Below are the 6 most recent journal entries recorded in mntngal's LiveJournal:

Thursday, November 3rd, 2005
10:17 pm	I haven't been here in a while... ...nice to see everything is just as I left it...insane, insightful, curious, caring, bizarre, silly, and sweet...just the way I like it. :) I have to echo the sentiments about Tom and linda's wedding...beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Thank you for letting me share that special moment! I hope your wedding in that beautiful place will bring you as much joy as Jim and I have found. Meggie - your catering was lovely ... and yummy! You really do have talent, missy. Reverend Rick - you rocked! Your first wedding was a great success. And that ceremony...well, let's just say that I felt very much at home. *grin* I hate that I missed the collaring, but comittments to our offspring had to be kept. Speaking of which - I took the girls to HallowCon, a Fantasy and Gothic Horror convention here in Chattanooga. While I was there, I had an interesting discussion with a friend. She's planning a tattoo and is having a difficult time finding an artist she is comfortable with. She mentioned that she considers this particular tattoo "blood magic" because it has a deep, spiritual signficance for her. That got me to thinking about comments Rick made and Tom's reaction to cutting. Rick mentioned the tremendous energy released and exchanged with the letting of blood. Tom was obviously moved and enthralled with the experience. I haven't heard a lot from the cut-ees, but I did get some interesting comments from Megs. So... is it "blood magic"? Is there a spiritual aspect to cutting in particular, or other forms of bloodsport... a deeper connection with your partner? If so, is it because of the intensity of the physical sensations? The danger? Or is the letting of blood somehow the root of the "magic"? I'm using the term magic here in the sense of something that has spiritual roots and spiritual ramifications, outside of any religious practice? I'd really be interested to hear your thoughts. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, October 14th, 2005
10:39 pm	ENFP - that's me! ENFP - The Champion You scored 72% I to E, 5% N to S, 9% F to T, and 100% J to P! Your type is known as the Champion type, which is part of the larger group called idealists. Nothing occurs that does not have some deep and ethical significance in your eyes. You see life as an exciting drama. You are very charismatic, yet tend to be too harsh on yourself for not being as genuine as you think you should be. 3% of the population shares your type. As a romantic partner, you need to talk about what is going on in your life. You are a strong supporter for your partner's efforts to grow and change and be happy. You need to feel that same support from your partner. Expressive, optimistic, and curious, you are eager to enjoy new experiences with your partner, whom you wish to be your confidant and soul mate, as well as play mate. You are uncomfortable sharing negative emotion, though, and tend to withdraw from confrontation and process your feelings privately. You feel most loved when your partner appreciates your creativity, accepts your uniqueness, and sees you as the compassionate person you are. You need to hear your partner tell you how much you mean to them and would love if they did thoughtful spontaneous things to demonstrate it. Your group summary: idealists (NF) Your type summary: ENFP Yep...that's me...ENFP all the way. I've taken these before and it always comes up the same and it's dead on target...bull's eye. Love it! Current Mood: No alarm clock tomorrow! Current Music: All quiet (1 Comment |Comment on this)
9:45 pm	Intellectual sexiness? Ok...that one was fun... Intellectual Inferno You have an intellectual sexiness factor of 81! Who am I to give you advice? You already know everything you need to know, and if there's something you don't know, you're eager to check it out. You are among the few special minds in the world that are truly free, totally creative, and absolutely sexy. The downside is, it's hard to find partners who can keep up with your quick, vigorously sexy mind. You often find yourself bored with anything less than exciting sex, and only those who equal your intellect, your openess, and your creativity can provide that excitment. You're an avid reader, a deep thinking, and a sexually liberated person. You enjoy learning for its own sake just as much as you enjoy sex for pleasure's own sake. Your partner, if he or she is able to keep up with you, is extremely lucky to have you. Now this one was fun! What can I say...any opportunity to talk about sex is good! My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 89% on sexiness Link: The Intellectual Sexiness Test written by dr_eros on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test And I needed that after this week. Work, even though I actually really like my job, sucks. I am truly ready to be a lady of leisure. Well, let me qualify that: I'm ready but not prepared. Leisure soom becomes want, which shifts into need, which forms poverty, which sucks even worse than work. So...hi ho, hi ho... Linda The wage slave Current Mood: It's Friday! Let freedom ring! Current Music: Blissful quiet (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 11th, 2005
