Weather

Oh weather.  Why must thee torment me?  I love the summer heat, I worship the fall, winter, and spring coolness, and yet every time you decide to change a little, someone in this house gets sick.   I don’t complain about you, can you please try to be a little kinder to us?

Usually we have had major asthma attacks from one or both of the boys.  Isabel and Luke have had their fair share of skin issues related to weather.  And yet this time around, I find myself the one curled in a ball wondering why weather has to affect our health.

**complaining about to commence**

My eyes are runny.  My nose is runny.  There is some mystery substance continually running down my throat.  My throat itches, my skin itches.  My eyes are puffy.  My nose is red and raw.  My head hurts.  Sneezing hurts.   Excuse me while I wipe my nose for the 387 time today.

It stinks to be under the weather.  At least I assume so, I can not seem to smell.

Muslim Congressional Staffers Host Iftar Event on Capitol Hill

The Islamic dawah and infiltration by stealth Islamists is non-stop. The sheer number of events, many on government property at taxpayer expense, and elected officials meeting with groups with known terrorist ties is astonishing.  Here’s another one from the Muslim Link.

The Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA) held their annual iftar in the Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill on September 9, 2009, attracting about 1,000 guests from the Muslim community.

Founded in 2006 by Jameel-Aalim Johnson, former chief of staff to Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the organization has made the annual iftar a major networking event for Muslim community and political activists. Congressional representatives as well as officials from embassies from the Muslim world attend.

Minnesota Muslim Representative Keith Ellison and Indiana Muslim Representative Andre Carson hosted the pre-dinner reception.

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) spoke early and at length on the history and value of hate crime legislation.

At the Capitol Hill reception, Pandith lauded the Muslim congressional staffers.

“I came to Washington in the 1990s, and the idea that there would be this many Muslim congressional staffers on [Capitol Hill] blows my mind. What you are doing for our country is so profound,” she said.

Other diplomats in attendance included Pakistan Deputy Chief Of Mission Muhammad Aslam Khan, Qatar’s Ambassador Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri, Senegal’s Ambassador Amadou Lamine Ba, and other dignitaries and embassy staff.

Around a dozen members of congress attended the hour long reception including representatives Barbra Lee (D-CA), Mike Honda (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Nita Lowey (D-NY), addressing the gathering for a few minutes each. Lowey is a powerful member of the House Appropriations Committee and a key advocate of the massive annual U.S. aid package to Israel.

Michael McMahon (D-NY13) said he is proud his district has the second fasted growing Muslim population in the nation, and added he has two Muslims on his staff.

Muslim representative Andre Carson  (D-IN) asked the Muslim attendees to take note of the members of Congress who attended.

“Though I’m not a religious man, seeing these members of congress showing their support is so wonderful … we should abstain from those [politicians] who only want to deal with [the Muslim community] when its expedient for them. They want to get our votes and our [financial] support, but when the cameras are on, they distance themselves from us,” he said to applause.

Before the call to prayer, Al-Huda School fourth grader Eimaan Miyian recited Surah Qadr and read its translation. Dates were passed around as a congressional staffer made the call to prayer, and then Imam Naqvi of the Idara-e-Jafria center offered a brief reminder on the importance of Ramadhan. ADAMS Imam Muhammad Magid led maghrib prayer and about 200 reception attendees joined several hundred more Muslims in the House of Representatives cafeteria for a buffet dinner.

Muslim activists present included representatives from area masajid, national Muslim organizations, relief organizations, advocacy groups and political organizations.

Read it all via Congressional Staffers Host Annual Iftar Networking Event.

If Andre Carson is not a religious person, then he is a political Muslim or an Islamist, and his agenda should be obvious, as noted by his comments above.

The founder of the Muslim Congressional Staffers – Jameel-Aalim Johnson, former chief of staff to Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) – has been involved in inviting terror-linked individuals to speak on Capitol Hill in the past – as we told you about here.

And the ADAMS Center mentioned – is the All Dulles Area Muslim Society – which has been raided for terrorist activity.

Magid, who was born and educated in the Sudan, is the Director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS). ADAMS has numerous close affiliations with the main targets of “Operation Green Quest,” “the largest U.S. terror finance investigation anywhere in the world.” In March 2002, federal agents raided ADAMS’s facility in Herndon, Virginia, as part of an investigation into financial support for terrorism. Federal affidavits state that the “Grove Street addresses” (500 and 555 Grove St. in Herndon) housed more than 100 interlocking Muslim organizations, most headed by Jamal Barzinji, and these groups gave material aid to terrorists. Among those raided were several major ADAMS associates, including its chairman. Magid himself was present when federal agents raided the Herndon offices of ADAMS in March 2002.  MIM

We told you about the Muslim Congressional Staffers conquering of Capitol Hill many times from turning a room into a mosque, attempting to fill 8,000 open positions through Keith Ellison, getting resumes of Muslims delivered directly to Obama, and meeting with terror-linked CAIR. See those posts here.

Rantables #47 - Gimmick Pay-Per-Views

I think it’s been long enough since I actually wrote something here.  Let’s go straight into a subject that’s been brewing over the past few weeks (and, for those of you who watch TNA, for years).

The gimmick Pay-Per-View is a very controversial subject indeed.  The wrestling community, be it the IWC, the regular fans, and even the writers backstage, are all at odds when it comes to this particular type of show.  For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, a gimmick PPV is a show where at least a few matches are all contested under one specific set of rules that deviate from the standard one-fall match.  If you want to get technical, the first ever gimmick PPV was Survivor Series.  I feel that, because it’s been around for over 20 years, that this PPV should be grandfathered in.  And besides, Survivor Series hasn’t focused on the elimination matches in years, so it really doesn’t even apply to this discussion.  TNA has one main gimmick PPV on its schedule, that being Lockdown, where every match is contested inside TNA’s answer to the steel cage, the Six Sides of Steel.  It has been maligned over the years for having every match be inside a cage, creating unrealistic expectations for the wrestlers to perform inside.  They are forced to take more punishment than usual just because the PPV has a gimmick attached.  On the plus side, the TNA cage matches are very rare, so Lockdown is a once-a-year affair.

WWE, on the other hand, has been getting very gimmick-heavy with its PPV shake-up over the past year.  There’s been Survivor Series, but I’ve already discussed that.  They’ve had One Night Stand for the past few years, which is now called Extreme Rules, where every match is some form of no-DQ, no-count-out match, usually with more stipulations like Last Man Standing or I Quit or Ladder Match.  You could even go so far as to say that Night of Champions is a gimmick PPV, with every match being a championship match (honestly, every PPV should contain only championship matches, and leave the other feuds for television).  But now we’re getting even more PPVs with these specific gimmicks attached, and it’s causing the importance of these gimmicks to lessen.  Three weeks ago was Breaking Point, where, as WWE puts it, “every main event match is a submission match.”  First off, stop trying to be like MMA.  You’re never going to be held on the same ridiculous plateau that MMA is on.  MMA fans will likely never accept pro wrestling as a legitimate sport, and pro wrestling fans (your typical fan, anyway) will not enjoy MMA, finding it too violent and bland, without flash or bang.  They might watch MMA to see Brock Lesnar or Bobby Lashley, but beyond that, your typical wrestling fan won’t enjoy MMA.  Second, if you’re going to advertise the PPV as “Submissions only,” then why not make every match a submission match and just get it over with?  When they say “every main event match,” they mean “the matches with the biggest draws.”  Which is why the only matches that will be subjected to this gimmick stipulation will be the two world championship matches and anything involving DX.  Which is exactly what we got at Breaking Point, and it’s going to be exactly what we get at Hell in a Cell, the next gimmick PPV coming up this Sunday.

Now, let’s talk about the PPV in and of itself.  The first time I heard that this was going to replace No Mercy, I thought it might be fun.  Every match inside Hell in a Cell.  Sure, HIAC isn’t all that it’s hyped up to be, but at least it usually provides an end to various feuds.  But there’s a big problem with having a PPV dedicated to it.  Matches like Hell in a Cell, TLC, I Quit, and the like, are special attractions.  There should never be more than maybe one or two matches a year of these types.  Why?  For business reasons and health reasons.  First, having one or two of these matches a year will heighten the anticipation for these matches and cause more people to consider purchasing the PPV, either live or on DVD when it’s released.  You’re also going to get a higher chance of selling out the arena you’re working at by putting a marquee match like Hell in a Cell at the top of the card, so more people are going to come to your show from further away just so they can experience this match first-hand.  Second, having these matches less frequently is going to keep your wrestlers healthier for a longer period of time.  If you have one HIAC match a year, yes, it’s going to headline the show, and the competitors are going to put on a hell of a show.  But they’re going to be hurting a hell of a lot, and might be at a greater risk for injury.  If you have three of these matches a year, that’s three times as many wrestlers put at risk for injury.  With WWE’s rosters stretched thin already, they should be avoiding any unnecessary high-risk matches that they can.  But now, with the Hell in a Cell PPV less than a week away, you’re putting eight mens’ careers in danger by putting them inside a giant cage, weapons-a-plenty under the ring, and the chance to fall 20 feet onto an announce table (okay, so nobody’s going to purposefully do what Mick Foley did, but the possibility is always there).  You’ve got three men in their forties, who, even though they’ve been in a large number of these matches before, are at greater risk for injury then their younger competitors.  You’ve got young guys who could potentially cut their careers short with one botched bump.  It would benefit WWE to limit matches like HIAC and TLC to once or twice a year, simply for health reasons more than anything.  Nobody wants to see Shawn Michaels or John Cena have to leave the arena with a broken leg or a fractured spine because they took a bad bump off the cage.  I honestly don’t want to see anybody hurt in the ring and have to end their career years early.  Putting so many peoples’ careers at risk is a dangerous idea, and it should be done as few times as possible.

