The Carmelite's Habit

Dear Santa,

2011-12-11T19:10:00.001-06:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

2011-11-17T12:11:00.001-06:00

Have you thanked a Druid today? I have. :)

2011-11-03T17:48:00.001-05:00

Inspired by Aeryseth & The Dragons, I've gotten out my historical fiction novel for November Novel Month. Early Tudor period, 1526.

2011-10-22T11:56:00.001-05:00

Oh yeah - glad we all made it through the end of the world again.

BREAKING: Honey Badger Narrator 'Randall' Lands Book Deal

2011-09-17T20:18:00.000-05:00

BREAKING: Honey Badger Narrator 'Randall' Lands Book Deal

2011-09-06T19:13:00.001-05:00

Made it thru the storm, we're fine, lost another tree. Phone came back early YAY but probably no power for days. Yay gas stove! :D

Comedian Felonius Munk's Rant: Felonious Munk Presents: Stop It B! OBAMA PAY YOUR &*%$#% BILLS

2011-08-11T15:37:00.000-05:00

Ebil is So Misunderstood

2011-07-27T14:55:00.000-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

2011-06-19T12:01:00.001-05:00

Attn Fathers: If your first family doesn't love you as much as your other families, YOU GOT WORK TO DO. Not them, YOU.

Whole Foods Parking Lot

2011-06-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

Georgey Porgey

2011-06-06T09:07:00.001-05:00

I write every now and then.

Georgy Porgy

Flies and flies, put them in pies,
Piss on the fly that you want to die.
Georgy Porgy, dead flies & pie.
Kiss the girls and make them die.

Flies, dead flies, fly by your side,
Write sick tunes and flies will die.
More dead flies for all the pies!
Georgy Porgy, dead flies and pies.

Can you not make the good girl die?
Are you too sick now to even try?
Find an old woman to swallow a fly!

Perhaps she’ll die.

Beethoven’s Ninth is a sweet song when sung,
You can just plug up your ears with your dung.
Dead flies and women do have this in common,
Neither can serve both a God and a Mammon.

Copyright 2008-2011 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

2011-05-21T06:46:00.001-05:00

Now a pack of semi-sentient dimwits are after me. Sheesh. You get to guess whether they're Christian or Pagan. I'm off to pray.

2011-04-30T23:38:00.001-05:00

Power's back on. Things would have been quite different had it not been for the help of Most Excellent Assistant Offspring & future SIL.

2011-04-28T17:35:00.001-05:00

Got dial-up even with no power! But, laptop battery will soon give out so I'm off again. We're fine, lost two trees, love you all.

2011-04-28T17:34:00.001-05:00

AHA!

2011-04-27T00:34:00.001-05:00

Next: sling-shots with rolled-up socks. This man is my hero. http://ping.fm/D9uED

2011-04-01T05:47:00.001-05:00

Have you fallen on your knees before God to thank him for Old Path Druids today? I DID. And I thanked the Druids too.

2011-01-28T16:08:00.001-06:00

Outstanding analysis from Diana Lee. If you've ever felt like an unwilling doctor's guinea pig... http://ping.fm/3xLA2

2010-12-31T15:54:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year! The Onion Radio - American Bar Association Recalls 230,000 defective lawyers. http://ping.fm/ZARWB

Drums for Christimas: Mystery Guitar Man

2010-12-23T11:51:00.000-06:00

Follow his directions exactly and have fun!

Merry Christmas!

Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

The Sexy Side of Migraine or, When I Get That Feeling...

2010-11-30T14:50:00.000-06:00

“Makes me feel so fine,
Helps to relieve my mind...”
Sexual Healing written by Marvin Gaye, Odell Brown and David Ritz

“Ummm, hey big guy, I have a migraine....”
What I might say if I had a man to say it to

Migraineurs are one sexy bunch. We are.

Oh sure, there’s the old joke, “Not tonight dear–I have a headache.” And there is a type of migraine called coital cephalgia that comes after sex. But migraineurs have now been shown to have a 20% higher sex drive than non-migraineurs. We could have told you that. But we were probably otherwise occupied.

Women migraineurs have the sex drive of a normal man. Male migraineurs, who make up only 20% of the migraineur population, have a 20% higher sex drive than normal men. Men migraineurs, you have my sympathy and I’d like to meet you. Just kidding. Or am I?

There have been studies to determine whether orgasm helps migraine or makes it worse. The data is mixed. So far only women have been studied.

* 47.4% had complete relief
* 48.5% had no relief, and for
* 4.1%, orgasm made their migraine worse

I feel so bad for the 4.1% whose migraine was made worse by orgasm!

I’m what used to be called a sad sack. I’m divorced but not annulled. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. What to do?

I can’t morally indulge my 20% increase since in the eyes of the Church I’m still married to a man I haven’t seen in more than 10 years and have been divorced from for 16 years. I can’t get married again either. So what to do?

I need a psychic lover, one that won’t really ‘be there’ to ‘count’ as ‘real’. That would solve my problems, I believe. Imagine the personal ad for that!

