Rent vs Buy

For a number of years after we were married, my husband and I rented. We did not have the cash for the down payment of a house, and even if we did, we were not really to make such a financial commitment. So we rented.

I did not mind renting. I did not think that our rent checks were being wasted. I know others did (real estate agents, for instance), but we got a place to stay, and that seemed adequate trade for the rent money. I mean, if something happened to the house – if the house needed a new air conditioner, for instance, it really did not affect us financially.

The only thing I did not like was, sometimes, they way I was treated because I was a renter. People expect, when you are renting, that you are not as good as homeowners. Yeah, you can say I am full of it, but I have heard someone's voice change after learning that I was a renter. Well, it was great when the gutter salespeople came by: "I'm sorry, but I am a renter."

Renters get a bad rap, I suppose, because some renters don't take good care of the property they inhabit. You know, there is not much of a financial incentive to do so – a number of rentals I have had seem to do everything they can to retain your deposit even if there is nothing wrong with the apartment or house at the end of the rental agreement. The property is not yours – and some treat is less preciously because of that. That's what some think renters do – they don't take care of the property as well because they don't have a financial reason to do so. Oh, and perhaps as a rule, this happens more often than naught.

I have been thinking about the direction of my life lately, and I have been treating my life as a renter. I have not been owning my life, just renting it. There are things I want to do, things I want to write.

In my blog, I used the following phrase to introduce my blog: "I started blogging to improve my writing; I really did. Painters don't start with masterpieces – they start on scraps of paper, and even when planning a great work, they do many other drawings in preparation. I think writing is the same. You just don't start and finish a novel by merrily typing into the computer; you experiment. Blogging is sort of like a writer's doodling. So this is my scratch pad of sorts. This is less than scraps of paper actually, just 1s and 0s on your computer screen."

Well, after a few years of writing this blog, I have not really done what I set out to do. Yeah, my writing may have gotten marginally better, but I have not started any serious writing.

Last month ~Deb gave up her blog, and I have been thinking about doing the same. Temporarily or permanently, I don't know.

I am not stopping this blog because I have run out of ideas or because I have gotten any stalkers. I just want to spend my time doing other things. I have enjoyed this blog, I have enjoyed the people I have met, and I have enjoyed the whole blogging experience.

I guess I want to start owning my life. We have very little time on this earth, and I need to spend it doing what I want to do, what I feel called to do. Now I don't know if I will be back next week, next month or never again, I could not tell you. Personally, I hope I will be able to write, really write, and not come back to this blog. It's not that it is unimportant. It is that I feel called to write a novel. I am a bit scared, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

I will miss writing every day or several times per week. But it is time for me to move on.

Note: I have one post scheduled to get published some time in August. But it is already in the queue. Other than that, I may or may not be back. We will just have to see.

At the Gym

I go to the gym nearly every day; I am not a gym rat, but I like to observe while working out. Anyway, I go to the gym at certain times a day, and because of this, I run into the same thing every day. Here are a few people at my gym:

Ponytail
I call one of the young women "ponytail." I don't know her name – I don't know many people's names there – but I have in-my-head nicknames for the regulars. As you have probably guessed, she has a ponytail. Her blonde hair goes nearly half-way down her back, and she normally does ellipticals several machines from me. She almost always wears a white top, but her shorts change from time-to-time. Her top are sheer, probably Under Armour. She always does the same 30 or so minutes, then heads to the weights. I don't do weights, so I don't know what she does there. All I really know about Ponytail is that she has nice skin.

Small Package
There is a guy who has the largest chest I have ever seen. A freakin' barrel chest. He must do weights. He has to do weights, but I see him on the treadmills and ellipticals. I call him mentally "small package" because he is the body type that I associate with 'roids. I mean, I am not sure he dates ugly country music singers, but he is definitely a guy to ogle over. I don't hunger for him, but I like looking.

Nice Ass
One of the ladies on the ellipticals is Asian, and she has the nicest ass I have seen in quite some time. I look at women's asses, partly because I compare myself to them. This woman is probably 50-years-old, and she has a great ass. It sort of makes me a little bit envious. A 50-year-old should not have such an ass. She always wears dark work-out clothes, and she I think she works out often. I almost always start and stop my ellipticals before she finishes. Always. Must be why she has a great ass.

