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You can run headlong into a burning building, and save fifty people from death...

...but if you do nothing to reprimand and chastise those who, out of nothing but selfishness and laziness and the fear of getting their hands dirty, would stand back and watch the building burn, then you deserve no respect.


If you are on a job, no matter what that job is, where either a few or a majority choose to do what is wrong, and do nothing to stand up to it, then no good you accomplish in your work will ever be good enough.


If you live your life, yet do nothing to stand up to those who choose to purposely harm the lives of others, none of the good you do in your life will matter in the end.


And, if you can only do what you are able to do, and choose to do nothing at all for fear of what other's will say, or what may happen to you, then no choice you make from that point on will ever be able to make things right.

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Wish me luck, everyone.


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Next month, if all goes well, and according to plan, I am launching a new, GIANT home on the web, for everything I'd love to incorporate on here and at my current free host (at Angelfire), but can't.

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What will my new home have?

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BIG areas for my stores (all the different categories I have for my designs, being sold through CafePress.com).


A multitude of blogs - one for each of my many moods, including Rants&Raves, Food Reviews, "Cheap" Living, and many others (*working* titles at the moment - we'll see how they look before I use them).


A page devoted to the many items I have, and am creating, for sales through Second Life (through the XStreet exchange).


A Fun Pages section, which I hope to grow to not only the size of my current Fun Pages, hosted on Angelfire (see my link in the header above for this page), but well beyond.

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And MUCH, much more --- without the pop-ups that Angelfire seems to be SO enthralled with.


*

So, stay tuned!

*


As soon as I have things up and running - well, enough to have company over, at least :) - I'll let you all know.

And, yes, I do still plan on using this blog as my "catch all". Now, you'll just be able to choose if you want to read it here; or read it there, where you'll also be able to check out so much more.

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Again, wish me luck!


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'A six-year-old Brooklyn girl, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, was hospitalized recently after being injected with the swine flu vaccine. The vaccination was conducted entirely without her parents' permission in an incident school nurses are calling "a mistake."'

The full story is here....

http://www.naturalnews.com/027395_swine_flu_hospital_vaccine.html

If I'm reading it correctly, it seems that the epilepsy medications the girl takes, and the substances in the vaccine, really don't like each other, causing the girl to have a severe reaction. A reaction, that could have VERY easily been prevented had the school nurse not decided to go ahead and give the vaccine without perental permission.
Though, seriously thinking about it, if the girl had been allergic to eggs, and given a regular seasonal flu shot, she quite possibly would have had an allergic reaction, and still have needed emergency services.


Setting aside what anyone thinks about vaccines, or medications, or what ever else... when a school or any other organization decides to go ahead and vaccinate someone's child for anything, without parental permission... this may be just my opinion, but... WE'VE GONE TOO FAR!

Because some over zealous idiot decides that she knows more about whether a child can have a vaccine or not, than that child's parent, a child ends up in an emergency room.

When the hell are we going to start standing up to these know it all, mother f**king peices of garbage, and ORDERING them to back the hell off?

Is there ever going to be a piont when we stop coddling these idiots? Stop making everyone feel like they're special?
Stop giving these morons a chance to feel so good about themselves, that they put people's lives in danger?

I'm, not even talking about whether the h1n1 vaccine is safe or not - I'm talking about people who think they know everything, being placed into positions where they think it's perfectly fine to jab a needle into a child's arm, knowing NOTHING about whether that child could have a reaction or not.
I'm talking about people who think it's fine if they text while they talk, because the ticket would be their's if they get one - not having the ammount of brain cells it would take to realize that if they killed someone, the guilt, and jail cell, would be their's too (BTW - if you've been in a car with a texting driver, and said nothing to stop them... including ordering them to pull over and let you out, you're just as guilty - If someone had been killed, you would have done NOTHING to prevent it -- and if you text while you drive yourself, then what the hel is wrong with you?!).
I'm talking about everyone who shows that attitude of "I don't have to care, because I'm too special for anything to happen to me; and you are so far below me that my world would be a better place without you in it... because this IS my world, after all."

