Saturday, February 25, 2012

Music Snobs

This is a phenomenon that just irritates the shit out of me. People who have simply flipped the musical paradigm and have decided popular equals bad and obscure equals good.

Just like pseudo intellectual absolutists of any stripe you must agree with this odd assessment of music and stay away from the mainstream or you are considered a sheep of some kind, one of the masses, someone who lacks taste. Saying you like Madonna is like saying you go to church on a website full of Satanists to this type of person.

What I find funny about it is a lack of understanding that music is an art. Its use and aesthetic quality is dependent on personal subjective taste. Craftsmenship of music is less important than how it affects you emotionally.

My father is a huge music snob. So is my mother. They had long duscussions with me about the importance of craftsmanship, lyrical quality, how autotuning was the death of music.

I never cared. I wanted to listen to that forbidden fruit. That Popular Music that all my friends were listening to. That leech on true craftsman of music. That thing that was viewed as the epitome of bad, awful, plastic, prepackaged, etc. I was tired of Blue Oyster Cult. The Beatles were boring. Pink Floyd was annoying. And Jimi Hendrix was meh. Led Zeppelin's songs were to long.

So I embarked on an odd journey that has brought me to this weird place I sit musically. I appreciate the classics. If I am in a deep mood, I listen to BOC. Nostalgic? CCR. Drunk? Led Zeppelin. Any time at all because they are MY band? AC/DC.

But ... I also love Pop Music, Dance Music, Electronic, Hip Hop, Country, R and B, Hair Metal, 80's and 90's Pop. I drank from the Forbidden Pools of Poison, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Motley Crue, Eric Clapton (my dad hates him), Tina Turner, Flock of Seagulls and the like.

Guess what? I like it. Even Pop Music of today. It makes me smile, it's not deep, it's fun and most importantly, it makes me want to dance. What started as a Rebellion against Music Snobbery has become an appreciation of ALL kinda of music. An understanding that no kind of musical taste makes one better than another. That it all has its place and time.

I can appreciate an autotuned, overly synthesized musical track, just as much as a display of stunning craftsmanship.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Warrior Mom

I rarely find articles that speak to me as profoundly as this one did. What makes a Mother a Warrior? How do you further your children's education?

Go Read

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Warrior Ethos

That's what Satanism is, a 21st Century, largely misunderstood Warrior Ethos.

Within this 21st Century memeplex of oddness, you quickly learn anything Un Jehovah and Un Christ is Satanic. As you read up on the LHP, you will quickly run into female Goddesses, female representatives of the Itness, symbolized by Satan.

Now I love Goddesses, Warrior Goddesses in particular. There tends to exist an odd and frequently misunderstood association with them. They tend to possess a Warrior/Whore dichotomy, to their mythos.

There is a plethora of Goddesses that represent Female Warriors throughout history. Tiamat, Ishtar, Inanna, etc. A clear mark on history, that is completely alien to the average 21st Century mind.

What I see a lot of (and have been guilty of myself in the past)  is an embracing of the Whore as an archetype for women, particularly in the LHP and Satanic subculture. Or the embracing of the Intellectual or Gnostic side of these archetypes.

I once had a friend of mine write an impassioned essay telling women to drop the Whore portion and embrace the Intellectual side of things. Another complete misappropriation, imo.

What's being ignored? The Warrior side of these archetypes and constructs. Some flabby, fat ass Pagan claiming to be a priestess of Ishtar is missing the mark. Whore/Warrior Goddess. That means her Priestess should be a Warrior as well.

The greatest weapon a woman possesses is her sexuality and sexual favor. It is the one weakness men have  that can be constantly and consistently exploited. It's easy to do. So connotations of a sexually available Female Satan make sense.

But without the other portion, you have an incomplete archetype. Not one of those Whore Goddesses is portrayed without a weapon. Those Whore Goddesses also have War Stories, they are Goddesses of War.

So, if you are examining this Undercurrent of Satanism, the Feminine Connotations, what's the other side? Warriordom. In fact, the sexual side is simply a weapon, one of many. They're ALL weapons. The fundamental  misunderstanding between men and women. Your intelligence. Most importantly the Inherent Femaleness that makes a woman, a woman.

