The Reception

No garters thrown, one random nosegay toss and a cake with a Steampunk flare made this reception a unique and memorable one.

Held in the upstairs dining area of The Waterfront Tavern along the choppy wind blown waters of Lewistown's Juniata River, guests arrived at 1PM. Light appetizers were the menu with the thought that the day after Thanksgiving might be best suited to nibbling rather than a sit down meal served in a static fashion.

I owe my dear sis'er, Tracdc, and her hubzband, Satan, a huge debt of gratitude for putting some final beautiful touches on the day. Tracdc did all of the amazing silk floral decorations, including the ones on the two tiered dark chocolate fondant cake. Satan took photos of every moment and captured the day in images. Thanks to them I can know look back and see moments of the day I missed.

The upper floor of The Waterfront Tavern was just the right size for our party. They said it was suitable for 45 but the 30 folks that came made it just right. I think 45 would have been too many. We broke apart the banquet type seating into groups of tables. This made it much more inviting to move around some.

It was great to see everyone come and share their love with the newly weds. There were people we hadn't seen in years and we all got along fine. The couple of hours of visiting and nibbling with a cd of a piano jazz trio led up to the toast and cake cutting. We then switched to a digitally remastered cd of an old family favorite winter holiday album of music.

The cake was made by Nicole who works out of the Original Italian Pizza in downtown Lewistown. The chocolate fondant hid layers of vanilla cake and butter cream frosting that were flavored and textured just right. Not too sweet nor too rich, one big slice of this cake went down very nicely even the day after Thanksgiving.

The couple did NOT smash cake into each others' faces, it had been agreed in advance. It did keep the groom from wiping a delicate little smudge of frosting onto his wife's nose. The effect was absolutely charming. I didn't get to see the cake sharing but these photos from Satan and Toolman Luke let me enjoy what I missed from across the room.

Important people that made this event possible include Maga11 and Toolman Luke. The provided emotional, physical and financial support. Their last duties included picking up the cake and driving the newly weds to the reception. This allowed me to focus on setting up and final coordinating with the folks at the Waterfront. Thank you for being more than just happy grandparents on the exciting day.

A shout out of love goes to my hubby RGBisMe for petting my back and listening to me every time I irrationally started to worry about things that were out of my control during the weeks leading up to the big date(s). Standing by my side, we were able to create a perfect little party to the two most important people in our lives.

Ravenboy & Asrai were great sports, graciously social and glowing with real happiness all week during our time with them. I miss them both very much and wish them some peace now that the big day is over. I can't wait until we see them over the winter holidays.

Found Ampersands

RGBisMe and I are hosting a new blog called Found Ampersands. It will highlight ampersands we find on our travels. We will share photos, list where they were found and do our best to identify what font they are.

Found Ampersands is for entertainment purposes only. This also goes for our other blogs. We wouldn't want to misrepresent our blogs as educational resources so don't be surfing them from your workplace if it's taboo.

Morning in the City

Some photos from Monday morning as we wandered around New York City.The new Apple Store Upper West Side is a temple...

...at which RGBisMe worships.

A break in Central Park.

Strawberry Fields.

Imagine.

Flash Mob Wedding!

November 22, 2009 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We are to meet in Astor Court at 11:11 AM and the ceromy should be completed at 11:22 AM.

Groom and Bride bought the group rate and handed out passes before we casually made our way to Astor Court.

We trickle into Astor Court from different angles.

The ceremony begins.

Note the guard in the back. He was more concerned that no flash photography was being used. We were all very careful to keep our flashes off.

Vows and rings quietly and reverently exchanged.

A quick but emotional kiss.

We retired to another room for the witnesses to sign the papers and for some group photos.

A successful flash mob wedding! Congratulations Arron & Amy!!

More Faerie Doors

I have made some more faerie doors. I will post the photos when I can because many have been made as gifts and I don't want to spoil the surprise.



This one has not only a marble arch but sand stone bricks and mortar. The keystone even has a possum imprint on it. It is a bit much but looks good from a distance. The metal represented is a copper, much more faerie friendly than iron. I know it's all clay but I wanted to try a different metal look. The flowers are more of a glittery myrtle that is on a climbing vine and the centers glow in the dark.


