Rischa's Rants, Raves, and Ramblings

My other blog

Hi sweet peeps! I update this blog occasionally, but if you'd like to see what I'm up to on a regular basis, please visit my other blog here: www.Artist-Haven.Blogspot.com Thanks for stopping by! xoxox

Bored of Blogging and iPhone Apps

I'm still alive and kicking. I almost closed this blog in favor of just having the Blogger blog. I figured since I like Blogger better and it's free, unlike this blog until yesterday, I'd just close this as my personal blog and combine the two. While procrastinating I found out Typepad now has something called a "Micro" plan that's totally free. The design will have to be limited, thus the ugly background color, but paying $80 a year for a blog that's harder to deal with  than the free one didn't make sense. The only good thing I could see from having this blog was the amount of followers I have here. I don't get as many hits as I did when I blogged daily, but I've managed to rack up over 20,000 hits without even trying. I'm guessing it's from the free Photoshop Actions I made and given away judging by the stats. Or maybe Typepad shows up better in Google searches? Who knows. Anyway, now that I can keep this one free, too, I'll just keep it. I'm a little sentimental toward it since it was my first blog and I've had it since before most people even knew what a blog was. As someone who considers themselves a creative person, though, it does drive me a little nuts that I can't mess with the design to make it pretty. Hopefully Typepad will change that one day. 

Even with all the free blog service on my other blog and now this one, too, I don't find very much interest in blogging any more. I think because everyone has a blog now and they're all so interesting I just can't seem to find my own that interesting by comparison. People are spending all KINDS of time on just one little post! I don't know how they find the time! I have made posts like that with beautiful, edited photos, photoshoped images, tutorials, well thought out posts, and etc... I just can NOT put that kind of time into something that doesn't pay. I do enjoy it when I have really interesting things to chat about, but until then I have to be honest....I probably won't be around that much. Besides, they (whoever "they" happen to be) say "quality is better than quantity", right? I'll still be around, but I won't waste your time with my boring daily details....that's all. 

Before I go I MUST post some sort of image! I have always thought that blog posts lacking in some sort of image are just so incredibly dull. So, how about checking out my apps for my iPhone. I add new ones frequently, so why not do an update. You might see an app or two you're interested in trying out!

I know. I really should get caught up in my Google Reader. That's a LOT of reading! I need to delete a few blogs off my list. These screen shots were taken last weekend before I did the big iOS5 update. I had heard bad, bad things about the update and was afraid of losing everything, so I did screen shots in case I couldn't restore the apps. Turns out I didn't need it. By the way, am I the only one that needs a tutorial every time she uses iTunes? Sheesh! I hate that software! Anywho, the icons are a bit different on some of the apps that come standard and there a few new ones, as well. I like the new update. My favorite part of the update is how it now shows messages on the homescreen. Maybe I'll post another shot of them from after the update later.

Thanks for reading and sticking around the ole blog. <3

PS. That smile was totally accidental. Joel witnessed it. I was doing the usual circle on the bread when it spattered and made the eyes. Kolby did the same wth his ketchup the weekend prior. Here is his...

What can I say? Our ketchup has a lot of character? LOL I thought it was funny. It's the little things.

30 Days of Tumblr - Day 1

I've seen Tumblr mentioned on blogs, but I have no idea what it is, so don't ask me. I'm clueless. I think it has something to do with blogging, but....that's all I know. I have so many online things going on I don't even want to look into it because I'd probably want to sign up. Ha!

The reason I bring Tumblr up at all is because I saw that Willowing is doing something called "30 Days of Tumblr" over on her blog. It looks like a fun way to get me blogging on a daily basis again. So here are the daily questions:

Day 01 — A newly discovered song.
Day 02 — A movie you want to see.
Day 03 — A television program you watch too much.
Day 04 — A good book.
Day 05 — Quote of the Day.
Day 06 — Something random.
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy.
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad.
Day 09 — A photo you took.
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago.
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently.
Day 12 — Something random.
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book.
Day 15 — Something that is currently over-rated.
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Something random.
Day 19 — A talent of yours.
Day 20 — A hobby of yours.
Day 21 — A pair of shoes.
Day 22 — A website.
Day 23 — A YouTube video.
Day 24 — Something random.
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail.
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail.
Day 27 — This month, in great detail.
Day 28 — This year, in great detail.
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days.
Day 30 — Something random.

It's time to get started with the FIRST DAY.

DAY 01: A Newly Discovered Song

I was planning to put up the "Give me back that Filet-O-Fish" video just because it's what seems to always be stuck in my head lately. (And now yours, too, probably...sorry) However, I figured that wouldn't endear me to anyone. LOL So here's a REALLY great song by a band that I'm sure a lot of you have heard of because of the Sock Monkey commercial. It's actually a car commercial, but to ME it's the Sock Monkey commercial. I like the song featured in the commercial, too, but Joel and I both recently discovered that we love all of their others, as well. This is my favorite.

