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Showing posts from April, 2004

Monday night at Morton's

While I don't agree with Ben Stein on his politics, I do enjoy him as an entertainer and he does come up with some darn fine commentary. After reading this eonline column he's welcome in my house any time: Monday night at Morton's ben stein at hollywood's a-list table How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World? As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. Lew Harris, who founded this great site, asked me to do it maybe seven or eight years ago, and I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end. But again, all things must pass, and my column for E! Online must pass. In a way, it is actually the perfect time for it to pass. Lew, whom I have known f

Fun with the new Community page

If you haven't been there yet, check out the new Journal Community page. I've been having fun checking out some of the journals listed and then plugging in search words into the search box and seeing what comes up. Even more fun, type in your name and do a search for author. Amazing how many Jeans show up in various forms :D I esp like the Random Recent Posts feature. I can't wait until they add more features to the community :)

New Quote

I decided it was time for a new quote on my header. I was going to put one by Roseanne Barr about growing to take up space that Wild Witch sent. but I came across the one above while I was cleaning out my desk and thought it was just right for now. As for why I was cleaning out my desk...I got a new desk! I got a new desk! Okay, it isn't exactly new, it is an old wooden one that probably belonged to the library when it was housed in one of the other buildings eons ago, but it is new to me :D I love old furniture and when one of the other offices here said they were getting rid of it I leaped at the chance to get it. It has wonderful character and even better yet, a door that doesn't fall off if I look at it wrong LOL My old desk is one of those 1950's metal types with the pull out typing platform I don't use and the door is always falling off. It was a nice desk as far as it went, but just no character. Now if I can lay my hands on a wooden 2-drawer filing cabinet

Got my blood results back

The good news is my thyroid levels are all in the normal range without the meds, so it looks like I am currently in remission. So fingers crossed that I will stay that way. The bad news is I can't blame the aches and pains and exhaustion on having gone hypo :( So I get to try and figure out what is causing it. My white blood count is still down below normal and the last time I had my iron levels checked they were down also (surprising considering the level of iron in our water. When we moved into our current place I was able to stop taking iron supplements, I didn't need them anymore LOL). I do have to admit tho, I have been a very bad girl when it comes to taking my vitamins and supplements. There comes a point when one rebels and says "screw it, I don't want to deal with things anymore", so I really should sit down and start taking them again. One of the supplements I was taking is milk thistle to help my liver, which the PTU was affecting, thus lowering my

How I wish....

Torrid was around when I was a teen looking for clothes like the ones my peers wore: Retailer Prospers With Sexy Clothes For the Plus-Sized Retailer Prospers With Sexy Clothes For the Plus-Sized Big Girls Have Regular Tastes And Torrid Stores Oblige; Larger Retailers Stumble No Bold Prints or Sheer Fabric By STEPHANIE KANG Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL April 27, 2004; Page A1 At 5 feet 2 and more than 160 pounds, Alicia Derrick had a tough time finding clothes that fit. She usually left stores empty-handed. But on a recent trip to a Torrid store in Northridge, Calif., the 26-year-old singer picked up a black lace tank top, silver studded belt and black cargo pants. "It's got everything," she says. In most stores, "you go to the teen section and it's all for stick girls." Torrid, a national chain with 52 stores, is at the leading edge of a quest to solve an important retailing riddle: What do the growing ranks of overweight young Ame

Interview with Paul Campos

From Big Fat Blog : Dr. Pattie Thomas Interview with Paul F. Campos Last fall, law professor, columnist and author, Paul Campos, took the time to talk to me about his then upcoming book, The Obesity Myth: Why America�s Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to your Health, which is available now at bookstores or via the Internet. Paul shared his insights into the infatuation North Americans have with the Obesity Myth, the ways in which the current rhetoric is designed to create a moral panic aimed at fat people and the ways in which we can work towards dispelling this myth and creating a society where body diversity is respected and desired. Tell me a bit about your background and how you got interested in fat politics. I am a law professor at the University of Colorado and have been here for 13 years. I teach several fairly ordinary law school types of classes: property, legislation and jurisprudence. I got interested in the whole fat thing initially because I had been do

