An Experiment in Expression

I went looking for a fresh look for this blog and found page after page of very cool templates to choose from. I would appreciate it if my readers would stroll on over to this link and take a gander, then tell me what you think.

The Twilight Zone

These days, especially since I gave up Christianity for Lent, the worst thing I hate the most about the Christmas season is waiting for it to finally end. It's bad enough that they seem to be kicking off the X-mas shopping frenzy right after the Fourth of July Fireworks have hit the ground, but you have to wait till after New Years for the music (oh that fucking music!) to finally go away. The lights, the tree, it all stays up till then, nobody willing to give up on that warm, fuzzy, now-we-declare-bankruptcy feeling. But, it has to end sooner or later, and I prefer later, thank you. OUR holiday of Yule happens ONE day, the 21st, and then it's over, till the next Sabbat comes around, and no shopping is required. I know I was BORN Pagan, I just wish somebody had told me.

And yes, we did exchange gifts, although only a very few. As far as gifts are concerned, we tend to more or less get what we want when we want it, or rather when we can afford it, and sometimes just because we think the recipient deserves it, for being so damn special, no special date required. This arbitrary waiting till some special day with magical permission to receive a gift is, well, arbitrary. I think that you yourself might have noticed that you have gotten yourselves all kinds of goodies without any special day excuse to get it, on TOP of all the stuff you buy yourselves on Christmas, so you are just as "guilty" as we are.

Just remember, though, that it's the AFFORDABILITY factor that's most important. If you are putting any of this stuff on credit, then maybe you have a problem. Buying things like washing machines and cars and homes and such require we use credit, because they just cost to damn much to just dish out that kind of money out of one paycheck, at least that's the reality for most of us. But going into debt just for STUFF, well, that's just stupid. If you can't afford it, don't get it, and I promise you, you will survive. Really, you will. Save up for it. You'll REALLY love it then!

So, we are waiting for the non-resident loved ones to make their way back home so that we can lavish our love on them (they couldn't be here for Yule) and THEN the holiday will be over as far as "the holidays" are concerned. We'll be looking forward to seeing how many more inches the grandkid has grown, and man has this kid been collecting the inches! Another words, he's really getting tall.

While many of you have been wading through some incredible amounts of snow, we here at Pendragon Hold have been experiencing almost tropical weather, with days getting up into the 80's, so you can imagine how out-of-synch it seems to be down here. All over the nation Mother Nature has been having a field day, with ice storms and blizzards, snarling ground and air traffic, and cutting off power to millions of homes, while down here.........damn it's nice! You hate us, don't you?

The Palestinians just HAD to goad the Israelis into attacking the Gaza Strip again, and I am beginning to lose all empathy for these people. You want peace ,you want the "Occupiers" to leave your land and grant you a homeland, and what do you do? Shoot rockets at them? Are you genetically predisposed to acting STUPID? Then fine, if you insist, if I were an Israeli, I would shoot back too. So just fucking shut up about it while your towns and infrastructure are being reduced to ruble, all because you JUST CAN'T STOP PROVOKING them. And all those "innocent civilians" that are being caught in this stupid crossfire? YOU killed them.

Oh, remember that nagging problem I've been having with the Focus, the idling problem that I can't seem to fix on my own? Well, I broke down and took our beloved conveyance to the Ford repair place and after paying almost a car payment for the diagnostic and repair, had the problem resolved, problem amounting to simply an L-shaped connection to the PVC valve having a hole in it. I COULD have done the job myself for practically nothing, only I couldn't figure out where the problem was or what part was involved, thus the experts stay in business. I truly look forward to the day when we have electric vehicles without these engines with 2548 parts, all designed not to keep you running except to the repair shop.

Thus you have enjoyed yet another episode of the Chronicles of Pendragon Hold, where now the days grow longer, the love grows stronger, and life goes on much as it has for thousands of years, only in new and interesting ways.

Blessed Be!

And So This is Christmas

"And so this is Christmas....
and what have you done?
for the near and the dear one's,
and new ones just begun......"

Today is Christmas, the supposed birth date of "The Prince of Peace", Jesus Christ, AKA the "Son of God". It's a date I have struggled with every year of my life. Of all the days we celebrate something, this one is certainly the paradox of them all. Whole armies, if somewhat of the same religious persuasion, have halted their killing on this date, while in modern times, it has become a day of rest after a month-long orgy of spending, usually putting families into debt at the same time, while business has come to rely on this one day to put their balance sheets into the plus zone. One day out of 365. On this day the depressed will often be pushed to suicide, and homeless people will be ushered into gymnasiums for their biannual guilt feast, the other one being Thanksgiving. If anything, the "Prince of Peace" has taught us that how we usually treat each other is not right, by any moral standard, and thus we try, at least, on this one day of the year, to act as though any of us really care what he tried to tell us all those thousands of years ago.

"So Merry Merry Christmas,'
and a happy New Year....
let's hope it's a good one,
without any fear.....?

Winter Solstice/Yule 2008

Well, there goes another pleasant, stress-free Yule. Once again we concentrated on saying goodbye to the long night and welcoming back our Father Sun. Once again I was spared possible death/paraplegia putting up Christmas lights on the roof, another one of those energy wasting practices we could do without. And once again our budget was not strained to the breaking point going on a shopping orgy. We traded a few simple gifts between those closest to us, and many of those were hand made and thus very special. Now we can sit back and watch nervous Christmas Shoppers try and pull us out of our economic version of the Titanic, and fail miserably. Anything that puts us into a 'sustainable consumption" mode is all right by me.

THE Resident Twin got an iPod Shuffle, which forced her to download Apple's iTunes music program to her PC. When it commenced to do everything easily without blowing up her computer, she couldn't keep the smile off her face, no matter how hard she tried. Her sister is a much tougher nut to crack, however, since her employment usually depends on Windows PC's, either fixing them (LOTTSA work THERE! hehe) or working with them.

I received another Beatles poster print to add to my "Shrine" wall dedicated to the Fab Four. And, THE Wife got herself an electric throw, so that she can NUC her side of the bed while keeping mine tolerable. As you might imagine, she gets cold easy.

So after engorging ourselves on our Yule turkey and ham, we held a celebratory circle for Winter Solstice, and asked that our families be protected from the lax economy. Ours are but small voices in this wilderness, I know, but the tiniest candle can be seen in the darkest of nights.

So what was the BEST gift I was given this Yule? Look over < at my sidebar showing all the bloggers on my blog roll. Having had the opportunity to get to know, in various degrees, each and every one of them. THAT has been the best gift of all. And better yet, it's a gift that keeps on giving!



May longer days bring more and more light to any darkness you may have to deal with...........Blessed Be!

You've come a long way, Baby...........

There were once frontiers, new vistas to explore, new lands to settle, always some new place for pioneers to stake a claim to. Well, those days have long passed, and the world has shrunk to a size that has almost become claustrophobic. As our population keeps increasing at exponential rates, more and more virgin landscapes are being ravaged and paved over to accommodate more and more human habitations of all sorts, as well as strip malls and all those support structures we need such as schools and sports stadiums and airports and on and on. The marginal land suitable for these purposes has all been occupied now, and what remains are ecologically delicate areas we need to keep intact unless we wish to sacrifice entire ecosystems altogether. We are even removing farms, those areas necessary to feed this growing population, and replacing those with huge gated communities from which will venture more carbon-spewing automobiles on their way to work in the cities, places which are no longer affordable to live in unless you are comfortable with gang-infested slums. We continue to build as though there is an infinite supply of new land while at the same time we allow old properties to fall into disuse and languish, empty and unused, wasted land adding to urban blight.

And in the middle of all this we celebrate the 18th (Yes, that's EIGHTEEN) child born to the Duggars, a God fearing Christian family who live according to some supposed directive from the Almighty that one family can't have enough children. The more the merrier. So many mouths for one couple to feed, the entire family has become a corporate entity with one mission; to support itself and prosper in a world where millions of children go hungry simply by virtue of having been born in the wrong place to the wrong people. They, like the Duggars, would probably love to breed like rabbits in order to foster their own workforce to work their meager farms, only starvation and ever-degrading resources have put a brake on that idea.

