Just stumbled across a website for The Alphabet vs The Goddess, which is a book that I read recently on the topic of Matriarchy vs. Patriarchy, and whether the shift from Goddess centered fertility cults to male Warrior God based religions had to do with the shift from pictorial and iconic forms of "writing" and expression to the use of a phonetic alphabet. Which is kind of an odd possibility, considering women tend to be more verbal and are generally found to be more capable of mastering the subtleites of literacy, whereas men respond more easily to visual stimuli and videographic type images. But what do I know, I'm no brain surgeon. And the author of this book is. Literally. A brain surgeon. Dr. Leonard Shlain. He in fact developed his theory partly based on his knowledge of the differences in function between the two hemispheres of the brain.
In any case, this is a very interesting book, rife with interesting minutiae in the realms of cultural history and sociology, et al. One learns such things as that while our nearest primate cousins are still somewhat polygamous, human societies became prone to pair off as a sort of "sex for meat" exchange. The point is made that the current trend toward greater status and independence for women has coincided with the refinement of the photographic image. This is a varied and interesting little tour through several centuries of progress in the arts and humanities. But ultimately I feel he fails to adequately prove his point. I failed to encounter any evidence that was non anecdotal in format. I realize this was hardly an academic treatise or anything, but still, aren't doctors supposed to be scientists? I expect scientists to support their proposals with factual evidence and not interesting coincidences. But it was an entertaining read nonetheless.
For something in a similar vein, but better researched, I'd suggest Mother Nature : A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection, by anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, which explores the biological motivations of human parenting and sexual behaviors in the contexts of both history and evolution. Hrdy being one of those rare individuals who has mastered their field of expertise (in this case anthropology) and is able to write about it as if she were a writer first and foremost. Much in the tradition of Carl Sagan.
Another little gem, not so meticulously researched, and with a a bit of an unapologetic femisit bias, but well argued and most enlightening is The Myths Of Motherhood by Shari L. Thurer. It examines attitudes throughout the centuries in regards to what makes "a good mother." I read it while pregnant, as a counterpoint to the guilt inducing condescension of many of my pregnancy manuals, many of which instantly doomed your offspring if you failed do such things as eat only whole wheat baked goods and read to your unborn fetus.
So, what we've established here so far is that:
a) I'm a bit of a feminist (shocking!)
and
b) I like books that use the excuse of a "serious premise" to explore interesting historical trivia.
Still, I'm sort of proud of myself just for publishing an actual critique on my opinion site, which is supposedly what it's here for.
This was beginning to turn into the "what I had for breakfast blog," which is just sort of a sad commentary on the state of my life as a whole.
(detritus)(dream)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
Monday, May 03, 2004
School Dreams
Had one of those dreams where I'm in school again, but a couple of weeks into the semester and there are classes I've forgotten to take,etc.
Only add to this a temporary amnesia factor, as if someone else has taken over my life and when I get back to it, I don't the way it's been handled, but am forced to deal with cleaning up the mess they've left for me.
(detritus)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
Only add to this a temporary amnesia factor, as if someone else has taken over my life and when I get back to it, I don't the way it's been handled, but am forced to deal with cleaning up the mess they've left for me.
(detritus)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Observation
Depressed people tend to gravitate to other depressed people, and somehow they expect the other depressed people to make them feel better. The sick thing is that about half the time it actually seems to work. Which makes it all the more depressing the fifty percent of the time that it doesn't work.
Why does it work at all? My theory is twofold: a) for some reason depressives are more responsive to and aware of humour, particularly the sarcastic kind, and b) intelligent people are more likely to be depressed and being intelligent, they are also easily distracted by intellectual matters.
Or whatever. Antidepressants work better, but they never introduce you to new bands or authors or anything...
Why does it work at all? My theory is twofold: a) for some reason depressives are more responsive to and aware of humour, particularly the sarcastic kind, and b) intelligent people are more likely to be depressed and being intelligent, they are also easily distracted by intellectual matters.
Or whatever. Antidepressants work better, but they never introduce you to new bands or authors or anything...
Tarot Cards of the Day
From the Haindl deck:
Nine of Stones (Material Gain): Fortune. Money, security, health, comfort. Avoid complacency, greed, or conceit.
Seven of Wands (Courage): Courage and daring - possibly, the courage to retreat. Using one's power for transformation.
(detritus)(dream)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
Nine of Stones (Material Gain): Fortune. Money, security, health, comfort. Avoid complacency, greed, or conceit.
Seven of Wands (Courage): Courage and daring - possibly, the courage to retreat. Using one's power for transformation.
(detritus)(dream)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
Breakfast of champions
Made grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast. Semolina sourdough bread with cheddar cheese and real butter. Then grated a baked potato into the still-hot frying pan and made hash browns, salted and heavily peppered. Sprinkled the potatos with a bit of hot sauce and ate it with a coke and a dill pickle.
(detritus)(dream)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
(detritus)(dream)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
Friday, April 30, 2004
Diego's Breaksfast Burrito
The most paper thin or tortillas, lightly fried and wrapped with precision around a filling of of nicely browned scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, fried potatoes, and cheddar cheese. With a side of hot sauce, and free coffee if you want it. For less than $3.00. And of course, there are variations on the theme. You can get a steak and egg burrito for $3.99 plus tax. Their carne asada is most lovely. They're open 24 hours a day. With a drive through. I do so highly recommend it.
Tis the eve of May...
It is Beltane Eve, and the wheel of the year spins onward...says the pagan atheist chick.
Mountainous
Dreamt I was in the passenger seat of a car being driven by my Dad, with my grandfather sleeping in the backseat. We were driving up a very steep mountain on some sort of cross country trip, and no one could talk because it would distract the driver and we might all plummet to our doom. It was maybe in Tennessee or North Carolina. Somewhere Appalachian and foresty. Apparently we'd just been through a rather barren New Mexico. Due to the strange, amorphous geography of dreams...
View my blogs, live and in person, below:
(detritus)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
View my blogs, live and in person, below:
(detritus)(poetica)(myth)(opinion)(divination)
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Repast of yore
Yearning for memories of childhood comfort, specifically staying at my grandparent's house as a child, I made kielbasa,pierogi with butter and sour cream, and kosher dill pickles for dinner. And I ate like a heifer, and I am not ashamed.
Runes of the day
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Othila is the homeland. Land was the purest form of immovable wealth in Norse civilization, distinct from the movable wealth represented by Fehu. This rune speaks of stability and safety stemming from inheritance, both material and genetic. With respect to the question asked, consider the background of the people and families involved...
Hagalaz is the rune of hail. Hail is a destructive and elemental force, so one can expect this rune to represent the disruption of one's life. In the harsh northern winter there is a halt to activity, and so delay or hindrance is frequently associated with this rune. The opposite of chaos is yet more chaos, as illustrated by the fact that this rune cannot be reversed.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Othila is the homeland. Land was the purest form of immovable wealth in Norse civilization, distinct from the movable wealth represented by Fehu. This rune speaks of stability and safety stemming from inheritance, both material and genetic. With respect to the question asked, consider the background of the people and families involved...
Hagalaz is the rune of hail. Hail is a destructive and elemental force, so one can expect this rune to represent the disruption of one's life. In the harsh northern winter there is a halt to activity, and so delay or hindrance is frequently associated with this rune. The opposite of chaos is yet more chaos, as illustrated by the fact that this rune cannot be reversed.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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We were always...
...two coins of the same side,
but which was day and which night?
who is mourning, who was right?
I never wanted to be Guenevere,
but the part of Morgan Le Fay
had already been cast and understudied
by the time I rolled around
too much sweetness just leads to decay
too much dreaming
drags us into the
current and tide
to crash upon the rocks
victims of our own siren song
there was never anyone else
it was only ever an echo...
but which was day and which night?
who is mourning, who was right?
I never wanted to be Guenevere,
but the part of Morgan Le Fay
had already been cast and understudied
by the time I rolled around
too much sweetness just leads to decay
too much dreaming
drags us into the
current and tide
to crash upon the rocks
victims of our own siren song
there was never anyone else
it was only ever an echo...
The Most Famous of all Rhine Maidens
Myth of the Day:
Lorelei
The Lorelei is a rock in the Rhine near St. Goar which is associated with several legendary tales. The tale appears in many forms, but is best known through a poem by Heinrich Heine that begins "Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten" (which means in English, "I don't know what to make of it"). In the commonest form of the story, the Lorelei rock is a maiden who threw herself into the Rhine in despair over a faithless lover, and became a siren whose voice lured fishermen to destruction. A 13th-century legend entitled Der Marner says that the Nibelungen treasure was hidden beneath the rock. The tale may be connnected with the myth of Holda, queen of the elves. The queen supposedly sits combing her locks on the Hullenstein, and the man who sees her loses sight of reason, while he who listens is condemned to wander with her for ever. The legend, which Clement Brentano claimed as his own invention when he wrote his poem ?Zu Bacharach am Rheine" in his novel of Godwi (1802), bears all the marks of popular mythology. In the 19th century it formed material for a great number of songs, dramatic sketches, and operas, which are enumerated by Dr Hermann Seeliger in his Loreleysage in Dichtung und Musik (Leipzig-Reudnitz, 1898). The favourite poem with composers was Heine's, set to music by some twenty-five musicians, the settings by Friedrich Silcher (from an old folk-song) and by Liszt being the most famous.
Lorelei
The Lorelei is a rock in the Rhine near St. Goar which is associated with several legendary tales. The tale appears in many forms, but is best known through a poem by Heinrich Heine that begins "Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten" (which means in English, "I don't know what to make of it"). In the commonest form of the story, the Lorelei rock is a maiden who threw herself into the Rhine in despair over a faithless lover, and became a siren whose voice lured fishermen to destruction. A 13th-century legend entitled Der Marner says that the Nibelungen treasure was hidden beneath the rock. The tale may be connnected with the myth of Holda, queen of the elves. The queen supposedly sits combing her locks on the Hullenstein, and the man who sees her loses sight of reason, while he who listens is condemned to wander with her for ever. The legend, which Clement Brentano claimed as his own invention when he wrote his poem ?Zu Bacharach am Rheine" in his novel of Godwi (1802), bears all the marks of popular mythology. In the 19th century it formed material for a great number of songs, dramatic sketches, and operas, which are enumerated by Dr Hermann Seeliger in his Loreleysage in Dichtung und Musik (Leipzig-Reudnitz, 1898). The favourite poem with composers was Heine's, set to music by some twenty-five musicians, the settings by Friedrich Silcher (from an old folk-song) and by Liszt being the most famous.
The baby and I went to get our weekly semolina bread fix at Beyond Bread (thus thwarting their competitors:Bread,Bath and Beyond) and noticed someone unloading work supplies for a nearby storefront redecoration project of some sort. The supplies were stored in milk crates labeled "Mesmer Dairy." All day I've been haunted by the image of a field of hypnotized cows....
