Zombie Tarot: The Emperor

The Emperor is the Father of the deck. He is warlike and has clear opinions on issues. Where the Empress is emotional and feminine, the Emperor is physical and masculine. In the zombie tarot, George Romero is the Emperor. As the father of modern zombie movies he seemed like a natural choice for the Emperor.

The Emperor sits in a director's chair. He is the master of all he surveys as he seeks to make his vision a reality. He is an old man who has seen much but he is still powerful.

Upright, The Emperor stands for power and fatherhood. He provides order and stability in chaotic situations.

Reversed, The Emperor is inflexible. He can not change and only seeks to recreate what made him powerful.

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Zombie Tarot: The Empress

Image via WikipediaThe Empress is the mother of the tarot. She is an example of all the potential a woman can have. While The Priestess is the thoughtful aspects of womanhood, the Empress is the emotional. In the Zombie Tarot, she is Lori Grimes from the comic book The Walking Dead.

The Empress sits in an abandoned campsite in the woods. In the woods are zombies but she is not concerned for she is powerful in her own right. She holds the keys to life and death and upon her head is a crown. Her kingdom may have fallen but she will survive.

Upright, The Empress stands for life and love. Even when surrounded by Zombies she shows that there is still something worth living for.

Reversed, The Empress suffers from anxiety. She is afraid for her loved ones and this can turn into unhealthy obsessions. Her emotions can lead her to betray them.

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Zombie Tarot: The High Priestess

Image via Wikipedia













The High Priestess is the third tarot card. Her number is 2 and she represents wisdom. She has a somewhat restrained femininity and prefers to slay zombies using her hard earned skills. In the Zombie Tarot she is Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The High Priestess stands ready for a fight in a stately Victorian home. It is night outside her home but inside is brightly lit. Near her is her father's study which contains many volumes concerning the mystery of the zombie menace. She is dressed in a light blue gown but she won't let it impede her in her fight. She has spent grueling years training and gathering knowledge of how to fight the zombie hoard. She is justifiably proud of her skills.

Upright, The High Priestess stands for wisdom. She knows how to fight the zombies and is willing to teach others providing they are worthy of her instruction.

Reversed, The High Priestess is judgmental and she can be overconfident. Both of these traits can lead her into errors regarding her fellow survivors.

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Zombie Tarot: The Magician

Image by ξωαŋ ThΦt via FlickrThe Magician is the second card in the major arcana but his number is 1. Number 1 is how he thinks of himself. He is proud and self-sufficient. He is the jack of all trades. He is skilled at using all sorts of weapons. In the Zombie Tarot he is akin to Tallahassee in Zombieland.

The Magician stands alone. He is outdoors and he stands by a truck. In the bed of the truck are the tools of his trade, a sword (Swords), a bat (Wands), a zombie skull (Cups), and a riot shield (Pentacles). On his head is a helmet with the infinity symbol on it, to show that life and hope are eternal.

Upright, The Magician stands for creativity. He knows that you can turn just about anything into a zombie killing weapon. He has confidence in his own abilities, and even though he might seem reluctant, he will help those he considers his friends. He is willing to do anything to survive.

Reversed, The Magician is arrogant and does not suffer fools lightly. This makes him despised by others. Since he is not well liked he is the most likely to be abandoned when the worst happens. He is also the most likely to abandon the others in favor of his own survival, this can backfire and leave him without help when he most needs it.

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Zombie Tarot: The Fool

Image by Donna L. Faber via Flickr











I had an idea for a zombie tarot but to be honest I can't draw, so I thought I would write out the concepts for each card anyways.

The Fool

Some say that The Fool is the key card of the tarot deck, and that the tarot is really the story of his journey. This works really well for a Zombie Tarot. The Fool is someone who does not yet know that the zombie apocalypse has happened. He is like Shaun from Shaun of The Dead.

The Fool stands on a cliff, or perhaps the roof of a high rise, looking at the sun and is oblivious to the danger that surrounds him. Nipping at his feet is a zombie dog. Little does the Fool know that he has the key to his survival in the pack that he carries.

Upright, the Fool represents the kind of innocence that will save him from the initial outbreak. The Fool has a knack for gathering allies who will help him. He is the kind of person who will try anything and therefore is more likely to figure out how to kill the zombies.

