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#doyouevenunicorn Made Us Unicorn Believers

A hodge-podge concoction where pop culture, queer creativity, social commentary and a healthy perv on a naked man-beast collide!

Do you believe in unicorns? If not, well it’s time to start. We were not believers until we found our very own real-life unicorn, and let me tell you this unicorn is not what you see in children’s books. @doyouevenunicorn on Instagram is charming and has the body that will quench your thirst for something magical. We’re living in a time of division, heightened racial tensions, and political dis-ease, and if you’re like us, you’re often looking for a sign that everything will get better.

Social media is an escape for many of us. A fascinating part of being in challenging times is that we can bear witness to a level of creative expression that only happens when we are losing hope. Oprah said it best, “Each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint. And the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.”

Lately, the world has seemed dark so I needed an escape. I started to surf Instagram, and there was one person from Australia who changed my energy from sadness to happy feelings, a person doing unicorn things and junk.

The handle, @doyouevenunicorn on Instagram might be a life-like unicorn who has the body for the gods, but when you peel back the layers, he is giving us hope, having fun, enjoying his life, and is the latest Kinkster I’ve come across, which is why I asked to interview him.

You might think it’s a character, but it’s a person whose creative juices are flowing, and it’s the perfect time to showcase him, especially when Australia recently said, “YES” to same-sex marriage. It’s the perfect time to catch up with this innovative and creative Kinkster.

Describe for our readers the magical place and mind of Do You Even Unicorn.

I like to think of Do You Even Unicorn – the mind and the page – as a hodge-podge concoction where pop culture, queer creativity, social commentary and a healthy perv on a naked man-beast collide!

How did you come up with the name Do You Even Unicorn and what does it represent?

We’re going back a few years and let’s be real, my brain is mashed potatoes at this point, but from memory, the whole thing came about during the “Do you even lift, bro!?” phenomenon, and who am I to not seize a name that is instantly recognizable? So I think I purposely rode those coattails into existence.

Is there a message to be shared or is this just a fun endeavor?

Initially, it was all just for a laugh. But as my audience grew and I realized I had a platform (albeit a modest one), I acknowledged that I could get some positive messages out there and spread a little awareness about things near and dear to my glitter-filled unicorn heart. Always wrapped up in some comedy and a decent showing of skin, naturally.

How do you come up with the images for your IG page and what inspires you to come up with the captions attached to each photo?

I wish I had an amazing creative process to let you in on, but it’s all ridiculously haphazard! Inspiration is like a boner – it can strike anytime and anywhere. It can come from a quote I hear, an image I see, a memory, a night out, you name it! Sometimes it’s just a piece of the final image and I build things around it, other times I get an instant flash of a fully realized end product and I know exactly what I want to produce. Either way, I’ll jot down the thought so it doesn’t get lost among the mash-up of rainbows and sparkles and cute guys dancing around my head (I have a notoriously bad memory at the best of times and get distracted quicker than a caffeinated baby). The captions will either flow organically from that or simply be a quote I find inspiring or hilarious that I’d like to share with my unicorn army.

What has been your most talked about the photo so far?

Definitely, the photo of me, ass-out, laying over my bed and spitting inferred semen into a bucket and wiping the residue from my face. Classy, right!? Haha And what I love most about that is the post was directly inspired by a conversation I had with a friend that went something along the lines of:

Undisclosed friend: “I want to go ask for two or three ice cubes for my wine.”

Me: “C’mon, you’re better than that…”

Undisclosed friend: “I just told you I spat cum into a bin.”

Me: “Go get your ice.”

Which photo has been your most favorite and why?

I hate more than anything to be cliche, but I couldn’t isolate one! My style and approach and aesthetic are continuously evolving, so with that, as is my favorite image. I look back at photos from a year ago that I remember being so proud of at the time, and I’m like “really queen…!?”. What I will say, is more often than not, my favorite posts end up not being as universally appreciated as others that I like, but aren’t blown away by. I get a kick out of putting out an image with a fully realized concept and story, a total feel, and one that I may have spent a considerable amount of time on, but then a photo that took literally 30 minutes to put together that shows a lot of skin will get heaps more likes. Y’all are thirsty! Hahahaha!

Where do you the person and your persona, the hot unicorn man intersect, or not?

These days, we meet frequently and often and my real-boy Instagram is not too far from paralleling my unicorn persona. I used to be a lot more reserved in my regular IG posts, but the unicorn mask gave me a sort of freedom and anonymity to be a little more salacious and daring, However as I mature and my self-confidence really solidifies, I post suggestive photos quite liberally now on my regular IG account, and am proud of my mental progress and being happy enough with myself to bare all (well, almost all. Unicorn wang, for now at least, still isn’t on menu).

Will you ever reveal the face behind the mask or will we always just have the mysterious unicorn man to look at?

I have several photos where I play both the unicorn and his bearded dude counterpart, face strategically covered, of course. But I think that’s as close to a reveal as I’ll get. I like keeping the mystery up, and it also allows the viewer to imagine and project whatever they like under that mask, which can really add to their fantasy. But, to be honest, with a little sleuthing, it’s not too hard to marry up my unicorn IG and my real-world IG. While I don’t promote the connection, I often joke that it’s the internet’s worst kept secret.

What have you learned about yourself from this creative outlet?

Nudity is fun, empowering, and doesn’t always have to be connected to sex! I’ve always had body image and self-confidence issues, so I’ve learned to embrace myself and my body and how I look. Love yourself (physically, if possible *ahem*) and be proud of exactly who you are. A very wise woman once said “You’re on the right track, baby, you were born this way” but I can’t remember who, I don’t think it was anyone famous 😉

How do you see Do You Even Unicorn developing over time? Any plans for merchandise?

I’m just going with the flow for the moment. I’m a pretty busy non-unicorn, but I’ve absolutely had some thoughts about merchandise, it would be a trip to see my face (and let’s face it, my ass) on a t-shirt! So if the demand is there and people would like to see it, I’d definitely be open to creating Do You Even Unicorn merch. If you’re keen, hit me up on the DMs people, I’d love to hear what you’d like!

We like to ask our signature question, aside from being naked in a unicorn mask, what do you consider to be the edgiest, unconventional, or tight-lipped thing you’ve ever done and how did it impact your life?

Hmmm, good question, and somewhat confronting! I’ve definitely had my party days and illicit encounters – often publicly and often with multiple participants, almost always accompanied by mind-altering social lubricants – but I’m not sure that I found them notably significant or enlightening. For me, the most impactful events are the intimate relationships with partners. I’m thankful for every single one of my past partners and the things I’ve learned about myself through them, no matter how heartbreaking or toxic or unhealthy they may have been at the time. Other than that, I’ve been comparatively tame! I mean, aside from the occasional bondage session or sweaty elevator encounter of the naked kind, but by today’s standards, that’s practically more Disney than deviant. But hey, let’s not close that chapter just yet, I’m always open to suggestions 😉
Follow @doyouevenunicorn on Instagram
Style of Living

Founder, Co-Owner & Managing Editor. Corey has experience in the corporate financial services, training, brand development, and when he is not writing he’s at home dancing nude with a glass of wine.

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Friday, April 06, 2007

Grab Your Easter Bonnets

I’ll tell you here and now, one frolic I won’t be frolicking this Easter is an Easter Egg Hunt, not after seeing a large carpet snake sun-baking on my roof the other day! I swear I saw a pair of sunglasses on his nose! I was very annoyed he’d not asked my permission to use my roof! So annoyed was I, I didn’t bother to warn him about skin cancer! He was a big fellow, too

To be totally honest with you, I’m not at all partial to snakes, and particularly when they infringe on my space. I think you know this already. In other words, I don’t like them at all, not even a teensy-weensy bit! The only snakes I like are “Snake” in the cartoon and snakes, the colourful lollies!

I rang the very efficient snake-catchers, Tom and Heidi, but my cowardly, uninvited visitor had slithered off to a hiding place before they arrived. He didn’t have the guts to hang around to meet them!

As soon as I spotted the snake, I quickly gathered up my two cats, tossing them into the house. After all the mayhem had died down, but not my heart from pounding, I walked into my lounge room to find both cats sitting side by side on the coffee table, looking at each other as if to say, “What did you do?” “Me? I didn’t do anything! What’d you do?” “Nothing! I thought it was you!” “Not Me!” "She must be having one of her 'turns'!"

Now you understand why I won’t be going on an Easter Egg Hunt this Easter unless I hide all my Easter eggs in the house somewhere. I wonder if I’ll find them! Damnit! I remember where I put them!

I've been kicking myself ever since I spotted the snake, though. I regret very much what I did. Acting out of sheer panic and thoughtlessness, I dragged out something to stand upon and whacked the snake as hard as I could. It, of course, slithered along the guttering, in the guttering. I shouldn't have disturbed it. It was my fault the snake-catchers couldn't find the damn thing when they arrived. I've been reprimanding myself ever since for my hasty action. I just hope the snake has decided to find green pastures away, away from my roof-top or anywhere near me. There is thick, protective bushland across the road. I'm sure he would like it much better over there, not hanging around this wild woman brandishing a fourteen-inch bladed knife and tomahawk in the other hand! Who mentioned "anger management?" It's more like "panic management" in my case. The anger came later, directed at myself.

I've not seen my unwelcome, unwanted sun-baker since and I hope I don't. Every time I wander outside my eyes are cast upwards towards my roof! He won't escape next time...take that as a definite warning and threat, Mr. Carpet Snake. (What a silly first name, anyway!)

