’Twas the evening of Samhain, and all through the place Were Pagans preparing the ritual space. The candles were set in the corners with care, In hopes that the Watchtowers soon would be there. We all had our robes on, as is habitual And had just settled down and were starting our ritual When out on the porch there arose such a chorus That we went to the door, and waiting there for us Were children in costumes of various kinds With visions of chocolate bright in their minds.
In all of our workings, we’d almost forgot, But we had purchased candy, we’d purchased a LOT And so, as they flocked from all over the street, They all got some chocolate or something else sweet. We didn’t think twice of delaying our rite, Kids just don’t have this much fun every night. For hours they came, with the time-honored schtick, Of giving a choice: a treat or a trick. As is proper, the parents were there for the games, Watching the children and calling their names. “On Vader, On Leia, On Dexter and DeeDee, On Xena, on Buffy, On Casper and Tweety! To the block of apartments on the neighboring road You’ll get so much candy, you’ll have to be towed!”
The volume of children eventually dropped, And as it grew darker, it finally stopped. But as we prepared to return to our rite, One child more stepped out of the night. She couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen. Her hair was deep red, and her robe, forest green With a simple gold cord tying off at the waist. She’d a staff in her hand and a smile on her face. No make-up, nor mask, or accompanying kitsch, So we asked who she was; she replied, “A Witch! And no, I don’t fly through the sky on my broom, I only use that thing for cleaning my room. My magical powers aren’t really that neat, And I won’t threaten tricks; I’ll just ask for a treat.” We found it refreshing, so we gave incense cones, A candle, a crystal, a few other stones, And the rest of the candy which might fill a van She turned to her father, a man dressed as Pan And laughed, “Yes, I know, Dad, it’s past time for bed,” And started to leave, but she first turned and said, “I’m sorry for further delaying your rite. Blessed Samhain to all, and a magical night.”
Congratulations, I guess. You’re D Minor, the key that F Major turns to when its lover dumps it. This key is downright depressing, but not in a loud way. This is more the “brooding as you slowly cut yourself in the corner” type of depressing. A member of the totally-real band Spinal tap once said that when D minor begins, “everyone instantly starts weeping." It’s an easy key to play for many instruments, and is quite a nice key for slow jazz ballads, as if you didn’t have enough of the blues.
So yeah, you’re D Minor, but you probably don’t care. In fact, you were probably expecting this when you started the damn quiz. Pessimism isn’t always the answer, friend!
SONG EXAMPLE: So What? By Miles Davis (OK, I know it’s actually in D’s Dorian mode, but close the hell enough.)
INTERESTING TIDBIT:
* This key is actually fairly easy to rock in if you’re in drop D, but you rarely hear any super punk death metal in D Minor. Odd.
I just finished watching Thirteen Days about the weeks in October 1962 known as the "Cuban Missile Crisis." The other day I watch Oliver Stone's JFK.
In 1991, at the Democratic National Convention a film was shown called "A Town Called Hope" about this barely known Governor of Arkansas. There was a scene in it where Bill Clinton was shown to have met JFK when he was a high school student. Visually, they stopped it just a split second before their hands joined in a shake, a visual said to have been a specific allusion to the Sistine Chapel.
I remember how I felt when I saw that. I felt so energized and alive. I felt hopeful. I felt we had found our new JFK. In the Democratic Party, for the last 40 years, all have aspired to be the next JFK. That is the Gold Standard.
Kennedy was dead just under seven months before I was born, but my whole life this mythical figure has been held up as the Greatest President of recent history.
I am sure that my counterpart in the Republican Party has been taught the same thing about Ronald Reagan. What Reagan gave to people was that they made us feel good about ourselves. Well, I didn't feel any better, but I was a smart person and could see through the facade.
But, JFK was young and a Senator and a war hero. He was the real deal, while Reagan just was playing a part. In fact, I sometimes say that I feel that Jack Kennedy was the last one that I believe actually was in charge. Conspiracy theorists will say that is what got him killed and that all Presidents since has understood the necessity to "compromise" and share power.
There is one thing I see in Obama. I actually believe that he is running his campaign. He is a natural leader that people feel comfortable following. A day or so after Joe Biden was announced as his running mate, I saw a TV interview with them together and when Biden was asked a question he turned to Obama with a huge smile and said, "I'll let you handle this, boss." The way he said boss, they way it was coming from a United States Senator, several years the senior of the target, and it was said with no reservation, much respect and truth in his heart that he felt confident, comfortable and completely supportive of Barack Obama being The Boss.
THAT is the quality I want in a President, a Commander-in-Chief, the most powerful person on Earth and the leader of the free world.
