juicy like a ripe peach dribbling down your chin

2010-02-09T11:31:00.003-06:00

I dislike Juicy being dormant. This is a place-saver post, to be updated with the awesome pictures I will soon be taking of the "end of the world" snowpacolypse/snowmageddon. Silly DCers. Or, instead of the pictures (because let's face it, I'll never get around to either taking them or posting them)...

Why do I laugh whenever I see a monkey? I'm recalling the endless amount of time spent watching them at the Edinburgh Zoo with Kara and Eric...

Papers run Onion story as real news

2009-09-04T12:49:00.001-05:00

I just can't help but laugh at this.

"We didn't know the Onion was not a real news site."

The Sun, The Moon & The Stars

2009-05-11T09:03:00.003-05:00

Alrighty.

There needs to be more posts. Even if its just about WoW or how my ankle is hurting me, or maybe that I've picked up a 3-cup a day coffee habit over the past two months. Things with me are the same. Maybe this is why I haven't written. But I choose to live the life of the rubber ducky. Floating on the great sea, riding the waves staying afloat without much effort. Even in these tumultuous times my rubber ducky philosophy has been a source of strength and comfort. But thats probably a story for a different time.

So yes, not much is new. I did go see a doctor recently. And now I have glasses to wear. Apparently I'm far-sighted. And like when I was in the office and everything it was amazing seeing so clearly. But now, that I'm reasonably rested and everything, my right eye which everything was blurry, isn't that bad, and I can read without my glasses. If I put them on I get all like WHOA whats going on here. I dunno, maybe my eyeballs change daily. But thank god for insurance so I didn't have to pay all that much for them.

So in the world of WoW, I'm still with the same guild. Its been nearly a year. Which is amazing. I was bouncing from group to group to group because they were all pretty much lame and childish. But yeah, good group of folks. We are working on 25-man Yogg atm. I think we'll get him within the next 30 - 40 attempts, but we are pretty casual and only raid 3 days a week. So not a lot of time if we get hung up on like Mimiron for a night to really work on him.

I have no lover atm. Just me and the dog, which isn't a bad thing. I've given up the rampant drug usage, wild promiscuous sex and overall reduced risky behavior in general. Which is a good thing! You'd think tho that with Massachusetts decriminalizing marijuana this past year there would be dealers on every corner, but no, its all quiet. Although I do smell more weed walking down the street than usual.

Um, alright, I think thats good for now. Maybe help get the ball rolling with some of you other people.

Contraception = abortion?

2008-07-16T14:05:00.002-05:00

I hope to god I'm not reading too much into this, but somehow I doubt that.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration wants to require all recipients of aid under federal health programs to certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control...

The proposal defines abortion as follows: “any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.”

Read more....

(emphasis mine - AMA identifies implantation as the beginning of an established pregnancy, but let's just ignore science and medical experts in favor of popular opinion).

Read a different article, that goes more into what this could mean for choice in reproductive health.

Allowing such an arbitrary and unscientific definition of what constitutes abortion is complete and utter bullshit, to say the least, and will likely result in health care professionals opposed to abortion who are "legally" able to refuse even contraceptives on the basis that they are abortificants.

Anyway, read and decide for yourself what you think this means. I, obviously, think it's horrible. If you feel like objecting, Planned Parenthood has a handy little email form here.

Contact info for Dept. of Health and Human Services:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Telephone: 202-619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775

or:

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
Office Phone: 202-690-7000 or 202-205-4708
Email: mike.leavitt@hhs.gov
Fax: 202-690-7203
Correspondence Secretary: 202-690-6392

Kara's Wedding Photos link

2008-06-12T14:58:00.001-05:00

Here are my pics from the crazy weekend just gone. Great seeing everyone!

Safe

2008-05-13T23:54:00.000-05:00

Hi there all,

Reading that previous blog by Sam, I'm suprised myself how much things have improved in a short time. Still no power, water, phone at home, but the city is moving on. Aid isn't getting in, but now the focus is on China, so Myanmar will once again be forgotten. My school cancelled the last three weeks of the year, and so I'm done, but am sitting here in a limbo state waiting to see if a World Vision volunteer position will materialize or if I'll head off on my myriad of excursions for the summer. Hope to see you all at Cara's wedding, if I get there!! :)

Google Design

2008-05-13T07:59:00.001-05:00

Google held a contest for K-12 graders to design a new logo. The theme was "What if...?" Some of these are really neat. Vote for your favorite at the link above.

Kiwi ok.

2008-05-06T06:41:00.001-05:00

Nat responded to my email. She's fine.

