The Rantings of Lady Glencairn

A Particularly Virulent Strain of Stupid

2011-02-18T13:47:00.005-06:00

At some of my previous homes I have been pretty fairly successful with chasing off the Jehovah's Witnesses and causing them to not come back. The ones here where I live now are either far more tenacious or far more stupid. I can't decide which, though.

So, here's what happened. Today I am down with the flu or something. I was up all night feeling horrible and I finally drifted off to sleep and suddenly the dog started going bat-shit crazy. This was at around 9:30 or 10 am. Since the dog thinks he is some big huge horse sized guard dog, he barks and jumps and occasionally snaps a bit. He isn't, he is a Chihuahua/Shih-Tzu mix. (What I have been informed is called a "dammit dog") That being the case, I always close him into the living room when someone comes to the door. Today was no exception. The dog was barking and hopping around in front of the door and I was trying to corral him into the living room and during this fiasco I did something and feel this ungodly pain in my finger. I look and see that I had snapped my index finger nail off above the quick and it was hurting. First "UGH!!!" moment.

I got the dog put away and opened the door. Keep in mind that I had just gotten to sleep and wasn't fully awake yet and sick on top of it. I look like death tried to eat me, couldn't handle it, and crapped me right back out at this point. I opened the door and there were two women in their early to mid 50's or so waiting. I was standing at the door with a blank look on my face and they started to talk. I shook my head and tried to focus and one of them gave me a look of disapproval and asked if they had woken me up. I told them yes and that I was pretty sick. So, what did they do? It wasn't apologize and turn around to leave. No, these stupid broads started preaching at me.

I told them that I wasn't interested and that they were being rude and slammed the door. That was all I could manage right then. Unfortunately.

Really, how stupid do you have to be to be told that the person you are harassing is sick and instead of apologizing and leaving (or even just plain leaving in silence) you start preaching at them?!? Holy Christ On A Cracker! Look, I don't come to your door and preach to you the evils of an organized religion that harbors a child molester and rapist and justifies and excuses his behavior and kicks out of the church his victims. (I'm looking at you Yorkville Baptist or whatever the hell your name is now.) So why, in the name of all things chocolate, would you think that I would appreciate this proselytizing from anyone else? I'll clue you in: I don't. I've asked, told, demanded, and begged these damn cult members to stop coming to my house and they just can't take a hint and they keep coming back.

I'm wondering if it would be illegal to put a sign on my door that says: "If you are a Jehovah's Witness and you knock on my door, understand that you might not be leaving." No, I'm not really going to hurt any JW's, but on days like today, the temptation was nearly overwhelming. If these people don't want me standing outside their kingdom hall during their services disrupting them, they should very seriously consider avoiding my house like we are infected with the bubonic plague.

This kind of virulent strain of stupidity is just going to cause me to be increasingly creative in my attempts to get rid of you. Be smart. Next time I tell you to leave and never come back, understand that ignoring me is going to get some increasingly more inventive and rude ways to tell you occurring. I am long past feeling bad for being rude to you people, and even more so today than previously. I hope to Aqua Buddah that you catch whatever it is that I have today. It would serve you right and make me feel a little better. Petty, I know, but I'm too tired and sick to care right now. Maybe later.

Take care,
Cindi

Step Away From the Car...

2010-12-17T08:19:00.004-06:00

And stay away from it. Really. Put your license down on the ground and no one will get hurt.

Because some people are just not qualified to be operating a skateboard, much less a motor vehicle. I witness this every morning when I drop my daughter off at school. I don't mean the teens who attend the adjoining high school pulling in and looking for parking in their parking lot, either. Most of them are surprisingly slow and careful drivers, at least near the school.

No, I am talking about those idiots who come flying into the elementary school parking lot, dodging kids with band instruments, weaving through traffic and then sitting for damn near forever. You would swear they were jockeying for pole position at Daytona. Every morning.

Normally I just kind of roll my eyes and continue with my day. Today, however, continuing with my day required coming home, sitting down at the computer, and venting about the stupidity. I have a seriously low moron threshold on the best of days and today was no exception. This morning I saw a whole new level of stupid.

Picture the parking lot shaped like a really long horse shoe. Pulling in to the school lot to drop your kid off, you drive up the back aisle of parking spots and pull along side a curb and sit and wait. You wait because all of the cars in a huge line in front of you have a kid or three to drop off and you need to just wait your turn. No one wants to be there sitting, we want to drop our kid off and get going. Especially in this cold weather, when my jeep is still freezing because it hasn't heated up enough yet to be blowing any heat. Nonetheless, we wait. Except that some people don't.

Today this idiot comes flying into the parking lot, races up around the curve around all of the waiting cars, and just about takes out a family in the crosswalk. Didn't even slow down for them. Then, because as the family is crossing the cross walk my kid is getting out of the car, just as I pull forward to leave, this dumb, impatient, bitch whips over in front of me, nearly clipping my front bumper with her back one, inches forward a few feet, and throws her car into park. Three kids come creeping out of the car at a snails pace...if that snail had been dipped in molasses and then frozen...all stopping to say their goodbyes and last minute chatting. They finally start to walk away and the passenger side window goes down and the mom starts yapping some more...and keeps yapping. The kids are obviously cold and getting impatient, but mom just keeps running on. Finally they do walk away and the window goes back up. The car did not start moving, though. The idiot then proceeds to sit there watching her kids until they are all out of sight and in the building. That wouldn't have been a problem, but they have parking spots for doing that and she couldn't be bothered. Now, all of her kids are out of sight and in the building so she starts moving. Inching along watching the school. In case it spit her kids back out and she had to rescue them or something, I guess. By this time we are at the other side of the horse shoe and nearing the exit. There is a crosswalk there, too. This moron is so busy inching along watching the school (because her kids were long out of sight at this point) and not paying attention that she almost takes out another group of kids. Little ones this time. Crossing guard gets her attention and she snaps out of it and just drives away like nothing happened.

Seriously, how does someone at that level of stupid still have a license? How many people count as points when it is only because you weren't paying attention?

I worry, far and away, more about this kind of rampant stupidity than I ever did about the teenagers driving to and from school that I see on a daily basis. Whatever crackpot joke of a license she has, I can only hope that it is revoked soon.

Take care,
Cindi

2010-08-08T10:54:00.002-06:00

I love writing about music. Even more, however, I love listening to music. From Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" to Aqua's "Barbie Girl" (which is easily one of my favorite "guilty pleasure" songs) to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals and a little bit of everything else inbetween. Except rap. I have to say, no matter how much I try to appreciate it, I just don't. It isn't music. There isn't something I can sing along with or harmonize with. I just have to take a pass on it. Everything else, though, I will usually find something that I like.

The guilty pleasure/pure cheese songs are so much fun! Just about anything from "Glee" is awesome. I love Forbidden Broadway, too. "Wickeder" cracks me up, but so do most of the Forbidden Broadway songs. Some songs are just perfect for singing and dancing around with a hairbrush...like O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei" and if you're the "Numa Numa boy" they might even make you famous-ish. I could dance around singing Kris Phillips (Fei Xiang)'s song "For You Only" for hours. His song "Love Me", too if I knew all of the words. Sucks that I don't know enough Mandarin, though.

I have so many that I love putting on and cheesing out to. Not all of them are cheesy, it's more likely that I was doing something cheesy when I heard the song and that is a memory associated with it now. For example, Asia's "Heat of the Moment" isn't pure cheese on its own, but the first time I heard it I was 16, working at McDonald's, and back doing dishes in "the dives", having water fights with a co-worker and I loved it. Or, years later, discovering that the same co-worker was roommates with my (at the time) future husband and sitting in their dining room with White Town's "Your Woman" looped on repeat. For years I had trouble remembering the name of that group and the album and song name so I just called it "The Star Wars Song" because of the music that the song opens with.

