odd_duck71

All the chatter about Alternative Breeding on the thread made me wander over. Here is a huge list of scents that sound yum-deli-icious, just in case mah loverly Witchy has a couple of extras lying around in teh witching stash. Ambush Bulletproof Dig Deep Dirty Vanilla Eternal Hunger Hell's Kitchen Hot Blooded Instant Wood Lights Out Mother Earth Spike The Way Back 3AM Similar scents from other candle/tart makers are equally welcome.

***8/29*** What would you tell yourself 6 months in the past about 2008 so far? Float with the fish. Just float. (bonus points if you recognize the quote!) If you had one minute of fame, what would you do/say in the spotlight? Freeze in terror, probably. Robots versus zombies: who wins? The vampires of course! What would zombie say? ??? Where are a few of your favorite places? Eureka Springs, AR (There are so many old hippies there that they've organized and taken the place over.) Venice Beach, CA (I spent 10 days in CA when I was 19 and have never stopped wanting to go back. The Venice boardwalk was the highlight of the trip.) Out of curiosity, all the fall babies who are celebrating their birthdays during the round - who are you, and when is your bday? Not me. What is one (only one) object that you collect, that totally goes against your personality or beliefs? Whose version of my personality is under discussion here? Are you a soap addict? Anything you like to avoid in soaps (goat's milk, lye, dyes, etc...) or any particular scents you like or brands you want to try? I love soaps that are really moisturizing. I appreciate advanced warning if the lather will be an odd color, but as long as I'm expecting it, it's totally fine. My scent preferences in soap are the same as for everything else. Make me smell like a hippy. Do you like kilts and would you wear one? Yes, and yes. BoiWitches? Question for you both.....Hath any of thou own a Kilt? not a boi What's your favorite book? Um, see answer to "favorite poet" What size socks do you wear? How about hat size? I like the smaller size ladies socks when I can find them, but most regular socks are just fine after a trip through the laundry. Some I do pass up because they look like they will always be too long. I have no idea about my hat size, but when I tried on crazy hats at the Halloween Express the other day, most seemed to fit fine. Do you read comics? Which ones do you love and which can't you stand? Not normally, but I read the review of Polyglot & Spleen in the new Gothic Beauty and simply must have it. I suspect anything similar would be a hit as well. Symbols that are meaningful to me? Spirals, gosh, I'm blank right now. By nature are you a morning lark or a night owl? Neither, really. I take a while to wake up in the morning, and it's a real tribute to the people I'm with if I don't turn into a pumpkin at midnight or before. What's your favorite type of music to hear live, rather than recorded? Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We see them every year. What is your favorite autumnal-seasonal drink? apple cider, hot cocoa (preferably white chocolate) ***8/30*** Do you knit/crochet? Do you need any supplies? No. If it involves yarn, I am made of fail. Who here has an etsy shop? not I What are your two favorite etsy shops? Hmmm.....I don't know. Are you active on any other boards/forums? If so please specify where and your username there. About the time I was starting to feel at home in the Radish Room (Kris Radish fansite) I started getting an error message every time I tried to log in. ***8/31*** What is everyone's favorite Halloween song?! How about a whole CD? Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo How many of mah fellow witchies play video games? Platform? Do you like used games? I am severely button challenged. Once video games progressed beyond a joystick and a fire button, I was done. I would like to get Bejeweled for my Palm eventually. What kind of music (genres, please) do you like? My taste is pretty diverse. I wish I could just give you a list of what's in my Windows Media Player, but I can't figure out a way to print or copy/paste or anything. Have any of you ever received a book from a Witchy and loved it so much you ended up buying a copy for a later Witchee? Yup. Dracula's Diary. What kinds of eye shadows do we all like? If my witchy is an eyeshadow addict, I would totally love some help with this. Do you like lip balm? If so, do you like tinted, glossy, sparkly, pearly or just plain lip balm? Any of the above. Just don't want the ZOMGZ LOOK AT HER LIPS look. What are some of the SW gifts/finds from past rounds (or you can just name a gift in general that you found for someone if this is your first round!) that you are the most proud of in terms of your sleuthing skills? Hmmm....dunno about sleuthing skillz, but one gift I remember fondly was my first round -- Spring 07. For April Fools Day, the admins changed the forum skin to this pink sparkly candy coated confection that hurt everyone's eyes. to commemorate the event, I sent my witchee a bright pink unicorn My Little Pony. And, secondly, what is something you've been searching for but just can't find? Batteries for my pedometer! Seriously, why do they make so many different sizes of those little flat ones? I think it's a conspiracy to get us to just get another gadget.

