jerry-rig my soul

in 12 hours, it will be over ... unless it isn't

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:22:14 GMT

5:15 a.m.: The alarm buzzes. sesha asks me if I want to sleep a little longer. I decline. "He better appreciate this," I mutter, rolling over to clumsily pat around the nightstand for my glasses. "I don't get up this early for just anyone." I recall, for a moment, the one day a year I attend a pre-dawn religious ceremony. "Only God and Obama."

We have fill-in-the-bubble ballots here. There didn't seem to be anything fishy about them or the administration of the voting, I'm happy to report. We made it out of there in just under two hours.

and provide jobs for Americans! at 18 hours a day and $3 a week.

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:43:01 GMT

repost as desired anywhere!

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:40:04 GMT

If you should choose to share this, (I am flattered and) please don't attribute it! I don't want it to be mine. I want it to belong to everyone who feels this way.

-----

I Thought You Meant It

I have friends of different races because when you taught me not to judge people based on how they look, I thought you meant it.

I respect other people's religious beliefs because when you taught me that a person's religion is between them and God, I thought you meant it.

I believe in universal health care and social assistance because when you taught me to be kind to those less fortunate than myself, and when you taught me that people are more important than money, I thought you meant it.

I support equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples because when you taught me that every person has the same human worth (and also to keep my nose out of other people's business), I thought you meant it.

I am environmentally conscious because when you taught me to take no more than I need, and to clean up after myself if I make a mess, I thought you meant it.

I support reproductive rights because when you taught me I shouldn't judge someone when I don't know what their circumstances are, I thought you meant it.

I am dismayed that you would call someone "elitist" merely because they are educated -- because when I became one of the first people in our family to earn a college degree, and you told me how proud I'd made you, I thought you meant it.

I am not ashamed if these things make me a liberal, because you taught me not to let other people belittle me about what I stand for, and I choose to believe you meant it.

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 05:17:35 GMT

Went to Retreat. Am back from Retreat. Am extremely tired. Am unable to catch up with LJ. Am nearly unable to keep eyes open. Anything I should know about? Anything you want me to know about? Anything you want to know?

songs

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:47:33 GMT

Since imeem is being a goofball, I have all three of my complete hymns on a Myspace page.

my heart fills with sunlight

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:50:09 GMT

There was a time I hoped to be famous. Now I think I'll be happy if, after I'm gone, my co-religionists are still singing Purification 13 (also known as Shemem's Bast Song), of which I have a spiffy new recording with vocals and drums!

I'm also working on a happy death song!

if you listen nicely, you will get a special treat

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:39:50 GMT

Just in time for Solstice, a new version of Lady of Gold. (And thanks to aboxofeyes for leading me to discover imeem.)

the writing on the walls

Thu, 22 May 2008 01:03:31 GMT

I told you I wasn't seeing things!

Some of you may remember that I've reported an Egyptian god sighting twice when traveling by Amtrak between Shreveport and St. Louis: a painting on an upright structure to the west of a creek running along the tracks. I'd only gotten a glimpse, not even enough to say for sure which god it was. But it really stood out, especially considering I was traveling through a part of Missouri that was all trees, cows, and dilapidated trailers.

I've never been able to find anything on the Internet to support my sighting. I almost wondered if I'd imagined it, except I'd asked my Mom to watch for it on her trip up and she did see it.

This afternoon, we drove out to the area I had narrowed down to being the location of said image and, after a couple of false starts and a long and uncomfortable walk along the train track, we found it!

And the god depicted in the Middle of Nowhere, Missouri is ...

The structure appears to be part of a never-finished bridge, or a structural support, or something. Someone apparently noticed its resemblance to an Egyptian pylon and decorated it accordingly. The blue is obviously spray-painted, and we noticed other graffiti in the area -- "Mike loves (girl's name)" and "By Mike Wite"(?) -- of the same hue. The other colors appear painted with more traditional means. Sesha, like a good scribe, attempted to record the nearly-illegible accompanying glyphs for further study.

Much remains mysterious about the image. For example, is Djehuty holding out a much-faded offering, or is that the God of Writing with a can of spray paint??

ETA: My current theory: Someone (perhaps the mysterious "Mike") sees a parallel between his graffiti and a culture who regularly painted words on walls?

how often do these get forgotten on the bus?*

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:32:57 GMT

I am so in the wrong line of work.

This one has more than 20 bids on it. Evidentally there are some folks out there who think this is a bargain.

