Romania Legalizes Witchcraft

31-year-old Gabriela Chukur will stay in history as the country's first legal witch, after she registered a company dealing with "astrology and contacts with the spiritual world", media reported. Chukur spent quite a lot of time arguing with various officials until she convinced them that witchcraft was a sound area of work. At first everyone laughed at her, but they finally caved in. Now Chukur charges her clients ...to peek into their future, to help them get in touch with the spirits of loved ones, or to unravel what's in the stars. " - noinv

Witchcraft is quite popular in Romania as many local people believe in the occult, especially in rural areas where legends of Transilvania's count Dracula are still taken quite seriously. All over Eastern Europe women tend to believe in the powers of witches and some often resort to their help when settling a love score, healing a broken heart, or punishing a rival.

Sure. Why not? Other nutty religions are already legal. Besides, magic is fun.

Scientists Debunk Astrology

One of the largest studies of the possible link between human traits and astrology found little, if any, connection between the traditional sun signs of the zodiac and characteristics of individuals. The study adds to the growing body of evidence that there is no scientific basis for star signs, such as Aries, Taurus and so on. These signs are based on the place of the sun in relation to the date of birth of the subject. The researchers, however, leave open the question as to whether other, more detailed and personal forms of astrology hold any validity.

"When considering the current scientific standing with respect to sun signs, it becomes clear that there is little or no truth in sun signs," said Peter Hartmann, who led the study, which will be published in next month's Personality and Individual Differences journal." - discovery

Astrology is like a Reces Peanut butter Cup. Hey, you got Astronomy in my Psychology! Hey! You got Psychology in my Astronomy... Yum. It is still fun even if it is unconnected to objective reality. I've always thought of it as a religion and a way for people to talk about their personalities with eachother. Nothing wrong with that.

Mysterious Booms Across the US

Something [mysterious] happened in San Diego County shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, and so far no one has come forward with an explanation. Whatever it was, it caused a woman's bed to shake in Lakeside. It created waves in a backyard pool in Carmel Valley. It set off car alarms in Kearny Mesa and rattled windows from Mission Beach to Poway to Vista. At various spots throughout the county, people reported a rumbling sound or a booming noise. Scientists insist it wasn't an earthquake. The Federal Aviation Administration has no record of any planes producing a sonic boom by breaking the sound barrier. Camp Pendleton officials say no activities on the Marine base could have created such a disturbance. There were no large explosions in San Diego County that day, and no meteor fireballs were reported in the sky that morning. ... A Mission Beach resident compared the sensation to ?somewhere in between an explosion and an earthquake." - MORE

Secret tunneling to build underground factilities? Secret underground weapons tests? These are happening all over: San Diego CA, Somerset County in Maine, Mobile Alabama. Also Wilmington, N.C., on Dec. 20, 2005; Winston-Salem, N.C., on March 5, 2005; Charleston, S.C., on Aug. 1, 2003; and Pensacola, Fla., on Jan. 13, 2003.

Find the Cheapest Gas

Here are some links to local gas prices as of today: Sacramento ($2.87-$3.19), Davis ($2.93-$3.16), Woodland ($2.87-$2.99), Dixon ($2.92-$3.03). Cheapest gas along my path is currently the Arco ampm, 2200 El Camino & Howe, Sacramento at $2.87. Prices are always changing. People check and update the site regularly. I think all gas stations should be required by law to advertise their prices on line and keep them up to date. You can also search by zip code on californiagasprices.com. If my tank holds 16 gallons, one tank at $2.93 will cost me $46.88. So, my current quest is to find the best bicycle I can get for $46.88. (Happiness tip: always have a worthy and interesting quest. )

No Car Week, Day 2: Ride the Bus

So, I'm up early today. Yesterday I walked to work and back home in bad shoes and got blisters. Spent $10 on new socks, much less than I'd spend on a tank of gas.

I've learned that my parking permit doubles as a free bus pass, so today was my first day on local mass transit. I can walk to work in 52 minutes and it takes 20 minutes on the bus.

What is the best bike I can get for the price of one tank of gas? I looked at bicycles yesterday and was shocked by the prices. Anything I wanted was $300-$600. There is however, a Police Bike Auction coming up April 29th, this Saturday. From 8 to 9 AM you can check them out, then the auction starts at 9 AM. They have over 400 bikes. Mostly they look abandoned and are fixer uppers. Some need air, some other work. The average bid is $20-30. There are usually two of these per year. Call: (530) 752-BIKE. Cool. There are a few $50 bikes on Craigslist bike section.

