asleif_dufansdottir

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Posts by asleif_dufansdottir

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  24

  Confession time

  by looking_glass in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, so i was at an free out door festival about a week ago.

  there was a rather dirty looking woman there with her little yorkie, who looked rather skinny and was a little mangy.

  so i asked the woman if i could pet the dog.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  Ringworm is actually caused by a fungus (actually, I guess, fungi). Athlete's foot and jock itch are actually caused 'ringworm' fungi. The fungi are common and actually can be found in soil, but will grow in any warm, moist area. The problem is when the fungus grows quickly and multiplies in areas where you sweat alot (groin or toes) or where there are minor injuries to your skin (scratches, etc). Most of us come into contact quite regularly with the fungus, and healthy people usually fight it off with no effects, but sometimes we come up against a particularly virulent strain.

  People and animals whose immune system is not up to par for whatever reason (illness or poor nutrition) will pick it up when somebody else won't.
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  78

  Favorite Band as a teenager........

  by whyamihere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as a teenager, what was your favorite band?

  this band can be a local, main stream etc..... my favorite local band was little blue crunchy things, they were from milwaukee, wi.

  (even hung out with them)!

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  Dang, SirNose, you've got GREAT taste in music! You forgot the Commodores! "Slippery When Wet" is still all hot and funky. I have the live version.

  Let's see, that would be 1975-1981 for me; pretty lean years music wise.

  TEX!!!!! YOU HERETIC!!!!! What is wrong with you???

  My taste has always been eclectic. In addition to the groups SirNose mentioned, I had lots of albums by the Bee Gees (don't you laugh at me! I can hear you over there!! Barry was HOT) and John Denver (yeah I like John Denver, wanna make something of it???).

  I still like all the music I liked back then.
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  53

  After 4 years, an introduction (hope it works this time!)

  by gwyneth in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ive been a member of this board for just over four years, and i have never posted an introduction.

  i mostly stick to the "fluff" threads, because they are safe.

  i wont be attacked for an unpopular point of view, or hurt anyone elses feelings.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  That is a great first post!

  Some of us, after having spent ages and ages writing something, only to loose it when we hit "submit post"...have learned to copy these 'blood sweat and tears' posts before we hit 'submit'. That way, all we have to do is "paste" if it disappears into the ether!
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  26

  How tolerant are you?

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was just skimming through lt's intolerance thread and it seemed to me that sometimes tolerance is a terrible thing.

  we don't tolerate racism, sexism or abuse and punish it when we can.

  we expose and ridicule individuals and corporations if they are found guilty of fraud or deceit because we are intolerant of dishonesty.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  Not very tolerant at all and getting worse the older I get.

  For evidence, see the "My Meeting with the Elders..." thread
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  51

  My Meeting with the Elders...

  by rassillon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is most likely still very far away but i wanted to share with you guys one of the things i am thinking about doing when/if i do meet.

  i plan on getting my chl (concealed carry permit)

  then i am going to get a shoulder holster.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  When it comes to subjects like guns, choose your words carefully.

  Yes, because it won't be the "anti-guns crowd" who kick your butt the hardest. It will be those of us who own and who carry, who take a dim view of those who do and say dumb crap. We have no tolerance for those who make us look bad, stupid and dangerous.

  And don't whine and blame any of us for "misunderstanding" you. When you make "jokes" about guns you'd better make damned good and sure that it's crystal clear it's meant as a joke.

  The threat of losing the right to own and carry guns is *real* (ask anyone who's tried to get a permit to carry a gun in NYC or California...and don't give me that crap about 'they should move"). As a gun owner and advocate, anything you say can and will be used against all of us in the court of public opinion.

  So knock that sh*t off.
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  42

  Film: Grizzly Man

  by MegaDude in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what a whacked out character timothy treadwell was.. this documentary and story, told mostly through treadwell's own video, is about a man who wanted to be a friend of grizzly bears and perhaps maybe be a grizzly bear.

  he took off for alaska where for long stretches of time he would "commune" with these huge killer bears and film them.

  he seemed to think he had nothing to fear because he was operating at a higher level of spirituality and that the bears sensed it.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  I saw the documentary. It's been a while. If I recall correctly, he was there to videotape people who were breaking the laws against harassment of the bears, etc, and trying to get the Park service to enforce their own regulations about it? (I seem to remember something about contractors bringing in tourists and breaking the laws as it was a preserve of some sort)

  Whenever you hear people talking about the guy, you almost never hear that, as one of the earlier posters said, it wasn't "his" bears (I hate that term)...it wasn't the regular population of bears he'd gotten to know and be able to 'read' and who had gotten used to him over the years he was there...who killed him. The bears he watched had gone into hibernation and other, strange, bears had come into the territory. One of those killed him and his girlfriend.

