I recently read a book called 'I didn't know that' by Karlen Evins. This woman gathered words & sayings throughout her life, did her best to find out the meaning/origin of them & put them in a book. She gathered her info before there was Google, no internet. The info inside the book is based on what she found in her searches. I didn't read all the words & sayings but I did find a lot of interesting history on the ones I did read. I thought I would share some of those. I will type word for word that is in the book.
1) Crocodile tears - Those insincere tears we've come to know as crocodile tears quite literal in origin. For you see, a crocodile does indeed cry over it's meal as it eats. But the crying has nothing to do with the croc's sense of the situation. Instead, as a crocodile eats, his food is pressed to the top of his mouth, causing pressure against the glands known as the lachrimals. These secrete a tearlike substance that flows from the eyes. From this biological activity of the reptile, we today draw our meaning for crocodile tears.
2) God bless you - Ever wonder why we would have "God bless you" after a sneeze? Well, in much the same way that it was believed man could part body & spirit & be beside himself, the ancients believed a good sneeze could literally blast your soul right out your body! To ensure that no bad spirits moved into the vacancy, "God bless you" was said to clear the way so soul & body could reunite.
3) Goose pimples - Also known as gooseflesh, goose pimples are those bumps you get when your skin takes a chill. For obvious reasons, goose pimples were named for their similarity to the skin of a plucked goose. Long ago, goose feathers were used for a myriad of things; thus, some birds were plucked up to five times a year. From these pluckings, farmers soon noticed the reaction of gooseflesh to the cold, as the birds' skin contracted to pull up what would have been feathers. This gooseflesh was soon associated with the same bumpy-skin effect that cold or certain emotions had on humans.
4) Knock on wood - So why would knocking on wood be a symbol for luck? It goes way back to pre-Christian times, when pagan religious beliefs held that good spirits resided in trees. To knock on a tree was to call upon those spirits to protect you as you journeyed through life (and especially through the forest!)
5) Paparazzi - Any freelance photographer who aggressively pursues a celebrity for the purpose of obtaining that perfect candid shot is said to be a part of the paparazzi, but what exactly is paparazzi? Well, the word is Italian in origin and, literally translated, means "buzzing insects." (Anyone having seen the hoopla surrounding the better known celebs of our time knows exactly where the word gets it's meaning!)
6) Raining cats & dogs - It was during the heaviest of rains back in 17th century England that the remains of dogs & cats were often seen floating through the streets. The reason had to do with poor drainage systems & even poorer health - control laws. As these animals often drowned when there came a flood, it was soon said that it had "rained cats & dogs" (though at the time, the saying pertained more to pole cats & dogs!).
7) Skeleton in the closet - Back in the dark ages it was long held by superstition that a doctor could not cut into the body of a dead person, for fear of disturbing it's ghost. As a result, cadavers became hot items on the black market for doctors longing to study human anatomy. When grave robbers began to supply the goods, many a good doctor became suspected of having a skeleton in his closet, which gives us today's meaning of "private of hidden secrets".
8) Wearing your heart on your sleeve - Wearing your heart on your sleeve was customary among knights at one time. In reality, the actual heart worn was a scarf or handkerchief given by a damsel to her knight, prior to his going off to fight. The scarf, worn by the knight as an armband, was a symbol to his fellow soldiers that his body might be in battle, but his heart was somewhere else.
9) X for a kiss - The original X used to designate a kiss dates back to medieval times, and believe it or not, it was a legal custom. In attempts to show good faith, the X (symbol for Saint Andrew) was placed after each signature on papers of importance. To further reinforce the pledge made in the documents, the signee was required to kiss the X as a guarantee of his or her obligation. Over time, the association with the legal profession has been long forgotten, but the X we still remember as the sign for a kiss.
10) Xmas - While some consider it disrespectful to substitute an X for the Christ part of Christmas, others know that the letter X was in fact the symbol used long ago for Christ. X represents the Greek letter chi, which is the initial letter of the Greek word for Christ. And according to 1st century history, the early Greek Christians used the letter X to stand for Christ, much as they used the fish with the X in the tail to represent Jesus.
11) Zip code - We refer to it every day, but how many of us know that the ZIP stands for "Zone Improvement Program"? Okay, so you may have known that, but do you know what the 5 digit code represents? Well, according to our reliable postal people, the first 3 digits indicate a district, usually a city, while the remaining 2 digits correspond with a local zone.
I may do my own research on some words because I am always curious about things like this. :)
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Time Travel: Back In Time
If I could go back in time, I would go just to observe. I would have to disguise myself so I couldn't get recognized or people asking to many questions. Even though I would want to, I would not get involved in anything for fear of creating the butterfly effect. I could see, do and learn so many things and possibly learn things about myself.
I would have to take a few things with me. Some water, a digital recorder, tissue, digital camera that has video, batteries, note pad with a pen and extra memory cards. The note pad and pen is in case I am in a situation where talking would cause me to be in danger or noticed.
The first place I would go back is the dinosaur age. I would stay clear of them, study and document them. I would make sure I have a quick escape just in case. I have seen 'Jurassic Park' and learned what NOT to do. I would of course do a lot of studying about them and take some notes before I left. I would bring the notes with me too. While studying them, I would see what they really looked like, how they moved, how they lived and all the other info that scientist can only guess at.
After stopping back at home to unload all my data, the next era I would go to is the caveman era. I think it would be very interesting to watch early man. Again I would have to make sure I was hidden because not only would they freak out & I would mess up the timeline, I wouldn't want some caveman dragging me off to mate with me. I don't mind four play but that is a little extreme. lol I think it will also be interesting to see how much we have changed and how much we haven't.
The next era I would visit is when Jesus was born, when he was an adult and died on the cross. I know that I would not be able to understand the language and not really know what Jesus really looked like but I am sure I could find out and document what I see. This is where I would do as much recording as I could. It might be easier to figure out what was going on at home instead of doing it right there. I would want to know what REALLY happened and not what religions say what happened. I would love to be able to talk to the man himself but not knowing the language would make it impossible.
I then would visit other eras and in different parts of the world, seeing for myself history being made. I would have to be careful during WWII because with my looks, I would easily be gassed if I were anywhere near the Nazis.
After doing a tour of history, I would love to observe my family and friends lives. For my friends, it will be interesting to see where they come from and the experiences they encountered. I don't want to be nosy or anything, I just find people's history to be interesting. When it comes to my family, I would love to know my ancestors, the things they had to go through and their lives in general. Including my grandparents, my parents etc.
Last would be viewing my life. I think "reliving" my life from an adult's point of view would be interesting. I wonder if I would judge myself harshly or give myself a break. To remember things I have forgotten and to say "that is why I think or feel this way now" would be a learning experience. To see the people I have lost one more time would be hard but also a pleasure. To see some of my favorite toys and the few friends I had would be so cool. I just wouldn't want to see the bullies. I would have to do everything in my will power to not get back at them.
For the beginning of my journeys, I do realize it would be pretty hard to travel, to know the exact locations of things and the exact date and time. This will take a LOT of homework, guessing and pure luck.
The second part of the time travel would be hard also. There is no way I could be inside a house etc and explain who I was so I could observe certain things. Turning invisible is not an option since there is no such thing. ;-] The only thing that could work was that when I go back in time, I am invisible to everyone and animals around me so I couldn't interact with them and accidentally change time. I wouldn't literately be invisible, I would be more like a ghost to those around me.
Once I was done with all my travels, I would gather all my info and write a book about what I experienced. Possibly do videos on youtube even though I hate being in front of the camera. I know I would have disbelievers and haters especially when talking about religion but that's ok. In the end I know what I experienced and the evidence I had would be real. Going through time would be an awesome way to learn the history of life.
While writing all of this, I am now coming up with a story to write. CRAP! I have so many stories already that I want to dive into. The story(ies) would be about what I just talked about but it would be like if it really happened. The hard part for me is that it wouldn't be a kid's story nor a short story which I am used to writing. It would have to be a novel, maybe a total of three. I have never done anything like this before and it would be very challenging but I am still going to do it. Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling. I have two more things about this this subject that I want to write about when I can. These are the weird things that pop in my head. Then I must write to get it out. :-]
I would have to take a few things with me. Some water, a digital recorder, tissue, digital camera that has video, batteries, note pad with a pen and extra memory cards. The note pad and pen is in case I am in a situation where talking would cause me to be in danger or noticed.
The first place I would go back is the dinosaur age. I would stay clear of them, study and document them. I would make sure I have a quick escape just in case. I have seen 'Jurassic Park' and learned what NOT to do. I would of course do a lot of studying about them and take some notes before I left. I would bring the notes with me too. While studying them, I would see what they really looked like, how they moved, how they lived and all the other info that scientist can only guess at.
After stopping back at home to unload all my data, the next era I would go to is the caveman era. I think it would be very interesting to watch early man. Again I would have to make sure I was hidden because not only would they freak out & I would mess up the timeline, I wouldn't want some caveman dragging me off to mate with me. I don't mind four play but that is a little extreme. lol I think it will also be interesting to see how much we have changed and how much we haven't.
The next era I would visit is when Jesus was born, when he was an adult and died on the cross. I know that I would not be able to understand the language and not really know what Jesus really looked like but I am sure I could find out and document what I see. This is where I would do as much recording as I could. It might be easier to figure out what was going on at home instead of doing it right there. I would want to know what REALLY happened and not what religions say what happened. I would love to be able to talk to the man himself but not knowing the language would make it impossible.
I then would visit other eras and in different parts of the world, seeing for myself history being made. I would have to be careful during WWII because with my looks, I would easily be gassed if I were anywhere near the Nazis.
After doing a tour of history, I would love to observe my family and friends lives. For my friends, it will be interesting to see where they come from and the experiences they encountered. I don't want to be nosy or anything, I just find people's history to be interesting. When it comes to my family, I would love to know my ancestors, the things they had to go through and their lives in general. Including my grandparents, my parents etc.
Last would be viewing my life. I think "reliving" my life from an adult's point of view would be interesting. I wonder if I would judge myself harshly or give myself a break. To remember things I have forgotten and to say "that is why I think or feel this way now" would be a learning experience. To see the people I have lost one more time would be hard but also a pleasure. To see some of my favorite toys and the few friends I had would be so cool. I just wouldn't want to see the bullies. I would have to do everything in my will power to not get back at them.
For the beginning of my journeys, I do realize it would be pretty hard to travel, to know the exact locations of things and the exact date and time. This will take a LOT of homework, guessing and pure luck.
The second part of the time travel would be hard also. There is no way I could be inside a house etc and explain who I was so I could observe certain things. Turning invisible is not an option since there is no such thing. ;-] The only thing that could work was that when I go back in time, I am invisible to everyone and animals around me so I couldn't interact with them and accidentally change time. I wouldn't literately be invisible, I would be more like a ghost to those around me.
