What Rocks!

You know what rocks? The fact that the monitor on my SWEET Dell laptop is not only 17.5 inches (size queen anyone?) but that the pictures that I put on it or that someone sends me are 10X better in quality than that of my work computer.

My work computer is 3000.00 worth of a hot mess.

This tech-nerd message brought to you by the letter "G" - "G, she's kinda HOT in a geek way - growl."

An Interesting Work Exchange

The following is an email exchange between a co-worker and myself. Feel free to leave any comments and thoughts.

Her:
Happy Friday!





I’ll take this opportunity to speak up and express that I disagree with the quote:



"Reputation is character minus what you've been caught doing."

Michael Iapoce



Reputation is character minus what others have accused you of doing or ones opinion of you. It becomes attached and known as “reputation” when no one bold enough to stand up for the other individual and find out the truth. Generally an individual never knows their reputation because very few people are honest enough to express what they truly think.



And in closing if are caught doing something wrong, you are guilty of that particular act; therefore, it’s no longer an opinion.



Thank you for allowing me to speak up…remember there is no such thing as a stupid question or statement in my opinion.


Me:
You got smarts REAL GOOD, why you been holdin’ out? HOLLA – now in all seriousness, I totally disagree with you. Reputation is character minus what others have accused you of doing or ones opinion of you. Reputation is what you know in your heart of hearts to be the solid foundation on which you as a whole, hopes, dreams, fears, physically and mentally stand upon – no one can rock that foundation UNLESS you believe what they say about you – that in turn is called slander.



It becomes attached and known as “reputation” when no one bold enough to stand up for the other individual and find out the truth. – in the words of, I believe, it was Eleanor Roosevelt, “no one can make you feel inferior without YOUR consent.” – when YOU allow others to bad mouth YOU, only YOU are responsible. If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for everything and that includes someone attempting to ruin your reputation.



Generally an individual never knows their reputation because very few people are honest enough to express what they truly think. – Of course we know our own reputations, we only have to look within and pay attention to the actions, not words that are going on about us. Regardless, it doesn’t matter what others say, what matters is that you believe in yourself and the abilities you possess.



And in closing if are caught doing something wrong, you are guilty of that particular act; therefore, it’s no longer an opinion – of course if you’re caught doing something wrong you are guilty of that particular act, that’s common sense. However, the problem comes in when people can’t forget what you’ve done and therefore, your REPUTATON precedes you based on your actions. I think this varies in degree, if, for example, you’re late for work, big deal, many people are late for work, for varying reasons. BUT…if you harm someone, kick your pets, molest a child, etc, then yes, people shouldn’t forget. It is that character flaw that affects your reputation. But again, YOU are responsible for your character, which in turn affects your reputation.



That is my response – and this made my brain hurt, so don’t send anymore philosophical questions my way – whew.


Your thoughts?

I have nothing to do in the morning

So....over at Professional Sulker I did this quiz:

You Are 50% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

I am 50% EVIL, EVIL I tell you.

Thought this was kinda cool

And I'm bored, OK, OK, I'm BORED!!!! heh. Oh I saw this on Softball Slut

Your Deadly Sins

Envy: 20%

Lust: 20%

Pride: 20%

Sloth: 20%

Wrath: 20%

Gluttony: 0%

Greed: 0%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 14%

You will die at the hands of a jealous lover. How ironic.

How Sinful Are You?

I Bet THIS will Piss Someone Off

Okay, I'll admit, I was reading Laurie today and just had to laugh about some people and I mean people in general, not specifically, get offended at the smallest things.

Then...I walked into the breakroom at work and saw this:



And thought, if THAT's not pissed anyone off yet, well then I've lost my faith in the ludicriousness (yes I'm sure that's not a word), that is humanity.

Me in Pictures

THIS is MAX!!!!!



A Beluga at the Atlanta Aquarium - yes I live in Atlanta, NO you cannot stalk me.



That's my nephew at 9 or 10 months. Yes he's a big boy, but cute, my hell is he cute and apparently, according to my sister, a handful.



