To Do list №9 August 2020

To Do list №9 August 2020

13 minute read

Your Leo Season advice comes from Adastra Astrology this month

 

"If you find that you’ve been floundering in all the feels, emotions and general moodiness that comes with Cancer Season, you’re not alone! This summer has been rife with astrological ups and downs, which have undoubtedly been magnified by new pandemic reality. As the Sun rises from the watery, emotional depths of Cancer and comes home to Leo, we feel more carefree, energetic, confident and powerful. Now is the time to feed those egos, love on ourselves and take our creativity to the next level.  

Coming in at high summer, off the tail of several major eclipses, retrograde cycles (we’re still in the midst of a few!), a restrictive new moon in Cancer (opposite Saturn in Capricorn that brought a sense of severity and hardship to our world last week), we enter Leo season looking for emotional release – and relief. 

Leo Season comes with gifts this year. On top of that great news, we have more positive astrological movements. Following the start of Leo Season, our friend Venus, the planet of love and fortune, enters Leo on July 27th, illuminating and bringing a marked exuberance to your love and home lives. It’s time for a glow up! 

 

No matter your placements or your Sun Sign, 2020’s Leo Season will impact each person differently. You may feel more equipped to go and get the things you believe you deserve; you may feel more creative, spirited and passionate about projects and goals. 

When the Sun is in its domicile, or ruling Sign, of Leo, we all benefit. It’s important to remember that the Sun does not discriminate; it imbues its energy, strength, and power. It reminds us that we all live and breathe under the same Sun. 

 

Leo is about authenticity. You can make the most of this season by tapping into your individuality and going after your soul’s desire. The Sun’s radiant energies this month will help you get there, and succeed in the process. 

While Leo has a reputation for egoism, self-centredness and general self-absorption, don’t fear this season and instead, learn to embrace it and flip the script. 

 

Work with the hyper-focus on the self that Leo brings and try to avoid seeing the parts of yourself that are negative. Be aware of self-conscious cycles and shift the focus on to the things that you do love about yourself. Find ways to highlight them in your everyday and surround yourself with those who uplift and empower you. 

Another hot tip: it’s not about you

 

While it’s easy to fall into the belief that everything concerns you, and the Sun’s energy in Leo may heighten that feeling – avoid it at all costs. It can be off-putting and hogging the spotlight can be alienating. Work to see a situation from all sides and be flexible; Leo’s fixed sign stubbornness is legendary, but you can rise above it and emerge from tough situations with enviable grace. 

 

And remember: despite what our ego says, there is enough room at the table for us all, so share the spotlight and give people their dues! A benevolent leader is a well-loved leader."

 

This month I want to spark my imagination and escape into childhood delight. This list is all about youth and finding inspiration from your past. Here are a few things that do that for me!

 

 

 

A Little Princess

 

 

A Little Princess premiered 20 years ago, offering up a mantra we should all have lived with since: that all girls (and boys, if so inclined, thanks very much) are princesses, regardless of, you know, actually being born into a royal family, the Middleton family, or a Disney movie. It also packed a lot of social justice subtext into a plot that's mostly centered on a prestigious New York girls' boarding school. And on that note, in 20 years, the actresses playing all those little rich girls have grown up! See them all here, as well as some of the film's other best characters. People age! 

Outside of Hollywood, Pritzker Simmons is an heir to the Hyatt Hotels family fortune estimated by The New York Times in 2002 at $15 billion — that year, she and her brother sued her family over her trust funds and other monies following her father's death. She received a $500 million payout from her suit, and per a 2013 Forbes magazine profile, "left [the United States] to find herself." 

Specifically, she went to India, like Sara. There, she undertook volunteer work in a nursery school and as a yoga teacher in a program designed to rehabilitate heroin addicts. (She also volunteered in Ghana and Tanzania while on her travels.) She has since spearheaded philanthropic projects, funneling millions into nonprofits focused on education and clean water initiatives across the developing world. Pictured above, Pritzker Simmons in conversation with Forbes about her work.

Her husband, Ian Simmons, is also from an uber-wealthy family, an heir to a department store and canal lock-derived fortune.

 

Vanessa Lee Chester has worked steadily since her role in A Little Princess, but hopefully not so hard that she's left icing her blisters at the end of a day's work like poor Becky.

She starred in the original Jurassic Park sequel, The Lost World, back in the '90s. (And to be fair, Miss Minchin was definitely more terrifying than a raptor.) Describing herself as a "dessert expert," "nap enthusiast," and "yoga disciple" on her Instagram profile page

 

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/movies/news/a46924/a-little-princess-cast-grown-up/

The Secret Garden

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle’s castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and neglected. Aided by one of the servants’ boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.

The Neverending Story

 

 

The movie adaptation of German writer Michael Ende's 1979 fantasy novel The Neverending Story was released during that special era in the 1980s when a PG rating almost certainly meant nightmares for children under the age of 10 (see: Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal). But that didn't stop Wolfgang Petersen's magical adventure story from becoming a bona fide cult classic.

 

The 43-foot-long luckdragon’s face looks a lot like a dog's, but according to the source material, his official breed is zero percent canine. While even the special effects director referred to the creature as a “golden retriever/dragon,” Falkor’s appearance was simply the director’s interpretation. At least two Falkor models were constructed; the first, built by Giuseppe Tortora, used airplane steel for the frames and the head alone weighed more than 200 pounds.

