Various Random Thoughts

Well, it's past midnight, but I haven't gone to sleep yet...so, to me, it is still Sunday, December 16.

December 16 is the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party; Ron Paul supporters used this day to explode another money bomb by skyrocketing Paul's donations from over 11 million to over 18 million in 24 hours! This freedom revolution is no joke, and it is no small matter to those of you who might be skeptical. Listen to Alex Jones (AND verify what he says by looking up for yourself the documents and proof he gives for what he says); research Ron Paul and watch videos on YouTube (links below):

Ron Paul: A New Hope
PBS Documentary on Ron Paul

Visit his website: www.ronpaul2008.com and get SERIOUS about this upcoming election! Well I almost went on another surge about Ron Paul, but I decided not to here because I have plenty else to say right now. Besides, I'm not sure I can help anyone who's not smart enough to recognize that our country is in grave danger and so is each individual who lives in America and the only candidate who is consistently true to his word and has principled values and cares about the American people is RON PAUL. wow...I think that was a run-on sentence, but I'm too tired to fix it, so hopefully it made sense.

Okay, so December 16, 2007 is also the first day in my life that I -- Letisha Beachy -- fired a real gun. I fired a Glock 19 (9 mm bullets) at a bowling pin four times; I hit the pin twice out of the four times I shot and the second time I hit it, I knocked it completely off the fence. Seems a little ironic (coincidental?) that I shot a gun for the first time on December 16, 2007, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, the day of the second revolutionary money bomb by Ron Paul supporters, a day of supporting a candidate who very strongly supports and believes in our Second Amendment right to bear arms. Interesting...
Anyway, I attended my first gun show on Saturday, December 15 and it was, to say the least, an experience to be had. Perhaps I will write more on this later.

Another thing I'd like to note about today is that as I drove home from Tom's house tonight, I thought about the fact that today was the first time I've ever shot a real gun. Tom gave me a one- to two-minute lesson on gun safety, how the gun works, and how to aim and fire. I did not grow up around guns and I admit to always being afraid of them for various reasons aside from the obvious fact that I knew that they were deadly if you are on the "business end of the gun," as Tom puts it. I was nervous at the gun show; I was nervous when I heard Tom target practicing, and I was fearful when I went to try it. I did it because it is a fear that I know I must overcome in this world. So, as I drove home from Tom's house tonight, I tried to think back to doublecheck my memory if this was indeed the first time I've ever fired a real gun. I fired toy guns when I was a young tom boy; I fired water guns; I fired a paintball gun a few times in the woods; and I've played Lazer Tag. So, as far as I can remember, I have never fired a real gun until today. Then I wondered, why can't I remember something like this for certain? You'd think that shooting a gun for the first time would be something you'd remember...then that got me to thinking about major events that Tom has asked me about my past that I cannot answer because I don't remember. When and how did this failure in my memory come about? I'm pretty sure I didn't used to be as uncertain about such things before. See? "I'm pretty sure." I can't even say "I'm certain" very often. What's happened to my memory? I've heard (Tom, Alex Jones, articles) that various chemicals can result in memory loss, and these chemicals can be found in the fluoride that the city puts in our tap water, in various medicines (perhaps including anti-depressants?), and possibly in fluids that are injected into our systems when we get various "protocol" shots. I have to do some research to find out how much of this is true and what might be causing my memory loss, but let's hope I can get that done before I forget why I'm doing the research in the first place! I don't want people or chemicals messing with my body unless I consent to it and know exactly what something is going to do to my body. This is a similar frustration as I mentioned in a recent blog about the anti-depressants that I stopped taking.

Another note regarding the gun thing: I was happy to see/hear that some children are taught very well about gun safety. Tom's neice, Hayleigh, is one such young lady. As Cindy (Hayleigh's mom) and I discussed how this gun was Tom's new "toy" and that he'd be giving it a lot of attention for awhile, Hayleigh jumped in and said "but it's not a toy!" :)

This is random (watch out from left field!): I saw one of the funniest things this weekend. It was a plinko Santa. You seen the Plinko game on The Price is Right?? Everyone loves plinko! Well, this toy is a Plinko Santa, except there is only one whole that the Santa can land in and it is a chimney! The Sparks' dog, Charley, was quite intrigued with the toy too!

