Game show to Convert Atheists?

Surfin' 'round on a Sunday and I just came across this on Rueters. Imagine being on a game show that'll try and convert you from disbelieving in God. Wow. The kicker is the prize:

The prize for converts will be a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion -- Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.

Geez, I'll bite...what if I pretend to be converted. Does that mean I get a free trip to Tibet? Because I could easily turn Buddhist in a heartbeat for a free trip, y'know.

Oh crap, I still have a chance after reading the last paragraph:

Some 200 people have so far applied to take part in the show and the 10 contestants will be chosen next month.

A team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday.

What are they gonna ask?

Creepy Life Form? WTF is IT?

I found this on Third Eye Concept (dot.com) What the hell is this?

Funny Quotes About Religion

I loved the one from Peter O'Toole best!

Funny Quotes About Religion

View more documents from Doina .

HA - Narcoleptic Angels - HA

Stolen from Joe's Big Blog.

Finding Jesus

Well bitchin' 'bout religion is way more fun, huh, Infidel? And was that pessimist post for me too? Because I swing between the two, still always trying to be on this side of optimism.

The Cartoon is from Third Eye Concept....there website is about my speed.

Check out the baby who doesn't grow old. Sounds too "Believe it or not" for me. But still extremely interesting in the way of the possibilities for mankind.

YEAH I GOT SICK

I dunno, I think I got some viral thing. I was thinking maybe it was meningitis. Y'know, stiff neck, bad headache, nausea, ummm, real, real bad. Could've been West Nile Virus, for all I know...just no fever. Of course I tried, just in my head, to blame those nasty ass chemical laden uniforms I had to inventory, for my overall malaise.

I dunno. Today, I'm finally better. I missed a couple days of work, tried to get a doctor's appt., but since I hardly ever get sick, I don't have a general practitioner. I usually just see my OB/GYN. Oh, I just LOVE those appts. *sarcasm*

Yep, stupid huh? A Nurse at the dog park recommended a walk in clinic, and when I called and told them my symptoms (because they asked, duh!) they told me to go to an urgent care. Nope, not gonna do it, I said to myself. That's too expensive, LUCY. An easy $500 for something I can look up on a symptom checker.

Believe me, though, I would have gone, had I had a fever.

Anyway, I was just getting tired of seeing my last post, bitchin' 'bout those dang uniforms, but here I am again, bitchin' 'bout something else. Whatdaya gonna do?

Dirty Work

It's almost impossible for me to believe I've been at my new part time job for 4 months. For the most part, I've been pretty happy being a glorified paper pusher. The small extra income has been a welcome, since hubs income is slowly being eaten up by rising bills. We are still dealing with the uncertainty of his oil refinery closing.

The thing is, I came close to quiting yesterday.

Yesterday, I had to do the most insulting work in my entire administrative career. You see, I have no problem getting someone coffee, although I haven't had to do that, I would do it in a heartbeat. I would even empty someone's garbage can if asked. That doesn't bother me. What does bother me is having to go thru the dirty, chemical laden coveralls and smocks for an inventory count.

This, I believe, was a one time thing. What pissed me off was my concern for having to tally each and every item clean and DIRTY. I work at a silicone chemical plant. Of course I can't go into what chemicals are used at the plant, but I've seen the list and I did sign a waiver saying I was aware of these chemicals on the premises and that I'm okay with it. Of course I'm okay with it, I work in the front office building, away from those chemicals. I know they are in the air, but not so concentrated as I had to deal with yesterday tallying the stinky smocks and coveralls.

If I wanted to do laundry, I could do that at home. I was insulted that I had to go thru the dirty laundry of the smelly asses that work in the plant. I'll tell ya, my own husband was pretty perturbed that I had to do this when I called him in a snit to vent about it.

My boss came in the room as I was unwillingly trying to complete the task. I had latex gloves on when she walked in and said, wow, it stinks in here. I said, yeah, I'm not really happy about doing this. She said, "What do you mean? I told here I don't feel comfortable handling these chemical laden dirty work wear. It's making me anxious. I didn't want to tell her I was in the midst of having a full blown anxiety attack.

I'll say this, she DID pull someone else from the plant in to help finish the count, because I think she finally GOT IT. But it had already been half done by then. I went home feeling ill at the end of my shift.

Call it psychosomatic if you want, but this morning, I've woken up with a full blown headache and I'm feeling like I want to call in sick today.

Am I out of line on this one? Am I being a primmadonna?

