It took me a while to get it finished because I just couldn't make it work, but finally I asked for and took some good advice from some other designer type folks and just did it.

View the new Blue Mermaid graphic layout at Alicorna, if you're interested.

I'm going to hire some witch doctor or voodoo priestess to put a curse on our server. Not on the people who use it legitimately, but on those who break into it illegally. The more they mess things up, the worse the curse will be. Sort of like the curse of the mummy, only I don't think I'd want it to be fatal unless, well, they do something really awful that just has such strong kickback that it knocks them on their arse permanently.

The only witches I know are white witches, and I don't know if a curse of this sort falls into the realm of white magic... I mean, I personally think it would because it'd mostly be a sort of "get what you give" type thing, and if people didn't mess with the server, there wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not a witch so I don't have details on what would or wouldn't be permissible.

So, hey, if you know any voodoo priestesses or witch doctors or similar in the Melbourne area, do let me know. I'm getting pretty friggin tired of cleaning up the mess left by incompetent twerps who managed to worm their slimy way into my system via some teeny hole that they heard about on some l33t board for hax0rs. May they never have a moment's peace or profit from any illegal activity. So be it.

Lots of new pictures in the Picture Gallery now, including pictures from our trip to Ballarat yesterday, plus a bunch of other new stuff. Details in the Gallery.

Okay, I finally got my act together and processed new pictures of the little girls, and their gallery is now officially up to date (as of yesterday, when we took a trip to Ballarat).

You're welcome to go have a look at their gallery if you're interested.

I slept really well last night, and I don't have a backache today. Yay!

The sound sleep was probably because we put flannel sheets on the bed. Mmmmmm. COMFY! And very pleasantly warm (getting cold is a problem I frequently have).

Yesterday I got myself some inserts for my shoes. They're supposed to support your arches and align your feet so that you don't have heel/ankle/leg/back pain (whatever the issue might be; I have all of the above, especially the feet). So I wore them all day yesterday and although they feel kinda funny in there, by golly, my feet feel pretty okay today (still a little stiff, but it's an improvement), and my back feels remarkably good, which may be partly related to the good sleep.

Slowly, through trial and error, I'm figuring out how to manage this stupid disorder that I have to live with...

Currently taking (every day): A natural pain relief tablet (herbal, plus magnesium, vitamin E and a some other minerals), a soy-based menopause relief tablet (not that I'm menopausal, but it helps with hormonal stuff and prevents the occasional hot flash that I do get), 1500 mg of magnesium (taken in 500mg doses three times a day), calcium tablets with added vitamin D, zinc, copper, and manganese (1 tablet two times a day, a total of 1200mg of calcium), ginko biloba (3 times a day), and one acidophilus bifidus tablet (to keep my intestinal bacteria in good health and counteract the effects of the codeine I frequently have to take to manage pain). I have also been known to take a general multi-vitamin, but I haven't been lately and I don't seem to be missing it (I might look into it again; I need the iron as I tend to be borderline anemic, though that's not related to the FMS).

Sound like a lot? Yeah, it is. I had to get one of those pill holder things with the little compartments so I'd remember what I'd already taken and what I still needed to take. BUT... after lots of trial and error (the spirulina didn't do much at all, for what it's worth) and elimination trials, I've found that this stuff actually helps. Whew.

United States President George W Bush's intervention for Terry Schiavo has opened old wounds in Texas where death penalty opponents say his words of support for a "culture of life" ring hollow after so many executions during his time as governor of the state.
 
Bush said he stepped into the Schiavo case because the US should have "a presumption in favour of life," but critics said there were 152 executions in Texas during his administration, including some in which the convict's guilt was in doubt.
 
"It's hypocrisy at a thousand levels," said University of Houston law professor and death penalty defence lawyer David Dow.
 
"I saw many, many cases where there was substantial doubt about whether someone was guilty or whether the death penalty was the appropriate sentence, but he never said anything," said David Atwood, head of the Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. "I really can't say he cares about life."

Okay, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I like Dan Fogelberg. He was one of those 70s singer/songwriters and his music is well-constructed, thoughtful, and has some very beautifully-crafted lyrics.

