The Cellophane Queen: 'Cause you can look right through me, Walk right by me and never know I'm there...
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When the US switches Presidents, you hope the new regime will improve the country for all of us. If you graph progress, the idea is that there should be a generally upward momentum. Sort of, sure. The reality is that some weeks knock out several days upward progress with a downward trend. The momentum depends on whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress and the Whitehouse. Here's a graph of the economy under the Presidents since Truman. Notice how the "tax and spend" democrats produce a booming economy, while the "trickle down" republicans tear the economy apart until the populace figures out how bad they are and put the Democrats back in control.
Don't bother to sputter and leave angry alt-white, right-wing comments here. I'll just delete them.
I'm just using the up/down concept of the chart to show how the economy looks under which system of government. Put the wrong system in charge, and the backward result can be as bad as going from Johnson to Nixon in terms of forward growth.
Those who play 3-monkeys with the economy continue to insist that their way is the right way and, all evidence to the contrary, they stick with it. How do they keep duping the public? Generally, by skirting over the economy (boring!) and whomping up the base with social issues such as immigration, welfare, or abortion. That small government sham is a smoke-screen to their desire for a totalitarian state run by plutocrats, and the GOP Congress is the enabler.
Whoa. I've run off course here because I wrote this post in 2018 following my open heart surgery and was talking about recovery, and got side-tracked to economic recovery of the country. Oh, well. My post-surgery update sucks, but it's not near as bad as the reaming the GOP and Trump are inflicting on the US right now. And half of this country is populated my mouth-breathing, ignorant people who don't even know what an economy is.
Maybe that's part of why my recovery is rocky. I'm freaking depressed by the state of the nation. Do I think the Dems have the solutions? Not entirely, but they're our only hope, Obi Wan. Even if the Dems are the Jar Jars of the rebellion, at least they are working for the right side.
Your opinion on this only counts if you agree with me. If you don't, then shut your fat mouth.
Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) happens this year on Wednesday, January 29th. This year ushers in the year of the Snake! What is the Lunar New Year, and who celebrates this holiday? What does the Snake symbolize, and what is your special animal symbol? Learn more about the Snake.
Don't forget that "Scotch Broom" is still free on Amazon until the 31st.
Lunar New Year begins on the date (in East Asia) of the second new Moon after the winter solstice, which always occurs in late December. This means that the first day of the Lunar New Year can occur anytime between January 21 and February 20.
In 2025, the second new Moon will occur in China on January 29th, marking the start of a new lunar year.
The snake is the sixth animal in the 12-year calendar. It is said that people born in the Year of the Snake are endowed with the qualities of adaptability, intelligence and sensitivity. They are organized and very efficient, getting straight to work quickly and quietly.
They are said to be generally amiable and easy-going, able to move through social spheres elegantly with their excellent communication skills. They are also even-tempered, capable of remaining calm and collected when there is an emergency.
As with many winter solstice celebrations, the symbolic darkness of night is banished by the light of fireworks, lanterns, and candles. Man-made paper lanterns are hung by the hundreds in public areas, bringing good luck to the new year.
There are dragon dances, performances, and festival parades with music and acrobatics. The festivities continue for two weeks, finishing with a special lantern festival, which signals the end of the New Year celebration period.
“Good Luck” is also a common theme of the New Year. Many children receive “lucky money” in red envelopes. Sometimes, offerings are made to temples.
People clean their homes and open their doors to let good luck enter. According to tradition, no one should pick up a broom in case you sweep the good luck for the New Year out of the door!
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* Much of this material came from other sources describing the Lunar New Year. Mainly, the Farmer's Almanac's article by Catherine Boeckmann provided most of the words.
“Fiddlesticks. These are useful
charms. They’re not meant to be just decorative.” Mordita held up
Kat’s wrist and poked one of the charms. It squealed. Kat jumped.
“Shush, you silly thing,” Mordita said.
Mordita poked at another charm, and Kat
heard a muffled purring sound. “This little kitty finds a warm
place for you to stay. Nothing fancy, just basic shelter.”
Poke. Whinny. “This pony will bring
transportation, for example, a cab in London. The drivers would as
soon run you over as pick you up.”
