Aerden's LJ

Wednesday Update

Thu, 15 May 2008 03:00:25 GMT

I watched some really interesting shows on The History Channel today--about ancient Egyptian military technology and about Roman and Egyptian architecture throughout the ages.

Tomorrow is my nephew Cody's birthday. :) I'm looking forward to calling him, but I think he's still in school, so I won't be able to talk to him until the afternoon.

Tomorrow, Mark and I are going to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to see their Pompeii exhibit and to meet our friends Steve and Karina there. Karina is our DM on Saturday nights. We might also see an exhibit of Korean art, so that should be different from anything I've ever seen before.

"Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:04:35 GMT

I've set it to music. Now, I just have to find some manuscript paper and a piano.

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, be passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

--Emily Dickinson

My Characters and I Took a Quiz...

Wed, 07 May 2008 23:43:07 GMT

Nabbed from caersidi: Some images not work-safe.

Which Goddess lurks in your soul?

Nyx

A child of the darkness you are! Nyx is the Greek Goddess of the Night and inhabits those souls who desire darkness. Not necessarily an evil or good person, you simply desire to surround yourself in all things mystical that inhabit the night time landscape. A fascination with the stars and celestial bodies also tends to accompany those whom Nyx has taken up residence in. Embrace the darkness baby because it’s already embraced you!

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

I'm rather surprised at this result.

I took a second quiz, also nabbed from caersidi:

My authentic japanese name is 由貴 Yuki (meaningful value) 泉 Izumi (spring of water).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

* * *

Seth's result:

Which Goddess lurks in your soul?

Demeter

You are a true earth warrior! Demeter is the Greek Goddess of the fields, grain and harvest and inhabits those souls who long to be a part of the green. You have a special connection with plants and care deeply for the Earth. You tend to be motherly and protective of those that are in your care and are not above severe aggression when one of your charges is harmed or threatened.

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

At first, the little Seth in my head said, "Huh? WTF?!" But after I read the description, he decided it does somewhat fit.

Paul's result:

Which Goddess lurks in your soul?

Nyx

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Interesting. Paul had some different answers from me--notably that the key to power is not knowledge, but will--and he still got the Nyx result. (He's more intelligent than I am, by the way.)

Aerden's result:

Which Goddess lurks in your soul?

Demeter

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Well, this is annoying. Am I just completely unoriginal with my characters, or what?

Mary Elizabeth's result:

Which Goddess lurks in your soul?

Demeter

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Mary Elizabeth: "Oh, come on! Demeter is so predictable for me! Why not--I don't know!--Vesta? Or Freya? Aphrodite, even?"

Her answer for the key to power: Love.

Alledon of Wyris' result:

Which Goddess lurks in your soul?

Eris

You are a sly one who enjoys watching others squirm! Eris is the Greek Goddess of strife and discord whose single purpose was to create chaos amongst ordered man. According to legend, it was an apple from Eris which started the Trojan War when she tossed it towards three other Goddesses (Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera) claiming it belonged to the most beautiful and wise of all Goddesses. Like Eris, you enjoy laying devil’s advocate and stirring up a bit of trouble when things get wrong. Often, you are like a chess player, moving pieces into place and then sitting back to watch the explosions! Careful, Eris, or you may wind up at the blunt of one of your own created problems!

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

There we go! I had a feeling Alledon's result would be markedly different from the others. He can be not-nice when he chooses to be. So can Paul, but Paul is far more restrained with it.

Bones, House, and New Baby!

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:32:15 GMT

No, I'm not pregnant. My friend fallenseraph just gave birth to a girl! :D

TV:
(Here be spoilers.)
Bones: Tonight, they did the episode in which her father went on trial for killing the FBI director. It opened with a find that I really wish they had devoted the episode to, instead--a completely intact (and clean) skeleton that was positioned prone, but with its arms and legs pulled up in a sort of reverse back-bend. I'd hate to die that way; it looked pretty painful.

Anyway, the mystery of the episode comes at the end, when Max Keenan's defense attorney makes a case that Max is not the only person who had method, motive and opportunity to kill the FBI director; so did Bones, her brother, and Booth--at which point it occurred to me that Bones could have committed the murder.

Despite the fact that Booth doesn't appear to entertain the idea for more than a moment before dismissing it, I actually chewed on the notion for a while. I finally decided that, though I believe Bones is entirely capable of killing the FBI director as described, she wouldn't have let her father be arrested for it. She would have simply murdered the guy and then called the police to inform them that she did it.