Two with wrought iron and red bricks. The one one the left was my first attempt at mortar and the one on the right was my first super mini.

This one has granite and no flowers, just vines.

A Wedding at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

What a cool idea!! ;) Check it out here. Now if I could just "Jib Jab" our family's faces onto theirs, I could share what it might be like on Sunday!

Gender Bias

When I experience perceived gender bias in conversations my first reaction is that I must have misunderstood the intent of the speaker. I do try to get clarification if I can. When I hold a speaker accountable for the gender bias, the most frequent response I have gotten has been, "Oh, I'm just kidding." I have also been ignored after standing firm on the issue of fair treatment by pointing out the bias. Forgive me if I do not have limitless time and energy to waste on people whose brick wall and righteous attitudes are that women are to be inherently mistrusted and put down.

I found a great set of exercises for those of us who think we are pretty well boned up on the issue. Although gender bias is a serious topic with professionally damaging consequences, WorkLife Law’s gender bias training website offers a zany, brainy approach that allows you to learn what you need to know, share your experiences, and have fun in the process.

Giving Thanks

“When we are grateful for the good we already have, we attract more good into our life. On the other hand, when we are ungrateful, we tend to shut ourselves off from the good we might otherwise experience.” - Margaret Stortz

Ravenboy in China

At the Great Wall.
Second to last row, five in from the right (standing above Kevin McKenzie).

Early November Vignettes

This will be mostly photos since I don't have a lot of time to spare and it hurts my back to sit at the computer for too long.

I just love living where a hot air balloon will just skim by my roof and off into the field. This morning a crow sat on a craggy old branch of a dead tree in our yard and called, "Hello, hello" to me until I went out and took it some peanuts. No, really, it said "hello." It is who we call the Hello Crow, someone must have taught it to speak and it has been around for years. Fortunate happenings like that are plentiful here.

Just a couple of hours drive can take us into some of the most beautiful and remote parts of the state. Leave your cell phones behind but get ready to enjoy the opportunity to see so many starts in the night sky that you have a hard time picking out the main constellations.

I don't live in the city thus have not taken on the useless habit of venting at the traffic that gets in our way as RGBisMe drives. He is pretty zen about it too come to think of it. This attitude helps when we have to travel in and out of New York City to visit Asrai and Ravenboy. We leave a little extra time and thermostats stay cool in the car and in our personal core. Why fret? We will get there.

On the topic of dearest Asrai and Ravenboy I feel I may share the news of their upcoming wedding. Many will be shocked and feel the event in a couple of weeks has been a quick decision. I can assure everyone that their friendship that started many years ago when they met in Chicago and has blossomed into the most beautiful partnership. Well over a year ago, they started planning their wedding. They are very private individuals and have only shared the information with just their closest friends and family recently. Our next trip into NYC will be for that joyous occasion and we will return with them for a local reception for family that was unable to make the trip.

As we have been personally planning the local festivities it has been a very exciting and busy time. RGBisMe and I have happily been putting our heads together over supper in the evenings putting our special touches on anything we can help with and trying not to overstep our bounds. The wedding announcements were just sent out, the caterer is set with the menu, the baker has the cake specifications and the venue is booked.

A lot of the hustle and bustle of planning finally let up a bit after beginning of the month. I foresaw the upcoming little window of rest so earlier in October we accepted a generous invitation to camp with Jbzfarm! This past weekend was the date and we had such a good time catching up with them.

No iPod was needed to listen to, we sang tv show tunes. No computer was needed to surf the Internet, we filled our evening with lively chatter. No stars on tv to gawk at and poke fun at, we enjoyed star gazing in the Perry County skies. Not a chance of boredom, we enjoyed multiple board games, traded stamp carving secrets and sipped secret stuff from Sevoflorane bottles. All of that was our DOWN TIME at night!

