If there was no way into God, I would never have laid in this grave of a body for so long

As most everyone now knows (from me complaining about it, most likely)...working in retail ruins all holidays. This Christmas, it was more evident to me than ever how crazy people are during this time of year. It kinda sucks. It's so crazy how much emphasis people put on gifts and things and silliness. I cant talk too much...I, too, get stressed out over buying gifts for my loved ones, but it's not because i'm afraid that everyone will hate me if i dont. I just love to see a smile on someone's face that I love when i give them something, whether i spent a million dollars on it or made it from the tree bark in my yard. I guess that's why everyone gets so crazy...everyone wants to see that happy face beaming back at them. But in the end...that's not even what it's all about either.

Well that went on a little longer than planned....now the rest of this will just be works from some of the most talented hands of all time, whom I admire... and marvel at the thought of one day just being in the same room (or even the same country) as any one of these masterpieces.

Enjoy!

Madonna and Child
Quentin Massys

Madonna and Child
Jan van Eyck

Adoration of the Magi
Gentile de Fabriano

Nativity
Geertgen tot Sint Jans

Madonna of the Rosary
Geertgen tot Sint Jans

Donne Triptych
Hans Memling

Adoration of the Magi
Jan Gossaert

Portinari Altarpiece
Hugo van der Goes

Rolin Madonna
Jan van Eyck

The Epiphany Triptych
Hieronymus Bosch

The Deposition from the Cross
Filippino Lippi and Pietro Perugino

The Entombment of Christ
Caravaggio

The Transfiguration
Raphael

"You'd say that today holds something special
Something holy and not superficial
So here's to Jesus Christ who saved our lives"

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night :)

laurenthevampireslayer signing off...

Inspired--But Still Lazy

Music has really been inspiring me lately, although, unfortunately, I haven't yet acted on this inspiration. (Mostly because I'm lame, and I cant stop watching awesome TV shows for long enough to do anything creative---so bad, I know) But at least it's been making me feel something, which is more than I can say it has for the past couple of years probably. And this makes me happy.

It also makes me wish that I could just lay on the floor of my room with all the lights off and just listen. All day, every day. Just listen. And absorb. That would be pretty awesome.

So thank you Sufjan, thank you Colour Revolt, thank you Eisley, thank you Miniature Tigers, thank you Band of Horses, and maybe a few others, for continuing to make new music that is beautiful and inspiring and makes me want to live inside of a creepy, eerie, constant music video, maybe eternally wandering through the woods or something. My mind is forever grateful for you all.

From the Mouth of Gabriel. On repeat in my head at all times.

Uh-oh, yall....

I liked Eclipse.

And no one has more trouble believing that statement but me!

I think I even more than liked it.

Here's a few reasons:

Less white powder make-up.

Less sparkles.

Less painful facial expressions.

More close up shots which immediately excluded awkward body language (thank god).

More good chemistry and good kissing-as opposed to really bad chemistry and really really bad kissing scenes.

Edward was actually attractive (for the first time, to me).

Guess this just proves that if you go into a movie with low enough expectations, you may just be surprised.

Well, live it up Eclipse, because there is NO way that I will like the last movie (or two movies-ack!). There is just no way. You are the chosen one. You are my Twilight Saga movie. All mine.

The bad news? You are still less good than the trailer for the Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows movies. :-/

I still cant believe it.

I liked Eclipse.

I liked Eclipse.

I liked it.

Oh-and I just have to say this----Taylor Lautner is ridiculous.

Just ridiculous.

This post is dedicated to Wendy. We know where our allegiance lies....and our awesome high-five proved it.

alright, enough....laurenthevampireslayer signing off.

It's Gonna Be A Lonely, Lonely, Lonely, Lonely Day...

I'm beginning to get very sad. Upset. Melancholy.

All my friendsies are moving away from me. And so quickly.

Our Villa Alliance will be broken for real.

It's the end of an era.

What ever shall I do?

laurenthevampireslayer signing....off

I guess the Medici's didn't have it all...

