Bistro Bijou

[UnderYourSpell]

I want one!

 

[Homburg]

I want one!

Wow! That is cool!

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

I've put my comment on but I've just one question ...... who is Tina?

Tina was the "girlfriend" of one of the black men. She was not a character in the story. She was only mentioned when the black men were debating whether or not to participate.

You found that confusing?

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Tina was the "girlfriend" of one of the black men. She was not a character in the story. She was only mentioned when the black men were debating whether or not to participate.

You found that confusing?

Oh I see lol don't worry bout it I prob read it too fast

 

[unpredictablebijou]

*drags in several huge bags, boxes and flats of shiny objects*

Good to be home. I've been off buying stuff this weekend, and now I'm rearranging and unpacking. I love this part - there's always something I forgot I bought, so it's like Christmas to unpack all the new things.

*yawn*
*shake head to clear it*
*sniff*

the side of military housing in Georgia where no one but me can see the view in the window...

I would love to hear the rest of that story...

I hope your sniffle is clearing up. Kissing is more difficult with a stuffy nose.

I had a moment this morning. I take my son tot he bus stop every morning. I am NOT a morning person, and regularly stay up past 2am. Getting up before 8am to drive him to the bus stop is not something I look forward to. Yet this morning I left to drive here to NY, and found myself missing that part of my morning.

This is something that I am entirely unused to. "Missing" someone is usually an abstract thing for me. It was very odd to actively miss that aspect of my morning, especially when it is something I would grumble about if you asked me after the alarm went off.

It is doubly strange when I realise that spending literally five to ten minutes or so each weekday morning carting him to the bus has done good things for our relationship, even though we're both usually bleary-eyed and quiet for the trip.

Gorgeous, Hommie. Mornings are truly a precious and fragile time, more than most people are able to realize, since we often can't indulge in waking naturally and gently. Finding beauty in that stolen little ten minutes is a fine thing.

~ A pitcher of whiskey sours[/COLOR]


I know, right? Damn commercial radio! I have no justification other than, "it's catchy". A shaky defense, I know...so is the flu. In your case, the reverb from the staccato syllabic breakdown prolly makes you all weak in the knees.

Two choices: Change the station or pull the car over. It's that serious.

Leave it to you to make spiders utterly appealing. But then, you could dress up a root canal in nice undies, and I'd be inclined to at least shake hands with it. I'm so weak.

BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY!

Clubbing

Hypnotic

Oh man. Yum.
Come out to the dance floor with me right now. I will do scandalous things to you in a rhythmic manner.

just back from a hard days spending money in London! bought a gorgeous full length red velvet cloak ..... Bijou can you tell me anything about Peridots please?

Well Tess made a damn fine start on it. Thanks!

Symbolically, it's associated with purification and strength - it was one of the 12 stones in the priest's breastplate in the Old Testament, so it has a connection with ministry and service as well.

I found something that said it was considered to be the tears of the Goddess Pele in Hawaii, but I think that may be untrue.

Volcano goddesses rarely cry.

That cloak sounds very dramatic. Any chance of a modelling session?

In BJ's absence - peridot .

Indeed thank you. People have been doing my various jobs for me all weekend while I've been off on my procurement raid.

Got some of these.

And these

And one of these

 

[sassynyc]

*drags in several huge bags, boxes and flats of shiny objects*

Got some of these.

And these

And one of these

got any aquamarine in those bags? actually, i call dibs on anything blue.

 

[champagne1982]

*drags in several huge bags, boxes and flats of shiny objects*Got some of these.

Ok, these look like they belong around the neck of a tortilla-flipping Mexican granny in preparation for The Feast of the Dead.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Top o' the mornin' to ya and pogue mahone! Happy St Paddy's day!

 

[unpredictablebijou]

*wanders in draped in scads of green beads*

Well.

An hour ago the shop was a complete madhouse, but now I have a break. The parade goes right by here, so there were about 400 people hanging around outside. We love parades. I cheer for everything that moves.

And the piper band wandered in for a while after the parade! I remembered then how much cats hate bagpipes. Ours were so traumatized they haven't come out yet.

