I don’t have anything exciting to report so I’m just stopping by to share the painting I listed last night:

1:23 a.m. - Saw “Scent of a Woman” last night…good movie!  I thought of an alternate ending that would have made it better though.  I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, so I’ll just keep the “better” ending to myself.  3.5 stars with the original ending, 4 stars with my ending. 

“New Hope #55″

6 a.m. - I’ve just watched “Reservoir Dogs.”  Another great movie!  It was very clever like Pulp Fiction…lots of similarities but plenty of differences.  Highly recommended if you’re trying to play catch-up on all of the good movies you missed when they came out in the 90’s.

I’m considering trying to go to sleep now, even though it still feels “early” to me.  One of these days I’m going to regulate this sleep cycle of mine.

This is my first breast painting, titled “Hope #1.”  The photo was taken on January 25, 2001.  I’m amazed at how my style has improved over the years.  Someone bought this painting on eBay, which gave me the incentive to make another.  And another.  And another.  That’s how it began.

At first I offered one breast painting every couple of months or so…far less often than I do now.  I offered mostly brush and palette knife abstracts during that time.  Koopa’s career took off in 2003 and my breasts went on hiatus.  When Koopa retired from painting, I felt as if I had better knowledge of the paints and the process, so I decided to make breast paintings again.  The title changed from “Hope” to “New Hope” and I set the bar really high for myself.  It may seem like a relatively easy thing to do…covering one’s breasts in paint and pressing them into a canvas.  In a sense anyone can go through the motions and “create” something, but I think I’ve figured out how to make the end results very pleasing to the eye by creating a sense of balance.  Hell, I’ve seen plenty of variations over the years, and I can honestly say that mine have the best color & composition.  Those of you who know me will attest that I’m not one to toot my own horn.

I’m writing this post because of the current trend of other breast “artists” calling their paintings “unique” when it’s clear to me that they’re trying to profit from someone else’s ideas.  What scares me is that they might be successful in creating the illusion that they’re artists.  I hope I’m not the only one who sees it.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again.  I never claimed to be the first person to paint with my breasts.  I know that Yves Klein used models to make “body art” back in the 60’s and 70’s (our work is in no way similar.)  I’m not dumb enough to think that I was the first since then either, although I’ve only heard of others after my 2001 debut.  Back then I was the only one doing breast paintings, as far as I knew (from what I found on the Internet, anyway.)  What I have learned is that a lot of people will do anything for a quick buck.  This U.S. economy is in turmoil, but that isn’t a valid reason for self-proclaimed “creative” people to cease being creative.  Paint with your breasts if you want, but don’t sell on eBay, using my keywords, claiming that your art is “unique.”  You’re just hoping that someone finds your listing and doesn’t find mine.

Stepping off soapbox now…just really annoyed by the way things seem to be headed.  In case I haven’t said thank you to my supporters lately:

THANK YOU!

I took my dinghy out for a few hours of fishing on Saturday, and caught nothing except an excruciating sunburn.  I don’t think the photo conveys the pain I’m feeling right now.  Wear sunblock, people!  The sun is evil and wants you to experience physical trauma.

I said in my “Dark Knight” review that I was going to watch “Brokeback Mountain,” and I have.  I LOVED IT!  What a beautiful movie, and Heath Ledger was again…amazing.  I had no idea that he was such an exceptional actor.  Before his death, I had absolutely no clue who he was. 

I’m going to watch “Scent of a Woman” next because I’m the only person left in the world who hasn’t seen it.  I already have it downloaded and plan on watching as soon as I finish my next post.  I can’t sleep anyway due to the afforementioned sunburn.

Apparently I’m doing movie reviews now.

I caught the 12:01 a.m. screening and decided to weigh in on it from an overly-critical chick’s point of view. Hopefully the subject alone will bring a few more subscribers to this blog. Yeah…that means you. Subscribe!

OK, let me start off by saying that I don’t like action movies in general. This genre seems to follow a formula that rubs me the wrong way and leaves me unimpressed 99% of the time. I sorta liked Terminator 2 but wouldn’t want to watch it again. I know to expect good-guy vs. bad-guy and good-guy wins OR bad guy doesn’t die and a sequel is coming. I prefer my movies to be dialogue-driven, unpredictable, and witty. I’m not impressed by computer-generated explosions or chase scenes that end in massive flaming wreckage.

I do gravitate towards “guy movies,” but they need to be balanced…for example - Pulp Fiction, Full Metal Jacket, The Shawshank Redemption, and more recently, No Country For Old Men and There Will be Blood (which is the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.) I generally don’t get excited about new releases, or any movie for that matter - unless Pixar, Jimmy Stewart, or Hitchcock is involved. I don’t care for most romantic comedies or parodies of movies that already exist…Spaceballs, Scary Movie, etc. due to their formulaic approach ond/or overall stupidity.

I’m disappointed by almost everything I see, but of course there is that rare exception on occasion. I usually watch movies that have received awards and/or overwhelmingly positive reviews. I also gravitate towards movies that pertain to subjects that interest me, like video games or baseball. Oddly enough, I haven’t seen a “great” baseball movie ever, and I’ve seen them all. My favorite thus far would have to be “The Fan.” I can honestly say I am not the kind of person who you’d want to be sitting next to in the theater because I’d be picking it apart and pointing out the flaws the whole time.

