Reflections

09/04/2026 13:33
snowazalea: Let me stay where the wind will whisper to me Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story (imaginary)
[personal profile] snowazalea
I have added three more dolls to my “keep” list after some thinking. It was good to reflect on how to approach the hobby and make some corrections to my collecting. Often I have to just try something to see if I like it, and if not, I shouldn’t beat myself up about it. I don’t think it’s realistic to see myself as keeping every one of my dolls for the rest of my life, either. If there are some lifelong keepers, that will be awesome, but I want to stay open to change always.

 

I decided I want to keep my vintage babies because I had been so interested in some displays on Pinterest. I realized I really want to try them, and I have the space.

 

I also considered how the meaning of writing has either changed or become clearer to me over the years with experience. Primarily, writing is for me now. I find I shy away from putting my work online because it was never intended to be rated or judged, and people online seem increasingly conditioned to do that. Writing helps me process my experiences and reveals my desires to me. If I wanted to share writing online, it would be writing about writing, to help others write for themselves rather than an audience. 

On writing romance novels

08/04/2026 06:02
snowazalea: There's a thing that they can't touch (all about us)
[personal profile] snowazalea
This morning I'm having my Laos Meung Honeybee tea, but the caffeine just hasn't hit yet.

I have changed into my 40s in that all I can think about is sleeping in. Lying in bed, I persuaded myself to get up by reminding myself there are three days in the near future I can sleep in: Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday.

The last two afternoons, I have been going to a coffee or tea shop after work and writing at least one page before I go home. But today, I'm going to go straight home after work. I'm starting to feel tired and burned out already. 

This week, I have been reflecting on how easy and enjoyable it was for me to write in the afternoons after school in junior high and high school. Even in college, I wrote entire novels. I feel like I didn't spend that much time studying. But I passed. I wouldn't change anything about that. But what happened? My first couple of jobs, I continued to write. It really ebbed noticeably in the early 2010s. And I've written since then, but it's been a real effort. I tried to look up some stuff about it being harder once you get older, but all I found were articles and posts swearing that it doesn't change at all, and people get more creative when they get older because they have more experience. Huh. Maybe it's just me then.

But I do have higher standards for myself and my environment. I spend my mental energy planning meals and chores. I don't feel free to daydream about characters in the absorbing way I once did. I might forget something. And I do. If I make a conscious effort, I can do it.

What brought it on was looking up about some Harlequin romances, and remembering how I had wanted to and planned to write for that line for so long. I made some submissions in college and early work life. I always thought I would be a romance writer. When I think of... just not letting that happen, I feel some panic. I've got to think of where I would want to submit to, though. Harlequin is still around, but it looks to have diminished over the years. 

Reducing the Horde/Hoard

05/04/2026 17:58
snowazalea: Let me stay where the wind will whisper to me Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story (imaginary)
[personal profile] snowazalea
It's kind of cool when a day takes shape and takes off on its own, like today. I started out watching the first couple of episodes of the reality show Hoarders from 2009, which I always have been curious to see, and it was very interesting and thought-provoking. Last night, I had a bit of an internal melt-down when I tried to navigate the exploded-looking computer room, which already looks bad, but now has a bunch of bathroom clutter from the newly-remodeled bathroom. I am resisting putting things in the bathroom because I don't want to put the old clutter in the new, beautiful space. 

So, I took everything out of the under-stairs closet downstairs and separated everything that can go in the outdoor storage building, like the Christmas decorations, and ended up with a lot of storage in the under-stairs closet. I made room to put my sewing supplies, luggage, and doll bags and was able to get the computer room mostly cleaned up, till I took out all the bedding, and now it looks exploded again (but I have a plan for the bedding, so I'm not as panicked).

But I asked myself, if my dolls could go to someone who wanted them really, really badly, like a best-case scenario thing, would I want to give them up? And for most of them, the answer was a big "yes." And in some cases, even if they weren't going to a situation like that, ha ha. So I made a list that really surprised me. I'm going to sit with the list for a little bit and start preparing to sell some on Instagram. I have bought dolls on Instagram, so I don't think it's a big deal. eBay takes such a huge cut now, I'm trying to avoid them. If Instagram doesn't work for some stuff, I'll go to Poshmark or Mercari, if they don't take a big cut. 

One thing was, I got my two heads back from Dollmore. I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. Lorien is everything I dreamed of and more. It is a dream come true to finally have a Volks SDC Kurenai, even though I've had her for seven years now, ha ha. Glynnis's face-up is lovely as well, but I faced the fact that I'm still not interested in Glynnis, even with her looking her best. That's okay. I'll finish up her cleaning, restring her, and sell her. I kind of thought that might happen. But what really surprised me is thinking about how bad some people want Dream of Doll dolls, and here I have three that I'm not interested in, even though I went through a lot to get the last two. They need new face-ups badly, but I don't feel like investing in them. It could make someone really happy to get a Dream of Doll, and I'd get a fair price for them. I wanted to have those first dolls "again," and it sparked the realization that yeah, that was then, this is now. I appreciate that I was able to get them and learn that. 

I currently have 8 bjd's on my "keep" list, 1 16" fashion doll, 1 Barbie, and my American Girl Truly Me. That's a total of 11 dolls in the home. It's kind of amazing when I think about how free that makes me feel. It gives me breathing room to enjoy what I have, instead of feeling all that weight on me. 

I think I've been quite a shopaholic every since college days, and there have been times I've accumulated, and times I've really gotten rid of a lot of things. It's definitely a cycle for me. It's hard to know how much I want to change in terms of being a collector. I guess the best answer I have right now is, I want to be mindful and open to letting things go when it's the right time. I do want to have dolls and other objects that I love, but I want to put the work in to make sure it doesn't get to be too much. 
snowazalea: Wakin' up, I see that everything is okay The first time in my life, and now it's so great (Default)
[personal profile] snowazalea
I finished the first Drina book, Ballet for Drina, and started immediately on Drina's Dancing Year. Wow, these are so good! I actually hate the character of Drina's grandmother, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to, because she's always described as being "kind" to Drina, and...

spoilers )

I am on the second volume of Hinako Ashihara's Forbidden Dance. Actually, I am done with it, but I haven't finished all the "extra" stuff yet. I always dislike the extra stuff at the end of manga volumes, because I never have any interest in reading it, but I don't feel like I'm done until I do. I'm always so happy when a volume doesn't have that stuff. 

Forbidden Dance is lighter reading than Drina. No parents or grandparents to deal with, just rivals, lovers, and vying for that ultimate goal. For the main character in this series, that goal is to be a member of an all-male dance troup called COOL, because it's just so, I guess, cool, and I don't understand her goal, because I would never want to be, but I still enjoy reading it. And there's actually no gender-bending in it, believe it or not. I like gender-bending sometimes, but it would have been unnecessary trope-y stuff here.

My two doll heads, Lorien's and Glynnis's, are in customs in Chicago right now. I couldn't believe the photos when Dollmore sent them. They have transformed these heads into breathtaking dolls. I feel for the first time like I actually have a Volks SDC Kurenai like I always wanted, because I've never seen her with a decent face-up before. And I had no idea that Glynnis would look this wonderful -- an inexpensive doll to begin with, and 12 years old now. 

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