Tomorrow,November 15th,is "The Great American Smokeout",where all smokers are encouraged to give up the habit for a day....and hopefully decide to quit for good.As a 20 year smoker,I know I need to quit but I am not ready to yet and we all know that with any addiction,you have to want to stop in order for cessation to actually work.I know that is not good for me,as my non-smoking husband is constantly reminding me,but it just isnt time yet.I may be forced to quit if the price of cigarettes continues to rise,but thats an altogether different motive.
And while we are on the subject,those of us who do choose to smoke really wish people would ease up on us!Everytime there is a budget deficit,lawmakers want to raise taxes on tobacco products,and yet the alcohol tax is rarely increased.Why not?I am willing to bet that alchohol outsells tobacco in most states,and in my opinion is just as harmful to ones health.Again I know smoking is bad for me,but are why is the rest of world so hellbent on making us quit?I am old enough to recall a time when public buildings,including courthouses,had urns in every hallway and ashtrays on every other desktop-nowadays you cant even have a square in your car in the courthouse parking lot it seems.Everyone was forced outside to smoke,in all kinds of weather and now they even want to take that away!There are even-gasp-bars that prohibit smoking....which is a conondrum-its cool to get wasted on booze,but do not light up!
So if you no longer smoke or never did,you are already ahead of the game.Lets hope that anyone who is ready to quit will do so tomorrow,even if just for a day.It isnt like smoking is convenient anymore anyway....but please dont give me a dirty look if you pass me on the road and I have a cigarette hanging out of my mouth!When I am ready to quit I will be able to do so.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
A positive pit bull terrier story.....
Todays Daily Times published a heartwarming story of a dog who alerted his owner to fire,waking her up & allowing her to rouse others in the motel complex in which they reside.What kind of dog?A pit bull!!!!
We are so accustomed to hearing only the negative stories about this breed that it is suprising to most of us to hear that they arent all the raving demon-hounds they are portrayed as too often.I have personally owned two pit bull terriers,and let me tell you firsthand that while they are not trouble free,they excel as loving companions and guard dogs if treated and trained properly.I raised one from a sickly pup-she was the runt of the litter and wasnt expected to live,and she survived infancy to become a beautiful,rambuctious dog who loved "her humans" unconditionally until she died at the age of seven due to an unexpected seizure.As a runt,she was rejected by her mother and her fathers owner nursed her to health with hand/bottle feedings until she was robust enough for me to take her home with me.She had alot of health problems,and since we never expected her to make it,I was pleased with the 7 years I had with her-she was like a baby to me.
My male pit came to me as an abused 3 year old,and while he had some passive aggressive issues,he was not a mean dog at all-despite being restricted to a cage by his previous owner.As a single woman living in a sketchy neighborhood some years ago,he was better than Brinks when it came to security.A quiet,serious dog,he NEVER barked unless he had a reason to...so when he did you knew something was hinky.I lived in an apartment for months with this dog and none of the other tenants even realized I HAD a dog upstairs because he was so calm!I am sure they saw me walking him,but until one of the neighbors had a "close encounter" they were oblivious to a dog in the building.My downstairs neighbor happened to get a piece of my mail one day and while I was at work,he decided to bring it upstairs and slip it into my storm door.The minute he opened it,he said that my dog was all over the glass,barking and growling ferociously,and trying like hell to get at him.Needless to say,he fled down the stairs and I didnt get my mail until I pulled into the driveway,at which time my neighbor was incredulous at how well-trained my boy was!This man had lived directly below us for months and never had an inkling there was a dog,let alone such a large one,above him!That was the result of great training and alot of love!
Unfortunately,I was unable to keep him when I moved in with my present husband-he had the better apartment but it did not allow pets-period!Luckily my father was able to "adopt" him and he is still living happily living there at the ripe old age of ten!He has last a tooth or two and getting gray around the muzzle,but he is still the strong silent type.
The hero in todays story,Sadie May,lives with her owner at the Anchorage Motel-more commonly known as the "Owl" on Route 13 near Parksley,Va.I grew up in Accomack county and when I was a kid,the adjoining "Owl Restaurant" was a pretty decent eatery-today it is a Mexican restaurant I believe,and the motel has become a residence hotel-renting units short-term by the week or month,mostly to migrant laborers.
