You People Are Weird
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My recent site stats show a huge interest in the close up shot of my stitches. If someone out there suffered an injury similar to my own, I feel for you.
To the person who searched for: how to protect self from animals in the wilderness ...
Generally, if they know you're coming, they'll get out of your way. If you stumble across a bear cub, get the hell outta there fast. Pretty much everything else will run from *you*.
I'm not sure how 'eat every other day blog' led to me. I eat every day, several times a day. Although the concept of consuming every other day is pretty interesting. Just consuming your day instead of having your day consume you.
Um. Anchor Slobber Aquamarine? I have no idea what you were looking for; but apparantly you found all those words on one page here. Congratulations!
And those of you wondering about blood diamonds - it's a name for diamonds that are sold to fund terrorism, civil wars, and atrocities beyond your imagining. Almost all blood diamonds pass through the hands of DeBeers. You know, the people who make all those nice diamond commercials? The company that tells you only diamonds show your love? DeBeers wholesales rough diamonds and controls 80% of the diamond market. If you want to be horrified, but educated; visit Amnesty International and search their site for blood diamonds.

Lessons Learned
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So, if you're going out to buy coffee creamer before the big storm hits; and you turn on the radio to hear that there is a TORNADO WARNING; and the DJ keeps repeating there is a TORNADO WARNING, not a tornado watch; and there are multiple tornadoes on Doppler radar... Do not blithely continue toward your shopping destination. And above all, do not call your husband on your cell phone to say, "This is so cool! The sky is green! Really green, like bluegrass!

I'm just sayin'.

Because I did that. And when I got to the QT at the corner of Loughborough and Gravois, their registers were down.
This happens. Usually the register comes back online in a minute or two, so I grab my creamer and 2 different kinds of Pepsi and get in line.

Then the tornado sirens went off.

A third of the customers set down their stuff and ran out of the store. "Good," I thought, "less waiting for me." I stood in line while the manager on duty and a co-worker had a quiet conversation about the unworking registers. I glanced casually around, picking the best place in the store to hunker down if debris started flying around outside.
The door would open as if people were pushing their way in, but no one was there. It was the wind.

I wondered if I was about to live through something interesting.

I pulled out my cell phone to tell my hubby that I was safe, that I had chosen a shelter, and that I would be home after the worst had passed. The phone was fully charged, and I had a great signal. But I couldn't get through. All lines were busy.
I tried again. And a third time. Then I gave up.

The sirens wound down and I had a pair of thoughts run through my head. The sodas in my arms would get warm if I had to wait out a tornado, and it would be easier to herd the crowd at the register if my arms were empty.

(In hindsight, I have no idea why I thought it was my responsibility to keep these strangers safe. Nor do I know why I thought I had the power to do so. But at the time, my concern was getting rid of the drinks and being ready to take over and direct these people to safety.)

So I walked to the dairy cooler, wondering casually if I had enough time. There was an employee stocking the beer cooler as if tornado sirens hadn't been screaming at the sky mere seconds before. Weird.

I put away my creamer, then returned the sodas to their respective coolers, and headed back toward the register. Nothing to do now but wait...

Or not.

The manager on duty decided that the registers were not coming back online, and I think the crowd frightened her a bit because she declared, "Ok! I need everyone out of my store!"

As if it were the signal they were waiting for, everyone placed their items on the counter and left the store. I stood there with my mouth hanging open as people obediently went out into the storm and possible tornado. I couldn't believe she was sending her customers into potential danger.

I was outraged. I couldn't help myself. I declared in utter disbelief:
"I can't believe there's nowhere in this store to take shelter."
I clamped my mouth shut over the second part: "What is wrong with you?"

I tried the cell phone again in the truck. No dice.
So I drove to Hollywood Video and bought some soda for my family, then went home.

I opened the back door, declared "I'm safe!" and went straight into the basement where I found my family watching the weather. Lo and behold, there on the radar was a rotating tornadic cell. Just east of our home. It was one of 7 or 8 cells on the screen.
When those sirens were going off, there really was a tornado rotation over my head. It just never touched down.

