The strike isn't going to stop American Idol it looks like. The series is already filming its Hollywood week, or it just did. The series will return January 15th, and the search for the seventh American Idol will go on. I always wonder about the people that go to try out for these things. When I was younger, I had dreams of becoming a dancer. I knew I wouldn't do it, but one can always dream. There are people out there that make it their job in life to get that big break. They want to act, sing, dance or even model. You see people go and audition for American Idol hoping to get seen and make it somehow. Just yesterday, I saw there was a casting call for the new Star Trek movie. They are looking for fresh faces to play the cadets at Starfleet.
I just really can't imagine trying to find a job like that. Writing is hard enough. There are jobs out there. If you want to be the next big thing there are agents that want you. The trick is getting their attention. They see people every day that say they are the next big thing, but they fall short. You need to stand out. Just doing a quick search online I found Talent Rock. There are agents always looking for new talent. They don't give up. I'm sure there are many sites out there. Just like there are many sites for writers like myself to get noticed. If you want to get anywhere in any business, you need to stand out though. You can't let people come to you. You need to go the people. Get known. That's the only way it will work.
Reality TV Goes On
More On The Strike
Stephanie over at the Divas Forum posted some snippets from a Canadian article about television and which shows are affected and how. It is quite an extensive list, so I'll link to the article here.
The ones that stood out to me are below:
Cane (Global, CBS) - All 13 episodes are expected to be ready, although filming was disrupted briefly Monday and the production moved to a different location. No more episodes have been ordered.
Grey's Anatomy (CTV, ABC - 10 episodes are expected to be ready, though production on a two-part episode scheduled for Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 may be suspended ahead of time.
Heroes (Global, NBC) - 11 episodes are ready, with the final new episode to air Dec. 3.
Lost (CTV, ABC) - Nine of 16 episodes are expected to be ready. Scheduled for midseason; no debut date as yet.
Moonlight (CTV, CBS) - 12 of an initial 13 episodes will be ready. No more episodes have been ordered.
Update for Lost fans:
ABC said that as of now, it is sticking with its plan to air the eight episodes it has of "Lost" -- this coming on the day that Fox announced that it will bench its own serialized midseason thriller, "24".
"Lost" executive producer Damon Lindelof said Wednesday that the final episode that has been written ends in a cliffhanger that will not be resolved for viewers until after the strike. But Fox decided not to run a partial season of "24", instead benching the Monday-night drama pending the outcome of the strike.
From: here.
The Mobile Generation
You go out these days and you see everyone with a cell phone. We have one here in the house, and I honestly think we use it more than we use our house phone. We even shut off long distance on our house line because we get free long distance on our cell. If we need to make a call long distance to send a fax, we can still do that by using one of those call around numbers available.
Twenty years ago, this technology wasn't readily available to us. Today, cell phones are so high tech. You can watch television shows and videos. You can download music mp3's to them. You can even surf the internet. I know of at least one acquaintance of mine that practically lives on their cell phone. My brother is always on is texting or making calls. I just grab his phone when I want to make calls long distance. It really is a life saver. Mobile billing gives us all we need with our cell. We don't have to worry about paying high per minute charges with our long distance. He also has texting, and soon I know he will be adding email and Internet to his phone. All covered by one bill.
I know in time cell phone technology will only advance further. Do you remember the cell phones we had out ten or fifteen years ago? They were big and bulky. Now they are pocket sized, and they just keep getting smaller. Today, I found one article on mobile phone technology, and how it is used in marketing. More and more companies are making mobile products. A few years ago, sms marketing wasn't even something I would think about it, but with the technology and how it has progressed it is now an option. You have to wonder what they will come up with next. Seriously. Things just keep changing. My dad even knows how to work a cell phone. Trust me, that is a sight to see! At least, he hasn't asked to use my computer yet.
Grooving Tunes 11/8
Last night was the Country Music Awards. I didn't watch, but I do like some country music. One of my favorite groups is the duo Sugarland. I was just able to catch their performance from last night's show, and it was amazing. Jennifer Nettles has a wonderful voice. They performed Stay, their latest single. It is one of my favorite songs of theirs.
Thursday Thirteen #1
I've decided to pick Thursday Thirteen up again. I used to participate back when I was blogging a year ago, and it was something fun. I noticed some of the Divas over at Romance Divas were taking part in it too, so that gave me the little extra push I needed to jump back in.
1. Eric Bana
2. Jon Bon Jovi
3. Hugh Jackman
4. Peter Facinelli
5. Adrian Pasdar
6. Sean Penn
7. Paul Walker
8. Sean Connery
9. Jason Behr
10. Leonardo DiCaprio
11. Tom Cruise
12. Nicolas Cage
13. Scott Foley
I could really go on and add a few more. Robert Redford and Richard Gere come to mind immediately after I finished this list. I don't like these men only for their looks, even though they do have those as well, but their talent as actors. Yes, I know Jon Bon Jovi is mostly a singer, but I enjoy him as an actor as well, and no list of my favorite men would be complete without him in it. Now who are some of your favorite actors? Don't be shy. Share!
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
Tell Me Something I Don't Know ...
News has it that Jennifer Lopez finally announced she is currently pregnant with husband Marc Anthony's child. The two were touring together, and she finally broke her silence on the subject in front of ten thousand fans. I love La Lopez. I've been a fan of hers since she was a fly girl on In Living Colour. I even remember her in the Janet Jackson That's the way love goes video. It was just obvious she was pregnant for weeks now. She kept silent though so her fans wouldn't worry about her. Isn't she nice? Now with the tour done, she can focus on bringing a new family into the world. Congrats Jennifer.
Speaking of celebrity babies, has anyone else seen the pictures of Suri Cruise lately? She's absolutely adorable. Almost makes me feel sad for all the Alien Baby Cruise jokes that went around after she was born.
Alzheimer's Awareness Month
As I mentioned earlier, my father is in his eighties. In fact, next month he will be turning eighty-two years old. He was born back in 1925 during the depression. He was a marine and he fought during WWII in the Pacific campaign. He signed up right after Pearl Harbor was hit. He wasn't even eighteen yet. My grandmother had to sign for him to be allowed to go into the military at the age of seventeen. He is in good health, and he does work forty hours a week as a security guard. He wakes up every morning at 3:15 and works from 5am to 1pm. I don't know how he manages to do it, but I know if he wasn't working, he'd go insane sitting around the house all day.
I know though that even with him being in good health, he isn't as sharp as he used to be. He's more tired. He gets more easily stressed, and he even forgets things. The month of November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. It is important as one gets older to have regular memory screenings. November 13th is National Screening Day, and it would be a good idea to take your elderly loved ones in for a screening. You can check the site above for some tips on successfully aging as well. Alzeimer's can be caught early, but as of now there is no cure. That can change in the future. Every time I see my own father falter and forget something, I worry about him. My grandmother lived well into her hundreds with a good clear mind. I'm hoping the same happens with my dad.
Hopefully someday we can find a cure for this disease. Research is being done, and there is support out there for those suffering from this disease and their families. This support is important because it may be years before a cure is found. If you want to help those in need, you can make a simple holiday gift. I just look at my own dad, and I see how important it is to cherish every moment. As much as I hate to think about it, someday my own father might suffer from this horrible disease, and it is good to know that there is help for him and us if that happens. My mother passed on over twelve years ago, and I still think about her often. I know I'm quite fortunate to have my father alive and in the health he is in today. We might not have the perfect relationship, but at the end of the day he is my dad and I love him. That is what counts.
Signs Of A Productive Mind
I'm exhausted tonight, but it is the good type of exhausted. As you can see by this blog, I'm writing a lot more, and that's a good thing. I just need to start writing fiction again. One thing at a time. My mind is working again though. I actually want to write things. I find myself holding back from coming here to write about things, but I know that is counter productive. If I have the urge to say something I should. So for now, that is what I'm going to do.
