oh, say, can you coelacanth?

i did it, neighbors.
i finished carving out the opposite image
on the corky card i'm using to print some pictures.
yep.
it took longer than i planned,
mostly because i thought about it more than most things.
and sure,
a litany of limitations sprung up at the very last minute.
the ink i've been using has seen far better days,
so i had to do a little alchemical manipulation to make it work.
the paper was too thin, and soaked up all the moisture, curling it;
the other paper was too curly, so the rolled edges peeled away from the plate;
the other other paper was jussst right, texturally,
but just a wee bit too small to produce two pictures on one piece.
damn.
i maybe could've spent a little more time on the end-product materials.
what can i say?
i thought i had all the good stuff all already in place-
plus,
i was, and am still, always doing twenty other things at once.
yeah,
i doo-doo that multitasking-myriad-focus-ten-thousand-directions-style sh!t.
sometimes,
that means my paper products may be a little lacking,
but only because the treats are especially expert.
mmmhmmm.
on the real-
i can EAT the treats,
and that's better than the sexiest paper i've ever marked, marred, folded or torn.
however,
i'm not NOT gonna get as busy with my big action as i conceivably can,
using what i've got on hand to get it poppin' all the way to eleven.
y'know?
so,
once the difficulties and technicalities of a morning spent mixing up
insistently inconsistent fudgy blarpity blops of brayer-rolled black tar,
i got a few proofs pulled from the block.
jeeeez,
we sure took our time getting to the teleport today, huh?
ha.
check it:

COELACANTHS.
yuuuuuup.
the best. fish. ever.
they're my underwater dudes;
my shamanic spirits of proto-limbed infinite evolutionary memory;
my lost-and-found fossil-fueled furious bottom-dwellin' battle-beasts;
my favorite fomorian depth-chargers.....
....because all they do is just be dope.
i'm sayin',
for practically the whole entire time that everything has ever even happened,
nobody even noticed 'em, down at the bottom of the ocean,
just doing what they do, and doing it SO well,
they've managed to remain at the top of their game
for millions and millions (and millions) of years.
that's pretty impressive,
in my persona opinion,
they are by far the freshest looking fish in the sea,
by virtue of looking the least like fish from the last epoch or two-
that's word.
the stay ugly, stay dope jauns is no joke, jerks.
guys,
for longer than almost everything,
they've endured,
by just being all about what they're about.
and it works, apparently, as well as anyone could really hope.
imagine being so well-suited to your assigned tasks that you reach,
and maintain throughout the millennia,
a penultimate zenith of adaptation and activation so flawless,
you just do what you do the best it can be done,
forever.
ugh.
and i'm up here, in the mountains,
the actual opposite of their environment,
still just trying to figure out how to amend the ink situation,
before i buy more and start over.
awwwwwwww, MAN!
well,
i guess that's a long-term goal, then, no?
huh?
no.
the new ink is en route already.
that's attainable by tuesday.
i mean,
to be the best at being the ugliest and most well-adapted individual
to the area i abide in,
and then to do that as hard as i can until there's nothing left.
is that depressing, or inspiring?
i'm actually too old to tell the difference anymore!!
ha.
***********
there WILL be more prints made of this.
like,
for you to get from me.
pulling prints is on the menu for my next day off.
and when i get what i need,
you can get what i've got.
enduring whatever happens,
when you know all of it is really happening,
is a skill i admire, and one i emulate, every damned day.
take all that life throws at you,
survive it,
and then keep on doing what you do.
that's it;
never quiet, never soft.....