Guest Blogging the “Cyli” Way

Yo Yo Yo - Howdy Folks. My name is Cylithria and today, August 20th 2008; I am guest blogging for our ever busy, vacationing Andromeda. w00t!

Okay first off, my apologies. I was supposed to guest blog the 13 of August as well. For some reason in my brain, I thought I was guest blogging on the 19th and 20th. So yesterday I open the super secret email from Andromeda and TADA - I was uber wrong. Sorry to both Andromeda and her readers. I can be so cyli sometimes. (Ha ha ha I thrill myself with the play on words. Lawdy Lawdy I need help!)

So anyway, after seeing my major faux pas, I went to the cabinet of junk food and found whoppers. Because as you all know when a faux pas is made one can only repent for it by consuming whoppers. It’s a fact. Swear to it even. No really it is…. or…. not

Well, so I am guest blogging and should probably fill this post with useful, delightful and oh so witty commentary - but I have a mouthful of whoppers with means witty just isn’t in my ability at this moment.  I know, I know. soooooooo sad. But sometimes when we repent for our wrongs, it’s painful and you do lose something in the process. For me - witty-ness.

I’d curse my fate but then cursing I am sure requires more repenting with means I lose more witty-ness. It’s a never ending cycle. If only i could be a good guest blogger. If only I’d followed the bible of guest blogging then I’d not have to repent…. but alas, I am tainted with guest blogging sin and repenting with my mouthful after mouthful of whoppers.

So please dear Andromeda Arts fans and readers - punish not the owner if this here blog for her guest bloggers sins. Bestow upon Andromeda the loving act of forgiveness for her choice of guest bloggers… and turn ye not against her for it was I who sinned most heinously. for that sin I repent and purge the sinfullness from my soul with Whoppers.

Repentfully Yours,

Cylithria aka Cyli aka Sinful Guest Blogger

——–

w00t. I am laughing my d*amn ass off because I like made a quasi religious post without using any religion at all. Hey lady how’s that for odd randomness and guest blogger horror stories? w00t!   Love you and hahahahahahahaha for some reason that struck me funny. Oy I need help

water conservation for the rest of us

apologies for the late posting. i was supposed to guest blog yesterday, but between chasing after an 18 month old child and trying to save the planet from impending doom, i just didn’t quite get around to it. muh-bad!

anyway - on to today’s burning topic - the california water crisis. we’re in the middle of a water shortage and conservation is the hot new buzzword this summer. so i figured i’d do a post on creative water conservation tips you won’t find elsewhere. yup …

1. drink imported beer instead of water. this way you don’t waste our precious local water reserves (or the precious water reserves that go into local beer). and if you get drunk enough you can conveniently pass out, and forget about all our problems
2. shower at the gym. many gyms have actually turned down the water pressure to deal with the water crisis. also, there is something about public showering that really makes you get in, tend to the essentials and get out. i mean, how many of us want to take ponderous, lingering showers in the company of smelly strangers? and for those of you that like ponderous, lingering showers in public - burning man starts next week.
3. use the toilet at home. that way you can avoid the flush and “keep it mellow” as long as possible. keeping it mellow in public restrooms is not considered polite.
4. if you have a child, use an inflatable bath tub. much less water consumed than filling up a regular bath. if you do not have a child see tip 1.
5. vote obama, support open source software and ride a bike. haven’t quite figured out how to tie these in to water conservation, but i figured it couldn’t hurt, and it gets me up to the magic number of 5.

that’s all i got folks. you can always find more of my blatherings at http://coredumpin.blogspot.com

cheers

-shreddd

The Lean/Green Movement Ramps Up in Our Household

When I left my nice fat paycheck and health benefits last February to become a full-time astrologer, my husband, Alan, and I knew we had to live leaner. We also wanted to live greener, so we combined our efforts: We now hang our laundry out to dry, feature only CFL lightbulbs throughout our little home, and almost always drive 55 — well, okay, 60. And yes, we live in L.A. We’re the ones you’re flipping off as you speed by us. Hello!

We spent last year obsessing over calculators and Excel spreadsheets, saving and planning and calculating and saving some more, all so we’d have enough cash to see us through about 16 months of astrology startup time. One paycheck, even one as pretty as Alan’s, doesn’t go far in L.A. these days. And we hadn’t even planned on $4.50-a-gallon gasoline. So lately, we’ve ramped up the lean/green tactics even more.

