I do not watch 911 and don't really plan on it, but every once and a while I gotta check if the two boys who look the same have kissed yet. And everytime I am disappointed they haven't.

249 of 2023

What have you been up to today? Anything interesting?

I’ve been to Torhout for the 2nd time and took some photos, then I went to Oostende and did the same.

What was the last thing you ate?

Mini pizzas, I think.

Do you know how to knit? Who taught you?

No, I’ve never learnt it. I lack coordination between both sides of my body.

What state or territory were you born in?

Belgium. It’s a country, you know?

Are you the type of person to dwell on the past?

I’m trying not to. It’s pointless anyway.

Are there many traffic incidents in your area?

No, but it’s full of Sunday drivers.

What’s your favorite genre of music?

Djent, EBM, futurepop and hip hop. I like music in languages other than English, too.

Have you ever been for a ride in the back of a truck?

Yeah, while moving the houses.

Are you currently downloading anything?

It’s illegal in my country.

Have you seen any good movies lately? Tell me about them.

Ew, movies. What a waste of time.

Does your father have any facial hair?

He does have a moustache. Been having it since I remember XD

What’s your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Oatmeal with fruits, yogurts with fruits, any kind of cereal.

Did your grandparents teach you anything?

Yeah, I had The Talk with my grandma, and so did my sister. We learnt more about sex and body functions from her than from our parents.

Do you want/have a Bachelor’s degree?

I do have a Bachelor’s degree, electrical engineering. Which makes Bachelor of Applied Sciences here in my country. I’m a legit engineer omg XD

Have you ever written a song for or about somebody?

Nope, I suck at verbal expression.

What are the longest and shortest romantic relationships you’ve been in?

Longest - 5 years and counting, with my husband. Shortest - 6 months, with Jay.

Would you go on one of those galactic space flights if you had the chance?

Nah, I find it scary.

Do you like your license photo?

I don’t even hazve a licence lol. But I can say I don’t like my ID photo. The way they take ID photos in Belgium makes everyone look like they’ve escaped the Alcatraz. You have to front face the camera and you’re absolutely forbidden to smile.

Are you into superheroes? Who’s your favorite?

Nope, thanks.

Spotify, Pandora or something else entirely?

Spotify, I even have a premuim subscription.

What colors do you wear the most?

Black, usually combined with one more colour.

What was the last alcoholic beverage you had?

Oh my, that was eons ago. Probably beer.

How many televisions do you have in your house? How big is the biggest?

Three, one in each room. The biggest is 40 inch, I guess.

Have you ever been to Arizona? Did you like it?

Never been to the US.

Do you have any exercise equipment in your home?

Yeah, dumbbells. I’ve been using them to regain strength in my arm.

Are you a gossip-loving sort of person?

No. I find it disgusting. You must have no life if you live the lives of others.

What brand of laptop or computer do you own or use most often?

Acer Aspire 17. It’s 4 years old, but I love it.

What did you have for dinner last night?

Probably food, but I may be wrong.

How old were you when you learned to tie your own shoelaces?

Older than or-ther kids, due to lack of coordination.

Have you ever felt like you were making a mistake when dating someone?

I never “dated”, I don’t even understand the concept. But yeah, I felt that with Jay.

^ Did you continue the relationship or end it when you realized?

I continued, in that naive hope he’s gonna change into better. Hre never did.

When was the last time it rained where you live?

Today lol. It rains almost every day.

Have you ever bought one of those ‘As Seen on TV’ products?

Lol no. I don’t get caught on scam.

What brand are the shoes you last wore?

Primark. Like, really.

Do you think you look similar to your siblings?

I know I don’t. My sister is a dark blonde, and shorter than me.

Have you started watching any new TV shows recently?

Nah, I’m rewatching my old favourites.

When was the last time you sat in the back seat of a car?

Last Friday. Damn our car is small.

Are you good at answering random general knowledge trivia questions?

Usually yes. But much depends on the subject.

Have you ever been obsessive over calories, exercise etc.?

No, but I have an eating disorder anyway. Maybe specifically not about calories, but about exercise.

What is your favorite shape of pasta?

Penne.

Have you ever played Cards Against Humanity? Did you like it?

Never played it and, honestly, I’m not even interested.

Are you going to work or school tomorrow?

No. Due to misunderstanding at work, I’ll have to stay home until Thursday. ?o fun in being disabled, I’m telling you.

When did you wake up today?

At 6:00. Had to go to work.

What is the time right now?

23:09. Time to bed.

About the reality of dreams

“The topic of dreaming should lead us now to consider the importance of the dreaming for our forebears. Our prejudice In favour of‘outer life' over ‘Inner life’ Is so pronounced In the West that few people are able to experience the necessary limlnality between the two to experience a werewolf, a faerie visitation or to ‘meet the Devir on a highway like Isobel Gowdle did. As Wilby put it:

Anthropological studies hai^e revealed that in cultures where visionary experience is highly valued, it is considered to he as real as the perceptions of normal waking Ife. Indeed, as ar\thropologist Jackson Lincoln has observed, in some cases it is regarded ‘as having a greater reality value than actual experience.

