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...I have what could be termed "a helluva lot" of dolls.

This is mostly my fault.

But not entirely.

I obtained three (well four--we'll get to this later) dolls over christmas.

I have four dolls on my desk now. Not entirely the same dolls. One is a tiny min-pullip in a cow costume I obtained for $8. Apparently she was originally somewhere around 30. I don't get it. She's 11cm tall and has proportions that could be considered (at best) bizarre. She has matchstick limbs, boobs, and a toddler-esque face. Actually, its CREEPY, which is why she is still wearing the essentially shapeless cow costume. It makes her look cute, not deeply disturbing...

The first doll, I ordered last summer. I spent months planning for her. She's less than a foot tall, which was intentional: I wanted a tiny but beautiful doll I could play with. I played with dolls growing up. I routinely carried one around in fourth and fifth grade. I LOVED the Borrowers and Stewart Little and enjoy the notion of a tiny person existing in our world. When she came, she had some temporary outfits (scrounged from childhood dolls) until I could make her more clothing. I have now done so, and procured some more outfit parts from Barbie and Ken clothing ($1.74 on clearance, booyah).

The second was a gift, as was the third. Because I played with dolls growing up, I got a job at a doll store last summer. I tend to amass knowledge about anything that fancies me. This is why I know WAY too much about subjects ranging from Anglo-saxon clothing to obscure Roman gods to Neopets to fountain pens to dinosaurs. (I really love dinosaurs -- always have, always will, and the feathers make them cooler I WILL FIGHT YOU ON THIS) I also know an obscene amount of doll trivia. Apparently, being enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a subject makes you a decent salesperson. Or maybe they just wanted a warm body. Anyway, they gifted all employees with two dolls: The 2017 holiday barbie (meh--she's in my closet, presumably amassing value for the right collector or something) and Tenney Grant (the whitest doll currently sold by American Girl).

Those two weren't my fault. I intend to ignore the barbie. Tenney looks just like one of my childhood dolls before I ******** her up and had to spend about two months repairing her. (I mostly succeeded.)

The last... Well.

Okay.

Um.

This is actually a little embarrassing...

There was one thing in my childhood that conclusively and irrevocably set me on a one-way path to a STEM education: Space Camp. I loved Space Camp. I spent most of my middle and high school career completely obsessed with my goal of becoming an astronaut (and wilfully ignorant to the fact that I'm too blind and most of the space program comes from the military, which I am not comfortable with at all). The best times of my school years (and probably my life) were Space Camp. I made some very dear friends, fell in love, learned some valuable things about myself and my ability to work with others, as well as problem solving. I also generally had a blast. It ******** me over in college, sure, but I AM happy now and Space Camp IS why I am still a STEM major. I couldn't forgive myself if I abandoned it completely. I just... grew up.

Anyway.

I literally made my doll a flight suit. Like, it was one of my first major sewing projects. I did a great job on the patches, less great on everything else. (A flight suit is the blue suit you see Space Campers and shuttle astronauts wear.) I wanted a Space Camp doll and I had her... sort of. I wasn't a very good seamstress in eleventh grade. I wasn't horrible, but I also really wasn't very PRACTICED. Compared to, say, the pants I finished for a doll last night -- they fit about perfectly, they have a delicately embroidered back pocket, the backstitch doesn't even look like stitching, I kept an even ~.4cm from the edge at all times, all seams subject to wear and tear are fray checked, the snap is sewn on with invisible thread -- it looked like something made by a drunk monkey.

Then... January 1... they came out with Luciana Vega. The Space Camp doll literally named after the brightest star in Lyra, probably as a homage to Carl Sagan. She had a purple streak in her hair, kind of like the pink streak I dyed in MY hair for an 8th grade class trip. (I didn't keep it because the reaction was universally "Do you know your hair is pink?" wink She had a galaxy dress, a fanny pack that reminded me of one of my space camp friends, astronaut ice cream, a star chart, and a flight suit. And I had an employee discount and some christmas money.

...I couldn't resist.

I am a horrible person but I also regret nothing.

I also now have... eight... American Girl Dolls. I had three as a child. Three. I have acquired five since eleventh grade.

Plus three ball jointed dolls. At least one of them is literally less than a foot tall.

SIGH.

--Lys