crysthewolf

If you're going to comment on my journal, please have the balls to tell me who you are.

Especially if you're going to be a self-inflated, pathetic, blowhard little piece of shit.  When I tell you that you can go fuck yourself, I tend to like to know who I'm talking to.

Kthnx. =)

Love,
 

Crystal

I'm going to be working on making hats, gloves, and scarves for a group that's collecting them for the homeless so if I owe you a project still, please let me know if you would like it done soon or if you don't mind it being put off until perhaps after Christmas Eve.

And no, asking for it soon will not make you an ogre (although you can message me privately if you're concerned about being judged for it).  I have no problem pausing on the hats/gloves/scarves.

Thanks,
Crystal

PS-if you're a knitter, crafter or crocheter and would like to get involved, let me know and I'll tell you where to take your stuff.

Because you need to hear it.  We all do.

We need to know.


( Once more with transcript ) for those of you who, like me, can't watch the video at work. ;)

So I created an LJ community for folks who like to make things with a sci-fi/fantasy style. I know that there are a lot of specialized crafty-fandom communities out there, but I wanted to do something of a catch-all, for people to post their stuff, share patterns/recipes, and even allow for some free advertising. =)

Feel free to check her out here: http://community.livejournal.com/handmadefandom/ . I already sent out a few invites but feel free to join, even if all you want to do is look. =D

I need to get a picture of the Jayne-hat that I made for Chris to put up. =)

Love,
Crystal

echoweaver summed up perfectly what I've been feeling lately about how people have been talking politics, both before, and since, the election.  Frankly I'm tired of all the negativity and I want to get forward with the next four years. 

I won't drop people from my friends list for a little bit of angst and, like echo, most of my FL has actually been pretty damned well-behaved (I'm so proud of my friends. ;) ).  So don't think I'm thinking of you in particular when I say this because I'm not.  But you have to play nice in my world. ;) 

Love,
Crystal

I'm hoping

per_solo  doesn't mind me posting this, but I've gotten alot of questions about it, so I figured I'd just do a general post.

The short story is, basically, that I keep proposing to Chris and he keeps saying yes. ;)  No, it's not a joke, I really mean it, and so does he.  However, since he's in school right now and that already causes a lot of stress for both of us and finances are tight all around, we don't want to get caught up in anything else that is going to lay more stress on us or our relationship, like, for instance, wedding planning.  Or people asking us when we're going to set a date. 

So yes, we want to get married.  No, we're not setting a date yet.  I guess you can call it an "informal engagement".  What can I say?  We're unconventional. ;)

I do have my standards tho.  I told him we're not officially engaged until HE asks ME. ;)  A silly fancy expensive ring is optional (I'm sorry, I'd rather have a down-payment on a house than a shiny ring.  That's just how I roll.)

 

So there.  Does that help the confusion or make it worse? ;)

Love,
Crystal

I remember when I discovered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I always thought that racism was stupid - the bane of the ignorant -  but, to be honest, that wasn't why I liked him.  King was definitely the champion of the Civil Rights Movement, but to me, Civil Rights doesn't just mean equal rights for African Americans.  Civil Rights, to me, has always meant equal rights for everyone.  I'm a woman, I'm Pagan, and I'm bisexual, and those things sometimes lend to me not being regarded as "equal".  But I'm not just concerned with myself.  I do, for whatever reason, care about my fellowman.  I cared about my fellowman before I knew what it meant to be a woman in society.  I cared about my fellowman before I was Pagan, and before I was honest with myself about the fact that while I'm attracted to men, I'm also equally attracted to women (sometimes moreso.  What can I say?  Girls are pretty and they smell good. ;) )  And so I wish for freedom for my fellowman, no matter how different he may be from me.  I want people to see the beauty of culture and not think of it as "lesser" because it's not like theirs.  I want the world to be a place where all people are free to be themselves and have the same rights.

And for all these things, I always loved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  But I also loved him for something that always was, to me, much larger than that.

