🌟 What I'm Reading: 2-11-2024 🌟

A Weekly Roundup Highlight Reel of What I Have Been Reading

The Starfire Codes

Feb 11, 2024

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I post a weekly roundup of some of the highlights of what I’ve been reading… including many thoughtful, valuable, and intriguing perspectives that I could not otherwise post.

I hope that you find this list to be useful, inspiring, interesting, and informative!

Sending my love,
Demi 🌟

What I'm Reading: 2-11-2024

Arthur Firstenberg

Rainbow Lorikeets dropping from the sky

This work and these newsletters are supported entirely by donations from individuals. We have no other source of funding. The Cellular Phone Task Force is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and donations by U.S. residents are tax-deductible. Our Tax ID Number is 11-3394550…

2 years ago · 85 likes · 29 comments · Arthur Firstenberg

The Charlotte Pendragon Diaries by Charlotte Pendragon

Magic of the Ocean

Below the thunders of the upper deep; Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His antient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee About his shadowy sides: above him swell Huge sponges of millennial growth and height; And far away into the sickly light…

2 years ago · 60 likes · 40 comments · Charlotte Pendragon

Chas Holloway's Thinkopolis

The 40,000 Year Old Man

Click to Play Audio The 40,000 Year Old Man by Chas Holloway Og has a different take on climate change than most modern Americans. (I’m a writer, not an actor, as you’ll hear in this episode…

2 years ago · 7 likes · Chas Holloway

Chas Holloway's Thinkopolis

Fall of America

Click to Play Audio Fall of America by Chas Holloway What does the Age of America look like to people a thousand years from now…

2 years ago · 6 likes · Chas Holloway

Chas Holloway's Thinkopolis

Click to Play Audio Linear-B by Chas Holloway Michael Ventris deciphered Linear-B, and discovered the Greek alphabet was centuries older than anyone else thought…

2 years ago · 7 likes · 2 comments · Chas Holloway

Classical Wisdom

How important are dreams?

Dear Classical Wisdom Reader, Sometimes my teeth are so loose and wobbly, it feels as if I could gently pluck them out of my mouth. Other times they are chalky and crumbling, one crisp away from disintegration.... But no matter how it begins, it always ends the same: me losing my teeth…

2 years ago · 62 likes · 10 comments · Classical Wisdom

A Convict's Perspective

The Foundation of Manhood

Your definition of manhood doesn't matter. Everyone mad now? Good. I want you to have a combative perspective going into this because I prefer being right amongst adversaries. Now that we've established that feeling, let's add a little credentialism just to raise the temperature further. Everybody loves reading about why so-n’-so is an expert…

2 years ago · 116 likes · 51 comments · Coleman

A Convict's Perspective

You're Suffering All Wrong

"To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!" -Charlie Chaplin I've spent years now trying to wrap my head around how people can be so miserable. I didn't understand the complaints, the anger, the stress and hopelessness that seemed to be everywhere. But then I lived as you and it's starting…

2 years ago · 72 likes · 29 comments · Coleman

Humor Me, Find Joy In The Journey

A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life. William Arthur WardDad Explains is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber…

2 years ago · 12 likes · 3 comments · Andrew | Dad Explains

Dawn’s Writings

Yet more media manipulation?

The latest media reports state that King Charles has cancer. This is a surprising revelation considering his recent seemingly successful treatment for an enlarged prostate, as reported in an article on January 26th entitled King Charles ‘doing well’ after prostate treatment…

2 years ago · 36 likes · 46 comments · Dawn Lester

Donn’s Substack

GOODBYE Check out Nick, He recorded the Guitar and Vocals. His wikiloops site has awesome music! https://www.wikiloops.com/artist/rootshell.php Goodbye: Copyright Donnie Harper 1990 Verse: Em, Dsus4, 4x Chorus: Am C G-add-D 4x Em...............................Dsus4 4x…

