Omnichord corner

Oh BOY oh BOY oh BOOOYYY, it's hard to exist right now! To quote Cathy: ACK!!! I'm definitely of the mind that creativity and finding joy in this world are acts of resistance, and extremely necessary, not only for one's own soul, but for the sake of humanity's collective soul. It is vital to not let the things that bring comfort and peace in this world be overshadowed and extinguished by the unending, ever-encroaching darkness. But wow. It really feels like doing My Little Things is very Who Cares right now. I'm distresed by everything all the time. People aren't meant to live this way.

Look. I just really have to dress dolls and play music andwork on projects and appreciate the good things in my life. I have to do it or I might as well just die.

So, here's a post about my Omnichord corner.

My sewing table has recently become my Omnichord corner. (I rotate out what I am doing with this little desk at any given moment. Were I to film a doll video, or take a picture of a doll with one of my many fabric backdrops, I would do it here.) I can plug it in nearby and use this little bendable grippy arm to film clips of myself playing from overhead, if I want. I've been doing that lately, using my backdrops to make it very tidy and ~aesthetic.

Video screenshot:

I have been recording covers here and there, as I have felt like it. But have also felt too shy and self-conscious to share them on my Instagram stories. Even though I post band clips there sometimes, to my "close friends." The Omnichord stuff feels more self-indulgent and personal. Maybe because my voice is quite close to the phone mic when I'm recording from overhead, and I am of course playing/singing solo. So, I dunno. I have wanted to post clips somewhere, but not inundate people who follow my Instagram due to doll stuff. (I know why people follow me!! And it's not for music content!!!)

Sooo, I made a side Instagram!

🎀 HERE 'TIS! 🎀

You can follow it if you are at all interested! No pressure! I seriously just post clips here for fun, at random, when I feel like it. I don't care if anyone follows it. I'm not trying to be a musician or singer. It's more just like a little archive for me, and a way to share some clips of it with my friends. I figured I'd post about it in case anyone is actually interested, but I don't expect that.

Finally, I'd like to mention the stand I recently attained for my Omnichord specifically, haha! I have been needing a bespoke safe place to put my Omnichord out of fear of knocking it over and/or stepping on it. It's often just leaned against something, or left flat on my bedroom floor. I stepped on my little yellow ukulele years ago on accident and broke it, so this fear is not unfounded. The Omnichord is too small to fit in either of my guitar stands, though. And there don't seem to be stands manufactured specifically for Omnichords out there. That makes sense; it's kind of a niche little instrument.

Most mentions I saw in my search for Omnichord stands seemed to be for the type of stands that one can use whilst playing the instrument live, not for, like... storage while not being actively played, which is what I personally was in the market for.

So I thought, "Maybe a violin stand, or something?" And looked around for something that seemed sturdy, and also like it wouldn't scratch my super freakin' expensive instrument.

I ended up getting this (pink!!!) ukulele stand from Amazon.

The pink is VERY cutesy, I know, but, well... consider whose blog you are reading. I was like, "This may look super cheesy, I don't know... It might not be the right size, I don't know..." But actually, I'm glad I went with this one, in this color. The Omnichord fits perfectly and it feels sturdy, but also like it's not going to leave any marks or dents. It has a soft touch covering.

I know I have mentioned Omnichord-related stuff a bunch of late -- or so it seems to me. My bad, y'all. Sometimes I am just into something specific and become one-note about it. I'm trying not to be self-conscious about it being my whole personality right now. I could be soooo much worse. I could have so many more annoying hobbies. You have no idea how close I have come to getting into Jellycats.

P.S.: How Kirsten Larson-core is that blue floral backdrop!

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sick daze

Being sick is a heckuva way to kick off a new year. For two weeks I was on a rollercoaster of feeling better only to yartz half an hour later, or whatever. I kept thinking I was on the mend and then I'd have an evening of chills and nausea.

I can't rightly recall what I even did for some of these endless evenings where I felt too bad to really do anything much. Oddly I did some cleaning and organizing. I played a lot of merge games (I play almost no games on my phone other than Solitaire, usually), to the point where I was having merging-related dreams. Speaking of dreams, I had Stranger Things dreams even though I haven't finished ST5. And speaking of TV I haven't finished, I tried to watch Heated Rivalry, but got irritated when episode three abruptly switched focus to the other couple -- the juice bar guy and other hockey guy -- so I paused in the middle of the ep and haven't gotten back to it yet. I'm not sure that I even like it but I'll probably finish it up.

I'm officially on the mend now; I was able to attend band practice this week and knitting club this weekend.

Between holidays and illness I didn't have band practice for a month, so by the time I got to attend again, I was feeling really intimidated and nervous about the idea of playing and singing in front of people again. I am actually very shy, aha! Our drummer was out, so the practice was more low-key, and I ended up being really thrilled because I got to bring my Omnichord!

(These pictures are screencaps from video footage -- hence they're pretty grainy!)

