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  • 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
Whiskers and Whispers
 

I think my kitty will die soon.

She's still alive, but I've never seen her so weak before. She's got stomach tumours, just like my other cat, but not as painful so we're not putting her down just yet. They're eating away at her life though. She's so old anyway, I knew it would be the end soon, I just didn't expect it to be that soon...I just hope I can see her again next weekend. It will be so sad to no longer have that feline company I loved so much.  
PurringPulsar

PurringPulsar

0
Golb? Blog? Bolg?
 

List

Just a list to help me sort out what to order next.   Bottles: Obatala Sudha Segara Lightning (for my sister)   Imps: Eden White Rabbit Alice Arcana Dormouse Shanghai Kumiho Sed Non Satiata Dana O'Shee Hetairae Empyreal Mist Brisingamen Dublin The Unicorn Coyote Antique Lace Croquet Athens Pele Zephyr   Water of Notre Dame Wolf's Heart Block Buster High John the Conqureror Van Van   All of the Panacea blends
Maia

Maia

0
Is Anybody Out There?
 

Play it again...

I don't want to go to school.   And next quarter I'm going to be whining about how much I miss this quarter.   Actually, I don't miss last quarter. I miss some things about last quarter, but not everything.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Diplomatka
 

Payday

The last three days of the month are always my least favorite. I am not sure how this happened, but in my previous office (in the building that was torched during the riots) and in my new office on the third floor of another building, I am right next to the fucking cashier. This means that on the last three working days of every month nearly all of the 700 Afghans working for my organization come in to get paid.   So for three solid days, there are at least fifty Afghan men (and sometimes two or three women) crammed into the narrow 3-foot wide hallway in front of my door. They like to stand in front of my office door (which opens outward), essentially blocking anyone from entering or exiting. Often, I try to open the door, only to hit someone, who will then refuse to move. If I have to walk down the hallway to anyone else’s office in the building, the bearded men in their turbans and patus stare at me as if I were naked. Added to this is the smell and the noise. The smell—well, it defies definition. I can best describe it as a mix of sausage pizza, wet dog and used maxi pad. The heat of the summer amplifies the odor.   These people like to talk while they are waiting on their monthly pay. They talk loudly and ceaselessly, forcing Schwig, my Cheesehead officemate, to go out at least three times a day to announce, “Bubakshah (excuse me) shutthefuckup. Tashakour (thank you)”. Telling the crowd to quiet down usually works for only a few minutes as there are soon more people cycling in, getting their cash, and leaving.   This is another aspect of my life in Afghanistan I don’t want to forget about. The bureaucracy, the virtually non-existent banking system, the lack of faith in the existing banking system, the dearth of running water or perceived importance of bathing; the way the men stare at women who are not in burqas, the way this stare makes me feel. I have mixed feelings about Afghanistan. I hate it, especially on days like today when I cannot fly out to Kazakhstan because of snow, but then there is the guilt of having to leave good people behind. Good people who only want to earn a little money, own a house and watch their children grow up. The guilt of being a person who just can’t relate to their situations and their needs because I have never and will never experience such circumstances.   More on that later—got to finish washing clothes.
Confection

Confection

0
Sourball Ho!
 

Retail Denial

I know I probably spend too much on what others might consider incidental or frivolous: perfumes, incense, candles and soap especially. This money could very well go towards more responsible things, like paying off the mortgage or saving for the eventual new car. I realize this, and still shop for little things anyway. Am I in denial?   Side story: there were some eBay auctions ending on Saturday that another forumite was holding -- I've actually met her in real life at a couple of Meet-n-Sniffs and she was very generous with her substantial collection, so I wanted to pay her back for her generosity. I gave myself a certain amount max to bid, and first thing Saturday morning I was sniped on a GC bottle I was bidding on. It really irked me, especially for a catalog blend, but I know in order not to be sniped I have to bid the very very maximum I am willing to spend. If someone snipes that, I have to be comfortable with the fact that they wanted it more than I did. So I bid extremely high on a rare bottle and won!   I was telling DH about it at dinner that night, and when I got to the end he rolled his eyes and asked, "how much was this tiny bottle of perfume?" I started to explain that this bottle was rare and that was the only one I purchased from her, but of course felt ridiculous doing so.   But I've justified to myself that it's more than a tiny bottle of perfume: this is a hobby. I have a nice-smelling hobby. I like smelling nice things and smelling like a nice thing.
dawndie

