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 |   Here you will find my daily journal of small stones and inspiration! |
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I hope you will take the time to enjoy my blog! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** We land in Madrid on 8/2 where we all meet up at Las-Musas, We will be in Madrid until Aug. 4th then we are onto Barcelona, then Montpelier, Monaco, Florence, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Paris ending in London. Hope you are ready for an adventure! You get a red-eye on the 30th back to civilization. I've got things to do in each city, we are traveling by train to each location, we are staying in hostels except for one splurge in Paris where we are staying at a hotel. Your first prompt is packing your backpack and familiarizing yourself with staying at hostels. Have you ever done this before? What do you think they are like? Have you traveled in Europe before, what was it like if you have? If you haven't what are you hoping to explore? I can't imagine spending a month in Europe with only a backpack. I go to my cousin's house for a weekend, and I manage to fill a small suitcase. I always have extra socks and underwear! But here I go... Can we pretend it is a really large but rather light bag? Okay I need the essentials- toothpaste toothbrush shampoo brush undies and bra 2 pairs shorts 4 shirts (I assume I can do wash fairly frequently) my journal a book to read pajamas passport atm card and cash sneakers 2 pairs 5 pairs socks bathing suit I have never stayed at a Hostel and have never looked into it. I am sure my fellow travel buddies will help me along the way. I figure anything I have forgotten, I will be able to purchase once we get to Madrid! |
| We were gonna head to the ship's lounge for a mellow night of listening to some classic crooners...but there are signs posted up all over advertising a Talent Show! That sounds like fun! Are you performing? Is it a solo act, or part of an ensemble? Or are you content with just watching us and conferring with the judges? What fun! The talent show was a hoot! There was one tiny little mishap, some guy was juggling chainsaws and missed. They managed to reattach his arms, but he lost about three inches in armspan. Princess Megan Rose GOT Fox  got a few of us girls together to sing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. We freakin' stole the show! There is no way we are going home without first prize! Fivesixer  videoed the whole thing and here it is...https://youtu.be/yfYnxL5dEqA |
| OMG! I have found my blog again... buried in the depths of piled up papers and to-do lists. Let's wind down another month on the Magical Ship by taking in some of the on-board entertainment...I hear there's a funk band playing on stage in the ship's casino. Who's ready to try their luck? Who wants to get down and boogie? Tell us about it...the sights, the sounds, the action, etc. We have all found our way to the casino. Andre has arranged for the funk band to wrap up so we can get some karaoke in! Above the din of the plinking quarters and bells and whistles Fivesixer takes the mic. He sings a wonderful rendition of "Purple Rain" to honor Prince. I personally can't believe how great Norb can sing! Bravo! Bravo! Purple roses and underwear litter the stage.Brother Nature  is next in the queue. He raises his glass and begins bellowing "Fat Bottom Girls".Andy~hating university  was too busy collecting his winnings from the Poker Table to sing and next up are Apondia  and Noyoki singing a variety of Dolly Parton songs. Lovely job ladies!We can't locate skeason , but I understand she had tickets to the Chippendales Show in the next lounge over. (I gave her a bunch of one's)A few of the members of our group Princess Megan Rose GOT Fox , Prosperous Snow celebrating  , and BlueMoon have decided not to partake in the karaoke. They just keep cheering us on!Finally, me and my girls get to take the mic and the stage! We are ready to set the night on fire! Alexi  , Jellyfish-Vote Green on May 2!  and I begin with "Shake it Off". We have the crowd on it's feet! After Taylor Swift, we move on to "Roar". The stage is flooded with flowers and the guys are having all the drinks we want! What a trip... I wish I hadn't missed so much of the trip. I never should have brought my real life on the trip! |
| In 1909, the first gold medal to a perfect-score bowler was awarded to A.C. Jellison by the American Bowling Congress. Are you good at any particular sport? Care to share a memory of your own with us? Or are you pretty not great at sports, and have a funny story about that? When I was in elementary school, everyone in gym class had to participate in the Track and Field events. To prepare for Field Days, we all practiced ALL the events in gym class. One of the events was the hurdles. Now, I was always a heavy child, and I was NOT cut out for excelling in Field Days. One day, our gym teacher, Coach Page, had us all lined up to run the hurdles. I knew that my fat ass was not going to clear the hurdles. I 'jogged' halfheartedly to the first hurdle and walked right through it. The white cloth fell to the floor as I did the second and then the final hurdles. I can not remember what Coach said to me exactly, but it was quite the lecture on not trying. There was something about at least everyone else tried. I HAVE NEVER BEEN QUITE AS EMBARRASSED OR ASHAMED OF MYSELF! I learned a lesson that day, it would have been a great deal better to have jogged jumped and missed, then to just walk through the hurdles without even trying! |
