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Atelier Ashley Flowers Wedding Florist in Alexandria,VA. Luxurious bouquets, whimsical centerpieces & all things fresh! Have Flowers, will travel.

Rabbie Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland.Rabbie is the bes...
26/01/2026

Rabbie Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland.

Rabbie is the best know poet to have written in Scots Language.

Auld Lang Syne, for All Mankinds, maybe his most famous sound.

He also wrote blunt political commentary.

I didn’t know what Scots Language was until I started learning a little about Rabbie Burns, but turns out I have been writing in Scots my entire life.

I love to taunt “I don’t believe in Spelling. Whose Spelling are you spelling anyway?”

I didn’t realize I had actually been spelling in Scots. Ha!

And I am wild to my core, Scots.

And I like rocks and mountains, but don’t care too much about what I own and where I can store it.

It is over the last five years that I have really set out to understand my fellow humans.

We all have lots of similarities, but one thing I am noticing a lot lately, is a desperate desire to believe in magic and to believe in God.

Last Night was Burns Supper Night, a Scottish tradition, and so fining myself in Old Town Alexandria, a very Scottish American City if there ever was one, I played Mysterious.

Yes, I dressed myself quite striking, put on my Clan MacGreggor scarf and played some bagpipemusic from my pocketed iPhone.

It was fun.

Super unhinged, undoubtedly .

But I remind you in these crazy times, who’s sane, the one able to abide the cruelty and injustice, or the one who finds it so umbareable, they must temporarily retreat to fantasy?

As I walked the icy roads, I encountered travelers upon their way.

The first exclaimed “There is a God” as he turned the corner and saw me.

The second was standing in the crossroads.
Looking up and down.
I said, “You are at a crossroads, do you have a questions?” He said, I am looking for “Il Porto.” To which I was able to easily point him the way.

Next I met Sequoia and her friend. She had taken him for a walk near the Carlyle. And it was Sequoias custodian who snapped my photo in front of Scottish Merchant John Carlyles House.

A few other friends and a lonely Fisher King comlpeted a full circle of memory.

It is ok to be magical, it is ok to give play, it is ok to give hope.

I’ve stopped watching the news.Yup.I actually didn’t know about Minniapolis until yesterday morning.Incongruesous you mi...
25/01/2026

I’ve stopped watching the news.

Yup.

I actually didn’t know about Minniapolis until yesterday morning.

Incongruesous you might think.

Where is the Ashley who spent all year trying to warn us that China and Russia are in competition with the United States over Rare Earth Minerals, and Space, and a whole bunch of other stuff?

Well, I spent a year trying to tell people what was to come, and no one could be bothered to listen.

Now, I know what is coming, world chaos, world “competition,” a redrawing of boundaries, and I know all the hot spots and incidents that are going to lead us down the path to geographic redistribution.

I have assessed how I can help best, and for me, it is not going to be by following along and reacting.

The reaction is part of a deliberate process.

The reaction is the distraction.

DC and the DMV is so busy reacting we aren’t even paying attention to the 100,00,000, one hundred million gallons of raw usage that is dumping into the Potomac unchecked.

That is P**p in the Potomac.

That is one of the RICHEST most INFLUENTIAL most POWERFUL Zip codes of the population has p**p water.

The Disaster Radius of this SEWAGE break includes the residences of foreign leaders, tech billionaires, and the top .0001% of DC as well as everyone in between.

I know it very very well, it is the radius of some of my elite clients.

We need to wake up to the very real threat that America is now experiencing a first wave of infrastructure related targeted attacks.

There are so many more effective ways to wage a battle than direct combat.

The Potomac River has been polluted (intentionally?) this will kill our fish, and our insects, and our birds, and our snakes, and our foxes.

And no one is talking about it.

Now I wonder, is the snow full of sh I t ? If I send my 10 year old out, is he safe, or could he possible come into contact wit a frozen p thgn?

Can I tell Finnley he cannot go outside?

Even if I did, could I make him listen?

atoesI hate potatoes.I have always hated potatoesAnd I think I always will.Anyone who knows me semi well, or has ever ha...
21/01/2026

atoes

I hate potatoes.

I have always hated potatoes

And 

I think I always will.

Anyone who knows me semi well, or has ever had a meal where potatoes are served, has heard me say I don’t like Potatoes.

I hate Potatoes.

