Living Lost’s Neighborhood

For really real too.

October 17th, 2009, the day of inf...infaminy, inf... the day of reckoning!

I had a pretty normal day until that late afternoon when I felt like I had bad gas. Indigestion from he-double hockey sticks.

I went to bed that night and woke up around 2 am with this gnawing pain in the center of my chest. So I got up and the wife came along with me to the hospital. They checked my heart, took an x-ray, took some blood and found nothing really wrong. So they assumed I had the beginings of a virus, they gave me a prescription and sent me on my way.

I went back to bed, at least I tried to...

I woke up many hours later and the pain had moved South East.

Uh oh...

I headed back to the hospital and the same staff were still on duty and immediately saw me.

The Doctor took more blood and while the results still looked ok, he knew my appendix was going out. They put me on an IV and admitted me. I did not appear to be in any danger, they thought I had time... and so testing was scheduled the next day.

That was when they saw that my gall bladder had already given up and died out.

The surgeon on duty turned out to be the same surgeon I had before for a minor surgery. He talked to me about the small incisions they would make and how they would remove the gall bladder on Tuesday along with the appendix.

Tuesday arrived, I was in pain and could no longer use the bathroom. They came to take me away around noon for this simple procedure.

I woke up and it was nighttime and I was so heavily sedated that I did not find out how my gallbladder surgery went smoothly, but when they got to the appendix it had ruptured already and it had ruptured into my colon and my insides were filling with poison.

It took me hours for it all to sink in, how in danger I was and yet I found it hard to get worked up about. I was now in the safe zone, covered in bandages, IVs and cathaters. Kinda hard to get worried when I am recovering. I had to basically relearn how to walk. I was in the hospital a full week before I even ate a single bite of food.

So how am I now? 98% better. I am still weak, but I am working on building stamina. I live...

Shirley: You think religion is stupid.
Jeff: No, no. To me, religion is like Paul Rudd. I see the appeal and I would never take it away from anyone, but I would also never stand in line for it.

-Community

I am a very spiritual person, I just do not subscribe to any organized religion.

I do not mean to be offensive if I am, but do religious people have no faith in humanity? Everything good, every kind word, every action done out of sincerity is proof to some that God is good and alive.

Now, I am not saying God does not exist and nor am I saying he is not good or alive.... but, can people not be good just because it is their nature to be good to one another?

And going by this logic... things done out of malice must be attributed to ole' Scartch right?

Then what about things done in that middle area? Done not out of goodness or malice, but because we are just bored or feeling a bit... meh? Do we attribute those actions to Steven Wright?

National Lampoon's Vacation was on TV, and Youngest and I were sitting on the couch watching it, when I said, "The 80's had some good music." He nodded noncommittally, staring at the TV, where a young Anthony Michael Hall was paging through a nudie mag. Then he asked, "You know what would be *so* cool?"
"What?"
"If I could somehow travel back to the time of the 80's."
"Ah. Yeah."
"And if I had like, 80's clothes and all the 80's stuff, and knew how to talk like they did in the 80's."
"Mmhm."
"Because then, maybe I would know what it's like to like 80's music."

First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!

The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.

TypePad Micro

9 comments

A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.

Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.

On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.

And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!

~ daisy

What's the first exhibit you visit at the zoo?

Elephants.

Elephant.

Tada! It's an elephant!

As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.

The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.

When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.

It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.

Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.

As always, thanks for your patience.

~daisy

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.

I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.

Cheers,

daisy

Direct link to download .mp3 podcast file -- http://media.blubrry.com/occultofpersonality/www.occultofpersonality.net/wp-content/uploads/OoP_Podcast75_RobertPlace1.mp3

If the above link is not working, please try -- http://www.divshare.com/download/9070324-a2b

“Robert M. Place is an internationally known visionary artist and illustrator, whose award winning works, in painting, sculpture, and jewelry, have been displayed in galleries and museums in America, Europe, and Japan and graced the covers and pages of numerous books and publications. He is the designer, illustrator, and co-author, with Rosemary Ellen Guiley, of: The Alchemical Tarot and The Angels Tarot, which are both published by HarperCollins and have received international acclaim particularly for their skillful and illuminating graphics. He is the designer, illustrator, and author of The Tarot of the Saints, and The Buddha Tarot, which are published by Llewellyn. His fifth book, The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, is published by Tarcher/Penguin. He has also authored Astrology and Divination, Magic and Alchemy, and Shamanism. His latest Tarot deck and book set is The Vampire Tarot, published by St. Martins Press.”

"The Vampire Tarot" by Robert M. Place

To begin episode 75, Robert describes the prophetic and synchronistic manner that he was introduced to the Tarot. As an artist, he was able to intuitively grasp the symbolism and levels of meaning portrayed in the Tarot images, allowing him to create “The Alchemical Tarot“, a very highly-acclaimed and beautiful deck. Robert then describes his latest creation, “The Vampire Tarot“.

Jonathan the Fool

As a Tarot scholar, his research into the history and folklore of vampires and the Dracula legend led him to the realization that this story was like an inverse of the alchemical quest. The Great Work is analogous to the story told by the Major Arcana of the Tarot. In his analysis of the Dracula legend, Robert realized that this story was also a quest for immortality but in a far darker and different way, replacing the spiritual with the material.

IV. The Count

Robert tells us how the vampire legends invoke the Jungian concept of facing the shadow or the other. The resurrection of these legends in literature coincided with the scientific revolution and Romanticism. The original vampire stories, like the unrefined unconscious mind were dark and frightening, but when examined in the light, by writers and artists, these same stories can take on an alluring quality. Robert explains this evolution from a historical, psychological, and artistic perspective.

XVIII. The Moon

We finish off the conversation as Robert describes how he views the Dracula legend as analogous to the quest for the Holy Grail. Dracula can be seen as the dark knight and those trying to defeat him as the Knights of the Round Table. His perspective on this legend and his beautiful artwork in “The Vampire Tarot” can bring forth yet another version of the archetypal hero’s quest, there all along and just waiting for us to discover it.

XIX. The Sun