Friday, January 27, 2006

"Glamour..."
11:48pm

Glamour!, that's the Friday Illo theme this week. I had fun with it. I looked up the definition of 'glamour' to get the subtle connotations:

Main Entry: glam·our
Variant(s): or glam·or /'gla-m&r/
Function: noun
Etymology: Scots glamour, alteration of English grammar; from the popular association of erudition with occult practices
1 : a magic spell <the girls appeared to be under a glamour -- Llewelyn Powys>
2 : an exciting and often illusory and romantic attractiveness; especially : alluring or fascinating personal attraction -- often used attributively <glamour stock> <glamour boy> <glamour girl>

So I wanted to get the feeling of a woman putting a charm on you. Then I looked at lots of 'glamourous' photos at a stock photo web site. I thought of sketching them, but decided to let my intuitive side at it:

Ready to Work Her Charms...

I'm pleased with it!

Saturday, January 28, 2006

"Colorful"
11:48pm

Oh, I am so pale! Compared to other people, I am ghostly white. Glamour! It is something I wish I had more of. Perhaps if I used some makeup, some blush to add color to my cheeks, I would not look so ghastly pale. It is something to consider.

Meanwhile, my face certainly has a pink glow now. This afternoon, we got out to Quartzite, which is 90 miles north of Yuma. There's supposed to be all these gem and mineral shows there. Maybe we didn't find the right places, but it all resembled a giant flea market, with a few crystals thrown in:

One of the more attractive displays...

Still, we found a few items that 'wanted' to come home with us. Julia found an antique silver teapot. I got a small black tourmaline, a 6in high fluorite obelisk, nicely striated in violet and gold, and a tiny clear quartz egg. Then a dragon ring leapt on my finger and wouldn't leave. Of course, I did not encourage it to leave, either!

That was from the nicest shop of all of them, with the prettiest, most well arranged wares. It featured Celtic items, including some 'Celtic' mandalas. I haven't done a mandala in a long while. Maybe I am due.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

"Happy Chinese New Year"
12:02pm

Today is the Chinese New Year. It is the 'Year of the Dog', which is the year I was born in. I wondered why the date moves around all the time. For instance, last year, 'Year of the Rooster', was February 9, 2005. This is because they calculate the new year as occuring the second New Moon after the winter solstice. Including the year I was born, there have been four 'Dog' years since then. The Chinese have another way they catagorize years, by the Formal Name (Stem-Branch). In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles, and the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years. I won't see the 'stem-branch' year that I was born in for another twelve years. Right now it is Year 4703 by their calendar.

I thought I'd try and see how this might inspire me:

Okay, he doesn't look much like any DOG we know, but he seems a content and happy pooch, just the same!

Chinese symbol for 'luck'...

May your year be a LUCKY one!

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