Here's one from right field: I heard a song by a band that I'd never head of before and it was quite good. The band is an old rock band called Golden Earring and the song was called...umm, sorry I don't remember.

Speaking of songs and artists...I realized recently just how stupid I've become since I left college. This thought came about as I played Taboo with friends from church at a Christmas party a couple weeks ago. I did very poorly on much of it because I am so unfamiliar with pop culture! When I was in college, I was like a neverending sponge that constantly got fed. Now I'm like a neverending sponge that is often dry and leaving much to be desired, I mean, learned. At Virginia Tech, I was surrounded by students seeking knowledge, professors researching, my own copious amounts of homework, teaching fellow students, and just a general sense of academic-hood. Whenever I didn't know something or understand something, I'd go Google it and find out (hence "newsflash" that I received from the Lord a few nights ago that I blogged about recently). Now, life is...well, I'm not sure what life is now or what exactly happened, but I must get it back! I think should include me keeping up with my languages, the instruments I've learned or am learning, becoming more familiar with pop culture as well as history, and finding more time to read. Is it possible for me to do all that when I can barely find time to do anything for myself as it is right now? It seems that the past few years have been largely spent battling constant emotional roller coasters and/or depression, as well as trying to figure out where the heck my life is going. Meanwhile, my search for knowledge has starved; I want to know things for good, use them for good...and ultimately use them for creativity. I know for sure that I must engage in more scholarly conversations and cannot expose myself to things that make me feel like my brain cells are dissipating or disolving into a big mass of nothingness.

I have been working on a children's book lately. Goodness! I sure did choose a complicated hobby/career path! Tom has been trying to help me figure out how to put this complicated baby book together (it has to be sturdy to endure baby handling). Who was to know that it was going to be so difficult? I hope it gets published after all this trouble!

I have so many things to write about...I hope I have plenty of opportunities to write this week since (I'm pretty sure) I don't have to tutor again until after Christmas. Perhaps I will blog again tomorrow...

Oh, and my sister returns from Kenya, Africa on Tuesday, December 18, 2007.

Old Time Cartoons = Good Ole Memories

Here are some YouTube videos of old cartoons that I used to love and watch. Enjoy!

INSPECTOR GADGET




GUMMY BEARS




FRAGGLE ROCK




MAPLE TOWN




STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
* this video has some tracking problems




CARE BEARS

Ron Paul: A Video of Hope that Brings Tears to my Eyes

Sunshine

My Sunshine

By Thomas Houston

Today I awoke in a groggy state and my mind screamed not to get out of bed
The button called "snooze" has made me late as I now face the hour drive with dread
As the miles roll by I can see the gray sky, the clouds gather thick overhead
I take a deep breath and let out a sigh then thoughts of her enter my head

Eyes like the sea stare back and thrill me, a green mystery not revealing her soul
Seems where ever I may be when she isn't with me, to be with her is my quest and my goal
Her hair smells so sweet as she points her bare feet, her lips pursed to be pressed against mine
On a day like today when clouds keep light away, her memory in my heart is my sunshine

Instead of the windshield I see her face and her laughter now enters my mind
Instead of the wheel I feel her embrace, our heartbeats and arms are entwined
Instead of the engine I hear her voice as she whispers sweet words so divine
Instead of the dark all seems to be bright from her memory, her light, my sunshine

The drive is long and the morning is drear but my thoughts are not here on the road
and the clouds overhead have a slight tint of red but I ignore the gloom they forebode
No matter how dim my circumstances may be or how bad my life gets out of line
The glow of her smile when she's happy with me is all I need for my light and my sunshine

My Fictional Self

I originally wrote this blog post in 2007!  A lot has changed since then!  I have changed since then.  So, I took a lot out, edited some, and added in some new comments to try to show some of the spiritual growth I've experienced in the past few years.  Certainly haven't reached "perfect," by any means, but I can definitely tell I've grown!  :)  This blog post is an attempt to illustrate the blend of who I am as a daughter of God and who I am as a pensive writer.

Stories have a way of wrapping around your life. How many times does this happen when you watch a movie that has a good story?  You watch a good movie and for days afterward, you keep thinking about the story in the film or you may even start thinking parts of the movie are/were real in your own life. Your mind tries to assimilate the story from the film into the story of your life. Many authors, endowed with a talent that some folks fail to understand, manage to be both mentally and socially removed from society while sprinkling their stories (fictional or non) into the flow of civilization until someone comes across their words and realizes "this author is telling exactly my life story without even knowing it" or "this author knows me without really knowing me".

