7 (More) Random Things About Me

I've been 'tagged' again...well, three times...oops, now make that four times since the last (and only) one I responded to. Here we go...

1. I forget how to drive. I keep my drivers license current for identification, and 'just in case' I do need to drive, but I've lived in Manhattan for so many years (and have never missed owning a car which I sold before moving here) that I have pretty much forgotten how to operate a vehicle. When I go to the beach house each year, Ann (my twin sister) drives us everywhere. Sometimes she lets me park.

2. I have never broken a bone or been a patient in a hospital, even for a minute.

3. I have shared a big hug with Smoky Robinson full-on. This was not a personal appearance or concert; I live in New York City- - anything can happen here. He is very warm and has kind eyes.

4. I have eaten at least one apple a day for at least the last 20 years. I love apples.

5. When I first moved here, before Giuliani cleaned up all the organized crime and there was an active 'crew' in my neighborhood, I was made an offer I was expected not to refuse. In exchange all my rent and bills would be paid. It's not what you're thinking, I mean it, in fact I basically had to do nothing. But such an offer to me would mean that they would own me; I didn't want that, so I refused, and then went weeks fearing I was on the Hit List for disrespecting or something. It was a long while before I felt in the clear. I sorta miss those days.

6. As a child, a recurring nightmare I would have whenever I was delirious from having the flu (oddly not when I was well, then I'd have other nightmares I suppose, but this one only came when I was sick) was being in a hospital bed in a room so full of beds you cannot see the end of them...beds to my left and right as far as I can see, beds foot to foot with mine and the others to my sides (so that if someone was in the bed foot-to-foot with mine, we'd be facing each other from our own beds.) And rows and rows of beds beyond those. Everything is white, and there is a nurse in the scene. It absolutely terrified me in unexplainable ways; terror beyond screaming; it made me silent, frozen. And I've often wondered if it's a dream of the neonatal ward from when I was born.

7. I talk to my toy collection. I don't want them to feel lonely. I'm not crazy, just extra polite.

Benny, Jack, and Moe Throw Down A Mad Line Dance

I'm still a little busy with a new consignment order, (84 items!) and my apartment looks like a victim of a massive printer explosion. My back is paying the price, but I've got a big smile on my face, why I daresay even my antique toy collection seems to be smiling. When I go off to work at my completely non-creative job, I continue to snag any scrap to doodle on. It's the itch I must scratch, and one day I will do it full time. I so hope.

UPDATE: it was not 84 items, but 108 items. Even better!

What Is Sleep?

I don’t get much anymore. Lately it’s in the 2 hours a night range. But between my day job, my creative work, and a dash of social life, all of a sudden I’m busy. My little online shop is slowly increasing. People are finding me, discovering me. I have just finished and sent off a pretty good sized consignment order to an arts organization outside of DC which had contacted me. Next, I m working on artwork for a new Underground Art Magazine (details later) which had discovered my work, and I have a personal project I have been chomping at the bit to get started. I’ve got to get back to scanning and processing my vacation photography; this is a huge, several-week job, but if I wait too long, suddenly it’s winter and they just don’t seem appropriate for uploading to my Flickr account. I was going to try to get a little more sleep tonight since my lower back is in such a spasm I really can’t do very much. But even though it’s so late, (too late) and I’m not likely to get more sleep than usual on this night, I feel so excited to have finished this latest order and for the prospects ahead.

As The World Flickrs

moonlight sail, originally uploaded by original_ann.

This is a photo my sister took of me on our recent stay at the beach house. We saw the full moon cast the brightest light upon the ocean, and danced in fields of blowy Queen Anne's Lace under the stars. Yes, that is a sailboat out there behind me.

I Am NOT Packing Up Any Bikinis!

At least, not yet. But it is sort of necessary to start putting some holiday items in my Etsy shop. I made a sneak preview collage of some of my illustrations and doodlings you might find over there.

Want a Free Bikini?

So I've taken the 8:30ish train out to Long Island where I can lay on the beach all day and jump in the waves; pretend the city doesn't exist for a bit, and that summer is not really 'done'. I'm minding my own business when a nice-looking beachy sort of guy comes up and says those very words to me. I sat up and responded with a "yes" spoken almost as one would a question, like when someone rings your doorbell, ala 'who is it?' You know. He plopped down and removed his backpack, fished around for my size, and voila! New black bikini. Mine now. Even better he asks if I'd like one for a friend as well! So Ann, (my twin sister) it's waiting for you when you visit me next!

Note: the above photo is one I'd taken a few summers ago while at the beach house with one of my Holga (plastic toy) cameras. It's in my Flickr stream.

My Sneaks

They'll be waiting for me at the beach house when I return next year. Boy, did summer ever go fast this year. I need a rewind button.