Revelations

On NBC last night, a new short series titled "Revelations" premiered. It's the story of a Harvard professor whose daughter has just been murdered by a cult leader. Strangely, a nun comes to visit him, saying that there is a girl in Florida, who, although brain dead, is speaking in Latin and writing maps. On the map is a picture of a donkey, and the professor realizes that his daughter used to make that sign on her notes to him. So he goes to check out the girl, and just as he is convinced it's all hocus pocus (she has silver fillings embedded in her medulla as a result of a lightning strike), the girl "dies." He takes her hand, recalling images from his own daughter's funeral, and suddenly, she squeezes it and her heart starts beating again. Meanwhile, a mysterious baby is the only survivor of a ferry accident in the Aegean Sea. It is taken to a Greek Orthodox cathedral where people go to see and touch the baby, hoping for miracles.

Let's just say it will keep me watching for the full six episodes.

I think some of it is hokey, such as the villain whose lord is Satan, and starts to preach his ministry in a maximum-security prison. I like apocalyptic fiction, but this might be too Xtian for my taste. In fact, it has a rather "The Stand"-ish feel to it.

What I find rather amusing are the people who believe that this series is not a work of fiction. Get over yourselves, people.

Blogger tries to defeat blog-spam

Captchas should now keep those nasty spam programs from generating blogs that are nothing but spam. Wahoo!

It's about damn time.

Pharmacists' Right of Refusal

On Metafilter, someone made a post about pharmacists who refuse to sell certain medications to customers, such as the emergency contraception pill or birth control pills.

I read about this issue recently and it's really annoying. First of all, if you are a pharmacist with moral compunction, go into business for yourself, or find a pharmacy chain that agrees with your stupidity. If you go to work for a large corporation, find out the duties for your job and then DO YOUR FUCKING JOB.

You, as a pharmacist, have no right to tell me that I do not need birth control or emergency contraception. Are you telling me that if I were raped by my brother (for instance), I would then be MORALLY OBLIGATED to have whatever child might result? What gives you the right to tell me how to live my life?

In the U.S., we have freedom for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You better bet your sweet bippy that I would stop patronizing your store and tell all my friends to do the same, not to mention write your bosses and the president of the corporation. I would slander your reputation all over the place, and not think twice about it--if you refused to fill my prescription. You tell me what to do; I take away your livelihood. That's fair, right?

If you own your own pharmacy, then go right ahead and don't stock whatever you find morally reprehensible. I won't shop there. Good luck with staying in business.

As far as whether the government should step in and pass a law requiring pharmacists to dispense medication, that is a rather iffy subject. Again, I think it's a corporate issue. Chain stores should have a policy regarding the sale of drugs that some pharmacists might find morally repugnant.

Make the choice with your consumer voice, people. Refuse to shop in pharmacies or at chain stores that refuse to fill prescriptions.

We have a right to control our bodies.

"A Culture of Death, Not Life"

Amen.

No wonder I am depressed all the time. Where is the life worth living? I would definitely agree with the article's author that our culture wallows in death. I especially like this point:

"When those leaders, led by the Bush brothers, wallow in this culture, they do a bait-and-switch and claim to be upholding John Paul's vision of a "culture of life." This has to be one of the biggest shams of all time. Yes, these politicians oppose abortion, but the number of abortions has in fact been going down steadily in America under both Republican and Democratic presidents since 1990 - some 40 percent in all. The same cannot be said of American infant fatalities, AIDS cases and war casualties - all up in the George W. Bush years. Meanwhile, potentially lifesaving phenomena like condom-conscious sex education and federally run stem-cell research are in shackles."

Guide to Rubber Bracelets

In case you want to jump on the trend, here is a link to a site all about rubber bracelets, popularized recently by Lance Armstrong.

March Madness

Even though I don't like sports, I fell into some of the March Madness of the 2005 NCAA basketball tournament. Although my team did not end up winning, I couldn't help but be drawn into the story. I watched (and rooted for) underdog teams as they beat nationally-ranked teams.

There was nothing else on to watch. There was nothing else to get my hopes up for. In the media, Terri Schiavo was dying, the Pope was on deathwatch, Jessica Lunsford had been kidnapped and brutally killed, more soldiers were dying each day in Iraq--all that crap makes you want to just give up, because things never seem to get any better.

But I found something within myself as I watched those sports teams give their all for their dreams of winning a championship: Never give up, never give in without a fight.

The madness of March is now over, but I will use its lessons wisely.

Marketing Mission

I dislike commercials, but I understand what they are for: they sell products. Lately, it seems that big pharmaceutical companies are the only companies advertising all over the airwaves. Products for impotence, high cholesterol, acid reflux disease, depression, adult attention-deficit disorder, social anxiety, allergies, toenail fungus, and rheumatoid arthritis assault us with every commercial break.

It's overwhelming. It makes a consumer think, "Maybe I need this product. Maybe my current blood pressure medication isn't good enough. Maybe I'm not good enough and I need something to help myself. Maybe this product is a magic pill and I will be magically cured." I suppose the companies are trying to get the brand names to the consumer, so that they can ask for it at the doctor's office.

For instance, I went to the site depressionhelp.com, touted by Lorraine Bracco, the actress, and it's nothing but an ad for the depression drug Zoloft. The ad seems to claim that if you go to the website, you will be able to get help for your debilitating depression, but in reality, there is a questionnaire you need to take to your doctor, and then--of course--ask to be put on Zoloft.

These companies are taking advantage of us. The scary part is that nearly every day, another drug gets taken off the market by the FDA because of side effects. I don't understand how these drugs are getting approved in the first place, unless the side effects are not completely studied, or else the FDA is covering its own butt.

Modern medicine is a wonderful advancement, but we need to use a little bit of common sense. Doctors are not infallible, and drug companies certainly aren't. Be aware of all the possible risks when taking medications, and don't go for the latest and greatest drug advertised on tv just because it's a brand-name.

F. Murry Abraham must have been desperate.

I watched the movie "Thir13en Ghosts" last night on the Sci-Fi channel. The movie stars Tony Shalhoub (of "Monk" fame, among other roles) as a math teacher who inherits a fortune and a weird mansion from his estranged uncle Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham). The trouble is that there are 12 ANGRY ghosts trapped in the glass house.

Much mayhem ensues, the most terrifying ghost being the Jackal (at least for me). This guy was creepy too. Here's a pic of all the ghosts together.

This could have been an interesting movie, kind of along the lines of "The Haunting of Hill House"; however, there was too much typical "scientist's dumb daughter" explanation while Shalhoub just looked confused during the telling. Not to mention it tried to be funny while still trying to be scary, which just made most of the funny dialogue seem stupid and out of place.

Of course, whatever nudity there was had been edited out for the tv audience, and the sounds and gore that people complained about in some of the comments at IMDB were not as harsh--although, there was plenty of gore for my taste. I say, thank the gods for commercials! It broke up the scariness for me.

Watch this movie only if you like these kinds of movies.

Death with Dignity???

So, not only did Terri Schiavo die an undignified, media-frenzied death, but now, her parents are going to release a list of donor names to a direct-marketing firm, at least according to the NYT.

Nice. Let's everybody make a buck off of her.

Commentathon for Breast Cancer Awareness

This site is holding a commentathon for breast cancer awareness, to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. He wants to earn $10,000.

Good luck with commenting. His blog denied my gmail address. :( I'll try again, though. It's an important cause.

Schiavo has not been the only one

Does anyone remember Nancy Cruzan or Karen Ann Quinlan? Both women suffered from persistent vegetative states, and both families petitioned the courts to end their lives humanely. Apparently, we are doomed to repeat history, and doomed to learn nothing from the past.

Quinlan's family finally won the right to remove her ventilator, only she continued to live for another ten years. Cruzan's family eventually won the right to remove her feeding tube, and she lived a month. Read this for a concise summary of both cases. It has some interesting links to other sites as well.

"Following the Cruzan decision, the Patient Self Determination Act was passed by Congress to allow patients to make their own decisions about end of life care and/or routine care, should they be unable to make decisions for themselves. Advanced directives respect the individual's autonomy."

Congress has intervened once, on the side of patients. Now, is it going to reverse itself???

Bandwagoneering

Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon this weekend, purchasing an "Until They All Come Home" yellow bracelet.

Let's hope they all come home soon.

