To Do

1: Stop feeling sorry for myself about being too poor to fly off to Italy right this minute. 5 months is not that long from now. I CAN TAKE IT. Gahh I just want to walk around Venice so bad...

2: Find someone to go to Italy with me in 5 months. If you, or anyone you know who is a decent person (i.e. not shrill-voiced, good personal hygiene, wants to go to museums and pretty places, carries no weaponry, preferably female) is interested in going to Italy sometime in May and staying...I don't know, for the summer? Indefinitely? Please get in touch with me. I'm not kidding.

3: Clean the apartment. At least it's not as beige when it's buried under laundry and dishes.

4: Play Super Mario World. Playing this game makes me feel better about life. All my problems become turtles that need crushing and angry-looking hampsters that can be obliterated by turning a midair somersault and stomping on them.

5: Do the dishes. Wahh.

On Hugh Grant's Walk

So I'm watching CNN. Hugh Grant is about to testify against some tabloid that hacked his phone (I think. I'm a bit foggy on the details) and they keep throwing in footage of him walking down the street with some other men. Now, I really like Hugh Grant movies. Even the fairly one-sided ones, like Two Week's Notice. And when you like Hugh Grant movies, you are going to see him walk someplace. And probably look sad. And kiss somebody. You know, all those token images from  romantic comedies that dear Hugh makes so... British.

So it was just funny to turn on CNN and there's Hugh Grant, walking like he's on his way to a wedding and happen to run into the woman of his dreams. Except this isn't the plot of Four Weddings and a Funeral - it's real life.

In Mean Girls, Janis, played by Lizzy Caplan, says that seeing teachers outside of school is like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs. Well, seeing Hugh Grant on a news report is like seeing Hugh Grant in a movie. (Take THAT comparison, Tina Fey.) Just heading to a trial to testify against some online tabloid, lookin like a sweet English puppy dog, as per yooge. (There isn't really a good way to spell out the first syllable of "usual." Fyi.)

And he actually walks like that! 

Disclaimer: I am aware that Hugh Grant does not just have one way of walking. His going-to-a-wedding walk is totally different from his I-just-lost-the-woman-of-my-dreams-and-little-do-I-know-that-I'm-going-to-get-her-back walk. Which is also clearly distinguishable from his I'm-on-top-of-the-world-and-there's-nothing-missing-from-my-life-because-I-haven't-met-the-woman-of-my-dreams-yet-even-though-I-will-in-five-minutes walk. AND the I-have-to-get-back-the-woman-of-my-dreams run.

Mushrooms

A whole bunch of mushrooms have shown up in the backyard...so here are some pictures of them.

 They're in a couple different places around the house, which I think is awesome. Obviously, they remind me of excellent pieces of children's literature like Thumbelina and Alice in Wonderland.

Also, I think that the funny shape of mushrooms somehow enables them to spread joy. I'm not just talking about hallucinogenic joy. I mean, anybody who grew up watching Fantasia sees mushrooms and thinks of happy childhood times, tiny dancing Asians, and the Nutcracker ballet. Or even if you didn't grow up with Fantasia and you just think they're cute. Like how acorns are cute because they're wearing little hats.

On another note, I am up to 13 pages on what will hopefully become my first book someday. Yesterday I just sat here at my desk for a few hours, drank a whole mug of tea (an impressive feat for me; I rarely finish hot drinks. Or soda.), and wrote. Something I am hoping to develop into a habit. Unlike fungus photography.

Please enjoy my funny mushrooms.

More Fairy Things

These are some of the websites I've been looking at that I'd like to share because they've inspired me to start drawing again...

Fairysteps: Handmade shoes inspired by fairies/fairy tales. If, like me, you can't afford them, they're still really fun to look at. And actually if you check out Etsy in general, it's all this amazing handmade merchandise - shoes, clothes, bags, postcards, jewelry, kitchen stuff. Really cool.

Fairytale Fashion: Fashion and art inspired by fairies/fairy tales.

Illustrations: I love this guy (or girl? Foreign name). Somebody sent me his/her illustrations a while ago, and I fell in love with his/her style. Really great fairy tale illustrations, and some fashion drawings as well.

I hope you enjoy exploring! Now that I'm out of the closet as an enormous fairy lover, I'm getting really excited about online searches for cool fairy things. And maybe even thinking about my own painting aesthetic differently.

Ta-ta!