dawndie

2
Is Anybody Out There?
 

More quiz me stuff

If I were a dessert, I'd be tiramisu... who'm I kidding? I'd be a pint of the best haagen daz. If I were an alcoholic beverage, I'd be hot buttered rum. If I were a type of music, I'd be Nightfall, by David Lanz. If I were a color, I'd be pale blue. If I were a fruit, I'd be a pomegranate If I were an animal, I'd be a white tiger. If I were a story, I'd be emo. If I were a car, I'd be a toyota. If I were a poem, I'd be my own. If I were a bird, I'd be a crane. If I were a BPAL oil, I'd be Et Lux Fuit. If I were a country, I'd be India. If I were a mythological being, I'd be a naiad or meliae (hamadryad of the ash tree) If I were an article of clothing, I'd be a well worn and loved hoody. If I were a reptile, I'd be a boomslang, and disappointed that I wasn't chocolatey. If I were a natural disaster, I'd be a monsoon. If I were a plant, I'd be a lilac bush. If I were a planet, I'd be Neptune. If I were a tree, I'd be a white birch. If I were an album, I'd be Our Lady Peace, Happiness is Not a Fish If I were a fabric, I'd be fleece. If I were a work of art, I'd be a Renoir. If I were a book, I'd be a fantasy. If I were an element of human emotion, I'd be hope. If I were a constellation, I'd be Leo. If I were a season, I'd be Winter If I were a flavor, I'd be Chai with milk and honey. If I were a geographical feature, I'd be a still pond. If I were a shoe, I'd be a fuzzy slipper. If I were an M&M, I'd be dark and blue. If I were a queen, I would have both national tea time and nap time. If I were a song, I would be an unfinished symphony. If I were a light source, I would be a scented candle. If I were a stone, I would be aventurine. If I were a kind of panty hose, I would be silk stockings. If I were a movie, I'd be a box office flop, but eventually I'd have a cult following. If I were a spice, I'd be cardamom. If I were a cosmetic item, I would be lip balm If I were a hot drink, I would be homemade cocoa. If I were a sound I would be discordant. If I were a famous person in history, I would be Anne Bonny. If I were a sport, I would be poker. If I were an actor, I'd be Angelina Jolie. If I were a musical, I would be the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. If I were a number, I would be 1. If I were an invention of humankind, I would be air conditioning. If I were a sexual item, I would be a silk cord. A long one. If I were an instrument, I'd be a cello. If i were an element I would be be fire.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Monster Alice's Blog
 

