Wax & Pins - Confessions of an Intolerant Witch

A Valiant Death

2011-12-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

A tale of Zombie LARPing.

It was my last survivor run. Two teams of us had banded together for safety. Yeah, that just made us a more tempting target.

We were crossing the mall from one unit to the next when someone shouted 'White Knight!'* And there he was, running full tilt down the mall with an axe in his hand. Everyone scattered! I found myself separated from my group with a guy I didn't know. I had a spade and he was unarmed. Of course, the White Knight came after us.

We ran through the store, down the stairs to the cellar, not stopping to switch on our torches. It was dark. We waited with baited breath, hoping the White Knight wouldn't follow us down. It may have been my only bit of luck on that run...

Hearts pounding, we crept back upstairs. The White Knight had left! Better yet, we could see our groups at the Bioflex Recruitment Desk, just across the mall from us!

Reunited, I allowed myself to relax in the illusion that I was safe.

We forged ahead. I was at the front of our group, the only person with a melee weapon. That was fine. I was backed up by my allies, all armed to the teeth. They had my back, right?

Turning a corner, there was the second White Knight. I shouted a warning, backing up with my spade en-guard . Someone shouted, 'Don't run! Stand and fight!' So I did. I even got a hit in against the Knight! But then there was a terrible roar to my left...

Father Flexmas attacked without mercy; a dark-robed, imposing figure in a featureless white mask, twin blades slashing. I fell beneath his knives wondering where my team had got to. Out of, what, eleven of us? only two had stayed to fight.

I died, but at least it was dramatic. And I'll know better next time. Apparently 'stay and fight' actually means 'run like billy-o'. Who knew?

* A White Knight, for those who haven't attended Zombie LARP, is a fast, strong, intelligent undead monster. Although savage in combat, they are also capable of coming up with strategies (such as keeping poor, stupid survivors occupied while Father Flexmas sneaks up on 'em). They are very scary indeed.

A Very Zombie Xmas

2011-12-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

I spent a fantastic day running around a deserted mall on Saturday, fend off the hoardes of the undead. No, really, I'm not making it up.

I had never been to Zombie LARP before (see their site here) and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I had heard stories, read blogs, but nothing really prepared me for how awesome my day was going to be.

First of all let me tell you about the setting - Friar's Walk Mall in Reading, a derelict shopping centre. I would soon be running through the empty shop units, up and down escalators, through the darkness of the basement... A fantastic venue, really creepy!

We had weapons to defend ourselves against the zombies. Nerf guns of all shapes and sizes, LARP melee weapons, the works. Our favourite was the foam spade, quite satisfying for smacking zombies across the back...

And fun as it was to play as a survivor, being a zombie was great! There is something empowering about lurching around after terrified survivors, getting knocked down but never for long, monsters at the top of the food chain!

Some friends of mine got into the festive spirit as Santa and Mrs Claws with their elves - disturbing :)

Myself and Stephanie were not as organised as all that, just going for creepy zombie make-up. I was particularly impressed with Stephanie's bleeding eyes...

All in all a fantastic day - I would heartily recommend booking up for one of these events if you are able to get to Reading. They sometimes run events at different venues (Norwich and London I think) but Friar's Walk Mall is such a great venue it has to be seen to be believed.

Christmas...

2011-12-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

Posted this on Facebook. Since I havn't posted anything on here recently I thought I'd share.

A few of my friends have been posting that they are "reclaiming Christmas". It's your faith, more power to you. But in the interest of balance...
Your christmas tree? A nordic pagan symbol of male fertility, just as the wreath represents feminine fertility.
Christmas presents? The giving of gifts is a holdover from Saturnalia, an Ancient Roman festival from around this time of year that predates Christ's birth by over 200 years.
25th December? The date of Christ's birth is never explicitly stated in the bible but historians have narrowed it down to sometime between the end of September and mid-February. Theoretically speaking. Maybe it was easier to hijack the pagan celebration of Yule than to compete with a much older festival?
(Interestingly enough early Christians didn't celebrate birthdays, not even the birth of Christ, considering it to be a pagan custom! Only the Jehovah's Witnesses have stuck to their guns on THAT one.)
So I do know how you feel, having your holy days renamed, plagiarised and subsumed. The same happened to us pagans, by some imported middle-eastern religion as I recall. I forget the name :)

More Pics

2011-08-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

This is a character I've been working on for a while - Aurora Surefoot, a shifter druid. The idea for the character was partly inspired by Cheetara from Thundercats.

