TAG! I'm It !!!

7 Facts About Cyg...

She Who Seeks musta had her antennae on high alert-- ol' Cyggie was REALLY in need of writ materials, when the call came in to bare a bit more o' the SwanSoul. This is one of those games/ assignments I love to.. what? Play? Do? Do it matter? NO! Ok-- let's play...

Everyone knoweth the rules. I gotta bare some soul, and request Seven others to do the same. Linkage, yada yada...

Here-- YOU seven are now tagged as well. Have as much fun as I did-- but, yall keep YOURS legal (hehe!):

#1.) Always #1--Venture a guess, everyone? Amelia, Ohio. Tag! You're it!
2.) Lazy...
3.) Tigress! [I still owe ya three money-savers, SunLady...]
4.) Sweetest of Cheeky ones...[I could tag her, but you'd never find her. She knows, though-- doncha, Pretty Kitty!?!]
5.) HERMIT!!! [LOL! I always gota include one who never do what be axed...]
6.) Bee can't be one, can she?
7.) I'd like to nominate myself-- had no clue what to say at first, until the first one said itself; then-- WHAMMO!!! Damn near ran the world outa ink, thiSwan did... but tagging yourself don't seem right. I mean-- like all men-- we could reach, we'd never leave the house, would we?!?
So... since Steph needs typing exersize...

There we are. Now-- on to what this is s'pposed to be about: ME!!! [Got yer boots on and Levi's rolled up? Might wanna... because]

Fact#1: I'm SHY, folks. Extremely bashful. I don't like cameras. I never have much to say. I'm scared to death to flirt with womens on the web. I wish I had the gumptio-- uh, oh. wait... this IS
the "write it 180 degrees opposite" posit, nest'ce pas???

#2: I get PAID to WRITE!!! That's wri--Uh, RIGHT!!
Just.. nobody tell the sheet metal company I 'work' for, whence I weild pen...lol!
OK, so it's a vicarious internship. My labor job allots me myriad brain wanderance. Generally about mid-morn of slinging metals on and off carts, one particular bent sows itself well into the cygnuspsyche... When a phrase or scene coheres, I meander to my makeshift desk and do "paperwork"... Collectively, per diem, upwards of two hours might be invested thus.
WHAT?? you think I do all you reads, like, SPONTANEOUSLY?? Well, YERRIGHT! Just not solely b'tween the hours of 1900-1199...

#3: I'm Feelin' The Need...
To start distance running again. Maybe it's the upcoming onset of [Southern shores-exposed] surfing season. Mayhap I needs my abdominal six-pack back for an upcoming July display. OR... It could just finally be time to take the first step on that long road towards that l'il ol' race they run in Hawaii long about every October... [A lifetime goal of mine-- to complete those 140.7 miles...]
Whatever it is, my only concern is the 8- 12 lbs. I'll shed in the marathonic process. I'm only about a bill 70 as is, and the endurance athlete regime ain't exactly anaerobic-gains inducive...
Maybe I should look to dusting off the ol' rock-climbing gear in stead...

#4: Can ya Tell?!? I'm an ADRENALINE JUNKIE!!!
Here's a VERY SHORT lifelist of "Will-Do":

• Skydive [ to progress to BASE-jumping, gods willing! And even if they aren't...]
• Hang Glide
• Aerobatics (Flight) Training
• Multi-pitch, Multi-day climbing in Camp 4
• Canoe-camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
• 
  

The list could-- and as life progresses, WILL-- go on, folks. Because, I gots to LIVE, people! not merely exist... LIVE!!!

#5: I Love To Dance With Mary Jane...
I haven't done so for going on seven months now [well, there were a couple fiery flamenco's here h-town way, but.. too short-lived! Ha!], but when we're together the waltz is 24-7-- from the time I wake until I bed down @ nite...
Oxymoronically, this has no negatory effect on #3 (or 4). In fact, she's actually my most favorite workout companion.
Hmm.. Funny... "feel the need..."

#6: I always wanted to be an actor. Or a stage buffoon, or a radio personae...
I remember reading a "script' from a textbook in elementary school, inflecting angrily as dictated. The class laughed-- misunderstanding. I couldn't fathom why they weren't reading as scripted; but, in retrospect, I wonder how many of them fathomed reading, period.
In High School, my friend Tony and I used a cassette recorder (ok, quit the mental mathematics-- you never did math then-- don't bother now! LOL!!) to pose questions, then would 'answer' via some song or another's lyrics. I s'ppose it's another "i gotta need"-- to create. I couldn't change it if I would...

Lucky#7!!! HAR!! are ya still HERE???
COOL!!!
So if you ain't noticed, I love Love LOVE!!! words-- the Well-turned verbal as well as written.
I use play-on-words-- innuendo, double-entendre, multi-layered meaning-- any and every chance I get. And am overwhelmingly enamored by others who do the same-- most much better than Cyg [e.g. Pearl, Kyddryn, Sidhe...]
No wonder I'm polyamorous! LOL!

All right, folks; i've kept you long enough.
Yet, I'm going to make this an Eight-fold Assignment-- only because I went and got my ears lowered tonight. How's that tie in?