100 Things About Me

100 things about me   1. Books fill my house, both on shelves and in heaps and cartons. 2. I have two dogs, both are mixed breed and come from the local animal shelter. 3. I’m not planning to attend, but 2007 is my 25 year college reunion. 4. I went to a women’s college, Mount Holyoke in central MA. 5. I’m childless by choice. 6. I have two cats, they come from the same litter from a feral mom. They are friendly, however, and like to cuddle. 7. I’m really short for someone who had good nutrition growing up. 8. I spent four years in a tight brace (a Wilmington Jacket) that went from just under the arms to my hips. I was being treated for scoliosis and I wore the brace 23 hours a day to force my spine back into position. 9. I was reading at a college level by 5th grade. 10. During the years that I was being treated for scoliosis I read an average of three books a day. 11. I used some of my hours out of the brace to go horseback riding. 12. I’d like to be an alpaca rancher. 13. My husband and I have been together for nearly 19 years. 14. I’m a tech writer by profession. 15. My hair is long, straight, and fine. I keep it my natural color, which is near-black with a silver streak just off of the center of my forehead. 16. I wear an XL or XXL/18 or 20, depending on whether the size runs large or small. 17. I love cicadas. During the last 17-year emergence I would walk down the road picking them up and putting them in trees and bushes, so they would die where it was cool instead of on concrete or macadam. 18. I grew up walking distance from an art museum, so I developed strong tastes in art fairly young. 19. I like Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau, and illustrators whose pictures look like the part of the story they are depicting. I also like most Asian art, most African art (but especially ancient Egypt), and most Meso-American art. 20. I dislike most schools of art that look like the paint was thrown at the canvas, or are just big blocks of color. 21. I love theater. 22. I have season tickets to one of the local Shakespeare theaters. 23. I think it’s ridiculous to spell theater, “theatre”. 24. I was born right on the cusp of Scorpio and Libra, but there was a complication with my breathing and by the time I took my first breath it was Scorpio time. 25. I like beads and making jewelry. 26. It’s a good thing beads are smaller than books, because I really can’t resist them. 27. Okay, I confess, I have four boxes full of beads of all types. 28. I couldn’t control my credit card debt, so now I purchase everything with cash, which I replenish once a week. 29. I want to get a new-to-me used car this year. (Even though it means I’ll have a monthly car payment again.) 30. I love station wagons. 31. I tolerate my current car, which was affordable but is a sedan. 32. I usually drive a car into the ground before getting another one. The car I have now is my fourth in nearly 30 years of driving. 33. I’ve had one new car. I’ve concluded that it just isn’t worth the extra money to be the first owner. 34. I’ve been to England and Eire, but not Scotland (yet). 35. I love cloth of all kinds, and have lots of it, though never enough… 36. I like to sew, but I prefer to make historical garments rather than, say, work clothes. 37. I have two quilts in progress, one in WV and one in VA. 38. I’ve realized that the one in WV is actually pretty hideous – there are so many different fabrics that it’s hard to see the orderliness of the patchwork. I think I must have been manic when I was working on it. 39. I also spin yarn, mostly with a drop spindle, but I have a spinning wheel. 40. I collect pictures of people spinning. 41. I used to weave, but space issues have kept my loom folded since we moved into our house. 42. I’m bi-polar, as well as clinically depressed. I’m medicated for both. 43. I hate taking vitamins, but I do it to keep my husband happy. 44. I’m the oldest of my siblings. 45. I have two nieces, 9 and 5. 46. I sometimes enjoy cooking. 47. Most of my cookbooks are for international cuisines, though I do have The Joy of Cooking. 48. I’m over a foot shorter than my husband. 49. I let the animals get up on the furniture. 50. I wish I had more friends, but I’m not very good at starting or maintaining friendships. 51. I like the paint chip cards you can get in home improvement stores. 52. I once reupholstered an easy chair. It was not as hard as I expected, but it did take some specialized tools. 53. I like dark chocolate. Back when Hershey’s Special Dark was the only type you could get, I’d fight with my Dad to get the few Special Dark in the bag of Halloween miniatures. 54. Halloween is my favorite holiday. 55. I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. 56. I like malted milk balls and chocolate covered cherries. 57. I rarely drink coffee at work, because it’s a pain to make. 58. I have lots of tea at work, and I always look for tins to keep the different types in. My biggest tea tin is in the shape of a pink elephant. 59. I have toys on my desk. Most of them are Pabo figures of pirates, but I have the Fightin’ Eleanor of Aquitaine, D’Artagnan, and the Ice Witch from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (courtesy of McDonalds). 60. Also thanks to McDonalds I have the doll version of Capt. Jack Sparrow. 61. My favorite movie maker who no one else has heard of is Peter Greenaway (Prospero’s Books, Drowning by Numbers, Pillow Book, The Cook, The Thief…) 62. My favorite color is red. 63. I like to work with polymer clay, particularly the Premo brand. Mostly I cover small boxes and make jewelry. 64. I have a dozen matchboxes waiting to be covered. The best type of box is the type of tin that mints come in. I can’t get enough of those. 65. My holiday tree has many more skeletons on it than the average tree. Also more mermaids, and many, many more sheep. 66. One of my guilty pleasures is cherry Jell-O with canned peaches in it. 67. I like reading about archeology. 68. I read comic books, primarily those in the “Vertigo” line from DC. 69. I’m female, straight, and monogamous. 70. I like to make small block prints. This is usually called “eraser carving” though I don’t always use erasers as the printing black. 71. I’ve been inside the oldest roofed structure in the world (Newgrange, in Ireland). 72. I like spicy food, particularly hot peppers. 73. I keep a bottle of Tabasco sauce at my desk. 74. I like sushi, and always order eel, herring, and salmon roe. 75. I like pickled herring on crackers, too. Sometimes I get the type in sour cream. 76. I like creamed chipped beef on toast. Someone has to… 77. I like caviar, and get the cheap grocery store variety as a treat. Goes great on scrambled eggs. 78. I haven’t been able to eat scallops since an unfortunate incident of food poisoning decades ago. Which is a shame, because I like shellfish in general. 79. I’ve eaten (musk) rat. It was terrible. 80. When I make mac and cheese I like to put tuna fish and pickled hot peppers in it, then add a little A-1 Sauce at the table. 81. My religious path is eclectic neo-pagan, with a leaning towards vodou. 82. My magical practice is hoodoo. It’s practical, flexible in material requirements, and very adaptable. 83. I like to live near running water. The houses I grew up in, and our retirement house, all have streams on or near the property. My current house is on a creek that was forced underground in the 1930s – and yes, with enough rain it comes back up, right at a join in our foundation. 84. When I dream, I’m usually a black dog. My mother also experiences dreams this way. 85. I like mix tapes. I like to pick a theme, usually a book or movies, and pick out music that matches it. I also like to make collages for the covers. The one bad thing about switching to mp3s is that there is no point in making a collage for a playlist. 86. I like paper, all types of paper. I use it to cover boxes and to make small books. 87. I collect kid’s picture books with pretty illustrations. I keep some for myself, and give the others to my nieces. I buy most of them used. 88. I have no bump of direction. 89. I don’t like to shop at a malls if I can help it. I feel overwhelmed by the quantity of stuff in one place, and pretty soon start to feel guilty about being an over-privileged American. 90. Despite anything appearing above, I am not a goth. 91. I’m still on dial-up. 92. I don’t watch TV. I used to, but about 15 years ago we moved into an apartment so small there was no room for a TV, so we got out of the habit. When we got a house we were too cheap to buy a TV set, then when we were given a set we didn’t want to pay for cable, so we just never got back into it. We really don’t have time, anyway. 93. I like wool socks. In cold weather I like to wear them to bed. 94. In hot weather I sleep in the nude, and usually without a top sheet. 95. I don’t have enough closet space, so I use the trunk of my car as auxiliary storage space. 96. My big extravagance in the last year was buying an 8-foot table to do crafts on. 97. I get pedicures more often than manicures. 98. One of my favorite artists is Joseph Cornell. 99. I like musicals, and just saw “Into the Woods” for the first time. 100. I am tattooed on my right upper arm and my back. I have tattoos of a mermaid, Thoth, a labyrinth, the Lady of the Beasts, Scythian horseheads, and a great blue heron. Eventually I plan to have a half-sleeve on my right arm, and possibly one on my left also. I don’t intend to get any tatts in places that aren’t coverable until after I retire.
monsteralice

