Found on Etsy

Went on an accessory spree on Etsy (www.etsy.com) where there is a lot of really cool shit and I have to sit on my hands to prevent myself from going completely nuts. Found this seller AnomalousBits who makes these neat pendants, bought a bunch of her stuff (her shipping charges are really reasonable). I kept a few for myself and am selling the rest.

As my treasured friends, you have first dibs at $12 each before I put them on eBay beginning at $20 each. I'll wait till next Wednesday before putting them up on eBay.

They're mostly 4 to 5 cm long though some are a little smaller. I'll give more exact measurements upon request.

Little Angel Vintage Tattoo

Lucky Lady in a Martini Glass Vintage Tattoo

Art Tree

Magpie & Robin

Vintage Floral Scroll

Eiffel Tower Vintage Photo

Exotic Bird on Perch

Go or Stay?

Autumn Leaves

Little Bird on Branch

Grave Under the Tree

Crow

Crow with Crystal Ball

Dick & Jane (yes, snigger away)

Eiffel Tower Vintage Perspective

In addition to a few others I got for myself, I actually bought two Alice in Wonderland pendants intending to keep just one and sell the other, but I've ended up liking them both. Here're pics of them just to show off - I'm keeping both!

Ghost limbs

6am, and the pre-dawn quiet is punctuated by the soft sounds of snoring nearby and the low buzzing of the air-conditioning.

I give up trying to sleep, and sit up in the sofa, and I look around. I'm the only one left awake. The others are in various corners of the large room in their own worlds.

I am in mine.

There's something lonely about the pregnant stillness that precedes the dawn. The events of the evening (and night and wee hours of the morning) has left me hungover, slightly buzzed, and strangely depressed. Although reeling from severe lack of sleep, my mind won't shut up and it keeps me frustratingly awake. Awake with my thoughts. I fetch my iPod to replace the silence.

The first track which plays is from Aida. The woman's mournful vocals lament a painful truth. And I burst into tears.

Perhaps it's because alcohol is a depressant. As is progesterone. Perhaps it is the questions of commitment that cropped up sometime during the night. Perhaps it's 6am.

Either way, I am suddenly and quite unexpectedly hurting from the memory of my loss. There is gaping hole in a place I haven't looked at in a while. It has healed, but holes will remain holes. Even people who lose limbs still feel the pain from the limb that isn't there anymore - they're called ghost limbs. I'd figured this would come back every now and then, always at the oddest of times, like now.

I sit in that little sofa hugging my knees, crying quietly till I can't breathe anymore. Then I get up to blow my nose.

And that is it. I stop crying, lie back down, close my eyes, and wait till morning.

In the morning, it is gone. And hasn't come back since.

Today

Today it rained.

I miss smelling the rain from a window that opens to a sea of green.

Today it occurred to me that I hadn't seen the stars in a while.

I miss the stars.

Today I thought of water.

I miss the ocean.

Today I sat alone watching TV.

I miss watching TV sideways with my head on someone's lap.

Today I saw my friends on MSN.

I miss my friends even though I just saw them last night. The difference is I know I will see them again very soon. And that makes me smile.

55 Fiction

I'm lifting this off a special issue of New Times in San Luis Obispo County, CA, when I visited in summer. This issue really caught my eye - it's their annual 55-word short story contest, and this year's theme was a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut (Candice, you'll probably like these).

These are my favourites. You can view all the winners at http://archive.newtimesslo.com/index.php?p=showarticle&id=2568.

Equal Opportunity

The Emperor's lotus divers decided to hold an international diving contest to prove whose lungs were the best. The winner would receive (ethical) diamonds and tenure.
A pearl diver, a dumpster diver, a deep sea diver, and one walrus showed up. The walrus was disqualified for being a walrus. Its lawsuit bankrupted the empire.

~ Heloise Shinglewit (Anne E. Campisi)~

Cuttings

I'm wearing farewell black. As I walk away, past the mound of wet earth, I silently curse the scent of fresh cut flowers. I'm thankful the cold rain conceals my tears.
She's wearing goodbye white. They said her wounds were deep, cut all the way to the bone. I wish my pain ended there.

~C. Morgan Clayton~

Rain of Secrets

Star and Moon quarreled, each wanting to acquire the other's secret.
"Tell me how to shine like you," said Moon.
"Tell me how to dream like you," Star replied.
Their voices fell as rain on the planet below. A woman, who had lost her umbrella, stood in the street, hair and skin soaking with secrets.

~Kirsten Anderson~

Only $5

SEE A WOMAN BURNED ALIVE! the marquee screamed. ONLY $5!
Inside, she was tied to a stake, coals piled around. She wore a bikini kind of thing. They lit a match.
She struggled and screamed. It took about ten minutes.
It was okay, but not as good as when they strangled the guy last week.

~James W. Harris~

Unacceptable

The roach was at least four feet long. It was lightning fast and it lunged at me. I slammed the door shut just in time. I heard it bang repeatedly against the wood. I went back to the manager and handed him the key.
"That room is simply unacceptable," I said.
"Do you have another?"

~James W. Harris~

Pussy Whipped

I love vagina so much I gave my mum's clitoris a little lick on my way out during birth. I've made plenty of sacrifices to get it. I've sat through shopping trips, paid for dates, and I've even gone as far as to prey on drunks.
Once, I even said, "I love you."

~Thrust Longwood~ [Tell me you don't think this is a pseudonym]

You Can Dust It Off

Peter moved his butcher's blade with calligraphic grace. Could this be the perfect burger?
"Stop," she says.
Peter sighs. Not today.
"You're slicing too thin."
"Sorry mother."
"It takes practice."
He studied his teenaged, defeated reflection in the crimson pooling over the linoleum. "What's this, the fifth husband now?"
A warm smile. "It takes practice."

~C.J. Arellano~