***8/27*** If you have a garden/planter box, what do you grow? Neither. I keep trying to do the herbs on the kitchen window thing, but have been made of complete FAIL so far. What incense scents do you prefer? I think I may have mentioned on my Q that one of my goals in life is to get my house to smell like a head shop. I burn lots of frankincense, myrhh, sandalwood, patchouli, nag champa, etc. My favorite brand (from what I've tried so far) is Incense from India, but I'm up for being enabled to other brands. Do you decorate for Halloween? What sort of decorations? Dress up for Halloween? Oh hell's bells yes. Kinda cute but creepily kooky. No gore please. Bats, cats, skeletons, monsters, vampires, witches or what other ghoulies do you prefer? All of the above. No green warty ugly witches please. Do you like horror flicks? I like the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, but others, not so much really. Who here prefers stylus and ink to ballpoint? Anyone invested time and effort into calligraphy or proper Victorian writing? Not I said the dog. Not I said the cat. What about stationery? Need some? What styles do you like? Currently overstocked. I really need to get back to the mail thread and use a bunch up! ***8/28*** Crossword puzzles? Other pencil puzzles? no Favorite artist? Victoria Frances Favorite poet? Majored in lit. Can't possibly pick one. Halloween. Do you like it kooky or creepy? Tim Burtonish Reserved or Raunchy? Depends on the situation. I prefer the Switch Witch thread a bit raunchy. Earth, Wind, Fire or Water? I'm a very airy Aquarius. Tea or Coffee in the morning? Mountain Dew, please and thank you. Fruity snacks or chocolate? Both, but not together. Would you accept art? Of course I haven't gotten time to redo my Etsy wishlist yet, but a browse through my favorites would yield ideas about my taste, as would the Halloween Somerset Studios. Antiques or Brand New? either What keywords do you use when searching for items for yourself on Etsy? Hmmm... haven't had much browsing time lately, but usually either "goth" or "black" and then a noun Are there any of y'all who are allergic/sensitive to having natural fibers on your skin? Wool makes me itch like crazy, and I assume that other fibers that commonly make others itch would be bad news as well. What was your favorite ghost/scary/campfire story growing up? ??? Bugs? Do you like 'em or not? I like butterflies and dragonflies. I will allow ladybugs to crawl on me. Otherwise -- i haz no imp storage. do you? I think instead of getting more imp storage, I need to weed out the imps.

Bien Loin D'ici Casanova Defututa Desire La Petit Mort Wanton

Greed De Sade Dorian Faustus Laudanum Malediction

Haunted Zombi

(in progress -- there are others on the site that I can't remember if I've tried or not. must go through imp bowl of doom) Calico Jack Chimera Grog Incantation Inferno Intrigue Kubla Khan Mary Read Masquerade Plunder Rakshasa Scherezade Wilde

***8/22*** Where does everyone like to shop for witching goodness? Etsy is a big favorite of mine because the sellers are so sweet and will send things anonymously. Most offer to include a card or note when they find out it's a gift, and one seller even gift wrapped for me. What is your favorite pumpkin goodness? Enable me? ***8/25*** What's your favorite part about Fall? cooler weather finally, Halloween, all the cute new school supplies that aren't necessarily easily available at other times, colors I like back in stores after months of pastels and brights Do you like office/school supplies? If so, what is your favorites? Cool pens, post it notes, paper clips. Life is too short for boring office supplies! What's your favorite Halloween candy? Ok, forgive the boring answer here, but the itty bitty candy bars. I'm not a fan of candy corn, or Halloween Peeps, or mallo anything. If my future witchy lives in a place where these are available, I would love to try mango-chili lollipops. Please nothing really sticky -- crowns don'tcha know. Will you be participating NaNoWriMo? If so, is there anything you'd like to have for that? No. My course load is going to keep me too busy. Story of a 5/4 contract. ***8/26*** What is one item that you've wanted forever, could have afforded, but have never gotten and why (haven't you gotten it!)? This list could be a mile long for me. I'm not good at buying things for myself. One thing I still regret not getting was this fabulous pair of earrings. They were tiny silk roses on french hooks with some sort of finding at the top to hide the connection. What Halloween scent are you most looking forward to? Ooo....hard choice. I way excited about the Sleepy Hollow scents. And I may cry if Samhain 08 doesn't work on me. Tattoos! Do you have em? Do you want em? Whatcha got or getting? Getting my first for my big four oh in January. Four stars scattered on my right shoulder, one for roughly each decade -- pink for the daughter my mom tried to turn me into, turquoise/teal for my first steps into my own identity, purple for the time when my inner Me was gathering strength, and black for now. Reduce - REUSE - recycle. Do others feel the same? Absolutely. None of my future witches should ever hesitate to do thrift store shopping for me. What is your favorite crafting supply? Um, spray paint and glue? Oh, I bet this means "what would you squee to receive?" doesn't it! I'm mostly a cut and glue kinda girl, so decoupage images, cool paper, ATC blanks, that sort of thing. Weigh in...Are you right or left-handed? right Any period of time that you love? ancient Greece, 19th C England, medieval Europe, the late 60s