Now, back to these chocolate Easter eggs....

  1. Oh Lee,
    That's the one thing I don't miss about Australia. The snakes. When we were kids and fortunately, mostly saw them slithering off into the undergrowth, we'd say, was it black, was it brown, what colour was it? Australia, home to more venomous snakes than any other country, I once read.
    My husband said they lost quite a few cats to snakes when he was a kid, and a dog to ticks. Then there's the spiders!
    Except there were no bears or cougars there or rabies. Some pluses I guess.
    Happy easter

  2. Yes, snakes are one thing we can do without, I reckon, jmb...they are not on my radar! I hate the bloody things! Spiders don't worry me...little else does, really...I just can't abide snakes. And I don't want them coming into my space.

    Ticks are a pest up here on the mountain from about October/November through to Feb, but this past season they weren't so bad, thankfully. I always go over my cats for them. Ticks love me, too, unfortunately! I can't see any good reason for them in the whole scheme of things.

    And fortunately, we don't have rabies in this country...that certainly is a plus. Happy Easter to you, too, jmb. :)

  3. texpat7:49 PM

    I've never seen a "carpet snake" so next time one shows up, grab a camera and post some photos.

  4. They are of the python family, Texpat. I won't be grabbing my camera, I can promise you! Do a Google will find pictures of them. :)

  5. Sunny,

    Saw your posts at LST and could not resist a reply here. God's Blessings on you.

    Snakes. The poisonous ones I kill with a vengence. I've killed over 150 Copperheads since we started clearing land here in 1995 or so.

    I quit killing the Coral snakes after realizing that I had enough sense to not pick one up, and observing that they are not aggressive at all. They tend to scoot if disturbed.

    We are lucky to have only two species that will hurt you here. Pit Vipers ( Copper Heads, Rattle Snakes, and Water Moccasins) and Coral Snakes (related to Cobras).

    We have tons of non poisonous snakes which I really like. Stormy likes the non-lethal ones also. I am not afraid to pick up a real big king snake or black snake because done carefully they will not even bite. The Coachwhips will nip you until they calm down.

    When I was about 12-14 yrs old, My best bud an I would wade down a creek near us at night with "torches" and catch Diamond Back Watersnakes and put them in a burlap sack. The Houston City Zoo would buy them from us at something like $5 a pound for food for the bigger snakes, or to put in their 'Gator exhibit. We never saw a poisonous snake. Got scratched up by the water snakes tho. They're mean.

    You have probably seen Stormy's pics of the Texas Rat Snakes. They are welcome residents.

    You need to get a picture of your Carpet Snake. I'd be curious to find out what it is?

    Is it venomous?

    Well, this went long, sorry.

  6. No, they're not venomous, Marc, but they do have a tendency of taking, constricting and swallowing smaller animals, such as cats! I've already lost a cat to a python when I was living on Hinchbrook Island and I don't intend that happening to my cats or to me, again. A few weeks, back you might remember, a carpet snake took my landlords' kitten and we figured it had too, taken the kitten they had before. As I said in my comment back at Texpat, carpet snakes are of the python family...they are constrictors and grow quite large.

    Have a wonderful Easter, Marc and Stormy. :) And leave those snakes alone! ;)

  7. So, Python family, Hmmm, how big? To grab a cat it would have to be at least 8-10 ft long. To hurt you about 20 ft long.

    Granted you have a greater selection of Nasty Ones, but most can be identified easily. You need to be able to separate the bad ones from the good ones.

    I understand tho. My dad hated snakes. My mom was afraid of them, but did not hate them. My brother and I brought many small snakes into the house to show her. Young'uns!

    My dad's policy was out before dark! We had a Speckled King Snake about 6 ft (2M) long that we got tamed and seemed to enjoy our attention. I made the mistake of hiding him(her) in one of my dresser drawers. I did not realize the back of the drawer had a good sized gap at the back.

    Long story short, about 3AM this blood curdling shout woke us all up. Dad had stepped on the poor snake in the bathroom.

    An immediate "no snakes in the house" policy was instituted. Poor snake slept in the garage.

    That snake lived under our house for many years. The last sighting was while I was in the Air Force, and the snake was about 8 ft long. Big for a King snake.

  8. LOL, "panic management"

    I love it! That's me too when I see a snake.

  9. Corn Dog,

    I quit having panic attacks on snakes after unloading about ten 12 GA rounds on our first bad infestations of Copperheads.

    I have a 3 ft Machette that works better and ain't as noisy.

  10. Marc, the one that took my cat on Hinchinbrook and that I found on my bed one night was 18-foot...that's more than big enough for me! We have the most number of venomous snakes in the world here in Aus...I don't particularly want to get up close and personal to any of them for identification. I killed a red-bellied black snake in my cabin one night a couple of years ago. This is "my" space and snakes of any description are not welcome in here! I have a very simple philosophy about that! ;)

    You can share that with me, Corn Dog...I'll give you permission! ;)

  11. Whoa!
    Big snake!
    And they don't let you Blast 'em?
    Oops! forgot, they took all your guns away. Can't help you there.

  12. God Bless all that read this.

    I'm to bed. 11:48 Atomic clock Houston time.

  13. The carpet snakes seem to like your place, Lee...or do they like you? Maybe the one you chased off the roof ate your Easter eggs...?

  14. Well, if that be the case, Robyn, the feeling definitely isn't mutual.

    As for the Easter eggs...I know where they are and nothing or nobody can get them expect me! ;)

  15. I love a good snake story. Git a picture. I, also would like to see it.

  16. I'm with you! I detest snakes! I lived in Florida for 13 years and saw my fair share of them. I get the chills just thinking of them!

    Ohhh did you know the cartoon called "Snake" by Sols??? For a snake hater I absolutely loved that cartoon strip!!!! Poor Snake! No neck for ties, no hands for gloves and no feet for shoes! hahahaha

  17. Here's a site you wouldn't want to wake up to Lee!

  18. Have a wonderful snake-free Easter, Lee! Enjoy your lunch.

  19. Keep the snakes down there. We don't need them. I'm like you they give me the willies.
    Marilyn read your last post too. We loved the recipe ideas and she recognized some of those cheeses from her travels in Switzerland. Her brother and wife who lived there now live in New Zealand.

  20. I need to send you a batch of rattlesnake eggs that a friend got on the internet. They will be hatching soon. :))) I have to admit when I was young, I was at my grandparents house in the country, and playing in the yard when a copperhead came up to me and I thought it was pretty and almost grabbed it when my grandfather stopped me. It must tell you how much things don't bother me too much. Have a safe and wonderful Easter.

  21. Lee,you were brave and you did the only thing you could have done! You couldn't risk that thing getting your cats. [Love the story of them trying to work out which one of them had done something wrong, btw!] Me, I'm scared of a harmless house spider, so I couldn't cope with snakes! Great pics at the top of the post, too. Email to you still not working so have tried via my hotmail address now. I'll get the computer shop man to work it out next time he comes over. Happy Easter again from Simi and me.

  22. Steve, Deslily, Neo, Liz, Cliff, Sandra and Welsh (Whew!)...thanks everyone for your comments. :)

    Now the cooler weather has arrived, snakes have gone into hibernation...I just hope not in my ceiling! ;)

  23. We have a spider problem around here (black widows) but not poisonous snakes in the city. On the other hand, we do have rabies although I haven't heard of a case in years.

    Congratulations on your nomination. I read down Robyn's list and realized you were the only one I hadn't met. (Or I don't think I have).

    So - here I am greeting you from Merced (gateway to Yosemite) in the San Joaquin valley of California.

    I'm a great-granny raising my 3 great-granddaughters who has made several Australian friends through the wonders of the internet.

    Marc is blessed with both coral and copperheads? I'd be running screaming.

    I hope you have enjoyed your Easter. Our isn't here yet.

  24. Hey, nice to meet you, Granny. Thanks so much for popping in. :)

    I'd be running and screaming, too from those copperheads etc. I'll race you to the end of the property! ;)

    Spiders don't worry, too much...I let them do their own thing and they stay out of my way. Sometimes my car is like a mobile cobweb as they love covering it it with webs! Same with the outside of my's a good camouflage! ;)

    Don't be a stranger, Granny. I'll pop over to visit you later. At the moment I'm in the middle of preparing Easter Sunday lunch. I have a couple of friends coming over.

    Have yourself a wonderful Easter. :)

  25. Lee I have never seen a snake up close, where I live in Michigan they just are not that common. I get the willies when I see them behind thick glass at the Zoo. I would be terrified to see one around my house. Hope he never returns. Hope you have a wonderful Easter.

  26. You're lucky then, Shelly. I hope you're having a great Easter too, with your family. :) Glad to hear there was no car-sickness this time!

  27. Don't be afraid of snakes. Just think of them as lizzards without legs. :)

  28. I'm pretty sure I would absolutely freak if I saw python-like snakes slithering about my property. I doubt that "panic management" would work very well on me -- or that I'd have the presence of mind to grab a 14-inch knife and go into warrior princess mode.

    Even though the egg hunt is out, happy Easter to you!

  29. so you made me google carpet snake.
    Thank goodness they aren't poisonous. BUT, they could choke a cat????

    We have rattlesnakes in my neck of the woods but none in town -- and usually only close to rocky areas... and where people don't congregate.

    If I hear dead leaves rattling when we're at the river I go balistic.

    Here from Holties House!!!

