Jump to content
Post-Update: Forum Issues Read more... ×
BPAL Madness!
Post-Update: Forum Issues

Blogs

Featured Entries

  • Silvertree

    Mod post: No wishlist posts in blogs

    By Silvertree

    Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101  Thanks!
    • 5 comments
    • 6,465 views
Starfish & Coffee
 

More like Midlife-crisis Guard.

I attended the end of a local kinky group meeting that I hadn't been to in years. They've been hosting it in my neighborhood, a bit north-easterly of me as it turns out, so I finally and beleatedly decided to see if I could find the place in question. I did, the facilitator remembered me, and I even got the reinforcement of someone fanning themselves as I described some of the stuff that Daddy and I had been up to. heh.   It was weird, to attend this sort of meeting again, but not really as a n00b. But I live in easy walking distance of the place, so I have no excuse.
byrdie

byrdie

0
I smell glorious
 

I feel horrible

Couldn't sleep until 2AM last night, worrying and feeling crappy. Woke up at 6:30 instead of 5:30 because of it. Woke up feeling horrible.   Worst weekend, aside from the weekend my Uncle Jim died, in my memory. I'm just clinging to the hope that somehow this will all be over soon.
myoubi

myoubi

1
elbow's scentblog
 

Crashing Convergence

Friday, May 25th was kind of a manic day to begin with. I was going to leave for the Folklife festival in Seattle that evening, and I wasn't packed yet, and I had a dozen things to do first, and I really should have spent more time at work that day. But I had doublechecked and the Convergence vendors' hall WAS open to the public, starting about noon on Friday, and by golly I was gonna go or my future self would never forgive me for missing the one time BPAL comes to visit my town.   As I walked down to the hotel that was hosting the convention, I could tell I was getting close by the increasing number of goth-types on the street. It was in the Hilton, and the swanky lobby contained a number of people dressed in black, standing around talking quietly with luggage beside them. I played it cool, strolled on in as though I had any clue what was going on... found a staircase, wandered down, followed signs to a ballroom, and bingo: Vendors' Hall.   I don't normally do this kind of thing, wander into someone else's party without even trying to blend in, so at this point I was buzzed on a blend of mad glee and mild terror. Not many customers in the Vendors' Hall yet, I noted (still trying to act casual), but it was lined with booths selling fancy black clothing, stripey socks, skull jewelry and other gothy paraphernalia.   And then I saw it. The BPAL booth. (There are some photos of it near the end of this post.) I went straight over and gaped at the rows and rows of bottles. They were arranged in alphabetical order and I started getting dizzy just looking at them. So many to choose from! And I've never bought a bottle before. How can I pick just one or two based on a momentary sniff? Do I buy something I already know and love (and have an imp of), or go for something entirely new?   I recall that there were some blends mixed up exclusively for this event. The last rack isn't alphabetical and seems to be made up of the more expensive, limited edition stuff, so I go over to that end to look for them. There's a guy standing in front of it, making small talk with the girl on the other side of the table. He's asking about the Convergence exclusive blends, and she points them out to him. So I sidle up to sniff them and then test them on my arms. Well, two of them. The third one is a white floral, which I'm not interested in. It's called Lydia and is named after a local ghost (I've never heard of her). The other two are Shanghai Tunnel and The Unheavenly City. So we've got a "Portland's Seedy History" theme going on here. Nice. Shanghai Tunnel is really bitter and murky, and Unheavenly City is complicated but definitely has some coffee in it, which is cool. (Later on it turned extremely jasmine, though, which is not cool.)   So I'm sniffing and sniffing and deciding I don't really want either of these, despite their rarity and resale value, when the chatty guy leaves and the girl starts talking to me. She's wearing a red dress that matches the color of her dreadlocked hair, and she's really friendly and funny, and after we've talked for a couple minutes she sticks out her hand and says, "I'm Beth." And my head explodes.   So that's how I got to have a conversation with the nose and creative genius behind BPAL. After her attention turned to some other customers and friends, I went back to scanning the labels and trying to decide what to buy. And sniffing. Lots of sniffing. I noticed that many of the oils seemed to share a sort of bitter edge to them that I didn't like. Hours later, I realized what I was smelling was the Shanghai Tunnel I had foolishly dabbed on my left wrist, just below my bottle-sniffing hand. Oh, duh.   Seeing that it was taking me 5000 years to decide, Beth asked what my favorite scents were so she could recommend some to me. I told her I love Jabberwocky most, and Delphi second-most, and she looked puzzled: "Seriously? Nobody says that. I mean, I like Jabberwocky, but it's just not that popular." I was sort of stunned by this, and someone else demanded her attention just then, so I never got to find out what scents she would have recommmended based on those two, or why it seemed so strange that those were my favorites.   Eventually I decided on Snake Oil, because it will age well, and given the amount I typically apply, a bottle of anything will last me the rest of my life. I also bought one of the aromatherapy (Panacea) blends called TKO that's supposed to help you sleep. I've had insomnia lately, but even as hyped up as I was right then, when I opened that bottle it was like a big Hand of Calm reached out of it and went "sshhhh." Panacea oils are pricey at $25 a bottle, but I figured if I got even 25 nights of sleep out of it, it would be a great investment. And that bottle contains a heck of a lot more than 25 doses.   So I gave them my money and took my bag o'fumes and went off to run some other errands, leaving the bag in the car. I didn't look into it because it had a cute BPAL sticker sealing it shut, and also I was in a hurry and had a lot of other things on my mind. It did occur to me, as I was congratulating myself on getting BPAL products with no shipping charges, that one down side of not getting your oils through the mail was that you don't get the bonus imps, which is one of the funnest parts of buying BPAL. (The Lab people had notified us in advance that there would be no imps for sale at the booth because "they cause havoc on the plane.") Still, I was very happy with my purchase, and ecstatic about the whole experience.   So I'm racing against the clock to get a bunch of things done, and I finally get home and bring my goodies inside. The bag has started to emit a pretty strong odor, and I'm afraid my bottle of TKO is leaking because that sure as heck doesn't smell like Snake Oil. But I'm distracted from this because the Tea Swap box has arrived and is sitting on my doorstep! If you haven't heard about the Tea Swap, the box arrives filled with different kinds of tea, and you take out as much as you like and put something different back in, and send it on to the next person. So here it is, just in time to take to Folklife with me and share with my host C.   I'm really, really excited about the box of tea, but I set it aside to open once I get to C's. I finally look in the BPAL bag, and discover THERE ARE FOUR IMPS IN THERE WITH MY BOTTLES. (One of the imps had leaked a little, which accounted for the smell.)   Then, and only then, did I start running around in circles going EEEEEEEE!!!
elbow

