I got into the sangria yesterday. And the beer. And the chianti. And the pinot grigio. Oops. D:< There was also turkey to be had - with the standard sides of turnip, potato and dressing. And gravy. Lots of gravy. I'll have to go light on the food for the next three days to be suitable for the 29th. Yey. My apologies for drunken shenanigans, though reeling in your bitch is still a generally good idea on Christmas. In fact, at *LazyGunn's suggestion, I am reeling in my bitch as we speak! Hopefully the whips and knives don't scare him too much.



Have any of you insane folk decided on any new year's resolutions? I've made up a few - including some pertaining to dA projects that y'all will see in action come February, hopefully - but the big one for me this year is to reduce my hair upkeep by about 90%. My hair shall be felted come August, so help me God. And the rest, I dare say, are too scandalous for this journal!


If anyone is fortunate enough to catch my 150k pageview, send me the screencap and I will make it well worth your while. In fact, I might make your wardrobe a little fuller, and your walls a little less bare!



Since the year is pulling to a close, I'd like to give a shout-out to some people on this site who have been hugely great to me this year - a lot of people, in fact. Firstly, my flock of hags - in no particular order, ^StJoan, `Mollinda, `anjules, @scarletwave, =jezebe11e, `robinism, `autumnights, `limnides, `oilsoaked, @leaf-lover and ^ArtisticAunJuli - all of whom have known me for years and aren't afraid to smack my ass with a paddle when the neurotic side comes out.

Thanks to the #flesh crowd who made me feel like I had a place to come home to this year when I appeared back online out of the rubble in September - ^wynnesome, ^quietchildae, ^opioid, *drackar, =kahl and *jzcj5 are five of the most utterly awesome people I've ever known, and two of the sexiest

More thanks to the people who have gotten to know me this year, who've been great friends and awesome to kick back and shoot the shit with - =KisayaMyst, =Calyptra, `HAL2008, *Ardeidae and her manbitch.

Especially big thanks to my partner-in-crime, `Athos-of-Light, and my wife `princessmorgan who collectively bring the sex factor of my life to over 9000; to `switchbladeserenade, @Little-Vampire, `r0b, `lazybutt, =thederangedone, *thephuse and $chix0r for being infinitely helpful with site things and occasionally being my co-conspirators; to lolly and $Dan14Lev for keeping me in peals of laughter with their e-whoring irrelevance; to `sodalicious and `Ghouldaddy for being simply the best folk around; and to =emothemurdok for reaching out to me now that we live in the same city and wedging herself firmly into my life with a pail of sweet potato sushi.

But, most of all, thank you - yes, you - for reading my stuff, commenting, and making my experience on this site all the more rewarding. Particular shout-outs here to @Xerces who tirelessly comments on everything I upload, and *MerelyMarquis who with his conversational aptitude has put about half of my journals on the today page.

And bonus thanks to the staff and volunteers of deviantART - without you, there would be no site for us to network and share our experience on.

Things in this town are flux forever.

It's small, and stagnant in terms of growth and who is here, but it's in constant flux with inner politics - rather Peyton Place-ish. There's the people losing everything, the woman being threatened anonymously by some goon in a truck, the crazy who's had a breakdown, the woman who's still gnawing on lipstick five months later, the crooked business owner who lives off of lawsuits, the crackheads buying their four-dollar sherry at the wine store.

This town has almost too many memories for me - too many places I don't want to revisit, too many faces I don't want to see. Yet there are also many who I crave, after a two-month absence - mostly coworkers and high school friends. I'm happy I don't live here, that's for damn sure.

Last night, I had a quiet night in with my parents and great-aunt. We drank cheap Chianti (the good bottle's coming out tonight, so help me God), and played cards, and were all in bed by eleven. I got nine hours of sleep before the midget started clawing at the bottom of my mattress and singing in an effort to make me homicidal, I reckon.

I spent the morning at the flower shop I used to work at, spending time with my coworkers - who were all curious about the "cute little American" I brought around last time I was here - and then watched soaps all afternoon. I haven't had TV in months, so it was nice. I made dinner, some meatloaf and sweet potatoes, and ate that soul food until my stomach was distended. It was the first time since the summer that I overate, well, at least during a meal.

I also had the pleasure of seeing my ex while safely in my father's car last night, the ex who turned into the cunt from hell, recall. I say "safely" for his sake, not mine. He's no threat to me, but if he ran into me, he'd best watch his mouth, because I am open to a fists-out fight if he tries to start anything.

I'm spending the day tomorrow brainstorming some plans and ideas for `ArtistsForCharity, and possibly baking with a former coworker in preparation for the holidays. I have to meet up with ~cestmoi at some point to collect my memory card for the camera, which I totally forgot on my computer in Ottawa, and probably drink a bottle of wine and commiserate with her mother. Wednesday's being spent with one of my best friends and her children, and then my mother's birthday party that night, and then it's Christmas and all shit will go bananas.

I'll be online a lot the next few days, though probably not for long when I am - focusing on planning for some projects, including dA ones. 'Nuff said.

In the meantime, deviate safely, and enjoy the features to ensue!

-IB

Make of it what you will.

