This seriously difficult to watch. I really don’t know how these people make it through the day. Or even dress themselves in the morning.

WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! SERIOUSLY, YOU MAY ACTUALLY LOSE I.Q. POINTS AFTER VIEWING!!

Hola! This is way overdue. Blame School. Ok, so Adzzie isn't the only weirdo around here ;). Though I can't be weirder than her (who can?!), I've got some of my own special weirdnesses...

1. Of everyone I know, atleast I have the most weird dreams. My scariest dream when I was about 6 or 7 was one where my family and I went on a mummy hunting expedition to Antarctica and got stranded or something. My mom turned into a werewolf in another childhood dream. Another one I had was one in which Adzzie and I are at the beach and we go into the water, normal enough, except she suddenly dunks my head in the water and drowns me!! (I can't swim) And then, she starts going Muahahahahahaha! Now what does that tell you?? Hmmm...

2. I compose blog posts in my head too. Especially before dropping off to sleep.

3. I always check under my bed and in the bathroom before going to sleep. Always.

4. I'm obsessed with my hair. Fine, I'm admitting it..but don't expect me to repeat it!!

5. I DO NOT agree with Adzzie in the end.

6. I hum 'Camptown Ladies' at random moments. I especially love the Doo Daa Doo Daa bits!

7. I am mortally afraid of dogs. Really. Everyone makes fun of me that I would walk into the path of a moving car on the road if I spot a dog! I'm even afraid of 2 month old puppies.One of which I have seen so its been proved.

8. It takes me forever to fall asleep. What I do at those times is write. In my head. I never actually write it down (except for the blog). Guess I'm just too lazy.

9. Which brings me to this point, I'm hugely lazy except when I draw or write or do a project I'm really interested in. Then, I'm a perfectionist. I guess I'm a lazy perfectionist! Not called The Oxymoronic Oxymorons for nothing you know!

10. I have slight hypochondria. I've always been afraid of getting sick. I remember, when I was younger, my mum had this soap opera phase and almost everyone would have a brain tumor and at that time every head ache I would have (once in a blue moon) would be a brain tumor. I hate watching hospital shows, realistic ones anyway, or reading anything that has the protagonist sick with a life threatening disease. I mean I would read it sure, but I would be a little down for a while after it.

11. I'm averse to watching the Simpsons. I have never watched them all the way through an episode and I never will. This particular weirdness is due a very strange dream I once had. Yes, I know. Stop Staring!! So, yes, in this dream, Homer's standing near this little hole in the ground that's sucking everything in. I think I'm scarred for life. Lolz! Its not that I'm scared, its just that I've never tried watching them I don't think I will either.

12. I hate crowds and pushy sales people. I would as well not go somewhere than navigate crowds. I hate large amount of people invading each other's personal space. Its suffocating.

I think thats it...If I remember something else I'll add it in. So, see, I almost beat Miss. Super-Weirdo! Thats close enough. As I've always said, Adzzie is one of a kind and its better if it stays that way!

Later dudes..and girl dudes!

I've been on Raya leave since last Saturday and one thing that I can't understand is how many people there are still around! Gosh, aren't you guys supposed to be on your merry way or something? Like, balik kampung? Or go on holiday? I was at Ikano, Ikea, The Curve, Sunway Pyramid and everywhere was the same. Perhaps the trend is changing. Perhaps people are more comfortable now celebrating in the city. Oh well.

Okie dokie, it's almost time to break fast for the last time this year. In some ways it is sad. Looking forward to Raya tomorrow. Tonight I have to drop by Taman Tun to get some lemang.

Have a good one peeps!

I'm 23 years old, so that would be slightly more than ridiculous.

No, I'm a drama queen in the theatrical sense -- I love performance, silliness and, yes, being the center of attention. Not all the time, of course, but most of the time.

I suppose this is exactly how I've come to be the resident "mistress of ceremonies" for all in-store events at my bookstore. To date, this has include the midnight releases of popular books Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Breaking Dawn and Brisingr, as well as a Holiday Open House, ceremony for the opening of our coffeeshop, Halloween storytime and an assortment of other smaller scale events.

And I'm always into these things! I was big into drama in high school but haven't made time to get into theatre since then. My little crazy announcements and parties at the store are my only opportunity to be "dramatic" anymore.

