Christmas is for the Dogs

Christmas Eve

I should be blogging about other things right now. I’m way overdue for an update regarding my arm, but honestly, I’m so sick of talking about it and telling people what happened I’m just not motivated enough right now.

Instead I’m going to blog about more recent events.

Last night I attended a party at my dear friend William’s home. He hosts an annual Christmas Eve party… kinda funny when you think about it… we’re not Christians. Anyway, I arrived late. I wasn’t feeling well; issues regarding my arm and things related to it. As I expected might happen due to my late attendance, some of the folks I really wanted to see like Natalie and Carol were leaving shortly after my arrival. I was still fortunate enough to speak with each of them, get hugs and wish each of them warm holiday happiness.

I also immediately noticed a guy I did not recognize. He seemed to be watching, perhaps wondering who I was just the same. I wanted to talk with him, we smiled here and there, but I was often pulled into other conversations.

Eventually I located an open chair, the house was packed, so I chose to perch myself there, safely out of the way from potential pain to my arm; again, way overdue on that medical update.

Angela came over and sat next to me. She’d given me a holiday gift… OMG it was TOTALLY AWESOME!! She made me a Jayne hat!! You know, Jayne Cobb from Firefly?!?! I totally wanted one and she was a total darling and made a super cool soft fuzzy red one for me. :)

Sitting in the back of the room gave me the ability to see everyone. I saw someone walk past into the kitchen that I didn’t recognize. I asked who it was only out of basic curiosity. You know that saying? Curiosity killed the cat? Well curiosity killed my night!

The guy heard someone say his name so it was explained I asked who he was and I was being informed. He must have taken that to mean I was interested. I wasn’t, but he didn’t care. He informs me he makes swords as a hobby. Completely non-sequitur! I wasn’t asking him anything, but he really wanted to have a conversation with me. I have to give the guy credit, he was assertive and for a short while I thought it was cool. Next he showed me this steel ring he’d made, called it his "Freedom ring". He then informs me he’s married, says his wife is crazy (literally) and wishes she’d die. *rolls eyes* Yeah, ok buddy, thanks for the info, but this is a really bad tactic for impressing a girl… I’m just sayin’!

For THE REST OF THE NIGHT the wife hater parked his ass next to me and was very bold and blatant about his interest in me. The feeling was not mutual. I was just as bold back though. I listened to his story about his wife being crazy, and it’s very possible she is, but for me that was not my concern. All I saw was a man, who was upfront about being miserable in his marriage and looking for some action outside. I’m sorry, but clear up your mess at home before even considering bringing anyone else into the fray and I basically told him as such. I told him to shit or get off the pot. If he’s so damn unhappy, end the marriage. His reasons were financial. He said he was waiting for her to get a job so he could afford to leave her and claim alimony. Again, not really impressing me.

Fortunately I had both Angela and her husband Jeff nearby so I could be “distracted”. He really made a serious effort to dominate my attention that night. Made comments about how he wanted me to drink more to lower my inhibitions and that he lived close by. There was a comment about my cleavage, which he checked out quite a bit, and some reference to my screen name (surpise). Seriously, WTF?!?!

I didn’t want to cause any drama at the party so I didn’t react to a lot of comments. I was also doing my best to not give any indication of interest on my part, and did not offer my contact info or ask for his. Eventually I believe he got the hint when the rest of us were getting ready to leave and I stayed back with Angela and Jeff.

I’m not remotely interested in dating a married man and most especially one who hates his wife, openly announces he wishes she were dead, but is to much of a wuss to actually leave her. Just pathetic!

Christmas Day

I woke up Christmas morning to the sounds of screaming and breaking glass.

My next door neighbor has a violent temper. I have no idea what happened, but around 9am I heard him yelling at someone, most likely his invalid father, saying something about the dog, then I heard the dog yelp a lot as it was thrown out of the house into the backyard. I can see his yard from my bedroom window. The noise died down so I fell back asleep. 2 hours later it sounded much, much worse. More breaking of things, yelling, screaming, dog yelping… this time I witnessed the dog being thrown out of the house. It seemed as though my neighbor was kicking it to get it to go outside.

