The other day was one of the most stressful days I have ever had.
I was prepared to give a Eulogy for one of my closest friends, which it turns out, is a lot harder than they (meaning anyone else) make it look.
What happened was, I spent the entire day before sitting around and not writing down anything, but instead making a rather angsty watercolor.
And then, when it came to be my turn to talk, I just kind of sniffled loudly into the microphone, claimed “sorry, that was gross,” and then burst into tears.
I feel really bad about that.
So, I wanted to make up for my inability to speak, and to share my speech here instead.
When everyone talks and remembers Aniene, they remember the stories she used to tell. There were the particularly grand ones, about her father finding gold and bank robbers, and there were those stories that were almost too good to be true, about her best friends who were made for each other but waited until time and circumstance decided it had waited long enough for them to be together.
And although Aniene’s stories were the highlight of my highschool working career, it was the things outside of her memories that I think we should remember. We should remember the little things she did without needing to tell anyone, without asking or needing to be recognized.
Without having been asked twice, Aniene spent hours of her time to make a quilt for battered children, putting aside her valuable time for people she didn’t even know. Aniene took phone calls at two a.m. and could recognize people she hadn’t talked to for thirty years. She invited people into her house and made them feel at home when they had nowhere else to go.
One of the most amazing things that really sticks with me is the time she let Andrew stay on her couch for a week after he had his wisdom teeth taken out. His parents were gone, his house was empty, so Aniene stepped up, compassionate towards someone who was basically a stranger, and took care of him like a son.
This is the image of Aniene that I will always remember:
She was loving, kind, compassionate, and selfless. She loved to make others happy, to sacrifice her time and resources to see others smile.
Aniene would have found a way to spin this into a story, which would have led into a side story, which would have led to another, further removed story, but the things that she did outside of the time she spent working were just as monumental as the things she shared.
And I feel that, although she's gone, we should never forget her attitude towards others, and that she will continue to live on through her loving example.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Renouncing Girly Ties.
I'm sick of girly things.
I’ve always loved and was slightly jealous of girls who have enough self esteem to wear bright pinks and lacey crap. Also, taking time to do makeup? Or taking time to actually match clothes? Shoes with heels? Girls are just amazing.
I started being more girly after I chopped off all my hair and started to be mistaken for a boy. It never really did feel right, as explained below in my not-really-a-graph-but-this-website-wont-let-me-import-my-fancy-pants-graph-so-this-will-have-to-do .
Age ---- Girlyness (or lack there of)
5. Thought I was a boy
10. Accepting I was a girl, but perfectly capable of beating any boy (or girl) in the mile
15. Told I was pretty, but "probably didn’t realize it” and should, therefore, wear clothes that hadn't, at one point in time, belonged to Eric.
17. Decided it was time to add femininity to my appearance to counteract the short hair
19. Whatever.
I’m just finished with a girly façade. To me, it seems like just too much effort, plus I can’t wear heels without being super paranoid that I’m going to break my ankles and therefore not be able to run. Also, my hair is a longer (yet still ‘lesbian length’), so at least people are clear on my gender.
What this means:
A. No more creepy dolls in my room.
B. I will probably be taken for a lesbian more often/will continue to date closet gays.
C. Everyone else I hang out with will babeify x 9264, making me a necessary accessory for improv nights.
D. I can fill science major stereotypes
Not a long list, seeing as I was only attracted to the idea of girlyness for about a year and wasn't nearly as girly as I could have been.
Other boring news updates:
1. Something got hold of Pippin and now he’s got a nasty scratch running from his eye to his nose.
2. They finished re-doing a sidewalk on my normal running route. I no longer need to run around a group of construction workers. And, the new sidewalk is pretty grand.
3. Finished reading The Lovely Bones. Working in a store that sells dollhouses, I must say that Sebold made an excellent choice of a creepy hobby for her killer.
4. Also finished Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, which may or may not have something to do with my new-found dislike for girly things.
Okay, so I wrote that last week, than was like, ‘nahh im not going to post this for more than a two minute window’ in which Christine somehow found it. And it’s a good thing I didn’t, cause there’s something I want to add.
After I wrote this, I painted my toe nails.
So, I guess I lied?
But if anyone wants a few pairs of heels, let me know.
I’ve always loved and was slightly jealous of girls who have enough self esteem to wear bright pinks and lacey crap. Also, taking time to do makeup? Or taking time to actually match clothes? Shoes with heels? Girls are just amazing.
I started being more girly after I chopped off all my hair and started to be mistaken for a boy. It never really did feel right, as explained below in my not-really-a-graph-but-this-website-wont-let-me-import-my-fancy-pants-graph-so-this-will-have-to-do .
Age ---- Girlyness (or lack there of)
5. Thought I was a boy
10. Accepting I was a girl, but perfectly capable of beating any boy (or girl) in the mile
15. Told I was pretty, but "probably didn’t realize it” and should, therefore, wear clothes that hadn't, at one point in time, belonged to Eric.
17. Decided it was time to add femininity to my appearance to counteract the short hair
19. Whatever.
I’m just finished with a girly façade. To me, it seems like just too much effort, plus I can’t wear heels without being super paranoid that I’m going to break my ankles and therefore not be able to run. Also, my hair is a longer (yet still ‘lesbian length’), so at least people are clear on my gender.
