Central NC Pagan Pride Day 2008

I will, once again, be performing at CNC Pagan Pride Day on September 20th. I'd love to have some more dancers come out and do some improv with me during the drum circle. It's alot more fun when you have a group.

Here's the link about the event...hope to see you there.

cncppd.org/2008/

Why Women Should Vote

I received this in an email this morning, from a friend of mine. I had been really trying to avoid the thought of having to deal with voting, partly because I had thought I wouldn't still be here, by now. I was relieved that I would not have to go thru choosing a lesser of two evils, once again, but this has changed my mind.

Regardless of how disillusioned I am with our government, along with alot of people, I've come to realise how very much our country affects people all over the world. It's almost tragic. The animosity of some people towards America is deep and at times, frightening. The worst part is, alot of people equate the general public with what our government does.

Because of all of this, I've come to realise how important it is that I use my voice to do what I can, regardless of the fact that I'm not going to be here much longer. We are allies with Australia and alot of what we do (too much, perhaps) bears a strong effect on their lives. I don't want to be ashamed of that fact, so I'm going to do my little part in trying to make sure that the home I leave behind doesn't inadvertently help to destroy the new home I'm building.

All of us need to vote, regardless of our own personal reasons. Just because of the fact that we have the power to change what is wrong and strengthen what is right. We've not always had that power, now let's use it!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I had to check the validity of the story out, and it’s true. Here’s the link.



womenshistory.about.com/od/suf...tal.htm



Nonetheless, should the story have been untrue or exaggerated, our right to vote is no less important.

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WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE


This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-
grandmothers, as they lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920 that women
were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they
were jailed nonetheless for picketting the White
House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by
the end of the night, they were barely alive.
Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's
blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women
wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell
bars above her head and left her hanging for the
night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled
Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head
against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her
cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and
suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits
describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating,
choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking
the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov.
15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan
Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach
a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House
for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an
open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was
infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice
Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her
to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and
poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was
tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled
out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this
year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties?
We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter?
It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening
of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a
graphic depiction of the battle these women waged
so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth
and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the
reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my
passion. But the actual act of voting had become
less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting
often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied
women's history, saw the HBO movie, too.
When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she
looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,'
she said. 'What would those women think of the
way I use--or don't use--my right to vote? All of
us take it for granted now, not just younger women,
but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right
to vote, she said, had become valuable to her
'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD. I wish
all history, social studies and government teachers
would include the movie in their curriculum I want
it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else
women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of
socializing,but we are not voting in the numbers that
we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in
order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies
try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul
insane so that she could be permanently institutional-
ized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse.
Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave.
That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women
is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the
women you know.

We need to get out and vote and use this right that
was fought so hard for by these very courageous
women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or
independent party - Remember to vote.

Pogorella...

As a little gift to myself, I looked up this little story that Pat wrote one night, less than a month after we met...it was posted in my intro thread on Home of Poi...

***The picture is from Woodford Festival...he was drinking Dark'n'Stormies then, too...*giggle*...***

Happy Hippie Birthday, to me!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
poetic licence...

it's the drunkard's version of ... crap... what fairytale is it again... cinderella... that's it...


pogorella
---------

once upon a time, a young hippie named pogorella got sick of working all the damn time... so he cracked open a "dark 'n' stormy" (that's bundy rum and ginger beer in a can) and sat down to watch "almost famous"... 3 cans later and he was feeling pretty good...

but the movie was over, so he came back to spam HoP for a while... still drinking his bundy bear juice, pogorella tried to take some happy snaps of his tattoos with his sorely neglected camera... but... for whatever reason, he was unable to take a clear shot...

however!! in a flash of brilliance, he remembered that you could see his celtic armband tattoo in a twirling picture in his gallery...

while spamming HoP, the young temptress, rebekah the fyrespirit, ordered the impressionable young pogorella to drink another can, so that she could have her way with him. never one to pass up an opportunity, pogorella traipsed thru the pitch black house... on the way to the kitchen, he tripped over the ironing board and fell on the dog... the irony of having the ironing board out in the middle of the loungeroom, when pogorella irons nothing ever, did not escape him...

after picking himself up off the floor, pogorella retrieved another can from the fridge and returned to the comfort of HoP... where he proceeded to spam away once again.

but as he returned, pogorella noticed that the clock had passed midnight...!! defying all the laws of nature and scaring the fur off the dog, pogorella promptly turned into a pumpkin...

this is how he was found the next day... a mysterious, gigantic pumpkin, sitting on pogorella's computer chair. no-one ever discovered what happened to poor pogorella... but the pumpkin soup was legend for many years to come

THE END

Australianisation Test

To try to cheer myself up a bit, I've been trying to brush up on my Australian...Pat sent me this in an email, quite a while back and I love it...always makes me smile.


