Friday, December 14, 2007 --- Moments of Light Around the House...and Depth of Berries.











[ If you are going to swipe any of my pictures, I think we all know that the polite and righteous thing to do is to make sure you credit me for it with a link. If you don't, well then, you are a photo-thieving asshole and you should be shot... ]



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Sunday, December 9, 2007 --- Do You Know What Is Happening Tomorrow?

Well, if you don't know, you should! Neil Kramer aka "Neilochka" of Citizen of the Month (and twitter) is hosting his Second Annual 2007 Blogger Christmahanukwanzaakah Online Holiday Concert Extravaganza! What is this exactly? Neil explains it best:

"...It is now time to raise our voices in song again in this new holiday tradition. Hanukkah songs about miracles. Christmas songs about faith. Winter songs about the beauty of the season. Kwanzaa songs about new traditions. It is the 2007 Blogger Christmahanukwanzaakah Online Holiday Concert, right here on Citizen of the Month on Monday, December 10th (with a re-broadcast on Christmas Day). The concert is for YOU and by YOU — and this year will be bigger and better than last year..."




Basically, anyone from the blogging-community-at-large is welcome to share a recording of him/herself singing a favorite holiday song! It is meant to be fun...and possibly quite funny...as we all celebrate the great big inclusive Holiday of Christmahanukwanzaakah! Plus, if you are too embarassed to sing, Neil also welcomes photographs from bloggers to help "dress the set". It should be a great time. And, if you have never checked out Citizen of the Month before, you really should because Neil's blog is hilariously funny and incredibly well-written. [ I should hope so on that last part because Neil is a professional writer in "real life"! ]

That said, you'll be pleased to know that I have a submission in this year's concert. I sang "The Man With The Bag", a song that was originally recorded by Kay Starr in 1950. This song has always made me laugh because of its unapologetic theme of Christmas greed LOL! (Hence, my allusion to it in the sidebar where I have my Amazon.com Xmas Wish List!) Plus, I love the peppy big-band sound of it. As I explained to Neil, I don't have a particularly great singing voice...so I decided to really ham-up my submission in the hope that "really funny" would excuse "lack of talent". I recorded it with a clothespin on my nose so that it would be really nasal and then I tried to do a little bit of Ethel-Merman-like styling, although sans the great power of Ethel's voice. Anyway, I think it is pretty funny. I mixed it myself on the computer with an instrumental karaoke track -- not bad production value for being recorded in my home office. Join us at the concert and feel free to laugh at me and my song! I also submitted the "Winter Berries in Snow" picture from the previous post below as decoration for the concert so you'll probably see that too.

I also created the unsolicited artwork pictured above -- I was inspired by the idea of trying to create a logo design to incorporate the 3 holidays into a graphical image that was clean, attractive and symbolically cohesive. It was a great graphic design challenge! I used the three colors of Kwanzaa (black, red, green) -- the Christmas Tree symbols (which double as general holiday season/winter symbols too) -- and a gold blue and white glowing star of David -- as well as a blue background as another Jewish/Hanukah nod. I sent the graphics to Neil last night, but I still don't know what he thinks of them. He may or may not use them, but my real purpose was to create them for my own use to promote the concert because I think it is such a fun idea and concept that Neil has started. People are certainly welcome to borrow my button for use on their own blogs...I think it is kind of neat to have a "I participated in CHK 2007" badge for the sidebar so that blog readers can revisit the fun we had anytime and maybe become new participants for next year's!

[ I would love it if folks credited me for the button if they use it, but it's not necessary. Just leave me a nice word in my comments if you are going to borrow it! Share the love, baby. ]


Click the button below to visit Citizen of the Month:




<--------------------------- UPDATE 12/10/07! --------------------------->


Hey folks! I created this modified version button badge below (4 colors) that folks can also use in their sidebar -- year round if you like (!) -- to provide a link to the concert festivities any time. It's a nice way to thank Citizen of the Month for hosting this wonderful event...





You will need to host the button image on your own site and modify the code below accordingly. Here's the code you will need to use the buttons:
<a href="http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/2007/12/10/the-2007-blogger-christmahanukwanzaakah-online-holiday- concert/" title="Check out the 2007 Christmahanukwanzaakah Concert!"><img src="http://www.YOURWEBADDRESS.com/BUTTON NAME OF CHOICE.png" title="Check out the 2007 Christmahanukwanzaakah Concert!" border="0" /></a>

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Wednesday, December 5, 2007 --- Today's Question: Whether to shit or go blind?

