@ 20/11/2008 – 12:39:11 pm
Read a headline in today's online paper, where stocks once again plummeted on Wall Street, because the unemployment stats took an UNEXPECTED rise...alriiighty, then.
Which begs me to ask, just what planet do these Wall Street finanical wizards hail from???
I'll let the smiliey's tell the rest of this story:
@ 20/11/2008 – 10:41:30 am
I was just getting ready to leave for a doctor's appointment, when the UPS man showed up with an early Christmas prezzie...a mic/headset for my computer!
Whoo-hoo! Now I can hear my friend's voices (on Skype) and don't have to rely on chat rooms any longer! 
@ 20/11/2008 – 09:59:14 am
All my life, many a time much to my chagrin, I've been a wee absent-minded. Okay, let's just say it: my memory sucks.
Found this on the website listed below, found it to be fascinating reading:
HOW TO BUILD A MEMORY PALACE
Decide on a blueprint for your palace. While a memory palace can be a purely imagined place, it is easier to base it upon a place that exists in the real world and that you are familiar with. A basic palace could be your bedroom, for example. Larger memory palaces can be based on your house, a cathedral, a walk to the corner store, or your whole town. The larger or more detailed the real place, the more information you can store in the corresponding mental space.
Define a route. If you will need to remember things in a certain order, it is essential that you follow a specific route through your palace, both in the real world and in your mind. Thus, once you’ve decided what your memory palace is, decide how you will travel through it. If you don’t really need to remember things in order, this step is unnecessary, but still useful, as it makes memorizing your palace easier.
Identify specific storage locations in your palace or along your route. When you use your memory palace you will put individual things to be remembered (a number, a name, or a part of a speech that you will be giving, for example), in specific locations. Thus, you need to identify as many locations as you think you will need. Walk through your structure or along your route and really observe it. If your palace is actually a route, such as your drive to work, the storage locations can be landmarks along the way: your neighbor’s house, a crossroads, a statue, or a skyscraper, for example. If the palace is a structure, you can put things in the different rooms. Within rooms, you can identify smaller locations, such as paintings, pieces of furniture, and so on. The key is to make sure the locations you choose are distinct from each other so that no location can be mistaken for another.
Memorize your memory palace. For your memory palace to be effective, you need to commit it to memory perfectly. The best way to do this is to actually draw out a blueprint (or a map, if the palace is a route) which shows the landmarks or storage locations you have chosen. Try visualizing the palace when you are not there, and then check your mental image against the map to make sure you have remembered every location and put them in the correct order. Picture the landmarks in as much detail as possible: make sure your mental image includes their colors, sizes, smells, and any other defining characteristics.
Place things to be remembered in your palace. Once you have constructed your palace and have it firmly implanted in your mind, you are ready to use it. Put a manageable amount of information in each place. For example, if your palace is your house, and you are trying to remember a speech, you might place the first few sentences on your doormat and the next few in the keyhole of your door. Don’t put too much information in any one place, and if certain things must be kept separate from others, put them in different places. Make sure that you place things along your route in the order in which you need to remember them, if applicable.
Use symbols. You don’t necessarily need to put a whole string of words or numbers in a given location in order to be able to remember it, and trying to do so can be unwieldy and counterproductive. Generally, all you need to store in each location is something that will jog your memory, something that will lead you to the actual idea you’re trying to remember. Thus, if you are trying to remember a ship, picture an anchor on your couch. If the ship is the U.S.S. Wisconsin, picture the anchor made out of cheese. Symbols are shorthand and make memories more manageable, but they also can be more effective than picturing the actual thing you are trying to remember.
Be creative. The images you put in your palace should, obviously, be as memorable as possible. Generally, images will be more memorable if they are absurd (out of the ordinary)[see warnings] , or if they are attached to some strong emotion or personal experience. The number 124 is not particularly memorable, but an image of a spear shaped like the number 1, going through a swan (which looks like the number 2), and splitting the swan into 4 pieces is. Yes, it’s disturbing, but that’s part of what makes it stick in your mind.
Stock your palace with other mnemonics. There are many simpler mnemonics that you can use in combination with the memory palace. As an example, suppose you need to remember a great deal about music composition. As you enter your kitchen, you could see a little boy eating a piece of chocolate fudge, which would evoke the first-letter mnemonic “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge," which would in turn allow you to recall the order of notes on the lines in treble clef (EGBDF).
