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I spent most of yesterday at The Maiden and The Crone, helping Eddie and Tracy with things. Cleaning, rearranging the wall displays, wrangling mannequins, unpacking new merch, stuff like that. They need extra help for the holidays but can't affoard to hire anyone, which sucks majorly because I would love working there, but I don't really have anything better to do with my days so I offered to help out for free. I drooled over the new capes and cloaks, Windex-ed crystal balls, and got mouthed off to by a delivery guy. It was the most fun I've had in a month.

Wrote 908 words last night, nearing The End of a short story that is not officially titled yet but has the working title 'Up the Hill'. It is a working title because it blows, but what can you do. I am determined to reach The End tonight.

Now I have to go finish a project, walk Greebo, do dishes, and call home. Mum is demanding a Tarot reading *eyeroll*

P.S.- I'm waiting to hear back about a job from Hot Topic, of all places. Whatever, money is money, and I wouldn't have to cut my moehawk to work there.

Hmmm. A few months ago my automatic answer to such a question would be "get the hell out of Florida" but now I can't think of anything I want to change about my life.

Holy shit, am I happy?!

So this morning at sixe Susan called and woke me up. I was prepared to give her a verbal lashing she would not soon forget, when she told me to look out the window.



IT'S SNOOOOOOOOOOOOWIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! *glee*

I'm-a go put on my cute winter clothes and go frolic.

P.S.- Adequate description of my feelings at the moment.

*is in love with this question*

I am certainly no stranger to imaginary boyfriends, and there are just so many fictional characters I adore, so I shall just answer based on my preference of the moment. Prince Nuada from Hellboy II: The Golden Army is simply lovely, but I don't think I would 'date' him in the conventional sense of the word. Mainly because he is a meglomaniacal, misanthropic extremist who would leap for joy to see the bloody decimation of all humanity, but also because we would have much better things to do than go to movies or restaraunts. Our activities would include verbal and physical sparring, visits to the troll market,  going on perilous quests to recover ancient and powerful artifacts, and occasionally doubling up with Abe and Nuala for some Pictionary and fondue. And whenever he got sassy about me being a human, I would let him know who was boss with a kiss laced with ground-up iron supplement pills.

Also, Ravus of Valiant by Holly Black. I love the idea of dating a troll and hanging out with him under his bridge. I don't think I would have much patience for his occasional emotional outbursts, though.

Barring that, Morpheus of the Sandman comics. Or Oberon.

Hrmm. I seem to be in a fantasy mood today.

Allow me to paint you a picture.

It is evening, and I am safe and comfy in my home. I am in a long-sleeved black blouse with bell sleeves and silver ivy embroidered around the neckline, a pair of black panties, and fluffy green knitted slippers. I have not yet washed off my hair gel or makeup, so my mohawk stands proudly erect and my eyes remain blackly lined. Greebo and I are enjoying lying on the new rug--black with a lattice of gold leaves--and watching Kill Bill Vol. 1. A delicious supper of tortellini is on the stove, to be followed by a Halloween cupcake with black frosting and sparkly skulls. I am reading a printout of the novelization of Labyrinth, the heater is on full blast, and the rats are playfighting in their newly cleaned cage.

Life, my dears, is glorious.

So, following the advice of my mother and certain parties who know who they are, I bought myself a shiny new can of Sabre Red. Now I shall no longer go in fear of the nasties and beasties that lurk behind every rock. Cut in line in front of me at Taco Bell, I dare you! In perfect seriousness though, I do feel much more confident with it nestled in my purse. Plus, the can is pretty hefty and can double as a bludgeon. Good times.

Susan and Tony have asked me to hand out candy at the Bistro for Safe Treats on friday night. All of the shopkeepers and merchants on Main Street hand out candy so the kids can trick or treat in perfect safety wthout worrying about creepers and poisons and the like. I am very excited! Planning to wear my fanciest witch hat with the veil and feathers and silk roses, and I absolutely must bring Figwit, my dragon puppet. I've been figuring out the leather strap that will secure him to my shoulder and practicing with his controls to make his movements look as natural as possible. I'm sure he'll be a hit, and of course Greebo is always popular.