See that beautiful tree with its orange and red leaves? Up until this morning, that tree was merrily going about its business believing that it was still Fall in Virginia. It has been so warm here, that our leaves changed very late and have been holding on to some of the trees longer than usual. But this morning, we had our first snow of the season...and let's just say that the poor tree doesn't know "whether to shit or go blind..."

It is very odd to be looking at the colorful foliage covered with snow...but the contrast sure is lovely!

I thought the berries on this tree were pretty, surrounded by the fresh new snow...Needless to say, it is a perfect day for hot beverages and wood burning in the fireplace.

Welcome Winter! You are beautiful.

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Friday, November 30, 2007 --- Kneel before the Temple of Coldness...and get your wax worms here!

Behold! Our glorious new Temple of Coldness...If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that we recently had a refrigerator breakdown at the Butterfly Cocoon. Our kind neighbor, Teresa, took in our wayward food for temporary storage across the hall so that we wouldn't lose everything. Initially, the apartment maintenance guy, who showed up at our door to check the old monster, said he would need to replace the fan motor (I think?) in the morning to get things running again. Of course, behind closed doors, we said out loud, "Why can't they just get rid of this energy-sucking-fucker and give us a new refrigerator like Teresa has?!?"

Well, I am pleased as punch to announce that they did just that! Three nice men came in, cleared out the old, rolled in the new, and even helped put away what little non-perishable food we had left in the old dying beast. Magnets and pictures have now been replaced on the new magical fantastical Whirlpool.

I especially love the clear drawers that let me see exactly what is in there at all times. Nothing is worse than forgetting about some random vegetable purchase, only to discover some weeks later that you have a drawer full of rotten celery or cucumbers...Ick! [OK, yes, there are worse things -- like heinous rape or murder -- but, in terms of refrigerator things, you get the idea... ]

Now, I am sure there are you nosy little bitches out in Cyberland who are going to zoom in and examine the contents of our refrigerator. And, you are probably going to say, "Hey Butterfly, what's with the container of LIVE WAX WORMS?" Ewwwww.

My longtime readers will know that the worms are a special treat for our amphibian friends -- specifically, our two Australian White's tree frogs. Usually we feed all of our frogs crickets, but occasionally, I will hand feed these guys a few wax worms. I don't feed wax worms to the three Cuban tree frogs (not pictured) because those frogs are too fast and nervous to be held and fed. If you drop the worms into the tank, they will just dig themselves into the soil, never to be seen again. So, it requires holding the worm in front of a lucky frog's face to be snatched in the moment. These two frogs at left, known collectively as "the Bung Monkeys", are very happy to be held and fed. Because they are fat and slow. *heeheehee*

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007 --- What Google Analytics and my Feedjit tells me about visitors...

Who would have thought that my posts about facial symmetry studies (here and here) would bring so much weird "images.google.com" traffic to my blog? Honestly, I think people must spend hours just looking for naked pictures of Amber Valletta and Amber-Valletta-look-a-likes on the internet -- because that's all they seem to be looking at when they come here from Germany, Philippines, Slovenia, Malaysia, etc.

Sure, I know where most of the real readers come from:

Hello California! Hello New York, Vermont, Illinois, Texas, Oregon, New Jersey, Washington, Indiana and Virginia (those are my top 10 reader states!) England? Hello Newcastle upon Tyne! Hello London, Pontypridd and Wembley! Canada? Hello Vancouver, Regina and Mississauga! And many others I haven't listed here. Hiya!

But then, it starts to get weird...Tell me, person in Kuwait -- did you find what you were looking for on The Butterfly Blog?? Of course, I should have known that a link to tassyPink or a passing reference to splosh porn would bring a few unexpected visitors...LOL! But tell me, why do a search for "sarah jessica parker nostrils"? "ahhhh push it push it"? "crooked smile after chin implant"? "loestrin birth control pill peculiar smell"? Really? "Dry+aching+armpits!" Ouch. "Does a butterfly have a nose"?

