Year of the Dragon

Looks like I missed the opportunity to celebrate the beginning of the Chinese New Year, as it officially started on January 23rd.  Oh well. doesn't matter if I'm three days late, does it?

                                                                                            Wikimedia

  This most important Chinese holiday marks the end of winter. Hooray for that!

PassedBy

It is a time of the new moon

TheDeeps

Red is the lucky color in everything from clothes to decorations

 

www.boston.com 

Red envelopes symbolize good luck. Money is placed in them and handed out at the New Year

simplylivealoha

2012 is the Year of the Dragon (a symbol of power). A dragon is quite exotic, don't you think? It's the stuff of legends.  Perhaps, I'm a bit biased, as I was born in a dragon year.

 wikimedia

 Have you ever wondered what year you were born in? Here is a wheel chart you may use to find the answer.

altiusdirectory

Happy New Year!  

新年快乐

Wordless Wednesday...What is that Knocking?

Grimm's

This year marks the bicentennial of the translation and release of Grimm's fairy tales, the stories collected and published by the Brothers Grimm.

 Wikipedia

 Now most of us have heard of these German brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, but can you name their most famous stories?

Ever hear of...

  Cinderella

                                                          illusions gallery

Hansel and Gretel

 mythfolklore

Rapunzel

gutenberg

 Rumpelstiltskin

 

 Illustration by H.J. Ford from the 1889 edition of 'The Blue Fairy Book' edited by Andrew Lang

and

Snow White

(sorry, I couldn't resist!)    wikimedia

All sorts of celebrations will occur to commemorate this historic occasion, including  Hollywood movies

 

nypost

imdb

and an entire symposium in Portugal in June:   

 Grimm (and you) in Lisbon

If all this has put you in the mood for "a soothing tale to waft you toward dreamland,"

check this out 

nationalgeographic

Wordless Wednesday... Not Drink

 

Notice the sign on the wall?

Pinteresting Site

Lately, I've been reading more and more about Pinterest  , the online pinboard, where you can create "boards" with images and comments about most any subject (no pornography or other blatantly offensive material, of course). It is a digital scrapbook of sorts.

 

People have been writing about how much they enjoy it and how it is good for raising the views on their shops. One cannot just sign up, however, because it is by "invitation," only.  Perhaps because Pinterest is fairly new and they are possibly trying to create an allure. After all what a great way to spread the word. 

 

So I took the plunge and requested an invitation. It took about two days for them to get back to me. I was accepted! (don't think there is much in the way of criteria here). Here is the link to my page, if you are curious... autenavintage

 

For my first board, I decided to use buttons as my subject, due to my new-found interest in them. Diving into an Internet search for items beyond the ordinary, I found these and made my first, which I call:

• Brilliant Buttons

   
   
  

  
  

  Due to copyright issues, they must be credited, which the site does for you, along with a link to where they were found.
  
  

  I belong the the Ecochic team on ETSY, which consists of vintage jewelry sellers. So, to be a good participant and promoter, I pinned some pieces of garnet (my birthstone) jewelry from some of their shops:

• January Jewels

   

   

  

  
  

  As an avid reader, I've been lucking out in finding some extraordinary writers lately. Thought I'd share off some of my finds in the third board:

Explore These Books

 

   

 

They are all a work in progress, as they may be added to at any time.

It is a social networking website (what isn't these days?), so not long after you post items, you receive notices about others who like what you posted and/or who have re-pinned an item to their boards, as well as gaining new followers. However, they frown upon blatant self-promotion. I noticed that several shopowners have dedicated one board among their many to their shop.


Both Etsy and ArtFire have recognized the power of Pinterest and have placed "Pinit" buttons on their pages, so that the proprietor's items may be pinned on someone's board.

Some have said that it becomes addictive and I can understand now what they mean. I now leave it to you to explore this entertaining site.

Wordless Wednesday...Room With A View

Across from the hotel front door, facing ...

...this alley.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday. It is a "big" birthday, as they say.  How big I cannot reveal, or, rather, I will not reveal. 

In honor of this, I am feeling a bit sentimental and have decided to show off a baby picture of me shortly after my arrival.

My mother is holding me and you can probably guess what era I was born in, by the, shall we say, lack of color in the picture.

Personally I love the evocative nature of black and white photos. Makes the subject appear more atmospheric, if you will.

Fast forward a year to my first birthday cake--not that you can see much detail in this.

 I can't say I remember the decoration either, so cannot describe it. Obviously the celebration was at night.

The stoneware water cooler on the right was the precursor to today's plastic jugs.

So that is it for this post. Don't feel like working today!