VirusHead

My friend Amanda innocently suggested that I join her in adding the visual bookshelf application to my Facebook page.

Little did she know that it’s just the sort of thing I would latch onto when I’m bummed out. I guess it’s better than some of the alternatives.

I’ve already listed well over a thousand books that I’ve already read, and more than a hundred that I want to read. It’s ridiculous, because that doesn’t even begin to really address the sheer number of books that could be listed. I still read about 5-6 books a week, and I’m not a kid.

I don’t think I quite realized until just this moment: I am – truly – a complete bookworm nerd.

What a strange collection it turns out to be.

Here’s a video that gives a pretty good idea of how America is currently viewed in much of the world. It may have an unfamiliar flavor to an American audience, but it’s worth watching the whole song. The imagery is striking.

(Thanks to JR)

Don’t miss an American video response.

So many of my friends emailed this to me that I had to think I’m either a kind of Mommy-archetype for my friends, or it had to be a very fun video. I think (I think) it’s the latter.

A woman condenses everything a mom would say in a typical 24-hour period into the framework of the William Tell Overture.

So, by viral selection, here it is:

Yup. That’s about it.

(Thanks to Barbara, and Jacque, and Troy, and….)

Anybody got the lyrics?

Jan and I decided to meet at the Visitor’s Center instead of the Witch Museum. Once I saw the outside, I didn’t really want to go into it either. Reminds me of Watchtower covers… So, she was running late, and I started to bop around some of the shops. Later, we explored together (more on that in the next post).

I dropped a ton of money in that town – but I love what I got. I’ve got them all lined up next to me. In my humble opinion, the best shops are Nu Aeon, Crow Haven Corner and New England Magic.

So, here’s what I blew my cash on in Salem:

• A silver moonstone triple-moon ring for the middle finger of my right hand
• Another silver ring – a contemporary interpretation of Celtic-style knots and spirals – for the ring finger on my right hand
• “Invocation” Mysteries soap by Crow Haven Corner
• A Bright Blessings Incense Sampler
• An abalone shell incense holder
• Lotus crystals by Sacred Spirit Products – and charcoal to burn them on
• Egyptian recipe “Abra Melin” frankincense and rose resin incense by Nu Essence
• A Blessed herbal “female energy and wisdom” Moon candle (”made when the moon is right”) by Coventry Creations
• A Samhain (Halloween) “Spirit Wheel of the Year” candle by Cypress Moon
• A small, perfectly weighted pendulum by Xeonix.
• “Wise Woman #52 Goddess Potion” essential oil aromatherapy vial (lavendar, mandarin lemongrass and bergamot) by Aromatherapy of the Goddess

Last but not at all least, I really did get a magic wand. I looked for one everywhere I went. The metal wands were very pretty, but somehow not me, and there were a lot of clunky gem-based wands, but again… not me. The one kind that tempted me (in spite of the really quite outrageous price) was a cherrywood “live wand” that took years to make. Honeysuckle had been wound around it to make spiral grooves in the wood. It was too thick and blunt somehow – although it made it to the “final two.”

For me, the purpose of a wand is as a tool of energy direction (like a very precise mouse pointer). It’s amusing that I had held a teacher’s pointer in mind, because that’s pretty close to what I got. It’s about three feet long, made of white ash – not a straight line on it and wonderfully grooving to my hand. It’s the right weight and balance to be an extension of my arm. There is at least one interesting kind of energy surrounding it already, but I’ll do a full “cleansing” of the wand a bit later – to symbolically rid it of the touch of others – and then “infuse” it with my own spirit/energy. I’m uncomfortable with the magickal kind of language for this – I have my own understandings of what I’m doing. But hey – I’m an eclectic anyway.

Check out photos of the lunar eclipse at The Raven’s Journey! A total eclipse of the Full Moon in Pisces, and I slept right through it… just too early in the morning for me.

Here’s video from Chattanooga, TN.

Post links to more photos, if you know of some.