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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!
    • 5 comments
    • 7,040 views
Is Anybody Out There?
 

Scents of the Moment

Obsessing over trying: TKO, Leo '07, Victoria, Lysander, Schlafende Baigneuse and Crowley. Bottles I particularly yearn for: 51, Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, Queen of Sheba, TKO, Bengal, Snowflakes Imps I particularly yearn for: Croquet, TKO, Crowley, Tristran, Hermia. LE's I'd almost rent out my soul for: Storyville, SN Lime, SN Pomegranate, Fee, Tears, Circe, Noir LE's I'd almost always accept another bottle of: Et Lux Fuit, Snowflakes, Boomslang, Punkie Night LE's I'd always accept another imp of: Storyville, Beaver Moon, Pink Moon '05, Chaste Moon and the bottle bunch, of course! Catalog bottles I absolutely can't be without: Katharina, Whitechapel and Alice. BPTP stuff I would sell my soul for: (other than a scent locket, obviously) Bitter Moon tee. Mum Moon tee, too.   Previously in my wishlist, I decided to take it out but to leave it available here. It'll be updated with some frequency as my mood dictates.   I'm also putting some of my wishlist on here that doesn't need to be up there anymore; namely Tarot and such.   Tarot The World Temperance *The Hanged Man Justice Strength *The Hierophant *The Sun The High Priestess The Chariot   The Chakras   Vishuddha Manipura Sahasrara   TAL   Charisma Glamour   *Anthelion *Bastet's Laughter *Block Buster *Euphony *Hand of Hermes *Hymn to Pan *Radiance of Ra **Road Opener   Brass Balls Foundation of Fortune King Solomon's Millk and Honey *Perpetuum Bonum   White Light   Catalyst Clarity **Concentration **Crucible of Courage *Determination **Healing *Mnemosyne Ouroboros Wolf's Heart   I don't want any TAL that I could mistakenly cause negative effects. I'm not a magical practitioner, but I do have faith that focusing energy really does make a difference. (That's just my little disclaimer about TAL oils.)
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
Diplomatka
 

I'm not your "sister"

Why is it no matter where I go I get cat-called? I can be wearing anything, any time of the day in any part of the city and men cannot help but yell something at me! Walking back to my office from lunch with my husband a man pulled up next to me in his car and yelled, “sexy!” And last week, wearing sweats with greasy hair going to play Frisbee a man in a minibus taxi pulled in between me and my husband just to holler at me (I was walking with him and three Ethiopian men, but the driver was undeterred): “Hey baby, how are you?”   What are these guys thinking? Seriously, is there some myth about white women that I have not heard? Do they think that I am going to talk to them? What gives them the fucking right to walk past me and whisper, “sweet, sweet sister”? What gives them the right to even talk to me at all? I just want to yell “LOOK, I AM WALKING WITH MY HUSBAND, THE ONLY WHITE GUY WITHIN A TEN MILE RADIUS AND I AM WEARING BUSINESS CLOTHES. I AM NOT A PROSTITUTE AND I HAVE NO REASON TO TALK TO YOU. FUCK OFF.”   I really need to invest in a tazer.
Confection

Confection

0
Is Anybody Out There?
 

Unsent

So here are things I've recently figured out about myself:   I don't trust people. Moreso than I originally believed. I have issues with my father, but I think those issues are easier for me to resolve, because I've written him off. What's going to be hardest for me is that most of my issues stem from my mother, and I can't bear to think about that. I love my mother, and I know she loves me and did the best she could, but... there's a lot of anger and I don't know how to deal with that. I am a freak who cannot find closure in any way over some STUPID boy I met online AGES ago. This is disturbing. I just want to heal, but he hurt me on such a base level that I sort of sealed it off and now I can't get to it. I don't want him; I don't want to be with him, and if he ever showed back up in my life, I'd probably tell him to trust his instincts and get the hell away from me. But first I would tell him all the things that hurt me. Maybe I just want some acknowledgement of what he did. And there's a part of me that hopes he never realized how much it hurt me, because I don't want him to be capable of doing that to anyone. I need to take care of myself.   Why is this called unsent? Because I'm going to start writing physical letters to people I can't let go of, and pretend that they've been read and heard, and hopefully that will help.
smallvoice

smallvoice

0
readiness' Blog
 

Holding Pattern

It feels like I'm in a holding pattern continually circling The. Big. Move.   I feel like have so much left to do and people to see and no time anymore. Yet I do. I have time to go to work and do chores. Like today. I have this afternoon. But I still have stuff to do. But it's all the boring empty and refilling boxes.   I need to find out if greeting cards count media mail. I am so fucked if not.   I need a job in New York for what feels like yesterday. But it's hard - esp in my back up retail, to be like yes I'll move out in three weeks. hozaboutthat? But not having a job definitely makes me nervous.   My mom, dad and Tom have all said they will not let me starve for that first non-job (maybe) month. So no real worries right? Well should not be. But I worry.   But then on days like today I'm like ho hum. I need to make money. how can I do that. hate telefund.   And I was just told that the will call for next month is going to be the day after I leave. *severe and SAD pout*
readiness

