Monthly Archives: June 2004

Politics, Book Progress, Reading Material

Was anyone else as bored by last night’s leadership debate as I was? It did absolutely nothing for me. I usually enjoy the debates, but this told me nothing new, revealed no new information (policy-wise or otherwise), and was in general an exercise in futility.

I did 2.7K on the book yesterday, brining my new total to 60,852. I was disappointed. I think it’s due to the fact that I made the mistake of calculating that five days of 4K each would finish the book, so now anything lower than 3.5K feels like a failure. At the end of the day I look at my creeping total word count and panic.

Besides the number-crunching crisis, I was very happy with the content of the work I did yesterday. In general it was a great day. Ceri gave me preliminary feedback from her reading of the text and it was positive, so that on top of an inspiring book I finished in the morning gave me lots of impetus to dig in and write.

And I also got a shipment of secondhand books in yesterday’s mail, which included Paracelsus’ Archidoxes of Magic and Pliny’s History of the Natural World, both of which I’ve been waiting for to use as sources for various chapters. Now if the copy of Carmina Gadelica I ordered would just arrive, I’d be thrilled.

Oops

Damn it.

I forgot to eat again.

I’ve really been trying hard to keep to a regular schedule of food intake, and I’ve been so good for so long! Only now, after the shakes and dull headache have set in, do I realise that the last time I ate was around seven last evening. And it was a light meal, too.

Huzzah for bruschetta, mozzarella, and fresh bread!

Witches Weekly

WItches Weekly June 13, 2004: Rituals – Meditations

1. When performing rituals/meditations, do you associate yourself with the element most closely related to your astrological sign?

Odd; I never noticed until I just thought about it, but I usually begin my meditations next to the sea, a stream, or by a pool of water. I’m a Cancer, which is the cardinal water sign. Coincidence? Maybe. I just love water, and I associate it with purification. I like to symbolically cross water or immerse myself in my meditation landscape before I begin my meditation proper.

As for rituals, I prefer to use fire and earth-based energies.

2. If not, do you associate/align yourself with your moon sign, or something that just “feels right”?

Again, I’m a Pisces moon, so there’s no escaping the water influence. Six of one, half a dozen of another. (Yeah, delving into astrology helped explain my hypersensitivity. I added fire to balance my practices and things are better.)

3. Do you follow the typical elements of earth, water, fire, air, spirit? Or do you follow an even more non-traditional association akin to earth, water, fire, metal?

I employ the traditional elements, but I consider metal a very powerful substance. I see it as being a meld of earth, air, fire, and water.

Forthcoming

I was explaining to HRH today that my life pretty much doesn’t exist after July 1. It’s not that I’m booked, it’s just that I’m so focused on July 1 being the deadline for the manuscript, plus my parents will be in town, and I’ll be doing the final concert of the season that night (which is the only reason I will not be downtown at the Jazz Festival listening to Susie Arioli) that it’s the Big Thing I’m Planning For. Only an e-mail from Debra the other day reminded me that I’m camping July 2-5 at Awakening Isis (which was fortunate). It was while I was relating this to him that I realised that I haven’t yet had a birthday this year.

“Yes,” said HRH. “Any idea what you want? People are starting to ask.”

Know what I want? I can’t even remember what day it is, let alone conceive of celebrating the joyous anniversary of my thirty-third year on the planet. And he wants gift suggestions?

So I’ve updated the wish list, for those who need to know. And I s’pose there ought to be a pub night. Don’t ask me when until after July 1, though, okay? Please?

Freas

Found at Locus Online:

Laura Freas advises: “When you next see the newest Harry Potter movie, watch for the scene in the classroom where a picture of a werewolf is projected on a screen. They bought the rights to reproduce Kelly Freas’ werewolf from his interior for [H. Warner Munn’s] The Werewolf of Ponkert.”

Cool.