Once Upon This Sleepy Town...

So, what happened is that I wrote this in the car on the way to the beach on WORD and I TOTALLY forgot about it. We drove through a town in Alabama and the vibe it gave off (and the way I felt) immediately got my attention. So here ya go. 

I am writing to you all from approximately the left side of the middle seats in my van. The view is pleasant as we drive through the sleepy town of Eufala, Al. A town lost in time, you might say, seeming to await for the right time to awake… But that time never comes. Perhaps I should start at the begging of our journey, so you can better get why I’m here and where I’m headed.

 It started out as any other ordinary day, awoken to my moms voice, drug myself out of my raffled bed with the same swimmy headedness I have every morning. Except it wasn’t like every morning. I slowly changed my clothes to cut off shorts, my surfing shirt, a favorite boy-friend vest, and a bright orange bandana tied as a flip-sided headband over my head. In a “mammy” style of sorts.

I gracefully tumbled down the stairs in my usual fashion, and greeted my mother, grand parents, and sister. I must admit, it was too early for my loner self to surrender myself to family. But it didn’t matter, my mind was crisp as a piece of paper and I was ready to tackle this next adventure in front of me. Walking out to the garage I spotted my dad working his magic with the van. Skillfully placing every piece of our luggage in a distinct place, like a puzzle he had done many time before and succeeded. Which, we all knew, was the truth of it all, as my family can easily fill two cars with just our suite cases. Handing him Alice I noticed that my brother-in-law and sister number two had arrived with two other family members- their two little Yorkies, Haley and Oliver. The whole family was now together for one sole event, the beach. A little beach house we had rented for 5 days of bliss. In the words of sister number one, “’Vacation’ is a foreign word to the Doss family.” So true.

Approximately 30 minutes later my mother, grand parents, dogs (Precious, Maggie, Haley, and Oliver), sisters, and brother-in-law all piled into the two suppurate cars bound for the beach and waved goodbye to my daddy and brother (of which were suppose to meet us at the beach at approximately 5:00 in the morning.)

Then we were off! I was then stuck in the car for an 8-hour drive. Superb. We grabbed Starbucks alone the way (because nobody was very thrilled to be in the car this early), and got on the highway. I immediately threw my head phones on (after pulling on a pair of pure white knee socks, as is customary for my car travels.), turned up the already-loud volume, and let the blissful, serene sound of Owl City, Cady Groves, Chase Coy, and Sky Sailing run through my body and influence my dreamy thoughts as I looked out the window. During this I notice the clouds. They had a wispy, wistful curve to their thin figure. Pure white against the clear blue sky. And then I was lost in though and did not submerge until lunch.

 After a few hours of reading my new book, listening to music, and trying to keep my dog of my shoulders, we ended up in this small town. A pure southern town, it is. I currently put down my book, picked up my computer, and allowed Cady Groves folky voice to run through my headphones. (If ever there was a soundtrack for this town, it is definitely Cady Groves’ first EP, “A Month Of Sundays”.) The town seems a bit tired and sad compared to the city life I’ve always loved, but at the same time completely perfect in the bring sun and warm breeze. A simple picture of serene ambience.  

For This I Am Thankful...

   *Sighhhh.* Dare I be one of the cliche bloggers to post a Blog about being thankful? Due to Thanks Giving just around the corner. Or more... Staring into our faces. Because... It's only days away. Ehem.

So here are the traditions of the Doss family for Thanksgiving.

I wake up late and eat a lukewarm breakfast. Usually consisting of sausage. Then sit around like a vegetable watching the parade and being taunted my the smell of food. But these exciting events aren't what make Thanksgiving awesome for me. It's two things really. 1. The family actually all sitting at one table for a meal. And 2. The dishes my mom makes.

I could go very deep into the reason number one, but I will restrain myself.

As for number two... Every year since I could remember my mom has made certain dishes for Thanksgiving. A few of these are Smackin' Cheese (Haha), Anti-Giblet Gravy, Sweet Potato Casserole, and so much more.

I'll post again soon, but this was just a taste of some more blogs to come. I just wanted to post a little something as a "Sorry for not being around" message.

Thanks. :)

I Know A Girl...

I know a girl who has a different view on life. A wishful thinker I sometimes call her. Even though I claim to know her, the truth is that I'm the one who knows her best, and I still don't understand her. At least not fully. She changes so often, yet completely stays the same. Like the oceans tide (no matter how corny that might seem), wanting nothing to do wish reality and everything to do with somewhere most people don't see past the age of 10. A different world set in the same earth, yet a completely different perspective. This is the person I know. And, just maybe, I know only this, and that is not even the start to her person.

