Posts in category “Bewitching Vagabond”
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Lighthouses

Note - This was originally posted to a friend's site which has been taken down. The links have not been checked since 2015.

What is it about lighthouses that draws people? People collect lighthouses figurines. People paint and draw lighthouses. People will stop to photograph a lighthouse even when there could be something else more interesting which they did not even notice in the shadow of that mystical, lonely, stark looking building poking the sky.

I think it is the romance, mystery, history and the feeling of adventure -- surviving storms at sea and pounding waves. The idea of steadfast lighthouse keepers, daring rescues and pirates hiding their treasure exposed in the roving splash of a beam of light.

They are kind of fun to draw. Even more fun to be down at the water, hearing it, smelling it.

Photo Galleries of Lighthouses:

Lighthouses as Art:

Lighthouses Visited/ Documented:

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Is ASCII Art Open Source?

Some people get peeved because I don't offer my art in a plain text file. I don't like having my ASCII ripped off, as it so often and easily is. So, for the past few years, I only post an image file (a .png screen capture from NotePad). It still gets ripped off because people like to assume any ASCII art is free, like free software in price and availability. One person even claimed, "no one owns ASCII art".

I don't want people to assume it is free. Not free in price. Not free in value and not freely available to be copied or taken. Each person is different in this way. I do not see my ASCII art as free software. I'm not that generous. Mostly, I don't like feeling taken advantage of when someone else is using my art and it makes me angry when it is being sold, or given away in a product without any consideration to myself. Financial consideration yes, also at the very least, an artist credit. How stingy is someone who takes something offered to them, claims it as their own and sells it at a profit to themselves only?

I would rather ASCI art was open source (the image file which at least still has my artist initials rather than the text file so easily "edited"). Any image online is pretty much open source, whether the artist likes it or not. Watermarks can be removed with software or scissors.

If it were possible, I wouldn't have ASCII Art as open source either. Respect the ASCII artist, any artist, don't steal art! You may want to think it is all open source, the person who created the art probably does not see it that way.

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Big Eye (Eyed) Girl: Vintage Art

I was a child in the 70's. I still like 70's music more than any other. I remember my bedroom being decorated with huge flowers - the wallpaper and curtains matched. At the time it didn't seem at all retro or vintage. It takes time for anything to look kitschy after all.

There were so many little things I had back then that are prized artifacts now. I wish I had been able to keep more of them. But, we moved a lot. Then I grew up and started moving a lot myself.

One thing I miss are the big eyed girls I used to have on my walls. I didn't get them new, even back then. I had to wander into them at yard sales and thrift stores. That's still the only way I seem to find them now. But, I hardly ever find them these days.

I used to have about half a dozen of those sloe eyed girls. I liked the ones in the jester outfits, the girls who didn't look like children but could have been teenagers. I had a few in jester clothes and at least 2 others which were ballerinas. My little sister liked them too. She took a couple of mine and wouldn't give them back. Sisters...

Anyway, these days I only have one big eyed girl print left. I don't even have her up on a wall. I keep her packed away. I guess I either don't want to lose my last one or I want to make sure she isn't left out during the next move (whenever that will happen along).

Big Eyed Bradley Dolls

If you're a child of the 70's too, do you remember Bradley Dolls? They were another type of big eyed girl but not in paintings or prints. They were actual dolls.

Margaret Keane Links and Resources

Big Eye Girl Art

This could also be by Ward. The artist name was removed if it is.

This could also be by Ward. The artist name was removed if it is.

Big Eyed Girl Artists

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Stop Getting Red Marks on Your Nose From Glasses

For the Girls Who Wear Glasses and Get Sore Noses from Them

I'm in the process of ordering new glasses so it's a funny time for the current eyeglasses to start giving me a problem. But, since getting the eye tests done, I've been getting red marks on the bridge of my nose from the plastic bits (nose pad, nose pieces, nose guard?) on my glasses.

The first thing I did was give them an extra cleaning - and washed my face well too, of course. The problem went away for a few days. But, it started up again, just on one side this time. It is really bothering me a lot. The skin is peeling off under the nose piece. It's become very sore, raw and oozing a bit. So, I washed everything again. Used disinfectant again too. Then I put a plastic bandage on my face and went online to see if I could find the cause of the problem.

I wear my eyeglasses all the time (not in the shower or in bed, as some will be thinking). I don't just wear them for reading or driving around in the car. So, a sore spot like this is something I want to deal with and fix right away.

Right away I found an answer to what it is and how to deal with it.

The Cause of the Problem

First, the cause - hot weather and skin being irritated by the nose piece. As you sweat from the heat you also sweat under the frame of your glasses. Not a problem for the skin that gets air to it and dries once you are not sweating. That patch of skin under the nose piece is not able to dry so the skin is always a bit wet with sweat and then irritated and rubbed by the glasses.

That was good to know. I don't have some weird skin problem or infection, bacteria, whatever.

Get a Different Nose Piece

Secondly, I found out a couple of options which will help the problem, other than wearing a bandage.

You can go to the store where you bought your eyeglasses and ask them to change the plastic nose piece and give you a fabric/ cloth one instead. This will let the skin get some air under there and give it a chance to be a little drier. It's also softer, so it won't rub as much.

