Helena8664

hello...I've decided to post here, though I would appreciate some sense of understanding and patience (and many have given me their help already - thank you)...as some of you know, I struggle with manic depression (bipolar disorder), and though I have been on my medication, it seems to have stopped working. After being hypo-manic for a while, I went into a serious depressive episode during which I had to be hospitalized. During the last month or so I have not done anything on swapbot, but instead am working to get better. I know many of you are frusterated, and some of you haven't gotten their swaps. I'm sorry for the lateness, but I AM going to get ALL of the swaps out to you. I'm also sorry for those of you who sent unanswered messages...I wasn't on for a while but will address those now. Thank you all for your continued patience and kindness! :)

a girl, a girl with a pen and a piece of paper. I am a photographer, an artist (specifically a painter), a writer, and an eternal student at heart. My interests are music. art. driving without a destination. the city life. intellectuals. messy hair. starbucks and chainsmoking. traveling. chinese food in bed. sunsets. star-gazing on warm nights. real love. meeting interesting people. photography. movie nights. psychology. guitar. philosophy. the beat generation. spirituality. I never want to forget a single thing, experience, moment, or feeling, and because of this, I am constantly documenting (whether in film, paint, lead, or journals).

• WANT A SNEAK PREVIEW OF WHAT YOU'RE GETTING?, GO HERE

I LOVE music!...and I probably listen to more techno than a gay bar (but normal is just so boring, huh?)...so, here starts the list at Jefferson Airplane. Bob Dylan. Ben Harper. Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Simon & Garfunkel. The Mamas and the Papas. The Youngbloods. Wolfmother. The Byrds. Donovan. Janis Joplin. Franz Ferdinand. Sly & the Family Stone. Steppenwolf. The Troggs. Strawberry Alarm Clock. Regina Spektor. Weezer. Bush. Queens of the Stone Age. Anita Ward. Pearl Jam. The Beatles. Bill Withers. Queen. Blink 182. Bon Jovi. Kansas. Tenacious D. Bruce Springsteen. Captain & Tenille. The Cars. Coldplay. Mika. Collective Soul. Pink Floyd David Bowie. Def Leppard. Demitri Martin (not really music ~ but funny as hell!). The Doobie Brothers. The Doors. Falco. The Fray. Gavin DeGraw. The Fugees. The Fire Theft (especially #09...Larry). Jimi Hendrix. John Mayer. KC and the Sunshine Band. The Killers. The Knack. The Lemon Pipers. The Kinks. Low Millions. Melissa Etheridge. The Monkees. Poison. Nirvana. The Prodigy. The Posies. Puddle of Mud. Sarah McLachlan. Seal. Six Pence None the Richer. Elton John. Simple Minds. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Tonic. DHT. War. Buckcherry. Yes. The Who. and I think I'll stop the list at...last, but most definitely not least...U2.

Oh, where to begin with my love affair with literature? Howl (and really anything written by ginsberg), on the road, ping, the electric kool-aid acid tests, Salinger, girl interrupted, rucksack revolution, one flew over the cuckoo's nest, the bell jar, an unquiet mind, the skeptic's dictionary, the slaughterhouse five, night, babylon, the third wave, goodnight moon, ken kesey's spit in the ocean and other journals, the dharma bums, blood of the wig, the satan seller, the iliad and odyssey, edgar allen poe, hawthorne, mark twain (except for the prince and the pauper - lame.), to kill a mockingbird, of mice and men (depressing), shakespeare's comedies, anything dr. seuss, metaphysics by david hamlyn, death of a salesman, 12 angry jurors, meditations by rene descartes, the theory of consciousness, the andy warhol diaries, Confessions of a Synthetic Starfucker- the Unexpurgated Memoirs of a Celebrity Hairpiece, and all, yes ALL, of the harry potter books!

XX/YY, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, the devil and daniel johnston, The royal tennenbaums, fight club, a clockwork orange, I heart huckabees, everything is illuminated, art school confidential, the red door, alice and wonderland, lost in translation, cry baby, american psycho, dazed and confused, speak, a door in the floor, girl, the virgin suicides, american beauty, se7en, memento, the rocky horror picture show, rent, thunderstruck, stoned, clerks, chasing amy, kissing jessica stein, the life aquatic, reality bites, party monster, donnie darko, the secretary, the dead poet's society, the matrix trilogy, Paprika, the science of sleep, superbad, babel, high art, knocked up, juno, children of men, brick, brokeback mountain, moulin rouge, pride and prejudice, the constant gardener, my summer of love, broken flowers, 21 grams, the pianist, session 9, wonderland, shopgirl --- and more to come!

television will rot the mind. That being said, I like the office, the big bang theory, reno 911, seinfeld, friends, saturday night live, the soup, and sex and the city (my guilty pleasure)...also, I've realized lately that I watch more anime than is healthy for an average person, and HERE are some of my current favorites: cowboy bebop, ghost in the shell, bleach, samurai champloo, rurouni kenshin, and gantz.

