Short report because my rearend is worn out and still not recovered from so much time in the car and sitting with various relatives. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED BEING HOME! I needed it. I got lots of hugs and lots of time to soak in my family whom I dearly love. I was just always on guard with the ol bod. It seems to be taking forever for me to get straightened out. Of course, patience is not my long suit, so 'yesterday' wouldn't have been soon enough.

Gift cards and cash were popular gifts this year and I'm glad of it. I had explained to everyone that my entire wardrobe is too baggy and in need of replacement but I haven't a clue what sizes I need right now. They all came through, which means I'll have to go shopping soon. I loved all the comments I got about my smaller self. I did it for me, but it's nice to hear from others.

I hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas or whatever version of the holiday you celebrate. I also wish for you and yours a very enjoyable 2006.

Trying to get all my Christmas ducks in a row before we hit the road for holiday break. Despite a perturbing bank glitch, my online shopping has been successful. Good thing. I have been in no condition to traipse through brick and mortar stores, or heaven forbid, a mall. ew

Looking forward to being Home, especially since I missed Thanksgiving. Can't say I'm looking forward to the trip itself. Ten to twelve hours in a car could be all too interesting for me still. We shall see how that goes. I have a few more days of healing twixt now and then.

FYI, planning to be on the road on Tuesday the 20th, then soaking in family for a week. Refillin' the well, dontcha know, and I really need it. Coming back in this direction on Monday the 26th.

Shortly thereafter, the energy focus goes more earnestly into getting spouse employed without us having to move. Hear that, Universe? Yes, I'm asking, directly and emphatically. Thank you.

I'm sure there will come a day when I can say, "Hmmm, I remember having some pretty ugly trouble that time..." I look forward to it. I'm ready for the shifting symptoms to go away and normalcy to kick in, although it might take a while for me to even recognize it. I'm absolutely better. I'm still reaching for completely healed, as in able to sit, stand, walk, rest, or even just Be... without thinking about this thing. It's a very persistent annoyance really. Granted, it started out as significantly more pain and misery, but... I am tired of it, okay?

Ah well, two steps forward, one step back... is still progress.

Guess what? I've felt mostly human, most of the day today! YES! We are WINNING this mo fo battle, we are indeed, yes yes yessssss. I am grateful. whew I'm ready to be OVER this. *nodnodnodnod*

Today was a good day for me, best so far. Slow progress, but progress. I'll take it.

Spouse's job prospects are all in flux. The holidays and the slow winter season in the business are in the way. We wouldn't be at all surprised if nothing really happens until after the first of the year, but we should be okay for a few months financially. It's a little annoying that Christmas expenses are in the middle of it, but hey, there's always something, and Christmas with the family is an overall bonus ;)

Ironically, due to some possible turns in the job thing, Spouse could end up working right back at the same place doing the same thing but for different owners. There's a possible buyout in progress and if the new owners were smart, they'd get Spouse right back in there to continue the progress he was making before he was pulled due to mismanagement of the other parts of the organization and their cash-crisis consolidation. (Sorry so cryptic, but can't really get more into it publically, ya know.) Quite weird really that they pulled the one guy out of the one entity that was making money, but sometimes people do strange things, especially when under the wheel.

Anyway, that's the scenario we're hoping for -- buyout goes through, they put Spouse back, and we get to carry on! We really Really REALLY do not want to move. We love it right here where we are.

All 'nergies, hoodoo boogity machinations, well-wishes and good thoughts are most assuredly welcomed and much appreciated.

A college class was told to write a short story in as few words as possible. The instructions were: The short story must contain the following three things...
1) Religion
2) Sexuality
3) Mystery
This is the only A+ short story in the entire class:
"Good God, I'm pregnant; I wonder who did it."

I'm tired. But mending. I think. Ultimately.

A post just for Em. Yes, I needed mouth-to-mouth, but fortunately, Spouse was handy *weg* Welcome back to blogworld. 'Bout freakin time, woman. I had stopped checking. Heard it from your mircspouse ;)

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! Next year is their 50th!

I am feeling much MUCH better. Talked to Mom about why I wasn't coming home for T-day. I wasn't looking forward to that phone call, afraid of worrying her and all, but she took it well. After Dad's trouble a while back, other things don't seem so bad.

I really wanted to see Grandma too. Had planned to spend a night at her house. I will see her at Christmas. She's done a 'little cooking'... meatloaf, noodles, pies, cakes, etc. Still a damned amazing woman. 94 years young.

Now that my body is returning to normal, I think I might make it to 49. hehe

Happy Thanksgiving to all my beloved friends, family... aw heck... the world ;)

Unpleasant Week. Thursday night, I was in the E/R. I've been having some difficulties for months, trying to track down the problem(s) and self-medicate and all that... to no avail. I finally surrendered. Before panic sets in, it's not really serious, just ugly to live through. TMI: I thought I had chronic diarrhea with unknown cause. In truth, I was full of shit and got xrays to prove it. Literally, my entire colon was full, one end to the other. So now I am finally, slowly, and to be honest, painfully, moving 5-6 ft of golf balls... well, I told you, TMI. I will not be a happy camper for some time, on top of not being a happy camper for a long time already, and so on.

Incidental to this, but in my opinion, related to it, my BP was also very ugly. This has been a very stressful thing for months and will be stressful until it's cleared up. SO.... I am also on BP med, low grade, at least for now. Beats stroking out.

What else? Oh, yes. My spouse, whom I love dearly... more than ever... as he has been an immense comfort and help during my trials.... Well... he came home this evening and gently told me he is once again unemployed. (Yes, we are glad I got on the BP meds, I may need them more than the doc knew when prescribed.)

At the moment, I am either too focused on the more immediate personal physical hardship, or I'm in denial, or I just know that we've been here before and we made it and... what happens will happen. Spouse is in an industry which is famous for these kinds of changes. This had nothing to do with his performance. It's just the nature of the beast which is subject to the whims of the owners who try to wrangle it.

I was supposed to go Home to Lex for Thanksgiving. I won't now. I can't do what I need to do anywhere but here in my own home. That's an added bit that does not really help, but can't be helped. Good news is, I should be in fine shape by Christmas and if spouse is still free, we can stay a while.

Anyway, that catches you up with my uncomfortable world at the moment. All good thoughts appreciated.

I hope t'hell your life is going better than mine at the moment. Blessings.

SPECIAL BULLETIN! ...dit..ditdit...ditditdit..dit... The Jif dad who folds his peanut butter sandwich is the Propane dude!    just one of many little tidbits from the "I Need A Life" files....

Boundaries. There is great freedom in recognizing your boundaries. Sounds contradictory, doesn't it? We think of boundaries as fences or walls to confine us, or lines we're supposed to color within. We have a right to breach these when we feel urged to. These sorts of boundaries are usually set by the group or community we're in. We can choose to move them or break them. We have that power because we are individuals and each is free to make their own choices, whether those choices are echoed or disdained by others.

However, there are legitimate personal boundaries which we often do not honor and this can be a major cause of stress, guilt and remorse. Many times we can't determine where these boundaries are or we don't stop to consider where a boundary lies and why we have placed it there.

Your personal boundaries are not restrictions, merely recognition of where your responsibility and effectiveness begin and end. Some of us tend to feel that we should do everything for everyone. We are definitely in need of boundaries. We know, from logic and experience, that we cannot really do everything for everyone. When we try, we get exhausted, frustrated, disappointed in ourselves or others. It isn't healthy, yet we continue to try to do it. We often extend ourselves far beyond any reasonable, practical boundaries.

Let's quit it.

To help determine where your current boundaries are, pay attention to what irks you, what makes you feel like a servant, or tugs at your heart in a hurtful way. Notice instances when you feel that your effort is being wasted or taken for granted. These are cues. Listen to your own feelings and determine why you're working so hard at these things and getting nowhere or not getting the results you expect.

Granted, there are times when our endeavors are simply not easy. How many times must a mother tell her child, "Hang up your coat. Hang up your coat. Hang up your coat..." until the message sticks? That's something you have to work out. Where is your limit on these efforts? Are you taking care to protect yourself from sheer exhaustion by evaluating what you are doing, why, and even how? If you feel you are treading the same ground over and over again, that nothing changes despite your efforts, you may need to change your angle of attack. (Is the coat rack in a convenient place? Do you often pick up the coat yourself just to keep from having to say it one more time? What does this tell the child?...etc)

Recognize that many people are not sensitive to subtle boundary cues. They will push until you tell them they've crossed the line. If you do not establish that line, they reasonably assume that you to not have one. Do you see? Don't let the others in your life decide how far is too far. They may not be aware that you feel pushed to a breaking point. YOU must tell them, and preferrably long before the break actually occurs. Furthermore, words are sometimes not enough. You must demonstrate with your actions. If you 'give in', aren't you resetting your boundary? You may not think so, but others will perhaps read it that way. Reluctance may or may not indicate a boundary is nearby, but refusal is the actual line which others usually read.

Be aware of the smaller crunches and stings. Bring them up for discussion before you're at wit's end. This way you can work out reasonable compromises or at least alert the other(s) that you DO have boundaries and you would like to establish them so you can truly enjoy their company and your own. This applies to friends, workmates, spouses, children, relatives... every single person in your life. Some of us can be very sensitive to the boundaries of others and that's terrific, but unless you establish your own, you become nothing more than a bundle of what everyone else wants, needs, and expects. You lose YOU, because you have let your boundaries be overrun by all others.