2 years ago · 11 likes · 1 comment · DONN'S WYKKYD AMBITIONS

Disparate Things

On Writing Emeth was quiet over the past week, because of an odd little quirk of mine. I’ve always been able to write. I’ve never suffered from writer’s block as some others struggle with. But, sometimes, something gets stuck in my head. It demands to be put down on paper before I can write anything else. I’m not sure why this is, but it is something …

2 years ago · 9 likes · 4 comments · Cameron M. Bailey

Of Pisco and Peru: Mancora

After settling into my room, I look into the mirror at the fashion squall staring back at me. Every stitch of garment, from the bright red ‘Bond, Cholo Bond: Peruvian Secret Agent’ t-shirt to the oversized sombrero, to the teal cargo shorts with a big yellow cartoon alpaca’s shit-eating grin absolutely screams tourist dork. Oh well, you go with what you…

2 years ago · 36 likes · 7 comments · EpicGonzo

Of Pisco and Peru: Mancora

Shaking off the negative vibes, I shuffle past the assortment of bamboo tables. No one appears to be home, save for a white fluffball of a cat curled asleep into a ball on the rump of a mermaid statue in the corner. My attention turns to the clamshell décor bar area with a menacing crocodile skull hanging overhead, but no…

2 years ago · 23 likes · 4 comments · EpicGonzo

Putin to Give Biden Elocution Lessons

Moscow - In an unexpected turn of events, Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended an unusual offer of assistance to his American counterpart, President Joe Biden. Observing Biden's recent press…

2 years ago · 19 likes · 7 comments · Kyle Kissinger (no relation)

Focus and Simplicity

The path we’re supposed to take

We are encouraged to compete with each other. To compare ourselves and try to beat our neighbors, or even our friends. Luxury products. Houses with more room that we know what do with it. Fitness programs that promise a beach body. Anti-age serums. Anything so that we can seem more successful, sexier, and younger than others…

2 years ago · 22 likes · 7 comments · Sebastian

The Freedom Scale

Five Rules to Govern Any Society

I did not sleep well last night. My brain was obviously playing around with a question, because I kept waking up looking for answers. At first the question was, If I could only come up with one rule for a society, what would it be? Note that this would not be a rule for all the different ways in which people…

2 years ago · 54 likes · 129 comments · Christopher Cook

The Freedom Scale

A Love Letter and a Call to Action

On Saturday, I participated in Rachel Haywire’s terrific Cabaret of Secrets. Lots of interesting speakers, cool readings, and great musical performances. I was pleased to be among them. Unsurprisingly, my talk was on moving on to the next phase in human social and political organization, which (also unsurprisingly) I believe ought to involve the end of involuntary gov…

2 years ago · 54 likes · 67 comments · Christopher Cook

The Freedom Scale

There Is No Way I Can Convince You in a Single Conversation!

Since I first started writing here, I have made it my mission to answer every comment and carry on every possible conversation. It takes a lot of time and effort, but I believe it is worth it. I also encourage conversations of which I am not a part—the more, the merrier. We have built a vibrant community together…

2 years ago · 35 likes · 87 comments · Christopher Cook

From Brain to Mind

A splash of color and brain activity

Scientists have determined a splash of color blue (gazing at the Caribbean or at David Bowie’s right eye on an old album cover) fires up the salience network (SN) of the brain. The SN links the front part of the insular cortex (part of the brain responsible for sensory processing, self-awareness, and emotional guidance of social behavior) to the front p…

2 years ago · 11 likes · 3 comments · Marc Arginteanu

Grace of St. Mary

Our eyes speak to us Our ears speak to us Our heart and skin Speak to us Of the world ~ These rivers of information flow together and they update our sense of the world ~ But this feeling of the world is not the world It is a model of the world A ship in a bottle…

2 years ago · 8 likes · The Shadow Band

Hal Johnson Books

A garland of quotations LIII

Truth is the anagram of an anagram. Anagrams = ars magna. •Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum (1988). God keep me from ever completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience. •Melville…

2 years ago · 1 like · Hal Johnson

The Holographic Phytomancy Grimoire

Can Our Bones Hold Frequency?

