Chat Thread: Chopsticks and teacups

[Kingyo Majo]

Strega Mama

so, while i was in the library at my college campus looking for books for my research papers (one on running a CSA and one on weight politics in bellydance) I found a big green book, nearly identical to the one on my avatar, titled "Italian Popular Tales" I flipped it open to see a huge list of Italian fairy tales, including most of Pietri's work. In english. You can bet your biscuits I checked that sucker out. Now I dont have to spend over $200 to fill in the gaps of my knowledge of sicilian folklore! There are no words for how excited I am!

Oooohh I'd like to hear some Italian fairy tales! Can you post some? They sound interesting! biggrin  

[Satyr Prince]

Kingyo Majo

Strega Mama

so, while i was in the library at my college campus looking for books for my research papers (one on running a CSA and one on weight politics in bellydance) I found a big green book, nearly identical to the one on my avatar, titled "Italian Popular Tales" I flipped it open to see a huge list of Italian fairy tales, including most of Pietri's work. In english. You can bet your biscuits I checked that sucker out. Now I dont have to spend over $200 to fill in the gaps of my knowledge of sicilian folklore! There are no words for how excited I am!

Oooohh I'd like to hear some Italian fairy tales! Can you post some? They sound interesting! biggrin

Sure! I'll prolly make a thread for them tomorrow, too tired tonight after taking the twins out. i'd want a record of them anyways, lol.  

[Marine-Kitty]

*flops* I'm at my wit's end. I feel as if I have been bashing my head against brick walls and chasing my tail for nearly a month. Every day for the past month I have read at least two websites on the subject of witchcraft and I still don't feel any closer to my goal. I have a lot more information then I did before, but there is no order to it.

Some believe traditional witchcraft and religion was on in the same, others don't. Forums I look forward to joining no longer accept membership registrations. Pagan and witchcraft are not one in the same. I feel like Willow in the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when she tries to go to the Witch's meet at her college.

It's pretty simple what I want, and everyone is making it so difficult. Hedgwitch; where in Western Europe does it originate? Am I privileged to walk the hedge if I am of British Isles decent? No I don't know if my family was Saxton, Celtic, or the other one. I'm sure I'm a mix of all at this point. Yes, it does matter to me even if it doesn't to you. Even in a new age I don't want to walk on the toes of those who are of the traditional practice. Yes I am a tenacious b***h who doesn't let go till all the flavor has been sucked from a bone.[/personal rant]

There ARE a few pluses of trudging through all of the crap: ...At the very least I know how to do a smudging, and when they are needed. I'm now around people who can offer ideas.

Strega none of this is aimed at you. Please don't think that it is. I'm just needing to vent my frustration with all of this. I'm sure you have done it yourself. I'm so grateful that you have been able to open these possibilities for me. You are a good friend. Remind me to make you some leek soup the next time I get the chance.

EDIT: A few more hours of digging and like a bolt of lightning it hits me. I AM a witch! Read this, and now I get it. This person and I have the same outlook on traditional witchcraft.  

[Satyr Prince]

Kingyo Majo

Oooohh I'd like to hear some Italian fairy tales! Can you post some? They sound interesting! biggrin

I put a couple up in my pathway thread, i'm transcribing them into my livejournal and linking in the thread so as to not take up much space.  

[Bane of Ezekiel]

Holy bullshit. Project Conversion made me feel uncomfortable in general. But his Religion of the MonthTM is Wicca for October.

And some pagans and Wiccans are angry. As this rant explains: Wiccan rant  

[Esiris]

Marine-Kitty

Some believe traditional witchcraft and religion was on in the same, others don't.

That's a common mistake because some people think their introduction is the only right one- I get it kind of. If someone likes an author and they give good information that works for them, it's easy to think they're right about everything.

Quote:

Hedgwitch; where in Western Europe does it originate? Am I privileged to walk the hedge if I am of British Isles decent? No I don't know if my family was Saxton, Celtic, or the other one. I'm sure I'm a mix of all at this point. Yes, it does matter to me even if it doesn't to you. Even in a new age I don't want to walk on the toes of those who are of the traditional practice. Yes I am a tenacious b***h who doesn't let go till all the flavor has been sucked from a bone.[/personal rant]

Hedgecraft isn't a closed practice to my knowledge- I think I saw the word was Old German.
I'm glad you found something that works though!  

