Vivid Dreams

I had what I think was an interesting vivid dream this afternoon. I was trying to nap off the worst of a several day long migraine since I was home and could.

The beginning as I can discern it, I was in the ocean, or I was the ocean, though as a young girl, not myself. There was a boy there, and he asked, "What is your favorite thing in the world?" In the darkness I responded "A Lemon." Perplexed, he asked "What use has the ocean for a lemon?" but I was slipping further into the darkness, and could only repeat "A lemon" in the dream-sleep voice of a young girl.

Then I (in dream)woke, and re-oriented myself with my surroundings. A small room piled high with papers and books, sketchings of people tacked up on the wall, with names scribbled beneath them. This was all from the adventures of an elder sister or mother (I couldn't make sense of the familial connection once awake) with my father. Memories from another world. Names, faces, detailed written notes and journals full of adventures over seas, in never-heard of kingdoms of another world, loyal friends, terrifying battles, all archived in the fragile stacks of paper littering the room. There was a small wooden door on heavy iron hinges, and a single tiny round window in the stone wall with light shining in, above eye level for me.

I didn't have long to sit and wake up before the door opened and my father came into the room speaking excitedly. He'd had a vision-dream and it was time for us to go and have an adventure. He looked old, and sick, and I had the impression that he had a terminal disease and was trying to escape death with fantasy. Even so, I wanted to play along, give him a moment of happiness so I asked him what to do.

He grabbed my hands and started speaking quickly, too quickly for me to make sense of anything, but he pushed my hand against the wall, and told me to make a door. Confused, but wanting to please I focused on my hand and was amazed to see golden light shine from my palm and spread out across the wall to form an arched door, which flashed brightly. Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped, and there was an old looking wooden door with carvings covering every inch of it.

Father hugged me tight and called me a good girl. He said he would be a King and I would be his steward, as he dug in a bag and pulled free a golden staff topped with a mysterious purple stone which he handed to me, and placed a golden headpiece of some intricate weaving on his own head. Right after he did this he pulled the door open and we went through. I remember being amazed and confused, and hoping that he knew what he was doing because I didn't know how to use this magic or what it would do.

On the other side we were in a bustling city, not modern (but neither had the room we came from been) white stone, the ocean in the background. Father drunk it in, and as he did he began to look confused and then angry. He turned to me and asked what I had done. I remember feeling his thoughts and my own in sync, his full of wonder, then listening to the music of the foreign language around us, and then taste of the air, and noting a definite "Italian" feel to the language and land. More than had been there in his previous travels. It felt Not Right. The young girl me was just stunned, and distracted by realizing the door we'd come through was gone when he turned to her to ask what she had done.

I remember staring in confusion and saying that I didn't know. I had displeased him somehow but I didn't know how, as he'd just been praising me for making a door. He dragged me around the town making inquiries in the native language, with a slight accent. I could understand him, and the people around us, but I was aware that we were not speaking in our native tongue, and I had no understanding of why we could speak or understand it.

Finally thoughts in sync but separate again, he determined that Something had happened with ships, and not just locally but throughout the known sea. Determined, but without explaining to me, he pulled me down to the shore and told me we needed to go out to sea.

I remember at that point shape-shifting to a large whale first, something large and easy for Father to sit upon because I feared the excitement and confusion was going to make him sicker. Then after awhile I began to tire, trying to use a foreign body that was so large and took so much energy to move. So, I switched to a Dolphin, and suddenly was greeted with hostility from all the natural fauna. Fish that swam by made scandalized noises at me and asked me how I could do such a thing to the Men of the world. I couldn't speak back to them, and I remained confused and in awe, and decided that being a Dolphin in this ocean seemed like a really bad idea, so I took the form of a Narwhal, hoping that a large mythical creature would be easier to maintain and garner less hostility.

Immediately we were set upon by a ship, the only one we had seen our entire time in this world and just before they threw their harpoons at me I spoke in their tongue, calling out to a face I recognized from the sketchings on the wall of the room from my own world. "Lazzaro" I said, and there was a flurry of activity.

