Mural hunting, love, and talking Spotify down off the ledge

Well, my friend was, indeed, delighted by my suggestion to go mural hunting today. The happy couple dancing in the featured image, believe it or not, is a painting outside a formal wear establishment. Apologies to the artist, as I appear to have accidentally cropped the end of their last name, out of the shot.

We spent a large bit of the afternoon driving around downtown finding murals. There are a LOT of them down there. Found a few more when we hit a different area for a late lunch.

Been thinking about love, and marriage, and relationships lately, so I guess that particular mural seems appropriate. Kiddo attended a wedding over the weekend, and I’ve been getting inundated by wedding ads and products and services, ever since I nearly attended a wedding show with a friend.

There was a fierce blizzard that same weekend. They rescheduled by a day, but roads were still so crappy, I didn’t want to chance it. BUT I did enter a contest for something or other, which apparently resulted in my information circulating to ALL the wedding peeps. It’s okay, though. I got a lovely magazine in the mail. Gorgeous photography.

I actually updated my online dating profiles last night, even though I’m not holding out much hope for those avenues as a means of finding anything “real.” Meanwhile, I will try to be out and about town more often, in a position to meet people, even if in-person chit-chat with strangers makes me nervous at times.

What can I say? My bed is my happy place. Furreals. It was the first thing to pop into my head when I had to come up with a safe space for a meditation visualization.

Which reminds me, I still have to meditate tonight. Healthy thing to do. Meanwhile, I’m sharing the day’s adventures with y’all and listening to “mallgoth industrial rock Sunday night.” Fitting since I think Sunday MAY just have been goth night at one of my old haunts. At least, we wound up there on many a Sunday.

The playlist– not all bad, for sure. Some of the songs I really love, though I wish they hadn’t plucked an edited version of “Black No. 1” when the f-bomb version is right there, and it’s not as if I have that setting toggled to avoid profanity.

I’m trying to retrain the Spotify AI away from like ULTRA heavy dark music in the wee hours. I don’t know quite who Spotify thinks I am LOL… but MAN… I have my limits. Blood Lite, maybe. That’s about where I stop. Sexy horror but not slasher horror. Even some of the gore in The Lost Boys gets to me a bit these days.

SO… I’m nickel and diming this playlist, listening to what’s promising, to help steer the AI away from the ledge.

Lots of NIN, a smattering of Type O… picking at “Ribbons” by The Sisters of Mercy now. A many-splintered thing, indeed.

It was a pretty successful jaunt today, including a stop into an honest-to-Goddess modern Apothecary. My friend picked up some Valerian Root.

And we had delicious chicken plates at a pub/eatery. Multiple pieces of chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and gravy.

I just got really down again after dark, watching old murder mystery shows with my mom while she waited for my dad to get back home. I stopped there after my friend and I split ways.

I dunno how much more murder drama I can take. Kinda had it with Matlock and Murder She Wrote and Perry Mason, even if I ADORE the Ozzy song “Perry Mason.” Perry does have a certain je ne sais quoi to be sure, especially in the more noir-looking black and white episodes. But not every night for hours, or just about.

I gotta maybe get more comfortable spending time alone, or else portion out my money a bit better so I can afford lil coffee drinks and paperbacks or the like out in the wild in my free time.

Even the time I got myself lunch at Noodles & Company alone was kinda fun. I could do that again.

Meanwhile, there’s now the ubiquitous Trent Reznor screaming that “we’re in this together now…” music can be such a healing thing. “Until the very end of me…” and “we will make it through somehow.”

Creativity. So restorative. Appreciating it in others and harvesting it within yourself.

I roughed out another poem tonight, about a stress dream I had last night/this morning. Still adding to that collection and editing here and there.

Slight uptick in nightmares lately, and I haven’t (honest) been watching/reading/listening to anything to provoke them. I had a Stranger Things nightmare about a character from a season I never even saw, since I wimped out at like episode 3. Kids in peril. Nopes. Can’t do it.

Working my way through some emotions, maybe? Who knows? Dreams are a mystery. I had a therapist who loved analyzing them with me and another who thought they were of no significance whatsoever. Speaking of… I best be slipping away to get my meditation on and try to get into a good headspace for sleep.

Good night!!! As one last parting gift, here’s a bit of art I made a-ways back, inspired by a long-distance crush that never amounted to anything offline. Pretty sure I haven’t shared it here already? The vibe feels in keeping with all the brick photos and mural art and graffiti aesthetics I’ve been keen on lately. Na-nites!