In Beauty

Last night, I went to the backyard for the first time to say a healer's prayer. The Healer is called Walking Thunder. It was from a book called Shamans of the World. It's really beautiful and I think eventually I will know it by heart.  I had a wax electric candle to light the paper I read from.

Here is the prayer.

In Beauty before me I walk,
In Beauty behind me I walk,
In Beauty below me I walk,
In Beauty above me I walk,
In Beauty all around me I walk.
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty.
The mountains, I become part of it.
The herbs, the evergreen,
I become part of it.
The morning mists, the clouds,
The gathering waters,
I become part of it.
The dew drops, the pollen,
I become part of it.

I thought that distant wind might have gotten a little louder after the prayer. This afternoon, I found one sage plant seedling!  YAY. Tonight after I said my prayer, I thought I felt a little breeze at my feet.

Never Ending Quiz

I belong to a book website wherein I input books I read during the year. It's called GoodReads and it's sort of an online book catalog. (LibraryThing does essentially the same thing except Goodreads counts the pages I read and keeps more stats than LibraryThing.) It also seems to be frequented more by famous authors.

I was friended by a user who owns (or has read) 10,539 books and has 1,840 friends.  I think she may just be one of those people who is addicted to collecting online pals. It is hard for me to believe that one person has read more than 10,000 books in her lifetime. Unless she's incredibly old or she reads very short books.

Anyway I think we are informal rivals in this GoodReads quiz called NeverEndiing Book Quiz. There are at least 109,000 questions on this quiz because the top person on the LeaderBoard has answered 109,251 questions and responded correctly 104,982 times. He has skipped 16,874 questions and is correct 96.1% of the time. His best streak of right answers is 16,784. I don't know how old this website but I think this person is retired and has done nothing but work this quiz full time.

My best streak is 15  and I have only answered 5,473 questions and 57% of my answers are correct  I am ranked 2,396 out of 2 million plus users. Of my "friends" on this website, only 4 other people are taking this quiz and three of them seem to have lost interest in the quiz. My goal was to beat Kelly Burrow which I did several weeks ago. She was ranked 4,000 something when I surpassed her. But now she is at 3,668. There had not been any activity on her quiz until recently so I think she saw my score.  I am about 1,300 peeps ahead of her and I will try to maintain my lead --- even though I do cheat with Google to get some of these answers. Haha. (I am learning a great deal about literature though. Good and bad. Harry Potter and To Kill a Mockingbird seems to inspire a lot of questions.)

Friday Night

I haven't posted since Monday. My poor followers have been bereft. haha. You see what you are missing. Someone who knows there is such a word as bereft.  Been reading too many Regency romances I suppose.

The developments of the day. My dog has returned from the vet with a distemper shot and a haircut/bath. Totaling $89.00. Which means I had to wash my blanket where he sleeps so it matches him in "clean." I try to forget that he walks on dirt and his own pee.  I washed my comforter and put it back in the closet since it is getting warm.

There was a man and his black drooling baby at the vet. Friendly and I think he is an actor because he looks so familiar. And he was so cute because he had this lovely baby who was spitting milk. He was picking up this large white poodle mix. The last time I saw him . . . he wasn't driving off in an Escalade . . . he was walking down Los Feliz with baby and dog in tow. I wish I had taken a picture of him.

My Magic Garden

I think my two pots of sweet grass are doing well although it's a bit hard to tell due to the dried bits which happened during shipment. 10 willow branches came in the mail. I put them in water. None of my sage seeds have germinated . . . it has been a week. I planted tobacco seeds today. I used up all 100 seeds . . . they were so tiny! I put a corkscrew willow in a pot as well. I also brought in some grass and put it by my spirit guide altar. There's a weed in there too and the grass is going to seed. But I am sure my spirit guide will be pleased by the "natural" plants.

The Mall

I went to the mall with my dad. Or rather we used their parking lot to pay a visit to the the local branch of the Franchise Tax Board so we can pick up some tax pamphlets and forms. Then a quick side trip to SEES Candy so Dad can get 2 boxes of Nuts and Chews. He insisted on "nutty" chocolate samples and he dropped one of them. I never go the mall anymore . . .  all my shopping is through Amazon. Although once a year I go to Papyrus to get Christmas cards. I don't like seeing all those kiosks on the floor of the mall. I feel sorry for the salespeople who shoppers try to ignore.