This is Olivere, a villain I created for my roleplaying game. He was possibly the most hated character in the game - a vindictive, supercilious cross-dressing murderer...

Roleplaying Pictures

2011-06-25T05:03:00.000-07:00

Have been doing a few sketches for my roleplaying games.

These two are Jacob and Artur, two of the heroes in my game (and spin-off stories :p) Artur was heir to the throne until his untimely death and his resurrection has remained a secret. Jacob is a young mage with more power than control.

Beliah is Jacob's familiar, a great, white-furred hunting cat.

Colwyn is Jacob's father, a former adventurer with The Golden Gryphons, now owner of a tavern with the same name.

Headache-Ridden Ponderings

2011-06-25T04:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I've had a headache for three days now and this morning I felt really rough, so no work for me. I've slept all I can, now I'll catch up on my poor neglected blog.

Litha has come and gone - surprisingly late this year, the 24th of June. The hubby and I had a nice meal to celebrate but did nothing in the way of ritual. We were invited to one but it was outdoors and tipping it down with rain so we didn't go. Does that make us fair-weather pagans? Besides, Keith wasn't too keen to go because the guys holding the ritual seemed 'too tree-huggy'. Go figure.

I have a new hat ready for my Samhain outfit - a proper, handmade, 100% wool top hat! I don't usually suit hats either!

We've also had a visitor to our garden. I like toads so I'll be sure to keep the cats away...

Ghosts

2011-03-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

Do you believe in ghosts?

I do, but I'm not here to convince you. Belief, be it in ghosts and spirits, religion or faith, is an intensely personal matter. So the stories I'll tell here are my experiences from my own point of view. Make of them what you will.

So where to start? My earliest memories of a spirit would make sense. Since I'm thirty-mumbles incoherently now we're going back almost four decades, so some of my recollections may be a little fuzzy.

I don't remember exactly when I first met Beastie, although I was certainly very young. He was (and is) a small child with dark hair and serious eyes, always barefoot, dressed in a striped t-shirt and jeans. I'd guess he looks about four years old. I remember him being something like an imaginary friend to me. Except I'm pretty sure he wasn't (and isn't) imaginary since I'm not the only person to have seen him.

Growing up I had problems with my hearing. I guess that made me a strange, insular child, happier in the company of animals or just keeping to myself, and the years haven't changed me overly much.

I guess that's why Beastie came to me - we were a couple of loners banding together. There may also be a familial connection; my eldest brother was stillborn and my mother has always taken comfort in the thought that Beastie could be him. I'm also willing to admit that I may have made him up (an imaginary friend in all truth), but if that is the case he soon took on a life of his own. I doubt that I will ever know for certain and I can't say that it bothers me overmuch. Beastie is, and that is enough to satisfy my curiosity.

Unlike most imaginary friends Beastie didn't disappear as I grew older. In fact he was most active when I was in my twenties (shades of Drop Dead Fred, although Beastie was never as obnoxious as Rik Mayall). All my friends knew about Beastie, some of them saw him and practically all of them heard him at one time or another. The noise he makes is quite distinctive; somewhere between the tone of a test-card transmission and feedback from speakers, a high-pitched, unwavering hum. We could track his progress around the room by following that sound. One friend was so unnerved by it that he wouldn't stay in my house on his own!

Most often Beastie would make his presence felt when I was angry or upset. He was coming to my defence. Maybe powerful emotions gave him the strength to manifest? Again, the whyfores don't matter all that much to me. I do know that his company brought me a great deal of comfort.

He brought comfort to others, too.

I worked at Madame Tussauds for several years. It is, in my opinion, one of the most haunted sites in London. Even the hardened skeptics on the crew had some kind of paranormal experience that they couldn't quite rationalise. A few of us collected these stories and were considered 'experts', the one-eyed men in the kingdom of the blind. So when a new lad had a spooky experience he was sent to me.

We'll just call him D. He went on to a career in the police force and might not appreciate it if this tale is traced back to him.

So D had been working in the Planetarium theatre. It was a slow day with less than half the seats filled. D was sat at the front of the auditaurium (about as far from the public as possible, naturally) so he was pretty much alone in the darkness.

