Friday, December 30, 2011

Greyfreth Cross Bottles

Greyfreth is a business that specializes in handcrafted gifts that echo the medieval era.  One of my favorite items are their cross bottles, which are available in a myriad of colors and price ranges (the bottles below were actually acquired from a shipwreck).  Visit their shop here.


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Starry Night....

"I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."
~Van Gogh

Friday, December 16, 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

Near A Cemetary

This is really gorgeous.  Choreographed by Robert Hill of the Orlando Ballet. Enjoy!


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Edvard Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor - 2nd movement

This is one of my favorite piano concertos, and the second movement is so sublime it brings tears to my eyes. 

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Scorpio Moon

Scorpio.  
Tell someone who knows astrology that Scorpio is prominent in your chart, and they will either smile knowingly or run away - or both.  A sign of intensity and extremes, Scorpios do nothing halfway, and heaven forbid if you ever do anything to cross them.  They have stingers for a reason.
My moon sign is Scorpio, one of the more difficult lunar placements.  I have a love/hate relationship with my moon sign; while it has its challenges, it has also given me great gifts.  One thing is to be sure - living with this moon sign has not been easy!  If Scorpio is prominent in your chart, then you know what I mean...here's an excerpt from Astrodienst:
  • Fixed Water
  • Personal Ruler: Mars
  • Transpersonal Ruler: Pluto
  • Detriment: Venus
  • Fall: Moon
As a fixed water sign, Scorpio is like a very deep, dark, still well. The phrase 'still water runs deep' is particularly appropriate here, because although the surface of the water may be calm, there is always a strong sense of the mysterious and unknown and often frightening depths lying below the surface. At the bottom of the well lies rotten, decayed and decaying detritus which all of us, unless we are Scorpios, would rather not think about. There is an intense magnetism about Scorpio, and people tend to be either strongly attracted or strongly repelled by its atmosphere of inscrutability and controlled power. As a water sign, this magnetism is generated by a powerful emotional intensity which Scorpios will bring with them when they walk into a room, creating a change or a shift in the atmosphere.

  Certainly, there is nothing superficial about this sign, and Scorpios never take life lightly. This sign does not share the tidal nature of Cancer or the fluidity of Pisces. Its stillness, darkness and depth make it the most emotionally intense sign of the zodiac. This is a sign of extremes, ice or fire, black or white, never anything in between, and there is often a kind of obsessive intensity which can be either very destructive or immensely creative. Normally secretive, private and controlled, Scorpios, like volcanoes, will either be dormant or active. It is unlikely that you will ever get anything at all out of a dormant Scorpio - there is an impenetrability and a stillness, and even Scorpio eyes will give nothing at all away. This does not mean, of course, that nothing is happening below the surface. Quite the opposite. Scorpios are processing emotions all the time, and storing up impressions and experiences which will be used later. As a very controlled sign, Scorpio can afford to wait. Scorpio has a prodigious memory, a penetrating mind and a compulsion to probe under the surface. Detectives, depth psychologists, doctors and even potholers, and people working in submarines, 'under the surface', often have an emphasis of planets in Scorpio.
~~~~
Have you explored your moon sign?  Most of us are familiar with our sun sign (mine is Leo), but your moon sign reveals much more about your hidden, emotional nature - what's underneath the surface.  If you know the time of your birth, go to the calculator here to learn more.  I'll explore the other moon signs in later posts...do comment if you're familiar with your own!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Mozart - Requiem

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this glorious piece of music. I had the great pleasure to hear this performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra last year. One of my favorite classical pieces, it never fails to put a chill up my spine.  Light the candles and enjoy.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Altered Alchemy

I am coveting these necklaces by the talented Luthien Thye of Altered Alchemy...I can't even pick a favorite - I want them all!  She also makes gorgeous mixed media journals and other art.








Friday, November 18, 2011

Arles, France & Van Gogh

"To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace." ~Van Gogh

I'm very drawn to the work of Van Gogh.  His art is visceral and unapologetic (also revealing an unfortunately tortured soul), yet sublimely beautiful and peaceful at the same time. Following his stay in Paris, he moved to Arles in the south of France where some of his most well-known works were created.  Two of my favorites - "Starry Night over the Rhone" and "Cafe Terrace at Night" - were painted there.  I'd love to visit Arles one day; it must be spectacular at night.  Do comment if you've been there.

Visit here for a brief biography about Van Gogh and more information about his life and work.
Cafe Terrace at Night, 1888

and the cafe today...
source


Starry Night over the Rhone, 1888. Van Gogh claimed to have a "terrible need for religion" when he painted this.
"The Bedroom" ~ Vincent's room at Arles.  1888.


Around town...
source





The front door of the place where I would love to stay...L’Hotel Particulier

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Florence & The Machine

I recently discovered the talented British singer Florence Welch.  She has a gorgeous, rip-your-heart-out kind of voice that is best listened to after 10:00pm.  Loudly. 
What she says of her music: 
Let’s talk about magic. Because music, at its best, is a kind of magic that lifts you up and takes you somewhere else. “I want my music to sound like throwing yourself out of a tree, or off a tall building, or as if you’re being sucked down into the ocean and you can’t breathe,” says Florence Welch. “It’s something overwhelming and all-encompassing that fills you up, and you’re either going to explode with it, or you’re just going to disappear.”
Let me know what you think...find her here.