I am in the running for a $20k scholarship offered by Zinch.com.  I'm a semi-finalist right now and I must advance to the regional and top 64 rounds and then hopefully I'll win!!  Please help me make my college dreams come true!  I plan to study english at Hamline University next fall and this scholarship is crucial for me to finance my goals. 

In less than 10 minutes you can help me pursue my education...  Simply go to this address: http://www.zinch.com/voting/Regionals.aspx?GroupId=131 and sign up to vote for me.  I am listed under the Texas semi-finalists.  All you have to do is confirm your email and vote and I'll be one step closer to college.

Thank you and God Bless.
All of my love and gratitude.

Shelby Dinsmoor

I've been working more and more on my WTJ as a creative outlet.  I feel so inspired to create and craft.  It's really helping me along right now, as I've had to deal with multiple forms of heartbreak within the last two weeks.

My good friend dolly said to me "Just about all relationships are impermanent, I think, which isn't very comforting when you're looking for stability, but in another way it allows you to appreciate what you had at the time and look forward to making new friends"

That's what I've been trying to swallow, the idea that those around me are impermanent, and it's frustrating and upsetting.  I had finally gotten to place in life where I felt I had all the people I needed around me, but now that the dynamics have shifted, I now have empty voids.  I guess this is the universe telling me that those people just aren't the best to be surrounded by right now.  I feel pushed in another direction.

What do you think of impermanent relationships?  Or do you believe that some people really will stick around forever?

most of my reflection is done in transit.  when i'm driving in the car, walking to and from places, traveling in general. 

I've been working a lot on my wreck this journal!  I'm very proud of the work I've done.  I feel that I've truly made some beautiful art.  I'm looking at all the things around me as a form of art now.  I feel inspired.

themselves.
i work at a salon, and it seems like that is the place women unwind the most.
they start telling us hilarious, depressing, inspirational and disgusting stories about them and their families!  i love it so much.
sometimes i'm tired of talking about world problems, politics and drama.  i just want to hear about you.

<33 mermaid

being human is the ability to love!! i think that it is more than physical differences between us and other species, but instead the conscious mind we possess, giving us the ability to hate, love, dream and question. humans contain the mental power to manipulate, charm and even distort. we are all lovely little creatures... and the human mind never ceases to amaze me! i love how humans always create cycles like how meunstrating women will sync, how close friends will sometimes wear the same colors on the same day, and if you are REALLY close to someone, you will sometimes blurt out the same things at the same time. we are all so interconnected. human is the ability to notice your place in relation to the world and behave accordingly. it is what makes us responsible for our actions and guilty for our thoughts.

privacy is the most intimate thing you share with yourself.  it's the grace of having something alone for you to enjoy.  i think it's hard to say whether or not you have privacy...
although i do enjoy being alone, i don't think i have much privacy in my life.
the last time i felt i had privacy was when i took a walk late at night in my neighborhood.  no one was there, only me.
i felt like i was walking through a ghost town, with all the lingering pieces of the day infront of me.
at the park there was a half eaten sandwich in a plastic bag on a bench, and broken cd on the sidewalk.  i found a little girl's hair bow in the jungle gym and some sticky notes with grocery items scribbled on them.
i guess you could say i was entirely alone but yet, did i have privacy?
the items that belonged to others were all around me...
private or not, it was intimate and free. and i relished and reflected in the ability to be able to find a safe alone haven from the chaos of the world.

interestingly enough, I JUST blogged about this!!!! see my previous blog.  but home is about feeling content.

i've had a lot of free time for reflection.  mostly i've been pondering when i feel most at home.  and of course i feel at home in my own room, my bed and bathtub, i've found i have many homes.

• sitting at my computer desk at work
• the passenger seat of my girlfriends car
• wrapped in my mothers embrace
• lounging on my fathers patio
• gazing at the lake on the dock by my house
• swinging on swing sets
• floating on water
• and at panera bread (oddly enough)

where do you feel most at home?

i've also been blogging so much lately on my main blog, but i love my gaia blog too because it for some reason motivates me to write about different issues.  more about my mental well being, than advice and fun rambles. :]
check out my new posts: mermaidgoespink.blogspot.com

i love you.
<33 mermaid

i'm a connoisseur of reality tv, unfortunately.