look what you get when you search google for budgies! Cricket & Skye (second pic)!!!

it looks like a little church! i love it! i love gloucester too. too bad it is too far a commute! :(
4br 2ba 1449 sq ft 4160 sq ft lot, walk to beach

Wallabies snacking in Tasmania's legally grown opium poppy fields are getting "high as a kite" and hopping around in circles, trampling the crops, a state official said. Read articles

i am totally ready to start buying victorian glass doorknobs and brass art nouveau doorknobs and stained glass windows and butler bells but i don't know how many doors we'll have!

there is a real dearth of lovely miniature queen anne victorians with gazebo porches, stained glass windowseat turrets, high ceilings, crown moldings, fireplaces, wood floors, nooks, crannies, swimming pools, weeping willows and mulberry trees, checkerboard kitchen floors, claw foot tubs, etc etc in a 20 mile radius of my work

a farmhouse with a turret!


(that turret is a windowseat!!)


lovely pink victorian! (sadly, in haverhill)

berv & i have had lots of wildlife encounters of late.


first was a little turtle up in lowell that was crossing the road. we scooped him up and took him to dracut to a nice pond to live. he was very cute and was trying to walk as berv held him.

then we were in littleton and saw another turtle trying to cross a busy road. we turned around and went back and berv leapt out of the car one of the cars hit him before she could get to him, knocked him on his back and he was gone. it was horrible.

not five minutes later there was a little ribbon snake in the road that we stopped to help, but someone had hit him too, and his intestines were coming out the sides of him. berv was looking for something to kill him with, he was in so much pain, hissing the whole time, then he just curled up and died, before we could find something.

berv was in tears for most of that day.

then there was a bluejay sitting beside the road on the way to work. we scooped him up and brought him home, set him up with sunflower seeds and water and was looking for a wildlife rehabber and he died pretty quickly. berv buried him out back. he didn't have any external injuries.

yesterday, berv was late picking me up. she had to drive up to carlisle because a robin's nest had fallen out of a tree and it was raining. one of the bubs was dead, the smallest, but the other two were alive. one had fallen out of the nest. when she picked him up, he opened his beak wide for food. soo cute! when she picked up the nest with the other, he opened his beak wide for food too. the parents yelled at her the whole time. she had to duct tape the nest back into the tree. later in the evening, john called to say the parents were in the nest, taking care of their bubs!

berv is so good with the little critters. i think she should get a wildlife rehabber license. we are going to pick up a bird first aid kit for wildlife rehabbers online - so we can give them care before they get to the rehabber...

i have a core of favorite books i read again & again & again... i just finished mary cantwell's "manhattan, when i was young" for the upteenth time & am not re-reading may sarton's "journal of a solitude" for the bizillionth time. this is probably one of my most favorite books of all time. *LOVE* if i could only have one book for the rest of my life, this may just be it.

With its white sand and clear, blue water, Trinidad's Matura Beach looks like a postcard. It's a far cry from its recent past, when leatherback sea turtle carcasses littered the ground and kept tourists away.

Suzan Lakhan Baptiste's efforts have turned a beach from a leatherback turtle graveyard to a nesting colony.

"Twenty years ago, this was a graveyard," Suzan Lakhan Baptiste said of the six-mile stretch of beach near her home.

"The stench was horrendous. You could smell it for miles," she said.

Saddened and frustrated, Baptiste launched a crusade to help end the slaughter of the gentle giants. Today, she and her group are succeeding: What was once a turtle graveyard is now a maternity ward -- one of the largest leatherback nesting colonies in the world.

It hasn't been an easy fight for Baptiste or the turtles.

For 100 million years, the creatures have traveled the world's oceans, outliving the dinosaurs. Over the last 30 years, they have become critically endangered worldwide because of fishing, pollution and hunting.

For centuries, they've been hunted throughout the Caribbean for their meat and fins, and also for their eggs, which some people prize as aphrodisiacs.

"Turtles are in serious trouble," Baptiste said.

