things I like that I'd sooner share with you:
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
They will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem...
Oh those sister's of mercy. They are my favorite Valentine sentiment.
Today is the birthday of Toni Morrison. A little information on Toni Morrison, if you weren't otherwise informed:
born in Lorain, Ohio (1931). She started writing when she was in her thirties, unhappily married, working as an editor, and raising two children. She said, "It was as though I had nothing left but my imagination. I wrote like someone with a dirty habit. Secretly. Compulsively. Slyly." She went on to write nine novels, including The Bluest Eye (1969), Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987), and in 2008, A Mercy. In 1993, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
We're (the collective unit of Kim & Jason) celebrating the birthday of my dear friend Helen vilner this coming weekend. As Helen's birthday is on Sunday, and Helen is spoken for on Sunday, I suggested we reign in festivities on a Friday instead at some nicer than not restaurant in the city center. Helen, lovely Russian princess that she is, refuses a gathering in honor of her birthday as it's a superstition and bad luck in Russia to celebrate one's birthday before one's birthday. So we compromised on referring to it as "Give Helen a Gift Day", but my curiosity was peeked. What other quirky superstitions does Helen uphold? Below, please find a few:
* When giving an animal as a gift (a cat, dog, bird, etc), the receiver should give the giver a symbolic sum of money, for example one Russian ruble.
* A purse (or any other money holder) as a gift requires a little money inside. Given empty it causes bad financial luck.
* A funeral procession brings good luck. But one should never cross its path or it is bad luck.
* A woman with empty water buckets coming towards you is considered a bad omen.
* A group of two or more people should not walk on either side of a tree. They should all keep to one side or the other.
* Bread should only be cut with a knife, not with your hands. Otherwise, it is said, that your life will be broken. The opposite is held true by some people.
* Two or more people should never use one towel at the same time to dry their hands or bodies, or it is said to bring conflict.
On the campaign trail I encountered even more. For a spell, I was the default driver. Odd, as I hate to drive and defer to someone, anyone else whenever possible. However, after being dispatched on a few multi-mile errands in my first few weeks of employment I found that I could milk the system. Milk for days. The reimbursement rate for my troubles was worth much more than the jacked economy's acquiesced discounted gas and oil. Celebrate! So I oft drove, and in so doing, my pal, the lovely Katie Kelly, could be found performing dedicated rituals that warranted question and stare. We would be driving, and as if without prompt she would diligently and hurridly kiss her palm, touch the car ceiling and lower her hand. Or she would pound two fists on a dashboard. I asked after a few, at first; most noteably what to do when I encountered a driver with one headlight. There even seemed some superstitious ritual to be performed when approaching a driver without lights, in the dark night. To that I prefer to flash my brights. I think I have a heavy hand over superstition in that regard.
Hearing tale of presumed beliefs, having, myself, lived with ghosts, I aim to further research. I'm in possession of a book of folklore or regionally specific rural and urban myths, "The Vanishing Hitchhiker". Let's get me to certain crazy, paranoid, suspicious and convinced in a matter of 200 pages. The countdown starts........ now.
Today is the birthday of Toni Morrison. A little information on Toni Morrison, if you weren't otherwise informed:
born in Lorain, Ohio (1931). She started writing when she was in her thirties, unhappily married, working as an editor, and raising two children. She said, "It was as though I had nothing left but my imagination. I wrote like someone with a dirty habit. Secretly. Compulsively. Slyly." She went on to write nine novels, including The Bluest Eye (1969), Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987), and in 2008, A Mercy. In 1993, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
We're (the collective unit of Kim & Jason) celebrating the birthday of my dear friend Helen vilner this coming weekend. As Helen's birthday is on Sunday, and Helen is spoken for on Sunday, I suggested we reign in festivities on a Friday instead at some nicer than not restaurant in the city center. Helen, lovely Russian princess that she is, refuses a gathering in honor of her birthday as it's a superstition and bad luck in Russia to celebrate one's birthday before one's birthday. So we compromised on referring to it as "Give Helen a Gift Day", but my curiosity was peeked. What other quirky superstitions does Helen uphold? Below, please find a few:
* When giving an animal as a gift (a cat, dog, bird, etc), the receiver should give the giver a symbolic sum of money, for example one Russian ruble.
* A purse (or any other money holder) as a gift requires a little money inside. Given empty it causes bad financial luck.
* A funeral procession brings good luck. But one should never cross its path or it is bad luck.
* A woman with empty water buckets coming towards you is considered a bad omen.
* A group of two or more people should not walk on either side of a tree. They should all keep to one side or the other.
* Bread should only be cut with a knife, not with your hands. Otherwise, it is said, that your life will be broken. The opposite is held true by some people.
* Two or more people should never use one towel at the same time to dry their hands or bodies, or it is said to bring conflict.
On the campaign trail I encountered even more. For a spell, I was the default driver. Odd, as I hate to drive and defer to someone, anyone else whenever possible. However, after being dispatched on a few multi-mile errands in my first few weeks of employment I found that I could milk the system. Milk for days. The reimbursement rate for my troubles was worth much more than the jacked economy's acquiesced discounted gas and oil. Celebrate! So I oft drove, and in so doing, my pal, the lovely Katie Kelly, could be found performing dedicated rituals that warranted question and stare. We would be driving, and as if without prompt she would diligently and hurridly kiss her palm, touch the car ceiling and lower her hand. Or she would pound two fists on a dashboard. I asked after a few, at first; most noteably what to do when I encountered a driver with one headlight. There even seemed some superstitious ritual to be performed when approaching a driver without lights, in the dark night. To that I prefer to flash my brights. I think I have a heavy hand over superstition in that regard.
Hearing tale of presumed beliefs, having, myself, lived with ghosts, I aim to further research. I'm in possession of a book of folklore or regionally specific rural and urban myths, "The Vanishing Hitchhiker". Let's get me to certain crazy, paranoid, suspicious and convinced in a matter of 200 pages. The countdown starts........ now.
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