Fun Times

Okay, blogger is officially a pain...actually, I dunno if it's blogger or my comp, but one of them is frustrating me. I know, it's been a while since I updated...was going to after I got back from Orlando....and as you saw, that didn't happen. Chanukah was fun....especially lighting the candles in the middle of the parking lot in 40 degree weather (ok, not that cold compared to some places, but I was freezing) It was lots of fun having SC here, we had an...interesting time. We went to Magic Kingdom (which she thought was boring, and too kiddie) then MGM, which she liked...we went on the Rockin Roller Coaster 3 times. Then we went to Islands of Adventure, on her birthday...went on the Hulk roller coaster twice, Dr. Doom's Fall twice, and Dueling Dragons 3 times...all in all very fun. I got several pins, which I put on my hat, which I then lost bec I forgot to take it off before I went on the rollercoaster. Which was dumb of me, and I've been kicking myself over that. Okay...well, I think that's all for now, I'll be posting pics when I get them on my comp....and I hopefully won't be as long in posting next time!

End of the Semester and things to come

So the semester is finally over. I am SO glad. No more finals, no more papers, free for the next three weeks, life is good. I know I have been neglecting the blog, but hopefully, more updates will be forthcoming since I am no longer overwhelmed by school. Though I don't know how much I'll be updating when my friend SC is here, I'll certainly make some updates after that, and maybe include pics of where we went. So look forward to more updates, especially those on Mariner. I think he grows overnight...he's so big now! Will be putting up more pics once I load them on my comp, I think I lost my sd card adapter....but whatever. Eventually, you will be seeing more.

New Comp and Finals

Got up at 3 am Friday morning to get my new comp...went to Office Depot and waited 2 and a half hours for the store to open. I made friends with a couple of people already on line, an Isreali guy and his British girlfriend. Apparently his parents own a bakery in our area....and I found out later that my step-father knows the owner of the bakery. So I got my new comp finally, and now I have some pics of the pup on it. I also have finals this week whicdh means I prob won't really be updating till next week. In the meantime, enjoy pictures of the oh-so-cute puppy, Mariner!

Newsworthy

Well, Blogger seems to be working for me now...kinda...in a weird sort of fashion, but at least it's working. Anyways, what's newsworthy? First off, my computer died, a problem with a corrupted hard drive and can't save anything that had been on it. Doesn't really make sense to pay for a new hard drive when I can get a new computer for just a bit more. But that's not gonna happen till the end of this week. In the meantime, I get use of my bro's computer...sporadically. When he's not home or is otherwise occupied. We got the puppy on Sunday, he is cute beyond belief, but pics won't be up till I have my own comp....oh, well. His name is Mariner (for the Mercury Mariner, the car my brother likes) and he'll be nine weeks old tomorrow, which is also when he's going to our vet. That should be fun....considering last week when I took my cats to the vet they peed in their carriers and got it all over themselves....yeah, anything would be an improvement over THAT. Thank goodness the cats only need go to the vet once a year. Well, that's all the current news I can think of, can't say when I'll next update...maybe when I have a new comp. Oh, and one last thing, all you northeners are gonna hate me for saying this but we no longer have a cold front...it's aboojut 75 here....and as my teacher said, one of the worst things is an 84 degree Thanksgiving. I LOVE FLORIDA.

Colds, Bookfairs, and Other Things

I know, haven't posted for a while. acually, right after my brother and I drove up to look at the puppies, I got a cold two days later, and I don't deal with colds well. I'm generally miserable and don't feel like doing anything. Thank goodness, it's almost gone now, except for a slightly stuffy nose and a cough, I'm doing pretty good. I actually caught the cold from my brother, who was sick, and we shared the driving....and sitting in a small enclosed space (namely the car) with someone who is sick for nine hours total is a pretty good gauruntee you'll get sick too.....
Yesterday I went to the Bookfair with my friend SS, and a friend of hers. It was lots of fun, I had a blast. Got 5 books, two of which I got signed by the authors there, which was cool. Also, the weather was awesome, it didn't go above 70 and it's supposed to be cool like that for the rest of this week. I LOVE this weather. Last winter was pretty warm, but this winter we've gotten at least two cold fronts. I just wish it would stay like this for the next couple of months, but we're lucky when it lasts a week.
A friend of mine will be coming down from Baltimore in December and I can't wait! Actually, this is the same friend I always stay by when I'm in Baltimore, so it'll be nice to be able to return the favor, and we'll be able to do lots of stuff. I'm hoping that we'll go to Disney...anyways, I gotta go now, have to run to class. Just wanted to post an update since I've been pretty neglectful lately. THough as I mentioned, unless you wanted to hear how miserable my cold made me, not much to tell....

Puppies Puppies Puppies!!!!!

Yes, I know, I'm ridiculously hyper. I saw the puppies today!!!! They were SO CUTE!!!! I'll post some pictures up of them, and I just have to mention we're gonna be bringing one home in two weeks!!! YAY!!!!

The trip was good, my bro didn't drive me crazy at all (though I might have driven him a lil nuts with me being so hyper....) And the trip actually took more than I thought, about 9 hours total. I know, my family is nuts....anyways, here are some pics of the pups, enjoy!

Just a Few More Days....

Ok, I know I often talk about my brother, I live with him, I'm pretty close with him, but he has a tendency to drive me bonkers, that's what brother's do after all....problem is, he's 17, four years younger than me, but he often acts more like he's 7. And it's not that he has issues with long car rides, we've both done much longer car rides than a mere three and a half hours each way...but this time, for the first time, it's just the two of us, without my mother in the car. The good thing though is that since I'll be driving for the most part (he hates driving my car, but I'm hoping he'll take over some as well) there are parts where I will have to say, don't bother me I have to concentrate,and I know he WILL shut up then. That, and I went out and bought some things to keep him entertained. CDs, a movie, maybe even a book....whatever, anything that will keep his mouth shut. Maybe I should get duct tape too, just in case.....nah, I'm kidding, though I think during the trip I might be tempted.
I've been asked, why do we go to a breeder to get our dog, why not a shelter? We have several reasons not to get from a shelter, or a puppy store. Often times, pups that are in shelters came from something called a "puppymill" meaning that there was no pedigree involved, there is a good chance that later on the dog will develop problems, and get sick. By that point of course, the owner is too attached to the dog to bring it back and will spend thousands of dollars on vet bills. Secondly, with dogs in a shelter, you can't tell what their temperment will be like when you bring them home. Will they get along with the cats, will they be scared of everything they see, will they be aggresive towards everything and everyone, and those are not questions the people working at the shelters can answer. With a reliable breeder, they bring the puppies up by hand, make sure they're used to ppl and will get along with the family, they can pick out the pp most likely to get along with our family lifestyle, the pups are less likely to develop problems later on bec they have been bred from good lines with healthy bones. A reliable breeder will keep in touch with you, and you can always call them up to ask questions. Yes, it's a bit more money, but in my opinion it is totally worth it.
I think this answers a couple of questions, yes? If not, feel free to ask away, I'll answer the best that I can. Anyways, I got to go study for my test today, wish me luck!
FINAL NOTE: The last and probably biggest reason, *I* am not the one making the decision, not am I the one dishing out the money. My mother is. You have issues, take it to her, she'd be more than happy to explain why she'd rather go to a breeder than to a shelter.

Lakewood, Voting and Puppies

Lakewood was interesting, though to quote my friend that I was staying by its also "one of the most messed up places ever." The weekend I was there, there was a chicken shortage, apparently no chicken to be found anywhere in Lakewood, which was to me amusing, to the people of Lakewood, rather less so. I went to the wedding, had a blast, got to see friends I hadn't seen in a year, and the friend I stayed by I hadn't seen in two years, since she got married as a matter of fact. All in all, a great time, though I have definetly decided I never want to move to Lakewood.
Today I'm going to go vote after my afternoon class, and hope that it doesn't take TOO long, I'd like to be able to get to my evening class on time. Luckily, the place where I vote is within walking distance so it should all be good.
And on Sunday I'm going up to Tampa with my brother to look at the puppies. No, we're not bringing one home yet, they're only six weeks old, can't leave their mother till they're eight weeks. So two weeks after that, we'll be bringing one home. I can't wait to see them, so excited about that. However, the one thing I am most certainly NOT excited about, is sppending 6 to 8 hours in the car with my brother.... I really hope he doesn't drive me too nuts.

I'm in New Jersey!

I got in a few hours ago and now am using my aunt's computer for this update, I know, I've not been updating as of late, but hacven't had much to say. Lessee...I learned how to play hearts (the card game) lost the first game miserably because most of my attention was on a psychology textbook (not my own, CJ's sister's) the next day i played again and won because the textbook wasn't in front of me.
So tomorrow I'm going to Lakewood, and going to see one of my roommates for the first time since she got married, which was two years ago almost! Looki8ng forward to seeing her and one of my other roomie who will be there for shabbos. And I have decided that I am SO glad I don't live up north, I am FREEZING here. I'm glad I'm only up here a few days, I don't think I'd be able to stand a lot longer of this! Anywaysm just making up for my lack of posts and once i have a computer again. I'll update on how the wedding was adnd my impressions of Lakewood.

