2015.01.05 13:00 - Smudging, peyote fans and meaty issues

The Guardian for this meeting was Aphrodite Macbain. The comments are by Aphrodite Macbain.

SilasAndrews Resident: Hi, Kori.
Korel Laloix: Osiyo
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Kori.
Korel Laloix: What did I miss?..
SilasAndrews Resident: Nothing. Just waiting for Aph to arrive.
Bruce Mowbray nods.
Korel Laloix: Always waiting on Aph.. I see.. smiles
SilasAndrews Resident: :)
Bruce Mowbray: What did we miss with you?
Korel Laloix: Not sure... smiles

Clear Rocks

Korel Laloix: Rocks?
Korel Laloix: I probably deserve it somehow.
Bruce Mowbray: You deserve rocks?
Bruce Mowbray: please say more.
Korel Laloix: Well,... rocks that are clear and made of carbon.. smiles
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmm.
Korel Laloix: Preferably surrounded by something like gold or platinum.. smiles
SilasAndrews Resident: Bruce just threw some rocks made of carbon into his wood stove. Would those work?
Korel Laloix: I like the clean kind... smiles
SilasAndrews Resident: ahhh. Picky picky.
Korel Laloix: clear
Korel Laloix: Very... smiles
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Bruce Mowbray: When my typist goes to natural history museums,
Korel Laloix: Not my favorite though... more of a turquoise, ruby or lapis kind of girl really.
Bruce Mowbray: one of the "must see's" is the gem area.
Korel Laloix: (hint)
Korel Laloix: lol
Bruce Mowbray: The one at the Fields Museum in Chicago is especially nice.
Korel Laloix: Bruce was waiting for you Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello!
Bruce Mowbray: Aph cometh.
Korel Laloix: Never been to Chicago.. sounds cold.
SilasAndrews Resident: Heya, Aph!
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Korel
Korel Laloix: Heya
Bruce Mowbray: Everything in the Midwest is COLD right now, Kori.
tanplayboy Resident: 's current display-name is "tanplayboy".
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Silas, Bruce. Glad to see you're both here!
Bruce Mowbray: TY!
SilasAndrews Resident: TY!
Korel Laloix: I have seen...still looking for that job inspecting saunas on the equator.
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello tanplayboy
Aphrodite Macbain: it seems you are a double
Korel Laloix: Osiyo
Bruce Mowbray: Gone!
Aphrodite Macbain: byee
Aphrodite Macbain: Nice to see that Blub is not swimming in frozen water
SilasAndrews Resident: Was tanplayboy a double?
Bruce Mowbray: Blub appreciates it, also.
Korel Laloix: A double?
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- he seemed to made up of two bodies
Aphrodite Macbain: amazing what one can do...
SilasAndrews Resident: [13:04] Aph: it seems you are a double
Aphrodite Macbain: I am?
Korel Laloix: OH... was not fully rezzed in my view.
SilasAndrews Resident: No, that's what you just said - about tanplayboy.
Korel Laloix: tan play boy... lol
Aphrodite Macbain: oh yes- there were two bodies...
Aphrodite Macbain: one with arms out
Korel Laloix: I like self confidence but that is one to make me smile.
Bruce Mowbray: That happens sometimes when I do graphics art in Poser,
Bruce Mowbray: if I want to duplicate some object,
Aphrodite Macbain: what's Poser?
Bruce Mowbray: then sometimes everything connected to that object also gets duplicated..
Bruce Mowbray: and before I know it, the 6 gigabyte memory of the computer is all used up!
Korel Laloix: Sounds painful.
Bruce Mowbray: For the computer, perhaps.

Holiday survival

Aphrodite Macbain: how have you survived the holidays?
Bruce Mowbray: The Poser 12 program itself takes up a whole lot of memory, of course.
Korel Laloix: Not done yet for me.. but good so far.
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm. sort of up and down for me, thanks.
SilasAndrews Resident: I got through fine, ty.
Korel Laloix: How about you Aph?
Bruce Mowbray listens.
Aphrodite Macbain: Magnificent thanks!
Bruce Mowbray: :)
SilasAndrews Resident: Great!
Aphrodite Macbain: I am so in love with this part of the world
SilasAndrews Resident: You live in a truly beautiful area, Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: Especially when it's sunny :-)
Korel Laloix: Where is that?
Aphrodite Macbain: the west coast of Canada
SilasAndrews Resident: Western British Columbia.
Korel Laloix: Sounds cold... but it does sound pretty as well.
Aphrodite Macbain: I was on Vancouver island
Bruce Mowbray: Your photos were gorgeous, Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: ah- glad you saw them. I was afraid I was too late in adding them
Bruce Mowbray: Kori, our HIGH in Ohio tomorrow will be in the mid-teens.
SilasAndrews Resident: Yup - colder than Alaska.
Korel Laloix: I think I will stay here and find a way to move south as soon as possible.

