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  • Silvertree

    Mod post: No wishlist posts in blogs

    By Silvertree

    Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101  Thanks!
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Favorite Honey

[see previous entries for what I'm doing here.]   Honey in large doses is not great for me. It tends to give me a play-doh scent. That's why picking a favorite scent that's primarily honey is a bit problematic for me. When it's a minor note usually it seems to lend a very pretty smoothness to the scent, so I like to try BPAL blends that contain honey. But sometimes the honey is too much. It's not just BPAL, either; I have this problem with pretty much every perfume oil brand I've tried. I guess my skin just doesn't like it.   So, in a departure from the norm (in picking a scent that is primarily one particular note), I'm going to choose just my favorite one that has honey in it that's detectable. I already know going into it that the primarily honey ones will not be favorites.   GCs THAT CONTAIN HONEY:   Alice: Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot. Aaaaand this list starts off with a play-doh one. I can't wear this one. And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt: Dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom and saffron. This one is spicy, sweet, and complex... but I can't really detect honey in it. Athens: voluptuous myrrh, golden honey, red wine, and sweet flowers. I tried this one twice and didn't like it either time. I don't have any idea what is going wrong for me with this scent because based on the notes it should have been okay. The honey was behaving itself nicely... but after an hour or so it smelled off. In a big way. Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger. Apparently honey WITH strong spices is a winner for me. This one is lovely. Usually cinnamon is too strong on me, but the hot cinnamon and smooth honey really balance out each other. Very nice. Bien Loin D'ici: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents. Ah, red musk. How do I love thee. Oh, wait, right, I'm talking about honey. Yes, the honey in this is detectable, and it's GORGEOUS. I really like this scent a lot. Sultry, sexy, and smooth. Bilquis: Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk. Lovely. This blend is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in which honey can be beautiful on me when its just an undercurrent that makes the scent warm and rich. In this particular one, the almonds are much too strong for my taste at first, but luckily they fade. That initial almond blast will keep it from being a favorite, though. Blood Kiss: Vanilla, honey, clove, red cherries, vetiver, poppy, red wine, and feral musk. I like this one, but I can't detect the honey in it. It does seem smooth underneath, but that could be from either vanilla or honey, I'm not sure which. Cleopatra Testing Poisons On Those Condemned To Death: Accords of peach kernel, hemlock, aconite, and belladonna, with bitter almond, saffron, honey, myrrh, hyssop, frankincense, and palm. Oops, I haven't tested this one yet. Cockaigne: milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine. This one and one other BPAL GC scent with milk and honey do NOT smell bad on me. This smells like ... well, exactly like the notes. I don't wear it, though, because although I like lotions and creams that are foody scented, usually not perfumes so much. Cupid Complaining To Venus: Apple blossom, fig, white peach, honey absolute, red sandalwood, and wild thyme. I like the scent of this one, but it's extremely faint. It doesn't last long at me at all. That keeps it from being a favorite. Dana O'shee: Milk, honey and sweet grains. This is one of the ones in which the honey is too strong for me. This smells off on me. The Death of Sardanapal: Red wine, gurjum balsam, dark myrrh, honey, cassia, lemongrass, palmarosa, elemi, cognac and olibanum. Oops, I didn't write a review of this yet. Hmm. Hope I still have that bottle. Delphi: The smoke of Sacred Incense of Apollo twined through laurel branches, bay, and honey wine. This one smelled mostly like grape juice on me. Didn't like it too much. Eve: Apple blossom, rose, ylang ylang and golden honey. I think this one is a nice scent, but I can't smell any honey in it. Hellcat hazelnut, buttercream, honey mead, rum and sweet almond. This one's more of a nutty creamy rum scent to me, not honey. Hetairae: golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang. Mostly a honeyed fig scent, on me, with some kick from the clove. It's a great scent, and I do like it, but it'll be more of a contender in the favorite fig one. Horreur Sympathique: blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane. This is sweet and lovely, and I like it a lot. The honey isn't strong, but it has a warm wonderful smoothness to it that I attribute to the honey. Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku Osmanthus, white honey, ti leaf, hibiscus, and sugar cane. Kind of a dewy light floral. I didn't detect honey in it. Jezebel: A gloriously decadent blend of honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood. This one tends to go chalky on me (like baby aspirin) or powdery. But I can't detect any honey. Kali: This perfume is a blend of the sacred blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey. The honey goes wonky in this one too. Les Bijoux: Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, frankincense and myrrh. Honey and apples at first, but then I can't really smell the honey. Ends up being a light pretty floral. O: Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla. This one is a play-doh one. Ogun: heavy and dark cigar tobacco, gin and juniper, melon, chili pepper and a touch of honey. I really like this one, but I can't detect honey in it. Mostly melon with tobacco and a chili pepper kick. Osun: thick with honey and herbs of love, passion and desire. I thought I liked this one a lot at first and bought a 10ml of it, but I never wear it. I can detect the honey in it, but I guess I don't really like it as well as I thought I did. The