Maranda Russell's Blog, page 43

2 Vintage ACEO Artworks: Edgar Allan Poe and Victorian Shoes

Here are a couple more vintage-themed ACEO artist trading cards. Both are mixed media pieces. The first one here features paper with an Edgar Allan Poe stamp in the background, so I had to feature that! I thought the scissors looked kind of cool with it too. Then I painted over it with oil pastel and watercolor.

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This second one was made with some victorian shoe stickers against a paper background of print and flowers. Lastly, I added a little random scribbling in black, white, and yellow gel pen if I remember right.

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Check out my art currently for sale on my Ebay store!

Video: Goddess Provisions April New Age Subscription Box Review!

It took all day for this video to upload onto YouTube lol, but I wanted to share in case anyone wanted to see what I got in this particular subscription box this month. It is the first time I’ve gotten this particular new age/spiritual box and I did enjoy it, although their past boxes looked a little better to me overall. Will definitely give it at least one more try though.

At Least I Accomplished Something…

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Been super unmotivated and blah today. I wanted to write a post but didn’t want anything that would take too much brain power lol, so decided to list the things I DID manage to get done today as a way to give myself a little pat on the back for even trying!

Stuff I Got Done Today:

Writing this post (still in process)
Put dishes up and cleaned kitchen (it desperately needed it)
Got my husband to change the trash
Listed several new artworks on my Ebay for sale
Called my mom back (had to leave a message, but that is actually preferred in the mood I’m in lol)
Had a tuna sandwich and the last Reese’s Pieces cookie for lunch
Gave all my kitties some love
Read a picture book about Mary Shelley (the creator of Frankenstein)
Showered and all that other hygienic stuff
Watched some Disney Channel
Watered my plants that are still alive after a week! World record for me probably!

Depression Spirits ACEO Drawing

This ACEO oil pastel drawing pretty much sums up how I’m feeling. Still struggling with the depression spirits today:

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Find this artwork and more for sale on my Ebay store.

YouTube Video: Depression Hits Again.

I think the title and video pretty much say it all:

Poetry: Second First Love

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I hated you

the first time we met.

You had replaced my old love

before I had the chance

to even say goodbye.

You dared to appear

right as he vanished –

and for that

you had to take the blame.

Star Trek Exhibit Highlights at Indianapolis Children’s Museum

Over the weekend my husband and I visited Indianapolis to see the Star Trek exhibit at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. My husband was in heaven lol. I was there. I did find a few fun things to concentrate on though.

I annoyed my husband by sitting in the captain’s chair like this:

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My personal favorite in the exhibit was this painting of Data’s cat from The Next Generation, I would hang this in my house:

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My husband got assimilated and beamed up (along with a little friend):

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I did get to ride the museum’s carousel (one of my favorite things to do at any museum, zoo, or park). Unfortunately, I threw my hip out climbing onto it. I think from now on I may need to sit on the little benches on the carousel like all the other old, broken down bodies:

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I also got a photo op at Candyland:

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Now I am back home, exhausted, sore, and will probably need a few days to recuperate.

I’m Livestreaming on YouTube

I’ve started livestreaming on my YouTube channel just for something to do and another way to connect with people. I’m doing most of the streams on my personal channel, rather than my toys and books channel. My personal channel has a lot less subs (around 200 compared to over 3,000), so if you are a YouTube watcher, please consider subbing to my channel! Here are a couple recent livestreams if you are interested:

The YouTube playback for the livestreams is a bit blurrier than normal vids, but I’m working on that! You probably want to watch them in the highest quality available to minimize blurriness.

An Attempt at Artsy Nature Photography

Yesterday my husband and I went for a short walk at a local garden/park. We saw our first snake of the year:

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I also tried to take some artsy nature photos:

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I found a perfect crow feather that I put aside to pick up on my way back out of the park, but someone stole it before I got back to it! That bummed me out. I didn’t realize crow feathers were that popular!

Bad TV Show Depiction of Ehlers Danlos

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I love the tv show House. This medical drama, based around the character of a doctor with Sherlock Holmes mystery solving abilities is often smart, informational, and amusingly ridiculous. The main character (House) is often a total asshole, but he is so lovably grumpy, enormously flawed, and irresistibly outrageous that I can’t help but like him.

Last night I finally caught their episode that features an Ehlers Danlos patient, an episode I had been looking forward to seeing for a while. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed with the portrayal. First off, very little of the episode actually had anything to do with the woman with Ehlers Danlos. It focused more upon her husband for the first half at least.

When she was finally introduced into the storyline, she was presented as someone with a horrible mental illness (hoarding), which a casual viewer could easily think was due to her forthcoming Ehlers Danlos diagnosis. The last thing those of us with EDS need is to be confused with mental illness conditions even more.

Also, the only symptoms that are even discussed to be related to EDS in the show (and thus lead to the official diagnosis) are the fact that the woman’s heart responded badly to some medication and she had suffered several miscarriages. That was it. Yes, EDS can contribute to miscarriages, but it is far from one of the hallmark symptoms of many EDS sufferers. Nothing was mentioned about hypermobility, chronic pain, dislocations, joint issues, gastrointestinal issues, autoimmune issues, bruising/scarring, loose skin, etc.

Overall, a very disappointing experience as a viewer and EDS patient.