Las Vegas Snow 08

Las Vegas Snow 08
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

A few hundred miles South and a few thousand feet down in elevation and the fucking white shit follows me to Vegas... damn it! <.<

Going South was a grand idea!

Well, looking at the Kemmerer webcam I see that it is 23*F there with snow on the ground. I'm enjoying the 57*F weather here in Las Vegas even though people here seem to think it's a little bit cold.

If I were home right now I would most likely be curled up in bed crying from fibro hell. I'm very thankful to have been able to come down here to spend some time with my aunt and enjoy a warmer winter this year. No snow for me! *snoopy dancing*

Election Day

I exercised my civil right to vote today and was privileged to witness my 19 year old daughter register and cast her first vote today.

I woke up this morning with only a few hours of sleep and threw on some clothes. I then called my son-in-law so he and my daughter could ride with Parker and I down to the polling location. They both had to register so they could vote and I'm happy this state is one that allows registering at the polling location on election day.

So even though I do not at all expect Wyoming's 3 electoral votes to go to Obama all four of us did cast our votes for Obama... and every other democrat on the ballot. I left the one where only republicans were on there blank just to make a statement.

Remember, voting is a RIGHT so if you haven't voted yet please do.

Blessed Samhain to all!

Witch?
Yes, I'm a witch. I've stood before
The Lord of Death and found him not unkind.
I've practiced well the sacred hidden lore
The words of power and the spells that bind
And loosen; culled from nature's trove
The herbs that heal - But most of all have I
Danced naked, free and proud beneath the sky
Unto the Goddess, She who shines above.

Witch?
Yes, I'm a witch for I am free
From hope of Heaven and the fear of Hell.
No solemn vale of tears is this to me.
Earth is my cup of joy. I love her well.
Seek not to turn me from my destined fate.
Earth is enough for me, and if I burn
I shall not leave her but to earth return
To live again a witch -- Re-in-carnate.

For 'tis our promise and our firm belief
That She who loves us brings us back again
As seeds once buried rise again in leaf,
Stem, branch an blossom in the Summer rain.
And are we less than seeds? But should it be
That one life only was our metered span
And Power comes but once to any man
I'll live it lusty, joyfully and free
And be a Witch!

Author -- Sea, of the Gardnerian Coven of Deepstar- October 27, 1971

What?? Are you serious?

Why do otherwise intelligent people believe outlandish bullshit when election season comes around???

I mean come on, if Obama wasn't born in Hawaii don't you think Fox News would have been all over that already? Don't you think Hillary would have jumped on that? Do you honestly believe he would have gotten this far? Smarter, sneakier people have already vetted all that shit and if there were anything there it would have already blown up all over the place.

Who gives a shit about how much the RNC spent to put clothes on Palin!!!! Do we talk about how much the suits the guys wear cost??? Think they wear the same suit everyday?

What I care about is that eight years ago we had a projected surplus and now we are borrowing money from CHINA!

We're supposed to be the greatest nation on Earth! What the hell are we doing watching our middle class become the poverty class while job after job is outsourced to another country and the corporation doing it gets a big fat tax cut in reward? And why does anyone believe it's a good idea???

I think it's crap so I will not vote Republican thank you very much. Oh, and yes, I have voted for Republicans before. I vote issues not party and I diligently research before I make up my mind. I do lean a bit left of center but I'm not a left wing liberal by no means. I actually wish there weren't such a thing as big political parties. I wish more people could think for themselves instead of needing a party to tell them what to think.

-Wendy The Webcrafter

Witches High Tea

Witches High Tea
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

Today was The Utah Black Hat Society's Third Annual Witches High Tea event. It was held at the Grand America Hotel in down town Salt Lake City this afternoon from 2pm till 5pm. Don't ever tell any of the fifty attendees that real witches don't wear pointy hats because obviously, they do.