What this means:
A. No more creepy dolls in my room.
B. I will probably be taken for a lesbian more often/will continue to date closet gays.
C. Everyone else I hang out with will babeify x 9264, making me a necessary accessory for improv nights.
D. I can fill science major stereotypes
Not a long list, seeing as I was only attracted to the idea of girlyness for about a year and wasn't nearly as girly as I could have been.
Other boring news updates:
1. Something got hold of Pippin and now he’s got a nasty scratch running from his eye to his nose.
2. They finished re-doing a sidewalk on my normal running route. I no longer need to run around a group of construction workers. And, the new sidewalk is pretty grand.
3. Finished reading The Lovely Bones. Working in a store that sells dollhouses, I must say that Sebold made an excellent choice of a creepy hobby for her killer.
4. Also finished Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, which may or may not have something to do with my new-found dislike for girly things.
Okay, so I wrote that last week, than was like, ‘nahh im not going to post this for more than a two minute window’ in which Christine somehow found it. And it’s a good thing I didn’t, cause there’s something I want to add.
After I wrote this, I painted my toe nails.
So, I guess I lied?
But if anyone wants a few pairs of heels, let me know.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Oh hai weekend.
Basically just had the best week of my life.
How is that possible, you might ask, when I had previously been through monumental times such as seeing Patrick Wolf, being born, or eating bagels for breakfast (and in that order too)?
First I went camping with Christine and Eric, probably the two greatest people on the planet. We went to the Shenandoah Mountains and hiked Old Rag, where we took eight hours to go up the scramble and down the boring-ish walk past some shelters which, believe it or not, Old Rag himself lives. Although, by now, there are so many generations of Old Rag, and some of them are still Young Rag and Baby Rag, that it isn’t that impressive. We also met this pot-smoking hipster who told me that I wasn’t posing as Jesus correctly, and then began to discuss with his friend how Pho noodles are the epitome of Chinese food. (they’re Vietnamese).
We then sketchily gathered some firewood from Big Meadows, and go attacked by an owl. Falling asleep was easy after the 8.59 miles we had hiked, squeezed, and managed to pull ourselves through, although breakfast of instant coffee (yuck) and instant oatmeal (yuck) was not the best to wake up to. The night before we had a few fake hot dogs and some marshmallows before the campfire went out, because it was so incredibly windy. Even after all our effort to collect firewood in a some-what illegal fashion we still had to use Christine’s little camping stove, which requires ridiculous amounts of pumping gas and holding matches dangerously close to said gas. I even had to rip out pages of Tom Sawyer to get our fire going, but I’m sure Mark Twain would have been proud of that.
Then, after being completely worn out, we went to Dinosaur land. Dinosaur land is pretty much a bunch of old papier-mâché statues of dinosaurs, some more hilarious than others, which are joined by King Kong, a giant Praying Mantis, and a Squid. Although we spent only about 30 minutes in the actual park, I say it was well worth the $5 admission ticket plus gas money. Also, I learned some important historical lessons, such as, "black widow spider is so named because it kills its mate after mating. How foolish can the female get?" Thanks guide book.
THEN I got to go see THE ROOM live action play! THE FIRST ONE… EVER. As director, producer, and lead actor Tommy Wiseau himself said, June 10th will forever be a day written in history books. Then an interview with him and Greg Sestero where I learned that it is always better to give 20% rather than 100%. Oh, and pictures with both of them, handshakes, signatures, and a comment to “enjoy our life.”
Thanks to you Tommy, I will.
How is that possible, you might ask, when I had previously been through monumental times such as seeing Patrick Wolf, being born, or eating bagels for breakfast (and in that order too)?
First I went camping with Christine and Eric, probably the two greatest people on the planet. We went to the Shenandoah Mountains and hiked Old Rag, where we took eight hours to go up the scramble and down the boring-ish walk past some shelters which, believe it or not, Old Rag himself lives. Although, by now, there are so many generations of Old Rag, and some of them are still Young Rag and Baby Rag, that it isn’t that impressive. We also met this pot-smoking hipster who told me that I wasn’t posing as Jesus correctly, and then began to discuss with his friend how Pho noodles are the epitome of Chinese food. (they’re Vietnamese).
We then sketchily gathered some firewood from Big Meadows, and go attacked by an owl. Falling asleep was easy after the 8.59 miles we had hiked, squeezed, and managed to pull ourselves through, although breakfast of instant coffee (yuck) and instant oatmeal (yuck) was not the best to wake up to. The night before we had a few fake hot dogs and some marshmallows before the campfire went out, because it was so incredibly windy. Even after all our effort to collect firewood in a some-what illegal fashion we still had to use Christine’s little camping stove, which requires ridiculous amounts of pumping gas and holding matches dangerously close to said gas. I even had to rip out pages of Tom Sawyer to get our fire going, but I’m sure Mark Twain would have been proud of that.
Then, after being completely worn out, we went to Dinosaur land. Dinosaur land is pretty much a bunch of old papier-mâché statues of dinosaurs, some more hilarious than others, which are joined by King Kong, a giant Praying Mantis, and a Squid. Although we spent only about 30 minutes in the actual park, I say it was well worth the $5 admission ticket plus gas money. Also, I learned some important historical lessons, such as, "black widow spider is so named because it kills its mate after mating. How foolish can the female get?" Thanks guide book.
