They were lined up down the street!

That would sum up the third Psychic Fair.

Apparently our neighbor across the street, Rick @ The Pewter Place, was put off by all the piercings and tattoos he saw. Awwwww, no shoppers for Rick that day? I say you all go in there and browse sometime. He'll worry himself silly.

ANYWAY, what a fabulous success the Psychic Fair was! State Street organized their Sidewalk Sale for the same day so lots of newbies came in, got readings and learned a little about EBN. Our vendors did well out front. The energy workers upstairs were booked solid all day. It just kicked ass!

The next Psychic Fair is February 21 and I have secret plans to have it in a large location, still very close to home. This one will have all the same goodies but you won't have to stand outside in the cold and freeze.

I commend all the people who participated in the Fair. It's a long day. I can't even begin to imagine the number of people we helped. And for free! Clearly I am a socialist - ha!

Barack my world

I totally stole that title from a friend's button she got at a rally. It's not my intention to get politcal here, because political views are like opinions are like...you know...everyone's got one. But I just have to say that having Barack Obama as our next president really feels like a dream come true to an airy fairy tree hugger like me. All of the ideals that the New Age movement supports and encourages; things like Peace, Universal Love, Unity, Personal Responsibility, Random Acts of Kindness, and the like...all of these concepts feel a lot more real and tangible to me now. Everybody's heard about 2012 and the conjecture of what may or may not happen then. I've always heard that a shift in global consciousness was what was to happen. That doesn't seem like such a woo-woo concept to me anymore. I can really see how, as human beings, the majority of us could have a common purpose or desire. I can see how that purpose or desire could be made manifest once we reach a critical mass. I can see how Barack Obama could be a catalyst to really get Americans thinking about Peace, Universal Love, Unity, Personal Responsibility, Random Acts of Kindness, and the like and acting those concepts out. And I can then see that a majority (not all, but a majority...just 51%) of the world following suit. When I watched Barack Obama's acceptance speech on Tuesday night I wept. As sappy as it sounds, it's true. I wasn't bawling or sobbing, just weeping. I was so relieved and proud and grateful and happy and moved by Obama's words. I was weeping for the enormity of what lays before him, for the opportunity that awaits all of us. We are on the brink of a quantum shift in human thinking, feeling, doing and at last, all the woo woo seems a lot more likely.

I used to be kind of scared to have brought a child into the world. I don't like it when she gets a skinned knee and the thought of sending her out into the world as I had seen it was terrifying at times. I feel better now. I suppose there will always be elements of danger out there, but at least now we are moving in a direction that is hopeful. At least now, the future looks a lot brighter than it did 2 years ago. We all have a chance to see ourselves, our country and our world in a whole new way, a better way. Obama has 2 young daughters too and I bet he's not planning on sucking up all the world's resources and leaving a wasteland for them.

When I look out my window nothing has changed. My view is the same as it's always been. But inside, I know I'm seeing something new.

Psychic family reunion

The second Psychic Fair has come and gone and this is rapidly becoming one of my favorite EBN events. I just love it because I get to see so many people, many I haven't seen in a while. It's like a big family reunion! I know some of you might think I'm being CC (the new term I've coined - Commerically Correct) when I say that I think of you all as my family, but I'm not. I'm not too correct about much. And I just love you guys. You make me laugh and share your personal stuff with me and are so loving and giving and are, quite frankly, nicer than some of my own family members. I think the reason I go on about how much I care about y'all is because it continues to amaze me. There's so much crap out in The World and yet in Tavane's World it's really quite nice. It is my wish that when you come into EBN you get a sense of that. I hope that you feel at peace and safe and loved. Okay, I'm starting to nauseate my own self. I still mean it though.

So the Psychic Fair was, again, a HUGE hit! Standing room only for almost the entire day. We had all new readers except one. Many of them had never read for the public before (my Tarot Triangle) and did such a FABulous job. There were only positive comments about readings and readers. I think everyone had a great time and I can hardly wait until the next one which is November 1.