You know you're Australian if …

1. You know the meaning of the word "girt".

2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.

3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.

4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.

5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.

6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.

7. When you hear that an American "roots for his team" you wonder how often and with whom.

8. You understand that the phrase "a group of women wearing black thongs" refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.

9. You pronounce Melbourne as "Mel-bin".

10. You pronounce Penrith as "Pen-riff".

11. You believe the "i" in the word " Australia " is optional.

12. You can translate: "Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas."

13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.

14. You call your best friend "a total bastard" but someone you really, truly despise is just "a bit of a bastard".

15. You think "Woolloomooloo" is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.

16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.

17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.

18. You understand that "Wagga Wagga" can be abbreviated to "Wagga" but "Woy Woy" can't be called "Woy".

19. You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makes a good breakfast spread.

20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.

21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.

22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.

23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.

24. You still don't get why the "Labor" in "Australian Labor Party" is not spelt with a "u".

25. You wear ugh boots outside the house.

26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.

27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.

28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.

29. You understand that "excuse me" can sound rude, while "scuse me" is always polite.

30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.

31. You understand that "you" has a plural and that it's "youse".

32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.

33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.

34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call "Anzac cookies".

35. You still think of Kylie as "that girl off Neighbours".

36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.

37. You believe the phrase "smart casual" refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.

38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.

39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.

40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.

41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.

42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says "cobber".

43. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.

cheers,
--pat

*POUT*

It's taken me quite a few days to be able to write about this, but I'm not gonna be getting back to Oz as soon as I thought.

I called the Australian embassy last week to ask a couple questions and I was told that it will take from 4 to 6 months to process my visa application!!! I had called to ask about a provisional visa that would allow me to enter the country and stay while my visa was being processed, but it doesn't apply to the prospective spouse visa.

This means that I not only am going to miss a bunch of great festivals that we had planned on attending, both my birthday and his and worst of all, we have to postpone our wedding!!!

I know that we've had to wait before. It was over a year before we were even able to meet face-to-face, but it's worse, now. We had started a life together and it was hard enough having to come back, thinking that I'd be able to go back within a few months, but this is torture!!! I miss my lil hippie, something awful...*sniffle*

So, it looks like instead of having a Spring wedding (they're opposite of us on the seasons, y'know?) it might have to be a Fall wedding, instead. I just hope I'm able to get back by then. Even then, it will be over a year since I left Oz to come back to the states. I'm doing all I can to not be depressed and angry, but I'm not having alot of success. Neither of us are sleeping well. We'd gotten used to shnuggling up with each other every night and it's hard to go back to sleeping alone and it's even harder on him, because he's having to sleep in our bed, without me there. He's gotten to where the only sleep he can get is if he's not in the bed, otherwise, he just tosses and turns.

*sigh*...Of course we're not gonna give up, but geez, all I want is to be back home with my lil hippie hubby-to-be and get back to our lives, together. Is that too much to ask?

Good-bye, my Jekyll boy

I've lost my sweet lil kitty. :'(

I had noticed that he was getting a bit skinny, but my animals always tended to get skinny, during the summer months...the thinner coat and just the tolls of hot weather. But just in the past couple of days, he went down, dramatically. He wouldn't eat and he was breathing heavy...he wouldn't even touch his milk and he always begs for it, every morning.

I thought maybe he'd just gotten into something that made him sick and I was babying him, as much as possible. He was still purring and loving the attention, but he was definitely not well. When he went out yesterday morning, I noticed that he was starting to salivate, heavily and when I went out, about an hour later, to check on him, he was lying under the house, not able to move.

I called the vet and they told me that it sounded like he had rabies. They told me that I needed to call animal control, which I hated the idea of doing, but I hated even worse that my poor kitty was suffering. They came and got him, yesterday afternoon and said that he'd have to be put down, which I already knew...there's no coming back from rabies. It broke my heart having to let him go. He was the sweetest little kitty that I'd ever had and I've had quite a few, over the years.

As an aside...it took quite an ordeal to even get animal control to come out. The first number that I called was disconnected. I had to call the sheriff's dept to get the correct number. When I called that number, I had to leave a message. The bitch that called me back should NOT be working with animals. She said that they 'might' be able to send someone out today...and then, they'd have to kill him and cut off his head to send it in to the state to be tested!!! I knew what would have to be done, but I was already crying and upset and she didn't help, in the least. Whatever happened to simple, human compassion??? Well, I sat for a few minutes, so very angry, then I called the sheriff's dept back. The lady there was appalled at how I told her I'd been treated and said she'd call the supervisor of animal control and get some help for me. She said that if I didn't hear back from them to call 911 and that would force them to have to do their job. It was only an hour or so later that the supervisor came out and got Jekyll. He was much more compassionate and put things to me much more gently. I told my little boy good-bye and came in the house and cried.