[Marine-Kitty]

@Esiris- I find that I have to word things carefully so as not to make a generalized statement. I don't need to be chewed out for making a dumb assumption. cat_gonk

I am so relieved to have finally reached the point where I am comfortable in what I know. I still have much to learn, but the rest seems like smooth sailing.

Quote:

Holy bullshit. Project Conversion made me feel uncomfortable in general. But his Religion of the MonthTM is Wicca for October.

And some pagans and Wiccans are angry. As this rant explains: Wiccan rant

...I just had a deja vu with this.

Also, you know you've done bad when you are able to piss off a bunch of Wiccans all at once. They may believe in three fold, but they will curse you in other ways. XD  

[Bane of Ezekiel]

Marine-Kitty

Quote:

Holy bullshit. Project Conversion made me feel uncomfortable in general. But his Religion of the MonthTM is Wicca for October.

And some pagans and Wiccans are angry. As this rant explains: Wiccan rant

...I just had a deja vu with this.

Also, you know you've done bad when you are able to piss off a bunch of Wiccans all at once. They may believe in three fold, but they will curse you in other ways. XD

You know you've hit the bullshit meter's high when a Chaote, whose entire practice all these years basically has been a more respectful version of Project Conversion, wants to kick you in the face.  

[AniMajor]

So, I'm thinking of joining the National Guard. The idea of an 8-year commitment terrifies me, I'm worried that the job I'd want to do will turn me into a terrible person, and I have to somehow explain this to my mom, who is totally against any of her children enlisting.

Let me revise my question: How do I convince my parents that this is a good idea and I can totally handle it, even if I'm not sure it's a good idea or that I can handle it?  

[Fiddlers Green]

AniMajor

So, I'm thinking of joining the National Guard. The idea of an 8-year commitment terrifies me, I'm worried that the job I'd want to do will turn me into a terrible person, and I have to somehow explain this to my mom, who is totally against any of her children enlisting.

Let me revise my question: How do I convince my parents that this is a good idea and I can totally handle it, even if I'm not sure it's a good idea or that I can handle it?

~murgle~
First of all, before I can create an argument for why this is a good idea to present to your kin, I need to know the MOS you are trying to get. This is an MOS supported by your local guard unit yes? PM me if you don't want that bit public.
Most of my military experience is a decade old, but I still have several comrades in.
The 8 year commitment is not without some wiggle room and much of that is likely to be inactive, especially if we manage our withdraws, and the slashes to the DoD go thru.
Now, the Guard is currently selling itself as more of the local emergency relief group (if only FEMA were so well supported), rather than the second Reserves which it became in recent years. This illusion can work to your benefit.  

[AniMajor]

Fiddlers Green

~murgle~
First of all, before I can create an argument for why this is a good idea to present to your kin, I need to know the MOS you are trying to get. This is an MOS supported by your local guard unit yes? PM me if you don't want that bit public.
Most of my military experience is a decade old, but I still have several comrades in.
The 8 year commitment is not without some wiggle room and much of that is likely to be inactive, especially if we manage our withdraws, and the slashes to the DoD go thru.
Now, the Guard is currently selling itself as more of the local emergency relief group (if only FEMA were so well supported), rather than the second Reserves which it became in recent years. This illusion can work to your benefit.

Well, actually, since I posted, the situation has become slightly different. I thought it over for a while and realized that going into the Guard puts me in just about the same position I'm in right now, except with an extra commitment every month.

I've done an internship that ended up with about the same time in-job as the Guard would give me (except, obviously without the 8-year commitment), and I realized that I really couldn't get anywhere with them because they'd never really have a chance to know me. If I spend three years in the active part of the guard, supposing I don't get shipped out or called to real active duty, then I'd spend roughly 2 and half months doing whatever job. If any employer saw that I spent only 2 and a half months at a job before I quit, they'd have serious concerns about hiring me. It's an awful lot of commitment for not a lot of benefit.

The problem is that I'm still working part-time, and going into the Guard puts me about 3-9 months away from a job that, ultimately, can be filled by a smart high-school student. Not only that, but I get to spend 3-9 months doing the Army thing and working towards a goal only to return home to a part-time job that has absolutely no room for advancement. Then I get to go play Army on the weekends in a job that I'm not really going to get good at.

So, I'm thinking, why not just go for it and join the Army for real? That way, I have an actual job that I can get good at, show people that I'm not just some random idiot, and make more money in two weeks than I would in several months working part-time. Not only that, but I live near an Army base and they have a military intelligence group that I could possibly join. Of course, the chances of it working out that way are slim, but still.

