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 |  Mulling, culling, and musing the confusing... in Blog format. |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I stand in awe of life's predisposition for imploding, swiftly morphing into a churning, perilous vortex that mankind is hard-pressed to navigate, let alone survive. Maintaining a foothold and emerging from the gales unscathed seems wholly contingent upon survivors' personal philosophies, capacity for tolerance, and coping skills. Without these, the vortex becomes the portal to a toxic black void, and man stands naked in the spiralling eddy, awaiting the final flush.** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Monsters Evil incarnate to their kind gives rise, their nourishment found in blood-curdling fear; horror-swept dreamscapes they stalk in disguise, unleashing terror, they draw ever near. Defiled wombs in hell to their kind give birth to seek symbiosis with souls in need; in lost and rejected spirits on earth ~ on their very marrow, such monsters feed. Iced are their fingers and vacant, their stare, black are their hearts, sustained by putrid breath; sucking the lifeblood imperilled souls share to spew forth their spawn of hatred and death. But they may not linger where Faith abides... for Hope's children fear not their raging tides. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** The mission of this journal is to examine life issues that precipitate the storms and seek out the balms that soothe the wounds they inflict. It is my fervent hope that philosophically autopsying life issue outcomes will provide comfort in the midst of chaos and a keenly longed-for measure of inner peace. Bear in mind, dear Reader, that the thoughts to follow are only musings and by no means assertions of right or wrong. They are but a reflection of one soul's yearning to ascend from the roots of life to its flowering branches and taste of the fruits found therein. How, if at all, savory their flavors are deemed to be and whether or not they become a staple in one's spiritual diet is left to each reader's own palate. The journey thus begins...
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I've mastered transparencies, making Paint Shop Pro Tubes, and creating my own graphics from the tubes I've made!!! ( See above new Spring Blog decor -  ). Animation and glitter... heah ah come!!! *dislocates elbow patting self on back* |
| I love to crochet, knit, crewel, sketch, color, garden, sew, design, and engage in crafts of every shape and kind. My brother was an extraordinarily talented professional dancer and had exquisite taste for interior decorating. My sister also had a designer's eye and was immensely creative in her own right. We all sang and none of us were strangers to the dance floor. Many is the time my mother has sighed as I sat crocheting or completely absorbed in some other creative endeavor and said, "I don't know where you kids picked up all this creativity - you sure didn't get it from your mother." She is so wrong about that. Even though she herself didn't happen to engage in these pastimes, Mama insured that her childrens' wings were never prevented from fully unfurling in that regard. First and foremost, she instilled in each of a keen love of reading, which in turn served as the foundational springboard for venturing forth in any direction we wished to go and learning just about anything we had a mind to. She read to us as toddlers and taught us to viewed learning to read and write as a magical means of soaring in any direction and just as high and as far as our hearts desired. She bought us "Little Golden Books" and "Little Golden Records" and a record player that came in it's own "suitcase" style container. To this day, I can remember the magical tunes those bright yellow 45-rpm vinyl discs bestowed upon little ears - and to this day I remain convinced they played a major role in the love of music and dance all of Mama's children carried with them into adulthood. Mama, herself an amazingly imaginative woman, fostered and nurtured well the imaginations of her children, never quashing their potential in any way, shape, or form. She made certain that that we knew all about Santa, elves, fairies, angels, leprechauns, the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy, magic, dreams, and all of their collective attendant joys. She equipped us with toys like Playdough, crayons, paints, colored pencils, beautiful jigsaw puzzles, building blocks, make-it and needlepoint kits, and children's cook- and crafting books. I can remember spending hour after many a delightfully entertaining hour making Christmas paper chains to decorate my bedroom, learning how to knit and crochet from my treasured Make-it Craft Book, cutting paper doilies, needlepointing a gorgeous yarn rose, singing and dancing and putting on "plays", drawing and painting, coloring and completing color pencil painting-by-numbers 'masterpieces', putting together puzzles and models of the human body, brain, and various wildlife, buildling sand and Playdough castles, writing stories and poems, and, of course... reading, reading, and reading some more. My childhood forays into Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, Charlotte's Web, Little Women, Little Men, Gone With the