He was also, with his long, dark hair and beard and beautiful green eyes, damned good looking (always a bonus, IMHO).

Dan Fogelberg wrote my favorite love song of all time, Longer. I always hoped someday I'd have someone to sing it to, someone who really fit the lyrics (and I do).

The album I happen to be listening to at the moment is actually Phoenix (which does have Longer on it). I haven't listened to it in a long time. I'm really glad I pulled it out of the hundreds of other CDs today and popped it into the player. I'm really enjoying it.

Along the road
Your path may wander
A pilgrim's faith may fail
Absence makes the heart grow stronger
Darkness obscures the trail.
Cursing the quest
Courting disaster
Measureless nights forebode
Moments of rest
Glimpses of laughter
Are treasured along the road.

Rock's Oldest Joke: Yelling 'Freebird!' In a Crowded Theater

I was talking to someone today was was unaware that there's actually a whole geek sub-culture. I'm not surprised that some people don't know this, because unless you actually are a geek, or work with geeks, you're not too likely to know, so it's cool if you don't know.

But, I thought to myself, "Self, if she doesn't know, maybe other people don't, either. I know! I can blog about it!" And so I am.

Yes, there is a geek sub-culture. You see, "geekness" is NOT just about using computers or being into certain kinds of hobbies. Being a geek is... It's just who you are. You don't choose to be a geek. You just ARE one. You can learn all about computers or the internet or electronics or astronomy or rocket science or whatever, and it doesn't make you a geek. Geeks are born, not made. It's a peculiar way of perceiving the world. And just for the record, there are geeks with all kinds of interests, including history, physics, anthropology, art, journalism, literature, you name it. It is in no way limited to computers or things relating to them.

There are, of course, flavors of geeks. There are, among other, girlgeeks, freaky geeks, bearded-bespectacled chubby geeks, guru geeks, tall skinny geeks, fat geeks, many variations and possible permutations. But they're all geeks, and they all have the same kind of peculiarly shaped brain that perceives the world differently, in the same general way. And please note that only SOME geeks are nerds! Some geeks wear leather and have tattoos and ride motorcycles, so don't think geek automatically means pocket protector and runny nose and dorky clothes, okay?

This is why there's a geek subculture. Geeks get together, they find themselves with like minded people, a sub-culture forms. Perfectly normal human behavior, really.

It's very hard to describe WHY geeks are geeks. We (yes, I am most certainly a geek, as any geeks who know me can testify) tend to stand apart a bit, not necessarily by choice, and we observe. The fool on the hill, you know, sees the sun going down, but the eyes in his head see the world spinning round... As a result, we have somewhat different ways of socializing (Yeah, yeah, we tend to like D&D or SCA, so what? LOL!).

Leonardo Da Vinci was a geek (BIG time!). Gallileo was a geek, and so was Tycho (Tycho got his nose cut off in a duel over the solution to a complex math problem, for pity's sake). Isaac Newton was a geek. Bill Gates is not only a geek, he's also a nerd. I could probably go on. It's not hard to spot geeks, once you see their work and what they spent their time doing.

There are lots of places on the net where you can see geeks in normal geeky interaction. Among them are Slashdot (probably the geekiest community I can think of) and kuro5hin. Hang around a while, read the stuff people write and how they write it.

And the geeks shall inherit the earth. (Oh, come ON, you KNEW I was going to end this little essay with a Biblical pun, didn't you? Didn't you, really?)

A few hours later, and I'm feeling MUCH better. I managed to push myself to that "Oh, no, now everything hurts and I'm exhausted," phase and, then, pushed right into "Hey, I feel pretty good now!"

I don't understand the mechanism here, but I'm thinking it might be endorphins. It's definitely related to doing certain kinds of tiring exercise, though. I know that I MUST exercise regularly (or I ache all over) and I know that if I do too much of the wrong kind of exercise I'll pay for it later, but certain kinds of exercise seem to actually help, although not always immediately.

I'm thinking it's aerobic exercise (that really gets the heart going) is what does the trick.... Hmmmm. Perhaps I should get on my exercise machine (one of those air walker deals) just a bit more often than I do....

