The needing
The wanting
The wrong, the long
waiting
The aging
The inconvenience
The silence...
The restarting
The new
The challenging, the doing
The needing
The wanting
The convenience of one button
Escape.
Lady Samantha Writes |
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The blahs, the boredom
The needing The wanting The wrong, the long waiting The aging The inconvenience The silence... The restarting The new The challenging, the doing The needing The wanting The convenience of one button Escape.
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So you think you know everything about birthstones, and there is only ONE set of birthstones, right? I assure there are many sets of birthstones! Here is a long list of birthstones from many cultures. By no means is this a definitive list. I could not find lists from some cultures; this does not mean they do not have a set of birthstones.
Men and women have worn jewelry since time immemorial. The idea behind many traditions was to show status or to ward of evil, but at some point jewelry became more that just status symbols and amulets. Slaves in various cultures were known to wear bracelets to show who they belonged to. Eventually, jewelry became what it is now: something to adorn ourselves with, to make ourselves look or feel better. In some cases, it is still a status symbol.
I've scoured the internet for facts about jewelry. The most amusing fact is , apparently, in the United States it is spelled “J-e-w-e-l-r-y,” and everywhere else it is spelled “J-e-w-e-l-l-r-y.” Some more facts for you: The word “jewelry” comes from jewel, from the old French jouel, which comes from the Latin jocale. Jocale means “plaything.” Cro-Magnon men and women wore necklaces and bracelets made from bones, teeth, berries and stones all threaded on animal sinew. Snail shell beads, found in the ancient Blombos Cave in Africa, dated back 75,000 years. In Russia, there have been ancient bracelets carved from mammoth tusk. Emeralds were mined by the Egyptians as early as 3500 BC. In many cultures, ancient and modern, jewelry is thought to ward of evil. The Egyptian Ankh is one example. Can you believe people used to swallow whole pearls because it was believed they were a source of purity, and can ward off the evil influences of disease? Egypt and Mesopotamia were the first two ancient civilizations who started organized production of jewelry. The ancient Chinese loved silver much more than gold and loved jade even more. Silver has been used in jewelry for over six thousand years. Copper jewelry appeared about seven thousand years ago. There's a museum in Austria, The Museum of Ancient History, that found a female jeweler's grave. This washed away the myth that all ancient jewelers were men. In ancient Rome, only some high ranking people were allowed to wear rings. Murano, famous for its glass makers, has been making glass beads as early as the 1200s, and their necklaces are still sought after today. In 1477, Maximilian of Austria gave his soon-to-be wife, Mary of Burgundy, a ring as a promise of marriage. Thus, this is the first known engagement ring. I will mention that I did read one article that stated that Pope Nicholas I required all Christians women to wear one if they were getting married. Again, that was only one article. Why is it called the “ring finger”? The story goes that people used to believe that that particular finger had a vein connect straight to the heart. Have you ever heard of “Black Jet”? No, it's not a band. It was a jewelry material that was made popular during the reign of Queen Victoria. It's made from fossilized coal formed over 180 million years ago. I wonder if that is where we get the phrase “jet black” when talking about someone's hair? The largest pearl on record weighed 14 pounds. The largest diamond is the Culinan Diamond, which is on England's Crown Jewels. The Star of Asia is one of the largest sapphires known in the world and is currently housed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. In some African cultures, enormous earrings are a sign of masculinity, power and status. Twenty-four carat gold is 99.9% pure. Platinum alloys range from 900 (90% pure) to 950 (95% pure). It wasn't until 1896 that platinum was used in jewelry and Cartier can claim to be the first jeweler to use platinum. A pink gem called Kunzite will lose its intensity if left in the sunlight for too long. For this reason, it was originally known as “the Evening Stone.” You are at home and you are bored? Well, why not take some time to learn some new things?
As I stated to some of you on social media, I was composing a blog that was a poem or a humor article or anything mainstream. I have this weird love of doing research on various things and, on occasion, I used to compile themed lists of songs for Associated Content. So here is a list of songs with cities in the title. I have alphabetized these to the best of my ability. It is rather a long list. If you feel like adding more, do so in the comments, please!
