Reliving My Childhood…

…in case you were wondering whatever happened to that wall painting…



Yeah. Turns out that tearing up the floor led to some other renovations. This means I get to go back to the days where I lived in a construction zone, listening to Dad cuss about the shoddy wiring job done by the previous tenants, take long walks in the winter cold…only to work instead of to school. The only thing that’s missing are the one sided arguments from Mom in the car. NO WAIT! I still get to enjoy listening to her piss and moan over nothing as well! Yup! Nothing like reliving your childhood just when you thought you left that part of your life behind.



But I can honestly say that despite the undesired trips down memory lane, I am rather enjoying the rare moments of peace I can find…especially when I’m allowed to go on my walks. Walks were originally the one thing that helped me through my teen years; just to be able to get out of the house and away from the tension that usually accumulates between me and my mother. Being able to take walks again now that I’m living in an area that’s feels safer than the last city I lived in is a major relief. Now…the winter cold and snow has stopped me from enjoying my weekly trips down Karper Road, but today after a wonderfully lovely lunch I had with one of my new friends, I decided to see what the road looked like after the snow and ice we’ve received over the past week.



It was windy, and the sun was bright…shimmering brilliantly over the icy snow covered fields. I didn’t get that far up the road, but what little I saw…with the sound of trickling water filling my ears as small streams and trenches by the road side flowed with cold water…was truly spirit lifting. With the slowly melting snow and ice, the troubles that were on my mind simply flowed away without the aid of the music I usually bring along with me…and I giggled to myself as I reflected on some recent happier moments and conversations.



So…I thought I’d share some of my favorite pictures I had taken over the seasons since I started my walks. Enjoy and be at peace.

Random Thought…

It just occurred to me, while I was sitting at my main computer working on some coloring…that I tend to sit in the fetal position…quite often. Seriously. While I eat, in my favorite chair while watching TV online…at the computer or my drawing table…I’m always curled up.

I’m reminded of a theory I read about back in high school, where the elderly revert to a fetus state when they’re about to die…curling up as if they were returning to the womb. Does that mean my body is telling me that I’m about to die?

But then again, people who are uncomfortable about something tend to do the same thing, trying to protect themselves from the unhappy metaphorical elements. If that’s the case, what’s making me feel so discomforted?

Or maybe it’s just the cold weather outside. It has been snowing a lot lately…which occasionally makes me smile…how I’ve missed the snow!

Anyone have any thoughts?

SPEED!

Yeah, so…Karper suggested that I upload my videos onto YouTube…believing that a person could put up an hour long video on it. Nope. Maximum was 15 minutes. So, in playing with the different effect options I had on the program…I found I could cut the time in half by doubling up the speed.



Yeah…so…Who wants to play “Name that Song!”? I know there’s at least one of them in the first clip you’ll never guess, considering it’s more than likely never debuted on any public radio station…if any radio station EVER. XD



WEEEEEEE!



And for those of you who’ve seen the original 11 clips from the first video, you’re not allowed to play along…cuz that’s just CHEATING! ^_^

Changes and Inspiring Friends.

Moving is a big and major change. The one I embarked on earlier this year was probably the most stressful one I’ve ever endeavored. My best librarian friend was at first visiting me down in Savannah, and little did either one of us know that on his way back to his brother’s house, he’d be toting me with him. I was jobless and emotionally a wreck; I knew what needed to get done, but felt too numb to make any concrete decisions. When I started to move into the house and start my new job…I was determined to stay in my shell; that same shell that my Lady in Red had managed to pull me out of 15 years ago.

Taxim has managed to help me grow comfortable in my skin again with our late night video chats and role playing with our various characters on our favorite site. When I started to lose all desire to draw and paint, my best college friend suggested that I take a sabbatical, and reminded me when even though they maybe not be nearby, the friends that love me the most will always be around to lift me up again.

Whether I’m capable of thinking rationally or not during times of change and stress, I knew from the start that after living 30 years amongst nothing but rooms stacked high with clutter, I definitely needed to clear out some space to breathe. I remember the first year I lived with my last boyfriend; my sisters were coming to visit for St. Patty’s, and we still had yet to clear out any walking space from the front door to the living area. And the ex wondered why I was frantically going through my stuff to clear out, throw away, and simply remove it from my sight when we had a week before my sisters arrived. “Calm down, you don’t have to get rid of anything, let‘s just think it over before you do anything you‘ll regret.” We had a whole year to think it over, and nothing got done. How much more thinking did we need to do?!

