Squeal of joy

all right I don’t know about y’all but I am BEYOND excited because a few days ago I was browsing the AG site (has to be done sometimes) and discovered that they released new Truly Me dolls. Im not caught up with everything that goes on so this came as a surprise. But while doing that I noticed something. Somebody. This somebody:
TrulyMe #79, a medium skinned Jess Mold. The first medium skinned jess mold EVER aside from Kanani (GOtY 2011). Now Kanani has been my dream doll for years, but I doscovered American Girl in 2013, so Kanani was long gone by then. After many fruitless scourings of ebay and just hoping to find one at a good will or something, I gave up. One couldn’t just have a not!Kanani because that face mold and skin tone combination straight up wasn’t avalible.
But now it is!
I have been debating for a few months werher or not to get Luciana, because lots of times I want something and then decide “no I don’t really need that” for the sake of money or space. But then I remember how much I wanted the thing, often long after the item has been retired. So getting Luciana was a definite possibility ever since January.
But not!Kanani holds presidence over her, being that I’ve wanted her more and for much longer. Though a TrulyMe just released will not retire anytime soon, it is best to satisfy an old want than to get a new doll just because I might regret not getting her in the future.
The feeling of wanting a doll badly is a feeling I had nearly forgotten. As a 7th and 8th grader I would find a doll or outfit I wanted, I would find a way for it to fit in with the rest of my doll’s lives and the story I have going for them. I would get so ecxited thinging about having it and using it, plotting where I would get the money and the logistics of an AG store trip or ordering online. The excitement would fill my chest and buzz down my arms while my brain whirled around backstories, names, and clothing preferences. Sometimes I couldn’t even sleep.
But as I grew older (not even very much older) I developed depression and all emotions faded out and drained away while I was left laying in a mud puddle, my body filled with styrofoam and unable to move or think. Three years went by. Wanting to use dolls was the first to go. Wanting to live went a while larter. Grades and friends slipped, of course. All was foggy and dim.
But now, after more than a year of medication and counseling (some with therapists, some with personal research) interest in school, friends, starry hill, acting, singing, and astrophotography returned. So did the doll hobby. And now, I find it amazing that I can loose sleep being wxcited to think about dolls and excitement for the future- near future being the acting class I chose to take (first non school class ever except piano lessons which I quit long ago) and far future (growing nearer) being college, the prospect of which used to terrify me, but now excites me.
Personal anecdote aside:
I think the best way to purchace such expensive dolls is to wait until you have a personality and backstory developed. Otherwise you wind up with a hunk of vinyl instead of a character. I did that with TrulyMe (which was MyAG at the time) #61. She was on the Julls steals and Deals sale a few years ago, and I was immensely pleased that I could get a hundred dollar doll for $70, especially since she was the only one with truly red hair and green instead of hazel eyes. Despite all this, I didn’t know who she would be or how she fit in. To this day she does not have a name. I have tried several times, but they never stick. I might take off her wig and pop out her eyes just in case I want to build a doll. Maybe get a head from ebay.
So the next order of buisness is: who shall #79 be?

Two will enter, one will return

Yesterday, it was Rylan's turn to take Pepper out for a romp in the yard. He was excited for a walk and the force of his wagging tail made his whole body wiggle.

"Hold on, Pepper. Im still trying to get my shoes on and you dancing around my feet is not helping."

When they finally made it outside, Pepper bounded happily along the paving stones before scampering off to have a nice roll in the grass and pee on a bush or two.

"Are you a good boy, fur face? Yes, I think so. Fuzzy lumpkin. Puppy boy. Fuzz nugget."

"Urrrrrrrrrrooo." Said pepper, unimpressed by all the goofy names.

He wandered off to mark his presence on a few more bushes, so Rylan waited around looking at the trees, all of which she loved dearly.

Among these was a little willow across the grass from the house. It was an ant compared to the fir trees surrounding the yard, but being a doll she fit under it nicely, where she began inspecting the bark. Thin, white, papery. Perhaps she should start a bark collection.

Off in the distance, Pepper gave one sharp bark and bolted off.

"Huh?" Rylan said to the tree.

"Hold on. Pepper? Pepper! Get back here!"

But Pepper was already disappearing beneath the fir trees and undergrowth.

Rylan jogged a little apprehensively across the grass, which was quickly giving way to weeds and rocks. She wondered what he had seen. Maybe a deer?

But the mild apprehension grew to straight up uneasiness after countless calls of "Pepper, come!" fell on deaf ears (or no ears) as she moved deeper into the forest.

She was running now. Pepper almost always stayed in the yard, and almost always came when she called. And certainly he always came with this much fuss.

Long past the underbrush where she saw him disappear, she began shoving back ferns and peering around trees. But surely she would have seen him bounding through the tules if he was anywhere nearby.