monsteralice

1
Is Anybody Out There?
 

From the Quiz Me! forum

For SW help and general fun:   1. What is your favorite season, and why? I love them all, but I really love early winter/late fall, when most of the bugs are dormant because it's so cold, but it's not bitterly cold.   2. What is the most awe-inspiring or beautiful thing you've ever experienced? Being in love. Getting married. My sacred memories, too.   3. Which songs are guaranteed to make you cry? I Hope You Dance. 4am by Our Lady Peace used to do it to me, too, but for a very different reason.   4. Which ones are guaranteed to make you dance around like a giddy idiot? Breathless. Video Killed the Radio Stars. A few others.   5. Which book most changed your life or outlook? The Chronicles of Narnia   6. What was the most awkward time of your life? High school.   7. What do you adore the most in all the world? If you're really asking me what, it's my ever growing freedom from anxiety and depression ruling my life. If you're asking who... My husband, my mother, my cousin, my best friend, my cat, my sister, brothers, their children and my in laws.   8. What irritates you the most? People who drive really slowly when I'm in a hurry.   9. When were you happiest (besides now)? My wedding day.   10. What is the perfect meal for you? So long as it has a good dessert...   11. If you could dress in the clothes of any era, what would you wear? 1930's glam   12. What are your best dreams about? Life   13. What is your best "I was so drunk..." story? My husband's "Donnie's dead!" story- I've never been drunk.   14. What is the story of your first love? The story? Exhiliration, little birdies singing disney songs outside my window every morning, a ray of hope like nothing I'd ever experienced entering my heart, excitement like nothing else, feeling beautiful for the first time in my life, that sense of breathless desperation like, "This is IT. It HAS to be...", being incredibly naive and learning my lesson about trusting something that's too good to be true, becoming cynical and angsty and heartbroken and angry and self destructive only to eventually find my way to my husband, who would have formerly entered the category of "Too good to be true" but really, he's too damn good not to be true. There is no end to the story.   15. What is your favorite painting? It really depends on my mood. I ADORE Renoir- there's something about seeing the pieces in person that changes my whole perspective.   16. Who is your favorite Shakespearian character, and why? I don't know.   17. What is the best concert you've ever attended? I don't like crowds enough to go.   18. What is your favorite indulgence or vice? Indulgence: BPAL. Vice: Sweets.   19. What is your greatest regret (again, "no regrets" doesn't count!)? That I can't say I have no regrets. I would do things differently, given the chance, so it's a good thing I can't.   20. What is your favorite physical aspect of yourself? My hair.   21. What is one very interesting fact about you that hasn't yet been shared? I was in New Orleans just over a week before Katrina hit.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Thought bubble
 

Ghastly ghostly

Gah, the bit I've been dreading. I'd love to ramble on and on about how I never take a good picture, how this is the only recent one I have and I don't normally look this deathly. But the truth is I do normally look this deathly and rambling isn't a very effective diversionary tactic in a blog. The camera doesn't lie, especially when held by a six year old . Being photographed talking to my eight year old and standing in front of a dark cupboard probably wasn't the most flattering setup. Oh bugger it, you get the idea....  
aine

aine

0
Thought bubble
 

Blah blah blah me me me

Here are a few of the questionnaires I've struggled through lately.....   Layers of You   "Inside the Actor's Studio"   Because I know you like answering questions...   What's in your purse?
aine

aine

0
reenie212's Blog
 

If you knew me at all...

You'd know that...   *I hate the sound of tinfoil being crumpled   *I love cats   *I hate the smell of roasted nuts carts   *I love eating cookie dough. I always have to make extra, so that I have enough left to actually make cookies. magtongue.gif   *I hate silver jewelry, but love gold jewelry.   *I'm a huge cuddle slut, and I love curling up and snuggling with people I love.   *I hate almost all forms of peanut butter. The only kind of peanut butter product I can eat is Reese's peanut butter cups.   *I hate people who have no backbone, and don't stand up for themselves or their beliefs   *I hate helicopter parents, who constantly badger their kids, and don't let their kids make their own mistakes and decsions   *I love pumpkin (baked goods, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin chocolate, pumpkin body wash/soap, etc.)
reenie212

