Okay, in case you don't know me enough, I'm a  Beatles fan.
I have said (for the past decade) that my right arm would be sleeved in The Yellow Submarine characters.
......Well, today, I finally started that journey.
Chris tattooed The Yellow Submarine on my arm, as we watched the movie, and I sang a lot.
I love almost all my tattoos, and most of them mean something to me. But let me tell you, I was like a child with a new toy today! I was so happy with it, that I hugged my tattoo! Yes, i said I hugged my tattoo!
And I'm so excited to get the other characters on my arm!

We also had ordered that "invisible" ink that glows under blacklight. It came in with our shipment of needles/tubes today. So after the submarine, we tattooed a small spiral on my wrist to see how it worked.
It's really hard to tell! When I put a blacklight bulb to it, I saw a slight blob at the end of it, and I thought "crap, it's a mess". However, the scarring/healing looks like a perfect spiral, so it's possible I only need to wash it better (I mean, I DO still have yellow all over my arm). I will keep everyone posted if you are interested.
There are also UV tattoo inks that are NOT invisible.. they are pastel in color, until you go in a blacklight, and they they glow vibrantly. We will be ordering those as well, and trying those out.

My very goods friend sent this to an email group I'm in, and I liked it. So I'm sharing:

" namaste and good evening,
I just dropped by to share a little creative writing. not mine, mind
you, but from a friend (with permission). We had just gotten done
with a conversation wherein we shared a bit about how the notion of an
official "Pagan Way" has taken some of our pagan brothers and sisters
into dangerous and misinformed dogmatic territory. His writing meant
something to me, and I hope also, to some of you as well.

I Remember
I remember when what we practiced was simply called "The Craft".
I remember a time before coven wars.
I remember when "Bucklands Complete" was published.
I remember a time before "pagan" media stars. I remember a time before
"New Age" and 40 pounds of jewelry.
I remember holding circle and the simple calling was to God and Goddess.
I remember everyone had their own pantheon but all still came to
worship together without constraint.
I remember when circle was a joy, a celebration not a solemn ritual.
I remember when we joined and just "winged it" in celebration, love
and laughter.
I remember when casting the circle desoil or widdershins was not a
matter of huge debate.
I remember when spell was done based on need, not planetary hour and day.
I remember when the path was based on connection to earth, Her cycles
and the cycles of the God moving across Her.
I remember a time when each path was individual, as Cernunnos states,
"You cannot reach Me, following the footsteps of another".
I remember when we all came together regardless of path specifics in a
bond beyond that.
I remember when the path was joy, not dogma. I remember when labels
did not matter, green witch, hedgewitch, Wiccan...
I remember when we were few enough, we embraced each other openly
regardless of path.
I remember when the first people spoke out for our rights, Z Budapest,
Laurie Cabot, and others.
I remember when the doctrines of The Hermetic Order of the Golden
Dawn, The Rosicrucian's, Gardner, Buckland, Alexander, the Farrar's,
and others, were separate and varied paths along the same trail.
I remember these before they blended into "Wiccan Law".
I remember when what Gardner, Buckland taught was "new".
I remember when these were recognized as teachings and explorations of
these groups.
I remember when the "Charge" was a beautiful poem, not ancient law.
I miss Scott Cunningham's simple and funny way of putting things.
I wish I had the opportunity to meet and know "Bucky" as my mother did.
Mostly, I remember our history. Mostly, I miss the old days and ways.
I mourn their passing.
All things change, all things cycle, all things die.
I hope there are enough who do not forget how hard we worked to get
here today.

Scott L. Virginia Beach, VA

I remember...
Do you?"

What Did The Hippies Want?
by Alicia Bay Laurel
November 19, 2001

We wanted intimacy--
not a neighborhood where you didn't know anyone on the block,
or you competed, kept up with the Joneses.

A hunter-gatherer or early agricultural community meant that people lived,
worked and sought deeper contact with the holy spirit as a group,
and they all knew one another, from cradle to grave.

I used to call my hippie friendships "a horizontal extended family,"
as opposed to the ancient tribal extended family,
which was multi-generational, and therefore, vertical.

We wanted a culture which acknowledged the human body, not just for sex,
but to hug each other, to be naked without shame,
to revere the body with natural foods,
beneficial exercise, herbs, baths, massage, deep understanding.
This was not part of the culture from which we came.
We wanted a culture that thrived on gift-giving.
We hitchhiked, shared our food and drugs, gave away our possessions.
People who could afford to buy land invited others who could not to live there.

We opened free stores, free clinics, free kitchens,
not just in the Haight, but everywhere we went.
We wanted be living proof that God(dess) was taking care of us and therefore there was no need to hoard.

We wanted to live without the constraints of time.
We wanted to wake up each day and decide what would be the most fun to do that day
--or just find out as it went along.
We wanted to go with the flow, follow our bliss, be here now.
This was in complete opposition to the culture from which we came.

We wanted new ways to value one another, rather than by wealth,
status, looks, achievements, machismo, as our culture of origin
had taught us, and continues to teach us through the media.
We wanted to value one another for being lovable and real.

We valued spiritual depth, which we referred to as "heavy."
We admired one another for being happy.
We admired those who offered selfless service or peaceful resolution of conflict.
We wanted a spirituality that actually caused you to grow as a person,
not one in which people attended religious gatherings for social status.
We wanted to be guided by our own Inner Spirits, rather than by priests.

