I’m introducing a new post category/series of mine called “Why I Love It.”  The concept is this: I have a ton of random things that remind me of certain people, places, or memories, and I don’t often take time to really stop and think why I value the objects or keep them around.  So I’ll take one of these said objects, post it here, and write a little bit about it.  Simple?  Yes.  First up:

This ceramics piece (I quite frankly don’t know what to call it) was made for me by my fiance (then girlfriend) Sarah.  When we were seniors in college, she took a ceramics class.  I would often tag along with her to the studio in the evenings, partially to act as her bodyguard (ha!) and to take advantage of the materials that I could use as well.  (The instructor gave permission for this, don’t worry.)  I think this particular ceramics piece came about because she was showing me how to use slabs of clay to create various things (tiles, plates, etc.).  She then carved my name out of the extra clay while I was taking forever working on something else.  After firing the piece, she glazed it in one of my most favorite colors.

I still keep this on my bookshelf, and I nearly laugh out loud every time I see it.  To me, it captures the whimsical side of our relationship and the spontaneous joy that I love so much about her.  And that’s why I love it.

P.S.  She made some really beautiful pieces while she was taking Ceramics.  I didn’t do her skills justice with just this post!  With her permission, maybe I’ll post a couple of the super-nice things she gave me that she made.

I almost called this post “My Weed Garden,” but then I quickly realized that the title could have terrible and misleading implications.  As a Kentuckian, I already have to deal with enough idiotic stereotypes.  I don’t want to have to start dealing with the notion that I would be home-growing illegal substances, please.

But I digress.  Even though you know I love the color green, I do not declare that I have a green thumb.  I don’t really have enough experience in gardening to know, but I don’t really have a deep-rooted interest in it, anyway.  (Sadly, that pun was most certainly intended.)  But as I was helping my mom weed her flowerbed in anticipation of planting new flowers, I found some little weeds that I thought were really pretty.  So I decided to try to save the lives of a couple of poor botanical pests:

One of them looks a whole lot like flat leaf parsley to me.  (It’s not, though.  I tasted it.)  The other reminds me of some sort of clover.  I’ll probably end up accidentally killing them anyway, but I wanted to offer them a second chance at life.  I am often a fountain of stupid ideas, and I’m afraid that this is one of them.  I’m going to put the planter inside by the kitchen french doors and see what happens.  I’ll keep you updated.

I think I’m going to give this blog another try.  And this first post of a new generation of chortles is inspired by the recent death of my grandmother.  I don’t think I’m ready just yet to process into words what I’ve been feeling, so I won’t even try.  I do hope that soon, I will be able to write a memoir of sorts that will document my fond memories of the sweetest lady to ever have walked the face of this earth.  Anyone who has had the pleasure of knowing my Grandma knows that she was truly a special woman.

In the past few years, she suffered from a progressive form of dementia.  In fact, nearly all of my memories of her are from after she started losing her short term memory.  As I take this time of grieving to remember her, I find that the concept of a memory is so bewildering.  And I am confounded by the irony of me recalling memories, which became increasingly difficult and impossible for her.

While in Wisconsin to attend her services and visit with my family, I was able to bring back these beauties:

Yes, as a male, I will not be adorning these vintage treasures on my clothing.  But I will save (display?) them to remind me of the grandmother who helped to shape me into the person that I am today.  As she has moved on from this world, she has been released from the prison of her confused mind.  She is truly free.  And the (above pictured) pins serve as tokens of her memories.  She may have not been able to store memories over the past few years, but they continue to live.

Oh, and a quick, related side story, which I find to be simultaneously heartbreaking and precious.  Toward the end of her living days, she was found with the pearl pin around her finger…she thought it was a ring!  The image of her slipping that around her finger makes me so sad, yet I find it adorable.  I will choose to categorize that as a cute/funny anecdote.  That’s how she would want me to think of it, I know.

Sure, probably none of the pins are made of overly valuable materials, but I can’t even describe how much they mean to me.  I plan on keeping a couple of them and sharing the others with special people in my life who deserve a token of my grandmother.  (And who might use them for their intended purpose: to be worn!)