A pale man made his way down to the edge of the ship and pulled my father aboard as I shifted back to a human shaped thing to discover to my horror that with each time I had shifted, my human form began to change. I had noticed the little nubs of spiky horns when I'd gone from Whale to Dolphin (being Human briefly between) but hadn't registered it beyond wondering what it meant before focusing on taking another form quickly so Father didn't have to wear himself out trying to swim. Now the little spikes of horns were much larger and my skin was taking on an unreal quality, very luminescent. 

The man clasped hands with Father and they spoke excitedly and it became apparent this was the very man from the sketchings I had studied. I felt a pang of jealousy, and of fear. I didn't know this world, and I felt like I didn't know my father at all.

As I sat shivering in a puddle, ignored by all but one sailor who draped a blanket over my shoulders I listened to Father speak with his old friend, and learned that Lazzaro and another man whose name I didn't hear was also an old companion and they had gone on an epic journey in my father's youth with my sister(?). They remarked that he was much aged and he said something of time between worlds being erratic.

The man that had put the blanket over my shoulders was speaking to me, and I tried to respond but my accent was very thick, and after a surprised look and his accent changing, I realized I'd spoken in a different language altogether, which only led to more inner confusion. He asked what I knew of my father's travels, and I struggled to explain that I knew only what had been written and drawn in the journals that littered our home.

This man explained that suddenly the dolphins who had always been friend to sailors had begun to bring ships down into the deep unless they had upon them a cargo of lemon. Given that this fruit was incredibly rare, many had been lost, and few dared go out on the ocean. He eyed my horns and my tiny form, and asked me plainly what I knew of lemons. I tried to answer, but instead of words, retched, and a lemon fell from my mouth onto the deck.

In a moment that made little sense in dream or awake the man grasped the fruit and raised it high above his head proclaiming that our journey was safe.

I woke up for real at that point and sat thinking and trying to process this incredibly vivid dream. I told what I could remember to Osaka because it seemed really interesting at the time.

Introducing Owen Sebastian, brother to Simon Oliver and Lorelei.

HOLY COW. I have NEVER had a doll arrive to me so fast. I got a shipping notice for Crobidoll Tori on I think the 21st, but couldn't track it yet as the package didn't show actually being picked up until the 22nd. I checked the tracking number yesterday and it had a flight number but showed nothing in regards to it reaching US or ANYTHING. No info at all, like it was in limbo in flight.

Osaka sent me a text today that he had arrived. I initially was confused, since she had also been expecting a package but no it was in fact from Crobidoll.

I had asked on their Q&A board on the 19th if they knew when he might ship (knowing that I could still have a week or two to wait) and they responded,

"Hello
this is BJD CROBI :D

Thank you for your long waitig for Tori.

All BJD CROBI's doll orders will be produced after your order/payment confirmed and it will take about 40~50 business days including makeup (except holidays/weekends), please.

For your Tori, it's been about 35 business days sinceo your order confirmed and it's finished earlier than usual and it will be sent in this week.
Wait a little bit more for your shipping information, please!
We will do our best to finish and send your order asap. :)


Thank you very much :D
Have a good day again ^-^//

If there are any other questions, ask them on Q&A board or email, please :)
We hope your happy days with BJD CROBI~ ^-^*

Always we appreciate your big supports and loves for BJD CROBI >_<

Best regards,
BJD CROBI :D"

Not quite what I was expecting, but this was my first transaction with them, so I don't really know what I was expecting.

So yeah that was a pleasant surprise. I got home and Osaka was out with her son, so I had complete quiet to open him up at my leisure. I took photos. :)

First I got Simon Oliver out to be there to greet his brother.









Some kind of facial tissue? The photos are cute.




Some beautiful postcards of some of their other dolls.


A Christmas Card.


A REALLY cute Crobidoll BJD calender with gorgeous photos on one side, and the month on the other.





In the box that black booklet was a basic owner's manual with a stringing guide, and advice for first time owners of BJD. This particular image made me giggle pretty hard.


My FIRST Certificate of Authenticity under this legal name.


I was surprised, I didn't realize the body wasn't gendered!


Tiny little hands!



And faceup! It's so perfect.


Little standy man, steady as a rock.