I debated on what to do. My neighbor has been violent before and damaged my personal property by slashing my tires, injured my cats resulting in the death of at least one, as well as bragged openly about using a shovel to kill a raccoon in his yard. Getting the police involved can bring violence on my home, property, cats, or my dad. I’m just not interested in dealing with another one of his violent outbursts.

About half an hour later I heard him yelling again, going out the back door and yelling at the dog to get out of the yard. He literally kicked the dog out of the yard through the side gate. I heard it yelping again. I saw it running down the main driveway of our complex. At this moment I tried to talk to my neighbor and was met with a slamming door.

I got dressed and went after the dog. I was afraid it would get run over and hurt. I found it running down the road in the next neighborhood across a main street. Because of my arm I couldn’t lift it so I had to keep coaxing it back to the complex. Once we got back to the complex it wouldn’t budge. I could see it didn’t want to go back to my neighbor’s house, and I totally didn’t blame it, nor had any intentions of returning it into the hands of an abusive person. I brought it into my yard. For now it’s safe, but I fear what my neighbor might do to it or me if he finds it here. I can’t keep it. My cats are very unhappy and I’m allergic to dogs. So I’m hoping one of my darling friends might find it in their hearts to give this sweet pup a new and safe home.

It’s really a cute and playful dog. Looks a bit like a Pyrenean Sheppard mix. Its legs are shorter and perhaps has a shorter nose. It seems to understand basic commands of sit, stay, come, and heel. It’s also a total love bug and might lick you to death if allowed. I did not check to find out what sex the dog is though.

So if you’re interested in it, let me know asap.

I did call the police. I spoke with someone there, but it was Christmas and I suspect a lot of people were off work there. I fully explained what I witnessed and my concerns. I was afraid if a cop showed up my neighbor would do something bad to me, dad, or my cats. The woman I spoke with suggested I come into the station to file a report on Monday. My main concern is safety for the dog, me, my family, and home.

The Overdue Update: My Cyborg Arm with Refrigerator Magnets

The Overdue Update: My Cyborg Arm with Refrigerator Magnets

I broke the Ulna bone in my forearm, near the flexor digitorum sublimis, where it connects to the elbow, but an inch below the actual end of the bone. It was compacted; shoved back onto itself. What can I say? I’m an overachiever.

The surgery was a success. It was, however, much more complicated than expected because when I do something, I do it well. Originally the expected time for my surgery was 1 ½ hours. It took closer to three hours to fix me.

The original plan had options of pins or plates and screws AND bone tissue from a cadaver.

(Ooooohh, zombie elbow!)



But, because of the extensive damage, the best way to deal with my situation was to add a T-shaped plate and screws to the broken bone so it would sit correctly and fit into my elbow properly. No dead guy bone tissue needed. It’s a permanent addition to my arm and therefore will require me to carry a card so I can travel through airports and not get hassled as bad by homeland and airport security.

I’m currently in a splint that’s a cottony covered metal sheath that is a little open on the sides and where my hand is, but curves around my elbow nicely to hold me in place. It’s wrapped in ace bandages to keep it snug. It prevents me from moving my elbow or twisting my arm so both the wound from surgery and the bone have a chance to heal.

I have staples (Whee! Don't run!) running from 2” above my elbow down to about 4” below. I was able to see them two days after surgery. I didn’t expect to see staples. I thought I was sewn together. It was a little disappointing, actually.

The splint is to remain on at all times until the Dr. removes the staples on Mon 24th! At that point I will have physical therapy.

