Enjoy the Silence

This morning I woke up in an oddly nonprecarious state. My alarm hadn't gone off yet. All of the windows and doors were open for the cool air to move freely throughout my apartment. The cat was nowhere to be found, and when I pulled on my glasses, I had ink drying on my hands from the night before. My skin didn't hurt. My legs didn't feel sore. My mind felt perfectly clear. And not a single sound could be heard, even Tuscany's usual chirps fell silent when she hopped up to say hello.

It's an eerie feeling to wake up to an empty home after so many months without. But its not uncomfortable. There is freedom in the quiet spaces, sollace in the minutes I can spend making coffee and doing the dishes while it percolates where my neighbors have all gone to work, the birds have left the birch for other trees, and even the construction crew at the park (who I'm still certain were building a Trojan rabbit) have gone elsewhere.

I am a noisy creature by trade. I listen to pop music at loud volume to write articles, I put on a mix called Songs to Fight and Fuck To in the shower, (its an Erica Reyes mix in case you were curious), and when I'm stressed out or overworked my first defense is to put on the song in my bones and sing it as loud as humanly possible without going off key. And yet there is something about complete and utter solitude that makes me pause, beckons me to close my eyes and breathe deep just to take it all in, as if the silence is a vast perfection which visits only rarely, and must be cherished as much as possible before it slips away as quietly and unknowingly as it appeared.

The past few months have been a whirlwind of change. I've been diagnosed with a chronic skin condition that forced me to turn my already healthy eating habits on it's head. As a result, I've lost 18 pounds I didn't even know I had, and I may never be able to have alcohol again (sugars of any kind are my kryptonite). My roommate moved out rather suddenly, leaving me to rethink my personal quandaries as well as my entire financial set-up.

I have finally finished the first novel of the Sigil series. It stands as the second novel manuscript ever to be completely finished. I'm still not tired of it. I keep hearing Love Run's Out and I can think of nothing but Azazel and all I want to do is go back. Maybe by the third or seventh novel in this eight book series I'll get tired of him, but here were are three years later, and I am still as enamored with the world of the Sigil series as I was that manic day in my apartment when angels and demons sat on my shoulders.

I have also finally opened my Teen Wolf shop with my darling Manda, Patched & Smacked. The first line of engraved bracelets and handmade patches is up for sale, with new styles and pieces being added to constantly. I have sitting in my kitchen now metal that is just waiting to be hammered out, as well as professionally printed patches which will be up for sale by the end of the month. I look forward to adding necklaces and earrings into the engraved jewelry collection, as well as leather pieces for that hard rock/punk as fuck edge too. If you're going to Howlercon, look for us in the vendor's market. We're happy to take on custom requests too, be it patches, jewelry, or even your very own punk ass werewolf vest. If you can dream it, we can make it. 

Somehow among all of this, I have still managed to get into graduate school and even get something like a promotion at work. I have been accepted into Drexel and am waiting to see what Clarion thinks of me. Either way, I will be attending one of these top ten tech-info sci schools in the beginning of next year to start working on my Masters in Library Sciences. 

So what's next then? Hopefully some sugar-free/dairy-free baking experiments once I get comfy again, maybe an SD skin care overview for the curious few, new playlists I have had brewing for ages which will hopefully end up on 8tracks and not just as another sticky note on my desktop, some voodoo, more shop items, and for my next fic- nerd ass werewolf comedy. Stick around, its gonna be a wild ride.