Explore your palace. Once you have stocked your palace with evocative images, you need to go through it and look at them. The more you explore your palace, the more easily you will recall its contents on demand. In your mind you want to see James Joyce, for example, sitting on your toilet as if he belonged there and was really an integral part of your bathroom decor.
Use your palace. Once you have memorized the contents of your palace you can recall them simply by mentally walking through it or looking around it. If you need to give a speech, just follow your route in order as you do so. If you need to remember that your girlfriend’s birthday is March 16, simply go into your bedroom and see the soldiers “marching" on the bed to the tune of the 80s cult classic “Sixteen Candles." With practice you will be able to start anywhere in your palace or along your route to recall a specific piece of information.
Build new palaces. A memory palace can be reused over and over again if you need only commit things to memory for a short time. Just replace the existing contents with new ones, and you’ll soon remember only the new ones. If you need to remember the contents of your palace for a long time, you can keep that palace as it is and create new ones in which to store other information as needed. If your house contains the phone numbers of everyone you know, you can walk to your workplace if you need to remember the order of a deck of cards.
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Memory-Palace
Personally, this simply would never work for me....I mean, I really feel deeply ashamed, and genuinely sad to admit this, but, fascinating as this was to read--I sort of got lost halfway through the first paragraph. It's a frustrating feeling, but that's just what I've had to learn to live with, all my life.
Truth to tell, I am geninuely rather stupid, really. I'm not just saying that. I am being perfectly serious. Even something as relatively simple as this stuff, if oft-times way too abstract and complicated for my daft brain to comprehend, so until I can find something more simple for my wonky brain--and I have to tell you, it's, for me, just about the worst feeling in the world. I really do hate myself, when I feel stupid. But, there's no hope for me...I suck at memorizing stuff. The only way I ever could pass tests, was to do a mad dash to memorize everything, within an hour of taking a test...same with lines in a script, or giving a speech...and that's a hell of a way to learn stuff, I have to tell you. Ah, well...I'll just have to go on with being an idiot.
@ 20/11/2008 – 09:05:51 am
Okay, it's time for a little bribery:
If I get 100 signitures on my "Whovians United" petition, asking DT to stay for one more year, by December 1st, I will post a full frontal nude photo of David Tennant on here.
CLICK HERE; http://www.petitiononline.com/837860/petition.html
@ 20/11/2008 – 08:53:56 am
Tagged by someone named "pastamasta":
A. whats your fav horror movie?
The Birds, always gives me the creeps, that does.
B. do you do dance crazy when no one is looking?
Rarely--but sometimes if an old disco tune comes on the radio, I just cant' resist.
C. do you like to sing in the shower?
what do sing in the shower if you do sing?
I don't sing in the shower very often, but if I do, probably an old folk, cowboy, or blues that I know.
D. whats your fav colour?
Blue--preferably royal or midnight
E. what do you think is/was the most usless class in highschool?
phys ed
F. whats your fav 3 things to do in your free time?
Watch Dr Who
blog/write creative stuff
read
G. are you a very quiet person or very loud?
Generally quiet, unless I'm messing about with mates, or really seriously peeved about something, I suppose.
H. card or board games?
Oh, love board games...I'm rubbish at cards
I. guy flicks or chick flicks?
Guy flicks...still a tom-boy at heart, I reckon.
J. Tan or white?
White--tho' when I used to be out in the sun all day, working, I used to rather quickly tend towards a natural tan, for some reason.
K. favourite domestic animal? why?
Horses, 'cos I've been horse crazy since I was a wee child, dunno' why
L. favourite wild animal? why?
Hawks, 'cos as a teen, I used to sit on a hill and just watch them dive and soar...graceful and beautiful creatures...they move me, dunno' why, they just do.
M. are/where you considered popular in school?
Absolutely not, I was the kid everybody picked on, so mostly I just tried to keep my head down and keep quiet.
N. How old are you in your dreams at night?
I'm not sure, but I get a sense sometimes that I'm a little younger--not a child, just...younger.
O. did you ever have a teacher who picked on you and/or called you names?
Oh yes. Mr. Prunner, my 8th grade maths teacher--he said I was too stupid to learn anything, and that he was gonna' pass me regardless of whether I could do the work or not, just to get me out of his classroom, and then he made me spend the rest of the year, with my head down on my desk.
