Category Archives: Cyberspace & Technology

Ow

My right wrist has been inflamed for a couple of days, and it hurts when I type or use my mouse. I just finished editing a thirty-page document that was time-sensitive and a pleasure to edit, but I’m now pretty useless for most of the things I usually do, like typing, writing, and playing the cello.

Yesterday, I heard that a friend got a light tablet and stylus to use in place of a mouse, and it’s an attractive thought. So’s an ergonomic keyboard at this point. I’m using a rolled-up towel to rest my wrist on, but the mouse keeps bumping into it. After I post this I think I’ll take a walk, which requires no wrist work at all.

I’ve been seized with the extremely odd desire to write verse lately. Not that I’m being inspired with poetry, I just want to be writing it. This is extremely frustrating.

I slept for ten hours last night. I think I’m officially back on track.

Strapped For Content?

The Brunching Shuttlecocks may have slowed down a bit, but damn, this is funny:

The Apathetic Online Journal Entry Generator

Why use up precious time thinking of witty things to type into your web log? Use this handy-dandy entry generator to…

Wait a minute. Don’t most of us use these things as work-avoidance tactics? We turn to them with the intent to waste time.

On Misfiling And Missing The Point

I’m collecting information on the books that are coming out within the next few months within one of my fields of specialisation, and at Amazon I made a sickening discovery.

Out of all the decent books out there on witchcraft and the occult, I am horrified — no, that’s not quite right; shocked? dismayed? spitting mad? — that the top-selling book in that category is The Book of Shadows: The Unofficial Charmed Companion.

So help me Gods.

You know, in every interview I do, I’m asked my opinion on shows like Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My response? “Hey, I’m a huge Buffy fan. But Willow’s not Wiccan, and what she does isn’t real magic.” If they press me about Charmed, I usually say something about Wicca 90210 and heavily stress the 90210 part, because Charmed has even less Wicca in it than Buffy does.

These shows, and films like The Craft and Practical Magic, are double-edged blades. On one hand, they introduce a whole new crop of people to the idea that people who practice a discipline like magic aren’t, by definition, automatically evil, which is great. On the other hand, they’re an incredibly inaccurate portrayal of the path. Wicca’s about spirituality and responsibility, not spells, demons, and warlocks (don’t even get me started on that inaccuracy).

This is why I still do interviews with students, for newspapers and on radio, and why I continually write articles. I’m trying to raise the general level of awareness out there. And most of the time, people walk away with a better idea of what it’s all about. Sometimes, though, you just can’t get through to them, and they walk away determined to find “a real witch” who will teach them how to change their hair colour without the aid of L’Oreal.

It’s not easy. I’ve chosen to teach and educate on this path, though, and if this is how I’m being called to serve, then this is what I’ll keep on doing. However, if you ever feel inspired to do a bit of reading on Wicca, please, please ignore the sales ranks at Amazon. Read anything by Doreen Valiente, and Vivianne Crowley, and Gerald Gardner. Or read something like Essential Wicca by Paul Tuitlean and Estelle Daniels, or Scott Cunningham’s Wicca- A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. But for the sake of all that’s intelligent, stay away from books that purport to be about spirituality and use pop TV shows as source material.

My skin feels all crawly. I’m going to go make more tea.

The State Of Me

Apparently my delight at the rapid vanishment of snow and the onset of spring was premature. We’re supposed to get tons of snow this weekend.

(I have two degrees. If I say ‘vanishment’ is a word, it’s a word. Okay?)

I’ve had a couple of queries regarding my recent decrease in posting. Apart from Blogger publishing then munching that post on the debate and the challenge my husband and I faced in attempting to correct our info on the electoral list, Blogger apparently didn’t publish my April 1 posts. How… amusing. Ahem.

Otherwise, I’ve been writing all week on my laptop, which means I’m not working on my desk computer, which is the one that’s connected to the Wide World of Web. And yes, the writing’s going just fine, thanks for asking. I’ve now finished the second (and final) bonus chapter of my NaNo novel, which needed a couple of plot points tied up. All in all, I’ve pulled off 4, 758 words this week so far, in that bonus chapter and the new chapter of the Great Canadian Novel.

Now, if the sun would just come out, things would seem even cheerier. I’m surrounded by that dull brown light that means precipitation is on the way, and I’ve heard reports varying from fifteen to twenty centimeters of That White Stuff headed our way.

I just want it to be over. Please?