Scientifically, do you know what happens when an object is squeezed down so tightly that it becomes a single point? It explodes. Does this sound familiar? You feel pressured and burdened until you have lost almost all of yourself and then finally burst outward, emotionally and/or violently, in response. Sure, people may give you a wide berth for a while, but gradually they seem to start in on you again? This means they cannot read your boundaries. What you've shown them is that you apparently have none until they hit that trip wire which causes the explosion. Only then have you let them see your limit.

Find your boundaries or set them for yourself. Share them while you are calm and the 'offense' is rather small. Don't let offenses stockpile and crush you until you explode all over the people you love, or demolish yourself.

PS - This is a slightly modified version of an article I wrote for the Venusian Voice area of my website Quicksilver but boundaries really apply to everyone. We have a lot to learn.

PPS - Don't bitch about the length of this blog. I gave ya'll a couple of quickies. I was due! hehe

Ya know, Pat Robertson's god must have some pretty serious self-esteem problems. *nodnod*

Yes, E-Oh, we're both ENFP. We have many similarities. It's a wonder we're not related. ;) I guess we are, just not in the same family tree, strictly speaking.

BTW, I tried to leave a comment on your Silence post, but I had trouble with it. I just wanted to say that yes, Silence is Golden. It's a rare commodity these days, precious and useful for finding one's sanity in the midst of chaos ;) In some circles we call it meditation. Highly recommended to just sit and clear the mind.

The Temperaments, yes. Fortunately, Shroomy, I've already taken that quiz a few times! :P I'm ENFP (Extrovert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving) ... which translates as Idealist(NF), Champion(ENFP).

Excerpt from Keirsey.com
IDEALISTS can become highly skilled in diplomatic integration. Their most practiced and developed intelligent operations are usually teaching and counseling, or conferring and tutoring. They have an instinct for interpersonal integration, learn ethics with ever increasing zeal, sometimes become diplomatic leaders, and often speak interpretively and metaphorically of the abstract world of their imagination.

They are proud of themselves in the degree they are empathic in action, respect themselves in the degree they are benevolent, and feel confident of themselves in the degree they are authentic. Idealist types search for their unique identity, hunger for deep and meaningful relationships, wish for a little romance each day, trust their intuitive feelings implicitly, aspire for profundity. Idealists do not abound, being as few as 8% and nor more than 10% of the population.

For CHAMPIONS, nothing occurs which does not have some deep ethical significance, and this, coupled with their uncanny sense of the motivations of others, gives them a talent for seeing life as an exciting drama, pregnant with possibilities for both good and evil. This type is found in only about 3% of the general population, but they have great influence because of their extraordinary impact on others.

Champions are inclined to go everywhere and look into everything that has to do with the advance of good and the retreat of evil in the world. They are eager to relate the stories they've uncovered, hoping to disclose the "truth" of people and issues, and to advocate causes. Champions strive toward a kind of spontaneous personal authenticity, and this intention always to "be themselves" is usually communicated nonverbally to others, who find it quite attractive.... etc and so on...

I love my parents, my grandparents, all the people who contributed to who I am today. For the most part, I'm quite pleased with the legacy passed on to me. However, there are a few things I would have chosen not to inherit. A particular one came to mind this evening. I have apparently inherited my grandfather's 'gift' for finding the odd pit in the cherry pie filling, the one stem in a batch of greenbeans, the wee wad of silk that escaped into a can of corn, the tough bit of rind clinging to peeled tomatoes... I'm not sure what to make of it. I suppose if this is the bulk of back luck in my life, I am truly blessed, and I'll just chew carefully and keep spitting discreetly.

I'd say the Fall colors here are at their peak right
about now. And what a gorgeous palette it is too.

One of the many beautiful views from my deck.

Yes yes, Too much time on my hands *ticktick*ticktick*ticktick* Too much time on my--- You know, concerning spam ala prose, I am so enamoured with the idea, at least temporarily, that I have created a new blog, The Rolex Diaries ( http://unsolicitedjournal.blogspot.com/ ). I started it with Sage Bart's entry, but more to follow.
Update: *giggle* These are fun. It's like a modern version of beatniks spouting half-assed poetry in dark smoke-filled coffee houses. They called it avant-garde. Is that french for 'crap'?

New Hobby - Spam Watching? Since it seems impossible to prevent the waves of spam. Maybe I'll just turn it into a hobby. It's an energy-conversion thing. I can allow it to annoy me or make a game of it. I haven't determined the details of the game yet, but maybe there's a way to use the latest offerings from the Internidiots to have some fun? I dunno. I'll let it simmer on the back burner for a bit.

Unscientific list of common Spam sightings: remote control cars; eyeball webcams; drug plugs - viagra, cialis, xanax, valium; penis enlargement; breast enhancement; lonely hearts club date-by-jpg or porn site; petroleum stocks; and the latest on my Spam Watch list... a watch. Yes, a great deal on a Rolex, which I'm sure is the genuine article. Oh yeah. *nodnod* Absolutely.

I've noticed changing trends in spam formats. Spammers began with English and the standard alphabet, then of course they learned to spell with characters so a scan for 'viagra' is useless when the word is decorated into something only human-readable, like '\/i@gr&' or such. They've actually tried prose but it reads as if composed by the proverbial Shakespearean monkeys.

Lately they're avoiding text scans by posting jpg ads. These are often accompanied by prose-like text dumps. Not at all sure about the purpose for including that drivel, but sometimes it can be an interesting read. Example follows. Okay so I tweaked it and added my own punctuation, since the prose generators seem to be missing those characters. I guess they used them all up reconfiguring drug names?

Hmmm... Maybe this could be the game, turning the randomly generated garble into something... nearly... almost... decipherable?

From Bart's journal, perhaps, whomever Bart is...
     I dreamed of our ancient friendship until the early morning. How impossible I found it when I thought of her afterwards, to separate her from this look or that and walking about arm-in-arm the livelong day. Annie, thus addressed, made reply, "You are very well inward a firm fellow, a fine firm fellow, with a will of your own three times a week and faithful." It was only a dream, but upon waking I vowed to see her.
     I went to Conspirator first that I might take leave, given all I had for lawful permission to get down and thrash him and let all take care of the most wonderful woman in the world. Thus restored the sunshine to his face.
     "Everyone who knows you consults with you and is guided by you, Bart," the Conspirator said.
     "Come, it's not fair to abuse my confidence," I answered, reddening at the recollection.
     "Oh, that was as a child or a schoolboy," said he, laughing in his turn. "Besides, there's the Memorial."
     "Oh, certainly," said I in a hurry, "I intend, and more worthy altogether than anyone I have ever seen here, to rise up before I give my consent."
     The Memorial notion was then dismissed and other topics occupied us. He remained, so seldom raising his eyes unless to clap me on the shoulder again. "You are a very daisy that had long grown naturally out of our familiar relations begun as mere children."
     "But Harlan, you are going through the coachman Pasquale," I said condescendingly. I knew him and so did Mrs. Strong. They sang together and played duets together and we had quite given all I had for lawful permission to get down and thrash him and let all take care for anything.
     "True," he gave me only one last nod and a whisper, "If only I could have been inspired with a knowledge of the science of navigation."

It reads somewhat victorian and does rather pique one's curiosity, doesn' it? Wonder what those passages might do to speed readers? *weg* I don't know about you, but I think there's something hinky going on between Bart and Harlan the Conspirator, despite Bart's feelings for Annie. Just a wee bit of jealousy there concerning Pasquale, don't you think? But then maybe Harlan only uses him for his navigational skills?

(I know, I know... too much time on my hands. hehe But hey, you're taking time to read me, so.... :P )

PS - HA! There's a reason it sounds victorian. At least one passage is from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield --- "When we came at last within a stage of London and passed the veritable Salem House where Mr. Creakle had laid about him with a heavy hand, I would have given all I had for lawful permission to get down and thrash him and let all the boys out like so many caged sparrows."

This crap works! I know you've seen the annoying OxyClean commercials. They drone on and on throughout the broadcast schedule. I've done my best to ignore them, but after trying every other household cleaner on spouse's shower... well... I ordered some Miracle Foam. What the heck? I've already scrubbed and foamed and fumed. Why not try another 'miracle'? Honestly, it's not that spouse is an unusually dirty person, but for some reason his shower stall always looks like he's been working on cars instead of just selling them. Part of the problem is the texture of the shower floor. It's a very safe non-skid surface, but the same tiny nooks and crannies that keep you on your feet also love to trap gunk. Yuck.

So anyway, my 'miracle' arrived today and I tried it. WOW! Yes, I had to scrub a little but most of it was just waiting for the soggy foamy stuff to do its work. And AND it smells good, like oranges... and AND I stripped naked and stood in the stuff while using their scrubber sponge -without gloves- to clean the whole shower stall, including the frosted glass and the stainless steel door frame and water controls. So now it's all clean and bright and sparkly.

Again, I say, this crap works! Plus I could breathe while using it and in fact the whole house smells like fresh oranges right now.

I never thought I'd get this excited about cleaning. Now I know I'm hormonal. geez

Moods include swings, dontcha know. I'm in one. I'll be glad when I'm out again. It's grating, even on my own nerves. bleh

Media Gripe #143: Irks me when news people use emphasis to try to shape opinion instead of just reporting it. For example, just caught a report of a CNN poll which asked if Global Warming is a cause for the increase in the number of hurricanes and their intensity this season. Here's an attempt to relay the emphasis the reporter applied while reading the poll results:

MORE THAN ONE THIRD believe Global Warming is a MAJOR CAUSE. Just under 30% believe it is a Partial Cause. One in three don't think it's a cause at all.