The Heavy - Sixteen

Since I know there are people who have no idea what Sock Monkey commercial I'm referring to, here's THAT video, too.

Okay, so that's day 1. Any takers on how long I'll keep this up?

xxoo

Rischa

Day 3 & An Incredimail Stat

This is day 3 of my "alone time". I don't remember it being this miserable when I was single. I guess I had a more exciting life back then. I worked 2 jobs at a night club and enjoyed the night life quite a bit. I had places to go and people to see. So when I got home and it was just me I was perfectly fine with that. Plus, I was never alone for too long at the time because Kolby was with me. When he went to visit my parents it was only a few miles away. Not a few hundred. Joel is saying the rain and lack of work may send him home sooner than he thought, though, so that's good. It will mess up the plans we had for him to pick up Kolby on the way back, but we can always go get him Friday.

So anyway, I have to admit that it isn't totally horrible being alone. I haven't had to do nearly as much cleaning, I get the whole King bed to myself, I can cook (or not cook) anything I'd like, and Joel's alarm doesn't wake me up at 5:30 AM.

Joel called between the last paragraph and now and says he'll be home tomorrow morning. Yay! Thank you RAIN!

I haven't been creating much art; Digital or Real LIfe. I did make a little something in PSP a few days ago just so I wouldn't forget how. I used a tutorial. It took me a while to find a tutorial with all free materials, but I did it. It's a Christmas one, which isn't my favorite, but it let me stretch my PSP skills so I'm happy enough. I made several tags and an Incredimail stationery with it.

Here's my tag:

And you can download the matching Incredimail Stationery HERE.  

I also did some updating on my Photoshop Group's blog. I gave it a Christmas background and added a couple of gadgets to the sidebar. Check it out!

www.PhotoshopPhemales.Blogspot.com

Okay, that's it for now. I've got chores to work on.

I figured I should....

...post something on this blog every once in a while, so I'll show a little eye candy and be on my way. Here's a funny little something I made in Photoshop for my Photoshop group challenge.

The challenge theme I chose this time was "Funny" by the way.

As Porky Pig would say....

 

All is quiet

There's nothing much going on in the house today. Joel got off work at lunch time, came home and took a nap. Kolby is playing video games. The furry kids are snoozing. The Finchies make a "meep meep" noise every once in a while. Otherwise, it's just the sound of me typing this blog entry. I'm on my laptop because it has been storming. Every time the lights would flicker my desktop restarted. Annoying! Anyway, I just finished cleaning off some unnecessary programs from this computer, so hopefully it'll be smokin' once again. It had slowed to a snail's pace. Or like Katie Lynn said yesterday, "like a sloth on as skateboard"....or something similar. Heheh

I just finished making Rice Krispie Treats. Now we have the torture of waiting on them to cool before we can munch on them. I haven't made them in years. I forgot how easy they are to make. They're not QUITE as bad for you as some other yummy treats. They're not exactly healthy, though. Too bad. Everything yummy makes us fat. What a cruel trick!

Yesterday Kolby had his annual homeschool evaluation. He always dreads that even though he passes every single time with flying colors. She's very sweet to Kolby, too. We're both glad the evaluation is over, though.

Today started off very stressfully. Mom texted me to let me know Mam-maw had fallen and broken her hip. She has to have surgery tomorrow. Of course that has been all that I could think of all day. It's hard to live so far from family in these situations. I wish I could snap my fingers and be with her. I talked to Mam-maw and she said she was in a lot of pain. I wish I could take it away from her. She doesn't deserve to be in any pain. She's the sweetest person I know. But I guess it doesn't work like that. Sometimes it seems like the people who deserve to suffer don't and vice versa. Please pray, if that's something that you do, that she comes through surgery with flying colors and heals quickly.

In other news, I haven't been to the gym in 3 days. I'm feeling quite guilty about it. I was on such a roll. Maybe tonight I'll go if this head ache and queasiness goes away. Oh, did I not mention those things? Yeah, not feeling so hot today. All 3 of us (Kolby, Joel & myself) are feeling a bit sick in the tummy today and last night. I think we ate bad subs from Subway. The head ache is just a bonus for me. Ha...lucky me!

What would a blog post be without a little eye candy. Here's Queen Penny-Penny on her throne.

Click the image to view it a bit larger.

I'm going to go check on the treats and maybe set up the web cam to show what my Finchies are now doing. They're building a nest. One of them (Blake) is anyway. L8r!