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May the Friluftsliv Be With You

Occasionally I get an idea in my head and like getting water in my ears after diving into a pool, no matter how hard I smack the side of my head I just can’t get it out of there.  Currently I’m fixated on the idea of going to Scandinavia for a winter vacation next spring. It’ll probably never happen, but the idea of picking a few locales to visit while doing some skiing, maybe undertaking a longer fat biking adventure all while taking in a new culture seems really enticing.  However seeing as how I’m still collecting bottles and cans for redemption to pay off my last excursion into that area of the world I might have to start smacking my head a little harder to get any Nordic thoughts out of there.  It’s still nice to dream though isn’t it?

Nothing against Finland or Sweden as I’d go back to either of those countries in a heartbeat if given more time, but Norway is looking like an Eden of sorts and the more I read the more intrigued I become.  Today’s daydream has been focused on riding part of the Finnmarkslopet sled dog race course in the far north of the country.  Just as many do in Alaska around the time of the Iditarod, why not start riding on the heels of the race and take advantage of the track that’s been laid down?  In theory it sounds perfect: long spring days spent exploring and exercising in a unique setting.  What could be better?

Setting aside that thought for a moment (before my bubble bursts), another fun aspect of my daydreaming was stumbling upon the term “Friluftsliv”, the Norwegian term that encapsulates the Scandinavian outdoor dynamic with nature. Read more about it here as it’s a concept that I wish more Americans would embrace.  The term may appear to be untranslatable at first glance but I understand it completely, and if you enjoy uncomplicated communion with nature I’m sure you will too.

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the multitudes have joined forces
in the great sin of war
at the mere mentioning of marring her name

for her, more versus have been written
whether for finding her or losing her
than for anyone else

Cleopatra befriended a viper as quickly
as Shakespeare tells us
Romeo and Juliet experienced their loss
in the versus of traumatic youth

The Greeks understood about
the yellow butterflies dreamed up by Garbiel Garcia Marquez
centuries in anticipation to his novels
we see this through the demonstration of faith
in little innocent Cupid

Our Infinite God limited Himself in human form
to be tortured at our hands and killed
all for love!

So why do you ask me why I search for the most potent power?
the real question is, why don’t you
Why wait?

In so much as gold doesn’t move alone
love won’t find you

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Tag: Tobias Ovalle

FOUND: Help Find Missing Tobias Ovalle of Alexandria, VA!

UPDATE:   We are asking for the public’s assistance in locating 16-year-old, Tobias B. Ovalle. He was last seen in the area of the 6300 block of Lachine Lane in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County on Monday, March 14, around 12:30 p.m. Tobias has a form of Autism and is shy. He is verbal,…

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I baby Austin.

I’m sure that doesn’t come as some huge surprise, a shocking admission of illicit behavior or anything. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? There is a preciousness about him, a sacredness that makes me want to hold him and cuddle him and coddle him. And he is the consumate mama’s boy, absolutely choosing me over all others at all times. So he asks to be held and I hold him, he beckons and I come, he cries and I’m immediately there to make right whatever is wrong.

But this is not really doing either of us any favors. He has a learned helplessness that only rears its ugly head with me and Mark. He’s great with babysitters, great with his grandparents — independent and funny, easy-going and easy. But with us, he’s helpless and needy, clingy and babyish. Not all the time or anything; he is still the confident and active little boy I’ve often described. But there is a part of him that we thought he’d outgrow which instead is becoming more and more deeply ingrained in his personality.

It’s hard to know which came first — is this an actual outgrowth of all he’s been through? Pain and discomfort, separation from his parents at his scariest moments? Or have we caused it, by hovering over him, by willingly and happily giving in to his every whim? Or might it just be the way it would have always been, cancerous background or not? Of course, we’ll never know the answers to those questions. But I do know that he craves my physical presence; he wants to be touching me, holding me, whenever I’m near him. He sometimes asks to hold my hand in the car, which sounds sort of sweet but certainly isn’t safe as I reach back awkwardly to stick one hand in his while driving with the other.

I’ve realized that I am good at letting him take physical risks. I let him climb the play structures without my hand at his back; I let him race headlong down the steep part of the yard, which often ends in skinned knees. I pride myself in allowing this degree of recklessness. He falls, cries and gets back up again, as resilient as ever.

But I do not let him take emotional risks. I don’t want him to have to tough it out when he’s scared or afraid. I think a lot of parents of my generation are the same way; we don’t want our kids to feel alone or abandoned when they need us most. It is, after all, our job to protect and comfort them. But I also know that he will never gain any emotional resiliency if I don’t let him, or force him, to find ways to protect and comfort himself.

I trace a lot of this back to his treatment days when I was still nursing him. I nursed him because, not only was it the only nutritious thing he could keep down in the three days following each Friday’s chemo session, but also because it was the best way to soothe and quiet him during scary and painful medical procedures. He literally drew strength, emotional and physical, from my very body. And sometimes now, I feel as if he is doing the same thing — that he is sucking me dry, draining me emotionally and physically with his need, and with my inability to not jump when that need is expressed.

All of this has been heightened by my time here in Chautauqua, as it is only I he clings to and only I who can provide the comfort he requests. My mom has been watching us and trying to figure out how to help and how to help me guide him to greater independence. She pointed out that I often try to encourage him by assuring him that I’m present. “It’s okay, Austin, mommy is right here. I’m right next to you, you’re safe.” She suggested that instead I try to empower him to feel good and safe and okay with himself, as in, “It’s okay, Austin. You’re doing great on your own. You can do this.”  So this is what I’m now trying to do, give him the power to comfort and protect himself.

I know many of you have backgrounds in child psychology and social work and related fields and so I welcome any bits of wisdom or insight you might throw my way on this.

On a lighter note, those of you who laughed at the photos of us on our Jamaican pony adventure, will appreciate the fact that I took the boys on a drive through the countryside today, during which we stopped outside many a farm fence to get out of the car and watch the horses and cows, sheep and donkeys. You should have seen the shocked delight on Austin’s face when we actually heard a rooster crow. “Daaaht cool,” he said in his deep and breathy Dietrich voice.  After we commented on how beautiful it was, hill after rolling hill of green, I asked Braedan if he thought he might like to live out here and without missing a beat he said, “Nope.”

You can take the boys out of the Heights, but you can’t take the Heights . . . well, you know.


text:
Ethereal Edition: To the Forgotten Unforgotten

The FogI’ve actually been doing a light amount of academic research the last few weeks, which is unusual for me.  While I respect the academic and scholarly approaches to out faith, I also think too many depend upon them too much.  Too many approach the lore as a record, rather than a finger point to the moon..and I think we damage our faith with an over reliance on the lore.

Yet, I’ve been looking over Stephan Grundy’s words on Loki and it’s been making me curious to expand out and tackle some more diverse topics.  In particular, it has stuck me by how much we have lost.  The nature of veneration for much of our faith is gone, and we are lucky to have the scraps we do in some cases.  It in this frame of mind that I offer the following.

To those who halls were not remembered,
To those who tales were not retold,
To those whose place in time was not recorded.
I offer these words.

Though your names may be lost,
My ancestors were not.
Though recount of your deeds did not endure,
Their results have.
Though your lessons have gone untaught,
Your wisdom can still be found.

To those Gods and Goddesses,
That history did not mark,
To those Heroes and Heroines,
Whose Sagas found no scribe,
To the forgotten unforgotten,
I say this.

There are those who see the empty spaces,
where once your altars were.
There are those who search dark tomes,
in the pursuit of bright names.
There are those that seek you still,
Call out to prayer on the lips on ancestors.

Today, I remember the forgotten unforgotten,
May the day of their remembrance be soon.

Heathen Ethics, Part 7: The Ten Guiding Tempers

Quite some time ago, I talked about my issues with the Nine Noble Virtues.  I had a lot of issues with them too, but that wasn’t because I was against the existence of an ethical code; I was against how the NNV was established and the role it fulfills in Heathenry today.  It was created using the Havamal as the penultimate ethical source that it never was intended to be, and it was presented as the wisdom of our ancestors when our ancestors never head heard of it.  The collected wisdom and ethical thew of our spiritual fore-bearers, reduced down to a handful of words chosen by their superficial connection to a few pieces of good advice that existed in a document that is presented as the Tao of the Norse without a single quantifying statement.*

i1232892707_1A while back, I presented a few guidelines that I thought any proper Heathen code would have to follow in order to achieve a state of practical viability.  After letting the ideas and concepts simmer for half a year,** I decided it was time to try to see what I could come up with.  I took all the material from both versions of the Nine Noble Virtues, referenced the Six-Fold Goal of the Troth***, and then separated the grain from the chaff.  I kept things informed by the manners and thew of  our spiritual ancestors, while giving them the room to breathe in modern air.  They weren’t chosen based on observance of barely relevant numerology; it’s just what felt right and it was what worked for what I was attempting to create.  No hard biases against or for any organization, philosophy, or personally relevant spirituality.  Just a code that I think will serve Heathens well.

Those were my goals at least; I can’t say whether they’ve been achieved or not.  That’s up to, well,  everyone else.

These are the ten guiding tempers, intended as guidelines for living a Heathen life that will give you an enduring name, worthwhile deeds, and a satisfying life.  The first nine are concepts and ideals that should rule your thoughts, as well as the concept or idea that you should balance it  against.  No virtue, as an absolute, will ever yield good results.  Thus each virtues is viewed through the lens of another one that helps to guide and define it.