I overdid it today, and now I'm paying for it. I'm hurting all over and I'm really exhausted. And I'm upset about something, something that I pretty much deserve to be upset about, but knowing I deserve it doesn't make it hurt any less.

I know, because I know myself well, that I'll just have to wait, and try not to push myself, and eventually it'll become tolerable again... all of it.

America Online quells public criticism of changes to its AIM terms of service, insisting the controversial privacy clause does not pertain to user-to-user instant messaging communication.
 
"You waive any right to privacy. You waive any right to inspect or approve uses of the content or to be compensated for any such uses," according to the AIM terms of service.

Kiss me, I'm not at all Irish! (No, I'm not, not even a little bit, as far as anyone who has ever done geneology on my family can tell.)

Funniest St Patrick's Day thing I've personally seen was a parade in Melbourne with a marching band comprised completely of bagpipe players (yes, those are Scottish), wearing kilts, but instead of tartans, the costumes were solid fields of green and gold (Australia's national colors). And, as if that wasn't peculiar enough, they were playing "Waltzing Matilda".

Ah, Melbourne. I love it here.

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules.

So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife.

However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends.

After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife

Subject: I've Arrived

Date: January 27, 2005

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P. S. Sure is freaking hot down here!

Gladys Adams Crump is a storyteller, a spinner of tales. She has a million stories and will talk forever if you let her. Her stories are mostly about rural Tennessee and her life growing up on a farm with a large family of eleven children.

Well worth reading. Very entertaining.

Have you ever...

(x) snuck out of the house
(x) gotten lost in your city
(X) saw a shooting star
(x) been to any other countries besides the united states
(x) had a serious surgery
(x) gone out in public in your pajamas
(x) kissed a stranger
(x) hugged a stranger
(x) been in a fist fight
( ) been arrested
(x) laughed and had milk/coke come out of your nose
(x) pushed all the buttons on an elevator
(x) swore at your parents
(x) been in love
(x) been close to love
(x) been to a casino
( ) been skydiving
(x) broken a bone
(x) skinny-dipped
(x) skipped school
(x) flashed someone
(x) saw a therapist
(x) done the splits
(x) played spin the bottle
(x) gotten stitches
( ) Tried to drink a whole gallon of chocolate milk in one hour
(x) bitten someone
(x) been to niagara falls
( ) gotten the chicken pox
(x) kissed a member of the opposite sex
( ) kissed a member of the same sex
( ) crashed into a friend's car
( ) been to japan
(x) ridden in a taxi
(x) been dumped
(x) shoplifted
(x) been fired
( ) had a crush on someone of the same sex
(x) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( ) gone on a blind date
(x) lied to a friend
(x) had a crush on a teacher
( ) celebrated mardi-gras in new orleans
(x) been to europe
(x) slept with a co-worker
(x) been married
(x) gotten divorced
(x) had children
( ) seen someone die
(x) had a close friend die
( ) been to africa
(x) driven over 400 miles in one day
(x) been to canada
(x) been to mexico
(x) been on a plane
(x) seen the rocky horror picture show
( ) thrown up in a bar
(x) eaten sushi
( ) been skiing/snowboarding
(x) met someone in person from the internet
(x) lost a child
(x) gone to college
( ) graduated college
(x) tried killing yourself
(x) fired a gun
(x) purposely hurt yourself
(x) taken painkillers
(x) miss some one

So lately I haven't written much, and what I have written hasn't been all that entertaining. This is mostly because I've got a very busy schedule this year, with two little kids in pre-school, one of whom also has special early intervention therapy group and speech therapy.

I'm not actually complaining, although I do feel like I've got very little quality time when I'm not having to do something for somebody else somewhere.

To quote a former boss of mine, "I miss not having a life. I got a lot more done." (Hi, Aaron!)

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

As I've mentioned, I've been playing with a new digital diversion, digital scrapbooking. I was so pleased with the results of the projects I've done so far that I thought I'd show them off, so I made a new catagory for them in the Photo Gallery.