Once I was done with all my travels, I would gather all my info and write a book about what I experienced. Possibly do videos on youtube even though I hate being in front of the camera. I know I would have disbelievers and haters especially when talking about religion but that's ok. In the end I know what I experienced and the evidence I had would be real. Going through time would be an awesome way to learn the history of life.
While writing all of this, I am now coming up with a story to write. CRAP! I have so many stories already that I want to dive into. The story(ies) would be about what I just talked about but it would be like if it really happened. The hard part for me is that it wouldn't be a kid's story nor a short story which I am used to writing. It would have to be a novel, maybe a total of three. I have never done anything like this before and it would be very challenging but I am still going to do it. Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling. I have two more things about this this subject that I want to write about when I can. These are the weird things that pop in my head. Then I must write to get it out. :-]
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Twisted: Kids Cartoons
Cartoons, it's what we all grew up on and our kids growing up on. I still enjoy watching the cartoons I watched as a kid. As I sit there and watch them, I start to realize just how twisted they are.
One of the first Mickey cartoons, Mickey was abusive to animals. He pulled a cat's tail & twirled the cat around. He also used the animals as musical instruments in some of the worst ways. You knew the animals didn't like it either.
Bugs Bunny was bad too. There was violence and cross dressing (was Bugs gay?). Cross dressing isn't wrong but kinda weird for a kids cartoon. In Popeye, there was violence, kidnapping, bullying and abuse towards women.
In Snow White, you have witch craft, emotional abuse, trespassing, murder, kissing the dead and a zombie. I also question how on earth would Snow White's body not decay, why would the dwarfs put the key to the jewel vault right next to the door and why would the prince & Snow White go off together when they no nothing of each other?
How about those Christmas classic cartoons? In Santa is coming to town, there is trespassing into other people's homes, abandonment, breaking laws (even though the law is stupid, it's still wrong) and you have to question about a stranger going to town & giving kids toys (see other Twisted blog coming soon). Rudolph has bullying including from a parent & Santa himself. There is also some discrimination.
Even though all these things are in our kid's cartoons, it's still fun to watch them and there is nothing wrong with letting a kid see them. Kids just don't understand what is really going on, they just see the really good story going on right before their eyes. Kids can see things in a different point of view than us adults and their view can be a lot better than ours. It's kinda of sad actually. That is probably one of the reasons why I will continue to watch kid shows and movies, to see them through the innocent eyes of a child & enjoying what I see.
One of the first Mickey cartoons, Mickey was abusive to animals. He pulled a cat's tail & twirled the cat around. He also used the animals as musical instruments in some of the worst ways. You knew the animals didn't like it either.
Bugs Bunny was bad too. There was violence and cross dressing (was Bugs gay?). Cross dressing isn't wrong but kinda weird for a kids cartoon. In Popeye, there was violence, kidnapping, bullying and abuse towards women.
In Snow White, you have witch craft, emotional abuse, trespassing, murder, kissing the dead and a zombie. I also question how on earth would Snow White's body not decay, why would the dwarfs put the key to the jewel vault right next to the door and why would the prince & Snow White go off together when they no nothing of each other?
How about those Christmas classic cartoons? In Santa is coming to town, there is trespassing into other people's homes, abandonment, breaking laws (even though the law is stupid, it's still wrong) and you have to question about a stranger going to town & giving kids toys (see other Twisted blog coming soon). Rudolph has bullying including from a parent & Santa himself. There is also some discrimination.
Even though all these things are in our kid's cartoons, it's still fun to watch them and there is nothing wrong with letting a kid see them. Kids just don't understand what is really going on, they just see the really good story going on right before their eyes. Kids can see things in a different point of view than us adults and their view can be a lot better than ours. It's kinda of sad actually. That is probably one of the reasons why I will continue to watch kid shows and movies, to see them through the innocent eyes of a child & enjoying what I see.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Cool youtube video
I found this video a few years ago and I think posted it on my myspace page. I think the video had to be taken down but it's back up and since I like it, I thought I would share it.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
School Issues #1
I have been thinking of starting certain topics and writing about them when I can and when I have something to say on the matter. The one I will start off is school issues. I have so many issues about schools today that it makes me go grrrr. I am so glad that I really don't have to deal with them any more but they still get under my skin.
One of the issues I have with schools today is them trying so hard to control what the kids eat. Now I do understand that a lot of the food they serve is junk food and I do agree that they should have healthier foods. I think they are just putting way to much focus on it and it's starting to go overboard. Here are my issues on the school food.
1)They think that by having the kids eat healthier lunches, the kids are less likely to be over weight. How wrong can they be? Wait, they can be pretty freakin' wrong. The schools seem to forget that eating lunch at school is just one meal of the day. There is dinner which is served at home and snacks. Breakfast is both home and/or school, depends. The kids are not going to learn to eat healthier just by eating better lunches & their weight is not going to be controlled by what they eat at school. It starts in the home period.
2) The schools seem to think the kids can some how have some control what their parents buy at the grocery store. This baffles me. Since when do kids get to dictate what their parents buy and don't buy. The kids have to eat whatever the parents buy and feed them. The parents are going to buy what they can afford and/or whatever it is they want. Yes kids can say that they would rather have a banana than cookies or a nice chicken dinner with veggies instead of McDonalds but in the end, it's the parents that make the decision since they are the ones that make the money. There are a lot of families out there that can't afford to eat healthier since it does cost more.
3) The schools also seem to think that kids can some how teach or convince their parents to eat healthier. Better yet, the schools act like they can try to have some control on what goes on in the home by trying to teach the parents themselves on how to eat better or what is healthy & not. Adults already know what is good and what is bad. We don't need school officials trying to step in and "teach" us. We are not stupid.
4) Schools seem to think replacing soda with juice is good. Hello, juice has a lot of sugar in it too. Almost as much as soda. Fruit has natural sugar in it. When companies make juice, they tend to add even more. Wola, a sugar filled drink. Yes the fruit part is good but it still has a lot of sugar.
5) Getting healthier food for schools is going to cost a lot more money. Money they don't have. Maybe food companies could step up a little by helping with this problem so there could be better choices. I don't know how it all works but to me I think schools need to work with food companies (and vice versa)to get good deals that they can afford to get some better food.
I think the schools need to focus a little more on other issues and not be so hard ass on the lunches. They can alter the food menu so it's healthier and the drinks but wish they would stop acting like it's a serious issue that needs to be controlled in every way.
Some parents do need to do their part as well. I am not talking about the ones that literately can not afford healthier foods, I am talking about the ones that let their kids eat whatever & however much they want which leads to their kids to being obese. That is a whole 'nother issue in itself. It's the parents responsibility to make sure their kids are as healthy as they can be & to teach them how to eat properly. Although I guess it can be a problem if the parents are having eating issues themselves. In that case it's a more serious issues that needs to be addressed. I am not trying to put down anybody so sorry if it does sound like that.
There is nothing wrong with eating junk foods as long as it's in moderation. We need to indulge ourselves once in awhile. Having the stupid food pyramid doesn't work and should be getting rid of entirely. Again, that is a total different issue that I will address at a later time. Schools just need to chill a bit. Period.
One of the issues I have with schools today is them trying so hard to control what the kids eat. Now I do understand that a lot of the food they serve is junk food and I do agree that they should have healthier foods. I think they are just putting way to much focus on it and it's starting to go overboard. Here are my issues on the school food.
1)They think that by having the kids eat healthier lunches, the kids are less likely to be over weight. How wrong can they be? Wait, they can be pretty freakin' wrong. The schools seem to forget that eating lunch at school is just one meal of the day. There is dinner which is served at home and snacks. Breakfast is both home and/or school, depends. The kids are not going to learn to eat healthier just by eating better lunches & their weight is not going to be controlled by what they eat at school. It starts in the home period.
2) The schools seem to think the kids can some how have some control what their parents buy at the grocery store. This baffles me. Since when do kids get to dictate what their parents buy and don't buy. The kids have to eat whatever the parents buy and feed them. The parents are going to buy what they can afford and/or whatever it is they want. Yes kids can say that they would rather have a banana than cookies or a nice chicken dinner with veggies instead of McDonalds but in the end, it's the parents that make the decision since they are the ones that make the money. There are a lot of families out there that can't afford to eat healthier since it does cost more.
3) The schools also seem to think that kids can some how teach or convince their parents to eat healthier. Better yet, the schools act like they can try to have some control on what goes on in the home by trying to teach the parents themselves on how to eat better or what is healthy & not. Adults already know what is good and what is bad. We don't need school officials trying to step in and "teach" us. We are not stupid.
4) Schools seem to think replacing soda with juice is good. Hello, juice has a lot of sugar in it too. Almost as much as soda. Fruit has natural sugar in it. When companies make juice, they tend to add even more. Wola, a sugar filled drink. Yes the fruit part is good but it still has a lot of sugar.
5) Getting healthier food for schools is going to cost a lot more money. Money they don't have. Maybe food companies could step up a little by helping with this problem so there could be better choices. I don't know how it all works but to me I think schools need to work with food companies (and vice versa)to get good deals that they can afford to get some better food.
I think the schools need to focus a little more on other issues and not be so hard ass on the lunches. They can alter the food menu so it's healthier and the drinks but wish they would stop acting like it's a serious issue that needs to be controlled in every way.
Some parents do need to do their part as well. I am not talking about the ones that literately can not afford healthier foods, I am talking about the ones that let their kids eat whatever & however much they want which leads to their kids to being obese. That is a whole 'nother issue in itself. It's the parents responsibility to make sure their kids are as healthy as they can be & to teach them how to eat properly. Although I guess it can be a problem if the parents are having eating issues themselves. In that case it's a more serious issues that needs to be addressed. I am not trying to put down anybody so sorry if it does sound like that.
There is nothing wrong with eating junk foods as long as it's in moderation. We need to indulge ourselves once in awhile. Having the stupid food pyramid doesn't work and should be getting rid of entirely. Again, that is a total different issue that I will address at a later time. Schools just need to chill a bit. Period.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Halloween
Ahhh Halloween, the time of year to dress up, have costume parties, get candy and turning your house into a haunted one or just going to a commercial one. Don't forget pumpkin carving and horror movies on tv.
It's funny how we teach our kids to not take candy from strangers and not to beg yet for one night a year, that is exactly what happens. I like Halloween. I love seeing the cute kids in their cute costumes. Dressing up is fun too. Some day I want to decorate my house really spooky and have kids go through it to get their candy at the end. I also love Halloween decorations.
Some of the costumes I have had through out my life: a lion, devil, punk rocker, a baby, hobo, cheerleader, 50's girl with a puddle skirt, a playboy bunny and a hooker when I was 18. Eighteen was my last year trick or treating. I just had so much fun that I didn't want to stop. When I was a hooker, I had fish net stockings (I think), a guarder, my black tight dress that I made shorter and a red feather boa. I felt kinda naked but it was still fun. There were others things too and I still would like to dress up when I can.