Every year, female leatherbacks make their way onto the beach, laying their eggs deep in the sand. It is a long, complicated ritual during which the enormous, slow-moving animals are easy prey for poachers.

"Leatherbacks [are] very vulnerable," Baptiste said. "They cannot pull their head and flippers back into the shell. They have no sense of defense to actually protect themselves."

By the 1980s, nearly one in three turtles that nested on Matura Beach were killed. When the government asked for volunteers to help protect the endangered creatures, Baptiste and several others answered the call. In 1990, they started Nature Seekers, one of Trinidad's first environmental groups.

For years, Baptiste and her group patrolled the beaches every night of turtle nesting season. She often walked alone until sunrise.

Locals mocked her efforts, calling her the "Turtle Police" or "Crazy Turtle Woman," yet her dedication to the unpaid work was fierce; when it conflicted with her day job, she quit and found a new job.

Leatherbacks were a vital source of income for some members of her village, and the poachers who prowled the beaches with machetes could be threatening. When Baptiste's then-husband was injured during a patrol, she became more determined to stand her ground.

"I was very vigilant," she said, adding that at times, she even got into physical fights.

But Baptiste persisted, and a prestigious award from the United Nations Environment Program helped validate her efforts. She and her group also worked hard to convince the villagers that using the turtles for eco-tourism could create a more sustainable income.

"I wanted to show that a turtle is [worth] so much more to us alive than dead," Baptiste said.

Gradually, her message of conservation turned the tide of public opinion, and after nearly two decades under Baptiste's leadership, Nature Seekers has largely won its battle. Today, the leatherbacks' survival rate on Matura Beach is virtually 100 percent.

"Here, turtle slaughter is a thing of the past," Baptiste proclaimed.

Even "Papa George," a village elder who used to hunt leatherbacks with his father, can attest to the cultural shift.

"Suzan brought around the change," he said. "They don't kill the turtles anymore ... because of the visitors."

Nearly 10,000 tourists a year, most of whom are Trinidadian, now visit Matura Beach, and many locals make a living by providing them with accommodations, food and souvenirs.

Since the beach is a prohibited area during the nesting season, Nature Seekers' members act as guides, explaining the turtles' ancient rituals to visitors. In addition, Baptiste and her colleagues gather data on the enormous creatures, tagging and weighing as many leatherbacks as they can. Video Watch Baptiste and her group weigh a leatherback turtle at night »

During peak season, they might see between 250 or 300 turtles a night. More than 5,000 leatherbacks nest in the area each year. The group's work is often cited as one of the most successful eco-tourism efforts in the Caribbean.

Still, turtle slaughter persists throughout the region, and Baptiste is working to help other groups learn from her success, most recently on the island of Dominica.

She finds joy in sharing her hard-earned knowledge.

"The passion that I feel, it burns me up," she said. "I have seen the fruits of our labor, and it can happen in every community." Video Watch how Baptiste helped end the slaughter of turtles in her community »

Her efforts -- and those of many others around the region -- are making a difference. While leatherbacks are still critically endangered worldwide, the Caribbean population has begun to rebound.

"When I got started, a lot of people thought I was crazy," Baptiste said, and she admits that she sometimes wondered if they were right. Reflecting on what she and her team have accomplished, she now believes it was worth it.
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"I love being crazy, you know?" she said, laughing. "Crazy with a passion, crazy with a dream -- totally environmentally crazy."

source: cnn

sent to HR & my supervisor:

Bizarrely, there is heat coming out of the vent directly over my desk so it has been sweltering all day. It is nearly June so I am not sure why heat instead of air conditioning is coming from it. Could you please see if they could fix it so that air conditioning comes out, or at the very least, no more heat comes out?

kids today!

jewelry surgically embedding right in yr eye! look!

read all about it

( don't look if you're squeamish! )

a loft calls for a fun and funky look, rather than my traditional victorian attic/fairytale garden look

i found a cool website of recycle art and many of these would be easy diy projects

( look! )

here are piccies of my favorite bathroom at Life Alive in Lowell.

