Angles and Rushes; Newts and Mitts & just plain old-fashioned cold, hard, unforgiving silly putty Steele. Almost as inanimate[no offense intended to the living Newts] between their ears as their noun namesakes tend to be. Bachman, Boehner or Beck; Rand or Ron; Sarah or Sharrrrron--what do they all have in common besides those trademark Republican easy-to-read EEG graphs? Aside from meager minds, what they all have in common is celebrity status and their party registrations. Like it or not, they are the superstars of politics. The man on the street is more likely to know their names than any Democrats still qualified and with any potential for the Presidency in the nation, with the possible exceptions of Hillary and Barack. Like it or not, in 2010 A.D. America, celebrity matters.
The Republicans have capitalized on this theme much more so than the Democrats for a long time, launching celebrity candidates into extremely high office with no prior career in politics for decades now. Eisenhower. Reagan. The Governator. Even the late Sonny Bono. We've gotten Al Franken in, I suppose, but I don't like saying that publicly a whole lot. Now even famous radio disk jockeys and stand-up comedians like 'head Rush' and 'the Beck stabber' are ruling the party and giving right wing media the ratings they need to propagandize the middle class.
Besides our Secretary of State and the incumbent President, we Democrats have no future national figures of consequence with any name recognition whatsoever(with the exception of Speaker Pelosi and possibly Harry Reid--neither of whom is at all a likely future candidate for Pres. or VP).
And as we approach this November the danger now is that as the voters approach the polls, the only other Democratic name they'll recognize outside their own state or district will be Wrangling Charlie Rangel, fresh off his Ethics Committee live reality TV show trial.
For the good of his principles and his party, Rep. Rangel needs to step aside for 2 years right now. Congressman, you've done much good in your career thus far. Money corrupts everyone at some point in their lives. The last person to resist its temptation throughout childhood and adulthood hasn't really been visible for 2,000 years or so. No shame there in admitting it and moving on. With the election so close an Ethics hearing will certainly impact the election nationwide, and eliminate any chance of passing a Green bill, a jobs bill for the poor and middle class, keeping the unemployed in unemployment compensation, civil rights progress and more for the next two years at least. You've lost your Ways and Means Chair, and seniority doesn't matter at this point.
You've accomplished historic things, and have more personal sway with your colleagues than most. That doesn't go away. If you step aside and don't run for re-election this term, in 2012 you will win the nomination and election in your district again hands-down and everyone knows that. And then you can resume your good works, and if "legacy" is an issue for you, it's the way to take care of that, too. For the sake of the poor, the disadvantaged, the trod upon and the party, please consider this alternative.
The same week Charlie was 'indicted' by the Ethics Commitee, two other NY state pols stepped up and need to be saluted. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo got some excellent and well-deserved ink and air-time for his challenge to Prudential Insurance's deceptive profiteering off of the life insurance pay-offs they are supposed to make to the families of teens and tweens in uniform who die for us in Afghanistan and Iraq. Voters still remember Andrew's father Mario quite warmly.
And then there is of course the gentleman from NYC, Representative Anthony Weiner who went from city celebrity and cable news celebrity to viral video and principled superstar with one floor speech! Here are two individuals who we need to advance for the future, big time! Great people doing great things, and with style, class and star potential.
Here in CT we had such a media romance for decades with Atty. General and inevitable U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal that I felt he had just that kind of future star power until he started publicly confusing legitimate opposition to the Vietnam War and draft avoidance by accepting help from the very good-guy Daniel Patrick Moynihan to get into the reserves, with dodging Viet Cong knives and bullets in the Mekong Delta. He'll get elected to anything in Connecticut for as long as he lives, no further.
However I submit that every Democrat in the nation owes Ned Lamont, currently in a primary for Governor here in this glorious blue state[despite being the land of CEO's]. Please remember him beating Lieberman in the primary for Senate 4 years ago and earning the Dem nomination only to have the election stolen by Joe, and all the fits he's caused for us as an "independent" turncoat since. Ned was able to beat a super popular Senator who is the only CT native to even touch a national ticket in 3 or 4 lifetimes. And Ned beat him in the same decade that Cheney and Bush stole the Vice Presidency from Lieberman. Ned's a great guy with clear star power.
The talking heads, pols and anyone who can generate ink need to start developing major leaguers for 2016 and beyond, and grooming minor leaguers for the years beyond that. Otherwise we may be looking at a Limbaugh/Beck inauguration one January 20th not very long from now. Peace...
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Missile Madness: Private First Class Singled Out By Pentagon For Wikileak
It's being reported today that a Private First Class has been singled out by NATO and the Pentagon as the source of the Wikileaks.org 90,000 Afghanistan documentation of the horrors going on in country, and that he has arrived in the U.S., having been in Europe at the time of his arrest. Ironically the only government official to speak out about the specific Private and his charges has been the uniformed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullens. Our civilian leadership has made no specific comment.
The argument coming from the Pentagon has been that even though the leaked information is all prior to 2010 and no current positions are revealed, and that even though the documents document Pakistani government policy over a year ago and that the current administration's efforts have influenced Pakistani policy for the good, that somehow American troops have been endangered by the release of these documents and that the leakers are "traitors" and such.
Given the alleged sensitivity of this "intelligence" in that it risks our troops lives, one would think that only high level personnel would have access to it.
It appears that today the Pentagon is trying to have their cake and eat it too. The word leaking out of the Defense hierarchy today is that the Wikileaks documents were actually not highly classified, and that a Private First Class would not only have access to the 90,000 documents that allegedly "put our troops at risk", but that he and maybe another one or two low-level accomplices are totally responsible.
It's not too surprising that low-level fall guys are being sought for potential trials and courts martial, nor that the Pentagon under Secretary Gates is trying to have it's cake and gobble it up, as well. What's really disturbing, however, is that it's a uniform(Mullens) who is prejudging the specific case against this Private publicly. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago another uniformed General officer was talking too much and trying to do ends-around civilian leadership?
The argument coming from the Pentagon has been that even though the leaked information is all prior to 2010 and no current positions are revealed, and that even though the documents document Pakistani government policy over a year ago and that the current administration's efforts have influenced Pakistani policy for the good, that somehow American troops have been endangered by the release of these documents and that the leakers are "traitors" and such.
Given the alleged sensitivity of this "intelligence" in that it risks our troops lives, one would think that only high level personnel would have access to it.
It appears that today the Pentagon is trying to have their cake and eat it too. The word leaking out of the Defense hierarchy today is that the Wikileaks documents were actually not highly classified, and that a Private First Class would not only have access to the 90,000 documents that allegedly "put our troops at risk", but that he and maybe another one or two low-level accomplices are totally responsible.