Am I wrong for no longer feeling disloyal to Leonard McCoy for being comfortable with calling someone else 'Bones?' :)

House: Someone decided to use House's fascination with bad soap operas by incorporating it as a plot device. He kidnaps the male lead, believing that the man has a brain tumor. He turns out to have something else that is completely unexpected, but not before they have tested him for Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder, and tried wide-spectrum antibiotics on him for what they think is a reging infection.

I never heard them mention his WBC count before prescribing the antibiotics; they simply presumed he had one because of fever. Also--I know someone with Graves' disease. The actor would have to have been in the very earliest stages of it to guess that, I'd think. He was lean, but not dreadfully skinny, did not have the blackness around the eyes, etc.

On the other hand, I'm not a doctor; I only wrote one for Pern. :P

Three Horses - Beltane

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:22:25 GMT

Wicca; Coven was good last night. We held our Beltane celebration by dancing, drumming, and summoning totem animal spirits. I wore my Endora Tribute Robe, which is a caftan (actually a dressing gown/caftan sort of thing) in hues of fuschia, purple, and deep sky blue with sprinklings of other colors. When I first saw it, it reminded me of Endora's flamboyant clothes on Bewitched.

Must go. Bye!

Thursday Update

Fri, 02 May 2008 02:36:23 GMT

Work: Work was pleasantly busy--enough to do without feeling overwhelmed. I'll have to type a couple of reports tomorrow and send some information packets out, then work on the April travel vouchers.. After that, filing, if I have time.

I went out to lunch at La Madeleine with a couple of co-workers. I had their Wild Field Salade and a cup of tomato basil soup. They make the best soup and salad in the world. I am totally not sorry that I threw over the Petite Caesar Salade for the Wild Field one.

Movie: We're going to see Iron Man tomorrow night. This is a superhero I've never heard of, so the movie should be interesting.

Journal: I decided to return to the Papyrus font that is what I originally used for this journal. I was using Arial Black for a while because of clouding in my lens capsule, but that has gone away, and I want the prettier font back.

Beltane

Thu, 01 May 2008 14:11:26 GMT

I wish everyone who celebrates it a Blessed Beltane and a Happy May Day! :)

Go find a Maypole, and dance!

All Done with Class!

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:55:51 GMT

My term paper has been turned in! I'm all done for the semester. Hurray!

*flops onto couch*

Welsh Syllabic Meters - Links

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:53:25 GMT

I want to practice writing these.

Mayonnaise Recipe

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:20:14 GMT

Courtesy of hardvice, who got it from Alton Brown.

Recipe

I'm interested in trying to make this, sometime, just to see what homemade mayonnaise tastes like.

PSA: Accessible Credit Reports

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:39:43 GMT

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the three major credit reporting companies, will begin providing accessible credit reports to people with vision impairments starting October 31, 2008, according to one of their press releases.

The reports will be available online and in Braille, to enable people with vision impairments to monitor their credit and protect themselves against fraud and identity theft. This was done by the three companies mentioned above in conjunction with the American Council for the Blind.

A Poem by Lorine Niedecker

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:20:45 GMT

A Poet's Work

Grandfather
advised me:
Learn a trade

I learned
to sit at desk
and condense

No layoffs
from this
condensery

I like Niedecker a lot.

Looking for Books on Wicca

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:49:20 GMT

Wicca: I am looking for advanced books on Wicca to read. Currently, I am studying The Wiccan Mystic and a book called Wicca 401. I'm looking for books which are beyond the usual 'This is how to set up an altar, and this is what the Sabbats are' kind of thing. Titles of books which delve more deeply into Wicca, especially along the lines of mysticism, would be appreciated.

Work: My mid-year review went quite well. Today, we're having a breakfast for Secretaries' Day. I refuse to call it 'Administrative Professionals Day' until it is actually believed by people that the support staff are professionals. To accord us that courtesy title without the salary of a so-called professional is empty and not anything I respect. Just call me a secretary. Besides, 'Administrative Professional' is a bloody mouthful.

Today, I am wearing the exact same outfit I wore on St. Patrick's Day, but everyone is acting as if they've never seen it before. *rolls eyes*

I am sipping on a bottle of V-8 juice. The breakfast doesn't start until 8:30. and I'm hungry now. (g)

Psycho Suzi's

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:02:12 GMT

I'd like to eat at Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge someday. It's located in northern Minneapolis and serves fascinating food--rum-raisin pizza, for instance, and cheese curds.