Psychic WF looking for psychic WM for psychic sex only, good remote ability not required but a plus, looks irrelevant, ability to astrally project as a human required as no animal or creature astral projectors wanted. Absolutely no serious relationship possible so don’t ask, migraineurs especially welcome, follow the energy trail to inquire.

April Fools! :)

Will edit this if the Urgent Congressional Contact Alert from the AHDA comes out today. Future funding for migraine research hangs in the balance. I'm on it and I'll let you know.

2010-11-27T06:27:00.001-06:00

I rarely plug specific blog articles, but I believe this one is important: http://ping.fm/XVEdH

Have you thanked a Druid today?

2010-11-17T19:38:00.000-06:00

I'm grateful to them and thankful for them every day of my life. :)

Copyright 2008-2010 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

2010-11-10T22:29:00.001-06:00

Love of money is the root of all evil. Addiction to World of Warcraft is a trigger for my prayer intervention.

In Honor of the Scorpio New Moon Tonight

2010-11-05T08:09:00.000-05:00

“Deep roots are not reached by frost” – J. R. R. Tolkien

Copyright 2008-2010 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Please pray...

2010-11-04T17:08:00.001-05:00

I'm spheksophobic - wasp phobia. Please pray for this poor lady. http://ping.fm/7rz9g

2010-10-19T14:19:00.001-05:00

In people-overload state. Taking a break to discharge all this energy. I love you all.

"Forbes Was Wrong On Monsanto. Really Wrong." by Robert Langreth

2010-10-12T14:40:00.001-05:00

I'm sharing this everywhere. This is an extremely important article. He who has eyes to see, let him see! She already sees it.

http://ping.fm/w1hXI

2010-10-10T21:42:00.001-05:00

Question: Good Celtic music bands? Open to all genres. Thanks!

What the Scorpio Moon Dreams

2010-10-08T18:19:00.000-05:00

About right for this time of year.

I dreamt that someone invents a way to combine cremation with burial at sea. You put the body in a body bag, pour in a special chemical combination, seal it up, and by the time you heave it over the side of the boat, all that's left in the bag is pure liquid.

The people on the boat are particularly excited about the discovery, but I have no idea why. I do watch a demonstration they do just for me. In the dream I notice that I can't imagine any use for the discovery but I watch the demo anyhow since the people are going to the trouble of performing it. I'm not especially interested but I'm polite anyhow.

No idea who the people were or where the boat was. The day was sparkling with blue sky and gorgeous ocean water. I woke up.

Why the bag of liquid didn't seem wrong compared with the explanation of "cremation" never crossed either my mind or the minds of the people.

Lunar return in a couple of hours. Head's been hurting today but complementary stuff has staved off the worst so far.

Copyright 2008-2010 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Saint Michael the Archangel

2010-09-29T12:38:00.000-05:00

Feast Day of Saint Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle,
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray and do thou,
O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Power of God,
Thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits,
Who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen

Sharethis: A Remembrance of Father Thomas Dubay | Blogs | NCRegister.com

2010-09-28T19:52:00.000-05:00

I had the extraordinary privilege to attend a retreat preached by Fr. Dubay a few years ago. He kindly signed my copy of Fire Within, his remarkable book on mystical phenomena.

Please read the article, and say a prayer for the amazing Fr. Dubay. Reading Office For the Dead for the repose of his soul.


A Remembrance of Father Thomas Dubay \| Blogs \| NCRegister.com Source: ncregister.com

Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

GIF: Adjustin Eers fer Bettr Signalz…

2010-09-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

Yeah, something like this.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Basement kitteh in a sentimental mood

2010-09-19T06:52:00.000-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

2010-09-15T05:18:00.001-05:00

Woke up singing "Dance with Me" by Orleans. :D

Don't make me call the flying monkeys!

2010-09-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

Whatever your party, you gotta admit this is funny in an absurd way.

Sharethis: Press Release – Invisible Illness Week Bloggers Driving Force Behind Awareness Campaign : Invisible Illness Awareness Week 2010!

2010-09-05T17:36:00.000-05:00


Press Release – Invisible Illness Week Bloggers Driving Force Behind Awareness Campaign : Invisible Illness Awareness Week Source: invisibleillnessweek.com

Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

Dream Date

2010-09-02T09:56:00.000-05:00

From Twitter @VeryShortStory:

It was the perfect first date. Dinner then kisses as I held you close, absorbing the life force from your body, watching you turn to dust.

Advice from a Cartoon Princess

2010-09-01T08:37:00.001-05:00

This is funny.

Sharethis: FOXNews.com - John Cusack Calls for 'Satanic Death' of Fox News, GOP Leaders

2010-08-31T09:40:00.000-05:00

Oh dear.

I'm going to incorporate "vituperative" into my speaking vocabulary.


FOXNews.com - John Cusack Calls for 'Satanic Death' of Fox News, GOP Leaders Source: foxnews.com

Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

2010-08-27T21:49:00.001-05:00

God bless & provide for His servants who've held my hands, prayed for me, adjured away the evil, & done well for Him.He comes reward in hand

2010-08-27T21:44:00.001-05:00

God bless health care providers & metaphysicians who have helped me, past, present & future. God's saving up the pearls for your crowns. :)

2010-08-25T05:11:00.001-05:00

Guys, go get a cold one. Gals, I've developed a significant latex allergy. Who sells latex-free lingerie? Need help, Google no real help.

