Giving Up the Gun

My latest musical obsession is Vampire Weekend. I love really getting into songs that seem to speak to me. Their song Giving Up the Gun is one of those. Although it seems like in the song he is speaking about playing his guitar in a way he did in the past and how great he was but  music is different now. It spoke to me but my about my art. My paintbrush. Everything is digital these days. The days of the paintbrush seem to be rare  around here. It’s been years since I painted anything.

“Your sword’s grown old and rusty, burnt beneath the rising sun
It’s locked up like a trophy, forgetting all the things it’s done.”

Sometimes I feel so insecure like I have to start all over, like I am no good. I know this isn’t true but I need to give up those insecurities and relax….it’s art!

It’s okay to start over. The point is to start again.

“And though it’s been a long time, you’re right back where you started from
I see it in your eyes that now you’re giving up the gun”

This last lyric makes me feel like there is a third person looking at me and telling me that I do have talent, that I can do it. That someone believes in me out there.

“I see you shine in your way
Go on, go on, go on”

It’s amazing how music can motivate and speak to people in different ways.

…and now I’m giving up the gun.

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Originally my next entry was going to be about my latest Steampunk costume design but it’s going to be on hiatus. Besides I just saw I lost a few pounds and it inspired me to talk about – The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

Have you ever tasted food so complex it was like nothing you have tasted in your life? After eating this heavenly delight and dreaming about it for months even years. Do you constantly order the same type of food somewhere else and it just ends in disappointment? Why even bother going anywhere else right? If you have had this experience I welcome you to the world of great food. If you haven’t I dare you to live a little, you are missing out!

If you are ever in the great city of St. Louis you must stop at Iron Barley. It’s not the fanciest or the biggest place to eat but the food is out of this world. They describe it best as ” An eating and drinking establishment pairing traditional yet unusual American cuisine with the finest locally hand crafted brews.”  Yes the brews are in every meal which makes it even more amazing.

My whole meal was an eye opener for me on what great food should taste like and of course I had to try a desert. I took a look at the deserts and couldn’t really decide so I did what anyone would do.  No I didn’t order every desert on the menu. I love food but not to that point!  I asked the waiter what he suggested. He told me it wasn’t on the menu but he suggested the creme brulee. Oooo the famous creme brulee . This fancy desert I never thought I’d taste in my lifetime! I told him to bring it on! Okay I didn’t say it like that but that’s what was going on in my head.

The creme brulee came out and looked and smelled delicious. It looked perfect. The sugar on top was browned and not burned. I cracked it open and took a bite and it was divine. As i dug deeper I found what made this creme brulee unique to Iron Barley. There was this crazy brew sugary concoction at the bottom of it that went perfect with the desert. It was so amazing that even almost a year later every time I think about it all the overwhelming emotions come back to me , my heart goes a flutter and a smile hits my face. It truly was The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

Spring is one of my favorite things.

I previously lived in a tropical location where there wasn’t any real seasons. It was 80 degrees on Christmas some years. I have since then moved to a place with real seasons. Fall leaves, crazy hot summers, cold winters with snow and my favorite season – Spring.

I am still just so amazed how strong plants seem to survive winter. I still can’t wrap my head around it and I am still amazed every year when my plants grow back once again bigger and stronger than the year before.

It’s very easy to get excited about hard work! Raking the last of the leaves off my flowers beds, pulling weeds, watering seeds. It’s all worth the hard work to see the green and the flowers bloom even more so seeing something edible pop out of buds. The designer in me loves to plan a landscape of colors and heights. I’ve only had shade gardens so those colors are limited but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying other creations around my community.

Living in a place where true Spring is experienced is just very magical.  I was never into gardening until I saw this magic first hand and now I desperately want to be a part of it.

Hello Blog.

This is just an intro post on what this blog is mainly going to be about. For one thing, it’s not going to be about myself personally. It will be about my creative mind. Not only my art work but mostly just highlighting things and people who catch my attention. Themes I have passions for and a peek into my subconscious.

So what is a Steam Powered Flower? More like who. To me the name speaks for itself but if you need some help figuring it out you’ll just have to stick around. I’ll focus on those themes first. The love of nature, invention, technology and Steampunk.

What to expect… Don’t expect perfect grammar. I am not a great writer. I heavily depend on my spellchecker and I enjoy the occasional geek speak, nerd language, and forum trolling verbiage. It doesn’t mean that I’ll be making whole posts in acronyms that you’ll need to consult with the Urban Dictionary. Don’t expect to be hit with a block of text, I don’t have the stamina for that.

Next stop I’ll be talking about nature. Seems fitting since Spring is rearing her cute little head.