Winter is so romantic. It doesn't have the sexy sweaty breathlessness of summer, but it has a soft, cozy appeal I can't deny.

Last night I worked on my St Zita icon.


I added some silver embroidery on her tunic and I hope to finish that in a couple days. Then it's on to adding some background details (angels, mistletoe, acorns) and fixing up the mop and bucket she holds and then the icon will be done!

If you need a refresher, St Zita is a mummified saint who is kind a patron saint to homemakers, domestic servants, rape victims, those ridiculed for their piety and waitresses. She died in the 13th century and when her body was exhumed a few hundred years later it was not decayed, marking her among a small group of Catholic saints, The Incorruptibles.


In other news, I want a print of this:

Ack! Is it September already? Autumn's coming, and I'm at home in Alberta (at long last). I'm enjoying the bright night skies. Even when the moon isn't full, it can be as bright as day. It's September, nights are getting longer and mornings creeping in later, but even at midnight it's not as dark here as it in in San Diego an hour after sunset. I never realised how far north I was until I got some real southern-latitudes perspective. Almost as if it was timed, the satisfying thunderstorm I've been waiting three years to hear rolled in the first night I was back at my mom's. It was perfect.

I've been working at my mom's job with her and it's kind of been like I'm living in Corner Gas. It's hilariously easy and I'm actually kind of a great time. I am seeing tonnes of people I remember but it's not really that bad, because I know it's just for a short time. It sure is crazy to be back in a tiny place after the last 8 years of metropolii.

I have so much to say but True Blood S2ep11 is almost done downloading (yes, I'm a week behind because of an irritatingly sketchy internet connection) and I am so tired, I really have got to get to sleep! I'm behind on all my RSS feeds too (tough life), and I really want to get in some chatting with friends-blog update time soon. On the other hand, it's kind of nice to spend less than a half hour a day on the computer. It's kind of leaving me in a blissful bit of internet-less-ness. I've been spending time with people I so sorely missed and it's really making me happy.

Holy hell, dudes!

I came back from a super-fun road trip weekend to find new naked photos of myself, with Cheyenne no less!! If you haven't checked out our new sexariffic set, take a look!

(I keep trying to post images from my set, but they come out super-large! Just go look at it. I promise you will enjoy it!)

♥ What else is up with me these days? Well, I have been taking a tonne of photos, baking sweet treats, playing Fable II till my fingers fall off, taking my old pooch for long walks, eating well, doing yoga, drawing again, feeling like mega sexy, trying to model a lot (to get photos of me feeling sexable!) and hustling for odd jobs (since I'm currently unemployed and it sucks).

♥ I have been trying to update my other blog but it hasn't been that easy. I am coming out of a long, dry creative spell and finally finding my voice again so prepare for more updates in the future. I'm planning some good stuff!

♥ I set up a modeling porfolio! Check it out! Here are some recent highlights.


(here's my first full page magazine fashion spread!!)






♥ I have been spending lots of time at home alone. Sometimes that means I take a lot of photos!



(me and my cat babies)


isn't yoga fun? I love headstands.


♥ I started feeding my pets raw food. I have noticed a huge change in them, especially in my dog. His coat has gotten a lot shiner, he's not nearly as itchy as he was before, his fur is thicker and he doesn't have a dog smell anymore! How crazy is that!? I gave him a bath the other day and he was sooooo soft afterward, he felt like a teddy bear! It's kind of gross to be touching raw meat all the time (I've been vegetarian for three years) but it's worth it to give my pets the kind of nutrition they deserve, instead of super-processed meat cereal.

♥ I'm headed home for a visit this summer. I'm Alberta-bound July 22 and I'll be making my way out to Vancouver August 6 or 7. Prepare for invasion! I haven't been back to Canada since I left, over 2 years ago. Suffice to say I miss my home! Unfortunately, it's just me going, uproot is staying home to take care of our four-legged babies, but I am still going to have a fun time.

♥ Well, I guess that should about do it for me right now! But who knows, the mood may strike me to update more than once every two months. We'll see I hope all of you are doing really well!

♥ to end it off:
What's one thing you're looking forward to this summer?
My answer: going home for a visit!! (but you probably guessed that already)

What's up with you guys?

First off, some music to listen to while you read:

Lots is up with me! Right now I'm sitting around being grubby in my pajamas because half an hour ago as I was getting into the shower I realised there was no hot water! A phone call to the building management company didn't help. I hate living in this building, because there are water problems every couple weeks and I overheard the plumbers saying if the management would just spring for the full repair the pipes would stop getting new leaks every two weeks.