Before I give my actual review, let me just say that I was worried that the movie wouldn’t live up to the hype. I had heard such great things about it. It’s “Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance,” and “none of the 2 and a half hours is wasted,” blah blah blah. I went in open-minded, yet prepared to be disappointed. Nes made me pre-order the tickets well in advance, and I considered going with him a huge favor.

Here goes (no spoilers, because spoilers suck):

I wasn’t blown away, but Heath Ledger DID give an Oscar-caliber performance. I was bored through most of the film, but was entertained during all of the Joker scenes. I’m not a Ledger fan, and have never seen any of his movies prior to this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. He really embodied the villain role perfectly. As for Batman…meh. Christian Bale’s acting was average. I expect more out of a “leading man” in a major motion picture. I also couldn’t get over how cheap his headgear looked. I would have liked him to go for something shinier (OK, Now I’m just nitpicking.) The storyline itself was just OK. Crashes, explosions, etc…typical action stuff is all there. I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll just say that it follows the same formula that I expect in most (if not all) superhero movies. The cinematography was nice…beautiful overhead shots showed the wide expanse of Gotham City. I’m sure it would have been more impressive in IMAX. Do I recommend this movie? Sure, because you’ll probably like it. Would I want to see this again? No. I know I’m in the minority here. Very few movies have enough depth to require a second or third viewing, and this isn’t one of them. I don’t feel like I wasted my money, but I do think this was hyped into the stratosphere. It isn’t “one of the top 10/100 best films ever made” and it doesn’t deserve to be free from criticism due to Ledger’s death. He was by far the best part of this movie, and played his part superbly. Without him, I would be cured of my insomnia during this movie, and the last time I was able to fall asleep in a theater was during the first 15 minutes of X-Men (another movie I was dragged to.)

I’m definitely going to watch Brokeback Mountain in the near future.

BTW, Nes loved the movie. Men are so simple.

Look what just arrived in my eBay store today…

AND…

…it can be hung horizontally too!

Try to control yourselves.

OK, let’s get the painting out of the way first. This is my personal favorite from the “New Hope” series so far. The colors are much brighter in person and it has very good balance. I’m beyond thrilled with how it turned out. Having said that, I’ve probably jinxed myself and it will end up selling for about 12 bucks.

The newest copycats on eBay are going all out to make a sale. One has decided to include photos from the process…how very classy! I especially like how most of the photos are blurred photos from the process and not of the painting itself. One of them violated PhotoBucket’s terms of service. I also like that she chose to use canvas board instead of actual canvas.

ATTENTION ALL COPYCATS! Canvas board is for practice use only…it warps with the slightest bit of moisture. At least try to pretend like you have some artistic skill.

The other copycat has created a “gallery” of breast paintings to create the illusion that she’s been painting them for more than 2 weeks. She’s a clever one; I’ll give her that. And as for the 3rd and 4th breast painting copycats, well…their paintings are really not worth mentioning. I’d be too embarrassed to list anything that looks like them, but hey…what do I know?

HEY ROBIN! Took this one just for you.

OK, and for everyone wanting a Koopa update…here he is, making the biggest mess ever. Normally he gets some fresh fruits and veggies mixed into his “box turtle dry formula,” but I just cleaned out the fridge and haven’t gone grocery shopping yet. So, he went digging for the real food…

Sorry Koopa. Going food shopping tomorrow.

This is the new face of insomnia…and a fake cupcake.

Germination has occurred! I still haven’t thinned out the plants (so only one will remain in each pod) but they are growing nicely after only 2 weeks. Yes, that is a breast painting in the background…Nes took the pic while I was sleeping and thought it would be a nice backdrop for the photo. He’s actually tended the Aerogarden more than I have at this point…he added the nutrient tablets as soon as he saw the light blinking. There isn’t much more to do other than watch the seedlings grow at this stage.

I listed an auction Saturday - “Forever Young #2.” I have a lot more toys to paint with and I look forward to seeing what kind of patterns they create. I think the next couple will be done without the RC truck background. Those tires are a pain to clean afterwards. I basically have to drive it back and forth in a tub of shallow water.

I plan on listing another “Garden of Hope” painting in my store…it is by far the nicest one from the series (in my opinion) so I’m not going to let it go for peanuts. I wonder how other artists feel when they sell some of their best work for far less than they expected. This happens on eBay a lot when you don’t take into account the ending time/date, like what’s going to be on TV in the various time zones. For instance, I noticed a huge drop in last-minute bids when American Idol and Lost were on. It crushes me when something I’ve put so much of myself into (literally, in this case) sells for much less than I hoped. I easily get attached to some of my work since it’s basically are an extension of me…and it’s not my nature to share so much of myself with complete strangers. I’ll post pics of “Garden of Hope # 9″ as soon as it’s in the store.

I’ve been busy helping my dad move out this weekend, and yesterday he left for his 2 month stint in Hungary. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, but I felt a lot more relaxed when he called around 3 this afternoon to let me know he arrived safely. He gave me a MagicJack so we can talk to each other cheaply, so I’ll be reviewing that in the near future. Basically it’s a VOIP thing that plugs into any USB port and would allow me to call Hungary (and vice versa) for 2 cents a minute.

OK, that’s all for now, my 2 faithful readers…I’m getting ready to delete that counter since it bums me out every time I look at it.