Archive for October, 2011

Random quote of the day:

 

“The riddle of time is the riddle of the beginning.  We know that there can be no true beginning.  Something has always gone before.  In the beginning lies the whole past.  The beginning is the past.”

—Gerardus van der Leeuw, “Primordial Time and Final Time”

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

1. When I heard that WFC would be in San Diego in 2011 I thought, “Oh hell, for sure I can go, even if it’s just to drive down for a day.” Life had other plans, unfortunately. And, truth told, I might not have gone, despite my optimism. Every year I plan to go to Loscon, which takes place about 10 miles from my house on Thanksgiving weekend, aaaaaaaand…I don’t go. I should never underestimate the power of my own sloth.

2. Mom had some scary issues this week, but the doctors think they were due to water retention (always a hazard with dialysis). Since they’ve up the Lasix, the problems have improved.

3. I have injured my knee. My good knee. I pulled a muscle along the side of the knee, which has happened before, but now the joint is stiff and swollen as well. The bad knee, ironically, is doing much, much better. *sigh*

4. I’ve been studying Native American gender identity issues for some time now, but my interest has revived over the last couple of weeks as I’ve worked on the research for The Numberless Stars. I’ve been poking at the cultural mores of different tribes regarding attitudes towards the third sex, the berdache, as anthropologists have labeled them. In the kind of synchronicity that often occurs when I start seriously poking at some research, this popped up on LJ’s little_details. Very helpful indeed. I’ve already ordered the Williams book and one other. Both cheap used copies, of course.

5. TGIF. Putting a hundred extra miles (or more) on the car per week is rather draining, but today all that is required of me is to be at work. Tomorrow I actually get three hours to myself while Mom is at dialysis, and Sunday, the blessed day, I don’t have to go anywhere at all. Chores, sure, but I don’t have to drive anywhere. I try to keep that sacrosanct about Sundays.

Random quote of the day:

 

“Remember that no matter how selfish, how cruel, how unfeeling you have been today, every time you take a breath, you make a flower happy.”

—Mort Sahl

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Random quote of the day:

 

“The generation that so readily embraced spiritualism was the same generation that had been asked to accept such seeming witchery as electricity, telegraphy, radio waves, and telephonic communications—disembodied voices mysteriously traveling through space and emerging from a “receiver” hundreds of miles distant.  (Bell and Watson’s claims for their telephone were initially greeted with more hooting skepticism than were the mediums’ séance shenanigans…)”

—Mary Roach, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Well, that’s true enough, I suppose.

You are The Tower

Ambition, fighting, war, courage. Destruction, danger, fall, ruin.

The Tower represents war, destruction, but also spiritual renewal. Plans are disrupted. Your views and ideas will change as a result.

The Tower is a card about war, a war between the structures of lies and the lightning flash of truth. The Tower stands for "false concepts and institutions that we take for real." You have been shaken up; blinded by a shocking revelation. It sometimes takes that to see a truth that one refuses to see. Or to bring down beliefs that are so well constructed. What’s most important to remember is that the tearing down of this structure, however painful, makes room for something new to be built.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Which I featured in yesterday’s blog post…

It’s an epidemic, apparently. Of young male daring? Or something else? I love the smirk on the face of the deputy standing in the background.

Man who climbed into hollow tree trunk gets stuck, then rescued

Random quote of the day:

 

“Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.”

—George Bernard Shaw, quoted in Days with Bernard Shaw by Stephen Winsten

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Which one of these news items did you click on first?

# Obama takes executive action to help veterans find work
# Police, family at odds as Ariz. girl remains missing Photos
# Herman Cain leads latest GOP polls His unusual campaign
# Navy sailor’s death raises questions of suicide or murder
# Fla. authorities seize giant Lego man that washed up on beach
# Texas rapist appears to target sorority alumnae
# Man stuck in park baby swing for 9 hours- L.A. Times

Random quote of the day:

 

“Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. . . . The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth.”

—Jiddu Krishnamurti, “The Dissolution Speech,” Netherlands, August 3, 1929

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Random quote of the day:

 

“When given a choice between privacy and accountability we always choose privacy for ourselves and accountability for everyone else.”

—David Brin, interview at Amazon.com, “I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours”

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.