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'aimee' wrote on '19:
So, my dream is to be able to work in my career making a fundamental difference to improve the protection/status of animals under the law and raise awareness about the issues. I am in law school now and am working towards being an attorney for an animal advocacy org when I graduate. I am working this summer at Humane Society of the US Animal Protection Litigation, just trying to keep the dream alive!
Go you! What a great, and attainable, dream. The world, especially animals, is/are going to be better off because of you.
'Martin' wrote on '24:Are you applying for this study, Marina?
Exclusion criteria #4 includes restless leg, darn it. I am Mightily Annoyed.
'UliHarp' wrote on '04:Beltane ritual and belly dance troupe? That all sounds so fun! I would lose it if I could go see/participate in those things. Also, I love the reference in your troupe's name to the Sumerian goddess; what a cool pick for a belly dance group!
Depending on where in the Northern US you're located, you could indeed find both of these via a web search. For the Beltane ritual and other Wiccan sabbat celebrations, you might use “Beltane in N”, N being your city/town, county or state–or region such as “tri-cities area”, a fairly common occurence in the US, or email me at [email protected] for more specialized assistance.
For belly dancing classes, haflas, or festivals, I'd do about the same, but with different search terms. If you are after a particular style of belly dance, such as tribal, tribal fusion, cabaret, Turkish, etc., use that search term before the location search terms. If you're not finding what you seek, again, write me off forum, and I'll see what I can do.
As to the 14th, we didn't revise the Descent of Inanna, but did an improv ATS-style routine–but since I'm not up to pivoting on my right foot, I just came to watch for a change.
On the 22nd, House of Inanna did a shorter version of The Descent of Inanna (than the one we did at Rakkasah West in March) at TribalFest11 up in Sebastopol, which is a wonderful little town. The role of Ereshkigal, Inanna's twin or older sister, and definitely her Shadow, was choreographed for the two gimps in the troupe–Rowan with a bad shoulder, and me with my healing heel. Not much dancing for us–standing around, glaring & looking menacing, some pointing, a wee bit of walking, and that's about it.
I had been doing a little more thinking about Ereshkigal at each rehearsal. This time, we had a voice-over with a translation of two verses from the epic, framing verses one of our troupe had written, giving Inanna's thoughts as she was told to leave three (out of seven–not enough time!) of her garment/attributes before enetering Ereshkigal's domain, the Underworld. It helped with cues, as well as helping the audience understand what we were portraying.
BTW, I did get an awfully neat mehndi (henna art on one's skin) this time, complete with color and sparkles via a spray. I'm not sure how to upload an image from my disk in one of these messages, or I'd show you. Wish I'd obtained a card–and I'll definitely get one from her again. It was on my upper back, above my low choli neckline, and unlike those I've tried on face or chest, this one fixed and has stayed dark. By now, most of the others would be very light brown and the design hard to discern. I had her draw a phaelenopsis aka moth orchid in the center, with two roses on either side. She added some leafy flourishes (that were neither orchid nor rose leaves), and then the glitter spray.
I had managed to forget my husband's staff for my role, so Saturday night, having found no indie or local lumberyard open, I went to a Home Depot in Santa Rosa to get a 6' dowel of stafflike thickness. The next morning I was given a scrap of somewhat sparkly black material that I wrapped around the top of the staff.
We all did our makeup in the room where three of us were staying, and some dressed later, in the green room (where mirror space was at a premium, but less so than table space, on which to put your makeup array while applying it). This time, instead of a white cream, which never really dried, and which got over EVERYTHING it came in contact with, I had Ben Nye Professional Makeup products, white pigment powder and a finishing spray. Took two layers to get adequate white coverage on my face! While the other dancers wore pantaloons under an unbleached muslin shift in the same pattern, a Ghawazee coat of Indian sari brocade in various colors, a tassel belt, and a floral “crown”, I wore a slinky black underdress, a sparkly black burnout jacket over it, both floor length, topped by a deep red headress and jewelry (Bollywood style off eBay). Their makeup ws lighter than we usually go, and I was MUCH whiter–think of Dia de Los Muertes sugar skulls, with the black lines to highlight the lines of the face of the skull. I used green eye makeup to play up the jealousy aspect.