The tenth temper is a special one, but it is also very important.  If these guidelines do not serve you well, follow the tenth temper and you’ll end up with the results you deserve.

This is not Heathen Bushido.  This is not the legacy of our spiritual ancestors.  All it represents is good advice, as seen by one Heathen, and given to any other Heathen who chooses to use it.

Courage tempers Faith: If our way does not maintain its faith, it will not endure.  If we have faith in our Gods and our communities, we will be strong.  There are times, however, when our Gods will test us and our communities are not at hand.  There will be times in the life of every Heathen when they must handle an issue greater than themselves, and where no amount of aide on physical, spiritual, and social fronts will take care of things.  Faith is your belief within things outside of yourself; courage is the faith your own heart and soul have for their own capacity.  Without courage, faith becomes weak and dependent.

Freedom tempers Courage: If our way does not maintain its courage, it will not endure.  Courage gives us the strength to face any difficulty, regards of the risks.  We are not bound, however, to face every difficulty or our lives would become a meaningless transition from struggle to struggle. Without freedom, we would be forever locked with a constant cycle of conflict without respite to enjoy the spoils of those struggles.  We have the freedom to choose the purposes to which we devote ourselves and a mandate to preserve that freedom for ourselves and our community.  Without freedom, courage leads to exhaustion and lifelessness.

Discipline tempers Freedom: If our way does not maintain its freedom, it will not endure.  The choices we make for ourselves, our families, and our communities must be choices made with agency and purpose.  While freedom is important to any Heathen, freedom unchecked by our own willpower can lead to a life without triumphs, deeds of merit, and a completely self-serving attitude.  We need discipline, control of ourselves and actions, for our freedoms to be truly meaningful things.  Without discipline, freedom leads to a lack of focus and action.

Frith tempers DisciplineIf our way does not maintain its discipline, it will not endure.  When we establish self-control, we are the master of ourselves.  Yet, our perspectives alone should never shape all of the circumstances within our lives.  If we focus to much on self-control, we can easily loose perspectives on all things are not connected to the self.  Without acknowledging our responsibilities to our communities, so much of what we do can quickly become meaningless.  Our discipline should be just as much shaped by our desire for goodwill and community as it should by our own willpower.  Without frith, discipline becomes stagnant and selfish.

Wisdom tempers FrithIf our way does not maintain its Frith, it will not endure.  The well being of our community was of central importance to our spiritual ancestors, but those communities needed more than just goodwill to survive.  The frith they built was also guided by intelligence, experience and wisdom.  Further, our societies and communities are not constructed from and limited by geographical restrictions; who we build Frith with is now completely a choice.  This changes much, and alters entire social models in the blink of an eye.  Now the entire world is at our fingertips, connect societies and communities as never before.  While this allows us to teach and learn as never before, it also gives those who speak with ignorance and greed a louder voice as well.  Now words of wisdom and intelligence are more power and meaningful than ever, for they both guide our communities as well as shape them.  Our choices must ever be guided by sound thoughts and firm understanding.  Without wisdom, frith dilutes and is quickly usurped.

Honesty tempers Wisdom: If our way does not maintain its wisdom, it will not endure.  If a Heathen is asked for their council, they should their true thoughts or none at all.  Without honesty, the sage and correct choices are harder to find and communities become easily led to infighting and ruin.     Without honesty, any piece of wisdom can be a lie and thus the nature of wisdom itself is compromised.  With but a single lie, a lifetime of advice can be render contaminated and suspect.  Without honesty, wisdom becomes foul and poisoned.

Warmth tempers HonestyIf our way does not maintain its honesty, it will not endure.  Honesty is the lifeblood of an honorable life.  Yet, without a hospitable bearing, the blood turn weak and this.  If those who are our guest are given every truth we can think of without request or consideration?  We abuse the privileges of a proper host.  Should we release our words without thought within the house of another?  We abuse the respect and consideration afforded to a guest.  While we should never lie to our quests or to our hosts, we should also respect them all the same and leave their private lives to their own device.  Warmth is a combination of many ideas: hospitality, manners, grith, and more.  All of these things have subtle differences, but they all fly under of being a good person to the souls who we trust to be honest towards and our spiritual ancestors did not grant their warmth strictly to those who were the same as they.  Without warmth, honesty turns to bitterness and callousness.

Pragmatism tempers Warmth: If our way does not maintain its warmth, it will not endure.  Our spiritual ancestors welcomed strangers, yet they were not foolish.  Those who would and have threatened them are not welcome.  They do not give more than they can afford to give, for their first loyalty is to their families.  A good Heathen is one who plans ahead.  They have prepared for the next winter before the previous one has ended, and they plan for the next harvest in the way they gather the present one.  They endure not only by their resilience of body, but also from their resilience of mind.  Long before the fight started, whether it be against robbers of weather, our spiritual ancestors prepared themselves as best they could for it.  They secured their capacity for hospitality and mindfulness with actions and plans.  Without pragmatism, warmth cannot be maintained or established.

Faith tempers Pragmatism: If our way does not maintain its pragmatism, it will not endure.  We must be ready for the unexpected and aware of the known, but we must also leave room for those things for our heart and soul.  We venerate and worship mighty Gods and Goddesses, whose capacity and influence is far greater than the legends alone would tell us.  To loose sight of that is to loose sight of those who help us, guide us, and watch over us.  We must trust those who have built good frith and warmth with us.  To loose sight of this is to loose sight of all that a community can offer.  There will be times were no amount of logic and common sense will see us through.  In these cases, we must trust our luck, our communities, and our Gods to get us through.  Without faith, pragmatism becomes bland and paranoid.

The Tenth Temper – Deeds temper Ethics:   If our way does not consider ethics, it will not endure.  Yet this is but one interpretation of the ethics of our spiritual ancestors.  If you are not satisfied with the deeds that results from the tempers?  Than change them.  Alter them.  Break them over your knee with a sickening crunch so loud that it turns the Allfather’s head.  Make them yours.  Cast them aside, and live your life by your instincts.  Your deeds are your own, and no moralistic code can ever take responsibility for them.  Never lets yourself become so dogmatic and fixated that you fail to hold your ethical beliefs up to the same standard you hold yourself up to.  Without mindfulness of our deeds and their consequences, ethics will always fail.

*While I don’t oppose the Havamal, I certain oppose how it is used by many Heathens.  The Havamal is, at best, a modestly functional compass for making educated guess about the ethical viewpoints of out spiritual ancestors.  I’ll never suggest throwing it out because it certainly has it’s uses, and one can gain some insight by considering its words.  It is not the Heathen Bible, but it still gets used as such; in function if not in name.

**Wait, how long have I been doing this?  Yeesh.

*** I consider it somewhere between two version of the Nine Noble Virtues in terms of quality.  It’s well intentioned, and serves well as some sort of ethic infused mission statement.  It still suffers from almost all of the same problems however, and thus I didn’t think it needed a whole lot of narration to cover the pros and cons.

This is how we build community.

While I am interested in the Polytheist Leadership Conference, I’ll most likely not be attending…baring the will of the Gods; money is part of it, but I’ve also got other circumstances that complicate things. Still, I approve of anything that attempts to move us, collectively and separately, in a positive direction.

Good luck, Mr. Betkowski! With any luck I can boost the signal for you and get you a couple more bucks!

Regarding Loki, Part 7: More Uncomfortable Truths

On Feburary 13th,  Stephen McNallen made a statement in regards to the AFA’s stance on  the worship and veneration of Loki within their own organization and events.  Let me be clear that I, for one, don’t really care about the stance of the AFA in regards to the hailing of the trickster of Asgard.  I think their stance is closed minded and short sighted to be sure, but I’m not the Asa-Pope the last time I checked so they are free to establish their stances and procedures as they see fit.

What I did take umbrage at was how Mr. McNallen’s words also made subtle, but broad, pejorative assessments about those worship Loki in general.  A true statement of policy has no need to weigh in on the spiritual practices of another, and I found the remarks more than a little bit out of line.  While I might have been inclined to let some of that go, and mark it up to another area where the AFA and I just will never see eye to eye, a look at the comments that followed Mr. McNallen’s thoughts was eye opening.  While some of the comments were reasonably benign, and a handful managed to even be positive, some of what was so was so hateful, miserable, and disgusting that it demand a measured response.

So let us take a look at some of those arguments, and see how what is believed compares against logical consideration.

tumblr_m58bdm9xLH1rrtg4ko1_500What Seems to be Agreed Upon: “Our experience over the decades has been that toasting Loki or in other ways calling him to our side brings – not creative chaos, not constructive change – but ill luck. This is a matter of observation, not theory.” -Stephen McNallen
The Uncomfortable Truth: There are lots of people whose experiences have been that the AFA is an organization where bigotry and racism are acceptable.  For such people, they have a great deal of collected observation…but when they pronounce their feelings as fact?  Your words, Mr. McNallen, are seldom kind.

This is the only comment truly directed at the AFA in general, and Stephen McNallen in particular.  This isn’t a statement designed to attack the organization or it’s founder, but to politely explain where Mr. McNallen may have lost sight of how his statement compares against some of the things said about the AFA over the years.