readiness

0
Nia's Blog
 

Let's make this harder

I spend way too much time online. I'm going to give myself 1/5 of a TAL bottle for every day in which I limit web browsing to (quick) email/forum/blog checks. Say, 30 minutes a day.   My first bottle is going to be Lionheart.   Wednesday: Bad day. I spent a lot of time in a lot of different forums Thursday: I can't concentrate in anything after a tiring morning with several appointments and I again wasted too much time.   Friday 13th and Saturday 14th: This is beginning to work. So far I've deserved 2/5 of a bottle
Nia

Nia

0
Korshka's BPAL Ramblings
 

Rest In Peace, Grandma

I'm back home. The past week has been very up and down, and very emotional. Below is my release of that.   I flew in Wednesday around noontime. Daddy picked me up at the airport, and we went back to the hospital where my mom was waiting with Grandma. Just seeing Grandma like that...so very sad. I had forgotten just how bad people looked so close to death. Grandma wasn't conscious or aware of much of anything. She had just gotten her morphine for the pain and ativan for agitation. We went to lunch and then came back for a little longer before heading to the house. We talked, and I did little things here and there, but for the most part I felt like we were just waiting for the phone to ring and holding our breath every time it did.   On Thursday, we headed back to the hospital, and Grandma was moved from the heart hospital to the general hospital and placed under "hospice" care. This pretty much just meant that she was terminal and there to be kept comfortable until she died. Thursday was horribly hard for me. Grandma was restless and moaning. She still wasn't very aware of what was going on, but she was notably unhappy. It really tore into me to see her this way. This was when I started wishing for her let go. I felt really horrible to feel that way because I felt that I should be wishing for her stay with us, but there was no hope for her to get better, and she seemed like she was in so much suffering. I wanted that to end and for her to move on to peace.   But she kept holding on...   Friday, I decided I could not handle another hospital visit and that I needed to get some work done. I did put forth a good effort to work, but I feel short only getting about 3 hours done. Instead, I called up a friend from high school and was able to go over to her house to visit with her. It was really good seeing her and her 3 little girls. After a while, I started feeling that need to go home, so I said good bye and headed back to my parents house. When I got there, my parents told me that they had gotten the call.   Grandma had died.   They had all (my Mom's brothers and sisters) and met up at the hospital after a few of them had had an appointment at the funeral home to make sure everything would be ready. Most of them had been there at one time or another over the past few days except one sister. It was shortly after she had left, that Grandma died. We think she was just waiting for her last daughter to come to her, tell her it was alright, and say goodbye.   I didn't start crying. I felt sad, but at the same time, I felt peace for her.   The week of July 4th is always the week that my mom's family goes to the beach for a week, and this year they needed it even more. So that night my parents hurried themselves packing and headed down to Myrtle Beach Saturday morning. I thought the time by myself at the house would help me start grieving, but I still couldn't. I held myself up so tight for the past couple days, that I still couldn't let myself go. I was just numb. I did, however, fell the need to binge out on B&J's ice cream. Saturday night, Sister and Brother-In-Law got in. It was BIL's birthday - poor guy.   Sunday, just existed, I don't really remember doing much. Today though was the visitation and funeral.   Grandma was all dressed up and looked quiet and sleeping. Under the nice outfit that she had worn at Sister's wedding was a red t-shirt. My little cousins had bought that shirt for her a few weeks back at Disney world. Grandma was in the hospital then, so they just showed it to her, and she was never able to wear it. At the visitation, I was still very numb. It came in little waves, but the big stuff was still being held back somewhere deep inside. We stood around and talked. I was able to see a few relatives that I hadn't seen in a long time. It was at the end of the visitation that it hit me.   I was standing outside waiting for Grandma to be moved to the awaiting hearse for the precession to the grave site. I was looking in the door and saw two men from the funeral home rolling the casket down the hall. All of the sudden it hit me. It was my Grandma, and she was being taken away. I wanted to jump out of my skin. I wanted to run to the casket and tell them to get away from my Grandma. She was mine, and they couldn't take her away from me. I want to scream out to her that I loved her and that I didn't want to lose her. Daddy must have seen whatever it was snap inside of me. He had gone to put something in the car, and I was just standing by myself. All I know is that all of the sudden he was by my side holding me as I just sobbed. My Grandma was gone. They were taking her away from me.   I watched as they put her in the hearse, and then we got into the car. I started crying again as we drove down the streets of Camden. At the first intersection, a cop car sat to block traffic, and the officer was standing next to it with his hat over his heart in tribute to our loss. It was very touching to see each of the cops doing this as we made our way through town.   The grave site funeral was short and very catholic. Afterwards, we talked so me more. Grandma is now resting next to Granddad, who died a little over 20 years ago.   I am still breaking out into tears every now and then. I'm really going to miss her. I imagine it'll be really hard this Christmas when she isn't there, and we aren't at her house. It is good that my family have this week at the beach together. I think it will help them grieve together and heel together.
korshka

korshka

0
Do you have a flag?
 

On hiatus from the forums for a while. (I hope it's just a while.)

