Nighttime rituals are important for kids and adults.  They prepare the mind for sleep and ease the transition from wakefulness to rest.

My kids say a nightly prayer.  It helps them slow down and avoid bad dreams.  It’s really simple and changes every night.  They ask for and give thanks for three specific things that they can go to sleep thinking about.  Things that make them feel safe, heard and close to the goddess or deity of choice.

Goddess Good and Goddess Great thank you for: (1)(2)(3)
Goddess Good and Goddess Great bless me with: (1)(2)(3)
So mote it be!
You can, of course, change this to a specific God or Goddess or protective spirit, angel, guide, Boon fairy companion, ancestor, or whomever you so desire.

You can spray a nightlight with three sprays of purifying salt water.  While spraying repeat a protective chant of your own own making.  Something like:

Little light
now cleansed and pure
protect me through the night.

A clipping of my hair under the pillow or sewn to teddy can be helpful too. Kids can take a piece of Mom to bed with them.  It’s comforting and very protective.

A sachet of lavender and violet with a pinch of poppy seeds under the pillow.  Lavender to calm and sooth, Violet to protect and poppy seeds for dreams.  The hope, with this sachet, is to produce calm, soothing, protective dreams.

Some lavender and/or violet incense.  Not for my son, specifically, becasue of asthma… but it would work great for someone else.

Guided dream walks… like mini meditations during the day.  To have positive associations with the quiet of bedtime.

Often times bad dreams are the result of unfinished business during the day.  They are scary or frightening because the sub conscious is upset.  Trying to solve what’s got you or your child upset is the most direct course of action.  Bad dreams are only a symptom of the problem.  Hope this is helpful.  Sweet dreams!

This weekend held another annual Thanksgiving Feast put together by Liz and Megan. They have been cooking together for a few years now, and the night includes several turkeys, any side you can imagine, cocktails, desserts, and a mind-blowing magic show. I’m glad I got to be a part of it this year, since I’ve been hearing of its wonders and haven’t experienced it myself!

It’s a pretty big deal! I was surprised. Much fancier than my aunts Thanksgiving dinner at her house. And much tastier (Don’t tell Aunt Kathy). I had been salivating for days just thinking about it because I have had Liz’s cooking before and only imagined what the duo would bring. I even told my mom how much more I was excited for their Thanksgiving Feast than Aunt Kathy’s, which I think might have hurt her feelings. Whoops… I just can’t do the bland, cold mashed potatoes anymore. So, I was really satisfied to see friends getting together, having drinks and good conversation, and enjoying good Thanksgiving food. It’s weird that it’s so shocking right? Friends can do that. If Monica and Rachel can do it, Liz and Megan can definitely do it!

Greer, Kim, and Sarah excited to eat!

Nate, the magician, being tied up by volunteer

Seriously, the magic show was mind-blowing. How did Nate do it!? He’s really a magician. I mean, I’m a grown up and I was baffled. It was great. My favorite was when he swallowed four needles in a shot glass with some sort of liquid, then swallowed a piece of thread, only to pull it out a second later with the four needed threaded in a row! And it happened fast, not like someone tying a knot with a cherry stem. Just bam, magic. Later in the night, he had Sarah pick a card out of a deck, rip the card into four pieces and keep one. She gave him back the three pieces clipped together by a paper clip. Somehow the three pieces turned into a note, magically that read “Look in Big Gourd”. I was the volunteer that got to cut apart the big gourd to find the correct card inside (10 of Hearts) with seeds and all. The killer for me was that the card inside fit perfectly with Sarah’s one little ripped piece that she ripped earlier. Woa. Magic.

Good times had by all. I’m already ready for next year’s feast.

This weekend was busy. Normally, when I say a weekend was busy, that isn’t a good thing. I like our weekends to be relaxed. However, this past weekend was busy in a good way.

Friday is a high point in and of itself, but I also got the chance to go to the Arts & Cultural Center for open sew, where I was able to finish up my quilting project for free. (Normally there is a $2/hr usage fee for the room/equipment.) The woman who taught my class was there, too, and helped me finish. The last part involves hand stitching, and I haven’t quite finished it, but I’m close!! While I worked on my project, John hit the gym (downstairs from where I was – convenient, eh?). He did a great job – he biked 2 miles, ran 1 mile and repeated 2 more times!!

Saturday was kind of a pain. I got a headache around midnight Friday night, and it persisted until about 5 PM on Saturday evening. I spent the majority of the day on the couch. We did, however, go for a drive and run some errands. I came home with a beginner’s knitting book. I’m excited to try some new stitches. I’ve only ever done the knit and purl stitches, and I’ve never done the whole casting on/off thing. Saturday evening, we went to a free magic show on post. It was interesting. I’d never been to a magic show before. Of course John is a veteran. He used to be a stagehand for magic shows. We’ll just leave our experience described as interesting.

Sunday was great. We woke up, redesigned the blog and watched the first half of the UT v. Kansas game. I still have to finish watching it, but I’ve managed to make it this far without finding out the final score – please, do not ruin that for me.

Around noon, we headed to the pool for some laps. Unfortunately, half the neighborhood was there and they all brought friends. After 450 meters, we stopped trying to weave around people while attempting to swim laps and just called it quits. We ended up going to the shopping center, grabbing lunch, shopping (I got the rest of John’s Christmas gifts), reading for awhile in the bookstore and grocery shopping.

In the evening, I swept and vacuumed our apartment, did a load or two of laundry, sewed over half of the binding on my quilting project, addressed some Christmas cards, made dinner (a new recipe – more on that later this week) and made a pie from scratch (the filling was also a new recipe). Oh, and we finished watching District 9.

So, like I said, it was a busy – but very fun – weekend.

My 18-year-old self just rolled her eyes in disgust of how lame I am.

This mystery and the pathway to it [are] revealed every day at the Christian Eucharist, chanted every second by nuns and monks with the Mani Mantra and rehearsed continually by G[olden] D[awn] magicians in the Qabalistic Cross.