Despite his experiences, which are no doubt vast, Mr. McNallen more than likely has not met or interacted with a vast number of Lokeans or has meaningfully partaken of a great number of rituals than include Loki.  As such, all of Mr. McNallen’s assurances fall into the realm of the anecdotal account; they represent an interpretation of the events in his own life, in a general sort of way.  Those are fine for him and his organization, if he wishes to use them, but the statement he made pushed outside of those boundaries the moment he made the above implication.  As written, it is at least a bit careless and disrespectful for those whose spirituality called them in that direction.  In addition, it’s a statement which displays a logical inconsistency.

When it comes to anecdotes, you have two meaningful options; you either accept all anecdotes as equally valid (thus making every single thing stated by groups like Circle Ansuz in dire need of a public, candid response) or you can treat them as little more than opinion (making your own anecdotes no better or worse than the next person’s, and thus really not worthy of intense consideration).  To do otherwise is to establish a double standard, and I don’t think such a structure should be welcome within Heathen ethics.  It is possible that this wasn’t mean, as a line like “observation, not theory” is particularly vague.  At the very least, there should have been a greater degree of care taken in the words chosen.

facepalmWhat Seems to Be Agreed Upon: Anyone who follows Loki is doing so as a fad, likely a result of the Marvel movies.
The Uncomfortable Truth: In two minutes or less, explain how that exact same statement can’t be made about the worship of Thor or Odin without equal validity.

This is what we can a logical fallacy.  Specifically, casual oversimplification with a little variation of ad hominem for good measure.  This is aside of the rather obvious issue that any single dismissal of Loki, via the Marvel movies, can likewise be used to slander the modern worship of Odin, Thor, Firgg, and Heimdallr.

Look guys, tumblr scares the hell out of me too; that doesn’t give you a permission slip to weigh in on another person’s spirituality and declare it meaningless simply because a lot of seventeen year old girls and boys are getting all hot and bothered by Tom Hiddleston.

23141-viking-scene-art-designWhat Seems to be Agreed Upon: Loki is a God of chaos, and to honor him is to honor the forces that seek to destroy civilization as we know it.
The Uncomfortable Truth: Chaos doesn’t mean what you think it means.

Look, if you choose not to venerate Loki?  That’s your choice.  If you refrain because he is a “God of Chaos”(tm), you’ve just displayed that you either don’t understand Loki, chaos, or both.

The word chaos, by definition, has very little relevance to the Loki that is depicted within the lore.  To be plain about it, Loki is no more “chaotic” than Odin, Thor, or Freya.  His actions are deliberate, methodical, and chosen for their results.  Each of these actions represents deeds performed for the interest of a long term goal.  This implies a plan, and chaos destroys plans of all sorts.  Some of these plans are ones that have catalyzed the creation of Mjonir, Gungir, Slepnir, and the Walls of Asgard.  Those are things that, by their nature, have created order in the lore.  It is thus fair to say that Loki is nothing like a God of Chaos; in truth, he is a God who frequently establishes order through unorthodox means or even forges order from chaos.

It would be fair to say that he is duplicitous in some situations. Also unquantifiable, trickster, sneaky, and a bunch of other things.   It is those exact qualities, however, that the Gods called upon in numerous myths and legends.  If they are calling upon, and even proactively utilizing, a “God of Chaos”…wouldn’t that make them chaotic by association?

And, while we are on that topic….

Pimp My RideWhat Seems to be Agreed Upon: Why would anyone allow Loki into our worship if he was responsible for kidnapping, murder, and betrayal?
The Uncomfortable Truth: Perhaps you should ask a similar question of Odin and Thor.

If we are taking the lore at literal value, and we usually seem to be when it comes to the Loki argument, we must take into account that Odin knew everything that going to go down long before it happened.  If you believe in the Poetic and Prose Edda as an accurate account of our lore, this requires that you view Odin’s actions through that context; he knew all that was to happen, long before Ragnarok came.  We could presume Thor to know the same, yet he asks for Loki’s assistance on many occasions.

If Loki’s existance is to betray the Gods, why does Thor confess to him that his hammer has gone missing?  Why would he accept Loki’s company on the mission to retrieve it, when a single trecherous word could doom their greatest defender and forever put his greatest weapon in the hands of the very enemies he is predicted to betray them to?  None of this makes any sense, and it’s not the only circumstances which reveals itself as curious and inconsistent.

If you choose to unconditionally reject Loki and those who hail him from your house, than you are stating that you know better than some of the greatest and most trusted Gods within our faith.  One is consider a being of nearly infinite wisdom and is the unquestioned ruler of the Aesir.  The other is held up as amongst the greatest warriors that the nine realms will ever know.  Both of them make up beings you shouldn’t really be questioning.

"Hey, gonna eat that?"

“Hey, uh…you gonna eat that?”

What Seems to be Agreed Upon: Those who worship Loki should go back to being Satanists
The Uncomfortable Truths: Those who say nonsense like that should seek the help of Gothi, for such people are having serious conversion problems.

I know this may seem like going after the low hanging fruit, but this statement pops up distressingly often.  It is not the most common rebuttal, but it also parallels the “Loki is the Norse equivalent of Satan, so why would you worship him” argument enough to kill two birds with one stone.

To the credit of Mr. McNallen, he openly addressed that issue and addressed it correctly.

If you have a serious issue with Satanism, as a Heathen, than you are in desperate need of some pastoral counseling.   Even if I give the benefit of the doubt and presume that all who worship Loki were previously Satanists?  Satanism is either a largely atheistic philosophy or focused on the cosmology that comes with a Judeo-Christian worldview.  In either case, you have no reason to care.  Satan isn’t your concern anymore and never will be again.  If you are still bothered/offended by the nemesis of a religion you have supposedly abandoned, that says more about you religious practices than it does about mine.*

“Oh man, if they think Loki’s bad? Wait til they start actually reading some of the stuff I did!”**

What Seems to be Agreed Upon: There are countless actions that Loki takes within the sagas that fly in the face of everything we know about Heathen ethics, both in modern times and in the times of our spiritual ancestors.
The Uncomfortable Truth: The same can be said of almost the entirety of the Aesir and Vanir.

Freyr gives up a weapon that would have defended him and his kin at Ragnarok in the hopes of winning a Jotun bride.  Tyr’s sacrifice was unneeded, for he could have simply killed Fenrir as a pup and saved Odin at Ragnarok in a single stroke.   Than there is Njord, who abandons the Aesir at the twilight of the Gods so he can return to Vanaheim.  Freya prostitutes herself for a necklace, even agreeing to cause strife in the world of men in order to secure it.  Nanna commits suicide, unable to face a world without her husband.  Rather than meet the giantess Skadi in honorable  combat over the death of her father, the Gods avoid the fight and marry her into their ranks instead.  Than there is just about every myth connected to Odin, wherein he does at least one thing that modern Heathenism find absolutely unacceptable.

If we’re going to play this idiotic game, than we can render just about every God in the pantheon as unworthy of worship and there is no philosophy that makes this foolishness make sense.  Somehow, no Heathens seems to have trouble recognizing all of these other deities as being more than just the scarce collection of myths we have retained of them.  We seem them as forces greater than the sum of their parts, and recognize these tales as complex and three dimensional.

Just not Loki.

If these arguments seemed weak or redundant, that is because they are and they’ve been this way for quite some time.  These, however, are the arguments that are put up on a consistent basis.  What’s even more baffling is you don’t even need any deep understanding of the lore to find where these talking points completely fall apart.  No heavy, eldrtich texts need to be translated from a dead language to understand how these things don’t work.  You seem need to be able to read, hear, and think.  Yet, this is the eternally present “Loki Debate”; a collection of barely salient points, almost all of them made by people that would seem to know better in any other situation.  Which says something very disturbing to me.  Perhaps the most uncomfortable truth of them all.

It says that the decision about another person’s UPG was made before the facts were considered.  That no knowledge was truly weighed and measured.  It all suggests that a choice was made to suit someone’s preexisting conceits, and that was that.  No questions asked and no objections entertained.  Loki is Norse Satan; perhaps not in name, but certainly in function.  That says volumes about people who parrot these arguments and raise such loud objections to a spiritual path that doesn’t effect them in the slightest.  What can we say about such a person, who would willing mock what another finds sacred while lack both motivation and understand?

What does it suggest about any other thing they say, for example; are they truly giving their hard wrought knowledge when they speak, or are they simply telling you what takes away from their comfort the least?

This is not about the AFA’s policy, a bunch of it’s members being ignorant on Facebook,  or even  Stephen McNallen having to say something that I didn’t like; at the end of the day, McNallen’s statement is just a more polite, less insulting version of a bigger issue.  If you don’t have the courage and strength to allow others the freedom to experience the joy of our  Gods in their own way?  If you lack the honor to allow another Heathen the freedom to call themselves Heathen, and would alienate them simply because their methods of respecting their spiritual ancestry do not  mirror your own?  If you are so lifeless and dogmatic that you need to toe your own party line before you offer hospitality to the spiritual beliefs of another person?  Well, I got to tell you friend…those aren’t virtues that I would be proud of.**

Bolverk’s Word Brother!  Jotun Bane’s Shadow!  Knotted Goat Dancer!
Hail the Hammer Fly!  Hail the Stallion-Bride!  Hail Asa Loki!

*I suppose there could be some Christo-Heathens out there, who have taken a synchretic approach to both the Christian and Heathen faiths.  If this describes you, I could understand you still having an issue with Satan in that case and only that case…so don’t think that I’m trying to malign you or suggest that something is wrong with you;  I’m not.  It still makes for a horrifically bad anti-Loki argument, but that isn’t a conversion problem is you’ve met it with a real sense of purpose and agency.

