Pretties

~ Walking into the shower with your hair down and just standing in the mist made by the showerhead without actually getting fully wet yet. The water droplets suspended in your hair shine and glitter like tiny jewels that cascade when they overflow. 

~ My little white car with its white rear window stickers of Ariel and Marilyn Monroe and its pink Marilyn seat covers.

~ Zeeta when she's happy (which is most of the time).

~ My little Po kitty when she rolls over and covers her cute little face with her paws.

~ Seffie cat when she knows she did something wrong and hides, looking up at you from the darkness like a chubby ninja with no face, only eyes.

~ The family of cardinals that entertain me at work when I'm covering up front for the receptionist.

~ Pink outfits with silver jewelry and pearl jewelry.

~ The Disney princess balloons on my desk at work.

~ The glittery My Little Ponies on my dresser.

~ Round fairy gardens.

~ The cherry limeade at Taco Bell in the clear cup; I like the way the Sprite fizzies look bubbling out of the cherry-flavored syrup at the bottom.

~ Underwater bubble hearts.

~ Sunlight flowing down into the depths of a pool or a body of natural water.

Marilyn Monroe, the Mermaid

A few months later...it's Marilyn Monroe's birthday again!
My birthday is tomorrow and hopefully it will be alright. I just want to have a good day with my family. Here at work, everyone went all out and I walked into a pink extravaganza; there were princess balloons, pink hearts, birthday banners, Pinkie Pie cards, and even pink roses! I feel very loved.

I've got a new mermaid tail...it looks just like Ariel's and I hope to be able to swim in it soon at Alexander Springs. Maybe I'll even be able to take a video to post.

Speaking of mermaids and Marilyn, here are some artistic renderings (not mine though) of Marilyn Monroe as a mermaid, in honor of her birthday today and mine tomorrow:

 

A Cake of a Dream

I would love to try and bake this cake from Mary Randolph's 1824 The Virginia House-Wife: 

However, thirty broken eggs, four pounds of hand-creamed butter, a heavily-flour'd kitchen, over three hours and one manic me do not equate to a happy cake eating environment. Too bad.

A grumbling writer is still a grumbling writer

I write for a paycheck, but I don't feel like a writer. I'm sure that's normal, but it still sucks. "Writing" in the world of today includes all sorts of tweets, posts, blogs, comments, content, etc. that just burn my cookies. Regurgitating other peoples' thoughts in these formats is what I have to do to earn my keep. I like editing. I like creatively writing. I even like trying to get into the heads of other people, but what pains me most is when those same people turn around and say, "That's not what I want." Then tell me what you want so we don't have to play this irksome guessing game! I'm not clairvoyant. I wish I were, but I'm not. If you have an idea in your head about what you want me to say as you, let me know...I may not have the same thought processes as you do (and more than likely don't).

I want to go off and rant about how unfair the whole concept is, but then I'd just sound like Sarah in Labyrinth and, unfortunately, Goblin King Jareth won't appear to snap at my whinging...so it's pointless to complain if that's not the case.

So...I'm not really complaining so much as just letting off steam. Hmm. Steam.

If I were a writing machine, this would be so much easier. I could calculate their personalities and recreate them on the page. Of course, that would be too honest...too raw...not professional enough...too scarily like them that they'd blush to admit it. They'd have to re-calibrate me to fictionalize their voice to just the level of their own sensory pleasure - something that sounds vaguely like them but not close enough that a family member or close friend would read it and proclaim that it sounds EXACTLY like something that So-and-so would say.

Huh. When I put it that way, it sounds just like what they're doing to me as it stands. I am their machine. Their coin-operated writing machine.

No New Year yet

So I haven't updated in a while...just haven't had much to report, other than that this New Year hasn't gotten off to that great of a first lap. Maybe the New Year hasn't really started for me yet. That would explain the off-ness I feel about it. Perhaps my "New Year" really doesn't follow the Western calendar; maybe mine begins on the Chinese New Year. That would explain a lot.

This is the year of the dragon, too. Sounds rather good, does it not? Fiery, bold, brash, protective of riches...a bit on the hoarder-ish side, if you think along the lines of traditional fairy tale dragon, but perhaps not. I must remember thiat this is the Chinese dragon we're dealing with. Though strong and powerful, they are also ancient, wise and, a lot of the time, benevolent. This year, 2012, is also a Water Dragon year. It is said to bring a good balance to everything. I really need that; I think we ALL really need that.

Oh, and speaking of the Chinese zodiac, I just wanted to specify that I am a Fire Tiger. The best description I've seen so far of this is: "Expressive, vibrant and a bit eccentric." I think that suits quite well, actually. Funny, Marilyn Monroe was one, too. It suits her as well. She was also born a day before me + 60 years; she's June 1, 1926 and I'm June 2, 1986. I love celebrating our birthday week. Ooh...but as a Fire Tiger, I hope this Water Dragon year won't put any of my flames out! I'm feeling soggy enough as it is! I need those sparks to rekindle and light me up to refresh and renew my sopping spirits!!! Perhaps, instead of soaking me, the kind, wise Water Dragon will let me lap from his creative pool. I've been rather parched of late...

Let me see...what's happened since my last post that isn't too mundane or unpleasant...

This Christmas was nice, although it didn't start out feeling so Christmassy. There was something about this past year that just sapped my mother and I of our usual season's cheer and I know I was feeling rather grinchy. However, on Christmas Eve, we both set that to rights by going to Mass together and then going out with Candace to Daddy's band's gig after sharing a lovely Christmas dinner. Christmas morning was a blast, as usual. Whatever spirits had been lagging before were cured with the family togetherness and general fun.

I've just felt out of the loop lately...not really grounded. Maybe it's something to do with the unseasonable weather we've been experiencing lately, or maybe it's something else all together. It's not completely a feeling like I'm having an out-of-body experience, but more like I'm just watching everything happen from above. I'll just try to do things to keep myself grounded. Perhaps I should invest in some tent stakes and sturdy rope. Don't want to float too far away, now, do I?