Tonight, I watched two hours of Ghost Hunters. One of them containing the findings from last week's six hour Halloween special. I missed stuff in the last couple of hours by going to bed early. The place they went to was creepy. The show is probably majorly fake, but I enjoy it. I know I'm not the only one either.
As far as strike news goes, it looks like Grey's Anatomy will stop production next week sometime. The majority of the cast headed out to support the picketing writers during their lunch break today. I'd heard of just Sandra Oh going out, but others did to. Here is a picture of Katherine Heigl. She plays Izzie Stevens on the series, and she is one of the main reasons why I watch the show.
Coming Soon: The Mist
When it comes to horror, no one does it better than the master of horror himself, Stephen King. I've been reading his books since I was just a teenager, and I've loved every single one I've read. In the last couple of weeks, I've seen the trailers hit my television for his next horror film, The Mist. Before then, I hadn't realized he had anything new coming out. Last I heard, he had retired from writing novels, but this isn't a novel. The Mist is actually taken from one of his earlier releases, a novella in 1985's Skeleton Crew. The Mist by Stephen King comes out on November 21st, a day before Thanksgiving. There is a lot of good things coming out that day, but this is the one I'm most excited for.
King always has a way of pulling you in and keeping you on the edge of your seat. A lot of his longer works are one thousand plus pages, so he has to be able to keep you entertained throughout. One of my favorite books by him is The Stand. I have read this one more than once, and it was made into a television movie back in the 1990s. It is an apocalyptic tale about what happens to the world when a virus hits. It has a group of survivors that branch off into two with a good side and a bad side. The movie is great, but as with most movies, the book was better. I wouldn't mind reading it again someday. Right now, I'm trying to hold off and buying a copy of The Mist. I don't think I have a copy of Skeleton Crew lying around anywhere here.
As for The Mist, it reminds me a bit of The Fog. A strange mist blankets a town, and there is something evil lurking within it. The trailer looks amazing, and you can check it out for yourself by clicking the link above. I know I'm hoping to go and see it opening weekend, but there is just so much coming out that weekend it is going to make it hard for me to choose.
Catching Up
You know what I've noticed with the strike? It is letting me catch up with my television. I think I have episodes of Supernatural, a couple of Cane and last week's Moonlight and Ugly Betty to watch before I'm all caught up. Earlier, I watched this week's The Unit. I normally don't like watching military type programs or movies, but The Unit grabs me. This week, the final moments where Williams dies practically killed me because I didn't see him dying at all. I love when television shows or movies can come at you with something you didn't see coming.
I ordered Black Hawk Down the other day, and it has been shipped. I went and found a deal on the special 3 disc edition on E-bay. I can't wait for that to arrive. I have some other things coming in the mail too. I've had some extra money the last few days, so I'm spoiling myself a little. It feels good to do. I love books and DVD's, and I know how to find the best deals online now. You just need to look for them.
Credit? What Credit?
Whenever the phone rings in our house, it seems it is another advertising call. On any given day, our house phone can ring up to ten to fifteen times. Yes, that much. It gets annoying. We've actually started taking our phone off the hook because we have a cell phone in the house anyway. Today, for some reason the phone was on the hook, and in the past two hours we've had it ring five times. Two of them I could tell were creditors calling for my dad. He never talks to them, and yes that means he doesn't have the best of credit. At over eighty years of age, money is tight. He makes barely enough to live on with his pension and social security. He also works forty hours a week, and he has been for the last ten years. I honestly think the day my dad quits working is the day he will die. He can't stay inside and do nothing all day. Never has been that type at all.
His credit is lousy though. Where he works there are layoffs, and this means no overtime hours either. Of course, most of his credit problems could have been avoided with better budgeting and cutting costs here and there, but you tell that to a man in his eighties. My credit isn't picture perfect either, but it is nowhere near as bad as is. As with anything, there is always people out there to help you out. When it comes to credit, it is no different. You have bad credit? Well, you can get bad credit loans. Might not sound like the best idea. Getting money to pay money is always something I've hated to do, but sometimes you have to. That is just one site I found for people with bad credit. It helps you find the best offer for you to hopefully improve things.
I help my dad as much as I can, loaning him money here and there, but just isn't enough. He's already done credit counseling once, and if these calls keep coming in like they are, we might need to look into it again. We get those calls too. I swear some days the phone doesn't stop ringing. Just while writing this post, the phone rang four times. I'm tempted to go shut the ringer off now. The ringing is giving me a headache!
The Strike Goes On
I know I've been talking a lot about the writer's strike lately, but as a writer, an entertainment writer and as a viewer, the topic interests me. This is day three of the strike, and it isn't looking good. Stories keep coming out about some of our favorites shows. This is what I know right now.
→ Sandra Oh from Grey's Anatomy reportedly joined the picketers today. The cast has three or four shows ready to air, but if the strike goes on past that, we might not have any new Grey's in the new year.
→ The end of the current story arc for Heroes in December might also mean the end of this season of Heroes.
→ If the strike continues, Lost fans might not see any new Lost until Fall 2008, or the very latest Winter 2009. I really hope it doesn't come to that. I've been going throught Lost withdrawals.
I've lost count on how many shows have stopped production. Big Brother is reportedly coming back with a special Winter edition to help fill in. We might see more reality series in our future. We just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Sometimes its nice to dream
As I've mentioned before, I live in an apartment building that has recently come under new ownership. My father hasn't been happy here for the longest time, but we haven't moved. He wants to, but I don't see the point of moving from one apartment to another. If I'm going to go through the hassle of moving, I want to move into a house. A nice big house with a great big yard. I'd want a dog, and a few more cats. I can finally have a real office, and not a desk just a couple of feet from where I sleep at night.
Sometimes you can find a site online that can help you visualize your dreams. That's what I did tonight. I found a site that shows you plans for various types of houses. They have log cabin house plans, English cottage house plans and even small ranch house plans. Sometimes its nice just to look around and dream about what can be somewhere down the line.
As for television night, Dancing With The Stars made my heart stop. I so thought they were sending Jennie home. I am Team Garth all the way. I've been a fan of hers for years, and I think she and her husband, Peter Facinelli, make an adorable couple. We'll have to see what happens next week. As for that email that has been repeatedly being sent to my inbox? I've lost count. I don't even want to think about how many I'll have in my inbox in the morning.
Just one of those days!
First the shower goes cold, then I keep getting this same email from one of the sites I signed up at a couple of weeks ago, and then I spilled a drink all over myself. Definitely one of those days you wonder if you broke a mirror some place and you just don't realize it. Oh well. The day goes on. I've been getting back to my old routine as far as blogging goes. It keeps me focused. I hopped around a bit, checked out some news sites.
Tonight is Dancing With The Stars, and we will see who is sent home this week. Sabrina was sent home last week, and everyone was shocked. Last night, those left showed their support with small cheetah paw print tattoos. The kind that wash off of course. Word has been released that since she was eliminated last week, she she begun to see her partner in a romantic sense. This has happened in the past with the show. I am pretty Mario Lopez and his partner had some kind of relationship. I don't follow up on things like that, but they looked pretty cozy during their season. Just in the last hour, I heard that Marie Osmond's father passed away. I am pretty sure this news will hit her hard, and there is no telling if she will appear on tonight's episode. Jane Seymour lost her mother during this season as well. My thoughts are with Marie and her family. I think Donny was in the audience last night to. Either last night or last week. I know I saw him there in support of Marie recently.
