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[pacificpikachu]

In yet another display of my mixture of poultry and Pokémon geekiness, the two guinea fowl have been named Diamond (the one whose color variation is called pearl, amusingly enough) and Pearl (who will be, I believe, a lavender guinea fowl). Ryan and I took them out of their tank today a few times for exercise in the kitchen and beginning to tame them, which was a lot of fun. I also took pictures!



This one is Diamond, and it's attempting to hunt something apparently.

(I say it only because I haven't the faintest idea what genders they are.)



And Pearl!









Pearl is a spotlight hog, while Diamond likes to hide behind them.

Aren't they adorable? They're going to be really strange-looking when they grow up (no, seriously, google guinea fowl), but after seeing the Roger the Guinea Fowl video on YouTube a few months ago I decided I think they're fantastic because of or in spite of their strange appearance. :)

LOL, me and my poultry. I can't help it, though--I absolutely adore poultry! They're just so interesting and fun to raise and be around. I feel like I could raise poultry in my sleep by now with all the experience I have.

Other than that... I'm finally figuring out Photoshop! Because I only have Elements and I'm too lazy to pirate anything above that at the moment, I downloaded GIMP for the pen tool and used that to do the lineart. It was a long struggle because the pen tool took some time to figure out, but I've gotten a lot better and faster at it now. I'm doing a picture of an Umbreon and an Eevee, and the drawing itself is rather boring, but will hopefully make for good practice. My next struggle is figuring out how to color it so I actually like it. I've finished Eevee's eyes so that I like them (see? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/pacificpikachu/untitled-1.png And yes, this Eevee has blue eyes, and yes the outlines and everything are simplistic. I promise the whole drawing doesn't look that...plastic), but I've started coloring the fur about ten times now and ended up very dissatisfied every time. :/ Oh well--I have plenty of time to keep messing with it until I'm happy. Anyone have any tips? Good tutorials? Anything?

Other than that... I haven't done much of anything. Daniell, Makayla, and I were going to go to the street fair today, which I was looking forward to, but Daniell canceled and then I forgot about it.

I'm pretty sick of just sitting around the house on the computer all the time. I can't tell if it's because of how much time I've spent on the computer lately or because I've got a little bug (my stomach isn't doing all that great), but I've been feeling pretty bleh lately. :/ I need to get out of the house for a while and spend time with real people and do something else. I don't know when I'll get a chance to do that, but it'll be something to look forward to. At least I'm going on vacation for a week up at Tahoe with my mom's side of the family in ten days.

Come to think of it, I think the guinea fowl may have to come with me on vacation. Haha. XD That should be amusing. Thankfully it will just be a matter of setting up their tank and cleaning it daily/changing water/changing food, because that's all those little guys require.

In rehab news, the little, stunted scrub jay I had that seemed to be beating the odds went downhill the other day rather rapidly and then died during the night despite my best efforts. I think he may have had slow internal bleeding going on while I had him; there were some large black areas in his abdomen when I found him dead, and it would make sense coupled with malnourishment from before I got him. During the week or so I had him, I noticed that:

- His gums were extremely pale for a scrub jay (they normally have bright pink mouths) and turned more pale as the week went on
- He did not grow
- His feathers hardly grew in at all, and they were dull and brittle
- His eyes were dull and his whole head didn't appear to be shaped right...or something
- He perched but had little coordination. He did not hop.
- His appetite was pretty good until the day he died, when it dramatically decreased until he was no longer gaping

I'm convinced that no matter what I had done with him the outcome would have been the same, so I'm happy that he got to have a good last week with another scrub jay, a comfortable place, and plenty of food. I was a little disappointed that he died because he perked up slightly before I put him to bed that night when I gave him Rescue Remedy and some supplements, but from the looks of it he just had too many problems for him to overcome. Poor guy.

I'm working on getting the two stellar's jays and remaining scrub jay self-feeding now, by only feeding them every three hours or so and teaching them to eat out of the bowl. Getting birds to self-feed is always a guilty time for me, though, because--while I KNOW it's what has to be done--I always feel like I'm slacking off on their care when I go a long time without feeding them. Of course, that's not true at all, but I can't help but feel a little guilty anyway!

I do believe that's all there is to say. Meh. I hope I get to go somewhere or do something before I lose my mind.

I hope the new Macross Frontier episode comes out soon. Ridiculous as the series can be, it does make me smile and entertain me. :)

I think I may save the rest of Kaiba for marathoning once the series finishes its run. I enjoy it a lot and think it's a great series, but I feel like, with the week gaps, by the time the next episode airs I've forgotten all but the most general gist (if that) of what happened in the last episode. I think it'll be easier to follow and remember if I can watch it in quick succession without any distractions.

Comments

[astrokittie.livejournal.com]

kshdkg SO. CUTE.
I love baby birds.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Aren't they just? I adore them. ♥

Baby birds are the BEST. Because they're like stripey walking puffballs.

