out of sorts

I've been feeling out of sorts, as of late.
I've been wishing I could tear myself into thousands of tiny, insignificant pieces.
Or I wish I could shatter my heart like a china plate and make mosaics with the shards; even if I can't make something beautiful at least it would be different.

I just need something new to look at, that's all.

"I know what you mean about wishing that somebody wasn't there, though. It's usually, it's myself that I wish I could get away from. Seriously, think about this: I have never been anywhere that I haven't been. I've never had a kiss when I wasn't one of the kissers. Y'know, I've never gone to the movies, when I wasn't there in the audience. I've never been out bowling, if I wasn't there, y'know, making some stupid joke. I think that's why so many people hate themselves. Seriously, it's just they are sick to death of being around themselves."

~Jesse, Before Sunrise


My worn out, green-flecked emotions have been flaring up again. Mix in a pinch of apathy, a good dose of loneliness and a tumult of hormones and you have the mess known as me.

While some things have gotten better, some have just gotten worse. Though I'm no longer the unstable mess I was this winter, I've grown complacent. Change is something that needs to be worked at, even after it's already happened. I suspect we never truly finish changing, or growing rather. I need to pay more attention to myself, my emotional and spiritual well-being seems to slip under my radar too often. That needs to stop...


-'It All Got Worse' by Destry-
(my current favourite song)

Sorry, this post is rather moany. But what are blogs for, right? I almost disabled comments on this which is something I've considered doing many times but never actually done. I don't want anyone feel they have to or should respond to my pathetic complaints, but at the same time, I thrive on hearing from my blogging friends. Maybe I'm over-thinking this... (But I just may do a post without comments one of these old days, just you wait and see! :P)

{Picture taken from the text of the book "Home" by Marilynne Robinson.}

The Past

I've been thinking a lot about the past again. My family's past, specifically, as I've been making friends with my grandmother's "Heritage Scrapbook".

There is an entry in my journal that sums up the emotions I've been feeling lately, so I'm posting it, with a couple revisions and clarifications. (This entry was written last September when we were in KY for the first time in forever, to go to the Creation Museum and visit family also since a lot of my father's family comes from there.)

"We are in Kentucky. [...] We went to the annual [family] reunion. The highlight of this was seeing great-aunt D- (my grandfather's oldest sister). We set on her porch for a while, the porch of the house her (late) husband built! (Though, as she said, there have been improvements made.)
And as I sat there on the porch swing, I started thinking about old people & how many stories & memories they have & how they are our tie with the past. And once they die all their stories & memories die with them. One more tie with the past is severed.
It makes me wish I could just spend time with people like Aunt D- & my grandparents & ask them to tell me stories of their life.
Where are we without the past? I say I hate history [as a subject in school] - I don't. I hate textbook history. I don't just want to know about impersonal, large battles. I don't want to know about dreams of the nation. I want to know about the individual battles of every day. I want to know the personal dreams that the generations before me held. I don't want to lose our connection with them."


Does anyone else ever feel that way? It makes me wish I had a stronger inclination to be a biographer or something. Now I always make sure to pay close attention when my grandparents start telling a story. I don't think I remember often enough how blessed I am to still have all my grandparents alive.

As I mentioned, I've been looking a lot at my (maternal) grandmother's "Heritage Scrapbook" lately. My brothers and I spent the night at her and my grandfather's house yesterday because my parents and older sister were both gone. I adopted the scrapbook for the night so I could spend more time with it, hehe. I took some pictures of some of the photos and thought I'd share a few. (Sorry the quality isn't the greatest.)


This is my favourite picture in the album. It's my great-grandmother (or my mother's mother's mother :P) in the 1920's when she was dating my great-grandfather (the man next to her, obviously). The funny thing is, nobody remembers who the little girl on the right is. My grandmother asked my great-grandmother when she was still alive and she didn't remember either.
Still, I love this picture; it just screams 1920's and I love that era.

This is my great-grandfather's family. Yep, he had 11 siblings. I'm not sure when it's from... late 1910's or 1920's is my guess. He's in the back row, in the middle (he's the same fellow in the picture above).



