Valentine's day is coming, and although I do have the LKP parties to look forward to (Oh lord), I'm pretty much avoiding the whole thing. Not because I don't think it's a cute holiday, but because I am oddly bummed about not having anybody to buy stupid sappy pink and white crap for.
Someone should just slap me now.
2.05.2003
Fred made me a page on his domain to post writings. (After a long conversation with myself, I've come to the conclusion he did this so I'd be guilted into finishing something, knowing that deep down I can't display anything for public consumption without it being somewhat completed first. I had to admit it's quite brilliant. Which, unfortunatly, forced me to put up my Louieville Slugger.) I was terribly flattered that he thought my writing was good enough to host on his site, especally since I find myself lucky when I remember how to spell schedule correctly. I threw up a layout that I made using a picture of a lovely orange armchair that was left alone in the middle of someones grassy feild. (I'm 100% certain the color of that armchair was the reason it was abandoned, but maybe it smelled like cat urine, I just took the picture, I wasn't crazy enough to take the chair itself. I've never understood the draw of taking things people leave abanoned, and I hope I never do.) I named the site "The Abandoned Armchair" for lack of anything better (plus, it fit...who am I to argue with my strung out crack-head of a muse?) and now I just have to put content up.
Here we find ourselves dangling over the side of a bridge. I haven't written since NaNoWriMo, in fact, I never finished NaNoWriMo. I'm a fraud. A lazy fraud. A big lazy fraud. I should be ashamed (shame on me) and I really need to finish some of the things I've started because they're not all trash. Maybe not the great American novel, but not trash. I hope.
I drag myself out of bed at 5 am every morning so I can have a few minutes to myself in which I can write. I get about an hour a day to myself (that's not counting sleep time, because technicly I'm not awake with myself, I'm being rude and sleeping) so I tried to fit some time in where I can write. The problem is, is I don't. In fact, most of the time for the last couple weeks, I've done something terrible.
I've slept.
Yeah, I admit it. I'm one of those people who reset their alarm to 30 minutes later then they really want after it's gone off so they can have a few more minutes of sleep.
It's naughty, but I love it. I feel rotton though because, even though I need the sleep, I also need to spend some time doing something for myself. So, tomorrow I'm actually going to make myself get up and write something. Honest.
In other interesting news, Jackie (our used-to-be sister childcare provider, now just beloved foul-mouthed friend) has a client who's in the Army Reserves who was shipped off without any prior notice or information today. I don't know where he's going or why (although my smart side has it's little suspisions. ) I thought it would be fun to share that little bit of fluff.
While I'm in the mood for sharing, I was asked again today if I would run a children's class for the H.O.M.E Center. I said I would, but only because I'll be compensated for my time. There is just no way I can put more hours a month into another project for other people and not get reembersed for my time. So, I'm now (once again) in charge of the 5 and under (I'm assuming that's where the cut off will be) class on the weekends. They gave me total control (which, as you should all know, is a very unwise thing to do) and so now I've got to think of some kind of somewhere for this class to go.
Yay..more work.
I'm kind of leary about it, though. I don't want to have people think I'm stepping on toes or anything, especially since the other older children's class just got kicked out of the room they were in because of LKP. (Erm...oops..lol) See, until the building LKP is leasing is finished, we're leasing the entire East wing of the upstairs from the H.O.M.E Center. H.O.M.E is sort of like a community center and some other things all rolled into one. They rent out all of their rooms for classes and everything, so there is always someone using or needing a room. The part of the building we're in (which is almost self contained...all it's missing is a private entrance.) used to be for another program that was run by Mary. Mary used to teach Preschool, so she (so sweetly) gave us her room to use for our school, and moved into a room the other side of the buidling. Well that room was used for H.O.M.E's children's classes (confused yet?) so they were stuck without a room. So, LKP said we'd share our room with them, since they'd only use it for an hour on Sundays (and once the week is over, we normally don't go back up there anyway, except to clean or drop stuff off or change walls or...ok, we're there all the time, but we don't teach on the weekends) and they moved their stuff in (They have a TV and some movie racks that are just covered and off limits during school and they put some stuff in our storage closet).
Well, everything was good until we opened, then problems started. Since we signed a contract saying we are liabel for any damage done because of our business and that we're responsible for everything we bring in, we had to set some ground rules. Have you ever been inside a preschool? It's a mixture of Toys 'R' Us, Michael's Craft Store and any learning product store you can find. There is stuff everywhere, all over the walls, all over the centers, and all over shelves in our storage room. All this stuff is a huge temptation, so we had to start putting everything from our centers and shelves and put them away in the storage room, and lock the room. Well, the kids in the children's classes were used to being able to get into any closet or room they want or take whatever they want out. There was no way we can let them do that, because it would just be a disaster, so we opened the closet in the morning and closed it when they got stuff out.
To make a long story short, it made alot of people mad. They thought they should be able to get into whatever they wanted. The kids weren't supervised, so every time I went up there after class there was stuff everywhere, and things moved, furniture drawn on, wall stuff drawn on, walls drawn on...clogged toilets...broken stuff...missing stuff...
::sigh::
Plus, the whole putting away of every center (we have 16, and are adding two more) ment that I tacked 10 hours of work onto my week just in putting center stuff back out in the centers. It's crappy, and it makes for a hard job.
Well, the teachers of the children's class got mad, complained to Jay, so Jay moved them into Joe's room. (Joe is a massage therapist who has a room directly down the balcony from us.) I have to be honest and say I'm glad they moved because it means I can keep the centers out and won't have to worry about damage not done by us (yay!) but I feel bad because people are upset (they said we said they couldn't touch our stuff, we didn't, we said we didn't want the kids in the closet and left unsupervised with our stuff) and poor Joe has to share his room.
Guilt...
But, we pay rent for our space, and we have to have a certain look and process. There is no way our business can be taken seriously if our space is shared with a bunch of other people and dosen't look dedicated to the class. We have enough problems trying to make it clear we're not affiliated with the Center other then leasing the space. (There is nothing wrong with the Center, LKP just isn't affiliaed with it. Dosen't mean the staff can't be.) Oh well.
Now I'm off to make feild trip release forms for Friday, notices about our Valentine's Day party next Friday and finish the website.
Whee.
Here we find ourselves dangling over the side of a bridge. I haven't written since NaNoWriMo, in fact, I never finished NaNoWriMo. I'm a fraud. A lazy fraud. A big lazy fraud. I should be ashamed (shame on me) and I really need to finish some of the things I've started because they're not all trash. Maybe not the great American novel, but not trash. I hope.
I drag myself out of bed at 5 am every morning so I can have a few minutes to myself in which I can write. I get about an hour a day to myself (that's not counting sleep time, because technicly I'm not awake with myself, I'm being rude and sleeping) so I tried to fit some time in where I can write. The problem is, is I don't. In fact, most of the time for the last couple weeks, I've done something terrible.
I've slept.
Yeah, I admit it. I'm one of those people who reset their alarm to 30 minutes later then they really want after it's gone off so they can have a few more minutes of sleep.
It's naughty, but I love it. I feel rotton though because, even though I need the sleep, I also need to spend some time doing something for myself. So, tomorrow I'm actually going to make myself get up and write something. Honest.
In other interesting news, Jackie (our used-to-be sister childcare provider, now just beloved foul-mouthed friend) has a client who's in the Army Reserves who was shipped off without any prior notice or information today. I don't know where he's going or why (although my smart side has it's little suspisions. ) I thought it would be fun to share that little bit of fluff.
While I'm in the mood for sharing, I was asked again today if I would run a children's class for the H.O.M.E Center. I said I would, but only because I'll be compensated for my time. There is just no way I can put more hours a month into another project for other people and not get reembersed for my time. So, I'm now (once again) in charge of the 5 and under (I'm assuming that's where the cut off will be) class on the weekends. They gave me total control (which, as you should all know, is a very unwise thing to do) and so now I've got to think of some kind of somewhere for this class to go.
Yay..more work.
I'm kind of leary about it, though. I don't want to have people think I'm stepping on toes or anything, especially since the other older children's class just got kicked out of the room they were in because of LKP. (Erm...oops..lol) See, until the building LKP is leasing is finished, we're leasing the entire East wing of the upstairs from the H.O.M.E Center. H.O.M.E is sort of like a community center and some other things all rolled into one. They rent out all of their rooms for classes and everything, so there is always someone using or needing a room. The part of the building we're in (which is almost self contained...all it's missing is a private entrance.) used to be for another program that was run by Mary. Mary used to teach Preschool, so she (so sweetly) gave us her room to use for our school, and moved into a room the other side of the buidling. Well that room was used for H.O.M.E's children's classes (confused yet?) so they were stuck without a room. So, LKP said we'd share our room with them, since they'd only use it for an hour on Sundays (and once the week is over, we normally don't go back up there anyway, except to clean or drop stuff off or change walls or...ok, we're there all the time, but we don't teach on the weekends) and they moved their stuff in (They have a TV and some movie racks that are just covered and off limits during school and they put some stuff in our storage closet).
Well, everything was good until we opened, then problems started. Since we signed a contract saying we are liabel for any damage done because of our business and that we're responsible for everything we bring in, we had to set some ground rules. Have you ever been inside a preschool? It's a mixture of Toys 'R' Us, Michael's Craft Store and any learning product store you can find. There is stuff everywhere, all over the walls, all over the centers, and all over shelves in our storage room. All this stuff is a huge temptation, so we had to start putting everything from our centers and shelves and put them away in the storage room, and lock the room. Well, the kids in the children's classes were used to being able to get into any closet or room they want or take whatever they want out. There was no way we can let them do that, because it would just be a disaster, so we opened the closet in the morning and closed it when they got stuff out.
To make a long story short, it made alot of people mad. They thought they should be able to get into whatever they wanted. The kids weren't supervised, so every time I went up there after class there was stuff everywhere, and things moved, furniture drawn on, wall stuff drawn on, walls drawn on...clogged toilets...broken stuff...missing stuff...
::sigh::
Plus, the whole putting away of every center (we have 16, and are adding two more) ment that I tacked 10 hours of work onto my week just in putting center stuff back out in the centers. It's crappy, and it makes for a hard job.
Well, the teachers of the children's class got mad, complained to Jay, so Jay moved them into Joe's room. (Joe is a massage therapist who has a room directly down the balcony from us.) I have to be honest and say I'm glad they moved because it means I can keep the centers out and won't have to worry about damage not done by us (yay!) but I feel bad because people are upset (they said we said they couldn't touch our stuff, we didn't, we said we didn't want the kids in the closet and left unsupervised with our stuff) and poor Joe has to share his room.
Guilt...
But, we pay rent for our space, and we have to have a certain look and process. There is no way our business can be taken seriously if our space is shared with a bunch of other people and dosen't look dedicated to the class. We have enough problems trying to make it clear we're not affiliated with the Center other then leasing the space. (There is nothing wrong with the Center, LKP just isn't affiliaed with it. Dosen't mean the staff can't be.) Oh well.
Now I'm off to make feild trip release forms for Friday, notices about our Valentine's Day party next Friday and finish the website.
Whee.
2.03.2003
TPC is down again, our server is reinstalling software and switching machines and whatnot. It should be back up by the end of the day, in the mean time I'll post what I was going to post there here.
Persa (who has a new website address I can't remember offhand. I'm so awful :( ) sent the lovely bracelets she made for during the Blogathon out to people. (I owe her like boxers and stuff, I swear I'll send them as soon as I can afford to) I love mine, it's very kewl, it's all twisted and has purpley-green beads. I just wanted to say thanks Pers, and don't be such a stranger ok? We miss you :(
Persa (who has a new website address I can't remember offhand. I'm so awful :( ) sent the lovely bracelets she made for during the Blogathon out to people. (I owe her like boxers and stuff, I swear I'll send them as soon as I can afford to) I love mine, it's very kewl, it's all twisted and has purpley-green beads. I just wanted to say thanks Pers, and don't be such a stranger ok? We miss you :(
1.30.2003
I've got about ten minutes before I'm due at work to start prep for my first class. Prep would be a whole lot easier if I had seperate areas for things like storage, and for offices. As it is, there is one large walk-in storage room that we use for storage, prep, and where I store my office. (All neatly stacked in a small rollable file cabinet. I've christened it "Jamie's Portable Office". It even has it's own sign, that says "Jamie's Portable Office", of course. I'm way to easily amused. It's sad and I apologize.) We even use this room as a coatroom, and hang our stuff on tacks because I can't find the hooks that reside in the little baby food jar. Half the time my tack falls down, of course, I'm sure that dosen't justify turning one of the fire extinguishers that's located in the corner into my personal coatrack.
I'm sitting here making Jump Flash Cards with letters and colors. I tried it out yesterday during Math, and the kids absolutely loved it. You take blank flash cards (or 3x5 cards) and write whatever it is you want on them (Letters, numbers, words, colors, shapes, whatever floats that cute little lesson plan boat of yours.) and then you draw some stick figures 'jumping'. (Jumping is not to be confused with stick figures in unnatural, painful looking leg bent positions and wonton poses. Remeber : even stick figures have modesty.) Have the little smelly munchkins sit on the floor in a circle, and have them identify each thing as you hold it up, and when you get to the Jumping Man (as he was named yesterday) the kids can get up and jump up and down.
Whee! Unnecessary pounding, stomping, screaming noises!