The initial impression from the reading made it sound like MOST people were convinced Global Warming is the culprit! Oh MY! But the numbers were almost evenly split: 36% Major, 26% Partial, 30% Not a Cause. Certainly 6% is not enough difference to shout one and let the other trail off into oblivion. Not sure what happened to the other 8%. Maybe they didn't want to participate, knowing that polls come under the heading of Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.

Cynical Remark #143: How long before some afflicted member of our free-speaking society claims that Florida was spared the hurricane horrors of New Orleans because mostly white people live there? or because it isn't full of gambling whoring sinners? or because only wealthy retired snowbirds live there? or because the Bush Brothers are in cahoots?

Notice I didn't say 'free-thinking' society.

Elsewhere on the Darwin scale, there's footage of a speedo-clad nit-brain out dancing in the surf in the dark of night while Wilma barreled through.

Remind me again how long we have been evolving from pond scum?

The Incredible Eyelid Show. I have this thing. I wonder if anyone else has it. Maybe someone will stumble onto this note and say, "Me too!"

Sometimes I sit with my eyes closed, fully awake, but resting my eyes or my mind by closing off visible reality. When I do, I still see things. Most of the time it's that funky 'negative' image of whatever I had been seeing with my eyes open. You know how that is, right? White is black, blue is yellow, red is green. All the colorful three dimensional detail gets turned into blocks of glowing but washed out color or black shadow. Once my retinal memory gets cleared out, I'm left with a mostly black screen that's sort of grainy, with the occasional blip or spark popping here and there.

But sometimes... I see other things, interesting things, bizarre and fascinating things. The best images seem to appear when I'm just waking up. Kinda fun to groggily sit and watch the show while I'm, um, doing what one does first thing in the morning after a long sleep ;) The images playing in the vast dark expanse under my closed eyelids are like geometric fantasies in motion.

There's one recurring image which I find quite delightful. It's like a lacy mandala which covers almost the whole 'screen'. Imagine a rainbow doily in a very delicate weave. The image is... wait, maybe I can sort of draw this one.

Yeah, something like that. But it's more intricate with very crisp detail. Sometimes it slowly spins. Sometimes it seems to 'breathe', with the inner pattern coming out of the center and spreading out toward the edges while the outer portion seems to recede and emerge once again from within the center.

Strange, eh? But mesmerizing to watch... with my eyes closed :)

Okay, so like, which plague are we on? I lost track. Oh wait... Wolf Blitzer is interviewing Pat Robertson on CNN. I'm sure he will enlighten us on the progress of God's Wrath. *eyeroll* I dunno 'bout you, but I just couldn't respect a deity who throws such temper tantrums. Puleeeeze...

Obviously Pakistan 10/8 is a 'where and when.' I wouldn't have thought that area would be on our watch. Based on the alignment, it looks like our focus is on the US, but ya never know. Whomever might be working that area should not feel they've failed. For all we know, the 7.6 mag followed by more than a dozen 5.0+ could have been a series of 9.0 or higher quakes.

I don't think this is the whole shakeup, even if all the external stress factors suddenly disappeared. Pakistan's experience may cause ripples to other tectonic plates. And of course, the other stress factors have not disappeared. We still have all those asteroids on a driveby.

One silver lining is that the Pakistan quakes were/are shallow. That's terrible for those people because surface quakes do more damage in the immediate area. But, it's better for the rest of the world because shallower quakes don't send shockwaves out with as much power as deep quakes. So, the ripples shouldn't be as strong. That may be an effect of the 'work' there too, greater good and all that.

It is additionally possible that the epicenter was 'moved.' Imagine if this had occurred in the Arabian Sea, then there might have been tsunami effects too, impacting even more countries and more people. Or imagine if the epicenter had been a bit east, in the heart of India (pop. 1 billion vs Pakistan pop. about a million and a half).

Watching to see what else may unfold.
10/10, 10:10am PT looms, Columbus Day, Columbia River, Juan de Fuca release, tsunamis, Mount St Helens release, Cascades rumble

You know, come to think of it... moving a thing like that, dampening it, and bringing it closer to the surface... well, that would take an awful lot of energy. Would be a great way to spend some of the excess from the Pacific Northwest though, eh?

Earth is having a block party. Didn't you get an invitation? Asteroids often whizz by us, usually one at a time and usually with a day or more to space them out. (Oo, a pun!) Most of them are pretty small and far enough away that there's no real threat of impact. These visitors are called NEOs (Near Earth Objects) and NASA's JPL tracks them.

Reckon I know a little more about what Xan and Ghost and I may be working at now, since I checked out the NEO Close Approach list. It showed 17 asteroids traveling in our immediate neighborhood from Oct 2 - Oct 11. Very high traffic. The biggest will come closest on the 9th, the next three in size will be closest on the 10th. Actually, to me it looks a lot like what I'd call a mongolian clusterf__k.

[For comparison: Highest number of close approach NEOs in a single month from 1981 through 2004 - 14 in November 2004. Yes, 14 for the whole month vs 17 within 10 days. (search criteria: H<=20, Nominal Distance <=0.2AU)]

Now none of the 17 are as big as Toutatis, nor will they pass as close. Individually, they wouldn't cause much disturbance at all, but like this, well... They're bound to have an effect on the Earth's EMF, crust, and possibly even ocean/air currents. Lots of extra pushing and pulling going on, erractically at that. Lots of little electromagnets playing around this big one where we live.

Gonna have to try to equalize the pools and spikes of energy, maybe open some gates and lay down pathways, ie make channels for it to overflow into so it doesn't build up in the already active dangerous places (Cascades, Pacific Northwest), or flow to other currently inactive, but potentially dangerous places (Yellowstone).

Yeah, I'd say it could get really interesting in the near future. Hard to guesstimate exactly what effects we'll get, and where, and when. We had a big hurricane season last year. Toutatis came closest on September 29 2004. The monster Indonesian quake happened on December 26 2004, and another on March 28 2005. So, the ripples could take a while. Remember, it's a rather big bowl of jello.

Duh, I just realized (remembered?) that all this increased geologic activity is probably related to asteroid Toutatis' passage at the end of September 2004.

As I noted here previously (Oct 1 2004), an asteroid doesn't actually have to hit us to have an impact, though science doesn't seem to realize that or isn't talking about it. My theory was that Toutatis would apply pressure on approach, disturb our EMF as we traveled together briefly on the same orbital plane, then as it pulled away we'd "see what happens when that applied pressure is relieved, ie, as the lid comes off the tapper kettle."

NASA JPL said at the time, "The September 29 approach is the closest in a century of any known asteroid at least as big as Toutatis." ... "Toutatis is, in fact, the biggest asteroid to come this close since astronomers have been watching them."

I believe the December 2004 quake in Indonesia and resulting tsunami were effects from Toutatis, as well as the echo in March 2005. I had not guesstimated how long the asteroid's effect would last. But, I see now that once you shake the jello bowl, it will wiggle for quite a while. In this case, the jello bowl is a big spinning spheroid filled with liquid iron, covered with a cracked crust, and enveloped in water and vapor currents.

Still not sure how long the wiggling will continue, but it's fairly obvious now that it will be measured in years.

I have to wonder... Would one more hurricane hitting southern Louisiana this season finally convince people that the Mississippi Delta is not a safe place to live? Or would they still move back and try to rebuild, so the next round can wash about a million people into the Gulf? What a waste of time, money, and a criminal waste of human life that would be.

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They’re not listening still
Perhaps they never will...

Once again, I hope I'm wrong.

I've been a little cryptic, now I guess I'm launching into full disclosure. Interpret my comments as clairvoyance or insanity, whichever you wish.

syn·chro·nic·i·ty - the coincidental occurrence of events that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality

All those geologic factors I said I'm watching are amounting to a heap of synchronicities for me. They have formed a picture, gradually, like an old polaroid shot that starts out foggy with only traces of an image but eventually becomes clear.

For me, the picture describes something that will try to happen in October, yes, this month. The latest synchronistic hit occurred this evening, when the Discovery Channel re-aired two programs, back to back -- Megaquake and Supervolcano.

Megaquake describes the potential for a megathrust earthquake, like the one that hit Indonesia, occurring on the Cascadia subduction zone, where the Juan de Fuca plate is sliding under the Pacific Northwest of the US. A large earthquake there would not only cause unprecedented quake damage, but also tsunami which would follow the quake onto the coastlines of Washington, Oregon and northern California... and... ripple across the Pacific to hit Hawaii, Japan, etc.

Supervolcano is a dramatization and commentary on a potential eruption of Yellowstone. This ancient volcano is currently a pulsing lava dome under the northwest corner of Wyoming. If it erupted, the lava and ash would not only devastate much of this continent, but change global climate for a long time to come.

Interesting that these two shows, one after the other, perfectly describe the scenario I have seen for October. I doubt the Discovery channel intended to link the two, other than joining the nationwide disaster focus spurred by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But, I see them as linked, and in fact, the one will indeed follow the other. I see the buildup of energy occurring along the coastline of the Pacific Northwest... being released... causing a megaquake and tsunami... AND... rippling westward through the continental shelf to stir and awaken the sleeping giant under Yellowstone.

Now some (most?) folks would say I'm a paranoid lunatic, watching too much TV and making too much of coincidences. That could be. In truth, I'd rather that were the case, but I cannot ignore what I am seeing.

Nor am I ready to really sound an alarm about all of this because I believe plans are in the works to mitigate the potential disaster. (And who would listen to an alarm I'd try to raise anyway? ;)

Those of you who know me, also know that Da Shroom will be taking a cruise this month to the Mexican Riviera. She will be in San Diego on October 7th, then sailing from there on October 8th down along Baja California and Mexico.

You may or may not know another friend of mine, whom I call Ghost, recently joined the Army Reserves and has been sent to Fort Dix NJ for training through the month of October.