I can still hear faint "woo"s from outside. I'm sure it will continue far into the evening.

Kinda glad it's over. And anyway, I like snakes.

got any aquamarine in those bags? actually, i call dibs on anything blue.

Dig your hands down into the bowl. It's full again now!

Yum.

Blue, huh? I have lapis, blue calcite, dumortierite, sodalite, blue goldstone and some stellar new czech crystal beads.

Yum:

Ok, these look like they belong around the neck of a tortilla-flipping Mexican granny in preparation for The Feast of the Dead.

They are similar, indeed. But these are from Nepal. Ooooo they're neato.

It's really hard not to buy all my own stuff.

So. How is everyone? Gettin' all lucky today?

 

[champagne1982]

Now I must research the significance of little bone beads carved into skulls for the Nepalese peoples. I have missed poetry for a few days and this may certainly inspire. Gawd, I hope so.

<grin=wicked> Maybe even an audio poem!</grin> --Please note, I did not parse the wickedness off.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Actually they're more Tibetan than Nepalese. Many Tibetan artisans are expatriate in Nepal, and I have one dealer who travels there and buys their stuff, hopefully enabling them to get the rest of their families out.

The skull malas are a buddhist thing, basically. Malas come in lots of shapes and materials, but they are always 108 beads, and are basically a form of rosary - one repeats a prayer or mantra with each bead.

The skull icon, to hugely oversimplify, is to remind us that we are all already dead, that this is all maya, illusion, and that we must renounce our own desires and dedicate ourselves to the destruction of everything that separates us from the divine. Y'know. Stuff like that.

One of my favorite metaphors goes like this:

This is life: A man is hanging from a branch, halfway down in a pit. Above him, fierce elephants trample the ground, ready to kill him if he climbs up. Below him, deadly serpents await his fall. The branch is already breaking and will not last much longer.

Hanging from the branch is a hive of bees, and drops of honey fall from the hive. Surrounded by all these dangers, faced with the absolute certainty of destruction, the man reaches out. Slowly, slowly he reaches out his finger to catch a drop of honey, to taste its sweetness.

There are two schools of thought on this: One says that this tendency to reach for the honey is our greatest failing. The other says that it is our most admirable quality, the thing that redeems us.

So, for the purpose of poetry and discussion, which do you think it is?

 

[champagne1982]

beauty in exquisite form
is perception, overdone
delights conceived
in such affliction to seek
the taste of infancy
should mother's milk
be so sweet we do naught
but strive for succour
onto death?

 

[UnderYourSpell]

a tendency to not know when to stop poking ones finger in juicy holes

 

[unpredictablebijou]

*laughing*

Both excellent answers!

champy, your ability to whip out a lovely little poem at a moment's notice never ceases to impress me.

Homburg must be distracted; I would have thought he'd be all over a parable like that.

*yawn, stretch*

So. Did everyone have a stellar St. Patrick's day?

 

[Shankara20]

but they are always 108 beads,

Have you ever sorted out the 108 number thing? what does it mean that a baseball also has 108 stitches?

I heard something about 108 on a Joseph Campbell tape but failed to keep the information in a usable format -that is I kept it in my memory

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Have you ever sorted out the 108 number thing? what does it mean that a baseball also has 108 stitches?

I heard something about 108 on a Joseph Campbell tape but failed to keep the information in a usable format -that is I kept it in my memory

It's cause it's 12 times 9.

heh.

That's not quite as facetious an answer as it seems. Both of those numbers are pretty important to a lot of systems, including Hinduism and Buddhism. Nine is the more important of the two numbers, so some malas are other multiples of nine.

And it's the hyperfactorial of 3. That's pretty neato too.

Here's the wikipedia entry on 108. It's pretty thorough.

 

[Homburg]

This is life: A man is hanging from a branch, halfway down in a pit. Above him, fierce elephants trample the ground, ready to kill him if he climbs up. Below him, deadly serpents await his fall. The branch is already breaking and will not last much longer.