Until our building is finished, we're in our own part of the Center on the second floor. On the first floor below us, among other things, is one of the staff offices. I swear my plotting this game had nothing to do with the fact that at the same time lurking in the room below was Jay pounding on his computer cringing at the faint thumps and shrieks. Really.
It was mearly a happy coincidence. ;)
I'm sitting here making Jump Flash Cards with letters and colors. I tried it out yesterday during Math, and the kids absolutely loved it. You take blank flash cards (or 3x5 cards) and write whatever it is you want on them (Letters, numbers, words, colors, shapes, whatever floats that cute little lesson plan boat of yours.) and then you draw some stick figures 'jumping'. (Jumping is not to be confused with stick figures in unnatural, painful looking leg bent positions and wonton poses. Remeber : even stick figures have modesty.) Have the little smelly munchkins sit on the floor in a circle, and have them identify each thing as you hold it up, and when you get to the Jumping Man (as he was named yesterday) the kids can get up and jump up and down.
Whee! Unnecessary pounding, stomping, screaming noises!
Until our building is finished, we're in our own part of the Center on the second floor. On the first floor below us, among other things, is one of the staff offices. I swear my plotting this game had nothing to do with the fact that at the same time lurking in the room below was Jay pounding on his computer cringing at the faint thumps and shrieks. Really.
It was mearly a happy coincidence. ;)
1.24.2003
1.22.2003
To Rebecca, who was wondering how the first class went...
It went alright, thanks for asking. The first couple weeks are just going to be run throughs so I can get the schedual and the curriculum tweaked to the way it needs to be. We mostly got the kids oriented with the rules, where cubbies were, what this and that were for, stuff like that. Our theme for the week is 'All About Me' so we made ourselves as paper people and then I did a board display with it, because I was that bored. I had to do some shuffling because I thought we'd have too many activites (I crammed the day completely full) and it turned out we didn't have enough, so I have to do some changing so that there are more activities. Once we get into the swing of things, it'll go really smoothly. I'm taking more pictures today, so I'll post some this evening for those of you who want to see.
Oddly enough, we haven't added any new students in the last week, but we're still getting resumes. Maybe I'll hire them all and they can be my Personal slaves. What do you think? I think slaves sound fun.
It went alright, thanks for asking. The first couple weeks are just going to be run throughs so I can get the schedual and the curriculum tweaked to the way it needs to be. We mostly got the kids oriented with the rules, where cubbies were, what this and that were for, stuff like that. Our theme for the week is 'All About Me' so we made ourselves as paper people and then I did a board display with it, because I was that bored. I had to do some shuffling because I thought we'd have too many activites (I crammed the day completely full) and it turned out we didn't have enough, so I have to do some changing so that there are more activities. Once we get into the swing of things, it'll go really smoothly. I'm taking more pictures today, so I'll post some this evening for those of you who want to see.
Oddly enough, we haven't added any new students in the last week, but we're still getting resumes. Maybe I'll hire them all and they can be my Personal slaves. What do you think? I think slaves sound fun.
I'm taking a rare few minutes for myself and working on (yet another) layout idea for IBOM. (Incase you're wondering, all the layouts I don't use will be hosted on my design site so maybe someone can put them to good use. I feel so wasteful) As I was tinkering with this current layout (I've finally succumbed to doing most of my layouts in CSS. I can't promise it'll last long. I'm such an HTML slut at heart.) thats for Valentines day and when I went to copy some links over I realized I've misplaced the code for the old layout which means I've lost all the information (such as said links) that I had on it.
Oops.
So, I'm asking if you read me, and I had you linked before (or if you want me to link you) leave me a comment with your blog address in it. Most peoples I remember, but we all know I was a blond in a past life, and I want to make sure I don't forget anyone.
Please?
Oops.
So, I'm asking if you read me, and I had you linked before (or if you want me to link you) leave me a comment with your blog address in it. Most peoples I remember, but we all know I was a blond in a past life, and I want to make sure I don't forget anyone.
Please?
1.11.2003
LKP opened it's doors offically on this last Wednesday, but dosen' t hold it's first class until Monday. Which is great because it gives me a few extra hours to cram more fun and messy activities into the curriculum while zooming around town giving employees of carpet showrooms puppy eyes so they'll spill all their protective carpet coverings secrets. Teaching short cheese smelling munchins is a fine art of promoting projectile ridden projects while single handedly protecting the Stain Master. Don't believe them, it's not as stain proof as they claim.
Although I really should use this time to design a easy on/off lockable mini velcro suits and line the walls with a giant bulls eye so I can improve my aim, but the rational side of me knows I won't be able to actually make use of it till the pickup sized sling shot I ordered comes in from Singapore, so why rush things?
LKP is the only private preschool that does not offer Childcare or Extended Care that I can find in the state of Oregon (that I can find, there might be one, but I can't find them. If you can't be found, how can someone use you?), in fact, we're one of the few private preschools in the country that dosen't do anything becides actually teach a class. As exciting and undone as this is, we haven't quite hit the kid market, so our spots are filling up slowly. I'm optamistic about this, I'm sure as soon as people realize (I've been asked 600 times in the past three years if (while I was in childcare) I would 'just do preschool' so I know the kids are out there) what we do offer, we'll be full. What I find insanely amusing, is while we don't have our classes full, someone clued the job market in on us.
We've gotten four resumes and inquires about jobs in the last week. It's really kewl in a 'gee I wish we were full and could hire you' sort of way. It just absolutely proves my point that our program, and ones like it, are going to be completely accepted and wanted once we catch on. It's needed so badly, which in turn is going to make us need staff in the future. Plus, more staff = more time for me to figure out how to hide that stain in the corner and fingerpaint.
And how could I not like that?
Although I really should use this time to design a easy on/off lockable mini velcro suits and line the walls with a giant bulls eye so I can improve my aim, but the rational side of me knows I won't be able to actually make use of it till the pickup sized sling shot I ordered comes in from Singapore, so why rush things?
LKP is the only private preschool that does not offer Childcare or Extended Care that I can find in the state of Oregon (that I can find, there might be one, but I can't find them. If you can't be found, how can someone use you?), in fact, we're one of the few private preschools in the country that dosen't do anything becides actually teach a class. As exciting and undone as this is, we haven't quite hit the kid market, so our spots are filling up slowly. I'm optamistic about this, I'm sure as soon as people realize (I've been asked 600 times in the past three years if (while I was in childcare) I would 'just do preschool' so I know the kids are out there) what we do offer, we'll be full. What I find insanely amusing, is while we don't have our classes full, someone clued the job market in on us.
We've gotten four resumes and inquires about jobs in the last week. It's really kewl in a 'gee I wish we were full and could hire you' sort of way. It just absolutely proves my point that our program, and ones like it, are going to be completely accepted and wanted once we catch on. It's needed so badly, which in turn is going to make us need staff in the future. Plus, more staff = more time for me to figure out how to hide that stain in the corner and fingerpaint.
And how could I not like that?
1.06.2003
I'm heading out in a bit to do something I've been waiting to do for a very long time. I'm going downtown to drop off menus and a termination letter to the USDA Food Program canceling their services to our company. It's pretty sad that someone would be so excited over telling that organization to get lost, but I am, and it's a good thing.
Yay.
After years of dealing with them, I disentangle myself from their nonsense with the same solid beliefs that I had when we started; that they are tredding the water between buoys named worthless and bothersome. The program itself could have wonderful benifits for all the parties involved, but with like everything else in the wide world of Childcare, it does nothing but suck rancid, lumpy gravy.
After I'm done with that little personal milestone, I'm heading off to Portland (in the wee hours of the A.M. no less) to pick up Shauna, Fred's dog, from the airport. Shauna is being flown all the way from Orlando to move in with me, (No poor doggy jokes) because circumstances aren't allowing her to live with Fred, or anyone else nearby. So I offered to take er so that she didn't end up at the Humane Society or worse. Her flight left a few hours ago, and poor Fred is missing her something awful. (So go over and leave him a nice comment, you hear?)
I'm not sure if I'll have her for one month or sixty, it all depends on how things turn out. But for now, she's staying with me, and so I'm Miss Shauna's personal long-term/short-term Doggysitter.
Yep...Doggysitter. Check it out, I'm movin' up in the sitting world.
Sidenote: New layout coming soon. Guess it's time to take my Christmas decorations down. It's the 6th, after all.
Yay.
After years of dealing with them, I disentangle myself from their nonsense with the same solid beliefs that I had when we started; that they are tredding the water between buoys named worthless and bothersome. The program itself could have wonderful benifits for all the parties involved, but with like everything else in the wide world of Childcare, it does nothing but suck rancid, lumpy gravy.
After I'm done with that little personal milestone, I'm heading off to Portland (in the wee hours of the A.M. no less) to pick up Shauna, Fred's dog, from the airport. Shauna is being flown all the way from Orlando to move in with me, (No poor doggy jokes) because circumstances aren't allowing her to live with Fred, or anyone else nearby. So I offered to take er so that she didn't end up at the Humane Society or worse. Her flight left a few hours ago, and poor Fred is missing her something awful. (So go over and leave him a nice comment, you hear?)
I'm not sure if I'll have her for one month or sixty, it all depends on how things turn out. But for now, she's staying with me, and so I'm Miss Shauna's personal long-term/short-term Doggysitter.
Yep...Doggysitter. Check it out, I'm movin' up in the sitting world.
Sidenote: New layout coming soon. Guess it's time to take my Christmas decorations down. It's the 6th, after all.
1.03.2003
I've noticed alot of talk shows are bringing up the old topic of Ritlan again and again. They cover topics everyones heard of, should they take it, what are the risks, too much pressure from schools and teachers and therapists to take it, medicating kids is bad, ect. One topic they haven't really touched on, that I find to be one that perhaps medical professionals and people should pay attention to, is adults abusing their childs prescriptions.
I've heard more and more in the last year grapevine stories of parents O.Ding after taking their childs medications. (An example being one of my Mom's ex's friend who was taking his daughters prescription and died from it. Her ex then proceeded to round-about accuse her of taking my brothers prescription. I have to say, Mom wasn't too thrilled with that one.) A few times I have heard this mentioned on talk shows as 'one reason not to medicate your child, they might die', but never telling people it was because of illegal abuse of substances.
This drug, like every other drug, has adverse affects on users who shouldn't be using it or don't need it. Most doctors (if they know what their doing) when, after prescribing the drug, make the person who needs it come back once a week for anywhere up to six months to moniter that it dosen't build in their system. This is also why the drug starts off gradually before building up to the dosage the person needs. (Some types may work differently, but this is what I've had experiance with. And no, I don't take it.) If you aren't supposed to be taking it, like all drugs, you shouldn't take it (you scum). And if you're taking it illegally, you most likely will get very sick because I'm willing to bet you're taking the max dosage every chance you get, which is one huge reason why people die from this stuff.
Incase you're wondering my views on medicating, I think every case is different and things should be viewed on a case to case basis. I think that there is far too much pressure and threats from schools, doctors and state agencies (witnessing a slue of it myself) and too much crap from other people who's negitive opinions aren't needed. I think that they all need to back off and leave it between the parent, child, and the childs doctor. I think that it should be used as a tool to help people get back to where they need to be, not as a fix. I think it's greatly abused by the medical community, and in most cases isn't whats needed for the child. But it does work, when it's needed.
I've heard more and more in the last year grapevine stories of parents O.Ding after taking their childs medications. (An example being one of my Mom's ex's friend who was taking his daughters prescription and died from it. Her ex then proceeded to round-about accuse her of taking my brothers prescription. I have to say, Mom wasn't too thrilled with that one.) A few times I have heard this mentioned on talk shows as 'one reason not to medicate your child, they might die', but never telling people it was because of illegal abuse of substances.
This drug, like every other drug, has adverse affects on users who shouldn't be using it or don't need it. Most doctors (if they know what their doing) when, after prescribing the drug, make the person who needs it come back once a week for anywhere up to six months to moniter that it dosen't build in their system. This is also why the drug starts off gradually before building up to the dosage the person needs. (Some types may work differently, but this is what I've had experiance with. And no, I don't take it.) If you aren't supposed to be taking it, like all drugs, you shouldn't take it (you scum). And if you're taking it illegally, you most likely will get very sick because I'm willing to bet you're taking the max dosage every chance you get, which is one huge reason why people die from this stuff.
Incase you're wondering my views on medicating, I think every case is different and things should be viewed on a case to case basis. I think that there is far too much pressure and threats from schools, doctors and state agencies (witnessing a slue of it myself) and too much crap from other people who's negitive opinions aren't needed. I think that they all need to back off and leave it between the parent, child, and the childs doctor. I think that it should be used as a tool to help people get back to where they need to be, not as a fix. I think it's greatly abused by the medical community, and in most cases isn't whats needed for the child. But it does work, when it's needed.
12.28.2002
So after alot of cajoling, empty promises and the covenant that if anything happened to his beloved I would make amends with the soul of my first born, I managed to wheedle the PS2 out of my (lovely) older brothers possession and into my clutches for the next week.
It's like having a redheaded stepchild to entertain you but with the whole bound-in-the-closet thing.
He was apprehensive at first, worried about it being trampled on or lost, which I told him was just silly because I'm the most responsible person he knows. After convincing him that the only reason why I never beat games when I do play them (PS/PS2 game playing falls under my 'Blue Moon' catagory) is because certain parties take them away from me before I ever get the chance, he gave up. Now I can play and beat Fatal Frame to my little black hearts content. Want to know something extremely sad? I've had the Playstation to myself for three days now, and haven't even turned it on. That in a nutshell is the whole reason I've never bought one, becides the fact that it plays DVDs, the lure of playing games isn't strong enough for me. Unless people start making more games that don't involve Barbie or sniper rifles, I probably never will get one.
