Takes a Village

While my blog has been silent for the past few weeks rest assured that its creator has not been. Came back from a restorative week at the beach. Cape May to be exact. Now Cape May is one of my favorite beach towns for several reasons. You know food's gotta be one of them and it sure is. The great shopping is another reason but the real allure is that Cape May is a dog beach town. It has a long expanse of beach in which dogs can cavort and rest their salty wee paws in the Atlantic.

I was accompanied to the beach by my friend Nina, a dog lover and karoke singer. You should hear her do La Bamba. what a Mexican yodel! Watching her play with Duke I realized why I've never desired to raise a child. I can't fathom doing it by myself, the thought alone exhausts me. And by alone I mean with a father and parent to my child, but we are still only a couple. What Nina showed me was a remembrance of how Indian children are reaised by aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers, grandfathers. All pitching in to watch the baby so she doesn't totter on unstable legs and fall on her face. To feed the wee one so Mom can eat. To keep her amused, thereby connecting with the energy of another human being. To punish her when she's naughty. To admire, croon, shower love so she grows up thinking she is a magnificent creature. If I had that kind of support I'd have squeezed out a dozen kids. But my life as it stands only offers the prospect of support in the form of expensive daycare and even more expensive nannies.

But this became clear to me. Does it take a village to raise a child? Hell yeah!

Jonathan Stealing Seagull

Many of you might remember the book in the 70s titled Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The book was written by Richard Bach in what he called a stream of consciousness from a higher source. Of course this comment caused an uproar in the fundamentally Christian community in which I was raised who lived by this dictum: if it's not from God, it's from Satan. Now why Satan would inspire a writer to capture the higher aspirations of a seagull, I don't know. But it blew me away. I was just a wee lass enthralled by nature and thrilled by the fact that an animal, much less a seagull, was the protagonist of an entire book.

Some 30 years later and once again I'm impressed by a seagull. Although perhaps not in such a noble manner as Jonathan's. This clip came to me from a friend as a joke but I was so taken with it, I wanted to save it as a screen saver. If I could figure how to use it as a backdrop for my phone I'd do it. Calling all techies. Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

So here's the story behind the clip:

A seagull in Scotland has developed the habit of stealing chips from a neighborhood shop. The seagull waits until the shopkeeper isn't looking, and then walks into the store and grabs a snack-size bag of cheese Doritos. Once outside, the bag gets ripped open and shared by other birds. The seagull's shoplifting started early this month when he first swooped into the store in Aberdeen, Scotland, and helped himself to a bag of chips. Since then, he's become a regular. He always takes the same type of chips. Customers have begun paying for the seagull's stolen bags of chips because they think it's so funny.

Bless them Scots.

Pups in a Cup

As the days shorten I can feel time slow down. Shift from frenetic to slower, more leisurely days. And thank the Gods for that eh? As summer wanes and the chaos of these the past months disintegrates into the ether, I find myself drawn to a "comfort food" state of mind. Ergo the cup of pups. How much more comforting can a cup of pups be, tell me?

The Day After

Sometimes we get caught up in the antics of the universe and pay the price of heady association with such celestial bodies like Venus or the Moon. Thankfully, the luminaries slow down and give us a chance to recuperate from their antics. Today is such a day and I for one am excited with the prospect of a long, slow day in which nothing happens other than an evening of leftovers and television.

9/11 Solar Eclipse

Fitting that I haven't written for 2 weeks, exactly since the last eclipse. But then, who can expect to churn through the waters of ultimate transformation AND blog at the same time? And for you show-off out there who can, please write and tell me how.

While this eclipse hasn't been as devastating as the last one, I thought I'd offer a few links to navigate it nonetheless. check out my favorite site on the undulations of the moon, Mooncircles. Also helpful is The Daykeeper Journal.

Lunar Eclipse Portal

Yes it's eclipse time again. Lunar at that! Oof. To ease you through the inevitable stress, drama and emotion of the squares, grand crosses and just plain weirdness here's a list of great resources.