–from Peregrin at Magic of the Ordinary

From Toy Story to Bolt, animation has brought us an array of wonderful characters to cherish and enjoy. This roundup highlights a selection of simply awe inspiring 3D characters.

Stunning 3D Characters

Captain Jack Sparrow

Created using 3DSmax, Zbrush and Photoshop, the attention to detail and expression are fantastic.

Bobby, The Little Octopus

Textured using ZBrush and decorated with Blender, taking 5 days of work. Bobby is a unique and fascinating piece of work.

Harlequin

Hauntingly realistic, Harlequin is truly a spectacular piece of art. At first glance, one might think this was a well lit photo.

Science Doc

Modeled in maya and rendered in Mental Ray, Science is an excellent character, with matching production values.

Goblin Mechanic

Inspired by Max Cant’s soldiers when modeling the furnace on his back he is full of expression and crammed with an array of wonderful details.

Will Smith Caricature

Hilarious and superbly created using Cinema 4D, ZBrush and Photoshop. It has a warmth and charm that make it stand out.

Jelly Spider Friend

Realistic and a little creepy, this is beautifully crafted with amazing colors and textures. The lighting adds to the freakish feel of the piece.

Cloud Tribute

A tribute to the popular Final Fantasy character Cloud, the emotion behind the eyes is extremely powerful.

Beautiful Vanadisa

Created in Daz Studio with a rendering time of over 22 hours, this is a simply breathtaking 3D portrait.

Isabelle

Modeled using a combination of Poser, Vue, Cinema 4D and Photoshop CS, she has a real sense of mystery and magic.

Art Ventura

A wonderful caricature, Art Ventura solves mysterious CG cases. The behind the scenes of its creation is worth viewing.

Ogryn Stare

The artists first project using ZBrush with the entire piece taking over two days. It makes great use of textures.

Rose

A beautiful pose and composition, great use of light and a thoroughly captivating expression make Rose a compelling piece.

Emocionado

A funny and charming piece with great attention to detail on the cloth patterns and the stubble on the chin.

Aztec Priest

Inspired by Mel Gibson’s movie “Apocalypto”, this Aztec Priest is detailed, imaginative and original.

Cyber Goth

Created using a combination of Poser and Photoshop, the design on her scalp and the eye markings really draw the eye.

Samurai Troll

The texture work in the armor plates and skin are amazing given that the artist views this as a work in progress.

Smoking Creature

I don’t what’s more frightening, the hideous character or the amazing amount of realism he possesses.

Kai

This is Kai, Nariko’s dedicated friend (from Heavenly Sword). Created using Poser, Vue and Photoshop.

Shadow Conscious

Absolutely incredible detail, the artist really captured the emptiness in her eyes and created a character deep in thought.

Female Vampire

Inspired by the vampire film 30 Days of Nights, this female vampire looks really realistic and deliciously evil.

Arwen

Created using Cinema 4D, Poser, Vue and Photoshop with an obscene render time, Arwen is a pearlescent beauty.

Fries With That

Fantastic modelling, texturing and shading make this utterly realistic, you will think it’s a photograph. An amazing achievement in 3D realism.

Suspicious Minds

An incredibly striking, beautiful, realistic and moving portrait with an interesting story behind it.

The Worlds Enemy

A superb model of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy with the rendering taking 3 hours and the post production taking 6 hours.

Chris In 3D

An absolutely stunning combination of Poser and Photoshop work. Do yourself a favor and check out this render’s immaculate details.

Cyborg Head 01

The level of detail is nothing short of amazing, enhanced by the textures and lightning that give this 3D render superb qualities.

Ethereal

Artwork based on the W40k universe, it’s an Ethereal from the TAU empire, taking 2 days to complete using Cinema 4D, ZBrush, VRay and Photoshop.

Knight of the Temple

A lone knight of the Temple, standing guard. The chainmail and stone are particularly brilliant in detail and texture.

Grandma

Just awesome detail, amazing textures, superb blending and the befuddling expression on the woman’s face make this a wonderful piece of work.

A stunning showreel from one of the best in the magic game. Amazing.

Cela va faire plus de deux semaines que j’ai reçu ma première souris «officielle» d’Apple. Pour les Mac Aficionados qui n’auraient pas suivi l’actualité en direct (ou lu l’article précédent,) sachez que la Magic Mouse est le nom donné à la première souris dite «multi-touch» d’Apple (et la première mondiale!), dans la mesure où elle serait dotée de capteurs sensibles sur l’ensemble de sa surface (comme c’est le cas avec les écrans tactiles des téléphones intelligents, dont l‘iPhone).

Lancée en même temps que la version officielle de Windows 7, il semblerait, selon certains, que la Magic Mouse ait volé la vedette au produit de Microsoft.

En mettant toujours autant l’accent sur l’esthétisme caractéristique des produits d’Apple, la Magic Mouse est une souris qui a du charme! Son design épuré et sa forme arrondie m’ont séduit dès le départ.

De forme longitudinale, (très!) plate et concave sur le dessus, la Magic Mouse est une souris relativement légère (131 g) et très agréable au toucher. Lorsqu’on la saisit pour la première fois, celle-ci paraît d’abord un peu inconfortable à la tenue (faute d’habitude), mais au fur et à mesure qu’on l’utilise, elle se loge parfaitement entre les doigts (et non la paume de la main!) et l’on apprécie beaucoup sa surface lisse sur laquelle glissent les doigts.

La Magic Mouse est une souris qui fonctionne avec le système Bluetooth, ce qui permet une grande liberté de mouvement. De plus, la réceptivité de la Magic Mouse est très bonne (après plus de deux semaines d’utilisation).

Avec une absence totale de boutons, la Magic Mouse a de quoi surprendre: il s’agit en fait de sa surface arrondie sur laquelle on clique et  dont les côtés feront figure de boutons gauche ou droit, selon la configuration.