Survived the wind storm

We only had a momentary power blip at home. Most it did was trip the surge protector on the entertainment unit and rebooted all our computers. Didn't even have to reset the clocks on the microwave and coffee maker. Some stop lights around town are still out, tho a lot of folk apparently didn't learn the ettiquette of what to do when the stop lights are out, lots of people blowing thru the intersections. A lot of people lost power for several hours, it was scattered all over town. A few trees got blown down, so far haven't heard of any damage beyond the broken trees. The ones we saw down luckily didn't hit any structures, tho they did block roads. One of my little pink flamingos tried to make a run for it tho. I found it halfway across the yard, it's stick still in the ground where I'd put it. It is one of the ones with wings on springs and I guess it had enough lift that when the gusts came thru it was lifted off its stick and off it went hehehehehe Th

How to tell you are a TRUE friend

Your neighbor who has friends over who are in a panic becasue their power is out from the wind storm we are currently experiencing and they are missing American Idol and your neighbor has a satellite dish, but the local channels are out, so she calls you and asks if they can come over and watch the show. And you say, 'Sure!" I hate American Idol, so I am definately a true friend :D

I blame the counselors

They really should have know better: Alaskan boy, 15, fights as brown bear attacks By Mary Pemberton The Associated Press ANCHORAGE A 15-year-old boy on a wilderness expedition for emotionally troubled youths woke up to find a 400-pound brown bear with a bad attitude sitting at his feet. The Barrow boy at first thought it was a camp counselor rustling around at the foot of his tent Saturday morning on Deer Island in Southeast Alaska. But when he figured out it was a bear, the young man keeping his wits about him tried to slip quietly away. The bear would have none of it. -snip- Why the *&*^ was the boy allowed to take rice-a-roni into the tent with him. You NEVER EVER take any food into your tent when you are out in the woods, not even a gum wrapper! Thank the gods the boy is relatvely okay, the poor bear had to be killed because of human stupidity. Like I said, I blame the counselors who should have put their foot down and told the boy to finish the food before goi

Kewlness

Looks like Bravenet has been tweaking the journals again. The link boxes are now in alphabetica order and they have a means to move your links around within the boxes (tho I am having trouble getting more then one link to move. I move the one and then no matter which buttons I click none of the other links will move). Hopefully that is just a temporary glitch, I've been wanting to order my links without having to delete them and then add them again alphabetically. They have also added a means to add your forums, guest books, photo albums, etc to the journal, tho they do count towards the 25 link limit :( Oh well. Just go to your service manager and look under journal add ons. Looking forward to the launch of the Bravenet Journal Community pages :)

Fishy Advice -- Risk-Free at What Cost?

Here is part 2 of Sandy Szwarc's article on mercury in fish: Fishy Advice -- Risk-Free at What Cost? By Sandy Szwarc 2004 Published 04/26/2004 TCS Editor's note: This is the second of a two part series on mercury. Read the first installment here. Remember when women were encouraged to simply enjoy 2 or 3 servings of a wide variety of fish each week to ensure a healthy baby? Our babies aren't in any more danger today, what's changed is our fear. When the FDA repeatedly issues health advisories spelling out dangers in increasing detail, as it's done the past few years, it's natural to assume the risks must be pretty significant. "Some fish and shellfish contain high levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system," states the FDA's latest advisory. "The risks... depend on the amount of fish and shellfish eaten and the levels of mercury in the fish and shellfish."1-3 But not a single m

