tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70362102515360666062024-02-20T20:23:36.219-08:00Fairy SurrealLoveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-67809782289252516062016-03-10T15:31:00.002-08:002016-03-10T15:31:50.801-08:00Discarded Toys<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfyDPbxvzTo/VuIDihjU7tI/AAAAAAAAHmU/BIKqOgSIdn87pkNKHa431MkNROG7RAa4Q/s1600/Discarded%2BToys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfyDPbxvzTo/VuIDihjU7tI/AAAAAAAAHmU/BIKqOgSIdn87pkNKHa431MkNROG7RAa4Q/s640/Discarded%2BToys.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I play with my rabbit
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">every day, sometimes twice.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Often, I wish it velveteen,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">as real as the smack</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">of a riding crop</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">as I rock my mount,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">ridden wet, and hard.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Not every toy was meant to be
velveteen.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The streams never crossed,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">left alone and solitary</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">in my toy box.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For you, I was only a plaything,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Never meant to be made real.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bunnies can break.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Your mechanical heart needs winding.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You box me up,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">your discarded toy,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">that bored you,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">displeased you.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My answers were always wrong.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I never learned to tell
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">the fairy tales quite</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">the way you wanted.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm just another locked toy box,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">left out for whoever might want</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">a broken, discarded plaything,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">a rag doll waiting for a new master.</span></div>
<b><i><u><br /></u></i></b>
<b><i><u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/271810778/discarded-toys" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></span></u></i></b>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-78062438727880251772016-03-08T11:14:00.000-08:002016-03-08T11:14:03.765-08:00Take My Wings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dSQuRDzKL-Xr5YlzKoPM0TZlymuFpgMc3nvqWLn8WpLrdu-4Z2vcLFuTde_hl4qBNBGgM6wY6ZDhbY7F_Tyfvar8v_UHozyzztgdJmmos94aObn0lXBolyZAPOJz6i1J1r6YMl68nz4/s1600/Take+My+Wings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dSQuRDzKL-Xr5YlzKoPM0TZlymuFpgMc3nvqWLn8WpLrdu-4Z2vcLFuTde_hl4qBNBGgM6wY6ZDhbY7F_Tyfvar8v_UHozyzztgdJmmos94aObn0lXBolyZAPOJz6i1J1r6YMl68nz4/s640/Take+My+Wings.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Butterfly fragile,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">my wings new grown.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I flew. I dreamed,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">and I flew</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">right into your net.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Coaxed by a breath of words</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">fluttered into my susceptible ears,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Entrapped by my own desire.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">to believe</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">that the intensity in your eyes
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">was more than the clinical interest</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">of a magnifying glass.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Pin my wings,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">taking out your heart</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">even as I strip bare.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mount me.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I helped you weave the net</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">so much thicker, so much tighter,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">with my own indiscretions.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bind me, wrapping me fast</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">into my cocoon.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Turn me back</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">from newly metamorphed butterfly</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">to graceless worm.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I let you experiment,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">your gaze scientist cold,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">forgetting I once knew</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">how to fly.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/271456892/take-my-wings" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></span></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-75888039143620920712016-02-25T07:56:00.000-08:002016-02-25T08:27:52.748-08:00Rape Culture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXa1aU12OANRWQmvyHvL07qW4NEc-13XscXYbsny6gmH5hLglkYQkX4WtiGcWK1UcmFNj6fUkNqJvS2ePcAYrsHizzCLSVQlN4gIBwBQ36IBVuVfYBmE8l1k-c0wkRkSb7uzuZGV54O-U/s1600/Walk-like-an-Egyptian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXa1aU12OANRWQmvyHvL07qW4NEc-13XscXYbsny6gmH5hLglkYQkX4WtiGcWK1UcmFNj6fUkNqJvS2ePcAYrsHizzCLSVQlN4gIBwBQ36IBVuVfYBmE8l1k-c0wkRkSb7uzuZGV54O-U/s640/Walk-like-an-Egyptian.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I debated a long time with myself about writing this post. I considered deleting it.<br />
<br />
It may be that I am over-reacting to a commonplace event. It may be that I am feeling unusually vulnerable and emotional this week. <br />
<br />
I have had this debate with my 18 year old son innumerable times. He critiques third wave feminism, saying they are overly politically correct, are always looking for a reason to take offense. He tells me that in America we don't have a rape culture. In America, a woman can get on a bus alone without having to worry about being gang raped. Women are empowered. We can dress as we like, go where we please, say what we want.<br />
<br />
I always disagree. I know that in other cultures, women live in more oppressive regimes. Generally, we're a little safer. We have more freedoms. I cannot deny those points, but I still believe that we live in a rape culture.<br />
<br />
Unless you're female, unless you've lived in our skin, I don't think a man can understand what I mean.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, I forget myself. For the past seven years, I've lived in a suburban, rural setting where I've encountered minimal amounts of that feeling of objectification and powerlessness.<br />
<br />
In part of my mind, I began to think I may have aged out of that feeling. That turning 40 gave me some sort of immunity, a sort of invisibility from that sort of unwanted attention.<br />
<br />
Of course, I was completely wrong.<br />
<br />
Yesterday I had to go down to New Orleans to renew my occupational license. That license grants me the legal right to sell my art in the New Orleans area. It helps grant me my livelihood so it was something I absolutely needed to do.<br />
<br />
I haven't been down to New Orleans alone, in a non-art market environment, in fifteen years. I lived in New Orleans, visited New Orleans, love the city. Of course, every time I've been out and about there, I always had at least one of my four children in tow.<br />
<br />
Yesterday, I was alone. I dressed in my everyday winter uniform of leggings, boots, long tank top, and slightly over-sized tee with a hoodie. Admittedly, I put on one of my favorite pairs of striped leggings and one of my favorite tees in a lovely shade of pine green. I put on mascara, blush, and lip stain, same as I do every time I leave the house. My hair is a brilliant shade of radioactive red, and I like it that way. I wouldn't characterize the look as particularly seductive. It's just who I am.<br />
<br />