I tried Moxie for the first time today, and I'm completely bowled over. There are already many lovely and helpful scent descriptions, so I'll go straight to effect -- It's just after midterm. My desk at the office was mounded over and driving me crazy. I gave my students a research day and attacked! I applied the Moxie a bit after 8:00. Amount -- One "cover bottle with finger and tip" Applied -- a swipe on each side of my neck and between the girls. I mention amount b/c OMG my (granted tiny) office was instantly filled with scent. A coworker stopped by to chat a few minutes later and seriously Huffed. My. Office. Air. . I wrote down the lab's addy for him -- pretty sure he and his wife are now enabled. As I dove into my sorting and organizing, I had energy and focus that were not mine. The initial Bunny Battery Burst lasted about three hours. I was quite pleased. But wait! There's more! If you order before midnight.... After I took a break to rest a bit and reassess the situation, I got a second wind that lasted until I had to go a meeting at 1:30. I felt unusually energetic the rest of the afternoon. In the interests of full disclosure, I must say that the productivity was not without a price. At about 6pm, I crashed. Hard. Falling over exhausted. Fortunately the husband was driving by this time. YMMV, but you might want to try it out at home this first time or two. Still, I got so much done, I consider it a fair trade. I'll be getting a full bottle ASAP.

I love this idea! Here is my list of things that disagree with my body chemistry. Some of these made me really sad because they smelled so much better in the imp. I guess we all have those. Bluebeard Urania Pride Burial Black Lotus Arcana Megaera Santa Muerte Sheol More to come

