Miranda July

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I first became interested in Miranda July when I found out that she lives in Los Angeles, California (I’m obsessed with California). Both of Miranda’s parents are writer’s, and they also once taught at Goddard college. I think it’s really impressive that Miranda wrote, directed, and acted in her first feature-length called “Me and You and Everyone Else We Know” in 2005.  This film won one prize at the Sundance film festival, and four prizes at the Cannes Film festival.

In 1998, Miranda created something that she called a “live movie” named “Love Diamond”.  She performed this piece many places, including the New York Video festival.

Miranda did an interview with Bust magazine in 2007 and stated her feminism views when she said:  “What’s confusing about [being a feminist]? It’s just being pro-your ability to do what you need to do. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your boyfriend or whatever…When I say ‘feminist’, I mean that in the most complex, interesting, exciting way!”

This is really catchy:

 

Tattoos

The word tattoo is said to come from two different places.
The Polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something, and the Tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something’.

It is widely believed that tattoos were discovered over 5000 years ago by accident. A person probably rubbed their tiny wound with fingers covered in soot or ashes. Once the wound had healed, that genius person had a permanent mark left behind.

In 1991 an ice mummy who was later named ‘Otzi the iceman’ was discovered on a mountain situated between Italy and Austria. Otzi still remains the best preserved ice mummy that lived 5000 years ago. Here;s the interesting part, Otzi has 57 tattoos. Otzi’s tattoos were probably a treatment for arthritis. Otzi had a cross tattooed on the inside of his left knee, as well as six straight lines above his kidneys, and on the ankles.

 

Moon stones!

Moon stones are really spectacular. My astrology sign is Pisces, and the stone that accompanies this sign is this ever enchanting stone.

In India, the Moonstone is regarded as a magical, holy stone. The Indians also believe that if worn to sleep, this stone will bring the wearer beautiful visions. Arabic women sew the moonstones into their clothing, because doing this is a sign of fertility.

Moonstones are worn by people who are looking to get in touch with their emotional side. Often, people also believe that Moonstones aid in calming, and soothing inidiviuals. It is also believed that wearing a Moonstone will strengthen people’s intuition, and understanding.

Where They Came From

The Moonstone belongs to the large mineral group family of Feldspar. The Feldspar contains two thirds of all the rocks on Earth. One synonym for the Moonstone is ‘selenite’, this comes from the word Selene, which translates into moon.

When Moonstones are first dug up, they appear very dull and look almost worthless. However, when these stones are being cut the shimmer reveals itself.

Most of the blue Moonstones come from Sri Lanka. Other places where these stones are found include: USA, Australia, Brazil, Myanmar, and Madagascar. Blue Moonstones are regarded as the most desirable ones, because they have become the rarest, and the priciest. Other Moonstone colours include Green, brown, and orange.

• Pink tones help with: emotions, birthing
• Green tones help with: physical growth
• Black tones help with: Intellect
• White tones help with: the spirit
• Blue tones are said to carry all of the energies listed above.

When Moonstones shimmer, they apparently fascinate gemstone lovers all over the world.  A process known as adularisation is the one to blame. Incident light rays are refracted and scattered in the stone, which induces a unique light effect on the stone.

Having written all of this, Moonstones are quite fragile. On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, Moonstones measure at 6 out of 10, Diamonds, being 10 (of course).

 So Moonstones aren’t perfect, but they come so close, you’d say it was almost like magic.

 

 

 

Cirque du Freak

book cover

“Cirque du Freak” is the first book in a twelve book series written by Darren Shan, about the life of a unique adolescent named Darren Shan.

One day, after seeing a stolen flier for a freakshow called Cirque du Freak, Darren and a schoolmate named Steve decide to sneak out and see the show. The show lives up to it’s name indeed, especially when a man named Larten Crepsley performs with a dangerous spider named Madam Octa. In his performance, Mr. Crepsley uses a special flute to put her in a trance-like state, which renders her harmless. What’s more is that Mr. Crepsley makes the poisonous spider do tricks.

 After the show, Steve mysteriously tells Darren to go home. However, Darren does the opposite. While spying on Steve, Darren discovers that Mr. Crepsley’s a vampire named Vur Horsten. Steve wants Mr. Crepsley to turn him into a vampire, but Mr. Crepsley turns him away, claiming that Steve has “evil blood”. Steve turns away angry, and he vows to hunt Mr. Crepsley down.  After witnessing this, Darren goes home.

Darren soon develops an obsession with Madam Octa, and the next day he goes back to the theatre and steals her. After some time, Darren manages to hypnotize Madam Octa, he even invites  Steve to see the spider. While trying to perform a trick, Darren’s sister Annie walks in the room causing the trance to break and Madam Octa to bite steve. Steve becomes very sick, and it is clear that he’s going to die.