The issue with this is that it's absolutely enlisting. And, in some ways I'm still buying time for the economy to bounce back enough that I can get a job in the field I graduated in. Also, I could die in a way that is much more a product of my choices than my current path.

But my mom will be upset. And I'm not sure I have to willpower to go through with it if my mom doesn't want me to.  

[Fiddlers Green]

Happy Halloween for those who celebrate that incarnation.

Ani...
Full enlistment is a massive commitment and the chances of getting station do choice, even if it is in your contract is slim at best.
Any soldier, Guard, Reservist, or RA is a veteran and equally entitled to the same (rapidly diminishing) benefits. This includes federal programmes that create preferential hiring for vets. The only wild card in that is whether you are wounded/maimed.
How much college are you going in with?
If you have a Bachelor's or more you may be able to go for OCS and be commissioned for awhile rather than enlisting. The pay and level of dignity/living conditions you are treated with are significantly better.
some jobs are not available in the RA save in Airborne or other "special qualification" units. Commissioned and some NCO positions in the Guard are full time.

Tho some may harp otherwise, the Guard is the Real Army. They bore the brunt of our initial adventures in the Middle East.  

[AniMajor]

Fiddlers Green

Happy Halloween for those who celebrate that incarnation.

Ani...
Full enlistment is a massive commitment and the chances of getting station do choice, even if it is in your contract is slim at best.
Any soldier, Guard, Reservist, or RA is a veteran and equally entitled to the same (rapidly diminishing) benefits. This includes federal programmes that create preferential hiring for vets. The only wild card in that is whether you are wounded/maimed.
How much college are you going in with?
If you have a Bachelor's or more you may be able to go for OCS and be commissioned for awhile rather than enlisting. The pay and level of dignity/living conditions you are treated with are significantly better.
some jobs are not available in the RA save in Airborne or other "special qualification" units. Commissioned and some NCO positions in the Guard are full time.

Tho some may harp otherwise, the Guard is the Real Army. They bore the brunt of our initial adventures in the Middle East.

I figured that I'd probably be stationed somewhere random for a couple of years, or the duration of my initial commitment. In some ways, that's okay, because it's just like going away to college again (in terms of being away from friends and family), in other ways, I'd really prefer not to be stationed in one of the -stans.

I have a bachlor's degree, which is part of the reason I'm looking at the army. I've been out of school for almost 4 years and haven't been able to find a real job.

I'll look at being commissioned in the Guard. I've spent hours and hours looking online for information and it's pretty thin. I'm hesitant to talk to a recruiter just yet because I'm still undecided on what I'm going to do and I've heard horror stories about dishonest recruiters. It still seems like a big commitment finding a good recruiter.  

[Fiddlers Green]

AniMajor

I figured that I'd probably be stationed somewhere random for a couple of years, or the duration of my initial commitment. In some ways, that's okay, because it's just like going away to college again (in terms of being away from friends and family), in other ways, I'd really prefer not to be stationed in one of the -stans.

I have a bachlor's degree, which is part of the reason I'm looking at the army. I've been out of school for almost 4 years and haven't been able to find a real job.

I'll look at being commissioned in the Guard. I've spent hours and hours looking online for information and it's pretty thin. I'm hesitant to talk to a recruiter just yet because I'm still undecided on what I'm going to do and I've heard horror stories about dishonest recruiters. It still seems like a big commitment finding a good recruiter.

If you are enlisted, you live in barracks. Barracks often suck. The worst ones should have been replaced by now, but it depends on unit. Much in the Army depends on the unit you are assigned to.

Recruiters are rarely honest as they have in the past had unrealistic quotas and often continue the proud tradition of deception that their recruiter taught them. On the other hand, they may not know the answers to your questions and instead make assumption. Try to find someone with the MOS you are going for and talk to them.

Make sure the OCS option is in writing if you do go for commission.
Also, get ready to be treated without the tiniest shred of dignity or respect, and know that once you start this job, it is very hard to quit and they are free to renegotiate your contract potentially on a whim. You do not have that option. Keep your Rep or Senator's number handy in case chicanery ensues.  

[TeaDidikai]

I picked three hundred pounds of apples this weekend.
I'm making cider, sass and sauce, apple butter and apple jelly,apple tarts, pies and cakes, apple dumplings, fritters and pasties and pickled apples.