One thing I miss are pumpkin patches. When I was a kid, I can remember going to them and just in aww with all the pumpkins that were everywhere. Trying to find that perfect pumpkin was like trying to find that perfect Christmas tree. Now, where I live, it's hard to find a real pumpkin patch. You have all these small areas of land with probably about 50 pumpkins and call them patches. : / You have to drive a long ways to find one. There needs to be thousands of pumpkins, hay rides, haunted train rides & houses for both kids and adults, a graveyard, colored corn, face painting etc. Also be open at night. Now that's a pumpkin patch. Oh and this patch should be closer to town instead of out in the middle of nowhere.
As for haunted houss, I love the creativity that are put into them. I personally can't go into one because my asthma acts up. Having people looking like something from a horror movie coming after you or acting like it can really get the heart pumping. Eighteen years ago I did try to go into one but couldn't finish. People getting in my face etc isn't my thing and can't stop having asthma problems.
Do you have any stories? What were some of your costumes & your favorite?
It's funny how we teach our kids to not take candy from strangers and not to beg yet for one night a year, that is exactly what happens. I like Halloween. I love seeing the cute kids in their cute costumes. Dressing up is fun too. Some day I want to decorate my house really spooky and have kids go through it to get their candy at the end. I also love Halloween decorations.
Some of the costumes I have had through out my life: a lion, devil, punk rocker, a baby, hobo, cheerleader, 50's girl with a puddle skirt, a playboy bunny and a hooker when I was 18. Eighteen was my last year trick or treating. I just had so much fun that I didn't want to stop. When I was a hooker, I had fish net stockings (I think), a guarder, my black tight dress that I made shorter and a red feather boa. I felt kinda naked but it was still fun. There were others things too and I still would like to dress up when I can.
One thing I miss are pumpkin patches. When I was a kid, I can remember going to them and just in aww with all the pumpkins that were everywhere. Trying to find that perfect pumpkin was like trying to find that perfect Christmas tree. Now, where I live, it's hard to find a real pumpkin patch. You have all these small areas of land with probably about 50 pumpkins and call them patches. : / You have to drive a long ways to find one. There needs to be thousands of pumpkins, hay rides, haunted train rides & houses for both kids and adults, a graveyard, colored corn, face painting etc. Also be open at night. Now that's a pumpkin patch. Oh and this patch should be closer to town instead of out in the middle of nowhere.
As for haunted houss, I love the creativity that are put into them. I personally can't go into one because my asthma acts up. Having people looking like something from a horror movie coming after you or acting like it can really get the heart pumping. Eighteen years ago I did try to go into one but couldn't finish. People getting in my face etc isn't my thing and can't stop having asthma problems.
Do you have any stories? What were some of your costumes & your favorite?
Monday, September 19, 2011
New Age Storytelling & Mini Shows
As I sit and go through youtube, it hits me how people no longer have to try to make their way on tv or for their script to get picked up by a movie company. All they have to do is go to youtube. Like anything in life, youtube has it's down sides but it also has it's ups. I think it's so cool how all you have to do is take a little bit of time out of your day to make a vlog, talk about the news or make mini movies.
There is so much creativity out there and it is being put to use because of the Internet. Some examples: There is a guy named Phillip Defranco, he talks about the news, stupid things people do, women he likes etc. He is very entertaining. He started out just doing his thing like anybody else and now he has sponsors and is pretty much making a life from it. All because thousands of people watch his little few min show. Here is one of his videos.
There are other people that make cartoons, misc things using graphics & their technology just because they can. I am pretty sure some of these people can actually do something with their creativity if they wanted to. Some people even make little music videos or just sing in their front room. Some get discovered, some don't. Here is a video someone did that is a little series that they throw together. They use Mario Brothers stuff animals and graphics to create a story. They are up to episode 11. This is just one way how people can be so creative with their videos and imagination.
Then there are people who say they have seen an UFO, aliens or of paranormal things. When it comes down to it, it's just pure entertainment. Some of the stuff though can seem pretty real and even creepy. Although some of the UFO footage can actual be real. Remember, UFO doesn't always mean aliens, just something unknown in the sky. There is this one girl who calls herself "Sunshine". She says her house is haunted. She puts videos up some with just talking and some with evidence of the paranormal going on. She is only 17. As you watch the videos, you know it's fiction. The thing is though it is pretty entertaining (I think it is anyways). It is one long story being played out and she even evolves her mom and other people. Some think it's all very real. They say why would she go through all of this if it wasn't and how the mother wouldn't be involved. In the videos, you can just tell that they have the type of relationship that she would help her daughter out in making these videos. Yes I think Sunshine would also go out of her way to go through the trouble of making them it if was fun for her and if it's something she wants to do for a living.
I love seeing how much creativity people put into their videos, even the simple ones. Some of these people have a really good imagination. Who knows, someone might get discovered and really make it big. The only thing I don't like are the rude comments people leave but that's another thing.
There is so much creativity out there and it is being put to use because of the Internet. Some examples: There is a guy named Phillip Defranco, he talks about the news, stupid things people do, women he likes etc. He is very entertaining. He started out just doing his thing like anybody else and now he has sponsors and is pretty much making a life from it. All because thousands of people watch his little few min show. Here is one of his videos.
There are other people that make cartoons, misc things using graphics & their technology just because they can. I am pretty sure some of these people can actually do something with their creativity if they wanted to. Some people even make little music videos or just sing in their front room. Some get discovered, some don't. Here is a video someone did that is a little series that they throw together. They use Mario Brothers stuff animals and graphics to create a story. They are up to episode 11. This is just one way how people can be so creative with their videos and imagination.
Then there are people who say they have seen an UFO, aliens or of paranormal things. When it comes down to it, it's just pure entertainment. Some of the stuff though can seem pretty real and even creepy. Although some of the UFO footage can actual be real. Remember, UFO doesn't always mean aliens, just something unknown in the sky. There is this one girl who calls herself "Sunshine". She says her house is haunted. She puts videos up some with just talking and some with evidence of the paranormal going on. She is only 17. As you watch the videos, you know it's fiction. The thing is though it is pretty entertaining (I think it is anyways). It is one long story being played out and she even evolves her mom and other people. Some think it's all very real. They say why would she go through all of this if it wasn't and how the mother wouldn't be involved. In the videos, you can just tell that they have the type of relationship that she would help her daughter out in making these videos. Yes I think Sunshine would also go out of her way to go through the trouble of making them it if was fun for her and if it's something she wants to do for a living.
I love seeing how much creativity people put into their videos, even the simple ones. Some of these people have a really good imagination. Who knows, someone might get discovered and really make it big. The only thing I don't like are the rude comments people leave but that's another thing.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Excited, Scary and Frustrating
For about a week, we have had the pizza place open. It has been so many emotions wrapped into one. For a good part, bored we have been. Since nobody really knows we are there yet, we haven't had much sales. Every once in awhile I stand out by the street waving a sign to try and get people's attention. It has brought in some. We now are going to have a direct mail go out on the 13th that will reach a huge area. We may even print up some flyers and door hang.
Right now the only people we have working at the store are my husband, me, our oldest son & his boyfriend, a friend of ours that we got to know & work with when we had the comic book store and an actual lady we hired who started today. We are going to have another driver that starts on Monday.
Right now we don't have a full menu because we ran out of money due to starting late because of the first store front stalling (see previous blog 'End of one journey start of another') which is hurting us some. There is another Pudge Brothers that has our delivery area along with theirs until we really get going. They are supposed to be transferring calls to us if it's just pizza but sometimes they send us people from their area and I am sure not sending us some of our customers but not on purpose. We now almost have a reg. menu going. The things we still need: wings (which we are getting tomorrow), salad stuff, stuff for Cinnamon & reg. bread sticks and a few different toppings for pizzas like the chicken pizzas etc, oh and banana peppers, artichokes & green olives. We also need to get more containers with lids, a couple of small stainless steel tables and a computer system. There are other things too like seating etc for the front of the store but those things are not needed to actually run a place. Pudge Brothers carries so many other foods that we will also start carrying when we can. They even do hamburgers & fries!
I have never made pizzas before except for mini ones etc at home where the crust is already made (or by using hamburger buns) and at Subway but again the crust is already made. I am starting to get the hang of it. The hardest thing is working with the dough. It starts out in a round ball like and you have to stretch etc to get the shape of the pizza. Man is it hard. Michael is teaching me & working with me every step of the way since he knows how to do pizzas.
Even though we have only been open for a week, we have already had to deal with a couple of annoying people. I hate this part of fast food. At least with the book store we only had 1 real rude customer in one year. Last week someone called the store for a pizza but after taking the order, we discovered that it wasn't in our area. So Michael calls the other one that is "working with us" to transfer the order. Someone on that end didn't do their job. Not only did the husband called us back twice but his wife called us once also. They were complaining about not getting their food, was told the other place didn't get the order : / etc. Michael tried to explain things to them but for some reason they didn't get the fact that we couldn't deliver to them & they were not our customer. They even said that they will not order from us again. Michael clearly said that we couldn't anyways. They still didn't get it! They were even raising their voice.
Last night (Thursday) while Michael was on a run, someone called, I took the order then called Michael on his cell to see if it was for us or the other place. He wasn't sure so I had to wait until he got back which was about 5 min give or take. When he realized it wasn't for us, he called the other place to transfer the order. Now this kind of thing happens all the time at every pizza place, it's not a huge deal. The other place had a delivery time of a little more than 1 hr. The customer did not like this. Again they called us to bitch us out. Michael tried to explain things once again and again they didn't get it. Again the wife calls too and she starts yelling at Michael. He tried to explain things to her but she also didn't get it. The guy calls back once again as well. Same story as the first time but doesn't end there.
Today the lady calls yet again still wanting to bitch. Seriously the next day bitching about a pizza?!? She is yelling and cussing at Michael and still can't understand that we can't deliver to her, she is not our customer and we transferred it. They didn't like that it took so long for it to get transferred and then had to wait even longer for the pizza. We get that but seriously acting like this over it is unnecessary. When she wouldn't listen or stop, Michael told her she had to stop calling us or he would report her to the police for harassment. She dared him basically. She ended up calling the Pudge Brothers company. For some reason instead of letting it go, the guy that helps run the company got mad and calls Michael. So now Michael and this guy are getting into it. It was a simple mistake that happens all the time and for some reason everyone acts like it's the end of the world over freakin' pizza.
I so hope we don't have to go through this every time there is a problem. People make mistakes. Yes it's annoying and all but still to carry it over to the next day and have that kind of attitude is uncalled for. For now things are worked out but man it bugs us to no end how this all played out. Anyways, it is late so I must go. I just needed to get everything out. Our sales have picked up some since we are now on the Pudge Brothers web site. We just need to be able to hang on and get through this rough patch so things can hopefully really kick in. I miss talking to everyone. We don't have internet yet at the store so I am not able to get on until late at night when I get home. Take care and hope everyone is good. Big hugs. xo
Right now the only people we have working at the store are my husband, me, our oldest son & his boyfriend, a friend of ours that we got to know & work with when we had the comic book store and an actual lady we hired who started today. We are going to have another driver that starts on Monday.