My Elly story

Lots of you have heard this because I'm always telling it in the shop. Skip right on by if you must. When I moved here from the Florida Keys I had no idea why I came here, except that my half-sister lives in the area and I'd never lived in North Carolina before. After living here about a year I had come to the conclusion that all the men were either gay, married or no one I wanted to date. So I figured I had my life as a workaholic shopkeeper and that was fine...no love life to interfere with the job. One weekend I was exhibiting at the Body Mind Spirit Expo at the Coliseum. I was bored, so bored that I was flirting with the 40-something bald guy who did graphology. This is an extreme sign of boredom as I have a type I haven't varied from since my junior year in high school - tall, thin, blonde hair (lots of it) and blue eyes. This guy was none of those things. Anyway, I noticed Elly Walker doing readings over on Reader Aisle and went to sign up for a 20 minute reading. I had heard about Elly from a variety of customers over the last year and was curious. I hadn't gotten a reading in a LONG time (that's a whole 'nother story!), so I figured I was due. When I finally sat down in front of Elly and she began to talk I was pleasantly surprised to hear she was British. I'm a complete Anglophile geek. She began to tell me things and I'll sum up with the big three items I remember. One - I was going to move. Well that was ridiculous because I just moved here and bought a house and opened a shop and all my money was stuck in those ventures. Ha! I was the last person who was moving. But I held out hope for more interesting predictions. Two - I was going to meet a man, someone significant in my life. Oh ho, that was rich. I admit, I did wonder if the bald graphology dude could be significant and then shuddered at the thought. Yeah, well I was gonna have to move to meet a man. Three - I was going to have a child. That's when I knew this lovely British lady was a complete and utter fraud. What a load of crap! Not only was I not going to have a child, I didn't even like children. I used to joke with a friend about how if I had one it would spend it's time in the closet or the oven. A child did not fit into my life AT ALL. So I thanked Elly, went back to my booth and wondered what the hell these Greensboro people thought a psychic actually did. Scoot ahead a couple weeks. I did have a phone conversation or two with the bald graphology dude...total waste of time! About 2 weeks later I met John, as in my baby-daddy John. Some time later I was pregnant and about 2 months before Tristan, our daughter, was born EBN moved to its current location from Downtown. So Elly was three for three. She reads at EBN now and I love to tell this story. One, because it reminds me not to be a smug shithead and two, because there are lots of stories like this about Elly. Plus when I tell the story I get to talk about Tristan, who doesn't even have her own closet and never spends any time in the oven.

Opening blog

let me just start off by saying that even the word...blog...sounds like wretching. it's the word that comes out of your mouth and drops into the toilet after 6 beers too many. blog. hmph. so if i am so opposed to the word and kinda sorta, the concept, why am i doing this? i guess the proverbial straw is the reason. a nobody, someone neither mel nor i know, left a thoughtless and kinda irritating message on our voicemail. she called twice (sunday night and sometime monday) and was offended that no one called her back and so she took her business elsewhere. yippee! now most of you know, we are closed sunday night and monday. apparently this Tara person was not aware of that and didn't catch that piece of information either of the 2 times (although there were a total of 9 messages - 7 were hang ups-maybe she was obsessed?) she called. so this numb nuts is out there, with no voicemail on her cell phone and i can't call her to thank her for taking her business elsewhere and now here i am blogging. ridiculous. there may still be a few of you that still thought i was all love and light...sorry to blow my own cover. i am most of the time, just don't piss me off. gah!

and the other, and clearly longer lasting, reason for the blog is because there is a lot i don't put in the newsletter. this is where i can ramble on about rocks or offer an experience with a product or a reader. i can also amuse you from time to time with the flat-out crazy shit that happens at the shop. it's fabulous...i get paid for this!

so thanks to Don and Laura for both recommending blogger. i just might be able to do this.