  I'm an environmental anthropologist and I hang around with a *lot* of biologist/researchers. Living for months at a time out in the wilderness is something that some of them do. There are risks, but it's not a death sentence to spend time around big carnivores if you know what you're doing and you're careful. The man *did* anthropomorphise the animals to a huge extent, but a lot of the really dangerous-looking stuff he did, was after he'd been out in the field a long time, had learned to read the bears, and they were used to him. It was still dangerous and foolish but not as bad as it looked. He didn't just get off the plane and run up to hug the bears.

  He was kind of a nutjob but he wasn't as big a nutjob as he's often portrayed.
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  51

  My Meeting with the Elders...

  by rassillon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is most likely still very far away but i wanted to share with you guys one of the things i am thinking about doing when/if i do meet.

  i plan on getting my chl (concealed carry permit)

  then i am going to get a shoulder holster.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  As I said before I would never joke with an actual gun

  You shouldn't joke with toy guns either.

  Just this morning, on one of my gun owner's forums, there was a post from a man who'd had a car full of teenagers squeal to a stop in front of him, blocking the road, and one of them jumped out with a gun in his hand, racking the slide. The guy, being a CCW holder, pulled his gun, took cover from behind his jeep, informed them he was armed and calling 911, and ordered them to drop the weapon. The kid freaked, dropped the gun and they took off. When the cops got there, they found out it was a toy (airsoft), that'd had the orange parts covered with a sharpie. The kid damned near got shot. When the cops caught them, the kids said, "Did you catch the crazy guy who pointed a gun at us?" The cops explained to them what a CCW was and that if the guy had shot one of them and killed them he'd have been perfectly justified.

  My guns are not for use in silly intimidation games. I wouldn't bother to *disarm* before a meeting with the elders but I wouldn't be brandishing either. I certainly wouldn't wear a fake gun, just to try and scare them or make myself feel big. That's just juvenile. Anyone who'd do that doesn't have any business carrying a real one. In fact. I wouldn't bother to be meeting with the elders.

  Once more, with feeling, just in case anybody isn't getting the picture of how real, grown up, responsible gun owners act, and how they feel about juvenile people, who get a hard-on at the thought of scaring people with a gun, suggest stupid things:

  Take the conceal carry class and pay real close attention. If you display the weapon to intimidate and the police are called, you will be the one in trouble. At the very least you will lose your carry permit. I have a carry permit and I ask you not to do this. Your tactic could be used as ammo by the anti-permit people if they find out about it and it would be justified. If you have any doubt that I am correct, ask your conceal carry instructor and be ready for a good ass chewing. A better idea might be for you to just take the class, but don't purchase the weapon until you lose the cavalier attitude. The only time I would consider showing my weapon would be if I felt my life was in imminent danger, not because some "janitors in suits" want to talk to me. If you feel so strongly about not having these people in your house don't let them in. Its really not that complicated.
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  106

  Well, I think my apartment is haunted.

  by Steve Lowry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yep, thats right, haunted.

  i have never had a dwelling place with so many unexplained noise and goings on.

  lights that have been turned off, magically turn back on and visa versa.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  I can't really think of much of anything I have strict rules for.

  I take to heart the phrase, "the power's in the witch, not the wand" so, for me, the important thing is what the symbol, color, item or action 'conjurs up' for me, personally. This can be different things at different times. I wasn't taught any particular tradition. I prefer to use things that are going to work with what's already in my conscious and subconscious rather than 're-learning' to associate colors, scents or items according to how someone else does it.

