tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242632502024-03-07T16:41:49.294-07:00BITING BACK: Blog of The Practical Vampire SlayerWhether they come in the shape of critical spouses, ungrateful employers, backstabbing friends, or even neighbors who just won't leave us alone, most of us have vampires that feed on us, but no clear plan for getting them off our necks.
Practical vampire slaying is about learning how to recognize these bloodsuckers and decide what we want to do about them.
And then we can whittle the stake that works, whether or not we choose to use it.PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08067264150044839249noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-32459568486196607032010-12-07T13:55:00.002-07:002012-09-22T13:57:48.791-06:00Surely My Nicest Interview Yet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I had the pure pleasure, a few weeks ago, of being a guest on a show called, "</span><a href="http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/peter-roth/"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Energy Stew</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">." It's hosted by a really lovely man, Peter Roth, and airs every Thursday night at 8 p.m. (EST) on PRN, </span><a href="http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Progressive Radio Network</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYokHvdDcSszyv-wTCoL-sn3_CnrrZG8A00s85RnF9yktmpiMe1UhcSD3mZPnSLnvMopNRn_YaI63f1Ch3Q6RczUnmznFRzKbKQafYFN5XrB-4_yAEG02mqwtfqvIhcWsnh3E/s1600/peter+roth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYokHvdDcSszyv-wTCoL-sn3_CnrrZG8A00s85RnF9yktmpiMe1UhcSD3mZPnSLnvMopNRn_YaI63f1Ch3Q6RczUnmznFRzKbKQafYFN5XrB-4_yAEG02mqwtfqvIhcWsnh3E/s320/peter+roth.jpg" width="175" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you listen to the interview, you'll understand why I loved talking with him so much: </span><a href="http://heartriver.org/about-peter-roth"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mr. Roth</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> really read and really "got" my book, and was as kind and generous as I've ever known a person to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you'd like to listen, just click<a href="http://heartriver.org/bite-them-back"> </a></span><a href="http://heartriver.org/bite-them-back"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">HERE</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. </span></a></div>
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<img border="0" class="uploader-thumb-img" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBVykvHRFRbsPsIfREcH_714AMCd7N2BYqDuNtLjBOM9Cvm6laIZHjHDL_Bw45-9dHHw2sM2Q1LnX8chk4hRh2jf-cWAm0Bflbnsx6VSi5APsMbE2LCbaFOZZpuJli0gJzZg/s200/9780738715414.jpg" style="height: 104px; width: 70px;" width="134" /> <img border="0" class="uploader-thumb-img" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBVykvHRFRbsPsIfREcH_714AMCd7N2BYqDuNtLjBOM9Cvm6laIZHjHDL_Bw45-9dHHw2sM2Q1LnX8chk4hRh2jf-cWAm0Bflbnsx6VSi5APsMbE2LCbaFOZZpuJli0gJzZg/s200/9780738715414.jpg" style="height: 104px; width: 70px;" width="134" /> <img border="0" class="uploader-thumb-img" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBVykvHRFRbsPsIfREcH_714AMCd7N2BYqDuNtLjBOM9Cvm6laIZHjHDL_Bw45-9dHHw2sM2Q1LnX8chk4hRh2jf-cWAm0Bflbnsx6VSi5APsMbE2LCbaFOZZpuJli0gJzZg/s200/9780738715414.jpg" style="height: 104px; width: 70px;" width="134" /> <img border="0" class="uploader-thumb-img" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBVykvHRFRbsPsIfREcH_714AMCd7N2BYqDuNtLjBOM9Cvm6laIZHjHDL_Bw45-9dHHw2sM2Q1LnX8chk4hRh2jf-cWAm0Bflbnsx6VSi5APsMbE2LCbaFOZZpuJli0gJzZg/s200/9780738715414.jpg" style="height: 104px; width: 70px;" width="134" /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBVykvHRFRbsPsIfREcH_714AMCd7N2BYqDuNtLjBOM9Cvm6laIZHjHDL_Bw45-9dHHw2sM2Q1LnX8chk4hRh2jf-cWAm0Bflbnsx6VSi5APsMbE2LCbaFOZZpuJli0gJzZg/s1600/9780738715414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 68px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 54px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><strong>Note, too:</strong></em> To any interested readers, please let me say that I regret having to stop just as I was getting started on my review of the rules from Biting Back. There has been an illness in the family (we'll be fine) that has kept me busy these past few weeks, but I'll be back soon to finish our coverage.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thanks,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">PVS</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com59tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-47191274923918954102010-11-11T14:11:00.005-07:002010-11-13T09:19:42.372-07:00Revisiting The Basics: Rules For Vampire Slayers And How To Bite Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9BnM2q0Y4Z4dTBgdaLdz26uNzVQgrFjCt59ubppUvlfgSQ-07OKqSGBFesnKP3Fu2xHqgpcD-HjPx26NTpW3ay3cpotIu5aVBrdC8TM_SxtxwOdwLksQvNuZepzbV7VonnA/s1600/vampire+book+for+blog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9BnM2q0Y4Z4dTBgdaLdz26uNzVQgrFjCt59ubppUvlfgSQ-07OKqSGBFesnKP3Fu2xHqgpcD-HjPx26NTpW3ay3cpotIu5aVBrdC8TM_SxtxwOdwLksQvNuZepzbV7VonnA/s400/vampire+book+for+blog.JPG" width="287" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: large;">I've been feeling a need to get back to basics for some time now - to remember the principles that provide me with a foundation for living that works. For me that means spending more time with my family and my work, and it definitely means spending more time in prayer and meditation. </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">It also means reviewing the stuff I've gotten complacent about: the principles that I'm so smugly sure I know by heart and don't even really need to think about in terms of who I am today because I imagine "I've already done all that."</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs01_I5JOWSkHyYBFylfCxObQYp-OIo-Ng0ZfBDGBK2jYHSW44xDZmOq4vs1tINNNK-1wyPTlPiMVzk6ADulgyWf2mmDrb_QpzAxvuq7ZZysCliUn-hxE-d1Fes8Av4Q7HuOI/s1600/compliment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs01_I5JOWSkHyYBFylfCxObQYp-OIo-Ng0ZfBDGBK2jYHSW44xDZmOq4vs1tINNNK-1wyPTlPiMVzk6ADulgyWf2mmDrb_QpzAxvuq7ZZysCliUn-hxE-d1Fes8Av4Q7HuOI/s200/compliment.jpg" width="197" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was talking to a couple of friends the other night after a meeting, and one of them commented on how nice I looked. I was already well into my answer to them about how it wasn't really <em>me</em> that looked good, but rather my clothes or makeup - when my friend Suzanne whispered leaned in close, and then whispered in my ear, "Just say 'thank you.'"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well. If you've read my book you know this is one of the big lessons I claim to have learned -- the one about the importance of saying "thank you" to life and all it offers us instead of pushing love and gifts like that away. In fact, that would have been a golden opportunity for me to be able to say, "Hey, you don't have to tell <em>me</em> about saying, 'thank you' - I wrote the book on it!" except of course that I <em>couldn't,</em> what with having forgotten what I'd written and all. </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">So what this all boils down to is that it's time for me to get back to all the stuff I <em>think </em>I already know so well, and to review it. And this is why I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks going over the rules of practical vampire slaying, or "Biting Back,"(if you prefer) and taking a closer look at them...and I hope you will, too.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm going to list them in their entirety today, and then, starting tomorrow, I'm going to discuss each one in detail - one every other day - until we've gone through the whole list. </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">A list of <em>nine</em>. 9 rules! Now how did <em>that</em> happen? I mean: I couldn't have rounded it out to a nice clean 10? Or the ever-popular 12? A number with a little more zing to it perhaps? One with just a tad more fame?</span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Well... all I can tell you is that it's too late now. Nine rules is what there are and so, Ladies an</span><span style="font-size: large;">d Gentlemen, I give you: </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;"><strong><u>The Rules</u></strong></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #1:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>A vampire can’t just walk into your house and start sucking your blood.</strong></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>First, it has to be invited.</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #2:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>A vampire does not need an invitation every time they cross the threshold.</strong></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>One invitation grants a lifetime pass.</strong></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #3:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Every host has the option to revoke an invitation they’ve extended to a vampire, </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">but they have to know the rules if they want to do it right.</span></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #4: </strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Every host must claim responsibility for their invitation</strong></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>before they can reclaim their power to revoke it.</strong></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #5: </strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Our revocations must, above all, be clear...</strong></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">and before we can be clear with our vampires, we</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> have to be clear with ourselves, first.</span></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #6:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>All vampires’ appetites are insatiable.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #7:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Never look into a vampire’s eyes.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #8: </strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>A vampire cannot see its reflection a mirror.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Rule #9:</strong> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>When it comes to hosts who never revoke their invitations:</strong></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><em><strong>They become vampires, too.</strong></em></span><span style="color: #660000;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">So we'll start with Rule #1 tomorrow, and then do the remaining rules - one every other day. I hope you'll join in if you have the time, the interest, and any questions or any arguments you'd like to present. Or start.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">With Gratitude </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I Remain Yours Truly,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><em><strong><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">The Practical Vampire Slayer</span></strong></em></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHROnmw488LlT0QXV1Vt_AoxF7uYxe5zZsRn4I0LiCUGGgPPVkS7yC8452txQOUAlW8eGdilpCg0fjJhSTnHS0L3LeP523Lufu_aG34sWjpAGgqKbtQHAp3eNNQSW3_t-6Bo/s1600/long_stem_rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHROnmw488LlT0QXV1Vt_AoxF7uYxe5zZsRn4I0LiCUGGgPPVkS7yC8452txQOUAlW8eGdilpCg0fjJhSTnHS0L3LeP523Lufu_aG34sWjpAGgqKbtQHAp3eNNQSW3_t-6Bo/s200/long_stem_rose.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-50872899379240253392010-10-19T15:07:00.001-06:002010-10-20T15:50:20.925-06:00Interview With A Vampire Slayer <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFVFWLEwD0UwtiNT0QH0DWfL8FsAF3FUTIC3k7Udn_wGznfzwLnst42XQE4HuxbvhVpHgQS9wQ8zef2bgCpAAuVEpG-vTTaiD9HjkOETWhaEBCi2epnHiPKnvoUWMPUBbPEo/s1600/radio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFVFWLEwD0UwtiNT0QH0DWfL8FsAF3FUTIC3k7Udn_wGznfzwLnst42XQE4HuxbvhVpHgQS9wQ8zef2bgCpAAuVEpG-vTTaiD9HjkOETWhaEBCi2epnHiPKnvoUWMPUBbPEo/s320/radio.