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A child’s representation of a dragon [08 Jan 2009|10:49pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | okay ] At the library we have a display case that is decorated each month by a different group. This month’s display is by a local Christian school and it features dragons. A coworker asks, “Did you see the really gory dragon picture? The one with the people?” Me: “No.” *goes to look* 0__0 *bursts out laughing and goes to get her camera* Besides the bodies, I find the ‘RUN’ a very accurate representation of what would happen if a real dragon was unleashed. The irony – this display being set up on the eve of my Red Dragon. Go ahead Universe, laugh it up. post comment

Something Profound [08 Jan 2009|11:56am] southernroots About a week ago, while I was jogging home from One of a Kind, I realized that I don't relate to anybody. About three years ago, I moved to this city believing that there would be tons of people whome I could relate with. That didn't happen. There's just not too many people with whom I can relate. A girl around 27, with shiny long brown hair all up in a bunn with beautiful wooden sticks gets in her big silver BMW with a GPS screen larger than my Macbook. How did she get that way? I'm not her. That's not me. That will never be me. All those people, walking around in dull soft trousers and oxford shirts, that's not me either. Isolated. Until... I met Kelsey and until Ted came into my life. Now, I'm not alone anymore. About a week ago, a lady called looking for a poster. She was very specific and excited. She goes, "I'm looking for a B.B. King poster from 1973. The poster is brown and it has Howlin' Wolf at Ipsilanti. B.B. King is on the front playing guitar." She was so emotional about it. "You don't understand, Tonya," she said, "I was at that concert so many years ago, and I meant to get one. . . but I didn't. And now..." her voice cracked, "I really just want it." "I think we have one," I said. I remember doing the appraisal for it when Phil and I were doing the aquisition report to consolidate the estate taxes at the time of Phil's wife's death. I remembered seeing it. The lady squaled with pleasure. "Oh my God," she said, "If you have that poster, I'd do anything to get it." "Why?" I asked. "Did you meet him?" "I did." she said. "And I've been dating him ever since." There was this note of truth mixed with profound sadness in her voice, and the way she said that made me stop. More than thirty-five years, she's carried this intense passion for B.B. King, and he's just... doing his own thing. I'm sure they care about each other, but he's like big massive star who performs all the time and has 15 children to different mothers. This woman lives with her mother, and right now her mother is sick with pollups in her stomach. The pain this woman feels. So, for the past week or so, I've been talking with this woman on the phone. Although we've never met, there's this intense connection. Like, I don't even care if she buys the poster or not. I just like talking to her. There's something quite magical in her voice. She's passionate about everything. Her mother, her job, cleaning her house, the way she feels on a certain day. She probably doesn't have the money to buy the poster, but at this point, I don't really care. I just like talking to her. With this woman who must be ages and ages older than me (her own mother is 91), I find this connection that I've been longing for. And its just through short snipits of phone calls. 6 comments|post comment

I almost feel ‘normal’ again [07 Jan 2009|09:50pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | good ] BWHUAHAHAHA!!! I’m almost better!! I worked at the library and held up pretty damn well. I almost ended up with a full night’s sleep. The whole not-being-able-to-breathe-thing and the monthly combined forces and woke me up at the same time, rather than doing it separately. Mostly it seems that everything is draining and my body is purging the rest of the yuck out. I’ve still got until Monday to be on those antibiotics to make sure that ‘the sick’ is fully gone. I’ve got a little congestion left and a random cough from the drainage, so I'm still going to take it easy. However, now my mom is sick. -_- It seems to be making its rounds. We’ll see how motivated I’ll be to do school reading. Just about 4 day of freedom left, I may spend it doing fun reading instead. Also, it’s just about Tax Season, which means that we’ve gotten people at the library asking for forms since the end of December. -_-;; I’ll have to practice the spiel, “We’re just a distribution center for the forms, we do not give tax help or advice. Here are some places you can go for assistance…*displays reference material*”. Though, tax forms might be changed…so we may have to hold up on putting them out. Also, New York State forms are only going to be online. So you can bet I’ll be printing out a lot of forms for people. post comment

