Miscellaneous

50 Quick Questions About Me – 2022 Edition

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I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I thought… why not?  I like these types of quizzes and questions, so here we go with a new 50 Quick Questions About Me.

The Toothy Hermit

The Questions

1) What website do you visit most often?

WordPress, because that’s where my blog is lo…. oh. Well. Etsy, because that’s where I run my business from so I’m on there all the time… many, many times per day. Recreationally speaking? The site where I do storytelling and creative writing with my partner (not really what the site’s built for, but it’s what we use it for). Or it might possibly be Instagram if you include app usage.

2) What is your favorite quote?

Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual. – Arthur Koestler

3) What song is stuck in your head right now?

In the past 24 hours I have had 100 Ways by Jackson Wang and then Rebellious by 灵超 stuck in my head.

4) Would you rather be transported permanently 500 years into the future or 500 years into the past?

If I get to maintain my current knowledge? The Past. Wait…. no. Was bathing popular in the 1500s. No. No it wasn’t. Future. Ew, no. I don’t like that either. I’m not sure I wanna know where humanity’s headed. I’ll stay where I’m at, I think.

5) What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Shopping for and/or making gifts for loved ones.

6) What improved your life quality so much, you wish you did it sooner?

Forgiving my father.

7) Are you more of an early bird or a night owl?

Night Owl

8) What card or board games do you like to play?

Board Games: Scrabble, Yahtzee, Monopoly, Connect Four…. hell, almost any of the classics. I’m even down for Candyland.

Card Games: Gin Rummy, Dixit, Solitaire, Tarochhi, Hwa-tu, Jeu de Tarot, Unruly, Hanafuda, Cards Against Humanity, Flourish, Sleep Tight, Ecologies, Ouisii, any of the Magical Myrioramas games… there are others but those are what I can think of off the top of my head.

9) What invention doesn’t get a lot of love, but has greatly improved the world?

Flex Tubing

10) What would a world populated by clones of you be like?

Boring and yet somehow still treacherous.

11) If the internet suddenly stopped existing, what would you do with the time you used to spend on it?

Work. Without my online business to support me financially, I would be back to holding down 4-6 part time jobs with a few side jobs added in here and there.

12) Do you pour the milk in before the cereal, or the cereal before the milk?

Cereal, then milk. Then cereal… then milk, then cereal.

13) What is your favorite TV theme song?

SweetHome’s theme song (Bewhy’s Side by Side)

14) What should they teach in high school but don’t?

Sex Ed that is not shaming and includes gay sex for both male and female genders.

15) What animal or plant do you think should be renamed?

The Angler Fish should be renamed The Toothy Hermit

16) What game have you spent the most hours playing?

Match Triple 3D on my phone.

17) What do you get every time you go grocery shopping?

Milk

18) Do you ever remember your dreams? Have you had any weird ones that stuck with you?

Yes. I often remember my dreams. And yes, a few of them have stuck with me over time. Two in particular was being chased by tribbles with sharp teeth, and another about getting into and out of a haunted house party. There’s also one where I can’t figure out my locker combination, find my classes, or get help from the office where I went to high school.

19) What’s your favorite sandwich? What do you like to put on it?

Toasted turkey and bacon on super soft multigrain bread. I usually include pepper jack cheese (or monterey jack), pickles, spinach, tomato, black olives (if available), mayo, and honey mustard.

20) Do you like coffee or tea? What kind do you prefer?

Herbal tea. My body doesn’t handle caffeine well. My favorite is a mix of Kanna and Chamomile.

21) If you could get anything you wanted for free from one store the rest of your life, what would it be?

Money
As far as products tho? Milk. I spend a lot of money on milk.

22) If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

Work myself to death probably.

23) What really needs to be modernized?

Public transit.

24) What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?

I watched one recently on different types of polyamorous relationships that was pretty interesting. For the most part, I like animal documentaries, but after a while they all blend together.

25) If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Time. I always feel like I never have enough time.

26) Do you have any routines you try to do every day?

Eat probiotic yogurt, and drink tea with collagen peptides in it. Take my vitamins. Tarot/cartomancy readings. Spend time with my partner Gideon. Feed the cat. Sleep.

27) Would you rather not be able to open any closed doors (locked or unlocked) or not be able to close any open doors?

Not be able to open any closed doors.
I’ll find another way. But for security, being able to close doors is a must.

28) What has taken you the longest to get good or decent at?