Another interesting little tidbit out of the news that caught my eye is about Radiohead's latest release, In Rainbows. The group offered their CD online last night via their own website saying fans could pay what they think they should for the digital release of the CD. Over sixty percent paid nothing for the download. Ouch! The remaining number paid six dollars or lower. I haven't heard the CD for myself, but that is just amazing to me. Goes to show you that maybe new media isn't all it is cracked up to be. The WGA is on strike looking for revenue from these online ventures, and people won't even pay for a CD. The strike is on day two as of now, and I know of three more shows that have stopped filming altogether until the strike ends. Two of those shows being Fox's 'Til Death and CBS' Rules of Engagement. Just heard that production has halted on Desperate Housewives as well. Hopefully things are resolved soon.
Live long and prosper?
Nothing like starting off your day with a cold shower! Yes, that is sarcasm. The thing is the shower didn't start that way. The shower started off nice and hot, perfect temperature actually. Just as I put the shampoo in my hair, the hot water went off in my apartment. Third time that has happened this month! Try standing under a cold spray trying to get all the shampoo out of long hair. Not fun. My day has been on the go for a couple of hours now though. I've been doing my daily run around online. I have a routine in place, and while running around this morning I found this site called Spock. It caught my eye because it automatically made me think of Star Trek, and there has been a lot of buzz about that lately with the new movie soon to be in production and out in time by the next time the holidays come around. This site has nothing to do with Star Trek though. You won't be taken into the great unknown, but you might be able to find people. Using this site, you can find people using a variety of search terms. You can find either that person you lost contact with years ago, or you can find people in the same city as you. Want to find someone that has a similar interest as you? You can do that too. The site is easy to navigate, and once I decided to play around with it a bit, it only took me a few seconds to register. After checking my spam filter for the sign-up email I was good to go. I've lost touch with so many people over the years, it might be nice to actually find some of them again. It might also be nice to use the site to make new friends to talk over things with. People that watch the same shows or listen to the same music that I do.
To try out the site this morning, I pulled up a quick search on Australian Actors. I've mentioned that I enjoy actors from Australia before on this blog. When I searched this morning, I was expecting the usual suspects to come up, and they did as you can see below. I see myself using this site more in the future. Might even find an old friend or two!
Now I'm off to warm up some of that left over pizza I have in the fridge. Such a nutritional breakfast I know!
On Strike: WGA
I am sure most have heard about this already, but the writer's involved with our television shows and movies headed out on strike this morning at 12:01am. We had picketers outside studios in both New York and Los Angeles, including celebrities such as Tina Fey and Jay Leno. At least, I saw him speaking in one of the interviews I saw on Fox News a bit ago. What does this mean for the television viewer like myself and others? Television can possibly end up getting quite interesting.
The Heroes spin-off has already been canned because of the strike, the final six episodes of Scrubs are in jeopardy. One behind the scenes person at Heroes has already left after he was asked to cut story lines and make major script changes this weekend before the strike went into effect. Late night television shows are on repeats as of tonight. For now, prime time television is safe because series have prepared in advance, but if the strike continues on this could be a problem. Soap operas might be the next to be effected in the next week or two.
One article on this I read this morning said that the winter television market can end up looking like summer if the strike goes on too long. We could be in for a lot of reality television. The last strike lasted six months. Hollywood itself won't be affected soon. Movies will continue to be filmed, but there will be no on the spot re-writes if they are needed. Scripts will be shot as is. This could lead to poorer movie content hitting the big screen next year. We just have to cross our fingers it doesn't last too long.
Why are they going on strike? One word, money. They want their share of new media. New media? What is that? Internet for one. In the last couple of years, television shows and movies have become available for purchase online. The writers see none of that revenue. They want that to change, and until it does they will walk the picket lines. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I know I'll miss my television if shows start to slowly go into repeat because of no new material.
Picture perfect
I like playing with graphics on occasion. I'm really no artist. I can't draw worth a dime, but I like playing around with pictures. I like to try to make them look different, and sometimes even better than they did before I take one of my trusty computer programs and do stuff. A little bit of brightening, contrasting, and sometimes even a pretty frame can make an okay picture look great. Not everyone knows what they are doing when it comes to pictures though, and I don't even know everything you can do. For me, it is a little bit of a hobby. Playing around with a few graphics is also a bit of a form of stress relief for me too.
For the everyday user wanting to play around their own pictures, there are ways to do this quickly and easily. In no time at all using the Framing Station on this one site you can have your own custom photo gifts. I've done similar using other programs, but this site has everything you need right there using their software. Takes the guess work out of it for someone new to it that wants to make a nice little gift for someone. Take a look at just this one example with a nice happy family.
Now I'm tempted to go play around with some stuff on my own. Have a great Monday everyone!
Blogging My Blessings 11/4
If this was a couple of months ago, I probably wouldn't have never even thought of doing a post like this. I didn't think my life was very blessed at all. I have written about things not going well here the past month, and life has taken a turn. I think its good to always recognize the good in life, and it is that good in life, no matter how small it may be that keeps me going. This week I'm blessed because I've overcome the negative in my life that last few months, and I'm still here. Stronger for it. Let's see what is in store for me this week.
There is no woman ....
Like a woman scored. We've all heard it a thousand times. A woman scorned and in the right frame of mind for revenge will do anything in her power to get her justice. Some won't do much, but some might go to some extreme. Some have even killed. Not that I condone killing, but we all know the stories of women getting their revenge. The more outrageous stories get noticed, but I'm sure the smaller acts of revenge happen daily and go unnoticed. Right now, I'm reading a book by Jude Deveraux called The Summerhouse.
The book tells the story of three women that meet one day in their early twenties, and then meet again some twenty years later for one weekend. They each have stories to tell. One woman, a writer named Ellie, tells the story of her husband and how badly he screwed her over in the divorce. In the book, the women are given a chance to go back to a moment in time to change what happened. Ellie goes back to just before her divorce, hoping to fix things. That is where I am now.Of course in real life, there is no magical time machine as much as we would like there to be. Here is one instance of where beware of a woman scorned applies I discovered while surfing the internet. She is getting her husband where it hurts, with his car. She has destroyed his car and is now selling it online. She caught him cheating, and he was dumb enough to have the car in her name. Just look at what she did to the car. Reminds me of that one Carrie Underwood song, Before He Cheats.
Of course the site doesn't only have that going for it. They also sell new cars and used cars. It was that ad that caught my eye though. What lengths would you go to if someone wronged you? I don't know if I'd go as far as ruining the man's car or murder, but I have been known to not let people slide in the past. Sometimes a little revenge is sweet.
Falling Back?
I was just talking to a friend of mine right now, and she told me we had to change our clocks back for Daylight savings time. However, here in Arizona we don't do that. We stay the same time all year around. Wrecks a bit of havoc with my television viewing when this time of year hits. I'll need to make sure some of my cable television shows still record. There is talk of it changing eventually, but for now we remain the same.
Speaking of television, I'm playing catch up, and I just watched two weeks worth of Heroes. I love that show more than anything that right now. I also saw Grey's Anatomy for this week, and I'm not sure about what they are thinking with Lexie and Alex. That is wrong on so many levels. Of course, I'm the one that has though George and Izzie was wrong since last season.
Finding Work
The past few weeks I've been getting back into things with my writing. For almost a year, I wasn't happy with much I did in regard to my writing, but I've had a new outlook on that lately. I actually love writing again, and I love doing it. Not all writing is fun. Sometimes you need to do some of the boring stuff for money. The trick is finding freelance opportunities. I use a variety of sources. Everything from classifieds online to jobs boards and newsletters that I get in my email once or sometimes more a week. One freelance site I've found useful in my searches for work online has been this one. The site is fairly simple to navigate, and you can post your profile for people to find you for work. More work means more money in my bank account to pay my bills, and I definitely see that as a good thing. I know I'm not the only one!
Grooving Tunes 11/3
It is almost the end of the week, and I realized I hadn't done this week's Grooving Tune. I decided to go with an old tune this week because after hearing it a few weeks ago, it has once again become one of my favorite songs. It is one of those one hit wonders that was probably over played way too much when it first came out, but I love it now. My Grooving Tune this week is Counting Blue Cars by Dishwalla. This hit from 1995 is definitely one of my favorites. It has been stuck in my head for days.
