Blogs

TAL Wantlist

I finally have a place to keep track of my list of wanted TALs, yay! Wanted: Perpetuum Bonuum (in decant form) Master (in decant form) Astral Travel (in decant form) Clarity (in decant form) Determination (in decant form) Fiery Command (in imp form) Power (in imp form) Horus (in imp form) Attuning (in imp form) Servare (in imp form) Lionheart (in imp form) Mnemosyne (in imp form) Enochian (5ml) Fiery Wall of Protection (5ml) -------- On Order as Decants: Anthelion Temple: Egyptian White Light Fiery Wall of Protection Lord of the Forest Foundation of Fortune Bastet's Laughter -------

April 5, 2006

cuervosueno's blog

unfortunate dinners and The Alchemist's Assistant

I guess I need to get used to the whole blog thing. Right now it still feels self-indulgent--who would want to read this? I suppose I should get over that, seeing as I'm a writer, and its a question I've often asked myself before (and discounted as unimportant). (Dog break: Toby and Bel are playing tug of war with one of my favorite shoes. When I called out Toby, NO! he looked quite surprised.) Anyway, not a day I can report anything of interest on. Its spring here in NM which is lovely--in the 70's today, and I had a good dinner at a new Japanese restaurant. But the place was more expensive than I expected, and I stressed about the cost, then my BF (who makes twice as much money as me) made a big deal out of the price (though we split the bill), and then went on to say how he was sick of paying for everything. which is a reflection on his previous women, not me, and I was in the odd position of both thinking, well, I've never asked you to pay my way, asshole, and then at the same time thinking: so why'd you pay for all of them and not me? Ugh. I hate arguing about money, so I just left. Ruined my quite good dinner, I must say. But I did take some very good sushi home and feed it to my fox-dogs--since they're Japanese and all--and they liked it. And Kai, my german shepherd, had a piece too. Well, I don't know if I'll always put a poem up with each entry, but here's another--this one from book #2 (In an Angry Season). I wrote this long before I ever dreamed of BPAL.... The Alchemist's Assistant Lovely as the native birds that fly overhead unseen, the alchemist’s assistant feeds him corn gruel and chilies, sweeps the pitiful grate. Sings in her primitive way. Gathers the base stones, silent as severed tongues, which the alchemist cannot force into gold. In the windowless tower, the workshop is frigid with his frustration, dumb with his dogged desire. He has grown old here and still the stones refuse to yield. He mutters incantations and spells, pale eyes unfocused, while around him the world is littered with substances precious and rare: the assistant’s skin--copper ore, her black pearl eyes, and outside the lapis sky and cinnamon hills. The myrrh-thick garden between her thighs. He caresses the stones as another man would her breasts. In his dreams, she rides him like a nightmare, a vortex his secrets are sucked into. Her hands roam over his parchment skin and she plucks at his power like a string. And laughs. She treats him like an arrogant child-- with his foreign formulas, his old world computations, his numerical desires. He’s stubborn and inert as stone. Tucked away in his tower of useless words, he withers. But the alchemist’s assistant leaves the workshop every day. She gathers the stones by calling their names--clicks of her tongue, syllables of silver, turquoise and jade. They flock to her and sing their stories. For her, the stones unlock their shy mysteries and shine. For her, mistress of the new world.

cuervosueno

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Somnium

Oneroi - Created to invoke the ancient Greek deities of dreams. On the shores of the ocean, somewhere in the West, they dwell behind their gates of horn and ivory. Soporific, dark, and unfathomable. Nanshe - The Babylonian Goddess of Dreams, who bestows the power of Oneiromancy onto her priests. This blend opens up psychic sensitivity during sleep and aids in the understanding and correct interpretation of portents and symbols.

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Excolo

Elegba - He opens all paths of communication, both mundane and Heavenly. His ofrenda contains coconut, tobacco and sweet, sugared rum. * Gaueko - Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum. Ochosi - He is the protector of children, the weak, the helpless, and the aged. His ofrenda is the soft shea he shares with Obatala, forest herbs, and sprucewood arrow shafts. Olokun - Though decaying matter settles in His home, the Kingdom itself does not decay or erode. He is represented by the mudfish and his favor is shown through red coral and shark spines. His ofrenda is the scent of the lightless deep: the glorious, unknowable gloom of the ocean floor. Pele - This perfume embodies her gentler, benign aspect as the capricious Goddess of Dance: muguet and Hawaiian white ginger enveloped by warm, damp tropical blooms.

