Nuno Bettencourt (via nuno-extreme)
Does anyone know how I can merge this account with another one that I have? I am looking to consolidate but don't want to lose what I have posted in the past. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Not my grandmother’s home, but very similar.
When I was born, my parents were living with my maternal grandparents in a little town called Washington, Missouri. The house, a little white clapboard two-bedroom house with one bath was my home for much of my young life. As my parents were building their own house about a half an hour away, I spent a great deal of time in that house. It was located…
This is the latest from one of my other blogs, RealWorldHomesteading.com. It’s kind of an intro piece of what the blog focus is about and how we ended up being “into all this stuff”. By that, I mean all of the hands-on skills that in our modern era we have all but forgotten – unless we are under duress of some kind. I am a firm believer in not waiting until you have to fend for yourself and or…
Over the years, I have heard about every argument about what race the Ancient Egyptians were. In spite of where you might stand on the subject, this article is well worth the time to sit down and read. whether for a purely historical point of view, or if you are like me and Ancient Egyptian or Kemetic thought and culture is central to who you are about personally, spiritually or magically, then…
Well, I must admit that Hani really, really likes Ferris. I read the book right after I finish the movie, doesn’t expect much because everyone said the book quite bad, and this is some lines I pick up from few first chapters:
“Who are you going after?” asked Ferris quietly. Hani smiled through the tendrils of smoke. “I cannot tell you,my dear.
"How is your leg, my dear? You were limping in Berlin. Youtried to hide it, but I could see. I hope you are healed. I worry about you.” “I’m fine. All the better for seeing you, Hani Pasha.”
Hani threw up his hands. “I have put off liaison meetings with the Italians, French and British this morning, so that I could see you”
It’s a shame they are not spy husbands or anything like that. Seriously.
One of my tfavourite films. The book is also very good.
Scent: Vicomte de Valmont
Collection: Ars Amatoria, an exploration of love, lust, desire, longing, and despair.
Description: I promised her my eternal love, and I actually thought that for a couple of hours.
Rake, scoundrel, demon in a frock coat. Devilishly seductive, ultimately tragic; a villain undone and redeemed by love. Based on an 18th century gentlemen’s cologne: ambergris, white musk, white sandalwood, Spanish Moss, orange blossom, three mints, jasmine, rose geranium and a spike of rosemary.
One reviewer said: “A scoundrel in a bottle—haughty, villainous, and of course, devastatingly attractive … someone who thinks only about himself.”
For a good time, pair with: Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons), in any form, for its whiff of scandal, one that persists from the first sniff to the dry down and all the way through to the rumpled sheets in the cold light of day.
In his epistolary novel of 1782, Pierre Choderlos de LaClos gave us the Vicomte de Valmont, a roué who faces off with old lover cum nemesis the Marquise de Merteuil in one of those duels where all the bystanders get all shot up—a massacre, in other words. As this execrable pair of sexual predators ravage innocents, savage each other, then dash back to their quarters to scratch down the day’s exploits and dispatch them posthaste, we are titillated, disgusted, confused by the strange mix of emotions, and unable to look away.
Here’s what the first edition looked like.
Some critics viewed the work as a celebration of libertinism, others as a critique of the waning Ancien Régime. Pretty much everyone was horrified. Except Marie Antoinette, who enjoyed it with cake.
In 1960, Roger Vadim adapted Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the screen, moving the action to present-day-back-then France among the petit bourgeoisie and all their groovy style. In a very unlibertine move, French taste arbiters denied the film an export license, deeming it “unrepresentative of French film art.” In a completely French move, the Society of Men of Letters started a civil action against the film because they believed it violated the spirit of LaClos’s work, which, apparently, wasn’t set to a soundtrack by Thelonious Monk. Changing the film’s title to Les Liaisons Dangereuses 60 mollified those small SMOL men.
Across the pond, New York censors “darkened” a couple of nude scenes. And one Roman Catholic priest got his parishioners so fired up that they launched a letter-writing campaign that got the film yanked from the screen in Montclair, New Jersey.
