Flicks I've Picked: Simon Birch

Last night I had the unbelievable privilege of watching an absolute gem of a movie: Mark Steven Johnson's Simon Birch.  Honestly, I do not know how I have not seen this movie until now.  It is unbelievable.  It's going on my Amazon.com wishlist right now.  Be right back.  Alright I'm back.  It's officially on the list.  Now, back to business.

Simon Birch is the inspiring and miraculous story of a small boy named...you guessed it...Simon Birch.  (I haven't read anything about this...but my keen skills of deduction are leading me to believe that the boy's name was most likely the inspiration for the name of the movie.  I know...my skills are just...daunting for you all, right?)

Anyway, Simon, though smaller than the 3rd grade turtledove from the Christmas pageant, is actually not  a boy at all, but an inquisitive and eloquent twelve-year-old.  Now...I haven't seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but I'm "pretty sure" that the story isn't...how should I say this...possible.

I'm not knocking Benjamin Button, in fact, I'm going to go put in a request for it on the library website right now.  Be right back.  Okay, no that didn't work...but I will watch it someday.  Here's the point that I'm trying to make, despite the fact that I cannot back it up with fact or experience.

Where Benjamin Button is fantastical, Simon Birch is fantastic.

Both Simon Birch (the fictional character) and  Ian Michael Smith (the actor playing said fictional character) have Morquio Syndrome.  According to Wikipedia, the following are all symptoms of this condition:

• Abnormal heart development
• Abnormal skeletal development
• Hyper mobile joints
• Large fingers
• Knock-knees
• Widely spaced teeth
• Bell shaped chest (ribs flared)
• Compression of spinal cord
• Enlarged heart
• Dwarfism

Patients with Morquio's syndrome appear healthy at birth. They often present with spinal deformity, there is growth retardation or genu valgus in the second or third year of life.

• Short stature (flat vertebrae cause a short trunk), short neck
• Moderate kyphosis or scoliosis
• Mild pectus carinatum (pigeon chest)
• Cervical spine: odontoid hypoplasia, atlanto-axial instability; may be associated with myelopathy with gradual loss of walking ability
• Joint laxity, mild dysostosis multiplex, dysplastic hips, large unstable knees, large elbows and wrists, and flat feet
• The combined abnormalities usually result in a duck-waddling gait
• Mid-face hypoplasia and mandibular protrusion
• Thin teeth enamel
• Corneal clouding
• Mild hepatosplenomegaly

Even with his condition, Simon Birch believes almost unwaveringly that God has a specific purpose for him in this life.  The world's chiding does nothing but fuel Simon's belief that God will act through him specifically...that he is an instrument of the Lord.  While many might think of him having a purpose or a mission in spite of his challenges, Simon's message to the world is that he has these challenges for this purpose and this mission.  The film, based on John Irving's novel entitled A Prayer for Owen Meany, follows both Simon's search for his divine purpose and his best friend Joe's (Joseph Mazello) search for his biologic father.

It's quite possibly impossible for me to tell you all whether I laughed more than I cried or if it was the other way around.  I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this movie...nothing at all.  Would I recommend that you watch this movie?  No.  I would demand that you watch this movie.  It is 114 minutes of tears and laughter, doubt and faith, intolerance and acceptance,  and hypocrisy and devotion.  It is a brilliantly told story that needs to be heard by all.

Bottom line?  Just watch it.

Stay classy, everyone.  I'll leave you with a few words from Simon:  "Faith is not in a floor plan."

LT

Genevieve - a Photo Timeline

This will be short as I am getting ready to perform Troilus and Cressida this afternoon.  I'm so excited.  Anyway, here's the deal, I always get these e-mails from the humane society, checking up on if I'm taking care of my dog (not in a bad way [I think it's great...if you're going to get a dog, you sure as you know where better take care of it] but by giving me coupons to take care of her for like...food, beds, flea stuff...etc..

It's funny because, before I adopted Genevieve, her name was not as awesome.  Each e-mail refers to her using her name from the shelter.  Today's e-mail was titled thusly:

"Keep Grape protected from Fleas, Ticks, and Heartworm"

Yes...her name was Grape.  She and all of her siblings had seemingly fallen victim to being given names found in a fruit basket or the produce aisle.  Things have changed, and I don't think she remembers those days too often anymore.  (While I do joke about the name thing, I must say that the shelter is awesome and does wonderful work.)