It's not too surprising that low-level fall guys are being sought for potential trials and courts martial, nor that the Pentagon under Secretary Gates is trying to have it's cake and gobble it up, as well. What's really disturbing, however, is that it's a uniform(Mullens) who is prejudging the specific case against this Private publicly. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago another uniformed General officer was talking too much and trying to do ends-around civilian leadership?
Media Matters: Media Lets Wikileaks Spill Out of It's Field of Vision
When the 90,000 or so graphic field reports and other previously classified and secret documents eminating from NATO from Afghanistan became public on Sunday following their release that day by The New York Times, Der Spiegel and The Guardian of London, on Monday the mainstream media trumpeted their arrival as huge news. And certainly they are!
Wikileaks and the individuals within the uniformed or non-uniformed ranks either within NATO, the U.S. military, or the intelligence community who were involved in obtaining and releasing this vital information took risks and deserve kudos. The link for Wikileaks is wikileaks.org and pouring over these documents is educational to say the least, and obligatory for anyone with a stake in ending war, and we found can actually be addictive.
President Barak Obama is a well motivated man to be respected and admired by those of us on the left. He's done massive good in short order; from TARP, to Strategic Arms Reductions with Russia, to Health Care and Unemployment extension, to the overhaul of our Nuclear Weapons strategy! However as the ever increasing NATO, American and Afghan casualty figures emerge for the month of July this weekend, we must at least begin to finally come face-to-face with the folly that is General McChrystal/Petraeus'[are they really different people?] and Defense Secretary Robert Gates' counterinsurgency "strategy."
The Wikileaked documents demonstrate, more so than the duplicity of the Pakistanis, the absurdity of the risks our teens are taking at these remote forsaken outposts we are sticking them into. The desperation of the field reporters is often dramatic, and sickening. Again, I say, must reading. Far from treason, Mr. President, the individuals involved here, have taken huge risks for the cause of peace.
The Teflon Defense Secretary has been prosecuting this undeclared "war" for 3 and a half years with notable incompetence. General Petraus' "surge" in Iraq worked[I submit, temporarily] not because of increased troop strength or military might or building infrastructure, but because the opposition leaders--especially in Baghdad itself--were bought off with hard currency and the oppositon groups themselves effectively beheaded and disorganized. The principle is totally non-applicable in Afghanistan. The Petraus strategy that's worked in Baghdad is bribery, and is temporary, unfortunately. Both he and McChrystal, neither of whom I believe have any respect for civilian control of the military, sold this defective set of goods to the Teflon Defense Secretary Robert Gates--who can do no wrong, even as far as most major liberal media outlets are concerned. And then Gates, McChrystal, Petraus and the Joint Chiefs sold it to President Obama.
Under Gates we've had the last three and a half years of the soon-to-be 9-years war, with only miserable military failure and death to show for it! The obscenity that was the unhealthy and inhumane conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital! And now the fiasco of hundreds, maybe thousands of lost remains at Arlington National Cemetary! I ask my fellow lefties: Why are we keeping hands off the Teflon Defense Secretary???
The Wikileaked documents provide fodder and rationale for finally ending the Afghan nonsense and doing so in a way that the right cannot avoid dealing with the emotional drama of our teenagers in uniform being so much at risk. Mr. President, please go to wikileaks.org yourself and hear the terror in the writings in real time of your field commanders as they write their field reports in desperation. And please dismiss Secretary Gates promptly. I recommend Senator John Kerry as a more than suitable replacement. Let's cut that $700 billion Defense Department budget down to size, and eliminate this overdrawn gang violence we continue to engage in within the sovereign borders of Afghanistan.
Wikileaks and the individuals within the uniformed or non-uniformed ranks either within NATO, the U.S. military, or the intelligence community who were involved in obtaining and releasing this vital information took risks and deserve kudos. The link for Wikileaks is wikileaks.org and pouring over these documents is educational to say the least, and obligatory for anyone with a stake in ending war, and we found can actually be addictive.
President Barak Obama is a well motivated man to be respected and admired by those of us on the left. He's done massive good in short order; from TARP, to Strategic Arms Reductions with Russia, to Health Care and Unemployment extension, to the overhaul of our Nuclear Weapons strategy! However as the ever increasing NATO, American and Afghan casualty figures emerge for the month of July this weekend, we must at least begin to finally come face-to-face with the folly that is General McChrystal/Petraeus'[are they really different people?] and Defense Secretary Robert Gates' counterinsurgency "strategy."
The Wikileaked documents demonstrate, more so than the duplicity of the Pakistanis, the absurdity of the risks our teens are taking at these remote forsaken outposts we are sticking them into. The desperation of the field reporters is often dramatic, and sickening. Again, I say, must reading. Far from treason, Mr. President, the individuals involved here, have taken huge risks for the cause of peace.
The Teflon Defense Secretary has been prosecuting this undeclared "war" for 3 and a half years with notable incompetence. General Petraus' "surge" in Iraq worked[I submit, temporarily] not because of increased troop strength or military might or building infrastructure, but because the opposition leaders--especially in Baghdad itself--were bought off with hard currency and the oppositon groups themselves effectively beheaded and disorganized. The principle is totally non-applicable in Afghanistan. The Petraus strategy that's worked in Baghdad is bribery, and is temporary, unfortunately. Both he and McChrystal, neither of whom I believe have any respect for civilian control of the military, sold this defective set of goods to the Teflon Defense Secretary Robert Gates--who can do no wrong, even as far as most major liberal media outlets are concerned. And then Gates, McChrystal, Petraus and the Joint Chiefs sold it to President Obama.
Under Gates we've had the last three and a half years of the soon-to-be 9-years war, with only miserable military failure and death to show for it! The obscenity that was the unhealthy and inhumane conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital! And now the fiasco of hundreds, maybe thousands of lost remains at Arlington National Cemetary! I ask my fellow lefties: Why are we keeping hands off the Teflon Defense Secretary???
The Wikileaked documents provide fodder and rationale for finally ending the Afghan nonsense and doing so in a way that the right cannot avoid dealing with the emotional drama of our teenagers in uniform being so much at risk. Mr. President, please go to wikileaks.org yourself and hear the terror in the writings in real time of your field commanders as they write their field reports in desperation. And please dismiss Secretary Gates promptly. I recommend Senator John Kerry as a more than suitable replacement. Let's cut that $700 billion Defense Department budget down to size, and eliminate this overdrawn gang violence we continue to engage in within the sovereign borders of Afghanistan.
