Moth Myth Background

I haven't done any graphics art projects in a while, but those who knew me back in the days when the Cauldron used to do avatar challenges once a month probably remember that I used to play around with it. I finally decided I'd had enough of the Masks background--especially because I keep seeing that Anonymous hijacked Oscar Wilde quote: "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." While that may have fit my original intentions for this blog on some level, my perspective on that quote doesn't match up to the current popular interpretations. It may seem trivial, but images code meaning for me and since my message has changed subtly, the image must change to match.

(I describe my inspiration after the cut and also attached the picture file for the background as well as the instructions for installing it via code in blogger in case anyone wants to use it.)

Gift of the Curse: Part 1

[Read the intro to this series here.]

The first thing to overcome is the guilt and the fear…the nagging sense that I’m some sort of imposter who has no right to the term “gifted”. Like many, I have long held on to the misconception that “giftedness” could be reduced to a single, coldly defining number: an IQ score. That the everyday genius that is giftedness could standardized on a bell curve. The reality of giftedness, however, is worlds away from that base and primitive simplicity touted by psychologists of eras long since past...

Brief Thoughts About Change on the First Night of the Mysteries of Wesir

This is relevant to what I am feeling as I contemplate the first night of the Mysteries. 

The Akhu feasted on Welsh Rarebit tonight, and partook deeply of spiced apple cider. I filled the little well on the altar almost to brimming with cool water and lit the candle, the light glowing gently against the underside of the fresh cut flowers that I keep above the little cabinet that holds their images. The occasion also saw the raising and decorating of the Christmas tree, for though I am decidedly not Christian the tree is a family tradition and a December living room would feel incomplete without it. My mother loved the lights and ornaments when she lived and so I make sure her picture faces them so she can see the beauty of them.

Re-framed: Intro to the "Gift of the Curse" Series

“You play madness like it’s convenient, you do it so often that you start to believe it, you have demons so nobody can blame you, but who is the master and who is the slave?” --lyric from Voices by Madonna

 I have been diagnosed, at different times in my life, with all of the following: General Anxiety Disorder, Bi-polar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Social Phobia, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SADs), and Insomnia. I have come to the conclusion, however, that I have none of those things.

The Fourth Day

Strangely enough, this was written on time--just posted late. It turned out Thanksgiving was, far from being a distraction, a catalyst for focusing my thinking about this last bit. 

That's because Thanksgiving is a strange holiday for me. Since my brother and I started college, it has been a half-celebrated holiday in my home. Its traditions became inconsistent and casual. Of the last ten holidays, I have only spent three in my own home, only four with members of my own family. I spent this year’s dinner at a coworker’s house enjoying her traditions and her family’s company. I would say that it is sad or odd to be spending a family holiday away from home after what happened this summer but…

Home is a different word for me these days.