And I can't quite remember the rest. BPI was playing that song as I got out of the car this evening. By some strange logic, they seem to have derived that the weekend before Halloween is the time to bring back old hair bands. (But only once every half hour. The rest of the time it's still the same ole, same ole.)

And so I'm sitting and thinking, Why doesn't somebody open a radio station that plays this shit ALL the time? THIS is what people wanna hear. Winger. Warrant. Poison. Def Leppard. Vixen. Firehouse. And the jillions of others that have escaped my mind at the moment. Ya just don't hear them anymore. We've got the new peak playing "80's and Beyond!" Ooooh, like we're so impressed. Bullshit. I want REAL 80's music. Get with the program, guys! BPI has shown the way through this weekend of dabbling. Now someone needs to take the full plunge.

[On that note, Bitscape digs deep into the recesses of his cd collection.]

And THOSE were the days. lol.

Alrighty. How 'bout a little real content now.

Slept a ton today. Forgot about the clock change. Realized it when I woke up again got an email saying as much. Looked at the earlier rambling from this morning. Sure enough. An hour earlier than I thought it was.

[Bitscape finds the next song pouring out of his speakers distracting in the extreme. Too many memories behind that one.] Stop.

Got up late. Tinkered around with the iptables crap. Got it to something resembling working right again. Yadda yadda yadda.

Before the expedition in Tobias, I went to thinkgeek and ordered some Bawls. I owe a friend repayment for a favor, and the compensation shall come in the form of the sacred beverage.

I then exited the compound, and proceeded with Tobias on the great mission. The goal: To return with a whole bunch of crap. While not a complete failure, most of it ended up being a wild goose chase through overcrowded stores.

First stop was Barnes and Noble. The intent was to purchase another book which my mentor believes will aid (and help determine the future) in my spiritual education. (I'm not sure I even want to state the title of said book, for fear of what incriminating remarks the title itself might make about a potential reader.) I searched high and low, but did not find it. Back to the online stores!

Having decleared the first book shopping attempt a failure, I strolled over to Michael's craft store. Objective: Candles. Now I already own one candle which I acquired... was it 2 or 3 weeks ago? Something like that. Anyway, I use it for my meditation. (If you follow ramblings closely, and this timeline seems slightly screwey to you, try using a little circular logic to ease those brain circuts. That's better. Good. Now back into that state of zombie sleep.) Lavender. Yes, sweet lavender.

Well, that craft store was nuts inside. People everywhere. Way to many around for a truly comfortable shopping experience. But anyway, I did my best.

I wanted to get a white vanilla candle to burn for protection from evil and purity of mind. (Er... yeah. lol. Believe what you want, I say.) This was not as easy as it should have been, because many of the shelves had simply been cleaned out. The section that was labeled to have vanilla pillers was totally empty. A lot of the other stock looked pretty sparse too. Grrr.

Well, anyway, being me, I got distracted. Spotted the red cinnamon apple candles. Smelled them. Mmmmm. Like cinnamon. I picked up a tall one in the shape of a triangle. It was for me. (I'm such a sucker, aren't I? ;)

Continued to look around. Purple grape. The deepest, most majestic shade of purple. Tall ones too. I put the red cinnamon triangle on the shelf next to a purple grap to compare height. Taller even than my red triangle. The purple towered over it by several inches. Took the purple off the shelf. Touched it lightly to the red in my hand. Smiled at the sight. I knew what was happening in the back of my mind, and that thought was exactly why I knew there was no way I could buy this purple grape candle. No matter how fragrant or beautiful. No matter how well it complemented the red. This is magic you DON'T want to touch.

Even if you SAY you aren't practicing magic. Even if you manage to delude yourself into thinking you are merely purchasing decorations for your room. As I have been learning, the power of the magic lies not in the relics themselves, but in the mind of the magician. The meaning therein. I knew what was in my mind. Do not tempt The Furies again.

I inhaled the scent of the grape, took one last look, and returned it to the shelf.

I wanted a vanilla. In fact, that was my original reason for entering the store. The only ones I could find that were vanilla were the flat, multi-wick variety. The pillars are so much cooler though.

Well, I monopolized the candle area a bunch more, carefulling examining the variety of colors, shapes, and flavors, and finally happened upon a vanilla. A short circular one, and it was miscategorized. I snatched it up, also picked from the lovely selections of bases, and took my merchandise to the checkout. Happy bank account depletion card gets a little joyride.

[Bitscape arises. Places the two candles on their stands in the windowsill. Turns out the electric lights. Lights first the Flame of Purity and Protection. Second, the Soul Energy.]

Okay, now that most of my readers are probably totally freaked out thinking I'm nuts, we can continue with the bedtime story.

Was going to attempt to get something resembling a costume for Halloween. The first store I attempted, which I had looked up in the yellow pages, was no longer a costume shop. Doh!

The second... was, well... highly overcrowded, and pretty crappy really. Prices too high. Costumes themselves looked cheap and crappy. Nothing I could find that really would work for me.

It was nearly time for Andromeda, so I decided to drop that idea for a moment, and returned home. Plunked down for an hour. This episode was entertaining, but nothing especially great. Good effects, I suppose. Ho hum.

After that, I sat down at Argo for a few in an attempt to get my bearings back. Decided to head to Wal Mart. Bought some face paint and a cheap wig. That will be my costume. Doing face paint is really the funnest part anyway, so I think I'm set. Woohoo!

[Fragrance spreads around the Lair. Bitscape inhales deeply.]

If I had a clue, I might try some sort of ritual about now. As it is, I think I'll turn on a little music, ponder, stare at these for a while, meditate, and go to bed. Oh, and I might check my email too. A week begins.