I suppose the Duggens have never seriously considered how much impact they make on the resources necessary to keep them housed, fed, and clothed. To think that they take NOTHING from others in order to remain well-fed is a selfish illusion that makes this kind of mindset just one of the many nails we as a species continue to drive into our coffins. Folks, there is only so much shit to go around, and just like the herds of deer who overpopulate their territories and have to be culled by hunters, we already are experiencing our own culling overseas, and that very blind sort of natural justice WILL visit itself upon those of us in the Western world eventually, and then the Duggens will be facing hostile families with two children who think perhaps the bread is being broken into much smaller pieces than were necessary.

Yuletides and Economic Tsunamis

Yea, I know; where the hell have I been? Right here. With not a lot to blog about. Sometimes I get 'bloggers block" and rather than whipping out yet another brilliant post, I'm staring at an empty text edit box with nothing whatsoever to put in it. That's where I've been.

It's not as if there's not really ANYthing to blog about; the economy alone is the frankenstein monster sitting in the corner smoking a joint. In my particular situation, health care, it would seem as if I am pretty much immune, but I can't expect that we could possibly be immune to all this. I keep asking my manager if there have been any noises concerning cutbacks, and she insists she's heard nothing, but the truth of the matter is that where layoffs are concerned, you don't get subtle warnings, you get blindsided, just like on Survivor. So, being the at the bottom of the hospital food chain, if I'm gonna get axed, it will be swift and merciless. I try not to think about it.

So, all one can do is slow down the spending, try very hard to put some green aside, and hope for the best. Trouble is, EVERYBODY is doing just that, slowing down the spending, which is only adding to the problem. However, what really pisses me off is the fact that the banks, those "special" institutions who have had bags of money thrown at them to keep them afloat, have been hoarding all that money (except for the good portion of it that they have been awarding themselves in compensation for being such wonderful people) and not lending it to people who six months ago would have been loaned the money no questions asked for any reason whatsoever. Now, people with perfectly acceptable credit are being denied loans to buy cars, cars are sitting on lots unsold, and it all goes merrily down the drain, and why in the FUCK is the government allowing this to happen? Is THIS what FREE enterprise is all about? Then FUCK free enterprise is all I have to say!

Tomorrow night is THE Wife's work's X-mas party, which will be held at a swank local establishment. I'm amazed that there will even be one this year, but these girls do deserve it. Last year the party was held at one of the partner's homes, a nice mansion on the river. The optical field has been very, very good to some.

I had to cut down one of the small oaks in the Goat's pen, but from the tree came this year's Yule Log, which will be used to celebrate the Winter Solstice, OUR holiday for this season which has nothing to do with supernatural virgin births or fat guys flying airborne sleighs out of the North Pole. Most of us can't seem to get entirely out of the gift-giving habit, though, so that has been kept as part of the holiday, and hey, as long as it's kept within reason, I might as well not complain. So, in the spirit of the shortest day of the year, after which the hope of new life springs forth from the coldest days, I wish all of you, my fellow bloggers, the happiest and safest holiday, in whatever form you celebrate it, and may you reap all the good things you have sown.

Blessed Be!

An Ill Wind

Tonight, evil will paint the landscape of an increasingly lawless Mexico, as the drug gangs kill each other and the innocents caught in the crossfire. Another journalist who hasn't already gotten the message will be assassinated, the public reminded that what goes on in the Kremlin, stays in the Kremlin. A ragtag navy of amateur pirates will ply the rich trade routes of the Arabian gulf and blatantly take another ship and it's crew hostage. And a Jacksonville Police officer will once again be forced to return fire on a desperate young black man who has lost all respect for life, including his own. This is the ill wind that blows thru the land of men.

Tonight, the leaves still hanging desperately to the limbs of oaks growing from the sand of Pendragon Hold will be not-so-gently encouraged to relinquish their hold and return to the good earth from which they will be reborn. A meteorological phenomenon brought about by differing pressures within the atmosphere of this planet will have it's effect upon the Earth and all that reside upon it, with no ill will or evil intent, which may or may not instill some tragedy upon those caught within it's fickle embrace. The wind, my friends, does not know fairness, or good, or bad, but is indifferent, as all of nature must be, for it is within this indifference that goodness and light must learn to thrive, or perish, no helping hand lent, no cosmic cheerleaders on the sidelines to root for the "good guys".

As this cold front passes through the trees of Pendragon hold this night, I want to wish the very best upon all those who via this blog have shared our hearth, our hearts, and our joys. An ill wind is visited upon us, created by us, and can only be undone by us. But remember, the leaves upon that ground had their season, they knew the brightest green of spring, the grandest green of summer, and the valiant yellows and reds and browns of fall; now it is time to come home, for spring will come, as will the rain, the sun, and some purpose under heaven.

Blessed Be!

A Final Solution to Final Solutions

I came across this news report concerning how rough and loud rock music is being used to break prisoners in Gitmo and other American military prisons, often driving these men mad. I love the Beatles, but even I know one could only take so much of "Helter Skelter".

Musicians protest use of songs by US jailers

Continually I come across one new outrage after another concerning the methods we employ against captured insurgents in this new "war on terror" that Dubya introduced to us when we should have simply marched into Afghanistan and solved the problem on day one. Instead, thousands of American and foreign lives and more money than any of us could hope to count has been flushed down the toilet of sickness that too many so-called civilized and "patriotic" people call national security. We have made so many enemies in the last six years it's amazing that the rest of the world hasn't outlawed US, much less the Taliban and Al-Quida. And to think that on that fateful day when the twin towers fell, an entire planet of people were not disillusioned with us, but stood with us.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for national defense. I am all for ANY sovereign people's right to defend themselves against aggression. World War Two was the perfect example of a free people finally saying "enough is enough" and turning its full force and fury against a true axis of evil. Even then we did things we should not be proud of having done, but in the heat of war, no nation has been noted for having adhered to the high road, and those white hats WE wore bear the stains.

But then came this sense of "anything we do is necessary, no matter how egregious" mindset we thought we had earned by defeating he Nazi's. Even now, there are reports of atrocities having been committed either by Americans or under the watchful eyes of Americans in the Korean conflict, stories so horrible I would dare say had they been brought to light during the war, might have brought a president down. By the time we got sucked into the quagmire of Vietnam, we were convinced that WE were the God-appointed guardians of freedom and liberty throughout the world, and we didn't always want to know exactly how it was being done. Out of sight, out of mind. Isn't THAT special?

So, since we can't seem to perform such an uncivilized job in a more humane fashion, I say we just pull the gloves off altogether, get real honest about warfare altogether, and just say up front that once it starts, anything goes. That's right, folks, if we insist on getting into wars with other people for whatever reason, I say we just do it right, and kill each and every man, woman and child within whatever border it was that pissed us off so much we want to kill people for it. No sneaky toxic time-bombs like agent orange, no "surgical strikes" at key targets that usually just kill scores of innocent bystanders anyway, no occupation and humiliation of a populace......nope......enough of the dishonest bullshit, just DO it, get it over with, end of story. Carpet bombing, nuclear weapons, hell, who cares, just use the most efficient methods of large-scale production style murder our military/industrial complex can come up with.

The Last Ghost of War

Imagine the advantages to this approach. First off, the planet REALLY comes out ahead by having such a large volume of parasites removed from it's infected skin. Then there's all that pressure off our farmers to feed all these people. Less workers to steal OUR jobs. The benefits of total war and all-out genocide are more than I could think of in a blog post. AND, not only do we enjoy the immediate benefits of TOTALLY removing our enemy, but there's the wonderful aftermath of all this horror in that there IS no aftermath. No rebuilding, no costly occupation, no refugee camps, no trials of war criminals (theirs OR ours) and no birth defects or environmental disasters to have to deal with decades after the fact. NONE, NADA, truly the END of the argument. AND, we get to write the history, about how noble we were, how evil THEY were, and how we were chosen by God himself to bring all those sinners to Jesus. That's right, folks, if we could kill a commie for Christ, we can kill ANY class of people for ANY deity, we need not be picky. I mean, after all, when was the last time God objected to anything anybody did in HIS name?

