Thumbnails

I’m going to shrink a lot of my images to thumbnail size and derlete the old photos. It’s going to take some time, but my phone memory and WordPress memories keep getting fuller. I don’t like doing it because I want people to see my art, but I’m hoping if you look on the images on a tablet and a computer you will be able to see them OK?

I hope the blogs will still be acceptable. I am also deleting a few older images. I’m on 97.7% full media at the moment. It’s going to take ages to try and reduce my file sizes, hopefully the words don’t take up too much space.

I keep scrolling

One thing after another

Videos scroll by

Suffering ad breaks

To see cute cats?

Images of families

Happy days

Forgotten memories

Never ending smiles?

Playing games

That never stop

Pop that bubble

Snap that candy?

Following friends

Then friends of friends

Who is that person

From an obscure town?

Watching the world

TV on your phone

Music streaming

My mind shredded?

Influences and influencers

Look at what you can be

What you can have

But it costs in money

So have a bet

See what you can get?

Floaters

Do you have floaters in your eyes? When I look at anything I can see vague shapes floating about in my eyes. Luckily they are mainly around the periphery of my vision. I just drew this eye and tried to mark out their positions and opacity/transparency, The trouble is as you move your eyes or head they move and ‘float’ about too ( I guess thats why they are called floaters). Sometimes they’re very obvious, like on a bright sunny day they look like the shadows of birds flying overhead, or against a bright screen they can look quite dark. From talking to my Optician I believe they are the shadows of dead blood cells that are loose inside my eye. They either leak out or are pulled out by the gel in your eyes shrinking as your eyes get older. Mine are mostly unnoticable except when I’m concentrating on a drawing, or looking closley at something. Sometimes I see them when I’m driving , or on a snowy day. I wish I had asked the optician more? I think its something to mention if you have them as the optician needs to know, and it may be indicative of something going on. But don’t panic. Just take care of yourself.

You are number 17

You are number 17 in the queue

Your call will be answered shortly

You are number 16 in the queue

We are experiencing some difficulties…

We will answer as soon as possible

You are number 16 in the queue

You are number 16 in the queue

We are experiencing some issues with your call

You are number 14 in the queue!

Please bare with us while we try to answer your call.

You are number 13….

We want to answer your call..

You are 12..

Am I regressing?

You are 12…

Why Vivaldi….?

You are number 11

Why am I still waiting?

You are now number 8 in the queue

Sorry you are number 10 in the queue.

What? What? Why?

You are number 8….

Almost there…

You are 7

Yes I am!

You are 6

5, 4, 3, 2?

You are number 5 in the queue

We are sorry for the delay in answering your call.

You are number 4 in the queue

You are number 3

You are 2

HOORAY!

You are number 1 in the queue. Thank you for waiting.

Oh what’s forty five minutes among friends…

Hello? Oh I’m sorry, Jack has just left for the weekend. Could you ring back on Monday?!

Argh!

my old friend

insomnia

Yes, its almost 3.30am. No I can’t sleep. Yes, the neighbours security light keeps flashing on and off….flash.. flash…No, I can’t calm my thoughts, yes, I tried counting sheep. Yes, I just had a warm drink (decaff coffee). Yes, I am tired. No, I do’t know if I should be sticking commas after Yes, and No,. Yes, I WANT to sleep. Yes, his snoring doesnt help! No I can’t count sheep, they get blurry and disappear. No, it doesn’t help having to wear a mask for sleep aponea at night. Yes, I am too hot, but the house is too cold when I get out of bed. Yes I AM looking at a screen, which I know is bad for sleeping! Yes, aches and pains are NOT helping.

Yes, I try relaxation, sometimes it works, not tonight. Whats bugging me? I need to try and sort a friends problems out. No, I can’t tell her I don’t think I can help- I’m her friend. Yes, Covid is worrying me a lot. Yes, I’m very hot and bothered…. No- THIS IS NOT Helping! Oh well, better go back and TRY and SLEEP…

Hello Insomnia, my old friend, you’re keeping me awake again… its 3.40am- again.

Omicron, oh dear

I don’t have the Omicron version of Covid, I did a lateral flow test. But things are getting to me. Mentally I feel run down, fed up, worried, scared even. I don’t want to go out or see people. I missed a few things recently because I’m keeping myself to myself. But I know I’m getting worse. Recent health issues have made me feel more isolated and it’s almost too easy to hide away. Seeing people walking round shops without masks also puts me off….

I will wait and see what happens, but I do think that old addage about discretion is the better part of valour (is that right) might be the phrase that describes how I feel.

I am quite lost

My mind is a bit muddled at the moment. I am dealing with lots of ‘stuff’ and I feel overwhelming worry that I won’t get back on track. My life physically has been bothering me and I’m waiting for an appointment to try and find answers. I’m dealing with things for myself, my family and friends, and because I can put a good case for things I don’t mind helping. But when you persue various options and each one closes down it gets more and more frustrating. I wish I could herd cats, work out the best thing for us. I had to ask for help recently, and that was difficult. I’m a proud person and I don’t like to think I can’t cope. But you know those straws that broke the camels back? I think they are building up. Maybe I need to hibernate and look after myself, but turning away from others is not in my nature.

February dragons

Looking back at my sketchbook I found this from February this year. I think I was going put more then. Going for walks and not exactly seeing people but socialising more.

Then I pulled a calf muscle and it really knocked me back. I am seeing a lot less people and turning into a recluse. My walking consists of going to the shops a couple of times a day. This weekend I actually went to my art group meeting. I was trying to finish a dog painting and I used it as an excuse to get out the house and do some art. I think that has helped me break out a bit. My mojo needs to be released again!

Editing my blog?

Added text to a pattern…

I was just reading someone’s blog post. Then I thought I would add my comment here as it explains why I remove photos as well as tidying up posts that don’t always read well.

I edit spelling mistakes, my grammar isn’t always good. If I add anything to improve or clarify a post, I don’t know if anyone will re-read it. WordPress maintains the day the post was published on, so if I change things 48 hours later it won’t change that date. Sometimes I have accidentally saved a post as a draft then found it on my PC sitting there waiting to be published. When I do the blog post is sent back to the original day I wrote it. I’m not sure if you can change the date, unless you copy and paste everything and publish that (deleting the original one).

One thing I sometimes do is remove my old photos. They take up a lot of storage space. I wasn’t aware of that when I joined, so I always used to put in full screen images of photos or original art works. I’m generally around 97% full and sometimes am prevented from posting unless I delete a few photos. If you know any interesting quirks about editing let me know!

Birthday balloon

Helium is the second element in the periodic table, atomic number two. It was first discovered when they measured the spectrum of the Sun. It was found as a line in the spectrum that did not appear to be on Earth.

Balloons like this are filled with this dwindling resource, if I remember correctly it’s from a place in America. I think there is a world shortage.

Helium is the second lightest element, but unlike Hydrogen which is the lightest, it doesn’t react with anything. So Helium stays on its own, it escapes out of our atmosphere. Hydrogen on the other hand reacts with many elements and this results in H2O, water, as two hydrogen atoms link with one oxygen.

Coventry University had a whole series of videos on YouTube that was about the elements if I remember. It was very interesting and they discussed all the elements in the periodic table. It was presented by a professor with mad grey curly hair….