However, the real reason that I feel slightly ill with resentment when I see a new green phone or pink packaged noodles is not only annoyance at the pressure to feel as though I need to give my every last dime to what seems to be advertising efforts rather than true help for the issue, but also because I feel that the US has its priorities crossed, and something needs to be done about other dangers in our society.

For instance, did you realize that almost 5 children die every day in the US from abuse and/or neglect?  That more than 3 out of every 4 of those children are under the age of 4?  I’m sure you know a toddler or infant, or have one yourself.  Imagine that child being beaten to death by an adult—not the newspaper article afterward, but the actual attack on that child.  Imagine how that child must feel—have you ever been hit in a fight or an accident?  Have you ever hit someone or something, even accidentally?  Well, imagine the force of that against a 3-month-old’s face.  Imagine the feeling that a toddler must have upon being punched with an adult’s strength for having a potty-training accident. 

It’s hard to imagine, and most people refuse to contemplate the horror of the situation.  Perhaps that is why we can spend so much time, passion, and effort on health insurance debate or breast cancer awareness, or recycling every last item we use.  But in my opinion, that child being beaten to death today is a hell of a lot more important than whether or not Obama is Hitler incarnate or whether our vehicles are gas-guzzlers.

Why do we allow this?  Why do I hear 3 different news segments every single day about how Lindsay Lohan didn’t wear panties last night, but I don’t hear about little Diego Calles being beaten to death over a week long period by his mother’s boyfriend while she watched?  Why isn’t there as much outrage about this 4-year-old boy and how his intestines ruptured from being beaten and tortured, and  how now his mother has immunity from any charges so that she can tell exactly how she watched this torture?  Why can’t anyone tell me why the hell there is so much focus on the AMA performance because some guy kissed another guy, but nothing about how atrocities like this are not only committed every day, but allowed to occur with barely a blip on the radar about how this is happening?

Little Diego had a baby sister too, who was horribly abused.  She survived.  Now the fact that there is a statute of limitations with torture will allow Lujan to avoid charges for that.  In other words, we’re currently allowing someone to say that it’s okay to torture an infant, since it was 3 years ago (this occurred in 2006 lack of testimony was one reason the prosecution has offered immunity to the bitch who watched her boyfriend torture her children, and the only reason that she is even taking up for her children in court now–otherwise she would have allowed this monster to never be charged with the torture or murder.  Too bad she was given immunity because after her testimony, it’s obvious she deserves prison just as much as he does–it is Justina Morales all over again).

I know it’s disturbing.  People are mostly good, and to hear such horror is something we naturally avoid.  I used to avoid such stories at all costs because they’d wear me down to the bone with feelings of guilt, helplessness, and impotence at something that is so naturally revolting I can’t even imagine it occurring.

Go ahead and send in that donation to the newest favorite cause, because money isn’t even required here.  All that is needed is your voice, your voice to tell your local authorities that you will not accept anything less than justice for these little ones, voices that demand explanations and plans from your local child protection services.  Your voice is a powerful tool, and it’s time that you used it for more than trying to beat someone verbally with your opinion of Obama, healthcare, or Paris Hilton.  Your voice can actually save a child!

Stand up, educate yourself about the local offices you elect—sheriffs, judges, other politicians.  Have they made a record of advocating for the weakest segment of our population?  Have they allowed criminals to walk easily because of intolerable lenience to violence?  If you’re like me, you never gave a thought to the judges and other officials on that ballot that you have filled out.  Perhaps you thought it didn’t matter, that the law is the law, but that is not true.  Each and every trial is dependent upon the arguments used, the evidence, and most of all, the judge and jury.  In turn, those are based on the laws as written and accepted.  However, the most powerful part of a democracy is the very ability to decide what laws are enacted and which are not.  We’ve lost that in an effort to remain “fair” and to make sure that everyone has a chance to reform, even when basic logic and instinct tells us that reform should have come before the decision to beat a child to death.

There is a fair and just alternative to every single unjust action we allow, and we need to start making that the reality.  We’re a democracy and proud to be that way, but we’re wasting the true power and benefit of such a government.  We’ve started to think that the only way to be equal and fair is to allow nothing be labeled wrong, or to punish others who have done wrong, because it would tread on their rights.  A democracy is not a way to avoid standards.  Equal rights should be earned, and while we’ve finally moved beyond feeling a person’s birth or color or sexuality is what earns or precludes equal fundamental rights, we’re so mistaken in who deserves them.  If our entire country and sense of righteousness is dependent upon human rights and making sure that every person has that equal share, then it’s time to make sure that everyone has that—and right now we have taken the right to safety, security, and love away from children and babies.  That’s not how I feel and I don’t think it’s how anyone feels, but for some reason we’ve lost that fact in lieu of awareness of every other thing under the sun.

In the US, we have a lot of work to do in order to live up to the idea of ourselves.  Let’s start.

