The hatching of Cynder: probably an ongoing tale...

Pictures and story by Leigh (9) who is not an english mother tongue speaker and who has also never had a single english lesson in her life. She taught herself to read the language fluently and with understanding and is now in the process of learning to write in english as well

(Click on the images to enlarge)

The terrified little fishie

I commissioned Leigh to design my profile picture for my facebook profile. Have you ever seen a more terrified fish. Leigh's ability to generate emotion even in these pictures drawn by mouse on the pc never fails to amaze me.

Click on the image to enlarge it if you want see the actual size picture.

Hey, cow, what's that on your ear?

Leigh drew this picture on her dad's computer yesterday. We all wondered what the little thing on the middle cow's head was as the sent version were too small to see. It was only after we got the original that we saw...

When we asked what was up with that, Leigh said: "Nothing. He tells them where to go. That's all."

"But why?" I asked.

The answer came over her shoulder on her way back to the pc. "Because they're too big to see."

(Click on the picture for detail)

The girl who rode the foam...

Leigh announced on Thursday that she is going to be a professor one day, but that she first wants to be a surfer like her oldest sister.

She proceeded promptly to the storeroom and emerged with one of her sister's more advanced boards - one that is referred to amongst the surfers here as a "tricks board" or something. The cool graphics on it drew her to it, I think.

We spend the next hour convincing her that all surfers were body boarders first before her sister and her friends could take the prospective wave riding professor for her first session in the surf.

According to all reports she really rode the foam...

(The pictures were taken with one of the guys' cellphone)

New Year's wishes, IT crashes and a meme from Rod

First of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!

My 2007 ended with a complete and utter IT crash, but it resulted in a new PC, so I will not complain. I am however still in the process of getting everything sorted and as I am a functional illiterate when it comes to anything IT, things are a bit slow at the moment – plus I have a ton of commitments in real space that are limiting my time in cyberspace, but I am sooo happy to be back in yer midst.

In December my friend Rod Rushing tagged me and due to my electronic black-out I have been unable to honor the meme he sent me until now. I am happy to finally be able to do so in this posting.

I have made many friends in the few months since I joined BlogCatalog and this has made the blogging experience so much more meaningful since I started blogging for the sole purpose of connecting with people all over the world. This venture has made the concept of the Global Village extremely real for me and I hope to make many more friends in the course of this year.

However, today I want to single out a few special friends that I regularly visit and whose visits to my site comforts me.

The fist ever person I met in blogland is Rod, recovering gay crystal meth user, who devotes his time both in cyber and real space to help other meth users kick their “tina” habit. He has an uncanny ability to share his experiences with painful frankness without wallowing in it or getting caught in sentimental circle speak – a quality I really admire. There is no self pity in Rod for anything he has lost, only an iron resolve to fight this deadly scourge with everything he’s got. Oh yes, and girls, he has an endless supply of the best eye candy on his Kickin Tina site, so go have a look – I’m sure the boys won’t mind sharing their sights with us.

I also met a great photographer who used to take pictures of wars but now snaps nature at her best – beautiful photos, but often strangely eerie too. His name is JD and he is also a woodcarver who writes the most amazing pieces of magical realism. I enjoy JD’s unique brand of “writer’s prerogative” because it feels as if he reveals a part of himself to us that is not always apparent in real space.

WebsTeR TweLB is a youngster I regularly visit because she provides an honest perspective on the way her generation looks at life. She can be really funny sometimes and makes me remember that life did not always look the way I see it these days.

I really hope that 2008 will be a blast for everybody I know. I don’t make resolutions, but Leigh and I are working on improving the garden and I have resolved to apply myself more to my studies. I also plan to take on the Department of Education and produce more art this year. There, I said it, so now I am committed to do it.

Political postings will start soon – a lot has happened and it seems that our future president has taken yet another wife even though he seems to have to depend on others to provide for the handful of wives and twenty children he already has, but that is another days ranting.

Love ya all
Krokodil