Friday Five's down for the month, but I feel like getting interactive. Not that anyone's reading lately, but still. No one can resist THE POWER OF QUIZILLA...here's a couple from which to choose:
You are a Siren. More adventurous than all with a
voice like no other you sit on warm rocks and
sing to the moon and sea. Yet sometimes
shipwrecks find you and raving men want you.
You are a bottle of talent and power. What the
unknown is you seek to find, and a lover. You
have the moon and stars as freinds. There are a
very few of you, what a rare find. Will you
rate my quiz, I think your voice in just
beautiful?
What kind of mermaid are you? (Gorgeous Pics)
brought to you by Quizilla
You're taffy! You're a clever and kind person,
but you tend to hold grudges. You are not big
on dishing out forgiveness.
Which kind of candy are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis.
"You do not know the power of the Dark
Side." There are two possibilities: you
are a Star Wars geek, or you are unreasoningly
scary.
Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Friday Five's down for the month, but I feel like getting interactive. Not that anyone's reading lately, but still. No one can resist THE POWER OF QUIZILLA...here's a couple from which to choose:
You are a Siren. More adventurous than all with a
voice like no other you sit on warm rocks and
sing to the moon and sea. Yet sometimes
shipwrecks find you and raving men want you.
You are a bottle of talent and power. What the
unknown is you seek to find, and a lover. You
have the moon and stars as freinds. There are a
very few of you, what a rare find. Will you
rate my quiz, I think your voice in just
beautiful?
What kind of mermaid are you? (Gorgeous Pics)
brought to you by Quizilla
You're taffy! You're a clever and kind person,
but you tend to hold grudges. You are not big
on dishing out forgiveness.
Which kind of candy are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis.
"You do not know the power of the Dark
Side." There are two possibilities: you
are a Star Wars geek, or you are unreasoningly
scary.
Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Nobody Loves A Trumpet Player...
That was the excuse a friend of mine in high school used when anyone pointed out the fact that he didn't have a girlfriend.
Or, rather, when he assumed it was being pointed out, because no one I knew was so cruel as to actually say anything of the sort.
Ninety percent of it was just in the reading.
Or, rather, when he assumed it was being pointed out, because no one I knew was so cruel as to actually say anything of the sort.
Ninety percent of it was just in the reading.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Scrying
Head held skyward
She intones the sacred rhyme
Silver glinting at her throat
Dagger in hand
The daughter of time
Gazes wellwise
Alert for future echoes
Ripples gifted
From mother to loyal acolyte
Still and quiet
And forgetting her own name
She drinks deeply and
Accepts the burden
Imbibes the water
Which has turned to tears
Swallows them
To make them whole again
(June 2003)
She intones the sacred rhyme
Silver glinting at her throat
Dagger in hand
The daughter of time
Gazes wellwise
Alert for future echoes
Ripples gifted
From mother to loyal acolyte
Still and quiet
And forgetting her own name
She drinks deeply and
Accepts the burden
Imbibes the water
Which has turned to tears
Swallows them
To make them whole again
(June 2003)
Saturday, April 24, 2004
The Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Star apparently has a smartass for a headline writer. The latest infraction was this little gem: "Vatican Cracks Down On Sinners." The online version just states "Vatican sharply curbs liturgical role of lay people during Mass."
Screw Saturday morning cartoons, call forth the Old Ones instead...
I don't have to be up today, and so, of course, I cannot sleep. Though I suppose I can always ensure that the rest of you don't sleep for quite some time either. Here's some Cthulhu links...
The misadventures of "Hello Cthulhu"
Scooby Doo Cthulhu
Cthulhu Sex Magazine: Blood, Sex and Tentacles
The Callgirl of Cthulhu
Is Osama Bin Laden a Cthulhu cultist?
Emeril vs Cthulhu
Jesus vs Cthulhu
Hymns to Cthulhu
Campus Crusade for Cthulhu
And last, but not least:
the Cthulhu Jack Chick parody and the controversy that it engendered.
Apparently, Jack Chick Publications threatened legal action. Silly me, I thought that parody was protected under U.S. copyright law...
The misadventures of "Hello Cthulhu"
Scooby Doo Cthulhu
Cthulhu Sex Magazine: Blood, Sex and Tentacles
The Callgirl of Cthulhu
Is Osama Bin Laden a Cthulhu cultist?
Emeril vs Cthulhu
Jesus vs Cthulhu
Hymns to Cthulhu
Campus Crusade for Cthulhu
And last, but not least:
the Cthulhu Jack Chick parody and the controversy that it engendered.
Apparently, Jack Chick Publications threatened legal action. Silly me, I thought that parody was protected under U.S. copyright law...
Marseille Tarot Cards of the day
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Reyne d'Epee (Queen of Swords): The essence of air behaving as water, such as a refreshing mist: A person gifted with both keen logic and natural intuition, giving them uncanny powers of perception and insight. One who easily sees past deception and confusion to the heart of a matter, and understands both sides of any argument. The embodiment of calm, forthrightness, and wit, in the face of even the most trying circumstances.
Four of Swords (Truce): A time of tranquility and intellectual repose in the midst of a great struggle. A temporary retreat from stress to regather inner strength, reaffirm convictions, reorganize thoughts, and formulate a new plan. The need for vigilance in a moment of calm. May suggest a withdrawal from the material world to find spiritual guidance.
mythology
detritus
opinion
****************************************************************************************************************************************
Reyne d'Epee (Queen of Swords): The essence of air behaving as water, such as a refreshing mist: A person gifted with both keen logic and natural intuition, giving them uncanny powers of perception and insight. One who easily sees past deception and confusion to the heart of a matter, and understands both sides of any argument. The embodiment of calm, forthrightness, and wit, in the face of even the most trying circumstances.
Four of Swords (Truce): A time of tranquility and intellectual repose in the midst of a great struggle. A temporary retreat from stress to regather inner strength, reaffirm convictions, reorganize thoughts, and formulate a new plan. The need for vigilance in a moment of calm. May suggest a withdrawal from the material world to find spiritual guidance.
mythology
detritus
opinion
****************************************************************************************************************************************
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Adventures in frames, part one...
Check it out, all six blogs in one page! It's like the opening credits for the Brady Bunch!
It's not quite summer and not quite spring...
If you're bored and restless and in need of distraction, I've got new stuff up in my other incarnations. Or if you're weary of the self indulgent verbosity that is Corbid, check out some photoblogs and the ever informative Neil Gaiman (his journal is like "The Daily Show" for webgeeks).
Soon, this too shall pass...
Soon, this too shall pass...
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Renaissance Tarot
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Six of Swords (Science): A daring expedition. An excursion or trip. Courageous act. Show of bravery.
The Empress: Feminine fertility and power. Civilization. Domestic tradition. Family and childrearing. The active, fecund aspect of the anima. The mother and the queen, on earth and in heaven.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Six of Swords (Science): A daring expedition. An excursion or trip. Courageous act. Show of bravery.
The Empress: Feminine fertility and power. Civilization. Domestic tradition. Family and childrearing. The active, fecund aspect of the anima. The mother and the queen, on earth and in heaven.
mythology
detritus
opinion
****************************************************************************************************************************************
Thing I cooked last Tuesday that was really good
Heated some butter in a dutch oven, threw in about 1/4 lb of frozen shrimp and a dash of Cavendar's Greek Seasoning, added a handful of chopped bell peppers and sauteed everything for about 5 minutes or so, mixed in 1 cup of uncooked rice, cooked for about a minute more, then added 1 cup orange juice, turned the stovetop down to low, and covered the pan. Let it all simmer for 30 minutes. It was very lovely and fragrant and didn't taste at all sweet or anything, like you'd be afraid it might.
Chris who?
Was, embarrassingly enough, watching "Gilmore Girls" on Tuesday night as the remote control was lost. This actor who was in a lot of Whit Stillman movies had a guest role and I couldn't remember his last name. I kept saying, it's Chris...it's Chris...but I couldn't remember his last name. So I went to sleep. And I had one of those weird high school dreams, where people you know from all phases of your life keep popping up and you never actually attend any classes or anything. Anyway, there he was in the hallway and I turned to a friend and said, "Hey, look it's Chris Eigeman!" Because that's who it was. The brain does work in mysterious ways...
Incidentally, there used to be a checkout guy at Trader Joe's who looked just like Chris Eigeman, and I used to get pissed off because he never carded me.
Incidentally, there used to be a checkout guy at Trader Joe's who looked just like Chris Eigeman, and I used to get pissed off because he never carded me.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Temple
When I visited the text gallery, I swear I could smell the pages of old books...
The shrine to the goddess Athena.
The shrine to the goddess Athena.
Monday, April 19, 2004
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Fractal Firebird Tarot
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0 THE FOOL
Choice: Adventure, potential, divine foolishness
XX. JUDGEMENT
Chorus of ourselves singing our sins to the black sun. We are aware of our transgressions and seek inner absolution. To stand and face the dawn of our new convictions in feathered cloaks and hats of resolution. We are transformed. Joy threads our voices as the one lone star of our rebirth shines forth. We are jubilation, we are cleansed, we will go forth and wrestle windmills and prevail. To stand committed, to leave a footprint in the sands of our mortality. It is the deep call of the soul for the stars and for the light.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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0 THE FOOL
Choice: Adventure, potential, divine foolishness
XX. JUDGEMENT
Chorus of ourselves singing our sins to the black sun. We are aware of our transgressions and seek inner absolution. To stand and face the dawn of our new convictions in feathered cloaks and hats of resolution. We are transformed. Joy threads our voices as the one lone star of our rebirth shines forth. We are jubilation, we are cleansed, we will go forth and wrestle windmills and prevail. To stand committed, to leave a footprint in the sands of our mortality. It is the deep call of the soul for the stars and for the light.
mythology
detritus
opinion
****************************************************************************************************************************************
All hail the powers of Souper Salad...
1)It's cheap, so very cheap - all you can eat for $5.49, plus the cost of your beverage.
2)Babies eat free, children 5 to 12 are $.99, and they have child friendly things like fake goldfish crackers and raisins and animal cookies,.
3)The awe inspiring variety of it all: Salad, vegetables , meat, cheese, fruit, pasta salad, potato salad, three different soups a day, baked potato bar, taco bar, nachos, gingerbread, blueberry muffins, strawberry shortcake and soft serve ice cream , I swear to god.
4)They don't complain about the mess when you're done.
5)Did I mention it was all you can eat?
Top it off with a trip to the park and you have an outing fit for a couple of wee princesses...
2)Babies eat free, children 5 to 12 are $.99, and they have child friendly things like fake goldfish crackers and raisins and animal cookies,.
3)The awe inspiring variety of it all: Salad, vegetables , meat, cheese, fruit, pasta salad, potato salad, three different soups a day, baked potato bar, taco bar, nachos, gingerbread, blueberry muffins, strawberry shortcake and soft serve ice cream , I swear to god.
4)They don't complain about the mess when you're done.
5)Did I mention it was all you can eat?
Top it off with a trip to the park and you have an outing fit for a couple of wee princesses...