Pandora's Clock

Watching "Pandora's Clock" last night on the Lifetime Movie Network kind of freaked me out. Robert Loggia, as the CIA director, said that using any means necessary is justified when trying to eradicate terrorism. This tv movie was made in 1996, and we haven't really progressed all that far since then.

Right before Christmas, a very sick man gets on a plane. Later, he goes into cardiac arrest and the plane decides to make a landing at the closest available airport, which was London's Heathrow. However, it turns out that the man was possibly exposed to a super-virus in Germany, and the Germans warn the British. The British won't let the plane land.

The plane eventually sneaks into Iceland, landing on a U.S. air force base. The soldiers are under strict orders: shoot to kill. One woman decides to try to make a run for it, and they shoot her dead. The plane refuels and is instructed to land in an isolated area of Mauritania, a country in Africa.

However, the machinations of the CIA director are coming to light. Daphne Zuniga plays a doctor who has been analyzing the situation for the CIA, and she discovers the plot: the CIA director hired a merc to destroy the plane. It will be blamed on the fictional terrorist group, al-Akbar, and then the U.S. government will blow up al-Akbar's training bases in retaliation, effectively destroying the group. The director's rationale is that the people will die anyway from whatever virus was on board.

It was an interesting movie, although some parts were predictable. I was just a little surprised at how the movie has stood up to the test of time. Life imitates art, I guess.

Explaining Brain Damage to a 5-Year-Old

Last night, DD and I were watching the news, just as we always do every night. CBS's lead story was about Terri Schiavo, of course, and DD looked at me and asked me what was wrong with that woman.

How do you explain brain death to a five-year-old? Do you talk about the idea of a soul, and how hers is already gone? Do you talk about how there are different parts of the brain, and how only part of hers is still working properly? Do you talk about the difference between life and death? Do you talk about the brain's mysteries? How do you explain it when you don't even understand it thoroughly yourself?

I chose to talk about how that there are different parts of the brain that do different things. I explained that Schiavo can't talk or walk or read or learn or be the person she used to be because those parts of her brain are dead. I said that the only part of her brain that is working is the part that controls the breathing.

DD seemed satisfied with that reply. I don't think she understands the big fight over Schiavo's "life," and what it all means (I didn't even want to bring up that confusing part of the issue), but the fact that the story even registered on her radar surprised me. I guess the video of Schiavo has been all over the place, and it raised DD's curiosity. DD is a very empathetic child, always concerned when someone is hurt or crying. I was proud that she is getting to be so smart, but I was also shocked that the story registered with her.

I must be watching too much news. Every single story was depressing last night: Schiavo, the Red Lake school shooter, traumatic brain injuries in soldiers who served in Iraq, and the refinery fire in Texas.

Does life suck that much?

Car Fix

The car is fixed, to the tune of $753. Yeah, it wasn't just the crankshaft sensor. It was the water pump and the drive belt. Just shoot me now. Thank the gods for credit cards. I still have to get some hoses replaced as well, but hopefully those will hang on a bit longer.

Have I mentioned that I hate being a grownup????

Schiavo Timeline

Read this for the real scoop on Terri Schiavo's life since her brain was damaged. (via Metafilter) The home page lists updates on the case as they occur.

Breakdown

Although I have felt like having a nervous breakdown lately, it was my car that had the problem yesterday.

I was driving to work and it just quit accelerating. The battery light and the check engine light came on. I pulled over and called DH, who arrived about a half-hour later. I was almost to the exit I take to get to my job.

We had to have it towed to a mechanic's. They said they couldn't get to it until Thursday, but I did get a call late yesterday afternoon. It will cost $525 to fix the problem (which includes the towing fee). And that's the problem they were able to diagnose using their equipment. There may be other problems which will be detected once they get it started up.

*shrugs* It could have been worse, I guess. Hopefully, I'll have the car back tomorrow afternoon, and everything will be okay.

If not, then I guess I will have a breakdown of my very own.

Hogzilla, revisited

Well, it turns out that Hogzilla was a Hampshire-wild hog cross. Even snopes.com has an article about it.

Watching the episode of National Geographic Explorer made me want to gag. Thank the gods there is no such thing as Smellovision. I could imagine the smell of the deceased beast, and that was enough. They dragged out five minutes of science into an hour. By the time 7:55 rolled around, I was ready for the suppositions to end, and for them to get on with it. In fact, once the truth was revealed, it was rather anticlimactic.

Oh, and I wished they had mentioned ahead of time that the show might not be for all audiences. DD happened to be watching when a wild pig was set upon by a pack of dogs. I had to usher her out of the room. Good thing it was her bedtime anyway.

Hogzilla

People who don't believe in Hogzilla have obviously never been to the hog barns during the Illinois State Fair. Every year (or so it used to be when I was a kid, anyway), there was a contest for largest boar. Many of them were the size of this boar in the picture from the NYT article. From the pic, it looks like that boar was probably farm-raised to get that size, and is most likely a Duroc. I suppose that it could have escaped from its farm, and the man killed it when he saw it wandering around.

I can't believe the National Geographic channel sent scientists to investigate. I wonder what conclusions they will draw.

Where's Dan?

On Monday evening, my five-year-old DD and I were watching the CBS Evening News, and as soon as Bob Schieffer came on, she asked me, "What's Bob doing on the news?"

Hehe. I explained to her that Dan Rather retired last week. I don't think she believed me. DH overheard the conversation and he just looked at me like I was nuts.

Hot Flashes

I'm still sick. Last night was just about the worst night. I had a terrible fever and my whole body ached. My teeth ached so bad I didn't think I was going to be able to go to sleep. I expect to have a fever when I first get a cold, but not when the cold is clearing up. Right now, I am having hot flashes.

The weather is nice today, though. Spring is coming. I can't wait. :)

Oh, I also posted a journal entry last night.

Aha!

In regard to my recent post about spam blogs, Amanita had a link to an article that addresses this very issue. It seems that some spam tools set up accounts on BlogSpot automatically.

What a waste of server space.

BM is a not exactly a SCAM, but...

A more savvy blogger than I has discovered that blogging! magazine is most likely a scam.

I'll change my position if the promised "free trial issue" is ever accessible.

After accessing the old site via the wayback machine, it does look like every other month, it ran the same "free trial issue," "sign up now" crap to get money.

Caveat emptor.

(Read this, this, this, and this, too.)

UPDATE: Ok, well, I FINALLY got a welcome message at Mon, 14 Mar 2005 20:40:55 (which is sometime on Monday afternoon here where I live) to look at the free issue. The email also said that if I wanted to unsubscribe and get a refund, I could do so, provided through the links on the members area. I followed the link through the email and was able to get into the members area, so that was a plus. I clicked on several of the "download issue" links that were located on the page, and only one of them actually went to the issue. However, the issue did not load. Acrobat Reader gave me an error message.

I decided that I was going to unsubscribe as soon as I saw that was an option. So in the members area, I clicked on the unsub link, but it gave a "page not found" error. I finally was able to access the unsub link by taking out part of the address.

I don't know if they actually got things going on their site, or they saw my trackback on their blog, so that was why they sent me an email.

I won't denigrate the publication out of hand. Who knows? Future issues might be a whole lot better than this premiere issue. However, like I said above: CAVEAT EMPTOR.

Sick--AGAIN!

Another wave of plague struck last week. I thought I was going to be lucky and avoid it, but I came down with another horrendous cold. All three of us were sick. DD has had this same nasty cold since about Tuesday. I hope this is the last we see of illness this winter.

The OTC cold medicine I've been taking makes me feel light-headeded. I haven't slept well in a week, either. It really sucks to be sick on the weekend.

Freaking plague-infested schools.

WTF are these sites?

Sometimes I like to press "Next Blog" on the Blogger heading. I run across sites like this one, that seem to be nothing but spam. What are these, and what is their point? Clicking on the profile of the "blogger," if you can even call the person a blogger, takes you the listing of his or her other blogs, all in a similar vein. I knew there were spam comments and spam trackbacks, and even good old spam emails, but spam blogs???

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

Last night on Primetime Live, John Quinones interviewed Jeannette Walls, a tv reporter and writer who grew up in a very poor family in Appalachia. She recently wrote a memoir in which she talks about her upbringing. It was inspiring that she became so successful. She could have given up. She could have lived in the same small town the rest of her life. Instead, she got on a bus to NYC and got a job, and worked her way up to the top of the career ladder. Although her parents were "unconventional," they instilled in her the idea of working hard and dreams of a better life.

