Learning

Insanely Happy Looking At The Morning Moon

/ Ally Bean / 29 Comments

DSCN2420

This past Tuesday morning was unusually clear so that when I looked  up into the sky around 7:30 a.m. EST I saw the waning gibbous moon.  I was aware that I might see the moon in the morning after I read this, and I knew from a similar event last year that if I had my camera with me I might get a photo of it.

Above is the best photo that I took.  Too cool for school, huh?

I like the moon more than the sun.  For one thing I don’t have to apply any sunblock or don a hat before I go outside to see it.  But the real reason that I like the moon is that the gradual changes associated with its rotation keep it fresh and fascinating.

Nothing stodgy about it.  A bit eclectic, even.

Seeing this moon photo I remembered a quote by Paulo Coelho about the moon.  It is in Veronika Decides To Die, a novel which I read years ago but have to admit that I don’t remember much about.  All that stayed with me from the novel is this quote which, I feel, makes a perfect ending to this post.

“She didn’t quite know what the relationship was between lunatics and the moon, but it must be a strong one, if they used a word like that to describe the insane.”

Links For Eggheads: Health & Beauty Edition

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

… because information is FUN dammit.

• • •

[But before I begin, an aside:

When I find something interesting online I try to keep the link.  I do this because I adore it when I go to someone else’s blog and find that he or she has taken the time to curate a list of links, so once in a while I try to do the same thing here.

Although now that I think about it, I feel a bit like Sheldon Cooper presenting his lame video podcast series, Fun With Flags.  But I have no Amy Farrah Fowler here to help me, so this is all different from that.

Right?!!]

• • •

√  to look your best in photographs (and you know that you want to), go here.  USEFUL.

√  to get a better grip on your own sanity, go here.  PROFOUND.

√  to change your arms from lunch lady to gym rat, go here.  INSPIRING.

√  to style curly hair so that you don’t look like a poodle gone wild, go here.  HOPEFUL.

√  to understand why you trip up when you attempt to make changes, go here.  INSIGHTFUL.

√  to have a toned tummy while living a crunch-free life, go here.  DOABLE.

√  to keep your happy heart healthy (which we all know is a good thing), go here.  IMPORTANT.

• • •

My Report On Periwinkles, A Spring Flower That Is Often Overlooked

/ Ally Bean / 24 Comments

DSCN2264

~ • ~

I call these vines, which are growing in the shady area around the base of our deck, Periwinkles.  Currently the lavender-blue flowers, which contrast so beautifully with the dark green leaves, are in bloom.

Aren’t they pretty?

~ • ~

“Originally a native of southern Europe,… ‘Periwinkle’ is thought to be an old Slavic word, pervinka, meaning ‘first’ and referring to the early spring flowers.”

~ C. Colston Burrell

~ • ~

A few years ago when the landscapers put these Periwinkles around the deck, a little plastic gardening tag embedded in each of the plants told me that they were called Vinca minor, not Periwinkles.  Since then I’ve come to realize that sometimes these trailing vines + flowers are also called myrtle.

Such a humble plant to have three names.

~ • ~

“Periwinkle vines gently embrace one another, clinging gently to their surroundings, and therefore are associated with fidelity in folk magic.”

~ Feri Tradition

~ • ~

According to the Victorian language of flowers, Periwinkles mean early friendship.  This makes sense to me because they bloom early and because they look approachable & non-threatening.

Who doesn’t feel comfortable around simple little flowers on sturdy vines?

~ • ~

“Through primrose tufts, in that green bower, The periwinkle trailed its wreaths; And ’tis my faith that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes.”

~ • ~

I’m glad that I snapped a photo of these little flowers.  They’re easy to take for granted.  I imagine that it’s difficult to be a periwinkle, especially when you are surrounded by showy daffodils, pushy tulips & spazzy forsythia who get all the springtime attention.

Makes me adore Periwinkles even more.

Odds & Ends

/ Ally Bean / 10 Comments

::  The daffodils that we planted last autumn are up now.  Known as Gigantic Stars, they have been a rousing disappointment.  The bulbs that have managed to bloom are a whopping 8-10″ high.  Whether we planted them wrong [ain’t hardly likely] or whether the winter took its toll on these bulbs [could be possible], I don’t know.

All I know is that tall beauties, they are NOT.

::  A few months ago I bought a Clarisonic Mia 2.  It’s a rechargeable,  face-washing device.  Rather cute, actually.  I’d read about it and wondered if it was worth the price.  Well I gotta tell ‘ya that for me, it has been great.  In fact, when I went to the salon for a haircut the woman who has cut my hair for years commented that my skin looked so much clearer.

So there you have, proof positive that this device is worth the cost.  😉

::  I am a lousy ironer.  Z-D, on the other hand, is a marvelous ironer.  So last night, while watching the final March Madness game, Mr. Man was ironing his pants.  While doing so, unbeknownst to him, a stink bug was inside a pant leg and Zen-Den ironed the stink bug– thereby killing it.  Mr. Man didn’t squish the bug as much as he flattened it, meaning there was no stink.

The things you learn…

::  Over the weekend we finished watching Torchwood.  [Spoilers, Sweetie]  The last year of the series, Miracle Day, took place in America and was a darker story– much less Dr. Who-ish.  I enjoyed it, if only to see Wayne Knight [Newman from Seinfeld] play a heavy [figuratively] and to find out that Captain Jack Harkness is, indeed, indestructible.  But there was lots of violence & blood– and a disturbing, but believable, plot line that did not reflect well on the human race.

I’ll be thinking on this one for a while.

[Hello FTC!  I think that you know by now that when I recommend something I have not been given this something by the manufacturer.  No, I’m just saying, in my opinion, I liked it.  So we’re good FTC, right?]