Wind, all of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books such as Little House on the Prairie, Little House in the Big Woods, and These Happy Golden Years... all of these and so many more remain vividly alive and well in my heart and mind's eye some five decades later. Then, in my late 40's... I discovered CYBERSPACE ! Initially forced into using a computer for work, I soon discovered how wondrous an outlet computers, software, and the internet can be. Besides writing and reading, a whole new venue for artistic expression now stretches out before me. And on of the MANY beauties of it is - the more you learn, the more you want to learn and explore. Even if my hands some day become too old to crochet, etc. - there will always be Writing.com and Paint Shop Pro and voice activated software to use them!  . I've just taught myself how to obtain and use Paint Shop Pro tubes... and now I'm a mad woman in pursuit of mastering the art of creating animations. The older I get, the more quickly I seem to be able to learn - and learning, in turn, keeps your mind <insert Beverly Hills accent here> - totally buff. Learning does for the mind what exercise and physical activity does for the body... both are age defying. My mother, despite much hardship, saw to it that her children received the seeds for a love of both... and wondrously fertile soil in which to plant them. You don't know who gave us our creativity, Mama? You did, of course... you did. |
| I'm firmly in the Hilary Clinton camp, which renders Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's current conundrum regarding his 20-plus year affiliation with a minister who has repeatedly voiced highly inflamatory anti-American sentiments, from the pulpit and elsewhere, non-influential regarding who I'll be voting for. But I can honestly say this: had Obama initially been my candidate of choice, this situation would have given me serious pause - and quite likely would have resulted in my loyalty being transferred to an alternative candidate. I cannot and will not abide racism and intolerance on any front, and Reverend Wright strikes me as a regrettable example of both. It is perfectly alright - even our duty as citizens - to openly acknowlege our faults and wrongdoings as a nation and strive to rectify them. Reverend Wright, however, seems to have minimal, if any, interest in the latter of the two. His rants amount to little more than venting and spewing forth the same kind of hate-mongering diatribes he's railing against to begin with. Given that Wright has been not only Obama's pastor, but also his spiritual advisor, for over two decades now, the concept of "guilt by association" becomes a significant force to be reckoned with, particularly when the 'associated' party happens to be seeking the Presidency of our nation. I don't want a caucasion President in office who harbors racist and/or anti-American sentiments, latent or otherwise... nor do I want a President of any other race, religion, or creed in office who operates on such a premise. No one is more quintessentially anti-racism, bigotry, and predjudice than I - but that entails racism, bigotry, and predjudice on anyone's part toward anyone else. It never ceases to to amaze met that humans are so pervasively concerned with skin color and/or outward physical characteristics and features... so much so as to render them incapable of seeing anything beyond same. But the fact of the matter is that we all seem prone to be thus; predjudice, racism, and bigotry answer to no color boundaries whatsoever. Any person of any color or creed who fails to recognize that is spinning their tires in quicksand... establishing socio-economical pecking orders is second nature to homo sapiens and has become, it would seem, a global pastime. Predjudice and all its attendant fun and games collectively represent one of man's greatest downfalls. Though it is a deadly threat to our ultimate success as a species, we're entirely unwilling and/or incapable of acknowledging that it dwells within us all, regardless of what color we happen to be and/or what faith or creed we espouse. There should be no room for it in the heart of any man... yet its seeds are planted in all. We may have no control over inherent/instinctive/imprinted tendencies; we do, however, have full control over whether or not those seeds are sustained and nourished to lethal, strangulating fruition. Racism is in the eye of the upholder, regardless of what hue that eye may be. It lives only because we allow it to, and it will die only if we, as human beings from all walks of life, individually weed it from each and every one of our hearts. |
