spicyelenore

Do you have any personal heroes / heroines and why? (In random order) MLK Jr., Howard Zinn, Frida Kahlo, the Dalai Lama, Maggie Kuhn, Sojourner Truth, Imogen Cunningham, Sally Mann, Sylvia Plachy, Madeline L'Engle, Dan Savage, Gene Robinson, Neil Gaiman, Sherlock Holmes, Zoe from Firefly (you didn't say they had to be real!) There are probably more I'll think of after I post this... Are there any languages or countries that you're really interested in? Iceland...Language, I'm not sure...I'm not very good with languages. If you could be in any fictional universe, what would it be? (Harry Potter, Firefly, Lord of the Rings, Silent Hill, wtv.) Perhaps Harry Potter, but only if I am a witch. I don't want to be a Muggle. Failing that, the Land of Oz is pretty cool. Books to read: see my amazon wishlist! (uh, there are some books in there, really...I just noticed how much of it is music or movies. I also have a "to-read" shelf on goodreads; you might be able to pull some ideas out of there, but watch out for the ones that are also on the "own" shelf! I have a lot of books I haven't read yet...) used copies are always always welcome. Gardening: yes, it's time to plan my garden for spring! Seeds I could use: hmm. What am I going to grow this year? Carrots...Spinach...arugula? basil...peppers...dill...cucumbers? (not sure about that one...) strawberries! (I actually grew a few last year!) onions...Parsley...(insert Simon and Garfunkel song)...maybe some other herbs I haven't tried before...Like I said, I'm interested in medicinal herb properties...but I'm drawing a blank right now on what I'd like to grow, and not sure what will grow in my climate. Also, it needs to be easy to grow. I kill things sometimes.

mmm, yummy ketchup...with onions... Hair stuff? Sadly, I don't have a lot of hair to play with yet...growing it out. It's in a bob and not quite long enough to put in pigtails yet. Probably the next thing I would need for it are some of those good quality very small alligator clips (I think they are called. The ones with the teeth.) I had some once that did a great job of holding my super fine, super straight hair back when I was growing it out. Canned goods? uh...Home canned, you mean? That sounds nice...Regular canned goods from the grocery store? I don't need those. OPI Alice? Honestly, I had to google this, and the result I found is worth posting here so everyone can reference it: http://www.alllacqueredup.com/2009/12/opi-...hes-review.html I think I already shared my avoidance of glitter polish, but I have to say the Mad As A Hatter is pretty awesome. I wouldn't wear it much though and don't have the patience to put it on and take it off. I definitely like the Thanks So Muchness rather than the Off With Her Red, but I'm not a big wearer of red. So in summation...Great concept, but not anything I need or really want. Severed Finger? uh..no? What?? Tiny things? Probably would get lost. How do you feel about handmade stuffed animals? That sounds so cute! I used to collect stuffed animals and I wouldn't mind having one. Are there any accessories you'd really like? (Keychains, little purses, etc.) Not right now...I need to minimize! What are your favorite animals? Cats! Cats! That would be for pets. For just admiring and looking at, it's wolves, whales, wild birds, owls, and bats. Is there anything you've had to give up that you really miss or want back? Maybe something a witch could help out with? Most falls into the category of unique articles of clothing that I regret getting rid of. Just yesterday I realized with a jolt that I got rid of my old New Model Army tee shirt. Why did I do that?? It's not like a tee shirt takes up that much room! If you were a student at Hogwarts, what house would you be in? I'd wish for Ravenclaw, but if the hat didn't think I was smart enough...(is it pure smarts that gets you in or just a love of knowledge and learning?) I dunno, maybe Gryffindor? I am loyal and I get fired up about justice, and I am also a bit rebellious...but only in "safe" ways. Would I have gone ahead and flown to the Ministry with Harry, or would I have stayed behind? Those are the kinds of things that you probably only know when they are tested IRL. Maybe I would be a Hufflepuff. I really don't know. Astronomy? It's kinda cool. I don't know all the constellations or anything. Star Trek? Yes!! TNG is my fave, mostly for nostalgic reasons, followed by classic (same thing) I am not a purist; I enjoyed the new movie a lot. My whole family are Trekkies to varying degrees. I plan to watch all of DS9 soon since my brother has raved about it so much (and I liked the ones I did see.) Fave flowers: hmm. Apple and cherry blossoms, lilacs, roses. These are all basically to look at when they are growing..I'm not a huge fan of cut flowers. When I do get roses I dry them...love dried roses. Eye color: hazel, of a brown/green hue Stuff I collect other than BPAL: Books, vinyl records, old cameras, photographic ephemera, recipes, socks Breakdown of spending: nah, not necessary If you like tea, what are your favorite kinds? Fruity, sweet, chai, plain, black, green, red, white? When it comes to herbal tisanes, I am quite willing to try new ones. I am not as fond of fruity as I am of spicy. I am interested in the medicinal properties of herbs as well. My favorite black teas are chai and earl grey, but beyond that I am not a big black tea fan, especially flavored black teas. I sometimes enjoy green tea, and Pu Erh (smoked tea.) Oh and I love Rooibos. I usually like it plan but am open to trying different flavors. Trader Joe's had a delicious orange spice rooibos that they no longer carry...sad. If my witch happens to live in Seattle, you could make my day by sending me a bag of the Morning Glory chai spice mix from Mr. Spot's! Patronus: Probably a cat. I am nocturnal, I love to sleep, I like my solitude and am choosy about whom I lavish affection upon. But I love having a good lap to curl up in, and if you feed me I am yours forever. hee. PS. Dear Witch-I know better than to buy things on my wishlist right now (I hope!) But I'm afraid I am guilty of participating in the V-Day Wishes thread without thinking about the consequences. Due to an extremelygenerous wish-granter, I now am taking both Blackberry Jam and Scones and Ded Moroz off my bpal wishlist. Hope that's not too much of a pain in the butt. I will refrain from any more of that. love, me.