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a radio.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> I bet you don't even know this, but I had a radio interview about a month ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It was on a show called "Dresser After Dark," and when my publicity person over at Llewellyn told me about it, I have to admit: the name of the show fascinated me.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JT-pwDGo9_y7KvlnJD_fIJwe5d8mB9fAoi1ch556oYCQy_X-xgR3IHKEy3oHCtEiKly1wmcHn0PRLqcvpG3LEzQfBqJkZOQ2b0I7ZZXK0lONChBe8RwjfTFOx1tmtcyG1Hk/s1600/TalkRadio-MRD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JT-pwDGo9_y7KvlnJD_fIJwe5d8mB9fAoi1ch556oYCQy_X-xgR3IHKEy3oHCtEiKly1wmcHn0PRLqcvpG3LEzQfBqJkZOQ2b0I7ZZXK0lONChBe8RwjfTFOx1tmtcyG1Hk/s200/TalkRadio-MRD.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is him. </td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The show's host turned out to be an energetic and friendly man named Michael Ray Dresser, and he led me through the interview with kindness and skill. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Thanks to my old pal Dan Berghaus, you can listen to my part in the show by clicking <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Frcpt.yousendit.com%2F971498197%2Fa21665add0dd2989f8d65d1c2845c729&h=09123">HERE</a>.</span><br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-17198689338789807932010-10-18T14:50:00.000-06:002010-10-18T14:50:40.394-06:00If That's Not Nice, I Don't Know What Is<span style="color: #666666;"><strong><em><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(In case that title doesn't ring a bell for you, it's a variation</span></em></strong><strong><em><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> on something </span></em></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><strong><em><span style="font-size: xx-small;">good old Vonnegut once suggested we do - </span></em></strong><strong><em><span style="font-size: xx-small;">described </span></em></strong></span><a href="http://www.vonnegutweb.com/archives/arc_nice.html"><strong><em><span style="color: red; font-size: xx-small;">here</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;">, if you're interested.)</span></em></strong><br />
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Two of the very nicest things that have ever happened to me in my life just happened this last September: I'm talking about my book signings in Polson and Chicago because boy oh boy: nice is what they were!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJo-TNjx2kRkTCfHHRgXwjrD9Cp-Wc99iM7z4o4TiFU4y0KKlfpuqkjAAX0Lf2kg8UAmFky7qFWxeSP1KAl4FqbN-E4BanOps-BM0gLJq84zgXRDIcDkGy0LUPBddIpjkOpMg/s1600/jackie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJo-TNjx2kRkTCfHHRgXwjrD9Cp-Wc99iM7z4o4TiFU4y0KKlfpuqkjAAX0Lf2kg8UAmFky7qFWxeSP1KAl4FqbN-E4BanOps-BM0gLJq84zgXRDIcDkGy0LUPBddIpjkOpMg/s400/jackie.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's my daughter Maddie (L) with her pal Machaela Roberts<br />
behind me. Jackie Ladner (standing and talking with me)<br />
saved my life later on when, during the presentation and well into the Q&A, <br />
she noticed that I <em>still </em>hadn't mentioned the most important<br />
aspect of the book (the vampire "invitation rule") and she posed a very <br />
innocent-sounding question about its significance. Thank you, Jackie!!!!<br />
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First, in Polson: Marilyn Maier, owner of <strong><em>Page by Page Books</em></strong> put on one of the prettiest events I've ever seen in our great town, complete with champagne and sparkling cider, and held in her truly exquisite bookstore.<br />
Thanks to her ferocious publicity campaign and the kindness of all our friends, the signing drew a crowd of over 75 people.<br />
That's a LOT! <br />
<br />
Many thanks to Marliyn, and many thanks to our excellent friends who came and made it all work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMYuscotfEHLdEXacKcx1Qbp004v0-19qOEk5HTvw_5qi-iqutKFTmVvBgCTU6Ro4M8RlWtIFMG3HxzRnh8-i4-37YOsvGxUt5WIgboqH98KaugmU7TQZKZaEdAz-DTH9n1k/s1600/group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMYuscotfEHLdEXacKcx1Qbp004v0-19qOEk5HTvw_5qi-iqutKFTmVvBgCTU6Ro4M8RlWtIFMG3HxzRnh8-i4-37YOsvGxUt5WIgboqH98KaugmU7TQZKZaEdAz-DTH9n1k/s400/group.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To quote The Kinks: <br />
"All of my friends were there...not just my friends, <br />
but their best friends, too."</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: large;">And then later that month in The Windy City...</span></em></div><em><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcs7SBwnx-_0_NpAg4HLqUwnNSY-UGE3AgwxcuxNVf8egzFF-f1YIpxsJwzMPF2GBuGy3SE2du3PkioZccHkmGNIhj6NabWgaUsQ6hvRUCgmheXvuZ2fX5dzpweYbCNeKJSBU/s1600/invite+chicago.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcs7SBwnx-_0_NpAg4HLqUwnNSY-UGE3AgwxcuxNVf8egzFF-f1YIpxsJwzMPF2GBuGy3SE2du3PkioZccHkmGNIhj6NabWgaUsQ6hvRUCgmheXvuZ2fX5dzpweYbCNeKJSBU/s400/invite+chicago.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My<strong> </strong>sister Julia sent this invitation out to a bunch of her friends and a few of mine who are still in that area, and then we all got together at the Union League Club for a warm and elegant early evening of perfect drinks and food (which I never got a chance to try until it was over since I never once stopped talking long enough to put it in my mouth) and really fun conversation and company. Everyone was so kind and so interesting!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My mother Dorothy Nowicki, my brother Mike, niece Anne Nowicki and cousin Dot Spransy all came (I wish I had pictures to show you but those aren't in yet!)...and then, out of the blue (literally: he flew in)...my brother-in-law Bill Cunningham managed to bring my hair straight up to standing postion when we found him seated in the party room, waiting for us to arrive. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It was all too excellent for words. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here are a few shots of the event - I apologize for the size: I can't figure out how to enlarge them without distorting them, and it really doesn't do the event justice. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJodNO7tNbTVPp0jdOsgFsy6l24bpDDJnAEkHzAM8SLOasXa9x2cgKyt1kMYFILWDtlKV6mdHsX3zpRqRAqKrDALclf2rCee_HL9Rcr44uboeWMPur1ap2iDikfBxA_-N7xOc/s1600/chic+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJodNO7tNbTVPp0jdOsgFsy6l24bpDDJnAEkHzAM8SLOasXa9x2cgKyt1kMYFILWDtlKV6mdHsX3zpRqRAqKrDALclf2rCee_HL9Rcr44uboeWMPur1ap2iDikfBxA_-N7xOc/s200/chic+4.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sign says it's me<br />
and that I'm going to<br />
be there.</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUFHMHDUPmsfqcdSW3NDrM4A5W9xOpnp8D84lKCztghoqhqiXLbcBFrk4FnGN60CfbyZVrejuDZwRbl7hRGd_R1-EOu9nd15b7A92T7OJfiaXjceEffyd0Dhb9DAs3ApcKfk/s1600/chic22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUFHMHDUPmsfqcdSW3NDrM4A5W9xOpnp8D84lKCztghoqhqiXLbcBFrk4FnGN60CfbyZVrejuDZwRbl7hRGd_R1-EOu9nd15b7A92T7OJfiaXjceEffyd0Dhb9DAs3ApcKfk/s200/chic22.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrees and Intros</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmR8nfeHIEFV4pGJrdLJ_qBVP8vgXULv7ciW9qyRk83wBxSDH3XiZiNQGRmxqdNVEMW8uPvGZiv8Vtncs-2Z-Lk0kZAMLoAoQfTpvVTtXwBDMJg6YpJs8zndpYghPlNvaTNAc/s1600/chci16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmR8nfeHIEFV4pGJrdLJ_qBVP8vgXULv7ciW9qyRk83wBxSDH3XiZiNQGRmxqdNVEMW8uPvGZiv8Vtncs-2Z-Lk0kZAMLoAoQfTpvVTtXwBDMJg6YpJs8zndpYghPlNvaTNAc/s200/chci16.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sister Julia, me, Brother Bill<br />
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As I say: it's one of the nicest things that have ever happened to me in my life - and one of the greatest memories I'm sure I'll ever have.<br />
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Thank you.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-10978959178225914832010-09-21T10:01:00.002-06:002010-09-21T10:58:01.077-06:00Extra! Extra! Read All About It: Llewellyn Journal Posts Cunningham Article On Our Love Affair With Vampires...Extra!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOdaM7T_oDk9ixzwnwV9104eC5wzxkSNd8J8b0CwGN05VT8pFn2mZvOnhVep0YWQahbh4rWFRChClRu3eMMcfoq7npn8pF6o0Fzym8DJFKbM-JT-GobYbrrz2lxYRtDGjFxo/s1600/bats.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOdaM7T_oDk9ixzwnwV9104eC5wzxkSNd8J8b0CwGN05VT8pFn2mZvOnhVep0YWQahbh4rWFRChClRu3eMMcfoq7npn8pF6o0Fzym8DJFKbM-JT-GobYbrrz2lxYRtDGjFxo/s200/bats.bmp" width="200" /></a></div>Okay, even I'm dying of corniness from the title of this post...but here's a link (below) to the article, if you're interested. It's about why I think vampires are so popular these days.<br />
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That's right: more opinions. Just what the world needs. And what you were dying to hear.<br />
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Note: <em>See if you can count the number of puns I managed to stick in there. I'm not even sure I know myself...they were unintended.</em><br />
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Really!<br />
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<a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/2145"><strong><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">Our Undying Love for Vampires</span></strong></a> (click on that title there -- to the left)<br />
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<em><span style="color: #cc0000;"><strong>AND:</strong> In our next post I'll tell you about the signing, and show you some pictures, too! </span></em><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-91932919704314134472010-09-17T09:40:00.000-06:002010-09-17T09:40:02.166-06:00This Is It<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ-365qc3Ie9pVIvpHN-dc6uLgOPYO4IAb3K0kOSQz9FG6jr02CKIIJgWV2Kydp5it-BhibActZTM18qwXv0rGiKG5IAcNCc8Ju32jffhIkXEvk5w8b7cJug_wQKnHfx3avA/s1600/IMG_0432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ-365qc3Ie9pVIvpHN-dc6uLgOPYO4IAb3K0kOSQz9FG6jr02CKIIJgWV2Kydp5it-BhibActZTM18qwXv0rGiKG5IAcNCc8Ju32jffhIkXEvk5w8b7cJug_wQKnHfx3avA/s640/IMG_0432.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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So. Today's the day my wonderful local bookstore, Page by Page Books, is hosting a book signing for me and Biting Back. This is the picture that Marilyn, the store's owner, took of the display that's sitting there as we speak.<br />
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The place is gorgeous.<br />
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The food is going to be lovely.<br />
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There's even going to be champagne.<br />
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I've got a new dress and scarf.<br />
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Earrings. Bracelet.<br />
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Lipstick.<br />
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Mascara.<br />
<br />
I'm having trouble breathing, though, as I am not what you'd call "a relaxed public speaker." <br />
<br />
In fact, I made it through high school speech class (twice) without ever giving a speech: that's the kind of scared I get.<br />
<br />
I'm going to try it anyway: after all, I actually finished writing a book and it got published, which, next to getting sober, married, and having Madeline is the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. Also, my friends want to come and celebrate. And one last thing: I'm fifty-two years old now and sick and tired of being pushed around by my fears. If I start reading and have to exit and run screaming down the street, so be it. At least I'm going to try. Otherwise I'll someday have to say that I didn't even do that much.<br />