That's me with my nephew, he'll be 1 this October. That beast draped over the couch is my Westie Max - Max ROCKS!

So yeah, that's a little bit about me, there's more but blogger was dragging her ass and I didn't feel like messing with it.

Come On Now, Y'All

Update - yes I've set a goal of 250 for the AIDS Walk - Atlanta and yes, I've already received 100 bucks from 4 people with generous offerings of 25.00 each. Thank YOU, Laurie, HDW, Dirk and....a manager from my place of employment.

So, now, I'm begging and that doesn't happen often, unless of course it's for a good cause and THIS is a good cause. Come on Y'all, DONATE to a GOOD CAUSE. You don't have to donate 25.00 bucks, but you could if you wanted too, or more, because competition is HEALTHY, lol. You can donate as little as 5 bucks, yes 5 bucks, that's what a grande Starbucks coffee, a Happy Meal, a beer? or 2? or maybe 5 depending on what you drink?

Point is, these are all things that will be around tomorrow, next week, a LIFETIME, long after your gone! And so will AIDS. But the people who get this disease may not be around tomorrow, or next week and certainly not a lifetime. You may think "serves those fags right", but not so fast. Nobody, gay, straight, man, woman nor child asked for this, no one deserves this and yet...millions have it for so many reasons.

The man or woman who trusted enough to express physical love, the child who desperately need that blood transfusion, the mother who made the wrong choice for what may have been the right reasons while pregnant and the list goes on and on and on.

AIDS/HIV does not, never has and never will discriminate.

So won't you please, give 5, give 10, hell give what you can, just GIVE. One day without Starbucks, a Happy Meal or beer won't kill you, but AIDS/HIV....well, we all know how that ends.

What's up with that???

Maybe someone can explain something to me. You become friends with someone, they get a girlfriend and suddenly, you don't exist? WTF???

AIDS Walk - ATLANTA

I'm walking in the 16th annual AIDS Walk - Atlanta and thought that maybe some of my readers would sponser me. I'm not asking for a lot, just whatever you can give and my goal is 250.00. If I go over that, great, if not and I just get a little bit, that's great too, because every little bit counts.

HIV and/or AIDS does not discriminate. It knows no color, age, race, gender or sexual orientation. It does not care who you are, what you did with your life, where you live, where you work, nor who you rub elbows with. In your lifetime, someone you know, whether personally or via a friend of a friend will contract HIV/AIDS. So far, there is no cure. There's alot of false hope in that there's super drugs out there that "cure" HIV and AIDS. Truth is, it just slows it down, it doesn't cure it and unfortuneatly many people (not just gay men), are buying into this now more than ever, in my opinion.

So, I'm walking. I'm walking for the many who can no longer walk, in hopes that one day, a cure will be found for this disease, a cure that starts with headstrong education, a cure that begins with you.

Whatever you can donate, it would be greatly appreciated. Visit the link below and if that doesn't work, please let me know. In return, I can't give you gifts, but I can link you on my site, if that's something you'd like for me to do. And I can also give you the thanks of millions who will great benefit from your donation.

AID ATLANTA

Thank You.
J-

What is Real?

I was having lunch with a friend and her son the other day, and as we left the restaurant, we noticed a woman who was wheelchair bound. I say "bound" because it was clear that this was her method of mobility as her hands and legs had started to curl up on themselves as if she had MD or CP. I thought of my friend Trey, who had the same thing and that was how he looked, so this is where I get my reasoning of MD.

But I digress.

She was sitting in the shade, tipped back and she wasn't moving. So my friend, her son and I walked by just to make sure she was still alive, it was hard to tell, as it is with people with MD, and still we couldn't tell. For all practical purposes, she looked dead. As if this was her final day and somehow knowing that she chose to spend it under the shade of the tall Oaks, in the breeze of a gorgeous, sunshine day.

So we crossed the street and came back, sort of like a "U" shape and she had closed her mouth, so we breathed a sigh of relief and went on our way.

And then, as I am want to do, I thought.