Ce qui impressionne le plus est sans doute le mode de défilement des pages (scrolling, en anglais): il vous faudra en effet tenir la souris, relier l’index et le majeur ensemble et les faire glisser sur la surface de la souris vers la gauche ou la droite pour changer de fenêtre dans Safari, Firefox. Dans le mode aperçu, vous faites ainsi défiler les éléments, tandis sous Cover Flow, vous passez de la fenêtre d’un dossier ouvert à celle du dossier précédent (ou suivant). Une petite révolution qui vous fera gagner bien du temps! Bien que le geste ne soit pas naturel au départ, après seulement un jour d’utilisation, il deviendra littéralement banal, voire amusant!

Quand au défilement en longueur, celui-ci est assuré par un mouvement très «classe»: servez-vous de votre index (ou de votre majeur), et faites-le monter ou descendre sur la surface de la Magic Mouse pour faire défiler une page de haut en bas! Le défilement dans les fenêtres est également assuré par un mouvement de rotation de 360°, fort utile lorsque vous manipulez des photos dans Aperçu ou tout autre logiciel de traitement de photos.

Le mode de zoom est assuré quant à lui par le glissement vertical d’un doigt, combiné à la touche contrôle (Ctrl) du clavier.

La Magic Mouse, en raison de sa forme et de l’absence de boutons, parviendra parfaitement aux gauchers aussi bien qu’aux droitiers.

Un des premiers regrets de la Magic Mouse est le fait qu’on ne puisse pas tout simplement tapoter sur sa surface pour engendrer un clic. Il faudra plutôt lever l’index ou le majeur et appuyer sur la coque de la souris en guise de clic. Ce qui vient quelque peu réduire la définition de la notion de multi-touch.

De plus, le faible nombre d’actions configurables en guise de boutons de cette Magic Mouse n’est pas en sa faveur, comparée à des souris ayant 4 voire 5 boutons configurables.

Sachez toutefois qu’il existe déjà des petites applications permettant d’étendre les fonctions de la Magic Mouse, dont BetterTouchTool, qui est gratuit.

Il s’agit, selon moi, d’une souris qui a beaucoup pour séduire: très élégante, avec une très bonne ergonomie, une bonne précision et une surface tactile agréable au toucher, la Magic Mouse se distingue de ce qui se fait sur le marché par son originalité d’utilisation. Je regrette toutefois le fait que sa surface ne fonctionne pas (totalement!) à la manière d’un écran tactile qu’il suffit d’effleurer pour simuler le mouvement. En ce qui concerne la faiblesse du nombre de «boutons configurables», il y a fort à parier qu’Apple mettra sous peu en version de téléchargement une mise à jour qui permettra de palier à cette lacune certaine de la Magic Mouse.

Enfin, pour parler du prix proposé (69$, avant taxes), il aura certainement de quoi rebuter un peu ceux et celles qui hésitent encore à l’acquérir! Mais sachez que la Magic Mouse est disponible dans la plupart des Apple Store et que vous pourrez vous y familiariser en la testant, avant de l’adopter définitivement comme je l’ai fait!

Les liens:

Magic Mouse

BetterTouchTool
En exclusivité, ce fond d’écran de la Magic Mouse présentée sous ses divers aspects. Au passage, vous constaterez sa taille, comparativement à un iPod de 5ème génération.

Magic Mouse

]]> http://onerandomguy.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/newish-deck-idea/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:18:41 +0000 srg http://onerandomguy.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/newish-deck-idea/

What if Conley Woods’ “Magical Christmasland” and the standard valakut deck had a baby? Something like this?

Conley’s LD plan is proven to be solid. The lotus cobra into ultimatum thing is too cute for me… I’d rather just get them with valakut. The sideboard is crap as is… I just want to see which is better for a LD mirror, Grim Discovery or Trace of Abundance. Might need to work in some islands and Quest for Ancient secrets if the Turbofog takes off.

Demi Moore on the cover of W this month. A little unnatural if you ask me.

The chill of early morning was a welcome blessing against the smothering heat of the house.  Her master was cold, always cold, and was never comfortable unless the house was stifling hot.  The fire at the hearth was never allowed to go out, not even in the height of summer, though it was allowed  to burn lower. When she was younger, she had awoken several times in the night to stir the coals and toss on fresh wood.  Now all she had to do was set the logs on the fire and set a small resistance spell on them  so that the flames would not feed until later in the night.  She had set those spells for the past eight years,  last night was the first that she no longer had to.

No one knew how old he was, Master Alberich claimed he was not sure himself. He seemed older than the hills themselves when she was presented to him to become an apprentice.  His gnarled hands had cupped her face gently as he looked into her young eyes.  The wrinkles on his face deepened into mountains and deep valleys as he sought something within her.  Eventually he had nodded at her parents.  The next day she began her travels to this small house nestled in the  feet of the mountains.

He had apprentices before her, he had spoke of them many times, but none ever came to his door.  He was a harsh teacher, at times unkind, but she learned that since this strange power that had awakened within her nothing would be kind ever again.  He taught her to read, to figure, to speak in tongues that were not heard in this part of the world.  Plants and animals, the positions of the stars and the moon, and how to read portents in the way the wind blew were just some of the things that he instructed her in.  Through out all of the years the fire in the hearth burned brightly.  She had wondered on the importance of the flames, why they were so important.  Now she knew.

His last whispered words had sent a chill up her spine.  He had been older than the hills, older than anyone imagined.  This past week he had told her the truth; how in one magician’s life time they waited for the one to pass all of their knowledge and power to;  how disappointed he had been in those who had come before her;  how surprised he was to find such power in such a young girl; and how he stole her energies until she was capable to control them.  She was ready he had told her.  He had smiled at her even though his body was wracked with pain, a pain he could no longer ignore.

It was already cooler in the house.  With the fire nearly dead, the cool morning had seeped into the walls like a thief into a fortress.  Her tears felt hot against her cheeks as she glanced at the empty bed.  With his last breath Alberich had simply disappeared, faded into nothingness.  Even the faint scent of him was gone.  She stepped to the hearth and knelt watching the last of the coals flicker.