Had Sadie May not woken her owner,Amanda Bowden,this fire could have had deadly consequences.It IS an old structure and no doubt the fire would have spread rapidly,trapping residents as they slept.Thanks to a stellar pit bull and the work of several Accomack County fire stations,the fire was controlled and residents were able to come back to the evacuated motel shortly after.Bloxom,Parksley,Atlantic & Tasley(holla!Tasley people!) fire depts. responded.
Remember this story the next time you read the inevitable negative pit bull story-ANY dog,regardless of breed,is only as good or bad as their owner!
We are so accustomed to hearing only the negative stories about this breed that it is suprising to most of us to hear that they arent all the raving demon-hounds they are portrayed as too often.I have personally owned two pit bull terriers,and let me tell you firsthand that while they are not trouble free,they excel as loving companions and guard dogs if treated and trained properly.I raised one from a sickly pup-she was the runt of the litter and wasnt expected to live,and she survived infancy to become a beautiful,rambuctious dog who loved "her humans" unconditionally until she died at the age of seven due to an unexpected seizure.As a runt,she was rejected by her mother and her fathers owner nursed her to health with hand/bottle feedings until she was robust enough for me to take her home with me.She had alot of health problems,and since we never expected her to make it,I was pleased with the 7 years I had with her-she was like a baby to me.
My male pit came to me as an abused 3 year old,and while he had some passive aggressive issues,he was not a mean dog at all-despite being restricted to a cage by his previous owner.As a single woman living in a sketchy neighborhood some years ago,he was better than Brinks when it came to security.A quiet,serious dog,he NEVER barked unless he had a reason to...so when he did you knew something was hinky.I lived in an apartment for months with this dog and none of the other tenants even realized I HAD a dog upstairs because he was so calm!I am sure they saw me walking him,but until one of the neighbors had a "close encounter" they were oblivious to a dog in the building.My downstairs neighbor happened to get a piece of my mail one day and while I was at work,he decided to bring it upstairs and slip it into my storm door.The minute he opened it,he said that my dog was all over the glass,barking and growling ferociously,and trying like hell to get at him.Needless to say,he fled down the stairs and I didnt get my mail until I pulled into the driveway,at which time my neighbor was incredulous at how well-trained my boy was!This man had lived directly below us for months and never had an inkling there was a dog,let alone such a large one,above him!That was the result of great training and alot of love!
Unfortunately,I was unable to keep him when I moved in with my present husband-he had the better apartment but it did not allow pets-period!Luckily my father was able to "adopt" him and he is still living happily living there at the ripe old age of ten!He has last a tooth or two and getting gray around the muzzle,but he is still the strong silent type.
The hero in todays story,Sadie May,lives with her owner at the Anchorage Motel-more commonly known as the "Owl" on Route 13 near Parksley,Va.I grew up in Accomack county and when I was a kid,the adjoining "Owl Restaurant" was a pretty decent eatery-today it is a Mexican restaurant I believe,and the motel has become a residence hotel-renting units short-term by the week or month,mostly to migrant laborers.
Had Sadie May not woken her owner,Amanda Bowden,this fire could have had deadly consequences.It IS an old structure and no doubt the fire would have spread rapidly,trapping residents as they slept.Thanks to a stellar pit bull and the work of several Accomack County fire stations,the fire was controlled and residents were able to come back to the evacuated motel shortly after.Bloxom,Parksley,Atlantic & Tasley(holla!Tasley people!) fire depts. responded.
Remember this story the next time you read the inevitable negative pit bull story-ANY dog,regardless of breed,is only as good or bad as their owner!
Ira Levin,playwright & novelist,dead at 78
Ira Levin,whose suspenseful novels "Rosemary's Baby" ,"The Boys from Brazil"& "Stepford Wives" just to name a few,were adapted for film,is dead of natural causes at the age of 78.According to his son Nicholas,he died at home in Manhattan,NY.
Technical difficulties
Of course when I decide to immerse myself into the blogosphere,my computer starts having brain farts!I will try to make some posts laster this afternoon,after I tinker with a few things and tweak some others to get my PC normal,or close to it!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Test your TV Trivia Knowledge!!!