Secondhand goodies? Absolutely, provided that they are hygenic How do you prefer your brownies? nuts are fine, prefer them in small pieces on top. Chips are a bit gooey for me. Frosting makes them too sweet. Appliance? (Sure, it's on the questionnaire, but we all want to know what you put anyways.) A blender, because that's what my brain feels like most of the time. Saliva issues? I will share beverages with the husband, the furkid, and one friend. My mom won't even let my baby have the last couple of bites of my lunch unless I transfer it to a paper plate. Close friends and I nibble freely off each other's plates in restaurants. In particular, my husband's best friend and I share similar taste in food, so often it's "You order this, and I'll order that, and then we can taste both of them." Band names you've always wished were used? Dionysian Debauchery Allergies to fibers/dyes? General preferences? Wool makes me itch. Preferences -- the softer the better. My friend laughs at me when we go shopping because I have to touch everything that looks soft. If it looks soft and then isn't, I feel a bit ripped off. Can you/do you burn candles/tarts/incense? Yes, yes, and yes. I use mostly unscented candles, but I do like sandalwood and a really good strong cinnamon when I can find it. Just developed the tart habit thanks to forumites, but don't have many yet. Burn headshoppy incense like a maniac. One of my goals in life is to get my house to smell like a pagan shop. How do you unwind after a terrible day? Depends on what flavor terrible it was. If I'm angry, I clean until I exhaust myself. If my feelings are hurt, a bath and a good cry. If it was a hamster-wheel day, zone in front of a movie I've seen a thousand times. Package rating? Knowing the girls here, I'm a little hesitant to say "any" but I shall be brave. Any. Ornaments? yesh, although my tree was skinnier than the package led me to believe. Small is good. Favorite candy? Pixy Stix and Lindt white chocolate truffles. In my closest group of IRL friends, the truffles are known as "candy bones" -- friend's dogs (my niece the poodle and my nephew the rat terrier) had these little bone shaped treats that they loved so much we joked that they must taste like candy. Hence they became candy bones. When we discovered the truffles, we liked them just that much, so they also became candy bones. BPAL in your SW box? either way is fine. I haven't thoroughly perused the last few updates, but if you think I'll like it (whether it's on my wishlist or not), I'll happily test it. Oops, I don't think I've crossed off stuff from Autumn round and a couple of recent forum purchases. Must do that. No worries if you dupe something though. Other B&B products you haven't tried yet (do you like being enabled)? I'd love to be enabled to most anything that will have positive effect on my Sahara skin and hair. The sugar scrub I got last round has been quite a success, but for some reason I hesitate to use it frequently enough. I should look the company up online. Once I assure myself that there is more, I'll probably loosen up about it. Links to good sites with easy DIY bath stuff recipes are equally welcome. Searching for a conditioner that will keep my ends from getting crunchy without making the roots greasy. Would also love something moisturizing that goes in the tub. I like my water a bit hotter than I really should, so it would help to even things out a bit. Gift ratings? again, I'm hesitating a bit here, but I'm gonna go with any. How did you find & fall in love with BPAL? Kind of an interesting story actually. Summer 2006, my best friend ran away from home for five days, went home for one night, and then lived with us for a month. This month has become known as Hairfest 2006 because we bought a bunch of hairband video dvd's and watched them all the time. This was kind of an "oh shit, this is what happens when you bury important parts of yourself for too long" for me. (The running away, not the dvd's) So one weekend the three of us were wandering around Hastings and happened on a copy of Gothic Beauty. They insisted that I buy it. There was an article about the lab and it sounded fantabulous. It took me a few more months to actually check it out, but when I did I found the forum and that was pretty much it. Gothic Beauty and BPAL have been big parts of my year of "more like me, less like you" Favorite holiday movie/TV specials? the Grinch! (animated of course!) The Rudolph with the island of misfit toys, most of them really, but Nestor the long eared donkey scarred me for life. Don't like that you'll shoot your eye out movie at all, have seen the one about the suicidal guy and the angel once. Love, love, love Miracle on 34th Street (any of them). Unusual (or not!) things you collect? I'm most actively pursuing the rebuilding of my gargoyle collection. (You said you're fairly new to witching, so I'm guessing you don't know me. Therefore, by way of explanation, a few years ago our lives took a huge left turn at Albuquerque. Details aren't relevant, but it resulted in about 2 1/2ish - 3 years in a church. I now refer to it as my Momentary Lapse of Reason. And because I was trying to be a Good Girl and do and believe what I was told, I got rid of a lot of my paganish schtuff. (a nice portion of my jewelry escaped by hiding, hee hee hee, and I found it during a Mercury retro. I was beyond excited.) Eventually of course, my inner Goth, inner pagan, and inner feminist banded together, kicked Miss Repressed's ass, and locked her in the attic for a change. And now I want my gargoyles and dragons back, dammit. Favorite comedian/comedy troupe? Um, I'm not so much into comedy. There was this guy that I saw on was it Showtime? years ago who was hilarious, but I've long forgotten his name. He had Korean parents, but grew up in Texas. So just the Texas accent coming from the Korean body was funny enough, but he had this routine about guys using flowers to get out of trouble and there was a conversion chart -- this offense equals this many flowers. Organic? Indifferent? I go organic when I can, but I live far enough from civilization that not everything is available or affordable. I'm wanting to make contact with the local Weston-Price (?)folk; I hear that quite a bit of good schtuff is available from individuals. Homemade? certainly not required or even expected, but much appreciated if it shows up in a box. Anything you can't ask for IRL? art supplies. No one would have a clue what to get me. Spicyelenore sparked an interest in painting and decoupage, and I'd love to give ATCs a shot. So those little packies of glueables would be lovely, as would ATC blanks. If you saw the Halloween issue of Somerset Studio you'll have a good idea of my taste. Stones/gems/etc? um, yes? I listed a few favorites on the questionnaire. Socks? The wilder the better. I especially like bright pink. Doctor Who? Haven't seen it in years. Loved Tom Baker. D&D? no The only people I knew in college who played were quite into illegal recreational substances, so hanging with them wasn't so much of an option really. Favorite artist, both contemporary and classic? Victoria Frances, eep, I'm so gonna have to come back to this one. My brain is blank. Any tips for SW virgins? Stalk, squee, use lots of bubblewrap, get delivery confirmation. Most important -- Have. Fun.

