Long Guns

Here's a fun one: yesterday, I learned to shoot long guns. It was SO MUCH FUN.

I shot a Remington .22 rifle.

All of these targets were printed on one 8X11 piece of paper and shot from 50 feet, one shot right after another.

I also shot a 12 gauge shotgun (which I don't have pictures of yet) and I NEVER want to do that again. That thing kicked so hard, I nearly fell over.

I shot a Ruger .243 at 100 yards.

I can touch my shots with a quarter :)

It's a bit hard to see but the shot is in his forehead,
right below the hem of his hat  on his left side.

These targets are the size of normal, standard targets.

And finally, I shot an M1 Garand also from 100 yards at a standard size target, but for this one, all I had were iron sights.

Killed him three times and scared the crap out of him once :)

So all in all, that was a pretty cool thing. I also blew through a Coke can (I wish it'd been a Pepsi can) which was AWESOME. Next week, I'm picking up the pistols and probably a watermelon. :)

And just a quick P.S. I decided that Earth Day should be a holiday on my calendar :) Any other suggestions? 

Mythology

I had a party at the bookstore because I got a world mythologies book on sale :)
So I'm thinking that betwixt my calendar and my knitting (Knitting comes up on Wednesdays; my calendar needs a bit more work, then I'll be ready to post it up here) I could work on a mythology series.
The word, myth, is no surprise) Greek. Originally, it was just in reference to story-telling, but over time it morphed into what we know of the word today.
Mythology is always interesting. So, I'm going to read from the book for a jumping-off point, then hit the research. First up: the Sumerians.


*Please note that most information will come from the following sources:
Lost Civilizations: Mysterious Cultures & Peoples by Markus Hattstein, published by Parragon
World Mythology: Legendary Figures and Mystical Creatures, A Factopedia published by Parragon
Wikipedia
Tons of Google searches

Making a Calendar Pt 2

Alright, so the New Year begins on the Vernal Equinox, which was March 20th this year so that's where we start from. The months are, in order:
Genesis: The Beginning
Creo: Creation
Deus: God
Animus: Soul
Inflamatio: To Inspire Souls
Formosus: Physical Beauty
Concino: Coming Together for Celebration and Song
Mutatio: Transformation
Abundans: Plenty, Bountiful
Quietis: To Rest
Sano: To Be Healed
Recolo: To Reflect
Finis: The End
Accendo: Celebration, Excitement

Each month is named after the major focus of the month, which is designated by the season it falls within and by  the order in which it falls.

Also, I've developed a love--small and shallow for now since I'm only newly acquainted--with steam punk. Repo! The Genetic Opera was AMAZING and my roommate gave me the soundtrack to it and The Devil's Carnival. This shall become a part of my life now.
I've also discovered that I'm at least mildly interested in Ice Hockey.

Oh, the exposure.

One thing more: I'm reading a book I borrowed (well two, really) on witchcraft and Greek magic. The history is extremely interesting.

Many, many things to come.

Creating a Calendar Pt 1

I expected this to be difficult so I'm on the right track. I laid the basic groundwork for my calendar.

I've based the calendar around three concepts: positive creation, rejuvenation, and reflection. The time within my calendar is based on threes because three is the perfect number for cycles. Two thirds of the time within it are given toward positive creation, two ninths toward rejuvenation and one ninth toward reflection. I did this because I think action is more important that rest, rest is more important than living in the past, although the past is worth remembering.

Nine days to a "week," which is three cycles of three, and three "weeks" to a "month." There are thirteen months, followed by another fourteen days in the "fourteenth month" which isn't actually a month. I've designated the fourteen days at the end of the year and toward the beginning to be the cyclical "connector." 

My calendar is technically made up of 351 days, leaving the fourteen "accendo" at the end/beginning, although I'm considering splashing some of them within the calendar year itself, to be set apart as days of "accendo." All of my month names are coming from Latin, by the way. I have the first month, Genesis, the last month, Finis, two months of rejuvenation, Quietis and Sano, the month of reflection, Recolo, the beginning of fall, Mutatio, and the month of the Harvest, Abundans. Accendo is the fourteen day period, specifically for celebration.

I arranged my calendar according to the seasons and, because I'm in the Northern Hemisphere, my New Year is March 20th, which was the Vernal Equinox this year. I'm really considering creating a sliding calendar, but in all honesty, I'm not sure I could work out the mechanics of it. Perhaps Accendo could be a sliding holiday like Easter and simply last from the end of Finis to the Vernal Equinox; that way the New Year would always be in Spring. It's worth considering at least, and everyone wants to have a good party.
This is actually turning out to be a very interesting project.
My next goal is to finish naming my months, designate the year and the "beginning of time" marker and come up with some holidays to celebrate what's important to me.
I briefly considered basing a sliding calendar on the stages of the moon, but I think I prefer this.
I will, of course, keep you updated.

Also, I learned to knit (cast on plus a simple stitch) so be expecting a post.

Happy New Year!

Every culture, most religious groups, even some groups that just don't fit into any categories all have their own calendars. This amazes me. Time is such an interesting mechanism, something that we cannot live without but that kills us in the end; time exists, but the concept of it that we have created is fascinating. I've decided that my first experiment is going to be to create my own calendar. That means I'll create my own break down of units of time, I'll decide when "time" began and subsequently what time and date it is now and for the joy of it, I'm going to create my own holidays. Culture is such an interesting thing because it makes us all so different, it gives us new things to learn and explore but it separates us by creating smaller, more specific communities and for people like me, that can be quite intimidating. I don't know anything about my ancestry, but why should I be left out and made to feel as though I don't belong to a cultural or historical community? That's just not fair, or rational. So in substitute for factual knowledge about the past, I'm simply going to create my present and future. Keep in mind that this calendar I'm creating has nothing to do with religion but should you choose to follow up with your own experiment (which I'd love to hear about), you should of course feel free to integrate religious affiliations if you wish. I will too, once I decide what to incorporate, but for now this is about time and a small bit of culture.
As for New Year, well there's no time like the present.

Expect many such terrible puns from me.