#8: The edge-up: feel free to spend AS LONG AS YOU LIKE on that nape-of the neck area... [and we cygni have some neck to work, ye note...]

Slainte, Folks! Thanks so much, Lady D!!!

Cygnus

A Very Full Palate...

Tonight, folks. I'm currently inhaling foodstuffs, waiting for MollyMaroon to cool her heads (literally!lol! Engine ones...) so's I can replace the spark plug wires.
I have a full post 'paper'-drafted, but as it's kinda long and requires links (yes, Debra, it's the "Magnificent [Cygnus] Seven"lol!)I needs beg more time. If I can, I'll post them tonight-- or split the assignment. Just want to do the very last possible thing to Molly (get your mind out of the gutter, my Aussie friend! HA! Would that it were!lol AGAIN!!!:D) before I turn her over to a shop...

I refuse to neglect my comment rounds, so we'll do what we (ok, "I") can elsewhere and sleep and whatever else be patiently dammed [intentional sp. err...;P].

Thanks for the visits, comments, patience, and above all your tolerance!

Cygnus Loves You All!!!

{Especially YOU... and you, and YoU and yo....)

Slainte!

C.

WARNING!!! Waxing: Religio-Philosophic Rant

"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians" -- Martin Luther

"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must approve of the homage of Reason rather than that of blindfold fear." -- Thomas Jefferson

[this post is pretty much aimed at one particular person, who will likely never read it. So why bother? Just needs vent... Sorry if the shoe size matches your'n, too.]

Got a little asschap yesterday from watching the reaction of a person who found out I see things a bit differently than they do.
What a pitiful sight, to see an otherwise (nearly) rational human being stand there, mind closed, shaking their head and smiling condescendingly, as if only they have the answers, as if only their way is right.

My beliefs have root in months' worth of cumulative hours of contemplation, meditation, and examination, concentrating on comparative aspects both general and specific.
Yours? Someone Said. Pre-packaged and forcibly spoon-fed to you since infancy, not only was your "belief " programmed in, but you were also brainwashed to shut out even the POSSIBILITY of entertaining another thought-line.

Mine are backed by more science, philosophy, and intelligentsia than yours ever had or have hope of attracting.

Mine may be wholly metaphysical. Yours are totally irrational, shallow and downright nonsensical when taken literally. (Were it taught symbolically, mystically, or qaballistically I might be one of its most ardent students.)

Yet you stand there shaking your head, saddened that--what? That you don't think for me? That I don't see only what you would have me? That I broke mold and set forth on tangential thoughts of my own?
You've never even come CLOSE to allowing yourself a glimpse of an idea that might deepen, broaden, and solidify your own faith, let alone an ulter one.

I imagine you walked away shaking that dormant grey matter inside it's arid casing bobbing above your shoulders. I'd already turned my head away-- so see, I AM like you, because NOW I'LL NEVER KNOW!!!

Sorry, but if you've never given credence to questioning your dogma-- no matter what it is (Kraft is better than Hellman's; God has a penis; orange juice is panacea)-- then I hold no regard for your stance. That doesn't necessarily mean for the belief in and of itself, just for your blind, unquestioning, maniacal adherence to it.


Well, I feel better now, folks!

Slainte!

Cygnus

Eclectica...

MollyMaroon, Garden, and Beating Off in the Park..

Well, I replaced the 02 sensor in the Buick. To no avail. Ah, the old one likely weren't good anyhow-- but neither is the car $55.00 later.
Still got nickel-and-dime stuffs I could attempt, but I think we'll send her to the mech and end it all once and for.. uh.. a week or three! ha! Just being realistic... because I ken brakes aren't too far down the needs-list...

Those, and the simple act of vacuuming the cat litter placed in the floorboards to soak up the remaining moisture of the tadpole spawning grounds created after last weekend's rains. Didn't do so today; did scoop out the passenger back floorboard tripe, and replace it. To the good, it seems to be working well-- the litter absorbing the moisture enough to keep the mold and subsequent stench from setting in. Diligince. Not my middle name, but.. gotta do, eh?

It's all good. Life happens.

Despite the (other than financial) break-evenness, I still took time to meander down to a local park and give some practice time to the bodhran.I can safely say that we get on rather well, that drum and I... I shot some video, but haven't chanced a glance yet. Maybe you will, if it seems okay (I mean light, angle and all-- not expecting to be progeny on day one of practice, ol' Cyg.. :D)

OH! And the garden-- how could I forget THAT?

Squash, anyone?

EVERYONE?!?

Tomatoes are on steroids, apparently-- au-natural, though, so let 'em go.

















Peppers are finally getting enough heat to commence real growth:
Wish I could say the same for the green beans, but they just aren't wont to gain upwards. Yet, even the runt is beaning out.. so...[this plant is less than 7" tall, folks-- almost shorter than the bean produced! I can't help but be tickled!!]

Well folks,I gotta go tie up loose laundry ends, eat, download some frillies to add to the verbiage hence...

Hope everyone has had a FANTASTIC weekend! We'll see yall on the morrow...

Slainte, Folks!

