Wednesday WIPpet Time!!

I opened my eyes to find my dog Lovely standing on my pillow his head to one side a thoughtful expression on his face.

What have you done that has been inspired by Art?

          I have decided to take a little brake from answering questions to ask you one. What have you done that has been inspired by Art?


           When I was in Kindergarten, my teacher gave us a piece of paper and told us to make a squiggle on it. Then she told us to turn that squiggle into a picture of something. I made an "S" type squiggle then turned it into a swan with wings and a beak. Since this did not take me very long to do and the other children were still working I continued my picture, adding water and seven Cygnets, one of which didn't want to get in to the water. When the time was up my teacher had us go to the front and show our work. Everyone had one squiggle that had transformed into one thing. When it was my turn I showed my picture and told my story about the poor swan that was afraid of the water. My teacher was so impressed that she hung up my picture on the blackboard.

          I am now 34 years old and I do not draw any better, but the other day when my youngest son was coloring at the table, I sat down, borrowed a piece of scrap paper and drew a squiggle on it. I asked him what he thought it was and he said that it looked like a crown so I turned the crown into a queen. We continued on until we had a queen, a castle, a wizard, a dragon, a knight, a minstrel and a carriage. He asked me to write a story and this is what I came up with.

The Great Queen:

              There once was a great queen, who thought she was the most powerful creature in her kingdom. One day a wizard from a neighboring land came to visit. She summoned him to her throne room.

            “Great Wizard, seer of all things, am I the most powerful creature in my kingdom?” she asked.

The wizard looked into his crystal ball and said, “My dear queen, you do have many great things. The strongest army, the fastest coach, and a mighty castle.”

            “Then I am the most powerful,” she interrupted excitedly.

He shook his head and replied, “No there is another creature greater than you. A dragon lives in your mountains and he is older, wiser and more powerful than you.”

The queen decided that this would not do. She sent all her knights to defeat the dragon, but none returned. She sold her fastest carriage to put up a reward, but no one could best the dragon. Years went by and soon the castle and the queen were in ruins. One day a minstrel came to visit her.

            “I can slay the dragon!” he told the sorrowful queen.

            “I have nothing to offer you in return,” she said.

            “I only ask for your hand in marriage,” he said smiling.

The queen agreed and the minstrel departed. He returned a week later with the head of the dragon. The queen, being a woman of honor, agreed to marry him. They traveled together all over the world singing the tale of a foolish queen who lost it all trying to have everything.

  The forum members at  http://www.devinwrites.com/ write flash fiction contests every month inspired by a photo prompt. The same is true of my poem Forever Mourning. My friend was going to throw out a chalk picture he had done for class: an orange sunset over a bridge. I asked if I could have it and after looking at it for a moment Forever Mourning came out.

Forever Mourning

Time passes so quickly

Like the water that flows under a forgotten bridge

The sun sets on our lives casting shadows across our loved ones

Leaving only the memories of their existence

And the colors behind

The cool water that rushes down river

Whispers a song of sorrow to the weeping wind

It tells of hate and anger

That has long since been abandoned

Opening up to love and friendship that can never end

Since the forever mourning current carries us away

We can only hope to reach the ocean together one day

So until we can walk along the beach

With the sand between our toes

And the foam tickling our ankles

I bid you farewell

As the sun sets beyond the horizon

Leaving only our memories

And their colors behind.

So, in other words, art inspires writing and writing inspires art.  Just look at the success of comic books. Think about that next time you create something, even if you don't think it turned out. One day it might inspire someone else.

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I don't know what that sticky stuff is but it is my job to clean it out anyway. Answer to question 12 of 100

12. What is it like working with your husband on his business? Do you enjoy doing this work?  Is it a good way to be in close contact with someone you love? Describe a day in the life working to ship his items.

     I think I am going to approach this question in reverse. First of all what do I do? On the surface, I place the media items that my husband sells into envelopes or boxes tape them up and add labels. There is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes, however. We get the media items in used and abused condition, which means they have to be cleaned, tested and refurbished in order for us to truthfully sell them. Now to someone that has never done anything like this before it might sound easy, but let me tell you it can be challenging. For one thing, some people do not use their items for their intended use.
For example, I have cleaned game systems that have been used for the following: bug motels for ants, spiders, or roaches; cup holders for all kinds of liquids; paint or fingernail polish splatter cloths; ash or smoke trays; stash holders; litter boxes; sticker books; art canvas; candle holder; you name it and I have probably cleaned it off of a system, controller, or game. Even as I write this, I just opened up a Super Nintendo System that is so yucky you cannot even identify what is in it by the slimy remains.
 We buff CD-based items, clean the contacts on cartridges, iron wrinkled manuals, and clean controllers with poor response until they work like new. We believe it is a labor of love to breath life back into used and abused items. When everything is cleaned and tested, my husband artfully displays them for sale. When an item sells, I get a list, which I pull for that day of packing, I double-check the items to make sure they are ready to go, and then I pack them appropriately.
     