And these are just ones people have bid on so far. The starting price for this one is almost as much as the price of my parents' house.

(Plus shipping.)

This is the same planet where there are people so desperate for something to put in their stomachs they are eating dirt.

Perhaps I should clarify; I am not trying to say that people who don't have to worry about whether they'll get to eat tomorrow should feel bad about it, nor am I saying people shouldn't have nice things that they enjoy. I am saying that it is goofy to ask for or spend thousands of dollars on a piddly purse when the only reason it costs that much is this idea of "fashion." The only victim in this is the crocodile, as far as I know, though a sweatshop connection would not surprise me.

The difference in perspective between someone buying a bag that costs as much as my parents' house and someone else not being able to afford a spoonful of rice leaves me skewy-eyed. It is much like the time Oprah was doing a show about the thousands of children who are kidnapped into slavery and prostitution in Africa every year that we never hear about, and during the broadcast a news ticker scrolled across the bottom of the screen announcing that Elizabeth Smart had been recovered safe and sound. Absolutely wonderful; but why is her welfare more worthy of notice?

*Trick question. These people don't ride on buses.

name game

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:37:50 GMT

So in Silver-Eyes, I've long had the elf name of the island be Thassalah, and their own name for themselves, "Thassen". However, it has come to my attention that "Thassalah" is very similar to a number of real-world names of things, including a couple of place names, so I'm thinking of changing it. I don't want to change it too much, though, because I really like the sound of the word. Right now I'm thinking of "Vassalah"/"Vassen."

Thoughts?

Oh, yeah, I'm working on Silver-Eyes again. As I was 15 when I started writing it, and it's been 15 years since then, I thought this might be the year I actually finish it. Maybe. Right now I'm trying to complete the album it inspired.

Edit: Okay, I'm convinced. I really like it a lot better with the "Th" too. :)

six-word memoirs

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:08:07 GMT

So Smithmag is doing a project where you are invited to write a six-word memoir. The amount that can be said in six-words is pretty amazing; many of the entries are funny or very touching. (Of course, there's also the required amount of "so...the...thing...that...is...supposed...to count words can be fooled" and "I thought of six more words.") If you see mine, it may sound familiar. :)

found photos

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:21:24 GMT

This guy buys old cameras that still have film in them and develops it. The people in many of the photos are certainly gone by now. His site is kind of like an online akhu shrine. The commentary varies from glurgy poetry, to hilarious, to thought-provoking (so it's kind of like reading my LJ ;) ).

this space intentionally left blank -- but it's not anymore, is it?

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 04:49:43 GMT

I worked at a different branch today. Ran into a reference lady who sometimes fills in at my usual branch. She told me, "I was reading a book and it made me think of you!" The book? The Humble Little Condom.

Evidently her book had information on Egypt, and we'd talked about Egypt last time I'd seen her.

creativity defiant

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:19:00 GMT

Yesterday I dug out my (musical) keyboard. It had lain beneath the bed for a long time. I was a lot out of practice. This made me kind of frustrated, but more sad. Still, it was good to play again instead of spending my whole night killing time with non-productive stuff. Perhaps I will even compose again soon.

I have thought about making a theme album telling the story of a person's journey into the afterlife, Egyptian style. I wrote an opening song back in autumn, but unfortunately, it is rather tricky to sing, because what my head can come up with exceeds my voice's abilities.

Anyway, here are the words:

Where am I?
I cannot see or hear.
I cannot speak.
I cannot even breathe.
I feel like I am in
My mother's womb again.

Someone is here ...
He stands before me
But he feels so far away.
He opens my senses,
And he is gone.

I open my eyes.
I am standing by the river,
And the sun is setting on this side.
I am
In the West.

I remember now,
I remember now:
The beating of my heart;
The quiet of the dark.
The lady with the dark birds came,
And she called my name.
She smiled kindly;
She took my hands and whispered:
"Do not be afraid.
It is time to go."

Oh, also, does anyone know the glyphs for "zep tepi"? I feel like this is something I should know, but I don't.

mirthful

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:36:47 GMT

As thanks for all the input I've been asking for, I have something for you: Brandon Bird. Mostly art of pop culture figures in absurd situations. Safe for work and very amusing. Don't miss the letters to Christopher Walken!

book and cheese recs pls

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:23:50 GMT

Multiple posts in one week, omg!