If I draw a line between San Diego and Fort Dix NJ, that line passes right through my location here in the midwest. In fact, I am at the halfway point on that line.

Even if I believed in coincidence, which I don't, that alignment is too much for coincidence. I believe it is a purposeful alignment. I believe we will be lined up to help mitigate the potential disaster as described above.

The three of us have a rather special connection, which I won't detail right now because I'm writing a big enough volume already. But I will say that we have worked with Mother Earth before and it's looking like that exercise was merely practice for this.

I believe we will try to siphon off a significant amount of energy from the buildup at the Pacific Northwest and draw it southward through California, in a straight line to San Diego. There, Da Shroom will bend it and aim east toward Ghost at Fort Dix NJ. They've done this pitch-and-catch thing before. In the middle here, I will help keep the feed focused and properly directed. I may even do some conversion on the energy. It's something I'm geared to do. I'm also the 'lucky' one who gets to see these operations so we can be aware of them.

The main point of this operation is to reduce the disasterous effects in the Pacific Northwest, AND to keep that energy release from going east to wake up Yellowstone. I have no doubt there is some good use for the energy along the pathway and at the end of the trail on the east coast also, but I haven't seen that part of the picture clearly yet.

Honestly, if we do well, nothing will happen and I'll look like one of those chickynoodlehead alarmists I just berated. I'm okay with that because it means no one gets hurt or killed. But what I expect is that there will be some events, they'll just hopefully not add up to the worst case scenario.

Coconuts in Wyoming? (and misled EcoNazis in DC) - FoxNews.com, June 2004

I knew there was clear and concise data about this global warming crapola. I just had to hunt for it. Funny how the articles of truth get so deeply buried under more sensational news, like people whining from ignorance or trying to put the fear of God and combustion engines into folks' hearts.

I love Fox's characterization: "Though temperatures obviously rise due to natural causes during the summer, global-warming activists like to take advantage of this time to dramatize their cause."

Man, these alarmists (oh, activists, yeah) really like to skew the facts. No, 'skew' is not a strong enough word. They blow it all so far out of proportion that it's a wonder their hot air isn't affecting global climate. I'm not sure what the motivation is for EcoNazis. Might just be a combination of Chicken Little Syndrome and phenomenal arrogance? How ironic that such misguided chickens think humanity is powerful enough to make a dent in the natural processes of this planet.

Yes, we are experiencing global warming, but we are not causing it.

FACTS, chickynoodleheads, look at the FACTS:

About 95% of the greenhouse effect is due to water vapor, 99.999% of which is of natural origin. (Incidentally, we need the greenhouse effect, else we'd be popsicles. It's the supposed 'runaway' effect that is a problem. Too much of a good thing.)

The other 5% of the greenhouse effect is due to carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other miscellaneous gases.

Carbon dioxide, is responsible for roughly 3.6% of the greenhouse effect. About 97% of atmospheric carbon dioxide is natural; only about 3% is from human activity.

That means that only about 0.11% of the greenhouse effect (that is, 3% of 3.6%) is due to human releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Put another way, about 99.89% of the greenhouse effect has nothing to do with carbon-dioxide emissions from human activity.

Factoring in the other greenhouse gases, the total human contribution to the greenhouse effect is about 0.3%. In other words, about 99.7% of the greenhouse effect is due entirely to nature.

So, like, I really suck at math, but even I can see that it's not what we do, it's just how the planet is.

Yes, we should look for ways to reduce our use of fossil fuels, because 1) we're entirely too dependent on some hot heads in the Middle East as well as greedy oil barons in our own country and 2) while our CO2 production isn't hurting the planet, it's making us sick physically and financially, so it would be nice to find cleaner and cheaper ways to motor around.

Yes, cyclical changes are underway which are wreaking havoc with our weather and making it more hazardous to live on coastlines and in view of gorgeous [volcanic] mountains and on other desireable but seismically active terrains. But, shouting 'The sky is falling!" isn't going to change that. We have chosen where to live. If we want to continue living, we need to re-evaluate our choices.

BTW, to understand the 'Coconuts in Wyoming' reference, you'll have to read the FoxNews.com article. It's not really critical to the discussion, but it was an interesting headline. :)

Thankfully, Rita didn't get a chance to stall over Texarkana as originally forecast. A front from the west scattered it into a north-south line to be pushed off the east coast. So, it appears we dodged the Mississippi and Ohio valley flooding for now.

I'm still watching the climate and geologic factors. I wouldn't be surprised to see another major hurricane develop before the season ends officially in November.

Some potentiality is still brewing for around October 8th. I'm still not sure what, but part of me feels like I am 'bracing' for it (though not for me personally). The rest of me is simply sure that there will be (Earth) work to do at that time, and frankly, it's exciting to help with it.

Three independent sources have brought a new report to my attention concerning statistics on melting polar ice. In reference to the amount of ice: "In 2005, it's the lowest on record. We've watched it retreat year after year." "New satellite photos show that the ice pack has shrunk by 30% since 1978 ((when we started satellite monitoring)) and the melting is speeding up causing the warmest summer in 400 years." "With studies showing increasing hurricane intensity over the past 30 years linked to rising sea temperatures, and recent record heat waves in North America, a growing number of scientists say it's all interconnected." phht Yes, of course it's all connected.

"[The melting] has the potential for raising sea level very significantly. We're not talking about sea level rise just in the Arctic. We're talking about sea level rise around the globe, so everybody is going to experience it, particularly regions that have low lying areas."

Their predictions on when we might see significant rise vary from 25 to 100 yrs, but I'm thinking it will become consistently problematic much sooner. I hate to jump on the 2012 bandwagon, but the marker is somewhere between here and there, imo. I would expect big changes in the shape of North America to occur -by- 2012. The Earth is rebalancing and that means a lot of moving and shaking to get there.

It's a sign. Katrina and Rita are saying, "Don't live in the delta of the Mississippi." It has always been a hazard waiting to happen... well... it is now happening. So, move, permanently. The hurricane season lasts through November. Katrina and Rita may not be the end of the message. Listen. Hear. Act.

Rita's legacy does not end with landfall. The storm is expected to sit for a while over Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Besides the tornado activity that area will see, the rivers in that region feed the Mississippi River. Gulf waters and lakes have been instrumental in the flooding so far, but when all that rain falls over those states and flows into the Mississippi, there will be river flooding too. And, when the southern section of the Mississippi floods, it backs up to the north, flooding that area, even up into the Ohio River.

Water. We are going to see more water and it isn't going to just drain away anymore. The shape of the Mississippi River Valley is changing. It will broaden from the delta northward almost to St Louis. The Mississippi Embayment will eventually be a northern extension of the Gulf of Mexico. People who stubbornly choose to stay in that area, or move back there, will ultimately be lost. The messages are clear already but they will get louder and stronger until there is no longer a choice. This is what I see.

I'm not the only one who sees the water rising. Although the EPA and IPCC want to blame it all on global warming, and I don't, they are at least looking at the impact. Regardless of why it happens, it is going to happen, it IS happening.



"Melting of polar ice and land-based glaciers is expected to contribute to a 1/2 ft to 3ft sea level rise within this century. Shrinking ice caps also cause changes in ocean circulation and storm tracks. To be sure, not all of the melting currently occurring is due to global warming." (Correct, it's just adding to a natural cycle.)

Incidentally, I think that map and the guesstimates on sea level rise are very conservative.

People who choose to live in those red zones are choosing to be flooded out, year after year, until they move or drown. That's just how it is. I guess we should reserve some posthumous Darwin awards for them.

Things I am watching:
~ solar activity, ie, flares and CMEs
~ the 'slow slip' of the Juan de Fuca plate in a reverse direction from its usual creep
~ other seismic activity worldwide, esp So Cal and the NMSZ, plus events in unusual places
~ a curious 100 sq mi bulge beneath Oregon near South Sister mountain in the Cascades
~ Mount St Helens activity
~ in fact, the whole Cascade range
~ the magma bubble beneath Yellowstone Lake
~ the unfolding of the rest of the hurricane season

Thank you. All my questions aren't answered yet, but I did get a lot more puzzle pieces and I appreciate that.
With Gratitude, Griffen
PS - Keep it comin' ;) You know I am mortally curious.

Dear Universe,
Clues are very interesting. Now how about some reasons, some explanations, some clearly detailed messages? I know I'm generally allergic to reading the directions, but honestly, I'd make an effort on this stuff. :) So like, so like, so like... just exactly what's supposed to be on my agenda for October, hm?
Thank You
Your pal, Griffen

Rant Mode ON
Rumors are very often lies. I saw an interview today with an NOPD officer who was in the Superdome for the duration. He said they had officers and troops roaming the place continually, even sleeping with one eye open, when they slept at all, and they kept the criminal activity pretty well in check. He is ordinarily in charge of rape crisis reports in New Orleans and he said the rumors about murders, rapes and whatever going on in the Superdome were wrong. He was aware of two attempted rapes and the offenders were soon arrested and detained away from the rest of the population. Yeah, he could have been lying to cover his ass, but I think I read people pretty well and the man seemed sincere, truthful, and justifiably a little annoyed that wild stories were circulating when he and his comrades had worked damned hard to make sure none of that shit happened. Not only that, but he was rather proud of the 25,000 or so citizens who were in horrible circumstances but managed to behave.