We were on ca. 1:30, two slots after Rachel Brice, who is something of a BigNameDancer. Technically, I thought she was great, but her choreography was nothing to write home about. I thought the Calgary troupe right after were more interesting to watch, and told them so. Then it was our turn, and I mounted the stage first, to be in the center when the others started.
A precis of the routine:
Troupe gets on, dances a bit and then are told to remove their crowns, dropping them in one of the baskets in front of me, while I glare and point, first to their heads, then to the basket. They dance a bit more, then are told to remove their belts, which they loosen while dancing, and then they come by, drop/point/glare, and go back to dancing again. Next comes the robe removal, which they loosen while dancing…. Once they've all done that–and some of them show resistance at various points, and I get more emphatic in my point&glare, they line up “naked” in their shifts and pantaloons and dance more. There is a cue for me to move forward, and I stand in front and to the side. I thump my staff three times, and point to the ground, whereupon, in three waves, they all drop to their knees and salaam to me. Before, all I've done is glared, frowned, and thumped off, shaking my head.
This time was different. Apparently I was channeling Ereshkigal, because the emotions coming out were more genuine than I usually show, more intense and complex as well. I got the crumply face I get before I cry, and fought back actual tears. I had come to the conclusion the night before than Ereshkigal felt that even after her sister was naked an abased before her, it was not enough to comfort her, not enough to make up for all the goods, power and acclaim that Inanna had. At this point in the emotional path, I shook my head several times, waved my arm to the right and behind me, and thumped thrice to allow the dancers to rise. I returned to my spot in the back, with the emotions still flowing and showing.
When the music ended, and it was time to bow and exit, I tamped things down again. Several people came up to me afterwards and said they were rather frightened of my character, and even some of my troupe sisters said it had been intense.
In ante-climax, we all packed up & changed to drive home. I stopped at a little shop that specialized in tea, truffles, and caramels. That would have to do instead of ice cream at Screamin' Mimi's. Wish I'd had time for both!
'PettiCoat5' wrote on '11:Lumictal for anxiety disorder/depressionRequip for restless leg syndrome
Ultram/Butalbital for migraines and back pain
I'm on Lamictal and Requip as well–I was on topomax as a mood stabilizer for two years until it suddenly stopped working. My son's on it for migraine prevention. He has had NO side effects, unlike me, who had the brain fuzz, word-search problems, and anything carbonated tasted absolutely foul. It did cure me of my Coke addiction, and in general cut off my interest in sodas, but not perry or champagne.
IF you are ever prescribed Effexor as an anitdepressant, you'll need to drop the Ultram, as it does Awful Things in combination with Effexor, like, em, death. I found out when I went for my bonespur-removal surgery last NYE. I'm allergic to codeine & vicodin, which is the usual pain med this doctor gives for post-surgical pain. The next idea was Ultram, save for the above mentioned contraindication. Since I take Fiorinal for migraines, which contains butalbital, but doesn't interact with Effexor, he said that would do the trick. Actually didn't need more than about three in the first week, and after the first week, generally didn't even need the ibuprofen, as there just wasn't much in the way of pain, unless you poked the incision areas.
Good luck with the doctor!
'Elfin' wrote on '11:I have stuffed animals too 😛
One of the managers at the local CVS has a PT Cruiser with tons of plush TweetyBirds all over the back.
After my mom's stroke, she got fixated on TweetyBird, for reasons passing my understanding.
'Martin' wrote on '11:Ah, Tim Hortons brings back the memories. Nothing like a large double double to get you going in the morning!
