A good friend who’s a choir director introduced me to Vienna Teng’s “The Hymn of Acxiom†because it’s creepy, artistic, and amazing. Read the lyrics while you listen, and see if you don’t get chills and possibly a tick or two when the electronic chords morph into dissonance as the lyrics subtly change. Teng named...
As I explained last week, I have long hair. I hadn’t really thought about the possible environmentally negative consequences of long hair until Jax got me thinking about the products I use to care for my hair. I’ve continued thinking about the “cost†of long hair. Actually, I’ve been thinking about this for a while....
Today is my birthday. (The day that I’m writing this is, anyway. You’re probably not reading it on my birthday.) It’s started out awesome! My DH brought me breakfast in bed and I fended off the cats from stealing my bacon. I got an email telling me I got an interview for a part time...
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!†No one has ever said these exact words to me, but I have been (jokingly) called Rapunzel at one time or another. That’s because I have long hair. From crown to end, it’s about 24 inches when it’s styled with a roller brush — meaning my natural waves are...
Everything natural decomposes. It rots and/or grows mold, and eventually returns to the earth in the universe’s greatest recycling plan. This is awesome for long-term sustainability, but not so great when you want to make something now and use it later or kill something now (plant or animal) and eat it later. Hence humans have...
I’ve been taking photos of sunrises and sunsets from my car these past six or so months. A car isn’t the ideal vantage point for a beautiful photograph, but it’s where I find myself when I’m gazing skyward these days. I don’t spend a lot of time in my car, mind you. It just so...
If you haven’t read last week’s distinction between soap and detergent, you might want to do that first  as this will make more sense! Before I get started explaining the ingredients, here are three important but not related things. I’m not a chemist or a doctor. I’m a romance novelist who runs a Pagan blog...
Before soap labels can make sense, the distinction between soap and detergent must be made. Soap and detergent are the two main category of cleaners we use, both in home cleaning products and on our bodies. I have a natural “soap good, detergent bad!†prejudice when it comes to my skin. I decided to do...
One of the things I’ve had to learn how to do over the past few years is read ingredients labels, and I started with packaged food. For people with sensitive systems (like me) it’s important to monitor what we consume. I’ve also had to accept that the things I put onto my body, like lotion,...
Last week I wrote about the overlap and differences between the Wicca (and all-around “generally Paganâ€) Wheel of the Year and Heathen holidays. In the course of writing that article, I learned a bit about Heathen holidays myself – as is often (and happily) the case when we write articles for the Realm. I learned...
The naming of kids is a difficult matter. It isn’t just one of your holiday games… ~ T.S. Eliot’s A Practical Book of Cats (sort of) I’m so excited! Our illustrious webmistress and esteemed friend had a baby this weekend! Pass the Topo Chico! Mom and son are in perfect health and everything is looking...
I try to be a good Heathen, but as a Wiccan convert I am sometimes confused about when I should observe my faith according to Heathen holy days (henceforth “holidaysâ€). When I first chose Heathenry over Wicca, just because it is a better fit for me, I figured the Wheel of the Year was a...
