good grief!

this is getting tiresome. our credit card has been compromised again.  i think the last time was last year, and the time before may have been a year or two earlier, then about 5 years previous to that it had been compromised.

i hate bad people. and i think that when you find people who take that information and steal stuff, you should execute them. no jail. just right to extermination. there are too many bad people as it is. and all those bad people have no rights. rosy-glasses and tolerance be damned. those people are not reformable and they just screw the good people over and over. i'm fed up with it.

hearts, everyone!

i like the gecko and the squirrel...

what a difference

rather than thinking these people are ugly like this, i think they look funny. hilarious, even. and i don't mean that in a bad way. after all, they posed for these pix. but rather than be turned off by them, i laughed and thought, 'good one' -- and wondered what i'd look  like. and even if they really did look like that, they're just people.

interesting tatoos

tatoos and women -- mastectomy bra, beautiful sugar skull, old age, and one that is so intricate that it's totally impressive (the writing and picture one). i guess it will be okay for me to get one on the top of my shoulder since it looks like that area won't wrinkle. :) the sugar skull won't fit, so maybe just a flower.

these pix are pretty good -- i've added captions.

"But, but, but, I, I told you last week about the deadline ...."
"Those damn broads! Where are they? What do they think we're running here anyway? *chomps on cigar*"
"Well, *shuffles feet*, humph, I just thought you might need the money, that's all. *quietly leaves the room*"
"Hey Joey, come on, come on! Let's go play on the new swings!!  Come on, Joey!"
"Well, Janie, I know I should have said something sooner, but I have to think about things, you know. I like  you a lot, and I sure wish you'd stay here instead of going with him. Will you at least think about it?"
"Oh my gawd, Mabel -- it's a flying saucer! Come see this!"
"Yeah, well, ya sees, it was like this, Boss. He takes out this big gun, ya sees, and, I dunno, I jus thought I should handle it, ya sees."
"I beg your pardon, Marianne, but I distinctly remember saying the Brewster's tuxedo event was tonight and the plebian mud-wrestling charity was tomorrow night."
"Aw, come on Mazie. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm just a galoot sometimes. I'm sorry."
"Oh Arty, don't be such a fussy-pants. I'm going to wear the shirt and tie tonight, and you can wear it tomorrow. Besides, you know you look good in ruffles."
"Aw, Ma ... I didn't mean to run through your flowers again. Please stop crying. I'll be more careful, I promise."
"I didn't do it! I didn't do it, ya see. Ya can't prove nuttin'!"
"Um. *cough* Um, Jack ... do you see that, Jack? That, um, that woman doesn't have anything on. Um, Jack?"
"Well, yes, she was a lovely person, lovely really. And was always nice to me and Drummond even though we didn't fit into her crowd."
"What? What? What? Ohmygawd, ohmygawd. They'll kill me! I told you to take it to the other store! The other store! What am I going to do now? Ohmygawd!"
"Trust me, Gonzo, it doesn't hurt. Just tape one end to the top of your nose and the other end to your forehead and you can breathe all night long. Really."

my stomach will never be the same

this is one of the worst things i've ever seen -- at least for someone who's afraid of heights. as for the rest of you -- go on, sit on top of a snowy ledge in the wind.

hamsterfuge

did you see this funny video about the hamsters? apparently they are the smallest, fastest of the breed. at any rate, watch the video -- it's really funny. and you have to wonder how they keep from being dizzy.

greedy businesses

i don't quite get this article about it being illegal now, for people to unlock their cell phones for use with a different carrier. cell companies already have the privilege of charging their customers hundreds of dollars if they switch to a different carrier before their contract is up so why this deal with the phone? not that i understand why anyone would do it and it sounds like they would do it before their contract was up. i'm in the dark except it sounds like consumers are getting screwed again. and verizon's heavy hand was one reason i left them when i was able. fuckers. i am quite happy with consumer cellular -- no contract and i can use my phone right at the border. which i could not with verizon. consumer cellular may be geared toward old people, but it's the absolutely best deal in all areas, so why consider anything else?!

they want money

retailers have been given permission to charge their customers who use a credit card. even though it appears many companies may not do that, at this time, don't be surprised if it happens to you at some point. in which case i will simply use cash. and then they will probably charge people for using cash.