"The roof above the upstairs bathroom was ripped off, and all the windows on the north side of the house were blown off or had broken windows, so that side of the house was flooded. We still have no power, no water, no phone, although apparently water came back today, but it won't change anything for me because I have no pump!!"

"There's been widescale rioting and looting, but haven't seen it myself. All those people in big apartments have generators, but diesel is running low... it was around $15 a gallon today, and the wait at the service station for the allotted two gallons was around 5 hours (snaking lines up the streets). The port's blocked off, so infrastructure of the city is going to crumble. Drinking water is the biggest worry at the moment, as is sewage."

"The American, Korean, and Thai embassies have all recommended evacuation, and so our school is probably going to close down, but as we only have two and a half weeks left, many things are up in the air (my shipping, for example!!). The kids commenced their AP exams today, but they're the only ones in school. It'll cost around $2500 per day per generator to keep the school running, and we have around 1 week of diesel stockpiled."

Kiwi Check

2008-05-05T09:22:00.002-05:00

Yo Nat-This is a check on your safety. Though, come to think of it, you probably don't have power so this is entirely worthless. Word is 4,000 or so are confirmed dead with another 3,000 missing in Myanmar from the cyclone. Crossing fingers that you're not one of them.

Funding.

2008-03-14T09:48:00.002-05:00

Hey, all you people who attended grad school... any of you familiar with the Graduate PLUS loan? Comments, alternative options, etc? I'm going to need another loan in addition to the Stafford to cover cost of attendance.

Love Letter to America

2008-02-20T08:23:00.003-06:00

So. This blog I check occasionally has an interesting stream of comments for this post. Of course, all the posts have interesting comments, but I thought I'd share this one... as you get to the end of the comments, they start mentioning Obama. I recommend reading the other insights the author has... yesterday's was titled "Segregation, apartheid, and the interpenetration of race and class."

If anything, the "about" the author section is worth a read. http://leninology.blogspot.com/2004/01/about-lenins-tomb.html

"McCain surges ahead in primaries"

2008-02-05T22:26:00.000-06:00

Go McCain! Ok, well McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. Now, we just gotta see who the Democratic one will be - that is one close race. To all the Obama supporters - can you post comments as to why you want to see Obama as President? I'm curious as I am having a hard time finding good reasons.

Yes We Can

2008-02-04T17:05:00.000-06:00

And so...

2008-01-30T11:52:00.000-06:00

Anybody have good reading material to recommend? I'm sorely lacking in the new book department... rereading "The Holographic Universe" by Michael Talbot right now... there's only so many times a person can reread something though...

Vacation August 2008

2007-12-15T15:24:00.000-06:00

My family owns a cabin in northern Minnesota. There are exactly enough weekends in the summer for each of my mom's siblings to enjoy a little vacation. My uncle is giving me his week in 2008. I'm hoping to head up there sometime in August, before I depart the country for a year (hopefully). This is an open invitation to share in some relaxation on Lake Roosevelt. There's boating, water skiing, kneeboarding, tubing, a floating dock, bonfire pit, nature, and a cabin capable of sleeping about 11 people, as well as a bunkhouse for an additional 4 people. There's a large deck attached to the cabin and another one on top of the boathouse, which has a fantastic view of the lake. So. Who's interested?

Costume

2007-11-29T12:23:00.001-06:00

Ok someone go back in years and think of this for Deb Ball/Dressed to get laid...oh my goodness.

Ponder.

2007-11-19T11:48:00.000-06:00

Would you rather:

Be planted in the ground, rooted like a tree in front of a breathtaking natural landscape for the rest of your life…

or...

Travel the world forever under the conditions that you had to leave the city you were in by 2 o'clock the next day and couldn't return to that city for 3 years; able to see the world but always moving locations at 2pm everyday.

hmm...

2007-11-05T12:00:00.001-06:00

yeah... so the medical profession needs some attention.

after my hastey appointment with the surgeon who was disappointed he couldn't cut me open, he referred me to some physical therapy to get sized up for the orthopedic. i met with the PT guy this past week. A kind Indian man who actually spent the whole hour doing an assessment on me, versus the 3 minutes i met with the surgeon. After the hour was over, he told me that he's not recommending the orthopedic and that it will make it worse. and that i need to exercise my ankles. and in a few weeks we'll see where we are at. but he also didn't give me some ridiculous exercises to do, just told me to walk, rotate it, etc instead of trying to have me do near-impossible foot exercises that i'd prolly stumble and fall out a window trying to do...

so, as of now, i'm just hobbling around. hopefully the snow holds out so i don't do some slipping and slidding while trekking through the horrible sidewalks of boston.