Another problem with having entire PPVs based around a specific gimmick is that the match itself tends to lose the mystique and importance that usually surrounds it.  A Hell in a Cell match is an event by itself.  You don’t need three of them in one night.  It’s going to get bland.  You’re just going to watch an hour of cage matches in a row.  That’s not necessarily entertaining.  The point of a Hell in a Cell match is to watch two guys do things they don’t normally do inside a ring for 20 minutes, and end a feud that has been going on for months.  Hell in a Cell is the final nail in the coffin of a feud.  Or, at least, it should be.  By putting THREE HIAC matches on one card, you’re diminishing the importance of the match itself.  It will mean that the next time a HIAC match rolls around, people won’t care as much, because you’re obviously going to have them more often over each year.  Pretty soon nobody will care if a match is contested inside a steel cage or on the roof of the arena, because the match will become the norm.  And that is something nobody wants.

So, instead of fixing their foolish mistake, WWE is now introducing TWO MORE new PPV events for the end of the year.  The next PPV is Bragging Rights, which will be taking the place of Cyber Sunday, though apparently it’s going to retain the audience participation aspect.  Instead of just a bunch of matches with various fan voting deals, it’s going to be a kind of Raw vs. Smackdown show.  I’m guessing that they’re doing this solely to promote the Smackdown vs. Raw video game.  More marketing bullshit.  There’s no point to having a Raw vs. Smackdown PPV.  Sure, there are matches that some of us would enjoy watching (Miz vs. Morrison anyone?), but that can happen basically anytime, since the whole Draft issue and brand split is paper-thin at best.  I don’t think it’s necessary, and it’s definitely not going to have many championship matches.  Then, after Survivor Series, we’re getting a TLC PPV.  Haven’t we already had two or three of these matches already this year?  And several more ladder matches?  A PPV dedicated to this stipulation is unnecessary.  TLC is, I think, the most potentially dangerous match in WWE.  When you’ve got guys falling 15 feet off a ladder through ANOTHER ladder and down to the floor, the chance of serious injury is very, very high.  And since most of the people taking these ridiculous bumps are usually your most over guys (Edge, formerly Jeff Hardy, Mysterio, etc), you’re setting yourselves up for even more problems down the road.  Sure, 2/3 of the men I just mentioned aren’t going to compete in TLC, but you’re risking getting your currently over wrestlers (Punk, Taker, Cena, Orton, HHH, MVP, etc.) badly injured, and unless you can come up with some more guys to bring up from FCW, you’re setting up yourselves for failure.  If you put those six guys on the shelf right now, what happens?  Who moves up?  Do you bring guys from ECW over, and bring up guys from FCW who aren’t ready for the big arenas and TV time?  Do the guys who’ve been toiling in mid-card hell move up immediately, or do they get passed over for other guys who aren’t ready for the big time?  It puts WWE’s balls in a vicegrip, and every major injury tightens that vice just a little bit more.  Frankly, I hope these gimmick PPVs don’t last long, because WWE is putting their talented men and women at serious risk, and as a result, putting the company at risk of losing even more money.

Bottom line: keep the big gimmick matches to once a year, MAYBE twice, and keep the health and safety of your wrestlers your top priority.

I’ve got a couple more tidbits to talk about, and since I don’t think another column is required, I’ll put them here.

First, I’m getting really tired of John Cena’s miracle comebacks.  Can’t he for once just be left in a crumpled heap, loomed over by his competitors, unable to move for fear that he’ll get his chest stomped in?  Why does he always turn into fucking Superman after he’s gotten his back broken?  It’s ridiculous.  I know he’s the face of the company, and I genuinely like the guy, but the miracle comebacks have got to stop happening every week, and he really needs to focus one one character.  I’d prefer he either stick with funny Cena or determined, angry Cena instead of switching back and forth every week.  Stick to one persona.  If you’re going with Funny Cena, fine.  But remember, you don’t need to really focus on that, because we’ve got Santino Marella for comedy.  (Side note: Santino is really coming into his own as a great comedy wrestler.  I love his attempts at breaking the Masterlock, only to pass out a few seconds after that final angry push.)

I’ll admit I watched Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader just to watch Miz and Morrison compete.  I think WWE dropped the ball when it came to those two.  They had one of the most successful tag team runs in recent memory, and after their break-up, nothing.  Those two could have gone on feuding for a few weeks, ending in one of them banishing the other to a different brand or something.  Still, they were both entertaining on the game show.  I thought Miz’s energy was fantastic, and he was quite gregarious at times.  I actually enjoyed his segment.  Morrison was much more low-key, but still fun to watch.  Good for them for doing this.

Last thing: for those of you who watched ECW (or for those of you who don’t mind spoilers), how surprising was it that Yoshi Tatsu got the pinfall victory, over William Regal no less?  This has got to be a sign that Creative approves of Tatsu’s work and they’re getting ready to push him soon.  I won’t say he’s green by any measure.  But he’s still got a little work to do.  He’s a bit sloppy, and I have to imagine that the language barrier will limit him to a point.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching the guy compete.  He brings some crazy energy to the ring, and he’s using a bunch of indy moves, which should make the IWC happy.  Hearing Matt Striker yell out, “LARIATO!” and “Whoa, Roaring Elbow!” probably makes the smarks pee with happiness.  But he’s got a ton of talent.  Let’s hope he works on his delivery and smoothes out the rough edges, and he’ll be fighting for the ECW Title in no time.

Okay, I lied.  Speaking of lariats, this past weekend was the final ROH match for Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness.  I think they have a couple more indy matches left, but this means that they’re moving to WWE very soon.  I truly hope that they both get on the main roster immediately (or, at leat for McGuinness, time to heal his arms before jumping to the roster).  I am looking forward to the first Jawbreaker Lariat we get from Nigel, and hopefully we’ll get some Cattle Mutilation or a Triangle Choke or three from Danielson.  I also pray that WWE doesn’t give them alternate personas.  I hope they keep them who they are, much like they did with CM Punk and, to some degree, Evan Bourne.  Nobody wants a repeat of Scotty Goldman (though I did find him hilarious for the few short weeks he was employed) or Braden Walker.  Let them be who they are, not someone you think they should be.  Put Dragon in a feud with Regal, and watch the sparks fly.

So that’s it for now.  I’ll put up picks for Hell in a Cell once the final card is set.  Most of the matches should be good.  I’m just not keen on the gimmick itself.  We’ll see how it turns out on Sunday.  Until then…

...Put A Ring On IT!

I seem to be indulging in a plethora of posts when I ought to be finishing a book. Argh!

 

Anyway…

 

Latest obsession is versions of Beyonce’s totally awesome track. Here’s the original:

 

 

Here’s JT’s take on it (I love this, totally totally cracks me up every time–sorry about the quality on this one:)

 

 

 

Here’s the cutest:

 

 

 

And here’s the Glee version:

 

 

I LOVE ‘EM ALL! Go on, tell me you’re not smiling!

Tebow, OH NO, not TEBOW!

Gator Nation was rocked on Saturday. Tears were falling in Gatorville. Tebow got hurt!???!? How does that happen. I really thought he was indestructible. I have pretty much awarded the Gators the National Championship this year. The only thing that is still a question is whom will they beat in the 2010 National Championship game. Until Tebow got a free trip to the hospital. I haven’t heard if it is a concussion or not, but a fragile Tebow means a week Florida team. Who do they play this week? LSU. Les Miles will have the Tigers ready for a brawl. They will be targeting Tebow’s pretty head. This might be ugly. But I guess that if anyone can come back from a hit like that it will be Tebow. I am no Gator fan, but Tebow is truly a man amongst boys. He is a freak. I have to figure that Tebow playing college football is what it would have been like if LeBron James had gone to college. To think along with the rushing TD’s Tebow has consecutive seasons of 30 plus passing tds, and for anyone to argue that he isn’t the best college football player in history is crazy. Plus on the surface he seems like a great guy. He is nice. He is smart. He’s a Christian. Wow, I have a man crush. Is it inappropriate for me to have a man crush on a guy that is so much my junior? It’s alright when he is 30, I will be 38, making more acceptable. I am embarrassed!

Looks vs. Personality

Looks or Personality?

This type of choice is a problem in the lives of many people, especially those who are dating. The sad truth is, most of us have a bad habit of buying into stereotypes. When you see a beautiful woman, you begin to wonder how solid her personality is. contrariwise, when you see a woman who isn’t as attractive, you think she must have a good personality! Of course, some people are not like this, but it’s safe to say that the majority of people are.

So where does the line get drawn? There are countless people out there who are both attractive and have good personalities, however finding a personality that you like may be an entirely different challenge.

I, like many people, would like to say that looks don’t matter and that I would love someone solely for their wonderful personality and the person they are on the inside. I would be a liar, though. I don’t think I could be with someone I found unattractive, no matter how much I loved their personality. Without some level of attraction, there’s no relationship.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I could never be with anyone who was absolutely gorgeous but was a horrible person. Yes, I’d be attracted to him, lust after him, and never want to leave his side; the illusion of true love. When it boiled down to who he was, however, I would likely find myself hating how he acted or being turned off by his attitude.

In truth, the best person is usually a combination of good looks and a winning personality. I’ve been curious, though… if put into a situation where can speak to one of the two following girls/boys who would you choose;

Girl A; More attractive than girl B. She has signs of high maintenance such as manicured nails and designer shoes. Her makeup is flawless due to the fact she is fixing it in her compact right now. If you do speak to her, she doesn’t seem to have many of the same interests as you and doesn’t have that good of a sense of humor.
Boy A; He’s more attractive than boy B. He obviously spends time on his looks; well maintained hair, flattering/fitted clothing, obviously works out. He has a habit of checking his hair in anything that has a reflection; mirrors, glass, metal, etc… If you talk to him, he doesn’t have that much in common with you and comes off as shallow.

Girl B; She’s not bad looking, but she isn’t as attractive as girl A. She looks plain compared to girl A. Her hair and makeup are fine even though she doesn’t look like she spends as much time or money on her looks as girl A. Her clothing is average, not designer. If you do speak to her, she has a wonderful sense of humor and a lot of interests that you do.
Boy B; He’s not as attractive as boy A, looking like your average joe in comparison. His hair and face isn’t as well maintained as boy A but he isn’t ugly. It’s hard to tell if he works out. His clothing isn’t fitted or fashionable but more average. If you talk to him, he has a lot of common interests with you and has a wonderful sense of humor.

