WHEN KRIS KRINGLE DOESN'T JINGLE

It's always bothered me when people complain about the usage of the phrase "Happy Holidays." For some reason Christians believe they have the market cornered on the holiday season and everyone should say "Merry Christmas" to each other when in reality 66% of all the people who call Earth their home are not of the Christian faith. Quite simply the list of the world's major religions and their populations looks something like this: 1.Christianity: 2.1 billion 2.Islam: 1.5 billion 3.Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion 4.Hinduism: 900 million 5.Chinese traditional religion: 394 million 6.Buddhism: 376 million 7.primal-indigenous: 300 million 8.African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million 9.Sikhism: 23 million 10.Juche: 19 million 11.Spiritism: 15 million 12.Judaism: 14 million 13.Baha'i: 7 million 14.Jainism: 4.2 million 15.Shinto: 4 million 16.Cao Dai: 4 million 17.Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million 18.Tenrikyo: 2 million 19.Neo-Paganism (Wicca, Magick, Druidism, Asatru, Native American religion and others): 1 million 20.Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand 21.Rastafarianism: 600 thousand 22.Scientology: 500 thousand

During the months of November and December which are traditionally viewed as the holiday season, many of these religions have major holidays. For example: Samhain - Beltane (Wicca/Pagan) Eid al Adha (Islam) Guru Nanak Dev Sahib birthday (Sikh) Birth of Baha'u'llah (Baha'i) Gkuru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom (Sikh) Day of Covenant (Baha'i) Hijra - New Year (Islam) Ashura (Islam) Bodhi Day (Buddhism) Hanukkah (Jewish) Yule (Wicca/Pagan) Litha (Wicca/Pagan) Christmas (Christian) Zarathosht Diso (Zoroastrian) Kwanzaa (secular/noneligious) Since we do live in a melting pot, doesn't it make more sense to say "Happy Holidays" to a stranger out of respect for other cultures and religions than to say "Merry Christmas" to someone who may not celebrate Christmas?

*reposted November 15, 2011

DAY 23 - 30 SONGS IN 30 DAYS

 Day 23: A song you think everybody should listen to

This selection may come as a huge surprise, but yes, I like classical music. Without music like this there wouldn't have been any music of today. I know this piece is rather long, but maybe you can listen to it at night and drift off into a deep peaceful sleep while listening to it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM MILDRED

To celebrate Halloween I thought something a little "magical" might be in order: 

THE MAGICAL DOOR: POWER COLORS TO PAINT YOUR ENTRANCE

In feng shui and the magical arts, your front door is known as one of the most powerful places in your home.

It’s literally the threshold where the energy from the outside world – visible and invisible – enters your home and becomes your own. Even if you don’t use your front door frequently, it’s the symbolic entry point of blessings and wealth.

In feng shui, the front door is known as the “mouth of chi.” Just like our actual mouths are the places where we receive nourishment that keeps us alive, our front door is the place where we receive the energetic and physical resources that keep our homes happy and healthy.

With that in mind, a front door color is sort of like lipstick: it draws attention to this power point and defines the energy in a particular way. Energetically, your front door color defines the vibration of your home and advertises the qualities of energy you want to call into your life. Painting your front door a vibrant color can work well whether your house is brick, natural wood, gray, white, beige, tan, brown, or anything else, and will help boost the unique visual appeal of your home.

In a number of feng shui schools of thought, the direction your door faces informs the shades you have to choose from. In my personal opinion and experience, following your intuition about what feels right to you overrides potential directional considerations.

Here are six auspicious and protective door color ideas and the meanings and magical properties they possess.

You might want to consider the meanings and magical properties associated with these door color ideas in when you choose the color you want to paint your door, or you may prefer to paint your door the color that calls to you most. Paint color choices can be a form of divination: your intuitive preference will indicate your subconscious magical intentions.

(Of course, if you can’t paint your door because you’re renting, don’t worry! While a freshly painted door can add a nice magical touch, it’s not a make-or-break scenario. But you may be surprised, and it doesn’t hurt to ask! Some landlords are open to the idea.)

MAGICAL DOOR COLOR #1: RED

Red is a classic door color in feng shui. That’s because in feng shui, the color red is considered celebratory, successful, prosperous, and protective. A red door is one of the best door colors because it has a cheerful, radiant vibration that keeps negativity out and calls positivity in. If you’re wondering what shade of red to paint your door, keep in mind that bright shades are considered the luckiest.

MAGICAL DOOR COLOR #2: BLUE



Blue is a favorite magical door color of legendary Witchcraft author Scott Cunningham. In his classic book The Magical Household, he recommends painting your door blue for protection. A blue door is one of the best door color choices for Witches and other magical practitioners, as it wards off negativity while inviting in harmony and peace. If these magical qualities appeal to you, choose a bright royal or deep sapphire blue for your front door.

MAGICAL DOOR COLOR #3: PURPLE



A purple door is a glorious, magical thing. In addition to enhancing wealth and prosperity vibrations in your home, a purple door invites in magic, synchronicity, and divine guidance. A purple front door helps anchor your magical worldview and preserves a sense that life is magical within your home. Choose a vibrant purple for your front door in order to reap the most benefits from this color choice.

