Wednesday, July 13, 2005

I'll be back ...

...so behave!! (kidding!) Don't behave, please!!!!
Mwaaaa**~~*^* *

"The world is a better place without fear"

(Amen!)

I guess you've all heard about the site "we're not afraid" (same basis as the "we're sorry" site, do you remember?)

You should have a look at it (why not even participate?), not so much for the messages that are ermm basically the same (lol), but for the creativity expressed to share that message; I like a lot that concept :-)**~~*^* *

6th month

I've just had my 6th month' visit to the hospital yesterday.
And mr *mini-boy* and I are going purrrfectly! I expected some contractions and inner bits modifications, but nenene. It's all ok!
(happy sigh)

The only thingie that bothers the gyno and her colleague (why are they always 2 for the visists there? I wonder! I wish it would be more ermm intimate!), anyway, what bothers them is the time I'm going to spend by car during the holidays.
Ok, I'll be careful and that's all. They've given me tons of helpful medication "just in case". So it's gonna be ok :)

As for my weight... + 500 grammes! 500, my lucky number! I *noe* weight should not be a problem when you're preggie, but believe me... when you start with the 4 last months, you don't want to lose control over that!
So in the past month, I just took 500 grammes which is fine. Newt will be terrible then, it works like that, with me :P

But but... from the 26th week of pregnancy (next week for me), *they* say the baby and I will share an average of 400 new grammes every week. Ouch!

Our *mini-boy* should have a weight of 750 grammes now for a length of about 32cm. He swims happily (I feel him so often!) in a magic swimmingpool whose water is automatically changed every 3 hours. Paradise, hey?!
He can now suck his thumb, and he can start to cry!!!! Awww, can you believe that?!!! I won't let that happen!

I've new vitamines to take, iron, etc, that should help me with my so painful back. I'm very often blocked and it's fookin painful. You clearly feels that the hips and inner bits are getting somehow larger, spreading, for the final sprint! hehe

Despite the lil painful bits, Pregnancy's magic, definatly**~~*^* ***^^* *

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Dragoness' embrace

Here's a new painting that I can add to my series of, of... hmm... fantasy stuff? lol. Let's say it's the series on a whitish background. Yussss.

You just can't have a fantasy gallery without dragons, it's like hmm.. not selling beer when you have a pub! Impossible! :P

I don't know yet what kind of love there is between the dragon and the dragon-ish woman... Lovers? Not really no. Brother and sister? Sister and sister maybe, yes. Niece and Auntie? lol


click here

Memory back to life

Like every year, I've decided it was time to *organize* (eeeck, what an ugly word!) my archives. Text and photos.

I started with my 2004 blog. Had it printed. 255 pages that I have now to put together. When I look at my 2002 and 2003 "printed" years of blog, it's fookin cool to have them on paper. Zillions of souvenirs in a few pages. Very Preciousssss :)

And then I decided it would be the purrfect moment to get prints of our favourite photos. You know what it is with digit cams, you never have your photos printed anymore usually.
But I miss that. I luuuuvee photos albums.
We haven't had any print since hmmm august 2004. About a year! So I managed to select about 220 photos and hope to get the prints by Tuesday. I still wonder how much it gonna cost... eeeeck...!

"A CV is a marketing tool"

(running towards the bucket, throwing up that *marketing* word into it ;-)

I have given up since ages with the idea of getting a proper CV.
My original CV tells I've made great studies in English (lol! Don't laff, I am the only one allowed here ;-) and then studies in "international trade". Supa kewl.

Life has changed, and my original CV has been burnt (doing the yeepeeefree dance just thinking of it).
What a relief.

As I'm only starting in the illustration biz, as I haven't followed any "art courses" or participated to real painting exhibitions yet, it is hard to make a new CV.

So Martin and I thought we could make just a presentation page that I could use sometimes. Like right now, with the new manuscript I'm sending to editors.
The result on the paper isn't bad at all. I hope it will be a lil "plus" to attract the attention on my manuscript... who knows!

Sooo...: running to the bucket, looking desperatly for that fookin *marketing* word, it wasn't such a terrible one at the end! (shrugging) ;-)


click here

Herman #4

Et voilà, I've just signed a fourth contract for the Herman series! :-)
This time it's gonna be about a lil boy who's deaf.

It should not be printed too soon. Maybe at the same time as 2 other new "Herman" next year. We'll see.

But signing another contract just before leaving for holidays is fookin kewl :)

Thursday, July 07, 2005

1+1 = ????

Yesterday we discovered that the shrimpette could count in both ways: 1..2..3..4..5..6.., etc and 6..5..4..3..2..1..
So I thought I'd make of her a genius teaching her the basics ;-)

A fly was turning around us. I asked her: "what do 1 fly + 1 fly make?" And she said: "2 flies!" (while shrugging)
(Oh gawd, Lola was really turning into a genius!)

