My neighbor's cat, a sweet, well fed little beast, killed two mice the other day and left their bodies to rot underneath the outside stairs, the one I have to use if I want to leave the house. They're just lying there, their tiny little heads riped clean off and lying next to their fat, lifeless bodies. Gruesome...Yet fascinating....So of course I took a closer look. And noticed that the cat had ripped off their heads by the jaw so that their tiny lower teeth were protruding from...
Oh, never mind. Why am I going on about dead mice? Because it's the most exciting thing to happen all week besides this awful sex dream I had. I mean the sex (with this bald guy I was not at all attracted to, why couldn't it have been a lucid dream?) was awful. And the one I was really interested in (in this dream) got discouraged because he thought I was with the bald guy. And, as if the universe was teasing me, I kept running into bald guys everywhere I went that day! I know there's a fair amount of them in this town, but to run into so many of them in the space of a few hours?!!!
Anyway, it has been a productive week though. I bought a subscription to Lynda.com to brush up on my 3D skills. (Maya 2010 is extremely daunting, by the way. Best not to think about the thousands of tricks and commands I have yet to learn.) I also made good progress on some writing and painting. And Sunday, I joined my painting group to paint in the lovely Marin countryside...
My little oil (3rd one from right, bottom row) was a good start but since the idea was to finish a painting in three hours or less (one guy finished two!)...well, I really need to practice my speed painting skills.
Watercolor. Three hours. Amazing. Wish it was mine.
Afterwards, some browsing (and shopping and eating) in the extremely cute little town of Mill Valley. I'm guessing this is a wine shop...
I love Benefit products...
and pretty lamps and paper...
And the porcelain tea set. And the impractical but v. pretty tree full of hearts...
Wish I'd gotten the Tiger Woods candle now.
Would've made me laugh every time I lit it.
When I got home Sunday night the mouse bodies had not, evidently, rested in peace. Eeeuw. Hope I find nothing but mouse bones next time.
Having gone through a mouse invasion (I consider seeing three mice running around my home an invasion) I feel no pity at the sight of a dead mouse body - and have a new-found respect for exterminators.
ReplyDeleteBald is okay. Perhaps your dream is a portent of things to come – a great bald guy in your future??
It's funny how bad sex and rotting bodies would go hand in hand - it makes sense lol
ReplyDeleteYou do know what the meaning of your dream is - don't you?... I read in a book that whatever you dream, in real life the outcome will be the opposite. So, expect some great sex with a man with longish hair ... Ha ha. Lucky you!!! :)
Ok - the sex dream with the bald guy and then running into bald guys all weekend - that is hilarious!! Well, lets hope the guy you were interested in will be knocking on your door soon!
ReplyDeleteWhat an enchanting place to paint. Wish I wasn't a writer sometimes and could get outdoors to practise my art.
ReplyDeleteHelena xx
PS. I could tell you a really scary story about a bald guy & sex, but it might be fiction.xx
Dreams or reality - both can be quite disturbing, at times. Perhaps there's something here to inspire. If I see that your next creation features bald men and headless mice, then I'll know. ;-)Fantastic photos, Cheryl. Going out and about, shopping and eating, and spending time with your painting group, what better? A creative has to be inspired and re-fuelled on a regular basis. It's great to hear all is progressing well. Have a magical week, gorgeous girl. xx
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was a well rounded weekend.... dreams of bad sex with bald men, painting, shopping and dead mice- who could ask for anything more?
ReplyDeleteHi Beth, hope there's no mouse invasion going on here! Yuck. Thank God for the killer cat, what's his name.
ReplyDeleteBald is okay if the rest of him is attractive. But the guy in my dream was simply not. When I woke up I felt really icky, like I'd slept with some sleaze I'd picked up in a bar. But either my dream is telling me to stay open to all possibilities or to not settle for bald buys...
Hi Sharon, yikes, reminds me of the Tom Waits lyrics, fall in love, then married, then boom, how the hell did I get here so soon?
The outcome will be the opposite?!!! So instead of having sex with bald guy I don't fancy will have mind blowing sex with the love of my life? ;)
Hi Shantser,
That was hilarious, I have to admit. Annoying at first, but then after the third or fourth time I just had to laugh. Funny how life works. And if a guy I'm interested in knocks on my door, I better go and do my hair!