What I am trying to say is that many writers know people, and yet they often struggle to relate well to people in person. Writers have an understanding that can be projected through beautiful, poignant language and their stories can produce the perfect description of what a reader says "that is exactly how I feel!"  Writers have this understanding, but many of them have a distance or disconnect in their personality that prevents them from maintaining the same social norms as the average person.

So, curiously, even being a writer myself, I have found certain writers who know some about me. For example, the screenwriter of The Green Mile knew me when he/she developed the character John Koffee...a character who passionately and intensely senses and feels the pain others are going through. There are so many times when my empathetic, justice-loving, hyper-sensitive-to-my-surroundings personality intensely relates to John's explanation to Paul (the guard taking John to the execution chair) about why he's ready to go:
Paul Edgecomb: On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job?!?
John Coffey: You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin' and worryin', I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?
Paul Edgecomb: Yes, John. I think I can.

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120689/quotes)

This is a more poignant example, but it is among many other examples in which I feel the writer knew me so well that he/she was able to write me into the story without ever having met me.

I do often find whispers of my self in other writers' stories. As a writer, I know that they have as much to offer me as I have to offer with my own writing. Because they have put their stories out there, I have found them, and the effect of dominoes does not allow me to ignore the fictional versions of myself and my life story that I find in other writers' stories.

I once read a book that very accurately spoke the thoughts of my heart at the time; I had thought that this book came closest to revealing to me my Fictional Self. The book is called The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. Looking back at it now, I still think it is an intriguing tale with a few whispers of my self in it, but as time changes, so do I; there are parts in the book that I can vividly remember relating to but that are from previous chapters of my life. My first interest in this book lied solely with the fact that it was a story within a story within a story involving an author writing about a biographer who writes about an author. Complicated enough, as it were, but the very words spoken by the secondary main character (Vida Winter, the author about whose life the biographer is writing) are the same exact sentiments that I once felt. A few years later, it is even more remarkable to see changes in myself.  Those previous chapters of my life were indeed comprised of my fictional self -- my self before I truly started learning how to perceive my identity through Jesus Christ.

Imagine speaking a different language than everyone around you: even your closest friends, family, and loved ones do not understand you. You used to be able to communicate with them when you were younger (more innocent and carefree), but now you cannot communicate with anyone. You speak an entirely different language for which there is no known or available translator. You speak a language that no one in the world understands. Somehow you have to live, don't you? You have to communicate certain things in order to survive in a society that doesn't have a clue what you're saying. Pause for a moment to think of all the times you communicate with others and imagine how hard it would be to communicate if the best you could do to communicate is point, nod, or shake your head. Imagine for a moment that the language you speak is one that is so complicated for even you to speak that it would be impossible to teach it to anyone else. Imagine living your life like that -- how alone and frustrated you would feel. Yes, the entire example is symbolic, and it may sound ridiculous, but that is how I often felt in the past (and even still often feel now). Much of this has to do with my personality...my "nature."

I do often feel like I speak an entirely different language than anyone else I know, and it often leaves me feeling alienated and lonely. It is something I have to fight against on a daily basis - something I can only do with God's help! In previous chapters of my life, I used to find various means to communicate, such as creative writing - narratives; now, I find myself in a place where I have hardly written anything in three years and in those years, I have been learning to work through the power of Jesus Christ to communicate better. Perhaps these past few years have been the bridge of "silent writing" that connects two very different parts of my life, and perhaps I'm going to start a new chapter of writing that is closer to what God intended for me.


Now the next best thing I can think of to share with you are quotes from the book The Thirteenth Tale that perhaps I spoke out from the pages in sync with the author, Diane Setterfield. I have typed up these quotes in order as they appear in the book. These quotes struck a cord with me in some form or fashion back when I read the book, but I have gone back and added my comments in italics under the quotes to indicate what I think about them now. It's amazing how Jesus Christ can change you. When I originally wrote this blog, I included these quotes (and some others that I have removed) to illustrate "who I am," but now, as I read back through them, I see many of them through a Christ-perspective while a few still innocently illustrate parts of "me." Oh dear, I hope I'm making some sort of sense!