THEN I got to go see THE ROOM live action play! THE FIRST ONE… EVER. As director, producer, and lead actor Tommy Wiseau himself said, June 10th will forever be a day written in history books. Then an interview with him and Greg Sestero where I learned that it is always better to give 20% rather than 100%. Oh, and pictures with both of them, handshakes, signatures, and a comment to “enjoy our life.”
Thanks to you Tommy, I will.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
A super long title that has abso-flippin-lutley nothing to do with the blog post yayayayay!!!
So, every time I go out gardening, I’m like, dude, I should blog about this! (cause I’m always calling myself dude). And then I remember that no one in their right mind wants to hear about how I pulled up my moms Black Eyed Susans thinking they were weeds, and left the weeds thinking they were my Moms B lack Eyed Susans. I think I’ll start a band and call it Black Eyed Susans, then we can tour with the Black Eyed Peas, only we can, like, playing bagpipes and conga drums instead of making bad dance songs with people dressed like arrows dancing in the back ground.
So, instead of boring you with gardening stories and going off on tangents about non-related subjects, I am going to give you:
Julie’s list of BEST/WORST THINGS EVER (aka, things that pop into my head from my last week at home).
Best.
1. That little dagger thing that my Grandpop got for my Mom for her birthday. It’s for gardening when you want to be hardcore and only carry one tool around that does the job of every single other gardening tool invented (except the watering can). Basically, it’s my favorite thing this week.
Worst
1. The stupid leaf-streetsweeping truck. Thanks to that stupid tax-money wasting thing, my morning of sleeping in and enjoying the bliss of not having to go to work was ruined by the need to get up and shut the window and jam my head under the pillow because they’re machine is the loudest thing ever and this is a really long sentence which is never going to end weeeeee!
2. But seriously, the street sweeper is not nearly as bad as the construction that was right outside my window for the ENTIRE FLIPPIN YEAR, even during final week, which is supposed to have 24/7 quite hours… and they started before 7a.m., which means that even if you are blessed enough to have 8:00 am classes cancelled, you still get the wake up drone of construction. And it’s not even like their good looking construction guys or anything, which would have been the least thing that UMW could have done to rectify itself for this evilty.
Best
2. UMW is actually the home of the Dismemberment Plan, a band that I’ve been listening to since Eric introduced them to me in Middle School. I’m so proud.
Worst.
3. Even though they came form UMW, I highly doubt that they’ll be having a concert there anytime soon seeing as their too cool for school.
Best
3. I re-read the Hobbit in my spare time. It was so good, and now I’m 10x more pumped for the movie!!!!!!! I think I’ll dress up as a dwarf, or maybe the bear man. That would be pretty cool. I can put on a bear costume, and throw on some armor and stuff over top.
4. Boromir is on Game of Thrones as the main character, sporting his LOTR hair style and everything, which means that I can be totally nerdy AND in touch with current TV shows.
Worst.
4. I don’t think I get HBO and I can’t find it online, so I have to watch clips online and make up my own plot… which is probably a lot more interesting than what is actually happening anyway.
So, instead of boring you with gardening stories and going off on tangents about non-related subjects, I am going to give you:
Julie’s list of BEST/WORST THINGS EVER (aka, things that pop into my head from my last week at home).
Best.
1. That little dagger thing that my Grandpop got for my Mom for her birthday. It’s for gardening when you want to be hardcore and only carry one tool around that does the job of every single other gardening tool invented (except the watering can). Basically, it’s my favorite thing this week.
Worst
1. The stupid leaf-streetsweeping truck. Thanks to that stupid tax-money wasting thing, my morning of sleeping in and enjoying the bliss of not having to go to work was ruined by the need to get up and shut the window and jam my head under the pillow because they’re machine is the loudest thing ever and this is a really long sentence which is never going to end weeeeee!
2. But seriously, the street sweeper is not nearly as bad as the construction that was right outside my window for the ENTIRE FLIPPIN YEAR, even during final week, which is supposed to have 24/7 quite hours… and they started before 7a.m., which means that even if you are blessed enough to have 8:00 am classes cancelled, you still get the wake up drone of construction. And it’s not even like their good looking construction guys or anything, which would have been the least thing that UMW could have done to rectify itself for this evilty.
Best
2. UMW is actually the home of the Dismemberment Plan, a band that I’ve been listening to since Eric introduced them to me in Middle School. I’m so proud.
Worst.
3. Even though they came form UMW, I highly doubt that they’ll be having a concert there anytime soon seeing as their too cool for school.
Best
3. I re-read the Hobbit in my spare time. It was so good, and now I’m 10x more pumped for the movie!!!!!!! I think I’ll dress up as a dwarf, or maybe the bear man. That would be pretty cool. I can put on a bear costume, and throw on some armor and stuff over top.
4. Boromir is on Game of Thrones as the main character, sporting his LOTR hair style and everything, which means that I can be totally nerdy AND in touch with current TV shows.
Worst.
4. I don’t think I get HBO and I can’t find it online, so I have to watch clips online and make up my own plot… which is probably a lot more interesting than what is actually happening anyway.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Sacrifice for the King.
Well, It's been a good two weeks before anyone has heard from me, so for all you know I could be dead. This is not likely, as I don't think ghosts are capable/have interest in writing blog posts.