Dim light reflected from the domed screen, revealing a young child in the seat beside him. D was certain the boy hadn't been there a moment before and he didn't seem to be accompanied by an adult. All the other seats nearby were empty. When he looked back the child had gone.

Guess who the child was? I described Beastie to D and it had definitely been him; the dark hair, striped shirt, bare feet, those serious eyes (thinking back my daughter had the same solemn mein as a child. Perhaps more evidence to a familial link?). It was all a bit of a shock for D who was something of a skeptic, albeit one with an open mind. This wasn't proof, he told me, but an element of doubt.

A few days later D's grandmother died. I strongly believe that Beastie manifested for D to show that there is more to life than our mortal span, that the spirit lives on. And even if he never saw that visit as proof I think it gave D a glimmer of hope in his time of grief. Or maybe I just have a romantic view of the world and a storyteller's desire for everything to fall neatly into place.

As the years passed I saw less and less of Beastie. I'm married now, have a wider circle of friends, a far cry from the lonely child I was. Oh, Beastie still visits from time to time and I know he visits my parents too. Mother often tells me that she has heard him around the house or that he has hidden her things.

Why call him Beastie? I think it was just a childish nickname for a friend without a name. I have considered calling him Mark, the name my parents would have given their stillborn boybut it doesn't seem right, not without knowing for certain that they are one and the same.

Dragon Age: Origins

2010-11-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

Been replaying this fantastic game - such a rich stroyline, I can't get enough of it!
Well, I found a brilliant trailer on Youtube...

Enjoy!

Animal of the Day: The Binturong

2010-08-23T14:11:00.001-07:00

The Binturong or Asian Bearcat. It is not actually a bear but belongs to the same family as the civet or genet.

Boy George vs Lady Gaga (Or People In Glass Houses Shouldn't Throw Stones...)

2010-08-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga recently revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that she occasionally uses cocaine. Not a clever thing to say, not a good message to send out to her fans, but she is a woman who sets out to shock - this is the kind of behaviour people have come to expect from her.

Now Boy George has lashed out at her for pretty much the reasons I have outlined above. But surely he isn't in much of a position to preach?

You might argue that as a recovering addict that Boy George is best informed to speak out about this subject. Then again, George was recently in the headlines after being found guilty of false imprisonment for chaining up a male escort. This is surely a greater crime than recreational drugs use?

I'm not saying that Lady Gaga hasn't done wrong - she has. Some of her fans are young and impressionable. But Boy Beorge is the last person to start throwing stones.

Geraldine 'Jerrie' Cobb

2010-08-11T14:46:00.001-07:00

Since my last post was so very shallow, I felt the need to post something a little more highbrow. So here it is; I've chosen to write about one of my biggest heroes.

No, not Wonder Woman (who was my first hero, just as she was for many gay men), I'm talking about Geraldine 'Jerrie' Cobb. Haven't heard of her? Well shame on you!

Jerrie Cobb should have been the first woman in space.

Perhaps I should explain.
Jerrie was born in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1931. She learned to fly her daddie's 'plane at the age of 12. At 17 she had her private pilots license and was paying her way through school by dusting crops and teaching navigation. At 18 she recieved her commercial license, setting world altitude and speed records. She was a very talented pilot and her achievements brought her to the attention of NASA. She was recruited to become an astronaut trainee in 1959, the first woman to be selected for that role.

She helped NASA to select other candidates and they became known collectively as the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (or FLATs). Thirteen women completed the first round of training before NASA decided to pull the plug on their female astronaut training scheme. Jerrie and her team were denied the chance to fly any space missions.

Jerrie didn't let this setback get her down. She went on to set new world records for speed, distance and absolute altitude and has spent over 30 years performing missionary work in South America. In 1981 she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work.

And that is why she is one of my biggest heroes; a woman who has rallied against her setbacks and come back stronger.

(The first woman who actually made it into space was the Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. In 1963 she spent 3 days in space, performing various tests on herself to see how the female body reacted to space flight. It was 19 years before another woman was selected for a space mission.)

My Top 5 Celebrity Crushes

2010-08-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit, I have a big ol' shallow side. Here are the five celebrities I find most drool-worthy.