It is WAY passed time that we stop treating these spoiled little brats as though they're actually as important as they think, as START treating them the way they desearve. With disdain, and anger at their incompetance and self righteous, self serving attitudes.
Frankly, I for one do NOT want to be in a hospital, telling the ER Doctor what medications I'm allergic too, just to have him or someone else on the medical staff turn around,and give me what ever they want, because if they get a repremand, it's their repremand and not mine.
Of course, I'll be dead, so I guess it wouldn't be able to be mine, anyway, now would it?
Yes, if I survived, there are multiple options that I would enjoy seeing happen, that are far worse than a repremand. But, that's what would be going on in the mind of someone who acted that way. That nothing horrible could ever happen to them, no matter how badly they screwed up, because they are so far above things like that, that nothing can touch them. That their 'Specialness Sheild' will protect them.

How about it? Anyone else out there want someone like that taking care of them? Want someone else like that taking care of your neices? Your nephews? Your parents, when they need outside help?
How many more children are going to end up in hospitals, because no one has the balls to tell people that they're not special? Because no one has the balls to say "Hey, Jackass, make another decision like that because you think you know it all, and the police won't get here in time to stop me from beating the sh*t out of you!"?
When the hell are we going to stop being so damned afraid of what these stuck up little twits could do to us, and start making them afraid of what we could do to them??

I, for one, am tired of it.


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....for your viewing pleasure.


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Yes, these are mine - but if you don't like them, I was possessed by the spirit of WTF.

Click on the pics to get to them.

Yes, you are.

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Read previous caption.

Enjoy :)


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These are excellent - if you're a bit twisted like me :)


http://jeftoonportfolio.blogspot.com/2009/02/twisted-princess.html


My personal favorite - Beauty and the Beast. Great goth-romance feel to it.


Enjoy :)


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This is Dr. Weil.



No doubt that a few people who read this have seen him, or at least heard of him.

He is perhaps the best known alternative medicine doctor in America, and has literally been featured on Oprah, Good Morning America, and numerous other television shows, as well as a multitude of print media, including Time magazine.

Dr. Weil has his own company and website ( http://www.drweil.com/ ) and produces his own information about natural heath and healing, including many publications and books.

And, now, both the FDA and the FTC have taken it upon themselves to threaten Dr. Weil if he does not comply with their standards.
These threats include forcing his company to refund all of his customers for products purchased for literally no reason (none of his products have harmed anyone, nor have they been found to be contaminated or altered by outside forces); seizure at gunpoint of all Dr. Weil's nutritional products, which the FDA has done multiple times to other nutritional and natural supplement producing companies, organizations and individuals; and least, legal action.

If you have ever taken a nutritional supplement, even if nothing more than a vitamin, it is important that you read this article, and find out everything you can about how this action may affect you, including the supplements you get, any holistic treatment you receive or use on a regular basis (which would include activities such as yoga, since yoga is a healing art for mind and body), and what the FDA/FTC have in store for the companies and individuals you receive these supplements and holistic practices from.

Warning - this is an opinion piece, where the author shares his thoughts about vaccinations. However, the fact is that Dr. Weil has become the target of what can only be called tyranny by both the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

The article can be found here....

http://www.naturalnews.com/027303_the_FTC_America_vaccines.html

However, again, do NOT become lax at researching this for yourself. You won't see much about this on the news... unless, of course, you like being lied to.

If nothing else, pay attention because he's a good looking bear, and healthy as hell, so you know he'll be a good looking bear for a very long time. It'd be a disgusting abomination if the government turned this hot guy into a homeless has-been, simply because they don't want to acknowledge that he's telling the truth about natural health.




A couple of other sites on this....