Alan now takes the bus to work. And back.

Evenings and weekends, he recycles wood scraps into beautiful baby rattles and other toys. They’re gifts for friends; soon they’ll be for sale.

I now collect gray water from rinsing produce and washing dishes; we use it to water the plants and scrub the floors.

I’ve taught our son to use old coffee cans as rattles and drums.

Yesterday, we bought only the produce we needed for a week’s worth of meals: We’ve wasted too much in the past. When we got home, I washed the grapes, the peppers, the carrots, preparing them for the crisper so I wouldn’t have that chore to deal with on crowded, chaotic weeknights. I grabbed a knife and cut the tops off the carrots. I looked at the decapitated bits, lying limp on the counter. I felt some momentary confusion.

“Hey, Alan!” I shouted.

“Yeah?”

“Is there anything we can do with carrot greens? I don’t want to just throw them awa –”

“Nah, just compost ‘em.”

I stood there dumbfounded. Of course.

He came into the kitchen.

“I feel like we’re in the Great Depression,” I said.

He laughed, but said, “I know.”

It’s disturbing. But in a perverse way it’s also kind of neat. It’s discipline, it’s appreciation, it’s creative to think this way. It might be the next wave of our own little household Lean/Green Movement: Old boots will grow flowers! We’ll laminate magazine covers for placemats! Outdated curtains will become ball gowns!

Okay, Scarlet O’Hara I am not. Unlike Andromeda, I can barely thread my own sewing machine. Don’t even start me on the bobbin. But it’s inspiring and a little empowering, even, to just realize that we don’t need a bright shiny store — not even Target — for everything in life. We can make use of the explosion of stuff that piles up in our houses. We just need to think a little, maybe turn our heads a different way. I’m kind of excited to see what else we can do.

But I’m still a little sad that I had to throw the carrot tops away.

And so I ask you to please help me be creative, lean and green: To what previously-unintended purpose can you put something today? What have you repurposed in the past? I especially need help with the holidays looming on the horizon.

My notes from Uluru. (Ayer’s Rock).

I have never ‘blogged’ before, but I volunteered, so here goes.  I thought I would share some things I know about the biggest monolith in the world, Uluru.

Don’t climb it.  Limit the rock-climbing to the non-sacred sites only.  The Pitjantjatjara do not approve, and it’s their rock.  They were kind enough to share some stories with me about the dreamtime and the rock’s role in their culture.  Their stories act as warnings not to climb the rock.  People have died from climbing, it’s such hard work and so hot out there, and that upsets the Pitjantjatjara immensely.  They do not want death associated with their sacred site.  They do not climb the rock.  As one Pitjantjatjara man put it, “all stories are for the ground, we have no stories for the top of the rock.  We are not walking on the rock, it’s not our way.”  There are many sacred areas around the base of the rock, there are meeting areas for the men, banquet preparation areas, family time areas, community areas, lots of special places.  Some have amazing rock paintings, but sadly many were washed away by tour guides years ago (past tour guides used to throw water at the rock paintings to bring out the colours of the pictures… over time, it eroded the paintings.)

Tourist "ants" climbing the sacred rock.

The Pitjantjatjara name for tourists climbing the rock is munga, which is their name for a particular type of black ant.  When you see the tourists climbing the rock at a distance, the name makes total and perfect sense.  You aren’t allowed to photograph Pitland people, as it is akin to stealing their souls and weakening their spirit.  So I can only photograph the people that have allowed us to do so, and I must provide them with copies of the photo, to give some of their spirit back.  I was allowed two photos of Malya who shared his stories of Goanna Man (a thieving liar) and Emu Hunter with me.  I asked George, my guide, if he knew of the Imjimm, the bad spirits I read about as a child, from Northern Territory (Kakadu etc) tribal stories.  George knew them, and also knew the name of the good spirits, the Qinkin, whom I had all but forgotten since childhood. 