Anyway, here's the point.  In said e-mails, they always include a picture of "Grape" from her brief time as a shelter resident.  I just had to share.

Grape...as she was when I met her.

The Dog formerly known as Grape (i.e. Genevieve).

I think this was the day Genevieve came home with me.

Genevieve with her pal Nelson.

Genevieve (I know...shocker) on the patio.

Somebody was eyeing my dinner....

Yeah...we're awesome.

Genevieve awkwardly sitting in front of the vacuum.

Genevieve, proudly being the focal point of
the first photo taken on my iPhone.

Okay that's all for now.  This was way more time consuming than I thought it would be...and I couldn't find some of the pictures I wanted.  My mom has them, so I'll hopefully put them on sometime soon.

Stay Classy (and come see Troilus and Cressida if you're at Butler!  LH 328, 3:50 pm.  TODAY!

LT

Hope For Tomorrow: Peace, Cooperation, and Understanding

This is the first post in what I hope will become a huge series of posts that show a hope for the world of tomorrow.  I ran into this article and video and had to share.  Unfortunately, the video is showing up awkwardly in my blog...but I've spent enough time trying to fix it (without success) and I just need to move on with my life.  So please click and watch in the blog, or go to the following link:

Jewish Residents, Muslim Mayor

My hope is that our world will begin to realize what those in Teaneck, New Jersey so beautifully display:  ALL PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE.

Stay Classy,

Lauren

Amazing Video from my Dad

My dad sent this video to me in an e-mail.  It's absolutely lovely, and you should really check it out if you have the time.  Be sure to press pause on the music that I have playing on the right-hand-side of my page so that you hear the David Crowder Band song in the video!  I always am bugged by that hassle of you guys having to stop the music from my blog to watch the videos...but I really love being able to share some of my favorite songs on my blog by having them play as people read.  Anyway, right now, as I write this, the music player looks like a cassette tape (I love this player so it will probably stay this way for a while)...so just find the pause button and pause it. :)

Cranberry Oatmeal and the 56th Psalm

This morning, I have substituted 1/4 cup cranberry juice for 1/4 cup (out of 1 1/2 cups) water in making my oatmeal.  It definitely gives it a new taste.  I haven't decided yet if it's good or bad...but I am eating it.

Anyway, I'll level with you all.  Honesty is key, right?  My Congenital Myasthenia Gravis has really been beating me up lately.  It's just really frustrating...because I want to live!  But in all honesty, I feel guilty for being frustrated, because yes, while to say that IT SUCKS trying to get through college with this asinine disease would be a gross understatement, it also seems foolish to say so.  Why?  I'll tell you why.

Because the odds have always been against me.  This isn't a pity party...just a fact fiesta (wow...not gonna lie...that was clever).  I wasn't supposed to live.  Then I wasn't supposed to walk.  I wasn't supposed to make it through school or even be able to try to go to college, honestly.  But I'm here.  I'm doing it.  I'm doing it very slowly, yes, but I'm doing it.

Sometimes (okay, no...always) it is hard for me to remember that there is a line between doing my best and being the best.


And that's kind of where I am at right now, I think.  I don't know.  It's just disheartening to me that doing my best isn't always going to be the best.  It makes me feel even more behind everyone else than I really am, I think.

Sometimes I don't know who my worst enemy is.  You know the famous adage "I am my own worst enemy"?  Lots of times I think that I am that way.  But here's the thing.  My whole life I have been trying to live in the mindset that I am not my disease and my disease is not me.  So this genetic defect that is always trying to keep me down...that is not who I am....  So is the genetic defect my worst enemy?  Or is my mental/emotional/spiritual struggle with that defect my worst enemy?  And if so...is that struggle me? Am I that struggle?  I don't think so.  I hope not.  I don't want to be defined by what's wrong with me.

I'm pretty blessed to not have armies or angry people swearing to kill me.  I'm not persecuted in that way.  (This is my attempt at a segue.)  But I've always been fighting against my body to do what I want.  And this shell that I live in has been doing its best to hold me back for 23 years.  So in a sense...I feel persecuted by myself...but involuntarily...if that makes any sense.  Anyway...when I was eating my oatmeal (actually I have yet to finish it) I read this Psalm which gave me some hope or insight or comfort or something like those things.