Oh well.
I ran out to The Book Bin today. The Book Bin is a small Northwest chain that mixes a little bit of Borders with some local used book store love, combining all the greatness of new titles with the ohmigod of being able to buy those titles at three-to-whatever bucks off the cover price. They also carry rare and hard to find books, and if they don't have it, they'll get it for you. The Salem store covers two floors of a lovely building right smack downtown and I'd live in their basement if they'd let me.
I did some browsing, and found a couple titles I couldn't find at Borders when I was there yesterday (and some I did, but cheaper at Book Bin), and some I wasn't even looking for. I'm going to pack up a box and take it in to exchange for some store credit, and move some of the library that has burrowed its way into my garage out on it's hiney. It wouldn't be so bad if 80% of the books that have been abandoned on me didn't have the redolence of a backed up sewer pipe in July. I just hope that the Book Bin is less harsh then I am. `Cause I need more books, man.
It's like having a redheaded stepchild to entertain you but with the whole bound-in-the-closet thing.
He was apprehensive at first, worried about it being trampled on or lost, which I told him was just silly because I'm the most responsible person he knows. After convincing him that the only reason why I never beat games when I do play them (PS/PS2 game playing falls under my 'Blue Moon' catagory) is because certain parties take them away from me before I ever get the chance, he gave up. Now I can play and beat Fatal Frame to my little black hearts content. Want to know something extremely sad? I've had the Playstation to myself for three days now, and haven't even turned it on. That in a nutshell is the whole reason I've never bought one, becides the fact that it plays DVDs, the lure of playing games isn't strong enough for me. Unless people start making more games that don't involve Barbie or sniper rifles, I probably never will get one.
Oh well.
I ran out to The Book Bin today. The Book Bin is a small Northwest chain that mixes a little bit of Borders with some local used book store love, combining all the greatness of new titles with the ohmigod of being able to buy those titles at three-to-whatever bucks off the cover price. They also carry rare and hard to find books, and if they don't have it, they'll get it for you. The Salem store covers two floors of a lovely building right smack downtown and I'd live in their basement if they'd let me.
I did some browsing, and found a couple titles I couldn't find at Borders when I was there yesterday (and some I did, but cheaper at Book Bin), and some I wasn't even looking for. I'm going to pack up a box and take it in to exchange for some store credit, and move some of the library that has burrowed its way into my garage out on it's hiney. It wouldn't be so bad if 80% of the books that have been abandoned on me didn't have the redolence of a backed up sewer pipe in July. I just hope that the Book Bin is less harsh then I am. `Cause I need more books, man.
12.25.2002
Ahh...Christmas. Have I mentioned I hope everyone has a good one? I have? Good then. Eat some pie for me. More about pie later in the post. My plans for today? Not a thing. I'm doing diddly. Diddly = Gosh Golly Darn Good. We love Diddly. I haven't had much slacking time and I'm going to milk it. Nothing else about milk in this post, sorry, but moving along...
I'm going to win back the $6.35 I lost yesterday in penny point Rummy (and some change after, mark my words), going to play some more Fatal Frame (And give you my 'post beating' review, which I know you're waiting with baited breath for. Perfect Christmas game, blood, gore, horror, ghosts! WOO!), going to cook a couple pies (mm..pie. This is the only time of the year I eat pie. Why? I don't know, pie is good. Runner up Snack of the Gods. The first place snack being snacky cakes, of course. Pie. It even sounds pretty. Pie. Piiie. Pieee. Ok, I'm done.) and a ham (I have an alphabet wall decoration at LKP, which has P (of course) and for P it's Pudgy Pig loves to eat Pizza. I wanted to redo it to have it say 'Pudgy Pig loves to eat Pork Pizza' and see if anyone caught it, but the company beat me to it...he's eating Pizza with Pepperoni on it. Think anyone but me'll notice?) watch a couple movies (Scary ones, of course. Maybe a couple Christmas ones...maybe.), and call my sister (Who's at her Dads with my youngest brother and according to the phone call they got this morning, having a crappy time. Her Grandparents took them to their Dads, and they knew they were coming, and didn't get them anything (not that presents matter, but they do when 20 other kids are there and they all have presents) and to make matters worse, their Grandmother unwrapped someone elses socks, and rewrapped them and gave them to my Brother and gave my sister a new toothbrush that was ment for someone else. I think they win the shitty Yule award for this year.) becides that, I have no plans.
I'm just going to enjoy being lazy while I've got the chance, I've got to get right back to work tomorrow. The state is withholding all the money they owe us until Thursday (wasn't that nice of them? So nobody has presents, because we didn't get paid, which dosen't matter but does, especally when you're just a kid.) after we get our check we're going to go do a bit of shopping and have a little Family day next week with all the kids and let them open a few presents then. But in the mean time, if you'll excuse me, I've got to reavenge my card-virtue and wollop some people at Rummy.
Merry Christmas everybody.
I'm going to win back the $6.35 I lost yesterday in penny point Rummy (and some change after, mark my words), going to play some more Fatal Frame (And give you my 'post beating' review, which I know you're waiting with baited breath for. Perfect Christmas game, blood, gore, horror, ghosts! WOO!), going to cook a couple pies (mm..pie. This is the only time of the year I eat pie. Why? I don't know, pie is good. Runner up Snack of the Gods. The first place snack being snacky cakes, of course. Pie. It even sounds pretty. Pie. Piiie. Pieee. Ok, I'm done.) and a ham (I have an alphabet wall decoration at LKP, which has P (of course) and for P it's Pudgy Pig loves to eat Pizza. I wanted to redo it to have it say 'Pudgy Pig loves to eat Pork Pizza' and see if anyone caught it, but the company beat me to it...he's eating Pizza with Pepperoni on it. Think anyone but me'll notice?) watch a couple movies (Scary ones, of course. Maybe a couple Christmas ones...maybe.), and call my sister (Who's at her Dads with my youngest brother and according to the phone call they got this morning, having a crappy time. Her Grandparents took them to their Dads, and they knew they were coming, and didn't get them anything (not that presents matter, but they do when 20 other kids are there and they all have presents) and to make matters worse, their Grandmother unwrapped someone elses socks, and rewrapped them and gave them to my Brother and gave my sister a new toothbrush that was ment for someone else. I think they win the shitty Yule award for this year.) becides that, I have no plans.
I'm just going to enjoy being lazy while I've got the chance, I've got to get right back to work tomorrow. The state is withholding all the money they owe us until Thursday (wasn't that nice of them? So nobody has presents, because we didn't get paid, which dosen't matter but does, especally when you're just a kid.) after we get our check we're going to go do a bit of shopping and have a little Family day next week with all the kids and let them open a few presents then. But in the mean time, if you'll excuse me, I've got to reavenge my card-virtue and wollop some people at Rummy.
Merry Christmas everybody.
12.23.2002
I managed to snag a few minutes last night after all the big Brother birthday stuff was done (I did a little party at my house for him) and played a tiny bit of Fatal Frame. (A game about a girl who's brother vanishes in a haunted house in Japan and she goes in looking for him - armed against the ghosts that occupy it with only a camera that captures them) I'm only about two minutes past the intro, but so far I'm enjoying it. Some things, for those of you who are thinking about checking it out:
1: The controls aren't as bad as all the reviews I've read say they are. They, like every other game, take a few minutes to orient yourself to, but once you've got it down, you'll have no problem with it. My only complaint is that in the intro, once you go into camera mode you stay in camera mode, but once out of the intro you don't (You have to hold down the circle button to go into camera mode, and keep it held to stay that way). I'm not sure if I like this or don't, but it does take a few minutes to get the hang of popping in and out of camera mode, and holding buttons down while doing stuff in camera mode. No big deal though.
2. The characters do move a bit slow, (but then again so would I if I was in that situation) and when your characters run it's not much of an improvement over walking. Once you get going, you really don't notice it anymore.
3. The intro (and flashbacks) are grainy and dark and mostly in greyscale and dark colors. The actual game (so far) isn't nearly this bad, and you can actually see outside of the beam of your flashlight. On a survival horror scale, this one is lighter then Silent Hill but a bit darker then Resident Evil. Just so you know. The game also has a kewl feature that lets you move your flashlight without moving your person, it's great for checking out dark corners.
4. All the characters are on valium, so be forwarned - the voice acting is bad. (Like most other games) They all sound like they're floating on a cloud of drugs.
5. The ghosts are super cool. They've made them the way I think ghosts should be: see through people who fade in and out. They talk too, sometimes what is being said is hard to catch, so paying attention is probably a good thing.
6. Examine everything, even if you've examined it before, examine it again. Sometimes things because of the camera angles and lighting is hard to get at or see, don't let it get you down, there are things that you need to know hidden all over the place.
7. The background music/sound effects can make you a bit wary, especally when you're trying to learn the controls while slinking around the house getting your barings hoping no Ghosties pop out to get you. Don't let it get you hyperventilating. I've noticed in most games, plot points circulate around the sudden change of background music or noise. This one is kind of the same, but also has that fun little tweak of changing for absolutely no reason other then changing rooms. One thing I've noticed so far, ghosts don't really pop out with no warning at all, there is a heartbeat sound and/or a rumble from the vibration (if you're doing the whole controler that vibrates thing) when one is there or is going to show up. So you don't have to be worried about getting caught completely unaware. Unlike the sudden chanting that starts out of nowhere, that's just plain creepy. The game also is sweet enough to give you a quick tutorial the first time you encounter a ghost you have to catch so you can get a feel for the controls.
Anyway, that's my assesment so far. I'll post some more when I've got more time to play, which unfortunatly won't be till probably this evening for me. I've got a whole crudload of stuff to do today (including cleaning up dishes from last night, I'm so bad)and tomorrow, and it stinks because I really wanted to slack off and play. Oh well, maybe I'll con Kev into letting me hook it up at my house. Whee.
1: The controls aren't as bad as all the reviews I've read say they are. They, like every other game, take a few minutes to orient yourself to, but once you've got it down, you'll have no problem with it. My only complaint is that in the intro, once you go into camera mode you stay in camera mode, but once out of the intro you don't (You have to hold down the circle button to go into camera mode, and keep it held to stay that way). I'm not sure if I like this or don't, but it does take a few minutes to get the hang of popping in and out of camera mode, and holding buttons down while doing stuff in camera mode. No big deal though.
2. The characters do move a bit slow, (but then again so would I if I was in that situation) and when your characters run it's not much of an improvement over walking. Once you get going, you really don't notice it anymore.
3. The intro (and flashbacks) are grainy and dark and mostly in greyscale and dark colors. The actual game (so far) isn't nearly this bad, and you can actually see outside of the beam of your flashlight. On a survival horror scale, this one is lighter then Silent Hill but a bit darker then Resident Evil. Just so you know. The game also has a kewl feature that lets you move your flashlight without moving your person, it's great for checking out dark corners.
4. All the characters are on valium, so be forwarned - the voice acting is bad. (Like most other games) They all sound like they're floating on a cloud of drugs.
5. The ghosts are super cool. They've made them the way I think ghosts should be: see through people who fade in and out. They talk too, sometimes what is being said is hard to catch, so paying attention is probably a good thing.
6. Examine everything, even if you've examined it before, examine it again. Sometimes things because of the camera angles and lighting is hard to get at or see, don't let it get you down, there are things that you need to know hidden all over the place.
7. The background music/sound effects can make you a bit wary, especally when you're trying to learn the controls while slinking around the house getting your barings hoping no Ghosties pop out to get you. Don't let it get you hyperventilating. I've noticed in most games, plot points circulate around the sudden change of background music or noise. This one is kind of the same, but also has that fun little tweak of changing for absolutely no reason other then changing rooms. One thing I've noticed so far, ghosts don't really pop out with no warning at all, there is a heartbeat sound and/or a rumble from the vibration (if you're doing the whole controler that vibrates thing) when one is there or is going to show up. So you don't have to be worried about getting caught completely unaware. Unlike the sudden chanting that starts out of nowhere, that's just plain creepy. The game also is sweet enough to give you a quick tutorial the first time you encounter a ghost you have to catch so you can get a feel for the controls.
Anyway, that's my assesment so far. I'll post some more when I've got more time to play, which unfortunatly won't be till probably this evening for me. I've got a whole crudload of stuff to do today (including cleaning up dishes from last night, I'm so bad)and tomorrow, and it stinks because I really wanted to slack off and play. Oh well, maybe I'll con Kev into letting me hook it up at my house. Whee.
I live in a town that has a pretty good balance between city conveniences and small town atmosphere. Seperated from Salem by a 4" thick 'Welcome To' sign, anything we don't have can be found by crossing the limits line. Keizer manages to keep itself feeling with the times and family friendly all at the same time. On one hand you have everything you'd really want in one spot and plenty of things going on (and the big city downfalls - too much traffic, pizza and coffee houses litterally on every other block) but it's small enough that everyone in the stores and banks know your name (and the small town downfalls - stupid city council decisions, rumor mills).
