Since I am ill with the flu, and had to miss work...I've nothing better to do than rant. Oh goodie for you people out there, you actually have to sit here and read this scheiss that I spew out...even though I shouldn't even be *near* the computer, technically. Carpal tunnel really really bites, and for some reason...I ignore the biting pain in my wrists and fingers and hands and continue to type madly. This only proves what a miscreant I am. Plus, instead of trying to correct my typing posture, I just keep right on doing what I've been doing. It's not so much the way I sit; but more in the way my hands position themselves. My wrists drag the tabletop when I type, and I know for a fact that they are *not* supposed to be doing this. Doesn't sound too bad, right? People, let's put it this way:

I have callouses on the very far pad of my hand where it meets my wrist.

That's how badly I drag, and how much I type. Ow. Ow. Damn you, carpal tunnel.

Anyhow--what was I originally going to rant about? Ah, yes. Music. And how much I love it. Well, certain types, anyway.

OK. Janis Joplin is god. Well, one of them. The woman's voice simply amazes me. The emotion, and feeling she puts into her music is unsurpassed by damn near anyone, as far as this waif is concerned. Plus, aside from her music, she was one awfully cool person. No one should be allowed to be that cool. It makes the rest of us look inferior--which we are >:D She was one of the first truly independant women (don't get me wrong, I'm no fem-Nazi), and she dared to be different. Just *look* at the woman. She didn't give a flying rat's posterior about what anyone thought about her, or what people said about her. She lived to live and if people said stuff about her--well, whatever. People talk.

Plus...there's just something not right with you, my friend, if you listen to a song like Work Me Lord or Summertime and don't just feel *something*. A quiet emotion, something that creeps beneath your skin and makes you feel pleasantly alive. Kinda like ink spilled in water. It'll just fan out, and murk through your blood. (I don't know if 'murk' is an actual word...well, it's a word but I'm not too sure it's a verb...but you all know what I mean, right? Work with me here, people.)

AND DEAR SWEET HOLY (insert religious figure here, I don't want to offend anyone) I LOVE TORI AMOS. I had heard of her before, and heard a few songs...like Crucify, and Spark...some of her ones that made it fairly big. But a certain friend of mine (let's just call her...Bretia, heh heh) was always evangelizing about her (not that I minded) and I finally decided "What the heck. Mebbe I should check this lady out."

Glee of glees, I found a used copy of Boys For Pele (which is still my fave) at a small record shop in Phoenix. No scratches, and only 7 bucks. How could I go wrong? If I didn't like it, I had only wasted 7 bucks. So I bought it.

I listened to it some in the car, and I reeeeeaaally liked the first few tracks. Horses didn't catch on to me until later, and now it might be my favourite song on the CD. Anywho, I liked the whole angsty-girl-on-the-harpsichord thing she had going on in the first few songs. And then, when she got into things like Marienne and Hey Jupiter...I was simply blown away.

And lo, Amara joined the cult of Ears with Feet. Happily. Willingly. It was a while before I finally got off my butt and stopped being cheap, and bought her newest CD, From The Choirgirl Hotel. It's pretty good as well, although on some songs she seems to have slipped. (What the hell is all this She's Your Cocaine scheiss about? I think she was *on* cocaine when she did that song...) Many of the songs, however, blew me away even worse than the ones on Boys For Pele did.

I didn't get the first two CDs until I went out of town for my 'brother''s wedding...but, I did have a few B-sides courtesy of a CD burner. And they threw me into tizzies of glee as well. Little Earthquakes is so full of emotion and beauty and pain and honesty and purity that I could just go blind from it all. (?! oO) I find myself wailing China at the most inopportune times, and scaring people by running about singing excerpts from Precious Things. I didn't care for Mother much at first, but like Horses...it grew on me. Immensely.

I have nothing to say for Under The Pink except: AMAZING.

To put it shortly, I am a Tori Amos spaz. I am very glad that I am going to see her live, because I am fairly sure it might change my life. It has already. She has. I believe Faerie (who runs Silent All These Years) put it best when she said:

"...as i explored tori's past and albums i new door opened to me. her songs came knocking on my door and said "look we've gotta talk." so we did. and i've never been the same since. her music is brilliant (god can she play a piano!) her thoughts and ideas are inspiring and her loving words and devotion to her fans,we little ears with feet...she's an amazing woman. and i thank the mother i had the chance to meet this angel..."