elbow

0
Denise's Cool Blog
 

Da Bunny

Well, I'm going to be an aunt (as I think I've previously mentioned)... and somehow became really motivated and decided that i really had to make this for my future niece:     And it was well received at the baby shower this past Sunday! I was really scared, but apparently it was a hit. LOL!
eviltemptressdq

eviltemptressdq

0
Whiskers and Whispers
 

Back on track.

I am so glad my exams are over! No more revision to burden me, I can now do things like read lots of non-study books, get back to doing arty things like drawing, sketching, and maybe even painting. I have plans to get boxes on Ebay for my BPAL (my collection has got to the stage where shoeboxes-yes, shoeboxes-are being used to store bottles) and to paint them.   The Thunder Moon update was the first in a long time where almost every scent had 'big dealbreaker notes', ie ones that could turn the blends nasty on me. Things like ozone, sea notes, sweet pea, thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening. First time that I've not ordered directly from the Lab for the full moon. I have a feeling the next moon will be much better, and maybe will bring lots more scents-CD and Gaiman stuff? It's funny how Cancer brought about lots of aquatic scents, lots of water and rain and dewy floral notes. Just like how Taurus had cow/bull themed scents (Minotaur and Milk Moon). Hmm. Maybe Leo will bring fiery, spicy, regal and sunny scents, maybe cat-themed scents (I want KITTIES!!!), which are much more up my alley. Maybe a therianthrope which is feline, or African, or Egyptian? (Sekhmet would rock, but the therianthrope scents tend to not to be deities.) I have no Leo in my chart but I have a gut feeling it will be wonderful-I wonder if Leo will be packed with amber? (thinking of the Lion here) and I wonder what the next moon will be?   I'm going to the uni's summer do tonight. I've been having a dilemma over which BPAL to wear...Blue Moon, Midnight on the Midway, or Snake Charmer? I chose those three because 1) it's the full moon 2) there's a funfair at the summer ball which will be open all night, so it really will be 'midnight on the midway' and 3) Snake Charmer is my all purpose special occasion/empowering/on-the-pull/sexy/exotic scent. I chose Snake Charmer in the end. For the first time in ages, I'm in the mood to pull! And it may sound silly but my choice of perfume does affect my mood and SC is one of those scents which makes me less introverted. I'm in the mood to have some fun, let my hair down, party hard. So hopefully Snake Charmer will work like a charm.
PurringPulsar

PurringPulsar

0
Thingamabobs and stuff.
 

Um. Yay?

So I saw this on someone else's blog here and though it's not actually a meme, I'm bored and I like to think about these things. And of course, I love talking about myself.   Stuff I'd buy if I was disgustingly rich.   A car for me. Probably a Mercedes or a Volvo.   A new SUV/van type thing for my dad   A new car for my sister. (We have lots of barely standing cars.)   College. (Tuition.)   An imp of every scent evar.   A present for one particular friend who totally deserves one.   A good viola for me. Because that's actually important.   A trip to Europe to party with the cool people. And there, I'd go to an Apocalyptica concert since they don't go to any part of the U.S. but the Northeast. places that aren't here. (Thanks for bringing that to my attention, elbow.) Darn them. (Oh, and maybe I'd be crazy-rich-like and go find that little Italian place in Budapest and get more pizza. Mmmm.)   An iPod, since I just lost mine.   MUSIC. Lots of music and CDs and stuff.   Clothes from Anthropologie. Because I could finally afford them.   Give money to 1. Girl Scouts, specifically the barns. 2. Music stuff. 3. Church   STAMPS, since I never seem to keep up with them.   And that's all I can think of.
Mordia

Mordia

2
Thingamabobs and stuff.
 

Stuffs for the Witch...should you be interested.

