Somewhere In Texas...

...a village is getting their idiot back.

Good riddance.

Reemergence...

After a 2 year hiatus, I've decided to give this thing another shot... It's not that I haven't had anything to contribute - life has been uber busy. Now that events have slowed, I've got a little more time for my hobbies and the intertubes.

Since my last post, I've changed jobs, gotten engaged and married, bought 2 Bengal cats (Jambi and Fezzik), traveled to Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Mexico, and various places on the east coast, bought 2 homes (and gave one of them an enormous face-lift), started photography as a new hobby, started learning how to sail our boat, attended various musical shows and concerts, attended various renaissance festivals, cocktail parties, consort gatherings, bought a cello - which I am now teaching myself to play, as well as brushing up on my French (whilst passively learning Spanish) in preparation for our next vacation.

I know there are some events I'm forgetting, but I suppose that's of no real consequence.

Regretably, I've had little time for my own music - but I hope to return to it this season.

More to come.
Yes, yes.

A Suprise Visitor

Saturday night was perfect for sky gazing. You couldnt ask for better conditions so my boyfriend and I loaded up our telescope and drove out to his parents country home to visit and escape the ambient light of Binghamton.

Billions of stars sprawled the sky, and his parents joined us in our quest for new things to see

By now, Jupiter and his moons, Saturn and his rings are old news to us tho still an awesome sight. On this night, we were looking for clusters and galaxies. During our trek across the visible universe, we stood around chatting, laughing, pointing, looking at star maps with our red LEDs, taking pictures of planets, just hanging out in the front yard having a good time

Somewhere in the dark, and not-so-distant from us, the noise of wildlife stopped us briefly. For a moment we stood quietly listening but dismissed it as some wandering deer, raccoon, or some such thing. It wasnt out of the ordinary, simply close in proximity

We turned our attention back to the night sky, and to a galaxy my boyfriend had accidentally come across on the way to a globular cluster.

Again we heard a noise, but this time much, much closer in fact 30 feet away where various birdfeeders hang from a tree We froze, wide-eyed, and listened. My boyfriend asked me to go inside, and for his dad to bring a flashlight quickly. The house was another 30 feet away

Seconds later, Im at the door but not inside - my boyfriend at my side, and his dad comes out with a flashlight.
On it comes, pointing directly on:

a black bear.

We three say Holy shit.

For about an hour we watched this lumbering creature devour birdseed one feeder at a time, plucking them out of the tree like apples. All the noise we made, all the lights and cameras flashing on it as we took pictures didnt phase it a bit. We attempted to scare it off since, after all, it was ruining the feeders - but it paid no mind to what we silly humans had to say.

We found it fascinating how brassy it was, to lumber up just 30 feet from we three star gazers. Yet how unsettling it was, that if it was interested in more than that, we wouldnt have known it was there until we came nose-to-nose.

Two bear myths were dispelled that night:
1 Bear DO have eye-shine. And
2 Banging pots and pans and yelling at bear youll make yourself look silly. It doesnt faze them at all.

Murder Mystery Party

Ahh, what an evening!

The other nite a friend of mine threw a murder mystery party at his lovely abode. Taking place in the 1920's, everyone was to pick a real historical figure from the era, then act and dress the part. I went as Theda Bara, and decided to hand make my own dress and headpiece. My boyfriend attended as the smooth and biting Brit, Aldus Huxley...

It was a fully catered event - complete with an always-on-edge white gloved butler, and wait staff. The music was of the period, as was the dancing. The wine flowed freely, and the food was scrumptious...

And the murder? Well, the nosy press-woman was done-in half way thru the nite by way of a poisoned stick-pin to the throat. The murderer left clues, yet attempted to frame the various attendees of the gala.

The more illustrious personalities present included - but weren't limited to - Babe Ruth, Sigmund Freud, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, Coco Channel, J. Edgar Hoover, Leopold Stokowski, and Lord John Gort. In all, there were about 25 of us...

In the end, a gun waving Lord Gort brought the party to a close by admitting his lurid deeds after all tried to guess "who done it."

To view 4 pages of this sumptuous event, visit this link:
http://homepage.mac.com/rlavere2/Fitzie/PhotoAlbum23.html

All I Want For X-Mass Is a Telescope...

I was about 12 years old when I became interested in Astronomy - so when the holidays came around, a telescope was on the top of my list. However, Santa somehow over-looked the fact that I wanted nothing more.
Socks took priority over science...
Every year after that, a telescope was #1 on my list.
Denied.
Even after I discovered Santa was mum and dad.
Denied.
And for my birthday...
Denied.