Private: Our Parents and Our Partners

R writing on the topic of Love Addiction says:

"It sounds like you have transferred the search for love from parents to partners, meaning that perhaps you unconsciously blamed your parents' divorce on yourself and felt (feel?) unworthy of their love, therefore you are seeking to fill the need for parental love. You will never achieve this with a partner - you must find it with your parents. Try to mend any broken relationships with them, and share your repressed feelings of hurt and anger over the divorce with them or a qualified professional, before you seek a life partner. This is the best way to forgive yourself, forgive your parents, and find self-acceptance, which is crucial in building a loving relationship with another person. Good luck!"

Sounds like good advice to me. ... Okay, so I just did it. Took the first step anyway. Tonight, after many many years of silence, I confronted my own father about his leaving. Me, Mister Logical Politeness, had to yell at him at one point and tell him to shut up and listen, but it worked. He stopped talking. He listened! Then I cussed him out good and cried. He was patient and honest. He explained the details and it rang true. The answer to my life's puzzle seems to be that some personalities just aren't compatible. That was the case with my parents. So, now I'm sort of angry at both of them for being stupid enough to make me before they were certain they loved eachother. This is why I've never married. The real reason. Even though I've been deeply in love, I have this fantasy of a perfect match that is required to ensure that I don't repeat my parent's mistake. But perfection is a myth, so I'm alone. Still, tonight my father said he loves me. And that's pretty cool. And ... there you have it. I hope this blog therapy helps some of you random readers. Go confront your parents if you never have. Confront yourself. The world will be a better place. - 4/24/06 8:45 PM, Me.

Speaking Words of (Toltec) Wisdom

A helpful reader writes about love addiction:

"For a very long while I was in this horrible cycle of jumping from one 'crush' to the next trying to find something to fill a hole in my life and in my soul. I realized that 1) I didn't love myself, 2) THAT is what I was missing, and 3) I had no idea how to go about fixing that problem. So I started taking a meditation class through the (Local University's ) Experimrntal College and to put it simply it has changed things (slowly) wonderfully. And then I started reading some books, not schloppy self-help but books about old spirituality (Toltec wisdom). Okay, so I feel like I sound a bit crazy :) But I'm really truly not, just very happy that I've finally begun to realize that I am worthy of love and hapiness- on so many levels! And it's f#cking cool! So I'm working on it.

To you I would say: actively start telling yourself that you are perfect just as you are. Everyone has things they'd changed about themselves, but even if you did change you'd still be no more or less perfect- just different. And you won't believe yourself, you've just got to keep saying it- and soon it won't seem like such a con, it will become true to you. Because EVERYONE is worthy of love, from Stalin to Gahndi- everyone (including you)

I feel where you are at, and it can change."

Pyramid in Bosnia may be one-third taller than Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza

Bosnia-Herzegovina - Researchers in Bosnia on Wednesday unearthed the first solid evidence that an ancient pyramid lies hidden beneath a massive hill ? a series of geometrically cut stone slabs that could form part of the structure's sloping surface.

Archaeologists and other experts began digging into the sides of the mysterious hill near the central Bosnian town of Visoko last week. On Wednesday, the digging revealed large stone blocks on one side that the leader of the team believes are the outer layer of the pyramid.

"These are the first uncovered walls of the pyramid," said Semir Osmanagic, a Bosnian archaeologist who studied the pyramids of Latin America for 15 years. - msnbc

Man dies after falling into large hole that opens under his house.

Many odd things about this story.

"It was like a scene from a horror film: A 27-year-old man plummeted into a gaping hole that suddenly opened beneath a house, trapping him beneath foundation rubble and killing him. Authorities say the home, built in the 1980s, may have been sitting atop a decades-old underground mine. Recent rains could have softened the ground under the home, in an isolated area near Lake Alta. ... Authorities returned to the home Sunday to try and remove the man's body, though geologists were still testing the house's soundness. The man's identity hadn't been positively established." - canoe

Sounds like a cover story from a real life scene from Hellboy. Here's a follow up.

ALTA, Calif. - ... Authorities identified the victim as 32-year-old Jason Chellew, a schoolteacher whose wife was pregnant. Chellew was relaxing in his living room about 9:30 p.m. Friday when he heard creaking noises, sprang up and began to move across the room just as the floor opened beneath him, authorities said.

His wife was in bed and was uninjured, said Rick Armstrong, a retired Placer County sheriff's captain who said he has known the Chellew family for decades.

This area in the Sierra Nevada foothills was heavily mined for gold in the late 1800s. A mine collapse is one likely cause of the strange episode, officials said. A team of 100 people was investigating the site Sunday, including numerous geologists.

