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Check Out what Seanan_McGuire wrote!

I particularly like this:

After experimenting with several pomegranates from a neighbor's tree, I decided that Demeter was sort of dumb if she thought Persephone didn't want to stay in the Underworld. Nobody goes "Hmmm, I'm hungry, I think I'm going to eat a fruit that comes with a padlock." Hungry people eat dates, apples, grapes, and other easy-access fruits. Determined people eat pomegranates.

I *like* the story where it's not rape and abduction, but informed consent and a young woman growing up and finding her own way.

Also: Dark chocolate-pomegranate cookies sound gooooooooooooooood. :-D

Question:

Does the direction "northwest" (or north, or west, for that matter) have any significance in South-Indian Hinduism or Santeria?

Suggestions for google-searches I might try for this would also be appreciated as I seem to be having Google Fail today.

I've been thinking about Altar space.

Wondering if, perhaps, I should set up small altars to my various deities in different parts of the apartment. One for Mattaer over the stove (there's wall-space for a little shelf there, if I can find one). One for Mitzu in the bedroom. One for Maia, though I'm not sure where -- maybe in the bedroom again, or maybe at the writing station. One for Misha in the Plant Corner. One for Makkaa in the entrance way (for the threshold). If nothing else, it would spread the nick-nacks and candles out a little. ;-)
Not sure where I'll put the ancestor shrine.

I know I've got one "nick-nack" shelf that might do the trick (for Makkaa or the Ancestors -- it was made by one of them, after all).

I'll have to poke around and see what I can come up with. :-)

So I got up at 7am.

This is after going to bed at something a little past midnight.

Yesterday was pretty damn awesome. :-)

I spent the day hanging out with Raynedaze and JuniorCrone (and Invokation, and Dominic and, later, also with Commodorified and a charming selection of other people I hadn't met before)

Morning was spent sitting in the sun, waiting for the Sassy Bead to open (only to be disappointed by their lack of 5mm sodalite balls - alas), and then hitting U of O for day-registration at Gaia Gathering (had the distressing discovery that, yes, the property taxes have come out of the account - yikes - I'm still getting used to this thing where one paycheque a month goes to Paul. Not complaining. This is as it should be. But I'm used to having that extra $350 in the account and now it's not there. Which means I get down to the wire a little faster than I expect to. Blast it. Hopefully I'll have the hang of it by the time June roles around).

Went to JuniorCrone's panel about francophone Paganism - which was pretty awesome. Lots of stuff I didn't know, but also stuff I was vaguely familiar with. Was able to keep up (more or less) without the help of Lucie's translation (phew!), but it still helped[1]. :-)

Then we went and got lunch. (Raynedaze, JuniorCrone and I went to the loblaws and got pitas, hummus, baby tomatoes, and a wodge of other tasty things, and carted it all back to the Hospitality Suite).

Our lunch actually lasted through half the afternoon - we missed the beginning of the Goddess Experiential panel by ten minutes, so we just decided to hang out, chat with people, and keep enjoying our lunch.
It was a good time. And relaxing. And it gave us a chance to see the vendor's room (top floor). Which was nice. :-)
I got a set of ten, cup-less beeswax tea lights (for $10), which I thought was quite acceptable. :-) (I feel quite proud of this, actually. Like I've completed the first step of Mission: No More Paraffin Candles, or something. It gives me that warm, "I did something right" feeling. Which is nice).

Also: Ms. Raynedaze gave me a sweet, sweet compliment about my poetry. Which was wonderful to hear and actually made my day. (Thank you, sweetie!) :-D
Seriously. It was all I could do not to get all misty-eyed and say "You mean it? You really like what I write?"
It meant a lot to me to hear that. :-)

It also meant a lot (weirdly) to hear JuniorCrone and Invokation bickering. Because it reminded me that I'm not the only one who has Tense Moments with my spouse. So thank you for that. :-)


Anyway. Uhm... The rest of the Conference was spent at the "Pagans and Our World" panel (featuring Shelley, among others).
I confess, it was kind of nifty - if a bit unfamiliar after this much time - to listen to people speaking the Official Jargon of the Academy again. :-)