P. if you could be a sports star, what would you be?
A show-jumper or a harness racing driver
Q. if you change places with a celebrity, who would you be?
Dawn French
R. which childhood dream/wish has yet to be fulfilled?
Having a horse or pony of my own--hell, I'd even settle for a mule. 
S. as a teen do/did you experiment with drugs and/or drink too much?
No to both..tho' I did get mildly tipsy, once or twice.
T. has anyone ever spiked your drink at a party?
Yes, someone spiked my Coke with something, when I was playing in the finals of a monopoly tournament once, back when I was 19, and I got totally wasted. That was a bit scary.
U. do you have a hobby? if yes, what?
I've had about half a dozen hobbies over the years. Right now though, mostly it's just writing, and sometimes I still buy an inexpensive mini model horse for collection, when I see one in the shops.
V. if you could do any hobby, regardless of cost or skills required, what would you like it to be?
I'd love to get back into model railroading (sigh), but it's just too expensive.
W. if you could take a "fun" class next month, without regards to experience or cost, what would you sign up for?
Acting...I suck like a Hoover, but I really did have a blast, and it seriously helped me to grow as a person, which still amazes me.
X. believer or non-believer?
Both
Y. have you ever seen a ghost or had any other kind of paranormal experience?
Yup.
Z. you could live anywhere on earth, where do you choose to live?
Preferably in the country or a small town, but if I could live in the UK or the Netherlands, I wouldn't much mind city life, probably...depends on the city, ha-ha.
@ 20/11/2008 – 07:59:28 am
1.Does the Little Mermaid wear an algae bra?
2.Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
3.How is it possible to have a civil war?
4.If God dropped acid, would he see people?
5.If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest drown too?
6.If you ate pasta and antipasta, would you still be hungry?
7.If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
8.Whose cruel idea was it for the word “Lisp” to have a “S” in it?
9.Why are hemorrhoids called “hemorrhoids” instead of “assteroids”?
10.Why is it called tourist season if we can’t shoot at them?
11.Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?
12.Where are we going? And what’s with this handbasket?
13.If the “blackbox” flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash,why isn’t the whole damn airplane made out of that stuff?
14.Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?
15. Is the reason Santa is so jolly, because his knows where all the naughty girl's live?
@ 20/11/2008 – 07:53:13 am
"Look, everyone! I drew a pussy!"
________________________________________________________________________________
Sign the "Whovians United" petition to ask DT to stay on as the Doctor:
@ 20/11/2008 – 01:41:21 am
Bush's last few months in office seem to be revealing the "man's" true colours--yellow and yellower.
First, Bush is going to allow American's big three car makers--massive employers inside and outside the US--encompassing not only US made cars, but also Vauxhaul, Rover, Opel and others....this will potentially lead to millions of job cuts all over the world.
This from the same president who told us that if we didn't allow the 700 billion dollar unsupervised and unconditional bailout of the financial industry, we'd have a global depression--and America would go bankrupt. Erm--isn't that what will happen when the "big three" fail?
Bush spokes people say pretty much that bush doesn't want anything to do with the crisis and is basically ignoring an issue that will ruin thousands--if not millions--of American's lives.
Bush has refused for America to participate in a world-wide conference on battling racism, on the premise that Israel (who--ironically, considering the holocaust-- is also boycotting the conference, not coincidentally) is one of the targets of the conference (for their treatment of Palestinans).
On top of that:
the anti-environmental Bush, is poised to relax laws protecing America's endangered species.
Bush is also relaxing laws designed to protect American consumers
Bush is raking in money for him and his friends, by awarding even more hefty government contracts for Iraq...to companies that VP Cheney and others republican investors have stakes in--contracts that will continue decades after the last soldier has come home...thus, spiraling the national debt so out of control, that it will likely never recover again--not for at least 500 years, at best.
America's most disingenious, disengaged, and disgusting president is running amuck in his last days, pushing forward harmful legislation, while vetoing helpful one's.
And the neo-conservative far-right calls Obama a terrorist???
@ 19/11/2008 – 11:01:48 pm
10 YEARS AGO I...
- was 38 years old.
I was on disability and full benefits (housing, medical, food stamps)
I was living in a nice apartment in a tiny rural mill town in the southern Adirondack mtns.