"Don't you think one can tell the truth much better with a story?" - Vida Winter
Perhaps. There is a place and time for things, but I must also remember:  "Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial." - 1 Corinthians 10:23

"I would sooner not tell you. But I have promised, haven't I? The rule of three. It's unavoidable. The wizard might beg the boy not to make a third wish, because he knows it will end in disaster, but the boy will make a third wish and the wizard is bound to grant it because it is in the rules of the story..." - Vida Winter
I see this as more of a statement about writing stories; though it is a free-flowing art form, there are still rules and reader expectations to consider.

"I'm sorry [...] One gets so used to one's own horrors, one forgets how they must seem to other people." - Vida Winter
I might replace the word "horrors" with "daily struggles" or something like that.

"I shall start at the beginning. Though of course the beginning is never where you think it is. Our lives are so important to us that we tend to think the story of them begins with our birth. First there was nothing, then I was born...yet that is not so. Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated out from a knot of others and laid out straight. Families are webs. Impossible to touch one part of it without setting the rest vibrating. Impossible to understand one part without having a sense of the whole." - Vida Winter

"A birth is not really a beginning. Our lives at the start are not really our own but only the continuation of someone else's story." - Vida Winter
Interesting perceptions in these last two quotes...and they're true, really. They make me think about how very connected we always remain to our parents, no matter how old we get and no matter how long they've been gone.

"Twins, always together, always two. If it was normal in their world to be two, what would other people, who came not in twos but ones, seem like to them? We must seem like halves, the Missus mused. And she remembered a word, a strange word it had seemed at the time, that meant people who had lost parts of themselves. Amputees." [...] "Of course all amputees hanker after the state of twinness. Ordinary people, untwins, seek their soul mate, take lovers, marry. Tormented by their incompleteness they strive to be part of a pair." - Vida Winter
Another way of looking at it is that amputees are those who are lost, not having entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ. They do indeed strive to be part of a pair somehow, but they continue to be tormented by incompleteness until they become as one with Jesus Christ.

"What I didn't know - and this was more than curious - was what the storyteller thought. In telling her tale, Miss Winter was like the light that illuminates everything but itself. She was the disappearing point at the heart of the narrative. She spoke of they; more recently she had spoken of we; the absence that perplexed me was I. What could it be that had caused her to distance herself from her story in this way?" - Margaret Lea
Though I rarely follow through, I often find myself wanting to distance myself from life's difficulties by writing a narrative that mimics the situation I'm in and ultimately expresses my thoughts and feelings since I so often hold these back from people in real life.

"My study throngs with characters waiting to be written. Imaginary people, anxious for a life, who tug at my sleeve, crying, 'Me next! Go on! My turn!' I have to select. And once I have chosen, the others lie quiet for ten months or a year, until I come to the end of the story, and the clamor starts up again." - Vida Winter
True, true of all that I muse! The only difference is that the imaginary characters wanting life have to wait much longer than a year for me to get around to it! :)

"She [the girl, a child] is someone I used to be. That child ceased existing a long, long time ago. The person you see before you now is nothing." - Vida Winter
I would more likely end this quote by saying "The person you see before you now is one who fervently desires to turn her existence back into innocent childhood."

"When one is nothing, one invents. It fills a void." - Vida Winter
For me, it would be better to say:  "When one is nothing, one turns to Jesus." and "When one is hungry for something new, one invents. It is the only thing that satiates that hunger."  Not a short quip like Vida Winter's but truer for me nonetheless!  :)

Free Hug Campaign

Juan Mann is my hero! :) He turned a simple gesture into a worldwide humanity movement without even trying. July 7, 2007 was International Free Hug Day and more than 30 countries participated. Just goes to show that kind, loving gestures such as hugs really do speak 1,000 words...and furthermore, hugs can be understood in ANY language!

Juan Mann, the Hugger

Free Hugs Campaign - Worldwide!

Nostalgia for Childhood

Have you ever felt like the days just slip through your fingers? Maybe you feel like you haven't been very productive lately? Maybe you start wondering if you really are significant to anyone around you? Maybe you feel caught in a perpetual "transition" stage and wonder if your life is ever really going to go somewhere? Well, of course I wouldn't likely be writing this if I wasn't experiencing all this, and more, myself.