The Black Hat Society is a pagan social group founded in 2006 by Chrissy Johnson, a Salt Lake City denizen. The high tea event held each year in October is the pinnacle event for the society where one gets to dress to the nines in their finest witch attire, don their best pointy hat and enjoy a grand afternoon of tea and conversation. The society also hosts an afternoon tea in the spring and have been seen caroling on the streets of Salt Lake in December for the annual Witches Wassail. Chrissy, along with TaMara and Kayote, the organizers of the society's events, have stated that early next summer they intend to add another exciting event to the society's calendar.

If you do not live in the Salt Lake area and think The Black Hat Society sounds like your kind of party please do consider starting up a Black Hat Society in your area.

The Salt Lake NBC affiliate, KSL5, covered the event held today and ran the following clip on the six o'clock news:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekJcWZwxLQ

SLC Pagan Pride Day 2008

SLC Pagan Pride 2008
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

It has taken me most of a week to get to a point where I feel like typing. This is when having fibro gets on my last nerve. I also over do it at PPD. I like to take photos which means I'm not going to sit around and just take it easy. I'm up all day wandering around taking pictures the whole day. I do this to myself and then pay for it after. Will do it again next year too. lol

This year we decided to try something a little different. We took it back to the roots and decided to not have vendors. We did have a food booth run by SLCPP and that was a phenomenal success. Not having vendors turned out to be a good thing too. People actually congregated at the information tables and all the workshops were very well attended. The day flowed well.

Our workshops this year were:
Paganism 101 by Parker J. Torrence Draig Sidhe priest and author of Sea, Land, Sky: a Dragon Magick Grimoire.
Queer Mysteries by Duirin High Priest of Draco Lupa Luna.
Myths and Legends by Daniel Halacy.
Essences of Magick by Talea.
The Circle and the Staff by Aisling DreamRange High Priestess of DreamRange Dynamic.
Pagan Drumming by Panthea.

The Kids Zone this year was a hit and there were children there all day long except for the two times that they were all sitting around Mother Goose listening to her spin tales of wonder and delight. The children just adore Mother Goose.

Altarscapes was beautiful. I hope next year we get more people volunteering to display an altar. The year we had seven and each was just beautiful and inspiring.

We also had a concert by a local duo called Hidden Truth. They are an acoustic band of a guitar and a wooden flute. Their music is just beautiful. Visit their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hiddentruth5040

Our closing ritual this year was presented by The Mountain Shadow Clan of the Toteg Tribe sponsored by Aspen Grove. There was a great litany involved in the ritual where all the groups past and present in the valley were named and honored. We truly did Celebrate our Roots this year.

Over all we had 370 attendees, collected 412 pounds of food for the Utah Aids Foundation, raised enough money to pay for our space for NEXT year and educated some people about what Pagans are.

Health Care

So the same old lame scare tactic used to argue against universal health care is that there will be a bureaucrat in between you and your health care. So let's look at the definition of bureaucrat.

bureaucrat
Main Entry: bu·reau·crat
Pronunciation: \ˈbyu̇r-ə-ˌkrat, ˈbyər-\
Function: noun
Date: 1839

: a member of a bureaucracy


bureaucracy
Main Entry: bu·reau·cra·cy
Pronunciation: \byu̇-ˈrä-krə-sē, byə-, byər-ˈä-\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural bu·reau·cra·cies
Etymology: French bureaucratie, from bureau + -cratie -cracy
Date: 1818

1 a: a body of nonelective government officials b: an administrative policy-making group
2: government characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority
3: a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation

Oh my! Sounds a lot like an insurance company to me.

Not so long ago my aunt had a blood test done that showed positive markers for pancreatic cancer. One of the things needed for further testing was an MRI study with and without contrast and the most important one being the one with. The insurance paper pushers decided that they would allow her to have the one without contrast but not the one she needed the most. They have also recently denied her another test that her doctor told her was needed. I will not even go into the medications the doctor prescribed that the insurance company will not approve.

So you see, that old scare tactic isn't a what if, it's an already is. Universal health care would be better because your doctor would have more say about what you need for your health care. Paper pushers who work for the insurance companies are there to make sure the insurance company makes money. They do not really care whether or not you are sick and need an expensive procedure. Or rather they do care, because they stand to lose money if you actually need the health care you gave them money to insure you would get when you needed it... and they will drop you like hot potato if it looks like you're going to start costing them money.