The Last Wyvern by Sue PerkinsBook 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim
MIDNIGHT OIL – FREE January 20th - 24th
Ceto nee Nessie
She's not fond of the name Nessie or Loch Ness Monster and prefers to go by Ceto. From http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Ceto :
In Greek mythology, Ceto or Keto (Greek: English translation: "sea
monster") was a hideous aquatic monster, a daughter of Gaia and
Pontus. The asteroid (65489) Ceto was named after her, and its
satellite (65489) Ceto I Phorcys after her husband. She was the
personification of the dangers of the sea, unknown terrors, and
bizarre creatures. Eventually, the word "ceto" became
simple shorthand for any sea monster. The term cetacean represents a
case in point. Her husband was Phorcys and they had many children,
collectively known as the Phorcydes or Phorcydides. In Greek art,
Ceto was drawn as a serpentine fish. Ceto also gave name to the
constellation Cetus.
Ceto in Midnight Oil
Ceto and Nessie become one. She’s not a bad, um, person, but much misunderstood. She finds my heroine adrift in the northern seas sitting on a block of ice. Oh, yeah, I should mention that the block contains the body of her father. Ceto finds this all fascinating and helps my heroine dock the ice block at Ultima Thule and find a messenger to send for help from the Witches' Island of Galdorheim in the Barents Sea.Excerpt
Kat sat cross-legged on the ice, one hand clutching the rope, and looked down at her father’s face. His eyes were open but unseeing. The deep gash on his forehead didn’t do much for his appearance. She hoped when he reached Siberia for his final burial, the Samis would fix him up a bit. She knew it didn’t matter, but it would make her feel better.
A wave came out of nowhere; the ice block rose and fell almost knocking Kat into the water. She clutched at the ropes and looked in all directions, but the sea remained calm. She frowned, wondering how… Then, a light bulb blazed inside her head when she sensed something large passing under her makeshift boat.
Kat edged herself up on her knees, keeping a tight hold on the ropes. She scanned the water closely, and to her right, she saw a dark shape under the water. A whale, perhaps. Maybe her calls finally got results.
The shape turned and came back toward the ice block. It stayed several feet below, so Kat could only make out a dark shadow as it glided beneath her. The ice block lifted and dropped again. She looked to her left to see a long neck stretched out, followed by a bulky, black body. A short tail emerged from under the block and slapped down on the water. It sprayed Kat’s face with icy droplets but didn’t drench her.
The dark shape rose slowly upward. First, a small head appeared, and Kat thought it might be a seal, and then the long neck emerged. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes followed the head upward until she had her neck bent back as far as she could. The creature regarded her with huge, dark eyes, seeming too big for the little nob of a head. Its skin was dark gray, almost black. Kat noticed how smooth it appeared. She wanted to reach out to touch it. She thought better of that notion when the creature’s mouth opened and revealed rows of sharp teeth.
A voice spoke inside her mind. “Who are you, little girl?”
“Little girl? Why, I’m almost…” Then, thinking it’d be rude to argue with her only potential rescuer, she finished, “I mean, I’m a witch, from an island…” Kat looked around and waved her hand, “somewhere out there.”
“You wear the skin of a seal, and you can speak to creatures of the sea. Are you, perhaps, a selkie in human form?”
“Selkie? No, I’m just a witch from Galdorheim.”
“Hmm. How came you to be on that block of ice?”
“I’ve answered your questions,” Kat said, peeved at being grilled by a sea monster. “Now you answer one for me. What are you? And where did you come from?”
“That’s two questions.”
“Well, you asked two, so answer up!” Kat sensed she need not be afraid. The sea monster, as she now thought it to be, did not send any warning signals. It was simply curious.
“I am me.”
Kat frowned. While harmless, the creature seemed to have an evasive streak. Why did it show itself to her if it didn’t want to talk?
As if it heard Kat’s thoughts, the creature said, “Very well. The world has called me many names. Sometimes Nessie from where I once lived.”
“You’re the Loch Ness monster? I thought that was just a legend.” Kat stared in wide-eyed wonder at the mythical creature who might, if she could work it out, be her rescuer.
“No legend, but I left the loch years ago. Too many curious people.”
* * *
Shipwrecked on a legendary island, how can a witch rescue her boyfriend if she can’t even phone home?
Kat discovers that an evil forest spirit has kidnapped her brand-new boyfriend. She sets out with her brother, Rune, from her Arctic island home on a mission to rescue the boy. Things go wrong from the start. Kat is thrown overboard during a violent storm, while her brother and his girlfriend are captured by a mutant island tribe. The mutants hold the girlfriend hostage, demanding that the teens recover the only thing that can make the mutants human again–the magical Midnight Oil.
