My faboo hubby is a fan of the Boddhisattva Jizo. I was not fully aware of the story of Jizo until Steve introduced me. I was always drawn to the statuary of this figure, often portrayed as a kind, head-shaven monk, sometimes almost childlike. He can be depicted with a staff (shakujo) to warn small creatures and insects of his coming, so he does no harm unintentially. He is much revered and beloved, embodying spiritual optimism, compassion and universal salvation. In Japan, t

Fear is a powerful emotion. I cannot imagine how it would be to live a fear-full life. Living in fear and worry changes you. It effects you physically. It can make you sick. It also changes relationships. ALL your relationships. Fear in the hands of a Narcissist or Histrionic is worse. The only way they know how to allay their fears is to try to give it to someone else, or to you if you are in a relationship with a person like this. And they will try to give it to you by any

With apologies to Carly Simon...I bet you think this blog is about you, don't you, don't you? Narcissism. It seems as though no matter how hard you work to remove them from your life, some disorders just keep turning up like a bad penny. This site is categorized as a personal blog. As such, it is personal, in a general kind of way. It's purpose has always been for me to write about things in a conversational manner. I blog about stuff that I know and the thing I know best is

It is true that none of us know what evidence the grand juries saw in either the Michael Brown or Eric Garner cases that caused them not to bring charges against either police officers, it's also true that I'm upset by that result. I'm especially bothered by the amount of internet-troll-hate levelled at protesters and those most effected by these events. The only thing that comforts me is knowing that our children are already more enlightened than we are. I hope that it st

Seriously. Because first the knee situation and second the bike crash, now third? My cat is dying? Seriously. We came home from two weeks away and she was alarmingly thin. It turned out she had a mass in her abdomen. Based on the severe anemia she is exhibiting, the mass was most likely in her spleen. Abdominal masses in felines are almost always terminal. We could have done a splenectomy but the consensus was that it had most likely spread. In addition, she may not have surv