Dear Diary,
I started writing this post almost 2 weeks ago, but didn’t like the introduction or the angle of leading into what I wanted to write about. I want good content in my blog, of course. But since I started this post on and off again with morale swings like an unbridled bouncy ball, I’ve decided that the current circumstances warrant me an entitled I-do-what-I-want attitude. I need to stop feeling like whatever I want to write about isn’t good enough to be shared.
So, I’m going to recap my time and thoughts spent in May and maybe you’ll glean something useful or entertaining from it all. I’m pretty sure you will, because I’m including an additional recap of La Tomatina – in AVI format – which is pretty awesome.
All things considered, May was an eventful and busy month.
In the first week, I celebrated my cousin’s birthday with some family and friends and fired firearms for the first time. The picture below completely embodies the uncertainty I felt about it.
I have wanted to learn how to handle a gun for a long time now. It’s mostly because I’m Texan, and a little bit because it behooves me to understand a thing I’m afraid of and how to use it properly. For the record, I’m still afraid of guns, but I feel more(?) comfortable(?) being near them.
The following week I met a friend at a brewery that opened for the first time since everything closed down in March. Don’t laugh at me, but this was an exciting moment where I felt a kind of sensory overload rediscovering the sounds, sights and smells of being in a public place with brews and a buddy.
The next day I went to Galveston with a friend and spent an entire afternoon on the beach getting sunburned alongside other cooped up individuals trying to make the most of the continuation of a shitty situation. The thing that surprised me most about this mini adventure is how comfortable I felt being so close to other people and their families. Normally, I prefer my distance from others for a getaway – growing up a city girl means quiet is hard to come by and the ultimate escape from a city is to be in solitude. This time, however, I quite enjoyed watching and listening to people run around me, unburdened by our reality.
It was shortly after the beach trip when I purchased a book about art therapy and, literally, that night had one of the best dreams I can remember in my entire life.
I was enrolled in college in a very high demand art class and Annalise Keating was the professor. Yikes, right? But actually, it was a pleasant environment and no one died. Elle Fanning was there, too, but as a student.
There are always a lot of things happening in my dreams, but I couldn’t remember what else that was – only the arts.
Sitting in a classroom, I watched my classmates work on things like landscape watercolors, layered picture installations that appeared 3D, and wood carvings. Elle was painting a kind of family portrait with a bright red checkered backdrop and lots of faded mint green in the foreground, hinted in skin and clothes. Later, there was a gallery opening featuring all of the work. One piece that remains vivid in my memory was a shadow box, about 16 by 16 inches, with an unpainted, intricately wood-carved sailboat sitting in front of a seascape painted canvas with a wood-carved braided ship rope strung across the front glass almost from corner to corner.
It was soooo gooood. All of the pieces were.
I don’t remember making one with my own hands, but every piece created was something I envisioned.
Pretty wild concept to think about.
I gently awoke the following morning to sunlight gilding the edges of my curtains, relishing still in the beauty of inspiration and creations I dreamed up. It was a beautiful feeling to wake up that morning.
Despite all the things I haven’t gotten around to creating yet, I do feel accomplished having made the video about my La Tomatina experience. It was something I thought about doing after I posted my first story-painting on YouTube. The motivation sprung upon me as dad’s garden tomatoes grew more robust and ruddier. I took pictures of his plants and painted an impressive replica, if I say so myself. I mixed video footage of the painting and the festival, kindly provided by my tomato blood sister, and narrated the story of my experience.
The finale of the month closed with a second birthday celebration; my sisters turned 27. I wanted to do whatever the girls wanted, so a group of us spent the weekend away at Medina Lake.
The trip definitely had its ups and downs.
My personal downs were being concerned with the cost of everything and, in general, dealing with feels that seem unrelatable to everyone I know. The group down was not getting to access the lake – which I think was the underlying factor in choosing that location.
Those aside, I can’t deny enjoying the natural beauty surrounding us, the delicious food and drink we shared, tossing a football while hosing each other (since we were adorned in swimsuits with no water to wade in) and creating these memories in the flesh.
And now that I’ve reached the end of this post, I’m torn about spending the rest of the day falling deeper down the rabbit hole of The Vampire Diaries I began some days ago or working on a watercolor project for Grandma. Hmm…seriously, tough call.