Welcome, swamp denizens, to the reincarnation of Thursday’s Froggy Bottom Cafe
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For those of you just tuning in, the Cafe has taken a turn for the mysterious today. Gone are the cute froggy logos, gone the sunlit porches and leisurely danishes. Instead, those entering the cafe will find themselves in a different world. A world where superstition and arcane knowledge rub elbows with a cheap Magic 8 Ball. A world where the eternal question, “Do I have to mow the lawn today?” may be met with any one of 7 completely different answers!
The drink of the day is a homemade herbal brew reported to have hallucinogenic properties, the business of the day is fortune telling, and your host is…The Oracle.
Prepare to have your spine tingled and your goose bumped.
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Recommend if you dare (but only after you unrecommend this morning’s Cafe)
Superstition, mumbojumbo and a Magic 8 Ball after the jump…
Would you like to know your fortune?
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The Tarot was created in Northern Italy in the mid-fifteenth century as a card game. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, scholars of the occult started using the cards as a divination tool, based on the archetypal nature of the suits and symbols. Today, there are thousands of different Tarot decks available, and they are popular with fortune tellers, new agers and all kinds of people you wouldn’t expect to have them. Fortunately, in this modern day and age, there are websites that will shuffle, lay out and interpret the cards for you. My favorite is Facade.com (hint: try the Cross and Triangle spread. The Rider Waite deck is the traditional one). Sjct recommends you visit The New Age for more online Tarot readings and Matrix Software for other cool occult-y stuff. Tauri suggests a visit to Tarot Passages to learn about different decks.
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Admit it – you read your horoscope. Yes, even you, enlightened progressive. Astrology, according to this guy, is the oldest of all sciences and religions. Our `modern’ system of astrology dates back to ancient Greece and Ptolomy, who set down the tenants of an earth-centered astrological system. But enough of that – the important thing is there are websites that will tell you what kind of day you are going to have, so you can plan accordingly. My favorite is this one (hint: the Monthly Moonbeam is the best). To learn about the day you were born, dada recommends you visit The Birthday Calculator.
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For those of you who prefer a little instant gratification, your host is standing by with a Magic 8 ball to answer all of your burning questions. [shake shake shake] For the skeptical, Dem in Knoxville will be happy to tell you about the findings of a recent Magic 8 Ball autopsy.
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Ask a question, or just chat amongst yourselves. The oracle is now open.
Hi, haven’t been able to visit previous diary, too busy with the hearing on now, cspan 3 is anyone watching????….see my diary for live blogging or did everyone desert me.
Hi Diane! Thanks for stopping by. People seem to be getting the hang of unrecommending – this morning’s Cafe is moving down the list pretty quickly.
Is anyone going to come to the Cafe this afternoon?
It is decidedly so.
The 8 Ball has spoken – let it be so!
Wanna know something funny??? I have an 8 ball on my desk at work…my boss gave it to me
O wise magic 8 ball, is George W Bush going to be frog-marched out of Washington within the next year?
Your not gonna like this it says..Unlikely
It was a long shot, anyway.
I did ask it if Delay would go down and it said….so it shall be
I gave my husband a version of the magic 8-ball for his birthday:
A 8″ Yoda — you ask him questions by squeezing his hand and he says stuff like:
“hard to see, the future is”
He has it on his desk at work now and ever since it left the house my son has been asking me to get another one!
Where did you get the yoda I would love to get one for my son for his birthday?
If I remember correctly, it was Target, but I’m sure they would have them anywhere Star Wars toys are sold — I think they have them online at Amazon/ToysRUs as well!
How old is your son?
My daughter, Saoirse, moved on up from 8th grade last night. She starts high school in the fall.
What a fun night.
What a beautiful daughter you have, Lorraine! It’s hard to believe she’s just entering high school – when I was that age, I had braces, dorky bangs and no fashion sense whatsoever.
Congratulations to you and your girl!
It’s kinda frightening how grown up she and her eighth grade friends are. But thank you. Not only is she beautiful, she’s smart as hell. So, I fully expect her to take over the world. š
AWESOME name! I love Irish-Gaelic names, particularly for girls. Unfortunately no one in the States knows how to pronounce them…. Witness Aoife, Siobhán, Roisín, Gráinne, among others. Well, most people do know how to pronounce Sinead, but only because of the musician.
No doubt it’s a name she’s proud of, meaning “freedom.”
Me too.
I have a friend named Gráinne, and I’ve always loved it.
My other friends named their daughter “Morag” — my Glaswegian friend winced “oh Christ, that’s what happens when the Scots leave Scotland. They’re unstoppable. Poor lass, those English will never give her a break.”
Congratulations! She is a beautiful young woman.
Speaking of beautiful and smart young women who are going to take over the world…my own daughter graduated from elementary school yesterday. It was a sweet ceremony.