Monday, Monday

It was a wonderful weekend :) Did a bit of puttering around and a lot of relaxing. Friday night tho we were running around getting a deep cycle marine battery and a battery charger. Hubby uses a CPAP (a machine for sleep apnea) as the power comapny planned a power outage in the wee hours of Sunday morning to replace a fried transformer. It was a good thing we made them triple check, we were part of the affected area, even tho the notice they put out said otherwise. So we got the set up and the power went out 10 minutes early, but hubby was able to sleep in comfort and the power was back on by 6:30 am. One nice thing about having to get the battery and such, we can now go camping. We've not been camping in a long time and I really miss it. Sat we had the Pink Pistols meeting, it is great to put faces to names from the mailing list. One person has never handled firearms before and wants to learn, so we're going to plan a range day soon so he can give it a try and figure out

The big fat con story

The Guardian out of the UK has published an excerpt from the new book coing out by Paul Campos called "Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession With Weight Is Hazardous To Your Health". The big fat con story Size really doesn't matter. You can be just as healthy if you're fat as you can if you're slender. And don't let the obesity 'experts' persuade you otherwise, argues Paul Campos -snip- You can read the article at the above link.

A Friday funny

This came thru an email list I am on: This is supposed to be true - well, I've had a variation of this before so I think this is reaching urban legend status. Still, its funny, true, and offers an answer to the age old question as to why women go to the bathroom in pairs --------------- Only a woman will TRULY relate to the following, but it's a "hoot" for all! Real Restroom Story - For The Ladies!!!!!! My mother was a fanatic about public toilets. As a little girl, she'd bring me in the stall, teach me to wad up toilet paper and wipe the seat. Then, she'd carefully lay strips of toilet paper to cover the seat. Finally, she'd instruct, "Never, never sit on a public toilet seat. And she'd demonstrate "The Stance," which consisted of balancing over the toilet in a sitting position without actually letting any of your flesh make contact with the Toilet seat. But by this time, I'd have wet down my leg and we'd go home. That was a

An affirmation

"I live my life to the fullest and refuse to be victimized by others' prejudices or fears." From: Erdman, Cheri K. Live large! ideas, affirmations & actions for sane living in a larger body. HarperCollins, 1997

End of a long week

YAY!!!!!! :D Not much planned for this weekend. We are definately going to do the coffee thing for the Palouse Pink Pistols tomorrow and then I have a Beltaine planning meeting on Sunday. At some point I probably should see about mowing the lawn, it is getting a tad bit scruffy. The ham I cooked last weekend is getting to soup bone stage, I'll probably toss it in the crockpot tomorrow and make some ham stock. Haven't decided if I'm going to make bean soup or split pea soup. I haven't done split pea in a while and it is hubby's favorite, so will probably do that on Sunday. Discovered the power of acetominiphen, two 500 mg caps and the pain in my knees and hips goes away , at least for a little while. The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, but I'm a bit worried, the temp is dropping and the clouds are rolling in and it is getting windier. Now, if we get a rip, roaring thunderstorm I won't be too unhappy. We haven't had a good t-storm in a couple

Survived the doctors visit

End result, I left blood for them to run my thyroid levels and white blood counts. With luck my WBC is back to normal (or close to) and I'm in remission from the Graves' disease. If I'm not in remission, but slightly hyper there may be a chance to go back on the meds if they don't lower my WBC too terribly far. I would be on my ATDs at a very low dosage, so I may be able to avoid surgery. My doc wasn't too pushy about RAI treatment, she'd talked with an endo since my last appointment and their practice isn't pushing RAI as much anymore (and one of the docs in that practice was the endo who was insistant I HAD to stop the ATDs and do the RAI. He apparently is singing a different tune), there is a great possibility of developing thyroid eye disease if one does the radioactive iodine after having been on the anti-thyroid meds for any length of time. And since I have troubles with my eyesight as is, the last thing I need is to develop TED. I do have some herbel

A good article from the Harvard Health Policy Review

This appeared in their Fall 2003 issue, the author is Glenn Gaesser, the author of "Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Your Weight and Your Health". Is it Necessary to be Thin to be Healthy?" Glenn A. Gaesser, PhD Despite increasing prevalence of dieting, Americans are heavier than ever. Not only do traditional calorie-restrictive weight-loss approaches frequently fail, dieting may actually contribute to obesity. Because many of the health problems associated with body fat are the same as those linked to physical inactivity and poor diet, the health risks of overweight and obesity per se have been exaggerated. Most weight-related health conditions can be treated effectively by increasing physical activity and improving quality of diet, independent of weight loss. It is suggested that a non-weight-centered paradigm-Health At Every Size--be considered for improving the health of individuals considered overweight or obese. Results from large-scale lifestyle intervention t

