55. Jenny Idea Lady

So, I'm branching out a little bit and trying to post a bit more often.
I keep planning to write more, but somehow I get overwhelmed with what I want to write and sitting down and writing it so that I can post.
Well, I went and met some new people last month, people in my area from a larger group that author/speaker Jon Acuff started. We talked about our dreams and our goals, and though blogging wasn't my goal for the month, it came up in the conversation. I admitted I hardly ever blog.
They told me I should be blogging every day, even just a little bit.
They're right.

49. Heart Art

A lot of people don't know that I draw. It's not their fault, I don't brag about it, I'm not that good. I don't really talk about it because I'm rarely actually working on something. Although, because one friend bugged me enough, I posted a whole album of art on facebook and occasionally I update it when I draw something new.
But since I rarely draw, there is hardly ever something new to post.
A couple weeks ago though, I stumbled across an idea and kind of kicked myself into drawing again, and though I have had so many other projects at the moment that I haven't been able to finish the whole picture, I  know what I want to draw.
It seems to me that I rotate my hobbies, that is, I'll do something for a while then get bored with it and get distracted with another one for a while. Well, I want to keep the drawing hobby around for a little longer, I could use more practice. But, to practice I need something to draw... and the main reason I don't draw is because I don't know what to draw.

A lovely lady and wonderful artist I know, Beth, posted on facebook that a blog she follows, Oak Moon Studio, had decided to do a weekly word sketch link party thing.
Cool, I can join in and someone else will suggest words/ideas... but I still have to sit down and draw.
So, it's been going on for a couple weeks and I still haven't joined in, but this week the word is heart, and because I actually drew some things that included hearts, I figured that I should post at least one of them...
Now, the reason I was drawing things with hearts this week has to do with a secret project my Mom gave me, so I can't post most of them just in case any ladies from church are reading my blog, at least, not yet. This picture may or may not have anything to do with the finished idea though and it's only a part of an idea, so it's safe to post.

I really should take pictures during the day with better lighting.... especially since I draw so lightly.

I did sketch one picture while thinking about what to draw with hearts. I think my mind was remembering last week's word too- circus.

When I was in college I took Basic Design (in black and white and in color, with the same teacher) and my teacher wouldn't let us use hearts. She said they were overdone. And, I generally would agree with her... though I did sneak in one or two (see left) when I was really out of ideas, I just didn't use them for any final drafts. She probably wouldn't like it if she found out that my dishes have hearts on them. (I didn't pick them out... but I like them anyway.)

And just for fun, because I sorted through some old drawings, here's a few others that include hearts. I don't recall what was up with the girl's on the left. I designed the dress on the right, along with a lot more back in junior high/ high school. If you look close you can see this was labeled #262.

If you really love hearts, be sure to check out Beth's art work, where she hides them beautifully in almost everything, and her other blog and her sister's blog, where you can see hearts that most eyes miss.

And be sure to check out Oak Moon Studios.

38. My "Interesting" Hobbies

  Our church is in the process of updating their picture directory. No big deal. However, along with the picture and address they ask what your hobbies are. Which led to me posting this on Facebook:

  "Tried to figure out my hobbies for the new church picture directory. Went with the simple boring ones, because the "interesting" ones would make me sound more interesting, or at least weirder, than I actually am."

  Of course people then asked what those "interesting" hobbies are, which I knew someone probably would. I figured I'd give a simple answer, but then the more I thought about it, the more I felt the need to explain everything. It's silly. But, also too long for a Facebook post.

  Now, nobody on Facebook seemed to care what I actually put (my "boring" hobbies). It's the same thing I put in the last picture directory.

  Not actually boring to do (most of the time, in my opinion anyway), but a bit boring sounding. They could be elaborated on to make them appear more interesting. (Well, there wasn't a whole lot of room on the form, but assuming we have a whole page to ourselves as in the past, I could have added more on the back.)
Examples I could have put: For writing- Nanowrimo. Or that I prefer to write and read fiction. Or that I usually draw on paper with a pencil, paint with acrylics, draw on myself and write on paper with a pen.