Penitent Magdalen: Immortelle, lily of the valley, gaiac, amber, honey, white sandalwood, almond flower, blonde musk and hyssop. Haven't reviewed this one yet. Sed Non Satiata: myrrh, red patchouli, cognac, honey, tuberose and geranium, and body musk. Can't really tell there's any honey in this. Skuld: Ylang ylang, honey, Egyptian and Arabian musks and labdanum. Charming and bright, warm and soothing. Can't detect honey, though. Spirit Of The Komachi Cherry Tree: Cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear. Haven't reviewed it yet. Sudha Segara: Sweet milk and warm, healing ginger with a touch of golden honey and our blend of Ambrosia. Amazingly, this one works on me. This is the other BPAL GC with milk and honey that does work. It smells like someone nearby has a big mug of chai and I'm catching wafts of it. I like this one a lot. Thaleia: honey, ylang ylang, apricot, ciste, blood orange and gardenia with earthy, warm tonka. Mostly apricot and gardenia, on me. Honey isn't detectable. White Rabbit: Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen. Some days I like this one, and some days I don't. Occasionally the honey is too much for me.   Of those, the ones that are disqualified for being play-dohy are Alice, Dana O'Shee, Kali, and O. Osun and White Rabbit walk the "too much" line a little too close for my comfort.   The ones I like a lot (in which honey is detectable) are Bengal, Bien Loin D'ici, Horreur Sympathique, and Sudha Segara. Although Bien Loin D'ici is my favorite out of those, I feel like I need to pick Sudha Segara because the honey is stronger in it. It just seems like more of a "honey" scent.   LEs THAT CONTAIN HONEY:   The Brides Of Dracula: gleaming skin musk, honey and white amber, plum blossom, osmanthus, sandalwood, calla lily, and a light, sensual blend of Eastern spices. Apparently I didn't write a review of this. I like it and wear it from time to time, but it doesn't seem like I can smell the honey in it. Hearth 2005: candied chestnuts, buttered, covered in brown sugar and honey, alongside the scent of cedar smoke and soft pine. This is really a nutty buttery scent with pine. Pleasant, but not much honey. Honey Moon: five different honeys, ranging from pale and sweet to deep and heady, with hints of jasmine, white gardenia, Hawaiian white ginger and thyme. Not surprisingly, this one didn't smell great on me. Faiza, The Black Mamba: black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger. This one was mainly floral on me -- couldn't tell there was any honey in it. Freak Show: A strange, disconcerting embrace… to some, alarming, and to some, intimately familiar: fig, pomegranate and cocoa bean with lemon, bergamot, vanilla, mellow honey musk, calamus and tonka. Not a whole lot of honey in this one -- this is more of a fig scent. Gennivre, L'artiste Du Diable: Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey. This is a lovely scent, but it's really more of a tea contender, not a honey one. La Fée Verte: Sugared wormwood, hyssop and melissa with calamus, angelica and Dittany of Crete, blended with aohemian perfume of vanilla musk, honey absolute and Moroccan spices. I love this scent, and thankfully the honey in it doesn't smell bad on me at all. I love wearing this one. It's really unusual and almost always gets a compliment from someone. Khajuraho (2006 & 2007): honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower. Both versions (from both years) smell the same on me. It's perfumey and pretty, but I can't really tell there's honey in it. Litha: Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal. Mead yes, but honey no. Couldn't smell honey in this. Luperci (2006 & 2007): raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. The 2006 version smelled mostly like juniper, which I didn't like, and the 2007 version smells mostly like patchouli, which I do like. Neither have a detectable honey, though. The Masque: Honey and carnation, rich incense and rose accord, myrtle, red sandalwood, amber, jonquil and clove, patchouli, tobacco and labdanum. I could barely detect any honey in this, mostly spicy flowers. Milk Moon 2005: Cream and warm honey soften our traditional blend of lunar oils. I really, really like this one. Not wonky at all. This is lovely, creamy, and sweet. Wouldn't say it's strong on the honey, but it's so smooth and wonderful I must be picking up honey from it somehow. Milk Moon 2007: Sweet milk, golden honey, fig fruit, pomegranate, dates, and white grape. This one I had trouble with, though. Smelled like sour milk. The Oblation: A stirring blend of dianthus, French lavender, blackberry, and white honey. Couldn't smell honey in this. Smelled like blackberry wine to me. Ostara: Orris root, bergamot, frankincense, daffodil, orange pulp, attar of rose, jonquil, strawberry leaf, benzoin, violet leaf, copal, honey cakes, sweet cream, and the blossoms of springtime. Couldn't smell honey in this one either. Pink Moon 2005: This Lunar blend is soft with phlox, tulip, daffodil, dogwood and muscari, dusted with pink sugar and honey, and a touch of the first strawberries of the season. I couldn't tell there was any honey in this. Poisson D'avril: Lenten rose, crested iris, Virginia bluebell, primrose, moss phlox, blue crocus, daffodil, and dewy tulip with a touch of sugar blossom and honey. I can't detect honey in this. Rose Moon: Bulgarian rose, tea rose, violet leaf, opium poppy, Bois de Jasmin, patchouli leaf, honey, blue lilac, balsam, woodruff, and lemon peel. I couldn't detect any honey in this, just floral notes. Selkie: The chill waters of the Orkney coast, tea-leaved willow, honey-touched Grass-of-Parnassus, sea aster, and Scottish Primrose. I couldn't detect any honey in this. Svadhinaopatika: Golden amber, oude, red sandalwood, massoia bark, honey, and currant. This is one of those fabulous ones in which the honey undercurrent gives it a luxurious smoothness. I like this one.   Of those, I really liked Svadhinaopatika, Milk Moon 05, and La Fée Verte. But La Fée Verte is by far my favorite.   Verdict on Favorite Honey Scent: La Fée Verte
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

