High Winds, Hailstorm... yeah, New Moon in Aries

After Midnight meows, my Springtime storm-playing Pussycats... me oh my, first a steamy hot day on the tame prairie with strong gusting winds... then...

High Winds, Hailstorm... yeah, New Moon in Aries ... wow, did we get walloped with a storm tonight!!! Hours of lightning, high winds and the threat of tornadoes... but the worst was a sudden onslaught of hail... pounding on the roof, pinging against the windows...and the rain came down in sheets... and, even though, it appears the storm has passed, it doesn’t look all that good out there. And, yeah, it’s a New Moon in Aries tonight... certainly a violent storm to begin this week.
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WARNING: California rainwater is 181 times higher in radiation than is safe via Drudge Report. This is also occurring in Washington State. As well, every place in the US is vulnerable just like the whole world is being radiated by the Fukishima meltdown, and by all the DU [depleted uranium] that has been, and is being used in all the wars... oh, oops, kinetic military actions. Oh, and, yeah, keep going through those Naked Nuke machines at the airport, or wherever they are now... because you definitely need another huge dose of radiation. Yep, no worries about cancer, or radiation sickness, because you’ll be pushing up green-glowing daisies. On the good side, maybe you’ll change into a HULK version of yourself.

Courtesy of Wikipedia ~The Hulk appears shortly after Banner is accidentally exposed to the blast of a test detonation of a gamma bomb he invented. Subsequently, Banner will involuntarily transform into the Hulk, depicted as a giant, raging, humanoid monster, leading to extreme complications in Banner's life.
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Big Cat by-the-numbers ~

12:12 am... 2:22 am... 2:12 pm... 2:22 pm... 3:33 pm... 4:44 pm... 5:55 pm... New Moon in Aries... Volcano’s Angelic Forecast for this week ~ sirenbookstrand.blogspot.com ~
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Authoress news and mews ~

From the Kougar’s Writing Den ~ Kandy Apple and Her Hellhounds

*Six Sentence* progress on the final read through before submission...

The sheer joy of being with her birth mother and father caused Kandace to weep harder. Yet, as if on cue, her tears ceased.

Time ceased, and the odd sensation of living another lifetime surged like an entire ocean through her. Mentally grabbing the dreamlike epic, Kandace then raised her head, her gaze questioning.

Smiling warmly, Pharrilya brushed her hair from her cheek. “It is a shadow of what would have been, if we had been together as a family.”
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Featured at SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS ~

In Honor of the Wolf ~ Old Gray Guy

Sunday howls, shapeshifter lovers. I just found this intriguing article, and thought I'd share the beginning of it here.

As far as I'm concerned Old Gray Guy [center of the photo] is welcome at Talbot's Peak anytime. As well, he may be hanging out at Dante's Interspecies Pleasure Club. Having fulfilled his genetic potential on the isolated island, I'll bet he's standing at stud, or maybe he's found his lifetime mate.
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AUTHOR OPPORTUNITY ~

Not going to Los Angeles this week because you can't get time off? Live too far away? Not in the budget? Don't like live crowds? We hear you and we're not going either. So we're throwing a Staying Home Party. We're giving away a NOOK to one lucky reader and we're giving away a lot of other prizes from the TRS prize vault and participating authors too! There will be author prizes as well.

The event will be held on April 6th, and April 8-10th at our party site (http://theromancestudio.com/party). All authors, members of TRS or not, can participate. Permission to forward granted and requested.

For complete details, see: ~ theromancestudio.com/stayhome.php

Thank you!

Katie

--
Katie Raines
The Romance Studio
~ theromancestudio.com
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Sweet Trading: Chocolate May Have Linked Prehistoric Civilizations

~livescience.com – Fri Apr 1, 7:35 pm ET

Roughly 1,000 years ago, residents of pueblos in the American southwest appear to have had an appetite for imported chocolate, according to new research. The finding, based on chemical traces found in clay pots, is evidence of a strong connection between the southwestern puebloans and the ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America.

This early version of chocolate was already known to be well-established thousands of miles to the south of what is now the southwestern United States. The Mayans, Aztecs and other ancient people from Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America) used beans from the native cacao plant to make a ceremonial drink, which they served frothy.

