| |
| What do you call a hedge-witch who eats too much cake?
A hedge-hog.
I know; it's a terrible joke but it's had me giggling throughout lunch. Blame Tal for emailing it to me.
Its arrival was timely, as I was already relishing an evil chuckle or two following a conversation with a Wicaan acquaintance who is unemployed having walked out of a job. I won’t go into the reasons why she left; too long a story. Anyway, she was bemoaning her lack of cash so I suggested she perform a working to attract a job to herself.
She stared at me as if I had grown a second head. “That’s not allowed!”
“Why ever not?”
According to X (as I shall name her here), Wicaan beliefs forbid the use or any magic to benefit themselves.
“So if you were ill,” I said, “you wouldn’t use herb lore to help heal yourself?”
That’s different, she said. That would be ok.
So I likened getting a job to a form of healing; after all, she would have been healing her bank account.
“But using magic to earn money is wrong,” she said, totally adamant.
And why is that?
X’s reply was little more than a re-drafted hotchpotch of Xtian beliefs which cast money as a negative thing (despite both the Anglican and Catholic churches being extraordinarily wealthy and enjoying a tax-free status). X’s version added a mention of Karma and the perils of using magic for materials goods. Quite what these perils are remains undefined.
So I said, “According to your theory, it’s wrong for a witch to use magic to earn money. By the same theory, it would also be wrong for a plumber to use plumbing, or for a doctor to use medicine, or for a typist to use typing to earn money too.”
“But that’s different,” said X. “Those are practical jobs.”
Exactly! If magic isn’t practical, what is its value?
A few short hours later, while prodding my Facebook page up-to-date, I came across one of my relatives grumbling about pretty much the same thing. So here was another Wicaan-sans-job. I replied, “So much for your skilled use of witchcraft, hmm?”
From her response, it seems the connection between the two had never even occurred to her - hence my chuckles even before Tal’s hedge joke arrived. | |
|
| quiz via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) thenaiadmuse What does your drawing say about YOU?" You are driven and ambitious and tend to make radical moves to reach your goals. You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way. You are creative, mentally active and industrious. You are ambitious and optimistic, determined to prove and advertise yourself." | |
|
| The Everything Test There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all. Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-) | Personality | You are more logical than emotional, more concerned about self than concerned about others, more religious than atheist, more loner than dependent, more workaholic than lazy, more traditional than rebel, more engineering mind than artistic mind, more idealist than cynical, more leader than follower, and more extroverted than introverted.
As for specific personality traits, you are adventurious (100%), intellectual (93%), religious (90%), greedy (68%). | | | Stereotypes | | Geek | 50% | | Emo Kid | 44% | | Old Geezer | 33% | | | | Life Experience | | Sex | 38% | | Substances | 5% | | Travel | 8% | | Politics
Your political views would best be described as Liberal, whom you agree with around 45% of the time. | | Socioeconomic
Your attitude toward life best associates you with Upper Class. You make more than 0% of those who have taken this test, and 21% more than the U.S. average.
| If your life was a movie, it would be rated PG.
By the way, your hottness rank is 60%, hotter than 85% of other test takers. | TAKE THE TEST brought to you by thatsurveysite Interesting results, no? | |
|
| | Your Personality is Very Rare (INTJ) | 
Your personality type is logical, uncompromising, independent, and nonconformist.
Only about 3% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 4% of all men.
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging. |
| |
|
| 1. What makes you feel as if where you live is your "home", rather than just somewhere to stay?
Any home should be a sanctuary, a tranquil retreat from the world beyond. Therefore, a home needs to be as secure as possible from intrusion – and for me this also means from intrusion from objects and activities that try to impose on my personal space. To be surrounded by items of your own choosing, displayed according to your own tastes, is a luxury which must be compromised when sharing domestic space with others, of course. Each person should have their own room, their own inviolable territory, certainly.
2. How "homey" does your current abode feel to you?
This house is very much a work in progress. There are several major renovations yet to be begun. On a scale of one-to-ten, the homeliness of this house currently scores at barely a five. While I’m very fond of the geographic area, I could leave this house tomorrow without one qualm. But then I’ve moved house eight times so far in my life, and have never felt any noticeable bond to a home. I’ve always felt that there might be many equally or surpassingly interesting places to be.
3. What would your dream home be like?
At different points in my life I’ve held different ideals regarding domestic lifestyle. The chocolate-box image of a thatched cottage with fragrant roses festooning the porch certainly has cosy appeal – but equally so might a contemporary loft apartment, as space and light are most desirable to me. Or perhaps I might live in a converted church, even retaining some of the original ecclesiastical fittings, and most certainly preserving any stained glass windows, whose coloured lights are delightful to my eyes even if the subject matter is akin to an alien folklore. How does a person settle on only one ideal when, having so many diverse interests, a variety of homes might hold fascination?
4. What would your nightmare home be like?
I’ve lived in several problematic homes, actually. The various adventures are too convoluted to list here. Suffice to say I’ve lived in tiny rooms, a haunted house, a good apartment ruined by the NOISE of the pest downstairs, and a semi-derelict hotel.
5. Of all the places you have lived in your life, where did you feel most "at home"?
This question has been partially answered already. The first time I visited the seaside village where I now live, I felt strongly attracted to the area. I remember feeling envious of those who lived here, and also despairing of the idea that I could ever afford to be here too. Try as I might, I can’t define why the area just feels “right”; there is no logical reason for this.
The peninsula offers amazing scenery – beaches, ancient woodlands, moors, jagged sandstone hills, hidden ponds and farmland. West Wirral retains its rural feel and yet it’s easy to travel to the shopping centre of Birkenhead, or into the cities of Liverpool or Chester.
Chester definitely draws me; this beautiful city possesses a lively blend of ancient history and the totally contemporary. There’s a deep undercurrent of vibrant energy thrumming through some of the ancient sites – but you’ll have to read my novels to learn about those! *evil chortles* | |
|
|  poppies
Originally uploaded by __Adele__.Why is it acceptable for a grown man to dress up as a footballer, yet if that same man dressed as Batman or Spiderman or the Easter Bunny, people (in general) would consider him rather odd? The difference, surely, is only in the choice of impersonation.
Yes, I’m moaning about boring football. He’s watching it now – Mexico running up and down with Iran. I can clearly recall a time when he insisted he didn’t like football. Indeed, he never watched it, apparently. Hmm, how times change…!!! When my dog runs round the beach with a ball in her jaws, watchers contentedly chuckle. When men do something similar, they’re paid an obscene amount of money.
The only thing about football which I find remotely interesting is the puzzle of what others find interesting in it in the first place. Why get upset if “your” team wins or looses? Your life hasn’t been altered one iota. Why give so much energy to it? Yet many do, elevating sport to the place religion may have once held for them. Religion used to be the opium of the masses; perhaps football now fulfils that role.
As a money-spinning venture, football is a roaring success, of course. An enormous amount of revenue must surely be generated by sales of outfits, silly hats, badges and flags, tickets, commemorative brochures and related bric-a-brac, airplane flights and travel insurance, hotel bookings, taxi rides, meals out, etc. Who profits the most, I wonder?
Certainly those cheering crowds must generate a delicious amount of energy. Imagine if that expelled energy could be secretly captured and channelled into something else… | |
|
| Sent to me by Liz
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either!
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion. !
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom. . .. | |
|
| I don't usually bother with any on-line quiz, partly because they're the last bastion of the bored (ok, today I'm... not exactly bored but definitely fidgety, and it's too hot outside to do any gardening); plus these sites often have trojans hiding in them. However, these results were surprisingly accurate.
 |
Adele took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Preoccupied with things of an intensely exciting n..."
Click here to read the rest of the results.
| My results are behind the LJ cut. ( Read more... ) | |
|
| Have I mentioned how much I despise television?
The fault lies not with the medium itself but rather with the way it’s used, as a celebration of relentless mediocrity. Who are these unheard-of “celebrities” who’re paraded before us; what have they achieved which is worthy of celebration? How many more 100 Greatest… list programmes or out-takes clips are we expected to endure? And what exactly is this fascination with soap operas, i.e. a bunch of gloomy actors snarling abuse at each other? And don’t even get me on the subject of endless repeats.
Why can’t we have a machine like a computer monitor, which will play DVDs or video tapes but which won’t receive the TV signal, therefore giving people the option to not have to purchase a TV license? Or why can’t a person buy a TV which doesn’t receive the BBC, therefore offering consumer choice? The license is only for the BBC channels; the other channels manage to self-finance so why can’t they? Surely they should stand or fall on their own merits, just as other broadcasting businesses do around the globe?
Apparently, even if you don’t own a TV but own a radio or a computer, you need a TV license. Why? Because they can receive BBC radio stations and/or websites, even if you never use them. The separate radio license was combined with the TV license some years ago.
Actually, I went for many years without owning a TV set. I didn’t miss it one bit. I strongly suspect that if I lived alone now I’d not bother to renew the license. The tedious contraption would find itself consigned to a shed, or more likely the council’s recycling depot. Even when I didn’t own one, I was regularly inundated with legal demands that I purchase a license, no matter how many times I informed the appropriate body that I didn’t own a TV!
This reminds me of a little conversation I once shared with an oddly determined fellow who wanted to know what I watched on TV. I replied that I didn’t own one. He looked a bit confused, then asked, “Well, what do you watch on television, then?” He put extra emphasis on “television” as if I might prefer the unabbreviated word. Again, I repeated that I didn’t own one. He scowled with increasing puzzlement and asked, “Well, what do you call it, then?” Between politely gritted teeth, I calmly replied that I did not own any form of television set. He snorted in contempt and huffed, “Be awkward then!” and stomped off.
When I’d finished laughing, I realised that he’d been so completely brainwashed into focussing a large portion of his life around TV that he simply couldn’t conceive of another person not owning one. The concept was completely outside of his grasp. I wonder how many other people are this way? I suspect there may be many; after all, how many people claim they’ve no time to pursue hobbies or interests, yet spend four or five hours every night of their lives staring at a TV screen? | |
|
| Can you raed tihs?
Olny 13344 plopee can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs rpsoet it. | |
|
|  kiss
Originally uploaded by __Adele__.Tolerance is an often overlooked virtue, don’t you think? Perhaps I naively anticipate a time when the private activities of consenting adults are no longer a topic of public debate. Human curiosity tends to be insatiable, after all. But what should it matter to a person’s career if they prefer one form of love or another? Or perhaps not even love but plain, honest lust? Despite all the politically-correct rhetoric which so many proudly liberal-minded people adore, sexual scandal remains a sure-fire way of damaging an opponent’s reputation, sometimes even irrevocably.
Perhaps one of the most tragic expressions of intolerance is religious. X has a different view of the world from Y so they do their utmost to annihilate each other in the name of their deity. Look upwards – it’s one sky. Look downwards – it’s one planet. Look at an autopsy – we all share a similar biology. Get used to it.
“I hate modern art,” a friend of mine said. I tried to explain that “modern art” is very much an umbrella term which bunches together every form of artistic endeavour created since the 1950s (more or less). Did she hate every painting, sculpture, book, piece of music, film or theatrical play from the last fifty years? “Of course not,” she said. So could she name any artists whose work she particularly disliked? No. And yet isn’t this so typical of many people, who have firm opinions on subject about which they actually know rather little? | |
|
| |
