Finding a Pharoah...in South Dakota?

   This week the title of my blog post is fairly obvious.  Despite my addiction to metaphors, I simply named this essay after the necklace I’m wearing in the above pictures.  Ever since I was quite young I’ve been fascinated by the Ancient Egyptians.  I remember one of my favorite books growing up was, “The Egypt Game,” by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.  I also recall this tale inspiring me to sculpt a decent sized King Tut mask out of clay while in art class.  I spent quite a few hours precariously painting tiny details on that piece, despite my shaky hands.  In addition, during that time of my life I acquired a rather decent sized jewelry collection featuring various hieroglyphics, scarabs, and images of Egyptian Gods.  I’m fairly certain if I dug deep enough through my parents’ home I would be able to unearth several of these buried treasures.

   Not so long ago I was reminded of my forgotten passion for Ancient Egypt when I came across a 1970’s pharaoh mask pendant necklace on Etsy.  I gasped as soon as I saw it.  It was huge, it was gold, it was gaudy, and I had to have it!  The first time I put it on I felt a comforting nostalgia wash over me.  "Ahhh"…things were right with the world again.  One necklace inspired me to pick up a passion long pushed aside.  Maybe it wasn’t too late to get that cartouche tattoo I’d wanted since high school.  Bah!...who am I kidding?  If I had gotten every tattoo I’d wanted since high school I’d be covered in cartouches, ankhs, Gustav Klimt ladies, Art Deco designs, dragons, henna, mandalas, Picasso doves, Hello Kitty, and a giant Cocteau Twins band logo.  Yes, I would be a walking dorm room wall.  Considering all of this, perhaps it’s good my issues with permanency always got in the way.  

   Returning to the subject of finding treasures, I think it’s accurate to state that lately I’ve experienced a revival of many old interests.  The most notable one being my passion for art.  While putting on my Egyptian themed necklace made me feel like the, “old Rayna,” nothing has felt more comfortable than returning to my creative interests.  I must admit I’m absolutely addicted to taking photography portraits and digitally altering them.  I almost enjoy doing this more than glamour shots.  “What?!” you ask.  Yes, it’s true.  While I still intend to maintain the, “fashion,” aspect of this blog…because let’s face it I have WAY too many clothes to quit now…I'm pleased to be branching out into a more artistic realm of photography.  If I was perfectly honest the blog, “Little House Of Haute,” has never really been about fashion.  It’s more of a platform for this antisocial freak show to vent about her boring life and what she wore at the coffee shop.  However now that I’ve regained the confidence to create art again, I feel this blog may get a lot more interesting.  Now one can read about my dull happenings while looking at my periodically bizarre creations that may seem to belong in a freak show.  I anticipate some of these pictures will have to make my coffee shop stories more interesting…right?

   I guess I couldn’t help but use one of my beloved metaphors after all.  “Finding a Pharoah…in South Dakota?” has very little to do with the necklace I’m wearing in these pictures.  I believe it has more in common with uncovering the, "ancient," artist inside of me who has been lying in wait for the opportunity to become rediscovered.  I’m excited, and a little nervous, to reveal that I’ve finally found her and it’s become apparent that this mummy isn’t going back into its tomb. 

-r. 

Art Intermission

   A few weeks back I wore this outfit and the glamour shots I took turned out so bad I actually sent one of them to my brother just so he could share some laughs with me.  Of course he ended up using that image as my profile picture on his cell phone, just so he could relive the mockery each time I call.  Honestly, I totally approve.  It was a damn funny photo. 

   Among all the garbage pictures I acquired that day, I was able to catch one decent image.  The above picture was that photograph.  After about an hour of tinkering with it on my phone I finally created something I was pleased with.  I call it, “Self Portrait 5,” despite the fact that it should probably be referred to as, "Resurrection,” since I literally brought something to life out of a bunch of dead ends.

   The reason I specifically chose to post, “Self Portrait 5,” this week is due to the fact that it ties in nicely to a movie I'm dying to see.  In this picture I’m wearing a Wonder Woman t shirt I acquired many years ago at Goodwill.  I think it’s noteworthy to mention this shirt was handmade by someone and the Wonder Woman logo is rather imperfectly painted on it's front.  Of course, this is what attracted me in the first place.  I remember pulling this piece out of the discount bin and thinking, “this must be someone’s discarded attempt at a Halloween costume!”  Immediately I brought it home.  I love amateur clothing designs…mostly because I’m guilty of creating so many of my own.  Let’s just say I’m a patchwork prima donna and proud of it. 