2007-10-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

Erica Renee
as of 10.2.2007

more birth story
more pictures

Amputation.

2007-10-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

well. i bet that got your attention a bit. But no, my update on my ankles is not that bad.

Last Monday I had two MRI's on my ankles. Today I met up with the PA and he went over the results.

The good news is its not as bad as it was first made out to be. But. Its still not so good. My right ankle, for the moment, does not require surgery. I'll be going to PT to work on strengthening the muscles. My ligaments in both feet are stretched, and may require surgery, but right now he's not recommending it and said I should get a second opinion. So, I will.

My left ankle is more fun.

I do require surgery, and I get to meet my surgeron for the first time on the 26th. It appears that I completely torn out a chunk, or as he said "I have a pothole" in my cartilege in my left foot. He told me that there were two surgical options available. The first he didn't go over too much and said they could go in and try to "smooth" the cartilege over. This did not seem to be the prefered method or at least it would involve the most pain, most recovery, etc. The option he did mention in depth was one where they could go in, and pick at the bone and make it bleed. He said that it would in turn possibly, and that is the key here, it doesn't work all the time, stimulate the body to produce cartiledge and replace what I'm missing. That surgery is only an hour long; but he said I wouldn't be walking for at least 3 weeks and possibly longer.

So. Until the 26th I ponder I few things, mostly if its better to go for the most painful with most recovery for the best rate of recovery, or try to wing it and end up doing nothing but having impaired myself for a couple months for all of nothing.

I'm leaning toward the the most pain atm.

News from me

2007-09-20T01:47:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'm going to try this again.... I wrote the whole thing once, lost it, then wrote it again, was about to copy it so that I could paste it again if I lost it, but it suddenly disappeared. It was no longer in the box. I am very frustrated!!!

Anyway, I disappeared for a while and have reappeared, probably only to disappear again for a while. Things are crazyily busy around here. I've had 3 major 3000 word assignments due in the last month, as well as two long weekend trips. Plus I am now the proud teacher of psychology, AP no less. Can you imagine?

My class has arrived, and I am now writing this while they work. It's punk rock day of Spirit Week, and it is truly bizarre to watch my male students wear makeup. I do a double-take every time.

You may have heard about some news from Myanmar (and if you haven't, change your station, because it's big news). My flatmate comes home and tells me about her work's emergency plan, but ours doesn't have one of course. I wonder if school will just go on through a revolution? Still, it could be fantastic if things change. God knows the people here can't get much more squashed than they are. At least this time its the monks, and they're telling regular people to just step back, because they're afraid for them. There were shots fired. I just hope another 88 killing doesn't happen. That would be awful.

Anyway, I'll be in Chicago for a total of two days (seriously, I'm only taking 3 days off work), in two weeks' time for Amanda Sanders and Nick Ryan's wedding. Would love to catch up with you if you're there for breakfast/lunch/coffee/tea/etc--drop me an email.

Tootles,
N.

Bear's photos

2007-09-20T01:47:00.001-05:00

Bear's photos from me.

I wrote a nice long message, but it got lost... twice. So hi. Bye.

/sigh

2007-09-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

well. i guess its time to relay some information.

for the past year, i've not been doing too well. i've had a series of accidents that have made it very difficult to walk. i'd been hoping that the past 3 months without injury would have healed everything. but it hasn't. and i am in excrutiating pain when i walk. so, i decided to go to my doctor, who referred me to another doctor.

well. its not good news. my right ankle has one of two things wrong. either a muscle has moved to a place where it shouldn't be, or i have a major tear in a ligament that will require reconstruction. my left ankle requires major reconstructive surgery to correct bone, cartiledge and ligament damage. i have 2 mri's scheduled later next week. but it looks like i got a bunch of pain ahead.

least i'll have wow.

KIWI!

2007-08-24T09:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday a Day Early, Nat!

Mm... hybrid fruit.

2007-08-20T15:34:00.000-05:00

I love Pluots. Juicy. Like a peach. But not a peach. A plum-apricot. Mmm...

so

2007-08-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

you'd think i'd have more to say after spending almost all of the last two months underway...and you'd be right, but it'd be a lot of bitching...for real...a lot.
i started playing guitar hero also. if any of you are still into techno-stuff, check out freezepop's "less talk more rokk"...it's quite catchy. and fun to play on the xbox. i even found out the name to an Allman Bros song that i love ("Jessica")...never knew the name since there's no words. anyway, just figured i'd let you guys know that i'm alive here, in case you all stopped reading the Joie de Vivre in my absence. time to go get the 5W-30 off my hands and get some dinner on them. feel free to call me sometime, we'll be in port most of the month before we get underway again, but it shouldn't be as bad as it's been.
later people :)

Bear's wedding

2007-08-07T11:46:00.001-05:00

Lots of fun, some stress, as to be expected; great to see people :P

Pics here at my facebook

(Nellie)

Evil.

