Let's Go A' Viking

In my quest to discover my heritage, I came across some pretty cool ancestors. In previous posts, I've talked about Ragnar, who is now generally regarded to have been a real Viking chieftain. His wives seem to be another matter. On the History Channel version, Ragnar is first married to Lathgertha, the shieldmaiden. However, other accounts say that Ragnar was first married to Aslaug, the daughter of the shieldmaiden Brunhilde, or Brynhildr. She's the one I want to talk about today.

The story of Brynhildr is amazing. There is so much written about her that I wonder if she may also have been a real person. Many of the heroes and heroines portrayed in the Volsunga Saga and other Norse literature are turning out to have a history based in fact, although there's no doubt the writers fictionalized many of their superhuman and fantastical attributes.

The awesome thing about Brynhildr is that she's a Valkyrie, a shieldmaiden who chooses who is to live or die in battle, much like The Morrigan in Irish folklore. Those warriors that the Valkyrie chooses go to Valhalla to feast with Odin in a euphoric afterlife. The name Valkyrie comes from root words that literally mean "chooser of the slain."

According to the Volsunga Saga:

One day, Brynhildr, the Amazon daughter of Odin and Erda (the personification of earth) was ordered to choose the victor of a one on one battle between two strangely named king dudes, Hjalmgunnar and Agnar. Even though Brynhildr knew Odin wanted the older, grumpier Hjalmgunnar to win, Brynhildr was a rebellious thing, and chose Agnar, who must've been very nice to look at, to win the fight.

But, oh man, Odin was ticked. So ticked that he condemned Brynhildr to live the rest of her life as a mortal woman, and imprisoned her in a castle. And not only that, but he made it so she slept a sleep like death inside a ring of fire. Only a man who knew no fear, and surpassed Brynhildr in strength, could rescue her. But, Odin was still devastated by his beloved daughter's betrayal.

It was a seemingly impossible task. Most guys, even though they were Viking superheroes, could not rescue the beautiful maiden.

Until Sigurd Sigmundson, my paternal ancestor, came along. He's the Siegfried in the tale of Siegfried and Brunhilde. Some of you are might be familiar with Howard David Johnson's rendering of the pair:

Now, Sigurd was one bad ass dude. He was the slayer of the poisonous dragon Fafnir. Although Fafnir doesn't look so tough in the illustration, believe me, he was VERY tough. And the blood of Fafnir was magical, allowing Sigurd to understand birdsong. Okay, so how that makes any kind of logical sense is beyond me. Lol.

So, after slaying the dragon with his magic sword, Gram, Sigurd was feeling pretty good and wanted a woman. And the woman he wanted was Brynhildr. So, he goes to the castle, somehow manages to get through the ring of fire, and awakens Brynhildr by taking off her Valkyrie helmet and cutting off her chain mail armor.

The two experienced love at first sight, and Sigurd proposed to her with a magic ring that could make gold named Andvaranaut. I would love a ring like that and if it's real, I should have it because I'm the ancestor. Lol.

But, as always, there was evil afoot in the Viking world. He should've married Brynhildr right away, but instead he promised to return to her after visiting King Gjuki in Burgundy.

But when Gjuki's awful sorceress wife, Grimheld, saw Sigurd, she thought he was such a manly hunk that she wanted him to marry her daughter, Gudrun. So she made a magic potion and it might have gone down like this:

Grimheld: Oh, Sigurd, you are one fine specimen of manhood. Don't you see my lovely daughter over there? The one with rats in her hair and the giant mole on her nose?

Sigurd: Yes, Maam. But you see, I'm a hero, and I'm in love with a beautiful Valkyrie, the loveliest shield-maiden there ever was. I'm going to marry her as soon as I'm done with this ridiculous discussion with your husband.

Grimheld: Here, drink this. (She holds us a golden chalice filled with a red, apple-y smelling concoction.

Sigurd: Yummy. Gulp, gulp, gulp.

Grimheld: So, you're going to marry Brynhildr?

Sigurd: Who?

Grimheld: (smiling and cackling under her breath) You don't remember your beautiful shield-maiden, Brynhildr?