An interesting article from Washington Monthly

Doctors Without Borders Why you can't trust medical journals anymore. By Shannon Brownlee With financial ties to nearly two dozen drug and biotech companies, Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff may hold some sort of record among academic clinicians for the most conflicts of interest. A psychiatrist, a prominent researcher, and chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral science at Emory University in Atlanta, Nemeroff receives funding for his academic research from Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Wyeth-Ayerst--indeed from virtually every pharmaceutical house that manufactures a drug to treat mental illness. He also serves as a consultant to drug and biotech companies, owns their stocks, and is a member of several speakers' bureaus, delivering talks--for a fee--to other physicians on behalf of the companies' products. But it was just three of Nemeroff's many financial entanglements that caught the eye of Dr. Bernard J. Carroll last spring while reading a paper b

It's going to be one of those weeks

o far it has been a pretty BLECH week, I've been tired and braindead, with a few shining moments and it is only Wednesday. Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment, which I'm not looking forward too. I really, really hate getting blood drawn. I am getting better, I only whimper instead of scream :D But it has been almost 8 weeks since I stopped my anti-thyroid meds because they were hammering my poor liver into submission and my white blood count was tanking (amazingly enough, with a low white blood count and an autoimmune disorder I am the only one at work who hasn't gotten any of the bugs rolling around. Weird!). So fingers crossed that I haven't gone hyper again, tho if I haven't we'll have a mystery on our hands as to why I've been having other problems. If I am hyper again, then we'll see about surgically removing part of my thyroid. I refuse radioactive iodine treatement, I've met way too many people who've had nothing but problems after the

Kewlness

I came across a free service that lets you create a digest of your favorite blogs so you can keep track of them. The service is called Kinja and seems pretty easy. Since we only have a limited number of links we can add to our Bravenet journals, I've decided to use Kinja for the fat acceptance blogs that I like to read. It is also set up for other folk to access, the link is listed under my Other Blogs under Fat Acceptance Blogs

Size-wise action

"If someone tries to talk to you about your weight in a way that is shaming or inappropriate, be assertive. Firmly tell her or him that your body is your own personal business. Tell that person to pay attention to her or his own body and to leave yours alone." From: Erdman, Cheri K. Live large! ideas, affirmations & actions for sane living in a larger body. HarperCollins, 1997

A nice quiet weekend

Didn't do a darned thing and it was wonderful Okay, not quite, but almost. I did do laundry and curled up on the couch and did some mending. I also cooked a nice ham on Saturday and discovered the frittata is my best friend LOL Our houseguests from the previous week introduced us to the frittata, what a neat idea, kinda like a quiche without the crust or an omlet that doesn't have to be flipped. Great thing about it is it can be enjoyed by carnivores and veggies alike (tho since it is made with eggs, it isn't vegan friendly). Even better thing about it is is a great way to use up those little bit of left over meats and veg from the night before. And it is so easy to make, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, take a pan with an oven safe handle and put on a burner and turn on the heat to med high. Add a bit of butter, toss in what ever meats and veg you want to sautee up a bit. Take your eggs (in this case I used 6), crack into a bowl and scramble them with a fork. Add a bit o

WEE HAWWWW!

Almost quitting time. I've no real obligations this weekend, except a coffee get together for the Palouse Pink Pistols, so I am a happy camper Now, if the weather will co-operate I can get some outside work done.

A couple of good articles from Tech Central Station

The first one is from Sandy Szwarc who writes about fearmongering in regards to the safety of fish in Mothers, Babies and Mercury . The 2nd article is by Jon Robison called Scare Tactics about the government, health institutions and others who are trying to scare people into good health and how that isn't working.