I don’t like mashed, or boiled, or roasted, or sliced, or creamed, or with paprika, or with chives, or with marshmallows (though I will eat all the marshmallows) or fries (though I will eat the tips off from time to time, and the French fries at the Four Seasons DC are the one exception).

I hate potatoes.

I hate their texture, and the specific chemical compound of the starch as it hits the roof of my mouth.

But I never knew why.

I never thought to ask why, why do hate Potatoes?

Until yesterday, someone brilliant said,

“Are you Irish?”

Me: A little why?

The Irish Potato Famine

Me: The Irish Potatoe Famine. The Irish Potatoe Famine. The Irish Potatoe famine.
Yes, of course, that’s why.

I have been on a journey to learn my ancestors in sincerity for about 5 years.

I’ve traced much of the lines and the blood.

What I claim the most, and is the largest percent is Scottish, MacGreggor, but there is a very substantial part of Irish through my mother’s mother’s maternal line.

I was able to go to my family tree and find people who had left Ireland because of the famine.

Eliza Wharton and Edward Neil left Kerry County Ireland, and found themselves in Mascouche Terrebone Quebec.

Joseph Wison Reilly left Kinnetty Kings co Ireland and also ended up in Mascouche.

I have never been to Canada, I have always wanted to go.
Eventually the Elizas and Josephs and Edwards distilled down into me.

I think they must have really hated potatoes after seeing such famine and starvation . . . hated potatoes and the English . . .

This is a fun and silly story.  One I delight in as an ah ha moment, but if we get serious.

Do we believe in particle memory?  Do we believe in timeless consciousness?

Do we believe that through my genes and DNA I remember how awful those potatoes and that famine was, and my body rejects it because of those Irish Potatoe Famine memories?

This week is a big week! I wish I could spend time discussing politics, but life as an American still goes on as normal....
07/01/2026

This week is a big week!

I wish I could spend time discussing politics, but life as an American still goes on as normal.

I know how lucky I am to have been born and live in this country.

That’s all.

I’m a fan.I applaud Operation Absolute Resolve and the capture of President Maduro and his wife.I think it was well done...
04/01/2026

I’m a fan.

I applaud Operation Absolute Resolve and the capture of President Maduro and his wife.

I think it was well done.  As much as I hate that force is necessary, to see our military do what they do best, feels good.

Now, I told myself I was going to stop being so divisive in 2026, but, to thine own self be true. 

It is unfortunate that America no longer has the luxury of not playing offense, but if we are going to play, we play to win.

If you are just now tuning into world events, welcome.

This is not happening in a vacume, but is a tipping point, 

There is not just one reason, fentanyl, or crime, or Russia, or China, or lithium or any of the hundred other factors that made Venezuela the powder keg. It’s all of them, and it’s time.

On September 7, President Maduro had actually declared War on America and held up the communist Ho Chi Minh manifesto. They declared themselves an enemy of the United States of America.

That was a really big mistake.  Taking a meeting with China also didn’t seem to go over too well in Washington.

This was an important move.

Quick
decisive
deadly 
successful 

While I wish more than anything that we could all be kumbaiya, it ain’t happening.

We are doing this.

So, if we must use force, let’s do it quickly and with as few casualties as possible.  

This would be a big departure from the disgusting and ridiculously prolonged fighting in Ukraine and Gaza and previously Afghanistan.

We have entered the age of survival of the fittest and the age of hunger games.  First the countries will play each other, then the corporations, then the people.

Unfortunately diminishing resources with a global population rise is not sustainable at present.

I am of the mind that there is a way to reach peaceful equilibrium, but my scholarly and expert counterparts overrule me.

(Continued in comments)

Happy 2026!
01/01/2026

Happy 2026!

Bye bye 2025, here’s a look at the highlights.1) Found Faith again2) My grandfather was finally buried after two years o...
31/12/2025

Bye bye 2025, here’s a look at the highlights.

1) Found Faith again

2) My grandfather was finally buried after two years of family fighting at West Point.

3) Learned how to shoot.

4) Art in Bloom DC years 5 with Margot and Glenn.

5) Smithsonian Craft show with Mimi Conger-Brown and Holton-Arms Alumni

6) Holton 25 year Reunion

7) Pomona College 20 year reunion

8) Axe throwing with Tarot Circle

9) Fun times with Morgan

10) SF with my sister and nephew

11) Korea POW MIA briefing for my great uncle whose body is thought to be just over the DMZ in North Korea.