Random Blog Excercises, Part the First
The Book Game, courtesy of Diaphanus@Webdiva
Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 23. Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions
Pg. 23, line 5 from "The Sandman: The Kindly Ones" graphic novel, which was literally the nearest book to be grabbed from my computer desk:
"Read me the fortune, will you, Poppet? I want to finish this first. I DO love to hear fortunes."
How fortuitous that what is basically a form of divination would yield a quote regarding divination.
Then again, it did come from my book collection, which is rife with things of that nature, so it's maybe not so very eerie or unlikely at all if you really think about it.
Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 23. Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions
Pg. 23, line 5 from "The Sandman: The Kindly Ones" graphic novel, which was literally the nearest book to be grabbed from my computer desk:
"Read me the fortune, will you, Poppet? I want to finish this first. I DO love to hear fortunes."
How fortuitous that what is basically a form of divination would yield a quote regarding divination.
Then again, it did come from my book collection, which is rife with things of that nature, so it's maybe not so very eerie or unlikely at all if you really think about it.
Things I've learned from Neil Gaiman's blog#863...
You can send a fax from an email address. It's a tad complex, but if you're smart enough to be reading this blog, you're smart enough to figure it out, right? She says most humbly:)
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Ogham Reading of the day
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Ceirt Apple
Beauty and eternity
There are beauty, vigor and, perhaps, love in your life, even though it might be difficult to see them now. Try to focus on the positive, even when it's hard- and still more during the good times! Be careful not to scatter your energies, however; while many options may all be good, sometimes one still must choose between them.
Eadhadh Aspen
Courage and endurance
This is a time of challenge for you. You have the courage and tools you need to get through this time, and to prevail- even if you feel, at times, that you can't. Persevere, and you will succeed- so be sure the goal is worth the winning.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Ceirt Apple
Beauty and eternity
There are beauty, vigor and, perhaps, love in your life, even though it might be difficult to see them now. Try to focus on the positive, even when it's hard- and still more during the good times! Be careful not to scatter your energies, however; while many options may all be good, sometimes one still must choose between them.
Eadhadh Aspen
Courage and endurance
This is a time of challenge for you. You have the courage and tools you need to get through this time, and to prevail- even if you feel, at times, that you can't. Persevere, and you will succeed- so be sure the goal is worth the winning.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Thursday, April 15, 2004
From the Voodoo Tarot of New Orleans ...
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Ti Bon Ange (Temperance): Calm and restraint. Self-control, patience and tact in handling situations. The act of applying balanced spiritual and psychic forces to physical life.
Rada Hounsis (Page of Swords): The essence of air behaving as earth, such as a steady wind: The approach of an unexpected challenge, to be met with clear thought and just action. A person filled with an eager appetite for all matters of mind and logic. The gathering of information through unfaltering vigilance, careful examination, and subtle spycraft. The use of reason or eloquent speech to penetrate the veil of confusion and cut to the heart of the matter.
It's all really inkblots, you know. Make of it what you will...
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Ti Bon Ange (Temperance): Calm and restraint. Self-control, patience and tact in handling situations. The act of applying balanced spiritual and psychic forces to physical life.
Rada Hounsis (Page of Swords): The essence of air behaving as earth, such as a steady wind: The approach of an unexpected challenge, to be met with clear thought and just action. A person filled with an eager appetite for all matters of mind and logic. The gathering of information through unfaltering vigilance, careful examination, and subtle spycraft. The use of reason or eloquent speech to penetrate the veil of confusion and cut to the heart of the matter.
It's all really inkblots, you know. Make of it what you will...
mythology
detritus
opinion
****************************************************************************************************************************************
Embarrassing confessions part the first...
When I was eight going on nine, I wanted to be a Muse when I grew up...
Strange Recurring Dream
I have this weird recurring dream about San Diego. Not the real San Diego, but some squished, trucated version that only shows up in my subconscious, San Diego of my dream, like Van Morrison's "Coney Island of The Mind." In my version, the Hotel Del Coronado still has a bridge that goes to it, but it isn't on an island, it is the island, and it's surrounded by a swimming pool like moat full of various Sea World creatures that I (or sometimes my daughter) inevitably interact with (this time it was seals and polar bears, sometimes it's whales...) On the other side of the bridge is basically Downtown Tucson in the transit center area, except with an ocean where the railroad tracks would be and lots of high rise apartments. For some reason, I always get lost in this part of my dream geography. The final component is this weird old dowtown full of shops and cafes and strange little grottos. I always want to spend more itme here and get called away. Sometimes there's an interactive Sea World type place in the dream, with lots of escalators and staircases and water slides. One time all my living internal organs were on display there in an aquarium full of small sharks, abbreviated guts included. I actually saw what they must look like. So I think maybe the Sea Creatures aspect is somehow linked to the state of my bodily health. Maybe the transit center place is my brain and the downtown is my heart and soul. Maybe I'm stretching just a bit. Still, it's just plain weird. Sometimes there is also an airport and soem kind of ominous flight involved, occasionally ending in either a crash or space travel, just depending. Yes I'm an odd bird. Thus is why I keep a dream journal. Duh.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Rememberance of marinara sauce past...
Was just reminded at my work today of the Red Devil restaurant in Tempe. I'd totally forgotten it existed. We used to go there with an old boss of my dad and his wife and eat incredible varieties of pasta. I vaguely recall being introduced to Shrimp Diablo at this establishment, but I could wrong. Mostly I remember Cass (the ex-boss's wife) making us clothespin dolls and dressing them up in napkins, and that the walls were wood and there were strikingly red curtains. Some of this blends in with related memories of Old Venice restaurant in San Diego. Yes, my mother had a weakness for small out of the way Italian restaurants whence vacationing, if you'd not yet caught on. Can't think of anymore.
In the meantime, check out my review of Jersey Girl...
In the meantime, check out my review of Jersey Girl...
Jersey Girl
First off, this is not a Kevin Smith movie.
Yes it was written and directed by Kevin Smith, but it it is not a Kevin Smith movie. There are no scatalogical references, no perverse in jokes, even the pseudo intellectual humour is kept to a minimum. If there were more than a couple in jokes, I failed to notice them. It was unambitious and sweet as pie. Clever in bits, but equally maudlin and overwrought in places. There are parts where the mood music was seriously over the top. There were obvious tear jerker moments. But over all I liked it. It was clearly a labor of love. Still, if you're looking for references to Walt Flanagan's dog or the sex organs of superheroes, may I suggest a visit to your local video emporium...
Yes it was written and directed by Kevin Smith, but it it is not a Kevin Smith movie. There are no scatalogical references, no perverse in jokes, even the pseudo intellectual humour is kept to a minimum. If there were more than a couple in jokes, I failed to notice them. It was unambitious and sweet as pie. Clever in bits, but equally maudlin and overwrought in places. There are parts where the mood music was seriously over the top. There were obvious tear jerker moments. But over all I liked it. It was clearly a labor of love. Still, if you're looking for references to Walt Flanagan's dog or the sex organs of superheroes, may I suggest a visit to your local video emporium...
Iced tea at Coffee Xchange
So I was walking out of the movies yesterday, in need of reviving but not wanting to break my emergency $5 bill. This left me with about $1.50 for caffeine procurement. Lo and behold, I find myself in front of a Coffee Xchange stand that offers a medium iced tea for $1.35. Think to myself that it probably won't be great, but certainly is an adequate option. Discover, to my amazed joy possibly the most full service iced tea experience on the planet.
First, you are given a choice of two tea bags from about nine different varieties. The tea is then brewed to your preferred strength and poured directly into a metal shaker of ice. From there the tea is poured back into an ice filled plastic cup, perfectly chilled and beautifully fragrant. The whole process took maybe 5 minutes at most. I very highly recommend it, and left my remaining change in the tip jar as a sign of my undying gratitude.
First, you are given a choice of two tea bags from about nine different varieties. The tea is then brewed to your preferred strength and poured directly into a metal shaker of ice. From there the tea is poured back into an ice filled plastic cup, perfectly chilled and beautifully fragrant. The whole process took maybe 5 minutes at most. I very highly recommend it, and left my remaining change in the tip jar as a sign of my undying gratitude.
Monday, April 12, 2004
Small world...
Eddi Reader apparently worked as arranger on the solo album of wunderkind Scottish fiddler John McCusker, whom I once met after a show when he was 18 and on his first tour with the Battlefield Band. We talked about our both having Claddagh rings (his mother was Irish) and joked around and he gave me his address and phone number in Scotland on a bar napkin. I kept it on my bulletin board in my room for years, but in the end I chickened out and never wrote. He kissed my hand in the rain and said goodbye and I was innocently star struck.
William Blake Tarot Cards of the day
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Innocence: Something fresh and new on the horizon. A tangible risk needs to be faced. Trusting your instincts. A sense of adventure at hand. Confronting unknown factors. Dealing with folly or foolishness. Expect the unexpected.
Ace of Poetry (Inspiration): "I come in Self-annihilation & the grandeur of Inspiration / To cast of Rational Demonstration by Faith in the Saviour / To cast off the rotten rags of Memory by Inspiration / To cast aside from Poetry all that is not Inspiration". The kiss of divine inspiration. Receiving an impetus to creative action. Getting in touch with higher consciousness or Spirit. Experiencing a personal vision of truth, beauty, ecstasy. Discovering sexuality as a metaphor for imaginative experience. Sense of being guided by a higher force. The "Yes!" card. A soulful new beginning. In the creative process: Being in contact with the purest and highest part of your being provides the impetus for fresh expressions in both art and life.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Innocence: Something fresh and new on the horizon. A tangible risk needs to be faced. Trusting your instincts. A sense of adventure at hand. Confronting unknown factors. Dealing with folly or foolishness. Expect the unexpected.
Ace of Poetry (Inspiration): "I come in Self-annihilation & the grandeur of Inspiration / To cast of Rational Demonstration by Faith in the Saviour / To cast off the rotten rags of Memory by Inspiration / To cast aside from Poetry all that is not Inspiration". The kiss of divine inspiration. Receiving an impetus to creative action. Getting in touch with higher consciousness or Spirit. Experiencing a personal vision of truth, beauty, ecstasy. Discovering sexuality as a metaphor for imaginative experience. Sense of being guided by a higher force. The "Yes!" card. A soulful new beginning. In the creative process: Being in contact with the purest and highest part of your being provides the impetus for fresh expressions in both art and life.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Sunday, April 11, 2004
Ogham of the day, and is a snipe a real animal?
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The Present:
Birch
A new beginning
You are in the midst of, or about to enter, a new start in the situation. While it is blessed with good luck, do be careful not to be rash or hasty! Expect change as a result, and prepare for it. The first of the Ogham trees, and traditionally the first to have Ogham carved upon it, birch symbolizes beginnings. As both a protector and a gateway to the Otherworld, it also indicates good fortune. There is some risk of hastiness and rashness as well; while good luck can compensate, foresight is also of benefit.
