Often when someone goes for a reading, they already know the answer to their question; they simply need a safe space to discuss their concerns and talk about options for moving forward.

In the interests of saving time for everyone, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions.

1. Is my partner cheating on me?
Yes. If you are worried enough to discuss this with a total stranger, you already know this.

2. I caught my partner cheating on me. Will they cheat on me again?
Yes. They may be more careful this time, but if you are having this worry, you already know this.

3. But they said they were sorry, and promised to change!
They are not sorry they cheated; they are sorry they got caught. They may or may not be sorry that they’ve hurt you, and they may or may not intend to change. If they haven’t shown actual effort to change, then you are the one who has to live with the risk of being hurt again.

4. When will my partner ask me to marry them?
Never. They’re happy with things the way they are, and see no reason for change.

5. I want a baby, but my partner says they don’t want one. I *know* they’d love having a baby, they just need to give it a chance. Should I “forget” my birth control and get pregnant?
No. Not unless you want to be a single parent. Even if they stick around, you will be a single parent.

The problem with all of these questions is the expectation of others’ behavior. You want someone to do a specific thing (be faithful, get married, become a parent) that is not what they want. No amount of wishing on your part is going to make it so; it’s up to the other person to make the decision and make the change.

What you can do is set healthy boundaries, and enforce them. You can take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally, and focus on what *you* want to do with *your* life. If the other person can’t be who or what you want, then you need to let them go. However much that may hurt now, is it worse than living with the daily hurt of being with someone who does not want to create a life with you?

Barcelona
~ George Franklin

I imagine you on a cold day in Barcelona, wind
Lashing the spires of Sagrada Familia and the palm trees
By the beach dreaming of Africa, listening
To obscenities shouted by the waves.
I imagine you with a leather coat
And lapis earrings and a blouse almost
As smooth as your skin. There is a glass
Of wine in front of you and inside the wine
A little fire. We finished talking a long time ago,
But neither one of us has the courage to leave.

An unplanned project of photographer Deanna Dikeman, “Leaving and Waving Goodbye” is a collection of photos taken when leaving her parents’ home during visits over the course of 27 years.

Dikeman writes:
“These photographs are part of a larger body of work I call Relative Moments, which has chronicled the lives of my parents and other relatives since 1986. When I discovered the series of accumulated ‘leaving and waving’ photographs, I found a story about family, aging, and the sorrow of saying good-bye.”

I wish I had thought to do this with my family.

See more and read the story on Dikeman’s website.

The National Geographic posted a special article of photos of ordinary chemicals. It’s astonishing to see!

Here’s vanillin:

Photo Credit: Peter Woitschikowski

And liquid acetaminophen:

Photo credit: Peter Woitschikowski

Click through to the article to see them all!

“Archaeologists at the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Stavanger could hardly believe their eyes when dress accessories typical of a Viking Age woman was delivered to the museum.”

The Department received a package from an anonymous sender containing several pieces from a grave burial:

“The well-known Norwegian archaeologist Odmund Møllerop (1922-2006) was then in charge of the excavation of a Viking Age boat grave, containing the remains of a wooden funerary boat over 7 meters in length. The woman was buried with an axe, a heckle, a shield boss, scissors, and an iron weaving sword, but there was no jewellery. It is tempting to conclude that this is in fact the missing jewellery’, Kris­tine Ore­stad Sør­gaard notes.”

Full story at https://www.medievalists.net/2022/07/viking-jewellery-norwegian-museum/

I’d be delighted to receive such a package!