Weight and Wimsy

I was gonna make a lame Thundercats/Juno reference, but "Weight Watchers--HOO!!!" Just didn't look right, LOL.

I'm sure everyone has heard by now that Mother and I are back on Weight Watchers after 4 years absence and so far it's showing signs of progress!

We're currently on week 3 and have had 2 weigh ins and she and I are neck and neck at 6.2 pounds lost each. I even found the last remaining pair of size 20 jeans I own (the rest were donated in an attempt to avoid more emotional trauma than was necessary constantly trying to wear pants that don't fit) and found that while they are relatively easy to put on and fasten they are just shy of completely comfortable when seated. Hopefully in a week or so I'll be able to say that they fit perfectly and begin to see if its worth more to take-in the pants I own or to buy all new ones.

It's actually been fairly easy to feed myself on the system, a lot easier than I thought it'd be as a vegetarian, however I am still having difficulties when eating out or food of other peoples creation, since I was a bit of a point Nazi for the first two weeks. I'm a little more lenient now, planning my breakfasts and lunches at school and being sure to leave a comfortable cushion of points to eat out for dinner (either with classmates on Sat. or my own Sushi decadence on Fri.) and I really don't bother counting them, figuring if I go over that's what flex points are for and since I don't use them during the week I'm not a risk of running out (and even if I did I could exercise to earn back and exchange the difference.)

Well, I have high hopes and plans for the future and I can't wait to see my future success!

Aika

New Avatar Kick! Yay!

So Since Avatar has come out on DVD I've naturally been reestablished in my Avatar Fandom. ^^
It started some with the above video (VERY COOL) LOL And reached it's zenith with the following images:

EPIC RIGHT!!?!?!?!?
I'm SO buying the face and ear prostetics for Halloween or Something. X3 (happy face!)

Anyway, I was thinking since I have a cool HD TV that I would see if anyone wanted to come over and watch Avatar on Sunday after I get home from school.

Any Takers?

Any hoo, watching it again with Mom right now, wish I had a 3D tv so bad (not to mention the Extended/Special Edition) or even just a Blu Ray player! But I don't have $75 to spare right now, though it's gonna be pretty sweet once I get one, LOL.

Well, have a nice night everyone and may the light of Eywa be upon you all! ^_~

Aika

Check In

OMG, I've gotten so behind on posting on here, like you don't even know. I've just gotten so behind with everything going on in life and class and such. I've got so many ideas for blog posts and information and I just haven't found the time to put it together. Hopefully I should be able to get started on that soon. I got this idea that going to do one blog posted day to catch up on the ideas and topics that I've been wanting to blog about but we'll see how that happens. I'm very happy to be back in school, it's been really strange to notice how much I missed it while I was gone, life just felt so incomplete and it's really unusual but really powerful too.which is not to say I didn't miss my UUCL friends, but my friends and classmates at FIH are so important to me as well as all of the important emotional change I've been going through.

So anyway, I wish everyone luck, good health, and the best and hopefully you should be hearing more from me soon! Love you all!

Aika

I wish I could write...

I've had some rather awesome characterization breakthroughs in my brain over the last 24 hours and I'm like possessed with the urge to work on this story again.
It's my Amazon themed story (you may or may not know anything about it).
I got turned onto it while I was working on an art competition piece about Hippolyta some months back and was intrigued with the twisted mess that is historical accounts of Amazons. Out of this kefuffle I pulled the stories of three women, sisters and amazons.
As with most of my stories my interest comes and goes but it's recently come back more strongly (mostly after watching clash of the titans I think, put my brain back in that era, lol.)

However I'm faced with a fact I must have know all along but didn't have to actually face before. I can't write.
Just in that I don't have any experience of knowledge of how to go about it. The more I would talk with Tracie the more it showed what a REAL writer looked like and did. And I wasn't it.

I tried to let it go, to stop saying I was gonna write that 'one day' but I keep feeling like I'm letting someone or something down, almost like I can imagine my characters looking at me sadly, disappointed that I'll never let them see daylight.

I acknowledge with work I could probably learn how to write, but I'm not certain I'm up to such effort, especially not now, while I'm in school. I think I might find a happy medium for now though.

I pulled out my notes and drawings and I've rekindled my research and have come across several interesting new plot points that I hope to work in and help stabilize the time line and historical structure of my story. It's hella fun too, ^^.

Well, I can't say if I will ever write this story or not, but it's retaken my attention for now. ^^ I must thank the wonderful writers in my life for rekindling the desire in me.

Aika

Quite So!