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=2379310
http://www.infowars.com/fda-ftc-threaten-doctor-over-immune-boosting-supplements-for-h1n1-swine-flu/

Dr. Weils did make a statement regarding this, after statements made on the Today show, saying that he supports investigation into allegations of any wrong doing.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03081/Dr-Weils-Response-to-Today-Show-Story-OCT2009.html

However, the threats he and others have received are real, and have happened indiscriminately among those who were attempting to scam others, and those who are truly trying to help others. This is NOT the precedent that we need to be setting for those attempting to either seek or provide holistic approaches to treating illness.
It is the right of every American to seek out the treatments for diseases and disorders that we each feel is appropriate, and that right should not be stifled in a seemingly wild attempt by government officials to stop access to those treatments and options.


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^{I've noticed that some of my tags have not shown up in the past, and I don't simply mean that they been placed in alphebetical order so it just seemed like they vanished.
Has anyone else had this experience, or taken the time to check?
If they don't show up, the tags I used for this are: Dr. Weil, holistic, natural, nutritional, supplements, FDA, FTC, threats}

I heard a very interesting story today.

As I was at the bus depot with a friend, waiting for the bus to show, a woman decided to start telling tales.
She started telling everyone around her, in a loud voice, that a man who had just walked in to use the rest room, was a child molester. Swore up and down that she heard it from one of his relatives that he was on the sex offender registry.
As he walked out of the rest room, toward the door to leave, her voice got louder as she described what he did to children, and how he shouldn't be taking care of the children that he has.

And, she continued after he had left... right up to the time that her bus pulled in a few minutes later when she got up and left, still talking about it.

Here's the problem - the friend that I was with knows this man's sister. Has known her for years.
Has heard her talk about her brother many times, and never once heard that he had ever done something like that... which WE talked about loudly after the gossip girl had gone.
Gone, on the bus that I was going to take, and decided not to, so I wouldn't have to listen to the woman's mouth talking about people she didn't even know.
Just to be a little on the safe side, I pointed out that the woman claimed to hear the news from one of his relatives. NOT that she had looked it up and found out for herself.

Then, my friend and I walked out with another friend that had joined us, and went to kill time until my bus returned.

I think we did a fairly good job of discrediting the loud mouth, so I can look at myself in the mirror with no problem.

I will, however feel sorry. Sorry, for the man this woman was talking about, because someone may end up trying to hurt him, thanks to her words, in some mistaken idea that they'll get another pedophile off the street.
And, sorry for the woman, because in order to talk about someone as viciously as she did, a person must have nothing in their life that makes him or her happy other than the spot light speaking like that places onto them.


I don't care if you comment or not, but I am doing something that I hope you'll take part in. I'm initiating what I term "Stand Against The Mill Week".
You don't have to stand up to someone, but you do have to stand up for someone. To stand up for someone who is being put down by the rumors and gossip of others.
To stand up for someone who could easily be hurt, mentally or physically, simply because someone else feels the need to be the center of attention.
To stand up for someone who has been placed into the rumor mill, and is being beaten down by it.
To stand up for someone, in any possible way you can.

And, no, I don't mean standing up for "the little guy", or a group that "can't speak for themselves". They already have their groups and champions.
I mean something much more local and easily accomplished-actively doing something to end the spread of lies that people tell about others.

Whether that means discrediting the lies of someone after they leave, as my friend and I did today, so the people who heard won't be fooled, or fooled again; or telling someone trying to gossip to you that you don't want to hear it, because they don't know what they're talking about; telling someone who is making a show of their gossip to stop, because without facts to back up what they say, they're only making things worse for a person that could literally be innocent; or even blogging about what happened so others can read it, and get inspired to stop the spread of rumors themselves.

Again, I don't care if you comment on this or not, but I hope that from today, October 13, 2009, until Monday, October 19, 2009, you will do what ever you can to put the rumor mill out of commission.

Anything it takes - just one week-7 days-to let yourself feel good about actively, purposefully protecting others, and Stand Against The Mill.


