A few minutes ago I conducted a bloggy experiment. It was only moderately successful. Not a bad outcome for me, generally they are complete and total failures. So, hey. Improvement.
What I was striving for was a slideshow, an example of why we are photographically challenged and why I’ve nearly given up trying to get us all in one shot. The “fail” part was that I found out WordPress is slightly limiting when it comes to pictures and how they are displayed. Not terrible, once I learn the right tricks to making it all go the way I’d like it too. As it turns out, I CAN do this. I just can NOT do it if I want to show you any other shots. Like a card. For example.
I put the series of unfortunate views onto the Pentacle People page instead of here. Use the link, it’s easy. Then you can come back, to today’s offering of ridiculousness and absurdity. All done? Great. Now I can tell you what else happened. Here’s a hint.
Having trouble seeing through that obstruction? How about now?
Pie with camera-shaped dent.
In my attempt to document (for YOU guys!) every aspect of our holiday celebration, I SOMEHOW happened to drop my entire camera into a pie. Want me to say that again? I dropped my camera INTO A PIE!!! A German Chocolate CREAM PIE!!!
This, as you may well expect, caused waves of raucous* and shocked laughter from all in attendance. Mostly my brother and children. The nice thing about my family is, they waited until I had (mostly) cleaned it all off so I could get this picture, below.
*Han and I are choosing to no longer use the word “hysterical” due to its misogynistic beginnings.
They DO laugh at my minor mishaps (because come on, it WAS funny), but they are also kind and patient.
Here’s what the table looked like before we’d moved on to desserts. (Yeah, not exactly chronological, but we’ll live.)
Bryan provided the relish tray, and it was outstanding. Those are the eggs my girls decorated. Discovering that their talent in such things sort of peaked near the end of elementary school. Made no difference at all, we thought they were gorgeous and then they were delicious.
I can’t even begin to describe how amazing these smelled. They were from my brother, for Mom’s birthday. Very thoughtful. She was extremely happy, with all her gifts. And yes, surprised as well. Turned out great! (If we don’t count my camera’s wee accident.)
Last two, and then on with our message. We always share how the holiday bears and dolls are dressed, and Emmy wanted me to make sure I told everyone to look for the new bonnets (and accessories). When I took the first shot though, I realized that we maybe should go back to clean that lens one more time.
Artistic soft focus? Or just pie?
We had this happen to another camera of ours about a gazillion years ago. We thought it was a feature we had somehow activated. Turned out, it was that one of the kids had just licked it with a mouthful of something slightly greasy. We have many pictures with that “look” to them. (Have I mentioned how photographically challenged we are? On BOTH sides of the camera?)
Answer? It was pie.
No, you probably will never WILL meet another family like ours. Possibly for the best too.
“Amethyst ~
spirituality, positive transformation, meditation.
You are being urged to embrace your shadow side. Take an inventory of all those aspects of yourself that you are afraid to show the world because you perceive them to be bad or inadequate. Meditate on these qualities. Acknowledge them, see how they serve both you and others, then love them and bring them into your heart.
When you realise that every aspect of you serves a purpose, there will be no need to deny half of who you are. Just be yourself and understand that there is nothing in your life to fix. There are simply aspects of yourself yearning to be embraced and loved.
This is a time of profound change – a time of positive transformation which will have a lasting impact on every area of your life, and to some degree, on those around you.”
Right, well I pretty much just showed you one of those “inadequate” aspects of me already today. Maybe I’ll just go grab my Quiet Three Minutes to see what else needs a good public airing.
One line in this definition jumped out at me, and I’m sure many of you noticed it as well. “Just be yourself” VERY much echos the suggestion from our recent Relationship card, about feeling comfortable in who we are, so that we may more easily feel comfortable around others. Which means, it is worth focusing on some more. With a quick inward glance, or if you can swing it, the way this card recommends, with actual meditation.
Today’s Deck:
Crystal Oracle Cards by Toni Carmine Salerno
Regarding the pentacle pix – does your empress know how much she looks like your mom?
Laughing at your camera challenges. Once when mom and I were bringing a cake to some formal thing, right before we went in the door one of my daughters dropped a toy right in the middle of the cake. I laughed but mom wasn’t real amused.
I love amethyst. “You are being urged to embrace your shadow side.” I think we both know I’m well acquainted with my dark side. I like my dark side. “Take an inventory of all those aspects of yourself that you are afraid to show the world…” My thing is, I’m not AFRAID to show things to the world, I just don’t want to take on the tedious, tiresome consequences. I’m already majorly out of sync with the mainstream.
~
There are some VERY strong genes on both sides, hell, on all FOUR sides!
