Darn You, Ennui!

I'm at work. I'm bored. The doctor is out of town for two weeks, and today is one of those days that we normally reserve for her appointments and not for group therapy. No doctor = no appointments. So, I have roughly 7 1/2 hours to hang out, make a few mandatory phone calls, and twiddle my thumbs.

There are far worse things in life, I know. But if it's one thing that really manages to drive me around the bend, it's boredom. So now I need to find away to stay under the radar of my other boss and simultaneously maintain my sanity. Yes, I can hear you say, "Well, you've already lost that second battle!" Still, I have to at least go through the motions and ACT like I'm trying to maintain my sanity!

So here's the mid-month blog-a-rama update ...

Even though summer's in full swing, and this pirate's thoughts should be bending towards the Caribbean waters and rum drinks, my brain is actually skipping ahead to Halloween. No idea why, except it possibly could because it is so blasted hot that I feel like I'm about to spontaneously combust whenever I go outside. Humidity has been out of control ever since the floods hit Nashville at the beginning of May, too. And if there's one thing I can't deal with (besides boredom), it's humidity that's thick enough to walk upon. So I've been spending a lot of time indoors. I guess keeping out of the sunlight and in cool, dark rooms must be bringing out my inner goth!

So, pirates (temporarily) out. Wonderfully creepy stuff in. And there you go.

I've recently picked up a gig as a clay sculpting teacher at a local craft store. Polymer clay I mean, not the hard core, slam and turn on a wheel, Demi Moore in Ghost sort of thing. I figure that since the store rotates their stock based on the upcoming seasons and holidays, the next big change will be from summer to Halloween. So I've been looking on the interwebs for ideas to teach. Sadly, though, most of the stuff I'm seeing is all that cutesy stuff - ghosts and witches with big goofy grins, jack o'lanterns that couldn't scare away a spirit (that's what they were originally meant to do) on their best day, and vampires that look like they just stepped off of a Saturday morning cartoon. Sigh. I know that's what I'm going to have to teach, but isn't there something I out there that's sufficiently serious and spooky for my tastes? I did throw together a version of the bride character from the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. I even used glow in the dark clay. Sadly, though, when I baked it, colors in the clay ran in the thinner pieces (the veil, mostly). But it the dark, it looks pretty cool.










See? Isn't she scary?

Purists will note that I used a previous bride as the model. Eventually I'll sculpt one of Constance - the "black widow bride" - but I've always been partial to Emily. She's the bride that was supposedly the victim of a broken heart, although technically she was never a bride at all. She was betrothed to a wealthy newcomer who turned out to be a pirate (see, there's a connection after all!). He bailed on her, or was killed at sea, and she locked herself in the attic after donning her wedding dress. Her ghost haunts the attic, keeping an eternal vigil for the return of her beloved.

Yep, I'm a sucker for tragedy!

I've also come across a sculpture someone did of a raven and am planning on doing one of my own based on this work. I figure that it will either connect to the raven in the Haunted Mansion - the "Ghost Host" - or Edgar Allen Poe. Either is fine with me.

Okay, time to fake working some more. I've also been commissioned to fold 50 origami cranes, and have my guitar lesson today right after work. So I figure I can find enough to keep me occupied today.

More later.