And I usually dress up. Really dress up. Here's me at the Harry Potter release in July 2007, just to give you an idea:

Yeah.

So this past Saturday, I thought I was prepared for whatever little adventurous, crazy thing corporate wanted us to do. This week, that included a children's party complete with games, prizes and storytelling. Considering in the past we've had an even smaller staff with which to perform these events, I figured my co-worker and I would be fine-just-fine to deal with the kids party on our own.

I was wrong.

At the Harry Potter release, we probably had a thousand people mulling about the store -- children, parents, teenagers, grandparents. We were jammed and I was overwhelmed and nervous, but we had a plan. I knew what tasks were expected of us -- we had games organized for those interested in character debates or trivia. There were a ton of people, yes, but they weren't all staring at me angrily, wondering how I came to be the one leading off these crazy, ill-fated plans.

Saturday started out like any other day at the bookstore -- jammed, full of annoying and annoyed customers. I shrugged it all off without too much concern, gearing up for the children's event. Which was supposed to start at 2 p.m.

By 1 p.m., hordes of parents are milling around back in Kids, already setting up camp on the few benches we began pulling out for storytime. By 1:30 p.m., a solid twenty or thirty parents were back there, all of them staring at Tracy and I from the corners of their eyes, waiting. And by five minutes to 2 p.m., at least a hundred people must have been sitting in front of me, the kids clawing at each other and me and Tracy and constantly -- constantly -- asking us when we were starting.

I was totally freaked out.

I've never been so freaked out at an event in my life. Not even at the Brisingr release a few weeks ago, when I knew nothing about the book series and didn't have an entirely solid plan on what we were going to do all night. That went off without a hitch -- albeit for thirty or so people, most of them adults, instead of a hundred or so adults with a hundred agitated children.

I read stories, screaming at the top of my lungs to try and be heard above the din. We handed out goodie bags -- and ran out after twenty minutes or so, completely unable to keep up with the deluge of people. I fielded questions from angry parents about why we weren't doing this activity or why we weren't doing that activity -- at our FREE EVENT. It's free! It's our event! Why are you dictating the itinerary to me?!

It was an hour and a half of pure, unadulterated hell. I'm still hoarse this morning from all the yelling. My legs ache from trying to balance myself on top of an unsteady chair, all in an attempt to be seen above the sea of heads with a book raised at my side. When customers slowly started getting bored and wandering away from my "stage," I felt relieved -- very relieved. And when it was over, I went and sat in silence in the break room, staring at the floor.

Maybe this was, in part, my fault. I should have been in costume. If I was going to play the part of mistress of the children's party, I should have looked like the mistress of the children's party! All actors need to be "in character," right? I didn't even wear my awesome white sash, pictured above.

But maybe my mistress of ceremonies days are swiftly drawing to a close . . . I'm not sure when I'll stop having nightmares about this weekend!

There was. The wedding was wrapped up by noon Saturday, but the reception wasn't scheduled until 5 p.m. Brad and Linda were obviously going to be tied up, but Pat and I headed out to a nearby "bike station" to rent a pair of bikes and hit the Lakefront Trail.

In June, Brad had warned against taking the trail north from downtown. Too congested, he said. So we went south then. But this time, we had to mix it up. We headed north. Brad was right.

The Lakefront Trail at Belmont Ave. Bikers share the trail with joggers, walkers, roller bladers, etc. This is one of the less crowded stretches of the trail we hit.

The Lakefront Trail is an asphalt path, divided down the middle with a yellow stripe so both northbound and southbound bikers can use it. But at several points, it can get jammed. Joggers, who do a pretty good job of sticking to the crushed stone at the side of the trail, suddenly veer in front of bikers. Most bikers are ordinary folks, who have little knowledge of the rules of the road, or merge onto the path without watching for other traffic. Some bikers in full kit get aero, and blast through everyone with little margin for error. And the walkers are the worst. They're a hazard to bikers, because they will occupy the center of the path, and won't move out of the way -- so bikers have to change speed and direction quickly. When we reached Belmont Harbor, we decided to stop and turn around, since we'd have just an hour to get back to the bike station, return the rentals, walk back to the hotel, and get ready for the wedding reception.