Sigurd: Who's that? Why would I want a beautiful Valkyrie when I can have your rat-infested daughter? I'll marry her!

Oh, poor Sigurd. Big on handsome brawniness, little on brains. The potion made him totally forget Brynhildr, and he married ugly old Gudrun.

But Grimheld wasn't finished. She wanted to keep a close eye on Brynhildr, so she sent her son, Gunnar, to rescue and marry her.

But Gunnar wasn't manly, and wasn't even as smart as Sigurd, so when he tried to ride his horse through a ring of flames surrounding the castle, he failed miserably, probably burning up his poor horse. Then he borrowed Sigurd's magic horse, and still failed to get through the ring of flames. So Sigurd agrees to change bodies with Gunnar, and he then succeeds in rescuing Brynhildr...again.

Then the catfights began. Brynhildr and Gudrun started arguing over whose husband was greater, Sigurd or Gunnar. It might've gone down like this:

Gudrun: My husband is sexier and tougher than your pansy husband.

Brynhildr: Ha! That's a laugh and a half, witch daughter. My husband rode through a wall of flames to save me.

Gudrun: You stupid blonde! Sigurd and Gunnar exchanged shapes. It wasn't Gunnar who made it through the flames, but my husband, Sigurd.

Brynhildr: (snagging Gudrun by the throat) You're lying!

Gudrun: (choking and gagging) No, I'm not! I swear on the rats that live in my hair!

Brynhildr: I see you are telling the truth. WTF! Where's that filthy cheating Sigurd? I'll kill him!

And she does just that by giving another guy a magic potion that causes rage. Still, the enraged guy can only kill Sigurd when he's sleeping. And even then, Sigurd is one tough cookie. As he lay dying, he hurls his sword at his murderer and kills him.

So, where does Aslaug, Ragnar's wife, come into the picture? That part is murky, but apparently in the three days Sigurd spent in the castle with Brynhildr disguised in Gunnar's body, they played around a bit and Aslaug was conceived.

But wow, those Viking women are not to be messed with...

I was watching an episode of the Vikings on the History Channel last night and this "love" scene between Ragnar and Lathgertha was actually pretty dang sexy, I thought:

Anyway, I hope history keeps coming alive, and that many of the old Viking heroes and heroines are found to be based in fact. Awesome ancestry!

Duality

I was looking at an astrology chart a friend made for me, and realized some things were really spot on, while others not so much. It did make me think about the person I am, the inner person that makes me tick. I'm a Virgo, born September 9th, in a certain year (lol) at a certain time of day, and some of the things listed about my personality based on those things were uncanny.  The main thing I realized was that I, like most of us, have a natural duality.

Here is the chart. My friend has nicknamed me "Polly Purebred." Just add that to my growing list of nicknames like Sasquatch, Octowilly, and Foo Foo.

That duality is what makes us unique. Each of us have different percentages of naughty and nice, sugar and spice, yes and no, happiness and sadness, optimism and pessimism, childlikeness and responsibility.

Duality is what enables us to be extremely sensual yet innocent and sometimes childlike. I tend to look at the world as a continuous adventure with the next exciting experience just around the corner. And although I'm not a social butterfly, I enjoy new experiences, and am not a fearful or timid person. I am shy, at first, but never timid. Those are two completely different things, in my opinion.

Wow, I guess if I was a Pokemon, I'd be Eevee:

My dual nature allows me to seek the purity and beauty in the world, yet also to enjoy the abstract and unusual. I like flowers...the colors, the shapes, the scents, but only when they're in the ground. That's where they belong, not dying in a giant vase on my nightstand. I love the purity and beauty of things, but don't like it when something of purity and beauty is put in a place it doesn't belong and becomes a detriment to itself.

My dual nature has a longing for the light, but a fascination for the dark. A love of the sunshine, and an awestruck wonder for the thunderstorm. I love raindrops on my skin as much as I love the tingling feeling of sunshine on my face. I love the salty waves of the ocean in the summer, and the white capped mountains in winter (obviously not in Florida, lol).

If I was an anime, I could be this:

or this:

or this:

But probably a combination of all them...

