the things I think about

There was a fly on the window today, wandering about in a way that seemed to denote desperate confusion as to why it could see the light but couldn't fly any further. And this got me thinking of flat worlds and what the edges of them are like, and invisible force-fields. And then I got to thinking of philosophies fom the fly's perspective. Perhaps some would say that there is nothing beyond this house, and others will say there is, or even that they have been there, although everyone thinks they are crazy. And some theorize that what you see "through" the forcefield is actually just a picture visible on the forcefield. And then of course you have philosophers pondering why there would be pictures of things that appear to be beyond? Was it for hope, was it to make you think about things beyond your small place in the world, was it a nasty joke by a trickster god? And the conspiracy theorists who say that it's all part of an experiment made by giant aliens to study the psychological effect on little creatures of seeing somewhere you cannot get to. And still others say to just come away from the walls and stop bothering about it because what does it matter anyways when there is life to be lived in here.

Tree Decorating

We all have different ideas about what makes a good christmas tree, Noble or Douglas, White or Coloured lights, Themed or Sentimental, Bought or Hand-made decorations, Garlands, Edible Treats, Tinsle, Flocking, etc. But there is good and bad decorating technique which applies across the board. Probably this is all old news to you, but I was thinking about it and decided to procrastinate decorating by making a blogpost! ;P

The important technique is what I call "Stashing." Trees are 3-dimentional objects and ought to be decorated that way. Simply winding a string of lights around the tree and hooking some ornaments to the outer tips of the branches makes for a sad and droopy tree after a few days when all those tips have begun to sag under the weight, not to mention it tends to look like a hokey cluttered bulletin board.

First off it is very important to put the lights IN the Christmas tree. Since many decorations are made to have lights shining behind them you have to put the lights on so that they CAN be behind the ornaments, rather than all on the same plane. When the lights are Stashed back inside the branches not only will the tacky wires be hidden, but they will create a much more 'twinkly' affect when you walk around the tree as they wink in and out of view behind the greenery, and they will create better patterns on the walls when the other lights are turned out. As I put the lights on I like to make a swervy path as I go around putting some way back in near the trunk and some closer to the tips, especially in places where I might want a light shining directly under an ornament. It's convenient to scout out the nooks and alcoves while putting on the lights and be thinking about where you might want certain lights arranged to coordinate with certain ornaments. While it may not seem like the lights inside by the trunk are doing much, they help give more dimension to the backdrop and create a warmer glowy feeling. Without lights back near the trunk, the inner recesses of the tree are dark mysterious caverns instead of cozy nesting places for your decorations.

When you're ready to put on the ornaments please, oh please, don't go for the 'pin the tail on the donkey' technique. It may seem counter-intuitive, but to really show off the ornaments you need to partially hide and/or frame them in the natural alcoves created by the branches. You want the ornaments to look like they are part of the tree, not just tacked on. I know you want to SEE and Show Off your ornaments but it's more imporant that an ornament looks like it belongs where it is by how well it fits in it's nook, rather than being visible from every angle. Search for natural windows into the tree and place some decorations further back inside those windows, and some closer to the front. In larger nooks it's often good to put a second ornament back behind the primary one. It can also help the overall affect to have a few ornaments that you don't care to see too much hidden back in the tree just to catch and reflect more light back there and add a bit of colour. Branches will droop less as well when heavy ornaments are placed futher in on the sturdier part of the branch rather than the flimsy tips.

Also, keep in mind how much the ornament may weigh down the branch, especially once the tree is past it's prime, and try to leave some room below it so that it won't just be sitting on the branch below by the end of the season. Don't be afraid to fenagle things to make the ornament hang at the right hight and angle. Sometimes I have to re-bend the hook, shorten the string, drape it over several branches, or attach the hook several rows up and let the weight of the ornament pull it down into the right position. This can also be usefull in creating a larger space in the nook above it. Use the smaller bits branching off the main branches to help hide the hooks or strings by pulling them out in front once you've hooked an ornament on, and never forget to re-fluff the needles of a branch you slid a loop over so they aren't laying flat underneath it. You don't want the tree to look like it's being strangled, suffocated, or confined. The ornaments and lights should look like they are it's 'fruits' which hang naturally among it's branches, so put in a little extra work and fluff out those little branches and needles around all those strings and hooks.

