Hi! My name is Ashlyn Anstee, and I tell stories with words and pictures. Sometimes, that’s picture books (like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Select “Hedgehog”), or graphic novels (my series “Shelby and Watts”), and sometimes it’s animation (I’ve directed at places like Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network).
This column, “For the Fun of It”, will also have words and pictures. Sometimes it will be stories, or how-tos, or thoughts. A little bit of everything. Hope you enjoy!
The Subaru
My family drove a variety of beater cars throughout my childhood. Since Vancouver isn’t very snowy, and there’s good transit, there was never really a reason to have a particularly nice car. The two that lasted pretty much until I left for college were the Van and the Subaru.
They were wonderfully ancient cars with quirks that didn’t affect their ability to drive. For example, the Van’s side door started to fall off when we would open it, so we started to all climb in through the front door. (Listen, having three kids in a city like Vancouver is pricey).
Also, our cars were always getting stolen. I think this was pretty common in Vancouver at the time. It also used to be a lot easier to hotwire cars, that sort of thing. Also, you could unlock the Subaru with any key. (Which made it very easy if my parents ever locked the keys in the car).
For the Birds
My dad bought birdseed, because he loved setting up little feeders to watch them. My brother is now an avid birdwatcher. I like birds but I am still not very good at identifying them.
On this particular day, the bag of birdseed had a hole in it, and had left tons of seeds in the back seat. Then, of course, our car was stolen. If your car has never been stolen, part of the problem is that you don’t really know where they take it. They often will use the car to get somewhere, then dump it, and it takes a few weeks for someone to report it. Then the cops will run the number of the car, and you’ll finally get a call that they’ve found your car (usually without some of its contents).
Vancouver is a very wet city. It’s not just the rain of it, it’s just in the air. The PNW is a rainforest. Anything left in the city for too long will get mossy, and green.
When we went to go pick up the Subaru a few weeks later, the moisture in the air had sprouted the seeds, nature making a little garden in the back seat. A little reminder that if you leave something long enough, nature will reclaim it.
I actually told this story years ago on Tumblr- maybe an early precursor to this blog, before I had the courage to write like I do now. This has been a really nice space for me.
It gives me hope that when we’re all gone, the bags of birdseed in stores will sprout, and soon the green will take over everything again, and erase our footprint. We can only hope!
Thing of the Week
I’ve been doing a lot more mixed media and collage work lately! A while ago, I asked Twitter people for their favorite glues. Here’s my thoughts.
For 3D work:
This e6000 glue is great! Gloopy and permanant. It dries a bit slower than superglue for me, but since there’s a lot of it, I can use more and just make sure I’m propping whatever I’m gluing into position if it’s precarious. It smells REAL BAD. It’s my new favorite thick glue.
For Collage:
Y’all remember GLUE STICKS??? And how messy and annoying they were?? And it also seemed like they took forever to dry? Listen, they have their place, but I remain a loyal and obsessive user of glue runners. They’re little tape type things that deposit dots of glue, and they work pretty instantly to stick things together. They’re neat and tidy too. Also, this one is for sale at Jetpens which means you can buy some fountain pen ink to keep it company in the package.
ok love you bye.