Wisps of a Dream

Thu, 21 May 2009 06:29:25 GMT

I absolutely love fucking nitwits sitting next to me and reading my personal blogs and such, and asking me about them, as if it is any of their business. Fucking idiots.

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:20:21 GMT

I'm in hiker's heaven up here.

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:16:16 GMT

Just a quick post. Firstly, apologies for not being around more; I haven't had a computer to work on lately (I'm borrowing a friend's now). Second, I am returning to California in a few days, back to Evergreen Lodge. I *should* have better net access up there, and I will be buying a laptop soon as well. I just find that I miss the area, and I can make more up there, with less living expenses, than I can here, and, well... those of you who know me, know how I get when I stay in one place for too long. So... off I go again.

More soon, hopefully.

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:30:43 GMT

Behind the whispering feathers of ravens, the shadow-thick fur of wolves, you breathe. Eye of a dragon, unblinking, settles on the horizon. The mists of ancient memory obscure you, turn you to dream. The raven calls as we stumble through time, watching the spinning cycles and moons and stars and blood red flame consuming everything, the ashes that bloom and grow and awake to reach for the sun. Ancient and young, we are, following paths untread, cloaked in strange humanity within an unfamiliar world. Paths must eventually re-converge… some day…. I pray.

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:17:58 GMT

Quick update to this here Live Journal, that doesn't involve picspamming or some such. *laughs*

My mother is in the hospital, having had hip replacement surgery a couple weeks back. She's currently in a rehab hospital, and recovering nicely, all things considered. I went out to see her a few days ago-- she looked very pale, but stronger. And bored. She is an avid bookworm, like me, though her tastes are quite a bit less varied than mine. I think she had Dad rent out half the library... LOL...

For me, mostly more of the same. Multiple projects taking up most of my focus. I'm still working on The Glass Veil, among other things. I'll be posting some pages of it here in a few days, just a teaser, when I've gotten together enough to show a coherent tale unfolding.

I discovered the other day that I really, really want a dog, or a cat. Preferably both. But I miss having dogs, big, sloppy, fluffy, loveable, huggable dogs. I have my heart set on either a German Shepherd or a Golden Retriever, but unfortunately I'm in no position for taking such an animal into my care at the moment. Maybe one day. In the meantime, I'll just croon over cute animal pictures.

And, that about wraps up this pointless update. Best wishes, all :)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:06:08 GMT

An updated Work in Progress... Masquerade.

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:03:57 GMT

Bumping this forward again, for any interested in having commissioned artwork made... :)

http://siabha-maellyn.livejournal.com/73288.html

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:13:39 GMT

Making a quick pass here for two things.

First, I've updated my gallery site. http://www.geocities.com/dream_echoes

Second, I'm taking commissions. See the flyer behind the cut for details and samples :)

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 22:32:24 GMT

Hmmm... why does my caller ID register multiple calls from local random pay phones? *scratches head* Everyone I know in town has a working cell...

I think I may invest in a set of oil paints. Again. This time, if they're stolen, I will use my amazing bloodhound-esque senses to track down the thief, then take him/her into a lab and play the mad scientist, wreaking havoc with his/her DNA code until he/she looks like a cross between a lemming and an ostrich. Then, I'll set him/her loose on the streets of Manhattan, where he/she will inevitably end up on Broadway with a starring role in Cats.

Hm. I seem awfully random today.

:P

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:43:33 GMT

Merry Christmas, everyone :)

My little outing to see the Christmas Eve program at my family's church last night wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. They actually had some good music, big band style Christmas songs, with big band dancers, and some pop style Christmas songs as well (didn't care for those as much, though some of them were pretty enough). Of course, they went through their obligatory emotional manipulation and altar call spiel, but I've discovered that I truly have grown beyond that... this was my fear, really, that they somehow did still hold some power over me. But they don't. And that discovery is as wonderful a gift as any

So, today, I will bake the spiral ham and sweet potatoes and rolls. We had our gift exchange last night, as is our custom, over hot cocoa and cheese/meat/crackers. I gave my mother and grandmother some beautiful little handcrafted Christmas tree ornaments (from Target... I'm afraid I'm not very 'crafty" myself...my mother got a cardinal and my grandmother an angel)... to my father I gave a book by Robert Ludlum (I figured he'd prefer that to a Christmas tree ornament... LOL) And... I made homemade pumpkin pies (well, hand mixed filling that I poured into ready-to-bake shells), and homemade chocolate chip meringue cookies :D Though... I have my doubts as to whether the meringues are still in existence... they were rather popular. ;) And... wonder of all wonders... I got the Christmas cards mailed out, the day before Christmas Eve. They're not my work though... I gave up and bought some. LOL At least I'll have completed the image by NEXT Christmas... even I can't procrastinate THAT much... :P

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:06:30 GMT

Once again, I ended up shouldering all of the cooking (except for the stuffing) on the holiday, but it all turned out tasty, so I can't complain too much. Yes, believe it or not, I CAN cook. Sometimes.