There are motion-sensor chimes in the tub full of plants and Berv says there's a fountain too.. *love*

( +9 )

everything i have read sounds like it is just a NIGHTMARE to take up carpet and remove wallpaper. Carpet is often glued to the floor, or the pad beneath is glued onto the floor and it takes much fumey adhesive remover and scraping to remove. Wallpaper is just as bad, and forget about it if the previous owners wallpapered *over* wallpaper or painted over it.

this is especially bad if you are buying a loft condo whose windows do not open, thus NO VENTILATION. it would also have to air out a long time before it was safe to bring birds in.

the only solution i can see is to find a place that has NO WALLPAPER and NO CARPET.

this will make things more difficult.

i have no idea why anyone would ever intentionally wallpaper or install carpet. GROSS.

tech tips for chicks like: cooking videos, counting calories & clothes shopping!

i'm all for cute computers but spare me the offensive "women's marketing" please. this reminds me of that cellphone for women...

*fail*

read articles:

Let's market PCs like it's 1959 - Dell launches 'Della,' a Web site geared to women and 'cute' netbooks

Dear Della, Sexism Doesn’t Sell Laptops

'Della': Dell's very special site for women

Della's Newsflash: Chicks Dig Netbooks

Della website (this is their paid link from google adwords. if you want to view their site, at least make THEM pay for the displeasure!)

Skye is on her way to Angell memorial right now with Berv. She laid an egg even though she's had no contact with the boys for several weeks. Sometimes, when everyone's not hormonal, she gets to spend a Saturday flying around with the boys. She's going in for a Lupron shot and a calcium shot. I just made another bulk order for 5 pounds of cuttlebone. She rips through those like a snowstorm when she's feeling breedy. She was getting cozy with a bellball in her cage, softly chirruping sweet nothings into the bell, and moving herself around so that the ball was rolling up and down her back. hahah Even if you take her sexy toys away, she'll just climb up to the top of the cage in a corner and backflip so her back is against the bars and sliiiiiide down the cage so the bars stroke her back. she's insane.

i had a bad dream last night that dandelion was on the bottom of the cage upside down. so horrible.

last night i was holding dandy on my fingers and tickling her belly. she's such a sweet, friendly budgie.

only she and dilly are so friendly that you can pick them up at any time. cloude will get on your finger. galileo, cricket, and star don't like fingers and will only sit on you if you are having a millet party.

henry and dubbins are the sweetest of all, demanding skritches, always up to sit on a shoulder and have a dance. dubbins loves henry so much. dubbins makes this face that is the cutest face in the whole world. i always ask him to give me the face.

sweetpea is getting more & more curious about me. she'll come when you chirp for her & she'll sit on my finger without launching herself into outerspace. she has flights on one side now but still can't fly. she LOVES the budgies and follows them around everywhere. don't believe what you hear about bourke's parrots being loners or not liking toys or just sitting there doing nothing all day. she's very active & plays & loves the other guys.

we got pre-approval for both mycommunity and fha mortgage loans, but they are including berv on the mortgage so we wouldn't get as good a rate and we are required to pay 3% down. our previous preapproval was 0% down. so we'll have to wait & save. i have put some of my sites up for sale. maybe someone will buy them and no one else will buy the house & we can still get it. you never know!

cons:
steep backyard, potential drainage issues
bump-out shed with melting asbestos shingles/siding
some cracked/missing siding shingles
upstairs only goes half-way then flat roof of downstairs up to back windows (safety/drainage?)
city - far
city - safety
wallpaper
carpet
electric stove but can put in gas

( pics of melting bump-out shed asbestos shingles )

pros:
up off of street
lots of trees
big foyer
big closets
big rooms
gas
cute
big yard
first floor laundry
attic/basement storage
big soaker tub
updated bath
2 pkg spaces
in neighborhood we like
small park w/ gazebo across street
price
a million ceiling fans
wood stove

so i was up at 7am this morning to prepare to go to the bank when it opened! (i usually get up at 10:15!)

they told us that our pre-approval for the my community loan on the mass housing website was essentially useless, which we already knew. and they said they'd need proof of $$ like w2's from work & the websites, et al and sent us away.