When it comes down to it… I’d like to say I’d choose the personality… but I guess I can’t say that unless I was there. Oh, and for the record, I’m not single. I have a wonderful boyfriend, I’m just saying all this hypothetically.

So I’d love to hear from you! Which would you choose?

There's Probably A Reason I Shouldn't Take Public Transportation

These are the composites of text messages I sent to my brother and friend P on the way to Boston on Thursday. I took the Bolt and I’m usually very good at getting a seat by myself. I have the “don’t sit by me look” down and it tends to work unless the bus is completely full. That’s what happened on Thursday, which is why these messages came about.

2:08 PM: I have the creepiest guy sitting beside me, ever. His computer background is an image naked butt. A very upclose image of a naked butt.

3:18 PM: Cute boy across from me just got the most intense facebook message from an ex-girlfriend and proceeded to call her and it’s just awkward as hell.

3:32 PM: They’re discussing their breakup, how she has him blocked on her phone, some hookup, and the angry fb message.

3:34 PM: Ok. Well now he’s calling someone else. Oh no, ex-girlfriend again!

3:40 PM: Or maybe current girlfriend because it ended in “I love you… Cara? Cara?” End of call.

3:45 PM: Oh shit, Cara cheated on this kid with his friend Daniel’s roommate. It’s like a soap opera here!

3:47 PM: They haven’t broken up. Just fighting. Mike and Lucy are going through the same thing.

3:50 PM: Oh I wonder if he cheated too? He has to show her everything on facebook. Dun dun dun.

3:52 PM: Ok, call’s over. He’ll call her off his home phone number tonight, once she unblocks his number.

3:55 PM: Now he and his friend on the bus are discussing the facebook message from a girl who MAY NOT BE CARA and may in fact be the OTHER WOMAN. Or it could be Cara. I don’t know. It’s positively riveting though.

4:03 PM: Andddd we’re backkk. He’s going back to NYC with Cara. Yay. But now he’s not allowed to talk to his friends because she hates them. God almighty.

4:07 PM: He’s going home with Cara on Monday. This shit’s dramatic.

4:08 PM: Uh oh… who’s Jamie?

4:09 PM: Okay, so another guy also hearts Cara and Bus Boy wants to kick his ass because he’s a “scumbag”. This term is repeated multiple times. This is deep stuff for a bus.

4:11 PM: I’m giving up on these kids. There’s someone else named Luke involved and even they’re confused.

Just for the record, I’m not a total creeper. This boy was literally shouting and the entire bus was listening. It was impossible to ignore him, especially when he was on the phone with Cara. Oh, and because I’m not a completely terrible person, I’ve also gone through and changed the names. You’re welcome, nameless Bus Boy.

A Seattle Boy Ponders L.A.

It’s alright here, there are worse places and yup, there are much better.
We have been house sitting in North Hollywood for two weeks, in a few hours we fill the car and cruise back to San Francisco, the to Ashland, then back to Seattle.

There are many obvious and subtle differences between Seattle and L.A.
In Seattle people know how to drive, in L.A. people skirt death with no blinker drifting into your lane.
In Seattle we have traffic, in L.A. there is a “the meteor is going to hit in three hours get out of the city” 6 lane congestion at nearly all hours of the day.

In Seattle a coffee-holic like myself can trip and fall and land in a indie coffee shop or one of the big chains. In L.A. they have Starbucks, but I have to walk 20 minutes down the dirty concrete to get there. One girl actually thought Starbucks was an “L.A. thing”… no, smog and early 90’s gangster rap is an L.A. thing.

When I wake up in L.A. it is sunny and blue, a predictable phenomenon. In Seattle it could be sunny and blue with a light showers, chance of thunderstorm. You may change your clothes 3 times to adjust to the weather. It’s funny, my Seattle people put down L.A.’s ubiquitous sunshine like it is the botox of weather patterns…when I say how great the weather is they are like, “yeah, if you are into that…”

L.A. is loud; airplanes take off every 5 minutes, fast and furious wannabees race down narrow streets, police helicopters search high and low. Seattle is not loud.

In L.A. people look at me for a brief moment to decide if I am “somebody”, especially in Santa Monica and at high profile events. In Seattle no one looks at me.

I look forward to getting back to my kitty, my loft, my extended wardrobe and my roommate, Paul. For the next month or so Bridget and I will be formulating our official move to L.A. strategy; deciding what comes what goes and scouring craigslist.
We used to consult priests and psychics, now we search craigslist.

I need $3,500 or I'm going to be murdered :(

I just received a death threat by email which is SO hard to believe because I’m SUCH a sweetheart. But, according to an email that I received a few minutes ago, I have so offended some unknown yahoo that he wants $3,500 to buy my life. Otherwise, he will be killing me:

Look here you bastard. You think i have time for this your stupid talk, i justinform you that some one paid me to kill you and you arehere talking no sence to me. this is like the same warning pass on to theamerica government when they ignore it and it became and ignorance tothem, and this is the same warning also pass to the most polular MUSICIAN WHOWAS SHORT DEAD IN SOUTH AFRICA. am also passing thiswarning to you so if you want to ignore it then you too will face in hell andjoin the devil.

If you do not comply and cooperate with me in your reply to this email, youwill leave me no option as to instruct my Boys to get you shot, for yourinformations you are to Pay the sum of $3,500 Usd to live your life as a freeCitizen, but if you ignore…. As a matter of fact the person whom insructed meto get you killed is waiting for your Funeral news.

http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/top.htmhttp://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=noordin_mohammed_top_1

Noordin Mohammed.

hm0384@hotmail.com

ce.0541732@ac-nancy-metz.fr

I don’t know who that is, what his beef is or why he wants me to be dead…but I think I can guess. My guess is that this insane loser is trying to get $3500 but unfortunately for him…not to mention me…I don’t have anywhere near that much cash. And…I just gave away most of my stuff so all I can offer this fool not to kill me is about two hundred bucks, some used make-up and a bunch of Happy Meal Toys that I had been collecting for my grandkids. I just bought Payton a new leash but if the nutcase wants it, he’ll have to take it away from the dog himself, I’m not doing it.

It never occurred to me to threaten murder to get cash. I’ve thought up some rather unorthodox methods of cash raising but extortion by email wasn’t ever on the list.

It does seem easy enough, I must say…just send an email explaining how much cash you’re getting paid to kill your victim and if they send the cash, you don’t have to do a thing except spend it. While I admit that there are a LOT of stupid people on this planet, I kind of doubt that there are THAT many stupid people. I’m sure there aren’t enough stupid people with enough cash to make a career in extortion very profitable. But, if there are any success stories out there, I’d be interested in hearing about them, just leave your story in the comments below this post.

Personally, I would leave out the part about sending people to “hell and join the devil”. I don’t believe in the devil and if there’s a hell, I’m of the mind that I’d “rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints”. Also, I’d probably throw in a bit about torture. If the point is to get the money, you night as well scare the tar out of the fools and threaten to flay your victims. Flaying should frighten most people, Muslim, Christian or Jew…being skinned alive just SOUNDS painful.

Well, I’m wide awake but it’s 12:30 so I should act like it’s really, really late at night.

See ya!!!

(I hope!)

Hmm

I am thinking if i made the right decisions in life. Unlike most of the people I know, i have no clear idea where i should go. i have a vision of helping the poor and the widows, but with the rate things are going i feel tempted to look back and regurgitate the ‘what if’s’. i pray for wisdom, LORD, courage and faith to tread on this road that i believe would lead me to your ministry. help me put my ladder against the right walls. i burned all the bridges behind me and to you alone i rest everything. strengthen me to press on.
We urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. – 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12

Pakistan requires non-Muslim kids to study Islam

Is this how billions of our taxpayer dollars are being spent in Pakistan?

The new guidelines for school students in Pakistan requires non-Muslims to study Islam and ignore other religious traditions in the country.

The program drawn up by the Government contemplates that Islamiyat (Islamic studies) become compulsory until the 12th class (15 and 16 years). For students that from then on will not want to follow the lessons of Islam attendance of alternative courses of public ethics is permitted, but the Commission notes also on this front the discrimination, though latent, is clear.

Read it all via Spero News.

an unexpected tragedy

i have no idea why, but this morning suddenly my s, d an g keys wouldn’t work at all D: i even tried removing the tab from the keyboard itself to check if there was anything stuck underneath but there was nothing at all T_T i’m gonna let the japanese ra in the south building take a look at it, and if it doesn’t work i’ll have to go to a computer shop to see if anything can be done… the last resort would be to just buy a usb keyboard T_T talk about unexpected tragedies!

(you have no idea how long it took me to type this short entry, copying and pasting all the missing letters)

Three gunshots at dawn

Bone and stone

Who says the forest is quiet? 

It’s often an extremely noisy world outside our door, in the middle of the woods. This morning, while peacefully sipping our coffee and tea, chatting away…BOOM!!  BOOM!!  BOOM!! 

It’s enough to make one leap up off the couch in startled frenzy.  But we’re used to it, after all these years.  We barely raised an eyebrow.  I think I grunted something like, “What hunting season is it now?”  and Barry mumbled back something like, “Duck.  Goose.  They’re hunting down on the bay.”  Oh yes.  We continued to sip our beverages, contemplating the hunter and hunted down on the bay.  I said, “Hope the geese fly south fast” and Barry said, “Wouldn’t you like a goose dinner some day?” 

“No,” I replied, “we’re vegetarians, don’t you remember?”

“Remember that goose dinner you cooked back when we were in our 20’s and you cried?” he continued. 

“Vaguely,” I replied.  We sipped some more and listened to the silence in the woods.  Now you could hear the rooster crowing next door.  Ahhhhhahahahaha!  It cried.  It does not cocka-doodle-doo like normal roosters. 

The necessity of headphones in the woods

Next loud noise:  our woodsplitter.  One must wear headphones to mute the loud whining engine sounds that keen through the trees.  (Maybe it’s the trees that are keening loudly, knowing that their relatives are being split up to heat our house.)  It’s very noisy.  As noisy as chainsaws and bulldozers and cement trucks.  All of which have been on our property within the last couple weeks.

