Time for Phoxxe's Saturday Scruples!

1. You're an M.D. A patient asks you for a sick note. She took time off work to visit a daughter who just had a baby. Do you provide the note? Unless we were good friends, no. On the other hand, though, if the people in her office were real assholes about it and she could lose her job, then yes.

2. In a supermarket, you send dozens of packages tumbling into the aisle. No one sees you. Do you tip toe away? No, I would probably pick them up.

3. A colleague is out of her office. You notice her paycheck stub on her desk. Do you glance at it? It would be hard not to, but I probably wouldn't. Well, unless all I had to do was look over there and not move anything. Then I just might.

.: 146 words at 05:04 PM in Saturday Scruples, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Thanks to the always wonderful Kristine, I was introduced to some fabulous wallpapers at Liquidsoft.com. They are gorgeous and I downloaded a bunch of them. Thanks for the link, sweetie! :-)

.: 33 words at 07:22 PM in Geeky Things, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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And now, time for today's Friday Five!

1. What is your current occupation? Is this what you chose to be doing at this point in your life? Why or why not? Currently I am a project manager at 4 Guys Interactive. I like it, but I'm having some frustrations right now. When I was younger, I thought I'd be doing research in psychology (after all, that's what my degree is in), but I am definitely much happier being in an environment that deals with the web.

2. If time/talent/money were no object, what would your dream occupation be? Professional Texas Hold 'Em poker player or a digital photographer.

3. What did/do your parents do for a living? Has this had any influence on your career choices? My dad is a lather (a type of construction worker) and my mom works in the MIS department in a local school district. My parents always stressed that I needed to go to college and get a good job. Their belief in me that I could do or be anything definitely had an impact on my career choices, encouraging me to leave a secretarial job that I got right out of college and get into the tech industry.

4. Have you ever had to choose between having a career and having a family? No.

5. In your opinion, what is the easiest job in the world? What is the hardest? Why? Hmmm. That job where all you do is taste ice cream for a living has got to be the easiest. As for the hardest, I can think of a lot that are hard for different reasons. Doing manual labor in the Texas weather is hard, but so is being a doctor. Personally, one of the hardest jobs would have to be being an ER doctor where you only have seconds to make a decision that could kill or save someone.

.: 319 words at 12:02 AM in Friday Five!, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (3) :.

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I just posted eleven new pictures over at Picture Fish. A couple are my Theme Thursday images, but they also include various animals seen during my trip to PetSmart with Christine, a few more mirror images, and a funny pose by Bella. This brings the total images in Picture Fish to over 200 in just under two months.

.: 60 words at 09:45 PM in Picture Fish Update, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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This week is Banned Books week. Out of the 100 most frequently banned books I've read at least thirty of them and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite books of all time. Please visit Michele's Banned Books Project and offer her your support.

.: 48 words at 08:34 PM in Linky Love, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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Night Moves by Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band always makes me feel melancholy no matter how many times I've heard it.

.: 23 words at 08:26 PM in Daily Ramblings, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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An Islamic court in Nigeria rejected an appeal from a single mother, Amina Lawal Kumari, who was sentenced to death by stoning. She was found guilty of adultery last March after giving birth to a child outside of marriage. The courts have decreed that as soon as her child is weaned, the sentence is to be carried out. Please urge Nigerian officials to prevent the courts from killing her.

.: 70 words at 08:03 PM in Take Action!, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (5) :.

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It's time for Dave's Thursday Thumb-Twiddler!

1. If you were to discover that your closest friend is a heroin dealer, what would you do? I would try and get them to stop dealing. If I couldn't, I don't think I could remain friends with them, but I doubt I could turn them into the police.

2. Having learned to a moral certainty that the world is going to end in six months, what one thing would you do for the first time? I would travel to Greece and Italy - two places that I have to go to before I die. I would also try skydiving.

3. If you could create a memorial to yourself in a city park, what would it be? A koi pond filled with fish. It would have benches around it and lots of trees so people could sit in the shade and people-watch, read, or whatever makes them happy.

.: 155 words at 07:18 PM in Thursday Thumb-Twiddler, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Time for Deb's Thursday Threesome!

Onesome. Small. Is it a small world? In how many miles of space do you live your life? Pretty small space, actually. I live less about seven miles from my office and I usually have lunch within a mile or two of work. Most of the time when Steven and I go out to dinner on the weekends, we go to one of several restaurants nearby. We used to go out more often, but the older I get (yeah, because I'm so old at twenty-seven), the less I feel like going out on the weekends.

