09/26/2022
ah... I've been neglectful. Hello, readers.
I am back at my desk. I have spent the past several days trapped in my bed again, shifting in and out of consciousness. I have taken ill. My father came down with it a few days past, and I was foolish enough to believe that if I locked myself in my room, it would pass me over.
Not so! I am absolutely miserable. My throat is swollen and on fire. My chest has begun to hurt. I am so frail already, and Cruel Fate has taken it upon herself to make my life even harder. Mm.
I went to the doctor yesterday to confirm my diagnosis, and she was... really something. She told me that there really are other illnesses out there, still, other than the crawling mist, and made me feel really quite stupid. Then, a few hours later, her receptionist called me to apologize--that the doctor had never actually looked at my test results, and had simply assumed I was looking for attention.
Well.
My supervisor is working from home today. He seemed to think that I should be fine to work in the office, despite the fact that I barely have a voice with which to speak.
I've gotten to speak with Jonathan a bit more. We got to talk for a whole 20 minutes yesterday when I got my test results--I could barely breathe, they were very kind with me. Their head is feeling a bit better.
The road will have to wait a few days more, unfortunately. Gracie has been very helpful. I found and washed her favorite pillow, and she has been cuddled up beside me in bed. I will share a picture later.
I have barely been able to eat today. I made myself a bowl of rice with furikake, but it tasted every oddly of wood, so I threw the entire thing away. Hoping I don't pass out at my desk.
Mandrake - Spell strengthener. Use for protection, happiness and wealth. It aids money multiplying. Element Earth.
Marigold - See Calendula.
Marjoram - Use for cleansing, purification, and dispelling negativity. Also aids grief and sadness. Element Air.
Marshmallow Flower - Cleansing, protection, love, sex and fertility. Used in handfasting's. Elements Water.
Marshmallow Root - Protection and psychic powers. Use in tea to aid sore throats. Handfasting herbs and cleansing. Element Water.
Meadowsweet - Used to increase the chances of getting a job. Helps peace, love and happiness. Aids divination. Element Air.
Mint - Promotes energy, communication and vitality, protection and draws custom. Element Air.
Mistletoe - Also called Witches Broom. Used for fertility, creativity, and protection from negative spells & magic. Hang at handfasting to kiss beneath and promote peace. Element Air.
Mountain Ash Berry - Also called Rowan Berry. Strong fairy and Goddess connections. Aids protection and meditation help to clear the mind. Element Fire.
Motherwort - Mother’s Herb. Love and fertility. Grounding helps against bad luck. Protection and good fortune. Element Fire.
Mug wort - Use for strength, protection and healing. Mug wort amplifies magic. Aids astral projection, and psychic power. Element Earth.
Mullein - Represents the crossroads. Offers protection from nightmares & hexing. It attracts love and keeps evil energies and spirits at bay. Element Fire.
Mustard Seed - Courage, faith, and endurance. It is a good luck amulet. Aids mental power and offers protection. Element Fire.
Myrrh - Spiritual, meditation, and healing. Supports youthfulness and protection. Luck and peace. Element Earth.
Nasturtium - Banishing and releasing fear. It helps create your own reality. Aids creativity and independence. Element Air.
Nettle - Uses include dispelling darkness & fear, and curse breaking. Healing and protection and increase lust in partners. Renewal. Element Fire.
Nutmeg - Magical uses include attracting money/prosperity, and luck. Use for fortune telling and when you need favorable decisions to be made. Element Fire.
Oak - Connected to Litha and the most sacred of all trees. Oak supports success, good luck and healing. Stability and potency and attract money. Element Water.
Orange Peel & Flower- Attracts abundance, luck. Love and happiness strengthen divination. Element Fire.
Oregano - Aids astral projection, health, and vitality. Increase joy and justice and protect against evil. Use at Handfasting's. Element Air.
Parsley - Use this herb to help with contacting the dead. Increases strength, vitality and passion. It is uplifting and helps spiritual growth. Element Air.
Passionflower - Attracts friendship and passion. Calming, peace and instills passion into stale relationships. Good for house blessings too. Element Water.
Patchouli - Used in spells for connecting with spirits. Money attracts increases fertility and lust. Calming and peaceful. Element Earth.
Pennyroyal - Use for peace, harmony and tranquility. Carry to avoid seasickness or for physical strength & endurance. Element Earth.
