So, at Akasha Con there was a henna party, and I got my hand painted.
I was a little disappointed we weren’t working with traditional patterns, but I like the way this turned out; feels very primitive.
We painted each other, by the way. The design I gave this lady was more traditional.
Actually, just “hint.” The one unsolved quote from yesterday is hinted up.
When I opened the blog this morning, I see that Tuesday Trivia from yesterday was marked “Private.” I have literally no idea how that happened. None. I’m looking at the spot in WordPress where you can switch something to private, and it’s nowhere near where you might accidentally click something while trying to click something else.
I’m baffled.
I’ll leave the hints off for an hour or two since I don’t know how long the basic questions were inaccessible.
1. “Happiness isn’t happiness without a violin-playing goat.”
Solved by Barbs (comment #6).
2. “Ah, but can you not also build bridges out of stone?”
Solved by Lisa (comment #1).
3. “How great is it for you that I’m not intimidated by your brilliance?”
HINT: Spoken by a younger man to his older girlfriend.
Solved by Amy (in the other post).
4. “I was just a fat-headed guy full of pain.”
Solved by Melville (comment #5).
5. “…like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.”
Solved by Melville (comment #5).
6. “Hello? Santa Claus’s reindeer? Of course I can… let’s see, there’s Dopey, Grouchy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Happy, Bashful, Rudolph and Blitzen! You’re welcome!”
Solved by Daven (comment #9).
7. “I have 94 per cent recall of all conversation.”
Solved by Barbs (comment #6).
My favorite bloggy blog has moved. It is now Shakesville. Go visit.
Dead Man (1995) 5/10
Accountant William Blake (Johnny Depp) travels out West for a job as an accountant. Arriving in the dirty mining town of Machine, he finds the job has been given away and he is lost and bereft. Soon, he has been shot and, accused of murder, is running from the law. Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
Most of Dead Man takes place after Depp’s character is on the run. He quickly meets an Indian named Nobody (Gary Farmer), who tries to remove the bullet with crude surgery, but it is too near the heart. Nobody believes that Blake is the poet William Blake, and frequently quotes his poetry back to him. Meanwhile, a trio of gunmen have been hired to bring Blake back dead or alive, and Wanted posters put others on the trail as well.
The many Blake references let the viewer with even a small knowledge of the subject know that this is an allegorical film, and that Depp’s Blake is on a mystical journey, with Nobody as his guide (plus, well, there’s the names). It would probably take a great deal of knowledge of Blake to understand all the references, and I lack that. But, so do most people.
Take this meditation outside on a sunny day.
Feel the sun where it touches your skin.
Feel the sunlight that penetrates through your closed eyes.
Breath in the sun.
Feel the warmth. Feel the energy. Breath in the energy of the sun.
The warmth of the sun is within your own body. It is a part of you. The power and energy of the sun are within your own body. They are a part of you.
Let the sunlight come into you, through your skin. Feel it reach into your very core. Feel how it warms you. It warms your heart, your feelings, and your hopes. As your heart is heated by the Sun, warm compassion flows forth.
Feel how sunlight energizes you. Feel it reach into your muscles and joints, and allow yourself to know the pleasure of movement that comes from being powered by the Sun. Feel the energy flowing into your thoughts. As your mind is heated by the Sun, inspiration flows forth.
Know that you are a solar battery. Your skin is solar paneling. You store sunlight within you and use it when you need it. Feel how the warmth stays with you, how the energy is a part of you.
When you are tired, you can draw on your solar energy. When you feel cold and distant, you can draw on your solar warmth. And when you need to renew yourself, you can return yourself to sunlight, and refresh your batteries.
Fast on the heels of yesterday’s post about banning some forms of body modification, comes the news that the Marines have banned “any new, extra-large tattoos below the elbow or the knee.”
Shakes points out that this is the whitewashed front that is meant to hide the ugly core. And of course she’s right. It’s not unlike banning the coffins of returning soldiers from appearing on TV. But I want to add that it is a part of the creeping Puritanism that I talked about yesterday.
This culture is increasingly trying to legislate and enforce a monolithic image of whiteness and purity, even while we become more diverse and pluralistic. Frankly, it freaks me out.
The suppression of diversity among those who “fight for freedom” is more than ironic, but more insidious than that is the notion that there is only one way to have a “professional demeanor.” The Corps says they “represent…traditional values” and so I must ask, whose tradition? Whose values? The values of the Marines risking their lives are expressed in the tattoos they choose.
Probably the only good thing about Arthur’s long illness was that he got some quality time with the Gang of Two.
You know how sometimes you can’t get up because there’s a cat in your lap? In our family, we call that being “catted.” As in “Would you get the phone? I’m catted.”
Catted by Mingo
Two unsolved this time.