And tonight, I got to see episodes of Bones and House for the first time in months! At last, I feel normal again!

Married Too Long

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:09:05 GMT

Three women: one engaged, one married and one a mistress, are chatting about their relationships and decided to amaze their men. That night all three will wear black leather bras, stiletto heels and a mask over their eyes.

After a few days they meet up for lunch.

The engaged woman: The other night when my boyfriend came over he found me with a black leather bodice, tall stilettos and a mask. He saw me and said, 'You are the woman of my life. I love you.' Then we made love all night long.

The mistress: Me too! The other night I met my lover at his office and I was wearing the leather bodice, heels, mask over my eyes and a raincoat. When I opened the raincoat he didn't say a word, but we had wild sex all night.

The married woman: I sent the kids to stay at my mother's house for the night. When my husband came home I was wearing the leather bodice, black stockings, stilettos and a mask over my eyes. As soon as he came in the door and saw me he said, 'What's for dinner, Batman?'

Coven Meeting Results

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:10:48 GMT

And the result of the coven meeting is...

...that I will be organizing the Midsummer Solstice ritual.

*entering panic mode now* :)

School: The paper draft that was due today has been turned in.

Writing, This Morning

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:27:05 GMT

Dude...6109 words!!!!! From 8am to 1:30pm.

*faints*

I don't know how the heck I did that!

In other news--Coven meeting tonight for New Moon.

Jane Austen Meme

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:13:07 GMT

Nabbed from caersidi:

Take the Quiz here!

I am so glad it's Friday! Mark and I are going to see the movie Nim's Island this evening, starring Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler.

Mmmmmmm....Gerard Butler..... :D I must make an icon of him from 300.

(Edited to correct spelling)

Orgasmic Ecstacy Is...

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:51:05 GMT

Borsetti pasta stuffed with ricotta and Brie, covered in a steaming parmesan-basil sauce, sprinkled liberally with Parmesan and Asiago cheeses.

Ahhhhhhhhh.....*swoons*

A Quote from Abraham Lincoln

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:21:56 GMT

I want this said at my funeral:

"In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all... Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You cannot now realize that you will ever feel better... And yet this is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again."

~ Abraham Lincoln ~

Coming from a man who had serious bouts of clinical depression, these are powerful words.

PSA: A Word-Lover's Charity

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:35:57 GMT

Free Rice.com will donate 20 grains of rice to the UN world hunger organizations for every vocabulary word that you match to its correct definition.

I have donated 5000 grains of rice, already.

Go for it!

"Desiderata"

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:19:53 GMT

Another lovely piece of prose found on the Web:

"Desiderata"

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

--- Max Ehrmann, 1927

PSA: Mind's Eye Travel Agency

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:38:37 GMT

I heard about this at work and thought I would pass the information along to anyone who has a vision impairment or who has a friend or relative with one.

Mind’s Eye Travel creates tours for people who are visually impaired or blind. Our hosted trips let both visually challenged and fully sighted people tour comfortably and free of worry. Our itineraries are customized not only for great comfort, camaraderie and enjoyment but also for full sensory discovery, and they offer options for independence. Our destinations are carefully screened in advance and we hand-pick activities, restaurants and lodging while keeping in mind our needs as visually impaired and blind travelers.

Our trips for 2008 include:

Discovering mid-coast Maine.
Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon.
Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

Mind's Eye Travel
1-207-542-4438
www.mindseyetravel.com

Sonnet by Sir Phillip Sidney

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:40:35 GMT

It is amazing to me, the cool stuff you can find on the Web.

"Blind Man's Mark"

Thou blind man's mark, thou fool's self-chosen snare,
Fond fancy's scum, and dregs of scattered thought ;
Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care ;
Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought ;
Desire, desire ! I have too dearly bought,
With price of mangled mind, thy worthless ware ;
Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought,
Who shouldst my mind to higher things prepare.
But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought ;
In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire ;
In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire ;
For virtue hath this better lesson taught,—
Within myself to seek my only hire,
Desiring nought but how to kill desire.

--Sir Phillip Sidney

Nine Words Women Use

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:15:52 GMT

Sent to me from a co-worker:

9 WORDS WOMEN USE

1)Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with "Nothing" usually end in "Fine."

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of "Nothing.")

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. "That's okay" means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you; do not question, or faint. Just say "You're welcome." (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says "Thanks a lot" - that is PURE sarcasm, and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say "You're welcome" ... that will bring on a "Whatever.").

(8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying
Curse on YOU!"

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response, refer to # 3.