I know a lot of people think that cat-macro-speak is really cute and funny, and I'm glad that people are enjoying themselves.   Personally, though, I really dislike it. A lot. It was sort of cute the first time I saw a cat macro about a year ago, but it got old fast, and now it's pretty much into clenched teeth territory.   It wasn't so bad when the macro thread first came out and it was contained just to that thread, but that way of writing and arranging words/letters has now leaked into posts in other threads and it's been showing up on the LJ BPAL communities too. It's gone beyond just being annoying for me. I can ignore it if it happens once in a while, but all of a sudden it's everywhere.   I guess that means I have to avoid the forums and the LJ communities for a while. It's kind of weird because I feel like I've put up with lots of things -- being swaplifted, being snarked at, trying to avoid the drama -- and in the end it was cat-macro-speak that ended up being more than I could deal with.
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

6
Nia's Blog
 

Still beginning

Mission 2: Fusing units 1 to 5, which deal all with very general concepts on language learning & acquisition, and communication theory.   Reward: Five Neil Gaiman imps from a decant circle: Crowley, War, Fairy Market, Tristan, Yvaine.   I want to do one unit a day.   Monday, unit 1: Completed! I have a lovely unit on the history and current tendencies of foreign language teaching. I have earned my Crowley. Tuesday, unit 2: On the relationship between the first and the second language. I have earned War! Friday: I've had a marathon and finished units 3 (left half-finished yesterday), 4 and 5. However, I have not concentrated as much as I should so I'm just adding the Fairy Market imp.   Monday: Unit 6. Tristan is mine! Tuesday: Unit 7: Yvaine is on the lot! Mission accomplished!
Nia

Nia

0
Whiskers and Whispers
 

Now that's an update!

This update was much more my thing than the last one...lots of amber, musk, witches and fairies and Good Omens too? I like that! My prediction for this update bringing hot, sunny scents was correct, as was my prediction for Leo containing amber. I'm now regretting buying second bottles of both Red Moon and Leo...Fairy Market looks so amazing, as does the Witch Queen, and Aziraphale and Crowley are coming home with me when I order on the 13th.   My Saturday evenings will be boring again now that Dr Who is over...   And I wish the weather could warm up a bit, it's almost July and it feels like October, but without the prettiness of autumn leaves. And the rain won't stop. I think the pizza and pasta cravings will return by next week, but the question is, will UK versions satiate them now I've tasted the real Italian stuff?   Oh, and I need a job. Now. Not just for the money but for something to keep me busy during the holidays. It's nice being lazy but it gets boring just lying about doing nothing after some time. I need routine and something constructive to do. And some money would be nice.
PurringPulsar

PurringPulsar

0
Sourball Ho!
 

Big update!

