Thirteen Tidbits About Me

1. I was always a control freak. As a kid, I used to get “rather upset” if I could not be “the most powerful/fastest/kickass” pony [yes, we played My Little Ponies] on the playground. I have not changed all that much. *laugh*
2. My first memory of my best friend isn’t of her at all. Rather, it’s of her little sister begging me on the playground not to ‘be mean’ to her big sister, A. I was baffled, since, while I was a control freak, I was not near mean, powerful, fast, or kickass enough to /actually/ kick other kids off the swings, even if I was in third grade.
3. I used to believe that I wanted to live in this little town forever, since I loved it so. Then, as a teenager, I hated it like my grandmother hates snakes, and wanted nothing more to leave. This lasted, actually, well into my early twenties. Then I moved back anyway, and found that while I still want to leave, it’s not so bad as all that.
4. I am a freak of nature. Read: virgin at nearly 25. This not really bother me [too much], but I’m starting to feel like an old biddy. Certain friends (A…) think I /am/ an old biddy. Not just because of the virginal chasteness, but because I actually act like one, too. Knitting, baking bread, buying appliances…
5. Actually, the words she used was “has no life”. This, she tells to my coworkers! As if they couldn’t tell. You don’t work the night shift and have a life anyway.
6. I have found the coolest song ever. It’s called Baba Yetu, and it’s this sweet tribal African Swahili music or something. Incredibly catchy. The fascinating thing is that the lyrics are actually a songful rendition of the Our Father prayer, and it is a great piece of music.
7. Speaking of Christian music, I still have a large collection from my teenage “listen to only pure, chaste, Christian stuff” phase, and surprsingly, I still like a lot of it. Spiritual music is spiritual music, and even if the names and faces and words don’t match my current ideology, there’s something incredibly reverent about some of it. And other songs are just plain fun.
8. On the other side of the coin, there are some really catchy raunchy rap songs that I can’t help but love to sing dirty with. Their ideologies aren’t mine, either (trashing women? Puh-leez, go back to your caves, you jackasses!) But what can I say, I’m a dual-faced tiger, and sometimes those beats are just sexy.
9. I do not shave my legs in the winter, except on occasion, like at Christmastime, when I might be doing something in some sort of outfit that requires it. I think I got this habit from the hippies at Evergreen State College.
10. I will probably be moving this fall to go back to college, though it’s not set in stone. I’ve been wanting this for two years, and yet… a part of me hopes it’ll all fall through and I’ll be “stuck” here for another year. I hate school. I hate apartment life. I don’t want to move again, for god’s sakes, I just moved last September! I want to have a garden, and I can’t if I’m gonna leave before I could get around to harvesting it. [Well, I could, and I will, but it won’t have most of the things I want to grow in it.]
11. I am secretly desperately afraid I’ll fail if I do go back to college, even though I know I am friggin smart and completely ABLE to do the work, it’s just that I am also friggin self sabotage master.
12. I have been wondering lately: what is WITH all the new ten trillion flavors of doritos? They’re all, like, the same. Spicy, Spicy, and More Spicy.
13. I have started a knitting project that has not gone belly up! It’s the Misty Garden scarf, from Scarf Style, though I got it out of Interweave’s Holiday Knitting magazine, not the book. And I’m not doing it in the same yarn, or even anything remotely close, but instead, I’m doing it in Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Tweed, in a pretty pretty sage green. Very soft and cottony and silky and lovely. Maybe it’ll be a present for someone!

This week, I decided to do something difficult. Really difficult. But I’m trying to be appreciative of what I have, rather than constantly lusting after what I cannot. So… without any further introduction, here is 13 Things I Love About Montana. Okay, maybe ‘love’ is a bit harsh for all of these. Hopefully, I’ll actually make it through to number 13.

