Isn’t that special?

When I was younger, I wanted to go to Jerusalem. I thought it would be cool to kick up some of the dirt mentioned in the Bible, until I realized that the Bible dirt is buried under several million layers of subsequent dirt, built up over the centuries. I would essentially be trodding on new dirt, and who wants to spend a couple thousand dollars to walk on new dirt? I can get that at home. So instead of wanting to go to Jerusalem now, I stare at the coffee mug my friend Dave brought back for me from his trip there several years ago. It has a surreal, rather cartoonish cityscape handpainted on it in stark bold black outlines and bright dots of color, which I’m fairly confident looks nothing like the real thing. I love it. And no armed guards!

I was thinking, this morning, as I fetched my favorite green speckled mug from the dishwasher - the one I bought for $.60 on the clearance shelf at Family Dollar - that some of my favorite things have been thrift or bargain store finds. I’m VERY picky when it comes to house decor, but I’m not picky about where I get it. I have a Stanislav Bender print of a livingroom (hanging in my livingroom), that every single person who walks in the house begs to buy away from me. It will never happen. I got it for nine bucks at an estate sale. I bought a beautiful reproduction of a Hans Skalagard schooner on a stormy sea at Ebenezer’s, my favorite thrift shop, for $3. A new frame brought it up to $10. One of my favorite prints is a 1972 Narnia map, which my dad gave me in the actual year 1972, whose benign and loving face of Aslan, featured near the top, watches over me as I type. 

I have some beautiful original pieces, too. Soon I’ll be getting a lovely painting of birch trees from Mad William, which I’ll show you when it arrives. I miss waxing creative myself. I figure I’ll get to make stuff again sometime around 2010, when I’m finished with school. OR, if I don’t take any classes next summer, which might be the better plan. I’m a little taxed right now and don’t have the time to immerse myself in a project. Heck, I can’t even summon the energy to keep the DVDs alphabetized, which everyone knows is vital to my mental health. What if I need a Gabriel Byrne fix, and Stigmata has been stuck willy nilly in the “P”s?? It doesn’t bear thinking about.

I’m reading Stephen King’s Danse Macabre, an excellent treatise on the impact of horror literature — both read and watched — on society. Because I’m in a mood for Uncle Stevie generated horror, we went to see 1408, a movie based on one of his short stories. It was good, even though it departed from the written word unnecessarily. (Shock. Gasp.) Another book I picked up at the library was a graphic novel called Escape from “Special”, by Miss Lasko-Gross, about her experiences as a young, brilliant outsider who couldn’t read until high school. I’m not a big graphic novel reader, but I liked this one. Tonight I saw Miss Potter, the movie about Beatrix Potter starring Renee Zellwegger, of luscious lips fame, and really liked it. It’s been a decent weekend, entertainment-wise. I hope you guys had a good one, too. Maybe some of you even made it to Jerusalem. Did you get me a mug? kiss!