Beltane Melange

Three images by William Bouguereau

BELTANE

MAY DAY

click images to enlarge

Nymphs And Satyr

Green Man - XTC

What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love And Understanding

A video of Nick Lowe from last year, singing a song performed last night at his concert at The Calvin Theater, Northampton, Massachuseets. He's on tour to promote his last album At My Age.

Thanks, CR and Gary for the nice company.

click to enlarge






















Dear Friends,

I wonder if you could take a moment to keep my friend singingbear in your prayers and thoughts. His serious health issues have recently taken a turn for the worse.


He asks that anyone who believes in the power of prayer to think of him.



The bear postcard is dedicated to singingbear and his post from earlier this week, about automobiles! You'll have to tell me which most closely resembles you, singingbear! ;-)



Take care of yourself.


Peace and love,
Pagan

My Kid Is A Born Activist

I wasn't going to post today but I just opened an email from my daughter and I had to share this with you. My daughter, Supergirl I, who is a student at Mount Holyoke College, joined her sisters at nearby Smith College in organizing a protest of a anti-gay speaker invited there by the Young Republicans group. The protest is featured in today's Feministing post.

The method of protest is controversial because the speaker was booed and yelled at, which many people ojected to. I say YELL LOUDER. Please free free to disagree here or at feministing and I will engage in dialogue with you about why I feel they should protest in this manner.

She is of course, very excited that a protest she attended, is being covered by her favorite blog. She wrote a good response, too. Her handle on Feministing is lesbianllama.

Right on, Supergirl!

The Cherub In The Garden & Other Backyard Images

One grand great life throbs through earth's giant heart,

and mighty waves of single Being roll from nerve-less germ to man, for we are part of every rock and bird and beast and hill,one with the things that prey on us, and one with what we kill.

~Oscar Wilde, Panthea

Ayn's Cherub




Ayn's Cherub

Forest

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.

~ Albert Einstein

Tagged!

I've been tagged, alas. And by none other than the lovely Fran. How can I resist an invitation to play from one of the most vivacious bloggers in the blogosphere? Just look at her wedding photo on a post celebrating her and Mr. FranHeIs's one year anniversary. Is this not a beautiful and happy woman?



So the rules are these six items in bold that I'm about to respond to:

1) Ten years ago I was....

Married; living with my ex-husband and two daughters in a small but utterly charming little house in the country; working at a job I adored; and totally miserable.

2) Five things on today's To Do list...

1) Work on federal financial aid forms for Supergirl II (ugh)
2) Do a load of dark laundry
3) Call W.P.'s mother (who is like a mother-in-law without the "law")
4) Change the bed in anticipation of the arrival of my Beloved who has been away on
business
5) Play Meme tag


3) Things I'd do if I were a billionaire...

Donate a whole lot to favorite charities that help people and organizations working toward peace. Put Supergirl I through law school (which is right around the corner). Make sure that my kids were comfortable. Buy a modest but comfortable home in my native Portugal, near the ocean.
Share extravagances with my friends and family. Travel.

4) Three bad habits...
1) Hating exercise
2) Being a bit anti-social (I like seeing people, just not in big groups; having to attend large
gatherings is a bane of my existance
3) Leaving my coffee mugs all around the house in the morning and forgetting where I left
them

5) Five Places I've Lived...

1) the village in Portugal where I was born
2) just outside of Paris, France
3) the foothills of the Berkshires
4) the Berkshires
5) in my head


6) Five jobs I've had...


Having already done this piece in another meme, I'll try to think of five other jobs besides that I've held. There were plenty when I was a student and again when I was a stay-at-home mother trying to make a buck in the evenings when my husband could be home with the kids.

1) companion to a couple of elderly women with Alzheimer's (sad and interesting)
2) pushing a vacuum cleaner at a department store (that lasted two weeks)
3) IHOP Girl (I learned how to carry 12 water glasses without a tray)
4) tutor for children of migrant workers (loved it)
5) Breastfeeding peer counselor (volunteer)


Fran taged three people, so that's how many I'll tag:

1) Minnesottablue at Random Thoughts

2) Winston at Nobody Asked

3) Beth at A Cup of Coffey

If you're tagged, let me know that your post is up. When you tag people, let them know through a comment on their blog.

Nothing Further

Georgia by Stieglizt (below)

Annie Leibovitz (upper & bottom left)

(indeed)

Hammer On The Nail - Live from The Stone Coyotes

From Greenfield, Massachusetts, one of my favorite bands; locals The Stone Coyotes

TuRn It uP (this is meant to be loud)

This song about sums up how I'm feelin' today.

Barbara Keith is our local First Lady of Rock. She's sixty-something and rocks like nobody's mama. And she is nobody's mama. She has no children of her own. Her step-son is the bassist in the band. Her husband, the drummer. So even though I'm irritable today, The Stone Coyotes have made my day.

Barbara Keith, songwriter and lead guitarist
Doug Tibbles - drums
John Tibbles - bass

Six Random Thoughts

Sort of like a meme but completely unmandatory. And without all the autobiography. ;-)

Okay. If I may be allowed to be plain-spoken and to the point. Here goes:

• I don't like my new flip-flops. They look just like the old ones but they're not made the same way.
• I've always thought that Brad Pitt has little beady eyes and I don't find him very attractive. My kids made up a nickname for him, but especially for their mother's pleasure: Beady-eyed Horn Spec. You don't mean to wear glasses to have apply for the name, you just have to have beady little eyes like Brad Pitt. Bush has little beady eyes too. But he's evil. Brad Pitt is not evil that I know of.
• Mean People Suck. I know, I know, it's a bumper sticker but it does pack a powerful punch, doesn't it?
• Speaking of bumper stickers. This is the most original one I've ever seen: Honk If You Masterbate. I saw it once, while driving with my brother (gawd) in around 1975.
• My partner, W.P. is in Switzerland for work since Monday. On Thursday, his company failed, apparently, to pay the cable and phone bills for the building where he's staying; including the mobile bill, so there was no service. He begged a security guard to let him into the company building so that he could call me. No other phone calls, no email, no TV (for him), no Skype. It sucks.
• I miss W.P. A lot.

Exceptional New Blogs

I can't believe my good fortune in finding two incredible new blogs. Thanks to homeyra.

Lair of The Blue Bear

neuneuf


Absolutely beautifully laid out. The Big Three: Art, Politics and Music. I can't get enough of following the ubiquitous links on these two and their related blogs. These are exceptionally good blogs; ones that I will be addicted to checking daily, I'm sure. I fear I'm becoming addicted to this blogging thing...


Through Ben Heine 's blog, I also discovered Isreali peace activitist Gila Svirsky. What she has to say may enlighten you to the Isreali-Palestinian conflict.

Peace.

Abandoning The Troops - Keith Olbermann

Friends Committee On Federal Legislation - an organization worthy of our support

I have a gigantic headache from reading about the war. Death, suicide, PTSD, physical disabilities and disfigurement, brain injuries. Service men and women will be coming home, whenever they come home, to a mental health system that is inferior and already overburdened. A profit-driven medical system that will not be able to adequately address the needs of soldiers whose lives have been ruined by this needless war. I makes me so angry and despondent.

Let's try to alleviate the nation's collective headache and heartache. We need a president who will end this war. Barack Obama is our only hope. I know people have issues with him but who the hell else do we turn to who stands a chance?

I saw this at After The Bridge. Thanks, Sherry.






GI BILL 2008 Learn about it and support it. Please. It's patriotic.