Or Not....

Apparently we're NOT going up to North Carolina this weekend. It appears that the woman was advertising herself as something other than the actual deal, so our plan fell through. On the other hand, next week , G-d willing, my mother and brother will be going up to a breeder in Tampa to look at puppies. No, we won't e getting one right away, they can't generally leave the mother till they are 8 weeks old, and these puppies will only be four weeks old. I will not be going because I will be in New Jersey and going to a friend's wedding. Oh, and it was not wet during succos, except for a bit of drizzle here and there, the weather was gorgeous with a nice breeze and not unbearably hot, thank goodness for that. The sukkah was only wet the first night, we had a gigantic puddle in the sukkah, but it pretty much disappeared by the second day.
And while driving today, I have decided for perhaps the millionth time, that people can't drive.

Eeeeeeeeeek!

Ok...maybe that's not the most mature response I could have had...but guess what? I don't really care. That was my response this afternoon when my mother called me and told me that we would be driving up to NC to look at PUPPIES!!!!!! English Golden Retriever puppies! I'm SO excited! On my way home I had a hard time keeping a big stupid grin off my face and if I hadn't been driving at the time, I would have been hopping around like a demented bunny. Have I mentioned I'm REALLY excited? Oh, and it looks like tonight, the first night of sukkos, will be rainy....sigh, I hate sitting in wet sukkahs...
And shockingly, my brother is spending the first two days of sukkos by one of his rebbeim. I am speechless.

I got a hairbrush stuck...

in my hair, and I had to have it in all shabbos. And then, after shabbos it took 6 hours to get it out of my hair, because my mother refused to cut my hair. I never want to smell olive oil again. I had it in my hair, and after a while, I got REALLY sick of the smell. How did a hairbrush get stuck in my hair? My mother was trying to blowdry it, but she used this small round brush, that was a little bit odd...and it didn't really work with my hair...so it was stuck in my hair for about a total of 30 hours...I don't think I'll ever use a round brush again, at least, not without a professional hairdresser weilding it. The last time I got a hairbrush stuck in my hair (yes, it happened before, but this time at least, it wasn't my fault) My mother just chopped it off, because it was right before carpool came for school, and I was only 8. Wouldn't have had the patience for her to work on my hair. Hopefully, never again. And I'll make sure not to have those brushes in my house so that my kids don't tdo that, because unlike my mother, I'm not sure I have that much patience!

Rosh Hashanah

Yeah, I know, I haven't blogged in a few days, but there's not been much to blog about. How was Rosh Hashanah? Fine, I got rained on, but otherwise it was good. Oh wait, my favorite lines over Rosh Hashanah:
"I never want th hear a New Yorker complain about going out in the rain {in New York} again!" - CJ, as we were walking back to her house during a thunderstorm.
"Ha! I know what facebook is and you don't! I'm hip and cool!" - my mother to my step-father. She actually had no idea what facebook was until 2 that afternoon when I had told her about it.
And having my brother not home for Rosh Hashanah felt weird, but otherwise I was perfectly happy with that. And he won't be home for Shabbas either, he'll be spending it on the Beach (Miami Beach) for a friend's bar mitzvah. Not much else to report....anyways, will blog when I can actually think of something. I know I thought of some over Rosh Hashanah, but now I can't recall a single one! Oh well, that's the way it always is.

L'Shana Tova Everyone!

Rosh Hashanah is tonight, and I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, wonderful new year. Amazingly my brother is going to be spending Rosh Hashanah away from home by one of his rebbeim. Do you have any idea how big a thing that is? He hasn't been away from home for Rosh Hashanah since...well, never!! It's going to be weird, but good for him, since this means he'll actually go to shul. Anyways, I need to go get ready, I'll try to update after rosh hashanah.

Yesterday was the First Day of Fall

Who noticed it getting cooler? Not me, I can tell you that. It's probably not going to get cool here for another few months. There's a reason September is the height of hurricane season. LWt me give you an idea of the weather, it's about 84 degrees out, it feels like it's 90..and that's the way it's going to feel for quite a while longer. Forget fall, I can't wait for winter!

First Time...

that I've seen a billboard for a Judaica store.

That was Cool!

So on Friday I got to hold a wild bird. It flew into one of our windows (omething of an unusual occurrence, though not that unusual) and it fell onto the patio, stunned. It was just sitting there, out in the open, without cover with its beak open. Now, Boots saw this poor helpless thing on the patio and crouched by the sliding glass doors. So my mother sent me out to pick it up and put it somewhere safe. I put it on a bush, ran inside to get my camera, and took some pictures of it on the bush. But those weren't so good, so I picked it up again and took a couple of pictures of it on my finger. Then I tried to put it back on the bush again, and that was when it came ojut of shock and zipped away. But it was pretty cool. Pics of the bird are below.

Prompt 13: "I had the weirdest dream about you."

“I had the weirdest dream about you last night.” Alan said with out preamble, as he walked into the kitchen. I didn’t even look up from the newspaper in front of me, as I spooned cereal into my mouth as fast as humanly possible. His comment was not unusual, perhaps one morning a week he made that statement. I swallowed my last bite of cereal, and before taking a swig of coffee, asked offhandedly, “Oh, and what was it about this time? What makes it any weirder than any of the others?”
Alan had shuffled around to the coffeemaker and poured himself a cup. His cup had a happy little leprechaun on it, jigging around with a bubble coming out of its mouth saying “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” Alan was your stereotypical Irishman, a towering bear of a man, with unruly red hair, and forest green eyes, that lightened or darkened with his mood. This morning, they were light with cheer, a good thing as far as I was concerned. He sat down at the table, his immense size dwarfing the chair he sat on, as well as making the table feel a whole lot smaller. The chair creaked, I winced. I’m positive that one day that chair will one day give up the battle and deposit Alan’s bum right on the floor.
“Well, you were in the forest, like every other dream,” he began, and paused while he took a gulp from his mug. “But this time was different, this time you had a companion. It was a wolf, but not one of those little wolves around here, a real wild huge wolf, like what used to roam Ireland before people. You were dressed like a regular warrior, and you seemed to be talking to the wolf. Well, arguing more like it which is not that unlike you in real life.” He shot a quick grin at me, I smiled tightly back. “We Irish might be known for our tempers but you, Sean, you take the cake!” I nodded at him, and gestured with my spoon for him to go on with the dream. It was always considered wise to hear other’s dreams about you. He took another gulp of his coffee, and went on. “Well, finally the wolf gave in, and he led you to a cliff that overlooked a port town. Nothing like what’s around nowadays, a real old-fashioned place this was, y’know dirty and smelly and all that. Anyways, you went down, but when you got into the town, the people looked…different. They all looked like animals! Fur, tails, the whole nine yards, but they all walked about on their hind legs, and went about human business like it was perfectly normal. Suddenly, I see that you too look like that, still dressed the same, but now you look like a wolf, the same wolf that was your companion earlier. After that, ypu charted a boat, and seemed to prepare for a long voyage. At that point, I woke up.” He leaned back, a speculative look in his eye, “I wonder what that dream meant…”

Completely Random Observatrion

Hebrew sounds very odd when spoken with a thick french accent.

Flying in Dreams

Last night I dreamt that I flew to my friends house. I love flying dreams...except for the factr that in this one I had to flap my arms to get into the air and fly. I'm sorry, but that just is not cool. It looks incredibly dumb, as a matter of fact. But, hey, at least I flew, and barely managed to avoid crashing into several trees and a building. My flying skills need work apparently.

The Night Sky

What do you think of when you look up at the night sky and see the stars? Ok, not an easy thing to see in or near a city, but I assume everyone has seen the Milky Way at least once, yes? What is the first thought that crosses your mind when looking up at those stars that are so far away? Science says we are looking at history, light that started out from the stars years and years ago, and only reach the earth now. Tradition in some cultures says we look at the souls of those who have gone before. We are looking out into the darkness, the vaccum of space...and it never fails to make us feel small and insignificant. (Well, me at least, as well as some others I know...) The stars play out mythology of ancient long gone cultures that we still recall today. As many as the stars....

