/sigh

I'd much rather be an earthy, imperfect hunter astride an undead horse than a sparkling, saccharine human priest.

Of Black Cloaks and Animal Furs

Time for Anime Boston, round two! I'm very excited - there will be many pictures!! <3

For the Alliance!

Lyrical Interlude: Special Edition

I remember all my life
Raining down as cold as ice
A shadow of a man, a face through a window
Crying in the night
The night goes into

Morning, just another day
Happy people pass my way
Looking in their eyes, I see a memory
I never realized how happy you made me

Oh Mandy
Well you came and you gave without taking
But I sent you away, oh Mandy
Well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
I need you today, oh Mandy

I'm standing on the edge of time
I walked away when love was mine
Caught up in a world of uphill climbing
The tears are in my mind
And nothing is rhyming

Oh Mandy
Well you came and you gave without taking
But I sent you away, oh Mandy
Well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
I need you today, oh Mandy

Yesterday's a dream I face the morning
Crying on the breeze the pain is calling

---

And now you know what my mom named me after. :D

Perspectives

Listening to the sounds of the earth that night

the peep frogs
creatures trekking through the leaves
the last few drops of rainwater finding their way to the ground
rustling leaves

made me realize just how small we are in the big picture of the universe. But I also realized that in that moment one person can be

your entire world.

I am my own worst enemy.

Go bury your head in your wing. Left to your own devices, you will think. You think too much, don't you? Are you as bad as you make yourself out to be?

Who knows?

Stop. Thinking.

Crushed Red Velvet

I put my sewing skills to the test today and made myself a prototype drawstring bag! I want one to tie to my belt for Anime Boston and therefore not need to lug a purse around during the convention. The bag I made is a little lopsided, but I did it within two hours and it was all hand stitched. I have tons of fabric, so I have a feeling I'll be making more before the middle of May. I'm happy that my skills haven't rusted beyond ressurection.

At the fabric store yesterday, I was looking for rugged, earthy brown type stuff to make bags and bracers from, and ended up getting beautiful 'crushed' velvet instead. I got a yard of brown, which is much more than I needed to begin with, but also couldn't pass up this beautiful cranberry red. There was only a smidge more than a yard left, so the fabric cutter asked if I just wanted the rest at a discounted price. I figured, why not?

I wish I had a sewing machine, though! It would make this so much faster.

Unruffled.

So the owl's been quite content; as of late, her nest has been virtually unshaken by the habits of the field mouse. In fact, she nearly forgot about the rodent. Part of her almost wants to ask. But another part knows that would be instigation.

Hoot, hoot.

Or is this just a calm before another storm? Don't let the newly stitched patch get frayed.

True Story.

Kneeling on the floor, half-heartedly replacing price stickers in Fine Arts. Drawing paper, charcoal and acrylics all went up - it figures. With a sigh, I deem a jar of gesso three dollars higher when Mike pops up beside me.

"Having fun?" Says he.

"Oh yeah, a total blast." Says I.

"Isn't this what you were doing last week? I remember visiting you then and you were sitting in the same aisle."

"No, then I was counting. Now I'm making everything more expensive."

We chat. I ask how framing is. He tells me about his other job interview. Then, we notice a container of cadmium orange paint that looks a little off. It appears to have either blue or purple mixed in it, but the lid showed no signs of tampering.

"That's really freaky." Mike observes, cracking open the jar as we peer inside. "It doesn't look like anyone touched it, it's just turning colors."

"I think maybe it got bored just sitting there. 'I think I'll try being blue today!'"

"Oh my god, the paints have become sentient beings! They're conspiring amongst themselves... One of these days, we'll be doing recovery and suddenly they'll all just jump off the shelves, biting at us! We'll have the fight them back, armor will become part of the Five Star dress code! The only thing is, they'll behave when [our boss] Patty's around - but that's all. Just Patty. She'll walk past the aisle, see us panicked and covered in paint and say, 'What the hell happened here?! You're fired.' and we'll have to say 'But Patty! The paint was attacking us!'"

