A Triffid Is Winging Its Way from New Zealand

[Credits (if "RT" is re-tweet, should we say "RB" for re-blog?): I found yesterday's Stephen Fry vid on Birdchick (via Momo); but it was Ginga Squid, a Kiwi (New Zealand) "cephalopod loving redhead" artist who alerted me to the existence of new flightless parrot footage. (And I found Ginga through artist/blogger Art Sparker.]
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A few days ago, I discovered this marvellously inventive triffid thingy (right) created by Ginga Squid.

I thought that with my fondness for cephalopods and triffids--plus, maybe you can see, it looks as if it has touches of Borg technology, if Borg made beautiful things, which they don't--coupled with my status as a total nonstarter in fiber arts or jewelry, I should inquire about having this guy come live with me and possibly even attend the Fly premiere as my corsage. (It's a ring, but wearing it would interfere with my two-fisted popcorn eating.)

Splurging is part of my life philosophy *, you know, and because I had recently gotten the unexpected geography jobs, I decided to splurge to mark the completion of my first movie, which is A Very Big Deal for me.
So I wrote off, and Vicky (Ginga) sold the triffid to me practically at cost, so I could afford him. (Bless you!)

This is Ginga's description of the triffid on her Ginga Squid studio website--the official title of the piece is Evolution Ate My Tee:

""Evolution Ate My Tee" Ring - was part of the curated 'handSTAND' Exhibition in the New Zealand Jewellery Show 2009, Auckland.
Life started in the oceans and evolved, crawling its way onto land and into our golf courses.
Here, a large Triffid has swallowed a yellow, plastic golf tee.
A triffid is a highly venomous fictional plant species. ...When active, triffids use [their] tentacles to propel themselves along at a moderate walking pace.

Materials: natural freshwater pearls, watch parts, sterling silver, vermeil, Thai Karen Hills Tribe tiny fine silver beads (Fair Trade), merino wool roving, silk threads, natural rough diamonds, oil paint, acrylic, plexiglass, Faux Bone, stainless steel, natural rubies, lemon quartz, UV resin, plastic golf tee & Air plant."

Air plant! See that? Sitting in the center of the golf tee is a living plant. I love this artist's imagination.
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Right: "Rubber Ring Floating In a Swimming Pool" (1971), painting by David Hockney

* "Splurge" is Tip #7 on my post "Life on the Cheap: A Primer". Writing today's post pushed me finally to go back and add a tip I should have put in from the get-go:

Tip #8: Share
Pain and lack can make us narcissists. I first became aware of this when I had an abcessed tooth at nineteen---all I could think about was my own pain, and I realized emotional pain can do that too. Cultivating generosity keeps me from closing in on myself. Besides, it's fun! Like, it's so much more fun to give someone a cabbage that is gift wrapped than just to hand it to them in a grocery bag.

I'm not a fan of Pollyana philosophies like "prosperity thinking" that insist we create our own realities and hence are somehow responsible for our own abundance or lack of it --I mean, unless you are a monster, that line of thinking doesn't really hold up in, say, eastern Congo--but nonetheless, within limits, we can choose to cultivate a sense of "I have enough to share," which is an antidote to narcissism.
It's not that sharing will shelter you from the vicissitudes of life, but not-sharing... I don't know. To me, that's inviting spiritual poverty in.

[Art making and sharing (selling/buying) exemplifies this life-opening effect in a big way.]