If I had a bucket list for concerts I would certainly be crossing out Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band after being a part of the 3-hour show last week. Seeing Clarence Clemmons, Max Winberg, and Steven Van Zandt in person in addition to Springsteen was to be in the presence of musical royalty.

The concert experience is always so interesting. To be a part of something—something shared like the experience almost always is—reminds me so unmistakenly our need to belong is. The Springsteen community is in fact a special one, one that remembers and draws deep from life’s many twists and turns, and I was so glad that Bruce and the band opted for nostalgia instead of tracks from Magic and Working on a Dream. Highlights of the night included the entire Born to Run record from 1975. Bruce introduced the set by saying that, at the time, their third record was for the most part a do or die. After “two stiffs,” according to the Boss, Born To Run had to be a hit or he was done.

The Born to Run set was magic for me, but necessarily for the songs themselves, but more for the pathos of the moment. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band had three shows left after Nashville. At each one they were including a set from one of their most critical records: Greetings from Asbury Park, Born in the USA, The River, and Born to Run. It was evident throughout the set that the band was aware that they were playing these songs, perhaps, together for the last time. With all due respect to the performance of “Backstreets”, the finale “Jungleland” left a tone of sadness hanging in the air above all of us at Sommet that night—especially the last few lines:

And the poets down here don’t write nothing at all. They just stand back and let it all be, and in the quick of the night they reach for their moment and try to make an honest stand. But they wind up wounded; not even dead—Tonight in Jungleland.

Which brings me to another revelation. If you think about it, American popular music is relatively young. We really began with the Elvis/Beatles generation that gave way to the music of the 1970s and 1980s. When MTV hit the scene in the early to mid 1980s we began what I see as a third generation. As the Boss winded down last week I completely felt a generation going with him. At the same time there was celebration and lament as those final words of “Jungleland” hung over us in the air.

That shift in popular music that began with MTV and most likely completed itself around the end of the 1980s shifted popular music more to the carnal and away from the heart. As I enjoyed the last chords of an era it hit me that the sadness I was feeling was the result of something lost. And of course we knew it wouldn’t last forever—but we wanted it to. I may be crazy, but when Bruce told the crowd that the E Street Band was going away “for at least a little while,” I can’t help but think that everyone on the stage was thinking the same thing.

There will always be good songwriters and good music, but I tend to think the era of the songwriters that wrote not to stimulate our basest desire, but touch our souls, is coming to an end. The good news, of course, is that we have recordings—in Springsteen’s case a lot—as proof that we were a people at one time that felt with our hearts instead of our carnality.

Here is the setlist from November 18 at the Sommet Center, Nashville TN.

Wrecking Ball (with Curt Ramm)
Seeds
Trapped
Something in the Night
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Curt Ramm)
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She’s the One
Meeting Across the River (with Curt Ramm)
Jungleland
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
Two Hearts
Darlington County
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands

Ring of Fire (with Curt Ramm)
No Surrender
Bobby Jean
American Land (with Curt Ramm)
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (with Curt Ramm)
Higher and Higher (with Curt Ramm)

Serendipity – When You Know

I was thinking about his movie today. Seems like sometimes things just won’t leave my head no matter how hard I try. I guess that’s life’s little way of making sure you stay “grounded”.

Facebook put me in touch with a person from my very far past. They reminded me of a person who was once special in my life who I thought I had lost to a drunk driver. Turns out a bitter and twisted Father lied to me to insure I never tried to reunite … sad.

This video montage from the footage of Serendipity just struck a cord.

Maybe the things that happen to us, good and bad, are meant to be and this whole concept of karma is crap. Maybe in time everything actually is exactly “as planned” by God …

Keep well, busy and happy …

Shawn

We savored our last day in New Orleans, exploring the city, enjoying a classic lunch, and walking around  the Audubon Park (which is beautiful and full of all kinds of water birds). The weather was exciting, because Hurricane Ida was blowing past us to the east. That night Mad Tea joined Chris and Ashley’s Three Piece Spicy Band for their weekly show at Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-in-Law Lounge.

The Mother-in-Law Lounge is a sight to behold. It was created in 1994by R&B singer Ernie K-Doe’s wife, Antoinette, to celebrate his career. It is full of mementos of his successes, most notably his hit song “Mother-in-Law”. The whole place had to be re-done after Katrina, but thankfully it’s still there. Antoinette and K-Doe are both deceased (Antoinette passed away during Mardi Gras this year), and Antoinette’s daughter Betty now runs the place. It is a totally funky, one-of-a-kind spot.

The outside has murals of K-Doe, Antoinette and of Quintron and Miss Pussycat – New Orleans musicians who helped revive K-Doe’s music later in his life. (Editor’s note:  Quintron and Miss Pussycat are absolutely fantastic and Jason and I are big fans of their music.) Outside is also a fantastical garden with plants in bathtubs and other colorful yard art.

The centerpiece inside the Mother-in-Law Lounge is a mannequin of K-Doe, which gets dressed up in different outfits and is taken out to second-line parades and other events. Many of the photos in the Lounge were of people (including Antoinette) posed with the mannequin. It’s beautifully bizarre.

Three Piece Spicy and Mad Tea rocked out that night. Betty is a hoot, and she served up awesome soul food for everyone. I slipped off to the van at one point to start writing a new song. New Orleans had infused me with creative inspiration.

After the show, we hung out with Betty and a few Mother-in-Law Lounge regulars, laughing and enjoying the setting. Once again we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning.

I am so happy that we had such a kick-ass time in the Crescent City.

Dear Julie,

I’d finished digging up enough Kappa yams for the night and had moved on to the patch of greens I’d found. The big arrow-shaped leaves are good boiled, kind of like spinach, only way better tasting.

Then, suddenly, I jumped up, horrified. There was trouble, big trouble. It was so weird. I’ve told you before how I’ve felt the forest’s magics moving around me. Well, this time, it was like a sharp push. Worse yet, I could feel the threat’s alien magics, a hard, distinct knot pushing its way down through the canopy.