Color: White
Animal: Cow
Bird: Pheasant
The Present:
Ash
Linkages
The situation is a part of a wider whole, and your life is a part of a larger pattern. Remember that your actions are a part of a larger pattern, and affect all the others within it- make your decisions with this in mind.
Ash is a tree of great traditional magical significance. Yggdrasil, the World Tree, is an ash, and the ash is the fifth Ogham tree. Ash symbolizes the connection- and movement- between very different places and aspects of reality.
Color: Clear Green
Animal: Snake
Bird: Snipe
mythology
detritus
opinion
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The Present:
Birch
A new beginning
You are in the midst of, or about to enter, a new start in the situation. While it is blessed with good luck, do be careful not to be rash or hasty! Expect change as a result, and prepare for it. The first of the Ogham trees, and traditionally the first to have Ogham carved upon it, birch symbolizes beginnings. As both a protector and a gateway to the Otherworld, it also indicates good fortune. There is some risk of hastiness and rashness as well; while good luck can compensate, foresight is also of benefit.
Color: White
Animal: Cow
Bird: Pheasant
The Present:
Ash
Linkages
The situation is a part of a wider whole, and your life is a part of a larger pattern. Remember that your actions are a part of a larger pattern, and affect all the others within it- make your decisions with this in mind.
Ash is a tree of great traditional magical significance. Yggdrasil, the World Tree, is an ash, and the ash is the fifth Ogham tree. Ash symbolizes the connection- and movement- between very different places and aspects of reality.
Color: Clear Green
Animal: Snake
Bird: Snipe
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Two years plus...
...in that place and now it's over. And so a new chapter begins. Or something like that. A heavy sigh of relief. A wave of disjointed nostalgia. A brief identity crisis. Then the wheel turns yet again...or whatever...
Proof that people have been idiots for centuries...
Myth of the Day:The Vegetable Lamb
The tale of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary comes from the Middle Ages, a traveler's tale from the far east. It's full name was 'Planta Tartarica Barometz' - 'barometz' is the Tartar word for 'lamb'. The fruit of the Vegetable Lamb was cotton, but travelers from Europe knew nothing about cotton in those times. They reasoned that the material was wool - a fabric they did know. The figured that since wool came from sheep, and that the plant was some kind of animal/plant. They thought that the puffs of cotton were tiny sheep attached to the plant by their navel. It is said that the plant bent to let the sheep graze on the grass beneath it, and that when all the grass was gone, the sheep dropped from the plant and ran off, the tree dying.
The myth of the Vegetable Lamb dates back to the 11th century in the Middle and Far East. It is a species of fern. The 'body' of the Vegetable Lamb is the root of the plant.
The tale of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary comes from the Middle Ages, a traveler's tale from the far east. It's full name was 'Planta Tartarica Barometz' - 'barometz' is the Tartar word for 'lamb'. The fruit of the Vegetable Lamb was cotton, but travelers from Europe knew nothing about cotton in those times. They reasoned that the material was wool - a fabric they did know. The figured that since wool came from sheep, and that the plant was some kind of animal/plant. They thought that the puffs of cotton were tiny sheep attached to the plant by their navel. It is said that the plant bent to let the sheep graze on the grass beneath it, and that when all the grass was gone, the sheep dropped from the plant and ran off, the tree dying.
The myth of the Vegetable Lamb dates back to the 11th century in the Middle and Far East. It is a species of fern. The 'body' of the Vegetable Lamb is the root of the plant.
Dreamt of...
...a watery apocalypse in which mer people took over, some old school punk teenagers and a hotel lobby.
Tarot Cards of the Day
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Ten of Pentacles (Wealth): Completion of material prosperity and riches. Freedom from financial anxiety, the security of home, and the enjoyment of family. The passing of inheritance along to children, or the gaining of inheritance from parents.
Seven of Wands (Valor): Standing courageously for your beliefs in the face of adversity. Fear of failure overcome by the will to succeed. Great obstacles met with heroism and determination. Inner strength brought to bear at a critical moment.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Ten of Pentacles (Wealth): Completion of material prosperity and riches. Freedom from financial anxiety, the security of home, and the enjoyment of family. The passing of inheritance along to children, or the gaining of inheritance from parents.
Seven of Wands (Valor): Standing courageously for your beliefs in the face of adversity. Fear of failure overcome by the will to succeed. Great obstacles met with heroism and determination. Inner strength brought to bear at a critical moment.
mythology
detritus
opinion
****************************************************************************************************************************************
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Review of the new Burger King Shrimp Salads...
They have hot shrimp in a bag! And cold salad! With cheese and croutons and cucumbers and stuff! Cherry tomatoes! Baby greens! It's genius, I tell you! You can eat the shrimp separately! Or you can put it in the salad! The shrimp is in garlic sauce! It's so good! There's chicken ones too in case you're Lizzie! Hooray for shrimp salads! And chicken salads! And exclamation points!
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Morning Diatribe
5:30 am on A Thursday morning and I'm up on purpose. It's a thing that defies reason. Interesting typo: I just typed "deifies" reason instead. That's a whole new subject in itself, atheism as the deification of reason? Whatever. But for now I am awake and alone. My babies are sleeping. No one's written me in days, so it's not as though there's any email replying to be caught up on. The news is all evil and depressing. Listening to Air America radio online, which is on the one hand refreshingly liberal, but on the other hand just reitierates how screwed up and hopeless the world is right now. Sigh...
Core Dilemma
And in the end there is no one else,
sweet sixteen
alone in my hospital bed
having impact dreams
watching shadows on the ceiling
and deciding
to never ever be real again.
It was eaisier than I thought.
sweet sixteen
alone in my hospital bed
having impact dreams
watching shadows on the ceiling
and deciding
to never ever be real again.
It was eaisier than I thought.
Review On Working Days instead of nights...
It's in many ways as if I'd just come out of a coma, or been stranded on a desert island for two years. I've missed, for example, pretty much the entire phenomenon of reality television...
The Ancient Snake Goddess of Crete
Minoan Snake Goddess
by Dr Alena Trckova-Flamee, Ph.D.
The Snake Goddess was one of the Minoan divinities associated closely with the snake cult. She is called also Household Goddess due to her attribute of the snake, which is connected with welfare of the Minoan house. But the snake is also symbol of the underworld deity, so the Snake Goddess is related to chthonic aspects too.
The first, who identified this Minoan Goddess and who described her domestic and chthonic role and her cult, was A. Evans. He tried to find parallels in the Egyptian religion and linked the Snake Goddess with an Egyptian Goddess of the Nile Delta, Wazet (Wadjyt). From his point of view the attribute of goddess - snake - was a form of underworld spirit, which had a domestic and a friendly significance. M.P. Nilsson hold a snake as personification of the Snake Goddess and he believed, that her chthonic form is one of the aspects of the Great Mother.
But at the present time there are discussions about the functions of the Snake Goddess. In Crete does not exist a real archaeological evidence for her household role and there is almost no support for the chthonic aspects too. A small offering vessel of the Pre-Palace period in the shape of a female figure with a snake coiled around her body from Koumasa, came to light between some grave goods. But the other ritual figurines of the Snake Goddess were found in the Temple Repositories of the Knossos palace and public sanctuaries in Gurnia, Khania and Gortyn, where she was worshipped. Unknown provenience is the Snake Goddess made from ivory and gold (in the Boston museum) and a small bronze goddess with coil of snakes (in the Berlin museum).
Two famous faience Snake Goddesses from Knossos belong to the New-Palace period (about 1600 BCE). Besides the ritual function, they are among the best examples of the Minoan art with its dominant features - naturalism and grace. They are presented as the ladies of the palace court, dressed in the typical Minoan clothes with a long skirt (flounced, or with an apron) and a tight open bodice. The snakes crawl around the body of one the goddesses and appear in each hand of the other. These statuettes are interpreted sometimes as the goddess and her votary, the mother goddess and her daughter, or the human attendants of goddess, as well as the women personified the goddess.
Totally different ritual objects of the Snake Goddesses came from sanctuaries of the Post-Palace period (1400-1100 BCE). They are made from cheaper material - terracotta - in the position with raised hands, extremely stylized in accordance with the manners of this period. Their symbol - a snake - is often mixed with the other sacred signs: horns of consecration or birds.
Figures of the Snake Goddess and some other cult objects - so called snake tubes and vessels with wholes, decorated by a model of snake - illustrate the worshipping of a Snake Goddess and her cult in Crete during some periods. It seems that this cult came to existence from very early Minoan age, derived from the Egyptian belief system, but there was the strong Near-Eastern influence too. In the Egyptian mythology the snake was a personification of the goddess Kebechet, symbolized the purification by water in the funeral cult, so the snake became a protector of the pharaohs in their death. In the Sumerian and the Old-Babylonian literary tradition the snake was a wise creature and an expert for miraculous herbs of the eternal youth and immortality. A similar idea is contained in the Cretan myth about Glaukos, where the snake knows the herb of rebirth and resurrection.
It is possible, that the worshipping of the Minoan Snake Goddess was in some context to the rebirth, resurrection or renewal of the life. This cult was flourishing mainly in Knossos of the New-palace period and in the Post-Palace public sanctuaries. It is sure, that mainly Knossos' idols, made from faience with a high artistic level, had an important function in the Minoan religion. We have to take into consideration, that the material of the New-Palace Snake Goddesses - faience - symbolized in old Egypt the renewal of life, therefore it was used in the funeral cult and in sanctuaries.
The Post-Palace Snake Goddesses, worshipped in the small public sanctuaries, kept probably a more popular role. These ritual objects were influenced by the Mycenaean culture. Their attribute of the snake had a strong signification in the belief system of all Aegean region at this time. The terracotta models of painted snakes were found in the Cult Center of Mycenae and the motif of snakes appear between the decoration of vessels for funeral cult from the Late Mycenaean cemeteries in the mainland and in the islands Rhodos, Kos and Cyprus.
The symbol and spirit of the Minoan Snake Goddess took in the Greek mythology many different features. The snake had a protective and beneficial role on the shield of Athena, it represented the chthonic power connected with the Goddess of Earth, it was the attribute of Asklepios, probably due to its knowledge about the herb of rebirth, resurrection and eternal youth and generally it was the symbol of superhuman power of the god. But the snake could have a totally negative role too as an originator of the death and an avenger in company with the mythical creatures.
Article created on 19 February 2000; last modified on 22 December 2002.
� 1995-2004 Encyclopedia Mythica. All rights reserved.
by Dr Alena Trckova-Flamee, Ph.D.
The Snake Goddess was one of the Minoan divinities associated closely with the snake cult. She is called also Household Goddess due to her attribute of the snake, which is connected with welfare of the Minoan house. But the snake is also symbol of the underworld deity, so the Snake Goddess is related to chthonic aspects too.