Reversed, the Fool relies on a kind a of dumb luck that can only get him so far. The Fool makes poor decisions which can lead to his allies or himself being turned into zombies. He will try to find places, like a pub, to hide in which will only turn into a deathtrap.

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The Emasculation of Horror

Cover via Amazon

The Emasculation of Horror
In the past of horror films certain rules reigned supreme. New Horror films have sought to break that pattern. Horror films of the past tried to show men going up against evil forces and saving women. Women whose role it was to scream and faint. Over time new genres of horror have emerged where women rescue men or themselves. Of course there are horror films like House of a Thousand Corpse where Monty Python’s foot comes down and everyone dies.
Torture Porn is a genre which has broken from main street horror. It has sought to break free from traditional films and show things that would not have been in older films. One type of scene that clearly shows a break from the traditional values is the castration scene. Castration scenes tend to be in only low budget shock films like Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox, I Spit on Your Grave, Night of the Demon and the original Last House on the Left. However only two of those films show women doing the castration and in both the castration is not actually seen.
Newer horror films like Teeth and Hostel 2 have tried to break that pattern by showing women taking things into their own hands and cutting things off. Of course in Teeth some of the many castrations happen by accident. It isn’t until later in the film when the main character embraces her feminine power and willfully castrates men. Hostel 2 shows us a powerful wealthy woman who is turned into a victim and later seizes back her power by castrating one of the men who made her into a victim. The interesting is that the man she castrated had already been emasculated by his wife. So in some ways the main character was just finishing the job that his wife had already began.
One thing these films fall short in, is the fact that these brutal acts seem to be justified. In most mainstream horror a psychopath does brutal things to women and even some men for no apparent reason. Even in newer films they try to soften the image of women by always giving them a reason for doing horrible things to other people.

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Zombie Story 4

The zombie cop had moved onto eating her brain, thankfully he was a messy eater, and I was able to get a few gooey delicious scraps of brains. The cop wandered off to find another victim. I crawled past the corpse of the woman in pursuit of more ankles to bite.

At this point a crowd had began to develop. Someone was yelling about kill the brains and kill the ghouls. I had the feeling I wouldn’t last much longer. It had been a while since I had any brains. I lost my mobility and watched hungrily as the people rushed by me. They were for now treating me like any other corpse.

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Zombie Story 3

I stopped and listened by now recognizing the drumbeats as heartbeats. I heard some in the distance. I bumped along the corridor and tried to follow the sound but the walls kept stopping me. I did this for a while until I hit a door. I was able to push it open with my body. I was outside and felt a distant sort of hope, but as the lethargy came over me, I moaned. The other zombie was still trapped in the building and it moan in unison with me. I moved along hoping to find another drummer.
The sun was high in the sky, which I didn’t like. My instinct said that nighttime was my friend. I heard the drums approaching me. I loved fast food.

“Stop where you are.” I turned toward the drummer and shambled towards him. He kept yelling at me. Had I been alive, I would have listened to the police officer, but I was dead. I kept moving, I felt bullets strike my body. The force of the bullets knocked me off balance; I fell and crawled towards the cop.

The cop stopped shooting for a moment until I reached him. I bit his leg and munched down. The bullets tore into my back but thankfully missed my head. He managed to rip his leg free, he hobbled away with me crawling after him.

I was not enjoying my afterlife. Although, I had no real emotions of any kind a part of me, possibly my legs, just wanted this to end. I crawled along and came upon the animated corpse of the cop. He was eating the hand of a young crying woman. I grabbed her leg and ate.

Zombie Story part 2

I munched on for a while but the good stuff was gone. I got up and banged around the room, trying to find a way out. The partially eaten body began to groan. I found an open door way and attempted to get through it. After a couple of tries I was successful I left the room and went in search of more meat. A very distant part of me recognized that there was another zombie, that I had created, but I didn’t care.
I heard the drumming again but it was louder. I knew that there must be more than one drummer. This made me happy, more drummers more food. I went to search for them. They were coming to me perhaps they were drawn by the screaming of my last victim. I started to feel the lethargy of being dead seeping back in and I let out a long depressed moan. I needed food or I would wind up trapped in my own useless corpse again.
“What the hell?”
“Are you o.k.?”
I heard the people say as I approached them. I ignored it; it wasn’t like I could answer them back. I grabbed a hold of one of them and took a big bite out of their arm. He screamed and his friend tried to get me off him. I munched away happily, as I ignored his attempts to get free. The friend put his hands on my head and pulled. I didn’t like that. Some instinctive part of me knew that it would be bad if my head were damaged.
There was not much I could do about the hands pulling my head but fortunately, one of the fingers was close to my mouth so I bite it off. That got him to let go. With him screaming, I was able to take a bite into his friend’s head. That took quite a bit of effort but it wasn’t long before I got a mouthful of sweet sweet brain meat.
The one whose finger I bit off run away screaming. I followed, hoping to eat more of him before the infection spread. As I shuffled onward, I was joined by the fellow whose brain I could still taste. If I had been thinking clearly, I might have pondered why my victims were more mobile than I was. As it was, I didn’t care. I was content for now to let him follow me.