“Pip! Splash! Here! Work.” Without waiting for them, I turned to the disaster site and headed out at a jog. I didn’t even bother grabbing up the greens I’d picked. They weren’t half as important as helping the forest.

My longcats raced after me. They flowed up my jeans into their chosen places, Splash in his sling, Pip on my shoulders. The slight bristle to their fur told me they knew too.

“Hey, wait!” Alex dashed after me and caught my arm before I could hurry across the horse wards. “You can’t go out of the horse wards, not without Bristol. You don’t know what’s there.”

“Nothing that would bother me,” I retorted, though he had a point. “Bristol! We’ve got to go. Bring Kris, and we’ll meet you.”

“Wait for me,” Bristol ordered.

From Alex’s start, I don’t think he’s heard Bristol talk from a distance much before.

I might have left the horse wards, but before I could, they flared up. It looked for all the world like they’d suddenly turned into a ring of blue flame, a wall taller than I was, at least a foot wide. I knew it was just Bristol’s magics, but that wouldn’t stop them from burning me.

I sighed and started pacing. I couldn’t go yet, but the longer we waited, the worse it’d get—and the harder it’d be to help.

“Lacey, tell me what’s wrong,” Alex demanded, his square face lined with concern.

“You know,” I protested, turning to gape at him. How could he not know? “We have to go, now!” I glared at the horse wards. “Bristol should have let us set out without him.”

“What I know,” Alex corrected, “Is that you suddenly stopped picking leaves for dinner, called your longcats, and headed for the edge of the horse wards.”

Stunned, I stepped back, almost into the horse wards. I could feel their heat at my back and jumped forward immediately. I could only stare at Alex as if he’d run mad.

“It must be a magic thing,” Alex said slowly. “Remember, I’m not a mage.”

“Oh, right!” I flushed. I still can’t think how I could have forgotten that. “Well, it’s simple enough.” I pointed out. “The forest needs us to fight for it again. That way.”

“If that’s the case, we’d need our weapons,” Alex pointed out. “And we’d get there faster on horseback.”

“Right!” I could feel my face burning even more. I should have thought of that too. “Let’s get our tack out.”

“We can go back to camp and meet Bristol,” Alex agreed. He scooped up the leaves I’d forgotten.

Pip and Splash growled softly as I turned away from the direction we should be going in.

“It’s okay,” I said, reaching up with one hand to pat Pip, down with the other to stroke Splash. “We’ll go soon. We’ll be faster if we ride.”

I’m not sure what they understood, but they relaxed when I talked to them. That is, they stopped growling, but their back fur and their tails stayed bristled.

Bristol flew over and dropped down between me and Alex when we were halfway back to camp. He took one look at me, then slapped my backside, right where he’d whipped me yesterday.

As I yelped, distracted from the forest’s needs, my longcats sprang at him, only they hung in the air, caught by his magics. They crouched in the air and growled, their backs, their bodies arched, their fur up.

“Something’s wrong with Lacey,” Alex announced.

“No, nothing’s wrong with me,” I protested. “It’s just that there’s trouble, and we’re needed—right away!” I reached up to collect both of my longcats and cuddle them close. “Hush, Splash, Pip. It’s okay. I’m not hurt, not really.”

“This is exactly why I didn’t want you to have so much as a dog,” Bristol grumbled, his lips tight with irritation. “Your longcats are far worse.”

“No, they’re wonderful,” I snapped, distracted from the forest again.

“You’re deeply enmeshed in the forest now,” Bristol stated. “You always were more at risk than the rest of us. I’ve got enough ties elsewhere to counterbalance the forest’s web, not that I wouldn’t understand a basic web to begin with.”

He turned to Alex while I was blinking, confused by his response. “We’ll all have to watch Lacey closely for awhile, until she learns to think instead of simply react when the deep forest’s web pulls on her.”

I paled, scared. “Wait, you mean . . .”

“I don’t understand,” Alex interjected, his brows furrowed.

“It’s simple enough.” Bristol snorted and pointed at my longcats. “They’re strongly bound to the deep forest, their ties renewed by the spell that woke them. Lacey’s as deeply bound to them by the same spell, which brings her tightly into the forest web.” His voice grew bitter. “Even if I’d killed them, she might still be affected.”

I gulped. I have to wonder if this is what it’s like to be fay, to act without thought, directed by the life around you—not separate from it like we humans are, but an intimate part of it, hurt when it’s hurt, happy when it’s happy. At the same time, I couldn’t help being on edge. We were needed, desperately. “We’ve got to go! There’s trouble.”

“Perhaps,” Bristol said patiently. “But running off to face unknown danger, without any plans or forethought, is more likely to risk us than help anything.”

“Right.” Alex nodded, for once in agreement with our fay warrior.

“We’re going back to camp,” Bristol stated. “And working out exactly what the problem is.”

“It’s awful,” I said quickly. “There’s a, a knot of magics pushing its way down.” I pointed. “Over that way! We’ve got to hurry.”

Bristol sighed and lofted all three of us. “You’re still reacting. If you can’t calm yourself down by the time we reach camp, I’ll maze you.”

“We’re flying the wrong way,” I complained, even though it was fun to fly, to feel the air whooshing against me, my hair flowing in the wind.

“I need to know what to do when Lacey starts flipping out like this,” Alex said.

“I’m not flipping out!” I protested.

“Call me,” Bristol said wryly. “I can always bespell her. You can’t.”

I could have screamed at both of them if it wasn’t so important that we get moving, moving the right way. I tried to explain, but neither of them listened to me.

