Shirley's Mind Grapes

Shirley's Mind Grapes

The answers to questions nobody asked

doodles

Dailies 12/16/13

Dailies 12/16/13

Daily Doodle: Smug Toad

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Song of the Day: Frolic by Luciano Michelini

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

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m wearing a tailored tweed suit and a bowler hat. I have my hands in my pockets and I’m looking at the sky. Every step I take I land on my heel and take a pivot turn and sometimes twirl.

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Blurb 1/365: I shook all the trees in the whole goddamn town.

Dailies 12/14/13

Dailies 12/14/13

Daily Doodle: Cat Sandals

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Song of the Day: Handy Man by Jimmy Jones

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

and James Taylor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGdWA93e-Ls

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Musical Pipe Dream: In the Jimmy Jones version, I’m singing backup and clapping and two-stepping emphatically. In the James Taylor version, I’m playing the drums with stick straight hair in my face and I’m wearing a denim vest.

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Blurb 1/365: Setting deadlines for myself is the only way I can get things done. I’ve had verbal arguments with myself out loud about why I need to finish this or that or why I don’t have time or I’m too tired to do this or that or to calm the f down about not finishing this or that. Sometimes I don’t even want to get out of bed. I gotta keep motivated, like, I get up and get ready, and then I can have McDonald’s breakfast. Setting deadlines is also a good way to keep busy. It keeps me away from my triggers. Triggers that make me unhealthy. Even if I have to swim through triggers everyday, if I keep busy, it really only leaves me with one option to keep my mind on; whatever I’m keeping busy with. Once I’ve finished with all the day to day stuff, I don’t come home and reminisce about things that pissed me off, I complete the next deadline. Then I get to eat something I like with the people I love. (Futurama reference!) I also reward myself with things like binges on Futurama/Simpsons/Bob’s Burgers/House Hunters, movies on Netflix, shaking trees on Animal Crossing.

The most important and difficult deadlines for me to make are for the things that I want to do. I just have to make those deadlines just like I make every other deadline. It’s just that hard and it’s just that simple.

Dailies 12/13/13

Dailies 12/13/13

Daily Doodle: Puppy Flip Flops

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Song of the Day: I Started a Joke by the Bee Gees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq6YmSVAOG8

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m strumming on an acoustic guitar hooked up to an amp. At the end of a stanza I strum the pick slightly forward as I go down the strings and look up for the cue to start up again.

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Blurb 1/365: If I ever get famous or have a reason to be on a talk show like The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, firstly, I’d have to pinch myself to make sure it was real, and secondly, I’d be sure to sit like a normal person would. I wouldn’t slouch or anything, but I would sit normally where a normal stomach pooch would naturally stick out. I have seen one too many interviews with men and women sitting at the edge of a seat, looking like they need to pee or poo, all seemingly to keep their tummy from sticking out. Not only does it make them appear awkward, I end up looking at their stomachs being sucked in and thinking about it more than I would if they had just sat like a normal person. There shouldn’t be so much pressure on people in the public eye to look like mannequins. Shoooot, mannequins shouldn’t be looking like that either.

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 12/10/13

Dailies 12/10/13

Daily Doodle: “Aaaaeeeyyy!”

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Song of the Day: Donna by Ritchie Valens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMcHbh6HBDk

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Musical Pipe Dream: On a small stage, I’m singing lead into a bulbous, shiny microphone and strumming an electric guitar. I’m wearing a fitted, black suit with pencil pants that show a bit of my ankle which contrasts from my black, pointed-toe, high-heeled pumps. All the Donnas in the audience are swooning over me.

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Blurb1/365:

Dear Peanut Butter on Toast,

Thanks for being there to comfort me when I get home.

Sincerely,

Auntie Pesto

Dailies 12/09/13

Dailies 12/09/13

Daily Doodle: Link Pajamas

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Song of the Day: Sixteen Tons

by Merle Travis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfVvqLM_e4

and as performed by Tennessee Ernie Ford

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRh0QiXyZSk

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m slappin a bass. My posture is bent over with my butt sticking out. I’m really into the beat and nodding my head and two-stepping to the beat.

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Blurb 1/365: There is so much beautiful music out there, I just thought it was a good time to say that I’m thankful for my ears and my brain.

Dailies 12/07/13

Dailies 12/07/13

Daily Doodle: Homage to the Tipsy Penguin

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Song of the Day: We’ll Meet Again by Dame Vera Lynn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqA5IJPEONY

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Musical Pipe Dream: I’m playing percussion with a big band. We’re all wearing white tuxedos with black bow ties and lapels. We’re performing for a large group of people who start to sing along. Some people have their arms around each other and are swaying back and forth, some are patting their knee to the beat, some have tears in their eyes.

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Blurb 1/365: Gathering my instruments: a plastic bag, a stick, and a Meowsic keyboard.