happy halloween!

 



The Mad Hatter and Hipster Panda wish you all a very safe and happy Halloween! May your costumes be clever and your bags filled with candy corn.

just a friendly reminder

Just a friendly reminder that I will be continuing content on my sparkly new blog, Spangled Paraphernalia, starting November 1st...if you would like to keep up with my future ravings and rantings, please add the url to your reader/bookmarks/friends/post-it. Don't delete this one, though...any future business or art info will be posted here.

Thanks again to everyone who reads and supports, you guys rock!

outfit: texas rangers fan girl

My love for the Texas Rangers has been well-documented. If you are not interested in my fan girl blitherings, please read this post about pumpkins. Everyone loves pumpkins.

For the remaining two of you...HOW COOL IS IT THAT THE RANGERS MADE IT TO THE WORLD SERIES TWO YEARS IN A ROW!? They played their first couple of games while Corban and I were in Hawaii, which stressed me out to no end. But, now that we're back, we can seriously get our cheer on.






This is what I wore to cheer on our guys earlier this week. No, I did not have a spasm in the last photo. I was doing the antlers. :)

The jade bracelet is a souvenir I brought back from Hawaii...normally I'm not big on trinkets, but the Big Island boasted some truly talented craftsmen and artists. Some of the jewelry was simply stunning (and pricey!) I even got a charm to start that new charm bracelet I was talking about!

Can you guys believe that November is almost here!? Does anyone else talk about what they're going to dress as all year, but leave all practical Halloween costume planning to the last minute? It's kind of a tradition for me. A very stressful tradition. :)

book review: wuthering heights

Do you ever have those literature moments when you are so intent on what you are reading, so engrossed in a story that the words seem to physically rush up at you from the page, but still you can't seem to absorb them fast enough for total satisfaction?

Anyone? Bueller?

Well, I do. Not always, but from time to time I get so excited about a book that it's almost better than Christmas. It often happens when I read Victorian literature: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte...you know, the books that were basically Jersey Shore for 19th century England. Apparently I like smut from all centuries. I am an equal opportunity smut consumer. Most recently, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights got me so wrapped up that I finished it in just a few days (lightening speeds for this slow-poke of a reader.)



What else would Wuthering Heights be about but love? Love that seemingly spans distance, time, and even death. Or, so it seems. Even while the characters are declaring their passionate, enduring love, Bronte seems to be questioning the purity of such attachments. Heathcliff and Catherine (they loooooove each other) claim to have a connection rooted at their very souls, yet, they never seem to be able to understand each other's motives and are constantly causing each other heartache. Their notion of an unshakeable, inherent, cosmic love is truly beautiful until one realizes that it completely fails as a practical concept. Despite their passionate soliloquizing, the characters ultimately have nothing in common other than an irrational attachment to each other. They don't even really seem to like each other all that much. Through the confusion of Heathcliff and Catherine's misplaced passion, Bronte completely rejects the possibility that such an intrinsic love could exist, let alone ultimately redeem fatally flawed characters.

And, yet...

I love the ambiguity that Bronte brings to the story through Heathcliff's tortured love. He is himself a despicable character incapable of redemption except for the fact that his love for Catherine, misplaced though it may be, is so enduring and his longing for her so pitiable that it is impossible not to think of him as some sort of tortured monster. After all, was it Grendel's fault that he was born a carnivore? Or what about the Big Bad Wolf and his cup of sugar? It makes me wonder if the simple human ability to love could itself be a redeeming force.

Happily, Bronte never tells (what would be the fun in that?), so we are left to our own conclusions. Suffice it to say that the story is a complete tragedy that ends in marriage, which I suppose in a Shakespearian sense actually makes it a comedy. Worth a read if you like that sort of smutty thing. :)

three year anniversary!

Anniversaries and birthdays are a huge deal to me and Corban...this year, we went on a vacation with his family to Hawaii! It was the most spectacular vacation ever. We just got back yesterday and I am working like mad to catch up before my week begins.