FREE Paper City Download
Here's a fun little city for the kids to play with. It's a free paper city that can be downloaded and printed out on your home computer printer.The free paper city comes complete with people, buildings, vehicles and a helicopter! Just print the templates out, cut them and then let your children color and play with them.To give them a little more durability, you
Media Matters: UNABASHED LEFT DEBUT
The Unabashed Left has arrived @ 7:18 am, Friday July 30th, 2010 Anno Domini. The Unabashed Right, also known as the "Tea Party" and with the AKA "The Republican Party" has much to fear as of this moment. Purpose and Mission Statement to follow shortly. Peace to one and all. Pacifism and European style Socialism are not four letter words!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Kmart Birthday Club
Join the Kmart Birthday Club to help make your child’s birthday even more special."As a member of the Kmart Birthday Club, you’ll receive:* A Birthday Surprise Fun Pack* $5 in Birthday Bucks (redeemable at your local Kmart store) on your child's birthday* Age-appropriate toy and gift suggestions* Information on developmental milestones from 6 months through 12
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Very FIRST McQuack Award Goes To...
...drum roll please...
Dr. Swami McQuack.
Let me explain why Dr. Swami was chosen for today's dubious honor.
I don't know if the entire Country has been hit with the influx of "alien" doctors, but NJ has them in ever increasing abundancy...and I have to say, that I am really not sure "alien" doctors are an improvement DESPITE the advancements in medical technology. Let me elaborate please.
First, there are the problems created with language. Understanding doctors who have thick accents from countries steeped in inflections that don't allow for easy translations of English vowels and consonants can and all too often does lead to confusion and/or downright misinterpretation. I, myself, sometimes wonder as they explain their dubious medical concepts, which Cracker Jack Box they got they medical degrees from.
A case in point...and the reason for today's award...my thirty something daughter suffers from Grand Mal seizures...so naturally we sought the "wise" counsel of a bona fide neurologist. Has anyone noticed how many specialist speak English with a heavy Latino accent or a really, really thick Indian accent?
The doctor I took my daughter to, swathed in a modified sari, spoke with the latter inflection, actually watched my daughter endure one of her seizures and then wisely told us that she, my daughter, was far too smart to have epilepsy...!!!!
HUH????
Now I am going to stop here for a moment and go off and do some research, but I am fairly certain that Julius Caesar had seizures and so did Alexander the Great...and the last time anyone wrote anything about these two men, they weren't considered...you know...DUNCES...so how come, this Dr. Swami McQuack was spouting, of the cuff, mind you, without benefit of ANY medical data to back her up, that because my daughter could add two plus two and string together more than two words and make a REAL sentence, she could not really have seizures...and of course...was quite obviously...FAKING...for reasons beyond comprehension?
I'll be back as soon as I have the answers to the "You are too smart to have epilepsy" diagnosis and continue.
I'm back...and BOY do I have a lot of information for you all. People have known about epilepsy for thousands...that's THOUSANDS of years, but have not understood it until recently. It has been recognized though, since the earliest medical writings and believe it or not Hippocrates, the FATHER of modern medicine actually wrote the very first book on epilepsy.
So now are you ready for the list of people throughout history...dummies one and all, according to Dr. Swami McQuack, who have suffered from seizures? It'll be small right?
Aristotle Hercules, Socrates, Bud Abbot, Danny Glover, Alfred Nobel, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikosky, Truman Capote, Richard Burton, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Martin Luther, Moliere, Pope Pius IX, Napoleon, Harriet Tubman, George Gershwin, Ezekiel, Joan of Arc, Agatha Christie, Beethoven, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Isaac Newton, Edgar Allan Poe, Leo Tolstoy, George Frideric Handel, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, Vincent Van Gogh, Jonathan Swift, Florence Griffith Joyner, Ida McKinley wife of President William McKinley, Elizabteth Monroe wife of President James Monroe, Prince Erik youngest son of King Gustav of Sweden, Margaux Hemingway
And of course Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great.
Mental Midgets one and all...NOT!!!
So thank you Dr. Swami McQuack for reminding us that Quackery is alive and STILL very well.
And Congratulations on being the first winner of the WEEKLY McQuack award...
Now you all check back next week and see who follows in Dr. Swami's illustriously webbed paddlers!.
Posted by Lin at 9:30 AM
Dr. Swami McQuack.
Let me explain why Dr. Swami was chosen for today's dubious honor.
I don't know if the entire Country has been hit with the influx of "alien" doctors, but NJ has them in ever increasing abundancy...and I have to say, that I am really not sure "alien" doctors are an improvement DESPITE the advancements in medical technology. Let me elaborate please.
First, there are the problems created with language. Understanding doctors who have thick accents from countries steeped in inflections that don't allow for easy translations of English vowels and consonants can and all too often does lead to confusion and/or downright misinterpretation. I, myself, sometimes wonder as they explain their dubious medical concepts, which Cracker Jack Box they got they medical degrees from.
A case in point...and the reason for today's award...my thirty something daughter suffers from Grand Mal seizures...so naturally we sought the "wise" counsel of a bona fide neurologist. Has anyone noticed how many specialist speak English with a heavy Latino accent or a really, really thick Indian accent?
The doctor I took my daughter to, swathed in a modified sari, spoke with the latter inflection, actually watched my daughter endure one of her seizures and then wisely told us that she, my daughter, was far too smart to have epilepsy...!!!!
HUH????
Now I am going to stop here for a moment and go off and do some research, but I am fairly certain that Julius Caesar had seizures and so did Alexander the Great...and the last time anyone wrote anything about these two men, they weren't considered...you know...DUNCES...so how come, this Dr. Swami McQuack was spouting, of the cuff, mind you, without benefit of ANY medical data to back her up, that because my daughter could add two plus two and string together more than two words and make a REAL sentence, she could not really have seizures...and of course...was quite obviously...FAKING...for reasons beyond comprehension?
I'll be back as soon as I have the answers to the "You are too smart to have epilepsy" diagnosis and continue.
I'm back...and BOY do I have a lot of information for you all. People have known about epilepsy for thousands...that's THOUSANDS of years, but have not understood it until recently. It has been recognized though, since the earliest medical writings and believe it or not Hippocrates, the FATHER of modern medicine actually wrote the very first book on epilepsy.
So now are you ready for the list of people throughout history...dummies one and all, according to Dr. Swami McQuack, who have suffered from seizures? It'll be small right?