2 years ago · 1 like · Samantha Giacalone

I Was Never Really Here

Beautiful Dead Women

I was going through my old stand up and I found this clip of me doing a set directly after the memorial of a friend that had killed herself. I don’t want to say unalive or completed suicide, because …

2 years ago · 13 likes · 1 comment · Sovereign Syre

Tarot School No. 1

Welcome to our very first Tarot School! I’m very glad that you are here with me, and I hope that you’ll jump right into the comments! Today I’ll start out with some boring stuff, because we have to get it out of the way. Sorry about that, but I promise less dullness in the future…

2 years ago · 3 likes · 7 comments · Cameron M. Bailey

What's Missing In Tarot Today

I’m a big fan of Benebell Wen’s work, and have proudly recommended her book Holistic Tarot for quite some time now. Recently I was listening to her be interviewed, and found her answer to one of the questions she was asked to be quite fascinating. I thought it worth sharing here…

2 years ago · 4 likes · 4 comments · Cameron M. Bailey

You know, I could have been in the NSA, but they found out my parents were married. ~ Martin Bishop, “Sneakers,” film 1992 If you haven’t seen the funniest film with Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Robert Redford, James Earl Jones, and Ben Kingsley, you should take some time to find it on your favourite streaming service. Its title, as you wil…

2 years ago · 4 likes · Jim Davidson

The Library of Celaeno

Why The Secret History is a Great American Novel

A friendly response to Alexandru Constantin. This is a quick, inspired intermission; my series On Teaching will continue in my next post. This essay contains spoilers, but you should have read the novel anyway.Thank you for reading The Library of Celaeno. This post is public so feel free to share it…

2 years ago · 19 likes · 16 comments · Librarian of Celaeno

How to deal with failure

How to deal with failure “Fail with joy.”- Victoria Rader. Victoria Rader Lighthouse is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Our society today seems to love to point out anyone’s failures. The media is obsessed with failure. This magnifies our concern about failing in our tasks and aspec…

2 years ago · 60 likes · 23 comments · Alexander Semenyuk

Click here to find out more about booking a personal divination reading, having a dream interpreted, purchasing a natal astrology report, and more….

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Margaret Anna Alice Through the Looking Glass

The Substack Censorship Wars: Round 2

Round 1 of the Censorship Wars Is Now Unlocked! Paid subscribers enjoyed early access to Round 1 featuring dialogues from April 2023, and it is now available to all: Round 2: December 2023 Round 2 of the The Substack Censorship Wars took place after…

2 years ago · 91 likes · 11 comments · Margaret Anna Alice

Mechanical Pulp

He just dropped dead

There was a cat on the step across the street as I watched from my window. A man came shouting around the corner banged on the apartment door screaming, flailing distressed— his words indecipherable. Pounding, kicking, cables ripped from the wall. He began to quake to shake, to shiver On his knees he seemed to weep. Then he fel…

2 years ago · 17 likes · 4 comments · Lisa Kuznak

Memento Mori Alchemy

on the train with no love

I know it feels insane, on the train with no love… drugs all deep in the brain, on the train with no love… Trigger warning — suicide. This post may not be right for you, so if you’re not in a good mental space, I’d probably skip this one. If you have solutions for how to get through both grief from sudden death and grief from betrayal that all went down i…

2 years ago · 26 likes · 70 comments · Tesstamona

Morgoth’s Review

The Crown and Simulacra

There was a moment in season four of The Crown in which we saw inside the home of Mark Fagan, the man who broke into Buckingham Palace and even the Queen’s bedroom in 1982. Fagan’s rather squalid council flat featured a type of gas fire with a wire grid placed over it, covering the blue flames behind it. I was immediately taken back to childhood visits …

