Greetings all!

I'm running away to far away lands for a couple months so the Etsy shop (aeroglow.etsy.com) will be unavailable. If you would like to purchase anything please feel free before this coming Saturday, the 21st. If you'd like 10% off, send me a message and I'll give you the code. Just because you're awesome... and I need money for the trip haha.

All the best, have a crafty and exciting summer!

Danielle

I've been selling my handmade jewelry successfully at Reno's Never Ender boutique since November of last year. I'm happy to present a couple pieces on their online store:

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Thanks for looking! Best wishes,

Danielle

ThingamaBaubles Emporium
Unique handmade jewelry and knickknacks

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The new shop. Will be fully stocked in no time. Tell your friends! ^^

I'll be moving my trinket shop from etsy to artfire because it's a free service. While I'm at it I figure it will be a good time to change the name of my shop. Box of Moments really doesn't tell you anything about the shop. Any ideas? Something short and to the point, but also creative. My imagination could use some help.

Thanks!

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No idea where this will lead, but here it is. Feel free to follow me.

Merry Christmas!

Yes, I too took the "novel" in 30 days challenge. Too bad an actual novel is like 150,000 words (300 pages, 500 words a page) but it's still a completed goal, which is quite important for any writer. I'd gotten behind big time and have been tirelessly typing away for the past three days. I wouldn't have made it if not for this glorious 4 day weekend. It's not much of a book, in fact all but a few pages are rubbish and I don't even want to call it a first draft. A deadline is one thing, but I would have liked a better idea of where my story was going before I started. But it was fun... in that pull your hair out sort of way. Haha. I had a friend doing it with me, and I did enjoy that. You might try it next year. Or hell, just do it the old fashioned way.

My goal: 25,000 words
My final word count: 26,938 words

Happy holiday wishes and creative thoughts to you all,

Val

Just because your parents decided to have sex before my parents did, why does that make you have any sort of power over me?

Age? You're still just a human like me. How does your philosophy on life rank over mine?

I'd like to ask a question without anyone getting too worked up about it. If you're over 25, I'd like to ask: does it get better? Or worse? This life thing. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews.

On a much happier note: I've narrowed down my list of colleges significantly.  I'm thinking Farmington in Maine. Anyone may comment on this haha.

Thanks.

I have a simple, yet infinitely complex question for you.

From what you know about me, and through your experience,  is college right for me?

I'm really struggling with the quickly approaching deadlines. Most college applications are due next month. I just found this out a week or two ago by a lucky coincidence. I guess counselors aren't really doing their jobs? Anyway, the pressure is on to not only pick a college but decide if I even want to go at all.

At first I thought I might just take a year off, sort stuff out, take my time really traveling and picking with confidence. But I thought then I might be risking not wanting to go back to school at all, and I really do-did?-want to educate myself further.

But will four+ more years of school really help me become a better writer? Yes, I'm positive it will, but other things out there will too. Travel, simply experiencing and learning independently. College sounds amazing, but really I'm not the best at high school work-how can I expect myself to stack up to college level? If someone has a passion and doesn't mind not having a ton of money, shouldn't they do what they like?

Then there's an entirely different matter of me saving money by staying at my home uni or going out of state, transferring after two years, etc. But I won't get into that.

I'll admit it, I'm panicking a little here. I've always assumed I'd just go off to college like everyone else. Now I don't know. I know lots of people who are happy who have never set foot in a college, many of them are brilliant.
Maybe in a few years?




Why can't I just BE?


Any help is appreciated.

So this is something I've liked the sound of but have recently gotten so wrapped up in college research that I haven't really sat down and considered it. Now that I am, I feel extremely relieved.

What do you think the pros/cons are to taking a year off after hs?

Do you fall out of "study habits?" Which are virtually non existent for me anyway-not to say I'm a bad student, I've just never been taught how to study. You know what I mean.

Is it a deep breath of much needed air after the long, tedious requirements are over? You might work a little, live and learn, just take your time planning for college. Not to mention travel!

I mean, in the long run it's only a year right? A year is nothing when you've got at least sixty of them to go. Why not enjoy it? It could be the difference between gritting your way back into school and truly wanting to go back after a needed break. And I'm pretty sure I'll want to go back. I like learning. I love it. And college is way better than the high school garbage curriculum.

But then do colleges look at you differently? As long as you can pay do they really care?

I have more, but that's all I'm going to overload you with for now..

So what do you think?
Thanks!

I come alive in Autumn.

