mandyseley

[mandyseley]

Kumquat STUNS in exclusive new pics!

[mandyseley]

[mandyseley]

Art is a sport

One common thing I see among artists who are just starting out is that they are very precious about their work -- ironically, way moreso than experienced artists. They need to get every line JUST right, because in their mind, getting that line just right is what stands between the piece being bad and it being good. I was like that too, for so long that I'm still struggling to catch up because of how it hampered my progress.

Being precious about every line is kind of like a track sprinter starting a run, but then restarting every time their foot lands in any slightly suboptimal way. This is comes off as silly, because we know that the "unit" of what they are doing is a sprint, and that they would make their greatest progress by finishing the full sprints, because that's how they train.

Well, similarly, the "unit" of art is a finished piece. What stands between the sprinter and the time they want isn't 1 individual step, but 1000 sprints. What stands between the beginner artist and making art they like the look of isn't that 1 line, but, i'm sorry to say, 1000 pieces.

Taking note of any mistakes you made afterwards is something done by both the experienced artist and experienced sprinter -- this is healthy and helps you improve. But you can do that later, after you're done.

That line is good enough.

[mandyseley]

random anecdote for father's day: one time during a long car ride my dad asked me, "you're familiar with Murphy's Law, right?" and i was like "isn't that the one about how anything that can go wrong will go wrong?" and he said "yeah, exactly" and i said "why do you ask?" and he went "well, have you heard of Cole's Law?" and i said "no, actually, what's that?" and he said "it's mostly lettuce and carrots with a little dressing mixed in"

[mandyseley]

You are trapped in an elevator with the person on your lockscreen. Who is it?

Reblog with who you get stuck with~

[mandyseley]

Rationalizing burning dvds (of digital content I freaking paid for) to myself by saying the guys in charge of streaming services are basically wretched little houseflies, rubbing their weird little forelegs together giggling "tee hee hee I own everything, keep paying to borrow my toys forever because they're aaaaall mine hee hee"

and I don't deal with invertebrates, you evolve a proper respiratory system and THEN maybe we can talk, you can beg me not to drop you in a fire ant nest.

...what was I on about? Oh yeah I should hook up our DVD burner.

[mandyseley]

Sir Dines! This densely packed piscine paladin is here to sling some savory scaled chivalry! Wielding a razor-sharp lid and bringing the brains of a whole tin of fellow fishes to the fray, Sir Dines takes on any oily challenge heads on! Fight honorably good Sirs! #0578

[mandyseley]

Pressure cookers are a common household example of a domesticated bomb

[mandyseley]

Not enough people know about the electroshocking boats

[mandyseley]

[mandyseley]

friends that understand your anti-social phases and don’t take it personally are important.

[mandyseley]

I like to fish, but despite living like 10-15 minutes from a few public fishing spots, I never go except for the larger fishing trips I go on with my Dad a couple times a year. But I've wanted to fish more, less "take time off work and make it a big event" fishing, more "just go drop a line in the water and see if I catch supper" fishing.

This past week I started slowly "getting ready" to fish. Got a pole, got the hook and bobber tied on, got a little cooler, put them in the car - just little bits and pieces whenever i thought of it. I figured "if there's nothing I need to get ready beforehand I'm more likely to do it."

It worked, I went fishing this evening after work for like an hour. All I had to do was get some bait (cut up bacon) and grab my keys. It was raining, but even that was kind of novel (when's the last time you stood around in the rain?) and fish like rain.

I caught two tiny bluegills and a turtle (oops. Got it off the hook and it was okay though) - nothing big enough to keep, but I still had a nice time just being outside in the quiet and shaking the rain off my hat now and again.

Also, now that I'm home and in dry clothes, I feel a little better than I usually do when I spend my after-work time aimlessly wondering what to do (or doomscrolling or something).

Just writing this down as a small win, and a reminder to future Mandy to perhaps keep up this "complete the invisible steps ahead of time" tactic.

Also, future Mandy: go outside, you keep running this experiment and it always ends with 'yes I feel a little better after an hour outside' so why are you such a homebody.

[mandyseley]

greener where you water it or whatever

[mandyseley]

[mandyseley]

i think i would like my people to be smarter and my tech to be stupider. is this anything

[mandyseley]

Ohhh that show was a hoot.

"The doors open on their own!" - the door was improperly hung.

"Suddenly there's a chill in the air!" - there's a draft in this room, replace the seal around your windows.

"A strange knocking sound, spirits are trying to get in!" - unbalanced washing machine.

"I hear crashes and otherworldly howls at night!" - you have cats.

I miss that paranormal home inspection show. It was always like:

Homeowner: "There's ghosts in this house!"

And then the psychics: "Yes! Yhe evil presence is so strong here! There is a malevolent entity in this house!"

The voice of reason home inspector: "Raccoons are having sex in your attic."

And then (to no one's surprise) both the homeowner and the psychics would decide not to believe the inspector.