2 years ago · 198 likes · 27 comments · Morgoth

Morgthorak the Undead

Putin's masterful interview with Tucker Carlson angers moronic Western elites

🔥 $19.50 for a 12-month subscription! 🔥Your paid sub gets you full access to my content archives, commenting on all articles, all paid posts, my weekly Goody Bag (the best stuff I’ve read that week), and other goodies I might add later. Welcome to this week’s issue of…

2 years ago · 48 likes · 28 comments · Morgthorak the Undead

Paul’s Substack

Forgotten Things

I try to imagine how it might feel being a broken wine glass trying to remember whether it held a red or a white when it was whole or to be a puff of smoke that disappears in seconds, existing for only a few moments, wondering whose lips it had passed through or to be a dream that never ends, to go places without moving, voyaging in m…

2 years ago · 85 likes · 62 comments · Paul Wittenberger

Postcards From Barsoom

The Bud Light Military

Sing, o muse, of the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans ... Thus opens the foundational epic of European civilization. Achilles is angry because his woman, Briseis, has been appropriated by Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks. He expresses this discontent by goin…

2 years ago · 553 likes · 416 comments · John Carter

Post Post Modern

I blocked someone this week.

I’m about to pop into my vocal booth/closet to begin narration on my next audiobook project. It’s the seventh book in a volume of “middle-aged women’s urban fantasy fiction” (yes, that is a genre). The author has now hired me to narrate three of her series for a total of 15 books. I get excited every time I receive an email from her because I know it …

2 years ago · 72 likes · 134 comments · Jacqueline Rendell

Post Post Modern

Post It Notes Podcast #3

Hey my Stacking friends! I hope all is well in your world. Here is the drop for Episode #3 of Post It Notes podcast. (I’m really on a roll, aren’t I?) Consistency and I are becoming fast friends. I am enjoying what happens when I continue to pursue what I’m after without hesitation or holding back…

2 years ago · 25 likes · 18 comments · Jacqueline Rendell

Post Post Modern

Star in the East

Hey my lovelies! I am currently melting into a puddle of bliss. The big beautiful sun is shining inside a wide open cloudless blue sky for the second day in a row. I almost forgot what this looked and felt like. Almost. I can feel my skin cells, as tendrils on a plant, awaking from their slumber and stretching toward its life-giving warmth. It truly feels…

2 years ago · 38 likes · 41 comments · Jacqueline Rendell

Bullied To Believe Mainstream 'Truth'

Set Your Pulse: Take a breath. Turn your attention to your body and release any tension. Breathe slowly into the area of your heart for 60 seconds, focusing on feeling a sense of ease. Stay connected to your body as you read. Click here to learn why we suggest this…

2 years ago · 47 likes · 13 comments · Joe Martino

Good time of day, humans! There is something you don’t know… …or it might be just a plot to obtain some cheese. CWCID: The Starfire Codes yesterday posted a great article on censorship, including, among other things, a discussion of how nonexistent secrets can be used for manipulation…

2 years ago · 25 likes · 2 comments · Rat

The Shrewd Artist by Michael Newberry

Chapter 1, Light: Its Anatomy of Six Elements

[Note: Last night I decided to revise my art tutorial book, The Art Studio Companion. Many of the lessons were from 20 years ago, and I have learned more about communicating since then. It is going to be a big project, there are 30 chapters. The project is for serious and dedicated artists, and I hope to write with clarity and insights to inspire novices and keep pros on their toes…

2 years ago · 7 likes · 2 comments · Michael Newberry

The Shrewd Artist by Michael Newberry

Chapter 2, Form: Massage Technique That Unlocks Your Unique Style

8 Newberry, Morani Elbow, 2022, ink. In this study, we create a form on a two-dimensional surface through using a massage visualization technique combined with cross-hatching. Form is the fundamental technique that allows artists to represent the physical world…

2 years ago · 9 likes · 2 comments · Michael Newberry

The Shrewd Artist by Michael Newberry

Chapter 3, Space: Creating Depth Through Transparency and Contrast, Part 2: Color

