Addendum(s)

It's the last day of July and it was a hot one! I met up with some friends for a couple of hours and we talked about our experiences with healing modalities - very insightful - I offered reiki to two people and someone used quantum touch on my sore knee - I also borrowed some tuning forks and used that on my knee - I can bend it a little bit more now than before, plus I am able to put a bit more weight on it now - :D

Then I went to a friend's house for dinner - another friend was there - we shared a wonderful meal and listened to a Brazilian singer sing songs in French and looked at old photographs...

Here's a final photo of the jointed paper doll mermaid I made last week - I decided (last minute) to add two tattoos before giving her to my co-worker for her birthday - she's beautiful! I must admit, the rubber bands (although a bit too orange) work pretty well - I still want to buy some mini brads, though...

Must get to work on the book illustrations...

Hello, August!! Stay cool, y'all

Siren of the Sea

I created a jointed paper doll yesterday... instead of using mini brads (which I didn't have) I used rubber band pieces and tied knots in them (as I mentioned before, ribbon and string didn't work since the head and arms just flopped around and wouldn't stay posed)

She's kinda lovely, if I do say so myself...

Here are the appropriate credits and a few mermaid facts (I ended up having to use Wikipedia - again!)

Photos:
Mermaid Painting by John Waterhouse (1900)
Jointed paper doll mermaid by TJBGoogins, made possible with a template by Kimberly Crick
To see her jointed paper doll template (it's free - if you use it, just give her the credit) and see her other offerings (great rubber stamp sets and other art supplies) visit her web site:

www.theenchantedgallery.com

MERMAID

(source: Wikipedia)

The word is a compound of mer, the French word for "sea", and maid, a woman. The male equivalent is a merman.

Much like sirens, mermaids will sing to people or to gods to enchant them, distracting them from their work and causing people to walk off a ship's deck or to run their ship aground. Other stories depict mermaids squeezing the life out of drowning men while attempting to rescue them. They are also said to carry humans down to their underwater kingdoms. In Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, it is said that mermaids forget that humans cannot breathe underwater, while other stories say they drown men out of spite, while still other fables portray mermaids as benevolent toward men.This singing chant is probably a curse to the mermaid as well.

[There are many accounts of mermaids in Greek and European mythology, and these creatures are also featured in several stories from One Thousand and One Nights.]

The sirens of Greek mythology are sometimes portrayed in later folklore as mermaid-like; in fact, some languages use the same word for both bird and fish creatures, such as the Maltese word 'sirena.' Other related types of mythical or legendary creatures are water fairies (e.g., various water nymphs) and selkies, animals that can transform themselves from seals to humans.

In some ancient fairy tales of China, the mermaid is a special species whose tears can turn into priceless pearls. What's more, mermaids can also knit an extremely valuable material which is not only slight but also beautiful and translucent. Because of this, fishermen longed to catch them, but it's difficult for them to survive, for mermaids' splendid singing can simply put them in a coma. In other Chinese legends, the mermaid is a wondrous creature -- deft, beautiful, and versatile, and fishermen who wish to catch mermaids are a symbol of negative character.

Mermaids were noted in British folklore as unlucky omens – both foretelling disaster and provoking it. Several variants of the ballad of Sir Patrick Spens depict a mermaid speaking to the doomed ships; in some, she tells them they will never see land again, and in others, she claims they are near shore, which they are wise enough to know means the same thing. They can also be a sign of rough weather.

Some mermaids were described as monstrous in size, up to 2,000 feet (610 m).

Mermaids could also swim up rivers to freshwater lakes. One day, in a lake near his house, the Laird of Lorntie went to aid a woman he thought drowning; a servant of his pulled him back, warning that it was a mermaid, and the mermaid screamed after that she would have killed him if it were not for his servant.

On occasion, mermaids could be more beneficent, teaching humans cures for disease.

Some tales raised the question of whether or not mermaids had immortal souls, most implying they did not. The figure of Lí Ban appears as a sanctified mermaid, but then she was a human being transformed into a mermaid; after three centuries, when Christianity had come to Ireland, she came to be baptized.

Mermen were noted as wilder and uglier than mermaids, but they were described as having little interest in humans.

In Scottish mythology, there is a mermaid called the ceasg or "maid of the wave."

We will have lovely, sweet cool rain today - wishing you happy mermaid dreams!

The Grass Is Always Greener

I finally planted some wheat grass in small plastic pots I had lying around... Now my cats can graze a little bit, since they never get to go outside (cars, ticks, wild critters - too dangerous). As you can see, Miss Silver is very interested and ended up getting in the shot - in a few days, the grass will look very chewed up and I'll have to plant some more (I should do that right now... but it's so hot) I'm sure I don't know WHY I decided to buy a hydrangea AND a sunflower today (I had grand plans of putting them in the ground pronto... but it's so hot) It tried to rain all morning and afternoon - now it's six o'clock and the sun is out again... sizzle

My new obsession: I've been cutting out a jointed paper doll - tried to put it together with ribbon and string instead of the traditional mini brads... but it isn't working too well, so I'll have to make a trip to some store or other to see if I can find some (but it's so hot...).