Aristotle Hercules, Socrates, Bud Abbot, Danny Glover, Alfred Nobel, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikosky, Truman Capote, Richard Burton, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Martin Luther, Moliere, Pope Pius IX, Napoleon, Harriet Tubman, George Gershwin, Ezekiel, Joan of Arc, Agatha Christie, Beethoven, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Isaac Newton, Edgar Allan Poe, Leo Tolstoy, George Frideric Handel, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, Vincent Van Gogh, Jonathan Swift, Florence Griffith Joyner, Ida McKinley wife of President William McKinley, Elizabteth Monroe wife of President James Monroe, Prince Erik youngest son of King Gustav of Sweden, Margaux Hemingway
And of course Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great.
Mental Midgets one and all...NOT!!!
So thank you Dr. Swami McQuack for reminding us that Quackery is alive and STILL very well.
And Congratulations on being the first winner of the WEEKLY McQuack award...
Now you all check back next week and see who follows in Dr. Swami's illustriously webbed paddlers!.
Posted by Lin at 9:30 AM
Free Kidz Bop Music Download
Macy’s is offering 4 Free KidzBop song downloads. "Featuring today's hottest hits, Kidz Bop is "sung by kids, for kids."Just head over to Macys.com to download these songs four free songs:-Let It Rock-Party Like A Rockstar-All The Right Moves-Say HeyThe offer for the Free Kidz Bop Music Download is located toward the bottom right hand side of the Macy's website.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
50% off Clearance Toys at Kmart - In Store and Online
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on a special offer that Kmart has going on right now. It might help you save some money on a birthday present or Christmas presents.Is it to early to start thinking about Christmas? It is the end of July, so why wait for the last minute to start your shopping.Kmart has reduced all of their clearance toys to an additional 50%
FREE Children's Music - 21 Baby Genius Circle of Education Songs
Pacific Entertainment is offering 21 Baby Genius Circle of Education songs free for you to download.They want you to be part of our exciting early learning study. If you agree to participating in the Baby Genius Circle of Education survey then they will send you a short survey in 6 weeks. It’s optional to participate in the survey, either way you will still get
Monday, July 19, 2010
International Children's Digital Library
The International Children's Digital Library was launch in November, 2002 with a mission to prepare children for life in an ethnically and culturally diverse world by building the world's largest online multicultural repository of children's literature. As of this post, The ICDL collection includes 4431 books in 54 languages. Children, parents, and teachers will
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Envoy
I just love Christmas. The lights, the music, the cheer and good will. I know there are those who work in retail, I sell electronics, who really dread the approach of Black Friday. It is a long day. I arrived at 3:00 in the morning and was still here at 11:00 when our doors finally shut, but I love it.
Yes, my feet hurt, and my stomach is tremblingly hungry, but the till is full, and all is right with my world. Oh, forgive me, you don't know who I am, do you? How rude of me to ramble on like we're best friends.
My name is Diana Matthews and although I don't know it, I am about to have my whole world change. Let me ask you, when myth and legend converge spinning your reality out of all recognition, what should you do? 
Christmas is a month away. The lights are stunning, especially those that reflect off the nearby lake, and I am in my own heaven as I leave the mall. I mean I am literally soaring, so much so I almost feel like hop-skip-and-jumping all the way to my car on the far side of the lot. 
Foolish, very, for along with Christmas cheer comes Christmas crime. To this day I have no idea where the three thugs that jumped me had been hiding.He came out of the night. I recognized him, I think from earlier in the evening when I'd waited on him back at my store. He sent me back to safety, which concerned me. He was one against three, but he insisted, and something about the way he looked into my eyes had me following his directions. He told me to go and wait. He joined me after the police took the thugs away. I was nervous and I couldn't figure out why. He is so beautiful, and my palms were sweating. He must have heard my stomach rumbling, so we had a bite to eat and kept it light; he saw me to my car, and into my shaky hands he placed his card. 
Four days passed. Francisco Bolle was still defending his actions on that night to his superiors. They were a bit ticked at him. He was an Envoy after all, and his company's liaison to the government, a former Cleaner, and oh yeah, a fully functioning vampire. His Company frowned on the risks he took that night of exposure, but he didn't want to hear any of that. Now that he'd been promoted, he needed the powers that be to promote his second in command, the very effective Michaela...
...to replace him as the Cleaner, and he wanted his phone to ring. It was while waging this minor, on the surface of all things, battle, that she finally calls, and actually agrees to having a romantic, at least in my mind, date.
Out on the lake I made all the plans...arranging for the caterers...
...to the ethereal Pavilion. And I will never forget the look that lit up her beautiful face. For the first time in ages, I felt joy. I shoulda known it couldn't last...
...His attack on the caterers was ruthless this enemy from my past. With a sinking feeling in the pit of my gut, I had to respond. The night of beauty and promise, turned in a heart beat into violence, terror and an awakening to a truth that mortals hoped was nothing more than the fiction spread across their movie screens. My justice was swift, but the disgust and fear that replaced the earlier delight on Diana's face nearly drove me to my knees.
Four days passed. Francisco Bolle was still defending his actions on that night to his superiors. They were a bit ticked at him. He was an Envoy after all, and his company's liaison to the government, a former Cleaner, and oh yeah, a fully functioning vampire. His Company frowned on the risks he took that night of exposure, but he didn't want to hear any of that. Now that he'd been promoted, he needed the powers that be to promote his second in command, the very effective Michaela...
...to replace him as the Cleaner, and he wanted his phone to ring. It was while waging this minor, on the surface of all things, battle, that she finally calls, and actually agrees to having a romantic, at least in my mind, date.
Out on the lake I made all the plans...arranging for the caterers...
...to the ethereal Pavilion. And I will never forget the look that lit up her beautiful face. For the first time in ages, I felt joy. I shoulda known it couldn't last...
...His attack on the caterers was ruthless this enemy from my past. With a sinking feeling in the pit of my gut, I had to respond. The night of beauty and promise, turned in a heart beat into violence, terror and an awakening to a truth that mortals hoped was nothing more than the fiction spread across their movie screens. My justice was swift, but the disgust and fear that replaced the earlier delight on Diana's face nearly drove me to my knees.Michaela came and cleaned up the mess for me, and then spent the next few days trying to explain to Diana what we are and why.
Across town a darker enemy arises from the death I thought I'd consigned him to. Langdon, the name makes me want to strike out and kill, again. This vile vampire...
... grandson of Cassandra, the Queen of the Vampires, has returned, and vengeance is just the beginning of what he is determined to extract.
Across town a darker enemy arises from the death I thought I'd consigned him to. Langdon, the name makes me want to strike out and kill, again. This vile vampire...
... grandson of Cassandra, the Queen of the Vampires, has returned, and vengeance is just the beginning of what he is determined to extract.Will Francisco survive Langdon? Will Diana? Can she learn to accept Francisco's darker side and forge an alliance with him, the Queen, Michaela, and the other vamps, strong enough to take down the vile Langdon?