Coupons and saving
With the holidays here, it is good to save money. I like to check out the coupon sites online because you never know when you might find a good deal. I know it seems like saving money is a big deal to me, but when you live on a fixed income like my family does, saving money becomes important. Today I was checking out CouponChief.com. I've visited them before in the past, but I hadn't found anything that caught my eye. I checked them out today and they have a good selection of stores including some of my favorites online like Amazon and PetSmart. I can always get a few things for the new kitten there. I love Amazon for the discount prices on books and DVD's. It really is amazing how the holidays arrive, isn't it? They will be over before we know it.
Some design pondering.
I was thinking of changing the layout on my blog here. I love this one, but I've had it for a long time. Anyone know of any good blogger template sites out there, either free templates or a site with them reasonably priced? Any help would be appreciated. I hate changing them on my own, so that's why I thought of paying this time around. Thanks in advance!
Oh the search begins
For the past few weeks, my brother has been wanting to get himself a laptop. I'm always on my computer, and sometimes I just can't just jump and do things for him. Him having his own laptop would save us some trouble and time. He says some of the girls he coaches mentioned e-bay as a possible source to find a decently priced laptop. Price and finding the best price is such a hard thing to do. There are sites online to help you out, and I found a new one just today.
They list everything from that laptop my brother has been wanting to the digital camera I'd been thinking of getting. Why wait for film to develop when you gave pictures in an instant on your computer? It's fun to shop for things, but it is also fun finding the best price for things too. In this day and age, saving money is important.
Happy Friday!
I've been running around a bit this morning. Not actually running, but bouncing around a bit from thing to thing on the Internet. My nights are busy too. I haven't even seen this week's Grey's Anatomy, and I have two weeks of Heroes to catch up on.
On the bright side, my brother heard from a friend of his whose cat just had kittens. Six of them in fact. Four boys and two girls. We get our pick of the litter because she knows that JJ died a couple of months ago. So in five to six weeks, I'll have a brand new kitten. I'm leaning towards one of the girls, but I haven't decided yet.
Also quick note, if you saw the numbers gone from my posts, I finally decided to stop doing that. At least three times lately, I've been misnumbering posts, and it was beginning to get on my nerves. This is better.
Trying your luck
Growing up in California like I did, I would go on a yearly trip with my parents to Vegas. They loved to gamble while I ended up spending way too many hours at Circus Circus on their kid level. It was always fun, and I got older I found other things to do because I didn't need to always be under their constant eye. When I hit twenty-one, I was in Vegas. I drank my first drink, played the slots. I even tried some of the tables. I've always loved craps personally. For a year or two before that, I would go with my boyfriend at the time to Laughlin. I wanted to play the games too, but I wasn't old enough then. I haven't been to Vegas in quite a few years, but living in Arizona we have casinos on the Indian reservations. They might not be as fancy as the ones in Nevada, but they do the job.
These days you have online gaming. Casinos have popped up online, and in some cases they have caused problems. Just earlier this year, a teen gambling problem was a featured story line on one of the soap operas I watch from time to time. There are so many online casinos out there, it is so hard to figure out which is the best just in case you do want to partake in a bit of gambling. I found this one site called top usa online casinos that lists some of the ones available right now with some information about what they offer. The site is simple and the information is clearly represented.
Personally, I'd like to go to the real thing. I miss Vegas, and I know so much has changed since I was last there years ago. I'll visit again someday. It is the city that never sleeps. You can always find something to do there, day or night. I miss it. Really I do.
Ghost Hunters Live
Forgot to mention this in my earlier post, but no I didn't make it all the way through Ghost Hunters Live. After about four hours in, I crashed. I even had my brother watching for a bit, but he gave in way before I did. It looked fake to him. I love that stuff though. Next week they have the reveal. I know Steve at least had one freaky experience.
Happy November!
It is a new month, and things are looking good. I can't believe its November already. I've been working on my blog a lot the past day or two. Checking links and moving a few things around. Had to resign up at a couple of blog directories, and drop ones that are no longer working. Sites seem to disappear all the time! With it being November, that means a lot of writers are starting on National Novel Writing Month. I've done it in the past, and I considered it this year, but it just isn't for me right now. However, I am going to be taking part in NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month, which means you will see at least one post from me every day this month. Sometimes more depending on things. It'll get me back into the swing of things here.
Yesterday, my brother went down to sign our lease. I've mentioned our new building owners here before, and they are still working to change this building around. Yesterday, they told my brother they were remodeling every single apartment. New flooring, carpeting, paint jobs and all new cabinets. Everything will be upgraded. This is good news because about a year ago, they did work on our bathroom and ruined the flooring in there. Flooring is so easy to mess up, and once it is ruined, you need all new flooring put in. That costs money. iFLOOR knows this, and with their floors they have warranty. That in my mind saves us the consumer in the long run. Not a bad thing really.
Here is more you can read on iFloor:
iFLOOR, America's largest online flooring retailer, today announced a $1,000,000 limited warranty designed to protect its customers from predatory manufacturer policies that exclude warranty coverage from online purchases.
The policy, which goes into effect immediately, offers up to one million dollars of coverage in the event that a customer's warranty claim is denied specifically because they made their purchase online. It is complimentary for every iFLOOR customer, and protects the buyer under the same terms as the original product warranty.
iFLOOR, Inc. CEO, Steve Simonson, came up with the program to combat "scare tactics" used by manufacturers of hardwood floors and laminate flooring. "Their idea is to discourage you from buying at a discount!" wrote Simonson in his blog "It's About Flooring". "This is not right! You deserve to save money! So we're going to take care of this problem once and for all."
And it would appear that federal law is on his side. Section 108 of the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Act, states that, "In general, tie-in sales provisions are not allowed. Such a provision would require a purchaser of the warranted product to buy an item or service from a particular company to use with the warranted product in order to be eligible to receive a remedy under the warranty."
Under iFLOOR's new warranty, a key provision allows for iFLOOR to "seek justice" on behalf of the customer in the event of legal action. According to Simonson, "I'm putting iFLOOR's money where my mouth is."
About iFLOOR, Inc.
Since 1998, iFLOOR.com has been the leading online and retail flooring company, with 36 local retail stores nationwide offering more than 70,000 products, including hardwood floors, laminate flooring, bamboo flooring and cork floors. iFLOOR.com is the largest online flooring retailer according to Internet Retailer Magazine, and was named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States for the past three years. Committed to quality customer service, superior selection and friendly expert advice, iFLOOR.com enables customers to buy flooring both online and in its retail stores at a substantial savings over traditional retailers. For more information about iFLOOR, please visit www.iFLOOR.com.
Happy Halloween!
A few quick things that have been on my mind the last few days. Sorry I haven't been here to update. I've had some things on my mind.
- This week's results on Dancing With The Stars shocked me. I'm Team Garth all the way, but I thought, along with many others, the one sent packing had a chance to make it to the finals! Color me shocked.
- Tonight is Halloween, and I plan to spend most of my night watching the live Ghost Hunters special. I love that show so much. I know its cheesy, and probably faker than anything, but I love it. Tonight's show is on from 9pm until 3am. Wonder how long I will last?
Almost November
It is really amazing how fast time flies. Here we are just about ready for Halloween, and as soon as that passes we have the holiday season upon us. Thanksgiving and then Christmas will be here, and then we can say good-bye to the year 2007 and say hello to 2008. Time really does seem to move quickly at times. I was talking to my friend about Thanksgiving just the other day, and the best part about Thanksgiving isn't the football or the food, it is the day after Thanksgiving sales. Black Friday they call it. Stores open early, and there are all kinds of super deals for it.