Self-care.  I can’t say I’m good at it, but I think I’m getting decent at it.

29) If someone came up to you and said “Hey, do that thing you do!”, what thing would pop into your head first?

Reading cards probably, but it might depend on the situation.

30) What kind of business would you like to start if you were given the chance?

I’m already running my own business. I design and sell jewelry, and also offer tarot/cartomancy readings.

31) What’s the most unique shop or restaurant you’ve been in?

I once visited a metaphysical shop where the entire shop was divided into sections by long scarf like tapestries hung from the ceiling. It created an interesting energy effect, allowing the items in each section to “speak” more clearly.

32) What is the most annoying habit that other people have?

Noisy eating.  This might tie with willful ignorance, tho.

33) If you were a wrestler what would be your entrance theme song?

Prodigy’s Firestarter… oh. Or maybe The Red by Chevelle.

34) When things break, do you prefer to fix them or replace them?

Depends on the thing, but generally fix them if I can.

35) What hobby would you get into if time and money weren’t an issue?

Sleep

36) What words do you consistently spell wrong no matter how hard you try?

lieu, conscience, embarrassed, publicly, repertoire, larynx, ally, labyrinth, perseverance, mischievous, affect/effect, accel/excel, leisurely, buoyant, separate, plagiarize, hierarchy, fiery, conscientious, supersede, minuscule, liaison, fascinate, indict, incendiary, medieval, renaissance, memento, precede, pursuit, queue, millennium, sergeant, awful, lightning/lightening, arctic, council

37) Would you ever try space tourism if you had the money for it?

Oh hell no. The further away from soil I go, the more uncomfortable I become. Ive flown. Even did some skydiving and hang gliding. It’s not fear… I just don’t feel right when I’m not touching the earth.

38) What is your favorite junk food?

Orange Creamcicle Ice Cream and Cheetos Puffs

39) If you could slow down time, what would you do with that power?

Get more sleep. Well. I mean. If I could slow down time where I wasn’t slowed down along with it anyway.

40) You have to sing karaoke, what song do you pick?

Hm… well I’m mute. But, that said? If I -could- sing. Probably either That XX by G Dragon or possibly Disease by Matchbox 20.

41) If you had to lose one of your senses, which would you choose to lose?

Taste.   If you lose smell, you lose taste anyway.  People who can’t feel pain (thus lack of touch) don’t survive very long.  Losing sight or hearing would be more of a struggle to adjust to than losing my sense of taste.

42) What do you usually do on your commute?

Drive, and either listen to music or listen to an audiobook.

43) What incredibly common thing have you never done?

Hmmm….
Played soccer
Smoked cigarettes
Broken a finger (which is remarkable considering how much damage my body has taken in this lifetime so far)
Eaten Taco Time, Popeyes, Chipotle, or Chick-Fil-A
Caught a baseball (this is not to say I’ve never played, but I’ve never caught one)

44) If you could level up in life just like in video games, where would you put your next skill point?

Recovery / Regeneration

45) If there was a zombie apocalypse tomorrow, what is the first thing you would do?

Contact Gideon to let him know where to find me (he lives over 2500 miles from me), grab my sister and my cat (and possibly my best friend), pack up a few things and every bit of food I can from my place… and head north. Far enough north that dead things freeze in the snow and ice. Set myself up in a cabin or house that I can sustain long term and settle in.

46) What natural landmark would you like to see someday?

The Mariana Trench… from below, not above.

47) If you had to leave your country permanently, where would you relocate to?

That would involve leaving N America, since I’m a dual citizen. So… considers probably Norway. If anywhere could rival the natural beauty of where I live now, I’m pretty sure that’s it.

48) What silly or funny thing are you afraid of?

Hooved animals. Clowns. Spiders.

49) What is your favorite plant or flower?

Pansy

50) What piece of entertainment do you wish you could erase from your mind so that you could experience it for the first time again?

Any of the Classic animated Disney movies.

Creativity Challenge Prompt

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One of the things I do for the Discord server that I moderate is I’m in charge of what used to be the “Weekly Writing Prompt” challenge.   That recently expanded to include creativity of all sorts.

This week’s challenge is…

Create an additional card to add to a tarot deck you own.
(Example: A 23rd Major Arcana card or a 0 card to add to one of the Minor suits.)
Use any form of artistic expression you wish to create your response.
(Ex: drawing, painting, digital artwork, collage, scrapbooking, etc.)

Now, I need to precursor the results of this project by saying that I haven’t picked up a pen, pencil, or marker with the intent to draw anything in… it’s been at least five, maybe closer to eight years.   And I haven’t picked up a paint brush in at least ten or twelve years, maybe more.   So… I don’t think I did too bad, all things considered.

HungryThe Hungry

There was once a dragon that pissed off a wizard and as a result was transformed into a flower that resides within the wizard’s back yard.

If you find yourself visiting an old rickety house some day with a haint blue door and shutters the color of poppy flowers, check the back yard. Are there mangled and rusted metal parts half buried out there? If so, take care not to walk too close to the flowers.

And keep your shoes on!

 

#TarotTubersAtoZ (non)VR to The Hermit’s Cave

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Simon over at The Hermit’s Cave on YouTube did a sort of quiz type video called #TarotTubersAtoZ the other day, and although I don’t make videos, I am a part of that community and so I decided to go ahead and do a response here.

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So here we go…

A – Age:  31 for the next few months
B – Book (Favourite): Little Brothers by Rick Hautala
C – Career you wanted to be when you were a kid and what it actually is now: As a kid, I wanted to be a librarian.  Libraries are just… so amazing. I’ve always thought so. As for now… I have an education in horticulture and botany, which I use in three of my part-time jobs (working on a farm, advisor/teaching position in a nursery/greenhouse, and working for a landscaping company in the summer).  I also work part time as an attendant at a gas station, and part time as a nail tech in a Vietnamese salon. Aside from this I also run a home business where I design and sell jewelry, sell my nature photography, and work as a tarot reader for a handful of clients on the side (the last one is done either online or at meeting places when in person… NOT in my home).
D – Dream: Stability and security.  I want to be at a point where those things are no longer in question or at risk.
E – Essential item:  Comfortable shoes.  I hate wearing shoes, so they damn well have to be comfortable.
F – Favorite RWS Deck: Bianco Nero (not a classic RWS, but a clone.)  If we’re talking just the general RWS system, then it’s a tie between the Tarot of the Hidden Realm and the Stolen Child Tarot.
G – Gold or Silver: Silver
H – Height: 5′ 10″
I – Ideal day:  Get up early and go hiking. Take a nap in the woods before coming back. Some dinking around in the garden digging in the dirt and caring for my plants.  Pizza for dinner.  Relax with Gideon.
J – Joke (funniest):  I have NO idea.  I’m not particularly good at jokes.
K – Kid(s):  None. I think they’re wonderful as long as they belong to someone else.
L – Living arrangements: I own my fourth floor condo and live within it with my twin sister, who pays me rent that goes towards the mortgage.
M – Marseille deck (favorite): Le Tarot de Marseille par Pole Ka
N – Nicknames:  Leaf, Twist, Niner
O – Oracle (favorite):  Faerie’s Oracle by Brian Froud
P – Passionate about:  nature, the rain, tarot, photography, creativity, Gideon
Q – Quote (favorite): “Creative activity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.” – Arthur Koestler
R – Relationship status: Gideon is my partner and my Dominant. We are monogamous.
S – Season (favorite):  Autumn.  I love the smells of autumn and the shift to relief from the summer heat.
T – Tarot (first and last) –  My first tarot deck was the Celtic Circle Tarot.  The most recent to enter my collection (as of writing this post, anyway) is the Oriens Tarot, which arrived on Friday.
U – Upset (what upsets you most):  Injustice. Closed-mindedness. Senseless disrespect. Willful stupidity.
V – Vlog (which are you most proud of. And which is your most popular): I don’t have a vlog.  On my blog I am oddly most proud of the kaleidoscope posts that helped us heal from that dark time in our past.  My most popular post is apparently the 75 Questions post that I did last July.
W -Weakness: Self destructive impulses.
X – X Rated (tell us something naughty you’ve done):  *clears his throat* I once stuck my dick into tub of soft serve ice cream on a dare.
Y – Yesteryear (your favorite year so far and why):  I don’t have one.  I have difficulty with my memory due to a head injury when I was younger.  What memories I have are fragmented and I depend on those around me to assist me in keeping them (as well as keeping them in chronological order).  Without having a written record of it, there’s very little I can actually state happened in any specific year.
Z -Zen (what you do to relax and stay calm):  meditate, sleep, play games on my phone, talk to Gideon, lie in the bottom of the tub with the shower running

#10UnusualThingsAboutMe (non)VR to The Hermit’s Cave

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Recently, Simon over at the Hermit’s Cave on YouTube did a video about “10 Unusual Things About Me” that, just this last Saturday he revisited in his Cuppa Catchup and Cards live to expand on.   I loved this idea, although I’ve had a LOT of trouble coming up with ten.  But, I did finally make it, so I thought I’d share.