I thought, I wonder what that woman's life was like. Was she born that way, or did something happen along the way. Is she married, does she have children and a husband that care for her, or have they abandon her to the care of someone else? (Side note, I know it's not easy caring for someone with a debilitating disease). What was she like in her youth? Did she have a zest for life, was she invigorating, because clearly she is now, as she zipped along the sidewalk (my friend saw her going to the shady area, I didn't), going to her chosen place.

But moreso, was she ever "real" to anyone. Because that's a wonderful feeling that I think is reflected here:

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.

- Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

If anything, she looked well-loved and "real".

What I’m Not Looking For

So yes, I belong to an online dating site, I’ve mentioned it before when I was trying to figure out if there’s something “wrong” with me. Then I thought, well maybe it’s not me, per se, but the way I word the section on that dating site that says “About Me”, aka, “what I’m looking for”.

So then I thought, maybe instead of saying what I’m looking for, I should tell people what I’m not NOT looking for. This way, it weeds out the ones that pretend to like what you like, or seem to having EVERYTHING in common with you. So here it is; what I’m not looking for. Tell me what you think and maybe I’ll post it on the dating site.

What I’m Not Looking For (in a list for your reading ease)

I’m not looking for the following, so if you fit these criteria, then maybe, just maybe we can see how things go from there.

-I’m not looking for:
-self-absorbed
-ignorant
-mean
-gold diggers ( I’m not sayin’ I’m a broke…but you’re digging in the wrong dirt here)
-lazy
-drunks
-druggies, even recreationally
-smokers
-non-compassionate
-impatient
-unemployed (no this is not mean, I’m not taking CARE of you at this point in time)
-liars
-conceited
-those who think they’re above even the most menial tasks – you’re not
-sex addicts
-those who have a ton of acquaintances, but no friends to speak of
-Ego-maniacs
-people who live way beyond their means
-pessimists
-“poor me” people – really life is what YOU make of it
-negative energy
-gossip mongers
-people who won’t at least try something new. If you’ve tried something, don’t like it, that’s cool.
-emotionally unavailable
-people who need a therapist, sounding board, etc – or I’ll bill you per question
-closed minded
-those who look down their noses at others – trust me honey, you AIN’T all that

I’m sure there are so many other criteria that I could list, but, if someone wants to get to know me, the best thing to do is just ask ME about ME, you might be surprised.

A Myriad of Thoughts

First, let me start by saying that some things shouldn't be put into print for the world to see. From an article on 3 foot worms, that smell like lilies and spit at their enemies.

"This worm is the stuff that legends and fairy tales are made of," worm supporter Steve Paulson declared. "What kid wouldn't want to play with a 3 foot-long, lily smelling, soft pink worm that spits?"

Yeah, ok. Moving on.

Starbucks is being sued for 114 million for not honoring it's free coupon. Long story short, Starbucks is being sued for 114 (m) million dollars over its recall of a coupon that entitled the holder to a free iced drink. Someone at Starbucks really messed up, they sent an email to a select few employees with instructions to forward to friends and family and it got out of control, so they stopped it.

But now, people who have the coupon are being denied and someone sued them.

Way to go Starbucks marketing and SUCK IT UP to the big baby who can't have her free iced coffee. People who sue over things like this, piss me off.

The ASSHAT of the Day award goes to the dumb broad that pulled out in front of me and almost caused an accident. I hit the brakes hard enough that the tires squealed, thankfully, I just got new brakes, or I'd be picking my sunglasses out of my face after the airbag embedded them in there. BIG RED MUSTANG coming your way, DO NOT get all STUPID and pull out in front of me. No, I was not speeding, I was going the speed limit, it was the timing of when she pulled in front of me.

Another baffling news read - people in Australia are randomly killing stingrays. I'm sure this is what Steve Irwin would want (insert heavy sarcasm here). It was a FREAK ACCIDENT people. I'm sure the stingray didn't intentionally kill him. It's an animal, it relies on instinct and since, oh what, the 1840's only 18 people have been killed by stingrays, so it's not like we're talking vicious animals here.