The Taliban and Al-Quida already embrace this concept, and the only thing preventing them from engineering the idea to its full potential is the fact that, well, they are all idiots. Religious fanaticism tends to lower the IQ fairly drastically, thank God.......(THAT is the best pun I have accidently come up with YET!!!) However, WE depend on our rocket scientists, who happen to be mostly secular in their mindset, to develop OUR weapons of mass destruction, so the "Baptist effect" our own military suffers from right now is not to much of a problem; they could still get the job done if we wanted them to, especially if we convinced them that God was on OUR side, which we've been doing successfully for a couple of centuries now. Yes, thanks to GOD, we have this inner peace about our killing that puts every other divinely driven army to shame. And, true to form, some ass-wipe decides that it's a brilliant idea to kill a large number of Americans in one fell swoop, like Pearl Harbor or the Twin Towers, thus learning once again, the hard way, that when you've pissed off AMERICANs, you've pissed off GOD!

And the Israeli's think THEIR God is a bad-ass.............

A Perfect Film for the Holidays!

"If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth lives."

This is the chilling pronouncement made by an alien emissary to the Earth in the remake of the Sci-Fi classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still".

Which is why I very much look forward to seeing this movie. I have always envisioned what it would be like to have a superior intelligence visit us, take one look around, and come to the very obvious conclusion that some serious pest control needs to be done around here. It would stand to reason, to me at least, that any species surviving their own evolution long enough to discover space travel would take a very dim view of the possibility of the human race stumbling across it's own way off this planet and spreading it's brand of sentience across the cosmos. Of course, I really do believe that if there really IS a way to cut across interstellar space lickety-split fast enough to make it practical, we are going to kill ourselves off before we get anywhere near discovering it, unless it turns out that it happens to be so simple even a human could figure it out. Or, maybe the universe will just get lucky and that big rock will find us before that happens.

You probably think I have no loyalty to my own species whatsoever. Well, as downright treasonous as it seems, I have met the enemy, and he was in the mirror. If sentience has done anything for me it's given me the ability to observe and reason based on those observations, and I have not observed much concerning my own species that I find comforting. I mean, think about it, when the best strategy you can employ against a tribe of humans is to simply let them alone long enough and they will take care of themselves for you, then you know something just isn't right. So how could evolution have made such a big mistake when it came to choosing us as the top predator? Well, trial and error sometimes screws up, and apparently that's what happened with us, just like it happened many times in the past when certain creatures reached an evolutionary dead end.

Yes, I know, many of you reading this think of yourselves as perhaps different, as a kinder/gentler version of this nasty creature that does genocide so well. And, relatively, you are probably right to some degree. But you know and I know that each and every one of us is fully capable of doing some VERY nasty things, and all the intelligence and love and empathy we can muster simply cannot make up for those moments of madness we might find ourselves involved in should the right button be pushed. Do you honestly think that all those shoppers amassed in front of Walmart that morning thought they were capable of KILLING somebody simply because they got in the way of low, low prices? Do you think that any of these drunk drivers started off the night plotting exactly how they were going to get wasted enough to take out a mini-van full of children and not even suffer a scratch for their efforts? No, I didn't think so. Our monsters lurk deep within, and we are shocked how easily we can let them loose, not out of malice but out of intellectual laziness.

So go watch the movie, and may I suggest you think long and hard before you start rooting for the "good guys". Do you really think they are US?

At least we got to see Paris. We'll always have Paris.

Another Day of Another Week

There's another "reality" show coming up that appeals to our prurient interests, further proof that these rocket scientists out in Hollywood are flat out of ideas when it comes to decent television. It has something to do with beauty queens being judged by the show's experts (?) on their "inner beauty"................somebody please vacate the airspace over my head while the concept zips right through it.

Today was not a typical Sunday in the Unit. It was just an inch short of crazy, death paid visits several times, and I went home with aching legs. But, I was in good company, and together we all made a difference, even if perhaps that fact was not apparent to some family members. I don't personally want to die in this place, but there are no finer people I would rather die in the company of then these nurses.

The wife may have given up the ways of Christian Christmas, but she never really abandoned the joy that the idea imprints upon the Westerner who has grown up with this tradition. She is busy trimming the "Yule Tree" (which in many ways is the actual Pagan forerunner of the Christmas Tree) and I have to admit that it does look rather beautiful in it's monochromatic way. The family is still intent on sharing gifts, in the "Yuletide" tradition, which is fine with me as long as I don't have to risk paraplegic injury putting up Christmas lights on the roof anymore. However, I WILL have to say something if the gifts start piling up beneath this tree, ala' "consumption-mass". Frankly, I've had my fill of it, and I think that American Capitalism needs to embrace something other than this month long spending frenzy to support the retail markets profits for the entire year. Maybe this recession/depression will put a serious damper on this stupidly shallow custom of ours.

While I was slaving away serving mankind at the hospital, THE Wife and the Resident Daughter decided to spend the day in St Augustine enjoying the shops, combing them for anything with pagan flavor. They were quite dismayed to see that the bad economy has already taken a heavy toll on many of the shops in the nation's oldest city, many of them boarded up, victims of previously high gas prices and now a deficit of tourists with anything to spend. Exxon/Mobile started this mess, greedy mortgage brokers pumped it up, and I would be very pleased to see each and every one of those greedy bastards put in stocks and mocked by the populace in the streets of Jamestown and St. Augustine, just like they were in the olden days when your honor was something that meant something to you.

Just another Sunday here at Pendragon Hold, weathering the economic storm just like all of you, and hoping to still be here when the winds die down and the waters recede. Blessed Be you all.

Choking on Consumption

I think one of the major problems facing this economy, one which may prove to make a full recovery impossible, is our burgeoning population. Our economy has depended upon the full-tilt spending of the largest group of consumers the world has ever known, which includes all those Indians and Chinese, and when all those people suddenly can't spend like banshees anymore, a chain reaction begins which just any one fix, including throwing "money" at the problem, can't overcome. It's very much like the environment, in which removing one species from the web of life has a detrimental effect all throughout the system. Case in point; the wood products/paper industry in the Pacific NorthWest is in dire straights, not simply because there is less need for wood to build houses, but because there is less demand for cardboard to wrap up all these goodies with, such as electronics (oh, and that includes the plastic packaging that you need scissors to break into) and all that stuff that Amazon.Com ships. The housing collapse effected all of the construction trades, such as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, plus all those people who deal with real estate and it's associated paperwork, then you head down the line to those who manufacture sinks, ovens, refrigerators, pvc pipe, concrete, etc, etc, etc.............

OK, now all THOSE people are out of work, not only not spending their paychecks, but now drawing on unemployment, food stamps, or whatever program they can to try and survive. Those of us still working pay for all of that, as did those who once held tax-paying jobs. It keeps getting worse......now all that money that used to be spent on groceries, clothing, rent, car payments, health insurance premiums, etc, etc, etc, is now gone, so those whose jobs depend on on that now lose THEIR jobs. No, don't worry, unless the whole company goes under, the CEO's of those companies will never suffer....hell, only in America, they will probably get a raise for laying all those people off. We might have defeated the British in 1776, but we never defeated royalty.

Now, you say, fine, you got laid off, too bad, quit whining and go out and find another job. Oh, really? WHAT job? And, even if you DID meet the requirements for another job, so do a whole new crop of people who are in the same boat as you, and only one person gets each job that MIGHT be available. Besides, an economy that is going down the tubes is not creating new jobs, except perhaps in foreclosure departments..