1) Russell Tovey

(From left to right - Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow, Aiden Turner)

Russell Tovey is number one on my list of celebrity crushes. For those not in the know, he plays George Sands in the hit BBC3 show Being Human, the mild-mannered hospital porter who also happens to be a werewolf. He was also appeared on stage and film in film in The History Boys.

My ex recently met Russell and had his photo taken with him. Jealous, me? Well of course!

2) James Masters

Maybe it's the cheekbones. Maybe it's the bad boy vibe (he played Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Brainiac in Smallville and Captain John Hart in Torchwood). Or maybe it's the body.

James Masters pips his Buffy/Angel co-star to the number two spot...

3) David Boreanaz

Oh Angel! I feel a little guilty for relegating you to number three. It has nothing to do with your recent alleged infidelities or your appearance in a Dido video. You have been a real hottie in Buffy, Angel and Bones, always eager to show off your butt, and for that I salute you. But someone has to take third place, which has got to be better than not making the list at all, right? Right.

4) Ben Browder

Ben Browder, star of Farscape (Muppets in Space!) and Stargate SG-1, a vision in leather...

And he is 47 years old. Forty-seven!

I must confess to a certain attraction to his co-star Claudia Black as well - those two are the best case for bisexuality I have ever seen.

5) So I'm cheating here - Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki

The Winchester brothers from horror series Supernatural - I couldn't have one without the other (fnar!).

There should be some honorable mentions for those who didn't make it onto this list. Johnny Depp of course, Lawrence Dallaglio (got to love a rugby player), Nicholas Brendon, Brendan Frasier... too many to mention.

Proposition 8 Overturned!

2010-08-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Just seen the good news - Proposition 8 has been overturned!
Let's hear it for equality!

The Earth's Library - now on Amazon.co.uk

2010-07-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

The Earth's Library - A Multidimensional Healing System (otherwise known as the book wot I illustrated) is now on sale at Amazon.co.uk.
Find it here.
I thank you.

Get Your Own House In Order

2010-07-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

So Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina is upset that his country has voted to allow same sex civil partnerships, the first Latin American country to do so.

Apparently he considers it 'a destructive pretension against the plan of God.'
'We are not talking about a mere bill but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.'

It occurs to me that the Catholic Church should get its own house in order. With the pope covering up incidences of child abuse, Bergoglio's homophobic attacks become much more than hypocritical. Perhaps the rights of same-sex couples in adult, consensual relationships aren't a cause for such concern after all?

Holiday in Cyprus

2010-03-22T15:00:00.001-07:00

I'm fresh back from a holiday in Cyprus. The country is beautiful. I've been to Turkey, the hubby has been to Greece, both arid countries. Neither is as green as Cyprus. Wildflowers had bloomed across the mountains, a glorious display of colour.

And perhaps I was most excited by the lizards. They were everywhere! I spent many happy hours following them around with my camera.

This fella on the left is an agama (laudakia stellio cypriaca) that we found in the Troodos Mountains. He was only a few feet away from the path, bobbing his head in a warning display. At one point he fled up a tree, only to climb back down and threaten me some more.

There were many smaller specimens outside our villa. The colouration was slightly different, but I have done a little research and it seems that the juveniles of the species do have darker bands of colour.

There were a couple of other species on the island. The troodos lizard (phoenicolacerta troodica) was the most plentiful, a slender, quick-moving lizard that often ran across the path before us.

We weren't lucky enough to see any of the native species of snake (something my husband was very grateful for). Perhaps next time.

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was our days in the Troodos Mountains. At one point we were some 1,952 meters above sea level, passing through the clouds to reach the summit of Mt. Olympus. Our ears were popping due to the change in air pressure. The temperature dropped from a balmy 18 degrees at the coast to just 4 degrees at the summit!

The densely-forested mountains were beautiful, every turn in the road revealing another jaw-dropping vista.

Begging Kitties

2010-02-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

The kitties are usually a bit more vocal than this. Guess they got camera shy...

Being Human Series 2 - Viral Ad Campaign

2010-01-31T12:38:00.000-08:00

Loving the new series of Being Human.
There is a new viral ad campaign (which you can see here). It features The Centre for the Study of Supernatural Activity, shaping up to be one of the big bads of season 2.
If you haven't seen it already, check it out!