2007-07-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

I don't even LIKE chocolate! Why am I, then, ordering another round of Hippie Crunch? Oh, and the Belle of the Berries... [Homer Simpson gurgling]

Mass Hypsteria

2007-06-11T22:24:00.000-05:00

If any of y'all are at all interested...

Cooking 101.

2007-05-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

Does anyone know some good recipes for someone that is slowly (that's SLOWLY) learning to eat their vegetables? As in, recipes that don't make them taste like vegetables? Oh, and that don't require actual "time out of my day" because I won't take it?

I really need to meet a man that can cook. I'll totally do the dishes.

New science building at Beloit

2007-04-20T21:13:00.000-05:00

Did you guys see this? It's pretty crazy. It looks like they're gonna tear down Chamberlin, block off Emerson and build this beautiful new science building. Cost: ~$36mil.

I'm glad to see this project finally get under way. They've been mulling over it for so long. It was time to make some kind of a decision.

Boredom does not do wonders for the soul.

2007-04-17T12:47:00.000-05:00

Did you know... on your birthday you have special magical powers (and the 3 days before and after) that allow you to recover faster than you ever thought possible (this only increases with age)... or, at least that's what I've been told by people who laughed at my reasons for planning my grudging celebration on Friday night when my birthday isn't until Sunday because I need 2 days to recover. Usually.

Curiosity.

2007-02-28T13:26:00.000-06:00

Just curious... if you could pick up and move somewhere, where would you go? Originally planned to limit it to the US, but meh. Let's be adventurous. Please take into consideration job prospects, environment, all the practical things that would make you want to move there. This isn't some "if I didn't have to worry about money, I'd live here" kind of questions.

Why do I ask? Because I've made the decision to leave the DC area by the end of the year. Been thinking about where I want to go next... and started wondering where other people would go if they were excessively planning the next stage of their life. :)

A lil' flashback...

2007-02-18T17:28:00.000-06:00

"In essence, a Beloit College liberal arts experience is not about what one lears, but what one becomes... thoughtful, literate, adventuresome, skeptical and self-discovering individuals." - Tom McBride, Professor of English

President's Day

2007-02-17T19:50:00.000-06:00

Ok all. This blog obviously isn't feeling the love.

Favorite (or not) presidential quote. And... go!

Nixon: "Always remember that others may hate you, but those that hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself."

booya

2007-02-08T19:50:00.000-06:00

just a quick note to say that Joie de Vivre has been revived. with a slightly cheerier outlook! pfff*
toodles...

Z!

2007-02-07T13:14:00.000-06:00

I need to add you to the blogger thing again, which I believe means I need your email. We should work something out...

Story Time!

2007-01-29T13:41:00.000-06:00

John Dies at the End. Sent by my colleague who thought I might enjoy. So, I'm sharing.

it's done

2007-01-07T14:29:00.000-06:00

we're in vienna. and right now we have a lovely view of the stockyards from the guesthaus on top of the biological institute.

what, you thought i was kidding? Photos inc tomorrowish.

Read

2006-12-12T14:55:00.000-06:00

For your pleasure. Enjoy the detail. hehehe

Cleaning house - Mod comment*

2006-12-08T11:38:00.000-06:00

Please let me know in the comments if you are still interested in being a part of the blog.

I will check back around the new year to see who has replied. If you haven't commented, you'll be stripped of posting privileges on peachy!!

(*this makes me feel important, bear with me!)

::EDIT::
I have updated the members list =)

Interesting

2006-12-01T12:46:00.000-06:00

From typing in the "Smoking Gun" website incorrectly... freaky picture. Take a look. See if you can name all the political figures in the image.

WoW

2006-11-25T20:03:00.001-06:00

My little brother shared this delightful episode with me. "Make Love not Warcraft"... for all you WoW fans out there.

Save the Internet

2006-11-20T16:08:00.000-06:00

I'd been hearing about Net Neutrality with more frequency lately so I just thought I'd share a link someone pointed out to me.

Thoughts?

Discussion Topic

2006-11-20T05:22:00.000-06:00

We've forgotten about our discussions lately, and today I found one that made me think.

"Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power." John Steinback

Do you agree or disagree? Why?

drunk drnk drunk drunk

2006-11-19T01:58:00.000-06:00

DRUNK drunk drunk druhnk drhnk ... yeah. I seriously need help at the moment. Just thought you should know... whoa. This is what happens when you don't buy your own drinks...

no, not science fiction... just science

2006-11-16T18:55:00.000-06:00

"The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the "underclass" humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures"

uh-huh

Clore Wedding Pics

2006-11-04T11:02:00.000-06:00

It's been quiet here, lately,

2006-10-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

SOO I thought I'd engage in some shameless self-promotion. I dinged 27 today! Woot! And, as such, you all need to drink lots, and lots, and lots, in my honour as I have to work tomorrow and thus must retire early tonight.

So! Get frickin' wasted tonight!

internet

2006-10-10T08:11:00.000-05:00

Well, my internet problems have returned *big sigh*. It seems they don't want me running molten core and having any fun. So I called up my new spiffy internet provider. And said... here we are again. Why is it my internet goes down on Sundays every other minute? I was not expecting any real service, just please open up a ticket, tell covad to fix my link, etc.

Amazingly, they did more than that. I got a call back a few hours later, on a Sunday no less, from speakeasy. Telling me what they've had Covad do. But they were still going to force covad to run a test even though it all looked good. I think them, go on my merry way playing wow. Phone rings a couple hours later again. Its speakeasy asking me if I want a cup of coffee? No, really, they were like the line test failed. Covad identified an issue with the phone line itself. They opened a ticket with *gasp* verizon, my phone company, because its their issue. All this time I had verizon, they were saying there were doing stuff, and they couldn't even identify that there was an issue with the phone service. Speakeasy rocks. So if any of you are disappointed with your ISP, at least they listen and try their hardest to make you happy. :) (For double the cost).

Sound off

2006-10-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

A bill to repeal the 22nd Amendment limiting the presidency to two-terms. Though the following is a bit strange:

"A tradition of presidents serving two terms only began with George Washington."

BBC rocks the casbah

2006-09-12T07:22:00.000-05:00

The last few months... yeah... it's been a little slow at work. On the upside, I've gotten really good at Battlefield Academy.

Hooray!

2006-08-31T18:10:00.000-05:00

Edvard Munch's paintings "the Scream" and "Madonna", stolen over 2 years ago, have been recovered and are virtually undamaged!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060831/ap_en_ot/norway_munch_theft_16

Happy Birthday Nat!!!

2006-08-25T09:43:00.000-05:00

Love ya!! Miss ya tons, Have a blast!!

Chuck Klosterman's Thoughts

2006-08-23T14:43:00.000-05:00

I'm having a crisis of confidence, and I blame Jesus.

Actually, my crisis is not so much about Jesus as it is about the impending rapture, which I don't necessarily believe will happen. But I don't believe the rapture won't happen, either; I really don't see any evidence for (or against) either scenario. It all seems unlikely, but still plausible. Interstingly enough, I don't think there is a word for my particular worldview: "Nihilism" means you don't believe in anything, but I can't find a word that describes partial belief in everything. "Paganism" is probably the closest candidate, but that seems too Druidesque for the style of philosophy I'm referring to. Some would claim that this is kind of like "agnosticism," but true agnostics always seem too willing to side with the negative; they claim there are no answers, so they live as if those answers don't exist. They're really just nihilists without panache.

Juicy.

2006-08-15T15:28:00.000-05:00

OK FINE, cindy crawford hot.

Hungry?

2006-08-15T06:28:00.000-05:00

Was spending time on youtube... haven't really done that till now. You guys have probably seen this one, but I loved it and had to share!!!

Excerpt: "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs"

2006-08-10T08:12:00.000-05:00

Your best friend is taking a nap on the floor of your living room. Suddenly, you are faced with a bizarre existential problem: This friend is going to die unless you kick them (as hard as you can) in the rib cage. If you don't kick them while they slumber, they will never wake up. However, you can never explain this to your friend; if you later inform them that you did this to save their life, they will also die from that. So you have to kick a sleeping friend in the ribs, and you can't tell them why.

Since you cannot tell your friend the truth, what excuse will you fabricate to explain this (seemingly inexplicable) attack?

BBC News photography contest

2006-08-10T01:06:00.000-05:00

Some cool entries. Give it a browse and vote for your favorite.

While I can see why #9 and #8 are popular my fav is still #6.

"I'm not kidding: Sex in zero-G is going to have to be more or less choreographed. Otherwise it's just going to be a wild flail."

2006-08-03T13:37:00.000-05:00

All joking aside, it certainly does seem to be an important area of research.