Now, I have to throw in an interesting thing about my city news people. When tornadoes hit, the weather guys rush out to be right at the scene of disaster. And after the storm began to fall apart, reports of the destruction started coming in.

According to one meteorologist, some neighborhood had put their trash out before the storm hit. It wasn't a trailer park, but Mother Nature couldn't resist. Yes, a little baby tornado touched down and ripped open bags of trash all down the street. *giggle*

Racing Falcon
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Driving home from the snake food store, I spotted a bird like an oversized pidgeon. It was flying about a block ahead of me. It didn't fly like a pidgeon, and I wondered if it was a Peregrine falcon. As I completed that thought, the bird swept up into the sky. I could see it's outline then, and I knew it was indeed a Peregrine falcon.
The falcon stayed framed against the blue sky for two wingbeats, then swept down until it was level with my truck.

I had been driving the speed limit - 35 mph. I slowed down to 30. The falcon stayed even with me for a few dozen yards, then fell behind. He was so close, that I could have rolled down my window and almost touched him. He was flying exactly at eye level with me.

How cool is that?

Oh, and the hawk that watches me drive L to school most mornings is a Harris hawk.

Strange night, strange morning

Last night, the very center of my forehead would not stop tingling. I was restless and scattered. This hasn't happened to me in a long time, so it took a bit for me to remember the last time I felt that way. Eventually, I was able to place it. It's the impending earthquake feeling. (sigh) I thought I'd gotten rid of that one for good. I mean I can't be going nuts whenever a fault line is nearing a breaking point, now can I?
I walled off my earthquake sense before my son was born, because the feeling affected me so badly. Yeah, when I was a teenager it was fun. I got to act all weird, point in the direction of the quake-to-be, estimate the distance, and wait for my friends to bring me proof the next day. It was something I used to make myself feel special.
But the thing is, there are earthquakes every day. I didn't key into all of them. I only pick up certain quakes. Usually ones that destroy property. It's a pretty useless gift. You can't warn anyone, they won't listen. You can't save people halfway around the world when the prescience comes 4-6 hours in advance. All you can do is stress.
So I blocked it off.

I started blocking it after the San Francisco earthquake in '89. That one was really bad for me. I spent the day edgy and irritable. I told myself it was PMS, even though I don't get PMS. By noon, I couldn't stop shaking. I wound up sitting on the kitchen floor, hugging my knees and rocking. My boyfriend was pretty worried about me. I kept trying to explain what was going on with me, but all I could say was, "Something is very wrong."
Here's the weird part. I went into the living room, figuring that If I was going to be a nutcase, at least I would be a nutcase in comfort. I mean, a linoleum floor isn't exactly the most comfortable place.
The stereo was tuned to K-SHE; and as I walked into the room, they began reporting the news. I stopped dead and listened. Some part of my brain said, "Pay attention to this." So I paid attention as the DJ said there had been a huge earthquake in San Francisco, with more than 6,000 dead. He talked about fires in the Marina, which was strange because a marina is on water and water doesn't burn. I asked my boyfriend if he'd heard what the DJ had just said. And my boyfriend said, "What? I didn't hear anything."
I tried to tell him about the earthquake, but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. I felt a little better, though. I had something to take my mind off of how I was freaking out. I had lots of time to wonder why my mind had thought I needed to pay attention to an unimportant news blurb about an earthquake. California gets quakes all the time. No big deal.
Mind you, this was 6 and a half hours before the actual quake hit. I still didn't know what was going on. That evening, I went with my mom to her girl scout meeting. I was supposed to help the girls make oil paintings on 8x10 canvasses. We listened to the radio as we drove to the meeting, and the DJ came on and told us about the earthquake in San Francisco. (The one that still hadn't happened yet)
I pointed at the radio and said, "You see! I told you so!"
Mom looked at me strangely and asked, "What are you talking about?"
I said, "The earthquake! They just said it again on the radio! No one believes me!" (not that I'd told anyone. It had seemed unimportant until I burst out that 'I told you so' at my mom.)
My gently said, "Nobody said anything. The radio is playing music." I was embarrassed, and decided to just keep my mouth shut.
When we got home at 7:20, we turned on the TV and saw the news. I quietly asked mom, "Is there really an earthquake on the TV?" and she said, "Yes. How did you know?"
Fortunately, I didn't have to answer. We held each other and cried as the TV showed flattened double-decker bridges, leaning houses, crushed cars, and yes -a burning marina.