The rental bikes rest at the turnaround point. They were Specialized hybrids. Kind of slow, but the conditions on the trail ruled out fast riding anyway.

When not dodging traffic on the trail, there's plenty to see. This may have been the last nice summer weekend in Chicago this year (that's what the natives told us), and people came out to Lake Michigan in droves.

North Avenue Beach has dozens of beach volleyball courts, loaded with aspiring Misty May-Treanors and Kerri Walshes.

The beautiful Caribbean. Blue water, sparkling sand, waving palms...no, wait! This is Chicago's own Oak Street Beach. And yes, the palms (and there are lots of them) are real.

We got the bikes back to the rental station, after a particularly difficult time crossing the bridge over the Chicago River. So crowded with bikes, walkers and joggers that we had to get off and walk the bikes across -- it was just too dangerous otherwise. One of the rental staff commiserated with us about the trail's north route. She was more upset with the rudeness and lack of caution on the trail than with the crowded conditions. In any case, the next time we're back here, we'll head south, just as we did in June. This 12-mile and change ride required us to concentrate hard for the entire ride. But Pat and I agreed that it probably made us more skillful bikers.

If there's anything as an event being too successful, today's grand opening at the new California Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park could have been described as such. There were throngs of people out there - 35,000 visitors, according to the museum staff - who hoped to get their chance to see the new living rooftop and partake in the offer of a free admission into the new facility.

Residents in the nearby Sunset District of the city (it neighbors Golden Gate Park) said that traffic in the area was just abysmal, that it took hours just to get past the gridlock on the city streets surrounding the park. Transit buses and streetcars on the San Francisco MUNI system were all packed. They too were stuck in the traffic congestion in the streets.

In the gigantic line to get into the museum, visitors reported being in a mile-long line for hours and having museum staff turn them away because there were just too many people in the building. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that some folks waited for more than five hours to get their chance to get inside the building.

"By 1 p.m. 5,000 patient ones were inside, and at least 25,000 more were in line," The Chronicle reported. "The staff estimated that 20,000 might get in before closing time at 9 p.m. and suggested the rest would only be taking a chance if they waited - or they could come back on the next free admission day, Oct. 15."

Some folks who were in line had come from out of state, scheduling their visit to San Francisco to coincide with the opening of the museum. They were peeved that they didn't get to see it.

It was a different story inside. There were dancers, music by live bands and speeches from politicians eager to welcome the crowd.

The hilly "living rooftop" also proved to be a major hit. Folks made a point to see the new albino alligator, which awed youngsters who said they'd never seen a thing like it ever before.

So, what do you think?

If you're one of those lucky ones who made it in, or part of everyone else who didn't, please leave your comment on this post and tell us about your experience. You can also e-mail us your story, photos and video, and we'll post it up on our Share Your Story section this week.

Previous CAS Stories from the Beat

What the buzz is all about: A round-up of what people are saying about the new California Academy of Sciences in SF

New California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park opens Saturday

HANOI, September 26 (Compass Direct News) – Authorities in Hanoi have responded to months of Catholic prayer vigils and demonstrations over disputed land by destroying the one-time residence of the papal nuncio in central Hanoi.

In suddenly bulldozing the land that once served as the Vatican embassy and residence near St. Joseph’s Cathedral last Friday (Sept. 19), the government broke its promise to Catholic leaders in February to negotiate a settlement concerning the property.

The destruction of the building held sacred by Catholics is the latest blow to Christians’ long struggle to get the government to return confiscated church properties. Catholic, Protestant and other religious leaders deemed the government response to peaceful Catholic pressure a serious setback for religious freedom.

Authorities cite Vietnamese law stipulating that lands subject to “land management and socialist land reform policies in place before 1991” cannot be considered.

On Monday (Sept. 22) the Vietnam News Agency reported that the Catholic Church ceded the Nha Chung Vatican Embassy property to the state in 1961 and that it would be turned into a library and park.

“Bookworms will soon be able to enjoy the facilities offered by a brand-new library, located at 42 Nha Chung Street, in Hoan Kiem District,” the state reported. “In addition to all of the services usually offered by a library, situated on the premises of an existing three-story, French-designed building surrounded by greenery and including a childrens’ playground, the renovation, which began last Friday, aims to better meet Hanoians’ demands for relaxation.”