Psalm 56

Trust in God under Persecution

To the leader:  according to The Dove on far-off Terebinths.  Of David.

A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;

all day long foes oppress me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many fight against me.

O Most High, when I am afraid,

I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I am not afraid;

what can flesh do to me?

All day long they seek to injure my cause;

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They stir up strife, they lurk,

they watch my steps.

As they hoped to have my life,

so repay them for their crime;

in wrath cast down the peoples,

O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;

put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your record?

Then my enemies will retreat

in the day when I call.

This I know, that God is for me.

In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I am not afraid.

What can a mere mortal do to me?

My vows to you I must perform, O God;

I will render thank offerings to you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,

and my feet from falling,

so that I may walk before God

in the light of life.

All that I can say is thank you Lord for Your Word, Your guidance, and Your Son...all of which take this life of mine and make it mean something, turning my burdens into opportunities to seek You further.

Well of course, that's not all I can say...but the following is not about Psalm...

I can also say that my cranberry oatmeal experiment was probably a one time only deal.  Not sure it's good.  Also, it is now cold.  I will finish it now, and continue on with my day as best as I can.  My plan is not to fight against my body (it is doing what it is doing for some reason) but to Stand with the Lord.

Peace and Blessings to you all on this Tuesday.

Stay Classy,

LT

"These Kids Needed Us and We Have an Obligation to Change This"

I'm Doing It

I know I've said it before.  And I did mean it before.  And I mean it again.  I'm getting back into shape.  I'm gonna do this.  Not for anybody else.  For me.  What's different now that will allow me to do it this time when I couldn't before?  I don't know.  Maybe nothing is all that different.  But I have an entirely new life (well, almost entirely) and I want to be able to live it happily and healthily.

Today's workout will commence at 5:00pm.  I could go on and on (shocker, I know) about how I'm getting back on track with things, but I won't.  Why?  Because as I wrote in the paragraph above, my life is not entirely new.  Some things still remain.  What things, you may ask?

Loads and loads of schoolwork.

I'm out.
SC,
LT

Little Bit Absent

Hey everyone,

I realize I've been a little bit absent on here.  I've just been spending a lot of time living my life (this new version of it, anyway) and getting acclimated.  Life in the apartment is great.  Will post pictures soon.  And to those of you who fear that I've given up on my cooking/blogging adventure...fear not.  I've been cooking, and documenting (of course) but just haven't put up any blogs yet.  But I will.  Just finding a schedule and a rhythm (2 essential things in my little corner of the world) and haven't yet found the optimum spot for writing.

Finishing up my last model for last semester's scenography class.  So 2 things will come out of that.  1.  Pictures of the set (if it's worth looking at...which honestly, I'm proud to say that I think it will be). 2.  More time...I think.

Anyway, just wanted to post something.  So that was it.  Oh...and one more thing...

Genevieve proudly sporting her new collar.
She's dealt with the move pretty well.

So that's what's going on here.  Model work.  Then work work.  Then homework.  Then a staff meeting.  Then Alpha Psi Omega.

Peace.

Life is a Gift

This post is for everyone...but especially for my Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome friends (via blogs) Kyla and Luke.  (Hey guys!)

Anyway...seriously, like I said.  This is for EVERYONE.  I ran into this video on Facebook this morning.

I don't even know what to say.  There are so many things to say but I think I will say them later.  First I just want anyone who just watched the video above to let Nick's words resonate within you.

Love and peace to everyone.

Lauren

Yerba Mate

I was working on a biology paper this afternoon (at times it seems that that is all that I do anymore) and Kyle came home from having coffee with his friend/fellow Sunday School Teacher.  He walked into the house, greeted lovingly by Chance, Genevieve, and Nelson, and stopped behind the half-wall that divides the kitchen/eating area from the family room.

"I have an early apartment warming gift for you," he said, and further explained that it was also a gift because he noticed that I've been working very hard on these biology papers and he thought I might need some relaxation.