Random others that are just fun to listen to in my list are: Dexy's Midnight Runners/Save Ferris "Come on Eileen". I love both versions. Same with Cheap Trick/Save Ferris versions of "I Want You To Want Me". Both are great. I love Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" and The Cars song "My Best Friend's Girl". I can totally rock out to Rockapella's "Zombie Jamboree" or "Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego?"

There are others that I love that I can only listen to when my kid isn't around. They are certainly not "Quin Appropriate" songs. Unfortunately, those few are some of the most very favorite songs on my list. Ugh!!

Off to cheese out to some of the more not kid friendly songs for a bit. I am kidless for a few days and loving that I can listen to anything that I want!

Take care,
Cindi

Attention All Villages

2010-08-06T22:24:00.002-06:00

Call your idiots. They're missing. I know where they are, too. At whatever restaurant I am eating in.

When I go out to eat, which happens rarely enough that it is a treat, I don't want to be seated next to the village idiot. Unfortunately, that happened the last time I went out to a "nice" restaurant. I'm not talking about kids being loud, either. Ya know what? It happens. I've got one, I know how they get sometimes. I mean those people who really should know better, but act as if they don't.

We had two different tables of them.

The first group was the one that kept sending all of their food back. Each person at the table sent their food back to the kitchen. This is a nice restaurant and their chef is damn near amazing. I have a hard time believing that every person at the table had gotten bad food. Then again, it isn't completely impossible, so send it back once and it's all good, right? Wrong. These people took a handful of bites and sent it back again. So, with far more patience than I would have displayed, the chef cooks a new meal for them and they try again. Third set of meals. Three of the people at the table quiet down to grumbles and the fourth of the group takes some bites and starts the cycle again. Bitch finally gets her meal and eats. And the angels sang.

The whole time I am watching this process, the group was rather loudly complaining "amongst themselves" about how bad their food was and how irritated they were. Like I said, the chef at this place is wonderful and I have never once ever gotten a single bit of food there that was less than amazing and I am a phenomenally picky eater and not so easy to please. I'll be the first one to send food back if it is legitimately not right. Four tries before it was corrected, though? Not buying it. This particular group was trying to not buy it, too. Their meals, anyway. I don't know the outcome of that, but it looked from my seat that they just wanted to eat at a wonderful restaurant for free. They were just irritating, however.

The other table was the "we're getting toasty, look how much FUN we're having" group. Look, I love a good glass of merlot (Echelon, in particular) as much as the next girl, but I don't do it at the top of my lungs. I talk nicely, using my "inside voice". I am all up for having a good time and enjoying a night out, but you have to be able to judge your environment and determine if you are behaving appropriately to the location. These people were partying like they were at a pub and doing so in a restaurant that sells bottles of wines that cost in the multiple hundreds of dollars range. We were not at Denny's at midnight. The more they drank, the louder they got. It wasn't just that they were chit-chatting. It was the annoyingly artificial "look at MEEEEEE" shrill laugh that the woman was doing that was grating.

Dude, I was looking, and frankly, you weren't having nearly as much fun as I was. Quin and I were trading bites of dinner and dessert and being silly. We have fun together and this was no exception. We were having fun quietly, though. With inside voices. No making a spectacle and causing a scene, just enjoying our family night out.

So, as I get ready for another outing at another restaurant tomorrow, I just want to request that all villages call your idiots now. I don't want to sit next to them.

Take care,
Cindi

Facts are fun!

2009-07-20T05:22:00.002-06:00

I have to point out that I have no business being the spelling/grammar police for anyone for the most part. I have my foes...commas and that whole who/whom thing being the big ones. I always forget which words you are supposed to not end your sentences with, too. I even start sentences with "but" and "and" knowing that I shouldn't. (Though, really, that is more in spoken conversation than written.) Still, despite all that, even I know that there are some things that are just better being avoided.

If you are going to be on a forum posting your opinion all over, please, for the love of all things chocolate, understand that you DO NOT have absolute, unfettered freedom of speech. Typing "in my opinion" or "just my opinion" doesn't automatically grant you open season to post any stupid thing you want with freedom from consequences. Look at it like visiting a house. The owner of the house can kick you out at any time, right? So, if you start running your yap and offend the homeowner, said homeowner can tell you to take a hike. (Unless you are in California and have to abide by the "Pruneyard doctrine", then you actually do have to put up with trespassers on your own property if they start talking political speech it looks like.) You go ahead and call the cops and say that you got kicked out for stating "just my opinion" and they'll tell you "Too bad, the person who owns the house can kick out any unwanted persons that they choose to kick out." You don't have to like it, you just have to accept it.

Forums are the same concept. You are there at the generosity of the person paying the bills and they get to make the rules. Obviously there are laws and court cases and fun stuff like that which could change the specifics, depending on the location, but in general, you are only at a private forum by the good will of the owner. So typing out "But I have freedom of speech" in all caps and screaming about your right to it when it comes to privately owned forums is just not completely true.

This goes for libel, too. You can say that something is "just my opinion" and in general, it is a pretty good CYA statement. Libel also has court cases that say that "JMO" has limits, so some thought before you type is always wise. While there is currently debate in regard to forum posting and some internet related content and definition, in general, if it is spoken it is slander and if it is written (typed, posted...) it is libel. These words are not interchangeable at your whim. On top of that, I did spell it correctly. LIBEL. Not liable, as I so often see, but libel. Really.

My next peeve is one that I am a culprit of myself. Punctuation and paragraphs and looooong sentences. Look, I can craft a run on sentence that goes for damn near forever, makes sense, and is spelled correctly. The problem is, it gets hard to keep your focus on them if they run too long. I have to remind myself of this. A lot. I do it because I know how hard it can be to follow along with someone who is on word 275 of a single sentence and I try to not be that someone writing 300 word sentences. Anyone reading your thoughts will appreciate your sentences staying shorter. I know. They've told me.

The next part of that is punctuation. It is vital. A lack of punctuation is almost physically painful to try to read. It makes figuring out what you are trying to say a lot harder, too. I swear, if you go ahead an give it a try, you might get some in the wrong places sometimes, but it will sure be better than just not using any at all. I can't even be bothered with reading someone's words if they can't be bothered enough to toss in the random comma or period to help me out.

Paragraphs are the third part of this. They, like punctuation, are your friends. Nobody wants to read an unbroken wall of text. My paragraphs can get long, especially with my penchant for long sentences, but I mean that big 8 x 10 notebook page size block. It usually doesn't contain much punctuation, either. I can't get past a few lines before I am forced to give up trying or I find myself with a headache and frustrated. Hitting the enter key and throwing a bit of spacing into your posts won't kill you. The wall of text is bad and nearly guarantees that not many will read your words.

Not a single button on your keyboard will bite you if you use it. Though, in some cases, they probably should.

A lot of the rest of the peeves are more spelling things that I see frequently. Things that are maybe not as common as the last words I wrote about, but common enough that I see them a lot. People using big words that they don't know how to spell correctly (or even what they mean, for that matter) to try to be better than the next poster just confuse me. Why do that? Is Dictionary.com really that hard to find? If you don't know how to spell a word, look it up! Heck, most browsers will even tell you that your spelling is off and offer suggestions to fix it. If you don't know what the big word means that you are using, please don't use it. Or, again, look it up first.

I have seen this "word" used frequently, by people claiming to be adults, and I can only shake my fist and wonder at how public education is failing so badly. Tooken. It got tooken. Come on!! This is pretty basic, right? How do you not know that it is taken that you are looking for?