We thirsted for the spiritual awareness and grace we experienced
on psychedelics, without psychedelics, or in addition to them.
Many hippies would spend their last cent on a weekend workshop
that promised to "change your life forever."
That was how so many gurus found followers in those days.

We wanted to live in harmony with the earth,
the plants and animals, the indigenous peoples of the earth,
with each other, with ourselves.
We were the fuel behind the rapid expansion of the environmental movement.
We experimented with living arrangements that we thought would harmonize with nature.
We sought out indigenous tribal elders as our teachers.

We wanted to make the things we wore and used with our hands,
grow our food and medicine, feel all kinds of weather--
all the experiences our modern urban lives had excluded
in the name of convenience and comfort.
We wanted to live on the road, have adventures,
build things that hadn't been built before, and live in them.

We wanted to live our mythic selves,
give ourselves names that resonated with our souls,
dress in costumes that expressed our dreams,
do daring deeds, dance as if no one was looking,
decorate our homes with magical things,
listen to music that took us out of ordinary reality
into altered states of awareness.

We wanted to see life without violence.
We wanted media that contained truth.
Some of us risked our lives to find out what the government was doing and let the underground press know.
We wanted to talk about things in print that we were not allowed to discuss in our culture of origin.

We wanted to live without stupid, arbitrary rules, either for ourselves or for our children.
Some of our children, as adults today,
say they wish we had been more protective of them, or offered more structure.
We only knew what we endured,
being as culturally different from our culture of origin as Chinese are from Italians,
and punished for it, and wished to spare our children these experiences.
However, some portion of kids raised by hippie parents
grew up to be hippies themselves.
At that point, one can say, a new culture was born and continues.

Would you be surprised to learn that spending a small fortune on beauty products is quite unnecessary? All of the ingredients you'll ever need are in your kitchen or pantry cabinet. Here are three ways in which you can use natural home beauty remedies in a flash.

Olive Oil: You cook and bake with it; but did you know you can use it in a variety of other ways? Because olive oil is chemical free, it can be used on your skin; as a bath oil, moisturizer, massager, and conditioner. For example: You can apply a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice to your skin before bedtime to reduce wrinkles and, at the same time, moisturize your skin. To strengthen your nails, soak them in warm extra virgin olive oil for five minutes. Massage your sore muscles with a mixture of extra virgin olive oil and rosemary. Apply olive oil to dry hair as an overall conditioner. It will leave your hair smooth and shiny.

Oatmeal: Wouldn't you love a facial? Get out the box of oatmeal from your cabinet and begin. This oatmeal facial will not only exfoliate, but moisturize your skin as well. Here are the steps: Take out a package of instant oatmeal; add a half a cup of water; two tablespoons yogurt; two tablespoons of honey and one egg white. Mix the water and oatmeal, then add the additional ingredients. Apply a thin layer to your face. Leave it on for about 15 minutes or until you feel tightness; then rinse your face with warm water.

Dry Skin Brushing: Here is a technique that will leave you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Before taking a shower in the morning, use a brush or sponge and begin the dry skin brushing process to exfoliate dead skin cells, and improve your blood circulation. Here's how to do it: While standing the shower with the water off, start at your feet and begin brushing in small circles toward the upper part of your body. Then work your way down the back of your body to complete the process. Do not scrub hard, but apply even and light pressure. After you have completed this procedure, take a shower.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to enhance your beauty. All of the natural remedies are at home and within your grasp.

Voluntary simplicity calls into question North American society's tendency to equate money and material possessions with the good life. Proponents of simplicity as a way of life reject the notion that our life goal should be to amass as much material wealth and prestigious accomplishments as we possibly can. Their lifestyles tend to involve patterns of working less, wanting less and spending less.
This way of life cannot be strictly defined. It means different things to different people. What may be a simple, enriching life for one person could be a life of deprivation and suffering for another. Simplicity can best be achieved by paring your life down to its essentials -- those things, activities and relationships you either truly need or genuinely cherish. Simplicity involves unburdening your life, and living more lightly with fewer distractions that interfere with a high quality life, as defined uniquely by each individual. You will find people living simply in large cities, rural areas and everything in between.
Some of the simplicity values that are important to people who live simple are:
Limiting material possessions to what is needed and/or cherished.
Meaningful work, whether paid or volunteer, ideally spending no more than 30 hours per week (in order to make time for items #3 to 12 below).
Quality relationships with friends and family.
Joyful and pleasurable leisure activities.
A conscious and comfortable relationship with money.
Connection to community, but not necessarily in formal organizations.
Sustainable consumption practices.
Healthy living practices, including exercise, adequate sleep and nutritious food.
Practices that foster personal growth, and inner life, or spirituality, such as yoga, meditation, prayer, religious ceremonies, journal writing, and spiritually- related reading.
Connection to nature -- delighting in spending time in nature regularly.
Aesthetic beauty in personal environment.
Living in harmony with values and integrity.
Living simply does not require adherence to a rigid set of rules, but rather it challenges the individual to live consciously and deliberately. Simplicity is not a destination. It is a life long journey that is not always easy, but ultimately deeply satisfying.