Rest in Peace Koko Taylor

I just found out Koko Taylor passed away. Bein' a former Chicagoan, this is a great loss to the Blues Community.

My best wishes to her family in their time of loss.

Here's an excerpt about her from The Chicago Tribune:

"Born Cora Walton in 1928 in Memphis, Tenn., Taylor literally got up off her knees to become a blues icon.

Growing up on a sharecropper's farm outside Memphis, young Cora and her three brothers and two sisters slept on pallets in a shotgun shack with no running water or electricity. By the time she was 11, both her parents had died. She picked cotton to survive, and moved to Chicago in the early '50s to be with her future husband, Robert "Pops" Taylor, who died in 1989. She found a job working as a domestic, scrubbing floors for rich families.

She had sung gospel music in church while living in the South, and on weekends would attend the blues clubs on Chicago’s burgeoning South Side scene, the heyday of Chess Records and such stalwarts as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon. She would occasionally sit in and caught the ear of Dixon, who approached her in the early ‘60s about recording one of his songs, “Wang Dang Doodle.”

"I didn't know Willie Dixon from Adam's house cat," Taylor recalled in an interview with the Tribune. "But he says to me, 'I love the way you sound' and, 'We got plenty of men out here singing the blues, but the world needs a woman like you with your voice to sing the blues.' ”

I've had the pleasure of seeing Koko Taylor and Muddy Waters....Please enjoy some "Wang Dang Doodle":



We'll miss you, but we still have your remarkable style to remember forever.

Finding a New Direction

Yesteday, my big Five-Ohhhh, we were joking around about how next year I'll say this is the first anniversary of my 50th. Then I decided, since my favorite number is 33, I should start saying this was the 17th anniversary of my 33rd birthday.

We had a great time up at the Little Red Lodge, up in the Alta Sierra Mountains. Except, I forgot shoes. Shoes for hiking around the mountain trails. Ugh! The only shoes I had on where the ones I had worn from after work. A kind of flip flop with a kitten heel. Ugh! I still walked around in them, but certainly no hiking. To tell the truth, I wasn't really feeling that good when we went, but I won't go in my, ummm, let's just say tummy problems.

The cabin had quite the selection of movies. And quite the collection of the Monty Python series. The first morning I woke up wayyyy tooo early at 4:30am, made a pot of coffee and watched Python till everyone else got up. Then I was jittery as hell and couldn't take a nap later. UGH! again!

And how 'bout this...when we got home, there was a message from my oldest daughter's 8th grade DC trip coordinator saying we forgot to fill out some form and that she could do it tonite. Meaning on the 31st of May. AHHHH! I thought she was leaving on my birthday, June 1st. Shit, it was a good thing I didn't take the scenic ride home on Sunday. We got home about 1:30pm Sunday and she had to be at school for the bus to LAX by 4:30pm.

We had her packed, for the most part. And to top THAT off, the dress she wanted to wear, that we'd bought a week ago, still had the theft detector on it in the armpit. We had to run out to Kohl's to have it removed. That all worked out.

My baby was gone before I turned 50. She did call me from DC, and she reminded my husband to get flowers sent to my work for my bday, wink wink, thanks Halo.

------------------------------------------------------------

Crap, I gotta get to work, but I wanted to say that I've been fooling around on google, and for some reason I looked up the Urban Dictionary's version of the word "vamp" and found this one to be my reason for being around here:

"vamp"
"intrans. verb: to kill time on the pc by allowing oneself to follow tantalizing distractions, e.g., to google overmuch
A novelist, being interviewed on "Fresh Air", NPR, said that he used to try to compose on his pc but has now returned to writing his drafts in longhand on a legal pad because it was too easy to "vamp" on the pc."

Yet, my time on the internet lately has been sparse, at best. Because, now, I don't seem to have the time, or care to be on a computer, for that matter, since I'm on one at work all day. I think this may just turn into an online journal, I dunno.

Bitching about religous idiots bores me now. I gotta run.

Milestones...

Eh, I'll feel a wee bit older tomorrow. No it's not my birthday. Yet. That's a few days later, and I don't want to talk about the number 50. No, I'm talking about my babies. My youngest, Juju, is leaving elementary school. She's passing sixth grade, but no graduation. We are getting a limo for her and a few of her friends. Twenty-five bucks a kid for a lime ride, not bad huh? Anyway, still it's sad that I have to say good bye to my little baby girl. You think of any child in elementary school as little. She's growing like a weed and so are her FEET. Size 8? Wow. But, I digress...my oldest daughter, size 9+ in the shoe dept., is graduating 8th Grade tomorrow. Pomp and circumstance abound. She's giving a graduation speech and will be the second one to graduate, she'll follow the class president. She's quite the scholar, and I'm personally in awe of the absorbsion of knowledge, as a matter of fact, I'm envious.

