[Punkinseed]

Lamorgan - Same here, Yule tree - most of my ornaments are handmade from friends and family and what's been store bought are all varying shapes of stars.
Another tradition is Yule logs. This year the logs are coming from my trees that were trimmed back in that awsome act of kindness - we'll all use different colors of spell candles, depending on what our wishes are, and burn them on the halved logs, covering them in the multi-colored waxes. Then everyone takes their log home, and burns it the following Yule. The glow of 6 or 8 logs with 12 or more candles burning on each one is an awsome sight.

Soozie - Enjoy the gym!!!

Ellis... Oh Eeeeellliiiissssss, where aaaaare youuuuu????

Squeaker - Thanks for the book info. It sounds like something to check out. Maybe reading it in that form first, then reading the play would help it make more sense. Sometimes the language ties me up so much I just quit reading!

Ta' for now everyone!

Terri

[Wanttolosealot]

Punkinseed,
Thanks you sharing more of your traditions with us all, you all are very pecial people and I am thankful to know you at least this way. I will check out the childrens stories, thanks!
Virginia

[ellis]

hello darlings...
been away with hubby for three days... had a lovely time, but I missed my kids like the dickens. Speaking of dickens, I hate Dickens. Know who else I hate? Shakespeare. Highly over-rated. Now if you want me to recommend a few good authors to y'all, I'd be glad to do so.
I'll be back soon to irritate you girls on an individual basis.
love and hugs... ellis

[Ruthxxx]

Welcome back, Ellis. I hope you had a great time at the Resort - it is NOT a den of cockroaches - at elast, not when I've been there for conferences.

I'm going to be missing in action for a bit. My pal Linda comes from Wisconsin tomorrow and I won't be doing much computer time until she leaves on Wednesday. On Friday I go for my wrist operation so any PCing will be one hand stuff.

BUT I am going to read everything so don't think yuou can sneak anything by me!

Have a great weekend everyone.

[ellis]

You're right! It wasn't a den of anything! It was actually very enjoyable and quite lovely.
Except I spent 150 bucks on second hand books.

[Ruthxxx]

Well, it's not as if you smoked! or do you? Sorry we couldn't get together - things were not good around here yesterday!

[mauvaisroux]

Well I was going to go knock on Ellis' door since I can walk to her house from mine but then I was worried that she might think I was stalking her, so it is just as well that you came back to us Ellis! Sounds like you had a good time What books did you buy?

Well I loved Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" and Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus" (sp?) but one of my most favorite authors is Sir Walter Scott.

Ruthxxx-have fun with your friend and good luck with your wrist operation!

Virginia- there are some good books on Wicca and Paganism at Chapters in the religion/spirituality/new age section, but you have to sift through the silly ones with cartoony covers and fluffy titles. The one I have is called "The Healing Traditions & Spiritual Practices of Wicca" by Debbie Michaud. It is a slim book with basic information and not too complicated. I found it to be a good starter book for myself. One thing that really ticked me off was that in the middle of the Wiccan/Pagan books was the Satanic Bible Thanks Chapters, for helping to perpetuate that lovely stereotype

[squeaker]

Woo hoo! I just finished a 5K walk for the American Heart Association. A few of us from work got together to walk in honor of our friend's husband who had a heart transplant 2 months ago. I also signed up to be an organ donor. It was a great walk through a beautiful part of the city. I could completely do it again except I don't own good walking shoes. I have Chucks and while they are comfy canvas sneakers they aren't good for long term stuff. I think I have a blister on the bottom of my foot.

But since I got little sleep last night I am going back to bed.

squeak

[barefootgrrrl]

Thanks so much all for all the good info on Shakespeare and Paganism.

I see they are are having a Pagan Pride day here in DC, but I had other plans, so maybe next time.

I guess I too was more familiar with the stereotypes - thinking along the lines of sorcery and all things dark and evil......so thanks for my enlightenment

I believe the divine is found in nature and the simple pleasures of living, so all this is very interesting to me.

Lois, what is Womynspirit? A spiritual gathering of some sort?


Squeak - yeah! on the 5K!! walking is great.......can't wait for the leaves and the cooler weather.....

So glad to see that Ellis has resurfaced yes! give us your recommended authors


Walt Whitman is one of my favorite writers, so along the lines of nature.....I've included a verse from one of his better known poems. Enjoy! - terrigrrrl


I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars,
And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,
And the tree-toad is a chef-d'ouvre for the highest,
And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven, And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,
And the cow crunching with depressed head surpasses any statue,
And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels,

[katrinabgood]

What a cool group of women!

Having had the recent pleasure of visiting Nova Scotia, I had to read Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. "This is the forest primeval..."

How lovely! Why was it such a chore in High School?

[dentrassi]

Hello, this is dentrassi's DH (designated husband) responding to requests for Shakespeare advice.