A lot of people give up on their dreams every single day, and they don't have nearly the impossible odds that Walls faced.

Also in the broadcast, Cynthia McFadden interviewed Ronan Tynan, an Irish tenor, doctor, and gold-medal athlete, who also happens to be a double amputee. Born with a birth defect of both feet, his parents never gave up on him, and they never let him quit, either. They said he would walk, and he walked. Later on, after he had both legs amputated below the knee, he decided to become an athlete and won gold medals in the Paralympics. Then he decided to become a doctor. And then, at the age of 33, he won a television competition, singing opera. He got to go to the Royal Academy in London to study, and became an accomplished Irish tenor. He often sings during the seventh inning stretch of Yankees baseball home games.

He credits his success to his own will, but also to his mother, who told him "Get up, get up, get up!"

Would that we all have such supportive and encouraging parents.

Reincarnation by Fire

When I was around twelve years old, I went to the tiny library in my hometown one day and checked out the book "Audrey Rose," by Frank De Felitta. I was into reading a lot of horror then, but most of it was by Stephen King. This book looked freaky. It had a girl on the cover, surrounded by flames, and her eyes seemed to stare at me beseechingly. (Look at it for yourself here on this Amazon page link.) The book was also turned into a movie.

I have to admit now that I probably did not entirely understand the themes in the book. The book is about a man who loses his wife and daughter in a fiery car crash. A psychic tells him that the soul of his daughter has been reincarnated into a girl named Ivy Templeton, and he seeks her out. Her family thinks he is crazy with grief, but the girl knows things that only Audrey knew, and she starts having flashbacks to the crash, &etc. So, in the end, he has to choose to let Ivy live or kill her in order to free Audrey's soul.

The story itself did not scare me as much as that artwork did. The book was a NYT best seller and sold over 2 million copies, according to the cover blurb. I cannot believe that my mom didn't try to keep me from reading it. I guess she thought I was old enough to handle the ideas in the story. I read the sequel as well: "For the Love of Audrey Rose," in which Ivy Templeton's mother Janice goes crazy with grief, seeking her daughter's reincarnated form. However, I didn't like that book as well as the original.

If you asked me to name specific books I read in my formative years, I would list about five: "Audrey Rose," "Gone with the Wind," "Winds of War," "Diary of Anne Frank," and "The Color Purple." No other books have stayed with me the way these have.

Not Quite the Same

Well, Bob Schieffer did a decent job on the CBS Evening News tonight, but...

I MISS DAN!!!!

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

It would seem that the cable provider for this town is having "technical difficulties." DH said they were having "technical difficulties" all afternoon.

I'm missing Dan's last broadcast!!! Sigh.

End of an Era

The Evening News just won't be the same with out good ol' Dan Rather. A lot of people hate him, or think he's a caricature, but I have always enjoyed watching his newscasts. It's not what he says, but his demeanor and how he says it.

Bob Schieffer is replacing him temporarily. Then I read that CBS was planning to bring in a dual-anchor team.

CBS, please don't. They tried that with Connie Chung, and it didn't work. Just let John Roberts, Russ Mitchell, or Thalia Assuras have the spot. Any one of these fine candidates would be a good replacement.

Thunderdome-style Crafting

According to this article in the NYT, the Style Network is about to debut a new series called "Craft Corner Deathmatch," in which two crafty people go head to head to create items that will be judged on beauty, creativity, and usefulness. The winner then competes against Jocelyn Worrall, aka the Craft Lady of Steel. It premieres on Wednesday, March 9, at 10pm.

Super Size Me?

Last night I watched the documentary "Super Size Me." Was it ever an eye-opener! As a result, I have decided to really make an effort to change my eating habits.

What was most affecting to me was that the subject of the documentary, Morgan Spurlock, gained 24 lbs over one month as a result of eating at McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner. By eating only from the menu, he ate an equivalent of 30 lbs of sugar, a pound a day. The only items on the menu that did not have sugar in them were: iced tea, diet Coke, the sausage patty, hash browns, and french fries. Yeah, only five items. Even the salads had added sugar--I guess from the dressing.

Blech--30 lbs of sugar! He was eating such a high-fat diet that if he had continued, his liver would eventually become like an alcoholic's liver. The doctors were surprised at his condition in just one month, but said that it wasn't unexpected.

The high-fat diet also made him feel depressed and tired. I realized that that is why I feel depressed and fatigued a lot of the time--I eat too much fat! Later this evening, I will do some research, and hopefully, both me and my DH will change our eating habits. I worry about the example we are setting for our daughter more than anything else.

Whether or not the documentary is just propaganda against McDonald's, I don't really care. I know average Americans are generally too lazy to exercise, and I know they don't eat every meal at McD's, but the movie still has a valid point: high-fat food is bad for you in large quantities, and you do have the option to make better choices. You have to make the decision.

I suggest that if you are struggling with your weight, watch this movie, then educate yourself on a low-fat diet. Don't worry: I will be pointing my mother-in-law to the AHA site as well. The AHA also has a site where you can keep track of your fitness goals. Check it out.

Down the Drain

Sunday was a complete washout. DH's dad was rushed to the hospital. He thought he was having a heart attack, but the tests came back negative. He is supposed to have a stress test today, and other tests to see if they can find a cause of his symptoms.

UPDATE: Well, it turned out that the tests found nothing. There was no evidence of a heart attack at all. I figure he had an intense panic attack. At least he's home, and hopefully, he'll learn to relax.

Double Hmmmph

Seems that the blogging! magazine site is now down. I sent an email to the site owner, but there has been no response regarding the trial issue.

Horrors of Hazing?

Just this week, on Court TV, Al Roker of Al Roker Investigates, showed us the "dark side" of the collegiate Greek system.

First, I would like to say that I was a sorority girl. My sorority is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, a nationwide governing body of recognized sororities. I say "recognized" because that is one little tidbit of information that Roker didn't mention until after the first half-hour of his report.

Roker interviewed two women, both of whom claimed they were hazed by members of the unrecognized Tri Phi sorority at Loyola University. Apparently, there was a big scandal at Loyola because of it, with student suspensions and counter-suits. This paragraph of the story from the student newspaper is most telling:

But the women contend that they were not an officially recognized student organization at Loyola. Because of their unrecognized status, the suit contends that the university "was legally precluded from charging any of Tri Phi's members with violating the university's Hazing Policy."

Roker didn't mention that the sorority was unrecognized by the school, and therefore, probably not subject to any school policies, in his report. He painted ALL Greeks with the same brush--at least, he did not present the entire picture of Greek life on college campuses. He did not talk about the service work for charities they perform or any of the other more significant and important elements of Greek life.

As far as I know, hazing is not allowed in any recognized Greek chapter. National organizations have stiff penalties, and if your sorority is recognized by any national body such as the National Panhellenic Conference, it also has rules regarding hazing. Your chapter can be put on probation or even disbanded by these bodies, not to mention whatever penalties may be imposed by the university you attend.

Now, I am not about to say that some hazing does not go on in some Greek organizations. I personally never witnessed any in my own sorority chapter, and if I had, you can bet I'd be the first to go to our national organization about it. I did not close my eyes to something that may have been going on, either. There was nothing going on, period, end of story. I suppose my Greek experience may have been different than most women's. I was lucky to to get in on the ground floor of a recolonization of my sorority at my college, so there wasn't a lot of pressure. The most we had to do was make sure we had a number of study hours per week, and we were supposed to get to know our sisters.

I joined a sorority for many reasons. One was because it was being recolonized and I could help make something of a new organization. Two, a friend of mine was pledging. Three, I missed the leadership I had when I was on my high school student council, and I thought that a sorority would be a similar type of organization. Four, I wanted to meet new people. However, I knew from the beginning, in my own mind, that members of a sorority would NEVER take the place of my non-Greek friends. I had known several people who I ended up falling out of touch with because they joined sororities. I did not want that to happen to me. Everyone was equal.

I did happen to meet one of my best friends in the sorority. But she and I also met our other best friend through a sorority member who later de-activated. Our other best friend was not Greek, and it's a little funny because we don't even talk to the person who introduced us anymore. The non-Greek friend was even our roommate in the area of a dorm set aside for the sorority.