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1)  My absolute favorite treat is Orange Vanilla Swirl ice cream while eating Cheetos Puffs. 

Contrary to popular belief, this has nothing to do with the color.   I just like the two flavors together.  It’s really good.

2)  I am a non-theist.

A lot of people have a hard time understanding how I can be a Pagan but also a non-theist.  Essentially, I worship the earth and the energies of the earth, focusing specifically on the energies of creation, evolution, and balance.

As for why…. I grew up in a Wiccan/Buddhist household, and was raised under those faiths, but the deity aspect always felt unnecessary to me. I don’t feel a connection to deity or even a kinship to the idea of deity. I never have, even as a child.  It just didn’t feel right. So once I left my parent’s home, I phased that aspect out of my practice in order to better fit my faith to me.

3) I can whisper, but I cannot speak.

I am mute due to injury to my trachea and larynx that happened during a home invasion.  I cannot whisper loudly, but I can whisper.  It does not carry well, and from what I understand it’s pretty inscrutable over the phone (it just sounds like a disrupted exhale), but in a quiet and intimate setting?  It works.

4) I prefer to do my divination outdoors and barefoot.

This is about balancing my energy, as I get a far better connection to the earth and its grounding energies if my feet are not encased in shoes.  It’s not necessary, but it is my preference.

5)  I am 100% certain of the existence of the Fae.

This is not a belief, but a certainty. The Fae are not tiny beautiful humanoid creatures full of love and light. If you are interested, take a look at the Faeries’ Oracle by Brian Froud and you will get a small sampling idea of the vast array of different Fae in the world.

6)  I put potato chips inside my meat sandwiches.

Plain potato chips, sour cream and onion chips, barbecue chips, Doritos (cool ranch or regular cheese), Sun Chips….. there’s a variety of different kinds I’m willing to use.  But I like them IN the sandwich so that I get the crunch and flavor when I take a bite.

7) For public safety, I cannot listen to public radio while driving.

I have synesthesia, which means that there are some wires crossed in my brain that (in my case) causes my senses to sometimes interpret sounds as (most commonly) physical sensation, and occasionally as having a flavor or scent.

When driving, I listen to pre-screened music from off of my phone that I know I will not have negative reactions to.  Public radio does not give me that ability to pre-screen the songs, which means when listening to it I run the risk of having an uncomfortable or even painful twitch or reaction to something in the music (or commercials, for that matter) that could cause me to end up having an accident.

8) Even though I am mute, I don’t speak ASL (sign language).

Honestly?  I did try to learn it at first, but it’s pretty damn useless, or at least feels that way to me.  I don’t know any deaf people, and nobody I know or run across has a clue how to speak or understand ASL.   So, because of that I haven’t bothered to learn it.

Instead, I tend to communicate through typing words into a document on my phone or  using text-to-speech apps, and I carry a small memo pad with me the majority of the time in case my phone’s battery dies.

9) I have leaves on the bottom of my feet.

I used to be a cutter, which was one of the ways I dealt with negative emotions and thoughts directed for myself.  I did not cut my arms or legs, or anything like that.  Instead I had a “cutting kit” of Xacto blades and first aid supplies, and I used these tools to cut vine and leaf designs into the bottoms of my feet, which scarred into a permanent (if incomplete) scarification.

A handful of years ago, I stopped cutting as a way to deal with emotions, and I gifted my cutting kit to you for safekeeping.  I have no doubt you still have it.  I have not done any cutting on myself since.

10) I deconstruct my food.

This is something I have always done, but I’m not sure when it started or why.  This is especially prevalent when it is food that I enjoy and want to savor.   I like to take the food apart (usually with my hands) and enjoy each element of it individually.  If it’s something I’ve had before, I will then organize which part I eat first to last depending on what I like least to the part I like most.

Dream Share – The Need For Green

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I am in a barren and dry place. A city. But there’s no trees and there’s no grass or green. It’s all brown and tan and dry and dusty.

I see a tree in the distance with a tall trunk and lush leaves. It grows out of the sidewalk.

