Rainy Day Wonderings

Friday, November 17, 2006

National Surviors of Suicide Day

On Saturday, Nov. 18, AFSP will sponsor its eighth annual National Survivors of Suicide Day, reaching out to tens of thousands of people who have lost a loved one to suicide.

Dear Readers,

I would like to introduce you to my friend Marie Coppla. Marie and I share many common interests including our "Bipolarism" illness, a love for music, naturally curly hair and poetry. We also have a fondness for tall good looking men! =0). Marie is a very talented and published poet who will be having a book of her poetry coming out sometime in 2006-07.

Unfortunately, Marie and I have had teenagers in our lives that have committed suicide. Marie and I have witnessed the grief and agony of the survivors endure on a day to day basis.

Her Angel

You were her angel, her firstborn,

You are now gone and she is torn.

They say childhood is the best part of life,

Who knew that you would pick up a knife?

You did bad things because of your disease,

You lived your life without any ease.

You ran away to escape sorrow in your life,

You lived it in constant turmoil and strife.

You heard night bird's call, it's time to go,

You need to know it didn't have to be so.

You died young, you couldn't live with pain,

I want you to know her life is not the same.

Now you are her angel dressed in white,

You don't live in darkness but in Heaven's light.
Marie A. Coppla/2006

"I believe poetry is a special gift that should not be wasted. Poetry is one way I communicate with the world and express my emotions. My poem "Her Angel" is about someone I know who has lost her daughter to suicide. The poem is my way of sending a message of comfort and understanding to both mother and child. I hope this poem will be a comfort to any parent who has lost a child. I am in the process of compiling a book of my poems to be published some time in 2006-07." ~Marie Coppla

Go on over and visit Marie's sites, The Fledgling and The Poet Laureate...NOT . You will be glad you did, I know I am.

"Death by suicide is not a gentle deathbed gathering; it rips apart lives and beliefs, and it sets its survivors on a prolonged and devastating journey." (Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, 1999)

For an excellent link, go to the Suicide Reference Library

Have a safe and happy weekend everyone!

Labels: Suicide

N Posted by Rain at 11/17/2006 09:48:00 AM

Thursday, November 16, 2006

A Spanish Painter

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June 6,1599 – August 6, 1660), commonly referred to as Diego Velázquez, was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV.

The Rokeby Venus
(The Toilet of Venus)
By Diego Velazquez
1647-51
The National Gallery, London

In the painting the goddess Venus is depicted lying on a bed, looking into a mirror held up by Cupid. The face reflected in the dimmed mirror appears to be that of an older woman, which has long intrigued experts. Some think it is a commentary on the vanity of beauty which is transitory due to aging. Some think the face in the mirror was over-painted by another artist at a later time. Another explanation is that the face is not aged, merely out focus, a sharper face would distract our immediate attention from the form of Venus. By seeing the nude first, and the face afterwards, we are "caught" in voyeurism. The face in the mirror is also substantially larger than it should be, and the mirror is angled such that, in reality, it would reflect a different part of the goddess's body.
The painting is unique for being the only surviving female nude by Velázquez, and one of only two such paintings in all of 17th-century Spanish art, which was often censored by the Spanish Inquisition.

Vieja friendo huevos
(An Old Woman Cooking Eggs)
By Diego Velazques
1618
The National Gallery of Scotland

These early paintings were called bodegones from bodegon, a cheap eating house, and depict common everyday low-life street scenes in a sombre manner with the humble characters portrayed with great dignity and gravitas.

Apollo at the Forge of Vulcan
By Diego Velazques
1630
Museo Nacinal del Prado, Madrid

The Forge of Vulcan; no. 1171, in which Apollo narrates to the astonished Vulcan, the blacksmith of the gods portrayed here as a village blacksmith, the news of the infidelity of Venus, while four others listen to the scandal.

Infanta Maria Teresa
By Diego Velazquez
1652-1653
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Mars
By Diego Velazquez
1636-1638
Museo Nacional del Prado

*******

I have been lucky enough to visit both the Apollo at the Forge of Vulcan and Mars at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. Unfortunately these photos scanned from prints do not do these paintings justice. Standing in front of both of them are absolutely breathtaking!

For the readers who live in London or are planning a visit to the UK, The National Gallery in London has a Current Exhibition from Oct. 18, 2006 to Jan. 21, 2007 featuring Diego Velazquez works. If by chance you visit the gallery, shoot me an email and let me know your thoughts.

