Originally published at Elizabeth Genco. You can comment here or there.

The day after Christmas, I happily engaged in what can arguably be considered a new American holiday tradition: reading a Dan Brown novel in one sitting. My good friend Ron gave me a copy of The Lost Symbol back when he gifted me with The Red Book, and it’s been sitting on the stack ever since, taunting me.

I’ll admit that I wanted to like it, and I wasn’t disappointed. You can go all “You’re no William Faulkner!” on Dan Brown all you want, but he’s not trying to be Faulkner (as he admits himself right here) and I have to give him a lot of credit for crafting a fairly complex story/puzzle-line wherein I found myself deliberately suspending disbelief, oh, maybe one time.

I know some peeps’ jaws will drop at that - Wiersema, I’m lookin’ at you! - and that’s fair, but what can I say… I haven’t read Red Dragon and I will totally admit that I have a tendency to want to fall into a story trance, especially when I’m favorably predisposed, so it takes a lot to shake me out of it.

(Did I mention that I didn’t see the ending of The Sixth Sense coming either? *laugh*)

And it will come as no surprise that the Ancient Mysteries thing gets bonus points with me, as did the Divine Feminine/Sacred Marriage thing in the last go-round. Regardless of whether the guy set out to sell 80 frillion books or not, I don’t know anyone else who has done quite as much to shine a light on certain unfairly maligned spiritual traditions I could name. Nor could I find any glaring philosophical errors (as opposed to nitpicking, which I have no interest in), and believe me, I looked. I can see why Mitch really liked it.

Anyway. None of that is to say that the book is without its flaws, of course. For example, every 30 pages or so I found myself thinking of Star Trek, of all things. Why, you ask?

“My God!”
[...]
My God…
[...]
“My GOD NO!”

“You know what this means,” said Leland, after I shouted “My GOD MAN!” for the zillionth time, somewhere around page 350. (Yes, I talk back to authors in the margins of my books, too.)

“What’s that?”

“Drinking game.”

I’ve never been much of a drinker, but I have to admit, the idea amuses me. So without further ado, here it is…

The Lost Symbol Drinking Game (Respectable Lightweight’s version)
(Please allow 3 hours for this game.)

1. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite libation. (I suggest a nice Riesling, cider, or high-end scotch, or of course you can go with a nice tall glass of Paisano if you’re my mom.)

2. Settle in with Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.

3. When you come across either the following, take a sip. (Hey, this is a family blog.)

• “What the hell?!”
• “My God!” (and its derivatives)

4. Optional: Shout out “My God Man!” in your best McCoy voice every time you come across the phrase “My God”

Please drink responsibly.

Find homeschooly paperwork goodness behind the cuts.

( Here's the plan of instruction we're required to turn in every year.  )

( Here's the first of four quarterly reports the regulations require.  )

( Here's the daily schedule that we just use for our own purposes.  )

I posted this stuff particularly 'cause cold_in_august  asked to see it.  But, homeschooling is more and more unusual as kids get older.  Many many parents go to homeschool groups when the kids are three to five, then end up putting the kids in school for first grade.  There's another big exodus to public/private school for fifth and sixth grades, and another for ninth grade.   Everyone's always curious to see what it looks like for that rare older kid.  So, here you go.  This is what it looks like on paper.   At some point I'll get a grading scale and transcript up too, if anyone's interested.  I need to practice that stuff for the high school years.

Where do I start with telling my story,well I could start at the beginning
to give an overview of my life. I was raised in smallmidwest town usa and
was your typical small town good girl. Well I gave off the appearance to
the grown ups that I was good but most of the guys who knew me knew the
truth that I was a fun time when you got me warmed up. Which happend quite
often when I was in high school. I lost my virginity when I was fifteen to
the captain of the football team and have never really looked back or felt
like I should have waited. I played sports also and was quite good at all I
tried earning letters in basketball,softball and track. I did enjoy living
in the small town most of the time with your weekend parties and making
love down by the river with my current guy love intrest. I earned a sports
scholarship in softball to a division one school and left home to go to the
big city. I hit the party scene running with both legs and earned a
reputation as a girl you wanted to party with. This went on for a few
months and I was having the time of my life but then reality set in and I
had to cut back or flunk out of school.