"Pepper?" Rylan called one last time.

But she was alone.

*** ***
Tune in next week to see how Pepper is found, and what he found in the process.
May your doll's noses never get shine marks,
Gwen

Book Reviews with Andie- The Language of Spells

Good afternoon and happy... whatever day today is, everybody! It's Andie here and I am going to spill my thoughts to you about The Language of Spells by Garret Weyr.

My summary is this: a dragon named Grisha is born in a forest in Germany. He gets turned into a teapot by an evil magician, and then sold to an emperor, who dies and gives him to an antique shop, where a young man named Yakov finds him and brings him home. Yakov can see that he is a real dragon inside a teapot. He is sure to put the teapot in a window so Grisha can get some sun, and talks to him every day. Eventually, he finds a way to release him from the teapot, and tells him that all the other dragons have been called to Vienna. Little did they know that it was the evil magician Leopold who was doing the calling. More than half the dragons are put to sleep and hidden beneath the city. Grisha and the remaining dragons are left as museum and national landmark guides. They forget the terrible fate of their brothers and sisters.

Eventually, Grisha meets an eleven year old girl named Maggie. They become fast friends and on their adventures around the city of Vienna, Grisha remembers his early days there and that his friends are missing. He and Maggie embark on a quest to save the sleeping buried dragons, talking to enchanted cats about where they're hidden, and to Yakov's granddaughter about a potion to wake them up, going on excursions to London, Rome, and the Black Forest. Unfortunately, all magic demands a sacrifice, including the magic to reverse Leopold's spell. When they find the sleeping dragon's deep beneath Vienna's subway system, Maggie's sacrifice is to give up the thing she loves most- being able to see and talk to her friend Grisha. The spell works.

Now lemme tell you guys, I loved every page of this book! I love dragons and old cities, and children literature that reads like you could be telling a fantastical story to a child. There were beautiful illustrations and likable characters, the whole shebang. But the ending. Oh, how I loathe the ending. It's not a bad or poorly thought out ending, it just makes me sad. Imagine not being able to see, hear, or feel your best friend, even though he's right there. Imagine him knowing that and not being able to do anything. Maggie can't even see the dragons that she freed, nor can they tell her how grateful they are. Good Lord I Hate sad endings. If you are going to read this book, read all of it except the last chapter, and then make up your own ending.

Farewell form Andie, hater of bittersweet books.

Alex's Hair

Remember an eternity ago when I bought my little brother a Marisol doll from Ebay for $50 and made it into a boy? I cut the hair then and it didn't go as well as I would have liked. But after an eternity, I bought a new wig and it looks fabulous! It is from GramcatsCloset on Etsy.

Monique wigs are nearly impossible to get on. I struggled with this one for a while and finally got it to a place where I could glue it. Aaaaaand got glue in the hair. I'll figure it out sometime.

Now that Alex is in use, I need to start thinking up a character for him. My brother is helping since he's still technically his doll. Cole says Alex is going to be a vlogger. 

This flannel came from LorelieCreations on Etsy.

Rylan and the Face Melting Tunes

I bought Rylan Tenney's guitar for christmas and she loves it!

Previously she had been playing with the human sized guitars laying around my house, and I decided I needed a doll sized one.

 I bought it at the little pop up AG store in some mall near portland, making off with a heavy bag and a light wallet. In the bag was Logan's performance outfit, Z's camera set, and Tenney's guitar. It was the first time in a long time I had bought anything from AG. Logan's outfit was only $10, though, which was amazing.

This shoot was done with a black scarf, my dad's line 6 amp, and a couple plant lights. I was super proud of them, but they didn't do too well on Instagram. I think it's because I organized my feed and have 3 pictures in a row and post them all at once. Do any of you use Instagram and can offer me advice?

Rylan typing now. I want to help out with posts too. I wish I was playing something really face meltingly terrific but I've only had this guitar for a month. So I was doing my best to pluck out Immortality by Pearl Jam, which is terrific, but its just me, haltingly and by myself. Maybe I'll learn to sing too!

This is Gwen, back to talk about pictures some more. I really like the feel of these, the energy in them, but they might be a little dark or hard to look at for the average person scrolling on by. Aside from really wanting to show off the new guitar and have a lifelike shoot, I also went to the Museum of Popular Culture in Seattle with my aunt and uncle, where we saw Mick Rock's pictures of David Bowie. They were something else, I tell you. I hadn't listened to or seen David Bowie before, only heard the name. But the idea of a genderqueer alien from mars with a bunch of spider friends was right up my alley. I got home and listened to some Bowie, and didn't like it all that much, but that man's style and creativity was really fantastic.

Of course, none of this shoot is at all reminiscent of Ziggy Stardust, but the pictures on the wall did make me want to do something with darkness and color photographing a musician, even if the musician is an inanimate 18 inch vinyl girl.