Tweet Cheat

Last night I received an e-mail saying I had a private message on Twitter. Now normally I don't bother with that because I don't really use Twitter anymore. But I went to see what this one was because it was from another artist friend. She had sent me something saying that she found a video of me on a site with a link. Being curious I went to have a look since there is video of me talking about and making bears floating around the world.

As it turned out, her account had either been hijacked or cloned and the link led to a phishing site. Now luckily my PC protection grabbed it and stopped me from looking at it. I changed my passwords anyway.

I get very tired of all the scamming and identity theft on the net sometimes. It doesn't matter how cautious or savvy to such things you are. You are always going to fall prey to something eventually because these criminals get smarter every day. Plus it looked genuinely legit since it appeared it came from a friend. There wasn't a single thing to imply it wasn't from her.

I would completely delete my Twitter account since I think it's sort of useless anyway, but I don't want anyone else using my name for nefarious reasons. If you get a link like this, make sure the person it shows it came from is actually the person who sent it before you click it! Also if you ever get a link on Twitter from me...I can guarantee you it wasn't really wasn't from me, so don't click it because I would never send a link in a private mail on Twitter!

Images From A Fall Day

A few hardy aspen leaves are still clinging to the trees. You can see the frost blackening on the edges. Unfortunately it went from warm to below zero literally overnight and stayed that way for days so we didn't get the lovely fall colors we usually do.



I have no idea why people take pictures of their feet, but I always find it oddly intriguing. My intent was to photograph the leaves at my feet that I should have been raking, but didn't. I got my feet in the pic and decided to post that instead. I discovered that old gardening clogs and a billowy skirt do not make your ankles look delicate!



Basil was on the porch looking over at me. I finally got a rare photo of him smiling. I told you he smiled, but I am sure many of you didn't believe me. So there it is...proof positive!



Gypsy was also outside with me. Rizzo and the two dogs ran in the house when I went to get the camera so they didn't get to be photographed today. Gypsy may not smile like Basil, but she was definitely happy to be outside in the warm sunshine and trailing around after Mom while she was taking pictures.

Christmas Is Coming?

I have been trying to think about Christmas pieces and a layout for my website. But we have come out of the deep freeze the last few days and into lovely weather. It's 64 degrees already this morning. It makes it very hard to concentrate on cold snowy holidays!

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I love sunny warm days. I think on this sunny warm day I am going to set aside the new animal I was going to work on for a bit, and go out and rake up the leaves because I know that cold snowy days will return soon enough!


Who knows maybe I will be inspired while I am out there doing it!

Guilty Pleasures

I am pretty low maintenance really. I don't go to the salon. R trims the back of my hair and I do my bangs, and my hair is it's natural color. I don't get manicures because my nails will grow quite long on their own, but I usually cut them down so I don't break them while working. I rarely get facials because I know how to do my own. For being pretty girlie, I don't do a lot of typical girlie things. But that's not to say I don't enjoy a little pampering once in a while.

Yesterday I went and had a massage. I got a sports massage because I was feeling pretty knotted up again and wasn't up to the torture of the chiropractor. I prefer relaxation massages, but this was needed more. Regardless I love going to the spa. I like the puffy robes and slippers, I like having someone treat me as if I am special and offer me a glass of wine even if I decline. (Which yesterday I did, and just had water.) I like the lighting, the scents, and the music. I just love going to the spa. It's my happy place.

One of my other guilty little pleasure is the theater. Live productions, not movies. I adore the theater. I would do both of those things every week if I could. Tickets and gift certificates for those things are perfect presents for me...or would be if I ever got those types of presents.

I really believe that getting massages and stress management are hugely instrumental in staying healthy. Of course yesterday, once again it was suggested that I try meditation to loosen my muscles and relieve stress. I have no idea how to do meditation. You would think it would be easy, but I can't seem to quite figure it out. I looked for a CD on Amazon yesterday for guided meditation, but there are soooooo many I finally gave up because I couldn't choose one.

