Be still my heart!!! Frank left a comment on my blog!!!
I ... have ...reached... the ... big ... time!
(Tremble in awe at my name, all you lesser bloggers......LOL!)
This calls for another picture of me to celebrate...
Once again, Tiger has laboriously waded through and critiqued ALL the entries to the New Weblog Showcase.
Thanks to his efforts, I am going to go back and read a couple of the entries that I had skipped over because the title or the blub just didn't grab me. Maybe I will even link to them, who knows?
UPDATE: here is a good entry..thanks, Tiger!
I have been completely remiss in not linking to Frank's new subtitle!
Despite the fact it's NOT the one I voted for, I think it is an excellent description of Frank's site. And, there is NO mention of monkeys!!!!!!
I bumped into Tim the Michigander hanging around the comments at Frank's and Bill's, and feel that he is link-worthy (why am I suddenly reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine discovers that the sponge has been discontinued?), despite the fact he cracked on Indianaians (Hoosiers makes me think of Hooters, for some reason...) So check out his blog!
Today is John Collin's bithday! As a present to him, I am urging everyone to link to the Trilogy of Terror...
And, Victor....you have to link to the POST, not the blog, for your vote to count!!!
However, John says it's not about winning, it's about getting read. But I say if you win, more people will read you!!!! So stuff that ballot box, Loyal Readers...pretty please? with sugar on top?
Oh! Bill! Where is your vote for John?
Pixy Misa has a secret identity: Composer!
I enjoyed Crunchy Frog Blues so much, I still haven't listened to Stir-Fried Grasshopper.....
John has threatened to kill a bunny if I don't vote for his entry in the new blog showcase.
John, why did you wait til so late to enter?????? All the good linkages are already taken!!!! Unless you can get your entry to register the double-votes like that White Whine person (and I noticed Glenn got double credit for 2 links, too...) you are pretty much out of the running!
Ok, Loyal Readers.....go read the Trilogy of Torture that John has posted as his entry, and cast your vote for him by linking to it.
Or he will kill a bunny.
Ok...one last post before I head off to the theater...
Go to Bill's and VOTE in the State Motto competiton!
And if any of my Loyal Readers votes for the Long Island Iced Tea one, they will have to write me a 1000 word essay on why they picked the least funny of the bunch!
I have been thinking about trying that new-fangled "blogrolling" thingee, but have been reluctant to try it for two reasons:
#1 The instructions on installing it look moderately complicated, and I can only tackle one moderately complicated task per day, otherwise my brain overheats. Since I am fresh off the triumph of uploading pictures to my blog, and still procastinating tackling importing my blogspot archives, as well as a couple of site tweaks that I want to try, I have been putting off attempting to install it.
#2 This is a more philosophical reason. Some sites that I have been to have such long blogrolls that they practically need to be continued on the next page. I don't really like the look of that, and I don't understand how someone can have the time to regularly read all the blogs on those interminable lists. So my blogroll has an entrance requirement: your site has to be interesting enough to make me go into my template and risk its total destruction by hand-entering the code to link to your site. Now, the blogrolling thingee would take away that element of risk, and reduce the honor associated with being on my blogroll, since any old blog could pass the one-click risk-test.
So, Loyal Readers, what do you think? Shall inclusion on my blogroll remain an honor, or should I put "get blogrolling" on my to-do list?
Hurray!!!!! I uploaded a pic to my blog!!! Woo-hoo!!! Set off the fireworks!!!
Okay, okay, I'll settle down (but I am excited...this is another giant leap for technologically-impaired womankind!)
I have to do another one!!!!
This is me modeling my new coat...I was a little younger than I am now.
That was so cool I have to do another one!
I always call this picture Victim of Torture...(because my hair is not naturally curly, that's why!)
This is Whitley, my sister's office kitten. Looks innocent enough, doesn't he? He's just waiting for his chance.......
