Well, Anna is graduating tomorrow. Finally!!! After 23 years of going in and out of school, she is finally graduating from college!! So many things got in the way of her graduation. Among them, moving around constantly, dog breeding and switching majors. It's been a long road, but she finally reached the end. And I began preparing for it tonight. I made her a graduation cookie and decorated it myself. I did a crappy job, but it doesn't look too bad! And it should taste better than it looks. I've got to give Betty Crocker's decorating icing two thumbs up! That stuff is awesome!! It comes in a tube and you just spray it on.
This stuff is so easy to work with! I love it! The problem is this thing is so expensive for what you get!! Even a cheap can from Walmart costs over $4!! I don't see what the point is in charging so darned much for an item like this! I mean, it doesn't last long. Though I have to hand it to this little device that it does make the cookies look and taste a little bit better! I am actually proud of the job I did on Anna's cookie, and she likes it. That's all that counts. Even though I think I could have done a bit better. Oh well!!
Anna's graduation ceremony is tomorrow, and it's going to be good. I know it is. Anna even told me that the governor is going to be there! That's really something. The governor didn't attend Anna's high school ceremony! But I think it's cool that Anna is going to finally be graduating from college, after 23 years of getting the run-around! She made it big here! She even made the honor roll last year. As an honor roll student, I wonder if she is going to be asked to give a speech. I decided days ago that I want to put Anna's ceremony on film. I am going to make it into a nice little movie. One that we can share with family and friends. Eva, Katrina and father are not going to be able to make it. Neither is Ephrata, Spencer and Diego, who live in North Dakota. So I have a lot of DVDs to create! I promised everyone I would tell them all about what goes on. I did take some pics of Anna and the graduation cookie I created.
I know I did a crappy job. It says "Happy Graduation!" and I put 2010 on it too. But that's the cookie! It's a double chocolate cookie. I asked Anna if she wanted a cake and she said she'd rather have the cookie. Which is fine by me! I'm just so happy she is finally graduating! I will post video clips here if I can once the ceremony is over. Just a few, like before and after incidents.
Well, in other news, I've been having problems getting Barney and my male radiated ratsnake to eat. They seem to be extremely fussy eaters! So what I did was I looked up some methods to use for problem feeders and tried the most logical method I could find. The Dixie cup method works best of all! Well, it was the one I tried this afternoon. And it worked! I had this frozen pinkie that I tried to feed to Barney and he would not eat it in his cage. So I took him and put him in a little critter cage I have (it's the closest thing I actually have to a Dixie cup) and put the little pinkie mouse in with him and put them in my closet, which is the darkest and warmest room in the house, and left them alone for a while. I took a little snooze and when I woke up I checked on Barney, and he had eaten the pinkie mouse! I was happy! At least I know he was not starving himself because he's ill or something! Then I had a little hopper, and I fed it to my radiated ratsnake. I had that baby for a couple of days and I had to put him in the cage with Malcom, Maggie and Melissa. I told that little hopper not to get himself too comfortable! LOL! Because as soon as I could figure out how to get my ratsnake to eat, he was going to be done for. I hated to do it, but that snake had to eat. I tried to kill the little mouse myself, but I didn't succeed. I was glad! Because if the ratsnake hadn't had him for dinner, I would surely had to have put him in my freezer. I have this thing that blocks me from wanting to put mice and rats in my freezer! I just cannot do it!
Well, now Barney has eaten and now also my ratsnake has eaten, and he's still in my closet digesting. I'm going to have to leave him in there for a couple of days so he can digest that mouse and not spit him back up. Out here, there are just too many disturbances. He needs the warmth, quiet and dark of my closet.
You ever wonder why I hate people so much? Because I will never understand them!! I wish I could get out of this skin sometimes and become a forest-dwelling animal! LOL! People are the biggest hypocrites in the animal kingdom. Yes, admittedly, even I am sometimes. But I try to even keep that at a minimum. And sometimes I even get over those feelings because I ask myself "What would I really do about this if it were me?" Then I answer myself, and I say "Gosh! I am a hypocrite!!" LOL!!! I guess I'm just all human! I've found over the years that hypocrisy is actually a large part of human nature. We are definitely not perfect. That's for sure! There are times when we are going to be insincere.
Well, a friend of mine has lost some friends, and I know how that feels. Heck I like this friend. She keeps me laughing, in a good way. I'm a very loyal person. I pride myself on how loyal I am with my friends. And it takes a Hell of a LOT to break that loyalty. Someone would have to do something really bad to me personally, or to my family, to make me not want anything to do with them anymore. I don't sugar-coat anything myself, and I don't play "follow the leader"! I've lost friends too because I am so straightforward, that I make people feel insecure. People like others better that sugar-coat everything. But not me! I prefer someone to be honest with me. But I always feel that if someone is going to give an opinion, good or bad, they should give a reason why they think that way. I always do. I don't sugar-coat anything, but I also don't just dislike something for no reason. I don't stereotype anyone either, I prefer to get to know each person as an individual. I only stereotype racists! They are all the same. I admit too my initial impression of teenagers (and 20-year olds) is that they are all nasty, evil, and rude people. But I usually do not say anything unless they prove I am correct about them. Because in all honesty, not every person between the ages of 12-25 I've met was that bad. And show breeders I am the same with. My initial reaction to them is that they too are all evil, unless they prove otherwise. But only a few have proven otherwise (I can count them on the fingers of one hand). I wasn't always like that about show breeders! But it started when I "met" bischi back in 2003, and just escalated from there.
I'm usually very forgiving, especially if I really like someone. Just because someone is a little sarcastic, I don't hold that against them. I like people who have some sarcasm and wit. Even to a level that would seem overwhelming to others. The only things that to me are unforgivable is if someone disses my family, or disses me behind my back. I prefer if they are going to diss me, have the guts to do it to my face! Believe me, I can handle it. Though I tend not to take trolls too seriously. Or they kill puppies!! I've heard jokes like that and I always say "I'd rather you kill a kitten than kill a puppy!" I don't care about cats one way or the other. But a puppy has so much more to offer in the way of love! That's why Groucho's death struck me so hard. Harder than losing any other pet I ever had. Not only did I lose her, I lost her 4 unborn babies too. So unfair!! :(
I admit I have lost friends myself. But I just consider the fact that they were never real friends. I always say that if a person can not be a true friend to me, then they can never be a true friend to anyone else! Because I am the epitome of raw human nature. I just don't go around naked!! LOL!! I'd make several people go blind if I did. But I will say things out loud that others would be afraid to say because they don't want to get slammed or because they think it will hurt others' feelings. I don't say these things to hurt others, I usually say it to spare their feelings. Because if I don't tell them (I am usually friendly about it), someone else will, and they may be much more harsh about it than I would be. I also prefer this characteristic in my friends as well. I'd rather someone be honest with me than keep their feelings to themselves. As long as they don't approach me about it like a madman. Or a madwoman. But I usually like the straightforward approach. As long as there is no hint of malice. And as long as the other person doesn't slam at me for doing something they themselves can be accused of!! That's why I don't like the Dirty Dozen mob anymore! LOL! And they will always approach you with hostility. I don't. If the truth needs to be told, it needs to be told. But I find people listen better when you do it with finesse. Only those who have an ego problem will get pissed when you tell them the truth, and that is definitely not me!!
I remember when I first met Metalraptor, he asked me why I hate cats so much. I told him, and he told me that I get freaky when I talk about cats and why I hate them, and he said that it makes people not want to hang around me. No one had ever told me that before! Well, the delusional mods did, in a round-about kind of way. But I'd never listen to the delusional mods!! Because they got freaky themselves when they talked about me. There were times when I actually feared for my safety. So, what is "freaky" to them? Not much, I'd say!! Well, I shined up to Metalraptor from that moment on! I really like him a lot! And I like him because he was straightforward with me, and told me what he was thinking. And he didn't do it because of a big ego or nothing like that. Some people will, and I can always pick them out. They are the ones who get pissed when you are being honest with them. I am by no means modest, but I also don't have a big ego. I am completely honest, with myself and those I care about. There's a difference there.
I just don't understand people because they decide they don't like someone anymore just because that person is fun-loving, witty, tempers things with a little sarcasm, as long as they are not malicious, and I don't think this person is at all. I told her Don't change!! In the wise words of INXS. I like her just the way she is! Sarcasm and all!
Well, INXS are at it again, going on another concert date. This time to a place called Broome, WA. I first saw that and thought "Cool! They're coming back to this state!!" I saw the "WA" and thought at the first instant it meant Washington State. But no. I've heard of WA, but I never heard of Broome!! I realized in this World, "WA" actually has 2 meanings. There is a "WA" in Australia, too. It's called Western Australia. Then I thought maybe I should make sure whether it is that "WA" or not before I purchase tickets. So I looked it up. Sure enough, it was Broome, Western Australia!! That SUCKS!!! But honestly, I don't think INXS are going to be coming back here. They didn't in the last leg of the last tour they did. So I don't think they will be coming back here. More likely they will be going to places like Sacramento, LA, NYC or New Jersey, places like that. This state does not seem to fit into their repertoire.
