Story Time !

Current Mood : Off to laundry land !

Current Image Notes : Nope, don't even have this set, won't ever -  if you knew what it sells for, your jaw would drop ! Cute but not my bag - more inside !

Got a call from the Dr.'s office - they approved a 30-day refill of the expensive medicine, and it should be ready later today. That's all I was allowed anyway, so next month, I get to go back for another office visit. I'm hoping I can ask DFIL for some transportation help with that, since I doubt Beloved Hubby can take the time off work for it.

And I forgot to tell ya'll - remember back a few weeks, when Beloved bought me DracuLaura's coffin/jewelry box bed ? He said he had an interesting exchange during the purchase that he'd forgotten to tell me about. The young cashier noted the MH logos curiously, and asked Beloved if his kids liked them, he told her it was for his wife, to go with her ever-expanding MH doll collection. She then explained to him, in detail, why the Mezco 'Living Dead Dolls' that she and her mother collect are sooo much better - and yes, she did go on about collectability and series numbers, how long the dolls have been available in the market, the usual BS that most of us use (or used at one point in our collecting lives) to justify buying toys for ourselves when we're old enough to understand what an annuity is, and why lotteries are A Bad Idea.

Beloved was nonplussed. Exactly what was he supposed to do with this information ? Return the bed he just bought, and all the MH stuff besides, because a Mal-Wart cashier prefers stuff her store has never sold ? Frankly, given M-W's censorship track record, I'm amazed they sell MH dolls at all, given how easily some parents could be offended by them. But I digress. I'm all for liking stuff that's different, but I'm still trying to figure out why she needed him to know a buttload of info about dolls he figures I don't care about, right at that moment. I mean, if I cared one whit about LDDs, he'd know about it, 'cause I never shut up easily about anything I favor. (grin)

In the end, he nodded and smiled, and walked away while she was still talking. He hated to be so rude, he told me, but he had to get my new surprise hidden while I was still in line for the inhaler, and as far as he was concerned, he'd never heard of LDD or Mezco, and this chick's insistence made him even less interested. He asked me if I'd ever done 'street preaching' like that about the MH line, but he knew I hadn't. Heck, most of the time, I'm defending my choices from cashiers who comment that Deuce is 'femmy' or having to get past sneering staff who question why anyone would want 'that wicked stuff' in the first place. These are the folk I'd really love to show a Living Dead Dolls catalog to ! They'd probably combust.

Funny thing is, yeah, I already knew about LDD. They've been around since 2000, and are easily found in comic shop-type venues and flea market 'collectable' booths. They just never 'caught' with me, mostly for the same reason Madame Alexander dolls don't grab me either. It's usually the same doll, over and over and over, just the outfits, hair, and sometimes makeup change. Ever seen the Alexander Star Wars set ? It's cute as heck, if you don't mind that the only thing that separates Luke and Han from Leia is that her mouth is painted smaller than theirs. The fellas are nearly identical, save for hair color. Heck, the three I've seen even gave Luke the same brown eyes Han & Leia have. Error !

LDDs probably have several head/body molds in use, but when you see a bunch together, it's like a Madame Alexander display - you can't help but notice they all look the same, even though this one's dripping blood down her dress and that one has an 8-ball for an eye. I'm sure they're quality dolls, but I'm simply not interested in paying big bucks for the same doll over and over again in slightly varying appearances. One of the things I like about MH is that, so far, no two dolls have had the same head mold. And while it bugs me sometimes, I kinda respect that each one has his/her own wardrobe style that often doesn't look 'right' on another doll. Get a bunch of nude, mussed-hair LDDs or Alexanders in a pile, and you'd probably be hard-pressed to identify which one wore the Marie Antoinette gown and which one was the executioner.

Not much else going on, so I'm gonna post this early before I get drained. Dearest Son and Beloved are so patient with me, but I'm tired of being tired already. Maybe I'll generate some energy if I use some. Can't hurt - much !

