A Garden of Virtues

The days are growing shorter. Gusts of wind blow away the last bits of red and golden leaves clinging to the trees. Ophelia walks through the garden, her heavy, curling blonde hair falling behind her suspended in a kerchief. In her arms is a basket of gourds. A hand snatches her from behind. She turns and meets a mirthful gaze. "Shelley!" She scowls unpleasantly. "Don't bother me." Ignoring her, he binds her hands, forcing her to drop her basket. The gourds roll around the hem of her threadbare skirt. "How quickly it's grown cold. Isn't it invigorating, this wind?" "Stop this nonsense. See what you've made me do? You'll have bruised squash for dinner." "My love, can't you stop a moment and look over the river? Look at the golden trees, touched with the very last bit of daylight. Have you ever noticed how they grow orange before it gets dark?" "I've never had a mind to look. And I am not 'your lo

This is one of the best R&D fan sites I've seen!

Dream of Doll - Tender Too and Bee-a . Shelley and Ophelia, childhood sweethearts. - Any sisters or brothers? Tender Shall , the kinky nun, as Anne Sullivan, Ophelia's governess. Dollmore - Dollmore Calvin . My darling child, Johnny. - Older sister? Orlando Ray is fascinating, and she looks uncannily like Calvin. She's not too popular on the forum and people sand her nose down. Figures. Gets the same abuse as Calvin. But she looks like she would eat Johnny for dinner. The more I look at her, the more intrigued I become. That story. XD What a mystery! Orientdoll - Orientdoll Tae. My dear Irish Tarquin (I know Tarquin is not an Irish name...). - Needs a companion (Tarquin is sort of asexual). Orientdoll has not developed their line very far. I love the clothes of Special Cheong , and of the girls, I like her face the best. There does not seem to be a single person on the forums with this doll. I am really glad I didn't get Special Tae's clothes. That would not h

"What do we have here?" Shelley put on his gold-rimmed glasses and started leafing through my notes. "Well, I'm typing up some old notes from my novel  A Raven for a Lark . I'm thinking of revising it." "I haven't read that one yet," he said, scanning my outline with interest. "What's it about? Let me guess. Romance, plantations, scandal. And a duel." "No, there's no duel, but there's a scoundrel." Shelley looked up with interest. "Tell me more." "His name's Hennessy. That's right. It was what I was going to name you. However, I decided against it, because I didn't want to associate you with a specific fictional character. Well, at the end of the story, Hennessy kidnaps Jenny and carries her to her childhood home. He sets it on fire, but Jenny escapes. Hennessy dies in the end." "Or so it seems, right?" Shelley's green eyes peered at me over his gol

Shelley and Ophelia posed on a rare overcast morning in River Legacy Park. It was wild and overgrown, and we were literally hidden by the tall grass around us. Ophelia is wearing her "Kathleen" wig from Global Dolls and brown acrylic eyes. Shelley's wearing a default Tender Zen wig from Dream of Doll and his blue glass eyes. A pair of lovers, forever and ever, in a Texas grassland wilderness.

That damn thing. Now it has drawn my blood. Well, I bought it one ill-starred night off eBay because I remembered it from childhood, and I thought it would be precious for my dolls. With white wood and little strawberries. I loved the idea of cross-stitching strawberry pillows and linens for Ophelia, and finding Strawberry Shortcake accessories for her. The seller undermined the piece's flaws. I feel like to say it needed a new coat of paint would imply the paint was worn, but it had been re-painted in patches at least once with a beige paint, sloppily. Both paints would need to be removed for the bed to be painted again. I sanded the bed. I painted it white, not really knowing what I was doing, and it looked terrible. The paint was too thick, and it leaked onto the strawberries. In trying to correct it, I smeared the strawberry headboard. Now there was nothing for me to do but strip the paint. I stripped the footboard today, shoving something or other under my fingernail in th

Well, I can't discuss a lot of things in Winter Light . My name and email are out there now. I have submitted some job applications. I would do just anything to find a place where I belong. Can you imagine how happy I would be? The feeling of getting a new job. Why, it's like nothing else in the world. I take it personally. I feel that not only my skills, but I have won, I am wanted. And there is the austere desert of a position gone wrong. Awakening each day with dread in my heart, every averted look or indifferent silence a brutal stab, the pain of which follows me home and waits for me the next morning when I awaken. I left, because I changed. I lost the sense of self I had worked so hard to gain, by degrees, in people who didn't believe in me. Every day I am sorry I quit. My mother thought I would be there forever. It was a secure position, just what my family wanted me to have. I left a desert for a wasteland, a place with no day on or day off, no day and no night,

It's so peaceful here. Every day, the birds sing, and the sun shines. That's right; it never grows dark.