I remember when I was a kid, my mom would want to hit those sales. We'd check out the ads and it was the day we ended up getting most of our holiday shopping done. One year, we happened to go to the mall the day the newly elected Bill Clinton was coming through for a visit. I'm not sure why he picked that mall on the day after thanksgiving, but my mom wanted to make the effort to meet him. She hadn't ever met a President before, and she passed away nearly three years later. That day always sticks out for me.
November 23rd, we will have another Black Friday upon us, and surfing around today I found black-friday.net. This site will let you know when the ads for some of your favorite stores are released and show you just what the special deals are. I'm always curious to see what some of the stores are offering. They have everywhere from Best Buy coupons and Wal-Mart to Toys R Us for those shopping for the kids. I'm an avid online shopper, and I was pleasantly surprised they even have Amazon deals listed.
I've picked up quiet a few things on Amazon. Mostly books and DVD's, but I did pick up a great deal on a new video card there last year when it looked like mine might be going out. It's kind of weird to be planning for the holidays when it is currently ninety-six degrees outside, but it is that time of year again!
Thoughts on Moonlight
One of my favorite shows this season is Moonlight. I am in love with all things supernatural, so that makes sense. However, Moonlight isn't like other vampire shows. It has its own mythic lore about vampires, and that is what makes me so interested. I know I've thought Mick was done for when it got staked. Plus, that Alex O'loughin is a hottie. What is it with me and Australian men? Hah!
The Land Down Under
One of my favorite places in the world is Australia. No, I've never been there, but there is just something about it that makes me want to go there someday. Maybe it is about everything being turned upside down. I've heard of some of the beautiful locations there. The beaches being one of the main draws of why I want to visit there. Bondi beach is supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Near Brisbane, you have the Gold Coast. Every time I see Australia in pictures I want to go there.
Most of my favorite actors and actresses are from Australia - Emilie De Ravin, Eric Bana, Heath Ledger, Alex O'Loughlin - I could go on and on. One of my best friends attends college in Brisbane, and I am always telling her one of these days I'm going to visit her. I really want to. I keep meaning to anyway. There is so much to see and do, just exploring an entirely new place that I've never been. Sometimes I check out places where I can get accommodations in Brisbane just to see what it would cost.
It is one of my dreams to go there someday. Go visit Australia. Go visit my friend. While there are there are so many things I can see and do. On the Gold Coast, they have great theme parks and other Gold Coast accommodations. To check out more about hotels in Brisbane and more of what you can do while there you have this site too. The Real World being shown in Sydney this season is not helping matters either. It just makes me want to go more. This is another one of those someday moments. Someday I'll go. I'm not sure when it will be, but I'll go someday. Where do you want to go someday? Any place in the world. Where would you go right now?
A moment.
My brother has a half sister living in California. Her and I are not directly related, but she has been texting my brother on and off all morning about the fires in California. Her husband is a fire fighter directly fighting the blaze outside of San Diego, and he just sent her a text that made my blood run cold. They really need to hold this line around San Diego, or there could be severe damage in that city. I think back to San Francisco and the earthquake back in 1989, and the Northridge earthquake I experienced myself in 1994. California always seems to get hit the hardest. Keep those fighting the fires and affected by it in your thoughts.
Just not a good night
Last night wasn't a very good night at all. I ended up having one of the worst panic attacks I've had in months. It just came on out of nowhere, and when they do come on I just try to focus on one thing until it passes. Even when it passes, I'm left a bit on edge for the rest of the night, and that was the case last night. Little things kept happening too. I think my printer is running low on ink, so that bugged me for the strangest reason. For about five minutes I looked for a site to buy ink online for my printer. I found this one site called Cartridge Finder. It helps you find the right cartridge for your printer, and it even finds the best price using price grabber. Not a bad deal. Ink can cost so much these days, and when you have some type of business you run out of your home, it is good to always find the best price. With how bad last night was, a little sleep, and I felt completely refreshed. Sometimes all you need is a little sleep.
Grooving Tunes
I am a music nut. I'm always listening to new music, and I love talking about the music and the new groups I end up discovering. In the past on this blog, I've had Tunes Mondays where I talk about the new music I find. Then I'd always end up forgetting to post on Monday. Yes, I know. That's bad of me. This is when Grooving Tunes comes in. Once a week I'll post about a song or an artist that has caught my eye, share some of the music, and maybe even help you find a new group to like in the process. This might be something new to me, or an old favorite I've rediscovered. Great music is timeless it seems, and I'm always finding myself finding old songs or artists I'd forgotten about too.
This week that group is Hinder. I heard their one single, Lips of an Angel, a few months ago, and it was stuck in my head. I didn't look around for anything else, but that song became one of my favorites. A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to one of the music choice stations on my cable provider, and another one of Hinder's songs came on. I found myself loving it, and I wanted to listen to more. I ended up grabbing their CD, and it is really great. Rock more than anything, with a sexy sounding vocalist to boot. I haven't been able to stop listening since. Here is the video for Lips of an Angel, and some links where you can check out more for yourself.
What's a Smorty?
Yesterday, I mentioned about one get paid to blog site I found over the weekend. That wasn't the only one I found. I applied to a couple. One has completely confused me, and I've heard back from another. Right now, my focus is on Smorty. They approved this blog for use with their site yesterday morning, and since then I've received numerous emails announcing opportunities I can pick up to write on here on my blog. I only pick topics to write on that I'm interested in. Sometimes it is funny how I find topics that can relate to things going on in my life here offline. That happens more often than not. Smorty seems to be a good get paid to blog site. They pay you weekly through paypal, and there are no opportunities available that pay less than six dollars. That seems to be a nice small number. They say with time working with them you might even be able to get higher paying job assignments. Some even as high as one hundred dollars. The most I have seen on other sites is fifteen dollars. I'll have to keep my eye on this one.
Sexy cool.
Last month, I went underwear shopping, and you know you never really realize how much has changed in woman's lingerie until you actually look. It can be sexy. A lot sexier now than it has been in the past. At least I think so. There are even places online where if you want you can buy lingerie. Might make things easier in this technology age, but there is just something about going to an actual store and buying something. Plus, its easier to deal with things. Just last month, I bought a stereo online. Great deal on a six CD changer. Under forty dollars from Wal-mart.com. Received it a week later, and it came broke right out of the box. The CD changer wouldn't even open, so I can try any of my Cd's. Yes, I know stereos and lingerie are two totally different things, but buying lingerie online means you take a chance of any number of problems. Still it might be worth trying out. There is just something about picking up a new set of sexy lingerie.
In repair.
As I've mentioned a few times over the past couple of weeks, they are working on our building. New owners came in, and they are doing almost a complete overhaul. This week they worked on our roof, and they also redid the water system in our complex. Since I moved in nearly twelve years ago, they have had a system in place where if there was some kind of leak that needed repair, the whole building needed to have their water turned off. All 188 apartments. Now, with the work done this week, that is no more. It can be done building by building instead of the entire complex going off. That will make things so much easier. We've had so many problems with our water system in our building. In our apartment, the last few weeks we've had next to no water pressure in our shower. You don't know how hard it is to stand under a shower with almost no water coming out. We have one of those shower heads that have a massage spray. Cost five dollars at Wal-mart, and I'm thinking we might need a new one soon. There are so many shower faucets one can buy. I checked online, and they have some that cost nearly three hundred dollars. Some are less than that. I guess it is all about how much you love a good shower, and how much you're willing to spend.
Now I go back to watching the Arizona Cardinals lose. Will we ever catch a break here? I know Warner is playing injured. He's trying. Leinart being out of the rest of the season broke my Cardinal loving heart.
EDIT: Yes, they lost, but oh wow that ending. The Cardiac kids almost pulled it off. I really wish they had. Great kick. Just not enough.
A lazy Saturday.
