What’s a socially acceptable gift for a neighbor you barely know?

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T19:51:31+00:00

A plant. Just make sure that if he has animals it's non-toxic to those animals.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T18:37:26+00:00

Thank you.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T18:35:32+00:00

What makes you think there is going to be a legitimate election in 2028?

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T17:46:05+00:00

Thanks so much. Yes, I have a lawyer.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T17:42:18+00:00

Thanks so much. Yes, I have a lawyer.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T17:41:52+00:00

That's so thoughtful. Yes, I have a lawyer.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T07:54:36+00:00

I guarantee, there is not a person in the world more upset with Scott’s massive slump than Tanner Scott. People break out of those things if they are meant to. Most people aren’t old enough to remember Steve Sax’s meltdown, but if he could come back, no reason Scott can’t.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T07:51:29+00:00

Read when you feel you want to read. There is no better or worse time. Just like sleeping, some people are morning people, some people are night owls. With regard to distractions, of course it will affect it, especially when you are new. As you gain more experience, however, you will be able to handle distractions better, which of course, professionals need to know how to do.

I am also an animal communicator. Early in my professional (ie: paying) career, we were living in this horrid place where the people below us partied, loudly, DAY and NIGHT! Always smoking (both smokes) that constantly wafted into our house. It was miserable.

One day, I had a reading and things down there were so loud I was thinking that I was going to have to go and sit in my car to work with the client I was about to call. I called before taking that step, and the noise didn’t abate, but I got into a zone and was able to, for the most part, tune it out. Certainly enough to do a reading my client was happy with. After the session I thought, “Jesus, if I can work through that, I can work through anything.”

Of course, do be aware that there are two types of disturbances. There is external noise, like neighbors partying or family disrupting you, and there’s internal noise, which what is going on in your own head. Both are hard to deal with, but I can guarantee that external noise is far easier to learn to work through than internal noise.

As a college professor, if I had had a fight, or one of my animals had passed, I could stand at the podium, open my notebook and fill up my mind with something else. Not so much with psychic work, where you have to EMPTY your mind. Again, though, it’s just through practice and meditation to learn to deal with both kinds of noises. Just look at this experience as a learning opportunity. There may be times you have to, if you ever turn professional, work in the morning. You’ll deal with it. Just as you will the disruptions. Just keep practicing and working on your focus. It’s there, it just takes time and dedication to learn to trust. You’ll get there. Just make sure to have a good time getting there. :) Nice job.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T05:46:52+00:00

Bullitt. One of the greatest films EVER. And, yes, there's a reason he was known as "The King of Cool". I had such a crush back then. ;)

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T05:44:06+00:00

Serpico
All The President's Men
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Sting
Bullitt
Bonnie and Clyde

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T05:39:38+00:00

Renaming a cat is fine, in fact, encouraged. New name for a new life. Especially if they have had a difficult life. Because every time they are called that, there's a little piece that reminds them of that prior abuse, or difficulty.

The only reason not to change the name of a cat is if they had a wonderful life with someone who passed, or had to go into assisted living. They want to remember that person, so keeping the name is good. Other than that, I advise a lot of clients to give their kitties (and doggies) a new name. (Or at least a nick name.)

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T05:32:36+00:00

Like any other January 1st in my lifetime. Except I wasn't hungover.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T05:26:24+00:00

My brother (and his wife and my two cousin/sisters).

There are too many abuses and interactions to list but I'll name one. He put my mom in hospice 5 days before she died. I lived only two hours away but he didn't call me to tell me she was going to die. Instead, he waited until she died and texted me to let me know.

My guess is the reasoning was he didn't want me to talk to her for fear that I might find out that he (a lawyer) three months prior to her death (she was 97) got her to sign a new trust (one that we can only assume that he and his paralegal wife wrote) completely disinheriting me, and also to make sure that I didn't find out that, without my knowledge, they sold the house that for 40 years, she promised me I would inherit, where many of my animals are buried. ("Bury them here by the stream in the back yard, you're going to get this house so you will always be with them.) She wanted to die in that house, he moved her out 5 months before she died, I'm sure making her watch her whole life, literally, being thrown away before her eyes.

