wishes...

Wishes...we all make them, we all hope they come true. When I was a kid I wished I could swim in a pool of chocolate pudding...never mind the logic of that particular wish, just the idea of floating around in that chocolaty goodness was enough to make me swoon.

Growing a bit older I wished I could hold out my hands and birds would land in them...I had a thing for birds back then. I would sit out on our hill and try to explain to them that I wouldn't hurt them, they could trust me. Honest.

My wished became more desperate the older I got
I wished I were smart or pretty...I wasn't picky, either would do. I had friends that were both and the world just seemed to turn a bit better for them.

Wishing became a full time activity as I matured (whatever that means). I wished for a better job, more time, less stress...and then I took charge and work for myself and have a better job with lots of time and no stress...(no money, no benefits and no communicating with other people, but hey, you can't have everything)

Now I wish for:
a full nights sleep
peace of mind
housecleaning fairies
a successful business
decent weather
good health
a zero calorie chocolate ice cream and/or chocolate chip cookies
bubble bath that works in hard water
a sale on big giant bras
and the ability to swim in a giant pool of chocolate pudding...cuz some wishes never leave you.

Hattie and Lottie

Under the picture of my cute little steampunk angel bracelet is a picture of my grandfathers Aunts...Hattie and Lottie. I really don't know much about them except that Lottie was a bit of an artist and illustrated a book about Lincoln. Keeping in mind this would have been pre 1900, it was a pretty big deal for a woman.

Apparently the women in my family were never the shy retiring type. My Grandmother and Great Aunt both went to high school and College...shocking! My mom, while not graduating, did make it to 11th grade, something unusual for rural kids to do.

I have records of my family on my Grandfathers side and have no indication that either Hattie or Lottie married...spinsters or just independent? I'm hoping they became raging suffragettes demanding the vote and going on hunger strikes. I am hoping they gave a start to the woman's movement and made it possible for me to be allowed to vote...I like that thought.

I have never felt comfortable in the traditional roll of housewife. I bristle at the thought of being referred to as:
the little woman (aint nuttin little about me)
the other half(of what?)
his better half (no matter how true that one is!!!)
spouse(and always the 2nd signature on any document)

And while I did change my name when I married (for personal reasons)I would have much rather us both choosing a new last name...Mr. and Mrs. Insertnamehere. Cool!

So maybe Hattie and Lottie are proud of being a small part of the cyber world, for having their picture on the Internet for all the world to see (even my small little part of it) If they were alive today, maybe they would be publishing their own blog, running a collective of other like minded women with a storefront in some college town, or maybe just making jewelry and selling it on the Internet. Maybe a part of them are.

Icons

I am thinking about icons today...not sure why, perhaps a discussion over my avatar on my Etsy site. That got me thinking about the nature of icons, what they are and what they are not. Is my avatar of Bruce an icon? do I invest it with magical powers (if it brings me sales, yeah you betcha!) light candles, wear it for good luck? What exactly am trying to say?

I love the style of the art in the icon in my necklace. It is artistically all wrong, proportions out of wack, but I like it. Would I pray to it?...nah...

Does Sophie look a the dog on the Alpo biscuit box and think...'oh, I need to bow down before the doggie of all treats'

Does the icon on our car bring it somehow in tune with Saturn? (it might, cuz no one on this planet can figure out what that sound is...)

How about the Apple logo on the laptops...is that some physic up link to the computer gods (note, small G) and if you don't have one are you forever on hold to some guy in Bombay?

And lord knows my exchange students all pay homage to the Nike swish.

I need to make my own icons, ones that suit my life...maybe a stylized giant bra or a picture of a take out coffee cup. Would it make me feel better, give me something to hang on to...bring peace into my life. (if my life were anymore peaceful I would be in a coma). Maybe we all just need hope...just a bit more hope.

So my icon will be HOPE.

Down and out

The Queen is sick...not sure what is going on but crashed with 103 degree temp and a sore throat. Hanging at home in bed. But, interestingly enough, both doggies are being exceptionally good and the phone only rang once.

The picture is of a latest design, I think it is a simple clean piece with a nice pink heart...looking very closely you will see a tiny screw in the rose quartz. I wanted to name it something like 'screw my heart' something on that level...but felt it was not in the best of taste (and occasionally taste has to enter into it). So if anyone out there has a broken heart, here is the perfect necklace for you!

So, back to being sick...David came home to handle dinner...the boy has never even fried an egg, so wandering around in the kitchen for a while he came up and announced he was going to the local 'greasy spoon'. I was in a fetal position and under the covers so I just waved him away. He came home with:

3 orders of pancakes
3 orders of strawberry shortcake
3 cups of ice cream
2 chef salads
1 cup of mac and cheese
1 tuna melt
and whatever the FEZ ordered

whats for dinner???...everything
gonna need to screw my heart back together after eating that lot. Thanks David, you heart was in the right place.

feel like a cartoon

You ever have a day that you feel like a cartoon...that nothing is real and you are just waiting for your ACME shipment to arrive. Today I feel that way. Maybe its because I am dealing with such odd things in my shop...leading me to odd people for sure, or maybe its just real life and I am only a marginal participant.