I've been tagged!! 10 Random Facts Meme [07 Jan 2009|07:20pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | good ] Tagged by meganekko!! Once you have been tagged, you write a blog with 10 random things, facts, or habits about yourself. at the end, choose 10 people to be tagged. You can't tag a person who has tagged you (okay, if you want to tag me again, go ahead, lol. I can up with some more random things). 1. I’m such a library dork. Seriously, this future librarian fangirls over libraries when she visits other locations. 2. You know how I like waterfalls, that doesn’t just apply to the big majestic falls (such as nearby Niagara) or outdoors ones – I can be entranced by the little fountain kind or the artificial ones in a bank or casino. And yes, I will more than likely insist on taking a photo of it. However, if you want to see my eyes REALLY glaze over, take me to a big one (or show me on TV and my voice goes all wistful when I say, ‘Wa-ter-fall…’) 3. While I will compulsively organize the bookshelves of a library or bookstore, my own bookshelves are completely disorganized and a disaster area. (However, I need like 10 more book cases to fit them all, as it stands I only have 3. When I have the room, they will more than likely have their own classification system) 4. Retaining music lyrics are my downfall. Seriously. All ya’ll who can hear a song twice and have it down, I.envy.you. It would take me many, many times. As it stands, if I get a song stuck in my head, it’s not the entire song – it’s one section or line of the song that goes on repeat. 5. I truly enjoy doing art commissions. It brings me such joy to connect with people that way in order to impart messages from their guides, angels, etc. 6. The only video game I have ever completed, all the way through, was ‘Aladdin’ on Super Nintendo. 7. Every couple of weeks I get the urge to pick up my Spanish dictionary and read aloud from it. I really like reading the phrases aloud and once a month I’ll pick up a Japanese phrasebook as well. I don’t necessarily retain what I read, but I love the way the words trickle from my tongue. ^__^ 8. I’ve been submitting short reviews to the What Our Staff is Reading section of the library’s website. (I’m Kristi K) 9. I have never gone skiing. I’ve tried snowboarding, tobogganing, snow shoeing; ice skating (I want to do this one properly), sledding, and tubing. 10. Even though I live in New York, I’ve never been to New York City. It’s on the other side of the state and I’m closer to Canada. If you've already done it, ignore this or no worries if you don’t have the time to do it. Tag as many people as you want or if you weren’t tagged and want to do it – Go For It!! ^__~! I tag: yamikarasu, cozzybob, mana_k, guiltyred, yohjideranged, lady_ezri, ederyn, flash_roses, raisedbymoogles, greenwitch 2 comments|post comment

The Art of Participation [07 Jan 2009|08:46am] southernroots Yesterday, the Museum of Modern Art was free. I went after I left ArtRock. At first, the whole them of the museum was throwing me off. There were groups of people just sitting around in circles, strangers looking at each other and acting odd. This act of complete strangers, sitting with each other in such a tribal manner was a form of living art. There are many floors to the MOMA in San Francisco, and there wasn't enough time to visit them all. The rooms keep opening up to other rooms, and for the first fifteen minutes, I felt lost in chaos. I walked up the second floor, walked up to the third floor where massive cardboard pieces were being constructed, destructed, and reconstructed to make abstract sculptures. I felt like a sour-puss because I wasn't really into this whole art thing. I walked up another flight of stairs and this computer screen is in front of me with huge words, "VOTE NOW!". And it asked, "What should the artists and guests enjoy Friday evening?" I checked the box, "Martinis and Olives," which was a near tie with "Bread and Water." I wandered around and found a room filled with journals wired to a table. This was The 1000 Journals Project. This is "an ongoing experiment that follows 1,000 blank journals as they journey around the world." The pages are filled with mixed media art, messages from children, poems from adults, snipits of stories about queens, sequins, and glitter. I filled up a page about Anarchy. After I partcipated in SOMETHING, I wandered around some more and found the most amazing pieces of art. For the first time, I finally got to see an actual Matisse. There were many of his oil paintings. They aren't protected in glass, and you can stick your nose right up to them (but no touching!) and see his technique. Somewhere, I learned that Matisse uses a single yellow line throughout all his paintings. You can see yellow in every core section of the painting, and he never breaks the stroke. He said that sometimes, the stroke of yellow is no thicker than a strand of silk, but its there, conecting the ideas and feelings in his art. In a different room, there was this giant, and I mean giant oil painting of a heart. Its the first time in my life, ever where I stood before a piece of art and knew that no photograph could ever do this piece justice. This huge heart could easitly be nine or ten feet tall and its splattered and sliced with dark, murky colors. Flects of sawdust intertwine with fresh shades of greens. Every color in existance is on this heart, and in the very center is a blue c-clamp. The upper left side of the heart looks like its covered in in mucous. . . like when you've been crying for so long your nose releases all that mucous, and in this painting it landed on the upper left section. This painting affected me. It seemed like something you would WANT to paint after a first broken heart, but would be unable to paint until the very end. Like that person who painted that had seen and experienced so many emotions and there they were intertwined in that painting. The C-Clamp in the center is so tiny compared to the whole entire heart. http://www.insecula.com/Photos/00/00/10/49/ME0000104993_3.jpg This is a link to a photo of the heart, but in real life, the reds are much, much, darker. post comment

