May your New Year be full of promise, prosperity, and peace...
Rainbow at magnificent Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island...
Rainbow for the road ahead...
Image taken in Langley by John Gordon Photography
All things bright and beautiful and basking in chocolate... yummmmmy!
Flickering lights brighten our path on Government Street in Victoria...
(image via gutsywomantravel)
And she was pregnant with me...
Yes, I think that Steven Spielberg character somehow seriously affected me in the womb. To this day, every time I see Jaws, I still have to hide behind the couch, door, table, blanket, a heap of pillows, or any human body during those nail-biting scenes.
So.... selachophobia is the word for fear of sharks. But, I have both a fascinating and frightening fixation with sharks. I am glued to my television during Discovery Channel Shark Week. I am scared of deep dark water as I always picture something looking up at me from below. And I never dangle my legs or any other limbs over a boat, canoe, kayak, wharf, pool edge, or any other threshold to H2O. Never. And I refuse to lay on a yellow air mattress too.
But I love them toothy species. So here is a taste if you will of some sharkilicious stuff...
Quint: Hey Hooper? Maybe your a big yahoo on the land but out here you're just supercargo. If you don't want to backstroke home, you get down here!
Shark Golf Club Headcover from Top Notch Gift. Cover your fav club with a fuzzy great white. Hmmm... could be a new nickname? Pass me thy lucky Great White to feather er into 540 yard par five...
Shark Totes from UncommonGoods look look pretty fierce slung over your shoulder as you head er down to the beach...
Shark Button from Cafepress.com (alas my dark humour... tis not real!)
My Shark Ate My Homework Kids T-Shirt from Animal Outfitter. Good excuse... maybe if you are a mermaid or live in an aquarium.
From Hammacher Schlemmer... A full 2' long Remote Controlled Robotic Shark with a full-range of motion to replicate the smooth, sleek swimming of one of nature's most frightening predators.
"It is able to gracefully maneuver up, down, left, right, and even backwards through water, in depths up to 9'. The shark can swim up to 40' from its handheld remote unit which is also submersible, allowing you to swim with your shark." Uh, ok...
SOS as the swimmers distress signal? SOS as "sharks out searching"?
Actually it's a Save Our Sharks BBQ Apron from Save our Sharks
Shark Bite Bottle Opener from After Five. Uh, yikes! That's why I don't hang five...
Sharks Percale Bedding from The Company Store. All tucked in with sharks surrounding you in high thread count cotton as you try to doze off into dreamland...
Squishy Shark Stress Toy from Office Toy Store.
Squeeze ole Sharky to beat the blues...
Shark Shot Glass from Krittersinthemailbox.com. Has to be a blast of Blue Curacao. Isn't there a Shark Energy Drink out there?
Shark Pop-up Hamper from The Company Store... let your sharky roomate gobble up your dirty clothes.
Shark Bite Stapler from UncommonGoods. Ouch!
Great White Shark Bath Gift Set from WildlifeGifts.com. Rub a dub dub... three sharks in a tub...
Design Masters Rogue Blue Shark Sunglasses from Nature Pavilion
I don't know about you, but would you want sharks lurking ever so closely to your eyeballs?
Shark Wall Hooks from The Company Store. Hook, line, and sinker. These sharks are quite tame and friendly when “hanging around” the bedroom.
Great White breaching out of a blue glycerin Shark Soap from Giggle Soaps. Boo!
The Whole Damn Thing T-Shirt from SlackerPlanet.net. "This shark - swallow ya hole. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing."
Shark Wall Clock from 351 Girl. Tick tock, tick tock... look at the shark.
Shark Plush Pillow from Thejunglestore.com. Snuggle a shark... oh, ah... so sweet!
So, some frighteningly cool shark stuff...
Interestingly, my brother shares the same obsession, if you will, about sharks.
My theory once again:
Mom went to go see Jaws 2 when it was released at the boxoffice when she was, you guessed it... pregnant with him. How she managed to muster up the mental and physical strength to endure another round of sheer terror, I will never know. But tis true! I swear Spielberg cast his spell on both of us...
