Telephoto Zoo

Yesterday Daya and I spent all day at the Bronx Zoo.  Such a lovely day. I brought my telephoto lens and got some nice pictures.

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King of Swords (reversed)

Reversed meaning- misuse of mental power, authority.  Stern. Cruel. Show-off.  Critical.  A person who can do harm in these ways. Aggression, tyrant.

Time is Stupid

I really like this nice quote, and I hope it is true.
Perhaps entire lifetimes are these periods of our souls.
Perhaps we sprout wings or whatever it is we are supposed to sprout/realize/manifest in other lifetimes, maybe not in this current one.
Maybe entire lifetimes are just a day, or a few weeks, in the overall timeline of a soul's growth.
And maybe that is why we have the affliction (illusion) of linear time imposed upon us.

Time is stupid.

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Knight of Wands (reversed)

The Knight of Wands is a fiery, somewhat reckless card which will forge a path regardless of barriers and obstacles.  Reversed it is denial, frustration, getting nowhere, steering clear of someone or something. Recklessness. Think about consequences, think before acting. Loss of personal power and/or control.

Vague July

Well, it is July. I'm not a big fan of July. My summer vibes are just not very good, year after year.

In June I did not set any get-through-the-month goals since I was traveling so much, but now I will be home and around, for the most part.

And I still don't know what I want to do.  Maybe vague ideas count.

My vague ideas:
1. Paintings on a black background.  I might do more topiary cats- a black series.
2. Something with tarot.

Mustering up the motivation and energy to make these ideas less vague is too difficult.

And now it is the second day of July and I still don't know what I am doing which means I haven't even started.

This is exactly why I feel like I am wasting my life.

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I just remembered that I am writing this post on July 1, not July 2, even though it will post on the 2nd.  So it isn't too late to pull a daily tarot card.  If i miss a day it won't be nice and neat and that will drive me batshit crazy and ruin everything.

A card a day is a nice relaxed way to absorb...whatever I should absorb.

I'm working with the Legacy of the Divine Tarot.

The High Priestess (upright) 
Well, that's a nice way to start off. Oh hey, that's also the card on the cover of the book which accompanies this deck! Cool.

Spiritual wisdom, Subconscious. The Moon. Inner power, feminine/hidden (inner) secrets and mysteries. Athena. Non-physical realm of knowledge and wisdom. Fertility- but non-physical. Water. Intuition and dreams.

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Guess what? I'm going to draw tomorrow's card, too, so my blog will be on-time like it was in May for the map stuff. (I still need to read that book....)

5 of Coins (reversed)

Huh.  Well this is cool.  Usually reversed meanings of a card are somewhat "negative"... but not here. 5 of Coins (or pentacles) indicates an end to difficult times, particularly in physical matters. Revived prosperity.

Assorted Oddities

When I went to Utah, Carey sort-of challenged me to pack something strange.  Actually she said she would see what the weirdest thing I packed was, and I could poke around her house to see what I thought she had that was weird.

I did not have to poke around very much.......

The weirdest thing I brought has to be credited to Daya.

Someone gave her silkworm pods in school.

So they visited Utah, and some of them relocated there.

Silkworm pods!

The winning contenders in Carey-Oddity:

1. A ghillie suit!
You know, in case you have to hide from something suspicious.
Gotta watch those Utah people.

For serious needs to hide

2. The Crawling Eye

..........

Yeah, I don't know either.

Be careful, it bites.

3. Freaky-Looking Barbie

A much better role model.

She will mess you up

Her cats are pretty strange too, come to think of it.

Every time Kitty saw me, 

he went in the bathtub.

Face is....well, Face.

Pook!  There is a Pook!

Ratfest 2015

Yes, "Ratfest" is exactly as nutty as it sounds.

My amazing friend Branwen hosted Ratfest this year in New Jersey.  She really did an amazing job and it was quite the party.

It was SO NICE to see everyone...some people again, some for the first time.  Some I hadn't seen in several years.

Branwen rented slushy machines, and had enough food to feed 5 parties.

Slushy machines

I made the Magic Ratfest Box with Cathy back in 2002!

Cathy and I stopped co-hosting Ratfest after a 10 year run.

Isn't this WONDERFUL?

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My friend Jane attended.  We traveled together to NJ from NYC.  we went from Penn Station (NYC) to Penn Station (Newark).

We do NOT like Penn Station (Newark).
Since we had to switch trains, the conductor told us to go to track 5.  Penn Station (Newark) has no rational layout of tracks, and to get one track over you have to basically walk through the entire station.  It is dreadful with no rhyme or reason.

So, Track 5.  We went there.  It was blockaded and had caution tape across the doors.

We removed these obstacles and went onto the platform, only to be notified that there was a track switch to 2, but our train had just left.

So we went to track 2 to await the next train.  as a courtesy to our fellow travelers, we left the doorway unblocked by the barricade and caution tape.

When we got to track 2 and found the next train, we were instructed to go BACK TO TRACK 5.

Eventually the next train did arrive, on track 5.

It is a good thing we un-barricaded it.

PENN STATION (NEWARK) IS STUPID.

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Here are some of Branwen's rats.