Days were filled with local trails and tales. We walked to a pond which it is rumored will be dredged for a 15 year old cold case that is being reopened. A woman had disappeared nearby. We hiked to check on a couple of lonely letterboxes. The long standing Old Growth boxes were in fine shape and the hitch hikers that had been long waiting with their thumbs outstretched were finally moved on. We visited the ghost town of Pandemonium and another cemetery of local forestry folks.

We didn't even make a dent in all the trails that this area of Perry County has to offer. Most tempting were the remote camp sites outside of Fowlers Hollow SP that were near overlooks. The star gazing would be premium and no one around for miles to walk through the area.

We really must return. I know I slowed everyone down because I had hurt my back just hours before leaving. I feel badly for being the bent old lady and want to go back to hike every stretch of trail with freedom of movement. Thank you Jbzarm for being gracious and never acting like my snails pace was a bother to you. You were the consummate hosts, giving everything and expecting nothing in return.

Even though we are probably at opposite ends of the political spectrum, it was great to share a weekend with a family that appreciates the lands of central PA. We were all patting the ancient hemlocks and wondering what their fate would be with the woolly adelgid killing so many. Hunters and vegetarians hiking together and enjoying their commonalities rather than picking battles and trying to convince each other that they must be mistaken. Friendships fostered from nurtured common ground are very satisfying.

Final Day!

Lets cheer Toolman Luke for enduring the hours of trips to Danville and back. Today is his last regular trip and my LiveStrong band made it all the way through yesterday, it broke while I was on the phone with Maga.

I hope he will do something special, stop at Preistley House and take in some Oxygen. Preistley "invented" it you know. Maybe something else since his biography was less than thrilling. Anyway Congratulations Dad and I hope you grab a good bunk at GeeserFest!

Victory!

Thanks to Janila, RGBisMe and I were able to find our 1,000th letterbox.

I was really exhausted when I posted this blog entry. I want to come back to add that Janila was such a gracious hostess. When it was rainy, she was up to having breakfast first. As the skies cleared, she took us to a few excellent grab-n-go boxes of which she had printed the clues out for us. She was flexible about letting us choose which boxes to go for in Nolde Forest and when we wanted to give up on a trail or lead, she didn't complain and shared stories of her enjoyable times in the same park. She gave so much of herself and then she planted a surprise for us as we were seeking our 999th box. Just as RGBisMe found it, she told me of a set of WOM clues. I followed them and there was our 1,000th box along with a bubbly treat!

We did go on to find a few more boxes, one had been giving her a few problems. That 1,0001st box was just as sweet because we could all share the victory. We laughed and chatted all day. As the skies finally cleared to a patchy blue, the temperature had dropped. I started to get tired from the hiking and excitement and I was the one to say I was all in.

As she would say, we are on our way to 2,000. What I like is looking back on the various planters who made it possible. We look forward to all of the new experiences that greet us along the way.

She planted a special Celebration letterbox just for our 1,000th find and packed a bottle of bubbly so we could pop the cork on the trail! YUM! Thanks Jan, it was a great day and we are both exhausted.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks Bug!

For the flowers and sitting with me to watch hours of cooking shows and cooking for me and getting me cold meds and watching me fall asleep to PBS's Pride and Prejudice again.

New Moon

New moon doesn't mean a "Twilight" book or movie to my family. It is simply what it is and an upsurgance in occult interest has thrust us into focus a few times because of our celebrating the cycles of the sun and moon. If it has seemed to anyone that I put off real explanations to questions about our spirituality by making jokes I apologize. It is because I am trying to avoid skeptical smirks that I am given when I give honest answers to those who I feel are open minded people. Not always but sometimes the reactions I get tell me that I may eventually be the butt of a joke that I may not be present for. It feels more safe just to keep that part of my life private.

Some interested people have requested that we include them in some of our houshold's neo-pagan rites. I feel awkward at requests like these because what an outsider might notice would seem to be next to nothing. So many of the Esbats and Sabbats become so ingrained an intertwined with our mundane lives that the moments don't seem to hold much of what many would call a ritual. This forces me to have to explain what is going on, point out the shifts in the energies, audibly add back the songs and the poems that I now hear the universe singing with every cycle. It can take the magic out of the moment.