That's the only time in my life that I've gotten my precog through the radio.

Science and Friction

So it's cold and icy here in St. Louis. The main streets are perfectly clear, but the side streets... oh my. Dropping L off at school involves a side street. For the past few days, I've kept the truck in 4 wheel drive. (thank the Gods for 4wd) But today, I assumed I wouldn't be needing it. I haven't needed it except to get down the alley to my parking spot. So I'm driving down the side street, having already dropped off my son, and I see before me a big patch of ice. The ice wasn't there yesterday. I thought, "Where did that ice come from." Then I thought, "It's only on one side of the road. I'm not in 4wd. Is the drive wheel on the left or right side?" Just about then, I started to slide.
Have you ever noticed how time slows down when stuff like this happens? I always seem to have plenty of time to think.

The truck slid gracefully down the street, angled slightly toward the parked cars on the left hand side. I noted the grey station wagon that my bumper was going to make a nice dent in. Mathematically, I was heading straight for it. Foot on the brake, knowing I had no control, I wondered why the anti-lock brakes weren't pumping. I sent out the thought, "Goddess, please let me miss the station wagon." And the truck shifted, ever so slightly. I cruised past the station wagon, went right through the stop sign, and gained traction in the middle of the street. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the SUV behind me just beginning the dance I'd just gone through. So I put the truck in gear (I drive a stick shift, and I had put it in neutral right before the slide), popped into 4wd, drove across the street, and up onto the sidewalk.
Again, thank the Gods for 4wd.

The SUV also missed the station wagon. It fishtailed a little, corrected, and slid out into the street. It was neat to see the experience play out on the face of the mom behind me. Startled, determined, relieved (when I drove onto the sidewalk), and finally aggravated. I understood completely. The aggravation was from the bitch in the red car who was gesticulating wildly at the two of us. How dare we obstruct her passage by sliding in front of her!

People are funny.

Tangent

That last post wasn't what I'd meant to say. It went in it's own direction. That's ok.

What I'd meant to say is that I had so much magic around me as a child, and I never knew it. I thought magic was flashy, permanent, and the stuff of legends. I wanted a fairy godmother, but life was easy, and no fairy godmother came. I wanted to fly like Superman, dress like Wonder Woman, and save the world like James Bond. And one more thing... I wanted to do it all while maintaining my secret identity.
I wanted my own personal fairy tale, not realizing that I was already living it.

Magic isn't flashy, it's private. It happens best when no one is looking, or when everyone is looking; rarely in-between.

I look at my life, and marvel at the magic. Just yesterday, the wind danced with me. Birds fly right over my head, totally unafraid. I had a hawk follow me from my home to my son's school, and back again. I can look at people and tell them where it hurts, and why. I can touch those hurts from across the room and take away some of their pain, if the want me to. I can see your future and I can see your past. I maintain my secret identity. I'm not special. I'm just another stay at home mom.

A redhead, her snake, and his food

Last night, I went to get snake food. I actually like buying snake food. It's an adventure, and I never know what I'm going to get. The reptile store has an earthy, sometimes pungent aroma. They have snakes, lizards, tortoises and turtles, alligators, spiders, scorpions and frogs. One week, I'll see geckos stuck to the glass of their 4 ft high cage. The next week the same cage will hold an emerald tree boa. The only constant is the cage that holds impossibly large pythons for less than $200. Sadly, people buy snakes, then get rid of them when they grow too heavy to carry around. I would love to give a home to some of those beauties, and it's not practical. The cost of their food would be too great. Which brings me back to last night.

