Recent Entries

laptop advice requested

If you were thinking of purchasing a new laptop (PC not Apple) in the next month or two... in advance of possible price increases, what would you choose?

I don't vid and I'm not a gamer, so don't need anything super high end, except that as I move into retirement next fall, I quite likely will discontinue my cable tv service (to save $$) so do expect to do some streaming on the laptop.

I currently have a 5 or 6 year old Dell that's still working fine but very HEAVY, and, aforementioned considerations of price upticks by the time this thing crashes.

thanks in advance!

(no subject)

In search of kinky Sandman fics. A multitude of pairings are possible, but curious if anyone has done Dream and Desire as Dom and bratty sub. :)

handmaid's tale

can we talk about that season ending?

i've only seen celebratory reviews, but i'm... not celebrating.

spoilers in comments!

murderbot diaries

On Gryphonrhi's excellent recommendation, I just read all the Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells).

Okay, so... SOMEONE has to have thought of this, right? Is anyone WRITING Sanctuary Moon?

I mean, a Kilgore Trout book showed up, eventually (Vonnegut's fictional author character)...

pace change

Last night's "His Dark Materials" was a bit of a pace change. I'm used to the pace being, shall we say, leisurely. In a good way!

Last night like 15 plot things happened!!!

Who else is watching this?

A dvar Torah using the Akeda as a starting off point

The Akeda is that troubling episode in the Bible where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Of course there is the reprieve, the angel calls out to Abraham to stop, and Isaac lives. There are literally thousands of interpretations to what is going on here and how we are to understand it (See "The Last Trial" by Shalom Spiegel, for example, for a review of medieval Jewish and Christian thought on this story). An interesting bit of context (per "The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son" by Jon Levenson): In the city of Carthage, 30,000 urns, each bearing the remains of several sacrificed children, were found. Accompanying the urns were tablets describing the sacrifice as an act of the greatest piety, of giving up one's most precious possession in service to their god. We learn two things from this: 1) Abraham understood the command to go up to the mountain in a culture where child sacrifice was *normative* and considered an act of great piety, and 2) in the ancient world, children were considered possessions. One reading of the Akeda story, therefore, is that God wanted to take Abraham to the brink of what he knew, and in that act, show him a better way. Thus animal sacrifice (the ram in the thicket) became the desired substitute for human sacrifice.

This made way for an evolution of consciousness (that did not happen all at once, but *could* happen) in which children could be seen as people in their own right. My take-away is that this story teaches us, not that we must now do animal sacrifice, but that the religious consciousness MUST evolve. And it must not STOP evolving. We no longer slaughter animals to appease God -- our prayers are the substitute. And similarly in all aspects of spiritual consciousness. It's not enough to go through the motions of familiar and comfortable practices and beliefs. If our traditions have any meaning, it's in meeting the ethical and moral challenges of OUR times, in the best ways that we know how.

Similarly, Isaiah teaches us to privilege social justice over ritual observance: "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. ... "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

To my friends, religious or not, spiritual or not -- the most spiritual thing you can do is seek justice -- not for some ever after realm, but now, with the people who share our world, the people calling out now. Wake up. The ram is in the thicket. The old way does not have to be the new way. Find your deepest connection, your deepest values, and live from there.
There is no better offering.
Shana Tovah u'Mtukah

a prayer for rain

a prayer for rain — please join me in this intention: Let healing waters, gentle waters, come into the parched and burning lands. Let lightning dissipate safely, and wind bring ever more healing rain. Let the land be healed, gently, gently. Let the earth drink the waters, drink deep, the underground network of fungi and trees distribute nutrients as needed in the communal earth. Let us remember the Earth, the Wind, the Rain, and the Light. Let us honor and respect Fire, for the warning it brings. Let us learn Balance, beyond deserving, beyond good and bad, free of this karma. Let us find kindness in our hearts to extend where there is need, and to receive where we have need. Amen, Selah, and so it is, so mote it be.

awww Babylon 5 re-runs

What if Ivanova IS God?