I was my mum's caretaker
I was working on the paperwork to go back to college full-time in '99
I was working part time at Six Flags amusment park, and when that closed for the season, worked part-time as a kennel assistant for a no-kill animal shelter.
I was diagnosed with the onset of diabetes, and was told I might have MS (which turned out to be nothing more than a bone spur pressing on a nerve in my neck)
I had surgery on my bad right knee--piece of cartlige removed.
I was a meals-on-wheels volunteer.
I'd just gotten a used car (a Plymouth Reliant station wagon) after a five year absence.
My best friends in the world were my mum, my cat Red and the gay couple next door
My mum was living with me.
Sprained right ankle (g2 sprain) when I fell on some ice
5 YEARS AGO I...
Still was living in my first home of my own--a used 1995 14' x 70' 2 bed/2 bath mobile home
Lost my dad to lung cancer
I still had my first new car
went with my college archaeology class to Egypt for two weeks
Came within a hair's breath of buying dream home
Lost 20 pounds from traveler's illness and never gained it back
Lost nearly 3000 dollars in savings, when mum's health care coverage was accidentally cancelled for one month and I had to fork over for a few of the medical bills
I had to take a hiatus from my 4-year Vermont state college for a semester, while I dealt with dad's funeral and cleaned out his apartment and stuff.
I had my very first "girl's day out" when two friends and I went on an overnight to a carriage auction
I studied Shakespeare (Hamlet) for the first time
Wrote my first feature article
Got my first "A" in phys ed, and actually got credit for taking western riding lessons
I was still my mum's caretaker
I bought mum her first new kicthen set (table, chairs, baker's rack, corner hutch) that she'd had in 20 years.
would you believe I sprained my ankle AGIAN?
3 YEARS AGO I...
Spent the first year of my life, totally alone
Was unemployed several times
sold off the last of my antique saddle collection to pay for mum's funeral expenses
Had no food to eat for a few days a couple of times (even tho' I was working 42 hrs a wk)
sold my caravan for 500 dollars over the mortgage, just days before foreclosure
Had some of my possessions--including my family's Christmas tree/decorations--stolen
Moved to a flat in an old house, outside a popular resort town
sprained and fractured my left ankle--returning to work at the track 2 days later.
lived without a working furnace or boiler for several months
got a New York State gaming license
worked as a cleaner at a harness race track/casino
had my car repossessed
worked 7 days a week for 2 1/2 months at a local Travelodge
Got my present job as a telemarketer
Was evicted
Moved to the city where I'm living now
was forced to put four of my seven cats--including my beloved 18 year old Red--to sleep
almost killed myself--but didn't 'cos of friends on a Dr Who website
Met two of my three best friends via the internet that year
Began blogging for the first time as a way of dealing with stuff
Wrote my first Dr Who fan-fiction stories
Saw the "New" Dr Who for the first time
ditto David Tennant
Joined Dctor Who Online and BCUK
Was the last time I'd seen my sister "in person" (New Year's Day '06)
Got a wonderful birthday gift from a friend in the UK
1 YEAR AGO I...
Was extremely ill and in excruciating pain with a tooth abscess last 2 months of the year
I almost collapsed and died from a blood condition in June
I was hospitalized for the first time since 1967
I sprained my right ankle in March
I got a 3G sprain (worst possible) and a fracture in my right foot, leaving me with a permanent painful limp
I was tested for cancer and told I might have heart failure (neither happened)
Got laid off at work temporarily a couple of times
Got a 7% pay cut for several months
Had my student lender garnish my wages
Still in this dead-end job with no pay raise and no benefits (no paid holidays, sick pay, etc)
Made a new friend from Croatia 
Won a Christmas tree
Was working 6 to 7 days a week, often in split (day & night both) shifts, 9 hours a day during the week, and 3 to 5 hours on weekends.
SO FAR THIS YEAR I...
Got back on disability--but may lose it again.
Got food stamps again
I came within weeks of being evicted (again)
Almost had my electric and gas shut off (again)
Almost went hungry for the holidays
I bought a new pair of walking boots--first pair in 5 years.
Got some classic Dr Who videos and some Dr Who books,
Someone sent me some great old films on DVD
Had to drop from just under 40 hours a week to half-time
Was hospitalized in January for the face abcess and diabetes
Diabetes and blood pressure worsened--then got better, then worsened again.
