilson/WOW comms)
4. Snopes.com (because I love checking the new stuff that comes in!)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pasta with Pesto (OMG *Drools*)
2. Steak (Preferably a nice Tenderloin, or Porterhouse or T-Bone... on the grill)
3. Cheesecake (My homemade stuff tho - none of that no-bake, frozen crap for me!)
4. Seafood (like Lobster, and Crablegs, and Scallops... I draw the line at raw oysters tho)


Well, this was a short update, but I just needed a breather from Quality-related-shit for a few minutes. Cripes - I was too lazy to even use icons...

*Falls back into hole* ]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/7202069/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/7202069/ Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:39:33 PST
So, =Fire-n-ash tagged me like 2 months ago with this... and I was going to respond right away, but got busy and put it aside and meant to get back to it and then totally forgot. I'm finally getting around to it cuz I'm bored at work!

20 Random Things About Me

1. I'm terrible at replying to e-mails, notes, comment and messages, doing memes, posting comments or anything that involves stopping to actually write and post (or send).
2. I'm ridiculously addicted to World of Warcraft and need to join a 12-step program. (But can't abide the thought of ever leaving my lvl 60 Tauren Hunter).
3. I hate peanut butter, and even the smell of it makes me nauseous - but I actually like Reese's Peanut Butter cups and Butterfingers.
4. When I don't wear my glasses, I can't see for crap and my vision is steadily getting worse.
5. My favorite 'guilty pleasure' movie is 'Overboard' starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn and I watch it nearly every time I find it on TV. But anything with Cary Grant comes in a close second. (And I'm not going to even mention "Clueless" )
6. I absolutely love to sleep in late...and even if I wake up early and feel wide awake, I'll lay in bed until I fall asleep again just to be able to sleep in.
7. I procrastinate... about everything. (Especially Art-Trades!)
8. I drive way to fast and have a penchant for tailgating the idiots who won't get out of the fastlane and get the hell out of my way!
9. One of the reason's I stay at my job is because I get to wear jeans, and I don't want to ever work at a place that requires me to 'dress up'.
10. I'm a terrible housekeeper and hate cleaning.
11. I stole my handwriting style from my Husband (long before he was my Husband or even my boyfriend) - back in highschool when I copied it over and over from notes he passed to me just because I thought it was so cool.
12. When I grow up I want to be an author. Or at least I'd like to get 1 book published in my life time.
13. I graduated Highschool with a 2.1 GPA but still managed to get into any college I wanted because of my ACT (like the SATs) score.
14. The song that my Hubby and I had our first dance to at our wedding was "Storybook Love" from the movie "The Princess Bride" - but secretly I considered it to be "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf.
15. I cannot swallow pills very well and have to take a drink of water, hold the water in my mouth, put the pill in, swish it around until it's towards the base of my throat and then finally drink more water to actually swallow it.
16. I have big feet and wear a size 10 shoe.
17. The last time I played 'Barbies' was when I was a senior in Highschool.
18. My absolute favorite short story of all time is "Slow Sculpture" by Theodore Sturgeon - who is one of the most brilliant SciFi/Fantasy authors ever but is often overlooked.
19. I love animals and currently have 2 cats, 2 degus, 1 Guinea pig, 1 rabbit, and a 55gal. aquarium full of little fish, and am waiting to adopt 2 baby dumbo rats. When the Hubby and I eventually buy a house - I will also add, at a minimal, horses and dogs to that list. And in the past I have 'owned' (or co-owned) various birds, mice, snakes, frogs, lizards, turtles, salamanders, spiders, ridiculously huge fish, other rats, 2 horses, 3 dogs, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a crayfish.
20. My favorite alcoholic drink is Bombay Sapphire Gin and Tonic with 2 wedges of lime. And I cannot stand the taste of beer unless it's from the tap, in a plastic cup, outside at a beer tent, on a very h... ]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/5751456/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/5751456/ Sat, 25 Jun 2005 07:48:37 PDT Just a quick note to say that I'm going to be updating this thing later (probably tomorrow) as I'm heading out the door very shortly to visit my dear friend Michele for her daughter's 3rd Birthday.

I just wanted to thank everyone who has commented on & 'd my newest pieces! You're all so very wonderful! :woot: I'll reply to you all when I get the chance!!

And I'll also update about the status of trades and such...


Oh - and I live and junk.... ]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/4710418/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/4710418/ Wed, 02 Mar 2005 11:31:30 PST
Let's just say that life got 'hectic' for a while. Some of you know a few more details than that... the rest of you? - Trust me, you don't wanna know!