Good bye my little baby elementary school girl. And say, HELLO to my Junior High student.

Good bye my Junior High 4.0 young lady, and HELLO to my new High School Freshman.

I love you both more than you'll EVER freaking know.

We're cramming a lot in this weekend. Graduation tomorrow, and I get to take my first paid day off to go. Then I should make it too see the youngest one do a singing talent show. And after school, lots of pics when she and her friends get in a limo.

Friday, I'm celebrating my "birthday weekend" up in the mountains at a nice cool cabin for a couple of nights. Did I mention it was 101 today? It should be a weeee bit cooler up there, I hope. *crosses fingers*

I'm still thinking of going whitewater rafting for the big 5-Oh. May not be able to squeeze that in, but gotta do it sometime while I'm, ummm, OLD!

Monday, my real stinkin' d-day, my baby, (the oldest one, she'll still be my baby forever, y'know) is leaving for Washington DC for a week. *sob*

And thanks Joe's Big Blog (too lazy to add link, he's in my sidebar) for your lovely pics on your DC trip, it's a great preview for what she has to look forward to seeing.

Happy Summer, here it is...and it's HOT!

Adam Lambert is hiding...

... a big fat black women in his body. And I mean that in a good way. You talk about diggin down deep into the guts, or some would say "soul", with a powerhouse voice, shit that boy can sing.

Yes, me and the girls watch American Idol. I absofuckinlutely loved Adam Lambert's version of Mad World, originally done by Tears for Fears. It was redone, by Gary Jules for the movie Donnie Darko. I've never seen the movie, but I love Gary's version too.

Aww, I just had to add my two cents on it. Good Luck Adam.

New 47 Million Old Ancestor Found

Before I get into that, has anybody watched the "Life After People" series on History channel. It shows how the world would exist after people, and only if people, for whatever reason, no longer existed. It shows in time lapsed animation how buildings would be enveloped in greenery. Or how they won't last more than 300 years without humans to do maintenance.

I've always said, who's to know we haven't developed largely at some point in time and then it all just disappeared. I mostly thought about this after Sept 11th, when those buildings came crashing down, the equipment etc., like phones, computers and desks, were just obliterated. Nothing left.

Then I watched the Life After People series. It states almost nothing man-made will survive more than 300 years, except some carving in a large exposed granite mountain in Georgia, called Stone Mountain, which has a carving of horse riding famous people of our early years here, with Jefferson Davis, Jackson and Lee. It will last, pretty much, forever. Then I thought, when we are all gone, future intelligent life finds it, they'll think, we thought those people were Gods.

Yeah, yeah, I know, the pyramids, and some other things have been hanging around for longer, but that's because we have humans to do the upkeep. Or they were made out of an indestructible material.

Anyway, I'm rambling, back to the point. This came out today about "Ida" an early ancestor of ours from 47 million years ago. She was found at the bottom of a shale pit in Germany. What seems remarkable to me, are the bones very similar to our own:

"Opposable big toes and nails rather than claws confirm that the fossil is a primate, and the presence of a talus bone in the foot links Ida directly to humans."

So that defuncts my idea of intelligent humans having modern conveniences a millenia ago, because, well, hello, we hadn't evolved yet. But it does destroy creationism, yet again, kind of like Lucy did. But we people of reason know, religious groups just put there fingers in their ears and go "lalalalalalalalalala".

It takes a millenium to evolve.

National Day of Prayer

Pray? PFFFT! They should all say, "Let me THINK about it", because that's all you're really doing.

Actions still speak louder that prayers, but, let me give it a try. I "pray" someone finds my wallet that I lost last Friday with my ss# number and credut cards in it.

I "pray" that someone won't steal my identity, because I also had an ID type birth certificate from So. Carolina in it. I, stupidly left it in there, why I don't know. C'mon folks, "pray with me". Friday, I contacted EVERY possible agency. I even did a police report online and a report with the FTC I put a security alert/freeze on all three credit reporting agencies, called and cancelled my cc cards. I even had the bank review their tapes to see if I left at the "deposit station"...it wasn't there.

