Shirley's Mind Grapes

Shirley's Mind Grapes

The answers to questions nobody asked

1960s

Dailies 12/11/13

Dailies 12/11/13

Daily Doodle: Rook Castle

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Song of the Day: Do Right Woman, Do Right Man by Aretha Franklin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhdgFfNsst0

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m playing the organ on the raised back part of a stage. I’m wearing a white button-down shirt and a reddish maroon vest with pea green and yellow undertones on the lining with matching pants.

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Blurb 1/365: I have this bad habit of picking at and peeling the skin around the tips of my fingers. I consider it a step up from my bad habit of scratching my eczema to shreds. Seriously, my hands were just big open wounds of moderate to severe levels over a span of 10 years. I’ve realized that some of my fingertips are smoothing out from the constant picking, almost like a callous, like Marge Simpsons’s quilting finger.

So now sometimes I feel like Kevin Spacey’s character in Seven because I’m losing my fingerprints. It’s kind of cool.

Dailies 10/26/13

Dailies 10/26/13

Daily Doodle: Winter Is Coming

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Song of the Day: The Way I Feel Inside by The Zombies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=964OLlW6K0w

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m sitting alone in a room in front of the organ that we had in our house when I was growing up. After playing with the rainbow colored auto-play buttons that offered beats such as: cha-cha, rock-n-roll, and jazz, everything is quiet and I start to sing this song. I play the harmonizing keys and finish the song. Then the doorbell rings and I sit in complete silence until the unknown visitor goes away.

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Blurb 1/365: Only one more week until the release of the Ender’s Game movie!

Dailies 10/25/13

Dailies 10/25/13

Daily Doodle: Moo

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Song of the Day: Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McvWodRXA7k

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Musical Pipe Dream: My pipe dream lies in the seconds of the song between 1m35sec and 1m45sec. It’s all in slow motion. I’m in a gang of girls. We’re all wearing short waisted mini skirts with knee high socks and platform shoes. Our long sleeve, button down shirts are cotton candy pink which matches our lipstick and the pink bubble gum that we’re chewing with our mouths open. Each of us is carrying a tool of mischief over our shoulders; a wooden baseball bat, a golf club, a crowbar. Our heavily lined eyes define our glares as we walk towards an onlooker with our backs to a dismantled car.

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Blurb 1/365: Tomorrow, I will have McDonald’s for breakfast. Nothing starts off a weekend right more than an Egg McMuffin and an oval hash brown.

Dailies 09/30/13

Dailies 09/30/13

Daily Doodle: Happy Pill

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Song of the Day: Feeling Good by Nina Simone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJA69C6SlRk

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m set at the back of a stage with the rest of the band in the shadows. When the music sets in, I start pounding the piano keys as the rest of the band plays their instruments to the fullest. An overhead light turns on and shows our burnt orange suits with yellow pin stripes. Our hats match the color of our suits and cast a shadow over our eyes.

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Blurb 1/365: I probably just need to chill out.

Dailies 09/25/13

Dailies 09/25/13

Daily Doodle: Josephine

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Song of the Day: Stand by Me by Ben E. King

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg7YoXiKn0

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Musical Pipe Dream: I approach a man that’s panhandling and I ask him if he’s interested in singing a song. Anything, it’s his choice. I’ve got a PVC bucket and a paint brush and I sit down on the side of a planter that’s full of tanbark and he starts singing Stand by Me. I play background beats on the PVC bucket alternating between drumming with the stick and slightly lifting the bucket with the side of my shoe.

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Blurb 1/365:

Short Fictional Story: Contagious Memories

Betty found out about memory contagions when she was eight years old.

It used to be popular to have chicken pox parties so that kids could get it over with at a somewhat planned time. Betty went over to Marcy’s house because she and her sister both had the chicken pox. Their cousin Janet was also there. She lives on the coast and her mom drove her all the way there just to try and get the chicken pox during summer break. The party was a success and they all got the chicken pox. Unfortunately, Betty caught a cold, too. It was a really bad cold that kept her in bed all day. She could remember being really bummed out because she was planning to spend her time in the living room playing Nintendo for the duration of the chicken pox.

Betty started to have really bad dreams. She thought it was just because she was sick and on so much cough medicine. But these dreams were too real and too much for an eight year old mind to conjure up. Somebody was hurting her in these dreams. In them, there was always something gold shining in her face that she couldn’t avoid. Betty didn’t understand what was happening to her, but it was scary and she couldn’t breathe.