MAGICAL DOOR COLOR #4: BLACK



A black door emanates elegance and promotes success, which is why feng shui considers it one of the best color choices for your front door. As the color of the water element in feng shui, a black front door helps align you with your most ideal career path and promotes a harmonious flow in work. If you’re focused on your career and life path at this stage in your life, black might be the front door color for you. From a feng shui perspective, navy blue possesses similar properties to black, so you if these door color properties appeal to you, you might like to choose navy blue as an alternate.

MAGICAL DOOR COLOR #5: GREEN



If you’re drawn to forests and the magical properties of plants and herbs, chances are good you’ll love having a green door. As the color of money and healthy greenery, a green door also calls in wealth and abundance. Green is one of the best door colors to choose for money magic and aligning with the magic of the earth. Be sure to choose a green that reminds you of a lush and vibrant landscape in order to maximize the luxurious benefits of this magical door color.

MAGICAL DOOR COLOR #6: PINK



If you think a pink door wouldn’t be protective, think again! While pink gets a bad rap as a cutesy color, it’s actually a surprisingly powerful and useful color in magic and witchcraft. It keeps harshness and negativity out, calls in sweetness and positivity, and generally promotes good vibes and good luck. A pink door also invites in friendship, harmony, and love. Choose any shade of pink that you like for your door, but be aware that less noticeable pinks will begin to lose their magical qualities. In general, brighter and more vibrant colors are the most powerful when it comes to door colors

DAY 22 - 30 SONGS IN 30 DAYS

Day 22: A song that moves you forward 

Just because this reminds me from where I came and I needn't say any more...

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE!

I just looked back over the things I've posted since I started blogging years ago and smiled when I realized how disjointed my posts are.  Perhaps I need to go back to the beginning and put my life's story into chronological order so it makes more sense.  Being scattered is indicative of what lurks just below the surface.  It's like a game of dodgeball.  Being scattered makes the reading more difficult and the reliving it even more difficult.  I tell one story, but I skip over the before and after...those parts are most likely more important than the story I selected to tell.  Those parts were the true catalyst for what drove me, so here's my second attempt to right a

wrong by starting my story in a better spot.  

I was born into a family with a mother who was a seamstress, a father who was a fireman and three older brothers who were jocks by the time they reached high school.  That sentence depicts a rather normal family, but the period after the word "jocks" is where the normalcy ends.  I look at photos of myself from my childhood and I never see what I would call a happy child.  I never smiled except during school photos and then it was forced.  I felt ugly and awkward growing up.  I was always the tallest in my class.  During that era it wasn't fashionable for a woman to be tall, so when I started wearing jeans I had to buy boy's jeans to get the inseam long enough.  I bought Levi's at Freese's Department Store on Main Street for $4.95 a pair. I can remember licking and sticking green stamps in books so I could buy blue jeans that fit my curveless physique.  I was so relieved when tall super models hit the scene and changed perceptions of what beautiful looked like.  Thank you Twiggy!

I don't ever remember being teased about be tall or for wearing glasses except from my brothers.  They would tell me I was going to be 6 feet tall when I finished growing.  I would cry and feel like a freak.  They made it seems like I'd never be called beautiful or looked at by a boy.  In fact, they made me feel that I looked like a boy.  I was doomed to be an old maid!  Perhaps that's a brother's job to keep their sister from getting too full of herself.  If so, mine were excellent at that job.  I do have to reveal that their prediction about my height was wrong.  At my tallest I was 5'10 and now, I've begun to shrink.  The last time I was measured I was 5'7".   By the time I'm a very old woman, I might be considered of average height.  Hooray for the golden years, but BOO for having  so many problems with my back!

In hindsight, I don't know why my mother didn't take me under her wing and show me what girls are supposed to do.  She dressed nicely and wore make-up, but by the time I reached my teenage years I wasn't interested in learning to be prissy.  I always hated make up and rarely wore any.  I hated the way it felt on my skin. My closet was full of nice clothes my mother had made, but I wasn't interested in dressing in of them.  A pair of holey jeans and a T-shirt seemed to suffice.  When mini dresses were in style I wore them, but I was never comfortable with showing off my long legs.  I never felt like I had any redeeming physical qualities because no one ever told me I did.  I just assumed when you look like me people say nothing to be polite. When you look like me, you have no reason to primp or smile.  You just learn to keep it all in and suffer in silence.  When you look like me, every other female in the world is prettier.  You envy your female friends and feel horrible because you can't hide the ugly you were given. I mentioned Twiggy earlier...well, I can't really thank her because I truly hated her because my mother had me get my hair cut short like hers. If you cut a girl's hair like that who has a shapeless body you doom her to look like a boy. You talk about having a complex! 