Amazon, Videos, & Classes

First up: Videos! I've been thinking of doing Vlogs instead of typing out my thoughts here at the ole blog. I like watching vlogs and I'm guessing I'm not alone in that. It's more interesting to actually SEE the person and put a face with the rambles rather than having to read their writing and visualize what they're wearing. Hehe...teasing a little there. Well we are a bunch of lazy Americans, right? That's what everyone keeps saying about Americans is that we're lazy, right? Ha! I don't believe that shit and neither should you, but it does come to mind when talking about watching vids over actually using your noggin to read something. Even so, I'm doing the videos. Oh, and you don't have to be American to watch them. That was just me being silly. It might not be soon as I really need to learn to make more interesting videos. I have only made 1 so far and it's far from professional. It's pretty low budget looking, actually. I enjoyed it very much, though. I think what I'll do is use my YouTube channel and embed it here soit will generate some of the traffic from YT to here, as well. I'll do the same for the art blog IF I ever am able to get back into my creating. I miss it SO badly. It feels like I'm losin' my skills...however few they may have been.

Which brings me to my next topic. A new Portraits class. Ahh...Aren't I good at tying these meaningless paragraphs together? I'm patting myself on the back as we speak. Anywho, I had told myself I wasn't taking any more classes for a while. And really I haven't, but this one particular class will be lots of help to me I believe. It's a portraits class. I really enjoy doing portraits. I specifically like doing folk art, prim style portraits. I think it's my favorite thing to do. If you're unfamiliar with what I mean, have a look at Rachel, who I completed months ago.

 

She embodies my taste more than anything else I've done. She's simple, folksy, primitive looking, and it was fun to do. I have lots to learn, though. I'm not going to pick apart my above work because I do love her as she is, but I see things that could be improved or changed if I knew other techniques. I don't think I will ever be to the point where I don't want to learn how to do something more effectively. I would be bored if I got to that point. So I will more than likely continue to take classes and buy books.

Hehehe...I did it again. I added that last sentence in the previous paragraph JUST so I could go on to this paragraph and show you my new books from Amazon.

The Creative License

 

& the one I'm looking MOST forward to...

Altered Surfaces

 

I looked through Altered Surfaces while at Michaels and wanted to get it so badly that day. I knew it would be cheaper on Amazon, though, so I waited. It's a short book, but it's packed with info from what I've seen of it at the store. I got a couple of other books, too, but they're not that exciting. Just a couple of diet books and a cookbook. Oh, and 2 Moleskines which I'm looking forward to filling with portraits and which will be "Altered Surfaces" very soon.

I almost forgot to do my little bit of bragging. I've been making sales at my CafePress shop. It's a bit surprising to me that I've made sales there since I've yet to even advertise, but hey...I'll take it! Hehe

'til next time peeps!

Rainy & Sickly Day

Today couldn't suck harder if it tried. Well, I suppose that's a fabrication. It could be a hurricane outside and I could have a stomach problem to go with my cold. Anyway, today still sux! I've been fighting off this cold for weeks, but it finally won our little war. I'm "in the bed" kinda sick now. The DayQuil isn't touching this junk and I'm suckin' up the nose spray like it's crack and I'm a crack whore. It's also thunder-boomin' outside. I guess it's a good day for it since I'm in bed. I'm not missing out on anything since everyone's stuck inside. Also, rain can be quite relaxing to the bed-bound person. The thunder has gotten loud lately, though. The dogs are pretty miserable, too, as they haven't gotten to rid themselves of the morning energy burst they normally get. It's 3PM and they've only gone out briefly once all day long. That reminds me of 2005 when one of the hurricanes hit and they were inside for over 24 hours until it was safe to go out. They held it like champs! They didn't get far outside our door, though, before they all squatted. LOL If they could have they'd have said, "Ahhhhhh".

Geez, how did that last paragraph come about? I ended it talking aobut Pee? Really? Must be the cold meds. That's my story.

So on to something different. I skipped the gym yesterday and it isn't looking like I'll be going today, either. I was on such a roll that I really hate that I couldn't go. I haven't skipped 2 days in a row since we signed up. I was about ready to start running on the treadmill, too. I think I've built up enough endurance that I could take a few minutes of running at a time. I didn't want to start running right away and just totally blow my bad knee. Have I mentioned how bad having RA sucks lately?! I've had it over 11 years and it still ain't fun.

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I know this isn't news, but what I mean is that I haven't been using images. I know people like to see images in blog posts. I do, too! So I better start using my camera again. I'd rather use my own images than someone else's. That's not to say I won't ever use images from Flickr or wherever else, but I enjoyed using my own. The entries lately are looking pretty dull, though, don't you think?

