The First Fancy

I have always wanted to sing a duet with someone. Preferably a woman/man duet. Those are my favorites.
"Broken" by Seether and Amy Lee, "Good Stuff" by the B-52s, "October and April" by the Rasmus, "The Third Bar" by...I think it was Coldplay and Martha Wainright...the list is endless.

I love to sing. My entire family will account for that. I have songs I sing in Japanese, some in Russian, and of course English. Sometimes I'll try to tackle one of the French songs my sister listens to a lot (though French is rather frilly and I get tongue tied over everything xD). I'll sing as I do the dishes, sing in the shower (and get embarrassed when my sister sings along from another room) I'll sing when I'm alone and will gladly bust out with a CD in the car. And when my sister plays the guitar, you can count on me to come running from wherever I am just to sing along.

But most of all, I have always wanted to sing a duet with someone. Sometimes my sister will sing with me, but she is convinced she sounds dreadful and some days refuses to sing at all. And when my mom sings, she takes both parts. xD I would love to someday stand perhaps in the corner of a cafe or at some party of a friend, wedding perhaps, and sing a duet with a total stranger. A girl/guy duet, because I think those are the best.

A Pocket Full of Fancies

 

 We all have our own little dreams, right? That one tiny scenario you would love to have happen sometime in the near future. That one chance to do something you've always fantasized about. It's like a passing fancy, but a little stickier than that. The sort of thing you see in everything you do: that little friendly competition of the bowlers in the lane beside you that you would love to have with other people, seeing two bikers racing down a lane and wanting at that moment to join them even though you are nowhere near a bike at the time.

The sense of camaraderie has always been appealing to me. I've always wanted to be on a close-knit team with a specific goal in mind, knowing I can do well at whatever we are tackling and that they will do their best as well.

Such fancies are something I have often, and having no where else to fully describe them except the folds of my own mind (which is getting crowded out, by the way), I shall ease the pressure of my cranium and just write about it all here! Fantastic idea, if I do say so myself.

Now, there are tons of these, I will go ahead and warn you. Probably even more than I think are in there because they are burried under other thoughts and ideas, lurking under the waters, waiting for the perfect moment to lunge to the surface! No, I don't dream of catch great white sharks, but perhaps I will in a few years. o.o You never know. But for those of you who shall stick around (brave readers!), be prepared for randomness, no doubt some amount of youthfullness, and all around craziness. Any other side effects are unknown at this point, for I have yet to start writing this little fancy-series. Stay tuned for...something. xD

The Air is Crisp and Cool

Many thanks to Hurricane Lee for ushering in the cool weather. I don't think it's supposed to be so refreshingly brisk this soon, but I hope it stays regardless. The days of 100+ degrees all day have been replaced with low 50s in the morning to the low 70s in the afternoon. Sheer pleasure. All the windows in the house are opened by my dad when he gets up, and the front door is even left open to grant the wind entrance to the living room. The air is so fresh and clean that I can't get enough of it. At all.

Yesterday was the perfect day to walk the restless dog. Being a Saint Bernard living in the South, summer isn't her favorite season. So she has been inside almost the entire time, lounging over the floor vents to soak up any and all bits of coolness possible. So when the morning was a stunning 56 degrees, my mom and I took Ms. Hyperactive out for a long walk. I seized the opportunity to take some much needed photography (being equally housebound as the dog in the heat). I downed my turtle neck and vest (which needed to be excavated from my dresser drawers), slipped on my black boots and departed in the truck.

It felt so good to be out in nature, taking pictures of my old friends again. The roses were still in bloom, flushed a dainty pink like humble ladies from the chilly breeze. The trees clattered in response to said air, crinkling high above my head while jumping about gracefully. The sun was just warm enough to permit no coat, yet hidden enough behind the dark cotton clouds to make for a very pleasant overcast day.
The entire trip invigorated me, and I rushed home to continue writing my novel while the remnants of the coolness still lingered deep inside my limbs. It was as if my body purposely absorbed all that I loved about the day so that I could release it slowly through my art as a form of inspiration. Sadly, I mis-clicked a button on my notepad and lost three paragraphs later that day. xD Oh well. At least I didn't lose all of it!
(But it was still frustrating!)

And she stepped into wonderland~

This is my lovely dress. My Alice dress. The dress I should like to wear to Wonderland. Alice has many colorful sisters, but none have a human name. In fact, one doesn't even have a proper calling.