I drove down to the city, found a parking spot about six blocks away from City Hall, and started walking. The walk to the building was quiet. I only encountered a few people on the way, nothing too extraordinary. I man called, "Hello, Sunshine," to me from across the street. A few men told me good morning, nothing jarring occurred.<br />
<br />
I got to the main entrance and paused for a moment, trying to figure out which door was the right one. Two men in uniforms walked up behind me and pointed at the proper door on the far right. They gestured me ahead of them which on the one hand seems polite and gentlemanly, but I was uncomfortably aware of where they were looking when I walked ahead of them, but again, not that unusual.<br />
<br />
I was directed to the right office. I turned in my paperwork and, within fifteen minutes, had my brand new, beautifully crisp and unwrinkled occupational license. Huzzah. Mission accomplished.<br />
<br />
I headed back out. I walked about two blocks down Perdido Street, encountering a few people, here and there, but the streets were mostly empty yesterday morning. I saw a man in uniform walking toward me. He was pleasant looking, thirtyish. He made eye contact and gave me a noncommittal smile. I responded with a similar smile. I've found that it never hurts to be friendly toward people in authority. When he got within two feet of me, he said, "How's it going, sexy?"<br />
<br />
I dropped eye contact and hurried on, suddenly feeling somehow powerless, extremely vulnerable, and objectified. <br />
<br />
If he had said, "How's it going?" followed by nothing, or even something more innocuous like sweetie, or ma'am, the entire encounter would have meant nothing. Instead, I came away from it shaken.<br />
<br />
I spent the next fifteen minutes trying to remember where I had parked, taking at least two wrong turns. A man emerged from a building a block ahead of me and kept pausing to stare back at me. I was alone on the street. I felt a growing sense of unease and paranoia. <br />
<br />
Why was he looking at me? Just how provocative was my outfit?<br />
<br />
He turned into another building and I finally remembered how to get to my car.<br />
<br />
All I wanted to do was get out of the city.<br />
<br />
I lived in New Orleans for twenty years. I can't count the number of times I was harassed on the street by strange men. It never really use to bother me.<br />
<br />
Maybe I lost my protective coating. In his head, maybe calling me sexy was meant as an innocuous compliment, but it colored my perception of every encounter I had yesterday. It reminded me that no female is immune. <br />
<br />
Those looks, those comments, we don't like them. Wearing leggings and a hoodie on a cool winter day doesn't mean I'm inviting that kind of attention.<br />
<br />
The fact that it happened and I felt the way I felt reinforces to me that we still have a rape culture. <br />
<br />
I debated a while about writing this up and posting it. This sort of event happens to women of all ages every day. <br />
<br />
The last time I posted about being sexually harassed on the street, a friend criticized me for not responding to the comments and ensuring that the offending man never did a thing like that again.<br />
<br />
When it happened yesterday, I didn't respond. I just walked away as quickly as I could. Does that mean that he went on to call another woman sexy that afternoon? Possibly. Will he do it again today, and tomorrow? Quite possibly.<br />
<br />
Should I have stopped and said something? Told him how he made me feel? I'm not that brave.<br />
<br />
His uniform gives him instant authority and power. His gender bestows on him bigger size and more strength. <br />
<br />
Maybe I am a coward. My silence ensures that he can and will do it again. <br />
<br />
Every encounter I have like that one where I walk away feeling powerless and objectified reminds me that I am not brave, that I feel paralyzed when confronted with that sort of attention.<br />
<br />
I didn't invite it. I walked down the street, alone.<br />
<br />
Which is why I have to disagree with my 18 year old son who can walk down the street without being afraid of that kind of attention, that has never known what it is like to feel that powerless and that vulnerable, I think we have a rape culture. <br />
<br />
Until I can walk down a public street without feeling that vulnerability and subsequent shame, I am going to consider this a rape culture.<br />
<br />
I'm sorry, son, but for all your objective brilliance and logic, you are completely wrong.Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-30930176838955559872016-02-22T02:23:00.000-08:002016-02-22T02:23:10.608-08:00Killed It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3YLo5GAkgFRQ-OH2ifJusYJFy3HMToMKDWJSIM2rkddabn-wiMpk_5JY_Y37NpruTjWjojkQp8M2CMsXCBJRZpHc191jU27C4OysdSK5TRxv8JSER4p72_g4-YHdTu-S0720THtxdN4/s1600/Killed+It.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3YLo5GAkgFRQ-OH2ifJusYJFy3HMToMKDWJSIM2rkddabn-wiMpk_5JY_Y37NpruTjWjojkQp8M2CMsXCBJRZpHc191jU27C4OysdSK5TRxv8JSER4p72_g4-YHdTu-S0720THtxdN4/s640/Killed+It.jpg" width="510" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
killed you.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Handed
you the gun.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Loaded
the bullets</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">that
night when I ended</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">everything
and anything</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">that
might have been.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You
voiced everything</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
refused to give form.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You
struggled to find
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">your
way out of the cave</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">while
I embraced the blindness,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">huddled
in claustrophobia.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How
many bullets,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">how
many reasons did you need?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How
many nights did you
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">play
that game, uncertain</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">if
you really wanted victory?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
voided your depression.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The
unraveling of your mind</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">exposed
my unfinished edges,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">my
own potential for madness.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Could
I have counted</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">out
your pills for twenty years,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">pulled
you back from sanity</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">every
time you danced to the edge?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
was never brave enough for you.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Uncertain
how to rescue a damsel,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
left you to fight your dragons alone.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
think of you every time</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
bring the whip down on my own back.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
learned to wallow,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">but
never knighted up.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Put
the gun in your mouth.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How
many bullets did I give you?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Pull
the trigger. Once. Twice, and</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">silence
everything about myself</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
ever saw, reflected back from</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">your