Really that's just a minor gripe, because everything else in my life is pretty rosy. I don't have a job anymore and good old husbot is in danger of getting laid off, but I feel so tough and happy anyway. I might have to give up my gym membership but I have been doing yoga at home every day so I could handle that. I have been eating really healthy and working out a lot so I feel great.

♥ I've been doing a bit of modeling lately. It is so fun and I'm trying to line up more work.






♥ I'm 89 days into my photo-a-day project! Recent highlights:

♥ I'm still fundraising for the San Diego Humane Society--thank you so much to Anonymous, who donated $25! In fact, that's the only donation I've gotten so far. I still have 6 weeks to raise the other $975...please help! I raised $500 last year and I really want to beat that total, especially since so many more pets are being surrendered to shelters because of the recession. Even $5 helps!!

♥ check out my new blog. I am trying to give it a little more attention than I am giving suicidegirls...I just don't have time, man. cats, dog, food, blog!

♥ I'm growing my hair out and I am actually looking forward to trying out long hair again. I'd like to see if I can get it super long like I had it in high school (almost down to my elbows).

♥ There is no way I can possibly catch up on all the friend-journals I've been missing out on, so help a girl out! What's the best thing that's happened to you this year?

Long time, no see. I haven't had much time/energy for SG lately and I don't see that changing anytime soon (so if you have something important to tell me don't post a comment about it, email me or something) but I thought I'd post a little update.

First of all, I am doing the San Diego Humane Society Walk for Animals again this year! Last year I raised $500 and in just a couple weeks, too. This year my goal is $1000 and I have until May to raise it. Please help me out by donating! My goal is to get $10 from 100 people. Any amount at all is helpful, though...here's my page! Please help me reach my goal.

Other things I've been up to:
♥ Posting a photo a day on Flickr. I have even been doing some What I Wore Todays and I am really getting into dressing fabulously. Also you may notice I am growing my hair out. I love it.




♥ I started a new blog but there's not a lot on it yet. I did spend an hour + making the beautiful header for that site though so you should all go admire my hot-ass photoshop skills. What's that? Yes, hopefuls, I will photoshop your sets too, only if you don't mind floating pizzas around your head. Also I have a tumblog.

♥ I have been been feeling more beautiful, creative, smart, capable, healthy, motivated and happy than I have in years. It feels great. I am out of the rut I have been in for so long. I am finally pushing my boundaries and learning and growing in so many ways.

♥ My moving plans finally seem real. I can see Canada on the horizon and I can't wait to return home, though I have grown to love people and places here in SD.

See you around!

♥ Here I am! Late November.

I really love how my eyes are different colours in different light! I was looking at my modeling portfolio recently and noticed that.

♥ Me and Irinka on Christmas Day. I love seeing friends during the holidays.


♥ Speaking of Christmas, mine was uneventful. Uproot gave me a hilarious pair of Japanese driving gloves. What are they for, you say? Oh, a lady wears them when she's driving to prevent suntanning. Another notable present: my Hello Kitty alarm clock from Irinka!!

♥ Did you know my set Little Vagabond is still languishing in MR? Help a lady get paid.

♥ I got my pups in a line and I'm going to be in a fashion show on New Years Eve! It's just a free show for a local designer but I had so much fun in my last show that I couldn't wait to do another. It's kind of exciting walking on a runway, even if it's just a small show with 100 people around.

CRAZY ANIMAL HOUR TIME!
Okay, I was kind of tempted to shrug off pygmy hippos again in order to show you some really amazing creatures but I want to get over procrastination so here is my piece on Hexaprotodon liberiensis [/img] for your perusal.

I have two styles of Yule tidings for you. *

The first:

WATCH OUT FOR KRAMPUS

The second (it's the unicorn chaser of this entry):

CUTE HOLIDAY THEMED THINGS

Oh yeah, before I forget, here's a bit of bah-humbuggery: _mike_'s neighbour's idea of a good time is putting speakers on top of his house and blasting Christmas music. Unfortunately he also thought it was a great idea to leave it on when he left the house and the same song played, skipping, for like 2.5 hours. Double-unfortunately, even though he lives like 30m away from Mike's I could still hear the skipping music WITH THE TV ON. I hate Christmas music.

Anyway, I hope you all have lovely holidays with the people you care about most.

Gru� vom Rin!!


* I swear I'm not high.

Have you seen my new set? Give it some love. I haven't had a set bought since Dec 06 so I'd love for this one to go live.


My favourite tags have been 'ghost nipples' (I hope this means my boobs are haunted, because my areolas aren't that light!) and 'dirty lesbian face'.

You should listen to this song while you look at my set; this is where the lyrics I posted in the intro are from.


♥ I got a new tattoo! It was done by this cool girl named Jenny. AND, it's matchy with Irinka!


