paint.

halfway done with my first art project of the summer.  the "vintage" jewelry box has been sanded down, repainted, and sanded again.  i've painted a few words, flowers, and even a little red ladybug on the top.  its starting to look like one of those obnoxious crafts you buy at art fairs from the ladies who wear handmade vests with puffball animals on them, but i kind of like it.  the ladybug might have to go though ((seriously)).

there's something nice about painting.  i used to take art classes when i was younger, and i've messed around on canvases a few times since then.  but this is different.  because i'm making something i'm going to use every day.  i'm kind of childishly excited about it.  but i want this summer to really mean something, more so than my past summers.  and right now, that's measured in simplistic art projects that just let me have fun.  its also measured in novels. 

i had a long conversation with Mary today about how all of the books that i used to call my favorites were ones i'd literally opened and closed in high school, and they haven't been touched since.  if these books truly did define me then, enough for me to call them my favorites, how will i feel about them now?  i'm intro+ 15 pages into East of Eden by Steinbeck and can already tell its going to be so different this time around.  i'm definitely not the immature, naive junior in high school that i was when i first read this.  i'm excited to see what it will mean to me this time around.