Bwhaaaa haaaaa haaaaaa
I don't know if it a glitch that NZ Bear will catch before voting closes on the New Blog Showcase, but if that White Whine guy can get multiple links from a few blogs counted toward his total, I don't know why I shouldn't stack the deck in favor of the three I have chosen. So here they are again:
Perry of Obnoxious Fumes dissing Michael Moore
Revsparker of Across, Beyond, Through musing on his Prodigal Father
and Norbizness of Happy Furry Puppy etc. etc. discussing a smoking ban. [Ed.: I Hate Smoking Bans.....]
Oh, and as long as I'm doing this, here are some "pity links" for my buds:
Mapchic's not really one of my buds, but I like her blog... and I think the template is cool....
I knew it!!!! The cats are trying to take over the world and Pixy Misa has proof! This explains why, when I come from from work, my kitty is "sleeping" in my computer chair and the screen saver has just kicked on......
Bill has extended his State Motto contest and some of the late entries are hysterical.
My favorite of the crop is:
Illinois: Miles and miles of corn, interupted by small pockets of urban decay.
This is not only hysterically funny, but true! [I am allowed to say that--I was born and raised in a one of those pockets of urban dacay and also went to college in Illinois. One of my best friends from college lived in Springfield--the capital, for those of you non-Land-of-Linconers reading this--and Springfield should be the poster child for urban decay. The only good thing about Springfield is the "horseshoe"...but I digress].
Anyway, head on over and read the rest of 'em.
Well, I can register for my Fall classes today, and it's Moral Dilemma time again... (not really, it's just that ever since John Belushi did that "ad" on Saturday Night Live my family has descibed any kind of decision as a "moral dilemma": pink or mauve lipstick? moral dilemma. steak or chicken? moral dilemma. one hard class or two easy ones? moral dilemma.)
Not that any of my classes has been easy; just some have been less labor-intensive than others (2 papers v. 4, daily "discussions" v. written reports). So my two remaining required classes are Applied Economic Theory and Financial Administration and Budgeting, and they both sound pretty scary to me (I'm not really into that whole Math thing).
So Management Theory sounds pretty innoculous, and so does Human Resources Management..but then I will have used up 2/3 of my electives.
Like I said, Moral Dilemma. Well, I have until August 4th to decide....
John has an excellent fisking of Bill O'Reilly. It's his entry from yesterday if the the link doesn't work correctly...
Man, I really enjoyed not having to work yesterday. This "day off" thing could really catch on if the word got out.....Unfortunately, I used it all up, and have to go to work today....
So---Frank has his Subtitle Contest choices up. Vote Early. Vote Often.
There is also an new In My World starring the Rumsfeld Strangler and Chomps!
Ok, how can I NOT link to a post dissing Michael Moore? Especially when it's on a site subtitled "The Ranting and Raving of a Mean-Spirited Republican"?
Being a Mean-Spirited Republican myself, I think Michael Moore is a Big Fat Idiot. (Gee, that sounds familiar....wonder where I heard it?)
Remember my motto...Liberals are stupid.
Well, I was checking out who else had linked to Across, Beyond, Through for the Showcase, and it was Pieto, The Smarter Cop, who has a great blog. So I bookmarked it, and am putting his link in my blogroll. Check him out.
My first vote in the week's New Blog showcase goes to......
(Probably my only vote, because of that vote-dilution thing, but we'll see....)
UPDATE: See how fuzzy-headed all those 12-hour days made me? I totally forgot I meant to vote for THIS entry....
See what happens when I have a day off? I spend the day blogging (taking time out for meals, of course) instead of doing laundry, paying my bills, or returning the shoes that just don't fit right--all those thing that have been patiently waiting until I have a day off so I can avoid doing them.
Thanks to Frank I have discovered Jamie McDonald and will be putting him on my blogroll because of this* post.
Any man who uses proper punctuation ability as a guide for choosing the correct woman would have my vote for President.