Just sayin...

GingerSnap

DSCF2025
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

This is the new puppy that we've named GingerSnap. She's ten weeks old in this picture which I took a few hours ago.

Home!!

I'm home from fest!! It was awesome!! Now that I've been to both Heartland and Dragonfest I can report that Dragonfest is the one I prefer. More of everything. Of course Heartland does have the coed shower thing going on... but Dfest is closer to me and I know people there. ;) Next time I'll be camping closer to where I would like to be.

hmmm

ok, got to get some laundry done before we leave for dragonfest.... so why doesn't this HE machine not have a sarong setting??? ;)

Evil Stairs of Doom Vs Kayote

and the stairs win... ouch!

I'm ok... mostly... nothing is broke... my back will have a nice bruise though... :(

The Good Stuff

Christi's Wedding 035
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

My daughter got married. :)

It was a very beautiful rite and they really love each other a lot.

You can view the rest of the pix on my flickr.

Element 11 (the Utah Burn)/ Fibro crap

DSCF1884
Originally uploaded by Gwen Wolfrose

Last weekend was the Utah Burn otherwise known as Element 11. Like Burning Man but not as large. It's a 21 and over camping event where they make art projects and burn them bonfire style. They had five burns this year. I only made it to three... they were right in front of our camp and I didn't have to travel far to get to them. lol

I had UV reactive dreds in my hair. I was also three or thirty sheets into the wind by the time I took this photo.

In other news, I fired my doctor. I went in on Tuesday to get on Lyrica. He had a student working with him that day and had her see me. She ignored most everything I said. She asked me where I was hurting most that day and I told here around my elbows, the back of my neck and shoulders and down in my hips and lower back. She squeezed on my left elbow and asked if that made it hurt worse and of course it did, duh I can't stand for anything to touch me right now. She left the room and then came back to tell me the places I said I hurt aren't indicative of Fibro *rolls eyes* and so it must be arthritis. Then handed me a prescription for mobic which is a NSAID anti-inflammatory. Now last year the doctor told me never to take ibuprofen again because I have a bleeding ulcer. He signed off on this prescription. WTF? I knew better but I took it anyway. It made me sick of course and it didn't do a fucking thing for my pain.

So Parker goes up to the doctor's office the next day to complain. The nurse calls me later and tells me the doctor said to not take the mobic again (duh) and that he called in another scrip for my ulcer. She said to take that for a week and then let him know how I'm doing. I asked what about my pain problem. She said any anti-inflammatory would irritate my ulcer. I told her that the anti-inflammatory didn't do anything for my pain anyway could he at least give me more flexeril and loratab. She said she would ask. She called back a bit later and said he refused. *growl*

I asked for a referral to a specialist. I refuse to see that man again for ANYTHING!

Renn Faire, Fibro, and Fucktards oh my!

Ok so when last I left you I was squeeing about the Utah Renn Faire. So yeah, I went and had myself a grand time walking around in the dust spending money on garb which I look really awesome in. *squee* Went back the second weekend too.

Then I spent the next three days in bed (both times) because fibro sux. Still all hurty.

and then there is the fucktard factor...

I've posted before about how there is a Wiccan Church here in Salt Lake that collected a bunch of money from the community under the pretense that it was a fund to purchase land for the community which they then used to purchase a yurt and put in their Rev.'s back yard. So you guys know me, I've been plenty vocal about calling bullshit on it. This has been going on for about a year now and I doubt it will ever be resolved.