I hope to do a little writing and/or jewelry-making and/or card-making today before dark (but it's so... )

So Crafty...

This is a pretty little pendant I gave my friend Jen for her birthday (it's on a white rubber cord) - what's cool about it is that this little piece of sea-green sea glass was picked up along the shoreline on a chilly walk with Jen and another friend (who also got a tiny wrapped piece of glass from this expedition as a present) so, rather serendipitous, I'd say...
And here's a hanging votive I made a few years ago (wrapped the glass votive holder in heavy copper wire after I painted it with several shades of glass paint/tints - a second one is similarly wrapped but in shades of orange, red and yellow...) Look: There's a little bug clinging to the top there... some kind of small, delicate flying insect - cute!

Last, but not least, I finished making a small wind chime out of reclaimed mollusk shells (with natural holes) and glass fish beads, small Swarovski crystals (to catch the sunlight and throw tiny rainbows) and a piece of tumbled glass ("twice-tossed" I believe it's called, not natural but man-made) It makes a nice tinkly sound and I'm going to send it to some folks I know who will surely appreciate it... I hope to make another one (or two, or three! It makes such a nice sound, I hate to give it up, but... I must, yes, off it goes!)


I also got some writing done on a children's story I'm working on... AND I created my first piece of original art for another children's story I wrote ages ago... I'll share that in a future posting - all in all, a "productive" day off! Hope this will fuel a creative & productive week - have a good one, y'all!!!!

Art Is Everywhere

Just a quick post (it's late - must get some rest so I can work tomorrow) to remind myself that art IS everywhere... Here are a couple more photos from my recent trip to New York City/Brooklyn with my friend Jen where we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (today we went to an art festival, but that's another story)

We're planning another trip soon where we might go uptown to the Museum of Natural History or perhaps go over to Lincoln Center or back downtown to Union Square and Chinatown... At any rate, there's a lot to see and do and it's always more fun to go on adventures with friends!

Enjoy the full moon tonight - and be particular!

Here's a little factoid about this month's full moon:

The Full Buck Moon – July
July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

For more information about the full moon, go to:

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/

Also click on:

http://www.space.com/12303-full-moon-july-2011-names.html

Good night!

There's A Storm Coming... I Know

A day off...

Thinking about things, about making changes

Doing things, researching, wondering about things...

What things?

Right now, I'm watching a storm roll in (or roll by, not sure which) the cats and I can smell the rain

I love rain and distant thunder...

I love a good breeze but high winds scare me a little...

I'm fascinated by lightning but don't like tempting fate...

There's definitely some weather moving through here - hopefully we won't lose power but it's high summer here and the trees are laden with leaves, which means they'll catch a lot of wind and that's what pulls them down - I love being home when it rains!! Here's some things I've written about weather like this:

A day of wet and windy weather
washing my soul clean...

Tall trees still dripping
After a night of rainfall
Damp air smelling clean

PHOTO: tjbgoogins/2011

One of my Facebook friends posted a link to a group of wonderful blogs - the first one I looked at featured microscopic photography of beach sand at different places around the world - incredible close-ups of shells, sea creatures and precious gemstones - just amazing! The book is called:

A Grain of Sand - Nature's Secret Wonder
The Amazing Microphotography of Dr. Gary Greenberg

This site is GREAT - there's a section on natural swimming pools that is very inspirational - if you click on the box showing Dr. Greenberg's photography (there's even a video) at the very bottom there are several more boxes to look at - I really loved the art made from moss...
The other blogs are just as stunning: Functional items and art made from old books, Christmas trees made out of plastic bottles (and lit up - beautiful); bicycle art; a thousand men made from all kinds of car parts and other trash; chairs and art made from cardboard and rubber tires (car and bicycle) - it's made me feel like creating - check it out!

www.inspirationgreen.com

It's raining now and I'm so in love with it - have a lovely rest of the week!

For A Friend

"New York, New York, it's a wonderful town; the Bronx is up and the Battery's down; the people ride in a hole in the ground; New York, New York - It's a wonderful town!"
Music and Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Yesterday I went to New York City with a friend who wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge on her 45th birthday.

We took an early train to Grand Central Terminal and then rode the subway downtown where we walked more than a mile across the bridge on the pedestrian/bicycle path that perches above the traffic, took photographs, enjoyed the hospitality of a couple of friends of mine at their lovely Brooklyn home and got back at a fairly reasonable hour. (We probably walked closer to three miles by the time we got to my friends' house),

Although I lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn for several years, I never walked across any bridges, never went to the World Trade Center - but I did visit the Statue of Liberty and I've been to the Museum of Natural History and the Planetarium and I've been to either the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I can't remember which (maybe both?) I've been to Central Park and Riverside Park and Prospect Park and Tompkins Square Park and Columbus Circle and Union Square and South Street Seaport... and so much more but it's all just a blur now. I'm looking forward to showing my friend some of these memorable places when we go back.