reenie212

0
reenie212's Blog
 

Layers of Me

LAYER ONE: -- Name: Maureen -- Birth date: Oct 3 -- Height: 5'9 -- Righty or Lefty: righty -- Zodiac Sign: Libra!   LAYER TWO: -- Your heritage: Irish & German -- The shoes you wore today: Brown & Ivory Adidas -- Your weakness: indulging lots of chocolate -- Your fears: That people will abandon me. That I'll never graduate. That I'll fail at life -- Your perfect pizza: Fresh mozzarella and basil! -- Goal you'd like to achieve: Becoming a super successful social worker, and help remove children from abusive environments   LAYER THREE: -- Your thoughts first waking up: I want more sleep! -- Your best physical feature: legs and hair -- Your most missed memory: All those crazy drunken nights with friends in highschool   LAYER FOUR: --- What instruments can you play? none. I'm super musically challenged. Although, I love playing the hand bells, but that doesn't particularly take much skill --- Are you ticklish? yes --- Are you shy? I'm super shy when I fist meet people. I'm much more outgoing around my trusted circle of friends though --- Are you a morning person? Not at all. I'm totally a night person   LAYER FIVE: -- Smoke: I don't smoke cigarettes, although I smoke cloves occasionally. I'm a huge hookah (shisha) addict though -- Cuss: Ugh, I hate the word "cuss". I curse! -- Sing: Not in public, and not for other people, but I occasionally sing in private for myself -- Do you think you've been in love: Yes. -- Like(d) high school: I did actually. I went to two different highschools (transfered for junior/senior year), and I have a great group of friends from both schools that I still cherish to this day. -- Want to get married: I do -- Believe in yourself: Eh, it depends on the day. I'm working on it -- Get along with your parent(s): I get along fabulously with my mother. My father is a huge abusive asshole, and I hate him. -- Like thunderstorms: Yes.   LAYER SIX: -- What do you want to be when you grow up? a social worker/therapist. I just want to be loved and to love and be happy in general. -- What country would you most like to visit? Ireland, Mexico, Scotland, Greece, Switzerland, Germany. Oops, that was was more than 1. magtongue.gif I love traveling, I desperately want to travel more.   LAYER SEVEN: -- Number of CDs that I own: A whole bunch, although they mainly exist on my ipod these days. -- Number of piercings: Two holes in each ear, and a closed up belly button hole, and a cartilege piercing. -- Number of tattoos: 0 -- Number of scars on my body: 4 surgical scars on my stomach from a shunt installation and a gall bladder surgery. Multiple scars on my head from cracking my head open 3 times, and having 4 brain surgeries. Scar on my knee from falling while running in a cross country meet.   LAYER EIGHT -- What crafts do you do? Photography. I would love to learn how to knit though -- Number of languages you speak: I speak english fluently, and I have a beginner's grasp on Spanish, although I'm trying to become fluent in that as well. -- Number of books you read in a year: A bunch I don't really keep track.   LAYER NINE: --What's your favorite season? Fall --Who's your favorite figure in History? Henry the 8th --Hair Color? Auburn red. I have the prettiest hair ever. My mom has forbid me from dying it ever, since so many people would kill to have my hair color
reenie212

reenie212

0
giant squid!
 

no new tale to tell...

So I'm sitting here on day 2 of my fabulous vacation, listening to Love and Rockets. Feeling content. I just saw Inland Empire and it was fabulous, although it was really scaring me during parts (but hey adrenaline is good, I should love it since I'm a performer ). It was quite long, too, just like Mulholland Drive (good thing I went to the bathroom before, haha). Actually I found quite many similarities between it and MD- it seems that it is a bit of an evolution from the themes brought about in MD. I was happy to see Laura Dern and the older woman (I forget her name but she was the crazy mother) from Wild at Heart back in a Lynch film. and the animals- too fabulous! I loved all of those TV set scenes with the laugh tracks. I am definitely going to see it again this week, I think- I need to get a better handle on my thoughts about it, since I stopped making sense of it around 3/4 through the film.   Anyhow, listening to L&R brings about some fond memories- specifically, Sunday nights at my favorite bar near school (which was CalArts night, yay for cheap drinks and free pac man!)- geting way too drunk, hoarding the pac man machine with my friends and dancing a lot. The DJ, who was my next door neighbor for a while, used to always play L&R, which made me a very happy girl indeed. Simple pleasures, I know, but I really miss those Sundays nights. It was my time to recharge the batteries for the week.   I guess I just miss having close friends nearby, a community of sorts, a place where I feel at home that isn't just my apartment. I'm trying to be patient, I know these things take time, but still...at least I have my unlimited international calling plan at home so I can call LA whenever I want. (yay for DSL phone, the best invention EVAR). I am counting down the months/weeks/days til I go back to LA this August...
euterpe414

euterpe414

0
moonarcana
 

Switch Witchery 101

Alrighty then...so you either have my name for the Switch Witch Spring Fling round or you're just nosy and following the breadcrumbs from the link in my signature.   Well, for whatever reason you're here reading this, here are a few links to posts and sites to find out a little more about me and the kinds of things that make me smile   What products are you dying to try?   Layers of You   Because I know you like answering questions   Inside the Actor's Studio questionnaire   post your picture   If you were a ____, which would you be?   more to come as I get the chance to track things down...
moonarcana

moonarcana

0
Toasty Blog
 

What is this livejournal creature you speak of?

I don't like jumping on an already moving bandwagon, so I've never had a myspace or a livejournal or an actual blog. Until now. I just popped my livejournal cherry. Granted, there are no entries and it's all plain and ugly at the moment, but the damage is done. And here I am starting a blog. You people could convince me to do anything.   Does anybody remember open diary? That should tell you how long it's been since I "blogged". I think the site still exists, but I'm afraid to check. It just wouldn't be the same and it would make me sad.   Since I'm a total lj noob, any advice and/or suggestions on getting started would be welcome. Otherwise I'll just fumble along and generally make an ass out of myself until I figure it out.
kwsix