Sometimes I'm ashamed of the human race and I'm not perfect.

On another note, I thought the 9-11 posts were great. Goes to prove that there's some awesome people out there.

Until later....

In Honor

I am honoring David Garcia 40, from Freeport, NY, Consultant for Marsh&McLennan Cos.

It took some time but I was able to find quite a bit of information on David and it is clear to me that he was and is loved for many reasons, but above all, "he found everyone interesting."

David Garcia met and married his college sweetheart, Deborah, and they later brought 2 wonderful young men, Davin and Dylan into the world. It was, a 20 year love affair.

He was an amicable man that was easily able to start a conversation with complete strangers, simply because no one was a stranger to him.

David's life was not without struggle nor triumph as he dealt daily with a degenerative eye disease that left him legally blind, but as a man of perseverance, David overcame his struggle and triumphed into a loving, caring, intelligent individual, husband and father. Armed with a degree in mathematics and computer science, David became a computer programmer and then later a consultant.

A strong and confident man, David delighted and doted on his family and could often be found at the Little League field or the beach with his sons where they would take the boat along the Hudson River. David and his family traveled abroad to Japan and Spain, where he had family. They also took skiing trips to Vermont and camping trips to Maine.

Clearly David was a warm, caring, kind individual, the kind that we all wish would walk beside us, pass by us or become a part of our lives.

I find this quote by Ghandi to be most fitting for David. "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." You, David Garcia are the embodiment of this and so much more.

May you rest in peace.

Quandry

I'm in a quandry you guys and not sure how to handle it. I met a woman, online, who's 40. She has a 20 year old and 17 year old twins. We met and had lunch and the conversation was slow going at first, but then picked up and moved along nicely, until this major bump in the road.

She asked me about myself, family, etc and as I was telling her that I was the oldest and had a brother who was to turn 30 this year, and a sister who is 20 and that I was first time aunt and it was my sister's baby, she stopped me with this comment - "So your sister started her life out with a bang (pause), quite literally." My jaw clenched so hard my neck started to hurt and I felt my eyes narrow.

Very few events have caused me to be at a loss for words and usually it's significant events such as funerals, unexpected deaths, etc etc, but that comment, that comment made my brain feel like it had slammed into the front of my head and then it came to a complete stop. I saw red, instantly. Thankfully I'm a quick thinker and can keep my emotions under control. In response to that comment I said, "well sometimes we get started down the wrong road in life and it takes a life altering event to put us back on the right road", and I gracefully changed the subject.

What I really wanted to say was this:

"Let me do the math for you, honey, because in case you've not realized you have a 20 year old, you're 40, which means you fired up the 'ol baby maker when you were 19 or 20. Three years later you had TWINS, that makes you oh, what, 23/24 with 3 kids and there's nothing wrong with that, but don't sit there playing the role of pot while calling the kettle black."

I'm very protective of my sister. I'm 34, she's 20, so it was hard for me to be a sister and not a mother. Although Im sure, sometimes I was a MUTHA in my sister's eyes.

That woman made that comment knowing nothing else about my sister, her background, etc and yet felt the need to crucify my sister in the manner that she did, when she has no room, QUITE LITERALLY to talk.

What she doesn't know is that my nephew saved my sister's life. In my heart of hearts, I know she'd be dead by now if not for him. Sometimes, what seems to be the wrong choice for many, is the most significant choice for some.

I won't be having lunch, dinner, phone calls nor email conversation any time soon with that woman simply because with one sentence she tore down and complete restructured herself into someone I don't want in my life in any capacity.

The Important Things

I think these words apply to life everyday.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck (written after she found out she was dying from cancer).
**I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
**I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.
**I would have talked less and listened more.
**I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded. **I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
**I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
**I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.
**I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
**I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.
**I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life. **I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's" More "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!! Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us. Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with, and what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally. I hope you have a blessed day.

Dehumanizing

How's this for dehumanizing, when large companies hide behind emails because they don't have the balls to treat people like human beings.

Check it out.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2374917&page=1