Wildcraft’s on Sale!

Heads up, y’all!  The Wildcraft game is on sale, until this Thursday.  Typically, it only goes on sale in the winter, around Christmas-time, I believe.

For those who hadn’t heard of it yet, it’s a board game that teaches herbs and is cooperative (rather than competitive). My kids were stoked to get it for Christmas a couple years ago.  And, us adults enjoyed playing it too.  I also got their Herb Fairies set last year, when I was homeschooling my youngest.  Heck, the whole she-bang they offer is very cool.  If you’re into herbs at all, Learning Herbs is definitely worth a look-see!

If you have heard of it and  been on the fence about buying it, or waiting for it to go back on sale, now’s your chance.  Till Thursday, it’s down to $19.99 and you still get all the bonuses.

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Misplaced Myths #2 – Medusa

Back in the day, I had a blog called Misplaced Myths.  It contained various myths, legends and tales turned sideways and over-analyzed, sometimes to a comedic extent.  Needless to say, it was fun to write and I decided to bring it back here as a regular feature.  (Re-)Introducing Misplaced Myth Mondays!

Medusa:  Ancient Anti-Feminist Rhetoric?

According to legend, Medusa was a Gorgon who had snakes for hair and a face so hideous, it would turn a person to stone.  She lived with 2 Gorgon sisters, who shared her distaste for mortal man.  Perseus killed her by cutting her head off, aided by a reflective shield given to him by Athena.  He then used her head as a weapon before giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield.

Another, less known, aspect of the legend was that Medusa was once beautiful.  So much so, in fact, that she was said to inspire jealousy everywhere she went.  She was raped by Poseiden in Athena’s temple, which enraged Athena so much that she made her the hideous creature of legend.  Perseus was credited with saying he felt her punishment was deserved.  Some hero.

It seems the story is rife with victim-shaming, but is it also a piece of anti-female propaganda?  If Medusa was, in fact, a victim of rape, wouldn’t it make sense that she’d prefer living apart from men, with other females who felt as she did?  Perhaps, it left her not caring about her appearance, or even trying to be less attractive.  Was she really cursed by Athena, or did her hair simply become so disheveled that it resembled snakes to those who looked upon her, turned to stone in their shock and disgust?

What is the takeaway from a story like this?  It makes you wonder who’s really the hero and who’s the monster.

Got a myth you wanna see misplaced?  Gimme a holler!

Some Nola Eye Candy!

NOTE: The original post, linked to from the image I included, have since been removed from that site.  Neither are showing on my post anymore.  I will certainly add some more Nola eye candy in the future.

 

If there’s one thing I love, it’s old houses.  Another thing I love is New Orleans.  The food, the music, the vibe…it’s just too awesome!  Today, I ran across the best of both worlds.

The place is tiny (no big get-togethers here) but it’s cute.  It’s also right in the heart of the French Quarter and near the Treme.  Some of the best of Nola, without having to bother with a hotel room to sleep at?  Count me in!

Happy 4th of July!

I can’t believe it’s the 4th already.  We are solidly through the first half of 2017.

Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence here in the U.S.  Many of us have the day off and will be spending time with family (I’ll also be finishing up some tasks in the garden myself).

With that in mind, I’ll keep this post short and sweet:  Enjoy your Independence Day, y’all…Eat, drink and be merry!

Misplaced Myths #1: Goldilocks & The 3 Bears

Back in the day, I had a blog called Misplaced Myths.  It contained various myths, legends and tales turned sideways and over-analyzed, sometimes to a comedic extent.  Needless to say, it was fun to write and I decided to bring it back here as a regular feature.  (Re-)Introducing Misplaced Myth Mondays!

Goldilocks: Enabling An Entitled Culture?

We all know the story about Goldilocks.  The little-girl-lost who wandered into the forest and wound up in a strange home, trying everything out till it was juuuust right.  Until she was woken up by the 3 bears who lived there and ran off in fright.

Is there a moral to this story?  The typical version just states what happened and offers nothing else of value.  So, what is this story telling the kids who hear it?  The way it’s set up, with Goldilocks as the protagonist, the message is that it’s OK to wander into someone’s home and give their stuff a good test run.  Never mind if it gets broken, or eaten up, because you won’t be the one stuck replacing it.

And, am I the only one who felt bad for Baby Bear?  After all, it was Baby’s chair broken and porridge all eaten up.  The poor little thing got the worst of the experience.  Goldilocks didn’t even stick around to apologize and make amends.  She totally dipped when Consequence Time came ’round and should be ashamed of herself. Tsk, tsk.

We could go even further and make the claim that this is a tale of modern encroachment on nature.  After all, a human did wander into the woods and damage the place without remorse.  It happens often enough in real life.

The signs point to enabling an entitled culture with no sense of responsibility.  I suppose that would give the story an anti-moral?

Got a myth you wanna see misplaced?  Gimme a holler!

 

 

Pulling Out The Welcome Mat

Well, I finally did it, y’all.  I got my website put together.  At this point, it’s still in the organizing stages.  As time goes on, I’ll likely change up the theme and what-not till it’s in proper shape.

Stay in touch.  I’ll be populating this page, and getting my content schedule and social media in place, so things could start getting interesting 😉

(Photo by Eric Yuen, courtesy of Freerange Stock)