#NaBloPoMo – When Barbie Went Digital

NaBloPoMo Blog Her prompt: What was the one toy that a friend had that you wished you had when you were little?

I met Melissa the very first day of kindergarten. We were best buddies through grade school. We are still friends today. I see her every time I go back to Toronto for a visit.

Growing up, she had everything. We would play in her basement playroom where one wall was floor to ceiling shelves of toys and games. She had an older brother, I have no idea where his toys were kept because these shelves were all Melissa’s things.

Melissa was the first to have the baby dolls that you could actually feed and have to change the diaper. She had the cool board games that incorporated VHS tapes. She also had Barbie Fashion Designer. She was the only one of us who had it, so of course we all wanted to play whenever we were over at her house. She must have been getting sick of it.

I have always liked designing clothes. Just the drawing part though, I couldn’t sew a bag if my life depended on it. I loved to draw and I would draw characters in all sorts of outfits.

Barbie Fashion Designer was a computer program that came out right around the same time as CD-ROM. It was great because you got to pick the type of clothes, you got to design the fabric and then Barbie would model the outfit you created in 3D. That was my favourite part, seeing what it looked like on Barbie. The software even went a step further and allowed you to print the outfit on specialized fabric-paper so one of your own Barbies could wear your creation.

Melissa let me print one once. It was kind of flimsy. It kept falling off and didn’t fit my Barbie nearly as well as it did the digital Barbie. That part was a little disappointing, but I didn’t care. It was all about the design and seeing digital Barbie wear it for me.

My parents never bought the computer program for me. I was getting to the age where Barbies were no longer considered cool. They figured there was no sense in buying it and then having me lose interest. Little did they know, I was the type of kid who didn’t pay attention to what wasn’t cool!

In fact, I am so uncool that I got a brand new Barbie just this week! Hubby did the groceries and came back with this for me. She is still in the box because I haven’t decided if I should keep her, or give her to one of my nieces.

Yup, that is Scientist Barbie! The back of the box says “Scientists study oceans, space, the Earth & even animals!”. She comes fully equipped with her lab coat, lab safety goggles and a microscope.

Although it is very cool that Barbie is showing an interest in science now, she’s not quite there yet.

Those legs! Those Shoes! Clearly a safety code violation!

Good job Barbie, you’ll get there one day.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 11

It’s Share Your World again! Here are Cee’s questions for this week…

List 2 things you have to be happy about?

1. I’m feeling better than I was. At this time last year, my mental state was getting pretty bad. Now, I can still feel the darkness with me. I know it is there, just out of my line of sight, waiting for any sign of weakness. I am trying to fight it. It’s hard, but I have some hope. Hope that things will be better one day. I don’t know when, or how. I just have hope. That keeps the darkness at bay, for now.
2. I am enjoying my artsy stuff. At this time last year, I was forcing myself to draw because I needed to find something to enjoy and do something besides work. Now, it comes naturally. I look forward to getting my supplies out and creating something, however good or bad it may be.

Do you prefer ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise?  

It depends what I’m putting it on. Ketchup is for regular french fries and tourtiere (meat pie…a Canadian thing). Mustard is for sausages and deli sandwiches (I like honey mustard or Dijon). Both can go on hamburgers. Mayo is just ick. I’m not sure if it is the taste, or the colour I don’t like. Maybe both.

If you were to paint a picture of your childhood, what colors would you use?

I would use basic colours, the kind that would come in a kid’s finger paint set. Probably red, blue, yellow and green. I had a good childhood, an innocent one. I had my family and friends. I learned to read, tie my shoes and ride my bike. I coloured on the walls, scrapped my knees and got sent to my room for being bad. I had a typical childhood, I did everything a kid was supposed to do. For that, I will be forever grateful. I was a serious kid and often had to be reminded to smile. I’m not sure why. I don’t remember what went on in my head as a kid. That’s just the way I was.

Do you prefer a bath or shower?

Shower! It is fastest. There are so many other things I need to do/would rather do.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last Week: My sister was in town, a bunch of us went out to the Ritz for afternoon tea. It was to celebrate her getting engaged. It was fun to dress up a bit and do something out of the ordinary. The Ritz was quite fancy. They had beautiful chandeliers and a Cinderella staircase. Even the tea nibbles were fancy.

This Week: I am having a really hard time thinking of anything. All I can think of is all the work I have to get done in the next few days. Let’s go with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The parade is this coming weekend and my family, cousins and all, usually go together to watch.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!!

Share Your World 2015 — Week 10

This is Week 10 of Share Your World from Cee’s Photography….

When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?

We have a few candles, but we usually use one flashlight and a battery operated lantern. Candles aren’t Ewok-friendly. She is a bit of a clumsy kitty, especially if she is in psycho mode. I’m worried of her knocking the candles over or lighting her extra fluffy tail on fire.

Look at that! She can barely see over her own fluff!

You are given $5,000 and the chance to exchange it for one of two envelopes. One envelope contains $50,000 and one contains $500. Do you make the trade? Why or why not?

I would take a chance for the $50,000. If I didn’t get it, $500 is still extra money and at least I’d know I picked wrong. I’d hate to keep the $5,000 and then be wondering if only I had tried, would I have hit the jackpot….

What’s your first memory?

My earliest memory is of Christmas on the farm. We only spent one Christmas there as a family and it was when I was two. I remember playing with a decoration, Santa’s sleigh with reindeer. I had little Big Bird and Cookie Monster toys too. I wanted someone to play with, but the adults weren’t paying attention. I shoved cookie monster in Grandma’s hand to get her to play with me, but she didn’t play properly.

What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something?