I've been busy... but that doesn't seem to be overly unusual. I needed to tear my eyes and mind away from work for a bit, so I thought to ramble a bit here.

It's gotten cold, quite suddenly. (I know, the term "cold" is relative...) The raccoons are once again seeking shelter in the house, so relocating them has become a full time job. The cold air brings to mind bundling one's self up in a warm, soft coat, breathing the scent of scarf brushing lips... tasting snowflakes and listening to the music of the icicles in the treetops, feeling the velvety crunch of snow beneath boots. Unfortunately, where I am now, winter only brings freezing rain, rarely snow. But it's loads better than the sweltering summer heat! And I get to snuggle into cozy sweaters and drink hot cocoa (for which I'm highly tempted to buy a bottle of Bailey's to spice it with)...

We got a full sized artificial tree to set up for Christmas, but a) making room for it and b) finding and excavating the decorations for it after five or so years of using a small tabletop tree will be easier said than done...

I think dinner is calling, and then more work. Till later...LOL

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:48:27 GMT

From rialian

Cause of claim? Car blown up by squirrel...

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1192775796213830.xml&coll=3

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 02:11:47 GMT

What is so different about this age?

The last century or so has seen such a dramatic explosion of technological advance, a fact which could conceivably be attributed to the foundations laid by the Renaissance thinkers, and the Industrial Revolution. But is there something being overlooked?

So many call this society "enlightened." We are more enamored than ever with science and with the technology science allows us to dream up. The world has become unrecognizable-- as though something else has seeped into what Was.

How many societies have there been who could be considered "enlightened" in the same way? How many of them existed much longer than our society? I could name so many, just from memory: the Greeks, the Romans, the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Egyptians. Even the druids centered so much around an intricate and personal knowledge of the way the world works; it was their lifetime study.

There are, of course, those who insist that the archaeological record supports a hypothesis of a higher level of technology within these civilizations than is commonly accepted. Complex "computer" devices, walls made of bricks so heavy that no modern equipment can move them, even flying machines, all have been found, and seem to lead to the question of what hasn't been found-- or what has been found but misunderstood. How much of our contemporary knowledge is stored in computer devices that will likely be inoperable and indecipherable in the distant future; how much is printed in books on biodegradable papers that will rot away to nothing?

I can't say these meanderings really have a point, but I often think about these types of things, and they beg to be written down...

I wonder if the commonly referred to "veil" of mystical thought, which separates our "physical" world from the "spiritual" is merely the crease of where time and space fold to create a pocket dimension.

I wonder if the theoretic particles known as neutrinos, which are invisible and able to pass through matter with no effects whatsoever, are a glimpse into these pocket dimensions... or if they merely consist of an unseen side of this dimension.

So many say that this "veil" is thinning. My thoughts move to this (as I carry my notebook downstairs to continue these thoughts while distractedly preparing dinner...). Is this just another way of saying these "folds," these "creases" are unfolding, smoothing out? What could cause this?

A fundamental tenet of string theory (from the limited reading I've done...) is that all matter is composed at its most basic level of tiny looped threads that vibrate at different frequencies, creating a kind of music or dance of creation... would a shift in this vibration, in the cadence and resonance, essentially cause these folds to "vibrate" loose, to smooth and shift, to perhaps even create new folds?

If so, what would cause this shift?

Would an upsurgance of technology-- which creates such a din of noise and vibration-- be at least partially responsible for this shift in the "fabric" of reality?