Sources said Vietnam’s frequent pronouncements of new openness to religion, and the formation of a joint Catholic/government working committee regarding relationships with the Vatican and other outstanding matters, may have led Catholics to test the waters. Late last year Catholics began to hold prayer vigils outside the fence of the long-vacant Vatican Embassy seized by the government in the mid-1950s.

The historic building property on Nha Chung Street is adjacent to the Hanoi archbishop and cardinal’s residence and only a half block away from St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

The daily morning and evening prayer vigils began to draw large crowds, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, when thousands came to Masses at the cathedral. Authorities in a country where demonstrations are not allowed became seriously worried when warnings to stop went unheeded.

In discussion with Catholic leaders in late February, the government agreed to negotiate a settlement in good faith on the condition that Catholic leaders would call a halt to the prayer vigils. Archbishop of Hanoi Ngo Quang Kiet told Compass in April that after agreeing to a joint working committee, the government showed no sincerity in building relationships or in settling grievances.

In late August an aide to the archbishop told Compass in Hanoi that the twice daily prayer vigils had resumed. At that time about 100 people participated each time, but the number and intensity was growing. Catholic leaders made no secret of their appeal to prayer and assembled people as their only tools in their struggle with the government for redress on confiscated properties.

In recent weeks the Redemptorists at Thai Ha, also in Hanoi, also began prayer vigils to recover some of their large property. Over the years their part of an original plot of 60,000 square meters had been reduced by government confiscation to less than 2,000 square meters.

According to observers, the Catholics conducted themselves during their vigils with decorum and order as they reverently marched, prayed and sang. The government’s response however, quickly escalated from accusing the Catholics of interfering with traffic to accusing them of all night public disturbances – and then accusing Catholic leaders of inciting riots and breaking religion laws.

Catholic Leaders Warned

Authorities this week delivered a written warning to Archbishop Kiet warning him of “extreme action” if he did not stop the daily prayer vigils. They also issued a warning to four priests at a Hanoi church locked in the land dispute. The archbishop and priests are accused of “stirring the population” and encouraging illegal religious activity.

State and Hanoi city media releases and radio and TV coverage during September painted the Catholics in the worst possible light; sources said the media fabricated stories and paid people to speak against the Catholics. With no opportunity to make their side of the story known through Vietnam’s state-controlled media, Catholics are reporting events through VietCatholic News, Zenit and other overseas news sites.

Catholic calls for media to retract specific, demonstrably false stories and appeals to press laws have gone entirely unheeded. Rather, sources said, improbable accusations and vicious slander against Catholics sharply escalated.

Vietnam Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Saigon, wrote a letter to all priests, religious and faithful on Monday (Sept. 22) denouncing the state’s media lies. Unrest is spreading throughout Vietnam’s Catholic community, believed to number more than 7 million, as the letter by the cardinal and others by bishops are read in the churches.

Thugs Bussed In

Demonstrations escalated this week with estimates of 7,000 to 10,000 people, including students gathered at Thai Ha on Wednesday night (Sept. 24). It was said to be the largest public demonstration since the Communist unification of Vietnam 33 years ago.

Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 24), hundreds of police and plainclothes officers tried to control an upset crowd of Catholics as a statue of the Virgin Mary was removed from the Vatican Embassy area under police protection and taken to an unknown location. The next day, sources said, authorities recruited gangs that included uniformed Communist youth league members and others and bussed them to the site, where they attacked Catholic protestors outside the archbishop’s residence.

Similar gangs destroyed property, including sacred items at Thai Ha, the same day.

The state media also announced that the 17,000-square meter Thai Ha Redemptorist property in Hanoi is also to be turned into a public park.

The reversion to old-style, default Communist repression involving violence cloaked in lies is also worrying to Vietnam’s Protestants, some of whom have joined Catholics in the prayer vigils.

Protestant leaders contacted by Compass were united in their disappointment in and condemnation of the government’s belligerent response to peaceful prayer vigils.

“Sadly, the government has again shown its true attitude toward religions,” said one Protestant leader. “We have doubted the sincerity of recent improvements, and now they have clearly shown everyone what is still in their hearts.”