That is also what sickens me so much about what the Republicans have been doing in this campaign. Everyone knows that it was going to be near impossible to any Republican to win this election because of how much George W. Bush is despised. They know it, too, and yet in their desperate grasp at power they have done so much damage to the reputation of Obama. To really hear the fear that has been placed in the heart of a significant portion of the electorate of this country. (Be it a third to close to a half.)
I sometimes think that as the stated goal of the Republican Party is smaller government, they really want to make sure we have someone completely inept (as to who they keep electing) or to completely discredit who the other guys elect. They spent the entirety of Clinton's presidency trying to find SOMETHING, ANYTHING to discredit him, and they found that he got a blow job from some chick. Anyone remember Whitewater, or Travel Office-gate??? Yeah, nothing came of those because they couldn't find anything. They were soooooooo bitter about Nixon being taken down that they just had to get payback.
For his generation, Kennedy was a Rock Star.
For this generation, Obama is a Rock Star.
Age, good looks, charisma, Harvard, eloquence, beautiful wife and children, breaking barriers. (JFK was the first none protestant ever elected, and that was considered groundbreaking at the time.)
I do believe that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States of America, and I think this is exactly what this country, and this planet needs right now.
It's almost time for me to change my "Politics" icon here, because I don't think we are going to be "fucked" much longer.
A week from Tuesday I will walk down to Cordova Gardens Grade School and vote for Barack Obama and the future we all need.
New York City. You are most definitely from New York City. Not New Jersey, not Connecticut. If you are from Jersey then you can probably get into New York City in 10 minutes or less.
Tom Rush - Panama Limited Tom Rush (http://www.tomrush.com) performs one of his most requested songs "Panama Limited," "a collection of Bukka White's train songs". Performed at Humphreys By The Bay, San Diego, CA, this song appears on the DVD of Judy Collins' "Wildflower Festival", and is available from Tom's website at http://tomrush.com
Post 10 things that are going right in your life right now. I don’t care how small. You’re happy with your cup of coffee. You saw a flock of geese flying over. ANYTHING. Things that make you happy. Things that make you smile.
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (Oct 12, 2008) - His Feline Majesty, Comet Tom-Catten, at home.
VIRIN: 081012-G-1286H-501 Photo by Eric J. Hébert (cc)2008 Bast Productions. Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
I tried to fix his eyes, but my Photoshop Fu is not with me tonight.
I was successful in an endeavor where all around me thought I was doomed to fail because of poor perceptions of "the other guy." I held out hope and was successful in establishing clear and efficient communications. I'm not so sure that I am more drained from having to deal with "my" side then with the opponent in this conflict.
As background I am referring to the referendum on the ballot here in California that will add an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as being ONLY between ONE Man and ONE Woman. Over on Facebook a buddy of mine commenting on why he is against this proposition said something very profound. Since I couldn't say it better myself, here are his words:
"If they pass this, the next one will be a constitutional amendment that only recognizes marriage performed in churches. After that it will be certain churches, and so on."
And it doesn't look like it's gonna get any easier.
Someone has made a very serious accusation about something that may have happened 10-15 years ago in CAW and he's made it his mission to fuck us hard NOW. I asked him for more information and he blew me off, calling me an asshole, etc. Well, not a very pleasant person. We now have someone who has stepped forward to mediate between this fellow and us. Nice... Well, we've been in talks about this for two days and it's been very rough as absolutely NO facts have surfaced, and yet I still believe there is truth behind his vindictive actions and I want to know what they are!
Also, I have not received any response back from any of the Coast Guard projects I have submitted in the last week and I missed the call from the Commodore and am now waiting for him to call me back. I don't know what he's gonna say and I am nervous about the unknown.
On a good note, Laura woke up cuddling and affectionate. We mad love this morning for the first time in a while. It was nice.
Tags: caw, uscg I felt: nervous I was at : Hotel California
I wasn't bored like the last one. I think McCain came across better, yet Obama is continuing to show he cares about the issues the voters care about.
One question, though, I thought was wonderful and I hadn't thought of that before was about Health Care as a Commodity. Rebecca didn't fully understand the word, so I got a chance to expound on it for her. I do think that a fundamental change can be if we have Health Care as an Essential Service, like electricity and telephone, then the changes we need can be enacted.
Yup, looks like Summer is FINALLY over here in Northern California. I can smell the rain coming. It's actually NOT 90 degrees today, and we may not even have to turn on the air conditioner for the first time in mooooooooooooooooooooonths.
Yea!
Tags: weather I felt: happy I was at : Sacramento CA USA
I just watched this awesome documentary: Helvetica. It is all about typeface and design. I learned a lot. I also followed up with more research on my own.