As a consumer of burgers from In-N-Out, a “double-double” means a double meat&cheese burger. I can't have that much any more, so I'm just a “cheeseburger, K&M instead of sauce, grilled onions, protein style” customer these days. No fries or shake, either. Sigh. Since all the sodas/tea/lemonade have high-fructose corn syrup in them, none of those, either.
'Martin' wrote on '09:It's close. I find the real issue with teabags here in the States is there is significantly less tea in each bag than in the UK. The Tetley British Blend probably have the most tea in any bag I've had here. I am still surprised when I go to England to visit just how much more there is in each bag over there. It's an odd thing I am always surprised by!
I can easily go on a rant about US food service and their wrongheadedness about tea and teadrinkers. My MiL prefers her tea strong, as do I, but her late husband was happy enough to get his cup made after she'd used the teabag to her liking first. Made me shudder. Otherwise, he was as normal as what passes for that in our families!
However, it's possibly one of the following:
-Americans who drink tea are abnormal
-People who drink tea in the US need to have their heads examined, and thus won't notice that we're shorting them on the tea while charging them more than we charge coffee drinkers for refills
-It's a conspiracy by the anti-baggers to make you use full-leaf, which we will not make available to you in the US anyway.
What passes for tea service in most chain restaurants and cafes is criminal. I've even been in tea shops (once only, never returning) where the servers were clueless (and in one instance, where the proprieter was as well, and she was loudly complaining that no one appreciated her efforts. My friend and I looked at each other, and I said, “Well, if she *made* some efforts, we hadn't seen them”) about how to brew, serve, and present tea. I know enough about the joys and riches of running a food service establishment to know I am not going to be running or working in one if I have any say in the matter! Those metal tea “strainers”, cute shape or not, are too small to use enough tea leaf and allow it to expand the way it requires. Apparently, there's a belief in the industry that says Americans don't like having their food “touched”, thus you are presented with a cup of quickly cooling water next to an insipid tea bag of dustings and fannings, with nothing to put on top of the cup to keep the heat in while you steep the tea. It is often next to impossible to convince a server to put the teabag in the cup first, then pour truly hot water over it, instead of the usual way.
If you're lucky, you might get a poor excuse for a steel teapot, a “natural” tea with too much cinnamon oil in it, or find that the only “tea” they have is an herbal tisane. If you know you will be in hospital, bring your own teabags!
Trust me, I understand. Mine has gone on for hours before resolution. Not quite as bad as a migraine, but often results from one.
One time only, nearly ten years ago, I had such an awful dizzy spell for several hours. I had to call my husband, who worked 55 miles away at the time, to tell him I couldn't drive and needed him to pick up our son from school. Called my doctor, no other symptoms, no prior symptoms. Was given some anti-vertigo meds, never happened again. We think it was a migraine manifesting only as vertigo. Never had it again. Very strange.
The first time I had too much to drink, on a break at college, I couldn't sleep for the dizzy. *I* don't get drunk and pass out–that would have been too easy! The other two times, I “got rid of the evidence” and woke up okay the next morning. As i usually get hangover symptoms *before* I get officially drunk, I have no incentive to get drunk in the first place!
'UliHarp' wrote on '05:(Looks at hands) Oh, my, I'm left-handed too! It's strange that you mention “idiosyncratic reactions” to medications/remedies. Peppermint also gives me queasy stomaches, and similarly, Pepto-Bismol just makes me “toss my cookies”.
Yes, if I'm in the hours-long throes of nausea, wondering when…the Pepto speeds up the process! I learnt this in college when I had a really bad migraine.
'mariamoody1985' wrote on '04:I genuinely believe they hide behind their intelligence!! If pills don't work then they are confused!! Instead of looking stupid in front of a patient, they choose not to look you in the eyes because they are embarrassed that their previous opinion was wrong but too powerful to want to admit it!! Every 'treatment' I've ever tried works backwards on me I reckon…joys of being left handed I reckon! 😛 If I didn't laugh about it all I'd cry…can you tell?!!
aHA! Maybe that's my problem, that I'm also left-handed. I do have a number of “idiosyncratic reactions” to medications. Peppermint and chamomile are supposed to be ood for bad tummies, but they make me toss my cookies. Ewwwwcalyptus has a similar effect on me. Sleep meds keep me awake. Decongestants don't clear my nose, they stuff it up. In my first pregnancy, when I didn't know I was yet, pizza was good for soothing my stomach. Go figure!