The first, who identified this Minoan Goddess and who described her domestic and chthonic role and her cult, was A. Evans. He tried to find parallels in the Egyptian religion and linked the Snake Goddess with an Egyptian Goddess of the Nile Delta, Wazet (Wadjyt). From his point of view the attribute of goddess - snake - was a form of underworld spirit, which had a domestic and a friendly significance. M.P. Nilsson hold a snake as personification of the Snake Goddess and he believed, that her chthonic form is one of the aspects of the Great Mother.
But at the present time there are discussions about the functions of the Snake Goddess. In Crete does not exist a real archaeological evidence for her household role and there is almost no support for the chthonic aspects too. A small offering vessel of the Pre-Palace period in the shape of a female figure with a snake coiled around her body from Koumasa, came to light between some grave goods. But the other ritual figurines of the Snake Goddess were found in the Temple Repositories of the Knossos palace and public sanctuaries in Gurnia, Khania and Gortyn, where she was worshipped. Unknown provenience is the Snake Goddess made from ivory and gold (in the Boston museum) and a small bronze goddess with coil of snakes (in the Berlin museum).
Two famous faience Snake Goddesses from Knossos belong to the New-Palace period (about 1600 BCE). Besides the ritual function, they are among the best examples of the Minoan art with its dominant features - naturalism and grace. They are presented as the ladies of the palace court, dressed in the typical Minoan clothes with a long skirt (flounced, or with an apron) and a tight open bodice. The snakes crawl around the body of one the goddesses and appear in each hand of the other. These statuettes are interpreted sometimes as the goddess and her votary, the mother goddess and her daughter, or the human attendants of goddess, as well as the women personified the goddess.
Totally different ritual objects of the Snake Goddesses came from sanctuaries of the Post-Palace period (1400-1100 BCE). They are made from cheaper material - terracotta - in the position with raised hands, extremely stylized in accordance with the manners of this period. Their symbol - a snake - is often mixed with the other sacred signs: horns of consecration or birds.
Figures of the Snake Goddess and some other cult objects - so called snake tubes and vessels with wholes, decorated by a model of snake - illustrate the worshipping of a Snake Goddess and her cult in Crete during some periods. It seems that this cult came to existence from very early Minoan age, derived from the Egyptian belief system, but there was the strong Near-Eastern influence too. In the Egyptian mythology the snake was a personification of the goddess Kebechet, symbolized the purification by water in the funeral cult, so the snake became a protector of the pharaohs in their death. In the Sumerian and the Old-Babylonian literary tradition the snake was a wise creature and an expert for miraculous herbs of the eternal youth and immortality. A similar idea is contained in the Cretan myth about Glaukos, where the snake knows the herb of rebirth and resurrection.
It is possible, that the worshipping of the Minoan Snake Goddess was in some context to the rebirth, resurrection or renewal of the life. This cult was flourishing mainly in Knossos of the New-palace period and in the Post-Palace public sanctuaries. It is sure, that mainly Knossos' idols, made from faience with a high artistic level, had an important function in the Minoan religion. We have to take into consideration, that the material of the New-Palace Snake Goddesses - faience - symbolized in old Egypt the renewal of life, therefore it was used in the funeral cult and in sanctuaries.
The Post-Palace Snake Goddesses, worshipped in the small public sanctuaries, kept probably a more popular role. These ritual objects were influenced by the Mycenaean culture. Their attribute of the snake had a strong signification in the belief system of all Aegean region at this time. The terracotta models of painted snakes were found in the Cult Center of Mycenae and the motif of snakes appear between the decoration of vessels for funeral cult from the Late Mycenaean cemeteries in the mainland and in the islands Rhodos, Kos and Cyprus.
The symbol and spirit of the Minoan Snake Goddess took in the Greek mythology many different features. The snake had a protective and beneficial role on the shield of Athena, it represented the chthonic power connected with the Goddess of Earth, it was the attribute of Asklepios, probably due to its knowledge about the herb of rebirth, resurrection and eternal youth and generally it was the symbol of superhuman power of the god. But the snake could have a totally negative role too as an originator of the death and an avenger in company with the mythical creatures.
Article created on 19 February 2000; last modified on 22 December 2002.
� 1995-2004 Encyclopedia Mythica. All rights reserved.
Russian Tarot Reading
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Nine of Coins (Gain): Accomplishment. Discernment. Discretion. Foresight. Prudence. Material well-being. Love of nature.
Knight of Clubs: A journey. Advancement into the unknown. Alteration. Fight. Absence. Change of residence.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Nine of Coins (Gain): Accomplishment. Discernment. Discretion. Foresight. Prudence. Material well-being. Love of nature.
Knight of Clubs: A journey. Advancement into the unknown. Alteration. Fight. Absence. Change of residence.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Aaaaarrrggghhh!!!
Don't you just hate it when you lose all traces of your dream between awakening and going to write it down? I swear I had soemthing cool and then I just drew a complete and total blank. Shite.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Too much Information
Now that Lizzie's kind of gotten with the program, I secretly wish that Tina would update her blog on occasion as well. But maybe that's just my sense of nostalgia speaking. I just want to be fifteen again, passing notebooks full of pseudo intellectual detritus and cathartic poetry back and forth with my two fellow misfit talented genius girls. I want to go back to a world I can understand, where I'm pretty but fat, and everyone thinks my writing is "so disciplined" and I have a "nice voice" but not as nice as the other two have, and I act well, but am too unattractive to be cast in anything but the "mother" role, and if I gain any male attention at all, I can be confident that it is because of my intellect and my wit, because I am just a smart, chubby girl with dimples and baggy t-shirts and great taste in music and tarot decks my parents keep finding and throwing away for their supposed demonicness, and an obsession with English Romantic poets, and a hopeless crush on my journalism teacher which flatters the man to no end. I was miserable a good deal of the time back then, but it was at least a misery i could understand, and at least I knew who I was back then. I still mistrust people who befriend me too easily. I still suspect they're using me or setting me up for a fall or something. I still think I'm being made fun when I'm told that I'm thin or pretty or have a nice body. Deep down inside, I'm just really a little fat girl who everyone indulges but no one takes seriously. Deep at the core of me I still feel like a joke. I think really all of us are still fifteen on some level.
Now where the hell did all of that just come from? I am suddenly something of a catharsis junkie.
Peace,love and jellybeans, or whatever it was that Lizzie used to say, I forget the exact wording, but whatever...
Corbid
Now where the hell did all of that just come from? I am suddenly something of a catharsis junkie.
Peace,love and jellybeans, or whatever it was that Lizzie used to say, I forget the exact wording, but whatever...
Corbid
"Panicking by yourself is the same as laughing in an empty room." - Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
I recall laughing in an empty room once.
I was sixteen and in the hospital, laying in my private room in the pediatrics ward, praying aloud when I realized, "Ha!" I realized I was talking to the ceiling. And it struck me as ridiculous. And I laughed and laughed and laughed. And that was the moment I gave up believing in god. Because it suddenly struck me as ridiculous to believe in this invisible faith reliant being that bestowed good and horribleness in such an apparently arbitrary fashion. A being for which the answer to every paradox was simply "you have to take it on faith." And everyone would tell me that I was so lucky to be alive, that I had been spared "by the grace of god." Or they'd tell me how they'd prayed for me, like they should get some sort of credit for that. Like "thank you for so obviously saving my life by praying for me. If you hadn't prayed for me. god would've just let me die, but since he holds you in such high regard, he spared me just as a favor to you..." And it always baffled me that god was supposedly responsible for survivals and remarkable near misses and miraculous recoveries, but never gets any credit for the accidents or tragedies themselves. Either he's just a sick,sick bastard or else he sure goes awol alot. Does bad shit happen because god was on his coffee break or something? Or better yet, does it fall in the category of "trials" and "crosses to bear?" Like humanity is a big science experiment, a big glass antfarm with god there reflecting sunlight through magnifying glasses at us to see if we'll burst into flames or not. What kind of sick, demented bastard would invent a deity of that sort? I for one prefer to take stock in theories of random chaos. Random Chaos is a lot more forgiving. All hail the Church of Laughing Out Loud In Empty Rooms. And yes, I realize you're supposed to spell the word "god" with a capital G.
In a twisted state of mind,
Corbid
I was sixteen and in the hospital, laying in my private room in the pediatrics ward, praying aloud when I realized, "Ha!" I realized I was talking to the ceiling. And it struck me as ridiculous. And I laughed and laughed and laughed. And that was the moment I gave up believing in god. Because it suddenly struck me as ridiculous to believe in this invisible faith reliant being that bestowed good and horribleness in such an apparently arbitrary fashion. A being for which the answer to every paradox was simply "you have to take it on faith." And everyone would tell me that I was so lucky to be alive, that I had been spared "by the grace of god." Or they'd tell me how they'd prayed for me, like they should get some sort of credit for that. Like "thank you for so obviously saving my life by praying for me. If you hadn't prayed for me. god would've just let me die, but since he holds you in such high regard, he spared me just as a favor to you..." And it always baffled me that god was supposedly responsible for survivals and remarkable near misses and miraculous recoveries, but never gets any credit for the accidents or tragedies themselves. Either he's just a sick,sick bastard or else he sure goes awol alot. Does bad shit happen because god was on his coffee break or something? Or better yet, does it fall in the category of "trials" and "crosses to bear?" Like humanity is a big science experiment, a big glass antfarm with god there reflecting sunlight through magnifying glasses at us to see if we'll burst into flames or not. What kind of sick, demented bastard would invent a deity of that sort? I for one prefer to take stock in theories of random chaos. Random Chaos is a lot more forgiving. All hail the Church of Laughing Out Loud In Empty Rooms. And yes, I realize you're supposed to spell the word "god" with a capital G.
In a twisted state of mind,
Corbid
Friday, April 02, 2004
Hmmm....
My child is a computer genius. But I don't understand why she put up a "Sisyphus rolling a rock up a hill" animation as my desktop background. Is she saying something about me?
Thursday, April 01, 2004
strangeness indeed...
Dreamt that Kurt Cobain was alive and well and had a blog and was currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman and listening to Townes Van Zandt on the sly, and that he knew me well enough to write me raw, painful, cathartic emails.
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Hagalaz is the rune of hail. Hail is a destructive and elemental force, so one can expect this rune to represent the disruption of one's life. In the harsh northern winter there is a halt to activity, and so delay or hindrance is frequently associated with this rune. The opposite of chaos is yet more chaos, as illustrated by the fact that this rune cannot be reversed.
Ehwaz is representative of the eight-legged horse ridden by the god Odin. As such, this is the rune of controlled movement and travel, including the pursuit of an objective or station in life. Since some older sources show Odin not as a man riding a horse but as a centaur-like being, this rune can also represent the union of man and nature, or the fusion of two entities in perfect harmony. As this rune is reversed, this could bode poorly for travel or for the vehicle involved. In the more spiritual sense, this rune could represent difficulties in self-improvement or other attempts at advancement. Finally, it may represent a splitting of two or the inability of two to act as one.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Hagalaz is the rune of hail. Hail is a destructive and elemental force, so one can expect this rune to represent the disruption of one's life. In the harsh northern winter there is a halt to activity, and so delay or hindrance is frequently associated with this rune. The opposite of chaos is yet more chaos, as illustrated by the fact that this rune cannot be reversed.
