First, I have to admit that I am really enjoying the ability to AI generate my cover pics. I find it fascinating that I can put my title in and – with a couple clicks – it comes up with something really cool, buuuuut… sometimes, not so much (why that lady has 7 fingers?!) and I have to do a rejection. But all-in-all… so neat! (Disclaimer: I also hold the truth that AI generated art isn’t “real” art, made by the mind and hands of a real, human artist – such as myself. Nor will I ever condone AI generated writing as creative. If it doesn’t come from your brain and hands… sorry, not sorry, it isn’t real because it isn’t truly yours).

Now, on to the COLLECTION!

Welp… here’s my slightly messy work-and-play-space. Where the magic happens (heh, not THAT magic, ya perv). I had to sacrifice my really nice, heavy desk to the moist elements of Arkansas when I moved here (ok, in reality, my brother retrieved it from my living space and then left it outside to rot bc it wouldn’t fit back in the moving truck 😑). I was sad about this, but… look at the awesome desk I got from my local FB Marketplace! I’ve never owned a corner desk, but damn is it great (my favorite feature is the plexiglass lift-up doors for storing snacks and such, hehe).

As you can see: Elephants are what I collect – and yes, there IS a story behind it!

When my son was very young and I was still married to his [Narcissistic Twat-Faced] father (Gravity), the first stuffed animals he became attached to was a set of elephants – daddy (big), mommy (medium), and baby (smol). I still have them, too, since he moved on from them and latched on to a Khol’s set my Aunt sent him that included the book: “If You Give a Cat a Cupcake” and a stuffed cat that looked like the one in the book (ish?!).

Digreeeessssssss… (ADHD much?!)

So anyway, when the kiddo attached to this set, I was ecstatic. I latched on to elephants because of him, and have collected various elephant things since then. Featured in the picture (all over my desk) are the “hard” ones: glass, ceramic, crystal, stone, metal, wood… even a little plastic one with suction cup feets. I also have the elephant “tapestry” that covers the window (because right about now is when the sun is high enough that my corneas aren’t being penetrated by the rising sun). I also have a kitchen sized trash bag (13 gallon?!) full of stuffed elephants in a closet in the basement… mostly because I don’t have anywhere to set them up yet. There are 2-3 hangable elephant things, as well: a nice picture, a metal rectangle with a metal-shaped elephant, and a small wooden elephant puzzle that I glued to a shallow shadow box type frame.

And theeeeennn… I has these 2 tattoos:

They’re numbered because 2nd and 6th ones I got. The #2 – “Mother” one is the only one that I allowed a tattoo artist to do on their own, without a previous concept drawing that I’d done and brought in myself (as every other tattoo I have). The #6 tattoo was a frantic 2 hour draw, featuring the Fibonacci Spiral shaped into an elephant and many symbolic things (I’m a bit of a whore for symbology): the Eye of Horus, Chakras, an Ankh, the Flower of Life, and the curly tail (a nod to “Nightmare Before Christmas”).

I do want to point out that my obsession with elephants comes from humble beginnings, but it has become so much more than that. As I have read and learned about them over the years, I’ve found them to be quite magnificent and awe-inspiring creatures. They ARE one of the smartest animals to roam our planet. But… what I love and relate to the most about them is their keen self-awareness (yup), lengthy memories (oof, my shit memory be damned!), strong familial bonds (like the unconditional love I have for muh kiddo), and Matriarchal social structure (I mean, come on… I’m a woman existing in a horrendous Patriarchy, what’s not to love about that?! :P).

Many, MANY moons ago, I watched an emotionally impactful nature documentary about a mother elephant that – every time their herd would migrate nearby the “grave” site of her 2 babies that had passed away – the entire herd would stop and mourn the loss with the mother elephant. How can you NOT be blown away with not just their memory capacity, but the tight-knit community that supports one of their members in such an utterly fascinating and beautiful way?!

I could delve into the vast symbology of elephants, too, but I’m getting to the end of my ability to sit (gah, me legs!) and rub brain cells together (so tired). Plus, there’s SO MUCH of that out there that I could probably collect an entire novel of info to share, but I just don’t have the capacity currently. Maybe I’ll make a draft and save it (in the growing list of drafts I have, oops) for a day when I don’t have much to talk about or my brain cells aren’t cooperating.

I’ll end this with a bit of a funny: I refer to my “last 4 brain cells” as the Madagascar Penguins (which I may or may not have stolen from the internet somewhere, lol)… and here’s the M.P. GIF I love to use the most: