You know that point in character creation when the very patient person helping you create a new player character says “Now the only thing that’s left is for you to draw your character!!”?
Well, historically I hate that point, mainly because I can’t draw. At all. However I love being original, so I don’t like to just go online and get a picture for my character. I want my own!! In the past I have rendered sad little sketches of 2 dimensional creatures. (Okay, mostly elves.)
This time around I used Photoshop to render a Tiefling version of myself. Might as well be me, even when I am not being me. This is the result:
D&D, meet Photoshop.
Note the horns, and the funky forhead, and the eyebrow and nose modifications. Don’t forget to look closely at the eyes either, they have been altered in shape and color to better “creepify” my character. I have to say, I had so much fun rendering this image that I am tempted to offer similar work up to the other players.
I love photoshop! For the first time ever, I have a really cool character image to go with my really cool character! (Okay, it’s 1st level and I will likely die soon, but hey! Another chance to make another picture!!)
A message from the Defender’s of Wildlife Action Fund discusses Palin’s policies regarding aerial hunting of wolves and bears. Remember, Wolves were only recently de-listed after decades of trying to revive their species from near extinction. Palin wasted no time before promoting policies intended to eradicate the once protected species.
Here is the message from Defender’s followed by a video. Please read and watch:
Alaska Governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a strong promoter of the aerial hunting of wolves and bears, a practice that has been condemned by conservationists, scientists and many hunters alike. It involves shooting wolves and bears from the air or chasing them to exhaustion and then landing and shooting them point blank. The animals, shot with a shotgun, usually die a painful death. The hunters involved in the program keep and sell the animals’ pelts.
“Sarah Palin’s anti-conservation position is so extreme that she condones shooting wolves and bears from airplanes or using airplanes to chase them to exhaustion and then shoot them point blank. Most Americans find this practice barbaric, but it’s routine in Alaska under Palin’s leadership,” said Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund president Rodger Schlickeisen.
Sarah Palin has supported aerial hunting since taking office despite the fact that the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, the American Society of Mammalogists, and more than 120 other scientists have called for a halt to the program, citing its lack of scientific justification and despite opposition from many hunters who see it as violating the sportsmen’s ethic of fair chase. Palin in 2007 even proposed offering a bounty of $150 per wolf, as long as the hunter provided the wolf’s foreleg as proof of the kill. And just earlier this year, she introduced legislation to expand the program and derail a scheduled August 2008 citizens’ vote on the issue. The bounty was determined to violate the state’s constitution and her legislation failed.
“Sarah Palin’s positions against America’s wildlife could put her to the right of even the Bush administration,” said Schlickeisen. “She is a promoter of one of our nation’s most ugly and cruel wildlife hunting programs and Americans deserve to know her views on such matters before they vote.”
The following video is disturbing, but important. Please let people know the truth behind this candidate for our nations second highest office.
Attachment Parenting Month is here, and the theme is “giving our children presence”. As many of you know, I am a big fan of the AP principles, and I think they have hit the ball out of the park by choosing to focus on the importance of involved parenting for AP month.
There are many things I have tried to do to keep my family connected. I don’t have a car with a built in DVD player, and Ipod’s or MP3 players are not allowed in the car. If we are going to listen to music, we will do it together. I have gotten rid of cable t.v., and the nights that we eat in front of the boob tube we watch something all of us can enjoy together. I have brought my kids into the kitchen to help me cook, I have brought them into housework to help me clean. Lee and I try our best to live our lives with our children, instead of around them.
Still, it can be challenging to remain present in our kids lives. Life is hard work and we don’t do such a good job staying present for each other sometimes, much less our kids. After a long day with Otter, I don’t always have the fortitude to throw myself into Monkey’s tea party schemes. Sometimes I lock myself in my office and blog while the kids watch Little Bear on the Apple T.V.
So… for AP Month I want to ask my readers how you give your presence to your children, when you are too worn out to be present for anyone else? I want to explore the little pieces of parenting that make the difference for our kids, and us. For example, when I am feeling really worn down and I know I haven’t been particularly present lately I will take the extra minute to cut Monkey’s lunch sandwiches into heart shapes with a Valentines Day cookie cutter. That way I know she will feel that little extra bit of love when she opens her lunch during school.
What do you do? What are the little touches you add to your kids lives to make them feel that much more loved?
Managing life with chronic illness requires savvy spoons
SavvySpoons 
