Drumpf has been elected President by the Electoral College, which is really really really REALLY not cool. Like... what is happening, Universe? There better be an INSANELY GOOD PLOT TWIST in the last couple weeks of 2016.

Cap and the Avengers are not cool with this.

I didn't get the job, but that's okay.

I also tanked my math class in the fall, but I swear to the gods that I will pass it and finally fucking graduate. WHY IS MATH THE ONLY REQUIREMENT LEFT FOR MY ASSOCIATE DEGREE, AND WHY HAVE I BEEN STUCK ON IT FOR TWO FUCKING YEARS??? Like, I need an honorary C-grade or something for how many times I've taken it.

Three bright spots away from school and the shitstorm of political freak-outs is Disney's Moana. That movie is my happy place as a Filipino-American trying to find non-colonized parts of her heritage. It got me to buy Filipino Tattoos Ancient to Modern by Lane Wilcken, and OH LORD, PRE-COLONIAL TATTOOS ARE GORGEOUS.

The second bright spot is theater, as usual. My friend wants to introduce me to a local Asian-American company through my play Takotsubo. She said that the person in charge is away for the holidays, so concrete talks/emails are probably gonna be around January or February.

The third bright spot is that crocheting is so much fun, and I've gotten some Celtic crochet books that let you do knotwork and Aran Island-inspired designs. They should be coming either at the end of December or early January.

So shit keeps happening, amidst school and writing and stuff. The only way I can comprehend it is to just keep going like I normally do.

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I'm off-schedule with my self-paced math class. According to the admissions office, the self-paced classes aren't actually SELF-paced and we can't go through each section of the class and then add the next section as needed. We have to do a (cursory) meetup with a counselor, in which they check the online records to make sure we did the homework and passed the unit test, which takes all of thirty seconds, and THEN we sign up for the next part of the course after they clear it for us.

But thanks to a glitch in which the counselors' computer system didn't match up with the admission office's system, I had to appeal for the class from the fucking DEAN and then wait a week to be added to the class.

It left me with one week to get the homework AND test done. I'm like, "oh, this section has exactly seven homework assignments, so how bad can it be to do ONE ASSIGNMENT PER DAY?"

Unfortunately, now I can't fucking remember anything that I learned (read: CRAMMED AS FAST AS POSSIBLE) and therefore I'm running into problems with the practice test because shit is all mixed up or there are weird bits that I can't quite remember, even with the problems I solved in my notes. It doesn't help that I hate graphs with a passion. So now I'm trying to get help with graphing from the professor, while doing bits and pieces of the practice test, while figuring out how to retain all the marginally different equations that I pretty much did on autopilot during the homework.

The only saving grace is that the tests and practice tests are only about 20-30 questions apiece, and I don't have to do the practice test in one sitting. (Although I will need to do the actual test in one sitting, and that's what worries me.)

See, this is a problem because I wanted to finish all four sections of the self-paced class by the end of the semester, because that would mean I get eight units and therefore all of my financial aid, instead of a reduction in financial aid.

MAAAAAAAYBE the fiasco with "I had to wait a week for the dean to add me to the class" will help me if they point out I only got seven instead of eight credits, but this is a community college. They mess shit up all the time.

I hate algebra. I'm a theater major, why can't they give us business/accounting requirements for math instead of fucking ALGEBRA? Business is fun AND applicable to real life.

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Since my sister moved out, I've been doing a lot of sewing/house-minded stuff. I finished a canvas messenger bag that my sister had started out helping me with (she sewed up the body, I finished sewing the pockets, attaching the strap, and figuring out where to attach the buttons). Then I fixed up a quick drawstring bag out of muslin for my comb since the bag it came in was starting to fray at the seam like whoa, and now I'm working on a steampunk-ish pocket belt made from of an old pair of jeans.

Sewing is very therapeutic. Brighid enjoys it.

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I'm working on a ten-minute script for a college theater festival. One of the professional writers my theater group's been working with sent us a link to it--the festival wants 1) more college-aged casts, and 2) more diverse college-aged casts.

So I went "YES, I'mma diversify the hell out of this joint!"