At any rate, our day in the sun (well, there were some clouds and lots of haze - we could just make out the Statue of Liberty off in the distance) went well, even if we were very, very tired and hot and sweaty by the time we arrived at our Brooklyn oasis. And to top it all off, we were able to find an appropriate refrigerator magnet as a souvenir, as well as some very nice artsy postcards at a lovely shop inside the train station (lovely Grand Central, that is) in fact, I'm buying lots more of 'em on our next trip... I love postcards!

The wonderful book & stationery store we went to is Posman Books - a second store is located in the Chelsea area of Manhattan ~ here's a link:
www.posmanbooks.com

Yes, we are planning future trips to see more of the sights and hear more of the sounds and eat wonderful meals and wander the streets of the City alongside all the fabulous denizens of Manhattan. That means more wonderful photos and delirious details to come in a future post!

Happy 4th of July

Red.

White.

Blue.




It's all about the flag and backyard cookouts and fireworks today. I actually have the day off, which is pretty unusual! Today is sort of quiet, except for the way-too-loud motorcycles and other idiots speeding down my little street towards the ocean... Last night I heard some backyard fireworks (the loud, annoying ones) and worry (as I always do) about the poor critters cowering in the surrounding woods who haven't a clue about what's going on with the human element of their world. I missed the town fireworks, which were last Saturday (June 27) but the small image on the right is from last year's display...

I'd like to share a few fun facts about our Independence Day - for more info, click on this link:

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Independence_Day.shtml

Here's an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence from this site:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies' separation from Great Britain. The Declaration, with its eloquent assertion "all Men are created equal," is equally beloved by the American people.

Philadelphians marked the first anniversary of American independence with a spontaneous celebration, which is described in a letter by John Adams to Abigail Adams. However, observing Independence Day only became commonplace after the War of 1812. Soon, events such as groundbreaking ceremonies for the Erie Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad were scheduled to coincide with July 4th festivities.

By the 1870s, the Fourth of July was the most important secular holiday on the calendar. Congress passed a law making Independence Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1870. Even far-flung communities on the western frontier managed to congregate on Independence Day. In an American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 interview, Miss Nettie Spencer remembered the Fourth as the "big event of the year. Everyone in the countryside got together on that day for the only time in the year." She continued,

There would be floats in the morning and the one that got the [girls?] eye was the Goddess of Liberty. She was supposed to be the most wholesome and prettiest girl in the countryside — if she wasn't she had friends who thought she was. But the rest of us weren't always in agreement on that…Following the float would be the Oregon Agricultural College cadets, and some kind of a band. Sometimes there would be political effigies.

Just before lunch - and we'd always hold lunch up for an hour - some Senator or lawyer would speak. These speeches always had one pattern. First the speaker would challenge England to a fight and berate the King and say that he was a skunk. This was known as twisting the lion's tail. Then the next theme was that any one could find freedom and liberty on our shores. The speaker would invite those who were heavy laden in other lands to come to us and find peace. The speeches were pretty fiery and by that time the men who drank got into fights and called each other Englishmen. In the afternoon we had what we called the 'plug uglies' — funny floats and clowns who took off on the political subjects of the day…The Fourth was the day of the year that really counted then. Christmas wasn't much; a Church tree or something, but no one twisted the lion's tail.

"Rural Life in the 1870s,"
Portland, Oregon,
Walker Winslow, interviewer, December 15, 1938.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940

Down South the celebration was much the same. Ninety-six-year-old Dr. Samuel B. Lathan recalled the Independence Day celebrations of his South Carolina childhood:

The Fourth of July was observed at Caldwell Cross Roads. The military companies of infantry would assembly here from the surrounding counties making up a brigade. A drill and inspection were had, and a dress parade followed. There was an old cannon mounted on the field. The honor of firing it was assigned to Hugh Reed, who had been in the artillery of Napoleon's army at Waterloo and afterward emigrated to South Carolina. A great barbecue and picnic dinner would be served; candidates for military, state, and national offices would speak; hard liquor would flow; and each section would present its 'bully of the woods' in a contest for champion in a fist and skull fight. Butting, biting, eye gouging, kicking, and blows below the belt were barred. It was primitive prize fighting.

"Dr. Samuel B. Lathan,"
Winnboro, South Carolina,
W. W. Dixon, interviewer,
ca. 1940.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940

No matter how you celebrate this national holiday, we should remember that any country is only as great as the people who live in it... We should be proud of our accomplishments, but not prideful... ready to defend, but not to blow everything to smithereens... I had wanted to post something I'd read in a local newspaper about the Pledge of Allegiance, but... oh, well, that's enough patriotism for today!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!