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30.8.06

Lookee who found her camera -



It's gonna take me a while to get the hang of it again - in the meantime there is more Henna after 24 hrs on my left palm. And I am including a pic of Obi - my cat. She is properly named Oberon - I didn't name her. She is also known as Obi-Wan-Kitty, and Uber-Bitch. I heart her a great deal. Off I am to homehome for the weekend - and my lil sister's super-secret(but she knows all about it)surprise-Animal-House-themed-mock-wedding/engagement-party. YAY!!! I can't wait.

25.8.06

Beautiful Baubles for a Cause




Speaking of helping out causes: I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell about my friend Chris (one of the most wonderful, fanstastically talented people I know). He is doing (and has been for a few years now) a line of jewelry for Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland. I threw these pics up as examples – hit them to link to the site. He is also listed as “Beautiful Baubles” on the side – that is not going anywhere. And the link to Planned Parenthood’s shopping page is listed as “Beautiful Baubles for a Cause” – that isn’t going anywhere either. This is not me turning into a hardcore activist (anymore than I have been). But since we’re talking about Reproductive rights anyway…

HOWTO Screw Some Evangelist Maggots Right In The Wallet




This is the single most brilliant thing I have heard all day. I picked up a bunch of anti-choice propaganda = all about knowing your enemy and defeating the self-righteous lot of them. & of course a free copy of Narnia (YAY - Narnia!!!) $97 + shipping - i hope it hurts.

I can't fully even express the joi. The drawing expresses it best.


Jhayne Holmes says this:

What with the Washington State Supreme Court handing down its anti-gay-marriage decision several weeks ago and the ever-hearing more about attacks on reproductive rights down south, I’m feeling that the States is tripping a bit too merrily down the Handmaid’s path.

This week, I found a way to strike back.

Focus on the Family, the horrid anti-gay evangelical church based in Colorado Springs that wields too much power for anyone’s good, has a store on their website that will give you books, CDs, and DVDs absolutely free of charge. Usually people pay for their items by donation, raising millions of dollars to help Focus on the Family produce more hate-propaganda featuring “experts” on homosexuality who claim it’s a curable “sickness”. (They’re practically defined by their book A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality. Course, there’s no mention of having less kids, which is the only proven method. No, no, you shouldn’t use birth control, that would be wrong. They need more worshippers, how dare you prevent god’s will.)

It’s a little bit time-consuming, but not enough to deter me. (Nor should it you). The chance to take money out of their pockets is too useful, not to mention satisfying.

Here’s how to do it in 10 steps:

1. Go to www.family.org and look for the “Resources” link in the blue bar on the left-hand side, right above the “Search” box, and click it.

2. Under the “Resource Category” menu on the left-hand side, you’ll notice categories such as “Homosexuality” under “Resource Category.” Me, I went straight to the CD’s and DVD’s under “Resource Format.”

3. Go through, find something you like, such as the recently released movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or The Chronicles of Narnia Radio Theatre Complete Set, suggested donation US $79.00, or the three disc Les Miserables soundtrack. It’s not a very wide range of products, but there’s bound to be something either you like or you could use as a sweet gift for someone else. Click the “Add to Card” button.

They won’t send more than $100 worth of materials for free in any given shopping trip, so be sure to go through a few times, until you’re sure you’ve dinged them.

4. Select “Add New Shipping Address,” decide to send it yourself or someone else, and once you’re done picking up to $100, click “Proceed to Checkout.” Some people have been sending items to themselves to sell later on eBay, some have been ordering the more controversial items as conversation pieces or educational props, (as anti-anti-propaganda), but I plan on using mine as gifts, mostly. I’ve found no reports on receiving Focus on the Family junk mail after inputting an address, so I figure it’s fairly safe.

5. The next screen asks you to sign-up for an account and give your information. Fill it out with fictitious information, enter whatever name and address you like. You might want to make up a phone number too and an e-mail account too. After filling out all the required fields, click “Proceed to Checkout” one more time.

6. This will take you to the “Here is Your Cart” page. You may have to re-enter your data again after this part to actually confirm your account. Eventually, you’ll get to the “How Much Would You Like to Donate?” page.

7. Select “Enter other total amount” and enter 0.00 as the amount you would like to pay. (Don’t put in a dollar sign or it will ask you for credit-card information.) Don’t be fooled by the field in the lower-right-hand corner that shows you the suggested donation amounts, simply Proceed to Checkout.

8. The next screen is a guilt screen, to make you feel bad about how little you donated. ignore it. Ignore it utterly. Think of how many people they’re persecuting and had in their “gay kids can be cured” camps. Just proceed to checkout again.

9. Click “Checkout Now.”

10. Finally, pass this information on to all your friends. They’ve got money to back them, we have word of mouth, let’s see if we can win.


******** SPECIAL NOTICE*********


They have altered the site slightly. After placing your each order, it will try to block you from placing subsequent orders. They accomplish this thru the use of cookies.