Blood Test & Doggie

The blood test results this Monday morning is 1.9, up a point from 1.8 . . . 2 weeks ago. Apparently I am not drinking enough pomegranate juice. But it's so expensive. I will try eating more fish and perhaps the dreaded word, exercise. The former is a reputed blood thinner, like pom juice. At least I am not going to the blood lab every week. There are 2 new bloodsuckers at the lab> Both Filipino and so new at the job that he dried the alcohol before sticking the needle in and then left the needle in while he was labeling the vial. Thankfully, I am a nice person. I am sure someone else will complain. I wonder where the other 2 ladies went. Perhaps they rotated to other labs.

Anyway the Coumadin Clinic has told me to change the dosage to 5 mg everyday. No more splitting up pills. It is a royal pain in the arse.

I also called the vet to schedule a bath and a haircut for the dog. This is what he is -- a Maltese.

All eleven pounds of needy love. He has to sit with me on the couch and sleep with me. (Though he's close to smelling a bit rank so he needs a bath with the vet. $20 for a bath and $25 for a medium haircut) I used to go to a cheaper groomer but the last time I did, he got an ear infection and it cost me $400 to cure him.  Unlike other besotted owners, he stays on the blanket that I put on top of my duvet. No sleeping on top of my bald head. We have bonded more since my sister died. We have no one but each other. (Well, my brother loves him but won't take him home with him and my dad doesn't really like petting him with his bare hands. But he sure feeds him.) The floor beneath our kitchen table is filthy with food stains and turkey sausage that he won't eat.

Wow, there's still only one view per day of my blog and I am pretty sure it's me.

So . . . we slog on . . . talking to ourselves . . .

The Weekend

I finished a book called Shamans of the World . . .  a book from my brother because I have some interest in the field. I then registered it in GOODREADS that I had finished it so now I have read 7 books out of my GOODREADS 79 Book Challenge. I then registered it in Librarything. I also have a small book where I enter the books I read. Title, Author and number of pages. There is some sense of satisfaction in what took a good part of my day. My goal every year is one book more than the previous year.

I unfriended a relative on Facebook because she annoys me. I ignore all her texts and comments on Facebook. But for some reason, I was more than irritated by her Comment: Since when have you been doing this sort of thing . . .  which points to my Candy Crush activity. I have played over 110 levels in 2 weeks . . . pretty much beating all my friends. (I now give away Lives and Moves because I am stuck at a level and someone else might as well enjoy the game.)  It's not a totally random game of luck . . . there's some tactical ways of beating the game but it is sadly addictive and eating into my reading time. But I still was offended by the remark and I unfriended her.

My cousin is one of those boring people who thinks that if you don't eat out at restaurants or see a movie . . . then you yourself have no life. (Which is probably true to 99% of the population.) My method of unwinding is reading, puttering in the garden and now . . .  since I got my IPAD, watching all the episodes of FRINGE.

Another annoying cousin visited us to look at Dad's car . . .  to buy it. 10 year old Honda with 20,000 miles on it. Blue Books says about $7,000 which I think is a marvelous deal since it is in impeccable condition. The house was, as usual, a terrible mess since I have no interest in cleaning. Books scattered everywhere, newspapers on the floor to catch the dog's bounty, old clothes on the couch for the dog's lie-in and more of my clothes draped on chairs.

So I shall now sign off to drink some more pomegranate juice and ride the stationary bike because I would like a decent showing for my Coumadin blood test tomorrow. The clinic opens at 7:00 so I wake up at 5:30am (instead of the usual 4:30am). And I am there by 6:30 because sometimes the nurses mercifully start a little early. I will be probably be eating fish tonight . . . the theory is that pom juice and fish thins the blood.

Ah well . . .

Gifts

It was just a dream I had. I dreamed I received small wrapped packages in earth colors. I don't remember opening them but I will probably consult my spirit guide..

A Song Favorite

This is the life of Gutterblood Spoonhammer. And what a name that is. This song was in his profile. He is a talented mesh builder and owner of a store called DECO in the virtual world of Second Life.

