Readers' Comments

I was reading Cliff the other day, and he was talking about a comment by a co-worker. I have had a few comments that are classified as "neat." And by "neat", I mean different. I have had my share of neat comments – sure, my regular commenters are insightful, funny, inquisitive (insert additional ass-kissing remarks here). Truly I have seen some funny comments.

But I have had a couple of the comments that seem to be, well, more unique.

A few years ago, a staff producer of a television show made a comment that indicated they wanted to talk to me about being on their show concerning cheating spouses and recovery. Okay, I am writing this blog anonymously, but they wanted me to go on camera in New York City to show about me screwing around on my husband. Yeah, that seems like an idea. Let's rip open some of the healing so that someone's TV show can get some ratings. No thanks. [I am fairly certain that, at the time, if you typed in "cheating whore", my blog was in the top ten.] Okay a bit melodramatic, but you get the idea.

For a little while, I was writing YouTube reviews. It was a bad idea, and most people didn't like it. But I got a note from someone who is a YouTube celebrity. She is a teenager from Australia, but a YouTube celebrity. She was on some news show (60 minutes?). That was kinda neat. But again, she is a teenager. It is not like Zac Efron left a message. [Is it wrong to think he is a hottie?]

Of course, the first comment I received was from Ddot. He no longer blogs, but it was a thrill getting my first comment. He is African American and most of his readers were also African American. I felt like the white chick in the room. It was kinda cool.

The first comment that hurt my feelings was from Deb. She misunderstood what I was saying (because it was not clear). This was years ago (2005), and since then, I have become one of Deb's biggest fans. Weird how life works.

The first comment that was unsettling was from Grant. I don't remember the comment, but it involved violence and humor (and no, those two adjectives together will not get you closer to the comment I first remembered).

The first commentor that pissed me off on a regular basis was Prata. I even would cut-and-paste his comments to a new blog entry and argue with him. I just needed that much space. He is very intelligent, and for a while, he had some time on his hands so he would argue with me. He rarely reads me anymore, and I am fine with that.

Anyway, the next time you make a comment on someone else's blog, it may mean the world to that person. Does this sound too cute and pink and adorable? Sorry. Perhaps tomorrow I will post pictures of a little Asian girl with a couple of weapons.

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I missed the president's news conference, and I went to YouTube to get it. Some guy just posted it. Every time I think YouTube is going to shrivel and die, I do something that confirms my own mind that it is not going away at all.

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Is the "scheduled post" feature working for you? It has not been working for me.

Google Error

We're sorry...
... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

If you're continually receiving this error, you may be able to resolve the problem by deleting your Google cookie and revisiting Google. For browser-specific instructions, please consult your browser's online support center.

If your entire network is affected, more information is available in the Google Web Search Help Center.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

I got this message while trying to check Google Mail. Personally, I think my wicked typing speed tricked Google. When I am typing user names and passwords, I type fast. Apparently these skills resemble an automated request from a computer virus.

Me, I think I will take time away from the WWW today. I mean, I am already pissing off Google. I don't want to cause my skills to further hamper the web. Can you imagine this on the nightly news: "Massive Internet outage because Leesa has wicked fast typing skills. A score of geeks are re-writing code to mitigate this type of outage in the future."

Obituary of a Photographer/Blogger

A little more than two weeks ago (I delayed this post for more than a week, struggling with publishing it), I could not sleep.

I woke up, started to read, but I did not get drowsy. I then turned on the computer. Unlike some people, I rarely use my home computer. At work, I use email, web surf and order things online. When I get home, I don't often even turn on the computer.

I looked at my blog, then someone I read, and I found the image to the side, along with the following: In Memory: Suzanne Horne (Liquid), Aug 13, 1966 - Dec 24, 2008.

Shortly thereafter, I clicked onto Liquid's site, a site from someone who had died on Christmas Eve. There was not a single light on in my study, just the glow from the computer screen, and I started reading the blog. I had read Liquid's blog before – I was an occasional reader of her blog when I read more blogs per week.

Her last post was entitled, "It's That Time Folks!" There was a picture of a fat man, shirtless, ironing a Santa suit. Liquid posted several comments to that post, and one wonders if she knew she was going to kill herself when she made her last post.

Even after she killed herself, some people were giving her well-wishes. There is a mixture of "God speed" and well-wishes, actually, between Christmas day and New Year's Day.

When I was reading Liquid's blog, bathed in the soft glow of the computer screen, I felt close to Suzanne. I felt like she was speaking . . . to me.

If you know Liquid, you know she was a photographer. You can see some of her pictures here. I knew her as an author of her blog, nothing else. So when I read the obituary in the Meridian Star, I got a glimpse of the woman behind the website:

Jeri Suzanne Horne
Jeri Suzanne Horne Services for Jeri Suzanne Horne will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at James F. Webb Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Joseph Hallman, and Dennis Marks officiating. Burial will be in Pine Springs Southern Methodist Church Cemetery. Mrs. Horne, 42, of Meridian, died Wednesday, December 24, 2008, at her residence. She was employed as a hairdresser. Survivors include her parents, Jerry and Betty White of Meridian, daughter, Isabella Horne of Meridian, son, Campbell Horne of Meridian, brother, Greg White and Ronna of Davie, Fla., niece, Madelyn White of Davie. Visitation will be Monday, 5p.m.-7 p.m. at the funeral home. Pallbearers will be Barry Murphy, Mike Grant, David Medlin, Bo Pierce, Richard Daniel, and Bryan Culpepper.