New Plans (for 12015)

Aphrodite Macbain: Do you have any new plans for this year ?
SilasAndrews Resident: Wind chills down to minus 20.
Aphrodite Macbain: something different from last year?
Bruce Mowbray: Who is "you"?
Aphrodite Macbain: either of you any of you :-)
Korel Laloix: Planning a big summer trip, but there are many reasons it might happen.
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmm.
Korel Laloix: Need to get out camping again soon as well.
Bruce Mowbray: Well . . . just to continue carrying on, I guess.
Aphrodite Macbain: many reasons it might happen? or might not happen?
Korel Laloix: Might not happen.
SilasAndrews Resident: I shall also carry on. . . with alacrity.
Aphrodite Macbain: life gets in the way of camping?
Korel Laloix: alacrity?
Korel Laloix: Gets in the way of my possible trip to the UK and Germany again.
Korel Laloix: But also gets in the way of camping... frowns
Bruce Mowbray: a·lac·ri·ty əˈlakrədē/ noun brisk and cheerful readiness.
Aphrodite Macbain: UK and Germany sound wonderful....
SilasAndrews Resident: Welcome, Qt.
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Qt.
Korel Laloix: Oh Ok.. thanks.
Qt Core: Hi all
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello Qt. Happy New Year!
Qt Core: Happy new year to you all
Korel Laloix: Going to visit the places I stayed at during my exchange semester if the plan goes right.
Korel Laloix: Heya.. happy times to you a well.
Bruce Mowbray: Great!
Aphrodite Macbain: I hope it will be a happy one and a healthy one too
Aphrodite Macbain: Do you have any plans for 12015 Qt?
Bruce Mowbray: whoa!
Aphrodite Macbain: ?
Bruce Mowbray: Colonizing Saturn, maybe?
Qt Core: getting to 12015 alive would be enough ;-)
Aphrodite Macbain: oops :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: you know what I meant
Qt Core: nothing explicit, no promise to break
Aphrodite Macbain would hate to be alive in 12015
Aphrodite Macbain: It will be a world very incompatible to the human species
Qt Core: I'd like it, only if my brain will keep working well
Bruce Mowbray: (for her birthday).

Clear carbon rocks again

Bruce Mowbray: By 12015 I plan to be a very clear chunk of pure carbon . . . and to offer myself to Kori .
Bruce Mowbray: whenever that is.
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles
Korel Laloix: As you should.. smiles
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha!
Bruce Mowbray: Kori and I were talking about clear carbon rocks before you arrived, Aph and Qt
Aphrodite Macbain: ah
Aphrodite Macbain: why?
Qt Core: the one they want many piece of paper for or gold colored plastic ?
Bruce Mowbray: and I had just told her that I was putting carbon rocks into my wood stove today,
Bruce Mowbray: but she didn't think they would be clear enough.
Korel Laloix: Yes.. I like the clear ones.. smiles
SilasAndrews Resident: :)
Aphrodite Macbain wonders what on earth clear carbon rocks are - perhaps diamonds
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Bruce Mowbray: yuppers, diamonds.
Aphrodite Macbain: a girl's best friend
Bruce Mowbray: pure carbon.
Aphrodite Macbain: I prefer emeralds myself
SilasAndrews Resident: Bruce's typist saw some beautiful rocks last May at the Fields Natural History Museum in Chicago.
SilasAndrews Resident: in the gems area.
SilasAndrews Resident: emeralds there, too, Aph.
Korel Laloix: Actually I prefer turquoise, ruby and lapis.. but diamonds are something you can't refuse... smiles

Most important possessions

Aphrodite Macbain: Sooo- what is the most important possession you would always keep and take care of...
Bruce Mowbray: You mean, smaller than a house?
Aphrodite Macbain: We value things differently as we get older...
SilasAndrews Resident: or a car?
Aphrodite Macbain: any size you like- there's no right answer
Bruce Mowbray: but now I'm giving all of those away.
Bruce Mowbray: (WHAT a relief.)
Bruce Mowbray: I used to think that would be my Journals,
Bruce Mowbray: I wish this chat thing would get the sequence of my entries right.