Since the fall itself I’ve only taken 4 vicodin. I discovered yet another reason for me to dislike the stuff. Its bad enough it makes me sick if I don’t eat enough food when I take them, but they also make me unhappy. Apparently depression is a side effect. There’s a reason I don’t do drugs and despite the need to take the vicodin both on the day I saw the Dr (when she rotated my broken arm), as well as the night of and day after my surgery (when the pain was at it’s worst) I quit taking the stuff by two days after surgery. (Drug’s are bad, m’kay!)

Now upon learning I had a new permanent cyborg arm I was dearly hoping it would be magnetic. I really wanted to put a little bunch of bananas refrigerator magnet on my elbow. Frankly I would have laughed hysterically if I could attach magnets to my arm but apparently titanium is not magnetic.

Yvette drove me to the hospital for the surgery. She was awesome! She totally kept me laughing despite the fact I was a little nervous. I was telling her what I wanted done instead of a burial if I died. I was mentally parsing out my belongings and realizing I needed a proper will for my collections and cats in case I died.

I met my prep nurse, my surgery nurse and my doctor came in to cut off the temp cast he put on my arm the Friday before. I was waiting to meet the anesthesiologist. Once he walked in I was upfront with him. He asked how I was, I told him I was nervous and didn’t want to die. I know he didn’t expect it. I explained that at Fountain Valley they almost killed my father during a simple eye surgery because they gave him the wrong anesthesia. He was supposed to come home the night of the surgery but because of the wrong stuff he had to stay for a couple of days to recover.

I looked him in the eye and said, “I don’t want to die, don’t kill me.” Poor guy. He seemed to understand. He walked over to my IV, injected it and immediately knocked me out!

Oh and can I say, I really, really, really don’t like having a damn IV needle put in through my hand! Take it from my arm!

I told the nurse but she did a big song and dance about how it would be better from my hand because she can see the veins easily. This conversation did not instill confidence. So I accepted that she didn’t want to try my arm and let her puncture my hand. I did not like it.

I woke up hours later in the recovery room to some nurse who I’d not met though I apparently thought that I had.(stupid anesthesia!) Suddenly I was being told to get dressed and was immediately wheeled out to Yvette’s car. I had the window open the whole ride home. I wasn’t sure if I was going to react poorly to the anesthesia. Fortunately I was fine.

I’d arrived at the hospital at 3pm and it was 10:30pm when we got home, Mordan was waiting for us. Much like a relay race they did the passing of the Yvonne. Mordan and Yvette met and exchanged info about my condition before Yvette went home to her husband. I spoke a bit with Mordan then got a call from my Satanist checking in on me. Then I spoke with Greg, you know, that cutie I was out with when I dorked out and took a spill and thusly broke my arm? Yeah, that one. Talked with him for a couple of hours then decided it was sleepy night-night time.

Because my Dad was out of town (checking out the Rosicrucian Museum when I called him) Mordan stayed the night and most of the next day with me to make sure everything was ok for me. Other than when the hospital administered meds wore off at 3am (Oh, that was an exceptionally unpleasant pain to wake up to.) and I had to wake her to help get food into me prior to taking the vicodin, there was little to no pain or problems.

Funny thing (not really) turns out the dressing for my arm was wrapped too tight after surgery since my fingers were numb. The Doc called the following day to check on me and he scheduled for me to come in the next day so he could check my dressing and make sure there wasn’t any nerve damage. Angela was a dear sweetheart and drove me to the Dr. The Dr. loosened the wrapping and the feeling returned to my fingers. All’s well.

My friends have been amazing! I totally love them! Many of my friends offered assistance if needed for rides, help at home, shopping or meals. Overall I haven’t really needed too much but when I do they totally come through for me.

Tien Di Kat came by one night with Thai food for dinner so we could catch up. Lauren drove me to the Vampire Dim Sum on Sunday, after which all the girls came over so we could watch vampire porn aka True Blood. And tonight the Other Michelle took me to the Harry Potter Meetup.