Have a wonderful day everyone! Comments are always appreciated.

Labels: The Arts

N Posted by Rain at 11/16/2006 07:09:00 AM

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Women in History

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913– October 24, 2005)

Rosa Parks

Nearly 50 years earlier, Parks had famously refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. Parks' act of civil disobedience inspired blacks in Montgomery to boycott the city's buses for more than a year and to successfully challenge the Jim Crow laws that confined them to second-class status in the city.

Jim Crow Museum

"My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work."
Rosa Parks

"It was not pre-arranged. It just happened that the driver made and demand and I just didn't feel like obeying his demand . . . I was quite tired after spending a full day working"
Rosa Parks

"Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it."~Rosa Parks

Henry Ford Museum

Known today as "the mother of the Civil Rights Movement," Parks almost single-handedly set in motion a veritable revolution in the southern United States, a revolution that would eventually secure equal treatment under the law for all black Americans. "For those who lived through the unsettling 1950s and 1960s and joined the civil rights struggle, the soft-spoken Rosa Parks was more, much more than the woman who refused to give up her bus seat to a White man in Montgomery, Alabama," wrote Richette L. Haywood in Jet. "(Hers) as anact that forever changed White America's view of Black people, and forever changed America itself."

"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear." ~Rosa Parks

"Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again." ~Rosa Parks

"I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move." ~Rosa Parks

Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia

The struggle helped turn Montgomery preacher Martin Luther King Jr. into a national civil rights icon. In her final years, Parks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

" Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way." ~Rosa Parks

Meeting
With Mother Teresa in Detroit in 1981
Photo By Harold Robison
Detroit News/WPN

"I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people." ~ Rosa Parks

"Each person must live their life as a model for others. "~Rosa Parks

"Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others."~Rosa Parks

As most of my regular reader know I write these posts for my own education as well as for therapy for my illness.

Up until now, my formal education in High School and College the Jim Crow law were only briefly mentioned in "passing". Perhaps it was because I was not a History Major however, this research was truly an eye opening experience for me. I had no idea the extent of the (black codes) in conjuction with Jim Crow laws. I strongly advise everyone to follow the links in this post as well as the ones posted below.

For a video on Rosa Parks life and times.

Thompson Gale

Time 100: Rosa Parks

A photo essay

Have a great day everyone! Comments are always appreciated.

Labels: Women in History

N Posted by Rain at 11/15/2006 11:34:00 AM

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Now He Thinks I Am Smart?

Randy Glasbergen

After arriving home from my trip I had forty seven attempted collect calls on my answering machine and four letters from my son. Now that he is residing in a Detention Center he "needs" me. grrr!
Okay, rant over. Goodnight everyone!

Labels: Rusty

N Posted by Rain at 11/14/2006 12:29:00 AM

Monday, November 13, 2006

I am back...

Once upon a time there lived a king. The king had a beautiful daughter, The PRINCESS. But there was a problem. Everything the princess touched would melt. No matter what; metal, wood, stone, anything she touched would melt. Because of this, men were afraid of her. Nobody would dare marry her. The king despaired. What could he do to help his daughter?

He consulted his wizards and magicians. One wizard told the king, "If your daughter touches one thing that does not melt in her hands, she will be cured." The king was overjoyed and came up with a plan. The next day, he held a competition. Any man that could bring his daughter an object that would not melt would marry her and inherit the king's wealth.

THREE YOUNG PRINCES TOOK UP THE CHALLENGE.
The first brought a sword of the finest steel. But alas, when the princess touched it, it melted. The prince went away sadly.
The second prince brought diamonds. He thought diamonds are the hardest substance in the world and would not melt. But alas, once the princess touched them, they melted. He too was sent away disappointed.
The third prince approached. He told the princess, "Put your hand in my pocket and feel what is in there." The princess did as she was told, though she turned red. She felt something hard. She held it in her hand. And it did not melt!!!

The king was overjoyed.. Everybody in the kingdom was overjoyed. And the third prince married the princess and they both lived happily ever after.

Question: What was in the prince's pants? (Scroll down for the answer)

M&M's of course. They melt in your mouth, not in your hand.
What were you thinking?? =0)

It's good to be back home in San Diego. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Labels: misc

N Posted by Rain at 11/13/2006 10:51:00 AM