estaratshirai

Wisdom saw Inanna descend into the Pit
and suffer there on tinderhooks.
The elevation of souls was not to be won in brave assault.
Instead, when Wisdom's turn came, She hid
inside a mortal form, humble and much changed in shape -
suffered
died
and was buried.
Only within the realm of the dead
did She reveal Herself another Queen of Heaven,
come to carry off souls meant to rise.
Come into the light, you who have suffered;
Come into the light, poor innocents unmourned;
To me, to my arms, victims of injustice;
To my embrace, seekers left behind in the dark.
All who will come, come to me:
I will carry any ancestor to any hall that awaits them, or to my own if they have no other,
Just as I have carried down truth to any mind that seeks it,
For I am Wisdom.
Come to me, beloved ones,
And on the third day we will rise.

Right, so for them as weren't on facebook, a quick synopsis of my times there. Let's see. Was Episcopalian; wandered away over growing concern over my church's failure to intersect (the common "nice>=good" problem); was briefly progressive Catholic; bad at getting up and driving that far; am now doing more of a private-relationship-with-Jesus-and-Co thing that also includes most of my old posse, because I am a complicated multivalent confusing beastie.

Marriage is fine. Kiddo is now legally female, and yes, she's *thrilled* to see what the new regime has in store for her. Me too! For which reason I have been inundating my fb feed with news and inspirationals and calls to action. But fb is starting to get twitchy about them, so yay. Have started a few spiritual projects along these lines as well, which I will probably talk about later.

Did you know about the new third cat? Our new third cat is Max, a tuxedo. She is ridiculously social, bright, and possibly a spoiled brat and troublemaker. She reduces T to a cute-talking muppet.

Finished making Domus Doli into a novel and am currently shopping for a publisher and trying to learn to do all the marketing crap. Or that's what I was doing before apocalypse-prepping took over, anyway.

I mean this question literally.

This book, formatted for the appropriate size, is 600 pages. According to Lulu's estimates, Devourer on the cheap paper would cost $15 per unit to print. (This, friends, is what we get for not buying in bulk.) They recommend a retail price of $30. I myself would be perfectly happy at negligible profit margins, since I am blessed not to be counting on this for food or anything, but that only brings it down to, say, $20. Which still seems like a bit much to ask for a paperback novel, even if it is long, dramatic, and filled with delicious hidden tidbits of witchy wisdom. (See? Starting to get my PR face on.) 

How do people work this? Is there a cheaper POD printer? Or do people actually fork out $20-30 for an indie novel? Or is this why people say paper is dying and I should stick to ebook only?

Opinions not only welcome but actively solicited.

And I would totally show you if my phone uploading album would just cooperate for a minute.  Pft.  Here's a rough idea:

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/cypress.w.pearl.lime/5687/36575/

Like that, only blue.  With a rack and saddlebags.  She's just an entry-level, but I love her.  :D

So:  it's Bisexual Visibility Day.  http://september23.bi.org/

For those of you who might have managed to miss it, I'm bisexual.  I'm not straight; I'm not gay; I'm not transsexual or transgendered; I'm not a rampaging sex fiend monster with no brakes (so no, if you're wondering whether I was hitting on you and you're not sure, I probably wasn't).  I'm lovingly and devotedly married to a guy, so if you didn't know already, you probably assumed I was straight.  Nope, not quite!

There.  All visible.  **glows faintly**

So let me tell you a thing about Flame's new online school:  he will be doing Rosetta Stone Japanese.  For free.  BOOYEAH.

(And also trig.  English class is reading "The Crucible."  All good stuff.)

Whew!  The party was beautiful and fun, everything went smoothly, everyone seemed to have a good time, the new friends got along with the old friends, all the presents and cards were lovely and I didn't have to feign enthusiasm for any of them.  ;D  And we looked fabulous. 

And today I'm grateful that enough cleanup and borrowed-stuff-returning has already happened as of this morning, and there are enough leftovers, to make today pretty laid-back except for getting groceries sometime this afternoon.  I am groggy but happy.  :D

I'm grateful for a day of not going out or seeing people, just chillin in mah house.  Also, we have an approval for Flame to go the internet school, and a ride to get him to the orientation and the assessment test without our riding the bus two hours each way.  Yay!

Today we found an Indian grocery that JUST opened near us, and which - the bigger shock for locally - sells non-expired food.  That still smells and behaves like food when you open it!  Annnnnd they had rose kurti (ice cream) which was what I wanted to serve with the cake if only there was anyplace near me that sold it!

Oh yeah.  Rockin' it Indian style.

For yesterday I am grateful for OMG NAPOLEON (the insanely rich dessert, not the Frenchman) and friends making them and lending me stuff and helping and all.

For today I'm grateful for the chance to see friends I hadn't seen in a while in a happy context (bridal shower).