Nor did our sorority discriminate. We were of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. We even had foreign students in our sorority. One woman was French Canadian, and others were from Asia. We also had black members. If anything, we all encouraged each other, because we were all in the recolonization effort together.

I won't say that there weren't some difficult times. You put 50 women in a room and see what you get them to agree on without complaints. :) All in all, it was a great experience, and I am glad to be an alumna member of my sorority.

National Hazing Prevention Week is set for September 26-30, 2005.

Stories like this mislead the average person. Most people have no idea what Greek life is like. They only know what they've seen in movies like "Animal House," or "Revenge of the Nerds." Greeks have enough of an image problem without adding misleading news reports to the mix. TV shows like the MTV series "Sorority Life" try to show a real picture of the life, but yet it's edited to show only the drama, and not the mundane reality.

If you're a female who might be thinking of joining a Greek system when you're in college, don't be afraid to rush a sorority. Sororities aren't just "party all the time." They support philanthropies, offer scholarships, and promote reaching for your dreams. I often think of my sorority's motto: "Aspire, Seek, Attain."

Gravatar

Now, you too can have an avatar recognized on several different sites when you comment on people's blog posts. It doesn't work with ALL blog systems, but it works with most.

Sark comes to the UI

If you live near the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and are free tonight, Sark will be presenting a speech. Check it out here. I'd be going myself if I had more advance notice!

Hmmph

blogging! magazine update: It would seem the site is having problems with traffic, because demand has been higher than they anticipated. Well, that's very annoying, since I signed up for a trial issue.

10 Things

10 Things I've Done that You Probably Haven't

1. Been pen pals with an Australian for almost 20 years.
2. Visited Dachau, the former concentration camp outside Munich, Germany
3. Married my high school sweetheart
4. Had an emergency c-section without any labor beforehand whatsoever
5. Went to college, lived, and worked in Terre Haute, Indiana (!)
6. Took care of my cancer-stricken grandmother when I was only 17 years old
7. Champion speller in grades 5, 6, 7, & 8
8. Grew up on a farm
9. Achieved 50,000 words for Nanowrimo 2004
10. Broke my knee in first grade, broke my ankle in fourth grade, and broke my other ankle when I was a freshman in college

Rural does not equal Idyllic

When I was growing up, I lived on a farm in a very rural area of Illinois. I had no comprehension of drugs. This was in the late 1970s and 1980s, by the way. We started learning about drugs in junior high, in days before the D.A.R.E. program existed. We learned about marijuana, heroin, cocaine, PCP, amphetamines, the usual. We did not really study painkillers or over-the-counter drugs--these were not BAD in the way the "hard" drugs were.

Recently Vicki Mabrey reported on methamphetamine use on "60 Minutes II." I watched a little bit of the report, but you can read the report for yourself. I was slightly astonished at the question mark in the title of the story.

Like duh.

What else is there to do in rural America? I'm sure if a report was done on alcoholism, the same findings would be reported.

I used to buy Sudafed. Now I can't get it because it's not stocked on the shelf. There is a little note that says if you want to buy Sudafed, or one of the knockoff brands, you have to go to the pharmacist and have him or her give it to you. I just buy something else. I believe the storesin my area took it upon themselves to keep the pseudoephedrine off the shelves, rather than state legislation, but according to the CBS article, some states like Oklahoma have passed a law reclassifying pseudoephedrine drugs to Schedule 5, meaning they can only be purchased from a pharmacist.

Why does it take people dying, like this innocent little girl, for people to stand up and say no more?

Meth makers steal anhydrous ammonia straight from tanks kept at fertilizer companies. It's like they don't even realize how dangerous anhydrous is. I was accidentally on the receiving end of just the fumes one time when I was playing outside at home as kid. My dad was spraying fertilizer in the field opposite our house, and it was a windy day. The fumes took my breath away and all I could think of was that I was going to die in the yard. Thankfully, just as quickly, they dissipated and I was able to breathe normally, but it was a very scary moment nonetheless.

When will it stop?

A Quiz

Which Priestess of Avalon are you? brought to you by Quizilla

Congratulations, you are the beloved High Priestess, Lady Eilan! She is gentle and caring, attending to those who are abandoned. She brings herself down to earch by doing the same daily chores as the other priestesses. Unlike Lady Lhiannon she knows of the Druid's plans, and attends to things accordingly. Eilan is the last High Priestess of the Forest House.

So far, so good

I managed to avoid the plague. The inlaws were still feeling its effects over the weekend, but DH and DD have recovered. I am so glad I didn't come down with it (knock on wood).

Not much is going on this week--just working and trying to keep up with the blog when I can. :)

blogging! magazine

blogging! magazine

Check it out. (link via amanita)

Sunday's Child is Full of Grace

DD spent the weekend at the inlaws, and when we went over to their house to pick her up, it seemed as if she had grown overnight. Sigh. My sweet lil tater is growing up so fast.

We ate lunch with them, and then came home. DH took a nap and DD and I played together and watched cartoons for awhile. I was tired and could have taken a nap as well, but I didn't. For supper, we had leftovers: pizza and I had leftover food from our trip to Texas Roadhouse the night before. Try the portobella mushroom chicken. It was delish!

Saturday Night at the Movies

After working for five hours, DH & I had a hot date. It involved a bookstore, Texas Roadhouse, and the Sci-Fi channel.

Ah, we live so dangerously!

Pimping a Local Business

Flesor's Candy Kitchen is a great little candy store that's locally owned and operated. I bought DH some chocolate-covered peanuts from this store, and we, I mean he, loved them.

The candy really is to die for--which was obvious near Valentine's Day. The place was jam-packed with customers.

Journal entry posted

Read it here. I discuss a movie I watched recently and traveling to Oz someday.

Puke Plague

Well, after the colds we suffered from a couple of weeks ago, I expected that we saw the last of the nasty winter cold and flu season.

Alas, it was not to bed. DD came down with something earlier in the week. She went to bed on Monday night, feeling fine, but by 11pm, she was throwing up every hour. DH caught it last night. He said he felt fine all day, but by the time 7pm rolled around, he felt as if the life force got sucked right out of him. He was at work, and luckily, it was a short night for him. He came home and immediately got sick. Ewww... DD stayed home from school on Tuesday and Wednesday, but she was feeling like her old self by this morning.

DH's mom and dad were also sick this week. They ended up going to the ER because they couldn't stop getting sick.

So, send good thoughts my way. I do not want to catch whatever is going around!

An Ending, without Resolution for Many

The NYC Medical Examiner's office has ended identifying remains from the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack.

1,585 of 2,749 people killed were identified using physical remains. Two of the hijackers were even identified. However, according to the article on CNN.com, the office had received 19,916 human remains. After exhausting all available DNA technology as it currently stands, the office will keep the records and contact families if better technology becomes available.

Guess they'll put the records in the morgue of the morgue.

Free Mojtaba & Arash Day

The Committee to Protect Bloggers hopes all of the bloggers out there in the blogosphere will support their protest today to free Mojtaba Saminejad & Arash Sigarchi, two Iranian bloggers who were imprisoned and/or face criminal charges for blogging. Even the bbc.uk covered the story.

Canine Plastic Surgery

Tonight on the news, I saw a news story about canine plastic surgery. Yeah, you read that right. This one lady had her dog's lazy lip nipped and tucked because it was making the dog drool. The veterinarian felt it was medically necessary. However, I think it was more of a aesthetic thing. The lazy lip did make the dog look silly, and it looked a lot better with the nip and tuck. But the lip wasn't hurting the dog, other than having a little extra drool.

The second woman interviewed had had her dog neutered, and then had prosthetic testes put back in, so that the dog looked intact, purely for aesthetic value.

I thought to myself, prosthetic testes. What will they think of next? If I had done that to my dog, why on earth would I admit it to anyone???

Apparently, the animal plastic surgery industry is becoming very popular, and surgery is not cheap, running at least $1500 for a doggie facelift. Um, yeah.

As I sat there watching the report, I was astounded that people would actually pay to get a facelift for their dog. Perhaps it was just the press putting a spin (read: cutesy take on) on necessary medical procedures. Still, the prosthetic testes was going a little too far, imho.

It's even the subject of a a reality show from the UK.

Site Updates

Pardon the dust while I work on the sidebar. It's rather a mess, with all those different blogrolls with duplicate entries. I will be fixing that shortly. :)

Taxing Dreams

I had strange dreams last night, involving finding a place to live, the girl Crispina from "The Magdalene Sisters" movie, and old college friends.