Luckily for all you out there, this is not the case. I’m just so sick of Microsoft Word after having to write a dozen or so essays for final week that I’ve been trying to stay away from it as frequently as possible.
Speaking of final week, I would like to say it went swimmingly. I won’t know for certain for about two weeks or so, but I honestly think I did really well in everything, including math. Surprise!
So, I got out of school officially on Friday. After watching King Kong and swooning over Adrian Brody, I can officially say that what I will miss the most from school is everyone from the dorm. Second comes the newspaper and cherry turnovers, but the coffee here is actually worth drinking, so I think it’s a fair trade. But, honestly, to have some space to do what I want to do is very, very welcome right now.
And I have been doing EXACTLY what I want to do. It’s been fabulous- I’ve only been home four days, yet it feels as if time has stood still, I’ve been so busy and so engaged. Thus far, I’m halfway through The Hobbit, which I’m reading again so I can only be more pumped for the movie (YAY!!!). I’ve also worked a day at the toy store, Once Upon A Time, and got to catch up with my favorite co-workers. I’ve been drawing, playing with Pippin, and gardening too.
I’ve become obsessed with gardening. I guess you can blame it on the beautiful May weather we’ve been having, but I just can’t pull myself away from the great outdoors. Today alone I gardened for close to six hours, doing the garden, digging the weeds (who could ask for more?) The vegetable garden had better thrive this year with the amount of time and effort I put into it…
We planted some catnip already, and I tore off a leaf for pippin after I dragged him outside (he was feeling lazy today for some reason). I crumbled it up and offered it to him, and he started eating it. And rubbing it. Then biting my fingers in demand for more, but of course I didn’t want him to Over Dose. After all, he was already beginning to go loopy and show signs of being on a Kitty High. For example, he started to attack the garden hoe, and after finding out that it wasn’t moving (at all), he laid down in the dirt I had freshly dug up and rolled around. Officially caked in mud, he began to look around, all paranoid, and ran in circles around my legs.
Also, while gardening, I made a new friend! His name is Sméagol, and he’s a little snapping turtle I found while gardening! (I named him Sméagol because when I first found him, I was calling him Precious, and then I found out he was a boy, and Precious just wouldn’t do for his manly stature.) He’s about the size of a small walnut, and in fact I thought he was a walnut when I accidently flipped him upside down. He’s SO CUTE. Anyway, I released him to the wild creek behind my house, so maybe he’ll survive and join Mikey as great kings of the Snapping Turtles. (Mikey’s a snapper that Christine and I found our freshman year of high school).
That said, I hope I didn’t release him to a horde of hungry cats, like Pippin. As everyone should know by now, I adore my baby boy, but sometimes he can be a pain.
For instance, he never comes when he’s called because he’s too busy trying to catch (and sometimes succeeding) baby birds. Also, he likes to play tough, and that means viscous scratching and biting. Also, he likes to get in my dollhouse and rearrange the furniture, sometimes by letting it fall on the floor to forever be lost.
So, today I made a huge sacrifice for my baby. I packaged all my miniatures up, and put them away.
But before I did so, I had to take a final look at my favorite, most radically expensive hobby.
And now for a tour!
These are images of the nursery/bedroom. It’s located in an addition to the house that I got for Christmas a few years back. It’s on top of the shop, which you’ll see below.
I got most of the things in the house from Once Upon A Time, where I’ve worked for the past five years. This room has one of the exceptions from that rule: the baby cradle I got from a toy shop in Ohio, where I stopped with my boss on the way to a miniatures show. The cradle actually rocks back and forth- it has amazing detail painted on it, much like the armchair behind it. These pieces are from a miniature maker called Bespaq. A majority of the furniture pieces I have in the house are made by Bespaq, although a lot of it I got on sale (thank goodness-- as I've said before, dollhouse furniture is expensive!).
Also in this room is my Edward Tulane doll, the dressed rabbit doll who is on the armchair in the back. I got him at the miniature show. I fell in love with him immediately- he looks exactly like I imagined Edward Tulane would, from my favorite book by Kate DiCamllio.
On the wall above the bed are four of my favorite prints, the seasons set, from Belle and Boo. While I certainly couldn’t afford real copies, I’m glad that my dollhouse people could enjoy as much of the artwork as possible.
Next we have the Patisserie. This is below the nursery/bedroom. A lot of the pieces in here were gifts, including the table and chairs (from one of my bosses), the pie table in the back (for my birthday from the store), and one of the display cabinets (for my birthday from Aniene).
I was undecided on what I wanted this store to sell, seeing as I would have to fill these extensive cases with small things. I originally played with the idea of a general store, which gave way to a toy store. After consideration of the amount of cabinet space, however, I went with patisserie. Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind again and It will change businesses. Then I’ll just be left with a ton of miniature cakes (which always make me hungry).
Next we have the entry way. It’s a bit fancy- pants, a ‘bit’ being an under exaggeration. The blue and white theme, and the entire spark that led to my re-obsession with dollhouses, is from the tall cabinet by the door and the buffet. In fact, the dollhouse couldn’t have mattered to me less, seeing as I was fifteen and “way too old” to play with my dollhouse.
Well, blamo. I saw these
pieces and I had to have them, and of course, I had to re-wallpaper a room to match. It was all very “if you give a cat a cookie”- esc.
