It's All About Our Lion Face

Cat Tarot:
The Lovers –

The image: a card full of lion Mardi Gras type masks, also somewhat reminiscent of the lion masks used in the stage production of The Lion King. Two masks on sticks are being held in front of a pair of cat’s faces, partially or completely concealing their expressions. In the outstretched paw of one feline is a little mouse, holding up his own mini-zebra mask, to remind us that Love is also predator/prey, to a certain degree. In the background are circular designs reminiscent of balloons. To one side there is also a wolf mask, hidden among the empty eyed lion pride. Two of the lion masks are males with manes, the rest are female. Lions are one of the few cats to use cooperation in a group situation. Such Fun! Hunting is so intense—Gotcha! It’s time to P-A-R-T-Y !

Choice, Love, Communication, Cooperation. This applies to soul mates, best friends, lovers, co-workers, business partners, family members, employees, etc. Anywhere two people interact with each other. It’s gender free, don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s strictly for a ‘male/female’ pairing. Love bares the soul, yet it also hides us behind the masks we put up. We conceal to protect ourselves, and to show a stronger face to the world. Our Lion Face. Be strong for your partner—hide behind the mask—um…is that really in our best benefit?

Lovers – it’s about choice and cooperation. One needs to also look to see if it is balanced. Or is one person doing the ”Lions’ Share” of the work? A partnership is compromise combined with playing off each other’s strengths. We play our parts, switching roles and masks as needed.

These festive Mardi Gras style masks, where did they come from? Are they based on the elaborate Masquerade masks used at upper class parties in 1700’s Italy? Hiding one’s identity allowed a huge amount of freedom in that stratified society. Restrictions came off, or were at least suspended for a short time. Romantic liaisons occurred, love was in the air under the light of the moon, and wine ran freely (which I’m sure helped quite a bit!). Was it concealment that was so titillating or was it the chance to step out of their traditional roles? A fancy mask, a party, a short time of freedom.

We’ve come so far from those times, haven’t we? So tell us—Who Are You? Do you wear the mask fully, or drop it down a bit for someone close to you? Did you discard yours entirely? What was your choice?


What’s Being Worked On:
Skunks today. The fabric store got some curly, very soft ‘distressed fur’ that I’m sure is mostly going to be made into pillows by the general sewing public, but I got some black and white yardage to make skunks out of it since I’ve been getting requests for those for the past 3 years. It feels absolutely wonderful! It sews fairly well too even though the backing is very silky and I expected it to slide around more. The downside? FUR EVERYWHERE!!!!! It floats up when you cut it, it sticks to the walls, you have to clean each cut edge off before stacking them for sewing, and after 3 minutes you’re full of so much static electricity that what’s coating your hands won’t rub off so you’re only exasperating the problem!

I cut up 2 yards of the stuff, cleaned up the floor, the table, the chairs, the walls, the entire front of my clothing, my hands to my elbows, AND the cats who ran through it before I could yell at them not to. There’s still pieces clinging to the kitchen wall by the waste basket where I think some of it climbed back out of the garbage on its own. I am never, never, never, never, NEVER working with this stuff again. What were the manufacturers thinking of???!!!


What’s Been Read:
I have read Harry Potter, book 6. It took me 10 hours. I now must wait 2 years for book 7. It’s going to be a long wait. For those of you who haven’t read it yet, have a box of Kleenex next to you for the final 50 pages.

I do have some questions:
Why didn’t the phoenix’s tears heal Dumbledore’s hand?
Why didn’t they try to tip the crud out of the bowl in the cave instead of drinking it?
Why isn’t Harry thinking his scar is a Horcrux?
Would the phoenix have sung if Dumbledore’s death was faked? Is he really dead?
Why were Peeves and Dobie just ‘walk-ons’ in this book.
Why has nobody, EVER, been mentioned as taking a bath or shower in the entire 6 years we’ve read about Hogwarts?
Why didn’t J.K. Rowling use the word ‘kiss’ instead of ‘snogging’ at least once? (IMHO—“Octopodal Face Sucking” would have sufficed as well). Yeah, yeah, I know it was put in for the younger teen crowd to drool over, but really…..
And is Malfoy too wimpy to be a Death Eater?
Why can’t Snape use shampoo—his hair is always remarked as ‘greasy’ (he won’t get any of the girls like that).

Cool Sites Of The Day:
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/articles/starting-business.mspx
Articles for starting your own business.

http://bofh.ntk.net/Bastard.html
Techies, time to read about the master.

http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm
It’s messy, but it’s better than canned and dry!