shrines

this is not a post titled "little altars everywhere," it almost was, but when the FQ remembered that a movie or book had that title, we looked it up, and much oh no-ing ensued. Bad. book. no. bad. no. no.

but the rhythm is good (says one side of the FQ's mind..trochaic rhythm, opposite of iambic, she looked it up) but no (says the other side of that mind) that book was southern gothic chick lit and we just cannot stand behind it.

back to FQ.

do you have "little shrines everywhere"? (not the book, please not the book)

(still phrodaux typing as FQ dictates and does little "get off the computer it's my turn dances)

If not,:! why? not? (she complains about my lack of punctuation, so !@?:?!.;= nOw! I; aM, CauGhT. uP?..YeS?! aNd CAPITALS! ALL THE CAPITALS!)

OK then. With Phrodaux occupied downstairs cooking dinner, punctuation can come out again and play, nicely.

Back to our topic at hand: DO you have little shrines here and there and everywhere? And if not, why not? Because really, I'll bet you have some random stuff cluttering up the place and with a couple of quick moves, a little subtext and a dash of denial, you can call it a shrine.

For example:

This is a funny little corner shelf in the kitchen. This assortment of stuff, aka shrine, is a place to put random objects AND a way to distract from the stupid clutter down below. Don't look at that! Really.

Notice how ecumenical we are. Cali, Anubis, Virgin of Guadalupe, luchadors, dunces, weird stick chickens and random morel mushrooms found in the burn pile all come out to play.

Uninhabited corner of a room where really something major should be? As in, a bathtub in the bathroom? Whatever, make it a shrine:

Thanks to Fab Twin M, for the groovy art!

This, by the way, is the gorgeous bathroom Phrodaux made. It will have a bathtub, someday. It's in the driveway, ready for a team of Samoans to move it in.

Shrines are a way to remember your best beloveds. The base of this one is a giant saw blade, proving that it's survival of the fittest at our house, especially for toddlers.

On it we commemorate Xmas Valley with S&N (weird art tree), Burning Man with Mr T and Ms. M (jar of playa dust), adventures in steel, Moby Dick the healing tree, and the late, great Odin. There he is, in the dapper flowered canister, guarded by his sunbathing pal Orange Monkey.

How do you know when your shrine thing is getting out of hand? Well, you start making them when you are traveling (see picture at the top of this post, that's Mexico, people). But you can always consider that a preview of what you might create when you get home: Sea urchin shells from Troncones + Rwandan cow dung art from Farmer Sarah = yet another little shrine.

Confession: This is all really a character flaw. While Phrodaux thrives on chaos, the Fairy Queen craves order. The difference between a pile of stuff and a shrine is an ounce of intention, or maybe attention, or both. Look up, and around.

You never know.

self conscious tongue

there you go.

have you been at that place, you know the one, where someone says something like "don't you think your tongue feels weird?" then all you can think about is how big and weird your tongue feels?

Someone recently pointed out that Phrodaux (your humble/egotistical bastard writer) likes the "long comedy". He (me) brings up some reference from earlier and occasionally brings it back up like oh so much pesto from lunch (sorry "sheet vinyl guy", you are now a "thang"). I think the phrase was something like "the master of the ??". (FQ: help me here, can't remember the comment correctly).

{FQ Side bar: Ceremonies? Disguise? Long con?}

now, I sit, wondering when my tongue got to be so weird (and what the hell happened to my pants? I thought I had pants... PANTS!)


Maybe it has something to do with coming home from a vacation in warm places with an abundance of fish tacos and tequila/sprite based drinks? (we spent last weekend in Mexico, nosy Ned) or maybe it is when someone points out something that you knew, but were not aware of it is like saying "those shoes make your nipples look big" then the entire day you are wondering why my shoes have anything to do with the size of my nipples, and I always thought that my nipples were appropriately sized... as you speed through the red light and your brain just says "huh".

{FQ Side bar: All I have to add is SHOE RULE. If everyone followed the shoe rule, there would be no confusing nipple stuff. SHOE RULE clearly states that shoes should be black or brown, unless they are sneakers, in which case they may also be white or maybe gray but that is pushing things a little bit. Those of you out there pink, green, or ORANGE shoes, please take note.}

or maybe it is just me.


...and then...ok, here you go...this is one of those "time to post, must...write" posts, not much contents, so I once sent a joke to Jay Leno. Yah, I know, who hasn't, but shut up...please feel free to include your best joke in the comments that has "Bea Arthur" as the punch line, maybe Jay is reading.