Given a two-dimensional surface, transparency and contrast are a means to place identities/forms through spatial depth. 25 Classic Color Wheel. My photo. In this study, we see what happens when we introduce intense colors while solving spatial problems…

2 years ago · 3 likes · Michael Newberry

The Shrewd Artist by Michael Newberry

Life and Art As an End In Itself

In the realm of artistic expression and the appreciation of life, there are certain moments and artworks that stand alone as ends in themselves. Aristotle's concept of Eudaemonia, happiness in a life well lived, is inherently dynamic, emphasizing holistic and continuous flourishing in various aspects of life. It involves the ongoing development of goodness, meaningful relationships, and problems solved by reason. When artists express Eudaemonia in static artworks, they capture and encapsulate a moment or vision of flourishing, offering viewers a glimpse into what Eudaemonia might look like. The artwork becomes a representation of the artist's pursuit of well-being, frozen in time, allowing observers to contemplate and find inspiration in that singular expression of joy and fulfillment, and it is experienced as an end in itself…

2 years ago · 9 likes · 6 comments · Michael Newberry

DAILY ALKHEMY: Busting Out Of The "Matrix Mirror Box" | Breaking The "Self-Destruct" Settings & Programs | 777

The energies of late have felt like a re-shuffling process. You know how when you put a music playlist into shuffle mode, it will play your songs in a new order? Well, since Pluto moved into Aquarius, Uranus went direct, and the Full Moon in Leo became the sandwich energy between these two planetary shifts….this is what many of us have been going through…

2 years ago · 33 likes · 12 comments · Solarah

DAILY ALKHEMY: Choosing To Live Like They Already Said "Yes"

Today has been a day. I have been living with my life in suspension for over two years - waiting for one court verdict that will literally liberate myself and my children out of a tight spot that has felt impossible at times to maneuver through. Ever since February 2016, I have been running - living day to day looking over my shoulder. If you are familia…

2 years ago · 15 likes · 16 comments · Solarah

DAILY ALKHEMY: The Day The Waters Returned | Finding Our Feet In The Waves Of Merging Timelines

Please enjoy today’s Daily ALKHEMY in audio format too 😊Solarah Speaks is supported by you - the reader and listener. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. To support in other ways: share my content with those who “get it,” or consider sowing into the furtherance of my craft and message. All links at the…

2 years ago · 27 likes · 7 comments · Solarah

DAILY ALKHEMY "THROWBACK THURSDAY"

A conversation with Demi Pietchell from “The Starfire Codes” inspired this post. We were comparing the readings we had published around the same dates to find common threads, themes, and messages. We were pleasantly surprised to see that even over a year ago, our messages were in close alignment…

2 years ago · 12 likes · Solarah

DAILY ALKHEMY: You Are Never Alone

As the Moon entered Libra earlier today, the Sun began its sojourn through the second decan of Aquarius. This is an alignment that has the potential to open you up to breakthroughs - especially for those who have found themselves feeling stuck, or cornered, in the past few months…

2 years ago · 30 likes · 7 comments · Solarah

WORD FOR YOUR WEEK With Solarah

The energies for the week ahead are setting many of you up for tangible materials changes, that bring you higher in alignment with who you came onto the Earth to be. Some of the Uranus direct and Full Moon in Leo disturbances will be settling. It is a week to be focused on where your thoughts are taking you, and what you’re building as a result…

2 years ago · 19 likes · 7 comments · Solarah

Stay Sane Substack

Whither Curiosity?