Doing it yourself will be pretty challenging no matter what, so steer clear of the more difficult tragedies until you're comfortable with the style and language.

If you start with a comedy, you're pretty safe. The Taming of the Shrew isn't bad, and Much Ado About Nothing is relatively easy too. If you like a bit of history mixed in, or if you've ever been curious about the character Falstaff, then chase down the Henry IV plays. Honestly, I have not read a whole lot of his comedies, so I may be leaving out some good advice. My sweetie-pie (dentrassi) recommends Two Gentlemen of Verona, which I've never read.

Once you have one or two of these pretty well understood, then you can move on to Merchant of Venice, which is a little bit darker but still technically a comedy.

If tragedy is more your thing, then Romeo and Juliet is relatively easy to read, even though it is not among his best. I started out with Julius Caesar, which I recommend, but that was in school with someome to coach me along.

Once you are comfortable with the style and language, then prepare to tackle Hamlet and Othello. Save King Lear and The Tempest for later when you are quite proficient.

This is just advice, and if you take a course in school, you may encounter a totally different approach.

Also, good footnotes (or glossary) are a MUST for the solo reader. It should help to familiarize yourself with iambic pentameter before you get started too.

Good luck.

- Clark (aka DH)

[Ruthxxx]

Hey! Midsummer Night's Dream - I was Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons! Metal bra and all!

[dentrassi]

COOL!!!! Do you have any pictures???

[mauvaisroux]

Squeaker-congrats on the 5K! That is amazing, way to go girl

Ruthxxx-yeah, where are the pictures?

Den and Den's DH- I loved Othello!

Katrina-poetry and the classics were not fun in school because it was forced on you and then they dissected it to death which made it all a big bore. Anyone else remember the constant badgering about foreshadowing and the Christ-like imagery of Lord of the Flies? How about poetry and "iambic pentameter"?
When you read these things on your own you get the the beauty of the sentiment and the author's prose and enjoy it for what you get out of it. I love the classics and some modern poetry too.
I really like Byron, Sir Walter Scott, Maya Angelou and Leonard Cohen ( I have several of his books that I have kept since high school). I really enjoyed "Le Petit Prince" or " The Little Prince" by Antoine St. Exupere (sp?)

Barefootgrrl-I have been to a public ritual which was really neat.
It was very enlightening and very spiritual- felt good to be there

[ellis]

Okay, The Merchant of Venice was pretty good. And some of the others. I just don't see the need to go on and on about Shakespeare. We've turned him into some sort of god-like figure. There are plenty of other great authors out there. But please... feel free to go on and on about him... don't let my personal opinion affect your reading choices.
This is not intended as an insult... if you're not an egg-head but feel that you absolutely MUST read Shakespeare, I'd suggest checking out the young adults section in bookstores. (Squeak, I think that was YOUR idea, too.) As well as most of the plays, we own this great old hardcover called "The Children's Shakespeare", and for someone "not into reading plays", it's a good way of absorbing the stuff fairly painlessly.
Frankly, if I'M going to read a play, it's got to be something darned entertaining... like an Oscar Wilde. Who is great.

Other greats (in my humble opinion) include Somerset Maugham, E.M. Forster, Boris Pasternak, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton,
Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, Gustave Flaubert, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Alexandre Dumas, C.S. Lewis, W.O. Mitchell, Timothy Findley, Zora Neale Hurston, Evelyn Waugh .... there are just a shipload of them... too many to mention.
If you're Canadian, you should read Catherine Parr Traill. Susanna Moodie's sister. (don't read Susanna Moodie, she's friggin' miserable) They were amongst the early settlers in Canada, and the stories make you appreciate getting up in the morning and turning on a tap and a light switch. And not having to build your own house by cutting down trees.
If you're a woman and a feminist, Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is incredible. Absolutely incredible.

Terri... those Yule logs sound BEAUTIFUL!!!
Terrigrrrrl... thank you for sharing the quote with us! I love to read favorite quotes of others.
Squeaker, you did the 5k!!!! That's wonderful!!!
Mauvais, I've still got all MY Leonard Cohen books from high school, too! I love him... except when he sings.
Kat, it's true... reading that stuff in high school was a complete BORE, but later I came to really appreciate the books I'd read.
For instance, after my English teacher made us read Wuthering Heights for the 4th time I thought, "Hey, now I get it! This is an incredible book!"
No Ruth, I do NOT smoke. I bought my dad 45 bucks worth of socks in that men's clothing store.
Virginia, no one would ever know you'd only taken general English. Good for you for "catching up on the stuff you missed".
Den and Clark... you are such egg-heads.
Lois, Samhaine sounds to be a beautiful time for you. I'm sorry you've lost your parents and sister. hugs.
Soozie... where are YOU!?
Hello to everyone else!

I'm off to the gym! Fat as ever, but persevering.
later darlings...