This Is a very Important point that Wilby brings to the fore here. We have literally been conditioned since childhood with such phrases as: ‘it’s just a dream', with the emphasis on ‘just’ Implying that a dream state has a lesser ontological value than a waking one. Such conditioning can take a bit of undoing. In fact it cannot be undone through reason alone. It Is only through experience of the Other, and complete reweaving of the psyche through initiatory death and rebirth that such a change can occur. But in a scholarly way Wilby also points out other factors about pre-jndustrlal life that may also have enhanced the conditions for visionary experience.

In the past more time was spent in ‘twilight consciousness’ rather than in front of televisions or before harsh electric lights. Today most of our time is spent either in light or in total darkness preparing for sleep, and so we tend to experience sleep and wakefulness, two defined states. But our ancestors, particularly in winter when darkness fell very early, spent a large portion of each day by only the light of a Яіскегіп§ hre, with no other entertainment to occupy their imaginations than stories and conversation. It Is easy to imagine that spending at least an hour in the evening by the light of only a fire or a candle or two would place one In a ‘between state’ more frequently. And repetition of stories than contained shared cultural reference points, stories that were believed at some level even though they were fantastical to the modern mind, further blurs the line between the happenings of‘this world' and the Other.

Also, because of shared sleeping areas (often with adults, children and even animals) sleep tended to be broken. In fact most pre-industrial people experience a nights sleep as two separate sleeps of about four hours each with a period of prayer or meditation on dreams In the middle. It is important then that most lucid dreams and Intense remembered dream states occur when people are sleeping in a few hour stints rather than deeply asleep all night long. So if we wish to prepare ourselves to enhance our ability to see into the Otherness we can learn from this.

We can increase our amount of ‘twilight consciousness', we can sleep for shorts periods of time as a purposeful attempt to invoke a lucid state and we can limit our food consumption during this time. All of this will help to bring us closer to the state our ancestors found themselves in on a daily basis.

But what is perhaps most important is that we begin to enhance our appreciation for the dream state. Take dreams seriously. If you have a bad dream, immediately tell someone all the details of it to diffuse its power. If you dream of something fortunate occurring, refrain from speaking of it, lest you diffuse its power. Try to refrain from speaking about dreams in terms of 'true' and ‘untrue' dreams. Dreams should instead be seen as possessing different types or depths of truth. No dream or vision is completely unreal, some just have more importance than others. Some have a kind of existence that is shared by only you, and the deeper type, the power-dream, has an existence that can be shared by other entities and even other people. This type is easily as ЧеаГ as daily waking consciousness. In fact the more you begin to think of yourself as a being that has both an inner and outer life that touch each other mysteriously, the more you will come to understand why some pre-industrial people gave priority to what happened in vision and power-dreams» over that of every day waking reality. And how someone was able to say:

‘yes I saw him turn Into a wolf before my very eyes’”

- Lee Morgan, 2012, The Key That Fits No Lock, А Deed Without a Name Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft.

Traduction en français :