Some Vietnam observers fear the government’s belligerence may be evidence of hard-liners’ ascendance in an ongoing struggle with more moderate reformers. The timing of this property destruction, some Vietnamese church leaders said, is calculated to take advantage of uncertainty in the United States, especially as elections draw near.  

Report from Compass Direct News

Let's take the current US elections for example; the general public are willing to believe that cows fly if they were told that by someone they "trust"/like. This is the main problem: How can we trust the masses that display room temperature IQ to choose the leader of the American Empire? How could this be a wise decision when it comes from a majority of Idiots? The crowds have not spared an effort to display how gullible they are, and how easy it is to wash their minds; assuming they have them in the first place. It is very often that they take their facts from media sources that are as shameless as the communist propaganda machines.

"But what is the answer?" You say. Well, the answer is to have representatives [will be referred to as "the reps" from now on] of both nominees for the president pick the people who are eligible to vote, the same way that those lawyers you see on T.V. choose a jury for a trial. Here's a possible set of rules for the Neo Democracy:

1. The reps have the right to ask the voters any questions, nothing is off limits.
2. Each and every rep has the right to VITO VETO person's eligibility to vote [The phrase "right to vote" was not used on purpose].
3. To be eligible to vote reps of both parties should approve the person in question.
4. All voters should under go the afore mentioned assessment process.
5. At least 15% percent of the population that are old enough to vote should be deemed eligible, thus canceling the possibility of the reps denying eligibility of voters out of spite and ending up with no voters at all. Minimal agreement must be forced through.

A presumed selection process would go like this:
Q: Do you think Obama is a Muslim?
A: Ummm... Sure, he made oath on the Quran when he got office.
*BEEEP* a red light goes that has VITO VETO written in capitals all over it, a big security guard yells "neeeeeext"
Q: Wouldn't it be great to have McCain the war hero as president and that sexy fox Palin as his sidekick VP?
A: HELL YEAH!!
*Beep* (You get the drill)
Q: Do you know what are the religions of presidential candidates?
A: Sorry, but I don't see how's your question relevant.
(Now this last guy just might pass under the rule of 15% minimum)

Now wouldn't we all be living in a better world if Neo Democracy were implemented? Isn't it the best model to pursue? Then again, why should we even care? Can we even guarantee an honest tamper-proof cast of vote would take place in a best case scenario?

Eerder blogde ik al over de Google Knol en hoe deze een aanval van Google op wikipedia was. Waarom was dit ook al weer zo? Allereerst de cijfers, Wikipedia heeft een bereik van 8% (Wikipedia.com) versus Google's 30% (cijfers). Voor Google zou Wikipedia dus een mooie aanvulling op het advertentie verkeer zijn. Wikipedia's bereik is dermate groot en divers dat affiliate marketing op wikipedia sites in de miljarden aan waarde vertegenwoordigd.

Mijn voorspelling lijkt uitgekomen: Na een half jaar wordt de Knol beoordeeld in Slate als :"wasteland of plagiarism, ignorance, self-promotion, and bias". Waarom is dit zo? Vanwege de financiële beloning die Google in het vooruitzicht stelt zijn auteurs geneigd in hun eentje te schrijven. De opbrengst voor anderen neemt niet wezenlijk toe , want alleen de oorspronkelijke auteur wordt beloond.

Echter "Writing well is hard, especially without editors." Samenwerking levert dus betere kwaliteit.

Op Wikipedia zijn de editors gewoon het publiek of actieve gebruikers. Echter op Knol moet er via een omweg (e-mail ofzo) contact met de auteur opgenomen worden.  Men moet de oorspronkelijke auteur overtuigen dat deze fout zit en dat blijkt lastig te zijn vanwege : EGO's.  De kostprijs van samenwerken is te hoog.

Laagdrempelig wiki nodigt experts blijkbaar pas echt uit om mee te doen. Dat laatste overziet de Knol. Het is voor experts wellicht interessant mee te doen, maar er ontstaat geen cumulatieve kennisontwikkeling. Kennis ontwikkelt pas bij feedback, en editing is eigenlijk heel mooie directe feedback methode! Deze cumulatieve kennis is noodzakelijk om op kwaliteit met wikipedia te concurreren. Deze strijd van experts tegen de 'crowds' verliezen ze.