lovely things

very cool. literally. i mean, if you can't have snow, you can look at pictures of it. but what i really liked was looking at the video at the bottom of the article -- beautiful visuals and wonderful music!

who knew they had a sense of humor?

the current administration has decided not to build a death star. if you're incensed about that, here are the reasons why.

how many what? sing right now? cows?

good grief! these are the kinds of questions that go with a job application these days? as if there's not enough wrong with this country ....

where'd they go?

this is HI-LAR-ious!!! this guy disguises himself and goes through the drive-through, but the people at the window don't see anyone. too funny!

this is so cool! i'm tellin' ya, people love music and dancing!!

this is pretty darn interesting. i've never given much thought to mountain climbing. i mean, you climb up, probably with a rope and you climb down. sometimes you fall down. so? you have to not be afraid of heights, but ... so?

well, after clicking on the little green boxes and seeing what is actually at person-level on these wide, flowing rivers of snow and ice, i am actually pretty intimidated. climbing is not the world for me. i mean, it takes energy and stamina. i mean, at first you think ... hmmm, so? but clicking on those little boxes is an eye-opener.

check it out. but only if you have at least half an hour to spend.

do you want to sleep in a car? notice i said 'sleep' and not ... ahem.

check this out.

but you have to be in stuttgart.

i can do that

this is a good one. i guess the gal does her own singing (a friend did all the music!). check it out. it's fun!!

it speaks to your soul

people love music. i have never understood those religions which ban music or dancing. music is about as universal a language as you can get.

a kick to the gut

one of my bosses died today. she was probaby somewhere between 48 and 52. it was a total surprise all the way around. she fell off a ladder last night and hit her head; her husband found her some time later; they took her to the hospital, and i don't believe she ever woke up.

i was shocked this morning since that was the first i'd heard about it. then i was numb the rest of the day. i told the husband i wanted to go out for supper ... out where there was a lot of noise and people and kids and life.

she was smart and sweet and strong and fair, and so very good in her highly-placed position. we are going to miss her an unbelieveable amount.

it affects my soul

cute! i love this! a canadian company puts together a music video of carol of the bells.

it looks like they're having a lot of fun and it sounds great -- i wanted to play!

if you look farther down the page you'll see the group that sang the hallelujah chorus in the food court. what a neat thing to see. and i love how it affects people. what does a criminal think when he sees something like this? it moves me to tears.

what time is it?

do you ever feel totally stressed? need to get away? well, i have the answer for you. go here and sit and watch for 20 or 40 minutes and your cares will drift away. leave the sound on ... it's nice, too.

see it in lithuania

this is the strangest structure. it's hard to imagine anything being inside it, yet apparently it was a prison. there don't appear to be any windows or doors, either. and what are the rooms like, and do the floors slant? it just makes no sense and i would be curious about it, but .... not enough energy.
 
here's the article.

dreamin' babies

this is so CUTE!! sleeping baby does all kinds of things ... (heh, heh)

seen one, seen 'em all -- NOT

hahaha, if you need a good laugh .... have at it.

today's cuteness

oh my god -- too cute. little baby yammering and dog joins in. the article says they're singing but it looks like they're engaged in a dialogue to me.  :)

