Peace Out 2011!

2011 was a good year in many respects. I had the same job for the entire year, and I only had 1 job for the entire year. I haven't had just one job that paid all of my bills in quite a few years. I'm used to working 2+ jobs or hopping from one job to the next following the money. This year was different, better, in fact, because I was able to find a bit of stability. Sure, sometimes the one job didn't quite make as many ends meet as I'd like, but Partner and I ended the year better than we have in some time. Thank Goddess for small blessings, right?

I began a few small projects this year, chief amongst them being putting my artwork out for all the world to see. I've been incredibly blessed that my paintings have been so well received. I thank each and every one of you that have purchased a piece of my art and put it up in your home. Whether it's an original or print, you've really enhanced my life by validating this side of my life. In gratitude, I'd like to extend a 10% off coupon to each of you. Enter Coupon Code Goodbye11 for an 11% discount on anything in the shop!

The Riot podcast has grown and expanded beyond anything I could have thought. We've had a number of authors, guest podcasters, Big Name Pagans, and the like joining in the Riot all year long. It's been incredible! I could not have furthered such a show without you.

Here on the blog, I am about to celebrate my third year! In just a few days, this here little blog will be 3 years old, and I will have been Fire Lyte for the same amount of time. I still find it pretty incredible that anybody reads this blog, and that it is discussed with the regularity that it is. Many of you have found this site through my articles on WitchVox or through mentions on other's podcasts or blogs. However you found this site I consider it a blessing, too, that you join me here for your nearly daily dose of Riot.

Being a blogger and podcaster has done a lot for me, adding to my own spiritual, educational, and personal journeys. It has forced me to delve deeper into my understanding of magic and the divine, and where I fit in the cosmic scheme.

There are a few changes coming up in 2012, but we'll talk about those in 2012. I realize some of you are wondering if the Riot is disappearing. It's not. So, without going any further, just know that I'm not canceling anything, neither the blog nor podcast. But, some things will be changing, in both very big and very small ways.

I'm not very big on resolutions, but I do have some goals. Most of them, in the New Year, are financial in nature. Pay things off. Save up a certain amount. That kind of thing. What are YOUR goals in 2012? Is there anything you'd like the Riot to do in 2012?

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Reading Riot (Calling All Chicagoland Book-lovers!)

So I have this friend. She loves books. I love books. Also, we have crazy schedules. We decided that 2012 was going to be the year we began a book club. Don't ask me why. I tend to like to make official organizations and important sounding names, possibly because I was some sort of PR guy or bureaucrat in a past life and now I realize why people hate me so much. (Project Buy Laundry Detergent wasn't one of my finer moments.)

Here goes... Announcing the New Official Chicagoland Tangentially Riot-Related Book Club! One of the first things we're doing is coming up with a better name. For a while with the blog and podcast I did an online sort of book club with big dreams of doing a roundtable discussion every few months. Yeah...that didn't happen. I read the books, and I posted reviews, but the online book club just didn't work. So, I'm organizing a flesh and blood book club.

If you're in the Chicagoland area - or you can get to the Chicagoland area once a month or once every 6 weeks or so - and you also happen to love books, you are cordially invited to our new, as yet unnamed, book club. Selections will range from fantasy to the intellectual to non-fiction to poetry to a whole host of whatever we feel like reading at the time. I know for a fact, however, that the first book is...

Real Life Fairy Tale Home

I am still digesting the panful of cinnamon rolls I digested Christmas morning...and the plate of gingerbread cookies I ate the day after Christmas. And the bag of cheesy popcorn I devoured whilst watching movies. And the mac 'n cheese. I'm still in holiday bliss mode. Thus, I thought this was a wonderful way to begin the week.

That is someone's real home. No, I'm not kidding. This home belongs to a man named Simon Dale who built it for his family of 4. Also, he built the entire house in 4 months. Now, you might think, Ok...he built a dirt mound in 4 months. Big deal. Wait til you see what it looks like inside.

The Djinnjerbread Man

The Djinnjerbread Man is a story I've written especially for this holiday season. It's featured on Episode 65 of Inciting A Riot: the Podcast. Below is the full text of the story.

Joyous Yule to you and yours!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Episode 65: Inciting A Yulemas Riot

These are the songs and stories found on Episode 65: Inciting A Yulemas Riot. Also, below, is the full streaming audio of the show.