kwsix

3
Thought bubble
 

100 things about me - the second 50

Right, I've had a couple of hours sleep...   51. I wear makeup every single day. 52. I believe in karma. 53. I am a fountain of useless knowledge. Comes in handy on trivia nights. 54. I hate prankster/hidden camera shows with a passion. No matter how things might work out in the end, I don't think it is ever worth making a person feel the way they do until the 'reveal'. 55. I fall asleep in movies and usually only see the credits. 56. I am afraid of grasshoppers. They have disgusting little spiky legs and fly directly at you. 57. I love mushrooms and would include them with every meal if I thought I could. Raw, grilled, fried - whatever. 58. I'm not a gardener, but I have a few David Austen roses I just love. 59. I love charms and tiny ornaments. Just love them, and have done since I was a small child. The littler, the better. 60. I know beyond a shadow of doubt that the TAL oils work. I just wish I knew better how to use them to get the best effect. 61. I dream of owning my own business. 62. I hate driving. My father was in a very serious accident before I was born that left him with brain damage and I guess that I have always been afraid the same could happen to me or my loved ones. 63. I'm a nightowl, I like the quiet when the world is asleep and I can stare at the stars. 64. I am really driven in my work life but a terrible procrastinator at home. 65. I will not eat any meat off the bone, or things on sticks. 66. In real life, I use very passionate and dramatic language. 67. Musicians rock my socks. First time I saw my husband he was playing lead guitar and singing in a band. 68. I believe wholeheartedly in love at first sight. 69. I talk with my hands, even when I am on the phone. 70. Religious fanatics freak me out. And downright piss me off when they try to stuff their beliefs down my throat. 71. I love flat shoes and haven't worn heels for more than ten years. 72. I really love sushi, and often make elaborate family occasions around the preparation and eating of it. 73. I am a hopeless romantic and tell people I love them all the time. 74. I believe crying is cathartic. 75. I love live music, particularly folk and indie festivals. 76. I never write in cursive. 77. I wish I had a rainforest in my backyard and I could just escape into the deep green. 78. I am far more self-conscious than I ever let on. 79. I believe that people have a 'time' and die when they are meant to. 80. First thing I look at when I meet a man are his hands. They give away so much. And big manly hands make me swoony. 81. I like people who have kind eyes. 82. I really appreciate red wine and I would like to be able to describe myself as a 'buff' one day. 83. My ipod has lots of versions of Over the Rainbow. My favourites are Eva Cassidy, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and Ella Fitzgerald. 84. I hate housework. 85. I would like to live and work overseas for at least a year but am never quite brave or knowledgeable enough to know how to go about it. 86. Grunge music was my music in its day. Hearing Nirvana still brings a rush of endorphins. 87. I wish I could sleep more. 88. I am overly trusting but not naive. 89. I can become fixated on polished stones and polished wood. Pretty tumbled stones, crystals and semi-precious gems will call to me from across a store. 90. This probably also explains my love of beaded necklaces. I like them long enough that I can look down and see them or run my fingers over them. 91. Annoying ringtones really peeve me. I hate that there is a thriving industry for them. 92. I am openminded and I love to talk to people who might broaden my horizons. 93. I love art, particularly beautiful paintings, whether they are famous or not. 94. I can't sew to save my life, but I am a great cook. 95. I shudder when people describe themselves as 'whacky' or 'zany'. Experience has taught me that this usually translates to 'annoying'. 96. My best friend once told me there are two people to avoid in life - serial killers and women who spell 'thanks' with an 'x'. So far his advice has stood me in good stead. 97. I have a copy of Rudyard Kipling's 'If' on display in my home and in my office. 98. I love to meditate and am trying to learn to take it to the next level. 99. I think a really good indicator of character is how a person speaks about their partner. 100. I would much rather talk about you than me!
aine

aine

0
Golb? Blog? Bolg?
 

Blog? What the?

postal service. I really hoped my shiny, new little bottles would arrive today (Bakeneko with some friends). I needed something to cheer me up today, but no. Just needed to rant. Well, that's as good as any reason to start a blog a guess. And by the way, blog is one ugly word. Oh, I'm such a happy ray of sunshine today   But, I did get a CnS for Oborot and Groundhog today. Please come soon, little groundhog.
Maia

Maia

2
Maps and Legends
 

To everything there is a season

After almost two decades of protests, my alma mater, the University of Illinois, has decided to retire its mascot "Chief Illiniwek". They will retain the name "Fighting Illini", desipite the fact that tribe that gives the state, and the Chief, and the sports teams their name, the Illiniwek tribe, were a peaceful tribe that didn't fight - which probably helped account for the fact that they were completely wiped out in earlier centuries.   I'm taking the time to write about this because it is in part, the culmination of years of effort that I was a part of back in the early 1990s when I was a student at UofI. As a freshman and later I marched against the Chief, I met with the off-campus protesters. Somewhere I have the Daily Illini photo, not online, alas, of my sophomore year roomate and I holding up a banner bearing the admonishion - "What if the Pope were our mascot?", complete with little pope mugs and t-shirts. I think I still have the mug cut out somewhere as well.   Robert Novak and his ilk are up in arms about the PC police and caving in to political pressure. But what this really should be about is basic respect. Respect for the people around you. Respect for Native Americans on campus and for the tribes who are portrayed in the Illiniwek dance.   It's about time. And it's overdue.
Em-