So I PRAY it was just some kid who took/found it when I might have left it at the drug store. I had gone there right before the bank. I've been so distracted.

I "pray" that I won't be so distracted anymore. (*ohh look, a squirrel*)

I "pray" that my best friend from the dog park will go to that special place that atheists go when they die. He passed away on Sunday.

To add to my drama, my mother is considering moving from Texas to California. She said she would put me back in the will if I took care of her in her old age. So, for that one, I "pray" Postsecret.com puts the postcard I mailed out Tuesday on their site for Mother's Day this Sunday. I really "pray" she understands there's no amount of money in the world for me to ever trust her, since I feel she's trying to emotionally blackmail me.

Another Major Step in Life

Today, I went to register my oldest daughter in High School. I think I was more excited than she was. Even more funny, I was constantly watching my husband for signs of nostalgia, since he went to the same high school, almost 30 years ago. *WHEW* I actually broke out in song:

Memories,
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles
we left behind...

All of a sudden my daughter is a walking a block ahead of me.

-----------------------------------

News on my friend is not good. He's in critical condition with a breathing tube and still under sedation. They told me he's not getting worse, but he's not getting any better either. I broke down, and lost it. Hw is a well educated man, and an atheist too. He was an officer in the Navy with John McCain, on the same ship even...he use to say he didn't like him AT ALL. I'll try and visit him this weekend, so I can get his brother's phone number, who lives in NY.

Hug your loved ones...you just never freaking know when life will take a weird turn like this. We were just laughing and singing show tunes in the ER a couple of Fridays ago and now, I just don't know.

Absence due to Illness

...not that anyone cares...but I've had the flu. Hit me like a ton of bricks, right before Easter. I had to take a friend to the ER the Friday before, and that's a guaranteed wait of 6 hours minimum. And also a guarantee, that if you weren't sick going in, you certainly will be coming out.

Yes, a week before that, I was braggin' how I hadn't been sick yet, and this was the first year that I've made it thru without a cold bug. *knock on wood* But nope, didn't make a year, oh well.

To top all this off, I found out a dear friend I walk with at the dog park has AML. He's the one I had to take to the ER, to get some antibiotics before he went to Cedar Sinai to have his chemo, the Monday after Easter.

His is the type of leukemia you can happen to get if you survived Lymphoma from using intravenous cytoxan after 3-5 years. How fucking crappy is that? I found out Thursday, when I thought he'd be back from his 4 day chemo session, that he never had it and was instead in the ICU with probably the same gawd awful flu bug I had, and it's gotta be even worse for someone without an immune system. He was heavily sedated with meds, only so he wouldn't see what he was all hooked up to, with tubes and wires. That was the report I got from this friend anyway. He said he thought he was going to die, he looked so bad.

And now, I sit and still don't know what's going on with my friend, and no call back from his companion, and I left a message today. I'm afraid to call the hospital...I know that's silly, but I'm just plain scared to hear what's going on. So I sit and wait.

--------------------------------------------------

This afternoon, trying to keep occupied, I had to giggle about when I came home and changed outta work clothes and put on a clean t-shirt, that happened to be stained. I said to myself, looking in the mirror..well that's good, I can't get it any worse...and left it on and went down stairs. I had to pull out some generic "PAM" cooking spray, from over the stove, and it, for some reason, spills oil all over my shirt and my face. Not to mention, after that, I pulled out some country style ribs from the crockpot, and splashed the "juice" on my now even more stained shirt.

If there were a God, that was a time I thought he was messing with me for making a snarky comment about having to wear an already clean stained shirt. Nope, just a coinkydink...that is the randomness of life.


'

In the words of Kirk Douglas...

A couple years back I had to go see a ankle surgeon in LA for a 2nd opinion. On the way back home I stopped at Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery, right in the middle of lala land. It's literally surrounded by buildings and quite small. My reason, I want to finally see Marilyn Monroe's grave (we share a birthday). Which I did, and I have a pic of it somewhere...ANYWAY, I also got to see Kirk Douglas --- ALIVE --- visiting his son Eric's grave. I observed him from a distance...while standing by legend Jack Lemmon (grave).

I read this this morning on CNN about Kirk Douglas' One Man Show. At the age of 92, he's survived a helicopter crash, a couple of broken knees, and a stroke, he reflects on his life:

CNN: I was surprised at how much humor there was in the show. One of the lines that got laughs was when you described talking to an old actor friend of yours. You told him, "I'm doing a one-man show," and he said ...