<br />
Thanks everyone.<br />
<br />
Now here goes.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-40555240579020557542010-09-01T16:46:00.002-06:002010-09-01T17:06:16.765-06:00It's Here...and There Now, Too<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfK3BpL4GTPBYy_y-W0CS3cwnqPLRfvQtBYL96DIi6W6aNPcDEIpcSz5ucNTuomORYhSwLVxsLM3smhAI2e8LvpIMwWqtHAeaKixHFvw1nvakqwvduNdWlu-tGkGs_NNMyNI/s1600/library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfK3BpL4GTPBYy_y-W0CS3cwnqPLRfvQtBYL96DIi6W6aNPcDEIpcSz5ucNTuomORYhSwLVxsLM3smhAI2e8LvpIMwWqtHAeaKixHFvw1nvakqwvduNdWlu-tGkGs_NNMyNI/s320/library.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
So... today's the release date for Biting Back... <em>and</em> I almost forgot mention it here on the blog. Everyone who's read it and confessed as much to me has had something nice to say about it: so many love the title, lots love the writing, tons are crazy about the cover and layout, and simply everyone tells me, too, how they also love the <em>feel</em> of it. <br />
<br />
Llewellyn really did<em> </em>do an incredible job: the book really <em>is</em> nice to hold, to look at, to touch - even to read! I don't know what kind of paper that is they used, but it's delicious. I discovered this morning on the Llewellyn website that they also have what is surely the coolest "look inside this book" gadget I've ever seen : You can check it out here: <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/product_browse_inside.php?ean=9780738715414#browse_inside"><span style="color: #cc0000;">biting back look inside this book gadget</span></a> .<br />
<br />
The book is available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Biting-Back-No-Nonsense-No-Garlic-Personal/dp/0738715417/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283377778&sr=1-1"><span style="color: red;">Amazon </span></a>and <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738715414"><span style="color: red;">Llewellyn</span></a>, of course - at <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Biting-Back/Claudia-Cunningham/e/9780738715414/?itm=1&USRI=biting+back#TABS"><span style="color: red;">Barnes and Noble</span></a> and just about <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=%22Biting+Back%3A+A+No-Nonsense%2C+%7BNo+Garlic%7D+Guide+to+Facing+the+Personal+Vampires+in+Your+Life%22&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=CuOU6jct-TO7xJ4-UoATFwcTCBAAAAKoEBU_QjMSF"><span style="color: red;">everywhere else</span></a>, too, I think. My new friend Marilyn at <a href="http://www.pagebypagemontana.com/index.html"><span style="color: red;">Page by Page Books</span></a> will have it too: she's hosting my launch and signing on September 17th, from 5-7 p.m, and it sounds like she's going to do a really lovely job. I'll announce it again when I'm absolutely positive about the details. I'm supposed to get up and read out loud to you guys. Ahem.<br />
<br />
We'll see about that!<br />
<br />
Anyway: while I've had such kind feedback on the book so far that I would blush to share it, there is one thing I've heard that I just have to tell you about:<br />
<br />
I gave a copy of BB to my wonderful hairdresser (Jaye McDonald/owner of <a href="http://www.superpages.com/bp/Polson-MT/Bella-Vita-Salon-L0137808077.htm"><span style="color: red;">Bella Vita Salon</span></a> in Polson) - and although she didn't have time to read it that first night after I gave it to her, her husband, Brian, did. Brian called first my husband Robert and then later on, me, too - to say how much he enjoyed it. But it was something he said to Jaye that just about killed me: After reading it, she told me, he came into the room where she was resting and said, "Hey honey? Am <em>I </em>ever a vampire to <em>you</em>?" <br />
<br />
Can you imagine? Talk about great husbands! And talk about great results I never in a million years anticipated! <br />
<br />
Which is one of the things I LOVE about books: there's just no telling all the wonderful things that people might see in them, you know? You can't even begin to guess.<br />
<br />
Thanks, Readers. Writers. Publishers. Libraries. Bookstores.<br />
<br />
Folks. <br />
<br />
Thanks.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-42420224725477463682010-07-31T22:27:00.003-06:002010-08-08T01:40:42.970-06:00Honey, I'm Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGM_GG57-eoPUgZGfGm2iPSPaoQ14UZmA5npzahyphenhyphen4q8YLOSv8SmddSI9IGnqG-HB1YeTlxoTnFkKyC06o_sZJyO83i4LDL3GkXuS1X4hlev8B8XnfZutavAJ67fQ8x27wQopg/s1600/4439888937_3ef1cf116f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGM_GG57-eoPUgZGfGm2iPSPaoQ14UZmA5npzahyphenhyphen4q8YLOSv8SmddSI9IGnqG-HB1YeTlxoTnFkKyC06o_sZJyO83i4LDL3GkXuS1X4hlev8B8XnfZutavAJ67fQ8x27wQopg/s200/4439888937_3ef1cf116f.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Bunã ziua,Vampire Lovers, </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I do apologize to anyone who might have wondered what's been going on in the practical vampire slaying business and/or who's been looking for any news on the book: stuff's been happening. </span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhABUXkuUonZO1c50f7GOpYY2G6cHHTHomaxJw5BZfkYWxL95_itlJb_g0I1U1eLvYVv_Q88t_kvyqYIupxfvOn2R3JBW4UPrXhftStCBw2MeXCxe0_iKpV3vTRKL_Zsid1N4/s1600/Llewellyn-com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhABUXkuUonZO1c50f7GOpYY2G6cHHTHomaxJw5BZfkYWxL95_itlJb_g0I1U1eLvYVv_Q88t_kvyqYIupxfvOn2R3JBW4UPrXhftStCBw2MeXCxe0_iKpV3vTRKL_Zsid1N4/s320/Llewellyn-com.jpg" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ujJhVRN2JeSrZEmw3lvOEk40aFRpoP4Sy90Idc_aYMPtW4WfccXsEIZCSbqckvxe6Mx1BbuXcx7ppF0k2kIBRCLr1hgbL8MLsgsjlm-8Q2tKC1XLAz1OfnqIi9tmiQ36_tQ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ujJhVRN2JeSrZEmw3lvOEk40aFRpoP4Sy90Idc_aYMPtW4WfccXsEIZCSbqckvxe6Mx1BbuXcx7ppF0k2kIBRCLr1hgbL8MLsgsjlm-8Q2tKC1XLAz1OfnqIi9tmiQ36_tQ/s320/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carrie Obry</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">First off, I just have to say that my experience in the world of publishing has been really interesting. That might be because of my incredible publisher, Llewellyn Worldwide: what an astonishingly talented, professional, kind, and brilliant group of people they have over there...they've taught me so much and worked so hard for me! My editor, there on the right - is just plain heaven sent.</span></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the steps in the publishing process was to rename the book (the working title was "The Practical Vampire Slayer" - which was good, but not nearly as good as the one they came up with - and while I'm at it, I'll show you the cover, too:</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBVykvHRFRbsPsIfREcH_714AMCd7N2BYqDuNtLjBOM9Cvm6laIZHjHDL_Bw45-9dHHw2sM2Q1LnX8chk4hRh2jf-cWAm0Bflbnsx6VSi5APsMbE2LCbaFOZZpuJli0gJzZg/s1600/9780738715414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBVykvHRFRbsPsIfREcH_714AMCd7N2BYqDuNtLjBOM9Cvm6laIZHjHDL_Bw45-9dHHw2sM2Q1LnX8chk4hRh2jf-cWAm0Bflbnsx6VSi5APsMbE2LCbaFOZZpuJli0gJzZg/s320/9780738715414.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Coolness defined, baby. And I get to say that because it had nothing to do with me. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Shortly after this cover was designed they took it on the road - by which I mean that, to my utter shock and amazement, Llewellyn featured it at their booth at Book Expo America, which looked like this:</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cTIxVW_HGEx53xYAxZTCZFgtIySwaiJfsWEopWRMwacPMzvE4OzRddNEQ_TEG9JVoiPjrH9CB5IWsgYAvzpT8wxe9iF3I_ySliyFoIMmPtE1WH5n6e_S1s6KHGax_6WzYc8/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cTIxVW_HGEx53xYAxZTCZFgtIySwaiJfsWEopWRMwacPMzvE4OzRddNEQ_TEG9JVoiPjrH9CB5IWsgYAvzpT8wxe9iF3I_ySliyFoIMmPtE1WH5n6e_S1s6KHGax_6WzYc8/s200/1.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">and this:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWvDxelMxpGDCTNPLusyAtvtS5fC6w_00EO736cPV3Sma2jcZC1nGVm0JZtBodz12nvkEGrAsSy2yZ86b0UgkJ66LaCTKBeLWka4OrR__mSOpAnkc3B8RV3x9VjEO-6T_I-Q/s1600/2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWvDxelMxpGDCTNPLusyAtvtS5fC6w_00EO736cPV3Sma2jcZC1nGVm0JZtBodz12nvkEGrAsSy2yZ86b0UgkJ66LaCTKBeLWka4OrR__mSOpAnkc3B8RV3x9VjEO-6T_I-Q/s200/2.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">And as if that weren't enough, my old high school pal David Meyer wrote to say that he'd spied it at the American Library Association Convention he attended: claims he was eating chocolate at the time and smeared the pages of the copy they left out there, too. Aw.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anyway, the point is that we've got a book coming out there on September 1st - and oh my gosh I can't believe I forgot to tell you this: 3 of our country's most excellent women (and writers and thinkers) wrote blurbs for my book. They are: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZL-wkrxVXVC5CtODyQOJ9vH-QM_OfMrlrdAhEBoD78hXFgnmjB1IY0k6ERQm9xCPi1wNBrbkyPmsFTAMweNi_D2HEv4J2cr6KbQsUXQ6FJhZp8tgwj30V-fLtLaOg3aA8wok/s1600/for%2520profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZL-wkrxVXVC5CtODyQOJ9vH-QM_OfMrlrdAhEBoD78hXFgnmjB1IY0k6ERQm9xCPi1wNBrbkyPmsFTAMweNi_D2HEv4J2cr6KbQsUXQ6FJhZp8tgwj30V-fLtLaOg3aA8wok/s320/for%2520profile.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melody Beattie</td></tr>
</tbody></table> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNRwFxhe0SZwBVri4w6wnrL9eFEcP3hhRMh-E0cny8_cezYvzpPd-8uSIGCbT1PtIq6byMGnsSw-bWcKE_KghKdWZXZ9DJekEgw6EOv9h-AHtvbxNY1feU3U0vQas1m1ZTas/s1600/pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNRwFxhe0SZwBVri4w6wnrL9eFEcP3hhRMh-E0cny8_cezYvzpPd-8uSIGCbT1PtIq6byMGnsSw-bWcKE_KghKdWZXZ9DJekEgw6EOv9h-AHtvbxNY1feU3U0vQas1m1ZTas/s200/pic.jpg" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joan Walsh </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> and </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgri4fKqZ1pM0belu-CSixdWv6ygGwZD8hEEbeHnavfyFjY0YRgyk5PSGGhsopSEQoHkWK62d3AYM-GUhhAzvxld0iFo0zdn9-cV2wgRzeCVfqQvVzyKjzWLDotXKxIeIdRTLU/s1600/jaye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgri4fKqZ1pM0belu-CSixdWv6ygGwZD8hEEbeHnavfyFjY0YRgyk5PSGGhsopSEQoHkWK62d3AYM-GUhhAzvxld0iFo0zdn9-cV2wgRzeCVfqQvVzyKjzWLDotXKxIeIdRTLU/s200/jaye.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaye Wells<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I'm just plain lucky, I guess. I've been more fortunate in this journey than I'd ever imagined or hoped to be, and now the day is almost here. There are about a million disclaimers I'm dying to make but won't, won't, won't. I will however, be trying to blog more regularly, and I'm hoping the book will generate more questions from brave readers, looking for specifics. I like those. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's all for now. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">How are you?</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">pvs</span></div><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-74507287723941534662009-09-28T12:17:00.002-06:002010-07-31T16:14:20.486-06:00Someone To Watch Over Me, Part I<a href="http://www.best-horror-movies.com/image-files/anthony-hopkins-van-helsing.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.best-horror-movies.com/image-files/anthony-hopkins-van-helsing.jpg" style="float: left; height: 492px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><a href="http://www.ashead.com/buffy/giles_buffy.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.ashead.com/buffy/giles_buffy.jpg" style="float: right; height: 280px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 250px;" /></a></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
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</div><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 85%;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">watch⋅er: [woch-er] –noun</span><br style="color: #4c1130;" /><span style="color: #4c1130;"> 1. a person who watches or who keeps watch.</span><br />