Right now we don't have a full menu because we ran out of money due to starting late because of the first store front stalling (see previous blog 'End of one journey start of another') which is hurting us some. There is another Pudge Brothers that has our delivery area along with theirs until we really get going. They are supposed to be transferring calls to us if it's just pizza but sometimes they send us people from their area and I am sure not sending us some of our customers but not on purpose. We now almost have a reg. menu going. The things we still need: wings (which we are getting tomorrow), salad stuff, stuff for Cinnamon & reg. bread sticks and a few different toppings for pizzas like the chicken pizzas etc, oh and banana peppers, artichokes & green olives. We also need to get more containers with lids, a couple of small stainless steel tables and a computer system. There are other things too like seating etc for the front of the store but those things are not needed to actually run a place. Pudge Brothers carries so many other foods that we will also start carrying when we can. They even do hamburgers & fries!
I have never made pizzas before except for mini ones etc at home where the crust is already made (or by using hamburger buns) and at Subway but again the crust is already made. I am starting to get the hang of it. The hardest thing is working with the dough. It starts out in a round ball like and you have to stretch etc to get the shape of the pizza. Man is it hard. Michael is teaching me & working with me every step of the way since he knows how to do pizzas.
Even though we have only been open for a week, we have already had to deal with a couple of annoying people. I hate this part of fast food. At least with the book store we only had 1 real rude customer in one year. Last week someone called the store for a pizza but after taking the order, we discovered that it wasn't in our area. So Michael calls the other one that is "working with us" to transfer the order. Someone on that end didn't do their job. Not only did the husband called us back twice but his wife called us once also. They were complaining about not getting their food, was told the other place didn't get the order : / etc. Michael tried to explain things to them but for some reason they didn't get the fact that we couldn't deliver to them & they were not our customer. They even said that they will not order from us again. Michael clearly said that we couldn't anyways. They still didn't get it! They were even raising their voice.
Last night (Thursday) while Michael was on a run, someone called, I took the order then called Michael on his cell to see if it was for us or the other place. He wasn't sure so I had to wait until he got back which was about 5 min give or take. When he realized it wasn't for us, he called the other place to transfer the order. Now this kind of thing happens all the time at every pizza place, it's not a huge deal. The other place had a delivery time of a little more than 1 hr. The customer did not like this. Again they called us to bitch us out. Michael tried to explain things once again and again they didn't get it. Again the wife calls too and she starts yelling at Michael. He tried to explain things to her but she also didn't get it. The guy calls back once again as well. Same story as the first time but doesn't end there.
Today the lady calls yet again still wanting to bitch. Seriously the next day bitching about a pizza?!? She is yelling and cussing at Michael and still can't understand that we can't deliver to her, she is not our customer and we transferred it. They didn't like that it took so long for it to get transferred and then had to wait even longer for the pizza. We get that but seriously acting like this over it is unnecessary. When she wouldn't listen or stop, Michael told her she had to stop calling us or he would report her to the police for harassment. She dared him basically. She ended up calling the Pudge Brothers company. For some reason instead of letting it go, the guy that helps run the company got mad and calls Michael. So now Michael and this guy are getting into it. It was a simple mistake that happens all the time and for some reason everyone acts like it's the end of the world over freakin' pizza.
I so hope we don't have to go through this every time there is a problem. People make mistakes. Yes it's annoying and all but still to carry it over to the next day and have that kind of attitude is uncalled for. For now things are worked out but man it bugs us to no end how this all played out. Anyways, it is late so I must go. I just needed to get everything out. Our sales have picked up some since we are now on the Pudge Brothers web site. We just need to be able to hang on and get through this rough patch so things can hopefully really kick in. I miss talking to everyone. We don't have internet yet at the store so I am not able to get on until late at night when I get home. Take care and hope everyone is good. Big hugs. xo
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
14th anniversary
Hey everyone. It's hard to believe that I have been married for 14 yrs already. Time really does go by fast. My marriage is better than ever. Or coarse we have our days just like any couple and marriage but talking, laughter and respect are key things to make any relationship work and that is what we have. I have an awesome hubby even though there are times he drives me crazy. I am so lucky to have him in my life. I can't wait to spend many more years with him.
Since we don't have the book store, I was hoping we could actual do something today. We couldn't do what I would have liked which was go to something called Garden Of The Gods and 7 falls. One, the car isn't in good shape to be driving all that way (it's a long ass drive) and we didn't want to get stuck somewhere. Two, I slept in late because I haven't been getting enough sleep these past few days and three, we are still trying to figure out what is going on with the pizza place (I think I've blogged about it recently called end of one journey and start of another). We did however went to the comic book store that we love to go to (they have one of the cutest dogs) and we got some comics. My stack was bigger and I could have gotten a lot more since I am missing a lot of older issues. Then we went to McDonalds for lunch, saw 'Cowboys vs Aliens' (good movie by the way will blog about it in my review section)and then had dinner at TGI Fridays. I am so full.
That was my day. Even though we couldn't do exactly what I wanted, I am still glad I spent it with my hubby and that I have him by my side. That's all that matters.
Since we don't have the book store, I was hoping we could actual do something today. We couldn't do what I would have liked which was go to something called Garden Of The Gods and 7 falls. One, the car isn't in good shape to be driving all that way (it's a long ass drive) and we didn't want to get stuck somewhere. Two, I slept in late because I haven't been getting enough sleep these past few days and three, we are still trying to figure out what is going on with the pizza place (I think I've blogged about it recently called end of one journey and start of another). We did however went to the comic book store that we love to go to (they have one of the cutest dogs) and we got some comics. My stack was bigger and I could have gotten a lot more since I am missing a lot of older issues. Then we went to McDonalds for lunch, saw 'Cowboys vs Aliens' (good movie by the way will blog about it in my review section)and then had dinner at TGI Fridays. I am so full.
That was my day. Even though we couldn't do exactly what I wanted, I am still glad I spent it with my hubby and that I have him by my side. That's all that matters.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Riots
Hearing and seeing the footage of the riots in London makes my heart break. It is so disturbing & I will never ever understand why people feel the need to do such a thing in any part of the world.
Protesting is so much safer and doesn't cause harm to others (mostly). I understand that some countries are not allowed to protest but if there are thousands and thousands protesting, it will be harder for them to do anything. Either way people may get arrested but innocent lives, business etc won't be destroyed. Rioting will do no good and will not prove anything. All that says is that you now have stooped down to their level.
Not only is it disturbing to see/ hear these riots but to also know that most (if not all) are really just for nothing. One of the things that really gets to me is when a police officer kills or seriously hurts someone and right away the victim is innocent. I realize officers are people too and can be racist and even do racist things. That still doesn't give ANYBODY the right to go and start these crazy riots just because someone thinks an officer did wrong or they hate officers. What really puzzles me is that these cop haters will spit out their comments etc until one day when they need or someone they love needs one. Then they are begging for help. Not every cop is bad just like not every white, black, Hispanic, gay, etc etc are bad. Not everyone is racist either. Officers actually have to use force however it might be sometimes to protect themselves and others. I would so like to see anyone who hates cops to try to be a cop for a day or two and see what it's really like. If you think a cop did wrong, protest in a good way & let the law handle it. They actually do investigations every time a cop uses force to make sure the cop wasn't out of line.
Then there's riots when sports teams win or even loose but mostly win. Tell me again how this is good celebrating? I realize drinking plays a part but still. You can party in the streets without destroying other people's property and causing fires.
Having riots because you need to fight for your rights in your country, for me I can understand this BUT it's still very wrong and innocent people get hurt in so many ways.
When it comes down to it, please people never riot. It's never good and nothing good will ever ever come from it. You won't be heard that way. You end up being the bad person. We humans can be so much better than this. All that EVER comes out of riots is innocent lives get hurt, people getting arrested, innocent people loosing their loved ones & their place of business. Think about it, would you want your loved one getting innocently hurt or loosing their business or home just because someone decided to use their anger & frustration towards them? No you wouldn't and in fact you would be wondering where the police are while it happened. The police will be to busy trying to control the riot. Another thing, if police ambulances etc are so busy trying to control riots, then if someone has a heart attack or some other real problem, there will be no one to help them. Again if it was your loved on in serious trouble, wouldn't you want an emergency person to help them out as fast as possible? You will wondering where they were when it's needed and get pissed because they were to busy trying to control the riot.
If you get pissed at something and want to be heard PROTEST PROTEST PROTEST, in a RESPECTFUL manner. Stop with this useless violence and hurting innocent people just because you want to be heard. You will be heard if it's done respectfully. That outcome from rioting is soooooo not worth it. Think before you act. This is not how to get things done.
Protesting is so much safer and doesn't cause harm to others (mostly). I understand that some countries are not allowed to protest but if there are thousands and thousands protesting, it will be harder for them to do anything. Either way people may get arrested but innocent lives, business etc won't be destroyed. Rioting will do no good and will not prove anything. All that says is that you now have stooped down to their level.
Not only is it disturbing to see/ hear these riots but to also know that most (if not all) are really just for nothing. One of the things that really gets to me is when a police officer kills or seriously hurts someone and right away the victim is innocent. I realize officers are people too and can be racist and even do racist things. That still doesn't give ANYBODY the right to go and start these crazy riots just because someone thinks an officer did wrong or they hate officers. What really puzzles me is that these cop haters will spit out their comments etc until one day when they need or someone they love needs one. Then they are begging for help. Not every cop is bad just like not every white, black, Hispanic, gay, etc etc are bad. Not everyone is racist either. Officers actually have to use force however it might be sometimes to protect themselves and others. I would so like to see anyone who hates cops to try to be a cop for a day or two and see what it's really like. If you think a cop did wrong, protest in a good way & let the law handle it. They actually do investigations every time a cop uses force to make sure the cop wasn't out of line.
Then there's riots when sports teams win or even loose but mostly win. Tell me again how this is good celebrating? I realize drinking plays a part but still. You can party in the streets without destroying other people's property and causing fires.
Having riots because you need to fight for your rights in your country, for me I can understand this BUT it's still very wrong and innocent people get hurt in so many ways.
When it comes down to it, please people never riot. It's never good and nothing good will ever ever come from it. You won't be heard that way. You end up being the bad person. We humans can be so much better than this. All that EVER comes out of riots is innocent lives get hurt, people getting arrested, innocent people loosing their loved ones & their place of business. Think about it, would you want your loved one getting innocently hurt or loosing their business or home just because someone decided to use their anger & frustration towards them? No you wouldn't and in fact you would be wondering where the police are while it happened. The police will be to busy trying to control the riot. Another thing, if police ambulances etc are so busy trying to control riots, then if someone has a heart attack or some other real problem, there will be no one to help them. Again if it was your loved on in serious trouble, wouldn't you want an emergency person to help them out as fast as possible? You will wondering where they were when it's needed and get pissed because they were to busy trying to control the riot.