I closed my eyes and held out my hands, as instructed, and when I opened my eyes I saw that he had gotten me a traditional Yerba Mate Gourd and Bambilla.  The drinking of Yerba Mate is a common social practice in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, eastern Bolivia, and southern and western Brazil.  It's kind of supposed to be a miracle drink.  Sign me up!  Anyway, in some of its countries of origin it is consumed more than coffee in a ratio of 7:1.

I had my first try at it this afternoon.  I had about 3 or 4 gourds full.  Don't remember exactly how many it was...I was writing biology papers (shocker).  Let me tell you what...it has an INTENSE taste!  It was almost kind of overwhelming.  I'm thinking it's kind of an acquired taste.  But that's said about beer too and I've been able to acquire a taste for that just fine.

We're talking energy, antioxidants, blah, blah, blah...(those are reverent "blahs" not negating "blahs")...but it also...are you ready for this?

Get ready?

It kinda saves the friggin rain forests (which, due to my millions of biology papers, I know is very important to do) and by extension the friggin world!

And on top of that.  I'm kind of in love with the people at this company.  Check out this vid.

So...I'm looking at trying to make a conscious life change, here.  Those of you who know me know that I kind of do that all the time...but oh well.  Anyway, I'm trying this whole Yerba Mate thing out.  I think it could be great.  I was reading the pamphlet that came with it and it was telling me about the cultural gourd drinking ceremony...it's done among family and friends...loved ones.  

I said to Kyle "It sounds just like smoking Hookah." 

He said "...well yeah, or a peace pipe."

"Except drinking tea is better for you than smoking."

"Well yeah, Lauren...most things are actually."

You're welcome to those of you who were afraid of going through your day without a dose of Kyle's wisdom.

Peace out, Stay Classy!
Lauren Elizabeth

A Discussion Between Children

I've been pretty wrapped up in work stuff and writing biology papers lately...so I was oddly unaware of something upsetting that happened in my community.

Yesterday, after work, I headed over to the house of some friends (who I more quickly would label as family) to have our family night (like I said).  We have family night every Tuesday.  But with Annette and McKenna in Elkhart Civic Theatre's upcoming production of Meet Me in St. Louis, we hung out on Friday this week instead of Tuesday, due to their rehearsal schedule.  And of course...what does one do on the Friday of the Elkhart County 4-H Fair?  Well, one goes to the rodeo!  What else?  So we went to the rodeo!

I always love a rodeo (which may seem funny to the people in Indianapolis, but I was a farm girl before I was an actress) and I always love being with them, so it was a win win situation.  It was a great time.  Aside from me getting a massive headache, everything was pert near fantastic, if you will.

My headache got to be a little too much to handle, and it was getting late anyway, so in between the barrel racing and the calf roping, we left to go home...or we tried.  We had the hardest time finding the van in the parking lots.  We finally did and got in to go home.

Somewhere in the conversation in the car, a word like "terrible" or something like that came up.  I don't know what it was for sure.  But Annette said, "Speaking of [terrible], Aidan I was so sorry to hear about the tower at Ox Bow."  (It wasn't one of her smoothest segues, but it was a lovely segue, nonetheless.)  Until that point I'd not heard what had happened.  But the observation tower at Ox Bow park was just burned to the ground by vandals.  It's a big deal here.  Everybody knows about the tower.  Everybody's seen the tower.  Everybody's at least climbed the four story tower at least one time in their life.  And now it's gone.

Elkhart Truth Article

After we were all silent for a while, no doubt remembering our times at the tower (at least I was), Aidan and McKenna started talking.

Kenna:  I just don't get it.  Why would anybody do that?  It's not like they're getting any money out of it...and that's what people are so crazy for sometimes right?

Aidan:  Sometimes...people just do things to hurt other people.

Kenna:  Well, I don't get it.

The car was silent.  I could sense that McKenna was waiting for an answer.  Aidan was quiet, not having an answer in his arsenal of knowledge (this boy knows so much about so much...it's so lovely).   But he didn't have an answer to this one.  So maybe it was an adult question/answer.

Neither Annette, nor Jeff, nor myself had an answer though.  At least I know that I didn't, and nobody else offered one up.

The only response was a shared sense of non-comprehension.

Why do people do things just to hurt other people?


I don't have an answer to that.  I don't understand the whole concept.  And even if I had the chance to understand it...I don't think that I'd want to.

Click here to join a group on Facebook to show your support for the rebuilding of the tower.

