Ice halos and a new, slightly different Barbie

As y'all may have remembered (or forgotten), I like to take pictures of the sky.  Today was sunny with high ice clouds, perfect for ice halos, and ice halos are exactly what I got.  They're not the best pictures I've taken, but they'll definitely do.  And beware:  I'm about to use some big words.

This first image is one of my favorite photography subjects, a circumzenithal arc, or CZA.  CZAs form at the very top of the sky (the zenith) and they look like inverted rainbows.  Some folks like to call these the Smile of God.  Once in a blue moon the circumzenithal arc loops all the way around the zenith and becomes a Kern arc, but this is VERY rare.  Only one photo exists of a Kern arc so far, but that doesn't stop me from looking closely at every CZA I see!

Next picture!

This second picture is a little hard to explain since the halos aren't very well formed (they change as the clouds shift).  The CZA is visible at the top, and the white smile-shaped smudge in the center is...I think it's an upper tangent arc.  Upper tangent arcs are not rare, but they don't seem to last long.  Indeed, I've seen several, but they're always gone before I can get a decent picture.  Oh well, my chance will come!  Besides, the arc that is really special is more visible in the next picture.

It's hard to see, but there's a faint rainbow-colored arc touching the CZA.  Halos around the sun and moon are not uncommon, especially during winter, but usually they're 22-degree halos.  22-degree halos are very common and very beautiful, and in winter they can mean it's about to get colder (Kirsten Larson's papa called a ringed moon a "dog moon" in one of her short stories).  I did see part of a 22-degree halo today, but the one touching the circumzenithal arc is a bigger, rarer halo called a 46-degree halo.  Here's another picture of it.

Look hard, 'cause it's there!  I THINK it's a 46-degree halo, but it may also be a supralateral arc (both are fairly rare).  My vote is for the former since the arc is perfectly curved (supralateral arcs tend to have cusps), but then again the halo is touching the CZA (only supralateral arcs do that).  Either way I've NEVER seen one of these before, and even though my pictures aren't great they satisfy me.  More information on these halos and others can be found at Atmospheric Optics, one of my favorite websites.  No joke, I love that site, both for the pictures and for the description of the atmospheric phenomina in the pictures.  Even if the science behind it all is over your head (it's a bit over mine), the pictures are to die for.

Now that y'all have learned a bunch of useless trivia, let's move on to the new Barbie.  She's another Fashionista, one that I was shocked to see, especially considering that I've only seen one other blogger with her.  The new doll apparently is in the same wave that brought us "Leide" (Fashionista #121, left) and "Vera" (Fashionista #124)

I own both Leide and Vera, hence the pet names.  Some of my other favorite dolls from this wave are these four (one of them is a Ken, LOL).

I apologize for those crummy pictures; all I had were the images on the back of the box.  Anyway, I predict that this wave will be very hard on the ol' pocketbook, since all of those are must-haves (especially the Ken in the Woodstock garb).  By contrast, today's doll is one I would have overlooked had I not first seen her on Debbie Behan Garrett's blog.  She is Fashionista #135...

..and she's got vitiligo!  She's also got a petite body and the Carnaval head, a mold that I've never owned before, but that's beside the point.  Miss Debbie has shown a few other dolls with vitiligo, but she customized most of them herself.  The only mass-produced doll she had besides the Barbie is Ndanaka, from Sibhale Collection.  I love Ndanaka, by the way; her little face reminds me of my Paola Reina Abigail.

Alrighty, y'all might be asking, what is vitiligo?  Vitiligo is a disease that affects the cells in one's skin.  Specifically, it kills the cells that produce melanin, the pigment that makes one's skin dark.  Once those cells are killed off, no more melanin is produced, and subsequently large pale patches develop on the skin.  We all have some melanin in our skin, so we can all get vitiligo, but the darker one's skin is, the more the patches show.  Vitiligo is painless, does not threaten one's life, and is not contageous, but it can make a person feel very self-conscious.  Additionally, we all live in a world full of smart-a$$es who like to pick on one another, and folks with vitiligo often fall victim to bullying.  The already-self-conscious Michael Jackson was so embarrassed by his vitiligo patches that he resorted to bleaching his skin to hide them.  Yep, that's why the King of Pop looked white, even though he was really African-American.  Model Winnie Harlow also reported that her schoolmates treated her terribly, to the point that she considered suicide.  Winnie's beautifully symmetrical patches have made me wonder why Mattel has not made her into a Barbie, as she'd fit the bill perfectly.