Blessed Yuletide, Merry Winter Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyous New Year, and Good Festivus to you all!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte


Ep 65 A Yulemas Riot

Santa Claus is Pagan too - Emerald Rose

A Brownie Winter Solstice - Witchy Godmother (read by Velma Nightshade)

Silent Night - Sarah McLachlan

The Night the Animals Talked - (rewritten and read by Gillian Chase)

O Holy Night - Glee cast

The Little Match-Girl - Hans Christian Andersen

2 Winter Poems - Robert Frost (Cory)

Carol of the Bells - Straight No Chaser

The Djinnjerbread Man - Fire Lyte

Baby it's cold outside - Glee Cast

Twas Dori's Night - Jessie Bohannon

A Visit from St Nicholas (Cory)

Joy to the World - Faith Hill

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It's just not the holiday season without... (My Holiday Movie List)

Sure, It's a Wonderful Life is the most watched Christmas movie. The Christmas Story is the cult favorite that brought us a twisted, true-to-life family holiday season. Miracle on 34th Street makes you feel like you're 6-years-old again, and White Christmas is arguably the greatest holiday musical ever made. There are the typical staples of the holiday season, and then there are the holiday movies that weasel their way into our hearts. These are the films that most folks may not know exist, but they absolutely make the holiday season special. Below are some of my films.

Are YOU Ready for Nogwatch?

The first Nogwatch decorations in the world!  - @WickedWitch1987

If you haven't listened to the most recent episode of Inciting A Brewhaha, then you haven't heard of the newly minted tradition of Nogwatch. However, if you have been around the podiosphere or the pagan blogosphere in the last year or so, you've heard of the great and mighty Nog. For your reference, a picture of one incarnation of the Nog is below.

The Nog is the spirit of the collective Pagan Podkin, and, thusly, a symbol of the little community of listeners, bloggers, and podcasters that sort of make up our fledgling online family. So, beginning this year, we are starting a new tradition, the tradition of Nogwatch!

Get Up and MOVE!!! (Shake that Mercury Retro off)

Mercury finally went direct around the middle of this week. For at least the past couple of years, Mercury has gone retrograde right smack in the middle of the holidays. While the logical side of my brain wants to say:

Mercury Retrograde?! Pshaw! That's just Seasonal Affective Disorder combined with the hectic nature of the holidays, going into debt to get little Timmy the Wii/Zelda bundle, and working longer hours in your crappy retail job!

But the spiritual side of my brain is starting to say things like:

OH GREAT GODS STOP! PLEASE, JUST MAKE IT STOP! WHAT IN THE NAME OF HEAVEN MUST I DO JUST TO MAKE YOU GO DIRECT?!?!?!?!?! 

Seriously, I was thiiiiis close to making a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. (That's a Once Upon a Time reference, folks.) 

HOWEVER!

How to Explain Gay Rights to an Idiot (or Rick Perry)

I have nothing to do with this, but it is tearing up the Twittersphere and tumblogs across the interwebs. I adore it, and, thus, feel it necessary to share.

Enjoy.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

An Open Letter About Online Groups

Recently, there have been some kerfluffles and things brought to light and fingers pointed and a whole mess of stuff going on regarding the Proud Pagan Podcasters. My name was brought up. I have maintained, since I parted ways with the PPP, silence as to why and how it came about. That silence will not be broken today, as - despite what many of you think of me - I really have very little interest in pagan-on-pagan, podcaster-on-podcaster, or person-on-person mudslinging. [Insert snide jokes and sarcastic giggling here.]

That being said…

Some very good questions have come out of the past 24 hours. Questions that, until times like this, typically do not get raised. The little questions that people keep to themselves so as not to upset one person or another, despite the validity or need for an answer. Not that anyone cares, and not that anyone asked, but I would like to post this open letter in which I outline a few things I think any group could or should do to benefit the online pagan community. It is not directed at anyone in the PPP, nor is it directed at any person or group in particular. Rather, I address this to the greater (internet) pagan community.

Ahem…

Dear Online Pagan Community,

Rick Perry is out of the race! (Congrats Newt!)

After seeing this video, I have to raise my pitchfork to Newt Gingrich and say, "Welcome to the Big Time, formerly disgraced speaker of the house who was a total skeeze when he left both of his previous wives under crappy circumstances and is now surging ahead in the polls because another candidate that also had a cheating scandal was forced by public opinion to resign, yet the public seems to be okay with a guy who hasn't done anything except lobby and fundraise for the last 15 years taking the frontrunner spot. You're the Republican Nominee!"

Mitt Romney seems to finally be losing his grip on that 22-ish% that he's had the past year or so, and the only other person in the race with a remote chance at the candidacy - Rick Perry - just put out this political ad:

Christmas Gone Wild! (The Shiitake Mushrooms are Hitting the Fan)

Watch out Rioters! That's not snow falling down just in time for Christmas! It's the annual shit storm of news stories from the conservative mediasphere!