And since I tend to be a great respecter of leaving other people’s stuff to their own devices, I left his junk alone and continued through the process of weeding out my clutter. My clutter, my past…everything that has been filling me with frustration as I piss and moan about moving it around and it all getting in my way. No more. I think I’ve successfully gone through roughly 1/3 of my stuff if not more, and a majority of it is in boxes in the dining room ready to be taken to Good Will or the Salvation Army. And if they’re not willing to take any of it, due to whatever new restrictions they’re putting on donations, well…then…guess it’s going into the trash!

It’s a cleansing process to me, one of which I believe has helped me clear away some of the emotional clutter that tends to keep me from opening up. I’ve got more open space in my bedroom, but am still working on clearing stuff out of the office. I think depending on how much stuff I have in the end will determine whether or not I turn the office into another guest bedroom. I know that I’m still hiding myself in my room most of the time, and I think having a secondary room like an office will help to get me out of it a bit more often. Or maybe I should claim one of the downstairs rooms for myself and turn the office into a guest bedroom. Then, if that hutch desk I want is still available, I won’t have to figure out a way of getting it up the stairs. Hmm…either way…I suppose that shelf unit will have to be moved again…



Really…this house is just too big for me. I either need to find a smaller place, or find me a roommate with a TV and gaming system to get me to get more interested in being around the rest of the house.



But…I think there is still hope for me yet. Karper…you remember him right? He wants me to illustrate his book. (Scratch that…he NEEDs me to illustrate some awesome children’s books he has in mind now. You see that? I‘m NEEDed! Or…at least my drawing skills are.) I’m not entirely sure how that’s going to work out, but he‘s actually got me excited about it! That’s a feat in itself! But getting to know him and the rare times I’ve had the chance to hang out with him have been…well…inspiring.



So much so, that while I was going stir-crazy from the seclusion I tend to put myself in, I emailed him about painting the living room wall. Just going off to get some random colors from the hardware store and turning them into something. He was all for it, but trying to work out a when for such an endeavor was proving to be rather painful; like pulling teeth. He’s always busy with something, and my work schedule is always inconsistent. Thankfully, over the ThanksGimme weekend, we were able to touch base and get something done; AFTER calling his mother a few hundred times and showing him off at work…just so the coworkers who didn’t know what he looked like got a better idea as to why the one who did know him started teasing me about him. Seriously, how he’s still single is beyond me…other than that busy schedule of his. Oy!



A quick McD’s lunch and laying out the drop cloth, and we were ready to roll! He wanted to do a forest scene with elves; I turned down the elves since this was the first major painting I was doing in…too long, and I’ve yet to feel confident in myself to even remotely draw any kind of figure for the moment. Though, I think Karper has this fixation on elves since our email chats talking about his desire to be a vampire and my beliefs that elves still exist. Either way, it still puts a smile on my face…I think just to be able to swap thoughts and ideas like that with someone again.



Anyways…though I really didn’t know what I had in mind as to how the painting was going to look, we had only a few short hours to get some progress done. So I gave Karper a paint brush, drew out a boarder and told him to paint me some sky while I mixed up some green for the ground. He thought it would be cool to have a day scene and a night scene, and then we rambled out some ideas of boarders, frames, a portal or vines…random ideas while I sponged in some clouds and he brushed in some grass. His involvement in the initial start of the project helped spark the creativity in my again, to which by the time he had to leave and I was left staring at the sky and grass…I figured out what to do with it.



And granted, it means that much of his original work will get covered up over the layers and layers of paint that I have and will continue to add over time…the fact that Karper has managed to get me to paint again is a feat that he should be rather proud of. I’m also doing my best to let him watch how the painting progresses…as he originally showed interest in seeing something being created. When I think about it, I’m not entirely sure if this is what he meant…or the fact that it’s viewed at a distance instead of up close and personal (something I can’t managed to do at the moment)…but what I’ve captured thus far seems to have captured Taxim’s and Senza’s interest…so…at least I know someone likes watching me paint, ruin the tunes to some decent songs with my horrid voice, and shake my hypnotic groove thang when the rhythm moves me.