| Complete the sentence and explain your position: "________ will be the end of society as we know it." Full Definition of complacency plural com·pla·cen·cies 1 : self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complacency "Complacency will be the end of society as we know it." Our own satisfaction with the status quo, not wanting or being willing to make the changes necessary to advance will end society as we know it. We won't make the changes needed to combat Global Warming. We won't react fast enough to stop the lunatics of the world like Kim Jong Un. We will keep ignoring the mass shootings that are occurring. We will sit back on our couches in our comfortable living rooms and watch it all occur on some cable news network. Then, all of a sudden, our world will change, and we will wonder how it all happened... |
| Do you believe in reincarnation? I don't really believe in reincarnation. I joke sometimes that my dog used to be a human in a past life, but that is just joking around. There are times that I think I may have lived in a different time period, like the Victorian Age, but again, that is just fooling around. I really don't believe in it, and that is because of my strong Christian faith. Christians believe, at least the way I interpret it (from what I have been taught), that when a true believer passes they either ascend into Heaven or descend into Hell. They will then spend eternity in glory or despair. Now, that doesn't leave much room for reincarnation, does it? Of course, there are other religions that are based on reincarnation. That doesn't seem to leave much room for Heaven, does it? Does make you wonder if I was a panda in a past life or if I will be one in the next, no? |
| March 7th was National Cereal Day. What are your top three favorite breakfast cereals (and here's a non-official ranking , for reference). PANDA'S TOP THREE CEREALS - of All time! #1 QUISP #2 LUCKY CHARMS #3 CRACKLIN' OAT BRAN Funny story about Lucky Charms. When I was little I would eat all the marshmallows out. I would then take the bowl of crunchy things and put it on the floor. I ate the cereal out of the bowl like a cat. The cereal reminded me of Cat Chow...my parents didn't approve! Funny story about Cracklin' Oat Bran. My good friend in college and I finished off a whole box of the stuff in the Dining hall. Neither one of us knew how much fiber was in it, but we soon found out... |
| New category this month! Motivation Mondays! It'll basically just be your thoughts on a random quote. Bret Easton Ellis, an American author born on this day in 1964, once said "I feel like I'm not smart enough to answer the questions I'm asked." Your thoughts? I think sometimes people over-estimate me. Sometimes, people ask me questions that I can not answer, but the true test comes with the answer of those questions. Some will make up an answer and BS their way through. This is a cop-out, you have not only done a wrong to yourself but to the person who relied upon you. Now, they will repeat your answer to someone else, and they will be called out, and YOU WILL BE TO BLAME! Others will simply walk away and ignore the question, thereby attempting to save face. The truly smart person will stop and process the information. This person will then say they don't have the answer BUT I WILL LOOK IT UP AND LET YOU KNOW! Then everyone learn. Everybody wins! It is not an insult to not know an answer! It is a crime to not acknowledge you still are learning! |
| On Sunday, the circus elephants of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will perform in New York City for the last time (here's a New York Times pictorial about it). Should events like the circus, which use trained animals in some acts, be considered cruelty to animals? What about other forms of entertainment that may feature live animals? I think large circuses like Ringling Bros. are, for the most part, treating their animals ethically. I believe they are under a great deal of scrutiny, and, if one of the animal rights groups became aware of maltreatment and neglect there would be hell to pay. Now, the smaller little groups, the ones that all of a sudden just kind of show up, those probably need to be stopped. There is little regulation on these and county fair type carnival acts and these animals might be mistreated. I have no issues with large Aquariums and Zoos as well. The amount of good they do is unbelievable. The breeding programs and education alone are impressive. That being said, I think that they need to be investigated and regulated, like any other business to make sure the "employees" are being taken care of. Of course, this opinion is coming from a panda!  |
| Creation Saturday! Pick a movie and give it an ending you'd much rather watch. I just love 'tweaking' (not twerking) the prompts... For your amusement... Top Gun - Maverick's plane takes a nose dive off the end of the carrier Finding Nemo - They all find out they really live in a Sea World Aquarium Finding Nemo - Cut away to a Sushi Bar Charlotte's Web - last scene - the farmer having a pig roast Miracle - The Russian team wins JFK - Kennedy shows up at the hearings Silence of the Lambs - Clarice is actually Buffalo Bill Oh how the list could go on and on and on.... See you in the comments.... |
| Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1997, US President Bill Clinton barred federal spending on human cloning. Do you have any thoughts on cloning, whether it's animals or people? Would you want to be cloned? I don't really have any 'ethical' feelings about cloning. When I studied Animal Science at Cornell in the early nineties there was a great deal of research and talk about the subject. I had a concentration in Animal Genetics so there was a lot of discussion about optimizing the breeding in livestock animals and cloning was one of the research opportunities. But that was twenty-something years ago... As far as wanting to be cloned. OH HELL NO! One go round is more than enough. And it is not like my personality would SHINE through the new me anyways. That is one thing I don't understand. I have heard of people cloning their dead pets. They seem to think that the clone is going to be the same as the one that just passed. It isn't. It will look the same and be the same genetically, but it won't have all the experiences that the original had. It won't be the SAME EXACT pet. I think I would rather just start off with a new one that I could love just as much... |
| Do you have a favorite quote about writing? Tell us about it. Here are some examples ; you're more than welcome to pick from any of these or find another one, of course. I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged. – Erica Jong I never really had a favorite quote for writing. I have some favorite quotes FROM writing, but, alas, that that would be a totally different blog prompt - like that ever stopped me before! Anyways, I found the quote above when I googled "writing quotes" it was from http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-quotes . I picked it because it seems to fit how I write, right now. I put the words down and I leave them. I leave them to rot on the page or in cyberspace, in this case. I never go back to them. I never edit. They just sit, waiting. I tell myself, each January, that this year I will submit to National Magazines. Then, in December, I look over the year, and I say to myself, "Yup, I didn't submit anything this year, either." Maybe, this year will be different. Maybe, this year, I WILL submit something to somewhere. But, that will leave me exposed; naked to the world. It will leave me to be judged and perhaps ignored, neglected, discarded. Yes, discarded, like last week's leftovers. The ones that molded in the back of the refrigerator. The ones that were so bad you couldn't even give them to the dog! Huh, I wonder why that quote appealed to me as much as it did? |
| The prompt: If we didn't have our priorities, we'd have... FUN! I wouldn't need to... -go to work -pay my bills -make dinner -take the dog out -write my blog -wash m hair -pay taxes -fix my truck Oh wait, I may have confused priorities with responsibilities... It is a fine line my friend...a fine line indeed... |
| Now, your prompt for March 1st: Tell us about the last book you've read or are currently reading. Would you recommend it? I have been reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. My cousin lt me borrow all the books in the series because it is so good. I am on page 124. I can't get into it. I can't become invested in the characters. I find I don't care about them. Hence, my dilemma; Do I continue to try an plod my way through this AND all the other volumes of this seemingly endless story. Or do I put the book down, back away slowly, and grab one of the books that I picked up at the library used book sale? I really don't want to stop reading these books in case I decide they ARE good. But, I have several large paper bags that are full of books I choose. There are at least two James Patterson novels. There are two historical fiction novels about the Civil War. I picked up at least two dozen novels by Clive Cussler! I think I may have answered my own question, but I will pose it to my blog readers... DO I PUT OUTLANDER DOWN, Or do I continue to plod through it? |
I decided to join the fray at Elle - on hiatus  's Poetry Reading[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] |
Blog Prompt for February 26 -28, 2016 ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I really thought it was a great idea. I thought the two of them would hit it off from the beginning. They both have money and lots of it. But, alas, the date was a disaster as soon as it started, and it only got worse as the evening wore on. (at least this is what I was told). He picked her up at her house in his 1921 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. The evening air was soft and warm, so he had the top down. She approached the car and attempted to get in, but her flouncy lace and satin gown became entwined in the running board. When they finally untangled it, the bottom tier of lace looked more shredded than elegant. She sank into the seat with a sigh as he pulled the car down the driveway. When he turned the corner to head to the city, her hat was gone with the wind. They arrived at a speakeasy off Main Street in the city. As soon as she entered the room, they both realized she was out of her element. She was not accustomed to loud music, booze, and fast talking, and that was his world. They ate their meal with little talking, and, when she refused to dance with him, he decided it was time to take her home. Thinking back on this, I probably should have known better... most times Old Money and New Money don't play well together. |
| Prompt for Day Three(Feb 21th - RACE DAY): Stock car racing grew into the Mega-Sport it is today, because fifty years ago a race-car driver agreed to take money in exchange for painting the name of a local gas station on the side of his race-car. Money from advertising grew the sport into a multi-billion dollar industry. Here's a bit of a curve-ball... Write a creative advertisement, or jingle to promote your Writing.com image or to draw attention to something in your port. If you can't think of anything to promote or if you'd rather - You can use Andre's Banana Bar as the subject of your advertisement. HEY! Yeah, you on the couch... Wanna get a perspective on stuff that doesn't matter? Wanna know what a bear thinks of stuff? Wanna read some great stuff? Then you gotta check out...
