Vigil at the Top

Photo by Annisa Lam (former member of Stock.exchng)

Licensed photo DO NOT COPY

Currently I am keeping the following in my thoughts & prayers:

-----Another Terri Schiavo-like case. This has been no where near as long, she is not brain dead,not on respirators or anything like that and had a baby after her injury. Her name is Lauren Richardson. Terri Schiavo's brother speaks about Lauren's case




-----Kristy Dykes, author and fellow blogger,has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Recently, the doctors said that she only has months left and she is being cared for by Hospice...it seems that she is getting sicker VERY quickly. Kristy is being very brave. I encourage people to leave supportive comments on her blog...for Kristy and her family/loved ones.
-----Heather is fighting very hard against brain cancer.
-----Patrick Swayze is fighting an aggressive cancer. Contrary to initial reports, his physicians say that he has a good chance of surviving...at least, it is optimistic. Unusually titled, but pertinent, article chronicles "Patrick Swayze's Butt Problems" ( I never thought I would be typing something like this in my Vigil list...I hope that he kicks butt-both the illness and the cigarettes). Patrick has gotten through his third round of chemo. There is a couple in Indiana that is campaigning for access to a treatment that may cause the masses involved to shrink (and thus, eventually, be cured).
-----A beautiful baby named Kayla passed away after a valiant struggle with cancer. On her Myspace there are details of various campaigns on her behalf for Childhood Cancer Awareness/Research/Cures...please visit.
-----Jenny Lloyd, a little girl who has a rare disease where she can be literally scared to death
-----The family and friends of Lorraine Allard. Lorraine passed away after delaying cancer treatment in order to give birth to her son.
-----That Madeleine McCann is found soon. A new sketch of a suspect has been released.
-----Dustin, a little boy who died after choking on one of his Christmas toys.
-----Heath Ledger's little daughter...who will grow up without her Daddy. :-(
-----This restaurant cracked and had to be demolished....yes, you read that right. The restaurant was the owner's livelihood and he was not able to retrieve anything from the building.

Note:
This post is in no particular order. Prayer/thought requests just go to the top as I hear more about what is going on. If you can think of a way to help these people, PLEASE do so.

A Mother's Day message about Ovarian Cancer

In My Life.....

-----We are watching the movie Catch 22. Funny and gives one some things to think about. Catch 22 came out the same year that MASH (the movie) did.

Happy Mother's Day.....

One of the bravest/best mothers EVER:
Lorraine Allard. Lorraine passed away after delaying cancer treatment in order to give birth to her son. I can not let this Mother's Day go by without acknowledging such tremendous sacrifice. Lorraine is one of the strongest mothers that I have ever heard of and I will be keeping her family in my thoughts today.

Mother Knows Best Blog Carnival

Blog Talkers

Blog Talkers #72.....this week there is no question-just a writing prompt:
"My imaginery life"

I would like my imagination to be a better place. I am always interested in improving my creativity. Two of my favorite creative books are "A Whack on the Side of the Head" and a book called "A Creative Companion" by "Sark." Do you ever feel that you are not creative enough?

My progress on this meme to be continued. :-)

Alleged camel slapping

Happy Mother's Day.....

Mother Knows Best Blog Carnival

MISC.

-----Some odd things appear on eBay.
-----Amazon shoppers may have to pay sales tax soon.
-----"The Last Stand"...a game where you kill zombies. Husband recognizes the sound..."Are you killing zombies again?"

Bad Motivator t-shirt design @ © SplitReason.com


Run R2 t-shirt design @ © SplitReason.com


OSWars Linux t-shirt design @ © SplitReason.com

In My Life.....

-----My Wandering Jew plants and Christmas Cacti are doing well. I will have to post more pictures sometime soon. Surprisingly, one of the Christmas Cacti is trying to bloom all the time now. :-)
-----We tried a Bloody Mary made with "Torpedo Juice." Highly spicy....an adventure. We got large martini olives but no one liked those much...too salty.
-----Thus far I am managing to keep everything in the garden alive and watered....we shall see if I am able to keep up with this. Summers can get HOT and drought-filled here in the Midwest.

The Birth of Video Fade-Out Advertisements

Press Release:
TORONTO, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)----Jokeroo.com, http://www.jokeroo.com, one of the pioneers in internet video and entertainment, has premiered the video fade-out advertisement with the upcoming movie, Speed Racer. The new format was designed to attract marketers across the globe with an advertisement that's high impact and engaging, while avoiding any negative impact on the user.

Although the campaign is still in its infancy, it has produced spectacular results posting a click-through north of 4 percent, which is much higher than eMarketer's quoted preroll standard of 0.5 to 0.9 percent. "When coming up with the idea we were looking for something that offered great performance for the advertiser while keeping the user happy," says Aleks Dugonjic, the President of Jokeroo.com.