She seems to love people and friends, yet lives for those few moments of seclusion. Where the world seems to fade and slowly drift away... Leaving nothing but those thoughts and feelings which it so chooses to let her feel and think. Nobody to disturb her... No appointments which need to be met... Just simple.... Serene... Silence.

A pen and page are her escape of choice. If not that, then a guitar and pick. Getting lost in that one world which is yours can't compare to anything else. It's not that you make the rules, or don't have to fallow them. It's that their aren't any. If a pirate wants to find her own way, so be it. If a girl wants to fly, let it be so.

But one of the main things I KNOW about her is this- She thrives on loneliness. Separation is her happy place and beyond this world is her reality. Nothing will ever change that. Nobody knows why. She just seems to like the emptiness that void feels. Or maybe it isn't that the void is empty, but that it's full. Maybe loneliness turns on a bright light inside her where thoughts aren't limited and life isn't the same. Perhaps it changes things. Maybe she thrives on that single idea of being 23 and single. No man in her life, living alone and traveling whenever her heart yearns for it. Maybe her mind is the one place she can go where God, music, writing, and all else she cares for live as a whole. Where nobody can change that and influence action. Maybe loneliness IS her escape.

In Which the Procrastinator Finds Inspiration

Lately I've been having dreams.

No, not that kind.... Well yes that kind but that's not what I'm talking about.

I've been having the kind of dreams that you fall asleep, see a story projected across your eyelids, and suddenly get thrown back into reality by the deafeningly loud voice of your mother repeatedly saying "Thea. Wake. Up."

The last part isn't exactly enjoyable, actually it's down right awful. But the middle part is amazing. It feels so real while it lasts. Even if it's totally the opposite of realistic, it seems realistic at the time. I love that saying from Inception that goes, "Dreams seem real when we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we notice something was actually weird."

Well said, Cobb, well said.

But dreams also make me realize stuff when I wake up. My mind seems fogged up, yet completely clear at the same time. I'm dizzy, yet stable. Life is always a bit dimmer and slightly more queer. I usually realize how bland this world is, (As if I didn't already know that...) and that I'll probably die if I live the same life as millions of other people. The "white picket fence, 9-5 job" life style is more like a nightmare than a life to me.

I guess it make me driven to make my life more than I myself am capable of doing. It makes me strive to prove "I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me."

Ever since I was a wee girl of some small age, I've always done 3 things:

1. Created stories. Any kind of stories. I hated writing at the time, so my friends and I would put together stories (like so many other little girls) and we'd act them out. And as I've grown up I've never stopped creating scenarios and characters. Of course my ways of doing it have matured and gone through stages. I've gone from plays, to film, to books. But what I do and my mind set towards it has never changed.

2. Sing/perform. I ALWAYS loved singing and performing. I still remember the first time my daddy let me get my grubby little 5-year-old-hands on his guitar. I, of course, had no idea how to even begin to go about playing the darn thing (I wasn't a very smart child... Never have been) So I looped the guitar strap around my neck (I remember it being huge compared to my tiny self) and aimlessly strummed away. I didn't care if it sounded like someone was strangling our cat in the back yard, I loved just simply holding the thing. Needless to say, the song I wrote never made it onto the top 10 on iTunes. But that's ok.

3. Travel. Traveling has always been a yearly thing for my family. I thought it so magical that we could get into a plane or car and travel for a few hours, then end up in a completely different place than where we were. With different people, paces, accents, views... I just loved it.

All that said, I have/always had an impeccably dreamy state of mind. And it never left me. Reality? Pshhh! Who needs it? But lately as I've started to really grow up and explore the world, be consumed by school, and have emotional tax put on me, that mind set has started fading. The world has gotten to me and the inspiration to write, do music, and imagine the world differently has slowly started decreasing. Making me not believe I'm capable of being a writer, a musician, or anything else God has given me a love for. Making me think that maybe I will end up living the life I dread.

But that's where dreams and the inspiration of them comes in. That "tasting freedom then being thrown back into reality" thing rekindles the dreamy, child eyes I've always had and will always have for years to come. God is going to use it, and that I'm sure of. So I'm going to strive to not let the world seep through my cracks and get to me.

Think about it.

Think about it.

July Vibes

     Before I get to my extremely short post (I promise... It shall be short) let me say this... Happy July! The sun is shining, the air is humid, and my curly hair is positively running wild! Oh happy days.

     Today I'm going to talk just a LITTLE bit about one of the main things I concentrate on while writing- The vibe. I'm sure all of you have heard me say stuff about a vibe to one of my books and how this book has this vibe, and that book has that vibe, and yada yada yada. But the truth is that no matter how much I over exaggerate something, the vibe I give my book is ridiculously important. I'm not a professional but I do know one thing: It creates the book.