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Do you have a flag?
 

Favorite Mint

[see previous entries for what I'm doing here.]   Mint is often a deal-breaker note for me. I almost always do not go for the cool/chilly scents, and mint smells cool to me. In the worst situations it reminds me of toothpaste, and in the best situations it makes me think of dinner mints. Neither of those are things I'd consider favorite perfume scents. I do like some mint-scented soaps, so it's not that I dislike the scent of mint. It's just that as a personal fragrance it doesn't suit me.   GCs THAT CONTAIN MINT   Absinthe: Wormwood essence, light mints, cardamom, anise, hyssop, and lemon. Not primarily minty, mostly wormwood essence. Bess: rosemary, orange flower, grape spirit, five rose variants, lemon peel, and mint. This doesn't seem primarily minty to me because rosemary is always so strong on me. Calliope: lavender and bright mint with bergamot, verbena, thyme and a touch of sweet orange and warm almond. This is an herbal citrus scent on me and not very minty. Cathode: Ambergris, Spanish Moss, oakmoss, and mints. This one is minty, but I'm not a fan of the moss/mint combination. My notes for this scent said it reminded me of one of my dog's mint-flavored treats. Ew. Not a great association. No wonder I didn't like this scent. Cloister Graveyard In The Snow: Three white musks, ozone, frankincense, mint. This one was a surprise hit with me because I did not expect to like it. My notes said that the mint was the most captivating of the notes in the scent -- that is unheard of, with me. Death On A Pale Horse: empty white musk and mint seeped with solemn lavender, doleful patchouli and vetiver, scythe-sharp yuzu and lime, with geranium bourbon, white sandalwood and calla lily. I really didn't like this scent at all due to the yuzu. I don't think it was mostly minty, anyway. Dracul: Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom. My husband has a bottle of this and wears it from time to time. I like it, but it's not primarily minty. Envy: Green herbs slithering through mint, lime and lavender. Mostly herbal, not minty. House Of Night: [see description for what may be in it -- one thing mentioned was mint.] "A sorrowful graveyard bouquet of somber blooms, funereal boughs, dismal green and laden with grief." A sweet floral. Not minty. Juke Joint: Kentucky Bourbon, sugar and a sprig of mint. I can smell the mint in this, and I like the scent. Very evocative. The Lantern Ghost Of Oiwa: Black tea, cherry blossom, ho wood, calla lily, rice wine, and white mint. The mint in this is soft and smells fresh and clean. I like this one, but I can barely smell it on my skin. Manhattan: sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid. I love this scent -- it won my Favorite Grapefruit scent. Not really minty, though. Melpomene: dark cypress with mint, geranium, Bulgar lavender, orange blossom and passion flower. I didn't really smell mint in this, but it smelled kind of medicinal to me and I didn't like it. The Mock Turtle's Lessons: blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime. This is a good blend of mint and lime, and I do like it. My only complaint with it is that it disappears really fast on me. Shattered: A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms. This smells like mint-menthol on me and was totally not the kind of scent I like. Silence: White sandalwood, iris, blue musk, lotus root, moonflower, plum blossom, green tea, white mint and white peach. This perfume is gorgeous, and I love it. However, not primarily minty. It's one of the peach contenders. Ultraviolet: Lush violet and neroli spiked hard with eucalyptus and a sliver of mint. The eucalyptus in this one is very, very strong at first. I mean, like knock-you-over strong. That's what keeps it out of the running for my favorite anything. I do like the violet/mint combination I get when it's dry, but I really dislike the initial eucalyptus blast. Undertow: lotus and juniper with a hint of mint. Minty when wet, but sweet when dry. My notes said that when it was dry it reminded me of Pez. I have no idea why. Utrennyaya: Osmanthus, Damascus rose, violet, delphinium, white mint, palmarosa and white sandalwood. This smelled minty AND powdery on me. Not a good combination. Vicomte de Valmont: ambergris, white musk, white sandalwood, Spanish Moss, orange blossom, three mints, jasmine, rose geranium and a spike of rosemary. This one is a little too minty for me personally, but it smells great on my husband and I like it when he wears this.   The ones that didn't have mint listed in the notes but smelled a bit minty to me were Hamadryad (possibly due to wintergreen smelling minty to me), possibly Yggdrasil, maybe Nocnitsa, maybe Szepasszony, possibly Jezirat al Tennyn. I thought Tarot The Fool and Strength smelled a bit minty as well (but again, that could be due to wintergreen), and Grr is very definitely peppermint-scented (but I don't use that as perfume, of course).   So of all the ones listed above, the primarily minty ones I like are Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, Juke Joint, The Mock Turtle's Lessons, and Vicomte de Valmont. I think my favorite out of all those is Vicomte, but I don't wear that, my husband does. So I'll have to pick something else. I think Cloister Graveyard in the Snow wins.   LEs THAT CONTAIN MINT   Frost Moon: "traditional lunar oils frozen with winter mints, shivering eucalyptus, clear lotus, a gust of wind, and a midnight aquatic note." This smells much too cold for me to like it. F5: Aloe, white musk, lime peel, fresh mint, seaspray, verbena and green tea. I did like this one, surprisingly. It smells fresh and clean. It was really nice on hot days. Not really minty, though, mostly aloe, tea, and musk. Gennivre, L'artiste Du Diable: Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey. I like this one as well. On me it smells like a tea scent with a mild mint. Very pretty. Green Tree Viper: Snake Oil with four mints, bergamot, and green tea. I tried this but didn't write a review, and I'm trying to remember what I thought of it. I think that I didn't care for the Snake Oil + mint combination. Lick It: a candy cane perfume, minty, sweet and sugared. Smells exactly like a candy cane. Peppermint isn't my favorite mint, though. Lick It Again: "a peppermint candy cane with an extra jolt of sugar." This one also smells like a candy cane, but a bit smoother than Lick It. Like I said, though, not really into peppermint. Monster Bait: Tokyo Stomp: vanilla mint. Crisp and refreshing, but smooth as well. I was surprised and delighted that I liked this scent. It's probably the only mint scent I actually wear. Nuclear Winter: The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints. I liked this one. Didn't think I would, but I did. Very much a chilly scent. Snowblind: the perfect vanilla mint. I tried this a long time ago and gave it the boot due to being minty. I don't think I even wrote a review, I just passed it along. If I recall correctly, it did smell like dinner mints and I thought it wasn't that bad. I wish I'd kept a little bit of it so I could do a side-by-side comparison with Tokyo Stomp, but I don't have any Snowblind and I doubt I'll ever get any again. Spooky: buttery rum, cocoa, coconut, vanilla and peppermint. I like this scent. I haven't written a review for it yet, so I couldn't tell you what I like about it, I just know I like it. Taurus 07: Rose, daisy, apple blossom, violet, poppy, columbine, thyme, and mint. Sweet spring floral. Not minty. Treat #2: fig meat, coconut, "buttercream bonbon," orange rind, mint leaf, cardamom, clove, ginger, and milk chocolate. Smells very Fruit-Loopy on me. Not minty. Tulzcha: "A crystalline, cold green flame: six mints with white pepper and cucumber." Mint+cucumber. This is a cool, refreshing scent, and I do like it. I just never wear it. It's one of those scents I appreciate because it smells good but it doesn't really suit me. Usher: light musk, fougere, white mint, mandarin, tea leaf, blackcurrant, "brushed by the scent of the tarn that surrounds the House, and the gloom and decay of the walls that hold him." I gave a bottle of this to my husband and he wore it maybe once or twice. I remember liking it when he wore it, but I don't think he liked it. I can't remember if it was primarily minty, but I doubt it.   The one that didn't have mint listed in the notes but smelled minty to me was Snow-Flakes. I really like that one, but because I don't know for sure that it has mint in it, I can't include it.   So, of those ones, the ones I like are F5, Gennivre, Tokyo Stomp, Nuclear Winter, and Spooky. (Possibly Snowblind, but I wouldn't name one that rare as a favorite anyway because in order to be a favorite it has to be obtainable.) Out of those, my hands-down favorite is Tokyo Stomp.   Verdict on Favorite Mint Scent: Monster Bait Tokyo Stomp.
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