Steadily getting better...steadily... [06 Jan 2009|08:43pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | tired ] 8 hours never seemed so long on Monday. Running around at the library was more activity than what I did over the weekend and it was tiring. Thankfully, I have some very nice coworkers who encouraged me to drink lots of tea and kept the tissues & disinfectant handy. I also had a good talk with the Director about future work as a librarian and how I should get as much experience as possible in different locations. The cold evolved into this congestion that gave me an awful sinus headache the entire day. I also got these like 5 rapid fire sneezes that made my entire body ache. And the morning, that’s just way too much TMI. However, that does mean I’m steadily getting better. My nose isn’t as raw and I’m not using as many tissues. I really, really, REALLY want a good night’s sleep. The whole waking up at 4am, not being able to sleep after gotten to sleep at 2am, then waking up again at 7am is not cool. If it’s not the Red Dragon being difficult, it’s a dry throat or the whole not being to breathe out of my nose thing. I did get a chance to sleep in a bit on Tuesday, which was nice to catch a few more hours I lost during the night. Also, I watched the anime Antique Bakery!!! I like it! ^__^!! *stares at her Introduction to the Social Sciences 23 page syllabus* (this is one of my online classes) Well, fuck. I heard rumors that the professor was tough, but the way this sounds – she doesn’t give a crap about the students. I had a feeling of such and it’s disheartening, but I want to learn this material from an expert and I’m going to learn it damnit. Hmm, it’ll be the first time I’ll have to mail my assignments to campus and include self-addressed postage to get the assignments back. *raises eyebrow* And even though she has an office on campus, you can’t deliver the assignment to her there. And emails…it may take 10 days for a response. I may also have to get a head start on some of the readings – looks like over a hundred pages by January 22nd. ( Oh man, I had the WEIRDEST dreams last night. ) Thank you maycat!!! I got your card! *hugs!* I’m so happy about the tea! And, sparklers!!!!!!! ^___^!! 1 comment|post comment

&HEARTS &HEARTS [06 Jan 2009|02:38pm] southernroots &hearts! You Are So Sweet &hearts post comment

She Called Me. . . AGAIN!!! [05 Jan 2009|11:29am] southernroots Its like she doesn't want to get out of my life. She left about four insane messages on my phone, and they were seriously borderline psychotic. Believe it or not, she was complaining again about those blog posts I wrote about HER over a year ago. Apparently, I forgot about my livejournal account. I remember now, when she had my greatest journal deleted, I set up a live journal account and said something to the effect of "X has eight braids, uses crystal meth every day, and is a complete and total bitch for deleting a 25 year old's journal." I was seriously pissed about it and used her first, middle, and last name. So, I just deleted that live journal account because keeping it is completely pointless as I hate live journal. She was all like, "If you don't remove that, I am going to sue you. I'm going to hire a lawyer and sue you for liable." Oooh-Kay. I totally forgot about that live journal account that I set up. Jeeze. More than one year and she's still up in my business. I do regret writing all that stuff about her though, because the internet has all of these cached places that track the things you write. Even if you delete the post, parts of it are still on their in a google search even if the original source is deleted. The internet is full of ghosts and shadows, and I totally regret writing what I did. It gives HER ammo to keep bothering me in my personal life. ArtRock work is super easy today. Phil is scatter-brained because he had a fantastic date yesterday. He's totally high from the experience, and I can relate to that. Ever since Ted and I started seeing each other, I have felt like I'm on drugs. Every day I wake up, its like I think about him and immediately, I feel like I've dropped a hit of acid. Phil says the same thing. Weird, how dating somebody can get you so high. Luckily though, my work isn't suffering anymore. I set up the Star-Fax report book for 2009 today and the UPS Daily Shipment Report book for 2009. Now, I just need to run quarterly tax reports for ArtRock, pay the bills, and ship some stuff out and the day will be basically over. Wednesday, Kelsey and I are hanging out at her house. She's going to teach me how to crochet, and we're going to have an evening of girl talk and giggling. :) 9 comments|post comment

Tea Wisdom [04 Jan 2009|10:30pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | thoughtful ] My mom asked if I wanted anything at the store and I requested some Chai. Since she’s not familiar with tea, I spelled out the name for her and she came through! I’ve got some Indian Spice Chai that comes in a 100% recycled box and is part of ethical trade. It also came with a quote: “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru Nothing quite like a serving of tea wisdom 2 comments|post comment

