Wooo Hooo! We're in! Now just tell me, does that little incident I had with the electric trimmer when I was 13 count or is there a statute of limitations or an idiots exclusion? :-)

I think men must start out on the Advanced users list and I think I must be in the elite overacheivers group. Thanks goodness I found Sparks or I'd be in M.A. from wearing out the poor little guy. I agree with Ghost, if Sparks wasn't an active participant, life would simply not be as good as it is.

We should have an exploit list for the men too. I don't know if the places men do it would be as exciting, but hey how about the items used (See opening line). Come on you brave guys fess up! I think that between the ages of 12 and 15 times were particularly desperate and the variety of helpful tools and ingredients were quite diverse (IE lotions, shampoos, soaps, soft cloth, vibrating items of all types, goats, furniture, small rocks.... (okay those last few are just made up).

Tell the truth, we all had that story about the guy in school who got his thang caught in the shampoo bottle or the girl who had to go to the hospital after that "Hotdog" experiment went terribly awry, so share your disgusting perversions...I mean...learning experiences!

Always...

I have to say I am a little suprised that no man has yet gotten threatened or jealous of their significant others participation in "Vibrate Across America". Things like this can reflect quite negatively on a man's ability to satify ones partner. I mean if she was getting enough at home, of high enough quality, why would she need or have time to...

PSYCHE!
Okay I am totally full of beans here, I just wanted to stir the pot and find I don't have the nuts for it (Sorry Ghost, I thought you'd have been proud)

In the most selfish of all veins I am very worried about the Delta cutbacks today. Yes it's bad that all those jobs were lost, but damn it I am flying to Florida on my honeymoon in a month and if I have to tell my fiance that our honeymoon is cancelled bacause we can no longer get a flight at the right time then I will be postal. We're going on a cruise and there is a definite window you have to hit. I know this is totally celf-centered and selfish but it's damn true! GAHHH! &*$#$*&^%%^&$%$!

I just want to tell Ally how much I appreciate her blog and to let her know that is a source of inspiration to me. I never had a 'hometown' I never lived in one place more than 2 years in a row until I was 16 and not again since I turned 23, 7 years ago... I really appreciate being able to hear about and feel what it is like to have a deep foundation like that. My fiance has that kind of background too and sometimes I struggle to relate. Your blog helps me do that. Thank you for sharing it.

I've seen a lot of flack going back and fourth so I decided to clarify what I posted and to assure everyone reading this that these are thoughts inspired by the friends blogs I read, not a retaliation or an attack upon them.

We are in a difficult time and we need to be unified more now than ever before (in our lives at least). Anything that separates or segragates us from one another makes us weaker. Any damning judgement we make of eachother makes us less as a whole. Having pride and being patriotic are wonderful things to be very happy about but, NOT EVER something to be used as a yardstick to measure how good or deserving the next guy is. We are spoiled in this country because we are so large and powerful, but I promise you, if the fighting were here and you were out in it, desperate for a place to shelter and came across a house you'd be praying there was a fellow American in there and wouldn't care if they were hanging a flag or pro-war orPro-anything. You'd just be happy you found the home of a comrad where you could seek safety.

My point is that righteousness is a luxury and we should remember that. It's also dangerously close to arrogance. Appreciate the lowest common demonitator first and best. If we all do that we will be able to love eachother and stand together because we are all AMERICANS, no matter what our opinions or beliefs.

Thanks for listening,
Always...

Logi and Ally. I've been thinking of you both and wanted to type words of encouragement and kept falling flat and writing nothing. I need to remedy that.

Logi, your problem is a tough one to address and I won't because it isn't my place, but I can say that I feel and suffer your pain with you. I have been married before and I went through that. I hope and pray that your marriage will succeed where mine miserably failed (Incidentally, I was not the one who went out and did XY&Z, she was). I've been sending thoughts and prayers your way since I first read of your grief.

Ally, Your position I sympathize with but can never truly understand. The pain and worry you must have to endure is truly great. You have shown great strength in your writing though and I want to acknowledge you for that. Bravery is not just defined by being unflinching and brazen, it is also defined by the the strength and self love it takes to face and share your fear and pain. To me a person who can do that is very brave indeed. I wish for continued strength and happiness for you and yours and hope your love and bond only strengthens in the future.

I have a few thoughts I'd like to share. They aren't well thought out and people may get pissed, but so be it.

To anyone who cancelled travel plans because of fear, I understand that fear, you can keep your flags in the window.

To everyone who sold stock because they weren't willing to take a chance with their savings, don't worry, you're still Americans, have the right to fear, to be careful and you can still wave your flag proudly.