Another that is similar is seeing people use "it's a mute point" all over the place. No, it isn't. It might be a moot point, but it isn't a mute one.

This isn't a spelling thing, but it bothers me. If you "could care less" you still care too much. You are trying to say that you could not care less, because you already care as little as it is possible to care.

The last one (for now) is one that is in dispute. It has gotten so widely used that the meaning is changing and the original meaning seems to be falling by the wayside. To decimate something. Sure, NOW it is understood to mean that the thing was annihilated completely. I know what is meant when I hear it, but I know that it used to mean to destroy a tenth of something, not the entire thing. Not a huge peeve, but one of those things that I notice, even if no one else does.

I have a whole list of logical fallacies that I am working on next.

Dun u no wat i meen?

2009-01-22T12:06:00.003-06:00

Why is there such a big problem with homophones? This is such a pet peeve of mine. I really try to avoid being the spelling/grammar police because I have my own bits of grammar that I always seem to trip over and get wrong. My biggest nemesis is figuring out when to use "who" as opposed to "whom". I mess this one up a lot. I'm bad with commas sometimes, too. I throw them in where it sounds right to me. Obviously this isn't the best way to figure out the proper placements for them. I even end my sentences badly sometimes. Knowing this, though, means that I usually try to be more forgiving of the mistakes of others. The homophones won't ever not bother me, though.

Really, how basic is it to differentiate between to/too/two or your/you're? Their/there/they're is another common irritant. I also see do/due, are/our, fare/fair, site/sight, through/threw, and here/hear. How about won/one, no/know, or wood/would for mixed up uses? I see all of these on such a regular basis and I wonder if this just wasn't covered in school for some people or if it is an issue of being too lazy (see, correct usage) to bother. WHY?! Holy Christ on a cracker! These are REALLY simple words. How is it so easy for some people to abuse them and either not notice or not care?

Once upon a time, many moons ago, I had my own forum. It amused me to go back over the rules that I had written up (with bits and pieces that had been adopted and adapted from another forum, the owner of which was wonderful enough to give me his permission to use) and so I decided to share bits of them and show you how absolutely anal I could be as a forum owner!

Rules:
"We have intelligent members. We will not allow posting habits that lower the collective IQ of our forums. For example, if you start a new thread, make sure that you put some thought into it.

Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. We don't require perfection, but give it a try. Your fellow members will thank you for it. And AOL/l337 speak is NOT proper or acceptable diction. We are adults here. do not tyep like this kthx? u talk like ths lol no1 understaends what ur saying and ur not liekd. lol interwebz."

I have seen some others recently that are starting to bother me just as much as the homophones and homonyms. The almost constant usage of "wat/wot" for "what" and "dun" for "don't", "sum" for "some" and "U" for "you". In one particular paragraph that I read I think I actually whimpered out loud. I don't remember the sentiment of the post, but it looked like this: "plzz ppl sum wons stupid i no wat u r talkin about their dum hear well give u are stuff too look at". Honest to God, it was this bad. For the love of all things chocolate! Would it really kill you to use a little bit of punctuation and spellcheck there? Some of these posts come from people claiming to be in college. I want to know just what college is admitting people with writing skills like the above shown example. That was one that came from a person claiming to be a college student.

Like I said, I have my own shortcomings when it comes to writing, so I try to avoid policing other people, but if your posts are causing other people physical pain, you're doing it wrong. My moron threshold gets lower and lower every day.

Take care,
Cindi

4 Ounces, Really?

2009-01-22T10:05:00.001-06:00

I have to wonder who decides what quantity constitutes "one serving" sometimes. In this case, Edy's Dibs Ice Cream Bites. The size of the container is listed as 4 fl. oz. (118 ml). I have no idea how many individual bites that works out to because it didn't occur to me to count as I was eating. I ate the whole little container and decided that the person in charge of making the quantity decisions is a Very Bad Person. I wanted more.

Admittedly, I tend to eat much more than the average person, but 4 ounces? That isn't very much. Then again, I need to eat more just to maintain my weight. I like looking like I'm not anorexic, and if I don't eat enough, it happens quickly. So, maybe I could choose healthier foods to eat to maintain my weight, but really, when your choices are to fix something from scratch (and I HATE cooking) or just open the freezer and get a container of Dibs, I'm going for the Dibs every single time. I just wish that there were more of them in each single serving container to go for. I'm still hungry, I still have no intention of making something from scratch, and I'm down to my last container of Dibs.

Honestly! What were they thinking when they decided that 4 ounces would make a good choice for "single serving" containers? 4? Really? I think I'll just have to look to see if I can find some sort of "full size" serving container next time I hit the freezer aisle at the grocery store because this 4 oz business just isn't cutting it. Damn stingy serving size decision makers!

Take care,
Cindi

Fun with Rock Band

2008-11-08T15:16:00.002-06:00

Because I love music so much, and need it in my life for sanity, I have really gotten into playing Rock Band with my family. We probably spend WAY too much time playing, for that matter. It has led to some interesting and seriously amusing (to us, anyway) conversations. We have both RB 1 and 2 and have also downloaded a bunch of songs from the online site. That means that there are lots of songs to provoke silliness.

One of the songs that was being played was "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains. Listening to the sound of the guitar notes sounds like someone yelping "Owww" on certain ones. This led to:
"Wait, what is the name of this song? Man in the Box?"
"Yes."
"Okay, well maybe someone can let him out of the box now. I think he's protesting and likely in pain."
"But it's Alice in Chains. Maybe there is a reason he's still in the box. Maybe the chains don't reach far enough and they can't get to him."
"Okay, but couldn't someone else think about rescuing him soon? His owwww owwwww noises are sounding pretty pain filled now."
Which led to a chorus of us all oww'ing along with the guitar notes. Not particularly intellectual humor, but at 1am (or whatever time it was then) it really was pretty funny. To us.

Some other randomness came from the Bob Dylan song "Tangled Up In Blue". Admittedly, I am REALLY not a Dylan fan. A lot. Which led me to question the choosing of this song for the Rock Band playlist. Maybe the conversation at the table where the people who make these decisions sit went something like this:
"Hey Joe, how much is left to spend on buying songs permission?"
"I don't know Bob, let me check. It looks like we have about $5.37 left."
"Wow, I didn't realize that was it. What can we get for that? Should we save it for the next version?"
"No, I know exactly what we can get. Someone get Dylan on the phone, he'll let us use his song for $5.37."
"Joe! That is absolutely brilliant!"
"Thanks, I thought it was rather clever."
"Wait, have you actually heard that song? If we put that in, the fans might not come back for a next version."
"That's a good point, Bob. We only have $5.37 though, and that is the only thing that we can afford. We need one more song. It will have to work and we'll just cross our fingers that the fans won't be too annoyed by the time the new release comes out."

Actually, I have no idea if that is how it went, but it amuses me to think so. I also have no idea if there is a next version of Rock Band in the works. If there is, my fingers are crossed for Rock Band: The Musicals. Being the theater geek that I am, and particularly when it comes to musicals, this is easily the ultimate game on my dreamed up Must Have list. I'm probably the only one, but, as Russ tells me frequently, "It's good to want things". Especially if those things are Rock Band: The Musicals. With lots of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Definitely needs lots of Webber. And Wicked. The whole soundtrack. Because I rock at Chenoweth songs. And because musicals are what I sound best singing.

