Weblog 171
May 17, 2009~ 12:00am
It's been quite some time since I've gotten caught up in just browsing the web-- bouncing from one site to the next, pursuing something. It happened-- because last evening, as I opened the china closet to show Wayne a trinket, I knocked over about six other items, two of which broke on the floor after smashing into each other. "Oh no! My crystal cat!"-- and it was --the tail broken from its body. (It had been a gift from my son, sent to me from when he was stationed in Italy and he'd insured it, so I knew it was valuable.) It's a lovely Swarovski leaded crystal glistening cat-- with deep blue eyes.
The other casualty was my little blue moo cow, only about an inch high- one of my whimsies, and something that's always made me smile with his polka-dotted body and crumpled horns-- it was one of the blue horns that snapped off. I felt awful. It was sort of a talisman for me, and its message has always been: 'LIFE IS A LOT MORE FUN THAN YOU THINK'-- but thank God for BRUSH-ON SUPER GLUE!! I fixed both of them and honestly, you cannot tell they'd ever been broken.
But out of curiosity, I got on the internet to try and 'price' the cat-- (just to see what damage I'd actually suffered, having broken something of value.) Yep. That little guy is a discontinued model- (i.e., 'more valuable') and was showing a tag of 95 dollars. He's only 2" high....Sheesh!. That got me thinking about things... things I have....things I covet or admire. The 'things' that make me press my nose to the window and gawk.
For instance, just after I'd repaired the cat and found him online, I tried looking for a large Nao by Lladro-- a 14" seated ballerina I've had since the early 70's. I never did find her worth, but it must be 'up there', because I did find her picture on their site, and she's the one porcelain piece Nao has embedded in their banner for theirhistorical selections catalog. (They're having trouble with their website, so just click the 'Go' button again after you get the error message.) Isn't she a beauty? I've always loved her -- and she -- ('knock wood') has never been broken. And, oh my goodness, there are sculptures in the Lladro collection that make me absolutely drool! How about these guys...
I've always hated Royal Daltons- (and I don't care how much they're worth...they're 'fussy and boring'.) Too much...oh... Gainsborough and Marie Antoinette-looking ladies, sitting around with their fans and lace. LOL!!!- but Lladro porcelain figures knock me flat. Always have. How could you argue that something like this...
is not breathtakingly beautiful? {{{{{{{{{{sigh}}}}}}}}}}} Or this!
(Sigh again.) From those two sites, I leapt onward to a truly magnificent find- a site I never knew existed, and I was so happy to find it! It's called 'Etsy'- and it's comprised of online shops made up of hundreds of craftsman and artists, selling unique, original and hand-made art, dolls, jewelry, blown glass.....you name it, you'll find it there. (I found a surprise gift for my daughter this morning after perusing that site- very reasonable, and absolutely one of a kind.) I'll have to tell Holly all about Etsy's....(that girl is a craft-making, artistic genius.) I truly think she could have a very brisk following by opening up her own site on their server. I don't know the details, but it's less feverishly commercial than, say...Ebay....and much more tipped toward the idea of the starving artist and originality. Creativity cheers me. That's why the site is such a vacation for me to visit. Try it. You'll find so much to get caught up in......Esty- and, as advertised, 'your place to buy and sell handmade items'. I could spend hours in there!
From Esty's, I skipped along, trying to to find an appraisal for my jade green Jasperware Wedgwood vase. LOL!!! (Lemme tell ya', once I fell into that groove yesterday, there was no stopping me!) Ah hell.....window shopping is fun. (It's the real kind that I despise, and avoid at all cost.) Down with malls! Up with Esty's!
May 17, 2009~ 2:00pm
Last night, we watched a stirring and inspirational 2004 documentary on the life of Howard Zinn, "You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train", and what a life of courage and upright conviction that man has lived! Born in New York City in 1922, his childhood lived in cold water flats with not a book in the house-- he became a legendary figure in the civil rights and peace movements of the 60's and 70's and is now Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Boston University.
He's still writing, still touring, still serving as a tuning fork when it comes to government's aims as it continues to manipulate its citizenry. My favorite quote- and the one used to open the documentary- "We grow up in a controlled society, where we are told that when one person kills another person, that is murder, but when the government kills a hundred thousand, that is patriotism."
If you want a historic view of the scope of this man's committed activisim- his love of his students and their open minds, and the extraordinary way he's educated himself throughout his lifetime- rent this documentary. And do visit
to learn more about an inspiring man, who, from the time he dropped bombs on a French town in the last weeks of World War II in the first use of napalm, and when there didn't seem to be a reason to do so- has questioned war, and questioned the leadership of this country: that lead to all that followed.
Howard went on to college following the war and received advanced degrees, accepted his first professorship at a southern black university at the beginnings of the civil rights movement, and began to rabble-rouse and write. From that point forward, there's been no turning back for this committed man in his mission to speak the truth, to make people think and not merely react-- to remain true to his calling as a modern prophet in times that have sorely needed one.
Bless you, Howard. Your life incites us to a higher degree of questioning, and a deeper love of our fellow man. There is no better calling in this world.