To those who traveled and invested in the face of fear, you are to be applauded, wave your flags high.

To those who fear war, don't want military action, can't cope or don't want to trust the government. You have earned the right to be weary, you are still Americans, be proud to have your opinions.

To those supporting the war, who want action, who want freedom defended at all costs, enjoy the comfort of your brothers who feel the same and know your patriotism is a source of strength to many.

No matter what your views, your fears, your actions or your reservations, being a citizen of this country empowers you to express your beliefs and whether in the minority or not well liked, it's you who remind us why this country is great. It's you being allowed to be scared and to disagree that reminds us why this country is so great.

I love my country, I fear what the consequences of the upcoming fighting may be. For now I trust the government and believe in it's messages and actions, but I reserve the right to disagree later and I reserve the right to love and fly my flag just the same if I do. Because I love being able to disagree and I love being able to be scared.

The 'best' choice is not the only one that can justify your love of this country and we all would do well to remember that.

Love always...

I need to move forward. I really need to laugh and find a way to feel good for a while. It's easier at home, much less so at work. It was hard being stuck in the subway tunnels near Chamber St. for an hour on Monday because of a bomb scare. It was hard to finally reach my stop and see smokey air, dozens of reporters and policemen and firemen and soldiers EVERYWHERE. It was hard to smell what was in the air and not remember why that smell was there. It was hard walking past all the generator trucks powering all the buildings around me because one of the 10 largest power stations IN THE WORLD was under 7 WTC. It was hard not being able to listen to the radio or see the news for a whole day, the first since last week. It was hard being without my fiance. It was hard to read all the blogs and hear about the pain everyone is dealing with. It was hard reading Logi and Ally and wanting to reach out to them and yet realizing that they barely even know who I am. It was hard facing my own powerlessness. It was hard to feel so much. It was hard to be alive this week. It was hard knowing I am very very lucky. It was hard.

Ally, Ghost, Siren..everyone. My prayers are truly with you. Go to Logi and make a donation if you want to help or just help more. Skye, Rinogirl, UIM, Tempest, and everyone else, thanks for your wishes and concerns. Chynakatt, THANK YOU for posting that letter. I had seen it and read it and I think everyone in the world should read that one. I still don't have words. I can't work yet because I work below 14th street. I wish I could go back to work, I wish life was normal again, I wish those people were still alive, I wish the Towers were still there...

Always...

There is no word, no text, no tender poetry to do this day justice. No Prose to capture the terrible horror or the pain. Reality has finally outreached my heart and my mind and reaped such destruction that any words I offer would be pathetic and small, but words MUST be spoken. So my only words are these: I have feared, and raged and cried today. I have gasped and stared blankly. I have wished for the best and sent out all my love and hope to everyone I could think of or even imagine, but I cannot ever know all their pain and loss and I do not pretend to. I only know my heart and body cries with, and for, you and if I have even one more ounce of life or love in my body, it will be spent praying with and for everyone in this city and beyond who has been hurt and killed and freightened today. I will make my mind remember even though I am tempted to wish it away, even though my logic tries to insist it can't be true. Mostly out of respect for those people who do not deserve to be forgotten. Their lives did matter and I owe it to them and theirs to see that in at least my life, they will be remembered and that memory will become a vital part of a new generation. A generation that will make sure this can never happen again.

Thanks for listeneing, I love you all.

Always...

OPEN LETTER TO LI RAILROAD/SUBWAY COMMUTERS

I'd like to bring to your attention, several problems I have observed with your conduct and behaviour while waiting for, walking to, or riding the LI railway system.

#1: Your travel speed - you're doing it wrong. I find it annoying that Many of you insist on walking too slow. Worse, you walk too slow in swollen clots that blok my way. Unfortunately, many of you also are in far too much of a hurry. You can just walk around me politely or calm yourself down. Wherever you have to be, 30 seconds more or less won't make a difference. Watch me guys, follow my lead and you'll know what to do.

#2: Stop yelling at the people on the train. When I am comfortably on the train and you are standing there, bitter, because there is no more room, yelling to "STEP INSIDE!" will not only have no effect, it will also reinforce that you are an idiot. When I am also on the platform and cannot get on the train either (usually because others are simply not considerate enough to make room for me) you yelling for people to step in only makes me irritated. Why would you expect people to move in for you when I am on the platform as well as far more polite and deserving of any spot that should be generated.

