Nutella Forever!

Did you know that last year was the 50th anniversary of Nutella? A banner milestone celebrated in the photo below by Michele Ferrero, Italy's richest man, the multi-billionaire maker of Nutello (and also Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Kinder eggs and TicTacs).

Mr. Ferrero just passed away in February at the age of 89. He's gone to meet his own maker now. Which leads me to contemplate this existential question . . . .

What would our world be like without Nutella? A thinner and healthier place perhaps, but less delicious.

Nutella is always there for us to be our comforting friend. You know what I'm talking about.

But, believe me, we need to put down that Nutella and sloooowly back away.

However, the marketplace conspires against us. Can you believe there's a new cookie product to replace spoons and make it even easier to eat Nutella right out of the jar? "Nutella dippers," they're called.

The Nutella empire just keeps on growing and expanding . . . .

So what chance do we have? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Stock up now!

This Classic Chassis Ain't Old!

Jaz/Joyce of Octoberfarm and Leeanna of Can We Have a New Witch Ours Melted both want to know how old am I? Well, here's a hint, girls --

[art by intergalacticookie]

That's right! I was born in '57 and that makes me 57 at the moment! I hope this is a lucky year for me because of the Double 57 -- like a Harmonic Convergence or something, LOL!

Now, it's true that some mornings I look and feel more like this 57 Chevy --

[photo by TheMan268]

But that's easily remedied. All I have to do is just suck back a couple of black coffees from my special morning mug . . .

. . . and I'm ready to go out and take on the world again, baby!

[art by John Dyess]

And I still got nice fins too, if I do say so myself.

[Bonus points to Rosemary of Where Five Valleys Meet who noticed that I actually already spilled the beans age-wise in my recent post about the Canadian flag. Oopsie!]

Binge, No Purge

You know that My Rare One and I are world-class athletes, don't you?

We are regular competitors at the Netflix Olympics.

Season 3 of our fave Netflix series, House of Cards, has just been posted! Let the binge begin!

There are many excellent parodies of House of Cards on YouTube but this recent one by Sesame Street takes the cake! Frank Underwolf gets his comeuppance here but will Frank Underwood get what's coming to him in the actual series?

My Profession

Oh, Dezzy of Hollywood Spy, I should have known better. You hard-hitting journalists are all the same. "Don't take no for an answer!" That's how you get the big scoops and the inside info. I understand that. So even though I said in my "Ask Me Anything" post that I wouldn't reveal my occupation because I blog anonymously, you still asked about it.

Alas, I cannot reveal much to you, Dezz, beyond saying that I am an International Woman of Mystery. If I told you any more, I'd have to kill you.

Why This Blog is Full o' Bees

[art by Lea Bradovich]

In the "Ask Me Anything" post, several questions were raised about bees. Jadedj of The Banquet of Consequences wonders about the significance of the bee motif on my blog banner and sidebar, while MonkeyME of Green Monkey Tales cheekily asks which came first, the hive or the honey? Ivy of The Happy Whisk wants to know where my love of honeybees comes from. Here's the answer --

Bees have been sacred to the Divine Feminine for thousands of years in ancient civilizations from Babylon to Rome. In Greece, many Goddesses such as Rhea, Artemis, Cybele and Demeter were characterized as Bee Goddesses (among their other attributes). Their priestesses were called "melissae," which is Greek for "honeybees," because they served the Bee Goddess like female worker bees serve their Queen Bee.

That is the origin of the popular girls name Melissa. It means "honeybee" and connotes "priestess of the Goddess." The equivalent Hebrew name meaning the same thing is Debra, which actually is my real name (so that answers your question too, Rosemary of Where Five Valleys Meet!). I have also seen Debra translated more conceptually as "she who seeks." After all, what does a female bee spend her time doing? She seeks flowers and pollen in order to make honey.

[art by Lea Bradovich]

Debra She Who Seeks perfectly sums up my spiritual identity. My name honours the Divine Feminine and expresses my connection to the Goddess. And I have spent a lifetime seeking spiritual truth wherever I may find it. Like a honeybee, I have gone in turn to most of the flowers in the spiritual garden and gathered some wisdom teachings from each. So when Jane and Lance Hattatt of HATTATT and Missy George of This N That ask me what, exactly, am I seeking? -- that's the answer.

Bonus points to Jacquelineand.... of Cheapskate Blethering who correctly noted that Debra means The Bee and asked is that why you chose it?

[Note: This post is a condensed "Coles Notes version" of six older blog posts I wrote on this topic. Want to read the full version? Check out my archived posts dated December 14th to 19th, 2009.]

"Canadian Sniper" starring Fake Bradley Cooper

Unfortunately, Canada missed the deadline to submit our version for the Oscars, eh?

"Has Any Man Broken Your Heart?"

Thank you for this question, Guillaume of Vraie Fiction. Your worry that it might be considered crass is unfounded. My life is an open book, mon ami.

The only man who has ever broken my heart is Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy. God damn him and his Regency good looks! * sob *

But what about my university boyfriend Doofus, whom I dated when still labouring under the mistaken impression that I was straight? No, Doofus did not break my heart. Only my hymen. And good riddance to both it and him, quite frankly.

Now, I must admit that a certain amount of heartache has been caused by all the various lesbian lovers I've had over the years. "There's no drama like dyke drama," as they say and alas, it's true. Luckily, however, no long-lasting or permanent damage has been done to my heart. I'm a survivor in the game of luuuuv, baby.