I must admit, that last one really intrigues me. In my opinion, questions like that are worth asking because they show a natural curiosity about the world around us. Bravo, I say! Go on, girl, with your Entomological-bad-self! However, why someone thinks I should have any "female pug dogs menstruation information" I'll never know...

What I do know is -- yep, last time I checked, I have a nose. [But, that's probably not what you meant, my Googling friend, huh? Sorry.]

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Thursday, October 25, 2007 --- Some things I would trade for a spleen...I mean, a Spleenal action figure!

This is a post for my blogging buddy, spleenal. He's swapping spleenal action figures (blank ones for bloggers to decorate themselves, and then, share pictures of their creations to post on his blog!) for neato things of your own. So, Spleenal, here's what I've got in lieu of splosh porn...


For the spleenal Christmas tree -- a handmade ornament from New Hampshire -- a wooden bluebird on a perch. Or, if you happen to be Jewish, he could hang out in a bushy houseplant just for fun? OR...

A funny little bug in a box, complete with wiggly legs that move when you shake him? OR...

A little wire wind-up robot that jumps around on his rubber-booted feet?

Whaddya think? I tried to think of cool little things of mine that were inexpensive (as per your guideline) while still fun...in the spirit of my toys for your toys!




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Saturday, October 6, 2007 --- Apparently, this is a good place to take a nap...

The bigger Nutmeg gets, the more things she gets into. Not only did she jump into the tub while I was taking a shower today, but she also likes to take a break in the sink periodically. In some ways, this lack of fear with regard to water is a good thing. It means I have very little trouble bathing her when necessary -- because I like to bathe me some cats. Contrary to popular cat-belief, spit does not clean everything well, especially when that spit smells like cat food...


"This carpet has a funny flavor!"

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007 --- Ode to the small Asian woman...on Great Mofo Delurk Day 2007!

This in an Ode, with a capital "O", to the small Asian woman who altered the blazer of my brown Jones New York suit. You are simply amazing...There is no perceivable evidence that this jacket was ever disassembled to make your expert adjustments -- except for the fact, of course, that it fits me perfectly now!


I found this little brown tag stapled to the inside label of my garment, which bears your handwriting. I have no idea what it says, but I suspect it contains secret messages pertaining to the magical spells you perform with your tiny hands and sewing machine on my clothes. I am keeping this tag because it will remind me of you, your excellent workmanship and the very simple happiness I felt today when I tried on my jacket for your final inspection.


Small Asian woman, I do not even know your name, but every time I enter the dry cleaners where you work, you greet me with your warm and enthusiastic smile. This brightens my day for a moment, and for that too, I thank you! Your small moon-shaped face, with its laugh lines and creases of old age, is full of kindness. I like to imagine you being my own tiny grandmother or perhaps a dear great aunt, but we are just strangers. You will never know that I think about you, but I do. And, I hope that you are well-loved.



Today is Great Mofo Delurk Day 2007! Please, don't forget to leave a comment on all of the blogs you read...lurk...stalk...Trust me, you will be making people smile.





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Sunday, September 23, 2007 --- Fun with Eggs on the Autumnal Equinox!

Today was the Autumnal Equinox -- a rare opportunity for eggs to stand up on end! Here are two eggs that I spent some time photographing this afternoon by candlelight...

...different angle...

...sepia toned...'cause I liked the way this looked too!

...sepia toned again...




And finally, by natural light, just for the fun of it. Took this one with my phone camera -- still came out pretty good for a phone picture!

Hello, Autumn! Let the Dance of the Leaves begin...

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Monday, September 3, 2007 --- Latest pictures of the new baby...

Playing around with my Picasa Web Albums -- thought I would share a slideshow of today's pictures of Nutmeg (a.k.a. Schmegs, Meggie, Schmeggie and Nutschmegs.)




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Wednesday, August 15, 2007 --- In Sunnier News...the Foetus Update!

My good friends, Michael and Lori, recently sent me this updated ultrasound picture of the foetus, also known as Nicholas. Yes, it is a boy-foetus!

Enjoy rolling around in that amniotic soup, my friend, covered with a cottage-cheese-like substance...Soon enough, you will be here in the real world with the rest of us, wishing you could go back!



It is hot today! I am thirsty:

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Saturday, August 11, 2007 --- Studies in Facial Symmetry...the Amber Valletta series.

