Meme

This is from Ben, at Dictionopolis at Digitopolis

10 Favorites
Favorite Season: Autumn
Favorite Color: Hunter Green
Favorite Time: Pre-Dawn
Favorite Food: Poptarts, strawberry, no frosting
Favorite Drink: Jack and Coke
Favorite Ice Cream: Hard serve, chocolate marshmallow
Favorite Place: Key West, FL
Favorite Sport: Figure Skating
Favorite Actor: Dennis Quaid
Favorite Actress: Jodie Foster

9 Currents
Current Feeling: Pleased
Current Drink: Ice Tea
Current Time: 3:09
Current Show on TV: TV is off
Current Mobile used: The one that my company pays for
Current Windows Open: None, central air here
Current Underwear: Yes
Current Clothes: Yes
Current Thought: Is it time to go home yet?

8 Firsts
First Nickname: Petunia (don't ask)
First Kiss: Can't remember his name...
First Crush: Dave S
First Best Friend: Deneen M
First Vehicle I Drove: Plymouth Duster, 1972
First Job: at a daycamp
First Date: Bobby ? took me to the mall
First Pet: A simese cat named Reena

7 Lasts
Last Drink: Latte
Last Kiss: From my daughter
Last Meal: Sausage McMuffin
Last Web Site Visited: Dell
Last Movie Watched: War of the Worlds
Last Phone Call: A psychologist who had to have his laptop fixed today, absolutely, needs it tonight. Called to tell me he will pick it up tomorrow.
Watched: Sopranos

6 Have You Ever...
Have You Ever Broken the Law: yes
Have You Ever Been Drunk: yes
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: yes
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire: yes
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: yes
Have You Ever Broken Anyone's Heart: yes.

5 Things
Things You Can Hear Right Now: My boss's best friend calling him names.
Things On Your Bed: Not at home now, but probably a Beagle and a Cat
Things You Ate Today: Sausage McMuffin, and a banana
Things You Do When You Are Bored: walk the dog

4 Places You Have Been Today
McDonalds
Borders
My office
My daughter's school


3 Things On Your Desk Right Now:
Laptops (lots and lots of laptops)
Software
Laptop Harddrives
Screwdrivers and other assorted tools

2 Choices
Salt or Pepper: Do I have to make a choice?
Hot or Cold: Hot

1 Place You Want To Visit
Grand Canyon

Tagged: anyone who reads this

Thank you

There is nothing else to say.











Tags: Memorial Day

I couldn't help myself

I had to share this. I got it from Love America, Hate Bush. Click the pic.



Tags: Bush Bloopers, George Bush

It's a Small World (after all)

I had a first happen to me today. I met a blogger whose blog I have on my blogroll.

I was at the monthly meeting of my writers group. The speaker was an agent, and her topic was promotion. Not a pressing issue for me, as I can't get any interest in my books, and I'm concentrating of short fiction.

However, an agent is someone who I should listen to, regardless of the topic. And there were quite a few tidbits of info about querying and finding an agent. When she mentioned her agency's name, I recognized it from the blog.

This gave me something to talk with her about after the lecture, which is great, because I suck at small talk. However, with a point of reference, I can talk to anyone. Without that, I tend to sound like a sychophant. I didn't get to speak with her in detail, as many of our members wanted her attention. Just a hello, what is the name of your blog? Agent Obsucra? I read you! I just put you on my blog roll.

I might have remembered to thank her (but I may not have--my bad!).

But it was pretty damn cool to accidently meet someone whose blog I read.

Tags: bloggingpublishing

Last to know

As usual, something is going on, and I'm elsewhere.

For the unaware (like I was), the Absolute Write was abandoned by their web host because Barbara Bauer, an agent of questionable repute, got pissed when she was listed as one of the 20 worst agents.

I knew that I couldn't get onto AW, but I thought my work filters had caught it. The site is up again, but unfortunately, the forums are not. And there were some great threads there!

Now it seems that this Barbara Bauer's biggest crime is that she hasn't sold any work (or refuses to acknowledge any sales). This would be like a real estate agent not wanting anyone to know that she is the the million dollar sales club. FWIU, this is like the agents resume, and is SOP.

I hope the forums are up soon. But I am spending more time writing since they went down.

Sometimes I am ashamed to be American

This is one of the cruelest and meanest parts of our nation's history. I have to warn you that the images are disturbing.

Searching through America's past for the last 25 years, collector James Allen uncovered an extraordinary visual legacy: photographs and postcards taken as souvenirs at lynchings throughout America.

But the idea that someone though taking pictures of lynchings was a good idea is disturbing. Then they made the pictures into postcards, MANY OF WHICH WENT THROUGH OUR POSTAL SYSTEM, is worse.