Suggesties

Wat kan Google doen? Allereerst beloningen richten op groepsprestaties. Hierdoor bezitten een hoop gebruikers wel de juiste motivatie om samen te werken. Ten tweede het systeem om samen te werken zo makkelijk te maken dat er geen 'kosten' barriere meer bestaat om mee te doen. Op deze manier kan de Google Knol nog gered worden.

okay, so you're probably not wondering about the last question. but as a young adult who has been pretty successful thus far in my life, and who identifies as a HSP, i think it would be very helpful and make life a lot easier for many other HSPs if i shared the wealth of information that i have accumulated about being a HSP.

this page will cover everything from school, work, family, friends, socializing, dealing with stress, communicating with others, sensitivity to light//sounds//food, and even ways to channel your unique qualities as an HSP to the positive. 

hang tight, as i am in the midst of a busy week and probably won't have time to update until later in the week. but please feel free to drop comments//questions//concerns//or even suggestions about what types of topics will be posted on the page. 

my real goal for this page is to help others like me, and i'll go into more detail about what that means at a later blog.

peace <3

okay, so I have decided on a warning label of sorts.  The title, then the words "chick rant" will appear with it, so no guys will have to read my lil sob story if they don't want to. 

   Just so you all know.  I do have remedies for my rants. 

 I don't just do a crybaby post and then proceed to wallow in it.  I have goals that I am actively pursuing to change the things I "blah blah blah" about on here.

  You know, because it IS really a man's way to say, "well, you need to change this and do that" because mostly all men are usually problem solvers.   Women usually like to be heard and felt and sympathized with and Then,,,,and THEN some suggestions about how to change things would be much, much appreciated.

  I'm so bored today that it felt like Sunday already. 

 "HE" comes home in 3 days.  He had fun times with his buddies lined up there as they finish the Army school, but he chose to spend the evening in his room tonight.  "they are drinking again"  he says.  "How do you socialize with someone who is drinking hard?"

  Well....you could just sit with them and joke around and have fun, I mean.. could you have a beer, a coke, some water? He's met so many people while he's been there that are actually soldiers he has met along his 15 year career span (and he hasn't anything to do but sit in his room and be alone?)

 Trade places with me, K? 

  He is amazed at how people can drink beer after beer.

  "That doesn't mean you have to drink"~I told him.

  (but who wants to be alone every weekend?)  He says he'd rather drink at home.  (all alone??) No, maybe with someone.  

Hooorah. 

  Sweetiegirlz would like to have some fun around adults, where the conversation is not about the Jonas Brothers or homework, or "OMG you're so mean."

   I would also like to spend an evening in deep conversation, sipping a drink, dancing, or listening to live music.

  Sometimes, I don't want to hear MOMMMM for just one night either. 

It's kinda like when you're a kid, and your parents have a bunch of company over to the house and music and food and BAM!  they put you to bed early and you were forced to listen to all the fun.

How about walking by the riverwalk, shopping late, or going to hear a good comedian?

  How about a good meal followed by a gathering of friends, karaoke, or a movie out for once? 

When he came back from Iraq to California last year, we went out to a club with some old friends.  It was the first time we'd really stepped out as a couple again,  and had any kind of adult fun together since we'd separated.

  We had drinks (although we didn't need to), we danced, we laughed and talked with them and the next day, we went to their home and watched the football game on t.v. and had food and sang karoake. 

  This is what I was telling him.  Those happy times cannot be just once in a years  time for me. 

Again, I have Zero family here.

"He"  wants to sleep, okay.  Yah, it's his normal bedtime  but i would love to trade places with him right now.

  I'm BORED.  Just sayin'.  I'm bored if he's here.  I'm bored if he's not here.

 Because (keeping it real),  i'm faithful like that.  I won't cheat, though I do feel like going out on the  weekend, I might feel a little vulnerable going out alone and being married also.  I'm just so into not hurting his feelings, that I'm willing to settle for a life of ho-hum.

 I'm loyal to the point of being masochistic.  (Sweetiegirlz must have company SOMETIMES or I'm sad...sad to the bone) 

 Not saying like all the time or anything.  Just sometimes.  Someone reading this might say that I lack the ability or coping skills to be alone.

