Monday, June 13, 2005

Corel Painter

On one of my art lists, they've been talking lately about Corel Painter versus Photoshop. I've been using Corel for many years - much longer than Photoshop, and yet I've never played with Painter. This is unusual for me - I'm usually quite the experimenter. But, I've mostly used Corel Draw, not Painter.

Well, at the urging of folks like Karen Winters, who's work I really admire, I took a few minutes tonight to play with it. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/kwintt/ and http://www.karenwinters.com/journalpages/ to see Karen's amazing work)

It just so happened that red was the default and I automatically drew a heart, playing with a variety of brushes and such that you can't see here.

Anyway, I just kept playing around with various things and ended up with this odd - but some reason appealing (at least to me) heart.

Maybe it's because my heart is still broken, maybe it's because it's trying to heal a bit. Whatever the reason I was inspired to draw a heart - it could have been that red was selected because I was working on a logo before that - I thought I'd share it here.

Now, after this little interlude, I must get back to work on garden tour things! Being sick and in bed for a day and a half did not help my schedule at all. Fortunately, I'm feeling better.

Michael Jackson deemed Not Guilty

They're reading the verdicts in the Michael Jackson trial - all NOT guilty. Can we please, please, please, please, please stop having this conversation?

Yes, the man is a freak. We all know that. How could he be anything else given how he grew up? Being a freak is not illegal in this country.

Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised at either verdict. I'm not a huge Michael Jackson fan, but if police have all this evidence, it would seem they could find some more believable people to testify.

Anyone who sleeps with children is, of course, weird, bizarre and freaky. But, why are the parents of these children who shipped their kids off to spend the night with Michael not on trial? Wouldn't that be child endangerment?

We all have free will. If you think he's guilty then don't send your kids off to Neverland. That would seem to be a no-brainer but apparently bears stating.

I'm so ready to not hear another word about this. Yes, the man is a freak. We all know that. As of today, he's a freak who has been determined to be NOT guilty of the crime they've tried to pin on him multiple times. If he has been abusing even a small percentage of the children who have been to Neverland, it would seem police could find at least ONE credible witness - just ONE. They've been unable to for years. Please, let us all have a rest.

Better

I've been up since 5:11 this morning. I went to bed a little after 11 so that's a normal night's sleep for me. My ear and throat are still a little sore, but neither is as bad as it was so I must be on the mend. I'm still puzzled why I'm sick in the first place, but I seem to be better.

I'm one of those people who is obsessive about washing my hands. I do it multiple times a day. And, as a result, I rarely get sick. I'm pretty careful about touching my eyes or mouth when I've been out with the masses until I scrub my hands, but I must have neglected to do that at some point. I can't imagine how else I would have acquired this - whatever it is.

Fortunately, I seem to speed through the healing process whenever I'm sick too. This is a good thing as sick is not in my day runner for this week.