Cygnus

Three Quickies...

Hey--What? She Asked For It!!

I know, I know! I usually do this stuff elsewhere. But what can I say-- I'm a sucker for pretty women...

[?]
Who to lie beside me in the middle of the night
Who to wake beside me in the early morning light
Who to whisper softly 'you shall never be alone'
Who to turn this arid, broken heart into a home



The Last Love Song [Inspired by Calvert's The Lady With The Rooks in Yeats' A Poet To His Beloved]

Treelimb extended like an arm
and on it sat a little bird
He chittered not to give alarm
nor even so much to be heard

Than as he did for sake of love
in sweet song pleading for his mate
sweet desperation plead her come
before twilight imposed its fate



A Love Of Roses

Pick the Rose delicately;
draw it slowly to your senses.
Close your eyes and seek its inner beauty.
Inhale its aphrodisiac scent--
That like no other, which
shall drag you deep into it's irresistible world.

Your touch closes instinctively
in hopes of never letting go---
and, forgetting, discovers thorns...

jMc aka Cygnus

On a much more serious note, one of my bloggerbuddies has an extremely well-cited and downright SCARY post you folks needs read-- especially those of you with school-age children in California, Texas.. anywhere, really. Thanks, Catman!

And thanks, folks, for investing a moment of your time here!

Slainte!

Cygnus

Today In History...

ERIN GO BRAUGH!!!

My main want is to let you know that on this day, April 24, 1916, a rebellion commenced, kicked off with a speech by Padraic Pearse from the steps of Dublin, Ireland's National Post Office.

"Independence" took five years.. countless deaths.. and the belief and courage of a People whom simply REFUSE (NOT past tense, folks. We still won't allow) subjugation.

Found this in commemoration:


It is known as the Easter Rising.
It brings a quiver to my lips and tears to my eyes.
And swells my little bird-chest...

Other sh*t happened, too. Years vary, but...
I've learned that Sue Grafton-- author of the Alphabet series of who-done-it notoriety, shares a birthday with Leah Ann Evans [happy Birthday, l'il SIS!:D!]...

And a few other tidbits you may like to take a gander at:D

• Library of Congress; Personal Computers

• Discovery carries Hubble to space

• Spain Declares War on United States

pretty much all I have for the diem, Folks!

Slainte! and have a safe and family fun-filled (if that ain't as oxymoronic there as here, that is...) weekend!

Cygnus

Care To Join Me In A Love-Affair?

Come One, Come All!!!

My love affair with the written word likely began in my childhood years: Dr. Seuss; Curious George; Jiminy Cricket...

I've always enjoyed reading-- and, of late, reciting-- poetry. My first recollection of doing it as an adult-- reading poems for pure pleasure-- is November 1995...


Clark County Detention Center-- Las Vegas, NV.

I ease off of the reading shelf "The Complete Poetry of Robert Frost".
'The Road Not Taken' (pp. 105, btw...) stands out. To this day it is my favorite of all poems. By my favorite of (poetic) authors.

Since that fateful Thanksgiving month [OH,THE IRONY; BUT THAT'S BRAINFODDER FOR ANOTHER POST, FRIENDS!] I've read a lot more poetry, and even chanced to pen a piece or three. Even the mass of readings required during my college years (A.A. Literature. Go figger!hehe!) were approached as entertainment. With full abandon.

Any of you who are interested in poetry as an art form, hence a worthy investment of Leisure time, I invite to follow me HERE.
I'm headed that way now, for a few hours of something I do too rarely these days: read for the pure pleasure of it.

[Of course it's understood that blogroll qualifies therein-- but that's more like LIFE, like NECESSITY... y'ken? Sure y'do!]

Slainte, Folks! And I hope you all join in! The more the merrier!

Cygnus

Gone Permanent...

That's It, Folks. I've Had Enough...

Of working for a temporary employment agency, that is!

HA! Working on my header draw-ins... Hope a few of you were concerned, or happy-- your perception of "gone" the pendulum. :D

Seriously, though-- I can't believe it's been THREE MONTHS since I started @ 'The Factory'.
but it has, saith the calendar gods (Chronos? Works for me...).

Today (well, officially yesterday-- doncha LOVE electronic aging?) I am officially a REAL boner-fide American statistic: Permanently Employed.

Six months down the road I can begin a a 401K/retirement fund.

In a year, Medical and Dental benefits. In two-- fully invested in profit-sharing.

BEAUTY-FULL!!!

Um.. well.. Well, yes. BUT... (ah, ALWAYS one o' them, ain't there? OK so not in Cygnus' personal life of late, mais that's a different blog...)

But those of you who've been here w/ My Song for a minute know the kicker:

I hope to never have to advantage the majority of these perks.

Oh, I'll probably join the 401K, especially if the co. matches dollar-for... And the dental and med will be okay (I never need either, but then the Spring is Sprunging, slowly but surely, from this chicke-- er, Bird), but... (wow, ANOTHER ONE! Only in writ, alas. Been so long since Cyg's seen the swan equiv of a goose that last time he stepped outside and the wind blew he got excited...)