I paused, not sure I should share the obituary. But a half-a-dozen bloggers have already posted her obituary, so I figured the facts have already been out there. Who knows if this is right . . . .

Anyway, I read somewhere that we die twice. Once when we actually die, and another time when no one left on Earth remembers us. Suzanne died on December 24^th. Her family and friends, who are understandably still hurting from her actions, will remember her for a long time to come. The pain will slowly diminish, and they will remember some of the better times, the times when Suzanne made them smile.

Suzanne, or Liquid (as I knew you), farewell. You will be missed. Those of you who knew Suzanne have the opportunity to sign her guestbook.

Blogging is Like Anal Sex

The other day, without any provocation from anything I have written, Joe made the following statement: "Blogging is like anal sex. That analogy sprung to mind, but I have no idea how to tie it all together. Can you work on that for me?"

I will take this opportunity to see if I can convince you that blogging is like anal sex. Let's lube up and begin.

The reasons that blogging is like anal sex.

1. People just don't admit they do it. I mean, how many of us who blog once, twice, three times per week will even admit reading blogs, much less writing about them. When asked about it, one may say, "Blogging? I have heard about it, but I have never really thought to do it."

In the same vein, while some mentioning of sex can be seen in even polite company, I have never heard someone even jokingly talking about sex around the poppie hole.

2. It is just not natural. When I was in school, we had health. I learned that you ate food with your mouth, that your teeth start the digestive process, then down to a bunch of tubes, to the stomach, to a bunch of other tubes, and exits out the anus. I always laughed on the inside when I had to write "anus" on a health test. The point is, when I was in health, we talked about the anus being the exit for the food after the nutritious stuff was taken into the body. There was nothing said about it being a secondary entrance for a guy's penis. I always laughed on the inside when I had to write "penis" on the health test.

Blogging is not natural either. I mean, when you think of writers, you think about someone writing for a newspaper or magazine or, better yet, writing a book. I wonder if the people who wrote all of those various tests on Cosmo were laughing when they wrote them. Expressing yourself by writing is one thing; blogging is not natural.

3. It is just – so dirty. Blogging can be really dirty work. I mean, if you look at some of my own work and the work of others, some of what we write about is painful, dirty. I label this as cathartic, but others may see it more as dirty. Raw emotions can be dirty.

Anal sex is also dirty. And we all can guess why. 'Nuff said.

4. It is too hard to do every day. But if you don't do it very often, starting can be painful. Just read that last sentence again and again. It is too hard to do every day. Blogging, it is too hard . . . . Anal sex, it is too hard . . . . Do I really need to spell this out for you? Didn't think so.

Adjustments

Okay, the people who read me regularly know that I have not been writing regularly. I have had to make some adjustments - because I have other pursuits now. I have had to juggle my time; sort of like when you pull your panties out of your ass – making the panty adjustment. Okay, not really that way.

Every time I change something I need to make an adjustment. When I gave up Diet Dr. Pepper, I had to make adjustments. I had to keep sharp knives away from my desk at the office because without my caffeine fix I would risk plunging the knife into random passerbyers. PMS may be a legitimate murder defense, but caffeine withdrawal. Not so much.

When I started blogging, I made some adjustments, too. I had to sacrifice porn surfing for blogging. Oh, and I guess I sacrificed some work time as well. But I was willing to make that sacrifice. Guess it was more of a sacrifice for my bosses.

Well, I am not on a good schedule for blogging right now. I wanted to do a Tuesday-Thursday thing, but it has not worked out by now. Guess I need to adjust myself. Just making an adjustment.

Refreshed

I was watching Kicesies Vlog the other day – okay, it was months ago – but she had this expression that I wore in the past several months. She talks about blue skies and green grass. And a reprieve.

That's sort of what I have been doing with this blog. Over the past few months, I have looked at relatively few blogs (have been too busy or perhaps not in the mood), but I have continued to write. Not for myself or for you, dear readers, but just writing because I did not want to finish my blog. I did not want to close the door.

I have not really been a good blogger, and for that, I am sorry. I have not kept up with my blog roll – two more have bitten the dust, so to speak. Cinderella – well, I knew about that one for a while – and someone else. I also want to tweak my blog, to make it easier for me to keep in contact with some bloggers. Not that I always comment, but my life is richer when I read.

I will also try to label my blog entries. Not that it matters to you, but it helps me to tend to my blog. Like I take the time to categorize the blog entry instead of just typing it out for twenty minutes.

Not much of a blog entry today. I just wanted to say that I feel refreshed, reenergized. Like when one stretches out (the reason for the picture). And I feel good today.

Erotica

I saw the ~Deb got reviewed the other day. I am not going to tell you the site, because I don't want to drive traffic their way. I don't think their reviews are helpful. They are sort of mean-spirited and juvenile.

Anyway, I was reviewed by them a long time ago. Twice actually. And reviewed by another site. Oh, the point is not that my site has been reviewed in the past. Focus, Leesa, focus. Where was I? The other site actually mentioned that the erotica on my site was disturbing. Erotica sometimes is supposed to be disturbing, I guess.

And it gives me a moment to pause. Is erotic all that bad? Madonna thinks it is okay, and I sort of use Madonna as my guidepost. Okay, that is a bit of a joke.