You finally stop splitting wood and throwing it in the truck.  When you throw wood in the truck it goes “ka-thunk!”  If it makes the sound “ka-ching!” you’re in trouble.  That means you’ve accidentally tossed the wood against the Studebaker sides or fender.  Not a good thing.  And if you ever heard the sound “ka-crrringle!!!” you might as well run for the house in tears because that would mean you threw a log through the back Studebaker window.  I would never do that.  Not  in a million years.  Promise.

A chipmunk with a full acorn squirreled away in his jaws

Now here’s some noise that goes on day AND night.  Serious noise.  It’s the sound of chipmunks and squirrels scurrying up and down the oak tree.  Out on the branches they dangle, their mouths stuffed with prize acorns.  The extra acorns hit the ground “ping!”  “ping!” “ping!” and heaven forbid that you’re underneath the oak tree when the acorns fall.  It’s like a construction zone.  You need a hard hat.  It’s treacherous beneath the oak tree in the autumn.  Don’t go there.

White pine "flower" or, rather, remnants of squirrel lunch

Speaking of noises in the night…I hesitate to tell you this story.  But I have permission, so you shall hear it.  My beloved husband likes to stay up late, putzing in his garage until it’s inky black outside.  He’s memorized the path between garage and house and can manuever like a bobcat in the dark.  Except.  Last night he decided to move some of his construction project materials from the garage to the shed.  In the dark.

He was watching the tree line and thinking he knew exactly where he was going until…

A very dangerous rock

*&*)*&#)$*@)&$^^%^%&)@*$)@!!!!!

(Please supply the words you think a man might utter at 1 a.m. in the pitch dark when he stumbles over a rock and bangs up both legs quit badly.  Poor fellow.  He limped into the house in pain and agony with all sorts of bruises, cuts and contusions.)  I asked if it would be possible to photograph his legs to show you all, but he declined.

Yes, the woods can be quite noisy.  Yes, indeed.

Queen's Blade Rebellion New Character Announcement: Inquisition Official

Another character for Queen’s Blade Rebellion has been announced!

Original text published on September 25, 2009 at Queen’s Blade Bitoushi Blog [link]:

Tomorrow, “Taima-shi Tanyan & Sainyan” and “Queen’s Blade Rebellion Bitoushi Senki” are finally going on sale.

Using this opportunity, here’s an announcement a new character already.

Her name is Itan Shinmon-kan Sigi!

As you can see, she’s a Nun.

More precisely, she’s an Inquisition Officer.

Inquisition Officer sounds indescribably sweet, right?

By the way, the job of an Inquisition Officer is to mercilessly burn alive those considered “Heretics”.

(It may be and exaggerated explanation, but it was like this in the Movie I watched!)

Eventually she’ll appear in front of Annelotte and the others as an enemy.

However, Sigi-san is not a ruthless villain but a faithful saint-like character.

It’s only that she has a terribly inflexible serious personality and will faithfully to carry out her mission once she decides someone is a heretic.

And when we talk about Queen’s Blade priests, we can’t leave the “Holy Poses” out.

The Poses she uses are original and completely different from Melpha’s Holy Poses.

Thereby, the manifestation of Sacred Power is completely novelty and becomes a flashy ability in its own.

Melpha dislikes using the Holy Poses but since it’s a rule, she’ll do them embarrassed and Sigi isn’t hesitant in using the Poses but does them embarrassed. This is quite the big difference, right?

The artist in charge of the character design and illustration is Oda Non-sensei.

He’s unequaled in drawing alluring older woman.

He was probably born to draw for Queen’s Blade. To make me feel like that, in many ways it’s an excellent work. It’s under way to be released on November.

I’m sure that it won’t betray anyone’s expectation so please look forward to it!

In the “Bitoushi Senki” that will be released tomorrow, she’ll only appear in the Character Introduction. Those who can’t wait, by all means please check Bitoushi Senki.

Miyagemono-ya Hans

Oda Non has drawn the illustration for at least two Eroges and has been publishing his work monthly in Comic Kairakuten. Another excellent artist uses his talent for the Queen’s Blade series!

Cya!

Source: Bitoushi Blog.

10 reasons why girls like boys.

1. We like it when they tell us they like us, too, after we tell them we have a crush on them.
2. Because when with a boy, we feel special, that someone wants us with them.
3. The way they say “I love you.” even if we’re not sure they mean it, it feels amazing to hear that.
4. The way we always think of them when we hear a love song.
5. The way the make us smile by thinking of them.
6. The way the tell us they miss us. It’s so sweet. (Even if sometimes we wouldn’t admit to missing them, too.)
7. Their smile makes us smile, too. And then we’d feel quite stupid for smiling for no particular reason except for only seeing him smile.
8. The way only they know how to put their arms around us when we are in need of a hug.
9. The way the make us feel so many types of emotions, it’s crazy. Falling in love, being in love, confused, doubtful, scared, staying in love, resentment, love, hurt.
10. There’s just something about them that we can’t forget, but can let go of. Because they made us believe, trust and learn so much.

♥

frustrated

School has been going well for the past two weeks but I’m having a difficult time dealing with my housing situation.

For those that know me well, it’s probably a surprise that I took the plunge to live in the room of a strangers house given my sensitivities to cats, smoke, perfumes and other “fake”things.  If I was ever going to find a community of strangers that I could live with it would seem like those associated with Waldorf would be the right mix.  Well, it turns out that that may not be the case.

For the first week I was here the homeowner was away so I could be surprised by the lack of cookie sheets, measuring cups and sharp knives and the reality of a moldy bathroom.  Except for the mold – which really is a problem – I could do things to remedy the situation.  Since the landlady has returned though I’m starting to have my doubts.

The reason I came to this house instead of others that were closer to school was that there were no cats.  There was also an understanding that this was a non-smoking home.  I’ve never heard where one cigarette a day constitutes non-smoking but if it was in any other house I’d probably just get over it.  The problem I’m having is that this house is that there are no safe places in the house and the conditions by which I’m expected to live are so rigid.  I understand that it’s a big deal for someone to share their space with strangers – I rented out part of my place once too – but if I’m going to stay here there needs to be some give and take and so far all the signs are pointing the other way.

Does anybody have any experience in living this way or some suggestions for how to move on and make thins livable?

Stängda träningar, bloggboom och helg

Först får man hälsa både Alingsåsbloggen och Sandaredsbloggen välkomna i tipstävlingarna ! Länkar finns självklart under “länkar”.

Imorgon är det dags för Wårgårda borta och det kommer bli en svår match mot ett Wibk som fick 9-9 borta mot Sandared som är erkänt starka. Vi kommer behöva höja oss rejält och framför allt spela ALLA perioder. Frågetecken inför matchen är Jacob som har problem med knät ochAlex som har ont i en tå. Av dem två känns Alex närmast spel i nuläget i alla fall, men Jacob har sagt att han ska knarka ipren om han behöver så han lär säkert göra ett sent test på matchdagen.

Ikväll ska vi ta oss en titt på damerna som har sin första hemmamatch i Elitserien och en seger känns som ett måste efter storförlusterna mot IKSU och Skellefteå. Karlstad kommer på besök och det lär vara en hel del folk i Vadsbohallen ikväll. Ska bli kul att se om damernas stängda träningar har haft någon effekt! Lycka till tjejer !

// Bulan

I Finally Met YOU

well.. my hati got berbunga after meeting my crushes gedik la! and a lot of my classmates/schoolmates
hati berbunga2 dengan mekarnya woo lepas jumpa “old” crushes time kecik2 dulu haha tidur bertambah2 lena

It all started with a text from my classmate, Arip since form 4, inviting me for his open house. I couldn’t make it as I had other plan and on the next day he called, and was saying that he hasn’t meet any of us since his raya break. I told him that I’m up for any reunion and he then texted me again to meet up on the next day.

As I didn’t have much time left in Malaysia, I was texting everyone on my list and asked them to forward the sms to people that they know who either used to be our classmates or schoolmates. The next day, nearly 20 people showed up and that, totally was a success! I was aiming for only about 10 people or so; but, the more the merrier, right? I had tons of fun and absolutely won’t mind arranging another one for next year insyaAllah

The only thing is.. well, hopefully everyone can be punctual next time as Arip and I were the masterpiece in this reunion, so obviously I had to be on time. Other people actually showed up an hour later which pissed me off a bit. Only Pit Sam arrived sort of in time haha. But either way, I was so glad a lot of them did showed up

What we did was just chatting, eating, more chatting and it ended at nearly 5pm

our official class picture, form 5 Science 1, year 2005

official class picture, form 3 Agama 1, year 2003

us, now, 4 years later~ some of us haven’t been meeting since form 3, so that’s like.. 6 years later only we meet again
I usually meet some of them every year

The next day, the group that I met on the reunion that Arip and I arranged, wanted to do another event. I was saying that I’m up for it haha. But then, I just realized that that meet up clashed with another reunion with my primary schoolmates. I knew that people won’t really be on time (haha! learn from experience~), I went to meet my primary schoolmates first even though both meet up started at 3pm hehe.

They were meeting at my friend’s house; I was there from 3 to 4pm. Then, they wanted to go for a bit of raya tour but I needed to meet with my high schoolmates and settle some stuffs, ie buying stuffs to bring back to London

To tell the truth, I haven’t meet my other primary schoolmates since standard 6! That is like.. for 9 years! I haven’t saw them or even heard of them in 9 years! WOAH! They changed a lot! from looking so cute to macho guys + pretty girls Hopefully we’ll meet again next year

our official class picture, 5 Bahagia, year 1999

our official class picture, 6 Bahagia, year 2000

us, now, 9 or 10 years later~

Can you tell who’s who? *giggles*

At 4pm, I drove to Pacific as I promised my friends to play bowling with them hehe. Well, it’s my last time playing bowling as I’m going back to London… tomorrow
When I called them, they haven’t started playing yet haha! There were about.. 11 of us, 8 were up for bowling

I met another classmate of mine during high school there; which I haven’t really got in contact with hrmmm… anyone know if Pak Tam got facebook? He was already on his way out as he had finished his game

Anyway, I wasn’t doing that bad in bowling yesterday! haha
Usually my score would be around.. 70-90.. yes I suck! I could only get nearly perfect score when playing wii bowling lol. Yesterday I got 107! w00t!

