Saturday, June 2, 2007

I know that my drawings have declined in quality over time, but my job as an artist has been consuming the artistic energy that I would otherwise use for these drawings. In the time being, I've decided to focus more on quick doodles.

It rained yesterday!!! Loblolly has been in a drought for a while, and the forest fires are still burning in western Loblolly. Thus, even though Yuoo had to bicycle home in the rain yesterday, he was very happy.

This morning, Yuoo helped his neighbors put grass bricks in their yard. Grass bricks are expensive but convenient.

Also, this afternoon Yuoo created a database to help keep track of his finances and stick to his budget.

Thursday, June 14, 2007 - Hmm... several things have happened since I last wrote. I’ll start with the most recent news and work backward.

First, Yuoo told me that Loblolly is going to grow a new power-plant. As the name implies, power-plants* are botanical marvels that supply energy to towns and cities. As I mentioned on 5/12/2006, Loblolly has several power-plants already. There is a large water-plant growing in the middle of the Lockanoaknee River. This water-plant has rigid, paddle-like leaves that turn in the water. There are a couple of pyro-plants, which have chimney-like trunks that belch out smoke. Pyro-plants are powerful, but the smoke is messy, and they demand lots of coal to eat and oil to drink. Finally, there is a small lux-plant with shiny blue silicon leaves that collect sunlight. Lux-plants, along with water-plants, are very clean and well-behaved.

* I credit Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth series, for the “power-plant” idea.

Well, Loblolly’s newest plant is going to be a bloat-plant. Bloat-plants are saprophytes, which means that they only eat decaying organic matter. Workers will provide the bloat-plant with plenty of garbage to eat, and in turn, the bloat-plant will produce large air-bladder pods that are bloated with methane gas. The workers will harvest these pods, which they will feed to a pyro-plant. (a symbiotic relationship) Power-plants of any kind take a lot time to grow. The bloat-plant will likely reach maturity in three summers.

A couple of weeks ago, during one of his visits to an elderly home, Yuoo had an awkward encounter with a church hymn. You see, he and Mrs. Map were practicing songs for a worship service, and they started to practice a hymn called “Aslan Washed Away My Spots.” There were two awkward things about this:

1. Mrs. Map was raised in a different culture than Yuoo, so she isn’t familiar with the old hymns. (She prefers the spirituals, both new and old.)
   
2. Mrs. Map is covered in spots from head-to-paws, as are many of her friends and most of her family.

Yuoo doesn’t believe that the hymn-writer had any ill intentions, but he does understand how it can make some creatures feel left out, as if their spotty fur (or feathers or scales) is something to be ashamed of. Well, Yuoo paused in the middle of practice to talk with Mrs. Map about this. He apologized to her for the awkwardness of the situation. Yuoo told her about Mortar Abbey, where they sing “Aslan Washed Me Clean” instead. Yuoo could tell that Mrs. Map wasn’t very comfortable with the song, but she sang it for the elderly residents all the same, and they enjoyed it.

A couple of weeks ago, Yuoo discovered that he had… MANGE! **scream** Yes, there was a small spot of mange on the back of his neck. So, he made an appointment with a Gounatology clinic. (“Gouna” means fur in Greek.) The healer took a sample of Yuoo’s fur and looked at it under a microscope. The healer identified it as "Tinea corporis" and gave Yuoo some fancy cream for it.

Sunday, June 24, 2007 - A week ago, Yuoo helped cook breakfast for a group of students returning from a place called Bastón Rojo. They helped the residents of Bastón Rojo with flood cleanup.

Yuoo is learning a new musical instrument. He already plays the recorder, so he decided to try his paw at the clarinet. He rented a horn from a local music store.

Also, Yuoo mailed some cookies to his father and a gardening apron for his mother.

The anti-mange medicine really works. It has all but disappeared, but Yuoo is still using the creme. (Better safe than sorry.)

Even though it has been raining periodically, there is still a drought in Loblolly. This may sound silly to you, but Yuoo has been conserving water by collecting his dish-washing water and shower-water in a container and dumping it into his front lawn.

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