Huh. WHen I first put this on, I thought for sure it was not going to be a keeper. Despite the lemon cookies, there is a pungent scent that right away turned me off-is it leather, books, herbs? not sure...but I was feeling very sad and disappointed. I keep trying these library/book scents in the hopes that they will work on me. I decided to wait a bit longer though, and after it dried, I suddenly realized a nice soft smell was drifting up-slightly sweet, still a little sharp but mellowed, somewhat dusty. and I can smell the incense now. It's interesting, and a real morpher. I think I'll give it another chance.

Ooooh! BPAL's beloved alicia_stardust is having a contest! If you're my Witchee, would you like a chance to win these earrings? Those earrings look awesome, but my ears are stretched to 10G, so assuming they are standard posts (that's how it looks in the pic) I couldn't wear them. Would you like or accept an energetically-charged item or gift? Something that had power poured into it? If so, do you have a particular purpose that you'd prefer? (Love, protection, money, etc.) Sure! ummm...I need strength and focus! ETA: Actually, I think maybe what I really need is patience...but I don't know if you can charge something with that. Do you have any significant upcoming events in your life you'd like something for? A child/yourself graduating from high school/college? Are you buying a new home or car soon? Moving in with someone/getting married? Taking a new job? Moving to a new part of the country/world? Not really. Things are kind of non-eventful now. Burlesque: Not so much. Roller derby is more my thang. Villainess update: haven't even looked yet. uhhhh....ok...yum. Rasberry Swirl and Lipstick Lost sound great...in Whipped or Smooch. Oh, the Rasberry Swirl Smack sounds delish. Have not experienced the smack. Fleuvogs: awesome looking but expensive.