I need to get back on inxs.com more often. I've been so busy the last couple of months, I haven't had any time to. Except for the very occasional post. I only take interest in threads where my friends post. I don't care about ANYBODY else except my friends. I just by-pass the posts of people I don't care about. I heard INXS.com might be getting a forum in the future, and I just said I'll pass that one up. Forums tend to give birth to cliques, and I don't want to be a part of any cliques, and I want nothing to do with them. I have my friends on MySpace and Facebook, that's all I need! People in cliques tend to kick you out when you don't agree with 100% of the things they believe in. And I refuse to give in to things like that. So no forums for me!! I miss my old days of chatting with my friends on the INXSweb chatroom! They used to say the people at inxs.com were a rowdy bunch! Now I know what they mean. But at least they are not as bad as the people in the Rockband Lounge! I still say that is the most useless forum there is on the internet! I never go in there. But from time to time, I notice them talking about me in their little "private corners" that no one can get into without special permission from the admin. They don't have the guts to talk about me out in the open, they have to do it in private forums, so you know what they are saying is not good! LOL!! Most likely are not true, either, nobody really knows me on that forum, not even DonnaG, who probably still professes to. Oh well! hehee! At least I have the guts to talk about them on here, where they can see it, and if they want to, even respond anonymously. hehehe! Know why? Because I don't care what they think of me! I only care what my friends think of me and that is it. No one else matters. With strangers I think "Well, she/he apparently didn't like me before, so I am no worse off now than I was before I met him/her!"
Well, tonight I had to clean the mouse cage. It was starting to smell bad, and driving the snakes crazy!! I saw action out of my African house snake that I normally do not see. I've noticed he's a very placid snake! Very docile too. No biting at all from him! My radiated rat snakes are a whole other story!! LOL! They've bitten me several times now. They are quite skittish and snippy. Well, even though I don't think of them as pets, I named my mice. Their names are Malcom, Maggie and Melissa. Melissa is a black pinto mouse. Malcom is a lavendar silky. Maggie is a wild-style brown (sometimes called Agouti). She's still a hopper. She bites too! Bit my latex glove tonight while I was trying to get her out of her cage. hehe!! She's a little powerhouse! She almost took my glove off when she bit it. I'm used to animals and all their snips and scratches. But their cage needed cleaning, really bad! I was going to put it off until tomorrow, but I decided to get it done and over with tonight. Well the mice are not pets, they are my breeders. I need to have a steady supply of pinky mice coming in. Otherwise it's too tough to go into Aberdeen every week and get mice for each of my snakes. Aberdeen is such a long ways away. I'm trying to beef up my snakes because I do intend to breed them, and that's one thing I learned. They have to be fed every week. Sometimes a couple times a week.
I entered my Minnie in a contest for the cutest dog. I think Minnie is very cute! Actually I entered a pic of both her and Vegas. If anyone out there agrees that Minnie is the cutest baby on the planet, please click this link: http://gapc-vote.com/?c=multi&p=53354. Hopefully she will win, though I know it's a long shot! There are probably lots of cute dogs out there! But even if she doesn't win, Minnie will always be a beauty queen to me!
Well, in other news, I think one of my friends has the hots for me! hehe! He's a nice looking guy, but there is a bit of a problem. He's allergic to dogs! That's a dirty shame! If it wasn't for that, he'd be perfect. He's a fan of the Great Space Coaster, and even has a petition out to get the show back up on the air. I hope he makes it because I would love to see that show again. He seems to be a very big fan of the show. He always asks me if I remember certain scenes of the show. I hate it that I actually remember very little of the show! I only remembered Gary Gnu's program because I found the video on YouTube. This guy would be great, except for the fact he's allergic to dogs! He's not allergic to cats though, but I would not be happy in a house that only had cats! Cats are just not as much fun as dogs! You can't cuddle with them while you sleep because they always want to be on the move. I would be miserable!! I told him I just can't give up my dogs. Plus, he lives all the way in Florida. While I would agree it would be a nice place to visit, I don't want to leave Ocean Shores. It's going to be bad enough that I may have to move to Billings! But he said I was beautiful, and I am a nice person :) I told him I'd like to get to know him better. That's why I would plan a trip down there. Well, I have always wanted to visit Florida, ever since I was a little kid. And he did promise to show me all the magnificent sights. I'd love to see the Ripley's Museum and SeaWorld. Disney World would also be fun, but I'm not too sure I'd enjoy it that much, I'm not into rides much and I hate parades! I think they're boring. But I'd love to see the Ripley's Museum, I've always been fascinated by that show and that kind of stuff.
Well, summer is always hard on me, so it may be winter before I can make it down there. But I'd better do it before we move to Billings. Anna would have to stay here and take care of the dogs. I cannot take them with me. He knows I have them, and he knows I won't get rid of them. If he still wants a relationship after that and after we meet, then he's got it! :)
Well, this batch is a little more skittish than the last. I got 2 Pueblan milksnakes, both very beautiful snakes! I also got 2 radiated ratsnakes, also both very beautiful snakes! A lot of Asian rat snakes are so beautiful!! Almost like Asian style art. Maybe that was why I was so attracted to these radiated ratsnakes. I got quite a surprise this afternoon when my sis came home. Ma and John took her to school today. Well, John said that he likes kingsnakes, like Bandit. I was shocked! I didn't know John likes snakes of any kind! I admit kingsnakes are beautiful and fascinating. That was what first attracted me to Bandit. Well, I have a lot of work to go with these snakes. The ratsnakes are very skittish, and snippy. They've already bitten me twice. But I intend to keep working with them. :) Cannot give up there.
For the most part, the milksnakes keep under the dirt I put in their tank. Either way, I am glad I got them. I will be getting some pics of them soon, and I will post them up on here.
Well, now that Bandit, Bud and Barney have settled in their new homes finally, it's time to feed them. So today I am going to town to get some feeder mice. I hope the pet shop here has babies to sell!! Bud and Bandit can only eat pinkie mice. Barney on the other hand, can have bigger mice. Though not too much bigger. I have a special trick up my sleeve, I plan to kill the mice myself. Or at least paralyze them so they don't hurt my snakes. There is a way to do it quickly, easily, and with no ill effects to the snake. I've heard of people suffocating the mice with CO2, but I've also heard of that killing the snake once the overabundance of gas has been released in their body. Not sure if that is really true, but I don't want to take that chance. I also don't want to keep mice in my freezer!! There is something very disturbing about that! My ma is terrified of and disgusted with mice, so I sure cannot do that. Of course she is also disgusted by snakes too. LOL! Some people are, and I understand that. But not all snakes are venomous or icky creatures. Actually, once you get to know them like I have, you'd see they are very beautiful and beneficial animals.
Snakes can be good pets like dogs or cats, only without the shedding of hair, and very little mess to clean up. They are non-allergenic too. And some, like my house snake Barney, are very docile animals. No snake ever "loves" people, but they can become docile to a point where they actually seem to. Some tolerate the company of their humans more than others. Some snakes are not tamable at all. I always heard that green tree pythons are very skittish and flighty, and are rather difficult to tame down. But I have seen some people who own them and have been able to interact with them regularly. I guess it depends a lot on how they have been raised. They are hard to tame though because they have such long and sharp teeth (they are non-venomous), but their bite packs something of a whollop too! It can be quite painful. But all it takes is patience, kindness, and some good, strong gloves, and you'll have yourself a lovely snake. I had one friend call me weird because I own snakes now. hehe! Which as many of you reading this now may know I take that as a compliment!! I remember last year I found someone who said all snake owners are freaks, except her daughter who owns a corn snake. Well, honestly, it won't be long before her daughter will be among us "freaks". Snakes are addictive! They are so easy to care for, that makes them almost the perfect pet!
My long-term task with these snakes is to turn them into a business. I want to breed snakes. Of course I will be starting off small, I got a good start now, with Bandit, Barney and Bud. All I have to do is get them some girlfriends! Of course it will be years before they will be able to begin breeding. I'll start in Billings, and later on, maybe have enough to move out here and keep my business going in this town. I hope!! Most of my business will be with reptile expos. I'll get myself an RV, and travel with my snakes around the country to different expos. Of course most people nowadays like morph colors, like albinos and hypomelanistics and lavendars. While man-made morphs are great on dogs and cats, I don't like them in snakes, lizards and birds!! I prefer natural colors in those animals. They are all naturally beautiful. I think messing with their colors totally subtracts a lot of their own natural beauty. That's something that should not be messed with! That's what I am going to specialize in, naturally colored animals. Not just snakes and lizards, but also birds. I saw a report from one person who said he got morph babies from 2nd generation wild-caught milksnakes. So, not sure how to keep my lines morph-free, but I will give it a try. I hope I have much better results breeding snakes than I did breeding chihuahuas!! Well, one thing I would have going for me is that snakes lay eggs. All I need is a mentor. I've read many books on the subject of snake breeding. I even found some literature on the internet. Fortunately, my snakes are all babies, and I don't need to breed them just yet. So, no worries for now. But they grow fast! Especially if you feed them several times a week, which if I am going to breed them, I need to do. Which is why while I am out today, I also intend to pick up some breeder mice.