As discussed as I was by the images, I had to look, I had to read about the victims (if for no other reason than to acknowledge they were victims and owed some respect and not to be forgotten.) Because as horrifying as it is to realized this is part of our countries (and therefore its citizens) history, the very fact that our horrifying acts can be publicized, is the best thing about this country.

I'll never forget those images. I dare anyone to check out the website and not be moved.

Where do you get off behaving that way with women you don't even know?

Biting Beaver blogged about fuckability and what happens to a woman when men stare and objectify them:

To these men I was simply a convenient ass to stare at while they were in line. I could be a Nobel Prize winner, but they wouldn't know and they sure as fuck wouldn't care.

I was reminded that despite how capable I felt; despite being proud of myself for battling the triggers and the anxiety and being able to get my car working again I was still nothing but a feature in an afternoon porn flick in their heads. I wanted to turn around and punch the three of them, I wanted to turn and scream at them to knock it the fuck off. I wanted to turn around and ask them why they felt as though they had a right to use my body to fantasize about while they stood in line. I wanted to ask them who gave them the right to make me uncomfortable, to make me lose my good mood. I wanted to ask them all of these things.

In the end I just stood there. My mood deflated and my place in society brought back home in stark clarity. All of the joy I had just experienced, all of the elation at fixing my car and the feeling of accomplishment ran right out the window. To these men and to so many others like them, I was a mere afternoon diversion.

Interesting enough, another one of my favorite bloggers, F Train 2 Brooklyn, posted this:

The three men at the table were trying to engage the three of us in conversation. We're all married, so we're empowered by the fact that we are taken and do not care what single men think. We turned down their drink offer and they referred to us as bitches. I almost snapped and reacted to them. My two companions were getting ready to turn on them too.

I said, "Don't let them turn us into her. She's the bitch. Just think: what would Princess Diana have done?"

"Exactly," said companion #1. "Carolyn Kennedy would walk away."

"Hilary Rodham Clinton would too," said companion #2. Then we laughed, because she'd probably bitchslap the lot of them.

Instead of snapping, we ignored them and enjoyed the rest of our time. As we were standing to leave, the boyfriend said loudly, "So long, bitches."

Why couldn't he just leave it alone? We turned up our noses, flipped our hair, and gracefully excited.

Here's my problem - it was a decent place in downtown Manhattan, we are three attractive, unassuming, intelligent women just out for a quiet afternoon minding our own business - so why did he feel it was his right to try and ruin it? And ruin his daft girlfriends afternoon? Why are there men like him in the world?

This kind of behavior begs for a Thelma & Louise moment. Because I don't think there is a woman alive who hasn't had to deal with the male priviledge.

For some reason, women are supposed to be flattered that a man would deem the woman worthy of his attention. And if the woman objects, there is something wrong with her. She is a bitch, a ballbreaker, frigid, a cunt, and a dyke.

But, I don't really believe that. I don't think men are flattering us. They are reminding us of where our place is. They are reminding us that we are sub-human, objects, just 3 holes and a pair of tits. A warm, wet place for their penis.

There is a definite correlation between this behavior, and the behavior of whites during civil rights. The more rights that blacks were able to achieve, the more shit they had to put up with, until black people finally said, enough! The men would not be called "boy", their women would not be treated as whores, or worse, animals.

Do women need to face this behavior head on? Confront it when we see it? Make it uncomfortable for men to do this to us?

Because its more than just words. There is a barely veiled threat from some of these men, that they can do what they want, and we can't stop them.

Before you jump on my comments, I know that this not true of all men who behave misogynisticly, and that some men just slip into the misogynistic behavior because they think it's OK. But remember, women can't tell which man is going to be apologetic or embarrassed, and which is going to follow us to our cars.

Remember, many black men were lynched for not staying "in their place".

And Thelma and Louise were well armed and had nothing left to lose.

I hate TV, now more than ever

I'm going to have to stop reading Lee Goldberg's blog, even though it is one of the best writing blogs around.

Now he tells us that Surface and Invasion aren't coming back next season. I never really got into Invasion, but Surface was one of my favs. I think I liked Surface because I grew up at the seashore. As a child, I was certain that there were horrible creatures in the ocean. And those creatures wanted nothing more than to eat us.

Surface tapped those fears, along with my fears of a Tsunami (I know, New Jersey is not known for tsunami's, but I always used to look at that horizon and wonder.) After the season finale (which now looks like the series finale) I was looking forward to how they would resolve this sea monster thing.

