Lucid Musings

I have been writing a great many blog entries about our July Summer SALE, so i have decided to write upon other things that have been upon my mind recently.

First off, check out this awesome "thrifty" find that i made yesterday:

I tried to get a good picture of my new dress....i found it at the Goodwill bins( not the regular Goodwill stores but the Goodwill outlet where clothes are held in big bins and you have to hunt around to find things since nothing is really separated) for super cheap. I am wearing it under my corset here. you cant see it at all in these photos but the dress is actually all dark green lace with a built in black slip....
i have my dreads up with a claw clip in the back. I'm thinking that maybe i would like to wear this outfit to the opening night of my solo show in September. (i know its a bit away, but i cant help but be excited over it all.)
...i Love the GoodWill bins. They charge you for the clothes you pick out by the pounds. Danny and i got 5 jumbo bags of clothes( mainly shirts and dresses for tie-dying or screen printing) for $20 + i got this dress and a couple sun dresses as well...at GoodWill we also found some nice wood panels that i am planning on sanding down and prepping for painting onto. GoodWill is also a great place to find all sorts of interesting frames for super cheap. They also have a bizarre collection of paper back books and Danny found this old vintage one that has the strangest pen and ink illustrations in it. we figure we can use the book for decoupage projects or something along those lines. I love the idea that what we are doing when we go to the Goodwill bins- is recycling. If it were not for these goodwill stores a large portion of these perfectly good clothings/items would end up in landfills. Its such a waste.

Anyhow.... I am having what one would call a "special" Friday. I totally missed my bus stop this morning on my way to work and ended up at the end of the bus line at Portland Community College. Nice campus though.( It really is a shame that community college is so expensive up here! I would be taking a few art classes and perhaps a Fiction writing class as well.) I had been reading my current book as i do every morning on the bus. it was an intense part of the story and i was totally in another world/reality. ah well. I was only late to work by 15min.

I love taking the bus too and from work. It allows me some much needed reading time.

I have been reading a lot of interesting books as of late such as:
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins and also The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein. Both books are fascinating but disillusioning....writing truth about the Elite/elect and the IMF's role in the corporatist greed epidemic that is ruining this world and bringing much poverty, death and destruction to land and human rights in every continent.
I also read a very interesting book called Women Sailors and Sailors' Women: An Untold Maritime History by David Cordingly. But really, what i have been reading the most happens to be Fiction, a lot of young adult fantasy and scifi novels, in fact. I cant get enough of them. I tend to plow through these books in a matter of days.

And I have found that i am very very inspired to begin writing my own! I have a vague story and plot worked out in my head already: The story begins in Venice beach California/Santa Monica area(since I grew up there and I am familiar.) with a newly orphaned young lady, now living in on the streets- taken in by the "gutter punks" groups of homeless young people who live on the edge of society- often panhandling for money. This young lady has some very strange abilities that she discovered at a much younger age. - Needless to say she is not what she seems and is a mystery to her own self. Through a series of bizarre and unfortunate events she ends up tangled in an epic battle involving a holy war between two species of ancient creatures - the angels/faeries vs the alien/lizards who are dueling to win control over the world during the paradigm shift that has been prophesied to happen in her lifetime.

I recently checked out a how to book( something i have never done before since i usually like to work things out my own way)- the book is called How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy: How to spin a dream, a wish, or a speculation into a vivid, convincing tale of human possibilities. by Orson Scott Card. Its proving to say a lot of things i had already figured and considered, but it is comforting to have an experienced, well published writer explain their own way of going about creating a novel from a simple idea. At this point, what i need to begin doing is brain storming and working out all the details of my main character, what her special abilities are, what rules define the world she lives in, work out all the details of the ancient race of Angel/faeries and alien/lizard creatures- their origins, their abilities, their intent...and much more. once I have all these facets of the story worked out I feel I will then be able to begin working on my first draft. I know that inevitably my first draft will end up in the trash- but its just the first step in a long process. I feel like this story could be used for not just one book but perhaps for an entire series. we shall see. I’m thinking I should try my hand at writing some short stories again- just to get back into the flow of things.

….In the meantime I am still working on getting a few more paintings finished before my September gallery show. This weekend I hope to make some good progress on my current painting in the works. Plus, Danny and I have a bunch of new clothes that we will be tie-dying and screen printing this weekend which means there should be all sorts of new stuff to be put for sale in our online shop.

We will also be at the Last Thursday Art walk on Alberta st – July 30^th. So if you happen to be in Portland Oregon, come find us. We will be at Alberta st and 20^th with a full booth of hand created goodies.

Much love and best wishes, always!

-Chelsea Rose