beautiful, dead eyes.</span></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-50982305292532902392016-02-11T05:35:00.001-08:002016-02-11T05:35:53.201-08:00Self Portrait Series<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My long term resolution for the New Year has been to </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">confront my tendency toward harsh self criticism and to try </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">to be more accepting of who I am and the skin I am in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So far, I've done a series of photographic selfies, but my </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">friend Shiloh, who always was and still is, smarter and more </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">insightful than I am, suggested that maybe I should be </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">looking at this as an art project, a la Frida Kahlo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I contemplated that idea. It makes more sense than merely </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">staring at mirror images <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">of myself on a computer screen. I </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">don't know that I will ever love photographs of myself. I </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">don't </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19.32px;">know if I will ever be able to view myself without </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19.32px;">focusing on my flaws, but I can certainly confront and fight </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19.32px;">against that tendency in myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
I picked out my first selfie of 2016 and tried to alter myself </div>
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into art. If the standard of success is to obliterate most of </div>
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myself from the piece, then I think I succeeded.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Still, it's a new slant on an only slightly older project. I am a </div>
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work in progress. Long live vanity!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZLyFfYikMcZ6Gs04qJ6Be2DEqLji33ZXi-Fdj2IEZvekemw60ihmV9EwEvtdOD3PNgR9-ZNV5_Q6c7set675Ur_X1gkwJuUQvroQKoiQbGP34jzcbm3sMFxN9Bod_lD3zJ4ENM4S0fI/s1600/Self+portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZLyFfYikMcZ6Gs04qJ6Be2DEqLji33ZXi-Fdj2IEZvekemw60ihmV9EwEvtdOD3PNgR9-ZNV5_Q6c7set675Ur_X1gkwJuUQvroQKoiQbGP34jzcbm3sMFxN9Bod_lD3zJ4ENM4S0fI/s640/Self+portrait.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-90217391903397922772016-02-07T04:15:00.000-08:002016-02-07T10:45:44.252-08:00Descent to Temptation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93LiNZM8GCxmj42bHulE1AHH9OSCwWkANh4iEzYTWSBH0dqirz-skgnNgdZASBwFlNQUxYVrUYDEzdzpSaXVnECCFMR_yKbKNj0erADgI2bHHe9rbxfCb7B0_IezdgIAAZRrGkbQvdUQ/s1600/Temptation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93LiNZM8GCxmj42bHulE1AHH9OSCwWkANh4iEzYTWSBH0dqirz-skgnNgdZASBwFlNQUxYVrUYDEzdzpSaXVnECCFMR_yKbKNj0erADgI2bHHe9rbxfCb7B0_IezdgIAAZRrGkbQvdUQ/s640/Temptation.jpg" width="532" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lead us not into tentaclation....</span></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-76748576854148351232016-01-30T19:19:00.002-08:002016-01-30T19:19:29.401-08:00Loving Edgar Allan Poe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y7vyFSAH2wQ/Vq182-QDSTI/AAAAAAAAHkk/QoaJbjo7OtY/s1600/Loving%2BEdgar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y7vyFSAH2wQ/Vq182-QDSTI/AAAAAAAAHkk/QoaJbjo7OtY/s640/Loving%2BEdgar.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Edgar, leading your flock </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">of raven hounds,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">could you smell it on me: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">despair and weakness</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">with a whiff of amontillado?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Do you possess a sixth sense?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Am I the low hanging body </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">on your corpse tree?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Would you love me, </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">then leave me, bury me,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">mourning me with a proper lament?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Brick me in with your own hands,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">whisper sweet nevermore in my ear.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Could we role play in a sepulcher?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Let me call you cousin.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Rise and fall for me, Edgar.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Swing your pendulum round and round.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Feel the tell tale beat of my heart,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">served just the way you like it:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">cold and seasoned with despair.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/266191837/loving-edgar-allan-poe" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></u></i></b></span></span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-41935925948687743112016-01-26T15:11:00.000-08:002016-01-26T15:11:43.311-08:00Cupid Set Match<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1KrkEiVLiRA/Vqf84LpwG2I/AAAAAAAAHkQ/VLGnUdYoQw4/s1600/Cupid%2BSet%2BMatch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1KrkEiVLiRA/Vqf84LpwG2I/AAAAAAAAHkQ/VLGnUdYoQw4/s640/Cupid%2BSet%2BMatch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">I gleam from my neat shiny box,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">rowed and arranged,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">categorized and numbered.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Scroll, stop, select.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Touch my fire hot skin.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">I promise the burn </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">doesn't last.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Your detached heart</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">only beats for the unknown.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">New is always better.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Love refreshed daily.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Keep your edge, </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">your streak unending,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">my song unplayed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">I don't know your rules.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">I invite you to peel</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">my onion layers.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Your eyes ghost me.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">You never learned </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">how to cry.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Graphik Web', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;"><b><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/265608319/cupid-set-match?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></u></i></b></span></span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-2294303429288374482016-01-22T16:04:00.000-08:002016-01-22T16:04:50.209-08:00Give Me Back My Voice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZH9af8-WM4/VqLB1DTN3-I/AAAAAAAAHj8/5xWHLelkxh4/s1600/Give%2BMe%2BBack%2BMy%2BVoice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZH9af8-WM4/VqLB1DTN3-I/AAAAAAAAHj8/5xWHLelkxh4/s640/Give%2BMe%2BBack%2BMy%2BVoice.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Anecdotal evidence is everything.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One in six. One in forty. One in one.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Your statistics and methodology</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">mean nothing to me.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Percentages lie.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Left powerless and muted;</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">disassembled and left in pieces</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">by hands, mistrusted, distrusted hands.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My frog skin peeled,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">insides laid open.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My organs on view.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">To reveal his Illuminati secrets</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">means exposing my own guilt,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">my culpability in every evil act</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">he ever committed, after me.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">20 layers of guilt,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">my own pain a lump</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">under it all.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">No wonder I can't sleep.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I would be seen through a filter</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">of my own victimization.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Your lenses are red, not rosy.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I cease to be me.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I become the thing that was done to me.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Pitied, vilified, probably both at once.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I become a sample in a kit.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I become a statistic </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">to be skewed </span><span style="font-size: large;">on a chart.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You claimed all my layers.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Thighs and lips and breasts and hair.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Even my bones feel wrong.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">If I could just speak,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">If I could spoil every plot