Another question I wonder about is the seemingly sudden influx of people who seem able to see, interact with, and sometimes even work change in these other dimensions. Call them what you will... Indigo children, neo-pagans, witches, magickal practitioners, psychics, even otherkin... there still lies a common denominator of some level of interdimensional perception. Sure, one can argue that Neo-pagans attempt to rewrite history, or that psychics are really just people with acute and deep-set cause-and-effect observation skills, or that otherkin perhaps take too literal a perspective on archetypal imagery, or that the Indigo children craze is just another tinfoil hat conspiracy... I could go on. Maybe there is truth to these counteractive perspectives... in fact, there probably is-- though I would personally attest that this is not always the case, for every situation or individual. But I think that the fundamental point is the cascade of awareness of and interaction with, to varying degrees, these other dimensions.

I do not believe in the supernatural. If it exists, it is in nature, and therefore natural. A lack of understanding or knowledge or key observation does not change this. Many would love to place mystical, even religious and apocalyptic meaning to these events, but in reality, things happen for a reason. Cause generates effect. I wonder, though, if the upsurge of dimensional sensitives is due to the shift of this "veil," these folds in time and space, or are the roles reversed-- or are they interchangeable? Are these sensitives causing this shift? Are the technilogical advances and the ensuing din of noise and pollution and electromagnetic chaos to blame, changing core vibrations? Are they all somehow interconnected?

Why do my frenzied writing sprees always end with more questions than I began with? *laughs*

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:39:41 GMT

Allow me a touch of free-flowing thought... no rythm or rules or rhyme...

We move
We fly
Never still
Never embrace death’s cold stillness
We live
The song of the road beneath us
The song of the wind in our hair
The song of the wanderer in our hearts
We move
We fly
We soar
Falcons unleashed
Unhooded
Unfettered
Uninhibited passion
Dive into the art of our world
Paint our songs
Fly our dreams
Live our words
Tell tales truth in lies
Reality in fiction
Dance of layered words
Layered worlds
Layered fire of the soul hidden in bloom
Kiss of darkness, caress of light
Silver fire in the night sky leads the way
Pale light tossed at our feet
The Moon smiles
She sings
She sighs
Weary Moon
Eternal cycle
Never still
Never embracing death’s cold stillness
The song of the wanderer in her heart…

--Amyla

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:10:01 GMT

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle, you see the blue center-light pop, and everybody goes ahh..."
Jack Kerouac from On the Road

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:51:06 GMT

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:57:06 GMT

Hello, Friends :)

I am now taking commissions for portrait work. I work in pastels, on 18x24 in. pastel papers, and charge $200 for a simple head-and-shoulders portrait, plus shipping costs.

Please inquire at dreampainter2000@yahoo.com, and mention "portrait" or "painting" in the subject line, so I don't overlook it in case it gets sent to the bulk folder (I've gotten a few too many legitimate emails sent there, so I make a point of sifting through it before I hit "delete"... lol).

I also would be most grateful for the spreading of the word :)

Here is a sample of my work. More of my work can be seen at http://www.geocities.com/dream_echoes/index.html

Blessings for you all :)

Amy

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 21:00:28 GMT

It's pretty much complete. I may go back and tweak some things later if I see something that needs tweaking, but there ya go.

Civil Rights Violations in Texas

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:01:25 GMT

The Texas legal and governmental system is fucked up beyond words. So many things have come to my attention recently, in addition to the instances I've already been familiar with due to the fight to keep my brother in the home and provided for medically (not to mention that they kept stalling on evacuating him during Rita, to the point that, had the hurricane made landfall here, he could have been in serious, life-threatening danger), that I don't even know where to start. A Kiowas friend of mine very nearly had her children taken from her, because some idiot practically forced his way into her home, threatened her and her husband in front of their children, and then called the police, who basically told my friend it was HER fault for opening the door. Then, the man called CPS to report drug use (which was ridiculous). Both parents were tested. What makes things worse, is that the CPS caseworker *refused* to "get bogged down in the details and technicalities" of the laws regarding the handling of cases involving Native families, that he didn't have time to deal with the trivialities of it all.

She's been doing some reasearch about Civil Rights situations in Texas since that time, and has found some very disturbing things. I need to ask her what the source for this email was, which I'll follow up on here for verification purposes, but I thought this needed to be seen.