Overload

I encourage anyone reading this to just chill.  Get off of Facebook.  Get off of Twitter.  Stop reading blogs. Not forever.  But just for a bit.  Just chill.

Take some time to be with yourself.

I'm not saying that everyone HAS to do this.  I'm simply informing everyone that I'm going to at the end of this post.  We spend so much time away from ourselves.  Reading about other peoples' thoughts.  Looking at pictures of other peoples' experiences.  Wondering what those thoughts and experiences mean.  Or at least I catch myself doing these things.  Caught myself doing it tonight.  If I'm alone here, please let me know.

Anyway.  I don't think that we do this on accident.  This removal from ourselves.  It may be subliminal but I don't think that it's inadvertent.  If we remove ourselves from the chaotic overload of everyone else's lives and our lives in relationship to theirs...what are we left with?

Our own minds.

Seems to me that whenever I just chill and take a trip through my mind there are some cobwebs, some things I meant to move around or donate, and some thoughts that worry me enough that I don't want to stay there.  So I leave and vow to deal with stuff [maybe] the next time that I come back.

Maybe...just maybe...if when I find some cobwebs in my mind...I get a broom tall enough to reach them and knock them down, then my mind will be a more pleasant place to visit in the future.  Furthermore, if I'm successful in this way, and am more aware of my own mind, thoughts, and feelings, then I will be better prepared to relate with others.

I'm not saying it's a guaranteed fix for feeling paralyzed in social situations...but I'm going to give it a shot.

So for tonight...I'm out.

Ask yourself who you are.  Ask yourself what do you want to be.  Ask yourself what do you believe.

Don't ask others.  They don't know the answers.  Only you do.  And if you find yourself unable to retrieve the answers...maybe it's time to sit down and commit to some.

The Ties That Bind

There are so many questions in a life.  There is so little time to ask them.  There is even less time to wait for the answers.  But forcing answers may bring insincerity to a life.  To all of the lives connected to that life.

And what of that life and those connected lives?  How are they connected?  And just what are the ties that bind them or that have bound them together in the past?

Just as the human body instinctively heals itself, are our souls not inclined to do the same?  It seems to me that they are, but that there is a distinct and notable difference between the healing of the body and the healing of the soul.  The process is essentially the same.  Aesthetically, the outcome is the same as well.

When a knee is scraped, the body immediately goes to work, producing a scab, covering up the wound, and keeping any possible forthcoming dangers at bay.  In time, if the scrape is small enough, the evidence disappears without a trace.  A deeper cut or more serious injury may end up leaving a scar.  That scar serves as a reminder to the knee's owner that they'd better be careful the next time they go climbing the tree in the back yard.  This reminder simultaneously acts as a news bulletin to all who lay eyes on the knee: This knee has been hurt.

The souls of people are woven together in a complex tapestry that when glanced at from afar looks much more smooth than it actually is.  Each moment in time, even when we are not aware of it, we are each weaving our way through our life stories, and through the life stories of those around us.  It seems that we are intertwined in such a way that we do not realize the extent of our souls' connections until something happens, whether that something is good or bad (or in the gray area where most of the world exists).  So when something happens...when threads become frayed or severed, it is felt by the closely surrounding areas of the tapestry.  When threads are snipped there are a few things that can be done.  The one remedy with the least effort but maybe also the most possible destruction is to just leave it.  If you leave a loose thread, and don't ever touch it or mess with it, there's a possibility that it may make it through.  But that leaves two threads, raw and bare, with no support or protection.  A loose thread can also weave itself in an out of other surrounding threads, finding support and community.  Or, if the protection of one's heart is the main concern, a loose thread can simply follow the example of the human body and cover itself up, closing out anything and everything else that may come along.  But when we essentially cover ourselves like aglets on shoelaces, we cut ourselves off from life itself.

So what happens when severed threads wish to try knotting themselves together once more?  What happens when you've got a handful of aglets, bumping against each other, longing for the way things used to be?  I'd hazard a guess that things will never be the way that they used to be...but that's not to say that they could not be better than they are now.

How does one begin tying that knot?  Does the knot begin with apologies or forgiveness?  Which thread initiates it?  When, if ever, to the aglets come off?  And maybe most importantly, if the threads were to successfully weave themselves together...would they ever be able to live with the fact that there are some obvious knots where it once seemed that they were fused together without a hitch?

