I am addicted to Neopets. I have 4 virtual pets: Arquatiss, HappiBuddyBoy, HappyBuddyBoy, and Nena_Lobo10101. How pathetic am I?

I kind of thought I would turn out to be Alice in the quiz. I love that book. I reread it every summer when I was a kid. We read it in high school in English class. I wish I had an annotated version of the book: a copy that explains all the chess moves and all the political jokes. Maybe someday.

You're just a girl; you tend to get frustrated easily, you daydream quite a bit, and you try to avoid making trouble, though curiosity always gets the better of you. Even under tight circumstances, however, you put aside (some of) your fear and figure out what's the best thing to do. You want a better understanding of your world.

I'll never complain about the weather again.

This news story reports the funniest joke as discovered by scientists in the UK. Don't they have anything better to do?

This CNN review declares LOTR a new classic. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but I had never read the books. I was disappointed and surprised by the ending, so now I'm reading the books to find out how the story is going to turn out. Yes, I skipped ahead to the end in the "Fellowship" book to see if it ends the same as the movie, and it does. Since I know that they end the same, I'm no longer disappointed.

Is this fair? I don't think so. A person who committed a crime is going to profit from the crime. I guess crime does pay. He only spent 22 months in prison and his last job contract was for $950,000. Yeah, that's fair.

Hello from vacation-world! Yep, can you believe I've been offline all this time? I had a happy holiday with my family and I'm really looking forward to the new year. There are unlimited possibilities, all within my reach. Anything seems possible. Next year has to be better than 2001.

Ok, I don't know what's happening with Bravenet and the images for the guestbook service, but you can still sign my guestbook, even if you can't see the button. It's in the right-hand column, above the words "View and sign my guestbook!" Click and go to my guestbook.

TGIF! I'm on vacation all next week. I haven't had a vacation since the beginning of 2000. However, if this week is any indication, the vacation will fly by, and I'll be back to work before I know it.

EEP! Didn't check that last entry after I posted it. Sorry for the mistake. I fixed it now.

In Ft. Lauderdale, the dead can't rest in peace.

You can still post a letter to a military serviceperson: Operation Dear Abby is up and running online.

Let the lawsuits begin.

Windows XP apparently has some serious flaws. Get a fix for it here.

The media is finally sure the country is in a recession, or so they say.


For those of you contemplating tongue-piercing: Piercing Causes Brain Abcess

Yet another reason to save the rainforests: AIDS Fighter

When Good Stars go Bad: Winona Ryder in jail? Who woulda thunk it?

NBC must be very hard up for advertising, since it lost the football league and all the ad revenue it generated. Guess they figured the exclusive Olympics contract wasn't gonna cut it.

More greed off a national tragedy.

Unruly fans aren't just watching soccer. Isn't football only a game?

If you want to make your Archives show months instead of date ranges, try this site. I took it from the main Blogger page in case you didn't see it. Don't forget, though, to change your archive settings to monthly. You may have to republish your archives as well.

Turkish women are now allowed to wear pants.

How'd I miss this little gem? Geraldo Rivera totes a gun in the Afghan war zone. Smart or stupid?

How can Texas claim that the last execution for 2001 is scheduled? Aren't people still living in Texas????

Another epublisher bites the dust.

As if the tragedy of Sept. 11 wasn't bad enough, repercussions are still being felt. This article is about a woman who recently committed suicide because she couldn't live without her husband. He died in the WTC collapse.

Ok, I was having trouble with the comments. For some reason, they were not working properly. I got rid of the comments, and added the Guestbook. Please feel free to sign it!

Not only is the Pope online, so is the Virgin of Guadelupe. Went to the Virgin's site, but it was in Spanish. No comprendo espagnole. (Or something like that!)

No wonder the signs near prison work camps say "Don't pick up hitchhikers." A prisoner in a work camp escaped under the fence, walked to the local convenience store, bought himself some beer and cigarettes, and then returned to the work camp.

In defense of Andrea Yates? I don't know what to think. Personally, if my spouse ever hurt my kid, I would not defend his actions, nor he for me.

Arson for fun? You've got to be kidding.

If you're into self-flagellation, submit your diary/weblog/journal site to the Diary Critic. Good luck.

Generation X is nostalgic for its youth? Already?

Fortified water? What is the world coming to? I guess what P.T. Barnum said is true: there's a sucker born every minute.

People at CBS News can't spell. Duh, it's "inadvertent," not "inadvertant." Makes me wonder if Dan Rather writes his own material.

****12/9/01---Ah, they have it fixed now. Wonder how long it took.

It's ok for thousands of Americans to lose their jobs due to the current state of the economy, but Congress can vote themselves a pay raise. How is that fair? Sometimes this country sucks.

Has Atlantis been discovered???

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack (Dec. 7, 1941). See this page of the NY Times. USA Today has an article comparing Sept. 11, 2001 and Dec. 7, 1941. Did you know that Pearl Harbor veterans are dying at the rate of 1,000 a day?

Time: 9:05 am (CST)
Listening to: computers humming around me
Reading: "Dune: House Harkonnen" by Brian Herbert
Beverage: Diet Mt. Dew
Mood: bored and tired
I should be: working
I wish I could: surf the Internet all day
I anticipate: taking off work the week between Yule & New Year's
I dread: Yule gift shopping
I love: doing nothing
I hate: having to work for a living
I risk: not having enough time to do the things I want
I want: my husband to find another job–soon!
I dream about: being financially comfortable
I settle for: second-best
I laugh when: almost all the time
I cry when: I have PMS
I just started: this blog
I just finished: this entry

Thanks to Nancy of OnlyMyWorld for her survey!