But, folks, in 18 months I wanna be doing this:
















in the Ozark hills.

I want to have more of THESE
















and THOSE
















and some o' THEMscattered not on a Bermuda-grass coffin-sized plunk, but on acres in them thar hills...

I want not to sling sheets of metal on and off carts all day, but to pitch hay into a dairy/meat goat pen.

I want to have an apiary (bee boxes), a rabbit hutch, a small water-worthy vessel to chase bream from. A screened-in porch whence guitar, mandolin, and bodhran are explored nightly.

FOUR SEASONS, I want.

I'm VERY FORTUNATE to have the employment security I do, given today's repressive economy. I understand that.

I also understand that IT IS NOT MY CALLING, the "punching in and punching out and sucking up to Bob..." way.

A local Farmer's market, where I can barter or trade (okay, i'll accept green paper. for now.) what I don't eat.
A pressure canner to dole away the remainder.
A wood-burning stove, and endless winter hours to ply my keyboard-smitten digits whilst, outside the window,

"the only other sound's the sweep
of frosty wind and downy flake..."

THAT'S what I want.

So, I AM greatful for the gift of today. And at the same time, hope that I can leave, when the time comes, on good terms with the Factory. Because what if no one ever buys (or, Heavens forbid no one PUBLISHES!) all these mental images I'm gonna keypad over those winters?

**dejectedly hangs head**
I'll be able to sloth back to the grind...

And begin anew...

Slainte, Blessed Folk!

Cygnus

Beat That

Darned head out of the way... and give a quick listen to that Bodhran roll!

I got car work and catching up on yalls blogs to tend, folks; Enjoy !!


Slainte!

Cygnus

So How Was YOUR Weekend?

Whah? MINE??

[*Ahem..*] Good Thing I Don't Like "SMOOTH"...

So I start saturn's day with learning a new poem.
Which was all fine and well.. except... as I was doing so, MollyMaroon decided to take a dip...

Thanks to good ol' solid South Tx. spring rain, I have three new perch ponds in what were respectively the front passenger and two rear floorboards of the Buick.

Alas, no matter; the Engine light was on on the way home Freya's Day.
Je ne sais pas yet.

I shoulda got a pic (of her flooding...), but given Pablo took so much battery energy... the chinese camera gizmo stayed in the domicile...

Sun's Day:
Hermit and I took a road trip.

Moon's day:

uhhh...

OH YEAH!! Did...

something. I'm sure...

AHH! Visited

So, come-a monday. Today.

I'm gonna do somethi-- OH HECK! Past the Witching Hour. Tyr's Day to-day.

Well: now wha--

OH! I KNOW!! How's about we WAIT?!? Thence when inspiration hits, we aspire, or... you're just aware enough to .. to realize you're making less sense than three girls a-watchin' two boys a-fu...

Well...

OH! The Garden!

It seems to have LOVED the rain.

Which, of this weekend, makes ONE OF US.

And I'm done. Physically and, more soul-- because THERE IS NO weave ANYMORE ...

Not Today.
ALL weft, friend.


Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

Pablo Neruda: take#665...

Glad that one went right; the next one would have been pure hell...



folks!

Cygnus

Freya's Day Nacht

And I'm going to invest the eve doing several massive rounds of BloggerSurfing and otherwise cheerfully sloth around the keyboard.

Thanks for all the commentary and support (still filing in, BTW! COOL!) of yesterday, and for the every-day same over the last six months that led up to it...

Oh--and Sweet Cheeks: hope I didn't wear you out last nite!

[Or do I???
{nods "NO" to self..}
Hmm..]

Maybe if we're all lucky, Moon Day's post will have pictures from a small meet in Gonzales, Tx...

You folks take real good care this [stormy, in the Big H.] weekend.

Love Ya!

Slainte!

Cygnus

Turning 1,000: Blogger Math

Your Check Is In The Mail...

If the recent numbers hold, I should reach 1,000 views on My Song sometime 'twixt now and sunrise. That's since installing that neat little tracker widgit thingie late eve of March 15... thirty-four days ago.

Now, I understand that many of you-- Bee and Rose; Hermit Jim, Phelan; Pearl (why, you little...) -- who have loyal readership in quadruple-digitdom-- get this many 'hits' like every other hour or so...
Ol' Cyggie is just thankful he was able to cough up sufficient fundage to influence ten of you to hit my site 100 X each...

One of the neat things about the widget is it's breakdown of visits.
Time? Most of you are online tween 0830-1000 hrs and 2030-0100 hrs.
Average visit time is around three minutes.

Now that got me to thinking...

I visit, on average, 40 blogs per day.
I read. I comment. Often I re-visit for commented-upon comments...

Applting the statistics above to self:

40 (blogs) x 3 (minutes) = 120 minutes.

Throw in even another 30 seconds for commenting-- which we'll say I do on half of all read:

.5 x 40 = 20 minutes

Two-and-a-half hours JUST TO READ AND COMMENT.

Then to write (if we may fey that what I do here be such...).

If I'm lucky, done in an hour.

Can I request we add another half-hour for dickering around whilst keyboard-infatuated?

FOUR HOURS.