You'll have to follow Delilah K. Stephans and her new novel Envoy all the way from here to Lyrical Press.
You'll have to follow Delilah K. Stephans and her new novel Envoy all the way from here to Lyrical Press. You can also follow Delilah at Muse it Up Publishing where she is both an author, and their multi-talented Cover Art Goddess.
Delilah can be reached at the following addresses:
website--- http://www.delilahkstephans.com/
blog------- http://delilahstephans.blogspot.com/
Cover done by: Renee Rocco
Digital Publication Date: 7/5/2010
$3.50
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Summer Coloring Pages - part II
This is the second part of our celebration of summer. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!Here is the next list of Summer Coloring Pages for you and the kids to printout and decorate.Man Barbecuing Coloring Page - with girl waiting for the food.Man Barbecuing Coloring Page - with Kiss the Cook Apron.Man Barbecuing Coloring Page - with two kids licking their
Friday, July 16, 2010
Christine London's A Leap of Faith
I know, just by looking at you that you all think I am crazy, and you're probably right. I mean here I am in Italy, on an all expense paid holiday...and I'm sure it won't matter to any of you WHY my Uncle paid for this trip...he thought I should hook up with an Italian husband and was willing to shell out mucho lira to convince me to do that. Okay, on the surface I am in History's Heaven. Just look at the sights...
The Leaning Tower of Pisa...Technically an engineering disaster, but the Italians figured out how to turn this monumental BooBoo into something everyone all around the world is eager to see...except me. Stop rolling your eyes. I've already admitted I'm probably insane...still...
But I'll be honest, the place I found most entertaining I wasn't even supposed to see...since I'm a girl.
I'm sorry, I still burst out every time I see these porcelain functionals.
Castles, Italy has lots and lots of castles. I was sorta hoping to run into a ghost or two while visiting them to stir things up...
I think I saw one here, but I'd just had a bottle of vintage vino with my pizza at lunch...so I may be wrong.
Still it is pretty amazing that these castles are still standing and overpowering the landscape that surrounds them.
I decided to check out Venice and it truly is a spectacular city. I was going to ride in one of their gondolas, but the gondola captain being Italian, was giving me that eye and I immediately remembered why my uncle sent me here so gave him what I hope was a jaunty wave, and scurried on by.
The Italians do like to sit and bask in the awe-inspiring scenic backgrounds that you can find on just about every inch of all that comprises Italy. And yes, they do have hunky guys...if only my uncle hadn't been so darned insistent about why he sent me here I might have dabbled a bit more in their many amorous fountains.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa...Technically an engineering disaster, but the Italians figured out how to turn this monumental BooBoo into something everyone all around the world is eager to see...except me. Stop rolling your eyes. I've already admitted I'm probably insane...still...
The Vatican City and even the Pope's Throne Room are impressive. Where else can you see a Sea of Men wearing red beanies and not looking the least bit embarrassed to do so before a man wearing the infamous Ring of Saint Peter?
But I'll be honest, the place I found most entertaining I wasn't even supposed to see...since I'm a girl. Behold the Vatican Wee-Room. I heard that snort, and you're right. That probably was a bit irreverent, but hey, look at these things? Can you hold a straight face and imagine the creme of the Vatican not cracking up facing these urinals? I can't help wondering who the designer of these works of art was.
I'm sorry, I still burst out every time I see these porcelain functionals.Castles, Italy has lots and lots of castles. I was sorta hoping to run into a ghost or two while visiting them to stir things up...
I think I saw one here, but I'd just had a bottle of vintage vino with my pizza at lunch...so I may be wrong.
Still it is pretty amazing that these castles are still standing and overpowering the landscape that surrounds them.
I decided to check out Venice and it truly is a spectacular city. I was going to ride in one of their gondolas, but the gondola captain being Italian, was giving me that eye and I immediately remembered why my uncle sent me here so gave him what I hope was a jaunty wave, and scurried on by.
The Italians do like to sit and bask in the awe-inspiring scenic backgrounds that you can find on just about every inch of all that comprises Italy. And yes, they do have hunky guys...if only my uncle hadn't been so darned insistent about why he sent me here I might have dabbled a bit more in their many amorous fountains.
Like this guy resting here. I know you can't tell from this picture, but...
...he's got the sexiest eyes I have seen since I left the States.What a shame I had to keep my distance.
Italy has a whole lot of really death defying art on their ceilings.
I have a really healthy respect for high places. When I think about the "when" of these paintings, and what had to have been used to anchor those artists all the way up there...the word "vertigo" starts spinning around inside my head...and yeah, my body too.
On a purely personal note, I HAD to see Pompeii for myself. I had to look upon the city that had been that rich but still couldn't convince the gods not to squish them beneath tons and tons, and tons of ash and stone. 
Many modern Italians still live this close to the instrument of all that destruction, but they look upon Vesuvius as a benevolent garden of rich farming soil. They are either very brave, or very foolhardy. I'm not sure which...but you can be pretty sure I was not looking for a, rich, or poor for that matter, Italian husband near the Pompeii ruins.
They say the real stars of ancient Rome were those that competed here, in the Colosseum. Being a film student, I have seen some of the Hollywood hunks...okay Gerard Butler and Russel Crowe are not TECHNICALLY from Hollywood, still they played hunky gladiator types in some of Hollywood's classic films...
...classic films, classic sights. Classic films. Lordy but I miss my first love. Yep, despite being here in this ancient majesty, I'd rather be back in my classes because I am Faith Holmes, film student, not Faith Holmes Italian husband scavenger.
"Oh My Goodness...I just heard about the Forio's exclusive International Film Festival out there on that island. And Alex Winslow, that English Film Sensation is going to be there. How hard can it be for an ingenious American girl like myself to crash the party?"
Join Christine London as she weaves the rest of Faith Holmes' Italian story.
Leap of Faith, by Christine London, cover art by Alex Kent, and released by AweStruck Publishing. Click Here to follow Christine to her personal website and learn more about her, Faith and Faith's International Film Festival adventure.
...he's got the sexiest eyes I have seen since I left the States.
Italy has a whole lot of really death defying art on their ceilings.
I have a really healthy respect for high places. When I think about the "when" of these paintings, and what had to have been used to anchor those artists all the way up there...the word "vertigo" starts spinning around inside my head...and yeah, my body too.
On a purely personal note, I HAD to see Pompeii for myself. I had to look upon the city that had been that rich but still couldn't convince the gods not to squish them beneath tons and tons, and tons of ash and stone. 