When someone dies, they stop mentioning their name.  The have two specific names – one for men and another for women, for when talking about someone that has passed.  For an average person this might last for ten years before they can dare to use the deceased’s name again.  For an important person like a leader or similar, the name will not be used for at least 20 years or more, as a sign of respect.  When I look through the photographic archives of the Pitlands, any photo containing the image of a deceased person has been removed, and replaced with a placeholder card that is black and simply says “Sorrow”, by way of explanation.

"Malya" on the right, Me on left with traditional women's tools - multipurpose carrying basket and heavy digging stick

Most words in the Pitjantjatjara language also have an equivalent sign language that can be used instead.  This allows you to converse at distance or without disturbing your “prey”, as well as conserve energy and moisture, which are very valuable resources out here.  The women chew “minkulpa”, a mix of a type of eucalypt of the same name, with ash, it’s a bit similar to chewing tobacco and has the effect of relaxing them…  They often keep a wad of it in the left-hand side of their lips.  When I first saw one, I thought the woman had a huge cold sore or something similar… but darkish grey-green.  I’m glad to know that it wasn’t part of her natural anatomy.

The tourism staff at Uluru all live in semi-permanent caravans, block-mounted with some rough outdoor paving, shade cloth and maybe some garden struggling along in the heat.  They all have such interesting backgrounds and unique dreams.  Some lived in Argentina or Spain, or speak French, or are saving for a yacht, or used to work in fashion photography or whatever… Happiest community of rag-taggers from all walks, they all love life, all love to feel alive.

Really big rock. (Uluru, at a distance.)

In the evenings our host, Chris, puts together seafood laksa and fried Szechuan calamari.  I ask him “how is it that you have fresh calamari out here in the middle of the desert?” and he turns around in his big hat and loose shorts and says thoughtfully and with a perfectly straight face and a twinkle in his eye, “Well, it’s like anything.  You just gotta know where to dig.”

Shout out from Amsterdam!

Hi!  I’m Bethany and I’m guest blogging today, from beautiful Amsterdam.  Unfortunately, not Amsterdam Holland, but Amsterdam, New York…but it’s a beautiful and sunny day, so although there’s no legal marijuana here, it’s pretty okay.

Anyway, I managed to snag a guest-blog slot today because Andromeda and I are both members at Offrsprung.  In any event, although I rarely have anything of value to say, she was looking for guest bloggers, and I volunteered, and even after checking out my blog ( http://betsyboothhill.blogspot.com ) she agreed to let me do it.  I have to say that Wordpress has a WAY better blogging format; I would not have had any idea how to hyperlink my blog, but Wordpress did it automatically!

Hmmm.  I’ve never guest blogged before, and really don’t know where to begin.

My husband and I received an awesome package from China yesterday:

Olympic gear

(also have to quickly comment that Wordpress uploads pictures WAY better than blogger)  Anyway, back to the blog…our college friend Bill works for Yahoo.  His job title is actually “Senior Yahoo” or something very similar and every bit as cool as that.  Anyway, he was recently in Beijing, and sent us some goodies, hats, magnets and pins.  The pins are track and field events, shotput and discus (which my hubby used to throw in college) as well as soccer (which I played in college).  It’s an all around cool gift, although I have to confess that I’ve seen only about 4 minutes of actual olympic events so far!

The one thing I noticed about Andromeda’s blog is that she likes to use a lot of pictures, so I will add a few of my own.

Evil 3d baby

This is my baby.  He’s almost 23 weeks old.  I don’t really know the gender because he wouldn’t cooperate at the 20 week ultrasound, but I’ve decided its a boy.  You may have heard of his dad, Lon Cheney.  We decided that it would be fun to have little dracula babies.  As you can see, even in the womb my baby is fightin’ fierce with his fists clenched and his cool hairline!  Can’t wait to meet this little cutie, due the first week of December.

