To the Fools who dream

My aunt used to live in Paris.
I remember, she used to come home and tell us these stories about being abroad.
And I remember she told us that she jumped into the river once, barefoot.

She smiled,

Leapt, without looking
And tumbled into the Seine
The water was freezing
She spent a month sneezing
But said she would do it again

Here's to the ones who dream

Foolish as they may seem

Here's to the hearts that ache

Here's to the mess we make

She captured a feeling
Sky with no ceiling
The sunset inside a frame
She lived in her liquor
And died with a flicker

I'll always remember the flame

Here's to the ones who dream

Foolish as they may seem

Here's to the hearts that ache

Here's to the mess we make

She told me,
"A bit of madness is key. To give us new colors to see
Who knows where it will lead us? And that's why they need us"

So bring on the rebels, the ripples from pebbles
The painters, and poets, and plays

And here's to the fools who dream, crazy as they may seem

Here's to the hearts that break

Here's to the mess we make

I trace it all back to then

Her, and the snow, and the Seine

Smiling through it

She said she'd do it 

again

The Egg Story (A Scapegoat Fable)

by Jp Bailey-Ma

One day while a mother bird was busy,
an egg rolled out of her nest, and down the hill,
and right into a nest of snake eggs.

When the mama snake came home,
she didn't even notice the difference.

When the snake eggs and the bird egg hatched
the mama snake barely took care of them and
then sent them on their way.

The bird thought that snakes were sources of love
but they were cold.

The bird wasn't ready to leave the nest
but had to go and be alone, on her own.
Or stay and get bit by snakes.

Eventually the bird found other birds
who were very loving
and the bird got the nurturing it needed.

Every once in awhile the bird would see a snake
and think "mama" and fly down to hug her,
only to be almost bitten by a snake,
even those that were born in the same nest.

The bird would fly away confused and distraught.
The bird didn't know that she had bonded with a snake
who was a different type of animal than what she was.
But she knew that she felt at home with the other birds.

Eventually the bird found a mate and learned the new ways of bird love
and how to take care of eggs that hatch
and keep them in the nest a lot longer.

She saw that she was in the wrong nest before
and that she didn't get enough time to grow up,
and didn't get warm hugs there.

She knew she belonged with the birds.
But secretly she always wanted to fix the snake somehow
or get it to love her.

Snakes were cool and exciting and sometimes
she couldn't help but go hang out with them.
But in the end she always left hurt and bewildered
or unfulfilled and realized that she should not do that anymore.

The bird now loves being a bird with other birds,
and avoids, and teaches her chicks to avoid, snakes.

Every once in awhile she sees an awkward young bird
walking around confused and she says,
"Ah ha" that bird must have gotten lost too,
I'll go help her feel welcome here with us birds.

My Deepest Fear is...

Not to be remembered
Leaving this world without doing anything memorable
...anything significant
...anything useful

Not knowing myself till the end
Not knowing the love of my life
Not knowing what I've done with the years of my life

Not knowing what to say, what to write, what to do
Not figuring out how to love, how to teach, how to be

Letting my light go dim
Letting others' light never shining

Not seeing the end coming, approaching too fast

-random thoughts penned down in 60 seconds

Voila! Vikings

Look what I've done! I turned Chip and Caoimhe to Vikings:

Since both of their heads are very small, I had to modify and simplify this Viking Helm pattern from Reckless Stitches (Ravelry) [click here to directly download the PDF].

Here is my pattern version, this is based on Caoimhe's helmet. I used 40 gr threads and 4 mm hook for Caoimhe's and 3 mm hook for Chip's:

Hat

Use grey yarn. Create a magic circle.
R1: sc 6 into the circle, sl st into front loop to close circle (6)
R2: ch 4, tr 1 into front loop of 1st sc of R1, tr2 into front loop of each sc around, sl st to close
ring (12)
R3: sc into the back loop of the tr and into the back loop of the first round to make a ridge for 12,
sl st to close ring (12)
R4: ch1, sc1 into 1st st, sc2, *inc 1, sc2* repeat to end, sl st to close ring (18)
R5: ch1, sc1 into 1st st, sc2, *inc 1, sc3* repeat to end, sl st to close ring (24)
R6-14: Continue to increase by 6 stitches each round by adding another stitch between each
increase until Row 14; you will have 78 stitches around.

If you need it smaller, just stop at any lower row.

R15: sc throughout (78)
R16: tr into front loop of each sc, sl st to close (78)
R17: sc into back loop of the tr and into the back loop of the last row of grey stitches to create a
ridge (78)
R18-22: sc around, sl st to close (78)

If you need it taller, you can add more rows here

R23: tr into front loop of each sc, sl st to close (78)
R24: sc into back loop of the tr and into the back loop of the last row of brown stitches to create
a ridge (78)

Tie off and weave in any ends

Horns (make 2)

Start with white yarn. Make a magic circle.
R1: sc 4 into circle (4)
R2: sc, inc, sc , inc (6)
R3: sc, inc, sc 2, inc, sc (8)
R4 & 5: sc 8 (8)
R6: sc, inc, sc 3, inc, sc 2 (10)
R7: sc 10 (10)
R8: sc, inc, sc 4, inc, sc 3 (12)
R9-10: inc, sc 4, invdec, sc 5 (12)
Change to grey yarn.
R11: sc throughout (12)

It is recommended to stuff the horns so that they keep their shape. If you don't have the craft stuffing, you can use anything from cotton, tissue, plastic bag, or scrap clothes. Just make sure it's the same colour with the horns!

Things that never fail to make me laugh

1. "Attention, attention!" in Russian.

My boyfriend doesn't think it's that hilarious, but since the first time I hear it in Irony of Fate, every time I hear anybody says "внимание" I will just burst out laughing. I'm not laughing cos it's stupid, but because it sounds so cute. In fact, it's my most favourite Russian word as of today. No matter if it's 40°C during my worse period, the word never fails to make me laugh.
You can hear how it's pronounced through Google translate. I should never move to Russia, cos I will burst out laughing randomly in train stations, airports, or the malls!

2. Pharaoh of the Fish

This Vine clip by Adnan Mansoor:

3. The "nacho friends" jokes

The first one goes like this:

What do you call a cheese that is not yours? Nacho cheese.

The second variation goes longer:

There were 2 corn chips, and they were friends. They were in school together, and they were playing on the playground together. One chip thought the other chip was being unfair. And he told him, "I don't think you are being fair. I'm your friend, why aren't you being fair?" And the other chip was like, "I don't think you know me." And the other chip was like, "Let's just TACO bout it."
And then the other chip was like, "No, I'm NACHO friend."

4. 'Forgiveness' by Anna Farris

No explanation needed for this:

5. This cat

I'm gonna adopt a cat just to train it to sing YEAAAAAH..

What are some of the things that always cheer you up?

19 Oct 2013

The hurtful things he says

"You're too selfish."

"You have no integrity."

"You don't have the ability to care about other people."

"You only think about yourself."
"You're so childish."
"You don't plan for your life."

And my unspoken defense is just this.

I was never one for pretenders.

Everything I tried to be, just wouldn't settle in.

If I told you what I was, would you turn your back on me?

Can I clear my conscience, if I'm different from the rest?

Do I have to run and hide?