Pentimento

When geeks and graffiti combine = Geekfitti!

Who knew geeks were so artfully talented beyond the keyboard? This collection of graffiti done by geeks is a hoot. I 'got' most of them, but they were all worth a laugh. I think I liked the wall one best.

read more | digg story

Social Networking Sites For Kids

Social networking sites geared towards kids are setting the foundation for the next generation of social media experts. Here is a comprehensive list of those sites grouped by age.

Kristen has put together a very comprehensive list of social sites. Even for those of us without young kids, this is a great list to consult and keep on hand. She did all the work for us too! Good job Kristen!

read more | digg story

My Week So Far: Weird

This post has nothing to do with anything in particular, it is just a compilation of the stuff that has been going on in my life, or the lives of people I know. And, it is in no particular order.

Today, I was making out greeting cards and finding it very strange that I was sending sympathy cards to my grandchildren because they just lost their Great Grandmother suddenly last week. The other cards I was making out were to our good friend Robert who is retiring from the Navy on Friday after over 30 years of service to our nation. It might seem weird to some people that kids should be sent sympathy cards, but I firmly believe in acknowledging their grief and helping them through the healing process in any way I can. I guess it all seemed strange to me that the 6 and 7 year olds are getting sent sympathy cards and our friend is getting a retirement card. Life stages know no age I guess.

On Monday we signed our refinance paperwork and now we are just waiting for everything to get recorded, stamped, spindled and mutilated dispersed. We squeaked in and got a 5.5% rate, and for once we might have done something right. The title company lady said that the rates had gone back up again. Whew! We are patiently waiting for all to be final and our cash out to get in the bank so we can go ahead with paying off bills and getting work done on house projects. It's going to be a busy Home Improvement 101 summer.

It's funny how things work out...We were invited to our friend's retirement ceremony, but at the time we chose to not attend and ended up buying a new TV instead. Sounds low, I know, but we plan on visiting our friend and his wife this summer after he is retired and we can really enjoy a few days together. If we had gone to the ceremony then we might not have refi'd and missed a lower interest rate, along with being able to pay off bills so my husband can retire this year. Our son and his family will be at the ceremony (I hope!) to 'represent' us, and we won't get to tour the ship and see another long time family friend, but I guess all things work out the way they should. I liken it to not "pushing the river". 

My husband's uncle is in the early/middle stages of Alzheimer's and even though we live in WA state and he in Illinois, he has caused us some worry in the last month or so. He 'left' his wife and filed for divorce, tried to take money out of his savings in cash but the bank talked him into putting it in an account in his name. His wife does not have power of attorney so she is now having to figure out how to deal with all of this uncertainty. This affects us because this uncle ended up at my father-in-law's house and stayed there until they told him to go home and work things out with his wife. He did, but he had arrived with a pistol in his belongings and he asked his brother to hold on to it for him. When he went home the gun stayed with my father-in-law. Thank goodness. Not everyone in the family has a clear understanding of Alzheimer's symptoms (we do, but only because we sought out the knowledge) and it is hard to convince them that what John tells them is delusions and not real truths. John's wife called tonight to let us know how things are going with him home again, and we are powerless to help out with us being so far away. We just hope he doesn't get violent with her. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the wife has a brain tumor. They are both in their 70's.

My friend in Missouri, whom I have known for 36 years, called this week and she was telling me what a hard time she is having with her anxiety. As she talked to me about feeling so trapped in the house (she can't drive because she had radiation for brain cancer years ago) and since I have Season Affective Disorder, it made me wonder if she might have the same problem. She lives near St. Louis and they have had so much snow that she never sees the sun for much of the time. I can't tell the whole story here, but I suggested she look into getting a light box and she put her husband on the phone so I could explain what it was. Did I mention I am not a physician? I hope she can get some help, but once again, I can't do anything from here.

I don't take these things on voluntarily, they just happen. People feel safe telling me stuff. Why, I don't know cuz I don't have all the answers. Heck, if I did I would solve some of my own problems! I hope you are having a better week than I am.

