Finally, another card down! This is the Knight of Swords - The Philosopher card. I bet those in the Barony of Cynnabar will recognize who this is!
I love how the eyes came out, very strong, very powerful.

Next on board is the Page of Cups...

It's been a long week and I should have posted this sooner. My birthday was only on Tuesday (Dec. 1), yet it seems like months have passed since then. I went to dinner with friends and we went to see the lights in the town square for my birthday. It was beautiful all lit up, and very cold!

I started thinking about birthdays as a child and how much has changed in how we celebrate it. It's kind of strange and a little sad that we as adults often choose not to make a big deal about the passage of another year, where as a child, it was as big a deal as Christmas. Mom would have the relatives over, she would bake a cake. I would get to have friends over on a Saturday for a birthday party. Games, party favors, presents, ice cream, a cake with candles, everyone singing "Happy Birthday" in a darkened room. I remember birthday parties I went to for friends too. Birthday parties at Chuck-E-Cheese, with those really creepy singing robots and all the games and rides. A Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party when I was 7 was the first time I'd ever had pizza. Don't you ever wish you could experience your birthday now like you did when you were a kid? There is something truly wonderful about a grab bag of cheap-o party favors - like those puzzle games where you have to move the squares around to make the image, or the game with all the B-B's rolling around and you have to get them into the holes on the board.

I think its important that on our birthdays, even if we don't want people singing to us or a cake with candles, that we should do something a little different and special to remember the day, and do something good for ourselves. Memories are all we are left with, this life and lives past. We should try to make our special days a little more special, so that they illuminate our mental journals, even if only for ourselves.

I finally finished one project at least! The illustrated alphabet for sethanikeem 's Demon book is now done. Some of the letters have illustrations of the demon descriptions, some of them are just great illustrations of night creatures and monsters, and some of them are funny little inside jokes that happened during sethanikeem 's demon research - like the illustration for the letter "P" for the Grande Pantler of Hell. Behind the cut are a selection of the illustrations. Enjoy!
P.S. - Don't forget to check out the holiday poster sale on my website!
( Demon Alphabet... )

Tonight I made: 3 loaves of pumpkin bread, 2 pumpkin pies, 1 cheesecake. Tomorrow I need to make: 2 spinach pies, corn bread, rolls, potatoes, honey glazed carrots, gravy, spice rub, and the turkey. I'm tired already!

Who wants to be left out of the great holiday sales! From November 24 through December 24, the Watcher Angel Tarot posters will be $10 each! This is a limited time offer, so buy one now for the pagan you love. Nothing says "Have a Cool Yule" like a "Death" or "Tower" poster stocking stuffer! Spread the word!

www.spiralfirestudio.com

I also have a neat set of photographs for sale on my site, titled "Aspects of the Goddess". Check them out!

I'd like to say, "FUCK JAPAN", but this crap happens in the U.S. too. People think pets are a fashion accessory. They aren't. So, here's a big "FUCK YOU" to everyone who thinks that a pet is a fashion statement, to be used, abused, and thrown away. Fuck you all. Fuck you all from the bottom of my heart.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/11/22/lah.japan.doggie.death.row.cnn

Quit buying dogs from pet shops you stupid stupid stupid people! Rescue an animal and give these money grubbing breeders the finger! Stop buying their product and they will stop producing!

Sickend. Just sickened. Sickened, but not surprised.

Happy Fucking Thanksgiving everyone. Happy fucking day.

I am ass deep into recruitment season at work. This means occasional long days (8 a.m.-10 p.m.) and two day recruitment deals. Long days, I am so backed up answering personal email, I'm sorry! But it also means that while recruiting, I get to go to some pretty awesome restaurants. Last night was dinner at The River, a restaurant in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where I had the Chargrilled Venison Loin, Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta and Swiss Chard; roasted tomato and onion sauce (I know, doesn't that sound absolutely YUM!) I remember having deer meat many years ago, but it was no where near as good as this was. Oh my goodness it was delicious and had the delicate sweet flavor of berries which the deer eat, and no "gamey" flavor. Plus, and I did not know this, deer meat is incredibly low in fat - around 1 gram of fat per ounce - all while being a dense meat high in protein. If you're in the Cleveland/Akron area and want a really nice meal of innovative contemporary American cuisine in a great atmosphere, go give them a try. They post their menu online and it changes with the seasons, which I find quite appealing. Definitely going back. Next time I may try their pan seared sea bass.