**Yes, that was on purpose.

Othala is Othala

So on-line Heathens and Asatruars have recently found themselves defending Othala as a symbol of hate groups.  Let’s make something clear…I am not going to talk about the Othala controversy.

Because there is none.  It’s made up.  Oh sure, Facebook banned some account for a few hours based on the fact that their administration is run by gerbils, but their actions didn’t create a controversy.  Or, rather, they created one that no one seems to be focusing on.  The contravesy is not whether the Futhark rune of Othala is or is not a racist symbol.  No one is seriously or credibly suggesting that it is.  Not the racists.  Not the folkish.  Not the Rokkatru.  Not, for the record, the butchers, the bakers, or the candlestick makers.  No one is saying this.

Except Facebook.  A complaint was issued (for some reason), and Facebook decided it was a problem because such was the will of their Cephaloid masters.  That decision has a life expectancy of roughly seven seconds in terms of precedent, and you rest assured it was made without research or fact checking.  People are acting like Othala is on trial when no one is honestly blaming it for a damn thing.  On the other side of the coin, few seem to be focusing their attention to the fact that the book that Zuckerberg built has no idea what it is doing and is essentially taking care of things completely at random.

Serriously; no one credible is actually saying that it’s a hate symbol, and this represents the one issue that racists and non-racists have agreed upon in years.  We’re taking away from the actual problem, which is that Facebook has no consistent standards on what it deems as acceptable content.  I’ve seen groups that advocate murder based on a person’s religion get a pass, while statements mocking racists are considered bigoted and is willing to ban religious symbols at the drop of a hat.  No oversight.  No accountability.  They will just do it, and we let them.

If you’re angry, stop posting pictures on the very service that is causing the problem; all you are doing is giving them web traffic, which turns into advertising dollars.  If you actually want to do something meaningful, than create a Google Plus account, move all your pictures there, and delete your Facebook after sending in a ticket on the issue.  I am dead serious.  Facebook won’t change anything until there is a finial incentive to do so.

Facebook makes money on you; that’s why it’s free.  It makes money on you via advertising, research based on your demographics, and by having continual access to your every waking thought.  It doesn’t create consistent standards on acceptable content because it doesn’t have to; no one is pushing the issue.  When it messes up, we end up blaming each other and giving it free advertising bucks in the process.  So if you have an issue with the Othala issue?  Don’t blame Heathens Against Hate, the American Asatru Association, Women of Asatru, the Racists, or any other group of people of Facebook.  Don’t blame this side or that, and don’t bring up talking point.

Blame Facebook.  Hold them responsible.  They created this problem, and it’s high time they answered for it.

Uncomfortable Truths: The Sacred Vice Delusion

Ah Google Image Search...again we dance this dance...

Ah…Google Image Search…again we dance this dance…

There are always a lot of discussions being had about divine patrons.  People ask a lot about how to find theirs, how to determine if you’re just imagining things, how to approach a deity you suspect might be expressing interest in you, what sort of offerings to make, and so forth.

What I find funny is that most people who do have a patron of some sort and have had time to sort this sort of thing out aren’t any more in the know than the people asking the questions; they’re just more used to being confused and trying to figure things out.

Absent for the list of conversational topics, however, is about how someone with a patron should act.  This is unfortunate, as there seems to be a rather large percentage of Heathens, Asatruar, Vanatruar, Rokkatruar who believe acting like an asshole is not just acceptable, but an unalienable privileged that no one has the right to question.  That, of course, is a load of bollocks so I’m somewhat surprised not many people don’t address this more often.

So let’s start up the dialogue!  First point of business: expresseing unchecked character flaws is not a form of piety.

This sounds pretty basic, but we’ve all seen example of this mentality in action.  For example, I’ve seen Thorsmen say that having their patron means they get to act like idiots, bullies, and brutes.*  We’ve all seen the Lokifolk who use their patron as an excuse to have absolutely no sense nor concept of proper etiquette except when they feel like.**  I’ve found a fair share of those who sites following Tyr as a reason to be an unforgiving blight on their communities, and I cannot be alone in this.  The trends become easy to spot after a while;  I haven’t personally encountered one, but I’m fairly certain that there are Odinspeople who act as if infidelity isn’t just forgivable but a divine mandate.

No.  No.  No.  You don’t just insult the community with that nonsense, you insult our Gods as well.  Grow up, and accept responsibility for your own person.

Not that I don’t understand the thought process.  You follow your patron.  You may meditate upon him or her.  Perhaps you partake of psychotropic drugs while doing nothing but considering them.  You may even be someone who has the capacity to act as a horse for a divine presence and you have brought them into your own person.***   As such, it may be easy to mistake your own personal failings as the thumbprint of your Gods and, wow, wouldn’t that be such a relief!  To be able to find divinity in the lowest, most loathsome parts of yourself and to find that they have a more meaningful purpose than you might have otherwise suspected.

The thing is, you don’t need to be an entitled prick with delusions of grandeur in order to find beauty in such things; the beauty is already there.  Overcome those failings, and there is even more beauty to be found.  You don’t need to use your religion and piety as a scapegoat; just be a better person.  It’s that simple.

No matter what you may want to believe, your bad behaviors belong to you and no one else.  No amount of divine patronage will magically transform vices into virtues unless that vice is actually conquered.  The Gods are creatures exclusively defined by their vices and, in many myths, those poor actions made a whole lot of sense in context to the moment.   Even if we disregard that most of the myths showed the Gods doing specific things for very specific reasons, thus making the context totally different and incomparable to 95% of the circumstances you are likely to ever face in your life?  We still are left with a belief system that turns so many of our Gods into bizarre caricatures that belong in a bad cartoon, rather than upon an altar.

Need an example?  Go read the myths that have Thor in them; he wasn’t stupid.  He was brash and impatient, but Thor was canny and clever as well.  He never went alone if he knew he needed backup, he knew to check his anger and rage when he was unquestionably unmatched, and he displayed an extremely keen sense of when was the best time to charge in and knock in some heads.  Loki did things other than sling insults, Tyr is just as much about personal sacrifice as he is justice, and there is much more to Odin than “I am in your base, sleeping with your womens.”  To be plain about it, if you’ve reduced any of the Gods to a few token aspects, you should probably go back and examine your religious and devotional practices.

So just as soon as you have your hand bitten off by a wolf to save a large number of your friends and family?  THAN you can walk around acting like a huge, entitled jerk.  Not before.

So…just as soon as you have your hand bitten off by a wolf to save a large number of your friends and family? Then you can walk around acting like a huge, entitled jerk. Not before.

If you worship the Gods, and you find a spark within your soul that leads you to follow one more so than the rest?  Treasure it.  It is beautiful, sacred, and meaningful.  It can and will change your life.

Until you loose your hand, your lips, or an eye in the process of following that path, however?  You have no business treating your poor social habits as divine mandate.  You are no better, nor any worse, than anyone else…and it’s not our job to put up with your bullshit because you have an ardent need to feel petty and special.

To put it another way, having a patron isn’t about you; it’s about them.

*Not that they say it in this exact manner but, let’s be honest, that is what they’re saying.

*I give the anti-Lokean crowd a decent amount of flak…but hey!  If any of you are reading this, know that we have this much in common: Lokeans who act like having Loki as a patron is an excuse to act like a boorish jerk-off whenever they feel like it are just as irritating to us as they are to you.  Let the healing commence.

**Than again, if you have that sort of capacity?  I probably don’t have to tell you that piety isn’t a permission slip for behaving like a tool.


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[UPDATE: Found Owner!] Who Can Resist Those Eyes? She Was Found on the Dyerville Loop

This beautiful chocolate lab was found on Dyerville Loop Road in Southern Humboldt near Barnum Road yesterday.

“She’s a very sweet girl,” said the finder. “We would like to get her home.”

If you have any information, please contact (831) 706-6012.

UPDATE: The owner saw this post on Facebook and called the finder. Arrangements are being made to get her home now!

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Welcome to KYPO!

We specialise in exclusive European jersey knit fabrics, they are made from 95% organic cotton with 5% spandex for stretch.

Most of our fabric is 150cm wide, and is purchased by the half-metre

More products will be added to this store, please check out our great range.

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table quiz

Aww yeah we’re doing a queer table quiz!

pubquiz-2How queer can we make good Friday in preparation for lady & trans* fest?

To accomplish this mission, we suggest the following:

1. Teams of max. 5 people.
2. Suggested Donation of 5 Euros per person
3. A tipple of your choice, that you may bring yourself.

Giggles will be induced by the great comedian Niamh at half time.

Fantastic prizes for exceptional contenders. (Yes, prizes will be given for creativity, style and probably glitter).

Please rock up promptly at 7.30pm to Jaja Studios, which is at 1b Cowper Street in Stoneybatter.

ALSO FEATURING Face2Face with Marriage Equality who will be taking pictures of folks who want to have their picture taken, who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum or as a straight ally and are over 18. These two wonderful people are running a photography project to ‘give a face to the marriage equality referendum and show the faces this will affect’. Check out & like their facebook page:

Get ready, get excited.

♥ ♥ ♥


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Finally some Christmas-cookies

Christmas is coming – every year it’s getting a little faster. But yes, I’ve made it! I’ve started the cookie-season!

There is one dough I like for evening-baking: Mürbteig, this cookie-dough with lots of butter. You prepare the dough, put it in the fridge and when you find time during the next days, you can bake some cookies. Great for stressed-out-weekend-travelling people who want to make some cookies.

