Friday Five - What's Your Spirit Animal?

The butterfly is my spirit animal. 

Always has been. 

And, yes, Virginia, insects are animals. 

That takes care of the teaching portion of our show.

An origami butterfly 

made by my daughter sitting on 

the custom glass pen and ink well 

she commissioned for me.

When I was a child, the name 

Vanessa was very uncommon.

Jonathan Swift is credited with creating 

the name in 1713 for his lover 

Esther Vanhomrigh in a poem he wrote dedicated to her.

Vanessa became a butterfly genus in 

1807 which includes 22 species. 

I always liked the idea that Phanessa 

was the mystic goddess of an ancient Greek brotherhood.

Butterflies represent change and 

the constant evolution of the soul.

My mother had this little pin. 

I took it from her jewelry box when 

I was quite young and made it mine. 

Hence we have my avatar.

The Vampire Butterfly

I have teeth.

I've been known to draw blood.

Friday Five - Words of Wisdom from Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh wrote his brother, Theo often. 
You can find many of his letters at the site 
van Gogh's letter: unabridged and annotated.

"I'd like to walk with you there to find out 

whether we look at things the same way."

"In life and in painting too, 

I can easily do without the dear Lord, 

but I can't, suffering as I do, 

do without something greater than myself, 

which is my life, the power to create." 

“What am I in the eyes of most people — 

a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person — 

somebody who has no position in society and will never have; 

in short, the lowest of the low. 

All right, then — 

even if that were absolutely true, 

then I should one day like to show 

by my work what such an eccentric, 

such a nobody, has in his heart."

"... find things beautiful as much as you can, 

most people find too little beautiful."

“I also believe that it may happen 
that one succeeds and 
one mustn't begin by despairing; 
even if one loses here and there, 
and even if one sometimes feels a sort of decline, 
the point is nevertheless to revive and 
have courage, even though things don't 
turn out as one first thought.”

*Images are photographs taken at the

Beyond Van Gogh Exhibit

in Jacksonville, FL,

20221113

Friday Five - Fancy Writing Implements

~ click images to make biggerer ~

I love anything to do with writing. 

Here we have some pen and ink-related items.

1. This is an oriental-style ink and brush set. 

I have no idea where or how I got this. 

You grind up dry ink, mix it with water and write with the brushes.

2. Made of glass and given to me as gifts. 

The green pen and pot were custom-made for me.

They are only to look at, so don't touch them.

3. Not technically quill pens

as the hawk and black feathers have 

pens and nibs attached to them.

I found the white feather. 

It is not trimmed into a quill, but it could be.

4. Ink wells I found in second-hand shops.

They are only for looking, too.

I have no idea how old they may be.

5. My grandson gave me the sparkly pen for Christmas 2022.

He made the "splash" pen holder on his 3D printer in January 2023.

These are only for visual appreciation also. 

Let's just say they are all no-touchy.

Friday Five - Running Around in Circles

 

I wear five rings when I go somewhere. 

I don't wear them all of the time because 

they are too irritating when I'm trying to do things. 

I don't understand how people play 

instruments or knit or draw when 

their fingers are full of heavy metal.

This is how I wear them on my left "Thing" hand.

The right only gets one.

1. Gold Xs and crystal Os.

2. A spinner ring, "KEEP FUCKING GOING"

3. Silver sleeve ring with crystals.

4. "Dream"

5. "BELIEVE"

The really expensive stuff is locked up.

I lose things.

Friday Five - Things I can't Seem to Live Without

1. Two cups of black coffee first thing in the morning. I didn't have any coffee last Saturday. I felt sluggish and yawned all day. No coffee equals brain fog.

2. An Audible book playing all night as white noise. I have several books by my favorite author that I listen to over and over again. Since I've read them, I know the stories. My brain can relax and enjoy.

3. My phone. I know, I know. Like so many of us, I rarely use it to make calls. Instead, it's my super portable mini-computer. Notes, photography, research, reading, appointments, finances, entertainment, my all-night white noise machine.