Typepad Features Still Needed

I commend Typepad for asking for input from their users on what they would like to have new for their blog choices, but I have yet to see the thing I would like to have, and that is to be able to center text and photos in a post. I realize that this is a very basic user friendly service, but gee, I don't always want to wrap my text around a picture. And, if I don't want to do that, then I have to have it on the left hand side. I don't think changing to a WYSIWYG format for posting would be all that difficult.

And, while you are at it Typepad, how about some "smilies". New themes are nice, but how about adding some functionality to the posting area?

Yes, that is a blatant advert for my other blog, iPentimento. If you're interested in genealogy, stop on by for a visit!

Easter Trivia 2008

The date of this coming Easter is quite early this year, but I didn't recognize the details shown below.

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913
(so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

This post is presented by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

They Still Want To Kill Wolves In Yellowstone

I can't say for sure who is behind this campaign to slaughter the Yellowstone wolves, but I can only imagine it is the stockmen in the area, or perhaps even someone who has a "back to wilderness" lodge they want to run.

I saw a program about a place like the latter on TV one day and they were promoting that they could put you up in a tent and you could sleep in there with no fear of predators. Uh huh. How could they guarantee that? They had several 'someones' in other tents nearby with guns, and they figured they would just shoot whatever came near. Gee, that would help me sleep well, wouldn't it you?

This killing of the wolves plan has been thwarted by the NRDC for years, and still the Bush administration finds ways to keep it an issue. I can only imagine what other dastardly things await us at the very end of Bush's term!

Personally, I think humans have become the scourge upon this planet instead of the wildlife, but that is a blog post for another day. If you would like to put a stop to this senseless killing of the wolves, please click here and send a message to your Congressional Representative and ask them to oppose this travesty against a protected species.

What Time of Day Are You?

I saw this little test on One Quart Low today, and even though I am not really into taking these kind of things most of the time, this one was short and easy. Just my style! Turns out I am an early morning kind of person. Tell that to my friends and family who have all called me at 9 AM and gotten some gravelly-voiced baritone woman!

Anyway, this was a fun test and you might want to take it too. Have fun with it! BTW, One Quart Low is an Entrecard participant and has a very interesting blog about all things car-related. Give Tommy a visit and leave a comment for him.

Waiting For Daisy

Not so long ago, I was hiding under a blanket in my favorite chair, positive that no one would find me. That was a couple weeks ago when it was snowy and cold outside.

This week we had some sunny days and I took full advantage of them, as you can tell from this picture. My mom showed me a really cute kitty girl named Daisy the Curly Cat and said that she writes her own blog.

Ms. Daisy

She must be one of those evolved kitties with opposable thumbs, or she lets that lizard write for her. Maybe it's like that Geico one that can walk on two legs? Speaking of legs, I hope Daisy likes this picture of me. Don't you think my leg is sexy? I know it looks like I am sleeping, but one tiny little rustle of the Greenies bag and my eyes are open and I am out of this cat bed like a shot!

Cafe Pentimento - Spring Edition 2008: Artistry, Awareness and Love

Valentine’s Day might be over, but it isn’t too late to send your love to someone. How about to that service member or a grandchild? Our Love and Smooches section of Café Pentimento has everything from teddy bears to maternity tops. Love is a year-round message and our items come with a white background or black. It isn’t just clothing or bears we offer, we have some very nice calendars and note cards too. Featured: Love and Smooches Teddy Bear

If you, or someone you know plan to participate in the National Fibromyalgia Awareness Inaugural 5K Walk, we have shirts, caps, magnets, pins, and a lot more unofficial fibromyalgia related items that you might want to order now. Don’t plan to walk anywhere? No problem! You can support awareness right on your desk at work by picking up one (or two!) mugs for your morning java. Visit our Fibromyalgia: It Just Hurts! Section today. Featured:  Fibro Hurts Magnet

Are you a cat lover? These Two Cats in the Bath should bring a smile to your face! Hand drawn by me and available on all mugs, clocks, calendars, note cards and much, much more, you can get the design as one of the cats, or the two of them together. I ordered the two framed wall tiles and have them displayed in our bathroom. Not your usual restroom art on the wall these! What do you suppose is so interesting down there? Featured: Two Cats in the Bath Mouse pad.