I can’t guess whether there will be any readers who are fans, but if so: note the 86 jersey–Booker.  It’s actually a funny story how I ended up with it.  Hubby and I met in college (University of Chicago), dated in college, went our separate ways after college.  Always stayed in touch, close, etc.  Fast forward 7 years, he’s in Michigan and I’m in NY.  He comes to visit.  Sparks fly.  Commence long distance relationship.  At that point, he’s a detective with the Grand Rapids PD.  He has a cool schedule with lots of Fridays off, so does the Michigan to NY drive via Canada pretty regularly.  Football season ‘03 begins, and I decide I need to get a Bears jersey for his trip so I can surprise him by putting it on before we are going to watch the game.  So, I go online, knowing nothing about the Bears or who is actually on the team, and am so psyched to find a jersey for only $19.99!  What a freakin’ deal, especially when all the rest of them were like $50!  So, I order number 86, some guy named Booker.  Hubby (except that he wasn’t hubby yet, or even fiance) comes to town, and on Sunday, I shower and put on my 86 jersey.  I walk downstairs to join him to watch the game, and he says, “Nice jersey Doll.  Booker got traded to the Dolphins last year.”  Clearly, that was the reason for the bargain price.  In any event, five seasons later its still my favorite jersey, and it was the only 86 I saw at Soldier Field when we went in ‘06.  Flash forward to this season: Dolphins traded Booker back to the Bears, and he’s got his old number, so my jersey is again current!

Anyway readers, I’m sure you’ve heard enough from me!  Feel free to check out my blog if you like.

Andromeda, hope you are enjoying Canada!

I’m out.

coming at you from BC

so i’m sitting at an internet cafe in the town near our villa and it is a beautiful, hot day.  hot by canadian standards anyway, not by my uber-sweltering californian standards!!  it’s in the 80’s…no wait, scratch that, they are on celsius here, so it’s about …um…high 30’s?  sounds cold doesn’t it?  seems about the only thing i don’t have to convert here is the money.  canadian dollars are about on par with american dollars.

anyway, the boys are taking a nap, the friends are swimming and i was missing my internets and needed a few minutes with my love.  lol!

so far this week we have gone up to the alpine level of a mountain, seen a grizzly, and resisted the urge to feed him the kids.  trust me, it has been an adventure traveling with a 3 year old.  thank Zeus for portable DVD players.  life savers and i highly recommend getting one for long trips with small kids.  turns out friends bought one mid-trip for their little one.  smart people!  although, i have decided that once the Dictator learns to read he can start doing that on road trips, not watching ‘Cars’ 14 times in a row.

what else, well, i missed the meteor showers.  too cloudy for the first few days of it and frankly, i’m too tired by the end of the day to stay up late for the prime veiwing of meteors.  oh well, there is always the Leonids in November.  i did get a nice night for telescoping last night and got to show off Mr. Jupiter and his moons to my friends.  i looked for the Andromeda Galaxy last night, but she is soooo elusive and my neck was starting to hurt.

lets see….we have also had the olympics on heavy rotation in the villa.  we are all big fans, including the Dictator, which is quite handy as there is no CD player in the villa and he needs something on to fall alseep at night.  we just put him down and turn on the sports and he is happy as pie.  he is really into the swimming and watching michael phelps win all those medals.  he also loves gymnastics and last night we got to watch the men’s to which he exclaimed, “wow!  those guys are REALLY STRONG!”  this morning he tried out his own version of parallel bars using the arms of the couch and a chair.  pretty cute!!

we have also betrothed him to our friends’ 2 year old.  they like us, we like them, and we decided that this would be best for all involved if they just get married when they are older.  we asked the children and they agreed so it is all set.  we are thinking that the wedding will be at the monterey bay aquarium in about, oh…20 years.  mark your calender mom.

so i think that my computer’s battery is just about gone and i want to email my mama, so i will sign off for now.  i hope you are all enjoying my guest bloggers and visiting their sites!!  ciao!!

Whoa……

D00ds….d00dettes. whoa.  I have never guest blogged on anyone’s blog before.  Well, that’s not exactly true, Lithie has allowed me to blog on her blogs, but I don’t consider that guest blogging, since….oh yeah she’s like my soul-sister. So in this, she does not count. (Love you Lithie!!!!) HAHAHAHA

Oh you may be asking who the hell *I* am. heh. I know who I am. What? Y’all aren’t mind readers? Hmpf.

HI! I’m Sarie from gotcownow.com. I was supposed to blog yesterday for Andromeda but I kinda forgot until I checked my Google Reader and saw the guest posts. I then went “OH SHIT!!!!!” Better late then never or something.

I was totally shocked when Andromeda asked me if I wanted to guest blog. I mean, I write total crap on my blog. Hell most of what I write is crap. I warned her of this and she laughed and said “Write what you want.” Okay woman.