> There is a prison camp in Taylor, Texas named Hutto Residential
> Center. It opened in May of last year. It has hundreds of children
> from six months old and up with their moms imprisoned there -- in
> cells, 22 hours a day, prison uniforms, behind razor wire walls --
> for profit by a private prison company called Correctional
> Corporation of America (CCA).
>
> The imprisonment of innocent children flies in the face of
> everything that democracy, liberty, and justice is supposed to be
> about. It violates everything in the U.S. Constitution and the
> Bill of Rights.
>
> The lease on the prison camp was to expire January 31, 2007. Yet,
> on January 30, despite the outpouring of local citizens’ protest
> and appeal, the Williamson County Commissioners unanimously voted
> to extend the lease for two years.
>
> This is a project between Homeland Security Secretary Michael
> Chertoff and the federal bureau of Immigration and Customs
> Enforcement (ICE) -- and private prisons. The private prison CCA
> gets $7000 a month PER CHILD that it has incarcerated. This is not
> only immoral, it is criminal. It is insanity.
>
> Local activists have brought national and international attention
> on this facility, owned by the Corrections Corporation of American
> (CCA), which imprisons children and their families for profit under
> the same horrendous conditions as when it was a prison for adults.

> Approximately 400 immigrants are incarcerated in Hutto, and at
> least half of the prisoners are children, according to Texans
> United for Families. Many of the immigrants--who are limited to
> countries other than Mexico--have made requests for asylum in the
> U.S. They await deportation hearings without any charges for
> months, and sometimes years.

> On March 6, 2007 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued
> Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on behalf of 10
> children in the Taylor jail. The ACLU based its lawsuit on a 1997
> settlement protecting immigrant minors that resulted from a class-
> action suit accusing immigration officials of abusing minors. In
> its current initiative, the ACLU accuses Hutto of violating every
> provision of the 1997 settlement, including not giving children the
> right to wear their own clothes or have privacy.

> According to depositions filed with the ACLU lawsuit, the guards at
> Hutto threaten unruly children with separation from their mothers.
> But this is often an echo of the threats that drove these families
> to the U.S. in the first place, to seek asylum.
> Raouitee Pamela Puran came from Guyana after she and her four-year-
> old daughter Wesleyann Emptage were threatened by the people who
> kidnapped and murdered her husband.
> “Wesleyann has heard the guards threaten that children who act up
> will be separated from their parents,” Raouitee said in her
> deposition. “Almost everyone has heard this. Wesleyann is terrified
> that something like that could happen to her. She is afraid of the
> guards because she thinks they have the power to take me away from
> her.”

> Sherona Verdieu, a 13-year-old from Haiti whose father was
> kidnapped and eventually killed when her mother could not pay a
> ransom, said she worried about crying--that this could be a cause
> for separating her from her mother.

> Elsa Carbajal--a 24-year-old woman from Honduras who survived a
> brutal rape committed by the son of a police officer who continued
> to terrorize her afterward--said that her 5-year-old son and 3-year-
> old daughter “think that they have done something wrong to be
> imprisoned in this jail.”
> Angelina, Elsa’s daughter, suffered significant weight loss while
> in Hutto. She told her mother that she was always cold, but
> according to Elsa, she was yelled at for trying to take a blanket,
> while the guards wear gloves and heavy clothing.
> The cruelty of the guards and prison officials that emerges from
> reading the lawsuit is hard to fathom.
> Families are awakened at 5:30 or 5:45 a.m., and must be through
> bathing by 6 a.m. They are given 20 minutes to eat. “If we haven’t
> finished,” Elsa says, “the officials say they aren’t interested--
> the time to eat has finished.”
> If the children haven’t finished, they have to throw away the food.
> “In some cases,” she says, “they have grabbed the food and thrown
> it in the trash in front of the children, and they cry because they
> say they are hungry.”
> After the 20-minute meal, the prisoners return to their cells “to
> do nothing,” Elsa says. “They don’t allow us to sleep, only to sit
> and wait for the hours, days, months to pass.” The prisoners aren’t
> allowed to have books sent to them, and a great deal of the day is
> spent in senseless head counts to make sure no one has escaped.
> Nine-year-old Kevin Yourdkhani, the son of Iranian-born parents who
> have sought asylum in Canada for several years, ended up in Hutto
> after the plane he and his family were travelling on was forced to
> make an emergency landing in Puerto Rico, where U.S. officials
> questioned their passports.
> In his deposition, Kevin complained about the ridiculous excuse for
> an education system at Hutto. “Students” in the class of 25 ranged
> in age from six to 12 years old. “All we do is color and draw
> pictures and watch Spanish movies,” Kevin said. Kevin also said
> that his bed was small and cold, and stuck next to a smelly
> washroom. His mother had to use the toilet in front of him.
> Once, when Kevin’s dad came in to fix the bed, guards told him that
> if his father was in his room again, both parents would be put in
> separate jails, and Kevin would be sent to a foster home. “I cried
> and cried,” he said. “I felt if I will be separated, I can never
> see my parents again, and I will get stepparents, and they will
> hurt me or maybe they will kill me.”
>
> • At Hutto, cell door systems prevent parents from attending to
> children after "lights out." At the Berks shelter, children over 5
> sleep separately from their parents.
> • Until recently, Hutto children were given one hour of schooling a
> day, five days a week. That recently has been increased to four.
> • Teachers at the Hutto center are not required to be licensed in
> Texas, and the state's family welfare agency exempted Hutto from
> child-care licensing requirements.
> • Separation and threats of separation were used as disciplinary
> tools on adults and children.
> The Department of Homeland Security opened the Hutton center after
> Congress criticized the agency's separation of migrant children
> from their parents.
> The detention centers are operated without official regulations.
> Immigration and Customs Enforcement relies on custody rules
> designed for inmates.

