MwGraffiti1

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I would like to thank The Old Farmer's Almanac and The Book of Love

(1996) for many of the tidbits in this special

Valentine post. I would also like to honor and appreciate all people who have loved in their lives, who have not been afraid to give themselves,
to be embarassed, to learn, to fail, to laugh...to take another human into their lives and share the pain..the friendship, the beauty, and the marvel of being, thank you all for your inspiration
and source of courage to believe that
even amidst an imperfect life,
Love can always find
it's way back
to you.

And when we think of Love, it is not complete without the element of loss..and for those people that we have loved most deeply in our lives that have passed..Valentine's Day is a good day to take a moment and reflect about what they believed in, their ideas and the memories which allowed them to stand the test of time..

My late Grandmother and Grandfather...Loretta and Frank were married nearly six decades and through them, was able to witness a very special kind of peace and security, and there are others I will be thinking about today..who were called back to the Divine Origin perhaps even before their time, and I am especially grateful to them and the legacy they gifted the world

through their progeny.

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One of my favorite quotes from Vincent Van Gogh, "Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well."

"If you've ever wondered what secret things famous people have done between the sheets, we can reveal these startling facts: Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald,and Edith Wharton all...wrote in bed. The legendary Sex Queen Mae West, known especially for her bedroom skills, went even further. She completed not only several screenplays in bed but her autobiography as well."

Bringing Home the Bacon..
Being happily married in England in the 12th century was as good as winning the lottery. The husband and wife in each county who could prove that they had been the most joyously devoted to each other would win a side of cured and salted bacon. Oddly enough, the winners were selected by a jury of six bachelors and six unmarried women. The jurors quizzed the contestants on all manner of domestic issues and selected the happiest-sounding pair from amid the responses. The lucky newlyweds literally took home the bacon. Although the contest ended in the late 19th century, the phrase has continued in use.
...I do not eat bacon but the phrase has stood the test of time...and on the subject of enjoying juicy meat, Catherine the Great lovingly referred to the potbellied Grigori Potemkin as 'Wolfbird', 'Golden Rooster', and 'My Marble Beauty'...they say she had an intense sexual appetite.

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"A good sense of humor is sure to take two spouses a long way into marriage. A respect for the aging process will take them from there. Agatha Christie combined both in a delightful way when she wrote,

"An archeologist is the best husband a woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her."

-I will add that of course now a husband can keep his wife looking quite young for a very long time.

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See if you can follow my parallels here...

Mickey Mouse=Oppressors of many a generation

Water=Money

BroomStick=Jews

As in, no one can stop Jewish people,

and when they try, it only makes

them more successful,

more determined,

and just simply,

More.

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I quietly fell; giving myself up to his wild whims with perfect abandon. The sable divinity would not herself dwell with us always; but we could counterfeit her presence...By the aid of these we then busied our souls in dreams--reading, writing, or conversing, until warned by the clock of the advent of true Darkness. Then we sallied forth into the streets, arm in arm, continuing the topics of the day, or roaming far and wide until a late hour, seeking, amid the wild lights and shadows of the populous city, that infinity of mental excitement which quiet observation can afford. (Poe, about a great friendship)

Kindred Spirits

By Asher Durand (1849)...

Painting was inspired by the words of John Keats:

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,
Let it not be among the jumbled heap
Of murky buildings: climb with me the steep,—
Nature's observatory—whence the dell,
In flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,
May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
'Mongst boughs pavilioned, where the deer's swift leap
Startles the wild bee from the foxglove bell.
But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,
Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
Whose words are images of thoughts refined,
Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be
Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.

***

Yet another special quality of the soul is the way it expresses itself in enigmatic images. The soul lives in the realm of imagination, and influences the direction and quality of life through a kind of poetics, a language of image and symbol.(Thomas Moore)

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...and it seemed to me, that your spirit

was about me, and about Karlinchen

and Lenchen, everyone, and everything

I had not seen, and had seen, and finally

there was Lotte, and Lotte, and Lotte,

and without Lotte nothing but Want

and Mourning and Death. Adieu, Lotte,

not a word more today..

--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

to his Charlotte Buff, 1774, in

Frankfurt

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#14: The French Kiss
Some call this "The Soul Kiss," because the life and soul are thought to pass through the mouth's breath in the exchange across tongues.

#17: The Foot Kiss

People with ticklish feet will find the foot kiss quite funny, but just relax and enjoy it. Afterward, an extra touch of romance can be added by sending a little note signed "QBSP" Quien besa su pie?

#20: The Last Kiss

In ancient Rome, custom had it that the last Kiss would capture the soul of a dying man and keep it alive on the lips of his lover.

Thank you for showing me how special I am.

#2: The Butterfly Flutter

Place your eye within a breadth of your partner's cheek. Open and close your eyelids against her skin. If this is done correctly, the flutter sensation on her cheek should match the one in your heart.

#6: The Hand Kiss

Historically, the Hand Kiss, with it's bow of subordination, showed deference to a lady. If a male was too superior to lower himself, he simply raised the woman's hand to his mouth. Since the Hand Kiss has now fallen out of fashion, it makes an unexpectedly romantic impression. To perform it correctly, lower your eyes and cup your shoulders over the lady's fingers, prolonging the moment when your lips rest on her hand.