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">you ever conceived,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">If I could take it all back,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">reclaim everything you ever took,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">starting with my voice.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/265148756/give-me-back-my-voice" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></u></i></b></span></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-52796130743149532652016-01-21T15:26:00.002-08:002016-01-21T15:26:19.710-08:00Ghosted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6shgVtcmbo/VqFohHf7y7I/AAAAAAAAHjs/kkeiRm4PQ6c/s1600/Ghosted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6shgVtcmbo/VqFohHf7y7I/AAAAAAAAHjs/kkeiRm4PQ6c/s640/Ghosted.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I offered you my heart,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">plattered. You weren't hungry.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The silver was tarnished.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You bricked it in,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">untasted, to your hollow chest,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">bloodied and beating,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">unconcerned that you
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">might be killing me.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I chose poorly.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Your vision was narrowed,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">blindered and staring,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">seeing only the inside
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">of your own skull.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I carved away my pound of flesh.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I could never slice off enough.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You taste nothing;</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">your appetite, ravenous.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Can I have my heart back now?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The buffet is closed.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/265004036/ghosted" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></u></i></b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-7653516763660130252016-01-17T08:04:00.001-08:002016-01-17T08:04:10.478-08:00Love of the Red Death<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4GEOQAqLXh_h1fdGvnUCFl-UBB8RtecokY75WZ2jeTNt96kizlEwgRqYZ0mz_6ERjep5BGC71aSGKdOxGPQxFntiEZmgDX6lhUcoBp1ClQhr1CKQG33FEG5HjIg8HalSFr1Ie_nneAxA/s1600/Red+Death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4GEOQAqLXh_h1fdGvnUCFl-UBB8RtecokY75WZ2jeTNt96kizlEwgRqYZ0mz_6ERjep5BGC71aSGKdOxGPQxFntiEZmgDX6lhUcoBp1ClQhr1CKQG33FEG5HjIg8HalSFr1Ie_nneAxA/s640/Red+Death.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Bricked up. Sealed in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Your own Montresor.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Love and hate barricaded</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">in equal measure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I slid in gently,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">indifferent to the snap of bone.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">You wore your gloom, unknowing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Your beaked mask protruded,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">limiting your vision</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">You stroked my inspection, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">heavy with ambergris and mint.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Your fingers were already blackened.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Gird your wall, Prospero.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Iron your gates.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I can feel the telling rash,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">heated and heavy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The infection is already within.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/264344626/love-of-the-red-death" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-88087485146632864882016-01-15T15:44:00.002-08:002016-01-15T15:44:51.824-08:00Three of Swords<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDnPaXWTI0xfPROqgiqTT1QmYhkQZEYkkZUKlm5FYy9YoXcyVYbhqSh2nYqHMw5snIuboA3eCgKhOklXyt-9kMb4_5Evg4Hz6rWsWgCAD-uERE3bb33LDpqI5bcyy7U-sOdgW4XirkRo/s1600/3ofSwords.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDnPaXWTI0xfPROqgiqTT1QmYhkQZEYkkZUKlm5FYy9YoXcyVYbhqSh2nYqHMw5snIuboA3eCgKhOklXyt-9kMb4_5Evg4Hz6rWsWgCAD-uERE3bb33LDpqI5bcyy7U-sOdgW4XirkRo/s640/3ofSwords.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How much pain can the heart hold?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My Tarot Card series has been on the back burner of late, but the Three of Swords expresses exactly how I feel about this week.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/264056151/3-three-of-swords-tarot-card" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></span></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-24312149253084937862016-01-13T03:39:00.004-08:002016-01-17T08:24:45.345-08:00Peeled<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKkOtk4WOBJKvXCqzc6ycRu_hd2JiKv3yeuW8QtD362hmjALBQZHq_wwVeHAuxU6K-5jmN46Q-Y7KxjCANOEL-eMuUe_pL9CZGdUkblyCXog24zWgLVi6MrPKiou86w5nTIqla6yB898/s1600/Peel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKkOtk4WOBJKvXCqzc6ycRu_hd2JiKv3yeuW8QtD362hmjALBQZHq_wwVeHAuxU6K-5jmN46Q-Y7KxjCANOEL-eMuUe_pL9CZGdUkblyCXog24zWgLVi6MrPKiou86w5nTIqla6yB898/s640/Peel.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My reflection is worn and weary.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I check every day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">She never alters for the better.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The mirror cracks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Alice stranded on the wrong side.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Impossible Alice,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">flushed from her victory</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">over the Red Queen,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">fresh and full of hot tea and cakes,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">smoked and delicious.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I peel her apple skin,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">round and round and round,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">from bottom to top.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I wear her well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">She hangs a little loose.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I can make adjustments.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I left her lying there,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">flayed and quiet,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">cored and tasteless.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dig the hole deep.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Six feet. Twelve feet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A nail through her forehead,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">heart staked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She will not grope her way out</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">of her grave.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">She will not rise, to walk,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">a zombie at rest.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I prefer my pie </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">with cinnamon and nutmeg.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/263692265/peel" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></u></i></b></span><br />