| What is wrong with people? Why do so many alleged "human beings" take such great pleasure in watching animals being tortured for "sport" and "entertainment"? If it's not dogfighting, it's cockfighting. If it's not cockfighting, it's bullfighting. When God gave man "dominion" over the creatures of the earth, what mortal man decides "dominion" included abusing, torturing, hunting, taunting, racing, "fighting", inhumanely slaughtering, and innumerable other shameful acts against creatures great and small committed daily by we, the purported "higher species" ? Every time I see one of those "Most Shocking" videos shot during the "Running of the Bulls", or during a bullfight or rodeo where the bull - for once in a great while - gets free long enough to gore, stomp, butt, or otherwise inflict a measure of harm on the matador/rider and/or bystanders, the narrator always refers to these retaliatory acts on the part of the bull as "brutal", "savage", "horrifying", etc. I don't view it that way at all... in fact, as far as I'm concerned, anyone willingly participating in or recreationally observing such cruel and inhumane "sporting" events has it coming, as far as I'm concerned. They anticipated great "entertainment" in watching or actually perpetrating that same animal having his genitals cinched excruciatingly tight in order to make him buck, or being repeatedly stabbed with barbed spears which remained in its flesh and caused it to bleed profusely, taunting it with a red cape and inducing it to charge time after time to the point of exhaustion brought on by exsanguination and stress, then driving a sword through it's skull into its brain for what is often not even a clean kill. If animals are, indeed, "lesser' creatures than we, where do we get off referring to them defending themselves in such a manner as "savage" or "brutal"? Except in cases of illness/injury, animals do not attack and/or kill other than to eat. Man, on the other hand, has no compunction about torturing, provoking, taunting, abusing, neglecting, and exploiting animals for nothing more than entertainment, "sport", and, in many instances, some sort of skewered "fashion sense". Yes, God gave us dominion over the animals, but never permission to treat them with such monumental disregard, indifference to their pain and well-being, and heartless disrespect. Who are we to say that animals of all kinds are unable to "feel", "experience emotion", or "think", simply because their bodies are constructed differently than out own? And even if they cannot experience these things, what right does that bestow upon us to treat them so horribly? If we're the "higher thinking" species, why is it that when man and animal meet, the one with the far greater propensity for unthinkable cruelty is inevitably man? No wonder the majority of humanity fears any possibility that UFO's and higher life forms than he exist. Given the way man treats "lesser" creatures than himself... what if a life form higher than his own holds the same indifference toward mankind as man has demonstrated for the animal kingdom since the dawn of his existence? Think less of me if you like... but I'd say it'd be a richly deserved comeuppance. |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** For my dear, sweet friend and Rising Star Sponsor, Funnyface, who will be clebrating 49 wonderful years of marriage on March 25, 2008. Warmest congratulations and best wishes for many, many happy and love-filled returns! |
| With every passing year, I'm growing ever more convinced that God must've created me out of spare parts. What's that you say? " What the hell brought that sentiment to the forefront? " I'm glad you asked... and if you didn't, work with me here. Just today, I received e-mails from two different WDC friends, citing a couple of expressions I've used in previous Blog entries that at least the past three generations of my family have held near and dear to their conversational hearts: "Sure as the world" and "Katie bar the door". Gawd only knows what their reaction might be to several other of my favorites, including (but far from limited to) : "gangster slap", "in a New York minute" , "in a heartbeat", "babyshit green", "worse than a fart in a skillet" , "as sure as God made little green apples", "since Hector was a pup", "finer than frogs' hair" and "as meaningful as a flea fart in the wind". I can communicate on a very intellectual level, but I can slip-slide up and down the scale from "sophisticated" to "folksy" as swiftly as poop through a goose. I was born in southern Ohio, but reared in northeast Ohio... yet folks have told me through the years that I have a decided "twang" to my speech, (mostly my " i " 's and mostly when I sing), and often assume I was born in the deep South. Here in my particular corner of Texas, I sound more "Texas" than most of my fellow citizens. I'm told that's because this is a college town of sorts, with many "transplanted" folks from all over the U.S. in residence here. And yet, I do get regionally made fun of... I recall with immense humiliation five bag-packers and two cash register clerks assembling and rolling around on the grocery store floor laughing at my polite request that they keep my refrigerables packed in the same bags so I could get them put away first in the 100-plus degree weather we were experiencing my first August in Texas. Seems the accepted term for 'refrigerables' in these parts is 'cold stuff.' They called me a "Yankee", which, to this day, I'm forced to assume is some kind of put-down... who knows in these crazy times?  . I also remember being mercilessly guffawed at for not having a clue as to what the hell "Juneteenth" was or what on earth "he's out of pocket" meant...  . It took me MONTHS to stop missing my favorite TV shows because I'd tune it at 8:00 PM as always, only to belatedly figure out that when they say 8:00 PM on a national network, that translates to 7 PM Texas time.  