Anyway - unfortunately this 'hecticness' (is that even a word?) has infected other parts of my life and I've fallen egregiously behind on my Art Trades. So to those people who are still waiting (see below) I offer you my most humble, and heartfelt apologies. I have NOT forgotten...and I DO intend to finish them all as soon as possible.

I'd already had bits and pieces of various ones done... a background here, a sketch there... but nothing that's completely come together. And the stuff that I've started working on recently - I've been REALLY frustrated with. Maybe I'll post some of it in my scraps - to get some feedback on what the hell I'm doing wrong!

So...other than all of that, life has settled down to a simmer - or maybe a low boil. *chuckle* I'll be heading out to our New York office next week, and will be gone for the whole week... which totally cuts into my CG Art time - but all those nights in the hotel room gives me a good opportunity to get some sketching done. (Yes - I do travel with my sketchbook and pencils... can't go without them!) Although - I'm also going to try to convince my boss that we should go out in the city... Maybe head to a cool club in Manhattan or go see a show.

I also finished my 'Capstone' course last week at school. It was supposed to be the final course of my core program, and my final class in general. Well technically it WAS the last class of my 'core' (basically all of the NON-GenEd classes that were required for my degree) - but it's not my last class. *Sigh* Due to some financial aid issues - I've got to take two more freakin' classes! Argh. I'm so sick and tired of school! But at least my final two classes are relatively blow-off. I start the first one next Mon. (and then fly to NY on Tues. morning - should be a riot. /sarcasm) It's 'Cultural Diversity' - gah.

So yeah - that's what's going on with me. School and work and a whole shitload of other things that like to kick me in the teeth when I least expect them.

Oh... *sighs sadly* and my beloved pet rat - Riff- died on Mon. night. Old age. He was almost 3. (The lifespan of a Rat is only 2-5 years, with rats in captivity typically living about 3) He was the sweetest and most adorable rat in the world.

Okay, here is the Art Trade Update! (And Art Trade Status is CLOSED for the time being, so I can finally play catch up!)

- Me: Stelluna (Picture sketched & some coloring done. Background in progress, been struggling with this as I'm trying a new style.) Her half: Niveaus [link]
- Um... details still haven't been decided...I think I requested Dace? *will have to double check*
Me: Carvea (Character about 60% done. This is the picture that I'm frustrated as hell with! LOL. Although, background is 100% done - and it's my best evar!) Her half: [link]
- Sort of a trade. *Chuckle* Shes doing a pic of our characters from her RP site & and so am I! (Started - but not very far yet - basic sketch)
- Me: Equine fursona. (Sketched - but likely to be re-sketched, since the wings gave me trouble!) Her half: [link]
- I'm coloring a sketch he did. Another one of those projects that driving me to tear my hair out!... ]]> ~DV-Skitz http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/3596113/ http://DV-Skitz.deviantart.com/journal/3596113/ Fri, 15 Oct 2004 12:49:43 PDT
Urm... and now that I have, I've got nothin' to say. Well, I suppose I could try. I suppose I could explain my mysterious disappearance for the past week. Ooohhh aahhhh... If anyone's curious, though I doubt they would be, because - let's face it... I'm not that interesting or exciting, but anyway, I digress. (Not only do I digress, I also can't punctuate for shite).

So, anyway - I spent the better part of the last week in New York working for one of our Subsidiary companies preparing for and undergoing an ISO Audit. And for the 2 of you out there who might have any inkling of what in the blue hell I'm talking about... It went well. The work was hard, the audit was tough but the worst part was the fact that I was W.O.I. (Without Internet) for nearly the WHOLE TIME! OMGWTFBBQ!11!!! It was hell, I tell you... HELL!

But now I'm back (From outerspace... ) And work has calmed down considerably, so I'm hope to scrounge together enough time to work on art trades and the like.

Speaking of Art Trades, here's the list as it stands:

- Me: Dewfire (75% done) Her half for me has been done for AGES!!
- Me: Stelluna (Picture sketched) Her half: Niveaus [link]
- Um... details haven't been decided... (But they will soon!!)
Urm... don't think we've worked this one out either. *Shifty eyes*
- Our characters from her RP site. (Not quite defined yet... but getting there).
- Eep... also undecided.

*Hangs head sheepishly* Ack, I'm bad at this. Well, hopefully I'll get better... If not, I humbly beg for your patience. (And forgiveness for the excessive use of elipses...)

That is all. ]]> ~DV-Skitz