Then I said: "Soo, what do 1 mama + 1 mama make?". She shrugged again and answered: "But that makes... 1 fly!"

(...)

What's happening in my cauldron?

Ouch! 2 posts about food today and I swear it (spitting!), it's not my fault! ;-)
Rather France and Fennelin's fault, naturally!
France, a *blogfriend* of blogfriends, has just given me the boiling cauldron to answer a questionary. (I translate it in English in my way, as usual, ok?).
About France, I know about nothing, except her food habits ;-), and her sense of humour and sensitivity that come along with her comments on the bloggies I visit. The rest is to be discovered, which is kewl. Time will make its work :)

Anyway, here we go with the questionary:

Do you remember your very first time (S) ? (the first time you cooked! tsss!)
yup! 2 spoons of mud + 100g of daisies + 2 white stones and 3 brown ones. Add a lot of water and mix everything together.
That was my first soup! (bowing)

What has influenced your way of cooking?
Love. I can cook for my other half, for the shrimpette and friends. They're my main motivation to spend time in the kitchen.

Do you have an old pic showing you started really early to express yourself in the culinary world? Wanna share it with us?
Well, all my pocket money was spent for candies. I luved them all, except the flying saucers with powder inside, you know?
So the way I expressed myself in the culinary world was just to satisfy my sugary fantasies.
With on top of my list, the chocolate teddies:


yummmmm!


Do you have some kind of "culinary phobia"? Some recipes, dishes, that would make you run away, screaming?
Using boiling oil to cook anything. It stinks and makes me feel I'm getting fatter without even eating anything. Yuuuuck
Then when it comes to food... Beef tongue, tuna and Eels... I just can't stand fish'taste in general, but tuna and eels... it's just the worst of the worst (and beyond the taste, I get the Die Blechtrommel's images stuck in my mind!)

What kitchen utensil do you use the most often? Which one do you almost never use?
my nose, the only ustensil that will tell me if it gonna be a success, or not.
I never use robots, broke the last one I tried to use!

Tell us what kind of strange food association you really like?
camembert + honey, raw beef without any association at all (hard question at the end, because all what I eat seems normal to me!)

What are the 3 dishes or type of food that you abso bloodilutely need to *live*?
beef (carpaccio or tartare), seafood, (water)melon + cakes in general (flan, millefeuille, St H., éclair au café, tarte aux myrtilles). I'm serious, I rilly need them! :P

Is there another question you'd have liked to answer here?
I'm actually glad nobody asked "how much do you spend with food every week?", that would be scary if we really counted.

Your favorite icecream?
mango

You'll never eat...:
(I'll never eat..."again") rice pudding (well I had it once during my first trip in UK, I thought I'd die!!! I think I did actually, for a few minutes!)

What's your favorite dish, the one you always make purrrfectly:
I don't like to cook, it's a man's job of course ;-)! But, I am VERY good at la crème aux oeufs (eggs'cream?), the one you had with your grand mama when you were a kid, you know?

Now.... whoever, spending more than 5 minutes in the kitchen everyday, is allowed to answer this questionary on his/her blog! Ohh Yeahhhhhh!

Fennelin's pie: tested and approved!

My grand-ma came back from hospital last weekend. She went there 2 times in 3 weeks (sigh), and she isn't ready to go back there again before a hundred years me thinks!
She's ok, a bit exhausted though...

But not exhausted enough to stay away from her kitchen to prepare some great family lunch!
Last weekend, we told her we'd bring the dessert, keeping in mind Fennelin's recipe: his cherry pie!

I prepared the cherries, then Lola made the pie with the help of Martin! Watta family organization! :)
In 10 minutes it was done, ready to be put in the oven. Heaven!
And the result was really RILLY good, a success with the whole family!

Thank you, Fennelin!

I don't like to cook, well I actually hardly ever cook, lol... but trying friends' recipes is fantastic, another way to be connected with them, to discover bits of them.
Sooo, my cooking gang is ready for anything new, easy and yummy! :)


click here


For the non french-speaking ones, here's the recipe (sorry for the baaad translation):
1 short crust pastry
300g of cherries
5 eggs
140g of sugar
100g of almond powder
90g of butter

You mix the eggs + sugar + almond powder, add the butter, then put it on the pastry and add the cherries. Put in the oven for 45 min. Et voilà, Guten Appetit!

Monday, July 04, 2005

Dorothée Catafée

One long year after I've started with my *new book project*, I've finished it!
The manuscript is ready to be sent this week to a first wave of editors.

48 pages with illustrations (I will show you more soon, no time right now). Which is a lot!

The story?
In a few words... Dorothée Catafée (easily translated by "Dorothy Catastrofairy") is a young magician learning to be a great one. But she's never really careful with her tricks and spells and often makes mistakes that provokes "catastrophes". This time she makes disappear all the cats around. The mice will take the opportunity to enjoy life to the maximum (eating all what they can) which will make them huge and will be the beginning of a series of terrible problems.