Would you like new nail polish? If so, what colors are you craving? I used to wear nail polish very often. Then, I got rid of most of it and now it's become an occasional thing. I tried to keep only the really good quality ones, and they all are formaldehyde and tolulene-free. I'm really interested in trying the water-based (rather than solvent-based, which still contains fumes.) I know the BPTP claw polish is pretty safe (relatively) so I still want to try those in Robotic Scarab and Smokestack. I like dark colors and I no longer use nail polish with actual pieces of glitter in it because it is so annoying to take off. Do you like incense and/or scented candles, and are you able to burn them in your home? If so, what kinds of scents do you like? I'm kind of over incense...I'd rather impart a scent without the smoke. Wax tarts have worked successfully in the past, particularly from Dark Candles. I also like their candles. However, I am attempting to have only beeswax candles in my home, which conflicts with that. There are plenty of great beeswax ones out there, though, like Big Dipper waxworks. Oh, what kinds of scents do I like? Foody and spicy usually. I just got some mini candles that are Cinnamon red-hots. They smell delicious. In the Dark Candles line, I have in the past appreciated the Dark Carnival and Dark Grove scents. I'm interested in the Bonfire, Haunted House, Forbidden Fruit, and Liquored-Up Tart. WoW? no Boxes? For Bpal (bottles and/or imps) or otherwise. I keep trying to think of new ways to organize my imps. I could use some kind of box or holder to keep everyday favorites in-I have ammo boxes for long term storage but I find those hard to access on a regular basis. My main concern is keeping imps upright, but also when they're tucked into something like an ammo box it's hard to see the labels and find things. If you think you have the perfect solution for me, I would be thrilled. Otherwise, on other box fronts I am more or less set, having many lovely boxes gifted to me by past creative Witches! Favorite candy: dark chocolate. plain or with almonds or hazelnuts. chocolate covered coffee beans. Reeses PB cups used to be my favorite but I look for things that are slightly healthier now and I don't like milk chocolate anymore. in the non-chocolate category... uh.....drawing a blank. Is there candy besides chocolate? icon_biggrin.gif Kitchen Gadgets: I wish I had one of those rotating egg beaters. Other than that, I think all the gadgets I desire fall way outside of the $28 limit. oh, there is one other thing (but I wouldn't expect a Witch to mail this one): a large (12-qt.) stainless steel mixing bowl with a smooth/flat bottom (ie it doesn't have a groove running around the bottom inside, which my current set of mixing bowls has) and a rounded rim. For mixing bread dough in. I haven't been able to figure out what brand is best...a guy I know got his at IKEA and it's perfect, but I didn't see any on their website and our nearest IKEA is 3 hours away. I wouldn't mind cool dish towels. Ours are mismatched from Goodwill. (Not just cause we're cheap, often the used ones work much better: our Goodwill towels are more effective than our dark red matching ones that we got brand new as a wedding gift. They don't dry well and leave a lot of lint.) handmade gifts are great. To my knowledge I have no fabric allergies, though I do tend to like natural fabrics (not to be a snob or anything. There are plenty of good natural/acrylic blends out there and I am currently knitting a scarf with one.) I gots all confuzed...was the love poem question in this swap or in the no-baby shower swap? looks like lots of people are posting poems over there so sorry if i spilled over into this one with my enthusiasm. Anyway it doesn't matter if you are my witch, since u will see all my posts right? 00000288.gif Mardi Gras: I never paid much attention to it until I started, uh, going to church (totally different story for another topic...) and Shrove Tuesday started to have some meaning for me. I actually really appreciate Ash Wednesday and Lent (I'm an Episcopalian, to be very very brief.) For me it's about having a great party and celebrating life with a sort of "carpe diem" or memento mori attitude, followed by somber reflection on the fact that everything is temporary and I will return to dust, and then a season of inner reflection and trying to be aware of how I live my life while I'm here. </religious talk> I heart plush microbes! And I don't have any yet! I like the white blood cell, black death (duh), swine flu, flu, sore throat, beer yeast, and mono! omg Flesh eating disease is adorable too! magtongue.gif

For those of you with pets, would you like pet things? Toys, treats, etc? No pets, sadly. We want cats. Would anyone like receiving naughty/sexy things? I will answer my own question. We're not particularly kinky around here...but sex-positive. I'm open to new games to play, trying new things, etc. Don't need condoms and the like, but lube or other sex enhancers (ahem) are welcome (I am the one who posted this question but it's totally making me blush!) Who on the thread likes attending Ren Faires, SciFi/Comic Cons & the like? And do you dress up for them? I haven't been to one in a long time. I do have some costuming things but rarely an occasion to wear them. Do you need any accessories for your phone, computer, mp3 player, etc.? nope! Gently Used CDs/DVDs? Yes! "Top 25 Most Played" list on iPod-I just grabbed a bunch from the top, don't know if it's 25: A Thousand Beautiful Things-Annie Lennox Sogg -Amiina Rugla-Amiina The Swell Season-Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová Travel As I Wait-Tomas Halberstad Modular Mix-Air Alone In Kyoto-Air Another Day- Air Alpha Beta Gaga -Air Hilli -Amiina Sexfaldur -Amiina The Hurting Time-Annie Lennox Erased-Annie Lennox Dark Entries-Bauhaus Harvest Home-Big Country Ashes To Ashes - David Bowie Girls' Night Out -The Knife Something Inside Me Has Died-Kommunity FK Situation (US 12" Mix)-Yaz Kind of random. Interested in receiving gifts representative of Witch's country or culture? Absolutely!