What else with me? Since the surgery I have been improving, feeling better than I have in quite a long time. This weekend I will be working on stuff at home. Always always working, it seems. But I'll be a published artist very soon, Steiger's book is due out in January. Michigan vs. Ohio State game on Saturday afternoon, which I will be watching (while arting) if its broadcasted :-) I will probably go to SMART on Saturday, thinking about selling the posters there at the SMART flea market thing. I bought a 17.5 lb. turkey which I will start defrosting, and will also defrost any probably put together some pumpkin bread and pies for Thanksgiving... or I'll think about doing it. I am really very tired and just want to relax if possible. I'm not entirely sure what relaxing means anymore, but I want it anyway.

My birthday is coming up soon. I want to do something nifty. I don't know what, but something "nifty"... *pondering* *pondering*

The Friday night ghost hunt was awesome fun. I looked fantastic (my ass looks awesome in jeans, my make-up rocked, and my black knee high boots are to die for). We ran on time, everything was SO organized (really, the organization was freaking amazing - thank you Cathi!) and I got to meet some of the folks who have friended me on Facebook! I stationed myself on the second floor and watched the "Matron" ghost drive herself crazy with all the people in her house. Really, being a control freak AFTER death is not a productive thing. She was pretty upset and I told her that she had to be a good hostess because these people were giving money to repair her house. She understood the money part and was then pissed that people weren't making nice compliments about her house. *smacks head* After a while though she just spun out of control and retreated from the people. I helped people learn to sense energy too, I did energy circuits with the groups rotating through and helped them learn to understand what they were seeing and feeling. I think folks really got a lot out of the event with regards to appreciating historical sites and being respectful - not just to the site, but to the dead people who are still living there. I think we will probably run another ghost hunt there sometime next year.
So we got home around 4:30 Saturday morning, and I finally got to sleep at 5 a.m. 24 hours. Blah. Spent Saturday feeling like I had been hit by a truck. All the energy work that night absolutely finished me. Saturday was filled with just relaxing and watching West Wing dvd's. I spent some time drawing on the alphabet for the demon book, and fortunately the alphabet is almost done - only U,W,X, and Z to go. I'll post it later this week. I also have some ideas for the next few tarot cards too. Yay :-)
Today, well, today was also spent recuperating. Watched the Looney Toons marathon on Cartoon Network, more West Wing, and sethanikeem and I baked about 12 dozen cookies (today was a friend's birthday, he likes chocolate chip). They'll last only slightly longer than the pans and pans of brownies that get made and devoured, but only because we're hiding some in the deep freeze. There will be no "Brownie Math" on this one, there will only be sugary deliciousness and the hope that the roommates don't discover the hidden ZipLock bags...
But now I am tired and have a sore throat, and therefore am going to bed.

Tonight is the Ghost Hunt at the Lake County History Center in Painesville, Ohio. It's a fundraiser to help out the historical society, they are restoring the building and doing a fantastic job getting people engaged with the past. And I'm blown away, the event sold out almost overnight! sethanikeem and I will be giving brief lectures to a crowd of 75 people on the topics of speaking to the dead and spirit self-defense beginning at 7:30, after which we will position ourselves in the building and be available to the ghost hunters as they progress through the varying levels. Some of the places in the building are pretty intense, so we will also be helping the folks overwhelmed by their experience. I've been looking forward to this for weeks now, when I did the walk through I kicked ass and took names and I can't wait to go back. I think its going to be a great night, I just hope I can stay awake and alert until 2 a.m. Friday's are my early day where I get up at 5 a.m. for work. I am usually able to take a nap when I get home, but today at work is resident recruitment and I'll be stuck here until 3:00, after which I must rush home and shower and change so that we can leave at 5:00. By the time I go to bed tonight (or more appropriately, tomorrow morning), I'll have been up for 24 hours. Thank god I bought a pack of Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino. I love this stuff... anyone want to bribe me to do energy work for them, bribe me with a yummy frappuccino's. Must be mocha though, I don't go for that vanilla crap. ;-)