Alas, we have no Winnie Harlow Barbie (yet), so I'll satisfy myself with the Barbie I now have in my hands.  Winnie's real name is "Chantelle," so Chantelle shall be my doll's name.  Chantelle does not have as many patches as Winnie or Ndanaka do; her pale spots are restricted to her face and left shoulder...

...and her hands.

Chantelle's markings are molded into her vinyl, by the way.  This isn't just some cheap-o Made-in-China paint job.  Interestingly, Chantelle's arms and hands bend a little more than an average Fashionista's arms and hands would.  Normally there's no give at all in those stiff little arms, but Chantelle can bend just a little bit.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Regarding clothes, Chantelle is wearing a dress with bold vertical stripes and spaghetti straps, and that was another reason why I bought her.  Years back, I bought several old seventies-era Best Buy dresses (Best Buy #1354, to be exact), and they too have bold vertical stripes with spaghetti straps.  See?

Even the silhouette of the dress and the cut of the neckline are the same!  Chantelle's dress lacks the sash at the waist, but it still has an adornment there in the form of a...does that purse count as a fanny pack?  Either way I prefer it to the silly little clutch purses that a great many other Fashionistas carry.

I must say that I...well, I like the direction that Mattel is going with this diverse line of Barbies, but at the same time I'm starting to wonder...is she really BARBIE anymore?  The Barbie I know is blonde, blue-eyed, impossibly buxom, and impossibly perfect, while her friends were the ones who fooled around with hair colors and various styles and different abilities.  But then again, dolls like Chantelle and Leide may help some little kid feel more comfortable in her own skin.  I've said in the past that it's supposed to be the job of adults to build up a kid's self esteem, but here lately fewer adults are ADULTING!!!  So if a doll like Chantelle will prevent some little girl from going to the extremes that Michael Jackson went to, then the more power to her.  I personally like Chantelle a lot and I hope that Mattel will make more like her...only maybe with a few more pale patches so that she'll look more like a real person with vitiligo.  Regarding the doll itself, I warn y'all to pay close attention to their eyes; I saw two #135s today, and one of them had some pretty tragic eye wonk.  My Chantelle's eyes aren't perfect either, but it's not as obvious.

And with that, I send y'all warm Christmas and Hanukkah greetings.  May your holiday of choice be merry, bright, and SAFE.  Don't drink and drive, and be careful with candles.

Much love,
RagingMoon1987

Clockwork girls

Behold, winter is just around the corner...and I don't think I need to rehash my opinions on winter!  I love my trippy Christmas tree, though!

LOL, I couldn't resist sharing that!  It's the same little tree as last year, but I always get a kick out of putting it up.  Mama got that for me two years ago and I put it up at the library every year.  The library has a big tree that I could manhandle into position, but everyone seems to like my trippy little tree.

In dolly news I've had reason to get Ana Ming all gussied up in her steampunk garb, something I haven't done in quite some time.

Pardon my filthy box fan; this post was concocted on the spur of the moment, and thanks to the ending of Daylight Savings Time I haven't had any time after work to take outdoor pictures.  Anyway, Ana Ming now has a partner in crime.

That would be the new girl, Silver Bird, in her new clothes from Etsy.  Here's a better look at them both, without that blasted fan in the background.  The moon was full last night so stumbling around in my yard wasn't quite as hazardous.

Silver Bird's outfit was yet another gift from my mother, and it was arguably the cutest steampunk set Etsy had.  Oh sure, they've got other nice things, but Silver Bird's getup is the nicest.  The jacket is prohibitively tight, restricting her arms to either the down position or the slightly out but still down position, like so.  But she still looks cute!  As is fairly typical of the handmade items I receive from Etsy, Silver Bird's getup feels much nicer than Ana Ming's mass-produced set.  Don't get me wrong, I love Ana Ming's set, but (don't tell her this) I think I like Silver Bird's set better.  She's got BLOOMERS, for crying out loud, and they match her dress!