I totally had fun playing bowling with them even though I was expecting there were other girls that were coming! hehe oh well~ my high schoolmates are mostly guys anyway. I wonder how come takde sorang pun yang sangkut? as my special someone? HAHAHA! I’m joking.. seriously! xD

I went home at nearly 6pm; the guys went for snooker haha. Next time teach me snooker!

This year I really went to meet with a lot of my friends and teachers. It’s so AWESOMESAUSE!
I must say, I’m grateful that my summer break this year is until a week after raya; which gave me a few days of opportunity to meet up with my friends Usually, I could only meet a few of them if my friends are back in Alor Star during the weekend or so~

To those whom I’ve already met, if I was being rude, or some of my jokes made you guys feel offended, I apologise. I’m hoping to meet you guys again next year, insyaAllah To those whom I promised to meet but I didn’t, I’m so sorry! especially my form 6 mates

To fellow bloggers, well.. I’m off to London again. Sayonara~
I need to finish packing and keep my laptop hehe. I’m sure going to miss Malaysia

This year raya/reunion is the best ever! You guys rox!
Thanks for including me in a lot of you guys events, and for inviting me in a lot of open houses – even though I didn’t show up lol
Next year let’s do a 5 days back to back events!

Now.. I need to get back into my study mode hehe~

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare

Not since The Legend of Zelda – Ocarina of Time have I been this obssessed with a video game. In the last month, I’ve pretty much become a recluse learning the ins and outs of SMG’s, AR’s and how to split wigs with the silenced P90.

Sure, I might be alienating family and friends, but I’m also learning valuable lessons . . . lessons like:

Stopping Power is essential.

Martyrdom is for pussies.

[FTD]bernzyface is a fucking noob.

Cop the game here.

Soulmate - as i see

There is something about this term which has always intrigued me. It is definitely a very romantic and dramatic kind of a term, used generally to denote intimate relationships. The subjectivity of the term makes it almost impossible to develop any specific definition of the term. Having said that the term is widely used in popular literature and also by people expressing their love.

Like any other human I too have my share of beautiful intimate relations. But never could I figure out where to fit in the term ’soulmate’.

For some reason I have been in a mode of introspection since past couple of days.  Today also happens to be my mom’s 60th birthday. All of these lead me to a whole gamut of thoughts. Two very striking instances of my early childhood mildly surfaced over my anxious mind.

#1 Very faint visuals of this incidence exist in my mind. I must not be more than 10.  Must be in my 3rd or 4th grade. My schedule of those days was – everyday I left for school in the school rickshaw at around 11 and returned at half past 5 in the evening. Now, it had so happened that I was so very used to the fact that whenever I reach home back, my mom has to be there to greet me. To an extent that I had made it compulsory for her. Even if she had some work some errands to run, she had to be at home when I arrive. I would not buy any damn reason for her to be not there when I come back home. She always obliged; except once.

One fine day, as I reach home, I didn’t see her at home. Must have been some unmanageable work, but that didn’t concern me. Not having her to greet me was enough to make me go in an outburst. I shouted,  I cried like mad, I wouldn’t listen to my ba, did not drink my evening ka milk(a routine I loved)…. I ran around the whole house…threw every arranged thing awry…cushions, diaries, spoons…whatever I could lay my hands on I just threw all of it around. Nothing could contain me.(mind you I was a pretty calm and shy kind of a kid. Not the short tempered naughty one, so this wasn’t any ways near to my normal behaviour) I would not even take out my shoes with her not around. At the end of my outburst when all my energy was drained I climbed atop a cabinet. The cabinet was in front of our apartment door. I could see whoever entered, but the person entering would have to strain his/her neck to see atop. Inshort that was my hide out. And I sat there waiting for my mom to come and search for me. Wanting her to go through that wait to see me. I kept crying.

All of this lasted for about an hour; that is when my mom returned home. She immediately inquired about me; ba already gives her a gist of all that has happened. She finds me. I get angry at her and cry a lot. She promises to never do this again. As far as I remember or until it mattered to me, this never occurred again.

#2 This is a few years later. I must be in my teen. The early teen period. By now I has started going to school on my bicycle. The schedule was same. I left home every day at 11.15am. I was a bit grown up now. I could go and come on my own; is what I had started believing. In those days going to school was the only routine pursuit, and I had come to a stage when I managed the logistics of it on my own. However there was this new compulsory thing that had developed.

Our block was at the end of the entire compound of the society.  From the front balcony of our apartment, the entire compound and the gates of the society were visible. Now everyday as I leave on my bicycle, it was mandatory for my mom to stand in the balcony until I go out-of-her sight. I used to literally check it many a times by coming back to see if she’s still standing there. So she had to stand in the balcony 3-4 minutes even after I am out-of-sight.

I remember that once or twice it so happened that I saw her turn back while I was crossing the gates. That sight of – seeing her back when the ‘grown up’ me was leaving on his own for his pursuit- was something I could not handle. That visual stayed with me the whole day and for such a lame reason  I did not concentrate on my classes and remained out-of-mood. As I reached home I shared this with my mom. She tried to explain but I was not to listen. I did not want to buy any of her argument. All she can do was to agree, and she did. And as long as it mattered, I don’t remember this happening barring this one of two times.

She was a mother. I do not know how she took this irrationality and possessiveness and ego of her child. But I can speak for myself. I loved this element of the relation. Today it seems laughable, irrational, childish, stubborn etc. But then that is what connected us. Today, when I am and independent adult, yet she would be at peace only when she knows I have had my meals and that I am doing fine. But the fact remains that she was a MOTHER. And I knew it and so I would put all the mandatory measures to express my feelings for her.

Family remains your circle of  life till a certain age and time. Its like every bird has to fly from the nest. Not necessarily in geographical connotation but in psychological connotation. As one grows the pursuits start becoming much more complex. It is no more just going to school. A lot of economic, academic, professional and emotional pursuits occupy our lives. Amidst these we meet a lot of people. Some of them with whom we get close – we call them friends, some of them with whom we get personal – we call them best friends, to one we make commitment – we call them husband or wife and so on and so forth.

I am going through the same cycle. I have friends, colleagues, acquaintances, peers, loved ones, best friends so on and so forth. Each one having its own distinct space.

After all the introspection I realised something which I was totally unaware of.  I realised that somewhere I am still the same. The laughable, irrational, childish, emotional  and stubborn kid does come alive somewhere.

Inspite of that person not being my mother, I still put in weird expectations, mandatoriness and super irrational behaviour. We all do it with someone or may be with a few people where the irrational us manifests. Amidst the maddening clutter and tons of people that we come across it is with that one or few that we become childish.  Don’t know whether this holds true for all, but for me it surely does.

And that person, who becomes my mother and makes me a kid and vice versa; that person who  I  bump into when I am not searching is the one I would like to call my SOULMATE.

Esoterica : One theory of soulmates, presented by Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium, is that humans originally consisted of four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces, but Zeus feared their power and split them all in half, condemning them to spend their lives searching for the other half to complete them. Over countless reincarnations, each half seeks the other. When all karmic debt is purged, the two will fuse back together and return to the ultimate.

23 sonuvabitch

Me acabo de duchar, y me siento realmente bien =)

y me dieron ganas de ponerles mi Trauma-Tracklist de la semana:

Do What U like – Bad Boy Bill

Bangers & Mash – Radiohead

Live Medley – The Hives

Who You Gonna Call – Disko Drunkards <— Ghostbusters!! (aunque no suena ni a putazos a la original)

Thief – Afrojack

Reckoner (JAEGER REMIX) – Radiohead (el unico remix que me ha gustado de radiohead)

enjoi enjoi

lefoqer

One-Minute Anecdotes #3: My Corrugated Plastic Hell

This week I will be trying something a little different. Each day, Monday through Friday, I will be posting an anecdote that I was unable to expand into 700 or more words but I feel is funny in it’s own right. Each one will likely take you a minute or less to read. Hence the name. I know, it’s clever, right?

Your minute starts now.

My Corrugated Plastic Hell

Driving home from work one day I found myself behind an old pickup truck. Every five hundred feet or so, the truck would stop, the driver would turn on the emergency blinkers, climb out of the driver’s seat with a plastic sign in hand, leisurely make his way to the opposite side of the car and then drive the sign into the ground near the sidewalk. After completing his mission he would make the long walk back to the driver’s side, climb back into the cab and continue on his way. Since this was all taking place during the heart of rush hour, there was no way I was going to be able to casually cruise around him and make it home in a timely fashion.

After his third stop, I started paying attention to the signs he was dropping. It was one of those white corrugated plastic signs that people post up at busy intersections to advertise some sort of goods or service. The sign read “El Cheap-O Computer Repair… we’ll fix your computer for Cheap…. O!” It was all very clever. Clearly there was a lot of time and effort put into creating such a spectacular catch phrase. I also noticed that there was a phone number at the bottom of the sign. On the driver’s fourth stop, I was starting to lose it. In a moment blind frustration I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number listed on the sign. While sauntering back to the driver’s seat, I saw the man pull out a phone and answer it. A voice in my ear greeted me with “El Cheap-O computer repair, this is Jose.” To which I responded, “Hi Jose…. DRIVE!”

Become a fan of The Random Gambit on Facebook or share this column!

Also in this Series:
One-Minute Anecdote #1: Haiku Poetry
One-Minute Anecdote #3: Awkward House Shopping

I forgot to set the coffee pot for this morning and now I wish everyone was dead.