Thirteen Things I Love About Montana

1. The night sky. I lived in Washington State for several years, and though I loved it there, I never really could see the stars in the sky. Here, I can. And I love it. All I need now is a telescope, or even a pair of binoculars.
2. The sunrises and the sunsets. Goes with the above, but I thought I should split it up. I’ll be lucky to get thirteen things on this list as it is! But god, the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful here.
3. That there’s four seasons here. Sometimes, they get all mixed up, and we get seventy degrees in the middle of what should be Cold Enough To Freeze Atoms, or a snowstorm over Memorial Day, but whatever. It’s Montana. The weather is unpredictable at best.
4. Bread does not mold as fast. On the other hand, it does go dry as a bone real quick.
5. The low crime rate. I have to say, this is a definite plus.
6. Everyone is friendly. (Way too friendly.) Super friendly. (IS this really supposed to be a plus?) And they all know each other, or know someone who does know you or the rest of friends and relatives. The six degrees of separation for people who live in Montana is closer to like, three degrees.
7. Charge accounts. If you don’t shop at a chain store in one of the few “big cities” in Montana, most every store will allow the town/county citizens to “charge it”. They’ll let you pay the bill at the end of the month, interest free. So if you don’t get paid till Friday, but your kids are starving, you can get food without robbing the bank, or your mother.
8. No Sales Tax. This should’ve been #1 on my list. That’s right, there is no sales tax! I love love love love love this, and having grown up here, hate hate hate hate hate sales tax with a passion. It’s cruel and unusual punishment, I swear.
9. Low cost of living. Things tend to be cheaper here. (Because nobody gets paid worth dick, but whatever.) Unless, of course, you shop at a small grocery store like the one in town. Then you’ll pay out your ass for simple things like milk and eggs, but whatever.
10. The scenery. Admittedly, we have a lot of gorgeous spots in Montana. I don’t live in one of them, but I know they’re here, I’ve seen them.
11. Lack of traffic. The highways and intererstates are fairly traffic free, except in the cities. Traffic jams are not so common occurances. You might make a 30 minute commute, but that’s because you actually live thirty miles away, not because you’re inching along at the speed of a snail.
12. The fresh air. While it smells like pig shit, or sewer lagoon (anything but this, please) on occasion, the rest of the time, the air is clean and fresh and healthy and so, so good.
13. It’s unique. Face it, there isn’t too many places like Montana. We’re the 4th largest state in the US, but we have less than a million people in it. We have an average of 6.2 people per square MILE. That’s a lot of space to yourself out here. A LOT of space. Our largest city is only around 90,000 people. We routinely experience 100 degree weather in the summer and -50 degree weather in the winter. We don’t get much rain, but we can get a TON of snow. We have lots of wind, but few tornadoes. We can buy fresh beef and bread (and in fact, most of us are beef ranchers or wheat farmers, and if you’re not, you know several people who are), but it’s hard to find decent fruit, and our idea of ‘fish’ comes in a box in the supermarket labeled “fishsticks”. We love to hunt and fish and hike and do outdoor sports, and we treasure our land, but there’s hardly any tree-huggers in sight. It’s a strange place, this Montana. A very strange place.

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This week, I decided to detail thirteen things I’ve managed to accomplish in 2006!

Thirteen Things I Accomplished in 2006

1. I raised my credit score to 700. A big, big goal.
2. I purchased: a 19″ monitor, a new and updated computer, a new bed quilt (desperately needed), and my camera. All with excess money, never taking any out of savings to do so (except for a temporary: “The sale is today, I’m paid on Friday” type deal.)
3. I have expanded my recipe collection immensely. And more, I cook with them, eating less boxed, instant foods and more home-made goodness.
4. I raised a small herb garden in pots. Some thrived, some flourished, and some died, but I did much, much better than last year. My sage is still alive, though doing poorly, and my oregano is still (amazingly!) doing wonderful!
5. I’ve come to terms with a large part of my spirituality that bothered me - the existence of the gods as we know them.
6. I have learned to bake bread!
7. I have set up a permanent altar, though it changes frequently.
8. I have managed to stop feeling guilty over sleeping later than 5pm even though I didn’t get to bed until 11am.
9. I have read 45 books since March 21st. Over one book per week. I even liked some of them. Check out the booklist to see what I’ve read, and comments on all of them.
10. I have spent less on the little things that provide momentary pleasure, and more on the big things I really want - self control!
11. I have socked away nearly $1000 in savings!
12. I gained 5 pounds through rampant junkfood eating. I confess, this was not a goal, but I accomplished it nonetheless! ;-)
13. I have stressed less than the years before!

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Thirteen Random Things About This Week

1. I have finally ordered my mother a Christmas gift! From eBay, no less.
2. Some of my gifts are wrapped, but not all. I like to do special wrap jobs - no “wrap it in paper and put a sticky bow on it” for me. Nope nope. I go all out. This year, the theme is red and white (like last year) - however, I’m doing white paper this year, with red trim, instead of last year, where I pretty well did the opposite.





