the problem is

the problem is,

with his sad lips

and sharp hips,

he draws you

in

too

deep

but, he only ever

dabbles.

I think it’s funny that …

A phrase I say a lot. I’ve realized though that, more often than not, this phrase prefaces things that I don’t think are very funny at all. But, I don’t have any better words for that particular feeling. I often don’t have the words for it at all. It feels wrong to say that an example of human beings being terrible towards each other or towards the world or towards other animals (because we are, after all, nothing if not animals) is “funny,” but I often can’t explain it any other way.

So, when I say that it’s “funny” that a woman has been persecuted for attempting to prosecute her rapist – I don’t mean that I find it amusing. I mean that I find it horrific and just so very typical of our society and, honestly, not really all that surprising and so I can’t say “I find it odd” or “I find it surprising,” because I don’t. But, it’s so horrific and typical and not surprising in any way that I just say that it’s “funny” instead of crying or starting a petition or strangling the people who actually DO think it’s funny. 

When I say it’s “funny” that a black man can be struck by a car and not receive justice because the driver “couldn’t see him because he’s black” and therefore BLENDS IN TO THE GREEN TREES, APPARENTLY, and not ONE PERSON asked what the hell the driver was doing swerving about the road and going on to the shoulder, I’m not ACTUALLY laughing. Really, it kind of makes me want to cry or break something or just scream and scream at the top of my lungs about the injustice of it all until my voice is gone.

When I say that it’s “funny” that a group of teenagers can be so human in one moment to “normal” people, and yet immediately follow that up by saying something is “so gay” or calling someone a “fag” or a “dyke,” I don’t mean that they’re making me laugh with their juvenile antics (though perhaps that would be a better reaction than what I’d like to do). I mean that I find it strange and sad and that it makes me want to find every gay/lesbian/trans student in the country and just hug them tighttighttight and cover their ears and eyes and never let go until they’re old enough to realize that they are beautiful no matter what anyone else says.

And, yes, I do think that these situations are indicative of the state of patriarchal, racist, homophobic saturation that we’ve reached as a society. I do think it’s also indicative of the changes that need to be made. But, apparently, most of all, I find it funny.

Anyway, I just was thinking about that phrase and thought I’d get it out there. Sorry if it’s nonsensical or whatever. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to let me know any phrases that YOU say that are weird or phrases with words that don’t mean what YOU mean when you say them. I’d like to know!

Wild, Weird, Wacky Wednesday

So, clearly, Wednesdays on here are gonna get a little … crazy. You know you like it.

Anyway! For this edition of Wild, Weird, Wacky Wednesday, I thought I might share a coupla things that I do that are kinda weird. Definitely let me know in the comments what you think of them, or if you do anything particularly weird, too.

One of my favorite things to do is organize things that aren’t my bedroom. Maybe it’s because I’m avoiding the disaster zone that is my bedroom because it’s just Too Much, or maybe it’s just because small messes bother me more than big messes, but I like fixing things just so and then telling EVERYONE about it. For example, I recently organized my lip products and my nail polishes.

Basically, all of my nail polish and some remover.

Lip products, side one.

Lip products, side two.

That is not, of course, all of my lip stuff and nail stuff, but it’s the majority of it and it made me feel SO MUCH better to do.

I also recently cleaned out the refrigerators in my house, literally scrubbing out the insides and throwing away anything that was perishable that wasn’t new. It was kind of awesome.

I have, of course, cleaned my room before. I used this epic folding system that was basically “filing” your clothing so that you could easily see it all in the drawer. It was pretty awesome.

See? AWESOME.

Another weird thing that I like to do is put on makeup, brush my teeth, or fix my eyebrows while I’m using the bathroom. I just feel like it’s otherwise a waste of time. I also will put on makeup at night while I’m in there, and then promptly have to take it off when I wash my face. But, it’s good practice and leads to you being really quite good at makeup skills.

I also love to eat some pretty weird things, like banana and mayo sammiches, dill pickles and chocolate ice cream, hershey bars and BBQ sauce, and raw tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. Not all together. Just, you know, sometimes.

Ooo, I also have a tendency to spell things the British way (e.g. colour, neighbour, etc.) and I’m such a fan of the Oxford comma (and commas in general), I’m going to get one tattooed on my wrist. Yep. That’s a thing. However, I totally use slang words and spellings (see: “Ooo” and also “gonna,” “coupla,” “kinda,” etc.). So, no worries if you want to comment and maybe don’t have perfect grammar. I’m not gonna kill ya. ^.~

I’m sure that there are tons more weird things I do, or habits that I have, but I can’t really think of any right now. So, what are some weird things you do? Am I leaving anything out? Do you guys want to know any other weird things about me? Ask away!