0
a stargirl's addiction
 

Twilight Alchemy Lab order

I'm currently doing my Masters in Professional Accounting, as well as working full time, and looking after 2 stepkids part-time, so life is pretty hectic and sometimes overwhelming at the moment. I read some reviews about the Twilight Alchemy Lab's utility oils, and they sounded exactly what they needed. So... I put in an order   Hey... it's for studying, right?!   All 5ml bottles   Concentration: A useful aid in study and ritual. Dot on palms and rub them together vigorously. Then inhale the scent to intensify mental focus and clear errant thoughts. This blend with sometimes provoke insight into problems and can be used for inspiration   Determination: A powerful aid in finding strength, drive and determination to complete projects. Battles frustration, sloth and rejuvenates your work ethic   Energy: An invigorating, stimulating blend. Replenishes depleted energy stores, banishes fatigue. Extremely useful after intense ritual or prolonged spellwork   Peace:Soothes frazzled nerves, brings serenity to the heart and tranquility to the home   (Ordered: 6-August, CnS: 8-August, Received: 16-August)
crushedstars

crushedstars

0
a stargirl's addiction
 

Third order from the Lab

Yep... officially addicted   Of course I had to make an order when the Singing Moon update went live last month... I'm still yet to receive this one, but it's finally on it's way now   All 5ml bottles, from the Full Moon update for September:   Singing Moon: Moonlight over grave grass, meadowsweet, marsh hellebore, rock sea-lavender, Irish Lady's-tresses, melancholy thistle, and wood bitter-vetch, with the scent of autumn fires in the distance, sprayed by wind howling over the Atlantic   The Emathides: Gleaming eyes, screeching voices, glistening wings: black amber, black orchid, black currant, olive blossom, wood violet, lavender, blue musk, rose attar, and cedar   Virgo 2007: Mutable earth: the essence of analysis. Fennel, valerian, maidenhair fern, carrot seed, honeysuckle, and myrtle   From General Catalogue: Moon Rose: A crisp, pale, almost translucent rose dusted by moonflower and midnight dew   Kurukulla: The Tibetan goddess of love and wealth. Her scent is a harmonious, sweet, enchanting blend of three lotus blooms and three roses   (Ordered: 26-July, CnS: 24-August, Received: not yet)   {I will eventually do reviews and stuff on here... I just wanted somewhere to keep track of my orders for the time being though }
crushedstars

crushedstars

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Forum Updates and News
 

[BANNED] Miss Anthropy (et al)

On August 22, 2007, MissAnthropy created a new account (InanimatusConjurus) for the purposes of trolling in the Conjure Oils thread. She was subsequently put on a 1-month suspension. Within an hour of her suspension, she created a second new account (paintahappylittletree), presumably to continue monitoring the situation with Conjure Oils. At this point in time, she had an additional 6-months added to her suspension for attempting to circumvent her suspension. Within two hours, she created a third new account (SeeYouNextTuesday), using a transparent proxy and sent me the following message. At this point in time, she was banned.
ipb

ipb

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heartbreakangel's Blog
 

Things are going apace...

Well, things aren't going too badly, at the moment, knock wood.   She told her parents the other night. Or, rather, a relative did. I think it was her other half sister. I need a flow chart to keep track of siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and other assorted relatives, as her mother's been married three times. So the one that I refer to as her father is actually her adoptive father, while her biological father has apparently remarried or something, and had children with another woman after the divorce from her mother. That's probably not important at this point, though, so...moving right along.   It didn't go over as badly as we'd thought. There was some momentary panic and assumptions of my character and motivations by her mom. I figured it would happen. I rolled my eyes over it, and uttered "whatever" quite a bit, and was not surprised to hear that those reactions were beaten down into the illogical hole they crawled out of, likely never to be seen again.   The going opinion? That it's obviously making my intended happy, that she's going to be 33 next year, and that even if this isn't what her mother had envisioned her life turning out to be, it's what she wants to do, and nobody can stop her.   I almost fell out of bed in shock over hearing that, considering certain bits of family history I've been involved in for the past five years. My dad was just as shocked to hear it, himself.   But, we're getting married, and nobody's cheesed off over it. At the moment, at least. I still haven't told my mother, who is probably going to wince a few times, as she's always thought I'd settle down with a man and have a host of children. Should make life fun, there.   We also picked out a formal engagement ring! She's going to send me the funds to order it within the next week or so, which means if things go as planned, I should have it by the end of September. I also picked out what I'd like for a bouquet, and what I want for a dress, and and and...   If all goes well, we should be married sometime in the spring. EEEEE!!!!
heartbreakangel