The only reason I hadn't bought one myself is that I've had more pressing things to do with my money. Some financial obligations that strapped me a bit. College loans. Car loans. Rent. Food. Utilities. Hospital bills...
All that on-your-own stuff you've gotta worry about...

UNTIL NOW!

*Grinz.*
My boyfriend never lacks in sweet suprises.

To make a long story short, a quite hefty Neptune telescope now resides in my livingroom - which has (for all intents and purposes) turned into an observatory.

Here's what we've caught a glimpse of so far -
I made links so you can check it out too (keen!):

- The Moon and its various seas, craters and fractures
- Mars
- Jupiter and his moons: Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto
- Saturn and his impressive rings
- The Orion Nebula (M42)
- Sirius
- Various shooting stars from the Geminids Meteor Shower

Wether waking up at 5:30 a.m. or freezing your nose off in 9 degree winter nights, it's all worth catching a good glimpse of our corner of the universe...

...And I'm Still Right Here...

Indeed, I am still alive...

The past few months have been quite hectic. It goes like this:
work college work college workcollegeworkcollegeworkcollegeworkcollege...
When I have time, I sleep, and as always my dreams remain creepy...
The zombie apocolypse, extra-terrestrial invasions, unconsenting cloning...
I'm a psychologist's wet dream...

Other than workcollegeworkcollege and unrestful sleep, things have been well. Well, work's not well, but college is, and life outside work is... I'm convinced my boss is trying to make my life hell so I'll quit instead of having to fire me. The money's wonderful, but I can't stand it otherwise. My position as customer service rep has been changed to a sales position. I hate sales. Ugh... Sales people... Suckers of Satan's cock... Slimy cash-whores...
I'm too Zen for my job...
(Yes, I've been looking elsewhere...)

Ideally - and what I'm looking into - is taking out a college loan so I can work less and go to college more. That way I'd have time for other important things in my life - like music, art, and my relationship... My poor boyfriend only gets to see me in passing lately, and we live together! He's been wonderfully tollerant...

When I do get a moment to relax, I don't want to do a thing - tho at the same time I feel like I should be getting done all of the other things I haven't had time to do... But, since rest is important (and I seem to get so little of it as of late), I come home to have dinner, flop on the couch, have a glass of wine, and get in some snuggle time...
The past few months of nonstopness is just wearing on me. It's definatly time I make some more changes...

It hasn't all been a drag lately tho. Some highlights:

Rasputina concert, The Cruxshadows concert, All Hallow's Eve trick-or-treating with my niece and nephew, The Corpse Bride, a visit from a dear friend whom I haven't seen in over 2 years, some excellent readings on The Mysteries, hiking, breakfast with Mum, lunch with Dad, dinners with my boyfriend, and yeah - I'm all about the cuddles...

The next big event:
A fully catered murder-mystery party set in the 1920's...
I'll be attending as Theda Bara...
My other half as Aldous Huxly...
...In a tux.

*Drool...*

Response to a Friend...

As for your question:
In all that you've read, how do you feel that man, anciently, achieved the secret knowledge and why aren't we getting it now?

I, at this point, believe this:
Man, somewhere along the way, has lost touch with the spirit of things. Not all men. But in general. We're too focused on inconsequential things. Who the fuck cares who Brittany Spears is having a baby with? Humanity, at least in our culture, is largely loosing its passion, and loosing its soul. We're spending too much energy fearing the future and our fate. We're dreaming of the past and romanticising what was and wishing it was still that way... I don't know the remedy for this, Josef.

Perhaps in some way, g-d has abandoned us. Or perhaps he's waiting for us to come out of a society-wide-fog. Perhaps that's why we're not getting the secret knowledge now...Or perhaps science has demystified the inexplicable to the point that science is the new religion. Nothing is magic when science can explain and rationalize everything...Perhaps our dreams of gods and goddesses and divine wisdom are to remain ancient, and don't have a place among today's world...

I don't want to believe this. Perhaps because it's in my Aquarian nature. Perhaps because I'm a romantic, because I'm a dreamer - that I don't want to believe sterile science can explain everything away...

I like my brain to be filled with visions of castles and dragons, heroes, Mystery, and the alchemist's laboratory...

I fear that today's world has not much time for mystics and philosophers ~ and that in ways, leaves me feeling a bit lost...

I know, it's not a bright picture that I paint, but it is my hope and my wish and my dream that indeed, the secret knowledge is not lost forever...

My Warmest Regards,
Qortni.