My first Sigur Rós experience

I'm doing a little photo-journal housekeeping and found this entry from when I saw Sigur Rós perform at the Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon in October 6th, 2008. Please enjoy this photo I took of the elvish, bow-weilding and beguiling Jónsi Birgisson.



Would you like to know what he was playing when I took this photo?
Of course you would.



The video is from the Berkley show a few nights earlier, but they played Sæglópur at the performance I saw. I don't even know where to begin except, can you say mystical dreams and all the things that words will never do justice to? Can you say invoking spirits and caressing our ears with the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard until I cried? It was so powerful and moving, that I would give up a couple of my six senses and even some extra limbs just to hover within this meditative, spiritual experience. I had felt things like this before, but never so concentrated all at one event. The music gave a voice to things I have felt my entire life. The energy in the concert hall was clean and I felt safe...safe enough to open myself completely to this beautiful experience. I felt like my soul transcended space and time, transcended this body and left it behind, and I became one with the air molecules, I was one with each chord and note and beat. I wasn't Emigh anymore. I was just a part of this vast universe; concentrated and swirling on this tiny speck of dust called Earth, contemplating what it meant to be a conscious, sentient being.

I am back in my body again (most of the time), however, I am still contemplating these things. Thank you for sharing your art, Sigur Rós!

The symbolism of hair

Yesterday I received a fantastic cut and style from my friend Stephanie at Au Fait here in Madison. She did so much more than banish split ends and show me how to use a few tools and products. She handed me the keys to something I've been trying to unlock my entire life; how to make my hair reflect my personality. I think Stephanie nailed it. Of course that figures, when Au Fait's website asks "What do you want your hair to say about you?" I think about that all the time, honestly.

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then the hair is the window treatment. Hair can invite you to take a peek into that soul, and it can shut you out and keep inner musings private. When I woke up this morning and looked out my bedroom window, I realized how important hair is to me personally, which is reflected blatantly in my writing. Each character's hair says something about them, some more than others:

Talvi-thick and black as pitch; wild, unruly and going every direction. Can not and will not be tamed. Won't even let his twin sister come near it with scissors...trust issues, perhaps?

Finn-very dark brown, with large, soft, loose curls perpetually falling into his eyes. Maybe he likes to hide behind his curls so he can hide his deepest feelings? He doesn't mind how it's cut unless it matters to someone important to him.

Runa-fine, straight and waist-length, so pale blonde that it's almost white. She takes care of it with gentle combing. Maybe the light color symbolizes her innocent naivete, along with the breath of fresh air that she is when things get too serious?

Hilda-long, light honey brown, full of twigs and tangles. A total nature's child, more concerned with nurturing others than her own needs.

Annika-straight and waist length edgy layers. Flame red when she's not masquerading as a brunette. It's been mentioned more than once that she isn't a natural redhead, but she says it suits her fiery personality. I'm inclined to agree. This girl is a hot mess, getting tangled up with those Marinossians!

It makes me wonder if their personalities would be different if their hair was different. Can you imagine a tow-headed Talvi or a black-haired Annika?

Free ebooks? Yes please!

I decided that since I've got a March birthday right around the corner, for the rest of this month I'm going to offer a free PDF of either Balkan Magic or The Silver Thread to anyone who requests one. This should work on most e-readers, including Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Android, and iPad. Just go to my profile on the left, click the link to email me which book in the series you want, and I'll send you a copy ASAP. No strings attached. Really. Girl Scout's honor (I'm a card-carrying lifetime member).

For the skeptics who wonder "How good can it be if the author's giving it away for free?", I can only smile, shrug, and direct them to all the 4 and 5 star reviews the books have on Amazon and Goodreads. I encourage you to pay it forward by sharing your free book with your friends and family if they're interested in a free urban fantasy or free paranormal romance ebook. I would be delighted if you helped that number of reviews grow. I'm not in this for the money. I just want to spread the love, because 'tis far better to give than receive.

Please, allow me...

Allow me to put your imagination to work, at both our risk.

Allow me to do what I do, so that you can close your eyes and conjure up your own fantasies, however light or dark they may be.

Allow me to bring you to a certain point in the story and then leave the room, making you fill in all sorts of blanks. I know you can do it.

Allow me to not give a play by play of what two consenting adults are capable of. It spoils the surprise if you know what's coming, and I like surprises.

Allow me to select the book cover artwork that features only a few sparse elements from the story, so that you can put whatever or whoever you truly desire on the cover.

Please, allow me.

The Waitress...or my rain dance selection

If I were needing a song to coax rain from the sky and rid the land of drought, I think this would be the one...



"I believe in that girl
I believe in her goodness
I believe in her darkness
but I believe that she's a devil bitch..."