It's not really a proper video but the song says it all after a long day like this one.

FINGERS TO THE BONE  by Brown Bird.

Ghosts in the Pee Pad

As I was leaving for work today, I happened to catch an interesting newspaper article on the dining room floor. The paper was doing double duty as a safeguard against any bladder accidents my dog might have. (Sadly, it seems to be a habit now because the wood floors are beginning to warp. ) Anyway, it was still dampish so I slipped it into a plastic bag to read it at work. Thankfully, no one asked to borrow it.

It was about the ghosts of Calcutta, India. How they inhabited old buildings and preferred to be around fish and travel by third class train . There were ghosts of suicides in the Writers' Building -- failed scribes apparently. And you can distinguish them from live people because ghosts have backward-facing feet or they are without heads. 70% of Bengalis believe in ghosts. Certainly, more than Americans do. Most of them won't admit to believing in ghosts although the popularity of ghost hunter shows belie this.

The Start of my Magic garden

Yesterday, Sunday, the Post Office delivered 12 cowpots (Pots made of cattle manure) and 100 or so peat pots. (Sunday delivery by the Post Office when I didn't ask for any special shipment.) This is part of the garden I plan on establishing as a source of plants that are used in spiritual healing and cleansing.

My first plant is Spanish lavender, courtesy of Trader Joe/ That's for love and healing -- although its probably more Wiccan than American Indian. I don't think lavender is common in the Southwest. It's already in the ground.

I have also ordered white sage seeds to grow from scratch. It will be for smudging which cleans negative energy, clearing sacred space and opening the soul before calling on healing spirits. I have also purchased 2 sweetgrass plants which are supposed to have a wonderful smell. You braid it into three strands, signifying love, kindness and honesty-- and this binds the sage together.

I also ordered tobacco seeds. They can be used as an offering and I read that when offered to another plant, it will communicate to other plants in the vicinity. Hopefully they're not too hard to germinate and I pray that this is the right tobacco because I was also reading  that some shamans use "sacred" tobacco from the bark of red willow. There's nothing like the Internet to also cast doubt on your endeavours.

There is also a weeping cypress tree on its way to the house. It's supposed to be 3 feet tall so it is going to resemble a tree which Dad is fond of uprooting  I'll just have to be careful where I put it. I might make a wand out of cypress.

I will make smudging sticks and other medicines for my brother who I think will be the healer. It seems to have been foretold.

Ghost TV

Friday night is ghost TV night. There used to be Celebrity Ghost Stories and My Ghost Stories but it may have been cancelled.  Or they're taking a break and are filming more episodes. The production value is quite good; I never thought the TV series as amateurish. Now it's Ghost Hunters which can be amusing prior to their lockdowns. Zak is afraid of clowns and snakes. Aaron is the goofy cameraman and "afraid" of ghosts. Nick is the "manliest." I like it for the background information they have on each haunting. They don't take themselves too serious although they are quite earnest once lockdown has started.

There's 2 hours of Ghost Hunters and then an hour of The Dead Files. The premise of the latter is a former detective researches the haunting and the sensitive explores the haunted location through her psychic powers. Close to the end of the show, the 2 reconcile their findings and give their advice to the victims. Usually though, I have fallen asleep on the couch by the time this comes at 10:00pm.

My other favorite is Paranormal State which has ceased filming because the star of the show, Ryan Buell, has pancreatic cancer. He's still alive, as far as I know, since he's still posting in Facebook as of three hours ago.  I hope it returns; it's one of the better shows . . .  among the "ghost hunters."

By now, I imagine, you do know that I believe there are ghosts. I have never seen any apparition (and I hope never to see one -- diid you hear that, sis?) but I have seen quite a few manifestations. On the day after Christmas, I was putting away the pink tissues in the box which had held my Christmas present and the latch on the curio cabinet unfastened. (But the door didn't open.) That was probably her. I haven't seen my sister but my father has . . . as he was picking up the mail, he told my brother that he saw my sister looking out of the window.