Zombie Story

I've been writing a zombie story on Facebook and Twitter. I've been posting a bit each day. On Sundays I'll post everything I've written so far on here. We'll see how long it lasts.

I was doing my job as a crossing guard. The sound of the tire was like screaming and then there was screaming. I woke up on a cold surface. I needed someone to help me, but most of all I needed someone to eat.

I tried to get up but my body was stiff. When I managed to budge, I could hear things cracking. It felt like my whole body was one big limb that had fallen asleep. I fell off the cold metal table and as I lay there, I could hear the sounds of a distant drum.

The drumming became louder and then there were feet in front of my face. Being that close to human flesh brought life to my limbs and I was able to move. I grabbed a hold of the leg, there was screaming and the person tried to pull themselves free, but there were no match for my unnatural strength. I pulled the leg to my face and took a large bite.

The coppery taste of blood and meat filled my mouth. I felt almost alive again. For a moment, I didn’t care that I was eating another person. It felt like eating a really good hamburger, but as good as the leg tasted I knew the real nourishment was in the head. I kept a hold of the leg and stood up knocking the person down to the ground. I let go and grabbed for the head. The person screamed and screamed as I shoved my fingers into the skull. I ripped the head open and scooped out the brains. As I ate the tender juicy meat, the drumming stopped.

Airship Pirate

I love Steampunk. I don't really own anything steampunk but I've been contemplating getting a few small pieces. Right now, I'm reading Steamed by Katie MacAlister. I've, also been listening to Abney Park especially the song Airship Pirate. I was walking the other day in slightly in a bad mood and was listening to it, when I pictured myself as Bloody Kell the most fearsome Airship Pirate Captain. She wasn't a nice or dashing pirate, she was, instead, a terror. She slaughtered anyone who didn't surrender and danced in their blood. She eventually retired to the Americas after amassing a giant fortune and purchasing a pardon. Upon landing she and her manservant who she rendered mute disappeared having adopting new names. She purchased large plots of land in the wild west.

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Bad Blog, Good Blog

I"m terrible at blogging because I don't stick to regular time periods, and I can't make up my mind about what I want to blog.

I might be bad at blogging but I appreciate those who are good at it. My top favorites right now are Cake Wrecks, Tomb Wrecks, and Cthulhu Crochet and Cousins. Cake Wrecks is a hilarious blog about poorly designed professional cakes. It can be found at http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/. Tomb Wrecks is slightly morbid but it matches my sence of humor. It's about odd tombstones. It can be found at http://tombwrecks.blogspot.com/. Finally there is Cthulhu Crochet and Cousins. It's written by a woman who does odd crochet and cross stitch. I wish I could make some of what she has made but I'm still a beginner at crochet. Anyhow, those are some good blogs. I'm going to keep trying.

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Milgram and Asch

I have decided to do my next speech on the Milgram Experiments. For those who might not know, the Milgram was a psychological experiment to test conformity and peoples willingness to do terrible things to other people if told to by an authority figure. It was done after WW2. During the Nazi war trials, many nazi soldiers said they did things because they were told to.

What Milgram did was he took people and told them that they were participating in a memory test. If their "learner" got the question wrong they were to give them an electric shock. This shock would start off painful and go up to deadly. The "learner" was actually an actor and the "teacher" was actually the subject. Around 80% were willing to give the fatal shock. Most people would try to stop and they didn't like it, but they would be pushed into doing it by the experimenter.

This was recently redone for a French documentary "The Game of Death" in which the subjects were told they were participating in a new game show. They wanted to test how much tv impacts our morality. The results were slightly higher than the orignal experiment.

