I have fallen off the blog bandwagon, and hard. I don’t know why but I’ve had a positive aversion to posting lately (lately, as in the last three whole months).

Anyway, I was one of the tribe who went to Pantheacon and I’m not sure what I can add to the already wonderful and brilliant descriptions and reflections on the experience. Honestly I think I’m still processing it all.

I’m still having weird and intense (though good) dreams about my covenmates every night and every time I take a nap; they are so intense that it makes me wonder if the people in them are having the same dreams…

I learned that I love my tribe so much it’s kinda indescribable, that it’s actually pretty damn ok to be the Tower, and that I look good in a corset (who doesn’t, really?). I learned that the rituals and performances my group did were some of the best in the entire Con.

The Devil and The Tower

I learned that I’m wiser and more dangerous than I give myself credit for. I’m not sure, but I think those are both good things.

I also learned that those PCon organizers weren’t kidding when they said you should eat at least 2 meals and get at least 6 hours sleep every day (I learned that one the hard way, I got a terrible, miserable cold the week after PCon), but it was fun anyway so who really cares?

And, not least of all, I learned, by missing a week of school because I was so sick, that my coven community is far more important than my school community because my school is full of shit 90% of the time (see, Thora, we totally agree about pretentious artist crap) and that I really don’t care about my degree anymore except that I’m planning on using financial aid to get to Italy this summer and I only have a year to go and I don’t want to be a quitter.

The result of all this epiphany is that I haven’t watched any of my Netflix movies in over a month and have certainly paid several times over to have simply bought them by now.

Ah well.

Ok, well maybe you think of it as Black Friday, but maybe you should start thinking about it as Buy Nothing Day.

According to many economists, we can’t buy our way out of this recession/depression thing we’re in, so you’re better off saving your dough and focusing on the three Rs (no, not reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic).

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle…and the greatest of these is Reduce.

The Three Rs

Local, sustainable, and/or homemade gifts, or maybe just the gifts of time and energy. Won’t those be especially appreciated?

Don’t believe the hype: consumerism isn’t the answer folks; time, love, and low-impact living (even during the holidays) are.

For more info on the whole “can’t spend our way out of this one” dilemma, check out the New Dream blog here and here.

I’m just sayin’.

P.S. Bartering is really cool, too.