So, years ago, Lithie and I were IM’ing (as we did back-in-the-day….oh wait, we still IM. Anyway) and somehow or other we got on the topic of dolphin sex. Yes, you read that correctly. So one or the other of us Google’d it, because where else does one go when they need information on Dolphin sex? Google, because Google is God.

Then one thing led to another and Lithie decided to blog it on my blog. Oh yes she did. See??? Yeah, she’s a freak. Okay, so I’m kind of a freak too. But SHE TOTALLY blogged it. So she’s the bigger freak.

So since dolphin sex has already been blogged I figured I’d blog about something else.

Dragonflies. Heh. You guys were worried I was going to blog about the dolphin sex, weren’t you? I wonder how many of her readers clicked the little box in the corner. hahahahaha

I love dragonflies. They always seem to be around me. Even when there should be no dragonflies around (i.e. no water around) they seem to find me. Not so shocking since it’s my totem animal. It still makes me go “hmmmmm” from time to time, but I’m mostly used to it now. And oh yeah I have one tattooed on my lower back. My room has no fewer than 10 dragonfly things around it. I have a few suncatchers, candle holders. Hell you name it, I probably have it with a dragonfly on it.

Andromeda took a beautiful photo of a dragonfly in her garden several weeks ago. I immediately emailed her asking her to forward me a copy so I could print it out. She emailed it (I think she was a bit surprised that I requested it) and I am going to print it out and frame it and place it in my room. It’s on my list of things to do. hahaha Actually I will most likely take it to Walgreens and get a larger copy of it then I am able to print out at home. I like it so much a 4×6 just won’t do.

I was at a friend’s house this past weekend and one of his kids saw my tattoo on my lower back. He pointed and said “butterfly”. I laughed and said “No sweetie, it’s a dragonfly.” “Pretty” he replied. Another guy at the get together, said “Nice dragonfly. I have one too.” And proceeded to remove his shirt (much to his wife’s dismay) to show me his dragonfly tattoo in the center of his back. It was a really nice tattoo, and I loved how it was placed. It looked like it had just landed on the center of his back. It made me go “hmmmmmm……..” I’ve wanted another tattoo…..I was thinking maybe another dragonfly…..I just don’t know where to get it. That may be an option. Heh. Like I need another tattoo. HAHAH Like I needed the first tattoo.

So there you go Andromeda. A guest post. From me. For you. Your readers may never forgive you for this boring drivel, but hey, at least it wasn’t dolphin sex!

Carry on folks!

Stars in the Eyes, Feet on the Ground

Hello! Happy guest blogger here from the other-regions of Depth Astrology.

I’ve been granted the privilege of peeking at Andromeda’s horoscope chart while she’s away and sharing with you a slice of what I see.

I won’t be posting a picture of her chart because I happen to think someone’s chart is a very personal thing: a map of the soul (or psyche, if you’re so inclined). However, I have posted Barack Obama’s chart below so you can see the basics I describe. (Since he’s a public figure, and his chart has been posted many places online, I feel okay about posting it here.)

A bit of background for those of you who’ve never seen a horoscope chart: A chart is a selective map of the skies at the time you were born. Earth is at the center of the circle, with big colorful symbols for the 12 constellations of the zodiac around the outside. Symbols for the Sun, the Moon and the planets are connected by “aspect lines” that show how far apart the planets are on the circle (30 degrees, 90 degrees, etc.).

And yes, we astrologers still consider Pluto a planet.

Anyway, about Andromeda. Unlike Barack Obama’s chart, which looks like lots of triangles and criss-crossing lines, Andromeda’s chart features a giant red, green and blue star off to one side. I find this to be wonderful synchronicity, as she has lots of references to stars, stargazing and star-loving throughout her blog: the name Andromeda*Arts, her masthead graphics, the sidebar post about The Apollo Program’s Project FIRE, her telescope… Some of you might even be aware that Andromeda’s personal e-mail address makes reference to the stars. And, without even seeing her chart, she told me she hopes to see the northern lights while on vacation this week.