Ehwaz is representative of the eight-legged horse ridden by the god Odin. As such, this is the rune of controlled movement and travel, including the pursuit of an objective or station in life. Since some older sources show Odin not as a man riding a horse but as a centaur-like being, this rune can also represent the union of man and nature, or the fusion of two entities in perfect harmony. As this rune is reversed, this could bode poorly for travel or for the vehicle involved. In the more spiritual sense, this rune could represent difficulties in self-improvement or other attempts at advancement. Finally, it may represent a splitting of two or the inability of two to act as one.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Three views of the goddess Iris...
Iris, goddess of private eyes, watches. Always watches.
Once she was mercurial, a rainbow, mother of love, the bridge between the crude worlds and words of earthly things and the elevated world of spirituality. Now she's a lone heroine, and goddess of lone heroines and heroes. Now she's a bridge between the desire to know the truth, and the truth we don't want to know. Now she watches, unblinking....Iris was the winged goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the Olympian gods. She was depicted as a young woman with golden wings and a herald's rod and/or a pitcher in her hand...
In Greek mythology, Iris was the daughter of Thaumas and the Ocean nymph Electra (according to Hesiod), the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. As the rainbow unites Earth and heaven, Iris is the messenger of the gods to men; in this capacity she is mentioned frequently in the Iliad, but never in the Odyssey, where Hermes takes her place. Iris is represented as a youthful virgin, with wings of gold, who hurries with the swiftness of the wind from one end of the world to the other, into the depths of the sea and the underworld. She is especially the messenger of Zeus and Hera, and is associated with Hermes, whose caduceus or staff she often holds. By command of Zeus she carries in an ewer water from the Styx, with which she puts to sleep all who perjure themselves. Her attributes are the caduceus and a vase.
Once she was mercurial, a rainbow, mother of love, the bridge between the crude worlds and words of earthly things and the elevated world of spirituality. Now she's a lone heroine, and goddess of lone heroines and heroes. Now she's a bridge between the desire to know the truth, and the truth we don't want to know. Now she watches, unblinking....Iris was the winged goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the Olympian gods. She was depicted as a young woman with golden wings and a herald's rod and/or a pitcher in her hand...
In Greek mythology, Iris was the daughter of Thaumas and the Ocean nymph Electra (according to Hesiod), the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. As the rainbow unites Earth and heaven, Iris is the messenger of the gods to men; in this capacity she is mentioned frequently in the Iliad, but never in the Odyssey, where Hermes takes her place. Iris is represented as a youthful virgin, with wings of gold, who hurries with the swiftness of the wind from one end of the world to the other, into the depths of the sea and the underworld. She is especially the messenger of Zeus and Hera, and is associated with Hermes, whose caduceus or staff she often holds. By command of Zeus she carries in an ewer water from the Styx, with which she puts to sleep all who perjure themselves. Her attributes are the caduceus and a vase.
I cooked...
I actually had a chance to cook real food for dinner that wasn't from a jar or a package for the first time in probably weeks (unless you count omelets, I am famous for my omelets...) tonight. Seared a london broil in butter in a pan on the stovetop, then sauteed some stir fry vegetables, then braised the whole thing in Killian's Irish Red, which I can't stand to drink but very much enjoy as a food seasoning, which is lucky as it was the only thing remptely alcoholic left in the fridge and the whole thing would not have worked quite as well if I'd used something like, say, soy sauce or apple cider vinegar. Made baked potatoes stuffed with cheese for the side. The whole thing was very Applebees special of the month, but not bad for an improvisation. Certainly a step up from totino's party pizzas, anyway.
In other news, the new job situation is becoming more and more of a reality. It's very strange to think that I'll be leaving my job of two years for good soon. Working overnights is not just a job, it's kind of a lifestyle choice. It's going to be a very strange transition indeed. Yeah, the place was a bit of a pit, but it was my pit at least. In a sick way I think I'm sort of going to miss it a little. Plus the people there I'd worked with for a million years. It's like graduating high school or something. But time marches on and there is good to come from all of this. Still, I'm just a little sad to leave. Not the job, just the familiarity of it all. And working days instead of nights. I don't even know what that's like anymore. It's all so surreal to me. Whatever, that all seems so stupid. It's just a job, anyway. One service job is the same as the next, right? Until I get back to school, work is not a method of fulfillment, it's just a means to an end. Dear god, do I need to get back to school. I keep saying it, but I never do it. Oh well, maybe next time, right?
Corbid
In other news, the new job situation is becoming more and more of a reality. It's very strange to think that I'll be leaving my job of two years for good soon. Working overnights is not just a job, it's kind of a lifestyle choice. It's going to be a very strange transition indeed. Yeah, the place was a bit of a pit, but it was my pit at least. In a sick way I think I'm sort of going to miss it a little. Plus the people there I'd worked with for a million years. It's like graduating high school or something. But time marches on and there is good to come from all of this. Still, I'm just a little sad to leave. Not the job, just the familiarity of it all. And working days instead of nights. I don't even know what that's like anymore. It's all so surreal to me. Whatever, that all seems so stupid. It's just a job, anyway. One service job is the same as the next, right? Until I get back to school, work is not a method of fulfillment, it's just a means to an end. Dear god, do I need to get back to school. I keep saying it, but I never do it. Oh well, maybe next time, right?
Corbid
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Celtic Virgin Birth?
Myth of the Day:
Dechtere
The mother of Cuchulainn. There are a number of versions of his birth, of which two follow: one, Dechtere accidentally swallowed a mayfly while drinking a cup of wine, became pregnant from this event, and bore Cuchulainn; two, She was impregnated by the god Lugh with his own soul, and vomited him into life as Cuchulainn, thereby remaining a virgin.
Dechtere
The mother of Cuchulainn. There are a number of versions of his birth, of which two follow: one, Dechtere accidentally swallowed a mayfly while drinking a cup of wine, became pregnant from this event, and bore Cuchulainn; two, She was impregnated by the god Lugh with his own soul, and vomited him into life as Cuchulainn, thereby remaining a virgin.
temple of hecate oracle divination of the day
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Kores' Light
The untouched, the virginal, youth, purity and innocence, an innocent person, a fertile base from which growth can arize. Virtue and Honor. Hope. Preparation for new horizons.
Ares' Light
An unavoidable conflict, revolution, or struggle. Action. Defiance. Conquest. Triumph. Attainment despite perils.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Kores' Light
The untouched, the virginal, youth, purity and innocence, an innocent person, a fertile base from which growth can arize. Virtue and Honor. Hope. Preparation for new horizons.
Ares' Light
An unavoidable conflict, revolution, or struggle. Action. Defiance. Conquest. Triumph. Attainment despite perils.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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I have returned
From my long slumber, or at least intermittently. Thank you to Lizzie for a lovely party and her unfailing patience with and support of me. Undergoing major life changes, ie. jobs and schedules and so forth and have been very stresses out and wiped out and generally out of synch. I most definitely welcomed the respite, although perhaps I enjoyed it a bit too much...la,la,la...back to being a responsible grown up then. But I got to sing Bowie songs into a microphone while somebody played guitar and other people watched. How cool is that?
Corbid
Corbid
Thursday, March 25, 2004
oh dear goddess, not that card again...rider waite reading
The Lovers: A caring and trusting relationship. Beauty and inner harmony. A decision calling for emotional control and faithfulness to spiritual values.
Strength: Raw power. Health and physical fortitude. A surge of tremendous force. Recovery from sickness. Victory after apprehension and fear. The ability to face and overcome opposition brings the inner qualities of strength and forbearance. Delays and setbacks will be overcome.
Strength: Raw power. Health and physical fortitude. A surge of tremendous force. Recovery from sickness. Victory after apprehension and fear. The ability to face and overcome opposition brings the inner qualities of strength and forbearance. Delays and setbacks will be overcome.
where was I???
Apparently I was invisible for a time...fixed it...more soon...tired...slightly addled...must...sleep...
corbid
(otherwise known as Saille Willow)
corbid
(otherwise known as Saille Willow)
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Hypatia
Myth of the Day:
Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and Platonic philosopher. According to the Byzantine encyclopedia The Suda, her father Theon was the last head of the Museum at Alexandria.
Hypatia's prominence was accentuated by the fact that she was both female and pagan in an increasingly Christian environment. Shortly before her death, Cyril was made the Christian bishop of Alexandria, and a conflict arose between Cyril and the prefect Orestes. Orestes was disliked by some Christians and was a friend of Hypatia, and rumors started that Hypatia was to blame for the conflict. In the spring of 415 C.E., the situation reached a tragic conclusion when a band of Christian monks seized Hypatia on the street, beat her, and dragged her body to a church where they mutilated her flesh with sharp tiles and burned her remains.
Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and Platonic philosopher. According to the Byzantine encyclopedia The Suda, her father Theon was the last head of the Museum at Alexandria.
Hypatia's prominence was accentuated by the fact that she was both female and pagan in an increasingly Christian environment. Shortly before her death, Cyril was made the Christian bishop of Alexandria, and a conflict arose between Cyril and the prefect Orestes. Orestes was disliked by some Christians and was a friend of Hypatia, and rumors started that Hypatia was to blame for the conflict. In the spring of 415 C.E., the situation reached a tragic conclusion when a band of Christian monks seized Hypatia on the street, beat her, and dragged her body to a church where they mutilated her flesh with sharp tiles and burned her remains.
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Knowledge: An important, possibly moral choice to be made. Be discriminating with advice from others. Deep insight into a relationship or one's own involvement in a relationship. A need to integrate all levels of consciousness within oneself. An opportunity for intimacy and open communications.
Four of Music (Musing): "And I wrote my happy songs / Every child may joy to hear". Being at peace with yourself. Taking the time to reminisce and let your mind wander. Relief from emotional stress. Combining business with pleasure. Focus on playful communication. Mulling things over. Relaxed and slow pace. In the creative process: Relax into playfulness, whimsically experiment with improvisation or reminiscence about past experiences. Such meditations alleviate stress and refresh the imagination. Make space for the gifts of spirit to move through you.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Knowledge: An important, possibly moral choice to be made. Be discriminating with advice from others. Deep insight into a relationship or one's own involvement in a relationship. A need to integrate all levels of consciousness within oneself. An opportunity for intimacy and open communications.
Four of Music (Musing): "And I wrote my happy songs / Every child may joy to hear". Being at peace with yourself. Taking the time to reminisce and let your mind wander. Relief from emotional stress. Combining business with pleasure. Focus on playful communication. Mulling things over. Relaxed and slow pace. In the creative process: Relax into playfulness, whimsically experiment with improvisation or reminiscence about past experiences. Such meditations alleviate stress and refresh the imagination. Make space for the gifts of spirit to move through you.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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So,so very,very tired...
Alas, but I am weary...working a 70 hour week, or something in that neighborhood. I scarcely know what day it is...oh, well, at least there's Saturday to look forward to.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Till weekend next...