Today as I was avidly reading my book, Notorious Royal Marriages, I came to the story concerning the marriage of Henri II of France and Catherine de Medici. And man oh man, what a story! I found myself unable to stifle my laughter at some of its ridiculousness and also unable to hold back my surprised facial expressions (as I often have trouble doing). I often think of how terrible it would have been to be a Queen, the wife to a King. Having to be on your best behavior, a loyal wife at all times, while your husband is busy whoring around in the public eye. Although, I'm sure queens did their share of whoring from time to time, it seemed to be a common practice for a king. Anyway, this is one of those stories that just make you feel so sad for the lady. I mean, yeah, she was probably a little crazy, and sure, she wasn't the most attractive damsel around, but you have to sympathize with her one way or the other. For goodness sake, she bore the man ten children within twelve years! And he most likely wanted to keep her pregnant so as not to have to sleep with her! What a life to which some of these women were sentenced. And just imagine being completely attracted to your husband, thinking yourself so lucky, when his least desire is to ever make love to you. I'm not sure how much liberty the author took with the facts of this story. It might just be how her writing includes subtle sarcasm and pokes a little fun at the situations, but my, what a sad tale.

And that, my friends, is my royally historic rant for the day.

laurenthevampireslayer signing off.

Unlearned

I miss learning. I feel like i have unlearned everything I learned in college. I think I need to re-teach myself some important stuff. So I'm just gonna start reading all the Art History books that I kept. They tried to give me $7 to sell this book back. I told them to shove it. And I'm glad I did. I also would like to refresh my Latin. I probably have the least to show for someone who took latin for c. 7 years. I am so ashamed of myself. I let so much knowledge slip between the cracks in my brain. So here I go...off to re-learn all about the didactic paintings of the Dutch.

And then I'm gonna go play Guitar Hero. badly.

laurenthevampireslayer signing off

Let's Make a Deal(Breaker)

This is my blog about deal-breakers. You know...those things you just know you will never be able to live with, things which you wouldn't want your future significant other to possess. I often discuss these with my cousin, Ashleigh, and now I'm going to put them in writing for the world to see. Some of them silly, some very serious...still deal-breakers either way. This blog will probably get edits from time to time as I encounter different people who may, inadvertently, reveal certain qualities which may, in turn, fall into my deal-breaker category.

And here....we....go!

• Former cheater - sorry guys. I'm all about second chances, but I think this would make me an extremely paranoid/crazy person. There is a minuscule chance that I may one day make an exception for this, but a very minuscule chance indeed.
• Not knowing who George Harrison is - I wouldn't consider myself a die-hard Beatles fan, but I'll be damned if I join myself to one who doesn't know them all by name. It really isn't that difficult, people.
• Bad music taste - sadly, this is actually a deal-breaker. Someone who is not interested in music/has incredibly bad taste in music would probably make for a hard person for me to get to know. This probably goes for books/movies, as well...to some extent.
• Not down with the fam - If you aren't down with my fam, then I'm not down with you. the end. especially since I have pretty much the awesomest fam.
• Disney-hater - Nope.
• Ginger-hater - Come on. I cant enjoy someone who hates on Gingers.
• Excessive Arrogance - I cant handle arrogant dudes. Get over yourself.
• Anyone who doesn't play in a band - ..........Bazinga!
• Anyone who didn't understand the above comment

More to come, people.

laurenthevampireslayer signing off.

Obviously....I am the worst blogger in the history of time. And the only reason that I am writing this blog is because I am completely and utterly bored at work. And that, my friends, is the worst thing you can be. Especially when the the weather is absolutely perfection outside of the window that lies in front of you. I guess someone must have taken my heavy heart and made it light. or maybe not mine....maybe that happened to someone else's heart, which in turn, caused this glorious weather. yeah, cause no one has taken my heart lately...that i know of. Soooo. Errrr. Ummmm..I have laundry to do today. If only I were forced to do laundry at a laundromat. Ive never done that. But if it were so, then maybe an evil villain would fall in love with me and then I would fall in love with his nemesis who doesnt even really care about me and it would spiral downward and end with me dying from explosive shrapnel. Erm. I suppose thats already happened as well. Anyway....I guess the point of this blog is to remember this:

You're the best....AROUND, and nothin's gonna ever keep you down!
Ok?
Ok.

laurenthevampireslayer signing off