2010-08-22T18:51:00.001-05:00

Taking a break. My comments on a blog have been altered into something I did not say. I'm horrified & sickened. How could she?

Dreamland

2010-08-22T00:06:00.000-05:00

Migraine dream. This one is associated with a basilar-type migraine that's juuuuuust getting started.

I'm living in the house I live in now. A massive crowd of landscapers comes to do work on the yard. I don't like the looks of them and tell them that I don't want to hire them.

The crowd gets bigger and bigger and suddenly, they're all demons, demons of every sort. They're ancient relics all the way to toddler children. They're dressed in attire from every sort of occupation you can imagine--and I mean every sort of occupation, way of life, job, business, activity, time in history--they are a crowd of indescribable variety.

They're working as hard as they can to cover the whole neighborhood. Suddenly the ground is covered with snow.

I realize what they are and begin to pray. Every time I pray they come at me hard, some viciously, some benignly, some aggressively, some sidling up to me as though I were their best friends, then poof! They're gone.

I go on a praying rampage all over the neighborhood, going at them as fast and as hard as they come at me. I come awake at least twice and hear myself praying out loud the way I'm praying in my dream. Each time I go back to sleep, the dream keeps on where it was, and I'm back in the fray.

I finally get my yard cleaned out and see that they crowd has moved into a house down the street. In the dream I fly down there and dive into things, praying like there's no tomorrow. This goes on for a while.

Suddenly the scene stops, everything frozen in place, and fades away. I wake up.

I woke up with my Rosary in my hand hearing myself praying. Migraine dreams are really, really weird.

Full Pisces Moon on Tuesday 8/24/10 at 11:05AM. Getting a 'head start' on the Full Moon migraine attack, I guess.

Copyright 2008-2010 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

2010-08-13T12:31:00.001-05:00

Taking the afternoon off to pray for all the people hatin' on me today. I feel their pain. :(

2010-08-10T16:37:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm sick. I've got what Mom has last week. At least I don't have her high fever. Thank you all for your prayers & good thoughts.

The Darkness of Liliths

2010-08-05T04:16:00.000-05:00

We sunder stars, spread them apart,

And let in whom we please.

Disaster you cannot imagine,

Because no stars lie here.

2010-08-05T01:02:00.001-05:00

Transiting Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, & Vesta are in my 5th House of natal Pluto/North Node conj. I'd like to have an argument please.

It's close enough to August - Sharethis: Disguisable Weapons

2010-07-27T13:54:00.000-05:00

........

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


E-mails from an Asshole Source: dontevenreply.com

Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

A Thousand Stories High

2010-07-14T23:56:00.007-05:00

I am a solitary, no one to fear.

No one is here.

I am a mirror and a microscope,

reflecting telescope.

I am the web of Lilith’s urges,

Welcome your damnation

with courage.

I am God’s bow, set in the heavens,

You are forgiven.

Me: A Bunny on a Pit Bull

2010-07-09T10:15:00.000-05:00

NYT Article: Amid Church Abuse Scandal, an Office That Failed to Act

2010-07-02T11:04:00.001-05:00

I don't believe anyone has noticed that The Carmelite's Habit has not extensively commented on the priest sex abuse situation. It will now comment. Then, we'll be off for our annual month of contemplation and reflection. Hopefully we'll see you soon in August.

First, I will not link to the article in the title of this column. The article is loaded for bear, filled with weasel wording and lay definitions applied by the author to Church conventions completely inappropriately and incorrectly. Virtually no sources are cited other than people directly quoted. This article would not be graded with the lowest passing mark were it to be submitted to even an undergraduate professor in any school, college, or university for any writing assignment whatsoever.

What makes my assessment exquisitely painful is only this: much of the information is not new and was already fairly widely known (I've known about much of it for years and you may rest assured I don't have a hotline to the Vatican nor to the various bishops around the world). The article is neither investigative work, nor telling the story of the event, nor opinion. I cannot identify which genre of writing fits over this article. I have a Baccalaureate Degree in English Humanities from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. I can speak to writing.

That is the only thing I will say about the historical events in this situation. They're history already. There is nothing investigative about historical analysis. If a reporter sees that what he or she is preparing is historical analysis and doesn't frame the article in those terms, then the editor has a bounded duty to do so. No such work was done on this article.

I will not further address historical analysis presented as current investigative reporting. If the media feels guilt that it didn't more aggressively bring this situation to light decades ago when the largest mass of abuses were being committed, I have no sympathy. I don't believe the media correctly should be the primary body responsible for pushing for laws to be enforced. No one body carries that burden exclusively. It is everyone's job to be his or her neighbor's keeper. And of that you may rest assured.

Second, I will address the question that has been burning in my mind since the media took up aggressive coverage of the priest sex abuse situation: where were the parents?