If you get pissed at something and want to be heard PROTEST PROTEST PROTEST, in a RESPECTFUL manner. Stop with this useless violence and hurting innocent people just because you want to be heard. You will be heard if it's done respectfully. That outcome from rioting is soooooo not worth it. Think before you act. This is not how to get things done.
Darren Hayes New Album
It has been revealed, the album cover of Darren Hayes's upcoming album 'Secret Codes and Battleships'. I absolutely just love the cover. When I first saw it, I thought of Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' album. It's full of color, has all kinds of different images together making one awesome cover.
When I saw the cover, I got all excited again for the album. I can't wait to hear what Darren has to say. Darren has a very unique voice. I love how he can do all these different ranges and has so much control. I just love it. He also knows how to put things into words when know one else can. Darren just has such amazing talent. I really hope this album soars everywhere. He truly deserves it. He puts so much hard work into everything he does.
Darren's talent is just one part of him. He is so down to earth, funny and sweet. Very interesting guy as well. I have never met him but I hope I get to some day and if/when I do, I really hope my shyness doesn't kick in or I become overwhelmed.
This has been an amazing journey. I didn't know about Darren's solo career to have been on the past rides (just thought after Savage Garden that was it, see past blog about my Darren journey 2009 Dec.). I love how Darren revealed everything. Sending out coded messages couple times a week having us trying to break the code. Whoever was the first one to guess each code, not only got recognition, but also got a canvas painting that went with the message. On the canvas was the message and on the back his signature. I was lucky enough to be one of the people to guess first. I never win things like this. Even if we didn't get anything, I still would have done it and been just as happy. I am also not to big on signatures simply because celebs are just people like us with really cool jobs. I do have to say though, the painting & message I won does mean a lot to me. I didn't think I would win one. Darren didn't have to do this and yet he did.
The vlogs Darren has been doing to take us along the journey have been awesome. Every little step that has been taken has been exciting and I am truly grateful for being able to be apart of it. The other fans that I have gotten to know has also been an awesome journey. I love getting to know everyone. This journey has also been helping me deal with my insecurities. I have a ways to go but have come along way. A big thank you to all the connections I have made. You know who you are.
Darren if you happen to read this, I would just like to say a very big thank you. I know I say it a lot and so do others but it's true. Thank you for taking time out of your day to go in the chats, interacting with us in other ways, sharing a part of you with us and just being so real with us. You're an awesome guy and truly deserve the best in life. Big love. XO
@tjt72 (or just tjt depending)
When I saw the cover, I got all excited again for the album. I can't wait to hear what Darren has to say. Darren has a very unique voice. I love how he can do all these different ranges and has so much control. I just love it. He also knows how to put things into words when know one else can. Darren just has such amazing talent. I really hope this album soars everywhere. He truly deserves it. He puts so much hard work into everything he does.
Darren's talent is just one part of him. He is so down to earth, funny and sweet. Very interesting guy as well. I have never met him but I hope I get to some day and if/when I do, I really hope my shyness doesn't kick in or I become overwhelmed.
This has been an amazing journey. I didn't know about Darren's solo career to have been on the past rides (just thought after Savage Garden that was it, see past blog about my Darren journey 2009 Dec.). I love how Darren revealed everything. Sending out coded messages couple times a week having us trying to break the code. Whoever was the first one to guess each code, not only got recognition, but also got a canvas painting that went with the message. On the canvas was the message and on the back his signature. I was lucky enough to be one of the people to guess first. I never win things like this. Even if we didn't get anything, I still would have done it and been just as happy. I am also not to big on signatures simply because celebs are just people like us with really cool jobs. I do have to say though, the painting & message I won does mean a lot to me. I didn't think I would win one. Darren didn't have to do this and yet he did.
The vlogs Darren has been doing to take us along the journey have been awesome. Every little step that has been taken has been exciting and I am truly grateful for being able to be apart of it. The other fans that I have gotten to know has also been an awesome journey. I love getting to know everyone. This journey has also been helping me deal with my insecurities. I have a ways to go but have come along way. A big thank you to all the connections I have made. You know who you are.
Darren if you happen to read this, I would just like to say a very big thank you. I know I say it a lot and so do others but it's true. Thank you for taking time out of your day to go in the chats, interacting with us in other ways, sharing a part of you with us and just being so real with us. You're an awesome guy and truly deserve the best in life. Big love. XO
@tjt72 (or just tjt depending)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
End Of One Journey, Start Of Another
So much has been going on this month, especially this weekend. Having the book store has been a blast. Lost of hard work, some lazy days, tiring, some struggles but still had fun (even dealing with the lazy people and the kids destroying the kids area to no end). Last year we got a little behind during the really slow periods and expected to get caught up in Dec. When Dec. came, we did not do holiday sales which made it hard to get things caught up. We were working on it and even told the mall people that during the summer, we would have everything caught up. They agreed to let us do this. Our sales started to pick up especially in June. We were hitting record sales. Apartments are being built right across from where the store is ad couldn't wait to get business from there as well. Then we got the news.
We were told someone else wanted our spot and we needed to move. The people that want our spot can and will obviously be able to pay more rent than we can. We could have just moved to another spot in the mall but all of the empty spaces are not built. Meaning, there is an outer shell but inside the walls, floors, widows, doors etc are not there. Completely hollow. We so don't have the money to build up a place and since I guess the other business didn't want to (or couldn't) fork over the money to build a place. So naturally they came and ate us. We had until the end of July.
We decided to keep the store open, tell our customers, take the money we make and invest it into another business. Pizza. My husband knows pizza better than ANYTHING (job wise people
), knows how to run one and make money doing it. Plus we wouldn't have to worry about digital pizza taking over (or do we 
hehe). There is a empty pizza place right by our house. It used to be a Pudge Brothers. The guy that used to have it, got stupid with his money and had to close it. We basically got handed this place for free. We are all ready to go with the company. Even the web site and flyers are ready and waiting for us to open. The people we are now having to deal with are the leasing of the store front. Everything has been going good about both things until we hit the last few days of July. Here is where gets crazy.
The company that does the leasing at the shopping center where the pizza place is, is stationed in CA. They have an accountant to handle things here in CO. They told their accountant that everything was ok, we were good to go and to collect the money and get the copies of the lease signed. We do all of that and so happy and scared. The lease gets signed and mailed to CA. Now they are saying they need to check my husband's financing again! They already approved us and made a verbal agreement! So now we don't know what's going on with this place. We are looking at other Pudge Brothers that are for sale as a back up plan. If these people for some reason go back on their agreement, we are going to sue them. Simply because there was a verbal agreement, everything was already checked out, we signed the lease and wrote the check. They haven't cashed it. We do plan on trying to re-open the book store but after we have a little more money or if we just can't get this pizza thing going right now.
As for the book store. The original owners of it are still involved because we didn't have the money to just buy it from them so we were making payments on top of the rent etc. They said they wanted to take as much as they could to their house. We were happy about that. They wanted us to start tearing down the store before 6pm (we were staying open until 6pm Sunday the mall hours to make money). My hubby told them no, we were not going to close and loose the money that we needed. That was one conflict. We staid open till 6, they weren't happy. They wanted the back computer so I deleted all my stuff from it, they decided they didn't want it because it no longer had the store program on it.
There were other little things here ad there but meh whatever. They had something to do so couldn't stay after 6 (I think the wife had to work). They took a lot but not nearly as much as we thought they would or hoped. So now we were left with more than half the store.
We did what we could n' boxing up the books and started tearing down the shelves. We ran out (there were 300 boxes!) so we had to stop. When we went to go grab more boxes from a box warehouse, no one was there and we were already running behind. The Uhal we rented didn't have a ramp so it made things harder. We had to start putting books in bags. We had a ton of them. We even used garbage bags. My 2 sons, my oldest son's friend and a mall helper started working our butts off trying to et things done. There was a verbal agreement to be out by 5 on Monday but then the mall manager left an email saying 3. We thought we could be out by 5 maybe a little later. Little did we know that with all the little crap that happened, it slowed us down. We were there until after 11pm and still didn't finish. We were about 65% done. We physically couldn't do any more work. We did mange to get 100 more boxes.
The next day (today Tuesday), my hubby sent an email to the mall manager explaining that we still had stuff there etc etc. He didn't go into all the details. She sends one back we need to get our people there TODAY and get the stuff out and was upset because of the agreement that was made. My hubby then told here we don't have "people", it's just us 2. She wanted the keys. She was so pissy about everything too. We have not had any good dealings with her in the past. Luckily we got the important stuff but still, how very fucking annoying. I can understand that there is another store waiting and there was an agreement made but things happen, we are not robots and there is only 2 of us. We were willing to get the place cleaned out things out of there in a few days but she can't just wanted the keys. I so hate it when people like that don't understand how business are done especially small ones.
So that is the whole story. We got things done but there were those ruff patches. It could have been worse but I am still very annoyed about how it all played out.
I will keep everyone updated about the pizza place that wants to know. Thanks for listening to my rambles.
-Me
We were told someone else wanted our spot and we needed to move. The people that want our spot can and will obviously be able to pay more rent than we can. We could have just moved to another spot in the mall but all of the empty spaces are not built. Meaning, there is an outer shell but inside the walls, floors, widows, doors etc are not there. Completely hollow. We so don't have the money to build up a place and since I guess the other business didn't want to (or couldn't) fork over the money to build a place. So naturally they came and ate us. We had until the end of July.
We decided to keep the store open, tell our customers, take the money we make and invest it into another business. Pizza. My husband knows pizza better than ANYTHING (job wise people
), knows how to run one and make money doing it. Plus we wouldn't have to worry about digital pizza taking over (or do we hehe). There is a empty pizza place right by our house. It used to be a Pudge Brothers. The guy that used to have it, got stupid with his money and had to close it. We basically got handed this place for free. We are all ready to go with the company. Even the web site and flyers are ready and waiting for us to open. The people we are now having to deal with are the leasing of the store front. Everything has been going good about both things until we hit the last few days of July. Here is where gets crazy.The company that does the leasing at the shopping center where the pizza place is, is stationed in CA. They have an accountant to handle things here in CO. They told their accountant that everything was ok, we were good to go and to collect the money and get the copies of the lease signed. We do all of that and so happy and scared. The lease gets signed and mailed to CA. Now they are saying they need to check my husband's financing again! They already approved us and made a verbal agreement! So now we don't know what's going on with this place. We are looking at other Pudge Brothers that are for sale as a back up plan. If these people for some reason go back on their agreement, we are going to sue them. Simply because there was a verbal agreement, everything was already checked out, we signed the lease and wrote the check. They haven't cashed it. We do plan on trying to re-open the book store but after we have a little more money or if we just can't get this pizza thing going right now.
