Just A Girl

ac/dc - she’s got balls

“Selkie” by Brian Froud

The sea trows and selkies of Scotland are shape-shifting faerie women who leave their sealskins by lying on the shore to dance on the moonlit beaches, beguiling all men who gaze upon them. If a man gains possession of her sealskin, the faerie is trapped and cannot return to her otherworld. As faerie wives, they make good and fertile companions, yet are ever wistfully longing for their own natural form. Eventually, however, they always find their own skins again to swim freely to their own land, leaving the men sorrowing for their loss. A reminder then that faerie women cannot be imprisoned in a relationship, but must be allowed to be free to fulfill the destiny of their faerie souls. These stories, with their seemingly arbitrary prohibitions (usually physical, as in the accidental blows) tell us that as men we must truly value faerie women, treat them gently, and acknowledge their otherworldliness. Our actions or words must do no damage to their mysterious transcendence. 

Photo break: 

Elementary students at Bridge Farm Primary School in Bristol arrived this morning to discover an eye-opening new mural by Banksy that appeared sometime in the night, but the placement wasn’t random: the building itself bears the elusive street artist’s name. Several weeks ago the school held a competition to rename houses and the winners were Brunel, Blackbeard, Cabot and Banksy (the artist’s work first appeared in the city in the early 1990s). When the students returned from half-term they found the new mural on a blank wall of the building.

The new piece depicts a scribbled figure of a child playing with a stick and hoop, but the hoop has been replaced with a giant flaming tire. Perhaps not the inspirational motif you’d expect to adorn a primary school, but we imagine it must be inline with their sense of humor. The mural was also accompanied by a fantastic note:

“Dear Bridge Farm School, thanks for your letter and naming a house after me. Please have a picture, and if you don’t like it, feel free to add stuff. I’m sure the teachers won’t mind. Remember, it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Much love, Banksy.”