And you know what, people? IT AIN'T ENOUGH!!!

I love, love LOVE this community! And we are, you understand.

Thank you, Folks!

I've grown a lot via my blogger exposee. And wouldn't change a thing about it!

[Well, maybe... the next ten 'fragrant grease' recipients can expect "economic adjustments" in recompense...]

So, any of you wanna earn a dollar?!?

Email me!!!

Slainte, Folks!

Cygnus

No Prep Talk From Me Of Late... BUT!!!

Not An Out-Of-Blog Out-Of-Mind thingie...

I haven't said much the last six or so weeks about my bid to get the hell outa dodge aka houston ...

Remember my planned trip, over the just-passed Spring Equinox, to go experience my land in the Ozarks? And it's cancellation?

I got thwacked with ::does mental math:: TWO THOUSAND FORTY and some change, in MUST-PAY expenses-- above and beyond the day-to-day existence eked out-- since then.

Know what I did?

MET THEM. Head-on. One of the first times in my life I stepped up (outside of a marriage partnership) to do so.

Not only does this feel DAMN good, but... well, I get ahead of myself...

The preparations have continued despite the monetary massacre.
Some were other near-misses; five yes FIVE nails in ONE tire on ol' MollyMaroon's leggins' (for those of you who don't know, Molly is my Buick. Love-hate, like all relationships. Eh?).
Gods smiled, though; the nails were only in the ONE tire-- and that the only one not replaced in the last three months! Now it is, and baby (MollyMaroon) has [all 4] 'new shoes'!

Others were regular day-to-day stuffs: watching for food sales; gearing up (scrimpingly, but none the less...). Researching.

I will say this-- I've learned just how many green-papered Washington's I can put away or invest to getting to my farmland!

And folks...

Hide and watch. I'm on a tear now. A mission. A Quest.

AN ADVENTURE.

I'm going to Them Thar Hills...

I'm GOING, folks. I don't care if it harelips half of Harris County.

Wanna go?

got BBQ?

AW RIGHT!!! I think I love you! hehe!

:D Seriously, people... Standing by, but not idly.

And thankful I can.

Slainte, Folks!

Cygnus

What Lake You Reckon's My Favorite?

Would liked to have found the freeskate routine she did in that Catholic schoolgirl skirt, but weren't her I searched...

Dead beat tonight, folks. Hope a little relaxing music, Cygnus-style, can help draw us draw some soothing breaths.

The music... ahhh...
I love classical. Metallica, too (Enter Sandman on the way home from work!), but each hath their time and place.


Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

this is just WRONG!

(And I laughed all the more for it...)



Thanks to Lady Edain and her Loony Luna Day post for this little (family?) jewel...
Loony Day indeed, and I needed the grin!

Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

Garden Bacchanalia

And Other Remnants Of A Day...

Physically, most of the day was invested downing java at the Hermit's, or/and tinkering in the garden.

METAPHYSICALLY?In the Lakes region.

But the garden time?


There's none more therapeutic.
I was even able, after the morning's steady, gentle rain, to spend some time, sans shirt, stuffing every open [Garden variety] orifice with seed.
I mean, it's Time to sow, nest-ce pas? Spring and all...


And having had such previously good luck filling masonry orifi with garlic...


I went to stuffing again. Update in Thirteen Days...

But man, the day was (and still is, BTW. Only 1900 local. and a good 180 minutes of sunshine left...) way too pretty to gogol inside all the while...

So, onward. Because y'all are some non-internet-using fools on the weekends! Gotta fill the daylight hours with something...

Randomly, kinda (because I'm always scouting, mapping and mentally finagling about where and how I can make the vacant garden spots useful), every empty space in the actual bed was stuffed today.

[I'm loving the imagery. Very seasonal. And sensual. C'est moi, love...]

And many more of the masonry spots filled-- green beans and okra, and more vampire-salve, garlic.

And okra amongst the banana plants along the fence...[Way in the background, left of and behind the birdbath...]

And other garlic EVERYWHERE, even in the front-of-the-house flowerbeds.
Hey-- cloves wanna grow? GROW! GROW!:D

I ain't terra-bashful. Or deficient...

Well, how's about I piece together another blingie-photo or three and post them and we all pretend Cyg had a productive day and move into the second thirty days of Spring's-A-Comin' time, and you comment and tell me how green my thumb is because I figgered out dirt and water and seed make nice greenings...
Sound like a feasible deal?

Cool! :D

Oh! Had One try to sneak up on me:Shady, ain't he? And he was carrying that green bean like a bo...

South and North views [Out the window and back In, respectively]:

I call this one 'Watering Time':
And this one: A good night kiss!

Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

Happy.. er.. well, I call it "EggSalad Diem"

You probably call it Easter.
Deviled, anyone?

Welcome to the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.
What a lovely way to time a holy day! I'm liking this gig already...

[the following is culled from Wikipedia]

Etymology

"Eástre" by Jacques Reich (1909).

The modern English term Easter developed from Old English word Ēastre or Ēostre or Eoaster, which itself developed prior to 899. The name refers to Eostur-monath, a month of the Germanic calendar attested by Bede as named after the goddess Ēostre of Anglo-Saxon paganism.