Really.

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14002908/)

spam plants

2006-07-30T18:13:00.000-05:00

from romania with love...

Katie Vahey, where are you?

2006-07-29T15:59:00.000-05:00

Hi there
Tried to send Katie an email today but it came back to me... does anyone have her latest contact info and email address?

Thnx

photos page updates

2006-07-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, just a general post about some changes. To make room on my webspace I deleted some old photo albums that were duplicated. So if you'd bookmarked them there'll be a 404. Here is a list of the updated photo links:

Allie & Anthony's wedding
Andrea (Curly) & Justin's wedding
London
France
London > Kew
Liz & Matt's wedding
Krakow
St. Louis

also just for fun

2006-07-20T15:40:00.000-05:00


Zinwrath

Thanks to the lovely LJ, my horizons have been broaded to that which is WoW gameplay videos and WoW movies. here, for your perusal, avid WoWers, are some more of the ones I actually thought to bookmark:

(1) illegal danish: super snacks
(2) big blue dress
(3) leeroy jenkins
(4) hogger raid by lvl 2s
(5) blood elf dance: napolean dynamite
etc. and so on.

Just for Fun

2006-07-14T09:37:00.001-05:00

(note: for some reason I can't get the embedded code to work... bugga)

This. is. funny. Yes Yes.

News

2006-06-28T09:07:00.000-05:00

I just put a whole lot of pics and stuff on my other blog if you're interested. Also wanted to see if anyone is going to be in London or Europe in July? It'd be great to catch up!

menage a trois

2006-06-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

Set up a website, get 5 million hits, and you just might earn a threesome with your girl.

Homosexuality

2006-06-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

I just got this forward, and although its a bit sarcastic, and unnecessary to post it as I'm sure you've seen it in some form already, I think it's pretty interesting. It may be a bit immature at times, but it does make a point well.

On Laura Schlessinger's radio show recently, she said that homosexuality is an abomination, according to Leviticus 18:22,and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny!

Dear Dr. Laura: Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2.clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is anabomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle- room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Bwuahahahaha!!

2006-06-07T08:41:00.000-05:00

This was posted on my WoW LJ comm, hilarious!

And, I want one of those costumes!

Just curious

2006-06-06T11:35:00.000-05:00

If you could live anywhere in the US, where would you live? Disregard the practicalities of employment opportunities, cost of living, blah blah blah.

I retook FindYourSpot.com's quiz just to see if my "ideal place to live" has changed since the last taking (3 years ago). I usually get places in Minnesota, Michigan, you know... good ol' Midwestern-spirit type places. Lucky me that where I want to live is where I "should be living". Unfortunately, I don't live there. Bugga. This time, however, I've shifted west a bit. Where the heck do all these Utah places come from??

Sam's top 10:
1. Denver, CO
2. Ogden, UT
3. Fort Collins, CO
4. Salt Lake City, UT
5. Duluth, MN
6. Rochester, MN
7. Boulder, CO
8. Sheboygan, WI
9. Provo-Orem, UT
10. Great Falls, MT

From Vienna

2006-06-02T04:12:00.000-05:00

So I'm here in Vienna and now I can be just a tourist instead of having to worry about all the little details... those finally appear to be out of the way. Got the visa, got a place to stay, am ready for Romania. Now Vienna... let me just put you in the right mind frame: I arrived and it was 10 degrees centigrade (that's probably 40 or so) and this is meant to be SUMMER... me coming from 100+. So I'm wearing every single piece of warm clothing I brought with me and still shivering. Dreary cloudy weather just doesn't do much to make me appreciate the palaces and my photographs of the sites look much less interesting!

I had a group of high school kids (I can't get away from them) in my hostel romping around till 3am last night (I suppose I am going to have to stop being cheap and not stay in hostels if I want to avoid this, but honestly, all I do is sleep there so why shell out for more?). Now I'm sitting in an internet cafe... the people around me are all smoking (ash trays provided, which makes this feel so seedy), it took me forever to even find this place to be able to check my email. Now, this freakin keyboard keeps spitting strange letters out at me... I was used to the French one and now they give me this one... switch the z and y, move the @ and the ' and the ( and ).... just to make my life difficult. Why do people feel so strongly about moving only some things around to prove a point about individuality and nationality? Did you know that even the American and British keyboards are not the same? There's another one... I have to look everywhere for the question mark! I haven't even mentioned that hotmail, blogger, gmail and every other site I've logged into is in German (even up there it says Titel instead of Title and 'Post wiederherstellan'... I'm assuming that means 'publish post' or something. Oh, no, that would be 'Als Entwurf speichern'). And I do not speak any German. I spent half of yesterday thinking the letter ß was a B... its not, its an ss.