♥ I'm taking a short break before diving back into my coursework! I have to finish my essay today (siiiiiiigh) and finish get caught up on reading/notes. I'm not that far behind on the readings but since I've been home sick the past few days I've had time to get mostly caught up. Yay!

♥ Uproot and I went on a trip to Monterey a few weeks ago. It was unbelievably beautiful. Here are a couple photos; I am going to be posting a lot more on my flickr over the next few days as I prep them!









♥ GUESS WHAT, I didn't forget about Crazy Animal Hour!

Today's feature is the smallest armadillo in the world! it's the....
♥♥♥♥ Pink Fairy Armadillo!
This baby is only like 4 inches long! And it's a really good digger. It can bury itself in seconds. I was set to do this entry about pygmy hippos but then I found out about these guys and I kind of had to postpone the hippo party. Don't worry, you will be hippoed out after all the shit I have to post.



Before you go all 'ew' on me, check this dude out. He is smiling!


This photo leads me to believe that I should have one as a pet. After all, it is doing okay sitting on those shavings, so it is probably 100% suited to being a house pet...right? I'll give it its own pink fairy sandbox to play in, even! Come ONNN, I am going to be the best armadillo mom. It will work perfectly, I'll just get an ant farm too, then I won't even have to worry about getting ants for it to eat!


'Oh hello, would you like to come in for some tea?'


Don't be late for the manicure party!


♥ Okay, I am going to stop being such a crazy person and go do my homework/sleep on the couch with the dog. What?! It kind of counts as school work, because I will be recharging so I can do more when I wake up!

Welcome back to Rin's Crazy Awesome Animal Hour! But first, some actual rin-fo.

♥ I got my bird tattoo finished!


_mike_ is amazing! It looks even better now that it's all healed. Next up: this week Irinka are getting little matching tattoos together! it will be super fab.

♥ My class is going okay, I've been procrastinating on doing my essay because it doesn't have a due date (just have to send it in when I'm done) but I want to get a good portion done today.

♥ I have a lot to do on my xmas shopping: I've only finished my mom, stepdad, and one of my secret santa ladies! Yikes I better get on it. I know what I'm getting for most people but I really need to whip it up, especially since most of the people I'm getting gifts for live in Canada and it takes a while for things to get there.

♥ Saw Taye on Friday: it was fun because she is awesome!

♥ Now it's time for Animal Wonder Numero Uno: Mimic Octopus!

Cephalopods are fucking AMAZING. I am still working on my book about Giant Squid and it's just unbelievable how smart cephs are!

♥ next: Ghost bat!

Ghost bats are awesome because they are white and cuddly-looking. Plus check out this crazy ass nose!

Here it looks like a nice old man.






♥ Oh, here is my pooch! What a surprise....wait, not really. I nominated him. This site is really cute.

Muttskis

♥ Today's insanely cool animal: the Star-nosed mole! It has 22 tentacles on its specialised nose. It's funcitonally blind and uses its nose to identify prey. It has the fastest prey identification of any mammal. It is a good swimmer and it can smell underwater, by blowing air bubbles onto things or scent trails, and then re-inhaling the bubbles to smell. Fuck yeah! Each tentacle can move independently, like little fingers. These moles are possibly the only good thing about Manitoba. Just kidding, the Weakerthans are from MB and the province also has Churchill, where you go to see polar bears!



♥ I keep buying little pooch sweaters for my mom's tiny dog Penique, and I can't resist putting them on Pepin for a moment because they're the same size.

Pepin is insanely energetic. He opens the cupboards, pulls out the garbage, steals books from the bookshelf and a few nights ago I decided to see if he'd hidden my stolen plugs under the couch.

This is what I found:

If you prefer a numbered list (I forgot to put a couple things in the photo)

So, I am pretty excited to have that stuff back, for the most part--I can do without the light-up spoon end (it's Uproot's) but I was missing my plug!

♥ Also, what the fuck is up with that watermark? I need to find my Photochop CS3 disc because I have months of photos to retouch, not to mention my camera has dust on the lens or sensor so EVERY photo needs to be fixed at least a tiny bit.
ARGHHHH, I guess I will pray to the gods of Finding Lost Stuff.

♥ I found this amazing site Galaxy Zoo. I have been categorizing galaxies and it is fucking rad.

♥ I love things with tentacles! I am reading a book about giant squid in between my school reading. I love Linnean naming and I keep saying the giant squid's name over in my head: architeuthis, architeuthis, architeuthis! Giant squid are so cool and specimens so rare, no one even knows how many genera are out there. Siiiiiigh, this is dreamboat stuff.
♥ Ladyexxa is the best. She sent me a link to this!