Chiming in late, but agreeing with what everyone else said.

I got my package, Lee, and I've been trying to find the words to express how perfect your choice is.

This makes me very happy--it felt right to me, so I was hoping it would to you.

Lee's hair is also amazingly shiny.

The opportunity to help was the thanks. And you taking care of you is thanks.

Talismans are powerful in that you can not believe in magic, but they can be a reminder of a core or idea that can easily escape in daily life. By having that thing imbued with that meaning or memory carrying that weight, lying at first unfamiliar, or even later, when it becomes something you note in its absence, it comes to live inside your conscious mind. I panicked when I briefly lost the ring my mom gave me, not because it had any real value, but because it's our history together. I look at it and remember so much. I mean, that stuff won't go away, but as I worry it on my finger in an idle moment, I drift to that and it's a comfort.

no notes needed. I love you guys so much. If you need to say thanks for you, then you'll see us all.

ita's HTML entities page

Oh, thank you, DX. I've used and appreciated that many times.

Agreeing with everyone about no notes needed.

I got the package yesterday, Lee. Thank you.

I waited till just now to open it. I think I'm going to have to frame them. I don't want them getting dusty.

sad now.

My package has also arrived. Thank you, Lee.

I've been wearing her garnet ring, imagining it has some sort of superhero power to make me stronger. It's silly, magical thinking, but it helps.

Just wanted to say that I once tried on an expensive garnet necklace that liked me. Didn't buy it, still regret it. Those stones had a warm feeling unlike anything I've ever met.

Plus I once had a wonderful supernatural mystical experience while handling the onyx ring owned by my friend's late grandma. I was spinning the ring on my finger, idly thinking about how sad it was that I was alive while she was dead. It felt like she laughed and patted my head with a gentle hand, telling me that we silly living people will understand it all soon enough. I loved that. Brought me comfort, though I'm no crystal handling spiritualist.

I think ita's garnet ring can't help but channel her energy while it is worn by someone who loves her as much as Allyson does. The power of the shiny hair will always keep it charged.

Thought I had finished my crying. Clearly not.

No notes needed, Allyson. I feel like the thank you post in Press was more than enough thanks (and so beautiful, so th- I mean, your hair is so shiny). When you're out of spoons, I think you should only do the things that have to be done to keep your life moving, and let the rest wait. Only you know what those things are, but I would bet thank you notes and projects aren't.

I was drowsing through an episode of My Name is Earl this morning, in which Earl put on a funeral for someone he'd wronged in the past. No one showed up, but when they went back to the guy's house, his computer screen was full of IMs from people checking in on him. I had to turn the episode off at that point, to prevent crying. And then I was quite awake.