“Haeresis est maxima, opera maleficarum non credere” ~Malleus Maleficarum
(The greatest of all heresies is the disbelief in witchcraft)
“My goal is to always come from a place of love, but sometimes I just have to break it down for a motherfucker.” ~RuPaul
“Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude, and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful.” ~Jacqueline Bisset
…(although with all due respect to the ever wonderful Ms. Bisset, I’d say the same holds true for men as well ~ Geoffrey)
“Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it;
let nothing stop you or turn you aside.”
~From The Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valliente
“The emotional health of a village depended upon having a man whom everyone loved to hate, and Heaven had blessed us with two of them.”
— Barry Hughart (Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was)
“Science is a method of talking about the Universe in terms that bind it to a common reality. Magick is a way of speaking to the Universe in words that it cannot ignore.” –Neil Gaiman
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” — Marilyn Monroe
“Don’t be pushed by your problems…be lead by your dreams” ~ Unknown
“In the Midst of Winter, I finally learned there was in me an invincible Summer.” ~ Albert Camus
“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
(NOTE: There is, at best, dark irony embodied in this quote given it’s source was a slave-holder. The sentiment remains true however. It is only by confronting the complexity and truths and folly’s and tragic failings of the past that we are able to learn from it move forward from it and appropriately engage with it and with our Ancestors and their legacies.)
“Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared; but only men of character are trusted.” ~ Alfred Adler
“There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.” ~ Goethe
“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.”
-William Ellery Channing
“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment.” – Emerson
Chrysalis 
Mind if I offer a bit of unsolicited advice? You might want to work on the exercise prior to adjusting your eating habits. I personally find that the former actually helps with the latter, as it gets you more in touch with your body and sensitive to what it’s telling you that it needs in terms of nutrition.
Jared,
Not a bad piece of advice, and thank you for it by-the-by! Except with the knowledge of high blood pressure, and the very real possibility of some species of undiagnosed diabetes… Gods I hope I am wrong on that score…. I am definitely feeling the deep need for better nutrition.
Then too I am very, some might say unhealthily, in touch with my appetite…well, appetites but thats another story… so I may as well work WITH that.
On the exercise front I am focusing on simply being more active and doing more of the simple everyday things like housework and chores and other things that my A.D.D blessed brain finds reasons to put off. I am also doing that most radical of notions, walking from place to place rather than driving whenever possible…and it all counts… if I have to drive to a nearby strip mall to do x,y,and z…. I will drive there and then walk from store to store, rather than what I recently caught myself doing which is drive, walk into store, walk to car, move car, walk into other store! (I know, I know, walking in Florida… THAT IS JUST CRAZY TALK!!!… but it helps!)
Then too, I loathe, loathe…. LOATHE exercise for the sake of exercise and Orlando,FL is NOT designed for a pedestrian! But walking instead of moving the car, finding reasons to go to the Mall with a friend and walk around window shopping, going out more with friends for fun and activities like dancing and walking with friends while THEY are exercising for exercise sake (which to my warped mind doesn’t count as exercise but as social time and moral support, which I am ALL about…) these are all on the agenda!
Peace, and humor,
Pax
Aha! So you are already working on exercise, too. You’re just doing it in practical, fun ways. That’s totally cool, and something I personally understand. The thought of going to the gym or running for running’s sake just doesn’t do a thing for me. I can’t get up the motivation. But I’ll walk when I’m shopping (like you’re describing), go out dancing every now and then, and even take dance classes. Because those are all fun things I enjoy doing that just happen to burn calories, boost my heartrate, and do all those other things exercise is supposed to be good for.
And being diabetic isn’t the end of the world. Take it from someone who was diagnosed with type two ten years ago. Besides, with all the changes you’re making, even if you are diabetic (assuming it’s type two, which is probably a safe bet), you may never even notice it in the future.
Um the curtains have been hung by the Fabulous Jonathan.