Many modern Italians still live this close to the instrument of all that destruction, but they look upon Vesuvius as a benevolent garden of rich farming soil. They are either very brave, or very foolhardy. I'm not sure which...but you can be pretty sure I was not looking for a, rich, or poor for that matter, Italian husband near the Pompeii ruins.
They say the real stars of ancient Rome were those that competed here, in the Colosseum. Being a film student, I have seen some of the Hollywood hunks...okay Gerard Butler and Russel Crowe are not TECHNICALLY from Hollywood, still they played hunky gladiator types in some of Hollywood's classic films...
...classic films, classic sights. Classic films. Lordy but I miss my first love. Yep, despite being here in this ancient majesty, I'd rather be back in my classes because I am Faith Holmes, film student, not Faith Holmes Italian husband scavenger.
"Oh My Goodness...I just heard about the Forio's exclusive International Film Festival out there on that island. And Alex Winslow, that English Film Sensation is going to be there. How hard can it be for an ingenious American girl like myself to crash the party?"Join Christine London as she weaves the rest of Faith Holmes' Italian story.
Leap of Faith, by Christine London, cover art by Alex Kent, and released by AweStruck Publishing. Click Here to follow Christine to her personal website and learn more about her, Faith and Faith's International Film Festival adventure.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Free Sesame Street Magazine Downloads
For those of you that may not know, over at the Sesame Workshop website you can get a free download of the current issue of Sesame Street Magazine.Inside the Sesame Street Magazine, you and your child can enjoy a colorful array of stories, games, activities and more.You can download the magazine in PDF format and then decided if you want to save it to your computer
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck or Goofy - Free Personalized Disney Character Phone Call
Have Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck or Goofy call your home with a personalized message for your children. Thanks to Disney and Barilla, you can add a little character to your child's day.Here’s how to schedule your Free Personalized Disney Character Phone Call:1) Enter you date of birth.2) Read and accept terms.3) Choose Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Disney Characters Tiana or Woody Call your Home - FREE Disney Character Call
Hello parents, here's a chance to send your child a character phone call and make their day extra-special! Thanks to Disney and Pull-Ups, you can have Tiana or Woody call your home with a personalized message for your child and they can even greet them by name.Here's how to get started:Visit FREE Disney Character Call from Tiana or Woody1) Enter you date of birth.2
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Sometimes you need to remember words from the past.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010The Fate's At Play
Have you ever noticed that the Fate's tend to give unimaginable joy on one sweep from their weaving loom and devastating anguish with the next?
On March 28th, my first manuscript was sent to the publisher by my published daughter's editor. The very next day, I received my contract. You cannot imagine the state of euphoria that engulfed me and is still encircling me...but it is now tempered by reality as well.
Let me explain.
Since just before Christmas, my daughter has been battling a series of sinus infections, one after another. Hers are bad enough to require the heavy duty antibiotics...nothing mild mannered like, oh penicillin...no they put her on things like Cipro, which we learned she is DEATHLY allergic to after I nearly lost her in January. They switched her to Augmentin. It cleared up the infection...for a few days, but then it was back again with a vengeance. Her sinus infections make her sinuses bleed, a lot, which brings on anemia...something she has yet to bounce back from.
She had not worked through the last sinus infection completely when she was rushed to the hospital and operated on this month on March 17th for a kidney stone...two weeks ago to the day at four o'clock this afternoon, to be exact. Oh and when her surgeon called to let me know her progress, because I'm disabled and cannot drive, so could not be with her when she had to face her ordeal, much to my eternal agony, he told me she had many more stones, but they were not critical at that moment so would not need to be operated on...yet.
She came home at nine o'clock the same night she was operated on. I know what you are all thinking and yes, I can see you shaking your heads in disbelief, because I did the same thing. I could not imagine them sending her home that quickly, but you know how things are today with our medical health system. What they used to keep you in for at least a day or two, you now get sent home for twenty minutes later.
She was recovering...somewhat. Her side is still tender from the surgery and the ripping the stone did while it was moving and cutting her urinary tract. (She passes a lot of blood out her sinuses and now is passing a lot of blood out her urinary tract as well.) I had to sit here and watch my daughter fade before my eyes while trying everything I could think of to bolster her. (I've had a LOT of practise doing this, which I will explain as I go on, doing this over the years.)
She loves vegetable soup. I went to the store and bought so much vegetable soup I broke the larder shelf under the weight of all those cans, but she won't starve and it doesn't take much energy to lift soup to her lips.
Last week her sinuses began infecting again. This time they swelled so badly I can actually see the cavities formed on both sides on her nose and feel the fullness beneath these swollen mounds. She is scheduled for ct scans, x-rays and an endoscopy of her sinuses tomorrow and is most likely going to need surgery. She has blood work and a whole battery of other tests scheduled for Friday. Due to her seizures, which come on without warning, she is required to go to all of her appointments in an ambulance with at least one paramedic in attendence.
You'd think the Fates would let her deal JUST with the sinuses, right, but last Thursday they decided she needed to have another stone flair into raging and gouging prominence. A prominence that has her praying she won't have to call for the ambulance again and be whisked to the emergency room and immediate surgery. And in case any of you have forgotten, let me repeat again ONLY two weeks as of four o'clock this afternoon, after her LAST stone-ectomy.
Yesterday she learned that three more of her own novels have been contracted, which means she will soon be involved in the editing process, and she is so weak she's afraid she will let her editor, her publisher and me, down. (Believe me, she will punch through because she will not let ANY of us down, no matter what!)
Let me tell you a little bit about my daughter and who she really is...on November 26, 2001 she had major surgery on her left ankle. At the time she was a high powered auditor working out of the corporate offices of The Burlington Coat Factory with 18 of their west coast stores in her control. She was responsible for their daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tally reports.
Her ankle had literally snapped! The surgeon told us the ligament had indeed snapped, so he was going to go in and cut the damaged part away and suture back the good part...sounds simple right? Oh if only that were the case!
I was with her that day waiting in the waiting room and the surgeon came to me after he finished and this is what he told me. When he got inside he found a mess. The ligament was destroyed. All the flesh had been eaten away by scar tissue. He had to go up into her thigh and remove a tendon to fashion a pseudo ligament to graft and then staple it to the bones in her ankle in four places to give her any kind of control over the movement of her ankle and foot. It would not be perfect, but at least she would have some mobility. She would have an ugly eight inch scar running up her lower leg because he'd had to remove all that scar tissue. What was to have been simple surgery had become major surgery She would be in a wheel chair for six months and physical therapy would follow.