I watched the film The Holiday the other night. The plot was extremely predictable, but funny and "cute" in its own way. I was delighted to watch it, though that may have been because I was with one of my closest friends. But then on my 45-minute drive back home, I felt saddened (to put it mildly) and frustrated because I knew Hollywood just did so well to make this quaint little movie and of course have a happy ending for the viewers...but where did that leave me when I identified so well with one of the characters in the film? Where did that leave me when I identified with her as she was before the "happy ending"? It left me more bruised, so to speak. I might have to avoid movies like that altogether because I, like many women, end up thinking that I'll eventually find that "happy ending" when the reality is that the "happy endings" are a facade.

Reminds me of the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge, in which Stasi discusses how much little girls and women alike love to be princesses, essentially...the "beauty" of some hero's story and adventure...and how girls and women alike love to live this desire vicariously through romantic movies and books and dress-up and such...but then the real world does a thorough job of crushing and stifling that female fantasy/desire and tells the woman to "toughen up." And what is the world left with? Not women. Merely a female gender of sorts who is utterly ashamed of being who she is...a woman.

I've been thinking more and more about how I miss my childhood. The days now seem like they just slip by without me even noticing...and what shall I say I've done? Stress out about not having a job? Cry because my heart has been broken a kazillion times? Sit alone and lonely because no one calls? Sit around wanting to write but not writing because of feeling guilty for not having a job?

How I do miss my childhood when things seemed so much simpler! I miss being the "tom boy" of the neighborhood and all my friends looking to me to be the "daring one" to try something risky. I miss how the highlight of the day was hunting for snipes, playing Littles (long story), riding bikes, playing make-believe, "shooting some hoops," or selling cheap lemonade. I miss the days when my biggest worries were taking cactus prickles out of my basketball, trying not to get caught in a lie, trying to avoid eating vegetables at dinner, or trying to beat one of my nintendo games. I miss using two of our friends' back yards as one long sledding hill when it snowed. I miss running into the house to stand in front of the window unit in the hot summers...I guess that was before we had air conditioning...

Now I must go to bed...another day slips on by...

A-musings

Well I believe I had my first real experience with "teaching" this past Thursday. I was a guest speaker at the school where my friend Amanda teaches fifth grade. I spoke to four classes of fifth graders at one time!

I really had no clue what to expect or what was expected of me for this "guest speaking" experience, so I completely winged it! I'm not sure what the 5th grade teachers thought of me, but the kids seemed to like it! Truly, I'm really only concerned about pleasing the young'uns because adults can be too serious about everything and kids are the most honest critics anyway!

I talked to the 5th graders about creativity and how to brainstorm ideas for a story or poem; I taught them words like "speculate" and what "Choose Your Own Adventure" books are. I asked them lots of questions so that they could participate and "have a say" in this weird author-writer-girl coming to talk to their classes!

I got so excited to see them get excited and to see them want to participate. I knew that if anything, this was the way to get kids to want to learn and participate...by involving them and interacting with them. The kids had fun, telling me about stories they could make up and (with my guidance) making up a mini story about a Leprechaun who rides a magical unicorn and who comes to the kids' house to find some gold before the kids get to it and whose clover gets taken away by the kids' parents and then the Leprechaun gets angry and turns into a giant and eats the entire family! And the whole story came from the fact that sometimes the kids heard scratching sounds in their home!

Still not sure I could handle teaching, but it was fun! Maybe God is leading me in that direction, maybe He's not...we'll see!

*************

Yesterday I was pondering the phrases "Bless his/her heart" and "God rest his/her soul." I recall attending a storytelling festival one year and one storyteller interrupted one of her stories to remark on the irony that I was pondering last night: it seems like people feel comfortable or justified saying anything they darn well please about another human being, as long as they precede it with "Bless his/her heart" or (if the person is deceased) "God rest his/her soul." As if saying those phrases makes it okay to say whatever you want about the person. Mind you, sometimes these phrases are used in earnest, but many times they are "abused."

*************

Tonight Travis and I were driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway and I pointed out a cow pasture to him and said "This is the place where I once saved a cow."
"You saved a cow?" Travis asked.
"Yup...kinda," I said.
"Praise the Lord! You have brought a cow to know the Lord! You brought him to his knees to repent and accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior!"
"Not like that," I laughed.
"Well do tell me...I want to hear the story of how you led a cow to the Lord!" Travis said eagerly.
"Why, I preached the gospel to him, of course! How else would you do it?"