[wao.livejournal.com]

Wow, those baby birds are just ridiculously cute. I have to really kowtow to your awesome knowledge of birds and animals, I don't know crap (it doesn't help that I've had very little exposure to animals and my mum never let me keep a pet of any sort) I mean at home we only see mynahs, house sparrows, these little ones with a bright yellow chest, some large half-pigeon-like things and occasionally these completely black shiny ones with red eyes. And if you're super lucky you might see a kingfisher near the canal.

The latest Frontier ep came out (raw) and it was as ridiculous as usual lol. It's supposed to be "filler" (includes a song duel!11! And lots of reused footage) but it sure set the stage for the manipulative second half of the series.
Also, Grace is gross and creepy but I think that was established earlier, I suppose.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Aren't they just? I need to keep handling them as much as possible so they end up being tame as adults.

It sounds like you do have some interesting birds around, though! I know mynahs are very talented at mimicking noises (some of the best in the world, up there with the lyre bird: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y (watch the whole video--it starts out boring but turns out impressive!)), so that certainly makes them interesting.

Haha, Frontier is just so silly. But it's so very addictive, I can't believe it. Plus it makes me smile like a crazy fangirl and I don't even know why. Possibly in part because Yoko Kanno music is like drugs to me. I'm already reading a little about the SONG DUEL (ROFL), but I'm trying not to read too much so I don't spoil my enjoyment of the episode. I hope the subs are out soon!

And yeah, Grace is creepy.

[scaramantula.livejournal.com]

Those are too cute to be allowed. XD;;

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Oh, they're allowed all right! They're in my room under a little cardboard box house in their tank. XD

[scaramantula.livejournal.com]

Awwwwww

[scorpio-alice.livejournal.com]

We moves the market date to the 31, cause that way Steven can come too. ^_^ I'll be there no matter what and you have my cell, so call me when, if you get there. There is also the market in Nevada City so maybe sometime we can go to that and hang around.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Awww, I'll be away on vacation on the 31st, so I can't come. :/

We should try to do the Wednesday market next week, though. I'll see if Daniell can come to that, and if not then the two of us could just go and have a good time! :D

[scorpio-alice.livejournal.com]

Sure thing. ^_^ I'll be there for sure so it's just up to who ever else would be able to come.

[scorpio-alice.livejournal.com]

Oh and I finally got around to starting 20th Century boys, I just hope that you will be up to having me freak out at you about it. Well anyways, off to reading. ^_^ Talk to you later.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I'm ALWAYS up for talking about 20th Century Boys. :D

What volume are you on?

[scorpio-alice.livejournal.com]

I'm on Chapter 16... what ever volume that's in. I just started reading it last night :P. So far it's really interesting, I can't wait to gt father into it. Zoe was right, the ugly that is the art goes away once you start reading it.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Ah, so not that far yet but getting into it! You're going to absolutely adore it soon enough. It took me until about Volume 5 or so before I was completely hooked, but from there it was crazy. CRAZY.

And yeah, I wasn't too hot on the art at first...and now I adore Urasawa's art. Obviously some of the characters aren't too beautiful, but Urasawa's artistic ability is impressive. :D

[scorpio-alice.livejournal.com]

Dude, I'm already loving it ( is now almost done with volume three)!!! The old man who is god is awesome!! I'm so happy that I actually sat myself down and started it. :P

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

HOORAY! It really is most likely the best manga of all time. Well, maybe along with Berserk (from what I've heard) but it's at least co-best manga of all time. It's just...incredible. :O

You'll see what I mean as you get more and more into it. It's like...so gripping it's hard to move sometimes.

I'm happy you finally started it too! I should go back and reread it. :D

[scorpio-alice.livejournal.com]

I'm just at the part where there is all those people in the store and they are trying to get at the baby.

[ex-riolu47.livejournal.com]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW they're so fucking adorable

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

DAWW those baby birds are so cute. I especially love the 3rd one when they are both looking at each other.

[tonko.livejournal.com]

Waaaaah, so cute. Pearl especially (no offense, Diamond), I love the grey colour. I guess they do look funny when grown, but they are certainly distinctive!!

Nice Eevee eyes! I hope you work out some way to do the fur that you are satisfied with, though I have nothing helpful to offer regarding that. I wanna see when it's done, though :D

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I know, I love the little stripes on Pearl's head. Socute. ♥ They are funny looking when they get older, but strange-looking things tend to be endearing to me, so I'm not concerned.

Thank you! I'm going to keep working on it and hope it works out how I like it. :D I'll post it when I finish, though that might be a while.

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

Z0mg, they are friggin' adorable! :DDDD ♥ I want one.

Yeah, I know what you mean about spending less time online...I need to as well. Of course, I had something planned today, only to have my friend cancel on me at the very last minute. -_-; So yeah.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I'm sure your parents would be thrilled if you brought a random guinea fowl home, ROFL. Though some people do keep them as housepets, actually!

Yeah, I'm thinking about limiting my internet to three hours a day or something (sounds like a lot, but I'm home ALL DAY every day because of wildlife rehab, so there's not much more to do) for a month and seeing how it goes. Perhaps you could do the same? :)?

[sammywhatammy]

Dude, you should totally meet my best friend |D You guys would talk chickens forever.

The baby fowls are cute ♥

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I tend to talk to everyone about chickens whether they want to hear about them or not--it's always a bonus when people actually want to talk about chickens! XD;; I'm sure we would get along great.