Don't want to let it lay me down this time. Drown my will to fly. Here in the darkness I know myself. Can't break free until I let it go. Let me go. From Evanescence, "Lithium"

We are coming upon the last night of the 2007 ABJD convention. My head is swimming from the bottle of wine I'm sharing with Nathan, and I'm sated on chocolates from Flora and Fauna: rosewater, jalapeno and Mexican spice. Tonight is the black and white ball. I will wear my vintage black lace and ivory Lady Hildegarde dress (I have named it that because I once described my character as wearing a Victorian version of this dress, then found a 1950's version online). Nathan's planning to wear his black blazer and black velvet pants. He will carry Shelley, who's already dressed in head to toe black, and I will have Ophelia in her Victorian wedding dress. I made my last killing at the dealer's room today. I got a Dollheart Chinese pyjama set which I adore for Ophelia, which will go wonderfully with her strawberry pink wig. My other purchases include an Ajumapama punk shirt and socks set for Tarquin, and four wigs: a long brown and purple for Tarquin and Dresden, a s

Thursday August 23, 2007 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Registration 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Dinner with Nathan 7:00- 9:00 p.m. Reception, door prizes. Room shopping. Friday August 24, 2007 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Late registration 10:00 - 3:00 p.m. Sales floor (convention attendees only) * Box lunch 11:45 - 1:00 p.m. 3:15 - 4:15 p.m. Workshop - Photo stories 4:15 - 5:15 p.m. Demo - Esthetics 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Dinner with Nathan 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Competition viewing and voting Ribbons will be awarded at 8:00 8:00 p.m. In the Oaks - Refreshments Get –together and play time Saturday August 25, 2007 9:00 - 10:00 p.m. Panel - History of BJDs 10:00 - 3:00 p.m. Sales floor open to Public 7:00- 9:00 p.m. * Black and White Ball * Bring one BJD for display. I will bring Ophelia, and Nathan will bring Shelley. Vendors BJDollarama. Patent ankle shoes , $7.99 in white. Cheery Doll (US Representative: KRB Fashions ): Yellow maid dress , $58. Flower garden pink , $90. Oriental Boutique: For Dresden. Kimono , $25, Qip

It was a dark and stormy night that Ophelia ventured to the library to continue reading her favorite story, "Beauty and the Beast." She became so absorbed in the story that she scarcely noticed how the fire had died down, and how late it had become. When she had finished the story, she gave a deep sigh. "How I wish I could be loved that way. I would not mind a man who had a monstrous form." Ophelia posed for a proper portrait. Someone kindly offered this dress to Ophelia at my first doll meet-up, noting that Ophelia looked like she loved Victorian things. This dress remains Ophelia's favorite still.

She could be my Mary Shelley.

Happy 215th birthday to Percy Bysshe Shelley, from Shelley (and the rest of us).

Sometimes I feel like doing things no one else seems to want to do, and making things nobody else will want to see. Lately I have had a passion for utilizing those old Geocities templates. I like to see what I can do with those old graphics from when the web was young. So I made a journal for Johnny that I'm sure no one will ever see, and that's okay, because it has ads on it, anyway.

I have been following this thread on Den of Angels about doll housing to get ideas for a more official dwelling for my kids. I love the Christmas lights around the box. A comfy, cozy sleep place . Gives me warm fuzzy feelings about being a kid and having my own room. And I like the simplicity. This is tight, and I love the message board. This one is crazy, yet fascinating . Sweet, charming , also a nice feeling of space. This room is the most amazing of them all . Melts my heart with doilies . Plants and things on windowsill. Pretty, girly . My best idea so far is to go with my original wall shelves. Ophelia and Shelley can share the large one, and Johnny can have the small one. The small one is too high up. It needs to be moved lower than the large one, so that they are still staggered. Below will be the strawberry bed, when it's finished. I think it would be cute to have a little ladder by the shelves for the kids to go up and down. It would allow for a sense of