So, a fundamental for me, is to be a Warrior. To satisfy that base condition, physically. To be armed, to be tough, to be physically fit. To realize all the weapons I have at my disposal. Rather it's an ability to throw a decent right hook or bat my eyes and smile at the right moment.

Men do not get to sit and  define what Womanhood is. That's woman's work. One of the things the Patriarchy wants to hide, obscure and get women to ignore, is that women are also Predators, also Warriors. That means it's a human thing, not a man thing.

And that's my goal, to be more human, not less. To be closer to a Natural state than the Patriarchy enforces. That means making myself the best Warrior I can be. Has shit to do with my gender and everything to do with birthright. I was born into the most vicious species on Earth. Therefore I should be a walking manifestation of that. Both Beautiful and Horrible.

FS

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Loyalty

In life there are people, then there are YOUR people. For one reason or another a person that busted down your walls, grabbed your heart and now owns it. People that are a part of your tribe, and they have earned your love, your trust, and most importantly your loyalty.

Once I really grasped the concept of Self Sovereignty, I realized something. My children, my husband and my friends, are part of what makes my World. My Worldview is directly affected by them, they are the ones I am interacting with who shape me in some way.

Thus, I am loyal to them. It's very easy to understand. If I would take a bullet for you, I will probably fight for you. It doesn't matter where I met them or how long I knew them, they have my loyalty.

Now what happens when one of mine, wronged one of mine? Some seem to categorically misunderstand a fundamental. Part of being loyal to someone is to say, "You were wrong. You fucked up."

How is that hard to get? How is it that on the interwebz where people run around praising stratification, someone saying you were wrong is a bad thing? Or something that brings on the usual onslaught of personal attacks?

If I care about you, I will tell you when you are wrong. Simple. If I care about you, I will defend you. Especially if you are not present to do it yourself. Simple.

That is a mark of loyalty, of respect. Which is why I prefer some of the people I do. They tell me I am wrong. Sometimes everyone needs a reality check.

To many people exist that claim to be a friend, who aren't. They diss you behind your back. They tell you how great you are, elevate you, praise you, while steadily and methodically stabbing you in the back.

Then there is the one person who will tell you the truth. No bullshit. Rather its good or bad, they will if necessary set you straight.

I have a friend I met,  when I, the womyn who sounds like a twangy cat being skinned, was auditioning for choir at 13. She said, "You can't sing." We lived right by each other, so she took me to her house and taperecorded me. Ouch, I can't sing.

13 years people, thinking I could. That's a shocking revelation. One that really hurt me emotionally. But who was a real friend? All those people, my parents, my sister,my friends, etc who let me live this delusion? Or the girl that told me the truth?

I am the kind of person who will tell you when you're acting fucked up.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Glory Days

When I started at SIN, there was a very small core group of people running around those forums, hanging out in chat together, etc.

That environment is why I signed, why I played and why I stay. I loved it. Even the ridiculous parts. Getting blasted by Take On Me, dancing on cam, different people, different incidents.

See I am not or ever really have been an interwebz person. I was raised in the 80s, my take on it is very, very 80s. I view it like a video game, a diversion. Something done for fun, not much more than that.

I lie to myself about it. And being a rather antisocial, building walls to keep people out type, I don't get close to people, internet people especially.

But some people get through.  Assholes that have for one reason or another stole a little piece of my heart. And when they leave my interwebz home, it hurts. I mostly interact with people on forums, so when they leave, the drifting away begins.

I begin to feel distant from them, until that relationship becomes a memory. And I have lost a lot of interwebz people for one reason or another. They leave and I stay. My interwebz wall stays up high enough it doesn't hurt that much.

But I miss the Glory Days. When that core group was together. When I knew almost every poster at SIN personally. When I actually engaged in the social scene attached to that site.

But ... having voluntarily drifted off I killed things that were precious to me. Friendships, alliances, and honestly, knowing what the hell is going on most of the time.

I miss something that will never happen again, is never coming back. I want to rewind time, be back to a year ago for one night. Moving forward is great, but it makes one nostalgic at times.

To the ones who are gone, I miss you. People like you make me hate the internet. I am supposed to not give a fuck. But some of you, I genuinely care about. And that makes you an Asshole.