A week of no blogging?
Between connectivity issues and insane work hours, I fear we'll see a bit less of me this week.
Damn, I'm sure you're all crying into your teacups with tremendous grief...
Soundtrack for the week: Old punk from the dawn of time - Sex Pistols, Clash, Joy Division.
Food: Whatever I can grab
Reading Material: Rereads of novels I loved a couple years ago to justify keeping them in the house.
See ya.
Corbid
Between connectivity issues and insane work hours, I fear we'll see a bit less of me this week.
Damn, I'm sure you're all crying into your teacups with tremendous grief...
Soundtrack for the week: Old punk from the dawn of time - Sex Pistols, Clash, Joy Division.
Food: Whatever I can grab
Reading Material: Rereads of novels I loved a couple years ago to justify keeping them in the house.
See ya.
Corbid
Friday, March 19, 2004
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Tracklisting for Newest Mix: Punk/new wave/loudness
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Release the Bats - The Birthday Party (The band from whence came Nick Cave)
The Lovecats - very early, very frivolous Cure with coolass piano bits
Soap Commercial - The Psychedelic Furs dry take on advertising with apologies to Andy Warhol
Sympathy for the Devil - a rather odd little Roxy Music cover
Just Lust - The Buzzcocks empitimozing the spirit of pure punk
I've Got A Secret Miniature Camera - Peter Murphy is much more than goth
Julie's In The Drug Squad - The Clash in one of their Ska moods
Dog In Sweden - Xray Spex "Iggy says I wanna be your dog, but I want you to be a demagogue..."
Career Oppurtutnities - The Clash sum up the redundancy of meaningless wage slavedom
Deutscher Girls - Adam Ant was my Elvis Presley, seriously one can never go wrong with hetero boys in pirate shirts, leather pants and eyeliner, at least in my book.
Punk Rock Girl - The Dead Milkmen sing the anthem of our erstwhile teendom...
Young Parisians - Adam and the Ants again, Adam and the motherfucking Ants!
House Of The Rising Sun - Nick Cave was born to sing this song, cover or no
10:15 on A Saturday Night - An old Cure 'B' side with one of my favorite understated guitar solos ever.
Little Know It All - The only new song on the mix. Iggy Pop is still the man.
The Strangest Party - INXS, awash in sexy Australianness
Stuart - "You know what, Stuart, I like you. You're not like the other people here in the trailer park..." Dead Milkmen.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Release the Bats - The Birthday Party (The band from whence came Nick Cave)
The Lovecats - very early, very frivolous Cure with coolass piano bits
Soap Commercial - The Psychedelic Furs dry take on advertising with apologies to Andy Warhol
Sympathy for the Devil - a rather odd little Roxy Music cover
Just Lust - The Buzzcocks empitimozing the spirit of pure punk
I've Got A Secret Miniature Camera - Peter Murphy is much more than goth
Julie's In The Drug Squad - The Clash in one of their Ska moods
Dog In Sweden - Xray Spex "Iggy says I wanna be your dog, but I want you to be a demagogue..."
Career Oppurtutnities - The Clash sum up the redundancy of meaningless wage slavedom
Deutscher Girls - Adam Ant was my Elvis Presley, seriously one can never go wrong with hetero boys in pirate shirts, leather pants and eyeliner, at least in my book.
Punk Rock Girl - The Dead Milkmen sing the anthem of our erstwhile teendom...
Young Parisians - Adam and the Ants again, Adam and the motherfucking Ants!
House Of The Rising Sun - Nick Cave was born to sing this song, cover or no
10:15 on A Saturday Night - An old Cure 'B' side with one of my favorite understated guitar solos ever.
Little Know It All - The only new song on the mix. Iggy Pop is still the man.
The Strangest Party - INXS, awash in sexy Australianness
Stuart - "You know what, Stuart, I like you. You're not like the other people here in the trailer park..." Dead Milkmen.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Listening to...
...London Calling by the Clash. The entire album. Hadn't remembered it being quite this good. Makes me wonder if I should henna my hair today. Nah. Maybe tomorrow. Definitely very soon, anyway. Slow simmering frozen chicken thighs slowly on the stovetop in a dutch oven in a mixture of Cioppino sauce and regular mushroom spaghetti sauce. Smells extroardinary. Playing with the gorgeous baby. Shall have to venture out into the wolrd eventually, I suppose. It is suddenly dawning on me that I'll be working basically a day job soon, and will have very few of these quiet, lazy mornings to savor. So it goes the world, I guess. We adapt or we stagnate and die and that's just not cool at all.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
A post Saint Patrick's day bit of amusement...
...shamelessly stolen from Davezilla.com
It's the "We have No Heads" (audio/mpeg Object) song from Denis Leary. I for one have not yet failed to laugh my ass off at this song, but then I am admittedly feebleminded...
It's the "We have No Heads" (audio/mpeg Object) song from Denis Leary. I for one have not yet failed to laugh my ass off at this song, but then I am admittedly feebleminded...
Eirinn
May the land rise again
Out of the ashes of Phoenix Park and the bloody streets of Belfast
May her soul rise again
From the ravages of time and the cruel course of history
And the jaded hearts of her lost sons and daughters
An Ocean away
Who dream of a home they never knew
And worship a Mother who welcomes them still
Out of the ashes of Phoenix Park and the bloody streets of Belfast
May her soul rise again
From the ravages of time and the cruel course of history
And the jaded hearts of her lost sons and daughters
An Ocean away
Who dream of a home they never knew
And worship a Mother who welcomes them still
Thoughts on having three full time jobs at once...
Well, that was kind of a dumb idea. So I quit the temp job this morning, and plan on working my new job concurrently with my old job for a week or two as I've time for a nap between shifts. But we shall see how long that lasts. Mainly the new job is the new hotness. Or,well maybe not the new hotness but the nice refresshing change for the forseeable future. Better pay, more liveable schedule, time with my wee girls, less thankless job duties, and I'll presumably still have some time now and then to see old friends:)
For now, I am just totally fucking exhausted, though. So it goes.
corbid/saillewillow/whoever...
For now, I am just totally fucking exhausted, though. So it goes.
corbid/saillewillow/whoever...
The Voice Of The Woods Ogham Reading Of The Day...
Birch
A new beginning will change the situation dramatically when it arrives. Much will be different then, so it would be wise to anticipate this by resolving old business, enabling you to truly begin anew.
The first of the Ogham trees, and traditionally the first to have Ogham carved upon it, birch symbolizes beginnings. As both a protector and a gateway to the Otherworld, it also indicates good fortune. There is some risk of hastiness and rashness as well; while good luck can compensate, foresight is also of benefit.
Hazel
While you may not now have all the information you need about the situation, it will come. Gather it as the salmon gathers hazelnuts, and use your logic and your intuition to make a creative and wise decision.
Many Celtic legends involve the hazel tree, and hazelnuts which give wisdom- especially to the salmon that live in the pool under the tree and eat the nuts. Hazel symbolizes deep wisdom and insight, used to inspire creativity and resolve conflict. The hazel is the ninth tree of the Ogham.
A new beginning will change the situation dramatically when it arrives. Much will be different then, so it would be wise to anticipate this by resolving old business, enabling you to truly begin anew.
The first of the Ogham trees, and traditionally the first to have Ogham carved upon it, birch symbolizes beginnings. As both a protector and a gateway to the Otherworld, it also indicates good fortune. There is some risk of hastiness and rashness as well; while good luck can compensate, foresight is also of benefit.
Hazel
While you may not now have all the information you need about the situation, it will come. Gather it as the salmon gathers hazelnuts, and use your logic and your intuition to make a creative and wise decision.
Many Celtic legends involve the hazel tree, and hazelnuts which give wisdom- especially to the salmon that live in the pool under the tree and eat the nuts. Hazel symbolizes deep wisdom and insight, used to inspire creativity and resolve conflict. The hazel is the ninth tree of the Ogham.
Lady Wilde
Lady Jane Francesca Wilde
Lady Jane Francesca Wilde [or ?Speranza'] 1821-96 Wilde's tall and strikingly attractive mother was a talented linguist, poet, and Irish patriot, who had written six books and translated others. Her best-known work is a translation of Meinhold's Sidonia the Sorceress. Lady Wilde's nom de plume, Speranza (the Italian for 'Hope') came from her advocacy of the cause of Irish freedom.
In 1879, following the death of her husband, Lady Wilde left Dublin for London, where she was a central figure of the circle of Irish writers, including George Bernard Shaw and William Butler Years. She contributed her poems and articles to periodicals, including The Woman's World, of which Oscar Wilde was the editor in 1887-9. Under his editorship, he raised its status (formerly called The Lady's World) from a fashion magazine for society ladies to a culture magazine for new, independent women.
During the Wilde trials in 1895, while many of Wilde's friends persuaded him to leave the country, it was Lady Wilde who insisted that he should stay and stand trial: 'If you stay, even if you go to prison, you will always be my son. It will make no difference to my affection. But if you go, I will never speak to you again.' After Wilde's conviction, however, her health declined rapidly in her despair and sorrow for 'dear Oscar'. She died in February 1896. Learning that she would not be able to see him again on her deathbed, she said, 'may the prison help him'.
Lady Jane Francesca Wilde [or ?Speranza'] 1821-96 Wilde's tall and strikingly attractive mother was a talented linguist, poet, and Irish patriot, who had written six books and translated others. Her best-known work is a translation of Meinhold's Sidonia the Sorceress. Lady Wilde's nom de plume, Speranza (the Italian for 'Hope') came from her advocacy of the cause of Irish freedom.
In 1879, following the death of her husband, Lady Wilde left Dublin for London, where she was a central figure of the circle of Irish writers, including George Bernard Shaw and William Butler Years. She contributed her poems and articles to periodicals, including The Woman's World, of which Oscar Wilde was the editor in 1887-9. Under his editorship, he raised its status (formerly called The Lady's World) from a fashion magazine for society ladies to a culture magazine for new, independent women.
During the Wilde trials in 1895, while many of Wilde's friends persuaded him to leave the country, it was Lady Wilde who insisted that he should stay and stand trial: 'If you stay, even if you go to prison, you will always be my son. It will make no difference to my affection. But if you go, I will never speak to you again.' After Wilde's conviction, however, her health declined rapidly in her despair and sorrow for 'dear Oscar'. She died in February 1896. Learning that she would not be able to see him again on her deathbed, she said, 'may the prison help him'.
Happy F%$&ing Saint Patrick's Day To All...
Guinness is Gaelic For Genius, you know. So drink to superior intelligence and listen to the Pogues and BLACK 47.
Here's some lyrics about Michael Collins:
THE BIG FELLAH
Mo chara is mo lao thu!