Narrative Traveling Essay

While going through my files, I found this. An essay that I had written for one of my composition classes, and it makes good post fodder. Enjoy!
What is every traveler’s worst nightmare? I will tell you, it is arriving at their destination and finding out that their luggage has been sent somewhere else. That is what happened to me two summers ago, as I embarked on a year long journey to study half way around the world. I was very excited. It was only my second time flying by myself, but this time I was headed for Jerusalem, Israel. This was something I had been planning for as long as I could remember. My parents had agreed that upon graduating high school, I could spend a year in a post-high school program in Israel, where I could pursue my religious studies and gain some independence at the same time. Little did I know at the time how quickly I would learn about the challenges that accompany independence. I was en-route from Florida to New York, and once in New York I would have to get my luggage and get ready to connect my next flight. The first flight went very smoothly, not much trouble to speak of, and then we landed in Kennedy Airport in New York. I got off the plane and made my way down to the luggage carousel to get my three, fifty-pounds, giant bags of luggage. After all, I was going to be in Israel for almost a year. When I first arrived at baggage claim one of my bags appeared pretty early. I had arranged for a porter to pick up my luggage and help me bring it to the next terminal where the International flights departed. I stood at the carousel and we waited, and waited, and waited some more. After what seemed like an eternity, the carousel stopped. It took me about 15 minutes to realize nothing else was going to come off.
That was when things started to get interesting. I went to the luggage claims office and I told them my luggage had not arrived. “We’ve been waiting for you to come in.” One of the women said. “Hold on while I look for your -” She asked me for all my flight information, which I gave her, and she started putting the information into the keyboard of the computer. When she finally found it, she told me that an error had been made. Instead of sending my other tow pieces to Kennedy Airport, it had been sent to LaGuardia Airport. It was the in the same city, but given how ineffective the baggage claims works and how bad the New York traffic is, it might as well have been in California. The woman politely informed me that it would take them at least three hours to get the luggage over to Kennedy airport/ I didn’t have that kind of time. I had to be by the other airline leaving for Israel by then!
I called my mother to let her know what was happening. My mother was livid. She had intended to fly with me to New York, but at the last minute my little brother got sick and she opted to let me handle flying by myself. She insisted on speaking to the lady in luggage claims. I’m not exactly sure what she said, but the woman was thoroughly chastened. In one brief phone call the situation changed from me getting my baggage in three hours, to getting it in one hour. “Your mother is pretty scary, you know that?” she asked me. I smiled, I knew.
I sat there for an hour waiting literally on the edge of my seat for my luggage to arrive. When it finally did, I was very relieved. I jumped up out of the chair and thanked the woman. She smiled somewhat nervously, I think she was glad to see me leave, andnot have to deal with my mother anymore. Fortunately for me, the porter was still waiting to take my luggage, so I handed it to him and we went to the terminal for the International flights. Then I gave him a very generous tip and thanked him.
After that, things went pretty smoothly. I had to wait another six hours to board my flight, and I met some of the girls who would be my class mates for the next year. When we finally got to Israel, I waited anxiously for my bags to arrive, praying that the same thing would not happen again. Happily, it did not. I got all of my luggage, right on time. Some of the other girls weren’t so lucky though. A few had to wait three days, and in some cases, even a week to get the rest of their luggage.
I have traveled a lot since that time and thankfully have never had to go through that again. I’ve learned to always have a carryon with all the essentials I might need to get me through a few days without my luggage. And, most importantly, I never take for granted that my luggage will arrive in a timely fashion. I am always very grateful when everything I checked in mysteriously re-emerges out of the black hole in the wall in the carousel.

Compy Fixed!

My computers working now, though apparently it had a lot of infections that had o be wiped off. And I also aooarently have a lot of junk on my computer that I really should be getting rid of. I just need to make time for it this week. Anyways, I'm so glad to have my computer back! I missed not being able to blog and actually I composed a few posts in my head, and guess what? The moment i got on the computer I forgot what they were. *sigh* Well, maybe I'll remember them.

Computer Broke

My computer broke today, and tomorrow I'll be bringing it in to be fixed. At the moment I'm using my mother's computer. Hopefully my computer will be up and running by tomorrow night. If not, I'll be on hiatus, or updating sporadically for a bit. Just bear with me. Thanks y'all.

My Favorite Song

College This Semester

Keeping true to my last several semesters here, I met someone is Jewish, but not religious, though the rest of thier family is. In this case, it's one of my teachers. *Sigh* It's getting kind of depressing.
All my professors this semester are good, but I've decided I really dislike online classes, there is absolutely nothing that will get me motivated for those classes. I've made some friends, (kind of, people that I talk to at least.) I start one more class tomorrow, and I wonder how that will go. This semester I'll be missing more classes than before, due to the holidays, but what can you do? At least all of my professors are understanding about it (even if they've never heard of some of these holidays, like Sukkos) So far my favorite classes are Psych (no surprise there) and history, the teacher is very good at getting you interested in the subject. I have my first test this week. and am not looking forward to it, mainly cause for me, first tests are always the ones I do the worst at. I don't have a very good idea of how the teacher tests, and so I mess up. Oh well, I just have to hope I don't do TOO badly.

Sigh of Relief

It no longer looks like Hurricane Ike will hit us, however, it's going to hit Cuba, perhaps go into the gulf much reduced. Unfortunately there are a couple of other storms we have to keep an eye on. The latest prediction for Ike looks like this.

Hurricane Ike

I hate hurricanes. Currently, there's Hurricane Ike, it's a cat. 4 (really bad) and if it stays it's current course, it'll hit us, still at cat. 4 strength (even worse) I just really really hope it either decreases in strength, or turns some other way. We still have four days, so it's just wait and see.

I Miss...I Treasure

I miss....coming home to a happy face, and wagging tail.
I miss....old friends.
I miss....seeing the old city of yerushalayim.
I miss....praying at the kotel.
I miss....when the world was simple.
I miss....staying up late to laugh with my friends.
I miss....when my imagination was unlimited, and I could do or be anything I wanted.
I miss....the joy that a simple touch could bring.
But Life goes on.
I treasure.....the memory of that happy face and wagging tail.
I treasure.....memories of old friends, and the new ones I've made.
I treasure.....the rembrarnce of seeing the old city at dawn
I treasure.....the hope that I'll be there again some day.
I treasure.....my memories of a simple world.
I treasure.....the chances I got to be with my friends.
I treasure.....my ability to dream, and be unlimited once more.
I treasure.....the joy that comes from holding tight to a friend.
And Life goes on.

It seemed like a good idea at the time

That is one of my favorite excuses for someone doing something dumb. "Why did you set your shirt on fire?" "It seemed like a good idea at the time." "Why did you light the street on fire?" "It seemed like a good idea at the time." "Why did you decide to do jumping jacks at 4 in the morning?" "It seemed like a good idea at the time." Actually, between 3 and 5 in the morning, almost anything seems like a good idea at the time. But that's just my experience. And the look you get after giving that excuse is priceless.
By the way, EOW, this post is dedicated to you.

Seeing is Believing

Perhaps this should have gone under the "Ineffective Arguing" post, but I feel it deserves it's own post. (THat, and I don't feel like going back and revising it) People are creatures of the senses. For a lot of people they feel that, if I can't feel it with one of my senses, it doesn't exist. People are also incredible at deluding themselves that one thing looks onw way, when in reality, it's completely different. Take, for example, a woman who believes her son can do no wrong: "He's a good boy, he's a good boy, he's a good boy....WHAT?! What do you MEAN he was just arrested for selling cocaine?!" There is a terrific example of someone who bleinds themselves to what's right in front of them. Perhaps the saying should be, "Believing is seeing." It always amazes me the extant to which people can fool themselves.

We Found Him.

Wishbone is no more. As I write this, I fight back tears, and fail. My brother found him on the side of the highway. He was coming back from a bar-mitzvah with a friend, and when he saw Wish, he called me, absolutley frantic, to get Imma. My step-father took Wish to the Humane Society to be buried. It's so hard to deal with this, to realize he's gone. It's not like I haven't dealt with pets' deaths before, but it's always hard. Like a friend who loved you unconditionally is gone. And, yet, despite my tears, I know that life will go on, That it will, eventually, resume normalcy. U ntil then, I'll hide my tears behind a mask, because I cannot bear the pity, and the sympathy. But until then, I lie in my bed every night, and cry, as I mourn the passing of a faithful friend and companion. I'll miss you Wishie.

The Need for Belief

Anywhere there is a civilization of humans, there is a belief system. Go back through history, and every single culture that has been on this little green and blue planet, you will find a belief system no matter how simplistic or complicated it may be. People have always had a need to believe in something bigger that Someone had (has) Plans for us, that we were put here for a reason. That’s not to say that there aren’t people who believe with all their hearts that we got here by accident, that nature just plopped us here for no good reason. With nothing else in mind but for us to survive until something came and would wipe us out, leaving nothing but ruins for whatever came next to find. But what a depressing view of life that is! There’s nothing to strive for? There’s nothing but to eat or be eaten? Why strive at all if we have no greater purpose? And yet, it’s human nature to strive, to look for the next best thing that we can find, or create. We are curious creatures, we look at the stars and wonder what is out there, what can we find? We believe that there is something to strive for, something beyond our understanding. That we don’t truly end when we die. We are creatures with the ideas of hope, justice, mercy, good and evil. We have systems of government more complex than the hierarchy of any animal group. And so, we believe. For without belief, we are just another kind of beast, with nothing to hope, live and grow for.