But it is Alice I save for those particular days when I feel small wings on my back, when the wind is just cool enough to flow straight through my skin and into my soul. It is these days that I wish to stand on the rooftop with my eyes closed. Granted the sun isn't out full blast to cook me straight into Alice. That would be a shame. I can envision laundry becoming quite a hassle, then.

Missing: Muse of Blogging

Do you ever want to make something, but don't have the materials, so you just sit around feeling awful because you need to make it, but can't and don't know what to do?

The epitome of my current blogging situation. Seems like the muse of blogs has laughed in my face, run out the door, and is now hiding in potential picture-subjects along with the ticks and mosquitos. And all I can do is sit behind my protective screen door and pout.

I want to write, I really honestly do, but there is absolutely nothing going on right now. It's hot, there are blood sucking parasites outside, and I'm always tired. ;.;

Thankfully, on the upper side of things, I start college (if memory serves, which it usually doesn't, but anyway) on the 22nd of August. I plan on attempting to keep a journal through my college-ing weeks, which will probably roll over onto the blog as well. =D So hopefully my readers will get a kick out of reading about my first days. Perhaps I will be able to get some good photographs of nature then, too.

I can't wait to start school again. It's a whole new world for me, and I'm working my way into the ranks. Granted those ranks are very low, but I am moving up in the world! I went from Senior to...freshmen? I guess that's so for a four-year college, not a two year, but whatever. I'm a college freshmen! I'm going to be studying cosmetology with the hopes of someday owning my own salon, so happy joy joy there! Reasoning has it that having a salon is a smart move for this sort of economy, seeing as, no matter what, people will need their hair cut. No matter where I am in the country, no matter the state of the economy, someone will need to find someone else to cut their hair! It's a fantastic idea I think. And I love to talk (can hardly shut me up when I'm on a subject I love), so a job like this is more ideal than being a doctor (occupational therapy was my first choice, and is still in the running for perhaps future study).


On a side note, I did crochet a big pig plushie for a friend's birthday a while back. I forgot to get a picture of it before I mailed it off, but here are some of the shots from when it was first born. =3




Oink, oink!

Spring Blooms Fill Summer's Rooms

Summer can be so lovely at times. If one pushes the sweltering heat aside, one is confronted with the many wonders of the warmth. Ripe tomato fruits pop out of the greenery like strange cherry-fireflies of daylight, and their banana-yellow brethren down low, half-hidden in the leafy brush save for the telling glow of a squash. Baby polka-dots litter the front and back yards, and upon closer inspection reveal themselves to be hoards of wild strawberries. Outside the kitchen window, a songbird makes her nest in the blue berry bushes, finding it easier to eat from there than to hunt for bugs in the grass. Even the queen bees are brought to life in the hives, bursting from their time capsules into a hive full of workers.


Normally spring would conjure up such thoughts of life and newness, yet I find summer can do the same, making fresh things from the materials left behind from spring's previous wonders. Fruit will soon come forth from the blossoms Spring opened, seeds will sprout and rise to become the gorgeous trees and flowers of hot season. Everything comes from something, and all of it is equally beautiful and inspiring.

Might I Buy You Flowers?

I adore flowers. And thankfully there are tons, TONS, of flowering plants situated around my home. The names of the plants escape me, but it hardly matters when the camera is gripped between my hands, one finger raised over the button that captures the beauty made by God before me.


I run about like a child in search of Easter eggs when I have a camera. Like a cowboy and the faithful steed, we go wherever the winds take us, bringing back treasures to sift through. Sometimes it will even come with me when I'm shopping, snapping intriguing urban shots from behind a car window.


My computer files are loaded to the hilt with photos, and not all of those end up here. Only the best of the best make it to the blog stage. The others I use for inspiration with my writing. Lakeside shots for reference while I create my novels, for most require imaginative, fantastical settings and I must have beautiful photos to base the images from. And then there are the ones I take just for fun. They really serve no purpose other than giving me enjoyment while taking and looking through them later.


All in all, I adore photography. I love capturing an image that no one else sees unless it is in a photo. I love keeping a memory alive in picture-cryo. Should I ever get the chance to take photography classes, I should leap at it immediately!