"Then she'll say, 'Okay. You're fired and you're getting locked up."

"Yeah... Oh jeez." Mike sighs, walking away and I return to my labels completely amused.

Minutes later, he walks back with a spray bottle, pointing menacingly at the lines of paint, daring them start any trouble.

Fine Arts: Serious Business.

[ and the world belongs to them when they dance ]

but at night

in the dark when the sun goes down

yes at night

night is when they go to town

and they dance!

and she feels like Ginger Rogers

they dance!

he's got the flair of Fred Astaire

I really want to attend a formal dance party. The prom scene in Twilight and listening to token songs from my own senior prom make me really wish annual dances like that still happen in college. Or, perhaps they do, and then I wish I knew about them. I want to get dressed up. I want there to be a DJ. I want the lights to be low and color to be everywhere.

Lyrical Interlude #3

Crownless again shall be the queen
Trophy on her grave still remains unseen
A boat on the river confessing the sins
The Riddler revealing the deep hidden things

Crownless again shall be the king
A gull covered in oil with a broken wing
A hitcher on a road alone and lost
Iron sharpens iron - a truth that once was

Mine is the Earth and the sword in the stone
Mine is the throne for the idol
One fleeting moment and it is all gone
Crownless again
Will I fall?

snarl, hiss hiss.

I need to retract the spines and stop being such a hypocrite.

White vs. Warmth

On Sunday, my boss and I were on break together and we talked about how we're both ready for Spring to roll around. As much as I love snow, I told her, I want it to be mild and fresh and green again. I want to see the buds on that one tree at the corner of my house, I want to hear the songbirds again when I wake up.

But snow has a habit of making me go "Aw, I can't be mad at you!" It's just so beautiful. It's not a blizzard right now, but it's more than a flurry. It's gentle and everything is white, even the sky. I don't have to drive in it today, so I guess I can allow it.

Could it get any better?

My synthesis professor is a beekeeper. My core professor reminds me of my favorite aunt. My theater professor is seemingly made of win, and my photo professor doesn't afraid of anything!! I'm with my bestest buddy for 12 hours twice a week and Fridays are free.

...

I'm so exited to create! My hopes are even higher than they were last semester.

Oh, January

This was quite possibly the quickest winter break I've ever had. I can't believe there's only a week left... But it was fulfilling. I did a lot, and still have plenty more to do before class next Tuesday. I saw everyone I wanted to see.

I'm ready to go back. I'm a little nervous about my 12 hour schooldays twice a week, but I'm hoping my free Fridays will more than make up for it. And the fact that I won't be by myself is exciting too.

May will be here soon enough.

it's not faith if you're using your eyes

Title unrelated. It's just what I'm listening to.

I saw my first wild skunk today! It was rooting through the old gingerbread house we threw in the front rock garden, munching on it all the while. I'd never been that close to an actual, live skunk before and it was actually quite adorable. Skunks have an obvious stigma in this society, so I always wrote them off as undesirable animals. But the way it was snuffling through the rocks and bits of cookie... Awwwwww. It had this funny, roly-poly method of walking too. I really wanted to pet it.

But that would have been a terrible idea. So I didn't.

Lyrical Interlude #2

windows of frosted ice
prisming candlelight
and somehow we start to believe

in the night and the dream
as it cuts through the noise
with the whisper of snow
as it starts to deploy

in the depths of a night
that’s about to begin
with the feeling of snow
as it melts on your skin

and it covers the land
with a dream so intense
that it returns us all
to a child’s innocence
and then what you’d thought lost
and could never retrieve
is suddenly there to be found...
on christmas eve !!

Weather Update.

I love the snow. :D

The White Owl.

Deep in a midnight forest paces a white owl. She hops from branch to branch, thinking all the while. There is a field mouse braiding blades of grass together in a clearing not far from here. She knows this mouse. So close, so accessible...


