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Its 1 30 AM Why am I still up

Ill tell you why!

First of all, it started with a certain 4 year old who needed to use the bathroom at midnight, right after I finished watching "Whats Eating Gilbert Grape" on TV, and layed my head down on my pillow. On cue, I hear bare feet padding down the bunk bed ladder.

45 minutes later, plus 2 more bathroom trips, 6 times up and down the ladder, a few sips of water, 7 denied requests for chocolate milk, 3 monsters vanquished, 1 fan adjusted 2 times, and some stern words, he is asleep. Or so I thought.

I wait up for 10 minutes to make sure he is fast asleep. Satisfied, I climb back in bed, pull the covers up, set my alarm, and close my eyes. Immediately I hear the footsteps again.

"WHAT is it NOW?!?!?!?!"

"I just wanted to say sorry,"

*sniffles a few muffled sobs* (Not me, I dont cry until later in this story.)
*lots of hugs*

"Thank you for apologizing, honey. Its OK. I just want you to stay in bed so I can sleep."

"Oh, ok. Goodnight. Love you mommy. Sweet dreams mommy."

That was the last of it. My brain, though, had been tricked into thinking it was going to get to sleep one too many times. Not anymore! I have passed that point of being sleepy tired, and gone into the zone of insomnia. I am tired, yes, but my body has to torture me and make me stay awake until I am a walking zombie.

I got online, looked at some blogs, searched for some scrapbook inspiration, and edited some pictures. Somehow, I ended up on YouTube. I am going to embed the video that I saw here, because I will need to see this again. Some day I am going to be depressed or stressed, and if I can just pop over here and watch this, Ill be OK.

Once in a while, something strikes me so hard that I just crack. It doesnt necessarily have to be really funny- once it happened because I saw a dead deer on the side of the road. (Which usually makes my cry). I laugh so hard that I dont even know if Im laughing or crying anymore. My eyes are blurry with tears. I snort, I squeak, I gasp, I choke, I hiss, I make the weirdest contorted faces. I literally cant breath sometimes, and I laugh without making a single sound, until my face turns blue, and I gulp in air like I had just been underwater for 20 minutes. It is uncontrollable, and at times extremely inappropriate. (Try church, during a long solemn prayer). I just cant help it. Rather embarrassing!

This video did that to me. I was worried I would wake the neighbors up. Seriously. Something is wrong with me. Doesnt it feel good to get all that emotion out, though? Id rather have a laugh attack than a good cry (only because a good cry requires something bad to happen, usually, and Id rather die laughing than find out my cat had been ran over), and I end up feeling equally better after each one.

Without further ado, the one that almost killed me:

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Its A Small World After All!

Well it has certainly been too long!

First of all, Comic-Con was awesome! Thank you so much to all who came out and said hello!





I am so thankful to Joey and Gallery Nucleus for inviting me to be a part of this show! This piece is one of the deepest and most intricate that I have ever made, and it was so much fun to figure out! I cannot wait to see all of the other pieces from all of the incredible artists in this exhibit. Here are a few more detail shots of my piece, titled Aloha! Bienvenue! Welcome!:






Lastly, for those of you who couldnt make it to Comic-Con, I now have copies of Confetti up in the shop! I will also be taking them on the road to APE and CTN-x this fall - I hope to see some of you there!




More updates soon! Have a lovely week!

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Its the most wonderful time of the year!

For further updates be sure to follow @Cannibalreviews on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumbler.  For those also located in the Southwest Im currently working on a facebook page that can bring like-minded individuals together to share news on upcoming local events and Halloween related activities.

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Its not garage sale season yet

But I will be looking for a stand mixer! Look HERE! (Its at About.com - so forgive the pop-ups, K?) A DIY Ball WINDER!! Wooo Hooo!

I started on my Kiri shall. Its in lace-weight merino in a very light champagne/khaki color. I only have 5,000 yards of this, so I may over dye some of it. Kool Aid if I have too! I didnt get far enough for a progress shot, though.

It looks like DH and I will be cash poor/house rich in the coming months, so all yarn purchases will be double evaluated. All yarn must have a purpose, all purposes must be useful to whomever gets the finished item.

