A hit man director? And I explain my blog art, C79 and Touhou Project

“The more you kill, the more you save!” is the competition’s motto with their ‘point scheme’ frequent killing cards in You Shoot, I Shoot, award winning Hong Kong film.

I picked up this DVD gem by accident at the Victoria Library, which means you can reserve by computer anywhere in BC to watch for free. The basic story is of Bart, a hit man who is trying to make ends meet in overcrowded Hong Kong. His wife, besides a penchant for doing his nails while drunk, tries to convince him to go seek jobs. He tries to explain the whole ‘lone gunman’ and ‘samurai’ ideal of the hit man means that he doesn’t do ‘cold calls’ to drum up a hit. Because as he soon finds out, what is worse that a hit man who is running out of money? A hit man who has called every client and done cold calls and is STILL running out of money. Plus he has to avoid his in-laws who are always trying to get him to do free kills over minor disputes with neighbors.

But, through a happy accident (a client who wants the assassination filmed), Bart meets up with Chuen, an assistant director who can’t make the rent and was paid for his last film work with weed. As he says, “I don’t want to be a drug dealer, I want to be a film director.” Well, he is extremely fussy about his film, and starts talking to Bart about ‘lighting’ and time of day, and Bart tells, “I find the best time, is to shoot the person BEFORE the police arrive.” Besides a not so great first job, which Chuen pulls off in post-production editing (after he has called for a ‘reshoot’, then stares are the body and freaks out), the client if happy and all of her rich female friends are happy as now you not only get a hit, but the home movie, professionally edited as well! Chuen even made an animated logo, which is becoming a brand name among the rich female clients, and business booms as they sell watches to cuff links with the logo as the orders for 'hits' and films pile up.
It is simply a fun film, with plenty of humor, as both the hitman Bart and director Chuen seem to be enjoying themselves, much to the anger of the other hitmen. In a new use for lego toys, Chuen works out new ways to make shots and lighting during a kill with Bart (including doing ‘pre-sets’ with lego figures and rooms).
I used viewing this DVD as my reward for finishing my annual doujinshi purchases. And here is the 101 on the use of ‘fan art’ or art doujinshi from japan as well as how it is used on Screw Bronze.

At Screw Bronze, I work to use art and text together to create a combined effect. But also, I want to use the art legally. Because of this, I save money to make an annual purchase of artist produced personal use sold art. Twice a year in Japan, there is a huge convention where thousands of groups called ‘circles’ which can range from one to eight people get together to produce an art book, either in black and white or color. The Japanese paper processing and color production is so far ahead of north America that, for example the mill in Port Angeles is owned by a Japanese company which processes the lumber then ships the paper pulp home for the high end processing: from Washi to thick gloss that matches or exceeds the colors reproduced on Museum quality productions.

Japan likes to buy US mills (and Canadian ones) because a) we are happy to sell them and b) they would rather cut down the trees here, and conserve Japanese trees. The market for creating both art and story booklets and books from 4 pages to 240 pages is so large that most local copy shops have discounts for early submission for printing of 60 to several thousand copies to a 10% or 15% late fee for last minute submissions. Then, with a table stacked with your latest art book, the circle or representative sells at the local Comiket (largest being Tokyo). This is shown in manga and anime like Genshiken, Comic Party to the manga/anime story of two starting artists and the established artists who encourage them on in Doujin Work.
Because Japanese stores do not sell or ship overseas usually, I have to use a ‘service’ which adds another 18% or so to the order. However, the diversity of artists whose non-ISBN single imprints (they don’t reproduce as these are ‘off the gird’ publications), or simply sell you a CD or DVD of art from the last five years to use, or sell you the book and the DVD together. This makes it the affordable way to get great art at a feasible price. I have written two editors of Japanese publishers, to see if the person use of these art books (sometimes known as illustration doujinshi or ‘fan art’) is legal or not. It is legal for personal use, was the reply I got from Japan. Doujinshi, which 99% of the time means stories using legally copyrighted characters, used for erotic or other stories, breaks copyright and is seen more and more from US firms as a code for ‘illegal’ (though it is a tradition about 180 years old in Japan).