Texans also give the WORST directions in the world and apparently view Sweetest Day as a non-entity, as far I was able to gather from an at first perplexed and then uproariously laughing Walgreen's Customer Service Rep and three of her cronies when I inquired where they displayed their Sweetest Day greeting cards. .But while I was still in Ohio - living in an Ohio city so far north it's only half a click short of being Canada - my best friend, who happened to be the child of an African American father and a Grecian American mother and considered herself to be black, always swore that I had "soul" and was a black person with a pigmentally challenged epidermis. She maintained that my nose was a dead giveaway. Similarly, a dear co-worker and friend at my place of employment, who also happened to be black, on the whole had little use for white folks, and stood a foot taller than I did (she had a model's figure), was fond of saying that if a race war ever broke out at work, the only white person she was going to save was me.  . She was quite young then, has since become far more accepting of the fact that assholes come in all colors... and is far more open-minded about judging each person by the merits of their humanity instead of employing a cart blanche measuring stick of race, color, ethnicity, or creed. But it was nice to know that even before that, we could connect as human beings despite differences in hues. Then there's the issue of education. Bunkie always used to say that, had I not told him I only had a high school education and less than a year of college when I met him, he would have sworn I had at least a Master's Degree. Co-workers with Bachelor's/ Master's/ Doctorate Degree would have me proof read and/or collaborate on a variety of projects. But I don't think I'm all that intelligent... what I DO believe is that in my day (just before the last dinosaur died off) a High School education amounted to the equivalent of at least today's Associate's (and often a Bachelor's) college degree. People also seem incredulous to learn that I am not a "religious" person... at all. Many assume for some unknown reason that I must be an ardent churchgoer, when the truth of the matter is I've absolutely no use for "man made religion" whatsoever, and haven't darkened a church's doorstep in decades. Yes, I have a deep an abiding Christian faith... which is precisely why I avoid as earnestly as I would the Bubonic Plague "congregations" of individuals possessing no more of an inkling of what it truly means to be a "Christian" than fly through the air. Folks also seem totally amazed at discovering that it's VERY difficult to make me blush... and that I can cuss like a truck driver when sufficiently motivated to do so. I just happen to reserve profanity for occasions most deserving of its utilization, thus preserving its wallop for maximum impact. I'm not a prude - I just happen to be lingually thrifty when it comes to spewing forth swear words. To make a long entry shorter, I'm a mixed bag. Some would say I'm "multi-facetted", I suppose. Most shrinks, I'd guess, would utilize such heady nomencalture as "Borderline Smorgasbord Personality with No Psychotic Manifestations". Mary Lou and Deelyte, on the other hand, would probably coin terms like "Post Menopausal and Pre-Alzheimeran", "Nuttier than a fruitcake", and/or "Six clicks west of reality"... but what the hell do THEY know? . The bottom line is, I LIKE being a tutti-fruity kinda gal - as Shelby said in Steel Magnolias... it's mah signature culuh ! |
| My unemployment compensation was approved, and the State Board is cognizant of "Goliath's" game now. What a relief ! I'd offered on seven occasions to go back to work against Doctor's orders... and Goliath tried to tell them I ' voluntarily resigned '. To parlay a phrase Beverly Hills real estate brokers are fond of and transform it to suit my circumstances: Documentation, documentation, documentation! I hate battles like this - I truly loathe them. But, doggone it, this company has been mistreating employees and utilizing decidedly less than ethical tactics (to put it in the best possible light) on all fronts... including toward it's own clients. And when someone pushes me this hard for this long... so long that I finally turn around and face off with them to do battle... I make for an extremely formidable foe. Back to being my grandfather's grandchild... once you shove me past the point of no return, it's ON, baby! I find myself looking forward to the legal battles to come. Even if they stall long enough that I kick the bucket while it's still pending... I'll pass the torch / outcome of same to my estate. My Irish stubborness is a beast not easily wakened - but once it is, it Katie bar the door! |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** 2008 is to be my Year of Getting Organized. Having tidied up my potfolio to a state of Defcon 1 readiness, I decided the next thing to do was organize my collection of Writing.com-inspired, offsite webpages created since joining WDC four years ago. I think this is all of them so far ~ if I missed someone's dedicated page, let me know!  