Weird Ass Shit

So I see that I haven't blogged in like... oh... FOREVER. Didja miss me!?!?! Yeah, most people do.

For lack of anything better to do tonight, I googled "weird ass shit." Here's what I came up with:

a knitted digestive system

some weird ass STUFF

butt-print art

the web fridge project

Original Mullet Wigs-- notice that all 4 styles are IN STOCK...

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Crescent Moon

When the waxing crescent rose tonite, it was a deep orange cradle in the sky. Spellbinding... mesmerising... moongazing...

Banned Books

I'm a bit tardy-- Banned Books Week ended with the end of September. But I thought I'd post about it anyway...

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

Banned Books Week (BBW) celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

Books on the list below that are in bold purple are books I have personally read (and quite a few that I currently own). GASP! Pandora the rebel!

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–20001

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

There are also quite a few books on this list that I would like to read, have meant to read and never gotten around to it... Like A Wrinkle in Time and Julie of the Wolves... and anything by Robert Cormier is bound to be good as well-- I love another one of his that is not on the list, called I Am the Cheese.

I'm not suprised to see Lois Duncan's Killing Mr. Griffin on the list-- I am suprised that only ONE of her books is on the list... Daughters of Eve also comes to mind as potential banned book material.

I remember that Judy Blume books were all the rage at my elementary school. Why? Because she was talking about things you weren't supposed to talk about-- God, getting boobs, getting your period, sex... We wanted to *know* about this stuff. Nobody talked about it, but at least we could read about it.

“[I]t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy Blume

Amen, sister.

Cindy Arrested

It seems you need a permit to demonstrate in front of the White House. Cindy and her group seem to be pretty smart and informed protestors, I would think they would have known this. I wonder if they deliberately ignored it-- more publicity for the protest if they get arrested?

Sheehan arrested in front of White House
Civil disobedience meant to protest Iraq war

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who became a leader of the anti-war movement following her son's death in Iraq, was arrested Monday along with dozens of others protesting outside the White House.

Sheehan, carrying a photo of her son in his Army uniform, was among hundreds of protesters who marched around the White House and then down the two-block pedestrian walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue. When they reached the front of the White House, dozens sat down -- knowing they would be arrested -- and began singing and chanting "Stop the war now!"

Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests. One man climbed over the White House fence and was quickly subdued by Secret Service agents.

Sheehan, 48, was the first taken into custody. She smiled as she was carried to the curb, then stood up and walked to a police vehicle while protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching."

About 50 people were arrested in the first hour, with dozens of others waiting to be taken away. All cooperated with police.

Sgt. Scott Fear, spokesman for the U.S. Park Police, said they would be charged with demonstrating without a permit, which is a misdemeanor.

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

So Mabon Has Nothing to Do With It?

Happy Mabon to all my fellow pagans!

But here's the deal: its my current understanding that Mabon has nothing to actually do with Mabon. So it isn't REALLY Mabon then, is it?

I've kinda been wondering about the whole Mabon thing for a while. Every witchy 101 book one reads seems to talk about how the autumn equinox is called Mabon. And I know that Mabon (ap Modron) is a Celtic god (specifically, Welsh). But never has the connection between the god and the sabbat been explained in anything I've read. Perhaps because there is no connection?

According to Welsh mythology, Mabon (meaning "divine son") is the son of Modron ("divine mother"). He is a hunter god, and was stolen from his mother 3 days after his birth. He lived with Annwn in the underworld until he was rescued by Culhwch. So what has this to do with harvest festivities or the equinox? Well, there ya go...

Evidently, nothing.

In an article by Brian Walsh, he states "many American Wiccans, and pagans who take their cue from them, have come to call the Harvesttide, 'Mabon'. Some have attributed this association of the appellation `Mabon' with Harvesttide, to Aidan Kelly.

Regardless, calling Harvesttide, 'Mabon', began in the US in the 1970's, and is an innovation that has increased in popularity, spreading quickly among those who do not know anything about the deity Mabon. A fact made more striking when the deity Mabon, for whom this holiday is named, often does not figure in the 'Mabon' rites. There are many things that Mabon is, but currently there is no evidence or indication that Mabon was ever a harvest god." (emphasis mine)

How interesting is THAT!?!? I feel I've been bamboozled all this time...

Of course, this is just one article, and I'd prefer to follow up with more evidence that corroborates it, but it IS something to think about.

Here's hoping I haven't spoiled your Mabon... errr... Autumn Equinox... or, uhhh... Second Harvest Festival, Feast of Avalon, Cornucopia, Wine Harvest, the Fall Equinox, Harvest Home, Harvesttide, Festival of Dionysus, Alban Elfed (Caledonii, Druidic), Winter Finding (Teutonic), or Equinozio di Autunno (Strega). Yeah, THAT. Exactly.

Fur is Obscenely Inhumane

Martha Stewart gives up fur, makes PETA video

September 21, 2005, 3:16 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart, who says she's given up fur, has made a video for PETA.

"I used to wear fur, but like many others, I had a change of heart when I learned what actually happens to the animals," Stewart says in the video.

The 5-minute video on the fur trade is narrated by Stewart and is available on PETA's Web site, http://www.peta.org.

"So much violence in the world seems beyond our control, but this is one cruelty we can stop by being informed consumers," she says.

Stewart's turnaround came this spring when she began communicating from jail by letter with Dan Mathews, the vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Stewart, 64, served five months in a West Virginia federal prison for lying about a 2001 stock sale. That was followed by nearly six months of house arrest, which concluded Sept. 1.

Okay, I've heard good and bad about PETA and their tactics for procuring animal rights, some methods straightforward, some underhanded. But the video footage referred to in the above story is pretty staightforward. What happens to these animals is obscenely inhumane.

I think I've got a pretty strong stomach. I've seen some pretty awful footage on baby seal hunts, etc. I watched this video. What is done to these animals is horrible. But it was the last little bit of footage that showed how OBSCENELY INHUMANE the fur industry is. I had to concentrate-- really concentrate on not vomiting. I kid you not. And this image has been in my head all day. It was obscenely inhumane.

I am a meat-and-potatoes kind of gal, grew up that way. Today, after watching that video, in particular the last clip of footage, I could not bring myself to eat meat. Not for lunch. Not for dinner. And who knows how long it will last. Maybe I'm on the road to becoming vegetarian, I don't know.

I'm gonna say it one more time: the methods used to provide people with their fashionable little furs is OBSCENELY INHUMANE. If you don't believe me, then go watch the video. Especially the last 30 seconds or so.

The Silver Lady

Silver Lady beckons me
Out into the night.
She calls me through the window,
"Come, bask in my silvery light."

Silver Lady beckons me
She holds me close in her embrace,
"Come lie upon the silken grass
and gaze into my face."

Silver Lady beckons me
She draws me to her silver glow
She whispers softly in my ear
Of all she thinks I need to know...

Flavorful

Yep, I'd say this one is pretty accurate...

Mmm, I am Lemon Flavoured. I am bitter and twisted. Expect from me acerbic humour and sharp commentary. While I may seem nasty at first, I'm actually quite good company if I like you, so long as you don't mind a bit of cutting to the chase. What Flavour Are You?