My office moved last weekend, I was in charge, so it was a long couple of weeks for me. I took some time off this week to make it up. While I did, my new computer arrived. It’s FAST. And QUIET. Playing games is extra fun now. 🙂
On the ‘down’ side, I had a root canal on Thursday. My first.
(‘squick’ warning under the cut)
Many people I’ve talked to in and out of the blogosphere are telling me they are so glad to see 2011 come to an end. Apparently 2010 was a dreadful year, but 2011 wasn’t a whole lot better.
How they feel about 2012 is a mixed bag.
and (often) my body dance. This is my new CD compilation.
Enjoy (and, play it LOUD.)
Today I am cancer free for two years.
I’ve said this before and it continues to be true: I am, in many ways, healthier than I was in my 20s. (Mentally, for sure.) Although I look like a blue meanie and my cholesterol level is too high :-(, I am exercising regularly (being back at Muay Thai is a fabulous feeling!) and eating much better than I was.
Most importantly: I’m smoke free for two years as well.
In our last full moon ritual, I reminded us all that the body is constantly renewing and recreating itself , based on nothing more than the mind. Changing one’s image, manifesting the healthy body that is our birthright, that is a magickal task for a lifetime. At least, it is for me.
So, yay me. *clink* Here’s to three more years.
(This was a draft of a post I never finished back in February 2010. I *think* its a reference to our Ashland trip)
We were going to have a lot of left-overs when we left, and I hated to let them become science experiments. So I decided to make a torta, which is a kind of baked dough-enclosed sandwich, from the same people who gave us the calzone.
It took a lot longer than I expected. (I didn’t read the recipe through before starting.)
The dough took a day (make dough, kill the processor, finish making by hand, let sit overnight). The fillings needed to be recombined and added to other ingredients, then cooled. I took spinach, sauteed it with onion and garlic, and added roasted artichoke hearts. To ricotta cheese, I added 2 eggs. The smoked ham I simply chopped fine, Provolone cheese rounded it out.
I layered the ingredients with half of the the egg mixture first, then half the provolone, half the spinach and all of the ham, then the remaining spinach, cheese, ending with the egg mixture. Cover with more dough, seal. Let sit in ‘fridge overnight. Bake at 375. Cool to eat.
This produces a dense, layered, pastry-enclosed and very tasty meal. It’s pretty rich, and wanted a salad or fruit to accompany it. But we made it into a nice meal in our room the first night we traveled.
Peter Gabriel, Games without Frontiers (Uncensored)
“Don’t delude yourself. The minute you set foot upon the path of witchcraft, a call rings out in the unseen world announcing the fact of your arrival.”
-Paul Huson
In July of each year since 1997 I participate in an online class, the Art of Ritual. The first year I was a student, now I’m an instructor. This is a witchcraft 101 class, complete with rituals and mentoring.
Each year, the students start out eager and fresh. Each year their lives change. Each year I watch them be changed by the simple act of accepting magick into their life.
Some try to deny the changes, to stop them from happening. Those students have trouble, they struggle.
Others embrace the changes and I watch them blossom and grow.
Magick — whether you spell it with a k or not — is not easy. It requires a high level of self-knowledge and a willingness to accept that the Gods have tasks They want you to do.
This is the season of the witch, a time of transformation. I feel the tide of the harvest calming as we draw closer to the dreaming time.
What magick will you manifest?
The question asked, as always: What will the coming year bring?
Covering: Page of Cups: The essence of water behaving as earth, such as a wellspring: An unexpected new relationship that is playful and spontaneous. A romantic soul who embraces compassion and imagination with childlike joy. Gentle reflections on love, spirituality, and the importance of personal relationships in business and material affairs. May herald the birth of a child.
How we both found rock n roll . . .
Styx.
As unlikely a gateway band as they are, both J and I didn’t deliberately listen to anything but ‘soft pop’ until we heard Styx. This song, “Renegade” was the one I remember hearing first; J. thinks “Lady” (or it may have been “Crystal Ball”) was his entree.
From there on, we were drawn deeper into the multiplicity of the rock n’ roll genre.
Thank you, profoundly, Styx.
On Wednesday afternoon my grandmother (mother’s mother) died. She has been dwindling for more than a month now, so it wasn’t unexpected, just (as death always is) a surprise. My mother was there, singing songs to her (Angel Band, apparently) and was able to witness the moment. It was quiet and peaceful.