Bony
One guy who I see often I mentally call bony. He is old, how old I really don't know. I want to think he is in his 80s, but maybe he is older. He is only slightly taller than me, and if he weighs 100 pounds, I would be surprised. His head is a little bit larger than normal, or maybe because he is so skinny, his head appears larger. His shirt is normally full of sweat, but he seems like a cute old guy. He is single, but not my type.

Gidget
I don't like calling her Gidget, but I could not think of a better name for her. She is probably 30, and she has all sorts of friends. And they talk to one another on elliptical equipment, and I hear words over my iPod. Gawd, I am old. I thought "Walkman" when I meant iPod. Anyway, the conversations are juicy. I know if I had Gidget for a friend, I would not tell her a damn thing. I mean, when I get bored and she is within earshot, I listen. Sometimes it is about who is screwing whom in their neighborhood, or complications from pregnancy for other people, or that Jimmy's testicle finally dropped (okay, I don't know what this means, but I nearly choked when I heard that).

There are lots of characters at the gym. Not just sweaty people trying to drop a few pounds.

Random Thursday

Ass Pants
Every girl ,every woman, likes to look good. There's no secret there. But what some men don't know is that all clothes are not created equal. Me, I have a favorite pair of pants. One pair makes my ass look so good. I feel good in the jeans, and in my mind, I always call them my ass pants. Now, I can't wear the pants in the summer, but in the spring and fall, I reach for my ass pants when I want to look good. Pick the pants first, then the top and shoes. Because if your ass looks good, it makes everything else look good.

Tickle Answer: Leesa, you're the Shy Side Of Sexy
When it comes to sex appeal, you've got it — and you know you've got it — you just have trouble flaunting it. Taking that first step can be really hard for you, especially if it's a step into a new lover's arms. And you know you can sometimes come off as a little, shall we say, tame. But look out! When you reach your comfort level, you're in the zone and unstoppable.

Your lovers are the lucky ones because they're the only people who really know what lies beneath your reserved exterior. In public you sometimes blush or shy away, but once you get behind closed doors, you truly unleash your sexual desires. And saving your racy side for those fortunate few bonds them to you that much more. You may be shy, but you know how to hook and reel 'em in.

Where is my Stuff?
A hoax Craigslist advertisement resulted in an Oregon man losing a sizable chunk of his possessions as hoards of bargain-hunters descended upon his home in a free-for-all grab.

A number of ads apparently popped up on Saturday afternoon, claiming that the owner of a Jacksonville home was forced to take leave in a hurry. As such, all his belongings, including a horse, were now free for the taking. The problem was that the victim, Robert Salisbury, had no such plans. In fact, if not for a call he received from a concerned do-gooder, he could well have returned to his home to find it totally cleaned out.

Excerpt from Seattle Times:

On his way home he [Robert Salisbury] stopped a truck loaded down with his work ladders, lawn mower and weed eater. “I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back,” Salisbury said. “They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did.” The driver sped away after rebuking Salisbury. On his way home he spotted other cars filled with his belongings. Once home he was greeted by close to 30 people rummaging through his barn and front porch.
According to Salisbury, the trespassers tried to brush him off initially with printouts of the ad. By the time Jackson County sheriff’s deputies arrived, several vehicles laden with his possessions had already taken off.

The case is now in the hands of the police who are working with the Craigslist legal team. In the meantime, items can be returned with no questions asked. If caught with Salisbury’s possessions though, prosecution is likely.

How the hell do you steal stuff because of something you found on the Internet? It is like if it is on the web, it is true.

Ian Fleming and President Kennedy

I am a little young to remember President Kennedy. Too young for Johnson and Nixon as well, really. The first president I can remember is Jimmy Carter. I don't know if it is because of where I am from or that I grew up in a household that really did not follow politics. Anyway, when I write about Kennedy, Johnson or Nixon, I am doing so from a more historic perspective – or really, whatever my social studies teachers told me about more recent history.

Anyway, the following comes from my recollection of something a couple of social studies teachers told our class. I have no idea if these stories are true, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Josh F. Kennedy was an attractive president, and it seems that the press was in love with him. Actually, as a Catholic, I remember some teachers telling me that they did not know if the US would ever elect a Catholic president. Anyway, apparently President Kennedy invited Ian Fleming to the White House for a party. My guess is that the president did not specifically request him, but he made a list.