*** If you don't find that funny, maybe it was one of those "you had to be there" kind-of situations

little girl and monsters

Kids are so funny :)

Nikki Giovanni:

My beloved Professor, Nikki, gives an amazing reading of her tribute to those lost in the Virginia Tech tragedy. My love and prayers go out to my second family: the English Department and the rest of the Virginia Tech community!

Abbott and Costello - Who's On First

Classic humor...and no cursing! Imagine that!

Older Pictures of Friends

I'm posting these pictures so that you all can see some of the friends who make such a wonderful difference in my life...



Here is my beloved former roommate, Tiffany (left)! She is an amazing woman of God and one of my dearest friends! Behind us is a VT vs Miami football game...I conveniently forgot who won that game. We'll have to see what the future holds...Tiffany and I might even go into business together!! :)

Here is my dearest Hannah (pronounced Hah-nah, not Ha as in "hand"). She is beautiful in so many ways and I always cherish Hannah-hugs! :)

Here is my lovely friend Trusty...actually, her name is Patricia, but because that sounds so similar to Letisha and we didn't want to confuse ourselves, she calls me Letty and I call her Trusty. Don't ask me where I got that from...just decided it fit. :) Anyway, she's a lovely and dear friend.

Here is one of my sisters, Tiffany-Ahren, who is two years my senior. She's an amazing person and a wonderful sister, even though we used to fight like cats and dogs. She has a passion for wildlife, especially for birds, so I can almost always count on gaining the "nature" perspective on most things! :)












Here is one of my sweet childhood friends, Hollie. We played together as youngsters and reunited our friendship after college. I admire her for being such a strong woman despite circumstances. Joking and laughing with Hollie is the best because we both have loud, boistrous laughs!







And of course, I can't neglect one of my best friends, Maggie. This is a profile shot. She's so beautiful and snuggly and is always happy to see me, which makes me happy too! Yay for dogs!

Recent Pictures

Here is the cutest baby in my life right now! My nephew Quinlan, who will be celebrating his 1st birthday on July 15!! He's cute as a button, his giggle is contagious, and...(Drum roll) he's starting to walk!! :)


Here's another picture of my handsome little man! Okay, okay...so he's not mine...he's my brother's. Looks like a mischievous little smile to me!


Here is a recent picture of my niece Brittany, who is now in high school. Oh my goodness they grow up so fast! Ain't she beautiful?? :)




I've calculated your chance for survival, but you won't like it. This will all end in tears, I just know it. (I LOVE MARVIN!!!)

First Blog

Well, at least this blogger site has one of my favorite fonts: Georgia.

Hey everyone! Welcome to Pensive Rendering...my first blog site ever. I hope to produce some pretty cool stuff on here, so let me know if you have any ideas on topics you wish me to blog about. I'll let you know if I accept or not! :)

So, the name. Well, "pensive" is one of my top 10 favorite words in the English language. I know, you're probably thinking: how can you possibly have a top 10 list of favorite words?? WEIRD! Haha, well you might be surprised at what you can get words to do for you. Or for others. It's amazing. Anyway, I'm so often filled with creative ideas that usually don't get written or drawn or painted, but I can always describe myself to someone as pensive. Even when I'm not in the middle of one of my creative "spurts," I can still describe myself as because I am ALWAYS thinking about numerous things at once. Quite a busy mind, I assure you. No, you can't have it. It's mine. Besides, you wouldn't want it...most people would be driven crazy by 100 different thoughts entering their mind at the same time and all demanding equal attention until something is done about it! Needless to say, my mind keeps me from getting bored very often. Wow, that was quite a tangent. See? That's what happens with this pensive mind of mine.

Render is another of my favorite words, though I'll have to consider carefully whether or not I'd put it in my top 10. Render is important because a rendering is that which results from my pensive mind. In other words, anything I write, draw, paint, create, etc. is a rendering of my pensivity. (yes, I made up the word pensivity. copyright Letisha Beachy 2007. All rights reserved.)

That's the most basic definition I can give you, though it goes deeper than that for me personally. Feel FREE to leave me comments on my blogs, good or bad. I know and I'll be the first to admit that sometimes my writing really isn't that great. But sometimes, I hope, it is fabulous. remarkable. admirable. things like that. (by the way, if you're wondering why I put the word "free" in all caps...stay tuned! :) )