Hanging from the branch is a hive of bees, and drops of honey fall from the hive. Surrounded by all these dangers, faced with the absolute certainty of destruction, the man reaches out. Slowly, slowly he reaches out his finger to catch a drop of honey, to taste its sweetness.

There are two schools of thought on this: One says that this tendency to reach for the honey is our greatest failing. The other says that it is our most admirable quality, the thing that redeems us.

So, for the purpose of poetry and discussion, which do you think it is?

The version I read had a tiger at the bottom, and on the branch was a succulent strawberry.

I would like to think that, after a few emphatic "Well, fuck me!" statements, that I would reach for the strawberry. Why not, right?

I'm basically right on board with the idea that death is perfectly acceptable and normal. It is the ephemeral and passing nature of life that allows what we do to (potentially) transcend meaninglessness. Anyway, the fact that the branch will break, and the tiger will feast does not matter in that one instant. The sweetness, the experience, that is life at its' finest.

 

[Shankara20]

Here's the wikipedia entry on 108. It's pretty thorough.

K-108 (Kansas highway)

oh - well, thanks


*sounds of Shank wondering off scratching his butt*

 

[unpredictablebijou]

K-108 (Kansas highway)

oh - well, thanks


*sounds of Shank wondering off scratching his butt*

Need any help with the less reachable bits?

The version I read had a tiger at the bottom, and on the branch was a succulent strawberry.

I would like to think that, after a few emphatic "Well, fuck me!" statements, that I would reach for the strawberry. Why not, right?

I'm basically right on board with the idea that death is perfectly acceptable and normal. It is the ephemeral and passing nature of life that allows what we do to (potentially) transcend meaninglessness. Anyway, the fact that the branch will break, and the tiger will feast does not matter in that one instant. The sweetness, the experience, that is life at its' finest.

*nods*

that's pretty much where I fall; i think our ability to be present in a moment is one of our best features.

There's an attachment thing, though, that as a vaguely buddhist type one might struggle with.

Can one reach for, eat and enjoy the strawberry without becoming attached to it?

 

[Homburg]

that's pretty much where I fall; i think our ability to be present in a moment is one of our best features.

There's an attachment thing, though, that as a vaguely buddhist type one might struggle with.

Can one reach for, eat and enjoy the strawberry without becoming attached to it?

The strawberry is an example of both lack of attachment, and simultaneous oneness of all things. You simply cannot become attached to the strawberry. It is consumed in the very process of enjoying it, and goes away. Attachment to the strawberry as an item is physically impossible if you eat it. And it likewise represents oneness, as it integrates into your being during consumption, imparting some of its' essence into you in the form of nutritious strawberry goodness.

So to enjoy the strawberry, one must let it go, and yet it to becomes one with you the moment you let it go.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

K-108 (Kansas highway)

oh - well, thanks


*sounds of Shank wondering off scratching his butt*

OMG What a thought as I toddle off to bed ..... your hairy butt ....

The strawberry is an example of both lack of attachment, and simultaneous oneness of all things. You simply cannot become attached to the strawberry. It is consumed in the very process of enjoying it, and goes away. Attachment to the strawberry as an item is physically impossible if you eat it. And it likewise represents oneness, as it integrates into your being during consumption, imparting some of its' essence into you in the form of nutritious strawberry goodness.

So to enjoy the strawberry, one must let it go, and yet it to becomes one with you the moment you let it go.

Wot he said ........

 

[champagne1982]

But...

one can still shit a seed and renew the cycle even as it all comes out in the end... youch!​

 

[Homburg]

But...

one can still shit a seed and renew the cycle even as it all comes out in the end... youch!​

Further enhancing the lack of attachment, and also speaking to the cyclical nature of existence.

 

[Shankara20]

OMG What a thought as I toddle off to bed ..... your hairy butt ....

your welcome

 

[sassynyc]

.



Dig your hands down into the bowl. It's full again now!

Yum.

Blue, huh? I have lapis, blue calcite, dumortierite, sodalite, blue goldstone and some stellar new czech crystal beads.

Yum:

*does happy dance on the new bar top, wearing blue rocks, in lieu of clothes*