All children are the active responsibility of someone. States are responsible for some children by default of parents or court order. Parents foster out children they are not capable of handling or rearing. Parents help each other with problems of child rearing and parenting. Even children labeled "fallen through the cracks" were somebody's responsibility.

When they learned that their children had been molested, why didn't the parents call the police?

During the 1930s, when the U. S. government made the statement that children could not be properly trained by their parents for the lives they would lead in the new world of technology lived off the farm and out of the apprenticeships, the Church issued their own clear response that parents are indeed primarily responsible for the education of their children, they and no one else. From either point of view, when the abuse came to light why didn't either the government or the Church call the police??

Mamas, you think it's bad when your own mother or mother-in-law or baby-daddy mama swoops in and proceeds to hold forth about what a poor job you're doing? Let the government or the Church get involved in your parenting, and you'll wish you'd never given birth.

I am of the opinion that neither parents nor the state can ever delegate parenting. It can be shared or assigned and sometimes must be, but it can never be delegated.

To my mind, the finest people on this planet are parents who have their priorities straight. Parents, you need the whole world behind you when you take back your children from the government, back from the Church, back from educational systems, back from anyone other than YOU.

Parents, do take back your children. You are primarily responsible. Take back your incomparable children and glory in your responsibility. World, honor parents who are being parents.

Believe your child when he or she tells you things other adults or children do. Listen to what they mean as well as what they say. Of course they'll need context for the things they've experienced. That's what parents do: provide perspective, explain differences, reaffirm family values, nurture growing, interpret events, teach, teach, teach! And call the police when the law has been broken.

You are NOT required to do anything else more important. You do NOT have to answer an email or a telephone call or make a presentation or attend a circle meeting that takes precedence over your children's welfare and rearing. Say you'll lose your job or your volunteer position if you don't? Find another job. Find a different organization to accept your donation of time and effort. Even at 15% unemployment, it means that 85% of the population is working.

Say you'll have to move into a smaller house? Ok. Husbands and wives together make a house a home. Say your children will be disadvantaged if you don't have a certain amount of money to spend on them? You're right up to a point. And that's where parenting shines brightly. Make up for what you perceive as lack yourselves, with your own time and effort. Here in the U. S., public libraries have public computers. Experienced homeschooling parents are a gold mine of resources for all sorts of educational opportunities when you see they're lacking in your own school system. Teaching your children is your job even if the school system spends more time at it.

And hold the Church to its word that you are primarily responsible for teaching the faith to your children. Be strong in your belief system, obtain the capabilities to transmit it to your children. If something you teach your children conflicts with what they learn at church, BE THE PARENT AND GET IT RESOLVED.

Parents, teach your children what you know is true: people are people no matter their job title. Teach them safety rules you know are right. Children don't have any business hanging around a school or church when they are not participating in an after-hours event. Adults don't need to be closeted in a room alone with your child when you are not present, not in a school, not in a church building, not in a home. If you send your child to Confession, do it during regular hours and go with them into the Church building! Teach your child to repent to God immediately after a transgression, a missing of the mark, and to confess at the next opportunity.

No one has a right to be alone with your child but YOU. You as parents might permit it, but no one else has such entitlement.

What is trust? It has nothing to do with the safety of your child and of that you may rest assured. To trust someone to care for your child the way you would care for him or her is to assume that the person will do so. To assume makes an ass out of you and me: ass-u-me. See whether the school is doing its job, who all is involved with projects and activities and events. Find out if the preacher or priest, Sunday School teacher or Youth Minister is honorable, your definition of honorable. Talk to other parents. Talk to other churches. Network. Help each other.

Trust others with your money. Handle your child-rearing yourself. If you believe the law has been broken, call the police. If they won't listen, get an atheist lawyer for a Church matter and a devout lawyer for a school and/or government matter. Yes, I did say that.

I reared my children in my parent's house after I divorced my husband. They will be my children forever. I still remind them in their adulthood that I am their mother, and I will do my job.

The Hand of Almighty God will reach down and correct the problems in the Church. The worst of the scandal has not yet been discovered. Pray to the Lord our God that it does come to light so that the wound may heal and God may be praised. He is the only one worthy of praise. And of that you may also rest assured.

See you in August.

Copyright 2008-2010 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Sharethis: Roundup resistant weeds pose environmental threat - USATODAY.com

2010-06-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

This Full Moon/Eclipse/Cardinal Grand Cross thing is really kicking my butt. In my head.

Please take a few minutes to read this article through to the end. In my opinion, the final 1/3 of it is the most important.

Shortly I'll be stretching out again. Drinking stinging nettle and horsetail infusion with splash of mugwort vinegar, ice cold. Keep an infusion in the fridge and you can have a swallow of something nice and refreshing and nourishing at will. I'm pleased that my health between attacks continues to improve. Next month I'll look at my other New Year's Resolution(s).

Right now, rocks and Rosary. My jasper and agate Rosary on memory wire is holding up. Yeah, I have to use a memory wire Rosary. I was busting a chain one about every 72 hours before I got this one. I pray hard. :)


Roundup resistant weeds pose environmental threat - USATODAY.com Source: usatoday.com

Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

2010-06-27T18:01:00.001-05:00

She did it! My daughter has been admitted to graduate school to pursue a Master's in Library and Information Sciences. Go LIBRARIANS!!!