* the link's not working so I copied and pasted it:
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Long agoMy roommate Jim once asked me what I looked for in a girl other than the obvious (Catholic). I never really liked the whole blonde vs brunette paradigm or even stating a preference for tall or short, so instead I said flippantly, "I want a girl who knows the difference between Y-O-U-R and Y-O-U-apostrophe-R-E."
And I ended up with a beautiful blonde who's working as an editor.
To all my Loyal Readers: If you have not already, please bookmark this site. It is the Symantec Security listing of email hoaxes.
My best friend forwarded me this email this morning:
We may have a problem.... see instructions below.
Chuck LangenfeldUnfortunately, a virus has been passed on to me by a contact. My address
book WAS infected.
Since you are in my address book, there is a good chance you will find
it in your computer too. The virus (called jdbgmgr.exe) is not
detected by Norton or McAfee antivirus systems. The virus sits quietly
for 14 days before damaging the system. It is sent automatically by
messenger and by the address book, whether or not you sent e-mail to your contacts.
Here's how to check for the virus and how to get rid of it:YOU MUST DO THIS.
1. Go to start, Find or search option.
2. In the file folder option, type the name jdbgmgr.exe
3. Be sure you search your C: drive and all subfolders and any other
drives you may have.
4. Click "find now"
5. The Virus has a Teddy Bear icon with the name jdbgmgr.exe DO NOT OPEN
IT!
6. Go to Edit (on the menu bar) and choose "select all" to highlight the
file without opening it.
7. Now go to File (on the menu bar) and select delete. It will then go to
the Recycle Bin.
8. IF YOU FIND THE VIRUS YOU MUST CONTACT ALL THE PEOPLE IN YOUR
ADDRESS BOOK, SO THEY CAN ERADICATE IT IN THEIR OWN ADDRESS BOOKS.To Do This:
a) Open a new e-mail message
b) Click the icon of the address book next to the "TO"
c) Highlight every name and add to "BCC" (which means blind copy)
d) Copy this message and paste to e-mail
Ciao, Donna
Of course I checked Symantec before I did anything, and emailed my friend that it was a hoax, but not before she had deleted the file.
It is very sad that some people have nothing better to do than to sit around and think up these terrorist plots.
I know, it sounds kind of strong to call an email hoax a terrorist plot, but the only point of this kind of email is to scare somebody, which is really the point of terrorism--to scare all the people who weren't killed outright in the attack; to scare us into taking actions that might not be in our best interests in the long term, because of the fear of the consequences of NOT acting to prevent imminent and future damage to ourselves and our property. (Do I hear you murmuring "Patriot Act"? I thought so...).
We need to always think before we react blindly to a perceived threat. Granted, sometimes instinct takes over--the old "fight or flight" reaction that Mother Nature programmed into our wiring--but there are degrees of threat and degrees of available reaction time to that threat, and we need to always use any time we have, even if it is only seconds, to give our brains a chance to analyze the response mechanisms and override them if necessary.
Maybe it is easier for me, because I have to to do this on a daily basis. You see, I suffer from Panic Disorder.
I had my first Panic Attack at age 12, at the top of an escalator in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. At the time, I had no idea what it was that I was really experiencing, so from that moment on I avoided escalators. As the years went on, the list of things to be avoided grew. (This is one reason why I love the movie "What about Bob?" and the elevator scene in particular--my terror of everyday life experiences depicted in accurate, yet humorous, terms). Eventually I became completely agoraphobia as my world shrank to the safety of my home. I couldn't hold a job because I couldn't leave my parents' house. I developed LOTS of hobbies that could be done without going outside, such as baking, needlework, reading, and watching television.
Then, one night, while curled up in my favorite comfy chair, watching TV and embroidering, I had a panic attack. And as I sat there, trying to figure out just what it was that was so terrifying (my chair? my chair is not scary, it is my favorite chair; the embroidery? I embroidered all the time without injury to myself; the television? puh...leeze) it occurred to me that maybe there was NOTHING to be afraid of.