So, one wonders how all this gets turned around and everybody gets to go back to work and try and pick up the pieces. Well, IF and when a recovery occurs, all the new jobs that people find to replace the old ones will pay less, offer fewer if any benefits, and all that experience and seniority you once had is just flat gone; you are starting from scratch just like everybody else. If you're lucky, you will get to return to the very place you got laid off from, working for the same board of bastards that shit-canned you and then gave themselves all raises. Isn't that SPECIAL? Oh, and hopefully, the rent you are paying for your new apartment won't be much higher than the mortgage you were paying for the home you lost to foreclosure.

Oh, and at the first whiff of an economic upturn, gas will head rapidly back up to about $5 a gallon, so let's hope you are not still stuck with that SUV you were tooling around town in before the Depression hit. Not that you'll be able to afford a Toyota, Nissan, or Honda hybrid which have cornered the market with the bankruptcy and disappearance of all of our own auto manufacturers. Boing and Northrop Grumman will go on the block next. Who will be buy our tanks and destroyers from then?

Our entire economic, political, and social system, both here in the West and those of other "persuasions", is self-destructive due to it's reliance on consumerism, and the way that most all of us have to support ourselves. If ever a species needed to learn how to live WITH it's surroundings rather than becoming expert at using it all up, we do. It's quite simple, actually; when deer (prey animals) are not held in check by wolves or hunters (predators), they overpopulate, strip the territory of food, and starve to death. Despite all our wars, natural disasters, and other threats, we continue to increase our numbers with no checks or balances, with the same consequences. We here in the West have never had to face those consequences the way they do in the third world, thus we have ignored the ever-increasing peril we put ourselves in when the system that is straining to sustain us starts to collapse under it's own weight. This intricate weave of goods and services is becoming so complex that none of us entirely understand how it really works, and there comes a time when all the PHD's and bailouts will not put Humpty back together again.

There are so many ways to actually simplify this system we rely on it's not even funny. Smaller farms serving local markets rather than supporting an endless army of middlemen is one example. Locally produced organic and much safer and healthier produce, will raise the income of the people who actually grow the stuff while lowing the cost and carbon footprint. Elimination of pretty manicure lawns in favor of zeroscaped properties would cut down on all the pesticides, herbicides, and over-fertilization that is killing our rivers and ground water. Providing sane alternatives to baby making such as safe and effective contraception, parenting classes, universal health care for those who take responsibility for themselves and their own heath with healthy diet and exercise, genetic screening and counseling, and other measures can drastically reduce the cost of health care and support of children without good families to raise them. But, I think the best thing we can really do is ask all of ourselves a serious question; does owning more and more things really make me happy? Just because one COULD buy something (providing a demand for it) does not necessarily mean one SHOULD buy something, as if simply the very ACT of purchasing some piece of crap is another form of "getting high". The fashion industry is one of our worst offenders, with an endless stream of clothing and assesories such as women's shoes and purses having to be replaced and sent to the landfill just because you owned them for three months. Heaven forbid you get caught wearing a pump that is "soooo yesterday"!

No, really, if you don't understand just how selfish and self-centered that behavior is, as well as the unseen consequences on the whole environment, then you are personally responsible and equally guilty of committing slow murder of everything around you. Remember how previously I described how intricate and interwoven this economy based on consumption is? That bag you payed far to much for that is suddenly out of style.....well......people made that bag and now that it isn't "IN", they lost business and might lose their jobs, just because you, YES YOU, were so fickle about your purse preferences. And to think those people might have been well employed making good, sturdy clothing items that lasted and were affordable.

Another misguided aspect is our failure to promote cooperation between industries to provide the best products for the least cost while employing the most people with the best kinds of jobs. Instead, it's out and out competition, companies pandering to the lowest common denominator in order to "defeat" the competition and steal more market share. As I once said, the REAL reason any business or industry exists is because that's how people support themselves.....NOT because rich people want to plant a money seed and grow a money tree so that they can buy a whole fleet of lear jets. So, instead of falsely claiming to be concerned about how well investors are served (when the truth of the matter is how well the CEO and his board buddies make out), management of ANY company should be comprised of those whose blood, sweat and tears MAKE that company work, and whose choices have a direct impact upon their own fortunes. A worker in a car factory is going to want to make the best damn car he can, because THAT will satisfy the customer and insure the worker a better standard of living. If the WORKER doesn't work hard enough and takes an excess amount of compensation for his labors, then HE will suffer the consequences and only has HIMSELF to blame, not that blood sucking CEO or his supposed concern for "investors". The stock market is a sham that is actually more responsible for economic downturns than any other instrument in the whole process. So, until we eliminate the whole concept of corporations and their boards of entitled royalty, there will never be economic justice and the endless cycle of economic downturns will continue.

But, that's just me..........what do I know?

Way of the Witch

OK, guys, look.......a witch, in reality, is really nothing more than the ancient, amateur, yet very capable template of what we now call the physician. He goes to Medical school for a decade's worth of rote mental torture and hopefully, once the beast is through with him, he still is intent on "helping people". The Witch, the Shaman, the Medicine Man, they all consigned themselves to an eternity of learning obscure facts about things you and I really don't have time to absorb in order to gather a certain kind of knowledge that is unique and powerful and is hard to quantify but is held in high esteem nonetheless by those who know to accept it's benefits. Magic, healing, whatever you wish to call it, is truly an art, while medicine has devolved into a science that still falls short as often as it accomplishes anything. Both of these practices have their limitations, but both of them also depend heavily on the recipients having some faith in them in regards to effectiveness. A recent study in fact proved that more expensive medicines were more effective than lesser ones, but only if the recipients knew that fact, but the reverse was often true if that fact was obscured. A healer will approach your problem with what he knows historically is most effective, but he also counts on your faith in his ability to prescribe the proper treatment if that treatment is to have any real effect. Smoking cessation hypnosis had no effect on me due to the effect that I am to damn skeptical as a person to be hypnotized to begin with. Yet, a new drug which was reported to me to be highly effective, and two factors contributed heavily towards the effectiveness of this drug.....one, that it was covered by insurance, and two, that it worked for the person who recommended it to me. The human animal is complex, and simplicity is not always the best approach when it comes to overcoming the many ills that befall us, our brains having such a huge influence over what works for us and what doesn't.

The wife decided to withdraw herself entirely from her pain meds in order to concentrate on alternative healing methods, but just as I expected, she had some evil withdrawal symptoms last night for not having taken her pain meds. I told her to cut back on how often she was taken her pain meds, but not to try and cut them off entirely so suddenly, or she would suffer for it. She took her pill and was soon fast asleep. Hopefully she will have some success with the spikenard tea and whatever remote healing this Reiki Master is performing on her. She is brewing the tea and will soon be taking it. Wish her luck.

Today was rather busy. We started by heading to the Earth Store, where we shop for all our magical needs, stopping off at Starbucks for a couple of brews having ran out of coffee at home. There she found her Spikenard root and various other things of importance to Witches. I also purchased ourselves a couple of silver chains to replace the base metal disasters we've been wearing. I had my eye on a nice, simple little sword to use in the circle, but we had already racked up a big enough bill, so I deferred that luxury to some other date.

Heading back we stopped off at Sears to pick up an electric chain saw that was on sale to replace the noisy, ill-tempered and polluting gas job I've been using around the property. The chain tensioner has not been keeping the chain tight on the bar, coming off on me in the middle of a cut, so it was time to retire it.

Lastly we stopped off at Walmart and Publix to stock up on groceries, then it was home to put everything away and finish up some floor cleaning, dishes, laundry, and preparing some home-made vegetable soup. We threw just about everything we had into that pot, and boy was the end product GOOD!

THE Wife has now steeped the spikenard tea and will start taking it in the morning. At least it SMELLS good, but the quick taste she took of it wasn't encouraging. Oh well, medicine is not SUPPOSED to taste good, now does it?