  So, to my hobbies- some of these my blog knows about, some my friends, some maybe just my mom.

     *I have three different handwriting styles, though I generally write in my normal sloppy one.

My handwriting. Not so oddly, when I'm not being sloppy, the print does sometimes resemble my mom's.

I consider this Jil's handwriting, just because I have to label it something. It tends to be rounder and neater.

One of my old coworker's called this my serial killer handwriting.

      I also have a specific calligraphy font I combined together. (Which I used when addressing my sister's wedding invitations.)

Don't have a calligraphy pen with me, it'd look cooler that way.

     *I watch Kdramas. I started mid-May last year and have watched around 30 so far. (For those who worry, Korean TV shows are usually about 16-20 episodes and don't come back the next year. Plus, I'm not quite as addicted as I used to be.) There's quite a few on Hulu, but I usually watch them on DramaFever.
  I like watching TV or movies with subtitles on, even if the show is in English. I hate to miss anything.

     *Ealon. I have my own code language. It's been in process since around 5th grade. I added a second layer of rules in college to make it a bit harder. I write notes in it all the time, most of the time in cursive, but I have a ... font... for it too.

Ealon
The name of the code doesn't actually mean anything in the code , but to explain it would give a hint to uncoding things.

     *As the friend taking the photos for the directory put it when we were talking about what to write down- "How about "body art?" I'm sure that would make people wonder. No, I'm not into tattoos and piercings.
  I usually call it a bad habit, but I draw on myself when my hands get bored. Most often designs like the flower/snowflake at the top of the blog. [Edit: removed, maybe I'll add it here later] Other times flowers like in this picture.

  Either that or I scribble on paper. It feels very satisfying until the end when I realize there is still no picture. :(

  That's it for the big strange ones, but here's a few that are more random, less common, more habit than hobby:

     *Is hugging a hobby?

     *Rearranging my room? (For example.)

     *I redecorate people's houses in my mind.

     *Not so often anymore, but especially back in high school I'd make up clothing designs from things I found in the room. (I'm housesitting, but maybe I'll add a pic when I get back home.)

     *I make up pie recipes. Sadly, I kind of just throw ingredients together, so I can't ever make them exactly the same again. (And I much prefer baking over cooking.)

Raspberry Lemonade Frozen Pie for Easter

     *I used to walk in circles around the college quad when I got bored. Most of my exercise is still walking. I miss having a good place to walk in circles.

     *My fingers have a left over habit of finger-spelling everything from when I took ASL. I'll find myself finger-spelling to songs in church, conversations I'm listening to, and even sometimes with the subtitles on kdramas. I'm most likely to sign along to songs while I'm driving, but I don't know enough words. (If I was any good at conversations I'd probably learn more ASL. Actually, I'd probably learn more languages. They're interesting. But what's the use in learning them if I'm not going to use them anyway?")

     *Now that I finally have a camera again, photography is fun.

A picture!
Of a squirrel, at the park, if you couldn't figure that out.

     *Occasionally, I'll crochet, knit, or sew something.

     *I wrote lots of song lyrics while vacuuming in college. I'd just sing to myself and if I caught a line I liked, I'd sing it over and over 'til I could write it down. It's kind of weird to have songs you made up yourself stuck in your head.

     *I like cataloging my books. I usually keep my books in alphabetical order (sometimes divided by type, depending on how my bookshelves are arranged that the moment.) I tried to keep a card file of all the books I had while growing up; it didn't work as well as I wanted. Now days I use LibraryThing. You can see what books I own (and some I've read) here.

I think part of what makes one feel boring, in spite of such "interesting" hobbies, is not sharing them with anyone.

  I mean, nobody really wants to hear about my favorite Kdramas and I'm not opinionated enough to say which books I like best and why. And, as you may have noticed, all of my hobbies can be done by myself.
  If only I could get paid for writing notes only I can read or for scribbling...