we called our new realtor and withdrew the offer until we get financing in order.

we stopped by wendy's for a frosty and went down by the swamp to watch & feed a family of geese with 5 adorable goslings & a duck. soooo cute!

when i got to work, our new realtor's bank called & took my info over the phone & are going to try to get us a pre-approval by this evening.

cross your fingers!! don't let anybody else buy our house!

today i feel good, confident, years older, no anxiety, no wanting to hide under covers, no vomiturge! am v.v. excited!!

or as i would have said back in the day:

I AM VERY EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ugh.
so, the pre-qualifying letter for the my community mortgage from the mass housing website is apparently not a "real" pre-qualifying letter. though no-where on the site does it say the letter is not a real pre-qualifying letter. now we have to secure a new mortgage from some new bank ASAP, hopefully at a decent rate and hopefully with no downpayment and we have less days now to order an inspection, etc.

i knew we were in for a doosie when the sellers agent wanted us to tell them what the closing costs would be. isn't that what the real estate people figure out? how the hell should i know? good lord! i've never done this before. i don't even know what all is included in closing costs. i hope we don't have to pay a years mortgage insurance up front.

i knew everything that could go wrong would go wrong because that is life.

here we go!

i was going to go for my mid-day walk
but the path leads me beneath
a grove of flowering trees,
a hundred blossoms,
and twice as many bees

i was watching the talented mr ripley the other day and was reminded how great a Bunny phillip seymour hoffman would have made. last night i dreamt i met phillip seymour hoffman in a bookstore and told him i did the donna tartt site online and how back in the day everyone used to vote for him to be cast as bunny for the secret history movie and i asked him if he read donna tartt. he was very rude and would not acknowledge my existence. maybe it was the "back in the day"? hahahha

he totally exuuuuuudes Bunnyness!

me berv & john are starting a sing-along washtub jug band that covers old tv theme songs

here are some we are going to start working on

( Alice tv theme song lyrics )

( All in the Family tv theme song lyrics )

( Bosom Buddies tv theme song lyrics )

( The Brady Bunch tv theme song lyrics )

( Cheers tv theme song lyrics )

( Different Strokes tv theme song lyrics )

( The Dukes of Hazzard tv theme song lyrics )

( Family Ties tv theme song lyrics )

( The Facts of Life tv theme song lyrics )

( The Flintstones tv theme song lyrics )

( The Golden Girls tv theme song lyrics )

( The Greatest American Hero tv theme song lyrics )

( Growing Pains tv theme song lyrics )

( Happy Days tv theme song lyrics )

( The Jeffersons tv theme song lyrics )

( Laverne and Shirley tv theme song lyrics )

( The Love Boat tv theme song lyrics )

( Mad About You tv theme song lyrics )

( Mary Tyler Moore tv theme song lyrics )

( One Day at a Time )

( Silver Spoons tv theme song lyrics )

( Maude tv theme song lyrics )

( Three's Company tv theme song lyrics )

( Welcome Back Kotter tv theme song lyrics )

( Who's the Boss tv theme song lyrics )

i am seriously addicted to looking at houses. i spend most of every day looking at houses. when i'm not looking at houses i am reading other people's blogs about house-hunting or watching property virgins or my first place. i don't feel like doing anything else. i am seriously considering getting a real estate license just so i can go look at any of these houses i want to. houses are crack.

My long-time favorite house in Arlington is for sale, too bad it's nearly a mil!

( +2 )

A GORGEOUS house for sale in Lexington

( +5 )


I am in love with this porch

( and this porch, and this library )

we drove up to Salem today and got new tarot decks. we haven't been able to find any of ours since the move. I got TAROT OF A MOON GARDEN which has lovely fairytale-inspired illustrations with lots of butterflies dragonflies and is just gorgeous and so LAKE. i am very excited. we sat by the warf and watched a ship, went to a cool little cafe and had chai and zucchini bread.

we drove by the 50s ranch and walked around in the bee-infested backyard. it was bee-city. i'm calling it THE BEE HOUSE now. we drove by the 2 story colonial. i think that is the one we are leaning towards now. it's bigger than our current house (minus lot), has so many rooms, is all hard-wood floors and has so many nooks, crannies & charm (4 br/2ba), and a picket fence. we will just not open the windows, get central air & air purifiers. tada!

tonight is the season finale of United States of Tara!

good times!

i have been a long-time devotee of wordpress. i use it for a TON of my sites. it's much better than xoops or phpnuke or cutenews or any of the other thousand security-holed pieces of crap i have used in the past.