I mentioned previously that I was working on another project with sethanikeem , this one regarding her new book on demons and demonology. For it, I will not only be doing an illustrated alphabet and other illustrations (to be posted in a few days), but I have researched and written an article on the development and manufacture of papyrus, parchment and paper from the ancient world through the 16th century. I will post it here behind the cut, it is quite lengthy but very informative. I was asked to write the article because of my years as a scribe in the SCA, creating and teaching the technique of medieval manuscript illumination. Initially, it was a brief article only to talk about the difference between parchment and vellum, and to introduce cool trivia facts - which, by the way, come in great at parties. After pondering the subject and how to approach a vast subject, even narrowed down as it was, I realized that I could not answer the question of "what" without also answering the question of "why" and "how" when it came to parchment production. To do any less would not leave readers with adequate background information. So the brief article on parchment became a mini research paper on papyrus, parchment and paper... 3 pages long, and that was WITH eliminating all the many things I could and maybe should have discussed. My research took me through my many books, Google books, and information on global weather patterns, believe it or not. It was extensive and took several weeks of reading and comparing the information of authors. And I now have 10 more books on my wish list for my scribal library...

 

( Read the Scribal Article... )

So, very few trick-or-treaters at the house this year.  Sad.  But that means my residents will come out on top because I'll take the huge bag of candy to them.  On a positive note, I AM losing weight since the surgery.  Maybe that isn't supposed to happen, but I've lost over 7 lbs in 3 weeks.  Not bad, not bad at all!  Lost enough weight to fit back into my SCA garb.  Guess my body is really getting back on track and remembering what to do with nurtients when I do manage to eat.  20-30 more pounds and I'll be looking fabulous. 
Here are my pumpkins and my SCA Ottoman Turkish outfit.  I'm such a slut, I should be wearing a concealing burka!


Tonight I am cooking down those pretty pumpkins, getting all the pulp and turning them into pies and bread later on.  I'm also working on a new art project... yes, yes, I know, "what about the tarot deck".  Don't worry, that's getting done too.  This project is much shorter, its an illustrated alphabet for sethanikeem 's new Demon book.  I'll post more about that later tomorrow, along with my article that I've been writing and some of the alphabet images.

I bought some pumpkins for carving, Jason made gravestones to decorate the yard, and then Jason, Michelle and I will be handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  After so long in an apartment, it will be nice to be able to do the neighborhood Halloween thing.  Just hope the weather holds out, its supposed to be raining and then dropping to 36 degrees at night.  Blah.

First week back to work after the surgery.  Everyone missed me and was so happy to see me, and the work on my desk feels like its piled hip deep.  But it was sweet, apparently word got around the hospital pretty quick that I had gotten sick, so it felt like everyone knew.  People would see me and were surprised I was back and were asking me how I was.  Guess that's what happens when your area overlaps with a ton of others.
I am exhausted though, and not really eating right.  I'm not hungry and have no appetite.  Nothing tastes right, or is even appealing to me, so I just don't eat.  Not really too upset by it, I've lost a bunch of weight with the "barely eating" diet.  Seriously, I'm having to force myself to eat something so I don't crash.  But I think that my body is remembering how to absorb and process nutrients after not doing it for so long.  So the little I do eat seems to last a while.
My surgery incisions are healing up nicely and the giant bruise on the center of my solar plexus is finally gone.  I think Christin (my resident) is some kind of genius with sutures, I really don't think there will be any scaring.  She said she took extra long to close so that I wouldn't have marks.  Plus, no more stabbing pain when - or if - I eat now either.

So now the gall bladder-less artist will soldier forth on the Watcher Angel Tarot and various other projects.

I present to you the Four of Pentacles, representing stability, a protected home place. 
I decided to paint the Lion's Gate of Mycenae for the Four of Pentacles, for personal reasons in part,  but for two, I found this quote from an archaeologist regarding the site and I thought it fit the card perfectly.