2010-06-23T15:03:00.001-05:00

Sweet kitty buried peacefully. All is well. Off to rest now. Thanks to everyone for prayers and good thoughts. May God richly bless you. :)

2010-06-22T09:47:00.001-05:00

APB:sick kitty back at the vet.Vet says this time kitty won't be able to bounce back. Please pray. Good thoughts gratefully appreciated.

From Breibart.tv: Press-Register video near Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge in the Gulf of Mexico

2010-06-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

Submerged oil at Bon Secour shoreline

The Sounds of the Sun

2010-06-19T17:26:00.000-05:00

Stunning.

What scientists did was translate visible light into sound waves, then sped them up to the range of human hearing since the natural frequency was below the threshold for human ears.

Here's a link to the article. If you think this majestic universe just happened to fall together by itself, listen to this music again. And again. And again, until it dawns on you like it did on Einstein at the end of his life that the universe didn't invent by itself. God did it.

And there are stars all over the universe, vibrating and strumming just like this and at frequencies we haven't even found yet. What a wonderful time to be alive!

Music of the sun recorded by scientists.

Foolish Hooman Woman! lol

2010-06-19T04:36:00.000-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

2010-06-11T08:46:00.001-05:00

@RickWarren on Twitter "When people call an ocean oil spill caused by human drilling 'an Act of God'-THAT friends, is taking God's name in vain!"

Carpe Diem

2010-06-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

Carpe Diem

I shall bathe your feet in the sacred river,

And cool your heat, it burns your brow.

Come to me now.

2010-06-08T03:42:00.001-05:00

Thank you, everybody, for focusing your prayers & efforts on the Gulf oil gusher from the coast outward. I'm less...stopped up. LOL

2010-06-02T21:45:00.001-05:00

APB: everybody praying & doing energy earth healing FOCUS DIRECTLY AT THE GULF. I'm physically feeling it & I'm ill. More on blog l8tr

2010-06-02T20:16:00.001-05:00

Best article I've seen explaining the current problems in Gaza, Israel, and the flotilla. http://ping.fm/0APpo

2010-05-25T02:10:00.001-05:00

*enjoying a nice baked potato with Valbresco feta, and a frosty mug of meadowsweet ale*

2010-05-23T06:28:00.001-05:00

By the way, if you want to verbally contend with me about Christianity, please be ready.

2010-05-21T18:15:00.001-05:00

Dear *cuckoo* Hope a tornado never comes near you. http://ping.fm/PgJFB

2010-05-16T00:15:00.001-05:00

Two years ago today, my father died. Please pray for all of us, especially my poor mother. Thank you and I love you all.

Unplugged until Monday.

Sharethis: Hoover Receives National Sustainability Award|ABC 33/40 News

2010-05-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

My little burg. I'm proud of us! :)

New Moon in Taurus, head not as bad as some New/Full Moon attacks, but tinnitus is screaming. It'll be gone by Sunday I expect.

Hoover Receives National Sustainability Award
Hoover Receives National Sustainability Award\|ABC 33/40 News Source: abc3340.com

Parin Stormlaughter sent this using ShareThis.

For all ye who are in on the inside joke

2010-05-10T04:42:00.000-05:00

7,065 days not counting leap year days because that would just make me too sad. *sigh*

Copyright 2008-2010 Parin Stormlaughter, The Carmelite's Habit, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Lena Horne

2010-05-10T00:26:00.000-05:00

Lena Horne has died.

Saving the pot liquor for you, Lena.

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Mystery Guitar Man does the William Tell Overture on Kazoo

2010-05-07T22:00:00.001-05:00

Gentle readers, this is creativity like I haven't seen since...well, since I was his age.

This is the most perfect example of a master of musical practice that I've ever seen. He chose the instrument lines of the piece that would make the best composite, I imagine he had to memorize each line by singing long before he picked up the kazoo, he's a great performer, SIGN THAT KID UP.

Advertisement writers and directors and producers, are you WATCHING??

Thanks to my bud for sharing. *hugs*

2010-05-03T02:39:00.000-05:00

I wonder if natural gas is coming out of the two pipes that are also spewing the raw oil in the Gulf of Mexico?

2010-05-01T19:38:00.001-05:00

I've already smelt it here on this (foothill) mountain http://ping.fm/IfKgh
"Alabama Health Officials Warn Of Risks Caused By Oil Spill"

2010-04-28T21:42:00.001-05:00

Apparently there is newly discovered oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, that wasn't there even earlier this afternoon. God save our oceans.

2010-04-28T12:17:00.001-05:00

Please pray. They're fixing to set the Gulf of Mexico on fire. God save our living oceans.

2010-04-26T21:35:00.001-05:00

Never underestimate empowered Christians. Good night and may pain relief be with us.

2010-04-22T11:48:00.001-05:00

Joyous Earth Day! My mother found another snake & this one's black! :D

2010-04-18T20:21:00.001-05:00

Taking a few days off. Catch you all on the flip side!

