Happy Samhain!

Samhain is a complicated festival; there is much going on. It's the final harvest: the fields are barren of grain and fruit and the animals that cannot be sustained through the winter are slaughtered for their meat. This is considered the New Year by many Wiccans. It is one of two times a year when the veil between the world of the living and the world of spirits is the thinnest. Both can cross over it easily during this time. In the nature symbolism, the Lord has reached the end of his time and dies. Without his light, the winter days are cold and short.

Since the veil between worlds is thin, communication with spirits of those who have passed in the previous year are common. This also makes it an excellent night for divination.

On this night, with the passing of the previous year, I commune with the people who have left this incarnation before me, and with my guides who may have special messages for me. I also do some form of divination, this year will be tarot cards, to get a feel for the coming year. The last part of my ritual involves giving to the Crone the things that I do not wish to carry with me into the new year.

My Samhain ritual changes only slightly from year to year. I'll tell you all about it starting tomorrow.

(And for those of you in the southern hemisphere, Happy Beltaine to you!)

Happy Halloween!

I did not allow myself to be bamboozled into the annual OBC costume contest again this year. There were some pretty slim pickings as far as good costumes, and many people thought I would have won for sure. Of course, I get told that every year and I've never won a single costume contest.

I did, however, win the People's Choice contest. That's the one where people write down who they thought had the best costume. I guess a lot of people thought it was me, even though I didn't enter the contest. That's an accomplishment, right?

And because I know you want to know, here I am! Brought to you by my cell phone:


Clothing was bought and dyed, everything else had to be put together, sewn, molded, and glued. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. And a few people knew who I was. A couple who were closer to my generation did not. I expected that.

It should be a fun evening! I do so love this holiday.

Happy Halloween! Happy Samhain! Get out there and have a little fun, people!

For Family

Happy Anniversary, my dear brother and your fabulous wife!

Am I Wrong?

This morning, I gave Lady Vox and Lord Nagafen a couple crickets, and watched with glee as they stalked and pounced on their probably terrified breakfast. Yeah, I feel a little bad for the crickets, but anoles busy hunting are really cute! And it's their nature. A lot of people at the faire mentioned how they would like some little lizards too, but didn't like the idea of feeding them live bugs. That's what they eat; it's the way of the world. The only difference is that I must provide it to them. I have a little tub of crickets, and I think I rightly honor them for their part in the life cycle. I did feel just a little wrong that I was so happily cheering on Lord Nagafen and he struggled to catch the last one. I hope that was a yummy cricket!

I thought I had more to say this morning.

My favorite holiday is tomorrow! I put some finishing touches on my costume last night, and I think there's one more last minute piece I want to add that I'll do this evening. I'm still not going to enter the costume contest. I imagine I'll get a lot of "what are you"s with this; it doesn't matter that The Phantom comic strip and stories are read by thousands of people in many countries across the globe. It's not currently running in any of the local newspapers (that I know of) as it is. Washington kinda sucks sometimes!

I guess that's all I have for you today!

Introducing

Lady Vox and Lord Nagafen! (I admit this would be much more dramatic if I had a picture for you, but I'm afraid it's too dark and the flash would upset them. Maybe this weekend....)

I didn't expect to get two, but they were a pair and this was the male I really wanted. He kept watching me every time I walked by. I've still got some work to do on their little home, but they are where they will live in a nice big tank. It was nice to get a tank big enough for the two of them at the same time, and they might even breed! I bet it's very different than breeding beta fish. I'm very excited to have them.

My brother and I had a pair when we were little. They were not too hard to take care of, as I recall, and I think they both lived for several years. My brother would remember, though. I know that his was named Alf and mine was Confetti. Not sure why I thought of that!

As for these two, I know you want to ask, so I'll tell you in anticipation. Their names come from EverQuest (surprise). Lady Vox is a big blue ice dragon in the frozen Permafrost Keep. Her forbidden consort is Lord Nagafen, the red fire dragon of the Lavastorm Mountains. (They can't be together because dragons of different colors are not allowed to mate, by the laws of dragon kind, because their offspring would be too powerful. Or something like that.) These were the first two major raid encounters in EverQuest.

Yesterday was a very long day. We got up early, made the long drive to PA, spent an exhausting day shopping (I bought a couple little things, and my dragons, and a really pretty ring), then made the long drive home. I'm pretty tired today!

We're Off to the Faire

tra la la!

Or something....

Ah, To Have a Day

We didn't get to hike because it was pouring this morning. If it was not pouring where the trails were, it would have been muddy and yucky anyway. The rain did clear out by the early afternoon. We can hear the grass growing. I hope the Powers That Be sends that water to the other areas that really need it. And that's an end to our record-setting drought.