My step-father was telling my mother and I about a client of his who he thinks has OCD. One moment the guy is nice and normal, the next he flips out. My mother said, does he go "NOOOOooooooo!" When you pick him up? My step-father looked at her a bit oddly and said," I don't pick him up. " My mother looked at me and said, "Mak knows whatt I'm talking about." I grinned, and we chorused, "NOOOOOooooo!" My step-father looked back and forth between us, and said "You know you're nuts, right?" "NOOOOooooo!"

Note: It has to be heard for the full impact. But we were making a reference to my kitten, she makes that noise when she doens't want to be picked up, but I do so anyways. We're convinced she has OCD, because everytime after we touch her, she bathes that spot. In conclusion, Yes, we are crazy. But you already knew that, didn't you?

Our Dog Ran Away

On Shabbos morning, at about 8 am, Wish got out and ran away. We weren't able to go after him really and so now he's lost. Tomorrow I'm going to go around the neighborhood putting up flyers, and I really hope someone finds him. Or even better, if he finds his way home himself. Only one other time was he away for so long, but he found his way home, and he was back by 10 at night.I really hope he's alright.

Ineffective Arguing

It's hard to convince someone of something, if they don't want to listen in the first place. They'll say, try to convince me, but once you start talking, they metaphorically shut their ears and go 'la. la, la, I can't hear you!' But part of the problem is that they are denying that they are shutting thier ears in the first place, claiming that they are 'open-minded' and are 'un-biased'. Yeah, right. If I know that you do not want to hear what I have to say, and I know that shoving my ideas down your throat are going to push you farther away, why even open my big mouth? Try arguing with someone who feels they are absolutely in the right, and NOTHING you will say will change their mind. Maybe over time, as life passes, they'll realize that it was not as they thought, or they'll continue believing that they are right. Changing people is difficult, and the first step must always be, that the person themself wants to change, and wants to be convinced. Otherwise, you might as well be banging your head against a brick wall for all the good you do. It's incredibly hard to just stand by and watch someone you care about ruin thier life, but if they don't see it, if they keep denying it, there is nothing you can do. And one of the worst feelings in the world is just standing by, knowing you're absolutely helpless.

My Brother's in NY

Well, not now, but he was yesterday. He went up for a friend's chasunah yesterday, and he came back this morning. Apparently he had an interesting time. He spoke to an older Jewish couple in the airport, and the husband had asked if he was going to a chasunah. (Since he was dressed up in a suit with a tie and cufflinks, I guess it was kind of obvious) The wife pointed to the book my brother was reading and said that she had read it a few years ago and it was a very good book. (Note: the book was Lions on Lucerene, by Brad Thor, not exactly the kind of book you would picture her reading, he said)At the chasunah, a woman approached him (she was the chosson's aunt) and said "Hi, I'm friendly. Want to play Jewish Geography?" My brother found out that he stinks at Jewish Geography. He was one of the last to leave, and the chosson's parents drove him to the airport. He stayed awake all night, till he got on his flight at 5:40 this morning. Then he slept. He knew he couldn't fall asleep in the airport, because once he falls asleep. nothing short of an earthquake will wake him up. Anyways, he had fun, and it was his first wedding. All is good now.

Going Stir-Crazy

Earlier, I was sitting at my computer, staring at the computer screen, thinking "What the heck am I going to write?" After several abortive attempts, getting up and walking aound the house, sitting down to stare at the computer again, I decided for the moment, to just forget it and get out of thed house. I was going a little bonkers and if I didn't get out of the house I'd go nuts. So I did go out for a few hours, run a few errands, and now I don't feel like tearing anyone's head off. It used to be I could just stay inside for a couple of days before I needed a change of scenery. Now however, I can only stand a few hours. It's a good thing I have a car, for the sake of my sanity and those around me.

Discworld

I have mentioned that Discworld is one of my favorite series. Anyone who can guess three of the reasons I like it get a cookie. (Hint: they're all in my bio) I've read almost all the books (except for ones not readily available at bookstores or our library) and I brought about half my Discworld collection to sem with me. I introduced several people at sem to the series, and shared my books. Now, I'm just waiting, like every other Pratchett fan for the next books, or the next movie, to come out. I know that there are other Discworld fans that read my blog, so a couple of quick questions: Favorite book? Favorite Sub-series (Watch, Witches, Death, Rincewind) ?Favorite characters (even though, yes, it is so very hard to pick)? Oh, and finally, which book would you like to see be made into a movie next?

Seminary Memories

Just to have them up here, little drabbles of memories.
Staying up till 2 a.m., the lights were supposed to shut off at twelve but someone fiddled with them the first night....Our plumbing no longer working and so the shower overflowed and all thw water came into the center of our dira...Clean up on Sundays, the powow with the garbage acting asz the "fire" and DBH dancing around it, singing at the top of her lungs, my roommates dressed up as Russian cleaning ladies...at the end of the year, working on the yearbook going several nights with no sleep, at around 5 am desperately wishing for bed....Staying up all night wandering around the old city Yerushalayim on succos with one of my roomates, I made friends with a kitten by the kosel...tiyulim, we were all so sore after our first one and having to go up four flights of stairs was sheer torture....my dira's "wall of happiness", basically just a bunch of cute quotes, and we had a hieght chart as well...walking all over Har Nof with SCC, and walkinmg to geulah and tachanah merchazit....

A Realization

I finally realized something. I am absolutely obsessed with my kitten, Mittens. All of my readers are probably thinking "Mak, we've known that for ages, why did it take you so long to realize it?" Well, I took a look at all the pictures I have on my camera...more than half are of Mittens! So I'd say I'm just a bit obsessed. Here are some pics, showing how she's grown.

The Funniest Thing

I saw this when Iwas in Myrtle Beach, and my brother went to the shooting range. Part of the range was also a civil war museum. I saw this and started laughing, my mother came over and started laughing as well. What do you think of it?

Fun In NY

Shopping, staying by my aunt's, setting her alarm off, the cops coming, going to airport, whole mixup with planes staying overnight...or actually only 7 hours at a nearby hotel, realizing just how big JFK airport really is, going back and forth on the little monorail at JFK while trying to figure out the whole mess up with the flights

Tropical Storm Fay

Thanks to Tropical Storm Fay, I didn't have class today, and I don't have class tomorrow either. So the good news is no class, the bad news is that it's due to a tropical storm, but at least it's not a hurricane. Our area (all of South Florida) is only expected to really get the out bands of the storm, it's expected to make landfall farther to the north and on the west coast of Florida. I'm just hoping that my flight out won't get canceled. I'm going to be in NY for two days, shopping. I mentioned a while ago about the challenge my mother set me? So since I passed it we're going to get me new clothes because my closet is two thirds empty. I'm looking forward to it. Again, assuming my flight doesn't get cancelled.

Frum in Myrtle Beach

We were able to actually eat out and order chalahs while we were in Myrtle Beach thanks to the local Chabad. My brother met the Rabbi of the Chabad at Walmart, and he gave my mother his card. So thanks to him we were able to get Challahs for shabbos. (Our alternate plan was to have them fedexed up to us) Then, when we went to a tourist gift shop (I think it was called pacific or some such thing) the owner was a religious bearded Jew. Not what I expected. Anyways, he gave us directions to a kosher restaurant, and we were able to eat out, which is a real novelty on a beach vacation. It's so nice that Chabad is everywhere!

What I did on Vacation

Monday - Awakened at 5:30 am by the fire alarm, we had to go down 16 flights of stairs, and then wait 15 minutes to finally get on the elevator back up was given (5 minutes after we got down) fire alarm went off again at 8:30 and again twenty minutes later. My mother and I did not g downstairs those times, because by then it was pretty clear that some kid was playing a prank. My brother went down however. He mentioned that the first time, 4 fire rescue trucks, the second time 3 showed up and the third time only one showed up. And all the fire alarms came from the 14th floor. (Really the 13th but they don't have that as a floor) We went on Dolphin Watch, we saw a pod of dolphins and I lost my long cherished CIA hat.
Tues. - We rented a boat for 4 hours, my brother drove it, we stopped on a deserted beach and I collected shells. We also saw two small crabs, watching them walk was odd.
Weds. - We went to the IMAX and saw two films, The Grand Canyon, and Monsters of the Deep, both were pretty good. It rained all day.
Thurs. - Went miniature golfing, and went to Barefoot landing, a tourist shopping place. Also went to the shooting range where my brother rented a gun for half hour. He did pretty good on the target. There was also a civil war museum in the shooting range, I took quite a few pictures there.
Fri. - My brother and I went Jet skiing for the first time, I had loads of fun, but my bum and back are rather sore today.We drove down to Rita's for ice cream, and then we went to see TIGERS!!! There was the cutest little baby tiger, it couldn't have been more than four weeks old, and it was falling asleep while people were taking pictures with it. There were four really big tigers, they were gorgeous, and quite a few cubs. I wasn't able to take pictures however because I forgot my camera at the apartment. Go figure. I have decided that I would love to volunteer t wok with tigers this semester. I think that would be an incredible thing to do! I start classes on Monday, and I'm taking five this term...we shall see if I get anything interesting to post about from college (it's almost guaranteed at least once...)