Overall I’ve been well, but I find I’m physically exhausted everyday despite trying to rest. I’m actually sleeping 9-10 hours a night. Apparently growing new bone takes a lot of energy. Where’s Madame Pomfrey’s “Skele-Gro” when you need it?

That really wasn't part of the plan...

That really wasn’t part of the plan…

The Plan

An email arrived in my inbox from a company that gets people to attend tv show tapings, you know, be part of the studio audience. I’ve been on this list for a few years now, but rarely get the chance to go. The newest email was to view a taping of MAD TV.

At the time of its arrival I happened to be engaged in a conversation with Greg, a guy I like. I asked if he’d be interested in going and gave the date/time options. It was up near him, a good day for both our schedules, and it should be fun so we made plans to go. I hoped by then I would be over my cold/flu thing.

The Reality

Its only 36 miles to his place from mine, in good traffic it will take about 40 minutes. However, it’s 36 miles north, which means LA and I hoped to arrive at his door by 7pm so that meant facing afternoon traffic, the worst kind.

I left, hoping some of the northbound traffic was done, or nearly done, but still ample time to get up there. I even checked the live traffic map before leaving to make sure my planned route was relatively clear. It was as clear as possible for the time period.

The traffic just sucked! Between multi car accidents and something with the 110 freeway I didn’t arrive until 8pm and we needed to be at the studio by 8:30 so dinner would be delayed.

I arrived at Greg’s place, picked him up and off we went. Fortunately our destination was fairly close by. We arrived at the studio, parked nearby, got out, and locked the car. I noticed a prostitute and a couple of questionable characters nearby. We were talking and perhaps not more than 30 feet from the car. Greg was asking about my week. I have to admit, I get kind of nervous around him and those who know me might find that really unusual. So I’m going to concede that it’s very likely I wasn’t paying enough attention to the area I was walking. Well, given the next event, I obviously wasn’t.

As I tried to recall my week’s activities I stumbled and caught my foot on some broken pavement. I fell down, hard. Apparently I stuck out my left arm to break my fall. I suspect I locked my elbow. I remember seeing my lower arm pushing up past my upper arm and thinking that it wasn’t supposed to look like that. It reminded me of jello. It was gross.

Poor Greg, he had no real idea what happened. All he knew was that I was walking next to him then suddenly I was on the ground and unable to talk. I couldn’t speak! The pain in both my left arm and then the realization of pain in my right knee kept me from even opening my eyes. He was talking to me, asking what happened and where the pain was. I was at once both in agonizing pain and mortified.

Eventually I was able to express pain in my arm and the fear I may have broken it. He attempted to help me up, but at that moment the best I could do was sit up. While I was sitting there doing a mental inventory of the pain Greg was kneeling next to me. I could hear something behind us and he informed me some guy was puking in a trashcan. I thought to myself, “I’m injured and lying on some disgusting sidewalk in Hollywood, with a guy I totally dig, while there’s an old woman prostitute in front of us hiding in the shadows watching us and some guy puking in the trashcan nearby. How fucking romantic!”

Greg helped me up to walk me back to my car. He was a total sweetheart , got me into the passenger side, made sure I had my seat belt buckled and drove me to an ER where he filled out all my paperwork.

While we were waiting we discovered some folks had been there for 3 or more hours and had still not been seen yet. One woman sitting near me asked if I hurt my arm and if I was pregnant.

I was immediately reminded of when my Grammy Victoria, my great aunt on my mother’s side, asked me the same thing years ago at a family party. “Oh Yvonne, are we in the family way?” Through her thick Filipino accent there was a sound of hope in her voice.

“No grammy, I’m just fat.”

But this was a woman with 8 children with a million grand children, and I had gained some weight since she’d last seen me, plus it was shortly after my mom died, so it was a reasonable assumption on her part… I guess.

