National Start Your Own Country Day (3)

The time has come once again, nationally (*ironic eyebrows*), to start one’s own country! This third year of my career in statehood, I declare that my new country shall be Dracalia.

Dracalia:
Geography: Laid out like a dragon with wings unfolded and tail curling underneath into the water.

Official Animal: Dragons

Official Flower: Bleeding hearts (They like anything that grows down instead of up)

Official Tree: Weeping willows

Official Motto: “Refinement comes through fire.”

Official Flag: A large, purplish-blue dragon filled with stars holding a green and golden globe in its claws. The background is darkest green.

Known for: Architecture and art, with new techniques and exhibits in everything from chateaus, to murals, to cake-crafting. If it involves balance, beauty, and imagination, this is the place to be. It celebrates its independence day with festivals full of all kinds of dragons depicted through art, movement, and games.

Go forth and proclaim your own country!

Snow Queen for Halloween?

Halloween’s fast approaching,
Those ghouls are encroaching,
And if you or yours have chosen
To emulate the queen of Frozen,
Dress-up fit for a Snow Queen,
At Sonshine Smiles Shop can be seen!

Located here: https://www.facebook.com/SonshineSmilesShop

This is my niece as model in this dress:

And it comes with matching hairclip!

She also has an official version of a Snow Queen dress, but this is by far my favorite. And, honestly, looking at this versus the official ones, which dress looks like it could better keep the cold from ever bothering its queen?

Orders must be placed soon for delivery by Halloween!
https://www.facebook.com/SonshineSmilesShop, where custom dresses like this can be ordered for estimated $30-$50, depending on size.

Holiday Shopping Spot!

Today, I have a very proud announcement to make. My enterprising nieces and crafty nephew have opened a small business on Facebook called the Sonshine Smiles Shop! Find it here: https://www.facebook.com/SonshineSmilesShop

The holidays are coming and this is a wonderfully cheap way to get some lovely gifts-I’m their loving aunt and some of these things are even more gorgeous and special than I even expected! So, if you know of anyone who would love to trick-or-treat in a beautiful Snow Queen dress…

Or a baby in need of a fancy pink princess/birthday/holiday dress….

Or some young ones who could use some sweet-smelling play-doh with jewels to find and decorate with…

Or anyone in need of special Mama Necklaces, organic wool dryer balls, toddler-safe Jedi light sabers, or $4 aromatherapy bath salts, please stop by https://www.facebook.com/SonshineSmilesShop today! And they take special orders, too! Tell your friends!

Behind Every Good Whisky Is A Trusty Distillery Cat

Behind Every Good Whisky Is A Trusty Distillery Cat : Parallels : NPR.

Cats-even more necessary than you thought! For alcohol, ambassador missions, and world records, go read yon article. And use it as another excuse to visit distilleries, visit Scotland, honor cats by drinking, or look up more cat pictures on the internet. Learn important facts like:

“On the central path between buildings at Glenturret [the oldest distillery], the scent of leaves and grass mixes with the smells of wood, smoke and caramel from the whisky-making process. Looming over it all is a proud bronze statue. It’s not the company founder, or a bottle of whisky. It’s a cat. The greatest distillery cat of them all.

Towser the Mouser is actually in the Guinness Book of World Records for catching mice. Estimated lifetime kills: 28,899.”

Hurrah for the cats!

Colbert on Disney

i69bZwW.jpg JPEG Image, 450 × 455 pixels.

RIP Robin Williams

“Death is not extinguishing the light;

it is only putting out the lamp

because the dawn has come.”

-Rabindranath Tagore

Shirley Temple Dies at 85

Shirley Temple Black, Screen Darling, Dies at 85 – NYTimes.com.

The link not only talks about Shirley Temple’s death, but gives an encapsulated biography that includes not only her film and political successes, but also several anecdotes and more nuanced experiences of her life. For example:

“After winning an honorary Academy Award at the age of 6 and earning $3 million before puberty, Shirley Temple grew up to be a level-headed adult. When her cancerous left breast was removed in 1972, at a time when operations for cancer were shrouded in secrecy, she held a news conference in her hospital room to speak out about her mastectomy and to urge women discovering breast lumps not to “sit home and be afraid.” She is widely credited with helping to make it acceptable to talk about breast cancer.”

Hats off to you, Shirley. Thank you for showing everyone that even the most iconic little girl could grow up into a tough and intelligent diplomat more than capable of holding her own as an adult:

“When she was appointed ambassador to Ghana in 1974, some career diplomats were outraged, but State Department officials later conceded that her performance was outstanding…Mrs. Black succeeded beyond almost everyone’s expectations, winning praise during her three years in Prague from, among others, Henry Kissinger, who called her “very intelligent, very tough-minded, very disciplined.” Although she may always be best remembered as America’s sweetheart, the woman who left the screen at 22 saying she had “had enough of pretend” ended up leaving a considerable mark on the real world.”