And with his brother in his wig.


At this point I realized the clothing wasn't going to work for him long-term. He's a little beanpole and the waistband is comically large.


His intended eyes.



After some wigstop and re-dressed.



One with Lorelei and Simon, both of his half-siblings.


One of Simon and Lorelei.


And just Owen, all put together and perfect.


Now I need to figure out exactly what sort of clothes I need to make for him. The TTYA stuff will do for the moment but it won't work long-term.

Doll Arrival Dates

I realized last night as I was falling asleep that I had forgotten to post about two heads that I have acquired. Firstly, I purchased a (White Skin) Kid Delf Winter 2014 head for a steal, thinking to use it for a Pokemon Trainer, and then I received a Kid Delf Summer 2014 head from a good friend (same sculpt as Crunchy) for the same use.

I tend to look to Livejournal when I go back to remember WHEN I got dolls so I've poked my paypal info and guesstimated that the white head was received March 30th, according to the feedback that I left for the seller. The second summer head (also normal skin) arrived Monday, April 20th from my friend, the same day as a White Skin Bluefairy boy body that I purchased in the hopes that it would match Ro.

That was a total shot in the dark but the match is not terrible and with faceup I think it will do quite well. Bluefairy WS seems pinky and rich in tone, not the greyish paperwhite of the Luts head, or luminous white of my Soom Shale.

So Winter KDF 2014 head on March 30, 2015, Summer KDF 2014 head (the second) on April 20th, 2015, and Ro's final body, a Bluefairy Tinyfairy white boy body, also on April 20th.

In addition, my Crobidoll Tori has shipped so I should be able to archive his arrival date soon, and have my special brothers united in resin. Simon Oliver Valentine, and Owen Sebastian Valentine.

I also finally sold/traded off my Dollmore body, for a parcel of wigs, eyes, and clothes, and Avery has gotten a nice black vest, and some white pants that seem to fit well that I could use as the basis of a pattern.

I am pleased and have put the majority of the boxes I was hoarding into recycling since I've sold everything I plan to sell. I am debating re-homing my Souldoll Asiter because as lovely as he is, I want him on the old Souldoll body, and those come up SO rarely. I've just done a huge bout of selling though and I want to stay out of the marketplace and out of trouble.

Avery Photos

I realized that I've not taken photos of Avery since I changed his wig. So, I have taken some kind of crappy photos of him.




Though it appears now that I will need to find another new wig. I wish I could figure out what Avery wants. I've spent more on him in wigs than I have on clothes, shoes, or other items for any other single doll, including Ichigo who is extremely spoiled.





I also need to get or make some nicely fitted trousers and shoes. At the moment he is wearing newborn slippers. I call them his house shoes.

Properly Introducing Crunchy! Also October gets optional hands.

Today (Wednesday) has been eventful. I ended up falling asleep on the sofa with a migraine after taking my morning medicine, and woke up disoriented when my Luts order arrived midday. I only got the shipping notice two nights ago so I was confused and a bit disbelieving.

So after a bit I went on Skype with Steve and opened the box. Luts has apparently switched to vacuum sealed bags around the pillows which I was not expecting, and the body looked hilarious initially with a foam block over the neck for protection and the hands stuffed into foam cubes, also for protection.

In addition to the Kid Delf body, I ordered some neck donuts, two pairs of Tiny Delf hands for October, and a pair of black eyelashes because we always need eyelashes. The first thing I did was actually play with October and the new hands and found to my delight that with fist hands he CAN wear the shirts I purchased from FunnyLori's Etsy shop, Unstrung Hero BJD. I can not recommend her enough. Excellent quality clothes and wigs, and fantastic customer service. :)


He's supposed to look like Success Baby with his little fist up triumphantly.

His little arms keep popping up, but that seem to do that regardless of what he wears so I'm not attributing that to the fit of the shirt(s).



I also took some photos of my Volks MSD with Ringo's Volks Ken for the Den of Angels Volks MSD discussion thread.




We did a few photos of them having a lunch but the photos looked a bit.. disorganized so only the group shots made the cut.