I don't write erotica all that often. It seems to be an outlet of sorts. I have been a very good girl for several years. Yeah for me. But I still have impure thoughts, impure urges. And my erotica is like gum to an ex-smoker. A crutch – perhaps, but it helps me not stray.

Now I am not someone else's guidepost. I hope I am not. I just want to write a little bit, and every once in a while, a post or two might help someone. That's probably why I still write even when I don't feel like it.

Some things are sinful, but I don't believe erotica has to be sinful. I mean, read the following:

I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

The words may or may not be familiar with you. They are beautiful, they are erotic, and they can be found in the Bible.

I know my words are not worthy of the Bible. I am not saying that at all. What I am saying is that even the most holy texts contain erotica in them. Why can't some do nothing blog?

Filters

I did not post yesterday. I read something that disturbed me, well, made me think, and then the day took over. So I did not post.

Television
When I was growing up, we had three television stations. Well, there were really four, if you count PBS, and then a fifth after a while, but you get the picture. We had few stations, few programs, few choices. We did not need to filter what was on television – we were able to take in all of the choices and make decisions. Now, there are hundreds of video outlets, cable, satellite, whatever. Most people can't take in that much information and filter choices. Not all of the time.

News
Again, growing up, there was one primary newspaper delivered. Perhaps two in some cities. There were three nightly news programs. Again, not many choices, but it is not hard to take in that information and know what is going on. Now, we have the three news stations, CNN, other cable outlets, the Internet with access to most local papers, and literally thousand of other sources. Some even get their news from talk show hosts, morning television shows. We are getting information about lots of gruesome things. Things that were happening a long time ago. But when you here more about them, you assume these things are more "regular." Again, it is hard to filter the news.

YouTube
Part of the reason I did not write yesterday was a comment about YouTube. It said something about YouTube getting worse, getting to where everything is "same old same old." I would have posted something that was "same old same old" and I just did not want to do that.

YouTube, in which Google paid billions of dollars, has many faults. Its biggest fault, and a fault of blogging sites as well, is that there is not good filtering. There are good videos on YouTube, but most of the videos are, well, not so good. Blog entries are probably the same. Out of a week's worth of posts, I probably have one good post. Well, less than one per week right now. More than one per week on good weeks.

I held the "Battle of the Blogs" to find other good blogging sites, and I really did not find a bunch of sites. At first, I thought it may have been because blogs are getting worse, on average. And then I began thinking, "Is it me?" Perhaps I am the one who is off of my game.

I still think those who can filter better will do well in this new world (with Web 2.0 and all). Me, I don't know. I think I have given myself permission not to post when I think all I can write is a crap post. That might not mean much to some, but for those of us with compulsions about doing something every day, this is a big deal. I just don't want someone to filter some of my crap posts. I will do that myself.

Gifts to your Readers

Goodbye Blogroll Buddies
Recently (in the past few months), Mal (Mal's Mulblings), Grant (Discombobulatingrant), Muse (private blog), Amber (Absolutely no exaggeration or sarcasm Here) and Monica (My lovely and charming life), have either declared that they are on a hiatus or they have been on one. Furthermore, Ddot (The Palace) has not been blogging. And they were all very good reads, and more importantly, they were virtual friends.

When I wrote about traffic last week, I mentioned cleaning up hyperlinks that were no longer active. I appreciate when people have two blogging lists – one for active bloggers, and one for occasional bloggers. Well, I have taken the plunge and removed bloggers who no longer add posts from my blogroll; this was a painful experience. The most painful was removing Ddot, the self-described king of the bloggers or the blogosphere, or whatever. Oh, but I felt compelled to at least link to them in this post (I will look every once in a while). Ddot was my first link, so removing him was tough. Too bad I don't keep alcohol in my top desk drawer.

These bloggers probably really did, more than anything else, force me to start Battle of the Blogs. I really did not want to do it (because I really thought it was going to fail). And I have really lost a lot of blogging buddies. I understand them not wanting to continue to blog. I won't list the reasons – that would be the opposite of what I want to do – I want to encourage those to write and possibly share their writing with others. I really think this helps, in some small way, make our world a better place.

Giving Gifts to Your Blogroll
I have had posts in the past that have been clever, and also have given back to those who read my posts. Once, I had a post where I gave "virtual Christmas presents" to some of my frequent commenters. The post went over really well, as I knew a bit about them from their blogs and made the gifts personal. I also made a post for Academy Awards, and which of my blogger buddies would win which award (again, being bother personal and hopefully funny). It may have all started with a post about assumptions I make about the people who frequently comment on my blog.

I have not done a similar post in some time, for two reasons: (1) these posts take a lot of work, and (2) I have a much smaller audience now. For those of you who have a loyal following, this is a way of giving back to your most frequent commenters. Granted, it does not have appeal outside of your group, unless of course, you incorporate a bit of humor into the post.

This suggestion will not drive traffic, but may help ensure that your readers stay loyal to your blog. I sometimes wonder if I cared more for doing stuff like this, if I would have more loyal readers. Whether we like it or not, when we blog, we become connected. In a world where real connections seem to be disappearing, perhaps this is a good thing. Perhaps it is driving us not being connected. This, my virtual friends, is a discussion for another time. Me, I just want a Diet Dr. Pepper.

