The house in which The Attic is located is no stranger to major modification. It is also no stranger to Ugly. Mr. Dance recently pulled up the floor in the main bathroom, revealing three or four layers of history beneath it. The room started off with simple white and blue hexagonal tiles arranged in a pattern, much like the old house in which my mother and I once lived. During a piping or upgrading repair at some point in the past, they crushed large areas and chose to "repair" this by slapping on a layer of extremely unattractive concrete. Someone then thought it a very good idea to cover up the murder of the bright, cheerful theme with gunmetal gray linoleum tiles that are streaked with white and black ... the sort of ghastly flooring most often seen in public schools built prior to the 60s.

I am sure that some day, I too will be responsible for an interior of terror, for the line between displaying one's collections and causing clutter is very thin. I hope to learn from the mistakes of others, however, and so I have sworn that no matter what, I will (at the very least) not commit the following atrocities:

- I will not think putting gray linoleum tiles in my bathroom is a smashing idea.
- I will never be responsible for the installation of pink carpet.

My mantra (which has not really had a chance to ever be exercised or refined): keep it simple, keep it clean, and love colors. I am not fond of overly fussy styles. Houses are not Elegant Gothic Lolitas, so I am committed to the concept of keeping the amount of lace and gingerbread in my home to a minimum. I am fond of hardwood floors, antiques and Art Deco/Art Nouveau design elements, so whenever I am the master of my own decor, I hope to involve those components without causing utter visual chaos.

...

I dug up a character by the name of Athalie from my mind's archives, intending to revamp her as a replacement for another character who was rather like a bump on a log.

Though it's a simple doodle, I'm rather excited about it ... there's no other way to explain how I finally returned to Photoshop for coloring purposes! This is the first time in years I've gotten anywhere near how I envisioned her, at least in terms of expression. She's confident this time around. Not belligerent, as in 2001 (I can't believe that scribbled mess actually indicated anything to me at the time). Nor is she angry, as 2003's (second) corset version had her (I do love her shoulders in this one, though ... never been able to draw as muscular a pair since).

These are not all my attempts at figuring out what she looks like, either! Poor gal. The only thing that's been consistent is her ridiculously long red hair and an obsession with weird feather headpieces. I keep on meaning to get rid of those, especially since I can't seem to draw nice plumage, but they just keep on coming back.

The long sleeves are probably not going to go away. In her earliest incarnations, she was an empress, and though I am technically stripping her of that title, she's still stupidly rich. Therefore, other people (you know, the ones that do the work) are the folks who need practical clothing, not her! It's funny that I actually hit a right note with comparatively simple clothing for her, though. White/gray lace or gold lace, what do you think? I like color, but using the gold color for that purpose gives the outfit a rather Purdue air ...