A month seems to be my comfortable time limit for short scripts, but thanks to the family stuff below, I ended up taking the Fianna's advice of "YOU HAVE FIVE HOURS AND YOU ONLY HAVE TWO MORE SCENES AND EDITING TO DO. GO FOR IT!" Thus, I spent five hours madly finishing my script.

It's mostly satisfactory, but I emailed it somewhere around 11:55PM. It DID get accepted into the pool of contenders, though, and that's awesome.

My rule for submissions from now on: If I'm not mostly done by 11:30PM on the cutoff date, I should just let it go.

Also, I'm never listening to the Fianna about writing stuff ever again.

Spoiler alert for the next part: Family stuff.

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( It's very conflicting and very not-fun.Collapse )

So I made the three-week short mead batch about twenty minutes ago. I bought a two-liter juice jug instead of the milk or water jugs because juice jugs tend to be clear. Ingredients are two pounds of Rita Miller Wildflower Honey again, twelve raisins, half a teaspoon of yeast, and half an orange. Then I made sure to use warm/tepid water for the must.

It's got a tiny bit of bubbling as of now, but the proper fermentation should start in a couple of hours or so.

Also, I subbed for the same actor again today; we were wondering where she was because she doesn't work on Wednesdays, and it turns out she thought she didn't have to rehearse today. By the time we called her, she would have missed about an hour of rehearsal anyway, so I subbed for her. The prof said if I can get off-book by the third time I sub for her, I get to be her understudy! So yay, I could have two roles AND I wrote part of a play!

Things are just going really well right now.

Tangible updates:
-Got my dress fabric for Elphaba. I have my cape AND dress fabric now, so me and my sister are going to start working on it today. I just need to purple eyeshadow for contouring, get the buttons for the dress (which will be hard since I need about twelve of them), test my green makeup, and buy my hat fabric, which hopefully involves coupons so I can get the awesome but expensive spotted batik fabric I spotted a while ago. Batik is nine dollars a yard, and the batik remnants they have on clearance aren't the patterns I need.

-Nearly done with my canvas messenger bag. I put my Celtic knotwork bracelet on hold because I've been nearly done with this stupid bag for WEEKS now, but canvas is tedious to sew (especially by hand). I literally only need to sew one end of the strap on and to tweak the button loops, so I'm just going to finish the bastard and then help my sister with my Elphaba mockup.

-At least three Halloween-oriented events. I'm seeing a Celtic-fusion band for their early Samhain celebration (Oct. 25th) at my favorite cafe--Four Shillings Short. Then my parkour group is having an early costume meetup next Sunday (the 27th), which I'll go to in the morning so I can leave at two-ish for my shamanic group meeting. I'm not sure if it's going to be a normal drum-circle or if we're going to an ecstatic dance meet in Oakland. Or if we're doing both. And then on Halloween itself, me and my sister are going to be Elphaba and Batgirl and take photos around town with our AWESOME NEW PHONES.

-Lost my phone and got a new one (finally). I now have an iPhone 4. It's SO MUCH BETTER than my old Blackberry. Plus I can play music WITHOUT needing my laptop or a finicky-ass speaker like with my iPod shuffle.

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Intangible Updates:
October 6th was a bit more of a clusterfuck than usual.

( Yep.Collapse )

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And then about a week ago while I was drafting my Elphaba cosplay, Elphaba (and Glinda and Fiyero) showed up.

( She's leaning heavily towards Book Elphaba.Collapse )

This is getting extremely weird because I only have a vague knowledge of The Wicked Years series. I know the general plot, most characters' names, and that it's depressing as hell, but I have yet to read it because I have no money and I'm not sure I want to read a shaggy-dog story (however well-written, because I do like Gregory Maguire's style).

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Sunday's group meeting was interesting; the medicine-woman told me that I should come to an ecstatic dance meet-up where she and her family had a fantastic time. It's around the last Sunday of the month, and we're probably going to go as a group (which I enjoy because it's just so much more fun to watch ). Even if people don't/can't dance (or lack the stamina for three hours of it), there's an altar where people can meditate or take a break.

( Small group, lots of food for thought.Collapse )

I also remember that a few days ago, Fox finally did something that makes sense. I was getting spirit-overloaded again and I couldn't sleep even with Moritz's help, so Fox came into my meditation-room, curled up around the bed, and shut the noise out.