Fabricati Diem, Pvnc (Apology to Pratchett fans)

I get quite a few hits from Pratchett fans who type "Fabricati Diem, Pvnc" into whatever search engine, and my blog comes up among the first of the list, with that as a title of my post. Of course, the post itself has absolutley nada to do with Pratchett or the Disceworld series. So, since this will probably show up as well on the search engines, to all Pratchett fans, sorry that it's misleading, maybe I will do a whole Ddiscworld post, just so I don't get lynched by a mob.

Vacation

On Friday, we left at 6 in the morning and drove to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It took about 12 hours to finally get here, but we arrived with an hour and a half to spare before shabbos. I spent most of Tish B'Av sleeping, and trying to stave off the gigantic headache that was inevitable. Broke my fast on bagel and cream cheese and feel so much better. However, since I slept so much, I'm still wide awake now, at 2 am. We'll be here for a week, and hopefully I'll be able to update, and put up some pics of Myrtle beach, and all the things we'll be doing here.

An Apology (of sorts)

So yesterday, my brother drove me up the wall, bonkers. Today however, he hepled me out a lot. He helped me bring my car to get fixed, then went on errands with me afterwards. He helped me do some other stuff and all was good. And then, this evening, while I'm at CJ's house, he calls me and tells me that Abba drove by and saw someone braking into my car. I freaked, though right there, that should have been my first clue, if Abba had seen it, he either would have done something about it or called me himself. But, I wasn't paying attention, so I ran out to my car, but there was no one around. I was still on the phone with my brother, and I said, "There's no one there, there's just a sticker on my window." It was a sticker of a baseball going halfway through the window. If done well, those things can look pretty realistic, this thing...didn't. My brother pulls around the corner in his van laughing his head off. I got really, really pissed. You do NOT call someone and say something like that. Especially not as a prank! So, he might have "apologized" for yesterday's misbehyavior, but he's going to have to do something serious for this.

Rant: Florida Drivers

I know I have ranted about this before, but I feel there are a couple of things that cannot be stressed enough. 1) Turn signals: they are on the car for a reason! Use them! And when you don't use them, don't be surprised that people aren't letting you in the lane, and are in your blind spot! Which leads me to: 2) Watch where you are going!!!! There are other cars on the road, and other people are in these cars, we are not mind readers, we can't tell what your intentions are! So please, use your turn signals, be aware of what's around you, and there will be far fewer close calls and far less accidents!

I spent some "quality time" with my brother today for three hours, I had to take him down for a doctor's appt. For 2 hours and 10 minutes of those three hours, he drove me absoulutely bonkers. The rest of the time? He was asleep, or in the doctor's office. So, as a result of this "quality time" my temper is a little frayed, hence; the rant. On the other hand, today I had my final and I am now done with Algebra! Whoot!

Prompt 10:

Prompt 10: A dentist is stabbed while he waits in line at the movies.
Mike Router stood in line at the movie ticket kiosk, and tapped his foot impatiently. This was taking forever! All he wanted was to sit in the nice, quiet, cool theater, watch a movie and just zone out and forget about life for awhile. Especially forget about work. Being a dentist was not an easy job, and he would be happy not to look at any more teeth for the rest of the day, more like for the rest of the month, but that wasn’t going to happen. He would settle for just a few hours of peace and mindlessness.
“Hey buddy! Could you spare a few?” Mike turned around and was immediately overwhelmed by a repulsive odor, rolling off the man that stood in front of him. The man had an unlovely smile on his worn face, and held out his hand in supplement. He wore tattered clothes that had obviously seen better days, and his skin was dirty and oily. His eyes were small and beady, as well as shifty, and all in all, he rather reminded Mike of one of the rats that wandered the sewers of the city.
“Well, I guess a few wouldn’t hurt.” Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out a few dollar bills. “Here ya go, five dollars. You could get a foot-long sub at Subway for that.” He grinned and turned back around to face the line. As he turned he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down and saw a knife sticking out of his abdomen, blood dripping down his shirt. “Sorry bud,” he heard, before he blacked out, “but I really need the money.”

Prompt 11: "I'm never doing this again."

“I’m never doing that again,” I moaned, gripping my stomach and trying not to hurl. “Remind me again why I thought that was a good idea.” My buddy Sean, who was in the same position as I was, made a gagging sound, his only response. Most likely, he was afraid if he opened his mouth he would throw up, which would probably cause his father, who was driving us, to pull over and kill us for ruining his leather upholstery. “I told you boys that you would regret it,” he called over his shoulder. “But you didn’t listen, and now you’re paying.”
I told you so…why do you never listen? I’d heard that many times over the course of many years, usually aimed at myself and Sean. We had a habit of getting into trouble, and this latest mistake was probably one of our worst. I had come with a brilliant idea, or so I thought at the time, to go try out for Fear Factor’s latest challenge, but we had barely made it past the first steps. My stomach roiled at the memory of putting live cockroaches into my mouth. I had done it and immediately regretted it, that was the end of that brilliant plan.
“Dad, pull over! I’m gonna blow!” Sean groaned, and his father immediately went over to the curb. Sean threw open the door, just in time. Blurgh, splat! All of what Sean had for lunch, and probably some of his breakfast as well, landed on the street. I took advantage of the stop as well, and made my own contribution to the mess.

Amusing

- I was walking over to my friend CJ's house this afternoon, and I passed a guy on his way to shul. He was whistling the theme song to Woody Woodpecker.
- Friday morning I was woken up, at 7:17, about an hour earlier than usual, by my cell phone ringing. "I need you out of the house in 30 seconds! We're on the highway, by Exit 19." My mother tells me over the phone. "30 seconds! I'm not awake yet! There's no way I can get out of te house in 30 seconds!"She told me to just throw some clothes on and get out. While it did take me a bit more than 30 seconds, I was out of the house in 5 minutes, thinking all the while, "get out of the house in 30 seconds, what is she, nuts? That's just asking for an accident!" Fortunately, I did not get into an accident and I got over to her in no problem. It turned out her tire had blown on the highway, and my brother was going to miss his fishing boat. I got to the dock with 2 min. to spare, then went back home and slept for another hour. The day proceeded as usual after that. Reason for doing all that to get my brother on the boat? It makes it muc easier to live with him.
- I got my father a birthday present. A t-shirt that says "I still want my flying car!" He occasionally complains that it's already 2008 and that his generation was promised that by the year 2000 we would all have flying cars! It's a cute shirt and I hope he likes it. But I have no idea what to get for my mother. My parent's birthday is on the same day, they were born only an hour apart, and for me it means, I only have to remember one day, not two! But getting my mother a gift is a little bit harder, I have no ideas!

30 Pound Challenge

On May 4, my mother offered me a challenge, lose thirty lbs. by September, and she would take me to NY for a whole new wardrobe. I accepted. This past week, I met and surpassed the thirty pound weight-loss goal. I'm still losing, but don't worry, I'm not anorexic or anything like that, I figure when I plateau, I'll know I've reached my ideal weight. I'm sure you're wondering, "How'd she do it? Weight loss pills? A special diet? No, I made my own "diet" I just cut down on how much I was consuming, and I do an insane amount of exercie. Two and a half hours at the gym, 1500 crunches a day... it's hard work, but incredibly worth the effort. My mother, as well as other people say I should write a journal on how I did it, but a lot of it was not so much working on the weight as it was working on myself, resolving issues I hadn't even realized I had. I found out stuff about myself that surprised me, but that I worked on and then put behind me. After that, the weight loss was easy. I had been hiding behind my weight, eating for comfort, but now that I had confronted myself, I knew I could do it. It's been a long hard road, but totally worth it. This is for my mother, who pushed me and never gave up, and for my therapist and friend who helped me look inside myself. Thank you, without you, I would not be the person I am today.

Testsand Birthdays

Looking back at the last post, geez, did I really write that? My brain must have been completely fried, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Yesterday I took my second to last math test, and I think (hope) I did well on it. I have two classes left and then I am done! Yesterday was also my kitten's first birthday, it's hard to believe she's a year old already. It seems like it was only weeks ago that she was a small ball of fluff, trying to climb over her gate, now she's a bit bigger and bouncing all over the house, but she'll always be a kitten to me.