#3: The third amendment does not guarantee you the right to read your Wall Street Journal on a crowded subway train. Close it you idiot! You can make 3 people a lot more comfortable and not look like a completely self-absorbed arrogant fool if you wait until getting off the train to read your billboard-sized newspaper. Do not think that that moronic 4-way puzzle-fold system you have to make the paper appear small is better, you still have to turn the page and open that ridiculous contaption up every 2 minutes, so cut it out!

#4: Stop running to the train and stopping right in the doorway! Has it ever occurred to you there might be others, or more importantly myself, behind you trying to get in as well. This is not a camping trip, you can't just call dibs on your favorite spot. You also might consider at least turning to the side when the doors open and people need to get in. This requires you to entertain the advanced thought that politeness is its own motivation, you aren't going to get a thank you or a tip, this is COMMON COURTESY!

#5: Take a damn bath you filthy animal! No one want's to smell you. This is not the wild where spreading your scent has some meaning, you are just disgusting people and we all feel bad that we have to wish you dead.

#6: Don't bitch out loud to yourself. Your grunts and groans, you muttering the name of the lord and cursing the railway system does NOT make us like you or make us sympathize. It makes us feel you are a whinny little bitch and you need to stop.

#7: Let the women and old people sit. Do I really need to go over this one AGAIN AND AGAIN? If I have to see one more young man or girl RUNNING in front of a senior or pregnant woman to get that last open seat, I am going to lose it. What the hell is wrong with you people? This is not a plate full of chicken you are running for, you don't just charge up and grab what you want. Think of others ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, maybe you'll even get into heaven.

Please read these things and realize the err of your ways. Use these guidelines to grow into better adjusted adults who deserve to share a transportation system with others. If you are ever confused, just follow the "Wryguy" rule. If Wryguy doesn't do it, neither should you...

Thank you...

You go ALLY! (Disclaimer: when Wryguy uses his cell phone he covers his mouth with his hand and speaks softly ;-)

Not for anything but Chynakatt is totally right. Forget about whether you have a right to not learn english, if you don't want to learn, great, but don't bitch about it when you can't find work and business shouldn't go out of their way to hire people who cannot speak the language properly just for the sake of 'Diversity'. In my opinion, diversity has gone too far when it costs quality of work and service. If they want to do that then add a 'Spanish Only' line at Burger King, then I'd be the first one honing my Spanish to get on the shorter line "Uno Biggie Fries Por Favor!".

Check out Metrocake today, I couldn't agree more. F*&%$ those anal uptight conservative hate and fear mongers!

I have one thing to say to that ALLY chick, RIGHT ON GIRL!

NEW BITS

Long post yesterday, forgot to copy first, lost it all. It was a very touchy and sensative topic. I took it as a nudge from above not to post that one.

Chynakatt has a funny/upsetting (to those of us getting married shortly) radio spoof relayed on her blog today. Check it out!

UIM, where is this story you are writing? I hear people talk about it and I wonder how to get to it...

I realized, while speaking with Sparks last night, that I had speant about 7 years working on a book about Life, Love, Spirituality, Creation and God and how they all interrelate and now believe that the core points of the book, the things that I most wanted to embrace and share with people, are mostly unrelatable things. By which I mean that some things are just unique about each and every person as well as the way each person hears and internalizes each bit of feeling and information they perceive. So the question becomes, do I rewrite it with only myself in mind and hope people will want to read about my perceptions and experiences knowing only a small percentage of people would truly relate, or write a genericly presented piece that many more people could relate to, but to a much lesser extent? I could use any advice I can get here...

Always...