A Different World

World of Warcraft (WOW)
Those of you who have been reading me for a while know that I have been interested in YouTube for a while. Perhaps it is because I don't really watch television. I don't know. Many of the videos are of low production quality, but I subscribe to minouye, and he has a recent series on World of Warcraft (WOW).



World of Warcraft is a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games), made by Blizzard Entertainment. Apparently millions of people play this game, and there are expansion packs, a market to allow others to "level up" your character, etc. I have viewed four of the five parts (those are the ones available to date), and I am amazed that there is this world I knew nothing about. Millions of people do this, and I did not even know about it. I think I am a little out of touch, however.

Survivor
When the first Survivor program aired, years ago, there were pools at work. Okay, I did not know much about how the pools worked, but I am think it was some way to gamble on who won the reality TV program. And people would talk about the show the following day, for more time than the show lasted. Completely boggled my mind, but these were my co-workers, and they seemed fairly normal. But it was a different world. I did not know that world, like I don't know World of Warcraft.

Blogging
I suppose blogging is a different world. But it seems more easily to relate to. Perhaps that is because I am part of it; I don't know. One thing I have learned from blogging is a bit about HTML. I mean, before I had a Blogger account, I had no idea what an anchor tag was, and some might argue that Blogger should have kept me in the dark with a better interface. I am all for that. But mostly, blogger taught me to write a one-page post in 20 minutes. And I really like that.

Randomness
Today, I was supposed to do a random Friday blog, but, well, I have been busy and have not really thought about it much. Sorry. They are fun to do, but I don't feel random today. I also normally do a YouTube entry, and this will serve that purpose. But it is not really a review.

I have been really impressed with the number of votes cast for the various contestants. More importantly, I have seen some discussion on other blogs. And I have done a little bit of reading. Not as much as I want to do, but some. One of the blogs I saw originally, I really liked, and now, I can't remember the name of the blog to add it to my blogroll. Frustrating. Guess I will have to visit all 57 again to find it.

Have a wonderful Friday. There are so many worlds out there. Don't get lost in your own little worlds. Or maybe you should. Occasionally getting lost is what we really need.

Round 1: Battle of the Blogs

Okay, guys. Nominations have been closed for Battle of the Blogs. When I had this idea, or I should have said "stole this idea," I figured I would have 16 entrants (I think there were 57). That was my hope, at least. I just asked my blogroll and those who competed in an Internet competition. That's it. And the funny thing is that there were relatively few who were nominated from those blogs.

The rules:
1. Vote for one of the two blogs in each bracket. Choose the better blog, your favorite blog, or your friend's blog. Makes no difference to me. You can only vote once, and once your vote is cast, you cannot "change votes." I have no idea what to do if there is a tie. You can vote for one pairing or all of them. I would hope that you would not be how I was when I was a younger voter – I would vote for a bunch of candidates just because I could. I say this is the test mentality – don't leave any "answers" blank. I would prefer you not randomly vote but cannot prevent anyone from doing so.

2. The winners of each game will enter the second round, similar to the NCAA Basketball Tournament format.

3. You can blog about why you should win, ask others to do so, whatever. For those who would like, there is some code below that point to the different brackets.

Eastern Bracket
<a href="http://dsmoya31410.blogspot.com/2007/02/round-1-eastern-bracket.html">Eastern Bracket</a>

Western Bracket
<a href="http://dsmoya31410.blogspot.com/2007/02/round-1-western-bracket.html">Western Bracket</a>

Northern Bracket
<a href=" http://dsmoya31410.blogspot.com/2007/02/round-1-northern-bracket.html">Northern Bracket</a>

Southern Bracket
<a href="http://dsmoya31410.blogspot.com/2007/02/round-1-southern-bracket.html">Southern Bracket</a>

I wanted to include more code, but frankly, with all of the other stuff I have done for this competition, I was just too tired.

4. If I have made any errors on your blog description, send email to bloggerbattle(at)gmail.com or respond to this message and I will fix this ASAP.
5. I have come up with a preliminary picture for this contest. Sorry, I am a words person, not an artist. And if someone else would want to create something, I would be very appreciative.

Update: Shephard Alley did a new picture for this Battle of the Blogs, in hopes, no doubt of garnering favor with me and luring me away from my hubbie, or more importantly, obtaining favor with other voters. Of course he failed, but I am going to use his picture. Thanks!

6. I have not included any blogs that are of an adult nature. Many drop the F-bomb, but none would be considered an adult site. Similarly, I did not include any commercial sites (sites that primarily sell things). Actually, someone with what appeared to be a very professionally-done adult site wrote me a very kind note.

A couple of thoughts:

1. I randomly made the brackets. That being said, I had to adjust a bit (two byes were in the same game, thus a "bye" would have made it into round two. Other than that, I let fate decide the pairings. I know some of the pairings may be a bit unfair, but I did not do this on purpose. If you have ever watched the NCAA tournament, sometimes the selection committee pits two really good teams in round one, so in a way, this randomness is okay.

2. This is a competition but the intent is for you to be exposed to new blogs. I know my circle of blogging buddies is fairly small (see my blogroll). And bloggers quit all the time, and I have not replaced anyone in a while. Hopefully I will find a new gem or two. I suggest you do the same.

