Akenmaat

...and ovarian cysts. I've had kidney stones a few times now, and I get cysts rupturing every few days. Joy. Most favorite non-alchoholic: 1. Milk - I'd drink it all the time if I could, but that's what gave me kidney stones. Now I have to settle for one glass a day. 2. Diet 7-UP 3. Coca-Cola Classic - although I can't have it anymore. Messes up my stomach. 4. a glass of ice-cold water filled with ice cubes Most favorite alchoholic - these I have to separate, because it depends on the occasion which I'd like best. - mixed drinks: 1. Chocolate Martini 2. Appletini 3. Pina Colada - wines: 1. Fetzer's Gewurtztrameiner (sp?) 2. Lambrusco 3. Pinot Grigio 4. White Zinfandel

Cute.

Normally, we (meaning me) put up decorations outside on our balcony - we live in an apartment - and in the living room (which includes a tree). We exchange gifts amongst our very small circle of friends and our parents. As far as family goes, they are all too far away to ever see any of them anymore now that we're all grown up. The only family we get to see is the one sister-in-law I have and both sets of parents. Growing up, my mom used to spend hours and hours baking a bunch of different traditional Norwegian, Swedish, and German sweets to have around for the month of December. A couple of years ago, rather than both of us baking the same things ourselves, she and I have started having a "Baking Day" where I go over and help her make all these treats, then get to take home half of everything. This year is going to be a little different, both good and bad. The good news is that an aunt and uncle are visiting for a week, and my aunt is excited about joining in on the fun on Baking Day. Plus, my dad gets to see one of his eight brothers he hasn't seen in years. The bad news is, I just found out this morning the dealership I've worked at for the last five years is closing down by the 31st. I'll be able to work at our second location, which is farther away and costs a LOT more gas to get to, but only one day a week. Time to try and save up what little we can now. So, even though Christmas isn't about giving gifts for us (we celebrate for religious reasons), we're still really bummed that now we can't give anything to the people we care about. It's no cancer, but it's still a big blow. My sympathies go out to you, Witchfire. I've lost a significant portion of my family to cancer.

Indeed, I've watched how *fantastically* well Hinton here has improved since he started posting minis and asking questions. Makes your jaw drop at how fast and how well he's improving. I don't even know him, but already I'm so proud! So yeah, post your stuff. Ask away - as has been said already, folks here are just great!

For me, my interest comes and goes. I've been an artist for almost 30 years now (and if you know how old I am, you know I started really young), though I only picked up mini painting in 2000. After all these years, I've learned to listen to my "instincts," I guess you could call them. I only paint or draw when I get the urge to do so. I actually feel it in my arm, like there's something inside me that needs to get out and be expressed. I guess you could also call it inspiration? Anyway... Sometimes the urge lasts for that day, sometimes it lasts for weeks or months. And I've also learned that to paint or draw when I don't have the urge produces pure crap. So, that's why I say my interest comes and goes. My normal output for minis is about one every month or three, but this year I picked up a brush in March and haven't really stopped (except maybe the month of July). I plan on taking a break again when November is over as I'm reaching that apathetic point again.

Woohoo! Glad to hear things are better.

It's the monitor. I've had pretty much the same issue happen to me both at work and at home. Replacing the monitor fixed it. I described the problem to my husband (IT professional for 15 years now) and he immediately said it's the monitor. Try just switching out the flatscreen for a different monitor for a few days before you try messing around with the graphics card or a system restore.

I love airhorns. My dad used to keep one next to the phone for those special solicitors that just wouldn't take "NO!" for an answer. I still think it's hilarious.

