Friday, April 30, 2010
If you are one of the readers in my demographic that's here for the online spellbook and witches' reference, the Cauldron will be remaining in place until October 2010, at which time the domain will be expiring. So if you use this fragment of the intarweb, grab what you need while it's still available. Remember.. the works in the Cauldron are to be used for good.. or for awesome.
If you fall within the angsty pie slice of my demographic, here for the Corruption portion, these pieces will also remain in place until October 2010 (copyright still applies).
But if you are amongst the Faithful Fan Club of Five.. This final post is for you.
Where to begin? I started this little hole in the digital wall ten years ago. You've read my ravings about the random.. my spilled soul about sorrows.. my jubilation about joys.. I can't think of any alliteration for the many complaints about the Idiot Population, but they were there.. and plentiful! (A ten year research experiment to prove Darwin was wrong. Where's my grant money?!)
The past ten years worth of archives have born witness to lots of heartbreaks.. lots of job-related ventings.. lots of blah blah yadda yadda about my day to day life..
.. and lots of well deserved kudos over the years.. Some weren't exceptionally close friendships of longevity, some transcend the line between friends and family, some are the friends that shine in my life like stars on a cloudy night.. even if I can't always see them, I know they're there, and they brighten my dark nights.
As I reviewed Quoth The Raving, I found many instances that brought a smile to my face. Comments revisited from Sacrificial Thursdays.. The acts of kindness from sometimes the least suspected sources, timed perfectly for when I needed them.. Birth announcements welcoming new children into the arms of loved ones and treasured friends. So many wonderful things..
I guess we've pretty much covered the entire gambit over the years, my dear readers.
But this will be the last blog to grace the pages of the CorruptedCauldron.
I imagine that the mixed reactions I've received so far about the site winding down will likely continue. Some have been counting down with me. Some have no idea. Some are outraged that I made the decision to shut down this blog, since it's become an institution to them over the years. Others already know that once they read this final post they can remove this link from their favorites, and head on over to the new digs, bookmark it and go about reading my rants.
Just because an FTP protocol was forcing my hand to make a change to my address.. doesn't mean I'm suddenly bereft of the ability to write. <cackle>
However, what originally was intended to be the occasional blog as added fluff for an online spellbook soon took on a life of it's own. My Faithful Fan Club of Five became five hundred hits an hour. I've been blessed with a lot of amazing people in my life with whom I've cultivated close friendships with.. and you've all watched me struggle in my various battles.. my war on myself.. my soapbox diatribes on faulty logic of the ignorant or inconsiderate Idiot Population (hey, there's an alliteration! w00t!).. my skirmishes with my health.. the nuclear holocaust of my personal life.. the basic training exercises of my job.. which yeah, mainly consisted of flipping the bird to people who probably wouldn't be bothered to notice a hand was lifted in their direction anyway..
All these trials have made me stronger. I am ninja, ten years in the making.
But one woman's strength alone cannot topple the tyranny of so-called 'progress'.. and thus, the end is nigh. So I'm all repenty..
As part of Operation Fresh Start, I've started a new blog.. the only thing that remains the same, is me: the author. If you'd like to continue reading my inter-scribblings, please email me directly if you need the link to the new website. I figure it's best to separate the demographic by interests, as the focus is changing pretty radically.
CorruptedCauldron.. the end of an era..
"The idea has become an institution... time to move along."
Thanks for your support over the past ten years, and I hope to hear from you..
posted by Kolyndia 7:48 AM
Thursday, April 29, 2010
CorruptedCauldron Countdown To Extinction: 1 day
Okai, that dentist was full out awesome.
Not only was the hygenist exceptionally gentle and sensitive to my comfort.. (i.e.. directing me to the remote and the headphones and ensuring he was not blocking the TV screen while he worked!) but the dentist himself ran a quick exam, and explained the ups and downs of my options, and that he was going to try putting through a request for my insurance company to cover more than they normally would before he'd let me make my decision.