—Lacey

Cool, I’ve played in 3 PTQs online so far, and my records are 27th (5-1, 2-3), 0-1 drop, and 13th (8-2). Pretty heartbreaking loss to finish 13th. I was at 8-1, losing first round only to rattle off 8 wins in a row, and I was in a a win-and-in situation with not-so-good breakers (normally 60% OMW is a good breaker, but not in a big tournament like this!). My opponent was at 4 life, and I had a vampire nighthawk with a trusty machete that was threatening to take him out next turn, as well as a hideous end in hand to (hopefully) deal with any flier he could come up with. What’s his topdeck? Kor Skyfisher! Great, I can hideous end it, right? Wrong, he bounces Journey to Nowhere and takes out the nighthawk, and I need to draw Burst Lightning now. Too bad there’s a land on top of my deck. I skipped the part where he topdecked Sorin Markov and Conqueror’s Pledge on successive turns to keep himself from an early exit. Because playing BBB and WWW spells always works out in sealed, right? Oh, and I nearly forgot the part where I was forced to mulligan to 5 game 1, and also the part where he drew Conqueror’s Pledge every game, but my Rampaging Baloths only showed up in game 1 when the game was already lost. No, I’m not bitter. Life sucks, but 13th in a 468 person tournament is not too shabby.

Wait, I’m not done bitching! Guess how many times I drew Burst Lightning over the course of a 10 round tournament? That’s right, 3!

Ok, now I’m done. Hopefully I can continue to do well in future PTQs.

Back to Block Constructed then. I left the shelter of white decks and put together a RG Valakut deck, almost card for card the deck from my previous post. Wow, fun! This is my new favorite deck. I entered a DE with no experience playing the deck, and should’ve been 3-0. I say should’ve, because my opponent was tapped out in round 3 game 3, and I had the win in hand, but failed to play my lands in the right order. Literally, all I had to do was crack Khalni Heart Expedition BEFORE playing the mountain in my hand, and I win. D’oh! As is only fitting when you make boneheaded mistakes like this, I finished 2-2. But burning people out from 18 is fun! For some reason this deck and I really click. I won several 2-mans, and also took down the 8-man queue I played in, playing against UW all 3 rounds.

Given my love for this block deck, I’m considering putting together the standard version with all the glory of SGC and Bogardan Hellkite. I’m also considering the vaguely related Scapeshift combo in Extended. I just love Valakut!

We’ll see where things go.

The Sparkle Fairy

My Everyday Magic

* Two hours to myself yesterday to do cleaning stuff, garden stuff, organizing stuff, and creative stuff ~ and really enjoying all that stuff!

* Reading about Laka, the dolphin I met in Hawaii, in my current book!

* Looking forward to the holiday with the whole family ~ both sides!

* A fun conversation with my parents last night.

* Making the most delicious zucchini bread and filling it with so much love and gratitude!

* My dear hubby’s now-famous chili that our whole family LOVES!

* Following Finn’s flow and honoring his feelings. (How’s that for alliteration!)

*********************************************************************************************

That’s my magic today! What’s yours? Post in comments below. I love you!

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]]> http://meteorstorm1642.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/ost-mv-magic-ost-the-story-sg-wannabe/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:54:10 +0000 meteorstorm1642 http://meteorstorm1642.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/ost-mv-magic-ost-the-story-sg-wannabe/ http://edrev.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/aggiornamenti-dalla-settimana-nba-221109/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:50:10 +0000 edrev http://edrev.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/aggiornamenti-dalla-settimana-nba-221109/

Un’altra settimana di regular season è trascorsa e ci avviciniamo a piccoli passi verso una situazione stabile. Ho avuto la possibilità di vedere diverse partite e vi riporto le mie impressioni:

• Atlanta vs. Portland
  Partita bella con molte emozioni: i Blazers grazie al nuovo schieramento a 3 guardie stavano andando forte e gli Hawks erano primi a est.. ne è uscita una partita in overtime. Portland ha dimostrato di essere molto competitiva, con molte opzioni, anche troppe; anzi… diciamo proprio troppe! Il potenziale è altissimo ma non c’è una vera gerarchia, nei momenti chiave la squadra la prende in mano Roy, e sono buone mani, la seconda punta è Aldridge, favoloso attaccante ma assolutamente non una personalità dominante, più adatto a essere il terzo di una gerarchia da squadra di livello… il vero problema è che dopo questi due c’è la confusione, e ciò non vuol dire che non ci sia supporting cast, anzi il contrario ce n’è fin troppo, ci sono altri 7-8 giocatori, con diverse caratteristiche ma stesso livello di importanza. La storia insegna che una squadra vincente deve avere una gerarchia ben stabilita con una strutturazione spesso a piramide. I Blazers devono ancora trovarla… da 2 anni la stanno cercando… mi ripeto ma hanno assolutamente bisogno di una trade!
  Che dire di Atlanta invece… Sorprendenti! Ci si aspettava un buon inizio, una buona squadra, ma non così. Estremamente discontinui, accendo e spengono in un attimo, ma quando si mettono a giocare, sia in attacco che in difesa sono fantastici. Hanno un gioco spettacolare e divertente, pochi schemi, diciamo pure che gran parte del gioco è improvvisazione, ma si divertono e fanno divertire. Ma allora la domanda è lecita: come fanno a vincere così tanto se sono una squadra così umorale? I motivi sono 3 a mio parere: 1. Si divertono e quindi giocano, attaccano in 5 e difendono in 5, quando decidono 2. Sono molto forti fisicamente, atletici e rapidi, Josh Smith ne è l’emblema 3. Joe Johnson dimostra come si può essere un leader senza spiccicar parola; con i giornalisti è un divo del muto, in campo non parla mai, ma nel quarto quarto, quando sono stati in partita giocando male, solo sfruttando il talento, dice 2 parole, schiaccia il bottone e come d’incanto la squadra cambia faccia… leadership silenziosa.
  Di fatto sono loro i favoriti per la quarta testa di serie dei playoff. Non credo vadano più su ma non è detto.
• Boston vs. Orlando
  Altra partita per cui potrei scrivere per pagine e pagine, cercherò di essere breve. Con Garnett per i Celtics è tutta un’altra musica, ma non è evidentemente un’intera partita nelle gambe dopo l’infortunio e deve amministrarsi. La squadra deve ancora trovare tutti gli equilibri ma per me è ancora la favorita. Prevedo che prima di natale arriverà una serie di vittorie consecutive da 10 o più per mettere in chiaro le cose.Ci sono degli automatismi da sistemare e giocatori da recuperare.
  Wallace riesce ancora a stupirmi. Per Boston è un lusso incredibile averlo dalla panchina, e per lui è un’ottima cosa data l’età non essere costretto a un minutaggio da titolare. In questa partita abbastanza sorgnone, fino a una brutta decisione arbitrale che lo ha fatto molto arrabbiare nel 4° quarto. Da li in avanti, per 3-4 minuti è stato il dominatore assoluto della partita, chiudendo su tutti i Magic in aiuto e ridicolizzando Howard in 4 possessi consecutivi, sia offensivi che difensivi. Che dire, se si scatena non ce n’è per nessuno. La buona notizia è che dopo la sfuriata ritorna tranquillo, ma giocare con lui e Garnett insieme dovrebbe essere illegale.
  Orlando: tornato Lewis e ricomincia la festa! Più o meno… Il gioco è tornato quello dell’anno scorso e l’efficacia pure, la cosa diversa è che Carter, come era previsto, si è dimostrato molto meno adatto di Turkoglu a questo sistema; soprattutto nel 4° quarto quando sentendo la responsabilità del suo ruolo nella squadra ha cercato di prendere in mano la squadra: ne sono usciti una serie di forzature, alcune andate anche a segno grazie al suo immenso talento, ma nulla creato per i compagni. Sta volta è andata bene, anche per via dei problemi di Boston, ma questo modo di giocare tende a non farti vincere nel lungo periodo.
• San Antonio vs. Dallas
  Altra partita molto sentita questo derby texano, e le 2 squadre hanno riservato sorprese in questo avvio di stagione: Dallas è partita molto bene, che era prevedibile, ma soprattutto esprime un bel gioco, come non si vedeva dal 2006, l’anno della finale. San Antonio invece attraversa un momento di crisi, ci si aspettavano problemi di infortuni, ma non così presto. Il più penalizzato è Jefferson che è un’ottimo giocatore ma non ha le caratteristiche per prendere in spalla la squadra, è stato preso per giocare con Parker, Ginobili e Duncan, con questi giocatori a esaltare le sue qualità, non per essere il primo terminale offensivo, e in questa situazione è in crisi soprattutto psicologica. A San Antonio prevale l’idea che meglio avere infortuni nella prima parte di stagione che nella seconda, e di fatto è vero, ma ora si stanno accumulando un po’ di sconfitte che, se la crisi non rientra potrebbe essere difficile assorbire.
  I Mavs invece sembrano giocare sul velluto e, come nel caso di Atlanta, sembrano divertirsi. In più c’è Nowitzky, che gioca come mai in carriera e lascia a bocca aperta per quanto grande è il suo repertorio.
• I Knicks continuano a perdere tranne una piccola parentesi con i Nets, e Gallinari continua a giocare alla grande, tranne una piccola parentesi con i Nets.
• Tornato Gasol, ora vediamo i veri Lakers… non che quelli visti fin ora facessero schifo, ma Pau da tutta un’altra dimensione alla squadra.

Drinking stolen wine, and smoking cigarettes rolled from the pages of a bible, I begin again.

-sigh-

When you really break it all down, what’s the point of it all?  I ask myself.  I’ve asked this numerous times, only to have the answer bite me in the ass over and over and over again.  I’ve pissed away a good few years worth of Life in the search for ‘It All’ and all I’ve really come up with is ‘Just Because’.  There remains a distance I try to keep between me and the words I write, but I realize that the distance is what becomes me.  No matter the content, intent, or goal, it’s all just another attempt to find meaning to it all in the world around me.  Something that has been tried hundreds, or thousands, or millions of times before this one.  Whatever the number that has proceeded this single attempt amongst many, I move forward, claiming neither experience nor insider tips towards the matter.  After all, I’m just one voice amongst the millions on the Internet that feels the need to throw their thoughts at the ink and see what sticks to the paper after the initial shit storm has passed.

I’ve never had formal schooling, and while I wish I had, that option hasn’t presented itself as yet, though I know I can’t just wait for opportunities to appear, but must make the opportunities for the one who would take them as they come.  Namely, Me.  This really goes for anyone else out there that would begin as I would; Ass Backwards and trying to figure out just what the fuck is going on in this world.  I know others like myself exist.  I know I’m not unique, and if I am, I’m unique just like anyone else you could pick from this floating ball of rock, hurtling through space at about 67,000 miles per hour.  Hell, even my American upbringing has distanced me from the rest of the globe as everyone else uses the metric system.  If I could simulate rolling my eyes here, I would.

Whatever the case may be, I made a choice to keep going in the direction I’m in, and do my damned best to keep myself going, no matter how bad things get.  And believe me, things get pretty damn bad, especially for one as imaginative as myself.  There’s all forms of danger to be lurking in the blackness of the unknown, waiting around every corner to trip and devour you at the slightest sign of weakness.  That’s the world for you.  Fierce, vicious, and none too picky about what it devours to keep going.  Earth is a monstrous engine that is fueled by the blood of Man.  We die so that it might continue.  If humans died out completely, Earth would advance and forget about us.  We are short lived, troublesome, violent, and self destructive.  It’s bound to happen eventually, right?  Well, judging by the patterns at least.  Earth has a memory, but one that measures against the Galactic Ruler.  Our one hundred year bottle rockets are no match at all for the Class D bombs it has to deal with.

We are here and gone in a blink of an eye.  Look at our history and you’ll notice that the longer we lived, the longer we were able to keep ourselves alive, the more logical our deductions about our home became.  When our lives were capped at around thirty to forty years we worshiped anything that we did not understand, and back then, that was just about anything we saw.  As the years progressed we came to understand our surroundings and the ball of rock we lived on.  Hell, for the longest the world was thought to be flat.  You can even compare this to the way humans think about things.  It’s never as multidimentional as we’d like it to be, being only able to observe (for the most part) in a 2-D to 3-D point of view.  When you introduce meditation, ‘outside-the-box-’ thinking, etc, we really only add a fraction of what really is.  That the world is but an atom in the unfathomable build of a gigantic dildo, placed away in someone’s closet until the next moment the husband, wife, or dry spell comes up, is only a small percentage in the whole fucking system of it all.  For all we know, we’re atoms that make up the code of a horrible virus that is, right as you are reading this, tearing the life from a life force that has family, friends, and lovers as you all do.

