The response from our fellow peers about the decision of whom was elected is pretty exciting. People are still protesting across the U.S. which is great to see, and it’s being recognized which is what we need. It shows that we will not stand up for bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, and racism.
That being said, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.
I was raised by two immigrant parents. They are now American citizens, and I know not everyone living here has the chance to call themselves an American citizen. Growing up with two languages spoken in my home, I understand the importance to blend into America while holding onto the culture and traditions of your motherland. I may have the privilege of being white, but I understand how it is having a foreign family while living in a bilingual home.
As much as I want to preach about how we need positive distractions from the election aftermath, I feel like a hypocrite saying so because I can’t help but ignore positive distractions. I’m frustrated and can’t stop thinking about our future and the people already being affected by the hate that was promoted, but I have to get myself back to my everyday life. And so should you.
Here is a project I had in the back of my mind for a few weeks before I acted on it.
I first came across a wall divider made of rope and it sparked an idea. I looked to Pinterest for more inspiration, as well as bouncing ideas with my roommate.
I liked the idea of beads, and I have a TON of beads I didn’t know how to utilize. They were mostly those chunky beads you use when you’re young to make really colorful and tacky bracelets and necklaces. Being a hoarder, I saved them all and thought hanging them up as room dividers would be a great place to use them.
So, the unthinkable has happened and we’re all shocked. Shocked and kinda terrified. It’s still sinking in, honestly. Just thinking about how the positive changes we made as a country will now be undone, and according to the way our country voted, clearly people like the idea of going backwards instead of forward.
As it’s been discussed in the media – when was America ever really all that great? I’d like to think within the last eight years it’s been only getting better, but now we reached a grinding halt and people are okay with reverting back to the way it was: when women couldn’t vote, slaves were in existence – basically when the white men ruled this country is when it was great. That’s what Americans voted for. People want that back.
Well America, guess what? So much has changed for us to go back to that world. People are not afraid to voice their opinions and no way will the minority sit quiet and take this. We’re going to see a revolution. There’s no way we won’t. The extent of this revolution? I guess we’ll find out, but there’s no way that the next four years will be a quiet period where “miracles” will happen to make this country “great again”.
There’s going to be protests, riots, movements, you name it. It will happen.
The entertainment industry has made plenty of movies featuring the future of the world, alternate realities, parallel universes, etc. Most of the time, the world made it out okay. Let’s hope we do too.
So I put together a list of movies that may possibly predict what the Trump presidency may be like. Because lists can sometimes get the point across. And I’m not gonna hold back.
01. Super Mario Bros. [1993]
The world splitting with a parallel dimension featuring a dictator who refers to himself as King with his people either turning to human/dino morphs or devolving to fungus – could this be foreshadowing? It’s just uncanny how much Trump resembles King Koopa in this film, and his personality is not that far off. Maybe if things get rough, we can turn him to fungus or something.
I can’t speak for everyone, but last week’s spread was scarily accurate for myself and a good portion of my social circle. This week’s reading, however, has me a little spooked with the looming Presidential Election. Tense energies abound! Let’s hop in, shall we?
Monday 11/7
Monday starts us off with a lot of HOPE in regards to whatever aspects of your life center around power and authority. I think this speaks to the election on Tuesday — a lot of us are filled with hope for the outcome we want. With the moon in Aquarius, it’s a good time to focus your thoughts on long term goals and aspirations, or for finding (or even becoming) a mentor in some way.
I know Halloween is now over, but we all still have a little bit of that spooky spirit leftover, right? Or is it just me? Holidays come and go so quick, but the spirit tends to linger for a few days after they’re gone. It’s a little hard to get over Halloween so quickly.
Well, while there’s still some of that spirit left, I put together another list of my top witch movies to share with y’all that are entertaining and not that scary. That is if you’re still into the spirit.
01.Practical Magic [1998]
A light hearted love tale featuring amazing top names we all know and love. There’s no element of scary in this, but it’s all about casting spells and learning to deal with the family curse when it comes to love. It’s a deep love story. Love and witches. Seems to be a typical witch movie.
02.Hocus Pocus [1993]
The top classic witch movie we all know and love, Hocus Pocus features a plot, fashion, set, and overall mood that will never be dated. Something about this movie is so fascinating that it has stuck with viewers since the day it came out, and it’s having a renaissance in the more recent years. This is the classic Halloween movie when people think of witches. Bam.
With Halloween tomorrow, it seems most appropriate to roll out a slightly spooky addition to Oddball Era — Tarot To-Go, a psychic reading and astrological round up to get you ready to tackle the week with the confidence of an Oracle!
Tarot is an intuitive divining art — a way to see into the future that relies on the ability to trust your intuition and higher consciousness. Because it’s intuitive in nature, every reader will have a different method.
My first step is always to set up an altar or sacred space on which to work. I start by bringing the four elements of the planet to the party in the form of water, fire, earth (represented by crystals and shells, the bones of the planet), and feathers or burning herbs to stand for air. I usually sprinkle a little salt down as a base for some added cleansing protection and then take a minute to call upon any spirits, gods, goddesses, or ancestors for support and safety.
Today, in the Spirit of Halloween, I lit a skull shaped candle and waited for the New Moon to set up my space, hoping some of that lunar magic might fill the reading. I called upon the help of Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity and fortune. Then it was time to take several deep breaths, align myself with the Divine, and tap in.
I like making lists, I think that’s pretty apparent by now. I especially love making themed ones, and my top favorite theme is pop culture. Here is an example.
I gathered references pop culture mainstream moments of when the word banana came into play.
01. An obvious use of banana was from my all time favorite person, Gwen Stefani. She brought our attention to bananas though the drum line song we all know and can’t get enough of. But I figured it was too obvious to add this song into the list, so here’s a video where Gwen schools Stephen Colbert about bananas.
After double checking to make sure the size of the file was correct, I ordered the smallest tapestry size because it fits our wall best. It didn’t take too long to be delivered, but we were on the edge of our seats waiting to see how it’d come out.
When you hit puberty, all hell breaks loose. Your hormones act up and it’s projected onto your skin. It happens to all of us at some point. Our pH levels rebel causing oily and dry skin, and as soon as we break out, we run to the dermatologist.
They’re quick to prescribe all these topical creams and our skin just becomes a desert wasteland. Does any of this sound familiar?
This is the challenge of growing up: finding ways to balance healthy habits while trying not to compromise your bodily chemistry…because if you do mess with that chemistry, your body has no problem showing you the consequences.
I got frustrated with the trips to the dermatologist and the stupid creams that didn’t work. I got to the point where I Googled other options and I constantly came across natural remedies that worked. Well, in the beginning there was a learning curve, but these days I constantly get complimented on my skin and I’d like to think all those years of trying natural items instead of unnatural chemicals did some good.
One, I apologize for the dirty mirror. I actually Photoshopped a lot of the dirty marks out. Shhh, don’t tell anyone…
Two, can we discuss how there is no good angle to take a mirror picture? A selfie is not my intention, but you can’t avoid it when you’re trying to show a mirror redo.