The lovely snake... :/

2010-04-18T18:54:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid the lovely snake in the backyard may have met its demise.

One of my neighbors is deathly afraid of snakes. He keeps his shotgun in his lap as he rides his lawnmower through his front yard (this is Alabama where we shoot everything). He won't cut his back yard unless his wife is with him.

He just told my mother that he found...a snake. A green snake with yellow stripes. Sounds like the one we saw.

He may have shot it.

Please don't shoot snakes. Suburban areas are extremely unlikely to have venomous snakes and very likely to have critters that snakes prey on like mice. Save a mousetrap and save a snake.

I feel very sad now.

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Sharethis: Vatican Official Declares Extraterrestrial Contact Is Real | Before It's News

2010-04-15T20:21:00.000-05:00

Yeah, see, I knew this already 'cause I got this alien thingy attached to me. It pokes me in the back whenever somebody messes with it. It's watching me. It loves me.

If you see this thing just let it be. When it pokes my back it hurts real bad and, ya know, it mainly doesn't bother me much really. I might try to figure out how to communicate with it sometime.

Vatican Official Declares Extraterrestrial Contact Is Real
Vatican Official Declares Extraterrestrial Contact Is Real \| Before It's News Source: beforeitsnews.com

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Bees turn house into a beehive - Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

2010-04-14T20:30:00.001-05:00

Not your usual bees-inside-the-walls-of-the-house story. Thanks, Lori, from The Bee Folks for sharing on Facebook.

Been in there for ten years???

Good news on the stock prices front

2010-04-14T13:24:00.000-05:00

Shares of Monsanto, which have been falling since January, slipped nearly 2 percent Tuesday to $67.75.

Monsanto would get my business if it would work more intelligently and not more efficiently. Managerial accounting has much value when kept in a safe place and used sparingly.

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Sharethis: ABC 33/40 Weather Blog >> On The Weather Channel

2010-04-01T14:57:00.000-05:00

What a debate...

James Spann, Chief Meteorologist for WBMA here in the Birmingham area, has consistently maintained that climate change cannot be affected by mankind. He was on The Weather Channel with Paul Gross who is also a broadcast meteorologist who maintains that mankind is changing the climate.

Please both read the article and watch the video. Then, as James Spann says, make up your own mind. Or, wait a while until more information is gathered.

I am of the opinion that there are far worse polluting and earth-destroying things going on right now than whether man is warming up the earth. I'm also of the opinion that mankind might, at some point in time, develop the capabilities to permanently control climate. I see no good in it. Politicians would use it one country against another in the name of protection and control.

There are vast quantities of medicines showing up in ground water from which towns and cities work up their drinking water. Most comes from human waste that the earth has otherwise taken care of. A portion comes from throwing away and flushing unused medicines.

Just reducing the quantities of medicines we take every day and following safe medicine disposal practices such as returning unused prescriptions to local pharmacies would make such a difference in the world's water and improve the health of the earth.

Improve your health with the aim of reducing the medicines you need. Take even expired over-the-counter medicines to the drug store for them to dispose of.

Some medicines will be flushed whole no matter what. Within minutes of when my father died here at home, the home hospice nurse flushed all of his narcotic pain medicines and my mother had to sign a document certifying that the nurse had done so. He had a fair number of prescription narcotics - he had died of metastasized prostate cancer. God had removed his pain during the last 3 weeks of his life but no one would have taken his prescriptions to the drug store!

No idea of a solution to that kind of situation. Sure, I could have used the meds since some of them were identically the same as pain meds I've got prescribed for me now. But the hospice has their rules and they took responsibility for the narcotics. Many people die. Many have their pain meds flushed after death. No idea how to solve that.

"Do you believe in global warming?" is a straw-man question as James Spann pointed out in different wording. Concentrate on solving the destructive things that really do cause problems and "global warming" will take care of itself.

On The Weather Channel
ABC 33/40 Weather Blog �� On The Weather Channel Source: alabamawx.com

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Please pray that God stop this - Sharethis: Lawyer: Saudi could behead Lebanese for witchcraft - Yahoo! News

2010-04-01T12:04:00.000-05:00

Horrific: A witchcraft beheading on Good Friday.

No one deserves to be killed by another person, in my opinion. Once Jesus Christ came, we were released from the old "suffer not a witch to live" law as well. Yes, everyone was released from it no matter what your belief system.

Please pray that God give this man back his life.

Lawyer: Saudi could behead Lebanese for witchcraft
Lawyer: Saudi could behead Lebanese for witchcraft - Yahoo! News Source: news.yahoo.com

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2010-03-23T13:10:00.001-05:00

Single coolest arachnid-related event of the year: tiny spider just let himself down on a string of silk about 4 inches from my forehead.

Lovely snake in the backyard!

2010-03-19T13:06:00.001-05:00

This is the most beautiful day we've had since 2010 started. I felt like if I could get my balance, I had to get outside!

Mom went with me. We were happily digging away. Her secret name is Assiduous Weeder and I make regular healthful weed rescues from her weed bag.

