As if they needed more encouragement.

The theme for harborfest this year is "pirates".

I'm not sure it's a theme, but I'm definitely glad we're past the days of picking obscure countries of oddly specific themes, i.e. "ghana" or "italian customs and history".

Notably, though even though the fest[ival] theme is "pirates", the theme for the boat parade in particular is "Harboritaville".

http://www.oswegoharborfest.com/newsrelease/index.php?press=127

In the interest of pursuing the Truth

The finished product.

It was really down to the wire. like, we cut out the face while the paint was still kind of wet. there are parts i'd touch up, but that's kind of always the case.

Anyway, i chose to leave dora's eyes out because it makes her look more soul-less, which i believe more accurately represents Dora The Explorer in her truest form.

Would anyone notice if Dora had a naval ring?

So i guess it doesn't look like i did too much, but i did. most of it might have been fixing stuff from day1. Like, the hair color; definitely used real black and added hair on the left. fixed dora's shorts color and boots' face and hands color to be lighter. i gave boots boots. hah. and eyeballs. and outlined a bunch of stuff on the lower half of the board. i haven't really figured out how to tackle the background yet. also, i'm not particularly planning on spending much time on dora's face (because it's going to get removed). i made dora's legs/feet more proportionate to her body, too. which i was nervous about because i drew the whole thing in pencil first so that i wouldn't have to guess with a paintbrush. it's like doing the first draft in pen; total no-no.

note to self: DO NOT forget to do the rest of dora's backpack.

Will anyone complain if Boots is cross-eyed?

Dora the Explorer face cutout project thus far ^

The board is soaking up a bit more paint than i initially anticipated, so i'm expecting to have to do around 4 coats of paint. obnoxious. but my own fault. gesso is ALWAYS worth the extra $$$. you can't even really tell the difference between the color of the board and Dora's skin color. It might have to be adjusted. But also it might look better once i color in the background. Dora Pros: no shading, which means that i don't really care if i have to do 4 coats to paint. it's like painting a wall 4 times. Also, it's retardedly geometric, which makes it easy to draw. Dora cons: hands/fingers. and it's not as noticeable if a fish (finding nemo) is out of proportion, unlike if a child or monkey is out of proportion. Though if you ask me, children are out of proportion in real life anyway, so no one can really be expected to make them look right in 2D.

Anyway, i guess constructive criticism is welcome. Like, i have black paint but when it's wet it has a red tinge to it and when it dries, it looks blue. wtf?

The problem is that I love them TOO much

Admittedly, I don't have much of a green thumb. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Anything that comes into my care tends to die. For this reason I was never allowed to babysit when I was growing up. It's probably for the best, even though now, possibly as a consequence, I am completely devoid of maternal instinct or knowledge of childcare. Also, probably for the best. I don't plan on needing or acquiring that knowledge or instinct at any time. ever.

I do, however have a vegetable garden (saved from my mother's similar tendency to kill things. only she's in denial about it.). This year's endeavors include string beans, spinach, chives, eggplant, and tomatoes. beans and tomatoes are there every year, and so are the chives (perennial), but the spinach and eggplant are new this year. the spinach is doing ok, though having difficulty with a parasite problem - lots of holey leaves, and the eggplant i don't really have high expectations for. Which is unfortunate because i had hope to make homemade eggplant parm. at one point with S. (recipe from TDP, of course.)

Above, i recently planted a batch of cilantro, [sweet] basil, and parsley. I have a group indoors and outdoors to kind of see which one fares better. Overall, I have better luck with vegetables than flowers, so that's why my garden is almost exclusively edible.

I missed the "plan ahead" lesson.

When on the break wall, in the middle of Lake Ontario, there are 2 things that [will probably] happen when you are farthest from the shore line.

1. You have to pee. RIGHT. NOW.

2. It starts to rain.

The "Check the Radar" lesson apparently comes right after the "plan ahead" lesson, and I missed both of those.

Sans Judy Garland. Or am I her?

About a week ago, we had a brief tornado watch. Yes. Tornados in Central New York. If you ever doubted global warming, become a believer. Though Oswego has seen tame weather (though chilly - around 60 degrees) since then, places to the not-too-distant south have seen more tornado like activity such as hail, damaging winds, and a tornado warning for downtown Syracuse. Other "southern" places experiencing the severe weather include Ithaca and Binghamtom.

Though Oswego, for once, evaded the severe weather, bizarre weather has taken its place. Chiefly, rain while the sun is totally shining which, of course, is prime opportunity for rainbow sightings. There was a vivid double rainbow to the south when I left work today, but I didn't have my camera with me, so I took this one quick when i got home.