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
It's been quite some time since I've gotten caught up in just browsing the web-- bouncing from one site to the next, pursuing something. It happened-- because last evening, as I opened the china closet to show Wayne a trinket, I knocked over about six other items, two of which broke on the floor after smashing into each other. "Oh no! My crystal cat!"-- and it was --the tail broken from its body. (It had been a gift from my son, sent to me from when he was stationed in Italy and he'd insured it, so I knew it was valuable.) It's a lovely Swarovski leaded crystal glistening cat-- with deep blue eyes.
The other casualty was my little blue moo cow, only about an inch high- one of my whimsies, and something that's always made me smile with his polka-dotted body and crumpled horns-- it was one of the blue horns that snapped off. I felt awful. It was sort of a talisman for me, and its message has always been: 'LIFE IS A LOT MORE FUN THAN YOU THINK'-- but thank God for BRUSH-ON SUPER GLUE!! I fixed both of them and honestly, you cannot tell they'd ever been broken.
But out of curiosity, I got on the internet to try and 'price' the cat-- (just to see what damage I'd actually suffered, having broken something of value.) Yep. That little guy is a discontinued model- (i.e., 'more valuable') and was showing a tag of 95 dollars. He's only 2" high....Sheesh!. That got me thinking about things... things I have....things I covet or admire. The 'things' that make me press my nose to the window and gawk.
For instance, just after I'd repaired the cat and found him online, I tried looking for a large Nao by Lladro-- a 14" seated ballerina I've had since the early 70's. I never did find her worth, but it must be 'up there', because I did find her picture on their site, and she's the one porcelain piece Nao has embedded in their banner for theirhistorical selections catalog. (They're having trouble with their website, so just click the 'Go' button again after you get the error message.) Isn't she a beauty? I've always loved her -- and she -- ('knock wood') has never been broken. And, oh my goodness, there are sculptures in the Lladro collection that make me absolutely drool! How about these guys...
I've always hated Royal Daltons- (and I don't care how much they're worth...they're 'fussy and boring'.) Too much...oh... Gainsborough and Marie Antoinette-looking ladies, sitting around with their fans and lace. LOL!!!- but Lladro porcelain figures knock me flat. Always have. How could you argue that something like this...
is not breathtakingly beautiful? {{{{{{{{{{sigh}}}}}}}}}}} Or this!
(Sigh again.) From those two sites, I leapt onward to a truly magnificent find- a site I never knew existed, and I was so happy to find it! It's called 'Etsy'- and it's comprised of online shops made up of hundreds of craftsman and artists, selling unique, original and hand-made art, dolls, jewelry, blown glass.....you name it, you'll find it there. (I found a surprise gift for my daughter this morning after perusing that site- very reasonable, and absolutely one of a kind.) I'll have to tell Holly all about Etsy's....(that girl is a craft-making, artistic genius.) I truly think she could have a very brisk following by opening up her own site on their server. I don't know the details, but it's less feverishly commercial than, say...Ebay....and much more tipped toward the idea of the starving artist and originality. Creativity cheers me. That's why the site is such a vacation for me to visit. Try it. You'll find so much to get caught up in......Esty- and, as advertised, 'your place to buy and sell handmade items'. I could spend hours in there!
From Esty's, I skipped along, trying to to find an appraisal for my jade green Jasperware Wedgwood vase. LOL!!! (Lemme tell ya', once I fell into that groove yesterday, there was no stopping me!) Ah hell.....window shopping is fun. (It's the real kind that I despise, and avoid at all cost.) Down with malls! Up with Esty's!
May 17, 2009~ 2:00pm
Last night, we watched a stirring and inspirational 2004 documentary on the life of Howard Zinn, "You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train", and what a life of courage and upright conviction that man has lived! Born in New York City in 1922, his childhood lived in cold water flats with not a book in the house-- he became a legendary figure in the civil rights and peace movements of the 60's and 70's and is now Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Boston University.
He's still writing, still touring, still serving as a tuning fork when it comes to government's aims as it continues to manipulate its citizenry. My favorite quote- and the one used to open the documentary- "We grow up in a controlled society, where we are told that when one person kills another person, that is murder, but when the government kills a hundred thousand, that is patriotism."
If you want a historic view of the scope of this man's committed activisim- his love of his students and their open minds, and the extraordinary way he's educated himself throughout his lifetime- rent this documentary. And do visit
to learn more about an inspiring man, who, from the time he dropped bombs on a French town in the last weeks of World War II in the first use of napalm, and when there didn't seem to be a reason to do so- has questioned war, and questioned the leadership of this country: that lead to all that followed.
Howard went on to college following the war and received advanced degrees, accepted his first professorship at a southern black university at the beginnings of the civil rights movement, and began to rabble-rouse and write. From that point forward, there's been no turning back for this committed man in his mission to speak the truth, to make people think and not merely react-- to remain true to his calling as a modern prophet in times that have sorely needed one.
Bless you, Howard. Your life incites us to a higher degree of questioning, and a deeper love of our fellow man. There is no better calling in this world.
(Return To Weekly Archives)
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