The section by Bithor, on Queering Our Magic, was less about specifically 'queer' (in the glbtqetc sense) and more about sex radicalism (with some degree of gender fluidity thrown in there for good measure), but it was still pretty cool. :-)
What I got out of it: The old deities are patrons of (and incarnated in) sex and death, creation, transformation, destruction, the whole bit. When you do spell-craft, when you Revel, when you interact with these deities, or act *for* them (or whatever), when you enact transformation/formation of some kind, the roots of those actions are fucking.
In the woods, specifically. ;-)
It was good. It was something I needed to hear. :-)
Hurrah. :-)


After the conference, I went back to Raynedaze's place, where we picked up paint.
The idea was (originally) to prime and paint her new place (probably not all in one day, but you never know, and any little bit helps).
However.
There was socializing. And I had my first ever bubble tea (although it was, in fact, a bubble latte). What an interesting experience. I confess, I forewent the tapioca balls, but still.

There was not, not surprisingly, a whole lot of painting (or any, for that matter) getting done. There was, instead, noodle soup.
China Town is wonderful, that way. Cheap and plentiful food a-go-go. (And Commodorified very kindly covered the bills for me, because she is a sweetheart - Thank you. :-)

I gotta say, it's a weird feeling to be walking around with something like $30 in your purse and knowing that you can't actually *use* any of it because it's already budgeted out for other stuff. :-P I'm used to that kind of cash being left in my bank account where it's harder to get at. :-\
I will have to feed her at some point. (Not that I mind that in the slightest. ;-)

JuniorCrone - who was suffering from a bitch of a sinus headache, by the way (Ottawa is not good for her health, it is too damn damp for her here) - was kind enough to drive me home (at around 11pm). She is marvelous.
(And so is Invokation, for eating his own knees in the name of giving me leg-room. ;-)


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, that was my night and day. :-)

It was lovely. :-)

Today: We move furniture. (Oh, gods... give us strength, patience, and a lot of good luck!)


- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)


[1] This is me: You know that thing where, when you hear people speaking with accents that sound ESL, and you slow down your speech and raise your voice, and they get horribly insulted because you're talking to them like they're idiots? Talk to me like I'm an idiot. It will help me catch all the words and, as such, be able to understand you better.

So, I've been thinking...

I must confess to a certain amount of nervousness about this, but anyway...

"Why Are We Here?"


I have this sort of jumbled bunch of thoughts in my head. Thoughts about Gaia - as in Earth as a single, enormous organism - and the human ability to invent fiction[1].

What was it... Eudaimonaea? (I've probably spelled that wrong - or used the wrong term entirely)... "The purpose of human beings is to be happy"? You know, that one. :-)


Anyway... see, I can't help thinking that (maybe I've been listening to Agent Smith too much here, who knows) - probably - there's a reason for various critters to evolve. At least if the whole Gaia thing is accurate (which I think it is), then there's a Planetorganism-ic reason for said critters to evolve to do what they do.

Birch trees have a phytochemical in them that helps things compost faster. And they are short-lived trees and drop branches the way Nanny Ogg drops double entendres. And they grow in scrub-land that's transitioning from meadow into forest.
Birch trees are *for* preparing the land to support the long-lived trees of a forest (which, obviously, eventually support themselves, but something's gotta be there for them to get their start, right?)

Anyway.

So, I figure if *every* organism within the planetorganism of Gaia has some sort of purpose... I wonder what ours is.
As humans.

And I (get very full of myself, as a human) and start thinking, "Well, we've got these great big brains..."
See, I figure... we're either the worst (or most effective?) malthusian check known to Malthus, or we're for something else (and probably screwing it up).


See, back in 2006, I wrote my first Nano novel. (No, really, this is related). And I wrote a story about a human who becomes the host for the spirit of the land - that being the land in and around what's known as "Ottawa"[2]. This particular spirit required a human host because a human can go "I am" (I am the dark behind my eyes -- to paraphrase Terry Pratchett) and be self-aware over a period of time that is longer than "now"[3].