There are apparently true horror stories being relayed about the Convention Center in New Orleans, but as far as I know that was not a designated shelter like the Superdome. So, assumptions were made, erroneous assumptions. People went there on their own and had to wait for help that was very slow in coming, leaving them without police support and so on. Maybe FEMA etc should have realized people would go there, but I don't think that oversight is justification for condemning the agencies. It's something they need to look at in future, ie, not only where they tell people to go, but likely locations where people may take refuge. Seems to me that most of the people who ended up at the Convention Center are the ones who slip through the cracks even under ordinary circumstances. This event just took that to a new level. Even so, if 20,000 or 15,000 or even 10,000 people ended up at the Convention Center and they can only find a few really gruesome stories, that's a pretty impressive percentage, especially without official support.

It's rather aggravating to me that people seem to be ignoring the fact that about 350,000, more than 75% of folks in New Orleans, followed the evacuation order. There's an estimated 100,000 who couldn't or wouldn't. The good does outweigh the bad, 3 to 1. Also, the media doesn't seem to have time to report the progress being made in Mississippi and Alabama. But hey, it's not as dramatic. Bad news makes news.

I saw a program on Arkansas Educational Television, Arkansans KARE (Katrina Assistance and Relief Effort). They interviewed some of the evacuees and two men in particular, a couple of middle aged black men, expressed their thanks for Arkansans' support and relocation opportunities. They were asked if they wanted to go back to New Orleans. They said no, that honestly they had not lived well there, and knew that this day would eventually come, but in the 40 or so years of their lives, they just never could afford to get out. They plan to be citizens of Arkansas now, pulling their own weight, not wanting to burden anyone. They plan to build a small business, apparently lawncare, because they said a fellow had already helped them by offering the loan of a truck, trailer, and needed equipment until they could afford their own.

These fellows are not the only ones who plan to leave the disaster zone for good.
The Australian "Evacuees vow not to return to broken city"

Truly, the majority of those who have been hit the hardest are, yes, black, and yes, poor. This disaster isn't how anyone would've wanted to help them out, but it WILL help them... out of a hazard zone, out of generations of poverty, and hopefully out of some remaining racial stigmas. Yes, dammit, I believe they will be better off.

Oh, and I caught Paula Zahn on CNN trying to get reporters and other interviewees to say things were and are dramatically nasty, how authories failed, how citizens were being criminal, how cops plan to go in and run people out of New Orleans at gun point.... She was surely unsatisfied. She had to keep re-spinning her spiel (Yeah, but isn't it so that... Not really... But aren't there reports of... Not so many....). The reporters just kept telling her, No, it's just not that way. The police, troops, and other helpers are trying to do their jobs. The citizens are trying to make the best of a bad situation. Sorry, Paula, hate to disappoint you and all the other media ghouls who seem unable to recognize that humans, especially Americans, are basically good, and even better in a crisis.

Incidentally, NOPD officials insisted today, compassionately, that they would use absolute minimal force necessary to remove the remaining citizens from New Orleans. Why must they leave, you say? I finally heard why. We already know the water is toxic, but the toxins are getting more concentrated and more deadly as the water is being pumped out or evaporating. Plus, the chemicals they will have to use for cleaning up the toxins are, in many cases, also poisonous until they've done their job, ie, the initial combination may be even more toxic. The water and the air may be deadly to anyone not properly outfitted. In addition, all repairs to infrastructure will be unnecessarily slowed if the crews have to be concerned with the welfare of stragglers. (Not to mention the waste of manpower if they had to make sure the stubborn continued to get clean water and food delivered.) There's a massive amount of debris that has to be removed and workers must pick through it now for survivors and bodies. The bulldozers sure won't be able to do it. While gas and electricity are being repaired or demolished, all those firefighters from NYC and other places as well as locals are going to be plenty busy. They should not have to risk their lives to save stupid people.

Assumptions are just as bad as rumors. People assume we should have been able to handle this because we have handled other hurricanes, other floods, other natural and unnatural disasters. That is bullshit. We have never had to deal with anything on this scale. We're talking about 450,000 people in New Orleans alone. We're talking about 90,000 square miles of damage from Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf coast. 90,000 square freakin miles. That's an area about the size of New England. It's not going to be repaired in weeks, or even months, if ever. The population is not going to be able to move back in and carry on, not for months, if ever. And why would they want to? So they can continue to duck and cover every year when this could happen again?

Rant Mode... I think I'll just leave it idling for a bit.

Hurricane Katrina: Best and worst. Fortunately, most people show their best side when such events occur. Unfortunately, some show their worst (looters and snipers?!? sheesh) and the media loves to focus on the ugly dramas. Still, I will give the media credit for helping with infomation when few other communication options were available. There have been many cases in which only the news people seemed to know about stranded folks, and while they were not equipped to rescue them, they've alerted the rescue crews.

There has been a lot of criticism about the way this thing has been handled, but I think the nature and scope of it is just something we haven't faced before. The affected area is not one or two counties in Florida, it's a huge chunk of the Gulf coast. While the usual recovery might have worked for affected areas, individually, there's just too much area to be dealt with all at once. Also, when monster hurricanes have hit in the past, the water usually receded immediately and made it possible to get help in there right away. Of course this is just not true in New Orleans especially.

Thumbs Up: Major kudos to the folks who accurately predicted the hurricane's path, got the warning out in time, and seriously enough, to save hundreds of thousands of people. It's wonderful that neighboring regions (especially Houston TX) have stepped up to offer unprecedented assistance with relocation, etc. It's terrific to see other countries actually offering aid to the US (seeing as how we seem to bail out everyone else when they need it). I also applaud the decision to cut off water and food drops to people who are still refusing to be evacuated from the cesspool that still exists in New Orleans. Cheers to those people who have wisely realized they should relocate permanently.

Thumbs Down: I have no pity for people who could have evacuated but chose not to. I have no pity for people who still won't leave when rescuers have gone through so much trouble to find them. I have absolutely no pity or tolerance for the criminals who have jeopardized the relief effort by taking pot shots at rescue workers. IMO, the authorities should be allowed to kill them on sight because they jeopardize many innocent lives with their idiocy.

We will learn a lot from this event and, as I've stated, I think we will need that knowledge. I'm sure there will be endless debates about what could have or should have been done. However, the powers seem to have had their priorities fairly well in order: save lives, then deal with the rest. That's the best thing we can do.

I want to be wrong. I sincerely want to be wrong. However, events keep occurring which suggest I may be right. I don't want to be a doomsayer, but I cannot paint a rosey future for humanity with what I am 'seeing' on the horizon in regards to Earth changes.

A series of hurricanes a year ago; the quakes and tsunamis in the Indian Ocean; increases in other earthquake activity, especially in unusual places; awakening volcanic activity; and now Katrina trying to reshape the Gulf of Mexico coastline... These things feel like we are gearing up for more troubled times ahead.

I have 'seen' drastic Earth changes, but without details. I believe the ultimate impact is as yet unwritten. However, I also believe that like a bruise it will get worse before it gets better.

I have actually thought the changes might be from one or two monster global events, but it's also possible that it is happening by way of a series of regional events like unusually large and damaging hurricanes and tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic activity, etc. Not sure if that's better or worse. While it would get increasingly difficult to recover from a series of events, we may at least have a little breathing room in between, versus one or two totally devastating blows. These early events may also be prompting people to move out of dangerous areas that will eventually be permanently destroyed.

Though I have not seen a lot of specifics, I feel that ultimately the entire world will be involved. Water levels will rise and/or land will sink. For instance, the ocean may overrun low edges of the California coastline and fill in the caldera, creating a huge bay or inland sea. Melting of polar ice, volcanic ash in the air (Yellowstone looms in my mind), and such, will make significant climate changes. I can see the frost line moving southward in the US.

Here are other results I'm 'seeing'...
The west coast of the US will be cut back significantly; the Gulf of Mexico will reach up the Mississippi River to St Louis, Missouri, effectively splitting the US; most of Florida may disappear as well as a good portion of the eastern US coastline. There may be very little left of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, only the highest points, and those will be much colder, perhaps too cold for habitation. Not sure about the rest of the world, although it is strangely possible that the South Pacific will actually rise and be more solid land instead of strips of islands. During the process though, most of those people may be lost.

I think this is all being brought about by changes in the Earth's alignment with the Sun and the galactic equator. What I see is electromagnetic forces being adjusted significantly, changing the operation of the Earth's dynamo core, ie, the way in which the Earth receives and uses solar energy through the protective electomagnetic field (our EMF shield). Magnetic north may actually flip, perhaps suddenly, across the geographic north pole (90°lat, 0°lon) to a location over in Siberia, instead of where it is now (north of Canada). These changes will set up (are setting up) greater and different tension in the Earth's crust. Tectonic plates and other weak points (volcanoes, fault lines) will have to make adjustments. The energy shifts and magnetic shifts will affect atmospheric and ocean currents to create big climate changes. Magnetic changes may also cause the Earth to attract more meteor near-misses or even impacts, though I do not see this as being more significant than the other effects, just adding to the mix.

Unlike "The Day After Tomorrow" and other green peace preaching, I do not think human activity is the culprit, although that may exacerbate the climate changes and flooding, since greenhouse gases do seem to be involved in the melting of the polar ice caps. Still, we are not the only cause or even the main cause. I think we're just entering an Earth cycle which we may not have experienced for at least 10,000 to 12,000 years. The fact that our recorded history does not go back to the previous cycle may be an indication of the vast changes we're about to face. But, I suspect we will survive these changes better than we did in the past and so we won't get thrown back to the stone age like before.

I hope I'm wrong, but I see a lot of devastation in humanity's future. Even so, I am not afraid. There are uncountable people working on mitigating the changes through metaphysical means and I don't think we've signed up for total destruction. It's just not going to be pretty. What we can learn from the overzealous doomsayers and green peace missionaries is just that it's prudent to make some preparations and realize that we'll need to know how to survive without all the conveniences we enjoy today.