Divorce Rate Cut in Half for Couples Who Discussed Relationship Movies

Divorce Rate Cut in Half for Couples Who Discussed Relationship Movies : Top Headlines : MD Connects.

Hah! This study which says that couples that simply took the time to discuss the relationships in movies a few times a month lowered their divorce rate just as far as couples that take anger management or couples therapy type workshops (which were much more time consuming) makes me very happy. It means that watching movies and discussing the couples in them as if they’re real people isn’t just hanging out or a distraction from what you’re supposed to be doing-it is highly important relationship work! We absolutely must take time out for couple movies! I like anything that makes movie-watching sound productive, but this makes them almost essential. Go forth and have movie nights.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I saw the midnight opening of this and…it was MARVELOUS! It’s shorter than its predecessor, the pacing is tighter and smoother, the humor feels more precise and balanced, and the self-references to Peter Jackson’s other works felt purposeful and like a good joke between old friends rather than spin-offy. Also, I cannot wait until Thranduil’s headpiece becomes a common look. Go forth and enjoy!

Other thoughts (SPOILERS for those who haven’t read the book):

-I’m definitely going to need the barrel-riding to become a theme park ride.
-Lee Pace’s Thranduil turned out every inch as glorious as I wanted him to be, and I desired Excessive Glory.
-Many in my midnight theater yelled “sshh!” at the dwarves’ exclamations when Bilbo released them from Thranduil’s prison.
-Gandalf’s entrance to the Necromancer’s domain can be perfectly timed to “I always think everything could be a trap, which is why I’m still alive.”
-Does anyone else think Thorin’s sword on reaching the Lonely Mountain is shaped suspiciously like that of Theoden, King?
-Bilbo’s face when Smaug fully rises from the gold and he kneels down to hide is utter perfection.
-Isn’t it marvelous gold that doesn’t melt in dragon flame even though it’s historically been shaped by forges that can be lit by dragon fire? Perhaps intention can somehow be read.
-Yet more evidence that “But no one withstands the machine!” can only keep criminals down for a short timespan.
-Can we all take a moment to bask in the beauty of Smaug, particularly when shaking off gold?
-Isn’t it interesting how Legolas’ character seems tougher in this timeframe than when he’s actually fighting for the fate of the world? Perhaps that’s maturity, for you. He goes from “Step off or I will kill you!” to “I’ll have to kill you anyway, so step wherever, enjoy your short life while you can.” Or perhaps that is exhaustion and he was showing signs of it more than we knew.
-Stephen Fry is working his wig.
-Gandalf’s visit to the tombs immediately made me think, “See, this is why we miss Erebor so much-it’s the only cavernous place that has real stairs!”
-Really, all these Tolkien films are a cautionary tale about what can happen to a society with no professional librarians or archivists. Archivists would keep up these tombs and let people know if spirits escaped, so wizards wouldn’t have to abandon other quests to do this research work. They would also curate the history books that explain Sauron’s One Ring reveals its secret through fire so they wouldn’t be so dusty and make a research guide so Gandalf wouldn’t have to spend time paging through the memoir to find the right information and maybe the hobbits could have got a head start on the ringwraiths. Just think how much smoother everything would have gone if all wizards had a librarian/archivist working for them, to do their research side-trips and settle questions about which evils are and aren’t abroad in the world in a timely and efficient manner. They would have staged outreaches reminding everyone to check all magic rings in fire, too, so Bilbo might have avoided some possession. I’m just saying.

Huzzah for “The Hobbit”!

National Start Your Own Country Day (2)

Once again it is National Start Your Own Country Day! Those began last year can be seen here: https://wheresmytower.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/national-start-your-own-country-day/ and all three are doing very well….Which is no reason not to create new nations on this ironically “national” day.

Hear ye, hear ye, today marks the start of the country Gobletta!

Known for: Books, prolific readers/wisefolk, storytellers, and reading parties. Lesser products include all beverages that are conducive to reading, to oneself or out loud, and sturdy goblets to hold these beverages.

Official animal: Dog-sized panda bears. (They keep your feet warm whilst you read, snuggle with you while you listen to others read, and don’t try to steal the human refreshments at reading parties.)

Official flower: Lavender (Soothing, to help one focus on one’s studies and stories.)

Official motto: “You’re the same today as you’ll be in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

– Charlie “Tremendous” Jones

Official flag: Bordered to look like an open book with shining gold-leaf page edges, it has the motto written in dark purple swirled ink, with the shadow of a goblet falling across the remaining page and a sprig of lavender in the middle, as if about to be pressed into the pages. It’s a highly literate country, of course it goes for words on its flag.

Go forth and proclaim your own country!