Sadly, formatting is really hard for some reason. A Abilene- Les Brown Abu Dhabi - Split Enz Albuquerque - Neil Young Alice Springs- Liz Phair Allentown - Billy Joel All the Way to Reno- R.E.M. Amarillo by Morning- George Strait Amsterdam- Crowded House Anchorage - Michelle Shocked Angel of Harlem- U2 April in Paris - Count Basie Arrivederci Roma - Renato Rascel Austin- Blake Shelton Autumn in New York – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong B Back to Bradford – Smokie Bahama Mama- Marty Robbins Baltimore- Lyle Lovett Baltimore- Prince Baltimore to Washington- Woody Guthrie Ballarat - The Lemonheads Barcelona- Freddie Mercury and Monsterrat Caballe Battle of New Orleans - Johnny Horton Belfast- Elton John Belfast- The Irish Rovers Belfast Child- Simple Minds Berlin, Berlin- Marlene Dietrich Berlin im Licht-- Kurt Weill Bermuda Triangle- Fleetwood Mac Birmingham- Amanda Marshall The Boston Rag - Steely Dan The Boy From New York City - The Manhattan Transfer Brasilia- Herp Alpert Brighton Rock – Queen Brooklyn- Donna Summer ( it's part of a city) Brooklyn Roads- Neil Diamond Buenos Aires Song- Andrew Lloyd Webber (Evita) Budapest- Jethro Tull Buffalo- The Church By The Time I Get To Phoenix- Glenn Campbell C Cairo- XTC Calcutta- Lawrence Welk Calgary- Bon Iver Callin Baton Rouge- Garth Brooks Calling Moscow -Cabaret Voltaire Cardiff-By-The-Sea- The Ataris Casablanca - Bertie Higgins C'est à Hambourg - Édith Piaf Chattanooga Choo Choo- Glenn Miller Chicago- Frank Sinatra Christmas in Hollis- Run DMC City of New Orleans- Arlo Guthrie Cleveland Rocks- Ian Hunter Cordoba - Brian Eno and John Cale C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E - Paul Whiteman Crossing to Jerusalem- Roseanne Cash D Dear Vienna - Owl City Denver- Willie Nelson Detroit City Blues- Fats Domino Detroit Rock City- Kiss Dickens' Dublin - Loreena McKennitt Don't Go Back To Rockville - R.E.M. Downpour in Cairo- Bad Company Do You Know The Way to San Jose- Dionne Warwick Dublin- Thin Lizzy Dublin Blues- Guy Clark Düsseldorf - Regina Spektor E Edinburgh Man- The Fray 88 Seconds in Greensboro - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark El Paso- Marty Robbins Englishman in New York- Sting F Fire in Cairo- The Cure First We Take Manhattan - Leonard Cohen Fleur De Paris- Maurice Chevallier Fun in Acapulco - Elvis Presley Funky Kingston -Toots and The Maytals G Galveston - Glenn Campbell Genova per noi - Paolo Conte Glasgow Love Theme - Craig Armstrong To Denver - Waylon Jennings Goodnight Saigon- Billy Joel H Hamburg Admiralty Music -Georg Philipp Telemann Hamburg Sonata" (Sonata in G major, Wq 133) - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Harlem Nocturne - Chuck Brown Harlem Shuffle- Edgar Winter Havana- Linda Eder Havana Moon- Chuck Berry Hiroshima - Ben Folds Hollywood- Chaka Khan Honeymoon in Beirut – Rick Springfield Honolulu song- Michael Martin Murphy Honolulu City Lights- The Carpenters Honolulu Lulu - Jan & Dean Hot 'lanta - Allman Brothers Houston- REM I If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again – Monkees If You're Going to San Francisco ( Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)- Scott Mackenzie I Got a Girl in Kalamazoo - Glenn Miller I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City – Nilsson I Left My Heart in San Francisco- Tony Bennett Istanbul - The Four Lads Istanbul Opening - Giorgio Moroder J Jerusalem- Sinead O'Connor Jerusalem- Alphaville Jerusalem , Jerusalem- Cliff Richard Juarez - Tori Amos K Kansas City Lights- Steve Wariner Kashka from Baghdad- Kate Bush Kashmir- Led Zeppelin Kathmandu - Bob Seger King of New Orleans- Better Than Ezra Kyoto Song - The Cure L L.A. Woman - The Doors Last Train to Clarksville - The Monkees Leaving Las Vegas- Sheryl Crow Leaving New York - REM Leipzig- Thomas Dolby Leningrad - Billy Joel The Little Old Lady From Pasadena -Jan and Dean L'homme de Berlin- Édith Piaf Lights of Taormina - Mark Knopfler Little Rock- Reba McIntire Loco in Acapulco - The Four Tops London - Tangerine Dream London Calling- The Clash London By Night - Frank Sinatra London Times - Gary Numan Lukenbach, Texas- Waylon Jennings M Malibu - Hole Madamoisselle de Paris- Danny Kaye Madrid- Nat King Cole Maid of Orléans - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Managua, Nicaragua - Freddie Martin & His Orchestra Manhattan- Ella Fitzgerald Manhattan Bridge- Blues Traveler Manhattan Project- Rush Manhattan Skyline- A-HA Marrakesh Express- Crosby, Stills, & Nash Mecca - Gene Pitney Memphis Blues- WC Handy Memphis Skyline- Rufus Wainright Miami - Dj Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince Midnight in Montgomery - Alan Jackson Miss