Peppermint - Use for headaches and other forms of healing. Increases sleep and love. Use for increasing psychic power and divination. Element Air.
Pilewort - See Celandine.
Pine/Needles - Prosperity and success. Protection, purification and divination. Throw it in the fire to dispel negativity. Use in house and business blessings. Element Fire.
Plantain - Increases fertility and libido. Healing, protective and offers strength. Use to have power over supernatural events. Element Earth.
Poppy Seeds - Pleasure, love and luck. Aids sleep and insomnia. Use in astral projection and flying magic. Increases fertility and happiness. Element Water.
Pumpkin Seed - Use in lunar magic to honor the moon. Also healing and increases divination. Element Fire.
Raspberry Leaf - Used for healing, protection, love. Raspberry leaf not to be eaten by pregnant women until due date, as it induces labor. Helps to reduce the pain involved in childbirth. Supports sleep, dreams and love. Element Water.
Red Clover - Aids success, love and money. Increases fidelity. Use in exorcism. Element Air.
Rose - Use for divination, increased psychic power, love, lust and healing. It helps strengthen close friendships. Place it around sprains and bruises to help them heal faster. Element Water.
Rose Hips - Used in healing spells or to bring good luck and invoking good spirits. Aids stronger love. Element Water.
Rosemary - Use in healing poppets and love/lust spells. Improves memory. Increases sleep, mental power and protection. Burn to help purification and remove negativity. Associated with faery magic. Element Fire.
Rowan - See Mountain Ash.
Rue - Use in healing, health and love. Also, protection against the evil eye. Increases mental power and clarity of the mind. Used in exorcism. Element Fire.
Local house witch telling you to please learn basic housekeeping skills.
It’s not your fault if no one ever taught you but YouTube is a magical place and can teach you at your own pace.
So I thought this was commonly known internet navigation (but apparently it might just be those of us who have been using the internet since the 90’s who still know it). Or so it seems based on… a grumpy comment I got.
When you see an arrow like this:
It means you click it to expand out a hidden section.
It’s an accordion section/menu! It’s useful in web design to hide information that may be overwhelming under specific headers so people can only see what they need.
Here I’m using it for people who need the content warnings to be able to check, but for those who don’t need them and don’t want to be spoiled to just move right past without accidentally reading anything.
It’s still the user’s responsibility to click the arrow and read things as they need! But it is all warned. (And, yes, the all encompassing issues are already a tag on the fic, I’m just providing additonal warnings per chapter.)
helping “The Environment” as an individual is such a nebulous and ever changing concept and seems to be very much in the Discourse™️ at the moment so I just want to take a minute to shout into the void with some reminders I gave my enviro students when they got to the “oh dear god we’re all gonna die” phase of the class:
“Individual choices don’t matter” is like. true(?) for climate change (unless you’re a kardashian or CEO or something) but that just means you can’t reusable tote bag your way out of a private jet society. NOT that you can’t have any impact through community initiatives and activism. Advocate for municipal composting and public transit!! Get involved locally!!!!! Write weekly to your representatives! Do whatever you can to get unstuck and scrape together some modicum of hope.
Also on individual choices. There are some that “matter” but be very wary of outsized benefits promised for seemingly small choices (e.g. the straw debacle). An app is not the thing to save us from a hundred years of industry. Going out and collecting litter DOES have an impact even if that impact is just “this area of the world no longer has trash in it.” It’s not solving the issue of microplastics or whatever but it is helping local birds. And it’s helping YOU feel more connected to your local environment and getting you involved with the world and your community.
Finally, the best thing you can be is well informed, persistent, and kind. Be willing and able to help if you bump into someone who is open to the idea of not letting Shell and SHEIN pour toxic sludge directly into every river. It’s more people than you think. But most people only know how to buy things that are “better.” (Electric cars, reusable bags, expensive neutral clothing made of flax). They want to do SOMETHING but we’re all just kind of vibrating balls of anxiety all the time. Know what sort of things are going on around you and invite them! My go to’s are composting initiatives, textile recycling programs, and pollinator friendly/grass free gardens.