It was bad enough that Threshold was cancelled with no resolution, but now Surface? I guess my viewing tastes are out in left field. I used to have a policy to never watch a new TV show, until I knew if it had been renewed for the next season. I think I'll have to reinstate that policy, because I can't trust the networks to continue the shows that I like.

I really hate TV

There are only about 4 or 5 shows on TV that I care about, and maybe 5 more that I can tolerate. Now, according Lee Goldberg's blog, it looks like HBO is going to drop Deadwood.

No official word yet, but:

Deadwood Dead?
Variety reports that HBO has let their contractual options lapse on the cast of DEADWOOD, which begins airing its third season in a few weeks. This decision frees the cast to pursue jobs elsewhere, which strongly suggests that HBO has lost interest in a fourth season of the show before the third season has even aired.


HBO insisted that conversations about future cycles of "Deadwood" are ongoing, and Milch told the Boston Globe in the April 30 issue that he had always planned to exit the series after the fourth season; he has been reported as saying that he'd envisioned each season as a year, and the actual Deadwood camp was destroyed at the end of four.

"If a series is successful, the commercial interest is in keeping it on, even after the creative interest is in ending it," Milch told the Globe. "With 'Deadwood,' my intention is to end at the end of the fourth season. I can't speak for anyone else, but that's where I'm getting off the bus."

I really hope this is just a rumor, or perhaps a publicity stunt.

Chutzpah to the Extreme

There is Chutzpah and then there is CHUTZPAH.

This guy, Al- Fatar King, owns a couple of Philadelphia Newsstands. He obviously didn't like competition, or his competitors locations, or just his competitors.

So he hired a crane to move those offending newsstands to other parts of the city. When the folks showed up for work, their place of employment was gone.

I bet every business owner wishes they could just move their competition to somewhere else!

Mr. King is a jerk. And he is also an idiot (he gave his real name to the crane company, who promptly point to Mr. King when the cops showed up). But, Damn!

Creepy, beyond all belief

I would seem that in Oklahoma, a 45 year old man is advertising for a bride. And he is willing to pay $1,000. Tacky, but creepy? Wait, it gets worse.

The "woman" in question is to be a virgin between the ages of 12-24.

--12? You ask? That must be a typo.

No, I answer. It is not a typo. Here is the story.

What kind of 45 year old would want a 12 year old wife? Michael Thelemann of Bray, OK, that's who. Neighbors think he is a pedophile, and I tend to agree. Mr. Thelemann doesn't understand, he said:

I'm just somebody who is getting up there in years, and I'm looking for a born-again, God-fearing virgin between the ages of 12 and 24 who can bear me children," said Thelemann, who was divorced in 1989. "What's the problem? I just think I have some wicked neighbors."

Google this creepaziod and you'll find over 120 news stories, but what concerns me is that no one is objecting to him "buying" a wife.

To him, a wife is nothing more than a commodity. From the ages, he is not looking for a partner, he is looking for a subordinate.

And what if he found this virginal, child bride? Who would get the money? I doubt she would! Wouldn't that be like paying the money to himself (as the head of his family)? I have a feeling he is looking to pay a parent. A parent who would sell their child in marriage.

And it is this attitude that upsets me. This is why we live in a rape culture. Biting Beaver has a great post on that subject, and I'm not going to repeat it. Follow the link and read it, if you care. I must warn, she is prone to hyperbole and doesn't have a shade of grey anywhere on her blog. I don't believe everything in that post is true all of the time, but I know all of it is true some of the time.

But whether you believe the rape culture surrounds us, or is just a small, insanely sick portion of society, the roots of this behavior is the belief that women can be bought and sold, or taken.

Doesn't matter if the man is paying a grand, buying dinner, or just the belief that being a man makes him in control of any woman he desires, it doesn't matter. It is attitudes like Mr. Thelemann's that it so damn dangerous for women.

I love bumper stickers

I'll admit it. I like to read bumper stickers. I like the fact that people put their opinions on their cars and drive around.

I like the funny ones.


I like the ones that make you think.











I like the ones that are just silly.








I like the ones that have good advice.
I have driven out of my way to follow a car, just so I could read the bumper sticker.




And I just found a new one that I love!

Oh yeah, she'll be annoyed

But what is a mother's job, if not to embarrass her child?

This year's skating pics:














Yeah, she will be seriously pissed at this.

Easter is the time for eggs, and eggs is the time for Easter

Easter, in our house at least, was a pleasant holiday. We went to my sister's house (which is also where my mother lives) in Ocean City, NJ. We got there Friday morning, and could not have planned for better weather. We walked the boardwalk and the beach, the kids went in the ocean (see my blog post about the kids and swimming out of season).

No hunting eggs, no dying eggs, the kids are too grown for that.