Other than that, not too much is going on right now. Still writing at an exceptional pace, and I'm planning on asking Ian to escort me to the zombie walk on saturday, but otherwise I've just been sort of chilling out. On the full moon I'm going to go have a picnic at the stone table in the Chavez plot in the cemetary, and I've found a nice little clump of trees under the main street bridge that shelters a nice, comfy nest of grass that is absolutely lovely for napping.

I am thinking of filming a short promo for my stuff on Fictionpress.

Other than that...

I can forgive. I don't forget.

For most of the time I've been here, I have been able to write very, very little. Less than 100 words, on the days I actually can summon the will to try writing at all. It was starting to freak me out, I was wondering what I was doing wrong, what had changed for the worst, was terrified that being in a new place was causing this blockage and that I couldn't write any more while I lived here. Then on monday I wrote 1, 877 words, and yestarday I wrote 2,010.

I've got my mojo back.

*phew*

The other day I was in The Maiden and The Crone (I stopped in to give Eddie the last bloom from my rosebush, because she mentioned before that yellow roses were her favorite) and she said that Ian had stopped in earlier and told her to give me his number. We're hanging out next week when he's off from the fire department. Yes, I am hanging out with a cool, funny, geeky fireman. You may now be incredibly jealous.

On the less awesome side, I am getting a serious creeper vibe from my neighbor, Mr. Dudgeon. Plus, every time I'm out with Greebo and we pass him on our way to the house, Greebo flips the hell out. He barks and growls and absolutely loses his shit, and Greebo never does that. He is the most friendly, sociable dog in the entire galaxy and he loves everybody, except for Mr. Dudgeon for some reason. On top of that, I have two separate dreams where he was lurking outside my house in the middle of the night. At least he's right across the yard where I can keep an eye on him.

On a positive note, tonight I'm making meatball subs and watching Beauty and the Beast.

This actually looks not as awful as I thought it would. I'm actually feeling a little better about this. And Holy balls, will you look at that makeup? He actually looks like a burn victim, and not a sculpture of Robert Englund made out of raw hamburger.

Besides, not all horror remakes are totally awful. Look at Willard. And I think this whole 'delving into the origin omg' act will work better for Freddy than it did for Jason & Michael Myers. They're just incredibly simple, and tacking on a Big Fat Backstory needlessly overcomplicates them. But Freddy is different because he actually does have a Big Fat Backstory already, and maybe it could benefit from some retooling.

And that's all I'm-a say about that.

There will never be another Robert Englund, though. Sorry, Jackie Earle Haley, you're totally scary and everything, but you're no Robert Englund.

With the way Fezzik and d'Artagnan behave, I really should have named them Dr. Cox and J.D. It is precious! d'Art will just bounce around like "Hey, hey man! Wanna play? Playing is awesome! Let's play!" and Fez will skulk off on his own like "OMGWTF will you leave me alone?!" But at the end of the day they end up snuggling in the hammock together and grooming and whatnot.

And d'Artagnan is fascinated by the compter. Whenever I sit down to work he scampers over, attracted by the typing noises, and stretches out on his belly in the corner of the second level of the cage and watches me for hours. "Heeey, whatcha doin'?" When I have him in my lap while I work, sometimes he stands up with his paws up on the edge of the desk and stares at the screen. Occasionally he climbs up and tries to help me type.

Dawwwwww!

One time some kid from my brother's high school asked if he could be my slave, and if I would treat him mean, pretty pretty please. I still haven't decided whether that's the best or worst line I've heard xD

I had a very pleasant birthday. Aside from the tattoo and dinner with Aunt Sue and Uncle Tony, I was surprised to find a few packages in the mail when I went to the post office. Earlier I had expressly forbidden mum to buy me anything for my birthday and let her know that just a card would be fine. Turns out she sent me a shoebox full nearly to bursting with cards. She's a crafty one...

I was absolutely delighted by what Kitty sent me--a gorgeous dragon puppet that she's had for years. When I called her this afternoon she said that it was about time for him to have adventures in New Mexico and she knew how much I loved him. I have named him Figwit, and eagerly await my first excuse to take him out in public.