I've just been think of things that would make my day and aren't really things you buy... If you feel so inclined.   -Mail. I loooove mail. Be it postcards or letters or whatever. Whenever it's got my name on it (with no bill inside) my day gets better!   -Recipes. I don't cook right now (Ramen doesn't count), but I'll have a full kitchen in college (these dorms rock my world) and I'd like to be able to use it. I like to make brownies and baking type stuff, but our oven is broken at present. But if you have any yummy, easyish recipes hanging around...   -And I had more but I've forgotten them. Oh, well. Life Advice. College advice. Whatever advice. I pretty much could always use it.
Mordia

Mordia

0
Extispicy
 

Update Blues

Well, not really blues. Just sort of... update uncertainties, I guess.   I tried to be good, and ordered just three bottles. My rent went up this month and my budget is tighter, so I limited myself to Thunder Moon, Selkie and Robin Goodfellow. I really had to bite my lip to keep from ordering Cancer, but now I've checked my checking account balance and its higher than I thought it would be. do I go back and order the Cancer? (And maybe a bottle of Lysander, which sounds lovely), or do I continue to assert my iron will.   No no... I can do without the Cancer, can't I?   I managed to resist the Gemini, which is my sign, though now I find myself wanting a bottle, or at least a decant. But the pear and the lettuce and the mallow and the chamomile all sounds so beautiful.   The hermia sounds good too. All the notes are glorious, except for the honeysuckle. Dear lord honeysuckle goes rancid on me. I love the smell of the flowers, but the oil is just awful on me. Like play-dough. So I guess I won't be getting any hermia.   If I hold out and don't order the Cancer, I'll still need to get a Lysander sooner or later.   GCs on my immediate want-list: Oblivion, Black Tower, and I think I may soon spring for a bottle of Thanatos unsniffed. It sounds like me.   I now I have four pending orders. Thats outrageous. Some of my orders need to ship so I don't feel like such an addict. Not to mention - I simply cannot make an order for Cancer while I have four other orders pending... hmmm... perhaps that'll save me.
Extispex

Extispex

2
Sourball Ho!
 

Blue Moon update!

I knew Blue Moon would be returning, but not with a whole bunch of other scents, including Thunder Moon! This month has been full of crazy storms here in Texas -- here are some pictures taken with my cell phone at work one afternoon. I work in downtown Dallas across the street from the American Airlines Center: July’s thunderstorms are the harbinger of this month’ s Lunacy scent: Thunder Moon. This is the scent of a summer storm: thick black clouds pass over this full moon, the Goddess roars, and Her Beloved hurls his forked bolts of lightning in the distant sky. Ozone deepened by liquid amber, and a spray of hot nighttime rain mingled with the scent of lightning-struck wood, water-soaked summer blooms, and sun-scorched grass. -- I learned my lesson early on from Storm Moon that ozone turns into laundry detergent on me. Cool name and nice description though. Selkie -- The chill waters of the Orkney coast, tea-leaved willow, honey-touched Grass-of-Parnassus, sea aster, and Scottish Primrose. -- this sounds a little too twee and floral. Cancer 2007 -- Cardinal Water: the essence of feeling. Wild lettuce, wild pear, chamomile, germanica orris, sweet pea, and mallow. -- The lettuce and pear sound interesting, very fresh and summery. I have the Sweet Pea single note which makes me a bit sneezy, it’s a fizzy citrussy floral. Hmm, I’ve never ordered one of the Celestial or Astrological oils.   New general catalogue additions: Helena -- Rose amber, calla lily, night-blooming jasmine, water lily, and white rose. -- Don’t know if I’ve ever tried rose amber, but oh! There’s white rose at the end, one of the few single notes I have imps of which is bee-yootiful. This sounds like way too much lily though, not one of my favorite florals. Hermia -- Pink pepper, golden amber, honeysuckle, and passion flower. -- I remember pink pepper from Mi-Go Brain Canister. I’ll wait for reviews. Lysander -- Lilac musk, tonka, wood violet, and urbane lime rind, with a Venus-kissed tangle of myrtle, blackberry leaf, and benzoin. -- this sounds like a masculine cologne. Robin Goodfellow -- Dark musk, moss-covered wood, ragwort, heather, and sage. -- I really enjoy the dark smutty musk blends, so I’ll look forward to reviews. Dian’s Bud and Love-in-Idleness -- no descriptions for these, so I’ll wait for reviews.   In conclusion: I’m ordering Blue Moon and Cancer 2007!
dawndie

dawndie

0
I smell glorious
 

Ah-hahahaha! I am the Queen of BPAL from Afar!