Darkin, Demon Squirrel of Doom's 6th WDC Anniversary Extravaganza !!! http://darkinstormy.20fr.com/index.html A Dark and Stormy Night ~ "Prey " http://www.geocities.com/darkinwdc/Darkin.html Mary Lou's Enchanted Forest http://marylou2008.20fr.com/Mary%20Lou.html Happy Birthday, Vivian Gilbert Zabel! http://www.geocities.com/dreamstrummer/VIV/VIV.html?200630 " Your Light Shines On " http://deelyte.20fr.com/deelyte.html " The Miracle of You " http://funnyface.20fr.com/FUNNYFACE.html Funnyface's Star Spangled Birthday ! http://www.geocities.com/dreamstrummer/Funnyface/Funnyface.html?20064 "Gathered in her Angel Wings" http://www.geocities.com/of_fire_born/Roobear/ROOBEAR2.html Roobear's Birthday Bash !!! http://www.geocities.com/of_fire_born/Roobear/RoobearBD.html Animal Rights Awareness http://www.geocities.com/kellyspace20/Animal/AnimalRights.html " Mother's Love Endures " http://www.geocities.com/kellyspace20/MamaEnduring/Page1.html Lexi's Happy Easter Celebration http://www.geocities.com/kellyspace20/Lexi/Lexi.html "Generations of Love ~ Lexi's Legacy " http://www.geocities.com/kellyspace20/Lexi/Lexi2.html AL's Cyberspace Niche http://www.geocities.com/dreamstrummer/AL/AL.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Personal Non-Writing.com Inspired Table of Contents: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/9086/Site_Index/Page3.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** We are never alone in the world - God overlooks not one soul; when angel wings like yours are unfurled each life they touch is made whole. No speaking heart goes unheard in this life when spirits like yours draw near... no burden too great, nor too harsh, a strife when your gentle hand helps to steer. Miracles happen every day - this I know to be true... For God Himself has sent my way the miracle of you. ...With love for Funnyface from Kelly March 6, 2008 http://funnyface.250free.com/_FUNNYFACE.html |
| Does man's avarice know absolutely no bounds? Is there any atrocity he'll not commit against his fellow man in the pursuit of power and/or wealth? In the case of Dr. Dipac Desai, owner of the bustling Gastroenterology Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, apparently not. It seems that from March, 2004 through January, 2008, allegedly on order of Desai in a drastic "cost-cutting" measure, he and his staff of of fourteen doctors, four Physician Assistants, and an unknown number of registered nurses re-used single-use syringes and vials in administering anesthesia to endoscopy patients... and possibly re-used other surgical equipment, as well, that was either not properly sterilized and/or never intended for more than a single use. The result? Some 40,000 innocent human beings have been exposed to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV / Aids. Thus far, 1,400 cases of Hepatitis C attributable to Desai's merry band of medicos have been diagnosed, and the numbers will climb dramatically for all three diseases, given that many infected people initially experience no symptoms. Nevertheless, Hep C and HIV both, basically, amount to a death sentence - and Hep B is certainly no picnic. Apparently, "Doctor" Desai, because of his false claims that his staff members were experienced in the specialty of gastroenterology, was convicted of False Advertising in 1996 and fined $2,500.00. Now, he has reportedly been uncooperative in the ongoing investigation of what I view as nothing short of 40,000 counts of Aggravated Assault with Great Bodily Harm... and very likely mass murder, as time goes by. Perhaps he was unavailable to cooperate because he was busy closing on the 4 million dollar estate he recently purchased to serve as his private residence. You've come a long way since immigrating here from India, "Doctor"... America's been very good to you. If you are found guilty of thus "thanking" her citizenry in pursuit of even greater fortune, may you and your cohorts spend every remaining day of your lives rotting away in prison cells. Even the nurses involved deserve prison sentences if they were too gutless to disobey "Doctor's Orders" and blow the whistle loud enough to protect the patients for whom they are supposed to be sacredly sworn advocates. |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Hush... do you hear it? Take a moment to listen... Earth is whispering. Her babies near term; awake and gaining first grasp with unseen tendrils. The bravest siblings risking icy, furtive peeks at snowfairies' artwork. Soon it will be they who dance in sun-kissed breezes ~ Spring's blossoms reborn. Swollen with promise; burgeoning, soon to labor... Mother Nature's womb. Hush... do you hear it? Take a moment to listen. Spring's voice is singing. |
Thank you so much, Funnyface is happy to be back   , for this HUGE honor! What a shock to find this awaiting me in my WDC mailbox today! Click on the logo below to check out an AMAZING WDC endeavor! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **
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| I've finally decided my Presidential vote will go to Hilary Clinton. Barack Obama is an extremely impressive young man, and I understand why so many find him inspirational. But we have to stop voting for folks based upon how well they perform behind a podium. That is not to say that Mr. Obama won't make an outstanding future President... but for now, particularly given the quicksand in which our country presently finds itself quagmired in terms of war, the economy, Constitutional and security issues, and overall global instability, I'm far more concerned with how great a reserve of experience our Presidential candidates have to draw upon and bring with them to the White House. And the fact of the matter is, Mrs. Clinton has not only her own appreciable amount of political and worldly experience, but a wellspring to draw from in former president Bill Clinton, as well. While you're hissing and booing, kindly remember this... ALL Presidents worth their salt have taken into consideration wise input that their spouses had to share. That did not make THEM puppets - it simply rendered them wiser and better prepared to admirably serve our nation. I've heard and contemplated each criticism, jab, and put-down hurled at Mr. and Mrs Clinton and the Bill Clinton Presidency, and the bottom line still remains... this country enjoyed FAR more prosperity, stability, and national security - and far LESS national debt - during the Clinton years than in decades preceding it - and most certainly in the eight egregious years we've suffered since. Now we are embroiled in Vietnam, the Sequel, in debt up to our eyeballs, and borrowing like a bat out of hell from nations that can strategically call in their markers at will. Our borders are wide open to every Tom, Dick, and Terrorist on all fronts, our military personnel and resources are spread perilously thin, our Social Security System is on the brink of collapse, and thousands upon thousands of citizens are facing loss of both employment AND their homes. LONG gone are the days when political candidates spoke to us in their own words - so much so that we've begun electing speech writers more than we are the candidates themselves. I don't give a damn about whether one candidate speaks and/or comes across as more "charming", "witty", or even "inspirational" than another on television and/or in a debate. I don't give a rat's posterior about which is more charismatic, photogenic, or youthful and/or physically attractive. Many said Eleanor Roosevelt was an "ugly" woman, but she brought more honesty, beauty, grace, and genuine progress to our nation than mere words can give credit for. We don't need Camelot... we need leadership, integrity, courage, and strength - all well attenuated by experience. I don't think Mr. Obama is there yet. I believe Hilary Clinton is. It's all up to you, Ohio and Texas. THINK before you vote. |
| I've never been a litigious person, though God knows I've been given reason to be, particularly considering the plethora of absolutely absurd lawsuits won every day in this Land of the Free by everyone from: 1) imprisoned murderers who didn't get their meals hot enough to suit them to, 2) drive-through morons who don't have enough active brain matter to realize freshly ordered coffee will very likely be served hot to, 3) some dim-bulb woman who won a ridiculous sum of money when a pop bottle burst open in a store, resulting in her 'suffering from nightmares' that murderous, giant pop bottles were chasing her down grocery aisles. . But when it comes the to MASSIVE corporation I worked laudably hard and well for... this human meat grinder of an 'employer' is a whole different story. They are so huge and make such vast profits that they've apparently grown accustomed - and now consider it standard protocol - to stomp all over the rights of both the employees in their hire AND the people who pay them so handsomely for "services rendered." After pounding "ethics" into new hires and sending them forth believing their employer to be, wonder of wonders, truly mindful of both the law AND their ethical and moral responsibilities to employees and consumers alike, then, once newbies are thus indoctrinated, they think nothing of requiring employees to break the law or otherwise be penalized/punished for being "out of compliance" with their company 'bible', i.e., their electronic procedural handbook (which, as such, can be changed in the blink of an eye in the event that an employee who abides by it gets sued and/or criminally charged). "Don't worry", concerned employees' supervisors assure us," [insert employer's name here] will cover you" if breaking the law on the employer's behalf lands you in legal no-man's land. Yeah, right... "cover" us with their blanket denial that we were ever told to do what we most certainly were directed and required to do if we wished to remain employees in good standing. And even if they did 'cover us'... we would still have been guilty of violating the law and would have to live with that, despite the fact that our employer demanded that we do so. As David must have thought of Goliath, what chance has the 'little' guy got? That is just one of many transgressions... several of which are ongoing and happen to be impacting every aspect of my life and well-being at the moment. Having always been a huge subscriber to the "Come, let us reason together" philosophy, I've spent the last 18 months making every concession and co-operating in every possible way - to the point of being walked all over and treated like an ignorant child - in the name of hoped-for mutual respect and decency. My employer, however, could care less. I am one little person amidst throngs of employees, all of whom my employer assumes have been cowed via well-veneered, nevertheless