I was advised to use the term ‘fan art’ by the art publishing editors of ISBN books instead of ‘illustrated doujinshi’ due to this misconception. To confuse the issue further, some artists, namely Tony (who does erotic art) and Redjuice do reproduce their doujinshi, to make a full career out of it. Even famous artists in the industry, like Ito at last year’s Sakura-con signed both her ISBN and fully ‘legal’ art book from the art of her two animes, but also signed with great pleasure her ‘art doujinshi’ which had drawings of her interpretation from Evangelion (a licensed product). Many professional artists, who got their start with art doujinshi like to produce doujinshi and show up at the conventions as it is lucrative (the books often cost the same price as art books, but are only 20-30 pages long), and a giant fan base.

Art doujinshi does cost more, from 500 yen ($6.95) to over 3,000 yen ($40+) per book, which is published from the tiny A5, to B5 and A4 size and may come with clear folders, a DVD of the artists art or postcards. The higher price is because of the higher print costs, the low amounts (a few hundred copies), that they are not available in stores, due to no ISBN or distributor (the money goes right to the artist), and that when they are gone they are gone. Plus, they are doing art, from 'moe' girls, to fantasy, to urban environments, and just slices of life, they draw the aspects that 'professional artists' are not doing as much of.

This people who follow favorite artists will pay large amounts, over $500 for a single original art doujinshi book. Artist like Tinkle manipulate this, as she has a habit of printing a book but not making any announcement, and only having it for sale on that day. Tony, who is exporting his doujinshi to AnimeBooks, Akadot and other stores in the West is a bit of a lie, as he either has published thousands upon thousands of each book, or keeps reprinting them. Ebay often cracks down on people selling doujinshi assuming the art is illegal, which under the current art agreement it is not.

I often wonder why Tony doesn’t just get an ISBN and sell on Amazon? It is probably because he can charge $45 for a 30 page book at smaller online stores for those who already collect his work. If he did get an ISBN and distributor he would lose control of both the profits and where his work was sold. Sadly, these one to four top name artists are making it even harder for the thousands of small circles, some of which may only get together and produce a single 28 page art doujinshi before their university days end and the circle disbands.

I, once I get the book shipped from Japan (for the most part, sight unseen except for 1-4 pages), I take photographes of the pages and art for personal use. The photographs I take ARE under copyright then, to me, so my photograph of the art on the blog (photo, then cropped) should stop that image from being legally misused. In the case of a DVD of the art sold instead of a book, I use and crop those images for personal, no-profit use, and mix them with other pictures I take on trips or of various locations or items of interest (like my lunch!). For over a year, I wrote in email, both in English and Japanese to the artists to ask for limited, non-profit use, using the reverse formula (“If I don’t hear from you in 6 months, I will take that to be assent for a non-profit personal single use”) taught to me in the copyright class for teachers. I have never had an artists or a musician say no (for images or using their song in those music video’s I make - indeed, they want to see the video).

The comiket finished at the new year, and only after it is over, does 1 or 2 shops carry some of the items sold there. Finding and selecting the clean under 18+ art, which resides amoung a lot of 18+ images, is the hard part (the comiket is a place where males and females go to get good erotic material for personal interests – the joke of the comiket is the horror of having your bag fall and all your secrets spill out and if you WANT anyone to help you pick them up). Then creating a master list, and then limiting the list to what is in stock and what can be afforded.That is what the last four days was about, including working through the night so that I would not forget the things I had seen during the day. The 22 selected items were sent with links to the Japanese service buyer, two were sold out, and replaced with items off the ‘substitute list’. All this to get the quality and diversity of pictures on Screw Bronze. So now you know where the ‘fun money’ goes....well that, manga and pocky.