Squeeee! Thanks to the ass-saving generosity of my dear beloved father whom I love and adore, I have a Thunder Moon order!   Thunder Moon Cancer (I've been looking forward to this for SO. LONG.) Selkie (yaaaay! my therianthropic is /awesome/!)   Other outstanding order: Blue Moon 2007 Brisingamen     Oh, hearts and flowers, hearts and flowers I'm sooo excited for the Cancer blend. I was expecting it to be a rose/chamomile scent because those are the plants most often associated with Cancer, and I wouldn't have been at all unhappy with that -- but wild lettuce? that sounds yummy, gentle, cool and vaguely sweet. I promised myself that no matter what (unless it was, like, black musk and ambergris and red wine or something) I'd order my birth-month moon and therianthropic. I'm hopeful for Selkie, although I'm shaky on Thunder Moon -- it sounds lovely but a little too masculine/aquatic for me. I'll try it, and persevere, and persevere, and God Dammit my force of will shall prevail.   squeeeee!
myoubi

myoubi

0
giant squid!
 

*Thunnnder Moon*

OK, I am so glad this was a small update because there were a few Salon bottles I wanted to get and now I can b/c I actually was good and saved up money all month. Now the Smiling Spider and friends shall be mine! Mwahaha... anyway...here are my thoughts as usual:   THUNDER MOON This is the scent of a summer storm: thick black clouds pass over this full moon, the Goddess roars, and Her Beloved hurls his forked bolts of lightning in the distant sky. Ozone deepened by liquid amber, and a spray of hot nighttime rain mingled with the scent of lightning-struck wood, water-soaked summer blooms, and sun-scorched grass.   Now I am turning into a bit fo a crazy collector, and even though I think this might go the way of the soap I ordered it anyway. Rose Moon proved me wrong and was amazing on me, so this might be too. I love grass notes and wood, so we shall see; annnd, as someone mentioned before, Hunger Moon had ozone and I love that one. You never know.     SELKIE .The chill waters of the Orkney coast, tea-leaved willow, honey-touched Grass-of-Parnassus, sea aster, and Scottish Primrose.   I honestly have no idea how this will smell, but it sounded so lovely with the song...and it's selkies, so cryin' out loud! Bottle, please.     CANCER Cardinal Water: the essence of feeling. Wild lettuce, wild pear, chamomile, germanica orris, sweet pea, and mallow.   Yes, please. Not just cause I collect the astrological signs, but because I love chamomile and pear. Let's hope the sweet pea doesn't act up in this one. I have found, though, that these astro. blends have really smelled completely different than I thought they all would, and in a good way.     HELENA Rose amber, calla lily, night-blooming jasmine, water lily, and white rose.   Night blooming jasmine will occasionally behave on my skin. however I think pairing it with white rose and calla lily will totally make it misbehave on my skin. Pass.     HERMIA Pink pepper, golden amber, honeysuckle, and passion flower.   This sounds so happy and summery. I adore all the notes in it so I bought a bottle unsniffed. Yay     LYSANDER Lilac musk, tonka, wood violet, and urbane lime rind, with a Venus-kissed tangle of myrtle, blackberry leaf, and benzoin.   Whitechapel went horribly wrong on my skin. This might not go horribly wrong. I like myrtle, tonka, benzoin and violet, so I ordered an imp.     ROBIN GOODFELLOW Dark musk, moss-covered wood, ragwort, heather, and sage.   This sounds like it could be just my thing OR too masculine. I am going to wait for reviews and see. I'm hoping the former 'cause I love me some sage.     DIAN’S BUD Be as thou wast wont to be; See as thou wast wont to see: Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flower Hath such force and blessed power.   ??? I ordered an imp.   LOVE-IN-IDLENESS Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell: It fell upon a little western flower, Before, milk-white, now purple with love's wound, And maidens call it love-in-idleness.   OK call me retarded, but I ordered a bottle of this because I love Love-Lies-Bleeding and it amused me to have it sitting next to Love-In-Idleness. I hope I like it!     I'm sad about a few of the DC scents, but they were not top 10 loves. I do like Dublin very very much and have a bottle of it, mainly because it is one of the only scents the bf had complimented me on. I wanted at some point to get a bottle of Mantis, but my imp will have to do for now. I had a bottle of Neo-Tokyo once but I swapped it 'cause I never wore it. Soo...I feel bad for the company that went under. I hope they all turn out OK and whatnot .     And now that I've blabbered about smellies for long enough, I figure it's high time I update about how life is going. Boy is it going, lol. I have one month left of school, and then it's on to summer of fun. I am planning to do some concerts in Basel, Dusseldorf and LA, all of which make me incredibly excited. Dusseldorf will be great because all of my favorite composers and people, basically, will be there making music for the whole month of July. I can't wait to see Michael and Kathy and James and Doug again (and Radu...yay.) Hopefully I can organize a performance of John Cage's Music For. So many people know it that will be there and I've been busting my butt learning the rest of it, so we'll see.   It'll be great to go to LA for a few weeks Maybe I'll even be able to swing by a WillCall... I am planning on getting another tattoo done by Graham while I'm there, too. It will be a lovely rendition of Posada's La Cantilena with marigolds strewn about her on my left calf. i plan to get her male counterpart on my right calf but that will have to be done next year.   Lately my life has consisted of sewing weird things (a virgin of guadalupe tote bag, lol) and practicing for my concerts in the end of June. Nice and relaxed, just like I like it. Pepper's allergies have been doing much much better, which makes me feel like a good dog parent She's lost a bit of weight which is good b/c the winter/early spring put a bit of weight on her (why, I don't know b/c I don't over feed her and she runs every day a LOT, but anyway...) I have to play in this fucking stupid orchestral flute masterclass- why, I don't know- I don't play orchestral music and I haven't since HIGH SCHOOL!- in two weeks. I am not happy about that. but it's only going to be a few hours of pain and then I can ignore it.   I'm really contemplating dreading my hair this summer. I am sick of dealing with 'product' and haircuts and the like. My hair is so thick and knotted already- if I don't brush it is dreads on its own, lol. Plus, I love the look of dreads and know that I don't have to have an office job....ever. However, I know that they shrink at first and my hair right now is down to my shoulderblades. I don't like the look of short dreads (on me) that much, so I might wait til they grow a bit longer...although I suspect soon I will break down and do it in a fit of impatience.   OK, there is much more to write, but I have to go do some more flute-ing. Yay, update, yay.  
euterpe414

