Velvet Verbosity

Bossy and her Beau win for most original Halloween Costume for 2008.

I’ll be the judge of that! hehe.

Happy Halloween!

** Disclaimer - All items from Etsy that I choose to feature here are of my own finding. They are things I like, not things I will get a kickback on or a free gift of. No one has approached me asking me to review their product. Most importantly, I don’t always BUY these items (what, you think this blog is making me any MONEY?) This is just me, doing my part and sharing a little bit of what’s worth finding on the world WIDE web.

Don’t ask me why I’m suddenly into the whole review thing, but obviously I’m on that kick right now. There are just so many cool things on the internet, and so little time. For my few but loyal readers I feel almost responsible to share things that I find. To not share links and photos seems selfish somehow in a three year old kind of way.

“No, you can’t see it. It’s MINE!”

Velvet Verbosity doesn’t play like that.

So I bring you Kenneth Parker Photography. Stunning, beautiful photographs. The kind we all wish that expensive digital camera we asked for for Christmas would take automatically.

I am in love with this week’s Etsy Find. I won’t be able to afford this gorgeous handcrafted Paper Lotus Light Shade right now, but I hope someone can. Better yet, I hope someone buys me this for Christmas!

You want to know the best part? These hanging light shades are custom made to order so you can specify size, and even color. The dynamic duo behind this beautiful lotus also make other lamp shades, which are really lamp shade sculptures.

Lest you worry that your beautiful lotus light shade will burst into flames right before your eyes after just a couple of hours of glowing warmly, no need to worry. Blue Tree is way ahead of you (or maybe it’s just me). All paper lamp shades are treated with a “protective finish” rendering them non-flammable and moisture resistant. This is fabulous news.

So, Dad, Sister, Mother, Brother, Someone Who Loves Me, Children of Mine, Stranger on the Street, take note. This is on my WISH LIST. If you’ve been in my kitchen, I think you’ll agree. I need this.

** Disclaimer - All items from Etsy that I choose to feature here are of my own finding. They are things I like, not things I will get a kickback on or a free gift of. No one has approached me asking me to review their product. Most importantly, I don’t always BUY these items (what, you think this blog is making me any MONEY?) This is just me, doing my part and sharing a little bit of what’s worth finding on the world WIDE web.

There are corners in my mind reserved for you and it makes me wonder, “how many corners can a mind have?” My mind is a polyhedron and you occupy so many corners it has to keep expanding.

At a meeting, she sits across from me, careful not to look anyone directly in the eyes. Diminutive in stature, she pulls into herself so tightly I half-expect her to implode and I can’t take my eyes away for fear I might miss it. I imagine the sound effect; a small sucking noise followed by a small *pop*. I can imagine that, but I can’t imagine what would be left in her place. Perhaps nothing more than a little vortex of dust stirred up by tiny implosion.

There are things I’m avoiding today. Not any one thing in particular. Wanting to avoid life altogether, as though I could check out just for a day. Reboot tomorrow. Sleep is not the same as being totally shut down, and it makes me jealous of my computer. Sleep doesn’t seem rest enough. The body and mind rage on, even in sleep.

This is the same girl who created her own original works at a recent weekend retreat for Buddhist teens at the beautiful Karme Choling in Vermont. This is the same girl who makes me laugh and takes my breath away.

Imagine how hip your fridge is going to look with these droplets of subtle colors and reflection holding up your kids’ artwork (or your own). These Fairy Drops Magnets would make wonderful gifts and for the price, you could fill 100 stockings with the little darlings. There are over 30 designs to choose from and they can be found at Aerie Fairy’s Etsy Shop. I corresponded with her to ask her how many were in a package (8-9 FYI). I assure you, she’s prompt and ridiculously friendly (that’s a good thing). Tell her I sent you, not because she’ll do me any favors, I just want her to know that good product combined with friendly service has its rewards.