Finally, keep your clippers by you to groom and create nooks if you're having trouble finding good spaces for everything. Sometimes smaller banches behind an ornament can make it hang oddly and clipping them back a bit will solve this. Same goes for branches that are covering up a nook too much. The key is creating a frame for the onament to sit back inside, and the fuller Douglas firs often leave little space for ornaments among their branches. There's no reason you can't trim off more than just those extra long rogue branches. When all your ornaments are comfortably ensconced in their little windows the tree will actually become more engaging than if all the ornaments are creating an outer crust of clutter. The twinklings further back in the tree will draw the viewer in and invite them to explore the nooks and crannies and thereby view the individual ornaments in detail, while at the same time allowing the tree itself to feel like a cohesive whole, rather than a cluttered heap.

What is it with colds and not sleeping at night?!

you could easily nap all day long, but as soon as you try to officially go to bed for the night, no matter how miserably exhausted you feel, the coughing kicks into high gear and you can get no rest. You spend the night trying to expell your lungs and blowing your nose and tossing and turning with a sinus headache ringing though your head like cathedral bells. You know you need sleep to heal, but the cold seems bent on preventing you from getting any, at least at night.

oh yes, and one of the most obnoxious things in the world is how there is no way to cover your ear at night without hearing the blanket scraping loudly against your ear as you breath.

Why are all the long haired princesses Blond!?

Seriously.....Aurora, Rapunzel, Buttercup, Amalthea.... Ariel and Thumbelina have red hair not brown. Snow White and Belle have dark hair, but theirs is short. I can't ever do movie costumes right without bleaching my hair or cutting it, or so it would seem. Granted, Cinderella has short hair and she's blond, but still, why aren't there any LONG haired brunett Princesses?

so the ice-cold days of Autumn are returning

It seems if I'm not melting into the floor I've exhanged bones for icicles, sigh......

Anyways, so much for this so called "Hot water on demand." I've been demanding it for the last 10 minutes, so where's my hot water? It's more like "Hot water on whim." :P

my fingers are frozen now......

sticking out like a sore thumb

or something......

okaaay, that's the seccond night in a row that something has spilled right as I'm about to go to bed :( I hope this trend stops right here.

Technical Frustrations!

THAT'S IT! I am never updating any software I am currently satisfied with. I am not happy with the new iTunes and I see no reason why I should need to continually go through the arduous process of learning where they've moved everything when there is NO advantage to getting the new version. Maybe for some people there would be, but the version I had did everything I really wanted it to and I knew where everything was so I could actually do it. Actually the same could be said for the version before that last one as well. Honnestly, this is ridiculously annoying. I don't need to go through this frustration every time they come out with a new version. It's pointless.

Apparently some settings have been reset and I can't figure out how to change them. Such as: it automatically starts importing a CD when I put it in my computer. I don't want it to do this. Currently I am just trying to identify what some of these unlabled CDs are that I burned in the past. I just want to look at them, I don't want to start downloading them, and I don't want to have to quickly tell it to STOP every time I put one in! But now I can't find any place to switch this setting. ARG!

SPs in Movies

It struck me this evening while watching The Prince of Persia that I seem to like a lot of action movies, and that the main characters in these movies are most likely SPs. That is, Sensing Percievers according to the Meyer's Briggs and Kiersy's personality theory. SPs, apparently, like action, like new experiences, are tuned into their surroundings, prefer a playfull approach to life rather than a dutifull one, and keep their options open till the last minute. These all seem to be just the quality one would need in the midst of battles or chase scenes. The ability to be fully aware in the moment, comfortable with making things up as you go.