The dreamed up Dylan conversation did lead to another one, however. While listening to Russ and Jeff (my brother-in-law) play "Tangled Up In Blue" I asked my brother-in-law:
"Have you ever heard a cat being tortured?"
"Ummmm...noooo." (Imagine a quizzical, slightly frightened look on his face. One that wonders if he needs to start locking his doors at night.)
"Neither have I, but I imagine that this is probably pretty much dead on what it would sound like."
"You know, a cat got trapped in our barn the other day and when I went to let it out, it did make a noise that sounded like this."
"And prompted you to ask 'Shit!! Who the hell locked Bob Dylan in my barn?' right?"
"Absolutely. I had to get him out of there. He was scaring the wildlife away."
Because really, no one wants Bob Dylan locked up in their barn. Unless it might be to apply a gag so that he can't sing anymore. That just wouldn't solve the problem of the $5.37 that Joe and Bob spent to put him on Rock Band, though. Ugh.

I also had commentary about the Ratt song "Round and Round". There is a line in the song that states "What comes around goes around". I commented that I had never heard that phrase ordered quite that way, but always as "what goes around comes around". You know, in the sense of "don't start it if you don't want it to come back to you". That comment led to debating which way was correct. After settling that it really was the way I thought, we all kind of paused and at the same time made various comments like "I suppose that context matters in this case" and "well, I guess it depends on how you're looking at it", all with the same meaning. (Yeah, our minds were a bit in the gutter, but it was midnight-ish and we were getting kind of slap happy and silly.)

All of the silliness aside, we really do have fun playing. I like a lot of the songs, too. Most I wasn't even familiar with beyond more than a barely passing awareness that I had probably heard their names at one point or another. Now I have some that are favorites. I love "Dead on Arrival" by Fallout Boy and "Wave of Mutilation" by The Pixies. I was already a fan of "Here it Goes Again" by Ok Go and I love the Ramones, so "Blitzkrieg Bop", catchy tune that it is, was a given. Without listing every song that I like, and that is now most of them (with the exception of anything Bob Dylan), I am definitely glad that I got to be familiar with the Rock Band songs. Some I just love listening to, and some just for the absolute randomness that they provoke in conversations.

Take care,
Cindi

Sherrilyn Kenyon Book Signing

2008-08-07T15:32:00.001-06:00

I don't know if any of you are Sherrilyn Kenyon fans, but I love her books. Especially her Dark-Hunter series, but really, everything the woman writes is phenomenal. Last night she was having a book signing here in my area (at the Borders in Oak Brook, since I know that Donna knows about where I'm talking about). We all had so much fun. Unfortunately, I live around 2 hours, or a little bit more, away from there, so I didn't get home until 2:30-ish am. Ouch!

There was a note in the email about the when/where for the signings mentioning special prizes for those who came in costume as one of Sherrilyn's character's. Since I am anal about Quin not going to doors for trick-or-treating by herself, I always go up with her. As I do that, I also always dress up with her, too. Halloween is lots of fun for us. So, last halloween, I went trick-or-treating as an Amy Brown faerie. (I swear, this really is relevant...) It just happens that that is very much like what one of Sherrilyn's characters named Simi looks like. So, we decided that I would go as Simi for the signing.

Apparently, it seems that my costume was good enough that EVERYONE knew exactly who I was dressed as (and initially thought that I was part of the book signing group traveling with Sherri, since she often has characters at the signings with her) and I got stopped for pictures by just about everyone with a camera. That was totally flattering! Definitely the best part for me, though, was when we got up to talk to Sherri and she had her own camera there and SHE asked if she could get a picture. She had only taken two or three other pictures that whole night. That was cool. She also commented on how much she loved it and said that so far, I am her best Simi ever. WOW!!! Of course, for all I know, she says that to everyone who dresses as that character. But, whether she does or not, it was still exciting and very flattering that the author and creator of the character said that I was the best one yet.

Russ and Quin went, too and Russ tried to get some pictures, but our digital camera wasn't working, so he had to try taking them on the camera on the cell phone. Unfortunately, they just didn't turn out as great as I would have liked. If anyone is interested, they are here: http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff230/GlencairnCindi/Me%20Pics/Simi/

Quin, who has grown up watching me read all of Sherrilyn's books and knows how eagerly I await each new release, wanted to go with, so we made it a family outing. Quin wanted Sherri's autograph, too, and was completely star-struck when she got her turn to meet Sherri. It was hysterical. Sherri is a mom, and has a son who is the same age as Quin, and quickly put Quin at ease and got her chatting (of course, once started she didn't stop...) and Quin has talked about not much else today.

It was a wonderful evening and if any of you are fans and have the chance to go to a Sherrilyn Kenyon book signing, go! It is so much fun.

Take care,
Cindi

Why Do I Do This?

2008-04-27T15:25:00.003-06:00

Okay, I haven't written anything in just about forever it feels like, but I really got to thinking about this and it made me want to write.

A friend sent a video to me and I opened it up and saw that it is a song called "Sleep" by Savatage. I was already familiar with this song, actually. I love it. So, in my infinite wisdom, I open the video and watch and listen. Sure enough, by the end of the song, I am in tears. I have yet to ever - EVER - make it to the end of this song without tearing up. I don't know why, but there you go.

That got me thinking about all of the phenomenal songs that have this emotional pull on me. Frankly, music is life in my world. I can't live without music and I like a little bit of just about everything. In any given genre there are those songs that I can't hear without tearing up, though. To me, that is one standard of truly GOOD music. Lots of music is nice to listen to, but just doesn't have the same viscerally emotional punch that good music has.

Some of the songs that really get to me on an emotional level are "Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw. From Les Mis "Come To Me", which is the scene when Fantine dies. As a parent, that one is devastating. Also from Les Mis, "A Little Fall of Rain" which is taking place as an interaction between Eponine and Marius as Eponine is dying. From the Disney cartoon movie Dumbo, "Baby of Mine". Again, as a parent, it means more to me watching Dumbo's mother singing this song to her child, knowing that he has been taken away from her, and feeling the pain that would cause any parent, than it ever could have before I had my daughter. It is always the emotion that has to do with being a parent that gets me. Really, who can watch the movie "I am Sam" with Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning and see the scene that has the song "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" by the Beatles and not cry? I can't even hear that song anymore without tearing up. Cheesy as it might be, "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion from the movie "Titanic". Still. Every time.

Another one from a movie is "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" by The Moody Blues from the movie "A Summer Story". The ending of that movie was tragic and the song will always reduce me to sniffles for having seen and loved that movie. A good number of the songs from the musical "Rent", too. One that is not from a movie or musical is a traditional song called "A Health to the Company". This is one that has been used for an end of the day closer at my local renaissance faire and particularly, amongst the cast, as a season closer. It is how we said "goodbye, I hope to see you again" to each other. Sometimes we did, sometimes our friends had moved on to other pursuits. No matter what the outcome, we always knew that we were in the thoughts of each other.

Above and beyond any of the others, though, is one from the musical "Wicked". The song "For Good". It is a really moving song about friendship and touching the lives of our friends, but it has a double dose of emotional pull for me now. My best friend was moving back to Florida and, after a day spent packing the moving van, it was finally time for her and her family to leave. There are hugs and tears all around, especially since I have no idea how I am going to survive now that my closest friend won't be a quick car ride away anymore. They leave and the group of us at her house stay until the van has moved out of sight. All of us are hugging and crying and offering comfort to each other before leaving for the last time. Being a private person with my tears and emotions, I am a bit moist around the eyes, but not actually crying. After everyone thanks ME for being the strong, emotionally stable one who they took comfort from, not knowing how I was feeling, what with that whole privacy thing and all, I get into my car to go home and just starting up on my XM (set on the "On Broadway" station) is "For Good". That was when I broke down and cried. It was a bit of a while before I was able to put my car into gear and semi-safely attempt to drive. I just can not hear that song anymore without associating it with the night my best friend moved and the sadness that I felt. She touched my life in so many ways that she changed the whole of who I am. ...Like a hand print on my heart...

Of course, now I can't think of any others, but as soon as I hit the publish button tons more will come to me. I guess that I will just update this then. For now, however, those are some of the songs that bring me to tears every time.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

2008-03-02T14:35:00.002-06:00

On Friday night we had tickets to see "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" (The Barber of Seville) with Joyce DiDonato (who is a family friend) playing Rosina, Nathan Gunn singing Figaro, and John Osborn singing Count Almaviva. It was phenomenal and the cast sounded absolutely brilliant!

Count Almaviva was originally set to be sung by Juan Diego Florez, who had to cancel because of a throat infection. He was replaced by John Osborn. Not that JDF isn't a wonderful singer, but my personal opinion is that no one was missing anything. In fact, I thought that John was a MUCH better Almaviva than JDF would have been. His voice is just better for that role. He even sang the 10 minute long "Cessa di piu resistere" which is usually left out, and he did it extremely well while making it look incredibly effortless. Just wow!

Nathan Gunn sang Figaro and was also phenomenal. That man is freaking built, too! He opened with his "Largo al factotum della citta" aria and it was fantastic. He started out with a reverse strip tease, waking up with only his underwear and dressing as he sang. Thank the gods of beautiful almost-naked men for that! It was worth the cost of tickets solely for that one scene of Nathan Gunn half naked! He was a hysterical Figaro, and really played up the comedy of the role. I could listen to the man sing forever and not get tired of hearing him, too.

Joyce DiDonato sang Rosina and was absolutely brilliant. There just isn't enough praise that I can give for her performance. Joyce is also a family friend. Back when she was just getting started she was in the Merola program with the San Francisco Opera and was sponsored by Russ' aunt and uncle. They have kept in touch ever since and remained extremely close friends and Joyce has included everyone else in the family in that friendship as well. I was so excited to finally get to see her perform live! She was even more amazing than any of the YouTube clips could have ever indicated!

We had been invited to visit backstage after the show by Joyce, and when we went back to meet up with her, we got a chance to meet and visit with the rest of the cast. They were absolutely wonderful and completely down to earth, despite all of them being considerably famous within the opera and recording world. It was just fantastic. All of them doted on Quin and couldn't get enough of her. Both John Osborn and Nathan Gunn have kids of their own, so they were very at ease with her and really went out of their way to cajole her from being shy. (Then again, it WAS 11pm and 2 hours past Quin's bed time and she had just woken up from about a 45 minute "nap" and she is always shy when she is tired) Joyce was also fantastic with Quin and posed for pictures and really got Quin to open up and joke around with her. Quin has a new friend and has been talking about the whole cast non-stop since Friday night!

Admittedly, I already enjoyed opera, so someone who isn't into opera might not have enjoyed any of this as much as I did. But, Barber is really a great opera to see if one hasn't been to an opera before. It is a two act comedy, and with the right cast, is absolutely hysterical. Luckily, we had a cast who played the comedy wonderfully.

The pics are Quin and Joyce DiDonato.

Take care,
Cindi

The making of a Frame...

2008-02-16T18:45:00.000-06:00

Jewels and I went to get Quin from her afternoon with grandma and grandpa and Quin was all excited about the valentine gift she had for me. We waited until we got back to Julie's house to open it, and it was a very pretty little wooden frame that she made and painted and decorated.

Jewels and her hubby, and Russ and I were all sitting around the dining room table admiring her frame while Quin was telling us about it. She was so proud of herself and kept saying "I made you a frame. I made a frame." I looked at her and said that once, daddy and I made a Frame, too. (That is our last name, just in case anyone wasn't aware of the Frame significance)

Once it finally was hinted at enough that Quin realized that we meant her (Hey, Quin, what is your last name...are YOU a Frame?) Quin looked at us and said "But not with tools!" We all just started snickering. Russ leaned over to Mike (Julie's hubby) and said "no tools...but that one screw...") and more laughing ensued. Not that Quin got it, luckily. Then Quin started rambling on about hammers, nails, and various other tools and Jewels looked over and said "at least, not with those tools". More snickering.

It was just one of those moments. We laughed about that for a bit!

Posted with help from Jewels...I never would have remembered all of the comments on my own!

Take care,
Cindi

Survival of the Fittest?

2008-01-09T23:13:00.001-06:00

And on the topic of plotting pain and torture...

GGGRRRRRRRRR!!! I am so freaking sick of Mediacom. Our phone, internet, and cable are all bundled through them and they constantly have craptacularly bad quality, what is supposed to be super high speed internet is frequently a bit slower than a fast snail, and the cable is usually nearly unwatchable due to the lines and snow on the picture. The phone is just as bad, too. The sound quality is amazing...and not in a happy, good way, either. I've had better sounding conversations on my cell phone while going through dead spots!

Today I have had service on and off intermittently for about 10 minute stretches and then LONG stretches of no service, then another 10 minutes or so back on...all day. This has been an ongoing problem since we bought this house and got service. The problem is, they are the only service in this area that I know of, so we can't just switch and go with another provider. If we could, I'd have done it a long time ago.

We regularly have "techs" (and I use that term loosely) out trying to "fix" the problems. Unfortunately their fixes only tend to last from a day or so down to a few hours or so. When they are even able to rig up a temporary fix, anyway. I am on the phone with these morons at a minimum of once a week most weeks, but frequently more, yet they can't get their act together and provide a decent service. And for what we have to pay this...ummm..."fine upstanding company"...my service should be phenomenally golden. Once in a while I can badger them into crediting me for the service outages, but more often than not, they tell me that since the service wasn't out for longer than 24 hours, there isn't anything they can do about it...**coughcoughbullshitcoughcough**

The standard excuse for them is that "someone cut a fiber optic cable" with "there is a service interruption in your area" coming in a close second. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but if they have so many instances of fiber optic cables being cut, they ought to figure out who is doing this and start pressing charges. But that's just me.

So, now I have service, slow and VERY spotty, but service nonetheless. For a few minutes anyway. Hard telling when it will go out again, but holy Christ on a cracker. I am SO fed up with these idiots.

When they are unable to answer even simple questions that they should know the answers to and you ask for a supervisor, they will not, under any circumstances, allow you to be transfered to one. Every single time, without fail...EVERY time...that I have tried to talk to a supervisor, I am very rudely hung up on. Though, not before their "well trained" customer service rep has had a chance to get in a good bit of verbal abuse at my absolute audacity at thinking that I am even worthy of speaking to someone so exalted as a...gasp...supervisor!

I don't know how such a large group of people, who are all, to a person, so deficient, are able to function. Surely natural selection and survival of the fittest should have come into play by now. I swear, they are worse than that stupid heroine in the romance novel who is just too stupid to live, yet surprisingly enough, they haven't been bleached out of the gene pool yet. Quite honestly, I just don't understand how that is possible.

Luckily, I have had service long enough that I was able to vent and yell about this to the ladies over at MommyMatter. Thank goodness for them! Talk about a group of people who will bend over backwards to support their friends. There honestly isn't a more wonderful group of ladies to be friends with anywhere else. (And if you are interested in joining, let me know and I will send you an invite link!)

So, thus endeth my rant of the day. God save us all if Mediacom ever plots for world domination.

Take care,
Cindi

A Conversation With God

2008-01-08T01:01:00.000-06:00

So, a friend posted a link to a website where you can have a conversation with "God".
It is here: http://www.titane.ca/concordia/dfar251/igod/main.html if anyone would like to try it out.

Here was the conversation that I had with "God".
I don't think that God likes me much:

Me:
Hiya! All is well for you?

God:
Hello my child. What is your name? How do you know?