While she was ill, our front door opened and closed several times in front of me and my brother. We thinks it was our grandmother and my mom, on vigil, for my sister. Its nice to know she had someone on the other side to accompany her, when she left this world. My brother saw my mom, her sister, Tita Linda, who was the last one to die and our 2 grandmothers when my sister died. He also said my grandmother Ipang followed my dad to the kitchen.

They are all around us; we just see them or we don't. 

Not Dulac

I thought you might want to know where some of the images from my home page comes from.

Many are from Edmund Dulac.

I had this book about book illustrators and his images of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales, his interpretation of The Tempest and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam and the Arabian Nights made a huge impression on me. The jewel colors, the delicacy of line . . . I liked Arthur Rackham too but his palette was not as rich.

It's why I spent a lot of money buying watercolors, pastel sticks and blocks of paper to try and paint like him. But I had no talent in that direction at all. My brother and sister did. Although their medium was this colored chalk called conte crayon. I had some mild success with charcoal but they were a bit morbid since I was copying World War 2 artists like Kerr Eby.

This picture called THE MARINE ASSAULT OF TARAWA was one I was moderately successful at reproducing. Charcoal on hard canvas panel. You can see how far I was from realizing a Dulac.

The Backyard

I have been hearing a wind in out backyard. It started around November 21 or November 23, 2013. But nothing is moving. Not trees or plants. It used to be intermittent but now its almost every night. Its a distant wind . . .  a wind that seems far off. And its mostly at night although I will hear it sometimes early morning.

I look through my journal and it started around the first week of October. There was the strong smell of flowers.  And we had only roses in the back which for the most part, have no smell at all. (We have yellow jasmine but it was not in bloom . . .  there are only a few stray vines which are climbing among the roses.) In our family's experience, it usually signifies a visitation from the dead.

But in that back yard, since I put an offering in a decrepit church bird house perched in the upper branches of our one remaining tree -- an apricot, the backyard has been "active."

(Some words on the apricot tree.  It used to bear huge amounts of fruit but my father kept cutting back its branches. He was convinced that its roots was going to interfere with our pipes but it is actually quite a fair distance from the main house. There were only a few apricots last year and the squirrels should have those . . .  But on this tree is a giant staghorn fern which I mounted there years and years ago. I like to think that the fern made up for the denuded canopy. I think this tree is special to me. )

There was something huge and white looming over the neighbor's garage (October 9). It could have been the moon or rather it gave the impression of being moon-faced. It was not threatening. There was just an impression of mild curiosity. Again, this was at night.

Happy New Year To Me!

The first hours of my 2014 New Year was spent wrestling with my dog as he walked back and forth on my face. He hates the sound of firecrackers and so was restless all night. I think I finally slept at 4:00 in the morning. (The Twilight Zone episode playing at that time, I think, was the U boat submarine captain who was doomed to be a passenger on the ship he attacks. Or it could have been THE OBSOLETE MAN with Burgess Meredith as a librarian who chooses his own method of execution.)

The dog and I were up by 9:00am. I suppose what marked this Day of Days was that I washed 3 blankets! I finished a book called WORLD AFTER, (Not as good as ANGELFALL.) and inserted 4 books I has already finished into my Goodreads account. I am now 4 books ahead in my Goodreads Challenge of 79 books. This is my 4th year and I typically add one more book for my goal from the previous year. I had toyed with the idea of reading less books but with a focus of more pages per book. But nixed that because it doesn't sit right with me. (I was afraid of not reaching my Goal because Goodreads does not display my efforts on my Home Page. Even if I was short one or 2 books.) I shall just lower my goal later in the year.

There aren't many thick books on my TBR pile. I have read all of The Game of Throne books and the Caesar books of Colleen McCullough. There is Cleopatra but it isn't that thick. (The 1,000 pages tomes) And I haven't even bought the Stephen King, Dan Brown, and Dan Simmons doorstops. (Waiting for the price to go down.) I think it is a tendency to read "light" so I can go through more books which is really terrible. The best books are usually very fat.  I have chosen SHAMAN as the first book I will start in 2014 in honor of my sister (she bought it) and because I am having a lot of "paranormal" stuff going on in the house. My plan of attack is usually to read the thicker books at the end of the year, when I am sure I will reach my goal.

I don't think anyone has read my blog.