Until now, however, the evidence of cacao in the American southwest was limited. And since cacao does not grow outside the tropics, the discovery of plentiful traces of it far to the north indicates there was extensive trade between these distant societies, according to the researchers led by Dorothy Washburn, of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

"In order for so much to be present in the sample — two-thirds of 75 pots we looked at had cacao in them — there must have been a much greater degree of interaction between these areas," Washburn said. "People move great distances if they wanted something badly enough."

Linking civilizations

With the help of William Washburn (her husband) and Petia Shipkova, both chemists at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Washburn examined 75 pots for three chemicals present in cacao: theophylline, caffeine and theobromine.

The vessels they examined came from the elite burial sites at Pueblo Bonito in roughly A.D. 900, and from the platform mound site of Los Muertos in Arizona. The latter is believed to have been the residence of elites among the Hohokam, an agricultural people, in the 14th century. They also tested eight pots from small pueblos that would have been inhabited by common folks.

The commoners' vessels, which did not have the Mesoamerican influenced shape and design, yielded the most significant find — all tested positive for theobromine, a signature for cacao.

"That is what made me think everybody is drinking this, there must be an incredible amount of trade bringing this stuff up," Dorothy Washburn said.

She believes the puebloans traded for the cacao with their fine turquoise, a stone that replaced jade as a favorite among Mesoamericans around the year 900. The chemical signature of turquoise from New Mexican mines has been found in pieces in several sites in Mexico, including the Mayan site Chichen Itza, the researchers write in a study that appears in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Sharing culture

This is not the first sign of cacao the American southwest. A 2009 study, done by archaeologist Patricia Crown, of the University of New Mexico, and W. Jeffrey Hurst a chemist for the modern chocolate maker Hershey Company, uncovered chemical evidence of cacao in shards from cylinder jars from Pueblo Bonito, an 800-room pueblo within Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

Washburn, who studies the structure of designs on pottery, has also seen other clues of Mesoamerican culture in the southwest. The jars found in the elaborate, multistory pueblos of Chaco Canyon have a cylindrical shape and sophisticated decoration quite different from earlier local pots; in fact, they resembled cylinder jars used in Mesoamerica to consume cacao.
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From Astrology.com ~

Neptune Moves into Pisces: Expect an Energy Shift!

A huge energy shift is upon us as Neptune, one of the powerful outer planets, slowly glides into Pisces on April 4. After waiting for Neptune to travel through technology-crazed Aquarius since the late 1990s, Pisces will finally see its ruling planet return for the first time in 150 years.

Starting on the 4th, the background ambiance will transition from rebellious and technology-driven to poetic, artistic and compassionate. This is a great time to pursue your creative passions, as the world will be much more responsive to your ideas. These next 15 years will also be a time of idealism, and you'll be tempted to sit around all day, dreaming of a better world. Neither Pisces or Neptune are very active planets, so most likely, you'll stick to dreaming, rather than taking action.

Then, on April 6, you'll get a burst of enthusiasm as the Aries Sun moves in close to Jupiter. You'll most likely hear some good news -- possibly related to finances -- and you'll feel a surge of confidence and exuberance. Try to practice a little self-discipline, and you'll reap countless benefits from this exciting alignment.

Neptune and Pisces are the ultimate ideal-romance combination. Prepare yourself to take full advantage of their power -- and improve your relationships.
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BIG CAT BAD NEWS ~ It’s back... THE CENSUS... yes, now the illegal immoral *private company* Census is supposed to be a yearly event. Talk about absolutely NO RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION... well, this Big Cat’s advice is to NOT TO FILL IT OUT... DO NOT COOPERATE. DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. The Census is being used to find out who has what by THE BAD GUYS. The census is not being used to HELP you. On the contrary. It’s Auschwitz on huge old doses of steroids. We are Americans. We are not slaves. We are not slaves to the federal government. And, we are not slaves to the private company running the census.
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The most powerful weapon is the human soul on fire. ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

~ May the April showers drench you in happiness and prosperity!

~ MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE ENOUGH ~

And, May you live the dreams of your heart, not in interesting times...

New Moon in Aries kisses from the Kougar...