I spent alot of time growing up here. My family has been in Keizer for ages, the house my mom lives in (and three more houses on the block) were built by my family. When I was growing up the home I lived at wasn't very stable, (as in, we spent alot of time moving and living in strange places) my mom did a good job of making my childhood as stable as it could be, but we lived in such strange ways that what we lived in was just never concrite. I spent alot of time at my Grandparents house (the house my mom lives in now) and I actually went to most of the 5th grade here. I like this neighborhood, I know almost everyone here, and when I was living here there was a whole pack of kids that I hung around with. I like Keizer, it's not as busy as Portland or Seattle (or even Salem) but it's a good town. Like alot of other towns, it has festivals and activities it does every year. They decorate for Christmas (like they should, of course) and one of the cutest tradition Keizer has during the holidays is Candy Cane Day.
Last Saturday (and every other 21st of December as far back as I can remember) Santa climbed up on a KPD Fire Truck and was escorted around town by some of the locals best. They drive around in front or behind him, because he spends most of his time walking, and helps him give out candy canes to anyone who braves the weather (usally rain, did you know Santa wears a poncho?) to come say Hi. You can tell Santas coming not by the jingle of bells, but by the magnified "Ho Ho Ho's" that come over the loud speaker as he waves at everyone who's watching from their windows. Kids of all ages (and some adults) run out there to give Santa a hug and get a candy cane. It's also neat to watch how good people behave when Santa's going by. Sure, all the adults know it's probably just the Cheif all dressed up, but they still slow down and smile and wait behind the firetruck, because after all, it's Santa and what kind of scrooge gets mad at Santa for holding up traffic while he gives little kids candy and hugs?
The treck around town lasts for about four hours, and you know, It's probably really lame, but it's one of the things that I most look forward to during the Holidays. I like listening to the belting "Merry Christmas"es echo across town, I have for as long as I can remember. I don't remember when they started doing it, I'm sure they had it when I was a kid. And as silly as it is, I really like it. I always have, and it never fails that every year, as soon as the fire truck decides to make it's slow way down my street, I jump to the window with a grin to wave back at Santa.
I spent alot of time growing up here. My family has been in Keizer for ages, the house my mom lives in (and three more houses on the block) were built by my family. When I was growing up the home I lived at wasn't very stable, (as in, we spent alot of time moving and living in strange places) my mom did a good job of making my childhood as stable as it could be, but we lived in such strange ways that what we lived in was just never concrite. I spent alot of time at my Grandparents house (the house my mom lives in now) and I actually went to most of the 5th grade here. I like this neighborhood, I know almost everyone here, and when I was living here there was a whole pack of kids that I hung around with. I like Keizer, it's not as busy as Portland or Seattle (or even Salem) but it's a good town. Like alot of other towns, it has festivals and activities it does every year. They decorate for Christmas (like they should, of course) and one of the cutest tradition Keizer has during the holidays is Candy Cane Day.
Last Saturday (and every other 21st of December as far back as I can remember) Santa climbed up on a KPD Fire Truck and was escorted around town by some of the locals best. They drive around in front or behind him, because he spends most of his time walking, and helps him give out candy canes to anyone who braves the weather (usally rain, did you know Santa wears a poncho?) to come say Hi. You can tell Santas coming not by the jingle of bells, but by the magnified "Ho Ho Ho's" that come over the loud speaker as he waves at everyone who's watching from their windows. Kids of all ages (and some adults) run out there to give Santa a hug and get a candy cane. It's also neat to watch how good people behave when Santa's going by. Sure, all the adults know it's probably just the Cheif all dressed up, but they still slow down and smile and wait behind the firetruck, because after all, it's Santa and what kind of scrooge gets mad at Santa for holding up traffic while he gives little kids candy and hugs?
The treck around town lasts for about four hours, and you know, It's probably really lame, but it's one of the things that I most look forward to during the Holidays. I like listening to the belting "Merry Christmas"es echo across town, I have for as long as I can remember. I don't remember when they started doing it, I'm sure they had it when I was a kid. And as silly as it is, I really like it. I always have, and it never fails that every year, as soon as the fire truck decides to make it's slow way down my street, I jump to the window with a grin to wave back at Santa.
12.19.2002
The countdown is on, 17 days until LKP offically opens, and I've got a good 30 days worth of work left to do. I managed to get a small chunk of things out of the way today (ABN forms (I need two more, don't let me forget), more wall decorations (I make most of ours, since they're expensive), pricing on other things we need, things like that) I also found a guy downtown who's selling very nice trees for five dollars, so tomorrow I'm going to go down and get one.
Everyone around here is broke, so so far we can't afford to do any sort of Christmas thing. My sibs are probably going to their other Grandparents, my brother and his girlfriend are coming up here and everyones going to my house, but nobody can afford anything for anyone. I've managed to squeeze a bit of money to do a little shopping today, so hopefully it rounds out that everyone will get one or two things and dinner. Here's to hoping right?
My older brothers birthday is the 22nd, and he's coming down Saturday and staying through Christmas I think (I don't think they're going back down to turn around and come back up) and the sweetpea is bringing me Fatal Frame for my birthday! Is that just the best or what? I can't wait to play it. (Incase you're wondering, I got him ############ ####### for his birthday (object censored incase subject stumbles upon this journal in hopes of finding out what he got) ) Now I just have to get other presents and food. We're supposed to get paid, but if the check dosen't come into USDA by Monday, we won't get it until the 3rd of January, which is bad because I'm so broke I'm going to lose my power and water and apartment.
Oh well. I'll think positive. TreetreetreeI'mgettingatreee....
Everyone around here is broke, so so far we can't afford to do any sort of Christmas thing. My sibs are probably going to their other Grandparents, my brother and his girlfriend are coming up here and everyones going to my house, but nobody can afford anything for anyone. I've managed to squeeze a bit of money to do a little shopping today, so hopefully it rounds out that everyone will get one or two things and dinner. Here's to hoping right?
My older brothers birthday is the 22nd, and he's coming down Saturday and staying through Christmas I think (I don't think they're going back down to turn around and come back up) and the sweetpea is bringing me Fatal Frame for my birthday! Is that just the best or what? I can't wait to play it. (Incase you're wondering, I got him ############ ####### for his birthday (object censored incase subject stumbles upon this journal in hopes of finding out what he got) ) Now I just have to get other presents and food. We're supposed to get paid, but if the check dosen't come into USDA by Monday, we won't get it until the 3rd of January, which is bad because I'm so broke I'm going to lose my power and water and apartment.
Oh well. I'll think positive. TreetreetreeI'mgettingatreee....
I found the peice of music. It's "At Dawn" from the William Tell Overture. Aren't you glad I found it? I am, now I can get that flash thing done.
Since I've still got Preschool songs on the brain, I leave you with my (long winded!) version of "Boom Boom, Ain't It Great To Be Crazy?" Complete with finger/body movements (for those of you into those sort of things)
What's that? Oh. You're welcome.
Boom Boom, Ain't It Great To Be Crazy?
A Horse a Flea and Three Blind Mice, [Hold one finger up for the horse, one for the flea, and three for the mice]
Sat on a curbstone shooting dice, [Squat like you're sitting, shake your fist like you're shaking dice - parents love that]
The Horse he slipped and fell on the Flea, [Teeter like you're going to fall while flapping your arms, and then lean on the person next to you standing while standing on one foot]
"Whoops" said the Flea "There's a Horse on me!" [Shrug and give the person leaning on you a little push]
Chorus:
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Way down south where banana's grow, [Point south, peel an imaginary banana]
A Flea stepped on an Elephants toe, [Lightly step on your neighbors toe]
The Elephant cried with tears in his eye, [Fake cry]
"Why don't you pick on someone your size?"[Shake your finger at the person who stepped on your toe]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Way up North where there's ice and snow, [Point North, and shiver]
There lived a penguin his name was Joe, [Walk like a penguin]
He got so tired of black and white, [Make disgusted faces]
That he wore pink slacks to the dance last night. [Show off your pink slacks]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Eli, Eli he sells socks, [Pull up your pant legs and show people your socks]
A dollar a pair a nickle a box, [Pull out your 'wallet' and count your 'money']
The longer you wear `em the shorter they get, [Stretch really high then shrink really low]
Throw `em in the washer and they don't get wet. [Shake around like you're a washing machine]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Late last night I had a real strange dream, [Close your eyes and act like you're sleeping]
Ate a nine pound marshmellow my Mom gave me, [Pretend to gobble up marshmellows]
When I woke up I knew something was wrong, [Wake up, look really worried]
I looked around and saw my pillow was gone. [Look around, scream]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I bought a suit of combination underwear, [Put your 'underwear' on]
Guaranteed not to rip or tear, [Try to rip or tear your underwear]
I wore them six months and to my consternation, [Hold your nose]
I couldn't get them off I'd lost the combination. [Pull on your clothes]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I take a swim in my swimming pool, [Swim]
I jump from the board 'cause that's the rule, [jump up and down]
I hit my head on cement and mortar, [Rub your head]
Forgot to look - there was no water. [Slap yourself on the forehead]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
That one-eared cat who used to sit, [Squat, cover one ear]
Watching Grandma rock and knit, [Rock back and forth, knit]
Swallowed a ball of bright red yarn, [Pretend to swallow yarn]
And out came kittens with red sweaters on. [Pretend to pet kittens]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Way up north and a long way off, [Point North]
The Emu's got the whooping cough, [cough]
He coughed so hard with that loud hard cough, [Cough really hard, fall to the ground]
That he coughed his head and his tail right off. [Cover your head and your tail]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
There was an old doctor and his name was Peck, [Pretend to be a doctor]
Fell down the well and broke his neck, [Fall to the ground]
Served him right, he was doing wrong, [Shake your finger, lots of finger shaking in this song]
Should have tended to the sick, and let the well alone. [Groan, that was bad, that dosen't even rhyme, sue the writer]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I call myself on the telephone, [Pretend to talk to someone on the phone]
Just to hear my musical tone, [Talk to yourself]
I ask myself for a heavy date, [Well, ask yourself already]
And I pick myself up at half past eight. [Pretend to drive your car, get out, and get back in]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I love myself. I think I'm grand, [Pat yourself on the back]
When I go to movies, I hold my hand, [Hold your hand]
I put my arm around my waist, [Put your arms around yourself]
And when I get fresh, I slap my face. ['slap' yourself]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Told you it was long. There are variations on all those lyrics I've seen, as well as a few more 'animals ate this' lyrics. That's about as far as you can go before kids (I) get really sick of it.
Since I've still got Preschool songs on the brain, I leave you with my (long winded!) version of "Boom Boom, Ain't It Great To Be Crazy?" Complete with finger/body movements (for those of you into those sort of things)
What's that? Oh. You're welcome.
Boom Boom, Ain't It Great To Be Crazy?
A Horse a Flea and Three Blind Mice, [Hold one finger up for the horse, one for the flea, and three for the mice]
Sat on a curbstone shooting dice, [Squat like you're sitting, shake your fist like you're shaking dice - parents love that]
The Horse he slipped and fell on the Flea, [Teeter like you're going to fall while flapping your arms, and then lean on the person next to you standing while standing on one foot]
"Whoops" said the Flea "There's a Horse on me!" [Shrug and give the person leaning on you a little push]
Chorus:
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Way down south where banana's grow, [Point south, peel an imaginary banana]
A Flea stepped on an Elephants toe, [Lightly step on your neighbors toe]
The Elephant cried with tears in his eye, [Fake cry]
"Why don't you pick on someone your size?"[Shake your finger at the person who stepped on your toe]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Way up North where there's ice and snow, [Point North, and shiver]
There lived a penguin his name was Joe, [Walk like a penguin]
He got so tired of black and white, [Make disgusted faces]
That he wore pink slacks to the dance last night. [Show off your pink slacks]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Eli, Eli he sells socks, [Pull up your pant legs and show people your socks]
A dollar a pair a nickle a box, [Pull out your 'wallet' and count your 'money']
The longer you wear `em the shorter they get, [Stretch really high then shrink really low]
Throw `em in the washer and they don't get wet. [Shake around like you're a washing machine]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Late last night I had a real strange dream, [Close your eyes and act like you're sleeping]
Ate a nine pound marshmellow my Mom gave me, [Pretend to gobble up marshmellows]
When I woke up I knew something was wrong, [Wake up, look really worried]
I looked around and saw my pillow was gone. [Look around, scream]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I bought a suit of combination underwear, [Put your 'underwear' on]
Guaranteed not to rip or tear, [Try to rip or tear your underwear]
I wore them six months and to my consternation, [Hold your nose]
I couldn't get them off I'd lost the combination. [Pull on your clothes]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I take a swim in my swimming pool, [Swim]
I jump from the board 'cause that's the rule, [jump up and down]
I hit my head on cement and mortar, [Rub your head]
Forgot to look - there was no water. [Slap yourself on the forehead]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
That one-eared cat who used to sit, [Squat, cover one ear]
Watching Grandma rock and knit, [Rock back and forth, knit]
Swallowed a ball of bright red yarn, [Pretend to swallow yarn]
And out came kittens with red sweaters on. [Pretend to pet kittens]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Way up north and a long way off, [Point North]
The Emu's got the whooping cough, [cough]
He coughed so hard with that loud hard cough, [Cough really hard, fall to the ground]
That he coughed his head and his tail right off. [Cover your head and your tail]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
There was an old doctor and his name was Peck, [Pretend to be a doctor]
Fell down the well and broke his neck, [Fall to the ground]
Served him right, he was doing wrong, [Shake your finger, lots of finger shaking in this song]
Should have tended to the sick, and let the well alone. [Groan, that was bad, that dosen't even rhyme, sue the writer]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I call myself on the telephone, [Pretend to talk to someone on the phone]
Just to hear my musical tone, [Talk to yourself]
I ask myself for a heavy date, [Well, ask yourself already]
And I pick myself up at half past eight. [Pretend to drive your car, get out, and get back in]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
I love myself. I think I'm grand, [Pat yourself on the back]
When I go to movies, I hold my hand, [Hold your hand]
I put my arm around my waist, [Put your arms around yourself]
And when I get fresh, I slap my face. ['slap' yourself]
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?