Today has been a good re-energizing day. I slept in a little, and I just did absolutely nothing for a few hours. Some days you just need to do that. I was up late last night, and it was just good. Things seem to be falling into place. A friend of my brother's has a cat ready to have kittens, and she knows we just lost JJ last month, so we have first pick of the litter when it comes in. Since they aren't even born yet, we won't have a new little one around the house until just before Christimas time. I miss JJ though. It's really kind of amazing how much you can attach yourself to your pets, but he was always around me. My brother and I think he might have been sick for a little while without us noticing. He looked as healthy as he always did. He was a good cat. Mikey has sort of taken over as king of the castle though. He knows he's it now. At least for another month or two!
Protecting yourself.
Back in July, we had new owners come and take over the building we lived in. When someone new comes in, you always have to wonder what will happen. Our property had its problems over the years, and we were looking forward to seeing what changes and improvements would be made. Changes started happening quite quickly. One of them being that we needed to get insurance for our apartment. We'd never even heard of renter's insurance, and if we didn't need to get it we weren't. It's just another bill to add on top of all the other bills we have. We soon learned that there was no way around it. We ended up going through our car insurance provider to get us set up. It didn't take long at all. Insurance is something everyone needs. There are many different types too. You can have home insurance, car insurance and even life insurance. You can probably even insure your pet if you wanted. I've heard some crazy things people have wanted to insure. Body parts even. Crazy huh? This world certainly can be.
Private Practice renewed?
Yesterday, I was shocked to hear the new series was renewed already for its second season. Yes, I know its a spin-off from Grey's Anatomy. We all know how much I love that show. I can sing its praises until the cows come home, but after watching the first two episodes of Private Practice I had no desire to watch anymore. They have essentially ruined Addison's character. I love Kate Walsh, but they have turned Addison into Meredith Grey in Los Angeles. This is not the same woman that waltzed in at the end of season one of Grey's Anatomy to confront her husband. A far cry from it actually. I know I'm not the only fan that feels this way. I've seen others say the same thing. Yet, now we know we are almost assured a second season of this show, and I just can't believe that. As for Grey's Anatomy, after a slow start last night's episode reminded me why I loved Grey's in the first place. I was at the edge of my seat waiting for what was going to happen next, and the previews for next week look like more of the same. I can't wait. If you missed it, it should be up on iTunes soon!
Fees, banks and credit
I will always be amazed at how banks work. Truly and honestly. Today I just received in the mail a statement from my bank about them changing my account on me. Of course, I immediately called to find out just what was up. Luckily, I found someone nice and understanding on the other end of the line. Sometimes when you call banks or credit cards you have to wonder who you will end up talking to. Some can be class a jerks. After about five minutes though, everything was settled. I do my best to keep an eye on my finances. I have one credit card that went up too high, and we have a payment plan for it. it is currently closed until we pay it off.
I don't mind not having a credit card. If I can't find a way to pay for it outright then I don't need it. If I really need it, then we will find a way. Sometimes I wonder how I can better manage my credit in the future, and while surfing around I've found one credit help blog that seems to have some helpful information on credit and credit cards. They talk about a variety of topics including managing your money and spending habits and reading your credit report. How many of us know just what your credit score means? Finances can just be confusing. At least today it was fairly easy and cut and dry. It isn't always.
You have a such great voice.
Every time I talk to people they tell me what a great voice I have. People tell me I have a great phone voice. Friends of my brother's that call are always telling him what a great voice I have. I've never really thought about it though. It's just my voice. I hear myself talk, and I don't really see anything special about it. They do though. It's just strange to me. A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine was talking about cartoons and all the work that goes into them. You realize that with animated work voice is big. So many actors today are lending their voices to animated features. Just last week, I heard that one of my favorite actors, Eric Bana, was lending his voice to another animated feature. He voiced one of the smaller characters in Finding Nemo. Sometimes I wonder if I could pull off something like that. There are places where voice over talent is wanted, but I've always seen myself as a behind the scenes type of person. Creating the words the voices are putting fire and passion into. I know no one would see me, but my voice would be heard by millions, and that is just way too much of a scary thought for me. Probably is for a lot of people.
What a difference.
A few weeks ago I was in a very different state of mind. I was depressed, and I wasn't happy with much of anything. Life had just kept throwing those curve balls at me. One after another. I was looking for something, anything at all, to bring me back out of the funk I was in. Then I found it. I rediscovered the one thing I had always been able to count on. My writing. My writing had been taking hit after hit the past year. I wasn't even happy with anything I had been writing in months. I could always count on it before, but that wasn't even there to help me pull through.
That is until recently. I'm finally happy writing again. I've found someone to write with that is like me, and we just bounce back and forth together so well. I know some might not understand role play and all it involves, but it can certainly get the creativity going when you have had next to nil in the creativity department. That is where I've been for months. If I can't sit there and enjoy writing with someone else, then there is a problem. My muses are starting to wake up again.
Life is still a bit crazy, but things are starting to look up again. My modem died the other day, and I had to go out and pay eighty bucks for a new one. That sucked. They are still working on my roof. That sucks too. I'm able to handle it a bit better though because at the end of the day I have something that makes me smile again.
Wanting to get away
Ever just want and need to get away? For the past four days, they have been working on the roof of my building right over my head. Hammering and pounding and walking around with heavy shoes. It has been getting on my nerves, and today it is giving me the worst headache. Thankfully, I think they are finishing the work on the roof today. It has made me want to get away though. Just jumping on a plane and going somewhere exotic. I thought back to this one trip I took years ago on one of my Spring Breaks to Hawaii. I went to Maui for the week, and it was just an amazing trip. Amazingly I was able to find a way for two people to have a good time in Maui on a college student budget. You learn how to work around things. You figure out where you want to put your focus and then plan accordingly. Our hotel and flight were paid already, so it was just a matter of the week there. The hotel we rented was a problem at first because the first room we were given was not as promised. I know we could have handled that differently if we had somehow rented a home or condo of some sort like you can through places like Hawaiian Beach Rentals. The hotel was able to get us fixed up, but still it was a bit of hassle. I've always wanted to go back to Maui. It is just one of the best places in the world. I'd love to see some of the other islands as well, but first I need to get there. It'll happen eventually.
New to me
I love finding new music. Artists or groups that I'd never heard of before. A few weeks ago I was listening to my play list on random and a song from The Spill Canvas came on. Someone must have sent it to me, and I never listened. I fell in love. I picked up their two past CD's, and their new CD that just came out. I am so in love with their new CD it is so hard for me to pick just one song I love off of it. I've been stuck on Hush Hush for days. I finally listened to the rest of the CD this morning, and Reckless Abandonment is working its way into my head. They are alternative rock if that is your thing. I really love listening to them.
Something else new to me. Bionic Woman. I finally watched the first two episodes, and the show grabbed me from the first ten minutes. I need to watch the episode from last night still. Private Practice didn't click with me at all. They are ruining Addison I think. Bring her back to Grey's! More soon.
New York, New York.
One of the cities I've always wanted to visit is the city of New York. Being from Los Angeles, everyone always talks about New York. It is the other big city in this country, and growing up I was fascinated hearing about it. Central Park. Times Square. You read books, and a good many are set in NYC. One of my favorite television series, Sex & The City, was set in New York City. Who else wouldn't want to be Carrie Bradshaw? What about the Statue of Liberty? The Empire State Building? It is one of those cities that I've heard never really truly sleeps. One of these days I really want to go there. Just a take a tour and see all the sights you would want to see there. Ride on a subway train. I know that probably sounds silly, but it is just something I'd love to do.
I was looking around online, and I found this great site offering New York Tours. They have a bus tour that sounds really good, and a tour of Harlem music. For the television nut in me, they even have a tour of the sites from the television series The Sopranos. One of these days, I really want to make it there. Trusted tours also has Boston
Tours. That is another place I want to visit someday. It might not happen this year, but I want to go there someday. I'm adding it onto my list.