 

Thanks very much to everyone who has already purchased so many items from Café Pentimento. Your patronage is most appreciated. If you liked what you ordered, please pass the word or send a link to Cafe Pentimento to a friend.  The money I make selling items in this shop helps me be more independent as I live with the challenges of fibromyalgia.

What We Have Is A Republic, Not A Democracy

There is an interesting discussion going on at Gather on my article about Obama being the Ralph Nader of this election, and someone said something about democracy. I made the mistake recently of saying something to the effect of "what kind of democracy is this?" to one of my smarter friends, and she corrected me by saying that we do not live in a Democracy. We live in a Republic. The following is from Merriam Webster Online:

REPUBLIC

Main Entry:

re·pub·lic

Pronunciation:

      \ri-ˈpə-blik\    

Function:

noun

Etymology:

French république, from Middle French republique, from Latin respublica, from res thing, wealth + publica, feminine of publicus public — more at real, public

Date:

1604

 

1 a (1): a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2): a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government b (1): a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2): a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government c: a usually specified republican government of a political unit <the French Fourth Republic>2: a body of persons freely engaged in a specified activity <the republic of letters>3: a constituent political and territorial unit of the former nations of Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Yugoslavia.

Now look at the definition of DEMOCRACY: 

Main Entry:

de·moc·ra·cy

Pronunciation:

      \di-ˈmä-krə-sē\    

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural   de·moc·ra·cies

Etymology:

Middle French democratie, from Late Latin democratia, from Greek dēmokratia, from dēmos + -kratia -cracy

Date:

1576

 

1 a: government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections 2: a political unit that has a democratic government 3. capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States <from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy— C. M. Roberts> 4: the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority 5: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges.

As you can see, there is a vast difference in the two forms of government. And this, from Wikipedia:

A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.

Just thought I would clear that up. Besides, it gives me something to refer back to should I forget again.

10 Ways To Improve The USA Right Now

 

Too bad I can’t run for President. Here’s what I would do to begin improving my country:

1. There are nearly *500,000 U. S. Military deployed around the world. I was shocked to see those numbers in my husband’s latest American Legion magazine* this month. We need to systematically start bringing home all of our troops deployed in forward positions. It would certainly save our country billions (if not more) of dollars. And, the countries who now enjoy our military protection would have to step up to the plate and take care of themselves. No more blank checks for them to cash in.

2. Provide necessary medical care for all of our Veterans for life.

3. Close our borders. We have a country large enough, and in the interest of real homeland security, put our troops on border patrol to use them in the best way possible. Their presence would beef up the security, and send a clear message to those trying to enter illegally that they are not going to breathe another breath. Orders would be to shoot on sight.

4. Use the military to route out the thugs, and gangs and deport them if necessary. With no illegal’s coming into the country, and all the rest being deported, it will soon put an end to a good measure of violence and reduce the need for as many drug task forces. Clean up the prisons and our sentencing for crimes. Those on death row would go right to their reward immediately. Right now, we can get away with murder in this nation and the only ones benefitting from it are the fat cat lawyers. If the gangs are trying to hide out on Indian reservations in this country, we can ask permission to help the tribes eradicate this blight on their lands and people. 

5. Issue no more Visas. Keep our intelligent citizens here at home. If someone wants to come here to this country, then they must become a citizen.  Provide funding for students to get a worthwhile education that would benefit our nation. With the money saved from non-deployment of troops we should put more into finding ways to reduce our dependence on oil, coal and anything else that would contaminate the planet.

6. Re-purpose old government buildings and make them into low income housing. Give vouchers to those who help maintain these homes, and assign government service to every person over the age of 18 in order to learn responsibility and respect for our country, homes and each other.