This made me laugh...

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 04:15:51 GMT

It's been a long time since I've posted a quiz... LOL

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:36:15 GMT

Your Score: The Snake Spirit

You scored 68% Creativity, 44% Compassion, 50% Strength, and 64% Intelligence!

You are a Snake Spirit. You are mysterious, silent, and constantly changing shape. You love that you are unique, creative and you are mostly a loner. You are also very clever. Snake spirits are very earthy and wise. Don't forget my two other spiritual tests: Sitakaliism Test Paganism Test, my political test: The Fruity Commie Pinko Liberal Test, and my Biology Test

Link: The Spirit Animal Test written by sitakali on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Wed, 23 May 2007 17:07:10 GMT

My allergies are staging a full-scale revolt this week. I need to find something other than antihistamines to take for them at night, that won't leave me wired and vibrating for the duration of the night, or, like the antihistamines, dull and listless (one could say "stoned") for the entirety of the following day.

I find I sorely miss California, both Yosemite and further north, the coastal redwoods. This may be a long-term goal, once I do whatever it is I need to do in this city. I swear, of all the places to get pulled back to time and again. I still don't understand why this is the place I need to be, though I know it is. Too much points to that fact. I suppose I could be annoyed at whatever or whomever it is that is shaping events in this way, if there is such a being (could chance weave together like this? Maybe, I don't know), but somehow, I'm not. And I'm not the only one this has happened to, here in town, this inexplicable convergance of events (and yes, people) that leads back here. It makes me wonder, what is in this city that is so important? I always thought it was just me until I met others that experienced the same thing, not even having the excuse of having grown up here as I do. And, in that way that only is, I know I'll meet others. So far, some sort of artistic mentality or talent is common ground. So far. But there are other similarities, and contrasts (compliments?) It's all beautiful and frightening at the same time, unexplainable but so very apparent.

Sun, 20 May 2007 15:36:32 GMT

Did you ever do that science experiment in grade school, where you cleaned up a penny and a nickel or a dime, something copper and something silver, rubbed them together for several seconds, and then placed them on the back of your tongue, feeling the gentle electric charge pass through it like sweet liquid light?

That is what the first few moments before dawn tastes like.

Sat, 19 May 2007 22:11:58 GMT

Evidently, the state is going to give further resistance to keeping David in the home and providing for his medical/health care, so my family may be right back where they started by the end of the year. The points given for keeping David in his home were very clear, and were considered valid. Apparently, the state of Texas as an entity cares nothing for human life (perhaps these government officials are related by blood to the people who stalled on air-lifting David out of harm's way during Rita, and then never contacted my family again after the crisis had passed).

Sat, 19 May 2007 21:47:59 GMT

I just took a walk around the circumference of two blocks. It took me ten, maybe fifteen minutes. In that time span, FOUR seperate people either wolf whistled at me, shouted, "Hey, Baby!" at me, or hung their heads out of the car windows, craning around backwards while still driving, to look at me. This happens every time I take a walk. WHAT THE BLOODY FRIGGIN' HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!? Are they that desperate, that they will act like lunatics anytime anyone who happens to fall within the vicinity of "female" walks past? Yes? No wonder they're desperate. I just wanted to take a peaceful walk around the block, not be bombarded by crude, tasteless, hormone-driven catcalls from a bunch of dickheads, pun entirely intended.