Let the Boy Scouts Know Your Opinion

The Boy Scouts of America have a meeting coming up in a couple of months where they will (in theory) make the decision about inclusion or exclusion of homosexuals in the BSA.

You have a chance to have your voice heard.

If you are not currently a registered Scout you can send them a note here.  Don't forget to be polite.

If you are a registered Scout you can also complete the semi-annual survey.  The next one is going to be specifically about this topic.  The survey is not out yet but you can request it be emailed to you here.

From http://scouteradam.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/bsa-membership-survey/ :

"To participate, you will need your membership ID number (or if you are a parent, your Scout’s ID number). The survey will close on April 4th, so please request your copy right now and forward this information to other current BSA members.

To participate in this survey, which is conducted twice a year, you will need your membership ID number, also called a BSA ID number. This is the number which appears on your registration card; or which is displayed on your MyScouting profile page. If you are a registered youth or adult with no access to MyScouting or without a paper registration card, contact your unit leader or the local BSA Council to obtain your BSA ID number."

The Eight Foot Bride and The Gift of Giving

My friend Jason Andrew has been trying to raise money for a science fiction anthology called The Future Embodied.  He has been running a Kickstarter campaign for nearly a month and as it comes down to the last 5 days and there is still $700 left to go I am finding myself full of ideas.  I've shared many of them with Jason.

He recently blogged about the uncomfortable feeling he gets asking people for money, even though that money won't go to him, but to increase the amount he can pay the writers that are accepted to the anthology.

I have felt this same feeling.  There is a certain amount of shame in asking someone to buy a $15 bag of popcorn to help my son have a better Cub Scout program.  There is no way the popcorn is worth that much.  Yet it flies off the table every year and people love to give.

My mom used to say that if you refuse a gift you are robbing the giver of the blessing of giving.  If you are in need you must ask for help in order to give other people the blessing of helping you.

If you are in need of funding for your book or prayer for that cold that won't quit or a shoulder to lean on when your spouse makes you so very angry don't be afraid to ask those around you.  Most may say "no" but some will say yes and you have given them a blessing by giving them that opportunity.

Amanda Palmer gave a TED Talk on how to open up to those willing to help you.  From the start of her career as a living 8 foot bride statue asking for coins on the street to a fully crowd-sourced music career she understands that sometimes you have to open up and trust the people around you with your needs.

New Ventures

It has been a while since I updated.  This blog is primarily about art and I haven't been doing finished pieces for a couple of months.  Mostly I have been sketching and finding inspiration from other artists.  I also took some time to write, something I haven't done in a long time.  Things are about to change though.

I am getting started on several larger drawings and paintings.  I will also begin making Artist Trading Cards again.  My first will be to make 4 cards about sheep. I will be focusing primarily on animals and nature for the next couple of months in most of my art.

I have had enough people request ATCs as gifts from me in the last couple of months that I am opening an Etsy store to sell my art.  I have thought about it for a while but didn't want to limit myself to just ATCs.  Many years ago I drew a lot of animals in pen and ink and most were pretty good.  I want to go back to that style with some fresh drawings and better printing.

If you are an artist who needs a challenge, I found a great site that I've been using a lot the last few weeks.  It provides human photo models on a timer.  You can do several 1 minute sketches, move to some longer ones and then do a really long one if you like.  It has some customization so you can pick gender (or both) and clothed or nude.  I'm finding the fast studies are really helping my more detailed drawings as I'm focusing on the big stuff more.