Weekend's work on display - more doll time to come !

Current Mood : Slow but steady recovery.

And Life returns to normal. Dearest Son is home from an extended stay at his Grandparents' - they wanted to give me another day to recover - and I actually got some sleep last night. Asthma is heck on sleep, you either have to try it sitting straight up, or you become a day sleeper. Either way, sooner or later, you're gonna slide to horizontal. Depending on how bad it is, you'll get either the rest of your rest that way, or you'll wake up in a panic a few minutes later, gasping and clawing at air, fighting to get back upright so you can breathe.

I was actually free-breathing pretty well yesterday, but night's always the worst. So it was heavenly to wake up with the alarm, instead of already being awake and staring at it. Haven't needed the inhaler at all today, although I am taking it easy. I hope to get more normal tomorrow, the kitchen's a mess !

Well, I watched several episodes of Intervention and Obsessed, and saw several other A& E exclusives, like Parking Wars and Criss Angel available on the Netflix queue, and started to wonder if Hoarders was available, too. Yes ! Turns out, I missed an episode or two, and there's a couple I can't make m'self watch again. I tell ya, a cocktail of Intervention, Obsessed, and Hoarders over the course of a long weekend will make anybody 1) clean the immediate area no matter how bad yer wheezing, and 2) start to hate humanity. So many people who cry endlessly over their situation, but won't do a blasted thing to change it, even with a cadre of professional help. My throttling hand started to itch fiercely. I have more sympathy when I just watch one episode - and one series - at a time. Doubt I'll watch Intervention again - I just have no frame of reference when it comes to drug and alcohol over-indulgence.

Another potential side effect is that, in seeing others' collections and even piles of stuff, you might realize some things about yerself. One Hoarders episode featured a family of stuffed animal fans. Bought 'em by the ton, from the looks of things. And by the show's end, most were out in a Got Junk ? truck, contaminated by bugs and other nasties. I never really thought about it before, but I've never been 'into' stuffed animals much. I have a few, but Dearest has a boxload, easily twice over what I've had my whole life. I preferred easy-to-clean dolls, even as a kid. Vinyl's easy to wipe down and brush out, because, let's face it, I hate cleaning, and yes, my room had to be clean always. It's great to have soft comforting toys, but it always drove me crazy when some of my always-limited possessions inevitably got dirty and were nearly impossible to get clean again. If there's anything I hate more than cleaning, it's throwing something I care about in the trash, so I ended up not caring about stuffies that were temporary at best. Even now, when someone kindly gives me a stuffed animal, I cringe inside and wonder if Dearest would want it. As yet unexplained is why I really have a hate-on for teddy bears. You'd think a doll hobbyist would like teddy bears, but I can't stand 'em. One day, I'll figure it out. Heck, it took me years to figure out why I don't care for stuffed animals and porcelain dolls - the next big epiphany is always right around the corner !

Never did get to 'doll redressing time' this weekend, heck, I barely ate. Just not hungry. But I'm sure to find time this week. Beloved Hubby's gonna custom-make a shelf for the Jem Rockin' Roadster this weekend - no Airsoft for two more weeks - and hang it for me. Glad I redid the doll bookcase, since I like how this looks much better. Everybody's not so crowded and tight, and I don't really like having a lot of dolls on the floor. At this point, we need as much floor space as we can find !

But it was worth the work, just to see Beloved take a spin - and a spin-out ! - on Dearest's Razor scooter through the living room tonight ! 


PS - Hi, Chelle !!

Sorting Some Stuff Out...