First off: I got a raise today! Yeehaw! Here’s a quick run-through of the HUGE update:   Red Moon. Our blend for this Moon mixes traditional lunar oils with the warmth of amber, red musk, and heliotrope, the russet haze of dragon's blood resin, sunflower, and crushed orange peel, with a dusting of summertime herbs: chamomile, rue, elder flower and marigold. I sniffed the previous incarnation at a Meet-n-Sniff which was beautiful, and this looks to have red musk and sunflower added which sounds even better. I’m so glad this is back! I had no inkling this would return.   Allison Gross. Witch-herbs, crushed golden flowers, and a man-made-dragon’s surly musk lightened by the scent of the blossoms and unearthly incense that clings to the Faerie Queen’s hair. Dragon’s blood musk, ambergris, sunflower, chrysanthemum, muguet, and rue, with gingered lily, moonflower, bluebell, peony, nightwort, and white rose. I’m not sure about what may end up being “bubblegum musk.” The unusual flowers (sunflower, gingered lily, bluebell) may make it interesting.   Leo. Egyptian amber, walnut bark, chamomile, frankincense, and saffron. this sounds like a sneezing fit between the amber, bark and chamomile.   Sportive Sun. Heliotrope, amber, almond flower, frangipani, cedar, and calamus. Sounds nice except for the cedar.   Gibbous Moon. Moonflower, Madonna lily, orris, white ginger, cucumber, hyacinth, and Irish moss. Too much floral in this one.   Agnes Nutter. Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails. When we go to estate sales, many times in the “old man garage” there are saved coffee cans of old nails and nuts and bolts, along with hunting rifles and ammo. So all I’m imagining is this smelling like old man garage.   Azriphale. Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord. I want to try this to see what “dusty Bible accord” smells like.   Crowley. Infernal musk, red patchouli, lilac cologne, mahogany, lemon rind, oakmoss, leather, and vanilla husk. This sounds a bit too masculine with the lilac cologne, mahogany and leather.   Shadwell. Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, sweet tea, and condensed milk. What are roll-ups, other than the pressed-fruit snack I ate as a kid? Old pants? Ew.   War. Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks. This sounds like a winner, like my beloved Glasya.   Fairy Market. Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass. I don’t do lavender, so “everlasting lavender” sounds even worse. Everything else sounds cool.   Tristran. Dust on your trousers, mud on your boots, and stars in your eyes: redwood, tonka bean, white sandalwood, lemon peel, patchouli, rosewood, coriander, and crushed mint. Redwood would probably be too strong on me; another masculine one.   Victoria. Graceful vanilla musk, tea rose, and stargazer lily. Vanilla musk and tea rose sounds lovely.   Witch Queen. Wild plum, red musk, tuberose, calla lily, heliotrope, pimento, ylang ylang and beeswax beneath a dark haze of sinister purple-hued incense smoke. Dang, wild plum and red musk right off the bat, like a one-two punch of favorites.   Yvaine. The high, crystalline scent of a star-filled night with blue lavender and lush magnolia. Lavender again, nah.   Also, more soaps! I recently tried Snake Oil and Shub soaps (Shub is finishing up in the shower). I knew that quite a bit of oil goes into the batches, but I was disappointed personally that the fragrance didn’t last on my skin without the backup boost of oil applied later. I was really hoping for a nice overpowering blast of scent; bowl me over! I don’t care! Alas, I get dressed and can smell the detergent from my clothes more than my nice soap. However, Bordello and Perversion are two of my absolute favorites and I will probably order those eventually.   In conclusion: since I already ordered the 2 Sephiroth bottles, I’m going for Red Moon only.
dawndie

dawndie

4
Nia's Blog
 

The beginning

This is the plan: I need to prepare for a Government exam that is the entry to a teaching position in the State high schools. There are 70 theory units and 15 practical ones. 70-ish is the approximate size of my BPAL wishlist, so I will give myself an imp for every unit I finish, with a few tweaks.   First mission: getting two different sets of units from other people to fuse them and create my own "textbook". Reward: Antique Lace. I'm going to work up a wishlist /shopping list in alphabetical order, although for particularly big hurdles I will promise myself 1/5 or a 1/4 of a TAL bottle.   Sunday the 1st: DONE!
Nia

Nia

0
captain diana's log
 

crap for crap

I am freaking out that I only have about a day left to order the Sephiroth & Tarots I still want/need.   I have 14 of the 26 tarot oils, but I don't know if it would be wise to order 12 bottles, especially since I'm trying to clear out all my debt right now. I've kind of narrowed it down to 6 bottles (Chariot, Hermit, Justice, Devil, Tower, Ace of Swords) but that's still a lot. Maybe I can get it down to about 3 and just get an imp pack so that I can at least have a wee bit of the missing ones.   As for the Sephiroth, there are about 3 I still want (Hod, Golachab, Gamaliel), and about 3 I could live without, but I'm eh about them (Geburah, A'Arab Zaraq, Nahemoth). I also want to get a backup Chokmah. Anything remotely Snake Oil-ish is something that I need in mass quantities.     eieieieeeee decisions.
Diana

Diana

0
Whiskers and Whispers
 

I'm back from sunny Sicily....

...in rainy London. I suppose it's nice to have a break from +100 degree heat but I do miss the nice weather. I had a wonderful time. One of my favourite holidays for a long time, it's been memorable and eventful in many ways. Oh, and the food has been stunning. I should have put on weight with all the pizza and pasta and ice cream I wolfed down but all the walking I did (climbing Etna!) must have burnt it all off. Here's a little summary of how it went:   Highs and Lows:   -as I said, the food! I am very pizza and pasta-ed out now but the pizzas here, and my mum's tomato sauce, are nothing compared to the pizza and pasta I had in Sicily. Don't get me started on the ice creams. -Cefalu, the town I stayed in, is possibly the most charming little Mediterranean town I've stayed in so far. Lots of lovely little alleys and wonderful restaurants, and it seems pretty untouched by the full tourist thing (ie, no McD's or Starbucks yet), and with a great beach. -the mozzies treated me like a pizza and I ended up looking like one thanks to their feasting. I've never had bites so big and itchy! -the heat was unreal. I mean, 47C? (not sure what it is in fahrenheit but I know it's over 100) Even on the beach? It was truly Saharan out there. There were wildfires aplenty, followed by blackouts and even water shortages. (As my 'doomsday dad' would say, that's a taster of what's to come for the UK in 20 years time!) I also got a sunburnt arse, which is pretty hurty. -climbing Etna was amazing! It was sweltering at the coast and yet there was snow at the top of the volcano, right alongside hot steaming vents. It looked like another planet. And it was so gusty and dusty. But so worth it. -there was one tour guide we had who was a total bitch and treated the English speakers like shit whilst she was all favouritist with the people who spoke German (and when we asked for translation into English she said 'I already told you this already' really rudely), and her English was crap anyway. At one point the tour guide's 'friends' ganged up against us English speakers and it got really aggressive. I've never had a guide so bad before. -there are some fascinating historical sites all over the place-from ancient Greek temples and theatres, and wonderful Roman and Byzantine mosaics...my favourite though had to be the Palermo mummy catacombs. That place has an amazing collection of dried out dead guys that outrivals the British Museum, I think...   So overall this was a wonderful holiday (despite the mozzies, the fires and that guide) and I really do miss being there-I definitely want to return though.   Now I'm back from hols, I can't wait for the UPDATE!!!
PurringPulsar