Who cares, right?  We’re either too big or too small to give credit to such things?  We aren’t effected by the events of these worlds, so why bother thinking of them?  Why not?  Why not give into these ponderings in the dark?  Because it shakes what you are to the core.  It challenges your set views of a world where You are the biggest, most valuable, pawn on the whole chess board, and a polite ‘Go fuck yourself’ to anything that would challenge this existence where You remain an ‘Important’ piece in the Game of Life.  Perspective kicks us in the balls again as we delve into the possibilities that we aren’t the Big Cheese in the main run of things.  Even that line of thinking can be credited to Religion.

I really don’t want to get into a discussion of religion right now because it would ruin my buzz, but I’ll just end this topic here by saying that Religion has been the biggest cause of Death in our entire existence as sentient creatures on this this floating rock.

We believe because we CAN.

At any rate, I’m off to bed.

Fuck you, fuck your beliefs, and most of all, fuck bananas.  Because I can almost never remember how to spell the fucking things…

Whatever,

Peace and enlightenment be upon you Traveler.

~K.S.

Do you ever have dreams where you find secret doors? Hidden rooms? I often have such dreams.  On many occasions, I am at my house, or my elementary school, or another familiar place when I come across a previously concealed opening.   I crawl inside and navigate among a network of fleshy tunnels, sliding between walls, climbing up cold metal vents, and going down dark shafts to places strange and unknown.  Several times, these paths lead me to obscure worlds…  alien locations super-imposed on familiar locales.  I’d like to think that these dreams are metaphors for exploring your own “personal” psychic space.  There is a scene in the movie Dreamcatcher (based off the Stephen King novel) where the protagonist explores a metaphoric warehouse of his own memories while an alien creature inhabits his body.  While I do not advocate watching such a terrible, terrible film, the image is clearly useful and pertinent to the conversation.

One such dream lingers on my mind.  In this dream my parents purchased my favorite Haunted House in Ocean City, Maryland and wanted to run it as a family business.  To those unfamiliar with the Haunted House at the end of the Boardwalk, let my explain that, basically, it is a seated two-person ride where frightening automated tricks are triggered as the cart travels down a winding track through a serious of horrifying scenes.  The labyrinthine layout of the ride confuses the passengers’ understanding of space and time while the psychedelic optical effects of the black-lights loosen their subconscious minds, successfully allowing the ghosts of the ride unmitigated access to the personal fears of the travelers, or at least, that’s how I’ve always felt.

In the dream, I returned home to Maryland to help them renovate their new business.  I was walking through the ride and I noticed a door that I have never seen.

It was down the crooked psychedelic hallway with its chipping black-light paint…

Past the terrifying old mill with its rusty saw blades…

Past the torture chamber with its racist primitive and its tied up maiden with giant animatronic heaving bosoms…

And directly after the horrific decomposing Victorian skeleton knitting a neon tea-cozy by moonlight.

There against a blank wall was a small, mysterious door shrouded by darkness.  I got on all fours and crawled through what seemed an endless maze of cobwebs-and-sand-encrusted tunnels.  Finally, after a long while, I reached a drafty, open chamber made of stone and marble.  The silvery moon must have been bright that magical night, because before me I saw illuminated some sort of ancient subterranean burial tomb.  It was then that I realized, “Holy shit.  This Haunted House is really just the top of a buried Egyptian pyramid!  Sweet.”  It was like the tip of an iceberg peering out of the water, only it was buried deep and forgotten in that cigarette-butt and broken beer bottle infested coastline that hugs the waters of the Atlantic.  I knew right then and there that I had found a great psychic doorway to the Underworld.  The ghosts that ran the haunted house were the lingering spirits of powerful beings.  At last, there would be proof that a proto-human species inherited these colossal geometric structures from their divine celestial fore-bearers (at least, these were my thought at the time).  And the best part… it was all mine to explore.  I don’t think I have ever been happier in a dream.  Then I woke up.  The dream was over.

Last night, I went looking for the actual blueprints of the fun-house (which I found) and luckily, I was charmed enough to come across The Bill Tracy Project, “a comprehensive look into the personal and professional life of the greatest designer and builder of dark attractions the amusement park industry has ever seen: Bill Tracy.”  He designed and built the Haunted House in Ocean City along with many others across the good ol’ U.S. of A.  He also designed many of the early Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats (how timely) and some display cases for Macy’s.  The list of his achievements is daunting (46 Dark Rides, 15 Walk-Thrus, 8 Water Rides, 6 Ride Displays, 1 Park Front, 1 Concept Ride, 1 Park Design/Layout, plus 2 Unknown Projects), and his carefully researched biography… fascinating.  This excerpt in particular seemed portentous:

Tracy’s creativity flourished and he became nationally known for his ceramics after being featured in the November 11, 1940 issue of Life, where a photo of Tracy’s ceramic creation, “Jonah in the Whale,” was published in an article covering the Syracuse Ceramic Show at The Museum of Fine Arts in Syracuse, New York, where his piece was on display. His unique sculpture featured a whale with a portion of its side removed to reveal a person trapped inside. 

For a full-page synchronicity, see Dream #1.

How did the young Bill Tracy gain access to the dreams of a of an individual 69 years in the future?  Why were the dead and hidden secrets of Ocean City’s occult origins revealed to humanity?  Will Nathan actually destroy the foundation of his favorite childhood thrill-ride to satisfy the ephemeral desires of a dream?  And just how much will the tickets cost to this new and wonderful attraction?  The answers to all these questions (and cooking tips for the holiday season!) in the next penumbra report.

The sorcerers want their orb back.

Chapter 1. Surreal Storm

Chapter 2. The Serpent and the Sorceress

Chapter 3. Conversations with a Lalachai