Tag: links

Formerly untitled post =)

Today, I’m writing and probably coloring, too, so I put some supplies near me, and I’m doing a deep dive into an old Beach Boy collection I bought in 1993, released to celebrate the band’s thirty years: ten years after Dennis Wilson died, and five years before Carl Wilson died. Next year, there’ll no doubt be some notice of the band’s sixty years (as there was at fifty years), though they are fractured, and I’m disinterested in anything that doesn’t include Brian Wilson.

I have a chance to see Brian perform in person later this month, but I’m not sure if I will. It’s been a longtime wish, because as many times as I saw the Beach Boys through the years, it was never when he was touring with them.

However, I’ve recently become aware that re-entry anxiety is a pandemic thing, and I have medical confirmation that I’m experiencing it. The only reason I bring this up is not because I have any brilliant insights or wisdom to offer. It’s because in years 2020, 2021, and 2022, I’ve gotten really tired of hearing messages along the lines of You’re so lucky, because…. and You aren’t dealing with the kinds of problems I am…

I’ve said repeatedly that NO ONE, including me or those I love, is experiencing this pandemic without challenges. No one. With or without children. With or without a job. No matter what your love life or work life or family life or age or political affiliation or emotional, physical, or mental stability is. No one is “lucky” or “better prepared” or whatever.

I’ll keep taking steps in managing whatever challenges happen, but mostly, I’ll try to choose kindness toward others. I really appreciate the people who’ve extended kindness to me. ♥

Button Sunday

May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome awareness month.

I know at least two people who are living with EDS, though not all the manifestations of this condition in the two are the same. Behind a cut, I’m including the full text from the “Days of The Year” site that I often use to pick buttons or make blog posts. It discusses the syndrome and the symbolism of the zebra.

What’s struck me most is how hard it has been for both the people I know to get the right diagnosis and find the most effective treatments. If you ever meet anyone who says they have Ehlers-Danlos, you can learn so much by listening to their stories if they want to share them. Their journeys are challenging in ways most of us will never know.

Continue reading “Button Sunday”

Mood: Monday


Name that mood!

Lynne and I almost saw the lunar eclipse last night. We were in an area free of a lot of ambient light and spied just the beginning of the lower left edge being covered up. But by the time we were able to get some things done and get back outside, clouds had moved in. No more moon gazing for us.

Lynne owns this print that I shot a photo of so we could get more information about it. We were able to decipher the artist’s signature so I could find him online. Here are the details.

“Hot Summer Night”
Billy Jacobs
watercolor, date unknown

Active in Navarre, Ohio, Billy Jacobs, “whose artwork depicted a simpler time, died May 3 [2021] after a more than two-week battle with COVID-19.”

© Canton Repository


Last night’s moon.

Motivation

There’s a full moon lunar eclipse on the way May 15. If you want to learn more about it, I recommend this brief video from Kevin at Body Mind and Soul. He discusses this moon as related to motivation, change, and letting go, among other things.

I’ve been struggling with motivation lately–maybe it’s in the stars? (Hint: It’s not. It’s in the world.) I did a bit of Internet diving. From the site Tiny Rituals, I found a list of 15 Crystals for Motivation. Maybe if you have any of these stones or crystals, spending a little time with them will give you a nudge in the right direction.

Tiger’s Eye for shaking off lethargy and taking life by the reigns.
Clear Quartz for cleaning out your spiritual and emotional closet.
Rose Quartz for helping us feel held, loved, and supported.
Citrine for a mindset shift and finding the fun in life again.
Amethyst for purpose-filled steps to your next destination.
Selenite for a soul reset.
Carnelian for diving back into a creative project.
Aventurine for shaking off the past and finding your place.
Lapis Lazuli for consistency and inner truth.
Calcite for cutting out weighty pressure and finding the lightness in life.
Apatite for dissolving apathy.
Fluorite for keeping focus strong.
Garnet for when you need confidence and commitment.
Pyrite for attracting abundance.
Bloodstone for physical strength and vitality.

Here are a few motivation essential oils for your diffusers from various sources on the Internet. Though don’t use them all at once! Maybe pick a blend of two or three, and if you want to use them on your pulse points, put them in a carrier oil like jojoba, grapeseed, or sweet almond.

frankincense
orange
cypress
peppermint
rosemary
ginger
spruce
eucalyptus
sandalwood


Today is my brother David’s birthday! Happy birthday to one of my favorite people in the world. So grateful for the music, the books, and the encouragement to think and question that he brought to my life. Also, the jokes. Even the ones that made me roll my eyes.

Button Sunday

April 24 is Firefly Day, named in honor of the 2002 television show “Firefly.” The button is a quote from the show’s theme song. “Firefly” was supposed to run for seven seasons and had a passionate fandom, but Fox canceled it and broke hearts everywhere.

In 2012, I was housesitting at Green Acres while Lynne was out of town. (She’s living in her fourth home since those days. That seems impossible.) I had my laptop with me and was using it to watch “Firefly” on Netflix. I’d heard a lot about it in previous years, and Tom had watched it and thought I’d probably like it, though it wasn’t my usual fare.

The year before that, 2011, I blogged a magnetic poetry poem every day, and because I was doing those, Marika sent me a box of “Firefly” magnetic words and phrases. Of course they made no sense to me until after I began watching the show, but even before that, they were fun to drop randomly inside my poems.

Flash forward to 2017, when I lost a lot of my magnetic words in the Harvey flood. The “Firefly” words were safe. They’re still here. In honor of the show and its fans who continue to love the show’s single season and one movie twenty years later, I give you a poem using “Firefly” magnets.

My parents were married on April 24. I wonder what they’d have made of the space Western. Daddy loved Westerns (books, movies, TV shows), and we all watched Westerns on TV growing up. I wouldn’t have called my mother a fan of space shows at all, except that one of the times she lived with us, Tom was watching “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” (I was usually writing in another room.) One time when Tom wasn’t home to watch TNG, she said, “How will we find out what happens next?” which is when I knew she was only pretending to read while he had the show on.

She might have liked “Firefly,” too.