I completely feel for you. My husband and I used to live under some neighbors that made a lot of noise late at night (sometimes as late as 2 or 3 AM). I'm positive they had the entire NFL up there some nights. However, our apartment manager says to call him at ANY hour if anyone has a noise problem, which I've since done several times. (I'm a real grouch (read: pure evil) if I wake up before I'm supposed to). They stopped moving furniture/playing football/wrestling rhinos or whatever it was they were doing. Now I just have to get that :cussing: 5-year-old brat next door to stop doorbell-ditching me when I'm home from work with a migraine. :wtf: Anyway... I'm a firm believer in Karma. One of these days that guy with the alarm clock is going to live somewhere else and have an infant, and HIS neighbor is going to wake up said child at all the most inopportune moments possible, thus waking him up allllllllll night. If you don't want to wait for that, get a hand-held compressed-air horn and give it a good 3 second blare through his window... or aimed through your ceiling... or in his general direction. :evil: (OK, not really. That would be bad.... but it sounds so satisfying.... but would be evil... but sooo tempting... no, no, no! must not turn to the dark side... *cackle*) Yeah.... I'm tired. I'm going to bed now.

I got 11 of them in about 30 mins, and my husband helped with six more of them, but we're still stuck on 2, 8, and 15 even after all the clues so far. *sigh*

I really like this style of filming. Can't wait to see it.

Yeah, after that scene, I was thinking that now the artist doesn't have to shoot up anymore. Yay. Power-mimic little brother can just paint for him as long as the artist is there. Heh. Probably wishful thinking. Did anyone else notice the huge gaping hole in the cheerleader's abdomen in the painting when it was done? Maybe that's what they have to prevent to save the cheerleader? The guy who cleans out people's minds turning out to be the dad of the little boy was a nice twist. [EDIT: Oops, my bad. This is not the case apparently, but those two actors look similar enough when you only see them for a few seconds. ] And he [the new dad] can go through walls? No wonder the police couldn't keep him detained. Hehe! Now I really want to know just who this alter-ego is that the mom has, and does the alter-ego have powers? 'Cause otherwise, she's still the one character that just doesn't "fit" with the rest of the heroes. And the politician breaking the sound barrier (that's what that little cloudy ring in the sky was, right?) when he flew away was pretty awesome IMO.

I have been watching this since the first episode, and so far, I'm hooked. I try not to think ahead or guess what's going to happen when I watch something, whether it's TV or a movie, but some things I can't help but figure out sometimes. Cheerleader - I like her power, and I liked how the branch still stuck in her head kinda left her frozen, unable to heal. I'm interested in finding out exactly how "Save the girl, save the world" is going to work out. Cop - nice ability, I guess, although I can see them going down the typcial road of him hearing everyone at once and going nuts not being able to tune them OUT, rather than being able to tune IN when concentrating like he can do now. Blah. Hope they don't do that. Brothers - Feh. They're just not interesting, though I did like the new turn on the younger brother having the sort of X-Men Rogue ability. I agree, I could see this becoming a pivotal point. Artist - I personally like his ability. I'm into ESP and I'm an artist myself. Heh. And I dig how they showed him being in a trance with his eyes glowing white. VERY curious how he winds up with his head sliced in half and his brain missing. The Mom - I believe she's actually not a hero. No powers at all. Just a plain old case of split personality disorder and her alter ego happens to be a psychotic personality. THAT is why the cheerleader's dad told his silent partner to leave her and just take the flying politician when they showed those two in bed asleep. Is that guy going to "erase" the politician's powers? Erase his memories? Just read his mind? Dunno... Sylar - I think he's a combo of everyone's powers. Could be why all the heroes need to convene - each one of their powers will be needed to defeat him. How Sylar got his powers, whether he steals them from his victims or was born with them, I'm still pondering. Hiro the Hero - He's just plain cool. Who wouldn't love to mess around with time? He is definitely the comic relief of the show. Gotta keep him. Love him showing up with the new look and speaking English. Dr. Suresh - I like the character itself, but his storyline is going too slow for me. He's motivated, he's not movtivated. Just DO something already. Take a week off and grieve your father properly and move on with the project. His neighbor could definitely be a plant to prod the guy into moving forward. (She's not doing a very good job :eviltongu ) If I've forgotten anyone, must be because they don't interest me. :laugh:

Thanks, Cindy, for the explanation. Now I can see what people mean by "wow" and "great" .... those are nice adjectives, but they don't tell me what others see when they look at it. I learn more that way than from a simple "good job!" Having just seen Pirates of the Caribbean II when I found out about the contest, I was really inspired to do this piece, and I guess it shows. Thanks for all your comments. :proud: -Kari

This is one of my entries for the Exodus-Road Pirates 2006 Painting Contest. I call it "The Kraken." I used two sets of Reaper #02634B Well of Doom tentacles, made the ship out of Sculpey, and messed around with some Woodland Scenics Water Effects for the water. This won first place in the Bilge Rats category, as well as Best of Show, Most Creative, and Best Base. I'm still pretty amazed that I won anything at all. I really don't think I paint that well yet. A big thanks to Wyrd for being a sponsor of the contest! Comments/critiques are always welcome.

Too bad those pirates didn't come out sooner. I really like Mr. Blackreef, especially the coat. @ Crunch: He looks sort of Elven to me. Maybe that's why his face looks odd?

Nice job picking out the detail on the totem-spiked-club he's got. The Hawaiian print on the kilt and the tatoos are a great touch.

This is an older scuplt of the Tethru Master of Words. I haven't learned how to do NMM yet, so forgive the metallic paints there. I'm still not sure if I like the gold trim on the "bib" of the skirt, but I do like it on the hem at the bottom. He is going to be used in an RPG a few times, so I left the base pretty basic. Also, the medallion around his neck actually matches his staff, but the light reflection is making it look silver. Anyway, any comments/suggestions are welcome. Each new paint job is a learning experience for me.

Thanks for the comments. Regarding the mini itself, yes it normally comes with the undead assassin that the Croc has (which is how I got him), but he can also be purchased alone. For the bruises, I started with a small spot of Delta Ceramcoat #02490 Barn Red and increased the bruise size with Delta Ceramcoat #02098 Tomato Spice, then added a few splotches of Delta Ceramcoat #02078 Straw Yellow on one end of each bruise to give it that few-days-old look (although the yellow doesn't really show in the photos). I googled for images of bruises for something to go by. :eek: That was one scary search. *giggle* I sort of did the mud backwards (just wasn't thinking properly). I wound up dabbing on some Water Effects and then painting over it, instead of the other way around (which I think is how you're supposed to use that stuff). I just had to put the paint on a little thicker to cover the gel. The mud color is Delta Ceramcoat #02527 Dark Burnt Umber. It works out to being the same color as Walnut from other companies. I put 3 coats of Future floor wax on the mud after matte sealing to give it some gloss, but I'm still unsure of whether I like the glossy mud or flat mud better. I also think I went a little crazy putting mud on his clothes, but I tried to imagine if he fell to his hands and knees first, that would get mud on those. Then if he plopped down on his rear and fell on his side, that puts mud on those spots. It was a short, fun project. My first time doing a base other than simple glue and sand. Any further suggestions or ideas are welcome.

By the looks of this pup, backing down from a confrontation wouldn't do any good -- he looks so vicious! Nice job. Would love to see the girlfriend's version, too.

Hello all. I'm new to these boards and to miniatures painting in general. Since there's no official introduction spot, I thought I'd post here first and say hello! I hope it's alright to post pics of other minis here. This is # WGE-130b Victim from Crocodile Games - I finished him back in April but just now got around to taking a photo of him. He's on a 1" x 2" wooden base. The tall grass/reeds are small pieces of dried Step Grass from Michael's. I discovered that if I break them at the joints, it leaves a nice flower looking leaf at the top of the segment. The second photo is my attempt at a close up of his bruises. I'm still learning how to use my camera. I call him "Mugging on the bank of the Nile"