3. I have decided that while my tree has enough decor, the rest of my house is not near decorated enough.



4. I am not in the mood to knit. I’m just /not/. Post-shawl rebellion, perhaps?
5. My lastest QPB review has a LOT of books in it that I’d like to read. Or at least skim through at a bookstore to check over.
6. I am waiting anxiously for DIYplanner’s 2007 calendar templates to come out, so I can redo my planner. This time, I swear, I’ll do better.



7. It’s that time of the month again and I’m mourning being female and eating pretty much nonstop.
8. So what better time to make cookies, anyway? Mom and A came over, and we baked. And baked. And baked some more. We have about 16 dozen cookies. Chocolate chip, chocolate chip without the chocolate chips (this sounds bizarre, I know, but it’s my dad’s favorite), cry babies, raisin puffs, (all three of these are my mom’s recipes - rather, my grandma’s), and then we tried a couple new recipes, too - cinnamon coins (not so hot), and kiflins (an almondy cookie that’s VERY good!)



9. I am not done baking yet. I intend to bake more - peanut butter cookies, and sugar cookies, and gingerbread cookies, maybe. Mmm.
10. In light of the fact that my Windows computer just doesn’t want to return to a state of happy life, I’ve ordered myself pieces for a new one. Will gut this baby out and pop in a new motherboard, a beautiful dual core AMD processor, sadly only a gig of ram (gugh, the DDR2 stuff is pricey!) and a new SATA hard disk. Hopefully, I’ll get no DOA parts, and all will be well!
11. My cross-stitch project is nearly done! Just working on all the backstitching, which is going pretty fast, and then I just have to put the buttons on! Of course, then I must make it into a pillow or something.
12. I love Maddy the puppy!



13. I am getting a mixer (Kitchen Aid Artisan!) for Christmas! Except, I’m getting it early. Like… as soon as Amazon ships it here! Thank you Mom! I’ve been wanting one for a while now. Saving up the money. Figures that as soon as I have enough to buy it and it goes on sale, Mom tells me she’ll buy it for me for Christmas! *laugh* But that works for me! Mine will be Empire Red. Perfect.

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Winter and I have a love-hate relationship in this neck of the woods (where temps routinely plunge to the -30s, not counting wind chill). Still, I have my reasons for loving the season, just as much as I hate the bone-chilling freezes and the constant snow-mud tracked into the house, and the fact that with my night job, I never see daylight. Here’s some of them.

Thirteen Reasons I Love Winter

1. Freshly fallen snow, and a crisp, moonlit sky, where the trees sparkle with glittery frost and your breath freezes in the air with every exhale, where chimneys puff up smoke and the night is still and quiet and peaceful.
2. Scarves and hats and mittens - oh my! I /like/ bundling up. It’s cozy and warm and the materials are oh so toasty and soft!
3. Hot Cocoa. I don’t drink hot cocoa in the summer, or in any of the warmer days of spring or fall. So it’s really quite a winter treat. I do it the gourmet cheater’s way - I buy gourmet hot cocoa mix, and instead of adding water like the directions say, I use milk, Rich and creamy. Yum. My favorite is Stephenson’s brand.
4. Snow in general! I love to look at it, love to watch it, love to /eat/ it. I don’t even put any syrups on it - I just scoop up a bowl. of fresh snow into a bowl and eat it like ice cream.
5. Super fuzzy socks. I love love love them. You know, the big thick ones in the really soft material? Love those.
6. Advent calendar countdowns to Christmastime! Have always loved those. I have a cute little Chimney with a Santa figurine. Each day, you pull a ‘brick’ out of the chimney, and he slowly slides down, and on the last day falls to the bottom to spread his joy!
7. Christmas trees. I love my tree so much that I tend to keep up throughout most of January, if not into February. *cough*
8. Cider! Apple cider! Like hot cocoa, I only drink this during the cold days.
9. All the pretty things the big stores have lining their aisles for Christmas shopping! I love how they pack the stores to the brim, and all sorts of new products and holiday sets and odd cute things to buy are scattered about. Some people hate Christmastime for its materialism. Hell, that’s just one more reason I /love/ it.
10. Santa Claus. Face it, I love Santa. I love his reindeer. Santa, to me, is still as real as he was when I was a child. He /is/ the spirit of Christmas in my eyes. When I was a kid, my uncle used to call every December, pretending to be Santa Claus. I never caught on until much later - after all, this uncle lived far away, and I rarely saw him. There was Toyland type music playing on in the background, and he’d do the whole Ho ho ho! thing real well, and talk about Mrs. Claus, and ask us kids what we wanted for Christmas, and whether we’d been good or bad.
11. Cookies! Who doesn’t love cookies? I love to bake them and eat them and give them away. I don’t put in such effort often, though I think I should… Nevertheless, my favorite thing to do with them is put them out with milk for Santa. :)
12. The scents - Christmas scents. Candy cane peppermint, and fresh evergreen (not that I get much of that with my fakie tree), and gingerbread, cinnamon and apple cider, nutmeg and chocolate. Mmmmm.
13. Huddling up by the fire. Actually, I’ve never done this, but someday… someday I will have a fireplace to snuggle up in a cozy blanket by. I swear.

