2022

(or the great depression part 2?)

on a good note, little alice is such a blessing, she seemed to bond to each of us instantly like we've known her all along, & we suspect she might be our sabrina felina come back to us in a slightly more colorful form? too many little uncanny coincidences in her behavior to miss..
i've updated her album here <3
she tends to come sleep right up with me like our other girls always did, & helps me fall asleep which makes me think i've probably been woefully low on alpha waves for these last couple years?

meanwhile on the subject of my boredshopping weakness, i saw a tweet recently that read like this:

therapist: so what do we say when we are feeling depressed?

me: add to cart?

therapist: no.

yeah i only seem to know how to comfort myself through art/music, kitties & cool collectibles..

in fallout76 i continue to work on my beloved vault 11, here's that nukadiner i added recently & commented about.. as i wander alone through the post-apoc wasteland i like to listen to appalachia radio & the classical station on my pipboy, the oldies that include danny kaye, bing crosby, billie holiday, fats waller, the inkspots & the andrew sisters remind me of my mom, & the classical station i tend to turn on at night makes me think of my dad.. i was able to get vaxxed at a medical center too, which seemed like a good idea as i've had to resort to eating a few corpses ;) but hey! back in camp i have a cool new santatron robot that helps protect vault 11 & emits robotic messages like 'ho ho ho' 'the world has become a living nightmare' & 'happy holidays'.. although i admit i've been overextending myself farther & farther away from home & getting killed pretty unmercifully, my typical 'meal' is vodka & bubblegum & the corpses of those i've killed, & i must admit i've been using a variety of different drugs just trying to survive.. i'm always surprised & relieved when i find i've been able to walk all the way back to vault 11 & crash in my nice safe bomb shelter hideaway..
& this did make me smile today :)

added some shots of tonight's half moon & jupiter to my winter window album as well..

have i mentioned i need a new radiohead album?

continuing in the comments..

bren

Comments

[ghost]

#fallout76 #gaming #cats #kitty #anniversary #bigfoot #lostandfoundtoys #infj #marriage #mentalhealth #rpg

so today is our 35th anniversary, who would've thought a vampire & a sasquatch could start out with little or nothing & come all this way? :)
i baked him a berry pie & posted his new toy over at the lost & found - https://friendlyghost.typepad.com/lost_found_vintage_toys/2022/01/bigfoot-sighting.html
yeah, he forgot. but that's a.d.d. i'm kinda use to it, but today he went out looking for the kind of milk i prefer since we're having some grocery supply issues here, & he told me to get the cool 'all things emily strange book' with 20 stickers!!! so aren't those kinds of gestures what's really important? lol
in f76 things were getting really sketchy - https://friendlyghost.typepad.com/photos/memoirs_of_a_vampire_butt/f76.html but then raven helped me out with figuring out my weapons workbench which was overly complicated at first, now it feels more like good old fallout 4 & i'm better defended! thanks, raven! on my trek home today i ran across an old guy scavenging, i spoke with him & he was looking for a place to stay so i offered him my camp.. he thanked me & said he'd gather his things & make his way over, said he'd watch the camp for me & that he has lots of practical knowledge, then he told me 'keep family with you if you can, we all need it' & lastly he told me all he needs is a comfortable chair & i should call him gramps.. (this is what dan called my dad who could always be found in his favorite chair <3<3<3)
vault 11 these days: https://friendlyghost.typepad.com/photos/friendlyghoststuff/vault-11-tv-f76.html
little alice is a feist, fascinated with the sinks, so we bought her her own waterbowl to try out.. she's ocd like dan & i, we have 2 litterboxes in her 'literaria' (the kitty reading room where they meditate under the stairwell..) & we've realized she uses one for her tinkles & the other just for her 'sand sculptures' lol! she is super loving & bonded to us.. such a sweetheart..