  That is so wrong.

  I can,  and have been alone all the time,  I'm just sick of it.  There's no family within whole states of here for us,(thank you again, Army life)  so...it stands to reason that the next thing would be to socialize with someone. 

What I'm talking about here, is something that I seek to change about myself shortly. 

 I will socialize.  I will get OUT into classes, social network, be something, mean something, learn something.   It's a goal.  another goal of mine to do by one fiscal year from now.   "he" can either come with or stay home.  His choice.     

ANY WAY, moving along...

I promised "what's his name" I'd mow the lawn. 

 I haven't mowed it for 3 weeks.  Even with all that rain we had, it looks good tho.

 I did manage a good cleaning of the house today.  Well,,, as far as I did get with the gurlies being all over the place today. 

The 3 of us were chillin' all day,  and all I did out of doors was venture out and get more water in my jug.  (spring water doesn't have the taste of pipes)

  When I did go to the store, the temp was Perfect.  not hot or cold.  sunny, and blue and cozy and beautiful.  I kinda felt guilty for wasting so much of the day.

Last week,  I bought a ceramic bird for my potted plant on the porch. 

  It looks so real (i'm guessing) that it keeps getting attacked by something...prolly a cat.  Then my poor vinca blooms get knocked off by said animal jumping into flower pot to catch fake bird.

   funneee.  The things that amuse me are sad. 

You know, I really hate shopping.  And crowds.  And actually, people.  I kind of hate people, too.  So you might wonder - what in the world do I find appealing about NYC?  I wonder that myself.
I spent today walking fast, trying to get places, trying to make everyone happy, knowing no one was.  It’s not like it used to be, I kept thinking.  It’s not a family-of-five kind of trip.
When the teenager was little, I used to take her into the city, just the two of us.  We lived up here, and we would go almost every weekend.  We went in for brunch to the Acme Cafe ("A Pretty Good Place to Eat"), wandered the overwhelming piles of books at The Strand, sipped coffee at Le Figaro’s Cafe - a place I learned of from a friend in a long-ago postcard.  She tagged along, not understanding that this was supposed to be my life.  I was supposed to go to college here, I planned to anyway. I was supposed to be young, hip.  Not someone’s mother, not just starting college at twenty-four.
The supposed-to-be’s were stacked up behind me like dominoes and I strained to keep them from running me over. Everywhere I went was a reminder.  I wanted so much to be a part of it all, to be someone.  And maybe I never would be.
But now I go and I see - these people try too hard.  Everywhere I hear the sounds of post-modernist angst, push the limits, be different.  With all the effort to be different comes a kind of sameness, a monotony of loudness, strangeness.  It’s enough to make a person ill, maybe even crazy.
I walked around today with my camera taking pictures of doors, signs, things that made me laugh.  I knitted on the bus with a baby asleep on my lap.  I looked foolish.  I didn’t care.  Does it matter?  I create, too.  I create smiles, small people, knitted things. I’m not cool, and I think people like me anyway.  I never imagined I would be this person, but I’m glad to have the city, once in a while, anyway, to remind me that I am.

At a division 1 women's match this past weekend the fans proved to be the least educated soccer fans of all.  We got the classic "Call it both ways", "Open your eyes", "Are you kidding with that call" and not to be missed with "your missing a great game".  Come on folks we have heard all of these.  We hear these at U12 games.  If your going to be a quality crowd your going to have to raise you level of heckling with something a little more witty. 

One of the best yells I heard this weekend was from a student girl in her hooters work uniform during the men's game.  "Hey keep your hands off of him, we know he is hot but he is all ours....". Another peach was when a visiting player lifted his shirt up to wipe his face off from mud he reviled that he had a Velcro strapping around his rib cage to help with an injury.  His biggest mistake was doing this in front of the student area.  "Hey nice girdle, it is very slimming..."

The visiting women's team who after their match was watching the men's match made the mistake of yelling out on a hard foul all at once HEY at the center.  But it more or less sounded like "Aaaaaaaaaa".  The home student section ran with that for a good 3-4 minutes with "Hey Fonzie....Aaaaaaaa" giving the double thumbs up sign from the weist height.  Classic....these kids even knew who Fonzie was.....