"...a massive trabeated portal was built into the wall, with cyclopean jambs and lintel, surmounted by a triangular relief of two heraldic lions standing at a (Minoan) column, the sacred symbol of the earth that they supposedly protected. For all its simplicity, the Lion Gate is of immense historical portent. The powerful sense of structure was an inheritance—ultimately Neolithic—that the Greeks would foster with exceptional refinement. Here, it was combined with the feeling for monumental stone carving in the Lion relief, an element inherited from Egypt but now infused with a new sensitivity to the organic logic and beauty of its subject."

— Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. p80-81.

The lion heads on the ruins at Mycenae are lost to time, what is painted here is only artistic inspiration.  It is likely that the lions of Mycenae were roaring, given similar sculptures of the time.  I have also read that the heads were possibly made of metal.  But, since the time line of this suit predates the Cretan's or Mycenaean civilization, I can do what I want.

Surgical Supplies - $1,625.85
CT Scan and Nuclear Medicine scan - $5,814. 75
OR Services - $3,351.35
Not having to pay the $24,381.97 hospital bill for my gall bladder surgery... Priceless. 

I've added it up.  In the last 9 years I have had 3 surgeries.  My body has now cost insurance companies over $84,000.  I thank my lucky stars and bless the fact that the jobs I have held in the last 12 years have provided affordable health care.  I wish my sister and millions of other Americans were as lucky.

There is no easy answer to the health care crisis.  I worked in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan for 3 years, heard lots of debate and information on health care, health care law, the politics of health care, and much more.  There is no easy answer and no immediate solution.  The solution is infinitely complicated and wholly imperfect, and I am grateful to those of you out there working on the answer.

....On another note, while in the hospital, I signed an advanced directive regarding my wishes for life support and signed the forms for power of attorney.  With HIPAA policy, it is very important that you have at least assigned a power of attorney to handle your medical situation should the need arise.  In Ohio, upon signing these forms they are notarized and put into a database that can be accessed in any hospital in Ohio.  If you haven't thought about this, you really need to.  Talk to someone you trust about your wishes should you become seriously injured or sick.  Make sure the person you choose is emotionally capable of carrying out your wishes.  Make it clear what you want, do not leave your family wondering about what you would choose.  It's hard enough in a crisis for them to decide, and harder still if they have to spend precious days going to court to get the power of attorney assigned to them so that they CAN make decisions regarding your health.  The person you assign does not have to be a family member, it can be a friend, and you can assign a secondary power of attorney too.  As hard a topic as it is, make a decision on what you want.

"The Senate passed groundbreaking legislation Thursday that would make it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity."

I would be a republican, except that... nope.  I AM for smaller government, and only making laws that are necessary to keep public services working and criminals off the streets.  I am against this and any law that tries to govern what is in a person's head.  Honestly, murder is murder, one murder is not better or worse than another.  You cannot make laws for what's in a person's head, because where will it end?!  Are we creating the Thought Police now?  What are we becoming as a country that we believe we can control what another person thinks, and where will this lead us?  Think of the abuse of power this could and likely will lead to.   For heaven's sake people, murder, assault & battery, rape, ALL of these are already illegal, all of these are ALREADY crimes with penalties, and we shouldn't have special laws that make prosecution of the criminal subject to interpretation of a liberal or conservative court.  This is AS bad as qualifying marriage in the U.S. Constitution, one of the very things they want to repeal, along with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the Armed Forces.  We are all humans, citizens, and frankly as individuals we should all be subject equally to the law without special consideration to our gender, race, or sexual preference.  We shouldn't have to specify that gays should be allowed to serve in the military or that crimes against gay's are illegal.  That comes with citizenship to this country, and that we as U.S. citizens can choose to serve in the military and that as U.S. citizens should be able to marry whom we choose, and that we as U.S. citizens should be served by the law as we serve the law.  Qualifications are not necessary.  I do not need Women's Rights or Gay Rights spelled out for me in the law by a bunch of old white men as though *I* am somehow a second class, second rate citizen that needs special protection because the "regular law" doesn't apply to me. 