  Anyhow, for those who haven't noticed yet, I have a blog just to prove how uninteresting I really am by trying to point out the "interesting" parts of me. Maybe I'm afraid people will expect me to be interesting all of the time if I show I might actually be interesting some of the time.

  I'm thankful people don't usually think I'm as boring as I feel I am

What are your hobbies and which ones do you normally not tell people about because they are hard to explain or you worry people will think you're strange? 

36. Somewhere to Start and Something to Do

  Most anyone that knows me could tell you I never do anything exciting (if I did, wouldn't I blog more?) Even my last fortune cookie realized this. It told me to "Do something unusual tomorrow". I mostly failed.

  And as content as I generally am with being boring, on occasion, I would like to do something more than just watch TV or read a book.
  However, I can never think of things to do.
  (Cleaning is not fun, so let's pretend you didn't want to suggest it).
  So then, I go back to doing useless things that make me wonder what use I am.

  My goal, therefore: To figure out something to do without making a decision and/or without attempting to come up with something to make a decision on.

  I came across this project somewhere, the goal of it being to help kids have fun picking out chores. Anyway, it sounded cool, I need to do more cleaning and who doesn't like to have more fun?
  (We'll ignore the fact I'm not a kid, nor do I have any.)
  And for those of you who might care, I've also seen date night ones. (Unfortunately they don't apply to me either.)

  After I cut out all the pieces and painted a bunch of sticks, I realized that I don't have the majority of the rooms she had, nor do I need to clean the same things she listed.

  But.
  It worked out okay because I also realized that more than cleaning, I needed a way to decide on "fun" things to do.
  (After all, if I would just do FlyLady's weekly home blessing and daily tasks, everything would get cleaned fine. Plus, dailyfeats is helpful in motivation.)
  I had thought about trying to make papers to match hers, but because I ended up not using her papers, I wrote on the sticks.

  As I was saying at the beginning of this post, if I'm not sure what to do, I usually don't do anything at all. If I have lots of things I need to get done, I procrastinate because I don't know where to start. If I have nothing to get done, I do nothing because I don't know what to start with.
  So, my project became instead, somewhere to start and something to do.

  I divided my sticks into four catagories, sorted like so:
(Folk Art Acrylic Paint)

Metallic Antique Copper- monthly/yearly chores (wash car, make appointments, vacuum upholstery)

Antique Gold- weekly chores (clip coupons, clean out fridge, clean out car)

Metallic Ice Blue- "fun" things that need planning ahead or are too noisy to do in the middle of the night. (text a friend, sew, go to the park, work on photo album (because it's at my parents house), play piano (I don't have a piano, but I'm regularly at places that have one.))

Champagne- "fun" things I can do any time (finish a craft, paint nails, write children's book, memorize verses, take a nap/relax (I hate naps, so we'll see how obedient I would be if I draw that))

Any other ideas to write on the sticks (especially in the fun categories!) are welcome.

  Lastly on the putting together of this project, I had to find a container. I used the white mug while working on the project, but it didn't seem it would be large enough, and I wanted something prettier. I looked at a couple vases and such at the store, but nothing caught my eye.
  Then, at some point, I remembered this pot just sitting in the cupboard under my sink. Mom let me have it a couple years ago. It isn't great for plants because it doesn't have any drainage holes, but I really like the .... (pattern, dye job, glazes? I can't pinpoint the word I want, I reserve the right to edit this later without notice). I think someone I know made it, but I can't remember who. It goes well with the placemat it is currently sitting next to (or on, in this picture).

  So, the whole truth, I've been working on this blog post for about a month. (Told you I was slow.) The day I worked on this project last, these are also some of the things I worked on (I didn't pull them out randomly, I picked the sticks I'd done that day or planned to work on already.):

  I didn't really finish the craft, since there are always more ideas I can put on the sticks, in which case more sticks need to be painted, but I finished writing all the ideas I had so far, I put them in the nice container, and I started the blog post. That's close enough for me. 

  Nor did I actually empty my email inbox, but from 1000 down to 300 on multiple email addresses is also close enough.

  As for cookies....

All mine!

(Sorry... they're long gone now.)