We also watched the Sci-Fi action movie HANCOCK, which was an interesting twist on your average super-hero movie. Imagine a guy with super-powers who can't perform the simplest rescues without causing more damage than if he'd just stayed out of it............it was intriguing and hilarious. Once again, Will Smith takes on a role and becomes the standard forever after. I highly recommend it.










We have a tradition here at Pendragon Hold, called CBS Sunday Morning. It is by far one of my favorite weekly programs in that they host some of the most inspiring stories you can find on the tube. However, my favorite thing of all on the program is the vast array of SUN paintings, drawings, whatever, as long as it is SOLAR, that they display during the program. It turns out that they will accept submissions of individual works of solar art and I have been considering sending in THE Wife's rendition of the Sun, which I think is quite good, in a primitive folk-art sort of way, and can stand even with any I have seen on the program. take a gander and tell me what you think.......


Well, I think I've gabbed enough for a Saturday, so I will leave you to your Sunday, with hopes that it is as restful and/or enjoyable a day off as it is for us. I want to thank all of you who have chosen to "follow" us here at the Hold, and please know that any and all of you are more than welcome here at our hearth, humble that it is, and ever happy to be known far and wide as Pendragon Hold, where even dragons can find peace and acceptance, should they seek it.

It's Thanksgiving day here at Pendragon Hold, and despite the fact that we have become "godless heathens", we remain as thankful for our good fortune as ever we did when, back in the day, we gave all the credit to some invisible dude who had terrorized us all our lives with promises of an boring eternity playing harps on fluffy white clouds or burning in hell forever. Now our thanks are given not out of fear but out of gratitude, to whatever deity or life force or lego super-hero might be responsible........one need not be picky.

I worked the two days before the holiday and thus was very happy to be off for the grand day, which I had to spend in the company of THE Wife's family, since I have no family to speak of locally. I am not complaining, as they do prepare one awesome spread that never fails to satisfy the belly. Unfortunately, the Resident Twin had to go to work today, spending the entire shift essentially not doing anything productive whatsoever, while being payed premium holiday pay for the experience. She would have foregone the money for the fresh food and familiar company. We DID bring her home some nice left-overs.

Having payed off the car last month it seems we now had some extra money, so I made THE Wife's day by grabbing one of the rarely-in-stock Nintendo Wii's at Walmart, something that SHE, of all genders, has been lusting after for the fact that in order to play it, you have to get off your fat ass and actually MOVE. It's funny how now that the economy has tanked, these things are suddenly actually available for once and you don't have to know the right people to buy one. Well, now we finally have one and THE Wife and I are learning how to use it and it's been hilarious. Who knows, maybe we'll be able to burn some calories using this thing, and have fun doing it.

Meantime........we have been put in touch via a close friend of THE Wife's with a Reiki Master (healer) who is supposed to be able to perform remote therapy. He has already claimed to be able to see that she has an infection around one of her disks which is causing the inflamation and has directed her to begin using an herbal tea/remedy called spikenard root. We will be headed to our nearest natural health food establishments to find this concoction and begin treatment. Also, he seems to already be working his mojo on her as last night she went walking by me headed towards the bedroom mumbling something about someone telling her she had to go to bed now..........and can't remember doing so the next day. (insert strange organ music here.....) Hey, if SHE believes she's being helped and her pain eases, I'm all for it.

Remember the vermin problem I spoke of in past posts? Well, it seems that we were successful in our counter-attack on the rodent invader, only it wasn't the rat trap that nailed it........sigh......there is evidence of something having feasted on the poison bait I put under the house and now the evidence of his demise is wafting throughout our bedroom and/or bathroom. The wife detected something foul several nights ago but it wasn't until today that my insensitive nose finally admitted to the foul aroma of something dead, perhaps having crawled up into our flooring to die. I'm not sure how I am to deal with this, but tomorrow I will crawl under to see if I can locate the carcass. Other than that, I suppose we will just have to wait till the damn thing simply finishes rotting. We reap what we sow, indeed we do.

Thank you for visiting us here at Pendragon Hold. May YOUR Thanksgivings truly be times of safety and security, and may all the ills of this world pass you by.

(Yes, I know, this is not Thanksgiving day..........the triptophane got to me before I could publish.....)

First, the Good News......

OK, so we go to the neurosurgeon expecting this guy to describe all the reconstruction he was going to have to do to fix THE Wife's pain, only he says that after looking at the mylogram, he has come to the conclusion that none of the nerves have been impinged upon, thus there is nothing surgically he can do to relieve her pain. So, the wife escapes a major surgery, with all it's attendant risks and effect on our financial stability.

Now the bad news.

She still has the pain.

Sigh, this just seems to go on and on with no end in sight. She turns to me and plaintively insists, "But I'm NOT crazy, this pain is REAL..." and I have never found a reason to doubt her. You KNOW when your loved one is hurting. So, as much as I am relieved that they won't be slicing into my wife's neck, I still am frustrated that no one seems able to pinpoint the exact CAUSE of her pain. I'm beginning to suspect that it's not in the medical establishments best interest to EVER fix her, not with all the office visits and pain pills they can sell her.

So far there have been no noises at my hospital about cutbacks or layoffs. I suppose as the economy continues to tank, the stress is manifesting itself by increasing admissions to the ER, and our upper decks are always full these days. We even admitted one of our own aids to the unit, which shows that even we are not immune to the stress of living in this tough reality. What really pisses me off is all the noise the Republicans are making about not wanting to bail out the big three American Automakers, seemingly blasé' about what that means to the jobs of millions of middle class Americans. Yes, I know that we need to smack some big-wigs upside the head for the kinds of autos they have been manufacturing when we've long needed to compete against the foreign car makers in the area of new hybrid technology and cheaper, well made cars, but that's no reason to punish the line worker who had no say in these decisions. And, ENOUGH about "it's all the Union's fault", when you know damn well that these "evil" unions are responsible for what little rights our workers have left in this country, and I for one and not going to begrudge them making a damn good wage when our average CEO is dragging down MILLIONS in salary for.........what? Fucking up our entire industry?

Now is the PERFECT time to give these executives pink slips, without the golden parachutes, and FORCE the companies to retool their lines to start building high mileage cars. AND, if we could just bring about universal health care and remove this burden from business, maybe THEN we could compete on a more level playing field with our overseas competition. AND, perhaps now is the time to examine exactly what the American dream really is. I would say that having a half-way decent roof of my own over my head, a good set of wheels without all the bling and cup holders, and adequate food is a real good start. And having this without destroying the world around me would really be nice. Perhaps we could define a successful company as one that employs the most workers while producing a good product without sending a few lucky individuals to luxury resorts at our expense, instead of the one that works the fewest people the hardest while lining the pockets of rich bosses who do nothing but suck the life out of everything around them.

Another words, can we for once stop bending over?

Blessed be, and may this post find you safe and employed.

Race to Nowhere

I knew there were going to be a few, backward, devolved individuals of the Caucasian persuasion (who, unwittingly, probably have mixed heritage and don't even know, or would admit, it) that would be upset that the lily-white party has finally been crashed and we (by "we", I mean thinking, rational, compassionate, humane human beings) have elected our first president of "color". Not to change the subject, but why aren't us "white" people considered "colored"? Am I NOT somewhat beige, or darker, depending on how much sun I get? The only people I can think of who can rightly call themselves "white" are albinos. Anyway, getting back on track, it stands to reason that many of these "people" (I use the term "people" really loosely here) would get all bent out of shape and risk being exposed as the throwbacks to another time and plantation by acting out their disappointment.

But then you read the news.

Many of, if not all, of my readers are pretty much white. I would like to imagine that aside from that, they are good people. I would like to think that they are evolved enough to not take personally what I am about to say here. Matter of fact, I am pretty sure that the regular readers of MY blog are such wonderful people that they are going to know I am not addressing them, and will even stand and cheer when the read the next paragraph.