 

There's a reason why the Swamp of Sadness scene took so long to shoot. The short version? Most horses won’t walk into deep pools of mud if they have a choice. It took two trainers seven weeks to teach the horse playing Artax to stand still on a hydraulic platform in the swamp with mud up to his chin without trying to swim or run away.

 

If you’re the type of moviegoer who avoids sequels, you may want to rethink that policy in this case—or at least pick up a copy of Ende’s book. Because the film version of The NeverEnding Story ends at around the halfway point of the book, audiences never find out what happens to the beloved characters. George T. Miller's 1990 sequel, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, includes plot points from Ende’s novel, but also adds new elements to the storyline. There is a third film in the series (1994's The NeverEnding Story III), but it is an extended adventure that was not part of the book.

 

OK so you've absolutely grown out of these books, but it is fun to revisit these coming of age stories. Judy Blume was the queen of coming of age... and I think most of us chanted along with her- "We must, we must, we must increase our bust!"

Trust Exercise is so good I practically ate it. One of the best I've read in years. It's an incredibly woven "Me Too" story.

In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving "Brotherhood of the Arts," two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed--or untoyed with--by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley.

The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school's walls--until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. What the reader believes to have happened to David and Sarah and their friends is not entirely true--though it's not false, either. It takes until the book's stunning coda for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place--revealing truths that will resonate long after the final sentence.

As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi's Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.

ADULT OTTER POPS

These lychee rosé wine otter pops are perfect for hot summer days and easy to make by blending lychee and rosé wine and then pouring into otter pop sleeves.

 

RECIPE

https://askannamoseley.com/2019/06/lychee-rose-otter-pops/

Photo by Kerchie of her personal collection from www.kerchie.com

Polly Pocket

 

Polly Pocket was first designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 for his daughter Kate. Using a makeup powder compact, he fashioned a small house for the tiny doll. Bluebird Toys of SwindonEngland, licensed the concept and the first Polly Pocket toys appeared in stores in 1989. Mattelheld a distribution arrangement with Bluebird Toys for Polly Pocket items in the early 1990s. In 1998, while production lulled, Bluebird Toys endured multiple hostile takeover attempts until Mattel finally purchased them later that year. The sets made by Bluebird Toys are now valuable collectables.

The original Polly Pocket toys were plastic cases which opened to form a dollhouse or other playset with Polly Pocket figurines less than an inch tall. The dolls folded in the middle, like the case, and had circular bases which slotted into holes in the case interior, allowing them to stand securely at particular points in the house. This was particularly useful for moving points in the case. Because the dolls were so small, sometimes they came enclosed in pendants or large rings instead of the more typical playset cases.

In 1998, Mattel redesigned Polly Pocket. The new doll was larger, with a more lifelike appearance than the original dolls. She had a straight ponytail, rather than the curly bob hairstyle used previously. The following year, Mattel also introduced "Fashion Polly!," which used the same characters from the new Polly Pocket (Polly, Lea, Shani, Lila, etc.), but they came in the form of 3 3⁄4 inches (9.5 cm) plastic jointed dolls. They gave a new spin on fashion dolls; instead of traditional cloth clothing, Polly Pockets used unique "Polly Stretch" garments, created by Genie Toys, rubbery plastic clothes that could be put on the dolls and removed. There are also some boy dolls (Rick, Steven, etc.). Like Barbie and Bratz dolls, they also star in Polly Pocket movies, books, and sites.

 

In 2002, Mattel stopped producing the smaller Polly Pocket playset range but continued to produce the larger fashion doll.

 

In 2004, Mattel introduced the Polly Pocket "Quik Clik" line. Instead of having rubbery clothes, the dolls had plastic clothes that would click together by magnets. On November 22, 2006, 4.4 million Polly Pocket playsets were recalled by Mattel after children in the United States swallowed loose magnetic parts. Affected toys had been sold around the world for three years prior. (The use of magnets in children's toys — and particularly the inclusion of two or more magnetic parts in such toys — has resulted in many significant injuries in children, and has been repeatedly flagged as hazardous by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), who have sued many companies over such toys and announced many recalls.

 

For the 2010 relaunch, Mattel made further changes to the Polly dolls, including increasing feet size, head size, and leg size, although the height remains approximately the same. However, fan reactions were mixed. It also introduced the Cutants, which are inanimate–animal hybrids.

 

In 2012, Polly Pocket toys were discontinued in the U.S., but remained available in Europe and South America. The brand dwindled, eventually only being sold in Brazil. By 2015, Polly Pocket was completely discontinued by Mattel in North America.

 

On February 12, 2018, Garrett Sander announced on his Instagram page that Polly Pocket would be making a comeback.[8][9] The new toys are miniature dolls in playsets, like the original 1990s Polly Pocket, rather than the larger Fashion Polly.[10] However, they are slightly larger than the original 1990s version. Rather than slotting into holes in the case, the new Polly is made of a flexible plastic that sticks to certain surfaces, but also bends so she can sit in a chair.

 

 

Photo by Kerchie of her personal collection from www.kerchie.com

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