Using comparative linguistic evidence from continental Germanic sources, the 19th century scholar Jacob Grimm proposed the existence of an equivalent form of Eostre among the pre-Christian beliefs of the continental Germanic peoples, whose name he reconstructed as *Ostara.

Celtic languages

In all modern Celtic languages the term for Easter is derived from Latin. In Brythonic languages this has yielded Welsh Pasg, Cornish and Breton Pask. In Goidelic languages the word was borrowed before these languages had re-developed the /p/ sound and as a result the initial /p/ was replaced with /k/. This yielded Irish Cáisc, Gaelic Càisg and Manx Caisht. These terms are normally used with the definite article in Goidelic languages, causing lenition in all cases: An Cháisc, A' Chàisg and Y Chaisht.

Easter traditions

Easter eggs are a popular sign of the holiday among its religious and secular observers alike.

As with many other Christian dates, the celebration of Easter extends beyond the church. Since its origins, it has been a time of celebration and feasting and many Traditional Easter games and customs developed, such as Egg rolling, Egg tapping, Pace egging and Egg decorating. Today Easter is commercially important, seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs, marshmallow bunnies, Peeps, and jelly beans. Even many non-Christians celebrate these aspects of the holiday while eschewing the religious aspects.

English-speaking world

Throughout North America, the British Isles, New Zealand and Australia the Easter holiday has been partially secularized, so that some families participate only in the attendant revelry, central to which is (traditionally) decorating Easter eggs on Saturday evening and hunting for them Sunday morning, by which time they have been mysteriously hidden all over the house and garden. Chocolate eggs have largely supplanted decorated eggs in New Zealand and Australia.

Coloured Easter eggs in the United States.

In North America, Australia and New Zealand, parents often tell their children that eggs and other treats have been delivered and hidden by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket which children find waiting for them when they wake up. Many families in America will attend Sunday Mass or services in the morning and then participate in a feast or party in the afternoon; the food cooked for the feast and the customs practiced at the feast may be influenced by Jewish cuisine and the Jewish holiday of Passover.

A Bermuda kite.

In the UK children still decorate eggs, but most British people simply exchange chocolate eggs on the Sunday. Chocolate Easter Bunnies can be found in shops. Many families have a traditional Sunday roast, particularly roast lamb, and some eat Easter foods such as Simnel cake, a fruit cake with eleven marzipan balls representing the eleven faithful apostles. Hot cross buns, spiced buns with a cross on top, are traditionally associated with Good Friday, but today are often eaten well before and after. In Scotland, the north of England, and Northern Ireland, the traditions of rolling decorated eggs down steep hills and pace egging are still adhered to.

In the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, the most notable feature of the Easter celebration is the flying of kites to symbolize Christ's ascent.^[48] Traditional Bermuda kites are constructed by Bermudians of all ages as Easter approaches, and are normally only flown at Easter. In addition to hot cross buns and Easter eggs, fish cakes are traditionally eaten in Bermuda at this time.

Easter egg

Ukrainian Easter eggs, or pysanky.

Easter eggs are specially decorated eggs given to celebrate the Easter holiday or springtime.

The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in Pagan celebrations of spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the rebirth.^[1]

The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. These eggs are often hidden, allegedly by the Easter Bunny, for children to find on Easter morning. Otherwise, they are generally put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest.

Origins and Folklore

Serbian easter eggs

Easter Eggs

Fabergé eggs were commissioned by Czar Alexander III of Russia as an Easter surprise for his wife Maria Fyodoro ^[2]

The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out.

The pre-Christian Saxons had a spring goddess called Eostre, whose feast was held on the Vernal Equinox, around 21 March. Her animal was the spring hare. Some believe that Ēostre was associated with eggs and hares,^[3] and the rebirth of the land in spring was symbolised by the egg. Ēostre is known from the writings of Bede Venerabilis, a seventh-century Benedictine monk. Bede describes the pagan worship of Ēostre among the Anglo-Saxons as having died out before he wrote about it. Bede's De temporum ratione attributes her name to the festival, but does not mention eggs at all.

Pope Gregory the Great ordered his missionaries to use old religious sites and festivals, and absorb them into Christian rituals where possible. The Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ was ideally suited to be merged with the Pagan feast of Eostre, and many of the traditions were adopted into the Christian festivities.^[5] There are also good grounds for the association between hares (later termed Easter bunnies) and eggs, through folklore confusion between hares' forms (where they raise their young) and plovers' nests.^[6]

[Source: Wikipedia]

Slainte, bunnies!

Cygnus

Got Time For A Quickie?

Hey, c'mon! It's the weekend, after all!

You ever become so good and flowing with something that it was like second nature to you?

Ever wonder what's so hard about FIRST NATURE to attain?

I do. But then I'm a strange bird. Egg shaken with a bit too much force, I fear...

Anyhow, if anyone has a clue as to what happened to first nature, can ya let me in on it?

Thanks, and Slainte!

Cygnus

Cygnus Simmers...

