Triple Blog Award

I'd like to thank the Academy . . . . No, really, I'd like to thank Edain over at English, Pagan and in Canada for sending a Triple Blog Award my way. I appreciate it! Now I must pay it forward, according to the following official rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude.

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

I'd like to nominate the following 5 blogs:

Poet-at-Large, because it features Patti's fabulous poetry and spiritual energy.

Feminist Wiles, because Blackened Phoenix's commitment to feminism gives me hope that at least some of the next generation of women "get it."

Julie Cornewell's Writer's Notebook, because she parties with squirrels. And writes good stories.

Evolutionary Tarot, because James writes with deep wisdom about both Tarot and the Goddess.

Mrs. Spit Spouts Off, because Mrs. Spit is sassy! And thoughtful and insightful.

Haiku

roomful of Monets --

excited child runs to look

out the window

(c) Debra She Who Seeks 2007

This haiku of mine originally appeared in Blossoming, Haiku Canada's 30th Anniversary Members Anthology, 2007.

Nom Nom Nom in The Peg: Mrs. Lipton's

In the heart of Winnipeg's Wolseley neighbourhood, there used to be a funky restaurant called Mrs. Lipton's. It was the kind of place that featured a lot of batik and macrame. Mrs. Lipton's was located in an older converted house, so the restaurant consisted of a jumble of small rooms and weird corridors. The tables were handmade out of 2-by-4's by someone who was clearly just beginning an apprenticeship in carpentry. But it was okay because none of the other furniture matched anyway.

In the mid-1980s, my friends and I went to Mrs. Lipton's every weekend for breakfast. It was at Mrs. Lipton's that I first encountered Red Zinger tea, a delicious hibiscus blend that I still enjoy (when I can find it). And Mrs. Lipton's made a homemade oatmeal bread that, cut into thick slices, toasted and buttered, was (simply put) heaven itself.

I'm quite overcome by nostalgia now, thinking of that delicious toast and tea and those weekend breakfasts with friends now largely gone from my life. "Those were the days, my friends, we thought they'd never end," etc., etc., etc.

[The lovely watercolour of tea and toast is by Carol Gillott].

Nom Nom Nom in The Peg: Jambusters

When I was a little girl, a huge treat was being sent to the bakery downtown to buy a couple of jambusters. They were lovely round doughnuts, deep-fried and covered in granulated sugar. Inside was sweet white dough with raspberry jam at the very centre of the bun. The bakery clerk would put the jambusters in a brown paper bag and I'd bike home with them. By the time I arrived, there would be a big translucent grease stain on the bag courtesy of the treasure within. Yum!!

Apparently, Manitoba is the only place in Canada (and indeed, the world) where these particular doughnuts are called "jambusters." Others call them jelly doughnuts, Berliners or Bismarcks, but those terms seem odd and inadequate to me. Now that I live in Alberta, I am slowly converting this province (one person at a time) to use of the correct term "jambuster." Incidentally, if you live in Edmonton, the absolutely best jambusters are found at the Portuguese Bakery, 5304 - 118 Avenue. They are as delicious as the jambusters of my childhood, which is no small feat.

March Lamb

So March has come in like a lamb in this neck of the woods, which is great. Unfortunately, it also means we'll have a big blizzard at the end of the month when March goes out like a lion. But, oh well! We'd probably have a big blizzard anyway, so no big deal. It's easy to be philosophical about bad weather when you live in Edmonton. It just involves acknowledging the inevitable.

The Lord's Prayer: Another Goddess Version

Our Lady, Mother of us all,

Goddess is thy name.

Thy will be done,

with harm towards none,

below as it is above.

Give us this day

the ability to see

with compassion, grace and truth

that we might offer

perfect trust and perfect love

to others in your name.

May our hands be thine

to do thy work;

may our voices speak your words.

For Thou are

the beauty, the light and the spirit

as we dance the spiral together.

So be it.

I found this version several years ago in a SageWoman magazine. It was written by a woman named Candace, from Sedona, Arizona. Unfortunately, that's all the information I have. But isn't it a lovely version of the prayer? I particularly like Candace's beautiful reference to dancing the spiral with the Divine.

The Lord's Prayer: Ceiling Cat Version

Praise Ceiling Cat, who be watchin yu,

May him has a cheezburger.

Wut yu want, yu gets, srsly,

In ceiling and on teh flor.

Giv us dis day our dalee cheezburger

And furgiv us for makin yu a cookie,

but eateding it.

An do not let us be leed into teh showa,

but deliver us from teh wawter.

Ceiling Cat pwns all.

He pwns teh ceiling and teh floor and walls too.

Forevur and evuhr.

Amen.

Dis is found in teh Book of Matthew 6 an in teh Book of Luke 11, srsly. Dis beez teh Ceiling Cat Prayer. If yu wan to kno how to prai to Ceiling Cat wit yer pawz, gewt on yer nees and pray too zee almity ceiling cat up above and remebr cookez and remeber too donate 50 milz so i can buyz me a limo to go crewzin.

This prayer and ritual advice is part of the LOLCat Bible Translation Project, the goal of which is to translate the entire Bible into lolspeak. Of course the translation reflects lolcat theology as well, featuring Ceiling Cat and his dark nemesis, Basement Cat, locked in eternal struggle. I think this stuff is absolutely hilarious. Her Royal Highness takes it pretty seriously though.

This version of the Ceiling Cat Prayer dates from about a year ago; it has now been revised, but not for the better (I think), so I have posted the earlier one.