And this is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather in the 1950's before they were married!

They were so cute. :)


Anyway, I hope everyone is having a lovely summer and has a great new week!

a missed connection of minds

He put down the stack of my photographs he'd been flipping through. "I didn't know you were such a good photographer."

I still wouldn't look at him. "That's because you don't know anything about me."

"I know that you are a lonely person."

I look up startled, wondering if my loneliness glistens from my eyes.

He taps the stack of pictures he just put down. "Most of your pictures are of nature. The only photos that contain people are self-portraits or crowd scenes where no one is distinguishable."

Heat sears through me, heat of the indignation that he, of all people, bared the truth so effortlessly.

"You should have been a detective," I snap.

Oh! What makes this way? I never wanted to be a porcupine-heart.

Just leave. I plead in my mind. It's not that I mind his presence so much, though my heart is beating uncomfortably fast, and my limbs feel twice as gangly. I'm just afraid any moment I will burst into tears. I don't want him to see me cry. (Though maybe my heated tears will melt this lump of ice in my throat.)
----------------------------------------------------------

She must hate me. She wants me to leave, I can tell.

Her discomfort is practically radiating from her, maybe that's why I feel so warm.

I shouldn't have stayed. I should have left the moment I saw she was the only person in the empty art room. My mother has always said that I don't know when to give up. That may be true sometimes, but I do know I should give up now.

She's right, I don't know her. But I've never wanted to know someone so much, and to be known. Then I could tell her the something that desperately wants to be said:

"Yes, I surround myself with people and parties. Yes, every moment of my life is stretched to the maximum with gaiety and noise made by myself and other people. And I'm not a photographer so there is no evidence to support this, but... I'm lonely too."
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I can hear him heading for the door.

(I turn the knob and look back at her taciturn figure.)

I can feel his eyes boring a hole through me. Go on - go on with your wonderful life, leave me and my pathetic self alone.

(Her face is obscured by her dark hair. Perhaps I should...? But I'm just a coward and I open the door.)

The shutting of the door sounds like a soft apology, a sigh of lost opportunity.

Goodbye.

Letters never sent. (Vol. II)

{~Vol. I can be read here, if you're so inclined!~}

Dear Filing Cabinets at the Clinic Where I Volunteer,
You scare me.
Especially the shelves containing SA-ZI.
I don't think you can handle many more files.
If you ever get angry, please do not spill them all on my head.

With apprehension,

Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear S-- (or the lady who works at the back desk of the aforementioned clinic),
You have the most soothing telephone voice I have ever heard.
Seriously; it's beautiful.

Your admirer,

Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Chocolate and Peanut Butter,
You are truly a match made in heaven and your deliciousness is dangerous to me.

Hungrily yours,

Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Library,
It's been over 2 months now...
I miss you.
I don't think you really need to be "renovated";
I love you just the way you are!
Don't worry, the other library will never replace you in my heart:
you will always be my Library.
See you next year...

With sadness,

Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Perfect Stranger,
I miss you,
or at least the intrigue you brought to my life.
I don't suppose I shall ever know your name now.
It hardly seems fair since you know all three of mine.
Ah, well.

Quixotically yours,

Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Muse (AKA "Marjorie"),
Well, I am happy that you have returned, and bearing such lovely gifts too.
It's weeks like these that make me regret how often I express my dislike of you.
I apologize for calling you a "fickle fribbler" the other day,
I meant it in the most affectionate way possible, I assure you.....

Your Dearest Frenemy,

Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darlingest Blog Readers,
HI!
This is just to say I am going on vacation this weekend, starting tonight.
Actually, my dad has no vacation time (new job!!!) so it's a staycation. Meaning, we will be at home for the most part or doing fun things nearby.
But my sister advocated no computer usage (which is a good idea, despite my reluctant participation), so I won't be on here commenting &c. till Tuesday maybe.
Try not to miss me, hehe!

All my love and a little extra,

Me

P.S. I'm not sure you all have any idea how much I love and appreciate each and every one of you! <3