Once Upon A Time AKA Happily Ever After

All stories begin with "Once Upon A Time" but not all end "Happily Ever After." Take Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Little Mermaid', quite a depressing ending, unlike the Disney film. However, 'happily ever after' is a tale that has been fed to us since we were children, and even if as we grow up, we realize, "there is no happily ever after.' we still hope for it subconsciously. We search for ours, not ever even realizing it, searching for "the one" or that perfect moment where it feels like we've found it. And then it's lost, and we lose a little bit of our faith, and our innocence. And yet even though we go through this time and again, we still tell our children, "Once upon a time...and happily ever after." But perhaps we need this, we need our hope, our dream that a chance will come and we will get it, we will have our own little happy ending.

Note: I'm not sure what the point of this post is, I just felt like writing it. I spent the entire day studying math, I'm entitled to a bit of randomness.

Seminary Dreams

I've recently had a few dreams about going back to seminary. In the first one, I had to go back to seminary and retake all of my finals. I remember thinking in the dream, "what's the point? I've been out of seminary for two years!" In my other dream, I went back to seminary, but I forgot to pack anything! I had no clothes to change into, and I recall worrying that I had forgotten my cell-phone and my car keys at home. But I had them, and my car was there, so I went out driving with a few of my friends. Suddenly, I keep on getting cut off, I almost got into several accidents, and then I'm no longer driving my car, I'm playing a lego racing game, and I'm doing very badly, driving through walls, water, other cars... Another dream I had a while ago with seminary in it, I was in Isreal and I went to a pet store, and there were all these cute animals there, and I wanted to play with them. I have no idea why seminary is invading my dreams, but I'd like this to stop!

Vacation!

In a few weeks I'm going up to South Carolina with my mom and brother. We're not going to Hilton Head though, beacause all the hotels there were booked. So we'll be in Myrtle Beach instead, I haven't been there since I was a baby, and my brother never was there. I'm looking forward to it, it'll be a change of scenery, and my Algebra class will be over! However before that I have to last tests to take before my misery will end. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!

Achmed the Dead Terrorist

Home Sweet Home

It's good to be home again, and life resumes. Right after I got home, my mother asked me to go get her sheitals from local sheitel macher, and drop off her other sheitals to be cleaned. This morning, I was supposed to go to class, but my car battery died on me. So I had to get it replaced, and by the time that was finished, class was already over. So I went and ran some errands instead. Life just keeps going.and going, and going and going...(cue energizer bunny)
A couple of funny things happened to me over vacation. On...Thursday, I think it was, my mother calls me up and squeals, "Angelina had the babies!!" I'm thinking, "Angelina who? I don't know any Angelina...." Then it dawned on me. Of course, my mother was excited over Angelina Jolie giving birth. Why? I have no idea, that's just the way my mother is. So I tell her I have some exciting news of my own. I got into the University I had applied to two weeks prior. I asked her how that compared to Angelina's giving birth. "Close." she said. I laughed. Yet more proof that my family is a nut house.

Going Home

Tomorrow I'm heading home, back to Florida. While I'm kinda sad, since this means I have to go back to classes, and I'm gonna miss my friends. But on the other hand, I'm going to see my famioly and all of my animals again. I've missed them! We bought 7 Toes a new collar and tag, and he liked it so much, he apparently decided that he was now an indoor kitty. So he went into the house with my mother (she didn't notice) but on her way to her bedroom, she saw that all the animals were crowded around something in the living room. It was 7 Toes, and they were all sniffing him. Mittens was apparently grwoling at him, she was not happy about this invader. 7 Toes decided that indoors was not for him and he ran out. He came back later that evening though, but he had lost the collar. Which is a bit frustrating. So we need to get him a heavier collar that doesn't come off so easily. I did a little shopping while I was in Baltimore. Got earrings and a pretty dress...and books. Of course. I had nothing to read on the flight home otherwise, I finished all the books I brought.

Not Going to the Wedding After All

Well, it's what the title says, I'm in Baltimore, but I have no way to get to the wedding, so unfortubately, I'm not going. However, I will be hanging out with SCC in Baltimore. Will post more later.

Blogging Hiatus (I think)

I mentioned a while ago that I'm going up to Baltimore for a friend's wedding in NY. (I know, that's a bit far, but whatever.) So while I'm there, I'm not sure that I'll be updating. I'll be back in a week, so it's not for long, and I may be able to blog at least once. Just giving everybody who reads this thing a head's up.

Bleh.

That about sums up how I feel today. I took my math test, and even though I feel like this time I actually passed, I also felt like I "went down, go boom." I'm sure everyone has those days, and this one's mine. Hopefully I'll come up with something better to post later, in the meantime, enjoy the cuteness of the kitteh!

Huh?

Will someone tell me why there are channukah candles, even though the shirt says shabbos? Shouldn't there be shabbos candles, or challah or something a bit more related? Please explain.

An Invitation

For all those who have an interest in improving thier story writing skills, or just writing skills, I invite you to do Prompts with CJ and I. We do Prompts 5 days a week, a different one each day. All you need to do is a paragraph, but if you feel inspired to write more, you can. I've actually noticed a difference in my style of writing from the beginning. If anyone is interested, feel free to e-mail me, or leave a comment. Thanks!
Note: I notice that I now have over a 1000 views! Thanks people! Now if we could just up the comments...(hint, hint)

Prompt 6

Prompt 6: A priest is attacked for being a pedophile. He is innocent of the crime but guilty of something much worse.
(Note: Jonas started creeping me out, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to finish this. Though I might, just to see what happens.)
Jonas London had been a priest for twenty years, but nothing like this had ever happened to him before.
“Scum!”
“Pervert!”
“Liar!”
Oh, that one stung the worst. He was not, nor had he ever been a pedophile, and yet somehow… someone in his flock had decided he was, and that he should be punished for his sin. How could they? How could his flock, these people he has loved like sons and daughters, turn against him so thoroughly?
He turned away from his window, from the sight of the growing crowd, which was quickly turning into a mob. But they had no idea who they were truly dealing with. No, he was not a pedophile; he was not that sick and depraved, not yet anyway. But he was quickly heading down that path at a breakneck speed.
Three years ago, Jonas had started questioning his faith. What had caused it? It was little things, nothing earthshaking. But Jonas had started to search elsewhere for answers, no longer looking to the Bible for solutions to his problems. He looked through other religions; however he found that truly answered his questions. Until one night while searching for answers in a dark cemetery, he stumbled upon a Satanist cult. Ah, now here, he found answers. Here, he was welcomed with open arms, embraced like a long-lost brother. Jonas knew that here was everything that went against his faith and religion. Yet despite that, or perhaps because of it, he embraced the cult and everything it stood for whole-heartedly. Slowly, he was incorporated into their rituals, and he loved every moment of it. He loved the rush, the feeling of absolute power, when his victims looked at him and knew they were going to die. The fear in their eyes gave him such a thrill, that he held the power of life and death in his hands, and every time, he chose death. And when they used their victim’s blood for the sacred rituals, he exulted in the knowledge that here was where he belonged.
Jonas smiled evilly, savoring those memories, cherishing them like friends. There was a good possibility, judging by the mood of the mob outside, that he would not make it to the meeting tonight. And if he was brought to trial, his delineations would certainly be brought into the light, to be seen by all and sundry. Yet he felt no need to worry, for here was the chance he had been waiting for. His opportunity had arrived, and he was not going to waste it.
He turned to his cabinet that held all of his religious paraphernalia from his ‘former life’ as he liked to call it, though he was still a priest to the public. But he was not interested in what lied on those shelves. No, what he wanted was behind them. A few months ago he had bought a cabinet with a false back. Behind the shelves lay the tools for his true calling.
Jonas chuckled, recalling the day he had first purchased them, though he had made sure to spread his purchases far and wide, so no one would be any the wiser, and he always paid in cash. No paper trail behind him!
Panting in anticipation, he pulled the first of his purchases from the cabinet. It was a semi-automatic rifle, sure to cause pain and terror wherever he pointed it.

Good for a Laugh....Good Enough for a Post

GCF: From British Newspapers

(I'm not sure how true these are but the humor remains..... )

Commenting on a complaint from a Mr. Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West Gas said, "We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible Mr. Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house." (The Daily Telegraph)

Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van because they cannot issue a description. It's a Special Branch vehicle and they don't want the public to know what it looks like.(The Guardian)

At the height of the gale, the harbor master radioed a coast guard (member) and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied he was sorry, but he didn't have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover over the cliff. (Aberdeen Evening Express)

A list of actual announcements that London Tube train drivers have made to their passengers:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I do apologize for the delay to your service. I know you're all dying to get home, unless, of course, you happen to be married to my ex-wife, in which case you'll want to cross over to the Westbound and go in the opposite direction."