Helvetica is the most used typeface in the world. The street signs around your town/city are done in Helvetica. Government forms are done in Helvetica. You are most likely reading this in Helvetica or a very close approximation of it that is included in Windows called Arial.
The problem is that I now know the difference between Helvetica and Arial. And without bringing up Mac/PC wars, Helvetica is the default font loaded on Macs and Arial was made to look like it for PCs.
I made a big stink about being "right" and "correct" about making the Coast Guard official imagery and distributing it for all to use as mine is the OFFICIAL version, but it's NOT!!! I now know it's not... The truth is that no one will care, because no one really cared before me, and there are plenty of graphics people around the Coast Guard not using the correct emblems. I've closed the gap quite a bit, but not 100%. And now, I know that if I did, then they would not be using the correct emblem.
Well, Here's the rub. I'm on a PC and the Official Emblems use Helvetica. To acquire Helvetica for a PC would cost hundreds of dollars to buy it from Linotype, the owners of Helvetica.
The only possibility available to me today is to outline all the fonts and then hand correct them for the variances between Arial and Helvetica.
No, I'm not going to do that, but this will stick in my craw because I am such a perfectionist and I even wrote and distributed an essay entitled the "Importance of Standard Branding in the U.S. Coast Guard".
Rachel Maddow: "...to be boring and right or interesting and wrong? Is that the American way?"
Yeah. Palin did OK, and that's all she had to do. She was shaking like a leaf and I am proud of her for making it through 90 minutes. Now she looks like she needs to go take a nap. STAMINA folks!!! She's over her head.
I do think she did better than expected and she helped her ticket. DAMN.
Joe is looking at Gwen, while Sarah looks into the camera. She's prepared properly for that. At times, she looks scared silly. She is shaking, but is working HARD to stay calm. She is NOT comfortable, but so far, with 75 minutes to go, she's holding.
It's 90 minutes away, but I am making a prediction. Palin will come off as a talking head spilling out memorized talking points. She's proven that she cannot put together a rational sentence on her own.
Now here is my prediction: She will attack Biden, and each and every attack (except her use of that dreaded word "Liberal") will be able to be said about McCain, AND NO ONE WILL NOTICE OR CARE!!!!
Well, we will. Us liberal elite.
I am annoyed right now. I hope I can sit through this debacle.
But like _thelioness_ and I said to each other earlier... The general populace in this county really *IS* this stupid and will think she is perfect.
If you're on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!
Comment here and repost a blank one on your own journal.
01) Are you currently in a serious relationship? 02) What was your dream growing up? 03) What talent do you wish you had? 04) If I bought you a drink what would it be? 05) Favorite vegetable? 06) What was the last book you read? 07) What zodiac sign are you? 08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where. 09) Worst Habit? 10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? 11) What is your favorite sport? 12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude? 13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? 14) Worst thing to ever happen to you? 15) Tell me one weird fact about you. 16) Do you have any pets? 17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly? 18) What was your first impression of me? 19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? 20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? 21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? 22) What color eyes do you have? 23) Ever been arrested? 24) Bottle or can soda? 25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? 27) What's your favorite place to hang out at? 28) Do you believe in ghosts? 29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? 30) Do you swear a lot? 31) Biggest pet peeve? 32) In one word, how would you describe yourself? 33) Do you believe/appreciate romance? 34) Favorite and least favorite food? 35) Do you believe in God?
There are moments on one's life where you know how you've been preparing your life to be ready at that given moment in history. Since the first time I put my telephone on that 90 baud modem and saw a BBS on my screen I have been preparing for this. The Commandant of the Coast Guard has issued an executive initiative to do what you and I, my dear readers, do every day here in LiveJournal and all the other areas of this place we call the Internet.
Well, COMO Kerrigan is going to look at the Chief of Public Affairs on this, and Robert will look to me to get it done. As it stands right now, I am positioned to be THE guy for the Auxiliary to lead this effort. When ADM Allen gave the order, my boss was ready with initial answers and plans. Robert was amazing seeing this coming. He sent an e-mail out to the national leadership this very morning and he and I just talked on the phone for two hours planning the next step. I have the basis for the team as soon as we get the go ahead as soon as we have the GO.
We all talk about making a difference, well, chiefted and january know we SAVE LIVES and that is a pretty good feeling at the end of a long day(s).
First step is to write a White Paper on all of this. I have about two weeks with early drafts needed by the end of this week. We are starting things off small. We've been crawling for several months now, and we are ready to walk, and soon we'll be running.
excited
relieved
drained
nervous
impressed
happy
annoyed
curious
energized
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