Sarajevo- George Michael Mission To Moscow -Glenn Miller Montauk- Rufus Wainright (not a city per se) Moon Over Miami- Connee Boswell Moon Over Moscow- Visage Moscow - Tchaikovsky Moscow Nights- Roy Clark Mother Russia- Iron Maiden Munich- The Fray Munich Girls- Falco N Native New Yorker- Odyssey "Nam Ooru Bengaluru" by Gopi Sunder, Bryan Adams (Bengaluru-Bangalore) New Delhi - Madness New Delhi Freight Train- Rick Nelson New Orleans Instrumental- REM New York- Bay City Rollers New York Groove- Ace Frehley New York, New York - Frank Sinatra New York Minute -Don Henley Night Boat to Cairo- Madness Night Train To Munich- Al Stewart No Sleep Til Brooklyn- Beastie Boys O Odessa – Sylvie Vartan Odessa (City on the Black Sea) - Bee Gees Okie From Muskogee- Merle Haggard Omaha - Counting Crows On an Evening in Roma - Dean Martin One Night In Bangkok- Murray Head Ottawa Today - The Red Squares P Palo Alto - Radiohead Paris- Edith Piaf The Peking Theme- Andy Williams Perth- Bon Iver Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John Please Come to Boston - Dave Loggins Pompeii- Bastille Poor People Of Paris - Les Baxter And His Orchestra Pyongyang - Blur Q The Queen of Sarajevo – Blues Traveler R Radio Baghdad- Patti Smith Radio Havana- Rancid Radio Warszawa -Sidney Polak feat. Pezet Remember Manhattan- Richard Marx Reno Blues- Merle Haggard Rio de Janeiro- Barry White Road to Cairo- Howard Jones Rumble in Brighton - Stray Cats S Saginaw, Michigan- Faron Young San Francisco Days- Chris Isaak San Francisco Girls- Fever Tree Say Goodbye to Hollywood - Billy Joel Seattle - Fastball Seoul Music- Chumbawumba Shangaï - Indochine Shuffle off to Buffalo - Andrews Sisters Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King St Louis Blues- WC Handy Still in Saigon - Charlie Daniels Band Stockholm Syndrome - Yo La Tengo Streets of Edinburg- The Proclaimers Streets of Philadelphia- Bruce Springsteen Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnson Suburbs of Moscow- Kim Wilde T Tallahassee Lassie - Freddy Cannon Texarkana- REM The Thief of Baghdad- The Teardrop Explodes The Man From Laramie - Al Martino The Night Chicago Died- Paper Lace The Washington Post March - John Philip Sousa This Was Pompeii - Dar Williams Tijuana Jail- Kingston Trio Toledo- Burt Bachrach Tokyo- Bruce Springstein Tokyo- Rockwell Tokyo Joe - Bryan Ferry Tokyo Storm Warning - Elvis Costello Tripoli- Matthew Good Tupelo Honey- Van Morrison V Vancouver - The Guess Who Venice- Chris Botti Vienna- Ultravox Vienna - Billy Joel Vienna Calling - Falco Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley W Warakurna - Midnight Oil Warszawa - David Bowie Warsaw- Joy Division Walking to Jerusalem- Tracy Byrd Walking in Memphis- Marc Cohen Waterloo- ABBA Werewolves of London- Warren Zevon When New York Had Her Heart Broken - John Hiatt White Cliffs of Dover- Vera Lynn Wichita Lineman- Glenn Campbell WKRP in Cincinatti (theme)-- Steve Carlisle Woman from Tokyo - Deep Purple Wonderful Copenhagen- Danny Kaye Woodstock- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Wrap My Arms Around Paris- Morrissey Y Youngstown- Bruce Springsteen * Let's dance
Down the highway of life together I'll take the right lane You take the center lane And we'll leave the left lane for those who can't dance or who want to pass a good opportunity by So let your hair down Wear your red shoes Let's plie and jete and pirouette around the world Let's tango in Halifax Do the Charleston in Charleston Reel in Virginia Cakewalk in Georgia Shuffle in Harlem We can swing into New England We can hustle into Hanoi And go down the electric slide into Japan We can waltz into Vienna Samba into Saskatchewan Put a little cha cha into our steps in Rome And fox trot into France Lambada into London Tap dance into Turkey And belly dance into Bahrain Let's give them jazz hands in Jamaica And then hip hop into Havana Let's two step into Australia And rhumba into Rio Let's dance Down the highway of life Let's hakka, hula and hora all over the world....together! 2019 Lady Samantha No to liquid sugar
I can't see it Is it there? No to powdered sugar It just gathers at the bottom of my cup Yes to sugar cubes Because they float and I can use a spoon to dunk them. Sorbitol, Maltodextrin, and some of the suffixed ~oses Send me to the bathroom Equal is not equal It ,too, just gathers at the bottom of my cup and saps the taste of my beverage Splenda is not so splendid She's married to Equal Yes to Sweet-n-Low The only artificial sweetener That doesn't bother my stomach or tastebuds But it comes with a cancer risk Right on the label... I rarely sweeten my beverages. Copyright Lady Samantha 2019 Why do people take pics of their food?