My friend and my calf
Is aisling trà néallaibh
A vision in dream
Do deineadh aréir dom
Was revealed to me last night
IgCorcaigh go déanach
In Cork, a late hour,
Ar leaba im aonar
In my solitary bed
I remember you back in the GPO with Connolly and Clarke
Laughin' with McDermott through the bullets and the sparks
Always with the smart remark, your eyes blazin' and blue
But when we needed confidence we always turned to you
And when they shot our leaders up against Kilmainham wall
You were there beside us in that awful Easter dawn
Hey, big fellah..........where the hell are you now
When we need you the most
Hey, big fellah..........c'mon
Tabhair dom do lámh
Give me your hand
Back on the streets of Dublin when we fought the black and tans
You were there beside us, a towerin' mighty man
And God help the informer or the hated English spy
By Jaysus, Mick, you'd crucify them without the blinkin' of an eye
Still you had a heart as soft as the early mornin' dew
Every widow, whore and orphan could always turn to you
We beat them in the cities and we whipped them in the streets
And the world hailed Michael Collins, our commander and our chief
And they sent you off to London to negotiate a deal
And to gain us a republic, united, boys, and real
But the women and the drink, Mick, they must have got to you
'Cause you came back with a country divided up in two
Here's some lyrics about Michael Collins:
THE BIG FELLAH
Mo chara is mo lao thu!
My friend and my calf
Is aisling trà néallaibh
A vision in dream
Do deineadh aréir dom
Was revealed to me last night
IgCorcaigh go déanach
In Cork, a late hour,
Ar leaba im aonar
In my solitary bed
I remember you back in the GPO with Connolly and Clarke
Laughin' with McDermott through the bullets and the sparks
Always with the smart remark, your eyes blazin' and blue
But when we needed confidence we always turned to you
And when they shot our leaders up against Kilmainham wall
You were there beside us in that awful Easter dawn
Hey, big fellah..........where the hell are you now
When we need you the most
Hey, big fellah..........c'mon
Tabhair dom do lámh
Give me your hand
Back on the streets of Dublin when we fought the black and tans
You were there beside us, a towerin' mighty man
And God help the informer or the hated English spy
By Jaysus, Mick, you'd crucify them without the blinkin' of an eye
Still you had a heart as soft as the early mornin' dew
Every widow, whore and orphan could always turn to you
We beat them in the cities and we whipped them in the streets
And the world hailed Michael Collins, our commander and our chief
And they sent you off to London to negotiate a deal
And to gain us a republic, united, boys, and real
But the women and the drink, Mick, they must have got to you
'Cause you came back with a country divided up in two
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Musing on a topic of note...
... in response to a blog post that Lizzie
may or may not publish...
Words and music by David Bowie
Stone love - she kneels before the grave
A brave son - who gave his life to see the slogan
That hovers between the headstone and her eyes
For they penetrate her grieving
New love - a boy and girl are talking
New worlds - that only they can share in
New words - a love so strong it tears their hearts
To sleep - through the fleeting hours of morning
Love is careless in its choosing - sweeping over cross a baby
Love descends on those defenseless
Idiot love will spark the fusion
Inspirations have I none - just to touch the flaming dove
All I have is my love of love - and love is not loving
Soul love - the priest that tastes the word and
Told of love - and how my God on high is
All love - though reaching up my loneliness evolves
By the blindness that surrounds him
Love is careless in its choosing - sweeping over cross a baby
Love descends on those defenseless
Idiot love will spark the fusion
Inspirations have I none - just to touch the flaming dove
All I have is my love of love - and love is not loving
may or may not publish...
"Soul Love "
Words and music by David Bowie
Stone love - she kneels before the grave
A brave son - who gave his life to see the slogan
That hovers between the headstone and her eyes
For they penetrate her grieving
New love - a boy and girl are talking
New worlds - that only they can share in
New words - a love so strong it tears their hearts
To sleep - through the fleeting hours of morning
Love is careless in its choosing - sweeping over cross a baby
Love descends on those defenseless
Idiot love will spark the fusion
Inspirations have I none - just to touch the flaming dove
All I have is my love of love - and love is not loving
Soul love - the priest that tastes the word and
Told of love - and how my God on high is
All love - though reaching up my loneliness evolves
By the blindness that surrounds him
Love is careless in its choosing - sweeping over cross a baby
Love descends on those defenseless
Idiot love will spark the fusion
Inspirations have I none - just to touch the flaming dove
All I have is my love of love - and love is not loving
Friday, March 12, 2004
Okay...
I now technically have three full time jobs...
I'm just a girl who cain't say no...
We shall just have to see what happens. More details to come. I shall certainly be busy, in any case. Lalala.
I'm just a girl who cain't say no...
We shall just have to see what happens. More details to come. I shall certainly be busy, in any case. Lalala.
William Blake Tarot of the day
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Nine of Science (Despair): Experiencing mental anguish or self-pity. Grief. Depression. Insomnia. Escaping reality. Hiding from joy and innocence. Feeling isolated and alone. Self-cruelty. In the creative process: Your creativity is blocked by self-judgments and criticism. Forgive yourself and get back to the basics; recapture your innocence and rejoin the human family.
Angel of Science: "Quis basin demonstret? (Who would demonstrate the foundation?)". Floating in the realm of pure or abstract thought. Objective, unemotional, and unbiased thinking. Mental speculation, exploration, meditation. A brilliant insight bursting through. Stimulus to organize or systematize. Precision and clarity of vision. In the creative process: An intellectual vision or perfect insight inspires you to rise above yourself.
mythology
detritus
opinion
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Nine of Science (Despair): Experiencing mental anguish or self-pity. Grief. Depression. Insomnia. Escaping reality. Hiding from joy and innocence. Feeling isolated and alone. Self-cruelty. In the creative process: Your creativity is blocked by self-judgments and criticism. Forgive yourself and get back to the basics; recapture your innocence and rejoin the human family.
Angel of Science: "Quis basin demonstret? (Who would demonstrate the foundation?)". Floating in the realm of pure or abstract thought. Objective, unemotional, and unbiased thinking. Mental speculation, exploration, meditation. A brilliant insight bursting through. Stimulus to organize or systematize. Precision and clarity of vision. In the creative process: An intellectual vision or perfect insight inspires you to rise above yourself.
mythology
detritus
opinion
****************************************************************************************************************************************
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Stress alert fades from red to yellow...
Had two job interviews this morning and both went well. Feeling slightly better about myself, but I have Maggie's IEP assessment next, so that could change. Still, there's nothing like a skills assessment at a temp agency for stroking the old ego. I tested about 9100 keystrokes per hour on alphanumeric data entry and 96% proficiency on a version of Microsoft Word that i've never seen before, plus got bonus points for having a "well written" resume and submitting it via email. How that translates into money in my pocket remains to be seen, but it's something of an antidote to the constant negativity and focus on minutiae in my current work environment. You can actually be written up for taking a 5 minute restroom break off schedule or for being a word or two off script. It's phenomenally degrading. I must exit as soon as possible to preserve my sanity.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
whatf#%$&ingever, right?
Redundancy ensues. I've decided it's time to leave my current thankless, lifesapping, no future job for another thankless, lifesapping no future job. I am never getting back to school at this rate. I am never getting the motivation to change my life ever, I've become convinced. I will never own a house, I will never have a job I love, I will always be a disappointment to my family and friends. It's just a fact of life. Why don't I get used to it already and give up trying? I used to be so good at that. I used to be so good at turning off life and watching it like it was on a television screen and just not caring. Instead I wish for stupid things like people to care about me or see some sort of talent in me or something that makes me other than a phenomenal waste of breath and space. Whereas I think most of the people I know would gladly forget about me forever if they thought for a second that I would leave them alone. If I died tomorrow, my immediate family would feel some impact, but everyone else would say "oh isn't that a damned shame" and promptly cease to think of me ever again. I insinuate myself into the lives of others and try to make myself indispensable, because otherwise what would they want me around for? Certainly not my esteemed company. I am a service for hire, rather than a worthwhile person. I truly believe this. I am an ear for listening and understanding, but as soon as I open my mouth everyone tunes out because I am a fucking bore, I am a pompous ass, I am a big, fucking self important idiot. And if I hadn't had so much potential to be otherwise at some point, it wouldn't matter, but I am a failure. Utter and complete. I am the big Lazarus Mistake. They should not have raised me from the dead. They should never have let me marry or procreate. There are wonderful people who rely on my and I am no one to be relied upon. I am the biggest fuckup on the planet. Why do I aspire to anything other than that. I am a big fuckup who has a weblog that nobody reads. That's what I am. Queen Fuckup.
Monday, March 08, 2004
Saturday, March 06, 2004
If you'd ever wondered...
A myth dispelled on the Guiness site:
Is it true that you get a much better pint in Ireland?
For GUINNESS® brewed outside Ireland the water will be different of course because we always use pure, fresh water from local natural sources. In blind tests though, (with a bunch of highly cynical journalists!), none of our sample could tell the difference. That said, all GUINNESS® sold in North America is brewed in Ireland at the historic St .James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. So, the only real difference you should be able to spot is the pub that you're drinking in!
Is it true that you get a much better pint in Ireland?
For GUINNESS® brewed outside Ireland the water will be different of course because we always use pure, fresh water from local natural sources. In blind tests though, (with a bunch of highly cynical journalists!), none of our sample could tell the difference. That said, all GUINNESS® sold in North America is brewed in Ireland at the historic St .James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. So, the only real difference you should be able to spot is the pub that you're drinking in!
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Rhapsody
I must confess, after the initial skepticism, I've become quite the fan of Rhapsody. I love the on demand aspect of the service and the interface, which gives little bios and links and offers net radio stations which at least in theory will complement the artists you've already chosen as your favorites, thus expanding one's musical horizons somewhat. Plus the chance to preview entire albums for a decent period of time to see if they might be worth buying and view entire discographies of artists even when they aren't available for listening purposes. Slight frustration factors abound, such as the fact that the entire catalog of Scud Mountain Boys CDs can be listened to but not burned, therefore residing only in my computer until I can scrape up the funds to purchase the lot of them soemday. And things of that nature. But overall, I believe it doth rock as far as pay music services go. I do believe online distribution is the logical direction of the music industry as a whole and may in fact change the nature of the evil corporate beastie a bit if we make our voices heard. I also believe the glass if half full, though...
Pseudo intellectualism or crass consumerism, tell me for I do not know
Reading Material of the moment: A Sideways Look at Time by Jay Griffiths.
DVD Rental of the day:The Business Of Fancydancing, written and directed by Sherman Alexie.
Rhapsody Addiction of the Moment: The Instigator by Rhett Miller.
Caffeine by Red Rose tea, french fries by Ore Ida, for everything else there's Mastercard?
DVD Rental of the day:The Business Of Fancydancing, written and directed by Sherman Alexie.
Rhapsody Addiction of the Moment: The Instigator by Rhett Miller.
Caffeine by Red Rose tea, french fries by Ore Ida, for everything else there's Mastercard?
Yet Another Amnesty International Alert...
Oh, my heart, it doth bleed yet again...indulge me anyway.End Racial Profiling Now...
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Monday, March 01, 2004
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