** Disclaimer #1 - All items from Etsy that I choose to feature here are of my own finding. They are things I like, not things I will get a kickback on or a free gift of. This is just me, doing my part and sharing a little bit of what’s worth finding on the world WIDE web.

**Disclaimer #2 - I have just ordered my set of Fairy Drops Magnets so I cannot speak to the quality, speed of shipping, or anything else regarding the shipping and receipt of this product. I can tell you she has all positive reviews, and my correspondence with her was very positive. I will update this post when I receive my order.

** “This Week’s Etsy Find” will be a weekly feature as of this very moment. Yep, I just decided, so if you want to get your etsy fix, you’ll know to come back here every Monday morning for Velvet Verbosity’s ultra-hip and tasteful finds.

For those of you not in the know, Velvet Verbosity just got a new laptop for work so that I can be mobile. Two teens demand a lot of moving around and at work we decided it would be worth it for me to be able to have a mobile office.

I chose a nifty sleeve for my Macbook Pro from the Apple Store Online. It’s nice. It’s red. I like red. But it just doesn’t have that umph, that “heeey, how YOU doin?”, that “do you know what’s inside here?”, that *POP*. It’s just…red. And padded.

That’s why I fell in love with these designs by Janine King. Sleeves, totes and briefcases, take your pick. I personally like the sleeves because they come with a handle.

I like this retro look.

P.S. I want to come up with a catchy name for this weekly review. Ideas? Shoot me some.

“Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the mind, weakens the faculties and causes a kind of remissness and dissolution in all the powers of the soul; and thus it may be looked on as weakness in the composition of human nature. But if we consider the frequent reliefs we receive from it and how often it breaks the gloom which is apt to depress the mind and damp our spirits, with transient, unexpected gleams of joy, one would take care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life.” -Joseph Addison

I found two different versions of the above Joseph Addison quote. (I hope it is obvious I was looking for quotes on laughter.) The first I came across had only the first sentence, and upon reading it, I thought to myself, “this Joseph Addison must’ve been one uptight dude”. A little more searching revealed the quote with the second sentence. Ah. Now that’s different. Funny that whoever posted the first version didn’t see the importance of including the second part. The part where this guy redeems himself. The part where you realize he’s not an uptight puritan who thinks laughter is bad for you (along with sex, running in bare feet on summer grass, or ice cream). So, it’s not Joseph Addison that’s the uptight dude, it’s clearly whoever posted his quote entirely out of context.

But seriously. Did your mother ever tell you that “laughter is the best medicine”? My mom did. Of course she always driveled such nonsense when I was in ridiculous amounts of pain, like the first time my heart was broken (thanks BW, I still owe you one). I failed to see the wisdom in that pithy little statement while I was wailing into my pillow. Now I’m older and wiser.

Ok. Maybe just older. Cut me some slack, I’m getting there.

Consider the positive benefits highlighted at bellylaughday:

• Even looking forward to having a good laugh can boost your immune system and reduce stress. University of California-Irvine study shows that even knowing you will be involved in a positive humorous event days in advance reduces levels of stress hormones in the blood and increases levels of chemicals known to aid relaxation.
• Laughter appears to cause the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow.
• Playful laughing fuels positive energy, creativity and connection.
• Boosts immune functions.
• Increase’s pain tolerance.
• Exercises facial, abdominal and chest muscles.
• Oxygenates the blood.
• Improves brain functioning.
  We are more alert, creative, we think better after a laugh.
• Laughing changes our mood. Boosts Positive Emotions.
• Laughing mixed together with the positive emotions of humor,
  and happiness lowers the stress hormones, corticosteroids and epinephrine. The release of growth hormone and endorphins plays a role in lowering the stress hormones.

Even activating the smiling muscles has good benefits. What did Addison have to say about smiling?

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”

To think I almost wrote this guy off as a cynic.

(Image brought to you by http://www.laughternetwork.co.uk/laughter.html)