Thoughts: Literature Blog

A couple of posts ago, I had written about how creativity appeared to slowly disappear from my mind. I reflected back on my childhood, when I had so many different talents emerging from my hands and thoughts. But, as I got older, that talent began to get lost in the thick of school papers, research projects, group presentations, orchestra competitions, study groups, boyfriends, making new friends, losing old ones, learning more about myself, college, bills, jobs, etc.

Since then, I’ve been trying to find a way to bring art and creativity back into my life. Obviously, the blog is helping. But I still feel as if I am missing something.

I’ve already looked into getting back into playing my violin. I miss that so much. I plan to take some lessons to refresh my skill. Hopefully, I’ll be back to playing random songs from video games and songs I like in no time.

Drawing is something that I do not think I can do again. I would love to paint, but sketching from scratch is something I just do not have the time and patience for. Painting sounds fun and relaxing and gives me a chance to express myself in a different way. I plan to just grab a blank canvas and some paint and just see what I get one day. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have some wall art for my new place.

The main skill/talent that I want to improve and enhance, as well as even attempt to publish one day in the future, is writing.

I love expressing myself on paper, computer, voice recording, whatever. Any medium I can use to make a statement, story, entry is enough for me.

I just have to learn to do one project at a time until it is completed.

I have ALL the time in the world… after work, that is. I do spend time with some friends and the boyfriend when I get the chance. But I do find periods throughout the day where I find myself bored to tears or just free from any duties. Why the hell haven’t I been writing?

I do carry around a journal that I bought at Barnes & Noble a month ago and I write creative entries and doodles in it to keep my mind active.

Leather bound journal from B&N.

I write down ideas and thoughts that cross my mind when I have the chance so that I can remember them for later (because I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older, my memory has begun to fade. This may seem normal to some people, but to me, being in my 20s should not be a sure sign of memory loss).

Example of my doodles

 

I’m obviously not clearing my mind through the week, not exercising enough or getting enough sleep. My mind is bogged down with so many other priorities that I forget to just sit and do things that make me happy.

Writing was my escape from the world. I would do it to disappear for just 2 hours and pretend I didn’t exist. I’ve lost that personal world of mine.

So, besides the journal that I have with me every time I’m out, I plan to make another blog on WordPress in the future for just my writing. Whether that is a short story, poem, research paper, intellectual rant, article, lyrics, etc. Any novels or scripts I plan to keep to myself for the possibility of getting it published one day (I can dream).

I’m not sure when I will be doing this, but I’m sure I’ll post a link to it otherwise. I just… have to start writing first.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that my next three investments will be: A DSLR camera, new Macbook Pro and a road bike. Believe me; these things are just as important to reviving my creativity as they are for pure convenience and enjoyment.

Art: Apartment Decor

From the looks of it, I’m going to have to start making a calendar on days to post to this blog. So many things can happen in a month. Then I finally notice that I haven’t updated in a month.

But enough talk. Let me get posting.

I’ll be moving to a new place in Columbus soon. Sometime at the end of this month, I hope to be fully moved in. It’s in a very nice part of the city called Bexley. I’m not horribly far from Capital University and I’m quite stoked about the location. Plenty to do and see and I will be about 10 minutes away from the city, as well as about 12 minutes from work. All in all: a great location for someone in their mid-20s.

My most recent concern with the place is decorating it. My current place has my own personal touch because the layout is fantastic. However, the new place is a bit older and has an interesting floor-plan.

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I love everything about it! It’s been remodeled and updated with new appliances, light fixtures, windows and bathroom. Has central heat and air as well. The only neighbor I have to worry about is the one below me, since it’s a 4 unit apartment building. It has washer dryer hook-up and a huge, shared basement, as well as extra storage space. Also has a 1 car garage with a door opener (for some reason that was a huge selling point for me. The winters can get odd here).

But what I’m trying to figure out is what I can do to make this place my own. Here is a link to what my current place looks like to show an idea of what I have: Current Apartment Pictures

So, obviously my color scheme is consisted of browns, beige, whites, black, greys and some sliver.