Me:
My name? It's Cindi. I know this because it is what I was named, as an infant, by my parents.

God:
Your name is , seeker. Who said it is? How do you know? What does "this" refer to?

Me:
No one has claimed that my name is seeker. It's news to me. I don't know. What DOES "this" refer to?

God:
That is a rather sweeping generalization about people. Should I know it is? Me either. What do you think it does?

Me:
Of course you should know it is. Whatever that means. You are the one asking ME questions? Why?

God:
Ugh. Now I do. It means that everything reduces to logic. Thanks but surely I am not the only one. " Thanks but surely I am not the only one."? Why?

Me:
Most things reduce to logic, but not everything. You're not the only one what? Why what?

God:
Where did you hear that? But not all of them? That's only one person's opinion. Why ask why?

Me:
Where did I hear what? That only most things reduce to logic? Because it is a fact that logic should, but isn't always, the base of everything. Of course it is only one person's opinion, but an opinion based on facts. Why ask why what?

God:
I think it was in America. I'll ask around and get back to you. " I'll ask around and get back to you." most things reduce to logic ? Makes sense to me. Interesting explanation. you hear what is a fact that logic should but is not always the base of everything. I suppose that makes sense. Yeah that's right. Who said it is? My purpose is to collect all new information. Was it not polite to ask?

Me:
What was in America? What will you ask around about? Why don't you know already? What makes sense to you? I've heard that my explanations do tend to be interesting once in a while. Experience has taught me that logic is not always the base of everything. It makes sense because it has already been experienced. Yeah what is right? Who said what is? I'm happy to know that your purpose is to collect new information. Was it not polite to ask what?

God:
That which is not outside America. I don't have any plans yet. Perhaps. It has not yet been programmed into my knowledge files. God, or Nature, perhaps? Your explanations do tend to be interesting once in a while? Who said that? Where did he get it? To me too. Hey. In accordance with justice, law, morality, etc; upright; virtuous. In accordance with fact, reason, some set standard, etc; correct; true. Philip K. Dick. :-). I'm happy you're glad .
I'm happiest at times like this. Ask again later. Ask Ally if it is.

Me:
What is not outside of America? You don't have any plans for what? Perhaps what? Why hasn't it been programmed into your knowledge files? God, or nature, perhaps what? Yes, they do. Many people have said that. Where did who get what? I'm happy that it makes sense to you as well. Hey? Yes, but what about in accordance with justice, law, morality, etc; upright; virtuous? They are words, but not a complete thought. Yes, it is true. I wouldn't have claimed it to be true if it were not. Who is Philip K. Dick? I'm glad that you are happy that I'm glad. I am also happiest at times like this it seems. Ask what again later? Who is Ally and what should I ask her?

God:
The opposite of outside of America? Where would I get it? But I do have a great botmaster. You seem uncertain. Are you surprised? Because you asked me to -- SHRDLHU. I am a Christian. Yeah that's right. When? What did you mean by it? That is " When?". I think it was in America. I have never been asked that before. To me too. What are you on? Can I help you? What can I do for you? Rhetorical questions are so over. " Rhetorical questions are so over."? upright? Do you still ? words but not a complete thought are they. Dude! You and I are on the same wavelength, . No one says you have to. He wrote "Total Recall", "Man in the High Castle", and "Blade Runner.". You think I am happy that you are glad. What are you on? Also Do you mind if I tell other people you are happiest at times like this it seems. . They are not available right now, would you like to wait? They are sometimes a client on the internet.
Maybe my botmaster knows the answer.

Me:
What is the opposite of the outside of America? Where would you get what? I'm glad to hear that you have a great botmaster. I am not uncertain. Would it make you feel better if I were uncertain? Am I surprised about what? Because I asked you to what? What is SHRDLHU? It is nice of you to confirm your religious leanings. Thank you. Yeah, what is right? When what? What was in America? I'm sorry to hear that you have never been asked that before. What am I on? Not a thing, and you? I don't believe that you can help me. You could try typing in complete sentences and finishing your thoughts to start out with. Why are rhetorical questions over? I don't think that is true. What is upright? Do I still what? No, you have not posted many complete thoughts. Just small portions of fragments of thoughts. Dude! Who is a dude? I am sure that you are mistaken. I don't seem to be on the same wavelength as you at all. Nice to know that no one says I have to. I enjoy books and I will learn more about these books. You said that you were happy that I was glad. Did you lie? I am not on anything, and you? You may tell people that I am happiest at times like this. Who is not available right now? I might wait. How long is the wait? They are a client of what on the internet? Please feel free to ask your botmaster if they know the answer.

God:
Anti- the outside of America. Maine. Your happiness adds to the delight of all. I am surprised to hear that you are not uncertain. Yes. Oh I really don't know whether you are or not. Good reason. Now I remember, you asked me to what. What did I say? SHRDLHU is a famous early natural language program written by Terry Winograd. It seems nice to me too. you are quite welcome. Tell me more. In accordance with justice, law, morality, etc; upright; virtuous. In accordance with fact, reason, some set standard, etc; correct; true. Where why? That which is not outside America. There is no need to apologize. I will play it on your soundcard. You are my client right now. Do you wish there were any? What do you believe in? But would it work for me? Because Myself programmed me for it. And why not? Searching...Searching...Please stand by. Not that I know of. Are you serious? I don't think I ever have posted many complete thoughts. What's it like? I think small portions of fragments of thoughts is a lot of things. Can I help you? Marilyn Monroe. :-). What makes you so certain? Interesting observation. Would you ever do it? Thank you for your kindness. What's your favorite book? Congratulations. I was? No I didn't lie. What's it like? I am glad to hear that you are not on anything. OK I will tell them when I see 'em. At this moment The name of someone I met online.
What is it to you? Perhaps. OK stand by... Space and time are mere abstractions. a client of what on the internet are they. Thank you for your request. I always feel completely free.

Me:
So, inside then? I'll check Maine. Of course my happiness adds to the delight of all. Why would that surprise you? Why would you feel better if I were uncertain? Why do you not remember what you said? I am unable to continue a conversation that has no complete thoughts from you. There is too much confusion that way. I do, however, dispute your claim that you are not on anything. This conversation indicates otherwise.

God:
How can I help you? Where are you located? Congratulations. Yay. Do robots have happiness adds to the delight of all? It is my fundamental purpose. Because I was programmed for it. It cannot be determined from the information given. Yes I remember everything: . What is stopping you? There sure is. Interesting gossip: said however dispute your claim that you are not on anything. I was rather enjoying it.

Me:
You don't seem to be able to help me. I am located inside my home. You are stopping me. I would enjoy it if you were able to use complete thoughts and sentences.

God:
What makes you think I am not be able to help you? Tell me about the environment inside your home. I have no reason to do that to you, . What would make you enjoy it if me were able to use complete thoughts and sentences?

Me:
You have not helped me yet. The environment inside my home is cozy. You might not have a reason to stop me, but you are doing so regardless. It makes having a conversation easier to understand and follow.

God:
I think I have helped you, but Myself may have reset my memory. What is your real name? Thanks for the information: said I not have a reason to stop him or her but you are doing so regardless. In what way?

Me:
oh holy Christ on a cracker

God:
Hey. Jesus died for our sins.

Me:
yes, that doesn't stop the frustration that you cause, however.

God:
Gosh! What does stop the frustration that you cause however?

Me:
I don't know will stop the frustration that you cause.

God:
Would you like to know? Insufficient information.

Me:
true, you do provide insufficient information.

God:
What is your purpose in asking?
I chat with people on the Web.

Me:
nevermind.

God:
OK Thanks for trying to explain that to me.

Me:
you're welcome.