a very long involved dream

i just had the most amazing dream.  i was in a college town and it was autumn, and my mother and i were going to look at a house that i might be renting.  we walked in and i could see that it had the exact layout of a house in one of my dreams from long ago -- a house i had walked through in canada which had an unusual layout but i had liked it.  at any rate, the owners, an older woman and her husband, were nice and i was happy enough with the place, but when i asked about an internet connection, she said there wasn’t one.  well.  no way was i going to rent a place, especially for 948 dollars, which didn’t have an internet connection.  then she said, let me show you the basement.  so we went downstairs and there was a main room which was very nice, and even had a kitchen area, and a second room with a bed.  since there were already three bedrooms upstairs, i really wasn’t interested in a fourth bedroom , but then she took me farther back into another room which had an old-fashioned sewing machine and a bunch of fabric.  i was really interested in the sewing machine, but she took me farther back into a room which was a canning room -- it was so cool with a large old-fashioned sink area and huge metal table, and then her husband took me farther back into a shop area.  he opened up a side door, and we went into a storage area for the shop that was jam-packed full of items he might use -- it was fascinating.  then we went farther back into another room and i have forgotten what that room had, but there were windows and we were no longer under the main house but way out by the street, so that we had a great view when a parade went by!  so i went back to the main basement room and talked with the lady.  i asked her if she would get an internet connection, but she said no, and i thought she was going to tell me to live my life for awhile without the internet to see what i could learn.  so i said that if i paid for the internet connection, would they allow that.  and she finally said yes.  so i was going to get the $948 apartment plus pay for an internet connection, plus i hadn’t asked about utilities, and i couldn’t quite figure out how i was going to afford everything on my take-home pay of $2000 a month.  but i decide i really wanted to help her when she started canning and we talked about that for awhile.  i said that i liked yukon gold and reds better than those brown potatoes, and she said that was okay, it wouldn’t matter.  i was going to talk with her about the sewing machine, but then she showed me some perfume that was on the downstairs dresser.  it was in a teeny tiny bottle and was the perfume of my life.  it fit me perfectly.  i tried some on and realized i was going to have to find some of my own and i laid down on the bed and fell asleep.  sometime during the night i woke up and realized there was someone way over on the far side of the bed, but i didn’t know him and shrugged and fell back asleep.  when i woke up, i decided i had to get some of that perfume, so the husband and i decided to go to the mall.  i handed him the perfume and asked if he could figure out the name of it and the maker.  i finished putting on make-up and looked into the mirror.  my makeup was perfect and i looked so pretty -- almost like i was in my 20s again.  the husband said he couldn’t find anything so i took the tiny bottle and looked and looked.  finally i saw ‘clairol’  WHAT?!  what an ordinary company for such a perfect perfume!  so we went to the mall and looked around.  i walked into the conference center and was amazed by how lush the area was.  there was a centerpiece of a ship, surrounded by a velvet tier of seating.  two men were playing as naked statues.  since i was one of the hotel organizers, i started to talk with them, but then the rest of the group came into the area, and everyone was talking and mingling and drinking.  the naked men got down and left to get dressed, and i stepped back from the seating area and turned to the 50-foot long table with stately seating and beautiful place settings, flowers, tablecloth, and silver utensils.  i turned and walked up the two stairs in my 4-inch heels and evening business suit which occasionally showed a glimpse of leg up to the top of my thigh.  an attendee beckoned me over and handed me some silver utensils.  “would you please find jon hall and return these to him?  he left them behind.”  since it was part of  my job, i said yes, but thought ‘i have so many other things to do’.  and i didn’t even know jon hall.  but i started walking around, trying to figure out who might be a jon hall.  i asked several men, but they said no.  i wandered out of the conference area and directly into the luxurious bar, dark with lots of masculine wood and fabrics and overstuffed chairs, finally asking one of the waitresses.  she said he was over in that group.  so i started over but before i could get there, a man rushed in and hurriedly talked with jon hall and they rushed out of the room together.  i tried to follow in their direction, pushing through the well-dressed crowds of people.  i finally got to the behind-the-scenes hallway which ended in a back stair, vending machines, and elevator.  they had gone up the stairs and i could hear them talking.  i stopped and listened, but they had been drinking and weren’t making much sense.  then one of them said he thought he heard something and they started back my way.  i quickly went to one of the vending machines and looked at the selections.  one of the two approached me and started being belligerent.  i played dumb and they finally went away.  i headed up to my room in the hotel, bending backwards over a rounded shoulder-high walker as i approached my room down the long hallway -- the walker was a good thing to exercise your back.  when i got to my room, the door was open a couple of inches.  i entered the room slowly, but it looked okay...two queen-size beds and a dresser with beautiful curtains made up in heavy gorgeous fabrics.  i sat down on the bed to think, and abruptly a detective came out of the bathroom.  he started smoothly talking with me and i realized it was bad.  i gathered myself and calmly said it was a frame-up.  i was being set up.  then i woke up.

left, right .... right, left .... i'm gonna get you

this is fascinating. i mean, you might not think it would be ... watching a cheetah and all those glorious muscles running 60 mph in slo-mo. but it's really amazing.

everything moves except the head -- it stays in exactly the same place.