Which Evil Criminal are You?

If I were a work of art, I would be Piet Mondrian's Composition A. I am rigidly organised and regimented, although my cold and unapproachable exterior hides a clever way of thinking and a rebellious and innovative nature. A lot of people don't understand me, but I can still affect them on an emotional level. Which work of art would you be? The Art Test

Nice to see lawbreakers treated like heroes. Things like this piss me off. Who gives them the right to be treated like heroes? They broke that country's laws.

Decluttering My Mind

Decluttering my mind began with cleaning off my desk.

I had felt crappy all weekend, with migraines and in a totally bad mood. The voices in my head would *not* shut up, no matter how I tried to think positive.

Then today, I saw a PBS show with Julie Morgenstern, the author of "Organizing from the Inside Out." It might sound silly that I changed my whole attitude after watching her show, but she had a good point: organize the stuff lying around first, because it's your life at the present moment. Forget about that stuff in a long-forgotten closet. Make the present stuff easily accessible. Put the stuff where you use it most often; for example, if you had built a special office but you still use the kitchen table to make out bills, that's where you're most comfortable and that's where you need your bill-paying stuff. She said that once you get the stuff in order, you can begin to live the life you've always wanted to live.

And it makes sense... I needed to clean off my desk so that I would have a clutter-free area to write in. Perhaps I was procrastinating from writing by having all that clutter on my desk. Who knows? At least cleaning it off helped clear up my bad mood. It was like a window had opened in my mind. One little act for the better made a huge difference in my day. I feel so proud of myself for accomplishing one little thing. Not only that, but the change is visible. It's easy to get discouraged when the change is not visible. It makes me feel like I didn't accomplish anything.

So with that little bit of action, I can stop procrastinating and get some writing done.

...maybe

That whole Red Cross situation pisses me off. The donations should go to all the victims. I'm glad to see that they have changed their minds and are going to give all the donations raised to the people who need it. Why were they planning on keeping some of the money? Just so they could pay their leader $450,000 per year? Screw that. Those people are suffering. The Red Cross is supposed to help people in time of need. I'd like to see that $450,000 spent on helping people. Sometimes I think that charities are a big ripoff anyway. They want our money, we give it, and then they pay their staffs huge amounts of money. IMHO, nonprofit should mean that the staffs are nonprofit, too. Whoever works in a charity should volunteer and not get paid. But I suppose that some people who work at charities see it all as free money.

Can't we just let Princess Diana rest in peace?

Ken Kesey died today. He wrote "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Today was a do-nothing day. Saturdays are good days for that. It was a day just for naps, and curling up in front of the tv. This week passed so quickly. It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be Sunday and then another Manic Monday.

I am so sick to death of whiners! Why can't people stand up and take responsibility? Why do people insist on butting into other people's problems? A little sympathy is ok, but I don't want to hear "oh gosh, that person's been struck with all these horrible problems. Isn't it awful?" Yes, it's awful, but those problems are theirs, not mine, and I don't want to hear about them. Get a life!!!

This CBSNews article says that women will save the world. All right! I knew someday people would realize that.

People are cashing in on the Sept. 11 events like there's no tomorrow. They didn't wait too long, did they? Patriotism is fine by me, but I get disgusted by the fly-by-night "patriots" who only fly the flag when everybody else is doing it.

Disney fairytales don't always come true.

Lost White Tribes

Now this sounds like an interesting book. I had no idea such "lost white tribes" existed.

Journaling Links

Do you enjoy journaling as much as I do? Here are some good journaling sites since About.com took theirs down.

A Creative Journal
Inspired to Journal
DailyWriting.net
Google search

Aurora Skies

Ah, the wonders of nature...

Aurora Borealis

Holocaust Movie

Last night I watched the 2nd half of the miniseries "Uprising" on NBC. Before Sept. 11, I would have viewed this miniseries as just another Holocaust movie. But after the events of Sept. 11, for me to say "just another Holocaust movie" would be a great mistake. Those people were willing to die to be free, to stay alive. Would you?

View more links here:

Uprising
U.S. Holocaust Museum
Anne Frank
Yad Vashem

New Book

Diana Gabaldon of "Outlander" fame has a new book out. Check it out here. It is the fifth book in the series. Years ago, when the first book in the series came out, I read it and loved it--until the end, when I realized it was going to be a continuing series.

So of course, I read the second and third books, which, if I recall correctly, ended the story of the main characters. I never did read the fourth book, and this fifth book now holds no interest for me as it has more to do with the children of the main characters. I don't like when authors try to stretch stuff out like that. Create something new! Don't rehash the same old stuff all the time.

Computer Games

Computer Solitaire is more addicting than blogging or ODing (opendiary.com). I can't seem to stop playing!

Fat Puppies

Why I like fat puppies...

They're cuddly, snuggly, warm balls of fur that make me laugh.

(Note: This entry referred to an early Blogger template, one that had fat puppies on it).

Blog Title

What is Avalon Landing? It is a place on the other side of Avalon, a sanctuary of peace, cooperation, and understanding. It is my world.