Weird.

I don't know why I had such dreams. I guess I have an overactive imagination. I got quite a bit accomplished last night, including preparing and e-filing our tax returns and making business cards for DH. I remember that I went to bed feeling very satisfied with myself, so perhaps that is why I had a lot of dreams. My mind felt free to wander and to make up interesting scenarios, instead of feeling so exhausted that it blacks out entirely.

I do feel a lot more balanced these days. I do what needs to be done instead of procrastinating.
*laughs* However, I had been procrastinating doing the taxes. This is the first year in my many years of working that I actually prepared them myself using the website freetaxusa.com. I found it through the irs.gov website. It cost $9.95, but that was better than spending $150 as I have done in the past at H&R Block. Not that there's anything wrong with H&R Block. I just don't have that kind of money this year to spend. It took me about an hour and a half to get everything completed, because I had to reboot once during the process AND I'm on dialup. :) The whole process was very simple, and I highly recommend it.

It looks like we'll be getting a nice chunk of change back from the government, after lending it to them freely all year long. I'm just grateful we don't have to pay anything.

New Album Released!

My man has a new album coming out on April 26. It's his 19th album. I can hardly wait! The news page also says he will be touring to promote the album. Sigh. It would be awesome to see him live and in concert again. (I saw him perform live when he was touring for "Ghost of Tom Joad.")

Why You Should Join BlogIt

Do you remember Themestream? It was a website with articles on any conceivable and possible topic imaginable. There were some good writers, and some really awful writers, but the idea was to get paid for writing, on a per-click basis. Alas, it went out of business, because of funding issues.

A somewhat similar site is BlogIt, formerly "The Blogging Network." This site is a subscription service, but your subscription money goes to the bloggers you read, and not just to the owners of the site. You can read the mission statement here, and some testimonials here. The site bills itself as "The Online Writing Marketplace," and you can find a variety of blogs on various subjects. Some people join just to read the articles. As with all blog sites, you will find some chaff amongst the wheat.

Why I write on BlogIt is to earn money for what I write. Of course, everyone hopes to earn money. Blogs get ranked in order of readership, and it's fun to see where I rate compared to others. Increasing one's ranking is an incentive to keep blogging everyday.

The key to writing on BlogIt is to write short entries every day, which keep people coming back for more. Good, attention-getting headlines are important too, because that makes readers click on that entry. Another great thing about BlogIt is the comments. Everyone over there is really friendly and almost everyone comments on each other's posts (you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours). It is a true community. In addition, you can block people from commenting on your blog or emailing you; you can change the basic template using HTML; and you can upgrade or downgrade your subscription to a different plan at any time.

Some people don't like the pay-per-view method of writing, but it definitely works for some writers on BlogIt. My blog on BlogIt carries different content from this one, so if you enjoy reading me here, you should enjoy reading me there. :)

/pimp over

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Last night, while watching the Westminster Dog Show, I saw this cutie pie. Ironstone Mafioso won best of his breed, the Neapolitan Mastiff, also known as the Mastino.

Isn't he luvverly!? Not that I could afford to own one, mind you. The dog is supposed to weigh over 180 pounds when full-grown. As Ironstone Mafioso lumbered around the ring, I couldn't believe it was a dog. He was huge! Here's the WKC breed info page, and here is a link to the official breed club, and FAQ.

Dogs are marvelous animals, with an almost infinite variety.

V-Day

... was a huge success! In spite of my anti-Valentine's Day feelings, I was pleasantly surprised, and I surprised someone pleasantly as well. ;)

I went shopping with my mom on Sunday and boughtthis outfit from Lane Bryant, as well as something similar to this (in V-Day red, with ribbons).

Last year's V-Day felt forced, since DH and I were having some problems, but this year, although we were both kind of broke, we ended up having a marvelous time. DH gave me a lovey-dovey card, which was really sweet, plus candy (Reese's Peanut Butter Cups miniatures in a heart-shaped box), and a heart-shaped trinket box with a bear couple on the lid.

DH also fixed a delicious V-Day dinner: steak, scalloped potatoes, green beans, honey muffins, and apple crisp for dessert.

I'm so spoiled! :)

Dream Season

Bruce Weber is certainly doing something right. I don't even like sports, but I find myself rooting for the home team. Of course it helps that the team is only a half-hour away. :)

It would be exciting to see the Fighting Illini men's basketball team go all the way and win a national championship in the NCAA tournament.

Just don't get me started on the Chief.

For the record, I'm against it because it seems like a throwback rather than a symbol of the future. Keep the name; get rid of the chief, IMHO.

Arthur Miller Dead at 89

From the NYT: Arthur Miller, playwright of "Death of a Salesman," is dead at 89.

BG has been renewed!

"Battlestar Galactica," easily the best new show on tv besides "Lost," has been renewed for a second season. Yay!

A few years ago when the miniseries was on television, I didn't watch it, thinking it would just be hoky, but when I caught the repeat last year and started watching the series, I found myself getting caught up in the drama. Perhaps it is just another space soap opera, but it's a damn sight better than tired old shows like "Stargate: SG-1."

You know you've been online too long when...

you start dreaming about bugs in Firefox. I don't even use Firefox, but there I was, this morning, dreaming about having that security problem and needing to fix it.

Strangely (as though the dream weren't strange enough!), I don't spend as much time online anymore. In fact, I've limited my time in the evenings to a half-hour or less. Sometimes, I only get online to do a quick email check.

There are things I miss about getting online, of course, such as talking to friends, but I had to break my dependency on that interaction and pay more attention to my real-life relationships. The bad part is that I could quite easily see myself getting hooked back into spending hours in front of the screen.

I just have to keep busy.

It Takes a Village

**Warning: Spoilers about the movie "The Village" may follow**

We rented the movie "The Village" this past weekend. DH's coworkers had told him part of the twist of the plot, but I told him not to tell me because I wanted to be surprised, and man, was I ever! I knew there wasn't something quite right about "they who must not be named," but I did not see the ending coming. In fact, the more I think about, the more selfish I think the main characters were. No society is perfect. No society is free of strife. The arrogance of the village elders just stunned me. What gave them the right to perpetuate such a lie? The real story, I believe, is what happened AFTER the girl brought back the medicine. I just know that the secret would have to be revealed to the whole population.

I liked the movie, but I felt that it needed something more. Not to mention that it was veryyyy slowwww-paced throughout. I thought William Hurt's and Sigourney Weaver's talents were wasted here, but I liked Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

See it if the trailers had intrigued you, but expect to be mildly disappointed.

The Cold From Hell

It started last week, around Monday or so. I was exhausted, but I thought it was just because I hadn't slept well over the weekend. The kid had been sick a few weeks ago, but I had emerged unscathed...

or so I thought.

Damn Wal-Mart and its nasty, germ-covered carts!

So, Tuesday rolled around and I was still very tired, and I noticed the telltale sign: itchy eyes. I thought maybe that my contacts were just dirty.

I woke up Wednesday to a full-blown common cold. I took some over-the-counter medicine and felt better, but as the day wore on at work, I could hardly concentrate, in between sneezing fits and blowing my nose. My entire cubicle was littered with remnants from the plague. Used tissues filled my wastepaper basket, and I was alternating between cold and hot.

I got home that day and took more OTC medicine. I tried to go to bed early, but the medicine made my heart race. I didn't sleep very well. Thursday passed much the same, still dead tired, freezing, hot, used tissues out the wazoo.

On Friday, DH and I attended DD's first parent-teacher conference, and we had a date planned afterward, so I made myself feel better for those two events. DD is doing well in school, and our date was fun. We rented the movie "The Village," the plot of which was almost unbelievable.

Saturday, I worked, and when I got home, I felt worse than I had felt all week. I fell asleep early, but woke up early on Sunday. Sunday was almost the worst day of all--my eyes itched and were watery all day. I sneezed a lot and went through an entire box of tissues.

Now today, I feel better. I didn't need to take the medicine today, and my eyes are less itchy and watery. I hope it's gone. However, DH has come down with it now. Yay.

More Journal Cards

See my cards I made for round 2 here. This blog entry explains the first round.

Teen Novelist

While surfing NYT today, I came across this article. 18-year-old Amanda Marquit just published her first fictional novel, titled "Shut the Door." Here is an interview with the author. She started writing the book when she was fourteen and finished at age sixteen.

