Pooka profile picture

Pooka

Art is letting the eyes, and not the brain, tell your hands what to do.

About Me


We stand not only as a reminder to others of just what horrible things the world can do to a person, but as a reminder that, even if you do slip, fall, break your leg, shoot your dog, lose your truck, spill your beer and land on your face in cowshit, it can still be funny.
Now where's my damn coffee?
Surgeon General's Warning: Some content of "From Pooka's Crayon" may not be suitable for: work, blue-haired little old ladies, the politically-correct, rabid moonbats, uptight mothers, priests, chronic idiots, insurance claims agents, Democrats, children, small furry quadropeds from Alpha Centauri, or your sanity. Oxygen may be required. Have the paramedics on speed dial.
Just consider yourself warned.
This is what I pretend to do for a living. No, really. My work has been in several RPG modules, and a TCG that ended up going nowhere, alas. At least I have my copies of the game.
--I have two daughters, one (sigh) a teenager. I'm owned by three cats, and barely tolerated by a fourth. Both my daughters are crafters, and the cats seem to be into it as well, from the amount of "help" they insist on giving me when I'm working.
--I'm "permanently disabled," "handicapped" -- whatever you (or the legals) want to call it. I have Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, bilateral upper limb; Arnold Chiari Malformation I; Occipital Neuralgia; Cervical Spinal Stenosis, C4; Peripheral Neuropathy; Osteoarthritis ... and every time I go to the doctor, I'm paranoid they're going to add something ELSE to the list.
Crafting is my primary therapy, both for fine motor skills AND for keeping me mentally sharp. Can't brain fog while using a blowtorch!
And no, I do NOT LOOK LIKE ALYSON HANNIGAN!!
Note: I do not use Internet Exploder, so this page may look marginally wonky in it since I have no idea why it works in Firefox and Mozilla and not IE. Any IE geniuses want to figure that one out for me?

My Interests

Jewelry making, silversmithing, Ancient Egypt, dharma, felting, enameling, resin, PMC, weaving, illustration, CGI, comic books, biotechnology, forensics, lampwork, digital photography, bead weaving, crafting, Mythbusters, Four Noble Truths, insomnia, Joss Whedon, archaeology, yoga, meditation, nanotech, epidemiology, filling out these stupid forms that always make me sound like a pretentious asshole, wire work, cyberpunk, micro beads, gardening, growing peppers, horror movies, quantum mechanics, anime, power tools, dedicated Browncoat, polymer clay, mosaics, stained glass, decoupage, cats, goblins, Brian Froud, Jim Henson, bats, pain research, chronic illness, Siamese cats, tattoos

I'd like to meet:



Deviation: Android -- A cyberpunk disaster area, with stories, artwork, and other nifty things, done by me and my partner in crime and grime.

Necessary "Groovy Things that WORK" Plug:

I swear by this stuff. Most awesome lip balms, handmade soaps, and shampoo to make your hair glow.

Music:



"It's got a good beat, and I can dance to it." Everything from opera (I LOVE 'Barber of Seville'), to folk, to heavy metal, to jazz, and blues. My playlists usually get massive blinks from people as it shuffles through a grand assortment of music that you generally don't expect to find together.

I'd consider Weird Al among the 'guilty pleasures' category. Sometimes, you just gotta laugh. A lot. Till it hurts. And then you listen to Jimmy Buffet and mellow out again.

Movies:



--No Chick Flicks Allowed-- Life is depressing enough in reality, I want my movies to entertain me and escape from the real for a while, not wallow in more suffering.

Aliens, Slither, Serenity, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Boondock Saints, Day of the Dead, The Fog, Harvey, Blade Runner, Mystery Men, Dark City, Bubba Ho-Tep, Shaun of the Dead, Sin City, Big Trouble in Little China, Equilibrium, Jaws, Pulp Fiction, Pitch Black, Escape from New York, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Batman Begins, Night Watch, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Army of Darkness

Television:



Why does all the good TV get cancelled? Firefly, Farscape .... at least Eureka was renewed for another season.
Never miss Mythbusters, or Dirty Jobs. And of course, I DVR all the craft shows on HGTV and DIY to watch once the kids are in bed and things have gotten a bit quieter around here. I'm a total Discovery Channel nerd.

Books:

I probably own as many non-fiction and technical manuals as I do fiction books, and considering that I own enough to start my own library, and use books as coffee tables, it probably says way too much about my psyche -- or what's left of it.

People that like me buy me books. People that LOVE me buy bookshelves.

Heroes:

My grandfather, who taught me my love for power tools, and crafting, and that no matter what I believe, I CANNOT fly when I leap from the highest branches of a persimmon tree (thank you for catching me); for carrying me across acres of land on his back, while I imperiously pointed out the particular blackberries in a massive wild patch that I wanted, and for subsequently teaching me to enjoy gardening and playing in the dirt; for making excuses to my mother when I came home soaked and filthy about me "falling" into the lake, even if she never fell for them; for not beating my ass when, in practicing shooting his BB gun, I popped all the strands holding together the windchimes he'd just made the day before.

My Blog

Zombies for Fun And Profit, part 2

So now that you've gathered your supplies, it's on to the fun stuff: production.  This article will focus on prosthetics, both off and on the skin.The above walking corpse is a combination of bot...
Posted by Pooka on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:04:00 PST

Movie Review: Dead and Breakfast

Oh. My. God. SciFi aired Dead and Breakfast the other night. I'd heard about this movie for a while, but never found it on DVD or on any other channel.  So no, I've never managed to see this un...
Posted by Pooka on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:12:00 PST

Zombies for Fun And Profit, part 1

"That's too much work!"  Oh, please.  "It's too expensive to do it right."  Give me a break.Next in Pooka's Craft Circle:  Zombies, for Fun and ProfitIt doesn't take a lot of work ...
Posted by Pooka on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:15:00 PST

Clever, Crafty, and Frugal Cards

Ah, the clearance aisles and bins.  I love em.  Love love love them.  My kids jokingly (I HOPE they're joking!) call me the Clearance Queen. I can spend hours digging through them for s...
Posted by Pooka on Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:33:00 PST

FUBAR -- Warning, MUCH swearing ahead

My husband has no job. Again. Thus, I have no medical insurance.I'm out of two Very Important drugs, and I am toast without them. At least I still have my seizure meds for now, but damn. Got to get ...
Posted by Pooka on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:30:00 PST

Stamping on Tissue

Tissue paper can be fantastic for layering in your projects, but there are certain tricks to make it come out correctly.In some ways, tissue can be used like vellum, however, most of the time it won't...
Posted by Pooka on Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:12:00 PST

Quick Tips for Distress-Free Distressing

- When distressing heavier cardstock, spritz it with water first. This helps break the surface tension some and will help prevent tears.- Start in the center of the sheet you want to distress. Form a ...
Posted by Pooka on Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:14:00 PST

Queen Kat Designs -- Challenges with Prizes!

You still have time left to join the celebration party as I join Queen Kat Designs, not only as part of the Design Team, but as one of their new stamp designers!All QKD clear acrylic stamps and stamp ...
Posted by Pooka on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 02:42:00 PST

The Frugal Crafter

Crafters never throw anything away -- we all know it, we're all 'guilty' of it, and most of us drive our families crazy with the resulting cries of "Don't throw that out, I can use it!"* You know how ...
Posted by Pooka on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:40:00 PST

I LOVE my pain clinic!

SO, as a few of you know, the pain levels have been kicking my butt lately. I noticed that the nasty brain spikes started returning the day after I took my last prednisone and antibiotic, and wondered...
Posted by Pooka on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:38:00 PST