The same went for all my other qualities and potential talents.  I never realized I was smart and that not everyone was capable of getting A's.  I just assumed because I got A's, everyone else did too, but by the time I reached 7th grade I knew I'd never finish high school.  It was like a dark cloud hovering over me preventing me from seeing the good inside myself.  I longed for recognition, but I wasn't good at doing anything.  I was never patted on the back and told "hey kiddo, I think you have something there.  Maybe you should pursue that."  When the dark side took over completely, I discovered I was excellent at hate, discontent and sorrow.  I had a gift for getting into trouble and being outrageous.  Ah! Finally recognition!

From a very early age I loved to write and often times sat in my room writing little stories and drawing pictures.  Paper was in abundance at our house because my grandfather worked at the Eastern Papermill in Brewer and one of the perks was free paper. As I wrote and drew, I always felt as though I was just wasting paper and that it was awful being so wasteful. I tried to hide how much paper I used by stashing away everything I created under the bed, in the closet and in my drawers.  Surfacely, my room looked presentable, but like my life it was actually cluttered and disorganized. As I wrote and drew, I assumed everyone could do the same.  It wasn't until much later in life that I made a startling discovery and at that moment, I was filled with so many emotions I thought I was going to lose my mind.  I was angry because I didn't receive any encouragement when I was growing up and I was sad because I had wasted so much time living behind a wall. I made myself remember how my creations were never showcased, but thrown away each time my mother decided my room needed a thorough cleaning.  Our refrigerator door was bare except for the occasional newspaper cartoon that was taped there.  The void I grew up in wasn't loud and maddening.  It was dark and cold.  There was no praise and encouragement.  There was only waves of pain and disappointment.

As I got older and could no longer avoid making certain realizations, I felt worse the more potential I discovered I had.  You would think a healthy person making those types of discoveries would feel elated.  They would open their wings and soar amongst the clouds.  Not I!  I stopped writing and drawing about the same time I stopped doing drugs around age 30 and didn't start again for almost 15 years. I had this overwhelming need to punish myself, to stifle myself and to deny myself any recognition for a job well done.  I called myself stupid for not seeing obvious things and for allowing my inner demons to run amok.  I hated being weak and I hated me!  I still struggle with those demons, but I'm able to comfort that little girl inside myself and tell her that she's the bright spot in my life.  Mildred, you are my sunshine!

*reposted from 10/26/2019

DAY 21 - 30 SONGS IN 30 DAYS

 Day 21: A song you like with a person’s name in the title 

In a 1969 interview, Fogerty said that he wrote it in the two days after he was discharged from the National Guard. In the liner notes for the 2008 expanded reissue of Bayou Country, Joel Selvin explained that the songs for the album started when Fogerty was in the National Guard, that the riffs for "Proud Mary", "Born on the Bayou", and "Keep on Chooglin'" were conceived by Fogerty at a concert in the Avalon Ballroom, and "Proud Mary" was arranged from parts of different songs, one of which was about a washerwoman named Mary. The line "Left a good job in the city" was written following Fogerty's discharge from the National Guard, and the line "rollin' on the river" was from a movie by Will Rogers.

"Proud Mary's" singer, a low-wage earner, leaves what he considers a "good job," which he might define as steady work, even though for long hours under a dictatorial boss. He decides to follow his impulse and imagination and hitches a ride on a riverboat queen, bidding farewell to the city. Only when the boat pulls out does he see the "good side of the city"—which, for him, is one in the distance, far removed from his life. Down by the river and on the boat, the singer finds protection from "the man" and salvation from his working-class pains in the nurturing spirit and generosity of simple people who "are happy to give" even "if you have no money." The river in Fogerty and traditionally in literature and song is a place holding biblical and epical implications. ... Indeed, the river in "Proud Mary" offers not only escape but also rebirth to the singer.

The song is a seamless mix of black and white roots music ..."Proud Mary" is, of course, a steamboat traveling up and down the river. Fogerty's lyric sketches out a vivid picture of the protagonist finding a comfortable niche in a community of outsiders ... The story connects back to Mark Twain; it brings the myth [of "the rambling man and life along the Mississippi"] into the sixties.

In the Macintosh application "GarageBand", Fogerty explained that he liked Beethoven's Fifth Symphony[clarification needed] and wanted to open a song with a similar intro (descending by a third), implying the way "Proud Mary" opens with the repeated C chord to A chord. Fogerty wanted to evoke male gospel harmonies, as exemplified by groups he was familiar with such as the Swan Silvertones, the Sensational Nightingales, and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi; especially on the line, "Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river"; and in the guitar solo he did his "best [imitation of] Steve Cropper." The basic track for "Proud Mary", as with the other songs on the album, was recorded by John Fogerty (lead guitar), Tom Fogerty (rhythm guitar), Stu Cook (bass), and Doug Clifford (drums) at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California, with John overdubbing instruments and all the vocals later.

Billboard described "Proud Mary" as a "driving blues item with a strong beat."Cash Box described it as "a steady moving mid-speed chunk of funk and rhythm that will make itself felt in both pop and underground spots." Cash Box ranked it as the No. 55 single of 1969.

*(borrowed from Wikipedia)