I want this fic soooo bad. #headcannon

hey!

dw is a thing! again. :)

nice to see the returnees. SLURP

Why the tv American Gods is like fanfic, and why that's a good thing

http://www.unboundworlds.com/2017/06/sex-maximalism-adaptation-fanfic-american-gods/

i got Passover gift fic!

and it's wonderful. thank you, Lanna!

some knowledge of Jewish things would be helpful for full effect. *grin*

http://archiveofourown.org/works/10487472/chapters/23136111?show_comments=true&view_full_work=false#comment_101011233

Escapade fundraiser -- Luminosity vid

Escapade is doing a fundraiser and one of the items is $500 for a custom vid by Luminosity. A bit too pricey for me, but if anyone is interested in partnering with me for one of the following fandoms, please let me know!

The Young Pope
Westworld
The Magicians
Lucifer

thanks!

poem: Passions

Time passes, passions change.
What used to stir, is now mere story,
a narrative of quickening, lacking sweat
and grime.

One wonders at some slow kindling,
a seed left in frozen soil.

Come spring, and rain,
the unmet pollen of new regard,
come bees, with their tiny licks,
intense but minuscule theater of foreplay.

I'm waiting.

Escapade

Anyone looking for a roommate? I am an early sleeper, and am allergic to down, which means any down pillows or comforters will be removed from the room. I'm told I have a very soft snore.

I'll be coming in a few days early so I'll have a room already.

memity meme meme

of course, what book happens to be the nearest to you is ... not exactly random.

Grab the nearest book, flip to page 117, the second sentence is your life in 2017.

"In historic Kabbalah there is a long tradition of seeing inevitable changes in the evolution of the feminine energy."

Emerald City

I'm liking it so far.

Though, ( Read more... )

dreams

has anyone else been dreaming about the trumpocolypse?

at this point, i can't recall details, but almost every night now, i dream with thoughts in my head about blocking cabinet appointees, arguing for clean air (i'm such an extremist, go figure) and other ruminations on the Task At Hand.

I worry i don't have the stamina (or courage) to do what Needs To Be Done in these times, but am heartened by such developments as Van Jones' Love Army and the fact that John McCain (bless his surly, inconsistent heart) and Lindsay Graham are joining dems in calling or a SERIOUS investigation into the Russian hack of America.

Also, love this: https://storify.com/vickifarmer/in-which-eric-garland-is-on-a-roll

long but absolutely worth reading the whole thing (nods to Luminosity for the heads up).

how is everyone else doing? have we found the balance of terror yet? the right to be absolutely, righteously afraid, AND the power and inspiration and solidarity to do something about it?

with love to all,

devo

n.b.: Ivanova is my power animal

WESTWORLD!!!!!!

who's watching?

Shall we talk about consciousness? What it is, who has it, how you get it?

Assume spoilers in comments.

reading assignment:

Julian Jaynes: The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

for any vidders considering Doctor Who vid ideas post Clara

Leonard Cohen, from his last album:

Traveling Light
Leonard Cohen

I’m traveling light
It’s au revoir
My once so bright
My fallen star

I’m running late
They’ll close the bar
I used to play
One mean guitar

I guess I’m just
Somebody who
Has given up
On the me and you
I’m not alone
I’ve met a few
Traveling light like
We used to do

Goodnight goodnight
My fallen star
I guess you’re right
You always are

I know you’re right
About the blues
You live some life
You’d never choose

I’m just a fool
A dreamer who
Forgot to dream
Of the me and you
I'm not alone
I’ve met a few
Traveling light like
We used to do

Traveling light
It’s au revoir
My once so bright
My fallen star

I’m running late
They’ll close the bar
I used to play
One mean guitar

I guess I’m just
Somebody who
Has given up
On the me and you
I’m not alone
I’ve met a few
Traveling light like
We used to do

But if the road
Leads back to you
Must I forget
The things I knew
When I was friends
With one or two
Traveling light like
We used to do
I'm traveling light

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen / Patrick Leonard / Adam Cohen

Traveling Light lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

one year

I miss my mom.

Lit a candle, cried about the election, bought chicken to make her chicken soup recipe (a lot of root vegetables are involved).

The Jewish calendar yartzeit is on the 29th, but this is the day she died.

I'll be meditating on the gift of life she gave me, and the life she and my father made out of the ashes, for the rest of my life.

Z'l