   In addition to the affection I hold towards kitschy clothing, I must confess I do love Wonder Woman.  I’m actually quite excited to see the new movie…as soon as it hits the cheap seats, of course.  I remember being obsessed with the 1970’s TV series when I was little.  I would stare at Lynda Carter and marvel, “she has beauty… she has brains…and look at that outfit!!!”  In my attempt to emulate such a powerful idol I remember wearing a Wonder Woman pajama set while sleeping in my Wonder Woman sleeping bag…which I still do to this da…wait...no...just kidding.  I have no idea where that sleeping bag ended up.  Not to mention that would be really weird…right?  Considering it now, I'm starting to realize all of my Wonder Woman memorabilia was related to the theme of sleeping.  I guess the only way I could even come close to Lynda Carter’s level of awesomeness was in my dreams.

   Oddly enough, just this week someone asked me where he should take a first date.  My immediate response was, “to the Wonder Woman movie.”  I reasoned it had the super hero action that he liked, and a fantastic female role model for her.  Looking back at all the dismal pictures I decided not to post of this outfit, I simply don’t understand why I can’t look as good as Wonder Woman while wearing her iconic symbol.  Thank God my phone’s camera app has super powers when I clearly don’t.

-r.  

"I ain't never scared!"

   Once upon a time a hip hop artist named Bone Crusher released an inspirational little ditty titled, “Never Scared.”  I almost feel guilty for writing about this song, considering I never would have heard it had it not been for my brother.  To be totally honest this tune has little meaning for me compared to the anthem it actually became for Zeb and his buddies.  Honestly it’s odd I paid attention to this song, despite my brother’s insistence on how great it is.  I admit to being a music snob…wait, music and clothing snob…no that’s not right, music, clothing, and movie snob…crap, maybe I’m just arrogant when it comes to everything.  Yeah, that sounds more accurate.  Anyhow despite my usual refusal to take the well-meaning suggestion of any other person regarding what I should listen to, I find myself constantly getting this song stuck in my head.  This song and the, “Peter and the Wolf,” score.  I can’t seem to shake that one as well.  Huh…rap and classical is all mixed up and rattling around up there.  It explains a lot, doesn’t it?

   However let’s get back to Bone Crusher.  The reason, “Never Scared,” is such a great song is because it basically repeats the line, “I ain’t never scared!” endlessly, making one feel more, “gangsta,” with each utterance.  Let me tell you, sometimes I find it imperative to feel, “gangsta.”  The older I get the more I realize how the majority of adult life revolves around social tasks and obligations.  Many of these occurrences cause a decent amount of anxiety, especially for a closet introvert like myself.  In the past few years I’ll admit to exerting a lot of effort into getting over my hang ups with hanging out with others.  At times I’ve actually started to prefer having company over spending the day by myself.   As a result of my escalated social life…and by escalated I mean I socialize with one friend, once a week, for about two hours…I have been more confident to attend events I wouldn’t normally even consider.

   Now when I state I’ve been, “more confident,” it simply means I don’t break out in hives at the thought of doing something outside of my box.  No seriously, that’s actually happened to me…it was awkward and rather hard to hide my obvious distress.  However these days, upon accepting an invitation to a social event that scares the shit out of me I don’t seem to have to worry about hysterical rashes…which I have to say makes a lady feel pretty bad ass.  As a result of this new, “gangsta,” persona I've found myself accepting all types of invitations to events that would usually have me shrieking to the safety of my bedroom and, “Golden Girls,” DVDs.  However, I’m proud to state I don’t do that much anymore.  Now I hear what…sounds like my voice… accepting these invitations and I actually follow through and go to functions!  The day I wore the above outfit was an example of one of these occasions. 

   Another example was my recent attendance of my twenty year high school class reunion.  The fact that I went to this is absolutely staggering to me.  I never considered I would have the guts to go socialize with a group of people that’s only impression of me was formed during a severely awkward phase of my life.  However, I must state my reunion was a very pleasant experience.  I was happy to have the chance to reconnect with others.  However, I was even more elated to know I was capable of attending an event I found so daunting.  Walking up to the doors of that reunion all I could hum in my head was, “I ain’t never scared.  I ain’t never scared!  I ain’t never SCARED!  I AIN’T NEVER SCARED!  Well…actually, “I was hella scared,” but that just didn’t have the same ring to it.

-r.

Art Intermission

Self Portrait 3

   

Here’s a little something I’ve been working on lately.  It may have been WAY too windy to take my regular blog photographs, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t get one good picture.  All I can say is, “Never give up on glamour shots when you’re wearing earrings this good.”

-r.