Yarn in Stash:

several balls of dishcloth cotton - dish/wash clothes for next Christmas
2 balls of finer cotton - the turkish stitch bag (1 ball each)
2 skeins of Axelles Water Lilies (sw merino) (see below) - depending on my Sockapalooza assignment may become socks for said or something for a neiceling
Cotton Ease - could be dresses for neicelings - hmmm
Fishermans wool - both dyed and one whole undyed. NO IDEAS!
5000 yrds lace-weight merino - Kiri until I cry?

I know that isnt a LOT by some standards, but it will keep me busy while I eat beans and cornbread for the next two months to get this mortgage under our belts.

So, pics tomorrow? I dont know just yet!

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Its Time! Student led Conferences!

Just a reminder that Tuesday and Thursday of this week are conference nights.  If you have not signed up yet, please call Linda at school as the site to do it online has been closed to parents as of last week.

Also remember that these conferences are student led, meaning your child will be leading the conferences with me listening in.  I will join the conference towards the end to share my thoughts as well.  If there is a conference going on in the classroom that is running late, please do NOT wait outside the room!  Come on in and your 3B child will start!  They know what to do and can start without me listening in. I have already discussed this with the students and they know not to wait.   We need to stay on time as many families have more than one conference to attend.  So please do not wait out in the hallway.  Come on in and get started!!!!

We have a lot of projects that students are just finishing up!  They are anxious to share what they have done with you personally before we post them on their student blog pages.

I look forward to seeing all of you either Tuesday or Thursday night!

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Its That Time Again!

For Comic Con!

This year I will actually be doing some work and helping the lovely ladies of Girls Drawing Girls with their table - booth #5428. I will be there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning (from 10am to noon) as well as Thursday afternoon from 3 to 7pm. I will be helping them sell their brand-spankin new pin up calendars, playing cards, and lots of other stuffs. I will also have my "Girls of Summer" print for sale at the booth, so stop by and say hello if you are there!

Here are some of the other booths of note that I will be tracking down when I am not hanging out with the GDG girls:

• Fleet Street Scandal - Chris and Kevin at booth #1316
• Ronnie Del Carmen, Scott Morse, Jeff Pidgeon, and Enrico Casarosa - #4800
• Imaginism Studios - #G6 and 7
• Corey Godbey and Justin Gerard - #1032
• Ghostbot - #4203
• Donnachada Daly - #C6
  

I hope to see you there! If you cant make it, dont worry - I will keep everyone posted on my Comic Con adventures via twitter. Have an awesome week, everybody, and I promise to be back with new artwork soon:)

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Its All in the Love Triangle

I often get asked by people who have missed The Hunger Games craze what makes all the teenage girls go wild over it. Most people just know the movie/book as the one about all the kids killing each other. And how  could that possibly be appealing to teenage girls?

And I say that there is one vital ingredient: a love triangle.

You see, The Hunger Games is rich with ideas. There are kids killing each other because the government thinks that it is okay to punish the peasants for being peasants. The higher power like to think they are walking cupcakes. Any moment there could be an uprising.

But no, lets not obsess over all these problems. Lets not even acknowledge them. Because, in amongst all of the futuristic political turmoil, the only thing on the teenaged minds is the obviously really important love triangle between our heroine, Katniss, the man shes thrusted into the competition with, Peeta, and her buddy from District 12, Gale. I personally didnt have a problem with the love triangle in the books. It is kinda sad how Katniss has to pretend to be in love with Peeta so she can survive, but her true love lies with Gale. But the love triangle is so horribly done in the movie...and yet, little teenage fangirls who havent picked up the book have got their armour and picked their side.

If we were just going by the movie, why are we even picking? Katniss clearly does not need a man. Of course being in a battleground where everyone is waiting for you to die isnt going to make you fall in love with anyone. There are obviously bigger things on your mind...like, I dont know, surviving? Peeta is kinda boring in the movie, and sure, his frosting skills may be clever, but Im not sure the way to my heart is by disguising yourself as a rock. And then theres Gale, who pops up every now and again so that the audiences can go "awwwwwww" (this actually happened). You just dont pick who you want to team up with by looking at their rock disguise skills or the fact that they make you go "awwwwwww" for three seconds. And yet, theres people out there who are willing to marry Peeta or Gale. Sure, they may have read the rest of the series and have gained enough material to back them up, but at the heart of it all, theres a girl who has bigger things on her mind. Katniss is what makes The Hunger Games. Not the love triangle.