Of course the DayKeeper Journal on the Pisces Lunar Eclipse.

Also insightful is the Mooncircles website.

Alas, poor weather prevented inhabitants of the Far East from witnessing the event this year.

A Little Levity

Don't know about you but I'm pretty exhausted by the antics of the universe these past few months. So I've decided to focus on nothing but fluff and levity today. Bill Murray provided much of that in this news item on the Huffington Post
Bill Murray Pulled Over In Golf Cart, Smells Of Booze, Refuses Breath Test in Sweden. How can you NOT love that? Apparently scoring high on a breath test in Sweden could result in a prison sentence, much like the sentence for kissing a member of the opposite sex in India, so beware you western smoochers! Detective-Inspector Christer Holmlund of the Stockholm police indicated that most likely the Lost in Translation star will get fined. Talk about Caddy Wacked...

On Friends and Psychics

No I'm not talking about psychic friends network. (speaking of, whatever happened to Dionne and her buddies?) I'm talking about people who possess and practice tremendous skills like Reiki, Angel Consultation, Energetic Healing, traditional spa therapies, non traditional spa therapies, psychic consultations, past life regression and so on! This weekend was steeped in many of these practices. Since I had such a faboo time thought I would share the services here:

Reiki healing and classes. My friend Lourdes Lebron teaches and practices 3 types of Reiki; Usui, Traditional, Karuna. You can reach her at 201-341-6083.

Julie Lindh, the gorgeous lady in the pix is not only an exotic looking chick (Swedish and Indonesian), she has developed the regimes for many of New York's most acclaimed spas. Check out her website or one of the spas at which she works Townhouse Spa. She will launch a new product line shortly, look for lindhlogix soon!

Danny Amaral is an international spiritualist that uses angels to guide him in his meditations. Check out his site . He does workshops in the NYC area which I highly recommend. Based in Montreal, Danny is available for phone readings and group sessions. Ask about his house cleansings! Will clean any clutter, past or current life away.

Last entry to this list is a newly discovered talent that blows me away. Laurie Bloom is an integrated healer who uses tools for personal transformation such as Hypnotheraphy, Soul Technology & DNA Activation. Not to mention the more mundane (in comparison!) disciplines of tarot reading and relationship RX. All electrifying and promised to yield inspiration, no matter where you are in your life. She can be reached at laurie.bloom@gmail.com.

Farewell Turd Blossom

Fun and games in the White House this week. Dubya's contracted Lyme disease. The French First Lady Sarkozy stood up Bush and Laura during a luncheon. Rove resigns! Newsweek devoted pages of commentary and critique to the life and times of the Satan seed. Did I yell that out loud? Only regret? Took too long coming. And now
YouTube's running a fascinating video taped in 1994 depicting Dick Cheney warning the US about going to war with Iraq.

300 At Last

Finally caught the much hyped movie 300 and have to admit, it was a stunner. The visual effects, the stop photography, the lush settings set against an eternal sepia toned world was remarkable. But let me not forget what will undoubtedly be the biggest draw for the female audience - the beefy, Mars-driven insanely hot men. These boys are not just sporting guns, they've got cannons for arms and hams for thighs which are conveniently displayed in tota thanks to the Spartan 'uniform' comprised of a itty bitty leather brief and a red cape. Which makes me wonder, were Spartans so damn confident of their military prowess or were these outfits historically inaccurate? I'm guessing the latter. But no matter. It doesn't hurt that the teeth baring, apple chomping King Leondies played by a very unGrecian actor sporting a Welsh? Scottish? accent swaggered into the role with arrogance befitting a king. The soundtrack was also evocative. Orchestral with fantastic Middle Eastern tracks and the obligatory heavy metal guitar during the battle scenes.

In all, a totally fun time, despite the headcount and blood loss. Gather your girl friends, serve pita pockets, hummus, red wine and savor this homage to the strength and violence that is manhood.