Like why is there a rose bush wearing a Hawaiian shirt at my local post office. There was a lady there ripping the shrubs up by hand (which caught my eye) but then I noticed the orange and red shirt on the bush...not laying on the bush, the bush was wearing the shirt. The lady had stylized the branches into a head and arms...is this our tax dollars at work or is this some weird art project for the boonies??? donno, but she asked me to take a picture for her...not of the shirt or the bush, but of her yanking the shrubbery out...(perhaps as an offering to the Knights who say NI!) at some point you just go with the flow.

Then, calling a small engine repair place to ask about fixing my leaf blower...
Me: is there a bench charge for bringing it in???
Person with no clue: donno, whats wrong with it...
Me: uh, its broken...
silence
Me: wont start...
PWNC: well, you're gonna have to bring it in...
Me: but is there a bench charge, I called Sears and they have a $50...
PWNC: you say its broke?
Me: uh, yeah, it wont start
PWNC: but does it start?
(hello...)
Me: no, we tried to change the sparkplu...
PWNC: you're gonna have to bring it in...
Me: is there a bench charge, a charge to look...
PWNC...didja clean it??? maybe it just needs to be cleaned...

or the lady at Aco who gave me a paper and pencil to write down the prices of the items I was buying so she didn't have to call for a price check.

Or the guy at the Antique mall who asked me about 10 times if I needed help all the while keeping his back to me...so I am basically talking to the back of his head. Took me a few times to figure out who he was talking to, but as I was the only one there I assumed it had to be me.

and my favorite gas station comedian...complete with the giant rubber cockroach on the counter...funnnnnnnny!

yup, its just that kind of day.

Challenges

So apparently Sophie decided to try her paw at blogging...(my new curse to people will be 'may you be cursed with a clever dog')and she had some valid points. Not too sure I like the idea of my shoes smelling like doggy chew toys, but whatever. In my defense, she is really quite spoiled and very well taken care of in spite of the 'interior decorating' she chooses to do. The picture tells it all.

Most of the animals I have owned haven't quite been so smart...and some were downright dumb. So to have one that only has to be told to sit once, will go to her cage when I tell her and will hide as soon as she finishes my last plant is going to be a challenge.

Apparently I like challenges, that's why I started Queen G...not the recession or my inability to find a job...nope, I like challenges and I'm sticking with that. I would like a challenge with benefits and a 401k, but what the heck...a SEP is just a good. Couple that with a Roth IRA and a buck and I can get a coffee.

But, the Queen is turning a corner and has paid off all her start up fees including the new camera so maybe profit will be in the future...as long as I don't count labor, or utilities or other overhead...urg...maybe...

Sophie, feel free to blog whenever it gets into your little dogie brain, leave my cushions alone, stop eating my plants and you can be the VP of Queen G. The rest of you can apply for these positions:

personal assistant and coffee getter, grade2, grade one is sleeping after working midnights
supply line coordinator...aka crap getter: position can telecommute
professional model, need neck and arms, preferably clean
mail services: position involves going to the post office and chatting with the lonely women who sit there all day hoping for something to do.

please feel free to apply, applications will be held for up to 6 months...yada yada yada.

Sophie here...

wile that big lady with the thumbs is away, i am going to straighten a few things out...this may take some time as i don't have thumbs and this...wat does she call it...piece of shit, mother scratching, jacked up, fisher price, heap of scrap computer...is running something called a virus chek...tho why she would want a virus is beyond me.

first, i am just a puppie, so i can not help it if she makes up rules that i don't understand...who knew the things she puts on her paws were not chew toys, they smelled like chew toys, they were made from the same thing...sheesh...y'd think they were important or somptin.

i am only tiny and can not hold it all day...she goes in the house, all the other dogs go in the house..so why cant i go...me an annie are being discriminated against cuz we got fur or somptin...

if you dont want me to play with stuff, don put it on the floor...i love them big fluffy things the big dogs hav in their beds...them feathers are the best...i need one of them in my bed, but all i got is my binkie...and speakin of my binkie, why does she always wash it when i just get it good and comfie...then i got to start all over...

and if she don want me to eat the green things in the windo, she should leave them outside...

the fud is good, i like the crunchy stuff but once in a while somptin different would be nice, like wat they eat...it smells good but i cant see it from the floor...how bout some of that once in a while.

i like being here in the woods, the goose poop is great and i love running into the trees so no one can find me...so much fun watchin them get all excited over me. one time i was hiding and they were all yellin and using some light and all over to the next dogs house..fun fun fun...now i got a chain thing and alpha dog keeps talking about getting me fixed...i agree, we need to fix this right away, i cant run anywhere with this chain.

so anyway please come and visit some time...i am here all day in my box...being bored and wishing i had thumbs, then we would see who gets fixed