Compared to the first sitting, when I discovered I have the oddest little pocket of nerves in my shoulder that made me cry like a baby when he was filling in the flower, this time was relaxing and great… lol  This is one of those times when I *THOUGHT* it looked great before, and it did look good.  However, where before I thought that it was great as-is, now I realize that it was not anything like it is now–the finishing touches on the colors just make it perfect.

I cannot express just how happy I am with this.  It’s such a beautiful tattoo, but it’s also really inspired me in a million other ways that I would have never suspected.  Here are a couple more pics (almost same poses, sorry).  Look for more to come in the next day or so that will hopefully be able to really show what it looks like.

PS:  At the point the pics were taken, it was about 5 hours old.

]]> http://scribblemuse.com/2009/09/19/yay-my-back-tattoo-is-finished-and-its-absolutely-perfect/feed/ 0 http://scribblemuse.com/2009/08/27/interesting-old-books/ http://scribblemuse.com/2009/08/27/interesting-old-books/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:47:44 +0000 Lisha http://scribblemuse.com/?p=47     Edited to add:  My wonderfully genius hubby reminded me of the simple “invert” function of PhotoShop, so here’s the first inversion of the pic.  I couldn’t do much more with it by following the general tutorial I found online as I’m a little short on time right now,and the quality of the photo isn’t the greatest to work with (I guess maybe holding up a very old negative against the white screen of Word and snapping a regular digital photo may not lend the best quality… lol).  I’ll try to rework a better photo later.

As some of you may know from my post about the Anatomy for Artists book that I found at my local thrift shop, the store is a great resource for books and I’m always lugging home a new box full of them with every visit.  They have everything all the way up to brand new bestsellers in any genre and the paperbacks are almost always less than $1, and hard backs are usually between $1 to $3.

Lately they’ve been bringing out a bunch of much older books, antiques.  I love old books, and I love the stuff that you can find in them–both inserts such as photos and notes written in the margins.  I don’t anticipate the thought of finding a really valuable gem as much as finding something that is valuable to me just on a personal level, and this latest find is definitely a great personal find.

The two books I’m talking about here are religious books.  One of them is a thick volume called Goffine’s Devout Instructions.  This one was the most interesting to me.  It had numerous articles clipped out.  The publishing date is 1896, but the inscription says “To Anna from Rev J. Willitzer, 25 December, 19**”  The final digits in the year are cut off unfortunately, but I was able to find more info from the names.

“Anna” was Anna Willitzer, who was born 5/13/1870 in Austria, and died on 10/25/1935 here in Wisconsin.  She had 2 brothers, John and Joseph, both of whom were reverends in this same area.  She did live with one, “keeping his house” according to her obit found here.  However, since they were both reverends, and both in a relatively close area, I’m not sure right now which one gave her the book.  I’m still looking into it–I’m excited at the relative ease I’ve found information so far.

Another thing that makes this one interesting is the fact that I found an old photo negative inside.  It appears to be a young man and woman, perhaps after their wedding?  I’ve never seen a negative like this one–it’s rather large.  The clothing is definitely dated, but I’m unsure as to the specific time frame that it may reflect.  Anna’s obit does not mention a husband or even a former husband, and the dating may totally exclude her anyway, because other items in the book clearly show that the book was used much later after Anna’s death in 1935.

One of the items with a date was a Knights of Columbus little prayer booklet, dated 1942, and focused on prayers for the war, which is obviously WWII.  There were also some newspaper articles snipped and stored in the pages of the book, and they go all the way up to 1950.  So obviously someone used the book after Anna’s death, and apparently kept it close enough to use as storage for items usually put in family bibles.

The other book is a Bible that is in a different language–I thought originally it was German but have since realized that the bible came from Switzerland.  There is a somewhat longish inscription inside, which gives a date of June 20, 1897, but no publishing date (that I have found anyway).

You can see some of the pics of some of the books below, and I’ll update if I find anything specific about Anna and her brothers, and whoever may have carried the book after Anna’s death.

img_1965

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 23

Copper Joy is a totally different product than I started to sculpt.  Almost all of my art is done second by second, rarely ever planned.  However, Copper is one of the first attempts I have made to create a plan and stick to it.  I’ve been worried that maybe I simply can’t set out to do something purposely with any success, so I wanted to start training myself to do things as planned.

But Copper has been one of the most stubborn sculpts I’ve ever done.  From the beginning, I felt that she was taking shape herself, much like writers describe with their characters seeming to take off with the plot regardless of what the writer originally wanted.  She was full of problems–I think I redid her armature and basic shape at least 3 times that week, and Murphy’s Law seemed to assert itself.  The original bake I did of her legs turned out horribly browned, though I don’t think I overbaked it–it was probably because of the mix of clay I had.  From there, things just kept going wrong.