And I guess each sign has different eyes...here's a chart I found:

I can be naughty and nice, sugar and spice. I'm a tomboy, yet still all girl where and when it really counts. I clean up pretty good, and sometimes I like to wear dresses and heels. But I also love climbing things, don't mind getting dirty, and doing "boy" like things like shooting guns and racing.

And here's an interesting thing about seducing a Virgo, lol:

So, yeah, I'm not perfect, but I'm unique and I'm content with me. It was fun reading about my personality traits, and although some caused me to think about areas I need to improve, other insights caused me to realized that I, just like you, are very special in our own unique ways...

Happy Saturday, y'all...

Telescopic

This morning I woke up really early so Joe and I could planet watch. For the first time in a decade, five planets--Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn--are visible to the naked eye. And if visible to the naked eye, we figured the view from a telescope would be even better.

Well, Joe got a good view, but my knee wouldn't let me get in the right position (basically kneeling, which there is no way right now) to see anything. But that's what it was all about--Joe seeing something he's never seen before.

It was cold outside (45 degrees), and we were outside barefoot and still in our pajamas, so I was pretty shivery...lol.

I think Joe's excitement kept him warm, but he saw what he wanted to see -- Saturn and Mars -- and then we hightailed it back into the warm house.

Although I wasn't able to look through the telescope, this is pretty much how Joe described Saturn:

I think the five planets will be visible until Feb 20th, so I'm sure we'll be out a lot with the telescope.

And now I learn that Planet X or "Planet 9" may have been discovered. It's on the news today. That's pretty cool. But I'm not giving up Pluto. To me, Pluto will always be the 9th planet. So Planet X will be Planet 10 to me, because X equals 10 anyway, right?

Here's a little blurb fro Caltech, where the planet was discovered:

"Caltech researchers have found evidence of a giant planet tracing a bizarre, highly elongated orbit in the outer solar system. The object, which the researchers have nicknamed Planet Nine, has a mass about 10 times that of Earth and orbits about 20 times farther from the sun on average than does Neptune (which orbits the sun at an average distance of 2.8 billion miles). In fact, it would take this new planet between 10,000 and 20,000 years to make just one full orbit around the sun."

Here's the artistic rendering of "Planet TEN":

Regardless of which planet it is, it's still pretty cool. 

Since I have unused vacation time, I'm taking tomorrow and Monday off. I have to get out of the house. I'm going crazy...lol... So, I thought I'd go up toward Tallahassee to visit some aunts, uncles and cousins. My mom is trying her hardest to make me feel guilty and not go. One thing I've learned while caring for her is that I HAVE to take some time for myself sometimes. Having a non-working knee hasn't eased the demands she makes on me, and a couple of days away is really, really needed.

The thing is, I do feel a little guilty, even though I know I shouldn't. Aidan and Joe will be home to help her out. Her problem is that she ONLY wants ME to do everything. She really needs to learn to receive help from others. She does this every time I go away for a night or two, but then she's fine while I'm gone and when I get home, she acts like I never left. I guess she just gets nervous before I go.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting away for a couple days!!

21 and Going Strong

Happy Birthday, Aido Barbado! (Apparently, this is what Callie now calls Aidan). She will always be my l'il punkin pie, though.

I could go really deep with this post, and tell Aidan's story, with all it's trials and successes, but I want to focus on lightheartedness. She made it to 21, and I am just so thankful and happy and blessed that I am filled with happiness. To let a dark thought from the past into my mind today seems wrong, so I won't.

Here are a couple of pics of Aidan when she was a little punkin pie (sorry for horrible quality---pics of pics taken with my phone):

Here's Aidan with her cousin Andrew (aka Spiffy):

I loved it when I found this Halloween costume in a thrift shop! Aidan loved it, too, and wore it two years in a row.

Aidan practicing her gymnastics at Mimi and Grandpa's house:

The kids at the beach several February's ago:

Aidan (on left) with her friend Heather at church:

At our house in Albuquerque:

Aidan and Callie at the Albuquerque house:

Aidan sitting in a mock oval office at The Magic House in Illinois:

She's just amazing. When I think of how hard she's worked to survive and overcome and be successful, I'm just in awe. She's the strongest person I know and I'm so proud she's my daughter.