Mustering every bit of her Wiccan magic, Kat rises to the challenge. She invokes her magical skills, learns to fly an ultralight, meets a legendary sea serpent, rescues her boyfriend, and helps a friendly air spirit win the battle against her spiteful sibling. On top of it all, she’s able to recover the Midnight Oil and help the hapless mutants in the nick of time.
BAD SPELLING (Book 1) - FREE January 13th - 17th
A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?
The entire Witches of Galdorheim series has a few characters featured in all the books. I thought introducing the stars of the series a good setup for the Witch Extravaganza month of October. Oh, yeah, it's BIG!
Trolls in the Witches of Galdorheim
Trolls. What do you imagine? Maybe something like the big ugly pictured here. In my Witches of Galdorheim series, I wanted a cave-dwelling bunch of uglies, but dwarves didn’t seem right for my book. Then I started hearing music inside my head. You know how that goes, right? It builds and builds until it has you screaming in frustration, willing to even listen to some other music to at least swamp the tormenting sound.
Despite the canards on trolls from the likes of Artemis Fowl or Pratchett’s Discworld, I thought they could be heroic if given sufficient ale.
From the Free Dictionary/Encyclopedia:
A troll is a fearsome member of a mythical race from Norse mythology. Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England – to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground in hills, caves or mounds.
Hey! They’re not all flesh-eating giants who turn to stone in the sunlight. Some are devious little guys who live in wilderness areas (no doubt protecting endangered magical species).
In Bad Spelling, Kat and her smart-aleck half-brother, Rune, (also happens to be a vampire, but has absolutely no resemblance to the Twilight guy except they’re both cute as hell) are directed by Kat’s flash-frozen dad (Rune calls him a pop-sicle) to visit the Troll King. At the Hall, she requests assistance from King Ole, the Norwegian Troll King. He arranges for her and Rune to ride the Trollercoaster, which starts in Norway and ends up in the Ural Mountains. From there Kat, Rune, and a changeling troll named Andy travel to Siberia to find Kat's family.
Clearly, trolls are good. They are nice, helpful, cheerful, and sing fairly well too. Yet aspersions continue to be cast upon these misunderstood creatures. Shame on all of you for making them the bad guys all these years!
Excerpt from Bad Spelling - Chapter Fifteen - Three Trolls on a Bridge
Kat ran to where her brother and the three trolls faced each other. The trolls stood shoulder to shoulder, their big, splayed feet firmly planted in front of the footbridge. They bared their chunky yellow teeth and growled at Rune. Although hardly reaching Rune’s shoulder, they each outweighed him. Clearly, the trolls did not intend to let him cross. Looking up and down the streamlet, Kat wondered at their careful guarding of the bridge. Kind of silly, she thought, since anyone could easily step across the rivulet without even getting wet feet. She wondered if these were children, given their short stature. However, their long knives looked very grown-up.
Enunciating each word, Rune held his hands out to show they were empty. Kat had no idea what her brother was saying since Rune was speaking Old Runish. Except for a few spell words, Kat didn’t understand the ancient tongue.
Evidently, neither did the trolls. Rune spoke again, louder this time, and took one slow step forward. At this move, the troll on the left lunged at them, jabbing at Rune with his knife. Rune sidestepped the rush, and the troll, taken off balance, stumbled and fell flat on his face. Kat stepped over the troll and grasped his arm but only caught hold of his sleeve. He screamed and pushed her away. The other two trolls ran at her with their knives raised, yelling as they advanced.
Rune stuck out his foot and tripped the middle troll. The last troll standing went after Rune. The young warlock threw up his hands, arms crossed to fend off the attack. A bright red light arced from his hands to hit the charging troll in the face. The troll dropped his knife and fell to the ground, screaming and rolling around with his hands pressed over his eyes. Rune snatched up the knife and held it to the middle troll’s neck. Kat sat on the one she grabbed, pulling the knife from his flailing hand. The recipient of Rune’s flash attack kept his hands over his eyes.
Rune spoke again in Old Runish, shouting to make himself heard. It didn’t do any good; the trolls all continued screaming and squealing at the top of their lungs.
Kat jumped up from the troll’s back and grabbed Rune’s hand, pulling the knife away from the troll’s neck. “Rune,” she yelled, “tell them we won’t hurt them!”
