Today's romantic horoscope

Today's horoscope said:

Your romantic partner could be expressing intense emotions towards you today. These might be positive, but they also could be negative. Try not to let any emotional outbursts disturb you too much. Sometimes it's important to release energy that you have been holding in. Your partner might need to get some things off of the chest, and you should try to listen with an attitude of compassion and empathy.

The main difficulty is the little devil of a romantic partner herself. Is she or is she not? Anyway, feedback today has been both - a smile in the morning and ignorance in the afternoon. Neither very intense... But I always listen with an attitude of compassion and empathy. Even when there's nothing to listen to...

One cool dissolve

In one dissolve
that trinket –
that measly little
stinky pink thing –
destroyed all my zest

– Len "Falls for Trinkets" Blumfeld

A somewhat deviant haiku written to get dissolve, trinket and zest from 3WW to interact. And a free contribution to Totally Optional Prompts.

Note
Not much work here at work ... and it shows, doesn't it!

Knight on bended knees to his beloved lady

Barely a drop in the evenings now, only glad mist admidst the pallid murmurs of your dark rivulets. Oh how you make me swoon!

– Leonard Blumfeld

Nonsense ditty incorporating all nine words – drop, evenings, glad, mist, motionless, murmur, pallid, rivulets, swoon – from Café Writing.

African Yellow

African Yellow
Acrylic on paper, photographed, clipped and digitally modified, 2008

A belated entry for Inspire Me Thursday's Yellow.

In the sky - cruising and vacationing

Today's horoscope for the coming week said:

You enjoy being in control, Capricorn, but this week the Universe shows you that it's not always possible for you to be in charge. You may decide you like taking it easy! Mercury turns retrograde on Wednesday. You'll play catch-up with the people and events in your life for the next three weeks. This is a great time to relax and swing in a hammock. On Saturday a new vista opens for you as the Moon in your sector of travel conjuncts your ruler, Saturn. You may embark on a long cruise or sign up for an exotic vacation.

• For a long time I've had the feeling that I'm not very much in control. It's been more like an inescapable road to follow, with some traffic lights and yield or stop signs for guidance.
• Glad to know that the Universe with a capital U is behind it all.
• They guessed right – I like taking it easy. I like things served on a platter, all nicely garnished and ready for the taking. Alas, that's not the way it works, and I'd be very surprised if it did next week.
• Don't have no hammock and don't even like 'em very much, to be honest.
• If it were up to horoscopes, I would have gone on long cruises a lot over the years. Exotic vacation? Perhaps Kazakhstan ... I've been getting interested in it due to infatuation with one of its citizens.
• I'll see, but I'm not holding my breath.
  

Welcome home

The prince is back,
oh princely abode
with your dusting
needs and clothes
strung up to dry.

Go, inhabitor, go
put some music on
and make it some-
what inhabited.

It’s Sunday morning,
someone died Friday,
and you’ve just
taken announcement
letters to the mailbox.

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2008)

Largely autobiographical, razor-edge-of-time, so to speak.

This also offers some explanation of my recent writing (and blogging) inactivity.

PS:
I’m using the not very existent* word inhabitor on purpose ... somewhere in between inhibitor and inhabitant.

*On the Internet it mostly exists as a spelling problem.

Seven shadows

Seven things that cast shadows ... or remove shadows

1. Twists of fate (obviously these work both ways)
2. Love in all its insincere, fitful, joyous, painful and – ultimately, hopefully – genuine, unadulterated incarnations
3. Intersocial play ... the equality – inferiority – superiority game
4. The weather
5. The planets (anything can be blamed on planetary influences)
6. I myself
7. Constraints ... basically anything: taxes, traffic rules, work, the need to have dough ... anything that restricts freedom ... thank God for some of these

List inspired by Café Writing: "So, gimme seven things that cause shadows in your life OR gimme seven things that you do to chase the shadows away."

Everyday art

It's 'art in the everyday' at Inspire Me Thursday this time around, and this photograph is exactly that. It is a snap of a section of a lamppost I took a few weeks ago, which has, over the course of its existence, obviously been exposed to various events and layers, such as posters stuck and removed, rusting, cracking, spray painting, weathering and who knows what other everyday occurrences.

L. Blumfeld

Blue flowers

Blue flowers in Kensington Park for Anna Carson's Project Blue.

Been walking since 1962

He's been walking wordlessly since 1962, and today is Wordless Wednesday.

Dramatic mountain landscape

Dramatic Mountain Landscape
Gouache and oil crayon on Guardi Artistico paper

Posted for Inspire Me Thursday's Crayon Art theme.

