Christmas trees are one of my favorite Christmas traditions, and the holiday season is my favorite time of year. The tree is a central focal spot, a place to put presents, a beautiful reminder of a season of joy! There are several types of trees to consider and we will look at them all here.

The first is the traditional natural tree. Most of us grew up with these, and you cannot match the aroma of one. Going to pick one, and they are all different unlike artificial trees, is a lot of fun and an entire family affair. Whether you pick a previously cut tree or go to a cut your own at a tree farm, choosing a tree can involve lots of family discussion, ranging from people who like the first decent tree they see to those who want to look an hour or longer! You can even pick and tag a tree at a Christmas tree farm in the summer, and then go and cut it down when it is closer to the holidays as we do now.

The outdoor tree is another type. This may be a live in the ground tree growing in a convenient spot that gets decorated or more commonly a tree which is cut and transported, for example to the town square or other public place. There are even communities using artificial trees these days and they are available up to 50 feet tall at least!

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Don’t Over Do It:

Pick a color scheme and stick to it. Many people make the mistake of being too “loud” with their decorating colors and end up with a chaotic mess instead of a calming holiday effect. Of course, when there are children involved, there are more knick-knacks and decorations that won’t exactly fit in, but that’s the fun of youth. However, for adults who want to pull a seasonal room together, carefully think what decorating you really need and if those items gel harmoniously.

Keep Decorations Balanced in the Home:

Again, when placing the tree, wreathes, centerpieces, and religious icons around the interior and exterior of your home, keep a tasteful balance. Many light up the night sky with far too many lights around windows, around porches, and sometimes on the roof. Make a more prudent choice and go with a more minimalist approach. Plan out where fairy lights and the tree will go in relation to the picture window neighbors can see through. Keep a close eye on the distance put between items on mantles and table. You never want to create a more chaotic look which makes any room feel less comfortable to occupy. That’s not what you want for those who visit your home.

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Every woman wants to have a special wedding day with his knight and shining armor. She wants to have a perfect wedding ceremony from rings, the guest list, foods and of course the wedding gown. Every bride will try her best to make it the best, unforgettable and stylish event. It’s every woman’s dream to wear the most beautiful and elegant wedding gown on her most special day, her wedding day. It is really a challenge to choose the best dress to be worn on such special occasion. One of the most glamorous, cheerful and colorful dresses that can be worn on the d-day are the Indian wedding gowns.

An Indian wedding ceremony is known for stunning costumes, decorations, and ornaments. It is the reflection of the culture, customs and traditions of India. In every country, the clothes show and depict the personality of the people, the status in the society, the profession, the location, the climate and the economy. India has a rich heritage that can be seen through their dresses especially wedding gowns.

Indian brides can choose from different options such as gowns, Saree, Salwar Kameez, Churidar suit, Shararas, and Lehangas. These can be designed in various styles and patterns. There are different factors to be considered when designing a gown such as depending on the time of the wedding. Designers must be aware as well of the latest trends in Indian wedding customs to design appropriately the gowns at the same time the gown is still stylish and elegant. These types of gowns have lively and bright colors with different patterns and well decorated dresses. Most of the colors used in Hindu weddings are yellow, gold, red, blue, green, orange and maroon. It depicts the traditional custom of India. These gowns can be worn with crystals, jewels, hand made flowers customized to match with the gown.

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One might think of piercing as an invention of modern age. But the history of body piercing can be traced back to thousands of years. The practice has suddenly resurfaced and grown more popular in the modern era. With sterilization pouches to sterilize ornaments and scales or a digital scale to weigh them, the process has become speedier. However, in ancient times, it was not this fast.

Perhaps, it was due to the plain reason that the practice was common in jungle tribes. Some of the religious castes in India and the Pharaohs are also known to have a deep indulgence in this practice. This means that it was mostly a part of some religious ritual. Apart from this, body piercing is a means to reflect personal expression.

Besides, it was carried as a symbol to distinguish the royals from a common man. In recent times, it is more of a style statement than any discerning element. As for the Egyptians, this was an exclusive privilege enjoyed by the royals. If anyone apart from the pharaohs attempted to get their navels pierced, they were punished.

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Men’s Knitwear. Just the mere mention of the phrase can induce an involuntary smirk on a man’s lips. And admittedly, it’s not without at least a foundation in sartorial ill-advisedness. How many dads have spent Christmas Day in the reindeer jumpers they were bought, only to revisit the indignity every time the photo album comes out? And what about the inelegance displayed by golfers, Question of Sport contestants and dodgy TV chat show hosts of yesteryear? And that’s not to mention those now openly mocked knitting pattern covers where clean cut gents point to the middle distance or sit on a stile modelling their amazing creations.

So yes, extolling the virtues of men’s knitwear is an uphill struggle. But at least you know you’ll be properly dressed when you reach the top.

The trick to carrying off the woollen look is to check your fashion history books. You’ll see that the much maligned aspect of knitwear is only a drop in the ocean, and there are plenty of cool looks that involve knitwear.

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A few years ago I saw a directory listing with a description of something like: “I was abducted by aliens last summer. It really happened.” Though I had a lot of interest in aliens, I did not even consider visiting that website. Of course, if this person was genuinely abducted by aliens, I would want to read about it but I have learned from experience that there was almost no chance of this being a true story. In some ways it is wonderful that humankind has advanced to the point of ignoring all the nonsense and quackery. On the other hand, if anyone really did have contact with an alien, it would be almost impossible to get any attention.