My second semester I was moved to a different dorm with a new roomate
(Tina) who was older than me and played on the softball team. She really
helped me grow up and understand that I could still party but needed to
learn some moderation. I learned from some of the other girls on the team
that Tina was bisexual but at the time it did not intrest me at all to
think of women in a sexual way. As time went on though and I would see her
walking though the room in just her tshirt or laying on her bed in a towl
after a shower. My brain started to compute that I was attracted to her but
I would not let it out in anyway for fear of what might happen. I started
masterbating while thinking about Tina when I went home and was away from
her for any time but again would not let my feelings show. April 14 2002
was a turning point in my life that really changed how I looked at the
world. I had pulled a muscle in my back playing ball and it made bending
over to do anything very painful. Shaving my legs was almost impossible
because no matter how I sat my back would hurt while I was in the shower. I
was in the shower trying to get my legs shaved before I went out with a few
of the girls to a local club for the night when my foot slipped in the
shower and I let out yell of pain as I hit the shower floor. Tina came
running in the shower and found me laying on the shower floor crying from
the pain. Tina dropped the towl she had around her and sat down on the
shower floor beside holding me in her arms telling me everything was
ok. Tina lovingly kissed my forehead and told me she would hold me until I
could get up out of the shower. When she kissed my forehead it sent a chill
and a shiver through my body that made me pull closer to Tina.

Tina held me close for a minute then moved her lips down to my lips and
kissed them gently and softly. I offered no resistance and at that moment I
was totally hers. We kissed for what seemed like forever,very slow and very
soft. Tina looked me in the eye and ask me if i was ready for more and I
kissed her again to let her know I was her to do with what she wanted. Tina
helped me up and took me to my bed,she dried me off like a little child
then laid me down on the bed. Tina then made love to my like no other
person had ever done or ever will do I suspect. I came so many time my
belly hurt after it was done. We lay there in each others arm all night
after hour love session. Tina and I became a friends with benefits type
thing after that where we made love at few times a month. Tina enjoyed
setting my up with both boys and girls after that but she always sceduled
some alone for us when she felt the need.

I next learned how much fun an older lady could be when I took a partime
job at an office not far from the campus. I did several jobs including
secretary,gopher and being checked out by one of the female supervisors on
my floor. I was still 19 and Laura was in her late thirties but still very
sexy.. I caught her checking me out more than once and played the a flirt
game with her for about a month. It was early November that year and I had
been working late doing some filing for extra cash when I noticed that it
was just Laura and at work. I could feel her hungry eyes looking at me when
I heard her ask me to come into her office for a something. I was wearing a
busness skirt and a button down top that day and felt I looked good. When I
came into her office she ask me to close the door even though no one was
there at the office. I sat down in a chair accross from her where she ask
me if she could be blunt with a question. I told her sure and she point
blank told me how much she wanted me. I made a statment that I was
flattered and that I thought she was pretty also. Hearing these words gave
her the go sign and she got up came over to my chair. She then took my hand
and led me to her couch that was in her room. She was talking to me telling
me how much she wanted me all the while my clothes were leaving my body. In
what seemed like no time she had me naked in her office. She laid me down
on the couch and started kissing my mouth then worked her way down my
body. She really took her time working her way down so by the time she got
to my wetness I was driping with juices. When she touched my clit with her
Tounge I exploded with a huge orgasm that was the first of many that night.
When she was done eating my juices and making me cum several times she
stopped and walked over to her desk. I thought she was done but was I ever
wrong. She reached into a drawer and pulled out this strap-on that appeared
huge. I tried to protest but she just said she would let me know when she
was done with me. She got on me and started fucking me missionary style for
what seemed like forever. She then made get up and bend over and started to
fuck me doggie. I told her I was about cummed out so she put a good amount
of lube on the strap-on and inside me before giving me another good
fucking. I finally passed out from exaustion before she stopped with me.
She then got a blanket out of her closet and told me to take a nap on her
couch. I gladly accepted and fell into a deep sleep very quickly. Before I
fell asleep Laura told me she had to leave but would see me tommorow. I
told her I would grab a quick nap then go back home. I woke up several
hours later and started to get dressed where I found that my panties were
gone. Laura had kept them for herself as a trophy and this would not be the
last set of panties I would lose to this sexually agressive lady.
my lesbian dating blog