The Coat Factory's insurance is such that despite being in horrific pain, to keep it, she had to go back to work three days after the surgery and she was going to need it for all the after care and physical therapy to come. Kat would never let her store's receive less than the clearest of her mind's abilities, so she refused to take her pain meds while she worked. She punched through because letting those that count on her down is not in her makeup.
Kat was my rock through two bouts of cancer. She puts everyone else first and has since the day she was born. Sometimes you cannot take on anymore when your resitance levels, your energy levels are so low and your pain levels are so high. She is losing blood, she is too close to breaking and it takes a great deal to break this incredible young woman.
So I want to beseech the Fate...Give Her a BREAK!!!
Posted by Lin at 5:57 AM 3 comments:
MuseItUp Publishing said...
How is she doing? As a mom I was literally in tears feeling your pain. I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers. Chin up, mom, it's such a hardship on parents to see their children, regardless what age, go through hard times.
April 9, 2010 6:59 AM
Lin said...
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. It has been a difficult week. She passed one stone only to have two more immediately decide to follow. Her blood work came back and it seems her para-thyroid is acting up and we find out tomorrow if that is the root cause that will have to be removed. I am trying to locate software that is not too expensive that will respond to voice recognition so she can continue her writing without having to sit here at the computer where she is uncomfortable with the stones. If anyone out there has any ideas please let me know...and thanks all for you help. I promise to try to do a better date of updating my blog entries in the future.
April 12, 2010 8:48 PM
Kaye Manro said...
Hello Lin! Thanks for stopping by my blog for the big Forbidden Love cover!
I love you daughter Kat too. I think she is wonderful!
April 13, 2010 11:58 AM
Post a Comment
Have you ever noticed that the Fate's tend to give unimaginable joy on one sweep from their weaving loom and devastating anguish with the next?
On March 28th, my first manuscript was sent to the publisher by my published daughter's editor. The very next day, I received my contract. You cannot imagine the state of euphoria that engulfed me and is still encircling me...but it is now tempered by reality as well.
Let me explain.
Since just before Christmas, my daughter has been battling a series of sinus infections, one after another. Hers are bad enough to require the heavy duty antibiotics...nothing mild mannered like, oh penicillin...no they put her on things like Cipro, which we learned she is DEATHLY allergic to after I nearly lost her in January. They switched her to Augmentin. It cleared up the infection...for a few days, but then it was back again with a vengeance. Her sinus infections make her sinuses bleed, a lot, which brings on anemia...something she has yet to bounce back from.
She had not worked through the last sinus infection completely when she was rushed to the hospital and operated on this month on March 17th for a kidney stone...two weeks ago to the day at four o'clock this afternoon, to be exact. Oh and when her surgeon called to let me know her progress, because I'm disabled and cannot drive, so could not be with her when she had to face her ordeal, much to my eternal agony, he told me she had many more stones, but they were not critical at that moment so would not need to be operated on...yet.
She came home at nine o'clock the same night she was operated on. I know what you are all thinking and yes, I can see you shaking your heads in disbelief, because I did the same thing. I could not imagine them sending her home that quickly, but you know how things are today with our medical health system. What they used to keep you in for at least a day or two, you now get sent home for twenty minutes later.
She was recovering...somewhat. Her side is still tender from the surgery and the ripping the stone did while it was moving and cutting her urinary tract. (She passes a lot of blood out her sinuses and now is passing a lot of blood out her urinary tract as well.) I had to sit here and watch my daughter fade before my eyes while trying everything I could think of to bolster her. (I've had a LOT of practise doing this, which I will explain as I go on, doing this over the years.)
She loves vegetable soup. I went to the store and bought so much vegetable soup I broke the larder shelf under the weight of all those cans, but she won't starve and it doesn't take much energy to lift soup to her lips.
Last week her sinuses began infecting again. This time they swelled so badly I can actually see the cavities formed on both sides on her nose and feel the fullness beneath these swollen mounds. She is scheduled for ct scans, x-rays and an endoscopy of her sinuses tomorrow and is most likely going to need surgery. She has blood work and a whole battery of other tests scheduled for Friday. Due to her seizures, which come on without warning, she is required to go to all of her appointments in an ambulance with at least one paramedic in attendence.
You'd think the Fates would let her deal JUST with the sinuses, right, but last Thursday they decided she needed to have another stone flair into raging and gouging prominence. A prominence that has her praying she won't have to call for the ambulance again and be whisked to the emergency room and immediate surgery. And in case any of you have forgotten, let me repeat again ONLY two weeks as of four o'clock this afternoon, after her LAST stone-ectomy.
Yesterday she learned that three more of her own novels have been contracted, which means she will soon be involved in the editing process, and she is so weak she's afraid she will let her editor, her publisher and me, down. (Believe me, she will punch through because she will not let ANY of us down, no matter what!)
Let me tell you a little bit about my daughter and who she really is...on November 26, 2001 she had major surgery on her left ankle. At the time she was a high powered auditor working out of the corporate offices of The Burlington Coat Factory with 18 of their west coast stores in her control. She was responsible for their daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tally reports.
Her ankle had literally snapped! The surgeon told us the ligament had indeed snapped, so he was going to go in and cut the damaged part away and suture back the good part...sounds simple right? Oh if only that were the case!
I was with her that day waiting in the waiting room and the surgeon came to me after he finished and this is what he told me. When he got inside he found a mess. The ligament was destroyed. All the flesh had been eaten away by scar tissue. He had to go up into her thigh and remove a tendon to fashion a pseudo ligament to graft and then staple it to the bones in her ankle in four places to give her any kind of control over the movement of her ankle and foot. It would not be perfect, but at least she would have some mobility. She would have an ugly eight inch scar running up her lower leg because he'd had to remove all that scar tissue. What was to have been simple surgery had become major surgery She would be in a wheel chair for six months and physical therapy would follow.
The Coat Factory's insurance is such that despite being in horrific pain, to keep it, she had to go back to work three days after the surgery and she was going to need it for all the after care and physical therapy to come. Kat would never let her store's receive less than the clearest of her mind's abilities, so she refused to take her pain meds while she worked. She punched through because letting those that count on her down is not in her makeup.
Kat was my rock through two bouts of cancer. She puts everyone else first and has since the day she was born. Sometimes you cannot take on anymore when your resitance levels, your energy levels are so low and your pain levels are so high. She is losing blood, she is too close to breaking and it takes a great deal to break this incredible young woman.
So I want to beseech the Fate...Give Her a BREAK!!!
Posted by Lin at 5:57 AM 3 comments:
MuseItUp Publishing said...