In a recent craft attempt, I decided to try crocheting embroidery floss around memory wire to make a bracelet. The result didn’t turn out too badly, even though it looks something equivalent to a hair scrunchie. Not necessarily the look I was going for, but I now have some guidance for what to do next time. I’m also wanting to try crocheting wire to make beaded jewelery. I’m just a little scared, though, because crocheting with wire looks a little tricky.

Let’s hope my next jewelry making attempts look a little less juvenile. (Not that that’s always a bad thing.)

Yesterday, I went to the eye doctor, and I decided to try contact lenses again. I had tried them a couple years ago, but one of my eyes didn’t take too well to the type of lens. Apparently, they don’t make that kind anymore, and the new astigmatism contacts work a lot better for most people. So I’m trying them out. So far, they’re working pretty well.

I realized there would be a dilemma when I return to school on Sunday: my roommate has the same contact lens case. They had given me the standard white and aqua/seafoam/teal capped lens case. It’s the same kind that he has, and I’d hate for us to get our contacts mixed up in the bathroom. I went to Wal*Mart to see if they had any different cases, but they were all expensive and/or ugly. So, I decided to change up the one they gave me. This is the result:

I much prefer the green to the original seafoam aqua. And now, I won’t get my contacts mixed up with my roommates’. In case you’d like to pull this stunt off as well, all I did was mix equal parts decoupage medium and acrylic paint. That way, it gave it a nice plasticy finish, and it bonded pretty well with the plastic. I just put on one thick coat. I realize it won’t last forever, but it’s okay. You’re supposed to switch out cases every 3 months, anyway!

I do like green eggs and ham, Luke I am. Except I don’t really like ham very much, so I enjoyed replacing it with cheese. My girlfriend, Sarah, recently made them with a group of kids. She jokingly suggested making them for breakfast on Saturday, but she knew better to say the word green and have me not participate. So, green eggs and cheese for breakfast it was.

This picture simultaneously looks delicious and disgusting, in a way only Dr. Seuss could inspire.

We made them by beating 4 eggs with about 2 Tablespoons of half & half. Then, we added 3 drops of green food coloring and mixed it in. We transferred the oddly colored egg mixture to a lightly-greased skillet preheated at low-medium. After stirring occasionally for a while, we added some shredded cheddar cheese when they were about done. After they cooked a couple minutes more, they were deemed a little sickly looking. But they were good, and I do like the shade of green. They definitely provided nourishment for our day-trip to Cincinnati, which as I will explain tomorrow, demanded a ton of energy. (Hint: first time at an IKEA…need I say more? Well, I will tomorrow!)

Well, blogger’s block hit me in the head again, so I’m going to have to rely on my good friend “Etsy Finds”.

Despite that introduction, which may have sounded a bit dull, I absolutely love this pillow! Birds, cherry blossoms, and green? Sounds like a perfect combo to me.

[image from item’s listing]

I highly advise checking out joom’s other pillows. They’re all quite beautiful and seem like things I would make if I could ever learn how to paint branches correctly. And birds for that matter…

To clarify, I’m not Catholic. The only reason I feel the need to clarify is so that I may present a weird part of myself. You see, about a year ago, I became slightly obsessed with the idea of praying the Rosary. In my own Christian beliefs, I find the meditative qualities of traditions to be highly spiritual. I became envious that Catholics got to do a meditative prayer using pretty beads. The solution? I made myself a Rosary and learned the “Hail Mary”. Hey, I’ve had to sing so many versions of “Ave Maria” that there could be no harm in learning the prayer in English. I’m such a rebellious Protestant.

Here’s the fruit of my obsession (now nearly a year old), using my favorite color scheme:

There. It’s out in the open.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m going to take–or create– the opportunity to share a bit about my favorite color green. As you might soon realize, I love the color green…maybe a little too much.

Last month, my girlfriend and I were able to spend part of the weekend in Tennessee with her parents. It was like a mini-vacation in the middle of the semester. I took a few pictures, and I thought I’d post a couple here that show that nature must really know me. Amidst the mostly gray-brown, dry, winter landscape there were several pops of the most beautiful green color! I just can’t get over the golden hues of green, especially when nature smacks them in my face.

Sigh. What can I say…I love the color green. And those hues? That’s me.