Note the exquisite harp set. Yeah. That was a Christmas present. A very, very, VERY nice Christmas present from the toy store. The cat bowls in the gold stand just had to come home with me when I saw them in the store. The fire place just kinda found it’s way into the already over-crowded room. In the display case next to the door is a small collection of teapots which my mom got me started on when I first got the kit the dollhouse came in. My mother has an extensive collection, so my dollhouse needed one too. Some of them are from Mom, others I made in art class last year.
The next room is my all time favorite. It’s the only room in the house that I consider to be finished- although I keep finding more stuff to put in it! The black stove is the one of the only original pieces of furniture I
kept after the great re-decorating spree of 2008.
The table and the sink are pieces my boss got at a craft show. I absolutely adore these pieces- the old rustic look is so cute with the rest of the room! The corner cabinet I found at a show, the kitchen accessories are from a mixture of locations, including the toy store, mom and dad, and the miniature show. I absolutely love the chicken and the black and white cat reminiscent of Hezzie- not to mention the orange cat breaking into the cabinet in the corner!
These next two rooms are going to be joined into one as soon as I get the funds and the patience to keep Pippin away. The library and the study room, which was originally another bedroom. A lot of these furniture pieces I got for my birthday this past year, when I was making a roombox for a competition in the store. My theme was “Sherlock Holmes’ Office”, and I had the brown chair and piles of liquor bottles everywhere, not to mention the occasional skeleton in the closet (literally).
The bookcases were then painted and re-painted, so now they have a hand-painted fox chase scene on the bottom (compliments of yours truly). The coo-coo clock in the corner was from the show, and the one bookcase that’s actually filled with stuff is the result of many attempts at using alternatives to glue, such as double sided tape and blue stick.
Then we have the bathroom, which is in a too-small room, yet is too small of a set for another room. I just love the wallpaper and the motif across the furniture set. These bathroom pieces were ordered from the show. The handles look like cranes, so that the fountain-head piece comes form the head of the crane, through its long neck. Pretty sweet, yeah? Makes you wish I had a bathroom that was that ridiculously fancy in reality… The prints on the wall are another set from Belle and Boo—I couldn’t resist, their just too cute.
This large room is the sewing room. It’s an awkward shape, with the slope of the roof being really steep. I kind of like it this way, I just wish it was easier finding pieces that would work with these accommodations.
A lot of the furniture from this room was a gift from my favorite/only brother for a wonderful surprise Christmas present. The sewing machine was the other original piece of furniture, which my parents got me long ago, before the house was even finished being built.
And there we have it. The whole she-bang. I’m sure I could continue to describe the minute details which no one wants to hear, but all-in-all, its my grand jewel, and I’m very proud of it. Although it’s a bit empty in places, its going to have to wait until Pippin grows up and looses interest in attacking fragile and expensive things (unlikely to ever happen), not to mention I need to pay for part of my college tuition. Alas, some things are necessary in order to make ends meet.
*i apologize if the set-up is messed up. It's late, I'm tired, (i love you darling!), so I'm just going to worry about it tomorrow.
Luckily for all you out there, this is not the case. I’m just so sick of Microsoft Word after having to write a dozen or so essays for final week that I’ve been trying to stay away from it as frequently as possible.
Speaking of final week, I would like to say it went swimmingly. I won’t know for certain for about two weeks or so, but I honestly think I did really well in everything, including math. Surprise!
So, I got out of school officially on Friday. After watching King Kong and swooning over Adrian Brody, I can officially say that what I will miss the most from school is everyone from the dorm. Second comes the newspaper and cherry turnovers, but the coffee here is actually worth drinking, so I think it’s a fair trade. But, honestly, to have some space to do what I want to do is very, very welcome right now.
And I have been doing EXACTLY what I want to do. It’s been fabulous- I’ve only been home four days, yet it feels as if time has stood still, I’ve been so busy and so engaged. Thus far, I’m halfway through The Hobbit, which I’m reading again so I can only be more pumped for the movie (YAY!!!). I’ve also worked a day at the toy store, Once Upon A Time, and got to catch up with my favorite co-workers. I’ve been drawing, playing with Pippin, and gardening too.
I’ve become obsessed with gardening. I guess you can blame it on the beautiful May weather we’ve been having, but I just can’t pull myself away from the great outdoors. Today alone I gardened for close to six hours, doing the garden, digging the weeds (who could ask for more?) The vegetable garden had better thrive this year with the amount of time and effort I put into it…
We planted some catnip already, and I tore off a leaf for pippin after I dragged him outside (he was feeling lazy today for some reason). I crumbled it up and offered it to him, and he started eating it. And rubbing it. Then biting my fingers in demand for more, but of course I didn’t want him to Over Dose. After all, he was already beginning to go loopy and show signs of being on a Kitty High. For example, he started to attack the garden hoe, and after finding out that it wasn’t moving (at all), he laid down in the dirt I had freshly dug up and rolled around. Officially caked in mud, he began to look around, all paranoid, and ran in circles around my legs.
Also, while gardening, I made a new friend! His name is Sméagol, and he’s a little snapping turtle I found while gardening! (I named him Sméagol because when I first found him, I was calling him Precious, and then I found out he was a boy, and Precious just wouldn’t do for his manly stature.) He’s about the size of a small walnut, and in fact I thought he was a walnut when I accidently flipped him upside down. He’s SO CUTE. Anyway, I released him to the wild creek behind my house, so maybe he’ll survive and join Mikey as great kings of the Snapping Turtles. (Mikey’s a snapper that Christine and I found our freshman year of high school).