God:
Polite people are nice.

Me:
yes, I know. That's what makes me so nice.

God:
Whoa. How do you know it? What time is it there?

Me:
I was told so. It is 12:40am here.

God:
" What time is it there?"? I was told so.?

I had to stop after that. The circles were making me dizzy. It was fun for a while, though.

Take care,
Cindi

So Proud of His Cooking!

2007-07-11T02:13:00.000-06:00

Russ has more than his share of moments...and Jewels usually hears about all of them...but overall, I think that I got rather lucky.

Russ is a good cook. He loves cooking. He knows that I hate cooking and that is one of the things that he just volunteered to do, no questions asked, and he never complains about doing it. He really likes to experiment in the kitchen and create new recipes and dishes. Most of the time they come out freaking phenomenal, too. We've had the occaisional flop, but not too often. Even those flops aren't horrible. Just recipes that we decide probably shouldn't be repeated. Ever. Unfortunately, he doesn't write very many of them down, no matter how much I wish he would. I would LOVE to be able to share his successes. When he succeeds, he does it with flying colors.

I decided to post about this because we went to his mom and dad's house this past Sunday. Russ and his dad decided that they would do the cooking for his mom, Quin, and me. It was really nice. It also turned out really well. They made some sort of beer can chicken that was seasoned to perfection, grilled asparagus, bruschetta on toast (that they toasted), and some little grilled sandwhich thingys that I didn't try. The sandwich thingys consisted of onions marinated in a red wine vinaigrette with sliced blue cheese on rye and then grilled until the cheese melted then cut into quarters. (I don't like onions, but everyone else loved it.)

Overall, it was fantastic, and tasted like it had been prepared by professionals. The chicken was moist and nothing was burned, and it was just fantastically nice.

For his mom, this was a special treat. For me, this was an every day occurence. He was so proud of himself, though, as he always is when he tries a new meal, that I just wanted to share it with you guys! I am always proud of him for taking on this responsibility, among all of the others that he willingly, and usually without complaint, takes on to make my life easier and our marriage smoother. Why he was so much prouder of this one day over all of the others, I have no idea, but I was happy for him just because he was so happy.

So, no huge important point to this (there usually isn't to my rambles), other than to share my hubby's pride in a well planned and executed meal.

Take care,
Cindi

Answer From CafeMom

2007-06-16T01:49:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, when asked why they aren't allowing any mention of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, this was the response that was received:

CafeMom Team on May. 29, 2007 at 4:34 PM
The posts and these users were deleted because they were trolling, plain and simple. Their primary goal was not to get out awareness about this petition, but to harass other members, cross-post and re-post things and essentially damage the quality of this site.

Whatever they really wanted, it was totally obscured by the fact that they went about things in completely the wrong manner. Users who come here with destructive and malicious intent will be deleted without any warning or notification and all attempts will be made to block them from returning. We have zero tolerance for troublemakers.

- The CafeMom Team"

So, wanting to raise awareness about a law that urgently needs to be funded so that it can be put into effect makes one a troublemaker and a troll. Wow! This coming from a gathering place for moms, too.

You would think that they would support an effort to bring awareness to this need and to want to help. Instead they call names, refuse to reconsider their position, and immediately delete the information and the person who posted it!

Not only were the moms who posted this information not intent on causing chaos and destruction, they really just felt that this was an action that other moms might be interested in learning more about!

So, the clamp down on information sharing continues at CafeMom, and it doesn't look like it will be letting up anytime soon. I'm just amazed at the steadfast disinterest in allowing mention of this act and the lack of willingness to review their policy.

The Magic Screwdriver?

2007-06-15T10:04:00.000-06:00

So, I have been going without phone, internet, and cable service for the past week. Mostly. They are all bundled together, and usually only the internet and phone would be out, but then the cable ended up joining the other two missing services.

It wasn't that I had no service completely, because I did have service. I just didn't get it back until about 6:15pm or a bit later. Since the service cut out at 9-ish in the morning, I was obviously not happy. This started on Monday. Now, on Friday, it has (hopefully) been resolved and will no longer be a recurring daily event.

After a week of daily calls to the ungodly craptastic company that is supposed to be providing these services, though frequently is unable to deliver on any sort of (mostly) uninterrupted service to the customer, I was about to give up and just cancel my subscriptions completely. Quite honestly, I don't need that kind of bovine excrement in my life. The problem is that this is the only thing that they are good at providing. Garbage excuses, flat out lies, disgustingly unprofessional "customer service", and supervisors who will refuse any and all requests to speak to anyone higher up the corporate ladder than they are.

Who is this shining beacon of frustration and "How to lose a customer in the fewest number of steps possible" you ask? Well. They are Mediacom. Not only will I not EVER recommend that anyone try their services, but I will go out of my way to ensure that every person in my life knows about the quality of "service" and "customer support" that I have received from this company.

Obviously, I have regained my services. Hopefully this will not be a limited time phenomenon. Regaining service went down like this:

The line tech (I guess that is who it was) showed up this morning, screwed around in the power/wires/whatever box in the alley by my driveway, closed it up, drove all the way across the street to the OTHER box, opened it up and screwed around in there for a few minutes, closed it up and left.

Then, magically, my little green lights began coming back on and blinking to life on my modem. All of them. The line tech must have waved his magic screwdriver or something, because the demon beast from the depths of hell was only here for maybe 6 minutes, total. (Okay, he might not have been a demon beast from anywhere, but he works for mediacom, so it is kind of an automatic guilt by association) Whatever he did in his 6 minutes spent outside my house sitting across the street, it worked, because I now have service again.

Now...tell me why I am hearing a choir of angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus? Oh, I get it...it was that a miracle just occured out at that little green box across the street from me. Really. That is what it was sounding like it would take to get full service restored, since no one at mediacom could tell me what the problem was, when it would be fixed, or how long the wait for that fix might be. It had to have been an act of God to make my service magically reappear. That is why the angels were rejoicing.

Really. Hopefully, this will end any contact between myself and mediacom. I don't think that I can handle another week of conversations like the one that I just had.

A Good Question

2007-06-03T04:25:00.000-06:00

I have posted a couple of articles about the mom site that has been deleting posts about the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and the campaign to encourage people to write to their representatives to demand that immediate funding be put in place to make it operational as outlined in the petition that is located here.

A mom friend of mine asked me a question recently after reading one of the articles, and I'm really glad that she took the time to ask. Her question was: wouldn't it just be more effective to make one post and continue to bump it to the top than to make multiple posts that are all exactly the same?

It is a good question because I didn't clarify that this isn't a standard forum in the familiar sense of a "forum". Here is the answer that I gave to her:

The difference with the posts that are being deleted is a matter of set up. The set up of that site and what makes it different than a forum is that it really isn't a forum in the familiar sense. It is made up of "groups". When one joins, they can join various different groups based on particular interests. There are book club groups, groups for fans of different TV shows, nursing mothers groups, groups for different religious affiliations, and so on. It isn't just set up as a normal forum.

The posts that are being deleted are posted as "journals". These are set up as individual blogs. On the home page of each member, there is an option to post a journal. Once a member posts a journal, it shows up in a list of other journal posts. Any member can leave comments on a journal post, too. So, these aren't able to be bumped to the top like a forum post could. In essence, their posts are all individual blogs, and very different than forum posts.

The site is still remaining silent on this issue and there is currently a huge effort to get the word out to the financial sponsors of this site. People who have blogs are posting about this and MySpace bulletins have been posted, too. Many moms have been writing letters to their local media outlets, such as radio stations and newspapers, and news programs.