Giddy and foolish the whole day through.
Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.
Told you it was long. There are variations on all those lyrics I've seen, as well as a few more 'animals ate this' lyrics. That's about as far as you can go before kids (I) get really sick of it.
12.18.2002
I'm working on some flash elements for a website. I've been especally searching today for a peice of music that I know I've heard in countless cartoons, mostly Looney Toons and the majority of the time being used during Sunrises. I've tracked it down to a movement that very well might contain it, I just have to wait till it's done downloading to see. If it is, I'll pop it up here so you can revel in the peice of music that's been bugging me all day long.
In a few minutes I'm going to head off so I can take care of some LKP stuff. I have music to make copies of and things like that. While we're on the subject of music, especally childrens music, I have stumbled upon something that makes me very sad. I've noticed with all the childrens music I've been exposed to lately, that the lyrics of songs that I used to sing as a child (good, wholesome, meaningful songs) have been changed to be 'politicly correct' or 'less abrasive'. For example:
Little Bunny Foo Foo Hoppin' Through The Forest
Scoopin' Up The Feild Mice And Boppin' `Em On The Head
Down Came The Good Fairy And She Said:
Little Bunny Foo Foo I Don't Want To See You
Scoopin' Up The Field Mice And Boppin' `Em On The Head
I'll Give You Three Chances, And If You Don't Behave, I'll Turn You Into a Goon....
'Little Bunny Foo Foo' is an awesome, silly, wiggle kids song that has a good message. The Bunny (for those of you who aren't familiar with kids songs) dosen't behave and in the end gets turned into a Goon. There are all sorts of morals that can be taken from the song, becides 'Hare Today, Goon Tomorrow', especally the importance of being nice to others. Of course, the fact that Foo is bopping upsets tender parents so much, that they changed it to:
Little Bunny Foo Foo Hoppin' Through The Forest
Scoopin' Up The Feild Mice And Kissin' `Em On The Head
Down Came The Good Fairy And She Said:
Little Bunny Foo Foo I Don't Want To See You
Scoopin' Up The Field Mice And Kissin' `Em On The Head
I'll Give You Three Chances, And If You Don't Behave, I'll Turn You Into a Goon....
Kissing? Oh my god, Clarence, that rabbit is kissing strange feild mice!!! Hurry! Do something! It's a subtle change, but it totally throws off the whole meaning of the song, nobody gets in trouble for kissing people (unless you live in the grown up world and it's your boss) but on a kids level, it dosen't really happen. Think I'm being silly? There's more, lyrics have been changed for 'I Know An Old Woman'. Changing from, perhaps she'll die and dying to everything from she went to the doctor and got fixed to she got a tummy ache. Lyrics for 'Bringing Home A Baby Bumble Bee', totally wiping out the second (I'm squishing) and third (I'm wiping up) verses and just sticking to the first one repeated over and over. Lyrics from 'Found A Peanut', removing some of the middle verses (Went To Heaven, Didn't Want Me, Went The Other Way, Didn't Want Me) and changing the ending in a few versions. I've noticed a few other changes in other songs (The Cat Came Back, Nobody Likes Me, Ants Go Marching, ect) and I just think it's goofy. First, it removes any morals that the songs have by removing things that might not be P.C., but it also takes away from their original neatness and fun sing-along-ness. Plus, it messes up the songs people my age (and older) remember from their childhoods, which is just mean.
I've noticed that cartoons and other things have changed too, we opt for more sex and more violence, and that's all ok but God forbid someone puts a graphic that would have been perfectly fine on a game board years ago (IE: a child getting spanked or a child smoking, which can be found on one of the first 'Chutes and Ladders' gameboard.) on a game these days, yet you can find people blowing away other people and walking in their blood. I just find it interesting that we swap one set of weird standards for a whole new set of weird standards.
Anyway, I'm not going to use watered down nice-nice silly songs for the kids, I'm going to teach them the good old fasioned silly songs where people attempt to blow up cats, women eat horses and die, and little bunnies named Foo get turned into Goons for bopping the silly field mice.
In a few minutes I'm going to head off so I can take care of some LKP stuff. I have music to make copies of and things like that. While we're on the subject of music, especally childrens music, I have stumbled upon something that makes me very sad. I've noticed with all the childrens music I've been exposed to lately, that the lyrics of songs that I used to sing as a child (good, wholesome, meaningful songs) have been changed to be 'politicly correct' or 'less abrasive'. For example:
Little Bunny Foo Foo Hoppin' Through The Forest
Scoopin' Up The Feild Mice And Boppin' `Em On The Head
Down Came The Good Fairy And She Said:
Little Bunny Foo Foo I Don't Want To See You
Scoopin' Up The Field Mice And Boppin' `Em On The Head
I'll Give You Three Chances, And If You Don't Behave, I'll Turn You Into a Goon....
'Little Bunny Foo Foo' is an awesome, silly, wiggle kids song that has a good message. The Bunny (for those of you who aren't familiar with kids songs) dosen't behave and in the end gets turned into a Goon. There are all sorts of morals that can be taken from the song, becides 'Hare Today, Goon Tomorrow', especally the importance of being nice to others. Of course, the fact that Foo is bopping upsets tender parents so much, that they changed it to:
Little Bunny Foo Foo Hoppin' Through The Forest
Scoopin' Up The Feild Mice And Kissin' `Em On The Head
Down Came The Good Fairy And She Said:
Little Bunny Foo Foo I Don't Want To See You
Scoopin' Up The Field Mice And Kissin' `Em On The Head
I'll Give You Three Chances, And If You Don't Behave, I'll Turn You Into a Goon....
Kissing? Oh my god, Clarence, that rabbit is kissing strange feild mice!!! Hurry! Do something! It's a subtle change, but it totally throws off the whole meaning of the song, nobody gets in trouble for kissing people (unless you live in the grown up world and it's your boss) but on a kids level, it dosen't really happen. Think I'm being silly? There's more, lyrics have been changed for 'I Know An Old Woman'. Changing from, perhaps she'll die and dying to everything from she went to the doctor and got fixed to she got a tummy ache. Lyrics for 'Bringing Home A Baby Bumble Bee', totally wiping out the second (I'm squishing) and third (I'm wiping up) verses and just sticking to the first one repeated over and over. Lyrics from 'Found A Peanut', removing some of the middle verses (Went To Heaven, Didn't Want Me, Went The Other Way, Didn't Want Me) and changing the ending in a few versions. I've noticed a few other changes in other songs (The Cat Came Back, Nobody Likes Me, Ants Go Marching, ect) and I just think it's goofy. First, it removes any morals that the songs have by removing things that might not be P.C., but it also takes away from their original neatness and fun sing-along-ness. Plus, it messes up the songs people my age (and older) remember from their childhoods, which is just mean.
I've noticed that cartoons and other things have changed too, we opt for more sex and more violence, and that's all ok but God forbid someone puts a graphic that would have been perfectly fine on a game board years ago (IE: a child getting spanked or a child smoking, which can be found on one of the first 'Chutes and Ladders' gameboard.) on a game these days, yet you can find people blowing away other people and walking in their blood. I just find it interesting that we swap one set of weird standards for a whole new set of weird standards.
Anyway, I'm not going to use watered down nice-nice silly songs for the kids, I'm going to teach them the good old fasioned silly songs where people attempt to blow up cats, women eat horses and die, and little bunnies named Foo get turned into Goons for bopping the silly field mice.
12.17.2002
Some questions about the layout I've been asked, so I'm oh so nicely answering them here so I don't have to answer them anymore. Ok, so maybe it's more out of lazyness then niceness, but you can't blame me for taking the easy road.
Q. What?
A. What what?
Q. What's 'Mele Kalikimaka & Hou'oli Makahiki Hou?'
A. 'Merry Christmas & Happy New Year' in Hawaiian. Haven't you ever heard that song? "Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say, on a briiight Hawaiian Christmas Day"...urm...No? Oh.
Q. Is that snowman giving me the finger?
A. ::sigh::
Q. He's surfing?
A. Yeah, and if I had the time, I'd be really annoying and put all my links in pidgin. (Note: I've decided to, no slaping me now.)
Q. Pidgin?
A. Pidgin is a Hawaiian type slang language. (I'm not Hawaiian, and I've never been there. I have an aunt and uncle who live there and my Uncle is Hawaiian, although that might not get me out of a beating from someone who really speaks it.) I figure, I've got a theme, let's run with it. It's nifty.Chee! You spahk, yeah?
Q. You speak Pidgin?
A. Oh no way! I know a few words and phrases and can put basic sentances together and can understand it ok, but I can't speak it fluently or anything. If I could, I'd probably get laughed at. I just think it's a neat language. I'll add the new menu and content to the pages when I get time.
Q. What?
A. What what?
Q. What's 'Mele Kalikimaka & Hou'oli Makahiki Hou?'
A. 'Merry Christmas & Happy New Year' in Hawaiian. Haven't you ever heard that song? "Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say, on a briiight Hawaiian Christmas Day"...urm...No? Oh.
Q. Is that snowman giving me the finger?
A. ::sigh::
Q. He's surfing?
A. Yeah, and if I had the time, I'd be really annoying and put all my links in pidgin. (Note: I've decided to, no slaping me now.)
Q. Pidgin?
A. Pidgin is a Hawaiian type slang language. (I'm not Hawaiian, and I've never been there. I have an aunt and uncle who live there and my Uncle is Hawaiian, although that might not get me out of a beating from someone who really speaks it.) I figure, I've got a theme, let's run with it. It's nifty.
Q. You speak Pidgin?
A. Oh no way! I know a few words and phrases and can put basic sentances together and can understand it ok, but I can't speak it fluently or anything. If I could, I'd probably get laughed at. I just think it's a neat language. I'll add the new menu and content to the pages when I get time.
12.16.2002
Ok, so far I'm liking how this is. I decided to throw together a layout for Christmas when I was inspired by some christmas cards I saw (and then was conned into designing some). So if I claimed this idea as mine completely from out of the blue, it would be a lie, and lying gets you nowhere but a front row seat in hell. I actually did four different versions of this layout, this was the idea in its simple form. I decided on this one because I was too lazy to make the other ones work. The text isn't exactly how I want it, and the pages the links point to don't have anything on them yet, but I'm not going to nitpick too bad.
I can't promise alot of posts, I closed IBOM before because I honestly don't have a whole lot of time or even the want to post here. If I do post, it will be at my convinence, ok? And probably sporratic at best. So no comments or emails yelling at me to post, otherwise I'll just close it again. Please don't take offense, I appriciate that everyone likes reading my posts (the reason baffles me) I just feel like I'm spending too much time being pressured into thinking up something to write and slapping it up, and not enough time writing for me when it's inspired - which is the point of this in the first place. You're just going to have to think of it like Christmas (or a bad rash) it's only going to happen every once in a while and gives you something to look forward to.
I can't promise alot of posts, I closed IBOM before because I honestly don't have a whole lot of time or even the want to post here. If I do post, it will be at my convinence, ok? And probably sporratic at best. So no comments or emails yelling at me to post, otherwise I'll just close it again. Please don't take offense, I appriciate that everyone likes reading my posts (the reason baffles me) I just feel like I'm spending too much time being pressured into thinking up something to write and slapping it up, and not enough time writing for me when it's inspired - which is the point of this in the first place. You're just going to have to think of it like Christmas (or a bad rash) it's only going to happen every once in a while and gives you something to look forward to.
11.19.2002
Thanks to Prana for the dollar. Now that I feel completely cheap and easy, I'm going to go beta test TSO.
Well, after work, that is.
Well, after work, that is.
I went out to H.O.M.E today, did some prelim. floorplans for the temporary room. It will work good for LKP as long as it dosen't run longer then a month or two at max. Hopefully our building is finished by then, so we can move things into there. I have a good list of phone calls and things to sort out today, I also need to do a complete revision of the handbook. I'm thinking of looking into pricing bubble form machines, just because it would be much more functional and amusing. Last time I checked on them though, they were insanely expensive.
Got a letter today from the same person who left a note in my post about Cin, it's always fun to see other peoples opinions. :) At least this person was decent, I replied to the letter. I don't if they're beligerant or rude. (Which I've only ever gotten two of, both of which were from people who were angry because of my stance on internet copyright.) You know what I realized today? TPC has never gotten one single stich of hate mail, or any posts damning us to hell. Jesus.com gets more of it then we do. (A good sense of humor is always a good thing to have.) Poor Jesus.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad about it, I just thought it was interesting. After all, our name is The Pervert Club.
Got a letter today from the same person who left a note in my post about Cin, it's always fun to see other peoples opinions. :) At least this person was decent, I replied to the letter. I don't if they're beligerant or rude. (Which I've only ever gotten two of, both of which were from people who were angry because of my stance on internet copyright.) You know what I realized today? TPC has never gotten one single stich of hate mail, or any posts damning us to hell. Jesus.com gets more of it then we do. (A good sense of humor is always a good thing to have.) Poor Jesus.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad about it, I just thought it was interesting. After all, our name is The Pervert Club.