The Bigotry of Orson Scott Card

2010-01-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

Orson Scott Card is a successful author of science fiction and fantasy novels, genres I enjoy immensely, but you won't find me reading his books. And this is why.

Card is a bigot of the first order. He claims not to be a homophobe, but I think his words and deeds speak for themselves.

For a start, he claims that homosexuality is an acquired characteristic linked to childhood abuse or molestation. Well, I'm sure I'd remember. I find this argument insulting to say the least. Sexuality is not a matter of choice and to say that all homosexuals have been abused is just ridiculous.

He claims same-sex marriages are unnecessary as "any homosexual man who can persuade a woman to take him as her husband can avail himself of all the rights of husbandhood under the law." So I should make marriage a farce by marrying someone I do not love and have no sexual interest in? As Card is on the board of directors of the National Organisation for Marriage, you'd think he had a better view of marriage. But then this organisation seems to have less interest in preserving the purity of marriage and more to do with preventing same-sex couples claiming the same rights.

He also states that "laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society." So my "aberrant behaviour" makes me unacceptable within society?
Homophobia is well named, although I honestly cannot see what he is so frightened of...

And Card is supporting the National Organisation for Marriage with funding from his work. Not just his novels, from the Marvel comics adaptions and from the recent video game The Shadow Complex. Essentially, he is funding protests against the "potentially devastating social experiment" that is same-sex marriage.

So I won't buy his books or comics. I won't play the video games based on his works. And maybe I'll be missing out on some great fiction, but at least I won't be compromising my morals.

Jay and Liza

2010-01-30T14:38:00.001-08:00

I got myself a new camera so have been chasing the cats around the house.
Jay is the flamepoint siamese, Liza the more usual siamese colouring.

Brett Hamilton-Forbes

2010-01-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

My latest roleplaying character - Brett Hamilton-Forbes, a runaway from a wealthy family, now living as a rent boy. Fun, fun, fun!

Being Human

2010-01-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Anyone not seen Being Human? Season 2 will be airing soon on BBC Three - I can't wait!
Gotta love a series about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost in a house-share.
And... Russel Tovey! Rrrouwrrr! ;)

Tovey as the lovely George...

And here is Annie's chilling prequel...

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T15:30:00.000-08:00

Well, another year grinds to a close...
Happy New Year everyone - may 2010 bring you good things. As long as you deserve good things ;)

The Blood Sugar Blues

2009-12-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

It's no fun being diabetic.

I guess that should really go without saying. But aside from obvious health problems there are the mood swings. I know when my blood sugar level has dropped because I start to get paranoid. When I ask Keith out of the blue if he still loves me, his response is always 'when did you last eat?'

And I know I was a nightmare to live with before I was diagnosed with diabetes. One minute I would be my normal, cheerful self, the next I'd be tearing at my hair and beating my breats. The whole world was out to get me! The friends who stuck by me (you know who you are) deserve a medal for their patience. But those mood swings are a thing of the past thanks to my two new friends; metformin and glicazide.
Well, they were a thing of the past, until last weekend.

We were away for the weekend, spending some quality time with my dearest friends. I'd packed a few clothes, their Yuletide gifts... the only thing I had forgotten was my medication. But that wouldn't be a problem, right? It was just a couple of days. I'd watch what I ate, everything wuld be fine.
Riiiiight.

Things, as you might have guessed, did not go as planned. Sure, I was mindful of what I ate, but we were a little less careful about when. My blood sugar was on a rollercoaster and it took my brain along for the ride.

It is a terrible feeling, knowing that you can't trust your own mind. Dark thoughts ran around my head, irrational angers and almost crippling self doubt. Intellectually I knew the cause; a temporary chemical imbalance in the brain, all nice and scientific and logical. But logic doesn't play a part in these thoughts and emotions. The heart feels what the heart feels.

Four days later I was able to think clearly again. Almost clearly. Still the poisonous thoughts linger, fostering anger and distrust towards people who have done little or nothing to deserve it. Why is that? Were my feelings so real then that now they still have the taste of truth? Or is there a kernel of truth at the heart of them that keeps my doubts burning?

I'll be buggered if I know.

Seven Legs (Story)

2009-12-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

A story I wrote for my writing group - the piece had to include a ninja and a spider...