PurringPulsar

0
Sourball Ho!
 

Last Minute Panic order

I caved today and ordered bottles of Chokmah and Nahemoth, unsniffed and completely swayed by reviews and recommendations of other forumites. Especially filigree_shadow, darn her encouragement! With the collective references to Snake Charmer, Hellion, Snake Oil, Smut and Bordello, I had to give these a whirl.   My only worry is that the update on Friday will be glorious with lots of LEs I will want to purchase. We'll see!
dawndie

dawndie

0
Korshka's BPAL Ramblings
 

Very Sad News

My Grandmother is dieing. Her health has been up and down for awhile now, but she was getting better. She was even released from the hospital in time for Sister's wedding. But when she went back into the hospital this second time, it has been one problem after another.   I some how knew all day that I need to talk to my parents. I actually called and left a message on the home answering machine about 5 mins before my dad called with the news. They don't expect her to make it through the night.   I love my Grandmother. We didn't get along very well when I was younger. She wasn't the "milk and cookies" type grandmother that my Dad's Mother was. She may have missed the boat with my sister and I, but by the time my little cousins came around, she had learned how to be more of a grandmother. Over the past 10 years or so, we had actually grown closer. She had become a wonderful grandmother.   I will be going out of town for a couple of days...Take care everyone...
korshka

korshka

0
Odd Thoughts from an Odd Duck
 

Tea-Time Adventures

I made myself a cup of the blackberry tea yesterday. Mmmm. I even boiled water on the stove instead of sticking cup, water, and teabag all in the nuker together.   I tasted it plain at first. Potential. After adding a touch of honey -- just right.
odd_duck71

odd_duck71

0
readiness' Blog
 

Freak out

My first entry here and it's going to be a freak out :rollseyes: I thought I could pretend to be normal for a bit   This current freak out is brought about by several things:   1) Effexor withdrawal. I know this saga has now reached epic proportions but I've only just (as in the last day) stop taking ANY Effexor. This has sent my anxiety through the roof. Yah for panic attacks (or not - well thank god for brad paisley and klonopin). I think this is contributing to my freak out   2) I just really realized I have a month and a week before I LEAVE. I've kinda been avoiding mom's house cause I'll miss the kids so much. It seems stupid withdraw BEFORE I leave (I should be spending all this extra time right?) but now I'm freaking that I won't see everyone I want to/need to see before I leave. I'm always home during summer so this didn't feel too weird. but now I'm like FREAK   3) What if I Go Crazy Completely? while in nyc? I have done the really nutso thing before and it's not fun. (I had an eating disorder throughout high school and part of college which required hospitalization. I've been in remission for three years.) I'm totally freaking about not having a job yet (I know I have a month and I've been submitting for 2-3 weeks). What if I can't get hired at all and am generally totally fucked? Huge knot about that.   Anytime now I really think about anything I flip out completely. No medium. This has happened for the last two days and needs to fucking stop.   And I want Amy SO BAD right now. She would calm me down and we are back to think about amy then cry or at least tear up. I was <i>so</i> over that stage. It means you can't wear any eye makeup.    
readiness

readiness

0
Korshka's BPAL Ramblings
 

Wedding Ramblings

Mr Man and I had a small argument Thursday about wedding planning. Basically, he is only interested in wedding plans b/c he feels that his mother and I have told him he has to be, and he feels like I am pushing to plan too much too soon. Everyone keeps telling him that we are on the ball and ahead of things. In my opinion we are and we aren't. I think a lot of people don't realize how early you have to thing to make sure you get your first choice. Yes, you can wait longer to book things, but it just means that you may not get *exactly* what you want. This is especially true when you are trying to do all this on a budget. Deals go quick.   On the plus side, I think we've decided on the photographer - <a href="http://marciasimmons.com/intro.html">Marcia Simmons</a>. She is giving us a fairly good price for 4 hours of photography. I would rather <a href="http://bludomain10.com/daynaschroeder/">Dayna</a>, but the price she is giving us for only 3.5 hrs is $300 more. And while practically all of her pictures are at the quality shown on her website, Marcia can still hit about 85%, which for $300 I'm willing to do. I can use that money somewhere else.   I feel there are many things about the wedding that are beyond over priced; however, I gotta say, I didn't think i would be looking at spending $150-$250 on chairs for the ceremony. Just plain ol' chairs. *thud* When you look at it being only 2.00-3.00 a chair, you don't think much about it until you multiply it by 75. *sigh* So much money...I'm starting to see how people spend $10,000-15,000 on a wedding, and that is sad.
korshka

korshka

0
Eoywin's Blog
 

A Bpal Fanfic (kinda)