Decided--after a long think--to become a semi-atheist
got a rent and internet increase notices in post on my birthday, and, a day or so later, got the news that David Tennant is leaving--birthdays suck and I refuse to acknowledge them anymore!
Other than that, absolutely nothing else has changed.
Decided that I was too tired to care any longer--what bad things happen, will happen
YESTERDAY I...
Tuesday I was sick with a cold again...a repeat of the one I was just getting over from Oct.
I began my new work schedule, working the night shift
TODAY I...
Began my new day scedule at work
had a raging sore throat again
went to the laundromat
have clean pants for the next several days
ate Chinese takeaway for lunch
gave some food to a hungry neighbour
Blogged about the weather, my cats, the local hillbillies, being alone at Christmas, Tennant leaving Who, the death-nell of the American conservative party, and David Tennant's meat and two veg...oh, and I did a meme (make that 2 meme's, now.)
TOMORROW I WILL...
Probably call in late to work, 'cos My throat is so bad tonight there's no way I can talk for four and a half hours without something for my throat--gotta' go to the pharmacy and/or doctor's office.
-
NEXT YEAR I WILL...
- probably be out of work, at least for a few weeks or months--but possibly for the long term, if the country loses millions of jobs.
I really don't care. I only want to concentrate on each day as it comes, for someone like me, looking at the future is a pointless exercise in futility.
@ 19/11/2008 – 10:47:21 pm
The republicans are suicidal. No, really. They are basically not only poisoning themselves with their own refusal to change--they are hanging themselves and then blowing their heads off, for good measure.
First, there's the republicans doggedness to brown-nose up to the extreme religious right (AKA "God-squaders," "Arm-band religion," "Jesus Nazi's,"--my own term-- etc.)...in a country that is becoming more and more diverse, religously; for instance, the republicans totally lost the Jewish vote--nearly 3/4 of Jewish-Americans voted Obama, and many young people--whom don't always choose to be religious, voted democrat, as well.
Then, the republicans started beating the hate drum...something that worked for them during the Gulf War, post-9/11 and in the build up to the Iraq War... but the problem is...apprarently, nobody told them they could stop, now. When people are losing their jobs and homes and are scared and confused, they don't want to hear hate. They want something postive and soothing.
Hate propaganda (anti-Russian, anti-Arab, anti-intellect, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-anyone-who-doesn't-comepletely-agree-with-them...or whom doesn't do what they want)...you know, when a kid is having a nightmare, he or she isn't going to be helped by mum or dad telling them, "Yes, Timmy, there really MIGHT be a monster in the closet."
They have lost a huge chunk of their moderate supporters, lost independent supporters--people who sit on the fence between conservative and liberal policies, and vote for whomever they think is best--and, besides the Jewish and under 30 vote, they've also lost a large swath of the black and Hispanic and women's votes, as well. All that's left is an aging white Anglo-Saxon largely protestant male vote...and now, they are thowing over even some of THESE die-hard supporters, by what they are doing--or rather, blatantly NOT doing, in Washington D.C., this month.
One thing that I will say about these right-wing white males...they BUY AMERICAN. They hate being forced to purchase anything that's made in China, India, or wherever. I've had people cancel memberships with the clubs I sell for, only because the club sent them "free" gifts that were made in China.
Additionally, a LOT of these die-hard's work with cars. Not just at the manufacturing plants, but at dealerships, garages and body shops, etc. These good ol' boys LOVE cars--especially AMERICAN cars.
So, when Bush outright says that he has no heart to get involved with the auto industry crisis, when Republican-appointed Treasury of the Secretary Paulson, says he won't even discuss bailing out the US auto industry--despite the apparent very real trickle down effect now, of the loss of over 2 million jobs, worldwide--when republican leaders in the Congress and Senate, doggedly refuse to discuss the bailout in any serious or urgent fashion---they are effectively, and finally, killing their own party.
In a move that reveals the true hate, pettyness, cowardliness and childish tantrums that has ruled the US government for over 8 years, Bush is letting the country dive into the abyss, just to get even for his loss in popularity, and his party being losers.
So, while the world may lose millions of jobs---it will also lose the ultra-conservative, arrogant, narrow-minded bigots who began this whole muck up in the first place...so, you or someone you may know, may become unemployed, we may sink into a global depression, but hey--we'll have finally seen the end to extreme conservatism in the US government...maybe then, things will finally start to go back to normal.
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