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A few years ago I took a vacation to Prague, Czech Republic. As I was planning the trip, I wanted to find some fun experiences to take part in. A friend I was visiting loves birds so I thought it would be fun to book a private tour with Penthea.org . They are an organization focusing on falconry, breeding, ornithology, animal rescue and education. The experience was amazing. We got so spend half a day meeting many of the birds they use for falconry and education, we learned about the Czech history of falconry. I’ve been to falconry demonstrations in the US and in Canada, but have never experienced anything like this. It was very informative and has given me a new view of many who use falcons and owls in shows and demonstrations. The laws in the Czech republic and the certifications and rules Czech falconers have to go through to become licensed and keep their license really focuses on the wellbeing of the birds themselves. One of the things that really resonated with me was that they are not allowed to train wild birds for use in falconry, thus reducing the risks of wild birds being captured and sold. They also educated us on some of the bird related photo opportunities that could be offered in the tourist centers of Prague that are actually illegal and should not be encouraged. I honestly now weigh every falconry experience against this one and against the Czech traditions we were taught. If you are going to be in Prague for more than a day or two, I highly recommend reaching out to Penthea and booking an experience for yourself. It is well worth the price. You get to have an amazing experience and support a very worthy organization run by an amazing family. I know I’ll be booking another one the next time I’m in Prague. Also, consider donating to help with the upkeep of the birds they care for.

Below are some of the birds we got to interact with and fly with.

It’s been a while since I worked on this page, and I’m trying to make the time to finish it. I’ve been creating card art for the past 3 years or so. Its a hobby I found during the pandemic. Cart art can take many forms. The form I participate in is taking existing trading cards (sports cards, Pokémon, magic the gathering, or other cards) and modifying them. I cut them up and add embellishments. I’ve combined my love of lapidary and rocks and melded it with the card art. In the past year, thanks to buying some elk hide to use for polishing stones, I’ve experimented a little with adding leather into cards. I will cut out a card that I think would look good in my style and will add in a stone background or a mother of pearl background. I try to match the patterning on my stones to the cut out. I try to create something unique that looks cool or beautiful. As I’m working with natural materials, all of my cards are true one of one cards. Even were I to try to recreate the card, it would be slightly different because every stone is different and the patterning on every piece of mother of pearl is different.

I literally cannot make the same card twice. At some point, as I get this site functional, I’ll also start offering some of my cards for sale. I love making them, but I haven’t been very good at marketing myself or letting many go. I’ve started to gain quiet a collection of my creations, and its time that I start letting them go. One of the things I’ve starting doing when I plan to go to a pop culture or anime convention is looking at any guests who are attending and seeing if I can create a card for them to sign. This way, I have something more personal than just stock photos that most offer at their tables. Below is an example of a recent one I got signed at Fairfax Comicon. They had Michael Haigney as a guest. He’s a voice actor who’s done a lot of voices for the Pokemon tv show. I had a Hitmonchan that I’d finished a few months ago that was perfect, as he was the voice.

Below are a few more cards I’ve done recently. I got the opportunity to spend a few weeks in Japan in May and i bought a brick of Japanese One Piece cards in bulk thinking I’d like to make some cards out of them. Well, I made my first this week. I’ve got about another dozen planned for some point in the future. One of the primary ways people have gotten my cards is in trades. The spiderman below is one that I’ve made as a trade with another card artist. I’ve also posted a few below with an abalone mother of pearl background. These cards take a slightly different technique from the cards using stones, but are a lot of fun and can be really beautiful.

The Washington Auto Show 2023 runs from 20-29 January. I’ve wanted to go and see what it was like for several years. This year, I decided that since it was running on my birthday, and I don’t make a habit of working on that day, that I’d check it out. A day pass is only $12.50 so I gave it a try. I’ve watched clips from some of the bigger shows on TV and really wasn’t sure what to expect. The website lists a lot of manufacturers, but also a collectors car section. The convention center doors didn’t open until noon, so I found things to occupy myself during the morning, then took metro into DC. I started the experience with a great lunch to make sure I didn’t have to spend typical convention food prices (for those who’ve never been to a convention, they tend to be two to three times as expensive as outside prices kind of like a ballpark or concert).

The top floor rooms were dedicated primarily to Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Subaru, Nissan, Kia, and Stellantis (which included Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, and a few others). I took a quick photo as I entered to show the size of the hall and the volume of cars. Many of the manufacturers had race car models based on their production cards, as well as current model production cars, prototypes, and first looks at models coming out this year. Toyota appears to have a few concept vehicles, but there were no where near as many as you find at some of the other big car shows. I only took a few photos in this hall, as it was mostly normal daily drivers for most of us (and a few sportier cars). I was surprised at how many e-vehicles were on display andsome of the models that different manufacturers are turning into electric vehicles

I spent over an hour on this floor, mostly admiring cars that I will probably never be able to afford, but like many, will dream of owning. I enjoy looking at cars and can appreciate many, but I’m not good with identifying models. Again, where I hadn’t thought of blogging this at the time, I didn’t think to write things down that would be helpful. If any of you reading this are car enthusiasts, I hope you’ll forgive my lack of knowledge. The next few photos are of some of the cars I spent the most time admiring. The last car (the pink one) was pretty cool to see. The owner had video that he happily showed everyone that with the wheels canted at the angle they are, it still does drive. It appears that I’ve hit the allowable length of this blog with all of the photos, so I’ll end it here and let you admire the beauty that I did.

This is a test of the blog. I’m new to wordpress and am trying to build a nice site. Im going to do a lot via blog posts, so this is the test.