Welcome to painted.music's paradise.
Come, please, and join me by the crackling fire. Sit beside me on the cushions scattered carelessly (carefreely) along the floor. Pallid greens, rich chocolates, and simple beiges greet our vision, softening the sharp edges of the room. The snap-crackle-pop permeates the air from the glitter of the rainbow in the fireplace. (It reminds me of Rice Crispies; what do you think of when you hear it?) Tiny critters with fairy-dust-eyes and sharp, pointy noses creep forward warily. Beckon them closer, reassure them, and they will come. Fear not these wingless angels; they mean us no harm. As they scamper back and forth in their own unique game of tag, offer to let them perch upon your shoulder, like the kings and queens they are. If they so choose to accept your invitation, wriggle closer to the fire, pull a blanket around your shoulders, and enjoy their company. They keep the life growing in this room and never rest, never cease weaving their delicate magic on the leaves imprinted on the walls. One of their many works of art, a miniature bonsai tree rests, gnarled and weary, in the corner of the room -- hunched and contorted yet beautifully proud. Painted trees and vines curl across the walls of the room; and mahogany shelves strewn across the walls support trinkets, plants, and empty bottles (that look like homes for genies). My room reminds me of Asia and of nature. It is lovely and comforting, and it is mine. It is my home; it is my haven. It is my Heaven.
I invite you to show me your Heaven.
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I love God.
"The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful... and has nobody to thank." - Dante Gabriel Rossetti
"If God were small enough to be understood, He wouldn't be big enough to be worshipped." - Evelyn Underhill
"As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." - CS Lewis
I love my friends.
"Friends are kisses blown to us by angels."
"If you make it plain that you like people, it's hard for them to resist liking you back." - Lois McMaster Busold
"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
I love children.
"Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist." - Michael Levine
"You know children are growing up when they start asking questions that have answers." - John P. Plomp
I love writing.
"Words are alive; cut them and they bleed." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"No man means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean; for words are slippery and thought is viscous." - Henry Brooks Adams
"Words are like bodies and meanings like souls." - Ibn Ezra
"It's not about the words / But the beauty they make." - Say This Sooner
I love nature.
"The earth laughs in flowers." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The earth, grown jealous of the sky, embroidered stars in the folds of flower-beds." - Solomon Ibn Gabirol
I love the sky.
"It's amazing the difference a bit of sky can make." - Shel Silverstein
"The sun is like a cup in the hand of a friend who stirs its flame -- as though the East were pouring out the drink and the West were drinking." - Anonymous, "To the Cup Bearer"
I love poetry.
"They call it a place where
husbands abandon their wives,
wives abandon their children,
and children abandon their dreams."
- Laurie Flowers, "Through Their Eyes"
"Poetry can no more be graded than life can be simply defined." - Perpetual Questions
I love fantasy.
"When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction." - Steven Wright
I love dreams.
"There was no harm in taking aim, even if the target was just a dream." - John Knowles, A Separate Peace
"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." - Edgar Allan Poe
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I believe in P.E.A.C.E
"When the power of love becomes stronger than the love of power, we will have peace." - Jimi Hendrix
I believe in compassion and kindness.
"Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain
"A careless word may kindle strife, a cruel word may wreck a life, a timely word may lessen stress, a loving word may heal and bless."
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill
I believe there is good in everything.
"Those who think happiness is a ray of sunlight shining through the clouds have clearly never danced in the rain."
"It is in the darkest skies that the stars are best seen." - Richard Paul Evans
I believe in listening to others.
"People were given two ears and one tongue so that they may listen more than speak."
"All people want is someone to listen." - Hugh Elliot
I believe there is more to life than school... but that your education never ends.
"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." - Plutarch
"I have never let school interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
"Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know." - Daniel J. Boorstin
I believe any(every)one can change the world.
"If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito." - Betty Reese
I believe in forgiveness.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing else annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi
I believe in life.
"The greatest tragedy of life is not death but what dies inside of us while we live." - Norman Cousins
"You're never too old to become younger." - Mae West
"Youth is the gift of nature, but age is the work of art." - Garson Ranin
I believe in death.
"You have to learn how to do everything, even to die." - Gertrude Stein
"Because in the end, if anything matters, it isn't what lasts but what we make of what never will." - Perpetual Questions
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I hate very few things because I hate to hate...
With that having been said, I hate abuse: child abuse, domestic abuse, animal abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse... trust me, whatever it is, I abhor it.
I hate racism and prejudice.
I hate W.A.R.
I hate stereotypes.
"To generalize is to be an idiot." - William Blake
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I'm (not) always serious.
"It's easy to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite." - Sam Levenson
"Whoever said, 'Nothing is impossible," never tried slamming a revolving door."
"I think it's funny to be delicate with subjects that are explosive." - Jerry Seinfeld
There was never anyone like me before, and there will never again be another me. I am unique. I am me -- the only me there will ever be, so I probably don't want to mess up my life. "I" will not have another shot at this after I die.
I dare you to figure me out.
"I'm so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm talking about." - Oscar Wilde
"If no two people are the same, what is normal?" - Monica Jewell
"Everyone is someone else's abnormal." - Monica Jewell
I am not: normal. broken. depressed. angry. discontent. blonde. atheistic.
I am: inspired, loved, compassionate, growing, learning, reaching, weird, perfect.
To me perfection means doing your job exactly how it is supposed to be done. Human beings' jobs are -- as individual people -- to work on themselves and never stop growing or learning. Therefore, I conclude, every human attempting to better his/herself is perfect.
I think crying over a bad grade in school is pointless, and I can't even begin to understand why everyone worries constantly. Before a test, you're worried that it'll be impossible to take; and after the test you freak out that you surely failed. And -- oh, wait, what did you think the answer to #13 was? So, tell me, please -- because I try endlessly to understand this logic -- where and when does the actual respite come in?
However, though I do find it ridiculous that someone can cry over a single bad grade (or even multiple bad grades) when there are people dying all over the world (I can tell you now: those people wouldn't cry over a 60 on a test), I understand that not everyone thinks along my lines. Not everyone thinks about how much worse most people have it than he/she does. Before you complain that you have nothing to wear, you wouldn't necessarily realize that "nothing" often means "not one article of clothing" for certain people who can't afford clothes (let alone a closet or a house...).
"If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want."
I'm not saying change your whole way of reasoning and change what bothers you. I'm just saying... think about it. Maybe.
When it suits me, I find clichés ridiculous and weak. When it suits me, I find clichés to be the perfect addition to a poem or story. Like I said: I dare you to figure me out. I am like no one you will ever meet in your life, and no one is like me.
I have an extemely rare disease called CCAS: Compulsive Children Animal Syndrome. It occurs in about one out of every 6.2 billion people (wink).
inspirations: nature, laughter, tears, weather, music, dreams, the sky
favorite color: black, which -- to me -- is the color of comfort and serenity
If you review some of my works, I'll almost always get back to you either with a review-reply, a review of my own, or -- most often -- both. It isn't a bribe; it's just what I do. I tend to be curious about the people who are curious in me. That's just the way I roll. However, it turns out it's convenient for you. If you like reviews, there's a simple way to get them: review something of mine. Don't you love those easy solutions?
For some really fantabulous authors, I must recommend that you check out my 'favorites' because all of those authors, poems, and short stories are must-reads. A couple of stories in specific that I think you should most definitely check out are:
In All the Wrong Places (by Bleached Roses): http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2367295/1/
Childhood Demons (by Andaren): http://www.fictionpress.com/s/1455885/1/
Like I said before -- for more, check out my favorites.
Shalom
~Shan~
FictionPress.com - let the words flow