As for the book store. The original owners of it are still involved because we didn't have the money to just buy it from them so we were making payments on top of the rent etc. They said they wanted to take as much as they could to their house. We were happy about that. They wanted us to start tearing down the store before 6pm (we were staying open until 6pm Sunday the mall hours to make money). My hubby told them no, we were not going to close and loose the money that we needed. That was one conflict. We staid open till 6, they weren't happy. They wanted the back computer so I deleted all my stuff from it, they decided they didn't want it because it no longer had the store program on it.
There were other little things here ad there but meh whatever. They had something to do so couldn't stay after 6 (I think the wife had to work). They took a lot but not nearly as much as we thought they would or hoped. So now we were left with more than half the store. We did what we could n' boxing up the books and started tearing down the shelves. We ran out (there were 300 boxes!) so we had to stop. When we went to go grab more boxes from a box warehouse, no one was there and we were already running behind. The Uhal we rented didn't have a ramp so it made things harder. We had to start putting books in bags. We had a ton of them. We even used garbage bags. My 2 sons, my oldest son's friend and a mall helper started working our butts off trying to et things done. There was a verbal agreement to be out by 5 on Monday but then the mall manager left an email saying 3. We thought we could be out by 5 maybe a little later. Little did we know that with all the little crap that happened, it slowed us down. We were there until after 11pm and still didn't finish. We were about 65% done. We physically couldn't do any more work. We did mange to get 100 more boxes.
The next day (today Tuesday), my hubby sent an email to the mall manager explaining that we still had stuff there etc etc. He didn't go into all the details. She sends one back we need to get our people there TODAY and get the stuff out and was upset because of the agreement that was made. My hubby then told here we don't have "people", it's just us 2. She wanted the keys. She was so pissy about everything too. We have not had any good dealings with her in the past. Luckily we got the important stuff but still, how very fucking annoying. I can understand that there is another store waiting and there was an agreement made but things happen, we are not robots and there is only 2 of us. We were willing to get the place cleaned out things out of there in a few days but she can't just wanted the keys. I so hate it when people like that don't understand how business are done especially small ones.
So that is the whole story. We got things done but there were those ruff patches. It could have been worse but I am still very annoyed about how it all played out.
I will keep everyone updated about the pizza place that wants to know. Thanks for listening to my rambles.-Me
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Fantasy Art
Fantasy art, how I love the. I am always finding new people that I like. I can be picky at times when it comes to what fantasy art I like. I will probably do more than one blog about it but I just wanted to introduce some of my favorite fantasy artist.
Jim Warren - This guy's work is so unique and different from the others that I like. A lot of his work have hidden things in them. Sometimes I am still finding things in his art that I never noticed before. He loves to have things in the backgrounds and blend things in with water so they to be as one. Here are a couple of his paintings. If you like, google him and check out more of his awesome stuff.
Boris Vallejo - He is one of the first people I saw the art of and started liking. He does a lot of dragons, women, some men, etc. Sometimes it's hard to believe they are actual paintings because they can be so detailed. I think he also does some superheroes too but I could be wrong. Here are a couple things of his work.
Luis Royo - This guy is one of my favorites. He does mostly half naked women. Sometimes he adds guys or some kind of dark demon like guys. A lot of his work can also be sensual and sexy in a weird way. He also has so much detail in is work.His paintings are pretty dark but I love it. Here are a couple of his paintings.
Greg Hildebrandt - Greg has a brother Tim who also does fantasy art and sometimes they team up on paintings. Greg's work is also a little different than the others that I like. He likes to take things from movies and add his own style/vision to it. He has also done superheroes and one of the famous Star Wars art posters that he did with his brother (I wonder if Mr. Darren Hayes has it). Here is a couple of Greg's work.
This is all I have right now but at some point I will put up some more by some other people. I just like way to many. :-)
Jim Warren - This guy's work is so unique and different from the others that I like. A lot of his work have hidden things in them. Sometimes I am still finding things in his art that I never noticed before. He loves to have things in the backgrounds and blend things in with water so they to be as one. Here are a couple of his paintings. If you like, google him and check out more of his awesome stuff.
Boris Vallejo - He is one of the first people I saw the art of and started liking. He does a lot of dragons, women, some men, etc. Sometimes it's hard to believe they are actual paintings because they can be so detailed. I think he also does some superheroes too but I could be wrong. Here are a couple things of his work.
Luis Royo - This guy is one of my favorites. He does mostly half naked women. Sometimes he adds guys or some kind of dark demon like guys. A lot of his work can also be sensual and sexy in a weird way. He also has so much detail in is work.His paintings are pretty dark but I love it. Here are a couple of his paintings.
Greg Hildebrandt - Greg has a brother Tim who also does fantasy art and sometimes they team up on paintings. Greg's work is also a little different than the others that I like. He likes to take things from movies and add his own style/vision to it. He has also done superheroes and one of the famous Star Wars art posters that he did with his brother (I wonder if Mr. Darren Hayes has it). Here is a couple of Greg's work.
This is all I have right now but at some point I will put up some more by some other people. I just like way to many. :-)
Friday, July 15, 2011
Casey Anthony
By now we all have heard about Casey Anthony and her daughter Caylee. What is getting under my skin about this whole thing is not so much that she was found not guilty but that the prosecution didn't do their job correctly. They were trying to hurry up and charge someone, thinking Casey did do something & was pressured by the media/people etc that they went to fast on trying Casey. They had no real evidence that Casey did something or even knows what happened to her daughter. Because they went after her with hardly any evidence, she had to be found not guilty by law. Now she could never ever be tried again for this case even if evidence comes up that she did do it or had part in it. It's called double jeopardy and isn't allowed. They should have first went after her for lying and then try to gather evidence for the murder of her daughter instead of the other way around. Plain and simple, the prosecution screwed up.
I keep hearing how some people are so outraged that they are trying to take matters into their own hands. When you do this, it makes you no better than anybody else in jail of assault or murder. Sorry but it's the truth. It's not up to us to punish people for doing something wrong. If you really think hard about all of this, you can't even be sure that she did kill her own daughter. My personal belief is that she either did it or knows who did and how. Just by her actions like the run around and lies. But like I said, there is no prof of anything. All we can do is guess but never assume.
We are always so quick to judge one other without caring to know the story behind things, so quick to want to punish without knowing ALL THE FACTS. Instead we take what the media gives us, what we THINK we know and make our own judgments. That is so wrong. We all know (at least should know) how the media can twist things, get things wrong and don't tell us everything. Because of this, we can never fully believe and trust what we hear and read about anything. You need facts. There is none in this case we just think there is by what we are told. Prosecutors need to start watching how they go after people and stop giving into pressure that way evidence can be gathered the right way so the guilty doesn't walk free and can't be tried again. We should be the bigger people by leaving Casey & her family alone. Karma is a big bitch and it will bite her if she really did do something or knows anything about it.
I know I am probably going to get a lot people not liking what I just said but that's ok.
I keep hearing how some people are so outraged that they are trying to take matters into their own hands. When you do this, it makes you no better than anybody else in jail of assault or murder. Sorry but it's the truth. It's not up to us to punish people for doing something wrong. If you really think hard about all of this, you can't even be sure that she did kill her own daughter. My personal belief is that she either did it or knows who did and how. Just by her actions like the run around and lies. But like I said, there is no prof of anything. All we can do is guess but never assume.
We are always so quick to judge one other without caring to know the story behind things, so quick to want to punish without knowing ALL THE FACTS. Instead we take what the media gives us, what we THINK we know and make our own judgments. That is so wrong. We all know (at least should know) how the media can twist things, get things wrong and don't tell us everything. Because of this, we can never fully believe and trust what we hear and read about anything. You need facts. There is none in this case we just think there is by what we are told. Prosecutors need to start watching how they go after people and stop giving into pressure that way evidence can be gathered the right way so the guilty doesn't walk free and can't be tried again. We should be the bigger people by leaving Casey & her family alone. Karma is a big bitch and it will bite her if she really did do something or knows anything about it.
I know I am probably going to get a lot people not liking what I just said but that's ok.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Fireworks
July 4th is upon us. Every year it's the same thing, people shooting fireworks several days before the 4th and several days after. In just about every state (if not every state) it's illegal to do fireworks and even sparklers. News media always saying "leave it to the professionals". People still blowing shit up regardless the laws.
I realize there are a lot of fires during this time of year because accidents happen and there are some very careless people out there. I think it is stupid to have these things illegal. People do it anyways. I feel so sorry for kids today because they can't experience things like sparklers. It annoys me when the government tries to control things or "stop" things that can't be stopped and shouldn't be. Yes they are dangerous but you can't stop something like that. The only reason there are less fires is because most people today go to parks to watch them. It is good that there are less but I seriously think they need to make it legal again. They can try to have some control how things are sold, maybe issuing permits etc but to try and stop it all together is insane.
I hope everyone does have a safe ad happy 4th of July :)
I realize there are a lot of fires during this time of year because accidents happen and there are some very careless people out there. I think it is stupid to have these things illegal. People do it anyways. I feel so sorry for kids today because they can't experience things like sparklers. It annoys me when the government tries to control things or "stop" things that can't be stopped and shouldn't be. Yes they are dangerous but you can't stop something like that. The only reason there are less fires is because most people today go to parks to watch them. It is good that there are less but I seriously think they need to make it legal again. They can try to have some control how things are sold, maybe issuing permits etc but to try and stop it all together is insane.
I hope everyone does have a safe ad happy 4th of July :)
Mtv, VH1 and Other Music Channels
Good ol' music channels, how I miss the. Once there was time when you could turn on something called Mtv (and have it actually mean music television), turn up the volume, and dance to your favorite songs while watching the video for it. Ahhh, watching the videos, trying to copy the dance moves thinking you were just as good when it didn't matter if you weren't because you were having fun. The artist making their music known while having the chance to make creative stories to go with their songs (well most of them anyways). Then came other channels like VH1, Night Tracks every late night weekend and a few others channels in the like. Those were the good ol' days.
Now even though channels like Mtv and VH1 exists, they are no longer music channels. Now they are full of what I think useless crap entertainment. Sure they show videos in the wee hours of the night but most people are asleep. I will also have to admit that there are a few shows on Mtv that are enjoyable like 'True Life' and 'Real World' but that is really about it. This is though just my opinion. In fact I even understand why some people enjoy stuff like that, to escape all the crap going on in their own lives for a few hours and maybe, just maybe learning something from these shows. Thing is though, these channels should have created another channel to have these shows on while still playing music on the original channels. Ok, so they did create other channels for music BUT from what I know even those channels are loosing the videos.