3. There are no prizes for this – just a momentary increase in traffic to your blog, I suppose.

4. I am placing this on my blog quickly, so if I have made anything unclear, let me know. This is a lot more work that I suspected. And I may update this post with things I forgot.

Good luck to all of the competitors!

Battle of the Blogs

March Madness: Battle of the Blogs

Okay, as many of my loyal readers (thanks, you two) know, I have been watching Battle of the YouTube Non-Stars recently. JenLuv has done a really good job of copying DiGiTiLsOuL's idea of "Battle of the YouTube Stars." And copying in a good way. She has really done a fine job with it, and by the time I post this, she will have the fifth and final round of the fine competition.

This of course, seems to be like something I remember in the late 1970s – Battle of the Network Stars. I didn't watch any of DiGiTiLsOuL's videos on his competition, but I assume he attributed his competition to what I remember as a child. The three networks (oh my, only three networks!) had a competition that was really a copying of the Olympics.¹ The first Battle was broadcast on ABC starting in November 1976², and the format for the almost ten years it was on consisted of a two-hour sequence of physical challenges, which were real and sometimes even aggressively competitive, hosted by Howard Cosell (usually). Focus. Back to "Battle of the Blogs".

I have noticed that blogs seem to be so 2005; maybe it's because most of the people I have been viewing are no longer blogging, and I have not added too many new blogs (my bad). Someone had a competition recently for bloggers, and it seemed sad that there were only a few people who voted (less than 60 last time I checked). That seems like only a few people to me.

Well, I wanted to do a competition, and I want it to be like "Battle of the YouTube Stars." Here is how I would like it to work:

1. I will accept possible entries from now until February 23. You can either respond to this blog entry, or you can email me at bloggerbattle(at)gmail.com. It is not my personal address; I have created it for this competition. Please only recommend two entries.

2. Then I will look to see at the number of entries (I sure hope there are lots of them). I will post the list on Monday, February 26, and then have everybody vote for the one blog they think is the best. From that voting, I will take the best 16, 8 or whatever makes sense, and we will start pairing blogs up. I will ask the owner of the blog to write a short summery of their blog, and we will place that up. Then you vote on which of the two is best, and so on. Think "March Madness" as it relates to basketball but without the betting.

3. Eventually one blog will reign supreme. Yeah. But that is not the point. The point will be that several blogs will be exposed to lots of eyeballs, and maybe you can find another gem or two for your blogroll. That is the real point of this.

Here is what I need from you:

1. Advertisement. You need to post something to advertise this competition.

You can cut and paste the below message if you like:

This is not spam. Well, this is not bad spam. Leesa is having a little contest called "Battle of the Bloggers." Please visit her <a href="http://dsmoya31410.blogspot.com/2007/02/ battle-of-blogs.html">blog</a> to see the details. So if you want to nominate a blog for this competition, please do so.

2. Feedback. Oh, and if you think this whole thing is crap, let me know that too. Maybe this is not a good idea. Really. No hurt feelings. And I won't get a friend to launch a denial of service (DoS) attack on your blog.

3. Patience. I will clutter up my blog with this thing, and if you just want to read my normal stuff, I will still post. I figure I will probably lose one day's worth of posts for the duration of the tournament.

Addendum
A couple of things I forgot to mention:

1. Exclusion. Since I will be, for lack of a better word, sponsoring this, I am of course excluded from the competition. It seems obvious but I did want to state it.

2. Limiting Nominations. The whole point of limiting nominations is so people don't submit their blogrolls to me. If you must nominate three or four, I may let that slide. I just don't want people nominating tons of different blogs.

3. Poll Question. If you would like to vote on my newly created poll, it is hidden on the right (--->).

4. Furture Addendums. I know I have forgotten things. Sorry. I am not omniscient. Heck, I don't even plan well.

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¹ The Olympics seemed so much more important when only true amateurs competed (and it seemed to be us against the Russians).

²From Wikipedia: Each team had a captain; they and their fellow teammates were interviewed during the contest, engaging in sometimes earnest and campy discussions about the competition. It was hosted by Howard Cosell, and I think he took the competition more seriously than some. Some took the competition very seriously.

Blog Awards Groveling

Addendum

Looks like Christie's Blog Awards are underway, and I have been nominated for Blogger most likely to blog while on the toilet. Can I assume that we are talking potty mouth? If you want to vote for me, you can wander over here and vote. All I ask are two things: (1) don't vote for her site for any categories (talk about stacking the deck; most of the viewers are her loyal readers), and (2) forgive her hideous layout. It makes my teeth hurt.

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Please don't stop here if you are a regular reader. I posted something else today, and as OCD as I am, I did not want Christy's contest to touch the other blog entry. It makes me feel a bit dirty, but not dirtier than hearing that some Danish Health Club is going to start having "nudie Sunday" so you can work out in the nude. One thought that gives me the shutters: stationary bike seat.

Brunette with a Bad 'Tude

Okay, unless you want me to unload on you, visit another blog today. I am in a bitchy mood, and I can't control my darned typing fingers. Not that I have fingers for non-typing duties.

Crap, this is as close as I get to wanting to flip off someone.

Google BS
I got the following error when trying to log onto Blogger:

We're sorry...
... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

Like I am some kind of malicious virus or something. Bite me, Google. I don't even really know what "bite me" means. It is not like I want someone to snack on my ass. I am pretty sure that is sex, and I need to save sex for my hubbie, even if he is less-than-deserving today. Let's just say if he says the wrong thing today, I will fantasize about doing some serious harm to that man.