You assholes who are so fucking white that God himself can't even look at you without sunglasses, you need to fucking get over yourselves. You need to fucking grow up and get over it. You are an embarrassment to any race. I would rather dye myself jet black than be associated with you. You give retarded piss ants a bad name. The human race would have had a chance if your mothers had only drowned you at birth. You are a pox on the land. You did NOT build this nation, you were to fucking lazy and complaining that someone was taking something away from you to do anything. You enslaved every OTHER race you could to do all your work FOR you. Oh, but you weren't to white to have sex with them, now were you? Oh no, you have mixed race relatives all over the place and you'd piss your pants if you were forced to meet them knowing you're related. Yes, my pathetic inbred imbecile brothers, you just can't except the fact that a "black" man is going to prove once and for all that he can easily outperform a redneck idiot from Texas whose daddy bought him an oval office. And THAT is just too much for your imagined superiority to take.

This is another humble observation from the desk of THE Michael, just another stranger in a strange land. May you sleep tonight without visions of crosses burning in your head.

The Slit Wrist of Intellect

To be self-aware; this is supposed to be a hallmark of intelligence; to be able to look into a mirror and see ONE's SELF, to understand that the creature in that reflective surface is not some other THING, but YOU. Turns out, man is not the only creature capable of this realization. Not only apes are capable of this; it turns out that even an elephant can see itself, knowing full well that it is a separate, thinking entity, with thoughts of it's own. So, before we even delve further into these issues, can you accept the idea that the definition of "PERSON" need not necessarily apply ONLY to the human race?

There is a terrible disease loose upon the Earth, a contagion that did not spring up suddenly and inflict itself upon the planet overnight; it evolved over time and made itself known by the effect that became evident in the vicinity of wherever you found a new kind of ape, a species of THINKING creatures that for the first time in the history of a blue marble spinning away in the cosmos, could actually ALTER their surroundings to suit THEIR purposes, rather than having to adapt to wherever they found themselves.

No, warfare and selfishness did not manifest itself with humans. You can see the same issues being demonstrated in tribes of Baboons, with highland Guerillas, with many social structures within the "animal" kingdom. But humans perfected these traits, and built upon them, and used them to create a delicate madness that began to have profound effects upon our Mother Earth.

Outside of our core tribal affiliations, we as a species funnel our abilities into competing with other groups, other races, other economic classes, and not in benign ways, but in ways that can be violent and deadly, for in the end, we will go to whatever extreme we feel is required to come out on top, rather than expend that energy in cooperative methods that benefit ALL of us equally.

I seem to have a genetic disposition towards fearing difference. If something is "different" from me, it must be a threat, and I must treat it with suspicion. What a sad paranoia to have to live with, when all I have to do is apply my intellectual prowess to the situation and realize that I have NOTHING to fear from difference, that what I actually have to fear is not embracing this difference and allowing it to ENHANCE my experience as a thinking being. This need to spread my Walmarts everywhere so that I have something familiar everywhere I go, THAT is a "need" that in the end destroys all diversity and turns my landscape into something bland and boring and bankrupt of all spirit. Now my life has become something I endure, rather than celebrate, because fear and suspicion and rigid righteousness crowds out all real joy and I become more deadly than any boogy man I can conjure up.

We are so proud of our sons and daughters who respond to the call to serve their country by putting on their uniforms, taking their weapons, and going OVERSEAS to "defend" their country. Yes, think about it, we have rarely (Pearl Harbor is as close as it ever came) had to meet an enemy on the beach to defend our homeland, instead electing to take our righteousness over the oceans to other lands and shove it down the throats of every unfortunate people who found themselves in the vicinity of those who thought to do us harm. We have now come to think of "war" as this out-of-sight, out-of-mind "thing" that we support without condition, something we sacrifice our sons and daughters to in the name of God and country. Have we ever made any real attempt to ask what all this really means, even after our progeny has returned to us in pieces, damaged in mind and body, with nothing accomplished except to earn us the undying hatred of tribe upon tribe who never asked us to deliver to them any sort of benefit associated with America?

I was born into an amazing thing called the "United States of America". I grew up never thinking to question exactly what this meant as a concept or what it took, historically, to get us where we are today. I took it as an article of faith that we were the chosen ones, the new Israel, that shinning city on the hill that everyone in the world wanted to be a part of. By being a good little human who did not think it necessary to harness my brainpower, I was a good little patriot who could be counted upon to become fodder for all those who in reality were using me and my fellow tribesmen to further their agendas, which upon close examination did not include my well being. My ancestors displaced the native Americans, and in doing so, replaced them to become the new fodder for an insatiable cannon, just another cog in the war machine which keeps royalty, no matter how you label it, in power.

Have you ever seriously asked yourself how the likes of George W. Bush could EVER have been elected to be the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful nation on the face of this Earth? I do not mean to ask you your own reasons for not voting for him if that is the case, but I do mean to ask you how a people could identify themselves with this sort of human. It's as though half of this nation had this insane need to be abused, used, laughed at and ridiculed by the very people who appealed to them to be patriotic and God fearing, who themselves were anything but. This is the disease I speak of; the HUMAN CONDITION, the very essence of a species of ape that cannot rise above it's most base needs, and in doing so, brings down all those around them, making the lowest common denominator the way of the world.

If we do not return ourselves to our place within the niche of the ecosystem and work with it, I promise all of you, my human breathren, that we will be separated out just like any cancerous cell, and we will be consigned to the pages of history as just one more failed experiment. There is no God to protect us from this judgement, there is no special ability we possess which will save us from the mass extinction we are already visiting upon many of our fellow life forms. This need to worship possessions will, in due time, kill us all, if not the planetary ecosystem which gave birth to us as a species.

Ask any Native American to be honest with you, and he will tell you; you are not a human being. Any creature who attacks the land is not a part of it. The Creator gave us all a gift, with the understanding that if we soil our own nest then we only have ourselves to blame for the consequences. It is such a pity that those who still honor the old ways must pay equally for our sins.

Rats!

Today THE Wife had her myelogram, a test we both were looking forward to with no shortage of trepidation. When they go messing with your spine and the fluid within it, visions of all kinds of complications go dancing in your head, mine as well as hers. However, it did not take nearly as long and was no where near as horrible an experience as we thought it might be. The possible "severe headache" that might have occurred didn't, and she claims she hardly even felt the needles they tapped her with. So, at least as far as the test goes, it was a swimming day. Now we have to wait another ten days for her return appointment with the neurosurgeon. I'm seriously considering casting a spell that, while in the presence of my wife at least, makes THIS particular doctor the best neurosurgeon that ever walked the face of the Earth. That's not to much to ask, is it?

On the home front, it seems that VERMIN have invaded the hallowed halls of Pendragon Hold. In several places on several nights we have heard the unmistakable sounds of GNAWING beneath our floor, and this is after I had peered out our backdoor one night awhile back to witness a RAT scurrying along our picket fence towards the house. Today I crawled under the castle and believe I have found some entry points that this rodent has made, and have placed a trap as well as some poison bait in the area. Do I have some axe to grind with rats? No, unless they take it upon themselves to go chewing holes in my home, THEN we have a problem. Rats, you now have my undivided attention. I will END you.

How often has it occurred to us that our candid home photos, the kinds we used to store in shoeboxes and in photo albums, were snapshots of happy moments in our lives, yet how many pictures of not-so-happy times or tragedies do we have? None, I would venture to say. When someone you love has been hurt, or an argument of epic proportions has broken out, or people are yelling and screaming and crying, no one is apt to run for the camera or video thing to record the precious moment. Yet, all these things occur, and we remember them even without the assistance of the pictures. Just an observation that came to me as once again I proved to people around me just how painfully human I can be, even when deep in my soul I insist to myself that I am above it all. All I can say is, I think we all should remember that ALL moments in our lives, those many precious minutes and hours and days, weeks, and months spent together are what shaped our relationships and made them so precious. I have gained, and lost, and hope to regain respect of those who mean so much to me, and in the meantime, pay my penance. In the interest of TMI, I will not be more specific as to what I pay penance for, but suffice it to say, I ask, if someone reading this should know exactly what I speak of, that you consider that I might possibly be a better person than I might otherwise seem to be. At least I strive to be.