She got over the cold within a week or two and the dreams seemed to have subsided but she could never forget them or the way they made her feel.

Months passed and the first half of school was finally over. Betty was excited for winter break. Her parents and their friends decided to have a “Friends & No Family Holiday Party” in the spirit of keeping everybody happy and not making either spouse see each other’s in-laws. Marcy’s family came and Janet’s family was able to join them, too. Betty was happy to see them since the only time she had met Janet was at the chicken pox party. Now they had school pictures to exchange and cookies to eat.

Everybody arrived and Betty skipped down the hallway to greet the guests. Suddenly, she froze. In the doorway was the outline of a figure holding a crockpot. Janet rushed over to help with the dangling electric cord and that’s when Betty saw his face. It was the man from her dreams. Her nightmares. She was so scared, she peed. It seeped through her tights and dripped onto the floor.

Betty’s parents were embarrassed for her and blurted out, “You think you’re in the clear when they’re past five, but it still happens!”

Betty was dry heaving once her parents got her to her room. They were trying to get her to take a quick bath but she refused to take off her clothes. She told her parents about her dreams and that it was Janet’s dad who was hurting her in them. They told me it was just a coincidence. None of them had ever met or seen Janet’s dad before that night.

Betty was such a wreck that her parents decided to end the party and send everybody home with “Take Away Holiday Packs”. Everybody was understanding. Somebody joked that the take away packs were actually a good idea for future parties with their in-laws. Betty peeked out the door when they were getting ready to leave. Janet’s dad said goodbye and smiled. The hallway light was at just the right angle to reflect off of his four gold front teeth.

She was too young then to realize what she knew.

That was the last time Betty ever saw Janet. Betty believes it’s because she couldn’t help Janet that she’s so involved with her research. Many people say they have weird dreams when they’re sick. Why is the common cold so common? It may be another way for us to communicate.

Dailies 09/15/13

Dailies 09/15/13

Daily Doodle: My First Memory: Snoopy on Ice

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Song of the Day: Mickey Mouse Club March from The Mickey Mouse Club

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4C_lUy58Rw

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m marching to the beat of my own drum.

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Blurb 1/365: Six months ago, I decided to do a daily project for a year that included four things: a Daily Doodle (a drawing), a Song of the Day (a random pick of a good song), a Musical Pipe Dream (imagining being able to play a musical instrument, a musical scene, or describing something musical related to the Song of the Day), and a Blurb 1/365 (writing something, a story, a quote, an opinion, anything).

I always over analyze things and try to meticulously plan them out before I even try doing them. This time things were different and I just started doing it without setting expectations for the outcome. It’s the first time I’ve done something like this. Not only in art, but in anything.

I’m usually quite a pessimist when it comes to me following through with things. Now I’m halfway through. I’ve made time for this in my life right now and I believe that when I make time in my life for anything new, life starts to.

With my mind also changing, I’m thankful that the changes in my life and my mind are positive. It also doesn’t hurt to that I’m getting a bit of discipline on my drawing skills and time allocation.

I don’t know where I’ll be in the next six months, but I’m content knowing I’ll be somewhere good in my mind and that’s all I need to know. See you then :O)

Dailies 09/12/13

Dailies 09/12/13

Daily Doodle: Steamed Hams

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Song of the Day: Knock on Wood as performed by Otis Redding featuring Carla Thomas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVt3GWuGM9s

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m jamming on the drums. My foot is steady and hard on the pedal and I’m making sure I’m playing loud and the sound is tight, not sloppy. I’m having so much fun.

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Blurb 1/365: “Aurora Borealis? At this time of year?!” – Superintendent Chalmers

Dailies 09/10/13

Dailies 09/10/13

Daily Doodle: Lucy Danziger

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Song of the Day: Donna the Prima Donna by Dion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjm1CN-6ahA

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Musical Pipe Dream: My bangs are gelled into a bouffant and I’m wearing a fitted suit with a skinny tie. I’m singing into a big, chunky microphone and swaying to the 2’s and 4’s. When I shake my legs, the women and men in the audience go wild.

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Blurb 1/365: Every time I encounter a person, I treat it like I’m making a first impression; I only make first impressions.