We had our traditional little gift-giving ceremony a few days before our actual vacation so that we could enjoy it before we left. Corban surprised me with the camera bag from Jo Totes that I have been drooling over for weeks. :)



And, I got him a replacement for his aging laptop.





We've developed a lot of private traditions and ceremonies over the past seven years, and our gift-giving is definitely one of my favorites. I'm a huge sucker for grand displays of affection. ♥

I'm in the process of getting all my Hawaii photos together and will try to post some before the end of the week...as you can imagine, I took just a few more than was absolutely necessary. Everything was just so beautiful! Stay tuned. :)

new blog coming soon!

Hello, lovelies! As some of you may know, this blog started out as a way for me to show off paintings and communicate information for my little business, Shertown Studios. Well, the winds of change have blown and my focus has shifted from art to academics. As I have long since focused the content of this blog on my personal affairs rather than professional pursuits, I feel that it is time for me to move to another location.



So, I am proud to introduce to you my new blog, Spangled Paraphernalia! Pleasepleaseprettyplease add the new url to your reader or follow on Google Friend Connect. I will continue regular posts on this site until the end of October, after which, Shertown Studios will become a strictly business-oriented blog...which means that I have no idea what I'm doing with it for the time being, but I will certainly keep you informed! And don't worry, I'll give you a few reminders before the end of the month. ;)

Thank you so much in advance for putting up with my flightiness! My silly little blog has been a great project for me and I am so grateful for all the people who have supported me and read my musing and ratings. You guys are the best!

new furry friend

Hanging out on The Lion and Crown patio during a recent rainy weekend, we got to spend time with a sweet little furry friend.








This little guy just melted my ice-cold cat lady heart. Best afternoon ever. ♥

fall love: spooky diy mobile

I needed a study break the other day, so I decided to sit down and make a fun Halloween decoration.




Construction paper + tape + thread + stick = bat mobile! Super simple. I hung it by our front door so the bats swoop around whenever the door opens. Spoooooooky! :)

long-legged fly

...
That the topless towers be burnt
And men recall that face,
Move most gently if move you must
In this lonely place.
She thinks, part woman, three parts a child,
That nobody looks; her feet
Practise a tinker shuffle
Picked up on a street.
Like a long-legged fly upon the stream
Her mind moves upon silence.
...
- William Butler Yeats

a trip to the pumpkin patch

This year begins a new tradition for me and Corban: an annual trip to a pumpkin patch! This weekend, we went to the Arapaho United Methodist Church and picked out three beautiful pumpkins...two big ones, named Larry and Bartholomew, and a little one, named Baby. We're going to carve them later this month.

I absolutely love pumpkins, I couldn't help taking about a thousand photos (sorry I posted so many!) I've always thought they were so arresting...the colors, shapes, and textures are just astoundingly interesting and pleasant (plus, they are super tasty...just this morning I had pumpkins pancakes, and they were delish!)














Even though it's still 85 degrees outside, I really feel like it's autumn now that my house is filled with pumpkins. I can't wait to carve these bad boys! :)

three years of love

Exactly three years ago, I was doing this:






When I look back at that day, we seem so young. I can see why people thought we were crazy. But, I knew then and I know now that it was the best decision we ever made. ♥ ♥ ♥

outfit: rainy daze

Corban and I recently spent a wonderfully lazy Sunday afternoon visiting with friends and sipping mimosas on a patio while listening to the rain. Perfection. It was a wonderful excuse to use the cute cartoony umbrella that my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas last year. :)






The tinkle of my charm bracelet matched the sweet patter of the rain. I haven't worn this bracelet in ages, but I thought it was time to break it out of the jewelry box. My father started it for me my freshman year of high school and added charms as he found them. There are charms for so many different lovely memories: chorus, piano, swim team, handbell choir, Oklahoma!, best friends, ski trips, and on and on. Looking at it makes me so happy. Maybe soon I will start a new bracelet for my adult adventures. :)

Here's to rainy days and happy memories!