That said, I hope I didn’t release him to a horde of hungry cats, like Pippin. As everyone should know by now, I adore my baby boy, but sometimes he can be a pain.
For instance, he never comes when he’s called because he’s too busy trying to catch (and sometimes succeeding) baby birds. Also, he likes to play tough, and that means viscous scratching and biting. Also, he likes to get in my dollhouse and rearrange the furniture, sometimes by letting it fall on the floor to forever be lost.
So, today I made a huge sacrifice for my baby. I packaged all my miniatures up, and put them away.
But before I did so, I had to take a final look at my favorite, most radically expensive hobby.
And now for a tour!
These are images of the nursery/bedroom. It’s located in an addition to the house that I got for Christmas a few years back. It’s on top of the shop, which you’ll see below.
I got most of the things in the house from Once Upon A Time, where I’ve worked for the past five years. This room has one of the exceptions from that rule: the baby cradle I got from a toy shop in Ohio, where I stopped with my boss on the way to a miniatures show. The cradle actually rocks back and forth- it has amazing detail painted on it, much like the armchair behind it. These pieces are from a miniature maker called Bespaq. A majority of the furniture pieces I have in the house are made by Bespaq, although a lot of it I got on sale (thank goodness-- as I've said before, dollhouse furniture is expensive!).
Also in this room is my Edward Tulane doll, the dressed rabbit doll who is on the armchair in the back. I got him at the miniature show. I fell in love with him immediately- he looks exactly like I imagined Edward Tulane would, from my favorite book by Kate DiCamllio.
On the wall above the bed are four of my favorite prints, the seasons set, from Belle and Boo. While I certainly couldn’t afford real copies, I’m glad that my dollhouse people could enjoy as much of the artwork as possible.
Next we have the Patisserie. This is below the nursery/bedroom. A lot of the pieces in here were gifts, including the table and chairs (from one of my bosses), the pie table in the back (for my birthday from the store), and one of the display cabinets (for my birthday from Aniene).
I was undecided on what I wanted this store to sell, seeing as I would have to fill these extensive cases with small things. I originally played with the idea of a general store, which gave way to a toy store. After consideration of the amount of cabinet space, however, I went with patisserie. Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind again and It will change businesses. Then I’ll just be left with a ton of miniature cakes (which always make me hungry).
Next we have the entry way. It’s a bit fancy- pants, a ‘bit’ being an under exaggeration. The blue and white theme, and the entire spark that led to my re-obsession with dollhouses, is from the tall cabinet by the door and the buffet. In fact, the dollhouse couldn’t have mattered to me less, seeing as I was fifteen and “way too old” to play with my dollhouse.
Well, blamo. I saw these
pieces and I had to have them, and of course, I had to re-wallpaper a room to match. It was all very “if you give a cat a cookie”- esc.Note the exquisite harp set. Yeah. That was a Christmas present. A very, very, VERY nice Christmas present from the toy store. The cat bowls in the gold stand just had to come home with me when I saw them in the store. The fire place just kinda found it’s way into the already over-crowded room. In the display case next to the door is a small collection of teapots which my mom got me started on when I first got the kit the dollhouse came in. My mother has an extensive collection, so my dollhouse needed one too. Some of them are from Mom, others I made in art class last year.
The next room is my all time favorite. It’s the only room in the house that I consider to be finished- although I keep finding more stuff to put in it! The black stove is the one of the only original pieces of furniture I
kept after the great re-decorating spree of 2008.The table and the sink are pieces my boss got at a craft show. I absolutely adore these pieces- the old rustic look is so cute with the rest of the room! The corner cabinet I found at a show, the kitchen accessories are from a mixture of locations, including the toy store, mom and dad, and the miniature show. I absolutely love the chicken and the black and white cat reminiscent of Hezzie- not to mention the orange cat breaking into the cabinet in the corner!
These next two rooms are going to be joined into one as soon as I get the funds and the patience to keep Pippin away. The library and the study room, which was originally another bedroom. A lot of these furniture pieces I got for my birthday this past year, when I was making a roombox for a competition in the store. My theme was “Sherlock Holmes’ Office”, and I had the brown chair and piles of liquor bottles everywhere, not to mention the occasional skeleton in the closet (literally).
The bookcases were then painted and re-painted, so now they have a hand-painted fox chase scene on the bottom (compliments of yours truly). The coo-coo clock in the corner was from the show, and the one bookcase that’s actually filled with stuff is the result of many attempts at using alternatives to glue, such as double sided tape and blue stick.
Then we have the bathroom, which is in a too-small room, yet is too small of a set for another room. I just love the wallpaper and the motif across the furniture set. These bathroom pieces were ordered from the show. The handles look like cranes, so that the fountain-head piece comes form the head of the crane, through its long neck. Pretty sweet, yeah? Makes you wish I had a bathroom that was that ridiculously fancy in reality… The prints on the wall are another set from Belle and Boo—I couldn’t resist, their just too cute.
This large room is the sewing room. It’s an awkward shape, with the slope of the roof being really steep. I kind of like it this way, I just wish it was easier finding pieces that would work with these accommodations.
