Today I dropped by the excellent Glamorous Owl and among the many wondrous things there were these amazing "Dead Fairies" . The work is fabulous and I was speaking to the proprietress's husband
who was minding the shop while his wife was giving a two hour silver ring making lesson upstairs (£25 and you walk away with your own , self made silver ring).
Anyway tonight I watched the second episode of Series 3 of Ripper Street ,"The Beating of Her Wings" , a very dark episode which had a child apparently kept in a dungeon filled with ... you guessed it ... dead fairies
Now people would say that means something , but it really is just one of those ominous coincidences., you don't often come across dead fairies , definitely not twice in a day.
And what else could I have but We're All Going To Hell by The Bastard Fairies . So we've had two lots of Dead Fairies and one lot of Bastard Fairies.
I was talking with a good friend saying that I'd ordered a set of Tarot Cards , even though I really knew nothing about The Tarot. The set I'd ordered is an absolutely beautiful set called The Psychobilly Tarot . If you search google images you can see them here. My friend then told me the meaning of The Hanged Man in the Tarot which I had always assumed meant death. It doesn't , well not in the way we think of it.
I may be displaying my total ignorance here but here's what the actual meaning of the Hanged Man is.
The Hanged Man on the World Tree
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil – the world tree – is the home of the universe.
The Aesir Gods live in the top, with elves, humans and ice giants populating the tree as you descend, until you reach the roots where the Norns live.
The Norns are the Norse fates – three sisters who control the destiny of all the creatures in all the worlds.
They carve runes – symbols of magic and knowledge – into the bark of Yggdrasil, so that their power is carried through all the branches, affecting all the people.
Now, the Aesir gods are a curious pantheon, in that they know of a prophecy that fortells their death.
Odin, King of the Gods, traded one of his eyes to acquire the prophecy and ever since had been searching for ways for undo their doom.
From the top of the world tree, Odin looked down and saw the sisters with their runes and felt the power of the symbols.
Perhaps, here, he might find the answer that would save himself and his people.
Down Odin descended. He asked the sisters to teach him the runes, but sadly they shook their heads. The runes could not be given, but must be earned.
A sacrifice was required.
So with strong ropes and cunning knots, the Norns hung Odin from a branch of Yggdrasil,
Each symbol had its own power – there were runes for protection and runes to curse, runes to inspire love and runes to acquire wealth. Runes to heal, and runes to wound.
ll these runes Odin was now the master of, and he hoped that it would be enough to arm him and his kin against Ragnarok: the end of the world.
So the hanged man is Odin , who made a sacrifice (his life) to earn the power of the runes. So it's not a sign of death but a sign of change.
Admitedly not my usual tyme of post but I love Norse Mythology , and thing the Psychobilly Tarot looks amazing and it's and excuse to include a Psychobilly track. Now what should we have...
While it's nothing earth shattering there were a lot of nice things going on today. This follows on from yesterday where I heard a friend had an offer on a house accepted , and was so pleased for them, and they were happy. And yesterday was extremely good.
And then today I had tasked myself with getting some new jackets , and after trailing through shops found a pair of linen ones in John Lewis and when I got to pay found they were half price , so it was effectively 2 for 1.
I wandered through the Grainger Market stopping off in Reflex and a chat with my mate Phil who works in there, then down through the Bigg Market towards RPM and noticed a shop that had replaced the beloved Attica , The Glamorous Owl and it is a wonderful and joyous place full of locally produced things and the people are wonderfully welcoming. You have to visit this place it really is a jewel.
Then on to RPM where Marek told he had something coming in , a collection of local 60s / 70s vinyl coming in , which should be very interesting.
Then in Fitzgeralds was served my a waitress who had the most amazingly stunning Medusa Tattoo , a true work of art , but I was too much of a gentleman to ask her for a photograph of it , but it was very impressive.
Anyway , the Joe Walsh song should suffice for the soundtrack to this post because the title sums up my feelings today even though I am very tired,
Oh and Preston won today which is always puts a smile on my face.
So enjoy the rest of the weekend. I know things are going to get much, much better
Don't know what brought this into my mind , but as you know my mind does veer off in weird direction , with or without and inspirational muse to direct me. I usually post because someone or something or some event has inspired me.