However, in the ER, this woman was looking for someone to bond with over her situation, something I wasn’t interested in doing. She was there with a 2 day long headache and pregnant. Initially I began to troubleshoot for her asking things like if she’d had water, taken anything for the pain, but then I realized I needed to think about my current situation instead of her, so I stopped.

I decided to try my luck back in OC so I asked them to shred my paperwork and left. My arm seemed to be getting better so I figured we could ice it and I’d be good. Greg got us some dinner and we went back to his place. He helped situate me on his couch, got me a pillow, some Advil, and ice for my arm and we ate dinner.

The hope was that his friend could follow us down so Greg could drive me home and he could ride home with his friend, but his friend had work early the next day, so I opted to keep ice on it and drive myself home. I was more concerned about my right leg not bending well enough to drive than my arm.

Greg wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea, but I needed to get home. As a compromise he decided to drive his car and lead me to the freeway entrance. If we discovered I couldn’t drive then we’d figure something else out, but it was now 2am and I really wanted to be home.

He helped me get situated in the car, buckled me in and off we went. 25 minutes later, after feeding the cats and getting ready for bed I called him to let him know I was home safe. He was a bit surprised to hear from me so soon, but relieved to know I was home safe.

The Diagnosis

The next morning I called my health insurance to change my physician. I had been assigned a Dr that I didn’t want so I changed to a Dr. I wanted and who works with the hospital I wanted. The insurance was kind enough to retro activate the Dr to Nov 1st, otherwise I’d have to wait till Dec 1st.

My friend Yvette was available to take me in. At this point I was working under the hopes my arm and leg were just badly sprained. Since my newly assigned Dr. was not in yesterday I was seen by another doctor. She poked and prodded my knee, which hurt. The she poked and rotated my arm. I screamed! Thus far it was the only time I cried from the pain. X-rays revealed a large gap at the elbow where there shouldn’t be. I was then referred to an orthopedic surgeon.

We left there and went to see the surgeon for a final diagnosis. At this point it was officially broken and I assumed I’d get a cast and go home. The surgeon walked in, asked what happened and then informed me I needed to have surgery. To which I replied, “Are you kidding me?!” He didn’t seem to be joking and wondered why I was the second person that day to ask him that question. He explained he wouldn’t mention it if it weren’t necessary. I understood his point.

Apparently the impact of my fall caused the smaller of the two bones in my lower arm to compact the end of the bone that connects to the elbow. Instead of being somewhat round it’s flat.

He’s hoping to get me into surgery as soon as possible, so I’ll be in on Monday or Tuesday depending on how long it takes to get approval.

The plan is for him to open my arm, assess the situation and decide if I need pins or screws and plates. There was mention of a bone graft taken either from me or a “mostly dead” person. *shrug* Yvette was teasing that I’ll have some dead guys bone grafted onto mine and it’ll posses my arm and do evil things.

Oooooh, evil zombie bone graft!!!!! LOL!

I’ll be in a cast for 3-5 weeks and then have physical therapy after. Fun times!

Though this isn’t the first time I’ve broken a bone, it’s the first time I’ve had a cast or major surgery. I have to admit, I’m nervous about it.

That reminds me; Greg was doing his best to distract me from the pain, so we talked about war wounds. We shared scar stories. LOL!

I really have to thank both Greg and Yvette. They both took super good care of me. Yvette also took me to Costco to get my prescription filled and shop AND she cleaned the litter box and filled the water dispenser for the cats. She even offered to cook, but I told her she’d done enough for me already.

Since it was clear I wasn’t in any condition to go I gave her and her husband, who is one of my childhood friends, my two tickets to see Voltaire and Frankenstein at The Dark Park Festival. I knew they’d enjoy it.

Unfortunately I also won’t be going to see Turisas or to Bats Day at Disneyland this weekend. :(

All in all, despite the unpleasant situation, I’m doing ok and in good spirits.

