November's gone

December. Last month of the year. Wow, it went by fast.

All in all, it has been a good year (despite all the little tragedies, that at the end, are not really tragedies at all).

This year I took on learning how to play the violin, took a wheel throwing workshop, made a little hat for my friends' baby, sent my first essay to a literature conference, broke my computer, got a manual car, learned how to drive stick shift, got a new phone, learned how to use my phone, made some dresses, started a garden, got my wrist repaired, my house got broken into, cooked my first turkey meal for Thanksgiving, enjoyed running for the first time, stopped running when it got cold, got stung by a wasp... Yeah. It's been a good year.

I've changed my mind.

Today, I hate bugs.

My house may be tick-infested! I have been taking care of a friend's dog, and I've noticed that she's been dropping ticks all over the place. The ticks are replete with the poor Shinobi's blood and cannot hold onto her body anymore, thus, they are roaming around my house, on the carpet and possibly my furniture and bed!

I was reading about ticks online, and I began to freak out when I read about their life span (from months to years!!!), and their reproduction habits (female adults can lay hundreds to thousands of eggs at a time!!!) I hope things don't get any worse!

Let's get this boiling.

My first blog.

I just thought I needed a strategy to give some sort of shape to this mushy substance inside my head. My world has become a blend without a defined consistency, a porridge-like existence. Sounds sad, I know, but I actually like porridge.

However, I feel the need to identify the elements of this mush and try to sort them out. There will be a disparate assortment of the most random pieces of my mind. Anything from cooking and sewing to rock climbing and Ph.D. thoughts. Whatever comes along at the right time will be trapped in here, becoming a sample for a life experiment, an attempt to outline the pattern of my existence. Maybe this will help me find a way through the thick jungle of my thoughts.

Today's thought:

I like insects. I love the geometrical patterns on their legs, wings, shells. I also like plans a lot. I have been photographing some of the most curious bugs I see and collecting dry plants with the intention of using them in an art project. I started collecting plants a few weeks ago when I decided that I wanted to get a tattoo for my 31st birthday. I have been looking for something I like, such as a climbing plant, or a botanical illustration of orchids. Haven't found exactly what I'm looking for, but I'm still in the process even though my birthday was four days ago.

Here, a few pictures I took (all bugs and plants).

According to the dictionary.

mush¹

n

1. a soft pulpy mass or consistency

2. (Cookery) US a thick porridge made from corn meal

3. Informal cloying sentimentality

4. (Communication Arts / Broadcasting) Radio interference in reception, esp a hissing noise

vb

(tr) to reduce (a substance) to a soft pulpy mass

[from obsolete moose porridge; probably related to mash; compare Old English mōs food]

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mush² Canadian

interj

an order to dogs in a sled team to start up or go faster

vb

1. to travel by or drive a dog sled

2. (intr) to travel on foot, esp with snowshoes

n

a journey with a dogsled

[perhaps from French marchez or marchons, imperatives of marcher to advance]

musher n

---

mush³

n Brit

a slang word for face [1]

[from mush¹, alluding to the softness of the face]

---

mush⁴

n

Brit slang a familiar or contemptuous term of address

[probably from Gypsy moosh a man]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003