Joel may be traveling back down to the Naples area soon. I'd love to be able to go with him. It's so hard to do that for us, though, with all of our critters. I have no one around that would make a good sitter. I really loved Naples, though. It's beautiful and the place we stayed was awesome! I think it's the best place I've EVER stayed. As a bonus, it was around the time of our anniversary, too. Joel's Mom even sent us a basket to help us celebrate. Very cool of her, eh? Anyway, it sure would be nice to be able to hop in the car with Joel to go on these biz trips with him. I could take my easel and some paints or at least my sketchbook and enjoy some relaxation in a new place.

That's about all for now. The nose spray has kicked in so I'm going to try and get some rest for a while. If you've got chicken soup, you know where to send it! ;-) Later!

PS. For my next post I'll talk about Videos and my Amazon purchase.....

Just Saturday

Just sitting here watching Juno remembering back when I was in her place. Things aren't quite as cool as they make it appear in the movie. Other than that I'm just having a lazy Saturday. I haven't been feeling very well and have been stressing about everything, so doing nothing is good for the body and soul sometimes. Penny is helping me.

I'm actually hold up in my bedroom staying out of Joel's way. He's watching the NFL Draft. He's been talking about it all week. I hate football. Well, I don't hate it, but I don't enjoy watching it at all.

Juno just went off, so I'm watching The Parent Trap remake. Before Juno was the last half of The Truth About Cats & Dogs. I wanted to watch Baby Mama, but I have that DVR'd and I'd rather watch it in HD on the living room TV.

I'm really not in a blogging mood right now. I'd rather watch the movie. I've been typing this for an hour and not much to show for it. I might actually close this blog. It costs 90 bucks a year and I never use it. I can always open a FREE one on Blogger if I miss it.

See ya...

My Narcissism Results!

I'm pretty happy with my results of the test from the previous entry. I scored a total of 7 out of a possible 40 when it comes to being narcissistic. I'm quite relieved to know that I'm below average. Yay me! Wait, did that just bump me up to an 8? Haha

Here are the complete results and my answers to the test...

1    A. I have a natural talent for influencing people.                              A  1

2    B. I am essentially a modest person.                                                 A

3    B. I tend to be a fairly cautious person.                                           A

4    A. When people compliment me I sometimes get embarrassed.           B

5    A. The thought of ruling the world frightens the hell out of me.       B

6    B. I try to accept the consequences of my behavior.                        A

7    A. I prefer to blend in with the crowd.                                           B

8    B. I am not too concerned about success.                                        A

9    A. I am no better or worse than most people.                                  B

10   A. I am not sure if I would make a good leader.                             B

11    B. I wish I were more assertive.                                                    A

12    B. I don't mind following orders.                                                  A

13    B. I don't like it when I find myself manipulating people.              A

14    B. I usually get the respect that I deserve.                                    A

15    A. I don't particularly like to show off my body.                           B

16    A. I can read people like a book.                                                   A 1

17    A. If I feel competent I am willing to take responsibility for making decisions.   B

18    A. I just want to be reasonably happy.                                           B

19    A. My body is nothing special.                                                        B

20   A. I try not to be a show off.                                                         B

21    B. Sometimes I am not sure of what I am doing.                              A

22    B. I rarely depend on anyone else to get things done.                     B  1

23    A. Sometimes I tell good stories.                                                   B

24    B. I like to do things for other people.                                           A

25    A. I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve.               A  1

26    B. I like to be complimented.                                                         B  1

27    B. Power for its own sake doesn't interest me.                               A

28    A. I don't care about new fads and fashions.                                B

29    B. I am not particularly interested in looking at myself in the mirror.  A

30    B. It makes me uncomfortable to be the center of attention.           A

31     B. People can't always live their lives in terms of what they want.   A

32    A. Being an authority doesn't mean that much to me.                       B

33    A. I would prefer to be a leader.                                                  A  1

34    B. I hope I am going to be successful.                                           A

35    B. I can make anybody believe anything I want them to.                 B  1

36    B. Leadership is a quality that takes a long time to develop.            A

37    B. I don't like people to pry into my life for any reason.                A

38    B. I don't mind blending into the crowd when I go out in public.    A

39    B. There is a lot that I can learn from other people.                       A

40    A. I am much like everybody else.                                                  B   

Total: 7

• Authority: 1, 8, 10, 11, 12, 32, 33, 36             2 out of 8

  • Self-sufficiency: 17, 21, 22, 31, 34, 39      1  out of 6

  • Superiority: 4, 9, 26, 37, 40                       1  out of 5

  • Exhibitionism: 2, 3, 7, 20, 28, 30, 38           0 out of 7

  • Exploitativeness: 6, 13, 16, 23, 35               2  out of 5

  • Vanity: 15, 19, 29                                         0 out of 3

  • Entitlement: 5, 14, 18, 24, 25, 27                 1  out of 6

 

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If you take the test be sure and leave your results in the comments OR if you post your results on your blog leave me a link so I can see please!