      This brings me to my next point: the art of packing. I have to admit when my husband and I first started this business we made all the classic rookie mistakes, like using too much tape, adding newspaper as padding, packing boxed items in envelopes or just wrapping them in paper or newspaper, and packing items in used food boxes. As we matured as a business, we have learned that the post office does not care about your package. It is just an item that must be moved from one point to another regardless of its contents. You cannot expect them to handle it better just because you write “fragile” on it. You are lucky if they read the address correctly, let alone anything you write on the package. It just is not in their unionized job description. Therefore, this means you must pack each item as if it has to survive a natural disaster on its way to its destination. This does not mean you have to spend a fortune on peanuts and bubble wrap; the free supplies provided by the post office are adequate to get the job done. This knowledge comes from the experience of packing over 100,000 items over 12 years.
  
      Are you still with me? Good! Now this job is not for everyone. It requires long hours, dedication and knowledge of the product. So, what are the positive and negative aspects of this job? For the most part, they are one and the same; it all depends on how you look at it.

1.Positive
     a.    You get to set your own hours. There are days when we get up at noon.
  
     b.    There is no one telling you to get to work; you can work whenever you want to.
   
     c.    There is a sense of pride gained in bringing dead items back to life and then    sending them to new homes all over the world.
   
     d.    You get to spend many hours with someone you love instead of only seeing them at bedtime.
   
     e.     There are times when we watch netflix, or listen to music or audio books while we are working.
   
     f.    Media surrounds us; my husband has estimated that if he started today and played one game every day for the next twenty years, he would not have to repeat. That is just pulling from our own personal collection and not including the extra inventory.
   
     g.    We work as a machine every part essential to operate.


2.Negative
     a.    Most of the time we get up at noon because we didn’t get to bed until five AM to get that last package packed for the morning pickup. To make our bills we work almost everyday from the time we get up until the time we fall into bed.
   
     b.    You have to answer to customers who want to know where their product is, and they can be more brutal than the worst boss.
   
     c.    It is a lot of hard dirt, work, and long hours to make abused things like new again.
   
     d.    Spending every minute together can be stressful, especially when mistakes are made, because there is nowhere to escape until the situation is resolved.
  
     e.    Working in the same room means you have to listen to the same music, sometimes on repeat to avoid having to stop working to change it.
  
     f.    There is inventory in every room in the house. Yes, there is even product in the bathroom.
  
     g.    All parts must be present if one of the gears are missing or broken the machine brakes   down. This means that there is little time to pursue other interests like my writing or music for my husband.

     So what do I have to say in conclusion to those of you who have been brave or stupid enough to read all of this rambling? First, you paid money for your items, try treating them like it. Secondly, although many have tried, this job is not for everyone and even though we are not always the lowest price out there, you can buy with confidence knowing we have put our all into making everything we sell the best it can be so you can enjoy it for generations to come.

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Love is just a mouse click away Answer to question 11 of 100

11. Talk a little bit about your relationship with your husband. How did you meet and how did you two come to fall in love? 

     Love is just a mouse click away.  Nowadays that phrase does not seem very unusual but in the early nineties it was a big taboo. The internet was just starting to bloom and there were a lot of people who thought it should just be left alone. For a young college student who was living on her own for the first time, the prospect of talking to people around the world was too tempting to pass up. 

      After graduating from High School, I moved to Dillon, MT to attend the college there. One of my first classes was a computer course. We learned about sending email and browsing and writing form letters. One of my friends showed me a great sight called TalkCity.com where you could chat with people from all over the world. From then on I spent every hour I could on there. At home I downloaded the new MIRC to my computer so I could chat with sounds and music.  One day I was having trouble with my computer. I had brought a new printer because the programs on my computer were not compatible with the ones at school and I could not print out any of my writing. I went on MIRC and asked if anyone could help me. My now husband answered and in just a few minutes he got my printer installed.  We started talking every day, first on the computer then on the phone and found out we had similar backgrounds.  After talking to him for nearly a year he invited me to his house for Christmas and I accepted. He flew to Montana then we flew together to Wisconsin. The rest of what happened is another story; needless to say, almost a year and a half after I asked for computer help he asked me to marry him and I said yes. We have now been married for fifteen years and he is still there when I need him.  I am not saying that our lives have been all roses and peanut butter cups but the best part of it is that no matter what life throws at us to upset the balance, we have always got through it together. If I could go back in time and do it all over again I would not hesitate to repeat it all.

The river is so loud it silences all words Answer to question 10 of 100

10. What do you think your stepmother’s reaction was to you being taken away to live with your uncle and aunt? Imagine a conversation between her and your father after they learned of your fate. 

