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"Hello,
hello, hello... is
there anybody in there?" (Pink Floyd)
Well,
it has now been nearly a year and an half since I sent out one
of these newsletters. At first this was mostly because I didn't
really have anything to talk about, with respect to the website,
or with respect to my own ideas. I guess you could say I was in
a lull. However, for the last 9 months or so, I have been quite
busy and I now have something very exciting (at least for me)
to share with you. But first, as usual, I wanted to spout off
on something while I have your ear.
While
planning this letter for the last couple of months, I was sure
that I would want to write about the most recent perspective-changing
book I read entitled "The
Gods of Eden". But, since I've decided to take my polemic
in another direction, let's just say that I recommend this book
with the proviso that you read it with an open mind. Otherwise,
many, many of you may become quite offended by the information
contained therein.
I'm
also not going to mention, other than in this 'brief' sentence,
the fact that, if the world-as-we-know-it is going to end in 2012
as predicted by the Mayans, and the biblical story of Revelations
has any literal prophetic merit, then the 7 years of Tribulation
should be starting right... about... now.
Nope.
This time I'm not gonna write about prophecies or alternate theories
of reality. I'm gonna write about how the majority of people I
send this to will never actually read it, or even know that it
was sent. This is because small, erratically-minded website owners,
such as myself, are the innocent victims of the spam/anti-spam
war being waged in the Matrix just outside of our control.
Remember
the good old days, when you sent an e-mail to someone and, barring
any misspellings in the address, you could be 100% sure that the
mail would be delivered right to the eyes of your intended party(s)?
Well, thanks to the jackass vendors of low-priced computer programs,
knock-off watches, and Levitrol, who somehow believe that if they
mention there products to me 6-8 times a day, I will finally break
down and purchase it, those days seem to be gone now. In what
I'm sure is a well-intended gesture, most ISP's now provide some
sort of anti-spam protection to keep these bastards at bay. And
so, the spammers change their tactics to get around the anti-spam,
and then the anti-spam widens it's envelope to capture more and
more inbound e-mails in a war of escalating weaponry. The problem
for me is that, since my website's e-mail address may not be on
their 'pre-approved' list, anything I send gets put into your
'Bulk' (Bull?) folder, amongst 85 others, which you have no care
to see. So, even if you check your spam folder regularly, you
are very likely to overlook this gem(?) in the trash. What's more,
for the past month or so, Rogers, my ISP, has been by far and
away the biggest spammer I've had to deal with. Do they really
need to tell me 35 times a day that they've incepted 'W32.Sober.X@mm!zip'
for me? I don't want to sound ungrateful, but couldn't they just
summarize their valiant anti-viral efforts in a single e-mail,
sent maybe once a week?
Anyways,
don't get me wrong, it's not that I hate anti-spam, I use Norton
anti-spam myself, what I don't like is my ISP's attempt to do
this for me. It's OK, I'm a big boy, I can handle this on my own.
It's insulting to a letter's originator to see the a response
titled: "Re:[Bulk]Crossroads #8" - like their message
wasn't important enough to be allowed through the normal routes
of delivery. Back
off Big Brother.
Even
the Norton anti-spam I have under my control could be improved.
Why does it have just two settings - Spam and Not Spam. Wouldn't
make more sense to have a 'Not Sure' folder, where suspect documents
from unknown e-mail addresses are sent for review, to be deemed
by ME whether or not they are Spam? Then, once an e-mail address
has been flagged, the Spam is sent - not to an anti-spam folder
where I'll have to delete them (and that give me false hope of
a real response by showing the little 'new e-mail' icon on my
status bar), nor to my recycle bin, they can, with my blessing,
be sent directly to oblivion. This seems so simple, yet so welcome
a change doesn't it?
That's
all I have to say 'bout that.
The
real reason for my writing of this semi-spam myself is to invite
you to come view my newest creation, The
Philosopher Stone Tarot. I have just finished all of the Major
Arcana and feel it is now time to share (you know, with the Rapture
starting next week and all). The deck has been designed in the
Rider-Waite tradition for the most part in order to allow for
modern interpretation books to apply directly to the imagery contained
in the cards. I have, however, added my own slant to each which,
in some cases, has radically changed the appearances, and thus
symbology, of the cards to a more 21st Century, Age of Aquarius,
interpretation. The cards as they look now are still only rough
sketches and require, at the very least, some Photoshopping, but
they are done enough for viewing at least.
You
should note that the card interpretations on the site are still
blank. If there is anyone out there who would like to take up
the challenge of writing these, I would be more than grateful,
and would give full credit to you for doing so. If not, these
will have to wait until the entire deck is complete, when I have
the time and inclination to attack this job myself.
Hope
you enjoy.
Simon
P.S.
You may also note that I did not mention the exquisitely beautiful
Fool's Journey penned by my dear friend Ned - that's because his
words speak for themselves.
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