It was windy last night. I could see the trees whipping around as the cold front the weather guy had warned us about moved in. And Sinbad needed food. I'd been putting it off for too long. I stepped out the side door, expecting a bitter wind.
Instead, a strong warm wind swirled around me. It lifted my hair like a mini tornado and caressed my face as if to say, "hi". I suddenly felt playful and wonderful. The arthritic aches and pains I ignore daily just... disappeared. I felt like a teenager again. I stalked lightly through the backyard as if I were walking on air. Who knows? Perhaps I was, because that odd warm wind swirled around me all the way to the truck. Have I mentioned that I love being shaman? ;)

I drove to the Exotic Amphibian and Reptile Center (aka the snake store), still in that happy-playful mood. When I climbed out of the truck, the cold-front wind was, well -cold. Nastily cold. My lovely warm wind had abandoned me. The snake store stank to high heaven, and they were out of large mice. They had nothing but pinky mice. I didn't have enough cash on hand to buy the half-dozen baby mice Sinbad would need. The girl behind the counter suggested a small rat. I know Sinbad is big enough to eat a small rat, but I had avoided buying one previously. Mice are food, but rats are pets. They're intelligent, agile and capable of loving. I would feel really bad feeding a rat to my snake.
Of course, in the wild Sinbad would be eating rats, mice, baby bunnies and even rattlesnakes. It is a food cycle, don't ya know. So I bought a $2 rat. Looking at him, I realized how big his teeth could be, how strong his jaws, how potent his interest in surviving. (sigh) I asked the girl if I should "thump" the rat. She thought it would be a good idea, if I could stomach it. I decided I'd better find a way to cope with it. It's way too cold out to be taking Sinbad to the vet for a rat bite.

So I carried the rat out to the truck, wrapped in my coat to keep him warm. Don't ask me why I take such care of what is, clearly, no more than food. I just do. It's what seems right.
I turned up the heater, and headed for home. As I got off the highway, the wind began circling the truck. It had not abandoned me, it just didn't want to leave the neighborhood :) The wind, not as warm as before, but still nice; stayed with me all the way to the door. It even politely held the storm door open for me, and closed it behind.
I don't know why the wind chose to dance with me last night. I don't care. I'm grateful for it's gift.

Back to the tale of the food. I gave the box of rat to my hubby and explained about there being no mice. He was pleased. He'd been thinking of switching Sinbad to rats for some time. Now was as good a time as any. I told him about the thumping suggestion, and said I wasn't sure if I had the heart for it. By this time, hubby-man was playing with the rat. He was letting it crawl over his hand, and up his arm. He abruptly got up and took the rat to the bathroom with him. I knew what was coming, and a small part of my brain recoiled in horror. Good idea or not, it was deliberately harming a living creature. (now might be a good time to stop reading)

I heard a "thunk" from the bathroom, and felt all tingly and unpleasant. Our son asked, "Did you just thump the rat's head against the sink?" Hubby said, "Yes." That was apparently enough. Hubby headed toward the bedroom, carrying the now limp rat by it's tail. We followed. I really wanted to see Sinbad eat this monster sized piece of food. The rat began to twitch, kicking his hind legs. His eyes were still glazed looking, so we knew it was just reaction from the rat's now damaged brain. Every twitch sent little shocks of horror through me. The rat was dumped into Sinbad's cage, and we sat back to watch.

The poor rat had landed on his feet, and because of the kicking hind legs, began hopping around the cage. Had I been less shocked, it would have seemed funny. Then the rat hopped right into Sinbad's water dish. Hubby rescued it before it drowned. Good man. I don't think I could have handled seeing the poor thing drown. He laid the now soggy rat on it's side, and we watched the snake scent his way around the cage.