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Are they serious?
Airports plan on using a device created for Wii to monitor when, and how often, people shift their weight while standing in airports, to detect hostile motives.



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http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/fit-to-fly-balance-board-tapped-to-detect-shifty-characters-at-airports/1361483

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Ok - let's see how many problems there are with this...

1) Flying makes people nervous. Nervous people shift their weight while they stand.

2) Long lines make people irritable. What do irritable people do? If you said shift their weight, you'd be right.

3) People have bad backs. People with bad backs, who have to wait in line... take a guess. You got it - shift their weight.

4) Airports suck. No shifting weight - they just suck.

5) People have bad balance. Are they going to be expected to stand on this thing? For how long? Is a security guard going to help them keep their balance while they're on it?

6) Wheelchairs. Is this going to detect a person in a wheel chair shifting his weight? Would they cart him off to a room to do a strip search if he did?

...and, plenty more that I'm just too freaking tired to think of right now.

Seriously, where the hell do people come up with ideas like this?

"Gee, only people who are going to do something stupid get ticked off or worried at an airport! Everyone else is as calm as can be. [The thoughts that must have been in the head of the person who came up with this crap]"
-Yeah, and only morons think this way.

Yes, irritated, angry and nervous people move and fidget more than calm individuals. But airports and long lines make people irritated, angry, and nervous. Won't using this Wii equipment, even modded Wii equipment, just confirm that?

I wonder how many hundreds of people will have to get cavity searches because this thing pegged them as potential terrorists, before airlines actually get it through their heads that this is/will be a bad idea?
And, how many people will be the victims of it, before they demand that airports stop being so damned over-the-top stupid with security?


BTW - With all the movies in the past that have ever shown terrorists taking over airplanes, anyone ever wonder why airports were never serious about protecting passengers from a terrorist attack anytime BEFORE 9/11? I do, since it should have been on their minds WAY before then.
Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, if it's a real possibility, it should be on the minds of people in that line or work. If there's a real possibility of a patient bleeding out, Surgeons don't stand back and go "Well, that has happened in a couple of movies, and could easily happen in the O.R., but I'm not going to prepare for it, because I'm so great that my brightness will ward it away from ever happening."

Of course, no matter what medication a patient has taken, they don't check patients' shoes for blood thinners that could cause bleed outs, either, so....


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I have no idea what to say, or what to write, or draw... or what to do or not to do.

Not a clue.

I haven't been myself, with no idea of who I want to be.
The same old things, just don't seem the same to me.

Life keeps changing. Shifting gears. And, I feel lost in the dust.
Drifting out to sea.
Wishing for a wave to bring me home.

The life raft was cast, and it forgot me.

I keep wanting to get in touch with who I was, but the phone lines have all gone down.
There's a wall in the way of where I used to live, and I don't have the strength to tear it down.
And still, sometimes, I not sure that I really should.

I feel like I'm at a turn in the road, but I don't know where to go, and the map I had was written with disappearing ink.
The directions have become a mist in the breeze.

But, I'm ok, too.

The car has enough gas.
The battery works, and the radio is playing my songs.
I'm just not sure if I should worry about when the power will go off; or climb in the back seat, and sleep until the stars tell me what to do... or the radio plays an ad for a business I should check out.

The only thing I don't want to do is sit here, twiddling my thumbs, and not moving at all.

Just give me some room. Let me get out, and walk, and be able to see what this place has to give, and what I can give back.

'Cause I don't know where I'm going, and I can't get back to where I've been. And I'm searching the ground with my head hanging down.
My collar against the wind.

And, maybe I'm tired. Maybe I'm wide awake. Maybe I'm someplace in between, with my dreams about to take shape.

Maybe I'm hopelessly lost in a storm, or maybe the storm has passed.
In the eye of it all, I can look around, and wonder how long it will last.


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moar funny pictures

"If you'd like to see Tuesday's Tips as a continuing spot in my blog (about three tips a week... sometimes probably more), you've got to let me know.
I may do it on my own for a while, but if I don't hear anything, it's more than likely going to turn into dust in the wind by the end of the month - it's no use sharing tips if no one's there to share them with."

