Welcome to Random Review number 4. I know these reviews are rolling out a little on the slow side, but corsages and prom pictures and such have interrupted my writing and posting flow. I’m not complaining, but I wanted to offer an explanation in case you were wondering. And I am a lot faster than a three-toed sloth, which moves at a maximum of 10 feet per minute, making it the slowest animal ever. (Coming in at a close second for the slowest mammal ever would be my teen.) Moving along.

Our first near-and-dear-to-my-heart item being presented today was submitted by Debbie and is a golden ring. (Ohhh. Ahhhh.) In many cultures, the gold ring symbolizes eternity and immortality and conceals in itself a magical power. The wedding ring, the Gnostics’ rings, the Claddagh, Celtic rings, are all loaded with special semantics.

People have used rings to adorn themselves since very ancient times. Throughout the ages, the band has been a symbol of power, strength and wealth. The complete circle of the ring symbolizes unity and wholeness. It has no beginning and no end, which is why it is associated with eternity and infinity. Its central opening is the channel that heavenly power flows through. The ring symbolizes connection, union and/or promise.

Daina submitted the second item that will be reviewed today: The Record of My Ancestry. Look closely at both pictures and you will see that while the items are very different, they both hold the image of a full circle (I did not make that connection until after I paired the items for this post). A recent study at the University of Waterloo shared a study of genealogy that attempted to answer the question, “What prompts people to search for their roots?” One of the highest-rated answers was, “I study genealogy to feed my soul and bring my family back to its beginning, creating a full and rich circle of connected family members.”

And now for the pictures and reviews….

Submitted By: Debbie

 Reviewed By: Tricksy McLittle

A gold ring symbolize purity, steadfastness and commitment. My history knowledge is ancient, but I vaguely remember a legend revealing that King Solomon had a magic ring that allowed him to command angels, demons and all natural elements. In ancient Egypt the ring that symbolized eternity was a rope tied in a circle with a knot formed by the ends. The power of this ring was to prevent misfortune and protect the pharaoh. The written names of rulers were enclosed in a royal ring called Cartouche. The peasantry used amulets with knots in the shape of circles, which were thought to protect them from illness and misfortune. Celtic rings were often inscribed with the words: my soul mate and you and no other. While, I can’t be sure of the inscription on this ring I would imagine it to read something along those lines. Maybe this ring was passed down as a reminder that we’re all connected in love and faith in this life and beyond.

I want to be friends with this person. If this gold ring represents them the best then they are a real gem.

Reviewed By: Flora Leaf Clover

In addition to being so beautiful, and so gold, that I have just been sitting and gazing at it for minutes on end, this ring raises questions: 1. Is it a wedding ring? 2. Did the wearer marry an Irish person? 2a. Who would do such a thing? 2b. Aren’t they just asking for it, marrying an Irish person? I am going to go out on a limb and decide that the wearer is a woman. (If he is not a woman, then he is a man who wears skirts and he is, let’s just say, indie and very cool indeed.) I did date an Irishman once and frankly, his sheer Irishness rendered him not marriage material. He had been drinking Guinness by the time he could walk. (He has photos to prove it.) He would tell me he was coming over Saturday at 8 and show up Monday at 4 (am!) with no ability or even desire to account for those missing hours, or do you call them “days”? That being said, he now owns a bar (!) in NYC that makes five figures a night–and he no longer drinks at all anymore. So maybe I SHOULD have married him after all because he is LOADED–in a financial way; let’s just say there was never a dull moment with him (and still wouldn’t be, because I read a New York Times article about that bar and it is just pretty damn wild). Oh, but the ring. Irish people love being Irish more than any other people love being whatever they are. Of course you’d have a ring about being Irish.  My mom for instance–married an Irish man late in life and even though she is 100% Romanian by blood has converted (or should I say “ascended”) to Irishness without a second thought, and not just on St. Patrick’s Day, either! It was the happiest day of her life, when she got an Irish last name. Oh but the ring. It truly is a gorgeous piece, and its bearer is probably so deeply into his or her sheer Irishness that anything I say here about how freakish Irish people are about proclaiming their Irishness will probably just cause them to think I’m merely jealous. So I won’t even go there.

(We have three reviews for this ring because a leprechaun couldn’t resist shouting out his opinion.)

Reviewed By: Murphy McNugget

Okay, I can’t resist a bit of silliness here. I mean, really, this trinket, this ring, must be a very important thing to this person. Maybe it’s a talisman, clung to in life to bring luck. Beware reader, because if there is anything I have learned growing up in my generation it’s that “THERE ALWAYS AFTER ME LUCKY CHARMS!”

I apologize for that. I hope you all understand that for me, a gold Irish ring was just too good an opportunity to pass up. This looks like a very cool item. Irish items make me think of common sense, looking at life with a grin and a wink, and getting just way too drunk. While the English always seemed to me to be the grandparents that had plastic covers on the furniture and wouldn’t let you wear shoes in the house the Irish were more like your Uncle who bought you beer the night of your junior prom and gave you $100 and the advice to make sure “the shillelagh is covered.”

Review #2

Submitted By Daina:

Reviewed By: Arbre Stamboom

It just makes sense that to tell people who you are they should know your history.  This just take that theory to another level.  While the family history of this person may be a great illustration of who they are and what means the most to them, it may not seem that way at first glance.  I mean, how do you define your Mother and Father in a few sentences?  It doesn’t do them justice, right?  Just my Mother’s crazy is at least a paragraph – A BIG paragraph.

Still, the idea of defining yourself as the result of what others have done and who they have been – I  mean, thinking of yourself as a link in a chain of people – that means you are living not just for yourself but also for your prodigy.  It’s interesting, and probably more than a little fun to study and think about.  Even if your ancestors were assholes, you can be the link that takes them into the light.  YOU can be the Luke Skywalker to their Darth Vader (if that reference helps you).  I hope this person has used this not as a map telling them where they will be but rather as a map telling them where they came from.  I wonder what direction they will steer?

Reviewed By:  Donatello Nobatti

God bless this person!  The thing that they identify with most is the record of their ancestry.  My current family often scares the hell out of me with their crazy antics (and my dear cousin is certainly one ODD duck!).  I can’t imagine what nut jobs the ancestors were.   This person obviously has normal relatives or they are afraid of NOTHING!  They delve into the past either as a way to learn about the illustrious deeds of generations past or she is boning up on the crazies in an attempt to not repeat the past mistakes.  I have to think that even if this person is a descendant of the most illustrious family in the history of the world they have to find a nut job every now and then.  An uncle that dressed up in dead grandma’s clothes? A favorite niece that turns out to be hoarding thimbles or toenails or petrified animal carcasses? There is something scary in there I just know it.

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Well, what do you think? I think the items submitted were fascinating and the reviewers were crazy good. Notice, however, that this blog is call My Odd Family, and perhaps there is a reason for that which has nothing to do with me. 

Odd Loves Company,

Random Review 1: Jar opener and Laptop

Random Review 2: Mugs and Thieves

Random Review 3: Coffee and Nicho