The Squirrel's Nest

In an effort to consolidate my online presence, I made a personal site! asphodelon.com will direct here from now on, with blog.asphodelon.com going to this blog.

Until, of course, they showed it to a traditional leatherworker and she took one look at it and said “Oh yeah sure that’s a leather burnisher, you use it to close the pores of leather and work oil into the hide to make it waterproof. Mine looks just the same.” 

“Wait you’re still using the exact same fucking thing 50,000 years later???”

“Well, yeah. We’ve tried other things. Metal scratches up and damages the hide. Wood splinters and wears out. Bone lasts forever and gives the best polish. There are new, cheaper plastic ones, but they crack and break after a couple years. A bone polisher is nearly indestructible, and only gets better with age. The more you use a bone polisher the better it works.”

It’s just. 

So ancient Roman statues have some really weird hairstyles. Archaeologists just couldn’t figure them out. They didn’t have hairspray or modern hair bands, or elastic at all, but some of these things defied gravity better than Marge Simpson’s beehive.

Eventually they decided, wigs. Must be wigs. Or maybe hats. Definitely not real hair.

A hairdresser comes a long, looks at a few and is like, “Yeah, they’re sewn.”

“Don’t be silly!” the archaeologists cry. “How foolish, sewn hair indeed! LOL!”

So she went away and recreated them on real people using a needle and thread and the mystery of Roman hairstyles was solved.

12. A Discovery Of Witches by Deborah Harkness

When historian—and witch—Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it unleashes a flood of magic so powerful that it draws all manner of creatures to Oxford. One of those is geneticist—and vampire—Matthew Clairmont who, despite Diana’s determined efforts to ignore him, rapidly becomes a fixture in the young witch’s life. For so many years now, Diana has chosen to shun the magical world into which she was born and the abilities she inherited from the parents so brutally killed, but now she has little choice but to unravel the mysteries surrounding the manuscript, along with her feelings for Matthew. Smart, romantic, fantastical, and gripping—this novel has also been adapted into a major drama series for Sky, starring Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode in the lead roles.

A Touch of Darkness Book Description:

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shrivelled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist. Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favourite bets are rumoured to be impossible. After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. The bet does more than expose Persephone’s failure as a Goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows—and it’s forbidden.

Book Review:

Scarlett St. Clair’s obsession with Greek mythology favours the readers, as she dropped the newest book to her series, Hades & Persephone, last 7th of May 2019. Entitled A Touch of Darkness is a retelling of our classic Grecian tale - only this time, fiercer & bolder.

The novel is set in the modern world. It features Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, and a student journalist living among the mortal realm. Her fate changes as her best friend, Lexa, manages to grab an exclusive reservation at Nevernight, the God of Death's luxurious casino.

Persephone's destiny entangles with Hades, earning herself a contract to fulfil after losing a game with the said god, but she took it as an advantage as a journalist, digging past the god's grim façade. However, during their intense encounters and as Persephone sees him for who he truly is, she notices herself not reeling away from him - but towards him instead.

First of all, like St. Clair, I absolutely adore Greek myths and legends and I will devour any story with that sort of theme. And if you know me, my favourite trope is either "hate-to-love" or "soulmates". You know what's even better? This series has all of those three!

While she stuck true to the original tale, Scarlett St. Clair's creativity is evident in the story. The beginning of the story was rather slow-paced, filling in Persephone's backstory and goals and detailing the setting, but once she gets to Nevernight - oh, the drama finally begins. I love St. Clair's writing style, it's steamy and humorous and extremely romantic. Oh, and I'm also glad that she left out the problematic kidnapping.

The characters were divine! I was very eager to see Persephone's character development. She's stubborn and strong-headed, but also compassionate and merciful. She's only beginning to understand the powers that she possesses and I'm anticipating her growth dealing with communication.

Lexa is the ever-present best friend, from this life to another. Her story made me cry. And Hermes - I think we’d get along well. He has this supportive gay best friend vibes and I am drawn to it.

Hades is the perfect leading man. You think he's the cool type, the guy who has it all figured out. BUT he's in turmoil whenever Persephone is around. He weaken at her grasp and HE WORSHIPS HER.

Speaking of, let's talk about the spice. Boy, they are wild!

If you're looking for a classy mature fantasy with the right amount of intimate moments, cute banter, and heart crushing drama - A Touch of Darkness is the perfect read.

Disclaimer, the 4-book series is incomplete, but A Touch of Malice is set to publish on 25th of May this year and A Touch of Chaos is in the works. Until then, join in on the anticipation!

www.hermitagemuseum.org

britishmuseum.org

www.louvre.fr

www.museodelprado.es

collections.vam.ac.uk

www.moma.org

www.khm.at

www.digitalsculpture.org

www.tnm.jp

artsandculture.google.com

collections.lacma.org

the broad collections

tate collections

reina sofia collections / multimedia

rijkysmuseum collections

tokyo national museum e-museum / collections

detroit institute of arts collections

yale university gallery of art collections

harvard art museums collections

whitney museum collections / videos

israel museum jerusalem collections

jewish museum new york collections

walker art center collections

indianapolis museum of art collections

mfa boston collections / youtube

figge art museum collections

american folk art museum collections

museum of international folk art collections

art institute chicago virtual visit / collections / articles

van gogh museum virtual visit / collections

mfa houston collections

might be Hades x Persephone au

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