Well, last week someone posted the Charge of the Beeotch to a yahoo list called WestDesertWitchesWeb which was a local list but since a warlocked fucktard runs it and it's heavily moderated he had to open it up to anyone he could get to join it so now it's just another foo foo pagan list. One of the foo foo's on there is the Officer of Air for the a fore mentioned church which means she is responsible for xposting their events all over the place and keeping the minutes. She's also made a point of calling several people in the community liars because she doesn't agree with them even though they can back up what they've stated with documentation or witnesses. She's also stated that Parker, Giffin (the HP of my coven which is the oldest coven in Salt Lake), and I are not part of the community because we don't reside in Salt Lake. This is also a woman who wears fairy wings, the kind you get for kids on Halloween, to every event she attends because apparently she thinks she is one. This is a woman I've spoken to twice briefly. Well, when the Charge of the Beeotch was posted she had something to say... and I quote:

Sorry I have to comment on this post; I know the woman Who wrote this and in no way should anything she posts be promoted. I understand that it is public , but the integrity and position that this person holds in the Utah community leaves much to be desired.

Just my 2 cents. :P
BB Avalon

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!

Like I said, I've spoken with Avalon TWICE. She does not know me. All she knows is that I have opinions she doesn't like and I won't shut the fuck up.

As to my position in the community, and it's really nice of her to acknowledge that I'm part of this community eh, I'm one of the Local Coodinators for Salt Lake Pagan Pride and I run the largest and most active Witches Meetup in Utah. What that leaves to be desired for her I guess is that I'm not going away. That leaves my integrity, sorry Avalon, I'm just not going to take money from people and use it for something else to make myself acceptable to your standards of integrity.

So that's what's going on in Kayote Land...

Today I learned...

Today I learned that apparently online only friends can't be dear friends. At least that is what I was told. It hurt, a lot. Some of my dearest friends are online friends that I've never met in person... or have only briefly met one time...

inannaliban, enyo, thorswitch, davensjournal, desdemmonna, ferelwing, herbmcsidhe, stephanielynch, jazdewills, teal_cuttlefish, lildrafire, magickalmoon, misslynx, pwnedkitten, rowansolasban, seshen, swisscelt... and others who aren't on LJ (and some who are I'm having brain fog from this stupid flare that is still going on) are all people I really care about and keep up with.

Maybe some people who aren't confined to a bed for days and sometimes weeks don't understand that these online relationships are the only contact with the outside world some people are able to have. Being disabled is quite lonesome at times. Sometimes the only real friend I have is a chihuahua who keeps me company while I'm curled up in pain. But I also have this laptop where I can reach out and interact with lots of people and in doing so I've found people I like and have formed relationships with and for me it doesn't matter that it's just words on a screen, it's human contact. I hurt all the same when I lose an online friend. I've been on the net long enough that I have had several online friends die and I cried all the same just as if I had physically met that person.

ok this flare can go away any time now...

FMS really sucks, big time! I'm still having this stupid flare but at least I did get the doctor to give me some loratab. So I'm on 10mg of flexeril and 5mg of loratab and it just dulls the pain... everyone wave at zombie Gwen. I do have to say something here for medical marijuana, if I had a bowl to smoke I wouldn't be hurting this bad. It really does help me more than taking these narcotics. *sigh* oh well... at least they knock me out so I can sleep.

Parker is really understanding my frustration with doctors now. I know how bad I hurt and he knows how bad I hurt but the doctors do not see me all the time like he does and do not know how much I really hurt. I mentioned this in a comment the other day, the doctors usually just want to treat my diabetes because they assume my pain is caused from diabetic neuropathy which in all honesty I have started to develop in my feet and hands but the FMS I had long before I developed diabetes. I've had FMS for about 17 years and I've been diabetic for about five years now.

I can't stand for very long because it hurts and I can't sit in one spot for long because it hurts. I toss and turn when laying down because it hurts. Some days it hurts just to breath. Sometimes, like now, I can not lift a plate because it hurts. Forget opening the cap on a bottled water.

I thank the gods everyday for sending me a man like Parker who is able to work from home so he can take care of me when I'm like this. I do not know what I would do without him. I can't even express in words what he means to me, he truly is the love of my life and my knight in shining armor. I am indeed a very blessed woman to be loved by such a wonderful man as my husband.

bad day

really bad day, feel like dying

doctor not in today so i'm only allowed the 10mg of flexeril he prescribed the last time i saw him

this is a curl up and cry all day day... i can't even lift a plate... killmenowplz