Moving Day.

A few months ago, not long after I started this blog, actually, I became a homeowner for the first time.  I did not think I would see my name on the deed to a house before I hit about 35, but apparently I was 8 years early to that party.

Of course, I am not the only name on the deed.  I own the house along with my sister and our parents.  Yes, I know.  I don't even want to hear it.  The Wonder Kid is finishing her last two years of medical school and I am finishing my last year and a half of business school so we can go out in the world and make meeeeellions.  Theoretically, anyway (though I'm not learning Mandarin just so I can pay a paltry wage, that's for sure).

Anyway, I didn't mention it because I'm not sure owning a home is very rockstar, unless it's one of those squillion-dollar ridiculous homes in California or something.  However, today is Moving Day, so the next time I post, it will be from the safety and security of my very own home that I actually own.  Which, come to think of it, IS pretty rockstar.

What I Did on My Vacation

So I was gone for nine days.  Nine days away from home, from my job, from my schoolwork.  Nine days of heaven, three states away.

And because I've been on the subject of fairy-tales lately, I wanted to discuss a motif that pops up from time to time in some fairy-tales, and more modern, realistic work that is inspired by them.  You see, one thing that comes up is the notion of "hiding one's heart" (sometimes one's soul, but usually the heart.  I suppose hearts, technically tangible, are easier to hide).  Sometimes the heart is hidden in a place you don't expect, like in a person's heel instead of his chest, or in a dusty trunk somewhere in a forgotten attic of a crumbling house.  Occasionally, it is broken into several pieces, and hidden all over...making the owner, of course, harder to kill.

Of course, it is usually the monsters, the villains that hide their hearts.  They are the ones that need to fear death, aren't they?  However, while I do not consider myself any kind of monster (except maybe Animal from The Muppets because he's pretty rad), I have split my heart in twain, as some dippy poet would say, and I have hidden half of it in my heaven that is three states away.  While it does hurt to be missing half my heart, the guardian to whom I entrusted it is very careful--in fact, he is more careful with my own heart than I am--and so I am invincible.

Nursery rhymes and fairy tales, part two

Well, here is another story, sort of in the same vein. More or less, anyway.

Nursery rhymes and fairy tales--

Two new pieces of short prose I've written lately.  Lately as in "today."  Considering how often I write prose, it's a bloody miracle.

He's already seen it, so I can post it here.

While I do enjoy being funny, it's very satisfying to write a love poem that is well-liked by the recipient.

I have no idea what form this is, or if it even is a form.  I started out trying to write a terzanelle, but the form didn't suit what I was trying to say, so I re-worked it a little bit.  I wanted to keep the imagery more than I wanted to stick to any particular form.  I think it worked.

One stray ember started the fire
Just a small thing, but it can't be cooled--
Now, I was well-versed in the ways of desire
So I told myself that I wouldn't be fooled.
And yet, I let myself become enkindled
Just a small thing, but it can't be cooled.
But I wouldn't be trapped, gathered, or spindled
I had always been told to be wary of fire
And yet I let myself become enkindled
Enmeshed, ensnared, enchanted, enmired.
I'm too far beyond the point of salvation
I had always been told to be wary of fire
But I crashed headlong into the conflagration
Now for you, I burn, but you are my light
I'm too far beyond the point of salvation
Now this consumes me, eternally bright
One stray ember started the fire
So now I'm well-versed in the ways of desire
And for you, I burn, but you are my light.

I need a second job.

There are too many pairs of cute shoes, and too little money here.

Phobias

I like to talk about things that scare me, because there's a lot of fodder for entertainment there.  A lot of the things that scare me are absolutely ridiculous.  A few weeks ago, I was talking to my mother and sister (The Wonder Kid), and we were talking about the fact that I spent several years sharing a room with The Wonder Kid due to her terror of the dark.  On the other hand, I was "absolutely fearless" as a young child, according to my mother.  Actually, that's true--I wasn't afraid of bugs, or of the dark.  It's not that I didn't think there were monsters under my bed, it's just that I was convinced I was magical and could defeat any challenger.  If Hogwarts were real, I would've been a prime candidate back then.  (I was also convinced when I grew up, we would have unicorns, and I could become a unicorn breeder.  I have never taken LSD in my life because I have never needed it.)

Anyway, as I have grown older I have developed a few startlingly virulent phobias, whether through bad experiences, culture, or OMG WTF IS THAT THING.  However, I am working on some of my fears (sort of, mostly in counter-productive ways).