With that attraction of Bast the goddess came my next manifestation of Bast and came about through a role playing game or MUD (multi user dungeon) online that I played called Cosrin. In Cosrin, there are elves and elfdogs. Elves in Cosrin are pretty much like most typical elves in role playing games. Elfdogs are basically roaming creatures with no real personality and are just dogs with elf like ears. So, I decided to create Bast an half elf-cat, half demon (and that's another story to be told in another blog). As an elf-cat she is most like an elf (bi-pedal) with cat features, fur, tail, ears and nose. So, combine also the personality type of an elf with a personality type of cat, what do you get? Lots of things, that's what, but that's what became the Kefferlings in Mel Chesley's and my stories and you'll have to read about that some in more blog posts or in my book when it is done being written.
Then of course came my cat Bast which of course was taken from the Egyptian mythos and she lives up to her namesake. I've had Bast for 13 years now and she is a love bug and still a playful kitten in many ways. She's actually a pretty social cat unlike how they've been made out to be. I've not had a better cat than Bast.
D is for desert, or should it be dessert, I could for some of that right now, but no....Desert. I live in Tucson, Arizona. It is a desert city surrounded by mountains. They are not mountains like what I was use to in Colorado or the Alps in Europe.
Before we moved to Tucson as kid we thought of the Sahara desert of North Africa. We believed that we'd be seeing sand dunes all over the place and no vegetation in sight. So, when my parents came back from their job search and house hunting they had shown me pictures of the Tucson area we were pleasantly surprised. Tucson is a thriving metropolis. It is actually quite beautiful with vegetation like no other in the world. It has trees, but not the pine trees or or trees like elm. We have palo verdes and mesquite trees. We have lots of cactus and other small plants. Pretty cool if you ask me! In the mountains they have a sub-alpine landscape that include those pine trees, cottonwoods and aspen. The wildlife is incredible to....We have a huge variety of birds. Yes, we do have coyotes and road runners, but we have much, much more. We have seen mountain lions and bobcats to boot. It's pretty exciting really.
E is for entertainment. What more can I say. Sometimes the most simplest things can entertain me. In the Society for Creative Anachronism small things that are amusing and draw the attention of folks were called Dwarf Toy's. It was often something sparkly and playful that bemused even the hard suit/heavy fighters. Yes, I too played for a number of years in the SCA. The SCA is a Medieval/Renaissance recreation group. It's not the same as Renaissance Faires as they are all about the show and is choreographed. The SCA tries to be as authentic as they can be. If you are interested in finding out more about the SCA, the website is www.sca.org.
I am not entirely sure how I ended up digressing into the SCA, but all the same, it is one form of interest of mine and is in a way entertaining.
F is for Fluoride.
General Jack D. Ripper: Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children's ice cream.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: [very nervous] Lord, Jack.
General Jack D. Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began?
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: I... no, no. I don't, Jack.
General Jack D. Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Uh, Jack, Jack, listen... tell me, tell me, Jack. When did you first... become... well, develop this theory?
General Jack D. Ripper: [somewhat embarassed] Well, I, uh... I... I... first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmm.
General Jack D. Ripper: Yes, a uh, a profound sense of fatigue... a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I... I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Hmm.
General Jack D. Ripper: I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women uh... women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I, uh... I do not avoid women, Mandrake.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: No.
General Jack D. Ripper: But I... I do deny them my essence.
Even though, I took this set of quotes from Dr. Strangelove and took it for it's humor, it also has a significance in the grand debate of the value of fluoride. I believe overall that fluoride is bad for you. I believe that it does not need to be added to our water or any other sources, but from what we get naturally and maybe early on in child's development in toothpaste for healthy teeth. At what age do we stop needing fluoride I do not know. If it at the age of 10, 12, 14, 16, I don't know. Who knows....it's all part of the debate I suppose. I don't think there is any sort of conspiracy though...If it was a conspiracy I think it'd be in everything we ingest, including ice cream.
Well, that's it for this edition of the blog.