I use this technique quite frequently, starting with light shades of oil crayon, then painting over the crayon with gouache or watercolor. The waxy crayon repels the water-based paint, creating an interesting effect. Thanks to the excellent picture quality of my new reflex camera, not much work on the digital image is needed to obtain colors that are close to the original.

L.B.

Chief storekeeper

Boy manning the family store in Kolkata
Posted for Wordless Wednesday

Happy Mirthday

An annotated snapshot from a neighborhood garden for World Laughter Day 2008.

“World Laughter Day” was created in 1998 by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement. The first “World Laughter Day” gathering took place in Mumbai, India, in 1998. Twelve thousand members from local and international laughter clubs joined together in a mega laughter session.

Where should I live?

You Should Live in a Big City

You don't want anything in particular out of life... you want it all. You crave new and exciting experiences. And you get bored fairly easily. Only very big cities can keep you entertained and stimulated.

Where Should You Live?

Looks like I live where I should live!

In the green zone

This is a green sticker for a German low emission zone. Such zones were decreed this March in several cities of Germany. Cars that do not have a sticker are not allowed in low emission zones, i.e. if you're caught without you get fined. There are green (da cleanest), yellow (not so good) and red (barely passable, mostly diesel engines) stickers. The sense or nonsense of this government measure is subject to heated discussion. Owners of older cars – who tend to be the less affluent – are pissed because they are forced to either invest in a particle filter (which is not even available for some makes) or to get another car. While their old polluter will continue polluting somewhere else where there are no low emission zones – most likely in an East European country. While the main polluter still remains the industry, etc., etc.

Another and the final contribution to Anna Carson's Project Green, which comes to an end with take nine.

Weekly horoscope

There is a powerfully creative energy at work in your life that is encouraging your natural genius to flow.

Wow! Let it flow.

You are learning that you are capable of far more than you thought possible. Be practical, but dare to challenge yourself as well. Keep moving out of your comfort zone and all will be well.

Good to know that all will be well. But I don't like to leave my comfy zone. Is there anyone who really does?

Monday is excellent for taking risks and showing off your natural talents. Tuesday is not so great, as there are confusing elements in the air that may cause you to make a wrong turn. Take care when signing any new deals or important documents.

Ok, I'll be careful with those deals and documents. None planned anyway.

Venus moves into Taurus on Wednesday which adds a special note of sweetness to your social life. Going on a date should be a lot more romantic and tender at this time.

Let Ms. Venus come!

Thursday in particular could be very passionate with a touch of obsession in the air. Someone may want to get to know you more than you can imagine.

Can't imagine right now, but will be open to imagination.

Saturn turns direct on Friday, which will help you make better progress with all travel affairs, especially any major trips you may be contemplating.

I am contemplating a few indeed. India, U.S., Calabria and a few others.

You will also find that legal issues begin to resolve themselves at last.

There is one that has been weighing on me.

Saturday is not the best day for talking someone around to your point of view, wait a day or two before you do this.

Ok, I'll wait. Even though I usually don't even want to talk people into my point of view.

What a fantastic weekly horoscope. Mr. computer did a good job. Now let's see what happens.

The breathy fib

Each
breath
is in
the mike, and
this exposure to
breathing apparatus goes for
sexy. More voice, please,
and less child-
ish brea-
thi-
ness.

– Leonard “Music Eclect” Blumfeld

Invitable note
Just listened to one of these breathy singers* again while visiting a blog and had to vent my feelings poetically.
* I won’t say who it was in order not to offend anybody’s taste, but there are far too many around anyway. For my taste.

Picture reflected stop

This was a message from “unknown” – just these three words, nothing else.

Like a telegram from those times of old when people still sent telegrams:

PICTURE REFLECTED. STOP.

What picture? Reflected by what?

I can’t let this go on irking me – what’s in three words of unknown significance from an unknown source after all?

But why were they sent to me? By whom?

– Leonard Blumfeld

For 3WW #83.

Recycled

Detail from Diamond Doors, 2006
Acrylic and ink on photo paper

This was when I discovered high-gloss ink jet photo paper scraps as a medium for painting. It makes a bright white shiny background on which even bright colors appear somewhat dull. I liked the effect.

Not such a great scan, I'm afraid.

Posted for Reuse Reduce Recycle at Inspire Me Thursday.

Three assorted pieces of modern mythology

1. The King lives.*
2. Jim Morrison never died.
3. Johnny Winter is a zombie.

Mythology isn't all about things long past - each age has its own myths and mythology.

The theme of Totally Optional Prompts today is mythology, hence this small collection of mythorabilia I pulled out of my mythological hat.

Art by Dustin Parker. For more see Dustin Parker Arts LLC.

* See here.