Yay Weekend!

I had a pretty great weekend. Stayed up late, slept in, went gaming... got home at nearly 4:00 am (OUCH!), then slept in again. Clint and I went to the mall to pick up a copy of Spore! and get some lunch. That was followed by some side-by-side computer gaming instead of doing calligraphy like I should have been. Oh yes, and there was much watching of The Slayers as well. We're almost done watching season two, which means episodes I haven't seen yet.

This week I start on 10 hour days, with Fridays off. It's dragging along already, that much is certain.

Next weekend is the Coronation of Timmur and Tianna, to be held here in Ogden at the 25th St. Park. I'm going to be there, and can walk across the street to meet my boo for lunch.

Coexist

My beautiful and talented sister posted "Coexist" bumper stickers to her blog yesterdayish, and it reminded me that I nabbed this image, which I believe is also a bumper sticker, some years ago, and meant to share it with the world in some fasion. It's such a simple statement with deep meaning. The symbolism of this one, unlike those my sis posted, which are similar and equally beautiful, also adds peace and sexuality into it.

It's acutely frustrating to live in an area of the world where a huge number of the population is extremely closed minded - not necessarily on purpose, because many were just raised sheltered. I know I was, but I've had the world opened to me in ways many don't get the chance to, growing up in rural "mormon" Utah. I mean no offense to those who are practicing mormons. It's simply been my experience that mormons don't necessarily see the world in the same perspective as others.

I wonder how we as humans expect to be at peace with the world when we can rarely be at peace with ourselves.

100 Things About Crystal

1. I have a passion for all things artistic
2. I am pretty good at calligraphy
3. I have like 40 some-odd trophies for clogging
4. I did costume design for a college production of Trojan Women
5. I did several posters for various plays in high school
6. I went to college on an acting scholarship
7. My favorite color is blue
8. I'm legally blind
9. I work for a nonprofit agency that helps low-income people become self sufficient.
10. I am easily upset by stupid people
11. I'm addicted to World of Warcraft
12. I play role-playing games every weekend (Dungeons & Dragons tabletop style games)
13. I have been playing in the Society of Creative Anachronism for about 12 years
14. My SCA name is Jaquelinne de Radonvilliers
15. I Love movies.
16. I fell in a bonfire when I was a small child, which means I have lots of scar tissue over my chest and arms. Most people can't even tell though.
17. I've only broken one bone in my life, and that was my collar bone when I was 18 months old.
18. In high school I wore various colors of contacts from green, purple, aqua. I got tons of compliments on them.
19. I like playing in photoshop
20. I have Graves' Disease
21. I met my ex-husband through my old website, Dark Sidhe Lair
22. I met my current boyfriend through Ragnarok Online
23. I've been dying my hair red for 14ish years. There's some redhead in the family, and I have a touch in me, but I like it to be bold.
24. I love singing
25. I love books. I have a significant library, many of which I've yet to read.
26. I'm an anime freak. My favorites include The Slayers, Fushigi Yuugi, and Ranma 1/2
27. I adore all things gothic. Music, clothes, everything.
28. I'm a total girly-girl. Pink, sparklies, girly things make me happy.
29. My favorite show is So You Think You Can Dance. Sadly though, I don't get TV reception at my apartment and am too cheap to pay for cable or satellite.
30. I drive a PT Cruiser, a color that I lovingly call "Metallic Mud" which is a sort of bronze brown
31. I turn 31 next month. This makes me sad.
32. I have a thing for dragonflies. It's deeper than just collecting them, though I do that too. James used to say that the house was bugged. Jewellery, artwork, hair pins, misc. dragonflies cover my home.
33. I recently discovered chai chillers, and it has become my new favorite drink.
34. I have a small gargoyle collection, one which Clint won't let me enlarge because they freak him out.
35. I love embroidery. I grew up doing counted cross stitch, but now my love belongs to blackwork or goldwork.
36. I still haven't finished the angel cross stitch I started 12 years ago.
37. My favorite thing about costuming is the design phase - drawing it out, picking fabrics, then doing embellishments. I dislike the cutting out and actual sewing it together parts.
38. I am a firm believer in karma
39. I would love to learn how to belly dance
40. I also want to learn a foreign language
41. One day I want a room dedicated to creation - art and sewing. A real studio with proper lighting and built in tables/desks and everything designed for my purposes.
42. I have a huge crush on Doctor Who.
43. I have a brilliant family. Seriously. They're all smarty pants in different ways. The genetics were good to us. ^_~
44. My sister is the best sister ever. In the world. The age difference made it difficult for us when we were both young, but as I grew up she was always there for me to listen to my crap. Tiny 13 year old Shelye listening to my problems. Best listener ever.
45. I love ethnic food. Greek, Indian, and Japanese are my favorites. Mmmm sushi...
46. Every couple of years I get possessed to chop my hair off. It'll grow back from chin to waist within 2 years, so it's pretty much a cycle.
47. Reeses Pieces are my favorite candy
48. I'd love to be a voice actor for radio or something similar
49. I used to want to be a stage actor
50. I used to carry around a camera wherever I went, because I'd see art in everything I saw
51. I want one of those new digital cams that are 8 megapixel, in fashion colors. I want PINK!
52. I want a flatscreen monitor - my monitor weights about 5,000 pounds
53. My Wacom stylus got lost in a move, which makes me sad.
54. I'm a decent cook, when I put forth the effort, which is rare.
55. I just got new glasses!
56. I used to be upset that I didn't have children with James. Now I'm glad.
57. Andrea Bocelli is my favorite opera singer
58. I hate answering phones
59. I only drink bottled water (unless in a pinch)
60. I found that Avatar: The last of the airbenders is a surprisingly good show
61. YouTube is an addiction of mine
62. I'm a super snuggly huggy person
63. High strung people irritate me. I try to be very laid back and easygoing
64. I should be transcribing minutes instead of writing this.
65. I'm an administrative assistant aka glorified secretary.
66. I've been laid off several times in my life - once due to a corporate merger between American Stores and Albertsons, and once because of "company restructuring" from Fairbanks. At least I got severance packages.
67. My friend Val's kids are like my own. If I ever have children, I hope they're like Ashlyn.
68. I love perusing office supply places, both online and in person to find new ways to organize my desk. I'm addicted to this stuff like my sister.
69. I guard the pens on my desk like a pitbull
70. My taste in music is pretty wide-ranged. My playlist includes opera, classical, folk, alternative, rock, pop, and even French rap... I don't have any country here, and no modern American rap/R&B.
71. I Love The Sims / The Sims 2. Totally addicted.
72. My living room couches are maroon leather
73. My dishes are blue willow and I love them.
74. I collect geisha dolls
75. I love dimples, and am sad I don't have them. But my Clint does!
76. I love guys in kilts
77. I love gamergeeks
78. My favorite fruits are bananas and strawberries
79. I'm extremely pale and like it that way.
80. I have an aversion to the sun. I don't like it, it doesn't like me. I'll burn in 10 minutes flat, so I stay inside most of the time.
81. Some friends call me a vampire due to the aforementioned paleness and aversion to the sun.
82. I did professional translation work for a company called Kaneda that publishes games in France. Got paid in Francs. But I don't speak French. :P I helped a friend with questions to make sure meaning and syntax were correct when translating from French to English. He did the work, I just edited for grammar and such.
83. I have recently become a fan of shoes. Wish I could wear better ones - my feet are small and wide. But I can now walk in heels without tipping over. (yay!) Just not spiked or super tall heels.
84. I'm excited to be an Aunt again! Kenny and Morgan are expecting. :D
85. I dislike most card games - not sure why.
86. I love watching movies, especially musicals and movies with grit and depth.
87. I'm a Libra, air elemental - it makes sense since my favorite thing about boating was feeling the wind go through my hair. I love flying and have reoccuring dreams that I can fly.
88. I'm extremely introverted
89. I'm a nerd
90. I love making things beautiful... decorating, creating, whatever.
91. At the highest, I had five piercings in my left ear, and 3 in the right for a total of 8. I'm down to 4 now.
92. If I could go anyplace right now, it'd be Venice, Italy. Followed by Japan and Scotland.
93. I'm often lost in thought and am a dreamer, but I'm not afraid of the darker side of life.
94. I value honor and respect
95. I often write bad poetry
96. I often seem cold and distant to those who don't know me well, because I'm so often lost in my own thoughts, and so introverted.
97. There was a time that I wanted to be a teacher
98. I used to have two siamese kitties and I miss them very much. James got them in the divorce because they would not adapt to moving or being separated very well.
99. I don't really follow current affairs / politics much, but I do love The Colbert Report
100. I have been clinically depressed with an anxiety disorder for many years.
     