Some of the things I am looking forward to getting, once they are shipped (I don’t think I can afford Air Mail, boo hoo) is the Black Rock Shooter 40+ page art story by the group/circle White Dutura. It has an urban/goth and steam punk style mixed with some rock and roll. Goto-P, a favorite artist of mine, who doesn’t produce a lot of commercial work in art books put out Bambina in Italia, where each page shows the places in Italy while the drawing shows the ‘Goto-P vision’, like Pompeii here.
The diversity of style and viewpoint are some of the things which bring me back again and again to doujinshi artists. While some artists are known and raise prices accordingly (like Garden Blue, whose $25 small 20+ page book wasn’t something I could afford this time), I try to find a few new artists each time to mix in among the known. The circle Serendipity didn’t start until five months ago, and so their first printing, a 12 page tiny A5 color book named Espoir for $6.95 looks to have some great art (if a little small). Garnet, a small circle who started last year did Project 2, another work on the ‘Touhou Project’. The Touhou project which started as a doujinshi game, is where artists use the characters from the game in their own art in different ways. By now, literally hundreds to thousands of doujinshi artists have made ‘Touhou Project’ doujinshi’s, while other circles ONLY make them. The characters, due to being in a doujinshi game, are open for use by any artist, and what started small as an in-joke is now almost 40% or more of the art produced for the comiket. If, you as an artist want to give the Touhou Project a try, there are compilations, of 80 pages or so, of the best from various artists, so please, email me and I will try to recommend an affordable book to give you ideas.

The circle Garnet focuses on the Touhou Project only and as you can see in this picture, compares the green world of nature and the shrine, bringing the spiritual and physical together opposed to the ‘alternate’ world of the giant city, which most Japanese (and North American’s live in).

I hope that and the other pictures in this blog give you a taste of pictures to come and also explains that yes, again, in another area, I may spent way too much effort. But much like the postcards, it has to be the best, and it takes time but I like to think the results are worth it. With art doujinshi, I can spend a few hours selecting the ‘right’ pictures for the ‘right’ emotions in the blog post, no matter how 'gritty'.
I wrote this to let you know what I was doing, but also to let people know that I take all effort to legally bring enjoyable blogs to them. I do not ‘rip’ images from artists, or from the net. And while doing that might take extra effort, and time (and wow, am I exhausted), it seems the best things in life from a good cup of tea to a relationship all require effort and time.

The great Lesbian Sleepover - Part I (again!)

Well, the Americans and stuffed with Turkey while for the rest of us it is just another cold day (except for those in Australia, where summer is starting). And of course, like most people, our thoughts turn to not politics, or such things but LESBIANS. Yes, what is it that lesbians do that make them so fun to make movies about, and why are they always in groups squirting water on each other. I mean, they get to do and say what they want, it is like having lots of great girl friends, which is why a lot of hetero women (the poor confused things), like hanging with...yes....LESBIANS.

I don’t remember much of earlier today, except little bits now and then because I had a well, all I remember is the amount of pressure made me think that my eyes were going to fill with blood and then I lost consciousness. And when I woke up later I thought I was a person who killed people and brought in heads for bounty. And Linda explained that she is my handler and that Cheryl is my sister who I COULD have sex with but I don’t. But since my memory is of being the domestic maid or assistant to various males before I would find their moment of unhappiness and then free them from it (usually in back with an ice pick to the heart, with a twist to destroy all four chambers. But when I showed how then my handler Linda she said, “NOW, you’re scaring me.” Then she made me promise to not kill them tonight – I explained there was no reason to ‘expedite’ them (I only 'expedite' men!).) I explained that after ‘expediting’ someone I cut off their head and carried it out, usually wrapped in plastic in a cloth shopping bag, something to go with the economic station I was using at the time. Then I would be paid $5,000). I really wanted to go and find some target and make some money since Linda indicated not so good (I tend to have overlapping memories and go with the most vivid ones). Linda, said that my most vivid memories were actually a series of dreams during and after my seizure and that now I was sick and I was not to kill anyone today. So, that’s out she says. Just to let you know.

