Wallpaper entitled "Hope"

From SpookyWallpapers

Monday, October 18, 2010

At last...


Hit a slump about ten days ago. Not a really bad one, but enough to keep me down-in-the-dumps and my brain in rehash-mode. I've thought through so many past events, step by painful step, and didn't resolve anything. As usual. Makes for a hard time sleeping, too, and when I have been able to sleep, I can't remember my dreams. I started writing down my dreams a few months back. I read somewhere that as we change and age, our dreams change as well. Mine have. Most of my dreams have always revolved around anxiety of some sort. Two of the most frequent involved falling or drowning. Lately, however, I'm either trying to find something or to get somewhere. I guess I don't need Freud here, huh? I know dreams are supposed to be the brain's way of siphoning through our experiences and emotions, resolving what is/isn't important and dumping the crap. It's funny how the mind works, though. When I think too much about stuff, I don't seem to dream, and my strangest dreams occur during my most normal times. Or whatever passes as normal for me.

On a completely unrelated note, my bonus for curtailing my spending habits is the purchase of a long-wanted piece from my favorite designer, Patricia of Artlab. I'm sure anyone who has followed her as long as I have already owns the Andromache shirt made of deconstructed tshirts. This incredible garment can be purchased from her shop at Etsy.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Sail away, sail away, sail away...


Today is Columbus Day here in the good ole' US of A. The day is celebrated in both North and South America because Christopher Columbus (the "American" version of Cristoforo Colombo, his name in Italian) is usually given credit for having discovered the New World in 1492. However, the Vikings were really the first to do so. Norsemen from Scandinavia arrived here in the 10th century and began settlements in the northern part of the continent in what is now Canada. Less well known is the American holiday Leif Erikson Day, celebrated (such as it is) on October 9th and commemorating the day his ship arrived in New York Harbor bringing immigrants from Norway.

The USA is primarily a country of immigrants. Except for the descendants of the indigenous people who are now referred to as American Indians (Columbus thought he had landed in the East Indies), our ancestors either came here looking for a better way of life or were brought here. Sadly, for a country founded on freedom, we didn't offer that right to everyone in the earlier years.

Again, sadly, the freedoms we cherish as individuals often conflict with the freedom of the whole. We guarantee the freedom to worship but protest when we don't like the religious practices of another. We have the right to free speech but think we can force our words or beliefs on others. Freedom of the press often means not always hearing the whole story or maybe not even the truth. We vote on our leaders as a democracy, but then don't have, as individuals, a say in the actions of those leaders. The very makeup of our country--immigrants--guarantees that our country will always be diverse and often divided. The melting pot can be a hot pot of controversy.

Sometimes I wish I could be like Columbus and Erikson and discover a New World where everyone would live in freedom, peace and harmony.

(Image used is entitled "Santa Maria." The photograph is of the bow of the ship of the statue in Columbus Circle outside Union Station in Washington, DC. Visit the Etsy shop at Raceytay or the artist's blog ibrakeforbokeh.com for more beautiful pictures and information.)


When Columbus started out he didn't know where he was going, when he got there he didn't know where he was, and when he got back he didn't know where he had been.
--Anonymous

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Did I mention freakish?


When I discovered that Orphaned Land, the Israeli metal band I found on Steff's blog, was going to be in town, my younger brother was the first one I thought of asking to go with me. When we were growing up, he always had heavy metal albums playing with the volume up as loud as it would go. I remember thinking that the album covers would freak my mom out if she ever saw them.

My brother and his wife are like me--older in age but completely young at heart--and they're usually up for most anything. Whenever I'm with them, we laugh at almost everything, especially each other, so they are a lot of fun. They didn't think that they could go at first but ended up working it into their schedule. And last night was the night! I wasn't entirely comfortable going into a crowd, but the feeling passed. Plus, I was just plain uncomfortable due to a freakish accident (more on that in a moment). While the first band played, we gradually made our way forward through the crowd. By the time OL started playing, I was practically on the stage. They were so amazing! When they finished, they came out to the bar area to sell their merchandise. I got all of their autographs on the insert of my CD "The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR" and had my picture made with them. We started chatting with some other fans, and my sister-in-law Theresa took tons of pictures. We talked about our favorite songs, all got t-shirts and autographs. I could tell that I wasn't the only one crazy about OL. However, I probably should mention that while everyone else in the entire place was wearing black/goth/punk/vampire/something-I've-never-seen-before-with-fur, I was wearing a white shirt. Freakishly white. I felt freakish at first, too, and really, who could feel freakish among vampires and something wearing fur? Then I decided it just didn't matter. And it was a freakish accident because I'm always the one who wears black, so what was I thinking? Freakish. Theresa and I also decided we were the oldest two people there, but again, who cared? I got to drink Guinness and see Orphaned Land up close and personal! Not only are they all gorgeous, but they are ssooooo nice. Nothing like I expected nice. Almost shy. Well, that might have something to do with the fact that they don't all speak English well or maybe not at all. Truly beautiful people. I'm so glad I got to see and meet them.

Steff, I owe you.

(Image used is entitled "Le Petit Assassin" and can be purchased at Etsy shop naughtyandnice. The artist claims to have been "raised by wolves and fairies.")

Yeah, saw those last night. Freakish, huh?

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Sigh...


I've been spending a lot of time lately paring down my list of online favs and bookmarks. As with everything else in my life, I tend to go overboard and want to hold onto every site that interests or inspires me. Unfortunately, I've made it difficult to find those few that I go to every day. As I was sorting through this maze, I stumbled upon a blog that features a woman who must have some Swedish or Norweigian ancestry because she decorates her space in white and primarily wears black and white. Her posts consist of two or three photos of herself in a drool-inducing outfit and a few well-chosen words. She wants no distraction or chaos. Apparently, her life is extremely well-ordered.

I want to live in her world.

(Image used is entitled "Serenity" and can be found at Etsy in the shop alifethroughthelens. The artist says that photography helps find the calm moment, to "slow down and look for details that I would otherwise miss." Ah, to find that myself. Oh, yes, see more of this artist at iseelifethroughalens.blogspot.com)