A New Life

While I tend to live my life on the wings of change - one of the many reasons that the dragonfly is such an important symbol to me - it seems that I have gone though so many dramatic changes lately that I can't tell which wasy is up or down anymore.

For example:

• Divorce
• Moved twice (from house to parents to apartment)
• Moved boyfriend from OK to UT
• New relationship
• Health issues - depression, anxiety, graves' disease
• Renewing old friendships
• Balancing old life with new, which means giving up things, much to my dismay.
• Loss of artisitic outlet

I'm sure there are more things to consider in my list of stressors and life changes. Most importantly though, is that I have a plethora of loved ones that help me through all my challenges. Some... well time heals many things.

I suppose the important thing to note is that I'm happy, more or less. There are challenges and changes that I've yet to face, and every day that passes I grow stronger and more able to deal with what life gives me.

Two New Armigers

White Scarf Collaboration

Calligraphy by me, Illumination by Bethany of Windermere

Calligraphy is Batarde/French Secretary in Pelikan ink. French translation was provided by Bartholomew of Hightower and his wonderful wife

Award of Arms

Based on the Luttrell Psalter, made in England, c. 1325-35.

 The original had a weird cross between an orangutan and a raccoon which I replaced with the grinning gryphon. The smile was actually an accident but everyone comments on that before anything else. The stance of the gryphon really cried out to me. It is taken off of a period chandalier or something like that. I love how the wings curved up like a sphinx and the tail curled in different directions. The original color scheme was more of a peach color than gold, but I didn't want to do another peach and blue piece. The scan makes it look more lemon than gold, but it really is darker in person. I chose this piece because of all the fun whitework on the geometric ornamentation.

Cero e Luce Scroll

Based on Lancelot du Lac. La Quête du Sant Graal. La Mort le roi Artu.

This book was created for Antoine Vérard, bookseller to Charles VIII, King of France, in 1494. The book was a series of large woodcuts that were overpainted with miniatures. The illumination was by Jaques de Besançon.

Gifford Prosser, Tesnière, Marie-Hélène Creating French Culture: Treasures from the Bibliotèque Nationale de France.
The Library of Congress and the Bibliotèque Nationale de France, 1995. pp 124-125

Golden Maple Leaf Scroll

White Scarf Scroll