The real ritual is that the moon cycles and the sun cycles again and again. What we do and what happens to us and our surroundings spiral along with it. The colored leaves are the mandala and the sound of their blowing is the song of worship. The new Oktoberfest brew at Otto's is the "wine" and the Doritoes hanging from our apple tree are the "cakes" for Mabon. We recognize the second harvest in the changes on the farmers market vendor's tables (altars) and the way people dress on the trails. Attitudes of hikers and hunters change and the conversations we have are different. Our lives have changed with the seasons again; magic happens.

Not every neo-pagan family regularly celebrates new moon together. It can frequently be a more personal esbat of introspection. New moon occurs in the middle of the day in the bright of the sun when many of us are busy. It's easy to have the moment slip by and not realize it until later.

This moon, Beaver Moon/ Mourning Moon/ Snow Moon /Fog Moon, is traditionally "a time of washing away the baggage of the past and letting it go. Once you've done that, you'll be able to focus on the joys of the future. During the Mourning Moon phase, say goodbye to bad habits and toxic relationships, and get a fresh start for the new year. Work on developing and strengthening your connection with what is sacred."

I look back on yesterday and see what was thrust upon us by the fates. RGBisMe finally had weather that cooperated well enough to chop and move the four large branches that were littering our yard from the early snow storm. The garden fence was spared, the branches damaged nothing. Clearing away debris as new moon approached seems a little literal to some but there it is. A clean yard for Beaver Moon.

What had also happened in the middle of the storm this past week was that the new tenant for apartment 1 inconveniently threw a change in schedule at us; he set back his lease signing by hours. This required me to rearrange a lot of other things that we had going on to accommodate one of us being here for him. This, it turned out, needed to be RGBisMe because I had become ill. It was even more tricky since RGBisMe was needed in about 12 places at once this weekend. I juggled and made calls (on the cell phone, the land line was dead from the storm) and it all worked out.

The new fellow (who seems polite enough) has a huge truck and RGBisMe saved the widening of the parking space until pretty much the last minute since he had to be present for the lease signing. It all came together, the new fellow signed the lease, moved some some stuff in and he was left to explore what was now his place.

It was a sad and odd moment of transference for us. Apartment 1 was no longer Mososo Kruppe's it was this new fellow's. We realized we wouldn't be just walking down to have a few laughs with this guy the way we had for over a year with them. It was a mournful closure to a hustle an bustle couple of weeks trying to get to the apartment occupied.

The new tenant had signed the lease exactly at new Mourning Moon. This was not contrived by us, we didn't manipulate his schedule. It was he who demanded the exact day and he could not come at the time we had chosen. Without incense, chanting, song or knowingly invoking anything, new moon came at a seemingly coincidental moment. Magic happens that way.

Dark of the Moon

Dark of the moon
New beginnings
Dark of the moon
Plant a seed tonight
Dark of the moon
What we envision
Will come to be
By the full moonlight.

Lutheran Guilt...

or being neighborly?
RGBisMe had to deny our new neighbor access to driving on the saturated lawn to move his furniture in. Instead, he is lending a hand with the big stuff. All this after clearing out 4 heavy branches from the yard and digging a 12' ditch to expand the new guy's parking space for his over sized vehicle. I love my big hearted man with muscles.

Old & New

On RGBisMe's keyring are many different kinds of keys. The expensive one for the car that has some type of coding in it, the house key, one for his office at the university, a bunch of laminated ones sporting bar codes so we get discounts at stores and an old skeleton key that doesn't open anything we for us.

I like that he has that old skeleton key there. It's not because it's an antique nor does he show it off as some kind of icon. He is just the kind of guy who likes to appreciate the styles and designs of old and new. He has old fashion manors and can execute bright new ideas with cutting edge technology. It is that balance that makes him a well rounded person.