1) I'd like to start reading "for fun" again. I haven't read for fun except very sporadically since high school. In college I got eaten by classwork and workwork and just didn't have time. After college, I was working as a copy editor -- eight hours a day of mostly reading stuff, with little inclination to continue once home. I just never picked up the habit again.

Growing up, I read a lot of fantasy fiction. (Largely Dragonlance.) Anymore, in what may come as a shock to those who have read my own fiction, I don't seem to find the genre appealing, by and large. Though I like Neil Gaiman, so not all hope is lost. I think, honestly, my reticence is mostly due to the fact I don't read very quickly, so I want to be reasonably sure whatever I read will have been worth the time I invested in it.

So I'm looking for book recs, willing to peek at other genres, more than willing to read nonfiction, though I'm more of a "check out this interesting information!" than a "here's what I think, and why you should think it, too!" kinda gal. SO what has knocked your literary socks off lately?

2) I am also looking for cheese recs. Time and again, we will pick up an unfamiliar block of Cheddar, hoping in vain that this time, this time, it will actually be sharp, as claimed. I don't want no wimpy American-masquerading-as-Cheddar crap. I want Cheddar so sharp it makes me wince.

q) Totally unrelated to recs, I just wanted to mention that Henku's comment elsewhere in a conversation about "dark" gods such as Set and Yinepu to the effect of "there are jobs that have to be done, and someone's gotta do them" made me imagine a very unusual episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. "No, Mike Rowe, you may not handle the spear. Only I am strong enough to smite the uncreated. You man the oars!" (Set-In-My-Head uses people's full names and sounds like James Earl Jones. Or maybe Michael Dorn as Worf.)

creepy dream

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:30:43 GMT

So you know how you can buy frozen rats to feed to snakes? I dreamed I bought frozen rats to feed to my rats. Yeah. Apparently they were in need of protein, and I couldn't find anything else to feed them that wouldn't make them cannibals. So in my dream I put this frozen rat in their cage, note that they are eating him, and leave the room because, dude, I just made my rats cannibals and don't want to watch. In the dream, evidently I have done this before because I was remembering what a pain in the butt it was to clean up the bones "last time."

I come back a while later, and the feeder rat has unfrozen and come back to life. He looks none the worse for wear, and he's getting along just fine with my two rats. My main concern at this point is getting him out of the cage before he breeds with one of them. Complications ensue.

You know, it used to be that when I dreamed about pets, I just dreamed about what an utter failure I am at keeping fish alive. It was so much simpler then.

survey

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:17:04 GMT

If I were to tell you that you were about to meet Texas's foremost expert on vampires, what sort of person would you envision?

unexpected old memory

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 06:06:42 GMT

Today I was checking in returned items at the library and came across John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together, which I used to own on vinyl ... when I was, oh, about four. It was an old Christmas (and not-Christmas) custom for me and my mom to listen and sing along. Of course, I had to take the CD home. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it.

"Now bring us some figgy pudding --"
"PIGGY pudding???"
"No, figgy pudding. It's made with figs."
"Oh, sorry."
"And bacon."
"WHAT??!"

Also, I'm not afraid to admit "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" makes me a little teary.

late update

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 06:38:58 GMT

The next installment of We Poor Shadows is up, in which you get a peek into everyone's Thanksgiving events.

I would just like to point out that if you are current with WPS, then you have encountered the party who murdered Dr. Francis. BWAHAHA.

fattening feast

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:51:07 GMT

Quick! I need ideas for an ambitious and decidedly NOT healthy holiday meal (such as the recently passed Thanksgiving). (This is for fiction, not real life.) What dishes should I include? I have already thought of turducken, and a couple of innocent vegetables corrupted by being cooked in pork fat.

wps

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:57:21 GMT

With mere minutes to spare, the next installment of We Poor Shadows is up on time!

I did a little something different with the illustrations this time. Let me know what you think. :)

wps

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:14:37 GMT

The next installment of We Poor Shadows is up!

Please share the link to WPS with anyone who might enjoy the story. :)

religion, art and science

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:25:27 GMT

I think religion is like art. Art doesn't have to explain itself to science, and science doesn't have to explain itself to art. Sometimes art and science intersect, and you get some pretty amazing things. One can embrace them both as different, but both true, ways of describing existance.

I am perfectly comfortable with 1) believing in evolution and 2) believing the walking stick insect is evidence of God's sense of humor! ;)

launched!

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:38:49 GMT

You can read the first part of We Poor Shadows at http://wepoorshadows.net. And if you enjoy it, send your friends. :)