Think about that. 
 

I had an absolutely awesome day yesterday!   A little background: On Nov. 13th,sethanikeem and I are giving a talk at the Lake County History Center,  a very haunted building in Painesville, Ohio, which had once been a county poor house and hospital sitting on an 8 acre farm.  All proceeds of the event will go toward the restoration of the building.  After our talk, we will then be serving as the mediums on the ghost hunt for the 75 attendees. 
So yesterday, we went and did a walk through and preliminary investigation of the building to see what was there.  We went inside and I split off from Michelle and the main group so that Michelle and I could get independent findings and compare.  I walked around the building and... well, lets just say that not only did I see everything, I drew a picture of one of the ghosts, much to the amazement of the ghost hunting crew who had accompanied us.  They looked at it and then rushed downstairs and low and behold, the picture that I drew matched the picture of a person who had lived in the house.  I had not seen the photograph as I had broken off from the group and went almost immediately to the second floor.  I absolutely rocked their socks!  I hit everything, gave descriptions, went through the motions of one of the ghosts and completely blew them away.  :-)  It was great to be able to do independent investigations because Michelle and I were able to confirm each others impressions and images.  I absolutely cannot wait until November and the ghost hunt.  If all goes well, we will be doing a ghost hunt weekend there with classes sometime next year.  Here are some pictures of the contents of the building!

Prison cell for the crazy inmates of the poor house	A Parlor
Baby Buggie... ah, Victorians and their desire to treat children like miniature adults...	Attic - cool architecture

 

I am feeling better, though I have done very little in the last few days beyond lounging on the couch.  So on Saturday I am going to do a walk-through with sethanikeem of the Painesville History Center where we are giving a lecture on November 13th.  I am giving the class on spirit communication and sethanikeem  is giving a class on self-defense against unwanted visitors.  No... not Jehovah's Witnesses, spirit self-defense.  The event is sold out, I'm really looking forward to it.
SMART on Saturday night for some energy munching.  I hope there are some tasty people available.  Maybe I should hang a sign around my neck saying "Can I haz energy pleze?"

Oh, and this is how I solved the brownie math problem... by making more brownies.  Now there is a new equation to solve. 
Story problem:  The brownies have been on the counter for 3 hours and there are 4 roommates in the House this weekend.  If the brownie pan is cut into 6 rows of 6 brownies, and sethanikeem  eats 6 of the little brownies fresh from the oven, how long before the pan is empty and I will have to go the store for more brownie fixings?

I thought to myself, "I think I'll try to go back to work tomorrow."  I got dressed today and went to the store... and was exhausted and totally finished after being out of the house only 2 hours.  Like, I was cooked with a fork in me.  I am exhausted physically.  I am also a starving vampire again.  All the work I had been doing to keep myself well fed and up to par, all gone.  The surgery simply finished me.  I actually drained sethanikeem when we went to get soup the other day.  I feel kinda bad about it, but I not only didn't realize I'd done it, but I couldn't help it in the slightest.  I am drained.  Sarah and her husband stopped over yesterday to check on me and she was able to feed me a little, but I need more and fast.  Any of you capable of connecting to me, if you have any energy to spare please send it my way.

Hungrily yours,
J

If you have a pan of brownies, and 1/4 of the pan equaled 12 brownies, and you had 14 brownies left in the pan, what is the percentage of brownies left in fraction and decimal.

And so it wouldn't get lost in the previous lengthy post about the trials of surgery:
My roommates have been so great to me.  Michelle made me soup with alphabet letters that was very yummy.  If you play the letters backwards, they give you demon messages.  And Jason has been great at taking care of me, giving me drugs and getting me up and down off the couch and such.  I love my friends, they are tremendous and so important in my life. 
Thank you all for your words of support and kind thoughts.  Your texts and emails and such... wow, I am floored.  Knowing so many people were thinking about me helped get me through all this.  Never doubt that I appreciate your love and kindness!  You're all so great, thank you!

hugs and love to all,
Jackie