On The Fringes Of Writer Obscuria
(aka "The Blogosphere")

Bet It's hard to tell by recent word count here that my writing over the last week or three has increased literally twenty-five fold.

I've not been cheating you.
But I'm destined to write.

Yes, I write here, but that's akin to a journal-- you know, the "log"book part of 'web-log'. Everyone does that, else they can't exist. I couldn't, so... (In addition,I have started another blog. It's public, but very much set up to discuss modern Pagan issues... Find it if that might interest you.)

No, I mean WRITE.

I've never expressed this before, but a large reason for me wanting to get out of the herd and out to the "pasture" is to gain the time to sincerely put forth the effort, unencumbered. Six to eight months. Max. With discipline.
Oughta do 'er.

I mention all that here because of late I have been fortunate to be allotted yet an additional Muse. An extraordinary amount of materials has used my pen-equipped hand to manifest itself in writ.

Now, I LOVE language-- the snippy retorts that come in half-jest and full earnest from friends, real or imagined, in spirited conversation. Thousands of them daily surface the river of my mind. Some meander slowly along the bank in want of a glancing-over. Others slow for a quick gab.

Still others are netted from the bank, whatever their original meandering-near cause. And the boldest abreast the bank of their own accord, grunion coming to forseed the future.

My lack of knack has always been tying enough of them succinctly together to make good poem or story. So I've hovered here, on the fringe...

It'll be years at minimum before I am able to do it all. But it's coming.

And thanks to the Fates, and Muses assigned me thereby, the whole thing is now apparent-- the final missing element ( an actual storyline along which to set all my tripe-laden interpretation of the Musical influx ) has made itself plausible...

Am I rambling again? Mayhap. But now you know why the MadSwan behavior of late.
Spring and Muses.

Just hope they ain't Sirens in disguise...

Slainte.

Cygnus

Cygnus Eats

Tonight, even some from the li'l patch...


So I guess the salad bowl ought to open up:

The tomatoes are store-bought... for now. The onion, garlic greens (split a clove right out of the refrigerator and thumbed it into the dirt in the brick hole. The following is about three weeks later...) and lettuce are from the garden. VERY REWARDING!

These here babies are Colorado Red beans. A handful of about 15 from the Hermit's 20# bag were placed on a spot left bare of grass when the new cucumber home was moved...

The cucumbers are down the same fenceline a ways...

These HERE:

and HERE:

are next week's sauteed side dish...


Tomatoshade!

I've heard these make good tea :

I'm sure they make great hot bubblebath infusion for faeries with basil-scented fingers...

Slainte, Folks!

Cygnus

youtube Said Less Than 3 Minutes...

But I watched six before I had a clue that time still existed, and finished it off despite the additional 50% on top of that...

Folks, if this man can make me laugh, you ought to be ROTF LYAO!!!



I'm looking for a particular Carlin skit; when I find it, it's all yours! Meantime, some new greenery is poking above me terra in the plot... better let you evaluate menana, see if we need some extra croutons or what...

Slainte, folks!

Cygnus

Share-a-Blogger Day

How many of you folks remember your 100th post? (Or are still looking forward to it!)
What about your 100th "follower"? Yeah, i can't count that high either...

Now, let's say you were creeping up on your 100th post (mine blew by me like Ike headed to Tyler; I was in the 1-teens before I knew it.. er, kinda like my adolescence, come to think... but we're not here to do that!).. ok, your 100th post is just past, and your one hundred forty five followers are all clamoring for the rubber duckie that I swear to all gods is CYGNUS' LONG-LOST DUCKLING TWIN! I WANT THAT DUCKIE!!!

Ahem.. Now, let's say again that you...

What? Oh, SURE you can be batting 145-in-102 (or 103?), but you'd have to BEE...

Bee And Rose!.

Now, if the rest of you folks haven't visited this site, well... you must be the ONLY ONE... SUCKER!!!

Seriously people, this lady has some AWESOME talent, and a beautiful Irish Step-dancing daughter... and more family that you're gonna spend hours over there learning about as soon as you link there from either my sidebar or take the Express route above. And hours you'll spend, because after you go through the gogol of prizes she's giving away in honor of her 100th post (now ain't that HEART? SHE writes us 100 nuggets and SHE gives US prizes! It don't seem fair, do it?) you'll be enamored enough to hang around and read on...

See ya in the mornin', folks, because you'll LOVE the site until you wake in your chair, drool running on to your sock...

CONGRATULATIONS BEE AND ROSE ON YOUR 100th POST!!!

Slainte, Folks!

Cygnus

Cygnus Spews...

His Inner Muse:

yet another verboasting video from the bill of your favorite [?] bird...




Slainte to everybody else, too!

Cygnus

Who let Jack Out?

Hey! Yall up north! Close that door! All your cold air is getting out and creeping down third coast way...

Sliante!

Cygnus

{Later} just stepped outside. quite a beautiful night. not really even uncomfortable with just a t-shirt, despite the crazy Wind. orion is headed down in the East and the moon She is suspended near directly overhead. gemini twins... ursa major. airplanes.
maybe the gods will see fit to finagle into my life, after the move to the country, a good telescope, a camera, a computer-tracking program... deep-space photography i'd offer in return.

seems a fair trade. doesn't it?