From reading the article and reviews, it would seem that it's along the lines of "Pure" by Rebbecca Ray, also a teeage novelist when she was published. Maybe if I were fourteen, I'd be shocked at the behavior portrayed in these books. Now, it just makes me sad that there are probably people out there who suffer like these characters do.

Traffic Exchanges

Blogclicker, BlogExplosion, and Blogazoo are three blog traffic exchange programs. The idea is to sign up for an account, sign up your blog, add a cute little link on your blog site, and then surf member blogs. For each blog you surf, you can earn "credits" at the exchange sites, which can then be used to assign visitors for your site.

I myself have not noticed any increases in visitors. I suppose there are people visiting, but they don't stay longer than the minimum 30 seconds. No one comments on anything I've written, which is disappointing. Granted, my writing has been not been stellar prose of late.

I primarily signed up for these sites to generate some new traffic to my site, who would hopefully comment. I had hoped to gain some new readers, but I suppose that I need to write something worthwhile to read. :) I have found some interesting blogs and added them to my blogroll or bookmarked them to read later.

I guess you get what you put into it. :)

In space, no one can hear you scream

NASA is looking to resume space flight, two years after the Columbia disaster. It's been long enough.

Another Lost Generation???

It's about time they took note: "Fearing Future, China Starts to Give Girls Their Due"

Phone Redux

After my little rant the other day about phones, I see that there are still rural areas of the U.S. that do not have any phone service whatsoever. The town of Mink, LA, just got regular phone access.

Phones aren't all bad. After all, as mentioned in the article, it can take emergency personnel a long time to get to a place without the proper access.

However, I still wonder how we ever managed without phones. Just this past weekend, I saw two Wal-Martians on their cellphones. One man was talking loudly in Spanish; another woman was trying to select meat while holding her cellphone with her shoulder. At least she was quiet.

Now SBC is buying AT&T. Sounds like a new monopoly could be forming.

Where were you?

Another morbid anniversary has come around again. Where were you when the space shuttle Challenger exploded?

Remembering the Holocaust--Never Again

60 years ago today, Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Army.

A week of events were planned by the U.N. Tom Carter has some interesting thoughts on the Holocaust. Here's what the current administration of Germany had to say on Tuesday.

And if you want to know what it was like to be a victim, read this report from Nizkor.org.

The Phone

While surfing blogclicker today, I came across this entry from Anita at Fighting Inertia. As soon as I posted a comment, I knew I had a lot more to say on this subject. She writes about her most annoying pet peeve, call waiting, calling it "man's worst invention."

In college, I shared a suite with three other roommates. One of my roommates decided that she needed call waiting, so she offered to pay for it. I agreed, with the stipulation that I wasn't going to ever pay for it, and when someone was on the phone with me, there was no guarantee that I would be bothered to answer the call waiting. She said okay, but would I please just take a message if someone did call. Most of the time, I ignored the call waiting. Everyone I called or who called me was calling long distance, so I felt justified in ignoring it. I consider it quite rude to call someone and be left hanging while they go answer someone else, especially on my nickel.

Most people I call do not have call waiting because it is an extra expense on the phone bill, and they think it's rude. My sister has it, but if I call her and she gets another call, she is always quick to get back to me. I have told her I think call waiting is rude, so she knows how I feel about it.

Perhaps I'm a technophobe. I do not like the phone anymore. I used to like it, when I was a teenager and talking to my significant other all the time. Anyone else I wanted to call back then was long-distance, so I rarely just chatted to my friends. In my house growing up, phones were used for a purpose, not for idle chatter.

Now, I do not like to be disturbed. Phone conversations have a way of making time pass too quickly. Once a year, my Aussie pen pal calls me and we talk, way too long. I make an exception for her since she lives out of the country. :) When I talk to my friends or family members, I find that I often have nothing to talk about. My days pass in a similar manner, so there is no news to report.

I have a dial-up internet connection, and the telemarketing calls have gone way down since I used to spend so much time online in the evenings. My family knew that to get ahold of me that they'd have to call before 7pm, the time I used to get online. I would get rid of my phone altogether, but I need it for dial-up internet access.

I have a cellphone, but I keep it turned off and I don't give out the number. I don't even have the number memorized. I keep it for emergencies, using it if I need to call DH for some reason while I'm at work or whatever.

And that brings me to my pet peeve about phones: no one is that damn important. I cannot tell you how many times I've been in a movie theatre and some asshole forgets to turn off their phone. During "Troy," a stupid woman's phone went off and she fumbled for a good five minutes trying to find the phone in her purse and turn it off. I was pissed! I paid $7 to see that movie undisturbed and there are always idiots who spoil my enjoyment. During "Elektra," a stupid man's phone went off, playing Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" as a ringtone. Now that was UTTERLY RIDICULOUS, considering the movie was at a very solemn part. I wanted to bash his skull in.

Repeat after me: YOU ARE NOT THAT DAMN IMPORTANT. In fact, you are an insignificant slug who thinks that having a cellphone turned on all the time makes you cool or powerful. It just makes you look like an idiot--like you are so pathetic that you have to be reachable at all hours for other inane chattering morons.

Once I was in Wal-Mart, and a stupid woman's cellphone went off while she was looking at shampoo. She started conversing at the top of her lungs about where she was at and what she was looking at. I wanted to bash her skull in. Instead, I just laughed at her sheepleness and went about my business.

Idiots talking on cellphones while driving deserve to be removed from the gene pool.

Idiots who give their kids cellphones are just stupid. Make them work for it, and then police what they do with them.

Picture-taking cellphones are stupid.

Text-messaging is a stupid waste of money.

NO ONE IS THAT DAMN IMPORTANT.

Yahoo baby

A couple of weeks ago, a Romanian couple supposedly named their newborn baby Yahoo, after the famous internet search engine. Turns out it was a hoax, written by the reporter who wanted to "look good."

Um, yeah. He's looking real good now.

Ugh

So, today, DH warmed up my car for me and I got in, thinking all was well.

The stupid thing would not go in reverse. I stomped the gas pedal and it was like nothing was happening. I proceeded to freak out. I was envisioning zillions of dollars in fixing whatever was wrong.

DH reassured me that he would handle whatever the problem was, and to drive his truck to work. I did, but the whole time, I was worried about my car and how DH would get to work and take DD to school. You know how the mind works at times like that.

When I got to work, I checked my email, and DH had sent me a message. He had missed reconnecting the throttle or something. So now all is well.

--For now.

Why is it that whenever I think we're going to have a few extra dollars that something happens to eat up that money????

I hate being a grown-up.

Battery Redux

So, today, DH and FIL went to Autozone and got a rebuilt alternator for my car. It was definitely the problem. DH said the people at AZ hooked it up to their equipment and it was completely fried. It's not surprising. The car has 161,000 miles on it!

DH also checked the oil and the other fluids, refilling as necessary. So hopefully, everything will be okay tomorrow when I drive to work.

I spent 13 hours working on my cross-stitch project yesterday. Ouch. My hand hurts. Today, I spent 8 hours on it, while we watched football. It's looking good, but I still have a lot to do.

Snowstorm

Today, I woke up to whiteout conditions. We didn't get that much snow, but it was blowing. I decided to stay home. I called my friend to tell her to stay home. I was going to meet her and another friend after I got off work, but the roads were bad, and the wind gusts were terrible.

Good thing, too. DH went out to start my car and it was dead again. A brand-new battery had drained overnight. Since the weather was so awful, we decided not to worry about it. DH called his dad, who figured it was a bad alternator. If the weather is nice on Sunday, they'll get a new one and fix it then.

I plan to spend all day working on my cross-stitch project I'm making for my sister.

Car Trouble

Woke up to a dead car battery this morning. I was afraid it was going to be dead. Last night as I was driving home, I noticed the needle fluctuating in the gauge. At least DH got up early to start my car, since it was cold, and was able to jumpstart the battery. I drove to work just fine.

UPDATE: At noon, I went out to start the car, to see if the battery lost power, and it was dead again. I called DH and he is going to take care of it for me.

UPDATE: DH replaced the battery and I drove home okay, but the gauge was still fluctuating. Something is definitely wrong.

Sigh.

"You're Right About That"

Last night, I was watching a program on the WisdomTV channel, featuring a lecture by Dr. Wayne Dyer. In it, he said that the ego is what drives us to worry all the time and that we must quiet our mind to receive the wisdom we need. He said that whenever we get angry or annoyed, we should think or say "You're right about that," and then move on to the next thought.