<br />Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-59744438389827161722016-01-11T19:19:00.002-08:002016-01-11T19:23:58.026-08:00Why I Am a Ginger<span style="font-size: large;">And Why I am a Ginger in the brightest and most vibrant shade I can find.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGy4GWmtvYTnNhsbT1BLbY7srhU87_VHCrKaxM9OTHWdi2jgh9Lq_jQo6UTtb3UbvEZshuW2tGqsyideDfb6SzloY0AtEYqTlcDBr1VxAKBby1er1A8tPInRIHhm0Twwn5U_gkFqsx0Q/s1600/011116.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGy4GWmtvYTnNhsbT1BLbY7srhU87_VHCrKaxM9OTHWdi2jgh9Lq_jQo6UTtb3UbvEZshuW2tGqsyideDfb6SzloY0AtEYqTlcDBr1VxAKBby1er1A8tPInRIHhm0Twwn5U_gkFqsx0Q/s400/011116.gif" width="398" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Someone asked me recently why I dye my hair. "Are you looking for attention?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I floundered for an answer, responding that I like the color and was completely bored of being blonde.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He followed up. "Doesn't everyone want to be blonde?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Not after forty years of it, they don't.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Why red? Why not purple or blue?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Red seemed like a slightly more natural choice, I hedged.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He may have smirked slightly. After all, the red of my hair does not occur naturally on the heads of people.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The conversation moved on to other topics, but I was acutely aware that I didn't answer his questions; not fully, not completely.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't just wake up one day and decide I was tired of being a blonde. I did wake up one day to a completely different life, with a completely unplanned future.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My husband had died after a long, brutal illness. In a sense, when I buried him, I buried a version of myself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I buried that blonde girl of long ago, that version of myself ceased to be.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now, I could have wallowed. I could have propped up that empty undead version of myself, but I had children to care for. Wallowing was never an option.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Instead, I buried her, even mourned her, but she was dead. Life had to be for the living.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I was left with a stranger wearing the face of a dead woman. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I needed to become someone else. I wanted the new woman to be vibrant. I wanted her to go out and <i>live</i>. I needed her to be brave.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I found art. It became my salvation, my healing, and my new beginning. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That art girl needed a thick shell. Rejection happens daily for her. Self doubt is inevitable. I chose a difficult path for her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Louis the Cat wrote that caps lock is how he feels on the inside, all the time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Which is precisely why I went ginger. The vibrancy, the brilliant daring of my hair is how I want to appear to the world. It's how I want to feel on the inside all the time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So maybe my friend was right. Maybe I do it for the attention. Maybe I do it because it's the easiest way for me to remember who I want to be, even on days when what I really want is to crawl into the back of my closet and hide from the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But, that girl, the one with the brilliant, vibrant hair, she doesn't hide, not from anyone, not from the world, and absolutely, never from herself.</span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-44112263558030058382016-01-10T18:09:00.001-08:002016-01-13T09:46:16.757-08:00Kintsugi Illusions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8IyucdQmkI/VpMMGYh4xsI/AAAAAAAAHh8/ntC31iEgcrM/s1600/Illusions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8IyucdQmkI/VpMMGYh4xsI/AAAAAAAAHh8/ntC31iEgcrM/s640/Illusions.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I practiced the art of kintsugi.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I wanted to believe in flawed beauty,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">that I could repair my cracks,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">upgrade my broken bits</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">with veins of gold.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The paint never dries.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I wrapped the butchery</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">with gauze and illusion.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Adhering my mask,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">hoping for my pound of pretense</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">like so many layers of mummified sludge.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Your fisted flesh inside me</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">scraped my resolve.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My bandages slipped,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">exposing my deception.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">You manufactured </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the distance </span><span style="font-size: large;">between us,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">calculating the cost of repairs</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">for my faulty engineering,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The right angles wronged.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The paint, blighted and bitter,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Pipes had been cut.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I forgot to read the manual.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/263469450/kintsugi-illusions" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></u></i></b></span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-24223845502835375682016-01-07T16:38:00.003-08:002016-01-07T16:42:10.192-08:00Dance with Death<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXO0ciDOkBS8zaKSiBqro0QhDvqc9LFdXJZPoZg3AacZO9g3TRfMb4XpkAfGqdVYLmPh8bNCgfWn4cOPS633QdnLcEupWgSjAQF5qwOGL6B9Kg9EOYJ4gYpMQAF-qstb6GsWWirbl7eyA/s1600/Dance+Death+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXO0ciDOkBS8zaKSiBqro0QhDvqc9LFdXJZPoZg3AacZO9g3TRfMb4XpkAfGqdVYLmPh8bNCgfWn4cOPS633QdnLcEupWgSjAQF5qwOGL6B9Kg9EOYJ4gYpMQAF-qstb6GsWWirbl7eyA/s640/Dance+Death+.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The ground is softest behind the pond.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Ankles lost in the mud.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The shovel grows weary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Your neat package of tape and plastic</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">is fraying around the edges.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I reveled in the calm.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I never had to answer questions </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">that were never asked.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The loneliness ghosted my nights</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">until you oozed your way </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">into my every crevice.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited and waded through calls</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">and messages of self doubt and uncertainty.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Scheduling became my master.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I longed for the lost quiet </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">even as I enjoyed the rush of being</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">pinioned and over powered;</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">the gravity and the thrust,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">the taking of flight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I forgot my way,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">and crossed the streams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The cost-benefit ratio weighed</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">against you.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I chose the silence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The neighbor has a new dog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I need to dig the hole a little deeper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/263069674/dance-with-death" target="_blank">Find it here.</a></u></i></b></span></div>
