Halloween Horror

How do festivals translate across cultures?

Isn't it obvious what's happening here?

American's have some kind of squash fetish. I know I do.

They celebrate the miraculous appearance of faces in pumpkins.

Bigger is always better in America. Isn't it? Yum.

Until it's all consumed.

"Trick or Treat?
And, oh, by the way, I'm collecting for Unicef."

............

If you would like to read some of my ghost stories try A Spooky Tale of Treasure, Heavy Footsteps, Haunted Bells and Bowls, or the Dream of the Lost Souls series.

Happy Halloween!

The pumpkin photos were taken by me at the Circleville Pumpkin Show in Circleville, Ohio.

One Good Deed Rings

My shipment has arrived. There are marvelous new pieces that I hope to be putting up on our website soon http://aworldofgood.com. In this shipment are the 'One Good Deed' rings that I had made again. If you would like to read the story you can find it in Dream A World of Good parts one, two, and three. Inside each ring is inscribed with the words 'One Good Deed.' If you are interested in having one you will have to contact me by email and let me know your ring size and where to ship. I have decided that this ring will sell for $22 retail and all of the profit will go toward education in Nepal.

Peace to you.

I will get back to story writing next week.

The True Tale of My Life as a Geisha

'Butternut Squash made a spectacular entrance at Willow's Ball. It is highly unlikely that her sumptuous silk robes will be trend setting, but in true Butternut fashion, they will leave and indelible impression.'

The True Tale of My Life as a Geisha

Yes, this is an actual picture of me, in 1990. In the US we have body image issues usually having to do with our weight. In many other countries the issues seem to have more to do with skin and hair color. In the 1990's, while I was living in Japan, fair skinned Western women with blond hair and blue eyes appeared to me to be the ideal image of beauty for the Japanese. Advertisements of all kinds would feature fair skinned blue eyed people for even the most traditional Japanese products. During this time, I quite easily picked up a few modeling jobs just for fun. The Japanese telephone card above was made as a gift to me for participating in a bridal fashion show. In this show there were at least ten western women and no Japanese women modeling antebellum style white wedding gowns and Japanese kimono on a runway. The audience was entirely composed of Japanese women and their mothers choosing gowns for weddings. In my opinion, I make a rather frightening looking Japanese bride. The make-up artists seemed very disturbed that they could not paint my naturally blond eyebrows black and create an acceptable expression. Pretty as I may have been in my natural state, the result of changing my hair and brows was rather grotesque. When I sent this card home to my grandmother in Lancaster, Ohio, she said, "My how you've changed!"

I'm sorry to tease you with the Geisha bit. I did study tea ceremony, flower arranging and traditional dance in Maiko Villa where they have Geisha in training, but I have always aspired to the art and corresponding meditation of these practices, for myself, and not for the entertainment of men.

Adrift

Woman in Nepal carrying a heavy load

Usually, I pick a point on the horizon for my landfall, set my course, and steer my vessel to my destination. Except for the occasional storm, this seems to work very well. Lately, the seas have been tumultuous. I have had a series of shows for the past four weekends with children and their needs in between. Two weeks ago I went to Richmond, VA came home to Cleveland, got the flu, and had to leave four days later still suffering fever and chills to get to a show in Vienna, VA.

While I was gone, our family adopted an 11 month old black Lab. He's gorgeous. But my husband and I have never owned a dog in our lives and we have all sorts of things in our house that we don't want a dog to chew on. After several hours on the Internet learning about doggy separation anxiety, we have discovered that there are no Alpha dogs in our family. We seem to be an assemblage of lone wolves that make decisions by cordial negotiation. 'Pardon me dog, would you mind stepping aside so that I can get out of the door?'

I have also been dealing with a lost shipment to Nepal and insurance claims. Plus all of the legal and tax aspects of moving a business from one State to another. All of this while training a new employee and working very hard to get a shipment from Nepal before I leave for Virginia Beach, VA this coming Thursday.

Suddenly, I feel as if I am floating adrift in my life rather than steering my course. Some people, either by choice or circumstance, live their lives tossed from one event to the next. And I suppose there is a great lesson to be learned in acceptance. But for now, I choose to fix the rudder on my boat and get going again.

Forgive my absence. I will be back again soon.