She had the shovel and I had a bucket and one of my canes. We were giggling and digging, I had a nice conversation with a squirrel (squirrels speak English - who knew? XD ). I'd collected gorgeous viola odoratas - sweet violets - and one lone dandelion bloom. Mom had dug up a nice bunch of wild garlic.

She saw a piece of plastic and tried to move it with the shovel so she could pick it up when suddenly she said, "There's a snake! It's a green snake!"

It looks more blue in this pic than it did through my eyes and hers. What a beaut, eh?

We've got all sorts of fauna around here: a raccoon family lives in my neighbor's backyard, salamanders and box turtles appear every now and then, lizards abound. There are more birds in this area than I could possibly count. I heard my lovely wood thrush day before yesterday in the early hours of light.

But nobody has seen a snake in so long, neither Mom nor I could remember.

She said, "Should I kill it?" I hollered, "Don't you DARE!"

So, several pics later, he (or she) pulled his/her head back out of sight, and we moved on to nice big dandelions and musk thistles.

Somebody here on this earth or in the life to come loves us. :)

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Annual Month-Long March Meniere's/Migraine Attack

2010-03-18T08:26:00.002-05:00

***Simul-posting***

Somebody please put me out of my Meniere's/Migraine misery. Just let me live in the process.

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Sharethis: Pope Paul VI and The Smoke of Satan << The American Catholic

2010-03-14T11:46:00.001-05:00

“Lord, I believe in Your word, I believe in Your revelation, I believe in the one You have given me as witness and guarantor of Your revelation to sense and to prove, with the strength of faith, the anticipation of the blessedness of the life that is promised us with faith.” Pope Paul VI

Follow-up story with background on Fr. Gabriele Amorth's comments about the state of the Roman Catholic clergy.

Pope Paul VI and The Smoke of Satan
Pope Paul VI and The Smoke of Satan �� The American Catholic Source: the-american-catholic.com

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Sharethis: On Satan's trail with Don Gabriele, the world's most famous exorcist - Times Online

2010-03-13T01:12:00.000-06:00

Read the article. Check out all of Father Gabriele Amorth's books from the library. Read them carefully.

Be strong in your belief system, whatever it happens to be.

On Satan's trail with Don Gabriele, the world's most famous exorcist
On Satan's trail with Don Gabriele, the world's most famous exorcist - Times Online Source: timesonline.co.uk

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Sharethis: Sky Mall Kitty: The Best Song About Cats And Sky Mall Ever | The Awl

2010-02-20T13:09:00.000-06:00

The internet is over.

I laughed until tears ran down my cheeks.

Sky Mall Kitties
Sky Mall Kitty: The Best Song About Cats And Sky Mall Ever \| The Awl Source: theawl.com

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Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee

2010-02-18T14:17:00.000-06:00

Pray for us. Remember that I pray for all.

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Sharethis: Writers who work with their dreams

2010-02-13T14:38:00.000-06:00

Highlights of last night's typically weird Migraine dream. New Moon in Aquarius, 25o18", at 8:51PM Central (Ilove)Standard Time. FYI, IRL my mother owes no money to anybody for anything.

Leonard Nimoy as a transvestite university professor, his class that I took where my assignment was to do a dramatic recitation of being attacked by the man who sabotaged the lawnmower, that woman from IRS calling an old cellphone of mine about $11,000 that Mom owed on furniture, brother and I walking and walking all around where Liberty Supermarket used to be, looking for a bathroom while we're walking, going to see Leonard Nimoy in the hospital and visiting with him about the tragedy, not wanting to see the man who sabotaged my lawnmower who was also visiting Leonard Nimoy.

Writers who work with their dreams
Writers and Dreams Source: kporterfield.com

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Sharethis: Raise Cain tomorrow!! Joe Cain Procession

2010-02-06T23:48:00.001-06:00

2/12/10 Edit: Ok, so I don't know one day from another! Joe Cain Day is actually tomorrow, not last week. Raise Cain two weeks in a row, I say! XD

*******************

Next year, I solemnly promise that unless something stops me I'm gonna make the crew take me to Joe Cain's grave on the Saturday before Joe Cain Day.

Tomorrow, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, is Joe Cain Day. The highly secretive Widows of Cain visit Joe Cain's grave dressed in Civil War black widow's weeds, weep and wail for about 10 minutes, then leave. The police keep the curious away so the widows can do their thing.

Read the interesting article. And if you just want a safe, fabulous Mardi Gras take the ten days off before Ash Wednesday. There will be parades every day or two, sometimes two at the same time. And yes, plenty of State Stores (what we call liquor stores) for your libation enjoyment.

Raise Cain tomorrow to honor the man who brought back Mardi Gras after the Civil, back to the U.S. home of Mardi Gras, Mobile, Alabama.

The Merry Widows of Cain
Joe Cain Procession Source: mardigrasdigest.com

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Sharethis: Calls to make witchcraft a criminal offence as 81-year-old woman stabbed 50 times : RICHMARK SENTINEL

2010-01-14T00:38:00.001-06:00

Just short note. This situation didn't even occur in our hemisphere of the planet but it caught my eye.

