Animal guides won't come to you unless you capitalize your sentences.

It's true.

To have a spiritual guide, some say, you must be ready to undertake spiritual guidance. You have to have control over your emotions and body, and then the spirits will send an animal to you to guide your soul. The bardic and shamanic paths especially work with animal and spirit guides.

Everyone has a spirit guide, no matter whether they want to call them ancestor spirits, guardian angels, totems or animal guides. They will reveal themselves to you in various ways but you will always have a definite understanding of it when it happens. You won't wonder, "was that it?" You will have a strong feeling that it was important.

Sometimes a spirit animal is a real animal that may appear to you often, or in times of distress or high emotion, like seeing crows at strange times. It could be an animal companion, a pet that you connect with in a special way, though an animal Familiar is not always your animal guide.

It could be an animal you once knew that has died and remains with you in spirit, particularly if that animal had a strong power and connection to you.
Or it could be an animal that you once were in a past life. The memories and sensations of this animal would connect you strongly to others of its type, and seeing them in real life would be an omen to you.

In other words, a spirit animal is either a personal, exact being, or a generalized creature.
Meditation, thinking deeply about yourself, you can begin to create a list of what traits you possess--both positive and negative--and the traits you wish to possess. During this time an animal may come to you, or you may choose one that you want to be like. If something strange keeps coming to mind that you wouldn't pick, but you can't forget it, that may be a message from your animal guide.
For instance you may be thinking "I wonder if mine is the wolf? Wolf wolf wolf." but a weirdo little otter keeps coming to your mind and you can't make it leave, embrace the otter for its playfulness, peace of spirit, love, speed and ability to hide, and realize this might be your spirit animal.
Once you have settled on something, however unsure you are, look for its presence in your daily life. Where do you see images of this animal, or this animal itself? Where do you find its characteristics? Do you see it in patterns of speech, sounds or colors? If not, you should find a different animal. But if you really feel everything falling into place, you're in a good spot.

Once you have found your spirit animal, you think, let me know and I will give you some simple exercises to do to help strengthen the bond between you.

That's normal... most girls have one bigger or lopsideder or, if you're Michelle, one that's cockeyed.
I'm sure not many people are severely interested in the discrepencies of your breasts---you're the only one who notices... Just give them a while to settle out...

Thanks for your kind comments, actually.

Most of the things on my geocities site are pretty darn outdated--early high school, even. When I find the time and the inclination to wade through a virus-infested version of dialup AOL and upload, I put more recent things at http://koshii.deviantart.com .
I'm very pleased you like my poetry. Much of THAT, too, is pretty old... and I started getting uninspired when making that part of the site, so there's not much love going on in that corner. However, when people leave me notes like this, I get just motivated enough to go back and do something with the place... ;)

And yes, I think you have a point about my happy poetry being not very happy. Oh well... that's how it works..

That's hard for me to imagine, because my cookies are always very perfect.

If you're making something that calls for butter and sugar, mix the butter and sugar together to make a creamy sugary paste.
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl all at once (carefully! Read everything you do! Do it in order!) and THEN add the wet ingredients.
Things like eggs, baking powder, and baking soda are for making baked goods puff up and stay fluffy. Crisco, shortening, butter and oil make things heavy and fattening. The more grease in your cookies, the thicker they will be.
"Drop cookies" go on the sheet in spoonfuls. If the batter is runny or won't stay in spoonfuls, you've made pancakes instead of cookies--add more flour. If the batter is crumbly and won't stick together, add a FEW drops (literally, a small spoonful) of water and mix until it's sticky and thick.
Always test your cookie dough before you bake it. :)
Most cookies go in the oven for about nine minutes--9 to 11 usually gets it. When they are no longer wet-looking in the middle, they're done. Let them cool on a baking rack where air can get underneath.

If all else fails, run like hell to the store and buy something from the bakery there. They're usually sort of tasteless and sugary, but they're better than Disaster Cookies.

Last of all, the recipe for chocolate chip cookies on the back of the chocolate chip bag is always the best one in existance.