euterpe414

0
...and him, Really Interesting Guy...
 

Switch Witch Help

I thought it'd be nice if I made a wishlist for my Switch Witch. Please note that I'm certainly NOT asking for all of this. Or any of this, actually! It's a nice way to organize my thoughts on the things I want to buy at some point.   Amazon.com wishlist. None binding and mostly a record of things I have yet to buy there. You can pretty much ignore the bath stuff on there, as that was added on a whim.   Althaea - Soap: MisterX Angry Skin, Silken Rosewood, Blue Lotus and Neroli, Honeyed Amber, Sunshine Citrus (samples of these would be fine, too!)   Villianess - Indiscreet Smooch!; Scintillating Smooch!; Dulces en Fuego Smooch!; pretty much any Smooch! (samples would be wonderful)   Prairieland Herbs - the Hair Affair Kit; Shampoo Bars in: Sage, Sweetgrass & Cedar, Rosemerry Nettle, Peppermint & Tea Tree, Ginger Beer, Chamomile Citrus; Lemongrass Hydrosol; the Buzz Off lotion tube   Talulah - Holistic Skincare Kit for Combo/Acne Skin   Wylde Ivy - Soap: Lime Fizz, Black Raspberry Crush, Lemon Ozone, Raspberry Lemonade, Sandcastles, Spa Blend, Summer Fling, White Cashmere, African Vanilla Bean; Sweetie Lotion (samples are good)   Lathers and Lights - Scrubs: Margarita, Pumpkin Latte, Oats & Honey, Thai Retreat; Hearts in Bloom Bath & Shower Creme; Cocoa Cafe Body Souffle; Berry Blush Body Lotion; Sole Survival Foot Scrub; Honey Citrus Hand & Foot Butter   Klean - Scrubs: Devil Made Me Do It, Blue Hawaii, Klean Kolada, Pink Grapefruit Vanilla, Lime Crush, Orange Glow, Satsuma Splash, Thai Lemongrass, Peppermint Dream Smooth-ez, Perfect Pumpkin Smooth-ez (samples yay!)   Oyin - Head-to-Toe Honey Wash; Greg Juice; Black Soap and Honey Gentle Cleansing Foam; Belly Bar Butter Bar; Cocoa Mango Butter Bar; Grand Poo Bar   Queen Bee - Soap: Lemongrass, Gitchigumee, Purification, Salute to the Sun, Sweet Soul Sister, Tofani, Dancin' Fool; Mint Brown Sugar Scrub; Citrus Brown Sugar Scrub; Citrus Lip Balm; Healing Lip Balm; Herbal Lip Balm; Sunshine Lotion Bar   Chagrin Valley - Soap: Carrot & Honey, Chocolate Almond, Citrus Woods Green Tea, Cucumber Lime Yogurt, Honey Beer, Java Spice, Neem & Tea Tree, Orange Creamsicle, Peppermint Twist, Shea Rose Clay; Shampoo Bars: Chamomile & Citrus, Herb Garden, Honey Beer & Egg, Mud & Clay, Neem & Tea Tree, Nettle, Rosemary Mint, Summer Sunshine; Hemp Mango Mint Lotion Bar (Samples are wonderful)   ...this is just what I could think of without searching... 0_0 While I often shop there, I pretty much have everything I currently need from Elementals, but a gift certificate to there is great.
Tess

Tess

0
Starfish & Coffee
 

Working the oils.