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There’s a full moon coming up on Monday, December 4th. The moon has always fascinated me, even as a little kid. Have you ever felt a truly pressing desire to just go out and howl at it? I have. As my friends will reluctantly attest to. As a witch, the full moon takes on new meaning - full bodied feminie power. The moon is most often viewed (in Western/European magic, at least) as a symbol of the feminine divine. In modern Wicca and other traditions, the full moon is a time of celebration of the goddess (or goddesses), or of the feminine side of the divine, and it’s said to be a time where magical workings are more potent. Many traditions hold Esbat celebrations on each full moon - which is really just a time of gathering (if one practices with a group), celebration, prayer, magic, and honor. As a solitary practitioner, I tend to use the time to remember my own spirituality, and to work magic when desired - and, of course, howl at the moon.

This week, I’ll be exploring the various names the full moons of the year have - there are probably dozens of variations, but I’ll touch upon a couple - popular Colonial names, and Native American names. This info was taken from The Witches’ Almanac, a handy little book full of interesting tidbits. If anything’s wrong, it’s either a typo, or they’re lying. ;-)

Thirteen Names of the Full Moons

1. January Full Moon ~ The January moon is often called even in modern day times, the Wolf Moon. Another name for it is the After Yule Moon (imagine that!). Some Native people called it the Snow Moon.
2. February Full Moon ~ The Snow Moon, or the Hunger moon, according to old Colonial records. I’ve heard both used, though Hunger tends to be more popular where I live! Hunger also is the name certain Native people gave it - appropriate, as February tends to be one of the coldest months of the year, and a time where food was often scarce.
3. March Full Moon ~ The Sap Moon, aka, the Worm moon (egh) or the Crow moon. Many names for this moon, as the Natives also had the Crow moon, and the Sore Eye moon. This is my birthday month, and on a personal note, I do prefer the Sap Moon.
4. April Full Moon ~ Ever heard of the Grass Moon? Now you have! other names include the Pink moon, and the Egg moon, or in Native American style, the Green Grass Moon.
5. May Full Moon ~ The May Moon is unsurprisingly called the Flower moon or the Planting moon. An intriguing name, however, by the Natives, is the Shed Moon. Wonder why…
6. June Full Moon ~ June. Ahh, the Strawberry Moon. Reminds me of this song by the Dixie Chicks, I think, called Strawberry Wine. But I’m getting off track. Also called the Rose moon, or the “Make Fat” moon. Rose is shared between Colonial and Native cultures - Make Fat, however, is all Native American. Appropriate, perhaps, for cultures living off the land and agriculture - however, the last thing I need is a moon dedicated to fat. Nosiree. Maybe a Make Fat Go Away Moon…
7. The July Moon ~ July is the Thunder Moon, or the Buck Moon - take your pick. Both seem to be equally appropriate, though I’m partial to Thunder.
8. The August Moon ~ August is the Sturgeon Moon (sturgeon, for those who don’t know, is a sort of really huge and ugly fish), or the Grain Moon. Or, perhaps you like the delightful sounding Cherries Ripen Moon, courtesy of the Native Americans?
9. The September Moon ~ The Harvest Moon. Who hasn’t heard of that? Or perhaps the Fruit Moon, though that certainly doesn’t apply to this part of the country. The Natives called it the Hunting Moon.
10. The October Moon ~ Almost everyone around here knows this one - It’s the Hunter’s Moon, and it tends to be huge and orange and brilliant at this time of year. Alternately, you could call it the Falling Leaf Moon.
11. The November Moon ~ Try the Beaver Moon. Or the Frosty Moon. Or even the Mad Moon (Native). Hehe. The last is amusing, and perhaps appropriate. I’m going mad this month, that’s for sure….
12. The December Moon ~ The Cold Moon, or the Long Night Moon - both seem to be fairly pervasive. The last is both a Native and Colonial name - unsurprising, since December is indeed the month heralding the longest night in the year.
13. The 13th Moon ~ Every once in a while, we have a second full moon in a single calendar month. We call it a Blue Moon, and it happens… well, every once in a blue moon, of course! It’s said that this moon holds extra power when working magic that night. Intriguing, but I can’t say I’ve had the opportunity to test the theory yet.

