Really Deep Thoughts

Meme Post

2008-11-17T15:23:23Z

'Cause all the cat owners are doing it:

Claudia

This was no surprise.

Nala

She's no killer, just neurotic.

Fuzzer

If he was, he would do it only if you touched his belly too much.

And because I can't seem to settle down to work (and thus, I'm a big waste of space today!), the following results:

Name That Dog Breed

Name That Soda

Name That Color

I cheated and did this twice. Carmine didn't look like carmine! I know my colors!

Name That Candy Bar

Name That Movie Villain

WTF?

2008-09-08T23:44:34Z

Just had to post this. Was frittering away time on the 'net when I came across a new release by a "brutal death metal" band named Unburied. The name of the CD is Slut Decapitator. Here's the track list:
1. The Putrid Stench Of Humanity 01:35
2. Slut Decapitator 04:24
3. Love For Dismemberment 01:41
4. End It With A Knife 01:33
5. Human Butchery 02:53
6. Tortured Remains 03:40
7. Domicile Of Flesh 02:22
8. Gore Soaked Revenge 01:55
9. Evil Lurks Within 02:12
10. Stab Hate Mutilate 02:42

I mean, o-O? I have a healthy appreciation for metal now, but isn't this laughable? I don't know how serious it is, or if they are poking fun at themselves (in which case, more power to them), but...really.

I just saw a video this morning which showed dead Afghan children (doubtless they were "expendable" or "collateral damage") during the U.S.'s latest airstrike. We claimed that only 9 civilians died, but now they are calling for an investigation into it, as there seems to be a lot more women, children, elderly, etc. dead than they first reported. What a surprise. End this stupid war.

I find it hard to even find "Human Butchery" amusing when we have our own horror in the here and now. Sorry if this sounds too glum, but I really don't see the entertainment value in shit like that.

katariina @ 2008-09-03T21:04:00

2008-09-04T02:10:16Z

Threads on the phorum and conversation with Jen tonight made me think of this. Jen, this is for you - maybe I gave birth to a couple of flying monkeys!

.

for singe_id

2008-08-15T14:52:35Z

Pssst! C'mere! Yeah, you. I got something to show you...

Happiest of birthdays, hun! I hope you have the best year ever. I know this past year was full of ups, and also had some pretty severe downs. I know it averages out when looking at the whole picture, but I'd give up any one of our fantastic days in April/May (except maybe Philly) to give you back Dane, even if only for a while. If I could, I would do it, I swear.
But next year will be your year, I can feel it! And if Disneyland doesn't work out, we would LOVE to see you here in September - or anytime, I hope you know that. Have a great day & weekend. We love you!
{{ mega-hugs }}
~karen

..

To stubenfliege

2008-06-24T01:48:37Z

Happy Birthday, Olwes! I wish you many happy returns of the day, and that all your birthday wishes come true. Have a wonderful day and an even better year.

*hugs*

~Kat

To mapon

2008-05-21T12:52:09Z

Happy Birthday, Simone!
Many happy returns of the day, and I hope all your birthday wishes come true!
*hugs*

~Karen/Kat

♫ Old loves they die hard, old lies they die harder...♪

2007-12-15T20:52:48Z

So, we are getting "Winter Storm" warnings all over the place. Snow is supposed to start coming down tonight and continue all day tomorrow. Our particular area (we're in a snow zone) is supposed to get over two feet! Yikes! I've never minded driving in the snow - good thing, too. Because RIT won't close, I'm sure. We're really getting hit with a lot of snow this year. Last year was pretty mild - it got cold, but we didn't get much snow. At least Johnny is enjoying it!

I've had boxes ready to mail out for ages - I procrastinated getting them to the post office so long that now I'm re-opening them and including Christmas gifts! I'm so pathetic...if procrastination were a science, I'd have a doctorate. Well, if we are snowed in tomorrow, I should be able to get everything wrapped up and ready to go.

I put our new 99 cent entertainment center up, and cleaned out the old one. We are really bad - I have almost 200 DVDs, plus seasons 1-8 of the X-Files, which is another 48 DVDs, and ended up tossing out about about 50 VHS tapes. I've got about 25 p[re-recorded movies to sell, and that's not counting the Disney ones. But I got the surround-sound working. We've had the speakers hooked up for a while, but I couldn't get it working properly. I got the correct digital cable, and it sounds great now.

Johnny got his hair cut this morning, and I did, too. His was getting soooo long. He has perfected that "head flip" that gets his bangs out of his eyes that boys do; anyone know what I mean? I got my hair trimmed; I'm growing it long again. It seems like all of a sudden it was halfway down my back. But it was straggly on the ends - it feels much better now. The only thing it needs is to be coloured now. My roots (the "white") are showing, lol!

I'm slowly but surely getting back to normal. I still need some more sleep than I like, but I really do feel so much better. I'm getting things organized, cleaned, repaired, and thrown out - stuff that hasn't been done for a long time. I'm not having a yard sale for a while, but I'm getting the stuff ready. Next spring, I'll have a lot to get rid of, and I'll donate the rest like I usually do. We have waaaay too much "stuff."

I'm so jealous of all those in Europe who have been enjoying the Apo concerts - it sounds, without exception, like they are fantastic, and the guys are in great form. But I also want to see all of you again, and meet those I haven't met yet. I'm really hoping that a lot of you can come here next year and hit a couple of concerts!

Kristina is home, she had her last day Friday. She has almost a month before she returns for the Spring semester. She'll probably be substitute-teaching most of the time. Life is good for her now - she's doing well.

Well, I'm off to do some more cleaning/wrapping/organising! If I've promised you a package, please forgive me for being such a loser and so cheap that I am waiting to mail to you until Monday. As I've said before, I mean well...

For medesign

2007-12-07T16:42:46Z

Happy Birthday, Dear Christen!
Many happy returns of the day, and may all your birthday wishes come true.

**HUGS**
~K

To _regje_ and nachtschade

2007-12-03T01:37:34Z

Regje! Mieke! I'm so sorry I missed your birthdays! These are for you...

My heartfelt wishes that your days were extra-special and filled with wonder and good surprises! May all of your birthday wishes come true.

*hugs*

Book Meme - nicked from singe_id (complete now!)

2007-11-15T02:07:30Z

Yes, I'm still alive - barely.
It's our busy week - end of the quarter for our students - and I'm working like crazy. I'm barely functioning, but I'll post an update soon.

In the meantime, this book meme (which I left out some - It's your fault anyway, Steph! I stopped at your great "Charlotte" picture...) which is going around

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger I really didn’t like this book – classic or not.
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame one of my favourites as a child
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling (Sorcerer's Stone in the US)
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden I Really liked this book!
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun, James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsythe Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver I LOVED this book!!
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. LawrenceLife of Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White - okay, one of my very favourite books in the whole world!
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews

Edit: 90 books read

I doubt I’ll re-read any of these in the next year (except maybe The Once and Future King) – none are my absolute favourites, and I have a stack of books about my height to read yet…I’m sooooo far behind in my reading! I tend to fall asleep reading the same paragraph over and over…

This is beyond outrageous!!!!

2007-10-24T16:40:03Z

Cristina Scabbia posted this in her MySpace. It gets me so riled up, I could...well, do the same to the "artist" and call it art. What a sadistic, non-human ASSHOLE!!!

I urge you to sign the petition mentioned to get this piece of garbage arrested for animal abuse. I can't believe vermin like this are actually honored or even allowed to walk around.

I'm trying to be calm, cool and collected, but I needed to write this down and DO something about it. I'm actually shaking because I am so angry. Angry and disgusted. Angry, disgusted, and ready to cry.

Arrrggggghhhhh!!!

*deep breaths* *deep breaths*

.

Squee! I'm gonna be a step-grandma!

2007-04-07T18:13:28Z

My step-daughter Heather and her husband Matt came up to NY for Easter weekend from South Carolina. We met for dinner last night (Italian - yum!) and she told us that they are expecting a baby in October (maybe for my birthday??). **Squee!!** I am really excited for them! I loooove babies, and since I won't be having any more (I don't think I'll ever stop wanting more babies), being a grand-parent is the next best thing.

I'm not ready for Kristina to have babies (and neither is she), and I'll probably be senile by the time Johnny has kids, so this fantastic. I felt really honoured, too, as she hasn't even told her mother yet (she doesn't always get along with her mother, and she and I have become really close over the years). I'm already planning time off in October to go visit, and hold a newborn again!

Yeah, I'm a total softie when it comes to babies. Babies, puppies, kittens, little soft fuzzy things that smell so...new. I admit it - I've totally embraced my maternal side (I think I did that when I was about 8). But I guess that's just who I am. I used to think it was being weak, to be so emotional when it came to babies, but I've since come to realize that not everyone is like that, and it isn't always necessarily a bad thing.

I guess if I didn't have to work and just needed something to fill my days, I would volunteer to rock babies all day in the nurseries - especially babies that really needed it.

So I'm a cliché - sue me. ;)

One of my favourite baby pics:

.

Squee!! jeen27r and singe_id !!!

2007-04-05T01:12:42Z

You cannot believe how happy you made me today! I was about to lose faith in mankind (actually, womankind, as my boss is a woman), when I came home to your packages!

Jean, the mini-eggs are my favourite! Cadbury is sooooo much better than the candy-coated eggs we have here. And the stuffed rabbit is adorable - holding the little chocolate "books." The eggs are just about gone, but I'm saving the bunny chocolates!
Thank you so much for thinking of me - you're such a sweet person, you really are.

Steph, I got your box, too (sans note, lol!), but I think I would have known what to do with the contents, even without your e-mail! The peeps are almost gone (saved the last two rows to get "stale"), and I had one of the "crunch" eggs. The candy pacifier is hysterical, but the walking chicken that "lays bubble gum eggs" (i.e., it walks and little ovoid gumballs come out of its ass) had me laughing out loud! Thank you so much! And Kristina and Johnny also say,

**Sigh** Yup, these are my children, I admit it!

**snoogles you both 'till you can't breathe**

.

Happy Birthday, _varda

2007-01-24T06:00:40Z

.

Have a wonderful day, sweetie! I hope all your birthday wishes come true! I have a package coming to you shortly...

Love,
Karen

.

Happy Birthday, medesign

2006-12-07T00:53:56Z

Hope it's a good one, Christen, and all your wishes come true!
**throws various assorted naked hot men and glittery confetti**

For nachtschade !!

2006-11-28T16:39:48Z

Mieke!!

***Snoogles***
Hope you are having a great day, sweetie - and may all your wishes come true!
*throws glittery confetti*

Happy Thanksgiving to my F-List!

2006-11-23T03:05:52Z

And I'm grateful for my F-List *snoogles*, Music, and My Family. And liquorice...

If you're hungry, I have cooked a turkey for you to enjoy ....

bwahaha! This pic came in an e-mail with a real recipe for Lemon Turkey.

.

Johnny and Claudia

2006-11-15T05:56:44Z

Kristina just sent me these photos from summer. They look so cute! You almost can't see her, but Claudia is all curled up in his arms.
If you look closely at pic #2, you can tell Johnny sleeps with his eyes partially open. Both of my kids do. Freaked me out when Kristina was a baby. I'd go to check on her in her crib when I went upstairs to bed, and you could see the glint of a reflectionof light in her eyes, but she would be sleeping. Creepy!

.

SNOW!

2006-11-02T20:34:34Z

This is what I'm looking at on my deck right now. I haven't even brought my garden stuff in yet. You can't tell because my camera sucks, but the flakes are HUUGe! o.O

Happy Birthday, darkgothgirlie!

2006-11-01T19:18:06Z

Ashley: Happy Birthday, hun! Many Happy returns of the day - hope it's all you hope for! **huggles** -Kat

I'm so tired...

2006-08-02T22:50:15Z

Pretty pathetic. I haven't posted in a while, and I post talking about how tired I am. This is my typical day - Up at 6:30. Take shower. Dry hair. Have breakfast/read paper. Slather on some makeup. Get dressed. Help Johnny get ready. Pack lunch. Leave for work. Drop off Johnny at day camp. Work all day (as in, "workmybuttoffandgetgriefanyway") so I'm stressed. Leave work. Pick up Johnny. Come home. Make a very quick meal, and shovel it down. Help Johnny to get ready. Help him put on shinguards and socks. Walk to his soccer game (lasts 1-1/2 hours), walk back home, go through mail. do load of laundry, log in to computer, go through e-mails on all accounts, check out forum, apofic, myspace, etc. Finally go to bed about 1 a.m. Yeah, I'm a soccer mom. *Sigh* I just wish I could work part-time instead of full-time.

And I get jealous. My mother is a retired teacher, and both of my sisters and my sister-in-law are teachers as well. Wish I had the summer off!!

'tis the season...for rants!...Happy Rant Day.

Time for bed. It's after midnight.

Goodnight.

katariina @ 2006-07-17T00:26:00

2006-07-17T04:36:55Z

A friend of mine on another forum, Aubergenie, has let me post the link to her pics of Apo from ~~Brussels~~ Ruisrock. I think she got some really good shots!

Abi's Pics

Enjoy.

-Katariina

Long Meme

2006-07-15T21:09:56Z

So, still no news on the cancer/cyst thingy. I am supposed to get a blood test to check for cancer, but I'm scared. I've procrastinated by being busy all week. But I have had some things going on. My niece had her baby (pics to follow), and other stuff. I promise I'll go at the beginning of the week. I have another ultrasound in August.

(Click here to post your own answers for this meme.)

✓ I miss somebody right now.	✓ I don't watch much TV these days. (Not much of any good on.)	✓ I own lots of books. (lots and lots and lots)
✓ I wear glasses or contact lenses. (And I hate, Hate, HATE it! Got them 2 years ago...)	× I love to play video games.	✓ I've tried marijuana. once, about 30 years ago at a party - all it did was put me to sleep...
✓ I've watched porn movies. (typical PWP)	× I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship.	✓ I believe honesty is usually the best policy.
✓ I curse sometimes. (and I've added a few Finnish curses!)	× I have changed a lot mentally over the last year.	× I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me. (??)

* * * * *

× I have broken someone's bones. (Gods, no!)	✓ I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal.	× I hate the rain.
× I'm paranoid at times. (or else they really are out to get me!)	✓ I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.	✓ I need/want money right now.
✓ I love sushi. (Vegetable sushi, though.)	× I talk really, really fast.	✓ I have fresh breath in the morning. (after I brush my teeth, that is.)
✓ I have long hair. (It's getting there...)	× I have lost money in Las Vegas.	✓ I have at least one sibling.
× I was born in a country outside of the U.S. (In another life, maybe..)	✓ I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past. (fingernails - and only because I never have 10 the same! I have nice nails, but I'm too active with my hands to have all my nails nice at the same time.)	× I couldn't survive without Caller I.D.
× I like the way that I look.	× I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months.	× I am usually pessimistic.
✓ I have a lot of mood swings. (Always have...)	× I think prostitution should be legalized.	× I slept with a roommate.
× I have a hidden talent.	× I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.	× I have a lot of friends.
✓ I have pecked someone of the same sex.	× I enjoy talking on the phone.	× I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants.
× I love to shop and/or window shop.	× I'm obsessed with my Xanga or Livejournal.	× I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.
✓ I have a mobile phone. (One that works overseas - LOL!)	× I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months.	✓ I've rejected someone before.
✓ I currently like/love someone.	✓ I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. (Hihihi. I'm 48.)	✓ I want to have children in the future. (But since I'm too old, I make do with the two I already have! LOL!)
✓ I have changed a diaper before. (OMFG! I have two kids....enough said.)	× I've called the cops on a friend before.	✓ I'm not allergic to anything. (not even poison ivy.)
✓ I have a lot to learn. (Always. I'll answer this positively when I'm 90)	✓ I am shy around the opposite sex.	× I'm online 24/7, even as an away message.
✓ I have at least 5 away messages saved.	✓ I have tried alcohol or drugs before.	× I have made a move on a friend's significant other or crush in the past.
× I own the "South Park" movie. (Ewww)	× I have avoided assignments at work/school to be on Xanga or Livejournal.	× I enjoy some country music. (Ewwwww!)
✓ I would die for my best friends. (Friend.)	✓ I'm obsessive, and often a perfectionist. (Certified.)	× I have used my sexuality to advance my career.
✓ I think Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.	× I have dated a close friend's ex.	× I am happy at this moment.
✓ I'm obsessed with guys. (certain Finnish guys, maybe.)	× Democrat.	× Republican.
✓ I don't even know what I am. (Bwahahaha! I know who I am, but not what I am...)	× I am punk rockish.	× I go for older guys/girls, not younger.
× I study for tests most of the time.	× I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I've ever met.	× I can work on a car.
× I love my job(s).	✓ I am comfortable with who I am right now. (everything but the weight.)	× I have more than just my ears pierced.
✓ I walk barefoot wherever I can.	× I have jumped off a bridge.	× I love sea turtles.
✓ I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup. (I used to...)	✓ I plan on achieving a major goal/dream.	✓ I am proficient on a musical instrument.
× I hate office jobs.	× I went to college out of state.	× I am adopted.
× I am a pyro.	× I have thrown up from crying too much.	✓ I have been intentionally hurt by people that I loved. (So it seemed at the time.)
✓ I fall for the worst people. (Not the worst, but not the best for me.)	× I adore bright colours.	× I usually like covers better than originals.
× I hate chain theme restaurants like Applebees and TGIFridays.	✓ I can pick up things with my toes.	✓ I can't whistle. (a tune, but I can do one of those ear-splitting, fingers-in-the-mouth whistles.)
✓ I have ridden/owned a horse. (Big part of life in my area.)	✓ I still have every journal I've ever written in.	✓ I talk in my sleep.
✓ I've often thought that I was born in the wrong century.	× I try to forget things by drowning them out with loads of distractions.	✓ I wear a toe ring. (sometimes.)
✓ I have a tattoo. (Ummmm, try 6)	× I can't stand at LEAST one person that I work with.	× I am a caffeine junkie.
✓ I am completely tree-huggy spiritual, and I'm not ashamed at all.	✓ If I knew I would get away with it, I would commit at least one murder. (Not anyone I know personally - it would be one of those child rapists/killers you read about on the news.)	× I will collect anything, and the more nonsensical, the better.
✓ I enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner.	✓ I'm an artist. (Secret one, though. Too insecure.)	✓ I am ambidextrous. (somewhat.)
× I sleep with so many stuffed animals, I can hardly fit on my bed.	× If it weren't for having to see other people naked, I'd live in a nudist colony.	✓ I have terrible teeth.
× I hate my toes. (I rather like mine.)	✓ I did this meme even though I wasn't tagged by the person who took it before me.	× I have more friends on the internet than in real life.
× I have lived in either three different states or countries.	× I am extremely flexible.	× I love hugs more than kisses. (No way. I love hugs, but long, slow, deep kisses with someone you love are the best!)
× I want to own my own business.	× I smoke.	✓ I spend way too much time on the computer than on anything else.
× Nobody has ever said I'm normal.	✓ Sad movies, games, and the like can cause a trickle of tears every now and then.	× I am proficient in the use of many types of firearms and combat weapons.
× I like the way women look in stylized men's suits.	✓ I don't like it when people are unpleased or seem unpleased with me.	✓ I have been described as a dreamer or likely to have my head up in the clouds.
× I have played strip poker with someone else before.	✓ I have had emotional problems for which I have sought professional help.	✓ I believe in ghosts and the paranormal.
× I can't stand being alone. (I rather like it. Just not all the time.)	✓ I have at least one obsession at any given time.	× I weigh myself, pee/poo, and then weigh myself again.
× I consistently spend way too much money on obsessions-of-the-moment.	× I'm a judgmental asshole. LOL! Does anyone ever admit to this? I sure KNOW some who are!	× I'm a HUGE drama-queen.
✓ I have travelled on more than one continent.	× I sometimes wish my father would just disappear. (Sadly, he's already gone. He died 14 years ago.)	✓ I need people to tell me I'm good at something in order to feel that I am.
× I am a Libertarian.	✓ I can speak more than one language.	× I can fall asleep even if the whole room is as noisy as it can be.
✓ I would rather read than watch TV.	× I like reading fact more than fiction.	✓ I have pulled an all-nighter on an assignment I was given a month to do.
× I have no piercings. (I have six. Soon to be eight.)	✓ I have spent the night in a train station or other public place.	× I have been so upset over my physical gender that I cried.
× I once spent Christmas completely alone because there was a miscommunication on which parent was supposed to have me that night.	✓ There have been times when I have wondered "Why was I born?" and may/may not have cried over it.	× I like most animals better than most people.
× I own a collection of retro games consoles.	× The thought of physical exercise makes me shiver.	× I have hit someone with a dead fish.
✓ I am compulsively honest. (But I have learned not to say anything at all if it will cause trouble.)	× I was born with a congenital birth defect that has never been repaired.	× I have danced topless in front of dozens of complete strangers.
× I have gone from wishing I was a girl to revelling in being a boy to feeling like a girl again in the span of five minutes, and not cared a whit for my actual sex.	× I am unashamedly bisexual, and have different motivations for my desires for different genders.	✓ I sometimes won't sleep a whole night or eat a whole day because I forget to.
✓ I find it impossible to get to sleep without some kind of music on. (I wear headphones.)	× I dislike milk.	× I obsessively wash my hands.
✓ I always carry something significant around with me.	× Sometimes I'd rather wear a wig in day-to-day life than use my own hair.	× I've pushed myself to become more self-aware and thereby more aware of others.
× Even though I live on my own I still cry sometimes because I miss my mother.	× I hand wrote all the HTML tags in this document.	× I've liked something which a majority of people claimed was either bad or weird.
× I have been clinically dead for a brief period of time.	× Instead of feeling sympathy/empathy with people and their problems, I simply become annoyed.	× I participate/have participated in auto drag races and won.
× I do not 'get' most comedy acts.	× I don't think strippers are money-greedy or slutty for dancing.	× I don't like to chew gum.
× I am obsessed with history/historical things and can't wait for someone to build a time machine so I can be the first to use it.	× I can never remember for the life of me where I parked the car.	× I had the TEEN ANGST thing going for at least 2-3 years.
✓ I wish people would be more empathic and honest with each other.	× I play Dungeons and Dragons weekly.	✓ I love to sing.
× I want to live in my mother's basement when I grow up. (Ewwww.)	× I have a custom-built computer.	✓ I want to create a certain someone's babies, even though there's a 0% possiblity of ever achieving it.
✓ I would be in a relationship with one of my pets if they were human. (Probably good friends.)	✓ I've gone skinny-dipping.	× I've performed in three plays.
× I enjoy burritos.	✓ I'm Irish and loving it. (partly.)	× I have a thing for redheads.
× I am a twin!	✓ Most of the times, I'd rather do something intellectual instead of doing something generically 'fun'.	✓ Once I set out to finish something, I always stay at it until it is completed before I move on to something else.
× I wish there were a way to erase past mistakes.	× I sleep more than 12 hours a day. (I wish.)	✓ I wish I could be prouder of what I've accomplished, but it's never enough.
✓ I need more time to myself.	× I wish I was more open-minded.	✓ I hope that I go really prematurely grey. (Too late to hope! Prematurely white runs in my family...)
✓ I download songs from the internet.	× I've just reenacted chapter 58 of Death Note with my best friend.	× I say random things to freak people out.
× I'm still a little mad about the ending of Death Note.	× I love playing Truth or Dare. (Used to.)	× I love listening to slow music, but I hate singing to it.
✓ Music helps me remember that I am not alone.	× Playing my favorite sport makes me temporarily forget my problems.	✓ I think this survey is particularly long.
× I prefer my LJ friends to my real-life ones. (I like them both.)	× I can only hate someone that I love.	× I've ordered an extra two shots of espresso to an Americano at Starbucks.

PO'd

2006-06-17T03:12:45Z

Okay. If you don't know me, I have the longest fuse you've ever seen. I almost NEVER get mad.
But now I'm pissed. I've had it.

I got a new computer. Yay for me, right?
This is my 5th computer. Yup, I'm a geek from way back.
I've always had good luck with Hewlett Packard - until now.
I bought a new computer about six weeks ago. DVD recorder, TV tuner, 350 gig HD, LightScribe, wow! I'm really excited. I can't really afford it, but what the hell, right?
Things are okay for about 3 weeks, even though I didn't have time to do much with it. Then I got an error message, then it locks up. Okay, restart. Won't restart. Try everything I know, and I'm no expert, but I know quite a bit.
Finally, I call HP service as a last resort. They tell me (after a couple of tests and questions) that we need to reformat the HD. Shit! Lose my data - luckily it isn't much. So I resign myself to the fact that I need to reformat the HD. I try to do it with the partition recovery on the HD. No go. So HP service tells me I need to get the recovery disks. And I have to PAY for them. $30. Because the problem seems to stem from installing software, and they can't guarantee software.
So they send the disks, and they arrive in about five days. I'm away last weekend, so I call Tuesday, and the tech talks me through it (like I'm a moron, of course). Well, it fails. It takes two hours to wipe out the HD, and when it starts the recovery process, I get the blue screen of death.
I call them back, and they tell me to reformat the HD AGAIN - it might not have worked the first time. Ya think?
So I run it again the next night - blue screen of death again.
I called them tonight, and they are running some tests. Right now my computer is about 90% through the test, and it's been 2-1/2 hours.
I had told the tech that I wanted a new computer, and he gave his best patronising speech about "I understand, ma'am. But we are sure this last test will determine the problem." When I asked what would happen after the test, he told me that they suspected the HD was corrupt. He said it would probably need to be replaced. I asked what that involved, and he proceeds to tell me that the HD is a semi-permanent disk that the computer uses to store...blah, blah, blah. What is it Steph said? I don't have a penis, so therefore I don't have a brain? (Actually, it explains a lot on how guys think, or rather what they think WITH).

I told him I meant how did it work to replace the hard drive, and he says that they will ship me a HD and a box. I replace the HD, and ship the old HD back in the box provided. WTF? I replace the HD? (I've done it before; as a matter of fact, I've added a second drive and partitioned it myself.) But that's not the point. why should I?

Finally, he says, "Do you want a new computer?"
"YES!" I said.
"Well, what's your price range?" he said.
"WTF? Price range? Try $0! I've paid almost $1,200 for this one, and I haven't even used it!!"
"Oh, you want a replacement.
Uh, no, I thought I'd just keep buying computers until someone got it right.

Stoopid, fuckin' misogynistic, sightless, condescending piece of shit. I am woman, hear me roar, I have a brain, and I know how to use it.
Maybe -- just maybe -- the problem is the computer and not something between the chair and the keyboard?!

**Sigh**

Okay, I feel a little better now.
Wish me luck.

Icon Meme

2006-06-17T02:24:53Z

1) Comment and I'll pick one of your LJ interests and make you an icon.
2) You have no say in what I make.
3) Put this in your journal so I can do the same. (unless you're unable to make 'em)