Personal Musings
Though I love to make things up and be creative, sometimes I just want to write about my life, experiences, perceptions, travel blogs, and the like. This is a space to get to know me on a much more personal level.
This is also a space where my friends are free to write as well, when they have something to say!
Tales of My Cubawan, XII: How I Accidentally Got Him Off Drugs
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her late cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part XII, the final part for the time being, is about how Bear managed to accidentally get Otso to quit all hard drugs cold turkey.
Tales of My Cubawan, XI: More Meaningful Memories
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her late cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part XI is a collection of her favorite memories of Otso that were too short to make into standalone articles, but are no less meaningful to Bear.
Tales of My Cubawan, X: The Move (AKA My Biggest Mistake)
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her late cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part X is about her regret over not discouraging him from moving in with a drug dealer, but also, the warm (if stressful) memories of the moving day and the clean-up days that preceded it.
Tales of My Cubawan, IX: Nummirock Midsummer Metal Festival 2022
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her late cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part IX is about their journey to the mystical and magica fae festival that is Nummirock midsummer metal festival in Finland. Featuring sleeping in a car, bad public toilets, funny bands, and a floating man with Gambina to share.
Tales of My Cubawan, VIII: The Ember Falls Road Trip
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her late cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part VIII is about a road trip they took to Tampere with Bear’s friend Sipsi to see her favorite band, Ember Falls, and how Otso took care of her on the return drive home.
Tales of My Cubawan, VII: Biodynamic Osteopathy vs Trauma
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part VII talks about the two times she took him to see her biodynamic osteopath and the unexpected results his gentle touch had on a trauma victim’s inner world.
Tales of My Cubawan, VI: Am I Queer & The Destruction of Libido
This is the saga of Bear Wiseman and her cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part VI is about the time Osto decided to test and see if he was queer, as well as his first full-weekend visit, when Bear asked a question that gave him severe depression for a full day and resulted in a loss of libido and a healthier perspective on relationships.
Tales of My Cubawan, V: Sleeping on the Floor & Who Will Keep Me Safe?
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part V is about his tendency to sleep on people’s floors, as well as a moment of inner pain when someone begged her not to hurt him.
Tales of My Cubawan, IV: Microdosing Affection to a Trauma Victim
This is the true saga of Bear Wiseman and her cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part IV goes into the way Bear had to microdose affection due to Otso’s occasional touch-aversion, but how she also got to experience the full spectrum of motherhood with him, from precious sleeping baby to mischievous toddler, bratty teen, all the way to respectable young adult.
Tales of My Cubawan, III: The Early Days & A Goober of a Kid with Integrity
The saga of how Bear Wiseman met her cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part III covers the early days of their acquaintance: their memorable first game of Mörk Borg together, his healthy masculinity and kindness towards women, and the damage done to his sleep rhythm by his abusive family.
Tales of My Cubawan, II: A Profound Cosmic Coincidence
The saga of how Bear Wiseman met her cubawan (adoptive son), Otso. Part II covers why meeting Otso was so important to Bear on a personal level - because Bear challenged the universe to give her a cub, but she wasn’t expecting it to deliver so quickly.
Tales of My Cubawan, I: How We Met
The beginning of the saga of how Bear Wiseman met her cubawan (adoptive son), Otso, aka Modern Day Alien, aka Burning Holes in Time, a traumatized addict who was in need of love.
3 Bizarre Drunken Tales, & Why I Don't Drink Anymore
Some people have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Some people have weird experiences while drinking alcohol. Some people have enough weird experiences that they realize maybe they need to rethink their relationship with alcohol. In this selection of three stories, Bear Wiseman explains how she got to the point where she decided maybe alcohol shouldn’t be her substance of choice anymore.
A Magical Meet-Cute from a Friendship that Failed
The story of how Bear Wiseman met someone, in a most miraculous way, who would become her best friend for a decade, only to fade away without word after she moved to Finland…
Why I Used to Hate Women (pt.2)
Feminist Bear Wiseman admits that for a large part of her life, she didn’t like women. This collection of stories from Europe and Finland explain why she struggled so hard to find comfort and community in friendships with women even after she left North America.
Why I Used to Hate Women (pt.1)
Feminist Bear Wiseman admits that for a large part of her life, she didn’t like women. This collection of stories from Canada explains why she struggled so hard to find comfort and community in friendships with women when she lived in North America.
Building Bridges with My Body
Part 3 of the Broken Body series: the breath and fitness techniques used to have a breakthrough with my body
Traversing the Invisible Gossamer Bridge, pt. III
Kathy Criswell returns to Finland yet again to share her support for Johanna Kurkela, this time for the band’s first-ever Finnish tour. This Part 3 covers the final leg of her journey to Vaasa and back to Helsinki, with the final show including a special appearance from Eye of Melian!
Traversing the Invisible Gossamer Bridge, pt. II
Kathy Criswell returns to Finland yet again to share her support for Johanna Kurkela, this time for the band’s first-ever Finnish tour. This Part 2 covers the trips through Tampere and Oulu, as well as some downtime in Helsinki and a casual visit to the boonies out near Tuusula.
Traversing the Invisible Gossamer Bridge
Kathy Criswell returns to Finland yet again to share her support for Johanna Kurkela, this time for the band’s first-ever Finnish tour. This Part 1 covers her arrival to Finland and trip to Röskö, the first two Auri shows ever, and listening to the release of “III - Candles & Beginnings” at midnight amongst friends.