We are hardwired to be curious. Have you spent time with a five year old lately? Do you remember when you were five? Likely questions; Why does the moon follow me? How did you do that? Show me. It is truly beautiful. Structured schools are a mixed blessing. Curricula must be planned. It is best that children are taught many things. With the best of int…

2 years ago · 2 likes · Stay Sane Substack

AI 'Art', and the Slippery Slope of Censorship

What an amazing time to be a writer. For example, our ability to produce our own images using Artificial Intelligence [AI] has been a godsend for wordsmiths across the Internet. With the right program (which I have yet to discover, though I am still looking) and a few skills, writers are no longer left at the mercy of Wikimedia and other free-use image …

2 years ago · 26 likes · 45 comments · Stone Bryson

Human Trafficking Targeted - and Defended - as Super Bowl Approaches [TDT: 02.06]

It is that time of year again, folks - Super Bowl weekend, when gatherings are held, alcohol is consumed… and human trafficking spikes exponentially... Welcome to this edition of the Three-Dot Tablet [TDT], a weekly news-digest where I seek out the headlines others may not be covering (or not covering well), and - with healthy doses of passion, common s…

2 years ago · 8 likes · 5 comments · Stone Bryson

Sunhats and Chardonnay

Time to Start Anew

As many of you have noticed recently, I have been posting a great deal of articles in a very short time frame. If you are a subscriber, they were sent directly to your inbox while others just simply appeared on my substack. I have also made changes to my publication with new Sections and Homepage links…

2 years ago · 9 likes · 3 comments · Sunhats and Chardonnay

Tales of Calamity and Triumph

Macabre Monday: "The Confessions of a Virulent Racist"

2 years ago · 16 likes · 14 comments · The Man Behind the Screen

Unqualified by Emily McDowell

The month everything I owned imploded

First, an announcement! If you’re an artist, maker, or creative biz owner of any kind, join me at Craftcation 2024 from April 3-7 in Ventura, CA. I can’t wait to teach again for the first time in 7 years! Craftcation is a truly special conference filled with art workshops, business talks, roundtables and panels, and the BEST people; it’s a super welcomi…

2 years ago · 444 likes · 30 comments · Emily McDowell

Welcome to Absurdistan

All Our Elections are Stolen. It is Why Nothing Works Without Money Printing

I admit I giggled all the way through the research of this, breaking out in helpless laughter by the end, hoping that I wasn’t going completely mad. First it was the book, FIND ME THE VOTES, written by Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, about the Crazed Crackers who think the Georgia election was stolen and the Noble Black Woman who was putting things to right…

2 years ago · 214 likes · 106 comments · elizabeth nickson

The West's Awake

A conversation in nostalgia & consciousness with Starfire Codes - Demi Pietchell

Spirit and spirituality mean different things to different people. One of the goals, as I move forward is to broaden the boundaries of how I look at this subject matter in my writing and conversations. A few years ago, when I was down the Bitcoin and crypto-currency rabbit-hole, many videos on the crypto topic would end by saying…

2 years ago · 31 likes · 8 comments · The West's Awake

The West's Awake

A Lenten Appeal to Eamon Ryan

Every single time I see a photograph of the minister for the environment, Eamon Ryan, it triggers the same not so deep philosophical musing in my warped head. “ I wonder how environmentally friendly his brown hair-dye is? “ Now, unless the 60 year old Green minister has found the secret to everlasting natural hair growth & tinting, and is keeping it all t…

2 years ago · 32 likes · 9 comments · The West's Awake

Witchcraft and Metaphysics with Jenna Newell Hiott

The Archetype and The Tarot: The Thread and Five of Swords

Through the Thread and the Five of Swords, this week we’re being called to release distraction and reconsider our priorities. Can we let go of our need to be right in order to find our way back to our deepest meaning? Welcome everyone! For an overview of what I’m doing here, please check out…

2 years ago · 16 likes · 13 comments · Jenna Newell Hiott

Words and Pictures by Pamela Leavey

Quote of the Day: J. Krishnamurti - The Quiet Mind

I tend to share quotes here that resonate with me as Life Lessons, and Food for Thought. Quotes that sometimes require deep thinking, and other times that might just be something that easily clicks with you. I hope my Quotes of the Day speak to you, and resonate…

2 years ago · 36 likes · Pamela Leavey

Discussion about this post

Jacqueline Rendell

Thank you, beautiful sister, for sharing my posts, as always...XOX

1 reply by The Starfire Codes

Christopher Cook

You read a ton. That's awesome!

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