I got them!! They arrived today about noon, and I've spent all day trying to fix up a temporary place to keep them. They seem to be happy and contented. I'm happy with them too, they are so beautiful!! I will be making more videos of them as time goes on. This video I made is just basically a day-long journal of my wait for my snakes to arrive. They seem to be happy now, and alive and well! I've decided to give them names. They are all males, I sexed them myself. After I learned how. Well, I learned how at the last reptile expo I went to, which was back in 2000. That incidentally was the last time I ever had any snakes of any kind. But anyway, I decided to name my corn snake "Bud". The same name as the last corn snake I had. I named my California kingsnake "Bandit", mostly because he has black and white bands all over his body. At the time this video was made, I hadn't had a name picked out for the African house snake, but now I've decided to name him "Barney". He just reminded me of a Barney. I let him frolic around in my house plants earlier today, and BOY!! Did he love that!!!! He's a great climber!! I think the plants give him a bit of security. I'm going to keep going back to LLLReptiles! They are good! They have quite a few wonderful species available! I also ordered some snakes from Reptmart. That's where I got the Pueblan milksnakes and the radiated ratsnakes. I will also be making videos of those. I've also spent a lot of time today reading up on how to breed snakes. It all points to I have to get my own breeder mice!! I will get them next week. The snakes shouldn't be fed now anyway. The store recommends not feeding them for a week because it causes stress. Well anyway, I had a ball today waiting and unpacking my snakes. I cannot wait till the next shipment arrives!!
Well, my car was finally serviced. It costed me almost $260, but he also threw in a new battery. The guy I got was really good, and really nice too. He told me he also does his own karaoke, which is cool. He has quite a musical background, he even has his own band. He's also worked with Kurt Cobain. He also told me about a disagreement he's had with a guy named Michael Moore about stealing some of his movie work. This guy is cool! And he fixes cars besides! Does a great job too. I was like WOW!! I wonder if he can show me a few tips and tricks about making good reality movies. Well, I cannot ask him now. I've become an internet shop-a-holic!! Especially when it comes to snakes. I think I'm going to try breeding them for a while, see if I like it. I'm getting a couple of pairs I found of some pueblan milksnakes (I finally have some on order!! With luck they will be arriving soon) as well as a rather new species to the trade, called a radiated rat snake. Rat snakes are cool because they are so hardy. Great beginner snakes! And this particular species (Elaphe radiata) is rather new to the trade, and quite beautiful!!! I don't know what has possessed me to spend so much for these snakes!! I tried this this week for the first time ever, and now, I am literally HOOKED!!!! What I should do is get a pair of the African house snakes. People can breed those without even trying! They multiply like rabbits, and you don't even need to hibernate them.
Well, now that I have 4 new snakes on the way, I had to order some more cages to keep them in, so I did. At least shipping on those cages will be a lot cheaper. But I feel so bad going so crazy internet shopping and spending so much!! I lost myself, what can I say?? Anna's going to kill me!! So I have one set of snakes coming in tomorrow, and another that probably won't get here until next week. We shall see! I haven't even got any breeder mice yet. They may have to settle for F/T babies until I can get some breeders of my own going.
I heard from Tyler again from last night. He didn't like something I said on a video. He was the only one I let in on my secret. He obviously took what I said very hard. I told him in a PM that I'm only playing when I say what I say on YouTube. Not to take it personally. But since it affected him harshly, I thought I should point that out. I was going to have more fun with him today, but what I said obviously hurt him real bad. So it did become an issue. I dunno, I honestly think this whole thing is just one big plate of BS. I think Tyler has been reading this blog, and was playing back. hehe!!
Well, at least he said he was sorry. And I have other worries today. My car has been on the fix for a while, and someone is coming today to look at it. Our regular mechanic used to be a guy named Norm. But I think his wife got a little pissed off at us. LOL! Well!! I cannot help that!! The story goes that Norm used to fix our car at a cheap rate, he mostly did it to buy his wife cigarettes. I always hated that, but where else are we going to find a mechanic who would fix our car for only $20? Most of them want loads of money, and want it right away. Well, last time Norm fixed our car, he quoted $40 for labor and $20 for parts. I said OK. Well, we wound up giving him $70 because at one point, he had to get a particular part for the car and said he needed about $10 to get it. He had already gotten the other parts for $10, and now needed another $10 to get another part to fix the car with. We had nothing lower than a $20 bill at that particular time, and Anna asked for the change, and they didn't have it at that time. So we said OK, trusting that later on they would get $10 to give us back. They had always been trustworthy before. But I did tell them before they left here, I wanted the reciept for that part, and the change and they said OK, they will give them to us the next day. Norm and his wife were on their way out to Aberdeen at that time. Well, they never told us, but they got gas with the extra $10 we unwillingly gave them, and we were not told about that until we tried to ask Norm the next time he came around if he has our change. I realize they are not very well-off, but then neither are we! They don't seem to realize that. I did not appreciate them taking advantage of me and my sis like that either!! I even asked to see the receipt for the parts. He didn't have it, said it got thrown away. I felt cheated and angry!! I said that was NEVER going to happen again. I said next time we call on him, we're going to ask for a bill and give him money only AFTER the job is complete.
Actually, I didn't want to call him again at all. But what else could we do if the car breaks down? Not only did I not like the fact he was using our money to buy his wife cigarettes, but also, Norm was a victim of a back injury, and has had several surgeries to correct it. Made me feel bad actually calling on him to do heavy work like fixing the car. I always tried to not ask him to do anything strenuous. I really don't mind someone asking for gas compensation if they are going to get a part for my car, but I want to be notified first before they take our money! And neither he nor his wife mentioned anything about it before taking our $10 and spending it on gas for themselves. And they even had us thinking they were going to give us back the change, which isn't fair at all!
Well, after calling around to other mechanics now that our car needs fixing again, this particular problem is going to cost us an arm and a leg!!! So Anna recommended we try Norm again. I hesitated, saying "Can we really trust him?" Anna said let's try and see what kind of a quote he gives us. Well, we did call him and he answered and came right over, just as he always did. I told Anna about how this time I was NOT going to give him any money at all until AFTER the job was done, and then make sure he owes us no change! Just give him the exact amount. Well, this time Anna said she was going to ask him for a bill once he completed the work. And she did, she told Norm she didn't want what happened last time to happen again. She said he didn't look upset when she told him that. Well, 2 days ago, when I got paid, I told Anna to phone Norm and tell him to come on over, and fix the car. Well, she called but got no answer. She left a message on his answering machine instead. He didn't call back. So yesterday she decided to try again, and his wife answered the phone. Anna asked if Norm was there and she said "He doesn't live here anymore and I don't know how to get in touch with him." She was polite about it, but I knew she was bullshitting!!! Because before Anna could ask anything else, she told me that his wife said "Well goodbye!" and hung up. I know she was BSing us! How could Norm just disappear and not tell his wife where he's going? Didn't make sense to me. I told Anna that I believe she's pissed at us because we asked Norm to give us a bill and that we were not going to give him any money until we got a bill for the parts and repair. But if she has a hair up her ass now because of that, then that is just too bad!!
It's OK. I found someone else who will do a better job for the same price! I am right now waiting for this guy to come. But Anna already threw Norm's phone number away. I have a good mind to report them to the SSI department because he is collecting and working on cars and getting extra money. And if I was one of the dirty dozen mob, I probably would! But I am not! Never will be!! And I think that's cruel. So I've just let it go.
You want further proof that anime and video games turn a kid's brains into jello? That it makes them rude, nasty and insipid? Check this kid out. His name is Tyler, on YouTube he calls himself "shedwards89". He is the picture of what I know anime and video game lovers to be. How do I know he is an anime and video game fan? This is what he wrote of himself on his channel:
"hello my name is Tyler, I'm 17, my target audience are Naruto fans and video game lovers! well i hope you find my channel kick ass and you enjoy my videos! so subscribe you anime fans and video game lovers and enjoy my kick ass channel! "
I always said the worst kids out there are the ones who watch anime cartoons and play video games. I've mentioned that several times throughout this blog. Check out what this moron wrote to me in a video I commented on a month ago:
"i swear to god i will hunt you down you fat cunt and kill you and your 2 chiuahuas, your just a stupid fat bitch who will die alone and burn in hell, no wonder your divorced i can't see how any guy got with you in the first place you disgusting fat ugly bitch! god help the man went through hell with you, may i hope find someone decent."