"Your delay this evening is caused by the line controller suffering from E & B syndrome: not knowing his elbow from his backside. I'll let you know any further information as soon as I'm given any."

"Do you want the good news first or the bad news? The good news is that last Friday was my birthday and I hit the town and had a great time. The bad news is that there is a points failure somewhere between Stratford and East Ham, which means we probably won't reach our destination. "

"We are now traveling through Baker Street ... As you can see, Baker Street is closed. It would have been nice if they had actually told me, so I could tell you earlier, but no, they don't think about things like that"

"Beggars are operating on this train. Please do NOT encourage these professional beggars. If you have any spare change, please give it to a registered charity. Failing that, give it to me."

During an extremely hot rush hour on the Central Line, the driver announced in a West Indian drawl: "Step right this way for the sauna, ladies nd gentleman... Unfortunately, towels are not provided."

"Let the passengers off the train FIRST!" (...pause). Oh go on then, stuff yourselves in like sardines, and see if I care - I'm going home...."

"Please allow the doors to close. Try not to confuse this with 'Please hold the doors open.' The two are distinct and separate instructions. "

The Stupidity of Evil Villains

On shabbos CJ came over for lunch, and after lunch we were talking about random things, when for some reason, the talk turned to Harry Potter and evil villains. We came to several conclusions. First of all, I can only recall one time that American witches or wizards are mentioned in any of the books. Voldemort is supposed to be a threat to the wizarding world, correct? So why is it that all the wizards in britain are not worried say, about death eaters in the rest of the world after voldemort has died? Then there is the whole "takeing over the world" concept. In my opinion, anyone who wants to take over the world is *dumb* I mean really, really dumb. First of all, taking over the world requires that you are super smart, super rich...and you have a continents worth of lackeys who are willing to carry out your every wish. Even if you have the first two, the third is not going to happen. Ok, let's say you overcome this with a mind-control something-or-other, right? Ok, you've managed to conquer the world, zip-de-dee-doo-dah...now what? Mind controlled people are not very fun to torture and if you let them out from mind control, it can take just one well thought out plan by one person, and BOOM - you're history. Ok....maybe I'm thinking a little too deep into this, but still, I think any super villain is dumb, I mean how many of them think past their ultimate goal?
....I'm gonna stop babbling now, and I think I used the word 'OK' way too many times in this post.

Happy Independence Day!

Hope everyone has a terrific July 4th!

Prompt 4 Part 1

Prompt: "He's just the cutest little boy. Makes it that much sadder, doesn't it?"
Enjoy!
"He's the cutest little boy. Makes it that much sadder, doesn't it?" Looking down at the picture in the local paper, the Sunset Times, Joanne sighed. Looking up from the picture was a beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed smiling three year old boy, caught in the midst of waving at the camera. Barry Serlem was a smiley, cheerful, lovable child, who had been kidnapped and held for ransom. The hostage situation had lasted for three hours before the kidnapper, who had been an old family friend that had fallen on hard times, capitulated. However, when the police brought Barry back to his relieved parents, Barry could utter a sound. The trauma had been so terrifying that Barry had lost all power of speech.
It was now six years later, Barry was nine years old, and still could not speak. His parent had tried everything. They were wealthy people (as evidenced by the fact that the incident occurred in the first place.) They took Barry to every kind of doctor and specialist imaginable, but nothing helped. They took him to therapists, but Barry just shrunk away. Now they had come to Joanne as a last resort.
Joanne was not your average therapist. She was not your average anything. She stood at six foot four, with dark skin, her eyes were dark hazel, but seemed to turn different colors in the light. Her face put one in mind of a Hindu Goddess, and she was just as unreadable as any statue. However, she had a reputation for doing the impossible, so she was the Serlem’s last hope for Barry.
Looking back up at the parents, she tried to give them a hopeful smile. She had just sat through an hour’s retelling of all they had done to try to help Barry. “Well, first I think I will need to see him for myself, and then I will make a decision on how to best go about this. Call me tomorrow and we’ll schedule an appointment, all right?” She got up from her chair, signaling that the meeting was now over. Mr. and Mrs. Serlem hastily rose from their chairs as well. Leaning across the table, Mr. Serlem shook Joanne’s hand, and quietly murmured, “Thank you so much. It’s just…these past few years have been so hard for us.” He had tears in eyes, as he tried to bravely smile at her. Joanne took his hands in hers and gently said, “I know, and I will do my best to help you and your son.”
The Serlems left the office, feeling somehow like a burden had been lifted from their shoulders. If anyone could help, it would be Joanne. Meanwhile, Joanne sat back in her chair in her office and said out loud, “Well, what did you think of the Serlem’s predicament Joel?” She spun her chair around to face what had looked minutes before like a solid wall. Now the ‘wall’ was gone, and in it’s place was a small room. More like a closet. Inside the room sat a small bald man on a cushioned seat on the floor. He put one in mind of one of those wise old men that were often portrayed on tops of mountains.
Joel, for that was the man’s name, as misleading as it might be, sighed and ran his hand across his bald dome. “It is a problem, no mistake about that Jo. A very knotty problem indeed.” Joanne snorted, got out of her chair and began to pace the room. “I can see it’s a problem, the question is what are we going to do about it? The boy can’t, or won’t talk, and this has been going on for years! It’s obvious that something happened other than what we were told.” Joanne’s eyes narrowed.
“Now Jo,” Joel admonished, “it’s entirely possible that not the parents or even the police know what truly happened in those three hours! Let’s not go rushing in and jumping to conclusions!” Joanne groaned, but gave a little nod. Joel was right, as usual. “You know, we should just sleep on this, and wait until we actually see the boy before coming to any conclusions.” Joel said, yawning to give emphasis to the ‘sleep’ part. “You’re a hundred thousand percent right, as per usual Joel.” Joanne gave a big yawn herself and went to shut out the light. “I’ll see if I can come up with anything in my dreams. Have a good night Joel.” “G’night.” A sleepy murmur came from behind the wall, which had sprung back up. Joanne locked up, and headed home.

Frustrating

Today was a rather frustrating day. In fact the only part of the day that was not frustrating was my algebra class! Now that is saying something. Driving around trying to find the right building (never even found it, gave up after half an hour) home, but didn't have a chance to grab lunch. Wanted to do exercise, but didn't have time for that...got my nails done, and managed to ruin them...just all in all...frustrating. Gah!
Oh, and I may put up the prompt later, depending on whether I like it when it's done. Or if my inspiration runs out before that, perhaps not. We'll see.

Prompt 3

I had fun doing this one, though I feel it could use a little fixing up. It's a little it long, but I hope you'll enjoy!
Note: The prompt was: a woman gets a gun and when she goes to look for it two days later, she can't find it.
Annette Smith, now there’s a well-known name in this community. A few years ago, anyone that mentioned this name would have been laughed off. Annette Smith? That’s hardly the name one would pair with fame, it sounds like the name of an old woman who lives alone, with just her nine cats for company. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Annette, or as she preferred to be called, ‘Nette, was a lively, vivacious young woman. Was? I should say is, though she’s not that young anymore.
‘Nette grew up in the deep south, where owning a gun was practically tradition. She got her first gun on her tenth birthday, a marvelous nine millimeter. She was so proud of it, and learned how to shoot it extremely well. As she grew up, she began collecting guns. She especially collected rare guns that could only be found through ‘special’ dealers.
One day, while ‘Nette was rummaging through her uncle’s belongings, trying to help him decide what to put in his yard sale, she found a very rare, Parabellum-Pistole, also known as a Luger, in one of her uncle’s hundreds (or so it seemed) of boxes. Though the gun was popular in Germany in WWII, she knew her uncle had never even left his own city, never mind the country. Did he know how rare this was?
Casually, ‘Nette walked over to her uncle, who was routing through another box, chucking things out, one after another and muttering to himself. “Unca Chuck? Can I have this?” She asked, showing off her teeth in a bright grin, as if it didn’t really matter what he answered. “Whar is it?” he muttered distractedly. “Y’know, ye can ‘ave anything in those boxes, tha’ yer lil’ heart desires. Now keep workin’!” Chuck had a lot of junk, boxes and boxes of it. He was a collector of collections, but his house was growing too cluttered for his wife, so she gave him the ultimatum. It was her, or the junk, but one has got to go! So Chuck decided to get rid of the junk and enlist his entire family in helping him.
So she happily tucked the gun away, at went back to workin’ with a will. When she got home later that evening, after hours of going through box after box after box, she threw herself on the couch and groaned. “If I ever see another box again, it’ll be too soon!” She declared to the world in general. As she lay there, she felt something digging into her thigh. Then she remembered her treasure, she jumped up and took it out of her pocket. “Hmmm,” ‘Nette murmured, looking around her living room. “Where’re we gonna put you? Ye sure are special, so we need a special place. No, no regular ol’ drawer fer you!”
She finally decided to place it in her best hiding spot, at least till she could find a display case for it. “Nette carefully pulled out one of the bricks in her fire place, placed the gun in the little hidey-hole, and put the brick back. No one would find it, since only she knew of the hidey hole’s existence. So, ‘Nette went about her business, secure in the knowledge that her prized possession was safe and secure.
A couple of days later, ‘Nette was at a thrift store when she spotted the perfect display case. A large double racked mahogany display case which would look beautiful inside her home. She brought it over to the cashier, not even bothering to look at the price tag. No matter what it cost, she would have it. Having paid for it (only twenty-five dollars!) she took it home, and started setting it up. After putting some of her other “specials” in the case, she pulled out the brick in the fireplace, only to find…her gun wasn’t there! ‘Nette panicked. She was sure she had put it there, and that no one else knew of her perfect hiding spot. She reached her hand inside, nope, completely empty. Panting heavily, she started to break into a sweat. How could it have gone? She repeated to herself over and over. She called up her father, and told him the whole tale. Her father said that he would come over and help her look. Maybe she hadn’t placed it there; maybe it was actually somewhere else.
A couple of hours later, her entire house was turned upside-down, but there was still no sign of the gun. Her entire family was there at that point, trying to console her. Her sister, Marie, suggested that they check the fireplace once more. (Now of course, everyone knew about the “secret” hidey-hole.) So they took out the brick, shined a flashlight down to the back and – oh ho! What was this? There was a click as ‘Nette’s hand brushed the back of the wall. Slowly, the wall creaked open, on unused metal gears. A hidden room appeared. The family stood in awe, completely stunned at this turn of events. Suddenly, ‘Nettes youngest cousin shouted, “There!” and pointed. There, in the doorway of the hidden room, lay ‘Nettes gun. The room itself was covered in dust and old spiders, but under all that, was a desk, several chairs, and sheafs of papers.
‘Nette’s family called in the newspapers and anyone else they could think of to see this once hidden room. It turned out that this room had been used by spies for the union, who were pretending to work for the confederates. The papers held information that had not been known until now. So ‘Nette became a local hero, and her house was sold to the historical society. She still has her gun collection, though none led to any more quite as exciting discoveries.

