Come out, Come out, where ever you are

according to Wikipedia.com:
In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing or other interactive system, but rarely if ever posts or participates.

The term dates back to the mid-1980s. Because BBSs were often accessed by a single phone line (frequently in someone's home), there was an expectation that all who used a bulletin board would contribute to its content by uploading files and posting comments. Lurkers were viewed negatively, and might be barred from access by the sysop, if they did not contribute anything but kept the phone line tied up for extended periods.

By contrast, many modern Internet communities now advise newbies to lurk for some time to get a feel for the specific culture and etiquette of the community, lest they make an inappropriate or redundant comment, ask a Frequently Asked Question, or incite a flame war. This leads to the tongue-in-cheek command to "lurk more", often intentionally misspelled as "lurk moar". The verb to "de-lurk" means to start contributing actively to a community having been a lurker previously.

There are also some who lurk on a forum habitually, and rarely, if ever, contribute. It is generally difficult to guess how many such lurkers are present, due to their silence. In flame-wars, a participant who is losing an argument will sometimes claim to receive email support from lurkers. This inspired Jo Walton to write a filk on the subject entitled "The Lurkers Support Me in Email"


My buddy, Tink, over at Pickled Beef, reminded me that today is Delurking Day!
Stop by her place and leave a comment and you may just win a much coveted Golden Spork!!!

Me? I'll come by your blog and snoop around, leaving some witty, or not so witty to anyone but maybe me comment. If I really like what I see, I'll tell everyone about you. Deal? So come on and delurk yourself today!

Cleveland at Night

Cleveland by Night Acrylic on 16x20 Canvas

Cleveland Bridge at Night
acrylic/tissue on 5x7 canvas

The Final Countdown & Happy Blogoversary to Me!!!!

Psssst! Hey you! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you. Wanna know something cool?

THERE's ONLY 9 DAYS REMAINING of G.W. in OFFICE!!!!

*clouds part, angel sing, trumpets sound*

The final countdown is on! That's all I'm gonna say about it.
(insert my BIG CHEESY GRIN here)

In other news, I have some new poetry posted here if you care to check it out.

And last but certainly not least,
♪ ♪ Happy, Happy Birthday Baby! ♪♪

Yes, I'm allowed to sing to my blog today, it's our Blogoversary! Leave us alone. We're settling into our relationship and finally a bit more comfortable with each other.
I've learned when to just walk away until I have something positive to say, and Bloggy, in return has shown me such compassion and love. We've been through a lot this past year you know. The loss of a dearly beloved pet, the loss of a job, the finding of my voice in the blogosphere, standing witness to the loss of my gardner's appendages, and becoming more eco friendly as my blog helped me to create Green La Vergne. To top it all off, it even let Wifester in on the fun once! Now that's really being a good sport, if you ask me. (wink, wink) I have the best readers and bloggy-buddies in the whole blogosphere, and I even had the wonderful opportunity to meet one of my favorite fellow bloggers and take an art class with her.
I truly am one FORTUNATE COOKIE.
Way back when I was a strung out, wasted youth on the fast track to nowhere, I never once would have thought that the life I have today could ever be possible. In fact, I would have laughed in your face if you would have told me that this would be where I would end up. That's if you could have caught me coherent long enough to comprehend what you were telling me.
I am so grateful today for my life as it is, my wonderful Wifester, my voice through this blog and YOU GUYS and GALS who make my day every day!

Joy and Sorrow

On Joy and Sorrow

I thought too much of you
Or perhaps, not nearly enough of me
Either way
The critical mass erupted in
my broken heart,
broken home,
broken life...

Though there's truth in what's said:
The greater the heart aches,
The greater its capacity for joy
And for that, I must say "Thank You"
For today my joy
Overshaddows any grief that
that my encounter with you ever caused
And I no longer think so little of me.