I understand times change and now we have things like youtube to watch music videos but it isn't the same. There is obviously still a market out there for videos other wise artist still wouldn't make them. At the same time I sit here and see the music videos slowly going away and struggling to hang on. It's just sad. There is so much creativity out there that needs to be seen and music needs to be put out there advertising. I think music videos should make a comeback and be better than ever. Music channels need to come back but up it a little so it's worth tuning in and artist need to put some creativity into their videos. A lot of people talk bad about Lady Gaga's videos but seriously her videos are so different from most people and THAT is what makes an interesting video. I think having music videos back on tv could really help the artist.
There is nothing like sitting there in front of the tv and see a world premier video from you favorite for the first time, finding new songs to like & possibly new people to like. If I could and if I knew how, I would so create this channel for cable and possibly a late night thing on a non-cable channel. There would be interviews with artist, behind the scenes/making of videos, music news (not in a tabloid way), streaming concerts, those would be my "shows" on the channel. Then there is the music, video countdowns, a video request hr were you could call in, text or tweet your video request, featured music where I would show the latest stuff, etc etc. Now if only I could get this started and had the money to do it. I don't know, maybe I'm just a spoiled 80's girl trying to bring back those days. But hey some of those times were good and music videos are just, well awesome.
EDITED NOTE: I just found a cable channel that plays music videos 24/7. It's called 'The cool tv'. They seem to play all kinds. Their web site isn't that great but hey there is a music channel. It looks like they have kinda the same idea I have. Who knows, maybe some day I can still have one if I can figure out how to do it.
Now even though channels like Mtv and VH1 exists, they are no longer music channels. Now they are full of what I think useless crap entertainment. Sure they show videos in the wee hours of the night but most people are asleep. I will also have to admit that there are a few shows on Mtv that are enjoyable like 'True Life' and 'Real World' but that is really about it. This is though just my opinion. In fact I even understand why some people enjoy stuff like that, to escape all the crap going on in their own lives for a few hours and maybe, just maybe learning something from these shows. Thing is though, these channels should have created another channel to have these shows on while still playing music on the original channels. Ok, so they did create other channels for music BUT from what I know even those channels are loosing the videos.
I understand times change and now we have things like youtube to watch music videos but it isn't the same. There is obviously still a market out there for videos other wise artist still wouldn't make them. At the same time I sit here and see the music videos slowly going away and struggling to hang on. It's just sad. There is so much creativity out there that needs to be seen and music needs to be put out there advertising. I think music videos should make a comeback and be better than ever. Music channels need to come back but up it a little so it's worth tuning in and artist need to put some creativity into their videos. A lot of people talk bad about Lady Gaga's videos but seriously her videos are so different from most people and THAT is what makes an interesting video. I think having music videos back on tv could really help the artist.
There is nothing like sitting there in front of the tv and see a world premier video from you favorite for the first time, finding new songs to like & possibly new people to like. If I could and if I knew how, I would so create this channel for cable and possibly a late night thing on a non-cable channel. There would be interviews with artist, behind the scenes/making of videos, music news (not in a tabloid way), streaming concerts, those would be my "shows" on the channel. Then there is the music, video countdowns, a video request hr were you could call in, text or tweet your video request, featured music where I would show the latest stuff, etc etc. Now if only I could get this started and had the money to do it. I don't know, maybe I'm just a spoiled 80's girl trying to bring back those days. But hey some of those times were good and music videos are just, well awesome.
EDITED NOTE: I just found a cable channel that plays music videos 24/7. It's called 'The cool tv'. They seem to play all kinds. Their web site isn't that great but hey there is a music channel. It looks like they have kinda the same idea I have. Who knows, maybe some day I can still have one if I can figure out how to do it.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Me Needy Me Wanty
I'm sure some of you have seen one of these by now but in a lot of malls, they now have these choo-choo trains that drive around the mall. The mall where we have our book store has one. There are no tracks, it's a like a big toy car. Kids & adults can ride it with a price of coarse. Here I think it's $3. It is one of the coolest things eva'. The train makes little chug chug noises and has a train horn. I not only want to ride it & drive it but I want to have my personal choo choo! How fucking cool will that be! I found a couple of videos on youtube. They are not from the mall I am at & they are not my videos but I want to show what I am talking about. Chuga chuga chuga chuga choo choo!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
NKOTB concert 1990
I have a lot of things on my mind that want to come out but for now I will write about my second New Kids On The Block concert that I ever went to. First off, what got me to write this was going through my scrapbooks. I cam across the ticket stub for the second one I ever went to which was called 'Magic summer tour'. I wish I had the stub for my very first New Kids Concert but I didn't see it. At some point I will have to write about that one (I know a little backwards but what the hell).
My friend and I heard that the New Kids were coming to town and we just HAD to get those tickets. Her mom took us to a near by record store that were selling the tickets. We weren't to far back in line so we thought we had a chance to get floor seating. When she came back to where we were waiting with the tickets, we had the nose bleed seats. First of all, this concert was going to be held at the Oakland stadium so that made our seats waaaaay back across the field and up a ways. She said that the seats that were on the ground were all taken already. They went to radio stations, family etc. Even then the ticket people were screwing the customers. There is a part of me though that there were other seats available but maybe she didn't want to pay the money for them or she thought the seats we got would have been better. Don't really know since she went up alone (she had my money for my ticket)
The day comes and I was so excited. We get there and realized just how bad our seats were but meh what the hell. They did have big screens so everyone could see what was going on but it was like watching tv. It was pretty hard to see or understand what was going on but that fact that I was there was still cool. The only thing I really remember was Joe holding onto the microphone stand and his feet lifted up so it was like he was laying on his side singing while holding onto the stand. That's all that I really remember.
Not much of a story but it is a memory that I thought I would blog for the hell of it. I love looking back at things and periods of not only my life but how things were when I was growing up & how much things have changed or not changed. Sorry this blog is just kinda there. I do have other things in mind that I want to blog about but it is just hard to find the time to sit down and right them. Take care. :-)
My friend and I heard that the New Kids were coming to town and we just HAD to get those tickets. Her mom took us to a near by record store that were selling the tickets. We weren't to far back in line so we thought we had a chance to get floor seating. When she came back to where we were waiting with the tickets, we had the nose bleed seats. First of all, this concert was going to be held at the Oakland stadium so that made our seats waaaaay back across the field and up a ways. She said that the seats that were on the ground were all taken already. They went to radio stations, family etc. Even then the ticket people were screwing the customers. There is a part of me though that there were other seats available but maybe she didn't want to pay the money for them or she thought the seats we got would have been better. Don't really know since she went up alone (she had my money for my ticket)
The day comes and I was so excited. We get there and realized just how bad our seats were but meh what the hell. They did have big screens so everyone could see what was going on but it was like watching tv. It was pretty hard to see or understand what was going on but that fact that I was there was still cool. The only thing I really remember was Joe holding onto the microphone stand and his feet lifted up so it was like he was laying on his side singing while holding onto the stand. That's all that I really remember.
Not much of a story but it is a memory that I thought I would blog for the hell of it. I love looking back at things and periods of not only my life but how things were when I was growing up & how much things have changed or not changed. Sorry this blog is just kinda there. I do have other things in mind that I want to blog about but it is just hard to find the time to sit down and right them. Take care. :-)
Friday, May 27, 2011
Just random stuff
I'm in a writing mood so I thought I would write a blog. As some of you know, in the past I started a thing called 'Doggie Diaries'. Basically it was a diary of my dog but written in "her own words". I had a paper with a list of the things I still needed to write about. I lost that list. :( The last time I had it, I put it in the tote bag I take to & from my book store. It's not in there. I've looked everywhere. I can't remember everything that I wanted to write about. I do have the memories of her but it still was stories about her. I really hope I can find that paper or just remember everything I wanted to write so I can finish the diary. I do have some things written but they are in ruff draft form & I need to re-write them, then put the ones I have in order. I may post some of the entries in my story section (see my profile on here).
The book store is starting to pick up. We are doing better than last year. I really hope this means we are going to have a really good summer. This way we can get things caught up, get some things fixed, start to be able to save money & possibly do a few fun things that are to come this year. My husband & I would like to have enough money to open up another business, possibly a pizza place or Subway sandwiches. He knows pizza & I know Subway. The book store will not last long because at some point things like the kindle will take place of books. There will always be a market for old books & trade paper backs (comics) but not enough to survive on. This is why we want to open another business. Plus, we just like owning our own stores. It can be a lot of work but it is fun too.We would also like to get into real estate & open up 2 shelters, one for animals (a no kill shelter) and the other a homeless shelter for gay teens. The shelter for gay teens is going to take so much money that I hope we can do it some day.
As for me personally, I still struggle with so much. Trying to break down my walls is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Learning how to talk to people, to be myself 100% around people, to not be so hard on myself, knowing when to say or when not to & what to say or what I shouldn't say. I never know if I am crossing the line with something, if I am making myself out to be someone I'm really not. It is also very hard to have enough confidence in myself so I can be more relax around people whether I know them or not.What some people may not have to think twice about saying or doing, I have to. I always feel so uncomfortable around other people. It's just all so grrrr, know what I mean? Through everything though I am still enjoying life & trying so hard to be positive about things.
This year is going to be interesting. I know I won't be able to go the New Kids cruise next year especially if the tickets go on sale again in Aug. but other things are coming up that I am really hoping I can go to. One is Darren's listening party that I really want to go to. I've never been to one. I want to experience one, to hopefully meet some of the people I talk to on the computer (if I am not so freakin' shy), to go out of my comfort zone no matter how hard or overwhelming it might be and to of coarse hear Darren's new music & meet him for the first time. I just hope everything doesn't become so overwhelming that I start to cry a little. It wouldn't be because "OMG there's Darren", I mean after all he is human like everyone else & he is pretty down to earth, just doing something that scares me & makes me feel so uncomfortable would be the overwhelming part. Plus I just admire Darren for who he is, where he's come from & how far he has come. I know I don't know every little detail of his life but I do know enough to know that it wasn't easy & he had to over come a lot in his life. Can't forget how I have a big crush on him & that alone makes me nervous.
I wish I could go to Darren's NYE show but unless I win the lotto, I can't get enough money to go there. A really cool group I like The Candle Thieves are going to be there too so I am a little sad that I can't be there to see them as well. Now that is something I want to experience. There is also the fact that I also want to visit London. It looks like a gorgeous place. Maybe some day. At least I have Darren's concert to look forward to when he tours the US probably next year. Even if I have to travel, I will do my best to get there because I have never seen him in concert. I guess I am done babbling for now. I have a couple of other things in mind that I want to write about so hopefully I can get the time to do so. I am also trying to finish my 4th monkey story (see my short stories page). I get a lot of writer's block when writing this story so it's slowly coming along. There are a bunch of poems and 3 more story ideas that I want to do. Anyways, have a good one & take care everyone. Thanks for reading. :-)
The book store is starting to pick up. We are doing better than last year. I really hope this means we are going to have a really good summer. This way we can get things caught up, get some things fixed, start to be able to save money & possibly do a few fun things that are to come this year. My husband & I would like to have enough money to open up another business, possibly a pizza place or Subway sandwiches. He knows pizza & I know Subway. The book store will not last long because at some point things like the kindle will take place of books. There will always be a market for old books & trade paper backs (comics) but not enough to survive on. This is why we want to open another business. Plus, we just like owning our own stores. It can be a lot of work but it is fun too.We would also like to get into real estate & open up 2 shelters, one for animals (a no kill shelter) and the other a homeless shelter for gay teens. The shelter for gay teens is going to take so much money that I hope we can do it some day.