Douglas: "Is there any part in it for me?" You know, actors are pathetic. We are desperate, you know, and an actor -- instead of like a writer, you can criticize their writing, an actor, you criticize him. It's very personal. It makes you very vulnerable.

CNN: You speak of a long life and of your brushes with death, and you say it in a humorous way in the show, like, "does God hate me?"

Douglas: I have so many things that were happening to me: the stroke, the helicopter crash, a broken back, I broke two knees, then I thought maybe God is mad at me.

CNN: But in all seriousness, did you take any of this as a message from above?

Douglas: Well, I don't know. I have studied religion, and I have concluded that there is some power. We don't understand it. Nobody really saw the Pearly Gates or hell.

But I feel affected by nature. If I look at the trees, or the other day we got a bouquet of roses, and there were white roses tinted red, and I thought, "How does that happen?" So if you look at nature, you begin to think that there is some power behind everything. I don't know what it is, and I don't think anybody knows. You either have to believe that there is, or you don't.

CNN: You've had a really interesting spiritual journey in your life, and you have explored your Judaism much more as you got older.

Douglas: I studied Judaism a lot. I studied religion in general, and I have never imposed my Judaism on my kids. They are what they want to be. I think ... you must care for others. That's the correct religion, I think. You have to learn eventually to care for other people. My mother said once to me -- and we were very poor -- but my mother said, "A beggar must give something to another beggar who is worse off than he." And that has stuck with me. ... If people give whatever they can give to help other people, we will solve all of the problems of the world. ...

If only more people got "it". I'm the same way about nature. I'm not sure I believe in any power though. But, I am most certainly amazed at the wonderment in nature.

The REASON my Daughter doesn't believe in GOD

Halo showed me this video and said, this is why I don't believe in God....

It's No Effing Miracle...C'mon, Really?

Okay, have to "betch" about the story of the guy who got shot in the head "gangland style" or "execution style" (per media reports) and survived because a priest gave him a "special" Pope John Paul rosary.

Here's my first problem: This priest, Rev. Art Snedeker, had only so many rosaries blessed from Pope John Paul. Why would he give his LAST rosary to a guy who's been shot in the head. Common sense would say the dude's a goner, I mean, c'mon, really. And then, when somehow, the doctors save this guy, the priest wants to give credit to a magic necklace, the pope and God.

The 2nd issue I have is, what about all those other people that got the "jeebus beads"??? Where were their miracles? Why didn't we hear about those? Oh, that's right, we aren't suppose to question why God does the things he does. This pick and choose crap is for the birds.

Can we go on now or what? Really this whole story comes back down to the sainthood of John Paul. Not about the guy who got shot in the head or how his friend died that night...where was his miracle....UGH!

Bakersfield Tops the list for Crazy Sex Laws

Stole this one from "The Californian" blogger...amazing how Bakersfield is numero uno:

Laws are supposed to protects us, but when the government decides to get in our pants, some crazy stuff goes down!

Here are some actual sex laws truly for the record books!

1. In Bakersfield, Calif., if you're going to have sex with Satan, you've gotta use a condom. And definitely come up with a safe word!

2. Poking a porcupine is illegal in Florida. But apparently that law didn't go far enough. Just a couple of weeks ago, State Sen. Nan Rich submitted a bill that would ban peeps in the Sunshine State from being able to stick it in where the sun don't shine on any animal.

3. In Minnesota, it's illegal for any slime bucket to hook up with a live fish. Don't worry disinterested wives, a cold fish is still A-OK!

4. In Dyersburg, Tenn., it is illegal for a lady to call a gentleman for a date. Clearly no one in that town is getting laid!

5. In Merryville, Mo., no woman can waste her natural waist. Wearing a corset is illegal because "the privilege of admiring the curvaceous, unencumbered body of a young woman should not be denied to the normal, red-blooded American male." No wonder it's called the "Show Me State!"

6. It's illegal to purchase sex toys in Alabama. This law can beat it!

7. In Washington state, it's totally legal to eff an animal like an animal, as long as it weighs less than 40 lbs. What, fatty farm pets don't deserve some love?

8. While most would argue that this is place where the people get screwed many different ways, in Washington, D.C., engaging in any sexual position other than missionary is illegal.

9. In Massachusetts, you cannot recklessly consummate your love with a rodeo clown while the horses are still around. But seriously, there's a reason for the expression "hung like a horse." I doubt the animal would get jealous!