So yeah…if you’re interested in watching over three hours worth of footage, be my guest. There will be more to come later down the road…but I think with as much as I‘ve accomplished, a break to let my mind figure out what to do with the other half is in store while I look through my reference photos is in order...



I’ve at least been assured that it won’t be painted over once Mom starts tearing up the floors and painting the downstairs!

Meet…

…and this is where I’m at a loss; primarily on how to spell this little darling’s name. The first time I saw it spelled was from Karper, when he was excited to hear from his mother that this sweet and adorable little bundle of fur instantly connected with me. However, upon looking at the vet records, the name is the correct spelling of the word she was named after. So…which would you prefer, Travellar (from the writer/English major) or Traveler (the correct spelling)?



I think I’m going to stick with Travellar. It actually gives it a more personal name feeling to me than the actual spelling of the word. That, and it gives me one more thing to pick on Karper about later down the road, along with not getting a hold of me for a whole month for apparently no good reason whatsoever. That’s right, buddy! I’m never letting you live that down! MWAHAHA!



She, along with her three sisters, were named after Karper’s cousin. The others are Shenanigan, Fluffy, and Rosa! Travellar was originally considered the leader of the litter, gathering up her sisters and directing them to where she wanted to go. She also had everyone fooled into believing that she was actually a boy! I was delighted at this fact, only because when I was little, I really wanted to be a boy so bad because boys got to do ALL the cool stuff! We were kindred spirits from the start!

When we first met, Karper’s mother was telling me how skittish and squirmy she tended to be when she would take her out of the cage. However, once she was in my arms…she was calm, relaxed…completely chilled out as she laid back and examined the barn from her view point. We were baffled, and I was in complete aw! It was like love at first sight, only she never really looked at me the entire time.




I wasn’t able to pick her up for another two week, though…because a certain sister of mine decided to highjack me for painting project she had in mind. It’s not entirely completed yet…but it’s getting there.



When Mom drove me up to pick Travellar up, Karper’s mother was beaming over the good bill of health all four of the kittens received, amazed that all four were girls, and ecstatic at how Shenanigan and Fluffy warmed up to my mother. Needless to say, they were grey…which Mom has a soft spot for…and they were all purrs in her arms. In fact, we hope to pick the two of them up later this week! Yes…they managed to worm their way into her heart, which means Travellar will get to visit her sisters every so often!

Her first night at my place was…well, scary! I live in a house that’s too big for me, and all the rooms besides my own are virtually barren. Yes, there’s furniture in them…but the minimal amount that makes it livable, but not cozy. Considering that I don’t use the rooms that often as it were, I suppose there isn’t much need for the cozy aspect…but I think the vast amount of space just put the poor thing on edge. She found a hiding space atop of a bench that was beneath a table in the living room, and gave me quite the scare when I couldn’t find her after eating my dinner while I let her explore!

So, I took her up to my room, put her in a bassinet that Mom had dropped off for Calista (because she used to sleep in it at her house, but hasn’t touched it since) and let her hide for the rest of the night. And trust me, she hid in it all of the night, and anytime I was away from the room the following day. She purred out of fear and stress, and as far as I could tell, didn’t leave the bassinet all night. Come morning, I scooped her out of the hiding place and showered her with affection, cooing quietly to her and bundling her up in the warmth of my embrace. It was then she remembered why she wanted to come home with me to begin with. Ever since, she’s explored every inch of my room, and has dared to venture out of it whenever I’ve given her the opportunities to.

She likes to fall off the edge of the bed, roll around all over my lap whenever she’s feeling affectionate, lets me rub her belly while she blissfully chills out, and otherwise runs amuck chasing after the toys on the floor. Travellar eats all of her food, uses the litter box often, and comes running to me when I open the bedroom door when I get home. Despite Calista’s hot and cold temper towards me about the kitten, I am truly delighted…happy…excited…and completely in love with the little motorboat as she brightens up my day with her endless energy!

Thank you, Karper and K-Mom!