How is she doing? As a mom I was literally in tears feeling your pain. I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers. Chin up, mom, it's such a hardship on parents to see their children, regardless what age, go through hard times.
April 9, 2010 6:59 AM
Lin said...
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. It has been a difficult week. She passed one stone only to have two more immediately decide to follow. Her blood work came back and it seems her para-thyroid is acting up and we find out tomorrow if that is the root cause that will have to be removed. I am trying to locate software that is not too expensive that will respond to voice recognition so she can continue her writing without having to sit here at the computer where she is uncomfortable with the stones. If anyone out there has any ideas please let me know...and thanks all for you help. I promise to try to do a better date of updating my blog entries in the future.
April 12, 2010 8:48 PM
Kaye Manro said...
Hello Lin! Thanks for stopping by my blog for the big Forbidden Love cover!
I love you daughter Kat too. I think she is wonderful!
April 13, 2010 11:58 AM
Post a Comment
Monday, July 5, 2010
Kelly Ripa / Electrolux Ultimate Banana Split Campaign - $25 American Express Card Giveaway
GIVEAWAY UPDATE: The winning entry has been generated and the winner is... Mari! An e-mail has been sent out to the winner and they will have a 48 hour period to claim their prize or a new winner will be generated. Thank you to all who have entered this giveaway!!!Help Kelly Ripa and Electrolux build banana splits for an outstanding cause, ovarian cancer. Each day
Friday, July 2, 2010
The Versatile Blogger Award
The Versatile Blogger Award
I was absolutely shocked when I opened my email and found out I received this award.
I am honored to receive it. However, it comes with a few rules.
1. Thank those who loved me enough to bestow this gift.
2. Share seven things about myself.
3. Bestow this honor onto 15 newly discovered or followed bloggers–in no particular order–who are fantastic in some way.
4. Drop by and let my fifteen new friends know I love them.
I was absolutely shocked when I opened my email and found out I received this award.
I am honored to receive it. However, it comes with a few rules.
1. Thank those who loved me enough to bestow this gift.
2. Share seven things about myself.
3. Bestow this honor onto 15 newly discovered or followed bloggers–in no particular order–who are fantastic in some way.
4. Drop by and let my fifteen new friends know I love them.
Thank you for this honor, Lea. You honor me with more than just this award, but you already know how I feel about you.
Seven things about myself...oh dear.
1.) I used to go fishing every year at the creek like everyone else in my town on the first day of fishing, but I slipped behind Halp's cabin and slipped baloney on my hook out of sight of others because I hated the feel of worms. I wonder if that's why I never caught anything. I think the fish knew baloney was processed pseudo food and not a wiggly, I suppose, tasty worm.
2.) I got my first kiss while playing hide 'n' seek in the cornfield when I was seven from Salty Millard.
3.) When I was in school we did a rushed job putting Romeo and Juliet on. I had the role of the Chief Watch. Because it was rushed, the teacher/director, allowed the "actors" to have their lines in crib notes stashed all over the stage. I was the only one who actually had them memorized.
4.) I spent the first eight years of school in Catholic school...never had day of gym till ninth grade, and found I really hated the rings, softball, sit ups, and laps around the track.
5.) My best friend was my German Shepard Heidi and she loved water, so when my folks weren't looking, like at midnight, we'd sneak out of the house and jump in the pool and frolic together for hours. She was so much fun and did a really mean dog paddle.
6.) Much to her teacher's chagrin, I let Kat start reading adult novels when she was 12. Made her the envy of all her peers, but she took a speed reading course and grew out of tween stuff by the time she was nine. It was either let her read mature themes or have her give up her first love.
7.) When I was seven, the Erie locks scared the bejeeburs out of me so much I'm still afraid to look down from high places.
Now we come to the tough stuff...other people with blogs that haven't already been given this award by my estimable friends.
I actually don't have any new ones.
My son used to have one...I haven't been there in awhile, so don't know if it's still up, but hold on while I check...It's not exactly a blog...it's more a website. My son is a master welder, and some of the amazing pieces he's created are here. So
1.) Chris Rydbom
All I can do is name 14 other people whom I love from the bottom of my heart that are not bloggers, but if they were would be very creative indeed.
2.) My children's uncle, Retired Colonel Eric Rydbom: Eric is the brother I wish I always had, but will never give back now.
3.) Reverend Audrey Rydbom, Eric's wife and a sister anyone would be proud to take into their heart forever more
4.) Elsie Rydbom, my beautiful new daughter by marriage. She gave my son back his smile. I am forever in her debt.
5.) Margaret Cutshall, my beloved and deeply missed Grandmother. Nonnie, you gave me the foundation of honor. Thank you for sticking around those extra six years.
6.) Claire Zelman, someone who came into my world and showed me how to find home. Love you Claire.
7.) Mary Powers an 80 plus year old woman who would have been an amazing blogger with stories to tell and a wonderful way of doing so.
8.) Katie Sickle, another 80 plusser who lived with Mary when I was a child and enthralled this girl to never stop dreaming.
9.) Winnie Dozier a 75 year old woman who survived the Blitzkrieg, and interracial prejudice in America's south before Martin Luther King made strides in equal rights.
10.) Alice Derkye, an 83 year old woman who survived Hitler and is the most gracious, gentle spirit I have ever known...in spite of Hitler.
11.) Evelyn Santillo, a 78 year old woman with advanced Parkinson's Disease who still jumps up to help others. I hope I am as giving and caring as she is when I reach her age.
12.) Detective Walt Ward, who showed me the way towards freedom and serenity.
13.) Bill Riches, my mentor. He showed me what a truly honorable teacher should be and instilled the patience that was second nature to him when dealing with the many challenges educating children born with Down Syndrome. I miss you Bill.
14.) Herb Friese. I took your classes because I wanted some background in the Criminal Justice system and learned not all law enforcement officers are power hungry and come even have astounding senses of humor, and because of you my AS degree has Criminal Justice as one of my co-majors. I couldn't get enough of learning at your feet. Thanks Herb, and I miss you horribly too.
15.) Perry Kaufmann, you made me apply the Sociology courses to my real life, and grow; you also honored me when you changed you curriculum because of what I..little me...taught you.
and please understand I must add one more:
16.) Michael Intintoli. I took Anthropology to fulfill my Liberal Arts requirements and you made me write about a modern society with humor. Although I no longer have that paper, I will never forget the investigative process it took to write about today's Eraflew society. (For those of you who don't recognize the Eraflew society, spell it backwards.)
I know this does not meet the written requirements of my awards, but each of these people named here would have amazing blogs if they had them. So I hope all of you, including you Daughter of mine, will forgive me for taking this shortcut.
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