Although I'm reasonably sure my insurance carrier is not going to cover 100% of the crown I need.. so it looks like I'll be coughing up about $400-500. But for some quality work, where they are obviously extremely focused on my actual comfort and well being than the elegantly graceful appearance of cascading my long hair down the dental chair before pinning it against the chair with a dental knee before offering up a 30 min dental pwning.
This morning, however, the Crappier Lappy has elected to make it's presence felt. Yesterday I left most of my systems on overnight, so I could score a little extra sleep this morning. And what happened? I wake up, head to Teh Crappier Lappy, and am not all that surprised to see that somewhere through the night, it chose to disconnect from the network, rendering all my Take-Forever-To-Load programs in need of rebooting.
Oh, I booted up the lappy again, let me tell ya. Too bad I wasn't wearing steel toed boots when I did it. <punt>
Tonight, Huushi QotGz and I have some quality sistah time on the books.. and tomorrow, after a sweaty workout rotation.. I'll be drafting my final post for CorruptedCauldron.. making the switch to the new site.. and all before rushing out for a chandelier and a bridesmaids dress, and possibly a smoothie.
Strange days, I admit.
posted by Kolyndia 8:18 AM
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
CorruptedCauldron Countdown To Extinction: 2 days
And now... we not-so-proudly present.. Things You Probably Shouldn't Say To A Woman.. Ever.
I've often commented on my blog about my quest for weight loss. I workout a minimum of 4 times per week, and usually add in a 2 hour walk or some other kind of activity throughout the week as well. Sometimes, I do circuit training 3 mornings a week, and swimming the other 2 mornings. Sometimes I'll work out in the morning and hit the treadmill or do Pilates after my shift.
All this, and I'm on a 1200/day calorie diet.
I've battled my weight for more than half my life now. I have gone to naturopaths, had my doctor check my thyroid, done research into various herbal supplements I can take to kickstart my broken metabolism (because going 15 years in starvation mode was the physiological equivalent of putting my metabolism up on blocks and taking off the tires). I have tried all kinds of exercise.. hours of cardio, pilates, weight training, kickboxing... You name it.. I've done it.
And it's not as though I just stand around eating icing from a can and complaining about how fat I am. I'm actively doing something. And politely ignoring my friends when they tell me that I'm not fat.
I may no longer be fat.. I mean, I wandered around in the public eye all day Saturday wearing bodypaint and a unitard - not exactly the most forgiving uniform.. so yeah.. I'm no longer fat.. but I'm not yet down to the skinny I want to be.
But I'm not shrugging it off, saying "oh well" and throwing myself an empty-calorie pity party here.. I'm actively working to change it. I'm not cheating on my diet, because I'd be short-changing no one by myself.. I'm at a weight-loss impass, and fighting for supremacy here.
And currently, I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been. I'm not the lightest in weight I've ever been, but any significant weight loss I experience usually follows a very serious depression. But I'm the healthiest I've ever been.
I can go for a 2 hour walk and have no need to stretch afterwards. Or, as proven on Saturday, I can walk for 9 hours with minimal stretching. I can spend an hour swimming laps and feel refreshed rather than exhausted. I'm down to my eSmoke, with only the occasional deviation back to a tobacco stick (singular). I can even visibly see a difference in my efforts.. a flatter tummy, and a much-reduced muffin top. And you could bounce folded dollar bills off my butt - nevermind quarters...
I'm still just under 140 lbs.. 5' 6", with a 30" waist.
I'd like to get to 115 or 120 lbs.. with a 28" waist. Vitals like 36" - 28" - 38" are pretty awesome vitals to have. And I'm only 2 inches away from that. And still working on it.
But there are days where I feel like those 30" of my waistline are visually equivalent to a 50" waist. I don't always feel like the prettiest, most svelte me I can be. Sometimes I just feel downright fugly.
So having someone tell me "Too bad you're not in better shape.." ??
The word you're looking for.. is ouch. Very ouch.
posted by Kolyndia 9:20 AM
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
CorruptedCauldron Countdown To Extinction: 3 days
My week has been flying by so far.. I scored an appointment with a dentist for Wednesday at the end of my shift, so.. all is looking well.. and the tooth doesn't hurt at this point, so.. win!