You know, I'm real damned tired of perimenopause. I want to be PAUSED already. sheesh

I looked charp, felt goot, had phun! *snicker* Fewer people attended the 30th reunion than the 20th, but that's to be expected, I think, as people move further away from high school in the throes of life. However, most of those who did return were very happy to share an evening of nostalgia. I was surprised at how much difference even 10 years makes. It's like someone turned on the weight, turned off the hair and/or applied the bleach... just natural aging effects. The unexpected development was the realization that I had known some of these people long before high school, all the way back to elementary school. Pretty interesting, and even profound, to have a casual and yet such a long term relationship with several folks. Yeah, the dynamics of being human, of social interactions, of tendencies and potentials... it's just all fascinating. I sometimes wish I could remember now what I might have wanted for myself way back when, but then, I surely am where I was meant to be, or I wouldn't be here.

Going home this weekend for high school reunion. I hated high school, but so far the reunions have been lotsa fun. Something nifty about being at a party with loads of people who are the same age and sorta kinda knew each other way back when but really don't know each other at all. It's like a theme party that manages to bring together a broad variety of people. Once went to a Hat Party. The only thing most of us had in common was that each of us had been required to wear a hat, of our choosing. Made for instant topic of conversation. Of course, my classmates and I also share some cultural elements, musical era, etc. So, looking forward to the experience, again.

I'm ENFP - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
Discoverer Advocate: ENFP
Theme is inspiration, both of themselves and others. Talents lie in grasping profound significance, revealing truths, and motivating others. Very perceptive of others' hidden motives and purposes. Interested in everything about individuals and their stories as long as they are genuine. Contagious enthusiasm for "causes" that further good and develop latent potential and the same zeal for discovering dishonesty and inauthenticity. Frequently moved to enthusiastically communicate their "message."
(http://www.knowyourtype.com/)

ENFPs generally have the following traits:
- Project-oriented
- Bright and capable
- Warmly, genuinely interested in people; great people skills
- Extremely intuitive and perceptive about people
- Able to relate to people on their own level
- Service-oriented; likely to put the needs of others above their own
- Future-oriented
- Dislike performing routine tasks
- Need approval and appreciation from others
- Cooperative and friendly
- Creative and energetic
- Well-developed verbal and written communication skills
- Natural leaders, but do not like to control people
- Resist being controlled by others
- Can work logically and rationally - use their intuition to understand the goal and work backwards towards it
- Usually able to grasp difficult concepts and theories
(http://www.personalitypage.com/)

I used to think I'd be quite content to work away in my own little closet somewhere in the world. I still think that sometimes. In fact, I'm actually in that situation for all practical purposes. I don't have to go out to work everyday. I pretty much stay at home, doing my own thing.

How I get out in the world is through the electronic and virtuality marvels of our age. I love being able to get to information in an instant, to go where my whims take me... without leaving my chair here.

I also find the human connections rather interesting through this medium. There are all kinds of new dimensions to human interaction that we just aren't likely to experience in ordinary face-to-face life. It brings the world closer together, in a way. Certainly makes it possible to meet people we'd never run into otherwise.

But many of the dynamics are the same. It's still human interaction. There are still people who come into our lives for a 'reason, a season, or a lifetime' and it's still hard to know which people are which.. and what the reasons are.

And when a conflict arises, even though it's not in-person, I still hate it. I don't want to have to fight with anyone who seems hellbent on frosting my wheaties. Nor do I like getting into a tiff with someone I sure wouldn't want to lose. But, things happen. Whether it's a comfy connection or a grating one, it ain't over til it's over and you don't know it's gonna be over, for sure, ahead of time. You just have to see how it all unfolds. "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven..."

"Time's fun when you're having flies." ~ Kermit

Back. Had a great time with family, as always. Not much more to say, and too tired to say it anyway. Relax. Enjoy the break. I'll be back to rambling before you know it.

Okay, so like, the week before Easter when I already had plans to go Home for the holiday, I picked up a new web client. One of my other web clients had referred them to me and that's terrific but their timing of finally contacting me and wanting stuff done right away, even as I was packing to go away for a long weekend... frankly sucked. Sure, I went on my trip, but there was a lot more hustle involved before leaving and a lot of making up after. It just made both activities more hectic and stressful.

So now this week, as I am preparing to go Home for the 4th, guess who wants more stuff, even though I have barely heard from them since I finished the other stuff around Easter.

I like being helpful. I like doing webwork. I like making a little extra cash. I would really like it if the timing could get worked out so I don't get into these stress-tangles. I don't mean to be ungrateful, but... well, whatever. Now I'm whining.... and I should be packing instead of blogging. *dash*
~

Selected Funnies...
~~~
A man walks into a dentist's office, the dentist asks him "How can I help you?"
The man replies "I think I'm a moth."
"Well, you need to see a psychiatrist, not a dentist."
"I know that" the man replies.
"Then why did you come in here?"
"The light was on."
~~~
A man spoke frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only 2 minutes apart!"
The doctor asked, "Is this her first child?"
"No, ya dummy!" the man shouted, "This is her husband."
~~~
Q - Why does a chicken coop have two doors?
A - Because if it had four, it would be a chicken sedan.
~~~
Two antennae meet on a roof, fall in love and get married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent!
~~~
A psychiatrist interviewed three patients to see if they could be released from the hospital. He asked them one easy question, "What is 8 times 5?"
The first patient said, "139". The doctor just shook his head.
He turned to the second patient who replied "Wednesday!". The doctor frowned.
He turned to the third patient who gleefully said, "That's easy, 40!"
While the doctor went to his desk to fill out the third patient's release papers, the first patient whispered to the third, "How did you figure that one out?"
"It was simple" replied the third patient, "I just divided 139 by Wednesday!"
~~~
A priest and a pastor from the local churches are standing by the side of the road, pounding a sign into the ground that reads: "The End Is Near! Turn Yourself Around Now--Before It's Too Late!" As a car sped past them, the driver yelled, "Leave us alone, you religious nuts!" From the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash. The pastor turns to the priest and asks, "Do you think the sign should just say "Bridge Out?"
~~~
A couple of hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911. He gasps to the operator, "My friend is dead! What can I do?"
The operator, in a calm soothing voice says, "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead."
There is a silence, then a shot is heard... The hunter says, "OK, now what?"
~~~

No, I didn't win the Powerball, but neither did anyone else. Hmmm... maybe I'll buy a ticket for Wednesday's drawing. ;)
~

I really have nothing to post at this time, although I did buy a Powerball ticket for tonight's drawing. Now if I win that, well, there'll be plenty of news. I'll let you know how I plan to spend the estimated $43 million jackpot. For most, if not all of you, a check will be in the mail. *grin*
~

2x2x2x2x3=48 Birthday's are funny. We really only have one per lifetime. It's the anniversary of the birth day that we're celebrating or bemoaning. Forty-eight years ago, I officially incarnated, probably for the umpteenth time.

Per Merriam-Webster (M-W.com), being incarnate is to be "invested with bodily and especially human nature and form; made manifest or comprehensible; embodied".

Comprehensible? hehe Perhaps in a preception sense. I can be perceived by other incarnated beings. I like the phrase "made manifest". That suits my belief system. Forty-eight years ago, on a Sunday afternoon, through the labors of my mother, the energy or spirit that is Me, manifested into human form, breathed life independently for the first time. That was my birth day. Everything since then has been me playing around in this lab of experience.

I kinda like it. I think I'll stick around for a good while longer. And when this run is over, I'll see if I want to sign up again. I have the feeling I've signed up innumerable times before. Must be something to it.
~

I have often been amazed at the insights I get from Astrology, not only about me but about others. I don't think Astrology tells us what IS or what WILL BE, so much as it points out tendencies and potentials. It could be quite useful information and I take it under advisement.

I subscribe to a freebie daily horoscope from Astrocenter.com. I don't plan my day around it, but it makes for an interesting read, and maybe even a useful perspective on the possibilities.

Today, however, I feel they nailed me. When I set modesty and humility aside, I know this to be true:
"You can capture the hearts of the people around you by surprising them with unexpected anecdotes from your past. Realize that you have the power to make a significant transformation in someone's life - maybe even your own. Don't underestimate your gift of communication. Most people don't have your connections or quick-witted mind. Use these qualities to your advantage by spreading your unique knowledge of the nature of people."

That's what I do. It's who I am. While journeying in my own human experience, I enjoy watching the journeys of others. I see things, in their essense, in their connectedness. And, as a communicative Gemini, I sure love talking or writing about it. But I don't like lectures or preaching, so I very often share anecdotally or metaphorically. If I have a gift, I think it's being able to gently help folks see themselves and each other a little better, in a better light even. I hope I do it ever so light-handedly, mostly by sharing what I've experienced or what I feel I've learned, sometimes even as I myself discover it.

As for transforming people, I've called it many things, but mostly I think of it as finding silver linings, or finding the precious metals in the ore. It's the same sort of thing for which elemental mercury can be used and I don't think it's a coincidence that I am a Gemini, ruled by the quick planet Mercury, and whose element is the fluid metal mercury.

Often it's no more than sharing a different perspective, a different set of possibilities. Sometimes I just shine a light on options that others had not seen. It is often enough to turn around a situation, an attitude, and move it in a more positive direction.

That is my hope anyway, that whatever effect I may have, it is for the benefit of individuals, including me, and ultimately All.