Everything you never wanted to know about: the Plague, Mango, & Flirting

THE PLAGUE

Ok, perhaps it wasn't quite THAT bad, but it wasn't much fun either. I've been sick for the last three days and I'm finally functional. It started on Wednesday with what I assumed was either my allergies out of control or a mild head-cold. I hoped it was just my allergies and would be able to get them under control by the next day.

Woke up on Thursday... nope, head-cold. Sucky! This meant I had to cancel my plans for that evening and the next!

Friday I woke wondering if I was going to need to call 911. I'm not going to go into graphic details about the symptoms, but let’s just say, I've survived quite an interesting and excruciating selection of ailments in prior experiences to this and was genuinely concerned about this combination and if I would need emergency help. 5 hours later the incredible pain and additional symptoms subsided, somewhat, and I realized that whatever I caught wasn't just a head-cold. Surely it must be the plague! I was concerned at one point that an alien would rip through my abdomen and peer its ugly head out at any moment or that my appendix might be about to burst. Fortunately, not.

Today I woke feeling a whole lot better. I still feel like someone used me for piñata practice with a baseball bat, but other than some muscle fatigue and soreness I'm doing ok. At least I can walk today!

I had to leave the house anyway today... it was that or risk being eat alive by the 5 furry felines who live with me. I ran out of cat food. I ventured off to a pet food store, and since I was already out and about, to a Trader Joe's in Huntington Beach (I love Trader Joe's!).

MANGO

Oooo, I found something new! Dark chocolate covered spicy dried mango! OHMYGAWD! Its very yum.

Mango is one of my absolute favorite fruits and flavors. It even became this weird kind of inside joke thing with me and the ex. One day, we were driving by a Lee's Sandwich and I said, "Ooooh, mango smoothie is love" cause to me, it could be. Somehow that got turned into Mango=Love. As some stupid cutesy thing we'd exchange mango flavored gifts. It was weird, especially because I know he wasn't really into gifts, giving or receiving, or celebrations or anything much fun actually... anyway.

SLOPPY FLIRTING

Hey kids! Don't try this at home... or anywhere else!

Back to my exotic travels to Huntington Beach... I was driving back from Trader Joe's and found a text from Mordan. I was waiting at a red light and texting her back. My radio was blaring Billy Talent and I had the windows slightly open. Four guys pull up in the car next to me. I'm not paying them any attention, why should I? They're yelling for me and honking the horn and I finally realize they're trying to talk to me. I turn off the radio, roll down the window and they ask a series of odd questions.

Front Passenger: "Hey! How's it goin'? So what are you doin'?"
Giving me this "look"...you know that, "hey baby, how you doin'?'" look?

Me: "Um... texting."
I hold up my phone to show... see, texting.

Driver: "Yeah? You are, huh? See I told you guys she was texting!"
At this point I thought I was going to get lectured by them about texting and driving, but I wasn't driving, it was a red light.

Me: "Um, yeah?"
Ok I thought they needed directions which was why I bothered to roll down my window to begin with.

Driver: "Who are you texting?"

Back Passenger 2: "Do you have a daughter?"
Ok, wtf??

Me: "I'm texting a friend."
Why should I tell them anything? I don't know who the heck they are.

Front Passenger: "A friend huh? What kind of friend?"
Driver: "Why are you blowing us off when we're trying to talk with you?"

Me: "Uh... I'm sorry?"
The light changed to green!

Doode, I was just trying to send off this text before the light changed! It was kind of time sensitive... sort of. Ok, maybe not.

Wow! I don't think I've gone through one of those experiences since... wow, since high school! And frankly the guys in the car looked like they'd only been out of high school a couple of years at the most.

Soon as the light changed the windows and the music went back up! They pulled in front of me and wanted me to follow, but I kept going where I was already heading.

I wonder if that kind of sloppy flirting tactic actually works with some girls? Doubtful, but then again, its a bit of a numbers game. If you do it enough times eventually it will work on someone, just not on me.