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Since this is a late Thursday Thirteen (and Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!), I’ve decided to buck what’s probably this Thursday’s usual line (what I’m thankful for) and do something else, instead. Something that’s been on my mind ever since I started holiday shopping online, hunting for the perfect yarn for a new-knitter friend.

(Okay, so I ended up with 14. Sue me…)

Thirteen Yarns I Just Love

1. Linus, by Elann ~ Okay, I haven’t touched it (like most of these yarns) but it /sounds/ lovely. Especially for the price.
2. Peruvian Baby Silk, by Elann ~ Another I haven’t touched, but come on - alpaca AND silk? Oh yes, oh yes. Bring it on.
3. Shepherd Sock, by Lorna’s Laces ~ Have 2 skeins of this in a solid color (from the Yarn Aboard! swap!) Love it, though I have not yet knitted anything with it. *lol* But look at the colors! Oh look… River, Purple Iris, Shadow, Mineshaft, Black Purl, Daffodil, Glenwood… I could go on and on forever.
4. Silk Rhapsody, by Artyarns ~ I am in love. But not with the price. Hoobaby, this is expensive! But oh how I want some… RH101, RH 139, RH143, RH144 being my favorites… so far.
5. Kureyon, by Noro ~ It’s yarn. It’s colorful. It’s JAPANESE! Gimme! I especially love 55, 40, 149, 150, 148, 170, 164… *runs out of air*
6. Baby Cashmerino, by Debbie Bliss ~ Who wouldn’t want some of this soft squishy stuff?
7. Haiku, by Alchemy Yarns ~ Silk + Mohair = Luxury! I want some of this. Maybe to go along with some Silk Purse by the same company? Yes!
8. KPM & KPPPM, by Koigu ~ Yay, lovely fingering weight yarn good for all sorts of things! And billions of colors.
9. Rare Comfort Kid Mohair, by Jo Sharp ~ Beautiful. Kid mohair + polyamide + wool. Would make a terrific scarf, as seen in Interweave’s Holiday Gifts 2006! I LOVE the tea/herb names of the yarns! Gimme some Iced Tea, Zinger, Earl Grey, and Darjeeling, please!
10. Silky Tweed, by Elsebeth Lavold ~ Soft and sweet yarn. Felt some up last week at the yarn store, and liked it! This was the yarn my original branching out scarf was supposed to have been made out of.
11. Heaven, by Fiesta ~ Love most of what Fiesta does (I posted a while back on La Boheme, which I still drool over to this day). Heaven is a rather bulky mohair. The skeins look like rabbits!
12. Colonia 140, by Handpaintedyarn.com ~ Love their yarn! Cheap, beautiful, unique. Loro Barranquero bc is an intriguing colorway…
13. Rock Star, by Tilli Thomas ~ 100% Silk, with beads! Pricey, but it’d make an incredible scarf, don’t you think?
14. Karaoke, by South West Trading ~ Soysilk and wool - color changes sort of like Kureyon, though slightly more gradual - and oh so goreous!

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So I use Linux - Ubuntu (or rather, Kubuntu - the version with KDE as the standard desktop environment) to be exact. It’s been a year and… 3 weeks or so since I switched my main computer over to Linux now. A year of using Kubuntu fulltime, except for a few tasks I still relegate to the windows computer, just to give the thing something to do. Or maybe because I’m too lazy to migrate when it’s already set up and working fine on the other computer. Sure, Linux has its share of problems. But so does Windows - anyone, even a Windows enthusiast, will tell you that. The difference is this - I’m more willing to put up with Linux’s problems than Microsoft’s. Not to mention, Microsoft’s overbearing, threatening, and downright frightening business practices really put me off. And while there’s a place for every Operating system in the market, Linux is the one that belongs on my main terminal. Period. And here’s why.