I loved my little kitty, so much and I'll miss him, horribly. He was a sweety, till the end.

Good-bye, little boy.

Rain Maker?

Well, it seems that I have a natural affinity for rain making. Every time I pick up a ritualistic tool used to make rain, it rains...and it rains...and it rains a bit more for variety.

I remember a few years ago, at the first PPD that I attended, I picked up a turtle shell rattle at one of the Native American booths...and the guy in there almost panicked...he looked at me and said that I should be careful, we didn't want any hurricanes. I'd never had anything of that sort before, so I knew very little about them. He continued to kind of watch me as I looked around and at the time, I thought maybe he might suspect that I'd steal something, but now, I kind of wonder...did he see something that I didn't know?

I've just recently, since I met my birth family, found out that I am 1/16 Cherokee...(which is legally enough to claim dividends from the Harrah's casinos, but I wouldn't do that...there's people other than me that deserve it, more)...and it makes me wonder if that man had enough natural perception to sense that. I've always had a love of the native culture...Cherokee was one of my favourite places to visit, when I was a little girl...and I've always felt like I might have native blood.

When I first went to Australia, I was standing in the dining room one evening, and just chatting to Pat. He has a lovely rain stick and I was just absently turning it over and over in my hands. When I put it down, I put it into the arms of an African statue that he has, that we call the Tiki Man. Well, a few days later, it started raining...and raining...and raining. I think it rained a few days every week, while I was there. It was the most rain they had had in more than a decade. We kind of joked about it...that I needed to be careful how I played with the rain stick, but I really started to wonder.

I bought my son a rain stick when we went to the markets, one day...and gave it to him once I was back. It rests on my shelf, in the living room, right above my altar...is kind of a part of it, I guess.

Now, it seems every time I pick up that rain stick, it rains. I don't remember the first times I noticed it, but I do know that right before the solstice, I saw that the solstice celebration was going to be weather related...we needed rain and the states out in the midwest needed alot less. I joked around with the people in my group and with Pat that I'd make my contribution...(Oz, once again, was in need of rain...always is, actually)...and a few days before the solstice, I gave the rain stick a few turns. Just a few...I didn't want the kind of situation here that they have in the midwest.

A few days later...it rains...here and in Oz...they've had the wettest July on record...it's their dry season, right now...and we've had rain or the possibility of rain, almost every day, since. Seems to have tapered off, now...but for a while, it was quite heavy. Here and there, there was localised street flooding and intense storms.

Okay, laugh if you want, but if I'm actually doing this, I want to learn to control it. It could be a very beneficial gift, but I'd prefer bringing soft, quenching rains, not a deluge!!!

What I'd like to know is, is there anyone out there that could help me to refine my technique? I'd love to learn more, but there doesn't seem to be much info on the actual techniques of rain making. I know alot of these methods are kept from the general populace, but I thought that maybe, since I do have native blood, I could get someone to fill me in? I know the methods of pagan ritual, of course, but I'm just unsure how to truly work with the rain making tools.

If I truly do have this gift, I want to explore it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Finally!!!

Well, I've finally gotten everything I need for my visa application...I only have left to write out my statement of how Pat and I met and all that goes along with it...they ask you just about everything...want to know, not only how and when we met...but also when we began a relationship...how it's progressed...what our plans are for the relationship...*whew*...but that's easy compared to what I've had to do, otherwise...twenty-one pages worth of paperwork, just on my side...and that doesn't even include the documents that have to accompany it...and the rather pricey application fee...

Anyhow, it's all together and I'm going to be mailing all my stuff along to Pat, in the next couple of days, so that he can add his stuff to it...and then it will be nail-biting time...

Even with all the wonderful things that have been going on for me here, I'm so ready to be back in Oz...I miss it, horribly...we started a life together and I feel like I've been jerked out of my home...I only hope that my family will come over and visit and see what a wonderful place I'm going to be living in and what a wonderful lil hippie that I'm going to be spending my life with...I've never spent a happier time, in my life, than the three months that I spent making a home with Pat...I belong there, with him...

Everyone keep all bits crossed for us that the application is well received and will be granted, very quickly...I want to go home...

Questions, questions!!!

Okay, here's my answers to the questions that Loki sent...and the rules that go along...my apologies, if anyone is upset by my answers...


The Rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me" or something of an equally pithy nature.
2. I will respond by asking you 5 questions of a very personal nature. Be warned!
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions, or there will be trouble. (Comment here with a link to your answers please!)
4. You will include this and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them 5 questions.


