Sleepless in Chicago / Slumber My Darling

Happy Thanksgiving!

To the forest I go! To the lakes and the snow! 

With a book, a sleeping bag, and a freshly curated playlist of campfire worthy songs.

This may be my favorite holiday.

I wish I could slumber but zzz's don't come easy these days and Netflix has a wonderful selection of French film to keep me company. 

Sleepless in Chicago,

MK

The Optical Delusion of Consciousness

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” 

― Albert Einstein

Passion for Compassion, 

MK

Straight & True

Insomnia becomes me. 

'Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore, Dream, Discover.' 

–Mark Twain

Straight & True, 

MK

Consume Me

—Virginia Woolf

Words to live by

(Dear handwriting analysts, I don't want to know. Thx, MK)

To Denver next month with two of my favorite ladies! To London in January!

For someone who's not a great long-term life planner, this is quite character building. I keep waking up in the middle of the night from over-enthusiasm or stress. Things keep popping into my mind -- oh my goodness, I'm going to need adapters... how am I going to exist without my iPhone (and Instagram?!? and my Magic 8 ball app to make decisions for me?? and JBieb's newest selfie app? and the talking cat app? [disclaimer: not at all serious except for the maps app... the lack of is going to build so much character I may have sainthood thrust upon me])... gotta cancel my incredibly ridiculously expensive gym... long-distance relationship with my kayak (will it still love me?)... should I wear three jackets on the plane?... how does one prioritize shoes?

I really want to go camping while I'm there. Like all the time! Pinterest has promised some wonderfully beautiful sights in the UK -- Isle of this, Isle of that -- yes, yes, yes! And thank goodness for Meetups.com. That site has been the best travel companion since Couchsurfing. There's outdoor adventure groups, running groups, art groups, museum groups, beer groups, new british friend groups, and american-schmericans in the uk groups (I'm generally a big advocate of living like the locals, but I suspect there might be a point where I'll need someone to test my knowledge of all the US state capitols-- gotta stay sharp... Dover, DE; Hartford, CT; Olympia, WA; Carson City, NV; Topeka, KS; Springfield, Illinois! and all the rest).  Groups for every thing I like (and will soon love... I hope they have a tea enthusiast group!)

I was thinking, due to lack of said iPhone, I could put my memory palace enthusiasm to use on London and memorize all the roads, train schedules and restaurant reviews (minus the last two). I'll be a walking map app!

Also, British television! British film! British art! British music, music music!! MUSIC! I'm going to stuff my ears full of British folk, rock, classical, alternative, etc... so much so that I may go deaf. But it will be worth it.

With that said, I'm going to try and catch a few zzz's before I wake up at 3 a.m. and realize that I'm going to have to make sure not to forget that I'm 'merican and that they won't let me stay forever because I was accidentally born to American parents (whom I love despite the mixup).

(Sidenote: isn't it weird we're called Americans when Canadians, Mexicans, Brazillians, etc. live in (N or S) American countries too? ... I guess we're the most uncreative when it comes to naming things...)

Words to live by,
MK

Winter Sky

I fell into the wonder of the winter sky...

I fell into it like one falls into sleep -- 

slowly, deeply, without the surety of tomorrow, 

nor the wish to wake again.

Sweet slumber, 

MK

Wild Things

Bamboo Doodle, 2013

Memory palaces, meditative travel, dreamscapes,
perceived perception, intrinsic value, intangible life goals,
arts and crafts, a world that appreciates the imperfect. 

Yes, please. 

Hiding with the Wild Things, 

MK

Rory Sutherland is my weekend inspiration. And it's not just his accent. 

Fall Beasts | An Evolutionary Tale

Mind maps exposed. 

Next weekend will be filled with sleep! 

Now to trudge on through the week... 

Your weekend warrior, 

MK

The Wise Ones

I'm a-drownin' in projects. Sometimes, you just gotta take a break and sketch.

 Pipe smoking has always invoked a delicious, warm masculine feeling. So many wise and wonderful men have mastered the art of pipe smoking -- Einstein, Steinbeck, Twain, Sherlock Holmes, Gandalf. I can't help but think a bit better of an older gentleman with a pipe in his hand and his eyes in the clouds. 

I had this great uncle, he was a monk in this giant old monastery and we'd go visit him every year on my birthday. He was sort of wild for a man of the church -- sneaking out, smoking his pipe, hand drawing and programming elaborate computer games (before computers were popular), and spending long nights in his print shop... he was a groovy guy. He also had a penchant for making elaborate boats out of milk cartons which is probably the epitome of awesome in my book. It may have just been his pipe or wild gray hair, but he embodied the free spirited wise man that I idolize so much. He was my real-life Steinbeck. 

Good night, darling reader. 

If I was myself a piper, I'd think of you as I inhaled the dreams of the world. 

His and hers, yours and ours, 

MK

Illustrious Ideas

A requested illustration - draft #1 

Sketch & Fetch

© 2013 MK

Daily Doodles with Poodles! 

A 5-minute sketch a day -- DO IT! 

October Miracles

© 2013 Marie King 

Halfway through illustrating the other children's book and it's snowing!
October miracles all around!

Check out this beautiful video:
Autumn in Yosemite National Park from Henry Jun Wah Lee / Evosia on Vimeo.

Willie the One-Eyed Owl from Wistoria

The Golden Eternity

#2

To Maine we go! 

I watched a few episodes of Stephen King's 'The Colorado Kid' spin-off, Haven... so I'm pretty sure I'm ready to deal with anything supernatural and mysterious that I may encounter in my soon-to-be favorite eastern state. 

Also, I'm a Slytherin. Pottermore-official. I have to share with the world... sharing is the first step towards acceptance (or not). I think the fact that I chose to check out the silver tree with golden apples instead of the cute toadstools talking or wise wizard statues may have played a part in the Sorting Hat's decision... that and my preference towards Greatness instead of Goodness (my thought process was that good is implied as a shade of great... you know okay, good, great... guess it was more of a good vs bad question though and I failed). 

Media highlights of the week: Poo-pouri ad, Parks & Rec jam, Drive audiobook, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, old interviews of David Foster Wallace, silence 

This Must Be The Place...

I'm an Uptown Girl, Pretty in Pink and Head Over Heels in this Bizarre Love Triangle Under the Milky Way. This Charming Man, with the Eye Of The Tiger, is Just Like Heaven, Bringing Love My Way...Oh Yeah, I'm Walking On Sunshine. Once in a Life Time this Strange Kind of Love hits you like a Poison Arrow, a Total Eclipse of the Heart 

and you become a Maniac. 

It would take 1,200,000 mosquitos to drain you. There are more iterations of chess than there are atoms in the knowable universe. The Spanish anthem has no words and the state sport of Maryland is Jousting.

Dead people get goosebumps. 

“I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it's these things I'd believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn't all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.” 

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

It's always a good time for time lapse videos on vimeo, Damnyouatuocorrect, Parks and Rec (i.e., Ron 'loveofmylife' Swanson), baby pandas, and Kerouac. 

 "...

listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world,

and you will remember the lesson you forgot,

which was taught in immense milky ways

of cloudy innumerable worlds

long ago and not even at all.

It is all one vast awakened thing.

I call it the golden eternity.

It is perfect.

We were never really born,

we will never really die.

..."

--Jack Kerouac

The Concrete Jungle

I've traded my forest for a concrete jungle. Home never looked so shiny.

A whirlwind affair with the urban sophisticate that is Manhattan before settling down to the rugged mountain wilds seems both appropriate and necessary. And boy does New York know how to make you feel alive.

Your island damsel,
MK