Again, it would be great if we were all willing to drag the Shell and Nestle CEOs out to account for their crimes but being paralyzed by fear is not gonna help. Neither is another ethical clothing brand selling $400 linen underwear (probably). I’ve found time and time again that people who have any amount of tangible connection to the world outside have a much more visceral reaction to billionaire super yachts than defeatist suburbanites who drive EVs and have a kitchen full of dubious organic snacks.
i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out
brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad
learn to coupon
what to do when you can’t afford therapy
cleaning your bathroom
what to do when you can’t pay your bills
stress management
quick fix meals
find out if you’re paying too much for your cell phone bill
resume workshop
organize your closet
how to take care of yourself when you’re sick
what you should bring to a doctor’s appointment
what’s a mortgage?
how to pick a health insurance plan
hotlines list
your first gynecology appointment
what to do if the cops pull you over
things to have in your car in case of emergency
my moving out masterpost
how to make friends as an adult (video)
how to do taxes (video)
recommended reads for surviving adulthood (video)
change a flat tire (video)
how to do laundry (video)
opening a bank account (video)
laundry cheat sheet
recipes masterpost
tricks to help you sleep more
what the fuck should you make for dinner?
where should you go for drinks?
alcohol: know your limits
easy makeup tips
find seat maps for your flight
self-defense tips
prevent hangovers
workout masterpost
how to write a check
career builder
browse careers
birth control information
financial management software & app (free)
my mental health masterpost
my college applications masterpost
how to jumpstart a car
sex ed masterpost
Herb's Properties
Basil: money, luck, prosperity, happiness
Bay Leaf: energy, cleansing, can be charged with almost any intention
Camomile: Caring, kindness, luck, growth, self-love growth, confidence, avoiding negativity, happiness
Cinnamon: passion, quick success, fire magick
Chia seeds: Growth, health, kindness, Property
Chilli flakes: Pride, confidence, power, strength, Passion
Cumin: Courage, bravery, protection, loyalty
Dandelion: wishes, charisma, success, good luck
Dill: sexual love, luck, protection
Eucalyptus: cleansing, healing, purifying, relaxing, comfort
Fennel: hate, anger
Flax seeds: Prosperity, growth, new beginnings
Ginger: fiery passion, success, and personal power
Jasmine: love, dreams, sensuality, luxury and kindness
Lavender: love and attraction, purification, relaxation, restful sleep
Nutmeg: luck, Health, Fidelity, Love, Prosperity, comfort, loyalty
Oregano: comfort, love, warmth
Paprika: Pride, confidence, power, strength
Parsley: Cleansing. purification
Peppermint: healing, purification, love and energy, cleansing, prosperity
Poppy seeds: protection, intuition, self-assurance, hexing and cursing
Rose: love, beauty, harmony, romance, attraction
Rosemary: cleansing, purification, wisdom, protection
Sesame seeds: Prosperity, growth, health, nurturing
Spearmint: love, cleansing, renewal, blessing
Sunflower seeds: happiness, growth, joy
Thyme: beauty, strength, courage
Turmeric: confidence, creativity, energy
Vanilla: love and sexuality
tip jar
Do they sleep with a stuffed animal? If they have multiple, who’s the favorite?
Can they take care of a plant? What about a pet? What about a child?
Ask them to describe their love interest.
Do they look good in red?
Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech! Will they give one, and what about?
Who will they take advice from, no matter what it is? Who won’t they take advice from, no matter what it is?
Describe them in three words. Now let them describe themself in three words.
Do complex puzzles intrigue or frustrate them?
Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?
What age do they most want to be right now?
They’ve won the lottery. Spend, or save?
Do they like romance in the books they read (or in the book they’re in)?
Name one thing their parents taught them.
Would they agree with the term ‘guilty pleasure’? Do they have any?
What would they consider a waste of time– other than school or work?
If money wasn’t a limit, what would they wear?
Do they like children?
Kissing: tongue or no tongue?
Do they study before tests? Practice before job interviews?
What do they like that nobody else does?
What would it take for them to break up with someone? What would be the last straw?
Do they like being called pet names? Do they call other people pet names? What’s their go-to?
Stability or novelty?
Honesty or charity?
Safety or possibility?
Talent or effort?
Forgiveness or vengeance (or…)?
Would they date a fixer-upper?
What recurring dreams do they have?
What would they do if they knew it would be forgiven?
i have turned it into a letterboxd list: good films that are free on the internet archive!!!! Each film is linked in the notes on letterboxd. this will be continually updated so it's a good link to save if you want to keep up!