Possibly the single most amazing thing to happen to me at Convergence XIII was to have someone who was looking through my stash ask me about two oils she'd never heard of before: Boo! and Void. I'd forgotten that I hadn't taken them out while I was packing: those were my personal two leftovers from the big single note project box that Chumley sent out a few years ago. I'd made oils for a few other people, and those two for myself.   I think I'd just had a bottle of Spooky explode on me after I'd replaced all my caps with the wand caps that someone had purchased, and the Spooky bottle was too small for the cap. boom! I already knew that I wasn't going to get anymore Spooky for either love or money (which I was actually wrong about), so I tried copying it while I had the box. Hence, Boo! It didn't turn out too well, but I'd heard about leaving the oils to set for a while, so I did. Pretty much the same happened with Void, which was my attempt at Tulzcha ... which I hadn't purchased the first time around. (argh)   The person I was talking to asked if she could smell them, so I said yes with only a little hesitation. I hadn't smelled them in at least a year, and couldn't remember for the life of me what Void was supposed to be. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she outright stared at me as she asked me if I could get her my recipes for the scents.   "Um. Okay."   I sniffled Boo! and found tha the chocolate in it had finally come out. Void took me a little while, but I realized that ... yes, I could eventually figure out what it was just by sniffing it. They'd both needed to sit for a while, but they also both reached their potential while I wasn't watching. Wow.   So, last week I signed up for Cat Yronwode's Hoodoo Correspondence Course. I don't know of any hoodoos to learn from in Seattle, and I figure that turning in homework regularly might be a good plan so that I can figure out if I'm up for going back to a standard school again. Also, I want to learn this stuff, as I have one idea for a book once I get good enough to know what I'm talking about. (Basically, I suspect that I may have a way of teaching myself how to learn some of these concepts, but want to use them myself and do a bunch of research before I unleash it upon an unsuspecting populace.) And finally, I know that I have the ability and possibly the temperment for workings, but I really need a framework to wrap it around. I grew up with hoodoo type comments in my home and neighborhood, and I've been feeling for a while that I'd be on familiar ground here.   It occured to me today that I might want to take the subject headings from the Twilight Alchemy Lab site and figure out what BPAL oils I use for what occasions. I understand that the ingredients that resonate for me are probably not what works for traditional use, but at the same time a fair amount of hoodoo involves winging it. This is what I have so far:   Love, Lust and Beauty   13 * Bliss * Dorian Loviatar Lump of Coal * O     Joy & Inspiriation   Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo Fae Jester Lick it!       Crossing, Binding & Controlling   ?     Prosperity, Success & Good Fortune   Blood Rose Greed Rose Red Ultraviolet     Purification, Protection & Uncrossing   Dragon's Blood Dragon's Heart Imp     Utility Blends   ?     * Mainly because of my boyfriend.
byrdie

byrdie

0
I smell glorious
 

SCREAM

I called the Superintendent of Pfoho, and /finally/ got ahold of him He said he's going to mail out all my packages to me today! YAAAAAAY!!!   I really hope he does! Oh that's so good, i really want my goodsmellies.
myoubi