Several years ago, a coworker told me how she had spent a long time in her teens in a clinical depression. I asked her how she managed to get out of it, if she ever did. Was it drugs or therapy? She said it was none of that. She was able to bring herself out of it by choosing to think a different way. (I know that doesn't work for everyone.) She also mentioned Dyer to me, and I checked out some of his books on audiotape from the library. I found him to be very motivational and encouraging.

Alas, this coworker passed away in 2001 at the age of 31 and I filed away her advice in the back of my brain. It's funny what we learn from people sometimes. I wish I could have known her better. But anyway, seeing the tv show last night reminded me of her and of how I felt after I had listened to those tapes. Remembering how she had fought a battle with Hodgkins Disease in her early adulthood and how she still lived a full life made me feel silly because my worries pale in comparison. (I would say I brood too much on the past, rather than worry per se.)

"No one can depress you. No one can make you anxious. No one can hurt your feelings. No one can make you anything other than what you allow inside." --Dr. Wayne Dyer

You're right about that.

Immaculate Delivery

Five years ago today, I was preparing to give birth to my daughter. You can read about the delivery here. Five years have passed in the blink of an eye. When she was born, I could hardly think what she would be like in five years, and now she's a little person with her own thoughts.

The poor kid is sick as a dog, though, so we're not celebrating much. We had a big party last year. My parents invited us to eat pizza with them this evening, so we'll be doing that. DH made some cupcakes because it was DD's turn to bring snacks to school; however, she was too sick to go to school today, so we'll be eating them instead. :)

As a gift, we got her a Disney Princess indoor sleeping bag. We actually purchased it before Christmas, intending for Santa to bring it, but we decided to hold it back because of all the other stuff she received. When we gave it to her this morning, she was thrilled. She had been wanting a sleeping bag of her own.

Her smile makes all the difference. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

The BO

Well, it would seem that "Elektra" came in fifth at the box office behind such movies as "Meet the Fockers," "Coach Carter," and even "Racing Stripes," the racing zebra film.

We went to a 5pm showing of "Elektra" on Saturday afternoon, expecting to be wowed. We hated "Daredevil," but we like movies with strong women characters (DH likes their skimpy clothing more than anything else, lol). There were some really cool special effects, but the film itself was sloooooooooooooooooooow. In addition to eye candy Jennifer Garner, the film starred that Croatian hunk of hunks, Goran Visinjc, aka Luka on "ER." However, he got limited screen time. Sigh.

I don't know what's with the martial arts resurgence in films of late. I guess since everything's been done to death, Hollywood is looking eastward for inspiration. I find the hype a little overblown, especially after watching "Hero."

Going Out

Woohoo! We're going to see "Elektra" this evening. I hope it's a decent movie. Some of the reviews have not been so good, but I don't care what the critics say. (After all, I liked "Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse.") Just look at all this official Elektra merchandise from Marvel Comics. Some of it is quite freaky. Here you can watch the first five minutes of the film. Here's the official website.

Did you know that "Elektra" is also an opera by Richard Strauss? Heh.

It's been a long morning.

Ebay to increase fees

A long time ago, I thought I might want to use Ebay to sell some things. I didn't have anything major to sell, though. Nothing that would justify selling it on Ebay, anyway. I thought that having to pay a fee was stupid anyway. Now it seems that those fees are going up 60%, according to this article in the NYT.

I do use half.com, and it's free to list things on that site.

Here are the books I have listed. Click here if you want to buy one of them or search for the title and buy from me!

A Cold Heart - Jonathan Kellerman

At Home in France - Ann Barry

Blue Shoe - Anne Lamott

Brave - Louisa Luna

Brides Lace (Harlequin Presents #734)

Christy - Catherine Marshall

Clear Springs - Bobbie Ann Mason

Communion Blood - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Cry Wolf - Tami Hoag

Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende

Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

France, a Love Story (various authors)

Free-Lancer and Staff Writer - William L. Rivers

Graven Images (various authors)

Heretic - Bernard Cornwell

I Dreamed of Africa - Kuki Gallmann

In a Rogue's Arms - Virginia Lynn

Lord of the Air - Carol Gregor

Night Sins - Tami Hoag

Pure - Rebbecca Ray

Queen of Hearts - Melissa Forsythe

Second Sight - Beth Amos

Shiloh and Other Stories - Bobbie Ann Mason

Sleeping With One Eye Open (various authors)

Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson

Sophie's Choice - William Styron

Tara Road - Maeve Binchy

The Bone Vault - Linda Fairstein

The Book of Splendor - Frances Sherwood

The Curve of the World - Marcus Stevens

The Firm - John Grisham

The Forest - Edward Rutherfurd

The Fourth Queen - Debbie Taylor

The Island of Lost Maps - Miles Harvey, Gilbert Joseph Bland

The Passions of Emma - Penelope Williamson

The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger

The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve

The Postman - David Brin (Audio, Abridged)

The Rival - Brenda Joyce

The Road from the Past - Ina Caro

The Secret Life of the Seine - Mort Rosenblum

Waiting - Ha Jin

What to Expect When You're Expecting - Arlene Eisenberg

White Oleander - Janet Fitch

Without Remorse - Tom Clancy (Audio, Abridged)

Writ in Blood - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Writing the Natural Way - Gabriele Lusser Rico

FWIW, I updated my journal last night, too.

A Nazi of a Prince

You may have read of the recent flap with Prince Harry, third in line to the British royal throne. Apparently, he went to a "fancy-dress party" dressed as a Nazi. Then, he happened to be photographed in this costume. Of course, the media got ahold of the photo. Who could resist selling such a unusual picture of someone so famous?

Of course, this slap in the face to history has annoyed almost everyone. On the evening news, I heard quotes from a reporter of a London-based Jewish newspaper and from British war veterans. Everyone seems to be annoyed. The incident annoyed me, too, and I'm not British, nor do I follow the doings of the royal family.

If you want to dress up as a Nazi, fine. Do it on Hallowe'en. Do it as a joke or parody or whatever. For most regular Joes, this would be okay--in bad taste, perhaps, but fine.

However, if you could be an important leader in the world someday, choose how you want to rebel. Dressing up as a Nazi is not fine. In fact, it makes you look extremely stupid and thoughtless. Extremely stupid--like you don't even think about how you appear to the public at all.

In spite of the fact that yes, the royal family has a right to its privacy, it especially needs to watch its image. Otherwise, they appear as just a bunch of drunken King Georges, and deserve to fall into obscurity.

UPDATE: Prince Charles is making both his sons visit Auschwitz as a result of this gaffe.

Blogclicker

Blogclicker is a new blog traffic site like BlogExplosion.

How-To Blogging Links

In this article, I found everything I wish I'd known back in 2001 when I was a fledgling blogger. :) There are probably a hundred links to other blog writers' articles as well.

If you care

In honor of the upcoming inauguration, an email meme going around has been turned into a website. You can read USAToday's take on it here.

SSDD

Woke up to dog poo, a rain downpour, and a nice yelling match between the hub and myself.

Yeah, this day gets better and better.

Secret Lives

An interesting NYT article about secret lives: Keeping secrets can be central to healthy development, according to the article. But living two (or more) lives can be mentally exhausting in reality. The article quotes two cases where men were leading double lives and how it affected them, but if Oprah is to be believed, women are doing the same thing.

Darn that Fisher-Price!

In reference to this post by Poppymom (if the link isn't working, it's the post from Jan. 11), I have to talk about our experience with the Fisher-Price Lights and Sounds Aquarium.

When I saw a commercial on tv for this toy back in 2001, I was excited. It looked like a cool, fun toy for my daughter, who was 1 year old by then. She was still in her crib and I thought it might be more comforting for her to have such a toy. It had a nice glowing light, made soothing aquarium sounds, and played a lullaby. I wanted this toy for my bed. LOL

The thing was not cheap. I spent $20 for it. Once I got it home, I read the box and saw that it needed three "C" batteries. So, I went to the store and bought them. It took awhile to get them into the toy, because I needed a small Phillips screwdriver to open up the battery compartment. (I'm sure it was well-secured so that babies couldn't get it open. I could hardly get it open!) Finally, the batteries were installed and I used the attached straps to hang it on the side of the crib. It was quite heavy so I made sure it was firmly attached.