LOLOL!!! I tried to make some sense of that last sentence, maybe it's the fact that it just runs on, with no proper punctuations, but I could not make any sense of it at all. But the "cunt", "kill", and "burn in hell" insets are typical of a very disturbed person who spends his life doing nothing but sit in his living room and play video games and watches anime crap. And this idiot Burnhart, who was also on YouTube, thought I was wrong in thinking anime has a bad effect on today's kids. He stated that western programs are "WAY more violent than anime". Those were his words. Well, you won't find rudeness like this in westerns' fans. Nor will you see westerns fans threaten anyone with harm like this either. Should I tell my ex what this kid said? Maybe have him explain to this stupid kid that he and I are still good friends? NAAAAAAHHHHH!! What Tyler thinks is not at all important to me or my ex-hubby! hehehe!! I'm just using Tyler as a great example of why I believe anime and video games are bad influences on children today. I told him thank you for that! Yet another example of what I always knew was true. I keep telling people, listen to me! I'm one of the best judges of character there is. Whenever I see a rude, dumbass teenager, I can always count on them being either anime fans or video game lovers, or BOTH!! This is what anime is teaching the kids!!! My sis Eva won't even let her kids watch ANY anime cartoons. She used to, until she noticed the shows were very dark and violent. And even her kids' attitudes changed for a while. She spent months trying to get them to revert back to the kids they were before they started watching that crap! That's why my favorite word for "anime" is "crapime". LOL!! Oh yes! And I do have another boyfriend. And my ex never remarried. Though he does have another girlfriend, who is also fat, just like me. :)
Well, I notice a bit of narcissism in Tyler's intro too. Check out what he says in his "about me" section in his channel:
"i love video games and i can guarantee i kick your ass in about any game, especially at Naruto games, i kick ass at naruto video games like ultimate ninja 3 and various other ones, the kind of people i like to be friends with are anime fans, and video game lovers"
tsk, tsk, tsk! He seems to think he's GOD's gift to video games. I'd bet there is a vast number of people who could kick his butt, but I don't care about none of that BS. I heard Ultimate Ninja is a very violent game. I'd be willing to bet that the 3rd edition would be even worse. Poor kid. Already his brain has turned to jello. But I love how hard he's trying to convince me that I am a "fat, ugly, disgusting bitch". LOLOL!!! hehe! Should I let him keep trying? Well, heck! He can if he wants to. I don't care what he says, he's not my friend. I don't even like him. I don't like him or the likes of him. So, I don't care. I just think he perfectly illustrates the point I've always made about anime and modern video games leading a bad example to today's kids.
Subject Change*****************************
I got no time anyway to dwell on the subject of dumbass teenagers, I got some exciting news, and it's got me on pins and needles! I did something I've never done before. I ordered myself some pet snakes over the internet!! I've never done that before! EVER!! I've always been antsy about ordering live animals off the internet. But my father and I talked while he was here this past weekend. He said you can order ANYTHING online, and get it shipped right to your door. I thought "how awesome is that?" Had me thinking, maybe I should get some snakes sent here. That would be SUPER awesome!! I love snakes!! I need some more!!! Most snakes I have are colubrids. This time, I am getting a california kingsnake, a corn snake (normal colored), and an african brown house snake. I think it'd be cool to get into vipers and venomous snakes and all like that, but I am absolutely NOT ready!!! Don't know that I ever will be either. Venomous snakes are indeed fascinating, but they are also very scary. That's the most dangerous animal you could ever hope to get. One bite can kill. Definitely not for me. Though they are fascinating to look at.
Well, the snakes I ordered are fascinating animals too. I happen to like colubrids. Natural colored corn snakes are getting ever more hard to find! Most people nowadays breed only morphs, and that is a shame! I don't go for morphs at all!! That's why there are some breeders I won't purchase from, because all they ever have are morphs. I may have to go to such states as South Carolina or Florida to find natural colored corn snakes before too long. Cuz if I don't, then I won't be able to find them captive bred anymore. To me, there is no substitute for natural colors and markings. NONE of the man-made morphs are as pretty as what you can find in nature. That's the whole beauty of snakes! Nature gave them such unbelievable beauty! Even people who hate snakes have to admit they are indeed beautiful animals. They have colors and patterns on them that you won't find in any other creatures. These manmade morphs just take all that beauty away. IMO, they look kinda ugly in snakes!! That's why I never go for morphs. When I look for any herps at all, whether they are snakes, frogs, lizards, or even birds, I get only natural or "normal" colors. It's the only "normal" thing I usually like in this world.
I wanted to get a puebulan milksnake, but unfortunately I couldn't. I had one on order, but I guess they sold it to someone else today, because when I called them, they said the milksnake had been sold already. I'm still very upset about that!! I wanted that milksnake so bad!! They are such pretty snakes!!! Well, hopefully some will become available again next month and I will get some then. I also want to get some pygmy chameleons. Those are so adorable!!! They do everything the big chameleons do, only smaller and cuter.
Well, my snakes come in on Friday. They are getting shipped off tomorrow. I cannot wait!! That's why I am so excited!! I even made a video about how happy I am! I got it on YouTube. I said I would make a follow-up video when my snakes arrive. I don't know when on Friday they will actually arrive, but I will be waiting!
But I may have to. My sis wants to go to MSU, and now the only way she can is if she gets a student loan. She's heading for trouble with that one because student loans ruin your life!! I keep trying to talk her out of it, she has no idea what she's getting herself into. The only way she can get out of it is if she cancels now, before she gets out there. But she won't do it! She said financial aid has already gone through there and she doesn't want to cancel. I told her she should apply for schooling at WSU, at least there she can qualify for all the grants that will pay for her dorm room as well as complete tuition and supplies for her schooling. But she said too many people from Tacoma and Seattle will be going to that school, and she hates the people from those towns. We lived near Tacoma for a little while and hated every second of it!! The people were nasty and looked at us small-towners like cockroaches. Seattle was no better! We never lived there, but we did visit there a few times. It was always the same. People were rude, nasty and pushy! Nothing like Toutle or Ocean Shores. But Anna would only have to put up with those people during the school year. After that was over, she could always come back to the comfort of Ocean Shores. I don't want to leave here! It's breaking my heart!! But I cannot afford to live completely on my own. Anna and I share expenses around here and it makes things easier on both of us. And now my ma moved into the apartment upstairs, I was hoping she'd be there for at least a few years. But now she is contemplating moving out again, to Canada. She likes British TV and Canada has more British channels than we do here. She's about retiring age, so she's ready to settle down and watch nothing but her British soaps, which she relishes. If she wasn't moving away, I wouldn't mind living here without Anna. But since she is, and Anna is moving to Montana, I'd be lonely here. I don't take well to strangers, and I have no idea of the kind of people who would move in upstairs. I have calmed down considerably since I moved here. Partly because the climate here is easier for me to take. It never gets too hot here. Not like Olympia!! There it would get scalding during the summer. But the highest it ever gets here has been 80 degrees, and even then we have a nice cool breeze coming from the ocean. Heat puts me in a bad mood, all the time!! I can't stand too much heat!! Anyone who may have been monitoring my actions over the past 10 years, you'd notice my attitude is always worse when the weather gets warmer, the summer and spring months. Or if we have "indian summer". hehe! My attitude is never that bad during the fall and winter months.
Well, Montana gets HOT!!! And I mean hot like a broiler oven!! And the winters are extremely cold and dry. Not a good idea to mix that with the sinus problems I already have. I'd be having nosebleeds on a daily basis!! Part of the beauty of Ocean Shores is that it remains pretty much uniform in weather here. It never gets too hot, or too cold, and it stays pretty well cool and moist around here, thanks to the ocean. But if I stay here, and new tenants move upstairs, what if we don't get along at all, like the people in Lakewood? The neighbors always complained about my dogs. I'm not going to get rid of them. My ma understands our dogs, so she isn't going to say anything about them. But newbies may not like it if I happen to put the dogs out in the middle of the night and they see or hear something and start barking. Then the next day I hear from the police saying my dogs are disturbing the peace. I cannot avoid putting the dogs out at night. When Vegas has to go, he has to go! Minnie too. Anna makes Odessa wait. She always puts herself before anybody else, even her dog. And this is also one of those times I think Anna is being selfish! She could go to WSU, avoid the student loans and I can stay here. At least for a few more years. But she won't!! She would rather go to MSU and be in the red until the day she dies!! I keep telling her too she is going to regret it. And so will I.
But Montana also has some good points. They have absolutely NO limitations on exotic animals. So I can own a fennec fox if I want to! Those are so CUTE!!!!!!! Or maybe a bushbaby. I can raise them again. Though neither I nor Anna knows how long that will last. All it takes is one irresponsible owner to have problems with these animals and turn it loose, and blooey! There goes the lack of restrictions on exotic pets!!