  That being said, though, I usually agree with the correspondences of the more traditional...I just don't spend lots of times looking around in books digging up references for what you're "supposed" to use or have, or how things 'must' be done. Definitely more of a kitchen witch than ceremonial magician! Now, if I want something to "feel" special I will do a little research for maybe an herbal incense, or something like that, on the principle that going to the extra effort will make it more meaningful.

  I find the experience of a ritual to be much more powerful if I draw on personal experiences and emotions. Scent, in particular, is a very powerful memory tool. Perhaps there was some special scent I associate with the happiest times in childhood, where I felt safe and cared for...I would use that scent to re-charge rather than what someone else told me I was "supposed" to use. Make sense? Nothing wrong with the thing you're "supposed" to use, just that the other would make for a more effective ritual (IMHO).

  I'm a bit confused, though...I double checked and I did say salt & water and incense for cleansing...

  And it occurs to me that I forgot something...there can be a place in the house blessing/cleansing where you welcome (only the) good, positive things/energies in...I'd probably do it after I claimed the space.

  Let me reiterate...I don't think any of this type of thing is just for a particular religious belief or spirituality. In fact, I don't believe in the 'supernatural'...I believe that what some people call supernatural is in fact just plain natural (ie-if in fact harm comes to a loved one a thousand miles away and you know it immediately, it's a natural and not a 'supernatural' phenomenon). If something works, it works...for Pagans, Christians, Jews...whatever. Stuff like "holy water" and incense has been used by countless different religions. For whatever reason (psychology, spirituality) it certainly seems to keep doing the trick.
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  29

  Just because we fooled you shouldn't stop you from fooling your kids!

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  parents are naturally concerned that their children not make the same mistakes they did.

  the society seem to be worried about the power of this impulse to protect one's children.

  page 161 of the new book live with jehovah's day in mind reads:a dampening of our expectation of jehovah's great day could reveal itself in the advice we give to our children or to others.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  I'm surprised they even *mention* it. Their standard operating procedure is to deny stuff like that (ie-"We never told you that") rather than explain it away.
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  106

  Well, I think my apartment is haunted.

  by Steve Lowry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yep, thats right, haunted.

  i have never had a dwelling place with so many unexplained noise and goings on.

  lights that have been turned off, magically turn back on and visa versa.

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  asleif_dufansdottir

  My suggestion is that you not only cleanse your apartment of anything that happens to be lingering around, you bless it and claim it as your space. It's not rocket science. As it's *your* home you certainly have the authority to do this yourself (whatever your religious belief).

  First Clean the place. Literally. Clean all the surfaces you can, mop the floors, clean all the rooms, scrub the toilet, vacuuume, etc. (by doing this you are not only physically cleaning, you're using the power of your subconscious).

  I'm fond of "write your own" ceremonies (they don't have to be particularly formal, mine never are), using stuff that makes sense to *you*. You can either do the ceremony by yourself, have your daughter help (good as she was afraid), or invite like-minded friends over and turn it into a party (always fun if they won't think you're strange).

  THe basic structure is this:

  1. get rid of unwanted stuff (dirt, energies, 'spirits' if you believe in that sort of thing)
  2. cleanse the space (physically, spiritually, emotionally)
  3. claim the space as your own (as simple as an announcement that 'this is my home, I claim it as my own, I say what goes here!')

  Suggestions:

  banishing: open all the doors and windows you can to allow things to 'escape', move counterclockwise throughout the home, sweeping (New broom) the old, unwanted stuff away as you go, 'sweep' from inside to out, all the doors and windows; also good for banishing is noise (kids like this) noisemakers, banging on pots and pans, etc...pretend you're chasing or driving the old, negative, unwanted stuff out

  For the rest of the ceremony, actions move clockwise, the direction of bringing in and welcoming

  cleansing: candles, incense (the type your church uses if you're Christian and they have one), holy water if you're Catholic, Sage and Sweetgrass (burn the actual leaves [ps-not culinary sage, you can buy bundles of sage to burn]); I personally cleanse with

  fire and air: incense or sage - 'smudge' the rooms, esp the doors and windows

  earth and water: water mixed with salt (earth) - sprinkle it on stuff, esp the doors and windows

  Claiming: mark your territory as you see fit. I have a friend that loves special stones and uses them to mark the boundaries of her space, be creative. I don't recommend doing it the way dogs do, though...