We left the room before Sinbad found his dinner. It wasn't interesting anymore, just kind of sad. Next time, I'm buying a mouse.

What I'm Reading

Oh. my, god. I just read the funniest thing on Abbreviated Abstractions. You must go read "THE SAGA OF PLOOF'N'STUFF". It is bizarre, vivid and hilarious!

And in the news, I found this:
If the US government claims to know nothing of aliens, U.F.O.'s, or anything pertaining to them, then why did they make up the 'Extraterestrial Exposure Law'? It is found in Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations. It is the law that made it illegal for the public to come in contact with extra-terrestrials or their vehicles. The law states that Anyone found guilty of such contact could face up to one year imprisonment as well as a fine of $5000. Also, any individual who had been "exposed" could be quarantined under armed guard by the NASA administrator without a hearing.
The law was passed originally to protect Earth from possible biological contamination resulting from the US Apollo Space Program.

Stuff I didn't know about Scientology

I've been reading more on FACTnet, and I'm pretty impressed. They're not full of hype, they aren't trying to sell any books, they seem straightforward with their info. Yep, impressive. Right now, all I know about scientology is that they advertise, they sell books, and lots of Hollywood stars are scientologists. Lets see what I know after I read for a few hours.
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I found a breakdown of the personality test they offer. It's rigged. Several teams of psychologists went to different locations, took the test with a pre-defined set of answers, then analyzed the 'results' of their tests. They found the test to be highly inaccurate. There were also lots of choice comments about the recruiting tactics used.

Another test scientologist use is the "E meter". FACTnet has a techincal breakdown of the machine, which sums up to the machine doing exactly what it's supposed to do, which has nothing whatsoever to do with what they say it's doing. (note the vagueness there... I still haven't figured out what Scientologists use the machine for. I think it's meant as a sort of biofeedback or something)
I also found this very amusing website about the Fishman Affidavit, explaining why it's famous, and the song and dance certain people have gone through to keep it from being read. (tee hee)
It also shows the affidavit itself.
...except I'm having a damned hard time getting the pages I want to load. I get 404 errors, or other "page unavailable" errors. Hmmm.

Psychic Chess

I used to play chess with my friends. We had 3 chess boards and 6 or 7 players. All of us were newbies to the world of magic, so chess wasn't just about moving pieces; it was about psyching your opponent too. "Pay no attention to the queen" was a common mantra. If you could read your opponents' mind, more power to you! If you could cause a chess piece to stand out and draw attention to itself, so that you could conduct a 3 move sneak-attack; no problem! It was, absolutely, no-holds-barred chess, and I miss it.

Hmm.

I lit a stick of incense in the basement and turned off the lights so it would be dark like on Halloween night. I stood about 18 inches away from the incense smoke and snapped a handful of pictures. Whatever I got a photo of, it ain't smoke. The incense smoke was grey, not blue-white like in the photo below, and the smoke lines were thin and clear, not blurry like the ghostie pic. They also appeared as clearly nothing but incense smoke. I'll keep trying to reproduce the effect, though. I'd like to believe I accidentally photographed something unique and special, but it really does look like smoke. :(

What is this?





This photo was taken on Halloween night with my digital camera, and other than shrinking it to half-size, it is untouched. I promise I didn't go into photoshop and draw a blurry wolf thing. I also promise I didn't add the weird smear thingies on the left hand side.

I think it looks like a running wolf. I can clearly see (imagine) his head, just above the girl with the red hair, and his tail hanging down over the baby. I was trying to get a shot of the cool yard display. It was a skeleton sticking out of the ground. Instead, I caught this. No one was smoking near me, so it isn't smoke. It was not foggy or even relatively humid, so it's not fog or mist. All the other night time pics are darker than this one, so the camera's flash bounced off of something. Does anyone know if ghosties are reflective? This is the first time I've caught more than orbs with a camera, and I think orbs are dust motes.