I do not like spiders. It’s funny really considering the dangerous life I lead that I should be afraid of something I could easily crush beneath my fist. I risk death on a nightly basis without flinching and yet the mere sight of eight hairy legs –
- or seven in this case. She’s damaged goods, like me.
I watch her as she tries to climb out of the bathtub, a crawling shadow against the white marble. Somehow she finds purchase on the smooth stone, inching higher and higher. I watch transfixed. Sitting beside the bath in a towel with another wrapped around my hair I feel oddly vulnerable. All I need to do is turn the tap and wash her down the plughole. But I don’t.
What stays my hand? Not pity, never that. I have taken so many lives without a sliver of remorse. And I will take one more before I am done.

The spider slips on the water-slick marble. She falls, tumbling back to where she began. I don’t help her. She has to do this alone.
Alone.

The world is a very lonely place. There is no sense of community anymore. And yet people crave it, that sense of belonging. I know I did. That’s why I joined a gang.
I’m not proud of the things I did with the Northwall Crew but I could justify them then. They were my family and we were at war, trying to hold onto our precious territory. Blood was shed for the sake of a postcode of all things, as if we could own the streets! I soon saw the futility of it all. And when I refused to obey orders they beat me to within an inch of my life.
Their loyalty was a lie. I almost died. When they realised that I had not their threats kept me quiet. They hounded me and, without the Crew’s protection, so did the other gangs. I was in hospital more often than I was out. The police couldn’t help me, not without my co-operation and I knew where that would lead. I have never felt so helpless.

The spider lands on her back, legs flailing desperately. It might be kinder to kill her, flush her down the drain, anything but watch her struggle. Life is too short to fight and suffer this way. My hand finds the tap but I don’t turn it. Not yet.
And the spider begins to climb once more.

Somewhere along the line I met Nathan of Clan Kumo. His clan took me in, protected me. They taught me the art of the ninja and I became kunoichi. The clan seemed so different to my former gang, following the rigid code of honour practised in ancient Japan. This is what I had always hungered for! And Nathan, Grand Master Nathan… I longed for him too.
The things I did for Nathan, the lives I have ended. He told me that my actions would protect the clan. I was so besotted by him that I couldn’t admit the parallels between this and my former life. The one difference I clung to was the code of honour we all followed. It bound us together and justified my every action. It made me strong.
Soon I was second only to the Grand Master. Nathan told me that he had nothing else to teach me. But there was one more lesson to come.

Dark legs twitch at the edge of the bathtub. Almost there, almost there. I move my fingers away quickly, shuddering at the thought of her touch.

Nathan told me the truth last night, when he was drunk. How the gangs I despised had paid us to execute their rivals. We were killers for hire and it was just business as far as Nathan was concerned. Personal feelings didn’t come into it. He had lied to me to ensure my co-operation. But now he wanted to tell me the truth because he didn’t want me to hear it from someone else. Because he loved me.
I couldn’t square this truth with the code practised by the clan. How could I trust him after he had lied to me, lied for years? How could I trust the clan? And he said he loved me!
I so desperately wanted him to love me.
No. If there ever had been this strict code of honour in the clans of antiquity, well, it didn’t exist for Nathan. It was just words to guarantee our compliance. But to me it was everything.

He never saw the blade coming, my tanto slipping between his ribs. I caught him in one final embrace. His lips tasted of blood and wine. Love and death are much the same; they both wound the heart.
Nathan dishonoured our clan. He sullied me with his lies. No amount of scrubbing could ever scour me clean. I draw my tanto from its sheath, marvelling at the shining steel. There is still purity in this world.

The spider finally reaches the top of the bathtub. Her movements are slow now, hesitant. And then she stops. Her legs fold beneath her with beautiful finality.
She’s gone.

Atalanta

2009-12-04T14:18:00.001-08:00

This is Atalanta, or more accurately was. She was my brown house snake (or African house snake), a small breed of colubrids from pretty much all across Africa. Males tend to grow to 3 feet long, females sometimes over 5 feet. I think Atalanta was about 4 and a half feet when she was fully grown. They are a docile breed, taking well to being handled. Atalanta never bit me, not even when sloughing (when snakes are notoriously temperamental) and only bit my dad the once :)

Atalanta was between 15 and 20 years old when we had to have her put to sleep last year. I had her for almost 10 years myself. She was winding down, had little interest in feeding and was unable to slough her skin properly. It was very tough letting her go. Many people find it difficult to understand how I had become so attached to a snake, but she was really part of the family.