I know, they really are. &hears;

[ylmik-wisty.livejournal.com]

THEY ARE SO ADORABLE. Their makings are so pretty. And I think they are still really pretty in their adult form. XD

Photoshop... >_> Ooh, I figured out my pen tablet doesn't have pressure sensitivity. Something was wrong with the software itself so it wouldn't give me that option, I think.

I actually have 3 painting programs (Painter Classic, Photoshop Elements 1, Open Canvas). I really have to learn how to use them all expertly sometime. x_x Well, have fun with Photoshop!

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Aren't they? I love them! And I really like their adult forms as well, but I acknowledge that they're a bit on the weird side. Instead of being weirded out by odd things, I usually become fond of them to the point of obsession. XD (Point in case: My chicken The Salula, who spent literally two years in our laundry room attempting to hatch non-existent eggs. Missing part of her eyelid. Makes the strangest noises imaginable. Has a number of other bizarre behaviors. I think she's the best thing in the whole world.)

I hope you get your tablet working again. That's too bad! And I have Photoshop Elements, GIMP, and Corel Painter, and I'd like to learn to use all three if I can. Photoshop is going a bit slowly so far, but I'm sure it'll get better with time and effort. ^^; (I hope!)

[hitchi.livejournal.com]

Aww, the fowl are so cute!

I hate to say this, but DeviantArt often has good tutorials if you can find them...o.o

Do you ever get to have Green Jays? I think they're so pretty. ♥ And I've meaning to write this in my journal, but there's a cardinal nest in my yard! (I can't remember...do you have cardinals out where you live, or not really?)

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Aren't they? I love them. ♥

I looked around on DeviantArt, but not in great depth. I'm really a beginner on Photoshop, and some of them didn't explain well enough. :/ But I'll keep looking!

We don't have any Green Jays or cardinals here at all. :( Oooh, I want to hear about the cardinal nest!

[hideincarnate.livejournal.com]

cute birdies!

[bjango.livejournal.com]

What is this "GIMP" you speak of? Also... if you go on deviantart and look up "fur tutorial" I'm sure you'll find a lot of cool stuff. I've seen a lot of good tutorials on fur floating around on there.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

GIMP is like a free Photoshop lite. Google it and you'll find it right away. It's a pretty great program.

Oh, good idea! Thanks. :D

[ensuing.livejournal.com]

Those two are SO ADORABLE!! I love their colors and markings!!

I can't wait to see the finished Eevee picture, the eyes look really good! =D

EXCLAMATION MARKS ARE GREAT TONIGHT!!!!!

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I know, they're super-cute! Their markings are really lovely. ♥

Thank you! It'll probably be a while before I finish it because figuring out Photoshop is...slow, but I'll definitely post it when I do get to finishing it. :)

EXCLAMATION MARKS = ALWAYS WELCOME! :DDD

[mei-san.livejournal.com]

OMG the baby guinea fowls are so cute! I did a google image search on adult guinea fowls and I have to admit they look a bit like fat peacocks (okay I'm not the bird expert here but I think they look a bit similar....). My favorite are pic 1, 4, 6, in the order they're shown on this post.

I can total hear ya about going out more. Sitting in front of a computer all day can be depressing because at the end of the day, I feel so unproductive unless there was something that excited me very much that day. I'm a very indoor type of person and like to be alone, but sometimes I do feel trapped in my room and wants to get away, even though it's just taking a walk aimlessly.

Also, watching so much anime/manga makes me want to create something myself, instead of just passively enjoying them all the time. What should I say, cutting down online time is definitely a good idea if you want to accomplish something...sometimes I feel that there are so many things I want to do that I need 72 hour days.

In fact, I kinda wish I spend more time on the computer now since I'm busy with work now.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Aren't they? And haha, guinea fowl are a bit odd but I'm fond of them anyway. They actually have quite beautiful feathers and their faces...well, they grow on you. Their body types are a little bit like those of peacocks, though they're quite a bit smaller. (Peafowl are around 7-8 pounds when full grown, guinea fowl are about 3-4 pounds.)

Yes, it really can be. Especially when I have so many goals and weeks or months go by without me making any progress on them. :/ But I guess it all comes down to balance. If I cut my online time too much, I'll just miss the internet and wish I had more time on it. If I cut it down too little, I'll just be in the same situation as I am right now. I think I should start spending more time with my chickens and going to the dog park; that'll help me get out more.

I feel the same way about longer days! So much to do, so little time.

And I think if you want to create something, you should go ahead and figure out something to make. Creating things is so very satisfying. :) It doesn't have to be a movie or anything (though I must admit to fantasizing about creating an anime, unreasonable as I know it is), but just something small or fun. You can always make bigger projects once you're comfortable with it.

I hope you find more time to be on the computer! I'm lucky not to have a job, though that's inconvenient in a lot of ways (monetarily, and my parents bug me about it all the time). It is true, though, that the busier I am the more I tend to appreciate my computer and fandom time and use it wisely. XD Once I'm presented with a bunch of free time, I usually waste it all on boring and bizarre things.