Taking My Love of Wine into the Collection!

I've got Shakespeare on my mind, and wine seems to be there a lot lately, too. Shakespeare -- because that's the unit I'm teaching in freshman English right now, (we just finished watching Zeffirelli's 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet, pictured above. And P.S. -- doesn't that actor look just like Zach Efron? I'm ashamed I know who this person is, as I'm not a teenage girl, but that's what I get for reading Perez Hilton's blog daily). Anyway, wine because it appears teaching is turning me slowly into an alcoholic. Okay, not really. But some days I just need to come home and stare at a wall for about an hour before I can move on with anything else. A glass of wine is like sitting in front of a wall and staring at it. It helps me unwind a bit! My neighbor and BFF (ha ha) Catherine and I were discussing this the other night. The conclusion: in a world like the one in which we live, a little self-medication is harmless, so long as it doesn't interfere with life. Hey, I can still make jewelry after a couple glasses of wine. I grade papers BEFORE, and I never drink in the morning. Sounds pretty stable to me, right?

Anyway, that night of discussion I also had an epiphany. I bought cute little wine charms months ago that don't really seem to provoke much interest as earrings. But Catherine has adorable little wine charms for her glasses, and AH HA! I can turn this in to sweet little charms, too! :) Hence, my latest Etsy listing:

So, that's the inspiration, and that's the creation. More to come, (I have martini charms, too). I think these will be great for Christmas gifts. Easy to make and fun to use! I'm quite happy to incorporate this new stuff into my otherwise all-jewelry store.

In the meantime, another thought on Shakespeare and wine. Here's some trivia: In which Shakespearean play is wine most often mentioned? Think about it... here it comes.

Yes, that would be Antony and Cleopatra. There are eight references to wine in the play. However, in The Tempest you'll fine seven, as is the same for Othello. Wine and its effects permeate the very fabric of Antony and Cleopatra. You could even interpret the work as a struggle between the forces of sobriety -- Octavius Caesar -- and the champions of indulgence -- Antony and Cleopatra. FYI, I don't just know this. I happen to be sitting here with a box of "After Dinner Shakespeare" cards. Fun stuff. Now I'm off to study! :)

Flickr-ful: Pinup Girls

I'm discovering what a wealth of awesome photography there is on Flickr, and I've decided to become a Flickr curator from time-to-time on my blog.

Aside from being a wannabe curator, I'm also a wannabe pinup girl. It's so hot! Not trashy, classy pinups. You know, Bettie Page style. She inspired the chopped bang job I pulled a couple of months before Mike and I got married. She inspires the fishnets I bust out on a semi-regular basis. She inspired this blog. Clearly. :)



That last one is my favorite. In fact, I have a bathing suit just like it, you know, with less skirt. If only I had lived in the retro days of pinup girls... I could wear my bleach blonde hair in pin-curls, rock red lipstick on a regular basis, and wear flowers in my hair every day. If only.... As of now, all of the above happens just once in a while. :)

Cheers to a rainy Wednesday night! I'm going to tear myself away from the computer, (where I spent six hours yesterday), in order to make jewelry, clean, and have a glass of wine while I'm at it!

Time for a Treasury! :)

I woke up this morning and dragged my butt out of bed specifically for the purpose of creating an Etsy treasury. I looked last night and guessed in about 12 - 13 hours there would be an opening. So, I checked, waited for another hour, and bam.... I got one! Then... my computer freaked out... took "T ' W" as the title of my new, precious little treasury... and that's what I'm stuck with! Hey, at least I got the treasury going! It's such a good promotional tool for my site! I'm also in the process of becoming a member of "Unique Women in Business". More to come on that! Anyway, here's a link to the fabulous treasury.... yea, the one that was SUPPOSED to be called "T ' W ' I ' G ' G ' Y"! :)

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=20711

Wedding Pearls

They're not going in my Etsy store, but they're going up on the blog! These pearls are a wedding gift for Sonya, Anthony's fiance, so let's hope she doesn't see them yet! :) They're a mix of new freshwater coin pearls and round pearls, in addition to two strands of pearls from Anthony's recently deceased grandmother. The tiny pearls at the clasp were also hers. Something old... plus something new for the bride! :) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this necklace!

The Etsy Shop... Finally On the BLOG!! :)

Here it is... with new items, too! :)

A Glass of Wine, A Chick Flick, and A New Treasury on Etsy!

That is what I've accomplished since 7pm.

Cheers! :)

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=19250

Oy vey! Really?!

Well, I put in quite a bit of work to prepare for my final evaluation today. The Vice Principal called out sick, and nobody told me. So, all that hard work goes to waste. Okay, that's absolutely not true. Some of that hard work was wasted, (the parts I wrote specifically for her); however, it was a great lesson, and I thought students responded really well to it. That definitely isn't a waste of time! :)

Today's lesson was about Shakespeare's sonnets, all 154 of them, to be exact. Students were asked to do a "Think/Pair/Share" activity in which they respond to the essential question, "Why are Shakespeare's poems still so popular today?" Then, I lead students through a PowerPoint presentation about sonnets and iabmic pentameter, before students began making their own couplets. I think they had fun with that. Here's the PPT presentation I put together:

Shakespeare’s Sonnets

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