Yeah... that's about it.

On the good side - dust is cheap.

Living below the poverty line, you tend to pick up a thing or two about saving money.
So, I thought I would share some of what I've picked up about it.

If I get some good feedback about this (hint, hint... wink, wink), I may make Tuesday's Tips a permenent feature.

Comment, and let me know what you think :-)

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Tip #1....

To make bananas last longer, remove the peals, cut them into 1/4 inch thick slices along the width, so you end up with slices that look like thick coins.
Take a length of aluminum foil or waxed paper (approximately 1 1/2 to 2 feet long), and lay the slices flat, in one layer, on one half of the length - think of it as though you were placing the banana slices flat on one page of an open book.
Cover the slices tightly (like closing the book, and sealing the pages), and freeze it.

When you want some bananas for yourself, or to add to a recipe, you can simply open the frozen package, and take out as many slices as you need without letting any of the rest go to waste.

The thin slicing of the banana, along the width, helps to ensure that the banana isn't damaged while it freezes, as can happen if trying to freeze an uncut banana.

Tip #2....

Invest in a reusable coffee filter for your regular coffee maker, if you haven't already.
It may not seem like much, but it'll ensure that the $0.99 to $2.00 you save on paper filters will stay in your pocket.

But, don't toss the paper filters you have left.
You can use them in place of paper towels when ever you have a non-cleaning job to do (and, even a couple of cleaning jobs).

You can use them as small paper plates for dry food items (think: sandwiches - why dirty a plate just because of the bread?).

Lightly dampen one or two, and use them on a hard to open jar lid for extra grip.

Use them in arts and crafts - try making a coffee filter rose by puncturing the center of 7 coffee filters with a pipe cleaner. Twist the end of one side of the pipe cleaner, the end in the "cupped" side of the filters, so it won't come through. Press the filters tight against the pipe cleaner twist, pinch the area around the pie cleaner to make a funnel shape with the filters, and Wrap the rest of the pipe cleaner around the pinch to hold it in place. Then, fluff the filters to spread the edges like a flower. Lightly mist it with some colored water (one or two drops of red food coloring in a cup of water), and you have your rose.
Or, lay out a few filters under a craft project for easy clean-up (best for projects that don't involve liquid materials).

And, those left over coffee filters are good for light cleaning jobs. Their great for dusting (using a list mist of a dusting spray).
They're also very good for helping to clean the lenses in a pair of glasses - the weave of the paper fibers in the filters keeps the filter from scratching the lens.

As for that re-usable filter, the grounds from it can be used as a scouring agent for dark surfaces.
You can also place the wet grounds onto scratches in wood furniture, that can't be readily repaired. The coffee color will seep into the scratch, making it much less noticeable until that piece of funiture can be sanded and restained.
Place the used grounds ONLY onto the area of the scratch - as with anything containing liquid, placing them on an area larger than you need may damage the staining of the wood (think: coffee or tea cup without a coaster - eep!). As long as the grounds are only at the point of the scratch, though, the rest of the staining will be safe.
Leave the damp grounds on the scratch for at least 10 minutes, but no longer than 2 hours (simply because there's no need for more time then that, and the water in the grounds will evaporate over time, making them useless for this after), occasionally gently pressing them into the scratch to ensure that the colored liquid from them enters the bare wood.
Use rubber gloves or a plastic bag placed on your hand to press on the grounds, to keep them off your hand, if you like.
When finished, use a dry sponge, dry cloth, or even a dry paint brush to brush the grounds off, and use one of your left over coffee filters to gently buff the area.
This isn't a cure all - the scratch will still be there, but enough of the coffee color should have entered it to be able to disguise it - again, just until an actual repair can be made.
If a repair can't be made, then you've just extended the life of your furniture by not having to get rid of it simply because it's been scratched up - that's enough to make this tip worth doing :-)

Tip #3....

