my every-four-years election results post

I have been doing this for some time now, mapping the election results in my sketchbook. See previous images here.

The view at about 7:15pm PST

This is what it looked like when I headed to bed. Electoral votes stand at 209 - Democratic; 238 - Repblican.

And this is where we are this morning. Vermont, Michigan and Arizona still not called one way or the other.

Regardless of how I feel about the outcome, I still find it cool to illustrate the results as they come in. Look for the next installment in 2020!

Embracing the zombie

This will be the view of my writing and drawing arm for some time. I fell and broke my radius in several places. I'm talented that way. I am also very visual, so here are some x-rays to explain the damage.

Book Reviews on Toast

Introducing Book Reviews on Toast!!! As many of you know, I read a lot. I have wanted to review many books I have devoured, but couldn't find the right balance of teasers/descriptions to entice without giving away the whole plot. For me this is essential, as the joy of reading is in discovering how the pieces fit together.

This is the first in a series of book reviews I am doing. You can find the whole series here on tumblr, or here.

Some recent sketches and things

Not a sketch, but some photos I took of the garden bounty turned into salsa. :)

Also a photo. These are cukes I grew inside my own mailbox - I needed someplace to put them while I dealt with the dog.

Ode to Norm

I found out today that my favorite entomologist has passed away. Dr. Norm Penny was one of the nicest, kindest scientists I have ever met. He gave me one of my first professional jobs doing scientific illustration. A couple of the neuropteran wings I illustrated for him were new species (see below). He always made sure to send me copies of the papers my illustrations got published in. He gave a great tour of the entomology collection at the California Academy of Sciences. I learned so much from him over the years. Thanks, Norm.

Penny, N. (2002) "Lacewings of Costa Rica" Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, vol. 52 no. 12. Image 117 by Diane T Sands. Images 118, 119 by Victoria Saxe

Brain roll-up

One of my favorite things about brains is they way you feed questions in, let them rattle around for a bit and a solution occurs to you some point down the line. Usually when you are doing something completely different - walking, driving, singing in the shower. Recently, I had one dilemma and, much later, a thought that did not seem related to me at the time.

I like to preserve fruit through canning or freezing.

Whining about grapes

I inherited an overgrown garden with the purchase of my house. Thick and green, I worked at identifying what I had. Many of the plants have turned out to be sub-tropical, commonly used as houseplants in this climate. They were hooked up to irrigation that ran almost constantly. I deemed this to be a waste of money. If I am going to be watering that much it will be for food I can eat, or establishing native plants that will need less an less water over time. 
Bit by bit I trim, remove and sculpt it to my specifications.

Bunny Day.

March 27th is Easter this year. Here is my favorite recipe on reprise.

Ode to Shadow

Last Friday, my big crazy dog broke a window latch and my canine boys went walkabout. A neighbor found Bear and called me that afternoon. Shadow remained missing throughout the weekend. A different neighbor saw my lost dog signs and called me Monday morning to let me know that Shadow's remains were on the side of 580. I went out and retrieved his body in the pouring rain, bringing it back to my yard for burial. Shadow was my best animal buddy since my cat, Wacko, passed back in 2004. I will miss him. To celebrate the time we had together, here are some of the many photos I took over the last year we spent together. 

Hummingbird Help

A friend and I found a sick humming bird today. Or maybe it was just cold. It did go down to 43'F last night. Normally, I leave cold birds alone. The sun will warm them. Songbirds on the ground might be fledglings learning to fly, being watched by adults in surrounding bushes. However, this one was not moving, fluttering or crying. It was smack in the middle of the driveway to a car dealership. I scooped up the still form. As I stood up, a huge black pickup truck approached. It waited as I got out of the way before rolling over the spot my new friend had been.

Witches butter

Witches butter on a log in Redwood Regional Park looking a lot like melted macaroni & cheese.

Witches butter is odd. It is a blobular yellow fungus found on every continent except Antarctica. Thin and unnoticed during dry times, with the application of water it achieves the look of a slimy, golden brain. It is near impossible to draw something so gelatinous.

Recent fungal finds

These are everywhere in my yard this year. Hard to say if they are natives to the yard, or sprung from the organic soil I brought in to fluff up the beds. Most likely, Russula rosacea. Not edible.

Here in Northern CA, January is often the wettest time of the year. The ground is green with new growth and fungus pops up underfoot. I have been taking photos mostly. I tell myself I will draw them - and I might yet. I pull my two favorite shroom books off of the shelf (All the Rain Promises and More by David Arora, and Mushrooms of North America by Roger Phillips.)

I do not forage for mushrooms, or eat any of the wild ones I find. Mostly because my mycology professor at MSU had way too many horror stories about pumped stomachs, horrible symptoms and painful agonizing deaths. I am capable of taking spore prints and identifying down to species. I'm usually too lazy. Especially when it is so much easier to go to the grocery store, or the mushroom booth at the farmer's market and get the kind I know are edible.