Feb 14 2025 - Heart Transplant Love

 

It is Valentine's Day and the stories are about love and the origin of the celebration and ... more stories of heart transplant experiences  The CBC covered a story about a woman who received a heart transplant at 50, and then found herself feeling different. the article says that thoughts and memories of her loved ones used to feel warm and tingly, she said. Now, they feel logical or factual, or cold. "I love my husband, but I don't always get twitterpated anymore," she added, referring to the butterflies-in-your-stomach, love-at-first-sight feeling described in the classic Disney film Bambi." On the other side of things, Lindsay Ma met the family whose son's heart was transplanted to her.  They experienced a reunion-like meeting "There was a lot of laughter and joy at dinner that night, though it was mixed with tears and emotion, especially when Debbie got out a stethoscope to listen to Lindsay’s heart. Debbie’s son Tommy’s heart now beats inside Lindsay’s chest." These transplant stories are very curious, aren't they? So we celebrate St. Valentine's Day today.  I notice that St. Valentine's Day does not reference the word "pagan"  in the wikipedia entry.  - "It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world." Of course there are other references that tell a different origin story: "Valentine's Day is steeped in pagan history and full of controversy and tragic violence. There is some evidence that this day was made to replace the pagan celebration of Lupercalia which had to do with celebrating fertility."

These hearts started out as images of a large digital mural in a U.S. mall - my own version of transplants Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Mar 24 2021 - What's in a Dog Name? Lots

 

I wondered about dog names yesterday.  I see the list of names on the wall at Jane Book's dog training school.   I found this introduction to dog names: "If you hear a neighbour talking about Janet across the block sitting on her step with Max or Charlie, you would be well placed to question if Max or Charlie is a child, pet or significant other.  However, if your neighbour said Fido or Rover, you instantly know they are referencing a dog, a cat doesn’t even cross your mind."  The top three dog names are Fido, Spot and Rover.  Historically, I mean. Fido's name came from Abraham Lincoln and means "to trust or confide in" or "faithful" in Latin. Spot comes from a popular book series between the 1930s and 60s - "Dick and Jane - see Spot run." And Rover - it means to wander, so is thought to be a traditional name for a working dog.  Shakespeare referenced Rover in A Winter's Tale.  So what are the top dog names now? Since the turn of the century, names like Max, Charlie, Molly, Lucy, Sam and Abby are increasingly popular.  One article says that Max is considered the most popular dog name anywhere.  How do we know the most popular dog names in 2020? In Australia they are Bella, Luna, Charlie, Lucy, Cooper, Max, Bailey, Daisy.  Australia's database of over 500,000 pets is the largest pet index ever.  It comes from the Pet Sitting community - an organization that arranges pet sitting and home dog boarding.  I checked out the pet sitters, and decided babysitting dogs is expensive. For example Prue A is a reliable, mature and trustworthy dog sitter - available over holiday periods - from $54/night.  There's Rich P. who is a cat carer and his rate is $22/night.  There are 4.8 million dogs in Australia - they have a similar pet ownership rate to the U.S. where 65% of homes have a pet. In comparison there are 9.0 million dogs in the UK.  The pet ownership rate there is 42%. There is a lot of media interest in dogs this year of COVID. There are lots of human interest stories to read.  I checked out  "My quarantine cat hates me".  The cat is Hubert, or "Hubbie" and he turns out to be very shy.  That was in April 2020.  How is Hubert doing now?  No answer at all - I even checked her twitter feed and came up empty.  I can tell you that her twitter entries seem to be full of drivel - nonsense.  It turns out she's an internet reporter so this is her job, so that's what I seem to know about the current state of things.     Shakespeare's words today. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Susan Sontag and a Valentine

"Beethoven never married, but in his early forties he feel deeply in love with a mysterious woman who remains known as “immortal beloved” — the eternally enchanting term of endearment by which the great composer addressed her in his letters. Her true identity has spurred entire books, but historians currently believe she was Antonie Brentano — a Viennese aristocrat married to a Frankfurt businessman. Beethoven’s missives to this “immortal beloved,” which include the only known love letter of his to use the informal German du for “you” rather than the formal Sie, were found among his personal effects; they were never mailed — a beautiful and tragic testament to the fact that their affair, like all affairs, was both bedeviled and vitalized by the awareness that the two lovers could never fully have each other." The paragraphs above was written by Maria Popova, who was referencing the book "The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time" edited by David H. Lowenherz.  The fifty authors and recipients are listed HERE.   All famous writers or historical figures.    Maria Popova is interesting.  Going through her blog brainpickings.org, I find a special post.  It is Susan Sontag on Love:  Illustrated Diary Excerpts.  What Maria did was to sieve through Sontag's journals for her most poignant, most private meditations on love.  These were published in As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964 - 1980. Then Maria had artist Wendy MacNaughton hand-letter and illustrate them exclusively for Brain Pickings as a poster.  This became so popular that numerous editions were printed and published.   It is HERE.  Wendy MacNaughton's collaborated with Maria a lot and her work is shown with the articles HERE. But head over to her website and see a compelling display of her drawings  - wendymacnaughton.com. Our Valentine Day images come from the Ringling Circus in Sarasota.

Marvelling the Mushroom…with Love

There are so many hearts to be found in nature.  This is a mirror image of Enoki mushrooms, as they form a heart.