Ana Ming only has her little white skivvies underneath.  Both dolls wear bell-shaped skirts, and aficionados of lolita fashion can explain why bloomers are a must-have under bell-shaped skirts.

During my play sessions with Silver Bird, I've noticed that she has an ever-so-slightly gimpy left leg.  See?

It may look like I positioned her like that just for kicks, but in truth it's the only way I can get her to stand on her own.  It's not just in these boots, either; I first noticed this quirk when she was in her black flats.  I've never had an American Girl doll with a hiccup quite like that; my old Samantha doll is pigeon-toed, but she can still stand if I center her feet properly.  Silver Bird usually has to have her left leg off to the side a little before she'll stand.

No more posts from me until after Christmas, y'all!  I've got a post that's going to be very heavy on pictures, and it won't be ready until right around Boxing Day, so...hey, I just realized that Christmas is going to fall during Hanukkah this year!  It isn't every year that Christmas and Hanukkah coincide!  So if any of y'all celebrate either of those holidays, I wish y'all a happy and blessed one. 

Yours,
RagingMoon1987

The eighth child

LOL, Digimon reference!  Well kiddies, I hope our American followers had a lovely, safe Thanksgiving.  Ours was...well, it was delicious of course, but with Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa in Heaven and Sister and Brother-in-law far away it was also pretty quiet.  Since it was just Mama, Second Uncle, and me we had a huge pot of spaghetti and some garlic bread instead of a huge greasy turkey.  It was a very good pot of spaghetti, big enough that we're STILL eating leftovers, but I missed Sister's smart-a$$ conversation and her husband's big laugh.  First Uncle is home from St. Louis for the weekend and that's nice, but things are pretty different now from the way they used to be.

Now to my aforementioned eighth child.  Yes, if y'all can believe it I've got an eighth American Girl doll.  Say hello to my little fixer-upper, Silver Bird Le.

Yes, that's how she looked right out of the box.  Notice that she's wearing what appear to be a pair of Josefina's moccasins.  Kaya's moccasins go up higher on her leg, so these would have to be Josefina's.

With Z being Korean-American and Ana Ming being Chinese-American I've chosen to go out on a limb and identify Silver Bird as Vietnamese-American.  I haven't yet decided what her first name will be (I'm leaning towards "Matagorda" for some strange reason), but "Silver Bird" will be her nickname because she's developing silver eye.  Indeed, this doll's silver eye is what drew me to her instead of another, cheaper doll without silver eye.  Silver eye is considered a flaw, but I kind of like it!

I admit that my fondness for the Mark Lindsay song may have also had something to do with Silver Bird's nickname.  Heavens, if I'm going that route then I could make her real name "Arizona"!  Sigh...I always will maintain that the sixties and seventies had the best music, and why I had to be born during the nineties with crap like "Oops, I Did it Again!" and "The Real Slim Shady" I'll never know.  Anyway, in addition to having the beginnings of silver eye, Silver Bird also has some staining on her arms that looks worse in real life than it does in my pictures...

...and her hair needs a little attention, about as much as Felicity's and Julie's does.

She also cost significantly more than Julie did (but less than Z did, LOL).  But to my great surprise she's in much better shape than I thought she'd be; I was expecting that hair to be an irreparably tangled mess.  So why did I want her since she's so similar to Z Yang, you ask?  Two reasons.  One, she's wearing part of the very first Just Like You outfit, better known as the Mix and Match Outfit.

The white shirt, the original shoes, and the hair scrunchie are missing, but I was able to replace most of the missing pieces with parts from another almost complete set.  Here's how Silver Bird looks now.

She even still has her original necklace!  It was tucked into the collar of her T-shirt.

Her hair still isn't perfect, but having been brushed it looks some better, and overall she looks more put together than she did.  I'll keep the spare pieces for mixing and matching, per the outfit's name.  Josefina's moccasins???  Julie can have those.  They're about par for what someone might've worn in 1974, and they're more suitable for winter than the sandals Julie currently has.  The laces are crumbling badly, but I can replace those.