So that was even more coincidence than usual in our group meeting, and I wonder if it's because Samhain is in a week. I'll send the medicine-woman an email about what the Tiger said about how Fox's ability to "see everything at once" makes him look crazy, because I keep running through that conversation in my head lately.

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Speaking of the script, one of the theater companies in Berkeley LOVES our idea and in a couple of years, they want us to perform it on their stage as a summer deal. Which means I want to graduate on time even MORE than I already do, and I only have about four or five classes left to fulfill my degree anyway. (Even with dropping my sociology class. I hope it isn't going to work out too badly, but when I can't afford the book and checking it out two hours a day isn't NEARLY enough for the giant three-hour discussion, I knew at the back of my head that I wouldn't get more than a D no matter how hard I tried.)

-Manic-Depressive Friend is coming back to college in Fall. YAY! Hanschen mentioned that he's taking them whenever he remembers, but not all the time, which is a positive but small step.

-Friend-in-Washington is back in the Bay Area, and apparently finding a lot of places that are hiring. Macha cackled at me when I went "HOLY SHIT WHEN DID HE GET HERE FROM WASHINGTON?!"

-My left shoulder and side are frequently sore or tired from washing all the dental equipment. Like, my side and shoulder start acting up within just a couple of hours into the day, and then they get WAY better on the ten-minute drive home. Not "LOL INSTANT CURE," but I'm not significantly impaired and I can do pretty much anything but things that need lots of "dishwashing" movements. So there's definitely a spiritual component to it.

While I was on my break and complaining about it, the Morrigan said that in addition to my arm being physically worn out, constant physical discomfort with my work means I'm just about done with this job. Cue the mental "YESSSSSS" and scribbling down that I want a job at either one of the plant nurseries, or the stocking shop right by the clinic. Strongly leaning towards the stocking shop, because that could mean I get to advertise by wearing stockings whenever possible.

Although I do want either new job before I get an actual stress injury, because I'm only a part-time worker and I don't have insurance. Also, it seriously messes with my parkour training and my sewing projects. Thank god my work schedule is back to two days a week, but the problem is that my bank account ranges from "still as a rock" to "slightly lower/higher than normal."

-I've been cutting out the excess script in my theater group's project. It's going along nicely--I went down from 23-ish pages to 17, although a couple of pages were probably trimmed just from fixing the weird formatting when it got converted to Google Drive.

-A couple days ago, I bought a book called Urban Primitive by Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein. It is a REALLY nice change from the standard traditional-nature-worship kind of writing that most pagan writers do, and I like the book's shamanistic/animistic leaning. It balances out the Wiccan and New-Age slant, being triple-god(ess) and Greek mythology-heavy. (That bookstore or whatever spirit inhabits/embodies it probably likes me, since I've found so many relevant books at dirt-cheap prices.)

The author mentioned in one of the house-finding spells that if you have a particular house in mind, you should go to the house and talk to it about wanting to live there. And leave an offering for it, if possible.

( Behind the cut.Collapse )

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Otherworld matters: When I was at my aunt's viewing, Hanschen got so mad that I was stuck in a Catholic-heavy place for a day that he just started screaming wordless rage once the evening prayer started. (Doesn't help that it's the same mortuary that my brother's viewing was held in.) Moritz, Melchior, and Gavin tried to calm him down, but they just resorted to locking him in my room. Then Fox just came in and went, "LITTLE BROTHER LITTLE BROTHER, TIME FOR A TRIP COME ON NOW" before hoisting him into a fireman's carry and running off somewhere.

I asked where they'd gone, and Taro told me, "Fox-boy ain't slept in HELLA LONG, Lady. Not since he started looking for you." (Although he did manage a good night's sleep on Sunday with Fox and the Bruin's help.)

Then Melchior showed me a memory where Fox came across a five-year-old Hanschen lying on the forest floor, and Fox just went "Little brother?" But Hanschen wasn't moving, and Fox just started going "NONONONONO--NOT AGAIN, NOT AGAIN. YOU LIVE LONGER THIS TIME AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO MEET BAMBI!"

But then Hanschen got up and said, "Fox? Don't worry, I only played dead. They were chasing me."