Some people are just too stupid for words

Now, I have no problems with people who streak, when I was in college and living in the dorms we anxiously awaited the appearance of the Gault Hall Naked Striders as that signaled that the school year had truely started. But there is a time and a place to streak and an Easter egg hunt is NOT the place

Woo hoo!!!! It's Friday!!!!!!

And it is sunny out, tho still a little cool. A lot greener today too, the plants loved all the moisture. Once it stopped snowing it rained for quite a while. I'll finally be doing more re-vamping of my webpage. Hubby finally found a thumbnail program that is easy to use and free. So I will FINALLY be getting all the Ms Ella pics back up on my page and I'll probably be redoing all my pictures too.

Oh my Goddess!!!!!

The radio station I listen on the net out of Red Deer AB Canada is raising money for a children's cancer fund. One way they are doing it this afternoon is picking a song and a money amount and then playing said song over and over until they reach the amount. Okay, a kewl way of doing it. But they just played Pat Boone singing Ozzy Osborn's Crazy Train ......3 times in a row until enough people met the $500 level they had set. I think I am going to have nightmares tonight If I had the money I would have contacted them and offered double to not only NOT play that song, but to destroy the album. SHUDDER Some things should be declared a crime agains humanity, and Pat Boone singing heavy metal ranks right up at the top.

A good read

I picked up a book yesterday off the browsing room shelf. If you are into mysteries with a bit of meat to them I highly recommend the series about DI John Rebus by Ian Rankin. They take place in and around Edinburgh Scotland and are hard to put down. They are real page turners. They have made a series of movies out of the books, starring John Hannah who people may remember as the brother in the 2 Mummy movies starring Brendon Fraser . John is an excellent actor, he did a version of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde that had goosebumps on my goosebumps. Speaking of good acting, I also recommend people to catch (if you can) a series he did called McCallum . BBCAmerica is running them of late, we record them on the PVR to watch later and zip the commericals. The episode we watched last night was a definate edge of the seat thriller.

I have come to the conclusion.....

that some people have been placed on this earth soley to entertain me. I like to read thru the various blogs that are linked on the Spokesman Review site Blogging in the Inland NW . One of the blogs My 2 Cents is by a student here at the U, who has a conservative bent. Seems there are several students who are now blogging and they are having discussions more or less with each other, only they don't comment on one blog, they do so on each of their own. Okay, a most interesting way of doing it, but seems to me it could be confusing, but either they are not set up to allow comments by blogspot or they just rather not have people commenting where others can read them. Oh well, to each their own, format-wise. So, into this mix another blogger has arrived to make things interesting, My Non Cents . So I am looking forward to see how things go.

As I mentioned....

over on the tag board, it is snowing here today :( We had expected rain, which is fine as my garden needs the water, but snow wasn't expected, at least here. They had mentioned snow falling at the 5000 foot level, where we really need it as the snow pack from this winter was melting off faster then it should. We've been experiencing semi-drought the last few years and it is being reflected in the crops. Oh well, that is North Idaho weather for you, keeps you guessing.

Now I'm REALLY depressed

A friend of mine just pointed out a little while ago that this year is our 25 anniversary of graduating high school. Now I feel really, really, really old So now I have the urge to try and track down all my friends from then. I started off high school here in Moscow (after my folks dragged me up to Idaho from California, kicking and screaming all the way), then left in 1977 to move back to California (with me kicking and screaming all the way. I'd discovered I LIKED small town life) where I finished high school. We'd moved to Idaho in the first place so my Dad could go back to grad school and then moved back to CA where he'd gotten a job as a contract worker for the Navy. I resisted moving to Idaho, even tho I was born here, as my few memories of the place were not great and I viewed the place as a depressing backwater after living so many years in California. But like I said, I found that I prefered small town life and moved back as soon as I could. So it will be interesti