Something is keeping Henry agitated, because three weeks usually is enough time for a cat to get used to the smells and rhythms of his new home. As someone said down there, knowing the background of Henry would probably help you determine if he's afraid if something in particular.
As for right now, I suggest you spend time just sitting in the room where he's hiding, and talking softly to him. He needs to get used to the sound of your voice and the sensation of you being near. Bring him tempting foods like a bit of cheese or ham or something, so he associates you with good things. Even if he won't take it from your hand, the smell will tell him it's good.
It seems you know that it's not normal for a cat to be on high alert all the time--it will wear down his health just as it would do to a human. If you have screened windows, maybe leaving them open where he can smell the outside will make him feel more soothed. Set up a place where he can hide and feel safe--if that's under your bed, then let him hide there whenever he wants. Some cats are just painfully shy, and I think it could take as long as half a year for him to realize you mean him no harm.
Send him nice thoughts, and always be peaceful when dealing with him, because cats are very sensitive to moods. If you're agitated at his fear, he will know, and it might just make it worse.
An outside cat is not used to walking under ceilings and having spaces around them during the day--they usually curl up and sleep--he could be a very nocturnal cat who is upset at the daytime activity. If you can keep him calm during the day, or safely in a bedroom where nothing will scare him, he might realize that the day won't kill him.
Most of all, be patient with him, because it's hard to adjust to a home where you feel unwelcome (for whatever reason). When we got a second cat, our first was very hostile. She had not been raised with other cats and didn't understand cat etiquette or the smells that other cats have. It took her a very long time to stop hissing and smacking him, but now they cohabitate rather well (two years later).

Wear silly hats.

To paraphrase Frasier,

Men do not use sex to get what they want. Sex IS what they want!!

It is impossible to use a boy for sex. That was a huge mistake from the beginning, no matter who said it, because that will not drive a boy away.

If your friends are assholes, and that is the general picture I'm getting here, dump them. Come on...why is it, if a man acts like this to a woman, she dumps him like third period French; but if a woman acts this way to a woman, she takes it and takes it for months? Just because they KNOW you does not mean they're your friends. They are being assholes of the highest order. Get a new friend, or just tell these you're not interested in their backstabbing any more.

You shouldn't have lied to him, but I'm not here to answer for your moral decisions.
The bleeding that occurs when the hymen is broken is very little--not nearly as much as a period or anything of that nature, and it's sometimes not even noticable. As for hurting, if you're not a user of tampons, it feels much like that. It feels like a stab. You're shoving an object in yourself that is bigger than the opening, and that's the best metaphor I can give you.
It's not going to kill you and it will only be as horrible as you make it. It's not going to be very good at all, I can tell you right now, because it rarely ever IS for a virgin. It will also probably be over pretty quickly. After that point, you can roll up in a sheet and feel miserable and awkward, or you can cuddle and talk about something nice--because the sex is not going to be something lovely to discuss.

It's been the experience of everyone I know that it keeps getting better every time, but since you're young, remember to use a condom and be very, very careful. There's no excuse for getting pregnant.

Lastly, if you're a virgin and he's experienced, it will be obvious if you're a virgin or not. It just is. If he doesn't know anything either, it's just going to be clumsy all around. If your lie about not being a virgin is so important, you should maybe think about that a little, too.

Actually I am. I am a poet and a lover of good poetry, and I believe the written word has fantastic power if used cleverly. Much of the "classic" poetry is honestly some of the most powerful stuff in the English language, and the ability to force emotions, create visions and communicate things that have never been experienced by the reader is an awesome power. There is communication, and then there's poetry.

I do my best to stay away from the mundane ("I saw a rat. It sat. On a mat. Splat.") and the annoyingly trite ("The rain comes down from the bleeding sky like the drops of blood that fall from my wrist. I am so alone. I sit in the dark corner wishing someone understood me").

If I felt cleverer I would have answered this in poem form but I'm feeling really unconscious today. I went to the beach and had a wonderful time by myself. I played with the sun and he was friendly for several hours, then bit me. I have a wicked burn on my back and it's making me cranky. I hope your week is being less painful than mine.

Webcams are practically designed to get people into trouble. I suppose she knew you had it, so it was a lapse of judgment on her part to let you play with it in the first place if she thought you were going to be lewd--which, it seems, you were doing unintentionally. Or so you say.
It sounds like your mother was having a cranky day and when she saw you doing what she'd told you not to, she assumed you were just being naughty. You should explain to her what you did to remove the naughtiness from the situation and then see if you can live without it. I don't have one and I'm rather complacent with life.
Also be careful about who you let peek down your shirt. eep.

Try Clover.. I would have suggested Hazel, if you hadn't put restrictions on it.
There's also Holly, Dandelion, Fiver, Hrair and many other names which I pulled from the splendid book Watership Down (which is about rabbits and communists..).