7. Provide health care insurance for all children. We need to stop funding wars and start investing in our children’s future.

8. Stop giving special tax breaks to businesses who import tainted food, toys, etc.. Give them hefty fines if they don’t clean up their business practices. Reward companies that make all their products here in the USA.

9. Make the Secretary of Defense a person who has been in the military and understands how to defend our country.

10. Make this country self-sufficient, respectable and honorable again.

Sources: * Over There: Where in the World We Are, The American Legion Magazine, 2.1.08 According to Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, director of operational planning for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “About 490,000 U.S. service personnel are forward-deployed around the world.” [On newsstands]

Obama Is The Ralph Nader Of This Election

I am incredulous, but not surprised, that the American people are again being hoodwinked by the Republican party into dividing their powerful votes for the Democratic contenders. Can’t you see that Obama is the Ralph Nader of this election? I haven’t seen such an untried and idealistic Presidential candidate since Carter was running in the 1970’s. Why in the heck do you think Obama has such good backing? Because the Republican candidates were not as strong as Clinton and they knew if they got some momentum behind the weaker of the Democrats they would stand a chance of buying winning this year’s election too!  Are you too naïve to even consider, much less think, that the Republicans are probably pumping money into the Obama coffers?

And while I am at it, let me just berate the women who are not voting for Clinton. What in the heck are you thinking? For once in the history of this nation we have a viable candidate that could lead. You don’t have to agree with all of her policies, and keep in mind they are not all going to fly anyway, but you should be voting for her because she is a woman. We have consistently voted men into the highest office in our country and they have effectively kept women down now for 232 years. Instead of worrying about Hillary standing by her man, you should see that she was tough and smart enough to keep him in her life because she knew a divorced woman would never stand a chance of getting elected.

Hillary Clinton could do a lot of good for this country if she was given the chance. Women of this country love to do good things, but they are still living under men’s thumbs. That probably won’t change even if Clinton is elected. We think we are such a progressive, modern country and yet the women here give their votes away while keeping a woman, yet again, beneath the highest glass ceiling in the land. Don’t you get it? It isn’t even this woman that could make our country strong again, it is that we need to set the precedent that a woman can be elected here.  Stop being Sheeple and think for yourselves!

Pareto’s Rule and the 2008 Election

If you apply *Pareto’s Rule to the mechanism of the 2008 election, it could be argued that 20% of the voters will determine 80% of the outcome of the election. Could this be true? What about other factors, like the incessant meddling of the news media that constantly skews the outcome?

 

* Originally, the Pareto Principle referred to the observation that 80% of Italy’s wealth belonged to only 20% of the population.

More generally, the Pareto Principle is the observation (not law) that most things in life are not distributed evenly. It can mean all of the following things:

· 20% of the input creates 80% of the result

· 20% of the workers produce 80% of the result

· 20% of the customers create 80% of the revenue

· 20% of the bugs cause 80% of the crashes

· 20% of the features cause 80% of the usage

· And on and on…

 

I just have some random thoughts about this election and the people running. It doesn’t matter a bit to me if you agree or not, but at least read what I have to say and mull it over. 

Hillary Clinton 

Today on CNN the question was asked asked if women should vote for Clinton because she is a woman running for President. The short answer is ‘no’, but here is my longer answer. Just to be clear, I wouldn't vote for Hillary because she is a woman any more than I would vote for Barack Obama because he is black.

Of all the candidates running for President, I feel that Clinton has the best record of being ‘for the people’. Clinton has campaigned for better health care in this country since her husband was first elected in 1993. She was dismissed and thwarted every step of the way. Truthfully, I am not sure it is the best way to go, but at least we should be covering our children’s health. Bush declined to do that, but he has allocated billions for this bailout of our lending institutions. Gee, another handout for big business. But, I digress.

Maybe your memory has failed you, but I remember that when Bill Clinton was President that we had a balanced budget. Clinton didn’t do all that by himself. He had other smart people around him and they did good work. Personally, I couldn’t care less if Bill was unfaithful to his wife. That’s between the two of them. Was he unfaithful to his country? NO. Has George Bush been unfaithful to us…? Yes, multiple times.