A Song for Today

I'm at a point in my life...I think...a point where life twists and turns and takes you to various places...and it's just weird to recognize that while I'm at that point in my own life, one of those closest to me is at that point in her own as well.  Today...one of the dearest people in my life, a girl who may know me even better than I know myself, a puzzle piece of my soul, and my best friend...was taking a nap in my bed before she went to work .  I was reading A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen.  Nickel Creek (one of our shared favorites) was playing in the background.  She was sleeping soundly.  I was studying soundly.  But then a song came on that kind of broke down this invisible wall of strength that I've been trying to maintain for a while.

When You Come Back Down

By: Nickel Creek

You got to leave me now, you got to go alone
You got to chase a dream, one that's all your own
Before it slips away
When you're flyin' high, take my heart along
I'll be the harmony to every lonely song
That you learn to play

When you're soarin' through the air
I'll be your solid ground
Take every chance you dare
I'll still be there
When you come back down
When you come back down

I'll keep lookin' up, awaitin' your return
My greatest fear will be that you will crash and burn
And I won't feel your fire
I'll be the other hand that always holds the line
Connectin' in between your sweet heart and mine
I'm strung out on that wire

And I'll be on the other end, To hear you when you call
Angel, you were born to fly, If you get too high
I'll catch you when you fall
I'll catch you when you fall

[Bridge:]
Your memory's the sunshine every new day brings
I know the sky is calling
Angel, let me help you with your wings

When you're soarin' through the air
I'll be your solid ground
Take every chance you dare

I'll still be there
When you come back down
Take every chance you dare,
I'll still be there
When you come back down
When you come back down 

This friend of mine...this sister to my soul...is graduating soon (she's a little bit more on time with her education than I am).  She's going on and following her dreams.  That is the best that I could ever ask for or wish for her.  And I do.  EVERY OUNCE of me is in full support of where she's going and what she's doing.  There must be absolutely no mistake about that.  There's no "but" here...just an "and."

...and the thing is...no matter how much I love her and wish the best for her and NEVER EVER would want to hold her back...there is this regrettably human selfishness within me that just doesn't know what I'm going to do without her by my side.  I am my own person.  A beautiful person.  I know I will still be me on my own.  Okay...here's the "but," I guess I lied...but...we complament each other.  Yes...I know that that is incorrect spelling.  It's a made up word that combines both "compliment" and "complement" because we do both.

Anyway...I woke her up from her nap.  I was crying but didn't want to say why.  I don't want her to feel anything but love and support from me.  At the same time though...I don't want her to think that this is going to be easy for me.  It doesn't matter that it's not going to be easy...life isn't easy, period.  But what I'm saying is that I don't want her, for a moment, to think that she's unappreciated, unloved, or that my heart doesn't cry itself dry when I think of her living on the West Coast...instead of a few blocks away.

I think that's all that I have to say.  For now anyway.  We're sitting in the library.  She's being studious and studying and I am blogging.  Something is wrong with this picture.  I just wanted to put that out there.  Maybe if I break down crying tonight I'll just have her read this as an explanation.  Here's hoping that that doesn't happen though.  I look up to her so much.  As an actor, a designer, a woman, a sister, a friend, a person, and a soul.  I want nothing more for her to fly as high as she can.

Thanks for listening.

Peace, Hope, and Love,

LT

Stick Figures

"I think that, on average, I change what it is that I want to do with my life at least four times a day."

The above was said by myself.  Yes, that's right, I just quoted myself.  I never actually even said that.  I just said it in my brain.  Or thought it in my brain, I suppose that that's the correct way of putting it.  Regardless...I just put it in quotes because it made me feel of import and I'm all about self-empowerment these days.  Also...the four part is factually incorrect...I just like the number four.

Today, I've decided that I would like to express myself through stick figures.  Drawing them, however, is not my forté...oddly enough, more realistic sketching is easier for me.  (Must be those thousands of dollars that have been invested in theatre design courses.)

Anyway...here's my computer-made stick figure expression for today.  Please don't hope for more.  I'll probably want to do something else with my life come tomorrow...or maybe even later today.

Have an awesome day, everyone.  Peace.