HOWEVER,

the more i use it the more i grow to hate it. when i am in the zone and want to quickly add a ton of articles to a site, wordpress makes me want to throw the computer out the window. it can take several minutes to add one post in the admin panel. and half the time it doesn't even post it.

today, for example, trying to add one bird article to my new backyard birding website - it failed to post EIGHT times before i gave up. and to post ONE article i was having to copy/paste stuff into a thousand different fields so i had to do all of that EIGHT times. even without carpal tunnel, that is JUST NOT FUN.

if i ever see this error message again, my computer will be out the window:

Your attempt to edit this post: "Cedar Waxwing" has failed.
Please try again.

any suggestions would be most appreciated. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it is so hard to not look at houses. I made it all the way to 5:30 and gave in and went to check my favorite real estate site ZipRealty. I checked my favorite house list and did a search of my area/price range. Now, as usual, I am depressed.

MUST NOT LOOK AT HOUSES. I quit smoking, I can do this. Berv says I should give up my housing shows too. I can give up House Hunters and Property Ladder and Flip This House (I LOVE ARMANDO!!) but I cannot give up Property Virgins or My First Place.

This is very sad. How very sad. Must make it through this.

Tonight I am working on sorting my room all out. Berv got my shelves & books up there. It's a big heaping pile of books and fripperies right now. Looks like a library exploded up there. Can't wait!

(dream: miniature queen anne, 1 3/4 floors, 1200 sq ft, turret w/ window seat, kitchen & bath with black & white checkerboard floor, claw foot tub, oak floors, slanty ceilings, bay windows, fireplaces, gas stove, gas heat, garage, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, w/d hookup, dishwasher, willow tree, mulberry trees, place for garden, min 1200 sq ft lot, end of dead end, in woburn/burlington/arlington/winchester)

i am going to try not to think about houses or real estate for the rest of the day!

we're not going to look at houses for awhile. it's depressing that we can only get 700 square feet of livable space or 1-2000 of needs serious rehab space in seedy neighborhoods.

i love love love the house we are in and we are going to concentrate on it for the foreseeable future. it is perfect & lovely. we are going to plant flowers and trees, pumpkins and strawberries. i have already planted sunflowers outside one of the kitchen windows, and narcissus around the porch and the lamppost.

i want a magnolia tree under my window, mulberry trees, and a willow tree.

we have moved all of my books into my room so now my room is a library and the livingroom is spacious and airy.

i want a swingset & a pool but berv doesn't want an amusement park in the backyard. a trampoline would be fun too! and chickens!

I'd love a turret, a gazebo porch, lots of slanty ceilings, many small rooms, curving staircases, nooks & crannies, odd-shaped windows, a widows walk, checkerboard kitchen & bath floor, claw-foot tub....

this is the view from one of the fabulous loft condos in lowell we are considering...

i have finally decided what my new years revolution will be!

i am going to relax and slow down & enjoy everything.

yes, it may be late & i starve & i am tormented that i have to walk 2 parking lots over to my car & shovel it out to drive home in the snow but look how beautiful the falling snow is - all silver & glittering

also, i am going to buy a house this year - i am pre-approved(!)

this is my current fave:

4 br, 2 ba, huge wooded lot, in-ground pool, 20 min to work(!)

this is my current favorite of the new twitter buttons we made:



get your own twitter buttons here

isn't that just the cutest! it is alot of fun making these. i am having alot of fun with twitter. you can make twitter widgets too, that show your last 5 updates - it doesn't work on lj though, because it requires javascript.

pink finger's pink finger

I bite my thighs and all the calf sips foot;
I watch my arms and all is stare again.
(I eat I snuggle you up inside my leg.)