For any sponge you buy, take the time, and the pair of scissors, to cut it in half.
Yes, this does reduce how much of the sponge you're able to use... but, it reduces how much of the sponge you use up, as well.

While half of the sponge is being used, the other half stays with your cleaning supplies, until the first half can't be used anymore. And, since they are halves of the same sponge, each half will last just as long as the whole one would have, extending the life by twice as much.

By cutting your sponges in half, you make them last twice as long... and you cut how much you spend replacing sponges by half as well.

For those who are afraid that only half a sponge won't do the job, put your fears to rest. Half a sponge does just as much as the whole sponge... it's just a smaller size, not a smaller cleaning ability.

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These may not seem like much, but when used with other money saving tips, that extra money adds up.

$2.00 (approx.) per new sponge, every two months equals $12.00 a year. Cutting the sponges in half saves you $6.00.
If a new sponge is bought each month, that would be $24.00 a year, making this tip save you $12.00.

$2.00 (approx.) per new package of coffee filters every 5 months (150 days/150 filters typically found in filter packages, using one a day) equals about $5.00. Use a re-usable coffee filter, which would also be better for the environvent, and you spend nothing more than what you paid for the re-usable (usually not much more than for a single package of paper ones).

$0.50 to $0.90 a pound for bananas, bought every two weeks, equals about $46.00 a year (going with the $0.90 cent estimate, and assuming 2 pounds of bananas are bought each time). About a quarter of what's bought uaually goes to waste by most people, so there's a loss of about $10.50 a year. Freeze slices of them, and that $10.50 is how much you save.

$ 12.00 Sponges
$ 5.00 Coffee Filters
$ 10.50 Bananas
$ 27.50 Savings

That's enough for you and that special guy to rent a movie, buy some pop-corn to make in the kitchen, and spend a romantic night at home... or forget him, get the movie, get the pop-corn, and put the rest in the piggy bank to go out to a movie later in the week so you can hit on the bearish usher at the theater ;)



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/=:+++:=\

If you'd like to see Tuesday's Tips as a continuing spot in my blog (about three tips a week... sometimes probably more), you've got to let me know.
I may do it on my own for a while, but if I don't hear anything, it's more than likely going to turn into dust in the wind by the end of the month - it's no use sharing tips if no one's there to share them with.

\=:+++:=/

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Very sad news for actors, dancers, singers, and fans alike. 








MSNBC....

Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers’ hearts with “Dirty Dancing” and then broke them with “Ghost,” died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

The rest of the story....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28582715/?gt1=43001


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Nobody puts Patrick in a corner. And, no one ever will.


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Found this on my Yahoo home page.
This is what I'm hoping to be able to achive with my sound sometime. All the vocals and work that went into this is incredible (anyone, even amatures like me, who've tried over- and re-dubbing will know what I'm talking about)!

If you haven't seen it yet - DEFINITELY worth a look!

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If the above vid isn't working, here's the address for the page it's on.

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5854827/15317037


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For anyone on my MUTUAL FRIENDS list:
If you'd like to know how I sound (can't see why, but ya' never know), then hit my email with your email addie, and I'll send you two of my original songs to listen to.
Again - only those on my MUTUAL FRIENDS list get to do that.
I don't mind sharing - I just don't want to take the chance that someone I don't know will decide they like them, and claim them as their own.


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A petition to get companies to stop advertising in commercials on the Rupublican-Based Fox News show.

Over 12,000 signatures as of this posting, with a goal of 15,000.

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http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/934565074


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...but, I have nothing I really feel the need to post about.

So, how's this....

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-: FREE ADVICE :-


^{Got your attention at all? hehe}

I'm offering free advice through this blog to anyone who wants it.

There's only a few catches:

1) You agree that your problem, and my answer, can be posted on my LJ blog so others can read them.
YES, I will replace your name with something else, unless you want others to know it was you - if so, you have to tell me to use your name or LJ handle. Also, I will consider suggestions for name-replacements, but I have the right to decide if I use it or not (though, I will try to).

