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Friday, August 24, 2012

Selling Paintings

I have some paintings on Craigslist:

Oh No Snow White!
20X24
Mixed Media
$75


Caution Zombies Ahead
30X26
Mixed Media
$75


Please contact me if you have any questions about the paintings.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Dream: 3 Friends, 2 Dead

by INVERTED
I guess Mike and I were living in an apartment complex again full of plants in the center.  We were showing it to some friends, one I knew Mike F. and another one, who I thought was Venkat but I remembered calling him Hijab.  I remember the apartment was very open and full of sunlight.  I looked upward to another apartment I think it was 289, a man in a wife beater, black cap and baggy jeans yells at us.

He ran down the stairs to our apartment and stood outside the large window and took out a gun.  Bang, bang, bang; one bullet in Mike's heart, Mike F.'s head and Hijab's throat.  I grab the guy in a fit of tears and just scream "Why?!" over and over again.  I let him go and call 911.

911 leaves me on the like for half and hour and for some reason each of their wounds has a button on them.  I have to press them to keep them all alive, finally 911 answers, but Mike wanted to just drive to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital I couldn't keep pressing all the buttons, so Mike F. and Hijab die, but I'm keeping Mike alive while driving down the road.

Let's look at the main symbols, thanks to Dreammoods.com:

Apartment: refers to finical and emotional state

boyfriend: a reflection of your current relationship with your boyfriend

shooter/gun: confrontation, anger, potential, danger, victimized, targeted

heart: how you are dealing with feelings, love, courage, truth, romance

throat: issues with saying what you think, feelings and expression

head: wisdom, rationality, understanding, not seeing a problem clearly

911: do not fear asking for help
by Fletcher6

3: life, vitality, imagination, inner strength, trilogy

This was a strange dream, but I think I understand what it means.  I'm living a well adjusted life at the moment and even if something goes horribly wrong I can still have some control over the situation.  I chose who to keep alive, I think this shows my love for Mike over any other consequence.  This dream was awful and I woke up shaking, but there was a message to be seen.

My life is stable at the moment, but it can change and I need to be ready for it.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Christian Core Values

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
I was listening to NPR and they were interviewing a woman who just wanted to pass the dream act, however, was voting for Romney, who opposes the dream act, because she disagrees with the Democrats core values.

Affordable heath care, affordable education, a balanced budget, green energy, pro equality for gay rights; really terrible stuff.  I'm not saying Obama is perfect, there were some bills he signed I found questionable, like making protesting a federal offense during certain political events, but I remembered how Congress passed the bill in the first place.

Every president signed questionable legislation at one time or another, like the wiretapping scandal, George W. Bush approved, but my question was, "What are Christian core values?"

I remembered what Jesus said: "Love your neighbor as yourself.", the second greatest commandment.  He did not say, if you agreed with your neighbor, only if your neighbor was straight, rich, or only if they were nice to you, just straight up love your neighbor.

The core value was plainly stated by Jesus, nothing about homosexuality, nada, and this was during an era where grown men were having sex with young boys.  Jesus wasn't passing judgment, he was about love and respect.

When I was a Christian, sometimes I felt the community was all about judging a person by how Christian they were.  I was even once told I could not be a Christian Liberal and was a person without morals.  Seemed to me some Christians needed to find what their true religious core values were before looking at mine.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Religious Manipulation

by JCWilmore
There are extremists apart of every religion from The Westboro Baptist Church to a Muslim cult found in Russia holding followers underground.

The NPR article reports children, ages 1 to 17, were held underground in an elaborate complex with their families with no heat or ventilation for over then years.

Thank the gods police found these families and now they are receiving medical care and hopefully the families will seek counseling to help through this mental trauma.

by Kareesa Tofa
Desperate people listened to this cleric and are now confused about what exactly was wrong with their thinking.  Fear was a powerful tool used to manipulate these families and it makes me sick.  

Manipulation corrupted religions in the past and it was no different for Paganism.  One example was how John Friend used his yoga studio and spiritual practices to manipulate women into being a kind of sex slave.

Of course the media sometimes explodes these scandals and also uses fear to manipulate the public into an overly questioning state.  This can be beneficial, but the lingering effects can be damaging to a majority of worshipers who just want to practice without prejustice.

People need to protect themselves from too good to be true stories from anyone about spirituality.  How?  Ask questions, if you feel uncomfortable voice how you don't and refuse to preform, read everything and don't drink the cool-aid.








Monday, August 6, 2012

Our Budget Has Changed

by Pen Waggener
I received an e-mail from one of my employers stating their budget has changed and they will no longer need me for the foreseeable future.

I don't really have any qualms about this, seven hour work days suck anyway, but what really bothered me was the jabbing text about how they haven't heard from me in two days.  Incorrect, according to my e-mail record I responded to their previous message in about twenty-four hours.  Reasonable and professional timing in my opinion, but there is more.

Last week I worked six hours, a total of $84,  she said she would mail me my check, she lost it in her diaper bag, after a week of me contacting her, she sent one e-mail and still didn't tell me where she sent it.

Honestly, I'm kind of glad I will not be called on again for a while, her home was chaos, she was unclear about what she needed from me half the time, I was scared to throw anything away, she was very over protective, I loved her kids, but she was too dysfunctional to work for.

It was good timing anyway because I want to go back to school and I'm not going to be able to work two jobs because of how much time it costs me.  Thankfully the school I'm going too offers online classes, so it will be a little easier.  Now can I just get my tax forms from the government?  Please?




Friday, August 3, 2012

Living Goddesses

by Clemensmarabu
Living Goddess is a documentary about three girls in Nepal who are possessed by the goddess Druga, also known as Kali and Taleju.  The youngest incarnation of the goddess is featured and her innocence juxtaposes again the Nepalese Civil War.


Being a goddess you meet perfection according to the religious bodies and advise the king.  These women and girls have power, however, because of the cultural and political sensitivity they are cautious about influencing anything against the king.


People came to the goddesses to ask for peace and blessings while they still incarnate human girls with wants and needs beyond the people who come to worship them.  The youngest still has the physical limitations of a child, but people depend of her spiritual strength to bring them closure.


by Manjari Shrestha
Being a goddess is an empowerment for the girl and family as well as a sacrifice.  When the young goddess does go out she knows she is a goddess; carried not to spoil her painted feet, an umbrella covers her body from the sun, her fine jewelry and garb sparkle under the sunlight, there is no denying she is revered.  But as she sits on her throne she becomes tired, board and wishes to play with other children, it's not denied to her, but she is sacrificing a childhood for blessings and riches.


All of these girls, before their first menstruation, make a sacrifice to the people in order to be an embodiment of peace and of a goddess.  A western equivalent could be any popular young female movie star who people choose to idolize and shower them with box office profits.


The worship of these girls in Tibet may be seen as ancient and strange, but in reality the differences between a young star here in the West and these girls are only in location and respect.  A Western star sacrifices her time, energy and childhood to preform for her worshiping fans, just as the girl goddesses do.


by Krish Dulal
Everyone worships something, but it's up to the person what and how they worship.  I think the Western world forgets the power of the female force and refuses to celebrate menstruation formally.  The Nepal goddesses are an open celebration of her eventual rise to becoming a woman through years of endowing her family with praise and money.


Westerners worship youth and ignore the transition from girlhood to becoming a woman.  I never realized there was any honor about transforming through puberty; it was dirty and not to be spoken about.  This practice honors it, like many native tribes all over the world did long ago.  Maybe the simple truth is this, honor the transition, honor your children and they can become well adjusted adults.