This stuff is amazing! During the first half of last year there was huge upheaval in my life. To the point that we dubbed 2006 The Year of the Weird. This included serious kerfuffles in three organizations we were associated with at the time. We were treated quite shabbily, and in all three cases, have no idea why. Even after leaving I still had a lot of anger about the things that happened. Earlier this summer, I decided enough was enough and obtained a decant of Ourobouros from a forumite. After a simple ritual specifically closing those chapters of my life, I've felt SO much better. I still remember what various people said and did (or neglected to do), but there is little emotion attached to the memories now. It's all just something that happened long ago and far away and doesn't really matter. There are a few other things I would like to "officially" put behind me, so I see a 5ml in my future.

I made myself a cup of the blackberry tea yesterday. Mmmm. I even boiled water on the stove instead of sticking cup, water, and teabag all in the nuker together. I tasted it plain at first. Potential. After adding a touch of honey -- just right.

What do you have in regular rotation?

It was quite the adventure. Imagine the scene. A beautiful Saturday morning. 10 am. We stop by a friend's house to drop something off before continuing with our plans for the day. The husband's cell phone rings. According to his report, my mother said, "J. and I are too sick to take care of each other. What do you think I should do?" Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Who are you and what have you done with my mother? "What do you think I should do?" is not a sentence that is in her vocabulary. The husband and his "call an ambulance" suggestion made no progress with her at all, and he handed the phone off to me. Yay. Since we knew it would be about three hours before we could be at her house, loaded up, and on the way to the hospital, calling someone from church to drive them seemed a sane and sensible plan. Mother agreed to it. We would head their way and be at the hospital in about two hours. When I called back a bit later to make sure she got in touch with someone, she said that she had talked to D. and to F. and that they would get to the hospital. So we're thinking, that's great. F. knows. Everything is well in hand. Sigh of relief. Fast forward a little less than two hours. We arrive at the hospital and ask "Where are J. and M. C.?" They haven't seen them. Danger, Will Robinson. Danger. There is no way we should have beaten them to the hospital. So I call Mom's cell. Voice mail. Leave a "where are you?" message. She calls back in a few minutes and says she's almost there. Meet her at the door because she needs help in. Ok. What are you in? The truck. At this point I'm really, really hoping that F. is driving, but I'm starting to smell a rat. About this time, an ambulance arrives. With Dad. Where's Mom? She was right behind us. Nice ambulance ladies report that they tried their best to talk her into getting in the ambulance. Who's driving? She is. OH! SHIT! So I go in with Dad, and the husband waits outside for Mom. And waits. And waits. Just about the time I'm going to suggest he go look for her, she arrives. In pj's, slippers, and a robe. The husband practically carried her in. The first part of the trip was extremely curvy. I have no idea how she made it there in her condition. Her poor gray haired guardian angel must have had to call for backup on that one. Slowly, we begin to piece the story together. Supposedly, D. was busy. I suspect that she called and said, "What are you doing?" rather than, "Can you drive us to the hospital?" We don't find out what happened to F. until much later. So anyway, they decide to take themselves to the hospital. In the process of getting to the truck, Dad falls. And can't get up. (What was that commercial?) Mom is too weak to help him up. So now they have no choice but to call an ambulance. Which takes an hour to arrive. So there Dad is, on the ground, with pneumonia, because Mom felt it necessary to tell me everything was under control when it wasn't. Will we ever believe her again? No, clearly not. But now we're all at the hospital. Mom is about to pass out, Dad can't remember his phone number, so I get the job of taking care of all the paperwork. My first experience with doing so. Joy. Fortunately, there was a very sweet grandmotherly type at the desk who told me what a good daughter I was for driving two hours to take care of this and walked me through everything. Sometime during this disaster, F. calls. As it turns out, Mom told him that she was going to have to go to the hospital, but neglected to mention that Dad was sick too. So F. thought Dad was fine to drive and everything was under control. Do I notice a recurring theme here? Have I mentioned that Mom is a Taurus? *deep sigh* We finally get them settled into a room, and they both decide they want a hamburger. Off we go to Sonic. I can't decide whether to laugh or cry, so I don't do either. We finally got home at about 9:30 and collapsed into bed. I'd still be there if I hadn't started coughing, but I think I'll go back for a while.