I've discovered a new digital creativity interest. Digital scrapbooking. I've already done one for Andrew's and my wedding (and very pleasant memories it aroused, too), and I may do one or two with my vintage photos, and certainly I'll have to do some for the little girls and... and... and.... *laugh*

Anyway, it's a pretty intriguing hobby. Now I just need to settle on a local printer who can do digital files in art-quality prints (and I think I may have found one, too).

I admit, I didn't know that March was DVT Awareness Month, but this journal entry both enlightened me and made me realize just why it's so important to, well, be aware.

Somebody threatened to sue me today. Well, he said he wouldn't, but that he could, which of course isn't actually true. He claimed that my referring to him in a semi-private forum as a dipshit was slander (or libel).

Well, guess what? It's not. First of all, I didn't use his real name because I don't even know it. Secondly, calling someone a dipshit is opinion, and that's not something you can sue someone over. I'm free to hold any opinions I want of anyone I want. It's only slander/libel when and if a statement is "injurious to a person's good name or reputation" and since I didn't use his name, it can't apply. There are other legal technicalities, as well, such as you have to have presented as fact something untrue such as saying they committed a crime (and it's not a crime to be a dipshit), and you have to be in a position to present the statements with some weight (such as being a newspaper or similar source).

So, hey, he's welcome to have his laywer contact me. I still think he's a dipshit.

And, yes, I fell off the wagon of avoiding unnecessary pissing matches, I'm sorry to say. Every time that happens, I end up regretting it. Not necessarily that I regret my opinion (in fact, his lawsuit nonsense just reinforced it for me, as he's just demonstrated that he really doesn't have a clue what he's talking about), but I do regret having entered into the fray of a pointless argument.

Ah, well. I'll just get back on the wagon and try to avoid that sort of thing. I'm always happier when I do.

I've participated in Blogsnob (free blog advertising) for ages. I didn't even mind too much when they introduced paid advertising, because it was infrequent and, hey, everyone's gotta make a living.

Today, though, I looked at my blog and found that they had introduced a butt ugly banner (BRIGHT BLUE!) that was literally destroying my site design by pushing the right-hand column much wider and forcing the content way down the page.

I went and logged in to see if I could choose a different ad or change the colors, but no. It's bright blue and far too big or nothing. I opted for nothing, particularly since when searching through the site to find out if there were any options I could change, etc., I got this:

insert into error_log (message) values ('stats.getStats() line 161: 'Ad ID' (Array) is not a valid format') You have an error in your SQL syntax near 'Ad ID' (Array) is not a valid format')' at line 1

All good things come to an end. This looks like the end of Blogsnob.

Okay, I admit I'm abivalent about Yahoo! (exclamation point and all), but I did find Yahoo! Netrospective: 10 years, 100 moments of the Web damned interesting.

And for the record, I've been on the net for more than ten years, and I remember most of the "100 moments", AND I remember when "yahoo" was just a listing of sites in someone's personal student account at Stanford. AND I had a couple of sites listed on it...

A simple fact of life is that if you make bad or careless decisions, you may have bad and careless results, some of which will negatively affect your life forever more. That's the way life works. There is NO mystery on this count.

Basically, every human being has to live with the short and longterm consequences of every decision they make. What they eat, how much they exercise, whether they pursue an education or not, whether or not to run that yellow light that's about to turn red, whether or not to buy things, whether or not to dive off a pier into possibly shallow water, and on and on and on. Some decisions are minor and have minor consequences. Some decisions appear to be minor and have huge consequences...

Is it "fair" that a stupid mistake can result in a lifetime of misery? No. But that's LIFE. Life isn't fair. We have to live with the consequences of our decisions, good and bad, casual and serious. That's just the way it is.

And for some reason, this simple, basic, rather obvious fact seems to elude millions of people.

I've just finished the redesign of The Zoë Zone. I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with the color of the visited links, but for the moment, they'll do. I am definitely happy with the overall design.

By the way, the previous site design, with the little fairies and the fairy dust, is available for use if anyone's interested (at the Alicorna site, in the web graphics freebies area).