I'm thinking about starting the speech by doing an Asch conformity test. In which I'll use peer pressure to get a student to give me the wrong answer because everyone else is giving me the wrong one.

Saint Patty's Day, Boondock Saints, and depressing speeches.

This post is a day late. I'm going to try to post two today.

Yesterday was Saint Patrick's Day. It's one of my favorite days. We always celebrate it in my family. We usually eat my favorite meal, corned beef and cabbage with red potatoes. We put the meat in the crock pot early and add in about a bottle of Guinness to the meat along with water. After many hours we add the cabbage and potatoes. I thought about making colcannon, but I was tired, also, I like the taste of cabbage and potatoes with the meaty taste of the beef. This year Dad bought a good cut of beef it was good.

I rented Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day. I'm a new fan to those movies. I saw the first one on IFC a couple of weeks ago and promptly bought it. I have to say I liked the first one best, but I enjoyed the second one as well.

Yesterday, I had Speech Class and Algebra. Speech was easy in some ways because I just had to listen to the other students give theirs. However, it seemed like almost everyone picked a sad topic. The first speech was on Preeclampsyia which is a condition that can kill pregnant mothers and their children. The next one was about the Make A Wish Foundation. Make A Wish is a great foundation but the it is sad to hear about the children who die. The next student spoke about compartment syndrome which affects people who have been in accidents, and athletes. The saddest one of all was about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The student actually broke down in tears when speaking about the death of a friend's child.

Although, I really love Saint Patrick's Day it was a long and tiring one for me.

Mtn. Grove: Anna's Country Book Store

I went to Anna's Country Book Store in Mtn. Grove MO today. It's a very nice small store. I remember waaay back when that location was used for a comic book store. That was an embarrassing number of years ago. It seems like that location just screams out for business involving the written word and the enjoyment of it. I had a small amount of money to spare and since I'm a bookaholic the first thing I thought about buying was books.

I originally went in to buy a book by Shanna Swendson, which I thought I saw in there. However, it wasn't in there but they did have a very good selection of other books. I wound up buying a few and spent about twenty dollars with tax. While shopping I enjoyed some friendly conversation with the owner. It turns out that she has daughters in college. Not the college I'm in but I still thought it was interesting.

While I did buy several books there were more I thought about buying and I plan on going back for more.

TESOL Speech

p>This is an speech I wrote for my Student Suceess Class. I don't know what grade I got, but I did get an A in the class.

Teaching English to Students of Other Languages

My career is Teacher of English to students of other languages (TESOL). It is a common misconception that I need to speak another language for this career, while useful, it’s not necessary. One of the main advantages of this career for me is the fact that I can travel all over the world and get paid to do it.
My responsibilities for this job will include, teaching children and adults basic English skills including reading, writing, listening, and conversation. I will need to prepare course outlines and goals, prepare and grade exams, assign lessons and grade homework, and make a kit of pictures, flashcards, and objects to show students the meanings of words and numbers.
Other advantages of TESOL are helping people, working in different environments, benefit packages, good wages, the ability to teach in the US or overseas, and the opportunity to teach all ages and all sorts of people. The potential disadvantages are homesickness if working overseas, long hours, lots of paperwork, and uncertain working conditions.
The earning potential for this job can average about $33.89per hour .The employment outlook is strong in areas such as California, Florida, and overseas. In other areas, the need is not as great, so I will need to be willing to relocate.
The education requirements are any bachelor’s diploma and English Second Language certification. It does help to have a BS in Education and some training in TESOL, both are offered at MSU in Springfield. In addition, some full time positions in the US will go to those who have a Masters Degree.
Other useful skills are strong speaking, listening, and writing skills, reading comprehension, and the ability to listen and understand information and ideas. I also need college math skills and possibly economics if I specialize in Business English. A weakness I will need to overcome is poor handwriting.
In conclusion, this is a good career because it provides the opportunity to travel and help people.

Essay about Blogging

In my Eng 110 class, our professor assigned us a process essay about popular culture. My last couple of essays have been kind of dark so I wanted to do something with more humor. Originally, I was thinking about doing If You Can Build a Paper Airplane, You can Blog. The idea behind that was sparked by a project I did either in middle school or high school. One of my English teachers put us in groups of two, we had to describe how to build a paper airplane without actually building one. She then showed how she wasn't able to build a single one from any of the directions.