Today's Pix's...

Location Location Location...

I don't know if this will show large enough for you to get a decent eyeballing (and who amongst us doesn't need a good one of those occasionally, eh?) but one can always hope.

Or Edit...
But that would mean, like, effort, dude.

So,uhhh... NO.

This took enough effort.

What? You think weeds pull themselves?

Nor Smokem Selves, either... Just saying...

Slainte!

Cygnus

I Can Dance

So we've discussed the human's spirit and the over-riding Soul and how they are doing three-dimensional Time. But...

But what does that SOUND like?

You heard me, or read, right. I want to know the SOUND...

O.K., it's like this: Here i am one day minding my own misery when i get an email out of the blue.

The Words... pure poetry, ladies and gentlemen. Pure Poetry. (I'd share, but being stingy and all, um, NO.)

And the melody these selected cords strummed in my heart resonated the entire day through. Likely will for many to come.

I Hear Them, and proffer smile like Pavlov's dog for food at the bell...

Only one other person in 42 years has effected me this way with words. Well, words are images-- or paint them-- and the images this Soul projected to me were of dream-like quality, with all the positive implied therein.
Dreams-- not the two-dimensional world of tellie or even the Big Screen, which is still flat no matter your seat or popcorn bucket size...
Dreams... the other three-dimensional mindseye.

Too many, I fear, never hear the music another Soul can harmonize with theirs. Hell, too many never silence their own feeble grey matter long enough to hear their OWN TUNE, much less possible same-tuning as another...

Why I have been so blessed as to be dancing to the Rhythm again, je ne sais pas.

Mais Ca Va.

I can dance. If i want to...(I can leave your friends behind...)



Slainte!

Cygnus

What's On My Mind...

Well, we better make more space; don't know if my feeble grey matter is enough to encompass...

All's I can think about of late is my land. The Land.

THE LAND IS...

Since the Equinox came and went without my so much as my getting out of the city limit confines, much less the States', I've been able to think about little else.

Then I log on to my man Catman's .
He's got this 'write-your-vision' request going.

The timing seems so right, because the LAND IS what I envisioned.

My Vision...

I have a Seed Saver's Exchange catalog in my lap-- the very one that occupies it that fateful 2005...

Back of the catalog, I spy a title that changes my life forever...
"How To Grow More Vegetables...(than you thought possible in less space than you imagined)!"

Oh, it's SO ON!!!

I Began To See

At the time I was allotted a 5' x 9' cubicle to mete out my existence. That's w x l. [H= 4'.]

I stood and looked.
I hawk-eyed, in fact.

Five feet wide. He says a garden 5' x 20' will feed a family of four.
Say he's off by 75%.

I still eat. And I'm all I got...

So I need 100 ft^2 for food... Let's add a fishing pole, some rabbits, a side or three of venison... you know, stuff the Land offers... Jest fer safety. And because I'm carnivorous...

And an orchard, and...

So the vision of mere FOOD PRODUCTION grows to encompass a total of, at largest, half-acre.
For a veggie garden, a five fruit-trees orchard, a berry patch...
Oughta be able to squeeze some rabbits, worms, bees, and a compost pile...
Oughta.

That took care of food.

Shelter is easy. Just look.
And do some math.
How bad do you want to go?

Well, I wanted to trip to Missouri pretty darned bad.
But I didn't.

And here's my blessed return.

Water Is Life.
I may be able to get the hail out of the cloud that is Houston about six months earlier than last guestimated.

Saving about five grand to tap mamma nature's water source can do that for a man... And the land I just missed going to visit likely just got traded for an additional 2.3 acres.
That's Right! Gimme a finnif, Bay-Bee!

Um, did I mention the :
1) One pond
2) Two creeks
and
3) Three [known] Springs

that liven this space?

??? Huh?? Did I?HUH?? HUH?!?! DID I!??

Hmm...

Long Story Short?
Too late!!
BUT-- well, i just didn't want yall to think I'd gone ENTIRELY poetic or photo-happy on ya! ha!
I've been prepping... and too damned weighed under to care and bitch about it here-- you got yer own issues...

So, there's your update. More on the land coming soon-- though you may need to come get a cuppa to find me... [HINT HINT](evilly laughs:) HeHeHe!


It's been a rambling kind of day, folks, and if you've joined me, I thank you!
If you've lasted, I bless you!
If you ken(ned), I kith(ed!) you!!!
Here and There and EveryWhere...

Slainte, Folks!

Cygnus

Remember Obama's "Open Policy" Campaign?

The Policy He Meant Was your Laptop And MP3-- And Uncle Sammie Is Here To Open Them!!!



I straight-up stole this from Catman's Litterbox-- a good haunt of mine (rimshot!). I figured anyone who has a reader I don't-- e.g. all of you-- aught to do the same. C'mon, folks, let's inform Americasheeple...

Slainte.

Cygnus

Like Music? Like Animals?

Like to Laugh?
Roll all three into one: click on the video below and join the groundhog as you burn through these cool pic's!!



Sliante, Folks!

Cygnus