Anyway, what I'm getting at is that maybe humans are supposed to provide Gaia with some sense of self-awareness.


Which is, I realize, potentially a very, very stupid idea indeed. Or maybe we're not the only creature that does this (although that would beg the question "Why Are We Here?" all over again). Or maybe I just took "Genisis" a little too thoroughly to heart, or something...


But, anyway, that's the idea I'm playing with. :-)


Off to go read more Tamora Pierce. :-)


- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)


[1] I suspect that crows and other corvids can invent fiction, too. But maybe that's just me. ;-) (They can't all be talking about the weather when they congregate in the hundred, now can they?)
[2] Don't ask me how that works. I abandoned the story some time last January because it had too many unsolvable plot holes.
[3] This, itself, may be another plot hole. I suspect we aren't the only creatures that do this. Elephants, for example, (and possibly cats) seem quite capable of doing so as well.

Today I have Schola.

I am still tired.

You know that feeling where you're exhausted and you don't want to make the effort to be social, but you know if you do that too often, you'll actually end up afraid of being social?
I'm starting to get that -- partly because the weather's turned mucky again and it's getting colder (and I'm always a bit reticent to go out in the cold).

<*shrug*>


In other news: Maxys Staffing called. They're submitting my resume to this group in Vanier that needs someone to fill a 20-week contract[1] for re-formatting manuals in Word. (I suspect I could do this in my sleep). It pays better than Cleo and has a flexible start-date.
So we'll see what comes of that. :-)
Think good job-thoughts for me, please. :-)


Last night was Goddess Salon. We had a good time. :-) I've got a page of notes about What We Want To Do for the Gaia Gathering this coming May, which I need to type up and get out to the Salon group, and then send off to Lucie. :-)

Aaaaaaaaand I have to do a house blessing. I may tweak it so that it's a kitchen blessing. That way, I can use the stove-hood fan instead of having to open my windows to the cold-and-clammy.
But that's just me.

Anyway. Must get dressed and eat breakfast. :-)


- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)


[1] 20 weeks is... just under 5 months, I think. The increase in salary combined with the increase in hours - it's full-time, rather than part-time - would actually work out to about double what I'm making per week right now. Which, I think, would be excellent. Even keeping in mind the need to develop a savings-account (PC, most likely), and get rid of my credit-card debt as quickly as possible, this would still make things *way* easier for us.

So, tonight I'm trying my hand at the calling and casting for the Around the Goddess Beltaine ritual.

I have a big loaf of bread baked up, and some extra matches (and bug repelant) in my bag. I just need to dig up the masking tape, and I'm good to go.

(Must leave in 10 minutes! Eep! Time to get hunting!)

Happy Spring everybody! :-D


- TTFN,
- Amazon.

Goddess Book Club was awesome! :-)

I like having it at my house. It's cozy, and I'm already home at the end of it. Yay! :-)


Paul and I are going to see Sock 'n' Buskin's performance of "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" on Saturday (at 7pm, although I should double-check the timing). It sounds like a whole lot of fun. (I need to find somewhere for us to grab dinner -- ideally not Mike's Place -- Any suggestions? :-)


In other news: Heather Dale is comign to Ottawa!

Date: Dec 1st, 2006 (a week from Friday)
Time: 8pm.
Where: 509 Arts building, U of O (corner of Laurier and the Transit Way, Laurier bus stop)
Price: $10 (with student ID), $15 (for everyone else).

If you like mediaeval music, christmas[1] music, or mediaeval-inspired modern songs, come and have a listen. :-)

Side note: There will be food! :-)


In other news, I'm at 35,456 words. Yay! :-) 1825 to do today, and I'll be right where I want to be. (2,000 and I'll be even happier. ;-)


And, in still other news, I've put together a couple of paper bags worth of clothes and soap to take down to The Well. They may be getting some plates and such-like later, as well. :-)


My gods, I'm tired.


- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)


[1] Mediaeval music, right? There will be a lot of christian material. She's not out to piss anyone off, it's just the genre she does.