However, I have decided I didn't like the limitations that would impose. So I'm going with If you can, you can blog. That got me thinking about my own neglected blog so I decided to do a post about it. I'm going to try to do a post every day next week about something different. I don't know how that will work out, but I'm going to give it a try.

State of the Union.

I don't normally watch the State of the Union because I tend to have very little interest in politics, however for extra credit in Speech class I need to write a short paper about President Obama's speaking style. These are the notes I took as he spoke. They are very rough. I might post the polished paper after I turn it in.

State of the Union

Shaking hands smiling touching arms looking in eyes kissing on checks before even starting his speech he strived for a friendly tone. Half hugs thanks for applause
Fellow Americans our declaration declares that pres. Shall give a state of the union has been through good times and bad times, speaks about dubious events of the past and spoke of test to courage. We move forward as one nation one people. One year later the worst is past but devastation remains.

Looks around back and forth up and down uses his hands to make points. Strong gestures. Moves slightly when points are softer. Uses both hands when talking about groups like the poor. Quotes a letter from a anon. person sent. Bidon wanted to clap at several points before he had finished sentence. “We all hated the bank bail out. I hated it you hated it popular as a root canal.” Frowned when speaking of the banks lips tight. Spoke of fining banks because if they could afford bonuses they could pay us back. Points fingers when talking about tax cuts. Little joke big smile when talking about the tax cuts.

One guy yawned when pres spoke about job growth. Others looked around to gage others response. Some clapped while others spoke to neighbors. Spoke about anon people with hope in America. Spoke about the jobless voice dipped slightly. Voice changes to reflect points. Hands reaching chin level when speaking about bills he wanted to past. Waves hand when speaking about doubters about people who said to wait or that the economy couldn’t be changed. “I do not accept second place for America.” People stood applauded noise level rose.

Looks around constantly. Spoke about innovations in clean energy some stood others sat We will double our exports in the next two years to increase jobs spoke about competition a lot. Sports metaphors but game nonspecific. Biden frowned looked sad but agreeing when talking about funding only success not status quo. Pass a bill to fund community colleges. Talked about increasing pell grants and cutting back on subsized loans forgivness after 20 years of loan debt shorter for social workers, cutting back on admission prices in colleges. Spoke about doing things not because of politics but because of stories he has heard from Americans.

Often spoke about hearing from average Americans. thanked wife but she looked kind of pissy gestured for people to sit down. Pres said she gets embarrassed. Problems are not going away esp. in healthcare but “I will not walk away from these Americans, and neither should the people in this chamber.” Challenging opponents to “let me know” if they had a better idea for health care reform. Laced fingers when not gesturing. Spoke about walking into debt before walking into the door. Applause and laughter. Spoke about America as a family and about disciplining if necessary i.e. the budget. Laughter after “That’s how budgeting works”.

Rebukes past administration for helping us into this crisis. “Let’s try common sense, a novel concept.” Slight very slight laughter. Blog visitors online. Judges looked stern during applause about dubious items online on one page before vote. Never thought miracles were going to happen there will always be disagreements but that is the essence of democracy. It shouldn’t Points to the crowd be you lose points to self I win. Applause. Will not give up trying to change the face of politics. Spoke about tough fights but hope when speaking about terrorism.

Micelle(?) looked less pissed when he mentioned her efforts with veteran support. Summed up all points esp. about foreign politics. Spoke on several points about women and student rights. Unity in our incredible diversity. We are all created equal. Civil rights. Repeal law against gays in military.

Didn’t speak too fast or slow taking pauses at points. Spoke about people turning away from news and politics. Spoke about our efforts to help the people of Haiti. Spoke of hope and strength and finished with “God bless the united states of America.” My feelings afterward were hopeful but pessimistic.

been a long time.

It's been a long time since my last post. Things are going ok. I finshed my first semester of college. I got As in Student Success and Political Science. I got a B in Beginning Algebra (hooray, I worked really hard), and a C in Computers in Learning. I spent so much time on my Algebra that I missed the deadline on two assignment in CIS which is why I got a C.

College starts back up on Monday the 11th, I'll be taking Speech, English 110, Intermediate Algebra, and Psychology.

I still haven't found a job, but I haven't been trying to. I'm still working for the school. This week was supposed to be the first week back from Winter break, but we have been covered in Snow and have only had one day this week.