I don’t often have trouble falling asleep. Staying asleep is my problem. When I wake up after having slept a couple hours, I toss and turn hoping for sleep to find me again. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll get up. Usually I put the Phantom of the Opera movie on really low so as not to wake Hubby and I listen to the music while working or looking at the blog on my laptop. On occasion I doodle, it depends how much energy I have. I did this one last year when I was up all night…

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last Week: I am grateful Hubby and I had the same March Break. We got to spend some time together and cross a bunch of things off of our To-Do List.

This Week: My sister will be in town to finish up her wedding plans. She hasn’t been to town since she got engaged. A bunch of us girls are going to go to Tea at the Ritz to celebrate. It should be fun!

Share Your World 2015 – Week 9

Monday again. It’s not so bad though. Today, one of my best friends turns 30, it’s Dr. Seuss’ birthday, it’s March Break AND Cee has a new set of Share Your World questions!

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I have always felt older than my peers. In my teens I’d say mentally, I was 30 years old. Now that I am almost 30, I’m not sure what I would say. I don’t really feel older than my peers anymore. In fact, from the outside, I might look younger. A lot of my friends have steady jobs and children. I am still in school and having kids is still scary. According to a silly BuzzFeed quiz, I am about 37. Maybe I’ll go with that. I’d rather be 25 though, that was a good year.

Are you left or right handed? 

I am right handed. I don’t really have anything more to say about that, lol.

If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to?

I really like Ava. It’s short, easy to spell and pretty rare among my age group. As for a last name, I never really thought about that. I’ll stick to something Irish, Riley maybe. Ava Riley.

Where do you hide junk when people come over?

The walk-in closet. That’s where the basket of unsorted socks goes when people come over. There is also a space between the TV cabinet and the couch where I shove my art supplies. There is no organized space in the apartment for them. I’m hoping we’ll figure that out this week since we are both off. I would love to have something like this:

I found it on Google images and thought it was perfect. Lots of storage space, nice big tables to work at and space for both Hubby and I. I got him participating in my crafting sometimes too. He is scrapbooking all the autographs he gets from comic book conventions. Lately, he has been designing a workbook for his grade 9 science class. The book covers the grade 9 curriculum with superheroes. It is really pretty awesome! All the artwork and diagrams are done by him using his Wacom Tablet.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last Week: I am grateful that I didn’t get sick. February was mostly spent either feeling nauseous or being physically ill. The month ended with Hubby catching a cold. So far, *knocks on wood* I have not developed the same cold. Yay!

This Week: I’m just looking forward to having time off and avoiding the world. I’m really not feeling great mood wise. Having time with Hubby and Ewok and time for my art stuff should help…I hope.

Share Your World 2015 – Week 8

As I was having my coffee this morning, I was surprised to find myself listening to birds chirping. They weren’t singing the most beautiful song, but it was a sound I realized I had been missing. It’s hard to believe we are 8 weeks into the New Year already and spring is just around the corner. Anyway, here is week 8 of Share Your World. Thanks to Cee for doing this every week.

Your favorite blog post that you have written? (add link)

I’m going to have to go back and look at some old posts. I’ve been blogging for almost a year which isn’t that long compared to most, but long enough for me to forget what I’ve written. I’m going to go with this one from last year’s A to Z Challenge: L is for Love. It’s about how Hubby and I cope with with my mental health issues as a couple. The accomanying doodle is kind of blah though. My favourite doodle is probably this one. Hands are difficult for me and these actually came out looking like hands (probably because the dirt is covering them) but hey, I think it counts!

What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $500? Why?

If I were given some extra cash like that, I would spend it on experiences. I think I would divide it into two. The first part of it would go to a geek day with Hubby. We could go to one of his comic book or toy conventions. The money would cover admission, whatever autographs or toys he wanted and maybe a piece of steampunk jewelry for me (hehe). The second part would go to an art workshop with my aunt. There is an art store near by that does classes. We could take a mixed media class. I could learn something new for my art journal and she could learn something new for the cards she makes. We could spend any leftover cash on art supplies. That would be a valuable way to spend $500 for me.

If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be?

What should I do with my life in order to be happy? I don’t mean crazy happy, I mean content or at least apathetic. I’m tired of feeling unappreciated, stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted and inadequate (among other things). There are so many things I could do. It would take a lifetime to figure it out. I wanted to be an artist or a writer, but I figured I wasn’t good enough to earn a steady paycheck or a secure job. I went into sciences and tried a few different things, but never felt like I was contributing enough. For example, one job was identifying enzymes in fungal genomes. In the big picture, this would contribute to making the use of biofuels from organic waste more feasible but, it’s hard to see the big picture when you spend all your time on the computer staring at genome sequences. From there, I went into vision science because it meant something to me. I had my Strabismus experience and there was Gran with her Macular Degeneration. I thought working directly with people, I would be able to help more. I am helping more but I am burning out. Managing the lab, the research, the teaching, the patients, it’s a lot. My brain is on 24/7 and I don’t think I can go at this rate for the rest of my life. Maybe I should have just done the art thing in the first place. Argh!!

Where do you eat breakfast?

Most of the time breakfast is consumed standing in the kitchen. I know, that’s bad. Work mornings are usually kind of hurried though. On weekends, I usually sit at the coffee table to have breakfast with Hubby and Ewok. Ewok hangs around until I finish my yogurt. She likes to lick the left overs out of the container.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last Week: I am thankful my presentation went well and that I got that travel award!

This Week: I was looking forward to some paper ephemera arriving in the mail, but it came while I was writing this post. Now I need another idea…..I am looking forward to using the goodies that came in the mail in my art journal!