I'm a bit of a writer and here is a new story I've been working on the last couple of days. It's based on a very vivid dream I had last week, and it does involve Bpal, so it's kinda like a fan fic, but not really since the story and world are mine (pretty much). I thought some of you might be interested in reading it. If you are, let me know and I'll post more once I have it written:   Ashley Frogert was a fairly normal young woman. She was a blonde, blue-eyed college graduate who worked at a good, but boring job as an admin. assistant at a big auto manufactor. Her life was a steady routine of work, home time, weekends with friends and then more work.   It was a beautiful day, as Ashley sat at a little outdoor cafe, soaking up sunshine and drinking sweet tea. She looked around, watching the bustle of people who were shopping in the small downtown area.   Her eyes were drawn to an oddity in the crowd. A man with black hair and piercing grey eyes started to move in the direction of the cafe. He looked so out of place because he wore a long black trenchcoat despite the heat out.   Ashley continued to watch him, as she sipped her tea and was quite startled when he stopped and sat at her table.   "Can I help you?" she asked, as a frown came to her lips.   He wasn't looking at her when he sat, but when she spoke his eyes turned on her. A shiver went up her spine when their eyes met.   "I'd just like to sit here for a moment, if you don't mind," he said softly.   She just gave a nod, finding his gaze made it hard for her to breath, let alone speak.   He looked away, surveying the crowded. After a moment, he nearly jumped to his feet, saying "Thank you for the use of your table, ma'am."   Without giving her a chance to reply, he darted away, melting into the crowd. Left alone, Ashley was surprised to realize her heart was racing.   "Who was he," she mumured to herself. She took a few moments to collect herself before she finished her tea, paid her bill and made her way back to work.   She sild into her chair, back at the office, and resumed the project she had been working on before lunch. After a few moment, she noticed her boss, Anne, walk up with a scowl on her face.   "Why did you take such a long lunch?" Anne asked, her voice sounding very angry.   Ashley looked perplexed. "It was the same length as always. An hour on the dot."   "It was longer than that. You need to pay more attention or your job could be in jeopardy!" Anne nearly shouted, then stormed off.   Ashley just blinked with a rather shocked look on her face. Anne never raised her voice to anyone and was usually very cheerful. And lunch breaks were never something that was exact, even on Ashley's first day she was told that she could take as long a lunch as she wanted, just to make it about an hour.   She just tried to shake it off and concentrate on her work. But as the afternoon went on, she became increasely more uncomfortable as all her co-workers seemed to be angry, like Anne was. And oddly enough they all seemed to be watching her every move.   At five, she slipped out of work and was more than a little freaked out to see a pair of large men following her. She hurried her pace, darting into a side street trying to lose them.   She stumbled a bit when she saw that she hadn't lost them, but they were gaining on her. She sped up to a full run, moving out of the alley and into the busy downtown street.   Ashley was running as fast as she could, but the men were now also running and still gaining on her. She was paying more attention to her pursuers than what was in front of her.   She was only a few blocks from the police station when she crashed into someone and tumbled to the ground.   "I'm so sorry," she said, scrambling to her feet, then she got a look at who she ran into. Her eyes widened as she saw it was the man from lunch.   He grabbed her by the arm and began to run. They ducked in and out of alleyways and busy streets until Ashley felt completely lost. After a while, they managed to lose the men who were after her.   "What is going on?" Ashley demanded, after she had caught her breath.   "I'm sorry, it isn't safe to talk here. There is a safehouse nearby," he replied, "I know you have no reason to trust me and I'm really sorry you've become involved."   "Involved in what?!" Ashley exlaimed, "And yes, I don't trust you! I'm not going anywhere with you!"   She turned to walk away but he grabbed her arm and pushed a few small vials into her hand. "I understand, but you won't be safe. If you throw one of those at them, it will slow them down," he said, then told her the address of the safehouse.   She pulled her arm from him and watched as he strode away. Once he was out of sight, she looked down at the vials he had given her. Each had a little paper lable with different names. The names were Vice, Bliss, Dorien and Grog. They also all had the name "Black Phoenix Alchemy Laboratory" on the back of the label.   She put them in her pocket, glanced around and started towards the direction they had come from. She was all turned around, but her plan was to find the police station.   It took her a while but she finally found a street she was familar with. She hurried in the direction of the police, feeling relived when the station was in sight.   As she walked into the station, she felt a shiver go up her back. She turned and saw the two men who were after her earlier.   All the police had angry looks on their faces. Chief Adams walked out of his office. "You gave my boys quite the chase, Miss Froegert. Now if you'll follow me we have much to discuss," he said, giving her a smile that made him look very sadistic.   "What do we need to talk about?" she replied, as she moved one hand very slowly into the pocket with the vials in it "I've never broken the law."   Adam's smile widened "You have something we want and we will have it."   Ashley pulled out the first vial she could put her fingers around. She threw it at the Police Chief's head who laughed until the vial fell to the floor, breaking.   Everyone in the room except Ashley began to act like they couldn't breath. Ashley felt confused since all she smelled was the lovely scent of freshly baked brownies. She didn't linger and ran out of the station feeling utterly bewildered and scared.   Since she had very few options, she turned the direction of the safehouse. The walk was a long one, nearly ten blocks, and a nervous one as well. She kept looking behind her and tried to keep her head down at the same time.   When she reached the address that she was given, she found herself in front of a small store she had never seen before.
Eoywin