Some quick TV thoughts
Yesterday, I watched the first two episodes of Cane, which is on CBS on Tuesday nights following The Unit. I kept meaning to watch it, but I think watching two episodes at once gives you the better feel of a new series to see if I want to put the effort into more. Cane stood up to my test, and I'll be watching more. It is about a Cuban family that runs a business, in what appears to be Miami. We have brothers and sisters and children all mixing about. It sort of has the upper class feel of Brothers & Sisters, and a similar story line to that series with one of the sons going off to Iraq, but other than those small plot points I found myself enjoyng the series. I hadn't had a good Hispanic series on television for awhile. I'm thinking back to Resurrection Blvd on Showtime for anyone that remembers that. Ugly Betty seems to poke fun at the culture. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Cane. Next up for me to watch, Private Practice. I'm off to do that now.
Everybody Hurts
I've returned here once again. I keep meaning to, but life just seems to hate me this year. The past few months have been especially difficult. I've reached burnt out phase. I started this blog two and a half years ago, and in that time I've met a lot of people. I've lost some people. I've met some I wished I hadn't. The week I started this blog, I had a brand new kitten. An adorable little guy I named JJ. He was the sweetest most adorable animal I had ever seen.
Yes, I said was. JJ died a couple of weeks ago. He got sick and two days later he left us. I sat by his side with my brother and my younger cat and we watched him go. We took him to be looked at, and they said he had a bad heart and he had an artery burst. There was nothing no one could have done to save him that wouldn't lessen his quality of life considerably.
I've watched death before. It is something I don't like to see. I watched my mom die twelve years ago. JJ was a sweet little guy. He had never done anyone any wrong. I know he is in a better place now, but I miss him. JJ had become my best friend after my other cat ran off a year and a half ago. He would spend his days with me. The first night after he passed the house was so quiet. He was one of those talkers. He'd walk around meowing all the time. I miss that.
Mikey is taking it well, but we can tell he is still wondering where his buddy went. We might get another kitten, but we're waiting another month or two yet. Losing JJ was probably the most difficult event of the last couple of months. Finances and car troubles are piling up on us here too. Life just needs to stop being so difficult. I know it isn't supposed to be easy, but where does it say it needs to be this hard? The irony of this situation right now? Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. just came on my playlist. Now how is that for irony?
Back To Basics
Those are the words that keep flashing through my head the last couple of days. I had changed in the past eight months. I made new friends. Changed my style of living here on the Internet, but in the end here I am just as I started before that time - on my own and happy. I tried to lean on others for my happiness, but all I really need to be happy is myself, my writing and those few here, online and off, that I call family. It always seems to come down to those same few people. As of now, I'm going back to basics. I'm going back to writing for me, and not for anyone else. I let myself get distracted. Never again.
Saturday Check-in
Been feeling under the weather the last few days, so I've been missing in action. I'm not disappearing again. Just had some things that came up. First, being sick, and the second dealing with some issue on line. It's kind of weird how you meet people here on the Internet. Sometimes you meet some really odd people. Sometimes even on the bit unstable side. I've had one such instance this past week, and it was a bit draining. I'm hoping it is settled now. I have my fingers crossed anyway.
Last night, I had my computer give me some problems. My monitor actually. It wouldn't turn on. then out of nowhere five minutes later it would turn on by itself. Then unplugged the power strip from the wall, plugged it back and now its fine. I went out and bought a brand new power strip today, and even picked up a new set of speakers. I'm keeping an eye on the monitor though in case it is breaking down. I still have a warranty through December, so it would be a matter of taking it in and having Best Buy replace it.
When it comes to computer, you don't realize how much you depend on them until they break down. A monitor is easy to fix, but what if your hard drive goes out? Even worse, what if you need to wipe your hard drive? There is a chance you'd lose all the information stored on your drive. I've had it happen to me before, more than once actually. It isn't a fun thing to have happen. Luckily, there are many ways to back-up your data. There is both sources online and offline these days. I found one such site online to help back up your computer data just a few days ago, Online data backup, secure and reliable. You really never know when the worst might happen. I'm glad it is only my monitor giving me a bit of a headache at the moment.
Saturday Ramblings
Posting three days in a row. I'm really trying to get back into this thing. I normally take Sundays off, so I might do that tomorrow. I've been following the news lately about the pet food recall. As a pet owner, it has concerned me. I don't feed my cats wet food, but I know of a few friends with cats that have fallen ill. When it came out yesterday that it was rat poison, I was angered by it. How could someone intentionally hurt animals like that? There really are some sick people in this world. It's sad and scary all at the same time. Really it is. Thing is there is no way to know about it happening until it happens. There was no way to know that the food was poisoned.
The other day I bought a poster on E bay. I've been to a few poster sites on line cause I like posters. I put new ones up regularly. I know one time I checked out this one site, and I found a coupon for a nice chunk off. I checked out a newly relaunched coupon site just yesterday to see if they had anything for the seller on e-bay, but no such luck this time. Maybe next time. It's still a great site to check out though. I'm always looking for a good deal.
Yesterday and this morning I took another look at the submission calls over at ERWA. My muses are tingling, but nothing yet. I lost one of my creative writing outlets I've had for the last eight months when I lost my writing partner. It was a sad day for me. Life just had other plans though. Maybe I can put that creative energy into something else. Have a great day everyone.
453. Silence
I don't feel like I'm really writing anymore. The writing I am doing right now isn't the writing I've always loved doing, and the writing I've wanted to make my life's work. I'm still writing though, and that should at least be something. It's a good thing anyway. I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I'm having fun, but it still isn't the same. I was looking at submission calls yesterday over on the ERWA site, and a few caught my eye, but deadlines are so soon. My muses are not cooperative when it comes to sitting down and writing something creative. I don't even write in here anymore, and I'm really going to work on changing that. Even if it a short entry.
Shocking as it may sound I don't even watch as much television as I used to. Shows build up on my DVR to watch later, and some series I've stopped watching altogether. I tell myself I'll download the episodes and watch them over summer, and I'll probably do that with one or two shows. The end of The O.C. got to me, even though I didn't watch the last six or so episodes. I did watch the last one, and I really liked how they did the ending. We know what happened to everyone in the end, and it left you wondering might happen next. They even left it open ended for some kind of spin off, but I doubt that would happen. Anything is possible.
I still watch my regular shows. Grey's Anatomy and Lost still have me hooked. I'm already tuning in to this season of Dancing With The Stars, and I'm firmly supporting Ian Ziering and Joey Fatone. Both did well this week, but it is way early to tell what will happen. I'm not tuning in this year to American Idol though. I just had no interest. Brothers and Sisters and Ugly Betty hooked me this season from early on in their seasons. Both are great shows, and I'm glad to see all of the above mentioned shows picked up already for next season by ABC.
There are some movies I'm really anxiously awaiting their releases too. Some coming out this summer including Lucky You, Fantastic Four 2, and Transformers. I've been waiting on those three for awhile now. I want to catch Music & Lyrics too, but we'll have to see about that. I really want to get back into my writing though. My muses are just silent.
452. Don't call this a comeback
It's been awhile. A long while. I won't make excuses for my long silence, and I doubt anyone that usually read this blog is still out there reading. If you are, give a shout out. I haven't updated since the day after Christmas. The last few months haven't been all that easy, and there were times I felt like I was drowning. The first few months of the years are always rough for me, and this year just hit me harder than most. The fact is it just kept hitting, and every time I picked myself up and dusted myself off I felt like something else was kicking me down. The last few days I finally feel that I've found my way to the end of a deep dark tunnel and there is some light at the end of it. For a bit there, I didn't think I would.