Pet Peeve time

Why, oh why is it so darned difficult for people to flush the damned toilet?!?!?!?! Are they flushing impaired? Did they grow up in a place where the toilets all flushed themselves? Did they not have flush toilets at all and are unfamilier with the concept? Or are they so rich they hired people to flush the toilet for them and just forgot to have them with them? SIGH!!!!! Does this only happen in women's bathrooms, or are some men flushing impaired also? But why? Don't people like the sound, so they won't flush, or are they so afraid of germs they don't want to touch the handle in public bathrooms? My one grandmother had this thing about germs so she'd grab a bit of TP and use that to grab the handle to flush. She also used paper towel to turn the water faucett's on and off when she washed her hands. That was going a bit too far in the fear of germs as far as I am concerned. People, can't figure them out sometimes.

Dad rat it! It happened again!

1.2+ million books in this library and I don't have ANYTHING to read I just finished a new Anne Perry book yesterday, a start of a new series that takes place before and during WWI. A very good book, I am looking forward to the rest of them. I suppose I should actually search something out, I usually just peruse the browsing book shelves and pick up what ever catches my fancy or I put my name on what ever crosses my desk for notifies. Problem is I then have to figure out WHAT I want to read a head of time Oh well, time to tiptoe thru the catalog and see what strikes my fancy and hope it's not checked out :D

"Who is YOUR Inner Law&Order Persona?"

Normally I don't pass these things around, but this one is fun: "Who is YOUR Inner Law&Order Persona?" Usually I end up being someone I would never have considered, but I like these results . " You're Lt. Anita Van Buren!" Who is YOUR Inner Law&Order Persona? brought to you by Quizilla

Venus of Willendorf

Pawprint asked on the tag board what the pic on my banner is. That is the Venus of Willendorf , a statuette found in 1908 near the town of Willendorf in Austria. It is estimated to date to 24,000-22,000 BCE (Before Common Era). She is usually refered to as a Goddess figure or a fetility figure.

Happy Ostara/Happy Easter

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, I sure am. It is nice and sunny and in a little while we are heading over to a friends for a barbeque. The only blotch on the entire weekend is the email UI staff recieved from the interim President about a proposed plan to have a one time pay lag (AGAIN!!!) to help balance out the budget. Well, for those of us who haven't had a pay raise in 3 years, whose health insurance no longer covers everything the previous company covered and who have been dealing with a rising cost of living that is putting us dangerously close to the poverty level (20% of UI employess are at or below poverty level in Idaho), this proposed plan is going over like a lead ballon. The prez is asking for comments and I think I am about able to write one that doesn't involve the f-word being used in every other sentence and I won't be attaching the pic of me in full CAS regalia as I don't want it to be percieved as a threat Hubby says he was hearing talk of str

Size-wise action

"Practice saying, "You can't shame me anymore!" Say this especially when you see the "perfect" woman's body on TV, in magazines, or on billboards. Dump shame. Reclaim your body." From: Erdman, Cheri K. Live large! ideas, affirmations & actions for sane living in a larger body. HarperCollins, 1997

THE CLOWN CHAKRA

This came thru on one of my email groups and I had to share :) THE CLOWN CHAKRA The Clown Scientists have found that all our problems can be placed under one heading: Seriousness. Seriousness is the leading cause of everything from Cancer to Reincarnation. Scientists from the Clown Academy have already discovered a new source of healing. It is a psychic energy point located between the heart chakra and the throat chakra. It is called the Clown Chakra. If people are feeling miserable, if they have financial problems, if their relationship situation is the pits, if they are in ill health, if they need to sue people, if they find fault with their brother, then obviously, their Clown Chakra is closed. When this happens, the Scientists have observed under a high-powered microscope that the cells of every organ display a sad face, and when the Clown Chakra is open and functioning normally, the cells display a happy face. The Scientists realized that if a person is ill, it is because his