If you wanted one of my books but haven't yet sent me $$ or told me what you want to swap, please contact me when you can so I can get the books sent out. I'm trying to clear more space in our cluttered home. Thank you kindly!

http://www.polyamorousmisanthrope.com/2009/12/24/repost-the-holiday-spirit/

http://www.polyamorousmisanthrope.com/?p=359

Originally published at

http://www.polyfamilies.com/misanthrope20041225.html

Well, honestly? I think a lot of people who complain about not having any holiday spirit do so because they don’t feel that they’re festive enough, rather than accepting whatever level of festiveness they happen to feel at the moment. I mean, you’re not going to feel wonderful just because it happens to be a holiday. — Me, in a conversation with a close friend

Mama Java, she loves Christmas. A lot. It’s her birthday, and she was named for it, after all. Now, I’ve known a lot of people who don’t like the holiday season. In spite of my own love of it, I can understand. Christmas, by its name, is considered a Christian holiday, and the non-Christians often feel overshadowed. They don’t get the day off for Solstice, or they feel sick of the manger scenes, their religion doesn’t necessarily have all that big of a winter festival, the menorah lights have been cold for days, or the family gathering where they’re getting picked on for their religion. That’s no picnic. Then there’s the commercialism, the pressure to buy and buy and buy, and the wondering how you’re going to afford all this, the fear that you’re going to leave someone important out on your gift list. You feel guilty if you get your kids too little; feel guilty if you give your kids too much stuff. You get loaded down with knickknacks that mean nothing to you. Then there’s the hectic schedule — the holiday concerts and parties and visits to and from relatives. Relatives. There’s a can of worms all in and of itself! You feel guilty if you don’t go to see people you’re related to. You feel guilty if you do go and aren’t thrilled. It can be a real mess.^* I really do think that we often (myself included) miss the real meaning of the season — no matter your religion or lack thereof.

I have always thought of Christmas as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

– Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Do we always do this? Of course not. We’re human beings and we’re not perfect. But to me, the holiday season, what with the light coming back at Solstice, the anticipation of a rebirth and renewal of spirit is a time to remember and recommit to open the heart, to honor the ties we value, and to be open to what really matters in life — the love that we do hold for people in our lives. What are some things one can do to honor the actual spirit of this time of the year?

• Don’t try to have “the perfect holiday”.Poly families are notoriously blended families. You know, you may have had a certain ornament you just had to hang in a certain place and if you didn’t, you feel like the holiday is spoiled, but your partners probably did not grow up with this specific tradition. Don’t be too focused on How the Holiday Should Be. Be open to celebrating in different ways.
• Let go of holiday guiltMaybe you don’t have much money, and aren’t going to be able to buy much. Maybe you’re going through a bad time personally. You don’t have to make that gingerbread train with the hand made candy lake, ice skaters and train station. If you’re in the mood, great. If not, don’t feel guilty.
• Don’t let the joy of the holiday be dependant on how other people act

There’s not a thing wrong with lighting a candle and mediating on the season, or playing a meaningful game with the kids (and letting go of the expectation of whether or not they’re going to have bright, shining innocent faces, or if they’re going to be whiny, sugar-hyper little brats), playing an album that means a lot to you (by the way Christmas Eve and Other Stories is flat out my favorite seasonal album. ROCKS, ROCKS, I tell you!), or anything special that doesn’t require a lot of externals. For me, at least, the thing that matters most is what is in the heart. Don’t let your Holiday happiness rely on whether or not Uncle Jim gets drunk like he does every damned year and starts getting obnoxious.