The final problem, and the one that almost made me through her in the garbage in frustration, was that her face turned out terribly after the bake.  I was not happy at all with her–and becuase of impatience, I had not smoothed her the way I should have through the process.  I’d already sacrificed my plans of having the mohair and given her a sculpted hairstyle.  I’d also screwed up her hip and crotch area, and so I’d decided to sculpt her in a skirt as well, though I originally only wanted a leotard.  The face was the last straw for me.

Before I threw her in the trash, though, I noticed some copper paints I’d gotten and not yet tried out.  I decided to use Copper to play with, and painted her solid copper.  Surprisingly, it immediately enhanced everything about her, even the roughness that had made me almost throw her away.  The final product, shown here, is one of those happy little flukes.

The next emotion I plan is sorrow, and I plan on doing that probably in a tarnished silver or dark steel solid paint.

Yesterday I lucked out on the best “anatomy for the artist” book I’ve ever seen.  It’s so great I just had to share a few shots here.  Normally I use my plain anatomy books, of which I have a ton, but this one goes to very intricate details not only on gross anatomy, but also on the anatomy in movement and poses, and even quite a bit on things like foreshortening (a huge problem for me).  If you’re interested in figure drawing/art at all, I HIGHLY recommend that you get it! Some snapshots are shown after the break.

[[Show as slideshow]] ]]> http://scribblemuse.com/2009/08/18/the-very-best-anatomy-for-artists-book-ive-ever-seen/feed/ 0 http://scribblemuse.com/2009/08/09/new-back-tattoo-sitting-1-august-9-2009/ http://scribblemuse.com/2009/08/09/new-back-tattoo-sitting-1-august-9-2009/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:27:09 +0000 Lisha http://scribblemuse.com/?p=20 I am happier with this tattoo than I ever imagined I’d be, and considering that I was absolutely ecstatic before, and barely able to wait to start it, it’s saying something.  Kani, from Colt’s Timeless Tattoos in Appleton WI, designed this based on some of the pictures of other tats I took in and liked, and then he did a freehand interpretation.  I’m so happy with it.  Kani has won awards for his black/gray stuff, and though I had originally planned to have this one done full color, after seeing his work from past tattoos and on the walls in pencil, I was MORE than happy to just basically give him what I liked, and allow him to interpret it.  I totally trusted him from the first, and obviously that trust has not been misplaced.  I only wish I could show on here just how great this is in real life.

Today’s session was the most painful I’d ever had, though I’ve admittedly had tiny flash compared to this one.  I am ashamed to admit that I actually cried from the pain–my shoulder where the main flower is was absolutely horrendous.  For some reason, my sensitivity in that spot is through the roof.  The reast was much more bearable, but still painful.  Still, I’d not trade the pain for anything since this is the result.

Today’s session was about 3 hours I think.  Kani says that he thinks he could probably finish it up in the next 3-hour session, which will happen in about 4 weeks after the initial healing phases occur and he can see how my skin picks up the colors and so forth.  I *think* that we’ll be adding a little more color to the flowers, and maybe a very subtle hint of green to the leaves/vines, but again, short of saying that I don’t want any unicorns, I’m happy with placing my skin in Kani’s hands.  He is the ultimate tattoo artist in my opinion in that he truly listened to my opinions, and somehow drew out something that I could have never even imagined to request.

So without further ado, here are the day 1 pictures (first picture is of course a before pic to show the sad plain state of my back before the adornment).

Basically I am trying to keep that stuff separate from ScribbleMuse now, since I want SM to start becoming my little cozy and more personal space, as it was originally going to be.  I am really getting into my art more and the very name “ScribbleMuse” was chosen because it seemed to really reflect me, between the writing, drawing, and painting that I do.  I wanted to have a space to work out my ideas, to publish particular writing, and showcase some of the things I learn as I bump along.

Then of course, I discovered the world of crime writing, reporting, and advcocacy.  In the time since, I’ve found some excellent sites, such as BeaconHell and DreaminDemon, who really reflect the same beliefs that I had.  There is no need to reinvent the wheel, and so ScribbleMuse started to focus on a slightly different flavor, and that will not be lost.  It just simply will not be here.

I am unsure yet whether I will open up a whole new domain, or a hosted blog such as wordpress.com, or even just add a page to this blog.  I am positive, however, of the following facts and plans:

1.  ScribbleMuse.com main page will be much more personal and focused on my creative endeavors.

2.  I am not throwing out the work I had done before on crime education and advocacy, and I don’t plan on giving up on it.  So it will reappear and will also be updated again in the future.  I’m just not sure when–I’ve got a million-zillion things going on, as always.

3.  The only definite thing I can say is that this site is in a state of flux, and it may remain that way.  I may actually narrow down my focus.  I may totally change it again.  I don’t know, and that’s the truth.

So yet again I ask you to bear with me, weather the bumps if you’re interested, and even if you’re not, remember to perhaps check back in a while.  Maybe by then it will be changed into something you ARE interested in. 

I’ll post the old posts/blog as soon as I can, and will link to wherever it goes.

Thanks!

lisha