The creative takes up the full screen outside of the video player environment, which avoids interrupting the user experience but allows the advertiser's brand to go unnoticed. The fade-out can last up to thirty seconds until it slowly starts fading out and the Jokeroo.com webpage appears. A live example can be found here: http://www.jokeroo.com/funnyvideos/transformers_stop_motion.html

About Jokeroo.com
Jokeroo.com is one of the leading video entertainment websites on the market today, ranked in the top 50 by comScore in multimedia and 2nd in humor. The company currently hosts over 6 million unique visitors, 150,000+ community members, and has over 1 million active email subscriptions.

Video Fade-Out Example
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MY THOUGHTS:
This advertising method is interesting to me (being that I am a Business Student and eventually plan to open my own business). If the subject matter is chosen carefully, then this could be really intriguing for viewers. When I first landed on the example page, I found the background (the fade-out advertisement) interesting...but was surprised that it was not the same subject matter as the film. I quickly got used to having advertising like this...I was happy that it gave me a few different/entertaining things to think about. I will be following along to see how this new advertising method is further developed.

PINK FLOYD AND UKULELES :-)

A cover of "Wish You Were Here." Narciso Lobo is awesome...beautiful voice and great ukulele playing. Anyway....I love Pink Floyd and I am in a miss-people sort of mood as I am posting this. To whom it concerns: I wish you were here. :-)

Something that I found interesting in the recent Pink Floyd Pig-That Flew-Away incident was the litter that was caused in addition to the popped pig. I have no idea who I am voting for as President but I do know that I would not have appreciated such litter (no matter the candidate).

-----People are getting rid of their pets for increasingly selfish reasons....including not having a pet that matched the carpet color. Society makes me want to throw up sometimes.
-----Track Your Mileage With FuelLog

CEILING FAN SHOPPING.....

Looking around on Ceiling Fan Warehouse's site. We are always shopping around for ceiling fans for the living room but haven't seen one that totally satisfies our needs yet. The criteria for us: easy to clean (ceiling fan dust is particularly gross),small (as we have a wall that comes out in the area we want to put it), and close to the ceiling (as one frequent houseguest is tall and I tend to swing my arms around expressively and/or get myself in unusual klutzy situations).

Given ourCeiling fan requirements, I have looked at children's fans....but they are all usually themed or the wrong color...though I suppose we could paint one. The painting would have to be a neutral color as I don't want a ceiling fan to be the focal point of a room.

I do find some of the Hunter ceiling fans elegant....makes me almost want to get one. I think that I will likely go with an
Emerson Ceiling Fan when we finally get ready to purchase one (we have to figure out what will work with our ceilings).

Then, of course, we will have to figure out what to paint on the fan....I am sure that we will end up painting something on it. What would be fascinating to watch on a ceiling fan? :-)

Thursday Thirteen

1. Bathroom Mushrooms:
What an adventure. Yesterday morning I was cleaning in the bathroom and thought I saw a chicken bone on the floor....I was ANGRY at this rather odd behavior and certainly going to find out who was eating in the bathroom. Despite the fact that I had to be to work, I followed the compulsion to get back there and get it (right under where the toilet is still imperceptibly leaking....no matter how many solutions we have tried). What I found was surprising. I have been cleaning odd stains on the floor for about a year now as has husband....each thinking it was normal grime or some sort of non-toxic mold. NO....I researched my find on the Internet....our leak is causing full-grown mushrooms to grow up from under the floor tiles. Hopefully, there is not too much damage under the floor. The plan is to dry out the tiles and caulk...if the damage isn't bad. We will just have to keep trying to find the leak and find some way of gathering up the water. I am a little worried as I did not have a face mask or bandana on when I angrily swept with a towel (or all the times I have done it before)....mushroom spores in the lungs are DANGEROUS. It is funny to see a mushroom growing in your bathroom though.

2. I am still worried about Patrick Swayze. Some reports say that his condition has gotten worse and, as always, there is all sorts of speculation as to what his actions mean (writing a living will, etc. ).

3. I finally got my espresso/cappucino machine to start learning techniques (for my someday-coffee shop). Husband found it for 12 dollars at a Salvation Army thrift shop. Haven't tried it yet....hopefully it works well (seems like it will). This is such good news to me!!!

4. Another Salvation Army find that I hope works...a karaoke microphone to feed my being-a-better-singer obsession. Fun!!! Hoping it works, too.

5. Sitting in the dark with a slight headache....listening to "Lights Out" by Lisa Marie Presley. Earlier today I was reading in my past blog posts about how I used to put banana peels on my forehead, back of neck and so on to ease headaches....this looked funny and made Husband laugh. :-)

6. Have you looked up at the stars lately?

7. The files for my copy of Moby Dick apparently became corrupted. I am not done reading it yet. Annoyed.

8. Listened to Dire Straits "Why Worry" this morning (Friday,May2). Such a pretty song. I tend to be either a severe worry wart or unduly optimistic.