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Rappacini's Garden

* Death cap - A warm, soft, ruddy scent, earthy and mild.

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Illyria

Regan - A deceptively sweet orchid vanille with a faint trace of stephanotis.

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Diabolus

Kumiho - Nine-tailed fox demon of Korean lore who transforms into the visage of an irresistible beauty in order to seduce men and lead them to their doom. A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger.

April 5, 2006

BPAL Bottle Inventory

I have many more bottles than I actually use, so I'm going to break down what I do use on a regular basis and what I don't into two seperate inventory lists. This is mostly to remind myself to get off my ass and actually sell/swap/decant from the bottles I don't use sometime soon. Bottles I Love Or Like (divided into two rows of those I regularly use and love and those I like but use less often): (Love) Fenris Wolf (10ml) The Cracked Bell Luperci Thanatos (Like) Buck Moon Sed Non Satiata The Pit and the Pendulum Berenice Bloodlust Fallen Jacob's Ladder Blood Moon Temple of the Horned God (TAL) War (TAL) ----------- Those I Don't Use (for whatever reason, usually because they don't work on me or aren't to my tastes): Salamander (TAL) Mars The Masque The Rat King Harvest Moon 2005 (Never even opened! What's wrong with me? I think I originally purchased this solely for swapping purposes) Fruit Moon 2005 Dreamland The Haunted Palace Red Lantern Red Phoenix Khajuraho Chaos Theory CDIV The Scales of Deprivation ---------- I think that's all of them...(not including those I have on order)

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Sin and Salvation

Bow and Crown of Conquest - Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather. * Death on a Pale Horse - The End of All Things: 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.

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Funereal Oils

Embalming Fluid - A light, pure scent: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon.

April 5, 2006

Wishlist: Bewitching Brews

Black Pearl - Evocative of the sea's unplumbed mysteries. Gentle and lovely, but menacing and profound. Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk. * Shadow - A subtly menacing blend of lemon verbena, white sandalwood and cedar, dimmed by droplets of the darkest patchouli. * Ulalume - Starry white lilies lend an eerie brightness to the deep black wooded scents of cypress and oak, layered with a touch of crushed dried leaves and the faintest aquatic note.

April 5, 2006

littletingoddess' Blog

I wish that I was Jesse's Girl....

Once in a while, something comes along that reminds me of the 80's dork I once was. Something gets past the Metallica obsession I've cultivated, and reminds me of my roots in 80's rock and pop. Of when I wallpapered my room with pictures of the heartthrobs in Tiger Beat and Bop magazines. One such man is: I've had a crush on Rick Springfield since I was 12. I was lucky enough to meet him in 2000, I felt like I was that 12 year old again - I couldn't talk! By the way, he smelled like the bubblegum he was chewing, and when he posed for a picture with me he rested his cheek on my head... not that I'm obsessive or anything. Now I've discovered that he's coming back to the casino here in town for a concert in July! I bribed a friend to go with me last time, and I don't think I can get her to do it again... so I'll have to find another victim.. I mean, concert buddy.

littletingoddess

April 5, 2006

Sourball Ho!

Straight BPAL-ing, yo

I think I'll do a BPAL-centric entry with current favorites. I first found the site in September 2004, and did my usual hem-and-haw browsing. I try not to be an impulse shopper as I could get in some serious financial trouble. I finally placed an order in October 2004 and received it in December: a 5ml of Perversion and a 6-pack of imps. Oh Perversion, you cheeky thing! What a great first scent to get, and I was immediately hooked. I started purchasing off the forums and eBay on top of placing orders, but cut that out soon after (see above re: trying not to go overboard). So I place monthly Lab orders for no more than 3 bottles, usually on Lunacy dates, and of course swap whenever something good pops up. No bankruptcy yet! Here are my current loves, in the order of the bottles hanging out in my box: Perversion Bordello Dead Man's Hand Corazon Port-au-Prince Wanda Shub-Niggurath Alice Tarot: The Star Snake Charmer Gypsy Queen Dia de los Muertos Sugar Skull Haunted Palace Pink Phoenix Rose Red O Parlement of Foules Smut Antique Lace Black Phoenix Midnight Mass Yeah. That's a lot, and that's less than half of the total bottles (most of which I like but aren't madly in love with, unlike the above-listed ones). I am utterly hopelessly smitten.