But the coffee here is great, the palaces amazing, and I truly love all the Schiele and Klimt, though the Viennese (Ger: Wieners) must get tired of seeing 'The Kiss' everywhere on everything. Some other cultural things I've noticed (so help me, this is what I do when I travel-- observe) Everyone seems to be dressed like Americans (coming from Asia I suppose they must), there is no walmart, tesco, carrefour or any other mass stores (Austrians don't shop that way, and instead trot off to their local store with a little wheeled bag like little old ladies), but there is Mango, H&M, Levi's, Guess, Starbucks, and other worldwide stores... they truly are conquering the world, it's quite disgusting! Now I must go off to climb Stephansdom, walk the Graben, wander the Hofburg Palace and listen to some Mozart in the Schlosspark. Have a lovely day all!

Freedom!

2006-05-30T08:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I have escaped the communication black zone, finally, and I'm free for the summer. Just so you know what I'm escaping: the internet in Myanmar has been down countrywide for the last week and a half (right when we needed to check to see if our pay was wired--conspiracy perhaps?). It really sucked! Get a picture of why I disappear without any trace for so long--that is seriously how bad it is.

Now I'm in Bangkok, hallelujiah, but then the visa bad luck begins. Apparently I have to proove to the Romanian embassy that I have $6000, and that I have 6 months of medical insurance. Both of these I have, but the proof! Ah, he threw it back at me saying, "This is just a piece of paper, why should I believe this when anyone could create it!" So I've spent the last two days stressing about being refused admittance. This is the only time I regret my kiwi passport. Went to Aruthaya today to get away from it all... got some nice temple pics which perhaps one day in this lifetime I'll get online.

But crossed fingers, tomorrow I head to Vienna (Yes, Matt and Liz I will be thinking of you the whole time!) for two days of transit and fun. The problem with this one is because of some festival, every single hostel in the city seems to be booked out. Ugh! What a crisis.

So, if everything goes my way, I will arrive in Romania on Saturday to start my archaeological dig on Sunday (and hopefully I won't have spent the night on some seedy Vienna street). Dirt awaits--what fun!

hola

2006-05-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

so, just to let you all know, i'm back to blogging on blogger.

actually, i'm bouncing back and forth between blogger and myspace. myspace was secured on the ship during our last underway, and i found out the reason was no less than our command master chief read articles that said a college banned myspace when they found out that over half their bandwidth was eaten up by students on myspace all the time, and another article where a 14yr old girl was raped by someone they supposedly met through myspace. his decision was based entirely on this stuff, not by doing any research on myspace use on the ship. *cough, cough*bullshitdecision*cough, cough* there's a way around it, which i might just be using on deployment, since i've found out that there's really no internet monitoring occurring on the ship. if i'm caught by the wrong person however, i'm sure it'd mean going to captain's mast.

wouldn't be the first time, now would it?

i've also been trying to get a bunch of financial bullshit straightened out, and made some progress. more on that later. house internet is down, due to a bank server error with pete's account where the bill was paid, but the server then issued a reversal. but didn't put the money back in pete's account either. so i'm posting with stolen internet until pete's 1s and 0s are found. :P

btw, deployment is right around the corner, for those who didn't know...6 mos without (much) ozzy...things'll be pretty peaceful for y'all, i imagine...

For you WOW people

2006-05-17T17:34:00.000-05:00

from www.pajiba.com

Item #5: When it comes to adapting video games into movies, Hollywood has an absolutely perfect record: Every single one has sucked horribly. I mean, for the love of all things holy, did we really need two Mortal Kombat movies? Van Damme as the lead in Street Fighter? Those creepy nonhumans in the CGI-animated Final Fantasy? Yet with an almost admirable Sisyphean resolve, Hollywood has again announced her ignoble intentions to bring a game to stilted cinematic life: Legendary Pictures and game makers Blizzard Entertainment have joined up to produce a big-screen version of “World of Warcraft,” to the rapturous cries worldwide of legions of homebound keyboard-pounders who’ve spent thousands of hours refining and developing characters named Ulgor the Mighty and questing for elf gold beyond the mountains. For the uninitiated, “Warcraft” is an online role-playing computer game in the vein of Dungeons & Dragons, in which players ramble around a vast digital universe in the never-ending pursuit of more ways to kill time. With an average subscription fee of $15 per player and an estimated 6 million registered players worldwide, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood decided to see if they could turn that into box office dollars. So, for those of you who’ve never known the intimate touch of a woman but know how much gold it costs your mage to learn how to skin and sell animal hides, take heart: Hollywood’s got your back.