She recently posted this video on FB...its a rap song she wrote while in jail almost three years ago... (I don't know how to upload the video, but hopefully if you click on the link, you'll see it)

https://www.facebook.com/Babyaids/videos/1241352272544875/

And this is a video that totally brings tears to my eyes every time I see it...

https://www.facebook.com/Babyaids/videos/1099200883426682/

I told her a couple days ago that I'm going to make her a cake today. I usually make cakes for my kids birthday's and decorate them myself. I'm not a great cake decorator, but I think I'm okay, and I'm probably the only one that can accommodate some of my kids weird requests. This is how the text conversation went about Aidan's cake this year:

Anyway, this may be the hardest cake I've done in a while. When the kids were little, I did some elaborate, time consuming cakes. I've got to go back and find those pics...they're awesome. But as the kids grew and life grew busier, the cakes were more rushed.

Here are a few of the cakes I've done (that I can find the pics of, lol). Keep in mind, they give me very specific instructions of how they want their cakes to be, and I try hard to accommodate them.

This one was a little rushed, because Aidan decided at the very last minute she wanted a sea monster with bloodshot eyes and bloody teeth:

Joe followed suit later that year with his own gory request:

Here's a cake I did a couple years ago for the surgeon I work for:

Today's Hello Kitty Choking Spoopy cake may be pretty difficult. I'm getting off work early, so I can decorate it when I get home. I still need to pick up a couple frosting colors from the store...

And a quick thank you for all the well wishes. I'm doing great after a couple hard days, and I'll be mountain climbing by springtime!

The Force Awakens (SPOILERS!)

Wow, wow, wow. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was AWESOME. Loved it!

Here are some reasons why I loved it:

1. We have a female potential Jedi (and maybe the most powerful Jedi yet), who isn't a typical "Mary Jane" protagonist. A "Mary Jane" in movies is sort of like a wish- fulfillment heroine, a girl who is almost supernatural in her ability to kick ass. In The Force Awakens, Rey isn't aware of how strong the Force is within her. And when she does something extraordinarily well, the viewer realizes it's the Force working in her and guiding her to her greater destiny, but she's convincingly perplexed and pleasantly surprised at her ability. When she pilots The Millennium Falcon with a finesse Han Solo would be jealous of, her response afterward is incredulous, and Finn's like "How did you do that?" And she's all like, "I don't know!"

When Han gives her the blaster, he's like "Girlie, do you know how to use this?" And she says "Pull the trigger," and he's all chuckling like she's a dumb little girl. He says something like "Uh, there's a lot more to it than that." And that he'll give her lessons. When she does finally use the blaster, and after one stray shot, hits her target on the second, she looks down at the weapon in wonder, as if thinking, "I thought this was supposed to be difficult." As the audience, we know it's because of the Force in her. But she is wonderfully oblivious to it, until the very end.

And I love how the tables turn near the beginning of the movie where Finn is always trying to take her hand to pull her to safety. She keeps saying, "Stop taking my hand! I know how to run without holding your hand!" Then, there comes a moment when she offers her hand.

2. J.J. Abrams did a fantastic job with a subtle weaving of the intricacies of the Force throughout the movie. I especially noticed the lights of the sabers reflected in Kylo Ren's and Rey's eyes during their final fight. As their sabers were locked and Rey was standing on the edge of the precipice, Kylo pleads that he can teach her the Force. Then, in Rey's eyes, and in Kylo Ren's, you see the blue and red lines of the sabers crossed. Rey closes her eyes and concentrates on the Force within her. When
she opens her eyes, the blue and red lights are parallel, symbolizing the intended balancing nature of the force, while in Kylo Ren's eyes, the lights are still crossed.

3. The movie remained true to the origins George Lucas intended. George Lucas has said that the Force is a pushing and pulling of dark and light that strives for balance, and one side can't survive without the other. This is artistically depicted in the internal struggle of Kylo Ren. His heart seems to be tugging him toward the light, but his mind and ego and his worship of his grandfather (Darth Vader) yank him quickly back to the dark side of the Force. This internal struggle and his immaturity for one wielding such power is evident in his destructive tantrums when things don't go his way. I have a feeling that murdering his father (Han Solo) will haunt him in future movies.