     My books alway start with two things.

1. An idea. It could be something as small as a lyric, a word, a landscape, an item... Anything. For example, Sweet Melodies (a side project book. Which is really fun to write, BTW.) was inspired by the maze behind the Governors Palace in Williamsburg. Inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere.

2. The vibe the idea gives off. Example, to me the maze seemed to have a sad feeling. Like it had seen and heard things in the past too astonishing to keep quiet, and too heart breaking to tell. Then as I traveled deeper into the maze it seemed to get darker. My mind was going crazy by now. The bushes were thick, the sunshine broke threw the cracks causing rays of light across the dirt path... It was mystical. When I reached the middle of the maze there was a little slab of bricks, making a small solid, square, blank area. And that's when I pictured this girl, this slim, tall, black haired, scene looking girl sitting in a corner of the square, on the ground, with her head down, playing a guitar. And not just any guitar. A black electric acoustic guitar with cream trim. And then I realized that she wasn't happy or content or satisfied. She was frustrated and confused and sad... And crying. And that's what I played off of. I immediately took pictures and though. Not only though, meditated. And then a book was born. Theirs just something about a maze. It's so mysterious.

    You should notice one thing about this whole scenario. And that is all these things happened off of one thing, a vibe. A FEELING. I could have just pictured the maze as a happy, romantic, sunny place and picture some lovely lovebirds in the center instead. But no, I ran with what the maze said to me and listened to every word it uttered. Maybe I'm just a depressed person.

And so ends this little peak into the mind of Thea.

A Piece Of Music Is Worth A Thousand Words... Literally

    When you listen to a piece of music what do you see? A story, a vibe, or even a random person? Everybody sees something different with different pieces of music. I want to know what you see. On the video below is a piano song. Just piano. No words or anything. Take the vibe, listen to it, and create. Taste it, move it around, change it, rearrange it... Take the first thing you see in your minds eye and explore it. Take yourself out of the fact-and-figures thinking which society calls being smart/wise, and put yourself in the place you have created. Turn the volume up, and feel it. Just try it, and tell me what you come up with in one way or another!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQTWbS2SlVY

La la la la la, Summers In The Air.

     It's that time of year again. Georgia summer has stretched it's arms over the state and engulfed us in a loving hug of heat and humidity. Normally, we would get sunny days with pools and sunscreen. But it seems as though since April didn't bring us showers, late May/June has brought it upon themselves to supply the much-not-needed showers. (I'm pretty sure we got all the rain we needed with the flood earlier this year...) It may be a perky, sunny day now but I'm predicting rain later on. (We've been getting rain every day. And clouds in the distance are not very reassuring of a wonderful day.) Don't get me wrong, I love the rain! I just also love the sun and what it does for us. (Team Vitamin D!)

    My summer officially started a couple days ago with the final curtain on the last Grande Finale of the year. My bones ached, my head hurt, and the callas on my foot had ripped off and started bleeding... I love pointe... But anyway, THAT ASIDE, it was a good show. Tarantella went well, lyrical dances were OK, Variations went well (I had just put origell on my toe so I couldn't feel it anymore at this point...) , Hello Seattle Remix was pretty awesome, and Grande Finale was pretty good. But I'm not going to lie about the flood of relief which cast it's self over me when the curtains shut. The stage may be my home but sometimes you need to get out of your house and take a stroll. It was definitely time for a nice LONG stroll for me. Since Sunday I've been sleeping in till 11:30 and not getting dressed in real clothes until I have to. (Which is a huge deal for me.) Summer dance classes start next week. I really haven't known what to do with myself this week. It's so weird not having dance classes to look forward to later on in the day.

   One of the many things I did to kick off my summer was go to Target. Yep, that's right, I went to Target on June 1st and got Alice In Wonderland. Only the greatest movie ever. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton are genius. Right after purchasing this magnificent piece of merchandise, I was admiring it while riding home. And that is when I made the most fantastic discovery: 

PG: Parental Guidance Suggested: For Fantasy Action/Violence Involving Scary Impages And Situations, And For A Smoking Caterpillar.

You tell me how awesome that is. I started laughing ridiculously hard right there on the spot. But this piece of awesomeness isn't the only amazing this I purchased at the glorious Target. Nay. I also now own Brisingr. I refused to rent it from the library...

Speaking of books!!

I Just finished reading a great book. Quite ingeniously written. Goes by the name Piratica. Odd tittle, I know. Just check it out.

Well, there is so much more I would love to tell you, my lovely readers. But I must eat lunch.