Mmhm, that's right!

2006-05-17T16:56:00.000-05:00

Now I'm really done! Assuming of course that I actually pass all my classes :)
V. excited.

Oh in case I forgot to mention it

2006-05-10T18:28:00.000-05:00

I had my last ever graduate class today. OMFG it was about time!

Happiness.

2006-04-30T09:36:00.000-05:00

I finally took one

2006-04-24T08:26:00.000-05:00

Introducing Omaddon, the cat who hates me! See how he hides behind the curtains? He ran under the chair the second the flash went off.

CONGRATS J+B

2006-04-23T22:36:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the club. the married people club. And it was lovely and yummy and lots of fun (i LOVE being a wedding guest, so i'm biased) and also they have a lovely house and a surprisingly cute chihuahua.

I will add mine too :)

2006-04-13T15:10:00.000-05:00

The man of the house just chillin...

She's big and she loves it!!

2006-04-10T17:23:00.000-05:00

How can you resist this face? Our new puppy, Barley.

Brooks

beloit on film?

2006-04-09T15:11:00.000-05:00

Any else see The Exorcism of Emily Rose? I swear it was filmed on campus...

2006-04-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

how 'bout some plain old debauchery?

I found one

2006-04-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

Porch sitting and WOP. A fabulous combination.

2006-04-05T23:07:00.000-05:00

Bos orates the wine:
richly dark, nice legs, cherry.
Tex has prison pants.

2006-04-05T20:41:00.000-05:00

I'll get the ball rolling with Clore's magnificent keg-stand, in Christy and Jonah's hotel room... at Maxfield's wedding... (this one took place AFTER he did one in the drive up area in front of the hotel...)

next...

2006-04-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

since i'm sure we all have a lot... I say the next picture post be of some drunken debauchery... past or present...

Cherry Blossoms

2006-04-03T07:40:00.000-05:00

Washington and Squirrels.

see, we have a theme

2006-03-30T14:55:00.000-06:00

dd's happy face & emily grrr

zoie

2006-03-30T14:37:00.000-06:00

oh pet pictures! yay! this is my little baby.

Sometimes you just feel lazy

2006-03-29T19:34:00.000-06:00

Since we're showing pet pictures...

2006-03-29T08:03:00.000-06:00

Loki, my cat, once more (I know you guys that read the LJ probably got sick of him) destroying something. If I can get my hands on a real camera I'll try and get some real pictures :)

Finni.

2006-03-28T21:38:00.000-06:00

this is my Finnegan, and my pic of the week. more to come... I dig this task Nels.

2006-03-28T09:07:00.000-06:00

blogger has been uncooperative. but it was sunny.

2006-03-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

well the scavenger hunt is obviously defunct. anyone have any better ideas?

Another poll

2006-03-10T11:58:00.000-06:00

re: c+j's wedding at 5pm in Golf Club, chicago ... "this is more formal than not" ... what are we wearing? is anyone wearing a long dress? liz doesn't want to go shopping ... also, what are the bridesmaid dresses like? - usually a decent indicator.

ETA: Straight from the unicorn's mouth: i emailed C and asked. "Figure anything YOU would have worn to Phi Psi's formal and you're fine." liz is totally wearing a long dress. unless i magically change my mind. but since she said phi psi formal and not theta formal, i will make absolutely sure to leave feather boa at home.

Ok go!

2006-03-01T16:07:00.000-06:00

The first scavenger hunt will be ridiculous fashion trends! Rules: no visible faces (you can blur/cover them after the fact if need be) ; no set-ups or people you know ; it can be anything that you, personally, think is a weird fashion (it does not have to be anything well-known and oft mocked) ; finally, you must agree to not be upset if one of us chooses a fashion you personally admire! this is just a game :)

End date: Thursday, March 9

2006-03-01T10:01:00.000-06:00

when you post on Juicy you can upload an image directly through the posting page; my guess is that the problem, if you're on a work computer, is going to be getting the images from your camera to the computer.

2006-02-28T08:11:00.000-06:00

Ok so I kinda have a new idea for a game on peachy, and it involves taking pictures and posting them in acordance with a theme. I have a very basic idea for the starting theme, and I think we should do what was done last time, take a week to complete the challenge then the next person comes up with one and so on. I believe everyone is able to post pics here, but I know some of you don't have cameras. So, before the game actually begins, I'd just like an idea of how many can actually play.

Peach Growers union

2006-02-25T15:22:00.000-06:00