Case in point are drawings coming out of the Andean region of South America and dating from early medieval times. Here I am not referring to the famous lines of Nazca (Nasca) which could have a non-alien explanation. I am referring to the drawings of the city of Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) in the Bolivian highlands. In Tiwanaku, we do not find geoglyphs (ground drawings) but direct depictions of the alien himself. It does not take a lot of imagination to envision a four-fingered creature (the face is clearly non-human) wearing an astronaut’s helmet with transparent visor. One engraving has twenty fish-head symbols overwhelmingly indicating that this creature was an aquatic. Indeed, it is easy to imagine that the astronaut’s helmet was filled with water. Tiwanaku drawings strongly imply that this creature was a fish.

Enter the cynics: “They ate fish and made a drawing of the local fisherman.” Archaeologists have determined that Tiwanaku was an agricultural community but, true, Lake Titicaca is only some twenty kilometers away. Fortunately, not all the depictions of the alleged alien display fish head symbols. In some, the fish heads are gone and replaced with condor heads (symbolic of flight). Hence, this creature was not only a fish, it was a flying fish, whence it became a sky god, the sky god of the Andes. No doubt, the cynics will now counter, with total disdain for the intelligence of the Andean peoples: “They ate birds too, and this is the local bird hunter.”

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”The lantern is present everywhere”. That might be a rash statement! Yet the obliquitous lantern is present in a stroll garden within an Imperial Villa or a courtyard garden in a private residence. I feel the lantern offers great symbolism in a Japanese garden. The lantern presents a light source and a vertical image (Yang). The lantern suggests light after dark and illumination of an object worthy of reflection. The lantern guides the way and gives the area’s emptiness something of life (Yang) and substance. It has meaning. The lantern dissociated from plants and living things, from the mosses and grasses and the Azaleas and densely clipped shrubs of Kyoto.

The lantern comes in so many shapes and sizes. No doubt each shape represents a history and legacy steeped into time. And whatever the site requires no doubt a lantern style can be found to fill that space. Some lanterns no more than 30cm in height and others noticed in Kyoto up to 1.6-1.8 metres tall. There must be lantern factories somewhere. Smaller lanterns seen closer to the pathway and larger ones set into the distance. Maybe set onto the ground within a clump of trees to accentuate change.

Lantern constructed usually of stone or marble and containing a hood. A heart for the location of the flame, a stem to elevate it from the ground and a base for attachment. It maybe 3 sided, 4 sided coned hood, pyramid hood, circular or rectangular stem, single leg or treble leg. Suggesting the lantern offers a versatile inclusion to a Japanese styled garden.

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The Chinese wedding ceremony is like a machine that needs a manual to build. It’s customs and traditions are elaborately prepared and connotes different meanings. Such symbols and meanings were handed down from generations to generations and still being practiced in modern China. Some innovations were integrated but the meanings remain the same.

Chinese wedding tradition is bounded by ancient principles. The principles were highly traditional as well as desirable. Respect for parents and ancestors is the primary principle being strictly observed along with rituals to drive away bad omens, fanciful exchange of gifts and the merging of the bride with her husband’s family.

If you are not of Chinese descendants and you are marrying a Chinese woman, be prepared for the extensive and highly elaborated rituals from proposal up to a couple of days after the wedding. For the Chinese people, marriage is a major responsibility that it cannot be left for the couple to decide on themselves. In fact, they are not involved with the arrangements. A go-between, (akin to a sales agent) will negotiate the wedding between the two families. Neither the bride nor the groom will have any say on the matter. Every aspect will be considered: from your family’s background, financial condition, present obligations and reputation, numerology, astrology as well as the ability to provide food on the table.

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These 12 birthstones are not just stones assigned for each month. Each of them represents the values that people born that said month are naturally born with.

January is the month for Garnet. This stone symbolizes creativity. People born on this month are said to be creative thinkers with a flair for entertainment and the arts. They also seem to value and put importance on consistency with the projects they have at hand.

February is the month for Amethyst. This birthstone is said to reflect the primary trait of people born on this month which is motivation. They are the ones who are truly driven with whatever they do. Sincerity also accompanies this trait, and as well as intuition. It is said that perhaps it is this intuition that gives these people the courage to be truly motivated.

March is the month for Aquamarine. Like most things representative of the color blue, this birthstone symbolizes hope and the courage to fell this hope despite life’s challenges.

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When I arrived in Kunming, which is located in the Yunnan province of China, a curious thing happened; the city was Yang.

Now, why would anyone say that? Sure die in the woods, Feng Shui addicts like myself unfortunately view landscapes as expressions of Yin and Yang or a combination of both and their exhibition of Qi (Chi energy) in a Sheng (auspicious) or Sha (inauspicious) form. And as such, attaching myself to them as a place to be in or prefer not to be. Why can`t I just look at a landscape and learn to enjoy it for what it offers?

To someone like me, Kunming is missing out on the Qi auspicious stakes. I think so because I had been influenced by first impressions, waking up (after sleeping in a hard sleeper compartment) on a 20 hour train ride from Chengdu to Kunming. The 800 or so Kilometre journey partly taken up looking out of the train window, enthralled by the incredible productive and picturesque landscapes scattered along and drawing themselves away within misty hills into secluded valleys. Basically doing so until we left those fertile slopes and valleys and wound our way into torturous mountains, where slopes increased and the impact from the Chinese peasant and farmer becoming nonexistent. Soils barren, infertile and clinging to steep slopes resisting any intrusions by the Chinese to touch them in any way.

These were hostile places for mankind, yet beautiful in their natural grandeur and finally disappearing as the sun set and the train journeying into the night. As a bypass, China`s rail system is very proficient. Dual concrete sleeper tracks, some electrification present, rail tunneling through and around mountains, transcending ravines on suspended bridges, quiet and running on time. Hey, I`m jealous, why can`t we have something of China`s rail systems?

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