Interplanet Janet

The Tarot Channel

2007-01-23T08:30:55Z

I'm pleased to be a part of a new website/group blog devoted solely
to Tarot:

The Tarot Channel - http://www.thetarotchannel.com/

Tarot author and deck creator Mark McElroy is the Editor-in-Chief
and there are about seven contributors--including myself--posting
Tarot reviews, articles, interviews, audios, how-tos, videos and more on a
regular basis. It's an interactive site, which means you can
*directly* post comments or suggestions on each and every entry.

Hope to see you there!

The World Gone Mad

2006-05-12T05:01:31Z

I'm such a bibliophile that I often need to sell books via my Shop and Amazon.com to make way for new items.

I had two psychos buy products from me via Amazon within a week, and couldn't believe how they aired their issues.

For one guy, I was inquiring if everything was OK with his shipment (it was a boxed Tarot set) because the feedback he left on Amazon.com was merely "OK". Not that that's bad, but I pride myself on customer service and wanted to make sure nothing got damaged via shipment.

So he goes off on me about lecturing him on Amazon's feedback policies and that he was my "benefactor". He then accused me of being angry and asks "why couldn't you just let things be?"

I could almost hear a desperate, whiny cry of a single male who holes up in his basement with hundreds of Tarot decks surrounding his murky domain.

I'm like Okayyyy... (I finally had to tell him to stop writing to me.)

The real kicker is some lady who ordered an Astrology book from me. She orders the book on April 30 and on May 5 she emails "I believe when I ordered this book from you it said you had agreed to ship by May 3rd...so where is my book? Had I seen that you were going to take until May 23rd I would never have ordered from you."

After another email, she then emails on the 6th saying "thank you! I got the book". Well, I was offline for a week, so I got all the emails at the same time.

I responded to her that Amazon sets the time cushion (not me) and why was she complaining when it was only 5 days after the order? Just a simple email.

She writes:

"I'm sorry that you are soo very angry with me. I only asked, I don't remember saying anything so horrible that you would be so very angry with me.

If Amazon says one thing and you say something else, well, I just got lost in the middle of it. With the amount of medication I'm on for pain I'm lucky I can think and type, never mind figure all of this out. At any other time I would have been able to be more clear and it wouldn't have made much difference when the book arrived, but for now, I just wanted something to read while I recuperate.

I truly appreciate your sending the book so quickly. Please go back and find the other email that I sent you in praise of the book arriving so quickly.

Then go look in the mirror, smile, and know that others are smiling at you too! blessings and have a happy day!

In a hurry to go out to get some wood with hubby for kitchen remodeling, I excerpt the part about "I believe when I ordered the book..." to refresh her memory. OK, maybe I should have taken the time to say "Here's the part that confused me as to why you were complaining" or some such.

Her reply? Not the light and love and New Age smileys from her previous email. Oh no. She writes:

"And, after all of this rudeness and hostility from your side you can rest assured that I will never buy anything from you again. And, I will block your email so I don't have to listen to this bullshit anymore.

You should be ashamed, you should be professional. I'm on my way to major surgery and you are a pig with no manners...try that on for size."

I laughed and thought "Jesus". My husband read it and laughed. We were surmising at how angry so many people are...how they are hair-triggered into tirades at the slightest provocation (even if unintentional or innocuous). These people projected their rage on me when I'm just spending a few seconds replying to their emails in a competent manner so I can move on to the next email...

So right after this, I'm reading the headlines on MyYahoo and can't believe what I'm reading. Apparently, a freelance producer wrote a script that aired before the Kentucky Derby about a horse trainer that led 3 children to safety after a plane crash. He had said that the trainer "ran into the fire to save the lives of three children." The narrator paused dramatically and said, "ran into the fire."

I don't watch the TV show The West Wing, but apparently, a fan with too much time on the their hands emailed the New York Times about "plagiarism", saying that the dramatic pause and the words "ran into the fire" were directly lifted from an episode of the West Wing.

The result? The producer was fired from NBC news.

Since when is "into the fire" copyrighted? My God, if things keep going the way they are, someone will own the rights to the word "the"! (And judging from my last sentence, I'd be thrown in jail...)

Jesus H.

Mental Chatter

2006-04-27T19:05:04Z

I was just outside with my son, soaking up the sun while reading a delightful book called "Morning Notes: 365 Meditations to Wake You Up". Whether because of the book, or just because I chose to "stop", I realized how utterly quiet my surroundings were. (I live in a rural neighborhood). I then became aware at just how noisy the mind can be, especially as it considers the future or mentally chews over any "to do" lists.

When I took time to stop, the chatter stopped. Granted, the term "mental noise" is almost a cliche in New Age circles, and its cessation is something I've experienced before, but I was so clearly aware at the din between my ears!