Qt Core: the only paintings by my sister she ever let me have (and luckily the one i like most)
Bruce Mowbray listens.
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: Is it framed?
Qt Core: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: are they framed?
Qt Core: only this one
Aphrodite Macbain: Is she a good painter?

Korel Laloix: I think my most prized possession is my grandmother's buckskin regalia.
Qt Core: not really ;-)
Aphrodite Macbain: wow
Bruce Mowbray: Is it beaded, Kori?
Aphrodite Macbain wonders whether Kori dances in the costume
Korel Laloix: Some beads, mostly quills.
Korel Laloix: (not a costume)... regalia.
Korel Laloix: And yes, I dance in it...
Korel Laloix: I mostly do Fancy shawl... but that is a modern regalia...
Bruce Mowbray: ahhh, like this?
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.hermitdog.com/April2006_T...ucannon015.JPG
Korel Laloix: My grandmothers is for buckskin or traditional dance.
Bruce Mowbray: or this:
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.hermitdog.com/April2006_T...ucannon014.JPG
Korel Laloix: That is more for men's style.
Bruce Mowbray: [whispers} or this:
Korel Laloix: The second is more versited.
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.hermitdog.com/April2006_T...ucannon016.JPG
Korel Laloix: That is something more for use men's fancy.
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: beautiful!
Korel Laloix: "war" dance sort of thing
Aphrodite Macbain: But your grandmother would carry them?
Korel Laloix: In buckskin you carry a fan and I carry my hand me down peyote fan.
Bruce Mowbray nods.
Korel Laloix: No.. just the same outer garment.
Korel Laloix: Different moccasins and fan and feather.
Aphrodite Macbain: what's a peyote fan?
Korel Laloix: When we do peyote rituals, there are certain things we do.
Korel Laloix: The fan is really used for smudging.
Aphrodite Macbain: you smudge by fanning the flames?
Korel Laloix: Not really... we make the smudges with ( in our tradition) with different amounts of sweetgrass, white sage, cedar and tobacco.
Korel Laloix: And then when we want to clean the negative, you light them and the fan functions to keep the flame going and to spread the smoke.
Bruce Mowbray nods.
Korel Laloix: And the character of the fan has an effect as well.. or can.
SilasAndrews Resident: Smudging is an ancient and honorable ritual.
SilasAndrews Resident: We used to smudge the "container" before every men's group meeting.
Aphrodite Macbain: really? with sweetgrass?
SilasAndrews Resident: Usually with sage, actually.
Korel Laloix: For us it is one most common.
Korel Laloix: Sage is a must really..
SilasAndrews Resident: and we would also smudge each new member - as part of his initiation.
Aphrodite Macbain: with sage?
SilasAndrews Resident: Yup.
Aphrodite Macbain: I think it's a beautiful ritual
Korel Laloix: White sage is the foundation.
Korel Laloix: You always smudge before a ceremony particularly a lodge.
Korel Laloix: I mean a sweat lodge.
SilasAndrews Resident: Yes, smudging the "container" --
Aphrodite Macbain: I suppose it is somewhat like blessing a place
SilasAndrews Resident: (which is not only physical, of course.)
SilasAndrews Resident: It is, indeed, and protecting the place.
Korel Laloix: It is a little more than that.. it is driving away what negativity feeds on.
Aphrodite Macbain: I suppose incense plays a similar role in some other religions
SilasAndrews Resident nods and nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: but not exactly the same
Korel Laloix: Sets the stage for balance... arriving at that balance is not in the medicine, that is in you.
Korel Laloix: Or I should say is in the family in the lodge.

Themes

Aphrodite Macbain: I want to re-think what we do here in my session and welcome ideas - the format, the topics etc. I am feeling we are just marking time, saying the same things, not fully involved. Do any of you have suggestions?
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: or are you happy with it as it is?
Aphrodite Macbain: :)
SilasAndrews Resident: I enjoy having a theme.
Bruce Mowbray: ... but he's too shy to offer one.
Aphrodite Macbain: Me too- but it's hard to come up with one each time, one that everyone is interested in discussing
Korel Laloix: I have so many things to talk about not sure where to start or go.
Bruce Mowbray listens for more from Kori.
Aphrodite Macbain: Maybe we can each bring /suggest a topic
Aphrodite Macbain: Come with a list of suggestions...
Korel Laloix: I could have quite a few... lol
Aphrodite Macbain: great!
Korel Laloix: Not sure everyone would want to hear the things I worry about though...
Aphrodite Macbain: Perhaps you could mention some now or at the next session?
SilasAndrews Resident: I would, Kori.
Bruce Mowbray: me too, Kori.
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Korel Laloix: Well... here is one on my mind.... with my evolving thoughts.
Aphrodite Macbain: I think it is important that we discuss things of interest to all participants
Bruce Mowbray listens carefully.
Aphrodite Macbain also listens
SilasAndrews Resident also listens.