A lot of the furniture from this room was a gift from my favorite/only brother for a wonderful surprise Christmas present. The sewing machine was the other original piece of furniture, which my parents got me long ago, before the house was even finished being built.
And there we have it. The whole she-bang. I’m sure I could continue to describe the minute details which no one wants to hear, but all-in-all, its my grand jewel, and I’m very proud of it. Although it’s a bit empty in places, its going to have to wait until Pippin grows up and looses interest in attacking fragile and expensive things (unlikely to ever happen), not to mention I need to pay for part of my college tuition. Alas, some things are necessary in order to make ends meet.
*i apologize if the set-up is messed up. It's late, I'm tired, (i love you darling!), so I'm just going to worry about it tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Room-a-za-loom!
So, today is the last day of classes of the semester.
Then all I have to do is some finals. Yay!
Just some images of the dorm before we leave.
This is the only plant I managed to keep alive. His name is Snuggles. I think he looks kinda like a Pokemon with his little arms sticking out like that. My friend Christian helped me pick him out: It was between him and a flowering plant that I probably would have killed within a week. I guess I just didn't inherit my Mother's green thumb... In fact, I think I almost drowned poor Snuggles once.
On his pot is a fortune cookie that says "Be generous, and the favor will be returned to you within the week". I now know that it doesn't mean to be generous with water...
Our other plants included Meditate, who had an operation by yours truly because Medi pulled a gun on Tate and demanded that the pot wasn't big enough for the two of them. Needless to say, Medi died. Tate's whereabouts are still not known, but he's probably with the A team.
Then we got Oprah Cheese, so-named for reasons I can't even begin to express, who is still growing and whose hair grows faster than Harry Potters.
I bought these bookends for myself for my birthday. Aren't they awesome? They're SO HEAVY, so I may have difficulties setting them up in my room at home. Theyre holding up my new collection of Lord Of the Rings that I got downtown.
So, basically, these are some images of the room where I spent the past nine months. It's my new home, but I've started to take things home. I took these pictures a month ago with my friends camera. Note to self: get a camera.
These are some Kimmi dolls I got from work. Aniene gave me one of them, and I got one that is similar for Erin.
So, I have two take home exams. Both of my English classes, British Romantic Literature and my English Theory class has a take home exam, which means that I have to write essays which could for about 25% of my grade. I'm a bit nervous. And I've been working on my BRL essays for three weeks and am still freaking out.
Otherwise, I have my Geology exam on Monday at noon, a Linguistics exam Tuesday night, and my Math exam on Friday at 8:30. I'm expecting Geology to be a piece of cake, but I'm going to study like crazy (once I have a chance) because I have an 87% in the class and I really want an 'A'.
I have an 83% in my Math class! I'm so happy, although I can make it up to a 87% if I get an 'A' on my final (might happen, who knows).
So, that just leaves Linguistics. Linguistics is kind of an oddball, that is, I have a 93% in the class, but there are so few grades for this class that if I bomb this exam, I may bring my grade dramatically low. Not that I'm planning to bomb this exam, obviously, but there is just SO MUCH CONTENT that I may not be able to keep my grade high.
Anyway, here are some more pictures.
There's Paco, the teddy bear made of alpaca fur my Mom got me for Pittsburgh in attempt to sooth the nasty side affects of my separation from Pippin.
He's in our new-ish reading corner, where we have big fluffy pillows and my snuggie. And books (duh).
Here's our window. We fly like paper get high like planes. Just kidding- we prefer to spend our time making cranes. Over 100 of them, actually. And then we strung them up over our window for a make-shift curtain.
As Eric says, "That's some Martha Stewart sh*t". But we all know that if Martha Stewart did it, they would be smothered in glitter and organized by paper color and beak size.
And my desk + bed combo.
I've always wanted a loft bed, partially because my room at home is the size of a closet and partially because Christine had one, and I always wanted what Christine had.
Anyway, it's like a dream come true.
Fact: I spend an unnatural amount of time sleeping for a college student. I have yet to pull an all-nighter, or even stay up past 2 a.m. And on average, I get 9 hours of sleep a night. You might ask me how I do it, but then I'll just stare at you like you sprouted a lamp from your head and wonder how you could possibly get through the day without sleep.
Note the Beatles poster: It was a Christmas present from Will when I was a sophomore, and although it may be creepy having four giant faces staring at you when you sleep, I kind of like to think that they are making sure Erin doesn't sneak into my bed and draw on my face with Sharpie.
So, yup. Next year, I'll be living in Custis, just (next to) Ball. That's all.
summer-times!
Guess who had NO CLASSES today?
If you guessed me, then you’re a winner. Don’t ask what you win, you just do.
So, today has been a bit of a preview on my summer for me. Basically, wishing I had classes to go to or at least some friends to go downtown with. Alas, I’ve finished all my homework and studied till I’m brain-dead, so now I’m just sitting, eating some delicious salad and listening to Pandora. I didn’t have any song stuck in my head (for the first time, like, EVER), so I’m listening to “Today’s College Indie”. I feel a bit ruffled to have my music tastes be categorized as such, but what can I say? I like what I like. One could argue that it’s a step up from listening to Captain Jack and DDR music.
So, I’m packing up my stuff to go home this weekend. Basically, arguing with myself over whether or not I’ll need certain things in my final week in school, or if I should go ahead and take it home now. Its amazing how much stuff has accumulated in my room through the year. Who knew I had so many clothes? I deceivingly dress like I only have about 3 articles of clothing. Well, all my clothes look pretty much the same. I like what I like.