So what DO lesbians do when they get together? Well have baths together of COURSE! No, really we talk family and politics but no one wants to hear that so we will go with baths, and pillow fights! Seriously, once I woke up we had a bit of a party with a roast. Part of the reason for Cheryl to come over was to help us, both Linda and I a break; me in not having to work five to ten hours a day on Linda’s stuff, that is Cheryl’s thing now. The other plan was to get me some reserves in some hopes that my heart is able to stabilize because right now two chambers are working about 60% and the other two chambers are more like 40% and I am maxed out on all three pain killers and heart meds, which are just masking agents, when I switch over (need to take more) it hurts so much to take a breath that I pass out a little each time.

So we invited Strength to our party (we certainly NEED her!), which was a roast with corn and wine to toast to Dawn and her Brother, who died a year ago yesterday. Dawn right now is struggling with grief and memories AND working hard on a fellowship due on Friday. Maybe we should send Strength to go visit her too! But we toasted and of course, the problem is that once you invite Strength, you don’t know who is going to show up, which turned out to be Temperance. Now this is the problem, Temperance is HOT, but after the fifth time of going, “Yes, yes, I know ALL the reasons why I should drink water and its essential cleansing properties!” and then drink my red wine (which is good for my heart – take THAT Temperance), she essentially goes into the mental “high maintenance box.” This is where you might have a one night stand and stay ‘good friends’ but sheesh, living with that kind of obsession all the time, not for me! While Strength, dang, I wamted to BE Strength, not to sleep with her, because she is action girl AND has a big kitty – sort of living bliss!

Earlier we had gotten in some books from Japan, art books that were recommended (it turns out my MEN, and I thought they were women – or maybe they were recommended by women…strange women!), and there was one artist that had a lot of really great pictures including some um, very girl to girl friendly pictures. Only there was three girls, it seemed and there was a object which looked honestly like a hot dog bun closed on a hot dog, and a white dot for censoring over the end. We debated over this and in the end gave it to Cheryl with, “Hey you said you knew lesbians who like gay porn, tell us, what IS that?” Turns out it is some sort of anatomical rendering of well, the guy bit. I was, “Are you SURE, I mean, look at that seam down the side, that is definitely a hot dog bun!” She suggested maybe he was using a hot dog bun as a model, but that this was the “classic cum shot” – the what? Anyway, we were like, but they are three women? Then I remembered being told about a type of Japanese animation which is a popular subcult where women are changed and have the male bit which allows you to pee standing up but otherwise all normal. So we concluded this was that, and then turned the page quickly. Because looking at girls with girls in the “classic tumble” scene (you know, two girls sprawled across each other because one fell and then the other just HAPPENED to fall on her and they are just having problems getting up) equals FUN, looking at hot dog buns= “Ewwww!” – this is why I am against the rampant ideas of heterosexualism which are taught in schools.

Anyway, things sort of degenerated from there in terms of sexual inuenndo. And here is a picture of Linda, who is looking pensive and far above the shenanigans of Cheryl and I who are going, “Lady if you can do that with your breast, go back and see your enhancement surgeon because he did it WRONG!” Or, “Hey, a Wedding Day MIGHT be the time to wear a BRA, sheesh, trying looking in the mirror once in a while! Jeez!”

While actually she is coming up with even more complicated and potentially lewd short comments which as you see here leave me not only speechless and blushing! Oh Linda, when oh when did you see female anal strap-ons? I know about the Feeldoe but have you been shopping without me. Hey (alarmed expression on my face) what exactly is happening tonight! And Tomorrow Night!? Cheryl says she brought her ipod and can put the sound up REALLY loud! Er?

Well, after I woke up and clarified who my handler (Linda) says I can have sex with. First she was, “Cheryl is your sister, but you COULD have sex with her, only you can’t.”

“Is she bad at it or something?” I asked.

Linda’s face went funny, “No, I mean, she not literally related but you don’t have sex with her.”

“I’m pretty sure I can satisfy you,” I said, and after a moments thought, “and after I'll have sex with Cheryl?”