Go into your browser's user preferences and trudge thru the cookies present and delete all from www.family.org. It is not nearly as complicated as it sounds, and can be done quickly. Then of course go back to taking their money. I'm getting bunches of the Narnia DVDs and selling them off to Record Exchange and anywhere else who will pay and giving the money to the local AIDS taskforce and Planned Parenthood and PFLAG and other organizations to support the communities of the people that Focus on Family continues to preach hatred and intolerance towards.

23.8.06

More Henna


24 hours later.

22.8.06

Note for Erica


He really is a robot. I hope you appreciate this. I did and thought of you and smiled.

Henna update



Ok I did my palm earlier today - I took it off rather quickly 2º to wanting to allow it to fade quickly - so I can A. do another design quickly. B. not be too obvious at work.
I managed to get the lines finer w/ the cone, and am still perfecting the technique. I can't wait til I can get back to the fineline designs. sooo pretty.

WooHoo OR update


ok one in the car so far. Thanks Junior. Still looking for more takers - to split gas and more for the trip in October - contact me for details. I've given up coming up w/ any reason not to just go on to see again in Madison - I mean it is only a hop/skip from Chicago. And that's still how I feel.

21.8.06

HELL YEAH!!!



WOOHOO!!!

WHO'S COMIN' WITH ME???

C'MON I JUST NEED A TRAVEL BUDDY!!!

OR AT LEAST STOP ME FROM FOLLOWING TO MADISON THE NEXT DAY

it is finally here, FINALLY. The closest the tour comes is Chicago in the middle of the week 10/11/2006. I am going if I have to drive myself alone. wow. WOW. This has made my day.
Enjoy the Coop.




I work in a random office


Which is just like every office - ok - just like every outpatient physical therapy office. We had 14 pts today in our first 3 hours - mathkids are now going - well, that's only a little more than 4 pts an hour... well it is too damned many. 6 of them were new (read that as the fastest of them took about 15 mins to do their paperwork - the slowest took about 35 mins - which put him squarely into the next pt's timeslot) and therefore required more time from the therapist, and from me. I was still trying to get the paperwork/billing done from last Thurs/Fri. Did I mention I started the day at 7am and none of the paperwork that other people are supposed to do was started for Friday til after 10am. I then worked til 7pm. I'm just tired. And I don't want to cook. I want someone to show up here with food - and since that isn't going to happen, I am going to drool over Prison Break (Wentworth Miller) and go to sleep w/o supper. That's all.

20.8.06

More henna


OK - this is a better shot of my foot/ankle. I am still mucking about w/ the details. It has been so long since I have done this. My lines w/ the .5mm tip are a lil thick yet. I will prolly be switching back to bamboo skewers as I move further along. And of course more tight spirals when I get to my other leg and palm.

18.8.06

The henna is here!!!


YAY!!!

I am so excited. I mixed up the first step of the batch and will prolly get to the design tomorrow afternoon. I have 2 discs of Carnivale and the last of Broken Saints to get me thru the drying process and the first series of Black Books. So I might be able to hold off peeling it off til I wake up on Sunday (maybe) - it's always hard. I actually flirted w/ watching the entire extended edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy while I waited... but then came to my senses.

First tight shot of the design - I can't seem to find my camera so my cell will have to do...

16.8.06

The babies are coming, the babies are coming!!!


Ok
My friend Brenda is pregnant (YAY!!!) and new baby is on her way to joining the great wide world... (to the left) and I can't wait.

My sister is pregnant (YAY!!!) and that munchkin won't sit still long enough to let us know what sex he or she is. either way it'll be a wonderful addition to the family.

I love them both and I can't wait for the little ones to arrive (winter of 2006) to join the crazy extended family I am a part of.

Speaking of which: my favorite fake niece (my cousin's daughter) just started her senior year. I FEEL ANCIENT. - But she wsa raised well - I just received a postcard from her Scotland trip.

My favorite actual niece is perfect in every way and I'm going to be seeing her in a few more weeks so be prepared for the "SHE IS THE BRIGHTEST GIRL EVER" stories. I hate living so far from either of them.

15.8.06

Life is not all black & white...

I was on the phone w/ Matt (Bachelor #33: 2006) and we are talking about where to meet up for meet/greet. He then mentioned his smoking situation that's right he said, "situation". He asked if he had explained it to me yet. I responded that he hadn't. His explanation: he's a quitter, he now only smokes when he "goes out", when he is drinking, and when he is with other people who smoke. I started laughing and telling him he was a smoker. He got very upset with me. He asked if this meant I didn't want to meet him. I responded, "Yeah, that means I no longer have any intention of meeting you." I kept laughing as he tried to explain to me that "Not everything in life is black and white, you know...there is a lot of grey." I agreed that much in life is grey, but smoking is not one of those things. You smoke or you don't, if you do you are a smoker. And I do not knowingly allow smokers into my life, not as friends, certainly not as lovers. He didn't understand, so I expressed how disgusting it was to be in close quarters with a smoker when he is sweating and the nicotine is coming out of his pores, or kissing a smoker, like licking an ashtray - eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww. It ended poorly, to say the least. Why do guys lie? If he had been upfront w/ the smokng thing it would have saved so much time. And conversely the concept that if he had kept his mouth shut - I would have smelled it on him and walked away anyway. Just sadassed.