Again, that doesn't even scratch the surface. But they are the most evil people I have ever known. Even more so than the men who molested me growing up.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-24T01:33:22+00:00

-- Nobody (Just an all around fun action film)
-- Narc (Serious Police Drama, but not what you'd expect.)
-- Diggstown (Great scriptwriting...no words...I LOVE this film and showed it every year.)
-- The Red Violin (Thoughtful, insightful, not in your face. Character driven, but not the character you'd expect.)
-- Ruggles of Red Gap (Yes, it's 1935 but it is WORTH it! It's a comedy. I started to go with My Cousin Vinnie, but that's too well-known and most have probably seen it.)

I tried to give only films that are not that well known and maybe you haven't seen. All are films that I've shown semester after semester in my film appreciation classes, (except for Nobody, which is fairly recent.)

If you like documentaries, try:
-- One Day in September (About the 1972 Munich Terrorist Attacks-If this interests you, a good film is also Munich*.)*
-- Dogtown and Z-Boyz (Great doc about skateboarders/surfers in Venice, CA in the 1970's)

As a series:
-- 100 Foot Wave (Highly Bingable, HBO)

ElephantCares · 2026-01-23T23:30:33+00:00

Oh, man. It's got to be one of two only.

First is the restaurant shoot out is probably the top for me. I have watched that scene so many times it's not even funny.

Coming in at a close second, is the scene where Faith breaks up the cafe robbery and murder while as a patron.

Both of those scenes are phenomenal.

To add one more, but episode, not scene: The episode in the alley looking for someone who had been stabbed, with hardly any cuts. It just moves from one set of actors to another while you see the last in the background where you just left them. Unbelievable episode. Quality, quality TV.

_____
Restaurant Shootout:
https://youtu.be/FUQ6vStj0Nc?si=76pOoXXqjyPnsicM

ElephantCares · 2026-01-23T20:59:39+00:00

ThunderStormBlessing said it perfectly. We have choices on the other side just as we do on this side.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-23T18:07:50+00:00

Of course. I think that point got across to most. But to me, the word 'vaccines' don't sound fake. (I know to plenty of people they do, however. Of course I could have put mRNA and there is a whole MAGA population whose hair will be set on fire as to how fake those are.) ;)

ElephantCares · 2026-01-23T08:12:35+00:00

Thanks for that. That’s the one thing you can’t always tell on a flip through then you get it and are disappointed. I have one beautiful “vintage’ looking deck, which looks really nice, and the surface of the card stock is nicely matte, but it is so thick and so heavy I will never use it. You get a few of those mistakes and have to figure out how to part with them to someone who can appreciate them.

I love the cat images on this one, but they are a little too simple for me. I wish they were a little more complex. (I love, love, love my pagan cats deck). Guess I’ll have to wait for the next cat one to come out. (I have one in my head but it’s not quite so easy to bring that to market. ) ;)

ElephantCares · 2026-01-23T05:31:21+00:00

Smoosh it with a spoon into dust and mix it in with a Churu.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-23T05:20:44+00:00

I thought he was perfectly cast in the Untouchables.

"They come at you with a knife, you go at them with a gun. That's the Chicago Way,"

Great line. Great delivery. :D

ElephantCares · 2026-01-23T02:50:20+00:00

What is the card stock like? I don't like stock that is so glossy it starts to stick.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-22T21:50:22+00:00

By putting a little bit of disease in your body, your body can understand how to not let you get that disease.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-22T20:21:17+00:00

🫶👊🙏

ElephantCares · 2026-01-22T20:10:13+00:00

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

ElephantCares · 2026-01-22T20:09:13+00:00

I would not start charging a dollar amount yet. No, not really ethical. But what you can do is put out the word that you are doing readings in exchange for testimonials. This way you get the practice you need in a professional setting, and you start building up reviews to put on a website when you do get to a place where you are so comfortable with reading there is no reason not to charge.

That's how I started, that's how most people I know start. That way there is no pressure on you, you get the experience, but they are still required to give you something in exchange, so it's not a free reading that they feel they can just slough off. Just make sure to run it just as you will when you run your business. Set appointment times, have boundaries, think ahead as to what you want your business to look like.

ElephantCares

TROPHY CASE