The thrashing troll froze then turned his cumbersome head toward her.
“You can speak our language!” He slapped the troll nearest to him, who abruptly stopped screaming. The one whose neck Rune held the knife to spread his fingers to peek at Rune and Kat.
Rune released the troll and stood up, looking a little sheepish. “I just assumed—” He stopped then shook his head.
Kat crouched on her knees next to one of the trolls lying on the ground and patted him on the shoulder. “We mean you no harm. We’re Wiccans from Galdorheim. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
Slowly, the trolls climbed to their feet, looked at Kat, then at each other. The three trolls huddled, conferring together. Kat heard a murmur but couldn’t make out what they said.
Kat continued, searching for something to say. “My Aunt Thordis…” Three pairs of troll eyes turned to her and opened wide. They stared at Kat. The middle troll elbowed the one on his left, who giggled. The troll on the right gave a great whoop of laughter then slapped the middle troll on the back. All three trolls broke into huge guffaws and ended up leaning on each other, wiping tears from their eyes. Rune and Kat stared open-mouthed.
* * *
A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?
Can Kat find her magic in time? If you’re a witch living on a remote arctic island, and the entire island runs on magic, lacking magical skills is not just an inconvenience, it can be a matter of life and death–or, at least, a darn good reason to run away from home. Katrina’s spells don’t just fizzle; they backfire with spectacular results, oftentimes involving green goo. A failure as a witch, Kat decides to run away and find her dead father’s non-magical family. But before she can, she stumbles onto why her magic is out of whack: a curse from a Siberian shaman. The young witch, accompanied by her half-vampire brother, must travel to the Hall of the Mountain King and the farthest reaches of Siberia to regain her magic, dodging attacks by the shaman along the way.
Festivus is a secular holiday, normally celebrated on December 23rd. It is mainly meant as an alternative to the pressures and commercialization of the Christmas season.
The usual holiday tradition of a tree is manifested in an unadorned aluminum pole, which is in direct contrast to typical holiday materialism. Those attending Festivus may also participate in the "Airing of Grievances" which is an opportunity to tell others how they have disappointed you in the past year, followed by a Festivus dinner, and then completed by the "Feats of Strength" where the head of the household must be pinned. All of these traditions are based upon the events in the Seinfeld episode, Strangely enough, our Festivus traditions also have roots that pre-date Seinfeld, as it began in the household of Dan O'Keefe, a television writer who is credited for writing the Seinfeld episode.
Some people, many of them inspired by the Seinfeld episode, subsequently began to celebrate the holiday with varying degrees of seriousness. Allen Salkin's 2005 book Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us chronicles the early adoption of Festivus. Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut's 2012 book A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to Be Jewish' references Festivus. Martin Bodek's 2020 book The Festivus Haggadah fuses Passover with Festivus. Others have adopted Festivus as a way of engaging in a non-religious celebration over the traditional holiday season, such as by showcasing winter festivities. Some decorate using secular figures, like snowmen and snow angels, hang fairy lights to highlight their decorations, share traditional holiday food with loved ones, such as hot chocolate, gingerbread men, and candy canes, and may exchange small gifts.
The traditional greeting of Festivus is "Happy Festivus."
If you want to learn more about Festivus can check out the Wiki article on its "traditions."
Saturnalia: The Romans liked mid-winter to celebrate something, so Saturn got the festival. This one was usurped for the Christmas myth. Don't get all twisted. Christmas is not a celebration for Jesus. It's a way to get the Pagans to sign up.
Kwanzaa: Created in 1966, Kwanzaa was made up by a California guy to highlight African-american culture. Cool thought, but I'd just as soon we'd say: "What? Obama is black? Wow, I didn't know that." Keeping separate ensures separateness. Hey! Doesn't that look like a Menorah?
https://members.ancient-origins.net/articles/origin-christmas
Christmastide traditions are a glorious amalgamation of customs and practices that have been appropriated wholesale from other belief systems, primarily those of Ancient Rome. But Rome is only part of the story because over the centuries Christmas has also acquired a number of key traditions drawn from the pagan Germanic and later Norse peoples who dominated Western Europe in the years following the collapse of the Roman Empire. This connection is all the more pertinent this year as Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday. And Wednesday, of course, was named for Odin, the All-Father of Norse Myths.
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| Kallikantzaroi |
ULTIMATE DUTY: A military officer must choose between
her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.
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| Mary Lwyd of Wales |
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