Life goes on here at Pendragon Hold. The gardens have done their best and have been put to rest, the four legged friends have seen the last of their graze for some months and now retire to feed and hay, and the Earth rests till warmth returns in Spring. I ask so little of my Gods, but I most fervently call upon them to protect what is mine, and to allow me to die here one day on what I consider sacred ground. And when I go forth to my final rest, I only ask of my love to let me go grudgingly, with affection, and forgiveness for any minute not spent with me most joyously.

Blessed be you all.

Do NOT Bail out GM.......Here's Why......

You'd think that now that George Bush and his Neo-Con-asswipes are going to be sent packing in disgrace, that I'd have nothing more to complain about. You'd be committing an error. While surfing the web for information on the latest hybrid vehicles, I came across this nugget: Cadillac Escalade Hybrid.

This STUPID SUV is a prime example of our ongoing waste of vision and engineering expertise in this country. A technology that is supposed to enable us to drastically cut back on our carbon emissions is slapped into a monster conveyance that NO sane person has any need of, so that the person who has THAT kind of money to waste on an automobile can....what? Feel GOOD about themselves? Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Aside from he fact that this big bag of shit will only go a smidgen further down the road than the "regular" version, this behemoth costs as much money as I paid for ALL OF PENDRAGON HOLD, for crying out loud! Am I the only one who thinks that somebody's sense of "value" is terribly twisted? This is not a luxury yacht, or even a lear jet, but a stupid status symbol on four fucking wheels, which will not in most cases rarely transport more than one person who will drive this huge piece of crap as though they are immune from the rules of the road and will expect everybody else to just GET THE FUCK OUT OF THEIR WAY!

There's nothing wrong with this vehicle or the person driving it that a nice RPG wouldn't cure.

So are they going to FINALLY start building those AFFORDABLE hybrids that us working stiffs can afford to buy and escape the ransom imposed on us by the oil companies who know we have to get to work SOMEHOW? Not anytime soon enough, that much I know. This is still the greed capital of the world. Only we are all broke.

No, Obama is NOT going to turn this into a socialist country and enforce any meaningful measure of economic justice, but It would truly warm the cockles of my heart if people would pull these assholes out of their opulent palaces on wheels when they catch them at stop lights and toss a molotov cocktail into the bastard. Why should these people FUCKING KILL US ALL in comfort and luxury?

Again, emotions run high here at Pendragon Hold, thus I cannot be blamed for losing control and posting another rant despite my anti-rant policy. No, again, the devil didn't make me do this.............

Tina Fey did it.

Even up till the end, I had my doubts. After eight years of America demonstrating to the world just how low it could be brought down, I began to question my fellow citizens capacity to make sane, rational choices. Yet, in retrospect, I have to give a certain twisted credit to the worst president this country has ever had. Without you, George "DUBYA" Bush, we might not have been brought to a point in our history where we where finally and fully capable of electing a black man to the highest office of our land. Without you, the Amercan people might not have been pushed and prodded and challenged to recognize who, between an old, tired, and devisive White Man, and a fresh, honest, and inspirational man of color who represented the true nature of what America truly stood for, who our choice HAD to be. Without you, George, we might not have been able to look within ourselves and know for once that a major change of attitude HAD to occur.

And thanks to YOU, Mr. Obama, I finally feel that YES, I have my country back. THANK YOU!

I Don't Do Memes

I'm sure, far back somewhere in the annals of TTEM, I mentioned the fact that I don't do "memes". Hell, to this day I still don't know exactly what "meme" means. Whatever, it seems that each one demands so much exacting rigamarole, it's just to much work for me. So no, I'm not going to waste valuable post font making up a list of things people should know about me, because, frankly, there's not actually anything anybody SHOULD know about me, like, for instance, that I am not a cat person, yet every feline within a mile of me seeks me out, totally ignoring those around me who claim to be cat lovers. Or, that I have this perpetual frown engraved on my face that totally misleads people as to my actual inner demeanor. So, look, get to know me and get over it, because I can't afford to have a plastic surgeon install a nice shiny smile on my keister. And YES, when I exert myself, I have been told I have the "sweetest" smile........And no, you have no need whatsoever to know that I was the first (and I think perhaps only) Personnelman (a navy job description) to report for duty onboard two separate nuclear fast attack submarines, filling in for the Yeomen who normally man the ship's office, due to an extreme shortage in Yeomen volunteering for submarine service. So, in a weird and totally "who really gives a fuck" sort of way, I made history. Just so you know. Not that you needed to.
Oh, and I once sat a world's altitude record in model rocketry for rockets using "B" grade rocket engines. So what if the record was broken by some other numb-nut within two weeks? I was KING for at least that long! Just saying........

Anyway, I don't do memes, and I sure as hell don't do six of them. No less than three of my favorite bloggers tagged me for this exercise in rubbing the letters off my keys, and I am suppose to link to them and do all sorts of chain letter sorts of things but no, let me make this perfectly clear, I DON'T DO this stuff.

Not that I don't appreciate being thought of amongst all the millions of bloggers out there as worthy of being tagged by mad memmers. I suppose I should think of it as making the big leagues. Only, I don't do sports, so no thanks, I'll pass. There are plenty of other more worthy contenders who are at this very moment researching their personality traits and history so that they can do their memes proud.

Moving on, the day approaches that THE Wife sees the neurosurgeon to see just how bad her neck is and what he's recommending be done about it. She's in pain, and quite frankly, I'm stressed, because not only is the woman I love in pain and facing a potentially dangerous surgery that may or may not actually improve her condition, but this is going to put a strain on us financially, due to her being out of work and not having much sick leave or disability insurance to cover the shortfall. We, my friends, are the REAL "Joe the Plumbers"", real, hard working Americans faced with real problems that Republicans don't seem to understand, because apparently, unless you make enough money to make people want to tax you, you must not be a "REAL" American, or at least a conservative's idea of what a real American is. I suppose our lack of desire to be ultra-rich makes us out to be socialists. Whatever, I was born here, my wife was born here, and I don't care whether you like our politics or not.......we have as much right to be here as any suck-ass conservative, rabidly right wing-religious closet nazi.

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The above was typed days ago and today we went to the Neurosurgeon, and he suggested that if we want to take a surgical stab at fixing THE Wife's neck, he would prefer that she get a more advanced imaging test which involves a cat scan and a lumbar puncture, so that he can get a better picture of what he is dealing with and what he can do to try and make it better. I told him, fine, he could have his test, as long as he uses Maine Coon cats, and not those damned Siamese. I will NOT have those arrogant cats scanning my wife! Anyway, it will be almost another month before we get around to getting the test, and who knows how long after that to have the actual surgery, if THE Wife decides to go thru with it. Yes, there IS an alternative to surgery: pain killers and SUFFERING!

Helping to distract her from the pain, THE Wife is putting sooooo much energy into our upcoming Samhain celebration, which will include many of her co-workers. The night have gotten somewhat nippy of late, but hopefully, Friday night will not be as cold, and the fire will be warm enough for everybody. THE Resident Twin has burned a beautiful design into a small table-top which will made it's debue this Friday, and here's photographic evidence of her talent for your consideration. The "veil between the worlds" will be thin this night, and sometimes I like to imagine that if only I were a truer believer, I would be able to at least glimpse some essence of my Mom, that gypsy soul who loved me, lost me, and found me again, then left me early to go paint in Summerland. I will not brainwash myself into seeing something that just isn't there, and I am willing to accept the possibility that I lost my Mom forever the day she died, then delude myself with wanting so badly that I psych myself into seeing her ghost. That's how cults find their victims. I intend never to be a victim. But, Michele, if you ARE there, between the worlds, I have no doubt that you know that I love you and miss you.