So I asked Present-Hanschen who'd been chasing him, and he said, "My uncle and dad. They wanted to beat Fox away from me. Dirty South, man--you're not fast enough, they catch you."

It turns out Hanschen has all these anger/Christianity/traditional-family issues because he spent quite a few lifetimes escaping or hiding from that kind of situation (especially the issue of a gay/shamanic person in a VERY Christian home). And once he got spiritually lost in the forest, he didn't WANT anyone to find him or to get out of it. So until the Bruin finally reached him, only Fox could keep track of him long enough to keep him sane and happy.

Keep in mind that Fox is relatively lighthearted and cares about his people, but he's not anywhere near sane.

This explains a lot about Hanschen.

So a couple weeks ago, I decided that since I had such a fantastic time using Dr. Bronner's-based shampoo, I should expand my options and try one of the scented kinds. (I use the unscented/baby-mild formula.) Seeing as I use almond oil for my hair already, I decided to get a bottle of the almond-scented soap.

BAD IDEA. I SPENT ALMOST TWELVE GORRAM DOLLARS ON A BOTTLE THAT I ONLY USED A THIRD OF.

( Scented versions of Dr. Bronner's are now Devil Soap.Collapse )

After two days with lots of fish, soup, oily foods, and eight gallons of water each, I have now taken a shower with my usual soap before my group’s drum-circle today. Everything feels much better.

But here's where it gets weird. (As usual.) The Cailleach showed up right before I started using the almond devil-soap.

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( Not specifically connected to that, though.Collapse )

So I noted the coincidence and the Cailleach gave vibes that she'll show up at the circle before she left. For the past two days, I've been listening to the Fianna tell me stories in-between cram sessions on Irish history.

According to the Fianna, civil war crosses a major line because it's when a country actually turns on itself, as opposed to the myths where individuals/groups seek retribution for a wrongdoing. They're especially unhappy that their modern counterparts were a huge part in the Irish Civil War, because "THE FIANNA DO NOT DO THAT SHIT."

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( But they do drink a lot.Collapse )

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After I had a major energy-unblocking the night before last, Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer stepped into my tower, and I'm like, "Oz?"

"Nope, Pryderi."

( Even for a Welshman, he's laid back.>Collapse )

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And now I’m just getting things done so I can head to the drum circle today. Probably going to be a separate entry tonight or tomorrow.

Brighid adores skyr. It is now an Imbolc food.

So I may have jinxed myself by saying "Nothing else will probably happen" in my post yesterday.

While I'm meditating and basking in how Brighid went NUTS about skyr (Wendla also likes it), the Fianna came in dragging Not-Female-Friend along and they went, "Hey, we tracked her down for you! Time to kill her!"

At first I went "WHAT." But I was still really worn-out, so I sighed and went, "Thanks, but I really don't think I can handle another cathartic energy-cleansing right now." And then I absently go, "Plus, she's nowhere NEAR as much of a threat as Not-Male-Friend was."

So David went, "Point," and the Fianna let her go.

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( Hanschen said I need to watch when I say things like that.Collapse )

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And then after Aine dropped by, she warmed Moritz up by singing "The Song of Purple Summer."

The ancestors joined in, but when I was about to, she went, "Pfft, sweetie--if you sing this too much, you'll get burned out before people can even hear you."

"What does that mean?"

"Ha! Not telliiiiiiing."

While I'm wondering what the hell that means, Finn comes in to warm Moritz up as well. But then he saw Aine and went "SHIT. ...Hello, Aine."

Aine glares at him and goes, "I'm not talking to you anymore, FINN." So she stomps out of my tower, but five hours later when I checked on Moritz (who is mostly fine again), David told me NOT TO GO OUTSIDE BECAUSE FINN AND AINE ARE THROWING SHIT AT EACH OTHER AGAIN.

( Cut for length and secrets.Collapse )

About ten "YES/NO" repeats later, they finally agreed that I should write this into the play, but I shouldn't tell anyone before the script's done. Although they both agreed that they at least get along better than Lugh and the Morrigan.

A few minutes after they both left, David crept back in and went, "Is at least one of them gone?"

"Yeah..." And I can't help shuddering a little because the gods of summer, warmth, and sex can get pretty fucking angry at each other.