My Muse uses the edge of a blade for a diving board
I keep worrying she's going to slip and cut herself
And I will lose her forever
I'll be in college, a couple years in
Determined as I am now, happy and sure
And I'll feel the impact
Right in the middle of a lecture or on a bus
Feel her miscalculate a step and fall
She can get lost in the water for days
Perfectly content amongst my dreams and pricks of thought
But she has a clear view of reality through the glass walls of my doubt
I fear eventually I will not be able to coax her back into the pool again
Is her sanctuary strong enough to keep out the reality pounding on the glass?
Which reality will win in the end?
Theirs
Or ours?
I only hope that I have the sea legs to catch her in time
And that I still want to.

Be amazed. Be verra amazed.

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This could just be (dare I say it?) better than Burton's Wonderland. Wait and see, we shall have to.

Just letting you know I'll be gone from either tomorrow or sunday till the thirteenth (if all goes according to plan). Feel free to send notes if needed regardless. Hope you're all having a wonderful, not too hot, summer.

V

So I'd like to major in creative writing. Going to be an author and all that jazz. Wahoo! But here comes the tricky part...

I don't particularly mind where I go (though I do love New England) as long as the English programs are the best I can find. I'd rather not go to CA or NV if I can help it because, frankly, I really want to get out of here, but pretty much anywhere else is game.

Obviously if the university has (fiction) authors teaching there it's a plus. I need to know that the professors are passionate about what they're doing. Haha, does that even exist?

Any advice is welcome.
Thanks!

The average life span of a dog is 10-12 years.
My friend is nine years old.
We brought him home in 2000. As irresistibly adorable as any calender canine.
I try to regret as little as possible but I'll never be able to let go of how much time I waisted not spending with him.
I treated him most of the time like a gold fish: feed daily.
He's the fastest dog I've seen. He outruns, even in his old age, any dog he comes across. Even though we feed him well, and I admitably sneak him scraps every now and then, and have been known to cook for him even haha, you can feel his spine and see his ribs through the golden coat. We used to give him these fish oil tablets to make his coat shinier. How human is that?
Even though he's old, he's still a puppy really. Always happy to see you, overwhelmingly energetic when meeting new people. He's barely slowed down at all-if at all.
I've been taking him for walks lately. I can't for the life of me understand why I didn't do this before. He's some of the best company I've found. Curious, bouncy, comical, and loyal. Great conversationalist.

Sorry, rant.

It just doesn't seem right that we get to live ten times longer than they do. I guess it's the quality of life too that matters.

Anyway, just pondering. I've known loss before, but never has it hit me quite like this. No one this close has been, in my mind, so near to passing. I'm worried of what it will be like when his time comes. But of course I have right now. I'm going to make every day count, I don't care if it's sentimental or of no consequence. He's my Buddy. My very much alive, panting, trotting friend.

I think I'll buy him a tri-tip.

In my shop:

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Always open for commissions and suggestions. Enjoy.



Preview of things to come:

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I'll be updating (hopefully) more frequently now.

I'm so tired of listening to all these people talk. Hearing their droning day after day without pause. Not even being talked to, but down to or even just talked at-in my general direction. Maybe they feel odd talking to themselves so get some organic compound to cut back on the awkwardness. It feels like I have contracted some illness and their idea of a cure is annoying it to death. Stab it with lectures and chit chat until it finally crawls off into some dark region to shrivel up and meet its demise. Parents, teachers, pompous classmates, even secretaries behind the desk of a waiting room. Their "would you like a wowwy pop?" is the sticky web of a mutant spider. You find yourself glued to the spot, listening to Middle-aged Mabel rant about how important it is to apply sunblock as the paper stick of the candy slowly decomposes in your mouth. For entertainment you begin to count the times you try and fail to contribute to the conversation. In the end you slink away with an ear-and mouth-full of garbage.
   Why do they feel they can do it? Because they've watched more weeds grow, seen more bad sitcoms? Because the world is moving on from "their day" and they feel they need to leave a fossil behind?
             Sigh.
                         My hope died with Mr. Rogers.

One of the simplest, most haunting melodies I and hundreds of others love. Inspiration for many of my own pieces. Reminding one of the rain before it became cliche, of old movie theaters and a bike ride on the perfect afternoon. My dad played it for me on our piano. In the house I grew up in. It and other various pieces played through my mind as I went through the seemingly stretched halls of my elementary school. It's a wonderful symbol of the good ol' days when music existed in higher quality abundance.


I'm proud to say that it being featured in the Twilight movie has not put me off. I thought it did when I first heard about it, but I realized that just wasn't fair. The piece has earned the right to stand alone. Whether Debussy would approve of it's use in this particular installment in teenage corruption, I don't know. At least I have something to look forward to during the movie I guess, for my sister intends to kidnap me away to see it. Wish me luck. (Now accepting spare barf bags)

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ItaLuv, you're a goddess. That's all I have to say.