Too bad they don't come in my size, because I love moccasins!  Anyway, with Silver Bird wearing her proper shoes and accessories, all she lacks now is the hat, and I'll have it in another day or so, so no biggie.  Oh, the logos on the reverse side of the vest take me back!  When I was a little girl that logo was on EVERYTHING American Girl-themed, from the dolls to clothes for the kids to sleeping bags and backpacks.  Indeed, I was the envy of my fourth grade class because I had a set of jewelry with this logo.

And yet I still didn't have a doll!  I didn't get Felicity until next Christmas, LOL!  In a continuation of the jaunt down Memory Lane, Silver Bird still has her stick-on Grin Pins...all ten of them.  Six on the right side of her vest...

...and four more on the left side.

Once upon a time American Girl included...I think it was ten of these little buttons called "Grin Pins" with each purchase.  My Grin Pins were included with the jewelry set Mama got me, for example.  If one bought an American Girl of Today (as they were called back then) one received a card with ten miniature Grin Pins that adhered to the doll's clothes.  As is often the case with anything that sticks on, these Grin Pins would eventually lose their tack and fall off (that's already happened to two of these) so I'm very pleased to see that Silver Bird still has hers after twenty-five-or-so years.  I may get some fabric glue and stick these on permanently, and just for shizzles I may dig out my own collection of Grin Pins (I had about thirty) and start wearing them again.  Hey, if I wear goofy hair bows to work then why shouldn't I wear Grin Pins too?  Among the Grin Pin designs were the fifty U.S. states, and each time I got an assortment of Grin Pins I hoped for the one with Missouri on it, but alas, it was not to be.  Indeed, I don't even know what color the Missouri pin was!  I remember Idaho's, though; it was dark blue with a teal background.  The Idaho pin was my favorite because the jewel-toned colors seemed fitting for a state nicknamed "the Gem State."  Daddy once asked me why on Earth I'd wear a pin with Idaho on it when I'd never even BEEN there, and when I said "Because I like the colors" he smiled and said no more.

Alrighty, there's my overly lengthy reason number one.  Silver Bird has parts of her original outfit, complete with Grin Pins still intact, and I love it.  Reason number two is actually the more important reason, and that reason is that Silver Bird sports the "Asian" head.

Ah yes, I've loved this head mold right from the get-go.  Back when the Truly Me line was called "American Girl of Today" there were twenty options to choose from, and #4 and #15 were my picks of the litter.  #15 didn't have bangs and I liked that, but #4 was completely different from the Historical girls (there were only five at the time), and from her fellow modern girls as well.  Before Jess McConnell debuted her head mold, #4 was the go-to doll for anyone who wanted an Oriental character.  It's not super-different from the Jess mold, but one can tell the two apart if one knows what to look for.

The #4 head is not a rare mold; indeed, JLY #4 was available until her retirement in 2011...dang, 2011 seems like it was just yesterday!  Even though #4 isn't thunderously rare, it IS hard to find a doll with this head in good shape for a reasonable price!  Furthermore, only JLY #4 used this head mold...and I mean ONLY JLY #4!!!  No other JLY dolls, no Historicals, no Girls of the Year.  Also, this mold is one of only two molds to have been retired by American Girl altogether (the Marie-Grace head is the other).  I don't think a reintroduction of this head is impossible, but given the popularity of the Jess mold it's probably unlikely.  So that's why I have Silver Bird now.  Oh yes, since she's an older #4 her skin tone is a little different from that of the other dolls.  According to her Wiki page, #4 had a "golden" skin tone initially, and indeed this can be seen when I compare Silver Bird to Z and Denise.

And maybe it can't be seen.  It's hard to get these three photographed properly, but here it's fairly easy to see that Silver Bird is fairer than both Z and Denise.  I wasn't expecting that.  And yes, Denise is dressed as a pilgrim.  She spent the month of November greeting patrons at the library dressed like this.

Thank you again, Mama!  My dolls are better dressed than either Mama or I are, I think!