I run towards it, eager to get closer. When I get to the tree, I wrap my arms around it in joy…. only to discover that it’s a fake tree. My disgust and disappointment is a heavy weight on my soul as I pout up at the trunk.

Then, the scenery changes, and I am Keeper of the Green size (about an inch or two tall), and I am sitting in the soil of a potted plant on the windowsill in an old woman’s kitchen. I feel I am glowing in contentment and happiness.

Then I wake up.

My Morning Routine

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Being that I’m away from home for the week this week, I figured today would be a nice day for some nostalgia.   Well, nostalgia concerning my normal routine, that is.   So I thought you might like a peek at my regular morning routine.

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I usually work on the farm at least six days a week, and I wake up VERY early each morning to head to the farm and get there by 5am for my shift.  I very literally pick my ass out of bed, put on  my crappy tattered farm clothes, grab my keys, a handful of protein bars, and my phone, and head out.  I don’t bother with a shower or brushing my teeth, or even combing my hair.

My shifts on the farm are usually between 4 to 7 hours in length depending on what needs done that day and if the owner needs any extra help.

Once I get home, I immediately toss my clothes in the washer and hop in the shower.  I do all of my washing, flossing, tooth-brushing, plucking (because I do not grow enough hair on my face to bother shaving), hair combing, other intimate grooming, etc in the shower.   I get out and apply lotion, then apply emollient bar to the various scarring on my body to keep them supple so they don’t crack.  Deodorant, ear cleaning, all that good stuff comes next.

I then get dressed and spend about 30 – 60 minutes on the floor doing yoga.  Once this is done, I move to my altar and do my daily devotional.

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What is a Daily Devotional?

Every morning I stand before my altar.  I take a few minutes to center and ground myself, and then I light the candle on my altar.   I touch each of the corresponding spheres on my altar as I go through this invocation in my mind (obviously, I can’t speak these aloud).

Energies of the North, Earth, and Body… I welcome you
Energies of the East, Air, and the Mind… I welcome you
Energies of the South, Fire, and the Inner Spark… I welcome you
Energies of the West, Water, and the Emotions… I welcome you

I then touch the Gaia statue and continue…

Energies of creation, evolution, and balance… I welcome you

I touch my father’s kila and the mirror of my grandmother and continue…

Beloved ancestors that wish to bestow love and wisdom… I welcome you

I light incense.   Usually this is a combination of Nag Champa and Frankincense. I then stand before my altar and take a minute to center myself again so that I am not distracted when I decide to continue.  Gratitude comes next…

Thank you for this beautiful new day and all of the opportunities it presents to me to improve myself and the world around me.

Thank you for my safe and secure home, my beautiful and loving sister, my trusted friends, my lovely Luna, and my beloved partner.   Thank you as well for the love of my mother and loving care others around me.

Please guide my feet along today’s path so that I may…. (changes from day to day)

Examples:  Enjoy the day to the fullest, have safe travels on today’s journeys, have a productive day filled with accomplishments and small pleasures, etc.

I then pick up my daily draw deck for the month and I begin to shuffle.  As I shuffle, I am requesting…

I ask that you provide me with a positive message to carry with me throughout my day and foster perspective.

I repeat this as I go through riffle shuffling then switch to a seesaw overhand shuffle until a card falls out (or jumps out).   Sometimes more than one card comes out (as you’ve seen in my daily posts).   If it is more than two cards, I will put them back and ask for an answer that involves less cards.

Once I have my card of the day before me, I will take a moment to sink into the image and really -feel- the card, then return my attention to my altar to close things out with…

Please accept my gratitude as I strive to learn from your messages and follow your guidance.  Today, and Every Day.

I then blow out the candle to close things out, and snuff out the incense.

From there, I will go to the bed and lie down with my legs up the wall.  I will settle into a piriformis stretch position, and then meditate (usually to the guided meditations provided in the Calm app on my phone).

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Once my meditation is done, I will then head out of the bedroom and feed Miss Luna, get my tea made (complete with collagen peptides added), make a couple pieces of toast with peanut butter, and get my probiotic yogurt out.  With tea, toast, and yogurt in hand, I then sit down to take my morning medications and eat.

From there, my day diverges into whatever else I have to get done or do throughout the day, any other shifts I need to work, business tasks that need completed, etc.  But, my mornings up until that point?  They’re pretty much the same every day except Saturdays.