~Cheers, Mitzi

Now why would all this have a scientific value?
Well, there are concepts, such as the wisdom of crowds, which deal with the intelligence of swarms or groups. My addition to all the concepts is that two attributes of our human race (maybe only Germans) have to be considered when dealing with "the intelligence" of such groups:

• People generally seem to care about themselves first, then think about the effect of their actions on others (I do not mean such complex things as the claim of inequality of income, I'm talking about very simple things like being to first to get a beer)
• Some very few can give impulses to groups which develop into waves. These waves will put hundreds into the need for protection. Their actions for self-protection will continue the waves and will eventually lead to a massive backfire on the impulse-givers. Those might interpret the backfire the wrong way and give even stronger impulses. The loop continues until a very strong force stops the waves.

That leads me to a research proposal:
My assumption is that I'm not the only one who really dislikes this way of getting into a tent.
My question therefore is, whether the best solution for the Oktoberfest would be to install fences to direct people or if the tent owners should conduct a social study among their clients and develop a concept to give the right impulses?
To answer the question, a lot of research would need to be undertaken. Thus, the Oktoberfest can serve as an application case and as a large resource of probands at the same time ;-).

Permit me to daydream, but wouldn't it be killer if CA turned Red this November?

[via GayConservative]

You see I've just been to one of those magical games that come along once in a blue moon for most ordinary football supporters. When you're a Brighton fan, you have to take your excitement where you can find it.

And boy, did we find it tonight. Let me set the scene: Brighton's home form this season has been less than stellar while visitors Manchester City are now officially the richest club in the world, having spent and spent and spent, and having just stuffed Portsmouth 6-0 without really trying.

We have just lost 1-0 at home to a Walsall team reduced to nine men after half an hour. We are, on paper, going to get totally stuffed. Humiliated. Embarrassed by footballing geniuses.

Except it doesn't quite work out like that. For starters, the ground - a converted athletics track with the atmosphere of a dull post office queue - is full. And the locals are determined to enjoy themselves, whatever the score. It's noisy, the banter is flying and the script is being written for a classic Cup upset.

At times, we look like we might be able to play football. City stroke the ball around but do a lot of falling over in expensive boots. The Seagulls players toil and tackle, sweat and bellow and the nouveau riche are unsettled.

Suddenly, a great move - Thomson bursts through, the crowd rise as one man to their feet ready to explode but his shot cracks back off a post and misses Loft following in. Was that our moment?

City spend an awful lot of time with the ball, but either contrive to finish poorly or forget to shoot in the first place. 0-0 at the interval, so far so good.

A few more near things in the second half, and then City take the lead via a deflected shot. Come on! We're not rolling over yet, and lo and behold David has pinged Goliath where it hurts and we have a scrambled equaliser minutes from the end.

Extra time. The big boys are getting nervous as their junior rivals push and harry, deliver last ditch tackles and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Suddenly, heaven opens - loan winger Joe Ansinya finishes a classy passing move, and we're 2-1 up. The ground is rocking, we haven't heard singing like it since the play-off semi-final years back against Swindon, and the impossible could happen.

Rats.

A long ball from the City defence misses everyone except Stephen Ireland who finishes clinically. 2-2 and there's frantic City pressure for the winner. A succession of corners are somehow repelled and the ref blows for the end of extra time.

Penalties. That TV drama on a plate. Heroes and villains. Except we've already won a moral victory by even getting this far. We can't lose.

And we don't. It goes to 3-3 with immaculate spot kicks until a nervy Michael Ball steps up for City, Kuipers picks the right way and parries his less than perfect penalty.

Matt Richards can score to take us through. Everyone is holding their breath fit to burst. The ball ripples the net, the place goes bonkers, we're jumping up and down and before you know it half the crowd is on the pitch, and it's like we've won the Cup itself.

It's only a game of course. But it's a glorious game where golden tinged moments like these make up for all the frustration, boredom and despair that often colours the bulk of the fan's experience.

And it's wonderful. And totally inexplicable too.

I guess you had to be there.

September 24 2008 11.56pm

Done in practice for crowd scenes.  This was mostly to get over the fear of drawing such large, crowded scenes.  It's very unpolished right now, but think of it as a first draft.  6-7 hours over 3 days.