MAMMOTH WEEKEND POST
So we cancelled all our plans for this past weekend so we could have just one relaxing weekend together before the wedding. No BBQ at friends, No visiting Massachusetts, No visiting family (this was not necessarily a sacrifice, more of a perk). All permanently posponed in the name of relaxation. Or so we thought... So we setled in to our PC's Friday night for a quick tandem mailcheck and web search when I hear those tell-tale words that you know just mean there is trouble ahead "Aw crap!". I ask my dearest what was so distressful and she pointed out that upon checking our "TheKnot.com" to do list, that we were supposed to mail out all our wedding invitations THIS weekend and not next. Since we are printing the outer and inner envelopes ourselves, stuffing, sealing and stamping them, the weekend was going to have at least one full busy day. Then as always happens in bad movies and ruined weekends, the florist calls and reminds us we have an appointment to finalize arrangements with her the next day in Westbury at 1pm. Now this is far, we live east of Ronkonkoma. So we take deep breaths, give eachother a long supporting hug and immediately begin working on the task at hand. Printing and stuffing envelopes. I print outer envelopes first while she checks and finalizes the names and address on the list. After that we are supposed to print inside envelopes and stuff, when all of a sudden, I hear the all too familiar "Aw crap". What could be wrong now I wonder? "Direction cards" "What?" "Direction cards, the Coral House never sent the cards. I called and told them to mail them out on Monday, but they never arrived." "That's okay, I can probably make some on the..." "NO!," "What?" "We have to have the actual cards, this is our wedding not a BBQ, we can't just print something up and mail it with our beautiful wedding invitations." I knew she was right, but the realization that in order to get the cards we would have to take a trip out to Baldwin, make it tempting to just say the hell with it and...but I digress. So we stop and enjoy the night together bracing for the weekend to come.
The next day we allow ourselves a leisurely morning before going to the florist. Upon arriving to see and finalize the centerpieces, I don't like them. She's gotten a lot of the colors wrong and I just am not pleased. Sparks really shined here because she totally let me go at it as the florist totally dismantled the piece and we worked together to rebuild it the way I remembered it. She is probably the only woman in the world that would let the man set up the flower arrangements. When we finished we all agreed the flowers were just stunning, the florist needs to get credit here too. I picket the main flowers I wanted, but this woman is a true artist and worked wonders with them adding perfect accents and touches.
We were so happy when we left that we decided to go to the Roosevelt field mall and maybe look for some of the gifts for our Wedding party which we also haven't taken care of yet. (Honestly we have done a lot, there are hundreds of things on the list, really!) so we stroll around, have a late lunch, shop, talk, and finally we find 2 items (out of the 8 we need) that we want, but they are to be engraved so we have to wait another hour for that so we shop some more. Apparently we had a REALLY good time, because when we left we checked the time and it was 9:30PM! We had speant 7 hours there! Well the Coral house would have to wait until tomorrow....
We made one last attempt to try and verify that the address cards were already mailed and would arrive very soon, but when they didn't know who the receptionist was the day we called we had no choice but to drive down to SS PKWY exit 20 from LIE Exit 63... So we arrived, got the cards, also got place cards for the tables and a nice floor diagram with the tables drawn on which will prove very helpful when it comes time to make the seating chart, so all in all a very productive trip.
So we get home at about 5pm and Received a suprise invitation for dinner at our friends house and hey, free food and fun, no cooking, good deal. We didn't think twice at this point, we needed to have some fun. We had a great time and headed home aroung 11pm, prepared to take care of the invitations the next day. When we got home though we had a message on our machine inviting us to brunch the next day and well why not we could do the invites the whole rest of the day so off we went the next morning for more good times, getting home around 4:30pm to dig in and finish off the invites.
We worked for hours, stuffing, stamping, checking and stacking envelopes. At about the halfway point I offered to start cooking dinner while Sparks stuffed (I was on Stamp-Lick-Check-Stack duty, which was actually much easier than her job which consisted of stuffing inner envelope, adding tissue paper, adding direction and reception cards and checking spelling info), she agreed so I went and prepared a healthy dinner of Turkey-burgers, fresh corn and baked fries. When I had all prepared, I threw the wash (we had started earlier) into the dryer, started a new load and went up to get Sparks. We sat down to a nice meal watching John Edwards and part of the Thirty Something Marathon. Afterwards we decided to fold laundry before going back to finish the invitations.
We were happily folding clothes and watching television when all of a sudden Sparks starts crying out in pain! At first I thought "Why is she so upset, this isn't that upsetting a scene" then I realized she was crying and clutching her hand (this all happened in about the span of 2 seconds). I run to her and hold her, ask what happened and run to get a cold-pak out of the fridge. Apparently while flapping the wrinkles out of a shirt she smashed her hand on the corner of this solid wood desk we have in the living room. It doesn't appear broken, but it hurts her badly so we go to the hospital to have it X-Rayed just in case. After arriving and waiting and various other emergency room tasks, we finally find out that her poor liitle finger actually is fractured and she has a splint applied. So I did the only thing a good Fiance' can do at 9:30 (by this point) at night. I took her for Carvel. She REALLY appreciated that.
The true trooper she is, she still insisted upon finishing the invitations so we could mail them out today. Even though her main hand, her right hand, was short 2 fingers (they were taped together) and she was in a goodly amount of pain, she went ahead and finished the last 50 or so up with me. I cannot tell you how much I admire and really respect her. I did not think she could or should do it, but she very bravely did. I thanked her again, properly....

So that was our weekend and if you read all that then you are very brave too!

Thanks for listening guys,
Always...