9:53 pm	Tests, Trials, and Parenthood Well, I took yesterday off to stay home and (A) enjoy some time with da Bear; (B) clean closets. Both were successful and it was a very good mental health day. I highly recommend it to anybody. Today was the usual, "I took a day off and now I have to scramble to catch up" kind of day. It's time for 360's at work - those awful feedback things you have to do on everyone who identifies you as a "rater", and on yourself. When I had done all of those I could stand, I hedged a little time to study for an exam tomorrow. I have to earn continuing education credits each year to keep my oh-so-exciting insurance license current, and the test that will grant me 12 hours of credit is tomorrow morning. After work, I attended a "wine and tappas" fundraiser for the local Girl's, Inc. organization - normally not my cup of tea, but I did some design work for them and they comped me two tickets. The food was good, the chardoney better...and I was able to make what I hope was a graceful exit by 7:30. On my way home, I called a friend I've known for ... um...let's see... 37 years. She has three sons, the youngest of whom is about 21 or so, I guess. Anyway...he's in prison right now for armed robbery. Apparently, he was on a 6-day crystal meth binge with a "friend". According to my friend, her son was driving and the friend told him to stop at a barber shop. The friend ran in, robbed and shot the old barber (who, incidentally, had been working in that area for umpteen years and had cut all three of my friend's sons' hair from the time they were toddlers). Now her baby boy is in prison and she's coming apart at the seams. The middle son was just recently released from prison for various and sundry crimes involving drugs, though he seems to be doing better now. Now, reading this, you might get the idea that my friend was really a horrible parent and get some image of their home as a drugged-out den of horrors. Nothing could be farther from the truth. She and her husband really tried to raise great kids. And they were good kids. Honestly. They all went to school and had birthday parties and played baseball, and the youngest was really a talented pitcher. They had lots of loving extended family around them all the time. So how in the world did they end up in prison? What happened? How do intelligent, loved, healthy young men make decisions like that? I understand, at least on some level, the power of addiction. Once a drug comes to own a person, they're just not the same. What I don't understand is how, with all the information that is available and all the brutal evidence that says it's a really bad idea, otherwise smart people decide to mess with stuff like meth? Even as I say that, I know the answer. I grew up in the 70's and I smoked my share of pot, tried LSD once, tried cocaine twice (never did figure out what that was all about - useless stuff!), and took a half-dozen qualudes over the course of my party career, washed down with more beer than I care to admit. I knew people got in trouble messing with drugs and I did it anyway because I didn't believe I would be one of those people. Fortunately for me, I wasn't. I could always take it or leave it and most often chose to leave it. And when it came time to raise my daughter, I struggled to figure out how to guide her...how to tell her, "Hey, it's not necessarily wrong to drink a little, or smoke a little dope...except..." Except what? How do you explain that it's like playing Russian Roulette and you might be able to take it or leave it, or it might come to own you. Do you take the hard line approach, "Drugs are bad - just say no"? Do you take the liberal approach, "If you want to do this, come see me and let's talk about it"? Do you ignore it and pray that it never comes up? I still don't know that I did it right. My daughter drank too much and smoked some pot after she became an adult... and can still take it or leave it. Her father, on the other hand, could never quite stop short of becoming a shit-faced moron when he drank or anything else, so he finally gave it up altogether. I didn't do anything any better or more "parental" than my friend did. Yet, my daughter is healthy and beautiful and free while her sons are addicted and imprisoned. My daughter insists that it's the parents' fault, that my friend didn't do her job and that's why she lays awake at night with a hole in her heart and waits for visiting days to go see her baby boy in prison, where she talks to him via a closed circuit television and a telephone. I don't think so. I don't know what I do think, but I don't think my friend really failed like that. I think her young men didn't believe anything bad would happen to them and they were wrong. I hope they get another chance. I hope my friend can have her sons at home with her. I hope our daughters (my one and Jim's two, which make our three) stay strong and beautiful and healthy. I hope they never have to visit their children in prison. Love and light, Linda (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 8th, 2005
12:54 am	Just in ... weary... We saw "Beauty and the Beast" tonight at the Theatre Center (local amateur theater) and it was a TERRIFIC show! It has given me the theater bug again...well, somewhat. I really don't want to make the time commitment to a show, but I sure do enjoy it. Of course, my history of being evacuated from places reared its ugly head and we had to evacuate the theater. That makes ... um...four hotels, several restaurants, and now a theater. Not sure if I should be looking for some meaning in there...or just wear comfortable shoes (evac routes take you strange places sometimes). I got an interesting quote today: There is a field beyond all notions of right and wrong. Come, meet me there. -Rumi, poet and mystic (1207-1273) I'm not entirely sure what the author had in mind...but I like the thought of a place beyond the notion of right and wrong. Kind of like John Lennon's "Imagine"... very peaceful thought. And on that note, I'm going to end here tonight. Much on my mind...perhaps more of it to be said tomorrow. Love and light, Linda Current Mood: My bed is soooooooo close Current Music: Something wafting from the bar across the street (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 6th, 2005
11:03 pm	So here we go... Ok...so I'm here. I've been reading posts for a while this evening and I like it. The journal thing could be good. I like to play and banter sometimes...and I like to think out loud (er...think on-screen, maybe?) sometimes, too. I'm considered one of the stranger specimens of the human race so don't be surprised if I go off on tangents sometimes. As da' Bear can attest, I get downright evangelical about certain subjects. I usually stop when his eyes glaze over, but sometimes I miss that not-so-subtle clue and just go on and on and on. He tolerates me well but I fear that one day he'll slip into a coma and never come back. Sad day. :( It's late...bed calls...I'll write more later, as the mood strikes me. This could be fun. Goodnight, The Mountain Gal Current Mood: It's late...the sandman cometh Current Music: Crickets outside the window (3 Comments |Comment on this)