Well, first, I want to say to all my loyal readers have a happy and safe Memorial Day. My little sis Katrina used to have no incling what this day is about, because she's not really from this country. But I told her, it's a day to celebrate all the soldiers fallen during the various battles we fought with other countries. Now, at least, she understands. We should always remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. Many of them died so young! My father fought in Korea long ago. But he came out OK, thank GOD! But I know, as he does, that some did not fare as well. So yes, even I understand the importance of this day.
Now on to my next subject. I was watching a video about this on YouTube. One of the reasons I watch anything on YouTube is because on dull days or weeks, the videos recommended to me can give me something to talk about on here. But I think pedophilia is different things to different people. I remember once a 16-year old girl on YouTube thought she could make me feel bad by calling me a pedophile. It was a ploy she used to justify being a rude, contemptible teenager. I just didn't say anything, because I knew it wasn't true. In fact, I am more of a pedophobe than a pedophile!! I am not at all good with kids!! Even when I was a kid myself. For some reason, I just don't understand kids. I spent a long time as a babysitter before I understood that. Weird, eh! I like kids, at a distance, but I don't like interacting with them. Some people say they are more comfortable around kids than adults, but not me. I'm exactly the opposite! The only kids I really like are those of family and friends. And that's only because they know me and understand me, and I spent their lives getting to know and understand them. This is also probably why I didn't really want to have kids of my own. I could have, but I just didn't want them. Now I have some teenage friends, but I still don't consider myself a pedophile!! I haven't met any of these teenage friends.
Well, as I understand it, some people go overboard in their beliefs of what is a pedophile. Nowadays, a teacher is not allowed to hug, or even hold hands with a child! They could get put in jail. Today, people are sissies! They're weak. When I was a kid, it made me feel good being hugged by my teachers. For me, it was always the ones who didn't give out hugs that I didn't get along with. And how ironic that now I don't like recieving hugs!! But that started in middle school. That didn't start when I was a little child. I remember one teacher I had, her name was Mrs. Disehart. She was very nice! She was my 2nd grade teacher. She and I got along great! Whenever I felt bad, she would always put her arm around me and make me feel better. On the other hand, later that year when we moved again, I had a different 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Ealey, and she was NOTHING like Mrs. Disehart!! She was kinda stand-offish. Never hugged anyone, and when I felt bad, she just sat me at my seat and left me alone. I would feel bad until I got to go home that day, then I counted on ma to help me feel better. Not saying that is a bad thing! Though nowadays I'm thinking it won't be long before parents are not even allowed to hold their own children at all. I know if a parent spanks their kid, they can legally be put in jail! You cannot even put your kids in time-out! And the old fashioned punishment, sending your kids to bed without supper, that too is now illegal! You can't punish your kids now, you can only reason with them. I think that, coupled with the programs kids today are exposed to, and video games, is a bad combination!! It would tell kids today that they are above their parents. Not even equal. This girl who accused me of being a pedophile, I'd be willing to bet she is one of those kinds of kids that hits herself hard in the arms, calls the police and tells them her mom and dad beats her up! Just so she could see her mom and dad be taken away and put in jail. The sad thing is, she wouldn't be the only kid I've ever heard of that does that!! There are too many laws "protecting" children, and I say it that way because it is NOT protection!! In the long run, these "protection" laws are going to do kids more harm than good. I'm already seeing it happening. I see a surge in rude behavior in kids today that I didn't see 20 years ago. Of course we did see some bad kids back then, but not like there is today!
If you ask me, I think the law needs to back off!! They need to let parents raise kids the way we were intended to. You have to instill some fear in children. Then they know not to do the thing again that they were punished for. I'm sorry but talking them out of it isn't going to help none! Especially small kids, because they have such short attention spans, they aren't going to absorb all a parent has to say in one session. But you show them the paddle, belt, spoon, stick, or whatever you use, the kid gets the message right away not to do this thing again!! Not to even start! Like this one story I heard once about a man who speeded and was caught by a hidden camera, and was sent a picture of himself speeding and a citation which cost him $35. So he sent in a picture of $35 to the police station. The police sent him back a picture of handcuffs, and that guy got the message. He paid the fine! LOL! But he saw that pic of handcuffs, and got the message because he knew he didn't want those around his wrists! Same goes for kids. When I used to see ma or pa drag out this old leather belt, I knew it meant I was somehow in trouble. Of course their reasons for spanking me were much more frivolous than those of most other parents. Like one time I was spanked for badmouthing church and saying I don't want to go. But I HATED church!!!! Maybe that was partly why. That and the fact that on weekends, I just didn't want to go anywhere, and especially not church!! I hated wearing dresses, and going to church, having to sit there and listen to a long, boring sermon, and boring music and all that shit! I kept thinking there was nothing I could do at church, that I couldn't do at home, with a lot less distraction from other people. That's why now I don't go to church. I haven't even seen the inside of a church since 1988. I do all my worshipping at home. GOD knows where to find me. :)
And he was only 42. What a shame. Not that I was a fan of his, but I did used to watch Diff'rnt Strokes when I was a kid. So this article today caught my attention pretty good. So today his family will be in mourning. I want to extend my sympathies to them before I leave today. What I read happened was Coleman was in an accident and suffered a brain hemorrage. Isn't that what hospitalized Bret Michaels last month?? Hm. Seems to be a surge in that kind of thing now. What's going on??
Well, while that is a shame, today is my day of celebration. I made it past 35. That's a goal I was never sure I would achieve! LOL! Now, I'm not sure if I'll make it to 50!! LOL! Well, I have a cake to pick up, and my sis has volunteered to cook my dinner for me. That should be fun! I don't have to lift a finger! Heck! I'm over the hill now!
Geez. I made it. I'm over 35. And I made it unscathed. That is, I still have all my major parts in working order. Ha! OK, so I had a little hysterectomy that has made me gain weight, but all in all I am OK. That there's a big accomplishment for someone like me. And people claim all fat people are unhealthy!! HAHA!! I'd like to sit on those dumbasses!
So what is this debate? Should people of my stature be called "fat" or "overweight"? I always said call us what we are. We're FAT! Though the popular term now seems to be BBW or "Big, Beautiful Women". I'm afraid I personally do not qualify for that title! I may be fat, but I don't think I'm what some would call "big", and I personally don't think I'm beautiful. Though I know a fat woman can be beautiful, I'm just not one of them. I don't see myself as "big" because while I am fat, I'm also very short. Not necessarily "big". Of course beautiful is a relative term, and only sits in the eye of the beholder. What is beautiful to one person, may be downright homely to another. Being called "ugly" used to bother me, when I was about 11 years old!! But then back in those days, so did having enemies! LOL! Now that I am older, I couldn't give a flying flip if someone thinks I'm ugly or if they dislike me or not. Our minds definitely change as we age, and mature.
The other day, I met someone on YouTube who tried so darned hard to convince all fat people to listen to their attackers and haters. She said "Don't listen to people who say fat is beautiful! They're trying to push you into an early grave!" and said that fat people are not worthy of being loved. She said men who like fat women are psychos, and I said Not the ones I've met! In my case, it's been the people who didn't like fat women that turned out to be the psychotic ones!! Not saying all of them are, but surely the ones who actively seek out fat people and make fun of them, or try to do things to upset them, they are the psychos! And I've never met anyone like that that has even been able to hold a steady job! So, I don't want them as friends anyway!! My guy friends not only have steady jobs, they have high-paying jobs too! They make 5- and 6-figures per year! They are professionals. They never make fun of me because they like me for who I am! They also have good family lives, good relationships with their children, and the women they are married to. Yes a lot of them are married, and have children! Show me a person who makes fun of fat people that has any of this. Show me any person who makes fun of fat people, and I'll show you a bum whose marriage is doomed to failure!
Take my buddy Cairo for example. Great guy, has collaborated with me to create a few stories for UMG Productions. But he has a wife and 3 kids, and also a good, steady job, where he makes 5-figures a year, and it's well above the 50,000/year range!! Yet he didn't drop me as a friend just because I put on weight. He likes me for who I am. In fact, he still writes to me, and comes to see me when he is visiting this state. And no, he is NOT fat himself!! That too is a myth that only fat people like other fat people. In fact I met him as a mountain-climbing buddy, and he still does some climbing and hang-gliding as well. haha! That's one thing I won't try!! Even if I was still 100 pounds I wouldn't try it!! Cairo has also told me he's getting into swimming too, which is cool!
It's one thing to just say a person is fat. But to actually make fun of someone, poke at them and call them names, that is immoral. I never listen to haters, in fact I make fun of them back! Because one of the things I have found that people on YouTube who make fun of other fat people, they don't have but one or two friends and/or subscribers. I haven't even made any other videos recently. Been far too busy doing other things! And I was supposed to make a video about counting calories months ago!! I haven't done it yet! Been too busy!