Pregnancy Test
I saw a Pregnancy Test online. I love what ~deb said about these quizzes not really being reliable. Not the pregnancy quizzes but quizzes in general. Personally, I would have a random generator assign results after putting the user through a painful data entry obstacle course. But I am a bitch. Anyway, I answered all of the answers correctly except the last one (have you had a positive pregnancy test recently), and my answer was "You are probably not pregnant."

Two comments:

1. Who goes online and answers a bunch of questions to see if they are pregnant, anyway?

2. What irresponsible person actually makes an online pregnancy test quiz?

School Starting
School has started again, and you know, this sort of pisses me off as well. For some reason, when school is out, traffic is so much better. Now I don't drive in the middle of the day, but I imagine those times probably suck a bit. Well, since school has started, traffic is again not-so-good. Not the "not-so-good" in Atlanta; their traffic is really bad. But the not-so-good for small town Savannah.

Sorry this is such a crappy post. I wrote it yesterday, and the picture to the right actually made my day.

The image I used today is Mark's. Mark has lots of photos on Flickr (more than 2,500), and he even has a show in February. I really like his B&W pictures. Thanks for the image, Mark!

An Open Letter to Blogger

Dear Blogger,

When I first read about the "beta Blogger," I was apprehensive. Some of my virtual friends were early adopters and their blogs disappeared. Based on this, I wanted nothing to do with blogger.

Then one day, I logged on to my Blogger account, ready to compose the best blog entry ever. Okay, I just wanted to type a page and get on with my day. Upon entering blogger, I was asked, begged almost, to switch to the new Blogger. I did some research that day, and thought, "No way in hell."

So I kept posting. And Blogger kept reminding me to switch to the new Blogger. And still, I did not trust you, Blogger. You have burned my friends, and I did not want to be likewise burned.

Then Blogger, you threatened me, sort of. You said, eventually, everyone will need to change. Eventually. And like someone who just wants to see if you would screw with my blog, I ended up trying to change to the new Blogger. And Blogger, you told me that my blog was too big. Thanks for nothing.

A week or two later, I tried changing again. And Blogger, you converted me to the new Blogger sort of flawlessly. Well, you orphaned one of my blogs (recently I got it back). But other than that, my main blog converted after about eight hours.

A week or so after changing over to the new Blogger, and the blog looking the same, I decided to treat my blog to a facelift. And I love the new tools you have now. I still figured out how to do the drop-downs (tricky Blogger, always wanting to hide the good stuff), and I may change the look a little bit, but I like a simple look, so I am not hiding my words. And my blog is about my words.

One thing, dear Blogger, that I initially hated was changing to G-mail. I had to change to read a private blog of a friend. I really did not want to change. Now I am transferring most of my emailing from Yahoo to G-mail. And I initially felt guilty about it. I have used Yahoo for-freekin'-ever. Now Yahoo was great, better than most webmail that I had seen years ago, but now, many webmail applications are better. G-mail is pretty awesome.

And I have recently found YouTube, one of your recently adopted siblings. In fact, I have been playing around with dedicating one day per week to featuring a YouTube site. Critiquing the YouTube site, almost pimping it. I could get lost in YouTube, but I have work to do. It seems, dear Blogger, that you, G-mail and YouTube, all children of Google, have really had an impact on my life. What the heck are you trying to do, be the Microsoft of the Internet? But why exclude China? Can you see them as consumers as well?

Sincerely,
Leesa

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Favor - YouTube Request
Okay. Breaking news folks. As you may or may not remember, I wrote a script based on one of my posts for someone on YouTube. It is performed by a 16-year-old girl in, er, I think New Jersey. Katie is a thespian in high school, and for you guys, thespians and lesbians are not necessarily the same. Sorry, guys.



It is a cute video that is football-related, just in time for the NFL playoffs. I would appreciate you watching it. You can even sign into your YouTube account and list it as a favorite. I know you would like to make a lesbian happy today. I mean a thespian happy today. Darned typing skills.

Blogger on Vacation

Okay, I am going to take a few days off. When I am not at work, I don't turn on the computer. Yay, for me, but because of this, I don't update my blog during those days.

I have not written them, but I will try to write some quick fillers for the next week (by the time I post this the fillers will be written or I will edit this out; I am sneaky that way). Unfortunately, they will most likely be erotic stories. Sorry guys, but I did this last year also. So, if you want to look at some passably good writing, please see the following entries:

Of Amateur Singers and iPods
I am sort of proud of this post, pimping an amateur singer on YouTube. Plus an iPod obsession. I could have filled out the post a bit, but I was proud with the finished product.

This blog is currently moving
There was a little section on gifts that was written for the Christmas season, but it applies all year long. As far as a Christmas post goes, this one is a quasi-Christmas post.

Forced Promotion
A conversation between me and my boss, with a little bit of an interjection on what I was thinking, and a humorous look at what he was thinking. I can't however, read my boss' mind. I am not sure if it is because I don't have the ability, or he rarely thinks.

Warning: the next three posts are of an "adult" nature, and actually, two of the stories are fairly bizarre for me to write (written on a dare a while back). My favorite is the one concerning kissing.