Do you photograph food alone or in groups? Do they ever wear costumes? Is there a picture somewhere of Super Zucchini? What do you do with nude photographs of food? Why do your hash browns have hash tags? Do the peas of today look different than the peas in the days of yore? Does your doughnut have a different taste if you photograph it first? If you photograph a bagel, will it then fill itself in and become a roll? Will your sandwich change it's composition if you photograph it? Perhaps, the cheese will change it's position, or, maybe the camera will just steal the soul of the sandwich. Consequently, why do some sandwiches look like they are smiling? Do grilled cheese sandwiches say “Gouda”? If you take several pictures of your vanilla ice cream, and it melts, is it then just milk? If you take pictures of the milk, and it evaporates into thin air, will all that's left be an udder? No, I don't know what this means. Do you photograph your Alphabits to see if they form secret messages? Will your deviled eggs become saints if you photograph them first? Do tacos have a Weirdo Wednesday? If you constantly take pictures of fruit, does that make you a Fruit Loop? If you photograph a high placed lemon in the morning it can be the sun. If you photograph a high placed lemon at night it can be the moon. What happens if you photograph a high placed lemon in the afternoon? Do lemons pucker when you photograph them? Do you have to send coconuts and kiwis to have their hair done before taking their pictures? If you photograph elbow macaroni and use a flash, will the elbows then become knees? We know souffles are sensitive to sound. Are they also sensitive to light? If you use a flash, will your souffle deflate? 2019 Lady Samantha photo courtesy of youtube.comTwo factions both alike in dignity
In fair New York City where we lay our scene From ancient grudge break to new mutiny Where civil blood makes hands unclean. From forth the fatal horror Comes our faithful foes With their ignorance, they tried to overthrow Doth even in their deaths, hatred still grows. The fearful passage of two death mark’d planes Into two towers, was not a shower of power, But one of rage. This was not acting on the world’s stage. This was all too real. And in rememberance it is hard to have The feeling we feel. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace Profaners of the human race! Will they not hear? What ho, You men, you beasts! That quench the fire of your pernicious Rage, with purple fountains flowing from your veins-- On the pain of torture, from those bloody hands. Throw Your mistempered weapons to the ground. Hear not the hatred in Your heart. You have twice disturb’d the quiet of our streets, And Made New York and the world’s citizen’s fearful, but not weak. I am An American. Hath not American hands, organs, dimensions, Senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt by the same Weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal’d by the same means you are? If you pricks us do we not bleed? The Weight of this sad time we must obey, Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. To be or not to be that is the Question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows Of outrageous hatred, or to take arms against a sea of trouble. And by Opposing them, end them. Written With William Shakespeare Note: This poem appears in my book The Poetry of Emotions which can be found here https://theladywrites.weebly.com/books.html. It will also be published in a book of history poems I am now working on. Copyright 2018 Lady Samantha emoji courtesy of redbubble.com It was late at night. I couldn't sleep. So, I decided to watch television. Infomercials! Infomercials everywhere! I don't know about you, but at three o'clock in the morning I am not looking to buy anything. I am also not usually fully coherent at three a.m.