The original trailer has a louche vibe:
Here’s Thelonious Monk performing “Rhythm-a-Ning,” which appears on the Liaisons Dangereuses 60 soundtrack, soon to be released for the first time on CD and vinyl by Resonance Records.
Always being adapted for stage, screen and tweens, Laclos’s work is said to be the source of the aphorism “Revenge is a dish that is best served cold.” Those words don’t actually appear in the book or any film version, but so many quotable lines do. Like this one—as delivered by Ryan Phillipe’s Valmont from 1999’s Cruel Intentions.
Maybe it didn’t actually appear in the book.
Being as I have a particular soft spot for Demons, I have to say, I truly love the description "demon in a frock coat".
More than a decade ago, I started out blogging on Livejournal.In that time, I met tons of friends, many fabulous writers, talented artists. Many of these people are still my friends today. I even purchased a permanent account when they were being sold for very little money. Back then, Livejournal was the place to be – more than Twitter and MySpace – Facebook was barely a backwater bulletin…
The election of Donald Trump to the highest office in the U.S. was a disheartening wake-up call for many of us. It signified that we who count ourselves to be liberal or progressives had not done enough to ensure that the freedoms we enjoy were not wrested away from us. This situation, however, did not just begin with the election results of November 8, 2016. The fundamentalist, radical right…
This list is from some years ago. Some of you may remember the heady days when Livejournal was the place to experiment in writing all kinds of fiction. They have since moved to other sites such as Dreamwidth, Insanejournal, and PanHistoria, to name just a few. For those of us who are writers who work with fictional characters and muses, this list of character traits helps gets OOC: I know that…
I’ve noticed that a lot of people have been asking on how to this or that with sigils, so I’m making the huge list of resources we have on our blog a rebloggable post for any that would like to have it compiled on their own blog for easy access and use. As I update the references page, this post too will be updated, so keep an eye out for any future additions / modifications.
Please note that many methods of creation and charging will overlap within these articles; you do not need to read all of them, we are just providing a variety for you to choose from; pick whichever you like, and read until you find a method you like / have enough information to come up with your own method(s).
Please be aware that some articles suggested here were not thoroughly read by us (the moderators of this blog), and any information within should be read critically and with a grain of salt.
*The ~ symbol means those articles are posts on Tumblr
Sigil Crafting:
Sigil Charging:
Chaos Magic:
*We, the moderators of this blog, are not responsible and will not be held accountable for any actions taken as a result of reading these articles; any action taken, and any potential consequence due to, is the responsibility of the party performing said acts. We do not condone the use of these methods, particularly to minors (due to sexual nature); any minor performing anything found within these articles is doing so of their own free will and choice
~Richtor
I’ve directed some of you to this post recently so I thought I’d reblog it! It has a ton of awesome information, I learned most of what I know from this post. ♥
-Ash-
Being a good person is a choice. Don’t let people fool you into believing that truly good people never have bad thoughts, are never tempted by the easier path, by the low road, never mess up or act out selfishly. Never believe a person can be good without making a conscious effort.
Every single time you do something good, you’ve made a decision to make the world a little brighter.
Goodness is not an inherent trait, it is a choice. Keep making it! I see you, I’m proud of you, and I’m rooting for you!
2016, through all of the abysmal things that have happened during that time, has me thinking a lot about Ma'at lately. We've lost so many cultural, artistic and historical icons in this year, any of us would be hard-pressed to name them all without referring to a list. This year has been a crippling blow on a lot of levels, but it is not the end by any stretch of the imagination. That is not to say that it's been any less trying.
I won't beat about the bush. We are all about to head into unknown territory in 2017. For some, that prospect is terrifying. Given some of the more recent events that have occurred in the world and the attitudes of those who were supposedly elected to help us face them, we probably should all be on alert. We are facing several global crises of epic proportions and our elected leaders are staying mostly silent about them. The media is of no help either. Between the fake news and the apathy of mainstream media attempting to dumb us all down into complacency and obliviousness, it's pretty damned obvious we're on our own.
First on the list is that we are facing climate change at a much faster rate than what was initially estimated by climate scientists. While the rest of the world wrings its hands in fear of what calamities might befall us if we continue at this pace, the president-elect, and his appointed ministers deny it's a problem. They thumb their noses at it, and continue on their breakneck pace of looting and pillaging all that is left of both our country's natural and monetary resources for their own gain.