My blog has also had a face-lift. I have gone through and tried to tag all of my erotic stories with the word "erotic," as well as used a tag for "favorite." Looking back, I should have used the word "popular" because the posts were mostly popular for past readers. Since I have more than 360 posts, I am not going to tag all of my posts, but I did want to at least tag a few of the older posts.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Wonderful Kwanzaa and Happy Hanukkah.

Of Amateur Singers and iPods

ysabellabrave
I have found a blogger (ysabellabrave in an unlikely place: youtube. I have been enjoying her for a while – on youtube. She sings, and the reason I have not mentioned her before is that, well, I assumed she was lip-syncing. In her latest video, she is holding her cat and you can tell it is her. For those of who have not seen streaming video, sometimes the sound and video are off a bit, something that makes her videos appear as if the audio and video comes from different sources (insert pithy but technologically accurate remark by prata that explains that they come from different sources).

She says she loves the blues, and I bet she does. But her voice reminds me of the sirens of the 1920s (and a bit earlier), and some of the stars of the 1930s and 1940s. Anyway, I open my browser and listen to the songs while I am working (and writing this blog). I don't watch the videos much – but, men, she is a cutie so you may want to watch! What I would love to do is convert the video to MP3 and take them with me on my iPod. I know, there are professional singers who may have more talent than she has, but I just enjoy her singing. I guess I finally get American Idol. And her performances remind me more of a live performance. Sorry. I am off on a tangent.

The only thing I don't know is if she is really who she says she is. Lonelygirl15 was supposed to be some high schooler, and she was a professional actress. Ysabellabrave represents herself as a fraud investigator that started singing lessons about a year ago. Oh, I believe her, but you know, I can be easily fooled.

iPod accessories
Okay, so I would love to get ysabellabrave on my iPod. Did I mention that I love my iPod? A love bordering on unhealthy obsession. Really. iPods are so freakin' addictive. Apple, please deposit money in my Paypal account for the free advertising. First, you invest lots of time converting your CDs to a format for your iPod, and then you learn about accessories.

The first accessory I got was an armband. Mobile tunes. Loved it. So I can ignore the world and listen to music. Great. Next thing I got was an FM transistor, so I could listen to my iPod in the car with my car stereo. Okay, the quality sort of sucks, but I got my iPod in my car now. So I can use my iPod when I am walking and in my car.

What next. iHome, specifically the i iH36W, an under-the-kitchen-cabinet iPod and Shuffle Stereo Player with FM/TV/Weather Band and Remote Control. Say that several times quickly. So I can listen to my tunes when in the kitchen, chopping onions. Hey, people, I chop a lot of onions.

The next thing I got was some cables to pipe the iPod music into the stereo. Cables so that whatever is on my iPod can get all the way to my entertainment center. Boys and girls – lets count the locations: while walking, in the car, in the kitchen, in the living room. What the hell would be next? The bathroom, dear readers, with the iLounge Toilet Paper Dispenser. And y'all thought I was going to take my iPod in the bedroom. No thanks. I love listening to ysabellabrave, but I am not sure I would be able to listen to her again after, well, you know.

This blog is currently moving

Blogger
Okay, all day yesterday, there was a message: "This blog is currently moving." I had written my post yesterday, and as in previous postings, asking if I would want to move my blog. I have read that eventually all blogger blogs will be converted, so my mind changed and I knew that I would have to eventually change. I thought to myself, "what the hell," it should only take a few minutes.

I mean, the message did say that most blogs would take a couple of minutes to convert. Nearly eight hours later, the blog finished its conversion process. Thanks, blogger. Well, the good news is that it appears that the posts made it. Not all of the comments did however. For instance, mal made a comment yesterday, and she became anonymous after the conversion. Sorry, sweetie.

Comfort Zones
~deb has a really interesting post today, in "Waters to Swim..."
Have you heard about the frog that was born at the bottom of the well? He thought life couldn’t get any better till one day he looked up and saw daylight. Climbing up to investigate, he was amazed to find a much larger pond than the one he lived in. After hopping twice, he was eaten by a snake.

Okay, ~deb's post actually started a lot better than that. I am all about taking some chances. But sometimes when you expand your world, a snake eats your ass.

Receiving Gifts
I received a wonderful gift yesterday. I was running around, in a hurry, and I stopped in the local Walgreens. Well, it was not one near where I live, but I wanted a soda on the way to do some other errands. So here I am in line, behind a woman who was counting single dollars and coins to make a purchase.

All of a sudden, her face went ashen, and I could tell she did not have enough for her purchases. Her total was around $36 dollars. I never spend that much in Walgreens. Anyway, I felt for the woman. Looking at my watch, I formed an idea.

I gave the cashier two crisp twenties, asked him to scan my soda and said I was with her. After scanning my soda, I told the woman to grab the change and I would be out in the car. I left, and as I was driving away, I saw her start walking down the street.

I don't know who this woman was, just some frail old lady with kind eyes and years of work etched into her hands. I sometimes wonder if I offended her; I hope not. Since she was already wondering which item to put back, I think her mind was not on me, but on her next step.

I am a nut about "giving trees." I like them because you can give and still remain anonymous. Our church has one, the local convenience store, the grocery store, schools. I love giving for the feeling I get. And I try to remain anonymous because I think it is important to give for the right reasons. The only reason I am writing about it here is – well two-fold – perhaps I can inspire others, and well, I have nothing to write about today and this fills space.