(Empress is named for my mom, Hurricane for my dad, J.D. for HIS dad. Little did I know that when a mother does this to her children she basically sentences those poor innocent babies to a life-time of BEING like their namesakes. Once more, I’m a cautionary tale.)
Lol, oh no, poor daughter, poor cake. At Dan’s younger sister’s wedding one of the grandmothers nudged an entire boob into their cake… seriously shelf-like bosom on that woman. Fortunately, I married into an equally ridiculous family and we’ve all been laughing about it ever since. (At least, I THINK we all are. Mick? Still funny?)
Ha, ya know what?! I stumbled over that word too. No fear here m’dear. But I do see what you mean about the on-going work of trying to explain all this shit all the damn time.
J
11:57 p.m.
4-9-12
OMG, camera in the pie! Hilarious! (Thats not misogynistic, is it? Thanks for the heads-up on “hysterical.”)
Looks like it was a lovely and very very yummy celebration! The bouquet is so beautiful!
lI wish I had a big chunk of amethyst. Just looking at the card I felt drawn in by it. I have little chips somewhere, I think, but that is just not the same…….. lol, writing that reminded me that I do have a big chunk of amethyst! I went and found it, on a corner table, all covered in dust, and washed it off, and went out to smoke holding it… I discovered that it fits in my palm beautifully… and for the first time ever, I really tuned into a stone/crystal! It grounded the left half of my body (also a new sensation for me, being half-grounded! I did change it over after a few to balance out), but also activated a fear response, too. Delved into that, and tried to do as the card instructed. Tried to release the fear, and somewhat succeeded, but I seem to have more releasing to do.
This amazing experience brings me to something I started thinking about earlier today: how grateful I am to you, Julie, for the guidance you’ve given me on my path. The last few weeks have been a time of incredible spiritual activation & transformation for me, and you were the first human being who pointed me in the right direction. Your daily readings have guided me toward the things I needed to find, and to see and feel, and keep pointing me in the right direction. Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude. Thank you.
(Henry said we need to give our spirits a break, and get back into physical, emotional, and thought realms, and ground, which is exactly what your draw directed me to… even when the messages aren’t echoing each other as much, the synchronicity is still showing up, for me… too cool… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpdDa1BqE-c&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLdA7o7kXEKaCjXDc92HkPEw … and, the ad that just played for me when I went back to his vid was for Crater Lake & visiting Oregon!!! ROFLMAO! I almost wrote up there that I think when we do meet someday, I will probably end up crying all over you, in gratitude… and now I’m being told to visit Oregon! I wish I could!)
~
I don’t know all the details about this word history yet. We’ve only had a chance to discuss it briefly, but I really would like to make the move away from anything that has those negative connotations. (Once you understand the background, it’s appalling.)
Wow, and I was reminded of that bracelet. How cool. It’s like I can see you holding your amethyst right now.
Well thank you. How lovely of you to say. You, in turn, have taught me much as well. It was meant to be.
Did you notice how that third card Henry drew was CALLED Quiet Time? Jeez. Kinda hit the nail on the head there didn’t we?! Yikes. (And I thought I invented that term for my recommendation of those quick three minutes for folks who don’t have enough hours in their day to do any deep meditation. Huh. Infused knowledge strikes again.)
First Junction City, now Crater Lake! Yep, you really don’t seem to have any choice in the matter. See you soon I guess!
J
3:31 a.m.
4-10-12
Oh my. If you’re moving away from anything with misogynistic origins, you’re not going to have many words left. I prefer to go with the linguistically evolving flow. (Note my inappropriate overuse of the word “awesome.”)
However, since I know you like to be informed, here it is from the etymology dictionary:
hysterical
1610s, from L. hystericus “of the womb,” from Gk. hysterikos “of the womb, suffering in the womb,” from hystera “womb” (see uterus). Originally defined as a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the uterus. Meaning “very funny” (by 1939) is from the notion of uncontrollable fits of laughter. Related: Hysterically.
There you go.
~
Thank you! I DO like to be informed. I’ll have to wrestle Han over here to give us her details too.
J
8:59 p.m.
4-10-12
I laughed at “artistic soft focus.” I would have offered to lick the camera lens, because that pie looks de-lish!
~
I KNEW we were practically the same person! I DID lick the camera.
J
9:27 p.m.
4-10-12
Okay, I’m back from the slide show-congratulations on your technological prowess! You are a good-looking family, with outstanding cheekbones.
~
Thanks. I had the idea a while back, when we had another batch of shitty family photos.
I noticed all of those big damn apple-y cheeks in that series too! I knew SOME of us were SORT of cheeky, but wow, yeah.
J
9:37 p.m.
4-10-12
Julie I just had a memory flash……didn’t you used to work at a photography studio?