heartbreakangel

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Forum Updates and News
 

[BANNED] wichapi

There have been rumors floating about administrative action dealing with secondary accounts and banning. (I'm saying "secondary account" rather than "duplicate account" because we're now seeing forum members loan their accounts to other people - so the second account that's involved isn't necessarily "duplicate", but it's not an approved usage.)     As we've touched upon before, we have a slew of tools that we use to track secondary account activity, using common internet technologies such as cookies, sessions, and IP addresses. Cookies are tiny text files that live on your computer. You can opt out of them, though it takes away some of our cooler features (such as always staying logged in or collapsing forums). Sessions are something that our server create whenever you login. If you use cookies, there's actually cookies about your session information, and if you don't, the session information gets added to the end of the URLs. Cookies & sessions are specific not only your computer, but to your browser profile and computer login. IP addesses are like mailing addresses for computers, letting servers know how to send data (such as web pages and images) back and forth between a client (you) and a server (the host). Sometimes, there are intermediates between the two (like routers, firewalls, or proxies) - especially with dial-up or large networks - which will give the appearance of multiple people sharing an address.   Like everything else on the internet, these tools create logs. We review the logs both in batches and individually. We occasionally target individual accounts that have been suspended from swapping, reported as a swaplifter, or suspended (in general) for non-random screening -- to ensure that people who aren't supposed to be accessing the forum or particular areas of the forum aren't doing so by other means and to ensure that people who are ripping off forum members aren't doing it with multiple accounts (such as last year's love.is.suicide/simple.delight incident).   We could probably do away with all of these tools by forcing users to use services like ConfirmID to prove that they are who they say they are, but that requires all users be over 18, doesn't work for all countries, may not work if you've not got ready access to your proof of identity papers, and costs money -- and that doesn't work for us.   Let me repeat: at the end of the day, all of this is to make sure that people who aren't supposed to be accessing the forum/parts of the forum (banned users, suspended users, and users who are restricted from certain areas of the forum) cannot do so, and that people who are trying to rip off others can't do so with as many accounts as they care to create. Furthermore, things like occasionally logging in at a friend's house, or a coworker's computer, or a computer lab rarely trigger our asking questions, and being picked out as having unusual account traffic patterns doesn't usually result in any more than just a standard questionnaire.     But I digress.       We have been hearing rumors about how wichapi's account became banned, and since some of these rumors allege some shocking activities on our part, we are going to address this issue. Normally, it's not our practice to publicly disclose the specific reasons for banning someone, but with these allegations roaming around about the reasons for this banning, we've decided to what happened a matter of public record.     On February 11th, May 17th, and June 23rd (all in 2007), wichapi violated our price caps. Our policy on price caps states that on the third offense, users' accounts are barred from swapping for two months; on a fourth offence, they are permanently barred from swapping. I'm not going to discuss the merits of barring frequent price cap violators in this post -- that's its own discussion. Obviously, any swaps that were already in progress at the time of her banning could continue to their rightful conclusion -- but until late August, she could not start new swaps here at the forum. (Obviously, there was nothing stopping her from swapping on LJ or NALF or other locations.)   Swaps were initiated on or around June 30, July 9th, July 10th by wichapi - despite having her access to the swaps forum taken away on June 23rd. Our logs showed that during this period of time, wichapi was using the account of a coworker ("Black Medicine") to access the forum from her computer. Literally: someone(s) was logging out of wichapi's account, logging into the "Black Medicine" account, look at topics in the swap forums, log out of the "Black Medicine" account, log into the wichapi account, and go about her business (including arranging swaps, as evidenced by shipping notifications and timestamps on the swap posts she had been responding to). Whether they were doing it together or it was just wichapi is irrelevant - both types of actions intentionally subvert wichapi's ban on swapping on this forum.   On July 13th, the "Black Medicine" account was banned for abusing one of our members, abusing one of our moderators, and a long-established refusal to follow our guidelines. As is standard when we ban someone, we banned not only the account, but email addresses and IP addresses associated with it.   On July 14th, wichapi contacted us because she was unable to access the forum. This initiated the duplicate account analyzer while we were waiting to hear back about what IP address(es) she was attempting to access the forum from.   On July 15th, the account "ShyinChi" was created from wichapi's computer at home. Unlike most new users, this account accessed the New Members Validation Center (required by all users), scanned topics in the Introductions forum (which is where you go after you verify that you've read our rules), and visited several topics in the various swaps forums. Even when they don't read topics or participate, almost all of our new users visit other forums as well.   On July 16th, it was established that while wichapi's computer was behind a network both at home and work, to the best of her knowledge, she is the only person that uses her computers. (Incidentally, this does imply that she had obtained the password for "Black Medicine".)   On July 18th, wichapi mentioned that "Black Medicine" had accessed the forum from work - something we had already known. Nothing was said regarding home access, or about the "ShyinChi" account.   On July 22nd, wichapi's account was suspended from the forum as a whole for 6 months, and at the conclusion of her suspension, it would be suspended from the swaps section for an additional 3 month. This suspension was entirely due to the fact that two secondary accounts (one legitimate account, "Black Medicine", and one duplicate account, "ShyinChi") were used to access the swaps forum from wichapi's computers at home AND work while wichapi was banned from swapping. In her suspension notification, she was informed that any additional duplicate account activity would result in her account being banned from the forum.   On July 23rd, the account "MaineEvent" was created from wichapi's computer at work.   On July 24th, wichapi's account was banned from the forum, with the caveat that if we saw account activity from the two accounts that wichapi claims she did not create that demonstrated that they were in fact separate accounts (that is: not using her computer or network accounts), we would reverse the ban and continue on with the suspension.   On July 29th, wichapi provided the names of the individuals she claims created those accounts (two visiting artists), and complained that it wasn't fair that we were pegging her reinstatement on them. Additionally, she accused us of illegally penetrating her firewall in order to determine what happened on individual computers.   On July 31st, we notified her that her account was permanently banned.     To summarize: wichapi was initially barred from swapping for two months because she violated the price caps three times. It wasn't permanent, and it only applied to the swaps forum. Everything after that stemmed from her attempts to circumvent that barring, first by using other people's accounts, and then creating multiple accounts. After more than a dozen e-mails exchanged between she and we, during which she blamed co-workers at work and guests -- despite the fact that the log-in patterns clearly demonstrated that some of these other accounts were primarily logging on to spot potential swap partners, then logging back off so wichapi could contact them. At the end of the day, she was persistently attempting to circumvent the rules, and when we presented her with the evidence of that, she went so far as to accuse us of hacking her computers in obtaining that evidence. (For the record: we didn't.) As a result, we decided that she was not going to abide by our rules and had no wish to: we banned her.
ipb