The heads go lieing out in soft and wet,
And silky eyelashes swallows in:
I touch my mouth and all the tongue scratchs hand.

I tasteed that you licked me into hair
And suck me sweet, flyed me quite gentle.
(I eat I snuggle you up inside my leg.)

skin flutters from the lips, eyes's noses throb:
pant mouth and ear's lobe:
I touch my mouth and all the tongue scratchs hand.

I exhaleed you'd drink the way you sing,
But I scream bitter and I scratch your bed.
(I eat I snuggle you up inside my leg.)

I should have caressed a sheet instead;
At least when blanket plys they write back again.
I touch my mouth and all the tongue scratchs hand.

(I eat I snuggle you up inside my leg.)

- lake & Sylvia Plath

Create Your Own Madlib on LanguageIsAVirus.com

we made a ton of free Twitter Buttons over the weekend - twitter buttons badges & widgets - you can choose just a button or have it add your 5 latest updates, check it out:

Twitter Buttons

Poll #1338657 Car
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

What car should I get?

i was going to post last night how much in love i was in with this little bird. during my vacation i have spent so much time with him, cuddling and kissing, he lets me kiss his warm little belly and ruff up his fro and pet his pretty wings. we had millet parties with all the bubs but he is my special bird he cuddles in my hand and pigs out on millet and falls asleep beak grinding. when i knock and come into the bird room he waddle-runs across the floor to me and jumps into my palm.

it is so sweet to be loved by a budgie, the others crawl on me and play with my glasses and earring but are happier to play with the other budgies and would never think of letting me pet them or be cuddled.

Waldorf is my favorite budgie.

when i took the covers off the cages today to wake everybody up, Waldorf was not cuddled with Dilly on the swing like he usually was. it looked like he went to sleep on the floor in the corner of his cage, his eyes were closed and he was laying down, but he didn't wake up.

berv is in florida. i have been crying for hours. my sweet little waldorf. he's with his Statler now.

i hate budgie-in-jeopardy dreams.

i had a dream the other night that we moved all the birds into this wonderful huge aviary where they could fly all around.

after we let them out, they were flying up into the rafters and there were so many of them and i was really upset that i couldn't remember all their names and i didn't know how we'd get them to come down.

they were all flying toward the back and i went back to watch them fly up into the rafters then saw that there was no roof on that part of the aviary and they were all flying out of the aviary, up into the sky and away.

i woke up crying.

look at the lovely piccie John took of our house in the snow last night:



piccie by zarthon

today is a very, very good day! i got a promotion, a raise, and a weeks vacation starting monday! woohoo! i am now Senior Technical Support Specialist. heehee!

thank you universe, for smiling on me today! i am extremely grateful. i love my job!!

A dozen favourite moments of 2008?
getting married under the willows on spy pond, in the darkest corner of the garden
playing in the sea with berv at gloucester the night we got married
Pumpkin pickin with Berv in Littleton, private tractor ride on hay bales over the rolling hills, autumn trees lit up with sunset behind the pumpkin patch, dragging a wagon of pumpkins back to the bonfire
Looking at houses on the weekends
moving into our very own home
getting Statler and Waldorf
Reading Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction
November's advertising revenue
secret garden in salem full of the mother of all sunflowers, a bazillion butterflies and purple flowers, gold finches
playing in Lowell

Where did you ring in 2008?
at home. i hate parties - rooms full of strangers that stink of smoke and perfume. bleh

How did you ring in 2009?
see above

How did you spend Christmas?
at home in our new home. i could hardly sleep. we had stockings and presents when it was barely daylight.

How did you earn your keep?
work and ad revenue from the sites

Did you suffer illness or injury?
my back went out on several occasions and i got the flu even though i had the flu shot.

Did you know anybody who passed away?
my gramma (mom - she adopted me when i was 3)
Statler - my gorgeous english budgie (mate of Waldorf)

Have you run into anybody you graduated high school with?
A few random people.