• If you’re feeling Scroogish, let go of any guilt about it.

If it just isn’t your thing, it isn’t. That’s okay.

In the end, it’s not about religion, it’s not about money. It’s the heart. It’s always the heart and the joy and celebration of life and light and birth and love. In the words of The Ghost of Christmas Present:

Come in! Come in, and know Me better, Man!

^*How does this relate to poly? Multiply the loves, in-laws, out-laws, kids and family and you get it times ten. At least!

Related Posts:

• The Long-Distance Relationship

I found some party invitations Bear had made. He'll turn seven on a Saturday this year, January 30th.

One invitation was addressed to Sterling (Bear's twelve-year-old brother) and had a picture of two balloons inside. One was addressed to "Amy Redmund" (my best friend, only, that's not her last name) and had a design identical to Sterling's. The third featured, as well as balloons, a dinosaur and a planetary battle scene, and said, "Please come to my party," as well as including an explanation of what is apparently Bear's party plan. "It's a costume-bowling-make your own pizza party." That one is for Posy, Bear's six-year-old friend from just about everywhere (UU religious ed, Spiral Scouts, homeschool group, Mama's social group). Clarification from Bear reveals that we are to wear our costumes to the bowling alley, then come home to make pizza and eat Dinotopia cake.

Anyone have a good idea for a Dinotopia cake? A dinosaur cake, no problem. But how do I convey that the dinosaurs are part of a technologically advanced yet charmingly Victorian civilization?

Today I learned that my cell phone can handle being left in freezing weather for at least 14 hours. It got down to 3 last night and the phone was covered with frost when I found it on the grass next to the car this morning but after thawing out in my pocket it turned on right away and I successfully made a call.

It turns out that the boy is getting good with figuring out cause and effect and the relationship of people, places, and thing to what he values in life. On Wednesday when we turned onto the road that leads to the Y he started yelling what sounded like Y. I was pretty impressed by that. When I went to get him out of the car I realised that he was not saying "Y" but the end sound of "play" which he was signing like mad. He wanted me to know that he was excited to go play with his people.

Today he brought me a diaper, laid down on the floor, and signed change. He never does this since he is in the "I'm 18 months old how dare you restrict my freedom by forcing me to get out of my nasty diaper" mode. I as thrilled that he brought supplies and told me what he wanted. As soon as I got him out of his old, and not particularly used, diaper he stood up, took off his remaining clothing, grabbed his penis and ran off. He played a joke on me. He just wanted his penis and he knew he could get to it by tricking me into thinking he needed a diaper. It took almost half an hour to get him back into a diaper and some clothing so we could go and pick up his sister at school.

As some of you may have seen in the Times Union on Saturday, the Capital District YMCA is thinking of closing the Albany branch of the YMCA on Washington Avenue. I'm a downtown resident and a member of this YMCA, and I think it would be a terrible shame if it's allowed to be closed-- besides the gym facilities (which are admittedly not as well kept-up as other neighborhood branches but still offer more facilities than the next nearest branch to downtown/Center Square at Empire State Plaza), this Y also has several after-school and community programs that the downtown area should not lose.

Here is the Times Union article on the proposed closing: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=877017&TextPage=2

Here is the page on the Capital District YMCA website with a directory of staff e-mail addresses: http://cdymca.org/sn/whoweare.aspx


I'll be writing e-mails and letters this week, and I encourage other Albany residents, especially if you live downtown, to send a quick e-mail to the directors if you have time-- even if you're not a member of the Y, the more people that write in favor of keeping the facility open, the better.