Thirteen Reasons to Love Linux

1. Free - as in beer! No more shelling out a couple hundred dollars for the latest operating system - or more for a new computer with it already installed. Linux is completely free - download it straight from the internet and burn it to a cd, or, if you like, order one for a minimal cost (from a few dollars for postage and CD costs, up to around $40, if you want a distribution with a manual in it). But honestly? All you need is a broadband connection and a cd, and you’re good to go. No need to spend more - and virtually anything you’d like to know how to do in Linux is online - no need to purchase books, unless you want to!
2. Free - as in speech! Open source software is great. Sure, you may not want to know what goes on under the hood of your car, but they don’t weld it shut, so you can open it up to take a look every now and then - and heck, you can check your oil and add fluids, too. Linux is like that - you may never have the desire to look at the code and make some changes - but if you do, the option is available to you, unlike proprietary systems, which ‘weld it shut’, so to speak.
3. Choice - There’s dozens of distributions of linux available - something for everyone’s taste! Like a lightweight OS that uses minimal resources? Linux can do that. Like something more like Windows - with loads of features and eye candy? We can do that, too. Like simple and easy? Try Ubuntu. Like something you can really dig your hands into and get dirty with? Try Slackware.
4. KDE & Gnome - Two incredible desktop environments with a far broader range of customization options and much better performance than Windows could ever offer. Much prettier, loads of gorgeous themes, and the ability to customize just about everything. Learn more: KDE / GNOME
5. BASH - the command line shell is wondeful. Ever been frustrated by Window’s “command line”? Hate DOS? Try BASH and be delighted. For you windows users, you can experiment with Cygwin, which actually installs the bash shell for windows!
6. Software - Thousands of applications, free and at your fingertips. Many of these programs rival expensive or proprietary Windows counterparts - Gimp, Firefox, OpenOffice, Gaim, gnucash, amarok. While some distributions of linux can indeed make installing software difficult, as you’ve probably heard, Ubuntu and other newbie-friendly distros actually make the process simpler than it is in Windows. You just open up your package manager, select the programs you want to install (and there are thousands in the database - all tested rigorously and compatable with your distribution - and click “install”. And it does all the work for you - downloading the program, installing it where it needs to be, and setting it up to run properly. Uninstallation is just as easy.
7. No Spyware - That’s right, no spyware. So far, there has been absolutely no spyware for linux. While it’s inevitable that some programs may crop up, if you stick with the thousands of tested applications in your repositories, you will NEVER come across spyware again. In open source software, spyware has literally no place to hide, because ANYONE can look at the code - and better, anyone can modify it, too.
8. No Viruses - Same deal. A small handful of prototype viruses have been forged for linux - but none of them went far - when they did anything at all. Linux is a secure OS - and its system of user priviledges tends to limit what a virus would be capable of. For instance, software simply can’t be be installed anywhere outside of a user’s home directory without root (administrator) permissions. Therefore, any virus that a user ran across during normal computing simply wouldn’t be able to do damage to the system as a whole - if it could do much of anything at all. And again, open-source software simply has some built-in protections against viruses, and linux, more so.
9. Stability - Linux is hailed for its stability; crashes are not the daily occurance that they are on some Windows desktops. Many linux boxes are never rebooted, except for important upgrades to the system. Most upgrades to a home user’s system do not require a restart at all. Installing software in Windows almost ALWAYS requires a reboot. Not so in linux - only for major kernal upgrades, and similar services. Also, when programs crash in linux, it does not typically bring down the whole system - just the program that’s failed to respond.
10. Servers - Run your own servers! Yes, you! I run an ssh server that allows me to log into my computer from anywhere in the world and read my files, access other computers on my network, perform system maintenence, check my mail, and more. Free and simple. You can also run a mail server, web server, file server, print server, or anything else you want… without buying expensive software!
11. Installation - Ubuntu, in particular, is a very fast, very easy install. Virtually no technical questions asked, and even when downloading the OS, it’s very quick! Lately, they’ve evolved to a LiveCD dvd install disc - where you boot directly into the OS from the cd, and you can actually surf the web and play games from the CD while it installs!
12. LiveCds - This is great, especially for troubleshooting. LiveCDs are cd boot discs that can boot you straight into a fully graphical operating system - or not, your choice - without installing a thing. Carry a livecd, and pop it into any computer that will boot from a cd (most newish computers in the last several years do this by default, though some may need a bios setting change, first) and instantly be immersed into the environment of your choice. You can even download and “install” software - all without touching the data on the machine’s hard drive!
13. Hardware Support - Better than you’ve heard, especially for fairly standard machines made in the last few years! (Getting cutting-edge hardware is a bit riskier, as it takes time to develop support for them.) My camera, printer, graphics card, sound card, usb key, etc. were all automatically detected and set up for me. The only driver I needed to install was for the graphics card, and it was an incredibly simple process.
14. And a bonus - dual booting. You do not need to throw away windows to use linux! You can run them both from the same machine - easily! :) Learn more at Ubuntu.com - or choose another distribution, such as Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, SuSE, Mepis, or more.