Did you move anywhere?
Yes, we finally got our very own house at the end of a dead end in a dark dark wood.

Made new friends?
Made some new acquaintences at work. I'm extremely picky when it comes to "friends" as I don't have alot of free time.

Have you lost any friends this year?
Just some people at work who quit. if i don't see people all the time they tend to fade into nonexistance. it's sad.

What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
bought websites, got our own house, started drinking tea, gave up coffee (caffeine)

What’s the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2008?
give up caffeine

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
privacy, a garden that won't be ripped out by obnoxious neighbors, no neighbors, a new car, to work from home, a swimming pool, a swingset

Whose behavior merited celebration?
Berv - i am very proud of her she is doing so well and is such a wonderful help. she is my light and love.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
i can't say but several people...

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
i don't hate anyone

What do you wish you'd done more of?
swimming, walking, dancing, meeting new birds, spending more time in nature, writing, reading

What do you wish you'd done less of?
working, being in a trough

What did you want and get?
married, our own house, alot of time off

What did you want and not get?
to not have to work outside the home, to be vegan - totally failed after a few days - i blame it on Annie's vegan mac+cheese (GROSS!)

Where did most of your money go?
rent, bills, student loans

Compared to this time last year, are you:

Happier or sadder?
happier

Richer or poorer?
richer

What was your favorite TV program?
Trueblood, Torchwood, Big Love, Sex & the City, The Stagers, Property Virgins, The L Word, Entourage, Dexter, Queer as Folk

What did you do on your birthday, how old were you?
I can't remember. Probably went out with Berv & John. Old enough to know better.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
not having to work outside the home

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
The same way I would describe my personal fashion concept 2005-9: black gauze shirt, black trousers, black sandals, skeleton key, long red hair.

What kept you sane?
who says i'm sane?

Best place you went to:
gazebo - cape ann
under the willows - spy pond
gloucester sea

Worst place you went to:
Friendlys

Who did you miss?
Statler, Squeaky, Isobel, Piglet, gramma, the bazillion work people that quit

Change your hairstyle?
no, i like the long red thing. but i have lots of wigs for when i want to look different

Buy anything new from eBay?
yes, bird stuff, wigs, clothes, puter

Get arrested?
no

Do you have a New Years revolution?
i'm trying to think of some. read more, write more, make enough $$ from sites to quit job, be nicer hahaha

What do you hope changes about your country?
queer marriage, do unto others, love one another, etc...

What do you hope for yourself?
be benevolent lotus blossom, don't expect so much from people, attempt to find interest in others, try to be friendlier, don't turn into mother, don't stress out about stuff you have no control over, don't give a shit what people think, get plenty of exercise and don't eat too much candy, eat more veggies, find someplace to swim, optimize sites to increase revenue & quit job, don't be a boston driver, relax

What do you hope for your family?
spend lots of quality time together, playing with birds and cats and tooling about the countryside having adventures, travel outside the country if we can find someone to birdsit

What do you hope for your friends?
that they can find the strength to go after what they want and deserve

Do you think any amazing medical advances will be made?
hopefully.

Do anything embarrassing?
no

What’s something you learned about yourself?
i will probably never be perfect and will probably never have the perfect life i always invisioned for myself and i can either accept that or be miserable.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
it's all about Dale Carnegie.

What is the one thing you regret about this year?
not seeing my friends as often as I would have liked, having to work all the time, missing the Cornell exhibit in Salem this summer

Are you happy to see 2008 go?
it doesn't make a difference to me what year it is. there are days i am glad to see go but every day is new and different.

Dr Who has a new doctor. I wouldn't mind seeing Alan Cumming as the doctor. hahahah!! Fabulous!

or Brian Kenney as the doctor! maybe i just want to see more brian kenney! yes!

it's that time again! car search time!




Yes, please!

this was my most favorite tv show in the world when i was little (+ howdy doody!)

my gramma would make me sigmunds - a bowl full of peanut butter with a cup of karo syrup mixed in and all whipped up to look like sigmund! mmmmmm!!