I often think of getting another snake. They are fascinating animals, very calming and easy to keep. But Atalanta was one in a million and I think I'd be hard pressed to find another snake with her good nature.

Gnome Bard

2009-12-04T14:14:00.001-08:00

Another of my roleplaying characters but I can't remember her name.
She was a gnome bard who had more than a touch of Barbara Windsor to her.

Bash the Bishop

2009-12-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

The Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle, has stated that the recent flooding in parts of the UK are God's judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society (see full story here.)
Funny, I could have sworn it was the rain.

He says that "We are in serious moral trouble because every type of lifestyle is now regarded as legitimate." So tolerance is a sin now? I call myself intolerant in the title of my blog, looks like I'm just a beginner.

The religious right have always been exceedingly vocal, heard above the voices of the sensible members of their faith. It should be funny really. The evangelists are, generally speaking, as mad as a box of frogs. But people do listen to them...

Autumn Days (Poem)

2009-11-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

These are my autumn days,
Growing colder by the hour,
Sitting in my lonely bower,
As the sun sinks in the West.

Memories of my springtime days
(Our verdant cabin, treasured home,
The forest thick with scent of loam)
Sit heavy in my aged breast.

I mourn the loss of summer days,
An Indian summer, warm and still,
Before I felt autumnal chill,
When life, and I, were at our best.

Now creeping close, my winter days.
This land so barren, trees so bare.
The weight of years does not seem fair
And life becomes a constant test.

Yet memories of all my days
Bring so much joy, too much, I feel
For just one turning of the Wheel.
A life well lived before I rest.

Zebadiah Groat (Roleplaying)

2009-11-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

Zebadiah was another character from a Burning Wheel game - he was Lillin's host.
A sweet-natured wizard with a terrible stutter, he was an odd match for the demon... but was smitten with her.

Earhart and Quimby

2009-11-28T13:34:00.000-08:00

Amelia Earhart - everyone knows her name. Well maybe not everyone, but she seems pretty popular at the moment. First Night in the Museum 2 (oh Amelia, how the mighty have fallen) and now a new film about her life simply entitled Amelia have once more set her firmly in the public eye.

And it's easy to see why Amelia has such enduring international fame. In 1932 she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She was setting records in a male-dominated field, one of the rare women pilots in the pioneering age of aviation. But perhaps she is best remembered for her mysterious disappearance in 1937, the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. It is a shame that the circumstances surrounding her death should overshadow the achievements of her life.

But Amelia wasn't the only American aviatrix of her time. she wasn't even the first. That honour goes to a woman by the name of Harriet Quimby.

Harriet was something of a trendsetter; she drove a motor car, smoked (scandalous for a woman at the start of the 20th Century), was a reporter, a playwright. In 1911she added pilot to the list, being the first American woman to gain her license. ON 16th April 1912 she became the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel, piloting a monoplane she had borrowed from Louis Bleriot for the occasion.

Sadly the Titanic had sunk just the day before. That tragedy dominated the headlines and Harriet's achievement went almost unremarked.

Still, Harriet went on to become a star turn in the flying circuses that were so popular at the time. She wore a plum coloured satin flight suit with a hood and cat-like goggles - quite a fashion statement! Three months after her Channel crossing she attended the Third Annual Boston Aviation Show, taking the organiser William Willard for a spin over the bay.

No-one knows for sure what went wrong. Harriet's 'plane crashed, killing both herself and Willard.

Now Harriet was one of Amelia Earhart's inspirations, and yet few people today have ever heard of her today. Perhaps it was just the unfortunate timing of her greatest achievement. Regardless, I doubt we'll be seeing a Harriet movie coming out of Hollywood anytime soon, mores the pity.

True Crime

2009-11-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

In 1951 the Witchcraft Act (of 1735) was finally repealed.