As a graphic designer, photo editing softwares like Photoshop and Fireworks are a part of my everyday life. But, when I am not using these programs for a design project, I love to edit and manipulate photos purely for the fun of it. I suppose you could call it one of my "hobbies"...

One of my favorite things to do is a Facial Symmetry study. The majority of us have extremely assymetrical features...and, if you have ever done one of these on yourself, you will probably get very disturbing results! Typically, one side (half) of the face reflecting itself to create a "symmetrical whole" will produce a very strange-looking wide head, and the other half becomes a narrower head, or has what I call a "pinched" face. Trust me, generally, it is not very attractive. When I have done my own face in the past, one side produces a cute, wide-eyed and wide-foreheaded, semi-retarded-looking girl and the other side, looks like I was squeezed in a vice as a child...I shall call her "pinhead"!

Not too long ago, I was listening to an NPR or PRI podcast -- and I heard a story regarding the study of facial symmetry and attractiveness. I seem to recall it had something to do with criminals as well, but I have been unable to find the exact story on either website. [Connections between lack of symmetrical features = perceived ugliness = less-liked and fewer opportunities = tendency toward anti-social behavior = crime, etc.?? Something like that...]

Anyway, scientists have been doing variations of these facial symmetry studies, body proportion ratios, genetic health, etc. for a long time. The thing that stuck out to me in this story, is that they mentioned studying the faces of many people, famous and not famous, that were perceived universally by subjects as "beautiful" -- and it always came back to having high symmetry and particular facial size-ratios. The model Amber Valletta was mentioned as having one of the highest measured facial symmetries and almost perfect size-ratios -- and therefore, in the study, she rated very high with subjects on her "perceived" beauty. This got me thinking...it would be interesting to do one of my Facial Symmetry studies on Amber Valletta's face!

I needed to find photos that were as "forward facing" as possible, preferably with a relatively "even" or "neutral" expression. I found three very interesting pictures to work with that I thought would yield interesting artistic results. As I began to work on them, I was truly amazed...I have never seen anything like this...


Normal Front View


Left-Side Symmetry ------------------- Right-Side Symmetry


There is almost no difference between her Left-Side Symmetry and her Normal Front View -- while she does still have some asymmetry (crooked smile, slight nostril difference, etc. which, personally, I think creates her most charming attribute, her impish grin) -- it is so slight that her Left-Side Symmetry could be a post-plastic-surgery "after" photo, displaying a minute nose job correction and right side chin implant. I would say this is her "too perfect" incarnation.

What is even more unusual, is that her Right-Side Symmetry looks completely normal. It does not look as much alike to her Normal View as the Left-Side Symmetry did, but it is still so much like her that it could be a slightly different "twin" sister. Neither one of these symmetries has any hint of being abnormal-looking, like you would expect to see with most faces. Indeed, apart from the "overly perfect" aspect of the exact-mirror symmetry, these women could be triplet sisters with small facial differences. This is incredibly unusual and I am amazed at how these pictures turned out.


These next two groups were very bizarre! I did them purely for the crazy symmetry fun of it -- to see what would happen! She still looks like a beautiful lady, but with some serious...ummmmmmm...birth defects?!? Yikes.


Normal Front View


Left-Side Symmetry ----------------- Right-Side Symmetry


Here is a body series, but again, aside from the weird shadows on the face and the crazy bodies, look at how much the face on the Right-Side Symmetry version still looks very normal!

[ I would recommend clicking on the image to zoom in on the face -- you'll see better how "normal" it looks close up. ]


Normal Front View


Left-Side Symmetry ----------------- Right-Side Symmetry




Photo credits:

Picture #1: Photo by Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com - Image courtesy WireImage.com
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/0684-mes/valetta2.mbe.html?seq=2

Picture #2: Photo by Raymond Burrows
http://www.lucire.com/2004a/0627ll0.shtml

Picture #3: http://www.luxe.com/Lagerfeld/gallery.htm

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Sunday, August 5, 2007 --- I have CANCER...Hear me ROAR...With lesions too big to IGNORE...And I know too much to go back an' pretend!


Okay, so this photo is from a better time in Trudy's life...when she still had all of her fur intact...But, the sentiment is the same!