Snowfall

Snowfall
Softly
Gently drift down

Snowflakes
Whisper
'Neath my window

Covering trees
Misty lights
Velvet breeze
'Round my doorstep

Gently
Softly
Silent
Snowfall

Covering trees
Misty lights
Velvet breezes
'Neath my window

Gently
And softly
Silent
Snowfall

Drift down
Drift down
Drift down
Snowfall
Ruth Thornhill / Claude Thornhill - 1941

Seasonal Pitfalls

Spring brings this area many insect hatches, occasional flooding and the beginnings of poison ivy. Summer here can be hot, dry and plays host to of Arts Festival traffic. Autumn blows in leaves to rake, egocentric student pedestrians and more cars onto the local roads. Winter in State College can bring downed limbs, slick roads and power outages.

Each season has a new laundry list of things to worry about but I absolutely love living in an area that offers a sample of what each season can offer. There is so much good to be had from living in a climate where you can notice and appreciate the turning of the year. With a sore back from already hefting many heavy loads out of my yard this autumn, I find myself grinning at the next thing nature has thrown my way. Bring it — I love it all.

Dissatisfied Excellence

I know RGBisMe will roll his eyes when he sees the title for this blog. The owner of a company he worked for over 25 years ago threw this out to his management team as a kind of state to always strive for; shooting for excellence but never quite being satisfied when you feel you have gotten there.

I am not a perfectionist but "Dissatisfied Excellence" has always intrigued me as a concept. I have toyed with it as an incentive to shoot a little higher or try a little harder the next time out.

This blog is going to fall way short of my goal (incentive to try again later?). When doing research for the topic, I couldn't find too much. I found a lot on people settling for less, being zen about thier short comings, and encouragement for getting over personal failure. It will take me longer than I thought to pull it together as a topic.

Until then I will admit failure, settle for less and just share another interesting piece of writing about general dissatisfaction. It wasn't what you expected with my blog's title but, it's the best I could come up with... for now.

Are You Dissatisfied With Your Life?

By Fiona Shearer-Hann

Life dissatisfaction is something many people experience at some time or other. And for some people, it’s almost a constant in their lives. For whatever reason, many people aren’t satisfied with the status quo any longer, and wonder if there’s more to life than that they’re experiencing.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s dissatisfaction with jobs or careers, relationships, status or whatever, there’s always something you can do. But, making the necessary changes aren’t always easy.

For starters, in order to change your life, you first have to know what it is that you want to change. What aspects of your life make you unhappy, or leave you dissatisfied? This is something you often have to think very deeply about, because it’s sometimes not as clear cut as it appears on the surface. One of the things people have the hardest time coming to terms with is the fact that they have to take responsibility for their own lives, and have to stop blaming others.

When most people hear that, they’re immediately indignant – claiming that they don’t blame others. But how many people really take the responsibility for the state their lives are in. Many will claim that they’re in a dead end job because they couldn’t attend college, or because they’re “dumb”. The fact is – many very successful people never attended college, and many don’t have anything higher than an average IQ. The truth is, you are where you are today because of the choices you’ve made. Read that sentence over again until you can believe it!

What does this mean? It means quite simply that if you’re dissatisfied with an area of life, it’s up to you to change it. If you’re not happy in your job, start looking at other options. Don’t feel you have to stay there! If you need more education, then consider taking a course. Many courses are now available through the mail or online.

If you’re dissatisfied in your relationships, start asking yourself why you developed those relationships in the first place. If you truly believe that an unsatisfying relationship is worth fighting for, and working on, then do it! If not, consider getting out.

What if you’re dissatisfied with other aspects of your life? Many people (in fact, the majority of people) are unhappy with aspects of their appearance (particularly their weight). If that’s the case, the realize that you are ultimately responsible for your weight, and decide to make the changes necessary to improve your weight today. If you need help, there are plenty of online sources of information available to you, and plenty of professionals out there who would be only too happy to put you on the right track!

The fact is – if you’re dissatisfied with your life, then there is something you can do about it, now. Write down what your problems are, and start brainstorming solutions, remembering above all that you are ultimately responsible for yourself and the decisions you make. Once you truly understand that, the process will become much simpler.