Chicken Totem

I never knew there was a chicken totem, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm not sure what my deal is about chickens, I love 'em! They're both tasty and entertaining.

As a child I was often found bonding with chickens either at Knott's Berry Farm or while in the Philippines. I was also born in the year of the chicken. I know it's usually referred to as Rooster, Cockerel, or Cock, but I prefer to say Chicken.

Today, as I was doing some looking about on the net, I found a site dedicated to animal totems. As a lark I checked to see if they had one for chicken... and they do! I was even more surprised to see how similar to me it is.

The Chicken

Chickens descended from the wild red jungle fowl of India and belong to the species Gallus gallus. Raised for the production of eggs and meat since the early 1930's the chicken symbolizes nourishment. They keep bugs and weeds under control and provide fertilizer for gardens. Chickens are prone to heat stroke and need plenty of water to maintain optimum health. Those with this medicine benefit by living in an environment where water is plentiful.

The chicken has an exploratory inquisitive nature. They love to scratch around in lush vegetation uncovering every pebble, leaf or blade of grass always looking for a hidden treasure. Extremely attuned to what lies beneath the surface the chicken holds the teachings of observation, reflection and knowledge.

Personal space is important to the chicken. It requires open space in which to roam. If confined they can become aggressive with a tendency to pick on each other. A low ranking hen may be cornered and cannibalized.

Chickens have an uncanny ability to remove obstacles by pecking away tirelessly at anything that gets in their way. The skills of patience and determination seen in the chicken are often reflected in the personalities of those who hold this medicine. Although able to cooperate in groups chickens have a strong independent character and when the mood strikes they will demand their space, sometimes aggressively. Those with this medicine need occasional retreat and isolation from others. This need can come about unexpectedly at any time without warning.

Chicken medicine people are true teachers within the structure of relationships. They remind us not to become too needy of our partners, family or friends. They show us how to maintain a sense of independence in groups and ask us to take appropriate time for inner reflection. Those associated with chicken medicine people must respect that individuals need for personal space or feathers will ruffle!

Known for their hardiness chickens will run quickly and frantically away from danger. When danger is close they take off with a loud explosion which startles their predator. They are mindful creatures that have extreme sensitivity. Chickens feel the vibrations of mother earth and all life forms that inhabit her. This indicate its empathic abilities. Because empaths literally absorb the energy of everything around them a high strung nervous system can develop. If nervous energy isn't expressed in a balanced way sporadic unpredictable behavior can occur. Yoga or any other form of meditative movement can help those with this medicine acquire balance.

Those with this medicine are natural born empaths. They "feel" their way through life. Their feelings are always right and they need to honor and abide by them in everything they think, do and say.

Vampire Dim Sum

Dim sum is the name for a Chinese cuisine which involves a wide range of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea. It is usually served in the mornings until noon time at Chinese restaurants and at specialty dim sum eateries where typical dishes are available throughout the day. Dishes come in small portions and may include meat, seafood, and vegetables, as well as desserts and fruit. The items are usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate. Yum cha (literally "tea drinking") is the term used to describe the dining session, especially in contemporary Cantonese.

Today I joined the OC Vampire Meetup at their monthly Dim Sum gathering. For me its akin to brunch with my family... since most of them are considered family to me.

I know... you're thinking, Vampires? In the daytime? Wha haha? Yeah, a bunch of daywalkers... just barely. Though some of them are so white they practically burn walking from the car to the front door, they're pretty nice people.

I arrived "fashionably" late only to discover we took up two large round tables and there were a cluster of individuals I did not recognize who were not eating, but sitting at the table.

They were students. No, not vampire students! College students, from a local art college and conducting interviews with the members to write a paper. I never found out what the paper was about though. In fact, they informed me they were students in a product design class. I began to wonder if they were attempting to get a leg up in the tough marketing industry by obtaining experience in new, fairly untapped niche markets like the vampire consumers. I'm fairly certain if they were to design some vampire product it would look great for their resume, provided they did a good job.