As some may recall, I posted the other day that she was going to audition for the Oakland School for the Arts. She maintains that she is sure she got in and did very well at the audition. She strode into it with her head held high and a smile on her face. When she was introduced to the four members of the audition panel and was told that one was going to be the 6th grade acting instructor, she smiled and said, “Wonderful. I will see you there!” They all got a laugh out of that and commented on her obvious confidence. LOL.
I’ve decided to buy her a guitar for her graduation present. However, neither of us knows much about them. Any suggestions for guitar newbies?
Highland man’s name you may remember was given to the African missionary preacher in the town of Furness in the movie Local Hero.
Did your playmates go home for lunch?
Maybe they were nabbed by spirits. There was a lot of weird stuff going on in this morning’s thread.
Here’s an oracular idea – How many Cancers out there will be glad to Saturn move on next month?
Name some famous Leos likely to be impacted by this. Isn’t Dubya a Leo?
Oh dear, I’m a Leo
ANy predictions on this next year for me? I don’t know about Saturn right now but boy will I be happy to see this full moon go. LOL
I suggest you read your 2005 horoscope. You’re a cancer, right?
it’s not everyday that Rove is all over the news, and Rumsfeld is answering questions on cspan…
sorry to just vanish…
just droppin’ in to say hi.
A screen shot worth gloating over…
Cheney on CNN
Pure evil – totally evident.
My exercise today has been running to the bathroom with tummy troubles of unknown source. š I’ve been sipping plenty of water to stay hydrated, at least.
If I’m up to it later, I’ll get a little more exercise by vacuuming in here; housework is actually very good exercise, I’ve heard.
Other than that, it’s a shitty (literally) day… š
..all intestinal ailments… 7-Up… large quantities of 7-Up.
7-UP is wonderful I’ve been using it for years. When I can’t keep anything down that works. Don’t feel bad Cali it’s going around I had it a couple of weeks ago
Diet 7-up when I get the nausea and the trots. Nothing else will work better for me. Cali, feel better soon. Hope it is a rapid recovery. I had it off and on for a month back in january.
Hi scribe – I’m sorry you’re feeling crappy, and that you’ve hit a stumbling block right at the beginning of your new exercise regimen. Hopefully you’ll bounce right back and be in that pool in no time!
I will pack off the spouse to the liquor store for a couple of bottles of Diet 7-up — hell, he owes me because I made the same liquor store run a couple of Saturdays ago when he had a queasy stomach (turned out to be migraine headache related in his case).
I am actually feeling a bit better… š
Okay Cali…I suffered(and still do but rarely) severe migraines for three years. The pain was excruciating and the vomiting and sensitivity to light and noise and scents was unbelievable. The dr gave me three different scipts, none of which worked. Now if I feel one coming on I take two extra strength excedrin and sip on diet seven up..usually within an hour I am up and running around again. Once in awhile though I would just have to close the drapes and stay in bed for hours. Get better soon.
is to get some thin broth into you at the very first “irregularity.”
I had a misdiagnosed upper GI infection for years, so would bounce between the trots and the bloat-stops every day or two. I found that if I addressed the electrolytes before I felt the need, the effects would be much less.
The mention of Gaelic names above, plust this topic, reminds me of the opening lines of Robert Burns’ prayer:
“Some hae meat but cannae eat.” A thoughtful and unexpected twist to add to the more common rememberance of simple want.
I’ve been playing with FireFox’s Stumble Upon extension and I found a cool site that makes you guess the origin of words in 10-question quizzes.
If you think this sounds totally nerdy and lame, please skip down to the next comment. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Good God – this is just what I’ve been waiting for!” then click here.
My best score so far is 9/10. Woo hoo!
Original answer – cool! that’ll be fun!!
final score = miserable
second thought… I’ll move on..
Don’t feel bad! I had to guess on most of them, but since I’ve been a huge bookworm my whole life I have this massive reserve of words stashed away somewhere in my brain. That makes it easier to guess.
Plus, I got 5/10 the first time. š
I have an etymological dictionary on my shelf – and I reference it just for fun! Still couldn’t top 7 though…<harumph>
Now I have to go try some more… <laughing at myself>
Don’t worry – after you do about 3 tests you start getting repeat words. That makes it easier. š
..enough repeats to nail it in a dozen attempts..
<whistling> I’m a’ walkin’ away now….
Here’s something else I found while Stumbling Upon:
“Support our troops–” above, and
“Send your kids” below.
Or your preferred lines for shaming chickenhawks.
Good night, everyone – the Oracle is off to bed!
Ya done great, kid!
ah well. not much of a mess today although there seems to have been quite the party.
hmmmm. someone spilled tea, i see.
oh well. best to get busy sweeping. after all, it’s already friday and the weekend is nigh.
I had alittle 2 much 2 drink and spilled. I’ll be more careful tomorrow… Oh yes, I’ll be back. </governator>
Hey, when is breakfast going to be served??
where’s my breakfast??? Get. In. My. Belly!
Today’s breakfast is birthday cake! Come on over and have some cake.
Birthday Cafe