intimidating measures... utilized even as the employer purports itself to be a veritable enlightened rose among corporate thorns. Never has Byron's assertion that "power corrupts, and whole power corrupts wholly" been more apropros. Regardless of how employee-and-consumer-friendly my employer claims to be, its turnover rate is absolutely ungodly - and I've seen uniformed patrol officers summoned on more than one occasion to the scene of "friendly" terminations, voluntary or otherwise, of once dedicated personnel. Very soon now, my employer seems hell-bent on unknowingly letting a morally, ethically, and legally reprehensible genie of its own making out of the bottle. At this moment, though it's been made very clear to them well in advance and they've been accorded every opportunity to make things right and avoid this travesty, they apparently don't hear the train whistle blaring and could care less that their standing in the locomotive's path. But, regardless of how minuscule and unimportant my employer deems us to be... this time Goliath's downfall will be a lawsuit that will air out many dirty closets in their keep. I could care less if or how much money is awarded to me... which is one of the many areas in which monopolizing, vastly wealthy entities such as the one in question render themselves so crucially vulnerable. When you grow comfortable in the habit of unjustly and with impunity taking everything away from other human beings, and they still come out swinging, it's likely that you left in their possession one very vital thing... a bottom-line position of being wholly in the right and armed with the might of truth. I have all the time in the world, a wellspring of patience, and evidence and truths on many fronts... all on my side. I'm extremely lenient about where I draw lines in the sand... and patient about accidental trespasses. Seems, though, we're well beyond all that now - Goliath is goin' down. Legally.... and with MUCH fanfare. |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** There is darkness in this place; this void where broken spirits lie gasping final breaths... where hope is rendered bruised and torn and pallored ghosts of dreams still dance to silenced music. Taunts of all that could have been borne on whispering wings at night, piercing sleep's armor... the blush of what still could be withers in despair's poisoned wake, begging mercy's touch. 'Tis neither death nor hell's domain... herein, the flesh demands its due, bartering with pain, minioned senses attesting to peace and joy in quiet wait just beyond my grasp. I will never surrender, willingly hostaged to dark's keep; I will loose the chains... my sentence to these dungeons random, incidental, cruel, defeated on appeal. |
| I came across a phunny In and Out here...I'll list the link below. For some ridiculous reason, it got me to thinking about what I'd wanna see as my own epitaph and/or have spoken/printed in my eulogy. (I never look a Gift Muse in the mouth...) First of all, I plan to donate any usable organs/tissue for transplant, then the rest of my body, such as it is, to Science... any scientific pursuit, that is, except a "body farm" - I figure the law enforcement profession has already taken a big enough bite outta my li'l hiney! Once medical schools, etc. are finished studying a donor body, most hold a hold a simple memorial service, cremate the remains, and then present the ashes to whomever the donor designated. I'm so against paying funeral directors big bucks that, in the event I have no surviving relatives AND Mary Lou refuses to accept delivery, I want my ashes sprinkled over George W. Bush's next Texas ranch, "Ex-Presidential Bar-b-que and Lay-a-Ho-Down"... extra-heavily on his roasted sweet corn, please. Hopefully, part of me will lodge in the S.O.B.'s alimentary canal and he'll form a high colonic, spectacularly spiney spicture the size of Mt. Rushmore and REALLY feel the "pain of my passing"... or maybe develop an abscess sizeable enough to make his fat but vacuous head cave in. ANYhoo - here are some of my original epitaph/eulogy considerations. Which of 'em do ya think suits me best??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The last thing I heard was a cop screaming, "Freeze or name your beneficiary!" Here lies Fire.. beloved by many. She lived very well, tried very hard, and the writer of this epitaph was not paid for his endorsement." If you can read this, I hope you're wearing underpants. It's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic! I've gone underground! Can you hear me now? If you can read this, I can see up yer skirt / pants legs. Who greased my grapevine? I'm with God now - She's a good sport! They buried me face down so the world could kiss my tushie! Are we there yet? If you can read this, yer standing on my face. Come on baby, light my pyre! The line broke, the monkey choked, and I went to Heaven still puffin' on a smoke! Anyone get the tag number of that Horse of the Apocalypse? I'm dead? Aw, monkey spunk !!! Death be not Loud If you can read this, yer mourning too close. Ralph Nader was right ! Who threw my vibrator in the bath tub? I blame death for this... Here I lie, and I'm not lying! Make sure the StoryMaster gets my Death Certificate before my Premium Membership expires!