I'm still on my Holmes kick.

It's in full swing now.

I bought Vol. 1 of "Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories" and I'm on a roll.

Then I found THIS LITTLE GEM and I'm in naughty fangirl heaven (I knew I could count on you DeviantArt).

PLUS!!!! I found THIS AWESOMENESS and it had become like my new Sherlock Holmes Bible (did I have an Old one???).

IN OTHER NEWS
Like I said I went and picked up my Sherlock Holmes book, so yatta.
I came home, ate my lunch and recorded the next months UUCL Podcast openings until it was time to leave for my appt. with Matthew. I should've known I had nothing to fear. We had a very pleasant session with some hypnotic programming (I'm going to try and listen again before I go to bed) and while there was some emotional release there wasn't a complete meltdown (like I'd feared)... That comes later, lol. He did use some EMT (Eye Movement therapy) though and let me tell you, that shit is the BOMB! I can't WAIT to learn it, it's frickin amazing! It seems simple and unassuming on the outside, someone slowly waving their fingers around in front of your face while you follow them with your eyes and they talk about your fear/negative feeling/whatever you wanna get rid of and then talks about how you wont have that anymore but will feel ____ instead. and then when he stops and you look inside, YOU DO!!! The fear/negativity/hindrance is *poof* gone, I'm telling you, it's crazy. We scheduled to meet again next Friday, and as many Fridays as are necessary to resolve my issues. It was very nice and I'm very excited to begin the work soon. Believe me though, a little of the nervousness is still there, but not as bad as before.

Once came back I chatted with NurAllah and then started to read my new book for about 30min (I like how much Loren D. Estleman-the introduction author-loves Watson, god knows I love him too, but I think she's a little daft about the "they're not homosexual" thing. Cause CLEARLY they are, and it is glorious,lol.) Well after my 30min I went for a walk in a nice park with NurAllah and her dog Kali. I wish I had taken some pictures cause there was this courtyard we went to with a huge 3 tiered fountain in the center and surrounded by a circular trellis covered in Wisteria vines, all in bloom. It looked and SMELLED a dream. And it lead me to discover something later.

Gainesville is like overrun with wild Wisteria! You see it all over the place when you drive around! I don't mean like in people's yards, I mean like growing up trees in wooded lots. I never noticed it before since they weren't in bloom, but now that they are you see them all over the place. I love the plant so much but haven't really been bothered to grow them. Maybe I should steal a branch and see if it'll grow.

Anyhoo, after our lovely walk (the weather was simply smashing) I went out in search of a light dinner and after getting thoroughly lost I finally went to a place I could find and bought my food to go, or I'd be late for class. Class was very fun, amusingly enough, because we're starting to delve into the nitty gritty real world stuff like advertising, marketing and the business of running a practice. I just love this 'realistic' how to stuff, it really gives my planning mind fodder to work with. We'll be getting much more in depth tomorrow.

After class I went and grabbed some more food (Joes!) and decided I wanted to see a movie, so I went and saw Alice in Wonderland again, in 2D this time. It didn't lack much, proof that they didn't utilize the 3D to its fullest potential, unlike Avatar (HAHA did it again, I still got it). Though I could spot parts where the 3D would have been utilized, almost like the screen jumped or something like that. I totally enjoyed the real world 'Victorian' dress and culture more though (yay for Sherlock reference ^^) and totally believe Alice and the Hatter are meant to be.

Came home, wrote this, bed time.




Aika

Change in the Works?

So I may have found the solution to my hotel problem.
In case you hadn't heard I'm staying in hotels while I'm here in Gainesville for school, and apparently this week is "Gator Nationals" which just means crazy football nonsense.
Of course with crazy football nonsense comes astronomical Hotel rates.
Last weekend I payed $54 a night, this week it's $150 a night. I had to go all the way to Alachua to find a hotel that wouldn't cost me $300 and it's still costing me like $100 a night. To be an extra 10 miles by highway away AND be in a shitty hotel.

Don't you just LOVE football. Ugh.

Well, I was just gonna deal with it but an alternative has arisen.

I at dinner with two of my classmates (Maja and Margaret) after class and they're both boarding at someone's house. They were talking about how she was gonna have some rooms open up since a few of the people staying are leaving and they suggested I check it out.

Now this option was offered to me at first but I had immediately turned it down cause I didn't really feel comfortable going to a city I didn't know to stay with people I didn't know at some I didn't knows house and start school with a bunch of people I didn't know. Far too much uncertainty for me. But after a couple of weekends there and getting to know the people in the class better I was starting to feel more comfortable to the idea.