2) You understand that it's only advice, and that not only are you free to take it or not, but that if you do take it, I'm not responsible if things dont work out (I can't see everything about your problem, so I can only give advice about the information you give... and, neither of us can guarentee that the advice will be followed completely, so if you chose to take it, sorry but you're still on your own).

3) Since this journal can be read by anyone, only non-adult issues will be publicly covered. If you'd like advice on adult subjects, then I will either try to answer privately if you give me an email address; or, if enough adult advice is asked for, I may start a friends-only LJ blog to answer them in.

4) If you like my advice, whether you chose to use it or not, you have to tell at least one other person who has access to being able to read this blog. AND, if you haven't already, you have to friend me (Yeah, I know... self-promo... deal with it).

And...

5) This blog will still be my personal blog, so I will still include my non-advice thoughts and feeling and what-nots when I have something to blog about.


If this goes well, and I get enough takers, I'll think about starting an advice blog.
But, I'll wait and see.


I will do my best to answer any advice request as soon as possible, but will check at least once a week for requests.


^{Believe it or not, I'm not breaking Numbers 95 or 96 in my 100 things list (When I'm inspired....).
I'm offering, but not simply volunteering.
You actually have to ask me for my advice if you want it :-)}


And, that's it.
Anyone care to take my up on my offer?


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ROTFLMAO!!!!


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1. What time did you get up this morning? Didn't - couldn't sleep.

2. How do you like your steak? Rare, with lots of A1.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Spider Man. It's been a while.

4. What is your favorite TV show? Heros (well, the good episodes, anyway).

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Someplace in Australia. Close second: Maine, so I could be closer to someone I'm really liking a lot.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Left over ziti. I'm not a "traditional' breakfast person... and since I was up all night, I don't really think it'd be a true breakfast, anyway.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian or Chinese.

8. What foods do you dislike? Spanish rice, and green beans. Either will make me... well, just trust me, it's not good.

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Lately, I think it's at my computer.

10. Favorite dressing? Peppercorn Ranch

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? The invisible kind.

12. What are your favorite clothes? Jeans, t-shirt, the vest I made from a coat because the sleeves were way too tight, and my falling-apart black sneakers.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Anywhere in Australia. Failing that, Bob Hoskin's bedroom.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Would that be before, or after my coffee?

15. Where would you want to retire? See #'s 13 and 5.

16. Favorite time of day? Night

17. Where were you born? Earth, I think.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? The paint drying decathalon, because other sports are just that boring to me.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? Considering I'm not tagging anyone ...I would have to go with no body.

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? Yeah ...um ...did you miss that last answer?

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Not really worried about it, since my meme-ing doesn't usually bring out the responders.

22. Bird watcher? When I was a kid, but it lived far away, so I could only watch it on Sesame Street.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Definitely a night person. What I'm doing awake at 12:45pm filling this out, I don't think I'll ever know.

24. Do you have any pets? Two cats, and the memoery of my youngest one.

25. Anything new or exciting you would like to share? Coating a pizza pan with oil makes it a whole lot easier to actually get the pizza off the pan. How's that?

26. What did you want to be when you were little? Spider Man. Oo, no! Wait - The Hulk! Oo, oo, no! Wait - Superman! No, no! Wait! I wanted to be....

27. What is your best childhood memory? No joke - I really don't remember.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Cat rule : Dogs drool

29. Are you married? Only to my computer.

30. Always wear your seat belt? When I remember while I'm in the front seat (I try to, but I don't always think of it).

31. Been in a car accident? No, but way too many close calls.

32. Any pet peeves? Nasal singing. Drives me freaking nuts when I hear a professional singing through the nose - They get paid to not know how to sing?

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Bacon.