I don't believe this would ever work. I was challenged to differentiate between spell-casting and praying one time. Of course, for my part communication with the Creator of Heaven and Earth is so completely unrelated to utilizing said creation for my own purposes that there was no common ground for discussion. God of Jacob does His own Will, certainly not mine! How would a law distinguish between prayers for the salvation of sinners and spell-casting to bring rain?

This sort of "morality by legislation" has a woeful history of ineffectiveness as well. Hearts must change before behaviour will.

My position remains the same as it has been for decades: I am pro life, pro EVERYONE'S life. There is no justification for killing anyone to punish or prevent him or her from killing someone else--laws yes, but no justification. Oh, so that makes me pro-life and anti-death-penalty as well? Yep. The Vatican acknowledges that society has the right to protect itself but does not accept capital punishment for societal protection.

Romans 12:19 "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.'"

So Saint Paul, where's it written? Leviticus 19:17-19 "You shall not hate our brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."

God of Jacob will do infinitely better in His own time than I or any of us could do in an eternity. And, everyone deserves a chance to repent.

The second most prevalent mistake after denying the reality of unholiness is squeezing God into our own tiny minds. Ours is not a puny God.

He created the Heavens and the Earth, made Man in His own image, and made Woman of Man. Jesus fully understood disbelief and lack of faith. John 10:37-38 "If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

Anyway...follow the laws of the land, be strong in your belief system.

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." That's what Saint Paul said just before he admonished us "never to avenge" ourselves, Romans 12:18.


Calls to make witchcraft a criminal offence as 81-year-old woman stabbed 50 times : RICHMARK SENTINEL Source: therichmarksentinel.com

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LOL

2010-01-01T17:51:00.000-06:00

From The TexasCook Review 12/27/09:

The priest was passing a group of young teens sitting on the church lawn and stopped to ask what they were doing.

"Nothing much, Father," replied one boy. "We were just seeing who can tell the biggest lie about their sex life."

"Boys, boys, boys!" he scolded. "I'm shocked. When I was your age, I never even thought about sex."

In unison they all replied, "You win!"

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

A Dickens Christmas

2009-12-21T11:00:00.000-06:00

"Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!"
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

"It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself."
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Some winter in some not too distant tomorrow, Victorian England will come to Bluff Park and we will have a Dickens Christmas.

Porter for the fiddler, roast goose, plum pudding (which is delicious by the way, if you've never had it. It's easy to make and beats fruitcake by a country mile), games, Victorian garb, and a dramatic reading of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Oh think of the FUN!

It would be a project for an entire year, or maybe two. Researching it as a historic re-creation event would be marvelous fun--Libchik is a history major in the Honor Society headed towards a Master's Degree in Library Sciences. Point us in the right direction and history recreated it will be!

What fun to learn about the various games traditionally played at Christmas in Victorian England! I know a woodworker who would make a stool and a crutch to remind us of the Tiny Tim's in our midst.

Trip to Church, trip to the cemetery to pay respects at my father's grave (too bad we don't have handsome cabs but oh well), and then back to the house and fire.

We'd have a Ghost of Christmas Past (I nominate myself), a Ghost of Christmas Present (my mother would fill the bill quite nicely), and a Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. My redheaded actress Aikichik would have the gravitas to pull that character off!

Libchik would cook. I'd brew some Porter for the fiddler (which would probably end up being me too) who played for the dancing at Fezziwig's Annual Christmas Party.

What a wonderful day it would be! I might get started planning right now... :D

Merriest Christmas if that's your holiday. It's mine. Warm love and wishes for happiness in the New Year!

Copyright 2007-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, The Carmelite's Habit, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Contact me to request permission to link. And remember that if my work gets published anywhere else, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

What a birthday present!

2009-12-13T12:06:00.000-06:00

A while ago, my mother called out to me to "come see this baby alligator on the back door!"

Now, many small slithery critters look like alligators to my mother. About this time last year, a small lizard made its way into the house. I showed it to my mother before releasing it in the front yard. She said, "That looks just like a baby alligator!" No idea what my mother's deal is with alligators...

Anyhow, the pic is in the header. What gorgeous creature! I got plenty of pics before it scooted away.

Tomorrow, I turn 49 years old. I'm going to consider this sighting as a birthday present from God and Mother Nature.

Thank you Both! I love you! :D

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Use the ShareThis link if you want to share this. Nothing in the above article is remunerated content. Remember that if my work gets published anywhere else without proper citation, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.

Sharethis: Religion Journal - Montana Rabbi Lends an Ear to an Officer and His Dog - NYTimes.com

2009-12-11T03:37:00.000-06:00

Positively one of the best-composed news articles I've ever read.

This, this gentle readers, is a taste of the World of Tomorrow where cooperation and good-will aren't legislated or mandated, ordered or required. The World of Tomorrow will be a better place. Pray with me or along side me that it come with all haste.

"All is well in the Jewish community here because the Hasidic rabbi is helping the Montana cop speak Hebrew to his dog." Twitter @leahjones
Religion Journal - Montana Rabbi Lends an Ear to an Officer and His Dog - NYTimes.com Source: nytimes.com

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