It's Hot - But Much Better, a Kickstarter Project and the Olympics Are Starting Soon

We've just finished our 10th day of temperatures over 90 F (32.2 C and up). Although we sometimes get extended hot days in July or in August, having this in June is unusual and unwelcome. I want temps back to the "normal" 70 F - 85 F range again, please, and today the Weather Gods are expected to finally deliver a bit of cool! After my run this morning, I took a cold shower, and still had another hour mopping my face and head with a towel before I was finally cooled off. Ridiculous! It makes me want to wander in the forests, but there aren't any forests nearby, and I'm sure the mosquitoes in our more northern forest lands are almost unbearable (along with other flying insects that will adore our heat wave). I guess I'll stay in suburbia, encourage my baby tomatoes to grow big and strong and red, and live with our temporary heat wave. 

One of my favorite tarot decks is my "Gilded Tarot" deck. 
It's a beauty - wonderful illustrations, heavy gilt-edged 
card stock and a good, sturdy case. When I use my 
Good/Evil avatar, those two illustrations are from my 
Gilded Tarot. 

I know I have some friends who read my blog and who might be interested in a new Kickstarter project called "The Literary Tarot". You might remember that I adore Tarot decks. I have quite a few different decks, currently somewhere in the chaos of my studio. But I know they're there somewhere - LOL. As interesting as this deck looks, I probably won't buy it. It's got a different slant to the illustrations, and I thought some of you might be interested. It has more than 7000 backers as of this morning, so it's obviously hitting a chord. There are 78 cards, and there will be 78 authors and 78 pairings. How does that work? Let me try to explain. 

The Literary Tarot's pictures are lush and stunning, 
with literary references throughout. If you're 
interested, they have both a digital version and a 
hardcopy version available at various price points, 
coming in at around $50 for the physical 
version

The Literary Tarot works with classic literature, some amazing authors and top-level cartoonists. Each author was asked to pair one Tarot card with a seminal book that portrayed and embodied the meaning of the arcana. How did this work? For example, Margaret Atwood paired Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" with The Queen of Light card. Chelsea Cain paired Agatha Christie's "Poirot Investigates" with The Explorer, Patrick Rothfuss paired Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote" with The Fool, and Roxane Gay partnered Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" with The King of Parchment. As you can tell, there's a lot of interesting stuff going on in this Kickstarter project. If you're interested in learning more, simply Google Kickstarter and search for "The Literary Tarot". If I was in the market for yet another Tarot deck, I'd be nabbing this one. I'm sure it will remain perched in my mind as a possibility for quite a long time to come. There's even a Tolkien who contributed - Simon Tolkien, to be precise - JRR Tolkien's grandson. 

I have loved watching the singles and the synchronized 
diving competitions since I was a small child. I never 
had the inner ear balance to achieve success in diving, 
nor the speed for racing, but I do love the water sports. 
I'm starting to get excited about the Tokyo Olympics. 

It's hard to believe, given how difficult it was to cool down this morning, but I just took a look at my outside temp and we're actually in the mid-60's, instead of the upper 70's or early 80's. We might be cresting out in the upper 80's today instead of the upper 90's or over 100 as the previous few days. OMG - it's a cold snap - LOLOL. I spent an entertaining few minutes this morning watching the Olympic trials for men's synchronized diving - it's always such a pleasure to watch. I'm starting to get into an Olympics mode now ... are you? There are new events this year including skateboarding, which has two 12-year-old competitors and a 42-year-old. Massive age spread that has only been surpassed by equestrian events in past Olympics. We're also getting close to July, when I'll be wrapped up in Tour de France. Summer is just flying by, and it's only mid-June! 

These are the members of the USA Skateboarding Team for 
this year's Olympic games. They are running two different 
courses - street and park. Want to know more about this 
new discipline? There's an article here - 
https://www.boardworld.com.au/articles/olympic-skateboarding-6-things-we-know

Have a wonderful, excellent and marvelous day and a glorious weekend. I'll be back on Monday. Meanwhile, please stay safe and be kind. 

I Need An Escape - How About A Tiny Treehouse?

Some mornings are harder to get up for than others. Today was such a day, I actually slept until my alarm awakened me at 4:00 am, usually I wake up anywhere from 30-60 minutes before and just get up. I guess the temperature was perfect, and maybe my dreams were good - I have no idea on that. But, at least I got a solid 6+ hours of sleep, so that was good. 

I'm populating today's blog with a Kickstarter 
campaign I want to support and think that you 
might also enjoy. Tiny-Treehouses.com is their 
website and they have wonderful, detailed 
mini treehouses to hang or to add to your 
houseplants. Take a look at the few I've 
put in today's blog, and visit their website 
to see the range. There are some wonderful 
structures. 

I pushed through and got my full 2 miles on the treadmill - once again NOT my favorite exercise. I'd much rather be in the pool, but I don't think that's going to happen until next year. I just don't see myself being brave and going into the midst of other people fearlessly for a while yet. So, I trudged my way through my fast walk. Thank goodness for audio books - I'd die of boredom on the treadmill without my favorite books to listen to. 

There are some wonderful structures that they have 
in production - I just chose a few to share with 
all of you. Little structures like this can help the 
imagination run wild, offering up alternatives 
and giving safe spaces when needed. And these 
are clever. Beautifully designed. 

Settling down at my computer, I handled my email, checked my mail orders, and generally did what I had to do before settling down to write my blog ... and realized that I really had nothing to say today that wasn't negative or horribly boring or ick. Since I refuse to post ick (we have enough of that in our daily lives these days), today's blog will be short. But that's OK. Not every day has to be a winner. 

In their photos, they also have a few shots when the 
roofs are removed, showing the detailed interiors, 
not just the wonderful exteriors. I'm in love with 
these small structures. Take a look and let your 
own imaginations run wild for a little bit. 

I guess I'm just a bit depressed about the world I'm finding myself living in. I'm watching my nation and the world around me heading towards disaster. I'm seeing human rights so hard-fought for in the past within a knife's edge of being thrown into the trash, and I'm looking at a lot of angry and isolated people striking out an anyone because they feel powerless. All I can do is try to effect positive thoughts and actions within the small circle of people I interact with. And that's all you can do too. So please, today, try to brighten someone's day. We all need it. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow.