The Angel Waiting To Be Sent

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Happy Halloween!

I hope that you all are having a better time than I am. I've got my annual Halloween cold. Blah! My head hurts, my nose is all stuffy, I'm feverish, and I can't even taste the candy that I steal from Mike's bag of treats! In short, I am miserable. Someone pass me the ibuprofen so I can go off somewhere and do this...

It's Time For Sunday Brunch!

Happy Halloween!

"Tis the witching hour of night,
Orbed is the moon and bright,
And the stars they glisten, glisten,
Seeming with bright eyes to listen
For what listen they?"
~ John Keats ~

1. What candy are you passing out on Halloween night if you are staying home?
Welcome to the Mon Valley. We never have trick-or-treating on Halloween night! Nearly every community has it on a different day. Our town did it on Wednesday night. I did not pass out treats since Mike wanted me to dress up and accompany him on his rounds. I think that he enjoys humiliating his mother. He chose my costume. It made me look like a big fat

Moo!
You won't be seeing any pictures this year!

2. What was your best Halloween costume?
Back in my days as a skinny, sexy college student I went to all of the Halloween parties dressed as a little black mouse. I got a lot of the other girls angry because their boyfriends all flirted with me when I wore that costume, so I guess it was a good one!
Ah! Those were the days...

3. Are you doing anything on the night of Halloween if you are not staying home to pass out treats, and if so, what are you doing?
Since the Halloween festivities are already over in our town, I shall be staying home doing the same old same old...

4. What is your favorite Halloween décor? (ie, witch, ghost, pumpkins)
Decorating is Michael's department.
This is what he came up with this year...

A little bit of everything!

5. Do you carve jack o’lanterns?
No. Carved pumpkins rot too quickly. If I decorate using real pumpkins, I paint the faces on them or use stickers.

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Another Interesting Blogthing

You Are a Snarky Blogger!

You've got a razor sharp wit that bloggers are secretly scared of.

And that's why they read your posts as often as they can!

What kind of blogger are you?

Friday, October 29, 2004

A Bit Of Political Ranting...

When I went to work yesterday, I was greeted by the ravings of the office lunatic (read "Republican") of how all of the rest of us were a bunch of fools for supporting John Kerry. His ravings were were loud and insulting. Several of us reported his behavior to management, since politics and religion are topics that are supposed to be off limits in our workplace. Unfortunately, management chose to do nothing about this extremely unpleasant situation. Perhaps they are Bush supporters...

In anger I stomped out of the office to my car. I retrieved my personal CD player and Scorpions CDs. I stomped back into the office to the cubicle where I sort the mail for my route. I slapped on the headphones and turned the volume up all the way. Ah! Savage Amusement , what blessed relief! I felt the urge to sing along with Klaus, and so I did!

"Passion rules the game
Yeah, yeah! Oooo...
I ain't got no control
When my heart's in flames."

I hope that I sounded terrible! It was fitting punishment for that idiot to have to listen to me!
Tee hee! One of the ladies who works with me told me that she really enjoyed my singing! She said that it was the happiest she had heard me be in ages!

The whole incident at the office has put me in the mood to rant politically. Please forgive me. I support John Kerry 100%! My reasons are many, some silly and frivolous, some based on the facts as I see them and quite politically valid. Here they are:

Reasons That Lady Starlight Is Voting For John Kerry

1. John Kerry is better looking than George W. Bush. I think that I would prefer to look at him for the next four years! This is one of the silly reasons that I was talking about, I admit it.

2. John Kerry is a Vietnam vet. These guys hold a very special place in my heart. If you're reading this and you are a Vietnam vet, all I have to say is, "I love you!"

It's about time that someone told you guys this!

3. The war in Iraq is unjust. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Who would be better to lead our nation out of such an unjust war than a man who has experienced one first hand?

4. George W. Bush would like to take away the rights of workers to receive overtime pay. I can only receive this for three weeks out of the year under our union's contract with the USPS. It is one of the very few bright spots in the long and difficult Christmas mailing season. I work damned hard for that extra pay. I don't want some spoiled little rich boy taking it away from me.

5. I care about what the other nations in this world think about the U. S. The war in Iraq has caused us to look like a bunch of war mongers to everyone except Great Britain and Poland. (Can't forget Poland!) This must be changed.

6. I feel that George W. Bush's so-called values are a threat to our right to religious freedom. The United States of America not supposed to be a "Christian Nation." Religious freedom encompasses ALL religions and non-religions, not just the Judeo-Christian ones!

7. I support the right of gay people to be married. We are talking about civil unions here! The separation of church and state demands that this be allowed. The living arrangements of gay couples are the same as those of heterosexual couples. They deserve the same rights!

8. George W. Bush supports the death penalty. I do not! Christ was crucified. Isn't that enough to convince you that the death penalty is wrong?!

*note*
Three very dear members of my family were murdered when I was a little girl. I never had the desire to see the people who were responsible for this put to death.

9. What has W. done to improve the health care situation in this nation? Nothing, nada, zip! It's time for a change!

10. Bush claims to have created jobs in our nation during his term. Such a shame that they all pay minimum wage! I challenge you all to try to feed a family on that measly sum!

11. A final silly reason. I like Theresa Heinz-Kerry. I think that this nation needs a first lady who is not afraid to say what is on her mind, in spades! You go, girl!

There you have it, eleven of my reasons for voting for John Kerry. Argue with me all you like, but you're not going to change my mind!

In closing, I wopuld like to remind all Kerry supporters to get out and vote on Tuesday, but if you are a Bush supporter, do us all a favor and stay home!

Thursday, October 28, 2004

It's A New Meme!

"There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you can enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it."
~ Bertrand Russell ~

Welcome to The Thursday Bookworm!

This meme is all about books. And like the quote mentioned above, it's all about enjoying them and, in some cases, bragging that we actually managed to finish them. :)

So since this is the first week, I'll start out with some general questions about your favorites (and not-so-favorites)!

1. What would you consider your favorite book of all time? Why? (Really sell it to us... make us want to run right out and buy it!!!).
I thought long and hard about this question. I have read many great books over the years of both fact and fiction. It is quite difficult to choose a single favorite. After much thought on the subject, I decided that my all time favorite book is one of the very first books that I ever read, Green Eggs And Ham by Dr. Seuss! Go ahead and laugh if you want, but this book is one of the ones that taught me to love reading. Seuss's lyrical rhymes have never lost their appeal to me over the years. His lighthearted style of writing could teach lessons without leaving you feeling that he was preaching at you! I enjoyed reading this book as a child, I enjoyed reading it to my children, and I am quite certain that one day I shall enjoy reading it to my grandchildren. So, let's hear it for Dr. Seuss, the greatest children's author of all time!

2. What would you consider the most heinous, horrible book you've ever read? Tell us why we should NEVER read it.
That would have to be My Sweet Audrina by V. C. Andrews! All of those people dying by falling down the stairs, gimme a break! They are all female hemopheliacs, to boot! I could give you the scientific reasons why this is a near impossibility, but it would just bore you. Suffice it to say that there must have been a lot of incest going on in that family, even though in this one instance, Andrews chose not to write about it. Gah! That woman was obsessed with incest. Do yourself a favor, don't read this book!

3. Have you ever started a book and been unable to finish it? Which one, and why? Do you think you'll ever pick it up again?
Normally, I thoroughly enjoy the vampire tales of Anne Rice. The exception would be Tale Of The Body Thief. I tried to read it, but it was just so boring that I couldn't finish it. I doubt that I will ever pick it up again.

4. How often do you read a new book? In general, how long does it take you to finish a book (minus those pesky distractions like work, sleep, school, etc.)?
It's all a matter of supply and demand. If I manage to happen upon several books of interest at the same time, I may read two or three books in a single week. If there is nothing around that appeals to me, I may go for months without reading. If a particular book is exceptionally good, I tend to become obsessed, reading it every spare minute that I get. An average book takes me about three or four days to finish, unless it is particularly lengthy.

5. Have you ever liked a book so much, you read it again?
Hell, yeah! I go to see movies that I like several times, why wouldn't I treat the books that I enjoy in the same manner?!

A Bit Of Election Related Silliness

You Should Vote For Kerry

Though You'd Rather Vote for Michael Moore

Which presidential candidate should you vote for?

As if I really needed to take a quiz to know this...

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Brought to you by the ladies at Blogdrive Insanity!

Wheeee! It's Hump Day again! Hold on to your skivvies, kids, beause today we celebrate BOXER SHORTS Day! Today commemorates the day that the loose fitting underpants were introduced in 1901 though they didn't become wildly popular until the 1930s. World, meet boxer shorts -- boxer shorts, meet world. Let's be different -- let's celebrate something else instead -- something that's very important to Blogdrive Insanity and blogging in general -- the Internet's Birthday. YAY! This Friday, October 29, marks the day in 1969 that two college campuses linked up computers resulting in the birth of the internet as we know it thus enabling the creating of weblogs or 'blogs'. Whew! Thank goodness. Can you imagine a world without blogging? Scary, huh?

Let's warm up for today's hump -- using the letters S-U-R-F-I-N-G reveal what rewards the internet and blogging has brought into your life.

Surfing and blogging can help to keep my mind off my problems.
Useful information can be found much more easily, useless information, too!
Reading blogs is fun!
Friends, old and new, can be found on the internet.
I can peek into your lives through your blogs. You can peek into mine.
No one can stop me from speaking my mind in blogland.
Getting to know my fellow bloggers is a reward unto itself.

Damn, I'm being awfully sappy! I wonder if I'm sick...

Are you ready? Let's get Humpified!

Today some fun with free association or "I say ___, you think __". Below is a list of words. Respond with the first word, phrase, sentence that comes into your cwazy little heads. Or babble on if you like -- it doesn't matter what you do -- just have a humpin' good time!

1. layer: Seven layer burrito. Taco Bell, anyone?!
2. automatic: Automatic transmission, please. I can't drive a standandard!
3. restless: The natives are getting restless!
4. juggle: What I am always trying to do with my time.
5. powered: I am powered by caffein and nicotine!
5. compliment: I can never get enough of those, as long as they are genuine.
6. spew: My oldest son was a champion at this when he was a baby.
7. castle: Dracula lives in one of those.
8. freckles: Michael has 'em. Hates 'em, too!
9. dough: Cookie dough ice cream
10. style: Love American Style used to be one of my favorite TV shows.
11. bonus: Something that you never get when you work for the USPS!
12. green eggs and ham: I am Sam. Sam I am...

This hump has been brought to you by those wild and wacky women at BDI -- If sanity were gasoline, we wouldn't have enough to drive a dinky car around the inside of a Cheerio.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

All About Cows!
Edited from an e-mail sent to me by The Music Whore

You have two cows. If you live in the good ol' U S of A, one of the following is probably true...

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

DEMOCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself, and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the 2 cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.Your stock goes up.

FLORIDA CORPORATION: You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best-looking one. Some of the people who like the brown one best vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can't figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of Democrats from out-of-state tell you which is the best-looking one.

NEW YORK CORPORATION: You have fifteen million cows. You have to choose which one will be the leader of the herd, so you pick some fat, bossy bitch cow from Arkansas.

CALIFORNIAN CORPORATION: You have millions of cows. Most are illegals. Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

BIBLE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You pray and then you pray some more.Now you have two holy cows.

On the other hand, if you live in Germany the following is probably true...

GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately, they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

What's this about thirteen weeks of vacation?! That's it! I'm moving. I only get four!

Monday, October 25, 2004

Monday Music Mambo
Brought to you by the ladies at Blogdrive Insanity!

This week's mambo is all about Halloween. After all, next Sunday is the day when all the ghosties and goblins come out to play.

1. What are your favorite Halloween songs?
I don't know that it's my favorite, but doing this mambo has caused The Monster Mash to go on a mental loop for me!

2. Do you know the words to any of the songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show? (Which ones?)
If I had been asked this question twenty odd years ago, I probably could have told you that I knew all of them. My college friends and I used to trek to The Kings Court Theater in Oakland at least once a month for the Rocky Horror Picture Show festivities. Alas, time has dulled my memory to the point that I can only remember some bits and pieces of the songs.

3. The spooky monsters are coming after you. You know that music will soothe each one long enough for you to escape...but each monster requires different music, what do you play for:

a: Dracula - Flesh And Blood
b: Frankenstein - It's Not Easy Being Green
c: The Wolf Man - Who Let The Dogs Out
d: The Mummy - Walk Like An Egyptian

4. You've been cursed and turned into a spooky Halloween creature. What creature are you, and what's your theme song?
I am a vampire. My theme song would have to be Cheap Trick's I Want You To Want Me , but it would have to be sung with a really bad Transylvanian accent...

"I vant you to vant me..."

5. Halloween is a time for creepy movies. What creepy movie has the best music, in your opinion?
The most memorable music from a creepy movie would have to be Tubular Bells From The Exorcist.

OK, all you ghosts and ghouls out there, this week...bypass the mambo and do the monster mash.

Loads of freaky ghoulish hugs from the scariest ladies in blogland.

10 Reasons To Love Matthias Jabs!

10. One word, guitargasms!

9. His beautiful blue eyes.

8. Despite what the authors of a certain magazine article said, he's one hell of a metal guitarist, far better than Uli Jon Roth!

7. He loves to be silly.

6. He wears interesting scarves!

5. His bandmates are just as pretty as he is!

4. The silly hats that he wears.

3. His gap-toothed grin.

2. He never buttons his shirts.

And the #1 reason to love Matthias Jabs...

Tight leather pants!

My monster has:

Eyes like a clear summer sky.
Teeth like the smoker that he is.
Hair like a shaggy dog.
Face like a silly little boy!

But no matter how silly and shaggy my monster is, I love him anyway...Just the way he is!

If you haven't guessed it by now, my "monster" is Matthias Jabs!

It's his birthday today.

Everyone together now...

Happy Birthday, Mati!

Or in his native language...

Glücklicher Geburtstag!

Sunday, October 24, 2004

It's Time For Sunday Brunch!

Parents

"Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves."
~ Marcelene Cox ~

1. What do your parents do for a living?
My parents do what just about everyone who is their age does for a living. They collect Social Security and a couple of pensions!

Prior to his complete retirement from the workforce, Dad was employed in the automatics department of the local Corning Glass factory, and later a part time custodian for the Charleroi School District. Mom was never employed outside the home, as is the norm for women her age.

2. How old were your parents when you were born?
Gah! I have to do math! Let's see...
Mom was twenty-seven when I was born. Dad is eight years older, so he would have been thirty-five.

3. What is the most important lesson that you learned from your parents?
There is only one lesson that a hard headed individual such as myself can learn from someone other than herself. Think for yourself. Make your own mistakes, and learn from them! This lesson was, of course, learned from my parents, who found out very early that there is no telling me what to do!

4. What is the harshest discipline that you ever received from your parents?
My mom is the queen of guilt! Let us all bow down before her greatness.

There is no punishment, not spanking, grounding, or anything else, that is greater than Mom's ability to bestow guilt upon me. Krikees! That woman can still make me feel guilty about things that I did forty years ago! Just like an elephant, Mom never forgets!

5. What is the thing for which you are the most grateful to your parents?
They endured all of my crap! Believe me that is one thing for which I have much gratitude!

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Saturday Slant

Naughty Little Impulse

What is your naughty little impulse ever acted upon? Ever wanted to kiss your boss? Do you often feel like telling your mother-in-law that she’s a self-centered, controlling witch—over Thanksgiving Dinner? Do you sometimes feel the compulsion to pick up your man’s dirty socks, which are constantly strewn about the floor irresponsibly, and ball it into his sleeping, snore-opened mouth? Ever wanted to steal something just for the thrill of it? Or is your impulse more along the lines of seducing that hunk from the mail room? Tell us about some naughty impulse you’ve had—or have frequently—and the circumstances surrounding it.

Lady Starlight has given in to so many naughty little impulses that she couldn't possibly list them all in one post! What can I say? Self control is not my strong suit! Due to the lack of room, I shall relate to you only the most recent incident.

Because of the things which have happened recently, I was forced to call my mother-in-law about some matters regarding insurance coverage. My mother-in-law is a very nice lady. I have nothing against her, but she is a religious fanatic of the fundamentalist Christian kind. ARGH! After we discussed the insurance matters, she proceded to tell me how she was praying, and that Jesus was going to take care of everything. Without much thought, I told her to pray all she wanted, but I was placing my trust in the hands of the doctors. That was a huge mistake. I then got a lecture on how I needed to "find Jesus" if I wanted to get into heaven.

Find Jesus? I thought. I wasn't aware that he was lost. I passed on the naughty impulse to tell her that. Instead I went with another. I told her that perhaps I didn't want to go to heaven, a place filled with people who placed their faith in a book of fairy tales written two thousand years ago by not so intelligent human beings. Yes, I was talking about The Bible. This left her flabbergasted, and probably quite certain that I am going straight to Hell. Oh, well. When I get there, I am sure to meet plenty of my friends...

I am quite aware that this was not a very nice thing for me to say, but I just wasn't in the mood to listen to her religious bull crap!

Friday, October 22, 2004

Was She Watching Over Us?

Please forgive Lady Starlight for this semi-religious moment, but I am a Catholic, after all, and Mercy Hospital is a Catholic hospital, as is made evident by this statue which is seen outside the main entrance. It kinda got me to thinking...
Thinking things that I don't normally think. Perhaps that is what they had in mind when they placed that statue there.

Yesterday was one of the most trying days that I've experienced in a very long time, but all was better than expected at the end. The rush hour drive into the city was nothing compared to wait of over six hours in the hospital waiting room. We left only briefly to get some lunch. The chairs in there were ghastly. The soap operas that my sister-in-law chose to watch during the wait were even worse!

At about 3:30 PM our wait was over. The surgeon informed us that all went well. They were able to remove all of the tumor and it did not appear to be cancerous. (Insert sigh of relief here.) He also told us that we could actually visit him (the estranged one) in about two hours.

To fill the time during this new wait, I took a minor trek into the city with our oldest son, Ray, who had accompanied me for the day. We got some cash from an ATM, since lunch in the hospital caffeteria and the purchase of a puzzle book to fill the time had depleted nearly all of my cash on hand. After that, we trekked on down to Wood Street, where we had "dinner" at Subway. By the time we returned to the hospital the whole two hour wait was over!

Although it was a bit disconcerting to see "the estrange one" lying there with all sorts of tubes and wires still connected to him, he looked a lot better than I had expected. He was still a bit groggy, but quite lucid. We spoke briefly before I decided that it was time to go home. I figured that he needed to rest without a bunch of worry worts hovering over him.

I know that the road ahead of us may not be easy. Recovery from things such as this never is, and there still is a chance of a set-back. I have also tried to put all thought of the inevitable divorce procedings which will follow his recovery from my mind. For now, I prefer to bask in a feeling of blessed relief. There will be time for all of those other things later. We will all make it through, because perhaps there really is someone watching over us. For that I am thankful...

Thursday, October 21, 2004

The Ravings Of An Emotional Wreck!

"The estranged one" went back into the hospital yesterday for his first surgery. I went to work as usual, not wanting to have to spend the day with his deranged family. All went better than expected, if they are to be believed. Getting any imformation from them is like pulling teeth. I know that they never liked me, but for crying out loud, he is still my husband and it is my insurance that is paying the bills! I deserve to know something...

The second surgery is today. I am not making the same mistake twice. I will be there. I have to be at the hospital at 8:30 AM if I want to see him. Damned right, I'll be there! I'll fight the bloody Pittsburgh rush hour traffic to do it, because right now, every time that I see him I fear that it will be the last, and that brings out all sorts of emotional garbage...

Remember what I said a while back? I'd be better off if he were dead. I didn't mean it. Dammit, I want a divorce. I don't want to be his widow! Please, pray for him, my friends. I don't know if I can. God and I are not exactly on speaking terms. I'm pissed at him for giving this to yet another person that I care about.

I was watching Law And Order the other day when I heard a quote that summarized fairly well what I believe happened to us.

"Love, a terminal condition that is immediately curable by marriage."
~ Lenny Brisco ~

On Sunday night I cornered him (the estranged one) in the car with what I was feeling. It was probably the first time we ever talked openly about what happened between us. I came to a scary conclusion about myself. No matter what has happened or will happen, there is a part of me that will always love him. This is probably why I've never filed for divorce even though I know that things can never work between us.

Following this emotionally draining conversation, I held him and kissed him, quite passionately, for the first time in years. (Please, Andrea, don't be sick!) When I looked at him, for a brief moment, I saw the man who I had fallen passionately in love with twenty years ago. This really scared me.

I feel the need to list the reasons that I wanted a divorce before this happened in order to keep my head straight.

1. Our attitudes toward life in general are too different. He is a steadfast hunter. I advocate animal rights. He likes to play things safe. I prefer to take chances. The list goes on and on.

2. No matter what he claims, I don't believe that he has ever truly forgiven me for the things that I did during my alcohol addiction.

3. He relies too heavily on me and my job for support. Just once, I would have liked to have felt like he was taking care of me.

4. It seemed to me that there was always something in his life that was more important than me, hunting, bowling, football games...

5. He doen't care what he looks like. Dammit, I know he cleans up nicely, but he prefers to wear ratty old clothes that look like hell.

6. His family and I never got along. I am tired of trying to fit into that circus!

7. I am never going to change, and neither is he! We need to make a break in order to get on with our lives.

I think that gets me back into the right mindset...

I need to be getting to bed if I am to be up to leave so early in the morning. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep, but I have to try.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Brought to you by the ladies at Blogdrive Insanity!

It's Hump Day again -- isn't that electrifying? It should be especially since today is Electricity Day which commemorates Benjamin Franklin's historic kite flight waaaaaay back in 1752. What a shocking discovery! *rolls eyes* Hmmmm, kite, key, storm ... sounds like Ol' Ben could have easily joined our crazy clique. Maybe what they say is true ... "There's a fine line between genius and insanity." Hey! Does that mean we're all borderline geniuses? Woo Hoo!

Let's charge our minds with a little pre-humping action --

Tell us about a memorable shocking (or odd, interesting, valuable) discovery. Example: Mom lied. No matter how many goofy faces I make my face will NOT get stuck like that forever. Or -- if you wrap celery in aluminum foil it will stay fresh and crispy for weeks. Or -- Trix really ARE for kids!. You get the point.

My dad knows how to flip people off!

To undertand why this is such a shocking discovery, you must know my dad. Dad is in his seventies, and although he can cuss with the rest of us when he gets behind the wheel, his vocabulary of naughty words is usually limited to phrases like "son of a bitch" , "simple bastard", and "old fart." Gee, Dad, I guess it takes one to know one on that last one! His use of obscene gestures is even more limited. The worst gesture I had ever seen him use before my astonishing discovery was the four finger salute with the thumb on the nose.

Then one day my car broke down, and Dad had to drive me home from work. The roadways were populated with idiots that day. As we reached the top of Cemetary Hill and the end of the passing zone, one of the aforementioned idiots decided to pass Dad and promptly cut him off as the passing lane ended. Up went Dad's middle finger. My face looked something like this:

Here we go -- ladies and gentleman, start your humps.

This week, some "getting to know you fun" with a wittle wobble.

1. If you had an off/on switch, what would you want it to switch off/on instantly?
My mouth, definitely! My big mouth is always getting me ino trouble...

2. Your favorite celebrity will be knocking on your door in exactly one minute. Considering you only have one minute, what would you do before you answer the door and how would you greet him?
Ummm... I seem to remember it being said that is a "family friendly" meme, so it is probably best if I don't tell you.

3. If you could save time in a bottle, what time(s) would you save?
I would save all of the times that I spent with the people I love who are no longer with me. Grandpap, Aunt Peggy, Charlotte, Uncle Ray, Cindy, and Judy to name a few.

4. Look around you. First, tell us what room you're in. Now, name the first red thing you see ... likewise blue, and yellow.
I guess that you would call the room that I'm in the computer room. I keep little plush toys atop my monitor, one is Clifford the big red dog, another is a yellow duck. There is also a blue kadoate. If you'd like to know what that last one is, visit NeoPets.com

5. If you had a peephole in your head, what might people see when they peep in?

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

As Time Goes By
Part II

More than a week has passed since the last picture of this lovely bit of landscape was posted. The leaves on the trees are beginning to change to their glorious array of autumn colors. Soon this scene will be awash in the colors of the changing seasons.

Stay tuned for more. Who knows, I may even catch this scene following the season's first snowfall...

Monday, October 18, 2004

Monday Music Mambo
Brought to you by the ladies at Blogdrive Insanity!

This week, tell us your "Preferences."

1. Do you prefer just audio or video/audio of your favorite songs?
Just audio is fine by me. It is music, after all. The audio is what is important! I enjoy a good video, though. I never pass an opportunity to gaze upon loveliness such as this...

I wonder if he can still do that...

2. What do you like to listen to in the car (radio, CD, mp3 playlist...etc)?
My collection of Scorpions CD's follows me everywhere that I go! I even bought myself a special adapter so that I could play them in my "creepy little car" that only has a cassette deck.

3. Do you lean more towards a LIVE version of songs or the studio release?
The polished perfection of a studio release is nice, but the live versions of songs are much more fun. My favorite is the live version of No One Like You. There is no disguising the fact that The Scorpions are a German band on that one!

"There's no one like you
I can't wait for the nights with you
I imagine the things that we'll do
I just vanna be loved by you..."

4. What is your ideal concert venue?
Someplace pretty. Definitely indoors with excellent acoustics. No bad seats in the house. No security people who are former KGB agents. Does anyone know of such a venue?

5. What's your favorite format (vinyl, cassette, cd, mp3 etc)?
Although the sound quality of CD's is excellent, I miss vinyl albums. Those scratches were not defects. They were signs of

.

Bonus: You can only see one concert this year. Who would it be, and where would the concert be?

The Scorpions, in Hannover, Germany so that I can follow them home.

There you have it, you crazy Mamboers! Now go forth and mambo til you can't mambo anymore.

Loads of mamboey hugs from the ladies who mamboed right off the short edge of the pier!

This week's questions are all about computers! Let's play, shall we??? (and let's make it fill-in-the-blanks....)

1. I have reformatted my hard drive one time.
With the addition of system restore to Windows, reformatting is only necessary after a total disaster! I've never had to reformat my laptop. Thank goodness, since I don't have a Windows disc for it.

2. I usually reformat my hard drive about zero times a year.
Running a system restore will remedy most problems.

3. When I'm working in a document, I save about every five minutes.
This is only a guess. I usually save a document after writing a paragraph or two, more frequently if I'm using my laptop on the battery. I've never really timed it.

4. I've upgraded my computer by adding a DVD ROM drive, 128 mb of SD RAM, and Windows XP.
I did most of it myself, too!

5. I've got about two or three CD's/floppies with info on them and none of them aren't labeled.
I used to have a lot more, not labeled. They all managed to get lost or destroyed, so now I label everything or put it on my handy dandy jump drive.

6. Since I've been using my computer, I find the easiest way to organize my files is to categorize. (Looking for suggestions!!)
Folders and subfolders galore! I have a category for everything! If I'm looking for a picture of The Scorpions, I know that it is in My Documents, folder My Pictures, subfolder Scorps! I wouldn't want to lose any of those!

7. I have too many email accounts.

I've lost track of most of them. I use my Yahoo! Mail account almost exclusively now. None of the others had a decent spam filter. I hate spam! And I'm not talking about this...

8. Whenever I have a computer-related question, I usually call my brother.
When my number turns up on his caller ID, he usually answers by asking what is wrong with my computer! I really should call him more often!

9. I usually use a search engine when looking for images.
In case you haven't noticed, I'm all about images!

10. My computer is about four years old.
I've upgraded it quite a bit. I have no fear of playing with the innards of my machine, so I have no plans to buy a new one any time in the near future.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

What Kind Of Girl Am I?

Perhaps that should read "woman." I'm a bit too old to be called a girl.

I am a Party Girl
Click on the picture below to read more:

Take the 'What Kind of Girl Are You?' quiz at CookingToHookup.com

As if you didn't already know!

It's Time For Sunday Brunch!

Furniture

"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house."
~ Henry Ward Beecher ~

1. What size is your bed?
Does it really matter? Any size bed is huge when you sleep in it alone.

2. Do you prefer fabric sofas or leather sofas? What do you have?
Leather sofas are pretty, but not very comfortable. I prefer fabric.
It seems that my dog does, too!

3. What wood stain color is your favorite? (Pine, walnut, cherry, etc.)
I don't like light wood stains very much. I also don't want something that is very dark. A nice medium-toned shade such as maple is what I like the most.

4. What piece of furniture is at the top of your wish list right now?
The chairs around my kitchen table are getting quite wobbly. I could use some new ones.

5. Do you have a piece of furniture in your home that doesn’t seem to fit but that you can’t bear to part with?
For the record, let me state that I am not into decorating or interior design. Home is a place to eat and sleep. My house is filled with cheap and second hand furnishings and it doesn't bother me one bit.