Und finally, I reveal what this post is supposed to be about! Osaka/Allister did up Crunchy's face for me this evening and I think it turned out beautifully. She's been meaning to paint him up for me for days but there have been weather issues and kid drama and other just.. not conducive to painting things, but now it's done! :D





HE'S SO PRETTY!





Best friends re-united in resin form! :D

Always adjusting to something.

I didn't mean to leave anyone hanging with my last entry. I did get through orientation with a minimum of fuss. Most of orientation was emphasis on safety, and then emphasis on anti-theft maneuvers and what exactly the policies are on how we can prevent shoplifting etc.

I wish I was kidding when I say that about 2 and 1/2 hours of the 4 hour orientation was about how there are cameras everywhere any the company spends quite a bit of money and man hours pouring over camera footage and keeping an eye on employees and customers alike. The gist of it was "Please do not steal from us, because will catch you, and it really is not worth $20,000+ in legal fees and restitution plus never being able to find retail work again, for maybe $200 from the cash register or in merchandise."

They also repeated a mantra through out, of forget everything you think you know about retail because we really do things differently and you will save yourself a bunch of headache if you just start fresh.

Today (Friday) I have my computer training, and then I guess tomorrow is my first day out on the floor. I won't know for certain until I see what all there is do be done today. I'm not overly concerned, about spending much of the day at the computer, since I've done that with other jobs, and it's pretty much par for the course.

In non-job stuff, I'm out of my migraine medicine, and have been for about a week, so I will be running to my Dr office after work to pick up the script, and see if I can get it filled right there at the Target. I expect to have migraines as I adjust to the new job, new schedule, new sleeping patterns etc. Though I suppose I just expect to have migraines because they are a pretty regular occurrence anymore.

In doll related stuff, I did get the eyes sent back to Dollmore on Wednesday finally. Stuff was weird and busy leading up to my orientation at work. They have confirmed receipt of the information and will refund me for the 2 pairs I sent back (I kept the purple pair after heavy consideration, since I can not find a replacement pair anywhere) plus the cost of shipping.

My Crobidoll and Luts Orders should ship any day now. So I will have Owen (complete with faceup) and Crunchy's body. I also picked up a Kid Delf Winter 2014 head for a steal in white skin to possibly by my Pokemon Trainer doll.

Then last night I was poking in the marketplace and found what might be the perfect body for Ro. If it works out he'll be whole again before he turns 10. If it doesn't, I have other heads that could probably work on the body. I wasn't expecting to find anything, just kind of poking and seeing what was out there. It feels right though so if I can, I will pursue this.

My sleep cycle is really messed up. I've gotten used to having an afternoon nap when Osaka puts the kids down for their nap, and that's going to be hard to give up. I am so thankful to have work though.

I've been playing lots of Pokemon. I got Alpha Sapphire for Christmas, and then picked up Omega Ruby with an e-gift card, and now I'm playing through Y (which I bought with X but never played through) trying to get a feel for how I want to do my Pokemon Trainer BJD.

I've also decided to make some permanent changes to my diet to improve my health. I've come to realize that the lithium did long term damage to my liver and kidneys as well as my thyroid, so I am attempting to adjust my diet and exercise to make things easier on them. I'm trying to cut down and eventually out my soda intake, and I'm also trying to cut out the junk food. No more bags of chips for snacking, and I need to be better about planning meals and having healthy things on hand that I can eat quickly. I'm a grazer, and I think I always have been. I feel better having many smaller meals or snacks than I do having a HUGE meal.

I got into the habit of eating crap all the time because I felt like crap anyway so it seemed like there was no point in trying to eat well. Now I'm trying to break those habits. I've given up soda before, and junk food too. I just need to make it stick. So I don't buy it. Limit my sweets. Limit my salt intake. Don't eat fast food at all (or very very rarely), and try to keep healthy snacking stuff in the apartment. Osaka is on board and will do what she can to help. The hard part is going to be figuring out how and what to eat while at work. I will need to eat to keep my blood sugar up, but I'm not sure how best to pack a healthy meal that I can eat quickly. It will probably require experimentation.

Anyway that's all that's going on with me. Trying to make healthier choices, trying to adjust to the new job, and dolls and video games.