[ghost]

#eclectica #collection #collectibles #book #collector #innerchild #library #toys #treasures #infj

the evolution of the altar of eclectica
(a collector's story)

so once upon a time when toxic was 17, we moved out with the sasquatch & started our life together in a little apartment behind an architectural business.
i liked it because it had high ceilings, which made it seem larger than it actually was.. lol & i'd pull big boards out of the trash left from used architectural blueprints to paint on to fill the walls :) we had very few possessions between us to start out with, but i remember how we spent $200 for an oak wall unit to put books & vhs tapes & our zody's stereo & stuff on.. it was our first big purchase together & i also remember watching it sway back & forth during the big earthquakes in '87..
anyway over all the decades it became known fondly as the altar of eclectica, as the shelves evolved from books & tapes to collectibles & miniature treasures..
it has gone through so many incarnations through the years, & dusting it each year at spring cleaning time is brutal, but we love it..
check it out here in its latest glory which i photo'd for some t-shirt posts over at the lost & found, i moved 'wonderland' to the top so i can see it better & added a dedicated
halloween shelf.. it has books in the back & collectibles in the front, basically broken down into the following:

top shelf toys & tophats including american mcgee's alice
horror & nbx
tolkien & more nbx & vampires
(yes i need a whole shelf of vampires)
wonderland (all alice)
the psych shelf
kids stuff
halloween
kitties & mystical items
collector card notebooks
poetry & literature
art & more literature
our girls <3
movies (johnny depp) & more literature
more artbooks & victorian albums
stephen king & zombies

http://www.brensgumbyland.com/images/altar%20of%20eclectica%20emily%20t%20large%20xx.png

http://www.brensgumbyland.com/images/altar%20of%20eclectica%20alice%20t%20large%20x.png

these are huge photos so you can click on them to see them really close up..
:D

p.s. it's securely braced to the wall now.. just in case!

[ghost]

#art #painter #cats #kitty #infj #mentalhealth #arttherapy #f76 #gaming #girlgamers

so i ended up doing a little painting for the first time in 2022 ~ https://friendlyghost.typepad.com/photos/around_the_bend/2022-paintings.html
this album is titled 'a long way down' ~ http://www.brensgumbyland.com/ghostgalleryalongwaydown.html (sound up)
this artwork also found itself as the background for a very different album, the 3d catnip party box started out with alice, ostrich & her toys & got mixed up with some 3d glasses from one of my dover book posts.. anyway, it was lots of fun! http://www.brensgumbyland.com/ghostgallery3dcatnippartybox.html (sound up!)
alice is birdwatching at the moment, we throw some popcorn out onto my deck to encourage them to come close for her, thrush, flickers, steller's jays, towhees & chickadees <3

i must say f76 is just not fallout 4, but i'll get every bit of play out of it i can, like the real world right now, it's almost more fun just to stay inside (vault 11)
https://friendlyghost.typepad.com/photos/friendlyghoststuff/f76-sheepsquatch-house-kitties.html
VAULT FOREVER - SURFACE NEVER!

had a little setback the other day as it seems i live within the perfect storm of post-menopausal, ibs-c, migraine stress syndrome, each affecting the other? i think i need a fainting couch.. at night alice curls up right at my face :) purrs & kneads & helps me sleep, she's a cuddler to be sure, oriental shorthairs like to bond closely to their humans! i keep adding photos to her photo album as i'm able to get shots..

wish we'd get another round of snow before winter slips away..

[ghost]

#migraine #aura #mentalhealth #health #headache #therapykitty #cats #infj #migraineur

so now i understand the trouble over the last couple of days was what's known as prodrome, as today i was hit suddenly with migraine aura after my morning posts, really beautiful actually, scintillating scotoma not unlike some of my own artwork, starting in the center of my vision & vibrating color as it grows & extends off to the left.. fortunately this time no bad confusion or trouble speaking, little alice had her first official day of training as a therapy kitty, sitting beside me curled up in the dark while i ride it all out <3 she's a good one :) i'm taking it easy now.. can't shake my head or nod.. lol oh well.. in years past where these took up much more of my days i use to name them & track them like hurricanes.. :/

[Sally]

I don't think I mentioned this before, Bren, but I admire not only all of your talents, but all of the time and work you put into your blog posts. Like this one for example with all of the links to other cool photos! I love that Raven puppet, your kitty pictures and you don't have to have a dog to buy dog toys! HaHa! :D Plus so many more! love them all! It's so cool too that you have so many great photos to bring back all of the good memories.<3

[ghost]

thanks! ;) #gumby #innerchild #blog #blogger #art #vintage #toys #nostalgia #infj #photos #arttherapy #mentalhealth