The video [click on the image when you are done reading] is from yesterday -- Jackson got in trouble for chasing his sister out of her little cardboard-box-tray-thing (from the recent canned cat food purchase) -- which she has been enjoying sitting in lately. And yes, I know, the apartment is very messy at the moment...what, with all the kitty nursing we have been doing...and not wanting to upset her with the vacuum! We will be cleaning TODAY because I can not stand it anymore! The man would be fine with living in squalor -- so long as he can play XBOX 360 -- which he is welcomed to return to just as soon as we straighten this place up a bit!

Ugh. Double Ugh.

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Monday, July 30, 2007 --- The ultrasound verdict is in...

Well, things are not good with ChooChoo, but this is not terribly surprising to me. I was prepared for that...and really, an answer does make us feel better, even if it is not a nice answer...because we can feel secure in our decision...that we are going to do everything possible to keep her comfortable and happy until she is ready to go. But we are not going to intrude, biopsy, chemotherapy, etc. We want her remaining time (weeks?) to be happy and calm -- minimizing her stress for whatever time she has left before we put her to sleep.









The official situation:

1)"Bullseye" lesion in right lateral liver lobe, extending through to the right middle liver lobe. Multiple other 1-2 cm lesions throughout 3 other liver lobes, all of similar appearance, most likely, with her history, age, and clinical signs, this is carcinoma or other type of cancer. 2)Abnormal left wing of pancreas with dilated pancreatic duct. 3)Left kidney has a focal lesion of hypoechoic tissue, similar in texture to the liver lesions, concerned that this represents spread from primary process in liver. 4)Asymmetric thickening of the duodenum, mass-like appearance with enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes.


I made a little video of her when we got home to show how she is doing at this point -- still feeling pretty bright and happy (you can hear her purring in the video!) You can click on the picture below to go to the video page and watch it...We want to document a little bit each day of her so that we have some stuff to remember and be able to watch our cute little girl's videos in the future, when she is gone. ;-)


UPDATE: When the man got home around 10PM from his class, he fed everybody wet food for dinner...and Trudy ate normal cat food with all the boys on her own!! She actually kept eating after everybody else had walked away. And then, just before he went to bed, we took her temperature to see if she still had a fever...BUT, she had a normal 100.8F temp -- which means that she does not have an infection -- she was just VERY stressed at the vet's office (there, it was about 104.5F which is about 2 degrees over the high-end of normal). We did not give her the antibiotic shot (I will ask the vet tomorrow if they want us to give them to her, but I think probably not if she has no fever...) We prepared her B12 shot, but we had to wait a little while to give it to her -- because she was busy eating her normal wet cat food, again! With the B12, hopefully this eating trend will continue. The more she eats, the better she will do for a while longer, while her liver still functions. Of Course, at the first hint of any pain or change in attitude, we will know it is time. For the time being though, she is feeling pretty good and hungry ;-D





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Sunday, July 29, 2007 --- Silence of the Lambs...the Mosaic!

I'm tellin' ya...those folks over at Twitter Mosaic sure do like my butterfly icon! I was a little bummed that I was not in the Transformers mosaic, but that is A-OK because I think the Silence of the Lambs one turned out much better. You can see my "occurrences" in the picture on the left -- or the original versions with the members list at www.twittermosaic.com -- and of course, you can follow twitter_mosaic to become a "part of the art."

In cat news, Trudy-the-Cat has her ultrasound appointment tomorrow (Monday) at 3PM. She's not allowed to eat for 12 hours before the appointment -- before I go to bed, I have to take away everybody's food (Eat up, Cats!! You only have a few more hours...) We will finally find out what is going on with this cat's liver so they can get her on some medicine to help it -- or we find out something worse (hopefully not) and make her as comfortable as she can be, until it is time to say goodbye. It will be a rip-roaring drive to the specialist's office, drooling all the way...Good Luck, ChooChoo!


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Thursday, July 19, 2007 --- I was always struck by the enormity of his head...

With the most recent upgrades to our area's cable service, we now have VH1 Classic -- which is really great incidentally -- because we get to see all kinds of old music documentaries and vintage videos. Periodically, I will see a Smiths' video and it will make me laugh...I have never gotten over the enormity of Morrissey's head and that extreme-high hair of his. He was like a caricature...or a bobblehead! Whenever I think of The Smiths, I see him in my mind's eye with his big head, high-styled hair, a loose plaid shirt, and drooping Levi's with substantial footwear, dancing around the stage in that lazy-crazy "I don't give a shit" way. Reminds me so much of my NYU days and all of the serious brooding types (gay and straight) that I knew.