As for me personally, I still struggle with so much. Trying to break down my walls is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Learning how to talk to people, to be myself 100% around people, to not be so hard on myself, knowing when to say or when not to & what to say or what I shouldn't say. I never know if I am crossing the line with something, if I am making myself out to be someone I'm really not. It is also very hard to have enough confidence in myself so I can be more relax around people whether I know them or not.What some people may not have to think twice about saying or doing, I have to. I always feel so uncomfortable around other people. It's just all so grrrr, know what I mean? Through everything though I am still enjoying life & trying so hard to be positive about things.
This year is going to be interesting. I know I won't be able to go the New Kids cruise next year especially if the tickets go on sale again in Aug. but other things are coming up that I am really hoping I can go to. One is Darren's listening party that I really want to go to. I've never been to one. I want to experience one, to hopefully meet some of the people I talk to on the computer (if I am not so freakin' shy), to go out of my comfort zone no matter how hard or overwhelming it might be and to of coarse hear Darren's new music & meet him for the first time. I just hope everything doesn't become so overwhelming that I start to cry a little. It wouldn't be because "OMG there's Darren", I mean after all he is human like everyone else & he is pretty down to earth, just doing something that scares me & makes me feel so uncomfortable would be the overwhelming part. Plus I just admire Darren for who he is, where he's come from & how far he has come. I know I don't know every little detail of his life but I do know enough to know that it wasn't easy & he had to over come a lot in his life. Can't forget how I have a big crush on him & that alone makes me nervous.
I wish I could go to Darren's NYE show but unless I win the lotto, I can't get enough money to go there. A really cool group I like The Candle Thieves are going to be there too so I am a little sad that I can't be there to see them as well. Now that is something I want to experience. There is also the fact that I also want to visit London. It looks like a gorgeous place. Maybe some day. At least I have Darren's concert to look forward to when he tours the US probably next year. Even if I have to travel, I will do my best to get there because I have never seen him in concert. I guess I am done babbling for now. I have a couple of other things in mind that I want to write about so hopefully I can get the time to do so. I am also trying to finish my 4th monkey story (see my short stories page). I get a lot of writer's block when writing this story so it's slowly coming along. There are a bunch of poems and 3 more story ideas that I want to do. Anyways, have a good one & take care everyone. Thanks for reading. :-)
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Hate
I know that as long as there are people on this earth, there will be hate and hate crimes. It will still always pisses me off to no end. I am just so tired of people going after one another just because they don't like someone for the color of their skin, how they dress/look, their religion, and sexual orientation. The internet makes it happen even more since there is an easier way to reach people from all over the world. Some of these people would normally keep to themselves but since they are hiding behind a screen, they say whatever they please to whomever they please.
Today when I was on facebook, I went to Darren Hayes's page to send him a photo of some red velvet ice cream that I had since he shared it with us one day. That is when I saw that someone sent him a disrespectful comment but they thought they were doing right. I do have to say they were "nice" about it but it was still rude and uncalled for. She was talking to him about being gay. I won't go into detail simply because there is no need. It was just disrespectful and really pissed me off. You see when people talk about people who are gay, I also take it personally because I have family members who are gay and some nice people that I have gotten to know are gay (this includes Darren). She did say how she wants to "save" him??
Normally I just ignore this stuff but I've had it and sometimes you just have to take a stand even though you can't change the outcome. If you don't take a stand, well things could really get out of hand. I wasn't rude about any of it. I just simply put things like she had different opinions than others and she should respect that. We are all human, the same but different. She shouldn't try and change someone just because she thinks something is wrong (basically is what I said). I know Darren prefers we don't respond to people like that and like I said I usually keep hush hush. Get me rived up enough and I do say something but still in a polite manner. The whole thing has been deleted thank God. I just don't know if she took it out or if Darren saw it and took it out. I really hope it was her so he wouldn't have to see what she said. At the same time, if it was him that saw it and got rid of it, I hope he didn't get annoyed that I responded. I really hate creating drama especially on someone else's page but for some reason I just couldn't let this one go. I am still kicking myself at the same time because the last thing I want to do is piss off/annoy Darren.
Another thing today, I read and saw a video about a girl at a McDonald's that got the shit beat out of her just because she is a transvestite. She went into the women's bathroom instead the men's bathroom, that is when these two girls started to beat her. One of the workers recorded it while other stood by and let it go on. There is an older gentlemen that tried to break it up but didn't try hard enough. I don't know how many customers where inside but only one got involved which was an old women. Why is it the old people are the ones to get involved more than us younger people? Sad, very sad.
This poor girl got beat up so bad, she had a seizure. The guy that video taped the beating got fired but the other employees that just stood there is still working there. This is sick and disturbing. They seemed to enjoy the fight too. All of this just because the girl is really a guy and went into the girls bathroom. I was so heartbroken watching it. I didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was since I didn't read an article about it first. Is this where we are still at this day in age? Beating people up for being different? I don't care if someone doesn't like people who are gay, they have that right. It's when they think they need to do something about it that really gets to me. Whether it's saying stuff to someone (face to face, FB, Myspace etc) or beating the crap out of someone, for some reason they feel the need to "deal" with the "issue" just because they don't understand it, because their religion says so, they think it's gross etc. It's fucking inhuman and God I am so sick of seeing it. It's no wonder I am sometimes scared for the lives of the people I care about that are gay, because of crazy sick minded people who think they can go around and beat people up for who they are instead of ignoring it and moving on with their own lives.
Then there are those who sit by and do nothing. Grrrr. I will admit something that I am not proud of. One time when I was waiting at a bus stop, a kid started to beat on another kid because he (the Mexican kid) thought the white kid said something racial in school about Mexicans. I didn't do anything. My reasoning, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to get involved without putting a danger to myself or anybody else. The bus was about to show up in like 3min or so which wouldn't have been enough time for the cops to arrive. There was one other person there but she didn't do anything either and I don't think she would have helped me. It didn't last long but still. I feel terrible to this day. Another time this same white kid was walking down the street with a bunch of Mexican kids. I don't know if something was going to happen or not. I didn't know where they were going either. Again I didn't do anything because I was at a loss basically. It's those times that is frustrating. When something is happening but you don't know exactly what to do so you freeze. Now, it's different and I know what I could have done and should have done. I will feel bad for the rest of my life. These employees of McDonald's could have done something. There were more of them than the two girls beating up the other girl. I would like to see a change for the better before I leave this earth. Don't know if I will though.
Today when I was on facebook, I went to Darren Hayes's page to send him a photo of some red velvet ice cream that I had since he shared it with us one day. That is when I saw that someone sent him a disrespectful comment but they thought they were doing right. I do have to say they were "nice" about it but it was still rude and uncalled for. She was talking to him about being gay. I won't go into detail simply because there is no need. It was just disrespectful and really pissed me off. You see when people talk about people who are gay, I also take it personally because I have family members who are gay and some nice people that I have gotten to know are gay (this includes Darren). She did say how she wants to "save" him??
Normally I just ignore this stuff but I've had it and sometimes you just have to take a stand even though you can't change the outcome. If you don't take a stand, well things could really get out of hand. I wasn't rude about any of it. I just simply put things like she had different opinions than others and she should respect that. We are all human, the same but different. She shouldn't try and change someone just because she thinks something is wrong (basically is what I said). I know Darren prefers we don't respond to people like that and like I said I usually keep hush hush. Get me rived up enough and I do say something but still in a polite manner. The whole thing has been deleted thank God. I just don't know if she took it out or if Darren saw it and took it out. I really hope it was her so he wouldn't have to see what she said. At the same time, if it was him that saw it and got rid of it, I hope he didn't get annoyed that I responded. I really hate creating drama especially on someone else's page but for some reason I just couldn't let this one go. I am still kicking myself at the same time because the last thing I want to do is piss off/annoy Darren.
Another thing today, I read and saw a video about a girl at a McDonald's that got the shit beat out of her just because she is a transvestite. She went into the women's bathroom instead the men's bathroom, that is when these two girls started to beat her. One of the workers recorded it while other stood by and let it go on. There is an older gentlemen that tried to break it up but didn't try hard enough. I don't know how many customers where inside but only one got involved which was an old women. Why is it the old people are the ones to get involved more than us younger people? Sad, very sad.
This poor girl got beat up so bad, she had a seizure. The guy that video taped the beating got fired but the other employees that just stood there is still working there. This is sick and disturbing. They seemed to enjoy the fight too. All of this just because the girl is really a guy and went into the girls bathroom. I was so heartbroken watching it. I didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was since I didn't read an article about it first. Is this where we are still at this day in age? Beating people up for being different? I don't care if someone doesn't like people who are gay, they have that right. It's when they think they need to do something about it that really gets to me. Whether it's saying stuff to someone (face to face, FB, Myspace etc) or beating the crap out of someone, for some reason they feel the need to "deal" with the "issue" just because they don't understand it, because their religion says so, they think it's gross etc. It's fucking inhuman and God I am so sick of seeing it. It's no wonder I am sometimes scared for the lives of the people I care about that are gay, because of crazy sick minded people who think they can go around and beat people up for who they are instead of ignoring it and moving on with their own lives.
Then there are those who sit by and do nothing. Grrrr. I will admit something that I am not proud of. One time when I was waiting at a bus stop, a kid started to beat on another kid because he (the Mexican kid) thought the white kid said something racial in school about Mexicans. I didn't do anything. My reasoning, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to get involved without putting a danger to myself or anybody else. The bus was about to show up in like 3min or so which wouldn't have been enough time for the cops to arrive. There was one other person there but she didn't do anything either and I don't think she would have helped me. It didn't last long but still. I feel terrible to this day. Another time this same white kid was walking down the street with a bunch of Mexican kids. I don't know if something was going to happen or not. I didn't know where they were going either. Again I didn't do anything because I was at a loss basically. It's those times that is frustrating. When something is happening but you don't know exactly what to do so you freeze. Now, it's different and I know what I could have done and should have done. I will feel bad for the rest of my life. These employees of McDonald's could have done something. There were more of them than the two girls beating up the other girl. I would like to see a change for the better before I leave this earth. Don't know if I will though.
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