That first night, I put DD to bed and turned on the aquarium. An hour later, I checked on her and the stupid toy had stopped working. It had used up the batteries that fast.

Needless to say, I bought more batteries and installed them again, and it still quit working just as quickly. After that, I decided no more. It was a waste of $20. No wonder FP doesn't sell it anymore. It's no longer listed on their website, but you can still buy it on Ebay or other places online.

Or I'll sell you one, real cheap.

Haloscan added

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Of course, that means I lost all the old comments. :( Ah well. C'est la vie. (I wanted the trackback feature and Blogger doesn't have a trackback of its own.)

I also edited the Archives menu in the sidebar so that the dates show in reverse order (from newest to oldest). Now it should be easier to scroll through the list.

Big Brother is watching

How many times have you sat on hold on the phone and talked to yourself? Better watch out, because Big Brother may be taping every conversation, whether you're on hold or not.

Not to mention, anything you ever posted online may come back to haunt you.

Time for An Update

In this article, Andrew Sullivan writes "Blogger could be to words what Napster was to music..." It is dated 2002. I wonder if we have reached that point yet?

I have been blogging on and off since 2001. I think there are two camps: those of us who publish for ourselves, and those who try to gain some kind of popular audience by focusing on a specific subject.

I don't consider myself to be an expert of anything. Sure, I could have joined the ranks of the mommy bloggers after I had my daughter in 2000, chronicling every detail of DD's life as she grew. I could have written a cross-stitch blog, or a writing blog, or whatever. Instead, I chose to write about things I found interesting and to write conversationally about my life.

Blogging is definitely the publishing choice of the masses. For most people, it's free and easy and you can expound on any topic you choose. Alas, that makes it hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. I used to check several blogs on a daily basis, but those writers quit writing online. That was disappointing because I, as a reader, was fascinated with their lives.

I think I've written before about what kind of blogs I like to read, so I won't reiterate it here. It will be interesting in the future to see what kind of lasting effects blogs have on media.

Book Blog

Via USAToday's HipClicks blog (scroll almost all the way to the bottom for the link), I saw where some Livejournal users are blogging about 50 books they read in 2005. I have had a LJ account for a couple of years but never did anything with it. Here's my chance. :)

Too bad I've been too tired to read much lately.

In my last post, I mentioned I was going to a bookstore. I picked up "Dr. Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak. Why do I torture myself with tragic Russian romances??? Sigh.

Snow Day

It snowed overnight, giving an end to the ceaseless rain. However, it was like three inches of the white stuff. Thankfully DH got up early this morning to clear off my car and shovel a path on the sidewalk. Driving to work wasn't so bad because the snowplows had already cleared off the main roads. The side roads were still messy, though.

This afternoon, after I finish my six hours of overtime work, I'm going to go to the local independently-owned bookstore and try to have some fun by browsing books. :) Tonight we're going to rent movies and have pizza.

*wishes mightily for some fun as she gets back to work*

Please notice

that I updated my blog so that you can subscribe to the RSS feed of my blog via Bloglines. Click on the link in the sidebar (that little icon that says "sub bloglines"). :)

Webrings

You know, I started a webring at webring.com back in 2001. Turns out that my webring now belongs to someone else. I was never notified, in spite of having a valid email address and valid links on my sites, that the ring was about to be taken over. If I had known, I certainly would have logged into the site and jumped through their hoops to keep my ring. I have no hope that I'll get back control of it. However, I resubmitted my sites to the new owner so I hope that they are accepted.

The Magdalene Sisters

I watched an interesting and disturbing movie last night. It ended rather sadly, with hardly a note of hope. I cannot even imagine what those women felt or endured. I am once again thankful to live in this era. It's estimated that over 10,000 women served time in these laundries.

"The Magdalene Sisters" is a movie about the infamous Magdalene Asylums in Ireland. Most damning is this quote from the CBSnews article: "When the last laundries finally closed, most of the Magdalenes had nowhere to go. Many of them now reside in group homes and convents around the country. For example, a convent in Dublin still holds some women now being cared for by the same nuns who once confined them." In the movie, you see some of these older institutionalized women, one of whom gets sick and dies. One of the main characters, Bernadette, tells this dying woman that "no one gives a shite" about her and that she should just hurry up and die.

And another girl, Crispina, is sent to a madhouse after a scene in which she claims publicly that a priest is not a man of God. Well, hell no, he wasn't a man of God: he'd been forcing Crispina, who seemed to be mentally retarded, to fellate him and have sex with him.

This movie reminded me of "Rabbit-Proof Fence." I just don't understand this type of mindset. I guess I'll never understand how people can single out people who are different, strip them of all rights, and then toss them into slavery without a second thought. Granted, "Magadalene Sisters" paints all nuns and priests with the same brush, rather than showing their side of the story. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Read this review/commentary for an alternative opinion. And here's another review worth reading. Here is a link to a survivor's website.

Check-in

Well, after starting 2005 about 10 lbs heavier than I was at the beginning of 2004, I think I've already lost 5 lbs of water weight. (You know, that time of the month and all...) I've exercised for two nights straight so far, using Leslie Sansone's Walk-n-Tone videotape that I bought like four years ago. (I also have this, but it seems more advanced.)

I really like the thirty-minute workout I get with the tape. In fact, the thirty minutes fly by, and it helps that as soon as I get home, DD is begging me to start exercising. She starts with me, but then ends up getting tired out. LOL I don't know if I'm burning enough calories, but at least I'm moving again. Once the weather gets nicer, I plan to take a walk around the neighborhood with DD and the dog. :)

I like Sansone's attitude about how anyone can walk and how you don't have to be perfect to do it.

The Weekend

Last weekend, New Year's Day, we went to my in-laws' house for a pizza party. My SIL is entering the Air Force (at the ripe old age of 29 with three children under age 8), and she is scheduled to leave for basic training on Jan. 11. DH and I decided to spend the night at his parents' house. Now, they only live a half-hour drive away, so it wasn't like we were going out of state or something. Maybe it seems silly that we decided to spend the night, but I desperately NEEDED to get away from home. (We rarely are able to get away because of our jobs and we have a dog who needs looking after.)

We took down the Christmas decorations on Friday (Dec. 31), and I was feeling rather claustrophobic, in spite of the fact there was now more room in the house without the tree and everything. I wanted a change of scenery. It helped that we had a couple of nice, sunny days. I was off Friday and we ended up going shopping at the outlet mall. I bought some new shoes, which I needed since my old shoes' soles were wearing out. It felt good to get out in the fresh air; the day was sunny and 65 degrees--quite unusual for January around here. I didn't want to go back home.

So, we got up on Saturday morning and got ready to go to the in-laws' house, arriving around 2pm (we had to get a few groceries for the party and stuff). My BIL was fixing pizzas when we arrived and DH helped him. I chitchatted with MIL and played with the kids. It felt really great to just sit around and not worry about anything. The pizza was good and we all stuffed ourselves. Some old friends of my in-laws came over to visit with my SIL for awhile. They left around 6pm and then we watched some tv. The kids stayed overnight with us while BIL & SIL went home.

I felt very calm and relaxed that evening, but I felt the old, familiar dread returning on Sunday morning. We drove home around 9:30am, because DH wanted to get home to watch football and of course, we had to take care of the dog.

The house was a complete and utter pigsty and so when I got home, I went into cleaning mode. Cleaning always makes me feel better. I did four loads of laundry, including the bedsheets, and later ran a load of dirty dishes through the dishwasher. DH was getting a cold so he slept all afternoon. After the clothes were clean and dry, DD and I put them all away.

As long as I was busy, I didn't have to think about anything.

Then Monday came, and it was back to work like usual. :)

Resolutions

So, at the beginning of 2004, I told myself that I would not make any resolutions because I fail miserably at keeping them. I decided to let go of all the issues I needed to work on and hope for the best.

Alas, that was also a failure.

For 2005, I decided I would make some realistic goals and work on keeping them. Without further ado, here are some goals:

1.) Write at least 1000 words a day, in blogs or elsewhere.

2.) Lose at least 10 lbs. by starting up my exercising again. (A small goal that shall become a larger one when I meet this first goal.)

3.) Get the finances in order! Save money, watch what I spend.

4.) Focus on the things I really enjoy and let go of the things I don't.

On Monday, a new Cass will be created. 2005 is going to be a much, much better year!