Fleming chatted with the president at the party – and said something funny. The US was concerned that communist-run Cuba (a mere 90 miles away), and Fleming had an idea about how to get rid of Castro.

Getting Castro to shave his beard was the key. Fleming believed that without the beard, Castro would look like anyone else, and the Cuban people would be less enchanted with him. He would not be as special. Fleming suggested that the US should announce that beards had hazards – that the beards attract radioactivity. Then any person could become radioactive him/herself, as well as becoming sterile.

Castro would then shave his beard because of the health concerns, and then he would fall from power. No Bay of Pigs (the Bay of Pigs had not happened by then), just radioactive beards.

Anyway, President Kennedy was amused/impressed, and said he would read one of his books (he wrote a series of James Bond books).

Anyway, later, at a press conference, a reporter asked what types of books he liked to read. Now I am not sure Kennedy was a particularly scholarly person. I mean, listening to the stories over the years – his daily sexual escapades with his "assistants" in the White House pool, for instance – I wonder if he had time to read.

But he was the president, and he could not say, "Read? I don't have time to read. I bone a couple of girls in the pool every day." Instead, he said he enjoyed books by Ian Fleming. Not that he read any of them, but that's what he said.

And, funny thing, Mr. Fleming and the James Bonds books, really became popular. All from party conversation.

Remember Me: YouTube Video

Lizzie Palmer made a YouTube video called "Remember Me." It aired on Fox News Sunday.



I watched this video, and what is interesting, is that after I watched it, I noticed that the first video that was "related", was on Oral Sex. Not sure what that was about. Definitely a way to remember someone, but it was not the point of the video.

My regular Wednesday post will be tomorrow (I try to post M-W-F). I guess tomorrow being Wednesday, you might guess I would post tomorrow.

Adult Summer Camp

I have a college friend who has invited me to do a week-long summer camp with her. I don't know if I am going to do it, but I am tempted. Ever since I have been married, I have vacationed with my husband. Sounds reasonable. I mean, we got married because we enjoyed each others' company.

Anyway, I will let you know if I go. I am thinking about it.

That brings me to a topic I don't know if it exists. In March and April, I hear about summer camps throughout Georgia. Golf camp (all sports camps, but there is a lot of golf), space camp (I think they go to Alabama for that one), day camp, traditional camps, you name it. Not once have I heard of a frazzled mothers' camp, a couples' get-away camp, a fathers' I just-want-to-fish camp.

I would not really be excited about my husband going on a cruise by himself – I have not been on one of the big cruises, but from my experience watching the Love Boat, there are a lot of hook-ups there. And frankly, I don't want him to be (unsupervised) around that many bikinis.

Sorry for such a short post this morning. It has been hot-as-hell here lately. Well, not 100, but I am not used to the heat yet. Where ever I spend summer camp, I want there to be lots of water and refreshing drinks.

Trapped without a Thought

You can't keep a good woman down. Okay, the original saying is, "You tie a woman to the bed, gag her, and then leave her to contemplate the situation, and she will probably wiggle free." But you know, we needed to simplify things, so now, we say, "you can't keep a good woman down."

And by good woman, I am talking about ~Deb. I got a message from ~Deb that she is addicted to blogging, and her blog is back in business. Funny thing is that she stopped blogging because she was tapped. Oh, and don't think of the original image when I talk about ~Deb being tapped. She just ran out of ideas for a while. She may have just needed a break.

Now here I am, a month or so later, and I can't think of anything to write about. Not a thing. I first was thinking of guessing the subject that ~Deb wrote about today. Obviously, my first guess would involve something to do with God. God is all around us, so that is a pretty safe bet. Well, either God or Atomic Chickens. The chickens are all around us as well.

One of my favorite actors is Christopher Lloyd – but even he messes things up occasionally. Remember the TV show Stacked> Okay, I never saw it. It started a couple of huge stars, and by stars I mean Pam Anderson's breasts. I did not watch the show on principal. Then I peeked at Christopher Lloyd's resume. He has made a lot of stinkers – though I bet he will make a wonderful Marley's Ghost (rumored film, A Christmas Carol).