The field mouse hasn't done any wrong to her directly, of course. It's gnawed on the roots at the base of the tree in which the owl has built her nest. When strong winds blow, things are uneasy. It's always in the back of her mind. Of all their minds. This, she knows.


How easy it would be to swoop down, snatch up the problematic rodent and rip it to shreds with her majestic bill. How wonderful. But. Would it really solve her problem? Would it repair the shredded roots?


The owl takes off from the branch, silent silvery feathers turning her into a whisp of a being. Talons unfurl and muscles tighten in ecstacy of the hunt...



But clawtips barely brush fur. At the last second, she raises her feet, tucking them into the down of her underbelly as she banks sharply to the right and ascends into the branches again. Yellow eyes stare down at the field mouse, panicked but still alive.


It is not the owl's place to bring justice to the world this way. Feathers bristle anxiously on her neck. She hoots lowly. She'll fix her nest and forget about the mouse. Forget.



And so she takes off into the night.

gobble gobble.

Annual Thanksgiving Week Thankful!post.

It's sort of a tradition for me; I've done a post like this every year since I started blogging. It's not whether or not anyone reads it, it's mostly a reflection for myself. But if you enjoy it, then even better.

BEING THANKFUL...

- For art. In general. For being something to look at, something to think about and something to do.

- For my coworkers and superiors who are absolute sweethearts to me and make working not such a horrible, painful chore all the time, even though I complain about it.

- For my family, because they are nothing short of amazing and I don't know where I'd be without them and their support. Even Biscuit, who chews on my shoes and wires.

- For inside jokes, because they make me lolololololololol on a daily basis.

- For RIC, especially the art center, a magical place with collectable particles that feels like a second home.

- For my old friends, who despite being away at other colleges have maintained contact and are always good for conversation.

- For my new friends, because they are epic people I wouldn't want to have to live without.

- For Nicole, my partner-in-crime and someone who gets me on every level imaginable. Team DNPWWO can read each other's minds and always has a leash in hand. We predict the future together via astrology, and I can't wait to watch that over-expensive TV system at her house next to my swamp.

- For Kyle, without whom Project Tricycle wouldn't be able to funciton or exist. I feel as if I can tell him everything and anything... It was a fateful day, that September afternoon, where three lives were changed over Coloraid and bristol board! Jeez louise!

- For Dave, who has taught me what it means to be truly loved. I never thought I'd meet (or deserve) someone who can still make me feel so warm and fluttery inside even after all this time. Compatibility doesn't get much more perfect than this. ... Even though I'm not Spiderman.

- For scarves, penguins, dragons, videogames, jinglebells, animals, beads, druids, music, my car and other things that simply make me happy.

- For the way everything has played out and seemingly locked into place. I've always stood by my 'everything happens for a reason' view, and it has never been truer than this past year.

<3

Always thinking about something weird.

There's this strange habit I have. When there's a lull in my thoughts and I happen to know what time it is, I will calculate where I will be or where I have been at that exact time plus or minus 12 hours. Usually twelve. Sometimes 24. If I'm looking forward to something particularly exciting, it can stretch to 36 or 48 hours. Like, "Only 30 hours until I see..." Then the calculation expands to "6 of those hours will be for sleeping and 7 of them will be for school, so..." Or, "At this time tomorrow..."

Like right now. It's Tuesday the 18th, half past noon. Twelve hours ago I was asleep: I went to bed early because World of Warcraft was denying me my server and I didn't feel like being awake anymore. Twelve hours from now, I bet I'll still be up. There's a lot I want to do after work. Twenty four hours ago, I was glazing a few of my ceramic pieces and nearly dropped one in the bucket. A week ago, I had barely been awake for an hour and was nestled between two sources of warmth in my partner-in-crime's art room.

How time changes.

Madness? Maybe.