Linda decided to have a more direct talk with me on who I am allowed to kiss or not! I told Cheryl “I’m sorry, I can’t have sex with you until I satisfy Linda!”

This is seems was the WRONG understanding.

I think Linda actually likes it when I lose most of my memory (except when I tell how I kill or remove a head), because she gets to play keeper or mentor or older sister or something. She is bossy and she seems to be having fun. Off to the bath we go! Hey, if I am going to be nestled in Linda’s breasts who am I to complain? But I just want to point out that is a waste of a vibrator rubber ducky to put it THERE.

Another thing I found out is that with Cheryl here, the people taking “care” of me not only outnumber me but they actually work in concert and I definitely feel in a minority. For example, when they decide I need a cool down, Linda and Cheryl actually seem to enjoy my yelps, and congratulate themselves on how well they are doing. You can see Cheryl here yelling lewd suggestions as well as places Linda might have missed. Linda is having a blast, Cheryl is having fun. My face says, “Cold!”

After this we watched an episode of Bones Season 3 where Bones and the Agent kiss (I tell you that Hetero stuff is EVERYWHERE!). So of course, I had to demonstrate to Linda that whatever they can do, we can do better, and longer, and with more tongue! Er, if Linda's mom is reading, then just forget I wrote that last part! Anyway, after several minutes of, um, proving that hetero is just a passing phase, we were both so overcome with our success that we had to take a moment to stop and sort of take a few deep breaths (remember I have a bad heart). Also, somehow, our clothes had becomed loosened. Odd how that keeps happening.
Oh, is it too late to say this might not be a PG rated blog? Anyway, here is a nice PG rated picture. Linda says it reminds her of us, that and another picture I will show you tomorrow of the same couple (no photo right now). This is from Maria-sama, one of the best loved girl’s school lesbian themed anime dramas. Linda sees herself as the taller dark haired one and I am the shorter brown haired girl. I think Linda sees herself as the tall girl not because she sees herself as more mature, but that I am the one who always has my emotions right up there in the front of my face! While Linda is the one who has a calm and less emotional demenor even while I drag her into things. Or at least that is the way it works when we are at our best. Plus with me in the wheelchair, she is taller than me now. That’s just the way it is.

And for those who made it down this far, we are going to take a small break. I went today and got my Bisen protected and a few of them in the framing department with custom matte so I could get them framed. This was one of them and one of the few guys I have, since I prefer girls (you might be just noticing that by now!). But he is in the traditional wear and with a mask that often worn at festivals. So I thought it would be a nice change for people who made it this far and LIKE guys (I mean besides the bisexual and gay guys who read this blog). I have heard this rumor. Is it true, does this guy look nice? I really can’t tell the difference but I know that other women see different types.

Anyway, it is late and I have to try and start going to bed at a normal time like 2:45 am instead of 5:40 am or 4:00 am! Let’s see, we hit anal sex, cum shots, the um ‘hot dog bun’, strap-ons, lesbian bath scenes, hot lesbian kissing and disrobing, what am I missing. Well, the bed scene, but since we have company, we are doing the “big lesbian romp” where we START sleeping separate and then, well, who is with whom when we wake up, who can say, accidents happen and people roll in their sleep. Now that is Linda and I in each other’s arms, and Cheryl with her arms back taking it all in with a sly smile. But who is it that joined us? Oh well, the more the merrier. Maybe tomorrow we will do postcards together (no that’s not sex slang, it is postcards, you know, cardboard and such?).

See ya……in the bed? Part II tomorrow.

Lost, sexy bra and panties, Bisen, Shitajiki, beauty

This is going to be an image heavy post, sorry for those one dial up, but I promise it will be worth the wait (tune in tomorrow for the Lesbian Sleepover Part II – that one will be REALLY worth the wait!).

I want to talk about something that is very disability related and then about something a little lighter. I have been having a hard time. Because though Linda is home, I am more often the caregiver than she is as not a day has gone by when the phone or email has not left an eight hour mess on our door. And I’m not going to talk about THAT, what I want to talk about is what it does to a person with a disability.