Aphrodite Macbain: Qt- senti?

Qt Core: sure

Aphrodite Macbain: bene
 

Korel Laloix: Was asked to do a book review mainly because of my gender and ethnicity.. that sort of a book.
Bruce Mowbray continues to listen.
Korel Laloix: And it was advertised for "young women of color"
Korel Laloix: Soooo.. I go to read and it is horrible.
Aphrodite Macbain: what is the book?
SilasAndrews Resident: hmmmm.
Korel Laloix: First, it is not for women of color... it is for African American young women... not people like me, or Asian, or Hispanic, etc.
Korel Laloix: It is a Bible commentary.
Qt Core: just the idea that a book could have such a classification sound suspicious to me
Korel Laloix: Agreed.
SilasAndrews Resident: Title?
Aphrodite Macbain: So, what is the particular issue you want to discuss, Kori?
Korel Laloix: I have a list of concerns with it.
Aphrodite Macbain listens
SilasAndrews Resident nods.
Korel Laloix: The first question that came in to my mind was how do a polite critique of this?
Korel Laloix: Then as I tried to write it, I thought maybe I should not... Maybe I should just hit it hard.
Qt Core: taking a long breath every two pages ?
Korel Laloix: So.... not sure of the words.. use discretion? Soft sell?

Korel Laloix: So .. the question is... when to use restraint... or when to lay it all out?
Aphrodite Macbain: what would you criticize it for?
Korel Laloix: Not being labeled correctly.. not for people of color.. but for people of African descent.
Korel Laloix: For making some very shaky archaeological claims with not sources.
Korel Laloix: For using deliberately poor grammar that might degrade these young women's long term academic progress.
Korel Laloix: It is just poor all around....

Bruce Mowbray nods.
Qt Core: separate the harsh part and a clinical discussion of its faults ? Then see if the clinical part can stand alone and send only that
Aphrodite Macbain: the term "people of colour" is a very broad one and includes both African Americans as well as Indigenous Americans
SilasAndrews Resident nods.
Korel Laloix: And I am stuck on how to write this review.
SilasAndrews Resident: (sounds like it).
Korel Laloix: Polite... or pointed?
Aphrodite Macbain: Kori- may I suggest we postpone this discussion till next week- it raises many issues that can't be addressed in the 2 minutes left!
SilasAndrews Resident: for sure.
Korel Laloix: OK..
Korel Laloix: So it worth a chat then?
Korel Laloix: I have another one if you want.. smiles
Bruce Mowbray: Let's talk about "How to give honest criticism" next week... of perhaps some aspects of that.
Bruce Mowbray: and maybe, also, "How to receive honest criticism."
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Yes, definitely. Perhaps you can prepare a brief statement about what you think to main problem or issue is. There could be many...
Korel Laloix: I can send you a notecard I think.
Aphrodite Macbain: That's one aspect of it that can be applied universally Bruce- great!
Aphrodite Macbain: a note card is a good idea
Bruce Mowbray nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: Thanks Korel :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: I really appreciate your willingness
Aphrodite Macbain: If you could do a notecard and send it to me, I'll quote it in an email to all Pabbites so it can be a full discussion.
Korel Laloix: Willingness?.. I just want advice really... smiles
Korel Laloix: OK..
Aphrodite Macbain: willingness to frame the issue
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Korel Laloix: OK..
Aphrodite Macbain: yayy
Aphrodite Macbain: How does that sound to you Qt?
Korel Laloix: I have three things on my heart right now.
Korel Laloix: So I will put them all down.
Bruce Mowbray: sounds good, Kori.
Aphrodite Macbain: OK. wonderful
Qt Core: we are all booked for January, then ;-)
SilasAndrews Resident: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: and if Bruce, Qt or Silas have others- please let me know
SilasAndrews Resident: kk.
Aphrodite Macbain: we could intersperse them
Aphrodite Macbain: I am taking a course this year on art and the public space. It should provide some meaty issues...
Aphrodite Macbain: Now for some lunch....speaking of meaty
Qt Core: :-) enjoy
Aphrodite Macbain: namaste
Korel Laloix: Take care all.
Aphrodite Macbain: bye