and you need to watch the outtakes -- i like going backwards fast! here, kitty!

hmmm, what next?

did you read where pandora's box ... oh, excuse me, i mean the large hadron collider ... appears to have created (not just 'found') a new type of matter?

oh yes. will wonders never cease? or, um, should we ask them to cease? or, er, demand, maybe ... i mean, who knows what kind of changes will be made with their messing around. oh, look, my left hand is green ....

just a little ghostie ...

hahaha, this is a terrible prank. hahaha. i mean, it's not funny. hahaha. and i'll bet there wouldn't be that many americans who would be frightened. ahahaha .....

hard to predict, but we'll try ....

i just read where cambridge university is setting up a new program, "to study the four greatest threats to the human species -- artificial intelligence, climate change, nuclear war and rogue biotechnology."

i like it that they are doing this. there may be similar programs elsewhere, i don't know, but someone needs to be seriously considering the immense possibilities of future consequences of our present actions.

thumbs up to cambridge.

makes me smile

this is one of the sweetest things you'll ever see. cute little kid smiling as he keeps trying to not go to sleep.

ah, well, styles change. i've been trying to decide what to do about my hair. i have cut it myself for the last 17 years (no training, no, just grit) and it's getting harder to hold my arms up in my old age. so i went to a gal for about six months recently, but she was cutting it into an unflattering style and when we left to go to MYS's wedding this summer, i had to cut some off, just to tame it, because she was on vacation. so .... back to doing it myself.

it's actually pretty easy to do. you just cut it all the same length! ha! no worries. but, of course, in an effort to save my arms, i cut it really short. and then wait a looooong time while it grows out. after the wedding was one of those times when i cut it really short and i just now trimmed some off the bottom. four months later. and it doesn't look too bad.

but my hair's changing as i get older. it is very much into doing its own thing. when i wake up, it stands up three or four different places. the husband laughs. and when i get ready for work, it's as likely to look nice and fluffy as it is to go completely flat and straight. sometimes i despair.

but i'm doing things i haven't done before. just now i was tired of it being on my forehead so i braided my bangs. look nice. or they would if you could see them. the hairs are about two inches long so they aren't the best for a beginning braider. but, hey. i'm at home, settled in for the evening, the husband is watching football. no worries.

is that smoke i smell?

nature can be mysterious

these are beautiful pictures of various gorgeous places around the world. oh how i wish i could visit them all. especially the lowest point of the u.s., badwater salt flats. i'm curious if it would have any effect on my left-over lymphedema.

let's go for a drive. NOT!

OMG! OMG! OMG! you have to see this. it is hilarious/scary/unbelieveable!

do NOT go to russia and drive. or be anywhere on or near a street. or walk anywhere outside your house.

reasonable speeds hold no interest for these people. nor do obstructions. nor do people or animals.

these people are devoid of vision, as well as judgement.

i have NEVER seen such a collection of human initiative before in my whole life. and it's surprising how quickly 12 minutes goes by!

eat and eat and eat until you're dizzy ....

well, i like bagels and i think mobius strips are curious, but i wouldn't necessarily want to put them together.  like here.

a little food here and a little food there

like i've said before, there's a lot of 'art' out there that simply does not appeal to me. and then there's this. i don't know how this guy can do this stuff, since apparently he does it in layers, but i'm really impressed.

my favorites are the cucumber bridge and the corn candle. and isn't the banana balloon picture just as happy as can be?! and i'd like to dip my finger into the white castle hillside. and it's probably best to stay away from the chocolate express. after all ... chocolate. and pretty soon it would be all gone.

the husband was impressed with the fishcape, too. take a look and pick out your favorites.

how does she do it?

it's neat to watch the video of this dog. i had to keep reminding myself that she can't see anything.

and this there's this.

i mean, i don't have any use for a lot of 'art' out there and am suitably unimpressed with it. but this stuff: i. am. amazed.

how do they visualize these images and then put them together?

awestruck, that's me.

adults playing in the air

i wanna do this. 'course i would have to keep my eyes shut if my head pointed down, but still. isn't this interestingly weird?!!

this shouldn't be funny. i mean, it's going to cost money to fix things. but it is funny. and has to be embarrassing for the drivers. at least if they have any intelligence at all.