The Bee's Knees

Bees and sunflowers with a hint of home grown pears? Yes please. =3

Churning Beauty

Nothing beats the sound, touch, and sight of a good (non-severe) thunderstorm. The darkening sky dimming the window-lit rooms to an ashen twilight, causing one to peer out from behind a curtain and between the blinds to see the wind rough-housing with the trees to the point of seeing little shiny green leaf underbellies fluttering and clutching to their mommy branch. Such wind then rattles against the sides of the house, begging for play time with the things on the front porch, the back.

One such magnificent storm bellied its way over my home. One look outside and the camera was fetched to catch the lowered, churning ceiling. It was beautiful, standing with the screen door propped open, letting the suddenly cool air flush into the house along with the occasional shelter-seeking leaf. The rain had not yet started, though several tiny flecks warned of the coming downpour. Once my photo-taking thirst was quenched, I ran to the back door, pressing my nose to the glass to watch as the darkest of the clouds slid over the treetops and beyond. Soon after came moans of thunder and licks of lightning split the bellies of the clouds and released the wondrous drops.

The lights flickered once in this snuggy casa, but the power goes out often here. It's perhaps even snugglier then than when the electricity is on because candles are gathered from all over the house and placed on the piano, casting a warm glow across the entire room. And everyone gathers there. My parents talk, I sometimes read my Kindle, the peewees play, and my sister draws or plays her guitar, in which case I am often urged to sing along. I comply without much struggle.

Mental Kick in the Backside

I just realized that I have not taken any new photos of anything at all this month. My supply of photography to post here is running deadly slim and I have done nothing these past several weeks to replenish it! Of course, it doesn't help me to make it outside and take pictures when the threat of ticks zoning in on me is inevitable. O~O

Perhaps I'll don some long pants tomorrow, tuck them into my boots, and venture out with my camera before the sun comes out!

Funny thing about that...then I get eaten alive by skeeters. -sigh-

With the surplus of congratulation letters, my handwriting has been getting a workout. I rather love it. It's such a thrill to see letters and cards for me in the mail! =)

Hope you all had a great weekend! Happy Father's Day!

Lovely, Lovely Water-Time

"Sailors feel calling waves and salty veins
Never have they been able to resist
With soft coos of ocean gulls reverberating recklessly
The depths do inevitably insist



Such sailors lead life upon the stirring seas
Gritty wind at their backs
Through bouts of calm and shouts of war
Through emptiness, attacks



Living was best withing the walling waves
And land was like a tomb
Flat and one-dimensional
Nothing like the rocking white-cap blooms





No longer are there mighty oak hulls
Or pale sails to maintain
But within the iron frames and steel shells
The sailing spirit remains



Perils are intensified for tales of old
Such things, perhaps, are no less now
Though no chest of gold awaits
Purpose still flows over the bow



No raging monsters stir from coral crevices
Most sirens dwell inland
But still the silently sloshing depths do beckon
To the hearts of every sailing man"



A little something I wrote for some friends a while ago. And while these photos are of a lake and not the ocean, I felt this would perhaps help to illustrate and entertain.

The lake is one of my favorite placed to be. Whether I'm sitting in the bow at the mercy of wave-spray and musty , or settled cozy in the rear beside the roaring engine, feeling the subtle warmth it emits as its power shoots us gleefully across the water's surface, I am always content.

I Send My Joy to Become Yours

I love to make 'thank you' cards, and this is by far my prettiest one yet. It took a day of hard work to make, believe it or not (searching for the right pictures through a dozen+ magazines is a trip in and of its own), but everything came out so well. The colors were perfect, the patterns...everything. I'm very happy with this little work of art and hope that it brings joy to the person receiving it.


Is there anything better than a letter addressed to you? With all the fast ways we have to write these days -- emails and texts -- it is quite a rarity to receive an enchanting little creation addressed just to you. You open the mailbox, sliding out the usual bundle: envelopes wrapped in those thin advertising catalogues wrapped in fliers wrapped in the newspaper. You resolve to quickly graze your eyes through them, assured that nothing but bills and junk mail dominate, and then! Then a colored envelope catches your eye, and suddenly the joy meter in your heart shatters and the contents spill out in your smile as you realize that someone, dear to you or not, has taken the precious time from their day to write a letter of their own feelings and thoughts to you, for you above all people deserve or could possibly appreciate them.

It is humbling and enthralling.

Do you like letters as much as I do? =3