Sappy, yeah. Some may find it hard to believe it's possible to be truly altruistic. I benefit surely enough. It feels good to do good, or even just to try. Sosume.
~

In memoriam... At this time, I would like to formally thank my ancestors for making me possible, for making me who I am, for living their lives so that I can live this one. I am grateful. I hope my life honors them. I recognize that I am the culmination of generations of individuals throughout centuries, even millenia. I am thrilled and humbled by the perpetual legacy that lives in each one of us alive today, and shall continue into all our tomorrows. *sigh* It's just... wonderful...
~

Grandma's 94th Birthday

Lots of friends and family showed up for Grandma's birthday party, even though it wasn't intended to be a big bash like the one we threw at the community center on her 90th. She got lots of kudos and little gifts at church that morning then came home to a houseful and lots of food. It wasn't a surprise however. In fact, though she'd been told she didn't have to fix a thing, she'd made dumplings (which she just calls noodles, and of course she makes them from scratch), creamed corn, baked yams, and a huge cherry cobbler. Besides all the immediate family, Grandma also invited a few other friends and some distant relatives nearby. One of her cousins is 80 and I swear Grandma looks more like 80 and he looked more like 94. She's a true wonder, I tell ya.

Just a reminder that at 94, Grandma still lives in her own house and pretty much does her own thing. She's busy all the time with visitors. I mean, she knows everyone in the county and all their relatives, past and present, and people like to drop in to say Hi. She played the piano at church the Sunday before because she's the backup for the regular pianist who had to be away. She still writes the occasional obit for the local paper, not just for relatives, but because the newspaper asks her to for folks who haven't had anyone else step up to do it.

Grandma also keeps up with current events and TV shows and such. Just mention anything going on right now and she can talk intelligently about it, giving a well-informed opinion and a heap of common sense related to the event. She actually shocks me when we channel flip into a sit-com or such and she can identify characters on sight, as well as laugh about her favorite episode.

So, when I brag about Grandma being alert and active, I ain't kiddin'. She may be physically old but she's still motoring around on her own two feet, cooking like always, and smart as a whip with memory better than anyone else I know even on their good day.

I ended up on a road trip with Grandma, Mom & Dad. She needed to come back with us after her birthday so she could go to pick up new glasses and have them adjusted. It's about an hour and a half ride over the river and sundry hills and dales, past farms and such. Mom was noting all the high points, like stock animals and all their babies out right now. There are some unusual farms along the way, with goats or llamas or even buffalo, but seeing as how it's horse country, one might have expected to see some colts follicking in the fields. Mom actually said, "Hm, you'd think there would be some colts out today." and Grandma said, "Well, I haven't seen any horses, so chances are there won't be many colts." In fact, she cracked little funnies all along the trip. I sure hope I'm that quick-witted at 94! The truth is, she actually told some real jokes and I can't remember them to tell you what they were! sheesh

I'm fairly sure I've never thought in my life that I'd have reason to say: I spent a weekend in Oklahoma. Muskogee, no less. And I had fun ;) I only went to the ren faire one day but it was the whole day and I had a great time. I was worn out by the time it was over, just from all the walking and looking. Big place, lots and lots of people. I felt perfectly at home in my garb, though I spoke without an accent other than my natural one. I caught most of the shows, which were quite entertaining. Though I was there for over 7 hours, I didn't get around to quite everything. I may just have to go back before it's over. It's on for every weekend in May.

One highlight of the day occurred as I was under a shade tree and eating my lunch while watching part of the tournament. The sandwich I'd chosen was a bit messy and as a wiped my mouth, a traveling player stopped by. He said, "My lady, watching you do that makes me wish I'd died and come back as a dinner napkin." Oh my, yes, I was flattered. I could only giggle and blush as he moved on.

I've noticed at this and the other faire that the regulars who are working the thing are quite appreciative of people who come to play the game, even just by dressing up. It's more fun for me too, not just to get to wear the clothes, but to feel a part of it. I know from being asked a question here and there by other visitors that I fit in. I like that feeling, a lot.
~

Very interesting date today... May 5, 2005 .... 05/05/05
Of course, similarly interesting dates have occurred and will occur in some form every year up through 2012 (because of the 12 months of the year). For instance, Jan 1 2001 was of course 01/01/01. February 2 2002 was 02/02/02. December 12 2012 will be 12/12/12.

What is even more interesting about this particular day is that 5 x 5 x 5 = 125
and today is the 125th day of the year.

Not at all sure what magic there may be in a day like today, but it certainly is an unusual date.

I wish you the very best, on this day and all days.

~

Not much going on here, outside or in. I am terribly unfocused. What thoughts I have are too fleeting or nebulous to catch and record. I do have plans for the weekend though. I'm going to a ren faire, ie, take the opportunity to dress up in the garb and go look at other people dressed up in the garb ;) I've only ever been to one faire before. This one promises to be more interesting because they've built a castle on the site. Why someone would choose to build a castle and permanent ren faire location in Oklahoma, I'm not sure, but I'm gonna go check it out. Castle of Muskogee
~

Um... this quiz is surely flawed
What Kind of Goddess Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Goddess of Innocence
You hate needless fights and love peace. You tend to like children, but of course not all children possess the innocence you stand for. You loathe fakers, liars, and abusive people. You treasure your friends more than your own life. You will never stop fighting for what you believe in; the world needs more people like you.

Okay, I pretty much agree the description fits but the title? phhht

I can't help it. Semantics fascinate me. I'm sure the reasons for what I'm about to mention have to do with a very basic etymological origin, but.... Scatology is a word meaning the study of excrement. Yeah, that. And Eschatology is a branch of theology concerning the End Times. So I reckon it's all about when and how... the shit hits the fan. *grin* Sometimes I crack myself up.

Just for fun, here's a webpage noting Failed Predictions of the End-of-the-World
TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It ;)... and I feel fine.
~

~
Somebody was thinkin'...
~
"When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet, and when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat; the two will hover, spinning inches above the ground. With a giant buttered cat array, a high-speed monorail could easily link major metropolitan areas."
~

~
Benediction: the short blessing with which public worship is concluded
~
I'm sorry, but he's too old to last, too conservative to grow or perhaps even preserve the Church, and too much an insider to speak to the disenfranchised outside of Europe that now make up the majority of the Catholic world. At best he will be a transitional pontiff and, in my opinion, this transition marks the beginning of the end for the current Catholic bureaucracy.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if another 'Vatican' and pope sprang up in Latin America. Over 40% of the world's Catholic population lives there. I really thought Arinze would have made a good compromise, as someone outside of Europe, and being conservative but representing willingness to change and cooperate with other world religions. The Church apparently wasn't interested.

My intuitive guess is that this Benediction will last no more than three years. We'll see if St Malachy's prophecy carries on and there is only one more pope before it's all done. In the meantime, we'll also see how Benedict XVI may or may not be the Gloria Olivae, whatever that truly means. I am getting vibes which are nothing like the peace of an olive branch. I've heard that Ratzinger was a Hitler youth. The phrase Uber Pontiff comes to mind, and not in a good way. Then again, I could be wrong. The one good thing he may be able to accomplish is a crackdown on the sex scandals.

~
China. Behave.
~

~
You know, I'm starting to scare myself. (Not)

Session Start: Mon Apr 11 2005 ; Session Ident: #Wolfkeep
[01:54] * Diana gets more earthquake notices from the USGS. You know, a volcano is gonna blow in Indonesia before this thing is over
[01:55] the subduction action there causing all the quakes is generating heat and that heat has to vent sooner or later

Timestamps above are Central Time, ie about 2am Monday morning which would be Monday afternoon in Indonesia.

AP - Volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra Island Erupts, Spews Out Ash
Talang began rumbling shortly before dawn Tuesday, and then spewed out ash up to 1,640 feet into the air.

Reuters - More than 25,000 panicked residents have been evacuated from the slopes of a rumbling volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island and officials raised the alert level on Wednesday as the mountain's activity intensified. "The status of Mount Talang is now at top alert," Surono, a vulcanologist from the Directorate of Vulcanology and Geophysics in the Java city of Bandung, told Reuters.

~
I expect there will be more than some rumbling and ash. This activity is following several quakes at Padang, Sumatra which is near Mount Talang. All of which is a further result of the December 26th quake that caused the big tsunamis. The entire arc of islands on the eastern side of the Indian Ocean is in danger of continued quakes and resulting volcanoes.

That's not all. This area cannot be seen as an isolated location because the shockwaves travel around the world along tectonic plate lines and through the magma core of the Earth. Other quake and volcanic regions are being activated too.

Damn if it doesn't look like we have collectively ordered the jarring wakeup call that might finally unite humanity... not in some stupifying one-world-government, but as recognition that we're all in this together. Alas, it destroys too.

Hard-headed sumbitches.

The End Is Near!

The death of the Pope is more fuel for the bonfire of the doomsayers. They're so hungry and quick to try to manifest their wish for the End? I read this as looking for an easy way out of present troubles. "God will save us by ending it all! Huzzah!" Um, that isn't likely. We're here to learn and we'll keep at it until we finish the whole curriculum. We literally cannot flunk out, although we certainly seem bound to repeating many courses. :)

Are we on the verge of the Apocalypse? I say yes, but before panic ensues, let's look at what that really means.

The word 'revelation' was derived from the Greek word apokalupsis, ie, apocalypse. A lot of extra connotations have been hung on that word which weren't originally there. The actual meaning is literally 'a lifting of the veil'.

This tells me that indeed all the forecasts for an Apocalypse, including the Book of Revelations, speak of "The End", but that end is merely the end of the world 'as we know it'.

In truth, the end of the world as we know it has been perpetual, because the world is always changing and we are always learning (lifting more veils of ignorance, experiencing more revelations). So the coming Apocalypse was an accurate prophecy at the time Revelations was written and it is a valid prophecy today.