Things were just quite insane. I felt a bit insane. I turned thirty-one back in January, but I don't feel like I'm thirty-one. There are times I feel like I'm five. Times where I feel like I'm eighteen again, and then there are times when I feel like I'm eighty. I'm sure we have all had those moments where we feel like that. The other night I received an email from someone wanting to buy this blog from me because it had a history to it. I'm not sure if it was some joke or if the person was serious, but for the past two years this blog has been my life. I've poured so much of my heart, my time, my words and my experiences into it. This blog is me, and I could never sell it. Why would I want to?
It made me miss this blog though. I've come back here so many times over the last couple of months, and I had no idea what to even say. Words escaped me. For someone like myself that loves words, that was a bit hard to take. My words have even been slower to come the last couple of months, and there have been times I've considered giving up writing. Not altogether, but pretty close. My fiction is non-existent. I'm out of work again freelance wise. I've had some kicks in the writing department the last month or two that really set me into a tailspin.
I'm not saying right now this blog is entirely back, but I'm going to try. I miss it. I miss sharing things with all of you. I just didn't have much to share, and the things I did have to share weren't really all that positive. I hope you're all well out there.
451. Seconds chances and friendship
Wow. Been awhile since my last update in here. The holidays truly got the best of me. I'll get back into gear with things here in 2007, which isn't that far off now is it? This year seems to have gone by so fast. So much has changed in my life. Good changes that I didn't think were so good at the time. I lost friends, and I gained new ones. It's kind of weird how you meet people. They can come into your life at the strangest times, and then they just seem to stick. I'm not the best person at making friendships. I'm quiet. I stay to myself. I'm the kind of girl that likes to lurk among the shadows and just live my days to myself. Perhaps it is the writer in me that is that way. I see changes in my own friendships. I've walked away from some, and others have walked away from me. Sometimes it hurts, but more often than not it is supposed to end up that way. It is better in the long run for both parties.
I've seen friendships around me end and start. I've seen second chances once too many. Sometimes friendships are supposed to end. Sometimes there is just too much. Yet, the last thing you want to do is deny someone friendship, but I sometimes don't get how people can keep giving someone chance after chance. Sometimes things aren't meant to work out. You live your life, but sometimes I just want to take those around me and shake them a little. Maybe it is because I just don't want to see them hurt. I'm protective of those around me. I'd do just about anything for my friends if I'm able to do it. All they have to do is ask, and sometimes they don't even have to ask because I'll just end up knowing something isn't right. I have a good sixth sense like that. No matter what my friends do with their own lives I will support them. I won't control what they do.
I'll still be there, even if I'm sitting here wanting to pull them back and lock them in a room until they get whatever crazy idea they have in their heads out of it. It's like some people might actually like having people around them that have proven themselves untrustworthy. You just have to cross your fingers and hope it doesn't happen again. That's all you can do because the last thing you want to see is someone you care about hurt. I'm not all that good at letting people in again and again. Some say I walk away too easily and I just shut the person out. I move on so quickly sometimes because sitting here and thinking about over and over just makes me upset. I've been told I can be one of the coldest people at times, and at others I've been called one of the sweetness and nicest. I guess it depends on the person and the friendship involved. When I walk away, I usually stay gone. Their have been exceptions, but those have been few. I have had the same real life friends since I was in 1st and 7th grade. We don't talk much now, but I still care about them. My best friend since junior high just called a week or two ago to tell me she gave birth to her first son as I mentioned here the night she called.
You can also have the opposite which can happen. Two people that have no real rhyme or reason to why their friendships ended. Things just drifted apart. There was no argument. No fight to put some big end. At one time the two were so close that you thought the friendship would never end. It did though, and both are left to wonder why. They each think the other hates him, and it couldn't be further from the truth. I saw this happen just recently. I'm calling it my own Christmas miracle. Two friends. Both my best friends. I met one through the other, and they hadn't spoken in what could be close to two years now. Maybe longer. I'm not sure. I played matchmaker and brought the two of them back together on Christmas Eve. I usually don't do that because it could sometimes end up badly, but this time I have a good feeling these two will be okay. They were too close at one point to not be okay. Just seeing them talking again made me happy. Sometimes it is the little things like that happening that make things good in life, even if only in that moment.
I hope all you had a wonderful Christmas for those that celebrate it. If I'm not back before the end of the year, Happy New Year as well.
450. Circle of life
I was talking to a friend the other night, and he was telling me how the father of his friend had passed away suddenly back on Friday night. Not even an hour later, my best friend since junior high called me to tell me she had given birth to her first child, a boy. He was a bit early, and there was a few complications. He will be okay though, and he should be out of the NICU in a week or so. He was also born on Friday night around the same time. It made me think of the circle of life. People die and babies are born every day. Souls are brought into this world just as soon as they leave it. It is never ending. You never know which breath will be your last, but you aren't supposed to know really. You're just supposed to live each day like it may be your very last. Laugh as much as you can, cry when you have to and just breathe life in.
A friend of mine had surgery yesterday. Its minor surgery in the grand scheme of things, but even something could happen with the most minor of surgeries. I'm waiting on word from her, and it is made more difficult because this is mostly an online contact. We speak on the phone every day, but she wouldn't have her phone with her. So I'm worried. I know she'll be okay, but it is making me worry nonetheless. It's kind of funny though how one person can sort of help push aside differences when it really matters. Plus, it is the holiday season, and that has a tendency to bring people together as will.
Life is just crazy sometimes. The world keeps spinning. People keep dying. Babies keep getting born into this world. You live your life day to day because you have no other choice. It is your life, and only you can live it. I'm not much into the holiday spirit this year, but I'm not much of a holiday person. I try though because trying is all one really can do. I'm happy for the new life entering this world, sad for the one that left it, and worried for the friend I thought I had lost but I've only begun to know again after two years apart. So many emotions. They are all mixed together to make one big mess called my life.
448. And its December!
It seems every month or so, I take a break from blogging. I don't even mean to. It just ends up happening. I am thinking it happens either when I have nothing I have to say, I have something to say but I don't know how to say it, or I'm just too busy with other aspects of my life to give it the real attention it deserves. I think this recent break is due to a combination of the last two. This time of year always seems to get to me. I haven't been much of a holiday person since my late teens. It is just harder for me to get into the spirit of things, but I do make an attempt to. No matter how small that attempt may end up being, I do try.
This passed weekend was my father's eighty-first birthday. It was a low key kind of day. We really didn't do much of anything, but we really didn't need to. We spent the day with him. My brother and I live with him, so that's what we did. He has other children that live off in California, and only one sent him a birthday card. No calls. No other cards. He's eighty-one, and since we've all lost our mother you think we would know just how quickly he could be gone from us. It bothered me a little. I know relationships aren't exactly the best, but he's dad. He won't be around us forever. It would have been nice for them to show at least a small amount of effort. The one card that was sent didn't even arrive on time. I know I'm not the best daughter, but I'm here when it counts, and I'm the one staying with him to make sure he is okay in whatever amount of years he even has left.
The past couple of weeks have been spent throwing myself into writing in one form or another. I had a bit of an idea bite me for a story, but I got a paragraph in, and the words faded away. I always called myself a fiction writer, but I'm wondering if that is changing. I saw my writing horoscope a few days ago, and it mentioned something about a shift in focus in my writing, and I guess I really have shifted. Any storytelling I am doing is now in my interactive fiction with a few partners I've discovered around. I know I've seen an improvement in my fictional writing in those endeavors, so I'm thinking I stick to it, and I allow my fiction to return if it is going to. I've seen to found some small success with my non-fiction efforts. I'm just having a problem finding one steady position that will allow me the ability to make a living or contribute to that in any case. One never becomes a writer to make a steady income anyway.
I'll be back soon with some thoughts on television lately. December television hiatus is just about on us. I'm saving some shows on my DVR to watch in the weeks ahead, so I'm not bored silly!
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