The Attack of the "Anti-Americans"

Yesterday, I chambered my round, walked into the voting booth, and fired MY shot
for liberation of my Homeland. Yes, although I reside in "almost" or "fake" or "not-quite" America, and must be "anti-American" due to my strangely "unpatriotic" ability to think for myself, I went to my polling place and DARED to cast MY "terrorist" vote for...........gasp, shudder, OMG!!!!.......a BLACK MAN!

That's right, folks, I and my atheist devil worshipping gay loving pornographer terrorist/leftist/commie/ comrades just might turn this anti-christ loose on the white women of America and force them all to become Muslim sex slaves, raise taxes on 6 year olds, and open up liberal media training camps on our college campuses! Yes! And on top of that, we are going to FORCE every American (well, most of them, anyway) to have health insurance, and maybe get off unemployment and into a real job! SOCIALISM!!!! And despite the fact that Jesus is going to come back right after this election and clean it all up and just shovel all this shit right into the burning lakes of hell, we are gonna FORCE you to breathe clean air, TAKE your toxins and pollution away from you, and maybe even save the planet from global warming! Now wouldn't that be a pisser to all you rapture puppets?

Of course, that means now everybody has to get onto welfare and drive Cadillacs with shag carpet on the dash and Gangsta Bling hanging from the rear view. Yep, and then we will force God out of the class room and back into the churches where his bad ass belongs! Isn't it amazing that mere liberal gay loving baby killers can do that? And here I was thinking God couldn't be fucked with like that! Praise New Orleans and pass the hurricanes!

So, if THIS is the kinda shit you dumb ass retards REALLY believe, then be Afraid, very VERY Afraid, and get your ass down to the voting booth and vote as often as you can. While you are at it, you might want to jump some liberal looking faggot in the parking lot and (with the help of five of your drunk friends, of course) beat him up, just in case he was heading in to vote for that arab. That'll teach those un-American commies not to come around HERE voting!

Why would I encourage you to do that? Because we have ALWAYS had people like you littering the landscape, and you reproduce like rabbits, but guess what, this year we OUTNUMBER your narrow minded asses and your reign of DUH is OVER!

This was an unpaid political advertisement for the election of Barrack Obama, and you're damn straight I approved this message!!!






P.S. There is a perfectly rational explanation for the appearance of this post which appears to be a rant, something I swore I would never publish again. In a moment of weakness, I was possessed by a demon, and since I was temporarily not Wiccan, I also decided not to take personal responsibility for my own actions, preferring instead on insisting that "The DEVIL made me do it"! Thank you and have a nice day.

Weekend Edition: Observations, Pontifications, and News from the Homefront

I knew I went into the wrong profession........I had no idea that plumbers would be raking in so much dough they needed special tax breaks just like the ultra rich do. I know I'm going to really miss being trickled on when Obama takes away their big tax cuts.

What really galls me to no end is this constant drumbeat by conservatives that "government" is such a big, horrible, evil creature that is out to destroy all of us. Now wait a second.....I am one of those fortunate ones who actually had a civics class in school (yes, Virginia, they once required us to learn about our own government and how it works) and the way it was explained to ME was that this is a government OF the people, BY the people, and FOR the people. No, we do not toil beneath the heels of some royalty; we elect our own representatives to run the government for us and make our lives better. So, where does this crap come from that government is something, in THIS country of all places, that is out to HARM us? Are you kidding me? Ohhhhhhhhh, I get it.......you thought that government is supposed to be some etherial entity that makes it possible for everybody to get rich if they worship the right God, know the right people, and never expects anybody to pay taxes to support that government, you know, that "thing" that paves the roads and builds schools and things like that.

Yep, somehow we think that there is a money factory somewhere that magically buys our troops bullets and tanks and bombers, keeps the electricity on at all times, and gives joe six-pack insurance to rebuild his house on the beach every year because those damn liberal hurricanes caused by gay people keep blowing through like clockwork. And we think that all those people up there in Washington came from some other planet or maybe even overseas because they are all "special interests", unless of course they are catering to NASCAR, Mountain removal, and deer hunting with AK-47's. Funny how these good old boys demand the right to own a weapon manufactured by "commies". I hope one day they finally win the war against those terrifying deer that your ordinary high-powered rifle doesn't seem to be able to stop.

Right up the road from Pendragon Hold is a State Park. If you go walking (I can't bring myself to consider walking along a perfectly flat trail amongst pine trees "hiking") through this place, you can many times luck out and come across a deer. When I see these creatures, I try to imagine a time when I thought that killing one was "sporting" and was supposed to be enjoyable, despite the fact I never needed to do it to eat. Yes, being at the top of the food chain, I would kill an animal if it meant putting protein in my belly or starving. Things have to get alot worse than they are now before I can see that happening. Chicken breast fillets, be afraid....be VERY afraid!

The price of gas is coming down, and I know why. A bunch of not- quite- as- rich- as -they- used- to- be-movers and shakers told the boys over at Exxon, "Stop taking all the goddamn MONEY!! " So, with their coffers bulging and being flat worn out tying to come up with new ways to spend it all, the Oil barons decided sure, we can back off for awhile. There's always tomorrow......

In Michigan there has been a 34% increase in student homelessness. That's a very large segment of our future having no place to go home to after school. The trend started by the Reagan (Morning in America) administration continues with a vengeance as families, lured into homes they could not afford, lose those homes to insanely stupid kinds of mortgages that no responsible lender should have talked them into. I have had a mortgage with a terribly high interest rate for eight years now, but it was a fixed rate and I'm sure it contributed to the bankruptcy we endured last year. Yet, somehow, we manage to pay our mortgage each month, because by now, rent in a decent apartment, at half the size, is not an alternative. This is Morning in America. I sometimes cry.

On the work front, it seems that I and a new aid recently transferred in are the only two aids left out of a rash of injuries and illnesses. Looks like I might be able to get in some overtime. THE Wife, on the other hand, has become a force to be reckoned with at HER job, as she was responsible for heading off an employee rebellion when personalities clashed, tempers flared, and people threatened to walk. The woman this employer was reluctant to hire initially due to her age, inexperience in this narrow field, and asking wage has become an invaluable part of his business, just as I knew she would given the chance. I am so proud of her.

We are working on getting the shade garden tidied up for Samhain, our most important Sabbat. THE High Priestess of Pendragon Hold has been working hard on the ceremony, and I and the Resident Twin are working on an ornate table we will be installing just outside the entrance arbor to the garden. She's tracing out an intricate woven pentagram and moon which I will burn into the wooden round, which after staining and sealing will be installed on a post to be used for tools used outside the circle, such as my smudging pot. I'll have pictures when we finish it.

I just made the second-to-last payment on the Focus, and hopefully, saving the payments that would have gone to Ford Credit, we will have a decent down payment in a few months to put towards a small truck. All I can do is hope that having established our ability to make car payments despite the economy and a bankruptcy, we can get a another car loan. I know that if the auto manufacturers don't want to ALL go down the drain, they are either going to have to finance their own cars or persuade the banks to loosen the purse strings for the good of the nation. But, American-style capitalism is all about putting the hurt on the competition, not cooperating to raise everybody up equally. Like I said before, in this country commerce is a weapon, and it is being welded like a broad axe.

Tonight Sarah Palin will be playing herself on Saturday Night Live. Maybe she'll explain to us the "New" family values that she brings to the "conservative" movement. Like allowing the hockey playing baby-daddy of your underage (didn't just say NO) daughter to drop out of high school to get a job on the North Slope. Like praising her for having the baby while condemning others for even getting pregnant in the first place, and not mentioning the hypocrisy of it all. For declaring "spiritual warfare" on "witches" while simultaneously utilizing you own unique brand of spell craft to bring harm to others. Yes, Sarah, I want you to play yourself with at least as much accuracy as Tina Fey has. Just in time for Halloween, so that we can truly be afraid.....VERY afraid.........

I hope you have enjoyed this weekend edition of The Chronicles of Pendragon Hold, where family values are savored, not sold to the highest bidder.