[Photo credit: Steven Wright http://www.wrightphoto.co.uk ]


But, it also makes me think of how my mom, her friend Robert and I were all so tickled by the lyrics of one of our favorite Smith's songs:


Bigmouth Strikes Again

Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking
When I said I'd like to smash every tooth
In your head

Oh ... sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking
When I said by rights you should be
Bludgeoned in your bed

And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know how Joan of Arc felt, oh
As the flames rose to her Roman nose
And her Walkman started to melt
Oh ...

Bigmouth, la ... Bigmouth, la ...
Bigmouth strikes again
I've got no right to take my place
In the Human race

Oh, Bigmouth, ha ha ... Bigmouth, la
Bigmouth strikes again
I've got no right to take my place
In the Human race

And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know how Joan of Arc felt, oh
As the flames rose to a Roman nose
And her hearing aid started to melt
Eek !

Oh, Bigmouth, la ... Bigmouth, la ...
Bigmouth strikes again
I've got no right to take my place
With the Human race
Oh ...

Bigmouth, oh ... Bigmouth, la ...
Bigmouth strikes again
I've got no right to take my place
In the Human race

And now I know how Joan of Arc felt
Now I know how Joan of Arc felt, oh
As the flames rose to a Roman nose
And her hearing aid started to melt
Oh !

Oh, Bigmouth, oh ... Bigmouth, la ...
Bigmouth strikes again
I've got no right to take my place
In the Human race
Oh ...

Bigmouth, oh ... Bigmouth, la ...
Bigmouth strikes again
I've got no right to take my place
In the Human race
Oh ...

Bigmouth

Goodbye, and thank you! Goodbye!



[Morrissey photo: The uncropped version can be found here.]

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Tuesday, July 17, 2007 --- The Great Twitter Mosaic...I am in it again!

Remember my recent post where I mentioned that I was part of the Big Blue Marble Negative Twitter Mosaic?? For those who do not, you can refer to it here.

Well, the newest mosaic has just been completed -- Soylent Green -- I made it in again! This time my icon is more rare...I was only able find it once. Which is kind of cool, I think, that it had its perfect spot with no repeats. You can see the original picture and the list of included folks (who knows, you might be in it!) at www.twittermosaic.com -- also, you can become a part of future mosaics by adding twitter_mosaic to your Twitter friends' list.

And, of course, you can see my modified version of the picture where I circled my occurrence here.

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007 --- Oh...my...God...I am having a cuteness-sugar-rush!

butterfly has sent you a clip...

butterfly's Message:
I think I may get diabetes from the sweetness of this little darling that was born in Japan recently...oh God, where is Claus von Bülow when you actually NEED an insulin injection???

clipped from www.news.com.au
Puppy / Reuters
Get Clipmarks - The easiest way to email text, images and videos you find on the web. It's free!
Sent with Clipmarks

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Monday, July 9, 2007 --- Blythe was very excited to do another photo shoot with me...

Oh, so pretty and serene. I love how she looks against my mosaic dish from Pier 1. Nice contrast to her coloring...she really pops against the fiery background...got the inspiration for my background choice from her sunglasses. Annoying reflections on her plastic skin were a challenge.

This is the shot that I used for the comment banner in my sidebar. I needed to retouch the photo so that I could get rid of her pull-string hanging down in the back. Also, I had to do a duplicate layer and flip horizontally so that I could make the background wider for the text area of my banner. I love the way it turned out. What do you all think?

Lighting was a little weird in this one, but I like the way her hair seems to glow and you can really see her green eyes. I should take some more pictures with her other eye colors (blue, pink, and orange), but the green eyes are my favorite.

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Saturday, July 7, 2007 --- More than meets the eye...and other stories.

Today we saw TRANSFORMERS...AND IT WAS AWESOME! I loved it. LUV'D IT, BITCHES!