Manifesting Desired Outcomes with a Vision Board/Treasure Map [04 Jan 2009|09:21pm] reiki [ladyofshadow] I spent New Year’s Day with a friend creating a Vision Board/Treasure Map. For any of you who have made some resolutions or goals for the coming year, I highly recommend the activity if you have the time. ^__^ Creating a Treasure Map A treasure map is an actual, physical picture of your desired reality. It is valuable because it forms an especially clear, sharp image which can then attract and focus energy into your goal. How to Make a Vision Board The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires. I’ve found this highly beneficial for healing and personal growth. For those who are trained in the upper levels of Reiki, this would be a great board for the Manifestation symbol (you can even trace it on the back of the images before you glue or tape them on the board). Even the Power and Distance symbols can help to enhance the energy of the board. (cross-posted to healers_path) post comment

Manifesting Desired Outcomes with a Vision Board/Treasure Map [04 Jan 2009|09:17pm] healers_path [ladyofshadow] I spent New Year’s Day with a friend creating a Vision Board/Treasure Map. For any of you who have made some resolutions or goals for the coming year, I highly recommend the activity if you have the time. ^__^ Creating a Treasure Map A treasure map is an actual, physical picture of your desired reality. It is valuable because it forms an especially clear, sharp image which can then attract and focus energy into your goal. How to Make a Vision Board The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires. I’ve found this highly beneficial for healing and personal growth. (cross-posted to reiki) post comment

So, if the cold & Dragon wasn’t enough…my sinuses have come into the mix [04 Jan 2009|08:24pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | still sick ] I’ve been battling a sinus headache for a good portion of the day. -_- The cold evolved into congestion that’s sitting in my nose, so I end up having these sneezes that just drain me. It’s also been a tiring day filled with on and off naps. I’ve also been a little loopy. I’m crossing my fingers that for my 8 hour shift on Monday that I’ll get through it okay and not get my coworkers sick. I’ll have to bathe myself in disinfectant again and keep on drinking tea throughout the day. I did end up watching the 12 eps of Junjou Romantica. I enjoyed it!! It was cute. ^__^!! *likes the writer Akihiko* *points to the icon she made of him* I’m going to watch the Superstars of Dance at 9pm on NBC. I’m excited if only to see the monks from the Shaolin Temple perform (I got to see them at UB ^__^!!). If anyone else watches it, let me know what you think. ^__^!!! And, thank you all for your Get Well wishes. I really appreciate it. *huggles you all from a safe distance* *scampers off to put the lotion on her skin* ^__~ 1 comment|post comment

So, in addition to the strep...*Red Dragon flies into action* [03 Jan 2009|07:38pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | annoyed ] Yeah, so my monthly decided to start too. The good thing? All this crap should be dealt with by the time I start classes. In the meanwhile...*crazily laughs* *collapses* 2 comments|post comment

Guess who’s being treated for Strep Throat… [03 Jan 2009|03:19pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | sick ] Yeah, that would be me. I woke up this morning and started to do some Reiki on the back of my throat. During my self-healing I stopped…something did not feel right. I heard my main guide say, “Look at the back of your throat.” I scrambled for a mirror and light. It was then that I noticed what looked like a white patch in the back of my throat, near my tonsils. 0__0;; It was at that point I said, “Fuck, I need to find a doctor.” Since UB's health office was closed I enlisted my mom’s aid we tried Immediate Care, a walk in clinic, but they didn’t take my student insurance (for $230 I could have had an appointment…Can you believe that price???? Nuts!!) They recommended Lifetime Health Medical Group, so we went to the one in West Seneca. We got there early (seriously, if you’re gonna go into a walk-in clinic get there early because you can sign up for After Care hours to get your name on the list early). I filled in some paperwork and got in third. A nice nurse took my temperature, got my info, saved me from the blood pressure machine that tried to eat my arm, and swabbed my throat. The doctor came in (you know the guy from the Extreme Home Makeover show…he kind of reminded me of him!), asked me some questions, told me that the strep test came back negative, but he wanted to take a look because sometimes if you don’t swab it in the right spot it won’t come back positive. He looked and said a fancy medical word that meant pus. He said, “Well, you either have Strep or Mono. You’ll know if its Mono because you’ll be sick forever and you won’t be able to get out of bed. More than likely it’s Strep, so I’m going to treat you for that.” So, after 24 hours of the stuff I’m going to take, I should not be contagious. So, until Sunday…*isolates self* For 10 days I get to take 2 tsps a day of caramel-orange-raspberry flavored (weird combo, isn’t it?) amoxicillin/clavulanic acid suspension. The doctor was nice enough to prescribe it in liquid form since I’ve had a little difficulty swallowing pills. No idea what my copay was because the secretaries were confused, so if I get a bill in the mail I guess I’ll know. All I know if that they took me and my insurance paid for my meds. Whatever I have to pay though my health is worth it, I’m glad I caught this thing early. I’ve never had Strep before, so this will be an interesting opportunity to experience it firsthand in order to heal it. My day will be filled with rest, rest, and more rest. 10 comments|post comment