10. The biggest Internet-porn-consuming state, Utah, gets freaky in its laws too. Sex with an animal is totally cool, unless you're doing it for cold, hard cash! Hey, why buy the cow when you can have the milk for free!

I think I've had sex with Satan once...but it was in Chicago.

Chrissie Hynde

A quick pic from last weeks concert...The Pretenders...I got the playlist from some wanker, I believe he was either the lighting or sound guy. He hailed from London, talked with him a bit after show, and mostly about our own kids.

Waited after the concert to try and catch Chrissie...she never came out...meaning I only waited til 1AM (an hour and a half after the concert) to try and get an autograph before I gave up. I'm a working girl now and it was on a "school" night...gotta get mys sleep. Oh well, great show, fab date nite with hubs too.

Pope Visits Africa - Says Don't Use Condoms

All I can say is: IDIOT -- Although I could rant for hours, I gotta go to work.

It's Sad There's No Time Anymore...

Busy, in a good and not so good way. The new "day" job, it's great, except to me there's not enough work to do. Whoopdedoo. I still gotta be happy about having a job in the first place.

Now, my "sideliner" photography gigs are keeping me really busy. It's not taking the photos, that's the easy part --- it's the processing, the touch-ups, etc. They can be very time consuming and monotonous, so no time to "catch-up".

Why the heck am I using gratuitous quotation marks? I "dunno".

Maybe it's for "Halo", my daughter, she turns 14 tomorrow on St. Patrick's Day. I have her triple fudge cake baking in the oven, right now, at 10pm....because that's the only time I had available.

We are heading to Primm, Nevada this weekend, only because the freaking hotel rates are the lowest I've ever seen in my life....can you believe a room rate of only 5 fucking dollars "mid week" in Primm at Buffalo Bills? It's on the border of California and Nevada. On the weekend it's $27/night, so we're getting two rooms. Now, mind you, it's only a two star hotel, but it has a roller coaster ride attached to it and other "amusements". And kids don't care, they just want to go out of town.

The only thing that really sucks about going anywhere in Nevada, though, is the smell of cigarettes. And I use to be a smoker...it's just disgusting.

Perfect for Halo and her friend Tiara (yes..really). They have an extremely nice outlet mall. And isn't that what all teenage girls want anyway. Plus, it's a short drive to Vegas, where the room rates where too much for my blood. There must be something going on there, I haven't seen the rates that high, either that or we just booked too late. The girls only request was to "hit" M&M World...done...no problem...can mommy go to The Venetian and have a gondola ride, maybe?

Anyway, back to my Halo...she was my breech baby, and of course I remember it like it was yesterday...but shit, I really can't believe it's been 14 years. She's an outstanding girl, straight "A" student, cheerleader, and she was just picked as the only girl in her school for an award called the Juliet Thorner Award for her all around "coolness"...lol. She rocks!

Happy Birthday "Halo"!

Trying again - TEST - Warholish Work

This is the dog of a friend of mine from my morning walks at the dog park. Sammie is a Portugese Water Dog. I took a picture of Sammie and made this Warholish image. I'm giving it to my friend for his birthday.


Funny too, this is the "Presidential Dog" pick for the Obama girls. They'll love this dog because of its sweet disposition.

Anyway, just sharin' is all....

Stuff

Not much going on, I love the new job -- today I've been there a month. So far so good. Husband still has his job, but we're not out of the woods yet...but really liking the extra money. Mama may start gettin' her nails done (that'd be me).

Cheers to you all.

Religulous by Bill Maher

Finally, I saw the Religulous movie by Bill Maher. In my last post, I mentioned how my first copy was warped from the video store, probably from some xtian nutjob, taking a lighter to it. I took it back and got another copy, no big whoop.

Anyway, there were some interesting points in it. Starting off with telling us a whopping 16% of the nation consider themselves non-religious. But that doesn't necessarily mean they don't all disbelieve in a deity. Some people don't like the idea of a dogmatic church, but still believe in a high power, right?

Bill hits all kinds of religious places, from the truck stop church, made inside a tractor trailer, to the "holiest" of lands in Jerusalem, to Muslims and Mormons and digging into Scientology, most of these folks follow THEIR religion blindly because they've been indoctrinated from birth.

One of the funny moments was in the truck stop trailer church. This one guy use to be a Satanist turned Christian. He said he used to have lots of money and women and he gave all that up for the Lawd. Bill thought about this aloud when he was filming in his van, what could possibly be wrong with having lots of money and women.

