A HORCRUX.

I know what it's like to create a horcrux (if you have to google horcrux, shame on you). When I write, I place pieces of me in the words and leave them hidden until someone unveils their meaning. Maybe I'm just excited about the final Harry Potter movie this summer, but I think whenever I write, my soul is left behind in the form of words stringed from one sentence to the next.

I love how attainable writing is--that anyone can feel every emotion through writing. It's not like math, where some people get it, and others don't. Writing is a form meant for everyone. Writing convinces us to change, to dream, to achieve, to feel.

TEN THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE.

1. Nothing happens by coincident, everything happens for a reason.

2. A smile will make you look five years younger, ten times more beautiful, and a million times happier. 

3. Despite what Fergie may say, big girls do cry and should cry every now and again. 

4. Never throw a ball (or anything for that matter despite how small or soft it may be) to a newborn; they can't catch.

5. Ice cream taste good for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

6. Act upon any good thought that comes to your mind and you will live without regrets. 

7. Emily Dickinson helps you know you're not alone, or that you're life is better than you thought. 

8. Invest in five articles of clothing you love, and you instantly have twenty different outfits. 

9. If you want to kill a fly, move your hand like a snake would slither and as you get closer he will become hypnotized by the movement and you can easily swat him dead. Win, win (calm death, dead fly).

10. Sticky notes are the best way to remember anything. 

AMPERSAND.

am·per·sand  (ˈæmpəˌsænd) n.
1. the character (&), meaning and : Brett & Ashley.
2. comes from an old Roman system of shorthand signs (ligatures), attested in Pompeiian graffiti.
3. In old schoolbooks the ampersand was printed at the end of the alphabet and thus by 1880s had acquired a slang sense of "posterior, rear end, hindquarters."


If I were a button on the keyboard, I would be the ampersand. The ampersand is lucky--placed strategically above number seven (and to the left. I am left-handed.)

This simple symbol connects two lives to form one meaning. It's a love symbol. Brett & Ashley.

The ampersand is the most fun to draw when writing, like graffiti. It's artistic and expressive, and sometimes challenging to create the perfect loops. I'm always up for a good challenge.

I like horses, and whenever I hear the word "hindquarters," I think of my once-upon-a-time-horse Skip, and the way his skin smelled. The ampersand is full of memories.

The ampersand has depth, character, & individuality--just like me.