9. Sometimes I wonder how Jan-Michael Vincent is doing.

10. Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation

11. AeroGrow AeroGarden...a thorough review.

12.


13.
-----Parents beware: Measles are at the highest levels in the U.S. since 2001.
-----True Mom Confessions
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:-)

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-----David Blaine's next stunt will be done on Oprah.
-----Many McDonalds are now offering wi-fi...for a fee.

"Curious as a Cat" Meme

1) How would you redesign the way movie ratings are assigned?
I would take a look at the effectiveness of PG-13...how often are parents even aware of the fact that their 13-17 year-old child is attending/purchasing?

2) What is the best way to make friends?
Be nice. Accept that not everyone will be your friend and that if you try to "win them over" you may not like the "friend" you are eventually stuck with.

3) What is the most sacred or holy spot you've ever seen?
The grave of a relative. I am amazed at the years of memorials that have been left. Not everyone "honors their dead."

4) What is the most irrational thing you've ever done?
I don't really have an answer for this one. I will let you know if I come up with one.

5) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.

Photo Copyright "Cat" 2007

The un-opened flowers look like tulips. Looking at the scene from a fairy's eyeview. Creating a modern set of fairy dolls with their own life stories might be fun....like Barbie/Stewart Little. I could take photos of what the world might look like if a fairy were photographing it. Okay....my thoughts are a weird place. :-)

I join this meme for the first time at Week 115. :-)

CALIFORNIA: Reagan Presidential Library needs more volunteers

A 300-pound Arkansas jail inmate has filed a suit that he is not being fed well. This inmate weighed 413 pounds when first jailed. By my calculations that is an average weight loss of about 12.91 pounds a week. While I am sure that the diet is adequate, I think that some investigation needs to be done as to what is causing this man to lose so much weight. Is it alright to lose that much a week when one is at a higher weight. Does the jail have medical supervision for this dramatic weight loss? Would this rapid weight loss have been totally overlooked if the inmate had not complained?

Music Coming Out

-----Coldplay's new song "Violet Hill" will be available for free download on their website starting tomorrow. This is for a limited time.
-----Review of the last recording by Jeff Healey-"Mess of Blues." I am excited to see the covers that were done on this album...particularly, "Shake,Rattle and Roll."
-----Dr. Pepper offers everyone in America a free can of soda...if the new Guns N' Roses album comes out this year.

-----Pig in the sky...in support of Obama.
-----Using medical marijuana may result in being denied transplants (even up to the point that the patient dies).

Search By Artist or Event Name Our Suggestions John Mellencamp Bon Jovi Les Miserables They Might Be Giants And Many More ...

I was surprised to see "They Might Be Giants" tickets and disappointed that nothing was available for Meatloaf.

Wesley Snipes

Do you agree with the Wesley Snipes sentencing?

Ten Cinematic Lessons for Wesley Snipes while he's serving jail time (humor)

Smile

Listening to Rodney Carrington today (off-color...very off-color) but anyway he mentioned "snipe hunting." After asking people, I found out that snipe hunting is a prank where people are led on a wild ghost chase to catch a fake prey in some sort of odd way. Snipe hunting was something that I had heard of before but never really knew what it meant. Anyway....this Firehouse Pranks book is supposed to have snipe hunting discussed in it. :-)

Bloggers Unite For Human Rights

I haven't picked out what rights I am going to talk about yet. Sometimes I consider myself a feminist....but I think that men are slighted, too. I think that one of the things that I will address is the different ways that we mistreat both men and women in our society. I guess that I will talk about all the exploitation/oppression that goes on....men,women,children....sure that I will find new depths of horror/disgust.

Thomas Scissorhands

Apparently, Tom Cruise was the original choice for Edward Scissorhands. I can't really see him in this role. I wonder what Tom Cruise himself thought/thinks of the prospect of himself as Edward Scissorhands.

-----James Bond was actually named after a famous American ornithologist.

Ring of Fire Parody

Awesome....must see for those who have had problems with their XBox 360. I could have had an XBox 360 if I wanted to wait a tad longer until it came out....I like my XBox just fine. We are going to set up Dance,Dance Revolution so that I can play it in the living room....ironically, this requires taking the chair that husband uses for video gaming out of the room.

:-)

Singing Lessons......

Lesson 1. Yes, I can find five minutes to practice...because I would someday like to be not intimidated by the idea of getting up and singing karaoke. I am just not sure that I am doing this lip roll thing correctly.

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-----Earthquake myths...for instance, California will not be sinking into the ocean. This article presents a lot of advice on what to do in an earthquake.