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After years of blogging on Blogger, I've decided to pack up the kitchen sink and start anew with Wordpress. Please check out more Absurd Jellyfish *here*!

http://absurdjellyfish.wordpress.com/

Snow Days

Ahhhh.... snow days.

I was lucky enough to get home last night before the big blast made commuting a pain in the gluteous maximus. A freind of mine, who left only 50 minutes later than I did, did not get home until THREE hours later than me. Yes, I was lucky!

I got to cuddle up to watch one of the best Lost episodes of the season (Richard Alpert's long awaited and highly anticipated back story). And even though we had a minor power outage 10 minutes before the epi aired (frightening) - it was smooth sailing for my satelite dish for the entire hour and 4 minunte long show. Whewww!

During the evening, however, the weather turned terribly nasty. My husband was told to remote in to his office for the night - which is good because the highway he takes up to Broomfield was shut down. School was cancelled for my tots - which by default enabled me to remote in to work myself this morning. I have to say, I get a heck of a lot more done when I'm remoting in. I think it's the lack of distractions and conversations that happen near my cubicle each day. Here, I can work something through to completion, more often than not.



Here's a cute shot of a chilly canine enjoying the snow. Not my dog, I must note. I snagged this from 9news.com's weather update page. No, my dog doesn't like to have her head hanging out of an open window. My dog has also been known to get very car sick. I tease her and tell her she can't truly be a canine if she doens't like to hang her head out an open window and stick her tongue out. She looks at me like I'm stupid. She does that a lot. :)

Everyone in CO who has a snow day today please enjoy it. The 90+ degree summer heat is only a blink of an eye away.

Happy Ostara

It was a bit chilly for celebrating out of doors here (with our new 8" of snow on the ground). But I had a special evening anyway. Here's a neat story on NPR this morning about the Vernal Equinox --


Spring Equinox Brings Balance, At Least To Eggs


I've been focusing on balance a lot lately, so very pertinent.

Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, and Hoodoo - an extremely brief history

After coming back from a wondrous, but regretfully brief, stay in the French Quarter of New Orleans, I have to say that I am quite smitten and inspired by the little bit of Voudou enlightenment that I received during my stay. Please note that the majority of the info I am sharing below comes from what I garnered on the Voodoo Tour I went on with Haunted History Tours. We were lucky enough to have the marvelous Kalila Smith as our tour guide. I’ll write more about the tours and the remarkable French Quarter itself in later posts, but today I’m going to focus on the basics of “What is Voodoo exactly?” to give you an idea of what I’m talking about when I reference the term.




Having a background with other Earth-based religions (Wicca and Paganism) I expected there to be a vast difference between what the pop culture representation of Voodoo is and what the religion really embraces. I assumed that, like Wicca and Paganism, it would be an early earth based religion that is tied to nature and several deities.

Interestingly, I learned that Voodoo *is* an early religion that ties deeply with nature through it's herbalistic arts, rituals, spells, and “root doctors”, but it is not a polytheistic religion as I had assumed. It is a monotheistic religion that worships one God, or one single divine creator, just as Christianity and Judaism do. With Voodoo you also get a Lwa which are a set of helpful entities or spirits akin the saints in Christian religions. This is often what makes people see it as a polytheistic religion, but in fact it is not.

New Orleans Voodoo is a mix of many things - Haitian Voodoo, Spanish traditional practices, and a dose of Catholic influence. Voodoo originated in West Africa where it is known as Vodon, Vodoun, Voudou, or Voodoo depending on the area. Vodún is the Gbe word word for spirit. According the wikipedia, Haitian Voodoo is based upon merging the beliefs and practices of West African Vodun with Arawakian religious beliefs and Roman Catholic Christianity, which was brought about as African slaves were brought to Haiti in the 16th century (for more see the wiki article here). A large group of free people of color migrated to New Orleans after the 1791 slave uprising in Santo Domingo. They brought their religion with them and were relegated to practicing it outside city limits (thanks to the Catholic Church). It was here, in Congo Park, now Louis Armstrong Park, that the New Orleans brand of Voodoo emerged – a blend of the Haitain tradition with a mixture Native American, Spanish and French traditions. My favorite place for New Orleans Voodoo necessities is Erzulies Authentic Voudou. It's a great little place run by a spirited lady who gave us a lot of information about the religion and it's origins in the city.