It's fast! It's Free... It's OPINIONATED! IT'S PANDAPAWS.... |
| Prompt for Day Two(Feb 20th): Are you a speed demon or a slower goer? Write about SPEED... hurry up! Oh Hell! I am a speed demon for sure! Sunny days I can be seen tearing it up, hitting the corners on two wheels and flying through yellow lights... I mean the yellow lights do mean "Hurry up the light's gonna turn red", right? Rainy, cloudy days, same deal. I love to pull alongside some yahoo and rev the engine. When the light turns green we are neck and neck til the road narrows and then BOOM I hit the gas and go! WooHoo. I feel the need the need for speed. Now, on those icy, slushy cold winter days. That is when I take it easy and glide around.....OH HELL NO! I still take the corners flying! Sometimes the back end of the truck tries to come around the front end. Yup! Good ole Gun It and Go Panda! |
| Three Days of Daytona! Prompt for Day One(Feb 19th): Regardless of what your favorite sport or form of entertainment is, were you ever able to get up close and personal with one of your sporting or entertainment heroes? I have always been a fan of the Buffalo Bills. As a youngster, I idolized the Bills' quarterback, Joe Ferguson. He wore the number twelve so my favorite number was twelve. I studied the way he threw the football and I threw the same way. I could throw a pretty tight spiral, for a girl. One Monday in October, 1984, I was reading the sports section of the local newspaper and there was an advertisement for one of the Chevy dealerships. On Tuesday, they were going to have Joe Ferguson and Jim Haslett signing autographs. I showed the ad to my parents and we were set to head up there Tuesday evening. I was stoked! On Tuesday, my mother, my father, and I drove to the car dealership. I can still remember the line circling through the showroom and then out the doors. I have no idea how long we stood in that line. Sometime later we approached the table where the two football players sat. Ferguson stood up to survey the crowd and I couldn't believe my eyes! There stood my hero! I held my Buffalo Bills calendar in my clutched hand and finally approached the table. My mother walked in front of me and my father behind. When we got to the table my father struck up a conversation with Jim Haslett and my mom spoke (oh my God! she had the nerve to talk to my hero) with Fergy. She walked around the end of the table and touched (YES SHE TOUCHED MY HERO) Joe Ferguson on the shoulder. She then told him I was his #1 fan in Henrietta. At this point he turned to her and said "Henrietta?" Then he looked me in the eyes (HE LOOKED ME IN THE EYES! MY HERO!) and said (in a heavy Southern drawl) How y'all doing? That was when I ...I ... I... froze like an idiot and just stood there tongue tied and star struck! I couldn't speak. I might not have even breathed! He signed my calendar and handed it back across the table to me. SOMEHOW I thanked him. All the way home, for at least 20 minutes, all my parents heard was "HE talked to me" over and over and over again! Fast forward to 1997-ish. My mother and I went to a local mall for an autograph session with Buffalo Bills star Don Beebe. In one Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys, the Bills had been intercepted and Leon Lett ran the ball all the way down to score a touchdown. Just before he got to the goal line he showboated and Don Beebe stripped the ball saving THAT touchdown. Well, I decided that I was going to speak to this football player! I got all the way up to the table and handed him the paper to sign. I then opened my mouth. I stated to him, "That was a great play..." and he looked at me, right in the eyes! This man who played in the SUPERBOWL was looking me in the eyes and listening to me...and again... I froze... I kept saying in the ahhh, the ahhhh. ahhhh. And he said, "In the Super Bowl?" I then said yes, took my paper, ducked my head and left. Yeah, I can speak to celebrities, yeah they put their pants on one leg at a time.... yeah about that... |
| I love my job. I love my job. I loath my job! One of the girls who works in my department has decided she no longer wants to work for us. She has not come in the last two days, and she never called. That leaves me to cover her hours! The only problem with that is we can not get any overtime! So now I am scrambling to fill my hours and hers. I am working 40 hours a week, at six days! I am supposed to be taking a five day weekend next week! Cross your fingers that I can finagle that one! |
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