Chellew had no pulse when rescuers reached him Friday night. ... A second sinkhole opened up about 50 feet away from the house, authorities said. ... Douglas Ferrier, president of the Golden Drift Historical Society, which exists to preserve the region's mining history, said the area was part of the historic Nary Red Mine ... a web of 16 different gold mining claims that operated from the 1860s to the 1940s... No maps exist ... "It would not surprise me at all that there are shafts and tunnels that do not show evidence on the surface but that may be there underneath the ground," Ferrier said. ... "There may be absolutely no surface evidence that it's there, and it could be five feet below the surface." - AP

Private: Mind: Dealing with Loss.

Working is difficult today. I'm learning some things that can help people grieving over the loss of a best friend:

> Expect a range of emotional responses - this is normal.
> Forgive yourself for what you did or didn?t do.
> Be available to talk to others who share in your grief - it can be beneficial to all involved.
> Cry when you feel like crying and scream when you feel like screaming.
> Seek help from friends or professionals - you don?t have to go through it alone.

A Week of No Car

I'm giving a lot of things up lately. New this week: My car. Today is the first day I walked to work. It took longer than I expected, 52 minutes door to door. Perhaps there is a shorter route. I breathed a lot of noxious fumes and I have a headache now from that. Next I'll take the bus. Then find a cheap bike. It was fun walking past the $3/gal gas signs. Walking for a few hours per day is also pretty good exercise.

Scientists break the bone code

LONDON: The genetic trigger for "stone man syndrome", a rare but devastating condition that turns muscle into bone to imprison its victims in a second skeleton, has been identified. The discovery of a single gene that causes fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or FOP, offers hope of an effective therapy for the disorder, which begins in childhood and has no cure. ... FOP is one of the rarest diseases, affecting about one in two million individuals." - theaus

Photo: A CAT scan shows the back of an unnamed 12-year-old patient of Dr. Frederick Kaplan, showing bone formation typical of rare FOP disease.

Wow, that's a horrible disease. Be glad every day for the health you have. Understanding the genetics may help science to grow new bone and prevent osteoporosis (bone loss). We are really starting to crack our own genetic code. Amazing possibilities around the corner!

A horse with no horse

I'm not really a horse guy. I've ridden a few times, but never felt comfortable on one. The driftwood horses of Heather J remind me of Salvador Dali. Great art.

And now for something completely different..

I'm thinking about getting a bike again and riding the bus more to save gas. Here's a happy guy with a big moustache who seems to think out of the box with his double unicycle invention.

Private: Getting Involved, Getting Help.

Involvement: Girlfriends have always filled up my time. I like it that way. I love to be in a good relationship. After my difficulty with my latest break up a few days ago, however, I realize I still need to get over my past loves. Dating too soon is a common mistake. I've made it over and over. So, here are some new ways to spend my time for a while: My current favorite group is the Union of Concerned Scientists. I've belonged to Amnesty International as well for many years. I've always loved nature so the Sierra Club sounds interesting. Here are some hikes in April. Here's one I'll probably try:

APRIL 29, SATURDAY

Young Adult Day Hike (1A). Pine Hill Preserve (map). A Pine Hill Preserve (www.pinehillpreserve.org) docent will take us on an easy and informative hike through this scenic 3,900 acre preserve in western El Dorado Co., which is home to numerous rare and endangered plants. Bring lunch, water, hiking boots and $$ for optional drinks after the hike. Rain cancels. For ages 18-about-40. Limit of 25. Meet 8:30 a.m. in Folsom. Contact leader no later than April 27th for reservation & meeting info. Leader: Jeff Utberg, 916.515.0967 or jeffutberg@hotmail.com.

Therapy: Therapists are expensive (although a reader pointed out that you can usually see someone cheaply if you have health insurance?) ... I should try a love life coach. Here are some therapists in nearby cities: Sacramento, Davis, Woodland. Which one is best for me? The write ups help. I picked a few and left a few messages. I am going to see someone. I'm true to my word. I did quit sugar after eating it for decades, after all. I don't mind hard work for healthy results. I'd bet on me any day, but one sweet gambler folded a winning hand. - Mr. 75 cent, moon screensaver, Hay!, Pull it. Pop it. Love it. Leave it.

Private: Diamonds, Topaz and Plastic

Hair cut, cleaning, going through old papers all day. I found a $200 reciept for a topaz necklace I purchased for D a woman I'd hoped to marry. She loved diamonds. I felt bad getting her the topaz because I think she wanted a diamond instead, but the color reminded me of her awesome blue eyes. She also thought it was much cheaper than it actually was. My lastest love liked only cheap (but stylish) plastic jewelry. I learned from "H" that some horrible slavery goes on in Africa so rich people elsewhere in the world can have diamonds. Here is an anti-diamond web site. Interesting. A diamond made from scratch may be better.