I was particularly struck during the action sequences by the idea that such people would have to be exceedingly and instantly aware of the details of their surroundings in order to come up with tactics on the spot using what was immediately available to accomplish something in the present moment. Being that aware of things is rather astonishing to me to think about. While I enjoy small details, I feel like I probably see one while misisng 10, and I take a more slow and intentional approach to noticing them in the first place. My mind is by default focused inwards on ideas, and paying attention to what is around me is less natural. Of course I notice things, everyone must. But when I think about it, if I was being chased I think I'd be more likely preoccupied in my mind with projecting all the horrible things that could happen if I were caught, or perhaps psychoanalysing my persuer. Although I would probably have heightened awareness because of the urgency of the moment, and perhaps more focus on that very instant in time that normal for me, it would still be excercising less rather out-of-shape faculties.

Now I don't believe that I enjoy such characters because I secretly wish I was that way. No, I prefer to be just who I am. But I suppose it is fun to sort of 'try it on' for a moment, or to simply be in awe of it.

love-hate

I'm really developing a love-hate relationship with Garlic. It tastes so good! I really like it! BUT it just doesn't settle well on my stomache at all. I tend to feel over full pretty fast when I eat it, but I don't think it's actually being full, it's just being uncomfortable and slighly scratchy/burning in my stomache. It makes me have to pee about every 10 minutes for hours afterwards and it also keeps me wide awake all night if I have it in the late afternoon or evening. Tonight I ate garlic around 8. I am still feeling the uncomfortable after-effects at 3:30am. I think I'm doomed. I may have to give up Garlic. ug. It's no fun.

Also I just have to vent that although I love my computer it's REEEEEAALLLLY been getting on my nerves lately because the fan is Always running on high, except right after I start it up....and not even always then. It really doesn't like doing anything where movement is happening on the screen, such as flipping through thumbnails in a Finder window, or any website that has moving things. The fan has gradually gotten louder over the last couple of years, so that now when it's on high it's really loud and also has this particular tone that seems to be playing in the background. It's making me go crazy. Sometimes I can get it to quiet down with ice-packs and quitting every program except apple-works, but other times even when its doing absolutely nothing the fan will just keep going on high for hours while I'm out of the room. It will also get stuck running on high and simply not go to sleep when it's supposed to, although the screen goes black - at which point it is impossible to wake up the screen, and there is nothing for it but to hold down the power button and force it to restart. I am so sick of hearing this stupid fan noise I'm at my wits end. I need a solution and I'm really irritated with the people I've asked who don't take this problem seriously and just tell me 'well it's good that it's running to keep it cool.' NO It's Not. I don't believe it is keeping it cool. It certainly doesn't feel like it gets any cooler no matter how long or fast that thing is running. There is something faulty with it and I NEED to get it fixed!

ok. ending rant now. :)

My Favorite Artists

Here are Artists who's illustrations bring to sight the sort of things I immagine but have not the skill to paint myself.
Please use the links to visit their websites! It will be well worth it - here I've just got thumbnail pictures I found online to give you a flavor of each Artist's style.
KY Craft

Stephanie Pui-mun Law

Scott Gustafson

Edmund Blair Leighton

John William Waterhouse

Arthur Rackham

Olga Dugina & Andrej Dugin

Niroot Puttapipat

Laurel Long

Brian & Wendy Froud

John Howe

Alan Lee

Tony Di Terlizzi

Unknown Pixie Hollow Artist (Judith Holmes Clarke and others)

Kerem Beyit? (not sure if that's the right name)

SnowSkadi (I don't know the real name for this artist either)

the Brothers Hildebrandt

Trina Schart Hyman

Mercer Mayer

The Artists of Sleeping BeautyEyvind Earle

- with Frank Armitage & Marc Davis


James Christensen

Michael Hague

Pamela Silin-Palmer

Delphine Gache

Meredith Dillman

Sarah B. Seiter

Jessica Douglas

Jennifer Miller

POUL (I don't know this artist's real name)

Shona McDonald

Cicely Mary Barker

Linda Ravenscroft

Amy Brown

Jan Brett

Frederick Leighton

Edward Burne-Jones

Sophie Anderson

H.J. Ford

Peter Pracownik

Adrienne Ségur

Douglas Carrel

Daniel Merriam

Stephen Hickman

Jessica Galbreth