Apparently I hit 6,000 pageviews recently! I bet I missed it over the weekend. Thanks everyone! For being patient over the past few years while my activity has been...well...pretty stagnant. I will try to be better for the next 6,000!

4th of July weekend was excellent! Some great fireworks at a local park on July 3rd, with an impressive Grand Finale. Then we had a barbecue on the 4th. Kebabs, brats and hot dogs. And rocket pops and ridiculously sweet American flag cake. :3 And I bought a badminton set ($40, MC Sports, Franklin brand) for the occasion. It's free standing, nice quality net and okay racquets, but the birdies looked super cheap. Aaaaand they were. Broke 15 minutes into playing, so we repaired them with duct tape. -_- I want free replacements. (I know they're cheap, but it's the principle of the thing.) And then there were sparklers and more fireworks. I say every holiday is the best holiday when it rolls around, but seriously...does it get much better than barbecue and explosions?

This weekend is Art Fair on the Square! I'm very excited. I won't be as frugal this year, I think. I want something cool! Especially since I've ruined some of my planty decor...my faithful bonsai tree took a dive headfirst from a plant stand earlier this week and seriously damaged two of its trunks. Despite my best efforts to minimize the damage, it's not looking too good. =\ I know it's a stretch for an art fair, but I'm hoping I'll find a bonsai booth with some really crazy, unique trees. (Actually not that big of a stretch...there was a pretty huge variety of stuff there last year. Not your typical fair.) Or would getting another bonsai make my poor little money tree give up?

I was hoping to post a few drawings by the time I felt the need to write another journal, but I've been suffering from tendonitis, I think. My right wrist has been bothering me a lot, all the way up my forearm to my elbow. (I think it's tendonitis, not carpal tunnel.) Since I'm right-handed, it's been hard to do much work. Including typing. (It's starting to ache a little now, in fact.) My job is destroying my health. =[ My eyes, and now my drawing arm!

I'm about 2/3rds done with one drawing (all of the bits that are left are tricky!) and I have kind of a simple, retro picture in mind so I can mess with my new colored pencils. I've been wrapping the wrist when it acts up and might get a brace, so between that and ibuprofen, my arm's getting a little better, and I hope to pick up my pencils again this weekend. But I guess I might have to wait a little longer if I don't get that fancy new ergonomic mouse pad at work...

So in the meantime, have some classic car photos! I took these last month, at the Verona Hometown Days car show.