I prefer not telling much for now, but I've worked hard for the book to be funny first (story and illustrations), adapted to young children, and dealing with a topic dear to my heart: the environment and how our apparently insignificant actions can damage it.

I'm proud (well, yes!), my best work regarding manuscripts so far. I just cross my bits tight so that an editor gets interested with it.
And if it does not work here (but sometimes you have to wait 6 months before getting an answer!!!), I will try with German editors in autumn! RoaRRRRRRR!


click here

Happy happy 4th!

America's celebrating its birthday today, and I join my glass of champomi to their glass of (what do American drink on party time?) exotic beverage!

America's an easy target for us arrogant French (as we are for them I think ;-), just because we look at life differently probably. Stoopid, no?

Well, I will still spit in the bucket when it comes to death penalty there, international politics, the NRA, their rather extreme nationalism and lots of other topics that make me tremble in my boots.
And why do we talk and criticize that much America when it comes to these fields? Not because of some kind of stoopid hatred I think, rather because America's a kind of leader, whether we want it or not, and as a leader, as a "leading democracy", we expect a lot from them.
We love them to promote freedom, of course, but not with the guns.
That's about it on my side.

Culturally speaking, I gotta say I'm almost in love with America. Its writers, its poets, its independent cinema, its music. Only a beauDiful country could give birth to so many talented souls!

Lucky French

Live 8 in Tokyo: Björk
Live 8 in London: Pink Floyd, McCartney, Madonna, U2, etc
Live 8 in Moscow: Pet Shop boys

... Live 8 in Versailles: Kyo, Axelle Red, Calogero, David Hallyday, Florent Pagny, etc.

Something rather strange with the last gang of singers, neeee? :P

If you're not French or from a French-speaking country, you've probably neber heard of our Live 8's gang; and if you think you've missed anything here... well I really can't help you!

Friday, July 01, 2005

"Dis, comment tu t'appelles?" "A440"

How is it going on your musical planet?
I wanna crispy news, good advice about new albums, etc!

On my planet, hmmm, less news than I'd like!
I bought the last Garbage, which is (yawn) average. I also got the last Apocalyptica, which was so disappointing, and same with Sin City soundtrack. Just had to sell them again immediatly! It's done ;-)

And then I found a lil treasure: Beck's last album, Guero.

I don't hear much about Beck, but his albums are always something, I tell you. So creative, so inspired! Just what I need :-)**~~*^* *

About concerts, it's getting quiet... The only one that one should not miss is Depeche Mode on next february! A bit less exciting than a few years ago, but yet, it's DM! RoaRRRRR



But then, if you'd rather pay to have a good laugh (my opinion, huh), you have much more choice... see, lots of funny concerts to come: A-Ha, Alice Cooper, Brian Adams, Michael Bolton, Scorpions, Korn or..tada... Motorhead! LOL
I still wonder which is the funniest, all of them get their own ermm *funny charm*!

And for the 2 only Motorhead's fans on earth that I know, James Hetfield, and Martin (nods nods!), here's one of the best Motorhead picture I've ever seen:


(droooling...not!!!:P)(LOL)


Cheers, boys!

In the boots of a fatty, yeahh, but a happy fatty!

I'm starting my 6th month now, hoping it will be one of the best!
So far, month #4 was really good. Month #5 welcome me with that fookin cold and much tiredness again. I wish I could take medication, tea and honey are just not enough at all!
But I'm ok today (even if Lola woke 3 times last night), which is an excellent sign!

Our *miniboy* moves enough to remind me he is my best vitamine ;-) But he moves way less than Lola for the moment, which is kewl.
Now he seems to require much more space than the shrimpette. My belly inflates without any way to control it a bit. The photos below are a good proof of it :P

I am not longing forward getting more kilos now, I tell you.
I still wonder about women telling they feel so wonderful when they're preggie!
You feel heavy and slow all the time, the libido finds it hard to express itself as wanted, you start to feel it hard to move or walk quickly, you find it impossible to sleep properly, the belly and back are getting more and more painful too (the uterus getting bigger, it clearly pushes everything around! ouch! ;-).

Talking of sleep, I wake up several times in the night, and always one time at 5.43 am precisely! A couple of friends told me it was a *sign*, the *miniboy* will join in the very early morning. Hehe... I hope not! Make him join at about 11.00 am on the weekend, that will be purrfect!

Anyway, I have time to think about that:)

I've just read that when you start the 6th month, the papa can stick his hear to the mama's belly and listen at the baby's heartbeats! No kidding!!! We try that tonight! Wooooo!!! (lol when I tell Martin "oh tonight I wanna try *something* new!", not sure he'll expect the heartbeats! hehe)
Our *miniboy* should have a weight 560g and is not about 28 cm long. When I read such measures, I still look at my belly as if it was a magic box! ;-) **~~*^* *

Soo, I'm now in the second part of the pregnancy, which I'll call the *biggest* part which means everything! :P