<sub>Like anyone would be
I am flattered by your fascination with me
Like any hot blooded woman
I have simply wanted an object to crave
But you're not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight


Must be strangely exciting
To watch the stoic squirm
Must be somewhat heartening
To watch shepard meet shepard
But you're not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight


Like any uncharted territory
I must seem greatly intriguing
You speak of my love like
You have experienced like mine before
But this is not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight


I don't think you unworthy
I need a moment to deliberate</sub>

I need a moment to deliberate, it seems. I find it amusing that the recollection of one incident can make you see clearly the cause of your negative perceptions, when you'd not even thought anything of it before then.

In the meantime, Alanis Morissette is my friend. More Alanis lyrics, you say?

<sub>You seem very well, things look peaceful
I'm not quite as well, I thought you should know
Did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity?
I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner

[...]

Cause the joke that you laid in the bed
That was me and I'm not gonna fade
As soon as you close your eyes, and you know it
And every time I scratch my nails
Down someone else's back I hope you feel it
Well, can you feel it?

And I'm here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It's not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know</sub>

^opioid is having a Corset Raffle - and her corsets are damned nice, as evidenced in the following thumb:

The tickets are $2 each, with a maximum of ten per ... entrant? And with the corsets having a retail value of OVER 9000 3.8-cent units, even at $20 worth of tickets it's an amazing deal for the winner! So be sure to enter, if not for you then for the person in your life who would think a corset would be the finest gift ever!

I'm taking a bit of a life vacation - have been for the past week, and will continue it until the 29th. This means I'm more active on here than I have been of late - which right now means trying to come up with ideas for publicity for `ArtistsForCharity, approving membership requests at #SeniorMembers, monitoring the happenings at the Copenhagen summit for #publicoutreach (expect a big-ass report on which governments ended up being the suck sometime this weekend), perpetually looking for more smurf art for #smurfplz, and joining some one-off groups like #MaturexContent, #moustache-enthusiast, #hippies and #ProjectPositivity. All of these projects merit a closer look, and, of course, once again, let me stress that FOR ANYONE WITH ANY INKLING OF ANY EMOTION APART FROM APATHY ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES, +MEMBERREQUEST #publicoutreach. 21 members out of the millions on deviantART at large speaks to the apathy of our generation - so if you're not an apathetic little sack of smugness, JOIN THE FUCKING GROUP.
As an aside, I am so done looking for work until after Christmas. Fuck that scene.

Okay, so here goes - a list of people who could use some positivity and love sent their way, because it's the holiday season and once again, anyone without apathy should be having some desire to spread cheer to people in less-than-ideal situations. Some of these folk are very good friends of mine, some are people I hardly know, but all of them - all of them - need any positivity they can find.

I couldn't even begin to start in on this story, so I'll leave it at this - he's been a source of strength for me for years, and now he needs the strength more than anyone else I know. This journal - [link] - summarizes the current situation with him, and it's heartbreaking. While you're at it, go show some extra love to *EveningDownpour, his sister, who has been amazing to Bill's friends and watchers, posting his updates and keeping us in the loop - while it may seem she's not been online in a while, I have reason to believe she has. How about some Bill/Nic features, then? Some words to make you all bawl?




^bQw lost a leg; also, `oilsoaked, `Mollinda, ^StJoan (just because), =volcomchick, =emothemurdok. I've a feeling that I am missing about 900 people here, but those are the ones who pop into mind. Show them some affection.

14:01:09 <r0b> Do you sexy people like my new ID?
14:02:41 <IBinsanity> r0b: as usual, your face has given me a visible erection

-IB out

Life's been zooming by - which has its benefits, since it's now 18 days until a reunion that I'm looking forward to greatly. It also means it's 14 days until Christmas, which implies time spent with my family - and free laundry facilities. I spent the past couple nights clutching my moleskine and pen and writing frantically about the history of a family that doesn't exist, and a few monologues that are so passionately bitter that I'll have to infuse them with some honey if ever I want them to see the light of day.

Yesterday was International Human Rights Day, and I ended up feeling like utter crap for most of the evening, so didn't make it out to a function where the executive director of Amnesty International was having a dialogue with local fundraisers, and also didn't get anything done for #publicoutreach about the festivities. Next week I've got some direct-action stuff planned with Greenpeace regarding the climate change summit. Good times. I've also got some job hunting to do, yet again, because I was fed up of being spat at and called a terrorist by four out of every five people who saw me on the streets.

My love life is existent, and I won't comment further for fear of turning into an emotionally volatile chainsaw killer.

I'd kill for a coffee right now, but have $0.68 to my name. Thus is life. Instead, I'll make some watery tea with raw cane sugar, and stare at the freshly-cleaned snake tank until I get the urge to write something more.


I've been getting involved with a group or four - #IAMmodified and #ItDoesNotHaveMe for body modification and health awareness respectively, #The-Faerie-Garden for natural macros, and of course my baby #publicoutreach for activism and education about social issues [and, frankly, the only group that gets my full attention out of the four, at the moment]. I've also stepped up to help out with `ArtistsForCharity - not a group, but a good cause nonetheless, and one that I'd sincerely hope you all support.

I've also been creating some ... pre-art, shall we say. A project that I've been longing to do for a while now, that I've found a good format for, and a good inspiration. However, it is in planning stages at the moment, so it will be a while before it comes to full fruition.


... What of you? It seems like months since I've spoken to most of you. How are your lives? What's new? Have any unexpected children/amputations? Tell me a story. There may be something in it for you. >.>


<- Note: This is stock!