Eoywin

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Birdsongs
 

Packing randomness

I've packed up some DVDs and a whole passel of imps - that means I can go back online for a little while now, right? (This is why my packing progress has been so slow ... but on the plus side, I remembered to read all the Heroes online graphic novels the other day before the speedy computer & superspeedy fiber internet goes away ...)   I found my long-lost Townes van Zandt cd in Jason's bathroom under some incense! Yay! Moving isn't entirely evil maybe.   I have discovered that Vanilla Coke Zero is a much better packing motivator than beer. Why I needed to discover this through experience instead of just realizing it through thinking, I don't know.   If Chrissy managed to get all her stuff except the flower pots on the patio out in one day while everyone else was at work, then I should be able to get a decent amount of stuff packed up for the movers to transport for me by Saturday morning, right? Seems logical ...   The other night I couldn't go to sleep, so I went downstairs to try to pack & instead ended up looking at old photos. (See above re: slow progress ...) In my head all my college friends all still look the same - there's some weird mental overlay between my eyes and my perception. I showed some pictures to Jason & he didn't believe me that they were the same people he'd met at first. And that wasn't even the album from my freshman year, it was all the way up in 1999.   So, a bunch of stuff-related realizations (why do I have so much junk? What is the best way to pack action figures without smushing them & their accessories? Why have I twice moved two boxes full of magazines that I'll never read again? Whywhywhy?) and dust and torment and cleaning and by July 1st, I'll be free! Just me and the dog - no more roommate stress!!! Freeeeeeeee .....
spanishviolet