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One of my fondest wishes is that everyone in the world would watch the movie, Crash... and truly take it to heart.  |
THANK YOU, MAH TWISTED SISTAHS AND BROS !!! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **
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| I take a certain guilty pleasure, I must admit, in messing with the minds of people who perpetuate hoaxes and scams. One such ball of yarn I graduated from toying with and occasionally batting around to sincerely sinking my claws into is Mr. Howard He-lie (name changed to protect the guilty), the "President", "Editor-in-Chief", "Owner/Operator", or "Scam Artist in Charge" (take your pick) of the great Breaker of Poetic Hearts website, Poetry.com. I have to hand it to old Howard - Poetry.com boasts super-slick-looking website, with equally slick and eye-catching, attendant e-mail and snail mail propagandized bait-and-switch schemes. Lots of color eye candy, lot's of gloss... lots of Schmoozing and Struggling Poet Manipulation & Ego-Stroking of the Third Kind. Though Poetry.com has come under scrutiny over and over again as a huge scam, they continue to operate with impunity, and have metastasized via the emergence innumerable other "poetry competitons" and "poetry websites", none of which are any more trustworthy than their first-generational predecessor. I kid you not... I once entered the following "poem", which I described as "A hard hitting commentary on Spring in modified Haiku form", into one of Poetry.com's "10,000 Grand Prize Contests": "Spring Time Tribulations" Andy Gump sat on a stump... the grass grew up and tickled his rump. "Congratulations!", the glossily glitzy, full color, innumerable-paged mailing that soon followed informed me. "You're excellent poem, "Spring Time Tribulations", has been selected by our esteemed panel of Poetry Judges as a FINALIST in our $10,000 GRAND PRIZE CONTEST !!! We'll be announcing the winner of that Contest when donkeys fly, and in the meantime, are pleased to inform you that your merit and obvious poetic proclivity have earned you a nomination for Membership in Our Poet's Choice Best of the Best Club !!! For a nominal $4,567.99 annual membership fee, we'll send you an unframed certificate as well as a wallet-sized Best of the Best ID verification certificate! FURTHERMORE, "Springtime Tribulations" will grace our next printed Anthology of Poetry, which you can pre-purchase at the bargain basement price of $349.76. Just complete the enclosed "Author's Bio" form and for a nominal $76.82 fee, we'll publish your bio along with your poetic masterpiece! AND... we'd be DELIGHTED to have you be our Guest of Honor at our National Conference of Poets, where YOUR NAME will likely be announced as a huge Grand Prize winner and you'll be called to the podium to personally present your masterpiece to a massive audience of poetic prodigy as talented as yourself ! ...So I stuffed the Poetry.com postage-paid returned with all the junk mail it could hold, taped it shut with shipping tape in order to jack the postage they'd have to pay as high as possible, carefully affixed the "YES" sticker to make 'em think they had another sucker on the line, and mailed it off. Since then, I've immensely enjoyed writing them e-mail responses every time they try to run another scam past me, in which I act as though I think they awarded ME all these fees they're asking for and continuously bug them about when am I gonna get paid, and where's my Poetry Anthology, already? I've also responded, "Dear Howard... that night in (name of the city where their 'Convention' was held) was magic. I promise I'll never tell your wife... when can you, your riding crop, and I hook up again? Apparently, particularly after I online-ordered eight copies of their "Anthology", paid my Best of the Best "Membership" dues, paid for several items they sell featuring my "poem", AND "pre-paid" for my reservation for 7 days and 6 nights of rip-snortin' fun at their next "Convention"... all with an expired credit card and only in response to their approxmately 56th e-mail inquiry... Mr. He-lie was not amused... "We are in receipt of you e-mail and consider this harassment. You are admonished to cease and desist!" My reply... "Dear Howie: I can respect "cease and desist"... you go first !" Oh, Howard... you coulda been a contendah !!! |
What better way of celebrating cracking Convoluted Conundrum Blogadacious 7,000 Hits Sound Barrier than to acquaint you with some of my my maximally twisted Sistahs and Bros of the Pen here at WDC??? Read on, MacDufff ...
* humming, "Nobody farces better... makes us feel sad fooor the rest. Nobody farces haaaalf as good as us... bay-bee, we're da best!", one positively pooped Texas broad flips off the lights and softly closes Blog door behind her... * Nite, nite, sleep tight... see ya'll in da morning light! ( Oh.... my....... GAWD !!!! Dee and Mary Lou are rubbin' off on me... I just typed YA'LL !!!! ) |
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