In the evening, Greebo and the rats and I stayed in and watched a movie. I rented Trick 'r Treat, and I think I have fallen in love with this movie. It reminded me of the Tales From the Crypt comics I loved reading when I was a kid, and was just so engaging and interesting. And there was actual, honest-to-god story structure! Not just a few clumsy segways between one killing and the next, but an actual story, which is something depressingly rare in horror movies. I especially liked the bit with the school bus massacre victims, and the werewolves. It reminded me of a good line from The Company of Wolves; "The worst wolves are hairy on the inside". And, okay, in the final storyline they outright ripped off the part from Pet Sematary where the kid hiding under the bed cuts the old man's achilles tendon, but I don't care. This movie is totally fucking brilliant.

Speaking of brilliant movies, Where the Wild Things Are tomorrow!

The tattoo hasn't done anything alarming. I've been keeping it moist and so on. I am slightly amused at how I sat there while this thing was being etched into my living flesh without a single syllable of complaint, but you just should have heard me squeal when I took the bandage off.

Happy Birthday to me.



It'll look better when the swelling goes down. I will tell you one thing, my friend Anna is an asshole. She has a few tats and when I asked her she said it hurt like hell and she cried and everything. This was just more like a tickle, thought I do admit that once or twice the artist hit a tender spot and I had to make a rather unladylike face. Mostly I just kept my eyes closed and my head down and kind of tranced out--I almost fell asleep at one point.

Afterward I went to the Bistro and had a slice of carrot cake, and Uncle T informed me that he and Aunt Sue were taking me to dinner tonight and they would pick me up at five. Groovy.

Besides that, my future will be filled with four days of ointment.

Say hello to d'Artagnan and The Rat Who Does Not Have A Name Yet.



EDIT: He has a name now. It is Fezzik.

I'm just now beginning to get over a nasty cold that has been plaguing me since wednesday. I've been coughing so much I fear the neighbors suspect I may be keeping a sea lion even though the landlady says no large pets.

On wednesday Tracy, one of the ladies at The Maiden and The Crone, treated me to a free tarot reading. Yes, the Star inverted popped up again. Afterward, I hung out in the shop with her and her son Ian, chatting and having a few laughs. Ian is a very interesting fellow, he's been a nurse, a circus clown, and a firefighter, and now he's with the sheriff's department. And he's funny! And uses large words in everyday conversation! Correctly! And during the course of the conversation I mentioned things like G.K. Chesterton, Crispin Glover, cryptozoology, medicinal leeching, and human botflies and never once had to pause and explain what I was talking about. That's a very, very nice feeling.

Thursday and friday were spent mainly being very sick and unhappy and snoozing on the sofa with Greebo, but by saturday morning I was well enough to go to an open casting call for an independant horror movie being filmed in Farmington. I think the audition went very well. They had us prospectives read in pairs and I was with another woman named Courtney. Our bit was rather short and I only had two lines, but the good news is that I got to play a woman discovering the body of her murdered sister, so I got to sob and be as hysterical and unhinged as I liked. After the reading they had us improvise at reacting to being stabbed, and then deliver our best horror-movie scream. My stabbing was a fiasco, which is disappointing because I put a lot of thought into it. I figured that my assailant had tried to stab my heart, but due to my flailing had missed and got me slightly below it, but had just grazed my left lung. So I had meant to do all this great hyperventilating and whimpering and gurgling, but my damned throat did not agree and I just ending up coughing a lot. Oh well. I'll still be satisfied if I end up meandering in the background as an extra. I won't get paid, but there's free food involved. I should have mentioned that I have a very large family and that it would significantly boost DVD sales.

After the audition I changed my skirt and applied elaborate troll makeup and journeyed to the Renaissance Faire at Animas Park, but by then I was tired and still a bit sick, so I mostly just wandered around. I stopped by The Maiden and The Crone's booth to say hello to Tracy and Eddie, then headed off. About halfway along the path back to the parking lot, I felt like having a sit down so I made myself comfortable in a lovely clump of dry grass off to the side. The weather was nice, very bright and cool, and the trees were all gone yellow, so I lay back to look up at the leaves, and ended up having a nice little nap. I imagine I must have startled a few people as they came upon me, the little sleeping troll. I woke up about an hour later to a group of little boys in plastic armor with plastic swords looking worriedly down at me and quietly arguring amongst themselves as to which of them ought to check if I was breathing.

