Your Friday Morning List Post! (TM)
Virgo:: On the third anniversary of America's invasion of Iraq, many protests took place. But they were mild, not wild--more like Sunday picnics than the fierce mass demonstrations that raged in 2003. New York's rally drew a mere 1,000, Washington's 300. The march near where I live was a small affair led by two octogenarian women riding cream-colored scooters. They snacked on cookies and sang "This Little Light of Mine." I was shocked and awed by the lack of passion, especially since now it's even more appallingly obvious how stupid the war is than it was in the beginning. Don't you dare allow a similar apathy to creep in to your own fight for justice, Virgo. For the sake of your future, you've got to redouble your righteous, ingenious anger.
1. No dancing for me tonight. In fact, my weekend is full of tedious obligations, and I am not pleased by it. I have to be at my mother's work at 6am tomorrow morning, because they need help and are willing to throw cash my way. I keep telling myself that since I've committed to three weekends, that's more than enough dough for a Sephora order. Think of the lipgloss, Christina. Think of the lipgloss. I am then spending the night at my parents' house, because if I skipped Easter morning, their non-practicing Christian brains might implode or something. Hey, I'm only in it for the pretty eggs. Next stop is Skyler's family gathering, and then I skulk home to bed for a good night's sleep before starting a workweek anew. I'm already sleepy. This does not bode well.
2. This Week's Meme::
1. Do you have any phobias? I am irrationally afraid of mirrors. Mostly at night, but sometimes during the day, too. I put my makeup on with a hand mirror. I've been known to cover mirrors with scarves. This has nothing to do with how I look-- I've been this way for as far back as I can remember.
2. What was your first fandom? I'm pretty sure it was Star Wars. I roleplayed. I read the books. However, by the time the prequels came out, my love for Lucas & Co. was all but dead.
3. You are shipwrecked on a desert island. What 5 things would you take (given that water and food will be in a plentiful supply)? A copy of Waking the Moon, SPF-laden moisturizer, a blank book, a pen, a baggie of hair ties. I'm assuming this means luxury items, otherwise I'd take scissors, a spoon, a knife, a box of matches, and a ball of twine.
4. What's your favourite word and why? I would ordinarily say 'undulate,' but today, I'm going to go with 'sybarite.' It's such a descriptive word-- obscure, decadent, and also fun to say.
5. If you could go back to any period in time when would you go back to? England, just before the turn of the 20th century. 1875 or so. Oscar Wilde's star was beginning to rise, and the Pre-Raphaelites were just beginning to decline. Bizet's Carmen would have just premiered. Verdi would have been huge, Chopin and Berlioz would still be in vogue. It was so gilded, so decadent, so literary. And I'd have loved to sit in a Victorian tea room.
3. I went on a mini book spree yesterday, courtesy of Amazon marketplace. Four books for $25, shipping included. I got War For The Oaks by Emma Bull, Rites of Pleasure: Sexuality in Wicca and NeoPaganism by Jennifer Hunter (
anotherjen), Primavera by Francesca Lia Block, and The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World, by Judica Ilkes.4. I bought that last book as a starting-point for a larger project. I'm actually going to be joining the BPAL forum in a semi-formal capacity, as the mods there are opening a research section. Since so much of the catalogue is rooted in mythological and occult lore, I've been tapped to help put together information for this new reference section. I saw this book in Barnes and Noble, and it seemed to cover a fair number of topics in a brief, clear manner. In other words, I fully plan on double-checking and cross-referencing and digging deeper, but I thought it would make a good starting-point for some of the topics. I'll still probably have to get several more books to diversify my pagan library-- especially things written by skilled Voudoun & Ifa practitioners, because as I've noticed, many minority religions/beliefs are often misperceived and misrepresented by non-practitoners.
5. For those of you who asked for Fantasy Bath reviews, I can give a huge thumbs-up. I received my 9 bath ballistics yesterday, and promptly tried out Bliss, which is blue and heart-shaped. They're the size of the larger Lush ballistics, but I was really surprised because they weren't solid or hard. They were kind of like sticky sand, but I suppose that makes it easy to mix and match. Bliss smelled like sugared lemon candies in a creamy base-- very nice. The water was a deep, jeweltone blue, and very moisturizing. Also, even though it didn't fizz like a Lush ballistic, it did foam a lot, and that created a whole lot of long-lasting bubbles. All in all, I was very impressed, especially since they were fairly priced, shipping time was less than a week, and I got free shipping on my $30 order. It's good to know that I have a fallback for when I run out of Lush.
I think it's fair to say I'm restocked for a few months.
Like I said, baths are cheaper than therapy.
6. I had a funny bus-stop conversation with a Russian guy this morning. He was young, completely lost, and on his way back to Arizona to get his CDL license. He kinda looked like a younger Alec Newman. I mentioned that I had a friend who's dating a Russian guy, and all his family is concerned about is when she's gonna start popping out the babies. He laughed and said that's because we American girls have a reputation for being so unfeminine in Russia. We don't know how to cook, we don't know how to clean, and all those Russian grandmas just want to know that they'll have little grandbabies. I said I certainly didn't know how to cook, but I've been lucky enough that my last few boyfriends have been willing to cook for me. With the exception of having to cook my own meat while I was dating Mike, I was more or less set. "A vegetarian?" He exclaimed. "I bet the sex was terrible! How can he do it without the proteins? That is why we have no vegetarians in Russia!" I laughed so hard that I almost snorted my coffee. (For the record, the sex was pretty good.) Anyway, he asked me to breakfast, which I had to decline because I have a job and a boyfriend and all that, but it was still an amusing way to start the day. Also? Again, I got "are you foreign?" I don't understand why every guy who flirts with me thinks that I'm foreign.
7. I received a slew of Atmospheric CDs yesterday. I think I'm going to put all my commentary about them in one big wrap-up post.
8. How do you change the "mood" or "music" fields in the update console so that you can post your scent of the day?
...and, with that, I have HCFA forms to enter. Joy!