~
Yes, Karen, you remembered correctly. For a short time, over 25 years ago, I was the appointment scheduler for a photographer and his wife. Fortunately for everyone involved, I had nothing at all to do with the actual camera or pictures. Only the front desk. Where it was safe to OCD my young ass off.
J
9:41 p.m.
4-10-12
Yeah, those pesky uteruses. (Uterii?) Notice there’s no word for when all the blood drains out of a man’s brain and rushes to his penis.
You made a slide show!! Go you!
~
I DID notice that there is no word for that.
Thanks. You and Carol inspired me.
J
11:01 p.m.
4-10-12
I’m loving this deck.
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Me too!
So educational as well.
J
11:05 p.m.
4-10-12
I love the soft focus — I laughed at the camera in the pie. That is so something I would do.
I too must admit I way over use Awesome. But it’s just such an awesome word
))
Love the slide show presentation.
Strange things are happening here and I can’t see what I”m typing…. guess I”ll post and hpe for the best. ahahaha The computer system at work blows.
~
Maybe I never found Lucille Ball funny because her “antics” were too close to my actual life.
Might not be your work computer this time, look at what Robin said below.
J
11:07 p.m.
4-10-12
I hate changes. You know that. So I am going to bitch about the fact that WP is only giving us a sliver of a reply box at the bottom. I found out that it drops your info down when you click, but still.
Moving right along…
Boy, did you guys have a feast!!! Wow! We only had one cake. Of course, it was “the cake with all the shit in it”. I wonder if my mom even remembers it’s real name ’cause we’ve been calling it that forever!
Awesome Amethyst! Love the crystal, but there are some things that are just best kept to myself to reduce the amount of stress I would have to deal with.
Loved the slide show! -Someday- I’ll learn how to do that!
Your family looked great and loved how the puppy was included!
~
I only had two damn seconds for my blog hopping last night, so some folks were slighted (I’ll try to get back out there again soon, promise!) but I did make it to your place, and noticed that Scroog-ish, miserly sliver of comment box immediately! WTF WP?!
Recipe for “cake with all the shit in it” right away please!!!
Max threw himself at Hanna as we were trying to get those photos, as you can well see. And obviously, she caught him! (He had jumped up onto the back of a loveseat to get within range.)
J
11:11 p.m.
4-10-12
I used to just let out all that I am for others to see. Got tired of the negative reactions when I was who I am and did what I do. Sometimes I do things that others wish they could do and think they can’t, so they punish me for doing them and negating their world view. It’s part of why I stopped writing years ago, too. It’s very hard for me to re-find myself and be her/me. She’s so hidden and quiet now.
I love amethyst. Maybe I will wear some today. (I don’t really have much, just a couple of small earrings.)
Love the pictures, hope the camera survived the cake incident without further issues.
I’ve decided to allow for the fact that hysterical has changed from being misogynistic to being gender-free. There are too many things that have been misogynistic or gender-divided that are changing to cling to the historical use. On the other hand, I use “they” to refer to 2nd person singular because we don’t have any other word and historically it was used until someone decided that “he” was now the generic. So I’ve gone back to “they”. I hope the rest of the English-speak world follows.
~
I am a wee bit concerned for further camera issues as well. We cleaned out as much as we could, but ya know…. it is hardly ever recommended that one apply pie to electronics for longevity’s sake.
Yeah, I’m working on becoming more comfortable with ze and zir, but often slip into “they” from habit. That’s why Pinkey is gender-free, as a teaching aid.
J
11:24 p.m.
4-10-12
“licked the lens” That made me laugh, a lot. Well done on the slide show. Looks like so much fun. Happy Birthday to your mama. I go with what Delia said.
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We DO have fun, pretty much without fail.
J
11:29 p.m.
4-10-12
I think your family Rocks! I think we should have lots more families like yours!
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Aw thanks, Kewl Kate. We should call you Kind Kate now though.
J
11:31 p.m.
4-10-12
I don’t use the word “hysterical” either for the same reason – “hilarious” works better for me. Liking the amethyst card, it’s one of my favorite stones (and my son’s birthstone). Don’t know about showing the word the “shadow side”, though. Maybe best I don’t.
~
Exactly! I think “hilarious” should just become our new standard.
Birthstones are very powerful, and this is a gorgeous one! Quite auspicious for your son.
Perhaps share that side of yourself only at the appropriate times? And with the appropriate people?
(SO glad you stopped by and commented today!!!)
J
11:34 p.m.
4-10-12
I’m going with raucous from now on. Unless it is hilarious or drunken frivolity. Like the stone, love the slide show.
~
Aren’t those good alternate choices? Oh, nice addition: druken frivolity!
J
10:17 p.m.
4-11-12