You Call It Easter, We Call It Ostara

Here is an interesting article from witch-vox on Ostara: You Call It Easter, We Call It Ostara by Peg Aloi Try this sometime with your children or a young niece, nephew or cousin: on the day of the Vernal or Autumnal Equinox, just a few moments before the exact moment of the equinox, go outside with a raw egg. Find a reasonably level place on the sidewalk or driveway. For a few moments just before and just after the equinox, you can balance the egg upright (wider end down) by simply setting it down on the ground. No kidding! It will stand up all by itself. Kids love this, and most adults are amazed and delighted, too. This little "trick" brings together two of the most potent aspects of this holiday: the balancing of the earth's gravity midway between the extremes of light and dark at Winter and Summer Solstice; and the symbolism of the egg. The egg is one of the most notable symbols of Easter, but, as someone who was raised Catholic and who was never told exactly why

The Emperor's New Crisis

The Emperor's New Crisis By Sandy Szwarc 2004 Published 04/08/2004 TCS On Sept 12, 2002, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson released the health statistics report from the Centers for Disease Control which revealed the average American's health "has changed dramatically for the better over the past 50 years." He announced: "In 2000, Americans enjoyed the longest life expectancy in U.S. history -- almost 77 years."1 The report documents that gains haven't been merely in lowered infant mortalities; death rates among adults have dropped 50%, too. Despite aging significantly, the population is healthier than ever. The four leading causes of death continue to see noteworthy improvements: Actual death rates due to heart disease are down 70%, strokes down 80%, cancer and unintentional injury deaths have been dropping for decades. Even children and young adults have enjoyed sharp declines in deaths from heart disease and cancer.2 In the HHS pr

BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Seems there is a troll going around the journals and forging tags in my name. What a LOSER! Trolls have no lives and seem to spend all their time trying to bring people down to their level of miserableness so they can have company. Too bad they haven't realized that people really don't give a rat's ass about them and what they think. In the meantime I will continue to be amused by their pathetic attempts. They haven't realized that I know people will see thru them. They hide behind anonymous remailers (a legitimate service they are abusing and should be ashamed of themselves, except they are so pathetic they have no shame) and refuse to come out in the open with who they are. Me, on the other hand, have no problems or worries since I don't and won't hide :D

Odds and sods

Well, our house guests arrived from Canada safe and sound. They came down in the cutest Geo Metro they call the "Nugget" becasue it is gold colored. With gas prices as they are it was a smart move, they would have paid a fortune driving their SUV, even tho that would have been more comfortable. I am so glad we rearrainged the living room. Before the couch/hide-a-bed was on the outside wall under the windows, which meant that when opened it pretty much blocked access to the kitchen since it took up most of the living room. I moved to another wall, so now it opens the length of the room and I have a straight shot fromthe bedroom to the kitchen so I can get my monring coffee without having to climb over guests :D hehehehe The pork roast was done to perfection, I fixed frozen brocoli and cauliflower in the microwave and did up a packet of alfredo sauce to go on top and we had a nice romain salad with homemade ceasar dressing (and to twit the food police, I used REAL eggs and they

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Someone needs to drop kick this sum'bitch! People who think doing things like this is fun need to be tortured slowly and left out on a fire ant hill or possibly staked out on the shoreline during low tide and left, even better yet, have their legs broken then cover them in barbeque sauce and left in a a pen of hungry tigers. If you haven't figured it out, I LOATH people who abuse animals.

Another nice day

We are still having to put the inserts back in the windows at night (at least in the living room. The ones in the kitchen would involve moving WAY too many plants and starts to make it practical) since the night temps are still in the 30s. I can't wait until I can store those away and take the insert out of the back door. Then I can open the window and kitties can come and go as they please, whihc will make Mister happy since he is in his "feral kittie" mode now that the snow has gone. He really hates having to come in at night, but it is too cold still for elder kitties and I don't think he is fast enough to avoid the Great Horned Owl living in the area. We are going to have to find a new morning radio station. We've given the new guy a week and we aren't happy. He seems a nice guy and all, but we want our Gary back. The new guy plays WAY too much music. We really don't like current top 40 and we definately weren't listening to the station for the mus