11.15.2002
11.08.2002
Ewok is sick, and I'm not quite sure what's wrong with her. Her symptoms are more akin to a fluish bug then distemper, but I don't know. I hope to have Leanne look at her when she comes to get her girls because she works at a Vet office. Right now she's just really lethargic, but if she gets any worse I'm going to have to take her to a vet.
I don't want my kitty to be sick. :(
I don't want my kitty to be sick. :(
Since we're closing the childcare we're left with a whole slue of toys we're never going to use. It breaks my heart (I love buying toys...I love toys...toys! WOO!) but we're having a garage sale to sell them (ARGh...hhh..) and all the other crap we've got.
In my garage.
Whee! So I spent last night cleaning it, setting up stuff, and raking the mountian of freaky leaves that have piled in the driveway and yard, praying they wouldn't topple over on some poor soul walking by. Ended up doing that till about 1 am.
Then I spent the rest of the night throwing up.
A great start to what I'm sure will be an interesting and eventful (if not boring and cold) weekend.
Did I mention it's raining?
In my garage.
Whee! So I spent last night cleaning it, setting up stuff, and raking the mountian of freaky leaves that have piled in the driveway and yard, praying they wouldn't topple over on some poor soul walking by. Ended up doing that till about 1 am.
Then I spent the rest of the night throwing up.
A great start to what I'm sure will be an interesting and eventful (if not boring and cold) weekend.
Did I mention it's raining?
11.06.2002
I do believe that was satisfactory in being completely annoying. Happy Birthday Pranie, Hope you have a good one. ::hugs::
11.04.2002
I have noticed here and there on the Net that Cinnaberyl (A name, and character in a series of novels I've written which was made up by me) has been taken and used as some peoples RP character names.
This upsets me for two reasons:
First, a completely selfish reason. Cinnaberyl was a name I made up, and a 'person' who belongs to me. It's been on of my 'handles' online for almost seven years and it upsets me that someone saw it and used it thinking it was 'neat'. (And yes, this is what I assume, wrong or right of me, usally this is how someone finds a name. Becides, what's the chances of someone copying that name with the exact spelling?)
Second, Cinnaberyl is a character in novels I hope to have published someday, and it frustrates me as a writer to know someones snagging not only her name, but alot of her personality types and using them without permission from me. On some hands I could care less, but when things start getting very simmalar to the point that you know that what is being used was taking from a work you did, it gets frustrating. Plus, this can (and has for other authors) cause problems for me down the road with publishers. Some publishers feel that things published online, or things that have been 'borrowed' or posted someplace are already published (or may violate copyright laws on some level) and will be hesitant to pick up anything. I don't expect this to happen, and it would be really extreme if it did. But we all know how my life goes, and it would just figure.
Problems are bad! BAD!
It's just frustrating because alot of work goes into thinking up names and personalities of my characters and then knowing nobody else out there has used it for over half a decade and then to stumble on someone who just plucked it from something they've seen and used it irks me.
It's sort of like someone stealing my graphics and using them, but insted it's my words.
Ok, I'm done whining now.
This upsets me for two reasons:
First, a completely selfish reason. Cinnaberyl was a name I made up, and a 'person' who belongs to me. It's been on of my 'handles' online for almost seven years and it upsets me that someone saw it and used it thinking it was 'neat'. (And yes, this is what I assume, wrong or right of me, usally this is how someone finds a name. Becides, what's the chances of someone copying that name with the exact spelling?)
Second, Cinnaberyl is a character in novels I hope to have published someday, and it frustrates me as a writer to know someones snagging not only her name, but alot of her personality types and using them without permission from me. On some hands I could care less, but when things start getting very simmalar to the point that you know that what is being used was taking from a work you did, it gets frustrating. Plus, this can (and has for other authors) cause problems for me down the road with publishers. Some publishers feel that things published online, or things that have been 'borrowed' or posted someplace are already published (or may violate copyright laws on some level) and will be hesitant to pick up anything. I don't expect this to happen, and it would be really extreme if it did. But we all know how my life goes, and it would just figure.
Problems are bad! BAD!
It's just frustrating because alot of work goes into thinking up names and personalities of my characters and then knowing nobody else out there has used it for over half a decade and then to stumble on someone who just plucked it from something they've seen and used it irks me.
It's sort of like someone stealing my graphics and using them, but insted it's my words.
Ok, I'm done whining now.
Ok! I'm back. Sorry I had to vanish like that, but stuff happens. I hope everyone had a good Halloween, I really didn't, I spent the last four days very sick.
But I did manage to write a bit on my NaNo novel. I'll have it posted to my NaNo site as soon as I get it off the laptop where it's currently hiding. I'll also update my NaNo site, TPC, and what not today hopefully.
That is of course, if I'm not hit by a bus on an overpass and flung to my death.
But I did manage to write a bit on my NaNo novel. I'll have it posted to my NaNo site as soon as I get it off the laptop where it's currently hiding. I'll also update my NaNo site, TPC, and what not today hopefully.
That is of course, if I'm not hit by a bus on an overpass and flung to my death.
10.30.2002
10.29.2002
John Walsh has `Net preditors on his show today, and I agree: There are preditors online.
Just like in your neighborhood, in a bar, in a personal ad, at the local football game....
I think that parents need to pay attention to what their kids are doing (ESPECALLY IF YOUR CHILD HAS A WEBCAM!), moniter their chat buddies, block chat places like yahoo, pay attention to their E-mail, and if they DO want to meet a `net friend don't discurage them, go with them.
I've met a good amount of the people I know online, and I've known almost everyone I talk to from anywhere to a year to almost nine years. I conciter them very good friends. I don't go into chat rooms, unless it's a chat room I own, because I think chat rooms are annoying. My sister enjoys chat rooms, so she's got a rule..she can only go into a chat room made by her or one of her friends that has people we know in them. (Like RL friends) She also chats now and then to the people I know online. But I rarely let her go into public chat rooms because I know how often I get a solicit for cyber, so I know for a fact she gets them.
Plus, did you know there are naked people on webcams on yahoo? Seriously, it's scary stuff.
I can't moniter what she does online at friends house, so I hope the other kids parents do. But I don't think it's too much for a parent (or the mean older sister) to put limits on what younger kids do online.
Paying attention to your kids would solve so many problems in the world today.
The Net can be dangerous just like every other place can be, but it can also be really great. A good place to meet good people, explore your hobbies and learn. It's all in how you use it.
Just like in your neighborhood, in a bar, in a personal ad, at the local football game....
I think that parents need to pay attention to what their kids are doing (ESPECALLY IF YOUR CHILD HAS A WEBCAM!), moniter their chat buddies, block chat places like yahoo, pay attention to their E-mail, and if they DO want to meet a `net friend don't discurage them, go with them.
I've met a good amount of the people I know online, and I've known almost everyone I talk to from anywhere to a year to almost nine years. I conciter them very good friends. I don't go into chat rooms, unless it's a chat room I own, because I think chat rooms are annoying. My sister enjoys chat rooms, so she's got a rule..she can only go into a chat room made by her or one of her friends that has people we know in them. (Like RL friends) She also chats now and then to the people I know online. But I rarely let her go into public chat rooms because I know how often I get a solicit for cyber, so I know for a fact she gets them.
Plus, did you know there are naked people on webcams on yahoo? Seriously, it's scary stuff.
I can't moniter what she does online at friends house, so I hope the other kids parents do. But I don't think it's too much for a parent (or the mean older sister) to put limits on what younger kids do online.
Paying attention to your kids would solve so many problems in the world today.
The Net can be dangerous just like every other place can be, but it can also be really great. A good place to meet good people, explore your hobbies and learn. It's all in how you use it.
10.26.2002
10.25.2002
I've been out running around tacking up new advertisment for LKP, so we threw the kids in the car and took them with us. We were going to stop at the park but unfortunatly Mackinzie wet her pants, so she was in a diaper and a T-shirt and there was no way to take her out of the car. On the way back, they all pretty much feel asleep, so we just came back here.
I've got bunch more ads to put together so I can go put them out tomorrow, but first I'm going to call everyone in the phone book so I know who has public BBs so I don't have to waste time driving all over the place.
I'm so darn smart.
I've got bunch more ads to put together so I can go put them out tomorrow, but first I'm going to call everyone in the phone book so I know who has public BBs so I don't have to waste time driving all over the place.
I'm so darn smart.
10.20.2002
Even though I didn't get anything I needed to get done this week because of my foot, some good did come out of it. I've been signed up for a seminar on publishing your first book, it's on the 10th, which is great timing because it'll give me an extra boost to get me through a tough spot during Nano.
I've also been invited to a writing group, they meet every second Saturday of the month. I'm really excited about this because I've tried to put my own together but most local people shy away from it because they're already involved with one or don't want to expose their writing in fear of being put down. I'm told this writing group is very nice, which is good. There is also a second writing group I've been told about that I might be able to join. This is great because I need more positive input from local people who are serious about writing like I am.
This time sitting has given me a lot of time to think about plots, as well as alot of time to do the paperwork type stuff for LKP. This paperwork stuff includes newsletters, menus, curriculam, forms, all sorts of stuff. So it has kept me a little busy that way. I spent most of today designing a newsletter. So far I have a little over three pages done, which includes the first in a three part series of articals on the importance of early childhood development, and an artical on positive coping with separation anxiety in preschoolers. All written by the very bored yours truely.
I'd work on the website but I can't do much from this laptop other then text stuff because I don't have any graphics software on here. I can, however, play mind numbing games.
Thank God for that.
I've also been invited to a writing group, they meet every second Saturday of the month. I'm really excited about this because I've tried to put my own together but most local people shy away from it because they're already involved with one or don't want to expose their writing in fear of being put down. I'm told this writing group is very nice, which is good. There is also a second writing group I've been told about that I might be able to join. This is great because I need more positive input from local people who are serious about writing like I am.
This time sitting has given me a lot of time to think about plots, as well as alot of time to do the paperwork type stuff for LKP. This paperwork stuff includes newsletters, menus, curriculam, forms, all sorts of stuff. So it has kept me a little busy that way. I spent most of today designing a newsletter. So far I have a little over three pages done, which includes the first in a three part series of articals on the importance of early childhood development, and an artical on positive coping with separation anxiety in preschoolers. All written by the very bored yours truely.
I'd work on the website but I can't do much from this laptop other then text stuff because I don't have any graphics software on here. I can, however, play mind numbing games.
Thank God for that.
10.19.2002
Nothing new, still stuck on the couch, and I still can't walk. It'll be the end of next week before I'll be able to, as it looks right this minute.
My foot is a wonderful shade of yellows and greens. It's so attractive.
In the mean time, I have nothing to do, and I do believe I'm going bonkers. Well, more bonkers then I already am. I hate this couch...somebody bring me a game or something to do. Please? Or I'll be forced to throw wet papertowels at the ceiling for fun.
My foot is a wonderful shade of yellows and greens. It's so attractive.
In the mean time, I have nothing to do, and I do believe I'm going bonkers. Well, more bonkers then I already am. I hate this couch...somebody bring me a game or something to do. Please? Or I'll be forced to throw wet papertowels at the ceiling for fun.
10.16.2002
I am the worlds biggest klutz (After Pranie that is), I'm a cripple now. Yesterday while I was walking back to the computer to get back to work, I stepped down wrong and totally messed up my ankle. It's swollen to about the size of a lovely softball, and I can't move it, let alone walk on it. (I'm all propped up and iced on the couch with the laptop, incase you're wondering.) This all makes working, and going to the potty, very very difficult.
And it hurts.
It'll be another day or so before I'll even be able to attempt crutches because the swelling hasn't all gone down yet, so I'm offically couch ridden.
I'm so sick of sitting here.
In other news, start watching Haunted (9pm Tuesdays on UPN) or they'll cancel it. The show is about a private detective who dies and comes back from the dead, and now he's being 'haunted' by spirits who want his help. It's actually not cheesey at all, I enjoy it. (And I am the worst critic of anything that involves paranormal, because they do it cheesey or just plain wrong.) I promise you if you watch it you'll love it. You can always tape stupid Smallville, or watch it when they repeat it on Sundays, you know.
I missed last nights episode because of my damn ankle. Damnit.
And it hurts.
It'll be another day or so before I'll even be able to attempt crutches because the swelling hasn't all gone down yet, so I'm offically couch ridden.
I'm so sick of sitting here.
In other news, start watching Haunted (9pm Tuesdays on UPN) or they'll cancel it. The show is about a private detective who dies and comes back from the dead, and now he's being 'haunted' by spirits who want his help. It's actually not cheesey at all, I enjoy it. (And I am the worst critic of anything that involves paranormal, because they do it cheesey or just plain wrong.) I promise you if you watch it you'll love it. You can always tape stupid Smallville, or watch it when they repeat it on Sundays, you know.
I missed last nights episode because of my damn ankle. Damnit.
10.14.2002
I feel like an overpuffed marshmellow. My face feels totally swollen and my eyes hurt and are all puffy! AH! Sort of like somebody stapled them open and made me watch hours and hours of 'Lonesome Dove' and 'Dukes of Hazard' until they stuck that way. Everything is overly bright too, like I'm looking at the world with florecent lighting attached to my forhead.
It's quite uncomfortable and it makes staring at this computer screen really horrible.
I seriously can not afford to get sick, especally not within the next two weeks. Especally not this week at all. My day planner looks like I let a band of angry teenagers paint graffiti all over it. I've got so much to do there is no way I can get it done while I'm fighting off some icky bug. I don't wanna get sick, I don't wanna get sick...