Em-

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Diathermanous Thoughts
 

Layers Questionnaire for Switch Witching pleasure

LAYER ONE: -- Name: jocelyn -- Birth date: 7/30 -- Height: 5'8" -- Righty or Lefty: righty -- Zodiac Sign: leo sun, aquarius moon, and pisces rising depending on your chart.   LAYER TWO: -- Your heritage: Italian, Scotch, Swedish, Heinz 57 -- The shoes you wore today: low chucks, with black laces with red stars -- Your weakness: arrogance, chocolate, and sushi -- Your fears: the boogeyman under the bed, disappointing my loved ones, losing my home to fire -- Your perfect pizza: fresh mozzerella, ricotta, and salty black olives -- Goal you'd like to achieve: get my MA and MBA, sell a ton of Sullengrey 1-4, finish 5-8, and get published by Vertigo, lose another 20lbs, write another comic   LAYER THREE: -- Your thoughts first waking up: *snarl* coffee....must..have...coffee -- Your best physical feature: big blue eyes, and crazy stand up bright pink hair -- Your most missed memory: Galloping through the fields bareback on a hot summer day, stopping to swim in the creek.   LAYER FOUR: --- What instruments can you play? piano, and I can say something really dirty here, but i won't. --- Are you ticklish? quite. if you think it, i will squirm, then kick you. --- Are you shy? situationally - if I'm selling the book, I'm good, anything else, i'm quite shy...like hide in the bathroom and puke shy. --- Are you a morning person? as long as you repsect that anything said before coffee doesn't count, and I get a good hot shower, I'm tolerable   LAYER FIVE: -- Smoke: from 21-28. Quit on my honeymoon...save for a few here and there. Jackie boy from Sin City had it right - No one ever really quits - you always turn back when you're down on your luck. I'm back on the sauce right now... -- Cuss: on occasion. -- Sing: yeah, not to badly. -- Do you think you've been in love: yes -- Like(d) high school: no -- Want to get married: I am. quite happily, and I wouldn't change it for the world -- Believe in yourself: not enough -- Get along with your parent(s): better than I used to. Not as well as I'd like. -- Like thunderstorms: very much.   LAYER SIX: -- What do you want to be when you grow up? I won't grow up. -- What country would you most like to visit? Australia, Japan, England, back to Alsace.   LAYER SEVEN: -- Number of CDs that I own: many. and many MP3s -- Number of piercings: 2 ears, a 12ga septum, and a 10ga tongue -- Number of tattoos: i have a plan in the works - designs, an artist, but no funds -- Number of scars on my body: many. I am one big scar, and they're all a roadmap to my life - from my first spill off a bicycle, to surgery, to the darkest years I've ever had - they're all a story.
salamandrina

salamandrina

0
Thought bubble
 

100 things about me - the first 50

1. I don't really know the first thing about blogs. 2. I believe that will become self-evident fairly quickly. 3. Apart from snoring like a train, my husband is pretty wonderful. 4. My two little boys are best friends and wish they were twins. 5. I am hopeless at computer games. 6. I am fiercely competitive at board games. 7. I own thousands of dollars worth of board games. 8. I would like to learn more card games. So far I know poker, 500 and euchre. 9. I desperately want to be able to do one really good magic trick. 10. My fingernails and toenails are always painted. 11. Nailpolish and books are my favourite things to shop for. 12. I got two tattoos when I was 18, a rose and an arum lily. 13. I will probably get at least one more. 14. I am so pale I almost radiate. 15. I hate the sensation of sunlight on my skin. 16. I have contact lenses but most of the time I'm so lazy I just wear my glasses. 17. I wear the same gold rings, gold bracelets and gold earrings everyday. 18. I wear a different necklace, mostly long beads, everyday. 19. I love ginger. 20. I read voraciously. 21. My favourite book is 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. 22. I watch Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends with my kids and it makes me laugh out loud. 23. I have a 30gb video ipod that goes everywhere with me. 24. I don't like meat. 25. But I can eat my own bodyweight in seafood. 26. I like all vegetables except celery and sweet potato. 27. I love all things piratey. 28. One of the greatest gifts I have ever received was a tiara which I wear more often than I care to admit and boss everyone around. 29. I had two bridesmen at my wedding. 30. I am learning more about tarot. 31. I have worked fulltime since I left university but I have no career goal. 32. I would like to travel more. 33. I need a creative outlet but I am not crafty at all. 34. I paint, but unfinished artworks make me crazy. 35. I am an INTP. 36. I cannot stand to have my stomach touched. By anyone. 37. This probably because it closely resembles porridge. Childbearing was not kind to me. 38. I have no desire to be a domestic goddess but I love Nigella. 39. Nothing riles me quite like deliberate ignorance. 40. I saw an owl somewhere every single day I was pregnant with my first son. 41. I have two chickenpox scars on the bridge of my nose. 42. I think the number 42 is lucky and I'm not sure why. 43. I sing when I am stressed. Which seems to be a lot lately. 44. I have no desire to go to the beach (hate the sun) but I would like to live near one. 45. I spend my life perpetually tired. 46. I love photography. 47. I hate having my photo taken. 48. I have some very odd handbags and purses. 49. I own lots of coffee mugs and tea cups and get weird about finding just the right one for the occasion. 50. I secretly wish I was a ninja. Or at the very least had a ninja at my beck and call.
aine

aine

1
cranberry's Blog
 

Ancilla 1 - sent out

I got this yesterday or the day before.   Ancilla 1 Rose Cross** - reviewed Hamadryad** Jack** - reviewed Dove's Heart** Lightening** Bess** Ephemera - reviewed Tombstone - reviewed   ok, I"ve had this forever and I've tested the 2 imps that I don't have, so this is ready to send on its merry way.
cranberry