Darren goes back to Mr. Crepsley and asks him for an antidote. Mr. Crepsley agrees to save Steve, but in return, Darren must become a half-vampire and travel with the Cirque du Freak as his assistant. Mr. Crepsley helps Darren fake his own death, Darren is buried and dug up again.  As Mr. Crepsley and Darren are about to leave, Steve makes his last appearance and once again makes a vow. Steve feels jealous and betrayed, so he cuts a cross in his palm and swears he will kill Darren and Mr. Crepsley.

From start to finish, I found it impossible to put this book down. It’s no wonder that a Darren Shan movie is currently set to release later this year. Generally, the vampire-fiction genre is infused with romance and eroticism. Even though this book is for young adults, it’s really nice to see a change. Also, I find that the Darren Shan series has more substance than most of  the other vampire fiction books I’ve read. Sadly enough, more people are familiar with the Twilight series, than the Darren Shan one. How could this happen? After some speculation, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are many lonely people out there that would rather read about a mediocre love story involving a handsome vampire, and an unattractive human girl.

I really enjoy reading books about vampires, because they offer a very different lifestyle.  Regular rules of our society do not apply to vampires, this is why they’re so appealing. Long gone are the days that vampires transform into bats at any given time, and cower at the sight of garlic. The contemporary vampire deals with relatable issues like sexuality, morality, and addiction. In conclusion, vampires might be extremely attractive and possess superhuman strength, but they face the same problems as us! What’s not to love?

The Complete Darren Shan saga:

The Vampire Blood Trilogy

• 1. Cirque Du Freak
• 2. The Vampire’s Assistant
• 3. Tunnels of Blood

The Vampire Rites Trilogy

• 4. Vampire Mountain
• 5. Trials of Death
• 6. The Vampire Prince

The Vampire War Trilogy

• 7. Hunters of the Dusk
• 8. Allies of the Night
• 9. Killers of the Dawn

The Vampire Destiny Trilogy

• 10. The Lake of Souls
• 11. Lord of the Shadows
• 12. Sons of Destiny

 

Kathy Acker

Kathy Acker was born on April 18, 1947 in New York city. She is best described as an experimental novelist, a postmodernist and a sex-positive feminist writer. Kathy’s most famous and best-selling novel is titled ‘Blood and Guts in High School’. This book takes Janey on a journey to New York from Merida, Mexico. Janey decides to leave after she discovers that her father, who is also her boyfriend finds companionship in another woman and no longer wants her around.

I am currently reading this book, and I find it extremely hard to believe that the main character, Janey Smith is only ten years old. I find it sort of unrealistic that a ten-year-old is able to identify and perform other people’s sexual desires. Also, the complexity of Janey’s thoughts  do not match the one’s of the ten-year-olds that I know. ‘Blood and Guts in High School’ is unlike any other book I have ever read before.  From my perspective, the issues of the different types of sexuality (incest and prostitution) are discussed without any censors or boundaries. This book also comes complete with illustrations of sexual body parts, sexual activity, a map of Janey’s dreams, and Persian poems that are also written by Janey. With the success of ‘Blood and Guts in High School’, critics claimed that Kathy plagiarized from a variety of authors, perhaps the most well-known was Charles Dickens.  An interesting fact is that Germany and South Africa completely Banned this book, due to it’s pornographic nature.

Kathy Acker was born into a wealthy Jewish family. Although I found very little about her family, it is known that Kathy’s father abandoned his family before Kathy was born, and Kathy’s mother committed suicide (date unknown). Around her late teens, Kathy worked as a stripper and a show girl in order to support herself through university. It is clear that Kathy’s experiences in the sex industry have an influenceon her writing. Janey, the protagonist in ‘Blood and Guts in High School’  seems to be addicted to sex, and has a pelvic inflammatory disease. Kathy went to the University of California in San Diego, where she received her Bachelor’s degree. She also did two years of post-graduate work at the City University of New York.

I found it interesting that not all feminist critics like Kathy’s work. In fact, some critics claim that Kathy’s use of violent sexual imagery leads readers to degrade and objectify women.

In April 1966, Kathy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Coincidentally, Janey from ‘Blood and Guts in High School’ was also diagnosed with Cancer. After an unsuccessful surgery, Kathy refused traditional treatment for cancer and turned to acupuncturists, psychic healers, and Chinese herbalists. After a year and a half from being diagnosed with cancer, Kathy died in Tijuana, Mexico at an alternative cancer clinic.

 

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