myoubi

0
I smell glorious
 

I just said something Imunna get smacked around for

Generally I refrain from commenting on BPAL-related issues because the community is kind of touchy, and if you get a bad name from your opinions that'll likely be reflectected in who will buy, sell, or swap with you. To two community members, I've done the same thing myself; and I've gotten caught up in the fandom's crazy-sensitivity before, and it took a reality check for me to get my head out of my butt.   Against my better judgment I weighed in on the issue of pricing/who to sell to and how. I've gotten really good deals on some bottles I wanted to try, and I've made money when I re-sold those bottles after careful thought and found that they totally failed on me, no matter how much I wanted to like them. I have Snow White 2004 in mind here. I've also lost a lot of money in my obsession, by eating shipping costs, reselling bottles at significantly lower prices than I bought for, and in some cases selling underpriced bottles because I wanted to. On balance, I'm still hugely in the red as far as my obsession goes. The concept of 'profit' is utterly alien. For me, the cost is worth it for the delight of sniffing so many scents -- but that doesn't change the fact that it's money I'll never recoup. I don't think I (or anyone else) should be criticised for trying to decrease our losses as much as we can. There are people who try to squeeze every last dime that they can out of their BPAL -- I'm not one of them, nor I believe are most people who sell at higher than they bought. There are other ways to give back to the community, like offering special discounts for n00bs, or selling them things that you'd otherwise only swap away. I've done the latter, and I've seen and applauded people doing the former. You're also not obliged to sell to just whoever comes your way -- if someone pings you and says "I really really really want this bottle" you can take them at their word and offer it to them, even for a discount if it's what you think is fair.   On the subject of ebay, stop bellyaching about letting the market decide what to pay for things. If you don't want to pay $100 for a bottle of perfume, then don't! It's just perfume! If it matters that much more to someone else, then let them have it and keep quiet. Either shell out the money and lose the exact same amount of options they do*, or realise that if you lose the auction, you'll live.   In my own swapping, I tend to favour first people I've dealt with before. There are a couple of people (Chrisann comes to mind) who are just a joy to deal with, and a few more that I've dealt with so many times that I give them preference because of how good they've always been to me. After that, I tend to deal with people who have a good reputation in the community and n00bs. If I find someone who /really/ wants a scent, I like to give it to them if I reasonably can -- I sold an imp of Beaver Moon that I wanted to save for swaps, because the gal was a newbie and I know how hard it is to break into the market and what you usually have to shell out to do so. But the BPAL community /isn't/ a free market -- it's a heavily controlled market, both by price caps in most selling venues and the politics of the fandom. That's good and bad. The good part is, it limits pure profiteering, and ensures that by and large the emphasis is on enjoying scented art instead of narrowly reducing each purchase to a risk/benefit analysis. The bad part is, the politics of opinion are fierce and a little paranoid, and if you're a rare collector building strong relationships is much more important than it should be. The field of people who hold real rares is small, and the people willing to swap those rares is even smaller. It's a microcosm of the world, impacted more intensely. I'm out of rare-collecting, mostly; I sold off most of my rares a while ago, and those that I've kept are for the purposes of briefly testing, then dangling out as bait for the few scents I collect heavily.   --- *I tend to think of money in terms of how many options you give up when you lose it or give it away. Money is worth different things to different people, some people have more or less, and some people have to work much harder than others to scrape together much less. But it's much easier to compare how much freedom or what kind of options a sum of money gives you, since those are much closer between different groups of people.
myoubi

myoubi

0
Extispicy
 

Pending Orders

I can't believe I once again have 3 pending lab orders. How does this happen?   This time, two of the orders are TAL orders though. I generally don't feel as guilty about TAL orders because they're very practical for me. Very useful. They're also very cost effective compared to how I used to do things.   There was a time when I'd keep an enormous collection of essential oils and use combinations of different ones for different purposes. In my present situation (a lot of moving around since Katrina) it just isn't feasible for me to have such a collection, so the TALs are a godsend. Its great to have a small collection of blends for specific purposes. Those that I'll use often, I'll get big bottles of. And those that I'll use less often, I can always find decants of.   I'm pretty picky about magical ingredients, but I really trust the TALs. I've had such great results with the ones I've used.   Oh and the pending BPAL order is my Blue Moon order.   I keep feeling like I should have ordered a bottle of Gemini. I'm such a total Gemini, but I already have a bunch of lavender blends, and I was a bit put off by the orchid. Though I love Frankencense and Benzoin. It had Benzoin, right? Or was it Sandalwood? Now I don't remember. Doesn't matter, I love both.   I might try to score a decant of it later on, but right now I want to work on getting all the TALs I want, and also buy some of the GCs that I really really want (Black Tower, Oblivion, Dragon's Heart, Delphi).   And now that I've been totally bewitched by Bad Luck Woman Blues, I want to try more mossy, peppery and caramelly scents. No longer afraid of foody scents, I'm diving in. But I want foody scents that aren't TOO foody. I'm sure I'll find something lovely.   Don't I always?
Extispex

Extispex

0
Opium and Poison
 

Dear "Wanted" Thread

Okay, I get it, EVERYONE wants the Convergence blends. Well, I'm sorry to be the cynical, somewhat negative voice of reason here, but it's just not going to happen. The people who have the blends are probably far too intimidated by all the ISOs for them to even decide who to share the love with. Either way, I've had sniffies promised to me anyway so I really couldn't ask for more.
ForeverLastcXs

ForeverLastcXs

0
Is Anybody Out There?
 

It just didn't happen

I can't believe I am so close to Convergence right now and I can't get there. That seems immeasurably unfair, and I just want to lay in bed and weep. It's within DRIVING distance, and we have $2 to our names.   There's never going to be a way to replicate this, either. Convergence will happen again, but the people attending this year are not all going to be at the next one, and I love Portland, and I just don't know how to handle this.   I think chocolate is in order.
smallvoice

smallvoice

1
Only A Few Weeks Or So
 

My 4/30 Order

... I still have not heard anything from the lab yet about it, and 5/3 orders are going out. This always happens to me and I get worried that one of the scents I ordered had a component issue like Tokyo Stomp and Poisson did last month. Come on, Lab, get your #$%& together!   Tokyo Stomp was *nasty* on me, I swapped it away for Peony Moon, which I tried in decant form--it is lovely. It should be here soon, along with a bottle of Ventriloquist Dummy I purchased, so these should hold me over until I get my CnS for Tamamo-No-Mae, Gemini 2007, White Rabbit, and Meskhenet.   Mood: Wearing now: Bloody Mary
flco

flco

0
Denise's Cool Blog
 

More Adventures in my Crafy (sort of) World...