cranberry

4
This Old Snark
 

Boxcar Bertha

I choo choo choose you!   Snarky has been up to her eyeballs in work. Lots of time-sucking, mind-melting office monkey duties that leave her with little time to do things like post coherent blog entries and string more than three related concepts into a happily trundling train of thought.   So here are the boxcars that are rattling around at the moment:   * The Mister has decided on a Major Career Change.   He made an attempt to return to his old soul-sucking, life-draining, anxiety-attack-making job for two days last week and has not been back since. Snarky is absolutely OK with this (beyond OK, more like -leading and just about to start a stadium-wide wave) and has already seen how much better he has been for having turned this corner on his own.   The Snarks are getting The Mister signed up for massage therapy school this afternoon. To be honest, Snarky does not consider The Mister the most adept masseuse. But he is an excellent customer service guy and a very quick study. His research into successful careers for his Myers-Briggs personality type (INFP) all point to some sort of one-on-one therapy (be it psychological or body work-related) and so... this is the direction they will be taking.   They attended an orientation at one of the local LMT institutions and got to take a class (with actual partial nudity and the touching of bodies!) and even with the clinical setting, circulating teacher, and random other nekkid and touchy people in the room... it was a really positive, instructive, and decision-making experience.   She hasn't seen such a shine in The Mister's eye since they first started casting their gazes Westward, wondering if they could make a life in the Pacific Northwest.   * Snarky has started to work out, again. This time she's focusing more on her (languishing) yoga practice. Today she feels five miles long, as if her arms could encompass whole attitudes of thought rather than just her gradually de-cluttering desk.   * Oh, and Snarky started knitting again. She is sort of doing a tangential KAL with the BPAL knitters (with whom she has regrettably lost track) and has been cranking on the Rona Lace Shawl from Knitpicks (using the suggested KP Alpaca Cloud in a Midnight, which is maybe not the best color choice given her current extremely poor lighting conditions at home). There have been numerous errata already in just the first 50 rows. This is apparently the week for Snarky to be OK with normally crazy-making things, though, because she is absolutely OK with this. She isn't even putting in any lifelines as she galumphs along on this shawl.   * Textured Vegetable Protein is amazing stuff. The Snarks will never be vegetarians, but the consumption of meat has gone way, way down on their dietary habits -- enough so that they will probably make it a luxury item (which will allow them to focus more on local, organic, "humane" (or at least as humane as possible while still being, you know, meat) options).   There were probably more boxcars to add to this train, but lunch is calling (The Mister's Magical Sweet Potato Quesadillas). Snarky hopes all of your trains are also enjoying the downhill side of this week.
darkitysnark

darkitysnark

2
Odd Thoughts from an Odd Duck
 

Random Tidbits

You know how some people are afraid of clowns? I'm afraid of cowboys.   And spiders. The husband can distinguish The Spider Scream from any other scream.   The person who invented divided plates should be knighted and sainted. I can't stand for my food to touch. (not my only "food issue" -- I also can't eat anything that's really mushy/gloppy, and I don't eat coconut because the sound it makes when I bite it squicks me out.)   On my desk at work, I have a stuffed Edgar Allan Poe doll (with detachable raven!) and a stuffed Dory (the forgetful fish from Finding Nemo)   Numbers are NOT my friends.   I gave an inner squee of delight when a rather conservative sort visited my office, looked around, and literally took a step back.   more to come as I think of them.....   this is SO me   My ring tone is "If I Only Had a Brain."   My circle of real life friends dubbed 2006 The Year of the Weird. We threatened to have "I survived the year of the weird" tshirts made, but never did.   Call me a raving feminist, but it makes me crazy to be addressed as "Mrs" instead of "Ms" -- my marital status has no bearing on my ability to do my job, thank you very much.   I'm convinced that the stork who delivered me got lost, refused to stop for directions, and eventually got tired and just dropped me off with some folks. Surely I wasn't meant to be here.   You probably wouldn't guess it from my closet full of black, but I love hot pink socks and am always on the lookout for another pair.   When we had been married for about two years (you know, that point when most "normal" women start getting baby fever), I got puppy fever. We had to move so we could be in an apartment that allowed dogs.   I should be working on my planning and performance report right now.   I've hung upside down from a seatbelt -- ice storm, flipped vehicle, don't recommend.   I went to a makeup class a week ago, and I still haven't tried out "smoky eye" -- What's wrong with me???   I use way too many dashes and parentheses.   The 71 in my screen name isn't the year I was born. It's the year Jim Morrison died. I was born in 69. Can you imagine what people would think if I called myself odd_duck69?   I've started a tradition of doing something completely appalling for my birthday every year. When I turned 34, I got my navel pierced. My parents still don't know. 35, I got the third hole in my left ear. In a way, that was more daring than the navel because it's in plain view. I was fully expecting one of my bosses to pitch a fit. 36, the husband took me to a Kid Rock concert. And had to admit that he enjoyed it. And volunteered to go to the next one. 37, I quit the job with the boss mentioned above. 38, (this January) I let my inner Goth out to play after keeping her chained up like the mad woman in the attic for far too long. I have no idea what I'll do for 39, but I'm considering a tattoo for 40.
odd_duck71

odd_duck71

2
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