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This Thursday, I’d like to post some interesting tidbits about Samhain!

Thirteen Interesting Things About Samhain

1. Secular Halloween’s customs of costumes, tricks and treats, jack o lanterns and ghosts all stem from an ancient pagan, mostly Celtic holiday called Samhain. Samhain was considered the end of the year - the crops were virtually all harvested at this point, and winter was setting in, and it was, to them, the end of one year, and the beginning of the next. It was also strongly affiliated with the death, and was considered a time to remember the dead.
2. Samhain is pronounced in half a dozen ways, but you’ll find that most people consider SOW-en (sow as in female pig, not as in sow your seeds) to be the ‘correct’ pronunciation. However, this varies as well, as Gaelic has many dialects and influences. Scots would not pronounce it the same as the Irish, nor the Welsh, etc.
3. Samhain is not - and was never - the name of any Celtic god, contrary to popular belief. It’s derived from a Gaelic word meaning ’summer’s end’.
4. The Church attempted to Christianize the holiday by forming All Saint’s Day, to remember dead saints. It obviously never really caught on…
5. Jack o lanterns were originally carved out of gourds and were used to frighten away evil spirits. Pumpkins were not used for jack o lanterns until American colonists discovered the pumpkin! Today’s gourds wait patiently on the sidelines while their fat, orange counterparts bask in candlelit glory.
6. Samhain is not always celebrated on October 31st, or November first as ‘tradition’ stands. Some modern pagans like to use the actual cross-quarter date (the exact middle date between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice) for their Samhain festival. This year, that would be November 7th. (On an unrelated note, that’s Election day where I live… I can sense a real need for some banishing spells here… *grin* Kidding, kidding… mostly…)
7. Modern pagans often hold the Samhain as the time between times, or the thinning of the veil, as ancient pagans did. This refers to the invisible veil between this world and the spirit world - or, in some cases, this world and /all/ other worlds. When this veil thins, it is easier to ‘cross over’ so to speak, and come in contact with those on other planes - the dead.
8. It’s also considered to be a prime time for divination, because during this time, as the time between times, /time/ does not function normally - and thus, you can easily see into the past and the future with much more clarity than usual. Think of it like taking a deck of cards and shuffling them and stacking them. This is time - one card flipped over every day, whatever. During Samhain, however, it’s as if the cards were thrown up in the air and scattered about, and you can see many of them at once.
9. Apples are one traditional divination tool. Unattached ladies - try this: on Samhain Eve (Oct 31st), peel an apple in one long spiraled piece, and toss it over your shoulder. When you turn around, it should form the first initial of the name of your husband to be. ;-)
10. Leaving food out for the spirits is another important tradition. Milk and bread are always good - but so is grain, soul cakes, or just anything.
11. Many modern pagans hold Dumb Suppers on Samhain or Samhain Eve. This is a supper served entirely in silence, usually with a plate set for the dead. The supper is in silence so to revere those passed, and also, to be able to hear and feel them when they join the table.
12. Sex on Samhain Eve/ Samhain can result in reincarnations, according to lore.
13. Looking for some witchy correspondences? Here’s a list:
    Colors: orange, black, brown (and personally, I like purple)
    Herbs: acorn, oak, apple, corn, hazel, nightshade, mugwort, allspice, sage, catnip, gourds
    Offerings & Food: apples, pumpkin pie beets, turnips, hazelnuts, corn, gingerbread, pomegranates, cider, herbal tea, pork.
    Gods/Goddesses: Hecate, Anubis, Isis, Osiris, Hel, Arawn, Don, Merlin, Morrigan, Idunna, Cailliach

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

So this week, I thought I’d give you a peek into my mind and have a look at some of the other people who live there. Yes, people who live in my mind. I’m a writer, albeit unpublished, and I have loads of people lurking around in my brain. They’re as real to me as my “real” friends are, so let me introduce you to a few of them! You may notice that they’re all guys. What can I say, I like writing about men!