Anyway was just thinking of a time recently where I was watching a particular exciting TV program that was coming to a climactic scene and ....... there's a loud banging on the door , completely dissipating the moment. It was my new window cleaner (not had one for a while) who has the loudest knock you could think of.
Now if I hadn't got a new window cleaner , the TV progam would have had it's desired effect , but
because I put in motion the new window cleaner thing , that happened , and is likely to happen again as you need to be in for him to catch you.
Sometimes things you do can have completely unexpected but still valid results.
Anyway it's been a brilliant end to an amazing week , and now it's time for the weekend to kick in . Have a wonderful one my fantastic friends.
It's summer , it's hot and often you don't feel like eating a great deal, but it is nice to have something that's both cool and good for you. While I love apples and grapefruit that have been in the fridge at least a day, sometime grapefruit can get a little messy with juice going everywhere as you cut into it, but the taste as the pulp hits your tongue is tart and amazing.
But also grapes , strawberries and baby plum tomatoes are an absolute treat for the tastebuds slipping down a treat and you just find it difficult to stop. Just one more, just one more and then you stop. And it's amazing that there are readily available everywhere, so it's not as though they are exotic.
Raspberries are another and even bananas , which are also full of goodness and are very pleasant decorated with cream and ice-cream.
So I hope my culinary escapade has kept you amused and given you ideas to try.
It's time for bed now , early start tomorrow
And it's an excise include Prince's Cream as the decoration although I could have had Peach!
I saw a post on Facebook asking people to describe their day in three words. What shocked me was the amount of negative sets of words . While there is a lot of negativity happens , it's just something to deal with like missing a bus , losing your wallet , and there are really big bad things , but when it gets that bad you call on your friends for support , because that's what they are for.
So an example of a couple of things yesterday is someone asked me how things were going , as usual , I said "Absolutely brilliant" , and they said it was such a refreshing change for someone not to be moaning about something , which actually made me feel even better.
A colleague asked for a favour , she was feeling under pressure, as things had conspired to corner her, and she needed to get some information for a deadline . We sat and worked through and very quickly got what she wanted. I told her to set up a short "informal" training session for next week for her team. That was great and she did her presentation and apparently some senior people were so impressed that they will be joining next week. I just emphasized it would till be informal but we all felt very very good.
Then I checked an email and saw I had missed a mail from my friends at Geek Talent. A quick change of plan meant I had tea with them at Za Za Bazaar in the Gate and met lots of new people and many old friends had an absolutely wonderful day.
The song I've chosen is just so uplifting , and had to put it in because the way I'm feeling even though I used it in a post about Peru recently, Big Day by Phil Manzanera featuring Brian Eno.
This post was going to be about negative stuff, but I thought I am always telling people to concentrate on the positives , because it's the easiest thing in the world to find fault , so maybe I am a bit special because I will always look for the good in everything.
I miss a bus , I walk to the next stop and benefit from the walk
I miss a train, I have longer to read a book , listen to music, talk with friends.
Last night I became a Friend of the Tyneside Cinema, because it's the only Cinema I'm aware of north of somewhere South and it's a wonderful place , the people there are lovely and I love going in there.
You also meet lovely people there , last night I ran into Craig and Krista and they introduced me to a young poet and we chatted about diverse thinks such as South and Central America , film , Vamos and Isabel Sarli. Craig and Kirista went to watch a film and the poet left with a hug.
Then we went for a lovely meal at Prezzo before coming.
Had correspondence with various good friends during the day and there was so much good happening.
And this came on to of an amazing weekend with friends and family enjoying the Chase Park Festival under gorgeous sunny skies.
And when you concentrate on good things it sets you up to look for more things.
I know negative and bad things do happen , but if you are in a positive frame of mind it will help you. There are times even in my new job, when things seem that they are getting too much , with belief in myself , and so much support and positivity from my friends and colleagues there , as well as the company ethos , makes sure that I succeed.
Anyway I hope you all have a great day, I am going to have one , and what else could I have but Baxter Dury's "Pleasure" my feelgood record of the moment.