It's quite uncomfortable and it makes staring at this computer screen really horrible.
I seriously can not afford to get sick, especally not within the next two weeks. Especally not this week at all. My day planner looks like I let a band of angry teenagers paint graffiti all over it. I've got so much to do there is no way I can get it done while I'm fighting off some icky bug. I don't wanna get sick, I don't wanna get sick...
Last year I had a package of ravioli and no sauce, so I debated cooking the raviolies up and just eating them straight. Which didn't sound very good to me, so I went digging in my kitchen.
I came up with a can of chicken broth, and figured since I didn't have sauce (and it kills me to eat it anyway) I'd cook the ravi's in the broth and make a soup.
Thus, Jamie's version of Ravioli soup was born. Of course, I thought I'd found something new, but unfortunatly my ego was crushed to find other recipies of it online.
But, none of them were like mine at all!
So, I've remade my soup a few times, and everyone I've forced to eat it loves it. I figured, I'd share my soup with you. If you make it, tell me what you changed (if anything) and if you liked it.
My Ravioli Soup -
These measurements are from the top of my head. I made this up myself and I don't work from cups, I just use what I have or as much as I think I need. Feel free to wing it. This is my third version of this recipe, every time I make it I change it (for the better I hope) to accommodate what I've gotten or whatever whim I want to try.
This soup might not LOOK pretty, but it tastes good.
You need:
2 Qts Chicken Broth and two cups water
Or
As many cups of water you need & 1 chicken bullion cube (or tablespoon of powder) pur cup of water
Or
1 Qt chicken broth plus whatever extra water and bullion you need
Use MORE liquid then you think is needed, because the ravioli swell AND the liquid tends to run out after everyone's been eating the soup. So you're left with a half pot full of ravioli and stuff, which isn't bad, but isn't soup either.
1 lb - 2lbs (depending on how much you want) raw sausage of your choice (links! Not ground. You get less grease with links. I've used everything from kelbasa to Italian, it all works.)
2 lbs ravioli, I always use cheese and a second kind. Pick that suits your taste. I usually use whatever ravioli complements the meat I'm using and then cheese. IE: sausage ravioli..see, easy.
2 cups finely diced mushrooms
2 cups finely diced onion
2 cups finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced green pepper
1 cup finely diced baby corn (Opt.) (I like baby corn - you can also do olives (which sounds odd, but good at the same time), carrots and other veggies if you want. I have yet to try these in mine...but I will next time I make it.)
2 tablespoons finely diced garlic OR 2 tablespoons powdered garlic
1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon sage and 1 teaspoon thyme (or two teaspoons Italian seasoning mix! It's cheating but it works!)
1 tablespoons pesto (yes, pesto too! yum!) Alot of the seasonings above are already in pesto, but it adds an interesting taste to the broth.
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup fresh shredded (shredded, not powder, or I'll hurt you) parmesan cheese
-----------
Cut up everything you need to cut up to smallish size pieces, including the sausage. Think tad smaller then bite size, bigger then speck. You want everything to be cooked nicely by the time the ravioli is done.
In a good sized pot, dump in your liquid (Make sure you leave room for the ravioli and use a pot big enough to accommodate the ravioli swelling! I mean it, or you'll be sorry!) and turn your stove on low. Throw in all your seasonings including the pesto (it'll give it time to melt and mix with the broth). Let it get to about the simmering point, and give it some good stirs.
Throw in the diced veggies and the garlic, let that simmer for about five minutes. You don't have to pre-cook any of the veggies, so don't worry about it. They'll all cook fine in the pot.
Toss your ravioli in (well, place it in gently, you don't want disgruntled ravioli) and then about 1/2 cup of your cheese. Turn it up on med. high, stir in very well and then throw a lid on it. Let it cook until the ravioli is tender, make sure you stir it every few minutes or so.
Once the ravioli is cooked, turn off the heat (or turn it on low (low low low)) and dish up some bowls as soon as you can. Throw a little handful of the remaining cheese on top of each. (It makes a fun sticky gooey mess! I love it!)
The rest of the soup will sit in the pot, and the ravioli will get a little mushy. It's ok though, the soup will still taste good. If you don't want this to happen, make sure you force feed the soup to everyone as soon as the ravioli is done.
This keeps well for a couple days in the fridge, and tastes fine with microwave reheats. It also freezes something awesome, just incase you want to give it away. (I've made poor souls try it, and so far everyone likes it! They call it my 'ugly' soup.)
I serve it with french bread and spinach dip, because that's the kind of freak I am.
I came up with a can of chicken broth, and figured since I didn't have sauce (and it kills me to eat it anyway) I'd cook the ravi's in the broth and make a soup.
Thus, Jamie's version of Ravioli soup was born. Of course, I thought I'd found something new, but unfortunatly my ego was crushed to find other recipies of it online.
But, none of them were like mine at all!
So, I've remade my soup a few times, and everyone I've forced to eat it loves it. I figured, I'd share my soup with you. If you make it, tell me what you changed (if anything) and if you liked it.
My Ravioli Soup -
These measurements are from the top of my head. I made this up myself and I don't work from cups, I just use what I have or as much as I think I need. Feel free to wing it. This is my third version of this recipe, every time I make it I change it (for the better I hope) to accommodate what I've gotten or whatever whim I want to try.
This soup might not LOOK pretty, but it tastes good.
You need:
2 Qts Chicken Broth and two cups water
Or
As many cups of water you need & 1 chicken bullion cube (or tablespoon of powder) pur cup of water
Or
1 Qt chicken broth plus whatever extra water and bullion you need
Use MORE liquid then you think is needed, because the ravioli swell AND the liquid tends to run out after everyone's been eating the soup. So you're left with a half pot full of ravioli and stuff, which isn't bad, but isn't soup either.
1 lb - 2lbs (depending on how much you want) raw sausage of your choice (links! Not ground. You get less grease with links. I've used everything from kelbasa to Italian, it all works.)
2 lbs ravioli, I always use cheese and a second kind. Pick that suits your taste. I usually use whatever ravioli complements the meat I'm using and then cheese. IE: sausage ravioli..see, easy.
2 cups finely diced mushrooms
2 cups finely diced onion
2 cups finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced green pepper
1 cup finely diced baby corn (Opt.) (I like baby corn - you can also do olives (which sounds odd, but good at the same time), carrots and other veggies if you want. I have yet to try these in mine...but I will next time I make it.)
2 tablespoons finely diced garlic OR 2 tablespoons powdered garlic
1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon sage and 1 teaspoon thyme (or two teaspoons Italian seasoning mix! It's cheating but it works!)
1 tablespoons pesto (yes, pesto too! yum!) Alot of the seasonings above are already in pesto, but it adds an interesting taste to the broth.
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup fresh shredded (shredded, not powder, or I'll hurt you) parmesan cheese
-----------
Cut up everything you need to cut up to smallish size pieces, including the sausage. Think tad smaller then bite size, bigger then speck. You want everything to be cooked nicely by the time the ravioli is done.
In a good sized pot, dump in your liquid (Make sure you leave room for the ravioli and use a pot big enough to accommodate the ravioli swelling! I mean it, or you'll be sorry!) and turn your stove on low. Throw in all your seasonings including the pesto (it'll give it time to melt and mix with the broth). Let it get to about the simmering point, and give it some good stirs.
Throw in the diced veggies and the garlic, let that simmer for about five minutes. You don't have to pre-cook any of the veggies, so don't worry about it. They'll all cook fine in the pot.
Toss your ravioli in (well, place it in gently, you don't want disgruntled ravioli) and then about 1/2 cup of your cheese. Turn it up on med. high, stir in very well and then throw a lid on it. Let it cook until the ravioli is tender, make sure you stir it every few minutes or so.
Once the ravioli is cooked, turn off the heat (or turn it on low (low low low)) and dish up some bowls as soon as you can. Throw a little handful of the remaining cheese on top of each. (It makes a fun sticky gooey mess! I love it!)
The rest of the soup will sit in the pot, and the ravioli will get a little mushy. It's ok though, the soup will still taste good. If you don't want this to happen, make sure you force feed the soup to everyone as soon as the ravioli is done.
This keeps well for a couple days in the fridge, and tastes fine with microwave reheats. It also freezes something awesome, just incase you want to give it away. (I've made poor souls try it, and so far everyone likes it! They call it my 'ugly' soup.)
I serve it with french bread and spinach dip, because that's the kind of freak I am.
10.13.2002
I got a phone call last week from my moms church asking if I'd come back and do their younger kid group thing for them on Sundays because they're starting to get more widdle widdle umpkins again.
I said sure, 'cause I'm nice like that.
No more free Sundays for me! So, I'm getting ready to flee out the door again. (The story of my life.) I don't mind doing this for them, it's not like I do anything else Sunday mornings. It also gives me a load more kid faces to practice my face painting on. Woo. I'm thinking of taking a camera so I can grab shots for a face book I need. (I've got to get it done before the Ag Fest in April, where I will be running a face painting booth.)
I do have a question though, why are services held so damn early? (Even thought technicly H.O.M.E's services aren't until 11) 8 is an ungodly hour to get up to get ready for anything on a Sunday, you'd think God would deem it blasphemy and put a stop to it.
You're slackin' God, I'm terribly disapointed.
I said sure, 'cause I'm nice like that.
No more free Sundays for me! So, I'm getting ready to flee out the door again. (The story of my life.) I don't mind doing this for them, it's not like I do anything else Sunday mornings. It also gives me a load more kid faces to practice my face painting on. Woo. I'm thinking of taking a camera so I can grab shots for a face book I need. (I've got to get it done before the Ag Fest in April, where I will be running a face painting booth.)
I do have a question though, why are services held so damn early? (Even thought technicly H.O.M.E's services aren't until 11) 8 is an ungodly hour to get up to get ready for anything on a Sunday, you'd think God would deem it blasphemy and put a stop to it.
You're slackin' God, I'm terribly disapointed.
10.12.2002
I'm getting ready to flee out the door to take my Great Aunt away so she can putt around some tropical islands in a boat for the next two weeks.
Tough life hu?
When I get back tonight I have to start taking pictures of the Avon crap so I can sell it on Ebay. These pictures of the items have to include a picture of each one in and out of it's box. I have a good dozen cases of Avon stuff, which comes out to about 300 seperate items. Which is about 600 pictures. Which comes out to about 1/4th of the rest of my natural life taking pictures of Avon crap. Did I mention all of these are filled with nose wrinkling, eye watering horse urine? And I don't have a Hazmat mask?
I am so looking forward to it.
Tough life hu?
When I get back tonight I have to start taking pictures of the Avon crap so I can sell it on Ebay. These pictures of the items have to include a picture of each one in and out of it's box. I have a good dozen cases of Avon stuff, which comes out to about 300 seperate items. Which is about 600 pictures. Which comes out to about 1/4th of the rest of my natural life taking pictures of Avon crap. Did I mention all of these are filled with nose wrinkling, eye watering horse urine? And I don't have a Hazmat mask?
I am so looking forward to it.
10.10.2002
Oh, and for those of you who wanted to know why there are no pictures of me, it's because I manned the camera. However, since you whined so well...here you go.
I have started to take the borrowed digital camera everywhere I go. I find I enjoy very much taking pictures of unsuspecting people in strange situations. May I present to you the first of a long series of photblog entries that will either amuse you or bore you to tears, depending on my mood. These entries will continue until the owner of the camera realizes I'm abusing the privalge and takes it away from me while slapping me with the carry case upside my head. Do pray it be a long while off, becase I'm having quite alot fun. Oh, it's long too...I apologize.
Yesterday, after I had been pestered and pestered by our preschool kids, I gave in and set about 'Painting' them. During this ritual which involves alot of me repeating the same phrase (You've got to sit still) over and over, I had an idea. We had been talking about a field trip for the last couple of days, and since we only had a couple of kids (two, in fact), I figured why not do it today?
So, after I had finished painting them up I suggested my suggestion to the all powerful Boss-Lady. (She's only the Boss-Lady on odd days, so she of course played the part in full.)
So once we were all in agreement, and the kiddies were strapped into the car, Robin, Elaine and I drove our little bra..umpkins..to Martha's Pumpkin Patch.
Martha's is a localy owned farm that sells seasonal produce and what not throught the year. During Christmas time you can get trees, and during Halloween you can get pumpkins. Lots and Lots of pretty round orange pumpkies. I love pumpkins, at least for the first week or so, until they turn white and squishy and you have to scrape them up with a shovel and throw them away. But, before that, I love pumpkins.
So, we pulled into Martha's, got the excited kiddies out of the car, and thanks to a suggestion from Martha herself (Should I have asked for an autograph?) we piled the bouncing girls into a wagon and prepared to treck out into the pumpkin feilds. That's right, no pre-picked carton sitting pumpkins for us, we were going to capture ourselves pumpkins in their native habitat. Once we were settled with our caravan, we were on our way.
At first our party was cautious, as our trail leader Robin scouted ahead, Elaine faithfully followed. We were confident that we would not be attacked by savages in this wild land, although we allowed ourselves one look back to civilization.
As we continued into the vast wilderness of pumpkins, we came upon a few that we thought might be decent enough sorts to carry back home with us. As Robin made herself more familiar with the natives, she decided that they no longer wished to be left upon their sides and tops, so she took it upon herself to upright every pumpkin she came across so that they were sitting on their bottoms. The pumpkins she helped were most pleased, seeing as how they have no arms or feet to right themselves alone.