4. Pen and paper. Any shape. Any size. Any color. Stickie pads. Notebooks. Watercolor blocks. Used envelopes. Fountain pens. Markers. Pencils. Write. Draw. Doodling. ToDo Lists. 

5. Lists. Oh, how I love lists.ToDo lists, shopping lists, idea lists, bucket lists. Lists of characters, emotions, tropes, themes, agendas, itineraries, prompts, food, travel items and packing essentials, holiday traditions, and menus. Mindmaps, outlines, brainstorming, vision boards.

There is an abundance of books of lists. The Book of Lists was first published in 1977 and was banned in many places in the US.

The oldest lists ever found are from the years 2001 BC to 2500 BC. The lexical lists are cuneiform clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia that are glossaries of synonyms between various contemporary languages and symbols.

Friday Five - Five Cool New Words

 

New to me, anyway. 

I love dictionary dot com. 

They send me a new word each day in my email. 

They also help me find the word stuck in my brain 

when my dysnomia acts up. 

Ironically, dysnomia is not a word in their database. 

Their Thesaurus is quite handy, too.

1. strigiform - adj. - of or pertaining to owls

2. welkin - noun - the sky

3. smaragdine - adj - emerald-green in color

4. pandiculation - noun - the act of stretching upon waking

5. mansuetude - noun - gentleness

Bonus Word - retcon - verb - to later revise an established element 

of a fictional story 

(like when Star Trek has an alternate timeline?)

A syllabic abbreviation for retroactivity continuity, 

like fro-yo, sitcom, and hazmat.

Friday Five - Best of 2022

2022 was a big year for me. Here are five things I changed that made my life better. Fueled by the constant threat of death and disability that the pandemic instilled in me, I had to act before it was too late. I felt a sense of doom that my life was being wasted, that I was merely existing in a stagnant pool. I envisioned living in my van if it got me back to feeling. 

1. Planning - I decided to make the following changes without knowing how I would accomplish them and without any guarantees. After YEARS of thinking about what I would change, I realized I'd get there. I used the SMART method to set my goals. Lots of deep breaths and forcing down fear were involved. 

2. Finances - I took an honest look at my money situation and realized I was getting poorer as time passed. I made a budget, cut out what I could live without, and finally faced my fear of money. We never discussed money growing up, it was in poor taste to do so, and a particular shame was attached to it.

3. House - Related to #2. I took advantage of the market in the spring. I had felt a duty to keep it, but it was too big, too expensive, and going to waste in our ownership. Selling it was like cutting an anchor loose.

4. Work - Because of #2 and #3, I could retire. I thought for sure I'd work for someone else until the day I died because of all of my perceived obligations. Only slackers don't have jobs. lol

5. Family - I lived in New Jersey for 55 years. Now, I live in Florida with my daughter and her family. I couldn't have made any of these changes without her. I always said she saved my life when I had her, and now she's done it more than once.

These are just the Big Picture Changes. There were so many smaller ones along the way this year, and some big ones I left off the list. I don't usually do a year-end review, so that's different, too. 

2023 here we come.

Friday Five - Savor the Short Day and Delight in the Long Dark

 

1. Red glass hearts, poinsettias, holly berries, candy canes, apples, Merlot, ribbons, Rudolph's nose.

2. Rebel against the busy: relax, rest, recline, slow down, and take it easy. Snuggle under a comforter, and doze at noon.

3. Read a real newspaper all morning or a beautiful magazine full of romantic ideas like bella GRACE, or disappear into The Longest Night by Marion Dane Bauer. 

4. Remember days gone by: happy moments that make you smile, sad times that bring on the tears. Both will refresh your emotional well.

5. Rejoice that you survived another year. Light a fire or a bunch of candles, fill a mug with hot chocolate, sip slowly and watch the dancing flames. 

What are five ways you will enjoy the extra darkness?