Try Adjusting/ Moving the Nose Piece

Another idea people wrote about was moving the nose pieces. Experiment a bit and see if you can loosen them by pushing them up or down a bit more or less. In my case, when I didn't have a problem with red marks before, this seems a likely solution. Chances are the nose pieces were moved when they were checking my current prescription at the eye doctor's office. So, that's what I have done. I will have to wait and see if that works.

When I get the new eyeglasses I'm going to see if they will give me something different for a nose piece, maybe cloth which can be added on hot summer days. It's good to know there are options!

Create your Own Solution to the Nose Piece Problem

I had a new idea for the problem of glasses which leave a mark on our nose.

Take one standard bandage, it must be the type with fabric not the plastic bandages. Cut off the ends to make two pieces of bandage, roughly the size of the nose piece on your glasses. Peel off the backing from the bandage piece then stick the piece onto the nose piece of your glasses frame. Trim the excess, leave a bit to act like overlap and wrap up and over the sides of the noise piece. This overlap bit keeps it from touching any of your skin and helps it to stay stuck on as well.

I've been using this idea all day today. It works great! It's also fairly cheap and easy to do.

There's a big difference between a woman who wears glasses and a woman with a pair of glasses on her face, and we're not idiots. Has she ever pushed her specs repeatedly up her nose in an especially stuffy interview room, reached for them only to encounter the paradox of she who cannot see, cannot find her glasses? Slept on them or stepped on them? Wondered when to take them off pre-makeout? No, no, no and no. And you can tell that she and her specs are not One.

Quote Source: Jezebel - Girls Who Wear Glasses: A Tribute

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Stop Getting Red Marks on Your Nose From Glasses

For the Girls Who Wear Glasses and Get Sore Noses from Them

I'm in the process of ordering new glasses so it's a funny time for the current eyeglasses to start giving me a problem. But, since getting the eye tests done, I've been getting red marks on the bridge of my nose from the plastic bits (nose pad, nose pieces, nose guard?) on my glasses.

The first thing I did was give them an extra cleaning - and washed my face well too, of course. The problem went away for a few days. But, it started up again, just on one side this time. It is really bothering me a lot. The skin is peeling off under the nose piece. It's become very sore, raw and oozing a bit. So, I washed everything again. Used disinfectant again too. Then I put a plastic bandage on my face and went online to see if I could find the cause of the problem.

I wear my eyeglasses all the time (not in the shower or in bed, as some will be thinking). I don't just wear them for reading or driving around in the car. So, a sore spot like this is something I want to deal with and fix right away.

Right away I found an answer to what it is and how to deal with it.

For the Girls Who Wear Glasses and Get Sore Noses from Them

I'm in the process of ordering new glasses so it's a funny time for the current eyeglasses to start giving me a problem. But, since getting the eye tests done, I've been getting red marks on the bridge of my nose from the plastic bits (nose pad, nose pieces, nose guard?) on my glasses.

The first thing I did was give them an extra cleaning - and washed my face well too, of course. The problem went away for a few days. But, it started up again, just on one side this time. It is really bothering me a lot. The skin is peeling off under the nose piece. It's become very sore, raw and oozing a bit. So, I washed everything again. Used disinfectant again too. Then I put a plastic bandage on my face and went online to see if I could find the cause of the problem.

I wear my eyeglasses all the time (not in the shower or in bed, as some will be thinking). I don't just wear them for reading or driving around in the car. So, a sore spot like this is something I want to deal with and fix right away.

Right away I found an answer to what it is and how to deal with it.

The Cause of the Problem

First, the cause - hot weather and skin being irritated by the nose piece. As you sweat from the heat you also sweat under the frame of your glasses. Not a problem for the skin that gets air to it and dries once you are not sweating. That patch of skin under the nose piece is not able to dry so the skin is always a bit wet with sweat and then irritated and rubbed by the glasses.

That was good to know. I don't have some weird skin problem or infection, bacteria, whatever.

Get a Different Nose Piece

Secondly, I found out a couple of options which will help the problem, other than wearing a bandage.

You can go to the store where you bought your eyeglasses and ask them to change the plastic nose piece and give you a fabric/ cloth one instead. This will let the skin get some air under there and give it a chance to be a little drier. It's also softer, so it won't rub as much.

Try Adjusting/ Moving the Nose Piece

Another idea people wrote about was moving the nose pieces. Experiment a bit and see if you can loosen them by pushing them up or down a bit more or less. In my case, when I didn't have a problem with red marks before, this seems a likely solution. Chances are the nose pieces were moved when they were checking my current prescription at the eye doctor's office. So, that's what I have done. I will have to wait and see if that works.

When I get the new eyeglasses I'm going to see if they will give me something different for a nose piece, maybe cloth which can be added on hot summer days. It's good to know there are options!

Create your Own Solution to the Nose Piece Problem

I had a new idea for the problem of glasses which leave a mark on our nose.

Take one standard bandage, it must be the type with fabric not the plastic bandages. Cut off the ends to make two pieces of bandage, roughly the size of the nose piece on your glasses. Peel off the backing from the bandage piece then stick the piece onto the nose piece of your glasses frame. Trim the excess, leave a bit to act like overlap and wrap up and over the sides of the noise piece. This overlap bit keeps it from touching any of your skin and helps it to stay stuck on as well.

I've been using this idea all day today. It works great! It's also fairly cheap and easy to do.

Girls with Glasses