Sixty years on I am able to practice my craft without fear of prosecution. Oh, there's persecution from time to time, a little religious bigotry here, a touch of condescension there. A lot of willful misunderstanding. But at the end of the day, I'm legal! I'm here, I'm queer... Sorry, wearing the wrong minority hat for a minute there :)

The comparison is somewhat apt though. Homosexuality was only decriminalised in England in 1967. Both groups have been condemned by the church, demonised and ridiculed in turn by the tabloids. Both are said to indulge in 'unnatural practices'. Two small sectors of society, compartmentalised by the misconceptions of the public at large.

(The big difference between being gay and being a witch; I chose to take up the craft. Sexual preference is a fallacy (phallus-ey?) - I did not choose to be gay. Better instead to call it sexual determination. Something in our genetic make-up determines who we get the hots for and we have no more choice in the matter than we do over our height, our eye colour. But I digress.)

It is so easy in these enlightened, tolerant times (heh!) to forget where we came from, how much easier we have things than those who came before us. And yet...

When civil partnerships became legal between same-sex couples in 2005 there was an outcry! The moral crusaders felt that by allowing gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals that it would somehow erode the moral fibre of society. I'm not sure just how us evil homos were going to achieve this.
I remember one protester who insisted that marriage was for the sole purpose of begetting children. I always thought it was a declaration of love, but then I'm just an old romantic. Besides, how many kids are born out of wedlock? How many heterosexual couples choose not to have kids? How many all-girl couples do? All-guy couples too for that matter, but they need a lot more than a turkey baster...

And the tabloids seem unable to seperate witchcraft from satanism, gleefully mislabeling them as one and the same. Satanists worship Satan, an wholly Christian creation. Nothing to do with us pagans.

Even Pope Benedict XVI got a few sly digs in. Back in 2003 when he was just Cardinal Ratzinger, he wrote a letter of concern about the Harry Potter novels. He felt that the tales of magic and witchcraft were 'subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul.' He was a little late jumping on that bandwagon.
In 2002 pastor Jack D. Brock of Almagordo in southern New Mexico announced to his congregation that Harry Potter was, in fact, the devil. Well, I suppose they are both fictional characters.
It wasn't the first time that the people of Almagordo had spoken out against Mr. Potter though. The year before, they had burned copies of Harry Potter books alongside novels by Stephen King, ouija boards and, oddly, AC/DC records.

Now book burning... There should be a law against that.

Cats, cats, cats, everyone's talking about cats...

2009-11-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love cats.
I am blessed (or maybe cursed) with two cats, one a flame-point siamese, the other a shaded oriental; Jay and Liza respectively. Jay looks like a miniature lion, long and lean with a noble head. Liza has the most amazing blue eyes. They both have strong personalities and very penetrating voices.

I have never kept siamese cats before and though I'd heard they were vocal, nothing could have prepared me for the assault on my eardrums. Sometimes its impossible to tell what they want. Sometimes I think they just want to complain.

They are very intelligent cats. Jay has worked out how to open cupboards, forever searching for treats. He climbs everywhere, knocking down pictures and ornaments with reckless abandon. Liza prefers to pace the floor, lap after lap of the flat, circling like a slightly chunky shark.

They follow us around when the mood strikes them, even to the toilet. Liza doesn't have any respect for privacy. She follows our flatmate's girlfriend into the loo, sitting on the cistern and purring. Maybe its just girls going to the bathroom together...
Either that or I have cottaging cats.

Nico Serafini (Roleplaying)

2009-11-19T09:36:00.001-08:00

This is Nico Serafini, a character from a roleplaying game that I ran. It was a dark future setting; the polar ice-caps had melted, putting most of the world under water. Nico was a treasure hunter living in the floating shanty-town above London, routinely diving down to the museums and galleries beneath the waves in search of the next big score :)

Lillin (Roleplaying)

2009-11-19T09:30:00.001-08:00

Well, I threatened to start putting my pics on here...

Lillin is a character from my friend John's roleplaying game. She's a demon with something of a lust for blood :)

First Post

2009-11-02T14:29:00.001-08:00

First post on my first blog :)
I guess the only news I have that's blog-worthy is that I'm a published artist now! My sketches feature in a book written by a friend of mine.

The book is The Earth's Library - A Multidimentional Healing System by Maryelle Grace. Currently available from her website in paperback and pdf form (along with a range of shamanic and complementary health services) it should soon be on Amazon.co.uk. as well!
For Maryelle's website go to Rainbow Medicine Lodge

I'll be posting some of my doodles on here very soon.

Matt