I mainly wanted to demo it and get their thoughts on its usability as a keyboard/synth element for us. It was so cool to plug it in and hear it amped in this setting, and to play it along with other instruments being played. We ended up playing through "Daniel" by Elton John a few times and the Omnichord really filled in the sound of that song. I was actually completely stoked!!! I was also stoked because I was able to keep up fairly well. I did mess up here and there; I'm still in that phase of learning the instrument. Sometimes it's a lot to try and process in the moment, what note is needed and where that button is on the instrument, on top of perhaps singing the song. It becomes a pileup in my brain and I just fritz out and mess up. But, in my opinion it sounded great, and the band guys were very supportive. I was honestly elated at how well it works for "Daniel" and I think we'll hit that song again and polish it up more in future sessions.

I'm also kinda stoked because the gingham backpack I bought (which I featured in my last post) has ended up being the PERFECT size for my Omnichord. This was nothing I had in mind while buying it. But I can fit my band chord notebook, my Omnichord, and several smaller bags for my cameras and external batteries and a number of cords in the backpack with ease. It's nice because I don't want to tote the Omnichord around without some padded covering and I feel this backpack offers it better protection than me trying to chuck it into a tote or something.

To end this post: I took all the Christmas ornaments off my pink tree and put on some heart-shaped ornaments to make a Valentine's tree.

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haul out the haul-y

Ah, how I do hate to make another "look what I got!" post, but hey. It's that time of year, baby. And I seem to be closing out 2025 with a tummy bug, juuuudging by the amount of times I've vomited the last couple of days. Sorry for the TMI. But the concept of making this post cheered me up! And I always think appreciating the gifts you've been given and one's own savvy shopping is fun. So don't consider this so much a "what I got for Christmas"/haul post as a post I am making to enshrine and appreciate!

For myself, using gift cards/my own money, I have bought a) this cream-colored quilted jacket; b) this gingham backpack; and c) this rust-orange velvet weekender bag.

I have a rust orange jacket (it's my favorite color) but my mom and I are taking nightly neighborhood walks and try if we can to wear light-colored things so we can be seen by drivers. Our neighborhood is very busy. We use our phone flashlights to try and light us up but I just felt the need to get a white sweater or jacket so people can see me easier. This one looks really cute.

The backpack I got because I just need something other than the tote bag I've been using to pack up my music-making stuff (mini amp, wireless dongles, chord notebooks) whenever I bring it anywhere, and I liked this one!

And the weekender tote, well, I don't strictly need it for anything. But I was gifted the matching cosmetic pouch set from my little sister for Christmas! She said the color reminded her of me -- which of course is spot-on. And I really love the baggies. I haven't shopped at Target in a couple of years due to the boycott but I had a Target gift card from last Christmas and got another one this Christmas, so I said what the heck and got the matching weekender bag when I saw it. Matchy-matchy!!! Depending on the size of the weekender bag (I bought it online so I don't 100% know) I can use it as a camera/tech bag or a crochet project bag for knitting club.

Sisters really made the stockings GOOD this year!

One sister got me a crazy blind box and a coloring book (which is so cozy! Colored several pages in it already!) and the other got me this bag set and a couple of figurines relevant to my interests! As you know, I have a number of Stitch figures, many of them from this sister. She found a real cute one this year. But this series looks to be harder to collect. Seems to be from the D23 Expo? I have found a few on eBay but couldn't find a picture of this figure anywhere! So I did take it from an eBay listing, lol.

There's the guy that was in the blind box. Love his lace overalls!

In my family, Nephew aside, we mostly just do stockings now, instead of bigger wrapped gifts. But I still really got some good stuff, as you can see! I also wanted to feature this little thing that was in my stocking at my grandmother's:

It's a little strawberry stationery set?? Full of little mini supplies! A tiny stapler and staple remover, a hole punch, some small tape, scissors, binder clips. Soooo freaking cute and useful! Love it!

On the strawberry tip, I also just now acquired a few things I've been looking for since October!

Five Below has these fashion sets inspired by the '80s Strawberry Shortcake. When I saw them in August I thought, "That looks like it might fit Blythe!" So I got the cutest set of the three available then and tried it out on Aury and Fey.

Not every item fits and not every item is, like, one I want. BUT, for $4 a set, that's such a great price for some little t-shirts and dresses! I freaking love the sunflower dress and the cute Orange Blossom tee. IMO the shoes and bags and hats are better for, like, scene-setting props. So I went back and got the other two sets, which were Blueberry Muffin and Lemon Merengue.

Since then I've been on the lookout for the other sets, which I saw online circa October. But my local Five Below didn't get them until, like, RIGHT NOW! I checked a few times and they were never on the shelves... UNTIL TODAY! YAY!

I'm really excited to have completed the collection and excited to open these up when I'm feeling a little better and see which pieces are the best. Been meaning to do a post all about these sets, and hopefully I will also do that in 2026. I have never been super into getting, say, Skipper or Barbie or Bratz or random other doll items for my Blythes. I prefer the bespoke handmade stuff, I guess. But these sets are an exception. Cheap items, yes, but also really colorful and fun.

The holidays this year were really busy. Craft market; band; lots of singing with family and friends and dinking around on my Omnichord; nightly walks; family coming into town. It is definitely a bummer to end it feeling run-down with this bug, whatever it is. But I enjoyed making this post, even if it is very consumerist.

See y'all in 2026!!!

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