While Robin played nursemaid to the pumpkins, our travilers in the wagon ventured further into this uncharted land. At last the glad cry was sounded, a pumpkin decent enough for our travilers was found! The gladness of this event was lost quickly however, when we realized we were approching a dense and somewhat unsettling Pumpkin Patch Corn Forest. The outside of the forest was marked with strange signs, that we feared were strewn with warnings of this place. What were those other more colorful items? Perhaps some odd torture device? A Pumpkin Stock forged to hold the heads of tresspassers? Carefully we grew closer.
As we stopped just a few yards away from the strage stock-like device, one of our bravest travilers lept from her seat in the coach and sped toward the device, hedless to our cries of warning! Just then our caravan was attacked by a hoard of savage pumpkins, taking our youngest traviler Mackinzie hostage!
What could we do? I ran to find Robin were we had last seen her, but she was nowhere to be found, and when I returned I saw why. Somehow during her travels to help the pumpkins, she was captured as well. Now all my companions were caught, and had been locked into the strange torture device and guarded by pumpkin soilders. What was I to do?
Thinking quickly I grabbed the nearest pumpkin guard by suprise and threw him to the ground, each pumpkin guard I managed to thwart after a long and hard battle. I am ashamed to say many a pumpkins died that day, but it was for my friends life that I comitted pumpkinside, and as I freed them, they survayed my handywork.
After a long talk, we decided we couldn't risk going back the way we came, so we fled the only way that was left. Into the forest. The forest was dark and smelled faintly of mud, as we marched down the path we fought our way through the sharp and stinging branches of the tree-husks, and eventually found outselves in a clearing. We stood dumbfounded as we faced a most unusual person, there before us stood the Witch of the East in all the Witches glory! Tentivly we approched the witch for help, hoping this move was wise.
The Witch told us that to escape the forest, we must visit each witch and as their permission. Brushing us off with a disinterested hand, the witch bid us to carry on, for we were spoiling it's relaxing footbath. With that, we left the East Witch behind, and continued on our way. Soon, we came upon the South Witch, and while she dried her hair we asked her permission to leave the forest.
Sure, she said, no problem.
Well, so far so good. As we continued we eventually came across the West Witch. She was terrifying! She divebombed us on her broom while trying to kick us with her shoes and cackled all the while! We fled as fast as we could and ended up smack in the lair of the Witch of the North.
Despite our initial fear, we found Ms. North to be quite a lovely hostess. After offering us tea, she kindly showed us the way out of the forest, and told us that we had her permission to pick any pumpkin we wish on our journey back to Martha's. She even posed for a picture with our troupe.
We bid Ms. North farewell and continued on our journey. The day was growing quite late and we found that it was time to pick our final pumpkins and make our way home.
At last we had what we came for! With our travilers and our pumpkins safely stowed in our coach, we returned to Martha's.
Returned to the real world, paid for the pumpkins, stuck them in thecar, and headed home.
We also went to the store and carved the pumpkins, but I'll save that story for later.
Yesterday, after I had been pestered and pestered by our preschool kids, I gave in and set about 'Painting' them. During this ritual which involves alot of me repeating the same phrase (You've got to sit still) over and over, I had an idea. We had been talking about a field trip for the last couple of days, and since we only had a couple of kids (two, in fact), I figured why not do it today?
So, after I had finished painting them up I suggested my suggestion to the all powerful Boss-Lady. (She's only the Boss-Lady on odd days, so she of course played the part in full.)
So once we were all in agreement, and the kiddies were strapped into the car, Robin, Elaine and I drove our little bra..umpkins..to Martha's Pumpkin Patch.
Martha's is a localy owned farm that sells seasonal produce and what not throught the year. During Christmas time you can get trees, and during Halloween you can get pumpkins. Lots and Lots of pretty round orange pumpkies. I love pumpkins, at least for the first week or so, until they turn white and squishy and you have to scrape them up with a shovel and throw them away. But, before that, I love pumpkins.
So, we pulled into Martha's, got the excited kiddies out of the car, and thanks to a suggestion from Martha herself (Should I have asked for an autograph?) we piled the bouncing girls into a wagon and prepared to treck out into the pumpkin feilds. That's right, no pre-picked carton sitting pumpkins for us, we were going to capture ourselves pumpkins in their native habitat. Once we were settled with our caravan, we were on our way.
At first our party was cautious, as our trail leader Robin scouted ahead, Elaine faithfully followed. We were confident that we would not be attacked by savages in this wild land, although we allowed ourselves one look back to civilization.
As we continued into the vast wilderness of pumpkins, we came upon a few that we thought might be decent enough sorts to carry back home with us. As Robin made herself more familiar with the natives, she decided that they no longer wished to be left upon their sides and tops, so she took it upon herself to upright every pumpkin she came across so that they were sitting on their bottoms. The pumpkins she helped were most pleased, seeing as how they have no arms or feet to right themselves alone.
While Robin played nursemaid to the pumpkins, our travilers in the wagon ventured further into this uncharted land. At last the glad cry was sounded, a pumpkin decent enough for our travilers was found! The gladness of this event was lost quickly however, when we realized we were approching a dense and somewhat unsettling Pumpkin Patch Corn Forest. The outside of the forest was marked with strange signs, that we feared were strewn with warnings of this place. What were those other more colorful items? Perhaps some odd torture device? A Pumpkin Stock forged to hold the heads of tresspassers? Carefully we grew closer.
As we stopped just a few yards away from the strage stock-like device, one of our bravest travilers lept from her seat in the coach and sped toward the device, hedless to our cries of warning! Just then our caravan was attacked by a hoard of savage pumpkins, taking our youngest traviler Mackinzie hostage!
What could we do? I ran to find Robin were we had last seen her, but she was nowhere to be found, and when I returned I saw why. Somehow during her travels to help the pumpkins, she was captured as well. Now all my companions were caught, and had been locked into the strange torture device and guarded by pumpkin soilders. What was I to do?
Thinking quickly I grabbed the nearest pumpkin guard by suprise and threw him to the ground, each pumpkin guard I managed to thwart after a long and hard battle. I am ashamed to say many a pumpkins died that day, but it was for my friends life that I comitted pumpkinside, and as I freed them, they survayed my handywork.
After a long talk, we decided we couldn't risk going back the way we came, so we fled the only way that was left. Into the forest. The forest was dark and smelled faintly of mud, as we marched down the path we fought our way through the sharp and stinging branches of the tree-husks, and eventually found outselves in a clearing. We stood dumbfounded as we faced a most unusual person, there before us stood the Witch of the East in all the Witches glory! Tentivly we approched the witch for help, hoping this move was wise.
The Witch told us that to escape the forest, we must visit each witch and as their permission. Brushing us off with a disinterested hand, the witch bid us to carry on, for we were spoiling it's relaxing footbath. With that, we left the East Witch behind, and continued on our way. Soon, we came upon the South Witch, and while she dried her hair we asked her permission to leave the forest.
Sure, she said, no problem.
Well, so far so good. As we continued we eventually came across the West Witch. She was terrifying! She divebombed us on her broom while trying to kick us with her shoes and cackled all the while! We fled as fast as we could and ended up smack in the lair of the Witch of the North.
Despite our initial fear, we found Ms. North to be quite a lovely hostess. After offering us tea, she kindly showed us the way out of the forest, and told us that we had her permission to pick any pumpkin we wish on our journey back to Martha's. She even posed for a picture with our troupe.
We bid Ms. North farewell and continued on our journey. The day was growing quite late and we found that it was time to pick our final pumpkins and make our way home.
At last we had what we came for! With our travilers and our pumpkins safely stowed in our coach, we returned to Martha's.
Returned to the real world, paid for the pumpkins, stuck them in thecar, and headed home.
We also went to the store and carved the pumpkins, but I'll save that story for later.
I have this tree in front of my house. It's huge, and has probably been there for a good 40 years or more. It's covered in pretty ivy and some flowering plant that smells pretty nice. In the spring it's home to iddle bitty cute pudgy birds that eat the bugs that live in it's branches and fluffy chipmunks that scurry up and down it's trunk. It's leafy boughs shade my little house and keep it cool all summer long. In summer it is a blessing.
It's fall that's the problem.
You see, when fall in Oregon hits and all the leaves turn crispy and orange, an evil lurks in my pretty tree. An evil that litters my yard and driveway, that bangs all night long, that causes great black stains to appear on my porch and my living room rug. An evil that startles my cats when their napping and dents and dings parked and passing cars. It's an evil my friends, that will leave a knot the size of golf ball on your head or shoulders. This evil causes me to run from the corner of my street to my front porch on windy days in fear.
This evil, is The Walnuts.
Great nasty greenish grey husk-covered Walnuts. They fall from way up high in the tree and zoom down on their targets with a walnutty fury. They bang, splat, thump and bounce of every single surface within twenty yards of the tree. They're smelly, slimy and extremely annoying when six or seven fall off at once in the middle of the night.
And their leathal.
Today Elaine became the first victim of the season. Minding her own busniess while walking under the tree to deliver the mail to my Grandmother she was startled by a burst of wind that signaled the arrival of The Foe. While attempting to flee to safety she was struck viciously in the head by a Walnut. She survived the ordeal with a slight bump on the head and a few harsh words about The Walnuts.
"They're Evil" She said.
I agree. Unfortunatly there is nothing I can do to combat this foe. Perhaps I will walk my life with an oversized umbrella in hand, or raid a nearby construction site in the attempt to steal a hardhat. But, in the meantime, as I search to find one who is so brave as to risk going under my tree (Or one who would steal two hardhats, and give one to me) to rake the mess that is piling up in my yard and drivway, I realize that fall and winter will be long in my house, while The Walnuts dive until all that is left on the tree bare branches is the ivy and the few leaves which refuse to fall. And each day those who must wander under my tree take the risk of being horribly maimed or meet their death by one of those mischievous green flying orbs. It would be an interesting way to go.
It's fall that's the problem.
You see, when fall in Oregon hits and all the leaves turn crispy and orange, an evil lurks in my pretty tree. An evil that litters my yard and driveway, that bangs all night long, that causes great black stains to appear on my porch and my living room rug. An evil that startles my cats when their napping and dents and dings parked and passing cars. It's an evil my friends, that will leave a knot the size of golf ball on your head or shoulders. This evil causes me to run from the corner of my street to my front porch on windy days in fear.
This evil, is The Walnuts.
Great nasty greenish grey husk-covered Walnuts. They fall from way up high in the tree and zoom down on their targets with a walnutty fury. They bang, splat, thump and bounce of every single surface within twenty yards of the tree. They're smelly, slimy and extremely annoying when six or seven fall off at once in the middle of the night.
And their leathal.
Today Elaine became the first victim of the season. Minding her own busniess while walking under the tree to deliver the mail to my Grandmother she was startled by a burst of wind that signaled the arrival of The Foe. While attempting to flee to safety she was struck viciously in the head by a Walnut. She survived the ordeal with a slight bump on the head and a few harsh words about The Walnuts.
"They're Evil" She said.
I agree. Unfortunatly there is nothing I can do to combat this foe. Perhaps I will walk my life with an oversized umbrella in hand, or raid a nearby construction site in the attempt to steal a hardhat. But, in the meantime, as I search to find one who is so brave as to risk going under my tree (Or one who would steal two hardhats, and give one to me) to rake the mess that is piling up in my yard and drivway, I realize that fall and winter will be long in my house, while The Walnuts dive until all that is left on the tree bare branches is the ivy and the few leaves which refuse to fall. And each day those who must wander under my tree take the risk of being horribly maimed or meet their death by one of those mischievous green flying orbs. It would be an interesting way to go.
James! Have a good one, you deserve it.
Someone should have told me my layout looks like total crap.
Guess I'll spend today redoing it. You've got to remember I create my layouts for how they look on MY computer, which was very good, thank you. However, after looking at it on someone elses, it turned out to be like those people I wonder how they ever get designing jobs.
%$&#$.
So, more then likely you're NOT seeing it the way I intended it to be seen.
Yes, exactly what is on my nano page..I'm lazy. So there!
Guess I'll spend today redoing it. You've got to remember I create my layouts for how they look on MY computer, which was very good, thank you. However, after looking at it on someone elses, it turned out to be like those people I wonder how they ever get designing jobs.
%$&#$.
So, more then likely you're NOT seeing it the way I intended it to be seen.
Yes, exactly what is on my nano page..I'm lazy. So there!
10.07.2002
My Nano Page
Go give it a visit and please tell me what you think. Not everything is there by a long shot, but it should all be done by tomorrow evening. Yip! I can't wait to get going.
Go give it a visit and please tell me what you think. Not everything is there by a long shot, but it should all be done by tomorrow evening. Yip! I can't wait to get going.
10.06.2002
I love fall. Especally when all the apples are ready to make stuff like applesauce and pies. Everything smells like apples and cinnamon now, and tomorrow I'm going to work on the pies. Woo!
10.01.2002
Wohoo! Well, I'm signed up for NaNoWriMo. (Where you write a 50k novel in 30 days, starting in November..but sign ups are open now) I'm going to try this thing again this year. Last year I didn't finish but I did try, so don't be too ashamed of me.
So far my partners in self-torture are Kelly and Fred. I've got a couple more people teetering on the edge, and Prana is one of them who hasn't succombed to the dark side, but I think she might..and our little group (The Cardboard Box Wrimos) is open for more friends in misery so if you sign up (and I think you should) let me know and I'll add you to our mailing list.
C'mon..what's it going to hurt?