I cannot imagine the conversation that my stepmother and father had after we were taken away. As far as I can recall they never had any conversations when I was still there. My stepmother had a way of talking circles that would confuse anyone into giving her exactly what she wanted and all the while the victim of her rant would think it was their idea.

My brother thinks that such a conversation would have gone something like this.

Stepmother- "Isn't it nice that we can finally take a family vacation without the kids ruining everything? They always found a way to ruin the whole trip. Don't you think so?"

Father- "Do we have anymore of those cookies?"

 Did it happen that way? I would not be surprised if it had. My dad was a man of little words, especially about things that hurt him. He knew deep down what had happened but he was so filled with sadness he could do nothing to stop or change it. 

I can, with a heavy heart, tell you for certain the conversation I had with my dad on the last day I saw him. After a long hard fight, I had finally convinced everyone to let me see my dad alone without a case worker lurking in the background. So one weekend he come up to see me, we got pizza and went to the park to talk.

At first I joked with him about wearing a hideous leather bracelet that I made for him. The funniest thing about this bracelet was that it was bright pink and purple and it looked ridiculous on him. He was so proud of it. He wore it like a Rolex and I felt silly and honored all at once. We talked about school and my brothers, and then as our time together grew to a close he got very serious and asked me:
 

Father-"Will you ever come home?" 

Me- "Do you still live with her?" 

He nodded

Me- "I can't! I just can't live with her." 

He hung his head in defeat. 

We said our goodbyes and he dropped me back at my aunt and uncle's House.

 The very next week he was gone from this world lost in the Missouri River. That dark conversation still haunts me to this day. 

What is the point of revenge? Answer to question 9 of 100

9. Imagine you had the opportunity for revenge on the people who wronged you during your childhood. Would you take it? If so, what would you do? If not, what would hold you back?

I get asked this question all the time when I tell people about my childhood situation. I always answer with a question of my own. What is the point of revenge? 

    Abuse is about power and the desire to fill the endless emptiness inside by taking away your life force. So by wanting to inflict revenge on those who hurt me I am in turn continuing the cycle of power and fulfillment. This means they win. By effectively turning me into them they cause my insides to slowly be eaten away leaving me with an even bigger hole to fill.

    Trust me, if revenge consumes you, you will inevitably miss the fact that you are no longer under the influence of your aggressor; therefore, you will continue to miss the beauty of life that being abused takes away. Stop taking it upon yourself to punish those who have hurt you because now that you are no longer abused you do not have to be driven by their desires. You are free to live your own life. Their thoughts, feelings and wants are no longer your concern, You do not have to try and fulfill them. Start living YOUR life not theirs! I know that if you are reading this right after leaving an abusive relationship you are thinking I am full of it. It will take time to understand that you are now your own person and you no longer have to pretend to be something you are not. I can tell you all this until I am blue in the face but you have to find out for yourself. That is the best part of not being abused anymore: you learn about yourself. You find that you have your own wants and desires. 

     So to answer the question “If you had the opportunity for revenge on the people who wronged you during your childhood, would you take it?” No. 

“If not, what would hold you back?” I feel they will have to answer for their wrong doings in time and it is not my job to render punishment. All I can do is forgive them and leave the rest to higher powers.

     I know that being abused is hard. Every day is a struggle just to survive. I also know that when the abuse stops you feel alone and lost; you can't live without the abuser telling you what to do. It does not have to always be this way. You are now in charge of what you want to be and since there is no one but you, there is no limit to reinvent yourself into someone you can be proud of. Find that inner voice that will guide you. Follow a dream you never thought was possible. The way may be dark and scary but it is not blocked. You can walk freely on your own two legs. Also you can put this special promise that I give to you in a safe place and take it out whenever you need an extra boost of confidence: 

"I don't know you. I have never met you before but I am here!  You are not alone! I love you!"

Thanks for reading my blog I hope it helps.

EDIT DONE BY:

Time is a funny thing. Answer to question 8 of 10

8. Do you think that your childhood situation would have been different in a different era, like 50 years earlier or 30 years later? How would it be different? Would it have stopped sooner or kept going longer?

Time is a funny thing when you turn back the clock or turn it forward things either slow down or speed up.
    I think that if this had happened 50 years earlier and all the members stayed the same. Then it still would have ended up in the same way it would have just taken longer and there might have been a tragedy that I don't know if I could have recovered from.
   That said this had happened 30 years latter I think that it would have been processed a lot faster and we may not have been harmed as much. 
    The real factor would have to be the people involved. I was removed from the home because my brother was going to attempt suicide and my stepmother refused to come and get me after a girl hit me with a backpack and my eye swelled shut. My older brother called my aunt and uncle and begged them to take us. If all of these things had not occurred in the order that they did when they did who knows what would have happened.
    I know that what happened was a terrible thing that I would not wish on anyone including my young self but it has made me who I am today and I would now not part with it for the world.