Confidence Building: 1 hr of Running.

What makes you feel the best about yourself? At one point I trained for a marathon. I got up to 20 miles, running for hours and hours. This morning I felt some of that physical memory return as I jogged for an hour out to a local paintball club. Pics:

Private: Realizations of Love Addiction Withdrawl and Self Rejection

Warning: Contains psychological nudity.

Break up, Day 4: My body must actually be physically addicted to the woman I've dated for the last three months. The torment I feel is indescribable. It's like emotional torture. Is this normal? It can't be healthy.

One minute I'm fine. Then I think of something I want tell her, or of how I'd love to kiss the back of her neck again, I think of her cute reactions to things, all the things she says and does, things I'd like to do for her, how much I miss her ... and the horribleness grabs me and I weep with a deep wretched sadness, my body screams, longing for her with every cell.

I'm sure this sounds absurd, but this is my experience.

I'm embarrassed to say it, but this is actually my experience every time a love relationship ends where I'm not the one to do the breaking up. ( If I'm the one who breaks it off, I usually feel sort of free and hopeful. ) So what is my problem?

Following it logically and honestly, I think that despite my outward confidence, despite my achievements and good friends, I feel deeply unworthy of true love. Being in love, I see things from her point of view. If she rejects me, then I reject me too.



That's it! That's my problem. Self rejection. That is why I'm taking this so hard. I believe in her more than in myself right now.

My confidence is shot. To be honest it has probably been sinking for a few years. I stopped writing and performing, stopped making music; I've stopped feeling right with myself. Each time when love doesn't work out, I add the event to my collection of evidence that I'm no perhaps just no good.

And I know why. Yes, I do. It all goes back to my father leaving when I was 6 years old. I thought it was my fault somehow, that I'd caused my mother to suffer this amazing loneliness. I watched her sadness, I felt it too. Day after day she'd weep. And I felt guilty. And I still do.

So, in my life, I've turned to love for validation of my worth. When I have the love in my life, I feel great! During a relationship I believe in myself, I let myself feel joy. But depending on someone else for validation makes your relationships a roller coaster, especially if the woman you love is clinically depressed to the point of needing mood altering drugs. Any time she is unhappy, I'd feel unworthy again. I'd beat myself up and do almost anything to appease her, even against my own best self interests. I have stayed in relationships, for this reason, that were not the best for my own hopes, dreams and goals.

What to do now? Get my confidence back and enjoy the rest of my life, but I'm not sure where to start. And I keep coming back to how much I miss her.

Man Survives 12 Nails to the Head

A 33-year-old Oregon man on methamphetamine and suffering from mental health problems fired 12 nails from a nail gun into his head and survived. The man, who has not been identified by medical officials for privacy reasons, went to an Oregon hospital last year complaining of a headache.

Doctors were surprised when they took X-rays and found the nails - six clustered between his right eye and ear, two below his right ear and four on the left side of his head. No one before is known to have survived having intentionally fired so many foreign objects into the head, according to the current issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery, where the case is detailed.

The nails were not visible when doctors initially examined the man in the emergency room of a hospital, a day after he'd fired the nail gun. When doctors saw the X-ray results, they transferred him to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for intensive neurological care. He became short-tempered and hostile when OHSU staff asked him how the injury occurred, according to the study. Psychological examinations showed he had "poor judgment and insight."

The man at first told doctors he had had a "nail gun accident." It wasn't until later that the patient admitted he'd used meth and the injury was a suicide attempt. The patient was in remarkably good condition when he got to OHSU, according to the study. While even one nail to the head can be fatal, these nails came close to major blood vessels and the brain stem but did not pierce either.

The nails still posed a threat to the patient's health and doctors decided to operate quickly. Because of the number of nails, doctors decided to fully sedate him rather than keep him partially awake, which is done in some surgeries to monitor neurological responses.Surgeons were able to remove the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill because the nail heads did not penetrate the skull.

The patient was later transferred to psychiatric care. He stayed there nearly a month until a court-ordered hospital stay expired. Then the patient left, against medical advice, the study said."

Thanks to my friend McCreazed for sending this! Sometimes you need to see how bad other people's lives are to appreciate your own.

PicNic Day, 2006

Lots of nifty environmental booths, food, dancers, music, tons of people, the battle of the bands, and so on. Nice distraction from life. Click to enlarge.