Let's put this on the table and state it at the outset: None of those people; not the POTUS-elect and those he has appointed to his cabinet gives a bloody damn about any of us. Please allow that to sink in for a moment. A thin-skinned corporate oligarch who fancies himself a 'king' has been appointed to lead our nation down the long pathway to Hell. This failed businessman was not elected by the majority. That much has been proved absolutely. What's more is that he was put there with the blessing and complicity of the current Congress, a largely gerrymandered,thoroughly bamboozled electorate, and the assistance of a foreign government that is historically hostile towards us. Deny it if you want. I only ask that you continue to watch what is going on in the world and then ask yourself what's really going on. The most important thing is to be honest with yourself when assessing every situation.
I will make the unfortunate prediction that the safety net as we know it will most probably be dissolved. If the GOP has its way, you can kiss your Medicaid, your Social Security, educational funding, and any other government subsidies goodbye. It doesn't matter how long you paid in as a taxpayer - the GOP will make a diligent effort in legislating them all away under the guise of "privatization". Privatization = Maximizing Profits for politicians, their friends, and contributors. Again, none of these people give a damn about you. If you get laid off because of outsourcing, or get sick or fall into bankruptcy or die because you have no medical insurance, or if you cannot afford your medications, or to feed yourself and your children or lose your home and anything else in the process, that's not their problem. If you cannot afford to go to school to update your skills after being laid off from your job, they. simply. don't. care. In fact, if you do, it means more profit for them, because as far as they are concerned, you are of little use to them unless you are adding to their bottom line.
I confess, this is a cynical and very bleak vision, and one that our forefathers never imagined would or could befall us. Let me ask a question: How are your survival skills? Do you know how to forage for food? Do you know how to make medicine, build a fire, or make do? Can you even begin to function without your wired devices? Will you go stir crazy without having access to the Internet? Have you thought about the benefits of following your crazy grandma's example of stashing a supply of cash in the mattress? Your debit card may not work at one point or another and then where will you be when it comes time to purchase food, gas or something else that you are in dire need of? You'll be forced to really live on your wits then and the question becomes whether you can or not.
So what does this all have to do with Restoring Ma'at?
Absolutely everything.
In Ancient Egypt, Ma'at wasn't just a goddess or an abstract concept. It was the absolute base of every pillar that their entire culture was founded upon. Ma'at is much more than a concept of Truth (with a capital 'T'). It is about justice and fairness and right action, even in those times when it's difficult. It is what Dr. Maulana Karenga described as serudj-ta - or repairing the world. In the coming days, perhaps for several years, we are going to have to collectively concentrate on the ideas of Ma'at and Serudj-ta in order to restore what has been or will be destroyed. We will all be tasked with raising up those things and people who are in ruins, setting to right the wrongs of racism and bigotry, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and all of the other ills that may raise their heads wherever we are. It is up to each of us to be the advocates for one another; to replenish that which has been diminished and to make things as beautiful or more beautiful than they were before. This is what each of us has been charged with right now. If we care about anything or anyone else outside of ourselves and our own sphere, then we need to face the reality that we each carry this responsibility. We must stamp injustice, hatred, and cruelty out wherever we see it and we need to not be complicit in our silence or our apathy.
None of what I describe is easy to hear and can seem an overwhelming thing to do. It's probably all pretty frightening to consider. Even as I write this, Congress is attempting to pass legislation that will not allow cameras on the floor to let us see exactly how our rights are being slowly whittled away. Perhaps they imagine that the public won't feel what we cannot see. Or perhaps they know that what they are doing is wrong and that the public backlash would be something that none of their careers could
stand.