Thirteen Imaginary Friends

1. Robin Chain is my oldest surviving character. He lives in an imaginary metropolis and enjoys the high life due to a lifetime of selling drugs and reaping all the rewards of having minions. He’s really the head of the Santine mob, though he wouldn’t call it that. He’s a family guy, with a bucketload of kids who all have problems, a handful of close friends who love to fight among themselves, and a near-multiple personality called G.
2. Deliverance is an assassin. He lives in a fictional Phoenix, sometime in the future where all the young anarchists teenagers and young adults are banding together to form independent clans. D’s very kickass, and has even less morals than Robin, except he, unlike Robin, doesn’t stand for adultry when it comes to his gay lover and best friend, Harlequin.
3. Julian Frost is a military cop. Though in the world he lives in, the military is god, and that makes him a bit more than just a military cop. He’s in the RMF, and is known for being a hardass, and for getting the job done. Though a loner, he’s taken two young recruits under his wing, and the three of them can maybe even be called ‘friends’.
4. Dayton Thorne made his millions doing shady things, but he’s giving back to the community now - by opening up a refuge for troubled boys needing a home. At his side is his lovely lawyer wife and a ‘retired’ assassin, Keenan, who works to provide security for the premises. Thorne’s biggest achievement was discovering that he’d somehow taken in his own son from an affair long ago, and then turning him from a hard criminal to a productive, hardworking citizen and loving son.
5. Banner Chain is the son of Robin Chain. He’s also joined the military, and is now working in an elite squadron and is in command of his own small team. He has a bit of a love-hate relationship with his job, which typically involves work other teams can’t or won’t do, which typically means bigtime trouble and maybe nightmares for life, but he wouldn’t give it up for anything.
6. Jimmy Monterey is in Banner’s squad. He’s also Banner’s best friend, and Banner’s sister’s boyfriend. He’s a charming guy who doesn’t seem at all to be as dangerously trained as he is, and virtually everyone gets along with him eventually. And… he cannot remember anything of his life before joining the military. Not even his real name.
7. Zues is a villian - Deliverance’s brother, in fact, and a very sick and twisted individual. He’s also *obsessed* with Harlequin, and often fancies himself as Harlequin’s soul mate.
8. Keaton O’Connor is one of Robin Chain’s best friends. He’s a former thief, an alcoholic by night, and a sharp-minded businessman by day. His spends most of his attention on one business in particular - the O’Connor Art Institute - because art has always been his passion.
9. Fyren Lothlorian is a fantasy character. He’s a wicked-cool mage, top notch swordsman, and ineffective parent to a son he’s scarcely known. He works with dangerous magic, and is perhaps the most powerful mage in the the land. Despite this, he travels and acts much like a commonor, and if any such fanciful thoughts go to his head, his tempermental wife is sure to beat it out of him right quick enough.
10. Micah is Deliverance’s son. He’s a tragic sort of character, who believes he’s cursed to outlive every lover he’s ever taken. You see, they’ve all died horrible deaths, typically at the hands of psychopathic killers. He’s also just a touch telekinetic.
11. Roshan (The Gypsy) lives in a ‘modern’ fantasy world where slavery is big business. He’s an assassin who leaves calling cards engraved with ‘The Gypsy’ at the scene of all his victims. He’s also got a very complicated love life.
12. Corran comes from another modernized (even futuristic) fantasy world where he and his people (Rakvorians) are in conflict with another species (Lequahns) whom they have enslaved. Corran is a bit of a peacemaking diplomat and knows far more about the Lequahn way of life than your average Rakvorian… but at the same time, he’s quite in love with having them as slaves.
13. Arian is a prince in another fantasy world, looking for an opportunity to overthrow his father, the king, who has been growing more and more insane with each passing day. He’s continually busy just trying to keep his own supporters safe from the king’s wrath until he seizes his opportunity to strike.