While I’m looking forward to summer, I’m also very sad that my freshman year is over. While it had its downfalls, it was easily one of the best years of my life. I came into college with relatively low hopes. I’m notoriously bad at making friends, so I was sure that everyone would hate me and I would quickly become ostracized. To my delight, I met the met some of the greatest people, who I’m proud to say I consider my best friends, in the past nine months.
Being apart from home and all that I’m comfortable with has taught me a lot. Basically, whenever I think back on high school, I realize I could have been a lot happier if I hadn’t focused so much of my time and attention to trying to fit in and hanging on to things that I shouldn’t have ever been part of. I realize how much happier I am now that I have friends who like me for who I am, as opposed to seeing all the differences that separate them and me. I also love to be alone. I used to hate it- being alone was terrifying, I hated it. And now, when I’m alone I feel so free. I feel like I can accomplish so much by myself as opposed to needing someone there to help me. I guess I just found out that I’m an invert, which should have been obvious to me from the start.
The other day I went for a run down by the Rappahannock River. It was absolutely beautiful. There were fields and fields of bluebells, just blue as far as the eyes could see. I’m going to miss the trails down here when I go home.
I have some goals and plans for the summer (I worked on them while in Linguistics class):
1. I need to practice my Spanish, because next semester I’m going to be in intensive upper-level Spanish, and I haven’t taken Spanish classes in 3 years.
2. I want to go hiking in the Shenandoah, hopefully once with Christine for a few days so we can hike Old Rag all the way.
3. I want to go on a road trip
4. I would like to work on my painting, maybe make something that I’ll be proud of.
5. I also want to remake the doll I made of Pippin in art last year. Right now, he has a humpback. I want to make him a new body, maybe out of wood, and make him a new suit of clothes.
6. I would like to go to my grandmothers, and maybe learn a few phrases in Slovenian (so I can say something other than curse words and ‘cat’).
7. I didn’t get to go to the beach last year, so maybe this year!
8. I want to go swimming in the Rappahannock, maybe right before the school semester begins, because then it will be warm and wonderful.
9. Horse riding!
This summer will basically be the best summer ever.
If you guessed me, then you’re a winner. Don’t ask what you win, you just do.
So, today has been a bit of a preview on my summer for me. Basically, wishing I had classes to go to or at least some friends to go downtown with. Alas, I’ve finished all my homework and studied till I’m brain-dead, so now I’m just sitting, eating some delicious salad and listening to Pandora. I didn’t have any song stuck in my head (for the first time, like, EVER), so I’m listening to “Today’s College Indie”. I feel a bit ruffled to have my music tastes be categorized as such, but what can I say? I like what I like. One could argue that it’s a step up from listening to Captain Jack and DDR music.
So, I’m packing up my stuff to go home this weekend. Basically, arguing with myself over whether or not I’ll need certain things in my final week in school, or if I should go ahead and take it home now. Its amazing how much stuff has accumulated in my room through the year. Who knew I had so many clothes? I deceivingly dress like I only have about 3 articles of clothing. Well, all my clothes look pretty much the same. I like what I like.
While I’m looking forward to summer, I’m also very sad that my freshman year is over. While it had its downfalls, it was easily one of the best years of my life. I came into college with relatively low hopes. I’m notoriously bad at making friends, so I was sure that everyone would hate me and I would quickly become ostracized. To my delight, I met the met some of the greatest people, who I’m proud to say I consider my best friends, in the past nine months.
Being apart from home and all that I’m comfortable with has taught me a lot. Basically, whenever I think back on high school, I realize I could have been a lot happier if I hadn’t focused so much of my time and attention to trying to fit in and hanging on to things that I shouldn’t have ever been part of. I realize how much happier I am now that I have friends who like me for who I am, as opposed to seeing all the differences that separate them and me. I also love to be alone. I used to hate it- being alone was terrifying, I hated it. And now, when I’m alone I feel so free. I feel like I can accomplish so much by myself as opposed to needing someone there to help me. I guess I just found out that I’m an invert, which should have been obvious to me from the start.
The other day I went for a run down by the Rappahannock River. It was absolutely beautiful. There were fields and fields of bluebells, just blue as far as the eyes could see. I’m going to miss the trails down here when I go home.
I have some goals and plans for the summer (I worked on them while in Linguistics class):
1. I need to practice my Spanish, because next semester I’m going to be in intensive upper-level Spanish, and I haven’t taken Spanish classes in 3 years.
2. I want to go hiking in the Shenandoah, hopefully once with Christine for a few days so we can hike Old Rag all the way.
3. I want to go on a road trip
4. I would like to work on my painting, maybe make something that I’ll be proud of.
5. I also want to remake the doll I made of Pippin in art last year. Right now, he has a humpback. I want to make him a new body, maybe out of wood, and make him a new suit of clothes.
6. I would like to go to my grandmothers, and maybe learn a few phrases in Slovenian (so I can say something other than curse words and ‘cat’).
7. I didn’t get to go to the beach last year, so maybe this year!
8. I want to go swimming in the Rappahannock, maybe right before the school semester begins, because then it will be warm and wonderful.
9. Horse riding!
This summer will basically be the best summer ever.
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