34. Favorite Flower? Lilac

35. Favorite ice cream? Moose tracks.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? McDonalds - love their fries and milkshakes. Otherwise, anywhere that has a salad bar.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Never got around to taking it.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Second Life.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Any. I can find something I like in just about any store.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? This meme.

41. Like your job? Need one first.

42. Like Broccoli? Love it, but raw. Frozen is only good in recipes.


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I was moving things around in my bedroom closet (new apartment, here), and a walking staff/stick fell out from behind the inside door jam.

It's approximately 50 inches (4 feet, 2 inches) long. Wood, but I don't know what kind - light in color. There doesn't seem to be any varnish or other prtective coating on it.

Has a leather strap hanging from it about 1 foot down from the top, held in place by two knots on either side of a hole drilled through the width. The free loop of the strap is approx. 14 inches long, and has what appears to be a single bone bead freely suspended on it - the strap runs through the hole of the bead, and the is a single knot at the bottom of the strap's loop, but it doesn't appear to be large enought o hold the bead from falling off.

The handle part has a simple clockwise spiral carved into the wood starting approx. 3 inches down from the top, and stopping at the strap.

The only words on the staff are "By Gary Raun", but I can't seem to find anything on this person.

The only other marking on the staff is a carved symbol of either an eagle, or a phoenix - I'm not certain which, or it's meaning. The drawing I did of it in mspaint is below.



If anyone has any information on either Gary Raun, or the symbol (what it is, and it's meaning), I would truly appreciate a heads up about it so I can start looking into it more.

Thank you in advance.

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And, the meme, because I iz kinda bored....


Neat freak (More like easily-give up perfectionist... I like everything to have it's own place - I just don't have a place for it all. Would like everything to be tidy, but as long as untidy is still clean, I'm okay with it... Hey, you try keeping everything tidy with a cat that knows how to drag things out of drawers and cupboards in a small apartment)

Gym bunny (If I could be the only one there, sure... but, no)

Computer geek (I know a few things, but I'd never be able to program one)

Sci-fi geek (Most of the time)

Comic book geek (Used to be - still get ticked off when movies don't go along with the comics... Spider-Man's webbing is NOT supposed to come directly from his wrists. Just saying....)

Fabulous cook (Can be, if I have the right ingredients)

Showtunes (Sometimes)

Opera (I can get into it if there's nothing else on, and I flip the channel to PBS)

Midler (Really good, but don't usually listen to her)

Streisand (Eh.... I can take or leave)

Cher (Really like her music, and could probably hang out with her, but I don't worship the ground she walks on)

Madonna (Just her early stuff)

Pull off drag in public (Not a freaking chance - SO not for me... though, I would be freaking beautiful)

Pull off pants in public (Why?)

Able to quote fabulous movies (Fabulously not)

Witty repartee (If I've had enough coffee, then yes)

Fashion-forward (See next answer)

Well-groomed (Can be, but I like my flannel and jeans, and not caring about my beard all the time)

Perfect hair (If you'd ever seen me in the morning, you'd know how much of a "No" this one is)

Good dancer (Can be, but I'm not usually up for it)

Disco bunny (No, but I like disco music)

Bathhouse buddy (Would be nice sometimes )

Wine connoisseur (Not big on drinking, but when I do, I like Champaigne better)

Fine dining connoisseur (Naw - meat and potatoes... and cheesecake... and I'm happy)

Green thumb (It's a little more on the black side, though I would love to be able to have a large veggie/flower garden if I could)

Judgmental queen (Try not to be, but yes)

Buy Perfect gift for perfect occasion (Yes, but I have to know who I'm buying for, and what they need)

Interior decorating (I know what I like, and how I like them to be)

Protest queen (Can be - depends on how fired up I am)

Sew/knit (Yes, though it's a little to hot to knit right now)

Dated Leigh Chapman (Who?)

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Ok. Meme's over.
Please don't forget about that symbol or the name. If you know anything, please fill me in on it.

Thanks.


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No - I like it HOT!
(hehehe - I just like this)

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http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Tamale/


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