dawndie

April 5, 2006

Never Been Blogged

I have never blogged before (please refrain from gasping ) so bear with me if my entries seem alittle too random, I'll try and do my best not to ramble too badly. A random confession: I've never used an Ipod and I don't care for cellphones (althrough I do own one that my father adopted because he spilled a drink on his own cellphone).

April 4, 2006

Ordering Off Amazon.com Late at Night

....Is not a good idea. I find I tend to buy more items and spend more money if sleep deprived. My latest late-night acquisition was a dvd of Gankutsuou - The Count of Monte Cristo - Chapter 2 (anime), which I purchased at about 3am or so on (I think) Saturday. I can't wait to watch it, but its really the principle of the thing...

April 4, 2006

Swords - Good for Strengthening Stomach Muscles?

So, and this is a truly random topic, but I was reading the manga (graphic novel) Berserk Volume 3 a few days ago. The reason this is relevent is because the main character uses a huge broadsword, and has done a strength training exercise since childhood that involves doing a hundred repetitions of raising the broadsword in both hands above his head and bringing the blade slashing downward (keeping the sword held steady and aimed straight in front of him the whole time) in a controlled arc. He repeats this until he's reached a hundred repetitions of the movement. Being the Middle Ages freak that I am, I own several swords in my collection of medieval time-period related items and I suddenly, inexplicably, decided to try this very strength training exercise in the middle of reading the manga in question. All of the swords in my collection are of decent or good grade metal but some are better made than others, or worth more, and all are of different styles. I chose a light-weight sword to practice this out with because I hadn't worked out in a while and still wanted to do all of the hundred repetitions. I tried out this exercise in my upstairs living room (it was 11 pm at night; I am a bit of a night owl, and I couldn't practice out in the yard where there would be more space for safety reasons), so I took care to avoid the ceiling fan in particular amongst the furniture that might prove bothersome. I have practiced sword technique in my living room before so I know what to avoid (by previous trial and error of course! ). I started to ground (balance) my stance, one foot slightly in front of the other, and grasped the grip (basically, the handle/bottom portion of the sword below the blade) of the sword with both of my hands, bringing the blade to point straight north (as linear I could make it, anyway) in front of me. I raised the sword carefully over my head and then swung the blade downward in my best attempt to keep the swing of the blade in a steadily aligned arc of motion and then raised the blade again and repeated. I rested a few seconds after 20 repetitions and then repeated 20 more, and because I like to make things an even number, I did do this atleast hundred times, resting a few minutes every 20 reps or so. I watched Cartoon Network (which is basically comprised of shows like Family Guy around 11pm or 12am 6 out of 7 nights a week) while I did this and this exercise really was a nice change from doing pushups/sit-ups, etc. Afterwords, I could really feel the burn in my stomach area and upper arms, and I've been doing the hundred repetitions every few nights these last few days because the experiment has thus far proved a success, and works the stomach area alot more than I thought it would. Its a much simpler exercise than practicing a whole routine of blade or staff moves (which is pretty difficult to do since my living room has a lot of furniture to worry about avoiding when moving around with a sword or staff) and its not as annoying as doing sit-ups on a hardwood panelled floor(ouch!). Plus, the act of swinging the sword up and downwards in an arc works the arms as well as the stomach and to a lesser extent the shoulders/back. Comparatively, I have found crunches (which is my most regularly used exercise move) to have much less (if practically any) impact on the arms and to often end up making my neck hurt. I also plan on trying this with my heavier staff (I own two staffs, one of a lighter weight and one that is much heavier and longer) just for a change of pace. I'll still do crunches, but I've found its good to have variety. So there you have it. I got a workout move from reading a manga. Yet another reason to read graphic novels. And to be eclectic and bored.