Hi Helena, it was really beautiful. I missed the first time the group painted there so I was really glad to make it this time, with or without the morning fog. Marin is so beautiful, I'm tempted to move there.
ReplyDeleteWould love to hear the story, fiction or not! xx
Hi Carol Anne, actually, I was playing with the idea of a photo essay on 'found art" featuring, of course, the dead, headless mice as a start. Funny stuff there, the way the bodies were right next to his comfy little bed, and his pink water and food bowls. Something funny and profound there, maybe...
And I almost went hiking instead Sunday, but it was really nice getting together with other artists. My peeps. And thank, gorgeous, could use more magic, xx
Hi Maggie, had more dreams (more sex dreams, ghost dreams, cat dreams, what does it all mean?) I only as for more time and a brain chip that allows me to know Maya 2010 without having to go through hours and hours of study and practice...
There seems to be a technique to decide what you want to dream about! I never learnt! :-)
ReplyDeleteWould after all have liked to see your painting in a close up! Sometimes, the not quite finished ones may be the best!
Hi Peter, doesn't always work. Wanted to have nothing but pleasant dreams last night then went on to have some pretty weird ones involving Sephora stores, new apartments, buses riding along roof ledges, lobsters, and puppy poop, etc.
ReplyDeleteThought about posting close up of painting, but I really wasn't happy with it. Thanks for wanting to see it anyway!
Headless mice and sexually ravenous bald guys might be in some way connected...
ReplyDeleteReally nice finds during your trip to San Rafael and Mill Valley....especially the candles! Thanks again for hanging out with us on Sunday's paint out. I've updated our blog & Facebook page with photos, scanned art work and short stories from the artists. I also included a link over your painting so visitors will be taken back to your blog. Cheers!
ReplyDeletedon't kill me for this, but i WISH you had taken a picture of those mice!!! how freaky, horrid and fab!!!! i wish i could have seen them, even tho i am sure i would have been mortified!
ReplyDeletegahah! thank you for posting! i am sorry for such an oddball request! i have more than a screw or two loose in me brain! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun day (except for the dream and the poor little mice)! And, yes, we Mayas can be very daunting. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Rick, hmmm, maybe amusement? Cat + mice + sex with bald guys = fleeting amusement, fleeting life?
ReplyDeleteHi Gerald! hey, you;re one of the few people to comment here who I've actually met in person! Thanks to you to for arranging it all, I really enjoyed it and will definitely join you guys again.
Hi Drollgirl, no problem! Actually I was glad you asked because it made me feel less of a weirdo for having taken photos of dead mice --yes! I took them before you even asked. It was just so...funny is probably the wrong word, but best I can come up with, those dead mice (which the cat obviously doesn't need for survival) next to his comfy little kitty bed and food bowls. And two! Not just one, but two beheaded mice. No pun intended but talk about overkill.
Hi Maya, it was nice! With all the rainy days we've had lately, and all the time I've been spending at my desk or easel, it was really nice to get out into the countryside with other artists for company.
Maya is getting slightly less daunting, but only because I've decided to divide my learning into do-able chunks. This month, re-familiarizing myself with modeling, no pressure, just getting comfortable in the Maya world again. Then textures and so on and so forth from there.
Haha, your day made me laugh... Btw I've seen cats do exactly that with mice several times before, I like cats but this behaviour is not something I'm too fond of... And the pictures are great.
ReplyDeleteThat watercolor really does look amazing.
ReplyDeleteThat's gross about the mouse bodies.
Hi Joe, glad :) and yes, a really brutal feline kind of entertainment. Maybe it's a good thing thought as I haven't heard any tiny animal feet running around the attic since the cat's been around...
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Hi Brightened Boy, yeah, I better get practicing...and yeah...
I have had a variation of that dream many times, of being locked in an embrace with someone and then being outside observing "Him" with someone else and unable to get back in.
ReplyDeleteArtsparker - Am still wondering the meaning of mine. To settle not to settle? Am I going after what I really want? hmm...
ReplyDelete