Well anyway, I chatted with this young lady some more, and found out she used to be fat herself, and previous boyfriends she had drove her to lose weight. While losing weight is not a bad thing, it was the reason she did it that bothers me. Her previous boyfriends claimed to like fat women, but they would threaten to call her names and make fun of her if she didn't put out with them! I told her those guys were not real men, never were, never would be! I would never lose weight to please someone like that, believe me! They're just haters. Once you lose the weight, they'll just find something else to harass you about! That's how they get their jollies. Those so-called "men" are the ones not worthy of being loved at all!! They don't deserve anyone and that's how they will wind up!
I'm fat but I am also a very confident person. I can overcome any insults anyone tries to hammer at me. Because I know, none of it is true!! Heck I may be fat, but I've learned to live with it. Partly because of Eva. She's fat, but she's a happy person!
Someone I haven't thought of in many years, all of a sudden, I'm thinking about him. Pretty heavily too! He was one of the more famous geologists to work at Mount St. Helens before the eruption. He was a volcanologist of phenominal proportions! He was like no other. He knew long before Mount St. Helens erupted that the eruption was going to be a bad one. Unfortunately he was there when the mountain blew. In fact, he was most likely the mountain's first victim. He had been filling in for someone else that morning on May 18th. Officially he wasn't supposed to be there, but by fate, he was. It's kinda sad at that that he was there and got caught in the blast. Today, if he had been still around, he would have been probably a world-renouned volcanologist. He no doubt would have been tops in the field. He was also the nicest person you could ever hope to meet. How do I know? Because I've met him. I was just a kid, but I met him and I remember. Not only that but back in 2000, when St. Helens had it's 20th anniversary of the eruption, I met a lot of his personal friends and collegues, and they all confirmed what I knew all along. That David Johnston was a very sweet man. Nice guys don't always finish last! Johnston was already well on his way to becoming very well-known across country and in many parts of the World. He was someone I would have loved to have as a mountain-climbing buddy!! Not only was he so nice, but he was also so handsome!! Check this pic out:
This is from my personal collection. But really I don't like this pic of him. It doesn't do him justice because he has the sun in his eyes, so he is squinting. It actually kinda makes him look mean, and I know he was not a mean person! I used to have another pic of him smiling, and I think it got lost in the move! :( WAAAA! And I loved that pic!!! But today I tore the whole house apart trying to find that pic, and I could NOT find it!!! That really SUCKS!!!!!!!! But here, even though this is in black and white, you can definitely tell how blue and bright his eyes were! He was a very handsome man! I think it was partly because of him that I married the man I did marry. He too had blond hair and blue eyes, and his name was also David!! LOL! How ironic!!
Well, I like David Johnston a lot. I liked him so much that I named one of my characters after him (Davy, well known from the story "Gracie's Odyssey"), and not only that, but I also named one of my Metazoic mammals after him. It's called Orochoreutes johnstoni, and it's a relative of Deinognathus. Back in those days, I only named animals in my checklist after people I liked, and I did like David Johnston a LOT! Though it seems today I am more interested in meeting a quota rather than immortalizing my friends by naming some of my animals after them. LOL! I need to cut that out! Though I haven't done it in months. But David Johnston was quite a guy! And lately I've been thinking about him more than usual. Probably because pretty soon here, I'm going to be working on the story with him in it that I wrote back in 1997. I have him and Harry Truman in the story. But I also have me in the story (as a grown woman), working as a hostess in a hotel, and I wait on Johnston, and we become fast friends. NOT lovers, like in the St. Helens movie!!! Just really good buddies, mountain-climbing buddies. Almost like a lifelong dream come true.
Well, Johnston was taken too early. He was only 30. He could have become world famous! But I look at it this way: Mount St. Helens loved David Johnston so much, that she made him a part of her now. And besides that, he died doing what he loved to do. And that to me, means so much more than world fame or fortune! That's how I want to go, when I go. I want to go doing what I love. If I were a volcanologist, I'd want just one major eruption to take me to Heaven. I'd go with a smile on my face, then I can tell the people when I get up there; "You'll never believe, but I saw the most spectacular sight I've ever seen before I came here! I saw Mount St. Helens erupt! It was AWESOME!!!!" I imagine that's what Johnston did when he got to Heaven.
Subject change********************
UMG Productions is now up and running again, and all the books that were on the old site, are now on this new site. You can visit the new site at http://www.umgproductions.com/! Anyone can download, but you must have a Google or OpenID account to post a comment. My supervisor said ABSOLUTELY NO anonymous posters allowed!!! She has her reasons I know it!
Apparently INXS.com will indeed have another forum up. I'm going to pass on that, and I mentioned it on the site (it'll most likely get deleted). If the mods are going to start censoring things, I will definitely pass! I can post my INXS thoughts here. If anyone wants to read them, they know where to find me. Everyone by now should know where to find me! This blog link is on my inxs.com profile. Besides, a lot of the mods there are supporters of DonnaG, and I don't want her getting my ISP# and finding out where I live at. Some of those mods I don't trust at all!! So any opinions, I think I will keep on here. :)
Well, I am doing it again, finally!!! Since my old web designer has decided he is not going to do a damn thing about fixing my site, it looks like I shall have to do it all by myself! And I am! I am back to selling the ebooks written by myself and my friends! I am recreating the entire UMG Productions site all by myself, that way it looks the way I want it to! Not the way someone else thinks it should look!! I even created a brand new banner and it looks GREAT!!!! I will try to fix it so that the domain unclemartinandthegang.com goes to that site. But I also bought another domain as well that will be the primary domain for the new site. I will post it as soon as I can put some more books up to sell. So far, I have only been able to add 2 books. Been so busy uploading ebooks to this site! I want to get that done and then I can start putting them on the website.
I found a third-party site to host the ebooks. That does kinda bother me, simply because I wanted everything to only be connected to my own site, like amazon.com has! But I can see with the limited resources I have, that is not possible. But this third-party site is really good!! I love it so far! I can store up to 4 GB, which is a LOT!!! And that's for a very small monthly fee. I figured I can handle that! Though I really should turn off the CPC feature, that way the only way people can get these books is through my site. On this site, I am also offering a button for people to click and order paperbound copies of each book via lulu.com. The main thing is now, my supervisor is happy with me again! Joy! Joy! Joy!! hehehe! When I told her I think I found a good way to get the site back up and running with downloadable ebooks and everything, she was impressed! Get this! I even discovered how to add pages to Blogger!! hehe! I love it! This is the base site I am using for the new UMG Productions site. Only that site won't really be a blog. It will just be set up somewhat like one.
LOL! I found out a couple of days ago that Jon and Kerry Farriss are expecting another baby. I knew Jon would have another one! HAHA!! I'm so happy for him. I know he is aware that he will be darned near 70 years old when this baby graduates from high school. I also know it's not his fault he got a late start. But oh well! It's his life. I'm glad he found someone he can have a family with myself. I remember a couple of years ago when he and Kerry first got married, I said now he can start having kids. I also remember Devil Doll saying that maybe Jon doesn't want to have kids. I knew she had to be wrong!! Would have been a sin to waste Jon like that, I knew he'd make a wonderful pappy for some kid! He has a lovely little girl now. Maybe this next one will be a boy. One can hope! I hope it's a boy and it grows to be just like Jon! But honestly, it'll probably be another little girl. ;) Oh well! If it is, I'm sure it will be a happy, well-loved and beautiful little girl just like Avani is! I sure do love that name Avani.
Well, I wanted to congratulate Jon on his upcoming addition to his family here for my 300th post. Or is it 400th? It's one of those! I would have posted this sooner, but I was working so hard on my own 30th anniversary special for Mount St. Helens. And as much as I hate to say it, St. Helens is more a part of my life than INXS is. Not that I love INXS less. I mean I grew up around Mount St. Helens, so it's more a part of me. But this is a special occasion. It's kindof a shame that Michael didn't live to see Jon become a father finally. But I still feel he is looking over the rest of the band from above. No one knew Michael like the rest of the band, and if they say Michael would enjoy what they are doing, then he would! No doubt in my mind! Some people resent what INXS are doing now. But I say give them a chance! Ya never know! It could turn out to be great!