Maja explained that the woman who's house she was staying at was names Nurallah and she was a 60 year old Sufi firecracker with a dog named Kali (after the goddess, yes) who was very big on healthy organic eating and such like that.

Naturally my interest was peaked, so when Maja offered to show me the place so I could see if I was interested in staying there, I agreed. The house was nice, very cool and when I finally met Nurallah she was very pleasant. We chatted a little about different thinks including Names and their meanings (we both have names that are not our birth names, though mine is chosen and hers was given through her Sufi training).

Anyway she'll have a bed open next weekend and a different one (more permanently) the week after that. Plus you can't beat $15 a night when compared to $50-$100. The only possible problem could be that the beds available would be a day bed or a futon, so I'm questioning the comfort of said articles of furniture, but for two nights a week it's probably not that bad.

Well, I didn't finalize with her but I made clear that I was interested and willing before I tried the bed, so I think I might call tomorrow or maybe Monday and see if I can't set it up.

Yippe money savings!

Aika

Every Day, in Every Way, I'm Getting Better and Better

Officially my new favorite quote/mantra, I just really like it's simplicity and power and it represents just one of the awesome lessons I'm taking away from my hypnotherapist training.
I walked away from class this weekend (the first) with a lot of cool new information like the quote in the title, but the best thing I think I walked away with was a reinforced feeling that I'm doing the right thing.
I walked in with a head start on a lot of the information (from previous experiences with other hypnotherapists and what-not) but I also got a lot of new stuff, including a lot of first hand operating knowledge from Matthew (the school owner and instructor). And some of the things he's done, and does, are amazing.He's reinforcing the feeling that this is the right path for me, in so many ways.

In the more mundane, day to day aspects, it does appear more and more, to be a very lucrative occupation. Matthew does what I thought would be very difficult to maintain without any further advertisements: maintain a regular practice. Through the power of word of mouth and a few regulars Matthew maintains approximately 20 to 25 sessions a week. At around $200 dollars a pop, that translates out to something between $4000 and $5000 a week. That's like $200,000 a year on the low end! Even if you consider charging the accept median of approx. $100 a session, the earnings are still substantial.
I would only have to do 3.5 hours of sessions a week to match what I make at the hospital working 36 hours a week. And consider that this is only taking into account a standard practice, I could easily make a living doing any number of jobs available to a clinical Hypnotherapist. Holding a practice, working with a doctors office or physicians service (like Watson Clinic or Clark and Daughtrey), working at a hospital specializing in Hypnoanalgesia (a position required by JCAHO), to just doing Theresa's awesome suggestion of working Pagan and New age festivals! There are really so many options out there for me, and more keep opening up every day. But I think that more important than the money (as important as it is), hypnotherapy is offering a a much greater gift.


Hypnotism is not just some cutesy parlor trick, "Make you quack like a duck", it is pure magick. It takes the (or at least my) understanding behind magick, the power of the mind to effect positive change in the world, and makes it REAL. Not only can you help people quit harmful addictions like smoking or shed a few extra pounds, you can change their lives, even SAVE their lives. Using the right technique and method, you can heal someones past hurts, create in them a fertile ground for positive self growth, you can even heal their physical ills. From as simple as taking away someones pain (something Matthew can do in under 10 minutes) to as complex as bringing someone back from death's door and completely healing them of cancer (a feat Matthew has also accomplished).

This isn't just about handing out some cool fun past life regressions to me anymore, this is about me fulfilling a need to create a positive effect in other people's lives that I had only had a slight inkling that I had. To know that I have the power to change people's lives, including my own. The following answer has become a bit of a joke in class already but this saying really sums up my life right now:

Can you complete this training?
Can you become a person you can be proud of?
Can you help other people to create positive change?

"YES I CAN."

~Aika

And So it Begins...Maybe...

I've jumped on another Bandwagon. Lets just hope this one goes as swimmingly as Facebook... wait, no, maybe.

This is not my first attempt at the strange art of 'blogging', not by a long shot. However I hope, with the help of friends, that I might actually be able to be successful with this... whatever success at blogging is defined as, LOL.

I'm currently in the middle of planning a new art venture so wish me luck! Hopefully I can relearn HTML fast and get pictures up here so maybe I can share some of my art in progress.

I also hope to keep up with this as I start school at FIH (Florida Institute for Hypnotherapy) and help me keep up with those that matter most to me, my dear friends and confidants, you know who you are. ^_~

Well I suppose this is a fine enough start, ONWARD!!!

Aika