It’s not personal, but if you would rather not make eye contact with someone who is not only wishing you would die before their eyes, but in a strangled slow gaspy kind of way, then maybe you should just steer clear of me.  I know that logically it is not your fault that I didn’t set the coffee pot last night.  I also remember very clearly saying, “I’ll just deal with it in the morning” after we got back so late.  However, I am not about to take the blame for this and my head hurts and I am just so tired.  So, why don’t you just get out of my face before I pop you one?

Microsoft's Touchscreen Device - Alleged Mock-Up

Apple Insider, via Gizmodo, have released mock-up images of Microsoft’s new tablet device.

The authenticity of this piece is highly questionable coming from Gizmodo who, earlier this year, implied Steve Jobs was all but dead, based on “reliable sources.”

Besides, we all know Microsoft can’t release this device until they see what Apple has done.

In all fairness, the Microsoft “slablet” looks quite ludicrous, as well as ugly, so this could actually be the real deal from Redmond.

Still no word yet on whether the real estate is for sale across the street from the Apple tablet.

AppleInsider | Purported shots of Microsoft’s touchscreen device revealed

Is Political Asylum Remedy for Rifqa?

September 29 had been the next scheduled hearing in the case of Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teen who ran away to Florida out of fear that she would be killed for converting from Islam to Christianity. But yesterday her parents filed a motion for a hearing seeking jurisdiction of the case to be moved from Orlando to Columbus. An Ohio judge has set a hearing for October 27. The Florida judge currently supervising the case said at a hearing in Orlando on Monday afternoon that he will consult with his Ohio counterpart to settle jurisdictional issues. (See related video report)

Bary is in foster care in Florida while her case is being reviewed. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found no credible threats to Bary.

But W.L. Cati, the founder of White Horse Ministry, Inc., is concerned that Bary is not a U.S. citizen and that her parents might send her back to Sri Lanka, where she would be in grave danger.

“We’re talking about getting asylum for her. That’s a long process,” she notes. “But maybe even if her attorney would start that process, that might block some of this because there is definite cause for fear for her to go back to her country or to her parents.”

According to Cati, Bary’s family apparently let their visas expire. “They’re walking on thin ice because they’ve been here five years illegally,” she adds. “What we need to pray is her parents get deported, and she is allowed to stay here.”

Cati plans to be on hand for the next hearing.

By Chad Groening

www.onenewsnow.com

via Political Asylum Suggested As Remedy for Rifqa.

Think about it...

Sitting in an air conditioned room, watching the TV and sipping in a mocha, might sound luxurious. An urgent call, an appointment or a scheduled task, which drains the laziness out of you, turns up, leaving you with no other option than to get dressed and make sure your valuable presence would be felt at the occasion. So far so good…

A walk to the taxi stand..or a pan shop itself makes you feel what I’m focusing upon. Your well ironed shirt begins to show long thin creases all over, patches of dark marks appear in areas of close contact with the skin…you sweat from almost everywhere, then the itch sets in…scratching…rashes… it goes on. You get an auto, you expect some air to flow…it does flow, but it’ll make you feel nauseated…highly irritable and dehydrated…the dust settles on your skin, darkening it..in your hair, parching it. In a couple of minutes time, you are a shade darker than what you were at the beginning. You get multiple doses of these ‘breath- “taking” stuffs at every traffic signal. Then finally, the place arrives…you get down…pay the auto wala…check yourself in the mirror for the last minute touch ups..and you’re shocked to notice that it requires more than just a touch up to restore what you looked like a couple of hours ago.

This was just an ‘almost nothing’ comparison of what’s happening around us. Every year we speak of the summers getting hotter…the rains getting scarcer…lands affected with droughts on one hand, leaving the people withering, and those succumbing to the mights of the mosquitoes during floods on the other. The cycle has been largely disrupted with infrequent rains and summers over the course of their respective periods in a year. Crisis…sets in.

This is actually what I felt when I’ve been visiting places like Hyderabad and Chennai for the past 3-4 months…and felt that my own place was only a fraction better than these. Its the mornings and the noons till the early evenings…that are so unbearable….sometimes the heat breaking in at nights as well..

The Sun had been there for billions of years, but why have we been thinking of the “heat” so lately??? because it has been bothering us in every way…daily activities, transport, schools, offices and so on. Now, why has it been bothering us??? Is it because the sun grew mightier??? absolutely not…we are baking ourselves, literally… We chop down trees and build huge towering skyscrapers and other air conditioned stuff…not realizing that a more sophisticated air conditioner replaces a natural one. We “fuel” our vehicles in order to “fuel” the air around with things ought not to be present otherwise. We keep puncturing the ozone.. craving a path for the much avoidable types of cancers. We create and destroy hell a lot of NBD stuff….only to think that they are more effective than their natural counterparts. For instance, I would still prefer jute to plastic, if I’m not one amongst those who think jute is heavy and needs more space.

Its not just one person responsible for this……WE made this situation for ourselves, WE have compromised with nature, WE have disrupted its balance, WE have begun to alter the global climate…finally, WE need to start using our heads…..WE need to pull ourselves out of this….WE need to just….”think about it…”

Will It Work? + Operation KRP

Hey everyone!!

The long awaited option… Can I get papers to switch schools even though I’m not in the district??

This is something my parents and I may try to work towards so I can transfer schools and be with my friends. I really hope I can, because school is not getting any easier. I ate with underclassmen today. O_o But they were more friendly than anyone in my grade. Some asshole I did group work with [I didn't have to do anything honestly, because they didn't even know I was there!] was naming everyone in …’the group that I happened to be in,’ and turned around and called me “Whoever that is.”

I wanted so bad to just flip them off, but they never turned back around. Lousy bitch.

Some dude in my History call introduced themselves to me, even though I already know their name. I guess they just wanted to know mine. Why? I guess just for future reference.

Operation KRP is coming along swimmingly. I don’t think it could get any better unless I manage to acquire everything I need:

Orange long sleeved shirt – CHECK
Green skirt – CHECK
Green Mittens/Gloves – NOPE
Green Scarf – ACQUIRED MATERIAL TO MAKE SCARF
Natural Orange/Red Hair Dye – CHECK

See the major updates? *Squee* I’m so happy… So very happy. I can’t wait to dye my hair. If I like it, I’m going semi-permanent natural orange/red. But we’ll see. I could be allergic to the dye.

Which would mean another dilemma.
Which would add onto my already freakin’-ly long list of dilemmas.

Holy wow… I have a list of dilemmas… I must really be pathetic.

Anyway, yesterday I was thinking about some commercial I think I saw, and how it could be twisted into something perverted…

…Thus, leading to the creation of this: I Didn’t Know… <- Please click that!!

I think I remember seeing them say that on a commercial. Every time I hear them say 'style' on TV or anywhere, it makes my mind immediately switch to 'fangirl mode' and I go all 'StYle happy.'

So… I figured out if you interpret the words the way I did, you come up with the fact that they're prostitutes… Because you pay less for them… Ya get it??

I apologize for the huge file… It's the scanners fault for deciding to make it huge. *Bows forgiveness* And sorry for the horrible artwork. I really wasn't trying with the scenery and all. Editing done with Seashore~

I love Seashore…

Isn't my mind so overactive?? When I first thought of that, I was like "OK, I better get this down on paper before I put it off forever."

So, I did. And I'm glad I did, because I think it's funny. Hahaa.

I have the original copy under my bed, along with 5 copy books filled with drawings and fanfiction [Of course, StanXKyle] Hiding that stuff from my rents… If they found it, they wouldn't be happy.

Or at least I think they'd be uber pissed or something like, "WHAT IS WITH YOUR LANGUAGE?" or "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?" and just shooting questions back and forth, which would lead to…

…Hours of explaining all of the shit I've been hiding from them.

Which, of course, hopefully will never happen.

Ok. Time to wrap things up… This is getting a-little too long. Even though all of my posts are just about this long, it's still a lot to read and you're probably getting bored.

…Unless you like the fact that I keep rambling on and on about topics you probably don't care about…

OH WELL.
Bye~
-Taylaa~–

Lost is good art

Lost again: What is creative about being lost?

For me, a whole lot! The thing about mosaics for me is that RANDOM is the big motivator. Mixing colored pieces of glass together and seeing what happens makes the mosaic. The moment of this unplanned, lovely present is part of what makes me get lost in creating art. What is art? To me it’s anytime I can get lost and forget time.

Like a Spiral.

Sherri Loomis

So making money from forgetting about time is rather a leap for me. I prefer to think that barter is a higher form of exchange. Creativity is cooking, eating, spacing out, meditating, listening to crickets, car traffic, looking down where you are walking, seeing lines and shapes, (fill in your blank). A lot of things everyone does falls into a creative category. Zen and the art of dishwashing.  IMHO money has very little to do with anything fun about art. It doesn’t get me lost enough.

So how can I “sell” art? At what cost soul? The art is a moment, now in the past. Maybe these memory fragments help others see the joy in that moment. Some of them remind me of a moment I had, and maybe a new moment starts down a new pathway, a new branching off of some feeling.

My mosaics are also about imperfection, mistakes, and the joy of being the flawed person that I am who doesn’t like to be the big ego artist that has all the answers. I love the idea of not having the answers. Glue is a bad way to build certain structures, but I love the idea of fragile, semi-permanent things captured in a frozen moment. Feeling these mistakes and the missing moments create a syncopated look into all kinds of fun and blurry images.

Throw-away moments are art. Gone leaving traces of paths left by glue and glass.

Spirals are a great way to enjoy being lost

Equinox

Today is the Autumn Equinox, that extraordinary moment in the year where day and night are paused at equal lengths. After tonight, the nights will get longer and the days shorter.

I have a problem with darkness, the lack of light the winter months bring. I’m not a great fan of wallowing in sunshine either; I’ve never been one for lolling around slathered with suncream and basting myself every hour. But I do spend a lot of time outdoors and I am feeling slightly sick at the thought of the diminishing hours of daylight. I get S.A.D. I have a special lamp which takes the edge of the worst of it, and I take St.John’s wort too. I’m also feeling resentful of the fact that my summer was spent either working or getting stuff ready for work and extremely little doing the things I enjoy like walking along beaches and in forests and working in my garden. I know it was my choice, albeit a Hobson’s choice as after this week I don’t know when I will next get work, but I still resent it.