I don’t plan to get rid of the furniture anytime soon. I probably won’t do that until I move again. So, everything I have there will be coming with me.

My current place is nice, but the lighting isn’t that great and the rooms aren’t horribly connected. In other words, the rooms do not transition in color or shape. My only issue is trying to make it livelier, bright and give some life to each room.  However, I am currently on a budget, so I’m going to have to go for cheap decoration.

While searching around, I found a book and rented it from the library:

While it definitely had wonderful pictures of many different apartment styles, it suggested methods of remodeling a place completely. I sadly do not have that option. I have white walls and all the fixtures must remain the same. So no paint, no horrible holes in walls, no putting a shelf up randomly (as far as I know). The place is pretty much brand new. No one has lived in it since it’s been remodeled. So I will be the first tenant and they are highly strict on keeping it in great condition. I don’t blame them. The place looks great!

I plan to hang more artwork along the walls, as well as some neat wall fixtures that won’t cause a lot of noticeable damage, maybe a nice plant or two, and some corner tables. But I really want to make this place pop with life.

A couple of sites I found online have great ideas as well as shopping sources for making any place look more flourishing:

Apartment Therapy – This site is known for its detailed articles, pictures and styles of many different apartment settings and their owners/renters. Ranging from urban decor to Victorian style settings, it gives informative steps and guides to creating your perfect abode. They also have a searchable system to find items that are for sale by your region!

Blu Dot: Modern Furniture – Obviously a very modern chic establishment, Blu Dot is fairly new to the furniture world and is growing rapidly. Their furniture is sold in other warehouses and local stores around the country. However, it is a bit on the pricy side ($200 for a rug is pretty expensive).

World Market – This place is known for its wide selection of home furnishing, home decor and accessories. Prices are ranging from reasonably cheap to expensive. The good thing is that some of those high-priced items usually go on sale. You can find anything you need for just about every room and things to take to work with you. There are luckily several locations around Columbus, so I plan to stop by and take a hard look at each department.

I plan to actually sit down one day and plan out each room of the house to give it a nice personal touch without going overboard in the money part as well as the decorating portion. I’m sure everything will fall into place over time.

If anyone else has any creative and crafty ideas, feel free to comment below!

Ideas for a Blog & Thoughts

5 Topics that you could discuss:

-       Fiction – Writing/ Poetry

-       Culture & World Views (Anthropological Perspective) – Writing/ Essays

-       Music – Current obsessions and new discoveries

-       Fashion – Current observations and ideas

-       Oddities – Hobbies, current thoughts, randomness

Is there anyway you could merge these topics into a blog?

If yes, then form some way of organization.

If no, then pick only three you could discuss regularly.

So… these were the ideas I  had for making this blog in the first place. Let’s just be frank, not a lot of 23 year olds have very good ideas, but there are some that are very intelligent and can get things running no problem.

Me? Well, I consider myself  in-between. I’m pretty creative when I needed, but I am one lazy cretin.

These are the topics that most people blog about, so I figured why not just do them all in one blog, save the trouble of making one for each topic and wasting space on the Internet (joking, really…), and make it a daily goal for myself to post my own personal views and thoughts about these subjects? Everyone else does it, even if half the stuff is crap.

Eh, its worth a shot. Why not join the trend?

If I post any fiction, there will be fair warning (That’s what most writing sites are for, but why not torture people with my writing on my blog?)

Culture is part of my major and field (Anthropology if anyone was wondering), so I plan to post my views and thoughts on it.

Music is a part of my body. Really, my ears hate me for it. So there will be a lot of music views and reviews.

Fashion is a very small interest. I like to talk about it at random times, but not exclusively. I’ll see what I can do to make it interesting.

Oddities are what they are. Cooking, food I ate, my strange hobbies, books, all that wonderful mess.

Sounds like a mess, I’m sure. But, you’d be surprise how organized I can make it in time.