Friday Update

On the Gym Front:  I've been fairly virtuous about going to the gym.  Went Monday and did the Old, Push-Pull Routine; went Wednesday and did the New Aerobic Routine, plus some lat pull-downs.   The previous week, I'd met with my Trainer (1/13), and did some of the Old Routine, did the New Routine Wednesday (1/15), and the Old Routine Friday...    I've made some attempts to slip a forth day in, and I find that either I feel more tired than motivated, or that I'm more motivated to write.  ...And... I've taken this Friday off from the gym because I've been feeling kind of sore in the joints.

On the Writing Front:  In a burst of marketing, I submitted a bunch of stories and got my in the mail count up to ... five.   I also looked at my writing credits and worried that it was looking a little stale, but on the other hand it's better than nothing.

On the Weather Front:  It's been typical January/February rain, showers, and rain here.  I don't mind the rain, although I do wish more sunlight would break through the clouds.  Unfortunately, the clouds hid a morning conjunction of the Moon, Mars, and Antares.   I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next February's conjunction of the Moon and Mars, wherein the Moon will slip in front of Mars, isn't covered up.

On the Raptor Front:  Mark and I went to the Raptor Center last weekend to sketch birds.  Mark is much better at sketching birds than I am.  I typically get the head too large and the beak too small.  He produced a good likeness of Archimedes, the Snowy Owl.  Archimedes is hard to draw because he's 98% white, so you have to use really fine, light lines to capture the fishnet shape of his breast feathers.  His eyes can be a challenge, too, especially if he's resting them.

I'd say what I noticed this time that I hadn't really registered before was how long Bald Eagle toenails are.  Because, whoa!

I really got into the breast feathers of one of the hawks, Banjo, because the feather pattern is geometrically complex, and now I want to make a wide scarf with the same pattern.   What was fun was visually breaking the birds down into simple polygons; crescent for the feet, squares for legs, teardrops for the body, a half-circle for the head, and another crescent beak.