<br />Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-36355443015203835872016-01-05T13:21:00.001-08:002016-01-05T13:24:55.531-08:00Demon Lover<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jhkNzF_aTk0/VowzmIbYL6I/AAAAAAAAHhI/P2-ugCfvTig/s1600/Demon%2BLover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jhkNzF_aTk0/VowzmIbYL6I/AAAAAAAAHhI/P2-ugCfvTig/s640/Demon%2BLover.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I knew you, but briefly.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Your words a flutter on my lips.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You boarded your airship to anywhere,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">leaving me, altered and alone.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I peeled your skin</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">to make my own suit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Curled your mustache.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Flowered your beard.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Bow tie or cravat?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Both suited you.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We waltzed in dazzling splendor,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">strolled in the depths of the catacombs,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Our conversation balloons</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">followed in slow triumph.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Your phantom weight strained</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">even as your incubi fingers</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">found all my secrets.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Until, fleshed, you returned,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">breathing in my castle.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Your weight collapsed </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">all my architecture,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">ephemerally perfect.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My demon lover imploded,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Xanadu, revisited.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The goo will leave a stain.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Captain, board your ship.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My port has closed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Find it <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/262763498/demon-lover?ref=listings_manager_grid" target="_blank">here</a>.</i></b></span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-35424949252817060272016-01-01T16:20:00.000-08:002016-01-01T16:31:47.508-08:00Reflections on 2015 and Resolving to Love 2016 as well as Myself<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-etcjiKX3XiY/VocXhec-LAI/AAAAAAAAHgk/LNgYZBSTAIk/s1600/zieg01-8x10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-etcjiKX3XiY/VocXhec-LAI/AAAAAAAAHgk/LNgYZBSTAIk/s640/zieg01-8x10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I feel as if I should be writing something inspirational; a sort of pep talk for myself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I realize that the New Year is an arbitrary date picked even as the earth continues spinning on its axis and it pursues its long orbit of the sun, but the day still rings with significance. My ears have been ringing with well wishes and my Facebook feed is flooded with resolutions and good intentions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Looking back on 2015, the year had its ups and downs. My oldest children took more steps away from me and into the great wide world. The quiet still surprises me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My daughter will be starting her only little family in just a few weeks. How is that even remotely possible? My head is still spinning.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Career wise, I had some true delights this year, being honored to participate in the Chez Fab shows as well as the first Cru$sade show at the Spanish Moon in October. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I enjoyed my trips out to the local art markets, despite far too many rain outs. My holiday markets certainly ended on a positive upswing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am feeling more confident in my work and more willing to self-identify as an artist.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I set goals for 2015, some of which I achieved. I continued to trudge through my Spanish tutorials which I began in 2014. I despair of ever actually being able to speak Spanish as I am more likely to substitute French words for the correct Spanish ones.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have managed to maintain my blog, which I also began in 2014 so, this far, I did well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't meet my goals of exercising more often and eating more healthily so I guess they go back on the list for 2016.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm never certain where to post my blogs, my poetry, or my art. On my business Facebook page or on my personal Facebook page? I am my business and everything I post usually circles back to that in one way or another. I suppose I will continue posting haphazardly on both. Le sigh.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My one, brand new, fresh resolution is to learn calligraphy. When I joined the Albright Players, back in 2014, I intended to learn but never did. I didn't make it all the way to Faire season but I renewed my ambitions again in 2015. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I made it through most of Faire season this time but have finally accepted that I cannot shoehorn my love for the Renaissance fair and my work as an artist into the same frantic six week holiday season. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Still, I think I owe it to the retired Millicent Sparrow, retired Village scribe, to actually learn calligraphy. So, serious resolve face in place.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I pleasantly surprised myself this year by renewed interest in writing poetry. Since I haven't picked up that particular pursuit in 25 years, I was delighted at how quickly it seemed to come back. I cannot claim that I am any better at it now than I was then, but I am enjoying it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am still uncertain as to how combine the art narrative and the written narrative. One inspires the other but how to meld them into one harmonious whole?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For me, my art has always been about that frozen moment in time and how the viewer interacts with it. I think of my pieces as a bit of time from some unknown storybook, some half-forgotten history. The narrative in my head doesn't have to match the narrative in that of the viewer. In fact, I prefer it if it doesn't.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My poetry works much the same way. Can the two be combined? It's an ongoing process.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I also made the decision to change my hanging work from framed prints to mounted canvas. Now I just need to learn how to mount my own. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps my most important goal for 2016 is to learn to be comfortable in my own skin. I've been fighting the same extra 20 lbs for about ten years now. I just need to accept that maybe I won't ever be a size 8 again, and that, is perfectly fine.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I ended the year by taking and posting a selfie. I never post photos of myself as I always hate every last one of them. I need to learn to like, even love, my reflection. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's my skin. I need to learn to love it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-62469834785397463802015-12-31T11:23:00.003-08:002016-01-02T11:16:24.563-08:00Frogged<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ht82f0BJGhw/VoghKO5X3WI/AAAAAAAAHg0/98ge6BtHmfI/s1600/Frogged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ht82f0BJGhw/VoghKO5X3WI/AAAAAAAAHg0/98ge6BtHmfI/s640/Frogged.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I wanted the fairy tale</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">although I don't pretend to be a princess.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I long ago learned to rescue myself.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I passed over so many amphibious suitors,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">looking for the one;</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">neither prince nor knight,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">but someone to relish the sunset,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">someone real.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I should have recognized the taste</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">of flies on your lips,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">foul and forked.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I spelled eyes to see what wasn't there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I forgot my feet as your tongue</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">oozed its sticky words.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Awakening, at last,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">to your tongue thrust,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">to your slime oozing off my chin.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">There are no happy endings.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Find it <b><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/262165336/frogged?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">here</a></u></b>.</i></span></div>
<br />Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-6711677935812842682015-12-30T15:46:00.001-08:002015-12-31T08:08:21.438-08:00Your Monster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcXx5N-3qaG1F7srcuWH1om2OQ_eqre31-CH81V_QvvbnL-qhisa97cP77OVhxxvUQ-0cAdyz4ZfEmQmg_FlhhzeCk6RCp3G_5IdlTzfGkipaXlHtlWUZAXdHRPeMe8Mv071Hk_vx1M8/s1600/Breakable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcXx5N-3qaG1F7srcuWH1om2OQ_eqre31-CH81V_QvvbnL-qhisa97cP77OVhxxvUQ-0cAdyz4ZfEmQmg_FlhhzeCk6RCp3G_5IdlTzfGkipaXlHtlWUZAXdHRPeMe8Mv071Hk_vx1M8/s640/Breakable.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My self identity was so many pieces</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">stitched together on your slab,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">an almost person, cold and dead.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">You meant nothing to me;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">my heart lifeless in your eager hands.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">You flipped the switch.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Some monsters are better left dead.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The spark of life flickered. You fled.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You couldn't face what you created.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Love beating within me was never your intention.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The only way to protect my resurrection of feeling</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">was to hide its beat behind corpse eyes;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I worked to control the killing urge </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">of my fingers, which itched to betray me</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and summon their master, their maker,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">even knowing that you would only flee</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">faster and farther from our grasp.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">No matter the distance,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I can feel the waves of horror and hatred</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">at what you gave life to. The needle shakes in your hand.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The electric current, a lightning flash, burnt us both.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Undo the stitches. Throw the pieces back into the grave</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">you dug them from. Take back the life you inflicted on me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Your revulsion only feeds the continued beating of my heart.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Find it <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/262092924/your-breakable-monster" target="_blank">here</a>.</span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-35966026132664431192015-12-28T15:57:00.000-08:002015-12-28T15:59:00.532-08:00Never Trust Pandora with the Keys<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ckC37LDzWw/VoHMEtoFc3I/AAAAAAAAHfw/iNfZ5xV3elw/s1600/Secrets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ckC37LDzWw/VoHMEtoFc3I/AAAAAAAAHfw/iNfZ5xV3elw/s640/Secrets.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"I have a very important task for you," said Schrodinger to Pandora, handing her a ring of keys. "Make yourself at home in my laboratory. Help yourself to any snacks from the fridge."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Pandora looked from the keys in her hand to the strangely intimidating and, yet, alluring door. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"What's in there?" she queried. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Just a cat," he replied quickly, shrugging in to his coat and hurrying to the door before she could ask any more questions. He scurried out into the darkness, knowing full well what mischief Pandora would get up to in his absence, knowing that the cat should never be freed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Schrodinger created that cat: a beast which is not alive, nor is it truly dead. What it is, this cat, is a diseased, rotting, undead thing. Schrodinger made it. He rolled in the filth with it. He cuddled it to himself, reveling in the disease, breathing in its rot, but, at long last, even Schrodinger began to feel uneasy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He had been trapped in the darkness with this thing, with this terrible knowledge of what he had done; this dark, twisted secret. It rustles in the darkness, stealing his peace of mind. It taunts him from the shadows, a secret which can never be told; a secret which can never be shared.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In his growing guilt and madness, Schrodinger begins to believe that he can free himself from it. If he can just send it from him; if he can just drive it from the darkness and send it into the light, surely, it will be destroyed. His mind will be cleansed. All will be made fresh and new. It will be as if he never crafted that disease ridden beast.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So, he leaves. He entrusts the keys to Pandora, knowing full well what she will do. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She will unlock the door. She will release his terrible secret. She will let the filthy, rotting beast out into the world. She cannot help herself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And, Schrodinger, you will not be cleansed. You cannot cure yourself of infection by spreading disease. All you have done is shared your horror with the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We didn't need to know, Schrodinger. We didn't want to know. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">No one needed to see your undead cat, Schrodinger. Keep your theories and your horrible secrets to yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Find it <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/261870688/never-trust-pandora-with-the-keys?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">here</a>.</span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-4323436006465119582015-12-23T15:06:00.003-08:002015-12-23T15:31:56.803-08:00One in 7 billion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic00NxbgtlWkoSiAJPotbWw1wnYk4g_KFqTY4QVSssou-2IM76vo5J0d_CuY7Y8sZS7TV8NbhW-fMZwacIih1MREpXoTyV-MJ3-nUHeZ-CRLMSINsTPhWxUyYOAvaY-ji_k7wBhFXmsP0/s1600/7billion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic00NxbgtlWkoSiAJPotbWw1wnYk4g_KFqTY4QVSssou-2IM76vo5J0d_CuY7Y8sZS7TV8NbhW-fMZwacIih1MREpXoTyV-MJ3-nUHeZ-CRLMSINsTPhWxUyYOAvaY-ji_k7wBhFXmsP0/s640/7billion.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A few days ago, I was at an exhibition with a friend. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I don't remember the conversation that led up to it, but as we paused for a moment in front of a depiction of voodoo ritual, he commented, "Did you know that there are over 7 billion people on the earth today?"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited for him to continue, expecting some further reflection on overpopulation, dwindling global resources, maybe even something about the effects of climate destabilization.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Instead, he said, "You would think that in a world of 7 billion people that there would be even one person that would just get me."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In that moment, I thought I had never heard anything quite so heartbreaking, and so very, very true.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, yes, oh yes, I realized, that is exactly what I want; all that I have ever really wanted.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Why, in a world of 7 billion people, isn't there anyone who understands me?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm tired of facing the endless crowds and the lengthening days, always alone; a mask of competent resilience carefully in place.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Find me, please, I'm right here; waiting, just waiting for you.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Find this piece <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/261537306/one-in-7-billion?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">here</a>.</i></span></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-49968412727165068012015-10-06T09:25:00.001-07:002015-10-06T09:25:58.310-07:00What is an Artist?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tNaJf_REd1w/VhP1q7oG6fI/AAAAAAAAHfA/WiM6iy6dAmg/s1600/School-days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tNaJf_REd1w/VhP1q7oG6fI/AAAAAAAAHfA/WiM6iy6dAmg/s640/School-days.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">What is an artist? Is it some sort of special, divine, inborn talent that makes an artist? Is it accolades and awards from people with a pile of degrees and a long resume?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I have begun to think that perhaps you become an artist when you declare yourself an artist; when you have something important to say with your art and you say it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You don't need the approval of an expert from an ivory tower to declare you an artist. You don't need a special parchment with an even more special seal. You don't even need for your nearest and dearest to approve of you and what you create. (Sure, it would be nice, but it isn't essential).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Remember Van Gogh? Remember Monet and his scrappy bands of Impressionist rejects with their Salon Des Refuses? Think of Duchamp and his two million dollar urinal. It was art because he said it was art.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pick up a brush, a stylus, a handful of clay, and say what needs to be said.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You are an artist.</span></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-15497195504244627912015-09-24T18:55:00.000-07:002015-09-24T18:55:27.396-07:00Put away Childish Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JGli2amqdWg/VgSpS3sD18I/AAAAAAAAHek/QZruawRDsPg/s1600/Childish%2Bthings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JGli2amqdWg/VgSpS3sD18I/AAAAAAAAHek/QZruawRDsPg/s640/Childish%2Bthings.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
My malfunctioning tabula rasa, </span><div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">ready to be filled with editorial notes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Some children are born to disappoint,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">but a daily meal of criticism</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">filled even my thick skull </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">until self hatred spilled out my blue orbs.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">No more would fit.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My playmates and classmates were showered</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">with love for simply being.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I mirrored them, echoing,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">but every action, backward, distorted</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">and wrong. Or, so you told me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Ten is too old for playthings.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My untouched dolls, eyes glassy with judgement,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">lined dusty shelves. Playtime was over.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My only escape from you, closed to me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You locked the gate, sealing out the light.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Hoarding your miserly draconic love.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My inner drummer marched me cliff ward.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I learned to always choose the men</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">who loved by dismantling.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">They knew all the songs</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">you ever sang to me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I followed the piper. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I danced, </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">always getting the steps wrong.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I can never quiet your voice,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">the siren in my ear,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">the storm of your indifference</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">forever eroding the sand foundation</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">of my mirage of self.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7036210251536066606.post-80770871145720614152015-09-18T17:47:00.000-07:002015-09-18T17:47:30.901-07:00The Green Silence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfzJMJ8vHC2bGyvUcCwPzLvjZBrbp8z7gZKhCupz8JskpLo6ovLL6oLeitfVv3N8teoPG2sm8EAqORiQWQ6qh69meVa4etWTkhardj-J3cJNyMlM867HePvdxCnjjVqWeSmVH3sfDmd0/s1600/Green+Silence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfzJMJ8vHC2bGyvUcCwPzLvjZBrbp8z7gZKhCupz8JskpLo6ovLL6oLeitfVv3N8teoPG2sm8EAqORiQWQ6qh69meVa4etWTkhardj-J3cJNyMlM867HePvdxCnjjVqWeSmVH3sfDmd0/s640/Green+Silence.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was runner up </span><span style="font-size: large;">to your queen.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You fulfilled all your obligations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I languished as understudy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I never learned to be true blue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Green suited me better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A black hole to your rising sun,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">a whirling pit of negativity,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">a weed in shadow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">while your rose bloomed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I lived on leftovers,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">the queue of mediocrity,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">the rejects, wannabes and never weres,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">the Calibans longing for Miranda.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Wearing a leather jacket </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">doesn't make you Joey Ramone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Caliban learned to hate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">what he could never possess.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Passion becomes poison</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">whispering in the dark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Blue roses never bloom,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">stunted in their growth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">My betrayal blossomed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">in reptilian silence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The greenery flourished.</span>Loveday Funckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13944541705564391011noreply@blogger.com1