Now Hoodoo is something a bit different and I’m not as clear on that as I am the different types of Voodoo. As I understand it, hoodoo is more of a type of work and not a separate religion, it's a rootworker or a practitioner who works with herbs, spells, and tinctures. It is not relegated to the realm of Voodoo alone (it can be Wiccan or other religions as well), but can be used to mean anyone who works as a "Root Doctor". See Hoodoo explained in detail on the wiki. Please feel free to set me straight if I’ve muddied that one up J So that’s it. This little intro should help you understand my references to the religion in upcoming blurbs about the tours and the other wonderful ditties I will weave for you in future postings.

I love me some Terry O'Quinn

And wow!

Any episode featuring my ultimate favorite Lostie - Locke is going to WOW me. But tonight was more than I could have hoped for. Below, see a theory I've posted to the Lost-nether-world on The Transmission (awesome - most favorite podcast). I <3 you Ryan and Jen! Also to YuBlog (I also adore Jay and Jack!!!)

The Transmission Post

# LostNTonic Says:
February 16th, 2010 at 6:22 pm

OMG I love Locke episodes, even when he’s dead :)

So … The NUMBERS! HFC – the numbers = our losties. Jacob must’ve made that list eons ago and that’s why lists are so important. So anyone get screenshots yet, who is 4,8,15,16,23,42 exactly? 6 numbers. Oceanic 6. So Kate and Aaron are a number too? Ironic that all those guys would end up on the island together.

My crackpot theory of the week? UnLocke will wage war against Jacob’s crew. The end result will catapult our Losties back into another “loop” of time and course correct. Making the “flash sideways” segments what happens after the last “thud” of LOST on the island.

:)
Tammy


and

My similar (copied and pasted) YuBlog post...



Pictures courtesy of Yublog.org and especially giving credit to Cesar Altamirano of onigun.com.

First Impressions of Lost Season 6

Lots of cool thoughts about Lost after watching this first episode of the 6th and final season. But the first run through felt a lot like being on a roller coaster going down hill at full speed, zipping around turns and twists, getting rush after rush, only to come rolling into the "station" at a complete stop all too soon.

I sat down last night (6 days after my first watch) and tried to pick up on more subtleties. Here are some thoughts:

*Jack, a spinal surgeon and Locke, a paraplegic have been stranded on the island together for all these years. How was that connection get lost on me?

*We had to watch Juliette die? AGAIN? As if once wasn't enough. However... going dutch for coffee??? I totally believe that Juliette and Sawyer's paths will cross in our sideways timeline. They will get coffee. Juliette will offer to go dutch. Sawyer will pay :)

*Hurley - you go man. I have a gun and I know how to use it! LMAO - he's the best!

*UnLocke - Sorry you had ot see me like that. BEST line of the night. That was awesome. So Locke = Smokie. I'm not surprised. What does that mean for the Locke body on the beach? Smokie doesn't need the body to become the persona. So who else has Smokie been all this time? Why does the person need to be dead before he inhabits their form if he doesn't need their body?

*Jacob / Man in Black - still don't know wtf. Will wait a bit longer to throw out any decent theories.

*New timeline - I like it, but it's also a bit weird. I believe the two will mesh and we see that the LA timeline is actually where we pick up at the end of our on island timeline (thus giving us some answers as to what happens once the group finally gets off the island).

*Sayid - Why did the other others have to get him out of his Dharma jumpsuit before putting him in the water? They didn't have to remove his dirty, smelly, bloody black clothes. But specifically the Dhamra garb. Why?

*Other Others - they kinda make me laugh. I hope they become a bit more palatable soon. They seem comic in nature. But that may just be me.

*UnLocke telling Ben that he "wants to go home" and that he's the only one on the island who truly did. What about Rose and Bernard. They didn't want to go home.

Ok, more on Lost after tonight's episode - What Kate Does.

T minus 62 minutes...

Until the (last ever) premiere for Lost's final season. Both exciting and heart wrenching all at once. Once this is all over - What great mysteries will I ponder, what puzzles will I decode, what TV show will engross me the way Lost has?

Yikes, maybe I don't *want* the answers to all the questions :)