What is everyone's take on Valentine's Day? Sadly, most of my Valentine's memories involve rarely getting any valentines (except for from the kids whose moms made them get valentines for every person in the class), and never getting a flower when, in junior high, they had those stupid anonymous "flower delivery" things (ah, the envy of those who did not receive their single wilted carnation!) Things did not improve much in adulthood, with a string of bad valentines days involving date disappointments, breakups either right before or right after v-day, and the like. By the time I was actually in a positive relationship that coincided with v-day, I was pretty cynical. Now I am married, but we don't make a big deal out of the holiday, and we don't see the need to go out to dinner on the same night that every freaking couple in the city is doing the same thing. I feel more positive about the holiday from a friend-love, sharing-chocolate POV, but I still feel that it is overly commercialized and places wayy to much emphasis on the idea that there is ONE other person out there for you and you are incomplete if not romantically coupled. Not to mention it is also totally hetero-centric. So I generally shun it except when it comes to creating new, non-commercialized, non-traditional traditions such as a round of SW! whoo.gif Do you like traditional Valentine's Day colors (red, pink, white, more?)? I like red, especially paired with black. pink, not so much...white, ok with black...(you get the picture...) What's everyone's favorite semi-obscure (or underappreciated!) animal? Bats! What is your favorite sign that spring is coming? budding apple and cherry blossom trees, although this will be my first spring in the Midwest so I'm not sure what to expect. Perhaps it will become ice melting. Hand-knitted? oh mais OUI!! I loooove hand knitted things. Scarves are not so much needed right now, since I have lots and am honing my own knitting skills by doing scarf after scarf (once I feel confident I will move on to hats.) I would love a hat, or gloves, or armwarmers, or legwarmers,, or socks... I have a question: Would anyone like receiving naughty/sexy things? E.g. edible body paint, lube, safer sex items...etc... icon_redface.gif

yay! awesome statement.

Note: i have never eaten Pfefferneuse, so I don't have any preconceptions for this one. It smells nutty and sweet. Like cookies with...almonds? The nuttiness is strong on me for most of the drydown. I can smell the spices-cinnamon, nutmeg-they're all nicely balanced and no one dominates. Later the nutty note kind of went away and I was left with a soft sugary cookie smell. I want to eat my hand.

Before I put it on, this smells very strong and fruity-not sweet, but kind of boozy, citrusy, and spicy. On, I can smell a lot of fruit-I'm not familiar with these foods that are listed, but going by what others have said, I can see prunes, maybe plums, rice pudding-maybe, but this isn't very sweet. I can see mead-that must be the boozy part. It's citrusy ,but maybe like a pomander ball with spices stuck in it. I think there might be a whiff of smoke keeping things balanced, but I wouldn't call it a smoky scent. Dry, it is a pleasant spicy fruit. I would try this again for sure.

Whoa! In the bottle this one is so strong and boozy-sweet! It reminds me of something I can't put my finger on, which is driving me crazy. The goats-milk makes it more tangy and strong than a regular milk note. So I put it on. It's sweet and smooth, spicy and latte-like. Yum. Then my skin eats it. OH SKINNN!!! WHYYYY?? Why must you always EAT the foodies? Anyway. So I might have to slather it on. On days when I want to smell like a boozy eggnog latte.

Wow. Before I put it on, this is very sharp, dark pine. Like a damp pine forest. Something dank and dark is definitely lurking. On, I get strong pine. I worry for a second that it will be like Pine-sol. But! Here comes the clove, warming it up and twisting it around. Wow! For a bit it smells cologne-y. This might be a good man's scent (for men who want to smell manly.) It's definitely not sweet. On drydown, it smells like a clove ciggy. For reals. But still not too sweet. I like it. I'm not sure how often I will wear it, but I like it. I would especially like it on someone else, I think...(someone I am kissing lots)

This is a very pulpy apple. It's like walking through an orchard with overripe smushed apples fallen on the ground. Maybe there are some nuts around too. But mostly I get the fresh, strong apple scent. I like cider-y apple scents more than fresh ones, so I think I'll swap this one.

First impression: smells like a cross between Punkie Night and Fearful Pleasure. Apple-y. On: At first, very Punkie Night. fresh apples. but with something else lurking n the background. On drydown, that starts to come forward. it's a tanginess, is how I would describe it. Like hard cider! Later, a soft sweet note comes up. It's definitely not sharp as it was, the tang of the apple has become more like apple pie. no longer fresh but baked and oozing with yummy spicy sugary stuff. mmm. I was afraid of the milk note but it's subtle. just creamy and sweet. I likes it!!

This is really just what the description says. Cherry brandy. Soo yummy I want to eat my wrist. I was afraid that it would be like cough syrup, but it's not sticky sweet. Must be the brandy (how does Beth make a brandy scent, anyway?? ah, mysterious alchemy.) Unfortunately, it does fade fairly quickly on me, as these foody scents usually seem to.