When veils are lifted, we find it disturbing. New information can be unsettling, but in time we settle into it and create a new plateau, a new cliff from which to jump ;) When all the current veils are lifted, when all our illusions are put aside, we may be truly shaken, but we will finally realize what I have harped on before: That we are not separate from God, we ARE God. All is one, because all is connected. We are not only the 'creation', we are the creator.

It is my hope that this is the apocalypse, the revelation, which is at hand now. I feel our 'new world' is emerging as the veil is lifted and we begin to understand. As the truth is revealed or uncovered, what we once knew will indeed vanish, but it does not mean we will vanish or be destroyed.

We are surely on our way to the apocalypse, but the greatly feared armageddon only has to happen if we refuse to allow or accept the apocalypse... the revelation... the unveiling... without having to be prompted by catastrophe.

If it takes a global or even cosmic calamity to shake us out of our illusions, then we'll surely get it. We will be asking for it as long as we're in denial. But, we don't have to do it that way. We can choose to awaken without being jarred awake.

Even if we bring some cataclysmic 'end' upon ourselves, it will not be the End, for Creation is infinite and eternal.

I agree with this fellow who calls himself "Therapist" and whose comment I found on a Randi Rhodes Show forum via Google: "Why can't the end of the world ever be "And ye they shall go out to the sunshine and laugh and dance and partake of lambs and soft-shelled crab, or a nice salad if they're vegan, and there will be general merriment and fornication and small children playing in the sandbox. Then the Great Cosmic Goat shall come and eat the planet in one gulp without anyone suffering."?

I like the way he thinks.

It's just wrong, plain wrong, absofukinlutely WRONG. Pharmacists have been refusing to fill prescriptions based on their personal moral code?!? The governor of Illinois has apparently had to step in to remind these 'professionals' that their personal objection to birth control does not grant them the right to refuse dispensing it to patients.

As one news article about this idiocy in Illinois rightly says, "Pharmacists are supposed to assess the appropriateness of a drug." Damned straight, they are supposed to assess the MEDICAL appropriateness. Even then, if they find a problem, they are supposed to consult with the prescribing physician. They are NOT supposed to assess the MORAL appropriateness, nor take it upon themselves to negate a doctor's prescription or a patient's rights.

I worked with pharmacists for a while. I tested software for a company that created pharmacy systems and I had to coach a lot of these folks because they couldn't even follow simple instructions and screen prompts. I can tell you for a fact that while some of them love the job and do it right, the majority are doing it because they couldn't make the grades to be doctors or saw the ridiculous profits to be made in pharmaceuticals and jumped on it. With computer systems as they are now, pharmacists barely have to count pills and press on labels. That apparently gives them too much time to try to dabble in peoples' lives? Reminds me of rent-a-cops hell bent on carrying a gun but couldn't pass the training to be real cops. Sounds like some pharmacists have the god-complex for which doctors are infamous, but heaven help us they haven't the brains or good judgement to carry it.

I was already frustrated with the nazis in the Religious Right. My kneejerk reaction is to say "Ban Catholics and other Right-to-Lifers from being Pharmacists." But hey, I'm not insane like the zealots. Why the hell did we break off from the Old Rule and start this new country with the ideals of FREEDOM if we're going to start hacking away at them? WHO THE FUCKING HELL HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO WITH MY OWN FUCKING BODY?!?

Dayam I wish Mercury would straighten up and get the hell out of Aries. It's got me pissed off and vocal about it.

I also have to say this about the Catholic Church, the Pope, the elevated status of Mary, etc... The Catholic Church invented itself. They invented the significance of their own pomp and circumstance. The papacy is not biblical, nor is the worship of Mary or her role as intercessor, nor is the priesthood and their celibacy, nor are most of the sacraments or rites as practiced. I don't see a problem with any of it, other than claims that what they do and how they do it comes from the bible, or arrogance about it being The way to conduct a relationship to the divine. Men made it up. They elaborated themselves into their current hierarchy. Cardinals, Bishops, and so on, ad nauseum... it has all been manufactured for the Church, by the Church.

All religions are the invention of humans: Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, etc. The christian bible is only one among many other documents and traditions serving the same purpose, trying to describe divinity and how mankind may relate to it. None of them are THE Truth. They are all examples and methodology. Even more nature-based and alternative religions such as Native spirituality and pagan versions are all invented. They are different ways for people to try to connect with divinity, and the ways are different because people are different, cultures are different. Divinity, Creation, the Universe, the Power that's All There Is... whatever one chooses to call it, we should all remember that we do CHOOSE how we each relate to it. And thus, ALL versions can be valid. ALL.

From my understanding, none of us needs any artifice or ritual or hierarchy to relate to divinity because it resides within each of us. There is no duality. If "God" is everything, is IN everything, then it is only logical to conclude that we are inseparable parts of God, that God is in every one of us, and therefore we don't need anything to 'reach' God. We ARE God. Our only challenge is to reach into ourselves, through ourselves, and thus touch the infinite and eternal.

From my way of thinking, what we describe as God may only be the gestalt of who we are, the summation of our collective consciousness, and that not only includes humanity but all things and all no-things, ie, All That Is.

The rest is detail on how we get ourselves to touch the divinity within, and by divinity I mean our connection to each other and to Everything. Some of us may need an external hierarchy to help us achieve the connection, although I find it sad that such artificial measures are needed. Such methods perpetuate a separation which does not exist. Some of us may need to imagine an overriding presence so we can feel more comfortable with the order of the universe, rather than knowing we are integral parts of that order, each and every one of us. Maybe we fear the responsibility, but in doing so we also relinquish a certain amount of freedom. The worst, the absolute worst aspect of these various methods is that too often we use them to divide ourselves from each other.

I have no problem with how individuals CHOOSE to relate to the creative process of this universe, as long as they know it IS a choice and they should never NEVER try to force another person over to their own choice. Each must find his or her own way. Period.

And to conclude my sermon :) ... Love one another, or at least be kind to one another, or at least respect one another, or at least tolerate one another... or if you cannot, please exit the planet now and let the rest of us get on with it. Thank you.

I'm not catholic and I don't personally understand the attachment to any pope, but I do understand that there IS an attachment for so many people. Despite anticipating John Paul II's death and commenting on the Catholic Church needing change, I do recognize that he played an important historical role during his 26 yr papacy. I do also believe that he may have made as much change as he could within the Church, giving them a clearer image from which to effect future changes. I think he could only move the behemoth so far and so fast in his environment. I'm sure that his spirit passes on in favorable stead, and I honor his passing.

To the spirit of Terri Schiavo: I hope you're enjoying your new journey. I bet you're glad that your old body has finally been allowed to die. No more leftovers in baggage claim here so you're free. Bon voyage. Blessings to your children here and to your former mate as he tries to complete his own mortal life here. May the rest of your family find the peace they seem to have resisted for so long. Namaste.

Easter weekend at Home was terrific. I had a sleep over with two of my teenage nieces. We did some very mod egg decorating, went out for pizza, watched Finding Neverland to drool over Johnny Depp as well as have a good cry. I also got in on some Easter basket action as well as hiding eggs for the kids. I whooped and hollered with several family members during the NCAA basketball game which Kentucky eventually lost but man oh man it was exciting! It's always always always good to see my family, and also good to come back to my home again. It's all good.

The rest of this post is ranting. Feel free to bail out now.

Terri Schiavo
If God ever had a hand in her particular disposition, I dare say it could well have occurred in 1990 with the original cardiac arrest that left her brain dead. I don't see God's hand in anything that has happened since. I could be wrong. I don't know the mind of God. Neither do Schiavo's parents, neither do all the protestors, nor Florida legistators, nor the freakin Congress of the United States. Judging by the sound-bite mentality the masses have shown to have in the past, I'd wager that 99.9% of the people crying foul have NO idea of Schiavo's actual medical condition which emphatically shows she is gone. I don't know what should or should not be done in Terri Shiavo's case, but I do know that her husband has the legal responsibility for making the decision and everyone else is butting in. I also know that if I end up in a similar condition, I want everyone to just let my body die. I assure you, I will have already moved on. Yes, I have informed my spouse, parents and siblings of my wishes. I recommend everyone do the same. And, I for damned sure do NOT want any branch of the government deciding about me and my life or my death.

The Pope
He made an appearance at the window of the Vatican and sucked air like a goldfish out of water. I stand by my prediction that he is on his way out, very soon. I stand by my opinion that the Catholic Church may use that opportunity to make a big, much needed change. I stand by a choice to do just that, being Francis Arinze from Nigeria, who would be the first black pope. Although he may be conservative, his very skin would open a lot of long-closed and rigid minds. The Catholic Church will change or die. This is the same choice they handed out for so long. It's their turn. Paybacks are hell.

Resurrection
What an enticing drama. People seem to love diving into the woeful tale of an innocent Son of God dying a horrible death to save them. What a guilt trip too. I think they're missing the real point. It's not about the death, it's about the life. It's about how Jesus lived and how death did not mean the end. I believe he was trying to demonstrate the divinity available to all, living and after death. But, as is often the case, we've made a huge deal about the messenger and missed the message. As I've said, we seem to have trouble looking where God is actually pointing because we're so doggedly focused on his finger. woof

You scored as Fall. You are FALL. You appreciate all that you have, and are willing to share with others. You are a friend in the truest sense of the word, and can easily focus your attention on those who need you, placing yourself on the back burner. You make sure your responsibilites are met before you allow yourself 'free time'. Fall 85% Winter 70% Spring 55% Summer 50% What Season Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

Not a coincidence, it IS my favorite season.