An astrologer friend of mine once did a study of artists and their horoscope charts. She found that many of them painted, drew or sculpted the shapes made by the lines in their charts — even if they had never seen their own charts before. Similarly, I see Andromeda’s draw to the heavens as a reflection of the giant star splashed across her horoscope chart. There’s something about the stars that pulls her, centers her, helps her connect with her deepest self. That she knows it, and honors it, is a boon to her psyche. (It’s also a hint about possible future birthday presents!)

We can also look at the chart like a clock, seeing where Andromeda is now in her life. I see indications that she is taking the long view of life right now, standing at the bottom of the mountain looking to the summit, getting big perspective on where she needs to go, and how. But she’s not just dreaming: She’s actually taking action every day, defining her needs and approach, working her ideas into reality, making sure her material resources are aligned with her ideals and philosophies. Like many (if not most) of us, she might sometimes feel like the mountain’s waaay too tall, so she’ll need an occasional reminder to take a few deep breaths. But she’s got a great, energized, transformative climb ahead of her. Even as she’s looking up, up, up, she’s got her feet on the ground.

To fine tune this (very brief!) interpretation even more, this week Andromeda is looking at a lot of strong energy in the 10th and 11th houses, which usually indicates lots of effort going toward unique achievements and associations. So even though she’s on vacation, her mind will still be working — choosing just the right words, devising new designs, putting form to her beautiful ambitions. She may even make some good connections soon that will help bring her closer to her goals.

You’ll be relieved to know that vacationing Andromeda will definitely allow herself some dreaming this week. But when she brings her eyes back down to earth, her feet will be in a stronger path toward the summit.

If you’re interested in checking our your own chart, feel free to e-mail me at kathy@depthastrology.net or visit my website to learn more.

Guest bloggette!

Hey dudes, I am the lucky Sunday guest blogette Mommyweirdest writing to you from my lovely, stinky [did the dogs pee?] office in Rockaway, NJ. I was at a loss for what I was going to write about today during the 35 seconds my daughter naps, and I came up with a few ideas: poop, my new reading glasses, or the kid. All colorful topics no one gives a shit about!

So, I’m going to stick with confessions. Everybody likes a juicy secret, no? Here’s mine:
I think my husband secretly wishes he had a Stepford wife
There, I said it.
Now, my husband isn’t a neat freak. He puts up with my messes that occur in whatever room I go in, and he even eats my cooking, which is pretty admirable. He encourage me to write, and is pretty darn creative himself, and we live in unconventional, wacky wonderful life if I don’t say so myself. BUT SOMETIMES, sometimes I know he wishes I were a happy housewife. You know the type - totally content to stay home 100% of the time with the kids making homemade play doh, and engaging in educational activities all day. A woman who’s happy to have breakfast and dinner on the table 7 days a week, and a wifey that never says “will you shut the fuck up, and let me sleep!” A neat freak, who cleans tubs after every bath, and NEVER looses bottles of milk that later turn up with things growing inside.

I mean, hell, I’d like a husband like that. Or a wife. Or you know, a personal slave.
But yeah, he’s stuck with me. The messy maker, shitty cooker, working mom who gets ticked when her toddler won’t sit still for six seconds so she can try to catch up on a book. And he loves me. We have fun. BUT SOMETIMES I get the sense, he wishes I were more…domestic.

And SOMETIMES, I feel a little guilty for being such an undomestic goddess. Like, I’d rather read and eat Butterfingers than do the dishes. And I’d rather get REALLY dirty in the yard, and go to sleep with dirt smudged on my cheeks than waste play time mopping floors. And you know what rules? Take out.

So that’s it my lame confession. I’m in a great place, but I have this underlining urk that I’m just not a good enough mom and wife. And what the fuck does that even mean? I’m a feminist, so why the hell do I let it bug me that I don’t have prime rib on the table every night? Why do I care that my house is messy, when I think creative endeavors are that important? AND WHY do I let myself get that twinge in my chest when I’d rather be writing essays than playing with Legos? That inpatient “I need to write and let it out fucking stupid Legos” feeling?
I’m done rambling.

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Next time, I’ll write about my new glasses, or poo, I promise - hell, it’ll be far more entertaining I bet!

i don’t normally do this…

but i totally had to see what my pimp name is.  apparently i’m:

Your Pimp Name Is…

Scandalous Dazzle