It's interesting how everything originates in the mind--emotions, perspectives, assumptions--even experience itself. But because we're so "used" to it, the clatter goes unnoticed and unexamined.

Where's Eckhart Tolle when you need him?

Honestly, though, his audio series "Through the Open Door to the Vastness of Your True Being" is magnificent. To daily live it, though... *sigh*

Well, I'm off to finish my New Releases page for May.

Podding Out

2006-04-12T02:34:47Z

Anyone see the video Podding Out on Current TV? If not, you can see it here:

http://www.current.tv/studio/media/1548272

A "culture critic" suggested that iPods are making us a culture of isolationists...that we're missing out on some surprising and meaningful interactions with humanity. He even goes so far to say that music was meant to "connect people" and that music programmed and played for the self, does just the opposite--taking individuals inside themselves.

Still others say that they tune out the world when listening to their music, asking "is that so bad?"

I admit...I'm in the latter crowd.

I got to thinking about the Age of Aquarius. What if, I wondered, this individualism was leading to human evolution...and was a good thing?

I then came across an intriguing quote by Ayn Rand: "Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

I was at the park with my family and was dismayed to see a lot of people there. I (half) jokingly said to my husband "Where were these people when it was cold out? If they can't be faithful to the park when you freeze your ass off, they shouldn't be here now."

I then proceeded to put my MP3 player in my ears. Until, of course, almost all the people left. (I mean, I was conversing with my husband and son when I was around them--I went off by myself to walk around the track a few times). But I was fully aware that I was "shutting" out people on purpose. It always irked me when at the park people would smile and say hello...and you just had to get ready when someone was walking in the opposite direction because you KNOW a "hi!" was coming.

My Mom is fakey-nice like that, so she doesn't mind. Boy, I used to be a flaming extrovert, but last time I took the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, I was 50/50 on both Extroversion/Introversion and Thinking/Feeling. I think as I get older, the Introversion score is getting higher and higher... I've always identified most with the Hermit card in Tarot, but perhaps I pick up a bit of the shadow side, too.

For me, shutting out people is necessary and beneficial. I was vulnerable way too many times only to have people shaft me or abandon me. Hell, I had a whole congregation and a best friend (the pastor) turn their backs on me when they found out that I was CONSIDERING that there wasn't a literal hell! I mean, these are people that were with me through thick and thin...through my public ordination, through my teaching (I was a minister to them, too), when my first husband contracted leukemia (and suffered greatly for a year and then died, through my second marriage--they even through a big baby shower for my son! But all of them threw away the friendship and connection because one of their beloved was considering a heretical doctrine...

Amazing.

"Not all people are like that", you may say. Well, I have had enough experiences (especially with women) to know that more often than not, it IS the norm. I've contented myself with the fact that my husband is my best friend...and I'm a best friend to myself. Me, my husband, my son, my books, my writing, my health (and theirs), my house, and my current standard of living...these are things that I NEED. Everything else is superfluous.

No wonder the 3 of Cups or 4 of wands doesn't thrill me!

Is it obvious that I'm a Scorpio Sun, Aries Rising, and Aquarius Moon? Ha!

janet_boyer @ 2006-04-11T04:21:00

2006-04-11T08:22:48Z

The internet is a veritable smorgasbord of information--fascinating, inconsequential, potentially transformative, insipid--it's all here.

Because I love information so much--and am so "in my head"--I tend to go online only once or twice a week. Then, I "fast" the internet to stay grounded. Odd? I dunno...but it keeps me sane and I get a lot more done this way!

I mean, I can work on a review while being online, but it's so tempting to check email, check my Discussion Board, browse Amazon.com, post on All Things Tarot, etc. So what do I do? (Confession time). I have my husband take the broadband modem to work so I can't find it in the basement (previous unsuccessful attempts at self-regulation and my Scorpio detective skills made this method a no-go) so I won't go online.

Ha!

I've always wanted to live in a library (or, nowadays, a Barnes and Noble), and being on the internet is a lot like that.

Just bought another PS2 unit so 1. We can have another (functioning) DVD and 2. So we can share gaming with my 7 year old son. (God, including the PS2's and DVD-Rom's, we have 5 DVD players! Ack. But not all are created equal...or provide creature comforts...)

Got the Ice Age 2 game for PS2. What fun! The movie was great, too.

Reviewed a new (for me) Tarot deck:

http://www.JanetBoyer.com/Fairytale_Tarot.html

Pretty exquisite deck. I like it that the deck creator/author keeps the darker elements of fairytales (including Cinderella's stepsisters hacking off their feet in order to get the glass slipper to fit). But the Nightingale and the Rose...or the Constant Tin Soldier? Heartbreaking. But such is life, yes?

Well, I really should go do dishes now (ugh).

Happy Ostara/Easter/Spring!