You know how every Christmas and Halloween, there are always - completely without fail - ridiculous stories circling the web and cable news mediasphere. (That's how we get things like Jesusween replacing Halloween, etc.) Well, dear Rioters, this year is turning out to be no different than last year, or the year before that, or the millennia before that.

In SAVE THE CHILDREN news: A Michigan elementary school music teacher is causing a stir, because when she handed out the lyric sheet to 'Deck the Halls' to her students, they giggled at the line "don we now our gay apparel". Instead of using it as a teaching moment, informing kids that 'gay' has multiple meanings and that it originally meant 'happy', she chose to change the lyrics to "don we now our bright apparel".

According to reports, the school's principal, Chris Parker, has expressed that he wished the teacher had used the opportunity as a teachable moment. By subtly agreeing that the word 'gay' is something negative, weird, funny, or at all something to be giggled about, the teacher is reaffirming whatever it is the kids thought.

The principal has said, "We have an anti-bullying and discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation, so going forward the teacher will be addressing, this is how we're supposed to be reacting, this is a way to be respectful about this."


I remember when I was little that this phrase was just another line in a Christmas carol. Then, as I got older and The Gay was becoming more mainstream, it became something that people giggled about, something that was funny, because "OMG! We said the word gay!" I am glad for this principal. I am also glad that parents felt the change was inappropriate, and the lyrics have been changed back.


Now, can someone collectively tell the populace that the lyrics to "I Feel Pretty" are NOT "I feel pretty/oh so pretty/I feel pretty and witty and BRIGHT!" They're "I feel pretty and witty and GAY!" Not the first time someone has changed the word gay to bright in a lyric, though it's odd that they did it in a musical. There's nothing gayer than show tunes. 

In I CAN'T BELIEVE PEOPLE DO THIS news: An Arizona gun club is offering the chance for children and families to pose with Santa...and guns. I rarely quote extensively from articles, but may I repost here from an article in The Guardian:

In another photo, Santa cradles a toddler dressed in camouflage, while a man and woman stand close by with rifles with foldable stocks. In another image, five young women pose with AR-15 and other rifles. One image shows Santa Claus in a wingback chair with a snowflake background, a Christmas tree behind him and flanked by an $80,000 machine gun and a tripod-mounted rifle. Next to Santa is a man standing behind a boy, who is holding an unloaded AR-15 with an attached grenade launcher.

Yes, nothing says Christmas like having little Timmy or Susie dressed in camo surrounded by assault rifles. I have no idea what to say to this. On the one hand, I am all for teaching your children to respect weapons, to understand their use, and for teaching one how to hunt and defend yourself if that is your choice. But, something about glorifying these things seems in excess. Also, I'm not sure that it's a good idea to allow your small child to think of guns as funny or non-serious, in the manner the photos are taken. 


Call me a prude; call me anti-gun; call me whatever you want; I think this is overboard. Feel free to bring a mop to clean up my bleeding heart. While I do not personally have any desire to own a gun, I agree that they should be allowed to be legally purchased by adults that have had the proper training and certifications. I think there should be a number of restrictions, and that they should be treated with respect. Something about using assault rifles as props in a holiday picture...it just doesn't say "serious" or "treated with respect" to me. Oh well...


In JON STEWART SAYS IT BETTER THAN ME news: Someone in government dared to call a Christmas tree lighting ceremony a "Holiday Tree lighting ceremony". Fox News hosts collectively lost their minds. Then, this...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

You're welcome...

If you have a crazy Christmas Gone Wild story, leave it in the comments below for all to share!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Top 9 Ways to Survive the Holidays

Holiday time is here! People are stressed out while buying presents and getting ready to see family members they don't normally see. As usual, your least favorite Rioter-In-Chief is back with a helpful Top 9 list to help you all survive the holidays just a bit easier. Why a Top 9? Because I got to 9 and couldn't think of any more. If you have any to add, leave them in the comments section below! 

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte
By the way, just in case this isn't clear, this list is intended as humor. It's definitely not meant to be fact or serious or anywhere close to an actual suggestion of how you should spend your holidays. If you don't like sarcasm, please spare the hate mail. I warned you. Though, if you decide to have a fluffy tossing event, I would very much like an invitation. Yes, that was a joke, too.

Episode 64: Inciting A Magical Riot

Episode 64 of Inciting A Riot: the Podcast finds us Inciting A Magical Riot! While we’re not defining magic today, we’re broadening our thinking about what magic is. There is math involved.

Also, quick note, I mentioned there would be poetry, and there is no poetry. I got to the end of the show and completely forgot. Don’t worry! It’ll show up in Episode 65!