Some things that people invent are insane! For example, spray-on hair. What's the guy supposed to do if it rains or is this permanent paint? Excuse me sir, but your hair is dripping down your face! Don't get me wrong, some of the products sold on television are definitely worth your mney, but then again, there are a few that we wish would go away. Do you ever realize the people they use in weight loss commercials do not need to lose an ounce of weight? This exercise bike will give you the 2% of body fat you've always wanted! Then, you realize the woman in the commercial has a size two waist and the man is fully ripped. Then, there are the weight loss products with green tea or hoodia, or both. I still am not sure what hoodia is. The name alone makes me wonder if it's something I pull over my head. It's also never just straight green tea. It's an extract of green tea aka EGCG in pill form. Why not just drink a cup of green tea? So, there I am flipping channels and beginning to doze off. I began to think of products that I would try to sell on television through infomercials: This is a mouth firmer. You stick this piece of plastic in your mouth horizontally. Then you move your mouth like a compass: north, east, west, south. In a few weeks you'll have lips like Mick Jagger. Do you want a firmer, shapelier buttocks? Well then this product is for you! You take one of these concrete blocks and put them between your butt cheeks horizontally, and then you squeeze! With each block you crush, you lose thirty-five calories. If you call now, you will receive one thousand blocks for only $19.95! BUT WAIT! We'll throw in this butt massager and hemorrhoid cream for free if you order within the next twenty minutes. Here's the tornado diet. It's not a pill! It's not a drink! What you do is spin round and round until you lose weight or until you screw yourself into the ground and become a lovely lawn ornament. No purchase necessary! This product is a stain remover! It contains extracts of bee urine, which you simply add to water! It removes stains from vinyl, plastic and your living bra! It's all natural and environmentally safe! Look folks—another breast enhancer! This one is simply called Another Breast Enhancer. Just rub this specialized cold cream onto your breasts. The next day you will have bigger, firmer breasts, only no one will notice. Do you like great music? I know I do! That's why you must add the Greatest Hits of Howdy Doody to your music collection! This double CD has Mr. Doody's biggest hits such as “Pulling Strings” and “Don't you Dilly Dally!” Are your kids into arts and crafts? Well here's seven tubes of glitter you won't be able to get off any surface for several years. The family dog will look like a unicorn through up on him/her. Order in the next five minutes, and we'll throw in this mini-vacuum cleaner. It won't help. Speaking of vacuums, this one will cleaning anything on any surface, including pickles on the surface of Mars. It also has an attachable mechanism that converts into a hair clipper. You can either vacuum yourself or give the cat a trim. Oh look! Another exercise video. Watch Senor Wences as he shows you how to do finger exercises! 'S alright. it doesn't matter what it's printed on
it doesn't matter what is said they are just letters printed on a page forming words that no one wants to understand and the TV news scrolls by at the bottom of my screen eager to resist reading moving words no one can read because they care not to the words make them dizzy what's the headline today? will anyone read between the lines? the words are d r i p p i n g down the page the words are dripping like blood he has no idea what he's doing it's his freedom or mine everyone has the right everyone has what's left there is no in between how easy it is to forget where we came from and how far we have gotten only to unlearn everything we have ever learned to repeat history and why is it only a handful of us see what is going on? what IS going on? the headlines are chilly and the headlines choose and we lose the ability to think for ourselves if we think it for long enough and say it out loud repeatedly does it become true? or is it still one man's opinion without any facts to back it up? but he's correct and i back up my opinion with facts, but i am wrong NO! the facts are not wrong. “we are slaves to the law so that we may be free,” but only “our thoughts are free” and now you dictate to me how i can feel and when i can feel it how to think, and when i can think it without telling me why i can't feel or think this way you don't ever think before you speak and when you write it's something frivolous “No Collusion” “No Collusion” “No Collusion.” we've moved passed that conversation, and until it comes up again we'd like to move on to other things like healthcare (oh, you're taking that away. I forgot.) the economy (it sucks.) climate change (you said it doesn't exist; yet everywhere you look there is proof!) school shootings (which you still haven't condemned) your attack on....................everything and everyone really? haven't you anything better to do? “No Collusion” “No Collusion” “No Collusion” two words I am sick of hearing ad nauseum. my words are hollow they fall on deaf ears for, i am just a mere woman with an education (brains! they're against me for my brains we can let the zombie apocalypse begin! i will fight these bastards with facts!) i am just a mere woman one half of the sky and my body has nothing to do with every single one of you just as yours has nothing to do with me you can make me have children but you'll be taking care of them you can stick me in the kitchen but i won't cook you a thing you can knock on my door and hand me your propaganda you can try almost anything but i still won't vote for you. ~Lady Samantha May 30, 2018 Picture from pixels.com Thoughts scattered to the far reaches of many pages
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AuthorLady Samantha's Blog Archives
March 2021
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