Our collective carelessness with our land, water, air and all other natural resources has wrought terrible things. We know, based on scientific evidence and even by simply paying attention to the natural world around us that we cannot keep on as we have in the past. While allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline would bring temporary prosperity for a select few for a short amount of time, what happens after the work is complete? Those "jobs" are gone and the and all the corporate interests need to do is sit back, turn on the spigot and gather up the profits. What we are left with is the incredible risk to not just the land and water of a few members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, but to millions upon millions of people who are dependent upon the water of the Missouri River downstream. Look at where it goes and then ask yourself, what happens if the pipeline bursts? Have we forgotten the tragedy of the Deep Water Horizon already? Don't we remember the incredible tragedy of the Exxon Valdez? In both instances the consequences of spilled fossil fuels to the environment and to those whose livelihood depended upon those waterways was enormous. We have within our grasp, right now, the ability to get away from fossil fuels and push toward renewables. Other countries have pushed and shifted their economies around renewables, so it's been proved that it can be done. The only reason why the US has been so reticent in the effort toward renewables is the incredible amount of influence of a few oil billionaires and the fossil fuel lobby. Deep in their guts, they know that their days are numbered. Our will to survive and to thrive as a planet must match and far outstrip their sense of corporate survival and maximizing profits.
So then, how do we create serudj-ta or work to further Ma'at? Each of us has an idea in our mind of what makes society work and what doesn't. The vast majority of people in the world do have a strong sense of right and wrong. This goes beyond borders, national interests or origins, race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other way we choose to parse out segments of human society. We each want a place in the world, the opportunity to be able to feed, clothe and house our families in safety and security and we all want a chance to do something meaningful with our lives. Those are basic human motivations. When we let greed, envy, and vindictiveness and break our human family into segments of "Us" vs. "Them" that is when the problems arise.
We have seen this demonstrated over and over again with disastrous results. When we hold those ideas in our mind on a constant basis when dealing with anyone and in every situation, we are reminded of those higher ideals. We cannot individually fix the world. But does it really cost us anything at all to be courteous? How much do we lose and how much do we gain by exercising compassion in even the smallest of ways? Most of what I am talking about doesn't have to cost money. It doesn't mean a major inconvenience for any of us. It just takes remembering that any of us could be in a similar situation at any given moment depending upon circumstance. Sure you might get a warm fuzzy feeling after having done something nice - but that shouldn't be the goal. The goal is knowing that something was right to do and to simply do it without an expectation of thanks or payment or anything else. The end goal, especially for we Kemetics, is doing our part in order to further Ma'at in the world - and absolutely nothing less.
Resources
"Ma'at: The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt" by Dr. Maulana Karenga, 2004,University of Sankore Press, Los Angeles
Crossposted from Life Belongs to Sekhmet (niankhsekhmet.com)
1. What did your mother tell you to never do? Write about the first time you broke that rule. 2. Write about an unanswered prayer or ungranted wish. 3. A year after his death….. 4. “Paranoia is just reality on a finer scale.” – Philo Gant, “Strange Days” 5. Who would you die for? Would you prove it? 6. Question to the Writer: What was the stickiest entanglement your character ever faced? 7. Photo…
About 7 years ago, some writer friends and I started a writing prompt community on Livejournal. We did this because one was desperately needed. We wanted it to be an answer to other writing / character-centric communities various blogging venues. Those of us who were there were looking for new and interesting ways to stretch our characters and to dig down deep into who they were and are wanted to…
I spent more than two years creating the writing prompt community, Writer's Muses over on Livejournal. We have hundreds of weeks featuring multiple prompts of various kinds and there is a lot of material there. It was so successful, in fact, that it was copied many times over for other writing prompt communities.
So....Now that we are well aware of the fact that Livejournal has long since had ties to the Kremlin, I moved the group's posts over to Dreamwidth. I have gotten a great deal of encouragement from friends to ressurect the group and I have created one over on Google+ and on Facebook as well as the one on Dreamwidth. Writer's Muses even has its own Twitter account!
My question is, should I create a community for it here on Tumblr, or is it even worth it? Or would it be easier just to do it th rough hashtaggging instead?
After last night’s dim election outcome, I spoke to many people who were fully in the grips of being terrified for their future. I won’t lie. I had a bit of a sleepless night as I watched the abysmal election returns realizing that things didn’t go our way. This morning, I shed a few tears as well. What would become of me and my spouse? What about our family? Our home? What would the future…