Well, in other news, I got my disks for Pinwheel, a show that I used to adore when I was a kid. I'm still trying to capture my youth! But I find these disks very difficult to enjoy! There are only bits and pieces of different cartoons! Some of them cut off in random places, or cut off before the end. I hate that! It's annoying! I'd rather have the whole cartoons! Some of them cut off before they get to the plot, or before I could find out what happens. I tried e-mailing the person I bought the disks from. I mean, I paid $20 for these, and I want whole cartoons!! So far though, this is the only way I can get this series. I wonder how one can request a show on DVD or video? Just as I feared, there was one Paddington Bear skit! I can't stand that bear!! For some reason, I can't put my finger on it, I always thought he was annoying!! So I just fly past that skit. Thank Heaven there is only one. But for the most part, seeing these cartoons and skits again is enjoyable. I would enjoy it so much more if they hadn't skipped or cut off before the endings. Hopefully I will get a response. I just want to know if the originals where she got these from was like that.
It's amazing I still remember what I was doing the morning of the eruption. But I do! If I live to be 100 (which is unlikely) I will always remember what we were doing that morning. I remembered I had been hearing on the news, in school and my parents all talking about the mountain erupting, so I knew basically it was going to happen soon. No one knew when though. Even though I was only 6 years old, I knew it was going to happen. Simply because for a couple of months previously, it had been so active in shooting out ash, steam and rocks. It was surely attracting a lot of attention. I never knew it would happen while we were away from our home, and my kitties were still in there. I was the first one among us who noticed the plume of ash from that major eruption as I looked out the window. That was why I begged my ma to take me back so I could get them. Fortunately we had relatives in California, where we fled to. They welcomed us in.
Eventually we did return to Toutle, where we used to live. But then in 2000, we moved out and haven't been back since. We moved instead to this crap town called Lakewood! UGH!! I hated it there! I never wanted out of a town more than I wanted out of that one! That's why we didn't last long there and moved to Olympia a year after. I want to make a few corrections. In the video I said Kelso (where we had breakfast and met some of my ma's friends) was 20 miles from Mount St. Helens. Well, Anna told me that it's much farther away from there than 20 miles. Ah! My coordinates have never been good! But anyway, it was quite a way from the eruption. I do remember there was no sound, just a view of an enormous gray cloud getting bigger and bigger! Then the sight of helicopters surrounding the eruption like mosquitos surrounding a camper! I also know we were lucky to have made it out when we did.
Anyway, here's the videos I created. I even found the video of the Mount St. Helens opera, which first aired on KIRO 7 in Seattle during the 10th anniversary special in 1990. It's good! I like the combination of video and music. The part of the video after the initial eruption, where they show the ash cloud reaching into the sky, that part always gets to me! Makes me think of the apocalypse with that morbid feeling in the music! I had to cut that short because with this video, I already overextended YouTube's 10-minute limit. But I have so much to say about Mount St. Helens. It is a major part of my life. That's why I extended this special of my own over 2 videos. I was shocked that the first part was not deleted by YouTube! It runs for 10 minutes and more than 30 seconds! I couldn't make it any shorter! I took out a lot just to fit what I have on there now. Because of it, I have 2 incomplete videos! Of course I could make a 3rd video! But took me all day yesterday to create these and I wanted to have both of them up on Tube today. Today is after all the day of the eruption's anniversary.
Mount St. Helens is a major part of my being. I even have 3 stories in my collection inspired by Mount St. Helens. Either I wrote them, or I helped to write them. One of these stories even includes INXS, my most favorite band, visiting the mountain. It's a fantasy story! Not meant to be taken as real, as all my stories are. Though some of them are based on some actual events. Like the old saying goes, good fiction is based on facts. But this INXS/Mount St. Helens story is not meant to be taken as real. Though in some cases, I did try to capture the real personalities of the men. In some cases!! I think I made Michael more of a flirt than he actually was! And I know I teased Jon a bit because of him being the youngest member of the band (at the time I wrote the story). But it was supposed to be more funny than real. Well anyway, I was satisfied with the sketches I did. Like the one of Timmy playing his guitar on a pile of rocks from the eruption! hehe! Another story I made involved Mount St. Helens in the Metazoic world. That is IF it will still be active by then! That story too is meant to be nothing more than fantasy. You can surely tell that because I included humans in the story as rehabilitators. LOL! Humans aren't supposed to be in the Metazoic! But again, it makes it a good story. Well, for those who do not take things too seriously!!
Ever have one of these? I think at one point or another all kids have. I had one as a child. Anyway, I was reading a book of records that I got last year, and there was a man in Wales who had an imaginary friend he tried to sell on ebay, and the top bid got up to $3000! He sold this imaginary friend because he was 26 years old, and felt he had outgrown it. I remember my grandma telling me about my aunt's imaginary friend she had when she was about 4 years old. She named him Bushy. LOL! My ma didn't have an imaginary friend. Ma was born an adult. Because she never had one, I think she didn't understand that I did. She actually used to make fun of me because I had an imaginary friend. But from the time I was 7 years old until I was about 10, I had one. After I turned 10, I found another use for my imaginary friend, I put her in stories. Though if they had had ebay back when I was 10 years old, I might have thought to sell her, just to see what kind of bids I would get! LOL! But heck, if you have an imaginary friend you don't know what else to do with, there's some ideas. I had no choice but to outgrow mine! Ma wouldn't let me carry them over to my teenage years! LOL! So, I kept them all in my stories. That was the best idea I could think of. That way, I could in a sense keep them, without talking to any of them.
I wonder how many writers actually have kept their imaginary friends out there, just not act like they are real people. Instead just keep them in their stories and stuff? Really, it's more than you'd think! I turned my imaginary friend into a real character for my stories. My most recent creations are Davy, because I like animals. Candi, was a character I dreamed up during a nap one day in 1994. I basically based her on myself. I still use her to this day! Gonna have to cut her hair though. LOL! Lisa is a friend of Davy's, but in some ways I base her on myself too. Now, these characters were not real imaginary friends I had, but they would have been if I hadn't discovered that I like imaginary friends better as story book characters. That's actually more fun. Gives them an actual face to put with the name! But what I like doing before I create a story is I like to act them out, think about how I want the events for the story to go, and then write them down. Though I haven't had a story idea in a couple of years! That's a bummer!! But anyway I tend to sometimes act like these characters are real when I am thinking up new story ideas. But this act has allowed me to come up with some amazing stories over the years! Stories that people say they can really relate to.
I am hoping that when we move, I can have an extra room available to go into, sit down and just think about nothing but story ideas! I'd need that! No TV, computer, pictures on the wall, nothing in that room, just a futon maybe to lie down on, and think. I want no distractions whatsoever! I am hoping to move soon out of this tiny apartment, and into a larger one. Hopefully with a third room.
Well, there's my thought for the day. I was reading about this subject and I just thought that was interesting, brought back some rather good memories!
Well, it is almost that time again. The time I celebrate my Groucho's life. It's been 4 years now. That's longer than I got to keep her! She wasn't even 4 years old yet when she died. She'd been through so much in her life. I got her as a breeder, and that is what I did. She even spent some time in BC with a mediocre breeder! I should NEVER have sent her there! I wonder sometimes what it was she did to Groucho, because when Groucho returned, she just wasn't the same dog she was when she was sent there. My guess was that woman kept her outside in a pen, even though I asked her kindly not to!! Groucho was not used to being kept in a pen away from the house and family! She was used to cuddling on the sofa, and in bed, and having the companionship of people. After having Groucho spend 4 months out of her life there, and when she came home, I discovered she just was not her old self, I wanted to track that woman down and kill her!! She did something to Groucho, and I didn't know what! But Groucho was more skittish than I'd ever known her to be, she was scared all the time for the first few months after I got her back, and she never fully recovered from that! And getting her back it's self was difficult. That woman made it difficult! Just asking her how my Groucho was doing each week was hard. Religiously, every week, I would e-mail, or phone, that woman and ask her how Groucho was doing. Usually when I called, I would have to leave a message, but then I would never hear back from her. I had to e-mail her to ask, and even then, she would not respond until I practically threatened to kick her butt!!
Then the big clinker came. I heard from a third party that she was moving to Minnesota, with MY Groucho!! I wrote to her and told her she's not doing anything of the sort!! She gave me the "That's private, personal information" act and added "I don't owe you any explaination for anything!" I told her firmly, "You have my baby! Of course you owe me an explaination!" And I reminded her also that I have a right to check on Groucho whenever I want to to find out how she's doing. Well, I remember when the day finally came to get Groucho back. That woman told me to be at the Walmart in Coeur d' Alene in Idaho at 10 AM the next day and she will send someone to give me back my Groucho. So, in order to get there, we would have to leave that instant so we could be there at that place and time. My ma agreed to take us. It was actually a fun trip, traveling in the night, we told ghost stories and everything. So there was something positive. Well, we stayed at a hotel for the night in Coeur d' Alene, and waited for the hour to come when we had to be at the Walmart to pick up Groucho.