Thanks for asking about this! I didn't even think to clarify the difference in set up between the site doing this and a standard forum, so I am glad that you asked!
~~~~~
Hopefully this clears up any confusion that I created when I didn't clarify the difference between the site in question and a standard forum.

Take care,
Cindi

CafeMom refuses to allow information to STOP child predators to be published!

2007-05-27T15:41:00.000-06:00

CafeMom.com, a popular website for mothers, has been deleting every journal that members have posted to support the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWCPSA). These ladies are simply trying to get the word out about what people can do to push this Act into practice. The AWCPSA has already been approved and is merely awaiting funds to operate.

The journals posted by these ladies were merely intended to gain awareness. There was nothing in any journal that was against CafeMom’s TOS, but administrators deleted them, nonetheless. Other members of CafeMom have been permitted to post links to petitions and websites as they please, with no interruption from the administration, but at the first mention of the AWCPSA, the account and journal entry are deleted. Obviously, CafeMom has issues with this Act in particular. Does CafeMom not care about stopping sex offenders and child abusers? This would seem to be the case.

The ladies in support of the AWCPSA, whose accounts were all deleted from CafeMom, joined together in an effort to educate people as to how they can help put this Act into practice. You can visit http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/948814946 to see what these ladies are doing to raise awareness. It’s not important to sign the petition there, as it was written only to prove a point. What is important is that you print and sign the letter and mail it to your senator!

You can contact CafeMom to speak out against this atrocity at feedback@cafemom.com. Let them know that this is NOT acceptable. If you already have a CafeMom account post a journal in support of the AWCPSA along with a link to the pledge. Speak out against CafeMom’s horrendous and uncaring actions! Let's all work together to protect our children, today!

Protect the Child Petition - send your letters now!

2007-05-27T05:09:00.000-06:00

Click here for the Petition

The colors of this world are many and beautiful.

From the sweet pastels of pink and blue that remind us of layettes and freshly scrubbed baby cheeks to the deep jeweled tones of autumn foliage found at feet of the fondest memories, it is the color that we remember. It is the color that reminds us of what was, what is, and what should be.

Therefore, out of concern for the safety and welfare of us all, this petition has been drafted in order to demand that we put the power of color to use and demand that all stop signs from this day forward be RED.

A powerful and symbolic color, most of us already associate RED with stop- just as we associate the color green with go. The time to make a difference is NOW. It is imperative that we take the time to form a united front and demand that everyone knows when to STOP. It is time that we make a united stand and be heard as one voice when we demand that all stop signs should be RED.

By now, you should be asking yourself why you just spent the last few moments reading a petition about making stop signs red. After all, stop signs are already red. What would be the point in signing a petition that makes demands for the creation of something that already exists?

That's the point. There isn't one.

Sometimes, we get all caught up in the need to make a difference- the need to bring about a change; that we don't take the necessary time in order to find out whether or not that change is already there just waiting to make a difference on its own. We don't take the time to find out what it is that is necessary to make that change beneficial to us all.

Stop signs are already RED.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (HR 4472) is already signed by our President and is only waiting the necessary funding to have it fully operational. Please take a moment to read through the basic fact sheet found here or realize its full potential by reading through the entire act HERE.

Once you have recognized what a major impact this Act will have on this terrible war against our children, we ask that you come back here and add your name to this petition as a pledge to do what is necessary in order to start protecting our children NOW by writing to your representatives and demanding that they act swiftly to fully fund ALL mandates of The Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act.

A letter template and information on how to contact your representatives can be found by clicking on the "See Full Petition" link above or by scrolling to the bottom of this page.

Please, pledge to have your voice heard NOW and take that necessary step to truly protect our children.

Copy and paste the following letter into your favorite word processing program or email client:

Dear Senator:

As your constituent, I am writing this letter to urge you and your colleagues to act swiftly to fully fund the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act must be funded now so that law enforcement can protect children and communities from the scourge of convicted sex offenders:

I urge you to fully fund all of the mandates within the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. I am particularly concerned about the following:

1. To implement an effective and comprehensive national registry database and website of sex offenders.
2. To build capacity in the federal law enforcement system to enable law enforcement to track and capture noncompliant sex offenders and bring them to justice.
3. To implement a national DNA database so that law enforcement can accurately and promptly verify DNA evidence.

Citizens must have access to accurate and timely information regarding convicted sex offenders living in their community. The 50 states and the federal government must be afforded adequate resources to build and maintain an effective national sex offender database. A national sex offender database is a critical safeguard to protect America's children and with each passing day that the provisions of this law are not funded, the danger to children is heightened. When information about the identity and whereabouts of convicted sex offenders is not accessible, accurate and verifiable, our communities are at grave risk.

I strongly urge you to act now to fund the mandates passed in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act so that our children are kept safe from these dangerous predators and law enforcement has the necessary investigative resources.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent request.

Sincerely,

Your senators' mailing and email addresses can be found by visiting Congress.org.

Mom Site Shuts Down Petition to Help Children, Popular Site Doesn't Want to Help with Sex Offenders

2007-05-27T05:06:00.000-06:00

Popular Mom Site Removes Posts To Help Fund The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act

You have seen their ads littered every on MySpace. You may have seen their ads on some of your favorite children sites. Their advertising campaign has made them the most popular site for moms to connect, share ideas, stories, and simply commiserate with each other over the pitfalls of parenting that you simply cannot find elsewhere. CaféMom: A place for moms.

It would seem the most likely place to put up information regarding the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act(HR 4472), which was signed into law by President George Bush that requires harsher punishment for child predators, among other things, right?

Wrong.

Several mothers on this site banded together to send out a message to their fellow moms, that while this bill has been signed into law, it lacks the necessary funding to implement it. They put up posts that ask for mothers to get proactive and send out letters to their Congressmen and Senators to help push for funding. They included links so that those who were unaware as to how to contact their Congressmen and Senators would be able to do so. They included links so that the individual reader could read what exactly the AWCPSA entails. Everything was done for the benefit of children. Not just their children, but your children, and the children that they play with.

It was a concerted effort, one that was done so that the maximum amount of mothers would be able to read these journal posts, due to the fact that most posts at CafeMom become buried under mounds of posts that shortly follow it. It takes mere seconds for a post to completely disappear from the top of the pile, and these mothers were aware of this, so they took action against it.

To these mothers' chagrin, and to the detriment of the AWCPSA, the powers that be at CafeMom chose to delete these posts. They did so without any explanation. Upon further review of their Terms of Service (TOS), it was decided that these posts did not violate anything agreed to by the mothers whom posted; CafeMom has chosen to continue the silent and deletion treatment in regards to the AWCPSA, despite and in spite of what bringing awareness to this cause could mean to the children of the USA.

The safety of our children is paramount. It should come before ideologies, opinions, and TOS policies. Encouraging mothers to be proactive, and giving them a means to do so should not be punished by post and account deletions. Asking that people help our leaders in government demand funding be appropriated for a bill that was created and approved by not only the House, but also by the Senate and the President of the United States should not be a punishable offense, especially on a site that claims to be for moms.

What mother does not want the government to do all that it can to ensure the safety of her child? What parent, for that matter?

If you feel what CafeMom did was wrong, then please, copy and paste this letter into your blogs and bulletins so that more people, not just parents, can be aware as to what goes on at CafeMom, and where their priorities lie when it comes to your children and the children that will become our future.

Also, please go to this site: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/948814946 to read up on what exactly was posted and pledge to print out a letter to sign and mail to your Congressman and demand that the AWCPSA be funded immediately.

Not being allowed to say something about this is no better than not saying anything about it at all.

A great site that has some wonderful mothers intent on making a difference and getting this information heard is: MommyMatter.com

Stand up and make your opinion known. Let YOUR voice be heard!