And that, folks, is my lovely Silver Bird!  She will probably need a Downy Dunk like Julie and Felicity do, but no biggie, I can handle that.  Right now Silver Bird is too excited about having new friends to pay much attention to her hair.  Unsurprisingly, she immediately gravitated to Z due to their similar features.

Oh sure, Z looks a little reluctant in that picture, but in reality she welcomed Silver Bird with open arms.  Not only do the two look quite a bit alike, but Z knows how it feels to be the new girl.  For that matter, so does Julie!

Julie has vocalized a fondness for both Z and Silver Bird since they both remind her of her friend Ivy Ling.  Yeah, we all know Ivy is Chinese, and Z and Silver Bird are not, but for Julie the resemblance is still there.  As for me, I'm glad to have another new head in the collection.  Here's the classic mold (Denise, left) and the Jess mold (Z, right)

...and here's the Josefina mold (Julie, left) and the Asian mold (Silver Bird, right).

All of these are identifiable as American Girl dolls, and yet they're all different...and through sheer coincidence I picked four of my five brown-eyed girls (Samantha is the fifth).  LOL, there's an old song that I DON'T like!!!  As inconceivable as it may sound, I don't like all the music from that era; everything Bruce Springsteen did makes me want to vomit and then run screaming into the night, for example.  Anywho, I needed Silver Bird like I need a hole in the head, but as with all my American Girls I'm glad to have her along for the ride.  I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with her hair.

Changing the subject a little now, I didn't show this in the pictures above, but Julie got some new earrings.

Bees!  The studs were once Elizabeth Cole's, and the bee dangles came from 2SistersSewCrafty on Etsy.  These were made with Blaire Wilson in mind, but as with all doll jewelry anyone can wear them.  The shop also sent along a headband and a ring as freebies.

Silver Bird will probably get the ring since it matches her outfit, and I haven't decided yet who will wear the headband.  Z would look good in it, but so would Denise, and so would Silver Bird and Xenia and the Madame Alexander duo.  Yes, duo.  Remember Alissa, my smug little flower fairy?

Alissa went to live with Isabelle and Little Gracie, and her name is now "Rosie."  I still have the fairy costume, though (LOL).  Anyway, any of my eighteen-inch dolls can wear that headband, but right now I have it in storage, waiting for the right outfit to come along.

With the Christmas season just around the corner, I'll be veering away from American Girl dolls to focus on another doll, one that may possibly be a on a lot of little girls' lists to Santa Claus.  I may update this post when Silver Bird's hat gets here.

Ciao,
RagingMoon1987

Update, 12/3/2019:  Silver Bird's hat came today after a minor snafu with delivery.  Mama thinks the hat adds the perfect touch.

I also was able to figure out a formal name, though in my typical noncommittal style I ended up choosing ALL the names I had planned.  Silver Bird's full name is now Arizona Matagorda Silver Bird Le, though to me she'll be known simply as "Silver Bird."  I've seen dolls named "Neon Annabelle" and "Susannah Maria Augusta Eliza Lucy Louise," so my doll's name isn't super-weird.  It's merely...a little weird!

End update!

For my lady

Last night I was tinkering around with my old Felicity doll, getting her into a new dress, when I caught her lying like this.

She looked even goofier BEFORE I snapped the picture; her left eye was hanging wide open.  It shifted a little when I reached for my phone to take the picture.

Being the daughter of a historian and a Revolutionary War re-enactor meant that I was constantly asking my father for advice on Felicity's clothes.  Was this accurate?  Was that accurate?  WHYYY wasn't this accurate???  LOL, as I aged I grew a little less uptight about Felicity's appearance.  I doubt that colonial ballgowns were decorated with huge pine cones, for example.

That was what Felicity wore for Christmas last year, by the way.  She has that lovely blue taffeta gown, but the pine cone dress is what she wore.  I think this year's dress might be a tad more accurate.

The pinner cap is made of the same material as the underskirt and I doubt that's authentic, but boy howdy, I can't get over how nice Felicity looks in black!  Both the black dress and the pine cone dress were gifts from my mother, as cute American Girl clothes often are, and I think she did quite well in both cases.

That's my random post for today!  Cheers and stay dry!

Much love,
RagingMoon1987