Sugar Skulls...

Can I nap all day, please?

Bleeeeggggh...I'm not feeling well this morning. My throat is sore, my sinuses are draining, my head is pounding, and I've got that un-welcome and yet familiar sense of overall malaise. [Malaise is the generalized feeling of discomfort, illness, or lack of well-being...otherwise known as 'feeling yucky.'] The body aches are the worst, though...if not for the aches, I could probably take some allergy/sinus medicine and feel tons better. Muscle aches, I loathe you.



While sifting through my email this morning, I noticed I had a new advertisement from Paper Source.

Paper Source

Paper Source sells all sorts of paper goods...most of them frivolous, but undeniably adorable or trendy. Somewhere along the line, I agreed to receive emails and catalogs from them...I don't think I've ever bought anything from them, but I can't really justify spending extra money on paper novelties right now. Not to say that I wouldn't, though. They had some paper peony wreath kits earlier this year that were ridiculously cute!

Now that it's almost September, I guess retailers have deemed it appropriate to start bombarding everyone with their Halloween/Autumn/Fall wares. The Paper Source email was proudly advertising their new line of all things Sugar Skull.

I guess I'm a fan of sugar skulls...I think they're neat. Considering I'm overall a fan of things melancholy and macabre [I'm in literary love with Edgar A. Poe...and not just because it's trendy], seems to make sense that I'd at least like the idea of sugar skulls.

Adorable and sugary sweet...with just a dash of creepy!

I then realized that aside from the pop-culture aspect of them, I don't know much about sugar skulls at all. I vaguely remember reading a snippet on them when I was taking Spanish in high school...but it was probably just a line or two at the top of some coloring book page that was masquerading as 'busy work.'

Anyway, the sugar skulls are actually called 'calavera' and are an integral part in celebrating the Day of the Dead. [On my second read through of the information on sugar skulls...it seems like I remember a good bit about them from college Spanish courses...but sleep hazy me thought that it was all breaking news caliber information...hehehe sleepy me shouldn't be trusted with academic decisions] Interestingly, the Day of the Dead coincides with the Catholic All Souls and All Saints days. I can't speak for every Protestant denomination, but I do know that First United Methodists observe All Saints Day...I need to check and see if the date matches...it would be awesome if the Day of the Dead and the Methodist All Saints Day were on the same day!

Skeletal is the new sexy, right?

But anyway...I think it's a good thing that American 'culture' appears to be embracing aspects of other cultures so readily. I don't know if you've realized how sugar skulls have inundated portions of our American Halloween and Autumn traditions. Not sure what I'm talking about? If you run an internet search for skeleton make-up, a good portion of the results are a lot like the picture to the right...notice a resemblance to sugar skulls?

Skelita Calaveras

Another example is found in the popular Monster High line of toys. In 2012, Mattel released the new character. Her face is clearly modeled after the design of a sugar skull, and it's also reflected in her name. [Calaveras = sugar skulls, remember?]

I think it's a beautiful design for a doll, but the skeletal body is just off-putting enough to keep me from actually buying one.

Yeah, yeah...I'm almost 30 and will still buy dolls if I find them interesting enough. I wish I could say it's for collector's purposes only...but I'd really, really to play with some of them!

Finally, there's a new movie slated to come out this Halloween called "Book of Life." I honestly don't have the energy to go into detail about the movie [thanks again, malaise!] but here's the IMDb link, feel free to check it out:

IMDb - Book of Life (2014)

I'll probably go see it...twice.

The trailers that I've seen are bright, colorful, and boast a story reminiscent of mythology tales that I've heard many times before. Average-Guy loves Girl, Popular-Guy loves same Girl, Girl seems to teeter between both Guys, plot thickens as both Guys compete to win the affection of said Girl.

Throw in a villain that has his own agenda involving the previously mentioned Guys...sprinkle in a dash of Spanish folklore...add the voices of a few well-known celebrities...finish with a 'fantastic' director, and voila! You've got the basic recipe for this Halloween's box office, animated smash of a movie.

So pretty! 

The art is gorgeous! I'm already a fan of this character, and I don't even know what her name is!

I honestly can't even remember where this crazy train of thought was going...but I think it's time to let it go before I start rambling about skeletal cats with flaming heads...or something. Yeaaaah...I'll talk to you guys later.