I'm up way too damn early on my day off [03 Jan 2009|06:23am] ladyofshadow [ mood | miserable ] I woke up to burning in the back of my throat. The heater kicking on in the morning seems to suck out all the moisture in the air despite the humidifier and I wake up sweating. This whole temperature fluxing thing is rather annoying. And of course, congestion in my nose...again. Colds suck. 2 comments|post comment

*stares at the Course Information for her Digital Libraries class* 0___0 [03 Jan 2009|12:18am] ladyofshadow [ mood | yuck & blech ] My reaction: 0____0;;; Oh crap, this is a lot. *optimism!activate!* Hey! I might not have any tests in this class - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! In addition to the lectures, it looks like maybe 3 homeworks, weekly readings/discussion board, and a Final Project with 6 people. As long as I don't have to do a lot of programming...I should be okay. *resolves to make friends with a computer savy classmate* *and to ASK the professor for help if she needs it* Maybe I'll be the designer for the final project or a manager...yes....I can do that. I ordered my textbook and I've got some readings to do, though I'm not going to do them now because my brain is addled. Well, that my cold is being difficult. Sleep is going to be interesting. My nose is all yuck and my throat is blech. Yep, yuck and blech - that about covers it. Classes officially start the 12th for me. Before then I shall get in as much fun reading as I can!!! *adds a big A to her Vision Board by the UB photo* post comment

I caught a frickin cold -_- [02 Jan 2009|08:20pm] ladyofshadow [ mood | sick ] It got me last night. My throat got dry to the point where it was burning with each breath I took. I didn't get to sleep until sometime after 3am. I kept gargling salt water and drinking Reiki-fied tea until I exhausted myself to sleep. At work I raided our supply of tea. I had about 4 cups (most of a vanilla variety), so I smelled like vanilla and honey cough drops. At some point during the day, it mutated to a cold that hit my nose. I didn't lose my voice (HUZZAH!), but you can hear it a bit in my voice. My nose is raw and I'm achy, but I caught the thing before it could turn into the flu thing that's going around. I think the Director was starting to get the chills by the end of the day. I will say though that I made an effort to sanitize myself, lol! We have hand sanitizer by the desk, so I was using that and cleaning off everything I used in an effort to protect my coworkers. I found my humidifier, so that should make sleeping a bit easier. *crosses fingers* It's said that usually a week after somthing stressful (a.k.a. holidays or exams), that your body catches up with you and you can get a cold. Add onto that all the energy work I was doing and being exposed to what I am in a library - Yeah. *pokes at congestion* *needs to hunt for more tea in the house* *has found 5 packets* post comment

Manifesting Desired Outcomes with a Vision Board/Treasure Map [02 Jan 2009|12:51am] ladyofshadow [ mood | inspired ] I spent New Year’s Day with a friend creating a Vision Board/Treasure Map. For any of you who have made some resolutions or goals for the coming year, I highly recommend the activity if you have the time. ^__^ It was good fun to hang with my friend, do readings for each other, and work on our boards. Also, much thanks for the dinner! ^__^!! Creating a Treasure Map A treasure map is an actual, physical picture of your desired reality. It is valuable because it forms an especially clear, sharp image which can then attract and focus energy into your goal. How to Make a Vision Board The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires. ( My Vision Board – The images are large, so you may have to click on it to see the full size if you can’t view it in your journal window ) 4 comments|post comment

New Year’s Eve Recap [01 Jan 2009|11:38am] ladyofshadow [ mood | good ] ( Bowling with the Fam ) post comment

Happy 2009! [01 Jan 2009|12:17am] ladyofshadow [ mood | good ] Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone has a good one. Another year, so buckle up and hang on, it’s gonna be one heck of a ride. ^__~! Mine has started out with a BANG!!! *innocent smile* I was able to view the village fireworks display from inside the comfort of the living room. It was lovely and one of the best displays I’ve seen because it had a lot of the fireworks I like (the ones with the lingering glitter tendrils). First photo of the new year!!! First photo of the new year!!! I wrote up a quick New Year note for you all!!! *points to photo* See??? ^__~! Yes, that’s written on the back of a blue request slip from the library *uses it as a bookmark*. *is a dork* ( New Year’s Memes!!!!! ) 2 comments|post comment

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