13.8.06

He called me Jewish

WOW, I had a fantastic day yesterday: I went shopping. I don't mean like most random middle-age women mean "went shopping". I mean I woke up early, went to the eye doc's and picked up new contact lenses. My Doc Oc is right next to a wonderful grocery Nature's Bin, and I was able to score some fantastic produce (organic and local and fresh yumyum). I then went to the mall. I just hate saying that, and can't help a crazy valley girl accent when I do. I'd saved some gift certificate money and the clothing store I was heading to had supplied me w/ a 40% off coupon good for the entire store for this weekend only. I was happy 2º to needing new pants for work and bras and undies and such. I go clothes shopping with a purpose about once a year, I try really hard to make the most of it. I ended up w/ about $400 worth of new clothing for about $37 out of my pocket in cash. I am pleased. I even ended up w/ a cute jacket to be pictured later.

I am proud of this lil adventure. When people on saturday night and sunday asked me what I'd done w/ the weekend that was the story I told. Some got it, some didn't, only one person called me Jewish. He didn't mean it in an especially bad way. He didn't mean it in an especially good way. I was offended. Not at being called Jewish, but at the concept that somehow someone had slipped thru the radar who believed that perpetuating stereotypes is an ok way to interact with me. Seriously, he (Christopher, Bachelor #32: 2006) thought that was ok, and followed it up by saying it didn't matter what he said about it because he is Catholic. He is in point of fact an ex-seminarian, a subject he had constantly brought up and insisted was a big deep dark secrety part of himself. He is of course gone now - on the various and asundry blocklists. I hate having to muck about w/ such things, but alas the search continues.

9.8.06

Joi

I get to henna my hands - my boss sd so. So more to come on that front including pics. I am superpsyched about it. I haven't been allowed to do this for so long it is ridiculous. The supplies should be to me by this weekend - I'm gonna star prolly w/ one of my feet, but I love doing my palm - my left will be next.

2º joi - laying in bed this morning. the cat came to visit. She meowed loudly in my face (about an inch away from my nose) and then when i put out a hand she leaned against it w/ her shldr, and burrowed under the cover and laid down w/ a little purry meow and rested her head on my arm and fell asleep purring.

in a Box...

Ahhhh and we come to the first defining conversation I can share.

Last night – a Tuesday (our usual Tuesday nights are spent at a Winking Lizard somewhere – w/ the friends on the beer tour learning more about beer than an non-beerdrinker should ever know and enjoying excellent company and a martini or 2)

- On the way home (a friend gave me a ride, for which I am eternally grateful – I didn’t feel like driving after this week from Hell I seem to be in the midst of) we got to talking about work. He at one point paused and accused me of not knowing what he did for a living, not that he works randomly in computers, but the specifics of what he does. I rattled back to him exactly what he does all day. He was surprised that I remembered. I remember because he picked up the new job right before we met, and he was very excited about it. I would go so far as to say passionate about it. Of course I paid attention and retained the intel. He explained that most people don’t really pay attention when others in unrelated/uninteresting fields are talking about their jobs.

I do. I note what the people I care about are saying about all aspects of their lives. I’m that kind of person, that kind of friend. I’m the kind of friend who finds out you’ve been keeping a blog for 5 years, who will go back and start reading from the beginning – just to get a better understanding of you. The kind who hears you drop unfamiliar words or concepts in passing conversation goes home and researches them. Conversely I also understand that very few people bother w/ such mundane details anymore. Lazy rat bastards all of them.

And I understand almost no one pays attention like I do. I say if you really don’t care that much about the people you are choosing to surround yourself with – it’s time to find new people. If they are that bad you need to seriously find some new someones to be near. And if it is you, you need to reprioritize and consider if the life you are living is really all that fulfilling. If you don’t enjoy the view and refuse to do anything to change it, you should be in a box. Not be killed, in a box 6 ft under, so much as be held in a box which opens into another dimension so the rest of us don’t have to interact w/ you at all.

8.8.06

here goes 2


Huzzah - and then there is me. I think I will leave that one here as a concept of what I usually look like. Fantastic that things are actually coming together albeit slowly. I only made one patient cry today at work ];-(
I'm gonna have to see what I can do about that for tomorrow.

7.8.06

The start...

Wow, after the great adventures in the "Bachelor Hunt of 2006" I decided that a blog was in order if only to supplement my growing desire to understand "what the hell just happened"

More to come - I wanna see how this looks.