Tattoos, Doodles & Unfinished Projects

/ Ally Bean / 15 Comments

file6941266100445-1A most peculiar week, this one.  Blue moon and all.  Must have had something to do with it.

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A friend is thinking about getting a tat.  3 of her 4 children have at least one tattoo, and she feels like an old fogey without one.  She wants something meaningful with a bit of color, but not gaudy.  Nothing wordy.  Wordy ones, we agree, are too much like work.  Who wants to read themselves?

I’m of the tats need to be organic and flowing school of thought.  She’s of the tats need to include all family members, somehow, school of thought.  Will let you know what she decides on… if she ever does.

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Besides contemplating theoretical body art, this week I’ve watched Dr. Who.  Did you know that I was a Whovian?  Well, now you do.

I’m on the 10th Doctor with Donna Noble as his companion.  I’ve read that she comes to some lousy end, so I’m finding this season to be rather bittersweet.  She’s one of my favorite companions;  I do so love her attitude and spunk.  Noisy woman with a heart.  Doesn’t travel light, that one.

Oddly enough, watching Dr. Who this week has me doodling.  I don’t know why, but every time I sit down to watch an episode, I pick up pen/pencil + paper and commence doodling.  Lots of swirls and flowers– and boxy faces composed of rectangles, triangles, stars.

Perhaps I’m creating a tattoo for myself and don’t even know it?  Or maybe I’m more lost in thought than usual.  Regardless, I’m happy listening to/glancing at the Doctor and Donna.  And doodling.  Must. Draw. Doodles.

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Sometimes I’m amazed by how I decide to do something productive [like paint the bottom pedestal part of our kitchen table] and how the weather decides to be uncooperative [like hazy/rainy/stormy/humid all fricking week].

This is a project, if it is to be done properly, that requires lots of sunlight and low humidity and a very happy me.  Yet not one day this blue moon week have I been able to work on my project.  Do we not all believe that effort should be rewarded?  Am I not trying here?  

They tell us that the weather isn’t personal, but this week it has seemed personal.  That I’m being thwarted for no good reason whatsoever.  That all my plans have fallen to dust and I’ve been left alone to work around the mess that unfulfilled plans create.

But as we all know: you live, you learn.  Which, from what I can tell, means that some weeks you live with a huge unfinished project smack dab in the middle of your kitchen.  And you learn to not whine about it.

Existential Suburban Angst: Deciding What Color Armchairs To Buy For The TV Room

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

My mind is a swimming mess of colors now.  Pity that this isn’t because of a Reiki session;  then I’d be all mellow with the colors in my mind.

Grooving on the Infinite.

Instead, the reality is that we have finally gotten to the point of deciding on new armchairs for the TV room.  Thus I have fabric swatches from Pottery Barn positioned all over the TV room.

As one does in these situations.

I have some swatches pinned to the drapes.  I have some swatches sitting on the floor next to the rug.  I  have some swatches stuck to the back of a kitchen chair placed in the TV room so that I can see what the colors look like from afar.  In other words, I’m looking at color in all its fabulousity from every angle possible because I know how easy it is to pick the wrong shade.

Been there.  Done that.  Many, many times. 

To add to this dilemma, we already have all the walls painted and the sofa purchased [called ocean blue, but I’d call it more blue-gray] and an antique rug in place [basically maroon/ruby-red, navy/blue-gray, gold/tan with bits of peach and aqua].  All of which means that these chairs have to fit within a rather complex color scheme dictated by an old faded rug.

Charming? Yes.  Difficult for me to do? You betcha.

So that’s what is going on around here this afternoon.  And will probably be haunting my dreams this evening.  And plaguing my brain for the next few weeks because decisions like this one come slowly to me.  But when I finally figure out this conundrum, all major decorating decisions in this house will be a thing of the past.

And won’t that be an exciting day for all concerned?!

In Case You’ve Been Wondering Whether Or Not I’m A Sociopath

/ Ally Bean / 17 Comments

Going through my files I discovered the following.

Screen Shot 2013-07-11 at 1.39.53 PM

Here is The Sociopath Test that I took to determine that I am a functional member of society.

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It’s easy to make light of a test like the funny one mentioned above, but answering the questions gave me insight into what behaviors to look for when I think that I dealing with a sociopath.  They are those tedious people who only care about themselves and disregard anything you have to say.  Antisocial behavior? Yes.  No guilt about manipulating others?  Yes.  Rude, except when they want something?  You betcha.

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According to the Mayo Clinic where sociopathy is a type of antisocial personality disorder:

“Antisocial personality disorder is a type of chronic mental condition in which a person’s ways of thinking, perceiving situations and relating to others are dysfunctional — and destructive. People with antisocial personality disorder typically have no regard for right and wrong and often disregard the rights, wishes and feelings of others.”  [More here.]

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To my knowledge I don’t have any sociopaths running around in my life now.  Not to say that there haven’t been a few of them along the way– just that I gave them the boot and they are no longer invited into my happy world.

In my experience, once someone with a tendency toward this sort of anti-social, user personality knows that I will call them out on their crap, they disappear forever because the last thing they want is for someone to shine light on them.  Of course, I may have only dealt with slightly anti-social sociopaths, so my approach might not work with the really whacked, threatening ones.  Don’t know what I’d do then.

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So, my gentle readers, what do you know about sociopaths?  Are there any in your lives?  Are you, heaven forbid, one of them?  

And most importantly, what do you do when you find yourself sitting across the table from one?  Avoid interaction OR destroy on the spot?

The V-beam Laser: Looking Puffy, Feeling Angsty

/ Ally Bean / 27 Comments

HERE’S WHAT’S UP with me this week: I’m at home hiding inside my house.  This is because I had a V-beam laser treatment at the doctor’s office a few days ago and now my face, as it heals, is a puffy mess.

Yes, I look like a cross between a jack-o-lantern and a piglet.  Well, not orange or pink, but structurally that’s what I look like.  In bright red.  Like I spent the day at the beach without sunblock.

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SO WHY DID I have another V-beam treatment?  Good question.  Glad you asked.

I suffer from rosacea.  This means that my face gets all red and blotchy because of annoying spider veins, blood vessels and broken capillaries which show through my pale skin.  ‘Tis not pretty.

And it is embarrassing because I look like I’m embarrassed even though I know that I’m not.  This, in turn, makes me flush red because I’m embarrassed about how I look embarrassed when I’m not really embarrassed.  [With me here?]

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THE PROPENSITY FOR rosacea occurs within anyone with a northern European heritage.  It’s genetics, people.  And as such you have three options.

  1. Ignore it and pretend that looking like a drunk all the time is exactly the image you want to project;
  2. Avoid certain trigger foods and drinks while taking daily antibiotics to tame the redness;  OR
  3. Have periodic V-beam laser treatments at the doctor’s office to zap those annoying ugly red veins, vessels and capillaries out of existence.

# # #

BUT ROSACEA IS a condition for which there is no cure;  one can only manage the symptoms.  To wit, each round of laser treatments destroys some of the veins, vessels and capillaries, but there are always more just waiting to make their appearance on your face.

Which is why I’m once again at home avoiding the sun, dodging all mirrors and waiting for my face to not feel fat.  If experience holds true, the results will be worth it… but the wait is making me angsty.

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[Not my doctors, but some V-beam laser information if you’re interested.]

University of North Carolina

University of Virginia

YouTube video of doctor doing procedure like the one I had done.