Brody: Huh huh, I used to hate the water.
Hooper: Huh huh, I can't imagine why.
And one can't forget the thrilling soundtrack composed by John Williams. The two note motif (or three note motif) is as primitive and raw as the shark itself and is used to symbolise the sharks pulse, or state of mind or mood. When Jaws gets excited, so does the music, getting faster and faster and louder and louder... ahhhhhh!
Boom, boom....
Two of the world's most renowned shy and timid creatures have found each other in safe companionship..... through the lens of German wildlife photographer Tanja Askani in Alberta, Canada
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Breathtaking imagery from top nature photographers is matched with inspirational quotations by Paramahansa Yogananda in this Inner Reflections engagement calendar from local bookstores. "Nothing is impossible, unless you think it is..."
Namaste...
A cornucopia of all-natural, ethically traded dark chocolates in a completely Vegan collection from Endangered Species Chocolate, founded in 1993 in effort to spread awareness and to make an impact on the growing number of plant and animal species that are disappearing from Earth. Since then the mission has grown to embrace a new definition of “endangered” - that all species, habitat and humanity are endangered on our planet, not just animals on a list.
Balls of fresh scents, delicious flavours, and fun bubbles transform your tub into a whirlpool of pure bliss and relaxation from Saltspring Soapworks " plop, plop, fizz, fizz..."
OM is the sacred sound of Hinduism. It is the source of reality; the seed sound out of which the entire universe is born, in which it is sustained, and into which it is finally dissolved.
YIN YANG describes two opposing but complimentary forces found in all things in the universe. Yin, the darker element, is often symbolized by water. Yang, the brighter element, by fire.
Make a spiritual statement with handmade ceramic OM & YIN YANG pin or magnet. From Props for Life on Pender Island.
Green Tara statue from Zinnia in Victoria, the "Mother Earth" Hindu goddess of Peace and Protection.
Tara embodies the feminine strengths of great caring and compassion, the ability to endure stressful and even terrifying moments, the acts of creation, and the source of sustenance and protection.
The ever popular Asana T-shirts displaying 36 yoga poses from HalfMoon on Granville Island. Yoga: a system of exercises practiced as part of this discipline to promote control of the body and mind, and a Hindu discipline aimed at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquillity.
Hope Box from Angels and Miracles in White Rock.
Hope meaning to wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment and to cherish a desire with anticipation...
For peace lovers (60's hippies and those akin)... the peace collection from a Canadian online store, the Zen Shop
“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.”
~ Dalai Lama
Music therapy with Spotted Bamboo Wind Chime made in Indonesia from Ten Thousand Villages in Victoria.
Wind chimes help enhance the mind/body/spirit connection bringing us a sense of peace and well being.
Luscious silk pillows from Zen for Home and Body in Nelson B.C., available at a variety of stores across Canada. "Find a little peace and tranquility in your life.."
A Mom-to-be must feel enlightened in this Rub My Buddha Belly Maternity Shirt from Rockstarmoms Maternity. To rub Buddha's belly is said to bring great luck and good fortune... we could all use some of that!
Relax Packs from KooKoo Design in Vancouver, 100% cotton sherpa outer shell (recycled fabric) and 100% cotton muslin inner shell (recycled fabric). Fill is Thai rice / cinnamon bark
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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Decorate your space with wonderous images from abroad. Sit back, enjoy, and just imagine...
World Map Wall Mural
To awaken in a new and interesting place has to be one of the pleasantest sensations in the world...
The awe of the Big Apple in a much smaller version in the luxury of your home with the Manhattan Lights Wall Mural
Bring Sin City into your space with the Vegas Lights Wall Mural... remember what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!
Feel like a world traveller, or nature seeker yet?
Ah, rest in ease... no mosquito infestation or airport layovers here. No...
Simply sit back and enjoy the view... (;