spanishviolet

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grimms_creed's Blog
 

Long overdue reviews

Wanderlust   BAYOU (A lazy, warm deep green scent with a thick aquatic undertone: Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms.) Wet: strong! almost putrid coming out of the imp. Dry: blue green. doesn't go soapy on me as I had feared. It's nice enough, but not really grabbing me. 3ish   DUBLIN (The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose.) first impression: green and a bit spicy. more evergreen than deciduous. maybe good for my FALO character, in certain seasons? Dry: no major change. I'll need to compare this to the other woodsy scents, like Yew Trees, to really decide if it is worth keeping. It's nice, but so similar to the others that I'm not sure I need more than one of them.   HANGING GARDENS (date palm, ebony, fir, pomegranate, plum, two pears, quince, fig, and grapevine with plumeria, three gardenias and dry rose) a garden full of the ripest fruit and the headiest florals. There are too many different things for me to pick out anything individual, but if Fae is the scent for a clear summer day, this is a scent for a romantic spring/summer night. Not as shifting as some people on the forum found it -- it seems to settle on something fruity and ripe, but supported by the florals. Fades in a few hours, but what doesn't? 3.5?   MACHU PICCHU (Sweet tropical fruits burst through deep, wet rainforest boughs, enormous steamy blossoms, over thin mountaintop breezes, mingled with the soft, rich golden scent of Peruvian a) first impression: green and wet. definately tropical. the hottest nights of the year, in a hamock. a fruity drink. Dry: it is getting a tad soapy. I so hope this is a phase. Please let it be a phase..... Later: might have been a phase, but it disappeared too quickly to be sure. Must try again, possibly during my period, as I will sad if this doesn't work on me.   SHANGHAI (The crisp, clean scent of green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle.) wet: mm, very fresh and clean. crisp. not in your face lemon like Lolita is. 15 minutes -- clean. fresh. not really crisp. a bit warm, perhaps. dry: subltle. faintly lemony. nice, but nothing special. 3-ish   Bewitching Brews   BLACK PEARL (Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk.) wet: subtle. I can smell the coconut, but there is another tone in the background that I'm not sure I like. The iris, maybe? WHatever it is, it's like an entirely separate scent, totally distinct from the rest. Very odd. Later: mellows into something cool, smooth, and creamy, and a bit sweet. Not edible like my foody scents, but nearly so. 4 second try -- went stale. hmmmm.   DANA O'SHEE (Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name.) wet: edible. sweetened oatmeal, perhaps? reminds me of a facial scrub I used in high school, that I always wanted to eat because it smelled so good. maybe a bit almondy? Please don't change! Dry: oh, joyful scent gods, it doesn't change! It just mellows a bit and then slowly fades away.... but that just means I need to reapply frequently. I can do that :-) 5   FAE (A brilliant, ethereal scent: white musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss.) peaches! a happy, sweet, summery fragrance, but mostly peaches. Fades into something deeper and richer, becoming an ensemble cast rather than a vehicle for peach. But it's still happy, sweet, summery,and sparkling 4.5   THE HESPERIDES (Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.) wet: apples and something bitter. as it dries, the bitterness goes away and I am left with a crisp, tart, juicy apple. 4   [bArs Draconis][/b]   DRAGON's HEART (A scent pulsing with vitality, warmth and insurmountable strength: dragon's blood resin, red and black musks, a throb of fig and a sliver of black currant.) warm. I really don't know how else to describe it. I mean, the lab description pretty much says it all. It smells like the best version of dragon's blood ever. As it blends with my skin, it quickly mellows into something that quite literally warms my heart chakra. Some powderyness, but in a good way. Dragon's blood is ussually a bit intense for me, and this mellows it out a bit without taking away from the vitality and strength. Drat. After 2 hours, all that is left is baby powder. I guess this is a 2 then (would have been a 4 otherwise!)   Mad Tea Party   EAT ME (Three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants. ) -- wet: tasty, delicious cake. I could eat my wrist. currants come out as it dries, which tempers the sweetness. 4.5   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.) the precise odor of soap. possibly dawn. 1   Diabolus   HELLCAT (A soft, sensual, luxuriant blend with a wicked bite: hazelnut, buttercream, honey mead, rum and sweet almond.) I didn't like it wet, but it dried into something very interesting. I'll have to try it again. 3?   Love Potions   La PETIT MORT (Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh) wet: I can pick out ylang ylang, and maybe sandalwood? dry: baby powder. dang. 2   LOLITA (Bright, sweet and youthful, but swelling with a poisonous sexuality. Glittering heliotrope, honeysuckle, orange blossom and lemon verbena.) wet: lemon! I really get the lemon verbena right away, though it's backed by some other stuff. 15 minutes -- oh, here's the honeysuckle. VERY sweet. dry: attack of the intense killer sweetened florals. This would be tasty as a tea, but it's way too intense to wear. 2
grimms_creed

grimms_creed

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giant squid!
 

people are rude.

Ugh. I have to vent... sometimes people can really be quite rude...   Today my improvisation class played in the jury of one of the students who is graduating. It did not go well, but that really isn't my problem or anything, for some reason the person whose jury it was decided to take much of a soloistic role and the whole form of the improv fell apart- I couldn't even hear what he was doing at time b/c everyone was playing over him! Anyhow...we had to wait beforehand in the hallway, and everyone was just hanging out and talking. Somehow it comes up that the person whose jury it was has a gig playing in some venue and wants to turn it into a free improv concert. So of course he asks people in our class whom he's played with all year to play with him. Everyone except me, that is. Now, if you're going to invite people to play with you, and you are going to exclude someone, wouldn't it be nice to call these individual people and ask them rather than hurt the feelings of the person you don't want to ask??? I would think so! I just wanted to cry and run away. Seriously. I have never felt that snubbed since high school, or mayb middle school, I am not sure. BUT I have never been musically snubbed like that. The thing is, it wouldn't hurt so bad if I didn't think he was such a great bass player (today's jury aside) and liked working with him. We've played in other things together and blend together really well...I just can't believe it... Maybe he thinks I don't understand French well enough to know what's going on...maybe he thinks I wouldn't understand what he wanted to ask me? I doubt it, since I have been in class for a year now and the class is in French. I dunno. I would think it's because he thinks I suck as a player, but I know that isn't true since I've done a lot of professional improv gigs in friggin' Los Angeles for crying out loud. I know I wouldn't get asked to do those if I actually sucked. (not to be egotistical, just, well, rational about the whole thing). I am just so hurt. This is just one of many times that I have not gotten asked to do things here. There is a soundpainting orchestra (free improv with use of hand signals...it's fun...) here at school and I have a lot of experience with that. I made that known to people involved. Do they ask me to be in the group...nope. I just want to run away. I want to go back to LA where all of my friends are. Where good musicians are that are actually good people, too. I am so sick of this crap.   Ugh. Well at least I got that off my chest. I know I'm going to stick it out here, but man, it seems to get tougher every day. I feel now that I can only be nice for so long before I will eventually lose it and start yelling at someone. I really hope that doesn't happen!
euterpe414

euterpe414

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