Well, I am going to go work out at lunch – I have not stopped doing that, at least. The weather is really nice, and I don't want to be embarrassed with wearing shorts and swimwear. You know, secretly, I think women would shave off a few years of their lives in exchange for looking hot longer. Flies in the face of self-preservation, but there you have it.

I am going to hit the elliptical machine. Perhaps even reward myself by going to the hot tub. At least in the hot tub, "trapped without a thought" feels good.

Chatting Experiment

I don't often chat on Yahoo Messenger, but I occasionally do so. And since I don't chat often, the odds of one of my buds being online is fairly small. I mean, I really want to chat with my buddies, but since they are not losers spending 22 hours/day online, they are not there when I need them.

Well, in that case, if you really want to chat with someone, you can always log onto the "chat rooms." Now I remember chat rooms when they were actually full of real people. By real people, I mean people like you and me. Now a days, that is not the case. The chat rooms are full of robots.

Normally, it is really easy to tell the professionals from the normal people. And by professional, I mean stripper. And by normal people, I mean mostly men and lesbians. I normally don't pay attention to the professionals. They pretty much just want my credit card information so they can charge the card.

Well, I got a gift card a while back, and there was a little money left on it. I really think stores do gift cards partially because of the wasted end of the card. You know, all of those $2 or $3 adds up. Well, anyway, I had a card that

HornyHannah75: i'm gonna send you a cam invite here k?
Leesa: Sure.
HornyHannah75: ok sent, did you get it?
Leesa: Nah.
HornyHannah75: hmm.. let me try again, hang on
Leesa: Didn't work.
HornyHannah75: what about now?
Leesa: No, not quite
HornyHannah75: ugh, this is stupid, this always happens to me when i use yahoo.

Then you get lured into a paid site, and you give them your credit card info. Well, since I had a little money on a card, I chanced it. I really wanted to see if they would drain the account after I gave it to them.

Well, they have not drained the account. Yet.

But after I went to the chat room, I was "alone" with one very nice woman. I may have said it before, but I am a bit picky about lusting for women. Not all women get my juices flowing, so to speak. She did not. She was cute and all, but she was just not my type.

So here I was, girl that I was not attracted to in a bra and panties. And I was chatting with her. I first asked her to put up two fingers. I just wanted to ensure it was live.

She takes off her top, and I am just chatting with her. Where are you from? How did you get into this line of work, and she is asking me if I like her nipples. Not sure she was ready for my chat. Here I was, doing Barbara Walters, and she was doing her nasty chat. It was a bit comical.

It cost me $1. Plus they will probably drain my account. I don't really care. The dear was sweet and professional. Which is a bit weird for someone who takes her clothes off for strangers every day.

Now I sort of feel like the people who spend 22 hours on the Internet each day. Maybe I should live in a basement. Well, I first have to find a place with a basement. Instead, perhaps I will stay out of chat for a month.

Summer Reading

I love reading at the beach. I absolutely love it.

When I was in high school, one of the most important things to me in the summertime was to darken my skin. I loved worshiping the sun. Well, not worshipping like one worships a deity, but the good sort of worshipping – the kind that deepens the tan and gives one sarcoma or melanoma.

But in high school, I was poolside.

One thing that is important when tanning is not getting freakin' bored. To combat boredom during the baking phase of my summers, I would read. But what to read?

1. Romance Novels: Romance novels are sorta mindless. I have read them, and, yes, I enjoyed them initially. But that was a long time ago. You know, before real sex.

2. Scientific Journals: Okay, how did that get in the blog entry.

3. Geek Books: I am not talking about the latest Star Wars novel. Okay, perhaps that, too, but I am talking about books on unexplained phenomena (Lock Ness, Stonehenge, whatever).

4. Book Covers that Would Embarrass: There are certain books that have book jackets that would embarrass. For instance, bOObs: A Guide to Your Girls or Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. It is not the stuff inside the book that is embarrassing; just the jacket.

5. Any Book by Suze Orman: What can I say? Suze Orman just sucks.

I prefer books that have small titles. I don't like guys trying to strike up a conversation on some book I am readying while baking. I just want to catch some rays.