Current Mood : Wistful

Here's a laugh for Friday for ya - I can get paid to blog here ! <snort>  It's true - if I sign up for ads, and everybody clicks on 'em, I get a few pennies. Not worth it, in my opinion. People hate clicking ads, and either never do so, or never do so and feel slightly guilty about it. I unsubbed from that one guy's feed - while I occasionally got neat wallpaper and semi-usable graphics, the constant 'Buy Me A Coffee !' button on the e-mail, the one that followed your scrolling on the website, and download site one got on my nerves. I'd rather have your visits instead of coffee - hey, I can make my own coffee, burnt or otherwise ! - so unless Google suddenly orders me to do so, no ads here. And if they do order 'em, don't click on 'em ! It won't bother me any.

Tripod sent me a nice e-mail late last night, referring to my change in service, asking me to take an exit survey and such. Whew. That answered that question - and I won't be billed in a few days, I'm all done. When the survey asked why I was leaving, it was a tossup between 'found better alternatives' and 'no money', so I went with the kinder option. And I also mentioned the 'no remote linking' thing, since it really bothered me.  Would have been a bit more honest, but it was a very short survey.

Taking pictures of all the dolls has me thinking of all of them, usually at once ! It's easy to plot and plan and daydream for the Monster High crew, they're right on my desk. But all the rest aren't in my line of vision, and lately, it's been a 'if it's not right in front of me, and I don't have to deal with it, fix it, figure out how to make x of of y minus q, or cook it, it doesn't exist' kind of month so far. Even Elphie and Fiyero, who are on my desk, aren't in my immediate sweep, which is why I had to go back for their photo.

I found m'self thinking of my sole American Girl clone, a made-for-Target Battat doll I call Debbie. I had a blonde named Jenny, too, both flea market / yard sale finds, but I decided to keep just one. Honestly, I would have donated them both, but I have a ton of dollar-sale patterns for AG dolls that I wanted to use, and evidently AG clothes sell. So I kept Debbie as a model more than anything else, not out of the same sort of 'want' that shimmers around pretty much all my other dolls.

So that sort of puts Debbie in an odd position. I don't really like her that much, and don't see m'self playing with her anytime soon. She's literally a clothing model. (grin) Two or three times now, I've bought MH dolls with the express purpose of making her stay on the sewing desk for perpetual fittings, but I keep falling for them and it never happens. Yet it is happening with Debbie. It seems so weird to me, to have a doll I don't really like - her sleep-eyes are perpetually at half-mast, even when she's fully upright, her hair is very coarse, and her skin tone is an odd, muddy color, and I've never been fond of the vinyl limbs / stuffed body type dolls. Only reason she's still here is because I thought I might one day wanna make clothes to sell for her size, and may need her. And, let's face it, I really enjoyed buying all those patterns.

I thought that, maybe if I gave her a makeover tomorrow, that'd help, but when I'm truly honest with m'self, I know it won't. So I pulled out the doll pattern basket and went through it, organizing as I went. I'd bought 11 patterns for AG-size dolls, and not one of them had ever been opened. (sigh) Spread them out, and decided to keep five. Two had shoes I wanted to keep, and the rest had either techniques I wanted to try, or I thought maybe, with some alterations, the clothes could fit Timey and Dottie. Can always donate the finished items, and patterns can be rescaled or drafted all-new once I learn the techniques. The six I culled mostly repeated the outfits I kept, or don't contain much I want to try now. Two of the six, I have no idea why I bought in the first place.

Before I donate Debbie, I'll see if K, the little girl across the street, wants her - but I'll ask her parents first. Always do. Not sure what to do with the patterns I pulled, though. Since everyone who sews knows about 99c sales, it's not like these are gonna sell on eBay or anywhere. Anyone here sew for AG dolls ?

It's an odd feeling. I'm glad to finally have it resolved, and I know I'm doing the right thing for me, but I am just a bit sad to see her go. Hopefully I won't repeat this in a year, the way I did with those 'My Friend Mandy' dolls. And now, all my patterns fit *inside* the basket ! Ah, well. Truth be told, I regret spending the cash on the patterns more than I'm sad about sending Debbie along. And ya don't get nowhere with regrets - only action can get new wheels turning.