It also occurred to me that barring accidents or lethal illness, I am roughly at an equinox of life. My grandmother lived to be 85, and the mid to late 80s seems to be the lifespan of much of my family that I know of. Given that Nan lived through two world wars, smoked, ate stupid food and had 8 kids, the likelihood is that at 43, I am probably about halfway through my allotted span of life. I might get more, or I might get less.

I’m thinking that just as I don’t want to waste the sunny days of my summers again doing things I don’t love doing, I really don’t want to spend the second half of my life the same way. I’ve had a good life and made good choices, but that said, I haven’t achieved very many of the dreams and ambitions I have always had deep inside. I was brought up to believe that I’m not very important and that my dreams too are just that: dreams.

A bit later today, when I’m dressed at least, I want to do something to celebrate this double equinox and to fix in my mind that every day needs to be savoured, rain, snow, bills and triumphs and all. I’m loathe to make a big deal out of this because I have a horror of show, but I do want to mark it in some way.

I’ll fill you in later what I do.

The Door

Hello: Here is this week’s Living Water. It is a sample chapter from a book proposal I put together a while back called, Second Chance Church: Becoming A Place of Grace.

There are doors…and then there are doors. A door can be beautifully crafted, can serve as a gateway and even communicate about those inside.

Think of the door or doors to your church. Or more specifically, the door to your worship space. This door is much more than a door.

For so many it is the line between holy and unholy, between saved and condemned, between living and dead.

Now that is a door.

But how did this door or any door like it become this powerful? It is one of those things that no one can really pinpoint when that door, that line, that wall was raised. But it is there and it is real.

A pastor tells the story of a young woman whom he invited to his church. She initially declined, explaining that with her tattoos and the way she looked, that she would never be welcomed. The pastor assured her that it would be okay and told her that he would have some members there to welcome her. Erica hoped and trusted and showed one Sunday and it went okay – the hosts did a good job. She came back again. Now, it was summer and so the third time she visited, she wore a summer dress and so some of her tattoos were visible.

Sadly, the looks and the judgment were too much. As she left, she said wistfully to the pastor, “I told you that it wouldn’t work.” She thanked him and never returned.

From tattoos to “visible” sins to disabilities to unkempt appearances, the door to the church, though often just wood can be as strong as steel, as cold and unforgiving as concrete.

But you see, usually not too far from the door of wood in the front of the church and the worship space is something else made of wood. And thank God, it is stronger than steel and concrete and anything else on earth, including death – and more forgiving than anything else on earth, including all of us.

The cross.

The cross that no one on earth can stand in front of without being convicted of their sins. The cross, which says, to anyone who would humbly come to it, no matter how many sins, no matter how many years or miles, “you are forgiven.”

The hymn “To God Be the Glory” sings,

“O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,

To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

To be full of grace is to be a place where no one bothers to think anymore about who is a believer and who is the vilest offender – because in the grace and sight of the old, rugged cross of Jesus Christ, they are one in the same.

And so we have been talking about church doors from the outside in. But to be a place of grace – to be a Christian community full of grace, it doesn’t matter how many visitors come in through the doors. What matters is how abundantly the grace of Jesus Christ, the one whose blood and love flowed down from the cross, flows from the cross down through the pulpit, through the aisles and pews and hearts, hands and voices and out the doors into the streets.

When this grace flows with such a tide and such a momentum, those doors made of wood and judgment and lines and fear are washed clean and opened wider than ever thought possible.

There are doors…and then there are doors. The doors to a church were always meant to be channels for grace to come flooding and pouring out and thereby open…open like the outstretched and welcoming arms of Jesus.

Amen.

Discussion Questions

1. If you belong to a church, how well does your church do according to this? How open are the doors?
2. If you don’t belong to a church, does the first part of this chapter capture how you feel?
3. What can individual Christians do to create a “place of grace?”
4. What about the door to your life or your heart? How open is it to others? Why is this important?

Meltdown in The Ruby Lounge...

…one of those nights where it goes wrong massively and you have to accept certain immolation…

We were halfway through our set (main support for The Hot Melts) and it was going well – then some uneartly noise started emitting from my amp on ‘Dim Mak’, temporarily defeaning Thomas (really) – he left the stage twice (at that point I didn’t know about the deafness)..he came back on and then he couldn’t hear anything in the monitors as we attempted ‘Shame You Don’t Know’, swiftly followed by my mic stand collapsing, then a string breakage on the guitar..I had to release a bestial roar at this point as we approached meltdown…

We felt like a coupla fucking Nero’s fiddling away whilst Rome burnt around us and called it a night when Thomas left the stage for the third and final time, poleaxed by imbalance caused by the mild tinnitus in his ears…

Ironically, people loved it.

We’re back in the dungeon getting straight for Friday’s return to The Ruby Lounge for our BBC Manchester Introducing show…

A tooth for an eye

Miami, FL - Sharron Thornton, 60, was blind for nine years after contracting Stevens-Johnsons syndrome, a rare disease that scarred her cornea. But, she has regained her sight after surgeons succeeded in implanting her canine tooth in her eye.

 

She said:
“If you could keep your eyes closed just for one week, it is amazing what you would see when you opened your eyes again.”

Walk outside around here & you might just meet a Bulldog

Yellow bulldog in front of Jittery Joe's

There are bulldogs all around this town of Athens, Georgia.  Someone got the smart idea to create wild & crazy bulldogs of every color and design and place them on dozens of street corners.  Why? you might wonder.  It’s because Athens, Georgia, is the home to the University of Georgia and their mascot is…anyone got this figured out already?…the Bulldog.

Now I’m no stranger to Bulldogs.  My hometown of Yale, Michigan, claimed a blue and white bulldog as our high school mascot.  So we sang some cheering song, “Victory for Blue & White!!” claiming superiority for OUR bulldog football, basketball or baseball team. 

But I’ve never seen anything like the Bulldog fever which has inundated this deep southern town.

Bulldog in a dignified suit and tie

We opted for a tour around Athens this morning, in the lightly sprinkling rain.  I would jump out from the backseat of the car and go photograph bulldogs and other interesting sights.  (The first stop I begged sported a bulldog in front of Jittery Joe’s coffee shop.  Guess who wanted a cappuccino?  Not the in-laws.  Me.  How I love coffee shops…and bookstores…where we later paused.  What good in-laws I have.)

Arches at the University of Georgia

One of the last times we visited, my favorite brother-in-law Craig took us for a walking tour on the U of G campus.  We enjoyed a great time and a briskly paced walk.  Today, I ventured back into campus only far enough to photograph some more infamous sites.

Here’s the legend about the above arches.  If you walk under the arch as a freshman, you will never graduate.  A UGA alumnus from the class of 1910 has been identified as the originator of this particular legend.  He arrived from Florida with only a trunk, a suitcase and less than $200 in his wallet and vowed he would not walk under the wrought-iron arch until he carried his diploma in hand. 

I, on the other hand, have no desire to graduate from U of G, so I boldly walked beneath its arch today.  So there!  And on to the next building, of which the name has been completely forgotten.  Craig took us to the top floor last time we visited and we peered out over the campus.  It has such an old southern feel to it. 

Imagine climbing to the top and looking down over campus...

You might have also enjoyed photos of the houses along “Sorority Row”.  What most struck me was the large white rocking chairs on the front porches.  So unlike the porches in northern Michigan.  You could almost imagine the slow rocking of the chair on hot summer afternoons with the temperatures soaring past 100 degrees.  Yep.  You could almost imagine it.

Bulldog decorated with butterflies and insects

After our bulldog and University of Georgia tour, and after a leisurely stop at the bookstore, we meandered back home to Watkinsville.  I asked if we might stop and photograph kudzu.  You know, the leaves and vines which are choking many a southern tree.  Native to Japan and China, it found its way to the south and has such pejorative names such as “foot a night vine” and “mile a minute vine” or (my favorite) “the vine that ate the south.”  My father-in-law said some people eat kudzu soup.  However, he has not heard of anyone who likes it.

Kudzu vine

We spent most of the afternoon and evening inside, although I went exploring twice when the rain let up a little.  Just wanted to spend enough time outdoors to satisfy the requirements of the outdoor commitment.

Explored down by a nearby pond, and back behind the house again. Fell in love with this up-close thistle plant:

Thistle

Finally, especially for my friend Amy, I am to report on the hour in which it gets light and dark here in Georgia.  From my best estimates, it seems to get light between 7 -7:15 a.m. and darkness is mostly descended now about 7:45 p.m.

Back up

I was in my teens. He was in his thirties. I reached his shoulder. We shook hands when we met and, after our last meeting, he kissed my hand. He’s the only man who swung me around a tree, a la Tarzan, and I was more than happy to be his Jane because it’s not every day that a little Indian girl gets to clutch on to Patrick Swayze (may he rest in peace). Yes, ladies and gents, I have danced with the Dirty Dancer himself. When I read about his passing the other day, I realised just how insidious the impact of bad movie-making is. In my head there rolled a soft-focus flashback of me and Patrick Swayze whizzing around a fake tree in the middle of a film set. Add some falsetto singing and it could be a moment from “Pocahontas”.  This is particularly ironic because I honestly didn’t find him particularly lustworthy. When I met him, I’d been expecting Johnny Castle. Instead I met a man who was blonde, strangely square and much shorter than I’d expected. It was entirely disappointing even though Patrick Swayze was very sweet. After all, he did voluntarily take a hefty teenager in his arms and swing around tree (and only because I’d mentioned how much I envied Tarzan being able to swing from tree to tree). Patrick Swayze remains to this day the most buff man I’ve clutched and I do remember being a little unnerved by how bumpy his muscular body felt. It was a bit like being clasped to a road paved by giant cobblestones. It was at that moment that I decided that never again do I want to meet anyone I have a crush on: I imagine them much better than God or genetics did.

The Rubber Band Man.

If you just happen to have a face like rubber, today’s the day to head up to the village of Egremont in Cumbria for the World Gurning Championships. According to my man-on-the-spot:

Contestants put their heads through a horse collar and have a set time in which to contort their faces in the scariest, most grotesque, silliest expression possible. False teeth may be left in, taken out or turned upside down if desired. The person who gets the most applause for their ugly face wins!

Dating back to 1267, the World Gurning Championships are the highlight of the Egremont Crab Fair, a celebration of the time when the local Lord of the Manor wheeled a cart of crab apples through the village as a goodwill gesture to the poor. Crab apples having a sharp taste, it’s thought the gurning competition originated from the faces the locals made when they bit into the sharp apples.

Her Majesty the Queen tries to copy a previous winner.

Pope John Paul II.

Acute constipation.

What can I say?

Not Much This Week....

I’m heading north early tomorrow morning.  Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to post when I return.  It was a busy week and I didn’t get out with the camera too much.  Hopefully I’ll make up for that tomorrow.  Our photo club challenge this week is a self portrait.  Oh, my!  Going to have trouble with that one.  I did play around a bit today but not happy with the result.

A not so good self portrait

Here’s hoping I come up with something better before time is up.

I did attend a Powwow last Sunday but didn’t get many  shots.  Guess I wasn’t in the right frame of mine.  Here are a few things I captured.  Not all that happy with the shots.  There were some beautiful colors in the wares that were for sale though.

Pelts

 

Toys

 

Multitude of colors

 

Charms

 

Soaps

 

Prints

 

Dream Catchers

Finally...

Taglish Post.

Finally, my blog’s back to normal. And Finally I’ve recovered from the pain I had last two weeks. It’s about School and I don’t have to mention it here. I’m greatly disappointed with myself. The merit I’m expecting to have was gone. I admit I cried last nights after such a day; sobbing like there’s no end. Iyak ako ng iyak di ko alam kung baket ayaw huminto, pero hindi ako Emo hah? I just can’t stop the tears from falling.. saket e. I admit I’m weak but I know I have to be strong. I never wanted others to see my cry and I have to pretend to let others know I’m okay. Uh, mmkay. Enough with this stuff. I might cry. hehe. OA haha. LOL.

I hate dramas, that’s why I always want to see people around me laughing or smiling. I want inspiration but not love life. I want someone to encourage me that I must stand up whenever I fail, someone who could be with me when I’m lonely, and someone who could understand what I feel and going through.

Birthday ngayon ng classmate ko na si Nikki. Mga 6:30pm na kami umuwi at naulanan pa kami kasi wala ng susundo samin at madilim na kaya kumuha pa kami ng tricycle.

Busy pa din ang schedule ko ngayong month na ‘to. Deadlines of Projects, Oral Reading, Rosary Rally, Book Reviews, Research Paper at kung ano pa.

I just hope I can make it. I hope God will always guide me and strengthen me always in my everyday life.

INFO: END

The straw that broke Jetsets back

I have recently decided to quit my God awful job. There are many factors that led to this including ritual humiliation, being screamed and sworn at, being called stupid and idiotic on a daily basis and being single handedly responsible for bringing the managing director to financial ruin. But the thing that pushed me over the edge happened this week.

Monday: while looking over my work (of the 2 jobs that I do silumtaniously) he pointed out that I had not nearly enough information for his liking and to sort myself out as this is a massive problem. Ok fair enough, so I wrote down every single useless pointless peices of info on those pages. Tuesday: While preusing my work again, it was brought to my attention that all the info I had so painstakingly hand written was in fact useless as I had not used a highlighter and there was no way for people to see the information. Right so I went to work with that highlighter, you could of seen that page from space it was so illuminous HA take that!. Wednesday: Alas all my highlighting skills where in vain as I had not used different colour highlighters on the page so how where people to know that there was different points. . OOh Eh I don’t know, FUCKING READING IT!!!!! This apparently is a major problem and resulting in a 15 screaming session in fromt of other staff members.

Seriously I can’t wait to leave, I’ m taking every bloody highlighter in that place when I walk out that door. They’ll be crippled. They’ll shut down in a week cause of it!!!! You just watch.

Idiot, phone book, and a hotel

So, I was staying at a Hampton Inn in Columbus and I got talking to one of the ladies at the front desk after a few days. I had complimented them on how well they had been cleaning my room. With the exception of the Park Hyatt in Chicago this particular Hampton Inn (at Pulsar Pl.) is the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

When I told the lady that I really appreciated how well they have been with my room she was shocked and offered me free drinks and snacks. I said, I appreciated it but no thank you. I was then told by her that not many people make compliments, they just complain. She had just recently gotten off of the phone with a man that would not check in unless he could take a phone book to the room. I understand maybe they used to do this in the past, but shit, I’ve not used a phone book in about 10 years. Welcome to 2009 for fuck’s sake. They had like 3 phone books that guests could use in the lobby and then move along. Why the fuck do you need to have a damn phone book to take to your room? Get over yourself. There are more things in life than having to be Mr. Super-Empowered-Jerk-Guy and impose your will (or try to) at a hotel franchise. What a fucking moron!

So for anyone interested the Hampton Inn in Columbus is a great place to stay. Technically I guess it’s in Polaris Place, but none the less. Give it a try.

My Birthday Present!

Well, I’ve been having a kind of slow, crappy week… so I thought I’d post something that makes me happy – my birthday present! My birthday was a couple of weeks ago, while we were in Hawaii. So while in the amazing Ala Moana mall, which I mentioned over and over, we picked up my birthday present:

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Now, I realize a pen and journal is not everybody’s idea of an amazing birthday present, but it is my idea of one. I have had journals for as long as I can remember, and I am neurotic about pens. When I find a pen I like, I take it everywhere with me until it runs out of ink. Then I buy another one exactly like it, and carry that one around until it runs out of ink. I take it back and forth from work to home, and everywhere else. And I rarely lose anything (OCD, as I’ve mentioned before). The journal is also my favorite kind of journal – leather bound, hardcover, lined. They carry it at Crane & Co. I have also always wanted a Mont Blanc pen. My dad has always had them, and he had several different types when I was kid, and I was constantly trying to get him to give them to me…but he never would. Now I have my very own though, so I can stop trying to find ways to steal them from my dad every time I go home to Dallas. Just joking!! - sorta.

Also, I got a hand-written thank you note in the mail yesterday from the salesman who helped us at the Mont Blanc store. Gotta love that kind of service!

The Predictability of Unpredictability

Think about how many factors are present in a game of baseball. The speed of the pitch. The rotation of the ball. The velocity of the wind. The force of the swing. The moods of the players. Hope. Fear. Confidence. Nervousness. Concentration. Distraction. With so many factors in play, the outcome of a baseball game must be completely unpredictable, right? And yet, we know that the game will be ten innings long. We know that one of the teams will eventually win and the other will lose. We know that the winning team will go on to play another team. We know that the last remaining teams will compete in the World Series. And we know that one of those teams will go home with a trophy. So you see, despite the multitude of factors determining the outcome of a single game, when you look at the big picture, the things you thought were unpredictable couldn’t be further from it.

You may believe that life is random and chaotic, and that may very well be true for you. As we’ve discussed before, your life is the result of your thoughts. If the events of your life seems scattered, it’s because your thoughts are scattered. Most people have not made a habit of managing their thoughts. They allow their thoughts to wander, and as a result, they themselves continue to wander aimlessly through life. In order to make a significant change to your circumstances, you must focus on a single objective with all of your intention and move towards it every day. When you allow your thoughts to wander, you take one step forward, one step back, one step to the left, one step to the right, you end up right back where you started and nothing ever changes. You need to focus your thoughts in one direction, and when you do that, the events of your life will begin to form a cohesive pathway. The universe will line up for you. You will see patterns and coincidences you never saw before. You will begin to recognize the underlying order behind it all.

So what about chance? Of course, chance is still a factor. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the strange and unexplained trends that defy the odds. Some people call them coincidences, and that’s a valid argument. After all, coincidences are built into the rules of probability. Naturally, if the odds of an event occurring are one in a million, the “one” must seem pretty miraculous when it finally happens. But after a second coincidence, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, tenth, fifteenth in the same week, you may start to wonder if there is something bigger going on behind the scenes. It’s not just “luck.” It’s a cause-and-effect relationship. You organize your thoughts and your life becomes organized. Once you reach a certain level of clarity, you may experience what I like to call a “thunderstorm of coincidences.” You’ll think of an old friend and the next day they’ll give you a phone call. You’ll have dreams about things before they happen. You’ll consider buying a DVD at the store, then go home and find that the same movie playing on TV. Each tiny coincidence is like the rumbling of thunder in the clouds. You’ll feel the presence of an invisible force in the air. And soon, the lightning bolt of creation will strike.

Hostess Cupcake turns 90!!! (the day before yesterday)

I just learned that on Sept. 14 (the day before yesterday) that Hostess celebrated 90 years of sweet creamy cupcake goodness.  Why was I not notified of this earlier!?!?

I guess our infamous R&D department was taking a nap or something*.

While we all may have missed the ‘official’ celebration, we shouldn’t let that stop us from celebrating with that sweet fatty goodness of a hostess cuptake today!

What!  You don’t have a cupcake?

Then make your own by following the recipe here or here

These recipes show how to make something very closely resembling a hostess cupcake  (including the filling and icing.)

While you’re at it, why not take things up a notch and wrap it in bacon or add some candy corn?  If you do this be sure and let us here at the blog know how it turns out.  You could potentially win the opportunity to be a guest columnist** and describe your creation.

In honor of our (belated) celebration I have included a few facts about hostess cupcakes that I found on the hostess website.

• Mystery surrounds who “invented” the original Hostess CupCake in 1919, however, we know it was baking executive D.R. “Doc” Rice who, more than 30 years later in 1950, added the signature seven squiggles and vanilla-creme filling.

• Americans eat more than 600 million cupcakes every year

• The original Hostess CupCake slogan was “You get a big delight in every bite!”

*R&D likely WAS taking a nap as they are prone to do between the hours of 8 and 5 most every Monday.

**guest columnist will (possibly) be chosen at random from all entries by our R&D department… Assuming they are aren’t taking their monday nap.