Alex's Attic

Jekyll and Hyde: The Antidote

I thought about trying to write a bit more on this new story I started a few weeks back, but all I could think about was sitting in this room that no longer feels like the person I have become. Door shut, lights low, best friend by my side, TV covered with a drape, books I thumb through once in a while on shelves. Dust settling over surfaces, a chill in the air, wrapped up in a blanket of thoughts. Where I’ve been, what I’ve done, who I once was, and who I’ve become.

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A Students Farwell

Every now and again I get to thinking about the moves I make, why I make them and how I can make them better for the next time. See, I am constantly moving. I will stay here or there for a while, but eventually I become uncomfortable in what was once new and has now become old. These moves do not always entail a physical relocation, often times they result in nothing more than a shift in my manner of inner thought and world view.  

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Loss

“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.” Pope Paul VI…. In the memory of Cal Wilson, blessed will his memory be in the hearts of all he has touched. Taken too early, in a time when those who love the most are so greatly needed. May those who have called him friend be comforted in this their time of grief.

The Weekend…

So the weekend plans to head out to Plantersville, Texas for the Texas Renaissance Festival did not quite go as planned. Car issues derailed plans fairly early on….this is not to say that the weekend was bad. Actually, I quiet enjoyed the weekend. The weather here in Austin was beautiful, we got a little trace of much needed rain and I was able to assist a friend with these car issues and navigating the waters of no vehicle in rural Texas. I wrote a bit, cooked a bit and learned a great deal.

My dreams were interesting….but my sleep was amazing.

For a weekend that didn’t go as planned, it turned out to be one of the best weekends I’ve had in a very long time.

Here’s to unplanned changes of plans, and being able to roll with them and enjoy our selves greatly!

Last Nights Dreams

So last nights dreams were interesting, so I thought that I would share them…

The first one: I’m at a party/event with my best friend. We see the woman I have been spending time with in waking life. I say hello, and yet realize she is a little standoffish, then another woman approaches. She is a red head, curvy build and slightly taller than the woman I am seeing. Then it occurs to me that they are in an open relationship. Once I figure this out, I’m cool with everything and go back about my business with my best friend. (as an aside, i recounted this dream to the woman I have been spending time with over the past few weeks. When I described the other woman in the dream, she recoiled a bit, so I asked why. Her response was, that has already happened. Apparently I described the ex to a T.)

Second dream: I’m at a zoo that has no animals, just all of my ex’s. Enough said.

Third dream: Now this one is pretty interesting. So I’m in a city and walking along a set of railroad tracks trying to get to the other side of the city. On one side of me is a cliff, on the other buildings, except that I am also walking on the roof-tops of tall buildings. Finally I come to an area that I can not pass though, the path is blocked with wrecked out crushed cars. I crawl into one trying to squeeze myself through and to the other side. But it’s no use, the only way I will be able to continue along the path is to drive one of these wrecked out pieces of shit off the cliff. I look down and there is a temperpetic mattress several meters below, I’m supposed to land on this, it will cushion the fall of the car and keep me safe. (Now this is the interesting part) I drive the car off the cliff, but don’t see or experience this in my dream. Next thing I know I’m at the bottom of this valley looking back up at the pile of wrecked out old cars, more specifically the car I had just driven off the cliff. Then I realize I have left my wallet up in the car and I have to somehow find my way back up there to fetch it. Then I decide I need a little help and call out for a friend, when one appears, it is a person who graduated AOMA about a year ago. We stay there for a few minutes trying to figure out how to get back up there and collect my belongings. Finally we both decide it’s better to just leave it there and continue on with the path. So we get to walking, never returning to the wrecked cars or the cliff.

Ren Fair Costume Update

Well, they are finally finished. Mostly that is, I need my biddy to come over to do the final fitting of the bodice and skirt. Hopefully tomorrow!

New Beginnings

I have spent an immense amount of time and energy as of late contemplating the role I hold or will hold in the future of Traditional Medicine in the years to come. I began my studies at AOMA-Graduate School of Integrative Medicine (once known as The Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin) in the summer of 2007. I entered the program following a bout of illnesses that western medicine had no “cure” for. The only relief I was able to find was located in the hands of a gifted acupuncturist. In the spring of 2007 I began studying TCM on my own and realized that I had an unusual aptitude for understanding this medicine and decided to make a career change.

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Sewing

Yes, I am not too proud to admit that I sew. Maybe a few years ago, but not anymore. Here is the very long video demonstrating my process. Pinning and cutting comes first. Next, taking it to the machine and getting it put together. I will post picks of the final product.

It occurred to me…

It recently occurred to me (ok, well not so recently) that I have done and continue to do a lot of “things.” Not to sound arrogant, but I happen to be one of the most complex people I have ever known….Until recently that is. 

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Inspiration

“We all owe our very existence to the knowledge and talent and effort of those who have gone before us. We have a solemn obligation to repay that debt in the coin in which it was given…” RFK

“To say the future will be different from the past is, to scientists, hopelessly self-evident. I observe regretfully that in politics , however, it can be heresy. It can be denounced as radicalism or branded as subversion. There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed.” RFK

“He tells himself over and over again in any choice presented to him, “prefer the hard.” This holds good not only in great matters, but also in very small, in fighting by frozen Danube and in starting the day early.” Marcus Aurelius