Cathedral Day ...Nemo Storm Approacheth...

So a Catholic, a Jew and a Pagan go into a Church.....

No really. :)

Today as the big winter storm Nemo approaches us, we set off on a VERY cold and wintry day for adventure!

I LOVE Church architecture. Bascillicas. Cathedrals. Temples. And I have found several friends who share my addiction. In an advance planning mode, my friend Brian said he knew of a few churches we could go see. But he wouldn't tell me WHICH ones :) It was a surprise. So we met him this morning at Holy Family Church in Syracuse. I had no clue there was a beautiful stone Shrine there out back of the church!

Here it is:

Korinna and Brian make good friends right off :)

And an Angel....











A Goddess .....in a Grotto....

 ok, maybe more than one :)

Then we went inside to the "Adoration Chapel" there...
a small and sweet space for reflection.

There was a parishoner there deep in prayer and we tried to be very quiet whilst he prostrated himself to heaven in a deep and reverent prayer....

Went outside and over to the Church proper.....it looks very modern on the outside...
didn't know what to expect on the inside....

But there was some really lovely sculptures and stained glass within....

A most beautiful collection of  Madonna art and stained glass...

 Then we went to Basicilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus....Syracuse NY

 Big beautiful amazing Bascillica...
Gorgeous doors...

 I am gonna make this a two parter.....

Join me INSIDE the Bascillica in the next blog.....

StoryBook visits The Frog Prince

For our first story of the year, we had a "quickie."

Yes, that's right. A short tale of a simple theme...The Frog Prince.

We all came to the conclusion...in the first 3 minutes that the Frog Prince story is about SEX.

The golden ball that the Princess flirts with and loses in the well....all very much an allegory to her playing with sexuality...the frog turning into a Prince AFTER he visits her bed...
POOF!
He's AWESOME.

It was a fun, easy piecing together of THIS theme! Quick though it was...and we've all been partying a LOT lately, so an early night was ok with us all. But we so enjoyed coming together to pick it apart!

Lots of great fun, bawdy banter, a quick movie of The Frog Prince starring Robin Williams and directed by Shelly Duval!
Our table and centerpiece and food came together as always!

Here's our "well", complete with Kissing Frog, Princess and Golden Ball in the woods!

 

 Food was great! There was "Frog's Legs", "Lily Pads, Flies on a log, "Caked Dirt", Pickled Frogs, Split Pea soup with Ham, Turkey Soup, Swamp Bread and Green Tea and Wine! Merlyn also pushed leftover Holiday goodies for dessert. HAVE SOME FUDGE...please.... :)

Enchanted Froggies....mmmmm

Delish!!

Next month we've chosen a story which is a LOT more complicated....

Stay Tuned for Rumplestiltskin!

What a bizzare character and story!

See you then!

StoryBook Club is 2 years old!

It's been 2 years since I started the first StoryBook Club gathering. We've had such a lovely time! Eating, drinking, reading, discussing, being randy, creative thinking. I'd like to do it again this year!

The StoryBook Club premise is this:
"That Children's Literature is sometimes OH SO MUCH MORE than just stories for children!"
Which is why at THIS bookclub...there are no children allowed. Some of these themes that we dig up are NOT PC...nor G nor are they PG rated. Most are "R" and some are X. Or at least Unrated :)

Oh don't get me wrong. We love kids. Well, some of us do. Some of them (like me) Likes kids. Likes babies...and then very much likes to hand them back to their parents. I loved mine. Still do. But dealing with kids all day? Not so much. I'm more like "let's go in and do a kid's show and then get out with our lives" sort of person.

But surely I digress. :)

Here were the subjects we researched, detangled and devoured this last year of 2012:

January-  TROLLS

February-  Damsels in Distress

March- Banshees

April- The Velveteen Rabbit

 
May -Peter Pan

June-Cinderella

July-Robin Hood

August- Sheherezade & The Arabian Nights

September- American Tall Tales

October- Goblins

November- Mermaids

December- Hansel & Gretel

They all look pretty tame, fun, silly and wondrous don't they? Yes, they were.

BUT they were also full of other things...darker things. Things that go bump in the night.
Like: fear of the Unknown, being rescued, responsibility and the shirking of it by never growing up, martyr-ism, death, false feelings, unconditional love and it's denial, fear of self, politics, deception, lies, shape shifters of our emotions, the dark gooey icky part of our hearts fully revealed, women's rights (or lack of), co-dependency, addictions, and shamanic journey to our inner self.

It's been a wondrous journey!
Did we eat well?

OH HELL YAH.

I love The StoryBook Club and my clever friends in it, and am very happy that I have this outlet and interesting bookworm friends to share it with!

I look forward to another amazing year of STORIES!

Starting with....

The Frog Prince this Friday!

RIBBIT.