This sounds a little bit suspicious to me. I understand someone being sweet, and I too would send my friend flowers on his birthday, but unless he was a really, REALLY GOOD friend (hmm...) I don't think I'd spend $60-80 on a spa package for him.
I think there's a little bit of odd activity going on with your husband, and from the point of view of someone who has a very longterm relationship, I would have some mental questions.

Of course there is the thought that she's more important to him than you, so the logical question is Why? If the answer your mind supplies is "cheating", then examine that. Go ahead and be jealous because after all, he IS your husband, and while it's wrong to build a fence around him, it is NOT wrong to expect respect and devotion from him. Marriage after all is not *just* two people that happen to live together having separate lives. That's college roommates.
I suggest you talk to him about what's going on, and say that although you love the way he has enough affection to give to others, you're upset that you aren't getting as much affection as you feel you're due. It may be he simply thinks you _know_ he loves you, so he won't go out of his way to court you, as it were.
Do your best to communicate and put him on the spot if you must, but don't leave it unresolved and 'don't go to bed angry'.

Well, I hate Disney with a slow-boiling passion, but I've researched their tactics and history and it's not at all a pretty picture. Let's totally ignore their shitty art for the moment and the "colleges" they pull employees from. They're a bunch of corporate dicks.

But hey, you didn't request my rant, you asked if your ex and you are incompatible in a deep and soul-piercing way. I would answer to the affirmative. I couldn't live with a man who loves Disney. Good thing mine doesn't.

Oh yes, thirteen was such a fun year.
Masturbate as you've never masturbated before and all will be well.

He doesn't want to be with you, and you'd do better to realize that and stop chasing him around. He's not forgetting about you because you were never on his mind in the first place. It always kills me how this can still be defined as "going out" when you don't even interact. Oh yeah, good times.

Lovely poem. Only problem is, it's not yours.

It's written by Frank Dempster Sherman; Born in May 6, 1860; died September 19, 1916. Nice work there--I really hope you're not trying to pass that off as yours, because it just reeks of early 1900's lingo.
I see nobody else has tried to touch this, but as it stands, you're called out. Yes, it is "a poems for friends" as you said. In addition, I don't see a question going on... so yes... there's my advice...

In other news this is one of the best poems I've ever seen on this site.

Take two corn tortillas moving at 67 mph leaving from San Bernadino at 9:26 am heading North, and a cup of ground beef moving at 45 mph leaving from Quebec at 2:14 pm heading southwest. Assuming neither has delays or stops, at what time will they collide in Mexico City on Cinco de Mayo in a vat of queso?

Pretty horrid, repetitive and cliche. It's been done so many times it's leaking at the seams. Don't put a comma at the end of every line. Don't write the same line over and over just because you can't think of anything to say. Don't waste my eyesight and my time writing this stuff. Please.

Jeez, everyone I know pops SOME part of their body. I do my entire spine, wrists, toes, ankles, shoulders, knuckles and neck. My fiance does the same, and my friends...
You're right, it doesn't cause any harm to you at all. It relieves stiffness and feels cool. Some people just can't stand the sound of peoples' bones snapping together, and my mom goes up the wall when I "squeak" my bare toes on the linoleum kitchen floor. I ignore them.. we all have our pet peeves...
There's nothing wrong with it and your bones just happen to do it, like mine, and your husband's don't. Probably when he was a kid he could pop his fingers but got bored with it--around third grade everyone does it--and the more you stretch and pop your joints, the better they pop. As an artist who works with her hands constantly, I have to have a full range of motion for hours and hours and popping my knuckles is both soothing and stiffness-reducing.
Your husband will get used to it--it's better than smoking or being OCD about arranging socks or something, isn't it?

If you're thirteen I doubt you lived through much of the 80's... my sister is thirteen and she was born in 1990. Now I know the 80's carried through until the changeover in 1995, but still.

Ask your parents for leftover stuff.
Why would you want to buy clothes online? Gross. You never know what you're getting.
Go to a Goodwill or Salvation Army store and you will find everything your little heart desires. They won't be for free, but where else are you going to find a 50 cent t-shirt with Ted Nugent on it? Hell yeah. Rock you like a hurricane.

People have been coming to me for advice so long, I might as well do this all in one spot. I watch a lot of unfathomable Japanese TV and drink a lot of coffee. I'm a freshly-hatched Illustration major, formerly trapped & dying in the American South, now busily teaching phrases to all of Nagoya Japan. I'm always on the lookout for more video games and sushi.
I have lots of interesting pets. Wanna see my beetle?

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