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<div style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-size: 78%;">From </span><i><span style="font-size: 78%;">Dictionary.com</span><br />
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</i></span></div><br />
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<div style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Watch⋅er: [woch-er] - noun<br />
1. For every vampire slayer or group of vampire slayers, there is a mentor or advisor – someone who knows all there is to know about vampires and vampire slaying. The slayer may be the “vampire extinguisher,” so to speak, but he or she is usually not what you'd call the “vampire scholar.” That job belongs to the Watcher. </span></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">In the movie <i>Bram Stoker's</i> <i>Dracula</i>, that guy was the strangely likable Dr. Abraham VanHelsing (shown above, with heads), and in the television series, <i>Buffy The Vampire Slayer</i>, it was a cute librarian named Rupert Giles (also shown above, with <i>Buffy</i>).</span><br />
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from <i>The Practical Vampire Slayer, by</i> Me</span></div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;">In case you've never heard this before: 12-step groups have this totally brilliant practice of suggesting to their newcomers that they find and enlist the help of a "sponsor" -- of someone who has experience with the 12-steps of the recovery program and who will offer their personal experience and support to the newcomer as they are getting the hang of their recovery program. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;">Good sponsors do more than that, though: beyond the experience they share, they also supply a kind of practical love and support that most of us in recovery have no idea how much we need. In my own case, I cannot imagine how I would have navigated those early years of recovery by myself. There was just no way.</span></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;">And sponsors are not just for newcomers, either: they are members who, for <i>any</i> other member, are there to bounce their thoughts off of, to safely and confidentially air their complaints to, to offer another point of view from their own, and to help them apply the principles of recovery (12 steps) to their lives.</span></div><div></div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><br />
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<div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;">The first time I ever <i>consciously</i> asked someone to train and watch over me was when I joined a 12-step group. I won't say I'd never enlisted the help of advisers in my life before then, but I will say that I had never before in my life been so open to really listening to the experience of others as it might apply to my own life. Until that time I was more the kind of person who, when other people were talking, would be impatiently preparing for my own turn to speak. So I almost never heard what other people were saying, except how it might pertain to how I could either contradict them or say it better. </span></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;">What a joy I was!</span></div><div></div><div></div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
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This way of living: to identify and ask for help from one who knows the road I'm travelling better than I works so well for me that it has spilled over into just about every area of my life. I've got sponsors all over the place - only now, as a practical vampire slayer - I call them my "Watchers." </span></span></div><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: black;">One of them is my friend Jennifer, who, a few months ago when I could not get myself out of bed to finish my book's first draft by its deadline, made a tentative diagnosis of "book flu," and came running with soup, tea, a bread so deliciously unique I don't even know what it's called, and a commitment to share her experience (and considerable expertise) with me that day until we got the thing finished. So besides being one of my best friends, she is also my Writing Watcher.</span><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: black;">When I got my diagnosis of cancer and went to see a doctor who'd been recommended to me by the woman who'd diagnosed my cancer, I found and adopted another kind of Watcher, this one to watch over my cancer. Not only did I trust her because of her obvious confidence, but also because she told me something that I'm not sure she even remembers today: she told me, "I know you." And did she ever.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: black;">That's happened to me maybe once before in my life -- a girl in my 7th grade class named Lisa Whittet had my number so fast it made my head swim. And we didn't even hang out together! But she knew me - just like this doctor did. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;">Cancer is definitely one of those things you need a good Watcher for - as most of us, never having had cancer before, are pretty quick to admit. In other cases though: maybe not so fast. And that's what we're going to talk about in Part II of this post: about those other less desperate cases - where we need our Watchers badly, only, for some reason, we don't know it.<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="color: #993399; font-family: lucida grande;"><b>Note: These posts are dedicated to Dr. Loren Rourke: Surgeon, Watcher, and Promise-Keeper extraordinaire</b></span></i>.<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 85%;"></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-91115704827835304402009-09-26T09:25:00.010-06:002009-09-27T11:18:53.955-06:00Claud The Obscure<a href="http://www.picturedraw.co.uk/images/Nude%20figure%20drawing%203.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 286px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 445px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.picturedraw.co.uk/images/Nude%20figure%20drawing%203.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Whew. It felt like I was going to disappear entirely there for a while - but I didn't - and little by very little, each hour and day, I've been coming back a little stronger and a bit more <em>distinct</em>.<br /><br />I've been working on getting well and on writing whenever I've been well enough to - on my book, obviously: not the blog. And as a result I am now approaching my first <em>real</em> rewrite of <em><strong>The Practical</strong> <strong>Vampire Slayer</strong></em> and have a date with my editor to discuss the revisions on Monday. I'm so glad - this is exactly what I'd hoped for: the guidance and expertise of my publishing team to help me make it the best it can be. Who could ask for more?<br /><br /><br />Thank God for brave and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">innovative</span> publishers (<span style="color:#6633ff;"><strong><a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/">Llewellyn</a></strong></span>)! Thank God for patient, hardworking, and brilliant agents who know exactly what to say and when to say it (<span style="color:#6600cc;"><strong><a href="http://www.bookends-inc.com/about_us.html">Jacky <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sach</span></a></strong></span>) and for creative-as-hell, understanding-as-Gandhi and sharp-as-tacks editors (<span style="color:#6600cc;"><strong><a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/blog/author/carrie_obry/">Carrie <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Obry</span></a></strong></span>)!<br /><p>Oh, and thank God for friends who bring books on editing, packages of fortifying tea and treats, their impossibly-invaluable experience and love, and most of all themselves (<a href="http://www.jennifergrafgroneberg.com/"><strong>Jennifer <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Graf</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Groneberg</span></strong></a>) to save me when I've become convinced that I'm not a writer, never have been, and never will be.</p><br />So things are good: my health is improving by teeny-tiny <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tenths</span> of points (if you're a reader of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">blood work</span>, that is), and with the help of an incredible family, unbelievable friends and support everywhere I turn, I now have a manuscript worth editing - which is exactly what I was shooting for.<br /><br />So now, it's time to get back to blogging, too. See ya around the web.<br /><br />Oh, and by the way: hello! How's that for an ending?<br /><br />Claudia<br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">xoxoxox</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-31181427542087377422009-01-03T18:58:00.008-07:002009-09-26T12:37:32.897-06:00Roadmap To Holland<a href="http://jennifergrafgroneberg.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Averyfall.363175246.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 218px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 373px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://jennifergrafgroneberg.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Averyfall.363175246.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=47304321565&h=U4wkH&u=joSio">This is a video </a>by my extraordinary friend, Jennifer Graf Groneberg. I recommend her <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451222954/ref=s9subs_c1_14_at1-rfc_g1_si5?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0MRZCE05D7ED60JGHSCV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383351&pf_rd_i=507846">book</a>, her <a href="http://jennifergrafgroneberg.wordpress.com/">blog</a>, and her <a href="http://www.jennifergrafgroneberg.com/">website</a> to anyone who loves see beauty, hear truth, and read the kind of writing they can't put down. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-83938685996493227432008-12-07T12:25:00.006-07:002008-12-07T12:41:41.584-07:00Meet My Sister Joan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pCGoNFHodtrtvdL1uQVsdjHoR9x3N3FP71AhE7QZq33suNO4GfNCHfo6c4NGulLMzOjmiJqI6TwAqbevr6i4OlrDJxE0uu7VqdL0mz6D4HzA74PflG9WS1iMUZvNRJcRJMk/s1600-h/%257EDVBP000j.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277131812978325618" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 398px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pCGoNFHodtrtvdL1uQVsdjHoR9x3N3FP71AhE7QZq33suNO4GfNCHfo6c4NGulLMzOjmiJqI6TwAqbevr6i4OlrDJxE0uu7VqdL0mz6D4HzA74PflG9WS1iMUZvNRJcRJMk/s400/%257EDVBP000j.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />You know, I've seen a lot of pictures of people dressed up as vampires on the web, but I don't think I've ever seen one <em>this</em> good.<br /><br />Frightening, isn't she?<br /><br />Evidently she had some fangs in the back seat of her car (well, who doesn't?) and, as she put it, "had a little time" on her hands.<br /><br />No really: she's a NICE person.<br />And not a vampire.<br />And I just had to share.<br /><br />Thanks, Balone.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-61898872943376714092008-04-13T09:20:00.007-06:002009-09-28T11:39:39.825-06:00Reader Question<a href="http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_02/bbchanzig3RKS_468x351.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 468px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 351px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_02/bbchanzig3RKS_468x351.jpg" /></a>
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<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Dear PVS,
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<br />Why are so many women vampires to their sisters -- to other women, I mean?? I know several women who are nice to your face but the back-biting that goes on when you turn around is incredible.