ipb

0
heartbreakangel's Blog
 

Hrm...

I'm having a "I'm right, you're wrong" moment about this moving thing as far as how dad assumed it would go.   He's under the impression, as I said in the How Are You Feeling thread, that getting a work permit is going to be some kind of cakewalk for me.   It isn't.   Not only do I have to go up there to hunt out a job, get a letter stating I have the job, and submit an application for the permit, but there's just...ugh. The business I work for has to prove out that they cannot find a Canadian to fill the position I'm applying for. Not only that, they also have to prove out that the job market projections (simplified version, really) states that this is an okay thing to do. And they have to pay a laundry list of fees to accomplish all of this, so if for some reason my work permit is denied, they've just spun their wheels wasting all sorts of time trying to fill the position when...   ...they could've just hired a Canadian.   Anyone else seeing where the cards are really stacked against me on this one?   Oh, and if I wanted to come in under the Skilled Worker classification, there's at least a two plus year lag time on applications, according to the CIC website. 80% of cases get finalized in 30 months. Not that it would matter, as I'm three points off from the lowest number of points you can have (67) to come in under this header. I'm also pretty sure that my skill levels aren't as up to par as I'd need them to be to...you see where this is going. It's just not something that's feasible.   So that leaves the marriage option. Which is what my intended and I are hoping to do as soon as humanly frickin' possible in the first place. It's more complex than simply getting hitched and waltzing across the border. It's never, ever that simple. Which is fine, since I think I understand this process a bit more than all of the other stuff, anyway. Not that this says much, as my brain's kind of lacking anything beyond a basic "durr" response at the moment.   Now we just need to, oh, I don't know...break it gently to her folks that we got back together, and that we're intending on getting married within the next year. I also have to sit my dad down and tell him that no, I am not kidding, as I'm pretty sure it hasn't settled in with him as more than something I've mentioned in passing. It won't surprise me to find out he's taking a nice cruise down denial, really.   Anyone got any tips for how to deal with the inevitable "WHAT?!" response we're likely to get from her parents?
heartbreakangel

heartbreakangel

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Indigo's Blog
 

Review: Has no Hanna

Going through some of the new imps and fighting the urge to slather on lots of Purple Phoenix again:       I think that will be my imp of the day.   Wet: Mmmm. This is sweet. And I can kinda sorta smell the notes I was given to expect by the writeup, but they're so nicely blended I can't really pick them up. If this maintains this way, it goes in the "keepers".   Dry-Down: Hm. I had heard of fragrances turning soapy on the wearer. I think I'm experiencing that now. It's not bad, but I am definitely brought to mind with soap.   Throw: I have a hard time picking out throw because my sense of smell is so diminished by allergies and the like.   Oh, and this one seems to be another voodoo blend. I seem to gravitate straight for those before I even realize they are voodoo blends.   Later: It seemed to fade away to nothing by lunchtime. But I had some running around to do at lunch. The fragrance rallied in the Atlanta heat and I was surrounded by spicy loveliness all afternoon. And no soapiness!       Keeper!
Indigo

Indigo

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Lili's Blog
 

:-(

The last seven days have just plain sucked, especially when it comes to BPAL. First I managed to burn out my nose- all my BPALs suddenly smelled like "vague perfume". I totally lost the ability to tell them apart. I went without for two days (well, actually, it was more like a day and a half- I couldn't wait any longer) and that seemed to help.   Now I'm having a different problem...all my scents are turning to soap on drydown. I tried Succubus today and it was one of the few "OMG" scents I've found so far...but within half an hour? Soap. Nothing but f*cking mildly orange-scented soap. I'm so sad.   Maybe it's just because I'm in the "PMS monster" part of my cycle? Could that be it? If not...I guess I'll have to see how Succubus does in a scent locket, because dammit, I want this scent to love me like I love it!
lilirose

lilirose

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Nia's Blog
 

The end of the Bewitching Brews

Plans for this week:   Unit 37: Wilde DONE Unit 38: Zephyr DONE Unit 39: Nocturne DONE Unit 43: Sheol DONE Unit 44: Shroud. DONE   the end of the Ars Moriendi line (probably my least favourite GC line, too much earth and cypress and lilies).   I need to skip units 40-42 because they might be left out or condensed for the exam.   Now, for each book I read out of the books I must return to the library in three weeks, another imp, that I will pick up as I finish them.   Dissenting Voices: Undertow. Mujeres en el Mundo: Envy. Masculinity and Polite Society: Gluttony.
Nia

Nia

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Nia's Blog
 

Weekend TALs

my TAL list is now two bottles and 3/5 after all the hard work I have done in the garden during the weekend And also because someone said something annoying and I had the good sense not to start a fight. Yeah.
Nia

Nia

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Indigo's Blog
 

BPAL Fan Art!

