My parakeet.

He dreads bedtime. He crouches forward, all narrow-eyed, or jumps around, looking for a way out when there isn’t one. A Lisa Shea says:

Parakeets need to sleep 10-12 hours every day. The vast majority of this is done at night. The cave should be covered with a cloth so it is dark and they feel safe. In nature, parakeets nest in hollows they gnaw out of Eucalyptus trees. You want your cage to sort of resemble that closed-in hollow so they feel safe and protected when they sleep.

Parakeet doesn’t mind the flash, though.

That’s what I had read many times, too, but my bird thinks I’m sealing him into a coffin every night. I do cover the cage partly, but one WHOLE side is left open for him. Okay, I turn out the lights, too. Am I so bad?

Here’s a pic of a nesting box from Petco. See what they’re supposed to enjoy? A nice cozy dark hole. Not this bird.

I put my canary to bed a few hours earlier than the parakeet. A canary needs his beauty sleep, like outdoor birds, which is quite a lot of hours sleeping. I’ve had canaries in the past who don’t like to be covered, and they open their big pink mouths wide, as if to hiss. (Which is a little scary, even without teeth.)   Read more »

Part 4 of 4. Click to enlarge.

The end of the story! A whole story on one page, in the comic book. You must read them backwards here in the blog. Love it.

It’s a wonder those talented artists allow me in their group. The subject this week is CLIQUE.

“We see a lot of gentlemen turn their lives around with the right Swatch watch.”

Remember when people thought wearing a Swatch watch meant you were in the in group? Well, I still think that way! I just love them, and I must have a dozen of them, mostly bought on ebay. I love the plastic, the colors, the really exquisite art work and design. They’ve had the top designers in all areas work on those watches, and it shows.

I don’t know if this man will join the clique with his watch, but I bet he’ll be happy.

“Chocolate happens, dear.”

you’ve got my full attention.

The Drawing
I’ve done cartoons on chocolate from the very beginning of my cartoon career, even before chocolate became acceptable and not shameful! So I had a nice little stash of them before I signed a contract for my book on chocolate, but once I added them up, it was only about 30 or 40. And I needed 120 cartoons for the book, which is a fat hardback! I always planned that the book wouldn’t be just candy – kind of dry – but would include any dessert that had chocolate as the main ingredient. Still, that meant a hell of a lot of new cartoons

This is one I did just for the book, but it turned out lovely. I like the simplicity of the solid black and white, with just enough detail to make it interesting. I love the little plants in the window to get the morning sun! And the cookbooks on the shelf behind her. Plus this was SO much fun, drawing little miniature versions of all these dark delicacies.

His expression is priceless! You know he really has no interest in the food, but he is tolerant, and realizes these will probably be at the dinner table for a while.

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