Twosome. Spiral. Ever felt as if you were on a downward spiral? How did you pull out of it? About seven years ago or so my ex-fiancee and I broke up. He was my high school boyfriend and we'd been together for five years. I was very devastated. Luckily I had some good friends who helped me through it all by just being there for me. I will always be grateful to them for all of the support they gave me.

Threesome. Notebook. Notebooks and pens and crayons and glue...when you think about school supplies, what do you most remember? Crayons. I love crayons. I used to just look at all the pretty colors in my box of sixty-four crayons and just sit mesmerized. Jeanna gave me a coloring book of sea life that works like stained glass and I need to get some crayons and start coloring.

.: 249 words at 07:15 PM in Thursday Threesome, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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I've been a slacker big time over the last few weeks and haven't done anything that I should. Here's the latest list of things I need to do.

.: 129 words at 07:04 PM in To Do Lists, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Has anyone else not been getting their Amazon.com Gold Box Offers for the last few days? I haven't been offered any for at least the past two days.

.: 28 words at 02:06 AM in The Gold Box, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (7) :.

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Man, I was exhausted today and not feeling all that well, so I came home and napped on the couch. I'm still feeling kind of crappy, so now that I've posted today's images over at Picture Fish I am back off to the couch to watch some Tivo with Steven and relax. Everyone have a pleasant evening!

.: 57 words at 11:11 PM in Daily Ramblings, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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As Camille has pointed out, I am always with my camera in case a perfect picture opportunity pops up. With that in mind, today's "It's a Group Thing" term is:

A Necklace of Cameras

.: 34 words at 11:10 AM in It's a Group Thing, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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Looking for something to do? Try playing Name That Blog!

(Link courtesy of Kristine)

.: 15 words at 11:02 PM in Entertainment Value, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I'm back from my first yoga class and so far, I think I like it. We mostly laid or sat in the floor and practiced breathing and then did some candle-gazing meditation at the end. I wasn't really sure what I was going to get from this, but thinking about it on the way home, I came up with a couple of answers.

First of all, my lower back hurts a lot and I tend to slouch. By doing all these stretches and strengthing the muscles, hopefully I'll see some improvement there.

Secondly, and probably most importantly, I tend to stress over a lot of stuff (gee, wonder why I have gastritis and stomach problems?) and worry. I'm hoping that by learning how to get more balance into my life, I can stop killing myself from stress.

Anyway, like I said, I think I like it so far, but it's too early to tell how beneficial or how much I'll end up liking it. I do know that it's not as easy as I thought it would be! Keeping my legs extended in the air for several minutes is pretty challenging! Boy, do I need to get back in the gym!

.: 201 words at 10:22 PM in Fish Tales, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (4) :.

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I'm leaving soon for yoga. Here's hoping Jeanna and I don't laugh hysterically at every thing and get seperated from one another. :-)

.: 23 words at 05:07 PM in Fish Tales, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Time for Christine's This-or-That Tuesday:

• CandyLand or Chutes and Ladders?
CandyLand. We used to play this all the time when we were kids.
• Barbie or GI Joe?
GI Joe. I never was one for dolls.
• Play-Doh or Silly Putty?
Silly Putty.
• Lincoln Logs or Tinkertoys?
Tinkertoys.
• The Game of Life or Monopoly?
Monopoly!
• Etch-a-Sketch or Lite-Brite?
Both, but Lite-Brite was better.
• The Slinky: metal or plastic?
Metal.
• Easy-Bake Oven or Sno-Cone Machine?
Sno-Cone Machine.
• Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars?
Hot Wheels.
• Spirograph or Paint-by-Numbers?
Spirograph.

.: 86 words at 12:51 AM in This-or-That Tuesday, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Just ignore this if you don't know the terminology:

Argh! How can you call with third pair all the way down to catch a card on the river? How can you call with NOTHING on the flop to catch runner runner for a flush? How can you be so stupid and so lucky? Die, you idiot fucking players, die!

.: 59 words at 09:45 PM in In the Cards, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Jeanna and I are starting yoga tomorrow. I thought it would be a good idea to start since I've been having anger management issues, but I wonder if I'll be able to keep a straight face tomorrow when we learn how to breathe. Anyone take yoga? Fun? Boring? Stupid? A good idea?