Mostly what we're talking about with drs. not able/liking to admit they're wrong is a product of an older generation (my parents, or older, which means positively antediluvian) that is fading out of professional practice, for which we are grateful. Few doctors I see anymore get defensive when I ask a lot of technical questions in appropriate vocabulary, unlike the ones in college, who would angrily ask if my father was a doctor.
'Elfin' wrote on '15:Now that's just addictive
Sure is! What get me is that while not in bed, it does not make me drowsy. Must be some kind of conditioning that began to work for me.
'Martin' wrote on '31:1 – Tea! I like coffee, but could live without it.
Any particular tea? I'm quite fond of the maltier Assams to the point where there are single estates that I stick to. Also quite fond of Lapsang Souchong, Rose Pouchong, that old chestnut Earl Grey, black tea with apricot or black currant, sencha (Japanese green) and Dragon Pearl Jasmine.
I can't drink brewed coffee, as it does a number on my gut, but I loves me my lattes, with SF Hazelnut syrup & no foam. Most of the time, it's decaf, but some days, regular is required. While I wasn't able to ride in cars without a lot of hassle–especially with the knee scooter I had to use, and having to keep my foot UP–my husband or his mother would take my teal blue travel mug into a couple of different Starbucks, and they'd know who it was for, and what went in it! I was finally cleared for stairs–back to my own bed, at last, and ditch the mushroomy hospital bed in which I could never quite sit up AND the knee scooter–at the end of February, and then I could go in myself, as long as someone else drove. In the third week of March I was finally cleared for driving, and I was OFF.
I do need lattes or tea.
Without the Internet, would I still be alive? It's been the savior of many people, isolated by one thing or another.
Sunlight & the beauty of nature to watch.
'mariamoody1985' wrote on '20:I did find my appointment on Monday quite entertaining, the doctor couldn't look me in the eye!
The idiot shrink who prescribed Serzone for me wouldn't look me in the eye, either. Serzone is for depressed people who are having problems sleeping. I, however, was an insomniac who was depressed, and it merely kept me more and more awake. If I said it wasn't helping, that it was keeping me awake, he just kept increasing the dosage–and this was after I'd said in the beginning that sleep meds do not work for me at all. I did finally fire him, after I was getting so little sleep that my body just wanted to collapse from standing position: my knees kept trying to buckle.
It IS weird to have a professional not look you in the eye during an appointment!
'Martin' wrote on '03:I'm hoping the weather will be kind – if it is, I am hoping to go kayaking. My wife and I recently ordered an inflatable tandem kayak and can't wait for it to arrive!
Should you ever get down to the Monterey Bay for a vacation, bring the kayak. Elkhorn Slough, near Moss Landing, is a great place for kayaking, and you can even kayak on near-shore parts of the bay near the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
On Saturday, I'm going to the Pagan Pride festival in Berkeley, in a park at the side of which is a great Farmers' Market. There is a fantastic olive oil producer, and aside from great produce, there are good food vendors as well. I usually spend an hour at the FM before wandering over to the festivities.
Sunday is the US Mother's Day. I've learned that Mothering Sunday in the UK often involves bunches of daffodils, which I adore. Last year I bought about a dozen bags of a variety of bulbs & let my gardener use his best judgement on placement. Thus, this spring, flowers never before seen in this yard have been popping up all over. I'd say we have enough ordinary yellow daffs, and I should get more unusual ones, as well as more crocus, tulips of all styles, callas & cannas, and irises. Much of that is for before the spring-to-autumn plants wake up and uncurl themselves from dormancy.
