SERENITY NOW!

PEOPLE!

Let's get rid of all our hostility and anger issues

before we have to handle the upcoming

holiday month of love, joy and goodwill to all!

November Full Moon Altar: The Valkyries

Since November's Remembrance Day honours our war dead, this month's full moon altar has as its focus the Norse goddesses of the battlefield, The Valkyries, whose name means "the choosers of the slain." In older myths, they actually chose which warriors lived and which ones died. However, their function changed in subsequent myths to simply choosing which fallen warriors deserved to be taken to Valhalla, the home of the gods. The chosen heroes (only the bravest and most fierce) would form the army of the gods during the great battle at the end of time, Ragnarok.

The heavily armoured Valkyries rode through the skies on winged horses, swooping down onto battlefields to pick up and transport the chosen dead to Valhalla. The Northern Lights were said to be moonlight glinting off their armour as they rode.

The most famous Valkyrie in our culture is Brynhildr (Brunhilda) whose name means "Bright Battle." In Wagner's Ring Cycle of operas, she defies her father Wotan (Odin) and is made to pay a terrible price, but ultimately gets her revenge by triggering the destruction of Valhalla and the downfall of the gods.

And of course, I must include a brief excerpt from Wagner's famous "Ride of the Valkyries" in tribute to these fierce goddesses.

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Sunday Seven

I seem to have spent a fair amount of time in front of the television this week --

STUNNING UPSET: by the underdog Montreal Alouettes who beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28-24 in the final minute of the Grey Cup championship football game. I always cheer for The West, so I am bereft. Hand me down my crying towel!

ANOTHER TASTY WIN: on the other hand, I was happy to see Loïc Fauteux-Goulet, a teacher from British Columbia, win season 7 of the Great Canadian Baking Show. But then, all the contestants on this show, plus the hosts and judges, are always very likeable.

IMPROMPTU COFFEE: unexpectedly ran into a friend while grocery shopping, so we got a coffee from the in-store Starbucks and had a little break and a good chin wag.

WRAPPED: all the Christmas gifts. I am now covered in glitter from ass to tea kettle.

FINISHED WATCHING: season 2 of the British World War II drama World on Fire -- "the intertwining fates of ordinary people in multiple countries as they grapple with the effects of war on their everyday lives." I especially like the series' focus on minorities and women, whose wartime experiences and sacrifices often get overlooked in such dramas.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: finally got around to watching the 1981 movie The French Lieutenant's Woman with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. Hey, it only took me 42 years. Interesting gender role reversal of the standard romantic trope about a moody, troubled Byronic hero and the besotted, vulnerable naïf whose life gets ruined.

BEEN LISTENING TO: a great opera arias CD which I learned about and purchased thanks to John M's blog Reflections. See? Blog reading pays off!

Friday Face OFF -- Woman in a Trench Coat

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Rather than a front view or profile depiction of a face,

here's a recent graphite drawing showing a

back view of a woman's face and hair instead.

I'm particularly pleased with

how her trench coat turned out.

Trench coats are certainly a standard item

of professional/corporate outerwear attire.

I wore a couple of them all through my career.

But I haven't worn one since I retired six years ago!

They seem too formal for my casual lifestyle now.

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Just Plain Weird

Can Any of You Relate?

How to handle this birthday cake issue . . . .

Just make a candle cake!

And behold my future life

in the old-age home, LOL . . . .

Sunday Seven

A roundup of this week's shenanigans --

LUNCHED: with friends at The Cajun House restaurant in St Albert. Foolishly, I didn't order the Louisiana Alligator Boudin appetizer. What was I thinking?

SAFETY FIRST: all the sprinkler heads in our apartments were checked and cleaned of drywalling/painting debris by a technician this week.

DRUM TALK: while checking the sprinkler head in my storage closet, the young technician spotted my deer hide hoop drum and told me he was making a moose hide drum with his elder. We had a great chat about drumming. He was worried his drum might warp after the wet hide was laced and dried, so I told him to buy a cedar drum hoop from British Columbia if he could obtain one, because cedar (unlike other wood) does not warp.

WATCHED: my favourite swashbuckling hero's latest movie, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Five out of five stars for the only feline with more cattitude than HRH!

HADDOCK HEAVEN: went with a friend for dinner at Brits Fish and Chips. For authenticity, to go with salt on our chips, we hit the vinegar bottle hard -- white for me, malt for her.

WENT TO: three (3) Holiday Craft Markets! My Christmas shopping is now done! At one of them, ran into two friends I haven't seen for awhile and had a lovely catch-up chat.

LAUGH OF THE WEEK: my sister is a major Chris Evans fan, so I emailed her this fanart I found on the internet celebrating Captain America A.K.A. "America's Ass." She very cheekily asked "Is this the Two of Pentacles from a new tarot deck by any chance?"

TAD & FFO -- "Smiles"

I'm linking this art post with both

Thursday Art Date with Rain 

(whose prompt this week is "smiles")

and with Nicole's Friday Face OFF.

I've recently completed my first

art course learning how to do

portraits of people in coloured pencil.

It was VERY challenging and

I'm really struggling with how

to depict shadows on skin tones.

I need a LOT more practice!

But this little girl does have

a charming gap-toothed smile,

so here she is!

A person told me recently that their grandchild

gets $20 per tooth from the Tooth Fairy.

TWENTY BUCKS!

I got 25 cents per tooth back in MY day

(admittedly 60 years ago, but still!)

What did YOU get as recompense?

And what do your kids/grandkids get now?

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Robots Will Steal Our Jobs and Then Kill Us All

And they'll steal our women too!