When we did get there, it was about 9 AM, and so I decided to wait. It shouldn't have been long. I almost fully expected that woman, or whomever she would send, to be there on time. I don't know why I expected that, but I did. She's never been reliable to this point!! But I just wanted my baby back, then I could be done with that woman for good!! Believe me, she was NOT the kind of person I'd have wanted to be friends with!! So we waited and waited and waited, 10 AM came and went and no one showed up! Then 11 AM, then 12 PM, then 1 PM, no one! So I started getting worried. We arrived at the Walmart at 9 AM. I began to wonder if they had arrived before then, didn't see us, then turned around and went back home! Ma told me to call her. But I remembered I forgot to pack her number! So we had to call John, who was back home, at his computer, and ask him to get into my account and look up her number. So that is what he did. It was about 1 PM when I called her and asked where the heck she is! She was just about to leave to go somewhere so I was so glad I caught her then! She gave me some crap about how the guy ran into some trouble as he was crossing the border. I didn't believe her really, but she said he should be there at 3 PM. I said OK. So again, I waited and waited. 3 PM came and went and he still hadn't shown up!! I was worried and pissed off!! Finally at about 5 PM ma said she has to head back home because she had to work the next day. I was about to go, saddened and defeated and still without my baby! I was totally sorry by now I had let that woman have her! I had been warned about letting someone I didn't know borrow my girls. And I swore I was NEVER going to do that again!!! The sad part was, it had costed me my favorite girl, my Groucho! Well, just as we were about to leave, a man walked up to ma and he was holding Groucho. Ma called to me, and I saw the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen! My baby was back!!! I ran over to her, I could not get to her fast enough! She was dirty and stunk, but I didn't care. I was so happy to see her again all I wanted to do was hold her tight and never let go. I didn't know when the last time was she'd been bathed. Probably when I took her to that woman!
Well, that was one of several bad experiences I'd had with breeders. It's very tough to get into breeding! Really! Growing up loving animals so much, I thought breeding would be one of the easier hobbies for me to get into, but I was dead wrong!! Show breeders suck when it comes to interacting with newbies! Let me tell you, I know from personal experience, they are the most uninviting people I've ever known!! Then there are the breeders like this one who borrowed Groucho who are dishonest. Let me tell you, if a breeder acts like they have something to hide, they usually do! That's why the whole time I was breeding, I was an open book! Ask me anything, and I would tell you. As long as it wasn't too personal!! But breeding is like a business, even though show breeders will tell you it's not. I think they tell you that so they can use that as an excuse to keep from telling you things you should know about them! I didn't want to know someone's personal life, but I got suspicious when I would ask a breeder something like "how many dogs have you got?" or "How many champions are in this dog's background?" or when breeders hide their names in forums! That's what bischis did! And I wouldn't trust that woman around the corner!! I never liked bischis!! EVER!! I never will either. She made that choice though, not me. And she thought I was picking on her and she was playing like she was a helpless, innocent victim and I was just picking on her for no reason! Believe me, it wasn't for no reason!! I don't start fights like that! When I "pick on" someone, it's for a damn good reason!! She started on me! I didn't even know her. I couldn't have started anything with her. I've been known to misunderstand people sometimes, and when I do, I usually admit it. But when I feel some random stranger is attacking me without any kind of provocation from my end, I will definitely attack back!! And that's what bischis did with me. I'm the kind of person that when I see someone new, or I don't know, I always try to give them a chance. It's a test to see if they are friendly people or not. I don't want to be nasty to someone who could be a potential friend. That's just how I am. But show breeders are not like that. They start off attacking people they don't know. Or in some way they just jump to conclusions. In my experience, usually the wrong conclusions.
Heck, that's why I make a lousy show breeder! I'm too good of a person!! LOL! Ask any show breeder (or better still, go to shows or the Pluba forum and get to know them yourself). When you look at them from the inside out, you notice they don't have a smidgen of the morals that I grew up knowing. In fact, most of them act like the kids you see that grew up neglected, unloved and even bullied. And don't let the fact that they have kids of their own fool you!! That woman who got my Groucho also had children. But you should have seen what Groucho became once I finally got her back from that woman. My poor baby must have been abused in some way because she was never that scared of little noises or of people before I sent her there.
Then there are the commercial breeders and I have also now seen first hand what they do to their dogs. Personality-wise they are no different from show breeders. But they don't take care of their dogs at all. Minnie is a puppymill rescue. She is still scared of people somewhat. She only just started going to my sis. And this progress has been made possible because I let Anna give Minnie the treats now. Minnie needs to start associating Anna with something positive. Then she will start going to her. But she's getting better! Before, she wouldn't let Anna within an ear's shot of her! I had to get her acclimated to me first. She is my dog! Not Anna's. But we are family and I can't have one member of the family afraid of another. Now, Minnie even licks my face, and she wouldn't do that 6 months ago! It's obvious she did not have much contact with people at all.
Well anyway, this is Groucho's Day. Well, in a couple of days. And every year at this time I celebrate her life. This year I did it with a video. It's the one time I really wanted to get serious. I had no idea when she got so sick, how serious it was because I'd had pregnant dogs before that behaved much the same way. It was never a cause for worry. So that's why I didn't take her to the vet that morning. I know I should have, but I didn't. I thought it would pass. It did with other dogs I had. I didn't really panic until I saw this clear, pinkish fluid coming from her behind. I thought though she was maybe miscarrying! That was when I rushed her to the vet. The first vet I went to wouldn't do anything because we didn't have much money. I had to drive 20 miles to another vet in another town just to have her looked at. They gave her something that stopped the fluid loss, and when morning came, I took her to my regular vet and she was barely alive then. They put her on life support. I wanted her to make it out of that so bad! But unfortunately she didn't. I spent 3 days just not eating, all I wanted to do was sleep, and I did a lot of crying. That was the first month. I didn't have anything to cuddle except my plush lemurs. I was a wreck for a long time! And it had lasting consequences too. Most of all, I'm very sensitive to abuse on dogs. Last night on Dr. Phil, he showed this man in an elevator kicking a beautiful little dog (looked like a papillon or a parti-colored pomeranian). And he didn't kick the dog just once, and not like he was just gently pushing the dog with his foot. I mean, he kicked that poor dog several times as hard as he could!! I wanted to get in that elevator with him and kick his butt as hard as I could when I saw that video!! If I had been there, I would have killed him!!!! I'd have kicked his butt, punched him in the belly, kicked him in the nads, and scratch his eyeballs out!!! That video pissed me off that much!!! Any animal abuse pisses me off. (Don't pay attention on YouTube where I said I would kill a cat!! I was just playing with the cat people there!) But I am especially sensitive to attacks on dogs. Most especially, little dogs.
I remember a dog show Anna and I went to in Oregon, she bought Odessa a lead because she wanted to train her for showing. Well, as we were walking over to the papillon ring, Anna tried to get Odessa to walk on the lead, but all Odessa wanted to do was drag her feet. But Anna kept trying to get her to walk anyway. Well, we didn't know it, but this dumb show breeder was watching her and she came over and started accusing Anna of abusing Odessa!! I just looked and saw her there talking to Anna, and Anna looked a little stressed. I asked Anna what was that woman saying, and Anna said she was saying that Odessa was being abused. Well that show breeder was lucky I didn't just tell her to get her stupid ass the fuck away from us and leave us alone!!! Because that was what I felt like saying!! But back then, I had better respect not only for other breeders, but also for someone who was old enough to be my grandma! No matter how unfriendly they seemed to be. I just told her that Anna was NOT abusing Odessa, she was just trying to get her to learn to walk on a lead! Then, without any apologies or any offer to help Anna learn how to teach Odessa to walk the right way on the lead, she just turned her idiot ass around and said "hm. It looks like you're abusing her." and she walked away. People like her is the reason I hate show breeders so much. I was not exactly thrilled to have a member of my family be accused of something like that without any kind of apologies or offer to help fix the problem she thought was bad enough to harass a couple of strangers over. If I had been her, and had enough nerve to go up to someone I don't know and think they were doing something immoral, I would have had the guts to help fix the problem once I found out they were not doing what I thought they were doing. Or at least said "My bad! I thought you were abusing your dog. I'm sorry." But then, like I said, I guess that's what makes me a lousy show breeder. I have better manners than that! I was not even harsh with that woman when I found out she was accusing Anna of abusing Odessa. I wanted to be, but I was not! Call me a not-so-good breeder all you want to! Heck, even call me kooky or loony. I don't care! But don't EVER accuse me of animal abuse!! Not unless you want to go head-to-head with an angry 250-pound latin woman who still mourns her long-lost baby girl. I may abuse people sometimes (mostly just in fun), but I never abuse animals.
This stuff is so easy to work with! I love it! The problem is this thing is so expensive for what you get!! Even a cheap can from Walmart costs over $4!! I don't see what the point is in charging so darned much for an item like this! I mean, it doesn't last long. Though I have to hand it to this little device that it does make the cookies look and taste a little bit better! I am actually proud of the job I did on Anna's cookie, and she likes it. That's all that counts. Even though I think I could have done a bit better. Oh well!!