I've also learned that in Mexico, Dia de las Madres is on Tuesday this year. I told my gardener to cut as many roses from my garden (I have plenty for sharing) as he would like for his madre and abuela. I need to ask him about whether it's always on a Tuesday, or whether it's always the 10th May.
My MiL is here with us for the first time in many years at Mother's Day. For her, while she's been away on a visit, I've purchased (on eBay) and planted several different kinds of white hydrangea. I've asked my son to make pancakes, at which he's rather good.
LAST weekend, there was the open Beltane ritual up in Berkeley, complete with May Queen & King, a Maypole, an 'Obby 'Oss, a Teaser & a Soot Wife. The town of Padstow in Cornwall, which has a long tradition, along with Minehead, of May Day festivities involving the above, Morris Dance, and a host of other characters, has been kind enough to give us (that is, certain members of our tradition, New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn–if they'd have known a Wiccan tradition would actually form out of that exercise, a more reasonable name would have been chosen!) one of their older Teaser's paddles, with which the Teaser directs the 'Oss, who is in a rather bulky, unwieldy costume (look in the Wikipedia) with limited visibility. It's to acknowledge the continuing tradition of May Morning here in the States.
The next Ihatethistimeofthemorning, I rose before first light to go up to Baylands Nature Preserve, east of Palo Alto. Every year, just before first light, a few to several sides (teams) of Morris Dancers show up at various points in the Bay Area, in order to dance the Sun up & the Summer in. The lineup often starts with Abbott's Bromley Horn Dance, with one wind instrument and silent dancers carrying shed antlers on sticks. Once the sun is above the horizon, in this case the east bay mountains, their program winds down, and the morning is finished with Selinger's Round (a dance in the round for all who will, aka Beginning of the World?). In past years, I've gone off to breakfast with friends, but this year, none of my usual crowd showed, and I merely went to a local fancy market to get supplies for dinner that night. A friend of ours is kind enough to have her birthday on May Day, thus giving me an excuse for a Beltane feast. In this case, it was an orchestrated pot-luck. I made the boneless lamb roast and the asparagus, my son the creamed potatoes, my husband the appetizers and the cheddar creamed cauliflower. One guest brought both flowers, salad and a trifle (her first), as the birthday girl was born in England and lived a good half of her life there. Tracy's sweetie procured the lamb and the mango mousse cake from his employer at employee discount, and there were bottles of wine that never did get opened. As it was, there was champagne, a light white, and an inexpensive Sauternes for dessert (I'd never had any, so I bought the bottle, waiting for a nice dinner to serve it).
On the 14th, our belly dance troupe (House of Inanna) does a shorter version of The Descent of Inanna than the one we did at Rakkasah West in March, when I still had to walk with that blasted “air cast boot” that kept me way too warm. We will do this at a local hafla, a dance party, on the 14th, and then at TribalFest11 up in Sebastopol the following weekend. The role of Ereshkigal, Inanna's twin or older sister, and definitely her Shadow, was choreographed for the two gimps in the troupe–Rowan with a bad shoulder, and me with my healing heel. Not much dancing for us–standing around, glaring & looking menacing, some pointing, a wee bit of walking, and that's about it. Rowan would have been at Rakkasah West, but for coming down with penumonia and being hors de combat for about two months. I stepped in about 10 days before, learned the blocking, sat to rest before and after the performance, as I still wasn't all that mobile at the time.
The weekend after that, in San Jose, means one of three sf/f conventions (“cons”): BayCon, the oldest of the three, a regional sf/f/h con, Fanime, and FurryCon (I think that's what it is called), for cosplay involving humanoid furred animals. The last is just not my style–too much clothing etc for this easily-overheated woman. I may not get to more than one day of BayCon, as none of the guests are anyone I read or otherwise enjoy their output. There's this jeweler I've been buying from/using for repairs & construction for about ten years, and we enjoy each other's company. I expect she & her crew will be over for dinner before or after the con.
And that's why I won't be at the RT online form…