Acting was great -- totally believed that the actors were terrified and/or interacting "with" the robots (which is hard to do when nothing is there) -- and Shia LaBeouf was really funny. Effects were un-fucking-believable. Story kept me on the edge of my seat...so much so, that I refused to take a bathroom break...even though I needed to pee really, really badly. And, amazingly, I was in-major-love with the robots by the end -- as if they were actual people. I thought I would cry when it seemed BumbleBee was going to die. Optimus Prime, I love you. [swoon] Anthropomorphizing rules.

One question though...Why no female-voiced Transformers? Maybe the sequel will have some? Just a thought.


On the Fourth of July, we saw this little number (because Transformers was sold out for the whole afternoon) -- which was just fine. Why? Because this movie was Hi-lar-i-ous...HILARIOUS! Possibly...funnier than The 40-Year-Old Virgin...?? Maybe. I am not entirely sure. But, I think so. It is hard to quantify the hysteria-factor when the movies do not occur back-to-back for comparison, but I am willing to go out on a limb and say it was.

This has been a great week for movies, indeed. I think I want the DVDs of both of these babies when they come out. Yeah, they're that good.

What else? Oh yeah, we had a day of hell in the feline arena. This mother f*cking cat can NOT be made to take a pill or swallow a liquid medication OR HOLD STILL FOR ANYTHING OR ANYONE!!!! Maine Coons are known for not liking to be held and being rather wriggly...And Trudy is the worst. The worst! And the quantity of drool that accompanies ANY amount of stress is incomprehensible. We wasted 3 pills today just trying to get them down. They all became mush. We tried to hide them in Tuna...NO GO. We tried to dissolve them and syringe blast them down her throat...NO GO. We suffered several personal injuries and have lots of holes in our T-shirts that were not there before. We lost more than a milliliter of the precious liquid medication that needed to be swallowed, but instead was splashed all over the bathroom in a shower of drool and antibiotics. So glad we have several more weeks of this to look forward to...Finally, after the many failed attempts, lost patience, and the addition of sweatshirts and leather gloves, we finally got the crap liquid antibiotics and the pill down. I can hardly wait for the morning when we start again.... ;-(

Here is something exciting. the_butterfly aka my Twitter identity, is part of the Big Blue Marble Twitter Mosaic. Don't know what I am talking about? Well, this Twitter person(s) http://twitter.com/twitter_mosaic collects the little avatar pictures that everyone uses on Twitter to ID themselves -- and uses them to create intricate mosaic pictures of works of art, photographs, etc. [Add twitter_mosaic to your friends' list and you could be in the future mosaics!] You can see these mosaics at the Twitter Mosaic Blog which is at http://www.twittermosaic.com/ Anyway, I was included in the "Big Blue Marble: Negative Mosaic". It is easiest to look at it first on the mosaic blog, but then, you can also see my saved copy of the image where I have circled the occurrences of my butterfly picture -- where I could spot it so far in the mosaic (not easy!) ;-D WooHoo! See it here.

Okay, this has been one of my longest posts in a very long time. As juvenile as it was...in gushing over my Transformer-Love...and the Knocked Up versus 40-Year-Old Virgin debate...and other stories of fame...and misery...

I am now tired and must fold some fresh laundry that is about to finish in the dryer before I go to bed. So g'nite


[Photos source: Yahoo! Movies]
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Transformers/1808716430/photos/17/3871
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Knocked-Up/1809701428/photos/58/1606

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Thursday, July 5, 2007 --- Terry Border is Really Bent.

butterfly has sent you a clip...

butterfly's Message:
Some of you may have checked out one of my favorite blogs, Bent Objects, by the very talented and humorous artist, Terry Border. If you have not, you should!

That said, Terry Border has just launched a raunchier permutation of our beloved favorite. "The more graphic, black sheep cousin of Bent Objects" aka Really Bent. Below is the most recent post from the new blog, "Teabag". Hilarious fun!

[For the more sheltered folks in the crowd, who may not know what "teabagging" is, you can get a brief education at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teabagging. Needless to say, if you are a "Yute", you probably should ask your parents before looking at the Really Bent blog.]

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Tuesday, July 3, 2007 --- Poor Trudy aka "ChooChoo" --- she's not feeling so well today.