I went to badminton, and won the games, the last game, I threw myself out of the chair, made the hit, over the net, screaming, “Play on, play on!” I had positioned myself to tip forward so I thrust myself back and up, and we went on and won the point, winning the game, 15-13. In that game I also made a hit that had my chair at a 45 degree angle off the floor, but I had enough trunk control and it slammed back down. I overheard the other side going, “I was sure it was a winner but that girl in the wheelchair…..I mean, she went off the floor……and her arms as so long…I was sure.”

The problem was, I couldn’t come home. I sat in that lobby and home was the place where I had a medical appointment in seven hours, it was where I had to help write email messages to government, where Linda was getting sicker in front of my eyes. Where everything of joy turned to ash in front of me. I simply could not go home. So I sat there in my chair for an hour crying. I was actively suicidal, when I finally moved. I rolled into the road wanting to be hit. I rolled past some bums and I felt so numb I WANTED them to attack me, wanted them to rape me because then I would be in the hospital and not have to go home (my body was so numb and so bent on self destruction - if you haven't felt it I don't know how to explain that). It took me 80 minutes to go the three blocks and then I cried at home, and then I got to work for five hours, dealing with the days crap. I had nightmares. We are three days away from our current financial crisis (I can’t remember what it is but read back and it was a computer), but we don’t know if Linda is even going to receive a paycheck and we are going to have rent. This is life. A new day, a new call from an investigator who can’t answer a simply question, “Under whose authority were you originally hired, because I can’t find the authorization for your hiring or your investigation.” This is a investigator who is to collect all the evidence and anecdotes from Linda who will then take it to the people who are currently discriminating against her. So I worked for eight straight hours on that.

And then I stopped breathing. I stopped breathing for a LONG time. Linda had to do mouth to mouth. I saw a doorway and shapes rushing through but as much as I tried to get to the doorway I couldn’t. Everyone was just passing me by. And then I started breathing on my own again. I didn’t want to live because I had lost sight of beauty and joy. I believe with fighting insurance companies, or various agencies, sometimes, it seems easier, if we just ‘accidentally’ didn’t stop in time for traffic. I came home and two of my fingers were black. Another day. Do I do anything about them? Linda did. It was severe frostbite. I had that feeling of heaviness, of not knowing how to go on, of not knowing and not wanting to know what the future holds. It is beyond depression into a blank numbness. I went to sleep by dreaming I was thrown into a giant pit, falling in darkness forever. This is as close to comfort as I had.

And I got up, and I stared out and nothing had changed. There was/is still more complex emails to write, and I was in an empty space with nothing. But I go on. The look of confusion, of blankness is because now my memory trap, due to stressed and frequent seizures has diminished to only a few hours of memory. I literally live in a blank field.

But that doesn’t mean that beauty doesn’t exist. I was sent this letter from someone, I don’t know yet because I haven’t opened it. honestly, I find it so mysteriously wonderful I don’t know how TO open it. To destroy such beauty, would there be anything inside worth the feeling that the beauty gives me; which is to care about something again?

Also recently, I received from someone I communicated with on-line, some Bisen. Bisen is art of stationary which is produced by artists, in fact, some artists go on to be very, very famous. But in the early days, they make an art print and due to the extremely high quality of Japanese Paper, they can reproduce color so high that it can’t be reproduced in North America. Some of it is watercolor, other ink, some abstract, some detailed. And while it is very thin stationary, like a bond weight of 5 maybe, it can only be bought at these expos and shows and so collectors or people like me who buy them and then send them on to others, can only get more by contacting and swapping what they have with other collectors.

This particularly paper, a single sheet is from the famous group “Green Glass” and from their ‘Jewels’ series, called Pearl.
This is from a less known artist who prefers drawing with watercolor, and less detailed but cute in it’s own way.