Well, I've made a few more scarves (can't have enough of them in humid 86 degree weather, right? hehe). And I've also been making a bunch of felt critters out of THIS BOOK (a lovely gift from my most recent Switch Witch!). Here is a picture of those:     I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the scarves. Oopsy! But the animals were a big hit with the children of one of the guys at my new job. So, yay!
eviltemptressdq

eviltemptressdq

2
Y Ffwrnais Awen
 

Song of Myself (the prose version)

But you don't seem to see There's so much more to me Than the roving troubadour That everyone thinks I must be.   I'm not a perfect person, but I do think I have my merits. Growing up, I put a lot of stock in my high IQ, and while it's been years since I've believed that standardized test scores are an accurate measure of self-worth, I still get a little rush every time I perform flawlessly on a Mensa test. I appreciate my quick mind and my seemingly universal aptitude for learning. I love that I can pick up languages with ease and grasp complex mathematics with little difficulty. If there's a flaw in my intelligence, it's that I don't exercise it nearly enough.   And I love my creativity. I am not Whitman, Kerouac, Shakespeare, Rilke, Bashō, Millay, Donne, Gilbert, Strand, or Shelley. I am no Berlin, no Bernstein, no Sondheim, no Schubert, no Fauré, no Ravel, no Weelkes, no Hassler, no Poulenc or Lauridsen. Ellison I am not (would that the world could even survive two of Harlan), nor Eco, nor Dostoevsky, nor Faulkner, nor Márquez, nor Le Guin, nor Willis, nor Emschwiller. Not Varo, not Escher, not van Gogh, not Magritte, not Dürer, not even Warhol. But there, my self-effacement ends, for while I am none of these people, I would not like to be any one of them. My poetry, my songs, my paintings, and my prose... I don't know whether they will last the test of time, but they please me, and if, for a moment, they please others as well, that's all I can really ask. And I'm proud of what I've done. I'm proud that I was professionally published before my 21st birthday. I'm proud that I'm not quite thirty and I've written a novel and a musical, numerous short stories, poetry in multiple languages, rock songs and folk songs and a concerto for bassoon. I doubt my art will ever win awards, but I'm glad to have that as well. I'm glad that I can craft images with paint and pencil and pixels. I'm grateful when they are well-received. I'm thrilled that I have had paid commissions.   And while I know I am not an underwear model, I like my body as well. I love my long hair. I feel a surge of pride when people tell me how much I resemble my father. And if you want to know the truth, I'm pretty comfortable with my wheelchair as well. Sometimes I wonder, with all these wonderful things going for me, would I have the empathy for others that I feel today if I didn't have all the experiences that my disability has brought me, and the truth is I don't know. I'm sure I sound egocentric as it is going on about myself, but I wonder if I would've been insufferable if I didn't have this physical reality to face every day.   I write all this as a reminder to myself. Sometimes I get so lost in trying to accommodate other people that I forget what's important about myself. Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly burdensome, I find myself wondering what the point of my existence is. And the point is here. No ignorant strangers or negligent, hurtful siblings can take that away the things I have done, am doing, will do.   So kindly forgive my indulgence and my tiny celebration of who I am. I hope you'll have a similar celebration for yourself.
Bard

Bard

0
Korshka's BPAL Ramblings
 

Parenting

I wrote this yesterday at the plant while I waited for my co-worker to finish up his part of the work.   To all the parents, I salute you.   On the way to the plant my co-worker and I got into a conversation about different decisions you have to make as a parent (he is one & we often talk about his kids as he has two wonderful little boys) and just parenting in general. It really got me thinking. With the wedding coming up, Mr Man and I have started talking about kids as well. (No, put the knitting needles away. It's not time start making booties yet.)   Parenting is hard (Duh - I know). Trying to decide what is best for this whole other life and not screwing them up for life. My parents did well by me, and I think I came out OK. However, the thought that I may one day be a parent, is rather scary. What if I screw up? There is no do over with parenting. How do I know that I'll make a good parent, and my kids will turn out ok? How does one weight what your child wants versus what one feels is right for them? There is so much that must be done to help develop the child into a functioning adult that can make the "right decisions" by themselves. I see a disfunctional child/teen, and I think that parenting must have gone wrong somewhere to make the child act in such a manner, but I don't know that I would be any better. I just don't know how you do it.   Ya know, it's really intimidating. Being a parent is a huge responsibility. I want to believe that I won't fail my childern, but how do I know? *sigh* I guess I just don't. I just need to have faith that I can somehow do it and hope that it'll work out.   Parents, I am in awe of what you do.
korshka

korshka

0
×