My favorite part was when he went to the "Holyland Experience", in Orlando, Florida, and talked with "Jesus". He had some profound comments on his take on God. He said trying to explain God was like trying to explain how a TV set works to an ant. His analogy of the trinity: father, son, and holy ghost, saying that water can be steam, liquid, and solid ice, was kind of thought provoking.

He later goes to Salt Lake City, where the "Mormon Police" throw him off the lawn of the ornate temple there. One guy walked by while they were filming and yelled, "Tell is like it is Bill!".

Still another thing that struck me odd, again, was how blindly people follow THEIR religion like sheep, and without question. They won't even entertain the idea that so many other deity figures from days of old, BEFORE Christianity, were also virgin births and/or supposedly born on December 25th too. Like, Mithra, Horus, Dionysus, and Krishna...etc. Some have also been crucified and risen. The looks on their faces were priceless.

Hilarious was his interview with an Orthodox Jew, who kept saying to Bill, "Let ME finish...", because Bill kept refuting what was being said about Judaism. Another cool moment was while outside the Vatican, where a Vatican priest, who looked like he had had a couple a vinos, called biblical tales "stories." I liked that guy.

It was what I thought it would be...it showed how people throw up their hands to the lawd, without giving it a second thought or sound reasoning. One guy said, "What if your wrong?" and Bill shoots back, "What if you are?", then there's silence.

See it if you want...some of the comical subtitles and old movie clips thrown in for humor are totally hilarious too.

Majorly Pissed OFF

This morning, I go to work at 11am, that part is great...I can finally watch the Bill Maher movie "Religulous". I was going to watch it on Saturday, but didn't get around to it. Wouldn't you just know it, I pull out the movie, and put it in the player...AND IT WON'T PLAY, the CD player gives me an error message. I take it out and IT'S WARPED. Like someone lit it with a lighter.

Leisure morning ruined.

I call me husband and tell him about it and then notice the other movie we rented is gone too. He said he took it to work...it's been slow...hardly anybody's there since all the layoffs. He was sweet enough to bring it back for me to watch. So here I sit watchin' Pineapple Express. Ackkkkk!

I should've gone to the grocery store instead. My priorities are a little mixed up lately....not use to the new routine quite yet.

OY!

Last weekend I went with a friend to Los Angeles to get his dog groomed. Apparently he doesn't think there's a good enough groomer here in town...whatever. Anyway, when we got to the LA area, we headed thru an extremely Orthodox Jewish part of town to get to the dog groomer called Pour Le Pooch. Lots of Jewish men in traditonal dress heading to synagogue.

After dropping the dog off, we ended up having lunch on Sunset Blvd. at a restuarant called "LePetit Four"...nothing fancy, but very expensive...okay probably not that expensive for LA. My chinese chicken salad was about $18 bucks, but it was very delicious.

When we were done with lunch we head back to pick up his dog back thru the jewish neighborhood. I start laughing hysterically at the billboard wall with what I thought was the word "OY". My friend said what's so funny? I said, look! Look it says "OY", as in "oy vey", in the jewish area. He said we're not in the jewish neighborhood anymore and is says "JOY"!

Little did I realize there was a building covering up the "J" in the Pepsi campaign ad...I took a picture of it anyway...for my own amusement, and now yours too, I hope.

Oh, umm, did I mention I had had a couple of bloody marys with lunch and this was why I was so easily amused? Okay, so now you know. I *AM* very easily amused.

And this last pic was on the side of a stoplight wire box. Obama as Superman advertising an art show. WAY Cool! Although, I don't think he's saving the world, just yet.

And this is exactly what I've been working on this morning. My friend wants me to do a pop art photo of his dog...I'll probably post that another day, when I can get it all figured out.

Who's got the time?

Okay, I HAVE to Comment on Octumom

Besides being extremely pissed at the fertility doctor for implanting eggs in a woman who already had a bunch of kids, I'm even more annoyed by what I just read about her dad on the Oprah Winfrey show.

"You know, she needs help," he tells Winfrey, defending the Web site that was recently launched to support her 14 children. "I say to everybody now, people, we do need help. Do not punish my daughter for what she had done and do not punish the babies, because they were given by God."

NO, NO, NO....these babies were NOT gifts from God. If there were a God, his "will" was for her to not have anymore kids, that's why she had to find a wacky quack of a fertility doc to impregnate her. It was THEIR WILL, not friggin' God's.