<br />I have taken myself out of several circles of friends because of this and have started to be with people who are truly accepting of one another and are truly spiritual. These people are not easy to find, however, because like me, they keep their distance.
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<br />Some insight would be great!!
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<br />Janet</span></em></strong></strong></span></div></span></em>
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<br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Hi Janet,
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<br />You know, before I sobered up and started practicing some spiritual principles myself, I was pretty mistrustful of women...well, actually, I was pretty mistrustful of <em>everyone...</em>but it's funny how many women I know today who have relationships with other women who they don't trust at all! </span><div>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">I always feel so shocked when they tell me about their girlfriends who they feel are lying or, as you say, "back-biting," I guess because having those kinds of relationships ended for me so long ago now that I just think: <em>Why would you want to be friends with someone who behaves that way anyhow?</em> </span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">And that sounds pretty much like the question you asked yourself, and answered, too: it sounds like you've made the choice to have relationships with people who are seeking the same depth, honesty, and trustworthiness in their friendships that you are. </span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">But when I've asked people who've complained to me about these vampires whom they find so hard to trust, their reasons for staying in relationship with them often come down to politics: like the social politics of needing to be friendly with a vampire because that vampire is <em>also</em> friends with someone you <em>really</em> have a good friendship with; or it can be a problem of politics at work -- you know, like somebody you have to interact with about 40 hours a week, so of course you have to have a relationship with them of some kind. And of course it bothers you.
<br />And Janet, I'm no expert on feminism but I know there are plenty of people who <em>are</em>, and they've written books about our culture that might help to answer your question -- but me? I'm just a vampire slayer, and I have the same solution for all vampires, whether they're men, women, organizations, institutions or whatever -- as far as I'm concerned, the answer is always the same: We bring both our vampires and ourselves into the light where we can get a better look at what's really going on and whether we want to continue in relationship with our vampires or not. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Then we take steps to be free: if not free of the vampire, at least free of feeling victimized by them -- since, in practical vampire slaying, we always look for the invitation we extended to our vampires to <em>cross our thresholds</em> (enter our lives) and for the ways in which we've kept the door open to them ever since. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Even just acknowledging <em>that</em> can bring us a LOT of freedom. At least that way we're not feeling victimized, and at least that way we're reminding ourselves that if we had the power to <em>invite the vampire in</em>, then we <em>also</em> have the power to <em>revoke our invitation</em> to them, too.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;">Either way: we free ourselves from our former draining relationships -- not only with our vampires, but with ourselves.</span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Obviously, it's difficult to summarize in one blog post -- but in any case, it seems from what you say that you've already looked at these relationships and made your decision to revoke your invitations to them. It sounds like you've decided to move on to new and more fulfilling relationships for yourself.
<br />So: Good for you! And thanks so much for writing!</span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Sincerely,</span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;">PVS
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-53660749440884187112008-04-11T22:17:00.023-06:002008-12-07T12:38:42.874-07:00The Prodigal Vampire: Finis<img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 450px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://www.reellifewisdom.com/files/images/fight-club.jpg" border="0" /></a> I was thinking about it as I was trying to get to sleep last night and I just know -- sure as you're born -- that some nice person out there reading my last post came to the end of what I'd written and had to have been at least a little put out by it.
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<br />"<em>That’s</em> not how the story of <strong>The Prodigal Son</strong> ends," they probably said to themselves, and, " I can’t <em>believe</em><em> </em>she just <em>dropped</em> it that way– like the father threw this big party and then everyone was happy, and that was the end of it!"
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<br />Anyone who loves that other son as much as I do, I think, would have had to have noticed the missing ending -- and besides, it's only fair to finish a good story once you've started it. So here's what happens:
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<br />When the other son sees all this – the party, the killing of the fatted calf, the whole production – he goes to his father and says, “Hey, you know what, Dad? I’ve never asked you for my inheritance and then blown it all on prostitutes and wild living. I’ve stayed with you this whole time, working in the fields and behaving myself, and never once have you thrown a party for me. Never once have you killed a fatted calf for me or brought out any beautiful robes or anointing oils for me – so you can just forget about my coming to your little <em>party</em>. I think I'll just stay out here in these fields and keep working, if it's all the same to you."
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<br />To which the father responds: “You are my son, and everything I own is yours – all of this and everything for as far as the eye can see, belongs to you.
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<br />"But this is also my son, " he tells him, "who was lost, and now is found.
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<br />“So please,” he says, “come to party.”
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<br />Which the other son does. And I like to think he had a pretty good time, too.
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<br />The End.
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<br />When I was first recovering from my alcoholism and beginning on my journey to find a God of my understanding to help me recover and put my life into some kind of order – one personal to me that I could <em>feel</em> – it was a very difficult time for me. I began with nothing I could see or understand, hadn’t the least interest in seeking help with it from organized religion, and I couldn’t imagine how I was going to begin to find this God.
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<br />It’s a long story, but the point I want make here is that there have been times in my life when I’ve felt like the son who squanders his God-given fortune and anticipates the worst because of it, and other times I’ve felt like the good son who’s been behaving himself all along and then feels he isn’t getting near enough credit for it.
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<br />I believed at one time that if I just kept trying to be “good,” God would let me know that they (she/he/it) approved of me and would finally love me, too. I would see other people I felt were misbehaving terribly and listen with real indignation when they would speak of a God they knew in their lives who loved them.
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<br />I would think: “Well shit, what’s up with this party that God’s giving for <em>them</em>? No one’s been killing any fatted calves for me! And here I am, being so good!”
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<br />Anyway. That’s why I love the other son so much. And that’s all I’m going to say about it, too.
<br /><div><div> </div><div>Lie. </div><div>
<br />There is one more thing I’m going to say, and it’s really just a disclaimer, for what it’s worth: I am not a Christian or member of any organized religion. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that I’m no more or less a Christian than I am more or less anything else, religiously speaking... but I sure do love a good story.
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<br />And I think that -- like screaming along to the noisiest and rock and roll, or like a slow trip through a museum of modern art, or like the attentive working of a jigsaw puzzle with my daughter, or like holding hands with my husband and knowing it – a good story is as fine as anyplace to find God.
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<br />As my hero Kurt Vonnegut once said: "Love is where you find it," and I would say that it is the same way with God.
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<br />Or rather, that it is the same <em>thing</em> with God -- the exact same thing, in fact.
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-89841865619175309762008-04-10T06:39:00.009-06:002008-04-15T09:13:26.757-06:00The Prodigal Vampire<a href="http://www.hawaiiforgivenessproject.org/images/Forgiveness-medium.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.hawaiiforgivenessproject.org/images/Forgiveness-medium.jpg" border="0" /></a>I'm afraid if I don't post something soon you guys are going to stop believing in all that stuff I said before about how "fine" I am with the cancer, so here's an update: I'm still fine, more or less. One chemo down, 3 to go, and I think the worst of the first chemo has passed. Or maybe it <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">hasn</span>’t. It’s sneaky stuff.<br /><br />But I've been thinking a lot about cancer and vampires and prodigal sons in the past few months – and about healing, too, since that's what practical vampire slaying is really all about – healing, that is.<br /><br />And here's the thing: When I first got my diagnosis and started looking at books about chemotherapy, I kept finding stories about people who saw themselves as being "at war" with their cancers. They'd say how they were envisioning these little chemo-soldiers with little grenades or whatever, going in and slaughtering all their cancer cells…and that’s okay, I guess; people can see themselves as going to war with their cancer if that's what they believe in and that's what works for them. But for me, the old "war" imagery just wasn't working at all.<br /><br />I have a favorite story that you've probably heard at one time or another in your life (at least I bet you've heard about "the fatted calf" -- admit it, you have) and the truth is that I think it’s just about the most beautiful story that’s ever been written: it's called The Prodigal Son.<br /><br />You know <a href="http://www.comparativereligion.com/prodigal.html">it</a>?<br /><br />Now there are so many things I love about this story that I could pick it up at any point at all and talk about why that particular part of it is so great, but for the moment let me just say that, for me, it is simply the most perfect story about the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">transformative</span> power of Surrender, of Love, and of Community that I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ve</span> ever heard.<br /><br />It goes like this: A father has two sons. One day one of the sons comes to him and says, “Dad, I’d like my inheritance now. I don’t want to wait around for it, and I’m wondering if I could just take my half now instead of later.” So the father divides all he owns into half and gives one share to the son.<br /><br />The kid takes off for faraway lands and has some pretty good times – times reportedly filled with wine, women, and song, and then what finally happens, of course, is that the money runs out, the booze dries up, the women disappear, and the kid wakes up one morning to find he’s squandered it all, and is living with pigs.<br /><br />He takes a look around the pen and thinks to himself: “Even the servants in my father’s home live better than this. I know I don’t deserve to be a son anymore – I gave that up – but maybe I could go to my father and ask him if I can be a servant in his house.” And he starts down the road back to his father’s home to ask him.<br /><br />Now if you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ve</span> never heard this next part about how the father sees his son coming from afar – then up until now you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ve</span> missed one of the most beautiful images in any story, anywhere, ever.<br /><br />Because when the father sees the son coming from so far away, what do you think he does? Does he say, “I’m going to beat the crap outta that kid,” or, “I’m going to let him back in but first he’s going to get the lecture of his life?”<br /><br />No. What the father says is this: “It's time for a party.” He calls to his servants to set the tables, bring out the finest robes, find the anointing oils, and kill the fatted calf – "My son,” tells them, “My son – who was lost, and now is found – is coming home.”