4. There was no evidence of Jar Jar Binks! Or Ewoks (well, I think I saw an Ewok, actually, but it didn't speak and seemed to be in just one short scene, walking in the dust). Thank the Lord for that
small mercy! The droid BB-8 was actually entertaining (to me, anyway), as it rolled through every
scene like a loyal ally. His personification with human qualities such as trust, when he chose to go along with Finn's lie, was also endearing. His thumbs up welding flame was also actually smile inducing rather than...stupid.

5. There wasn't as much corny replay of the original trilogy as I thought there'd be. Yes, Han Solo did have some corny lines that made me slightly roll my eyes, but not nearly as much as I've seen in other sequels. For the most part, Han Solo and Leia acted how one would expect them to act thirty plus years down the road. They'd had a child, lost that child to the dark side, and split up. Leia is now a general, and a tired Han Solo has gone back to what he's done best--smuggling. The action scenes with Han running aren't far-fetched feats of almost superhuman youth, but reminiscent of a man tired of "the game" just doing what needs to be done to survive another day. His cocky, arrogant personality has subsided into almost a casual indifference.

6. Although we don't see Luke Skywalker until the very end, his presence is felt from the start and
builds toward the climax. It's the final piece to the map of his whereabouts that the First Order is destroying whole star systems to get to. Dumb move on their part--what if one of those planets they destroyed was actually where Luke Skywalker was? Then they'd continue to waste their time searching for nothing.

7. The third Death Star isn't as dumb as critics have made it out to be. Yes, the first two were little in comparison to this monster, the Starkiller. Ironic, isn't it, that in the first draft of the original movie, Luke's last name wasn't going to be Skywalker, but Starkiller?  This Death Star had some definite improvements to go along with it's immensity compared to the previous Death Stars. It HAD to be big, though, because it's weapon had to pull 100% of the sun's energy into it before it could fire a shot that would wipe out entire star systems. There were some design deficiencies, though, because no one but Han, Finn, and Chewie noticed Rey climbing like a lithe little monkey up and down the sides of the walls in an effort to remain hidden from stormtroopers who were supposed to be on high alert.

8. The rumored plot holes were really not plot holes at all. A LOT of information had to be squeezed into a two plus hour film, but the info needed was there, if only for a brief second or two. Most of it flashes in quick succession when Rey first laid her hand on the light saber. She saw the murdering of the younglings by Anakin, she saw the reason why R2D2 went into a self imposed mourning. He was not actually mourning....he was waiting. Waiting for a very special moment when the Force briefly tipped toward the Light. That moment was when Rey and Leia hugged. In that instant, R2D2 fulfilled the mission Luke gave him in the flashback scene where Rey touches the saber.

9. There's another reason why I think that hug between Leia and Rey seemed so special, almost "motherly." We will have to see how that plays out. But with familial ties woven through all the movies, and Rey's mysterious family who abandoned her on Jakku, I wouldn't be surprised if our boy
Luke is a dad after all. Or perhaps Obi Wan Kenobi had a granddaughter we are just learning about.

10. The ending. I thought about the ending on the ride home. At first, I would've liked to have seen Luke stare at the saber for a second, raise his eyes, and have them widen even more as he beholds Rey, standing stoically in front of him, offering the saber. I would've like to have seen him outstretched his hand, and the saber in Rey's hand quiver the slightest bit before fading to black. But that's just my opinion. It ended well the way it did, too.

11. The bonus was the chills I got right at the beginning, with the original music, and the usual scrolling of the history so far. I'm so glad they didn't deviate! It literally gave me chills as memories came flooding back to me.

12. I loved the raw, almost unconscious control of the Force Rey exhibited. So refreshing to see a girl wield a light saber, even though clumsily at first (thrusting when she should have been slashing). Once she focused and let the Force guide her every move, she was unbeatable. And that's awesome.

And last but not least, I want one of these...

Anyway, can you tell how this nerdy girl LOVED that movie!!??