Some of the reactions to the ComiCon are.. bizarre. People come out of the woodwork with all kinds of strangeness.
I wore a costume. A good one. That's all. Let it go, people. I am not interested in befriending everyone who snapped my photo at the ComiCon, much less the roommates of people from the costume contest that I didn't even meet. I'm not interested in joining a LARPing community, because.. I have a life. And I'm not interested in hiring any kind of PR firm, just because my name got in the paper and photos ended up on the web.
It was a costume. I'd spent 250+ hours making it back in 2008, and wanted to wear it more than twice. Get over it.
Tonight, after work, my beloved Letheybeans and I will take our 2 hour walking tour, in defiance of ogre weather. We'll just have to dress a lil' warmer, and walk a lil' faster. Then we'll curl up with hot meals and warm blankies for a few rounds of Bones.
She and I often remark on how much we love our walks. I hope the craptastic weather today (which looks to be the best forecast for the week, I might add) doesn't hinder that, but knowing Letheybeans, the conversation will be scintillating as always..
Tomorrow looks like workout, followed by work, followed by dentist.. not sure what else will follow that just yet.. but probably work of some kind.
After finishing all my errands and chores last night I was able to curl up with a few short movies I'd borrowed from Axl.. Cloverfield and Wall-E. Yes, I know, talk about both ends of the spectrum! But hey.. that was kind of the point..
Cloverfield was good, but.. hard to watch. Not because I get motion sickness, though I'd certainly understand if people took a Gravol before watching this flick.. but I felt it was hard to watch because the jerky camera movements didn't always allow you to see what was going on.. The filming took place at night as well, so the fast, shaky movements and the dark lighting didn't make "the thing you're supposed to see and be scared of" too visible. Good flick though.. it was like.. King Kong meets Blair Witch Project's cinematography.
Wall-E, however, was just downright adorable. Leave it to Disney and Pixar to tug on your emotional heartstrings using a scant handful of words, and their mad animation skillz to create feelings of longing and despair, terror and loneliness from some digital reader-board eyes, some robotic goggles, and hands that look like bent metal rulers. Amazing, what those guys can do.. I have to admit I was impressed.
And, quite the commentary on the social issues too.. Obesity and the environment, the technological marvels rolling out to make life easier and remove living from the equation of life.
The new site is in a holding pattern.. I'm planning on beginning the massive assimilation after the launch, since I'm thinking of incorporating databases instead of pages, and search engines instead of long threads of breadcrumb trails. The new site should be more focused on the blogging, the writing.. the online spellbook will just be an additional component, rather than the focal point, as it is with CorruptedCauldron. Besides.. it'll be in place as a static site until at least October, when the domain expires.. Plenty of time between now and October.
Unless you factor in the terrifying amount of working out I should start doing in order to actually see some decent and long-lasting results.
In time for Dolphin Rider's wedding...
.. and the trip to Latvia..
Oi ve..
posted by Kolyndia 10:04 AM
Monday, April 26, 2010
CorruptedCauldron Countdown To Extinction: 4 days
Into every life a little rain must fall.
I enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame.. Even though the photos are still trickling in across the web.. I was hoping to share this nerdy triumph with my nerdy colleagues this morning.
But no.. as soon as I signed on to work today, it was all go, no quit, and a whole lot of issues.
And a chunk of my back molar broke off. Yay. On soft chewing gum, or all things.
So I'm madly trying to pwn my shift at work, make calls to various dentists to see who's taking new patients (since my last dentist was an arse who insisted upon suffocating me after I explained that no, the rubber dam doesn't work on me, and proceeded to use one anyway while pinning my hair to the chair with his knee for 30 minutes straight..).. and try to keep up with the trickle of photos and the flood of work headed my way.
And tonight, the added bonus of a bunch of chores and errands. Yay me.
Good thing Letheybeans is coming over tomorrow for Walking and Boning, and Huushi QotGz is coming over on Thursday, because Wednesday I'm hitting the dentist, and it would be nice to stagger the pain between some awesome.
So.. sorry for the short post. I wrote a pile yesterday though, so I can get away with it today. <cackle>
posted by Kolyndia 11:57 AM