Since Twilight came around (well, it has probably been a lot longer than that, but I cant remember teenagers ever being so vociferous), teenage girls have been programmed to get on teams. The teams in mind are Team Edward - the vampire - and Team Jacob - the werewolf. Never mind that the person were supposedly choosing for is Bella Swan, who is extremely boring, extremely clumsy and extremely...I dont know...morose? Of course, the picking and choosing isnt based on personalities - mainly because no-one in the love triangle seems to have one - but it is based on looks. And boy, to teenagers get rowdy about those looks. Unlike The Hunger Games, theres not a whole lot of extra meaning in Twilight, but then again, I couldnt tell you whats so romantic about a guy who watches you sleep for months on end, or the other guy who is just plain creepy. What Twilight has done, though, is changed the face of teen entertainment forever. I wasnt the biggest fan of Harry Potter, but that had people obsessing over trying their own spells and thinking they could run into walls at train stations (I kid...but if you did that Im totally not judging you). Now, well never have a teen movie that doesnt obsess over love triangles more than anything else. Unless they make a movie about my life so far.

Just think of all the teenage hormones which could have been saved if love triangles werent so in. But then again, think of all the money that could have been lost had The Hunger Games not had a love triangle to merchandise from. All of those t-shirts which couldnt have been made. All of those meme that couldnt have been generated. All of those "awwwwwwws" that couldnt have been muttered in amongst all of the killing. Things could have been a lot different...

What is your opinion on the state of teenage fandom? How did you think the love triangle was handled in The Hunger Games?

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Its Friday and No Quiz Instead Im Just Gonna Blog About Bikes

First of all, heres a self-serving reminder to get your limited edition bike-riding hat!

I dont know how limited they are, but presumably theyre still available because I havent heard otherwise.  Also, this discount code is good for 10% off until the end of the month:


So there you go.

Oh, also, while were talking about caps, I have some Yehuda Moon comic books at home:

Only 15 copies left of Vol 1. If youve thought of getting (or gifting) a set of Yehuda Moon books, now is the time! https://t.co/zU1mhgHk54 pic.twitter.com/ZzCW71d97j

— Yehuda Moon (@YehudaMoon) October 14, 2016

And the other day one of my seventeen (17) kids put on this cap with the brim over his face and said, "Look, Im that guy from the comic book!"

Thats how you know a kids growing up in a bike house, and hopefully when he grows up he can find a good shrink to help him undo all the damage.

In other news, the Wall Street Journals Jason Gay had the exclusive on Robin Williamss bicycle collection, which is now being auctioned:


When Robin Williams died, the world lost a great comedian, and the sport of professional cycling lost its only remaining fan.

In any case, if youre a bike dork (which, if youre reading this blog you are, sorry to break it to you) youll no doubt find his collection fascinating.  It spans years, and Ive been totally nerding out on it.  Indeed, you could start a museum with the mountain bikes alone:


Plus, if youre a recovering Fred like I am, youll find yourself nostalgic for bikes you once coveted.  Hes got all the sweet team replica bikes from the EPO era, like this Bianchi:


Looks like it even has the embroidered Il Pirata saddle:


Id argue that this era represents the pinnacle of the road racing bicycle: pretty much everything was still made of metal (with the exception of the fork), the headsets were threadless but not integrated, the bottom brackets were threaded but not integrated, and the shifting was integrated.  Its even got a square taper crank.  I mean sure, its no Hollowtech II (which is and will always be the worlds greatest bottom bracket interface), but Ill take square taper over all this press-fit crap any day.

Oh yeah, and you didnt even have to charge anything.

Alas, its all been downhill from there.  Have we really gained anything with the modern-day equivalent, apart from a bunch of batteries and proprietary fittings and a 100% price increase?

Id argue that we have not.