Sur la réalité des rêves

“Le sujet des rêves devrait maintenant nous amener à considérer leur importance aux yeux de nos ancêtres. Notre préjudice en faveur de la “vie extérieure” au profit de la “vie intérieure” est si prononcée en Occident que peu de personnes sont capables de vivre la liminalité nécessaire entre les deux pour percevoir un loup-garou, une visite féérique ou pour “rencontrer le Diable” sur une grand-route comme Isobel Gowdie l’a fait. Comme Wilby le dit : Les études anthropologiques ont révélé que dans les cultures où l’expérience visionnaire est très estimée, elle est considérée comme aussi réelle que les perceptions de la vie éveillée. Bien sûr, comme l’anthropologue Jackson Lincoln l’a observé, elle est dans certains cas perçue “comme ayant une valeur plus réelle que la véritable expérience”. C’est un sujet très important que Wilby amène ici. Nous avons littéralement été conditionnés depuis l’enfance avec des phrases telles que : “c’est juste un rêve”, avec l’emphase sur “juste”, impliquant que l’état onirique a une valeur ontologique inférieure à un état éveillé. Un tel conditionnement demande du travail pour le défaire. En fait, il ne peut pas être défait par la raison seule. C’est seulement par l’expérience de l’Autre, et par un renouvellement complet de la psyché au travers d’une mort et d’une renaissance initiatiques, qu’un tel changement peut avoir lieu. Mais, comme Wilby l’affirme sous une forme académique, d’autres facteurs de la vie pré-industrielle peuvent aussi avoir amélioré les conditions favorables à l’expérience visionnaire. Dans le passé, plus de temps était passé dans une “conscience crépusculaire”  plutôt que devant des télévisions ou des lumières électriques dures. Aujourd’hui, nous passons la plupart de notre temps soit dans la lumière, soit dans l’obscurité totale en se préparant au sommeil, et nous vivons ainsi le sommeil et l’éveil comme deux états bien définis. Mais nos ancêtres, particulièrement en hiver quand l’obscurité arrivait très tôt, passaient une bonne portion de chaque jour éclairés seulement par le feu, avec pour seul divertissement des histoires et des conversations. Il est facile d’imaginer que passer au moins une heure par soir à la lumière d’un feu ou d’une ou deux bougies nous placerait dans un “état intermédiaire” plus souvent. La répétition d’histoires qui contenaient des références culturelles communes, des histoires prises pour vraies bien qu’elles paraissent fantastiques de nos jours, brouille encore plus la démarcation entre ce qui arrive dans “ce monde” et dans l’Autre. Aussi, à cause des chambres partagées (souvent avec des adultes, des enfants et même des animaux), le sommeil avait tendance à être brisé. En fait, la plupart des personnes de l’époque pré-industrielle faisaient des nuits de sommeil séparées en deux sommeils séparés de quatre heures chacun, avec au milieu un temps de prière ou de méditation sur les rêves. Il est important de noter que la plupart des rêves lucides et des expériences oniriques intenses ont lieu quand notre sommeil est divisé en plusieurs séries, plutôt que lorsqu’on est profondément endormi toute la nuit. Si nous souhaitons nous préparer à améliorer notre capacité à voir dans cette Alterité, on peut apprendre de ceci. Nous pouvons augmenter notre quantité de “conscience crépusculaire”, nous pouvons dormir pour de courtes périodes de temps dans un effort conscient d’invoquer un rêve lucide et nous pouvons limiter notre consommation de nourriture durant ces périodes. Tout ceci nous aidera à nous ramener vers l’état dans lequel nos ancêtres se trouvaient au quotidien. Mais ce qui est peut-être le plus important c’est que nous commencions à améliorer notre appréciation de l’état onirique. Prenons les rêves au sérieux. Si vous faites un cauchemar, racontez-en immédiatement les détails à quelqu’un pour en diffuser le pouvoir. Si vous rêvez de quelque chose de bénéfique qui arrive, retenez-vous d’en parler, pour ne pas risquer de diffuser son pouvoir. Essayez d’éviter de parler des rêves en termes de “vrais” et de “faux” rêves. Les rêves devraient plutôt être vus comme possédant différents types ou profondeurs de vérité. Aucun rêve et aucune vision n’est complètement irréelle, certains ont juste plus d’importance que d’autres. Certains ont une sorte d’existence qui est partagée seulement par vous, et le type plus profond, le rêve-pouvoir”, a une existence qui peut être partagée avec d’autres entités et même d’autres personnes. Ce type est facilement aussi “réel” que la conscience éveillée. En fait, plus vous commencerez à vous penser vous-même comme ayant aussi bien une vie intérieure qu’extérieure, les deux interagissant de façon mystérieuse, plus vous comprendrez pourquoi certaines personnes de l’époque pré-industrielle donnaient la priorité à ce qui arrivait dans les visions et dans les rêves-pouvoir, plutôt qu’à la réalité éveillée de tous les jours. Et comment quelqu’un était capable de dire : “Oui, je l’ai vu se transformer en loup sous mes propres yeux.””

- Lee Morgan, 2012, La Clef Qui N’ouvre Aucune Serrure, Un Acte Sans Nom Déterrer l’Héritage de la Sorcellerie Traditionnelle (Traduction collective) Illustration : Brett Morgan

"Dance with me"

Yura had a laundry basket in her hands as she walked out to the living room. Hre intention was to plop on the couch and fold clothes in front of the television. Instead when she walked into the living room music came on and she heard Youngbae asking her to dance and suddenly the basket was taken from her. “Youngbae..?” she said curiously but was cut off by him twirling her under his arm and pulling her close right in the middle of the living room. She hardly even noticed her bump getting in the way. “you are such a romantic” She said to him as Versace on the Floor played over the speakers and they moved to the rhythm of the music. 

penelope garcia and derek morgan. my god-given solaces.

someone inject season 2 of severance into my bloodstream dear lord please. I haven't watched a show that speaks to me that much since fleabag.

I am not a fan of award shows, BUT if Ann Dowd hasn't gotten any sort of recognition for her performance as Aunt Lydia, I will start my own arbitrary award association to shower that woman with formal praise.

why have tuello and serena had this unspoken chemistry for the entire show. and why is it so intense. god this show is so good.

super incredible personal life-changing vital to me that Storybrook's clock tower is set to 8:15 aka Oceanic Airways Flight 815 in the Once Upon a Time pilot. Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis deserve a fun treat for that.

the soundtrack for handmaid's tale is so interesting??? I usually despise contemporary covers of older songs being used in television, but they use them so intentionally. It is so compelling.

NO TERRY O'QUINN GOT BLOWN UP

Terry "John Locke" O'Quinn showing up as an FBI agent in the 1998 X-Files movie was exactly what I needed today. And apparently, that is one of four roles he plays in the X-Files. The universe is smiling.

the rookie is just reno 911 without the comedy. they have borderline the same amount of illegal & immoral police tactics.