One of my more or less standard cookies are Husarenkrapferln. I think they have got many names (I’ve also read about “Liebesgrübchen”), I don’t know them from my family-tradition, so I won’t take part in discussions about the right name for these cookies. I know them from the baking-book “Backvergnügen wie noch nie” by A. Wolter und C. Teubner.

Easy to make, very yummy – everything you need for good Xmas-cookies!

I increased the amounts of the ingredients except the eggs. I’m kind of an egg-saver-person.

For 2 baking sheets you need:

250 g flour
125 g ground hazelnuts
125 g sugar
250 g butter
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp cinnamom

1 small glass of red jam or jelly (raspberry or redcurrant) of the stock of Mama’s jam-manufactury – or just from the supermarket… ;-)

Cut the butter into cubes. Knead together with sugar and egg yolks. Add flour, hazelnuts and cinnamom, add a dash of salt. Knead quickly until you obtain a dough, but don’t knead longer. Stop as soon as you can form a ball.

Put it into the fridge and let it rest for at least 1 hour up to some days.

Then get the dough out of the fridge, knead it a little bit to soften it and form little balls. Put them on a baking sheet. Using the end of a spoon-handle of a wooden spoon, cave in little holes – about 1/2 the depths of the ball.

Preheat the oven (about 175°C).

Stir the jelly a little bit, then fill it into a small plastic bag. Cut one edge to obtain a little hole and fill the jam into the cookies.

Bake them for about 20 minutes.

Let them cool down and dust with icing sugar.

4 Responses to “Finally some Christmas-cookies”

  1. Ach, wie niedlich! Die schaffe ich hoffentlich noch nachzubacken :-) Plätzchen plus Marmelade sind ein Match-Made-in-Heaven!

  2. Solche mache ich gern gefüllt mit Lemon oder Cranberry Curd. Immer wieder toll.

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New on DVD

Shame Earns its Name

INSPIRED – It’s a tough film to watch. It earned an NC-17 rating for good reason. It tackles a subject matter many find somewhat redundant – sexual addiction – and it is the most honest film about the depravity of man’s darkest self-indulgence and masochistic behavior since Last Tango In Paris. Shame stars Michael Fassbender as ‘Brandon,’ a nebulous … Continue reading


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The MicroPython Lego Bot

In the quest for getting my kids interested in coding, I’ve decided to make them a message controlled bot car with Lego bricks and an ESP8266 board. The idea is to have an environment where we can jointly program a sequence of actions that can be sent via WiFi to the bot for execution. With this setup […]

Read More The MicroPython Lego Bot


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Laura McAdams is a 2013-2014 Boren Fellowship Awardee to Amman, Jordan. During this time, she will be interning at the UNESCO Amman office, furthering her studies of Modern Standard Arabic, and learning the Jordanian Colloquial Arabic dialect. Laura is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, anticipating graduation in May 2014 with an M.S.Ed. in International Educational Development.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Laura attended the University of Washington in Seattle and graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.A. in Spanish. It was during a year of studying abroad in Cadiz, Spain that she first visited Morocco and became interested in learning the Arabic language. Laura attended the Arabic Language School through Middlebury College summers 2009 and 2010 before leaving for Morocco in September 2010 with a Fulbright Student Research grant.

With the Fulbright research grant, the main focus of Laura’s work was to explore Morocco’s changing educational policies on technology, compare those policies with the actual use of technology in classrooms and explain the disconnect between them.

During the summer of 2012, Laura returned to Morocco as the first fellow with The Advocacy Project to Ain Leuh. There, she worked with an indigenous women’s weaving cooperative in small business development and assessed areas of opportunity where future volunteers with the Advocacy Project can contribute to the continued growth of the cooperative.  She helped the artisans of the cooperative tell their story and promote their business, not only through this blog and social media tools, but also through the creation of an Advocacy Quilt, now on display at Kean University in New Jersey.

This blog is a collection of writings and photographs from these experiences.

Contact Laura via email at l.m.mcadams (at) gmail (dot) com.


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Jonah had nothing to do with the making of the gourd. He enjoyed it’s benefits for only a day, but became very attached to it. When it died Jonah lost the will to live.
Because God created us, because He gave us his Son, because He has invested in us He wants to see us do well. God has a bond with us from the very beginning of our existence. This love is the reason He continues to love us, to call us, to offer us mercy, grace and forgiveness even after we have failed him and ignored him.
If Jonah felt so much for a gourd that he invested nothing in, how much more does God feel for us, the people he has given so much for?
Scripture taken from: Jonah 4:4-11


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Expired Giveaway: Bar Tartine

Bar Tartine Cookbook
This giveaway has expired. Care to take a look at some others?

Fill in the giveaway information, and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes by Nicolaus Balla and Cortney Burns (Chronicle Books, 2014). (ARV $40)

Note: You can enter this giveaway one (1) time per e-mail address per day. Deadline is 11:59PM ET 6.25.15.

Imagine enjoying an entire meal built from components that you have made yourself at home. You will be able to craft your own flavored oils and vinegars for making pickles, cheese, and stocks and then transform them into outstanding dishes that range from soups to salads to shared plates and sweets. Warm up with a Fisherman’s Stew with Green Chile and Collards, enjoy a Sweet Potato Salad with Avocado, Feta and Pickled Green Walnuts, or try a Farmer’s Chop Suey. Consider the bar raised. Start making delicious additions to your meals with this recipe for Pickled Jalapeno Peppers.

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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Void where prohibited by law. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S., D.C. and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are at least eighteen years old at the time of entry and have internet access. Begins on 6.4.15 at 12:01 a.m. ET and ends on 6.25.15 at 11:59 p.m. ET. To enter this giveaway, submit your full name and email address on this form. Odds of winning this giveaway depend on the total number of eligible entries received. Only one (1) entry per email address per day. Sponsored by Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. For more information, visit our Official Rules. Be sure to add giveaways@leitesculinaria.com to ensure notification if you are the winner.


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Browsing category West Ham

Joe Hart chooses West Ham

  Joe Hart, the 30-year-old goalkeeper, was loaned by Manchester City to West Ham United after a year in which he defended Torino’s goal. With this, West Ham fans have gone crazy about to buy tickets online to Premier League matches and watching Hart in the Hammers’ shirt. Joe Hart returns to Premier League After

West Ham United reinforced with Chicharito

  The English team, West Ham United, confirmed the signing of Mexican player Javier Hernandez, better known as Chicharito, after reaching an agreement with German Bayer Leverkusen for their transfer for the next three seasons. That’s how the Hammers fans can’t wait to buy tickets online for the next game and watch the top scorer

Last results Tottenham vs West Ham

  Buy tickets online for every game of Tottenham was the joy of thousands of fans as the Spurs club ended the season as sub champion of the Premier League. November Party at White Hart Lane At the beginning of the 2016-17 season, these two clubs played in the Premier League on 19 November at

West Ham Tickets for Sale

West ham is one of the old England football clubs that is known for its wonderful and all-time victory. Although its fans are relatively low compared to other top matches like Chelsea and Arsenal, Its home games are always filled with a lot of people especially when they are playing against the big four. Knowing


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Anatomy of Hell ★★

52 films by women

I nearly had a panic attack watching this (I'm not exaggerating - I hand to god started to hyperventilate). That's not a review but I wanted to memorialise that.

I don't mind uncomfortable films. I don't mind unsubtle films (and this is about as subtle as a sledgehammer). I don't mind films that are shocking for the sake of being so sometimes (which this certainly is). But I at least want to be engaged in some way and I just wasn't - not intellectually anyway. Because the points made are just too obvious that it all becomes cartoonish and difficult to take seriously. I reacted viscerally perhaps because of my physical reaction (after which I was mostly bored and, yes, disgusted which I was meant to be - though maybe for a slightly different reason than intended that I'd rather not discuss on letterboxd as it's too personal).

There's a lot of thoughts to untangle but one thing playing on my mind is it comes off as kinda homophobic to me? Maybe I'm misreading but, while obviously gay men can be sexist/misogynystic, this seems to suggest they are, by default, more sexist than straight men. (And that there is some uncomfortable or traumatic event that has made them gay - at least, it seems to suggest this for The Man when he remembers the baby bird incident, linking it to his repulsion of vulvas/vaginas and that this is why he's gay? I mean, that's really how that all read to me.)

Also, this is my first Breillat film. I knew they were intense but I think I may have been ever so slightly unprepared.


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Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | March 1, 2016

Mitzvah Fair Fun

It’s hard to believe that after going to so many mitzvah fairs for my daughter, I waited until 4 months before my son’s to hit the circuit. Granted, we already have almost all the details nailed down for his, so I don’t need a new photographer, venue, photo booth, watermelon carved head or centerpieces. In fact, I’m reusing centerpieces from my daughter’s luncheon for my son. I hope no one notices. At least the tablecloths will be a different color.

Read More…

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | January 24, 2016

Blizzard 2016

The storm is over. It’s a beautiful, sunny day now, unlike yesterday’s windy snowy day. We couldn’t even get good views of what was happening outside, as the snow stuck to the windows. We figure we got at least two feet of snow, though maybe it was more.

The view from inside the house.

The big news in town was that our local Trader Joe’s roof partially collapsed, with its walls buckling. See the video here. That’s sad for a number of reasons, like the loss of business for them and employee jobs. Personally it’s sad for me because I shop there weekly and there are quite a few items I only buy there. Just checked the site – there’s another one maybe 20-25 minutes away, so I may have to check it out until this one gets rebuilt. I know, first world problems.