If you are like me,there are the occasions when you search the web for a great "timewaster" like free games,but very seldom do you find something that awards you points to redeem for prizes.I would like to share the internets best kept Tv trivia secret-RewardTV.Com
Its very easy to join and you actually select up to five shows you watched the previous day or night and answer trivia questions about the episode as well as any commercials that aired within.You earn "Tv points" and accumulate them to use in online auctions and shopping sprees for a variety of items,including DVD's ,video games, & gift certificates as well as big ticket items and they also offer sweepstakes entries for members for each trivia game they play daily.If you are a Tv junkie like me it doesnt take long to accumulate points either.In the past year I have won several prizes with my points,including SceneIT? DVD TV trivia game,Superman Returns PS2 game,free subscriptions to TV Guide,Entertainment Weekly & People magazines,and various new release movies on DVD.Membership is free and there also many bonus games for earning extra points,for example,your opinions on upcoming movies and TV shows.
I strongly recommend the next time you are surfing the web you click onto http://www.rewardtv.com/ and see what all the fun is about!!!!!
Its very easy to join and you actually select up to five shows you watched the previous day or night and answer trivia questions about the episode as well as any commercials that aired within.You earn "Tv points" and accumulate them to use in online auctions and shopping sprees for a variety of items,including DVD's ,video games, & gift certificates as well as big ticket items and they also offer sweepstakes entries for members for each trivia game they play daily.If you are a Tv junkie like me it doesnt take long to accumulate points either.In the past year I have won several prizes with my points,including SceneIT? DVD TV trivia game,Superman Returns PS2 game,free subscriptions to TV Guide,Entertainment Weekly & People magazines,and various new release movies on DVD.Membership is free and there also many bonus games for earning extra points,for example,your opinions on upcoming movies and TV shows.
I strongly recommend the next time you are surfing the web you click onto http://www.rewardtv.com/ and see what all the fun is about!!!!!
Chlamydia on the rise.....
According to a news release by the Centers for Disease Control,over a million new cases of the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia were reported last year.Think about that for a moment-thats just the cases that are actually diagnosed and reported!Sadly,I suspect many of those cases are younger adults who are not using safe sex practices and while I know abstinence is %100 fool-proof,it is also naive to think that it is the ONLY method of protection.
I am going to put my mother hat on briefly and say that while so many people are preaching abstinence to teens and pre-teens,we need to be a little realistic when approaching this subject with our kids.While my own child is years away from "the talk",I already know what message I want to send and that is that even though I HOPE she will wait until she is older and/or in a long term relationship before she has sex,I also want her to know how to protect herself.
Heres my analogy-if you have a swimming pool you can tell the kiddies not to get in the water unsupervised until you are blue in the face,but you are still going to erect a safety fence AND teach him/her how to swim,arent you?
My own Mother was way ahead of her time and on my 15th birthday she insisted upon my seeing a doctor and getting on the pill.Keep in mind this was before AIDS was really a widespread concern.Although I begged off and swore up and down I would never need the pills,she had the sense to know better than I did at the time and I am so grateful she was so open about it with her kids.Did being on the pill make me go out and start having sex?No-but when I did decide to take the plunge,I didnt become another statistic by having a child before I was ready.In fact,I did not have my child until I was married and in my thirties,at a time when the less fortunate girls my age were dealing with teenagers at home.
I didnt realize how lucky I was until one of my school chums learned I was on the Pill and exclaimed"I could NEVER ask my Mom for birth control pills"Suprisingly to me,most of my peers couldnt even bring up S-E-X to their parents,let alone how to prevent pregnancy,and some of these parents became young unwilling grandparents as a result.My Mother worked in the medical field and had seen her share of teenage mothers and was determined not to let it happen to her children.
Of course now pregnancy is the least of your worries when contemplating unprotected sex,and a "Pill" alone wont cut it anymore.Recent studies have shown that kids are becoming sexually active at much earlier ages than ever and alarmingly,many of them believe as long as they stick to oral sex,they arent "really having sex".THAT is a dangerous misconception-because while it will not cause pregnancy,ALL sexually transmitted diseases can be spread this way and all the sex education in the world will not help unless the parents do their job and be frank and open with their children about sex AT HOME.You can tell your child that you are not condoning or promoting sexual activity,but at the same time they need to know they can come to you if they have questions or concerns or just want to talk.Hopefully,if we parents dont stick our heads in the sand,we can slowly make STD's a thing of the past,like polio.
I am going to put my mother hat on briefly and say that while so many people are preaching abstinence to teens and pre-teens,we need to be a little realistic when approaching this subject with our kids.While my own child is years away from "the talk",I already know what message I want to send and that is that even though I HOPE she will wait until she is older and/or in a long term relationship before she has sex,I also want her to know how to protect herself.