That didn't stop the panic attacks, of course, and in a way it made them worse since now the fear shifted to internal foci for the fear (I'm having a heart attack, I'm having a stroke, I'm dying here and no one is noticing) rather than external ones (I am afraid of riding in a car, I must avoid cars to avoid the fear). But it DID make me seek medical treatment for the heart attack/stroke/imminent death, and that eventually resulted in an accurate diagnosis, treatment, and an ability to function the way "normal" people do, including finding a job, owning a car, and paying taxes.
I still have panic attacks. They still scare the heck out of me. I still find myself in the ER convinced I am dying at least once a year. However, fear doesn't scare me the way it used to, which is probably why I took some time to see if that email was legitimate before franticly deleting that "suspicious" file and emailing everyone in my address book.
FDR said "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
If he were alive today, I think he would add: "and, if you are a Palestinian, Buck the Marine."
Ok, I'm done channeling Bill Whittle.
And the winner of this week's New Blog Showcase is Judicious Asininity!
It's also Catchup week, whatever that means.
I plan to enter again, but I have a few weeks-- time to write something of which Tiger would approve.
No offense to NZ Bear, because I think the contest is a great way to help folks find cool new blogs (such as mine!), but I would rather get a Best in Show from Tiger than win with the most links. [This is a blatant attempt to curry favor with Tiger, who posted that he found nothing interesting on his blogroll today, and, since I was (mistakenly, I'm sure) included in that blanket non-endorsement, as I am on his blogroll, I wish to ensure that he will find something of interest tomorrow. However, since, unlike Frank J, Tiger does not seem to need flagrant ego-stroking, this may not work....].
Oh, and I added Bill from Bloviating Inanities to my blogroll, since he has been mentoring John Collins [and NOT because he pointed out my laxity to the entirety of cyberspace when he posted my entries to his State Motto Competition!] --despite the fact that he didn't know what Euchre was.....
Yay! Pete found the new address! Yay! This means it is almost time to update your address books and palm pilots, Loyal Readers, because simulcasting will cease shortly.
Hurray! ...today my Assistant returns from vacation and I can return to a semblance of a normal life! Hurray!
So, first and foremost...Frank has a new In My World that has absolutely nothing to do with crass comercialism and the attempt to sell his tee shirts. Honest.
Meanwhile, my most kind and generous patron is still keeping "Secret Project X" under wraps! Like Tiger says, the suspense is killing us!
John is a smoker! You get cooler every day, John. And thanks for the link to Bill's state motto contest.
Time to go to work......ugh
Yes, Glenn, I am simulcasting...mostly for Pete, since he seems either too busy to check out the new PP, or else is so totally repulsed by the whole teal/salmon thing that he's still reading (and commenting) at my blogspot blog....
(I love you, Pete! You will always be my First Loyal Reader and Commentor!)
Anyway, now that the evil papers have been slain, and my Assistant Manager is due back from vacation tomorrow, I should have a little more free time to finish up the move to MT.
I'm still packing things up at blogger, and rearranging the furniture at MT, so pardon the mess....
Anyone who likes the fact that I am now using moveable type, please go to Ambient Irony and thank the unbelievably generous and thoughtful and kind Pixy Misa for not only setting me up with MT, but also stoicly enduring being pestered with my neverending stream of "How do I...(insert stupid question here)?"
Pixy, you are the BEST and I will taunt anyone who says otherwise...
And as long as I am acknowledging my Loyal Readers, I would like to thank Captain Michael Singleton, not only because he was the first Loyal Reader to ever email me, but also because were it not for men like him defending our country from all threats foreign and domestic, the world would be a scarier place today. Captain Singleton, thank you for your sacrifices on our behalf.
Okay, only one more 12 hour day, then one regular day, and then I get the day off!!!!
My paper is done and submitted. Whew. Til the next assignment due June 29th.
Dear Lord, will this never end???????
Frank is very funny as usual. Go there or I will tell him you didn't.