We so need our own apartment

TK and I so need our own apartment. This might turn out to be a Rant/Things to do SPECIAL! Yay!

So my mom comes over. I know everyone is annoyed with their own mom, but oh...my...God.

So what's with mothers and their complete lack of understanding the concept of privacy?
She comes over unannounced, reads my mail, logs onto my internet accounts (social networking) and TAKES NOTES spying on my friends. She shrinks over $400 worth of my clothes after I specifically ask/tell her NOT to do my laundry. I even hid it across the house and she still found it and cleaned it. Oh, and my favorite: She's obsessed with rearranging my house - I ask where something is, she asks back "How the hell should I know?" and I'm like - YOU MOVED IT!
I love how I buy tons of food, she eats all my favorites, and takes half of it with her when she leaves.

Pros of own place: Weapon Room, Game room, regular buddy to accompany me to Wawa at 2am... collective work on our upcoming comic, I (Cordy) can have a pole in the bedroom

Plus, working from home will be so much easier.

Training to Teach

So remember that post about pole dancing? Yeah, I did it. Been at it for a few weeks now.
I like it! I want to train to be an instructor. Lord knows how long that'll take (I assume a few years) but it'll be a healthy journey. I'm excited.

My passions include physical fitness and this fits well among the others - I get to listen to dirty dance beats, tone my muscles, increase my flexibility, and toughen up my body to take the beatings from inversions and twists on the pole.

I suppose I'll have to train myself to come back with reasons why I'm NOT a stripper to others who find out. Joy.

Join a Druid Grove: Update

Here are my updated notes compared to my previous post:

AODA, Ancient Order of Druids in America (http://www.aoda.org/)- I love it, what they stand for, and how they are "organized"
It's cheap, and they have a priesthood study "program" - it's interdisciplinary, and kinda tough, but don't require that you learn Gaelic or Ogham
no groves close by. Kinda small. really only for druids

OBOD, The Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (druidry.org) - It's in England, it's HUGE, it's well-resourced, "organized" well and freely, expensive as fuck
been around 26 years, I think you need to learn Welsh :(

ADF, Ár nDraíocht Féin (adf.org) - annual fees (but affordable) when you want the newsletters and such
IT HAS GUILD-STUDY programs!!: http://www.adf.org/training/guild/ for more than just druids, bards, and seers
Has the toughest clergy (druid/archdruid) program in the world. :D You can choose Celtic, Hellenic, Norse, Roman.... it goes on
I think you need to learn Gaelic
Their American Grove in Baltimore, yay close, is freakishly pagan. I mean, their name is "CedarLight FELLOWSHIP which almost goes against the whole druid point. But they are big, have resources, and lots of events. Go here to see more: http://www.cedarlightgrove.org/
been around 40 years

I need to choose one as a course of study. I can join more than one, but I'm starting out and need to make baby steps.

Join a Druid Grove?

I wish to honor my Celtic roots and not necessarily study for Druid Priesthood, but seriously consider joining a grove, guild, order... whatever I need to feel closer to my philosophical way of life.
I shall not practice this as a Religion, however, I do admire, respect, and connect with the spirituality of my ancestors.

Ok, so here are my raw notes on the subject matter:

http://aoda.org/index.html MARYLAND-BASED but no nearby groves, Ancient Order of Druids in America -- $50 for lifetime, has priesthood

http://www.firstcircledruids.com/ I appreciate their purpose, but they are very self-teaching with lots of awesome forums. You need a lot of time to invest in this. I can't see anything about fees... ceremonies at mother grove in Tennessee (unfortunately I'm in Delaware). The archdruid is all pierced and stuff, and a blues musician!! I can definitely get along with him.

http://www.druidry.org/ BEST THING EVER, BUT IN ENGLAND, they might require you to learn welsh, expensive as all get-out (I wanted to say hell, but then that'd be too comical because they don't have a Hell, as in Chrsitian ideas)

http://www.adf.org/core/ Neo-pagan, Nice, Tolerant, Supports Christianity, has lots of amazing guilds, 25-45 dollars/year (membership or membership with Oak Leaves Journal), priesthood has guilds, In essence, it's very much organized religion. They like you to have a shrine at home. They make you decide to subject yourself to a deity :(

http://www.cedarlightgrove.org/l BALTIMORE GROVE (associated with the adf), $50 each year, VERY ORGANIZED MORE LIKE A RELIGION/FELLOWSHIP/Pagan, populated community

Tongue Piercing

TK and I are considering tongue piercings. I personally believe I'm more excited about it than he is, but we'll see how this plans out.

The Baltimore Tattoo Convention is this weekend. Do "best friend" tattoos sound silly?
Cancer (astrological sign) - we were born in the same week
Pirates/Skulls - Renaissance Faire, Baby!
Toad&Toadette (yeah, we're gamers)
Music/Guitars
I always wanted a Celtic tattoo. But, I'm into the triskel, which is all about women. He might get away with it because in modern-day culture, it simply represents the holy Trinity.
TK mentioned he liked the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, so I designed some white rabbit sketches for myself.

After I get my tattoo, we'll think more seriously on those tongue piercings. Maybe 2011.

Next Tattoo

Interesting story: I visited some friends in the middle of Eastern Pennsylvania and we walked along Main Street of this bumble-fuck town. I stopped in this little tattoo parlor.

First off, I need to say that the interior was incredible. The parlor was formerly a bank. Like, old-school with the vault in the middle of the room. So cool.

Second, I never saw so many pictures of naked women in one case in my life. Apparently the same man who works in this establishment pierced a lot of porn stars' tongues.

Third, this same man tattoo'd the members of the bands Slipknot and GreenDay. I mean, on their web site they even brag "We have Tattooed and Pierced some of the biggest names in porn: Jenna Jameson, Shane, Janine and Kendra Jade." This tiny, tiny town is tattooing so many famous people. Wow!

Ok, so my point is that Chris, they guy who runs this place and tattooed the above names wants to do MY tattoo. Hoo-Whee!! He's a fabulous artist and he's quick! I watched him do an arm piece in under an hour. WOW!

It's clean, it's respectable, it's quality work. They aren't expensive, either for the quality of work they do. Chris was very reasonable. For my back piece I was sure to pay 400 bucks (and take at least two days), and he told me flat out, "I'm not letting you pay 400 dollars for that tattoo. I'll have it done in one sitting, if you can take the pain." I feel special. If he can crank that out in three hours, then he is a god.