This piece here was the reason I was excited and went out today to get them laminated (I get a very thin laminate on them to stop them going downhill as just a thumb pushing too hard with crease them forever! Something the MANAGER who dealt with me today couldn’t seem to understand. Indeed, he claimed not really to laminate until I told him I came EVERY week – it was less than customer based service). There is a series called the Gown Series by Green Glass, there is Blue, there is Pink and there is White. I have never seen White even in pictures but a person had a Pink, so I traded for it and it arrived and I was pretty excited, so I REALLY don’t want a guy with butter on his fingers to ruin this piece of art. I know, I get excited about silly things, but Bisen isn’t expensive, it is just very, very hard to collect. And truthfully, I tend to give most of what I get away!

I also, with the Bisen got a Shitajiki board (also known as a Pencil Board – I give these away too!). These cost between $5 and $45 dollars, are made of a laminate and have pictures on them. Often they are to promote a particular game or anime. This one is to promote a store, these two girls are going off to a comi-fest (you can see the catalogue in their arms), and on the back is a list and map of the stores. One is dressed with cat ears and the lesbian overtones of course had NO BEARING on why I might have bought this (I can't see Linda and I in this board at all, no no, no - what do you mean "da' Nile ain't just a river in Egypt?")

Other Shitajiki boards are created by stores for special events where they hire famous artists. This is an example of a board like that. (she's so CUTE! But *ahem*, I showed it becuase of the Autumn theme in it, honest!). Because they boards have two sides, the artists can make two images and that is sort of the fun of getting the boards, they are permanent art, which never fades (What? You see lesbian overtones in that too! No, the reason I keep getting art of two women is um, an odd accident, some sort of eye problem, I think!). Some of the boards are turned into postcards and I have sent quite a few of those out (about 50 or so). I also frame some of the boards and send those out. I find them to be lovely and a reasonable present of personal art from a named artist.

Some Bisen (the paper stationary) are special, there are called, “Puzzle Pictures” because each paper is a separate image, but if you can get BOTH images, and put them together, then you get a third image. Here is the first Puzzle Picture I have been able to complete: so a boy playing with a plane and a boy with a cat instead become a larger picture. I am working with the framers to see how this can be framed safely.

Okay, enough! As some people say, I am a little Japan crazy. Not true, I just find them pretty. And right now, I like pretty. In fact, while Linda and I were taking this picture I was like, “Why is it WE don’t have matching bra and panty sets like this!” I have to admit I like the purple butterfly, no matter how impossible/itchy that might be if you tried to wear jeans – but then I think these are a bra and panty set for people to take OFF, not on, right? Anyway, she agreed and we are looking forward to the sale at Victoria Secret after Xmas – BRING US THE PURPLE TINGED BRA AND PANTY SETS! Oddly, I am actually the short one in this picture becuase you notice her staring at Linda's breasts. Linda's breasts are like the sunset, while they go on day after day, they are so beautiful that I could stare at them all the time. Okay back to Victoria Secret, which is fun because there are rooms and room and then finally the changing room and I have a friend who calls it “The candy store” because you can get so much there that looks delish! But also in some mid room is a VERY uncomfortable looking male who is trying to stare BACKWARDS into his skull while three feet away two 21 year olds are trying to find bras in the C basket. Because his girlfriend is trying things on and if he is caught oogling when she returns….poor guy. Besides that the WALLS are pink, there is pink everywhere and he is outnumbered about 100 to 1 by women. I feel sorry for the guys and think like some stores have for children, Victoria Secret should have a room with lounge chairs and plaid walls and magazines on electronics where men can be deposited.

Right now Linda and I are trying to get buy, minute by minute, hour by hour. We take our little pleasures (like stealing food from each other – woot!). And though I don’t know what day it is, I keep on. I have worked and now I will go sleep, though it is past 5:00 am.

I hope soon, that I will be able to see some sky and sun and beauty and while I will look a bit like this, bewildered by it all, I will learn to adjust that not everything is going to attack me, it just that some days seem like that. Too many days. But the sun will come.