The wind was blowing! Our garage was only open so Mark could put the garbage and recycling in. We did some major purging during the storm.

I took the quiet day at home as an opportunity to clean up the attic and basement a little. Even though they don’t look much different, we got rid of a bunch of bags of things, mostly the kids’ stuff they stored in the attic and some craft items in the basement that were partly used and no longer needed.

As a bonus of doing this, Dori found a winter hat she lost and Zack found some Pokemon cards. And I found my winter boots.

Mark went outside to shovel twice. This was before the first shoveling, because you can still see the planter. The screen door obviously wasn’t shut fully because we got snow inside the door and on the screen handle. Later we had to exit through the back because it was impossible to push this door open.

Read More…

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | November 19, 2015

Kaplan Family Bat Mitzvah Spotlight

For those who following this blog and our Bat Mitzvah journey, you may remember that I often referenced They do Bar/Bat Mitzvah profiles. I have no desire to be featured there, but I did want to do a similar profile here. If you haven’t read theirs, you might want to do so before reading this, otherwise this post will make very little sense.

Some examples:

Jessica’s Shoe Gallery Bat Mitzvah

Brooke’s Bat Mitzvah

The Candy Bat Mitzvah

Okay, so now that you’re primed!

The Kaplan family of New Jersey celebrated Dori’s Bat Mitzvah.

The Theme

Dori decided not to have a theme (other than “I’m reading from the Torah and becoming a member of the Jewish community”). When pressed at mitzah fairs, though, she contemplated telling people she chose a “cow” theme.

Read More…

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | November 3, 2015

Deer: a Love Story

Something unique happened today. Two deer spent several hours in our yard. We’ve seen deer in our suburban town before, but not at our house and rarely on our street (I can think of two or three occasions in six years when I’ve heard of deer on the street). So this morning after a late shower (late meaning 8:15 a.m.) I came downstairs to make breakfast and I got quite startled in the kitchen. There was a male deer outside the window. He was looking at me. I was looking at him. And then I was rummaging through my purse to get my little camera and my phone.

I looked around and saw his companion on the back lawn. Read More…

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | October 26, 2015

Zack on Good Morning America

Zack got his second shot at fame on Good Morning America today. I wrote a long post about the experience over at Jersey Kids, so please head over there for my story, lots of photos and video links.

Zack and 19 other kids on Good Morning America with Jeff Kinney.

Zack and 19 other kids on Good Morning America with Jeff Kinney.

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | September 8, 2015

First day of school – 2015

Well, it’s back to school again – even though it seems so late and there are leaves on the ground. The kids are at different schools at least for the next two years.

We had a little snafu this morning. High school starts ridiculously early. Dori managed to get up on time to leave for school. She went to her friend’s house to pick up her friend, only to find out that school started 45 minutes later today. Huh? Nothing on the school home page. Nothing in recent emails from the school (update: a friend mentioned a recent PTO email. Just went to look and bam, they did list the opening/closing time for school today. My bad! Granted they didn’t note that this was a change in the original schedule, which is probably why I missed it). Nothing from the freshman orientation. One mention in the back to school letter sent mid-August. Yes, I should have seen that. But would it hurt to make mention of it other times as well? Especially for the freshman? Because the other local schools (elementary/middle) don’t start late on the first day. Oh well. At least she wasn’t late.

And Zack was off to middle school. And he was on time too – a good start to the year. May it last.

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | August 19, 2015

The Last Letter

I figured camp letters were over for the season, but today, less than 24 hours before the kids arrive home, we got one last letter from Dori. Here are highlights:

“Last Saturday evening during Havdala (end of Shabbat), they always have a slideshow of pictures that they took of people during the week and it’s really cool. They have categories like “in the pool,” “photo bomb” or “group photos.” I FINALLY got into the slideshow! But guess what category I got in? Awkward photos!”

(This is the photo that she described)

dori snake2

Not so awkward

I think she got off easy. They could have posted this one: Read More…

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | August 18, 2015

Camp Mom and Dad

Every day, mothers like me check the camp website multiple times looking for newly uploaded camp photos. Dads don’t realize the website exists – they think the camp photos we show them just magically appeared. While looking at the website, squinting because perhaps we need reading glasses but don’t get them (or perhaps because the photos are so damn small), the photos are scrutinized. Mothers question how happy their child looks. We wonder how other children get the inappropriate clothing they’re wearing and we wonder why their mothers let them take those tight,low-cut crop tops to camp. And even worse, we worry that our children have been carried off by a bear with no staff noticing, if the children haven’t appeared in a photo that day (or for several days). Panic sets in.

Where's Waldo?

Where’s Waldo?

Of course I’m not this mother. Read More…

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | August 17, 2015

Camp: the time when Dori draws a phallic dog

Dori sent two huge letters a day apart, so I will be highlighting portions of each.

“Today my friend’s stomach hurt so my other friend gave her Tums. She’s not supposed to have them though (note from Debbie – no OTC meds in the bunk), and had it hidden in an empty candy box. You’re not supposed to have candy either. That’s like hiding a stash of pot in a bag of cocaine.”

“Tonight we had the Masada Golan (note from Debbie: 9th grade boys/girls divisions) lip sync which was pretty fun. The Masada Golan combined name is “Masgo” which is so STUPID. That sounds like a gas station that you see on the highway in the middle of the night. Like 2 letters are falling off the sign and some creepy hobo is sleeping there.” Read More…

Posted by: Debbie Abrams Kaplan | August 13, 2015

Email from Zack

The boy wrote again! We knew it was him because the subject line was “Hi from your favorite child.” Wait, didn’t Dori just say something like that? Oh right, we knew it was him because Dori emailed two days ago. We’re glad to see Zack’s alive and sharing information with us. Here’s the email:

“Dear moom and daad
i expect quesadillas when i get home. im actually not l0ookig at the monitor right now because i turned it around after other kids started looking at it.ill tell you everytything that happens when i gtey homme becauis vamp 9s amlosyt over . bye.”

Okay got it. Quesadillas and brownies. And his typing by feel is improving! The food items will be waiting. Along with the nail polish remover Dori requested that I send to camp, but I’m not doing that because she’ll get to use it all of two days by the time it arrives.

More soon – we got a long, event-filled letter from Dori yesterday.

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »


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IS fighters seize weapons cache meant for Kurds

October 21, 2014

BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State group fighters seized at least one cache of weapons airdropped by U.S.-led coalition forces that were meant to supply Kurdish militiamen battling the extremist group in a border town, activists said Tuesday.

The cache of weapons included hand grenades, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, according to a video uploaded by a media group loyal to the Islamic State group. The video appeared authentic and corresponded to The Associated Press’ reporting of the event. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which bases its information on a network of activists on the ground, said the militants had seized at least one cache.

The caches were airdropped early on Monday to Kurds in the embattled Syrian town of Kobani that lies near the Turkish border. The militant group has been trying to seize the town for over a month now, causing the exodus of some 200,000 people from the area into Turkey. While Kurds are battling on the ground, a U.S.-led coalition is also targeting the militants from the air.

On Tuesday, IS loyalists on social media posted sarcastic thank you notes to the United States, including one image that said “Team USA.” But the lost weapons drop was more an embarrassment than a great strategic loss. The Islamic State militants already possess millions of dollars-worth of U.S. weaponry that they captured from fleeing Iraqi soldiers when the group seized swaths of Iraq in a sudden sweep in June.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said the U.S. had seen the video but couldn’t confirm its accuracy and was seeking more information. On Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command said U.S. military forces conducted four airstrikes near Kobani that destroyed IS fighting positions, an IS building and a large IS unit.

Also Tuesday, Syrian government airstrikes hit a rebel-held town along the country’s southern border with Jordan, killing at least eight people. Activists with the Local Coordination Committees and the Observatory said the number of those killed was likely to rise as there are more victims under the rubble.

The LCC said Syrian government planes dropped crude explosives-laden canisters on the town of Nasib on the Syria-Jordan border. The airstrikes are part of battles between Syrian government forces and Islamic rebel groups for control of the area.

Syrian government forces have been heavily bombing rebel areas in recent weeks, while the U.S-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State militants elsewhere in Syria.

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> Flagship Brands > Joules > Joules Dresses

Joules Riviera Print Jersey Dress

You love Joules' best-selling Harbour top so much they have made a dress version of it featuring a border print detail.

Benefit from the same great returns policy you get from Joules while earning points in our generous rewards programme.

You may return your Joules clothing purchase for exchange within 28 days free of charge. You may also return your item for a full no-quibbles refund within 28 days.

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Homeschool · Household · Kitchen · Menu Plan

Wednesday?!? Already??

This week is flying by! We have been busy with school – researching and building model homes from different countries, learning new math games, working A LOT on penmanship. Then I tried to fit in a bunch if other things – groceries for two weeks of meals (never tried that), new park to play at, multiple library trips.

I will have up my menu plan today. We will see how the two week planning goes. Our weekly plans can change suddenly around here, but I am hoping two week planning helps with my shopping while I have all the kids. It is becoming very chaotic, and fewer trips will hopefully help that.

My baking plan isn’t very together. I just finished cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

I do plan to make more granola bars, trail mix, and brownies or cookies at some point. 🙂

Now, time to go eat! That crazy alien-looking cinnamon roll in the left pan is calling me!! 🙂

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