Heres my analogy-if you have a swimming pool you can tell the kiddies not to get in the water unsupervised until you are blue in the face,but you are still going to erect a safety fence AND teach him/her how to swim,arent you?
My own Mother was way ahead of her time and on my 15th birthday she insisted upon my seeing a doctor and getting on the pill.Keep in mind this was before AIDS was really a widespread concern.Although I begged off and swore up and down I would never need the pills,she had the sense to know better than I did at the time and I am so grateful she was so open about it with her kids.Did being on the pill make me go out and start having sex?No-but when I did decide to take the plunge,I didnt become another statistic by having a child before I was ready.In fact,I did not have my child until I was married and in my thirties,at a time when the less fortunate girls my age were dealing with teenagers at home.
I didnt realize how lucky I was until one of my school chums learned I was on the Pill and exclaimed"I could NEVER ask my Mom for birth control pills"Suprisingly to me,most of my peers couldnt even bring up S-E-X to their parents,let alone how to prevent pregnancy,and some of these parents became young unwilling grandparents as a result.My Mother worked in the medical field and had seen her share of teenage mothers and was determined not to let it happen to her children.
Of course now pregnancy is the least of your worries when contemplating unprotected sex,and a "Pill" alone wont cut it anymore.Recent studies have shown that kids are becoming sexually active at much earlier ages than ever and alarmingly,many of them believe as long as they stick to oral sex,they arent "really having sex".THAT is a dangerous misconception-because while it will not cause pregnancy,ALL sexually transmitted diseases can be spread this way and all the sex education in the world will not help unless the parents do their job and be frank and open with their children about sex AT HOME.You can tell your child that you are not condoning or promoting sexual activity,but at the same time they need to know they can come to you if they have questions or concerns or just want to talk.Hopefully,if we parents dont stick our heads in the sand,we can slowly make STD's a thing of the past,like polio.
The Breakfast Club on Bravo channel last night
Yes,I watched this classic movie from my teen years last night on Bravo- I dont know about the rest of you,but in my opinion John Hughes set the tone for the teen angst movies back in the 1980's....they all incorporated the social hierarchy that is so prevalent in high school-the jocks,the prom queens,the nerds,the headbangers,etc etc.John Hughes introduced us to memorable characters like Long Duck Dong & Farmer Ted,and my generation was able to relate to everything that was portrayed in "16 Candles","Weird Science" & "The Breakfast Club".All of us remember the stereotypes from our school days,don't we?
Fast forward to the current decade-if any of you are familiar with Kevin Smiths' "Jay & Silent Bob" characters,you may have seen "Dogma"-it was very much hated by hardline Catholics but it contained alot of Smiths' signature in-jokes,including a reference to John Hughes movies.In "Dogma",Jay(Jason Mewes) tells the main character played by Linda Fiorentino (sp?) that he & Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) cannot make a profit selling drugs in their New Jersey hometown so they figured they would come to Shermer High School in Illinois(the fictional school setting in Hughes films)and "corner" the dope market since all the guys at that school are pussies except for Judd Nelsons character,who they deem "righteous".They are dismayed to learn once they get to Illinois that Shermer High School is not real after all.
My point?When your fictionalized characters become the in-joke of another popular film comedy TWO decades later,you have truly arrived as a director!Feel free to share your favorite Hughes films with me and travel back in time to the 80's again,if only for brief moment.
Fast forward to the current decade-if any of you are familiar with Kevin Smiths' "Jay & Silent Bob" characters,you may have seen "Dogma"-it was very much hated by hardline Catholics but it contained alot of Smiths' signature in-jokes,including a reference to John Hughes movies.In "Dogma",Jay(Jason Mewes) tells the main character played by Linda Fiorentino (sp?) that he & Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) cannot make a profit selling drugs in their New Jersey hometown so they figured they would come to Shermer High School in Illinois(the fictional school setting in Hughes films)and "corner" the dope market since all the guys at that school are pussies except for Judd Nelsons character,who they deem "righteous".They are dismayed to learn once they get to Illinois that Shermer High School is not real after all.
My point?When your fictionalized characters become the in-joke of another popular film comedy TWO decades later,you have truly arrived as a director!Feel free to share your favorite Hughes films with me and travel back in time to the 80's again,if only for brief moment.
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