1. You've had a pretty great year so far, what was your worst year and why?
My worst year had to be when I found out that I had uterine cancer...I was married, at the time and my ex was not very supportive...he even asked me, at one point, how I 'caught' that...!!! For a good year and a half, afterwards, I was in a state of severe depression and I don't even remember alot of that time...I was so inside myself, I've lost what really went on, during that time. I finally 'woke up' and reached inside myself...realised that I was completely miserable and took steps to change my life...kicked my husband out and started my life over, again.

2. What scares you the most about moving to Oz?
Probably the one thing that scares me is that I won't be able to see my kids any time I want. My son has his own life going and my daughter just isn't ready to move to the other side of the world. I'm hoping that they'll both come to visit and that Brandi will, eventually decide that she wants to come and stay, but until then, I'm sure gonna miss them.

3. How did you get into belly-dancing?
hmmm, it was kind of a fluke. I'd always loved belly dancing and had thoughts of trying it out...but I was at a local new age shop and saw a dance instruction tape...I picked it up and was, later looking around on the meet-up.com sites and saw an all new belly dance meet-up group, in the area...I signed up and the rest is history...altho, I've changed my chosen style, it helped me to get started.

4. What is your strongest personality trait? How about weakest?
I guess my strongest trait is compassion...I try to see where other's are hurting in their lives and I genuinely feel for them...I know that we all have our hardships to overcome and I don't want anyone to not have a support system...that's what leads to depression and guilt...our hard times are what make us strong, as long as we are able to work thru them and find the bright, new day, ahead.
My weakness, would have to be stubbornness...I sometimes persist at things, to my detriment, just because I refuse to give up. Sometimes that can be a good thing, but I seem to pick the worst things to aim my stubborn qualities at. Hopefully, I've changed that, a bit...I've learned alot more about what's worth pursuing and what's not.

5. Vegiemite, marmite, or Nutella.....just kidding save that for HoP....Did you ever imagine you'd move to another country? If so where, if not where did you think you'd end up in the states?
Nutella...of course...;-)
Actually, I used to dream of becoming a marine biologist, moving to Australia and studying the Great Barrier Reef...always been fascinated by sharks...that dream kind of got waylaid, but now, I've been lucky enough to meet the man of my dreams, in the land of my dreams...what more could I ask?

All done, now...

Found!!!

I know that not many of you know this, but I'm and adoptee. I was placed with my family just a little over a month after I was born. I had thought, over the years, about trying to find my birth family, but never really knew how to go about it. I did get my non-identifying information, many years ago, but always thought that it would take much time and money to be able to actually find my parents.

Well, with my impending move overseas to start my new life, I just happened to think about, on Tuesday night, looking to see if I could find a registry from the Children's Home Society, from which I was placed. It led me to a site called adoption.com and I posted a bulletin and registered in the reunion registry.

Less than an hour later, one of the search helpers had a name for me...Norma Faye Mayhue...had a baby girl on August 16, 1966 at Asheville hospital. I was stunned, to say the least. From there, I entered the name in the search bar and immediately came up with a listing that my brother, Stacy, had posted in March of 2004. There, right before my eyes, were my parent's names...my brother...my sister...all of it!!!

For the next few hours and the next day, there was one email after another from the search helpers...names, addresses, phone numbers. In less than 24 hours, I finally found a valid phone number for an aunt and uncle in Georgia. By Wednesday afternoon, I finally got my aunt, Shirley, on the phone. She knew about me, but was just as stunned as was I. She made it so much easier for me, because she was so very friendly and happy. We talked for about 30 minutes and she said she'd call my parents and ask if they were alright with my calling them. Not long after that, she called me back, with my mother's number...said she was more than willing to talk to me.

I sat, in trembling silence for a few minutes. This was something that I thought would never happen. Then I called my mother. I don't even really remember what we talked about. I was that much in shock. All I know is that it was a very happy reunion.

Since then, I have talked to and corresponded thru emails with not only my mother, but my father (who was very emotional and said he'd been waiting for this day for such a very long time), my brother, my uncle and will talk to my sister, today. My brother said she's very emotional and wants to wait till she's sure she won't cry the whole time and not be able to talk.

My dad called me yesterday and talked to me for close to 2 hours. He's such a sweet man. In fact, the whole family seems to be wonderful. They are a very close family and all of them speak so well of the others. My brother and sister say that they couldn't have had more wonderful parents...and my mom and dad say the same about them.

We've exchanged quite a few pictures and on Monday, my dad and maybe my mom, too, are going to be coming into Wake Forest on a trip that they had already planned, but moved up, just so that we can meet.

Oh...they have been married now, today, for 41 years. They ran away and got married on my mother's 18th birthday and have been married, ever since.

I'm still a bit in shock, but it's happy shock. The only thing they have all asked of me is that I don't leave the country before we have a chance to meet and seeing as how my move is still going to take a little time, I don't see that as a problem.

I'll let you all know how it turns out, but I'm very confident that this is going to be a meeting of a lifetime.