.: 52 words at 07:49 PM in Fish Tales, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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If you've ever been to my photolog, you can tell that I am obsessed with mirror images. I got one today that I am particularly proud of - Cruising.

.: 31 words at 06:44 PM in Picture Fish Update, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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I know that I haven't read as much of the MT User Manual as I should have, but Jason has converted the MT User Manual so that you can read it on a PDA. Go get it here.

.: 39 words at 06:02 PM in Geeky Things, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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It's Monday, so time to start the week out right with Jess's Participation Positives!

• Bella spent her first night out with us and not in the bathroom and she didn't get into anything
• I StairMastered for forty minutes both Saturday and Sunday and feel that this is an easy extra step I can add to lose weight
• We have a new The Dead Zone episode to watch
• I'm still taking and posting one picture in Picture Fish every day. Plus, I think I've gotten some great pictures.
• I used my credits at SnapFish and got ten free pictures
• Jeanna and I are starting yoga tomorrow
• I love and am loved

.: 111 words at 05:52 PM in Participation Positives, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Once again, nothing even vaguely tempting in my Amazon.com Gold Box Offers.

.: Hamilton Beach 04161 TrueAir HEPA Air Purifier with UV Germicidal Light: I don't have any allergies, so I've never felt compelled to buy one of these.

.: 143 words at 05:38 PM in The Gold Box, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Here's PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.33:

1. Many children have blankets, or a favorite nubby stuffed animal that
they like to keep near them for security. Do you recall what you had for
your "security blanket" as a child? When did you finally give it up? What
brought that about?
I had a satiny soft blanket that had nursery rhymes and little blue bears
all over it. I think my mom still has a corner of it in my baby book. I
can't remember when I gave it up, though, or why I did.

2. Now that you are a big kid, what do you have to give you that same
sense of security?
Probably nothing, unless you count Steven as my security blanket.

3. With a little over four months left in 2002, have you accomplished
everything you wanted to for the year? Is there anything that you would like
to accomplish before the year is over?
I would like to lose five or ten pounds, learn Cisco, and win more poker
tournaments.

4. What modern convenience, if any,
do you think it would be good for children today to do without? What would
they gain?
This is a tough one. I personally played a lot of video games when they
came out, but I think kids today are definitely too dependent on things of
that nature for their entertainment. I think if they read more, they would
be smarter and hopefully they'd do more physical activity and be healthier.
It's appalling how unhealthy kids have become in this society.

5. Many of us have one thing in which we believe we excel. What do you do
better than most?
Does reading count as a special skill? I read really fast and have great
retention. Otherwise, I have no idea. Boy, I feel like a big loser!

6. What High School "clique"
did you find yourself in? Was it by choice or did it just happen? Did you
look down on other groups? (Aw it's ok, it was/is High School, we all did
dumb stuff)
I was a band geek, a good kid, and a brain, but I never really looked down
on other people and I had friends in all kinds of cliques. I guess since I
was in advanced classes and spent all my time at band, I just sort of fell
into the groups I was in.

7. (it begins) I have great news! I won the contest and we now have plane
tickets to anywhere in the world. The bad news is we have to pick a place
now and leave in the morning. I can't decide where to go, so you get to
pick. Where should we go, and what is the first thing we should do when we
get there?
Let's go to Italy! The first thing we should do when we get there is find a
little Italian cafe to have some pasta and marvel at our fortune!

BONUS: Must I beg you?
Well, depends on what you want. ;-)

.: 508 words at 05:36 PM in Monday Missions, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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I'm nominated for several different categories over at The Bloggys, so if you're so inclined, please go vote for me. Thanks!

.: 22 words at 08:24 AM in Geeky Things, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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A few camera items in my Amazon.com Gold Box Offers gives me hope that maybe something will be worth buying eventually.

.: Wooden 3-in-1 Toybox: nice looking, but I've got no kids.

.: 180 words at 07:05 PM in The Gold Box, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Time for Chris's Sunday Op-Ed!

1. Elementary School
What was an okay time, but I don't really remember a great deal of? I do remember that I was picked on a fair amount, but nothing too bad.

2. High School
What is a pretty good time in my life? I was in band and we kicked ass, I had some really good friends, and I was generally pretty happy.

3. College
What is something that I regret all I did was work and study while I was there? I never went to parties or had any fun in college. Shame I didn't take advantage of that when I could.

.: 110 words at 06:24 PM in Sunday Op-Ed, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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