One thing I did do a few years ago is ask my hubbie to actually purchase items for the church giving tree. I pulled two "angels" (paper angels with ages and sexes of needy kids) and sent him to the store to make purchases. He is a bit of a tightwad, and I wanted him to loosen his purse strings. Well, not purse strings, but you get the idea. It was very hard for him to do, and he complained that he was spending more on strangers than our own family's children. Yeah, it was painful for him.

The next year, I gathered two more "angels" (two church-goers = two angels) and planned on purchasing them myself. I just did not want to inflict more pain. I am a bitch; I am, however, not heartless. Funny thing is that hubbie picked up an additional angel and asked if he could again purchase the gifts. Blew my freekin' mind.

Hopefully this "new blogger" will improve. Perhaps I will kick my writing up a notch as well. After all, I am not heartless.

Emerald Green Dresses and Listening Ears

Oh, I am tired today. It is only 8:00 am, and I want to go home. Whine, whine, whine.

But I am sort of glad that I am tired. You see, I had a very busy weekend.

Friday and Saturday night, I went to parties. Hubbie is in a job where, well, let's just say I often say that he is in the smoozing business. Anyway, the Saturday night party was his, and his office gives the best parties.

This year I sort of cheated. You see, I wore the same dress for both parties. Part of the reason, well, the entire reason is that I found this fantastic dress – a wonderful emerald green, velvet dress. Not the type of dress I could wear any time of the year. A dress that makes me feel, well, elegant. Does that make sense at all?

We were treated to a nice dinner, not a fantastic dinner. Rubber chicken aside, the salad was crisp, the conversation was light, and I had a good time.

You know, I will tell you a little secret: my hubbie's friends say that I am fascinating, that I am charming. Okay, I am both fascinating and charming. But hubbie's friends have no idea. They really don't. When I go to these things, all I do is listen to people. I ask questions about their lives, and I listen to them. That makes me charming and fascinating. Sort of funny.

I like listening to other people's lives, their stories. In fact, if you go through some of my older stories, my best stories are of other people. That does not make me less fascinating than most, it just means that I have caught glimpses of other people's lives. And their lives just draw me in.

I started writing this at 8:00 am, and it is not 9:30 am. I am still a little tired, and Sunday was a "day of rest." Funny how partying on Friday and Saturday left me resting Sunday, something a good Catholic girl was supposed to do anyway.

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Looks like I can't switch from Blogger Beta, just like ~Deb. When I tried switching from blogger to beta blogger, I got the following information:

Why can't I switch to Blogger in beta?
While the new version of Blogger is still in beta, some users with certain types of blogs will not be able to switch to it. We'll be adding support for these blogs as soon as possible, so everyone can join in the fun. But for now, if you have any of the following on your account, you'll need to hold off for a bit:

A very large blog. (More than a couple thousand posts + comments.)

Note that, even if your blog is eligible to switch, you may not have the link to do so on your dashboard. We are starting out by just switching over a limited number of accounts, but we'll add more and more as time goes on. However, if you still want to try out Blogger in beta, what you can do is to visit beta.blogger.com and create a new account. Later on, you'll be able to merge this account with your original Blogger account.

Thanks for your patience, and we promise it will be worth the wait!

Blogger Farewells

I have heard from two people recently, Ddot and Grant. Ddot has not written in a month, and Grant has given up blogging for good. I have written before when talented writers leave blogger. Even hacks that I have enjoyed reading.

But blogging normally does not lead to cash, and after blogging for a year or so, many drop out. Side note: sort of reminds me of a Jules Renard quote: "Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money."

Grant told me about Sarcasmo, who passed away recently. I have not actually visited Sarcasmo's blog before she died, but her last post was poignant. It starts out: "My PC fan is slowly dying. I'm hoping it will wait till after the holidays to give up the ghost. With all of Scrooges fellas flying about, we're up to our ears in ghosts already. (Also, if this post ends abruptly, you'll know why. Just in case, I'll be trying to back some thing up over night tonight. In either case, forgive my brevity.)"

Her last post was on December 7th. And that's it. Judging from her blogroll, she kept up with lots of blogs, and I am sure her absence will be (is) felt. Sort of like removing a flower from the flowerbed. Immediately, you notice the whole, and every flower around knows the absence. Over time, rain and wind and whatever starts filling the whole, and either flowers start crowding the spot or new seeds take root. But the flower was there, and over time, the missing flower is less noticeable. But the dirt never fully fills the whole. And some of the flowers always remember.

Now I didn't know Star (Sarcasmo), and I am not implying that her passing resembles a missing flower. During the holidays, we sometimes are reminded of those in our families that are no longer with us. Oh, it was Uncle Fred's job to cut the turkey, and well, Uncle Jeff just does not look as confident when wielding the carving knife. Grandma always loved the smell of cinnamon at Christmas. Whatever the thoughts tend to be. I guess I am just noticing wholes in my garden, both in blogland and outside of blogland. Even co-workers who are no longer with us.

On a separate note, Eric Case was asked recently about Blogger Beta. As you know, I have not switched, but I think I am going to switch soon. For me, I will be saying farewell to blogger, and trying out this beta version of the product. It appears that we will all need to change soon. My guess is that the mad rush to the exit will create more problems (key the impending doom music). So if this blog disappears, please blame Google, and not some blood clot that has made its way to my brain.