Angela J. Schleicher © 2009

And then she asked me to strip

See that? That's the beautiful Tahitian Pearl that Wifester gave me for Christmas. My little phone doesn't do it justice, but for this story, it'll suffice.
The other day, at the end of a long day of work, Wifester phoned to say she was on her way. I packed up my belongings, shut down my computer, and headed downstairs to wait for her by the doors. It was cold and rainy, so I didn't want to stand outside or begin walking toward her as I did when the weather was nicer. I had been there a few minutes, when I instinctively reached up to ensure that the clasp of my necklace hadn't made it's way to the front, as it seems to like to do, when I realized that it had in fact come unclasped! I grasped my necklace into a tightly clenched fist and gently removed it from my neck, realizing it was to no avail, the pearl was gone. GONE. My beautiful Christmas present, my prescious.
In a panick, I felt all through my hair, I checked my sweater, I even looked on the floor where I was standing and, just in case I'd been so lucky, the open compartment of my purse. Who knows, maybe my prescious has good aim. Alass, it was no where to be found. I was nearly in tears as I dialed Wifester's number. When she answered, I said as calmly as I could muster, "Honey, I'm going back upstairs, my pearl is missing from my necklace, so when you get here, that's where I'll be."
"I'll be right there." she said with a gruff tone that only partially reflected the frustration I could easily envision on her face.
Meanwhile, I backtracked, retracing all my steps, except the one elevator that I had ridden down would not come available, so I could not get in there to check it. I just knew that my prescious had fallen off in that damned elevator and some grimy, greedy, low-life from the second or third floors had surely snatched it up by now. The mind goes to some dingy places when it's panicked.
I went to my desk, the breakroom, I even checked out the restroom and all around the coffee area. I found George, the mail room guy and asked him if he'd seen it laying around, I mean, he travels the whole building, so he'd come across it if anyone would, right? But no.
I headed back downstairs, to check one more time by the doors I was standing by when I realized it was gone, when the Wifester pulled into the parking lot. She came in to help me look and straight away asked if I had checked in my clothes.
Yes, I said, I did. And I had. I had even felt myself up a bit, just to make sure.
We checked the same path I had already checked, and some extra areas, then the Wifester said, "Well, did you take your sweater off and check?"
Did I strip at work? No. I did not. I felt around, It's not there.
"You need to go in the bathroom right now and take your sweater off." It came out with such sternness and authority, I just did it.
I flipped all through my sweater and nothing, then I thought, you know, I have some mammoth boobs here, let me look one good time in my clevage, now that my sweater is off...
BINGO!
Seems my prescious knows just where to go. Right between two nice pillowy breasts. She is the perfect pearl for me!

New Year, Same Ole' Me?

First things first, you all have heard me talk about Wifester's wonderful mom, right? Besides being wonderful and sweet and loving, she and her business partner started this awesome business to teach builders how to build green buildings! Come on! How awesome is that? Well, the other day she had an accident while at a restaurant and broke her arm, way up between the elbow and the shoulder, OUCH! She's 600 miles away from us, so it's not like we can just hop over after work and check on her. So if you could send her some good, healing thoughts, I'd appreciate it, and I know she would too!

Thanks! Yall rock too!
Now, on to the New Year post...
I woke up on January 1st with a start. I wanted to jump back into the painting I had started on New Year's Eve. I'd stayed up until 3am, much like New Years past, except this time it was to work on a painting instead of a buzz. Two paintings, actually. Then on the 1st day of the new year, I began some more. Hopefully this pace will sustain itself throughout this year, and I can turn out some decent work, I'm hoping to rent a booth at the Pride festival this year and sell my art, or at least try to.

As I painted, I thought about last year's new year's eve, and reminisced that was the day that Max died.
It wasn't too long after that I started this blog. So my bloggaversary is rapidly approaching! As a matter of fact, I believe it's this Saturday! I'll have to whip up something special for that.

2008 went by so fast, with so many changes, good and bad, its like a blur. I think I adapt relatively well to change, I've had to learn to with my crazy and ever evolving life, but I watch others greet change into their lives like a negative magnet greets another.
I welcome it. I enjoy the newness of fresh paint on the walls, different people, alternate menu choices.

I don't like to make resolutions, because they seem like unrealistic goals that I later beat myself up for not accomplishing, however, I would like to set some standards for myself for this year. I won't call them resolutions, just a few key points that I plan to address in 2009.

For example, I will make a conscious effort to be even more welcoming to change in my life.
One change I want to make is a dedication to pursuing my art. I truly enjoy it, and I would much rather spend my time painting than calculating invoice discrepancies and filing fraud claims. It makes me feel happy, whole, and fulfilled when I paint. So why not do it more?

I also am making an effort to be more attentive to my blog, because it relaxes me and brings me so much pleasure. I seem to have a tendency to deny myself the joys of life and that stops here.
I've decided to cut way back on eating things that once had faces. I may find that I go back to being a vegetarian, but I do love fish, and they have faces, so I can't promise that. I just feel so guilty every time I eat meat, and I think "look at that carcass." It really freaks me out. I think I can make do with tofu from here on out, besides, it's leaner and healthier, and I could certainly stand for a healthier diet. Last year Wifester and I dedicated ourselves to omitting fast food, and we achieved it. I am so proud of us for stopping the weekly visits to Sonic and Wendy's. Those are not easy habits to break, let me tell you. Why not take it one step further this year, right?

So that's about all I've got for now. What are you doing this year to welcome change into your life?

New Year, New Creativity

New Year's Eve brought out a two for one, I guess it was the wine and champagne...

Cleveland in Winter Mixed Media on 16x20 Canvas
acrylic, tissue, epoxy, soy wax

It still needs to be glazed and I think I'm gonna splatter some soy wax on it to help with the snow effect.

While doing that one, I kept thinking about another one I've had my mind and heart set on doing, so as soon as I could get it to a drying point, I set it aside and started on this one:



she's still a work in progress, but Bettie Page has been on my mind ever since I read she had fallen ill and was hospitalized, and subsequently, her passing.
I've wanted to create my tribute to such an iconic figure in America's sexual revolution

So I combined some of my favorite images of her into a collage paying homage to The Pinup Girl Queen