Sadly, I never owned that sweet Pantani replica, but I will admit I did own another team replica in the Robin Williams collection:

What can I say?  I was blinded by lust for the crabon-accented Campagnolo Record group, as well as the then-still-kinda-edgy sloping top tube geometry.  Sure, I could have done without all the Festina decals, but it turned out to be a non-issue as the frame cracked at the chainstay in less than a year.

(To their credit, Specialized promptly replaced it, but to their detriment they replaced it with an Allez frame with S-Works decals.)

And thats not the only bike Ive owned thats also represented in the Robin Williams collection--nor is it the most embarrassing.  I also owned this monstrosity:


My excuse is one youll hear from many Freds, which is that its what our team was riding that year.  Unlike the Festina bike, which at least looked pretty cool at the time, this piece of crap was ugly from Day 1.  I could never come to terms with riding this thing, though I rode it anyway, and it wasnt long before the crabon top half of the frame started to separate from the aluminum bottom half of the frame at the head tube, complete with creaking sound.  (A similar fate befell pretty much every one of these as I understand it.)

Specialized also replaced that frame for me, with this one, which to their credit was an actual full-crabon S-Works:


Note I moved the stupid Zertz seatpost over from the ungodly crab-O-luminum freak bike, only because I dont believe in putting metal posts in crabon frames (they seize, dontcha know, unless youre into torque wrenches and boutique assembly paste) and I wasnt about to buy a new one.  This frame served me well for a number of seasons, until eventually I suspected maybe it was cracked:


Instead of verifying this I instead decided to end the cycle by stripping the bike of its parts and putting it in storage.

So if youre wondering why Im often dismissive of the hot new Fred bike technology, theres your answer.

But of course now weve entered a new era of Fred bikes.  Now its all about #whatpressureyourunning, not to mention #whatwidthyourunning:


For years, the standard road bike tire size was 23mm. Thin, light and able to be pumped up to back-achingly high pressures, there was no need to experiment. Then science, endurance events, and gravel riding got in the mix.

Science has now proven that wider tires actually have less rolling resistance than skinnier tires. Wider road tires provide a more forgiving ride and improve handling through a, you guessed it, wider contact patch that makes endurance riding safer, easier, and more accessible. Finally, gravel riding popularity brought on wider tires and the associated equipment to mute the bumps, take on the rocks, and provide some traction in the loose, dirt road conditions. 

You know, this pisses me off.  For years the bicycle industry has been telling us that the path to excellent ride quality and superior performance was expensive frame materials.  And of these materials, ostensibly the best one was crabon fribé, since they could mold it into all sorts of stupid shapes and even put dumb little see-through inserts in it.  (Like the ones you see above in my seatpost).  Yet during this same period there was nary a mention of how tires affect ride quality, save from impassioned reviews about how this 23mm tire is more "supple" and "confidence-inspiring" than that 23mm tire.

So successful was this propaganda campaign that crabon fribé has pretty much completely taken over the Fred bike market--and only now that the takeover is complete and no Fred in their right mind would consider anything else are they telling Freds the truth, which is that its all about the tires, and fatter tires make for a better ride.

"Oh yeah, come on, SCIENCE says wider tires are better, where have you been?," says the bike review machine.

"Uh, reading your dumbass reviews of crabon bikes with skinny tires," say the Freds.

But its already too late for the poor Freds, who now think they need disc brakes to run the wider tires that are now de rigueur, even though they could have been riding on 28mm tires on their short-reach rim-brake Fred chariots all along.  My plastic Specialized as pictured above took them happily, as does the Ritte on which I undertook my Brooks gravel extravaganza:


And to go even wider, all you need are some long- (or technically medium-) reach brakes like Ive got on my Milwaukee:


And I wont even mention cantilever brakes, which despite being powerful and offering lots of clearance are of course hopelessly out of style.

But no, there was nary a mention of medium-reach brakes until it was too late.

No, in order to run todays slightly-wider-than-23mm tires and slightly lower gearing youve got to buy a dedicated gravel bike with dick breaks and that thats it.

And there you go.

Not that I dont want bike shops to sell lots and lots of bikes or anything like that.  And heres a bike shop owner whos also a mayor:


One day maybe well finally get a Fred or a Frederica into the White House.  Then well all get a "pro deal" on our taxes.

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