I think it is clear how she feels about the two visits she had to the vet today... Drooling the day away, bloodwork taken, shots, shitting in her carrier on the way home, throwing up after she got home from her first visit (probably from eating too soon after being stressed in the car), going back to the vet, temperature taken again (ouch!), slight fever, and then, sleeping the night away. Fuck you, veterinary medicine professionals! I am ChooChoo and I hate you.






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Sunday, July 1, 2007 --- Blind Melon Cat, you make me laugh. Thank you!

butterfly has sent you a clip...

butterfly's Message:
Remember the Bee Girl? Meet the Bee Cat...Blind Melon would be so proud!

 clipped from icanhascheezburger.com
All I can say is dat my life is pretty plain.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2007 --- Michael and Lori's little fetus...awwwww :)

This is my friends' (Michael and Lori) new baby fetus! Very exciting ;) Looks to me to be the size of a small kitten at this point...since Lori is not very far along at all.

Congrats to my good friends on their evil seed! Can't wait to inspect it for suspicious birthmarks....

love ya, V

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Monday, March 19, 2007 --- Congratulations to the new mommy!



Hot off the press! uncle jim -- and under duress, aunt jackie -- welcome the new kittens of this proud cat-mommy they have been fostering in their home for the past 3 weeks. Soooooo cute!


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Saturday, March 3, 2007 --- Holy mother of Christ, what the fug is that?

Foot fetishists, behold! A truly frightening specimen on the red carpet...


This little number comes from a recent post by the dynamic duo at www.gofugyourself.com --- on my list of favorite blogs. You can see the actual post from this particular photo entry here. The ladies write scathing reviews of the fashion disasters seen out and about at award shows, red carpet premiers, on the street...wherever! If you need a very silly and amusing break from the day to day, hobble your way over to Go Fug Yourself.

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________
www.vanessaleehamlen.com - THE BUTTERFLY BLOG - Copyright ©2007 Vanessa Lee Hamlen. All rights reserved.

Would it kill ya?


What I Am Doing...


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About Me

I am a graphic designer. I love animals and have quite a few pets. There is a frustrated DJ inside of me --- hence, my ongoing obsession with making music mixes.

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-- Music from Butterfly's personal library --

LORI'S LABOR: A collection of 6 unique playlists with varying intensity and mood for your listening pleasure! I created these original mixes for my friends to use during the labor and delivery of their first baby, Nicholas.

You can visit their blog here: ---> The Bridenstines!




Listen to my comical, purposefully nasal, total HAM-job submission to the 2007 Blogger Christmahanukwanzaakah Online Holiday Concert in the mini-player above!
Links and Friends

vanessa lee hamlen
WBFR - BUTTERFLY RADIO
towhead productions
lizzie sue
the Daily Lizzard
joe hinsburg
fleck family
katie haverly music
joe sorren art
the sneeze
archie mcphee toys
eric joyner robot art
nishant choksi illustration
neth creatures
grammar girl
go fug yourself
jeffrey fulvimari art
don't click it
favourite website awards
paul neave
jared tarbell flash art
liquid journey flash art
my pet skeleton
tobie giddio fashion illustration
van beater art
pure breed revolution
pixel girl
jay bibby game reviews
the mighty jimbo
be the boy
sweet blog o' mine
bent objects - sculpture blog
terry border art
anne taintor - vintage gift items
anne...straight from the hip
the naked rabbit world power foundation
i can has cheezburger
passive aggressive notes
citizen of the month
the daly blog
craxy's blog
john's adventures
guerrilla gardening
kung foodie
this is blythe
deron cohen art
life student
hug nation
march of the hugmobile
tales from the dad side
ikea hacker
easy being green
marc johns's blog - mildly amusing drawings
ideal bite - easy green living ideas
gathering in light - c. wess daniels
schmutzie's milkmoney or not, here i come
we are rantasaurus rex, hear us roar
the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks
lyrical venus
saviabella
the world's most local burger
readymade: instructions for everyday life
giant microbes
busted tees
inarticulate fumblings
i am the diva
wesley riot
melissavina
queen of spain
in palinode's palace
mustaches of the nineteenth century
sera faery NEW!
daysies.nu - the daily overdosage NEW!






EXPLICIT CONTENT ADVISORY:
DO NOT CLICK on the following links if you are under the age of 18! These blogs are not for you...

really bent
where i vent my spleen
cocky bastard
tassy pink

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