You don't have to be picture perfect July 31, 2006
Posted by Keiran in : Decorating, Me, Pets, Ramblings , 6commentsLittle by little, my room is becoming very vacant. I already did a ton of cleaning, going through boxes of crap and sorting out what I did and didn't actually *need* a few months ago, prior to Emily's visit. Now I'm going through the last remaining boxes, plus I'm moving all the furniture out of my bedroom and into the spare room. Eventually, everything will come out of my room so we can lay new flooring. But for now, I'm getting enough furniture out of the room so we don't have to keep moving things around while we're painting the ceiling and walls. It's strange seeing my room emptied out little by little; but it's also … invigorating. Freeing. So much baggage disappearing, that I didn't even realise was there. I have a hunch I'm going to end up going through the boxes of things I kept yet again, likely trashing/donating/recycling even more. The less junk I have, the better, right?
Granted, we're going to have to do the painting process all over again, possibly next year. Right now we're getting the house fixed up, then we hope to move around the first of the year; if we've found a new house that we like in a good location. But, by then, I'll know how much I like this new color scheme and if I want it in my new bedroom, or want to do something completely different. I have a hunch I'm going to keep it though. The Seaside Sand color does look a lot like sand, and reminds me of some incredibly happy times last year. Surrounding myself with things and colors that evoke happy memories is a good way to keep myself in good spirits. It's one reason I have one of the paintings that was painted especially for me here at work, and the other just above my computer monitor at home.
And on a completely different note… over the last week, my bird has laid another clutch of eggs. Three of 'em, this time around. We thought we had removed the trigger. Apparently not. Now we have to figure out what's in the cage or environment making her want to lay the eggs. Silly bird.
ETA: The bird laid yet another egg at 6:30 pm. That brings her total up to 6 eggs over the last few months.
Moonlight on canvas, midnight and wine July 28, 2006
Posted by Keiran in : Creative, Decorating, Me , 2commentsBrighten your spirits by livening up your surroundings. Sometimes you can curse the soul by means of the senses, and vice versa. Figure out what you can change, throw out, renew or purchase.
Funny that the above is my horoscope for yesterday. I'm in the middle of renovationg my bedroom, from the floor up. Well, technically, from the ceiling down, since we're redoing the floors last, but either way, it's going to be livened up. I've had the same Native American theme to my room for way too long, and I'm starting to get very bored with my mauve/grey/orange room. (Yes, mauve and orange can work together if you've got the right shades.) A couple of weeks ago, I ordered the Designer Combinations paint kits from Behr in their Eastern Fusion color scheme. I tested all but the New Brick out on my walls, and for the most part didn't care for them. I don't like that the paint samples they ship you are in flat – I prefer a semi gloss. It gives the room a little nicer look, plus it feels better to the touch. I don't care for Winter Garden in the flat, but it would look nice in semi-gloss.
I finally decided that I'm going to use their Seaside Sand on my walls, with Winter Garden for the trim. I also got all inspired, and am using the New Brick to create my own art. I started last week, painting canvases with the New Brick as a base. I'm going to go back and use the Seaside Sand to paint the Chinese characters for various words (happiness, serenity, hope, love, etc) on the canvases. I've also got an idea for a larger canvas to take up most of one wall. I even know how to write my own name in Chinese for one of the canvases for a uniquely personal twist.
I've been feeling highly creative lately, and I fully blame that on Emily. I believe that the people around you can have an impact on your creativeness. For too long I was around people who used me, and sucked me dry of any creativity. Now that time's passed, and I'm around her so much, I find myself inspired again, wanting to create. More specifically, wanting to paint, which is pretty much out of my league. I can do smaller projects like the paintings listed above, but anything with more detail (and that I can't use a stencil for) I'd make an absolute mess of things. But I've got this deep-seeded need to try and experiment lately. I might. If for no other reason than to see how much of a mess I can make.
There isn't any name that you can't rhyme July 28, 2006
Posted by Keiran in : Me, Memes , add a comment1. Are you named after anyone? If so, explain.
Yes. I am named after one of my mom's exboyfriends, Kieran, who, last I heard, is a sheep herder in Australia. My parents "feminized" the name by switching the placement of the I and the E.
2. Do you have your children's names picked out already? If so, is there any significance?
I have a name picked out for a little girl; but I don't plan on having children. If something changed, though, my daughter would be Keila Renai. (Keila is the first half of my first name, and second half of my middle name, Mela.)
3. If you were born a member of the opposite sex what would your name have been?
It wouldn't have been much of a change – I would've been Kieran if I was a guy.
4. If you could re-name yourself what name would you pick and why?
I like the names Chloe and Naomi. Naomi was the name my dad wanted for me, and I do like the name. Chloe – I just like the sound of it.
5. Are there any mispronunciations/typos that people do w/ your name constantly?
God yes, constantly. Almost no one can spell or pronounce it correctly. The true Irish pronounciation of my name is (kee'-ron); but my parents have always pronounced it as (KEER-uhn). Not much of a difference, really. Karen is the most common mispronunciation. Karen has an "a" at the beginning, as in "apple", whereas Keiran is more of a softer e, as in "ear". (When I was in elementary school, I used to try to teach people to say it by telling them to sound it out by saying K, then 'ear', then 'un'; then put it all together for "Kear un".) If people aren't calling me Karen, then they're trying to say my name as Kiernan. I don't know why people think "Keiran" is pronounced with two n's, but people seem to think it makes more sense than the true pronounciation.
As for most common typos: Karen, Kevin, Kieran, Kiernan, Keirnan, Kristin, Kerian, etc.
And, since this whole entry is about my name, I might as well take a moment to pimp out a namelisting I run for my name. I need to spend this weekend creating more graphics for it.