Funny

I saw this on Bangitout.com, just had to share.

Irritating

One of the most annoying things in the world, and i think most people would agree with me on this, is the alarm clock. It doesn't matter if it rings, beeps, or just starts talking, it is just plain irritating. Press the snooze button, it goes off again anywhere from three minutes to ten minutes later, though no matter how long the interval, it always feels like you just fell back asleep. Some mornings, when you only what to sleep at 5 and your alarm clock is ringing at seven, you feel like taking a hammer and smashing it, like in cartoons. Nothing is quite as garaunteed to ruin your day as the sound of the alarm clock.

Prompt #1

CJ and I started a new project exercising our writer's muscles. Every day we will do a prompt. There are 1001 prompts to go through. Depending on how much i like what i've written, I may or may not put it up. THis is our first prompt. The first sentence was the prompt.

"Well if you could accuse anybody of being downright evil, it would be him." Her friend laughed and commented, “I think anyone who has ever had a boss has said that about them at one time or another.” Anna shook her head, “No, seriously, the man is like an evil genius or something, but without the genius. I swear that he just sits in that office and thinks up new ways to torture us. Have you heard of his latest idea?”
Melanie rolled her eyes, every week it was like this. Anna’s boss would come up with a new “brilliant” idea, that would usually flop, but before flopping would make all of his employees miserable. “All right, let’s hear it, what’s his plan this week?” Anna leaned across the table and lowered her voice. “He wants to try to sell real-estate on the moon.” Melanie raised her eyebrows. “Hasn’t that been tried? Last I checked the moon was not claimed by any country, never mind any one person. How on earth does he manage to stay in business when all he’s doing is coming up with these ridiculous ideas? I ask you again, why are you not looking for another job? You are always complaining about this one, you could surely find something better!”
Anna twirled her blonde hair pensively. Pursing her lips, she seemed to be thinking about what her friend said very seriously. “You know, I might just do that. I wasn’t going to say anything, but lately he has been coming on a bit strong, and I’m getting a bit uncomfortable.” “Anna! Why didn’t you say something! Isn’t there a restraining order on him?” Melanie’s usually cheerful eyes widened with shock and horror.

A Real Newspaper Ad

Newspaper Ad

The following is an ad from a real-life newspaper which appeared four days in a row - the last three hopelessly trying to correct the first day's mistake.

MONDAY: For sale: R.D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale. Phone 948-0707 after 7 PM and ask for Mrs. Kelly who lives with him cheap.

TUESDAY Notice: We regret having erred In R.D. Jones' ad yesterday. It should have read "One sewing machine for sale cheap. Phone 948-0707and ask for Mrs. Kelly, who lives with him after 7 PM."

WEDNESDAY Notice: R.D. Jones has informed us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of the error we made in the classified ad yesterday. The ad stands correct as follows: "For sale-- R.D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale. Cheap. Phone 948-0707after 7 PM and ask for Mrs. Kelly who loves with him."

THURSDAY Notice: I, R.D. Jones, have no sewing machine for sale. I smashed it. Don't call 948-0707 as I have had the phone disconnected. I have not been carrying on with Mrs. Kelly. Until yesterday she was my housekeeper but she quit!

Edit: I actually posted this almost a year ago, but since I was coming up blank, and I figure some of readers don't actually go through the archives, maybe I can get away with it, hmmm?

Obsessions

Pirates, spies, vampires, unicorns, phoenixes, dragons, knights...these are a few of the things I've gotten obsessed with over the years. When I say obsessed, I mean I found out everything about them that I could. Which also means that now, I have very random knowledge about the habits of vampires, how pirates went to the bathroom and bathed, that spying is not quite as dram tic as it seems in the movies, and other sorts of random stuff. I know all about different kind of cats (large and small) for example, the cheetah is the only cat that does not have retractable claws. And whenever I discover something new to obsess over, I go to the library and check-out almost every book they have on the subject.
So what kind of things do you think are interesting and worth finding out everything you can about them?

Missing the Obvious

People are funny, sometimes it takes them a while to realize something that was obvious and in front of their nose all along. Take me for example, I'm pretty tall, 5'10" which is somewhat tall for a woman, and yet for a lot of people I'll have known them for a while an all of sudden I'll hear, "You're really tall, y'know that?" Yes, I do, but I don't "act" tall, I am very good at not acting tall, so good at it, that at times I can make myself practically invisible. But, back to the topic, it's amazing how often they don't see what would be obvious to one person, is compltely hidden to another. Partly it depends on what they consider to be "important." Whether it is or not, is up for debate. Whether it's seeing the big picture, or all the minute details, it's unbelievable how often the "obvious" remains unseen.

Cat in Heat? No More!

So I had Mittens spayed, she stayed over-night at the vet and I brought her home today. However, since whem I had brought her over she peed in her carrier and got it all over herself, I figured that on the way back, she coud wander around the car and hopefully she wouldn't be so miserable. I did that, though it didn't work quite as I hoped. First of all, she seemed to have a need to stay right near me, so she was either under my seat or by my feet (and the gas and brake pedal) and a couple of times she climbed up my skirt and onto my lap, so I had her claws digging into me as I was driving. So...yeah, that made for a very interesting drive, but I managed to get home with no mishaps and everything was good.

A Happy Camper

That would be me, right now. I'm going to a friend's wedding in Brooklyn in three weeks, and I'll be staying by a friend in Baltimore. For a week. YAY! I really wanted an excuse to go to Baltimore to see my friends and now I have one! I feel like dancing! Though at last night's wedding I didn't feel like doing so, I felt sick and nauseous, and I think I spent about half the time outside away from all the noise. Despite my not feeling well however, it was a very nice wedding and I'm glad I was able to go.

The 'Why' of Religion

Why do people need religion? Why do people feel the need to have a Higher Being to turn to? Sure, there are those who don't, atheists, but generally when push comes to shove, "there is no athiest in a fox-hole," and a person is staring down the barrel of a gun, one feels the need to say, "Help! I need Someone or Something to intervene, because there is no way I can get out of this myself." Since the beginning, there has been some form of religion, whether it be worship of the sun, the moon and the stars, or of idols, or of a g-d that cannot be seen, there has always been belief that there is something, or things, that are "out there" that are greater than us, that move forces beyond our comprehension, that effects our lives, and our history. Pick out a culture, any culture on the planet, and you will find some sort of belief system. In almost every culture, there is a concept of a heaven and hell, punishment and reward, whether it be in this life, or the next. So what is it about human beings that gives us the drive and desire to believe that there are greater forces at work?
This a huge topic, covering a lot more than I can in a single, or even multiple posts. There are tons of books on the subject, and yet I feel that it's something that each person needs to think of for themselves first. So, what do you think?