"Yeah, those two are way too similar. I think that's why they broke up." So then David asks, "So, what did they tell you? They got into their competition again."

I answer, "Nothing important? Just... something for the play."

And then Finn and Aine remind me, "NOT BEFORE IT'S FINISHED."

Man, keeping the gods' secrets for however-long-it-takes-to-finish-a-script is going to SUCK.

You know how I'm writing a play about this and making abominably slow progress, given that I only have the opening scene and about eight billion characters? (I also have the look-and-feel of the play coming together in my head, but that's more of a design thing and not actual script-progress.)

Well, I've been getting what can only be called song requests from various ancestors/Tuatha De. And by "song requests," I mean that "the ancestors/Tuatha De sing a certain song in my head and request that I put it in the play."

Barring the Spring Awakening soundtrack, the not-from-a-musical song requests started with Hanschen. Last week I was listening to "Come to my Window" by Melissa Etheridge, and Hanschen went "THAT. I'M SINGING THAT."

I'm like "The hell does that mean?" So he showed me himself singing it on a stage, with lights and audience members and everything.

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( I learned more about the children of the Tuatha De.Collapse )

So I asked Aengus why everyone was showing me all this and he said, "Because you asked."

"I can't be the only person who wonders why nobody's heard from the Tuatha De who got baptized."

"No, but you ask US. 'What happened to your daughter? Why do you look like certain characters? Why do most of you have British or American accents when you're the Tuatha De Danaan?' And we figured, hey, you're a bard trying to find your family and write a play about it. Why not tell you about our family?"

And I ask, "...Is this why the Tuatha De REALLYREALLYREALLY want me to write a play and reunite with some of my ancestors?"

He, Ogma, and the Morrigan went, "YES."

"Well, lots of people have written about the whole 'loss of the old gods' situation that Christianity tends to invoke."

"There's nothing new under the sun. But they're writing about the gods; you're writing about a family."

"God, Aengus--this is a HUGE family."

"You have ten aunts and uncles. On your mother's side. In this life."

"...Point."

"Besides, we didn't lose EVERYONE."

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( Reunions and memories.Collapse )

While I was listening to the Tuatha De tell me stories yesterday, Hanschen and Wendla started braiding my hair in my Irish fili hairstyle. It did indeed take an (Otherworld) hour to make five braids and wrap four of them in a crown, but once they were done, Hanschen went, "There we go, now it won't get everywhere."

When I was about to end my meditation, River reminded me, "Boots," and handed me her combat boots. I put them on, and when I asked why she gave me hers, she went, "I have spares."

So... yeah. My play's theme is about family, and that's helping a lot with how to get all the scenes in order.

Also, I really want to be a main character's understudy for my college's play. Time to run the character's lines and songs so I can try out on Wednesday WITH MINIMAL HELP, bitch.

Shamanic group's drum-circle is today at four! Thank god we don't have to do too much laundry.

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Edit: THE WARBLERS FROM GLEE ARE THE FIANNA.

Wes and David showed up today, so Kurt/Ruadan and Blaine/Nechtan were like "HEEEEEY DUDES" and I'm like "Wes and David?! Who are YOU?!"

David went, "FIANNA, BITCHES."

And then they ALL showed up and I'm like "WHY ARE THE FIANNA HERE?!" and David went, "IT'S ALMOST IMBOLC AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS."

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

Somehow, I've started writing a full-blown script. ACTUAL script, with camera and stage directions--(with full sentences as the camera zooms in stage left), though, not *like this.* The latter would make me a laughingstock outside of sporkings.

It involves a writer meeting her unrequited high-school crush after they're both done with college, and needing therapy to work out the loose ends she could never resolve by herself. The therapist will be either John Barrowman or David Boreanaz, and most of my friends will play the supporting characters.

I'm giving myself four or five years to get it together. Not because it takes me five years to write a script (although having to write so much stage/camera direction is getting tedious), but because my friends and I are going to be in college for four years.

Plus John and David have Torchwood/Doctor Who and BONES to think about. Two of them are my favorite shows, and I wouldn't want to stop them just because I'm making a movie.

Also, learning to drive is TERRIFYING.