I am a painter, but enjoy working with oil pastels, graphite, charcoals, and almost any other medium! I've also gotten into collecting pretty fabrics, sewing little softies with them (uber cute!), drawing, doing penpal letters (and artful extras), I'm interested in origami (and good at it if the directions are simple enough), I'm big on ATCs and inchies, I can knit scarves and nothing else, and I like scrapbooking (my mom got me into it)...basically, give me art or give me death! If you're curious about my artwork, I would encourage you to check out my deviantart account (I could always use feedback on there!)

I usually try to send some extras just because. If you want to throw in extra goodies specifically for hearts, here are some things that WILL put you on my favorite people list:

• anything kawaii (I love it but can't get it where I live...REAL kawaii: san-x, q-lia...NOT fake kawaii: diddl, disney, etc.)
• miniatures of any kind
• candy from countries other than the U.S.A.
• rainbows
• anything from my ETSY wishlist
• momiji doll related stuff (if not one itself!)
• business cards from anywhere and everywhere! I've collected them for years and would love some from other countries as well...
• owls, sheep, bumblebees, whales, and other fat animal stuff
• anything trippy hippy related
• matchbox shrines/ matchbox pets
• anything related to eastern religion (buddhism, hinduism, etc.)
• random polaroids/ photo booth pics (I collect them!)
• anything japanese!!! :)
• dia de los muertos (day of the dead)/ sugar skulls art/ shrines
• cassette charms/ felt badges/ drawings/ or even tapes themselves
• any bonus ATCs, as I have recently become addicted...
• and things that make me go "aaahhh"

RANDOM LIST OF MORE THINGS I LIKE:

robots. black and silver combos. grilled cheese. cute animals. knitting. ravens. fairy tales. anime. the woods. true love. bees. pretty old bottles. sunflowers. strawberries. whales. tiny acorns. alice in wonderland. chocolate. discos. chipmunks. allen ginsberg. hippies. national geographic. birds. bubble baths. dumbo. thai food. thunderstorms. noole soup. snail mail. penpals. nintendo. suprises. felt. whimsy. ladybugs. clay. snails. rubber stamps. clovers. rocks. gypsies. stars. the night life. brown paper bags.

Okay, this section is for swaps that either I need to send out, or that I have not yet recieved. It's just a good way for me to keep track of my swaps....and for you (if you've not recieved your stuff from me yet)!

OUTGOING: mine are all sent out. :)

INCOMING:

• waiting on PRIVATE SWAP from Monique Lehman (moniquerobyn)

I understand that sometimes life gets in the way of what should be ideal situations, and I HATE giving poor ratings....so, if anyone fulfills their swap duties (even late), I will gladly rate you then! :) And of course, anyone who is willing to angel these swaps would be greatly appreciated!

• 3 x 3 ATCs from Danielle Sandoval (DanielleMarie)
• Quick & Easy - Kawaii Inchies Swap ^_^ from Kristina Roberts (caheli)
• Quick Bored Swap from Lola Sena (ladolcevitacrafts)
• the 4 ATCs of the Swapocalypse from Sharee Humphrey (RunWildHorses)
• Religions Swap (break the barriers down) from Marthe Syversen (Sharila)
• Party In The Lava Pit! from Marthe Syversen (Sharila)
• Huge, Mega Journal from Danie Butcher (Starbutcher)
• Send Anything (USA only) from Jazmyn Akins (jazmynunspoken)

This section is dedicated to all of the swappers who have truly gone above and beyond (either with a swap, or who angeled a swap that I didn't get sent)...this is the special people section:

• Maryn Gier (MonkeysInk) gave me the BEST one-day swap package (and the best suprise I've received thus far) thanks Maryn :)
• Linda Russell (madtatter7) gave me the coolest pink & black ATC...but also added an awesome techno CD, just because! thanks Linda :)
• Mona Broomfield (sunshinesuperman) sent me a wonderful sunflower ATC, but a whole lot of additional goodies! It really made my day! thanks Mona! :)
• Wendy Walser (Uribouwawa) sent me a super cute (and new technique idea) ATC for the bug/ insect ATC swap...but added beautiful stationary and amazing Japanese stickers! thanks Wendy :)
• Kathleen Garces (imaventriloquist) gave me a wonderful booklet (that she obviously worked hard on) for the list, letter, and little suprise swap...and she added a ton of fun bonuses! thanks Kathleen :)
• Lisette sent me the most beautiful wonderfully cute inchies EVER! thanks Lisette :)
• Jan Gilson (1940Grannie) went way above and beyond on a simple owl swap, to include a bunch of my japanese favorites...thanks Jan :)

what I pledged