So I got to thinking about that niche market. With True Blood and Twilight being so heavily talked about, I wondered if anyone thought about gearing more products specifically for the vampire community. But then I remembered I live in Southern California which can tend to be a bit of a marketing bubble. We're unique in too many ways compared to the rest of the country, but we are also pioneers for trends.

Melissa and I got to talking about True Blood as a potential energy drink. We're both rather surprised no one has latched onto that idea and genuinely run with it. I could totally see it. And instead of regular flavor names they'd have to be A+, O+ and all the different blood types. Wouldn't that be fun?

I apparently missed it, but they did a huge marketing campaign for the drink in the tv show. It was geared to be a viral marketing campaign and worked so well that some folks thought it was for real and were asking for it!

In the tv show TruBlood is a synthetic blood the real vampires can drink instead of feasting on people.

It seems that enough momentum from the marketing campaign and the tv show seems there to help promote an actual drink product. I'm just sayin'...

But then I began to think about the stupid people and thought about why we have so many warning labels on things. I was thinking about some idiot trying to give themselves a blood transfusion using the drink. Of course, then that would put them in the running for a Darwin Award!

I also pictured more ignorant idiots, like the folks picketing for Yes on 8, protesting the drink saying its making people (insert stupid behavior here).

After we finished we did as is custom with all Meetup groups, we hung out in the parking lot and talked more. However, as I mentioned before, we have a few really pale people in the group so a couple of the girls brought out their parasols. It was cute.

Our conversations range from silly, to obscene, to highly political. I guess that was kind of redundant, huh? Anyway, we began talking about someone's mom saying she was supporting Yes on 8 and her reason was... ignorant, and totally incorrect. She thought a yes on 8 means the government won't be able to define what a marriage is and keeps it properly Christian. Lemme tell ya, a few of us got irritated right away.

Following on the heels of that story came another regarding the overall ignorance of many Americans who think we live in a Christian nation. Uh, hello? Folks, did you ever really read your history books in school? I guess not. A good place to start... read the Treaty of Tripoli.

The first treaty is cited as historical evidence in the contemporary controversy over whether there was religious intent by the founders of the United States government. Article 11 of the first treaty (1796) has been interpreted as an official denial of a Christian basis for the U.S. government.

Eventually the sun became too much for us so we dispersed. Most went to the Library... a place with lots and lots of books that clearly, many of Americans don't bother going to... and I came home to bug Sean, who went and bought himself a new computer. Lucky bastard.

It was a delightful afternoon with good friends.

My Interview with Rev. Don Lewis of Witch School

Back in February of this year I attended Pantheacon. I was surprised to be approached by Rev. Lewis and his crew as they asked to schedule me for an interview sometime during the convention. I was fit between big witch names like Amber K and Azrael K, Christopher Penzack, Macha Nightmare, Issac Bonewitz, Margot Adler and many others who's names I recognized.

I'm not sure who or how it happened, but upon entering the convention they told me they had heard from several individuals that they needed to interview me. They were actually more interested in my Meetups, than the work I do for CoG.

Not sure what delayed things, but my interview was added to their account today. It's a bummer it wasn't up sooner, it was also advertising Merry Meet, which was held in August. *shrug* Oh well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D8sgvoqjeA

My Secret isn't much of a secret, really...

On Tuesday Sept 16 @ 10PM (both Eastern and Pacific time) I will be making my national television debut. Back in March I spent two full days filming an episode of the Women's Entertainment Television Network's original series, The Secret Lives of Women - Occult.

My story will be featured with three other women who have totally different backgrounds. I am the Witch for the episode. The other three women include a psychic who helps the police, a vampire, and a Satanist.

I have no idea how much they kept since after all that they had to condense it down to 12 minutes because the show is only an hour long and in that time four stories are being told... plus commercials!

So if you have a moment, please check it out.

http://www.we.tv/