12) Spent the summer tanning and wearing a bikini for the first time in 10 years

13) Visited my Revolutionary War Patriot Moses Greer in Rocky Mount Virginia

14) Sertec. At George Salon

15) People Magazine arrive about Taylor Swift Engagement Flowers

16) A perfect afternoon

17) Potomac Floral Wholesale with Jeff

18) Rare Hope Gala with Susan Burke

19) Finnley’s 1st Cotalian

20) Best for last, Mellissa

It’s so easy to forget all that happens in a year.

I find I am re-inspired when I take a look back.

There were so many defining moments of 2025, but these 20 stuck out the most.

It was a year of growth, and a year of enlightenment.

Ok 2026, let’s make this fun!

Take your child to Flower Guild day.Finn tagged along and played photographer, he enjoyed all the secret and hidden room...
29/12/2025

Take your child to Flower Guild day.

Finn tagged along and played photographer, he enjoyed all the secret and hidden rooms and doors of the Cathedral.

He learned what a Rose Window is, and why the first stained glass windows were so important in medieval through present times.

My Mom is the only person who has ever told me she likes to hear me sing.And because no one praised me, or told me they ...
29/12/2025

My Mom is the only person who has ever told me she likes to hear me sing.

And because no one praised me, or told me they thought I could, or should, singing has never been something I have studied before.

I’ve had a lot of revelations lately, but one is the

Fundamental
Understanding
That if you

Practice

You will improve.

You might never be a superstar or protégée, but if you partake in a task with the pure intention of getting just a little better, you will improve.

So combine that with the fact that I can’t go a day without singing for at least 3 hours, and I was delighted to discover Gaia Music Collective.

Even better, the Chior Practice was set at the Masonic Temple in the main greeting hall where the achostics are quite literally other worldly.

To hear those sounds in that space, magical.

If you want to know how Gaia Music Collective works, essentially you buy a ticket and then they send you the Song.

The Song and a dropbox link to audio recordings of each part, Alto, Bass, Mezzo, Tenor, Soprano.

I have never had my voice “diagnosed” as a sound, so I tried each part. I like the vibrations of Bass, but I found my voice tuned to a Soprano.

I guess that’s the high one.

The class instructions say to come prepared so we can just jump in, rather than learning parts.

I think there were about 150 people who showed up ready to be serious about singing.

We split into sections, I found the Sopranos, and we practiced our section together.

For me, it is the vibrations of group harmony that I find most compelling.

I love a choir and find there are just not enough easy opportunities to partake in or even listen to one.

My only mistake is not realizing it was a 3 hour class. I hadn’t had dinner, and when we crossed the 9:00pm hour, I had to split.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend giving Gaia Music Collective a try, its very very special.

campoamor

Avatar 3 directed by James Cameron is about pushing the limits of what defines consciousness.Where does consciousness la...
28/12/2025

Avatar 3 directed by James Cameron is about pushing the limits of what defines consciousness.

Where does consciousness lay?

Is it in the body?

Is it in the heart?

Is it in the mind?

Is it outside the mind?

Is there such thing as an “individual consciousness?”

Or

Is there only
one consciousness
and we experience different expressions of it?

In physics theory, consciousness creates mass.

Personally, my beliefs about scientific creation vibrate around String Theory.

But I also have faith, and I also believe in God. They are not mutually exclusive in my opinion.

The movie also centered the idea of “Aliens.”

Asking the question, who are the Aliens? In the future will humans be the aliens and the outcasts?

What tribes will be wiped out by other warring tribes in search of resources?

And if that could be the future, how is that any different from today?

The scenery and magic and space travel are all new, but the condition of corporal humanity remains constant.

No matter what your Avatar you can’t escape the basic needs and emotions of humanity while you have a humanoid form.

In the movie, the strange adopted daughter roots herself to the sea, and the entire ocean becomes alive and responsive to her command.

An individual plugging into the all knowing, collective consciousness.

If you like 3 hours of stunning visuals and action, I would recommend.

Also something that stuck out to me is that James Cameron uses the excuse of making films to further his passion and curiosity for underwater secrets and otherworldly adventures.

James Cameron, feel free to text anytime you like. I’m really curious about all your discoveries.

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