<br /><br />When I think about cancer and vampires and prodigal sons like that, I remember the father in this story -- the father who never thinks to abuse or even reprimand his son: there are no grenades being thrown from afar, no mean words waiting at home for the son – only love, only gratitude, and a big, beautiful celebration.<br /><br />I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ve</span> always been hard on myself, full of mean words and grenades. I have a series of lectures and cruel one-liners I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ve</span> used on myself: “You’re fat, you’re stupid, you’re foolish, you’re ugly, etc.,” – vampires brought out with such regularity that I hardly even notice their feeding anymore, you know?<br /><br />When I got my diagnosis – that very hour, that very second – all that stopped. It occurred to me to let loose some vampires, I guess: “This is no more than you deserve – all those years of smoking and drinking and being such an asshole,” but then it stopped. I think I realized for the first time that I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">couldn</span>’t go on that way anymore, that I was going to have to start saying nice things to myself and loving this body and mind that’s given me life and taken me here and there – wherever I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ve</span> chosen to go and without complaint, too.<br /><br />"What a nice body!" I thought, "What a good mind!"<br /><br />“I love you,” I told it, “and I’m sorry for all the mean stuff I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">ve</span> done to you and said to you, and I’m going to do my best to love you from now on, my good old pal,” I said. And then I gave my shoulder a little pat, and my hand a little kiss.<br /><br />It seemed pretty weird, but I have to tell you, it was NICE – nice to love myself as I would my daughter or my husband, or any friend, to love myself without reservation, like the father in the story.<br /><br />I won't be using the imagery of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">soldiers</span> or <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">grenades</span> in my meditations about chemo. So far I'm trying to see the chemo as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">transformative</span> light and a gentle touch to each cancerous cell.<br /><br />And we'll see how that works instead.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-15156956721233823702008-03-31T20:17:00.007-06:002008-12-08T15:42:14.371-07:00P.S. To Jen:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WIoPYOVUDTj-9g2BQ94XAjHUHlm7ErjWk-sWZfb10sJOhLyROOIclsC3CQ9UP1HYV-hrlaRqYcFYRG4YFTmfltaO5CiaSSvycDkWwaQ8eQrGFCOISA5tmAar1vuvjYxQlqg/s1600-h/ShowLetter.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184266762802806082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WIoPYOVUDTj-9g2BQ94XAjHUHlm7ErjWk-sWZfb10sJOhLyROOIclsC3CQ9UP1HYV-hrlaRqYcFYRG4YFTmfltaO5CiaSSvycDkWwaQ8eQrGFCOISA5tmAar1vuvjYxQlqg/s400/ShowLetter.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_e5IaAvHEdmZ-wQKiN1W-DdYVQQfMxH0Ui4Ij6cCf8-y6HsT5LKgCCscQur6XYXnZlrmSbbruYy2_dYrgv9AyWoPjvo8XKeNjIhRLNlQfDaicTDxGaspaQFLdb_8mSq39Ww/s1600-h/congratsjen.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184095767269850418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="349" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_e5IaAvHEdmZ-wQKiN1W-DdYVQQfMxH0Ui4Ij6cCf8-y6HsT5LKgCCscQur6XYXnZlrmSbbruYy2_dYrgv9AyWoPjvo8XKeNjIhRLNlQfDaicTDxGaspaQFLdb_8mSq39Ww/s400/congratsjen.JPG" width="433" border="0" /></a> </p><br /><p align="center"><span style="color:#333300;">congratulations<br /></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-32736598058934494532008-03-31T08:28:00.019-06:002008-12-08T15:42:14.600-07:00PLEASE JOIN ME ON THIS MOST EXCELLENT DETOUR<a href="http://www.impactcards.com/photo/violets2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.impactcards.com/photo/violets2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /> </div><div align="center"><strong>To Celebrate The Release Of</strong></div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><a href="http://www.starfleetyachts.com/images2006/fireworks.jpg"></a><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000066;"><strong>Jennifer Graf Groneberg's</strong></span></em> </div><br /><div align="center"><br /><a href="http://www.starfleetyachts.com/images2006/fireworks.jpg"></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;color:#000099;"><strong>ROADMAP TO HOLLAND</strong></span><br /></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:times new roman;color:#000099;"><strong>HOW I FOUND MY WAY THROUGH MY SON'S FIRST TWO YEARS WITH DOWN SYNDROME</strong></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#000000;">Here's how it's going to look on the shelves when you go to buy it:</span></div><br /><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_yrvZmziQjoAj0YgOEA5uEmiUEpQbXcxUOTuRwtbpUiIDpyfJTV1p7csqjFRVMJTUEqYqqBi0R3CSd4eBEgkiFArWLHKGEpBusgNcL5M7RxT1zFF2W2jx8w_3vy0Wr0wJPU/s1600-h/roadmap_web.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183936595781860642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_yrvZmziQjoAj0YgOEA5uEmiUEpQbXcxUOTuRwtbpUiIDpyfJTV1p7csqjFRVMJTUEqYqqBi0R3CSd4eBEgkiFArWLHKGEpBusgNcL5M7RxT1zFF2W2jx8w_3vy0Wr0wJPU/s400/roadmap_web.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p>Isn't she beautiful? </p><br /><p>And if you think <em>she's</em> gorgeous, just wait til you read her <em>writing!</em> </p><br /><p>Her <a href="http://www.jennifergrafgroneberg.com/">WEBSITE</a></p><br /><p>Her <a href="http://jennifergrafgroneberg.wordpress.com/">BLOG</a></p><br /><p>Where you can <a href="http://www.jennifergrafgroneberg.com/buyit.html">BUY IT</a></p><br /><p>And all I'm going to tell you about it is this: Like Steinbeck, Jennifer somehow manages to get absolutely everything worth knowing about life into one simple story. This one here.</p><br /><p>Congratulations, Jen.</p><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-51379611224267793732008-03-30T06:28:00.008-06:002008-03-30T07:55:45.655-06:00Every So Often...<a href="http://www.freewebs.com/angels-place/Girl%20with%20Book.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.freewebs.com/angels-place/Girl%20with%20Book.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I get a little something in my mailbox that looks more or less like what follows below. This is an email I received last Wednesday.<br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></strong><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><em>First of all, Slayers are murderous asses. I knew a girl that was not vampir', only goth, and she was raped and murdered by so called slayers. I know many vampir' and they are not afraid of you. You mistakenly harm goths because they are weaker than the vampir', if you ever come across one that is real, you would be in itense trouble, and harmed yourself. Take warning. </em></strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></span><em><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Blackwood </span></strong></em><br /><p><strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></strong></p><br /><p>Well the first thing I want to say is that I'm certainly pleased to see that people are <em>reading -- </em>reading<em> anything</em>, I mean, but especially that they're reading my blog. </p><p>I had the honor of tutoring English Composition during my short time in college, and that was the first thing I'd encourage my tut-ees to do -- <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">TO</span></strong> <span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>READ</strong></span>. I'd tell them, boringly enough, "If you really want to learn how to <em>write</em>, then you really ought to learn how to <em>read</em>, too<em>.</em>" </p><p>I'd almost always recommend they start with the clean, no-nonsense prose of Ira Levin (since so many of them simply needed to learn how to pay attention to what they were saying and to tighten it up; I'd always imagined that Levin's presence in New York made him a natural at clean, tight prose), and I remember throwing a <em>lot</em> of Stephen King and Dean Koontz their way, too. "Find something that makes you want to turn to the next page," I'd say, or," What kind of movies do you like?" I'd ask -- and we'd go from there. </p><p>So it makes me glad to see this sort of thing: people reading and people writing; the Internet is so great that way. But I have to wonder if some readers aren't skimming a bit, or whether these kinds of emails I get are simply perfect examples of how most of us see and hear only <em>what we are ready </em>to see and hear. </p><p>I mean, how little of my stuff do you have to read to understand that I'm not speaking of vampires in the literal sense that our friend Blackwood here is, or that practical vampire slaying isn't really so much about "murdering" or even "destroying" our vampires, as it is about "revealing" and "transforming" them? </p><p>It's a subject that's been much on my mind these days: revelations and transformations and prodigal vampires and all that. </p><p>Excuse me a moment, and I'll be back to talk some more about this. </p><p>And thanks for reading!</p><p><br /></p><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p><em><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"></p></span></strong></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-25330525393904571922008-01-20T12:58:00.007-07:002008-12-08T15:42:15.108-07:00Tyler Durden, Paula Deen, and Me<img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/peas%20in%20a%20pod.jpg" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><div>My incredibly talented friend <a href="http://jayeblahg.blogspot.com/">Jaye</a> did a post last week featuring this picture from everybody's favorite movie, <em>Fight Club</em>, and it inspired me to watch the movie again.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlkL2B0KCiEAxmXdNv2MT5S2aPwRlxckM-kiOkZf0b0jByYWknjWMyrqIa2OSU3AI9JqPyWH1EDpjJebZpG0hxUqYU4WK-tqLcVjHLBhtnOUYd3phvLa1ECosk70yKE_IMOc/s1600-h/tyler.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158362059584944018" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlkL2B0KCiEAxmXdNv2MT5S2aPwRlxckM-kiOkZf0b0jByYWknjWMyrqIa2OSU3AI9JqPyWH1EDpjJebZpG0hxUqYU4WK-tqLcVjHLBhtnOUYd3phvLa1ECosk70yKE_IMOc/s320/tyler.bmp" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Let’s face it, when I watch this movie I feel nothing less than Complete Joy, and if I tried to explain to you why that is, it just wouldn’t work. Either you know what I'm talking about or you don't.
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<br />Tyler getting the “perfect” sock in the ear.
<br />Marla “not making a big deal out of it.”
<br />That bathrobe. Those slippers. That guy with the hose.
<br />You know - just every second of it.
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<br />And then there's this: Tyler explaining -- over a lye-soaked hand -- the importance of accepting one's own death. <a href="http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/freed/fightclub/images/burn.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/freed/fightclub/images/burn.jpg" border="0" /></a>
<br />Part of what he says (and I'll skip to the chase, here) is this:
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<br />"<em>First you have to give up. First you have to know -- not </em><strong>fear</strong><em>, but </em><strong>know</strong><em> -- that you are going to die</em>."
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<br />Good old Tyler. He's telling us what we have to do to achieve enlightenment, I guess. Or maybe he's just telling us what we have to do in order to relax and recognize what's important so we can finally start having a good time for once in our lives.
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<br />Sock it to me, Tyler-baby.
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<br />And then there's Paula Deen, who says kind of the same thing.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vswysO6W6h43AmjMTZbt_wKHf2m9qSrKLhFTTyVGcSbs7BdgQQWRTTu6N-Xa-8VWw6xqhqy9AK-h78M3AxhT_qc_ap45IswLz6Mp1359-zCgcwnqdBss_HwKRTxXj-DwJ6Y/s1600-h/Paula%2520Deen%25202.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158336152342214530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vswysO6W6h43AmjMTZbt_wKHf2m9qSrKLhFTTyVGcSbs7BdgQQWRTTu6N-Xa-8VWw6xqhqy9AK-h78M3AxhT_qc_ap45IswLz6Mp1359-zCgcwnqdBss_HwKRTxXj-DwJ6Y/s320/Paula%2520Deen%25202.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://twentydur.bytez.org/blog/imgs/2006/mayo/tyler-durden.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://twentydur.bytez.org/blog/imgs/2006/mayo/tyler-durden.jpg" border="0" /></a>
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<br />And while I wouldn't exactly say that Paula and Tyler are as alike as two peas in a pod, I will say that they do have a thing or two in common.</div><div></div><div>
<br />Because when The Queen of Adding Butter, Mayonnaise and Cheese to Simply Everything did an interview with Larry King last August and described how she recovered from her agoraphobia, one of the things she said about getting over it and finally starting to enjoy her life, was this:
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<br />"<em>I accepted my mother's death, my father's death, the death of everybody that I loved. I accepted my own death because I couldn't change that, you know. None of us are going to get out of this alive</em>."