Based off a conversation I had with my good friend Jenni.   I told her Rose Cross would suit her. We agreed it sounded like a Final Fantasy special attack. She asked what I thought it would look like, and I told her. Today I needed some practice doing digital inking, so I drew it.  
Indigo

Indigo

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Welcome to the Abatoir
 

Hooray for labels

I see that I'm no longer dubbed the embarressing Newbie term of "casual sniffer" I'm now a wrist sniffing wench! haha someday I'll be something like sexy swapper or imp-pulsive. and maybe the power member too! funny things that make one feel speshal.
Meshuganah

Meshuganah

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Indigo's Blog
 

...wow.

I now officially need a bigger BPAL container.   <lj user="kandrinchae">, as a "thank you for enabling me" gift got me:   Midnight on the Midway Bakeneko Madame Moriarty: Misfortune Teller Monster Bait: Bigger Critters   and the lovely person she got them from gimped me with Obatala and Pinched with 4 Aces, as well as some LUSH haircare.   <lj user="crazyfurries"> sent me a box of stuff I'm to give to others, but also gifted me with chocolate body wash [and I was just about out of soap, too!], bath bombs, plush toys [including a chibi Hiro!] and a little box that may have been an Altoids tin in a previous life, which is now full of bpal imps:   Purple Phoenix [how did she KNOW? And she sent me a bottle of it too!] Djinn Has no Hanna Cheshire Cat Ultraviolet [which I think I've tried already? Maybe?] Whitechapel [...Jack the Ripper?] Marie Embalming Fluid [oh, that'll be fun to wear for work, yes it will] Gluttony Sophia Dove's Heart Drink Me     ...do I have incredibly awesome friends or what?   Or is that I have really insistent enablers?
Indigo

Indigo

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Magda's Blog
 

Day One

Finally enabled my best friend last night and we spent a good few hours (with breaks for our sniffers, natch) going through all my imps and bottles. It was a great time, but I realized something. I am really, really disorganized. Sure, I astounded her when she had me sniff something and I cried, "Oooh, I love Red Lantern!" without having to look at the label, but that's pretty basic, really. You smell Red Lantern once, you recognize it again.   She's really good at descriptions. She'd sniff something and then tell me a story about how it reminded her of sitting in her studio apartment two years ago writing her first story, so I've encouraged her to come to the boards and read the reviews and then leave her own, so I hope that sticks.   Anyway, I realized that my list of what I've tried and what I haven't and what I liked and what I didn't, etc. is very sloppy. It's one .doc file with highlights and different colored fonts that I can't remember what they mean anymore. So, yes. Organization. Maybe this blog will help.   Today I'm wearing Pumpkin Patch #1, the one with cider mulling spices. It makes me ache for fall.
Magda

Magda

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Indigo's Blog
 

More BPAL Magic

I have been having an ongoing problem with a coworker I call "Freckles," and his tendency to go all religious, and work religion into conversation or the class I'm helping him teach, whenever possible.   My LJ friends have been very supportive.   Today, though, I wore Wolf's Heart.   I got the courage to broach the subject with a couple coworkers. One told me she finds him abrasive and she has the urge to tell him to STFU every time he cracks on how skinny she is.   The other informed me that when word got around I'd be working with "Freckles," the response was "uh-oh -- conflict," because people thought our personalities would clash.   Today was also the least offensive he's been to me in four work days.   I think I need a bottle of STFU.
Indigo

Indigo

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heartbreakangel's Blog
 

More on the Canada Stuff...

Okay. Apparently, the way we initially wanted to do things is not going to be nearly as easy nor as smart as we thought.   I've looked through tons of information as of last night, the lump sum of which states that the onus to prove out a "genuine relationship" pretty well falls on me. It also appears that a quick civil ceremony with no family and no reception afterwards will look rather suspect on the application. This doesn't particularly make me happy, as it adds an entirely new level of stress to the whole situation.   My dad, who doesn't know about the whole marriage thing yet, is convinced I'll have no problems getting up there on a work visa. That's all fine and good. There's just one thing I keep seeing in bold, all over the work visa applications. "You must be able to prove to the officer that you will leave Canada when your permit expires".   Granted, I can always apply for extensions to such, and all of that fun stuff, but...eh. This leaves a ton of questions drifting through my head, and I really do not want to get caught with my ass dangling out somewhere up in Ontario with applications in such a fashion that I need to drop everything and come back down here because an immigration official said so. That would suck.   So. Uhm. Eep? I'm perplexed!
heartbreakangel

heartbreakangel

4
RogueFeenix's Blog
 

Update and mushy love stuff.

Well I guess I'll update this thing.   The main reason I wanted to write something , is that I wanted to post in the cute love thread but didn't know what I wanted to say and didn't want to ramble since I tend to do that alot.   Allen and I are together and we are so happy. Last night I went over to my parents house ( they are out of town, I'm water plants and getting mail for them). While he was at work, I cooked up some treats for him, and did laundry. He came over after work ( about 4am) and we laid on a blanket and watched the stars.   We talked and held hands, and cuddled. I had never seen a shooting star before. First one I saw, I made a wish on it. He tried to guessed what it was but he was wrong.   We laughed, we talked about stars, and a few other things. After a good bit and many falling stars ( I saw a bunch) he started to get eaten by bugs so we went in. We decided to stay in the big guest bed, it's and king and why the heck not.   He showered and I got the bed all ready, we snuggled in this big fluffy bed while watching tv ( don't have a tv in the bedroom). The whole night I had HUGE grin on my face.   I fell asleep snuggled on him, when he finally went to sleep he cuddle on my back like he normally does. In the morning we cuddled in bed a bit before he had to run off to a Dr's appointment.   It was such a simple night but it was so amazing. He sleeps at my apartment all the time, we spend tons of time together, but something about last night was special. I can't put my finger on it.   Sometimes I look over at him and just smile from ear to ear, I do it when he isn't looking and just watch him.   When he wraps his arms around me it feels like home, when he smiles, it lifts me up, it makes me smile and I think how lucky I am to love him, and that he loves me too.
RogueFeenix

RogueFeenix

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heartbreakangel's Blog
 

Oh Ehm Gee!