It is now officially Cold Weather, and I couldn't be more excited. Now that I'm not sick any more I can really enjoy it. After living in Florida for so long, I am so eager for my very own white christmas. But for now I am enjoying autumn. The trees are all yellow and red and it's been rather windy. I love parading around in my Elizabethan naval coat and can't wait for the weather to get colder so I can wear my cowl. I'm thinking about buying a little fireplace. Then that makes me think about buying a christmas tree when the time comes, and where I'd put it because in case I have been unclear on the subject, the cottage is tiny. Even a tabletop tree wouldn't work because all of my tables are already covered with crap there isn't room for anywhere else.

Hrmm.

P.S.- I haven't written in several days. Please don't judge me. I am already bowed under the weight of my shame.

P.P.S- I think I will bake cookies to thank Tracy for the tarot reading.

I really wish I had a super tall boyfriend so we could dress up as Sloth and Chunk for Halloween.

The last couple of days were really nice. On tuesday I went to Lake Farmington to meditate and do a ritual for Mabon, and then had a fun time exploring some more. I found lots of neat little places and claimed a black-striped stone which I'll charge next full moon and use in future rituals.

And yesterday I spent most of the afternoon at the cemetary. I really adore cemetaries, (stereotypical goth that I am)  they're just so filled with love. This one is very nice and peaceful, and there's a big plot for the Chavez family, who must be the local big-shots because the site is very meticulously maintained and there are statues and obelisks and even a big stone table and benches, with a sign encouraging people to use it. I'm planning to have a picnic there. There's also a little wooded-in trail beside the creek that leads out of the cemetary and behind the neighborhood out into the hills. Walking along the trail I came upon a pen of black-faced sheep that were very friendly.

But despite all of this niceness, I've been feeling really lonely. I have made friends with Eddie and Tracy, the ladies who run The Maiden and The Crone, but I want a friend my own age. Someone to see movies or go to lunch with, or call when something funny happens. I don't suppose running up to every interesting-looking person I see and yowling "PLEASE BE MY FRIEND!" will accomplish this. Sigh.

For the past couple of days, every tarot draw I've done had had the Star inverted in it, usually in the position of a warning.

Oh, and last night I spoke to mum and she still hasn't sent my rat cage yet. That's the thing with her, you have to keep on her about things or it just flies out of her brain. I informed her that if the cage arrives too late and someone has already adopted the two rats I had my eye on by the time I'm ready for them, she is the one I am going to call and berate. I might even see fit to cry. I will force her to listen to her adult daughter cry because someone took her rats. Hopefully this will motivate her to get off her lazy duff and mail the damn thing already.

P.S.-The writing has been going good, only somehow my brain managed to burp out this . It is happy. it is cute. I am afraid.

P.P.S-Lately I have been feeling this weird urge to buy lots of used books and DVDs from hastings and donate them to the public library because they barely have anything. This would be a lovely idea and I would do it, if I was rich enough to be that charitable.

What a lovely day. The first officially cool day, and I got to wear a long-sleeved shirt for srs. I admit to ironically wearing a parka to the beach every so often...

Did a bit of grocery shopping and treated myself to Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Now am down to twenty-five dollars even. I have about 4k saved up and it's been sitting in the bank, but all this time I've been living on the last of my cash. My goal is to make it to October without touching the 4k, but there are so many lovely books and candles and herbs and talismans in The Maiden and The Crone...

Meh.

Went for a bike ride and made friends with a couple of mules in the feild behind the library.

The internet has been funky lately. Right now I'm sitting at a table on the patio of Sue & Tony's restaraunt, which is thankfully a short walk down the alley. I hope that the internet sorts itself out, but even if it doesn't it's not a hassle to walk down here and get my shit done. It will seriously impede my goofing-off time, though. Which is probably best.

It's been a bad past few days. I haven't written a word. I think I'm feeling more up to writing today though, so once this is done with I'll head home and really try to concentrate.

Sorry I'm not more interesting.