Dr. King taught me to hope.

You hear it in his speaches.  I love to listen to his speaches, because his whole demeanor says "I hope".  "I believe".  "I can".  Those things, in the darkness of my world and the depression of my past, are the things that helped me to survive.  Those words saved my life on any number of occasions.  "I hope."

And I have to admit that while there are things I don't understand about politics (granted, there are a lot more that I DO), and I can't accuse myself of knowing absolutely everything about every candidate that ran in this election... I heard those words, and that sound - the sound of hope - when I listened to Barack Obama speak for the first time.

I listened to what he said.  I listened to his ideas, his plans, and his hopes.  I listened to the voting records and I listened to the detractors.  I listened to the arguments and I thought.  I didn't want to vote by my emotions,  but all of those things fell into line behind that big thing that swept me off of my feet from that first speach.    I hoped.

A lot of bad things happened last night.  Rights were taken away from gays in Arizona, Florida, and California.  That makes me sad, because I cannot understand why people would want to take rights away from other people just because they're religious views are different, and to me it seems like that's all it really boils down to.  There are people who think it's "wrong" to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered.  That's fine, that's their perogative, but to take away other people's rights as Americans because of that?  That makes me sad.  If you think that it's wrong to marry someone of the same sex, don't marry someone of the same sex.  If you think that people of the same sex being allowed to marry will mean that someone will tell you that you have to tell your kids that being gay is okay, then fight THAT battle.  I don't want to take away your rights as parents.  I don't want you to have to tell your kids it's okay to be gay.  I want you to tell your kids that it's not okay to be unkind and mean, and that it's not okay to take away other people's rights.  You didn't teach them that last night. 

And yet, there was hope.  There was hope in a man who says "we hope" and "we believe" and "we can".  I don't know about the rest of the country, but I needed that.  And I'm holding onto that hope, "...that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal.'"  I'm holding onto the hope that one day Christian pastors and their wives will one day sit down with long-time-legally-married gay couples at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood.  I hold out hope that one day the daughters of Barack Obama will be judged not by what is or is not between their legs, not by what religion they participate in or what god or goddess they bow down to (or whether they bow down to anyone at all), but by the content of their character.

"With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

And I hold out hope that the country that elected Barack Obama last night will one day be a truly free country, for everyone.

And I will listen to that hope for, at the very least, the next four years.

Love,

Crystal


This entry submitted for LJ Idol Week 7, "Hope".  Don't forget to vote! Again!
 

She may look aaaaawfuly red, but she's blue baby yeah!!!!!

(by 23,560 votes.  Whew!)

So I had an off-the-cuff idea the other night after COJ and I brought it up to Chris, and he says "Well you should email the list about it!" So I did, and I found out that the same idea has already been discussed and ruled out, so I'm like, ok... irked a bit because sometimes I have that "everything I suggest gets shot down" feeling with this group, but then again that's not really THEIR fault 'cause, hey, if I'm not going to pay attention to what's already been discussed and ruled out then that's MY bad, right?

Except now it's started a discussion about the subject all over again that's apparently already been discussed and I don't WANT that, but if it's going to be discussed I can't NOT discuss it, since I wasn't included in the FIRST discussion or anything...

*sigh* But I don't know why, because it's already been discussed, and ruled out, so what does it matter?

So now I regret having said anything at all.  And I'm blaming teh boyfriend. =P  (I know, it's not really his fault.  But he knows the protocol better than I do and usually reads the newsletter, and has been around longer, so I'm invoking "shoulda known better" rights on him. =P )

Love,
Crystal

edit: alright alright, I'll give the boyfriend a break. I guess it wasn't altogether discussed like I thought. And maybe not completely ruled out. I'm not entirely sure. ...Then again, I rarely am.

I'm still working on loading some of my photos from the weekend, but so far this is my favorite. There's another one of a squirrel that I thought was a lot of fun too.

Just thought I'd share. =)