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<br />Well sock it to me, Paula-baby, too! My heroes.
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<br />But enough about them. Now I'm going to tell you about me. Because just after this last New Year's Day I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
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<br />Spoiler and not to tell you how to feel about this or anything but: I'M <em>FINE</em>!!!
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<br />I really am. I was told after the biopsy that this cancer was aggressive, and learned, too, that the pathology report contained an item that didn't look so hot, so about a week ago I can tell you that Robert and I were pretty scared.
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<br />Imagine our happiness, then, we we learned on Saturday that my scans (bone and PET) show that <em><span style="color:#cc33cc;">there is no sign of cancer anywhere else in my body</span></em>.<em> </em>
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<br />Oh, man. Let's hear it for straightforward, simple, curable breast cancer!!!! I'm not kidding you guys -- all I have to do is get rid of this, which'll be a snap, you know, especially when compared with the alternatives.
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<br />Sigh. I feel wonderful.
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<br />Which brings me back to those peas I'm in the pod with, sort of. Because one thing I've been given the chance to <em>know</em> --not <em>fear</em>, but <em>know</em> -- is that I'm going to die one day. And so is everyone I love. Which may include <em>you</em>, by the way.
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<br />Now. Why should this make me so happy, and don't you just <em>loathe </em>rhetorical questions?
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<br />I'll tell you why anyway: Because now I can stop wasting valuable time fearing the reality of my "someday" death and the "someday" deaths of my loved ones, too, and start spending that time enjoying this here moment <em>right now</em>.
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<br />And I'm not saying I didn't fear my own death last week, but I will say that there was a "click" at one point -- a "change of channels," as my friend Julie would put it. I went off the "fear" channel and turned onto the "this is real" channel, and I'm here to say, for what it's worth, that Love transmits much more clearly, definetly, and practically on this reality channel than that fear one.
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<br />So maybe that's what Tyler's talking about, and Paula, too.
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<br />Anyway: I think I'd like to talk about this some more, because I gotta tell you -- there's vampires a'plenty to contend with on this journey.
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<br />So I'll keep you posted.</div></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-79344760389668284802007-11-14T10:13:00.000-07:002007-11-19T11:27:10.793-07:00The Heart Of Practical Vampire Slaying, Part II: More On Those Inner Vamps<a href="http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/3433/2601/lo/zo1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/3433/2601/lo/zo1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A friend was telling me the other day about a couple of relatives she has who are fighting like crazy over some property and money issues.<br /><br />The fight is between a mother and daughter, both adults, and sounds a little like their…what do you call it – “Waterloo?” Because it sounds like it’s a very deciding kind of deal for both of them, wherein each has made up her mind to "make a stand,” and fight to the finish -- however grim that finish might be.<br /><br />As is typical in every family I’ve ever known, there is in this family a history of divorce, of alcoholism, of co-dependence, of unintended child neglect (in both the mother's <em>and</em> daughter’s histories), and many generations of good old-fashioned inherited emotional family dysfunction – all of the usual stuff, and all of it contributing to years and years of unresolved anger and resentment in both the daughter and her mother.<br /><br />But what got my attention was a description my friend gave of a conversation she had with the mom in this dispute. In the conversation she was listing for my friend all the reasons her daughter was wrong about the property and the money, and then suddenly in this list she was reciting she mentioned something that seemed out of context to my friend – said something about some totally unrelated offense the daughter had supposedly committed long ago.<br /><br />Only she said it as though it had just happened yesterday.<br /><br />So my friend, confused, stopped her and said, “Hold on a second. Didn’t you say that happened over a year ago?" And this woman says, “Yeah, uh-huh: over a year ago,” like it was the most normal thing in the world for her to mention it at that moment and in that context.<br /><br />And when my friend told me that, suddenly I saw it: I saw exactly how this woman couldn’t differentiate between her <em>current </em>argument with her daughter and all her <em>past</em> arguments and resentments with her daughter.<br /><br />To her, it was normal to mention the old wound because to her the old wound was as new and as current as ever. One year ago, 30 years ago, one hour ago, what’s the difference when the resentment has never been laid to rest – when the vampire is still feeding and has never been slain?<br /><br />Suddenly I could see the two of them, this mother and daughter arguing, with all their inner vampires vying for position in the fight – I could see the daughter’s vampires screaming at her mother’s, and the mother’s screaming at the daughter's: a million old vampires trying to take advantage of the chance to express themselves in this seeming "property" fight.<br /><br />No wonder they can’t resolve the property issue. And no wonder everyone is so hurt and confused -- nobody knows who's doing the fighting here or why!<br /><br />Their inner vampires – the parts of themselves that they've refused to look at for all these years, are doing all the talking. Like the good vampires they are, they live in the dark and grow in the dark because that's where we pushed them so long ago so we wouldn't have to look at them, wouldn't have to deal with them. But they’re lonely and tired and really, really mad, and they'll insist on being heard, on having their say – just as they did with this mother and daughter, and just as they're sure to do with the rest of us, too.<br /><br />It was the best argument I've heard yet for practical vampire slaying, for calling our inner vampires out into the light where we can see them and stake them. Because if we don't, it's plain to see that no matter how many years go by, they'll always be hiding in there, and will surely consume every bit of joy we're meant to be experiencing in our relationships today. After all, how can we possibly pay any attention to what's happening in our lives today when yesterday's vampires are doing all that talking? And doing it so loudly, too!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Next time: Calling The Vampire Out</strong></span></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-375074666338433912007-10-07T11:03:00.000-06:002007-10-08T18:12:33.419-06:00The Heart Of Practical Vampire Slaying, Part 1<a href="http://aura0.zaadz.com/photos/20/198722/large/Into_The_Mirror_by_Luna_Crok.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://aura0.zaadz.com/photos/20/198722/large/Into_The_Mirror_by_Luna_Crok.jpg" border="0" /></a><em><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Dear PVS,<br /><br />I was reading back through your archives and a thought occurred to me: Is it possible that we could be our own worst vampires at times? Some might call that internal editor inside an inner demon, but I think your vampire definition holds (holy) water here too. I mean, when we listen to that voice, it drains energy and light from us, right?</span></strong></em> <em><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />What do you think? </span></strong></em><br /><em><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Sincerely,</span></strong></em><br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">A Reader</span></em></strong><br /><br />Dearest Reader,<br /><br />Thank you for this amazing question. It's a real can-of-worms opener for sure! In fact, I'm going to have to take it in 2 parts.<br /><br />I have heard that "it is the part of ourselves we refuse to look at that rules us," and for me, that's always been the case.<br /><br />The nice thing about our vampires is that -- even when they live on the "outside" (as in unhealthy or draining relationships with others) -- they lead us inevitably to the task of <a href="http://practicalslayer.blogspot.com/2007/03/necessary-lengths-part-2.html">self-examination</a>. After all, how can we tell our vampires what we want if we don't even know what that is ourselves?<br /><br />That is totally the upside of having insatiable, bloodsucking friends -- they force us into relationship with ourselves.<br /><br />For instance: Before I could revoke my invitation to an old boyfriend I'd broken up with who was stalking me after the breakup, I had to know what it was inside of me that was allowing him to treat me that way. Why was I putting up with that crap? What was I afraid would happen if I told him <em>clearly</em> to knock it off?<br /><br />In my case it turned out to be fear, mostly: fear of hurting him, fear of defining myself without him, fear of financial insecurity, and mostly a big, fat fear of making a mistake -- because what if my decision to leave him was a mistake? What if I'd just been crazy on the day I'd left him and I would one day regret it?<br /><br />On some level (and by that I mean <em>the level of myself I</em> <em>refused to look at</em>) it seemed like a good idea to keep the door to that relationship slightly ajar...just a little insurance in case I ever wanted to walk back through it, you know?<br /><br />Problem is, you can't close the door to something and keep it open at the same time.<br /><br />So there was this price I was paying -- a little premium on that insurance policy, if you will -- and that premium, of course, was my sanity. I was confused, in pain, and starting to get pretty freaked out about being followed around and ambushed by him all the time.<br /><br />Sheesh. It was getting so I couldn't even walk from my car to my house at night without wondering whether he going to jump out from behind the bushes.<br /><br />I blamed my vampire for that, but the truth was that I hadn't been clear with him about wanting to end the relationship for good and all. I'd been telling him that I "<em>couldn't</em>" be with him, and that left the door open because it's not a clear statement of my will. It also let me off the hook, too, since I'm not responsible for what I <em>can</em> or <em>can't</em> do -- I'm only responsible for what I <em>will </em>or <em>won't</em> do.<br /><br />I can't swim.<br />I don't want to swim.<br /><br />I can't go to the game.<br />I don't want to go to the game.<br /><br />I can't have a relationship with you.<br />I don't want to have a relationship with you.<br /><br />See the difference?<br /><br />Before I could revoke my invitation and close the door, I had to take responsibility for my own will -- and to take responsibility for my own will, of course, I had to know what my will was.<br /><br />Which brings us back to...?<br /><br />You got it: self examination. I had to make a decision to shine a light on the part of myself I'd refused to look at that was ruling me: my doubts, my fears, and my insecurties -- you know these guys: <span style="color:#cc0000;"><em>the</em> </span><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">inner vampires</span><span style="color:#333333;">.</span></em><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Next time: More on the inner vampires of which you speak, dear Reader.</span></em></div><div align="center"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-5412467908983448102007-08-31T11:03:00.000-06:002007-09-03T20:22:39.972-06:00I Think They're Trying To Seduce Me<a href="http://www.postmodernsass.com/blogger/uploaded_images/MrsRobinson-716380.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.postmodernsass.com/blogger/uploaded_images/MrsRobinson-716380.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><em><strong>Dear PVS,</strong></em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><em><strong></strong></em></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><em><strong>I'm 19 years old, and not Goth. I am fairly normal by most standards, but 3 female vampires have tried to start relationships with me or wanted sex in the past month. </strong></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><em><strong></strong></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><em><strong>Am I attracting this or do just have really bad luck?