*RANT OVER*

TMZ Leaked Photo of Rihanna

HERE'S THE LINK of the photo of a beaten Rihanna, by supposed boyfriend Chris Brown.

The reason I bring this up is because both my kids listen to their music. I love "Disturbia", although I've never seen this video, nor have my children, I believe -- it is kind of disturbing. Anyway, my oldest daughter (about to turn 14 on St. Pat's Day), for some reason or another, *HATES* Chris Brown. This was BEFORE this happened. Did she have some kind of intuitive reasoning for disliking him? Here's my point. He does a song about Doublemint gum, and she loves the gum. Again, before this happened, she would spit out her Wrigley gum when he came on TV to do the ad. That's how much she vehemently disliked him. I've asked her why, she said I don't know, I just don't like him.

Well, I HATE him now too, especially after this incident. Sorry to my oldest daughter for mistrusting her intuition.

Hmmmm, What to DO with MY First Paycheck

Well, I get my first paycheck tomorrow. It'll only be a weeks worth of pay. And I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation of what to spend my "mad" money on.

We're still on the edge with Hubs job...so far, it looks like he's staying on as a skeleton crew. *whew* So any mad spending is kind of dampened by the need to save, just in case.

But I'll entertain some ideas. Selfishly, I'd love to get a mani-pedi. I can count on my hands how many times I've had this done...it is a real treat, and here it's only about $30 bucks for both...so I may just do that.

What I want (need) most is my dog to be washed by the mobile pet groomer. I use to take her up to Petsmart, for a whopping $50 bucks. But I always hated that they would tell me she'd only be in there for a couple of hours, then four hours later they'd call and say she was done. The Mobile Pet Groomer (Moondoggie's) is $65. AND, it's done right in front on my house. My dog, Ginger, is literally done in an hour. Love that!

Next, I have a great cheap carpet cleaner "dude" (the last time I used him...maybe his rates have gone up, I dunno), and I'd love to have my carpets clean. Hell, I'd REALLY, REALLY love new carpet, but we're not quite there yet. *dreams - someday*

I feel pretty lucky in general, I want for nothing. I'm pretty content with what we have, and I like the simple life. I, of course, will probably blow some money on my kids, since that brings me the greatest joy. Maybe we'll go shoe shopping at the mall. For the record, I HATE mall shopping, but they love it. Teens, what more do they want than to go shopping at the mall?

My husband and I have one credit card each with a fair amount of balance on them. This morning we discussed having a contest to see who can pay their balance off first. We didn't discuss what the prize would be for doing so. (ideas?)

Once things feel safe again, we are definitely going away, maybe a weekend a month, with some of my money. That would be way cool.

Crap, the buzzer on the dryer just went off, gotta get it our before it all wrinkles. Hope to catch up more with you all when I can. Where's my damn free time?

For Infidel...Space Junk

Well, what I was already afraid of is already HERE. We' were just talking about this. I just never knew it was this many.

The image is stunning....and all I can think to say, again, is Sha Doobie, Skylab, Skylab...

Then this was also in the news today. A flash in the sky and a sonic boom. Satelites colliding.

This all started when Infidel showed me THIS - Climate Engineering. He reminded me that the moon hasn't fallen out of the sky yet, so we SHOULD be safe.

Happy Darwin Day

Would love to someday visit Shrewsbury to see the birthplace of Darwin. Learn more about that here.

For some more fun, check out Devolve Me, upload a pic and see yourself in a more "natural" light.

Here's "ME"...ah, ah, ah! But click on the "different types of man" to see other perspectives. Wow!

Snow on the Grapevine

I think it's a real hoot to see palm trees and snow in the same picture...click the pic for a closer view...if you like.

The Job

It's all good, so far. The last two days have been orientation. Today, I get down to work. I like it, there's some nice people there and I'm still pretty nervous --- I've already disconnected someone on the phone...it'll come eventually and they're so understanding, all of them telling me about when they first started.

Gotta run...it's so hard to catch up on everyone else's blog.

I've Been Everywhere Man...

This is a map of all the states I've been too, so far, in my lifetime. I did this just for shits and giggles...I didn't realize I'd been to so many states. I've lived in five different states, and traveled quite a bit, as I see really see now. Wow!


create your own personalized map of the USA

Ahhh, it looks like it rolls off my page...oh well, I'm leaving it. I haven't been to the upper states like New York, or Vermont etc. Just the lower states, starting with DC.