Way too nice a day

Wandered up to sit outside the Commons at lunch today. Where I was sitting is just off the right edge of the cam. Oh, was it nice, except for the sidewalk preacher who was making a nuisance of himself. I ended up cranking the volume of my little FM radio to drown him out. Luckily he finally wandered out of earshot so I didn't have to listen to him haraunge students. I don't mind folk who are religious, I just wish they would quite pushing their beliefs down other peoples throats. He could have just as easily have set up a table and talked quietly to anyone who walked up and was interested. But no, he had to froth at the mouth and annoy people. Ahhh, spring, brings out the fruitcakes and dingbats. If you look at the webcam, just to the right of the column on the Commons there is a little structure resembling a wall. That is the Writing on the Wall Project that was put up by UI students and student groups. It was amazing reading some of the words, tho never in my life would I

OWWWWW!!!

Why oh why did I wear heels today Seemed like a good idea at the time, nice outfit and a pair of cute half boots with 3 inch heels. I look pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself hehehehehe. Now I am paying the price of playing in the garden this weekend and then wearing heels today. Thank the Goddess I got smart and had brought a pair of tenny runners just in case. I had definate need of just in case. Hmmmm, need to make a note, gotta get some cushy inserts for my boots Oh well, the price we women pay to look good

Monday again

Had a very good weekend Friday I did take off a couple hours early, so got a bit of gardening done. Got the lettuce seeds in the ground and got some of the edging put in around the garden space. The edging is the kind that you DON'T have to pre-dig a slot for, but with our ground I found that using a small folding shovel did the trick. That stuff AIN'T going to pop out of the ground any time soon Sat just puttered about, we did some shopping. Big disapointment in Shopko tho, no bathing suits at all in plus sizes Did pick up a couple of new pillows tho, which is good as we still have company coming on Wed and what extra pillows we have are pretty trashed and old. Went out and checked the beer. Ooooooooo, it is turning out nice Still a little rough, just needs to age another week or two and it will be perfect. Hubby has named it "Jean's Ye Olde no.1 Ale" Next batch we are going to try is an oatmeal stout. We've a friend who is allergic to wheat and loves stout

Size-wise action

"discover your creativity! Paint, garden, write in your journal, put on your favorite music and dance. Express the larger part of you. Put your spirit into action and see what kind of life you can create for yourself." From: Erdman, Cheri K. Live large! ideas, affirmations & actions for sane living in a larger body. HarperCollins, 1997

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Such a nice day, I'm playing hookey in a couple of hours (no problems, my supervisor already took off for the afternoon to do the same thing :D ). I think I'll go home and plant some lettuce seeds. My supervisor (who is going home to play in HER garden) said lettuce loves cold weather and now is a good time to plant. In fact she planted her lettuce a week ago. Not too many plans for the weekend outside of playing in the garden. We're going over to our friends who are babysitting our beer and cracking open a bottle to see how it is coming along. She gardens too so I'll maybe see what she might have starts of that I can put in my garden. I am bound and determined to have lots of yummy fresh veggies of my own to supplement what we will be buying at the green grocer's and the farmer's market. There is something soul satisfying to eat something you've grown yourself. We've friends coming down from Canada next week for a few days, so I do need to finish straig

Happy April Fool's Day

Hope everyone is having a good day. Mine started at 7am this morning with the big announcement our local radio station has been talking about all week. Part of it was that Gary in the Morning was leaving and Steve Shannon was back in town and will be our new morning guy. The 2nd part was they'd been bought by a local consortium of stations (this we knew about several weeks ago) and that the station was going to a country format. Okay.... I love country, but we already have a saturated market. The 2nd song they played was called "I'm a Cowboy Transvestite"! Hubby sat up immediately and said "What's the date today?" AHHHHHHHHHHHHH okay, good one guys hehehehehe :D You should have heard the screaming tho, people were having kittens over the "format change". Gary would ask people who called in a panic if they trusted him, they said yes and he told them to keep listening. They would play a few legitimate country and western songs, a lot of parody st