My mother and I drove my aunt to the airport and picked up some dry cleaning. Other than that, it was a rather restful day. We learned that my brother did settle on the house; they actually came by to pick stuff up while we were at the airport. I'm so happy for my brother.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We're going to use our pre-bought tickets and head up to the PA Renaissance Faire. We have to leave early to get me back home at a decent hour, but I think we can manage. I'm seriously considering a baby dragon again. I know I've talked about them before: there's a shop that sells actual live anoles and their little habitats. I've been thinking about them all week. And I know where to get crickets for its food. My mother and I think I can keep it in the room where I have my computer. It won't be too hard to clear a space and keep the door shut to keep baby dragon-eating Miss Luna out. I'm still thinking about it. We'll see!

Longer Weekends

Don't we all want those? Though, quite honestly, I would have much preferred being at work yesterday.

I had to appear in court. A month or so ago, I got my first ever speeding ticket. All I can say is that I just wasn't paying attention at the time, but I suddenly had a fear of points and a raise in my insurance costs.

So, I went to court. That turned out to be a debacle in itself. According to the map site, I should have been able to make it there in forty five minutes. Considering the rain and the morning rush hour traffic, I left the house two hours before my scheduled time. Ask me how long it took to get there, a distance that would have taken three quarters of an hour in normal conditions. Don't worry, I'll tell you. Two and a half hours. An hour and a half of that was sitting in the traffic heading towards the Wilson Bridge. It didn't help that there was no sign for the courthouse, or directing people where to park, from the main road that shared it's name with the courthouse address.

Seriously, if you're going to 123 Main Street, wouldn't you expect some sign when you arrived that you were actually there? If you were going to 123 Main Street, wouldn't you expect there to be some direction that tells you where you can access the building if it wasn't actually accessible from Main Street. Virginia is a cruel and twisted place.

As it turned out, the judge didn't arrive until about 1000, so even though I was supposed to be there at 0900 and was late, it didn't matter. It further didn't matter because my name didn't get called until about noon. And it further further didn't matter because this court doesn't deal with points at all. If I had known that, I would have paid the fine and not bothered. The ordeal was not worth the $20 it saved me in fines.

Don't get me wrong, I am not afraid to accept responsibility when I did actually do something I should not have been doing. I can't contest the charge, but it was a one-time lapse. Which is why I was hoping they would be nice to me for it. I've been very careful to make sure it hasn't happened again- and it hasn't.

There are better ways to spend a day.

My mother and I both had off of work today. I was originally hoping to have an appointment, but that didn't work out. We decided to get some things done instead.

My vehicle registration was up for renewal, and this was a good time to get my mother's name off the title of my car. This was another fiasco. Apparently, the documents from the loan company that were covered in big bold "PAID" stamps and sentences reading "there is no lien on your car" were not enough to prove to the DMV that there was no lien on my car. We had to call the loan company (the loan, in my mother's name but paid by me, having been paid off for a year) and have them fax a letter to the DMV stating that there was no lien on my car. That took an hour, so we hopped over to the mall to cancel a charge card and do a little bit of shopping, then dropped off some winter coats for dry cleaning, and back to the long last-Friday-of-the-month lines at the DMV. Thankfully, the fax did come through and everything is back to neat.

Incidentally, my ticket from yesterday was a cheaper fee than the registration renewal and transferring of title. But I have spiffy new plates that require a nominal annual fee that will go to the Chesapeake Bay Trust. How cool is that?


The people at work were jealous of my two days off. I told them they could have them both, I'd rather not have to do any of it. Depending on what the rain does, tomorrow might actually be restful. For a time.

There Must Be a Better Way to Make History

On August 6th of 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb to be used in warfare on the largest city of Japan's largest island. About a mile away, there lived a little two year old girl named Sasaki Sadako. Nine years later, Sadako got sick. A few months after that, she was hospitalized with leukemia, an effect of the radiation from the bomb, and given a year to live, at most.

During her hospital stay, she learned of a Japanese legend: the Gods would look with favor upon a person who could fold one thousand origami cranes and grant them a wish. Sadako wanted to get well, so she started folding. She folded medicine wrappers and paper from other patients get well gifts while she was in the hospital. She folded one thousand three hundred cranes before her death, this day in 1955.

Today, the legend of the wish granted to the folder of one thousand cranes lives on. School children all over the world fold cranes and send them to Sadako's memorial in Hiroshima. The collective wish of these children is peace. At the foot of her statue, the plaque reads, "This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world."

Folding one thousand cranes is no small task. It's more challenging than I thought it would be. But I set myself this goal, and I will not restart. I will fold until I'm done. While peace in this very troubled world is an admirable goal, I must admit that my wish will be my own.

Rain Did Happen

And people were falling off the road left and right because we've all forgotten how to drive in it. I won't know until later if it was enough to make up the deficit we're in. Every little bit helps.

It was rather funny. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning wondering what that strange sound I was hearing actually was. Rain! It's been so long, I had forgotten how it sounds!

Adolf is being a bum, but there's little I can do about it. I'm off tomorrow and Friday, though, so I only have to worry about work for the rest of today. That's nice!

Except work is a pain and a half right now.