I agree with it all. She also mentions the fact that Tori's music showed her that there was more to life than getting high and getting laid. Her music showed me that there was more to life than what I had thought was everything at that moment, and I went through a reform. The result? A happier, more innovative Amara. It's a lovely experience. I suggest you all try it some time.

Since Faerie's site also mentions something I find highly interesting as well--Wicca--I think I should rant about it some.

I have an IRL friend who is a member of the Wiccan faith...and after hearing about and seeing all the absolute *shit* she has had to go through at the hands of supremist Christian bastards I respect the hell out of her and her staunchness. (Man, look at that sentence. ::realizes she swore a lot:: Shucks.

The point is, she's so devoted to her faith and the power invested in the faith, that she is unmoveable--no matter what ANYONE says. Being an alternative religion myself, living in a Christian town...you'd be surprised at all the flak we catch. Love thy neighbour, my ass. Christians, at least most of the ones I know, are narrow minded peevish whiners. Who have nothing better to do than pick on the individual who dares to be...individual. Please, pull the Bible and the crucifix out of your prissy asses and wake up. My religion is the third largest in the world, and I am by no means some sort of religious oddity to be scorned.

And even if Wicca isn't the third largest, or the tenth, or even the twentieth--WHATEVER. At the beginning, we were ALL essentially Wiccan. We all came from the Mother (most every religion--including my own--has some Mother aspect and we all came from Her.) We should all thank the Mother for putting us here.

And remember this--if there *is* a "God", you Christian people should thank the Mother for putting him there. Because, after all--he would be an offset of Her.

Plus, one more thing that really gets my hackles up: How *arrogant* of the Christians to name their god God. All other gods have names, and yes, Allah is a name. They could have called Allah God, instead of Allah--which means essentially the same thing. But no. They were not selfish. They called Him Allah. But nooooo--the Christians had to be the arrogant self-indulgent monkeys they usually are and call their god God.

And if they speak of other gods, instead of doing them proper justice, and capitalizing it--they are simply gods. The Greek gods. The Hindu gods. The Norse gods.

::screams::

If you're talking about it in a sentence like above...."How *arrogant* of the Christians to name their god God", then that's alright, because god is a word. It means a supreme creature, and it's not talking about any particular god in the proper way. But if you say something like Norse Gods, then you should capitalize the god. OK, so I'm psychotic. But that's just the way I feel about it. ::realizes she's going to be flamed up the butt for her rant::

::grumbles::

::wonders how she went from music to hating Christians::

And honestly...people...I don't really hate Christians unless they give me reasons to, which they usually do. I don't just walk up to them and say, "You're a Monotheist. I hate you. Die, you (insert random expletives here.)" Techincally, it's against my religion to hate anyone. There are actually very few people I hate...more than anything, Christians *annoy* me. They irk and bother me. I have friends who are Christians--but see, they don't wave their religion in my face. Very rarely do they ever bring theirs up, and very rarely do I ever bring mine up. And when we do, it isn't a sort of "You're-wrong-and-you're-going-to-Hell" confrontation. It's a discussion.

And most logical Christians say that even if you are another religion; if you're a good person, you won't go to Hell.

So all you supremist Christians out there--get a clue. My friend and I, and Faerie--and anyone else who is an alternative religion--we are NOT going to burn for being different. According to your religion, *you* might catch some flames for what you've been doing. And according to my religion...well, you're probably going to be a rock in your next life. (Which isn't possible...but, do you see my point?)

And according to Wicca...some really funky crap is going to happen to you for breaking the Three Fold Law. (Mind ye three fold law ye should, three times bad and three times good.) Be nice to people or it will bite you in the hiney. And most definitely, do not cast spells on them. Ouch, that one will hurt when it comes back. Ditto on my religion. It's bad karma to be mean, honey, don't you know that?

But of course. You knew that. Boy George taught us all about karma...in a way, at least....heh....::sings::

I've nothing left. I'm outta here.

8.7.99 thanx cemetary~