I figured since I have something momentous and happy to write about, I'd finally start a blog over here. So, here it goes.   I'm getting married! EEEEEEEEE!!!!!   *ahem*   Not only that, but I'm moving to Ontario, likely at the end of next summer. I have school to finish, and some other stuff I need to do as far as finding a job and saving money, so I really need to get my backside in gear with things and make this happen.   What we're considering right now is her coming down to visit in the spring, so we can have the civil ceremony then. It'll cost less down here, for one thing, which is why it appeals so much. It'll be around that time that I'll hopefully just be finding a job, so then I'll have the ability to grab up the funds for application fees. I'm going for permanent residence status, as far as how it's looking right now.   Which means I have a ton of stuff I need to read through, and figure out. I've probably also got a ton of calls to make to ask questions, and...gaaaaaah. It's going to make me crazy, but it'll be so worth it.   The really funny thing? She asked me four times about three years ago if I'd marry her. I kept saying no, because we weren't in a good spot to even remotely consider the idea. I still have the ring she bought me with the intended purpose of proposing, and I never take it off unless I'm having x-rays done or something along those lines. It's a nice Celtic knotwork band that we got at a mall kiosk. We wound up laughing about this over the phone the other night, since that's one less thing we really have to worry about.   But. Yeah. I'm getting MARRIED, to an absolutely amazing woman that I've known and been with for five years, give or take. I keep alternating between feeling a bit shocked, and being so giddy that all I want to do is skip around the house like I'm six.
heartbreakangel

heartbreakangel

0
What smells in here?
 

A wonderful compliment!

Laurin said I should start a food blog. I thought that was a great compliment. I love talking about food and getting in the kitchen and tinkering with new recipes. I was recently in hospital for 6 days having had emergency surgery and while I was there I was on a clear liquid diet. I lost 7 pounds, but other than that lovely bonus, not being able to enjoy food is one of the worst tortures about being confined to a hospital room.   I have low potassium so we bought more bananas than I could eat or make smoothies with on our supermarket stock up when I was discharged on Thursday. A pile of overripe bananas just beg to be made into a succulent banana cake. I have a favorite banana bread recipe, but I decided to jazz it up a bit.   Cranberry Walnut Vanilla Spiced Banana Cake   Basic Banana Bread: 2 cups AP flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 eggs beaten 1 stick unsalted butter 1/2 cup brown sugar (I mixed dark and light) 2-3 cups mashed overripe bananas   Additions: 1 tablespoon best quality vanilla extract 1 package cranberry walnut snack mix from Trader Joes (about 1 cup) tossed in 1 teaspoon flour 1 teaspoon best quality ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg   Whisk together flour, soda, salt and spices. Cream together brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat egg and with vanilla and mix into the butter and sugar mixture. Stir in bananas. Mix into dry ingredients to moisten and then stir in the cranberry and walnuts. Pour into a prepared round cake or loaf pan. Bake cake pan for 45 minutes at 350 or loaf pan for 60-65 minutes. Let cool if you can stand the wait and then devour.
Ina Garten Davita

Ina Garten Davita

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Korshka's BPAL Ramblings
 

Plane Flight

Right now, I'm flying somewhere over Florida/South Carolina. I'm heading up to Raleigh NC to be Corporate Girl for a few days. It's some sort of training that they send us younger engineers on to show us the way. It should be interesting. I'm looking forward to the camaraderie part of it too. Too often I don't get to interact with the engineers on the "other side" of the office. I would like this chance to get to know them better.   My favorite time to fly is sunset. The most beautiful sunsets are above the clouds. Tonight's was no different. The colors are so rich and beautiful. However, while this may have been one of the better sunsets, it has also been one of the most turbulent rides. The pilot warned us that we will be going through some thunderstorms here soon. I hate thunderstorms. We just passed a huge black cloud - very ominous. Although, it also contrasts the beauty of the sunset very nicely.   One of the guys with us hasn't flown on a plane in since he was a kid. As such he had no idea about the liquid rules had to turn around at security to go check his bag. I had to check mine b/c of my moose. That doesn't come in travel size. Another of our group managed to misplace her boarding pass right before we boarded the plane. Thankfully that isn't an issue. Actually the truly amazing thing is despite my ditziness this afternoon, I haven't been the most flighty of our group.   Actually over the past two to three years I really have done a lot of flying. Between visiting family and visiting Mr Man before I moved down here, I feel like an airport veteran. Welp – time for me to put this away we are making our decent into Raleigh now.
korshka

korshka

0
Welcome to the Abatoir
 

Saving Private Squirrel part deuce

Well, we put the little man to sleep this morning. I came in and he was same as yesterday, flailing and limp on one side. Nora and I concluded it was some sort of concusion and spinal trauma. Something that couldn't be helped in the case the he was a squirrel and not a regular pet. I asked our Doctor to euthanize him and he obliged. I couldn't bear to just drop him somewhere outside after our manager expressed how uncomfortable she was having him in the clinic. The thought of him helpless to walk and take care of himself, stranded in some remote bush with no food, and eventually dying of starvation was something I couldn't have on my conscience. With one direct plunge of the syringe into his heart and a barely audible squeak he was dead within seconds. instead of inhumanly disposing of him I put him in the freezer with our other passed on pets to be cremated. I was sad for him, I tried as hard I knew to help him and there was just nothing I could do. I hope he won't hold it against me that we put him down, I hope he had some sigh of relief as the Euthasol quickly killed the pain and stopped the heart. I'm just a soul who's intentions are good, oh lord don't let me be misunderstood.
Meshuganah

Meshuganah

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