Magic is Everywhere (Tarot Tuesdays)

So, today, I really want to talk about this Art Nouveau tarot deck that I just got.

Antonella Castelli’s Tarot Art Nouveau deck, purchased at Malaprop’s in Asheville, NC

It’s beautiful. Seriously, gorgeous. My favorite cards in this deck are the Lovers, the Devil and Death, because I just think they’re so fantastically represented, but I really do love all of them. The pictures are gorgeous and the colours almost seem to glow. It’s crazy.

Clockwise from top left: The Devil, Death, The Lovers

Anyway, I decided that this deck lends itself really well to a bit of a series in which I describe the cards and tell you a bit about what they mean to me and how I interpret them, and then you guys can tell me in the comments what you think, how you interpret certain cards, and what cards you’d like to see next. Sound good? Great, glad you like it.

This time, I’m just going to tell you guys a bit about tarot and reading the cards. As an intro, I’d like to say that I’ve been interested in tarot cards since middle school and have been (attempting) reading them since I was in 9th grade, or about 14. That was almost ten years ago, so I’m not necessarily the most qualified, but I have certainly learned a couple of things over the years.

So, the first thing that I think is most important is picking a deck that hasn’t been opened and played with so that you can fully saturate it with your energies. This is important. When you open it, handle each card, look at them, feel them, get to know them. Love on them as if they are your significant other whom you have not seen in months. Lick them, if you have to. I would. It’s also a good idea to pick a deck that truly speaks to you and really catches your eye, you know?

Okay, once you’ve got your sticky energy all over these new and beautiful cards, it might be a good idea to learn a few layouts.

The simplest, and quickest, is the 3-card layout. Basically, shuffle the cards up really well while thinking of a question or a problem you want guidance on. Then, separate your deck into 3 smaller decks. Hold your hand over them and feel the energies caress your hand. Pick the one that calls to you most and put the other two aside. Then, starting from the top, lay out three cards in a row: Past. Present. Future.

My life, all laid out in a row

The next step is to turn them over. Don’t flip them over, because then they’ll be upside down. I always learned that cards that were upside down had the opposite meaning of what they were rightside up. And, you don’t want to get a great card and then accidentally turn it upside down and read it as being a kind of sucky card, right? So, just turn them over so that they’re facing up instead of down without any flipping, if that makes sense.

Ooo, fancy

Also, it’s totally okay if one of your cards does end up being upside down, or – as they say in the card reading world – being “reversed”. That’s actually totally fine! One of mine was, as you can see above.

Now, I’m not going to tell you what I asked, but I will say that I found the outcome to be pretty much accurate. For me, at least! So, go on, give it a whirl!

There are also plenty of other, more complicated layouts that you can try. I’m not going to tell you about them (unless you want me to!), but I will say that my favorite complicated layout is the Celtic cross spread (this is a very good website for explaining them – the only difference is that i put my two across my one like a cross, not overlapping it like this site has done).

So, are there any cards you want to hear about first? Did you try the spread I taught you? What was the outcome? I want to know everything! Oh, I also do “tarot” with a deck of regular playing cards, so once we’ve gone through the tarot deck and their meanings (and their reverses), I can go through my playing card deck and the meanings I use for them (and their reverses). Sound good?

Quick thoughts

Words are not people. They do not bleed. Therefore, cut them.

Save your $10 words for talking in person and use your $.50 words on the internet.

Hello, Dolly!

Hey y’all! So, this is my new blog. I hope you like it. Isn’t it pretty?

This is the forum where I’ll be posting my thoughts, reviews, and maybe even some of my writing and photography. If you’re lucky, that is.

If you have any requests for movies for me to review on Movie Madness Mondays (which will be starting this Monday, get excited!) or any books or music you’d like to hear about, I’m totally willing to give you my thoughts on them.

In other news, ever since I graduated from college in Greensboro, North Carolina – where I worked on the college paper just about every year and was also published in the college’s literary review – I’ve been living in Georgia and working at South Magazine, while also learning to hoop, writing a ton, and photographing some of the most inspiring scenery this side of the Mason-Dixon. I’m also applying for jobs in various locations, including New York and Portland, and hopefully I’ll be working in one of those places in the publishing world soon.

Some of my favorite imprints include Orbit (I seriously love every author on their list, it’s ridiculous), Angry Robot, Ace, and Tor. Yeah, I’m a huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy. It’s basically all I read. I also love Dark Horse, Vertigo (and other indie imprints, too, but too many to list), but my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE comic is Hellblazer. I love, adore, pine for John Constantine. Hell, I even like some parts of the Constantine movie, even if I do rant through basically all of it.

Anyway, that’s probably enough about me for now. If there’s anything y’all want to know, or if you just want to chat, drop me a comment and I’ll definitely respond!