I’ve uploaded parts Two and Three of the SidheHaven Full Circle concert! The audio is sub par, and I apologize. We salvaged what we had from the live stream archive. It’s a relief to me that we had even that to work with, because Bekah and I found out in the middle of the event that the Concert Window service had had a major breakdown. Now, everybody who missed the last 45 minutes of the concert in realtime can see it. 🙂
We live in the future. It’s not all concerts and perfect roses in the dead of winter, certainly not in recent weeks. I have the luxury of taking time to appreciate the things that make me happy. Many, many other people don’t have that right now. Thousands of citizens across the globe are putting their lives at risk in protest of police brutality. Family members of murdered men and women are mourning lost loved ones right on top of the holiday season. Mothers are watching their sons’ and daughters’ martyrdom, or else their notoriety and demonization, grow in significance at an astonishing rate. Before our very eyes and under our hands, the shattered pieces of so many broken systems are growing sharper and more deadly. Anger grows, but with it, awareness and willingness to make change.
For my part, I am working to become the right sort of ally as fast as I can. I am keeping my mouth shut so that other voices more relevant to the struggle than mine may speak, and I am listening as hard as possible. Praying, in my own witchy way, for those in pain. Appealing to the deities of justice, change, and healing. I am not on the front lines. I hold great respect and concern for those who are. May courage be rewarded. May those of us who are left in the further future be graced with good sense and compassion. May we continue to learn. May we be better, in all sorts of ways, at all sorts of things.
I might be better off putting the following in a separate post, because it’s a total 180. But it’s as en vogue on the internet to share photos of your cat as it is to share strong opinions.
So here’s Pooshka.
Pooshka is a longhaired black mackerel tabby of indeterminate breed, and he’s about four years old. I am his, and he is mine. We’ve only known each other for a short time. He is perhaps the most affectionate cat I’ve ever met, though he is capable of withholding snuggles until after forgiving me for having gone out on the road for weeks and weeks. He’s not perfect, none of us is, but he makes up for his mistakes (“Sooj, check it out, I found this mouse! Look at it go! Oh, huh. It got away behind the bookshelf. Hm. I gotta wash my toes.” “Ryan, are you working on the deck? Whatcha doing? OMG ACK THIS STUFF IS STICKY I MUST RUN BACK INSIDE AND ACROSS THE CARPET NOW”) by earning his weight in stress relief and companionship. He often joins me in my little recording studio while I’m working, and his manners in that workplace are nigh impeccable. He has only once interrupted a vocal session to add his own two cents. Most of the time, he warms my lap while I am mixing a project, purring to beat the band, or else he naps on the armchair near my altar shelf.
I learned just recently that if I wrap him up in a blanket on a cold day, on the couch or the bed, he’s likely to stay there. Even when I leave him behind to go elsewhere in the house or on the property, to do things which don’t involve petting him. Boyo’s got his priorities straight.
So, apropos of nothing other than comfort and joy, have some photos of my snugglebug partway in and out of his blanket this morning. On the couch, exactly where I left him last night. Captions welcome. 🙂