Hillary Clinton is no slouch in the brains department, and if you elect her, you get a package deal, whether it has been declared or not. You get Bill too. He’s a dumb ass when it comes to his libido, but smart as a whip when it comes to being President. So why are so many gravitating towards Obama? Because Hillary is a strong woman, and we all know what happens to strong women in this country, right? Ask Martha Stewart. Do you think a man would have been thrown in jail like her. NO! As proof, revisit the Enron scandal. Martha was made an example. If you are on the fence between Hillary and Barack, it would probably be a safer bet to vote Hillary.
 

Barack Obama 

Obama is a ‘fad’ as far as I am concerned. He has no practical experience in dealing with foreign entities. Just today I heard him say that he would actually go to Tehran and talk with the leaders of that country with an open mind. OK, fine. Does he think that as a Muslim that he will be welcomed with open arms? Maybe so, but at the same time they are laughing out the other side of their mouths at the naïveté of this malleable President. Obama might be acceptable as a Vice-President, but (to me) he is not Presidential material. I wonder if he “gets it” that he is just being promoted as a Presidential candidate because he would be the easiest to defeat by the Republicans? Duh! No, he has that holier-than-thou Oprah backing him, and the irrelevant Kennedy’s. Geez, WAKE UP PEOPLE! If you vote for him you are giving our country away!

John McCain 

I have followed McCain’s voting record for quite a while now and as far as I can see he is an opportunist. He votes whatever way that keeps him out of trouble. He tries to come off as a “military man” and I respect and appreciate his prior service to our country, but he has done little to keep us out of unnecessary war. He is also too old and out of touch with what this country’s needs. If I was going to vote for a Republican, I would vote for him though. Only because I think our President should have some honorable military service and an understanding of when to Presidentially lead, and when to get out of the way and let the Generals do what they have been trained to do.
 

Huckabee and Romney 

Save your money guys. I wouldn’t vote for either one of you. Too bad Edwards had to drop out, but it wasn’t for lack of ability. It’s all about money and backing. He didn’t have enough. Remember, Presidency’s can be bought. Right George?

Change !?!

I am ready for a change! I am sick of hearing that we need it. Hell yeah, we need it! We need a lot of change. Let’s quite paying lip service to the word and spell it out how you are going to make this country better with change.
 

No matter what…..at least get out and VOTE. And try to use some common sense when you do it. 80% of you are going to be unhappy….20%, we are in your hands.

Entrecard Is Quickly Becoming The Norm

I admit it. Every blog I visit these days, I look for an Entrecard widget to click on it. You see, I am a lazy blogger when it comes to discovering new sites. Not that I'm not interested in other peep's blogs. It's just that I like to find them fast and in the easiest possible way. I first read about Entrecard on Blog About Your Blog when it first launched, and now what was unique (seeing the cards on blogs) has become the norm.

The only thing about Entrecard that is a slight drawback is that they are getting so much traffic that it slows down their site and sometimes you can't get into the dashboard. Right now though, all it takes is a re-load and you can get in. It isn't a major problem (yet), but I hope they will be upgrading their site
soon to handle all of us who have jumped on board.

Don't let the above paragraph put you off from using Entrecard. It is far worth the small trouble to reload for the trade-off of tons of more traffic. If you have more questions about Entrecard before joining (it's FREE) click on this Entrecard Help link.

Before signing up for Entrecard you should create a 125 X 125 card and have it ready to upload to use as your Entrecard. Take a look at what other cards look like and see what catches you eye. That way, you are ready to go when you subscribe. You already have a logo? Great! Use that for your Entrecard.

 

Just a little tip about using the site that some people might not know: Each day Entrecard allows a bigger site to drop an entry into your inbox. This is not something that will show up on your blog. BUT, if you click on it you get 5 extra Entrecard points added to your account so you can buy ads on other sites.