</strong></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><em><strong></strong></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><em><strong>Sincerely, </strong></em></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;color:#660000;"><strong><em>Bob</em></strong></span><br /><br />Hi Bob,<br /><br />Thanks for the great question, and I apologize for the delay in answering you -- I've been having blogger trouble that seems to have finally resolved itself today.<br /><br />So. A couple of things come to mind as I consider your letter:<br /><p>First, you don't need to be "Goth" to attract a vampire, although I suspect you already know this. The vampires we're talking about around here aren't overly impressed with image -- what turns them on is vulnerability and a potentially good meal. What they want is a way to get in and lots to eat once they've crossed the threshold. </p><p>Think "invitations." Think "insatiable appetites."</p><p>So I'm wondering why you feel these women are vampires. Is it because of the way they dress? Because I have to tell you, clothes do not make the vampire, and for vampires this is so not about style. </p><p>Do they profess to be vampires? Are they vampire wannabees? If so, this is not what defines a "practical vampire," which is of course what we are speaking of here.</p><p>Practical vampires are the people, places, institutions, beliefs, and situations we deal with every day that drain us of our time, our energy, and our good will. They are personal to us and defined not by what they do but rather by how we are affected by them. When we diagnose a vampire in our lives, it is by looking at our wounds, and not by looking at the vampire. Practical vampires are not people playing dress-up or members of any particular community. </p><p>Practical vampire slaying is founded on the spiritual principle that a vampire cannot enter into our lives to feed without first receiving our invitation to do so. Taking responsibility for what enters our lives and how we deal with it is how we reclaim our power to choose for ourselves what we want to do about our vampires. </p><p>Sometimes we choose to evict them by "revoking our invitations," and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we are ready to be rid of our vampires and other times we're not. It's all about having a choice. </p><p>The point is, we have no choice and no power if we continue to view ourselves as victims of bad luck. This is why taking responsibility for our lives matters so much to any practical vampire slayer.</p><p>So Bob, when you ask whether you are attracting them or just having bad luck, I want to remind you that we're <em>all</em> approached by vampires every day, whether we're "attracting them" or not. Vampires are nothing if not determined, and will try to solicit an invitation anywhere they can. It is true that some potential hosts are more toothsome than others -- some appear by their behavior to be more vulnerable to solicitation, no doubt about that! </p><p>But vampires are willing to "try anyone once,"so it is not our job to run around trying to dodge their solicitations as much as it is to calmly refuse their solicitations when they come.</p><p>This we do by arming ourselves with clarity: clarity about who we are and what we want. The more we know about what we're up to and what we <em>want</em> in our lives, the less vulnerable we are to inviting in the things that rob us of our freedom.</p><p>I say that like it's so easy, right? But finding clarity about who we are and what we want requires willingness, readiness, commitment, and practice, and even with those, we'll never get it perfect. Still we try, though -- bringing a little more light and a little more freedom to our lives each day.</p><p>Or at least I do!</p><p></p><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-33093518200264256072007-08-06T14:27:00.000-06:002008-12-08T15:42:15.345-07:00The Natural<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2KB9pGjBdHDJusCQo0rLJS1xdgVkbpzz_Hng5VeAewLmQrkGYd1m4Ho6gt7qKjw8ksfumh7keUcigpEXFVXeFqmXnsIBTv8wh74SC3vq7Bvs0nbEvyTd2PVOqqCMEkfOvTU/s1600-h/randm.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5095688176599792498" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2KB9pGjBdHDJusCQo0rLJS1xdgVkbpzz_Hng5VeAewLmQrkGYd1m4Ho6gt7qKjw8ksfumh7keUcigpEXFVXeFqmXnsIBTv8wh74SC3vq7Bvs0nbEvyTd2PVOqqCMEkfOvTU/s400/randm.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>My handsome husband Robert and trapeze-swinging 10 year-old Madeline Jane were out running with our dog Agatha this morning. (That's an old picture of the two of them, by the way, measuring off the deck Robert was building some years ago.)</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />As they returned home and entered our driveway they spotted one of our neighbors, and Robert (in an admittedly unusual outburst of conviviality) waved and called to him, "Hi there! How're you doing?"</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />The neighbor, without addressing the question, answered, "Is that your dog I hear barking at night?"</div><div></div><div><br />To which Robert simply answered, "I don't know."</div><div></div><div><br />Evidently the neighbor said something after that and Robert didn't bother to answer him or ask him to repeat himself; he just kept going instead.</div><div></div><div><br />Madeline told me the story when they got home and I have to say that I am once again impressed with my husband's natural ability to ward off vampires.</div><div></div><div><br />He's always doing this stuff.</div><div></div><div><br />Because if that had been me, I probably would have ignored the fact of our neighbor's rudeness and gotten all concerned and rushed over to try and make it better with him -- even without knowing for sure that it was our dog bothering him.</div><div><br /><br />Talk about invitations to vampires! </div><div></div><div><br />Listen: I know for a fact that one of our other neighbors has dogs that bark like clockwork every evening at 9:30. </div><div></div><div><br />I also know that this particular neighbor who's doing the complaining is pretty weird and maybe even a little looney. I haven't gotten close enough to know for sure and don't care to.</div><div></div><div><br />I also know that vampires just love to catch us off guard. If this guy was among the living he would have come to our home and spoken to us directly and politely. But The Undead don't do business that way. They wait for you to open the door and then rush in with their own agendas, just as this neighbor did. </div><div></div><div><br />And did you notice what my clever husband did when approached by the vampire? <em>He gave himself time to think before he answered! </em>He said, "I don't know," which is the perfect time-buying tool. </div><div></div><div><br />Anyway, I was thinking about all this after Maddie told me the story, and I was wondering: What do <em>you guys</em> think? Do you consider my husband's behavior rude? Or was it just good slayer technique? </div><div></div><div><br />What would you have done? </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-35419380128889491032007-07-11T10:05:00.000-06:002007-07-11T15:54:59.105-06:00The Vampire Thrall<a href="http://www.bruceeisner.com/photos/uncategorized/22hypn1583.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.bruceeisner.com/photos/uncategorized/22hypn1583.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong>thrall </strong>(throl)<strong><em>n</em></strong>.: a semi-hypnotic state brought on by interaction with the vampire <em>which results in our heightened suseptibility to suggestion from the vampire</em>.<br /><br />My friend Angel was just telling me that one of her vampires showed up at her house quite unexpectedly the other day and asked her if she’d like to go to a street fair with him and his kids. She’d just had a miserably draining encounter with him (and his kids) the day before and it was still fresh in her mind, so when he asked her, she was able to tell him no -- but what she couldn’t understand later was why she’d even <em>considered</em> his proposition. “The weird thing was that I was actually thinking about doing it!” she told me. “Why would I do that, especially when I’m still sore from the last time he bit me?"<br /><br /><em>Answer</em>: She was caught in her vampire’s thrall. He showed up suddenly and without warning (a favorite vampire tactic, famously employed by salespeople and by people who try to sell religion door-to-door, too), made eye contact with her, and bingo: there she was -- in his thrall and once again highly susceptible to his suggestions.<br /><br />Vampires are notorious for this -- I mean, we all know that you're never supposed to look into a vampire's eyes, right? And yet the whole thing baffles me a bit...what is it that happens when we do?<br /><br />Could it be that the vampire's eyes reflect our own indecision?<br /><br />We are most vulnerable to our vampires when we have not yet taken the time to clarify for ourselves who we are and what we want in our lives.<br /><br />Could it be that the power of the vampire's thrall lies not so much in the vampire's will for us, but in our uncertainty about what our own will for our lives is?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24263250.post-58682541337214022542007-05-06T13:31:00.000-06:002007-07-11T15:56:04.230-06:00Back To The Mirror<a href="http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9G_Rq8G1DxGCRoBKwijzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBsdmIydTZhBHNlYwNwcm9mBHZ0aWQDSTAwMV83MA--/SIG=12678hieq/EXP=1178477958/**http://www.ind-tech.com/images/thoughtful_head.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9G_Rq8G1DxGCRoBKwijzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBsdmIydTZhBHNlYwNwcm9mBHZ0aWQDSTAwMV83MA--/SIG=12678hieq/EXP=1178477958/**http%3A//www.ind-tech.com/images/thoughtful_head.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Fortunately for us, when we look in the mirror we <em>can</em> see our reflections. And that helps just a heck of a lot when it comes to considering our wounds.</div><div><br />So what are we looking for when we examine ourselves? What do our wounds look like, anyway?<br /><br />Well, to me the most obvious look a lot like:<br /><br /><strong>Resentment</strong>: And I ain’t talking about just being mad, either. What I'm talking about is that movie we keep playing in our heads featuring past feedings by our vampires and future <em>imagined</em> feedings by our vampires -- and our anger, anger, anger about <em>both</em>.<br /></div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>I'm driving to work, and instead of seeing the road in front of me, I'm seeing an ambitious coworker who's been doing his best to prove to me (and everyone else in the office) that he's a faster, harder, and all-around better worker than I am. I can see all the little insinuating ways in which he's tried to make me look bad in the past, and I'm seeing all the possible ways he's going to try and make me look bad in the future. The one thing I </em><strong>can't</strong> <em>see is the thing I need to see most at the moment: </em></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>the road and the traffic in front of me!! </em></span></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="left">And that's the exact same movie I was watching <em>yesterday</em> on my way to work, too!</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div><br /></div><div align="left"><strong>Fear</strong>: This is another one -- that dread we feel at the prospect of our next visit with our vampires, and how preoccupied we can become with how we're going to dodge, handle, ditch, or (worst of all ) <em>feed</em> them in a hopeless attempt to quiet their insatiable appetites, even for a short time. </div><div align="center"><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">I'm finishing the last of the breakfast dishes, satisfied that the livingroom is somewhat clean and the baby is about to go down for her nap. As I contemplate the heavenly possibility of taking a nap with her, it dawns on me that my vampire may be coming to call without notice. I invited her in once long ago, and now she comes and goes as she pleases. Terror-struck at this maybe-she-will/maybe-she-won't scenario, I cannot rest, and search for a plan to keep her out or keep her visit short. But now I'm too worried to rest at all. </span></em></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left">And my vampire never even made an appearance!</div><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><p>The trouble with vampire-hosting is that it can get to be a way of life. I can have these kinds of wounds and think these kinds of thoughts <em>for years</em> and never notice how they're draining the life right out of me. </p><p>And I'm not even talking about the wounds that just plain-old <em>hurt</em>. </p><p>So, Slayers, should we talk about those, too?</p><p><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></p></span></em><div class="blogger-post-footer"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fpracticalslayer.blogspot.com&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=450&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=dark&height=80" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe></div>Claudia / PVShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568839025538945381noreply@blogger.com12