Musings

On a whim, I’ve been reading through my old blog posts, beginning with the first and ploughing straight on through. Admittedly, this little trip down Memory Lane, Blogging Edition, was inspired by the idea of a new reader stumbling onto my humble piece of the Bloggosphere and doing the same as I’ve been doing.

I’m not sure what sort of impression this hypothetical new reader would form of yours truly, but hopefully a positive one, in spite of my sporadic posts and somewhat vague descriptions of my everyday life (it dawned on me that it was two years before I even mentioned that I lived in Northern Idaho at the time, for example).

I’ve noticed several things, myself, during my little journey through the pages:

• So. Many. TAGS!!! OK, I love a good tag (or “quiz,” as we called them in the early days of blogging), but GOOD NIGHT! Seems like every other post on the Rambling Rose is a questionnaire. >.<
• “Sew” much regret. I think of all the clothes I’ve shared on this blog, the only ones I still have are my “Eglantine” undergown/Empire dress mock-up (featured in my “Briar Rose” post recently), the skirt portion of my Bodiced Petticoat, and the “Scottish Seafoam” tartan skirt. Mind you, I don’t want to be a clothes-horse, but when I think of the pretty frocks I made, altered, or had plans for (including several I never got pix of), and now no longer have...it makes me rather sad. Makes me wish I’d tried harder to make them work, rather than just weeding them out of my wardrobe. ☹
• Hair Envy. While my short hair is worlds easier to care for on a day-to-day basis than waist-length locks, I do miss being able to do the elegant styles featured on this blog in years past, and others that, once again, I never got pix of. And while I could theoretically grow my hair long again...I’m not sure it would look as good as it did back then. Shortly after making “the chop” three years ago, I began losing a lot of hair (my hairbrush would go from empty to stuffed after every shower), until my scalp was visible in places, and Mom could see my shirt-collars through it in the back. Thankfully, it seems to have grown back in the past few months, but what hair I have now is baby-fine (finer even than it’s always been), and I’m convinced there’s considerably less in front of my ears now. As a result, my one braid is the size of the two I used to pin up and over my head, and it no longer holds any kind of French/Dutch/lace-braiding worth beans. I’m afraid if I grew it out to waist- or tailbone-length again, the ends would be so whispy and thin that it’d just look pathetic. So I’ll just have to stick with its current length and hope it will eventually get healthy again. *Sigh* I miss my “one beauty”....
• Broken Promises. I’ve noticed several times where I said I’d post pictures of something or other, or share a story or special post I had in the works...and then not follow through. A thousand apologies, Gentle Readers; I never meant to break my word...blogging is just one of those things that doesn’t come easily for me, and getting pictures was a bit more hassle back then. God helping me, I intend to do better in that area, when I have time for blogging.
• Abandoned Activities. Why did we stop doing the Literary Heroine Blog Parties each February? Or Ashley’s I ♥ Thursdays? Or Kendra’s delightful Character Encounters? Or Arielle/Melody’s creative Quote Questes? I always enjoyed the activities they instigated, and miss participating therein, as they made blogging fun and interesting. It was the CEs that got me back into writing, and the QQs that made me exercise my brain to cook up a story to match the Quote of the Month—both very good tools for an author. I’ve sometimes toyed with resurrecting these things and hosting them on my blog....

And now that I have more free time (or rather, feel more at liberty to use the time I have) for creative what-nots, I’m thinking blogging might be one of them. Probably nothing regular by any means...but I do intend to document the making of “Briar Rose” to the end, in the very least. After so many false starts and loose ends on that head, I feel I owe it you you, Gentle Readers...and to myself. If I can just push through and actually accomplish something—see it through to the end in Real Life and on the Rambling Rose—then perhaps, please God, I can establish some good habits (which, admittedly, should have been in place twenty years ago *snort*).

One thing I’d love to do in the near future is host a Blog Party (or even a full-blown Blog Tour) to celebrate finishing my latest masterpiece, Prince Nácil...and the fact that I’ve already sold no less than five hard-copies! Sole Deo Gloria!

The Pixie:

Oooh! Did you say PARTY?

Yes, I did. But don’t get out the glitter-bombs just yet; Parties need Participants, and—

Anton Argentos:

Shall I recruit some for you, Anka*? I’m sure with my good looks and persuasive charm, I’ll have them flocking to help you throw your Party!

<_< Your modesty is astounding, Silver One.

(Uh-oh; I must be in trouble; she only calls me Silver One when she’s vexed with me.)

So...was that a No, then?

How about you let me make a few discreet inquiries. After all, it’s high time I learned to speak for myself. That’s part of being grown-up...right...?
(Besides, no one can see your "good looks" but me, since you live in my head, boy-o.)

In the meantime, I have a couple fun posts in the works (which I am determined to follow through on this time!), so stay tuned!

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~ℛ~

* Anka = Originally referring to the (female) keeper of a magical piece of jewelry that brings the imagination to life, coined in Kendra E. Ardnek’s The Ankulen (male form Anku, gender-neutral/collective form Ank’). I have adopted the term when referring to my fellow scribblers (and when my Characters address or refer to me), but give full credit for its creation to Kendra.