Maybe a trip to Barnes & Noble is in order. That too is one of my guilty pleasures. I love the book store! Even if I don't find a CD...who knows what other type of lovely little treasure I might find!

I can also indulge in yet another guilty pleasure...Starbucks!!! I guess I just talked myself into going! See you later!

Hugs, K <3

~*~ Sooty Dickens ~*~

My new little Christmas bear is done, you can visit him on the bears page of my website.

Transitions

I am sure if you read my blog on a regular basis, you may have been wondering why I haven't been posting. I guess I just haven't had a whole lot to say. I kind of feel as if I am going through a transitional period right now. It's kind of hard to define exactly what that is in words. I am not even sure I know just yet.

I feel as if I want to go in a slightly different direction both with the bears and animals, and with my blog. I am still sort of working that out in my head.

I did finish a bear tonight, and he should get photographed tomorrow...so you will be seeing him very soon. I have also been designing a whole new kind of animal pattern, and haven't had a chance to sew it yet. Once I am happy with it, you will get to see what that is.

In the mean time, just bear with me (no pun intended) until I sort through everything mentally and am ready to go back to my usual wordy self. I will get it all worked out soon I am sure.

Land Of The Free

Some years ago I had a friend from England, and we were having a conversation one afternoon. My friend had traveled the world extensively and she said when she first came to the US she was utterly shocked by how many laws and rules our country has. She told me she had never been to a country that had so many.

Over the years I have had occasion to remember that conversation because it's true. Tonight while watching 60 Minutes I thought about that again. There was a segment on pirated movies. Now I had no idea this was such a large scale issue, and I really can't imagine why anyone would want to watch a pirated movie. The quality would have to be poor and movie rentals are so inexpensive that I don't see the point. It's hard to imagine this is such a big business for criminals, but I guess it must be.

In fact they went on to say that big drug cartels are doing this as a side line and put their logo stickers on the DVD cases. I am not sure what was said in the few minutes after that because I couldn't get my brain to process the fact that drug cartels actually have their own logos. It's still hard to imagine that.

At any rate, during the segment it showed people going to a theater and being wanded and having their purses and personal effects searched for cameras on the way in. They even went so far as to take their phones until they were ready to leave. I have to say I found that more disturbing than the fact that people were actually filming movies in theaters. Now that doesn't mean I am in ANY WAY condoning illegally obtaining movies, because as an artist I would never condone theft of artistic property...or any property for that matter. But I was taught not to steal as a kid.

I did a show in Hawaii about ten years ago, and they searched my purse when I went through the airport security. I certainly have nothing to hide in my purse, but I remember the guard feeling and actually looking inside the wrappers of my feminine products. Aside from the creepy, unsanitary nature of that, did the guy really think I had a bomb in there? It would have had to have been an incredibly flat bomb.

As you know if you fly these days you are automatically treated as an inconvenience and shown no respect of any kind. I know these things are done as a safety precaution, but I still can't help feeling invaded by it. There are so many places where you have to go through a metal detector or get wanded before you enter.

How many times have we all gone through the detectors in a department store and had one go off because a security tag wasn't removed or deactivated properly on an item we legitimately purchased? It's just embarrassing, and it's not our fault.

They say that the piracy of movies is causing the sales of theater tickets to go down. Maybe...although I don't know anyone who would watch one of those. I guess the number of people doing this is so vast that it means it's ok to institute yet another rule in this country that automatically treats us all as criminals even when we aren't. (Which I find ironic since the police won't even come if you call about an intruder unless they actually enter your house. It seems as if we went terribly wrong in our justice system somewhere doesn't it?) So much for innocent until proven guilty. But I can assure you if you are to be treated like a criminal as the norm when you go in, there will one less theater ticket sold for every movie I might have wanted to see. I will wait for DVD rental...which in my opinion is probably a much larger reason why theater ticket sales have gone down than stolen movies with poor resolution.