When I am writing in my doll journal or posting pictures, it means that I am doing some doll stuff and otherwise having a life. When I am not posting in my journal or participating in any discussions, that means that I am obsessed with doll stuff. Today is one of those days. Finally, I said, look, I'm going to go to Coffee Haus. The house is pretty much in order, now that I found that anti-static dusting spray. I'm going to go to town. Sooner or later I'm going to have a job, we're going to move, or both, and there won't be time for this any more, so I need to get it straight now. I try to tell myself that doll photos and sites don't make themselves, that other people invest a lot of time in this. I have my strengths and I have my limitations. My strengths are that I can write stories, I can take pretty good pictures. My limits are that I can't make a web site from scratch unless the inspiration for it comes down on me from Heaven above, and that I can

I am having so much fun with my new digital scrapbook software. This is a card for my little flower maiden.

"Jessica" is a bride doll by Donna Rubert, sold through Paradise Galleries. Jessica's gown is ravishing —  truly my ideal in vintage details. I wouldn't be able to resist the doll if she had been sculpted by Tom Francirek. Images taken from Worthpoint .

ends in shame, according to Benjamin Franklin. I started my ball-jointed doll house yesterday after an unsuccessful writing session at the coffee shop. On coming home, I was too irritated to write stories, and I felt like using my hands instead of my mind. The doll house, which I have named The Conservatory, is a black plastic bookcase with four shelves, open on all sides. The bottom shelf has been designated as storage, and there rests a wicker trunk with extra toys and clothes not on display. The third shelf from the top is Johnny's room, and this is the room I am decorating first. As with the other doll rooms, it consists of odds and ends, pieces from other projects I never finished or simply junk. Very quickly his room started to take shape as I matched things according to size, color and theme. Most of his things are organic in color and material, and I quickly settled on an African theme. I papered his floor in a warm-toned geometric print and set up his electric guitar and w

Ophelia was disappointed that it was raining again today, so I suggested we take our books and tea to the porch and enjoy the cool breeze. I gave Ophelia an old book to read from a library sale. I thought she might like it since she's interested in her namesake. Ophelia : In Search of Ophelia . That sounds interesting. Soon she was engrossed. Ophelia : I wonder what it would be like to be a Shakespearean actress. I'm sure one would have to be very learned. Ophelia : I suppose Hamlet 's Ophelia is a complicated character. It was not long till Ophelia forgot about the rain and felt quite content with book and tea. Ophelia, half-girl, half-woman, is the most elusive of my companions. Like her namesake, complicated . Looking back at my very first entries about my dolls makes me feel very wistful. She was going to be named Bess, after the heroine in Tennyson's "The Highwayman," and her husband, Hennessy, after a character of my creatio

I have not been so interested in my work here as of late. I feel the need to do something new, to make something I've not seen before. This journal was created to explore my doll hobby and define the meaning of dolls for me. I have always been interested in the idea of Asian ball-jointed dolls as not merely objects or playthings, but as companions, as was intended in their invention several years ago. A companion, however, seems more like a partner to something else, a participant in what one actually does . I never seem to be able to make a journal dedicated to my dolls, no matter how much I may enjoy reading other people's. In addition, my enthusiasm for sewing and doll craft waxes and wanes, and at the moment it's waning. And making a journal dedicated to that seems pointless, when my energy for it is already low. My original intent was to make a companion journal, but I don't know how to go about it. I look at other people's all the time, but I don't know

Josette sleeping deeply. Josette stirs. "I must have been dreaming ." "I was wearing Grandmother's dress and carrying a bouquet of lilies of the valley. It felt so real." Josette goes to Grandmother's room in the old mansion. "I haven't entered this room in ages, but here is the dress, just as I remember it." "I used to come to this room and look at it when I was a girl. Grandmother once told me that I must wear this dress when I married." "It's gotten yellow with age, and it's a little dusty. I wonder if I will ever walk down the aisle in this dress." "Grandmother looked so beautiful in her wedding pictures. I loved to look at them and think of what she was like when she was a young bride." "The dress and veil are old-fashioned, but I have always loved old things." "'I promise to love and cherish you all the days of my life.'" "I'm being foolish, pretending this way. Pe