As sad as that seems, it was a relief for the adults. Even though I miss the holiday traditions with my daughter, we are forging new ones (swimming on Easter) and we keep some of the old ones (blowing up peeps in the microwave).

In the evening, we sat on the front porch and watched the sun set into the bay.

This was one of the best holidays I've had since becoming an adult.

Sick Days

This is what happens to my desk when I'm out sick:
















In case you can't see, that is 26 laptops for me to fix!

Like having the flu/bronchitis wasn't bad enough, I have to come back to 26 broken laptops.

Also, someone took the charger for my cell phone and the USB for my palm pilot. I guess I'm lucky my flat screen didn't walk.

Luckily, I could tell who was using my PC and what they downloaded (new wallpaper, a couple of joke programs that run on boot-up and a bunch of music that I don't like). Just wait for their vacations. Of course, that doesn't work for our assistants, because they don't have desks or cubicles.

I would complain to my boss, but he won't do anything. In fact, I think this is part of his attendance plan. Allow the monkeys to raid our cubes, then we think twice before taking off.

Once again, Conservatives Show Their Priorities

From This is Not Over:

From reader Andrea:

An outrageous bill has been introduced in the Ohio State House of Representatives. If passed, House Bill 515, also known as the "The Adoptive and Foster Children's Protection Act," will prevent homosexual, bisexual and transgendered individuals from becoming adoptive or foster parents. But wait! There's more! The law reads such that anyone residing with a homosexual, bisexual or transgendered person also faces the same ban.
This act is not only out-and-out prejudice, but will reduce the pool of potential foster and adoptive parents. And this is supposed to "protect" children?
Much worse, the timing of this bill is quite suspect. A divisive bill like this introduced so close to mid-term elections seems like a play to mobilize the conservative voting base.
Shrinking the pool of prospective foster/adoptive parents and slashing family rights all for the sake of mainpulating voters? Congratulations, Ohio Republicans, you've sunk to a new low.
You can read the actual bill here, and Ohioans can contact their reps to complain here.

They really don't care about children. They care about hate. They hate gays, and they want them back in the closet, on the fringes.

I'm not familiar with Ohio's foster care system. I can't find a statewide site, but here are two county sites: Green County and A Child's Waiting.

Look at those faces. How dare they deny these kids a loving home?

I guess it's more important to do bad things to gay people than to help children.

OK, who am I?

As Dumbledore, you are talented, intelligent and powerful! You may prefer to be in a leadership position, and always uphold what is right. You set trends with your crazy beard.




discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Ok, it's really boring at work today.

This does not surprise me

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Logic was never my strong suit.

But test taking was. While some people suffer from test anxiety, I perform better on tests than I should (based on the amount of studying and what I knew going into the test).

So I don't trust tests, except when I score really well. Then the test MUST be correct.

Writing Update

I haven't blogged about writing lately. I guess it's because I haven't received any rejections lately.

Which is odd, because I have 11 items on the street. Maybe that's a good sign, but I know that isn't necessarily true. I had one book take 10 months to get rejected. 10 months! It is a picture book, the manuscript is 3 pages. Now how long does it take to look at 3 pages and decide if you like it or not? On good days, I like to believe it was considered and reconsidered. On bad days, I'm sure it fell behind someone's desk, and when it finally found, it was promptly rejected.

I'm following my plan. I'm concentrating on my short stories for magazine publication. My reasons are as follows, I haven't been published yet, because:

• My writing sucks
• I don't have enough exposure (read: publishing credits) to attract anyone's attention.
• A combination of the two

But that doesn't matter. Because if my writing sucks, then I need to write more and improve my craft. The best way for me is through short work. And if I need credits to get attention, magazine publication is probably the easiest way to go.

So the solution seems to be the same for both. I have to accept that some of what I'm writing is probably crap. It's easier for me to accept this of my short pieces, than a larger piece (not really sure why...Just seems easier). So that's my plan.

Also, I'd like to put a plug in for my writers group, Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group. They run monthly programs and get togethers. It's great to network with other writers. If you live anywhere in this area, you should try it out.

A Woman who truly Lives up to her Name

Cecilia Fire Thunder.

She is the President of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota. And she knows how to speak fire and thunder. Undaunted by the new law to ban abortion in South Dakota, Ms. Fire Thunder has decided to take things into her own hands.

I love this woman!

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," she said to me last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

You can show your supportfor Ms. Fire Thunder :
You know she is going to get threats after this, some support letters of support would certainly help. But I wouldn't send money, like some people have suggested on their blogs. At least not until this is more than an idea.

Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:
ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751

And please blog about this courageous woman who is taking on her state government.

Or just blog about it because you KNOW it pisses off the Right.

Thanks to Biting Beaver for this.