From Twitter 12-01-2010

( Cut to spare the uninterested )

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The HP Allance: The Second Patronus

I love the HP Alliance. Have I mentioned that I love the HP Alliance?

You may remember the post I did last month about their Deathly Hallows Campaign. The Horcrux last month was the Starvation Horcrux, and the campaign was a push to get Warner Brothers to use Fair Trade chocolate in all of their products.

Now they have announced the next Horcrux, and this campaign is near and dear to my heart:

All of us know the "dementor horcrux" first hand: that awful voice within that tells us that we suck. Mean and predictable, this "dementor horcrux" will always try to convince us that we’re horrible for the way we look, think, feel, act, etc. Like Harry, who was sensitive to dementor attacks, many of us may feel debilitated by the dementor-like experiences of anxiety, depression, low body image, and lots of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that knock us off balance.

Though the Dementor tries to make us feel alone so that we’ll stay within its grip, the reality is that we are surrounded by people going through similar challenges to us as well as those who have gone through dark and difficult times, feelings, and experiences. Together we can go beyond the Muggle Mindset and tap into the magic of our power and creativity. And so the HPA is working together as a community to cast Patronuses. Each of us was with Harry and members of Dumbledore’s Army when they cast a glowing corporeal Patronus of such light, such beauty, and such fierce power that it sent the dementors running, and each of us has the same breathtaking power within.

How to Participate
In partnership with Reachout.com, we’re asking you to create individual Patronuses in the form of writing, photos, drawings, paintings, videos, songs- basically any piece of art that expresses an element of your Patronus. You can submit you Patronus through the submissions page on our tumblr or by emailing it to us at deathlyhallows@thehpalliance.org Check out Tumblr every day for more updates.

We want as many Patronuses created as possible. Once they are all made, we’ll be taking many of them to create a collective Patronus that we will send as a message of our community’s hope and inner-power to a group who needs that message (the specific group is to be determined).

Please make sure to follow our ground rules and also PLEASE keep in mind that:

- No one here is a substitute for a professional mental health counselor.
- Internal emotional/mental change normally happens slowly. A month long campaign is here to lay positive seeds but is by no means a solution for everything.
- The Internet is a public space and please respect yourself and remember that.
- This is a sensitive issue for most of us and we ask that people are positive and supportive as we focus less on the Dementors that bother us and more on the Patronuses.
- Please read more here

Thank you all and Expecto Patronum!

I have submitted my own patronus, which I created a couple years ago as part of my soul collage deck. I will also send them an email about my Decrease Worldsuck project.

Expecto Patronum - Council Suit

Expecto Patronum - Council Suit am the One created from the magic that springs from the happiest memory, who shines in the darkness and protects against that which would destroy the soul. I am a shining silver shield of hope against encroaching darkness, despair and evil, and I can communicate with the souls of others. My form is beautiful, a reflection of the true self within. I am the embodiment of Light in dark places.

( What I did today to make the world a better place )

Ow

I have had very good luck with my teeth so far. I got fillings when I was a kid, but for decades, all I've had to do was to go to get my once every six month cleaning.

Until now. One of my molars has given me occasional twinges, and now, as of a week ago, it hurts sharply when exposed to extremes of temperature, sugar or acid. It doesn't hurt otherwise, but the pain when it touches anything that sets off the sensitivity has gotten bad enough that I'm chewing on just one side of my mouth.

I called the dentist and got an emergency appointment today. I get to get a new crown. My first. I'm glad to live in the age of modern dentistry. And I have dental insurance that will cover about 50%.

But that other 50%--oy, I really didn't need this right now.

The car

I've been mulling over making this entry for a couple of weeks. I've worked up the courage to do it, but I don't want people to misunderstand me. I'm not asking for money, but ... ideas.

My car really isn't safe to drive anymore. Ginny the Jeep is seventeen years old, and it's rusting so badly that the body is flaking apart. It takes a half quart of oil every time I fill up the gas tank. The roof leaks whenever it rains. The front bumper is crumpled. The doors cannot be locked. There are no airbags. I am now resorting to keeping the driver's side door closed with a bungee cord, because the latch is broken, and it just isn't worth spending the couple of hundred dollars necessary to get it replaced. In order to close the driver's door, I have to roll down the window and pull it closed by the door frame every time--the internal door handle is pulled out of the wall of the door. The gear shift lever comes apart in my hand unless I hold it just so. I'm afraid to ferry the girls in it. I'm afraid to drive it myself.

Help me strategize, people. How can I get another car? I wouldn't have believed I could have managed to repaint my house with Rob out of work, but I managed to connive a way to do it. Now I need to figure out how to get a car. Not a new one, heaven knows. But does anyone know of a used one in semi-decent shape (well, better shape than Ginny) that someone is just dying to see go to a good home? I think I need to get an automatic, because Fiona needs to learn to drive, and it'd be easier for her to learn on an automatic. And it has to have airbags because, ditto.

I have some money in savings--the refinancing money that we're eking out as long as we can, because my salary alone doesn't cover all the bills. I could spend some of that, but I'm scared to do so because I don't know how long it'll take Rob to get a job. My god, I wouldn't have believed we could have scratched along for over two years without being late on any of our bills, but we have. And I don't want to add a car payment, because I'm not covering my bills with my salary alone as it is, and hello, Fiona starts college next year. OMG how are we going to do that? But one problem at a time.

Please, please don't misunderstand. I am not asking for money. We need to figure out how to do this ourselves. I'm asking for...I dunno. Ideas. Or leads to someone who has a little cream puff of a car, cheap, that needs a new home, something not fancy, just reliable.

Or a miracle.

How can I get another safe car to drive while not adding a car payment or depleting my rapidly diminishing savings too much? Any guidance or suggestions would be deeply appreciated. Thanks.